{RP} The S.S. Wishmaker - Tides of Witchcraft [Archive]

Neo Emolga

12-26-2020, 08:03 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Main Pool

As she tried to relax on a poolside recliner with a large pair of sunglasses over her eyes, Casandra wasn’t thrilled about what had happened last night. In essence, the situation had sort of resolved itself without any serious suspicion arising, but there was still some concern over what happened last night and what it might mean for the remaining days ahead.

While she was relaxing in her red bikini and with romance book and a glass of orange juice by her side, her Victini was playing with a small red beach ball, tossing it into the air and bouncing it off of the wall.

“Hey Cas!” Jarena called out to her from the pool. “Come on in! We have the whole pool to ourselves!”

After sitting up, she pulled down her sunglasses and looked to Jarena, getting a better look. Violet was with her, working on her freestyle stroke while Jarena was playing catch with her Whimsicott, who looked anxious about having to keep atop her float tube or plunge into the water. And as every Whimsicott knew, falling into water would mean hours of discomfort waiting to dry off.

“Have fun, I’ll keep watch on our stuff,” Cassandra replied, putting her sunglasses back on.

While she had already numerous precautions in place, she still wanted to keep on top of the situation and not take any unnecessary risks. The fact someone had gone into their room and delved deep enough to encounter a contact-based transformation hex was too close for comfort. In most situations, after something like that, the three girls would hightail it out of there and leave no trace evidence behind that would tie them back to the crime. Here, however, they were still stuck on the ship until it docked, and that wouldn’t happen for another two days.

Even since the incident, Cassandra wanted to keep all the important belongings with her at all time. It meant having to carry an extra pool bag and use a few towels to cover up her Shadowcraft books and reagents that might look suspicious to anyone that would come across them. Of course, there was an enchantment on them that only the three ladies knew about. Anyone else that touched them would soon find themselves transformed into a Pokémon, which would stop them from meddling with their things and from telling others about it.

However, soon enough she saw out of the corner of her eye that Jarena was standing over her, dripping wet in her pastel-green bikini as she had just emerged from the pool.

“Come on, Cas,” Jarena casually pleaded in jest, almost laughing, “are you going to start having fun today or did you just somehow sleepwalk your way here and are still asleep from last night?”

“Something stinks,” Cassandra replied, taking off her sunglasses entirely. “Jarena, they had no business entering our room at that hour while we were at dinner. Housekeeping had already made the room, so what were they doing poking at our stuff?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Jarena casually smiled. “Ha, I dare them to try it again!”

But Cassandra frowned at that. If she was going to make this work, they needed to be subtle and not raise suspicion.

“Jarena, usually when someone gets hit with a Transformation Sigil like that, we scram quickly and quietly,” she replied, keeping her voice low. “Being trapped on this tub makes that pretty hard, and we still don’t know who was in there last night, what Pokémon they are now, and where they ran off to. We’re many miles from land and we don’t have any water Pokémon. Meanwhile, Violet’s Galarian Moltres would really only be able to fly her out of here. There’s no way she can carry the three of us.”

“Re-laaaax,” Jarena smiled, almost laughing. “Please, we’ve been in worse situations than this and we’re not going to need to do anything like that. People let stray Pokémon roam around resorts, hotels, and stuff like that all the time, no one’s going to suspect anything. If it gets you to have fun again, we’ll put the stuff in a better hiding spot next time so you don’t need to lug it around everywhere.”

“Fine,” Cassandra sighed. “You’re probably right, but I still want to make sure they don’t come that close again while we’re on this ship, because if that happens again and again, they’ll know something’s up. But on that note, would you and Violet be ready for tonight?”

“You bet!” Jarena exclaimed with a wink. “Violent and I are thinking of going with the ‘screw loose’ strategy tonight. I figured you’d enjoy that one.”

“Good,” Cassandra replied with a reassured smile, reclining back again. “Yeah, that’s one of my favorites.”

“Hey, that’s the power of teamwork, right?” Jarena smirked.

[Desolate Divine]

12-27-2020, 01:01 AM

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Jon and Alyssa's Room

Situation Report Day 4
Targets were kept occupied during dinner, whilst operatives disguised as housekeeping infiltrated their quarters for intelligence gathering. Whilst they were able to enter the room, a trap was set off, disrupting video feeds and contact with operatives. Before contact was lost, reading material and paraphernalia alluding to mysticism or witchcraft was discovered, however, whilst we currently suspect this is fake for psychological manipulation, we are not writing out the possibility of something supernatural.

Additionally, the targets were made aware very quickly that their room was being searched, and when stalled by agents, the agents themselves were knocked out, showing signs of intoxication with no current leads as to the cause of it.

Operatives have a lead for one of the two agents that went missing, that they are currently investigating. There are no leads regarding the other missing agent, and operatives are encouraged to, in the course of their duties, make a point of searching for this missing agent. More details will be sent as the situation unfolds.

Jon read the report in disbelief, as he took away his room key from the back of his phone. Whilst he had worked with Steven before in smaller operations during tournaments, this was a whole other level. As he removed the room key, the email he read changed to what looked like an email from his phone provider. The app itself was designed to be identical to another major email app, however, when certain room keys are held against the phone's NFC chip, seemingly normal emails are decrypted, revealing information about the mission. Even without the operatives going missing, the amount of preparation and caution being taken for this operation was at least three steps above what Jon was used to.

"Two operatives are missing, half a dozen intoxicated with no memory of it, and nothing to show except a couple of creepy books." Jon muttered to himself, "What the hell is going on..."

Jon sat nervously on his bed, hands crossed against his chin, trying to figure out what was going on. Making him more nervous was the fact that if all went to plan, tomorrow night, he would be battling Cassandra. Last night, Jon won his battle, with somewhat ease, placing him in the semi-finals, alongside Cassandra Silvers, and whilst he wasn't battling her this round, if he won, which he would be trying to do, and she won, which with her reputation was almost certain, they would be battling in the final. And this wouldn't be normal. According to Steven, the thing that tipped him and the others off about these so called Diamond Ladies was the fact that when the battle seemed like it was not going in the favor of the Diamond Ladies, unusual things happened, in a similar sort of vein to what the Situation Report was highlighting. Jon knew that if he gave Cassandra the battle he was supposed to, things could turn ugly.

"You alright?" came a voice from the door, getting Jon's attention.

Alyssa walked over, giving him a kiss on the cheek, before making her way over to the en suite.

"Yeah I'm fine." Jon replied, trying to think of an excuse, before standing up, "Just thinking over last nights battle."

"What's there to think about? You killed it, didn't you? Only used three Pokemon." came Alyssa's voice from the en suite, "By the way, the gym here is incredible! Everything is so clean and new!"

She was right. Jon had only used three of his Pokemon in last nights match. Jolteon, Blaziken and Nidoking. Absol and Scizor remained in their Pokeball, whilst Latios remained invisible above the battlefield, watching from afar, keeping an eye on the Diamond Ladies in the stands. What Alyssa hadn't mentioned, and possibly hadn't noticed, was that this wasn't the first time. Jon hadn't used any of those Pokemon so far. The last thing he wanted was the Diamond Ladies knowing his whole team.

One of the perks of not using his legal name, is that finding information about him was a little more difficult. This was originally to not be found by his dad, but now it was really helping. If one looked up Jonathan Drake, there would be a lot less information, than if someone searched Ryan Mason. Whilst he used his legal name for all the paper work, he'd always make sure that on any sort of promotional material, or commentating, his name was Jonathan Drake, and this was no exception. Due to never competing in the official Pokemon Leagues, Jon didn't have much of a fan following, and the little material that was available about him online was either from BattleNet, where Alyssa worked, and she was fine to hide until this was over (whilst still being unaware of Jon's actual job here), or was easy enough for Steven to have his contacts remove. Unless the Diamond Ladies did their research well and truly before this cruise, they have no way of knowing much about him.

"Still, it's always good to look for ways to improve." Jon explained as he heard running water start to pour from the shower, "You might not have seen it, but I made a bunch of small mistakes, and was just lucky the other guy didn't know how to exploit them. If I get through to the final, I can't rely on that."

"Yeah, I get that." Alyssa explained, "If you make it to the final, it will be against Cassandra Silvers, and she is ruthless. Did you see her match last night?"

"I saw the replay."

"Replay doesn't do it justice. I have never seen so many flames in my life. She took down a Vaporeon, Gyarados and Swampert with her Ninetales." Alyssa called out, "My goal for today is to try and get an interview with her."

Jon's stomach sunk hearing those words. Ideally, he didn't want Alyssa here, however when she found out he would be battling, she pulled some strings so her work would send her here to cover the event. He wasn't allowed to tell her about the operation, and couldn't expect her to turn down the event of a lifetime without good reason.

Jon stood up and walked towards the en suite, stopping by the door, as the water stopped.

"Alyssa, do me a favor." Jon explained, "Be careful around her, and the other two as well."

"Why's that?" Alyssa asked, nonchalantly.

"I get a bad feeling about them." Jon replied, "Something just doesn't feel right."

"Do you think their Pokemon are on performance enhancers?" Alyssa asked, knowing about Jon's prior work with Steven.

"I don't think so, but I just get a bad feeling about them." Jon explained, "Something doesn't quite add up."

"I can leave it if you want..." Alyssa replied, somewhat down.

"No, don't." Jon interjected, "Go get the interview, and do what your normally would. Just don't let your guard down around them. And don't let them get too close."

There was a buzz from Jon's pocket, as his alarm went off. He had booked the stadium for training, and this was the reminder to leave now in order to not miss that booking.

"I gotta go train for tonight's match, but I will see you for lunch?" Jon asked, as Alyssa walked out of the en suite in a bathrobe.

"Of course." Alyssa replied, "Knock 'em dead."

Jon Drake
En Route to Pokemon Battle Stadium
Jon left the room, making his way towards the front of the ship. He made his way aboard the top deck, soaking in the sunlight. After about ten minutes of walking, he found himself walking past the almost empty Main Pool. As he did, he noticed its occupants. The Diamond Ladies. Cassandra sunbathing off to the side, minding their belongings from all the other people there. Jarena had climbed out of the pool and was chatting to her, whilst Violet was enjoying the pool itself.

"I wonder if they are alone through coincidence, because they don't want anyone else there, or nobody dares to go near them... Jon thought to himself as he walked past, making his way to the Stadium.

Noblejanobii

12-27-2020, 05:50 PM

Avery Miller
Central Park, Café

Avery sipped their coffee in silence as they stewed over the many thoughts running through their head at the moment. They had read the situation briefing from Cynthia in their room prior to coming down for a bite to eat at the café, but they still needed time to process what all had happened last night. A disaster is what had happened, really. Some operatives had managed to enter the room of the Diamond Ladies but now they were unaccounted for and several other operatives were laid waste to by the Diamond Ladies when they tried to return to their room. Avery sighed and shook their head. What a right mess this was.

"Min?" Avery glanced over at Gloria. She was the only member of their team that was small enough to have out in areas like this and Avery preferred the company. She tilted her head and held out a paw towards Avery, as if trying to offer comfort to them.

Avery chuckled and shook Gloria's paw. "Thank you, Gloria. Sorry, I'm just still processing." They sighed. "This all weighs heavily on the mind at the moment. Especially given I'll be facing off against one of them tonight in the semifinals." Avery still wasn't quite sure how they had made it this far in the tournament. They were known for their coordinator skills not battling. The downside to their fame was that anyone who did an ounce of research on them could find out their entire team and loads of information on their usual tactics, movesets, etc. And yet, for whatever reason, Avery's opponents seemed to continually underestimate them. Or perhaps Avery was just that skilled as a battler, though they doubted it. No matter the reason, they had made it this far and now they were facing one of the Diamond Ladies herself, Casandra.

They weren't sure really what kind of approach to take to this battle. Casandra was known for her affinity of fire and psychic types, neither of which Avery had a strong counter for. Then again, if even they did, they had seen how Casandra's last opponent fared even with three water types. Perhaps their unconventional approach to battle would give them an advantage that their other opponents did not have. But then again, this was one of the Diamond Ladies they were facing. They knew the risks and the rumors, and they'd be lying if they didn't admit that it made a pit form in their stomach. What sort of tricks were they planning to use to give Cassandra the advantage this time? No one had died yet on the cruise but Avery had heard of others not fairing so well. If they put up too much of a fight would they be next? Would it be better to give up then? Let Cassandra win? Was this really worth forfeiting their life, or worse, the lives on their Pokémon over?

"Min!!" Gloria slammed her front paws on the table, snapping Avery out of their thoughts. "Min min shaymin! Shay!" she shouted.

Avery stared at Gloria a moment before chuckling and petting her again. "Sorry Gloria. I may not be able to understand what you're saying, but I get the gist. Don't psyche myself out before we even get to the battlefield." Gloria nodded and pat Avery's hand with her paw. "That Casandra may have the deity of victory with her, but I've got my own deity with me. Perhaps that will allow us to triumph yet."

Avery finished their coffee and gazed around the Shaymin themed café. "You know for a goddess of gratitude, I can't help but point out the vanity in wanting to come here." Gloria puffed out her cheeks and glared at Avery. "I'm just saying," Avery responded with a laugh. "I can't say I dislike it. Perhaps we'll come here again tomorrow. Their pastries make for a good breakfast."

Avery collected their things, picked up Gloria, and began to walk through the Central Park concourse. They weren't sure where they would head next, since their time slot for training wasn't for a little while longer, but perhaps they could find something else to occupy their mind as they prepared for this battle tonight.

Chakramaster

12-28-2020, 12:42 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Hallway - Guest Rooms

Jimmy still reviewing the details in his head. He still couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. The Diamond Ladies are mysterious enough, but with the footage last seen. The unknown just makes the situation all the more perplexing. What truly happened to the other operatives that last tried entering the room they had suspicion of?

"Maybe we should search for that Minccino?" Jimmy said aloud.

"Piii" his Pikachu said in a hushed voice. Shaking his head. As if to tell his partner and friend it may not be a good idea

"Yeah I guess you're right. Might be a little too dangerous to go off searching on our own anyway. I don't think anyone is really safe here. We need to watch our own backs while helping to try and keep the guests safe. It's a tough situation, but you're right. Thanks buddy." He said as he gave a quick pet to the head of his Pikachu.

"Chaaa" he Pikachu said happily.

"Then the question is. Where do we go now? We know some about the Diamond Ladies, but not quite enough.

The two kept outside. No one had walked past in some time. With everything going on you didn't quite see too many around. Then again, the lobbies or event areas may be a little more active.

"I guess for now we should at least venture out. See if anything catches our eyes." He said as his Pikachu climbed to his shoulder.

"Let's go buddy. Maybe we can find something out on one of the decks. Overlook the ship on the outside for awhile before we head to the area where this battle will be later on.. Maybe a little fresh air would be nice anyway. Clear our heads before this battle tonight. Better to be prepared for anything to come from this. Let's get to work."

"Pika!" His Pikachu exclaimed. Ready to get back to duty with his friend.

The two made their way outside the ship to overlook the ship, but cautiously as they always try to be.

Neo Emolga

12-28-2020, 07:04 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Main Pool

“Whiiiiiiimm!!”

Cassandra was woken up from lightly dozing off for a few minutes to the sound of Jarena’s Whimsicott crying out. After quickly opening her eyes and taking off her sunglasses, it only took two seconds for her to realize the puffy cotton ball Pokémon had slipped off of the inflatable inner tube and had fallen into the pool, soaking her cotton puff and causing it to become a heavy water-soaked wad that looked unsightly for a Whimsicott. Cassandra was expecting the whole incident to happen sooner or later just from knowing how Jarena liked to recklessly play with her Pokémon, but she would have preferred another fifteen minutes of relaxation before it inevitably happened.

“Floof, you’re supposed to try and keep your balance!” Jarena exclaimed with laughter at her soaking wet Whimsicott. “Come on, let’s get you dried off and cleaned up, you silly puffball.”

“I’m done anyway,” Violet replied. “Let’s go.”

“You sure?” Jarena asked her. “We’ve only been here for an hour or so. Lunch isn’t for another few hours.”

“It’s probably going to be mobbed soon anyway,” Casandra replied, sitting up and beginning to pack her sunglasses and other belongings. “Better we go now before some screaming kids show up or some chump’s water Pokémon take over the whole pool.”

Jarena frowned at the thought of that and knew exactly what Cassandra was referring to. She distinctly recalled what happened on the second day of the voyage where another male trainer’s Poliwrath was distressing Vanilla, her Cinccino, by harassing her with fighting attacks after the inner tube that Vanilla was on unintentionally floated and wandered into what the Poliwrath had decided to claim as his pool territory. Vanilla was clearly upset and was thrown off of her floatation tube and into the water much to Jarena’s horror.

Though she hadn’t seen them again since then, she had a feeling it likely had something to do with how they both must have felt after she struck them with a vertigo hex on their way out. She had to smirk at the memory of that, wondering if they blamed it on something silly like seasickness or something of that nature. She also wondered if it wore off by now, but she figured as long as they weren’t bothering her anymore, it didn’t matter.

After packing up their things and preparing to leave, Jarena couldn’t help but look at Cassandra curiously as Victini clung onto her left shoulder.

“So who is your opponent tonight?” she asked, looking curious as she wrapped her white towel around her.

“Some person by the name of Avery Miller,” Cassandra replied, having done a bit of research on tonight’s contender. “It’s weird, I looked them up and they're usually a contest coordinator.”

“Ah, nothing you can’t handle,” Jarena scoffed, making a brushing hand gesture. “Who do you plan on leading with?”

“I’m thinking Opal,” Cassandra told her, slinging her pool bag over her right shoulder. “Ruby had her fun last night so I think it’s only fair Opal gets her turn. It’s another three Pokémon battle like last night, and while normally I’d switch things up during such a thing for variety’s sake, Ruby had such a nice tempo going last night.”

Jarena distinctly remembered what she witnessed last night. That Vaporeon, Gyarados, and Swampert likely thought they might have had the advantage before going up against Ruby the Ninetales. From the memory of it all, Jarena wondered if that battle held the record for the most amount of fire used in a single match, but it wasn’t the only thing in play. Watching that battle as a spectator was shocking, first with Ruby using Fire Spin upon every target, burning them, and then continuing to entrap them in Fire Spins before unleashing a Hyper Beam into the fire and flames. When Cassandra battled, she meant business and wasn’t giving anyone any quarter at all.

Not an ounce of mercy was shown until defeat was declared by either the referee or the opposing trainer recalled their Pokémon to stop it from getting any worse. Jarena imagined it must have been very disheartening and demoralizing to see one’s own Pokémon go through a ruthless punishment. And as expected, some critics thought it was luck, some suspected performance enhancers despite no proof of use, others thought it was just Victini’s presence there, among many other reasons beyond a legitimate victory from battling experience. But hidden among the biting flames and blinding smoke and with all eyes focused on the intensity of the battle, other things had transpired that had gone unseen…

No one had seen the Vaporeon’s dire face of panic amidst all of the flames and smoke, simply too paralyzed with fear to move. No one, not even the Vaporeon’s own trainer, Freddy Davis, was able to see it. But such sudden, paralyzing fear was unnatural, all result of a menacing hex inflicted upon him. But even if they saw the panicked Vaporeon, anyone in Cassandra’s defense could easily claim it was due to the feeling of entrapment from the Fire Spin in combination with the burns and the bewildering smoke. And the same had resulted from the Gyarados. Being blinded and in such sudden fear could easily explain why he couldn’t land a Hydro Pump attack on the nine-tailed fox. In the Gyarados’s panic, he couldn’t comprehend the priority of extinguishing the flames with his water or trying to target the Ninetales herself, and trying to aim and calculate the trajectory of his attack proved to be nearly impossible with his ability to concentrate and focus completely disrupted. Lastly, despite having twice the advantage, the Swampert fell victim to the same strategy as well, losing the mental game against the Ninetales’s attacks and the hexes and curses that were quietly and subtly inflicted.

There was very little anyone could do to separate the effects of the attacks from the hexes and spells themselves and to the outside beholder, they simply just seemed to be particularly more effective as if by straight luck, happenstance, or possibly from simply the nature of Cassandra’s Pokémon and their reputations. The Pokémon in these battles simply couldn’t explain the effects they went through to their own trainers, especially not in any kind of communication form their human trainers or officials could understand. Anyone could simply dismiss it as being psyched out, and it did not help morale or confidence at all with Victini by Cassandra’s side. Anyone who knew anything about the Pokémon of victory was already heading into that battle with that pressure looming over them that Cassandra was destined to win, not them.

And yet, with all eyes locked onto the battle, no one thought to pay close attention to Jarena and Violet, secretly casting these spells and hexes from their private audience booth. A simple finger or hand gesture of drawing the corrupting and hexing marks and sigils could easily be done under cover, and even if it was witnessed, it could simply be interpreted as simple fidgeting habits no different than thumb twiddling, arguably triggered due to anticipation and excitement of the battle unfolding before them. Meanwhile, their muttering and whispering of the incantations could not be heard over the yells and applause of the crowd and the thunderous noise of the Pokémon attacks, drowning out those quiet whispers of hexes and curses...

To keep their opponents guessing, different strategies were deployed each time, which varied especially among the three women themselves. What Freddy Davis and his three water Pokémon went through was simply called the “stage fright” strategy, which paired with the entrapment, blinding smoke, and oxygen-consuming flames of Cassandra’s Ninetales with hexes and spells of mind-consuming fear and panic that made it impossible for any of the opposing Pokémon to be at their best.

Tonight, Cassandra was wondering if Avery Miller might suspect the same kind of thing as last night. But anyone who avidly followed the Diamond Ladies knew not to expect the same show two battles in a row.

No, she had something different ready for tonight’s battle…

[Desolate Divine]

12-28-2020, 11:21 PM

Jon Drake
Pokemon Battling Stadium
When Jon arrived, nobody else was present at the stadium. Due to the sheer size of it, most of the bookings had it split in four sections, allowing four trainers to practise there as they saw fit. Occasionally trainers would do a practise battle against one another, but Jon had only seen that once since he got here, having been here every day. Granted, now that there were less people participating in the tournament, and he had made it to semis, there were much longer sessions available, so a practise battle may be a bit more viable today.

Jon set himself up in the corner, calling out his Blaziken and Latios. The plan was for Latios to be very quick target practise, for Blaziken to try and land hits on. Latios' focus was to simply avoid, and use telekinetic barriers to protect himself, whilst Blaziken was intending to land a mixture of special and physical attacks. As this was happening, Jon was keeping an eye on the door. Especially on this cruise, he didn't want Latios being seen, especially by someone who knew what he was capable of. If Jon saw anyone coming, he would let off a whistle, and Latios would turn invisible.

As the two Pokemon practised, Blaziken getting closer and closer to landing hits on the Eon Pokemon, Jon's attention was on the entrance.

Alyssa Drake
Central Park
"Thanks." Alyssa said as she accepted her takeaway coffee from the barista, before making her way back in to the main drag of Central Park. Whilst her goal was to get an interview with Cassandra, or maybe even Jarena or Violet, she knew that chances are, that would be something that happens spur of the moment. Trying to track down the Diamond Ladies on the cruise would prove to be difficult. Chances are the interview would only happen if she ran into them by luck.

Instead, Alyssa kept an eye out for any trainers who had made it into semis. It didn't take too long before finding someone.

"Bingo." Alyssa thought to herself as she recognized the trainer from the night before. The Shaymin they were carrying was enough to allow anyone to recognize them.

"Avery Miller?" Alyssa asked as she approached them, showing her media pass, "I'm Alyssa Drake from BattleNET. I'm covering the tournament here, and was hoping to get a few words? Maybe an interview?" ( Noblejanobii )

Noblejanobii

12-29-2020, 02:12 AM

Avery Miller
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine

Avery gazed up at the ceiling as they strolled through the Central Park. "This concourse has excellent lighting," they mused quietly, "I wonder if there's ever been a contest held on a cruise ship before. It'd be a rather unique venue." As their mind was occupied with the brewing semantics of a contest held on a cruise ship like this one, a female voice called out to them, snapping them from their thoughts.

"Avery Miller?" Alyssa asked as she approached them, showing her media pass, "I'm Alyssa Drake from BattleNET. I'm covering the tournament here, and was hoping to get a few words? Maybe an interview?"

Avery immediately put on a smile as Alyssa introduced herself. They were vaguely familiar with Alyssa's work, having seen her coverage on battles in the past. Though admittedly, since it wasn't Avery's usual wheelhouse, they wouldn't have been able to recognize Alyssa without her introducing herself as she had. Still, Avery knew, whether or not they actually recognized the reporter, a media badge meant it was time to flip the switch and assume the performer's persona.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Drake," Avery said, bowing their head a bit respectfully. "Of course I would be open to an interview. I'm sure your viewers are probably quite curious as to how someone like me made it this far." Avery laughed a little and added, "I'm not exactly the typical battler, yeah? Probably makes things interesting for reporters such as yourself too."

"Would you prefer to do the interview standing or seated somewhere?" they asked, "Either is alright with Gloria and me."

[Desolate Divine]

12-29-2020, 02:57 AM

Alyssa Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii

"I'm glad you asked," Alyssa replied with a laugh, "I'm still a bit sore from the gym this morning, and not as young as I used to be, so finding somewhere to sit down would be nice."

Alyssa looked around, quickly finding an empty bench to sit on, before walking over, beckoning Avery to follow. As the pair sat, Alyssa pulled out a small audio recorder, turning it on, before facing Avery.

"I won't take up too much of your time, I figure with your match up tonight, you will be wanting to get in some last minute training." Alyssa explained, "I have four questions which should give me all I need. Feel free to give as much detail as you like."

"First question, what brings an esteemed coordinator such as yourself to the High Sea's tournament, and how would you say the tournament has been so far?"

"Second question, what was the battle like from your point of view last night? What was going through your mind as you battled to make semis?"

"Third question, how do you feel about tonight's match? Are you confident in a win against Cassandra?"

"Last question, what is the plan for after the tournament is over? Will we see you more in these types of tournaments moving forward, or back in the contest circuit?"

C0L0R3D

12-29-2020, 06:49 PM

Ozona Reverie
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: N/A

The hooded girl quietly walked about, not seeming to want to be involved in anything in training for now. Her Scrafty, Wafer, let out a proud cry from getting on here, causing the trainer to growl.

"Can you not? I'd rather not get attention drawn to me at the moment."

He quickly obeyed, as Ozona's cyan eyes darted around trying to find a suitable area to start to train but had no luck. She sighed lightly, noticing a few others nearby and she wondered if she should ask, as she was pretty clueless. Wafer began to walk over to them, but he was recalled before he got too far.

"Yeesh...I might as well do it if he insists."

On that word, she started to approach slightly nervously. Talking had never been her strong point, so this could get a bit strange. But regardless, she pulled her hood down (much to her annoyance) and walked over, stopping midway there.

"Ugh... I can't do this."

She quickly moved away, finding herself in a awkward situation. Although she didn't quite get far and just stood around trying to think if anywhere would be good to do it. But she didn't want to break any rules, so she wasn't gonna risk anything here.

Noblejanobii

12-30-2020, 06:34 PM

Avery Miller
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine

Avery followed behind Alyssa as she led them over to a small bench. They waited patiently as she got set up, relaxing their smile a bit. Avery was used to being interviewed by Contest Reporters, so they knew what to expect whether it was a big station like the Performers and Coordinator Programming Network (PCPN for short), or a smaller outlet like Sinnoh Contests Weekly. But they weren’t used to being interviewed by battling networks. Other than a few interviews they did in the Galar Circuit, Avery hadn’t ever really done tournament interviews before. Still, Alyssa didn’t seem like a malicious sort and BattleNet was fairly reputable, so Avery doubted this be something like the content Contest Wars put out.

Avery listened carefully as Alyssa stated her four questions. They took a moment to think over their responses before answering.

The first question was somewhat easy. They had taken the time to come up with a convenient backstory for why they were on this cruise in the first place, especially when they were rather out of place otherwise.

“Well with the Lilycove Grand Festival ribbon being the latest under my belt, I decided to take a bit of a break from contests in order to study more techniques from battling. While I might be among the firsts to dabble and utilize techniques from Pokemon Musicals and other types of competitions, I will not be the last. Other younger coordinators are already stepping up to the plate to challenge me, especially in the battler front. So I thought I might pick back up my own battler styles to compete. One of my friends heard about my decision and passed along an invitation to the tournament which I gladly accepted.

“As for how the tournament has gone thus far, I must admit it’s much better than I anticipated. Candidly, I did not expect to make it this far, but it seems my Pokémon partners are set to prove to me exactly how strong they are.”

Avery stopped to recall the battle from the night before. They had faced off against a Tyson Daveson the previous night. He had been a fearsome opponent that had been neck and neck with Avery for the entire fight. Gloria only managed to snag the win by a hair at the end.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect out of last night’s battle. Mr. Daveson specializes in steel types, which is not something I have much of a counter for. He had definitely done his research on me given two of his Pokémon were an Escavalier and a Scizor. Those two powerful bugs could have easily crippled about half of my team. Thankfully, I anticipated something like that and led with Daybreak, my Rapidash, with Knautia, my Zebstrika, in reserves to handle the two Bug/Steel types. But his Steelix was another matter, of which neither Daybreak nor Knautia could effectively handle. Thankfully, they managed to weaken it enough that Gloria could take out the Steelix, even if it was just by the skin of our teeth. Still, I trusted in my partners and they trusted in me. Ultimately it was Gloria’s quick thinking that got us the win last night. Without it, Mr. Daveson would be sitting here with you now, not me.”

Avery gave Gloria an approving pat as they paused for a moment, wanting to remind the Shaymin of her great accomplishment. “As for tonight’s match…” Avery gave a nervous laugh and began to play with their earring. “In all candor, I’m not too confident. With how close my battle against Mr. Daveson was, even with a Pokémon that had a type advantage against his team, I don’t anticipate the battle for the finals going in my favor. Ms. Cassandra fancies her fire types, of which I don’t have a particularly strong counter. Knautia might be able to weaken her team given he knows Rain Dance, and Daybreak does know High Horsepower, but other than that, my best bet is just to brute force the win, which I don’t anticipate being the most effective strategy for this situation.

“Still, I’m grateful to have gotten as far as I have. My partners have done far better than I anticipated and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Besides, what better opponent to go out against than one of the infamous Diamond Ladies?”

Avery stopped messing with the earring and stopped again in thought before saying, “I think I might continue the battler’s route for the time being. I have five badges from the Galar Circuit so I had been contemplating completing the last three gyms needed to compete in the champion’s cup at the end of the year. But I haven’t fully committed to that idea yet so I might change my mind yet.”

Avery smiled at Alyssa and said, “Hopefully that answers your questions?”

Chakramaster

12-31-2020, 11:28 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park

After walking around for some time. Jimmy and his Pikachu both found themselves in Central Park. Nothing found while looking around outside

"Ugh, I swear it feels like we've walked around for hours now and still nothing of value. These Diamond Ladies sure are something." Jimmy said as he takes a seat on a nearby bench.

Pikachu flopped down on the seat right beside Jimmy seeming tired himself.

I'm sure we will come across something sooner or later. Though it does make me wonder if there's anything new to offer. Maybe some of the other operatives may have something to offer. It's just this place is too big to assume we can search it ourselves. As much as we'd like to right?" Jimmy saying to his Pikachu.

Pikachu seemed to be out of it asleep by his side.

His mind started to wonder. Thinking of what could be expected from this battle to come. With the Diamond Ladies set to make an appearance again. What could happen next. This battle to come was probably going to be a thriller. Time would tell in this case.with something mysterious happening involving that room. It couldn't get off his mind. What had truly happened in that room and what does that footage show? What does it really mean. Perplexing as it was just thinking about it wouldn't do much. It's like trying to figure out a magic trick. Without knowledge of the trick first. You're better off just enjoying the show than confusing yourself trying to figure it out.

It seemed a little more busy around this area. Maybe cause the battle isn't much farther out. People are still trying to enjoy the cruise. Cafes are still wild with business as are the restaurants.

Jimmy kinda chuckled to himself. "Reminds me of how people acted back when we had an outbreak of Pokerus that affected humans. How no one listened to concerns from the PHC (Pokemon Health Concern) or CDC.

A crowd from an area broke up a little. He took a better look around and his attention was caught by another. Someone he thought looked familiar. Seemed like they were being interviewed by someone else? That or was being wrapped up.

Neo Emolga

12-31-2020, 04:44 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Chakramaster

After heading back to their room, taking showers, and getting cleaned up and dressed, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet headed out to go through Central Park to grab a quick drink from the cafes before heading to the Windjammer Marketplace. The hallway leading from their room was mostly vacant, save for a young boy playing tag with his Rattata.

As they were walking down the hall, Jarena had noticed Cassandra was no longer keeping her large bag of books and regents with her, and she couldn’t help but smirk.

“I guess now you believe me?” Jarena asked with a smug grin.

“You have a point, but let’s not get too reckless,” Cassandra replied, rolling her eyes. “I picked a new hiding spot under the bed and stuffed an extra pillow around it. If you need to get to it, don’t touch the pillow without ‘cleaning’ it first.”

“I gotcha,” Jarena smiled.

And by “cleaning,” Jarena knew exactly what she meant. The pillow itself was hexed and moving it or touching it with their bare hands could spell disaster, although even gloves usually didn’t prevent any kind of affliction. As Jarena was quite familiar with what would result of that, usually they wanted no witnesses to things of that nature, just like the incident last night. Someone being pesky or giving them a hard time could be subdued with a simple hex or spell that would induce sleep, vertigo, or temporary sickness. But anyone that could tell others about what they found that could potentially expose a critical amount of information had to be transformed into a Pokémon that posed little threat and render them incapable of testifying or providing evidence to authorities in the form of human verbal communication. Hence, why such spells had to be used as booby traps.

There was also the concern of what could they do if they had unintentionally hexed each other with spells. They knew how to remove spells and hexes placed before they were triggered, but after the fact posed complications. Usually, they couldn’t be dispelled so easily if they had already made their mark on a victim. And it had happened once with a vertigo spell that Cassandra had made but unintentionally struck Jarena, leaving her dizzy for at least a whole day. But if a Pokémon transformation spell had affected one of them, they wouldn’t know what to do, though Jarena felt it would only be a “we’ll worry about it if it happens” situation. As they had discovered, only a few times did they last for a temporary amount of time. Usually, it was permanent and those that had been struck by it were still Pokémon.

Upon arriving through Central Park, they saw the room become more spacious and filled with trees, shrubs, and foliage to mimic the feeling of an outdoor park, though there was still a ceiling. Meanwhile there were pathways and benches to sit down and relax. The three girls were passing though and noticed there were only a few people here at the moment. Most of the time they had turned heads, and it didn’t take long for them to be recognized, though most people didn’t say anything to them.

There was one avid trainer who approached them, looking excited while holding a glossy Pokéball and a black permanent marker in his hands. He was a young and naïve teenager with long, brown hair, a yellow t-shirt, and blue jeans.

“Miss Cassandra!” the trainer called out, excitedly trying to get her attention as he tried to push his way through the other guests. “Oh Miss Cassandra! Could I get you to autograph my Pokéball, please! It’s my favorite Whismur’s Pokéball!”

Cassandra just sighed and rolled her eyes. She just wanted a cup of chai tea and to see if there was anything interesting on sale today, not deal with this.

“Good lord,” Cassandra sighed as Jarena giggled and Violet grew impatient. “Why now?”

“Oh please, Miss Cassandra!” he pleaded, stepping right in front of them and blocking their way. “It would mean so much to me. Actually, could you all sign it? That would be great!”

“First of all, no,” Cassandra told him bluntly. “Second, my last name is Silvers, so it’s Miss Silvers to you. And third, why even train a Whismur? They’re neither cute nor powerful, and have you seen what they evolve into? Exploud isn’t a Pokémon I would keep with me even if you paid me to.”

“Aww, but I think she’s cute,” the trainer remarked, trying to convince her otherwise. “But if you don’t want to autograph the Pokéball, I can just take a signature.”

“I said no,” Cassandra snapped at him before pushing him aside.

The three girls then walked past him, and despite being rejected, it still didn’t bring down his spirits as he felt he could try again when maybe they were in a better mood.

“Maybe we can battle sometime, it would be fun!” he called out as they left him behind. “Say, what’s your number, I’d love to treat you to dinner sometime!”

“What a loser,” Violet muttered just out of earshot of the trainer.

“He does that again…” Cassandra told the other two, “…do your worst. I’d rather see and hear him throwing up over the side of the boat from ‘sea-sickness’ than go through that again.”

“Aye-aye,” Jarena giggled.

Halfway through their walk through the park, they had been interrupted again, this time by a male Pikachu. As soon as he spotted the three Diamond Ladies, he immediately perked up and tried to get his trainer’s attention, who was taking a break on a nearby park bench. For a minute, it seemed odd to the three girls, and suddenly Cassandra was wondering…

“We’re sure one of them became a Minccino,” Cassandra whispered to Jarena. “The gray fur and paw prints were pretty obvious, but what about the other one?”

“No idea, they could be a number of others,” Jarena replied. “You think that could be the second?”

“Only one way to find out,” Cassandra replied.

As the three lades knew, to make a Pokémon transformation hex or spell work, they needed a small sample of the Pokémon in question, and usually what they used were fur and hair stains as they were the easiest to acquire, especially from common everyday Pokémon like Minccino and many others. Also, they typically used unevolved Pokémon fur samples in case their victim tried to retaliate, though that had yet to happen. However, with many fur samples at hand, Jarena didn’t specifically track which fur strain originated from which Pokémon, she just kept them all together in a bag and took a pinch out when she needed them.

“Say, you have a cute Pikachu,” Cassandra told Jimmy, not sure if he was the Pikachu’s trainer or if in fact the Pikachu was potentially the other operative trying to get the attention of the closest human he could find. “Where did you get him?”

[Desolate Divine]

01-01-2021, 02:08 AM

Alyssa Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii ( @Neo Emolga and Chakramaster are nearby but not within earshot)

Avery answered all of the questions well, giving Alyssa plenty of content to work with.

"That's plenty. I will definitely be able to work with that." Alyssa explained, as she stopped the recording, "I have been publishing a recap of the days battles each evening, so late tonight or tomorrow evening, it should be published on BattleNET, if you wanna check it out. Now I just have to track down some other contestants to get some quotes-"

Alyssa's attention was pulled, hearing an outburst from nearby.

“First of all, no,” Said the voice not too far away, “Second, my last name is Silvers, so it’s Miss Silvers to you. And third, why even train a Whismur? They’re neither cute nor powerful, and have you seen what they evolve into? Exploud isn’t a Pokémon I would keep with me even if you paid me to.”

Alyssa turned, recognizing Cassandra Silvers and was slightly surprised to see someone of such prestige being so obnoxious. Whilst it's fair enough to not want to do autographs at a moments notice, insulting the trainer and their Pokemon simply for asking was low.

“Aww, but I think she’s cute,” replied another trainer. “But if you don’t want to autograph the Pokéball, I can just take a signature.”

“I said no,” Cassandra snapped at him before pushing him aside.

As the three young women walked away, Alyssa scowled.

"What a b***h..." Alyssa muttered under her breath, before remembering she was with Avery on business, "S**t, sorry about that. Not very professional of me..."

"My plan was to try and get an interview with her, but based on that, I doubt she will be as helpful about it as you were." Alyssa said to Avery, "For what it's worth, I hope you beat her senseless tonight. If you don't there is a decent chance my husband will see her in the final, but after seeing that, I'd much prefer to see you and him battling for the title, instead of her having a shot at it..."

Alyssa packed up her belongings, before standing up.

"Thanks again! And good luck tonight!"

Noblejanobii

01-01-2021, 05:51 AM

Avery Miller
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine (Neo Emolga and Chakramaster's characters nearby)

As they finished their interview with Alyssa, Avery started to prepare to thank her, when both their attentions were drawn to an outburst nearby. Avery's expression fell completely flat as Cassandra chewed out some poor fan. It was one thing to treat toxic fans in such a way, but to treat the positive fans in such a manner was utterly disgusting. Avery grit their teeth a little in frustration upon noticing the fan didn't even really seem bothered by it at all. That meant this sort of treatment was not only normal but something she did so much her fans had come to enjoy it.

"How utterly revolting," Avery seethed. Avery quickly covered their mouth, realizing they had spoken aloud. They glanced over at Alyssa and stifled a laugh when they realized she had also had a similar slip of the tongue. "Not very professional of me either. We'll just have to keep it a secret," they said with a quick wink.

Avery began to fiddle with their earring again as Alyssa mentioned trying to score an interview with Cassandra then wishing them luck in battle later. They chuckled and said, "Yeah good luck with that interview. Something tells me she's not going to be the easiest fish to catch. I appreciate the vote of confidence. I don't anticipate a win, but that doesn't mean my team and I won't go down swinging. Who knows, perhaps we're in for a surprise. I'd be honored to face off against your husband in the finals."

Avery stood up alongside Alyssa and waved as she walked off. It was then they noticed the gaggle of garish gals had encircled another trainer. Moving Gloria to their shoulder, Avery moved in their direction. They stopped a little ways a way, leaning against a nearby wall and pretending to mess with their Rotom Phone as they eavesdropped. Part of this was to gather intel on the Diamond Ladies, just on the off chance they said anything useful to this random trainer. But the other part was to step in if they started to gang up on the poor guy. Normally they weren't much for confrontation, but Cassandra's outburst earlier had struck a nerve, and Avery wasn't about to stand by and let her chew out another bystander or fan without intervention.

Turning on the camera, Avery posed with Gloria. "Might as well check and see if this is good lighting for a selfie no?" they said to Gloria. "Min min," the Shaymin replied, winking at the camera as Avery snapped a few photos.

Shruikan

01-02-2021, 02:32 PM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii

Luneth yawned as she lay spread eagled on her bed. While it wasn’t as comfortable as her own bed, they had spared no expense on these cabins, and Luneth was loathed to get up.

On the one hand, getting matched up against Cassandra Silvers in the first round of the tournament was disappointing, and she had predictable been demolished by the Diamond Lady. One the other hand, it freed her up to do whatever she wanted the rest of the trip, essentially giving her a free vacation on a high-end cruise liner.

The problem was, there was too many options. Aside from lying in bed all day, which while tempting, she doubted her pokemon would be happy with. So, where to go today? She could go Battle Arena. Circuit would certainly enjoy a chance to fight more new opponents, and maybe she’d meet a famous trainer practicing there? Cassandra was going to be up again tonight, maybe she’d be training there?
The other option was wander central park. While she didn’t have the funds to buy them, the costumes for sale might give her ideas for her own designs, and there was apparently a shaymin themed cafe that visiting was a must. Nothing else seemed to stand out beside those two options…

By the time she’d gotten dressed and put on her glasses, Luneth still hadn’t decided. Ok then, flip a coin for it. Heads for battles, tails for shops. She reached into her wallet, quickly remembering that she didn’t have any change on her. Flip a credit card? Eh, close enough.

* * *

Most people would think that a Type:Null (Or Silvally wearing a helmet in this case) was to big to have out in the streets. Luneth got around this by riding it’s back, so then she’s not taking up any extra space. Plus, everyone politely stepped aside making a clear path when she approached, so they must not mind. In fact, She was getting lots of hard stares too, so many people must be intently gazing at Circuit, taken in with awe of his majestic figure no doubt.

As Luneth was about to get out a map to check where the cafe was, She heard some commotion up ahead. Some ladies were storming away from what appeared to be a fan of theirs. As Luneth got a good look, she set her tail to wagging as she leaned forward with excitement. Those were the Diamond Ladies! Her credit card landing this way must have been fate! After her loss in the first round, Luneth hadn’t managed to speak to Cassandra, to ask how she managed to win with such ease, but now was the perfect opportunity to talk to her-

However, as Luneth was about to head over to talk to the sisters, she saw another figure setting up for a selfie nearby. Even without the shaymin on their shoulder, Luneth recognised them instantly, and all thoughts of the Diamond Ladies instantly disappeared.

Sliding off Circuit’s back Luneth half ran half skipped over, mulling on how to greet them on the way. Hello ma’am? Sir? What was the gender neutral version of those? Hello… person? She settled on just a ‘casual’ greeting.
“HI!” she said, practically popping up out of nowhere in front of Avery. “You’re Avery Miller aren’t you? The great Co-ordinator? I’m such a big fan! Ever since I saw you in the Galar circuit.” She held a notebook towards the shaymin on Avery’s shoulder, beaming at the two of them. “Could I please please get Gloria’s autograph? Oh and yours too? Sorry, maybe should have asked you first. I’m Luneth.”

Chakramaster

01-04-2021, 11:47 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga (Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine, Shruikan's characters nearby)

Still lost in thought. Jimmy noticed his Pikachu catching his attention before being asked a question.

"Say, you have a cute Pikachu. Where did you get him?" The voice asked Jimmy before looking up and seeing the three ladies he knew they'd be needing to keep eyes on. Nearly stunned he knew he had to play it safe and try not to draw too much attention to himself in this case. He didn't expect them to come right up to him in the first place.

"Out this guy? We've been partners for a quite a long time now. Raised him up ever since he was a little Pichu. We kinda grew up together.. Jimmy told Cassandra

Hoping he didn't say too much in front of her giving away his role here.

"What about you ladies? As popular as you are I would've expected you to be doing some finer dining or hanging out with someone much more higher end than spending time in the park here. You're all quite the spectacle here. Besides that you've got a battle coming up soon. Don't you need to prepare for that? Or do you already have some big plan in store?" Jimmy says as his Pikachu hung closely to him on the bench.

He knew they he couldn't say too much, but he had to get some conversation going in hopes of getting some information from them. Hopefully it wasn't too much of a giveaway. He's always loved taking shots a little too close for comfort, but he's typically always played a good poker face.

"Not to say much, but I've loved seeing your battles. You're the best here after all, no questions about it. Maybe you could offer someone like me tips so we can all learn from someone more experienced. Pikachu here is always ready for a battle, but even he has his limits." Jimmy said as he pat his Pikachu on the head.

The Pikachu smiled as it looked back at his trainer. Trusting him on his words here as he knew he was trying to play to their good sides.

"So is there anything you can tell me? Leave as a hint for us to look forward to for your upcoming battle? I'd love to hear it so we can be ready for it. I'm sure it'll be a grand show either way it goes, but you being the best I'm sure we know how it'll go." Jimmy asked her with confidence. Hoping for anything to gaint out from this conversation.

Neo Emolga

01-05-2021, 01:26 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Chakramaster (Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine, Shruikan's characters nearby)

After Jimmy had looked up to Cassandra, sure enough she got her answer.

"Oh this guy?” Jimmy replied, referring to his Pikachu. “We've been partners for a quite a long time now. Raised him up ever since he was a little Pichu. We kinda grew up together.”

That was all Cassandra needed. After hearing that, it was safe to assume said Pikachu in question wasn’t ever formerly human. Still, she wasn’t going to reveal why she suspected him in the first place for anything at all, but it did mean she now had to follow through with her having to feign her interest in the electric rodent.

“What about you ladies?” Jimmy asked her. “As popular as you are I would've expected you to be doing some finer dining or hanging out with someone much more higher end than spending time in the park here. You're all quite the spectacle here. Besides that you've got a battle coming up soon. Don't you need to prepare for that? Or do you already have some big plan in store?”

“Ha ha, no, I don’t get that anxious before a battle,” Cassandra smirked. “In fact we were just passing through to go for a little shopping. Me, I’m ready for anything. You always need to be.”

As Jimmy’s Pikachu hung closely by him on the park bench, Cassandra was curious as to what Jimmy meant by “big plan,” but she didn’t think too deeply on it.

“Not to say much, but I've loved seeing your battles,” Jimmy told the three ladies as he patted his Pikachu on the head. “You're the best here after all, no questions about it. Maybe you could offer someone like me tips so we can all learn from someone more experienced. Pikachu here is always ready for a battle, but even he has his limits.”

While the conversation was going on for longer than Cassandra had originally intended, she was flattered by Jimmy’s comments, unlike the other trainer who just wanted autographs and got up in their face about it. She didn’t mind a few more minutes of that.

“So, is there anything you can tell me?” Jimmy asked. “Leave as a hint for us to look forward to for your upcoming battle? I'd love to hear it so we can be ready for it. I'm sure it'll be a grand show either way it goes, but you being the best I'm sure we know how it'll go.”

It was there that Cassandra couldn’t help but smirk. Jimmy had been the first to ask her that real deep question, and she felt she had the perfect answer.

“Be ready for anything,” Cassandra told Jimmy with a confident smile, enjoying the flattery. “That’s my advice. Train your Pokémon like hell and they’ll be ready to take on anyone, anything, anytime, even if your opponent tries to apply a type advantage. They’ll lose their minds over it! If you really want to win, never hold anything back, not for an instant. Use everything you’ve got to their fullest potential. I mean it.”

She avoided the specifics, but she figured it was enough to explain what she wanted. Meanwhile, unlike the other trainer who wanted autographs, Jimmy was at least respectful, complimented her, and wasn’t in her face. Cassandra figured she could leave Jimmy with a little parting gift. It wasn’t anything she needed anyway, but she figured Jimmy could do with it. She reached into her bag and after a little sifting around, she found what she was looking for.

“If you want to become one of the best, this should help you and your little friend get there,” Cassandra smirked.

She kept the item in her hand hidden until she placed it on the bench right between Jimmy and his Pikachu. After taking her hand off of it and pulling back, both Jimmy and his Pikachu could clearly see it was a Thunder Stone, green and glistening with a thunderbolt embedded in the center of the fist-sized gem.

“Like I said, never hold anything back,” Cassandra smirked. “I’ll see you around, hun. ‘Till next time.”

She then waved him goodbye with a quick swift hand wave and then headed past him with Jarena and Violet following closely. Once they were out of earshot and proceeded toward the Central Park exit, Jarena giggled and looked to Cassandra.

“Well, someone’s feeling rather generous today,” Jarena smiled. “Can’t remember the last time you handed out freebies.”

“I like his compliments,” Cassandra smiled proudly. “Let him tell all his friends and the people he meets those sorts of things. That spreads around. Besides, I don’t train electric types anyway.”

“Fair enough,” Violet replied, taking a short but quick glace back at Jimmy before turning around. “That clears your suspicions about that Pikachu. But are you still on the lookout for them?”

In truth, Cassandra would have liked to sweep those two loose ends under the rug and be done with the whole matter entirely, but there was still the fact there were two intruders that became Pokémon and they were both very likely still on the ship, though Cassandra knew trying to find them was worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack considering how large the ship was. At the same time, something didn’t feel quite right with her at the moment, but she decided not to show it.

“Let’s not worry about it,” Cassandra replied, still maintaining her casual smirk. “What’s the worst they could do, anyway? People would just assume they’re someone’s lost Pokémon and any squeak or squeal they make would just be brushed off as them crying to be reunited with their trainer. I bet that happens all the time on these cruises.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Jarena smiled again. “Besides, this little voyage is more than half over already. In a couple days we’ll be on our way and no one will ever know or find out.”

Cassandra nodded and smiled as well. Instead of thinking about that, she shifted gears and began thinking of her upcoming battle with Avery Miller. She was looking forward to that tonight.

[Desolate Divine]

01-05-2021, 05:36 AM

Alyssa Drake
Central Park

Avery left, before being tracked down by what Alyssa could only assume was an avid fan, and unlike Cassandra who had chewed out the fan that approached her, Alyssa had full faith that Avery would be polite to their admirer.

The thing that surprised Alyssa most however was the sudden flick of the switch in Cassandra, as she approached another person, asking about his Pikachu. Cassandra actually looked happy to speak to him, and seemed friendly about it. Maybe this was her way of getting a good conversation?

Alyssa knew that Jarena had a reputation for loving Pokemon any and all sorts of cute, so maybe Cassandra was similar?

"Worth a try." Alyssa muttered to herself, before taking a left, and detouring behind a few cafes to further up central park, where based on the direction they were walking, the Diamond Ladies should end up. Walking briskly once she was out of sight, she found a seat, right by the path she guessed they would take, before letting out a Pokemon of her own. Yuki the Alolan Vulpix.

"Think you can behave yourself?" Alyssa said with a chuckle to her somewhat mischievous Vulpix, before picking her up, and placing her on her lap, "If we are lucky, you might score me an interview I might struggle to get otherwise."

The Vulpix made a happy cry, as Alyssa scratched her behind the ears, out of the corner of her eyes, watching her target, as she finished her conversation, handing the trainer an item, confusing Alyssa even more, considering she spent longer shredding the fan who approached her earlier than it would have taken to sign his Pokeball and send him away.

"Time to see if we can get this interview..."

Noblejanobii

01-06-2021, 04:50 PM

Avery Miller
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Shruikan (Chakramaster, Desolute Divine, and Neo Emolga's characters kinda nearby)

Avery had just begun to eavesdrop on the Diamond Ladies' conversation with Jimmy when they heard someone else call out their name. They quickly glanced around and spotted a teenage girl appear in front of them.

“You’re Avery Miller aren’t you? The great Co-ordinator? I’m such a big fan! Ever since I saw you in the Galar circuit.” She held a notebook towards the shaymin on Avery’s shoulder, beaming at the two of them. “Could I please please get Gloria’s autograph? Oh and yours too? Sorry, maybe should have asked you first. I’m Luneth.”

Drat, a rather in opportune time to be recognized. Still, Avery wasn't about to treat a fan with anything less than respect and kindness, even if it did mean losing the chance to gain intel on the Diamond Ladies. Avery owed their fans a great deal when it came to their fame after all.

Avery smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "Pleasure to meet you, Luneth. Of course we'd be happy to give you are autographs," they responded as they took the notebook from Luneth. Thankfully, Avery was rather used to this and kept autograph supplies on them wherever they went, since more often than not they were recognized on their outings. Pulling an ink pad from their pocket, Avery let Gloria press her paw into it. They quickly closed it and opened the notebook to a free page, helping Gloria keep her balance as she stamped her paw onto the notebook. Avery quickly wiped off Gloria's paw then got out a pen to sign their own autograph. "It's not often I meet fans from my Galar circuit days," Avery commented as they signed the notebook. "Are you from the Galar region? Perhaps I visited your hometown while I was there."

Avery finished writing a little note to Luneth and held the notebook back out to her. They always tried to leave a little note when doing signings like this if they could since Avery always felt it made the autograph more personal. Even if they didn't know a lot about the person, Avery just wanted to give them a little something special as another way to say thanks for supporting them. In Luneth's case, the note read:

"To Luneth,
I really like the kimono you chose to wear today. I've always loved Ecruteak inspired fashion so perhaps I'll try something similar for a new coordinator outfit in the future.
Thank you for the inspiration,
Avery Miller"

As Avery handed Luneth back her notebook, they spotted the Diamond Ladies walking away from Jimmy. Oh well, but at least they hopefully made a fan happy. It seemed Alyssa was in hot pursuit of the trio though so hopefully she'd be able to get that interview she greatly desired. As they glanced behind Luneth, Avery spotted Circuit, causing them to raise an eyebrow. "Is that Pokémon yours? What species are they, if you don't mind me asking? I can't say I'm familiar with it."

Chakramaster

01-14-2021, 01:15 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park

As the Diamond Ladies moved on. Jimmy stared at the green stone in his hand. Knowing well what it was. His Pikachu not too fond of it either.

"Yeah I know buddy. I won't get this anywhere close to you."

Jimmy sighed as he placed the thunderstone in his bag.

"Well if that wasn't a big waste of time. I got nothing from that and nowhere to gain. At this point it's almost pointless to do too much. Either this whole thing is a bust or we're all just being too cautious. Being nice in that conversation really got us nowhere and didn't go how I envisioned at all."

Jimmy relaxed a bit in the park bench next to his Pikachu. Looking up towards the sky as his linger on in his thoughts. He pulled out a list he jot down from when they first arrived on the ship. Of what events were planned and when. Trying to look for anything they could spent time until the find more news or until something new happens. The big highlight was the match planned later that night.

"We could always do more scouting, but we don't wanna be over zealous either."

Still his mind just caught up in thoughts. Thinking back on things now of what and how the Diamond Ladies acted in his encounter with them.

"So for one they don't get anxious. I dunno how true that is. Everyone can get a little intimidated at times."

"One that really gets me is she said to "be ready for anything." That's a really....wild pitch with words. It's like it answered its own question.

"ugh, I still can't believe she thought I needed a thunderstone. Like I'd ever forcefully evolve you buddy." Jimmy said as he gave his Pikachu a few pats on the head.

"Piiii~" his Pikachu said

"I guess the real question is. Where do we look next?" Jimmy said pulling out a map of the place and beginning to mubble to himself on what he thinks they should do and where to go.

Neo Emolga

01-16-2021, 03:18 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine (And possibly others around the Park)

Cassandra had decided to move on to go do some shopping, as Jimmy’s Pikachu wasn’t at all what she might have suspected, but spending the extra few minutes to make sure nothing odd was unfolding still seemed to be worth the time.

Something still didn’t settle right with her, however.

As she approached the Windjammer Marketplace, she had overheard the happy cry of an Alolan Vulpix, looking cheerful as her trainer, Alyssa, had been likely scratching her behind the ears. Out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra could see Alyssa was shooting odd glances at her, which seemed unusual, as if to imply Alyssa was more interested in her than the Vulpix.

It seemed off to her, but she figured maybe it was due to her fame. Cassandra just decided to dismiss it, thinking maybe it was just from recognition. She had to expect that considering the kind of names the three of them made for themselves.

But then, she felt it. A sudden tingling sensation that only she felt. It had occurred right when she was only a few feet away from Alyssa and the Alolan Vulpix. And while the arctic fox Pokémon had initially caught her eye, Cassandra suddenly slowed down in her walking and then stopped, surprising Jarena and Violet a bit. They completely stopped behind her, wondering what was going on.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Cassandra growled under her breath.

She knew what the tingle meant. Someone had triggered the trap on the pillow. It meant someone was in their room again, trying to go through her belongings, and came into contact with it and were likely now a Pokémon. She knew housekeeping wouldn’t have bothered to check under the beds, so it ruled out that possibly.

“…Again?” Jarena asked, thinking she figured it out.

“…Yeah,” Cassandra muttered, glancing back toward their room. “I can’t believe it, what the hell’s going on? We’d better go back to the room.”

“This shouldn’t have happened again already,” Violet remarked. “That’s twice in less than 24 hours.”

“Come on, let’s go,” Cassandra told the other two.

She decided to turn around, heading back to the room with Jarena and Violet closely behind. She decided to walk a little faster, briskly walking to get there quickly, but not suddenly dash into a run that would look out of place here.

As soon as they were back in the hallway where the guest rooms were, Cassandra decided to pick up the pace now that there were fewer people. Jarena couldn’t help but speak up as they made haste to get back to see what was going on.

“Ladies, I think they’re onto us,” Jarena told the other two, feeling a bit anxious while still trying to keep her cool. “We’ve never had two incidents like this happen so close together, so we’d better start coming up with a plan to either bail off this tub or… I dunno, something.”

“Are you kidding, I still have a tournament to win!” Cassandra countered, surprised Jarena would even consider that. “If I don’t show up tonight, I forfeit the entire match to Avery Miller, which there’s no way I’m going to let happen. Also, we’re out in the middle of the ocean right now, there’s nowhere to run to!”

“I was afraid of this,” Violet replied. “But Jarena’s right, we need to do something.”

“We’ll figure that out later, let’s just get back to the room first to see what’s going on,” Cassandra told them.

After lightly running down a few more hallways, they soon approached their guest room. And unlike the many other rooms, they saw the door was wide open though Cassandra distinctly remembered shutting the door, which also meant to get in, they would have needed the keycard as well, which Cassandra thought only the three of them had. She gave the signal to keep quiet as she slowly approached the open door and looked inside.

The inside of the room was a mess with drawers pulled out, bedsheets thrown around, and their suitcases dumped out with all of their clothing scattered about on the floor. It was clear this time around, they were foregoing being subtle and now aggressively trying to uncover evidence. Last night’s incident with them being stopped by the operatives after dinner was one thing, but now this was something a whole level higher.

Jarena’s jaw dropped in shock at the sight of all of her things thrown around, but she didn’t make a sound. They knew whoever raided their room like this had been waiting and watching for the moment they left to head in, turn the place upside down to find something, and now, they sure did. And it was likely they were now a Pokémon… and still inside the room somewhere.

“Get ready to sedate them,” Cassandra whispered, “…whatever they are now…”

Both Jarena and Violet nodded as they slowly and carefully made their way into the room, keeping a very close watch on everything in the room and looking for any traces of movement, although the piles of blankets and clothes made it tricky. If there really was a formerly human now Pokémon in this room, it was going to be difficult to pinpoint exactly where they were with so many places to hide and things to cover themselves.

And it was then where they heard a voice.

“Nathan?” the voice from the radio buried under some blankets asked. “Nathan, are you there? What happened, did you find anything? Nathan, can you read me? Come in!”

“This was a freaking raid…” Jarena muttered. “Someone is deliberately trying to set us up.”

Cassandra and Violet didn’t respond, simply trying to hunt down the intruder. All of a sudden, they saw a dark shape try to make a mad dash for the door, and it used the blankets on the floor to conceal their movement. Cassandra tried to target it, suddenly realizing said figure was in fact a Zorua, the dark fox Pokémon. Although new to this form, Nathan didn’t have too much trouble adjusting to running on all fours now, as he was able to slip past the three ladies and run out into the hall quickly before they had any opportunity to target him with a sedation spell. By the time Cassandra was able to get out the door and saw what direction he had run in, she saw the Zorua was already well past down the hall and would have been hard to target. Not to mention there were a few people in the hallway who would have been witnesses and would have seen the Zorua go from full sprint to fast asleep in an instant, which would look very odd and suspicious.

“YOU GET BACK HERE, YOU!” Cassandra shouted at the Zorua before Violet stopped her, realizing it was too late to stop him as the dark fox made a fast dash down the hall.

“Leave him,” Violet stopped her, just before Cassandra was about to give chase. “Best to not make a scene.”

It made Cassandra a bit unhinged to know that there were now not one, not two, but three Pokémon running around the ship that used to be humans and their room had been raided twice now.

And then they heard something come from the radio that made their hearts sink.

“Nathan, hold on, we’re sending someone over…”

Shruikan

01-17-2021, 07:55 PM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii , Neo Emolga ?

Avery turned out to be as awesome in reality as on TV. As they were writing they inquired about Luneth’s hometown.
“Oh, I’m from Ballonlea. It’s a small place, but I’m pretty sure you’ve visited, Opal’s been in the circuit for as long as I can remember.”
Luneth took back the notepad, and after quickly reading over the message hugged it close to her, as if protecting it from prying hands.

“Is that Pokémon yours? What species are they, if you don't mind me asking? I can't say I'm familiar with it."

“Oh Circuit? I think he’s called a Silvally? Like the one that alolan trainer has, I think his name was Gladion? Oh, but he’s pretty shy about people seeing his face, so he like to wear this mask a lot.” Circuit cautiously approached, but stayed weary of Avery, keeping Luneth between the two.

“Anyway, it was so great meeting you, thank you both so much!” Luneth reached out to shake hands with the Shaymin, then Avery, beaming like a child on christmas morning. “Good luck with your battle tonight, I’ll be cheering you on for sure!”
And after bobbing a quick bow, Luneth skipped away and clambering back onto Circuit’s back.

So, what was next on the list. Diamond Ladies, Avery, Shaymin cafe… Right, the cafe! That was where she was going before.

As she neared the cafe, she saw the diamond ladies near a lady with an alolan vulpix. She yipped happily and waved at the alolan fox as she rode past, sounding eerily close to a real vulpix.
She considered further approaching them when the diamond ladies caught her attention again by briskly walking away, at a pace that while not unusual was considerably faster that their speed up ‘til now.
What were they in such a hurry for? Even if it was nothing, the cafe could wait, and perhaps she could pick up an autograph from Ruby. Luneth began to follow them, though at a reasonable distance so as not to seem like a creepy stalker. More like an inquisitive stalker. Maybe not say that out loud, that still sounded kinda bad. She slowly followed the sisters across the Wishmaker, perhaps a bit too slowly, as around the time they were nearing the guest rooms she completely lost them.

They probably just remember something the left behind, Luneth reasoned, and they were rushing back to pick it up. Oh, or were called there by a legendary pokemon to go on some grand adventure, like in TV shows. Or maybe they realised they still needed to prepare for the next fight in the tourney tonight. Or-

Luneth’s lack of attention caused two things. First, she forgot to return Circuit to his pokeball and was still riding him, despite being in more enclosed halls where he barely fit down the hallways and took up nearly the entire width. Because of this, when a Zorua hurtled ‘round the corner at full speed, it slapped staight into the Silvally, bouncing a few feet back from the force.

Luneth gave a yip of surprise. “Oh! Are you alright?” She said, sliding down and scooping up the slightly dazed Zorua before it had a chance to move. She held the fox pokemon in both hands, slowly turning it around and checking for bruises, but thankfully it didn’t appear injured. “Yup, everything seems fine here. You should try to be more careful though.” She lifted the now struggling Zorua to eye level and looked it over quizzically. “I wonder why you were you in such a rush in the first place?”

Noblejanobii

01-18-2021, 11:14 PM

Avery Miller
Central Park => Guest Quarters Hallway
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga with Shruikan nearby

Avery and Gloria waved as Luneth ran off. A Silvally huh? Avery wasn’t super familiar with the breed but they made a mental note to look in them later on. They seemed like interesting Pokémon.

Avery pulled their phone back out to finish posting the photo they had taken earlier to social media. It may have been just a cover but it came out rather well so no harm in taking advantage of that for a social post. Immediately the likes and comments came flooding in. Avery smiled a little, taking a few minutes to look through them all and even respond to a few of them. It seemed that even though they weren’t particularly confident with their chances in the semifinals tonight, many people were rooting for them as the underdog candidate. How sweet of them.

“Too bad we’re definitely going to lose,” Avery mumbled with a chuckle as they scratches Gloria’s chin.

“Min min,” she chided in response.

“I know I know. Don’t count your Torchics before they hatch,” Avery responded. “It’s not that I doubt you or the others’ abilities, I just don’t think we can afford to underestimate a member of the Diamond Ladies. She has her scary reputation for a reason.”

A voice suddenly crackled in Avery’s ear, erupting from the ear piece they forget they had in. “Operative Avery, your immediate assistant is requested.” Avery quickly moved their phone to their ear to disguise their muttering as a phone call.

“What’s the situation?” they asked quietly.

“Another operative, Nathan, just went MIA after infiltrating the Diamond Ladies’ room.” Speak of the devils, Avery muses. “We think they’ve potentially taken him hostage or worse. You’re the closest free operative that can scope out the wreckage.”

“You’re kidding right? What if they see me and suspect me? I’m already risking it big going against Cassandra in the semis tonight. I’d rather not have my head on a silver platter as their dessert dish tonight.”

“That’s your problem then. But time is of the essence so get over there.”

Avery let out a heavy sigh as they lowered their phone from their ear. Great. “Stay vigilant, Gloria, we’re venturing into the belly of the beast.” Gloria gave a sharp nod in response before the two made their way towards the guest hallways.

They moved at a brisk pace, trying not to draw attention to themself but still move quickly enough that if something was going down they could catch it in the act. As they drew closer to the hall, they spotted Luneth again. Unfortunately for them, Circuit was blocking the entire hallway which meant no easy passage that way. Besides, even if Circuit hadn’t been clogging the hallway, Luneth would recognize them again and potentially delay their arrival or give them away to the Diamond Ladies. Couldn’t have that.

“Shoot,” Avery mumbled. Backtracking quickly, they began to scan the directional signs until they spotted an employee only entrance into the guest halls. Close enough. Holding their phone up to the card scanner, the light flicked green and they dashed in. After weaving through piles of laundry and an assortment of other items, they came to another doorway labeled guest rooms. “Bingo.”

Avery cracked out the door slightly and peeked out. After confirming the hall was clear, Avery slipped out and closed the door behind them. They placed Gloria on the floor and signaled for her to go on ahead.

Gloria scampered down the hall with Avery close behind. As she peeked around the corner, Gloria spotted the Diamond Ladies standing outside their room. Something had definitely gone down for sure. She looked back at Avery and nodded her head in the ladies’ direction. Avery frowned. Okay so they were there but now what? Perhaps Gloria could get slightly closer to overhear what they were saying? It was worth a shot.

After whispering the instructions to their Pokémon, Avery watched as Gloria quickly wound her way around the corner and began to creep closer to the Diamond Ladies, doing her best to stay hidden against the walls if she could.

Chakramaster

01-19-2021, 02:23 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii

Jimmy leaned back and put his hands to his face and let out a short grunt

"Ugh, really this place is just too big to just try and pinpoint an exactly location. You could guess and even then we'd have near thousands of other potential places here to search.

Jimmy packed his map away again. Just as he grabs his bag and begins to get back up. Jimmy picks up a transmission being sent to him.

"Mr. Kendo do you copy?" A voice rings in his head. Jimmy looks around as his Pikachu grabs hold of his bag for a ride and manages to break away from any eyesight into one of the nearby hallways in a secluded corner before responding.

"Yeah I'm here. Go ahead."

"We just contacted agent Avery and they are on their way to investigate what happened to agent Nathan. As I'm sure you've heard. He was sent to investigate the Diamond Ladies room and has since gone missing. Avery was the closest so they were out first point of contact. We need an extra pair of eyes this time. Extra caution is highly advised."

"So right into the firepit huh? I was hoping to avoid this, but I can't outright deny a command. Avery has a big matchup tonight if I remember right. You sure it's okay to be sending her in too? I mean I know the plans, but I'm sure they won't think too fondly if she got caught snooping."

"This takes priority Jimmy. We cannot afford to ease up here." The voice instructed.

"Yeah yeah understood. I did have my own interaction with them not too long ago. Didn't really get any useful information either. She more so just accepted me being nice and gave me a thunderstone. Must have thought I wanted to evolve my Pikachu here to become "stronger." Ha, like I'd ever force my buddy here to evolve without wanting it himself."

His Pikachu giving a cheer. "Piii-ka!"

"Well anyway. You have your orders. Be sure top keep in touch the moment you can if you find anything of use."

"No worries. We're on our way. Don't worry. We will keep an eye out for anything suspicious and Nathan as well. I'm sure he's okay."

Jimmy's eye caught a glimpse of a figure as they made their way into one of the employee only entrances. Jimmy grabs a Pokeball from his pocket and let's the Pokemon inside loose..

"Alright Rotom, let's do this." He says quietly as is appears in front of him.

"Make sure we're clear. Give us the signal when we're clear after getting through. If anything comes up. Well, get back to us asap and we'll make for our escape."

Jimmy made his way to the doorway the figure enters and his Rotom makes it's way into the systems. Clearing the locks. Around the corner and down the hall some way. Jimmy noticed a figure whispering to her Pokemon, a Shaymin."

"That must be Avery" as he sees the 2 together and the Shaymin start making it's way off around the corner."

Jimmy makes he way there quickly, but keeping quiet as he could using stealth from key parts he's learned over the years.

"Hey, you must be Avery. They wanted more than just one operative this time they knew could get the job done. So I made my way here. I'm Jimmy. What's the situation?" He said quietly as he took a brief moment to peek around the corner himself. Noticing what he hoped not to see so soon again. The Diamond Ladies.

"Oh perfect...just what we needed. This just became a lot more challenging." Jimmy muttered.

Neo Emolga

01-19-2021, 03:41 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Guest Room
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

It wasn’t in Cassandra’s usual behavior to panic, but she had never been in this situation before where others were drawing close to finding out their darkest secrets. If they had been found out, it would have been the end of their fame and careers and chances were good it could result in any prize money and accolades they ever had ever received being stripped.

“Just grab it all and let’s go!” Violet commanded, realizing there was someone already on their way to the guest room.

Agreeing there was not a second to waste, Cassandra dashed for the bed and prepared to grab the bag containing their witchcraft books and regents. Nothing else in the room mattered to her and she knew their clothing and personal belongings wouldn’t cause suspicion about what they were up to. As far as she was concerned, all she had to do was grab her witchcraft things and make sure they didn’t leave her sight. Once she did, she could then talk to the cruiseline’s security, claim they were robbed, and demand another guest room. But in her rushed haste and with a distracted and busy thought process, she made one major critical error.

She forgot to “clean” the pillow.

“Hurry up, I think someone’s coming!” Jarena shouted into the room as she kept a watch out in the hallway.

In the past, the Diamond Ladies never did try and experiment to see if a hexed object could in fact result in multiple Pokémon transformations with additional contacts. Cassandra found the answer to that the hard way. It can… if and when several different strands of Pokémon fur were held while the hex was performed. And in this case, besides including one of a Zorua, it included several others…

Her hand never made contact with the bag before it became a paw, much to Cassandra’s horror. In just two seconds, her body went from being a 5’11, 23-year-old lady to a 1’ tall, fourteen pound Eevee. She didn’t even have a moment to scream before two long ears and a fox-like tail sprouted from her head and rear as brown fur and a beige-colored fluffy collar surrounded her neck. Her arms, legs, torso, and the rest of her body were instantly changed in shape and form as they were all covered with Eevee fur. She found herself suddenly dropped to the carpeted floor on all fours as her now oversized t-shirt and jeans slipped off of her much smaller, fox-like body. When she emerged from the pile of clothing, she suddenly became paralyzed in panic as she looked at her transformed paws that were formerly hands.

“Eeevveeeeee eee!!” she screamed.

The sudden cry of a frightened Eevee coming from the room caught Jarena’s and Violet’s attention, and they couldn’t help but look into the room, first with puzzled curiosity, and then absolute shock as they looked toward the bed and realized that there was now an Eevee where Cassandra used to be, and it didn’t take them a split second to realize what had transpired.

“Cass, you didn’t…” Violet muttered.

“Oh boy…” Jarena swallowed hard, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. “Oh boy… Cass, now you’ve done it. How could you forget to… look at you! What the hell do we do with you now!?”

But there was nothing Cassandra could do except quiver in her new Eevee body, feeling so strange and unfamiliar as she was now covered with brown and beige fur. She couldn’t even speak to them in English to admit her regret for acting too quickly. Meanwhile, it was true, the three of them never considered to learn how to dispel and undo a Pokémon transformation as a precaution. They weren’t even entirely sure if it was at all possible, having focused much more on learning how to cause the afflictions rather than undo them. But they had absolutely no time to stop and see if the recipe for undoing the complete mishap was perhaps tucked away on a page of their witchcraft books they had overlooked. What they had taken along for the cruise were only the bare essentials. Everything else was committed to memory and the solution to deal with this was not one of those memories.

Violet decided to pick up from where Cassandra left off, this time making sure the hex on the pillow was dispelled before grabbing Cassandra’s bag. And with little choice in the matter, she had scooped up Cassandra and all the newly-transformed Eevee could do was look at Violet with sad, very regretful eyes. Then, she had taken Cassandra’s belt of Pokéballs and slung them around her shoulder, shaking her head at the ill-timed and absolute mayhem of the situation. The two of them then just decided to move away from the room, standing in the hallway and not sure where they were going to go and what they were going to do next.

“How are we supposed to explain this, now?” Violet asked. “She can’t compete in the tournament like this!”

“Let me just… think for a minute,” Jarena demanded.

“Eeev…veee…” Cassandra muttered and drooped her eyelids in shame as her long Eevee ears dropped toward the back of her neck.

They continued down the hall, unaware of Gloria the Shaymin watching and listening to them from the shadows. While the Diamond Ladies were unaware they were being watched by Avery, Jimmy, and their Pokémon, they tried to think of something. They knew help for Nathan was on the way and they needed a believable lie to keep the truth covered if they were spotted here.

“If we run into anyone, tell them we were robbed,” Violet told Jarena in a serious tone. “We have the stuff so there’s nothing to find in there now and they can search all they like. That and tell them Cassandra left to go get help from security.”

“What about that ‘Nathan’ dude?” Jarena asked. “What if they ask about him?”

“Act like you have no idea who or what they’re talking about,” Violet told her. “That’s all. Now let’s just find an empty room somewhere so we can figure out if there’s something we can do for Cass.”

It wasn’t too much of a plan, but right now, it was all that they had. They knew there wouldn’t be too many open empty places around the guest rooms, but she was hoping there might be a storage cabinet, a public restroom, or an empty space with ice and vending machines nearby they could use to hide for a bit, away from prying eyes and ears.

Noblejanobii

01-21-2021, 03:17 AM

Avery Miller
Guest Quarters Hallway
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Avery nearly jumped out of their skin when Jimmy spoke up. They hadn't heard him approach since they had been so focused on Gloria. After taking a split second to collect themselves mentally, Avery offered a smile and responded, "Pleasure to meet you, Jimmy. Backup is very appreciated in this situation. With my match up tonight, I'm not exactly in a favorable position to get caught."

They looked around the corner towards the Diamond Ladies' room. "Seems they're aware that their room was infiltrated and the operative who did it has gone missing. Haven't seen hide or hair of him since I got here. Though with the rumors of what these ladies are capable of, it's anyone's guess as to what they've done with him." Avery nodded towards Gloria, who was creeping ever closer to the room. "My partner there is small enough that I'm hoping she can eavesdrop on the room and figure out their next plan of attack without them noticing. Outside of following them after they leave, I don't have much of a plan. This isn't exactly what I do for a living after all."

Avery quieted down when they noticed the ladies leaving their room. Er... well two of the ladies at least. Cassandra was oddly absent from her usual leading position of the trio. Even weirder still, Violet was holding an Eevee. Had she always had one? Avery couldn't recall without looking at the files again and now was not the time for that. The duo were making their way briskly down the hall straight for Avery and Jimmy. They needed to think fast. Luckily, Avery had an idea that might just provide a cover story for them, albeit a bit of a flimsy one but one that's just plausible enough, it might work. The only problem was that it left Gloria in grave danger if the ladies noticed the small Shaymin lurking near their door.

"Pretend you're a fan asking for an autograph and selfie. You caught me on my way to my room and we've just been chatting about contests and battles and such. Okay? Okay," Avery hissed out in a quiet voice. Whether Jimmy agreed to this plan or not, Avery didn't care, because they didn't have the time to come up with another one.

Avery quickly whipped out their Rotom phone and set it to selfie mode, allowing it to float in the air in front of them. "Come on now, smile wide and pose for the camera. Just do whatever comes naturally," they said at a normal speaking level. Holding up a peace sign, Avery waited for Jimmy to join in on the selfie, praying to Arceus the ladies didn't notice Gloria. The Shaymin seemed to catch onto her trainer's vibes, having frozen in place against the wall and doing her best to blend in with the carpet.

Chakramaster

01-21-2021, 11:37 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Guest Quarters Hallways
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Neo Emolga

Jimmy had startled Avery. Not meaning to, but when someone is focused on one thing. It tends to get to someone.

Avery explained about the infiltration attempt last night and how the agent involved went missing.

"Yeah it's true. Since that no one has heard a word from him. Not a clue if they've been captured and held hostage or what. We could attempt to ask, but my assumption is they'd play dumb. Especially if their room was trashed in the process."

Avery explained how their partner there is small enough and shouldn't be able to be noticed. All while eavesdropping on the ladies.

"Don't worry. It's not like they can easily get away on this ship. Now they know there's prying eyes everywhere. Their more likely to drop the ball at some point. It's only a matter of time. We just can't afford to play it too easy when that time comes either." Jimmy said to Avery. All the while keeping his voice low enough so no one else can hear him.

"Plus I've got my own Rotom nearby too keeping watch. If we absolutely have to. It can distract the Diamond Ladies briefly while you rescue your friend and we can get away."

Both Avery and Jimmy got quiet as the ladies left the room. Only, they both seemed to catch one thing particularly odd.

Keeping quiet, "huh, that's odd. Cassandra is missing. She's usually the one leading the trio. Wonder what's up?"

One of the other ladies, Violet, even had an Eevee held in her arms. "I don't recall them having an Eevee right off. I thought they liked only the strong Pokemon. Cassandra even mentioned that too in the discussion she had with me earlier. Eevee is too cute for their liking I would've thought." Jimmy kinda mumbled. Again, keeping his voice low enough so only he and Avery could hear.

At about the same time. Both Jimmy and Avery noticed the two Diamond Ladies and Eevee still in Violet's arms began heading directly their way. Avery's partner in danger on its own as well. They couldn't just leave it behind either. With nowhere to run. It was time to make a decision. Avery quickly told Jimmy to act like a fan. Wanting an autograph and selfie. Avery whipped out their Rotom phone and went into selfie mode. Preparing a picture to take with them both. Jimmy played along in the picture to help keep in hope neither of them come off too suspicious. Jimmy kept at the ready for a signal with his Rotom which was currently residing in his smart watch. Ready for a moments notice to make a jump into the nearest device to cause some distraction. All it would take is a signal from Jimmy. Having trained his Rotom for these kinda thing paid off. Continuing to play this meet off as a fan of Avery.

Neo Emolga

01-22-2021, 12:56 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Guest Quarters Hallways
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

This had easily become the worst day of Cassandra’s life.

As they walked down the hall, Violet tried to find any quiet room that was nearby, but nothing was available and everything was either locked or there were people around and they wouldn’t have enough time to read through their witchcraft books trying to find a remedy for Cassandra. Eventually, Violet decided to go to one of the few places on the ship that she knew of that was meant to be quiet. There, they would have privacy and would be able to look through the witchcraft books to see if there was anything at all regarding transformation reversal or anything that could help Cassandra return to normal.

“We’ll try the Pinnacle Chapel,” Violet told Jarena as she cradled a frustrated Cassandra in her arms, a bit aggravated that it seemed like that was the only quiet and private place available on the entire ship. “No one will bother us in there. It’s usually meant for quiet prayers, but it’ll work for us.”

“Fair enough,” Jarena agreed half-heartedly, a bit irked about how much walking it would take to get there but accepting of it simply because she didn’t have any alternatives in mind.

They hadn’t noticed Gloria the Shaymin hiding against the wall, as they were far too focused on just trying to get away from the room and figure out if there was any hope of Cassandra being human ever again from what they knew about their hexes and spells. As they walked past the flora hedgehog Pokémon, suddenly they ran into Avery Miller themselves, with Jimmy Kendo by her side. The three of them were in sudden shock, as if they had seen a ghost. Normally it would just be a bit of surprise, but given the new circumstances…

“Avery Miller…” Violet confirmed, looking at the green-haired twenty-three-year-old in their recognizable orange uniform as they were taking a selfie with Jimmy.

“Who… what are you doing here?” Jarena asked Avery, thinking this was a completely bizarre coincidence when despite Jarena’s question, it was perfectly logical for Avery to be in the hallway possibly going to or from their room.

Meanwhile, Cassandra was just speechless. Her transformation into an Eevee and then running into her opponent for tonight’s tournament couldn’t have possibly had even worse timing. It was a well-known fact the Diamond Ladies almost always traveled together and they were obviously going to wonder why only Jarena and Violet were around and why Cassandra seemed to be suddenly missing.

But then as she saw Avery taking a selfie with Jimmy, the trainer she only just spoke to, it hit her like a ton of bricks, like it was a horrible glimpse of a terrible, inevitable future. Avery, who Cassandra knew she could beat, would end up being declared the winner of tonight’s tournament battle when Cassandra would be a no-show. And her fame, her whole career, would be in tatters, as if it was not already completely destroyed now that she was an Eevee with very little hope of ever changing back. And here was Jimmy, instead of giving her attention, was now giving it Avery, the adversary she was no longer capable of beating in tonight’s match. And in a selfie of all things. First it would be Jimmy, then other fans, then entire crowds, all who used to be her fans but swapped over because she was now completely out of the picture.

It was enough to make her blood boil.

She grew furious, and started trying to break free of Violet’s grasp while Violet suddenly snapped to attention and couldn’t imagine what had gotten into Cassandra’s sudden erratic, thrashing behavior. Violet also grew angry, having already lost her patience with how rotten this day had become.

“Cass, knock it off!” Violet shouted, struggling to hold on.

“Cass, knock it off…

Cass, knock it…

Cass, knock…

Cass…

C͔͖̖as͎̭̳̝̦s̝̮͖̪̪͖.̦.̼̺̘̜ͅͅ.̖

C̟̭̜̟̭̱a̞̫̜̦̝̠̦s͖͙̪͓̟̞̪s̮͔͖.̻͓̬͔ͅ.̣͍͖̹̖ͅ.͖̬̼̥

Jarena’s jaw instantly dropped and even Cassandra herself suddenly stopped and looked absolutely mortified at Violet’s terrible, terrible slip of the tongue, right in front of Avery, who was supposed to be her opponent for tonight, and Jimmy, who Cassandra had only just met minutes ago. But it was too late, and three witches had no spell or incantation to turn back time or wipe the memory of what was just said. Avery and Jimmy were going to wonder why she had suddenly referred to the Eevee by Cassandra’s nickname, and in time, they would make all the connections between the missing operatives and ultimately, everything that the Diamond Ladies had accomplished. It was enough to make Jarena scream, but she couldn’t, just from the shock of it all.

And then she got an idea. An awful idea. Jarena had a wonderful, awful idea.

The sight of them like this and Violet’s slip was too much to allow for any witness. Avery could question the ruckus that had happened in the room, question what the unexpected screaming was about, and most of all, why their opponent Cassandra was suddenly an Eevee. To Jarena, she was left with no choice. Avery and Jimmy had simply seen and heard too much. If Cassandra and her team couldn’t compete in the tournament tonight because she had become an Eevee, well, then…

…it was only fair that Avery Miller couldn’t either.

A Pokémon transformation hex couldn’t be placed upon a person themselves with them being potential recipient victims of the hex itself, but there was an easily-acquired workaround of placing the hex on a piece of the victim’s clothing or belongings. Since the victim was already in contact with the hexed object, it was triggered instantly and the desired effect was accomplished through a slightly more indirect route.

Jarena simply reached into her pocket and into the pouch of Pokémon fur strands. There was no time to choose. To her, Avery had to be out of the picture. It would buy them time to get out of sight, make up for Violet’s slip of the tongue with Avery being unable to retell the story in English, and it solve the issue of the tournament tonight. Both contestants didn’t show up? She figured that would be a show-stopper and no one would win or lose, thus preserving Cassandra’s record. She figured she could at least give her now Eevee friend that kind of consolation to know Avery wouldn’t be winning by default.

She plucked but a single strand of orange fur from the pouch, and it became the regent basis for the hex. Jarena then whispered the strange, spidery-like incantations of the spell, which then was cast upon Avery’s orange shirt. Once the hex completed, the trap spell dictated that whoever came into that object next would be transformed into a Buizel, and since Avery was already wearing it…

…it was almost guaranteed.

And then there was Jimmy. Jimmy Kendo. Despite not wasting a second to start the hex intended for him after finishing Avery’s, Jarena felt a bit sorry for him as he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the spiky-haired twenty-five-year-old simply knew too much now, and like all of the victims that had come across critical information that the Diamond Ladies couldn’t allow to be exposed and shared, he was going to have to have the same treatment befallen on him as well. Those who discovered the truth about the Diamond Ladies simply couldn’t be allowed to tell the tale.

With one single strand of Pachirisu fur and Jarena’s gaze locked onto Jimmy’s shirt, she had to make it quick as she knew the hex on Avery’s shirt was already taking effect. After quickly muttering the incantation words with a dark whisper, the strand vanished and the hex was fulfilled.

“Did you just…?” Violet asked.

“Off we go!” Jarena urged Violet with a phony smile as she prepared to make a mad dash away from Avery and Jimmy. “Like, now.”

Violet knew exactly what that kind of tone of voice meant. It was time to make a quick dash for the Pinnacle Chapel and hope no one else needed to get that special, closer connection to their Pokémon today.

[Desolate Divine]

01-22-2021, 08:18 AM

Jon Drake
Pokemon Battling Stadium
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Jon practised in the empty battling arena making the most of the space. Whilst there was room for other competitors, it seemed none had made use of the facility being available to them. Not that he cared too much. Better for him if his opponent for this evening is unprepared.

He was pulled from his thoughts by his phone buzzing. Recognizing the app giving notifications as one installed for the operation, he quickly pulled out his room key, holding it to the back of the phone as the messages unscrambled. Unlike the email system used for long updates, this app was modelled off of an app like Telegram, where users subscribe to a channel and the person who owns it posts short text updates.

-Breach attempted on Target's Room.
-Contact lost with operatives breaching.
-Backup sent in.

"This isn't good..." Jon muttered to himself. This was the second time in twenty-four hours that operatives had made a move and then lost contact. The operatives from last night are still missing, and it wouldn't be long before it is official that the operatives from this breach were missing. The ones providing backup were also at risk.

"Latios," Jon called out to the seemingly empty arena, as an invisible Pokemon materialized in front of him, "I was hoping to keep this as a trump card, but we can't keep doing the same s**t hoping something changes."

Latios looked at Jon with an expression of concern, sensing Jon's unease. The Eon Pokemon was known for its supernatural empathy, and understanding the emotions of humans around it, however that was the least of his talents.

"Find the Diamond Ladies, and tail them. Don't be seen." Jon explained, "Send what you see to me in a few minutes, and don't intervene. If the agents going in now are hurt, that is on command for sending them in after what's just happened. All we are trying to do is find out what's going on. From what we know from the last few nights, these girls aren't as level headed as they'd have us believe. They are probably panicking so try and tune in for that. Hurry!"

Sensing the urgency, Latios disappeared, going invisible.

Jon began briskly walking to the locker room, planning on locking himself in a shower cubicle and running that, whilst Latios shared what he saw. A split second after there was a loud bang from above, as light poured in from a fresh, Eon Pokemon shaped hole in the ceiling... Jon instantly regretted telling Latios to hurry without specifying to use the door, dreading the increase his Public Damages Insurance (because what responsible professional battler wouldn't be covered for accidental battle damage) after he makes a claim for that...

Jon found himself a cubicle, before running the water and sitting on the bench near the door, watching his phone for updates. Whilst it was easier for him to close his eyes when sight sharing with Latios, it left him blind to the world around him, and vulnerable, so practise was needed to try and focus on the image in his head whilst still taking in his surroundings. After a few minutes, there was a flash of light, and when it disappated, whilst he was still seeing his phone, his imagination, for lack of better word, showed a first person perspective from Latios' point of view. High above the ship, Latios watched as people went past, seemingly with aura floating around them, which Jon had come to learn represented their emotions. Most were a light blue, showing calm, with tinges of yellow scattered through, showing happiness. Among them were a couple of grey aura, representing anxiety. One was a man arguing with his wife on the deck, another was a child standing on the diving board at the pool, Latios flew around the ship, being careful to not bump into anybody whilst invisible. However before long, Latios found them. Two of the Diamond Ladies, with a deep grey aura, carrying an Eevee with an aura so red, Jon felt Latios' shock at it. This Eevee was angry about something. They rounded a corner, however as Latios went to tail them, noticed something shocking. A girl with long black hair, and sunglasses wearing a bikini identical to one of Alyssa's. After a moment, Jon realized what was going on. Alyssa had brought her wigs with her in case she wanted to do some poking around unrecognized. She seemingly noticing them rounding the corner, and walking in the direction the two girls had just come from.

Jon felt a pit in his stomach knowing Alyssa was there, however had no way of communicating with Latios. All he could do was see and hear what Latios saw and heard, and wait for Latios to return to him in due time. He considered attempting to send Alyssa a text, however that much focus could interrupt the connection with Latios, and she was going in the opposite direction. Cassandra wasn't with them, but it would be too difficult and risky to warn her. Jon had to reassure himself that Alyssa could handle herself, as Latios trailed not too far behind the two girls and their Eevee...

Alyssa Drake
Guest Quarter Hallways
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

The three girls had been not even a few meters away when they stopped and began talking quietly amongst themselves, seemingly worried about something, before leaving very quickly. Something had upset them.

"Goddamn it..." Alyssa muttered to herself once they were out of earshot, "Don't worry, it was them not you."

Yuki cried out happily enjoying the scratch and attention before returning calmly to her Pokeball.

"I wouldn't be a good journalist if I let this sit..." Alyssa muttered to herself, before looking around trying to find a quiet corner where she wouldn't be noticed for a moment. Whilst she had no intention of swimming today, she had worn her swimsuit underneath her clothes to be a quick change in case she needed a disguise. Granted, it may have possibly drawn more attention to her, however a wig and some sunglasses without changing her clothes would do almost nothing. She quickly removed her clothes, hoping nobody was noticing her stripping down and enjoying the show.

Pulling a long jet black wig from her bag, she quickly tied her hair into a messy, and easy to manage bun, putting on the wig, and a pair of sunglasses that were bought due to their tendency to cover a bit more of her face. Finally she pulled a flattened beach bag from out of her handback, that she had spent ages the night before folding and tying down to take up as little room as possible, before dumping all of her belongings in there, before heading out in the direction the girls had left with.

After a little while of poking around she heard a shout from a few corners away. Alyssa waited by the corner for a minute, before poking her head out, and noticing Violet and Jarena turning a corner a few meters away from her. No Cassandra however.

"Odd..." Alyssa thought to herself. Whilst part of her wanted to follow them, she was more interested in Cassandra. Violet and Jarena had sat this tournament out, so whilst they'd be a good third party interview, maybe an expert opinion on the battle, they weren't as much of a prized encounter as a competitor like Cassandra was.

Once the two girls had been gone for a minute, Alyssa walked out, heading down the hallway they had emerged from, wondering if Cassandra was there, possibly having forgotten something from their room.

Instead of finding the prized battler however, Alyssa turned a corner, finding two Pokemon amongst a pile of clothes. A Buizel and Pachirisu, both looking dazed.

Alyssa took a second to take in what she was seeing, before chuckling and kneeling down to pet the Buizel, figuring it stood the least chance of shocking her.

"So I see we have two little clothes thieves aboard the S.S. Wishmaker..." Alyssa laughed to herself, remembering as a child, her brothers Growlithe running out of her room with her socks. After a moment however she recognized the orange garment, taking off her sunglasses to make sure they weren't messing with the color of it.

"Did you steal this from Avery?" Alyssa asked, struggling not to laugh...

Chakramaster

01-22-2021, 02:31 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Guest Quarter Hallways
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Desolate Divine

The two ladies quickly made their ways past Jimmy and Avery as everything went dark for a moment. Feeling as if they covered him with something to distract him. Feeing dizzy and different somehow. Jimmy managed to uncover himself. Only now everything was much bigger around him. Before he even had a moment to compose himself and gain his bearings. Someone came up to him and looked down at him.

"So I see we have two little clothes thieves aboard the S.S. Wishmaker..." the lady said.

"Did you steal this from Avery?" The lady asked. He hadn't met her before, but the name made him remember.

Thinking to himself "Avery...wasn't that the name of the person I was just with. Where are they. Did they get away?"

Looking next to him. The woman seemed to be asking the question to...a Buizel? Just as confused. They seemed to be holding the clothes Avery was just wearing asking it. Jimmy took a moment to compose himself. Not as dazed anymore. Wondered why he felt so weird still. Holding his, now paws, in front of him. He goes wide-eyed a moment. Letting out a loud, "HUH?!" Only to the lady, it didn't sound that way. Even Jimmy could hear that it was more like a loud, "Paa-chiii!." Looking over himself. He had been turned into a Pachirisu. Now more aware of what's going on. He looks toward the Buizel and the lady leaning down and letting the Buizel asking if they stole the clothes from Avery.

"Pa? Pachirisu?" ("Avery, is that you?"). He asked the Buizel. Still puzzled about what happened.

Meanwhile. Jimmy's Rotom still remained nearby around the corner. Not yet knowing of what happened to the two. Jimmy's Pikachu had been knocked out somewhat away from Jimmy and Avery after the Diamond Ladies made their escape. Still in sight and in the same hallway.

"Pachi. Pachirisu?" ("Wait a minute. Where's Pikachu?")

Noblejanobii

01-22-2021, 09:02 PM

Avery Miller
Guest Quarters Hallway
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Whatever Avery had expected to happen when they encountered the Diamond Ladies, this had not been it. Not in the slightest.

As Avery snapped a couple photos with Jimmy, the Diamond Ladies crossed their path. Thankfully, it seemed they had failed to notice Gloria in their rush to evacuate the room. That was a relief at least. Still the sudden appearance of both Avery and Jimmy definitely caught Violet and Jarena off guard. It didn't seem like them to lose their cool so the double invasion of their room was most assuredly rattling them.

“Who… what are you doing here?” Jarena asked Avery.

Avery grabbed their Rotom phone out of the air and raised their eyebrows at Jarena. "Oh well I was on my way to my room when I ran into a fan. Thought I'd stop to give an autograph and take a selfie. You know, usual famous people stuff. I'm sure you ladies get it all the ti-"

As Avery spoke, the Eevee in Violet's arms began to thrash about. Avery could feel the rage emanating from the small Pokémon though for the life of them they couldn't fathom what they had said or done to hack her off so much. Avery started to open their mouth to ask if the ladies needed assistance in calming the poor fox Pokémon down when Violet let loose that fatal shout.

“Cass, knock it off!” Violet shouted, struggling to hold on.

Avery's eyes widened as it all clicked into place. Cassandra was with the two other ladies. Somehow she had been turned into an Eevee, likely by magic. Which meant that the missing operatives were likely also Pokémon! It only took a split second for Avery to realize the danger they and Jimmy were in just by remaining here rather than running while they had the chance. But by then, it was far too late.

The hex spread across Avery's shirt like a spiderweb and began to take effect almost instantly. Avery couldn't even react as their hands turned to paws, their arms grew fins, and a floaty encompassed their neck. In the blink of an eye the once 5'7 23 year old was now a 2'4 sea weasel. Still entangled in their human clothes, Avery didn't have the opportunity to tail the Diamond Ladies as they made their escape. The realization hadn't quite hit them yet and they were still focused on their mission. It wasn't until Alyssa rounded the corner that things started to shift into perspective.

"So I see we have two little clothes thieves aboard the S.S. Wishmaker..." Alyssa laughed to herself.

("Bui bui? Buizel.") "Clothing thieves? Hardly," Avery responded as Alyssa pet them. "Though I get where you might get that idea from." ("Buizel buizel bui.")

"Did you steal this from Avery?" Alyssa asked, struggling not to laugh.

Avery furrowed their brow in confusion. "What? No I just told you I didn't steal them." ("Bui? Bui bui buizel.")

"Avery, is that you?"

Avery looked over at Jimmy in utter disbelief as it finally set in exactly what was going on. Of course Alyssa couldn't understand them. They were a Buizel. And Buizel only spoke Pokéspeak, not English. Which meant that while Avery and Jimmy could understand each other and understand Alyssa, they had no means of conveying to her what sort of danger she was in, or what had happened to them. Avery's heart sunk.

("Buizel?") "Jimmy?" they asked as they looked over at the Pachirisu, "Is that really you?" ("Zel Buizel?") If they had gotten Jimmy then that could mean.... "Gloria?" Avery called out, "Gloria, where are you?" ("Buizel? Buizel bui Buizel?")

("Min...") "Here..." a soft voice said in response. By now, Gloria had made her way back over to where her trainer had been hiding. ("Min min, Shaymin?") "Is that really you, Avery?" She seemed to be in just as much shock as Avery was over the whole situation. Reasonably, they supposed.

("Bui, Buizel.") "Unfortunately, yes," Avery said with a sigh. "Seems I went in over my head on this one, didn't I?" ("Bui bui, zel, bui bui?")

Gloria rolled her eyes a little and trotted closer. Reaching out, she pat Alyssa on the shoe. ("Min min shaymin.") "Hey, hey reporter lady," she said, trying to get Alyssa's attention

Neo Emolga

01-23-2021, 01:06 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park, En Route to Pinnacle Chapel
Affected RP’ers: Desolate Divine, Shruikan

The fastest way to get to Pinnacle Chapel was through Central Park again, and unfortunately for Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet, it meant having to go through then entire stretch of Central Park and then take the stairs two levels just past the sports pool. And it was impossible to keep a low-profile, especially as now guests were heading off to lunch and other mid-day activities. It was at this time that activity around the S.S. Wishmaker was its busiest, but they knew they had to keep moving, especially away from their guest room.

Meanwhile, they had no idea they were being followed by Jon Drake’s Latios the entire time.

As they walked and tried to blend in and not be identified by anyone in the crowd, Cassandra didn’t know what to think about her opponent Avery Miller being suddenly turned into a Buizel. While it meant her record would be preserved, it was going to be extremely suspicious when two semi-finalist tournament competitors were a no-show and totally missing.

“Hey, are you Jarena!?” a young, blonde female avid fan recognized her. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it! My name’s Stephanie, I watch you, Cassandra, and Violet all the time!”

“Uh, hey, nice meeting you, too!” Jarena laughed, still trying to break away before it became a full-fledged conversation. “Later!”

Meanwhile, Violet pretended to not hear people in the crowd who recognized and called out to her. It was increasingly difficult as the groups of people going to and from grew larger. Eventually they were able to get to the other side of Central Park… but only after six impromptu chats and ten hastily written autographs. But along came a few of the dreaded questions of where Cassandra was, only to get a response of “she’s not feeling too well at the moment.”

After taking the stairs up two floors, they immediately headed for the Pinnacle Chapel and were looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet.

Pinnacle Chapel
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

The Pinnacle Chapel had been reserved as a quiet area for prayers and was open to anyone and everyone regardless of religion and creed, having no religious symbols or affiliations to any one particular religion and was simply a quiet place welcome for all. Some of the areas were reserved for masses with a daily schedule for what types and what times, but there were separate small prayer rooms that were available for guests to use at any time of day.

Violet simply picked out the closest private room she could find and opened the door. While the room wasn’t too spacious and only had the square footage of a one-car garage, it would suffice and had enough room for what they needed. Inside the room were two wooden prayer benches and a wooden table for the guests to put their belongings. The rest of the room was simple with a carpeted floor and plain white walls. Violet simply put Cassandra down on the table and the Eevee just sighed and still looked very anxious.

Shortly after, Violet laid out the only four witchcraft books they had on the table, as well as the reagents they had on hand.

“You take two, I take two,” Violet told Jarena, sliding two of the witchcraft books her way.

“Gotcha,” Jarena agreed, already flipping through the first book.

Each page of the Shadowcraft spell books they had detailed various hexes, spells, curses, and the like of many different natures. The books themselves were printed in private secrecy using older, underground printing press methods as they were never even known about by any publisher or registered in any kind of database. Meanwhile, even the diagrams were all drawn by hand.

Some of the hexes, curses, and spells were ones Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet studied thoroughly and knew as second nature by now, and there were a few that they were still practicing on. Then there were those that were “maybes” to try another day while others they dismissed and had no interest in for all their intents and purposes. They had taken the books along with them just in case they wanted to try a “maybe” spell or brush up on one of the few they were practicing on.

They were now hoping the spell to reverse Cass’s transformation just happened to be one of those spells they dismissed earlier, but now needed more than ever. Meanwhile, Cass watched anxiously as Violet and Jarena began flipping through the books, as every page they flipped with no sight of the spell she needed lowered her hope of becoming human again as the number of remaining pages they had yet to go through was quickly diminishing.

“Oh man, this one we gotta try someday,” Jarena giggled and paused for a brief moment, pointing toward a spell that caused the victim to fall asleep and be subject to a dream of the caster’s own design. “I would have such a blast with that one!”

“Focus on Cass, please,” Violet muttered, carefully reviewing each page.

After a few more minutes of flipping and turning through pages, both Violet and Jarena had finished going through their first books and were onto their seconds. Meanwhile, Cassandra was beginning to give up hope, wondering what she would do if she had to spend the rest of her life like this.

She couldn’t help but let her long ears droop, and eyelids lower, and let head sink to the surface of the table in in a prone position of dismay as Jarena and Violet were flipping through the last and final pages of the last two books.

“Veee…” she sighed, looking completely defeated.

A few seconds later, Jarena had reached the last page and just casually clapped the book shut.

“Got nothing,” Jarena shrugged. “Wow, sure hope all those people we hexed enjoy their new lives as Pokémon.”

But Violet didn’t reply. Jarena simply decided to sit back and be thankful it wasn’t her who got hit with this spell. At the same time, she didn’t think life for Cassandra would be too bad as an Eevee. She figured it could have been a whole lot worse!

But then after a minute or two, both Cassandra and Jarena noticed Violet stopped turning pages. Instead, it looked like she was reading something very thoroughly. Jarena suddenly became curious and couldn’t help but inquire further.

“Find… something?” Jarena asked. “You’ve been staring at that page for a while.”

Violet didn’t reply right away, but then after a few seconds, she looked back to Jarena.

“This might be our only chance,” Violet told her as suddenly Cass looked up.

Jarena quickly come over to look at what Violet was referring to, and upon looking at the page, she saw it was an Affliction Reversal Spell, intended to undo hexes and annul curses to restore the afflicted to their natural state. Normally they would have skipped right past it as they wanted to cause afflictions, not annul them, but now was a different story.

“Oh yeah, that sounds pretty promising!” Jarena exclaimed with a smile, suddenly renewing Cass’s spirit. “How did we not consider this before?”

“The reagents are the problem, that’s why,” Violet told her, pointing to a small list of necessary ingredients they were going to need. “Especially with what we’re dealing with.”

Jarena looked at the list which didn’t seem so bad at first from a reagent quantity standpoint, and then she didn’t look so thrilled when she saw exactly what was needed. There were only three items, but it was the situation surrounding them that was going to be the difficult part.

“Okay, that’s… yikes,” Jarena muttered. “Obviously the cup of water is no problem, but it says it needs a sample of the victim before they were afflicted and a gold Nugget. How the hell can we get a sample of Cassandra as a human when she’s all Eevee now?”

“Her hairbrush back at the guest room may have a few strands that will suffice,” Violet mentioned. “As for the Nugget, we’re going to need to find someone on this ship that has one.”

“But most people just pawn those off as soon as they find one,” Jarena frowned, not looking too thrilled about it. “Who knows any trainer that’s ever actually sought out to buy a Nugget at the wholesale price? You know everyone’s going to ask why and what it’s for when they see us asking for it.”

“And getting back to the room is going to be a problem in itself,” Violet muttered, knowing the situation surrounding the raided guest room and how it might be crawling with backup for Nathan. “I doubt they would care to steal Cass’s hairbrush, though. As for the Nugget, we can acquire one in time whether on this ship or not, but the sooner, the better.”

It was at least some glimmer of hope for Cassandra, though she knew she may be stuck as an Eevee for some time, but at least the answer was somewhat in reach. Shortly after, Violet noticed a nearby cup of free prayer bookmarks offered to the guests, took one of them, and placed it on the page of the Affliction Reversal Spell before closing the book shut and adding it back to the bag.

Now, they just needed to get to work on getting what they needed, and maybe they could still come out on top after all.

[Desolate Divine]

01-23-2021, 02:47 AM

Messaged Neo Emolga for the Diamond Ladies reactions

Jon Drake
Mens Locker Room, Battling Arena:
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

"What the f***..." Jon muttered to himself as he watched and listened through Latios' sight-sharing ability. The two girls had found a private room in the chapel, with Latios creeping in behind them with great finesse, which was proved difficult for a six and a half foot, invisible dragon Pokemon, before they closed the door. Inside this room the two girls were searching through the creepy looking books he had heard about, though he still didn't understand why, until Jarena mentioned a spell she wanted to try, before Violet responded.

"Focus on Cass, please."

It took Jon a few moments to piece it together. The Eevee sitting on the table, that was so angry before, and now looked extremely depressed, was in fact Cassandra Silvers, the favourite to take the tournament. Through some means of witchcraft, which all three of these girls seem well familiar in, she has been turned into an Eevee, possibly her own spell that has backfired, and now her companions were desperately searching for a way to get her back.

Jon remembered the missing agents, horrified at the revelation. Pokemon don't talk, and a stray Pokemon wandering the ship wouldn't raise any suspicion...

Continuing to listen to them, Jon made sure to pay attention to every detail they discussed when talking about the removal spell. This could be the only way to return the previous agents to normal, and if this went on much longer, they may need it. A cup of water, a sample of the person before they were turned, and a gold nugget. Jon's first thought was to tell his supervisor to have all of nuggets confiscated, under the pretence that they had reason to believe performance enhancing drugs were being smuggled in disguised as nuggets, however decided against it, figuring that would give away their ability to listen in on conversations. It would be too convenient if a legal order to seize nuggets came out as they discussed needing one. But what if all operatives were instructed to search for and buy gold nuggets? Whilst Jon didn't thank Cassandra deserved to be stuck as an Eevee for the rest of her life (though if the other operatives couldn't be changed back, it wouldn't be the worst for her to remain that way), her being in this state meant there was one less dangerous target, and she seemed to be the leader of the three of them, so having her unable to do much was beneficial to the operation.

As he was thinking this, he noticed something concerning. Latios' attention seemed to be on one of the books. Jon started to realize what was going on, as Latios crept closer towards the table, focused on the book.

"Don't try and take it!" Jon said without thinking, knowing Latios couldn't hear him and hoping nobody else was in the room, "They will see you!"

Jon watched as the outline of Latios' invisible arm (visible only to the Pokemon himself), reached out, and slowly started dragging one of the books towards him, as Jarena kept reading, and Violet was placing the book she was reading in the bag next to her.

Much to Jon's surprise, Latios seemed to be getting away with it, until Casseevee noticed the book seemingly moving on its own. Her ears perked up, as she started crying out, trying to gesture to the book.

"Cass, what's wrong now?" Violet asked looking up at the Eevee, before looking at the table at the same time as Jarena.

"Oh what the hell is going on now..." Jarena muttered, as Violet's eyes widened.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Jon shouted, still knowing Latios couldn't hear him.

There was a flash of light as Violet activated a Pokeball letting out an Umbreon. Letting go of the book, Latios' attention shifted to the Umbreon, before tilting a little to the right, and within a second being in the air above the ship, looking back at the second Latios shaped hole that was in the ship.

Jon watched in disbelief, now wondering if his insurance would cover that damage since there was no reason for a Pokemon to be doing battle damage in a chapel, but also knowing Latios now can't be seen as long as he can help it.

Knowing Latios was now safe, and thankful that Alyssa was far away from there, Jon opened the secure message app on his phone before sending a message.

Operative ID 76293
Confirmation Code: Foxtrot Oscar Romeo Alpha Mike India November India Sierra
Have confirmation that witchcraft and supernatural means are being used by targets. Order operatives to avoid direct engagements with targets for time being, and requesting operatives visit all stores and try and purchase any and all gold nuggets. Requesting immediate debrief with command. Current position is Battle arena.

The next steps were clear. Prevent Cassandra from returning to her normal self until she is in custody, and track down the operatives who had been turned to Pokemon and return them to their human selves. Now Jon had to wait for Latios to return, and for details about his debreif...

Alyssa Drake
Hallway near suites
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

The two Pokemon seemed very vocal with one another, which caused Alyssa to laugh even more, looking at the two adorable Pokemon as a pair of burglars who had just been sprung, and were now arguing over how to escape.

Before she could say anything else, the crooked duo were joined by a third, familiar Pokemon, who seemed to be talking to them. A Shaymin.

"You're Avery's Shaymin aren't you?" Alyssa asked, "Is Avery nearby? An incredibly rare Pokemon like yourself probably shouldn't wander around on their own in a place like this."

"Min min shaymin." Responded the Shaymin, trying to get Alyssa's attention.

"Where're your trainers little guys?" Alyssa asked, kneeling down in front of the Pokemon, still amused at the whole situation...

Chakramaster

01-23-2021, 04:08 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Guest Quarter Hallways
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Desolate Divine

"Jimmy? Is that really you?" Avery the puzzled Buizel asked Jimmy, now the Pachirisu.

"Yeah it's me. They got the jump on us. Gah, why didn't we realized it sooner. Now they turned us into Pokemon." Jimmy said.

While Avery's Shaymin was trying to get the lady's attention. Jimmy moved off

Jimmy looked around after calling for his Pikachu. No longer having his height. Now instead of being over 5' tall. He was only 1'04" tall. Looking around he noticed something yellow ahead of them as Avery and her Shaymin tried to get the lady's attention.

"Pikachu are you okay? It's me, Jimmy." The Pikachu gaining consciousness again.

"Ji-mmy? You're....not Jimmy. You're a Pachirisu, but you sound a lot like him." The Pikachu said.

"Yeah, it's me. The Diamond ladies changed me and Avery both into Pokemon. We let our guard down and now look at us. Now I know how you feel when trying to tell me something. Cause that lady over there can't understand me. Errr when I'm human. At least we can understand each other now. Which is actually pretty interesting getting to actually talk to you. Jimmy chuckled.

"Hey, go get Rotom for me would you. I'm gonna see if I can somehow find some way to get this lady to understand me." Jimmy said to his Pikachu

"You got it!" His Pikachu said as he ran off around the corner.

Jimmy walked slowly again. Still getting used to this body and size. Getting to his clothes. Almost instinctually he got down on all fours and began searching his clothes.

"A-HA!" He pulls out his badge.

"Ugh, this thing is much bigger than I though." He pulls it out and throws it out closer to Avery and the lady. He then runs over to it. Much quicker this time. Using both his paws he flips open the badge. Showing his picture.

"Hey, lady! Look!" Jimmy said pointing at the picture. While standing next to it. The picture had both him in his human form and his Pikachu partner in it.

[Desolate Divine]

01-23-2021, 04:22 AM

Alyssa Drake
Hallway
@Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

Alyssa watched as the Pikachu and Pachirisu spoke, before the Pikachu ran off, and the Pachirisu dug a wallet out of the pants, showing Alyssa a picture of a trainer and the Pikachu. Alyssa was surprised at how smart this Pokemon was, knowing to show her its trainer.

"Is this your trainer?" Alyssa asked, "Come on, I'll help you find him, and help you find Avery, Gloria."

Alyssa began scooping up the clothes, and putting them in her bag, noticing just how much clothes there were, as well as the Pokeballs attached to the belts.

"Wow, you really are a pair of little outlaws." Alyssa laughed, "I will have to let your trainer know to keep a closer eye on you."

Before they could respond otherwise, Alyssa scopped up Gloria and the Pachirisu, carrying them against her chest, something she definitely would not have done had she known the Pachirisu was actually a twenty something year old man, especially in her swimsuit...

"You're a little too heavy for me to carry with these guys, but are you fine to walk?" Alyssa asked the Buizel, before starting to walk in the direction of the Pikachu, "I'm sure your trainer is around somewhere..."

Chakramaster

01-23-2021, 05:20 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Guest Quarter Hallways
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Desolate Divine

"Is that your trainer?" She looked down at Jimmy "Come on, I'll help you find him, and help you find Avery, Gloria."

As she began walking past him. She gathered their clothes and scooped them up. Placing their clothes into her bag.

"Hey, what're you doing? That's not my trainer. That's me!" He says pointing to himself.

"Wow, you really are a pair of little outlaws." she laughed. "I will have to let your trainer know to keep a closer eye on you." She said to them both.

Before Jimmy even had another chance to do anything. She scooped up both Gloria and Jimmy both. Carrying them both against her chest. Not used to this. Especially being held by a woman. Much less in a bikini. he'd never been this small enough to be held in her arms like this before either though.
Jimmy went very still for a moment. His face turning red and went quiet.

"You're a little heavy for me to carry with these guys, but are you fine to walk?" She looked down asking Avery. She then started walking toward the direction Pikachu went. "I'm sure you're trainer is around here somewhere..." She said. Jimmy still too embarrassed say a word or move.

Neo Emolga

01-23-2021, 05:50 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Pinnacle Chapel

Violet’s Umbreon dashed toward the Latios’s shaped hole, but then stopped and looked up with irritation, realizing the intruder was already long-gone.

“Was that Latios with us the entire time!?” Jarena shouted in shock.

“That confirms it,” Violet muttered, feeling irked about the whole thing as she recalled her Umbreon back to her Pokéball. “They’ve got people on this ship tracking us down and trying to expose us. These are not coincidences.”

“Great, this just keeps getting better and better,” Jarena growled. “I swear, if I find out whose Latios that was, they’re toast.”

Violet gave it more thought, now realizing things were getting a lot more dire than she thought. And the fact the Latios attempted to steal one of their spell books make it clear he was specifically targeting evidence that would ruin their careers, which had to be a target of whoever his trainer was. Unlike the other trainers that they had transformed into Pokémon to silence them, the Latios was a different story, although Violet wasn’t sure exactly how much the Latios could communicate about what he found while in the Pinnacle Chapel. But she was able to discern he was given specific instructions to target them.

Still, even with that knowledge, there was nothing she could use it for. The Latios was long gone, but it was a warning that they had to be ready for anything.

“Forget the Latios for now, let’s focus on getting Cass’s hairbrush and a nugget,” Violet told Jarena as she gathered the books, secured them in the bag, and scooped up Cass again in her arms.

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park

After leaving the Chapel and heading down the stairs, Violet figured by now any operatives that came to help Nathan likely moved on as they had left the room and were no where to be found. But the whole time, she couldn’t help but wonder about how many people were on this ship that were in on trying to expose them. Meanwhile, a whopping six people were now transformed into Pokémon and that number was only rising by the hour. Things for the Diamond Ladies were hanging on the edge and they couldn’t afford any more disastrous slip ups.

The only saving grace was at the moment, it seemed like most people onboard the ship were still unaware of the situation. She believed there might still be a way to get back on track as long as they could get Cassandra transformed back as soon as possible and avoid having to transform any more people, as the number was getting way too high and they still had the rest of today and tomorrow to get through before the ship docked.

When it came to the hairbrush and the nugget they needed, Violet decided to go for the hairbrush first. Nuggets, while rare, were still common enough to the point where Violet felt they would come across one eventually, if not here on the S.S. Wishmaker, then in some town in due time. But they needed the hairbrush most of all as if they suddenly couldn’t get a sample of Cassandra when she was a human, she would be stuck as an Eevee forever.

After heading back into Central Park, Violet and Jarena took it easy and tried not to attract too much attention. Any time they were approached by fans, they simply said hello, gave them a quick autograph or selfie, and kept moving on to avoid any suspicion or imply something was wrong. But the whole time, Violet was taking it as though every one of her moves was being watched.

“Hey, look who it is!” a young male avid fan exclaimed. “Say, where’s Cassandra? Surprised to see you two without her!”

“She’s not feeling too well,” Jarena replied, making a melancholy face. “Guess maybe the waves are getting to her.”

“Gee, that’s too bad,” he replied, suddenly drawing his attention to the Eevee. “Although that is a really adorable Eevee you have there! What’s her name?”

“Cinnamon,” Violet lied, playing it as if the Eevee she was carrying was always a Pokémon. “We need to be on our way, farewell.”

“Buh-bye now!” he waved with a smile.

In a way, Violet could take comfort in knowing there were still plenty of people here that didn’t suspect anything. Besides the Latios, everyone else had been dealt with and were now Pokémon incapable of communicating.

Meanwhile, Jarena was trying to think over the situation. What mattered was making sure these pursuers didn’t get evidence. While they could claim witchcraft all they liked, it meant nothing if they couldn’t provide the evidence to the authorities, and something that sounded so outlandish as magic and witchcraft wouldn’t hold up in court. It was like trying to arrest someone over suspicions of them conspiring with space aliens to take over the country or smuggle illegal steroids for a mermaid. Until whoever was bugging with them could verify the witchcraft books were authentic and validate it by casting spells of their own, all they really had were suspicions and rumors.

Still, the three of them definitely preferred to keep their true natures hidden as much as possible and quiet for as long as they could even with those circumstances.

[Desolate Divine]

01-23-2021, 06:03 AM

Bunnying of Avery done with permission from Noble. Jimmy is kinda frozen, so can't really not go with Alyssa ;)

Alyssa Drake
En Route to Battle Stadium
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

Alyssa began walking trying to think where the Pokemon would have come from. It seemed odd that entire outfits were taken, including Pokeballs, phones and wallets. Maybe the trainers were showering when the outlaws struck? So maybe the gym? She was there this morning, and they had showers, though she opted to use the one in her room.

Alyssa continued walking, trying to narrow down where she was heading.

Avery was battling Cassandra tonight, and Stadium was open for practise for competitors. After all, Jon had been there all morning. There were locker rooms with showers there. Granted, not even twenty minutes had passed since Alyssa had seen Avery, and it wouldn't make sense for them to shower before training. But the Pachirisu's trainer could be Jon's opponent tonight, so may be there.

"I wonder where the Pikachu went?" Alyssa said to herself, before making her way to the stadium. Buizel waddled along behind, whilst Pachirisu was unusually still.

"You alright there?" Alyssa asked, before guessing the pokemon may be scared, "Don't worry, I doubt you will be in trouble for taking the clothes. The whole thing is pretty funny if I am being honest. And I think I know where your trainer might be..."

A few minutes passed as Alyssa made her way across the ship, walking into the empty stadium, finding Jon by himself in the middle of the arena.

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Battling Stadium
Affected RPers: As above

"What're you doing here Liss?" Jon asked, somewhat surprised. Last he saw she was attempting to find Cassandra, thankfully in the wrong place, "And why the wig?"

"Oh I forgot about that." Alyssa laughed, "I was trying to tail Cassandra for an interview, but didn't want to be recognized while I did some digging first. But then found these cuties wandering around. This is my husband Jon."

Alyssa gave the pair of Pokemon she was holding, a Shaymin and Pachirisu, a hug, squeezing them tight, before continuing.

"Found them with a pile of clothes they stole. Then the Shaymin showed up to take them back I think." Alyssa laughed, "I figured they probably came from here. Trainers showering or something. I know the Shaymin belongs to Avery Miller. I interviewed them today about their match tonight, and recognized some of the stolen clothes as theirs. Figured they may be training. Figured the trainer of the Buizel and Pachirisu might be here as well. I know he has a Pikachu? Are they around?"

Jon took a second to process what he heard. He had seen Alyssa through Latios' sight sharing go in the direction that Violet, Jarena and Casseevee came from. Less than half an hour later, she shows up here with two Pokemon she found in a pile of clothes. Jon looked at the Pachirisu she was holding tightly, and could see its eyes frantically looking around.

"They must be the backup." Jon thought to himself, "I need to get them off Alyssa, but how?"

"Avery is here, just cleaning themself up." Jon explained, "Same as the trainer with the Pikachu, but I didn't get his name. My Nidoking accidentally went a little crazy with a sludge wave, and they got hit by it. They're both probably in the locker rooms, wondering where their clothes went..."

"Oh great, I'll just wait here and return these personally." Alyssa replied.

"Actually, let me do it." Jon replied, wishing he didn't have to lie through his teeth, "We have a meeting about the finals tonight that's supposed to only be for competitors that should be starting any minute. But if it makes you feel any better, someone tweeted that they saw Cassandra near the Aquatheatre. You're dressed for it. Maybe get that interview?"

"As long as you don't mind keeping an eye on these rascals? Tonight is a big night, and tomorrow is probably even bigger?"

"Nah it's fine, I am almost done for today anyway." Jon replied, "I'll keep an eye on them until their trainers come back."

"Well I guess it's goodbye then." Alyssa said to the pokemon, before giving them another squeeze. Jon tried to hide his distaste knowing that the Pachirisu that was being so cuddly with his wife was likely another guy.

"You better not be enjoying this..." Jon thought, wishing the person stuck in the Pachirisu body could hear him...

"Try not to steal any more clothes, okay?" Alyssa said as she put the Pokemon on the ground and unpacked the clothes from the bag, before scratching the Buizel behind the ear, "Behave yourselves for me."

Alyssa stood before giving Jon a kiss on the cheek, and turning to leave.

"Wish Avery luck in their match tonight for me! And you make sure to win too! I want to see you two battling tomorrow night!"

"I'll try my best." Jon replied, waiting for Alyssa to be out of earshot, before turning to the Buizel and the Pachirisu, especially the Pachirisu.

"You two aren't really Pokemon are you..." Jon said quietly, "They got to you, didn't they..."

Chakramaster

01-23-2021, 11:42 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'er: Noblejanobii Desolate Divine

Okay this was officially one of the weirdest days of Jimmy's life. He'd never been held like this by anyone much less this close to a woman before. This was a little too close and personal. Out of all the things that've happened him. This definitely ranks in the top 2. She carried both him and Avery's Shaymin in her arms held closely against her chest. Most likely trying to give comfort. Not knowing he was really a human. Not a Pokemon. Soon they were in the Battle Stadium and met another guy who he had not yet met.

"What're you doing here Liss?" The guy asked.

She went on to describe that she had been tailing the Diamond Ladies as well.

Jimmy trailed off into thought while the two spoke. "It's good to know there's others out there helping to get closer to these Diamond Ladies. Well, lucky for her, at least she didn't get a size check, a fur day, and an extra large tail to boot like me and Avery here."

His attention was brought back and she mentioned his name, Jon as she gave both Jimmy and Gloria a tight hug. Closely to her chest. Jimmy's mind about faded. He almost looked daze as his eyes kept wondering. Then it kinda kicked in.

"Uh-oh" Jimmy thought. "She said this was her husband. Meaning if he finds out I'm human and a guy at that. Being held this closely to his wife?! I'm in trouble...". Jimmy, the now Pachirisu was now in a more so cautious mode. Eagerly eyeing around nervously.

Jon explained to his wife a made up story about where Jimmy, Avery, and Gloria's trainers were. "but...we didn't have trainers. We aren't Pokemon. Why would he lie?" Jimmy thought.

He agreed with his wife that he would return us and our clothes himself. He even gave her what might be a false lead on where the Diamond Ladies are now. Jimmy wasn't sure, but what turned into a large ship to search is now like 5 times that size now that he's only a foot tall.

The two agreed to part ways again and Jon would look after the Pokémon she had. Giving both Jimmy and Gloria still held tightly in her arms one more close hug. Again, dazing the 1'04" tall squirrel Pokemon. He wasn't used to this kind of attention. Especially from a woman.

"Try not to steal anymore clothes, okay?" She looked at them and said as she placed them both back on the ground with Avery. She unpacked our clothes and things before giving Avery a let behind the ears and saying "behave yourselves for me." The two spoke a brief moment more before parting ways. He then turned to Jimmy and Avery. Staring at us both. In a more odd way. He knew something....if Jimmy could feel it. Avery probably could too...though to Jimmy. It looked like he really was staring him down. He couldn't help, but feel bad. Especially when he spoke up....

"You two aren't really Pokemon are you? John said to them quietly. "They got to you, didn't they?" He said to them directly.

Jimmy's thoughts went wild...."crap.....HE KNOWS!!" The Pachirisu began freaking out. Let out a momentary scream then begins pacing back and forth muttering to himself. Only to Jon it was more like "Pachi Pachi. Pachirisu. Ri Ri. Pachi Pachi." All on repeat as he began trying to think of a way to explain himself and being so close to his wife. Think to himself. "Life really is tough for a Pokémon. Not being able to communicate with humans. I really gotta give them the benefit of the doubt more." He thought as he continued pacing. Trying to think of someway to explain to him.

C0L0R3D

01-23-2021, 12:33 PM

Ozona Reverie
Central Park (Heading to Battle Stadium)
Affected RP'ers: N/A

Even with everything that was going on, Ozona was more focused on not drawing attention to herself then seeing what was unfolding. Even with Wafer trying to grab her attention, she ignored it and just occasionally informed the Scrafty to 'keep her unnoticed' and he was actually rather annoyed to comply. During wandering she realised where the battling stadium and it would never hurt to get extra training done, even if Ozona couldn't recall if she had a match to prepare for. Better safe than sorry.

During the walk, Oreo had let herself out of her Pokeball to walk by her owners side as the brash Scrafty was recalled, her shawl glittering in the sunlight. That kind of attention was what Ozona preferred anyway. Although she wondered if she was gonna get interviewed like some others did. Maybe, but she wouldn't mind.

Shruikan

01-23-2021, 01:55 PM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga

Luneth looked around the corner the Zorua had hurtled around, but couldn’t see anything going on. If the Zorua had been running from something, it seems they’d lost it. Just like the Diamond Ladies had lost Luneth. Though probably not intentionally. They didn’t even know she was following them, did they?

Luneth looked the Zorua in the eye. “Ok, it’s dangerous to be running around central park for someone so small. I’ll carry until we can find your trainer.” By now the Zorua appeared to have given up struggling, and was resigned to being carried around by this strange girl.

Luneth was soon back in Central Park. This time Circuit had been returned, both to give his feet a rest, and so as not to accidentally injure any more small pokemon that might run into her. As such Luneth was on foot, and quickly discovering she didn’t like crowds. People kept getting in the way, causing her to have to take detours and follow the crowd’s flow.
She noticed a duo cutting through he crowd. No, it couldn’t be? But it was. There were the Diamond Ladies, getting waylaid by fans as usual.
Third time lucky? Despite the Zorua’s protests, pulling at her sleeve like a madmon and trying to wriggle away, Luneth followed after them, getting swept up in the crowd following the celebrities.

Eventually the crowd thinned, enough for Luneth to see that Cassandra was absent, which was concerning. They were always seen together, had something happened to her? Was she ill? What would happen with her upcoming battle tonight?
Caught up in her thoughts, she almost missed the ladies slip away into the Pinnacle Chapel.

Following them into the chapel seemed wrong, so Luneth decided to give them their privacy for now, sitting down on a bench nearby and setting the Zorua down to wait for them to exit.

“So, while we wait, why don’t we talk a bit?” The Zorua raised an eyebrow quizzically, “Zo zor zorua zor?” it said with a condescending tone, as if to point out that it can only speak pokemon.
“No, I don’t mean like, actual words.” Luneth said holding back a laugh. “you can mime stuff, or something? Oh, you’re a Zorua, you can make illusions right?”
The Zorua looked surprised by this, as if only noticing this now. After a few moments as standing motionless, it frowned and shook it’s head.
“No illusions? Huh. Well, you can still mime right?”

The Zorua gave her a “really?” look, but before it got the chance to try and respond, the conversation was cut short as there was a crashing sound from inside the Chapel. As Luneth got up to see what happened, she saw the Diamond Ladies leaving the chapel, and would have gone after them straight away, if not for the Zorua dashing off at the first sign of the ladies.

“Zorua? Where did you go? Why do you have to do this now?” Luneth said, looking around the various crannies, before pulling the fox pokemon out from behind a bin.

With that setback, Luneth had to hurry to catch up, the Zorua’s renewed resistance not helping matters as he constantly tried to wriggle free of her grip, only stopping once Luneth had almost caught up with Violet and Jerena in Central Park, at which point he hung his head, trying to look as small and meek as possible.

Rushing up to the two Ladies, Luneth wasted no time. “Hi! It’s me again!” Luneth said, forgetting that last time she had been distracted by Avery before actually meeting them, so they’d have no idea who she was. “Is Cassandra ok? She isn’t with you, and after the crashing in the chapel I got worried. Are there stalker fans after you guys? Oh, cute Eevee! I’ve never seen you with one before.” Luneth said, before realising that she was getting off topic. “Anyway, is everything alright with you guys?”

Noblejanobii

01-23-2021, 04:28 PM

Avery Miller
Guest Quarters Hallway => Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Avery watched with concern as their Pokéballs and clothes were swept up into Alyssa's bag. They hoped that Daybreak and the others were alright. Though as annoying as being a Pokémon was, it did present the unique opportunity of being able to speak with their team. Avery made a mental note to see if they could at least have one conversation with their team before they turned back human. Though this was assuming it was possible to change back.

Alyssa scooped up Jimmy and Gloria before asking if Avery could walk since they were a bit too heavy for her to carry. Gloria didn't seem all that much bothered being carried by Alyssa, since Avery carried her like that all the time, but Jimmy was a different story. Avery winced a little as Jimmy froze up. Poor guy. They nodded their head and began to follow after Alyssa. It took some getting used to the more waddling style of walking, but at least as a Buizel they had the option of walking on two legs instead of all fours. Still, balancing with the new twin tail was a bit tricky.

Eventually the group made their way to the battle stadium where Alyssa's husband was waiting. Avery recognized Jon from some of the previous matches and from their conversation with Alyssa earlier. They tilted their head a little as Jon lied to Alyssa about Avery currently being in the showers. It was a good cover for sure but why lie about that sort of thing? All quickly became clear after Alyssa left.

"You two aren't really Pokemon are you..." Jon said quietly, "They got to you, didn't they..."

Jimmy quickly began to panic and pace around. The reaction was somewhat reasonable though the idea that Jon might actually fight Jimmy over being so close to Alyssa made Avery's eyes roll. It's not like he could help it. Turning to Jon, Avery nodded their head, trying to confirm that they were in fact humans turned Pokémon. At the very least they could answer some yes or no questions pretty easily, Avery supposed.

Gloria trotted over to Avery's side and began to call out to get Jon's attention. "Min min! Shaymin!" Once she had Jon's attention, she caused her unique morning glories to blossom all over her body. Gloria shook her back a little before gesturing as best she could at Avery. "Min min!" (This! This is Avery!) she said. Avery's eyes widened as they caught onto what Gloria was doing. Definitely those years of playing charades with Avery were coming in handy here.

Neo Emolga

01-23-2021, 04:29 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RP’ers: Shruikan

“Hi!” the three Ladies heard a call out to them. “Is Cassandra ok? She isn’t with you, and after the crashing in the chapel I got worried. Are there stalker fans after you guys?”

“Uh, yeah, we’re fine,” Jarena replied with a casual smile. “That was just someone’s… crazy Pokémon. Yeah, I swear, some people need to train their Pokémon better and get them under control.”

And then Jarena noticed the Zorua, looking a bit anxious and bewildered. It was making her wonder if it was Nathan, the same Zorua that had broken into their room and escaped earlier, but not before getting transformed.

“Cass hasn’t been well,” Violet told Luneth. “Someone broke into our room while we were out this morning. And she’s been under a lot of stress.”

And they knew that part certainly wasn’t a lie.

“Oh, cute Eevee!” Luneth exclaimed, looking at Cass without knowing the truth. “I’ve never seen you with one before.”

“I did have one before this,” Violet told her as she cradled Cassandra in her arms. “Before she became the Umbreon she is today. For this one, I’m still deciding. Possibly Glaceon or Flareon once she’s ready.”

Cass wasn’t keen on the idea of evolving, as she couldn’t imagine what a Pokémon felt like they were undergoing that whole process. That, and she considered that it could possibly destroy her only chance to change back to normal. There was a possibility that evolving as a Pokémon made it impossible for the Affliction Reversal Spell to work. Because if she evolved, that could possibly mean it was no longer an affliction and now her new natural state. Just the thought of that was enough to send a chill up her Eevee spine.

“Anyway, is everything alright with you guys?” Luneth asked.

“Could be better,” Jarena sighed, feeling like a tinge of the anxiety was getting to her, also. “Between our room getting broken into, Cass not feeling well, and that Pokémon that disturbed us while we were just trying to get some quiet time in the Chapel, it hasn’t been a great morning.”

It was then that Cassandra noticed the Zorua, also. Nathan looked at her with a puzzled look at first, but then he started to wonder.

“Zorrr… rrr…” (“You… are you who I think you are?”) Nathan asked Cassandra. “Zorrr-ura!” (“Where did you come from?”)

“Veee…eee” (“That’s right, you do look familiar.”) Cassandra growled angrily. “Veee-ee! Vee! Vee!” (“You’re Nathan, aren’t you!? You’re the punk who raided our guest room!”)

“Zor! Rrr-ura!” (“I knew you three were some kind of scam!”) Nathan snarled back at her. “Zorrr-rrruu…! Zor-ura!” (“Looks like you got your just desserts then, didn’t you, little Cassandra! Too bad the voodoo on that pillow backfired on you! Ha!”)

Cassandra growled at him again, but Violet quickly nudged Cassandra trying to get her to stop, realizing what was going down between her and this Zorua, though she had a strong feeling she knew who it was and wouldn’t have minded to boot him clear across Central Park herself. She didn’t know the exact details of the conversation, but she had a pretty good idea. Regardless, she decided to treat it as if they were both normally Pokémon to keep her cover story intact, as she felt that was more important than getting payback on Nathan.

“We need to get going,” Violet told Luneth, trying to leverage this squabble between Cassandra and Nathan as a means to break away. “Doesn’t seem like Cinnamon likes your Zorua friend very much, unfortunately. And this is no place for a Pokémon battle.”

“Yeah, sucks,” Jarena shrugged, trying to help Violet defuse the situation. “Ah well, nice meeting you!”

With that, Violet and Jarena walked away from Luneth, though Cassandra shot an evil eye back at Nathan. Meanwhile, Violet headed toward the guest room, keeping a watch out to make sure there weren’t any of these pursuers standing around it or going in and out of the room itself. Still, Violet wasn’t thrilled about Cassandra’s reactions. Already too much had been compromised.

“Behave yourself before we get into even more trouble,” Violet scolded Cassandra. “I don’t care who that Zorua is, we can’t afford to screw up yet again.”

“Seriously, Cinnamon,” Jarena agreed. “Learn to relax for once and at least pretend to be a polite Eevee, because this whole cover story is flimsy at best.”

Cassandra simply pouted, already feeling tired of having to be carried everywhere, but she didn’t want to suggest she should be put into a Pokéball instead. Meanwhile, at the same time, what Nathan told her still bit at her nerves. He barged into their room after stalking them, threw her things everywhere, went through her private belongings, and now here he was, laughing about her misfortune and was now aware of her dark secrets. It was enough to make her get livid, but she decided to follow Violet’s advice and forgo her feelings of vengeance upon him. She needed to focus and get back to the original plan.

[Desolate Divine]

01-23-2021, 10:32 PM

Jon Drake
Battle Stadium
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

Jon watched as the Pachirisu began somewhat freaking out, and couldn't help but chuckle internally at the embarrassment it seemed to show.

"I'll have some fun with this..." Jon thought to himself before the Shaymin, that Alyssa had mentioned was Avery's came forward and began making charades.

"So you're Avery?" Jon asked, "You're supposed to be battling Cassandra tonight aren't you? I'd say you're s*** out of luck, but it looks like she is too..."

Before Jon could question the Pachirisu there was a flicker of light as Latios seemed to materialize out of nowhere between Jon and the Pokemon.

"I'll get to you in a second, Cuddles." Jon said to the Pachirisu, before turning to Latios. At least he used the hole he made on the way out to get back in...

"You did well following them, but you really need to be more careful!" Jon said to the Eon Pokemon, "You're the ace in the hole in this, and you being caught would put the whole mission at jeopardy. We don't even know what they're capable of. Let's say they have some mind control spell in that book of theirs, and they caught you. Not to mention these holes you keep leaving in the walls. Now they probably know they had a Latios tailing them, and not some ghost type. If you ever need to do that again, blast the wall out with a telekinetic pulse, that way its ambiguous."

"Not to mention my insurance is going to go through the roof getting this fixed." Jon said gesturing to the hole in the roof, "Excuse the pun."

Jon turned to face the two Pokemon.

"Latios here can turn invisible, as you just saw. But his real talent is his ability to show what he sees." Jon explained, nodding towards Latios, who began sight sharing his view of Jon and the three Pokemon to all of them for a moment, before cutting out.

"After you two went in to back up the missing operatives, I had Latios tail Jarena and Violet, and send everything he saw to me." Jon explained, "There is definitely witchcraft at work. You two are evidence of that, and they turned Cassandra into an Eevee and were freaking out trying to find a way to turn them back. Good news is they found one, and better news is we can make it difficult for them to turn her back without our help. Bad news is that it may be a little tricky for us to turn you back, and we still need their help to turn you back."

Jon looked at a pair of paints and noticed a wallet sticking out, before walking over and picking it up.

"This yours, Cuddles?" Jon asked the Pachirisu before opening it up and finding an ID. "Jimmy Kendo... Interesting..."

"Well I wasn't lying completely to Alyssa when I said I had a meeting she can't be at. And technically, now that you two are here, more and more of it is true." Jon explained, "I have requested a meeting with a commander to share what we found out and organize next steps. I will explain everything then, save me having to repeat myself. He should be here soon..."

Neo Emolga

01-24-2021, 01:23 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Guest Rooms
Affected RPers: Possibly Shruikan

It was starting to get to be in the early afternoon and none of the Ladies had a bite to eat since breakfast. Still, the morning had been so full of ruckus and they had so many other things on their mind that they didn’t think about it until they started getting hungry.

“We maybe only have about fifteen minutes before the restaurants close and won’t reopen until dinner,” Jarena told Violet. “I think after this, we should grab at least something. Otherwise we’re stuck having to digest whatever we can get from a vending machine.”

“Fine,” Violet muttered as they approached the room. “We need to head to Windjammer Marketplace anyway to see if we can get ourselves a nugget after this.”

But then Jarena looked to Cassandra, and it was a bit of an awkward situation.

“So, what are we supposed to feed her?” Jarena asked, referring to Cassandra. “Seems a little… odd to be having Cass eat Pokémon chow.”

“As long as she’s an Eevee, she’ll need to eat like one,” Violet replied. “Though we can try to see if there’s at least something we can share with her.”

“Veee…” Cassandra sighed, feeling humiliated yet again.

Shortly after, they had arrived back at their guest room, and it seemed the coast was clear. The door had been left unlocked and left only slightly ajar, but just to be safe, Jarena slowly and carefully opened it to make sure whoever was pursuing and watching them didn’t have an ambush ready. But after slowly opening it, she saw it was left in the same condition the last time they were here.

Quickly, Jarena headed to the bathroom to look for Cass’s hairbrush while Violet went to grab the fallen jeans, t-shirt, and other clothes that Cassandra was wearing from this morning before she got turned into an Eevee. If by chance they got what they needed and the spell was successful, Violet logically concluded her clothes wouldn’t magically spring right back onto her. On top of everything else that happened today, Violet figured getting caught naked wasn’t something Cassandra wanted to add to an already disastrous list.

“Ah, found it!” Jarena smiled as she emerged from the bathroom, holding Cass’s pink and white hairbrush. “Yeah, there’s a few hairs on here. Should be all we need.”

“Now it’s down to that nugget,” Violet replied, knowing this was going to be the most difficult step.

“Yeah…” Jarena sighed, knowing this was going to be a challenge. “We’d be lucky if there’s even one on this ship.”

Violet figured with this many people on board, there had to be at least a few. Trainers often found them, stashed them away, and didn’t always remember to sell them at the marts on their usual touch-and-go shopping trips before they were back out and went back to training and catching Pokémon. She was hoping they might find such a trainer that still had one on hand and was willing to part with it with some persuasion. Violet was even willing to pay double of what was usually given for them, though she fully intended on having it be noted to Cassandra that she owed her. Big time.

However, she was trying to think of ways they could inquire for a gold nugget without it looking odd. Normally Pokémon trainers or their Pokémon themselves would find them out in the wilderness while exploring, sell them to Pokémarts for a tenth of they were worth, and the marts would then sell them to anyone that could smelt the gold and use it for jewelry or whatever else they could fashion out of the valuable raw material. Violet figured she could pretend to be interested in using the gold for her own jewelry crafting hobby. It was slightly out of character for her, but given the circumstances, she felt it was worth trying.

“Vi-vi!” Cassandra’s Victini had awoken from his slumber.

At first he was excited to see the Diamond Ladies return, but there was no sight of Cassandra anywhere and it left him confused and worried. Meanwhile, the sight of everything thrown about all over the place was unusual to him.

“Ev… ev-veeee…” (“Eh, hi, Victini. It’s… me, Cass.”) Cassandra spoke to her Victini, feeling quite embarrassed. “Eev-veee-e” (“I accidentally triggered one of my own spells so…”)

“Vic-ti-ti!” (“Oh, that’s why!”) Victini laughed, coming to Cassandra’s side. “Vi-ti-tini!” (“My, you’re a very pretty Eevee! What a lucky day for you!”)

Cassandra was instantly not very thrilled about that comment and gave Victini that “come on, really?” kind of suspicious look, lowering her eyelids and not looking very amused. Despite being a flattering comment, she didn’t have any intention of staying like this. Meanwhile, there was also a bit of concern in that if Victini felt like her becoming a pretty Eevee was “lucky,” the mythical Pokémon of victory might have an unintended effect on altering the fates and seeing to it that Cassandra stayed “lucky” and “victorious” by remaining in this form.

She was really hoping that wouldn’t be the case. But before she could correct Victini and mention it, Jarena had spoken up.

“Okay, I think we’ve got what we need,” Jarena smiled, adding Cass’s hairbrush and clothes to her tote bag as she allowed Victini to ride on her shoulder. “Off to Windjammer Marketplace. I’m starving.”

“Fair enough, let’s go,” Violet replied, scooping up Cassandra and carrying the Eevee in her arms. “This plan better work.”

As they headed out the door and turned to make their way toward Windjammer Marketplace, Victini closed his eyes and hummed a happy melody.

Chakramaster

01-24-2021, 03:22 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Desolate Divine

Jon had figured it out. Thankfully for both Avery and Jimmy. The two operatives that had been changed into these new Pokemon forms. Jon looked to the Buizel and Gloria the Shaymin. Who had started doing what looked like charades.

"So you're Avery?" Jon asked, "You're supposed to be battling Cassandra tonight aren't you? I'd say you're s*** out of luck, but it looks like she is too..."

He looked like he was about to question Jimmy as well, but got distracted. Looking at him and saying, "I'll get to you in a second, Cuddles."

Jimmy, while still embarrassed, looked up to him shouting. "Suuu! Pa-chiii. Pachiri! Pachirisu. Pachi-ri! Su. Pachi-chi. Pachiri....su." ("Hey my name isn't Cuddles!. I was being held against my will! Why don't you try being turned into a Pokémon a foot tall and being held tightly to the chest of someone....attractive!"). The squirrel Pokemon shouted. Knowing very well he couldn't understand him. He just felt like he was being judged and wanted to get some frustration out. An idea had come to his mind. An oh so terrible one, but he couldn't help but smirk slightly. Keeping this veiled from Jon's eyes while he's distracted.

Keeping his voice down. He couldn't help let out his thoughts. Jon couldn't understand him after all he thought. "Ri-Su. Pachi Pachi. Pachirisu. Riiii Pachirisu." ("Go ahead. Call me Cuddles again. Next time Alyssa stops by. I'll have a little fun with this myself."

Jon faces them once again. Jimmy giving his attention back as normal. Soon hopes Jon didn't notice the impish little squirrel having any crazy thoughts to himself. He explained his Latios ability to share its "sight." Giving them an example by showing them an example. They could suddenly see images of exactly what Latios was seeing. There was Jon and three Pokemon. Seeing himself for the first time fully in this form of a Pachirisu. Gave him quite a shiver for a moment. This really WAS happening. The ability was cut and gave them their vision back to normal.

Jon explained to them what his Latios saw while we had been turned into Pokemon that moment and tailed them. This was good Jimmy thought. That means more than likely they're searching frantically for a way to change Cassandra back. If we play this carefully. We can still catch them. While finding a way to change us and all the other operatives back as well.

After explaining the situation. Jon noticed Jimmy's wallet sticking out from the pile of his clothes he had been giving from Alyssa before she part away from the group.

He looked to the Pachirisu and asked, "This yours, Cuddles?" Once again giving Jimmy the face of agitation. Making him chime out a moment. Stomping his little foot and pointing his arm as if he told him once before, but again. Jon couldn't understand. He just hears, "Paaa-chiii! Pachiri! Pachi pachi! Pachi-RI-SU!" ("I told you, my name is not CUDDLES!. I was being held against my will.").

Gaining composure again he crosses his little arms giving a sour face. Like an upset friend who is just displeased with you while giving him a slight glance and nodding at the ID.

Jon explained to the two that he wasn't totally lying about having a meeting. This caught their attention. He explained he had a meeting with a commander that would be here soon. Explaining more about their current situation. This gave Jimmy an idea. Jimmy made his way to Avery and began to talk amongst themselves

("Well we really got ourselves into a mess huh? What do you think. Any ideas? We gotta find some way to communicate with them. I'd rather not have to charade things out like you and Gloria did..no offense. If only I had my Rotom with me. We could use it to connect with my phone and see if we can speak through that. Make a sort of translation app for our Pokémon to Human speech. Though I feel we need to start practicing getting used to these forms for now. Might come in handy...if we even have powers like our Pokémon at all that is.)

Jimmy thought to himself. (I sure hope Pikachu found Rotom and they're both okay).

Jimmy Kendo's Pikachu
Guest Quarter Hallways - Air Ducts

"I think it's....this way?" Pikachu mumbled.

"Think?! I thought you said you KNEW where Jimmy was. I knew it! We're lost! We're lost! Never to be found again! Stuck in a cold, dark, and damp metal prison!" The Rotom exaggerated.

"Oh stop exaggerating, Rotom. This isn't the time for jokes." The Pikachu exclaimed to the Rotom. I've still got an ideas of where his tracker is. It was with his clothes. So long as I focus in I can try using my electricity to focus in on it just....give me a moment." The Pikachu said. Closing its eyes and trying to use its ears and tail. Both ears and his tail twitching slightly. Trying to focus on Jimmy's electronic signal from his tracker.

The Rotom slowly crept closer to the Pikachu. It truly is just impatient. As it bust out right next to Pikachu's ear. Without even the slightest whisper. "WELL?! AnyTHinG YeT?!" Making the Pikachu let "Pi-KA!" and let out a small burst of electricity surging through the highly conductive metal around them. Sending it in almost an electronic wave down the entire duct." The Rotom chuckling slightly. Pikachu just gives him a glare.

Pikachu mumbles to itself, "I hate this guy..." while Rotom creeps closer again.

"Say something, Pikachu?" the Rotom asked.

"Err, yeah! He's this way!" As Pikachu at least did connect more on to where Jimmy's stuff is. Hoping his partner was at least still there. Hoping he's doing okay after having been transformed into a Pokémon.

Pikachu again thinks to himself. "At least he's an electric type....I can help teach him moves if needed..but why of all electric types is it THAT squirrel. He's gonna be seen as such a trouble maker. Might even get some weird nicknames like: Fluffy, cutie, or if he gets picked up....Cuddles." The Pikachu quivers a moment.

"Yeah let's just hope that doesn't happen." The Pikachu sweats a moment giving a slight chuckle.

The two continue down the air ducts. The Rotom asks "what's so funny, Pikachu?"

"Oh nothing Rotom. Nothing at all..." the Pikachu said hoping to evade another discussion with the Rotom.

Noblejanobii

01-25-2021, 03:51 AM

Avery Miller
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Avery let out a sigh of relief as Jon got the message about their true identity. At least that cleared up some of the confusion around who they were. Still, Jon had a point. They could hardly participate in the semis like this. Avery tilted their head side to side before shrugging. It wasn't like Cassandra could either. And to be candid, as much as Avery would have liked to win, it's not like they expected to in the first place. No harm no foul, they supposed.

Avery cocked an eyebrow at Jimmy as he began to plot his revenge over the nickname "Cuddles". They rolled their eyes again and exchanged a shrug with Gloria. Whatever floated Jimmy's boat, they supposed. It wasn't really any of Avery's concern at this point anyway. They had bigger things on their mind.

Avery stumbled a little when Latios shared his sight with them. An impressive ability to be sure, and very useful when coupled with Latios' ability to turn invisible. Avery paused, the gears started to turn in their head. As Jon mentioned the meeting with the commander, an idea began to formulate in Avery's mind. Sure they could take Jon's word for everything that Latios saw. But what if they could do something even better to prove the existence of witchcraft? That was when Jimmy came over and gave his two cents on the situation.

("Well we really got ourselves into a mess huh? What do you think. Any ideas? We gotta find some way to communicate with them. I'd rather not have to charade things out like you and Gloria did..no offense. If only I had my Rotom with me. We could use it to connect with my phone and see if we can speak through that. Make a sort of translation app for our Pokémon to Human speech. Though I feel we need to start practicing getting used to these forms for now. Might come in handy...if we even have powers like our Pokémon at all that is.)

That was it! Avery clapped their paws together and nodded a little. "I think I have a way around that," they said, "One of the team members I brought with me is a psychic type. Acacia sometimes used telepathy to communicate with me so perhaps we could use her as a sort of translators." Waddling over to their clothes on the ground, Avery began to dig through the pile until they found their Pokéball belt. Pulling it out, Avery began to look over the Pokéballs until they found Acacia's. Avery plucked her Pokéball off and set the belt down. This was going to be a very awkward throw. Taking the Pokéball in both paws, Avery wound their arms back before throwing it with all their might.

The Pokéball sailed through the air before opening. A burst of white light erupted from the Pokéball and quickly took the shape of a Girafarig. Acacia glanced around in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on. "Avery?" she called out in Pokéspeak.

"Over he- ack!" Right as Avery started to respond, Acacia's Pokéball came sailing back and smacked Avery right in the face. The buizel was knocked onto the ground from the force of the hit and rubbed their face as it pulsed in pain. Right. Pokéballs did that. They had forgotten. Normally they could catch the Pokéballs without problem but as a Buizel that made things a lot harder.

Gloria and Acacia both rushed over to Avery's side, starting to inspect their trainer to ensure they were alright. "I'm okay, I'm okay," they repeated a couple times before sitting up. "Good to see and speak with you, Acacia," they said after a moment.

Acacia seemed very confused by the Buizel claiming to be her trainer, but after a quick sniff, it seemed she was satisfied that they were telling the truth. Albeit, she was still very confused as to how Avery ended up as a Buizel. Gloria and Avery gave Acacia a quick rundown of the situation up until that point, before explaining why they had called her out. "We need you to translate for us to Jon and this commander character when they arrive," Gloria said. "Your telepathy should be a good way to prove that Jimmy and Avery are who they say they are."

"You think so?" Acacia answered. After mulling it over a moment, she nodded. "Well alright. I trust you, Avery. Let me just test this out with Jon first."

The girafarig trotted over to Jon and gave a slight bow as a means of introduction. She began to focus on Jon, her eyes glowing a slight blue as she began to establish the psychic connection. She began to send a quiet message along the psychic link, hoping that Jon would receive it. "Testing testing, 123. Mr. Jon Human, can you hear me?"

[Desolate Divine]

01-25-2021, 01:29 PM

Jon Drake
Battle Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster

Latios went invisible again, as he had been taught to do, as Jon watched as Cuddles threw a temper tantrum over the nickname, before turning his attention to Avery. The Buizel dug through the pile of clothes, pulling out a Pokeball, before throwing it, releasing a Girafarig, before copping a Pokeball to the face. The whole ordeal reminded him of the cartoons he used to watch as a child, when his dad was too hungover to hit him...

"If you want me to help with that, just pass me the ball." Jon explained, "Those little Pokemon paws aren't cut out for catching these things."

The Buizel began conversing with the Girafarig before turning to Jon, bowing its head, as its eyes began to glow. After a moment, Jon could hear a voice in his head.

"Testing testing, 123. Mr. Jon Human, can you hear me?"

Jon couldn't help but chuckle at the testing 123, remembering the sound engineers at shows he had been to see.

"Loud and clear, but just Jon is fine." Jon replied to the Pokemon, before noticing someone entering the room, "But we may have to continue this conversation later..."

"Jon, what's going on?" Came a familiar voice, as the person approached. Though he had traded his usual somewhat formal champion attire for board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, dyed his hair a chestnut brown, and wore a baseball cap, Jon recognized the voice as that of Steven Stone, the Ex Hoenn Champion.

"You weren't followed in?" Jon asked, knowing full well how easily certain Pokemon can listen in.

"I have operatives posing as ship security at the door, sending anyone else away." Steven explained, "Told them there was a meeting taking place between the organizers of the tournament and the contestants."

"Great minds think alike. I said the same thing to Alyssa to get her to leave before..." Jon replied.

"She doesn't know about the operation?" Steven asked.

"No, it's for her own good, though she would never admit it." Jon explained, "I love her, dearly, but honestly, she can't sit by and know there is something out there she doesn't know. She is here for her own work, which means she is tracking down competitors to get statements, and whilst she does want to interview Cassandra, there are plenty of other people to occupy her. If she knew there was something sour going on, she would hone onto that, and get herself into trouble. Between us, you don't wanna know how many times I have had to bail her out of jail for trespassing or harassing people in the name of the truth."

"I understand." Steven explained, "So what happened?"

"I saw on comms that you guys made another attempt to breach the targets room, and that you had lost contact. When I heard you were sending in backup, I had Latios track down the targets and follow them to gather intel, and was watching via his sight-sharing while it all happened." Jon explained, as Latios materialized again, looking uneasily at Steven. Due to his history of trainers attempting to catch him on sight, Jon had taught him to be wary of them, only ever letting himself be seen for the occasional battle that Jon had him participate in, or around trainers who knew of him.

"What did you learn?" Steven asked, not seeming too shocked at the Legendary Pokemon materializing, "And what's with all the Pokemon? Is that a Shaymin?"

"A lot. Good news and bad." Jon explained, "Those books that were seen? The witchy looking ones? They aren't for show."

"You're kidding?"

"No, there is some supernatural bulls**t going on with these chicks." Jon explained, as he tossed Jimmy's wallet to Steven, "Meet Operatives Avery Miller and Cuddles."

Jon gestured to the two Pokemon, as Steven looked at Jimmy's ID, before muttering something along the lines of "I'm not even going to ask..."

"So you mean to tell me these girls turned these two operatives into Pokemon?" Steven asked, "I take it this is the bad news, but what's the good news?"

"Well the good news is we have solid reason to believe the other four operatives who are missing are still alive." Jon explained, "And Latios managed to overhear a little about how to undo this spell, which Violet and Jarena were frantically trying to find, because their brilliant leader managed to turn herself into an Eevee..."

"Wait what-" Steven asked in shock.

"I'm not too sure how, because I didn't see it happen, but Latios tailed them into the chapel, and they kept referring to the Eevee as Cass, and were looking frantically through these books for a way to change her back." Jon explained, "They found a spell, and Latios and I heard what ingredients were needed for it, but Latios blew his cover before we could hear what we needed to do with them."

"How did he blow his cover?"

"He tried to steal a book they were practically staring at, then when they realized, fled, and left them something to remember him by." Jon sighed as he pointed to the Latios shaped hole in the roof.

"Damn, your insurance renewal is going to suck..." Steven replied, admiring Latios' handiwork.

"I have a Fire and Electric type, so it already isn't good." Jon explained, "Anyway, the ingredients for the spell to turn them back are a cup of water, a gold nugget and a sample of their original form. Violet and Jarena were talking about getting some hair from Cassandra's brush. But beyond that, I don't know what to do. It could be as simple as throwing them all in the cup and tipping it on Avery and Cuddles here, or there could be some incantation or something. It's hard to say since I didn't even realize witchcraft was possible until half an hour ago..."

"I know you're technically the commander here, but you need to order every operative on the ship to buy out every single Gold Nugget they can find." Jon explained, "Firstly so we can turn these two and the other operatives back, and secondly, so that they can't return Cassandra to normal without complying with us. I get the feeling without her calling the shots, they may just slip up enough for us to get the upper hand. It seemed like they were focusing on getting Cassandra's hair first, and that was about twenty minutes ago."

"No you're right, CO or not." Steven explained, "Cassandra is too proud to let herself lose this tournament by default. If we can control whether or not she can return to her normal self and compete, we may have the best bargaining chip we could ask for."

"One other thing, and this goes for all of you." Jon explained, turning to the Pokemon, "Currently the only people who know that I am Latios' trainer are the people in this room, Alyssa, and the odd battle fan who may have seen me use him in one of the few battles I have actually used him in. Steven made sure any record of me online was hidden before this. This next bit, only Alyssa and Steven know. My name isn't really Jon Drake. Jon's my middle name, and Drake is Alyssa's surname. My legal name is Ryan Mason, but I go by Jon Drake because my dad is a piece of s*** and I don't want him to find me."

"The reason I tell you this, is because I don't know what these girls are capable of. One of them was laughing about a spell that could make people see their own worst nightmares or something, and last night all the operatives who attempted to intercept them wound up passed out drunk despite not touching any alcohol. Them having a spell that forces someone to tell the truth is not unlikely." Jon explained, "So if you end up being caught, and they ask about the Latios, you are being more truthful by saying his trainer is Ryan Mason than Jon Drake. Steven made sure nothing on the ship links the name Ryan Mason to me, and unless these girls can somehow hack the Drivers License Database, they should never know. Even if he got himself seen, Latios is still an ace in the hole for this operation, and the less they know about him, the easier he can make things."

"I think that's everything for debrief though. Anything you guys want to mention? That's why you let out the Girafarig, right?" Jon asked.

Once all had been said, Steven approached Latios, the dragon looking at him slightly uneasily, as Jon's phone buzzed, the encrypted message being an order of utmost importance to buy out any nuggets they could get their hands on.

"I knew you had Latios when I met you, but I have never been this close." Steven said, as he looked the Pokemon in the eyes, who seemed confused by the attention. Most of the time when trainers other than Jon or Alyssa were this close, it was in attempt to capture him, "How is it raising a Legendary Pokemon? I was league champion for years, but never got the privilege to raise a Legendary Pokemon myself..."

"It's not easy, I will give you that much." Jon explained, "Most of the resources out there are myths and hearsay. I could go online and find out everything I know about an Eevee from when it hatches to the day it dies, and how to care for it, but there is next to nothing for Latios. Most of it is looking at how Pokemon of similar types and biology that are more common are raised, and trying to figure out what applies and what doesn't. Avery probably went through the same thing with their Shaymin. I don't even know how old Latios is..."

"Really?" Steven asked, "When most people think of Legendary Pokemon, they think of ancient and wise beings."

"Well he is still learning the wisdom part, but in all honesty, I think he is still a juvenile." Jon said, walking over to give Latios a scratch behind the fins on his head, "When I first caught him he was about 5ft tall and weighed about 100 pounds. Now he is 6ft 7 and over 130, and seems to have stopped growing. He always did well with sight sharing and invisibility, but still can't communicate telepathically like Avery's Girafarig and Alyssa's Gardevoir. He can definitely fly faster than when we first met, and broke the sound barrier last year, though I think he will still become faster. People say they can fly at almost double that, but it's hard to say. And like any teenager, he doesn't make the best decisions on his own. So he still has a bit of growing to do in here."

Jon tapped his head, as Latios looked at him with a scowl.

"What, I bragged about you breaking the sound barrier? Do I need to remind you of that?" Jon explained, pointing at the hole in the roof, before turning back to Steven, "Once he has matured fully, he will be incredible."

"You're a very lucky trainer." Steven replied, "Few have the opportunity to meet such a Pokemon, and fewer get to train them.

"Before you go, there is one last thing." Jon explained, before turning to Avery and Cuddles, as well as their small band of Pokemon followers.

"I can't take them with me." Jon explained, "Alyssa found them and brought them here thinking their trainers might be around. I figured out what had happened, and told her that the trainers were here and I would return them so she would leave them with me. If I return to our room with them, and the other Pokemon that seem to keep popping up, it will make her start asking questions, and if I am seen with them by the targets, I will be compromised."

"That's true." Steven muttered.

"Think you can find another operative for them to tag along with?" Jon explained turning to the Pokemon, "Until we can get them turned back? Is that okay with you guys?"

Noblejanobii

01-25-2021, 07:23 PM

Avery Miller
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Avery watched the whole back and forth between Jon and Steven in relative silence. Not like they could add much anyway even if they wanted to given their current predicament. It was much easier to just let Jon explain all that he knew up until that point since there were definitely some aspects to it that he knew more about than Avery did. Especially that bit about the cure. So it was possible to turn back into a human. That certainly would be preferable to Avery's current state. Not that they didn't enjoy being a Buizel, it was all well and good they supposed, as there were worse Pokémon they could have become. But they couldn't exactly compete as a coordinator like this.

Avery gave a short nod as Jon explained the situation around his name. It'd be a good way to test if someone was impersonating him too, they thought. They weren't sure there was much of a way for Avery to offer the same type of secret to Jon but having some sort of fail safe like that would be good. The mic was quickly handed off to them, figuratively speaking anyway, as Jon asked if Avery or Jimmy had anything to add.

Turning to Acacia, they nodded to her to indicate starting the telepathy translation. She nodded back and began to transmit. Avery thought it over before saying, "I think that about covers it. Lucky for us, I have a hairbrush in my room as well so unless the Diamond Ladies willfully seek out my room to destroy it, we should be in the clear on that front." Avery scratched their head a little as they spoke. "I do worry that it's possible the Diamond Ladies will try to use their magic for illusions to turn us against one another. So perhaps sharing lesser known facts about yourselves would be a good testing method." Avery's tails began to swish back and forth as they paused in thought. "Perhaps... the fact that my earring was a gift from my father would work. Most people don't know its true origin." Avery looked at Jimmy and asked, "Anything else to add?"

As the top of discussion shifted to Jon's Latios, Avery listened intently to what all Jon had experienced raising the legendary. They began to nod along to the explanation too. They had experienced similar when it came to raising Gloria. When Avery met Gloria, she was still just a baby Shaymin. Raising a baby legendary was no simple task but thankfully Avery was able to rely on their team to help figure out the whole situation. Now closer to a juvenile herself, Gloria didn't need much assistance from Avery anymore and they knew their stuff pretty well from years of experience.

Finally, Jon explained that he couldn't well have the merry band of misfits following him back to when he met up with Alyssa. Reasonable, Avery supposed. It would blow their cover for sure. But who could they go with? It was then an idea struck Avery and they began to call out to the others. "Bui! Bui bui!" Acacia fumbled for a moment before beginning to translate via telepathy again. "Reach out to a Celestina Veres! I think she'd be happy to assist us," Avery said.

Celestina was an old friend of Avery's from the Galar Circuit and, as they found out earlier on, a fellow operative for this mission. She had an affinity for "cutesy" Pokémon so a Buizel and a Pachirisu wouldn't be too out of the ordinary. And as a friend of Avery's, she could easily cover having their Pokémon by just saying Avery wasn't feeling well. It was a mostly full proof plan for now.

Neo Emolga

01-26-2021, 01:38 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Shruikan (Lucky Luneth gets a front row seat to all this chaos)
Desolate Divine, , Chakramaster, Noblejanobii Yes, everyone. If you aren’t an eyewitness, you’ll certainly hear about it soon enough!

As the Ladies and Victini walked away from the guest room, Jarena had a bad feeling as she looked at her watch. Getting through Central Park in ten minutes and making it to Windjammer Marketplace before they stopped serving lunch seemed impossible. Given the circumstances, however, it was understandable. But she figured just this one time, she’d settle on just getting a bag of chips and a can of fruit juice would be enough for her. There was time to indulge when it came time for dinner when hopefully most of the mess was sorted out.

After arriving at Central Park again, they sat down at an empty metallic picnic table that was bolted to the floor and had metallic seats around it. While Violet focused on greeting fans and signing autographs for a while and Cassandra and Victini sat down on the table itself, Jarena had made a quick dash for the Windjammer Marketplace to grab some snacks to make up for a lack of having lunch. While she was there, she had also brought some berries and canned fruit juice for Cassandra and Victini. When she got back, she saw Violet hadn’t had any luck yet with the nugget they needed. After distributing her gathered food to everyone at the park table, she joined Violet and sat down in the seat next to her.

Any time they were approached by fans and recognized by passersby, Jarena and Violet took the opportunity say hello and sign autographs on papers, shirts, and Pokéballs, though the fans they encountered were disappointed they wouldn’t be able to get Cassandra’s signature as well. As they figured, the allure of having all three Ladies sign the same item made it that much more appealing. Having only two of the three didn’t quite have nearly that same charm.

And after every signing and conversation, both Violet and Jarena took every opportunity they could to inquire for gold nuggets. Some simply said they didn’t have any, others were curious to know why which Violet gave a false explanation about her fictious jewelry hobby, and a few were just confused by the request, feeling nuggets were useless and were just meant to be sold, having no idea what they wanted one for.

“Bloody hell, this is a real pain in the butt,” Jarena grumbled between sipping on her can of fruit juice and between potato chips after having signed thirty autographs. “Come on, there’s got to be someone on this tub that has one. Hopefully we just haven’t found them, yet.”

“Cass wins by default tonight if we can get this before 7pm,” Violet added. “We’ve got less than five hours remaining.”

“Yeah, please don’t keep reminding me how much time we’ve got left,” Jarena sighed. “But at least we know Avery won’t be there. At least not as a human, anyway.”

In the meantime, Cassandra was keeping a watch on all the passersby. She almost fell into the temptation of looking out for any sign of a gold nugget, but the chances of it being exposed in plain sight and out in the open were like winning the lottery. If anyone had one, chances were good they’d have it in their bag or in a pouch, but definitely not out in the open.

“Oh, what an adorable Eevee!” a teenage girl with long brunette hair greeted Cassandra before looking to Jarena and Violet. “She’s really cute, what’s her name?”

“Cinnamon,” Jarena smiled as she signed her name. “Newest member of the team.”

“Aww, she might just be the cutest Eevee I’ve ever seen,” the brunette patted Cassandra on the head. “Hi there, Cinnamon! My name’s Susan! Would you like to sign my Pokéball, too?”

“Vee! Vee!” Cassandra smiled in excitement, trying to put on an affectionate display to appease anyone who might have the nugget they needed.

Susan then presented the Pokéball that was already signed by Jarena and Violet and instead of signing with her name, Cassandra signed with a pawprint after Susan rubbed the black felt marker on the paw pads.

“This is just the sweetest thing, ever,” she remarked, admiring the autographed Pokéball. “Happy to meet you too, Cinnamon!”

“Vee!” Cassandra smiled and cried happily.

“Say…” Jarena smiled to Susan, coming up with an idea. “This might sound like an unusual request, but you wouldn’t happen to have a gold nugget on you, would you? Cinnamon loves shiny objects and loves playing with toy balls, so we’re looking for anyone who might have one. Heck, we’re willing to pay double the asking price of what any mart might give you.”

“Hmm, maybe,” Susan replied, taking off her backpack and checking through the pockets. “Let me check!”

Susan tried to recall if she had found one on her many adventures with her Pokémon. Her hand plunged into the back pocket and rummaged through the many miscellaneous items inside. After a few moments of digging and searching, her hand emerged… clasping the highly desired golden sphere nugget that the Ladies were desperately seeking.

“Oh hey, look at that!” Susan smiled, presenting the gold nugget before them.

They all smiled and Cassandra lit up with joy, which of course Susan simply interpreted as a very happy Cinnamon excited to see a new toy to play with as opposed to Cassandra who was relying on it to transform back.

“Yep, that’s perfect!” Jarena smiled, counting through a large stack of bills before handing the wad of money to Susan. “Thank you so much!”

“Oh, no problem!” Susan replied happily as she accepted the money. “Enjoy!”

And that was when one operative, Doug Henderson, with jet-black hair and black leather attire, had decided to spring into action. He had been watching the Ladies the entire time and found it that it was no coincidence they had been requesting that gold nugget from command. While all the operatives had gotten the call to buy out every available gold nugget they could from any vendor, he realized Susan was just a regular civilian and was completely unaware of what was going down. Nonetheless, he prepared for that and was ready for that possibility.

He made sure Susan was in the clear before moving his move, as he was well aware of the risk and what it might mean. When his window of opportunity presented itself, he sprinted by the table, dashed in, and quickly wrapped his hand on the golden nugget before any of the Ladies realized what was happening.

“Yoink!” Doug laughed and taunted them as he snagged the nugget away. “Sorry, Ladies, can’t let you have that!”

When the Ladies saw that happen, immediately they all wanted his head on a stick. Both Violet and Jarena bolted from the table and prepared to stop him by any means necessary to get the nugget back.

…But it was how they decided to try and stop him in their different ways that would change everything.

“You damn thief!” Violet shouted, sprinting right after him.

Meanwhile, Jarena didn’t care how many people could be possibly watching. Doug’s snotty attitude and the fact he just stole a rare golden nugget they needed for the spell and after they had paid for it merited him being wiped out of the picture completely. She plucked a Pokémon strand of hair from her pocket and prepared casting, ready to nail him right on his leather jacket. The dark incantations were whispered from her mouth as she focused on her line of sight for the spell.

Had she been a second faster or slower, it would have made the difference between landing the Pokémon Transformation Hex right on his jacket… or at least being able to stop herself from landing the hex on Violet’s black leather jacket instead. But no… instead, the hex struck onto Violet’s jacket as she crossed her line of fire attempting to tackle Doug to the ground right on the park path.

Jarena’s heart sank when she realized her hex landed on the wrong target.

“Oh crap, oh crap!!” Jarena exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. “Violet, get rid of your-!“

It was too late. Violet’s wrist making contact with the sleeve was all it took to trigger the hex. Within seconds, Violet’s body instantly changed from being a human into a Furret, with brown and beige-colored fur all over her body as her form and stature were completely changed. Her sudden transformation into the long, slim-bodied furry ferret Pokémon caused her to stumble to the floor, half buried in a pile of her own clothes.

All the while, there were several passersby that had saw the chase, and a couple of them were even recording it on their phones. Violet’s transformation in front of all of them was a sudden shock and there was gasping among the crowd.

Jarena hadn’t ever felt so sick before.

Violet was deadly silent as she emerged from her pile of clothes, like she was ready to murder someone in cold blood. She knew exactly what happened and she was absolutely not at all thrilled about it. She realized what Jarena was trying to do, but she still felt it was really stupid and reckless, especially in front of all these people watching. She would have had Doug on the ground if Jarena hadn’t done what she did.

Instead, she threw off her clothes and looked back to Jarena, quite fed up with her having so recklessly blown away the remaining sliver of a chance they had at keeping their witchcraft secret. Meanwhile, Cassandra watched the whole incident in absolute horror with her mouth gaping open like it was the grizzliest and goriest horror movie she had ever watched.

“Violet, I’m sorry!” Jarena cried out. “I didn’t mean it! Please don’t be angry, can we just talk this over!?”

”Talk this over.” Violet thought to herself, not at all pleased that she was now an adorable Furret. ”Sure, talk this over why don’t we? I’m a freaking Pokémon now thanks to you, girl! You wouldn’t understand me, you moron, that was the whole point of us using this spell in the first place! But sure, you want to talk? Let’s talk, girl.”

Violet simply used her right paw, dug into the pocket where she kept her own batch of Pokémon hairs, and pulled one out. And she didn’t care if the whole planet was watching, the cover was blown, their Pokémon battling careers were toast, and the day couldn’t possibly get any worse for her. Besides, she was curious to see if they could still cast spells as Pokémon. She had nothing left to lose at this point and leaving Jarena as the last girl standing when this incident was entirely her fault didn’t bode over well for her. No, she wanted payback, regardless of what it was going to cost them. For something as inane and ludicrous as this, it had to be done.

She focused her attention on Jarena’s white t-shirt and made that the target of the hex. With deadly, vengeful focus, she muttered the spidery, cryptic incantation, which surprisingly to her wasn’t restricted by her inability to pronounce words in a human language. After those few short seconds, the hex landed perfectly.

And it wasn’t even a second later until Jarena herself succumbed to the hex, suddenly transforming from her 5’8” human self… down to the form of a 1’4” Buneary. Like her two companions, her body was completely reformed and she was also covered with brown and beige fur, with the fur around her torso and now much elongated ears being fluffy and soft. She crawled out of the pile of clothes she was formerly wearing, now piled on top of her like a camping tent had collapsed upon her.

There was a sudden commotion among the crowd at Central Park, many of the passersby were now watching the whole spectacle unfold in full. The word was going around that the Diamond Ladies were there, but no one at all was expecting this.

“Wow, holy crap!” A male trainer exclaimed, watching and laughing. “Did the Diamond Girls just… turn each other into Pokémon!? That’s crazy!”

“Ha ha, I never knew they could do that!” Another female trainer replied. “That’s actually a great look for them, they look cute!”

Jarena had never felt so humiliated, taking the white t-shirt she used to be wearing and tossed it aside with her paw. She looked up and couldn’t believe how different the world around her looked now that she was so much smaller. And everyone in Central Park was watching her and Violet duke it out witchcraft style. She couldn’t help but mournfully look to Violet, who was still glaring at her. Although Jarena had to admit, Violet looked far less intimidating as an adorable Furret than what she looked like as her angry, usual human self. She could honestly say… she could get more used to this.

“Buunnn… ee” (“Oh god, Violet, why did you need to do that…?”) Jarena moaned in humiliated defeat, looking herself over, realizing what she had become before she covered her eyes with her new Buneary paws. “Bu…unnn… Bunn-earryy…” (“I said I was sorry! I was aiming for him!”)

“Furr-rr… ret!” (“What the hell were you thinking casting that with this many people around!?”) Violet shouted at Jarena as she stomped toward her, pointing an accusing paw at Jarena. “Furr… urrr… ret!” (“I had it under control and then you shot me in the back with that stupid hex of yours!”)

All while this was happening and unfolding before everyone in Central Park, Cassandra just buried her face in her paws. Just when things were looking hopeful…

“Eeevveee… Veee…” (“Okay, I’m ready to curl up and die now.”) She sobbed with a melancholy voice.

She was ready to accept there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell she’d ever be human again after she saw all that unfold. Whoever was trying to expose them and bring them and their Pokémon battling careers to an end successfully pulled it off and now all three of them were in the same literal boat together.

“Vic-ti-tini!” (“Oh cheer up, Cassandra!”) Victini smiled, patting her fluffy collar fur. “Tini-ni! Vi-vi-tini!” (“I don’t think it’ll be so bad for the three of you! I can see the headline now… ‘Too Cute to Prosecute!’”)

Cassandra looked at him with lowered eyelids, looking quite irritated. She then whapped him in the face with her paw.

“E-eeveeee…” (“I ought to fire you.”)

[Desolate Divine]

01-26-2021, 02:07 AM

Jon Drake
Battle Arena
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Noblejanobii Chakramaster

Avery spoke up via Girafarig, naming an operative for them to tag along with, whilst Jon's phone buzzed with another update.

Operative ID #29843
Violet and Jarena are in central park and have turned eachother into Pokemon! I repeat, Violet and Jarena have turned eachother into Pokemon!

Jon's eyes widened as he read the update.

"Latios!" Jon shouted frantically, "The girls have turned eachother into Pokemon! You want to get those books so badly?! Now is the chance!"

"They are in Central park, almost the dead center of the ship, and the books will be with them! Hell, just grab everything you can carry! Even the clothes!" Jon explained, "I don't care how many holes you leave in this ship, or what the damages are, get those damn books! No half measures!"

Latios let out a cry of joy before going invisible. There was two bangs, the first of Latios leaving a second hole in roof, and the second being a sonic boom from the pokemon breaking the sound barrier.

"The comission can cover my insurance bill can't they?" Jon asked Steven who watched him in horror, as he closed his eyes, to see Latios sight sharing.

Jon felt himself getting motionsick as Latios had kicked it up four gears than normal. The juvenile Pokemon enjoyed a challenge, and being able to let loose.

Latios flew above the ship, finding a large glass roof, overlooking Central Park. Through the glass, he could see a group of people clustered around, three Pokemon. The crowds emotions were a mix of wonder, amusement and fear, whilst the three Pokemon were pure anger and fear.

"Yes..." Jon muttered to himself, "Wait what are you doing..."

Latios turned and flew upwards, like a person stepping back to get a run up.

"You will sink the ship!" Jon yelled, still know Latios couldn't hear him.

Latios cried out happily, before diving downwards, creating another sonic boom.

It all happened faster than Jon could actually comprehend. Latios dove down at full speed, leaving his fourth calling card in the glass ceiling, before using his telepathy to group the bags with the books, and clothes in a bundle on the table, catching it as he dived through the table and the floor beneath, before pulling upwards in the hull and emerging back through the floor and up through the glass ceiling (though not through the holes he made prior)...

It took Jon a moment of seeing from Latios perspective being up in the sky, and seeing the bundle in his hands as well as the two holes in the glass ceiling to realize what had just happened.

"Seven holes..." Jon muttered to himself as he tuned out of the sight-sharing... "He has left seven holes in the ship in one day..."

Latios returned to the arena, ironically through the hole he made leaving, dropping his bounty at Jon's feet.

"They should be a lot easier to detain without these..." Jon muttered, regretting the pep talk he gave the still somewhat immature Pokemon...

Neo Emolga

01-26-2021, 04:08 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Shruikan, Desolate Divine

And as if things couldn’t get any worse…

A sudden boom in the ship made everyone suddenly jump, and then it was heard again. Cassandra instantly snapped to attention as she tried to follow where the noise was coming from.

And then suddenly there was a crash that came from the ceiling and soon enough Cassandra saw him…

“Vee… veeee!” (“It’s that psychotic Latios again!”) Cassandra shouted.

But there was little she could do about it and the eon Pokémon blasted toward her with blinding speed. Using his telepathy, he snagged up the bags with the Ladies Shadowcraft books, as well as the clothing Jarena and Violet had been wearing before they transformed. Fearing for their lives, Cassandra and Victini leapt from the picnic table just a mere second before Latios pulverized it into pieces, leaving yet another Latios-shaped hole under the twisted metal.

Oh god, the books… he stole the books.

To Cassandra, that was the final nail in the coffin. Everything was gone and she knew their pursuers were about to discover everything they had been keeping as a secret. She just collapsed face-down, her spirits absolutely crushed. Things had gone from bad to worse to absolutely abysmal at breakneck speeds.

Meanwhile, the crowds in the park had been fleeing from the absolute pandemonium caused by Latios, thinking he had completely lost his mind and was still attacking. Jarena and Violet were quite sure they knew exactly why Latios was there and had already finished his business here, but the rest of the crowd could have mistaken the blasting through walls to be shots fired from a battleship directed at the S.S. Wishmaker. But the three girls figured they knew what Latios was really there for: to lock them into a rut they couldn’t get out of. Whoever was the trainer of that Latios now had leverage over them and had all the evidence they needed to deliver a knock-out punch to their battling careers. Although they knew those were already obliterated once all three of them became Pokémon themselves.

The sudden interruption was enough to get Jarena’s and Violet’s distain off of each other. Though Violet still wasn’t thrilled about it, she could sense Jarena, though it wasn’t the best choice, didn’t at all mean for that outcome and would have reconsidered her actions if she had known what would result from it. Meanwhile, Jarena felt the same way about Violet’s reaction, thinking she’d be pretty pissed if she came close to catching that Doug punk only to be hit by friendly fire at the worst possible moment. While Central Park was virtually abandoned, the three Ladies gathered around to do a damage assessment.

“Furrr… ret-ret?” (“Godammit, how the hell do we get out of this one?”) Violet growled bitterly.

“Veee…” (“We don’t…”) Cassandra muttered in defeat, still with her head down and buried in her paws. “Eeev-veee… Eeevvveeveee.” (“This is it, they got us. Welcome to the first day of the rest of our Pokémon lives.”)

“Buunnn… unn…” (“Well, it was a nice ride while it lasted.”) Jarena sighed as she sat down besides Cassandra. “Bunn… unn… earry…” (“Kinda didn’t want to grow up to be a wrinkly old lady anyway.”)

Violet and Cassandra just looked at Jarena with an unamused look. That wasn’t the silver lining they were expecting and hoping for.

Shortly after, Victini had joined them, still wearing an optimistic smile that almost implied nothing was wrong and this was just another fine day in the neighborhood. Cassandra looked at him for just a moment, and then went back to burying her face in her paws again.

“Ee-veee… ” (“You again.”) Cassandra muttered unenthusiastically with her Eevee head down half-buried in her collar fur. “Ee-veeee-veeee…! Eve-veeee…?” “I thought you were supposed to bring us victory! Did you get completely drunk behind the wheel today or what?”)

“Vic-ti-ti,” (“Ah, don’t fret!”) Victini smiled, still with a bit of a skip in his step. “Vic-tini-ini! Vic-ti-ti-Ini! Vict-ti-ti!” (“Hey, sometimes it’s only after you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do anything! See this as a brand-new opportunity, like a fresh start and a clean slate! Victory doesn’t mean just winning battles!”)

“Furr-urrr…” (“Yeah, everything worked out so much better like this.”) Violet muttered sarcastically. “Furr-urr-furrett… Ettt…” (“You know, I’ve always wanted to trade all my prize earnings, fame, and social status to become this furry slinky Pokémon. What a deal.”)

“Victi-ti-inini!” (“Oh, don’t be like that, silly!”) Victini grinned, thinking he could cheer up Violet. “Vic-i-ti-ti-victi!” (“I’m sure you’ll look back on this day a few months from now and will be just laughing about it! Dust yourself off and just try turning over a new leaf in life!”)

After Cassandra picked herself up from the ground, she sighed. As much as she hated to admit, Victini was right, it was all they could do. There was no telling what the operatives, the Champions, or what all her former fans would do, but she, long with Jarena and Violet, had to deal with it one step at a time and hope there was at least something good that could be worked out of this.

At this point, Cassandra had given up on the fame, the fortune, the titles, and the recognition. She just wanted to hold on and preserve what little scrap of happiness and satisfaction she could get out of all of this.

[Desolate Divine]

01-26-2021, 05:08 AM

Jon Drake
Battle Arena -> Wherever the girls end up
Affected RPers Noblejanobii Chakramaster Neo Emolga

Last chance for dialogue before Jon leaves.

Once the initial shock had worn off, with Steven's permission, Jon took what Latios had retrieved with him to him and Alyssa's room, calling out as he left.

"Keep the other operatives looking for nuggets. We still need at least nine of them." Jon explained, "I'm going to go and round up some stray Pokemon."

Jon left the arena, making his way back to he and Alyssa's room. Stuffing the clothes in the bag with the books, Jon placed it in the cupboard with a note on top.

Alyssa, if you find this, please don't open the bag. I promise I will explain everything to you as soon as I can, but don't open the bag.

Whilst Jon was mostly worried about Alyssa finding all the clothing the three girls were wearing hidden in their room, and thinking the worst, he still wasn't 100% sure what the books were, but had a more important task. Jon didn't know whether the girls would scurry and hide, and based on the strong emotions they would probably be feeling, Latios served as the best way to find them. Whilst Jon considered bringing cages, he figured between Latios and himself, they could carry the mostly small Pokemon.

Neo Emolga[/MENTION], feel free to choose where they go, if anywhere. I will leave it vague and just have Jon find them where you put them.

After a stern talking to about using doors, Latios turned invisible, and began carefully flying around the ship, looking for the three small and somewhat helpless Pokemon, whilst Jon waited on one of the balcony's watching from Latios' perspective. It didn't take long for the emotion sensing Pokemon to tune in on where the three Pokemon were. Latios waited, watching the trio whilst invisible, as Jon made his way towards where they were. However when Jon was around the corner, he heard a voice in his head. An unfamiliar one.

"Wait."

Jon stopped dead in his tracks, unsure at who the voice was. After a moment, Jon felt himself forced into sharing sight with Latios again, who was hovering above the Pokemon, the three girls all with an aura of deep blue. Absolute despair. Meanwhile Cassandra's Victini was still a bright and happy yellow.

"Latios?" Jon thought to himself. Latios hadn't learnt how to speak telepathically yet. This was the first time anything like this had happened.

"Talk first."

Jon sighed at this. Whilst all the myth's described Latios as an empathetic Pokemon with a compassionate heart, Jon had never really seen it to this extent. Latios was sensing their despair, and empathising with them.

"They are targets. Don't forget that." Jon thought back.

"People first." Latios responded, "Talk first."

Jon sighed as Latios showed him an image of himself as a child, pretending to sleep when his dad came home drunk, hoping he wouldn't come into his room. A memory. Latios must have been seeing bits and pieces of Jon's mind when they were sight sharing.

"Fine, I will talk to them." Jon replied, "It's not like they can escape this ship or you anyway..."

"Yay."

"If I end up as a Pokemon, I am kicking his a**..." Jon muttered to himself as he turned the corner, and found himself face to face with the three Pokemon. Latios returned visible behind them, attempting to block their escape.

"If you ladies don't mind," Jon explained, "I'd like to talk..."

Shruikan

01-26-2021, 11:02 AM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Luneth was surprised to hear that someone had broken into the diamond ladies room. “Oh no, it must have been one of those stalker fans. I hope everything gets sorted out and Cassandra feels better soon.”

After “Cinnamon” and the Zorua started growling at each other, the ladies took their leave.

“You really don’t like that Eevee, do you?” She said petting the Zorua’s head. “Ok, let’s get back to finding your trainer then.”

Luneth wandered the central park, asking everyone she met about the Zorua, but no-one knew anyone who had lost one.
She needed a break, maybe Zorua’s trainer was on a different part of the ship by now?

Luneth decided to rest at the picnic area. She’d planned to eat at that Shaymin Cafe, but with the Zorua search going on it would have to wait. As it was she just grabbed some snacks out a vending machine and settled down to plan her next move. She laid her map out on the table, mentally checking the places she’s searched. She’d checked the teen area of the Youth Zone and Central Park already. Maybe her Zorua’s trainer was training in the Battle Arena?
As she finished off her crisps, She saw in the distance the Diamond Ladies were also taking a lunch break, or at least trying to between all the fans asking for autographs.

Just as Luneth was about to leave, everything started to happen at once. First, the Diamond Ladies appeared to have bought a toy or something from a girl, when a man all in black stole it. Violet chased after the thief, almost catching him, but then seemed to disappear, leaving a Furret in her place. The the Furret glared at Jarena, before seeming to chant something, and Jarena turned into a Bunneary!
Luneth found herself grinning widely. That was magic! Real honest to goodness magic! And people could turn into pokemon! Oh, but the Diamond ladies probably didn’t want to be pokemon.

The Zorua took advantage of this moment of distraction to kick away from Luneth’s hold, dashing away after the thief. Luneth wasn’t sure if it was going after the thief to try and catch them, or if it had recognised it’s trainer. She really hoped it was the former.

Before she could go after them, a blur shot down from the ceiling like a cannonball, smashing through the glass ceiling. People stated panicking and fleeing the scene, and Luneth was buffeted as she pushed against the flow, trying to see if the Diamond Ladies were ok.
Upon pushing through the crowd, Luneth saw that the Ladies bags and clothes were gone. That wasn’t just a random attack, it was cover for another thief, Luneth realised. But why were the Diamond Ladies being targeted? This was certainly more than just a rabid fan.

As everyone fled the area, Luneth reached for her bag and tossed out two pokeballs, releasing a Sky Forme Shaymin and a Volcarona.
“Glimmer, go quick and see if you can find where that Zorua went. He was chasing a man all in black who just stole something, and might need backup. Hestia, come with me quick.” The Shaymin nodded, then shot off in the direction Luneth indicated, while the Volcarona hovered slight above and behind Luneth, blocking any sneak attacks.

As she approached the former humans, she saw that Cassandra’s Victini was with them now. Why would one of Cassandra’s pokemon be here without her? No, that doesn’t matter right now.
“You need to get out of here,” she told the pokemon. “That stalker of yours seems much more dangerous that I thought. You need to go warn Cassandra, unless she already knows. Either way, Me and Hestia can escort you safely back to your rooms or wherever you need to go.” Luneth gestured to the Volcarona that was floating over them, glancing around the whole area for any sign of another attack.
“Come on, it’s not safe to stay here.”

- - -
Same timeskip thingy as Desolate Divine's post. Luneth goes along with the ladies to wherever it happens. (Whether they want her to or not :P)
- - -

“So, um…” Luneth looked like she was trying to be casual, but it was obvious she was exited. “Can that pokemon spell work on anyone? And do you pick what pokemon they’re turned into? Can you do any other kind of magic? Oh, please don’t tell me that this was just a trick and it isn’t really magic.”

As they were about the round a corner, a man stepped out in front of them, asking to talk in a way that seemed to signify that not talking wasn’t an option. Wait, he wants to talk to pokemon? Does he know who they really were?
A quite growl from Hestia confirmed that there were surrounded, as a Latios had snuck up behind them. Was that Latios what had caused the cannonball effect earlier? It would certainly have been fast enough…
“Were you the one who attacked the Diamond Ladies back in the park?” She said, reaching for her other pokeballs as Hestia faced the Latios.
“I won’t let you hurt them.” She said, sounding a lot more confident that she was feeling. Luneth had trouble winning against trainers without legendaries, but maybe this guy only had the one pokemon? Then she could win by attrition, or at least get everyone away while it’s distracted…

[Desolate Divine]

01-26-2021, 11:18 AM

Jon Drake
Wherever Neo Decides
Affected RPers: Shruikan Neo Emolga

Before there could be a response, Jon was surprised to hear a human voice pipe up.

"Were you the one who hurt them?" said a teenage girl who stood out, "I won't let you hurt them."

"F**k, nothing's ever easy." Jon muttered to himself, before pulling out the ID he, like all the other operatives was provided by the Pokemon League Integrity and Fairness Division, "I'm part of a group who have been investigating these trainers, recruited by Steven Stone himself. I don't want to harm them, and really hope they come with me willingly, especially since they can't change themselves back without us right now, and they have turned six people that we are aware of into Pokemon already, but before they come with me, I really do just want to talk. When I do take them into custody of the League, you have my word we will be respectful of them."

"And if Latios here had been attacking them earlier, they wouldn't be here." Jon explained, "He was simply gathering some evidence for me, and caused a bit of a scene. I was watching the entire time, and he meant them no harm. So please don't interfere. You're welcome to stay and listen, but please let me do my job."

"Now ladies, can we talk?"

C0L0R3D

01-26-2021, 11:19 AM

Ozona Reverie
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ERS: Anyone nearby

After a shorter then expected walk, Ozona had reached the stadium to quite a huge commotion. Oreo grabbed into her trainer's leg to make sure she wasn't separated even if her shawl didn't make her stand out enough. Ozona had no clue what was going on, all she had came to do was train.

"Wow... What even went on here?" She questioned, and she just felt her partner grip on tighter and for good reason. She hadn't been in crowds this big since watching the PWT back in Unova. And even then it was pretty scary.

Chakramaster

01-26-2021, 12:50 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Desolate Divine SlickSlack

Both Avery and Jimmy listened to the discussion. Not much they could add anyway without the help of Avery's Pokemon to help transmit our words through its psychic abilities. It was true though. As things were it didn't look good for the ladies right now. Even if we had been struck by their hex. They're scared now....and it's showing. So more than likely they may try and throw more tricks at us.

Jon asked, looking towards both Avery and Jimmy, if they had anything else to add. Avery turned to their Pokémon to signal it so she can begin to speak to them. Explaining they also have a hairbrush to use for when the time comes to try changing them back. That even they were worried with their abilities. They may try throwing illusions at us to fool us. That we may need to share lesser known facts about one another to help prevent such from happening. They shared a fact about their earring being a gift from their father. Avery then looked to Jimmy asking if he had anything else to add.

Jimmy nodded and looked up to them. "Well as spiky as my hair was. I'm sure some of my clothes, my comb or even my hair brush may have some of my hairs in it too. Yeah I use a hairbrush too. So we could potentially use that when time comes to change us back. As far as little known secrets to share. Maybe that I wasn't the one that got lost and saved my little brother when we were young. It was actually the other way around." He said looking a little saddened.

Jimmy listened to the discussion about raising a legendary. Truly it must be a real task. Though nice as it was being around those that knew of their situation, it couldn't last. They knew that. Jon explained how he couldn't stick around them. Especially after telling his wife he was gonna make sure we got back to our trainers. Don't wanna blow our cover that easily now.

Avery chimed out, at first in Pokespeak before her Pokemon began to translate again for them to the humans.

"Reach out to Celestinia Veres! I think she'd be happy to assist us." Avery said to them. Though Jimmy didn't know her. He trusts in his team here. Their situation might not be the best, but it's all they can do for now. As they explained that. Jon seemed distracted as he grabbed his buzzing phone before looking surprised and shouting to his Latios.

"Latios!" Jon shouted frantically, "The girls have turned eachother into Pokemon! You want to get those books so badly?! Now is the chance!"

Jimmy himself chuckled to himself. "I guess the tables have turned, but we have to leave this to them for now. Not much we can do like this." Jimmy thought before looking himself over once more.

In just a brief flash. Jon's Latios disappeared from sight and with a loud BANG. Creating a sonic boom sound.

Jimmy looked covering his ears with his paws thinking, "I may have slightly better hearing as a Pokémon now, but I don't think even as a human it could've been much louder." Jon and his Latios made headway to capture the Diamond Ladies. Was this it? Were they finally about to be captured and locked up? Were we finally about the be able to get back to our human forms? For now we could only wait.

"Pa-chi. Pachi-ri. Pachirisu?" (So Avery. Where is this person you said could look after us?). "Chi-ri-su. Pachirisu?" (We can't just go on our own like this. Would be a lot to take in don't you think?) Jimmy says to Avery.

A loud clank sound came from a corner as Jimmy looks to the sound. A vent cover had come loose and a Pikachu has come crawling out with a Rotom.

"Risu! Pachiri. Pachiii-ri-su!"(Hey there you are Pikachu! And you got Rotom with you! Glad you two are okay!)

"Pika Pika! Pi-Pika Pi-Pikachu. Pika-Chu? (Jimmy! Glad to see you finally. Now I won't be stuck with this pain in the tail. Guess you'd understand that reference we Pokemon have now huh?)

Jimmy looked questionably at Pikachu an Rotom. Half laughing as if it were a joke. Pachirisu? (Pain in the tail?) He questioned the Pikachu.

"Rooo-tom!" (He means this!) the Rotom said before hovering behind Jimmy and reaching an arm out shocking Jimmy's tail. Making him jump and fur stand out after being shocked.

"Paaaaa-Chi!" (Yeee-ouch!). Jimmy looks to Rotom while holding his tail that had been shocked. Then Pikachu in frustration as Rotom laughs.

"Ro-Rooo-TOM?!" (Get it? Pain in the TAIL?!) the Rotom says while still laughing

Pikachu looking to Jimmy in frustration asking. Pika Pi. Pika Pika?(Now do you dunerstand what I've tried telling you all these years?

They were reunited. It still didn't solve the question...where do we go next. We're Pokemon. It's not like we can do much in assisting the other operatives....could we? Jimmy wondered as he noticed someone else arriving at the Battle Stadium where they were.

Noblejanobii

01-26-2021, 04:03 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster SlickSlack

Avery rubbed their head a little as they tried to process everything that was going on. This was all moving rather quickly. But at least that Latios had somehow managed to nab the evidence we needed on the Diamond Ladies. It seemed the end was in sight once and for all. Now all that remained was rounding them up and turning back human. Those were much easier said than done though.

"Pa-chi. Pachi-ri. Pachirisu?" (So Avery. Where is this person you said could look after us?). "Chi-ri-su. Pachirisu?" (We can't just go on our own like this. Would be a lot to take in don't you think?) Jimmy says to Avery.

Avery shrugged a little. "Bui bui, zel. Buizel bui bui." ("To be candid, I'm not entirely sure where exactly on the ship she is. That's why I was hoping one of the humans could call her. I just know she's on the cruise ship.") Avery began to swish their tails again, trying to think of a solution. Maybe Steven could call her since Jon was long gone by now.

As they mulled it over, Jimmy's Rotom and Pikachu crashed in. Well at least they were reunited. That crossed another item off the list. Avery smiled a little. Must be really nice to be reunited with his Pokémon after being so worried about that. Avery subconsciously pat Gloria, wanting to express their appreciation for her as well.

It was then another trainer showed up, seemingly hurrying their way in from the concourse outside. Ah that's right. With Latios practically divebombing the central park, a lot of folks had probably fled from the area. Still this posed trouble. They couldn't exactly speak to Steven with this other trainer here. And worse, what if this trainer tried to catch them? Avery wasn't keen to find out if this was a possibility or not.

Neo Emolga

01-27-2021, 01:27 AM

OOC: Just going to stay they’re still in Central Park, they didn’t stray too far away from the site of the incident.

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Shruikan, Desolate Divine

The Ladies were at a loss for what to consider doing next. There was no way to get off the ship and no matter where they went, it seemed like there were eyes upon them at all times and no where to run to, especially after the kind of scene that was just created. Without a doubt, they had been in dicey situations before, but nothing even close to this extent.

In the meantime, they were convinced they were never going to be human again. Without the books they needed to know how the Affliction Reversal Spell worked, without any samples of their previous human selves left, and with not a single golden nugget in sight, they had abandoned hope of ever returning to the lives of riches and glamor they once had.

After a hard, desolate sigh, Cassandra was about to try thinking about what would happen next after the ship docked tomorrow. Where would she go, do, what would become of her and her friends Jarena and Violet? She never felt this lost before.

It was then that Luneth had approached them, and they had turned to see her, a bit surprised she had not run off with the others, but it seemed she realized the coast was clear and Latios was no longer in sight.

“So, um…” Luneth approached them, still captivated at what had transpired earlier. “Can that Pokémon spell work on anyone? And do you pick what Pokémon they’re turned into? Can do you any other kind of magic? Oh, please don’t tell me that this was just a trick and it isn’t really magic.”

Cassandra didn’t know what to say, and all she could do was sigh, shrug a bit, and look downcast again, as if to imply to say “don’t make the same mistake we did,” though there was a part of Cassandra that was wondering if perhaps Luneth herself wanted to try being a Pokémon for a while. But with their pouches of fur strands swiped from them, the only strands they had on hand were their own, so it would leave Luneth with the limited choice of Eevee, Furret, or Buneary. But in the meantime, Cassandra couldn’t answer Luneth’s questions, at least not in a way she could understand.

It was then that Jon had approached the Ladies, and they looked up, having no idea who he was.

“If you ladies don’t mind, I’d like to talk…” he told them.

“Eeevvv veeee… eeeee…” (“Oh god, then go ahead and talk!”) Cassandra frowned. “Ee-veee veee…!” (“Really, tell me how much of this you understand, I’m a Pokémon, can’t you tell!”)

“Vic-ti..” (“You know…”) Victini told her, still wearing an optimistic smile. “Vic-tini-ti!” (“I have telepathy and can let him know what you’d like to say!”)

Before she could consider his offer and if she really even felt up to striking a conversation with him, Luneth stepped in.

“Were you the one who attacked the Diamond Ladies?” she asked, reaching for her Pokéball. “I won’t let you hurt them.”

She’s… trying to defend us?

The three Ladies were a bit surprised. But Cassandra figured it was only because Luneth didn’t really know the full truth of what was going on here, and what they had really been using their witchcraft for. Cassandra got to thinking that Luneth might have seen their display of witchcraft as just very fantastical recreational use when really they had been using it to cheat and gain an unfair advantage in Pokémon battles, to the point where it got them to where they hit the big leagues and win battles they wouldn’t have otherwise.

And it was then that Jon had pulled out his ID, showing his membership to the Pokémon League Integrity and Fairness Division and explaining what he had come to do and why. As the Ladies had discovered, a whole investigation had been in operation the entire time they were here, and it clearly explained why their room had been raided and why the Latios had been giving them a hard time.

“Now ladies, can we talk?” Jon asked them.

Cassandra knew her options were extremely limited. Latios had swiped their Pokémon away and all they had were themselves as three normal type Pokémon with nothing for battling experience, so fighting was out of the question. And they had nowhere to run to, as Latios could easily chase them down in an instant and literally had no qualm about ripping the ship to shreds to get to them. In fact, if Cassandra and Victini hadn’t jumped out of the way, he might have torn them to pieces when he dashed into the table they had been standing on just a moment before throwing themselves off. But hiding wasn’t an option either, even if Latios was out of the picture as there were operatives everywhere. It was the three of them up against an army of humans and Pokémon that they couldn’t fight and run from on a ship that was in the middle of the ocean.

Cassandra knew there was no other option but to surrender, but before she did and told Victini to relay the message, Violet looked to her.

“Furr… urrr…” (“You know the damn League will take everything away.”) Violet muttered to Cassandra. “Urr… furrr… ettt… urrr… ” (“You know what they’re going to do. They’re going to make everyone hate the sight of us, and we’ll never be let even close to a Pokémon battle.”)

Cassandra nodded, still looking downcast. She was well aware of that and now she was regretting going that far to collect that much attention and fame, just from how quickly she realized it could flip to the polar opposite. Every trophy they ever won, every time fans cheered their names, and every acclaim to fame would be driven toward the opposite direction. Smears, blame, ridicule, and harassment were all they could look forward to. And they would be left broke with crippling debt from the lawsuits the League would impose upon them. And who would even hire them to collect trash and scrub floors? Everyone would just see them as liars and cheaters. But they understood that what they did was wrong and unethical, even if there was no actual law in existence specifically regarding witchcraft. Still, the League had its own rules about unjust spectator interference and foul play, which they knew would surface sooner or later trial after trial in what they knew would be an agonizing, spirit-crushing ordeal.

“Buunnnn… nnn…” (“Oh man… just thinking about how much it’s gonna suck…”) Jarena sighed, shivering a bit. “Bunn… earrr… ryyy…” (“It really makes me want to almost-“)

“Evee… vee…” (“-never want to go back.”) Cassandra interrupted her.

Both Violet and Jarena looked at her, a bit taken back at first for saying something brazen like that. But when they really stopped to think about what Cassandra said, what sounded absurd one second… became questionable… and then possible… and then sensible…

…and then understandable.

“Bunn…” (“Never go back…”) Jarena stated again, letting it settle.

Leave it all behind. Let the Diamond Ladies fade into myth and obscurity. If they never returned to being human, the media would have nothing to smear and no one’s image to spoil, the League would have no one to sue and slander, and the mobs and crowds would have no one to attack and lash out at. They would just be gone, and that was all. Their human selves would have a tarnished name and a miserable future that would forever be defaced in Pokémon battling history… but only if they returned to being human.

As far as the three Ladies were concerned, their now Pokémon selves had a clean slate, a fresh start, a new outlook on life that could be a peaceful one, just as Victini said. There was no one out there that would find a reason to hate an everyday Eevee, Furret, and Buneary that simply traveled the world on a new path, free and unbound by civilization and society’s expectations of them. At the same time, the League and anyone participating it would never have to worry about them playing dirty tricks or deceit ever again. Life would go on. Peacefully. For everyone.

And now Cassandra understood why Victini was the Pokémon of victory.

“Furrurr-et…” (“It’s… really not so bad.”) Violet told herself and the others as she looked at her paws.

“Eeve… veee…” (“It… it can be nice.”) Cassandra told her, finally able to smile, but just a tiny bit as she looked to Jarena and Violet. “Ev… veee…” (“Just us, on the road together.”)

It was then that Cassandra nodded, and then looked to Victini. And then she whispered into his large pointy ear, and as she spoke, he nodded with a curious smile before even he was taken a bit back by surprise, but he really liked her proposal.

And it was then that he reached out to Jon’s mind, connecting to him with telepathy as he smiled.

<Greetings, Mr. Drake! Hopefully this message from yours truly, Victini, finds you well!

The Ladies have agreed to undo the Pokémon transformations on your operatives! Well, provided you can provide them with the necessary reagents, of course! And yes, they’ll need you to give them their books back for a temporary amount of time as they haven’t quite memorized that spell they need!

In exchange for that, they want you and the League to drop all charges, never mention their names again, let them walk off this ship unharmed, unidentified, and unconnected with the Diamond Ladies, and not attempt to hunt them down again as they remain the Pokémon that they are now! You and the rest of the League won’t ever have to worry about them cheating or using dastardly dirty tricks to disrupt battles and tournaments ever again, and the Diamond Ladies simply go down as an urban legend and no one knows what happened to them. Everyone wins!>

Now it all came down to how Jon and the League would decide…

[Desolate Divine]

01-27-2021, 10:22 AM

Jon Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Shruikan

Jon chuckled at the telepathic message from the Victini, somewhat glad it was able to translate, since Latios didn't seem capable of saying more than a handful of simple words.

"Straight to the negotiating I see." Jon replied, "I have a counter offer I want to make, and I think you want to hear, but I will get to that in a second…"

Jon crouched down, getting to the level of the three girls, wondering how to word what was going through his mind…

"Truth is, until five minutes ago, I wasn't going to even think about talking things out. You three were targets, and it was my job to bring you in. Nothing more or less." Jon explained before gesturing to Latios, "Until Wrecking-Ball here asked me to talk to you first."

"You know how he was able to find you before, and just now?" Jon asked, "Latios have a supernatural empathy. Their ability to understand emotions of people is off the charts. He found you so easily because earlier today, Violet and Jarena were scared, and Cassandra, you were angry. And just now, all three of you were scared and upset. Three young women who made some mistakes, and got themselves in way too deep."

"The reason I am even talking to you now is because I have seen what happens when people make mistakes, and aren't given, or don't take the opportunity to fix them. You know why I have these tattoos, and wear this stupid beanie in the middle of summer?" Jon asked, "My parents married even though they were about to break up, because they found out I was coming, and my dad's parents told him they would cut him off if he didn't stick around. And I wish they didn't, because even though he stuck around, he would drink himself stupid. That turned into a drug problem, and eventually him selling the s***."

Jon took off his beanie, revealing the scar just under his hairline.

"He would come home drunk, and take out his problems on whoever happened to be closest. This one I got when he smashed a plate over my head." Jon explained before pointing at a scar on his wrist that was partially covered by a tattoo, "This one was from his belt buckle, because he tripped over my shoes by the front door."

Jon put his beanie back on before continuing.

"The only reason it stopped was because one night, a guy who bought s**t from him showed up at our house with a gun, trying to rob us. He shot my mum dead, before Dad shot him and ran. I was fourteen and heard yelling from the lounge room then gunshots. I was scared s**tless and stayed in my bed, hoping if I just kept to myself everything would be okay. I remember being scared out of my mind when the cop came into my room, and took me out the back door so I wouldn't see the bodies."

"Based on the studies and the numbers, I should have turned out like him and continued that sick cycle. Instead my grandparents took me in, and treated me like their own son. Even though they were in their sixties and ready to retire, they kept working and raised me." Jon continued, "And when they found out I wanted to be a trainer, and compete professionally, they moved heaven and earth to help me pursue that dream. If not for them, I probably would be just as big of a piece of s**t as my old man is, sharing a cell with him in prison…"

"I often wonder, if somebody caught on to what my dad was doing before it reached its worst, made him answer for what he did, but then gave him the opportunity to move forward, and learn from his mistakes, would Mum still be alive? Would I have all these scars, and would he be in prison?"

"That's why I want to make this offer. Because even though you have dug yourself into a pretty deep hole, and caused a heck of a lot of trouble, you still have your whole life ahead of you, and I'd hate to see that go down the drain because of this." Jon said, "So here's what I want to offer."

"You three will come with me willingly, where we will give you what you need to turn yourselves and the six operatives you turned into Pokemon back to normal, and assist in finding the four operatives that we still haven't located. You then accept whatever punishment they give you. I can't make any sort of deal promising immunity. I am just here to take you in." Jon continued, "But I can offer to propose this to the League, and try my hardest to throw some weight around to get them to agree to it. This isn’t the first time they have recruited me for something like this, so maybe even threaten not to do any more of these operations if they don’t hear me out. Anyway, as an act of good will, tonight you give Avery the battle they deserve, whilst Jarena and Violet watch the live stream from another room under supervision. If the match doesn’t go ahead because both contestants are sick, people will ask questions If you win tonight, the same thing happens tomorrow evening. The League will endeavour to remove any content online regarding the incident today, and come up with a cover up story about it all. Anyone who can't be convinced by a cover-up story will be made to sign a non disclosure agreement. It is in the League's best interest to keep this all under wraps. The last thing they want is someone finding out that this supernatural stuff is legit, and copying you. It would be a s**tshow. Could you imagine that?"

Jon continued explaining what he would propose to the League.

“What I would try and propose is this. In the eyes of the public it would be the Diamond Ladies announcing their retirement after the cruise. They would give the Regional Champions a chance to win back their titles before retiring, without interference, and after that, they are done with battling in official Pokemon League Tournaments. In reality, you will face a ban, which I will push to be temporary, five to ten years, but I can’t promise they will accept that and not make it a lifetime ban. But, because they want to keep this under wraps, the ban will not be known to anybody outside of the league. If we announce you’re banned and don’t give a reason why, or give a reason that turns out to be false, the cover up won’t work anymore, and the league will be in deep s**t, with people trying to do what you did. You will still need to pay back what you scammed from the League, though I will try and make sure it is an arrangement that won’t leave you homeless.” Jon explained briefly, “Lucky for you, this being kept under wraps means your sponsors would not hear about the ban, so you won’t need to pay them back. And even luckier for you, because most people believe it impossible, there aren’t laws about turning people into Pokemon, so I would be incredibly surprised if they could charge you for anything that would result in jail time.”

“Your reputation to the public will be undamaged, and you can do whatever it is famous people do in their spare time. Get into acting, start a music career, whatever. You can still do interviews as the celebrity guest at some event, or even be a guest speaker at some trainer school seminar. You just can’t participate during the ban. And of course, we will be confiscating your books as evidence.” Jon explained, “Heck, if you proved yourself trustworthy, having someone like you guys around for this investigation would have made things a lot easier. We wouldn’t have kept sending in agents if somebody had told us they were being turned into Pokemon. Maybe once a bit of time has passed, and you have shown you have turned things around, the League may even be able to use your help, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.”

“But that’s basically it. If they take my suggestion, and you have my word that if you agree, I will do everything I can to get them to do that, you don’t have to hide, or fear for your safety or financial security. You will still pay for your crimes, but it won’t ruin your life.” Jon explained, “And if they don’t take my suggestion, and they don’t spare your reputation, which would surprise me, because doing that would raise questions the league don’t want to answer, you have my word I will still try and help you. Even if it means helping you find work, or even helping find somewhere to live. My wife works as a journalist at BattleNET, and is thinking of starting her own agency, so may be looking for employees, which is an option.”

As Jon said this, he had a brainwave.

“Other thing. If they spare your reputation and you get to battle tonight, Alyssa gets an interview. She was going on all morning about how much she wanted to interview you, Cassandra, and I had to keep giving her false leads so she didn’t run into you and end up being turned into a Psyduck.” Jon explained, “Truth is, as much as the thought of what may happen to me if I battled you tomorrow night scared me s**tless, I was actually really looking forward to the battle. Even without the bulls**t you guys were pulling, I know you’re talented trainers. The way I see it, a good trainer is able to make the most of the circumstances they are in, and if you weren’t able to do that, it wouldn’t matter what you did, you would still lose. I said it before and I’ll say it again. You have your whole lives ahead of you, and I’d hate to see that go to waste, especially since if we play our cards right, ten years from now this could all be a bad memory.”

“But,” Jon explained, “As I said, I want to make this offer to you. But so far, all evidence indicates that if I try and make this offer, it will bite me later. Wrecking-Ball seems to think you are worth taking that risk for, but his judgement is shown by the seven holes in the ship, and I am not sold yet. I need a reason to trust you will follow through, and I won’t wind up as a Dunsparce. So give me that reason.”

“If you want me to make this offer, you can start by telling me how exactly how three young women like yourselves wound up being the center of the biggest cheating scandal the League has ever seen.” Jon said, “If I find a reason to make that offer, and you take it, you have my word I will try my best to help you move forward. Or you can tell me where to stick it, and myself and Wrecking-Ball will take you in anyway, and my hands are wiped, and I get to take home a paycheck that will not even begin to cover the damages done by Wrecking Ball. I know which option is better. I can guarantee within a month, somebody will be so happy with the Eevee they just caught, before she is forgotten about in some PC box, so I get the feeling living life eating Poke-Chow, running from trainers and being beaten up by stronger wild Pokemon would get old quickly...”

“Ball’s in your court, Ladies. How did we end up here?”

Chakramaster

01-27-2021, 12:45 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Stadium
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii SlickSlack

While Jon is trying to finish the mission and capture the Diamond Ladies. Jimmy and Avery as well as their Pokémon were still in the Battle Stadium with Steven. Though still preoccupied on the headset. Waiting to hear any good news. As this other person showed up by them.

Jimmy looked to her in caution. Who knows who she is. We don't even know if she's on operative sent her or just some random trainer that walked in. Either way it's not good for a random passenger to know about their situation or what was going on.

Steven then looked less occupied as he took his hand away from his head. As if he was done listening or talking for now. He looked to the group before noticing the other person that arrived in the area.

"Looks like we have more company. So I'll keep this down and brief now. So they can't hear. Looks like Jon has the situation under control right now. So hopefully we can have everything sorted out soon. Not to mention having every operative turned into a Pokémon reverted back to their human forms." He said to the group quietly so no one else can hear

"But for now I need to get you to this person Avery mentioned. I can't leave a bunch of Pokémon to wonder around themselves. Much less using psychic abilities to talk to humans. We don't need anyone thinking you're all rare Pokémon that know how to speak with humans and being captured."

Jimmy kinda quivers a moment before closing his eyes and saying, "Pa-chi. Risu Risu. Pachirisu." (Yeah I'd rather not know what life is like on the inside of a Pokeball. Much less what it's like inside a PC Box waiting to be pulled back out).

Steven pulled out a phone and began to search. "So, Celestina Veres." He continues to search before looking confident and putting down his phone. "Well I've got a location. I can give you an escort before I'm needed elsewhere. I'm sure having the former champion explain having her watch a few Pokémon for awhile won't be an issue. Celestina Veres is located in the royal cabins. So it's a little bigger. Probably best when having a few Pokémon around. Shall we get moving?" Steven let's a hand out in order to show the way and so that we can meet up with this person Avery mentioned.

"I only hope this Celestina Veres is really trustworthy and we won't run into anymore curveballs." Jimmy thinks to himself as he begins to follow behind Steven.

Shruikan

01-27-2021, 02:17 PM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

The stranger quickly whipped out an ID showing he was with the Pokemon League Fairness something-or other, so most likely investigating allegations of the Diamond Ladies cheating. If that was the case then them using magic to win their battles made a whole lot of sense. The inexplicable victories were just spells cast on their opponents.

But then again, this guy’s methods seemed questionable. Smashing a glass roof while there was a crowd below just to catch someone cheating seemed a little too extreme. Was he really the good guy here?
Luneth lowered her guard slightly, but didn’t return Hestia, instead keeping the Volcarona between the Latios and the Ladies, ready to stop any sudden moves if they turned out to be lying.

After a few moments of silence, the man spoke. “Straight to negotiating I see” But as far as Luneth could see, they haven’t said anything yet? Could this guy understand pokemon? Or wait, Victini’s telepathy maybe?Either way, Luneth wondered what they had said, slightly annoyed that she could only hear half the conversation.

The stranger knelt down and out of the blue started rambling about his childhood. Assuming he was telling the truth, this guy had had it rough. And because of that, he offered the Diamond Ladies what seemed to Luneth to be a pretty good compromise, which surprised Luneth.

Luneth looked over at the Ladies. “I may not have the full picture, but if you really did cheat using magic then this sounds like a really good deal for you guys.”

Then a thought occurred. “Oh, but wait, this is just two of you here. Don’t you need to ask Cassandra too?”

Neo Emolga

01-28-2021, 03:24 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Shruikan, Desolate Divine

Jon had given the Ladies his own background story, and he didn’t spare any of the dark, grizzly, and violent details. But in the midst of it all, he wanted to emphasize that he had turned his life around, and felt they could, too.

He then proposed what he felt would be the next best steps. Return the operatives they transformed into Pokémon back to normal, have the battle with Avery tonight, and then turn themselves in before announcing a retirement, a ban known only to them and the League, followed by having to repay whatever the League would demand in return. Lastly, he wanted to allow his wife, Alyssa, to have an interview with Cassandra. But, before any of this would took place, he wanted them to confess to exactly how it all started.

“Ball’s in your court, Ladies. How did we end up here?”

“I may not have the full picture,” Luneth told the Ladies, “but if you really did cheat using magic, then this sounds like a really good deal for your guys. Oh, but wait, this is just the two of you here. Don’t you need to ask Cassandra, too?”

And that was when Victini looked over to Luneth and smiled before using his telepathy.

<Hi there, Luneth! Victini here! Actually, Cassandra’s been here the entire time! Yep, she accidentally turned herself into an Eevee this morning. Surprise, that Eevee you see there is actually her! I tell you, what an exciting day!>

It was then that the Ladies had looked to each other. They had heard Jon out the whole time, considering his words carefully. Jarena was the first of the three to speak up.

“Bu-unnn… earrr…” (“Yeah, I don’t know about this…”) Jarena told Cassandra and Violet, feeling very skeptical. “Bunnn unnnearrryy…?” (“Can we really trust this guy?”)

“Fur…” (“No.”) Violet stated firmly. “Furr-uuurrreett… ett… Furr-et.” (“He can’t promise any of that. Those kinds of decisions are above his pay grade. And he knows it.”)

Cassandra nodded. She figured they would have to turn themselves in regardless of what went down. There was no running from that and she felt it would be better to just sit in custody until the ship docked. But for everything else, they needed to decide now, as the time was dwindling down and there was still a battle scheduled whether Cassandra felt “sick” or not.

At the same time, Cassandra knew she could have a private conversation with Jarena and Violet and keep it confidential.

“Eevee ee… veee…” (“I really don’t like it and Violet’s right, he’s only an employee of the League, not the League itself.”) Cassandra told the other Ladies. “Vee… veeee-Eeveee…” (“We screwed with Steven, Lance, Cynthia, and all the others and I know they’re going to butcher us on this. You know they won’t forgive and forget. Look at how much they’ve put into organizing this whole sting operation. I can tell a lot of money, planning, and logistics went into this. You know their pride was a basis for that and they wanted us taken down badly.”)

She knew they would be banned, as Jon said, but she saw no hope of it ever being lifted due to how far they went with their witchcraft schemes and tricks. She felt even if Jon would try to be as faithful as he could be to his offer and his words were all truthful and genuine, he was being far too optimistic and there were many areas where he would not have control over the final decisions. What the League decided could be far, far worse and much more punishing, and Cassandra was willing to wager everything on it. She even felt the League wouldn’t hesitate to turn on him for trying to stand in the way of what they expected to be harsh and brutal decisions.

“Bun-bunnnee…” (“I imagine someone’s uploaded video of us turning each other into Pokémon is already going viral.” Jarena told the others as she thought about it. “Bun-earryy… Bunn-un…” (“Once something wild like that goes up on PokéTube, you can’t ever get rid of it. People will just download it and upload it again. Everyone knows we did a crazy magic thing back there.”)

“E-vee…” (“That’s true, too…”) Cassandra agreed. “Ee-veeee-eee… Vee-vee…?” (“I feel like just telling him to pass the Poké-chow, I’d prefer that over prison food. And yeah, PC Box or prison cell, what’s the difference?”)

“Furr… rrrr…” (“Stall him for now.”) Violet advised. “Furrurrr… ret…” (“We made our choice, we’re not going back.”)

“Bunn… unnn-earryy.” (“And screw him and his pessimism, we still have each other.”) Jarena smirked with confidence. “Bu…un-unearryyy…” (“If any stupid lass comes along with her dippy Clefairy and tries to capture any of you, I’m going to Dark Vertigo Hex her so hard she’ll go down dizzier than a Spinda that guzzled eighty ounces of Everclear.”

Cassandra smirked at that. But it was true, they didn’t need to fear trainers or other Pokémon, be it trained or wild. While they couldn’t fight off every operative and their Pokémon currently on the ship, once they left and were off the radar, they were confident they could handle themselves. No one would suspect them of still having at least some of their witchcraft spells still available. While some of the stronger ones needed reagents, the simple ones that could still very much help in a pinch didn’t need any.

“Furrr..rrr… rett…?” (“What are you planning to do about tonight’s battle?”) Violet asked Cassandra. “Furrur-ret…” (“Personally, I think it’s a waste of time, because even if you win legitimately, they’ll never recognize it.”)

Cassandra had thought about that. She had nothing to gain from it, now, even if she was completely fair about all of it. If she agreed to battle tonight, it would only be for Avery and Jon, because they would still disqualify her for cheating on the opening tournament rounds that happened on the days before. But there was something she had thought about as well.

“Ev-vee-veee… veeee…” (“I’ll only do it if both Avery and I battle each other with our Pokémon… as Pokémon.”) Cassandra remained steadfast with her statement. “Eeevvee-eee vee.” (“No exceptions, I’m not changing back just to put on a show for this pointless battle and I don’t give a flying Ratatta’s ass what the press or the audience will think when they see us battle like this. If they actually allow it, then yeah… I would like to battle with my Pokémon team… one last time. I would love that opportunity to finally talk to them, thank them, and tell them how damn proud I am of them. Before they take them away, too.”)

“Furr...rrr…” (“That settles it.”) Violet stated, crossing her arms. “Furr… urrett…tt” (“I liked our idea a whole lot better, but if it makes this guy keep his psycho Latios off of us until this hunk of junk finally reaches the docks and we can get the hell out of here, then so be it.”)

“Bunn…e…” (“I’m in.”) Jarena agreed.

“Ee-vee…” (“Then I’ll let Victini know.”) Cassandra told Jarena and Violet.

And it was then that Cassandra made her confirmation with Victini. While still a bit optimistic everything would work out alright, he couldn’t help but things had resolved a little more friendly for everyone.

And it was then that he relayed his message to Jon.

<Well, Jon, I’ve got some good news and bad news! Good news first, of course! Everyone likes a nice sweet opening!

They’ve agreed to come with you and not to worry, they don’t have any intention of turning you into a Psyduck or Dunsparce! Or anything else for that matter, so you’re safe with that! Unless of course you want to and you happen to have a hair of your favorite Pokémon available! Also, they don’t have any issue turning your operatives back, as from my experience, that was mainly to keep their witchcraft a secret! Well, they kind of don’t need to keep it a secret anymore! I think everyone that’s been on PokéTube during the past fifteen minutes probably knows by now!

Cassandra is willing to battle Avery, but only if Avery agrees to stay as a Buizel while Cassandra stays as an Eevee during the battle itself. Ha ha, yeah, I know, that may be quite a conversational piece for the League! Cassandra would welcome the opportunity to battle with her Pokémon again, but she has no intentions of going back to being a human. Neither do the other two Ladies. Oh, that may be my fault for convincing them to do that, but that’s what they’d like. It’s hard for me to judge because I’ve always been a Pokémon, and hey, I’ve always been happy like this!

Ohhh… guess it’s time for the bad news. I’ll try to be easy on this!

Jon, you’re a good fellow, a nice guy, especially with the rough life you’ve lived, I’m sure! But the Ladies don’t entirely trust you, and it’s not because your Latios is frisky and feisty. And… oh dear, I kind of have agree with them on this next part. They really don’t think the League is going to be very forgiving on them at all. See, I wouldn’t doubt you, you seem friendly and I believe you would do your best to make things easier for them after they’ve had a change of heart, but it’s the rest of the League’s big cheeses that are… you know…kinda the problem here! Now if you were the big cheese of the League, that’d be a different story! But when you have several Champs getting this lovely sting operation together with this many people involved, well… it’s not Farfetch’d to say the League really wants to hand their heads to them!

I do say, your offer to give them employment is kind and generous, but there’s just all that other icky stuff. You know, the trials, and lawsuits, and those other things humans do to each other when they’re unhappy with each other. I can sense that’s their biggest fear. And in terms of Alyssa’s interview, I mean, it sounds like Cassandra would be okay with it, but it kind of has that ‘why paint the walls of the house just before you knock it down’ kind of feeling. But, nonetheless, I can still try to arrange that meeting if it would make Alyssa happy!

Now… oh, as far as that history behind their rather dastardly deeds… it’s safe to say what started as a curiosity became an interest before it turned into hobby and then a whole outright habit! It’s a long, six-year story.

Now, before I hang up the mind phone, I would like to give you my little bits of insight. And this is straight from me. Jon, I think they’ve learned their lesson, but the truth of the matter is you know that won’t ever be good enough for the League to accept. Let them go. What they did was wrong, I know, but they want to and they can move forward and not continue doing that wrong. Like you said, they’ve got their whole lives ahead of them, and that’s a wonderful thing, but let them choose how they want to live those lives. Sure, I believe they got very carried away with this little hobby of theirs, but despite all that has happened, I think they could even use their witchcraft for good causes. The same way a dark or ghost Pokémon can be a good-hearted soul even if they come from shadowy implications that suggest otherwise. You know in your heart that when you reach the last page, it’s time to close the book and open a new one, for better or for worse, even when you don’t know how the story is going to be like! But every day deserves to be a new adventure!

Whew.

Now, Jon, lead the way! But please remember what I’ve said.>

And it was there that Victini closed the telepathic link, and they awaited Jon to take them into custody as they had agreed.

But how the rest of the matters would unfold… only time could tell.

[Desolate Divine]

01-28-2021, 05:45 AM

Jon Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Shruikan

Jon let out a sigh. He had genuinely hoped that the girls would be willing to accept their punishment and actually try and move forward, but instead their mind was made up.

"I'm really sorry to hear that." Jon said, "In terms of the battle with Avery, I made it clear when I explained the offer that if you don't take it, I'll take you in, hand you over and wipe my hands of this matter. Try and enjoy the cruise on the few days I have left. Spend some time with my wife, who I have surprisingly seen little of so far. There is no compromise. If you can convince the league and Avery to go ahead with that battle under those terms, that's none of my business."

Jon then looked down at the Victini who had been their interpreter.

"As for you Victini, I appreciate what you had to say about your trainers, but I think you know I can't do that. Fact is that they turned six people, and that's just what we're aware of, into Pokemon to cover their misdeeds. Had their plan worked and they gotten away with it, that would be six families we had to go and inform their loved one was missing, and six people who could have possibly spent the rest of their natural lives stuck as Pokemon, even if they did manage to convince someone they were actually a human. They may be offering to turn them back, but really, I have no reason to believe that that isn't just a bargaining chip to get off a little easier." Jon explained, "Even if the three of them spending the rest of their natural lives as Pokemon is some sort of poetic justice, that doesn't make it right. Victims don't choose to be victims, so the guilty shouldn't get to choose their punishment. Right now, I will take them in, and everything that happens from there is between them, their victims, and the league. Once I hand them over, none of this is my business anymore."

Jon turned to face the ladies.

"Now before I take you in, I have one last things that needs to be talked about..." Jon explained, "If the League are going to consider handing you the book for you to read the spell to change the operatives back, I need to know something. The times that we lost contact with the four agents who breached your room line up with when you were somewhere else on the ship. That means either you are able to cast a spell at long distance on a target you don't know, nor their exact location, which if that were true, I wouldn't be standing here after Wrecking Ball showed himself. Or you had something in the room booby-trapped. Because of that, I didn't touch the books when I stashed them before coming here, but I need to know whether or not they are before I put someone at risk trying to give it to you. If they are trapped, and you tell me now, that won't be added to your list of wrong-doings. But if they are and you tell me they aren't, and someone gets turned into a Pokemon, I wouldn't like your chances after that. So tell me, are the books safe to touch?"

Neo Emolga

01-29-2021, 01:53 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park -> Royal Promenade
Affected RPers: Shruikan, Desolate Divine

With a sigh, Jon had rescinded his offer, making it clear now it was going to be all business and he would carry out what he was employed to do, with no compromise, no ease on the penalty the League would impose. And once his job was done, he wasn’t going to look back after dusting his hands off. Meanwhile, Cassandra knew she would never convince the League to have her one last battle with her Pokémon in the match against Avery, if they even allowed her to speak in the first place. If Jon wouldn’t support it, pass the request to the League, vouch for her on behalf as part of the bargain, then she knew it was pointless to even think about it.

And then he had addressed what Victini told him, bringing up the concern about the people that the Ladies had turned into Pokémon. While Victini understood that, he also knew that the original offer that the Ladies wanted included the restoration of those operatives, provided all charges were dropped and they could go free without being pursued. To Victini, the original offer the Ladies proposed would have been perfect. Things would have been set right, they wouldn’t have caused any more trouble, and the Ladies were willing to let all the fame, possessions, titles, and accolades be taken away for peace. They were willing to put their wrongdoings behind them, which to him, was enough to warrant forgiveness and a second chance. In fact, he felt that was the whole purpose of punishment, to correct wrongful behavior. But instead, Jon had made it clear that he felt the League should carry out the punishment in full. To Victini, he felt it wouldn’t accomplish or change anything… and would only inflict needless harm and malice…

And he had every reason to agree with the Ladies that it would be far more extreme than it needed to be given the extent of the effort that had gone into this operation. He was aware the Champions would make it personal. They wanted their pound of flesh, not only to see the Ladies dethroned, but destroyed, humiliated, and made a public spectacle as the media eviscerated them. Victini couldn’t describe just how unnecessary and unreasonable it would be given the quiet, respectful, and peaceful path the Ladies wanted to take, but was rejected by Jon.

It was then Jon had inquired about the books, and whether they were booby-trapped with a hex or not. But the Ladies fell silent, revealing nothing…

“E-vee…” (“Run.”) Cassandra told Jarena and Violet in a firm, hard tone. “Evv-veee-veee…” (“We run, we fight, and we stand our ground as long as we can giving it everything we’ve got against these operatives. We hold on until the ship docks tomorrow, we escape, and we never look back. Or if we go down, we make this as painful and as costly as possible on them.”)

“Bunnn…eearr…” (“Oh man, I wish it didn’t have to come down to this…”) Jarena replied, not liking the sound of it but going along with Cassandra’s plan. “Bunn-earryyy…” (“But you’re right, they won’t show mercy. We tried, we did what we could.”)

“Fur-ret!” (“Let’s move, damn it!”) Violet exclaimed.

And they ran.

They ran as fast and as hard as they could, sprinting through Central Park to head downstairs toward Royal Promenade, mentally preparing themselves for what would be the fight of their lives. And as they ran and Victini prepared to join them, he looked back for a second, and sent one more telepathic message toward Jon.

It was very rare for Victini to shed his whimsical nature and take a serious tone, but given the situation, it seemed he needed to express his dire concerns to Jon… a sincere warning…

…before things got too out of hand…

<Jon, don’t do this. I beg you, it won’t end well for anyone. Tell your commanders, call the Champions, let it be known to them the Ladies just want peace, just want to start new lives, and agreed to cause no more trouble provided the charges are dropped and you and the League stop chasing them. They will restore your fellow operatives, but it has to be on their terms in a place where they feel safe. If you don’t do this… I know things will get ugly. The Ladies don’t want that, I don’t want that, and I know deep in your heart you don’t want that. This won’t be justice the League gets, this will only be a needless gruesome revenge, and at dire costs.

And I know Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet. Better than you do. Under pressure, they will fight long and hard if they have to and you already know they won’t play by any rules. And I know they’re capable of things you and the other operatives should be afraid of. The damage will be enormous and you will lose more operatives. Many, I’m sure. I know you don’t want that on your conscience. The League needs to take their offer while they still can. Please. Push them do it for everyone’s sake.

But if you and the League insist on this, then I will help protect and defend the Ladies and do everything within my power as the Pokémon of Victory to help them against everything you and the League throw at them. Because I believe in second chances and new beginnings more than I believe in punishments…

…and I hope you do, too.>

And it was then that Victini flew away from Jon, leaving him to think over what his next choice would be… and the consequences of what that decision would mean...

Royal Promenade

Despite what had transpired in Central Park, the Royal Promenade was relatively at ease, bustling with guests walking, talking, and raptured by the colorful merchandise, displays, promotion signs, and aromas of the food and snacks for purchase. The guests had been informed to take caution if they were heading toward Central Park and to try taking alternative routes when possible, as there had been an “incident involving a wayward Pokémon” that had created a “hazardous environment” but the details were left vague.

The area was crowded and full of people with Pokémon, but nonetheless, the Ladies stayed close together, keeping on the lookout for any possible attack from anyone and any direction. Cassandra wasn’t sure if Jon would deploy Latios again, but with this many people around, he would be putting lives at stake with how reckless the eon Pokémon was. But she wasn’t relying on Latios to be concerned about collateral damage, especially as the eon Pokémon came close to killing her and Victini. If and when he made an appearance, it wasn’t going to end the same way as it did before…

They passed by many store kiosks, souvenir shops, coffee vendors, snack stands, pastry shops, and many others all there to provide guests and their Pokémon with whatever they needed to make their cruise more enjoyable.

Currently, the Ladies were limited to half of their known spells, as they needed to work without the reagents needed to cast more powerful hexes, but what they had that didn’t need them were still potent enough to stand their ground.

And they prepared.

While a kiosk merchant wasn’t watching, Violet had swiped three black fanny packs from a store shelf and gave them to Cassandra and Jarena to use as reagent supply backpacks. Due to what Latios had done previously to steal their belongings, they used a Phantasm Shroud spell to conceal the packs in ghostly darkness, an element that would be agonizing for a psychic-type like Latios to try and deal with, if the Eon Pokémon was even able to detect the presence of the bags due to this Phantasm Shroud that now enveloped their packs. Meanwhile, it was harmless to three normal-type Pokémon like themselves.

From there, they tried to gather whatever materials they could find that would suffice as reagents for at least some of their spells. A handful of Pokémon hairs collected from a Pokémon grooming kiosk, fragments of metal and scraps of paper from a nearby trashcan, a handful of dust that had collected by the wall, charcoal ashes from a cooking grill, and other similar cheap and easily-accessible reagents needed for some of their other spells were gathered and stored in their pack pouches.

To three experienced Shadowcraft witches like themselves, they were more powerful and better armed than soldiers with bullets and hand grenades.

“Eev-vee-ee.” (“Thirty hours before the ship docks…”) Cassandra informed the other two, looking up at a giant clock hanging high up on the wall. “Ev-veeeee… Veeee…” (“It’s going to be a long fight, but we can do this.”)

“Bunnearryyy…” (“Pulling this off proves we’re ready for anything out there in the wild.”) Jarena smiled with determination. “Bun-bunearyy…” (“So let’s prove to these chumps we’re ready for them, too.”)

It was a big cruise ship, with many places to hide, many places to run to. Taking a deep breath, Cassandra prepared to show no fear, no hesitation. The longer the League and their operatives tried the fight them, the costlier it would be, but she was prepared for them to fall into the trap of escalation of commitment… all over the pride of the Champions…

…It all came down to how much it was worth to the League… and what dark payment they were willing to bear for that revenge…

Noblejanobii

01-29-2021, 05:54 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battle Stadium => Celestina's Room
Affected RP'ers:Chakramaster SlickSlack

Avery began to waddle after Steven and Jimmy. They too had noticed the new person enter the arena but after a moment of silence between the two parties, Avery decided it was time to move on. Signaling to Acacia, Avery and Gloria were lifted on her back as she trotted after Steven.

"Bui bui, buizel," Avery mused. ("It'll be great to see Celestina again. I haven't run into her since the start of the trip.") Acacia and Gloria both chirped in agreement. It seemed they were both very fond of Celestina. ("She and I are both part of the contest circuit though she primarily operates out of Hoenn. She's top rate coordinator as far as I'm concerned. Her Armaldo and Flygon are always in perfect sync with each other and it is just a beauty to watch really.") Avery smiled to themself as they closed their eyes and fondly recalled watching several of Celestina's shows. ("I hope to compete against her one day again. Preferably not as a Buizel though.")

It took them a bit to reach Celestina's quarters, but when they finally arrived, Avery could hardly contain their excitement. Steven knocked on the door and the door opened shortly thereafter. Standing in the door frame was a young dark skinned lady with some light blotches on her face from vitiligo. Celestina fiddled with her golden hoop earrings as she spoke up first. "How can I help you?" Steven introduced himself and began to explain the situation. Avery watched her as she listened to the whole story thus far. They caught Celestina's brown eyes glancing over in their direction a couple times. Not even her black glasses could mask the apprehensiveness on her face. Switching to tiddling with the black ribbons that held her hair back, Celestina walked over to Avery and Jimmy.

"So you two are some of the missing operatives? Do you have any idea if this is permanent?" she asked.

((OOC: To make it easier to visualize Celestina, here's roughly what she looks like here (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/614291142451789835/803654781838032916/download20210102105642.png)))

Chakramaster

01-29-2021, 03:24 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Celestina's Room
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii

Steven lead the group of Pokémon to the room Avery mentioned to them. In hopes Celestina was there.

Avery had begun talking with their Pokemon. Jimmy looks back toward his Pokemon. Pikachu obviously still frustrated with Rotom. "Pachi. Chiii. Su Su. Ri." (You know, I don't think I'll get used to this. Understanding what Pokemon are saying. I only ever knew trying to interpret. It's still so weird). Jimmy mentioned to Pikachu and Rotom. Hoping to break up their tensions. The Pikachu obviously still upset over Rotom. Rotom just tried to stay cheery...and now that Jimmy can understand him fully. Can see just what Pikachu was trying to tell him long ago about Rotom. Pikachu and Jimmy both mumble, "Riiiii..." "Pikaaa..." (He's annoying...) while having an agitated expression.

Before they could even begin talking. They arrived at the room. Steven had knocked on the door. A noise came from the room before Celestina opened it. Steven explained the situation before she glanced over at Jimmy and Avery. Still not used to being looked down on as a Pokémon. Jimmy scratches the back of his neck before nodding his head and instinctively said "Pachi..." (Yeah...). Then again shaking his head saying, "Pachirisu. Ri-Ri. Paachii-su." (No. We roughly have an idea that this can be cured. So long as everything goes according to plan).

She's continues listening as Jimmy explains his side. Knowing full well the gist of what he was saying by nodding his head and shaking his head.

"I guess in simpler terms. That means you are some of the missing operatives and you don't know if it's permanent. Am I right?" She began saying. "Well I guess under the circumstances I can look after them for now." She says as she waves them in.

The room itself was much bigger than the natural cabins. Probably because this room was on the higher end rooms. Not the most expensive you can buy, but higher up than the room Jimmy was in at least.

"I won this room in a contest. So don't make too much of a mess now. I do have to ask." She says looking at Jimmy and Avery. "Can either of you use powers like Pokémon now?"

Jimmy looked down a bit before shaking his head and raising his paws. As if to shrug his shoulders.

Jimmy looked a bit concerned after that. Would he actually need to learn? What if the Diamond Ladies got away and came back for them? The missing operatives. Unless we know how to defend ourselves. Our Pokémon can only do so much.

"Pika-pi-ka. Pika-pi. Pika. PiKAchu." (Well right now don't think too much on it, Jimmy. Remember, I'm an electric type just like you. I can help you learn to defend yourself in case. Just give me the word). Pikachu presses his paw to his chest confidently.

Jimmy hadn't really thought too much on it. He IS a Pokemon now after all. Could he really use any moves a normal Pokémon could?

Rotom begins to hover over Jimmy. Startling him a moment before chiming out like any Pokédex after scanning a Pokémon. Reading off random Pokédex entries for the species he had been turned into.

"Pachirisu! The electric squirrel Pokemon. The ground version of the more superior flying squirrel Emolga. Pachirisu makes fur balls that crackle with static electricity. It stores them with berries in tree holes. Pretty far away from trees to be doing that aren't you?" Rotom says before continuing reading aloud. "It makes electricity with pouches in its cheeks and shoots charges from its tail. Zap Zap!" The Rotom continues reading off entries for Pachirisu. Thinking it's helping. Only frustrating Pikachu and Jimmy more.

"Pachi-ri-su?" (Has he really always talked this much? I can't believe I've never noticed). Jimmy says to Pikachu.

"Pika-pi-ka..." (You have no idea. You were lucky not being able to understand him). Pikachu says to Jimmy. Looming just as frustrated as the other while Rotom happily continues reading aloud.

"Need more information? Gladly!" The Rotom says before making the two electric rodents fall the ground. Exhausted from dealing with him.

"Pachiii. Pachirisu." "(First thing I do when I turn back and get off this boat. Get Rotom a nice safe electronic box to spend his time in). Jimmy obviously looking dazed.

Neo Emolga

01-30-2021, 07:07 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Royal Promenade
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

By now, word had gotten around to the operatives about the current state of the Diamond Ladies. That Jarena was now a Buneary and Violet was a Furret was more than confirmed with the videos of their spat in Central Park, and it was assumed Cassandra was the Eevee that was always seen with them since no sighting of her as a human had been observed for quite a while.

As the Ladies had realized earlier, there were operatives everywhere throughout the ship, and they had been notified to capture all three Ladies and bring them in. Most of the operatives felt it would be pretty easy considering they were only normal type Pokémon now and felt their stronger, fully evolved Pokémon wouldn’t have any problem beating them up.

As the three Ladies raced through the Royal Promenade, it was none other than Doug Henderson with his jet-black hair and black leather jacket who had been the first to spot the three of them, and he simply licked his chops, ready to collect yet again. Not only did he steal their golden nugget, but now he was ready to round up all three of them like a rodeo cowboy and be the hero to the League, expecting to be paid handsomely for that.

“Command, I’ve got them in my sights,” Doug grinned as he spoke into his radio. “Royal Promenade, taking these Ladies down right now!”

The black leather-clad teen snickered to himself as had taken out one of his Pokéballs, and he tossed it out into the open. As the Pokéball struck the ground and opened, light poured out and it materialized into his Dragonite. The Ladies had turned around to see the large orange and beige stubby-winged dragon suddenly towering over them.

“Well, well, Ladies, look who’s back!” Doug snickered. “We get to rain on your parade twice today!”

“Furr-rett…” (“This jackass again…”) Violet growled, glaring at them both.

“Krag, pulverize these little snots!” Doug ordered, pointing at the three Ladies to flag them as the targets for his Dragonite. “Nail ‘em with a nice-“

Krag never got the chance. All three of them had unleashed a whole barrage of curses and hexes on the Dragonite. Cassandra had caused the hefty dragon Pokémon to suddenly become lost and delusional, turning into mind and thoughts into a murky, chaotic soup while Jarena made the Dragonite a victim of her Dark Vertigo Hex, bewildering Krag so thoroughly that the entire room had become a dizzying, melting blur to him. And lastly, Violet had inflicted an extreme feeling of nausea upon the dragon with a Dark Curse of Pestilence, suddenly making the dragon Pokémon feel sick like he swallowed a whole swamp.

Krag the Dragonite had never felt so sick and woozy before in his life. He couldn’t help but collapse on the ground, mouth open and tongue hanging out as his dazed eyes witnessed the room spinning, blurred, and melting around him while he felt like a wooden log battering ram had slammed into his stomach. To him, the three Pokémon he saw looked like an almost helpless Eevee, Buneary, and Furret… all of which should have been easy prey, only to discover they were totally not what he thought they were. The sicknesses inflicted upon him would keep him bed-ridden for at least a week, and it wasn’t anything a Pokémon Center’s restoration technology could easily wipe off.

“Uhh… command?” Doug asked, suddenly a bit anxious that the Ladies had taken out his Dragonite so quickly and thoroughly as he fumbled to try and get another Pokéball out. “B-backup… requesting backup!”

“Bunnnee…” (“Just you try…”) Jarena flashed a dark grin.

She then plucked a strand of hair from her pouch, and was determined to get this Pokémon Transformation Hex done right this time. Jarena spoke the dark incantation, this time landing it perfectly on his jacket like how she originally intended the first time when he had stolen the golden nugget. To her, it felt incredibly satisfying to make up for the blunder that happened last time.

Only a split second later, Doug got to see for himself what getting transformed into a Pokémon is like. His body shrank to only a mere fraction of its original size, causing him to become instantly buried in a pile of his own clothes. He struggled to emerge, but when he did, the Ladies had seen the spell had transformed him into the small, blue, mouse-like Polka Dot Pokémon, Azurill. After finally emerging from his pile of clothes, he had looked at the giant, blue bubble-shaped end of his new black zig-zag tail and could see himself in the reflection… and what he had become.

And Doug was absolutely horrified, crying out in a bitsy mousey Azurill voice that he didn’t even recognize as his own.

“Azzuuuuuuuu!!!” (“Noooooooo!!!”) Doug wailed.

“Bunn-earryyy!” (“Welcome to the party, pal!”) Jarena taunted him, smiling with mischief.

Immediately, the Ladies bolted away from Doug, leaving the world’s newest Azurill to question his life choices as they made distance and continued racing through the length of the Royal Promenade. Meanwhile, the mission handlers on the other side of his radio line got no response from Doug save for sad Azurill cries.

“Eev-veee! Vee!” (“Ok, that was good. That was really good.”) Cassandra grinned, having thoroughly enjoyed that payback. “Eev-vee veee!” (“Do that, do that same kind of thing for all of them.”)

“Bunn-eeee…!” (“Oh boy is this going to be fun!”) Jarena smiled a very happy Buneary smile.

Cassandra knew every operative they neutralized via Pokémon transformation was yet another expensive golden nugget the League would have to obtain to be used as a reagent so they could be turned back, not to mention the trouble of trying to track down and recover samples of the victim’s original human state. With each operative they transformed, the ante would grow higher and become more costly for the League, and either the League would have to comply with the Ladies’ demand, or face the fact they would have to be telling their operatives to risk everything, subjecting their Pokémon to a barrage of nasty curses while the trainers themselves would get that “closer connection to their Pokémon” treatment. The Ladies were hoping it would get to the point where eventually the operatives would feel it wasn’t worth whatever the League was paying them to subject themselves and their Pokémon teams to the same kind of treatment they had just given Doug and his Dragonite, Krag.

And Cassandra wanted to leave behind as many living examples as she could to demonstrate what happens when you stand up against the Ladies…

After racing further past the colorful merchant booths and souvenir shops, it was then that they caught sight of Ethan Caldwell, a handsome 22-year-old male with his signature gray League jacket, black cadet cap, and blue jeans with his sporty and expensive sneakers. He had been with his girlfriend, Natalie Barone, a young, blonde-haired and attractive female trainer in a fancy red dress. Ethan had a few fans of his own, and a few of them were asking about “the battle tonight” and it suddenly triggered a memory that Cassandra had overlooked before…

For a moment, Cassandra stopped and thought she recognized him. In fact, the pieces were starting to come together between Ethan Caldwell… and now Jonathan Drake. Now she remembered! She had been so focused on her immediate battle with Avery Miller that she had almost forgotten about what was happening on the other side of the semifinals!

It then hit her almost immediately. Ethan Caldwell was Jonathan Drake’s opponent in the semifinals match tonight, and whoever won that match would be going on to the Finals to battle whoever would have won the match between Cassandra Silvers versus Avery Miller.

And then a dark, highly impish idea came to Cassandra, enough to get her to smile a very mischievous Eevee grin. When she thought of it, it was difficult for her to contain her roguish delight.

Ethan Caldwell had to go down. If she could transform him and Jonathan Drake into Pokémon, she knew the entire Pokémon High Seas Tournament would be completely ruined. How would the League even begin to explain all four final contestants suddenly disappearing? She already knew from what Jon told her that they didn’t want to let the Meowth out of the bag when it came to the real reason why this was happening. And if they tried it and didn’t hold back the truth, everyone would either believe the whole deal with Shadowcraft was a terrible joke and a lousy, laughable false excuse that no one would begin to take seriously. Or, as Jon said, there was a possibility those who learned about it and believed it to be truly authentic, especially with the video upload of Jarena and Violet, would have their dark curiosities tingled to want a piece of that witchcraft and wizardly experience for themselves. And that in turn would make the League’s attempts to keep future battling fair and regulated very difficult and would require additional costly investments to monitor it after seeing what the Diamond Ladies had done with the witchcraft they learned. Either way, the League would only stand to lose horribly from it.

She knew they weren’t going to suddenly let them battle as their current Pokémon selves and cause the biggest and most questionable commotion in Pokémon battling history. The League would have to cancel the whole tournament, and she could imagine that would make an enormous amount of people very, very unhappy. She knew there were guests that paid big money to be on this cruise just to see the very first Pokémon High Seas Tournament! And then there were the tournament sponsors, the broadcasting television crews, the advertising contracts, promotional deals… they would all want their money back from the League’s multiple breach of contracts if the whole tournament had to be shut down because of all this. Golden Star Cruise Lines, the owners of the S.S. Wishmaker, would fire up a nasty litigation against the League as well for this loss and having to deal with unhappy guests and negative feedback, and they would especially want to get back after the damages Jon’s Latios, the Pokémon belonging to their hired employee, had done to the cruise ship.

It would cost the League tragic millions in financial costs and do unrepairable reputation damage to the League’s current administration. And all because they didn’t want to let a little Eevee, Buneary, and Furret go walking off into the sunset.

Once she realized this, she happily shared this dark and delightful information with Jarena and Violet.

“Bunnee…” (“Wow, ‘Cinnamon’…”) Jarena replied, trying to contain the giggles with her Buneary paws covered over her mouth. “Bunnn. Eaaarr-ryyy…” (“You’re naughty. Really, REALLY naughty.”)

“Fur-rett…” (“I’ve never heard something so beautiful in my life.”) Violet smiled an adorable Furret grin, which was quite rare for her, especially after her transformation.

To the Ladies, this was war. They had approached Ethan while he was still distracted and talking to some of the other cruise ship guests. He wasn’t with the operatives, but his girlfriend, Natalie Barone, was. She had been informed about the situation regarding what had become of the Ladies, while Ethan had been down in the Royal Promenade talking to fans and shopping around with Natalie the whole time while the incident upstairs in Central Park had happened.

“Ethan, look, it’s them!” Natalie tried to warn him as she anxiously reached for the closest Pokéball she could get her hand on.

Ethan looked to see three cute and happy normal-type Pokémon wearing cute little black fanny packs approach them! He could see why Natalie had suddenly had her attention drawn to them. He could honestly say they were probably the cutest Eevee, Buneary, and Furret he had seen so far.

It was what they DID that changed his whole opinion of them.

The Ladies didn’t waste any time plotting or scheming, intending to take Ethan and Natale down like they were performing a gang drive-by assassination hit. Once the targets were claimed by the Ladies, Jarena and Violet targeted Ethan and Natalie respectively with a Pokémon Transformation Hex, each of them drawing out a hair and casting the dark incantation. Natalie frantically threw forward her Pokéball in the meantime, summoning a Beautifly. As the light poured out of her thrown Pokéball, it materialized into the gray, colorfully-winged butterfly Pokémon. But unknown to the Beautifly, Cassandra was already gearing up to pulverize her with a Dark Vertigo Hex as the Eevee muttered the dark, spidery words.

The small crowd that had gathered around Ethan and Natalie had either quickly dispersed or had backed off a bit in shock… only to watch the famed Ethan Caldwell become a cheeky, brown-furred squirrely Skwovet and his girlfriend Natalie get turned into an orange, mousey Dedenne. After they saw that, they made a run for it.

Natalie had emerged from her pile of clothes, totally in shock… just before her own hexed and erratic Beautifly crashed into her and knocked them both out, cold. Meanwhile, Ethan couldn’t believe his eyes, thinking this must have been some terrible dream!

“Skkwwwoooooooo!?” (“Natalie, oh god, what’s happening!?”) Ethan panicked, looking at Natalie before looking at his own two new brown-furred paws.

He then looked to Cassandra, totally in disbelief at what they had just done.

“Eeveee!” (“Hi there!”) Cassandra waved and smiled sarcastically at a very fearful, squirrely Ethan. “Vee-vee!” (“Enjoy your nap!”)

And with a twinkle in her cute Eevee eye, she cast a Slumber Spell on him, and he fell backward on his new fluffy Skwovet tail before falling fast asleep, likely going to wake up thinking it really was all just a strange dream when really…

…it wasn’t.

Noblejanobii

01-31-2021, 05:01 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Celestina's Room
Affected RP'ers:Chakramaster

At the question of if they could use their powers, Avery also gave a shrug. It hadn't really occurred to them how to try yet, and unlike Jimmy, Avery didn't have a water type with them to guide them in the ways of the sea. Still, they had their entire team with them, so they didn't feel like they had to worry too much about that.

Speaking of their team, Avery looked around before spotting the bag all their belongings were in. Waddling over to it, they fished out their Pokéball belt and slug it around themself. It took a bit of adjusting to get it to fit but after a moment they had it wrapped around from shoulder to hip. This would make it much easier to call out their team if need be.

Celestina watched as the now Pokémon wandered around and chattered with their companions. It was so adorable. Probably wasn’t the most fun experience for them but hey it seemed really cool at least for a little bit.

A radio crackle caught Celestina’s attention. Moving over to her dresser, she picked up her radio and gave it a listen. She frowned as the news of the Diamond Ladies’ current movements reached her ears. Great.

She looked over at Avery and Jimmy. “The Diamond Ladies are making a break for it and they’re calling all hands on deck. Do you guys think you can handle chipping in? If not, you’re welcome to stay here, but I have to head out to try to help.”

“Bui Bui? Buizel! Zel zel zel Bui Bui!” (But what if they turn you into a Pokémon too? We might not have enough nuggets to change you back!) Avery protested loudly.

Celestina shook her head. “That can’t be my first priority now. We have to stop these girls before they do too much more harm. So are you with me or not?”

Avery looked over at Jimmy before nodding their head. “Buizel.” (I’m in.) The two waited for Jimmy’s answer before continuing on.

“Alright, let’s go,” Celestina said, heading out the door. Sending out her Flygon, she mounted on his back and flew up into the air, circling the side of the cruise ship as Avery and Gloria followed behind while riding on the back of Acacia.

[Desolate Divine]

01-31-2021, 12:51 PM

Jon Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: None

As the girls fled, Jon saw Latios about to take off after them, however heard Victini's threat.

"Don't." Jon explained, "They want this. They want to cause a big enough mess for the league, and have the only way out to be to let them off. We need to be smart about this."

Latios looked solemnly at Jon, a look he wasn't used to seeing in the juvenile.

"Sorry." said Latios' voice in Jon's head.

"Don't be. Being sorry will get us nowhere, and even if this could be on you, it's on me more." Jon explained, trying to stay calm and think of what to do next.

The fact that they seem so defenceless and helpless is inviting for operatives to try and take them on alone. This is what they want. However Jon had higher priorities. Pulling out his phone, he called Alyssa.

"Hey, did you get those Pokemon to the trainers?" Alyssa asked through the phone.

"Sort of, I will explain when I see you." Jon explained, "Where are you?"

"I'm still at the Aquatheatre," Alyssa replied, "Why?"

"Find somewhere to hide until Latios can find you. He will be invisible but let you know he is there, then meet me at our room."

"Jon, what's going on?" Alyssa asked, starting to sound worried.

"I've been working..." Jon said, knowing Alyssa would know what he meant, "Things haven't gone to plan, and s**t is hitting the fan. Just hide for now, and get back to the room when Latios arrives. He will protect you. I will explain everything there."

"You better." Alyssa replied, "I was looking forward to this holiday..."

Jon knew she was joking, but wasn't in the headspace to reciprocate that.

"I love you. Stay safe, and if you see an Eevee, Buneary, Furret or Victini, let Latios handle them, and get away."

"See you soon."

Jon turned to face the Eon Pokemon.

"Alyssa is in the Aquatheatre, the indoor pool near the back of the ship. Find her, let her know you are there, then make sure she gets to our room safely. Stay invisible, since you aren't too popular with the guests right now." Jon explained, before his tone shifted, "If any of those three girls try and lay a paw on her, kill them. Stay invisible so they can't see you and use your telekinesis. Snap their neck, compress them, tear them limb from limb. Whatever it takes to keep Alyssa safe."

Latios looked at Jon shocked, never having heard such dark instructions.

"Nothing is more important to me than her, no title, no mission, nothing." Jon explained, "I can't protect her right now as well as you can, and I am worried that they will use her as leverage to get me to play their f**ked up little game. I don't want her getting caught up in this. I wouldn't ask you something like that if it were anything else. Can you do this for me?"

"Protect Alyssa. No half measures."

"No half measures." Jon agreed, "The mission can go to hell for all I care as long as she is safe."

Latios turned invisible before zooming off, as Jon left, making his way back to their room.

Alyssa Drake
Aquatheatre -> Jon and Alyssa's Room
Affected RPers: None

After Jon hung up, Alyssa, who had ended up going for a swim, dried herself off, quickly putting on her clothes from that morning, before finding a quiet corner of the room, out of sight of the entrances, whilst she tried to figure out what was going on.

The fact Jon had mentioned a Victini brought to mind Cassandra, who was rarely seen without hers. Additionally, when she saw Violet and Jarena this morning, they were carrying an angry looking Eevee, whilst Cassandra wasn't present, and Jon had mentioned an Eevee too. What confused her most was Jon's advice to, if she saw an Eevee, Buneary or Furret, to stay away from them and let Latios handle them. Whilst she wasn't a trainer, her Gardevoir was more than capable of handling those Pokemon. Latios seemed overkill.

After a moment, Alyssa remembered what Jon said that morning when she mentioned Cassandra. Be careful around her...

If Jon was working, was it investigating Cassandra? Had things gone bad?

"Alyssa..." came an unfamiliar voice in her head. Alyssa looked up, out to the near empty pool, before a familiar Pokemon materialized in front of her. Jon's Latios. Whilst her Gardevoir was more than capable of telepathy, Jon had said Latios wasn't able to, and seemed to think Latios was too young. Maybe this was recent.

"What's going on?" Alyssa asked, "Why is Jon so freaked out?"

"Not my job." Latios replied, "Take you to room. Kill them if they try and hurt you."

Alyssa's jaw dropped at the brutal words Latios had replied with. If he was saying this, it must be Jon's instruction, and if he is giving those instructions, things must be bad.

"Lead the way." Alyssa replied, as the Pokemon turned invisible, before she made her way out of the Aquatheatre, followed by an invisible guardian.

It didn't take long for Alyssa to reach the room, but as she did, she heard people talking about what was happening.

"Violet and Jarena turned eachother into Pokemon, and a Latios attacked them..."

"They are in Royal Promenade, turning people into Pokemon..."

Whilst every instinct of Alyssa's was to interview these people, she knew Jon must think the situation is desperate to tell her he was working. This was the first time she had found out in the middle of an operation.

Before too long had passed they arrived at their room, as Alyssa opened the door, finding Jon inside on the phone. Their bags were completely packed, as well as a slightly familiar bag with them.

"Steven, I am taking Alyssa and the belongings to Safe House C." Jon said on the phone, "Meet me there ASAP, and stop the agents from approaching them unless they are going to attack someone. This is what they want, and we are playing into their hands..."

Jon noticed Alyssa at the door before speaking again.

"I gotta go, we will be there soon."

Jon hung up as Alyssa walked in the room, followed by Latios.

"We gotta go, you aren't safe here." Jon explained, as he passed Alyssa a bag, "I promise, I will explain everything when we are somewhere safer."

"Is this something to do with Cassandra Silvers?" Alyssa asked, "I heard the other two got turned into Pokemon somehow, and are now turning people in Royal Promenade into Pokemon as well? And that Latios attacked them?"

"I'll explain once we are there." Jon explained, "The sooner we are there, the sooner I can tell you."

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Safe House C
Affected RPers: None

Jon and Alyssa hurried through the hallways, eventually finding a room that seemed completely unassuming, as Jon tapped his room key against the reader. To Alyssa's surprise, the door opened for him.

The Safe Houses were a series of seemingly random rooms that the league had strongarmed the S.S. Wishmaker into allowing them to renovate for the sake of the operation. Compensated for of course. Whilst they served different purposes, they were all larger rooms, soundproofed and reinforced structurally. In addition to needing a key to enter, a key was also needed to exit. Jon's original plan, should the Ladies have accepted his offer, was to bring them here. Now it was to keep his wife safe.

This room in particular was the one where all of the agents communications came from. The text updates as well as the voices in the earpieces all came from here, with a series of computers hooked up to the ships Closed Circuit Security Camera System.

Jon called out to one of the three people at the computers.

"Matt, is Steven far off?" Jon asked, as a man in his mid thirties looked up from a computer.

"He will be here in a couple of minutes."

"Jon, what's going on?" Alyssa asked.

"Jon, what's she doing here?" Matt asked, "This is classified."

"They want to try and twist our arm so we let them off the hook. That's why they're doing this." Jon explained, "I think if they find Alyssa, they will target her."

"Still, she can't see this." Matt tried to argue, before Jon cut him off.

"The Diamond Ladies had been suspected of cheating for a while, so this cruise and tournament was set up as an operation to figure out how they were so lucky, and to expose it." Jon explained, "And we found out."

Steven walked in the door, as Jon turned to Matt.

"Have you got that picture from last night? The one from before the video feed cut out?" Jon asked.

"I do, but she isn't authorized to see -"

"I don't give a f**k!" Jon shouted to Alyssa's surprise, "You can show her here, or I can show her the copy you sent me on my phone, it doesn't make a f***ing difference."

"But-"

"Matt, just show them the goddamn picture." Steven said irritably, "Jon is right, they are trying to put us in a position where we have to ask for their help, and Alyssa is a prime target for that. She needs to know what she is up against, so show her the damn photo."

"This is why I didn't bring my wife along..." Matt muttered as he opened the picture revealing the books that Jon now carried in the bag with him.

"What is this..." Alyssa asked as she leaned forward to get a better view of the blurry screenshot.

"Books." Jon explained, "Books filled with witchcraft s**t that lets them do all sorts of things, including turn people into Pokemon..."

"Matt, Alyssa is staying here until its safe for her to leave." Jon explained, "Make her up a room key."

"If she is staying here, why does she need one? She isn't author-"

"Matt, if you tell me one more f**king time that she isn't authorized, I will tie you to a pole and you can be my Absol's new scratching post..." Jon replied, "She needs a key in case the ship goes down. She can't leave this room without one..."

"But-"

"Matt..." Steven said, glaring at the data analyst, before he sighed and pulled out a blank room key.

"This morning, Cassandra accidentally turned herself into an Eevee." Jon explained, "My working theory is that these books were booby-trapped so they couldn't be found, and all the operatives who breached their room got turned into Pokemon. She might have panicked, and touched it herself. Either way, Jarena and Violet took her and the books, and on their way out ran into Operatives Avery Miller and Jimmy Kendo, whom they turned into a Buizel and Pachirisu respectively. That was right before you found them..."

"Wait, those Pokemon were Avery and this Jimmy guy..." Alyssa asked, realizing how close she was holding the Pachirisu because of how cute it was. "Wait, how did you know when I found them?"

"I had Latios tailing them while he was invisible, and sight sharing everything he saw to me." Jon explained, "He was able to listen in and we confirmed it was some sort of witchcraft, and that they needed some DNA of the targets original form, and a Gold Nugget to turn them back. Unfortunately, he doesn't make the best decisions unsupervised, and tried to take one of the books. They saw him, and he fled, but left a pretty distinct hole in the wall..."

"Not long after is when you arrived, and I figured out who the Pokemon were." Jon explained, "Once you left, I got an update that Jarena and Violet accidentally turned themselves into a Buneary and Furret, and during that struggle, I had Latios go take their bags when they weren't expecting it."

Jon held up the bag that Alyssa didn't recognize from earlier.

"This has the clothes they were wearing, their Pokemon and the books." Jon explained, "Unfortunately Latios took the instruction of do whatever it takes to heart, and made a scene."

"I stashed the bag whilst Latios tracked them down, and I went to take them in." Jon explained, "Latios and I surrounded them, and they tried negotiating with me. They told me they would turn everyone back if we dropped all charges and stopped pursuing them, and let them live out the rest of their days as Pokemon..."

There was silence in the room.

"Really?" Steven asked, shocked more than anyone.

"So I made a counteroffer. I told them if they came willingly, complied with us, and accepted whatever punishment they were given, I would try and vouch for them, and convince the league to make their punishment a private ban, not disclosed to the public. They could still find work elsewhere, they wouldn't be in any danger, and could start over." Jon explained, "Before this happened, I figured the league wouldn't want this being public anyway. If it all got out, we would be having copycats at every tournament. So an agreement like that was probably in both parties best interest."

"They decided they would try their luck at getting off with nothing." Jon explained, "They fled, and are now causing as much damage as they can, that only they can undo, so we have to make a deal with them. Steven, you have to tell the other operatives not to approach them unless they start targeting civilians. We are just playing into their hands now..."

"You have to be kidding me." Matt retorted from his desk, "This guy let's them get away, and now he's telling you what to do Steven?"

"I've done more than give a s**ty out of focus photo." Jon retorted, "Every bit of confirmed intel we have is from me, and if not for me, they would be rampaging with their Pokemon as well, and we'd have no way of figuring out how to get out of this situation without their help."

Matt stood up, looking Jon in the eye.

"Take away that Latios and what are you? I've read your file." Matt sneered, "I'll tell you what you are. An emotionally damaged man-child with Mummy in the ground and Daddy rotting in prison, hey Ryan?"

Jon stepped forward, shoving his left forearm into Matt's throat, pinning him against the wall, before punching the wall next to Matt's head with his right hand, forgetting the walls in this room were reinforced, as his knuckles cracked, and the skin broke, his hand starting to bleed."

"Jon!" Alyssa shouted, watching what had just happened. She knew the situation was serious, but had never seen Jon lose his composure like this.

"Jon, wait for me outside." Steven said, walking over to pull Jon off of Matt, "Matt, get an order to the cruise administration, and tell them to order all guests return to their rooms, because of a Wild Latios that is causing damage. Order all agents to back off and focus on recon. We can't take them in now, but they can't run forever. We need to plan an attack, before things get worse."

"Hopefully they can get you a bed in your dads cell..." Matt muttered as he attempted to walk back to his computer, before Jon punched him in the nose.

"Jon, outside, now." Steven said angrily, whilst Alyssa looked on, unsure of what to do.

Jon made his way outside into the empty hallway, as Steven followed him.

"Did I do the wrong thing?" Jon asked as the door shut behind them, "They were helpless, and I could have had Latios knock them out and brought them in."

"Why did you do it?" Steven asked, "Try negotiating I mean, even consider vouching for them?"

"Latios." Jon explained, "He can see peoples emotions, and showed me theirs. Asked me to talk to them, and told me they were people first."

Jon sat down against the wall as he explained.

"They were sad and terrified, and honestly they reminded me a bit of myself. I always wondered what would have happened if Dad got caught before things got as bad as they did. He might have gone to prison sure, but what if he was given the opportunity to change after that?" Jon asked, "I tried negotiating because for a moment, I saw three scared little girls who had dug themselves a hole too deep. I wanted them to face their mistakes, but wanted to give them a chance to rise up from them after. The chance my Dad never had."

Steven sighed, as he looked down at Jon.

"Well, even after what just happened in there, I'd say Latios picked the right trainer." Steven muttered.

"Why do you say that?" Jon asked.

"Latios will only open its heart to a Trainer with a compassionate spirit." Steven replied, quoting one of the legends about the Pokemon, "Trying to give a target a chance to turn their life around is pretty compassionate for someone in this industry. Usually we hand them over to the league, and wipe our hands of it."

Jon remained silent, still thinking about how he was to blame for what was happening now.

"I know this isn't ideal, but don't think for a second that what you did was a moment of weakness." Steven replied, "You gave them a chance nobody else would be willing to give them, and they spat in your face. This is completely on them. You understand that right?"

Jon remained silent as Steven continued.

"They are sure as hell beyond that sort of arrangement now, and I will be damned if after this, we are going to negotiate with these b***hes." Steven replied, "We can fix this, we just need to be one step ahead of them. If three girls who are stupid enough to turn themselves into Pokemon with it are able to learn this magic, surely one of us can figure this out. We just need to be able to make sure those books are safe."

There was a beep before an announcement came over the PA System. (@Noblejanobii Neo Emolga Chakramaster Shruikan SlickSlack)

"Due to reports of a wild Dragon Pokemon assaulting guests, we request that all guests return to their rooms immediately. Room service will provide a complimentary meal and pay-per-view movie for each guest whilst this lockdown is in effect.

"Take a bit of time to get yourself together, then get out there and try and round up all the Pokemon they turned." Steven explained, "If you see them don't engage them, just let us know where they are. It shouldn't be too difficult to follow them on the cameras when the chaos has died down a little. We just need to know where to start looking."

Jon nodded as he stood up.

"Keep Alyssa safe for me, okay?" Jon asked, "I'm not asking you as an operative or a trainer here, but as a friend."

"She will be safe." Steven replied, "I was the Hoenn champion after all? Now I know what sort of tricks these girls are pulling, I should be able to hold them back..."

Chakramaster

01-31-2021, 04:31 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Celestina's Room -> Central Park -> Royal Promenade
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii

Jimmy has taken the time to listen to his Pikachu's instructions while Avery adjusted their Pokeball belt to get it to fit the new Pokémon body they were in.

Before long, Jimmy had learned how to bring sparks to his cheeks. "Congratulations Jimmy! You have officially learned the move Spark!" His Pikachu exclaims proudly to his Pokemon trainer. "It may not be much or as strong as my Thunderbolt, but in a sticky situation. Spark can still be effective and if lucky. Paralyze you're foe. Imagine if you paralyzed one of the Diamond Ladies. If they don't know how to use moves themselves and rely solely on their magic in their Pokémon forms. Well they're in for a surprise from us." Pikachu said confidently to the Pachirisu.

Before Jimmy could say anything to his Pikachu. Their ears perk up as they hear Celestina's radio turn on. Celestina listens in before putting it back down and turning to the Pokémon. Telling them the situation. Pikachu, Jimmy, his Rotom nod confidently.

"Now that I can effectively defend myself a little better in this Pokemon form of mine. Wait til I get close to those Diamond Ladies! They're in for a surprise! I'll literally shock them before forcing them to change us back!" Jimmy says as his Rotom mumbles."Good one.". Chuckling to himself

Avery protested to Celestina. “Bui Bui? Buizel! Zel zel zel Bui Bui!” (But what if they turn you into a Pokémon too? We might not have enough nuggets to change you back!)

While Jimmy knew it was dangerous. We can't afford to let this go on. More and more people will be turned into Pokémon if we do nothing. This could be an entire ship full of nothing but Pokémon if we don't do something...and NOW.

Celestina shook her head as she knew the same. We couldn't afford to wait. Avery looked to Jimmy as they both nodded in succession. "Chi! (Lets go!)

Jimmy and the others watched as the others flew off on their Pokémon.

"Well there goes our rides" Rotom exclaims. As Pikachu and Jimmy both had their mouth dropped as they were left behind.

Then it hits him. Jimmy runs on all fours now like it's natural. Having been a Pachirisu long enough he's learned how to move more accordingly. With haste, he shuffled through his belongings and finds the Pokémon he was looming for.

"Pa-CHI!" (I've got it!). He tried to remember how Avery did it in their body, but Buizel is much bigger than his little body. He holds the ball over his head giving a hard toss into the air off the balcony. A bright white light materialized summoning his Salamanca into the air before the ball retruns into his face at full force. Forgetting it happened to Avery esrlier as well. Knocking Jimmy onto his puffy tail.

"Paaachiiii" (owwww, the things you forget as a Pokémon...) rubbing his face with his paw before getting up. Jimmy quickly looked up and explained the situation to his Pokemon along with Pikachu. So he can understand. He nods before hovering beside the balcony as they jump on his back. Jimmy holds off a second before running back to his stuff and releasing his Grovyle. Telling him the situation as well as another plan.. "Grovyle I know you can be pretty agile. Think you can keep up with us on foot?" He nods and takes a pose as Jimmy jumps onto Salamance back and they begin to catch up to Celestina and Avery.

As they fly off. They hear a PA announcement go off across the entire ship.

"Due to reports of a wild Dragon Pokemon assaulting guests, we request that all guests return to their rooms immediately. Room service will provide a complimentary meal and pay-per-view movie for each guest whilst this lockdown is in effect.

Jimmy couldn't help, but look a little saddened. "It couldn't be....Latios? Jon? I hope they're okay." Saying to himself before looking down to Salamance. "Alright buddy, we'll hold on. Make haste to where the commotion is most active and where you see passengers running from.

Glancing around the ship. There's chaos almost everywhere, but the most traffic seems to be round the where the Central Park and Royal Promendade Areas are. Catching up to Celestina and Avery. Jimmy points out the highest point of traffic and chaos.

"Pachi. Pachirisu! Riiii-su!" (I'm gonna check down there. Follow me if you want or keep a lookout elsewhere.

Jimmy and his Pokemon all make their way to the Central Park. Where still some chaos was taking place. Passengers running to their room.

Before long. They hear a scream. “Skkwwwoooooooo!?” (“Natalie, oh god, what’s happening!?”)

Jimmy and his Pikachu grip Salamance. His Rotom still floating close behind. "They must've target someone else. Salamance! Let's go." Making haste to where they hear the scream coming from. People screaming seeing the Pokémon on what they think might be the dragon Pokémon the PA was talking about. Jimmy sweats a little as he didn't account for this. He'd hoped to be a little more stealthy. Before long, they arrived at a scene. Seeing a Skwovet passed out and a Dendenne and Beautifly knocked out by each other.

They turn to see three lone Pokémon that must've caused it. An Eevee, a Furrett, and Bunnery. Jimmy and Pikachu swallowed before saying,"it's them." His Rotom just as oblivious as usual while Salamance hover over the scene.

Neo Emolga

02-01-2021, 02:20 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Royal Promenade
Affected RPers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii

For now, it didn’t appear that any more operatives were confronting the Ladies. And shortly often, Victini was able to catch up with the three of them.

“Eveee-veee…” (“Hey, we thought you were right behind us.”) Cassandra told Victini after he had arrived, wondering why he had been absent for a while.

“Vic-ti-ni-ni…” (“Had to send Jon one last message.”) Victini replied, showing a bit of a nervous smile. “Vic-ti-ti-ni…” (“In a not-so-nice nutshell, I told him things would get pretty ugly if he didn’t take our offer. Well, I sure hope he’s at least thinking it over and told his friends!”)

Cassandra was just about to respond, but then a massage was suddenly broadcasted throughout the PA system.

"Due to reports of a wild Dragon Pokémon assaulting guests, we request that all guests return to their rooms immediately. Room service will provide a complimentary meal and pay-per-view movie for each guest whilst this lockdown is in effect.”

“Furr-reettt…?” (“Good god, who is that Latios trying to kill now…?”) Violet moaned and shook her Furret head before covering her face with her paws, totally in disbelief anyone could have so little control over their Pokémon.

But the girls looked around and it didn’t seem like there was any sight of Latios around them, so it seemed he wasn’t their target this time. Meanwhile, anyone that was still in the Royal Promenade was quickly clearing out, heading back upstairs to avoid running into whatever this wild dragon Pokémon was.

And that was when they heard a voice coming from one of the radios. Natalie Barone’s radio, in fact. She and her Beautifly were still out cold and never got the message, but with it being a network wide communication, she was still a recipient.

“Attention all operatives, your orders are to stand down and disengage,” the voice on the other end declared. “Stay on reconnaissance and report all activity, especially if you have eyes on the targets. Out.”

Jarena’s Buneary eyes went wide as she heard that from Natalie’s radio.

“Bunn-eary…!?” (“They’re calling off the attack!?”) Jarena exclaimed, looking quite relieved. “Bun-bun-eary…!” (“Yes! I mean, we’re geared up to take on an army of these goons, but if they’re calling this off, it certainly makes waiting this out a heck of a lot easier!”)

“E-veeee-vee… Vee-veee-vee” (“Let’s pick a quiet place and hold up there for a while.”) Cassandra recommended, retrieving Natalie’s radio. “Eevee-veee… Vee-veee…” (“I’m going to hold onto this so we know what’s going on. Meanwhile, Studio B right below us seems quiet and empty, there’s no performances scheduled tonight, so we can use that as a new home base.”)

“Furr…?” (“What about Jon?”) Violet asked. “Furr-rett…?” (“We still trying find him?”)

“Vic-tini…!” (“Wouldn’t recommend it, he’s definitely not the type to joke around!”) Victini replied to her with a nervous smile. “Vic-ti-ti-ni-ni…” (“Best to just keep out of his way unless he comes after us directly. Besides, I think he flew the coop, I don’t sense his presence upstairs in Central Park anymore, so he could be in La-La-Land for all we know right now!”)

Despite the lovely idea of completely ruining the Pokémon High Seas Tournament that the Ladies had, if Jon was no longer in Central Park, trying to hunt him down throughout the ship almost sounded like a suicide mission to them and they weren’t sure where he was now. Between gauging what was more important, just getting off the ship safely without being hunted and ruining the tournament, they felt just surviving this whole ordeal was the better goal to aim for. Beyond that, with all the damages that Jon was responsible for, even if he was declared the de facto winner of the tournament, he would end up with a bigger bill than a bigger prize money check. Not to mention Cassandra figured such an unclimatic end to the tournament would still get a very sour reaction from most people and would leave the tournament sponsors unhappy. Jon’s trophy would just be a booby prize and would be nothing more notable than a kindergartener that got a gold star sticker because they were well-behaved during nap time. It was enough for her to abandon the idea of going after him with the risks that would be involved.

And then all of a sudden, there was a huge commotion. While most of the previous guests had cleared out of the Royal Promenade, the Ladies saw what appeared to be a group of Pokémon charging down the hall toward them. Among them were a Salamence, a Pikachu, a Rotom, and a Pachirisu. Following closely behind the group was Celestina, wearing a white jacket with her puffy brown hair being blown back as she was riding a Flygon swiftly down the length of the Royal Prominade.

“Bunn-earyy!!” (“Wha-, I thought they were calling off the attack!”) Jarena exclaimed.

Unlike before, this was a more sizable force they would be up against and the Pokémon were already out and deployed, but nonetheless, the Ladies were prepared to stand their ground if these new arrivals stepped any closer.

“VIC-TI!!” (“STOP!”) Victini shouted out, trying to defuse the situation before it got out of control. “VIC-TI-TI!!” (“NOBODY MOVE!!”)

The Ladies were silent. They were outnumbered, but they looked sharp and were ready to start casting if it looked like these new arrivals were about to launch an assault. Thankfully, it seemed like there was only just a standoff, but one wrong move and it could rapidly escalate into something nasty. And it was exactly why Victini had to step in the way he did. To the mythical Pokémon of victory, something didn’t add up.

“Bunnn… eary….” (“Look, we don’t want any more trouble.”) Jarena spoke softly. “Bun-bun… earyyy.” (“I’m sure you don’t want any either, whoever you are.”)

Jarena figured if she could get them to agree on that, it was a good start.

“E-vee vee…” (“Tell me, before anything happens…”) Cassandra told the Pokémon. “Ev-vee-vee…? Eev-vee…?” (“Who are you and what do you want with us? We overheard the attack was being called off, so what are you here to do?”)

Victini had then looked to Celestina, thinking she was the sole trainer of all these Pokémon. To him, it made sense she had deployed her entire party in anticipation of the attack considering the other trainers that had just been transformed were caught without their Pokémon deployed in advance, but if the operatives had been told to disengage, then was she refusing orders? And why? He had to admit, they looked terribly guilty standing over Ethan and Natalie now as a Skwovet and a Dedenne, but that was just before the order to disengage had been given out!

Victini focused on the young female trainer riding the Flygon, using telepathy to reach her mind. Right now, he was the only one capable of communicating with her, so their only hope of getting them to stop this attack was on him.

<Hey, Victini here! I’ll admit I’m at a loss for knowing you who are, but hey, we don’t want to fight! We overheard the operatives pursuing us have been ordered to stand down. Yes, before these two right here were transformed! If you stand down, we’ll stand down! I promise! Yes, with sugar and a cherry on top!>

And if they didn’t listen, well, that was going to lead to something else…

Noblejanobii

02-01-2021, 05:19 AM

Celestina Veres
Celestina's Room => Royal Promenade
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jimmy had managed to overtake and pass Celestina on the back of his Salamence, the other Hoenn dragon zipping right past them. As Jimmy landed and began to charge with a herd of Pokémon, Celestina’s radio crackled to life again with a call to stand down. Shoot. Since Jimmy and Avery didn’t have radios, they wouldn’t know to stand down. They’d need backup which Celestina could provide, but she’d have to do so carefully.

As she neared the group in a stand off, she felt a voice enter her mind. Celestina directed her Flygon to land, keeping his wings between herself and the girls. They weren’t exactly sure how the hexes worked but keeping her out of the line of sight should help.

“I’m afraid you misunderstand,” Celestina responded, “those aren’t my Pokémon. I can’t dictate any actions they take. I’m just here to keep an eye on them is all.” As she spoke, Celestina released another one of her Pokémon beside her: a Roselia. With any luck, she could use a sleep powder to potential subdue the girls and their Victini, but she had to wait for the right moment.

“If you want to negotiate you’re better off talking terms with them, not me,” she added as a final thought, “because they’ve got some very angry backup on the way.”

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Celestina’s Room => Central Park => Royal Promenade

Riding a Girafarig probably was not their smartest move, in hindsight. Avery did have much faster Pokémon, like Zebstrika or Rapidash. But Acacia was doing well enough in navigating the ship and using her psychic abilities to keep an eye on those outside. She had also managed to locate the ladies in the Royal Promenade, which was good.

Avery looked at Gloria behind them. “You sure we can do this? I’m not exactly a battler you know.”

“Say that to a semi finalist in the High Seas Tournament,” she retorted, “You’re better at being a trainer than you give yourself credit for.”

“Fair enough I suppose. We need to think about this strategically. Do you think their hexes can go through a Light Screen?”

“We can try it,” Acacia chimed in, “Who knows if it’ll work.”

With a plan in place, the trio approached the Royal Promenade, only to slow down when they heard a commotion had already started. Avery’s group hung back out of sight as they eavesdropped on what all was going on. It seemed the ladies didn’t want to fight, but that didn’t meant they couldn’t and wouldn’t. Avery’s paw hovered over their pokeballs. They were ready to provide support if necessary, but wanted to retain the element of surprise for now. Especially with this supposed call to stand down.

[Desolate Divine]

02-01-2021, 11:22 AM

Alyssa Drake
Safe House C
Affected RPers: None

Steven returned to the room without Jon, as Alyssa stood there awkwardly with Matt who was nursing a broken nose in the en suite, and the two other data analysts who were refusing to make eye contact with anyone else in the room after the outburst.

"I've sent Jon to try and locate any people who have been turned into Pokemon, and to do some recon on the girls." Steven explained, "Don't worry, he won't approach them. He knows what we need to do."

Steven sat at a couch that sat against one of the walls, seemingly deep in thought, as Alyssa approached him.

"I want to help." Alyssa explained, "I don't want to sit here while everyone else in this room works to fix this, and to protect me, whilst I do nothing."

"I'm sorry Alyssa, but I told Jon I would keep you safe, and unless you are in more danger staying here, I'm not letting you leave the room." Steven explained.

"Then I can help you here?"

Steven looked at her for a moment, before letting out a sigh. He knew that there was no convincing her.

"Right now we need a plan." Steven explained, "Letting the operatives engage has just helped their cause, so we have had to pull them out. But the problem is that we are on a timer here. We dock the day after tomorrow, and once we dock, they have a chance of escaping. The ship is full of civilians so staying at sea until we catch them isn't an option. It would be seen as a kidnapping, and they would just turn more people into Pokemon."

Steven laid his head back against the rest, seemingly struggling to piece together his thoughts.

"Right now, we don't have control of the battlefield. They control it, because they can turn people into Pokemon, and we don't understand how this works, or have a way of turning them back without them. The more we try and stop them, the more damage they cause, and the longer we let them run rampant, the more damage they cause." Steven explained, "We are trapped here."

"Okay, so what if we took back some of that control..." Alyssa replied, "The biggest issue is the fact that there is a chance what they are doing is permanent, and because we don't understand how this works, we can't protect ourselves. It seems pretty clear what our next step should be..."

Alyssa gestured to the bag that contained the books.

"The problem is that we don't know whether or not they are trapped or not." Steven explained, "Chances are, we touch them and we end up as Pokemon like them..."

"What if we don't touch it..." Alyssa asked, before letting out her Gardevoir.

"Serena, I need you to do me a favour..." Alyssa explained, as the Gardevoir looked around at the unfamiliar setting and faces.

"In this bag, there are some clothes, Pokeballs and books." Alyssa explained, holding the bag out, "I want you to very gently remove the Pokeballs, making sure not to activate any of them, then the books, making sure none of them make contact with anyone in this room. We think they may cursed or something."

Serena nodded, as her eyes began to glow, and slowly the contents of the bag Jon had taken from the Diamond Ladies began to slowly and carefully float out. Finally came the first book.

"Now hold it in front of me, and open it." Alyssa explained, as she grabbed her camera from her own bag, "We are going to get a picture of every page."

The book remained suspended in the air in front of her, as it opened revealing the first page, as Alyssa began taking photos.

"Okay, onto the next one." Alyssa said, "This may take a while..."

Chakramaster

02-01-2021, 01:44 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Royal Promenade
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Neo Emolga

Arriving and catching sight of the group. The Diamond Ladies in their Pokémon form look surprised. Even a little terrified. Were they not expecting this? It caught Jimmy by surprise. The Pokémon riding on Salamance hop off. Pikachu, Jimmy, and Rotom all next to each other. Salamance lands by them. Jimmy gives a glance around using his eyes. Hoping they wouldn't notice he's looking around. Noticing his Grovyle camouflaged in some shrubs nearby. Ready for a signal from Jimmy.

Before he could do or say anything. Celestina arrives responding to the ladies. Trying to help calm the situation down. Things could go from bad, to worse in an instant if we play this wrong. In this case. We can't fight. It'll only cause more damage and we could possibly be hexed further. We still don't know if our transformation into Pokémon is even permanent or not. We don't have any proof of the supposed cure working or not.

"Name is Jimmy Kendo. Originally I was here to just take you down, but given the situation. I'm taking a few moments to talk. About time we have a proper chat. Since you know. You can actually understand me now after succumbing to your own hexes." Jimmy states. "In case you haven't noticed. I'm a Pokémon now and don't have so much as a radio on me. So I don't know anything about the attack being called of. Other than a rampaging dragon Pokemon."

"Look. I won't sugar coat things like Victini did over here. Things aren't looking good for any of you here. Much less the passengers or the operatives here." Jimmy responds to the Ladies along with Victini. "You say you don't want anymore trouble, but what are you doing? I bet these Pokémon here. The Skwovet and this Dendenne are just more operatives that freshly changed from human to Pokémon. Whether that happened before or after the stand down orders were given to the operatives...You're just making things worse!" Jimmy tells them frustrated. To himself. Jimmy now understood why Celestina didn't come in blazing and would rather watch us than help take them down. So instead of attacking. He continues to play more cautiously.

"Look at yourselves. You're all Pokemon now just like you turned me into a Pokémon. That's right. I'm the operative that was with Avery the moment you changed them too. Look I get it. You're doing this from fear now, but let me ask you this. What if you manage to get away? Let's say you get off this ship and live the rest of your lives as Pokemon. What's to say you won't keep changing people into Pokémon out of fear of being caught one day? That a random operative may find you with a grudge. If not that, then what's to say you get away and continue living your lives as Pokemon and a trainer ends up trying to capture you or succeeds and catches you? What would you do? Would you change the trainer who caught you into a Pokémon out of fear to get away? You just....nothing you say right now comes out as trustworthy. It's like lies from a child who is just scared of getting in trouble and facing the punishment." Jimmy tells them looking a bit saddened.

"How do we even know what you say can cure us and return us to normal? You haven't even changed anyone back. You've only continued changing people more into Pokémon and caused more damage." He responds once more. "You rely on witchcraft and your magic. You've done more harm than good with your cheating and Magic's. So I can't offer you any protection or anything. What can you do to prove yourselves? Anything? Just like how you have protective measures. So do I." Jimmy says taking a stance and sparking his cheeks in frustration. He may have learned to control the electric yin his cheek, but when frustrated. It's hard for a Pokémon to hold back their electrify when scared or angered or even frustrated.

His Pokemon standing idly by ready for any commands while Celestina still watch over them. Jimmy took a glance over them to notice what all they had with them. Their pouches of course with most likely various amounts of items to be used on hexes they can use against us. Then what looked like a radio. Most likely from one of the operatives they just turned. We can't afford to let them take it. Or can we? Jimmy thought.

"How about this. I'll give you one chance. Take it or leave it." Jimmy told them. "That radio you have is mostly useless to the operatives network unless you have a Rotom control it. It'll pose as a direct line to one of the Champions. Steven, Cynthia, Blue. Take your pick. All you need to do if have Rotom here take control of it and have an operative here that knows how to access it. Reason why I say we need to use that one is because as you can tell. I don't have one now being a Pachirisu. If you want the chance to explain yourselves and have a way out. This is your chance. If you don't take the offer. Well, I can't guarantee your safety. You can listen in and find one of the Champions to explain." He says obviously looking for a way to keep this settle and not cause for any dismay. Knowing full well this was nothing more than a ploy to have his Rotom take control of the radio for their own gain. Knowing their location at all times so long as the radio is with them.

He then adds,"In case you're worried. Yeah it's a little hard conversing and communicating with humans without the help from a Pokémon that's actually able. Rotom here can do that. Allotted he has the proper given equipment. You take this offer with Rotom from me. There goes my way of communicating outside of putting on a show of charades."

Shruikan

02-01-2021, 02:58 PM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park > Royal Promenade
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga, Chakramaster, Noblejanobii

Luneth was surprised when the Victini turned it’s telepathy to her, informing her that Cassandra was already here.
Cinnamon was Cassandra? In hindsight it made perfect sense. But it was still weird to think that all three Ladies had managed to get themselves turned into pokemon at the same time…

After a few moment, where she assumed Victini was talking to the scary guy, Luneth thought the Ladies might be going to accept the offer. From the guys answer it seems they didn’t believe him though, and had turned it down. Then before he could make a move, the Ladies made a run for it.
Luneth was torn on whether to try and stop them, but she had no proof that they’d done anything too wrong yet, and the “operative” didn’t seem like the nicest of people to hand them over to, so she stayed put and let them flee.

As the guy started talking to his Latios, he started scaring Luneth with his intensity, so she sidled away as quickly as possible without drawing attention to herself.

Once she was alone again, Luneth had time to think over everything that had happened. The attacks on the Diamond Ladies had been set up by the league to figure out if/how they were cheating, but their methods seemed a bit extreme. Especially Latios guy’s. But then, the diamond ladies had been cheating, so they weren’t the good guys either. And they turned down the reasonable offer and ran for it. Unless they had accepted, but he really didn’t want them too and was putting on a show because Luneth was there?

Then a thought occurred. The Ladies had turned previous operatives into pokemon, and that Zorua had been running away from where the Ladies had been. Was that Zorua an operative too?
She needed to find Glimmer. With all that was going on, it wasn’t safe for the Shaymin to be out there alone anymore.

Luneth began heading back to where the Latios’s “attack” had happened, but before she could get very far however, a message blared out over the PA:

"Due to reports of a wild Dragon Pokemon assaulting guests, we request that all guests return to their rooms immediately. Room service will provide a complimentary meal and pay-per-view movie for each guest whilst this lockdown is in effect.

While it was true about the Dragon type, Luneth knew it was obviously a cover up to get everyone away while they hunt down the Diamond Ladies.
Even if she didn’t need to find Glimmer, there’s no way Luneth was going to sit in her room at a time like this. The Diamond Ladies knew real magic, and once they were caught any chance to find out more about it will be covered up likely forever. Plus, she needed to find out for definite who was in the right here. Now she’d just need to be a bit sneakier when traveling.

Luneth made her way “stealthily” back through central park towards where the nugget thief had struck. Start at the scene of the crime. Who knows, maybe Glimmer was back there already. No luck however. Ok, so they’d run off towards Royal Promenade so that was next.
Luneth’s stealth consisted of dashing from hiding place to place, sticking to walls and trying to blend in, while ignore all the security cameras along the way, somehow managing to stay on camera more frequently that if she’d just walked through normally.

As she entered the Promenade, she heard a commotion from up ahead. It’s them again, isn’t it? How do I keep running into those three today? Luneth hoped that whoever had found them this time, that it wasn’t the Latios guy again.
Sneaking closer, she saw a large group of pokemon, including the Diamond Ladies, all in a stare down, like a cowboy movie. Except with more pokemon yelling. There was a woman there too, almost definitely another Operative, though she had way more pokemon than are allowed per trainer with her. She hadn’t been turned into a pokemon yet though, so maybe the Diamond Ladies really did only use that spell in self defense?

Still hiding a reasonably safe distance from the face off, Luneth whipped out her phone, and zoomed in on the Diamond Ladies as much as possible. If they were going to use their magic, she wanted to see exactly how it worked. And if not, nothing would be lost. If only she could get closer and hear what they said, but all her pokemon were too large and noticeable, apart from the presently unavailable Glimmer, and Flan, who needed another small pokemon around to copy first.
She’d just have to make do with long distance recording, hoping the words didn’t matter too much.

Neo Emolga

02-02-2021, 02:06 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Royal Promenade
Affected RPers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine, Shruikan

As more Pokémon joined the group that had intended to bring down the Ladies, Celestina had confirmed they weren’t all hers. Nonetheless, it was Victini and the three Ladies up against Celestina accompanied with her Flygon and her Roselia along with Avery as a Buizel accompanied by their Shaymin, Gloria and their Girafarig, while Jimmy as a Pachirisu was accompanied by his Pikachu, his Salamence, and his Rotom. They were looking up at an army and there was no way to fight it or run from it as they were outnumbered four to one. And they didn’t even notice the Grovyle…

If any kind of fight broke out, they knew they would go down. The Ladies, along with Victini, were a bit nervous.

Jimmy as a Pachirisu had stepped forward, introducing himself before getting right into the grim nature of the situation. All the while, Jarena felt ashamed, knowing it was her that turned him into now Pachirisu self. And after that, he mentioned the fact they had turned Ethan into a Skwovet and his girlfriend into a Dedenne and that they were only making things worse.

I know… I suck. Jarena thought to herself as she looked down with an unhappy Buneary face.

Jimmy then mentioned what they had done to themselves, and what they were even planning to do, even if they escaped. In his words, he explained that this could go on and on endlessly as they kept getting themselves entangled further and further into a web of lies. But what really hit home to all three of them was being told that nothing they said was trustworthy. And all three of them just felt ashamed because of how badly they had dug themselves into this situation.

Jimmy then felt they couldn’t even be trusted to turn them back and undo the damage they had done. They had felt like they never got the fair chance at trying that before they had gotten all the reagents only to have everything stolen, but they didn’t mention any of that. In the meantime, he felt that they had become too reliant on their witchcraft and cheating, whereas he had been practicing using his own Pachirisu abilities to make a point that they didn’t need such things.

He then had recommended to use the radio to contact one of the Champions while Rotom would help translate the message into a form of communication the recipient could understand. And he was only willing to give this offer once.

There was a moment of silence among the Ladies and Victini, all of whom looked downcast. Cassandra couldn’t help but sit down, sigh, and look down to the ground as her Eevee ears drooped down and her eyelids fell.

“We’re… awful, I know…” Cassandra sighed. “You said it. We’re cheaters, liars, scumbags, numbskulls, we’re a real bonafide train wreck when it comes to morals.”

“Hey, I’m no numbskull!” Jarena exclaimed back at Cassandra. “But… eh heh… yeah, you’re totally right about everything else.”

“It’s more than that,” Violet commented, looking off to the side as she slouched with her Furret paws by her side. “We’re responsible for the biggest scam in Pokémon battling history. We own that.”

Cassandra couldn’t help but sigh again. After a moment, she took her paw, pulled off the strap of her black fanny pack containing her spell reagents, and threw it aside well out of arm’s reach. While she wasn’t completely disarmed in terms of spells without her reagents, not having any would limit what she was capable of. But she wanted to show she was willing to cooperate as much as she could.

“We’re…?” Jarena asked, questioning what Cassandra was trying to do.

“Yup,” Cassandra replied mirthlessly. “Or at least I am.”

“No, no, no, I agree…” Jarena replied, quickly removing the strap before tossing her own reagent bag aside. “So long!”

Without mentioning a word, Violet soon followed their example and tossed aside her own bag, and couldn’t help but sigh as well. Without their reagents, they were not quite as dangerous as they were before. Meanwhile, they were no longer standing their ground, making it clear they really didn’t want to continue this any longer.

“Rotom, if you could hop into the radio and connect me with Cynthia, that would be great,” Cassandra muttered, not looking forward to this conversation, but deciding to go ahead with it anyway.

“Why most certainly!” Rotom agreed, leaping toward the device and becoming one with it.

It was then that the radio had directly contacted Cynthia, all while Cassandra held the radio with her Eevee paw. Meanwhile, everyone else was privy to Cassandra’s conversation.

“Cynthia here, what’s up?” her voice came on through the speaker.

“Hi Cynthia, this is Cassandra,” she told her, though not very enthusiastically as Rotom translated her Eevee speak into English so she could understand. “Yes, Cassandra Silvers. And I’m with Jarena and Violet as well.”

“You!?” Cynthia exclaimed. “Young lady, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do!”

“I know,” Cassandra replied, sighing again and looking exhausted. “That’s exactly why I called.”

Cassandra then took a deep breath. She was tired of running, tired of fighting, but most of all, very tired of cheating and lying. It was draining, exhausting, and stressful. She swore she could constantly feel her sins nipping at her nerves and she was tired of it. Very tired of it.

“I want to officially declare this to be my confession to all my crimes,” Cassandra spoke to her. “So if you’d like to record it, share it, get other people like Steven, Lance, Blue, anyone else you know of on the line, here’s your chance.”

As she was saying this, Jarena just looked sick to her stomach and had to sit down while Violet didn’t even want to make eye contact with anyone. They knew this was going to hurt, but like a rotten tooth that was hurting painfully and needed to be ripped out, it had to be done and the sooner it was over, the better. They had been dreading the possibility of this for a while, sometimes in the past wondering if all the lying, cheating, trickery, and deception would ever catch up to them.

It finally had.

“Go ahead,” Cynthia replied, not revealing who else might have joined the radio chat and if she was now being recorded.

“I screwed-… no, we screwed up,” Cassandra began. “But it’s mostly my fault. That aside, I want to start from the very beginning.”

“Jarena, Violet, and I first met during a slumber party six years ago,” Cassandra spoke to her. “There were about ten girls in total, but the three of us had a thing in common where we liked screwing around with supernatural stuff. I had taken a box of tarot cards with me that night and we did all kinds of stupid stuff with them while the other girls watched some dumb movie none of us had any interest in.”

“We exchanged contact information and we became friends,” Cassandra continued. “We met up more often, and found naturally, we hated rules and those who made them. We liked telling little lies at first, mainly because the truth is usually boring. And we liked to mess around with things we shouldn’t have. We went beyond tarot cards and superstitious stuff because even that got boring. And most of that stuff was junk that wasn’t true anyway.”

And then Cassandra took a deep breath. What she had revealed was really only a precursor to some of her darker secrets. But now she needed to come forward with everything. She knew it would mean some dire consequences, but she felt they had to give up. They needed to stop transforming people into Pokémon like they were terrorists taking hostages.

“I came across Shadowcraft through an online vendor,” Cassandra explained. “Everything about the transaction was confidential. I actually took that as a good sign. So I bought the first book, what was called ‘The Initiator Tome.’ I figured either it would be fun to try, or if it was false, well, it wouldn’t be any different from a lot of the other stuff I bought.”

“As Jarena, Violet, and myself discovered, it actually worked,” Cassandra continued. “After coming across so much junk that were mere superstitions, we finally found authentic witchcraft stuff. It took us about three weeks to get ‘initiated,’ but after we figured out the process of tapping into ley lines, aligning chakras and pranas, and things like that, we actually tried a few beginner spells. They were incredible at first, but as always, we kept wanting more.”

“And then…” Cassandra sighed, “…we got reckless. We tried a few hexes and curses on wild Pokémon. Made them dizzy, cursed them with sleep, basically gave our own Pokémon an edge as we participated alongside them. Made wild Pokémon easier to capture, also. From there, we bought more Shadowcraft books, learned more witchcraft, and then we actually started using these spells in trainer battles against other trainers. It started as a funny prank at first, a prank that the other trainers never suspected… but we thought hey, if Pokémon have supernatural abilities, why not us?”

“…I don’t think I need to explain just how far we went with it,” Cassandra confessed to Cynthia, knowing she of all people would definitely know. “One of us would enter a tournament, the other two would spectate and do the hexes and the curses from the sidelines while no one was watching, making it all seem like it was natural. And we took turns from one tournament to the next, never having any two of us enter the same competition.”

“We couldn’t stop,” Cassandra muttered, looking a bit pale. “We… crossed a line and we didn’t have any way to get a clean exit once the stakes got higher. We won major tournaments, kept setting the bar higher and higher, and we started getting a craving for fame and the prizes were wonderful. I won enough money to be set for life way before most people even really start their careers. All three of us became famous and we thought we could keep it going on forever. And then things got dicey when there were people trying to figure out our secrets because things looked suspicious, but we kept our secrets hidden while there was no way to pull the plug. Anyone that came close to finding the secret had to be taken out of the picture. Turning them into a Pokémon was the safest way to do it. I didn’t want to kill anyone, but we couldn’t let them talk and tell anyone else if they saw our Shadowcraft stuff, so they became Pokémon. And it became this… really dark habit.”

“And…” Cassandra spoke, starting to wrap it up as she looked direly ashamed, “…that’s how we got here today. Everyone knows how far we got, but it was here, right at the Pokémon High Seas Tournament that it all caught up to us… and we deserve it. All of it. As I was in a panic, I ended up getting turned into an Eevee because I forgot to remove a Pokémon Transformation Hex on a pillow we were using to hide the books we brought along for the trip. Jarena and Violet worked hard to try and gather the reagents needed to undo the affliction, but just as we had the human samples and golden nugget we needed, the nugget was stolen and… I’m sure everyone’s seen that video by now. Jarena accidentally hit Violet with the spell after Violet tried to chase the thief down, and she got turned into a Furret as a result of that. And Violet got angry enough to return the hex on Jarena to turn her into a Buneary. I imagine it must have looked really insane to anyone who watched that, but to me, it was… heartbreaking.”

“We tried to bargain our way out,” Cassandra confessed. “And it only made things worse. Trying to fight our way out also just made it worse. When the consequences of everything sped at us, we decided we just wanted to run from it all. No more battles, no more fame, we didn’t even want to go back to being human after everything was taken, including our books. Whatever luck we had left totally ran dry, and… in the end… all we wanted was just to escape, run off as Pokémon, with no more rules and people telling us what to do.”

Jarena slowly and sheepishly approached the radio, wanting to put in a word.

“Uhh… hey…” Jarena softly spoke, smiling nervously. “Jarena here. I just wanted to say… everything Cass said is true. We lied, we cheated, we got… boy did we get carried away.”

“She’s right,” Violet also spoke up. “Don’t know who you have on the line, but this is Violet. I want to add my name to Cass’s confession.”

And Cassandra sighed, hard enough to the point where she couldn’t help but shiver. The rotten tooth was finally dug out, but now they had to brace themselves for the bloody mess that would be coming out next.

“I’m going to need some time to discuss this with the League and the other Champions,” Cynthia replied in a serious voice. “I believe what you said is true, but a simple ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t going to cut it. But if you want to at least take a small step toward redeeming yourselves, then help us get this tournament back up and running by undoing the damage you’ve done. There’s less than a few hours before tonight’s battles begin, so you’d better move quickly.”

Cassandra had looked to Avery Miller and then to Ethan Caldwell, who had actually woken up to at least hear the second half of the confession.

“I’m going to need a few things,” Cassandra explained. “I need a DNA sample of both Avery Miller and Ethan Caldwell, although with Ethan right here, he may have a stray strand of hair on his jacket or cap that we can use. Then we need two golden nuggets. We also need copies of the pages for the Affliction Reversal Spell in the Shadowcraft Evangtin Tome, which I think I remember it being on page 271 and 272. Jonathan Drake has the Evangtin Tome along with the Shadowcraft Anaksin, Xethen, and Zeketh Tomes, so someone needs to let him know what we need. I know he probably won’t trust us with the entire Evangtin Tome, which I understand, but all he has to do is scan and print copies of those pages, because we’ve never done this spell before and haven’t memorized it. Also, you can tell him the tomes are not hexed or anything like that. He was asking about that earlier.”

“Fine, I will contact him and we’ll see what can be arranged,” Cynthia replied. “But if you pull any kinds of tricks or misdeeds, you ladies are finished and I’ll have all three of you confined to a Pokéball if it’s needed. Mark my works.”

Cassandra swallowed hard at the thought of that and she could see Jarena and Violet really didn’t like the idea of being attacked and then finding out the hard way what getting captured in a Pokéball was like.

“Let’s meet up by the Main Pool on the top level,” Cassandra proposed, understanding why Cynthia was warning them. “We need some water for these spells anyway, and the pool has plenty of towels. We’ll probably need those, too because I imagine if the spell works, their clothes won’t instantly wrap onto them, so… they’ll probably not want to be seen naked, and the towels will let them have a quick cover to wrap themselves with to make it to the bathroom to get changed. Also, this Main Pool meeting site is out in the open, so we will have no where to run to if you think we’ll try escaping. Bring an army of Pokémon, trainers, snipers, whatever you think you need to feel confident about this arrangement. I promise you we won’t run, but that’s all I can say. Once we get Avery and Ethan back to normal, your tournament is good to go. Of course I already know I’m well beyond disqualified, but that’s besides the point. And if all goes well, then we can go to step 2 and get the rest of your operatives changed back.”

Cassandra then turned to Ethan, who still seemed a bit nervous. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Natalie was looking at him with a bit of concern, but she decided to let him make the choice for himself.

“You agree to this, Ethan?” Cassandra asked, trying to forget what had happened with him just some time ago. “Your battle with Jon is in only a few hours and we really don’t have any alternatives.”

“I… guess…” Ethan muttered, still not used to being in his squirrely Skwovet body. “But uh… yeah, please… no funny business this time? You Ladies are scary and this ‘Shadowcraft’ stuff is nuts!”

Cassandra nodded and then turned to Avery, still as a Buizel.

“How about you?” Cassandra asked them. “I know you have really no reason to trust me, but I don’t know of any other way to do this…”

Shruikan

02-02-2021, 09:29 AM

Luneth Tarot
Royal Promenade
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga, Chakramaster, Noblejanobii

Instead of attacking with magic, the Ladies merely slumped, looking defeated, then threw away their bags of what Luneth assumed were potion or spell ingredients.
Luneth saw a Rotom that seemed to be taking orders from a Pachirisu jump into a radio that the Ladies had, the Eevee formerly known as Cinnamon began to speak into it, the Rotom translating what she said. However, from this distance Luneth couldn’t make everything out, including if she was speaking to someone or just using it to translate for the human Operative.
Recording from the shadows wasn’t going to work anymore. Welp, time to take a big risk.

Stuffing her phone in her pocket, but leaving it recording just in case, Luneth came out of her hiding place and nonchalantly sidled over to join the crowd of pokemon, hoping that they’d all be too busy watching Cassandra’s message to notice her, or at least to do anything about it until after this was all sorted out.

Now in proper hearing ranger, Luneth could tell that Cassandra was on a direct line to someone through the radio. Wait, was that the Sinnoh Champion she was talking to? Cassandra seemed to be confessing everything. Had they taken up the earlier offer then? They admitted to all the crimes they had been accused of, but from the looks of it, they really did regret it and had just gotten in over their heads.

And then came the best part. Cassandra agreed to turn the victims back from pokemon to people, and mentioned a few books by name that she’d need. Luneth excitedly made a mental not of the names of the books Cassandra mentioned they’d need. Once everything was sorted, she’d have a lead on finding real magic! Evangtin, Anaksin, Xethen, and Zeketh. She was focusing on imprinting the names into her mind so much that she missed the next few sentences, coming back to reality in time to hear Cassandra talking about pool towels and clothes.
Oh, they’d be heading to the pools soon then? And when they did, they’d probably notice there was one human too many in this group! Luneth started slowly inching away back away from the crowd towards her earlier hiding place without drawing attention to herself.

[Desolate Divine]

02-02-2021, 11:11 AM

Alyssa Drake
Safe House C
Affected RPers: None

Alyssa got halfway through taking photos of the first book when Steven's phone buzzed.

The Champion who was still on the couch, trying to come up with a game plan reached blindly for his phone, holding it up above his face as he continued staring towards the ceiling. Suddenly his eyes widened.

"Matt! Get us tuned in to Radio Comms Channel 4!" Steven explained, "Try and trace the signal from it, and get us a visual on cameras."

"What's going on?" Alyssa asked, taking a break from taking photos of the books pages, looking over at the now excited Hoenn Champion.

"They're confessing, and turning themselves in..." Steven explained, "They radio'd Cynthia to talk, and asked her if she wanted to get anyone else in the channel before they did it. You mind getting Jon here?"

Alyssa nodded before opening the phone app on her mobile phone, and pressing Jon's contact.

Jon Drake
Safe House B ->Safe House C -> En Route to pool
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Noblejanobii Chakramaster Shruikan (I think)

After his conversation with Steven had ended, Jon made his way to Safe House B, around a nearby corner, which stood as the infirmary for operatives, granted it wasn't equipped to deal with people being turned into Pokemon. However some ice for the hand that he now suspected to be broken, as well as some bandages was definitely available there, and once he stopped the bleeding, Matt would probably need to pay a visit there too.

As Jon was tying off the bandage around his now pained and mangled hand, he felt his phone vibrate, and read Alyssa's name from the caller ID.

"You alright?" Jon asked, "I've barely been gone ten minutes..."

"Jon, get here now." Alyssa explained, "Steven just got tipped off they are going to confess and hand themselves in. You have a few minutes, but you will want to be here..."

"I'll be there in five..." Jon replied as he hung up, before grabbing another ice-pack for the road, and leaving the room, jogging back to Safe House C whilst still icing his hand. As he ran there, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Not even half an hour had passed since they rejected his offer to vouch for them if they turned themselves in, and ran leaving him with essentially a declaration of war if the league didn't agree to their terms of charges being dropped. 15 minutes since reports of a civilian, Jon's opponent for the tournament tonight, being turned into a Pokemon. Why change their mind now? When they have dug themselves an even deeper hole...

Jon's main theory was that it was a trap. He entered the room, returning a glare from Matt, as he walked over to the computer where everybody was huddled around. From the computer came the voice of a Rotom, claiming to be Cassandra, explaining how she met Violet and Jarena.

"Are we sure this is them?" Jon asked as he walked over, "It could be a trap?"

"It's them. Check this out." Steven explained, "I had Matt trace the radio signal and find the closest security camera."

Jon looked on screen, and was slightly shocked to see Cassandra the Eevee talking into a radio. Even more surprising was the fact that standing opposite her was a small army of Pokemon, lead by none other than a familiar Pachirisu, with a just as familiar Buizel in the background.

"Cuddles?" Jon asked without realizing.

"Check that out." Steven said pointing to a small bag on screen, "While we waited for Cynthia to patch in the others, I had Matt look back on the recordings. Those bags contained ingredients for whatever magic they were doing. Before Cassandra took the radio and contacted Cynthia, her and the other girls dropped them. I think this is really happening. They are surrendering..."

Cassandra continued sharing the story of how they got to where they were now, with Violet and Jarena both adding on their responsibility to it, before Cynthia spoke up, telling them that whilst their apology wasn't going to be enough, the could show good will by helping get the tournament running again. Cassandra seemed to accept the agreement, this time with no request for a full pardon, explaining what she would need, and that Jon was in possession of the book they required, offering to instead take a copy of the page, and assuring them the tomes weren't hexed.

Jon thought about everything going on for a moment. Whilst he was sad about the blatant rejection of the olive branch he extended earlier, and the fact that they decided to do more damage in attempt to force the leagues hand, he still meant every word he said to them earlier that afternoon. He didn't want their lives ruined by the mistakes of their youth. He wanted to see justice given, and wanted to see them learn from their mistakes, even if it was the hard way, but didn't want their actions the last few years to be the start of a downward spiral. But there was no point trying to help someone who refuses to be helped.

Jon felt conflicted about all this, wanting to believe that deep down they weren't bad people, but also knowing that they have shown they will say or do anything to save their skins, not even an hour ago, and that this could be a trap.

"You've proven to be one of the bigger pains for them today." Steven explained, "The fact they mentioned the books not being hexed seems to be an invite to handle them. What if this is a way to get you out of the picture?"

Jon nodded, having made up his mind. It was time to take a risk.

"Only one way to find out." Jon said, "If I turn into a Dunsparce, have everyone close in on them and take them out."

"Wait what are you-" Alyssa began, as Jon reached out to touch the book, still suspended in the air by Serena's telekinesis.

Jon closed his eyes, not sure what to expect. He silently prayed that he wasn't going to open them and be twelve inches tall.

"Idiot..." Steven muttered to himself before breathing a sigh of relief.

Jon opened his eyes, and looked at his very human left hand now holding the book. They were telling the truth, so far.

"Which book is it they need?" Jon asked, as he looked at the cover.

"The second one down..." Alyssa muttered, having had a near heart attack at her husbands recklessness.

Jon made his way to the pile of books next to the bag, placing down the book he was holding and getting the book that Alyssa had pointed out before calling out to Steven.

"You mind getting me a few baggies?" Jon asked, gesturing to the kitchenette off to the side of the room, "And a permanent marker."

Steven nodded as Jon began rummaging through the clothes he had managed to acquire during the day. Avery and Cuddle's clothes that Alyssa had brought to him, and the Diamond Ladies Clothes, as well as a pink and white hairbrush containing long blonde hair. Jon quickly plucked a few of these, placing them in a baggie, writing Cassandra's initials on the front, before going through the clothes, trying to find any hair that belonged to the five recently turned Pokemon who were waiting for him, figuring out which belonged to who based on the clothes and hair colors, and desperately hoping none of them had overly cuddly, shedding Pokemon that shared a hair color. Once they were sorted and labelled, Jon turned to Steven.

"Did we manage to get any Gold Nuggets?" Jon asked, knowing this was a waste if they had none.

"Fifteen." Steven explained, "It seems like a fair few trainers offloaded some to vendors at the start of the cruise. Probably to buy merchandise or something. Came in handy, I have to say."

Steven unlocked one of the drawers in the desk that Matt was sitting at, getting a small tube out that contained a considerable amount of small spheres of gold.

"Assuming there aren't many more than the nine we know about, that should be more than enough." Steven explained, handing the tube to Jon, as he placed it in the girls bag, with their clothes and the baggies containing the hair. Lastly, Jon grabbed the book.

"Wait, you're taking the actual book?" Alyssa asked, "If you give us a few minutes we can get a copy of the page?"

"We could, but I will hold onto this myself, and only let them look, not touch." Jon explained, "They offered to hand themselves in because they realized that is better than what the other option is. I don't want them to change their mind. I figure by bringing the book, I can hopefully show them that I have the tiniest sliver of trust in what they just said. They're taking a chance on us here, and I want to make it clear they are doing the right thing. And worst comes to worst, we will still outnumber and outpower them significantly if they don't have their little bags on them."

"Where was this kind of understanding with Matt before." Steven muttered to himself, before realizing what he had just said, and looking up awkwardly at Jon. There was an awkward silence before Jon spoke.

"No you're right. I was way out of line." Jon said, before turning his attention to Matt, "I will get you a beer later, or as many as it takes to stop that from hurting. For what it's worth, my hand hurts like hell..."

Matt sighed at the badly veiled apology, before Jon finished packing the bags.

"I'll be in touch." Jon explained, "Though you should be able to see everything from the cameras."

Steven nodded, inside praying Jon wasn't about to make a stupid mistake and cost them a lot more than this mission already had.

As Jon made his way out of the room, he let Latios back out of his Pokeball, giving instruction.

"Stay invisible, and don't give yourself away." Jon explained, "I hope this is the end, and they come peacefully, but if they don't, knock them out. Take out Victini, then the girls. Use your Psychic attack. But wait for my signal, understand?"

Latios nodded, with an uncharacteristically determined look on his face. He had been wanting a peaceful outcome this whole time, so maybe he was making sure not to get in the way of that?

"Well, let's go, and hopefully not have this blow up in our faces..." Jon replied as the Eon Pokemon turned invisible, and he began walking towards the main pool...

Noblejanobii

02-04-2021, 05:12 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Royal Promenade
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster Shruikan

Avery watched quietly as the back and forth exchange began between the ladies and Champion Cynthia. True to their word, they came forward with a genuine confession to their crimes, even providing an origin story to it all.

Avery couldn’t help but feel somewhat… sympathetic towards their cause. While the decisions they made had been the results of their own choices and interests in life, in an alternate timeline the Diamond Ladies might have been just as successful without the use of hexes. Youth leant itself to mistakes, and big ones at that. But they at least appeared genuinely sorry for what they had done and wished for it all to be over.

Cassandra proposed a plan to get everything back in order as best they could. The pool did seem like a somewhat ideal location for the reversal spell. It wasn’t Avery’s top choice by any means, because even a bunch of towels were more revealing than what they were really comfortable with. But they could understand Cassandra’s reasoning behind it and they were willing to suck it up if it meant behind human again. They’d just have to make a note of the closest unisex bathroom to dash to once the spell was over. What a headache.

“I do have one problem with your proposed plan,” Avery responded quietly. “You have no reason to lie so I don’t doubt your honesty when it comes to the spell reversals and doing so in time for the battles tonight. But I take issue with the fact that you seem to assume I won’t be able to battle you this evening.” Avery crossed their arms and smirked a little. “I may not be a battler by trade but this little escapade has allowed me to speak with my team and they were actually looking forward to facing you tonight even if it was assured we’d lose. I’d hate to lose that opportunity. Perhaps there’s a way the League can let us face off?”

Neo Emolga

02-05-2021, 03:03 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Royal Promenade -> Main Pool
Affected RPers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine Shruikan

Cassandra was still anxious, knowing that while some people were accepting of her, Jarena, and Violet waving the white flag of surrender, others still felt she was lying and was only preparing her next scheme. And the problem was she couldn’t blame them for thinking that.

“I do have one problem with your proposed plan,” Avery told her in a quiet voice. “You have no reason to lie so I don’t doubt your honesty when it comes to the spell reversals and doing so in time for the battles tonight. But I take issue with the fact that you seem to assume I won’t be able to battle you this evening.”

It was another thing that was concerning Cassandra. Everyone would be watching her try and pull off a spell she had never done before. Any kind of slip, mishap, or adverse event and she felt she was dead meat even if she didn’t mean for anything like that to happen. Everyone who doubted her would be ready to shoot her down thinking what was an accident was completely intentional and was another one of her tricks. Especially Cynthia.

Avery crossed their Buizel arms and smirked, trying to help Cassandra feel a bit more assurance. But it wasn’t working that well…

“I may not be a battler by trade but this little escapade has allowed me to speak with my team and they were actually looking forward to facing you tonight even if it was assured we’d lose,” Avery told her. “I’d hate to lose that opportunity. Perhaps there’s a way the League can let us face off?”

While Cassandra couldn’t help but smile at the thought for just a moment, it quickly faded as she sighed and shook her head.

“Ee-veee…” (“Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice…”) she replied softly, still looking down and unable to look at Avery. “Eeve-veee-vee…” (“At this point I’m just hoping not to be wrapped in chains with a shock collar around my neck in some solitary confinement cell in a maximum-security prison on some remote island that doesn’t even exist on a map…”)

She sighed again, shivering a bit, very anxious about what the sentence would be, anxious about the spell actually working and doing what it was supposed to when there was so much at stake with it. And she was not even sure if her Pokémon, her lifetime companions and partners, would still be with her at the end of all this, or if they would be seized and become League property before being given up for adoption to other trainers. As Avery mentioned, with her becoming an Eevee, she would have liked to have that chance to talk to them, thank them, and give them a final goodbye in their own unique language. She had this one golden opportunity to do it and now she was going to miss her chance…

She closed her eyes, not sure of what the future would hold for them as the thoughts swam in her mind. But if there was nothing she could do, she wished the best for her Pokémon, because they always did their best for her and the rest of the team, and she felt they all deserved a good companionship with a good trainer. If she couldn’t be the one to give that to them anymore, then she hoped with all her heart that whoever would take them in would give them love, kindness, and appreciation… and hopefully they would still remember her wherever their new path in life would take them, even if they never saw each other again.

She shivered as a tear fell from her Eevee eye.

“Ee-veeee… vee…” (“Best of luck in the finals, Avery…”) Cassandra told them, trying to smile to hide her sadness. “Eee-veeee-veee… Vee-vee? Eeveee…” (“I think it’s really cool that a coordinator has come so far and has done so well. How amazing would it be if you go all the way? I… I’ll see you upstairs, hopefully this all works out and… things can go back to normal for you and your team. And… I’m sorry…”)

And it was all she could say before her throat and eyes started to burn too much while she sniffled a bit. She then headed toward the Main Pool while trying to pretend everything was okay… not wanting anyone to see her so miserable… so broken… and so defeated and ashamed…

Main Pool

Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet didn’t say a word on the way to the Main Pool. They knew all the cameras were watching them and all eyes made sure they didn’t deviate in their path to the Main Pool. Cassandra didn’t want to look to see if they were being followed, but it was safe to assume at least someone was making sure they weren’t fooling around. She knew they didn’t trust her and she tried to keep in mind not to make any sudden movements or take a wrong turn. She admitted she didn’t know the full layout of the ship by heart and was worried if she did take a wrong turn, the operatives and the League would think she was trying to deploy some malicious scheme.

They found their way to the top level of the cruise ship and made their way to the Main Pool. As Cassandra expected, there were a few dozen operative trainers and their Pokémon to make sure they didn’t try any nasty schemes or attempted to cast something that was anything other than the Affliction Reversal Spell.

To the Diamond Ladies, it was strange and odd to see the Main Pool again, the place where they had been just that morning, only now it seemed so different. The night sky was growing darker overhead while everything seemed so much bigger and more intimidating. As an Eevee now, Cassandra couldn’t help but feel so much smaller and overwhelmed at the sight of it all, especially with her being watched carefully by all these experienced trainers and their fully evolved, intimidating, and powerful Pokémon to ensure they didn’t attempt to attack or flee.

When they arrived toward the center poolside, they saw some clear plastic cups for water were prepared and the large, folded beach towels were set aside in a pile. There wasn’t any sign of the golden nuggets, the DNA hair samples, or the page printouts, yet, but Cassandra figured they were probably on their way, along with the operatives that wanted to be transformed back and possibly the Champions, if they felt it was safe enough. The whole time, Cassandra felt like an inexperienced surgeon heading into a cold, unnerving operating room as she was about to perform a very difficult pancreatectomy.

“Bunnne-earr…” (“Cass, you look… awful…”) Jarena couldn’t help but tell her, feeling very sympathetic. “Bunearry…” (“If you’re not feeling up for it, please…”)

But she kept thinking about how much she regretted all of it. How much she wished she could turn back time, have another chance, and do the right thing from the very beginning. But it was too late now and there was no way to repair the damage. It was like trying to wash a stain out of a favorite childhood blanket, only to end up ripping and destroying it.

“Furr…?” (“Cass?”) Violet asked, looking very concerned.

Her heart was racing, her eyes were burning, and her throat felt hard with a bitter taste in her mouth. She shivered like an Eevee left outside in a frigid blizzard, alone and forgotten by the world in a cold, dead place no one ever knew of. As they waited for the others to arrive, she tried to hug herself with her own Eevee arms for warmth against the chill of her own raw fear and anxiety.

If Latios could see her aura now, he would see it had become so dark blue that it was nearly black… just before the moment when someone loses all will to live…

“Ee-vee-Ee-vee…” (“Never go back… never go back…”) Cassandra muttered in repetition in an almost eerie auto-pilot like state.

“Bunea-earry…” (“Cass, take it easy, we’ll be okay…”) Jarena told her, placing her Buneary paw on Cassandra’s beige Eevee collar fur to try and comfort her.

“Fur-ret…” (“Okay, that’s it…”) Violet firmly declared, stomping her Furret foot on the tiled floor. “Furr-furr-et…” (“Let me handle this crap, she’s in no condition to be trying to cast anything.”)

Cassandra couldn’t help but bow down on the tiled pool floor and bury her face in her paws and collar fur, just wanting to hide herself from everyone. The whole time, Jarena and Violet could swear they had never seen her so crushed and miserable like this…

“Bunnearr…?” (“Cass, what’s wrong?”) Jarena asked, softly approaching her shivering Eevee friend. “Bunn-earryyy…” (“I’ve never seen you so sad before…”)

“Ee…” (“I…”) Cassandra tried to speak, but struggled as she sobbed. “E…ee… vee…. Vee…” (“I don’t… I don’t want to… go to prison… don’t… want to… say goodbye…”)

Jarena nodded softly, understanding what Cassandra was so afraid of. In truth, she was worried about an especially punishing sentence, too, even though it wasn’t to the extent that Cassandra was experiencing. She felt maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as Cassandra was imagining it with chains and shock collars in solitary confinement, but she had a bad feeling about what the League might declare as a verdict even with a confession, a guilty plea, and even if they tried to cooperate with these transformation reversals and undo as much damage as they could. Cynthia’s words and warnings seemed to imply something truly merciless was about to unfold in terms of their punishment and though Cassandra was able to endure the initial shock, now the words and the thoughts about what it may result in were eating away at her like a bloodthirsty cytotoxic poison burning her heart and body apart.

“Bunn… eee…?” (“Let’s… not assume the worst, yet, okay?”) Jarena rubbed Cassandra’s collar fur with her paw to comfort her. “Bunn-eaaryy… Bun-bun-earyyy…” (“Remember what Victini said, it’s not too late to turn over a new leaf, and that’s what we’re trying to do. It’s all cool, we’re doing what we can to make it better, so don’t think about the future so much.”)

Cassandra nodded, still with her head buried in her paws, trying to take a deep breath and reduce her shivering. Though Violet volunteered to take her place and perform the spells, she was trying hard to pull herself together to step back up and prove she could do this and keep her promise all in hopes of some sliver of redemption… even if it wouldn’t amount to anything in terms of the League’s verdict. When it came to her own conscious and how she’d look back at this moment to take a stand, it meant so much more…

…she didn’t want to look back twenty, thirty, or forty years from now and wonder why… just why couldn’t she do it when she said she would. She got through the entire confession without breaking down, so why now…?

“Eev… vee…” (“I just… need a minute…”) She whispered, swallowing hard, pushing herself off the ground.

Her amber Eevee eyes were hot and wet, but she managed to get back on her feet. Wiping her eyes clean with her paw, she slowly stepped forward, trying to purge out the “what ifs” about the future and not think about the punishment. Money, prizes, fame, glory… all those things meant nothing to her anymore. They could take them all away and it would be nothing more than taking the trash out. She could lose every last penny and she realized that wasn’t what mattered. All this time, those material things obstructed the things that did matter. The truth was… the more she had, the less she had. It clouded her from seeing the real prizes. Her friendship with Jarena and Violet and the company of Victini and her other Pokémon. Seeing the world together.

As she looked up and saw the depiction of Jirachi, the mythical Pokémon of wishes, on the S.S. Wishmaker’s hull, she made a wish of her own, hoping she could have that all back again, being okay with the idea of being broke but happy, even if all it meant was being a free and wandering tomorrow’s nobody.

They would all be here, soon. She was hoping by the time they came she was able to pull it together, just long enough to do the job, and do it right because she said she would. Even if in the end it was all just to say “yes, I kept my promise” before they closed her cell door…

[Desolate Divine]

02-05-2021, 04:13 AM

Jon Drake
En Route to Main Pool -> Main Pool
Affected RPers: @ Neo Emolga

As Jon neared the pool, he called out into seemingly thin air, looking insane to anyone nearby.

"Run ahead, and let me know what you see. I will be there soon."

As he kept up the pace he felt in his mind's eye, another vision, from Latios who was flying faster to get to the top of the ship, though far from his breakneck top speed. After a few seconds the invisible Eon Pokemon was above the pool looking down on the four Pokemon by the pool.

Jon focused just enough on the vision to keep connected whilst trying to walk in a straight line, noticing the aura of the three girls. Cassandra's was nearly black whilst the other girls were still a somewhat deep blue.

"Giving up." Latios explained.

"Well that's good!" Jon replied.

"No... Latios continued "Giving up on everything..."

Jon continued, thinking about what the Pokemon said, before rounding a corner and finding himself by the pool. He made his way towards the girls holding the bag. So far nobody else had arrived yet. This suited him, as he did want to talk.

"I don't know whether you want to hear it, but I will say it anyway." Jon began, "My offer from before, still stands. I can't guarantee the league will listen to me, especially now that civilians have been involved, but I promised I would try regardless, if you handed yourselves over and turned the others back. And regardless of what happens, I will do what I can to get you back on your feet once this is all over."

Jon opened the bag, pulling out the baggies each containing the hair for Avery, Cuddles and the three ladies, and a gold nugget each.

"I have these for Avery and Cuddles, but I wasn't able to get any DNA for the other two you got, or any of the ones from the raids. I don't think they will be easy to find, but doing what we can is a start." Jon explained before pulling showing the baggies he held at the back. "Your clothes and a hairbrush were in the bag, so I even have these for the three of you. At least, I think these two are Violet's and Jarena's. You don't have any Pokemon that would leave hair on your clothes? Either way, if you turn back who you can now, I am happy to give you these, if you like. And finally..."

"I know you have what it takes to do the right thing here. You wouldn't have radio'd in and offered to turn yourselves in if you couldn't. And to show I mean it when I say that and am not just trying to blow smoke up your a**..." Jon explained as he removed the book from the bag, "I brought this. Not a photocopy but the real thing."

"I will hold onto it, and open it to the page you need it on for you to read off, but this is the real deal. Latios is watching from somewhere, and if there is any funny business, he will intervene, but he really doesn't want to and I don't want him to either. We'd be silly to not be prepared for the possibility." Jon explained, "I brought this, against the better judgement of my superiors, who will skin me alive if this goes pear-shaped, to show that I have faith in you that you can cooperate with us, and do the right thing by everyone, yourselves included."

"So now we wait for the others to arrive..."

Chakramaster

02-05-2021, 12:59 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Royal Promenade -> Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Shruikan

Avery and Cass started discussing about their battle that was supposed to take place. As Cass mulls over the thoughts. Then what would become of her, her friends, and partner Pokemon. Unsure of what would happen next.

Not long after the group breaks off. Everyone had taken in what happened today. In just a few short hours. The ladies went off and caused damage to operatives in fear of being caught by changing them into Pokémon. Both directly and indirectly. Jon's Latios probably caused the most damage to the ship itself. Lucky with precision. Otherwise we'd all probably be swimming right now. Jimmy didn't wanna get on Jon's bad side by saying anything though. He'd rather not be learning how to swim as a Pachirisu and much more would like to be turned back into his human self.

Once things cleared out enough. Jimmy hopped onto Salamance again and was about to head for the pool where everyone else went. He wanted to make sure his team would be okay. His partner Pokemon jumped back onto Salamance and they took off at an easy pace to make it to the pool. Once arrived, they noticed The Diamon Ladies were just arriving. Along with a large group of other operatives watching over them closely.

"I don't blame them for being cautious, but this is a little....excessive. Don't you think?" Pikachu looked saddened at Jimmy.

"Yeah. I mean just look at Cass. She looks totally defeated. Like there's a pitch black void left in her stomach now. That's clear enough from her expression...or is this just Pokémon instinct?" Jimmy says. He couldn't help, but feel down himself since his last conversation with them.

It gave Jimmy and his Pokemon a heavy heart. Not knowing exactly how hard this had hit the ladies. With what he said to them probably making it even worse. He couldn't help, but to feel bad for them.

As he thinks about this. Jon arrives. He tried talking with them to let them know his offer still stands. That he also had DNA samples of Avery, the three ladies, and Jimmy himself. He also mentions he brought a gold nugget for each one. He even told them he brought one of their books. Most likely the one that mentions the reversal spell to change anyone they turned back. Doing this against better judgement. Even Jimmy knew that was a risk. As bad as the three ladies felt right now. Especially Cass. He didn't think they'd do anything too crazy.

Jimmy walks up and motions for Pikachu to follow behind him before speaking up to the ladies. Before speaking, Cass looks upward towards the ship. Where there was a giant plasters picture of Jirachi on the ship's hull.

"You know, at first it was all business for me. Just another job. I wasn't one to think about nothing, but the job itself. I still had my own concerns. Now, I see you...three defenseless and defeated people...err, Pokemon?" Jimmy said tilting his head to the side a little.

"Anyway, so far you've done enough to prove to me that we can trust you. So once everything is all said and done. You can count on me to vouch for you every step of the way. So long as you still cooperate with everyone here. I'll do whatever I can to help make this easier." Jimmy says to the ladies.

"I'm sure your Pokémon Victini may know too. He's said to bring victory to whoever it's around. Since he is yours after all. Maybe victory here means something else entirely." Jimmy said looking a little puzzled, but trying to bring their hopes up. Even if a little.

Jimmy looks to that same picture of Jirachi like Cass. Speaking to her from behind in hope she would hear him out. He put on a brighter smile to help try and bring up their mood.

"Jirachi here has its own way of bringing goodness too. While it's known as the wishgranter. It can also be seen to bring hopes and dreams to light. Where someone can wish for something so deeply they find that's their passions or dreams in life. Where others may wish for it their entire life and find it wasn't what they wanted. It's where they phrase be careful what you wish for comes from. Overall though. It's what you make with what you're given in life that makes it a REAL wish come true. It wouldn't hurt to have a real wish come true, but. Who knows. Maybe we'll be lucky and get to see a real Jirachi someday. The power of wishes coming true is beyond what magic any of us can understand." Jimmy smiles while trying to look toward Cassandra and cheer her up.

"But for now. Please take this easy and slowly. You've already got support from a few of us here. So long as things go well. I'm sure we can help work something out." Jimmy once again phrased to the ladies.

C0L0R3D

02-05-2021, 03:52 PM

Ozona Reverie
Battle Stadium > Ozona's Room
Affected RP'ers: N/A

Everything had happened at once, but at minimum nobody had talked to her. That was probably the biggest relief she had all day, now she thought about it. When the crowd finally died down, Ozona took the chance to head back to her own room without much of a worry. Besides, her team could hold her own pretty well in battle, so she didn't fret over something so simple. But this was different, with all this weird stuff unfolding. But hey, this girl's seen a Trainer in the semifinals of the PWT, and of all times in the world they just kept raising their Mienshao's Defense, although it was handled easily with the aid of her trusty Altaria. So to put it lightly, Ozna's seen some idiots.

Noblejanobii

02-05-2021, 07:01 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Royal Promenade=>Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster Desolate Divine

Avery couldn't help but feel sad at Cass's response to their proposal for a battle. Deep down they had known it was a long shot, but Avery had hoped perhaps the idea would bring Cass more cheer. Instead it only seemed to lower her spirits even more. As the Diamond Ladies headed towards the pool, Avery decided they should follow them, but at a distance. There was something they wanted to do before they changed back. Hanging back, Avery hit the buttons on all their Pokéballs, sending out all of their teammates. Aside from Gloria, they all towered over Avery. It was an unusual feeling, being so short, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

"I don't have a ton of time to speak with you," Avery said quietly, "but I don't want to waste this opportunity. I've never been able to speak with you before, not like this anyway." Avery looked over each of their Pokémon before continuing, "I just wanted to thank you, each and every one of you for all that you have done for me. Without you, I would never have gotten this far as a coordinator or a battler. After this operation, I want us to sit down and seriously discuss what path we take in the future. Whether it's continuing our lives as a coordinator and team or as the newest coolest battlers on the scene, I want your input. Okay? We're a team, and I never want you all to forget that."

"It's been an honor serving with you," Daybreak responded first. "Whether it was battling in the Galar circuit or winning the Wallace Cup, so long as you are by my side, I'm happy to do whatever you choose." Daybreak paused before shaking his firey mane a little, "Though maybe dabbling in the Galar Circuit again wouldn't be such a bad idea. Fighting in this tournament here has been a blast."

Acacia chimed in next. "Challenging gyms is fun and all but I much prefer the contest circuit. Getting to dazzle and shine is just too much fun," she said excitedly. "Maybe we could do some more of those Unovan musicals too? Please?" Acacia asked with big eyes.

Avery chuckled and nodded their head. "Sure, Acacia, I'd like to visit Unova again too," they answered, "Perhaps we could challenge the Nimbasa City gym while we're in town to see who has the better Zebstrika."

Knautia snorted and stomped his hooves. "It's me, of course! Whether it's matters of style or power, I'm definitely the best Zebstrika in town." Electricity crackled down his back as a wide grin spread across his face. "And I'm game to prove that in any way you'll have me, Boss."

"Boss?" Avery couldn't help but laugh at that. "Is that what you've been calling me all this time?"

Knautia seemed to get a bit shy at that, his ears flicking backwards and his gaze lowering to the floor. "Well.... yeah. You're the boss after all. Would you prefer I not call you that?"

Avery shook their head and shrugged. "Hey I won't stop you if you want to, but I want you to remember something, Knautia. We're friends. I may be your trainer but that doesn't mean I'm your boss, okay?"

Knautia lifted his head and nodded. "Of course, Boss. I'll never forget that."

"If I may add in something," Mint interjected, "I'd love to visit Unova too. I haven't gotten to travel much outside of Galar yet, and it would be rather nice to see what all else the world has to offer. These musicals sound rather fun too, so maybe I can try them out too, yeah?"

"Oh I think you'd love musicals, Mint!" Acacia said excitedly. The Girafarig tapped her hooves as she began to explain the concept to Mint, who listened with intent fascination.

Avery couldn't help but smile as their team seemed really on board with heading to Unova and exploring musicals or perhaps the gym circuit more. It'd be a bit of a new experience for them, but it's not like anything could be quite as rattling as this adventure thus far. Avery looked over at Picotee, the Sawsbuck having remained silent up until now. "I assume you're on board with this too?" they asked.

Picotee nodded his head. "It's been a while since I visited my home. Perhaps after we finish our business in Nimbasa we could also make a stop in Driftveil and see if my herd still lives in the area. It would be rather nice to see my family again."

The thought hadn't even occurred to Avery but Picotee made a good point. "But of course!" Avery looked over the rest of their team. "We could visit all of your families if you'd like. I hadn't even realized that you might miss them. Rather selfish of me really but... if I take you back to where I first caught all of you, perhaps even if we can't communicate like this, we can still figure out where to go from there yeah? Go ahead and tell me where your families used to live, I'll do my best to commit it to memory."

Before long, Avery had made a mental note of their team's entire familial locations. It'd be a journey across the world to some degree, but it was something they definitely could commit and look forward to doing. Gloria watched with amusement and a smile on her face. They really were a big of a ragtag bunch, but there wasn't anyone else she'd rather be traveling with. "Avery," she interrupted, "we need to head on, unfortunately."

Avery couldn't help but feel disappointment when Gloria brought them back to reality. She was right, though they didn't want her to be. Avery looked at their team. "I can't take all of you to the pool, it'd be too crowded. But given the circumstances, Daybreak? Picotee? Would you mind staying out to help... keep me hidden, so to speak?" Both Pokémon nodded. It didn't even really need to be asked of them. Avery sighed and gave one last look at their team. "It's been great talking to you, like this, but it'll be nice to be human again too. Don't be afraid to give me a piece of your minds a la Acacia every once n a while though, okay?"

The group laughed at the idea of the excitable Girafarig trying to translate one of Knautia or the other teammates's outbursts. Might be more than a little tough. Tapping the Pokéballs again, Avery returned everyone except Daybreak and Picotee. The trio made their way down the hall and arrived at the Main Pool after everyone else. It seemed like things were just about ready to start, even though not everyone seemed to be mentally or emotionally ready.

Neo Emolga

02-06-2021, 06:41 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Main Pool
Affected RPers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine Shruikan

While the Ladies had been preparing and Cassandra had been struggling to try and pull her emotions together, Victini had been trying to track down and find the other missing operatives. Though many wouldn’t think it from looking at the little pointy-eared orange Pokémon of victory and his usually happy-go-lucky personality, he was quite organized and was keeping pretty accurate mental records. Thankfully for him, humans turned Pokémon tended to act quite differently from Pokémon that had been that way their whole lives, especially on a cruise ship like this.

Meanwhile, Jon had arrived, once again presenting his offer. The Ladies, especially Cassandra, were a bit surprised he was willing to give them this additional chance, especially after they had given him the cold shoulder last time. He had brought along their clothes, strands of hair to use as their DNA samples, and the necessary gold nuggets to make it possible. It all came down to if the spell did what it was supposed to.

Cassandra had mixed feelings at first, not entirely sure if she even really wanted to go back to being human and then stacking that up against what the League might rule, but at this point, she knew she didn’t have anything to bargain with after all. Jon was taking a risk, and if she turned him down yet again, she might regret it if the League had declared an especially rotten sentence. But then again, things were different now than they were when he last presented this. Where she once thought she could be in charge and on top with using her witchcraft as leverage, that was not the case, and she realized just how far she had tumbled and fallen.

“Ee-vee…” (“We’ve got nothing else… nothing left…”) Cassandra muttered softly, before looking to Jarena and Violet. “Ee-vee-vee…” (“I think… maybe we should…”)

“Bun-earyyy…” (“It’s now or never, I know that,”) Jarena smirked a bit with a shrug. “Bun-earryyy…” (“Sounds crazy but I think this guy’s the last and final safety net we’ve got, and he ain’t gonna keep on asking until his face goes blue.”)

“Furr-ret…” (“Got no future otherwise, Cass.”) Violet agreed. “Furr-ret-et…” (“That whole plan to get them to drop the charges and run off as Pokémon is a dead stick. We tried it, you saw what happened.”)

Cassandra gave a little nod, and it settled in that what she first imagined wasn’t the way she was going to walk away from this. After sighing, it all came down to her telling herself that beggars couldn’t be choosers, and after trying almost everything else, they were begging for forgiveness here. The whole black sickness in her heart from her absolute dread of the League’s verdict… Jon’s offer would be all that she’d have left. Otherwise, when the League brought down the hammer, they were at the full mercy of it and no one would step in to help.

It was then that Jon had presented the Evangtin Tome, which to Cassandra, was a major surprise. Where before she felt she couldn’t trust him, this was a sign he had some faith in her. He wouldn’t have done this if he truly felt they were an entirely lost cause, even when the League would think he was out of his mind giving her access to the whole tome.

Cassandra nodded, feeling a bit better… a bit more hopeful. It was her chance to prove Jon was right that they could be trusted and that he was putting his faith in the right place. Now that… that was how she really wanted to prove the League wrong. That a few wrong turns in life shouldn’t be the end.

Shortly after, Jimmy Kendo came to her side, telling her about where he was coming from before all this happened, and that it was just another job when it all began. But now, things were different. But most of all, that he felt he could trust her, too. Even if the League had their doubts.

“It’s what you make with what you’re given in life that makes it a REAL wish come true.”

She was touched, no longer feeling alone. She took a deep breath, and she felt like she was able to focus again. The support helped her push out the pessimism and depression, and even if it wouldn’t change the League’s punishment in the end, there were those out there that didn’t see her as a rotten scoundrel anymore despite what she had done. Maybe her journey to this point hadn’t become an unsalvageable train-wreck, but was more of someone just trying to get out of the woods and back on the right path again.

“Ee-veee…” (“Thank you, Jimmy.”) Cassandra replied to him, able to break a smile past the pain and anxiety.

When Violet got another good look at Cassandra, she saw she seemed to be doing better, not looking so emotionally beat-up as she did moments before. As she figured, it looked like what she really needed was the reminder to forget about the things she couldn’t control.

She looked around, wondering where Latios was, though she knew he had the power to go invisible. Could he read her thoughts? Could he sense her feelings? Jon had mentioned he was nearby, and even though she couldn’t see him with her eyes, she was hoping he could feel her with her heart…

Latios… wherever you are out there… if you can feel this or hear this… please let Jon know…

…

…we really do need his help… and I thank him for it…

When Victini had arrived shortly after, the Ladies could see he had managed to track down and find the last remaining operatives that had been transformed, though it was also due to some help from Ethan and Natalie. First, there was Sami Culver as a Minccino and Kyle Parker as a Yamper, the first two operatives that had been transformed after they had broken into the Ladies’ guest room. Both of them looked tired, as if they had been running frantically for many hours trying to get someone to listen to them, only to come up short as the other guests simply thought they were someone else’s Pokémon running loose. But finally someone managed to track them down and get them up to speed with what was going on.

And with them was Nathan Jones as a Zorua, who obviously still wasn’t friends with Cassandra in the slightest. Even just by looking into his blue Zorua eyes with his red eyelids, she could get the sense he was definitely not a fan of her work. In a similar fashion, Doug Henderson as a Azurill was the least forgiving about the whole situation, outright aggravated about what the Ladies had done to him and how humiliated he was. Still, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet had a feeling they were never going to be friends with him anyway. They still hadn’t forgiven him for that stolen golden nugget either.

Then there was Jimmy Kendo, who seemed to understand where they were coming from, and Avery Miller, who was on their way. Cassandra was relieved as least some of these operatives were willing to give her and the other Ladies a chance to make things right. Things like that were helping her go on. And finally, there was Ethan Caldwell as a Skwovet and his girlfriend Natalie as a Dedenne. They seemed neutral about the whole ordeal, not really sure if the Ladies could be entirely trusted, but they didn’t want to throw slander at them in case there was a chance. Cassandra felt maybe with a few good actions, maybe she could convince them, too.

When they had gathered around, Cassandra took a deep breath and looked at them.

“Ev-vee-vee?” (“So, who wants to go first?”) She asked the group, expecting no one to want to be the first volunteer.

“Skwoo… ovett…” (“Please, I gotta get ready for that battle with Jon, tonight.”) Ethan pleaded. “Skwo-woo-vett…” (“I sure hope you can do this quickly.”)

“Azu-zu!” (“You idiot!”) Doug Henderson insulted him. “Azu-zurilll!” (“They’re freaking witches for crying out loud, wait until we’ve got a League Champion here to gut them alive if these women don’t do what they’re told!”)

Cassandra just looked at him for a brief moment, eyelids down and not at all amused. After rolling her eyes, she figured there were still going to be at least some transformed operatives that were not going to ever give her the benefit of the doubt, especially Doug. Even beyond that, she strongly felt having yet even more Pokémon breathing down her neck wasn’t really necessary. There was enough security to the point where Cynthia could add a hundred more snipers, a swarm of overhead attack drones, and a dozen legendry Pokémon ready to blast her to pieces and it really wouldn’t make any difference in how she was going to approach this whole situation.

“Skwoo-oo…” (“Whatever, dude, stay as a pint-sized Azurill if you really enjoy that.”) Ethan rolled his eyes.

While Doug spat some obscenities at Ethan now, Cassandra opened the Evangtin Tome and saw that Jon had bookmarked the pages she needed, right on the Affliction Reversal Spell pages. She had absolutely no intention of looking at anything else in the book, even though Nathan and Doug were looking at her thinking she was going to flip it to some other page and then nuke the entire ship with nefarious witchcraft.

The first step was to cover Ethan’s entire Skwovet body with the entire white beach towel. If he transformed back, he was going to need to quickly wrap himself, or else a few hundred people and Pokémon would see him in what Jon described as his “birthday suit” and that wouldn’t have gone down well for anyone. Revealing only his Skwovet face and front paw from under the now tent-like towel, he looked to Cassandra, waiting for her to begin, really wondering what new bizarre kinds of witchcraft he was going to see unfold before him.

As she read the instructions carefully, she realized the way the spell worked was almost as a salve. It started first with the water, speaking the incantation to make the liquid a conduit for the spell, similar like wind to power a windmill. The golden nugget would then go in next, which then needed a second incantation to prime it to be used almost as a salve fuel of sorts. Lastly, the DNA sample, in this case one of Ethan’s human hairs that Natalie had carefully held onto, would serve as the instruction program for the salve to follow in terms of how to restore someone back to their previous state. Once it was placed upon the golden nugget, which would be glowing, all Nathan had to do then was simply touch the glowing nugget. It would then purge out the Pokémon transformation affliction and restore him to a normal human…

…if everything went as it was supposed to.

Taking a deep breath, Cassandra decided it was time to get started. With the water in the cup, she then looked to the page, reciting the Shadowcraft words and following the instructions to the letter.

“Ka-na-si-entza…” Cassandra chanted, carefully and precisely, trying not to think about the stakes that were involved with this spell working or not.

With the water primed and rippling, she then took her Eevee paws, wrapped them around one of the golden nuggets, and then dropped it into the water. Now, the water was reacting to the nugget, creating almost a whirlpool-like vortex around it. Then, Cassandra began part two, holding her paws above the nugget. All the while, they all watched, most of them enraptured by the sight of seeing these supernatural effects unfold before them.

“En-ta-suri-oika-na-ma-usko…” Cassandra continued.

The golden nugget then began to glow as the water swiftly wrapped and swirled around it, and then Cassandra looked to Natalie, carefully handling the single strand of Ethan’s hair as it attached to a single piece of masking tape to keep secure and easy to track.

Carefully, both the Eevee and the Dedenne slowly and carefully placed the strand of hair onto the glowing nugget, just barely able to make out the nearly-invisible thin strand of hair. Once it made contact, they detached it from the tape, and it was absorbed by the glowing nugget.

“Eev-vee-eee…” (“You’re up, put your paw on the nugget.”) Cassandra instructed Ethan, swallowing hard and hoping this worked.

Ethan was a little unsure and almost regretful he didn’t let someone else go first just from the strange supernatural effect that was unfolding just before his eyes. To him, this witchcraft could do anything for all he knew, and he had to place all his trust and faith in Cassandra that she was true to her word and she knew how to do this spell to the best of her ability. He took a deep breath, closed his Skwovet eyes, and then placed his paw on the glowing nugget.

The next effect was almost shocking and then suddenly there was deep concern…

The glowing nugget had become a glowing ooze-like liquid that soon covered his paw, then creeped up his arm, then began to cover his body, face, and head while his body was covered by the towel. It looked very surreal and almost frightening as the glowing ooze covered every square inch of his squirrel body… which then turned into a shapeless, blob-like mass that started growing. It almost looked like the towel was trying to cover up some bizarre, sentient glowing jelly.

Cassandra was starting to cringe, frantically looking back at the book to make sure there was a mention of this effect, but the details were vague. The only thing it mentioned now was that it would purge the affliction, and that was it. She had already done everything the spell prescribed and there was no other steps after that. She almost panicked, but then as the growing, glowing mass began to take shape from under the towel, she saw it become human in form, and human legs and arms began to appear. When the reformation was complete, the glowing diminished, and at long last, Ethan’s body had returned to normal… his original human self, just as he was before he was transformed.

“Ev-ve-vee?” (“Are you okay?”) Cassandra couldn’t help but ask.

But then she felt silly, realizing that he was human now and wouldn’t understand what she-

“Yeah, just… feeling a little… weird,” Ethan replied, blinking his eyes as he wrapped himself with the white beach towel to get ready to head off to the locker room to get dressed. “I think… seems like it worked! Wow… that was really odd.”

Cassandra’s jaw nearly dropped when she came to a possible realization.

“Ee-v-vee-vee!?” (“Seriously, can you actually still understand what I’m saying as a Pokémon!?”) Cassandra asked in earnest surprise.

And then he realized why Cassandra seemed so shocked and it hit him as well. He couldn’t believe it either, but he could still completely comprehend every word she said even as an Eevee.

“Bun-ea…?” (“You’re kidding, you understand this?”) Jarena asked him, totally in awe. “Bun-bunearyy-ryyy…?” (“Here’s a test, what’s your favorite color?”)

“…Blue,” Ethan replied, almost laughing. “I don’t get, I totally do.”

“Ee-vee-vee?” (“I mean, it looks like the spell worked, didn’t it?”) Cassandra asked, really wondering if something went wrong. “Eeevee-ee?” (“Did it miss something and not change him back completely?”)

It was then that Victini came forward, almost snickering. The Ladies had looked to him, wondering what he had managed to figure out.

“Vic-ti-ti-ni…” (“Now… funny thing is all Pokémon are born immediately knowing how to speak and communicate in our own unique language.”) Victini couldn’t help but chuckle. “Vic-tini-ni…! Ti-ni!” (“And that’s instinctive knowledge you humans gained when you joined our Pokémon party! Looks like that spell doesn’t consider that part of the affliction! How’s them apples, you get to take that with you on your trip back! I guess it’s kind of just like how you kept your human memories when you all became Pokémon!”)

“Bun-eeeearry…!” (“Holy smokes, that’s weird!”) Jarena exclaimed. “Bun-bunearry…!?” (“Ha ha, so now you little buggers can’t have a private chat behind our backs now, can you!?”)

Victini couldn’t help but look at her and smirk mischievously.

<Ha, or so you think!>

“Bun-earry…” (“But telepathy… that’s… that’s cheating…”) Jarena remarked, looking disappointed.

Cassandra couldn’t help but laugh a bit, and for a moment, it was as if she had even completely forgotten about her earlier troubles. Maybe… there was a silver lining to all this after all if everyone who was affected by all this at least got to go home with this extra little gift.

“Ee-vee-vee?” (“So who’s next, now that you know this works?”) Cassandra asked, looking around to see who would be the next volunteer.

Shruikan

02-07-2021, 09:48 AM

Luneth Tarot
Royal Promenade > Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga, Chakramaster, Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine

As the crowd began to head out, Luneth briefly considered if she should continue searching after Glimmer, but with the Diamond Ladies caught, the operatives would likely be converging on them, so Glimmer wasn’t as likely to get caught in the crossfire anymore.
Meanwhile, there was going to be more actual magic here.
Mind made up, Luneth proceeded to tail the procession of Pokemon towards the pool.

As she followed at a good distance, Luneth quickly flicked through her phones menus, copying the previous recording to her cloud storage, as a backup if she lost the phone in any way. This recording might have the names of the books is she ever forgot.

Arriving at the Pool, Luneth quickly noticed there were very few good hiding places. She ended up crouched behind a beach chair and hoped everyone would be too distracted by the whole Magic Diamond Ladies thing going on.

Looking for the Diamond ladies, Luneth saw several new Pokemon in the crowd, as well as the scary Latios dude from earlier. Something looked familiar about the Pokemon now escorting a Buizel that Luneth assumed was a transformed operative, but she couldn’t place what it was exactly. But before she could think on it too much, She saw the Zorua from earlier. So he was an operative. Luneth almost ran over to him, but quickly stopped herself. She didn’t want to blow her cover. Not yet at least.
But still, if the Zorua was here, then that meant… Yes, there was Glimmer, floating shyly at the back, a distance away from all the other Pokemon, like she didn’t want to intrude but still needed to watch the Zorua.

After the initial relief that Glimmer was indeed safe, it occurred to Luneth that Glimmer could help get a better recording of the spell casting, or maybe even the book itself! But how to get her attention without anyone else noticing… Aha! Got it!
Luneth called out in a yipping sound that was almost indistinguishable from an Alolan Vulpix. To everyone else, it would just be another Pokemon vocalizing it’s happiness, but as she’d hoped, Glimmer recognised the call, head swiveling towards her, before the Shaymin casually flew over to her hiding place, hopefully without being followed.

As soon as she landed Luneth hugged Glimmer tightly. “You did a great job following Zorua.” Easing up on the hug, she looked the Shaymin in the eyes. “But I need your help again if you’re up to it?”

Using Glimmer’s scarf, Luneth tied her phone to the Shaymin’s neck, with the camera lens poking out above the fabric while the rest was mostly hidden.
“There, now can you get as close to those three over there, the Eevee Furret and Bunneary? Try and record what they say and do, unless you can get a good shot of the book the scary guy’s holding.”
Glimmer nodded intently, before taking off, trying to blend into the crowd of Pokemon while getting a good overhead shot of the Ladies. By this time, they were almost done with their first spell, and a mound under a blanket revealed itself to now be a human. Luneth was a little annoyed that she’d missed it, but now Glimmer was in position, ready to record the next spell from start to finish, so hopefully there’d be no problems…

Neo Emolga

02-08-2021, 03:59 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Main Pool
Affected RPers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine Shruikan

So far, things had gone well in terms of Affliction Reversal Spell. Ethan had gotten changed and shortly after, Cassandra was able to perform the spell on his girlfriend, Natalie Barone. As a form of courtesy, the Ladies volunteered to allow all operatives to be transformed back before the Ladies got to work on undoing their own transformations as a way of “closing the door behind everyone else.”

Sami Culver, as a Minccino, wasn’t too aggravated about the whole ordeal. She cooperated once she saw it worked just fine on Ethan and Natalie, and shortly after, Cassandra had gotten her transformed back, followed by Kyle Parker changing from a Yamper back to his normal human self. If anything, they felt the ability to understand their Pokémon was actually worth the trouble.

That left Jimmy, Avery, Nathan, and Doug besides the three Ladies themselves.

“Zorr-uaa!” (“See, I always knew you three Ladies were a con!”) Nathan laughed from under the beach towel as he was next up. “Zorrrur-uraaa?!” (“Ain’t gonna do much witchin’ after this now, are ya!? Lookin’ forward to that lifetime ban from the League, eh?”)

“E-vee…” (“Whatever, dude.”) Cassandra dismissed his comments, getting his reagents ready. “Ee-veee-vee…? Eve-veee-eee.” (“I just need to ask before we get started, you know how to dress yourself, right? Because I don’t think mommy is here to do it for you.”)

Nathan just laughed sarcastically and Cassandra started with his Affliction Reversal Spell. By now, the whole reaction didn’t spook her as much as it did the first time around, and with every operative Cassandra transformed back to human, it was making it clearer that she was willing to cooperate. At the same time, it was getting her mind off the possible sentences the League might be considering, and the more of these she got done, the more persuasive it would be. But even beyond that, Cassandra felt better about just putting a hard stop to the downward spiral and now she was coming out of the hole she had dug herself into.

Once Nathan was restored back to his human self, he wrapped himself with the towel and looked down upon Cassandra, smirking that now he was fully back to being human while she was still an Eevee.

“That’s more like it,” Nathan smirked. “See, everyone will like ya more when ya just shut up and do as you’re told.”

Nathan then just stuck his tongue out at her and then left to go head to the locker room to get changed, leaving Cassandra hoping she’d never have to see this punk again. And then Doug was up next, and Cassandra wasn’t looking forward to this. Doug attempted to give her a snotty look, but it wasn’t effective at all with him as an Azurill.

“Zuzurr-illl…” (“Make this quick, b*tch, I don’t have all day.”) Doug demanded.

Cassandra figured the sooner she got this done, the sooner she wouldn’t need to see this creep again. By now, she had memorized the spell by heart and had it prepared quickly. Once it was ready, Doug was forced to have to use his bouncy bubble tail to make contact with the nugget because he didn’t have hands.

Once he transformed back to being human, he wrapped himself with the towel and then looked down upon Cassandra, standing over her with a possessive smile like he owned her. In his scorn, he spat on her, landing a repulsive wad of saliva on her beige collar fur.

“I’m going to love watching you cheap con-artist b*itch witches rot,” Doug snickered. “Being an Azurill sucks ass, but at least it beats being a woman, ha!”

As Cassandra used one of the spare towels to wipe off the disgusting wad of spit in displeasure, Jarena was furious, stomping her way toward him.

“Bun-earryyy…” (“Boy, try saying that to my face, you sexist, pile of-“)

“Eev-veee.” (“Leave it, he’s not worth getting into trouble for.”) Cassandra interrupted her, just relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with him again. “Eeveee-vee… veee.” (“He’s trying to trigger us on purpose so we fling a spell his way and give everyone here a reason to attack us. He knows we can’t stand up for ourselves, now.”)

“Bunnnn…” (“What a schmuck…”) Jarena growled as Doug walked away to the locker rooms, laughing at their discontent.

Truthfully, Cassandra was just glad dealing with him was over. On any other day, she would have had him on the ground reeling in nausea and would have left him a sarcastic sympathy note, but today, she just wanted to put an end to all this.

Besides the Ladies themselves, it was now just down to Avery and Jimmy. Cassandra turned to Jimmy, still as a Pachirisu. He had been waiting patiently for his turn and she was ready to turn him back if he was now ready for it.

“Ee-vee-ee…” (“Well, at least you’re nothing like that guy.”) Cassandra sighed before looking back at Jimmy. “Eevee-vee-eeee…?” (“So, Jimmy, think you’re ready to become human again?”)

[Desolate Divine]

02-08-2021, 04:11 AM

Jon Drake
Main Pool
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster Shruikan Neo Emolga

Jon watched as an operative whom he didn't know made sexist remarks towards the girls before spitting on Cassandra and walking away. Whilst Jon figured he should bite his tounge, he didn't want to sit back and do nothing...

"Hey a**hole!" Jon called out to the operative who was walking away, "If you wanna have a problem with them, have a problem with what they did. The whole women suck schtick you're going for screams incel pretty badly."

"And one more thing..." Jon continued, "If I ever see you spit on someone, regardless of what they did, I'll break your f**king jaw myself, and you can try spitting with that..."

"Jon..." said Latios' voice in Jon's head.

"I can handle this p***k. Make sure the girls don't run away." Jon replied, waiting to see how the operative would respond...

Neo Emolga

02-08-2021, 02:36 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Main Pool
Affected RPers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine Shruikan

Before Jimmy could respond, Cassandra had heard Jon shout out at Doug, calling him out on his deplorable and sexist remark before threatening to break his jaw if he ever spat on anyone like that again despite what they had done. Cassandra looked up, surprised but thankful and touched that Jon was willing to stand up for her where she was in a tightly-scrutinized position where she couldn’t defend and stand up for herself, even when he was facing the possibility that it might have a negative impact when on him it came to his own standing as an operative for the League. Despite what she and the other Ladies had done, he was still willing to stand up for what was right against Doug’s disgusting behavior.

She closed her eyes, thankful Jon was willing to place his faith and offer protection to her, Jarena, and Violet. It was making her regretful she hadn't done the same earlier...

“Ha, yeah, whatever, dad,” Doug laughed at Jon sarcastically, blowing him off and not taking Jon at all seriously. “What a damn shame your mom didn’t swallow instead!”

Considering what Jon had revealed about his father and mother to the Ladies only a short while earlier, Cassandra nearly gasped, knowing Doug’s heinous and careless tossing of that kind of disgusting and insensitive remark at Jon and the horrific experience Jon had with his own father would be a deathwish to Doug. And it certainly didn’t help that Doug gave Jon a fully-raised middle finger directed at him before heading into the bathroom, a much less scrutinized place compared to the Main Pool at the moment… a place where there wouldn’t be any witnesses…

Cassandra knew… if Jon went into the men’s bathroom storming after Doug… Doug might not be coming out of that bathroom ever being able to have children of his own… if he even came out at all…

[Desolate Divine]

02-08-2021, 08:42 PM

Jon Drake
Main Pool
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Noblejanobii Chakramaster Shruikan

Doug retorted with a remark about Jon's parents, somewhat obvious he had no clue about Jon's past since he hadn't really mentioned it to anyone unless the need arose, before flipping him off and walking to the changerooms. Jon began clenching the fist of his broken hand, unaware that it was now starting to bleed through the bandages. Whilst Jon really wanted to follow him there and show him the error of his decisions, he didn't instead sighing, before turning to the people yet to be turned.

"If I did to him what I really want to do to him..." Jon said, "Well, I can't expect the League to heed my request after that. He'll still be a piece of s**t next time I see him, so that can wait..."

Jon turned to face the Pachirisu.

"Cuddles, I think you're up?"

Noblejanobii

02-08-2021, 09:27 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster Desolate Divine Shruikan

Avery watched as Cassandra turned Ethan back into a human. They flinched a little at the whole process, since it looked a little less than pleasant. But after he changed back, Ethan seemed to be relatively fine. Avery couldn't hide their shock when the realization came out that Ethan could still understand Pokémon. Joy flooded their system as they realized they'd be able to speak with their team not just now, but seemingly until the end of their life. A grin spread across their face as they looked up at Daybreak and Picotee. "Looks like I'll get to hear your opinions on all my decisions from here on," they remarked.

Daybreak snorted. "Don't consider that a good thing. Gloria is going to nag you to death and back," he retorted. Still, Avery could see the smile on Daybreak's face. He was happy about it too. The whole team was, Avery could feel it.

Avery waited patiently as the other operatives were turned back human. A few of them were less than cordial to the ladies, which while somewhat reasonable, seemed rather harsh given they were gracious enough to turn them all back human, even if it was under duress. But it was Nathan and Doug's responses to the situation that made Avery's blood start to boil. Their lips pulled back from their teeth as they began to growl a little, the fur along their spine standing up as a coolness began to formulate inside their stomach. The whole "do as your told" and "it beats being a woman" on top of Doug spitting on Cassandra easily got a rise out of Avery. They despised close minded people, and if Doug and Nathan's remarks were anything to go by, they both fit the bill tried and true. Granted, while it was moreso Doug than Nathan who crossed the line, in Avery's mind, they both deserved punishment, and a harsh one at that.

Jon jumped to it first, calling Doug an incel, which fit his description quite well. Doug, of course, didn't seem phased by this in the slightest, even coming back with some smart*ss remark of his own and flipping the middle finger at Jon. To his credit, Jon let Doug go into the bathroom without a fight, exercising great self restraint on behalf of the ladies. Avery, on the other hand, had just rolled a Nat 0 in self restraint, practically snarling at this point from how angry they were, the cold feeling in the pit of their stomach growing as their anger escalated. Looking over at the Ladies and Jimmy, they nodded their head in acknowledgment. "Bui bui, buizel buizel," ("Let Jimmy go first, I have business to take care of") they said.

Without waiting for their response, Avery got down on all fours and dashed into the bathrooms after Doug and Nathan. By now the cool feeling has spread across their entire body, feeling like some sort of power coursing through their veins. Scurrying around, they stopped when they spotted the former-Azurill. Instinct took over at this point as Avery didn't even hesitate on what to do next. "Buizel bui!" ("Hey *******!") they shouted before firing an ice beam straight at Doug. The cold feeling dissipated from their body as the attack finished, leaving the lower half of Doug's body completely frozen. Spitting at the ice, Avery snarled at Doug again. "Bui buizel bui bui," ("I'll have the operatives come chip you out before too long") they said, "Bui bui zel." ("So don't shrink too much in the mean time".) With a wave of a paw, Avery dashed back out of the bathroom and headed back to the Main Pool, satisfied with their work.

Chakramaster

02-09-2021, 11:22 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Noblejanobii Desolate Divine Shruikan

Jimmy watched the scene as the first operative. It...was a bit concerning at first, but he was glad to see that it worked. Not only were they returned to their human form. They kept the ability to be able to speak and understand their Pokémon. This was incredible!

Then came an operative that had been turned into an Azurill. Once changed back he smarter off at the ladies, spat on Cass, and decided it was smart to make sexist remarks at her. Jon looking aggravated as he clenched the first that was wrapped in bandages. Blood seeping through them. Doug just smart off at Jon and have him the middle finger as he walked off into the bathrooms to get changed. Avery lost it however.

Avery had practically been snarling at these remarks. Unable to hold themself back. Avery dashed into the bathroom on all four after Doug. We hear a loud voice, "Hey *******!" Avery had then happily hopped her way back out. Looking very proud. She must've taught him the lesson he deserved. Honestly, whatever happened. Doug deserves worse. No one should be treated like how Doug just acted. No one. Human or Pokemon.

Jimmy has turned back to Cass. "Pa. Chi-ri. Pachirisu." (Well I guess it's my turn, but before i do I have a question). Jimmy looked back a little. "Risu. Pachi. Chi-Risu." (Hey Grovyle. Think you can bring it here? Just be careful with it).

His Grovyle jumping out from one of the balconies where it had been watching while hidden. He reveals the thunderstone Cass had given him earlier that day.

"Pachirisu. Su Su. Pa-chi-risu." (I still remember when you gave this to me. I wasn't sure at first if I should throw it away or what. I'm glad I kept it now). Jimmy said to Cass. He continued on (I wanted to thank you. For giving me time to understand and be with my Pokémon. Understanding them a little better now. With that...do you think there's anyway to use this thunderstone to turn me into a Pikachu like my friend here and keep my human form as well? I'm sure there has to be some kind of spell. Right)? Jimmy asked while smiling to his Pikachu).

(That's right buddy. I'd like to learn a little more about these abilities Pokemon can use. If I can keep my human form and change into a Pikachu like you. Then that'd be perfect. Wouldn't you think so)? Nodding with confidence. (If it's not possible. Then I'd like to give this thunderstone back to you Cass. If you truly want to continue being a Pokémon. Maybe one day when all is settled. You can use it to become a Jolteon if you ever wanted to. That's assuming they let you continue to stay as Pokemon now).

(If it's not possible, then that's fine. I'm ready to change back). Jimmy said as he began to step forward

Neo Emolga

02-09-2021, 10:17 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Main Pool
Affected RPers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii, Desolate Divine Shruikan

Cassandra was a bit surprised it wasn’t Jon who went in after Doug, although she had realized Jon somewhere along the line had badly injured his hand. Instead, it was Avery who had angrily charged after Doug into the bathrooms, but then a short while after had emerged looking quite pleased with themselves.

While Cassandra hadn’t seen exactly what Avery had done, she had a pretty good feeling she would have liked the result…

“Thank you,” Cassandra whispered under her breath.

Now, it was Jimmy’s turn to be changed back, but before he stepped up, he had a different proposal. Cassandra was a bit taken back, Jimmy actually thanked her for getting the chance to be a Pokémon for a while to get that closer connection to his own Pokémon, and it seemed like it had been quite an enlightening experience for him.

He then asked if there was a possible spell that would allow Jimmy to transform to and from his human self and a Pikachu similar to his naturally-born Pikachu companion. He wasn’t sure if the Thunder Stone she gave to him earlier could be used as a reagent in such a way to leverage that possibility. Or, if not, she could use it herself to evolve from Eevee to Jolteon, provided the League allowed her to stay as a Pokémon. All else, if none of that was possible, Jimmy was ready to go back to being human.

To Cassandra, it was an interesting proposal and she could see how closely bonded Jimmy was to his Pikachu, but considering the situation, she didn’t want to cast anything besides what the League was expecting her to do and what she promised to do. Meanwhile, she didn’t know of such a spell offhand, but it was not to say something like that could potentially exist on another page of the Evangtin Tome or one of her other books. For the time being, she only knew of how to transform people into Pokémon with the Pokémon Transformation Hex, or change them back again with the Affliction Reversal Spell. Something that combined the two and allowed the recipient the ability to swap back and forward was likely going to be more advanced.

“Eev-vee-vee…” (“Yeah, sorry for being a close-minded snob about using a Thunder Stone, earlier.”) Cassandra sighed, ears drooping with Eevee her head looking down in embarrassment, now seeing that Jimmy’s kinship to his Pikachu was much more important to him than evolving him into a Raichu to maximize his battling capabilities. “Evee-veeee… Veeee…” (“Sorry to say, but I don’t know of such a spell that would give you that ability to change back and forward, but it could exist. That and… with the League and all these other people watching me right now, it’s best to get you changed back to human as part of the original arrangement, at least for now until we figure something else out and the League is still okay with me even using Shadowcraft after all this.”)

But Cassandra had a strong feeling the League wouldn’t allow it. She could honestly foresee the League tossing all four of her books into a fire once this was all done, and anything that was kept at her residence was probably going to be confiscated and destroyed as well. While they couldn’t purge her memorized spells out of her head, they could put her under a very strict scrutiny of making sure she didn’t resort to using witchcraft ever again with very hard punishments if she didn’t maintain compliance. But, she wasn’t going to specifically ask as she was hoping they would forget to address that point. While she had learned her lesson on not using it to cheat for battling, she didn’t want to lose her witchcraft entirely for all the other interesting, practical, and recreational uses it would have. But nonetheless, none of it was worth it if it would only land her in further trouble and betray that last, very fragile fiber of trust the League still had in her.

“Eee-veee…veee” (“Worst case, as the others found out, you’re still perfectly capable of chatting to your Pokémon.”) Cassandra told Jimmy, trying to offer a compassionate smile, though she knew it might disappoint him. “Ee-vee-veee…” (“But unless you’ve got a lot of nuggets and human and Pikachu hair strands you’re willing to burn through to go about this the more… traditional way, I’m afraid this is all I can do unless I find there’s another spell out there that’s exactly what you’re looking for and the League isn’t bothered by me using it. But now’s just not the time…”)

In the meantime, Cassandra wasn’t sure herself of what to do about that Thunder Stone if Jimmy didn’t need it. The League mostly likely didn’t want her or the other Ladies staying as Pokémon despite the fact it wouldn’t do any personal harm to the League. By now she had gotten used to being an Eevee and while it annoyed her a bit at first, she took a fond liking to the comments about her being cute and adorable. While she had warmed up to that kind of attention, it didn’t seem to align with Jon’s plan, and right now with everything that had happened, she needed his support and wasn’t about to try negotiating again seeing as how that turned out last time. If Jon needed her and the other Ladies back as humans, she knew there was no more fooling around with that expectation. For them to trust each other and make sure the faith was well-placed, full cooperation was an absolute necessity.

After Jimmy stepped forward, Cassandra had gotten to work on the spell, still feeling Jimmy looked nice and handsome as a Pachirisu, but she knew the League wasn’t going to appreciate any funny business. Still, she couldn’t help but feel the world was going to lose one good Pachirisu today. While Cassandra got the spell ready, Violet placed the beach towel over his white and blue electric squirrel body, leaving only his head and front paw exposed, though there was a very noticeable bulge in the towel due to Jimmy’s immense Pachirisu tail.

After reciting the incantations and getting the reagents prepared, the spell was ready. Once Jimmy’s paw made contact with the glowing nugget, the glowing, restorative light had surrounded him, restoring him from his small squirrely state to the human that she had seen just before Jarena had cast the hex on him before. Now that he was human again, all he needed to do now was get changed and be on his way.

“Eee-vee-vee…” (“Thanks for your understanding, Jimmy.”) Cassandra looked to him with a smile, content to know Jimmy could still understand her. “Ee-ee-vee-vee…” (“And thanks for snapping me out of that… terrible downward spiral. I think that wake-up call was… really badly needed.”)

With that done, all that remained was Avery Miller and the three Ladies themselves. There was still no news about what the League had decided upon as a punitive and corrective action, but Cassandra kept working to push the thought of it out of her head and just focus on setting things on the right path as much as she could…

Noblejanobii

02-11-2021, 05:30 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster Desolate Divine Shruikan

Avery watched as Jimmy was turned back into a human, leaving just them and the ladies. They still weren’t super keen at all to change back here. It’d reveal more about their identity than they cared to show off to so many people, especially strangers.

“No chance we can convince them to let me do this in a bathroom?” Avery asked Daybreak.

The Rapidash chuffed and shook his head. “Yeah right. Fat chance.”

Avery have a heavy sigh. “Yeah I thought not.” Taking off their Pokéball belt, they made sure that Daybreak, Picotee, and Acacia were all out of their balls.

Violet placed a couple towels over them, seeming to realize Avery’s desire for extra privacy. The incantation began and as Avery reached out to touch the nugget, they felt a weird sensation spread all over their body from the nugget. It was hot and cold all at once as they felt their body slowly change back into their human form.

Avery’s three Pokémon flanked them as the change took place, with Picotee and Daybreak using their large size to help block Avery from everyone’s view while Acacia used Psychic to hold the towels in place while Avery tied them around themselves. The less people could see the better, even if there wasn’t much to hide. Privacy was privacy even for a celebrity.

Once their towels were secure, Avery waved to the Ladies. “Thank you, for everything,” the said simply. They weren’t really sure exactly what to say to convey their feelings at the moment, but they hoped that at least those few words possibly got the message across.

With that, they headed off towards the nearest unisex bathroom with the trio of hooved Pokémon.

[Desolate Divine]

02-11-2021, 09:17 AM

Jon Drake
Main Pool -> Safe House G
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster Neo Emolga Shruikan

"Jon." said Latios' voice, "Message..."

Before Jon could ask what he meant, a voice spoke in his head, one vaguely familiar, that he soon recognized as Cassandra's only ever hearing it in interviews.

"Latios… wherever you are out there… if you can feel this or hear this… please let Jon know…

…

…we really do need his help… and I thank him for it…"

Jon was shocked at the sudden change in tone from before. When he first offered help, it was rejected, as they thought they would be better off using their magic as leverage. Now it was a sincere sounding thanks and humble request for help. What did Cuddles say to change their mind so drastically.

Avery was turned back to normal and escorted away to get changed by their Pokemon, meaning that the only ones left to be turned back were the three girls, however that could wait for a moment, especially since Jon wasn't sure whether they still wanted to stay as Pokemon or not. Those who were once Pokemon could still understand the Pokemon around them, but Jon was one of the few who could not understand a thing being said, relying on Latios, who was still barely verbal with his telepathy, to forward him any information.

Jon turned his attention to the three Pokemon remaining.

"Ladies, if you'd like to come with me?" Jon asked, before gesturing to a nearby corridor leading to the cabins.

Thankfully they began to follow him without much hesitation. Jon turned to the now human Cuddles before leaving.

"I need to talk to the higher-ups, and it's best if I do it alone for the time being." Jon explained, "I will fill you in on everything once that conversation has happened, most likely before tonight's battle. Can you let Avery know the same when they get back?"

Jon began leading the trio of Pokemon towards one of the cabins, finding himself out the front of Safe House G. This safe house was essentially designed to hold targets should they be detained. That being said, it was far from a grimy prison cell. It was a standard room, however with an entry room that was protected by a lock only operatives could open. Beyond that, it was a standard suite with four beds, a couch, TV and en suite. Jon ushered the three Pokemon into the room, before placing the bag with their clothes, minus the tome, on the ground.

"I am going to go talk to the League about this whole situation, and what happens with you three." Jon explained, "I do have a plan, that I think may convince them, but it will only work if the three of you are human..."

Jon produced from the bag the three baggies that would allow them to turn themselves back, before producing some cups of water from the kitchenette.

"The thing is that this plan involves my wife, and I have to make sure she is okay with it first." Jon explained, "I will speak to her, then the league, and be back before tonight's match. Please turn yourselves back before then, even if once this is all over, if you still want to be Pokemon, you make that happen later. A lot is riding on this idea..."

As Jon left, he spoke up one last time.

"Thank you for turning yourselves in." Jon said, "Really, if this went any further, nobody would win. As an operative, and a fellow trainer, I really appreciate that you did the right thing."

Jon left the room, locking it with his keycard, and activating the lockdown function, so that only his would unlock it, just in case someone like the a**hole who spat on them earlier decided to pay them a visit.

As Jon left the room, Latios materialized next to him in the corridor.

"I think it's over." Jon said, "Even with all the damages, you did really well."

"Swim?" Said Latios' voice in Jon's head, sounding like a child begging their parents to let a friend stay over, before an image of the main pool appeared in Jon's head.

Jon couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, you've earnt a break." Jon explained, "People should still be in their rooms, but be careful anyway. If you see anyone, go invisible. I will come get you from the pool, so don't leave there."

Latios smiled giddily, before taking off out the hallway, turning invisible.

Jon pulled out his phone, texting Steven.

"Can you, Lance and Cynthia meet me in an hour at Safe House C? I have them detained, but need to talk to all of you before we go any further."

Jon began walking, calling Alyssa, asking her to meet him back at their room, and finding a reply from Steven confirming the meeting once he hung up.

*********

An hour passed, and Jon had spent that time in their cabin with Alyssa, explaining his idea, and what it meant for them going forward. To his surprise, Alyssa was for it, thinking it the best way forward for everyone. Whilst she offered to come with him when he met the champions, Jon declined, knowing it could get intense, but instead asked her to come when he went to see the Ladies later that evening.

It was 5pm, when Jon found himself sitting at a table in Safe House C, with Steven, Cynthia and Lance sitting opposite him.

"So I have them detained, in Safe House G, which is locked to this key." Jon explained, "They were spat on by an operative after they turned him back, so for their safety, I triggered the lockdown protocol on the room."

Cynthia and Lance seemed slightly confused as to why they were in this meeting. Whilst Jon had made demands during the operation, such as locking down the ship and calling the operatives to cease engaging the girls, he was still a base level operative, only having made those things happen due to having earnt Steven's respect personally. Lance and Cynthia on the other hand, had no clue why Steven was so hell bent on getting them a meeting with this operative.

"But before we go any further, we need to talk about clean-up." Jon explained, "If we don't cover up this witchcraft, then no tournament will be safe from anything as bad, if not worse than this. Lucky for you three, I have a plan, but it will come at a cost..."

Steven looked at Jon, slightly concerned about what he was going to say, whilst Cynthia seemed curious about what was to come. Lance wondered why this tattooed drop-kick that he had heard many complaints about in the last eight hours was talking to him like some sort of equal.

"Okay, enlighten me..." Cynthia chuckled, as Steven began to look more worried.

"The events of this afternoon, where people saw Violet and Jarena turn each other into Pokemon, before the trio went on a mini rampage and publicly turned other people into Pokemon were seen, but are still a bit unbelievable. If people hadn't seen it happen first hand, or seen the footage, it would be an urban legend, but the problem is, people saw it. As unbelievable as it may be, it was seen." Jon explained, "So we need to convince them that it wasn't what it looked like, and there are two boxes we need to check with this cover-up. The first is that the story offered is more believable than what they saw, and the second is that they want to believe it."

"And what story do you propose to cover this up?" Lance asked smugly.

"A story of a villain, and a hero who the people like to defeat the villain."

"As soon as possible, I need you to find me a Zoroark. One strong enough to be on a professional competitive team, and well trained enough to take instruction from someone who isn't it's trainer." Jon explained, "They are capable of producing illusions strong enough to fool hundreds of people, and the illusions are light and sound based, not telepathic, which means that they can be recorded to video. During the day tomorrow, I will show it every ounce of footage of the witchcraft taking place that I can find, and get it to practice creating illusions of those scenes."

As Jon said this, he saw Steven starting to realize where he was going.

"Tonight, Cassandra is scheduled to battle Avery Miller, whilst I am scheduled to battle Ethan Caldwell." Jon explained, "It works better if Cassandra beats Avery, but if she doesn't, I will throw the match with Ethan so I battle her tomorrow evening for third place. If she beats Avery, I will make sure to beat Ethan tonight."

"How can you be so confident that you can win and make this happen." Lance asked.

"Because we have no other choice." Jon explained, "If I don't, then we will be dealing with this s**t every six months for the rest of our f**king lives..."

"Anyway, in the battle tomorrow night with Cassandra, I will send Zoroark out against her, and it will accidentally create illusions of Violet and Jarena turning each other into Pokemon, for the entire stadium to see." Jon explained, "And if that isn't damning enough, Latios will also make an appearance, placing me at the scene when all of this unbelievable s**t went down. He is clearly there in the video, and the amount of holes in the ship that he left don't look good..."

"So this hero and villain thing..." Cynthia asked, "You're the villain?"

"I am." Jon explained, "And Cassandra needs to play the hero who puts me in my place. Once this is over, the league will make a statement claiming they investigated Jonathan Drake, and determined that he had his Zoroark create illusions incriminating Violet and Jarena, in order to blackmail Cassandra to throw the match. He will promptly be given a lifetime ban."

"The Diamond Ladies have one of the most loyal fanbases, and would want to believe that Cassandra put an a**hole who was trying to cheat against her in his place, more than they would want to believe that the three of them have been cheating using some unbelievable witchcraft."

"But this is destroying your whole career?" Cynthia asked, "And why are you referring to yourself in the third person?"

"Because he isn't Jon Drake..." Steven muttered, causing Cynthia and Lance to look at him even more confused.

"My name is actually Ryan Mason." Jon explained, now used to it, "My dad was a piece of s**t and is rotting in prison, but in case they let him out, I don't want him to find me. So since I began competing professionally, I used my middle name, and my wife's surname. Jonathan Drake. I am registered with the League as Ryan Mason, but have Jon Drake listed as a preferred name. But my drivers license, the rental agreement on my apartment, my bank accounts, they are all under Ryan Mason. I go by Jon Drake socially, and the league sign up is the only document that links Jon Drake to Ryan Mason."

"Basically, I'd need you to transfer my current file over to a new one, actually named Jon Drake, and I will take a break from competing. When enough time has passed, I might come back to it, but as Ryan Mason. Only the league will ever find out the Jon Drake doesn't exist anymore." Jon explained, "Additionally, there are some conditions I want to make, some necessary for this whole cover-up to work, and some to make this worth the trouble for me, since Alyssa and I are going to have to relocate, and Alyssa and I will both have to find another job."

"Here we go..." Lance muttered, before earning a glare from Jon.

"To make this believable the following needs to happen." Jon explained, "Firstly, I know of one guest who saw and heard enough that this plan won't work. If you can get me the passports of all female trainers between the age of 15 and 25 on the cruise, I will ID her, and you can have someone approach her with a non-disclosure agreement to sign, under threat of a ban from any and all league activity if they disclose this information. You will need to debrief the operatives who were turned into Pokemon, and assess the security cameras to see if there is anyone else we need to approach with the same deal."

"Additionally, we need to separate the Diamond Ladies from this. If a public ban is made, or if they stop competing altogether, people will ask questions and start pulling at the threads, which will unravel this whole thing." Jon explained, "Once the sentence is finalized, which we will fast track to the day we get off this goddamn ship, they will get their Pokemon back. Their ban will be five years, and completely hidden from the public. They will announce a temporary retirement to their competitive careers, giving the three of you one last chance to beat them and earn back the title of champion before they do. Otherwise, you will get it back by default when they retire. They will be made to pay back every cent their won illegitimately from the league, but the ban needs to be kept completely hidden from the public. And once they have paid half of it off, they are given the option to work off their debt by helping the league deal with instances like this. We would have had this so much more under control if we had one of them in our corner. "

"No way." Lance replied standing up, "No goddamn way! Steven, who is this guy?"

"Lance sit down..." Steven replied.

"No, I won't. We lost our titles, we were humiliated by these three trainers nobody knew of a year beforehand. The league was scammed out of thousands, and it all was some sort of hocus-pocus bulls**t that they used to cheat their way to the top." Lance said, "I spent years searching for and training Dragon types, and worked my way to the top, and now this idiot wants me to let it go? Spare them?"

"Nobody cares about your dragon fetish, Lance..." Jon muttered, sick of the tone the ex-champion had been using the entire time.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lance asked.

"I'm the best f**king chance you have at keeping that title, when you get it back, from some other person who decides to copy what these girls did, because the ex-Indigo Champion, seems to care more about stroking his rage-boner, than actually stopping this sort of s**t from happening again." Jon shouted as he stood up.

"Right, listen here..." Lance began before walking towards Jon.

"Both of you sit down..." Cynthia muttered irritably at the two men who seemed to be trying to show the other their superior testosterone, "Lance, as much as I don't like letting them get away with this so easily, he has a point. Somebody needs to go down to take the public's view away from the witchcraft. If the Ladies go down, then they become centre of attention and we can't keep this hidden. We don't have many people stepping up to throw their reputation down the toilet, but Jon is willing and able. So hear him out."

Lance sat down, muttering expletives, and seeming like he was trying to convince himself he didn't have a dragon fetish.

"So the girls are given a temporary and hidden ban, but why give them the chance to work off their debt? Would they even want to?" Steven asked.

"Because everybody deserves the chance to try and make amends. Even them." Jon explained, "And I think they will. When they first spoke to me, they tried using their ability to turn the operatives back as a bargaining chip, and their subsequent actions were to force us to use that. Then they gave it up. They turned everyone back, with no conditions, before letting me take them into custody. I think they realized that they have messed up and want to show they can be better."

"Okay, surprisingly enough, I agree with most of what you have said so far." Cynthia explained, "This is our best bet of keeping this whole thing hidden from the public. But you said you had conditions to make it worth your while. What are they?"

"Cassandra isn't going to be paid for her place in this tournament. So I want the fourth place prize in addition to whatever I earn. Adjust the prizes based on all of this. So if I come in second when Cassandra beats me, Avery third and Ethan fourth, I take first and fourth prize money, Avery takes second and Ethan takes third. Additionally the league will pay for all damages I am liable for during this operation. Mostly from Latios." Jon explained to Steven's horror.

"So you're only doing this to make a buck..." Lance muttered.

"I'm doing this because I am throwing away the chance to compete and make a living the only way I know how for the next few years, and Alyssa is going to have to try and find another job, without using her past work for references, because they know that she is married to Jon Drake." Jon explained, "I'm offering to be the scapegoat, but I'm not offering to be bent over..."

Cynthia cringed at the implication, whilst Steven spoke up.

"So say we pull this off. The public are fooled, the Ladies receive the agreed upon punishment, and you and Alyssa get a nice little paycheck." Steven asked, "What happens to you two after this?"

"We had been looking at this nice little cottage in Mossdeep." Jon explained, "It was still a year or two off, but with the prize money and our savings, we would be able to buy it outright, that way if we struggle to find work for a little while, we aren't going to be homeless. Besides, our apartment in Lilycove was starting to feel a little small."

"Is there anything else?" Cynthia asked, somewhat loudly, seeming to try and stop the potential tangent of Jon and Steven getting a beer on the weekend after he moves.

"I think that's it." Jon explained, "The important stuff really. There might be a few more details I come up with, but nothing that you would disagree with if you agree to this."

"Well I don't agree." Lance replied, "This idiot can't keep his Pokemon from destroying the boat, and expects us to not only trust the future of the league to him, but also pay him for it? I can't agree to that."

"Well I trust Jon, and if he thinks we can pull this off, I believe him." Steven replied, "It's a majority rules vote. That's how we settled these sorts of disagreements when we were planning this operation, and it's how we will settle this. Which means, Cynthia, you get to make the call here."

Cynthia was silent, before looking Jon in the eye.

"What does your wife think of all this? Have you spoken to her?" Cynthia asked, "Because it isn't just your life you are uprooting here, and lets be honest, to show the Ladies a little mercy. It is hers too."

"Why do you think I asked Steven for us to meet in an hour?" Jon replied with a grin, "I spoke to her and she was for it. She had her reasons, but sees this as an opportunity for bigger and better things for us."

Cynthia listened to what Jon had to say, before speaking up.

"I am in favour of the proposed plan." Cynthia said, as Lance's jaw dropped.

"No, this will not happen!" Lance shouted.

"Lance, remember the agreement we all signed when the league asked us to spearhead this investigation?" Cynthia asked, "The league is a subsection of the government, and we were given authority to act on behalf of both, in favour of a decision that has a majority vote between the three of us. We have since reached that majority vote. Which means the decision has been made."

Cynthia stood up, looking down on the dragon trainer.

"The decision made is to make sure that our first priority is keeping the existence of witchcraft covered up. And if Steven and I believe you to be a threat to this secret, we are allowed to treat you as we would anybody else who we deemed a threat..." Cynthia explained, "I don't care if you agree or not, because you were outvoted. Will you work with us and try and give us a better chance of pulling this off, or will you keep acting like a spoilt child, and throw yourself off a cliff just to drag us down with you?"

Lance was silent before mumbling.

"You're on your own." Lance replied, before making his way to the door, "I will keep this all under wraps, because I do want it to work. But I don't think it will, and I won't be going down when this fails catastrophically."

Lance walked out as Steven sighed.

"Sorry about him." Steven replied, "He has always been very proud, and he lost his title to Jarena when she was fifteen. The comments made about him in some of the less than reputable media sources really hit him hard, and I know he was hoping to prove everyone wrong about the last five years."

"Anyway, moving forward with this plan, what do you need from us before the end of the cruise??" Cynthia asked, "The Zoroark, and Cassandra to compete?"

"Steven, have you got the girls belts? The ones with their Pokeballs?" Jon asked.

"I kept them on me. I wasn't going to risk them getting their hands on them and getting away."

"I will hold on to Cassandra's Pokemon for the time being, and keep them safe. If you can get Violet and Jarena's Pokemon to Jimmy Kendo and Avery Miller, I'd appreciate it. Only until the cruise is over, and their sentence is finalized." Jon explained, "Their experience with agents has not been pleasant. They were abused and spat on as they tried to turn them back. Their Pokemon are important to them, and I think they'd be more likely to cooperate if they knew their Pokemon were being looked after by people they have reason to trust. Or at least, people they know aren't going to put the Pokeballs in a hydraulic press as revenge."

"I can make those arrangements." Steven replied, pulling a bag onto his lap from the ground and handing a belt over to Jon that was lined with Pokeballs, "I will make contact with the two agents you named and entrust these with them."

"In that case, do you mind if I go fill them in on the plan?" Jon asked.

"You do that." Cynthia explained, "We will try and get the pieces ready to fall into place. I just hope this all works..."

****

The meeting with the champions went for about an hour, and at 6pm. Jon returned to his room, finding Alyssa waiting for him, before telling her of the League's agreement with the plan. Jon stashed the Pokeballs containing Cassandra's Pokemon in the room, before stopping by a pizza shop in Central Park. Pizza box in hand, the pair made their way to Safe House G, letting themselves in the front door, before knocking on the door leading into the room with the girls itself.

"It's me, and I have my wife here too. Can we come in?"

Neo Emolga

02-12-2021, 01:58 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House G
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

After following Jon to Safe House G from the pool, the Ladies had gotten the idea that it didn’t matter to the League whether they transformed themselves back or not. Cassandra herself still wasn’t sure what was going on entirely, but Jon was her last thread of hope in this situation. At this point, even if he had betrayed them, it didn’t matter, they had already hit rock bottom and were at the full mercy of the League anyway.

It was easy to mistake Safe House G for just another guest room instead of a holding cell area. After taking them there, Jon mentioned he was going to talk to the League regarding the situation, but it would involve the three of them having to return to being human. Cassandra nodded, feeling if that’s what Jon needed them to do, they’d have to go along with it. From how she saw it, she had lost all freedom of choice at this point and it wasn’t until they got off the ship would they finally gain a bearing on where they would go from here.

Still, before leaving, Jon thanked them and appreciated their compliance. After closing the door behind him, the three of them were alone in the room.

“Bun-ear-rryyyy…?” (“Any clue what this guy’s really up to?”) Jarena asked, shrugging. “Bun-buneary…” (“He certainly seems… nicer once we started cooperating.”)

“Eeveeee…vee…” (“Nothing to lose at this point.”) Cassandra sighed. “Ee-veee-veee…” (“Everything went so much to hell that he could totally throw us under the bus and it wouldn’t really make a difference.”)

“Furr-rett…” (“God, what a hell of a day,”) Violet muttered, looking off to the side. “Furr-rett…” (“Yeah, guess we’d better get changed back now. ”)

But there was still a pressing question of what was to come after this, and Jon had left it opened ended.

“Bunnn-earryy…?” (“Hey, you know, maybe we could hang onto a bit of our fur like… just in case?”) Jarena asked with a bashful smile. “Bun…earyyy…” (“In case we… you know, ever get sick of being humans again. I’ve kinda taken a liking to this! I’m adorable!”)

Violet rolled her eyes, shrugging, but agreeing there may come a time very soon when they’ve absolutely had it with human society considering what had happened in the course of one day.

“Furr… urr-rett…” (“Fine, shed a little, bag it, and save it.”) Violet replied, seeing this as more of a done-with-humanity suicide pact. “Fur-rett…” (“There’s no guarantee this guy’s plan will work either, but we’ll at least have this in case things go so badly we need to fake our own death.”)

With that, they intentionally brushed and scratched at their own fur until enough of it shed on the floor that they were able to gather up enough of a small pile to work with. Cassandra saw this as a fallback option, and she had been an Eevee for so much of the day that it would be a bit tricky to get accustomed to being human again, at least for a short while. Still, when she really closed her eyes and considered could she stay like this for the rest of her life, she felt she could. At this point, she just wanted to be happy in the end, even if all her things were gone. But that ultimate decision needed to come later…

Now that they were in private, Cassandra got to work on transforming the three of them back to being human again, seeing as how this had to happen as part of Jon’s plan. It took some rummaging through the bags to get the human DNA samples they needed, but once found, they had all the things they required to get the spell working and Cassandra had memorized the spell by repetition at this point. She no longer had the Evangtin Tome, but she knew the spell now.

Violet had volunteered to go first, and her transformation back to human had gone smoothly, same for Jarena and shortly after, Cassandra herself was able to get back to being human once again, casting the final spell for herself. After getting fully dressed and bagging the fur samples of their previous Pokémon forms as a backup option, it was now just a matter of waiting for Jon to return.

“Man, feels a bit weird being this tall again…” Jarena replied with a curious smile as she laid back on of the bed. “Being a Buneary is really cool, though! I could totally make that my jam. I mean it was weird and goofy-feeling at first, but I kinda liked it!”

“Can’t complain,” Violet replied, brewing a cup of black coffee for herself. “Didn’t think I’d ever settle in being a Furret of all things, but it’s not bad. I’d do it again.”

“Yeah…” Cassandra sighed, sitting on the bed. “Not sure how much Jon knows, but I’m hoping this doesn’t land us in prison. At a minimum, I imagine we’re looking at a lifetime ban from the League, probably can’t enter a gym or stadium ever again with a restraining order of some sorts that we can’t come within X-number of meters or whatever. Not sure what’s going to happen with our Pokémon though. God, I hope they don’t confiscate them…”

For the three of them, it was difficult to tell. At this point, they were anticipating what could possibly be the worst outcome and try to preemptively cope with it. Cassandra was trying to be optimistic, but she still had to prepare in case Jon’s plan didn’t work out even if they followed his instructions to the letter. Despite Cassandra’s desire, she had to take it as if she was never getting them back.

“Not looking forward to being dead broke after this…” Violet asked, pouring her coffee before sitting down. “That’s the part I hate the most. Fans turning their backs on us, that’s something I can cope with and I can tell them to go to hell. It’s the damn money that’s the problem to me.”

“Let them take it,” Cassandra replied, looking down. “Whether we go millions or billions into debt, it doesn’t matter. Can’t get water from a dry well no matter how much you think it owes you. Declaring bankruptcy would really be the only way out.”

When the day first started, Cassandra couldn’t picture herself ever saying to hell with it all, but now she could. Fancy cars, large estates, jewelry… they were all just things in the end. After losing so much, it was as if she was prepared to throw it all into the grinder. It was like feces landing on top of her birthday cake followed by her throwing the whole thing out even though only the very top had been affected.

“Ugh… debt stinks,” Cassandra muttered. “Working that off is just going to be slow and sucky.”

“Let’s just wait and see how much we’re talking about here,” Cassandra replied to her, seeing that their next move depended on how successful Jon was. “If we’re getting hauled off to prison anyway, then it’s not even relevant.”

“Ewww…” Jarena winced in disgust. “Geez, I’d way rather go Buneary over that! Cute over jumpsuit, am I right?”

“Like Cass said, let’s just see what happens,” Violet told her. “We’re ready for the worst, at least.”

To pass the time, the three Ladies just wanted TV, as long as it was anything besides Pokémon battling to get their minds off of what had transpired.

When 6pm had finally arrived, Jon had returned, knocking on the door.

“It’s me, and I have my wife here, too,” Jon spoke from behind the door. “Can we come in?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jarena replied, figuring Jon was asking just in case they had only just started changing back into their normal clothes. “Come on in!”

Chakramaster

02-12-2021, 02:57 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Noblejanobii Desolate Divine

Earlier that day

Under all the commotion getting on the ship. The Diamond Ladies were swamped with fans. It's tough when you're famous. You have a hard time getting around and paying attention. Meanwhile as the crowds on the ship stayed busy. Victini had looked closer at the ship. Noticing something familiar in the distance. The Jirachi mural on the ship's hull. He flew up and took a closer look and noticing something.

"A-Ha! Thought I saw you up here...Jirachi" he said aloud in his friendly voice. "Time to get up sleepy head!" I was Jirachi he found. Sleeping along a rounded crease in the ship where it was out of the sun and cool, but not too hot. It had wrapped itself in its flaps to stay cozy. It was perfect for a sleepy Pokemon like Jirachi and way out of view. No one could've ever suspected.

Jirachi mumbles under his breath, "I'm awake I'm awake...maybe 5 more minutes." He said as he turned to the side.

"Oh come on! I know you didn't come here just to sleep. This ship has a big YOU on it. You're like a Star!" Victini told Jirachi.

"It gets so tiiiiiring being a star. Everyone looks up to you. You can't win them all. Jirachi says looking half awake back over at Victini. One eye open.

"Says the Wishgranter to the Pokemon of victory." Victini hums to himself.

"I don't know, Victini. Sometimes victory can come in many ways. Just like the saying humans have said. Be careful what you wish for. It may not always turn out how you imagine. Sometimes victory might not be how one may think. I just feel. I needed to be here today. That something big was about to unfold and I could maybe even. Find a few friends here in the process today. Someone too hang around with more. I've been so lonely it's just made me sleeeeeepy." Jirachi said with another yawn.

Victini noticed the crowd breaking up and needed to get back to his trainer. "Well enjoy the fun and shows Jirachi! I've gotta get back!"

As Victini left. Jirachi turned and saw the Diamond Kadies he flew back up to. All the crowds and people arriving. So much fun to oversee. Keeping its place high and away from view.

Present

Just had his turn getting turned back into human. He made sure the towel was still securely wrapped around him. Then, looking to his Pikachu who climbed back on his shoulder.

"Hey you're you again! Can you really understand me now?" His Pikachu said

"Yup! Every word buddy. Too bad my other request could t happen, but it was worth a shot." Jimmy said as he looked down and picked back up the thunderstone. Then looking to Cassandra and the other ladies in their Pokémon forms. "I think I'll hold onto it for now. Thank you again Cassandra. You too Violet and Jarena. We wouldn't have ever got to become Pokemon in the first place and now be in the state we're in if not for you." Jimmy said as he began to turn around and walk to his gear. Grabbing it along with his clothes to go to the bathroom and get changed.

Cassandra again thanked Jimmy for his words as he was walking off. Stopping briefly to turn around smiling.

"Spread kindness, and goodness is sure to come your way." That's a saying many people go by, but it never hurts to just overall give kindness to those in need and not expect anything in return. Who knows. Maybe one day if all this blows over. Maybe there's good out there for you ladies yet. Some of us here can clearly see that now. I wish you the best of luck. I'll do what I can to help back you up and help you through this too." He said as he began walking to the bathroom to put his clothes back on.

Jimmy opened the stall door after having changed.

Jimmy had left his bag and the thunderstone on the sink. His Pokémonwere near the door talking amongst themselves and he overheard them. Chuckling a little cause he can understand them now.

Washing his hands he heard a voice. "I saw what you did." It said to him.

"Huh? Did what? I didn't do anything weird! I swear!...huh?" He said looking around. "Up here silly!" Jimmy looked up. In one of the vents he saw. "A Pokémon?"

"Yup! I'm the star of this ship! I'm...."

"Jirachi..." Jimmy said before he could finish.

"You could've let me finish. Yup! That's meeee!" Jirachi said as it flew down around him. "You probably know all about me since you know my name."

"Well I know enough. You're a pretty rare Pokémon. What're you doing in a place like this?" Jimmy had asked.

"Looking for fun and friends! And I choose you! Will you be my friend?" Jirachi said hovering in front of his face.

"So many trainers here. Other mythical Pokémon and even Latios. It seems you could use a friend like me. You'd be as special as your friends."

"You mean the other operatives? Well they're not...friends, but I know them now. We worked together to." Jimmy was cut off by Jirachi.

"I saw the whole thing. I know you Jimmy...or should I say Cuddles." Jirachi laughed.

"Hey I'm not like that anymore!" Jimmy said half laughing.

"Well you had fun and I'm sure the others did too." Jirachi told Jimmy. "There's so many out there that need help. I can't do it alone. I know you want to help just as much. We can do it together. It's why I chose you Jimmy. Will you be my friend?" Jirachi said once again looking to Jimmy. Really hoping he would say yes.

"Well why not. I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a mythical Pokémon. I got curious again after hearing Avery's discussion on it earlier too. Now. Here's my own chance." Jimmy said as he reached into his bag and grabbed a Pokeball. Pressing it to Jirachi's body as it was engulfed. Shaking only once before clicking. He immediately let it out from its Pokeball and both let out a cheer as well as his other Pokémon. Grovyle and Salamance were left outside the bathroom while Pikachu and Rotom were happy to have a new friend with them as well.

Jirachi flew down to his thunderstone he left on the counter. "First, let me give you a gift." Jirachi said as the thunderstone glew. It turned into a pendant that wrapped around his neck. "I heard your request to Victini's friends earlier. So. Consider this the first gift of many." Jirachi said.

Jimmy looked at his new pendant. Closing his eyes before smiling and looking back to Jirachi. "Thank you, Jirachi. Now. Let's go help grant some wishes. For those truly in need." Jimmy said as they exit the bathroom with their new friend. "Thank you guys for all your help. You too Grovyle and Salamance." He said before calling them both back into their Pokeballs. "You too Rotom." Returning him as well. Leaving only Pikachu and Jirachi out.

"Now who should we go see first?" Jimmy said as they walked away from the bathrooms as the crowd around the pool had mostly cleared. Jon and the 3 ladies included.

[Desolate Divine]

02-12-2021, 05:15 AM

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Safe House G
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Jarena called out for Jon to come in, so he tapped his keycard against the door, , as Alyssa turned the handle.

The pair walked in to find the three girls sitting in the lounge area, watching the TV.

"This is my wife Alyssa. Alyssa, you know who these three are." Jon said, as he walked over to the coffee table, pocketing his keycard with his left hand, before grabbing the Pizza box he had supported by his broken right hand against his torso, and placing it on the coffee table. Jon began to notice fresh blood appearing on the bandages, unaware that the heat of the box was increasing the bloodflow to his hand.

"S***..." He muttered to himself, before making his way to the ensuite, "Sorry, I gotta clean this up."

Jon began removing the bandages he had applied himself, before running his hand under some cold water to slow down the bleeding. Once it had slowed down enough, he soaked the bandages in some hot water, wringing them out, and leaving them on the counter in the bathroom to dry as he grabbed a bit of paper towel to try and put pressure on the parts of his hand that were still bleeding.

As he did that Alyssa sat cautiously on one of the couches.

"I figured you were probably starting to get hungry, so Jon and I stopped by one of the shops on the way here." She explained, "While he was in his meeting, I did some digging and found an interview you did with a teen magazine a few years back Jarena, where you said your favorite pizza was Pepperoni? I hope that's still the case."

Jon returned via the kitchenette, grabbing some plates with his clean hand before placing them on the table and taking a slice of pizza.

"Help yourself." Jon said, gesturing to the food, "I have spoken to the Steven, Cynthia and Lance, who I pitched my idea to, and they accepted it. Well, Steven and Cynthia did. Lance is too damn proud to see the bigger picture, but was outvoted by the other two."

"Right now the most important thing for everyone is that the witchcraft is covered up. The problem is a lot of people saw you two turn eachother into Pokemon, and footage is online of it, which means it will be tricky, but not impossible." Jon explained between bites, nodding towards Violet and Jarena, "Lucky for you, this whole thing is still pretty freaking unbelievable. That three of the top trainers have actually been using supernatural powers to cheat. And this is going to work in our favour."

"In order for people to not believe something that was seen like this, the cover up needs to be both something more believable, and something people want to believe. And this plan will tick both those boxes. A story of a hero rising up to take down a villain." Jon continued, "Tonight, Cassandra, you will battle Avery. Whilst I think Avery does deserve a win here, there will be other tournaments, and whilst this plan could still work if they do win, it would have much better chances if you won. Then tomorrow night you battle me in the final. If you beat Avery, I will do whatever it takes to beat Ethan and see you in the final, and I wouldn't make that sort of claim if I didn't know I could beat him. If you lose to Avery, I will throw the match so you and I face off for third place tomorrow evening."

"Right now Steven and Cynthia are tracking down a trainer with a Zoroark, who is strong enough to be competing at this level and obedient enough to follow my instructions even though I'm not its trainer. I was a little worried about how difficult that may be, but Steven and Cynthia think its a pretty safe bet they will find one, so I am not too worried. I will spend the day showing it all the footage we have available of you two turning each other into Pokemon, and any other supernatural stuff you did, and get it to create illusions that replicate it close enough that nobody would suspect it." Jon said, "Zoroark are not telepathic Pokemon in anyway. Their illusions are distortions of light and sound, capable of fooling hundreds of people, which means that if filmed, the illusions are recorded. During our match, I will send Zoroark out as my second Pokemon, and it will accidentally start creating an illusion of the scene from earlier today that everyone saw. And if that doesn't make me look suspicious enough, Latios will come out next. But what is most important Cassandra is that you need to beat me, and make a damn good show of it."

"After this, the league will investigate Jon Drake, and determine that he planned on using his Zoroark to create an incriminating situation around Violet and Jarena, as well as have his Latios steal their belongings, to use as blackmail for Cassandra to throw the match. I will even write up a psychotic blackmail note to help. However the Latios was badly trained and didn't follow instructions and go invisible. Jon Drake will be branded a cheater, banned for life and the case closed. That girl who was talking to us when I first approached you, and any others who can't be tricked will be located by the league and made to sign NDAs." Jon explained, "In the eyes of the public, you three were victims of someone using false pretences to cheat their way through the tournament, but Cassandra was the hero put this bastard in his place. It's a story that is more believable than the three of you using witchcraft, and that people would actually want to believe. I've seen how crazy your fanbase is about you. Makes me kinda glad I stayed out of the spotlight."

"Here is what happens to you three after all this is over. Lucky for you, the league cares more about covering this up than punishing you, and any sort of more severe punishment right after this story is told will surely raise questions. Jail time was never really an option, because no current laws account for witchcraft being a thing. We might be able to push an assault charge, but even then it is stretching it massively. Moving forward I think the league will be pushing for the wording of laws to change to cover such things without straight up revealing the existence of it, but right now, there isn't much we can do in terms of charging you." Jon explained, "Additionally, any sort of public ban right after this would raise questions and discredit the whole cover up, and if the cover up is discredited, everyone knows about the witchcraft, and we are dealing with situations like this one every six months. So the league have agreed to the following punishment for you. A five year ban, kept completely hidden from the public. This is the last official League competition for this season, so you have a few months before anyone starts expecting you to compete. Once a bit of time has passed from now, you three will announce a temporary retirement, and give the three champions another chance to win their titles back before they get it back by default on your retirement. And it being a five year ban, once that is up, you can return to competing, minus the witchcraft, seeing as if you never compete again, it will eventually draw attention back to this cruise, and we don't want people digging up the truth ten years from now."

"Right now your Pokemon are in my care, Cassandra, and Jarena and Violet, your's are in the care of Jimmy Kendo and Avery Miller. I arranged it that way because I hope by now you can trust that when we say we will look after them, and that we aren't going to act like that a**hole who was an Azurill." Jon added, "They will be returned the day the cruise ends, other than during the battles, once your sentence is officially finalized."

"In terms of finances, your sponsors will not find out about this, but you will be expected to pay back what you illigiitimately won from the league. Granted, the league will be lenient in regards to how you go about paying it back, and over how long. A reasonable monthly target will be set, and as long as you are showing that you are making an effort to reach them, they will not seize your assets and leave you homeless." Jon explained, "If you don't dawdle and sell off the estates and fancy cars pretty quickly, you should be able to quite easily find somewhere more modest to live, relatively comfortable, and keep the league satisfied with your efforts to pay them back."

"This next bit is up to you, but once you have paid half of the debt off, you will be given the option to work off your debt if you'd like." Jon continued, "As much as we try and cover it up, some people will still think what you did was real, and whilst it won't be as frequent as if we do nothing, something like this will happen again, and having someone like you advising will definitely allow us to keep things somewhat normal. Or you can tell the league to deal with it on their own, and keep paying off your debt the way you had been prior."

"As for Alyssa and myself, Jon Drake will disappear." Jon explained, "I mentioned before that my dad was a peice of s**t. Truth is, my name is actually Ryan Mason. Jon is my middle name and when Alyssa and I married, I started using her surname socially speaking, and for tournaments, so that if he gets let out of jail, he isn't going to see me on TV or something and know how to find me. Or at least, that was the case. With Jon Drake now publically hated, I guess it is time to hang up that name, and start going by Ryan again. The League will make a fake file for Jon, and when enough time has passed, and I can make myself a bit more difficult to recognize, I may return to competing as Ryan, or I may not. We will see. Either way, Alyssa and I will have to move, and find new jobs. Alyssa agreed to take my surname, and had been thinking of starting her own company anyway, so this is probably a good opportunity to make that happen."

"Don't think of this at all like you're causing us problems with this arrangement." Alyssa said, slightly surprising Jon, "Truth is, a lot of this has been on the table for a while, minus the being branded a cheater thing. This is just a good push in the direction we wanted to go anyway."

Alyssa started holding Jon's hand as she continued.

"Truth is, ever since we got married, we have both wanted to have kids, but have just always had things going on that made it not the right time." Alyssa explained, "Our apartment in Lilycove really isn't the sort of place we want to be raising a kid, we both travel way too much in our jobs, and-"

"And I didn't want my kids to inherit my issues." Jon explained, "I have been running from my dad for the last fourteen years, the last ten going as far as to use a different name, dye my hair and tattoo myself so that he couldn't recognize me. Alyssa knew all of this from the moment she met me, because she guessed I wasn't who I said I was and I begged her to keep it between us, but she chose to live this life of secrecy. I wouldn't have married her if she didn't make it abundantly clear that she was willing to live this life, and she wouldn't have married me if she wasn't. But I know too well a kid doesn't get to choose their parents. I don't want to have to tell my own kid that they gotta use a fake name so their grandpa can't find us, or that they have to keep who we are secret."

"This whole arrangement means we have to move, but we'd been looking at buying a house anyway, just not able to afford it. But since Jon is giving up his livelyhood for the sake of the league, they are compensating him for it enough that us buying a house is now possible." Alyssa said, "If now is the time when I leave BattleNET, I can wait a little while before working again."

"And I've realized that for me it's time to stop running." Jon explained, "It's been fourteen years, and until recently, I have still thought of myself as the scared little kid, hoping his dad wouldn't notice him. And whilst that's what it took to survive back then, now it's holding me back."

"So if everything goes according to plan, and we cover this up at this cost, don't worry about us." Alyssa explained, "It's nothing we really could have prepared for, but we will be better off for it in the long run."

"Though there is just one more thing I gotta add in here. Once this is said and done, there is not a thing I can do to stop you from using your magic. There are no laws against it, and as long as you aren't doing anything like this or anything to harm other people, I am not going to tell you that you can't keep using it." Jon explained, "But, if you do use it, and someone sees, everything we are working for with this arrangement will be gone in an instant, and nothing will be able to cover that up. Your sponsors will probably come knocking, and fans will turn their back on you. And people who realize that they lost because of this will probably not be too forgiving. I just want to make sure you know that. That even if we pull this off, it will still be a balancing act for the rest of our lives."

"It's a lot to think about." Jon explained, reaching for another slice of pizza, "But I honestly think we can pull this off, if you're willing to try and help make that happen. As I said, Steven and Cynthia represent the league right now, and they are for all of this..."

"What do you think?"

Shruikan

02-12-2021, 08:25 PM

Luneth Tarot
Main Pool
Affected RP'ers: Chakramaster, Noblejanobii

As Luneth watched, the Diamond Ladies changed back the operatives one by one. The former Zorua turned out to be a real jerk. She was glad that she hadn’t grown too attached to them now. But the next to be changed back was the cream of the jerk crop, the Nugget Thief himself. With the things he said and did, Luneth was surprised Latios guy didn’t punch his face in there and then. On the other hand, whoever had been turned into the Buizel wasn’t so content to let it be, disappearing after him, only to return a few minutes later looking rather smug.
Luneth wondered what they’d done, but didn’t give it too much thought. Guys like that weren’t worth the time to think about.

Next the Pikachu changed back, into a guy that Luneth had never seen before, then the Buizel, though they had so many pokemon crowding around that Luneth couldn’t make out what their human form looked like.

With just the ladies left, Latios guy directed them away. Luneth was curious why, but after a moment’s consideration decided it wasn’t worth it. He was possibly the worst person to catch her out here breaking the lockdown, as he’d seen her before and might get the wrong idea, or at least make her give up the recordings.
Still floating overhead, Glimmer looked to her trainer, eyebrow raised as if to ask if she should follow them, Luneth gave a subtle shake of her head, and crept away from the remaining crowd in the opposite direction from Jon and the Ladies, Glimmer taking different route to the same destination so as not to draw attention.

Once they were a safe distance away, Luneth took back her phone, stopping the recording and backing it up to the cloud as soon as it had safely saved the video. Once she was safely back at her room she could watch the whole video, see what info she could get, but for now she didn’t want anyone to overhear and know she’d recorded anything.

Neo Emolga

02-13-2021, 02:13 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House G
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

The Ladies had seen Jon was kind enough to bring pepperoni pizza for them, though he had to tend to his bleeding and broken hand. After offering the fresh and hot pizza to them, they joined him and his wife Alyssa at the table. And then Jon got down to what the situation was going to involve and how they would go forward with what he had discussed with the heads of the League.

Cassandra and the others were surprised to learn the situation focused much more on covering up the Shadowcraft witchcraft than punishing them and destroying their reputation. In fact, Jon presented the plan in the interest of trying to keep their reputation intact and mostly untarnished, at least on a temporary basis.

He revealed his plan starting with the Cassandra versus Avery battle, which surprised Cassandra to learn the League would even allow her to battle at all considering everything that went down. But it connected with Jon’s explanation that it was the League’s absolute priority not to let Shadowcraft go public and to avoid the potential fallout of other trainers employing witchcraft to gain an edge. At this point, Cassandra somewhat felt like it was much too late for that considering what had happened at Central Park early in the afternoon and their chaotic but thankfully short-lived transformation jamboree through the Royal Prominade. Still, Jon wanted to do his ultimate best to cover it up as much as possible, using a Zoroark, their illusion ability, and creating a disruption similar to what had occurred in Central Park to imply all the supernatural instances were in fact part of this unhinged disruption. Jon made it clear he wanted this cover up to happen flawlessly, so much so that he was willing to stake his own career and reputation on it.

Cassandra couldn’t help but feel ill and dirty it had come to this due to what they had done, but after sighing, she decided she and Jon could at least take steps to fix it, or at least attempt to fix it and address it the best way they could. There was no guarantee it would work, but from the way she saw it, the options were limited and it was worth a solid attempt. The objective now wasn’t to throw the Diamond Ladies into a cell and unleash the ultimate punishment the League could cook up. It was more about trying to turn Shadowcraft into a lame conspiracy theory and not inspire others to follow in their footsteps and jeopardize the League and Pokémon battling in general. Jon was willing to take the fall, be branded as the cheater instead, and allow Cassandra to have the win. In turn, she would need to do her part to reinforce and support the cover story that the Zoroark disruption and the “illusion” of Jarena and Violet turning each other into Pokémon was simply nothing authentic.

Afterword, the punishment involved a five-year ban, but under confidential sentencing. The public was not to know about it at all, on the condition that they would announce a temporary retirement and allow Lance, Steven, and Cynthia a chance to win back their Champion titles, provided they lay off ever using Shadowcraft in competition, though Jon made it clear the stability of the plan and his future depended on it not being witnessed. To Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet, it was a far offshoot from what they were expecting. A five year ban and refrain from using their witchcraft in public was nothing nearly as severe as the hell and high water they were expecting.

Jon’s plan also involved letting the “Jon” side of him take the fall, while his true alias, Ryan Mason, would emerge and he would shed the defamed Jon Drake name like an Ekans shedding its skin. But there was still some risk of his father tracking him down by him doing this, having to relocate, and start a new life in Mossdeep. But as Jon closed it off, it would be a very fragile balancing act. Their Shadowcraft had to be strictly used in secret, and likely only for extreme life and death scenarios.

“What do you think?” Jon asked, putting the ball in the Ladies court.

“Geez, five years, I thought we’d be banned for life for sure,” Jarena replied, surprised about it. “That and like… a billion other things, but… this might be tricky.”

“Use of the Zoroark will likely be the most difficult part,” Violet mentioned, thinking there was a chance it may not work out the was Jon was hoping. “Trust me, Jarena and I would gladly help you paint the lie about what really happened in Central Park this afternoon and support the claim the video was a fabricated prank, but it all depends on how people take it.”

“Claim we were never in Central Park in the first place,” Cassandra proposed. “It was already suspicious I wasn’t there. Or, at least people think I wasn’t there. Whatever misleading information we can plant about it, let’s do it so people can’t figure out anything with all the confusion until they just give up.”

She realized it might be tricky to have the falsification be believable, but already the discovery of witchcraft that can turn people into Pokémon was outlandish enough and barely believable as is. As long as they could get every operative that was transformed to cooperate and not spill the truth about it, there was a chance it could work. Planting misleading information and adding a mix of different interpretations and varying eye-witness accounts would add to the complexity, deterring others from being any headway putting all the pieces together. It would be like trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle, but with the pieces of twenty other jigsaw puzzles added in.

“We’ll try it,” Cassandra replied, hoping it would work and allow her to save face considering all that had happened today. “Give it an honest shot, if it doesn’t work, well, hell, at lest we tried. Doesn’t make the situation any worse, really.”

“Yeah, seriously, I try not to be a dumb move kind of gal,” Jarena smiled bashfully. “But back there… yeah, please, let’s dump on that… really big dumb move of mine.”

To Cassandra, the five-year ban and temporary battling hiatus was easily handled. Paying the debt would be a lot more challenging, but as Jon presented, there were other career options that were possible to pursue if earning a living through prize money was no longer a possibility. The way Cassandra saw it, if she couldn’t hold her Champion titles against Lance, Steven, and Cynthia, then bottom line, she shouldn’t be walking around with them. But if she actually could defend them legitimately in a battle with no witchcraft being used, then she felt they were hers to keep.

It was going to be tricky. Many of her strategies made use of the witchcraft and were built around it. With it being voided as an option, she was going to have to improvise and take on a new strategy, one she hadn’t practiced and one her Pokémon were not used to. There was a very good chance this would be a glaring weakness in these battles, but if it cost her the battles and the titles, then she had to own that weakness and defeat, which in turn would mean she would have to improve and accept she needed to work to overcome that. She might still have some fans, but if it looked like she was losing her touch, they would move on. And yet, to her, she would be okay with that. If that door closed, another would open. Not every individual that owned Pokémon was a battler. Many were nurses, rangers, police officers, and workers in many other fields. Some that might have an opportunity for her.

Still, even beyond Jon’s plan, she wanted to at least try. Avery Miller, after coming all this way, deserved a fair fight. A fair competition. No more games, no deceit, no cheating. It would all be happening soon and Cassandra knew that if Avery won, they wanted to win all the way. No wins by default, or free passes to the finals. Clean and pure, from start to finish. If Cassandra didn’t give that to them, then she was cheating them out of fulfillment.

“I’ll try my best,” Cassandra told Jon. “A lot of my battle strategies worked in tandem with the witchcraft, so suddenly not having it may be more than just a thorn in my side for my Pokémon and myself. We’ll try to work without it as best as we can, but don’t be surprised if suddenly Avery has the upper hand due to this. We haven’t practiced a strategy without it.”

Cassandra felt if she lost, then it was meant to be. But she was now interested to see if she maybe could pull through after all. Were her Pokémon strong and capable enough, even without the witchcraft advantage? She was actually curious, but wanted to believe they were.

After standing up, she approached Jon, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.

“You’ve done a lot for us, more than what we really deserve,” Cassandra told him, looking down. “You’re right about Shadowcraft, though, there was a reason why they tried to bury it and keep it forgotten. Even though it’s not all nasty hexes and curses.”

She then lightly took Jon’s broken and bleeding hand, closed her eyes, and focused, whispering a soft and quiet incantation while the others watched. Where there was heavy bleeding, suddenly it began to stop, and the coagulation process was suddenly sped up, followed by the acceleration of fibrinolysis and ultimately, thorough mending of the broken skin and damage to the bones and joints in Jon’s fingers. Tissue and bone damage that would have taken well over a month to heal even with medical assistance and physical therapy exercises was completed in only a handful of seconds. With that, the bleeding, pain, and harm done had stopped… as if Jon had never punched the wall earlier that afternoon.

“We’ll keep that between us,” Cassandra told him, feeling he might appreciate his hand not bleeding and hurting anymore. “Wrap it with a fresh set of bandages for show, pretend it still hurts from time to time. I’ll confess I looked that one up after stumbling into a rosebush and got myself cut up to hell. Well, it may not pay off what we owe you, but… it’s a start at least.”

After checking the clock, Cassandra knew it was almost time for her battle with Avery. Win or lose, she saw there was still hope in her future. She had to try her best in this match despite the change in approach, not just as part as Jon’s plan, but because she needed to know herself. Understand what she was truly capable of in the arena of proving grounds against her competition on an even playing field. Where did she really deserve to be in the picture of these battles, titles, and fame? It was a challenge that held truth and answers to her questions as a reward. And after living in lies for so many years, she needed to know what that truth really was.

“You think you’re ready, Cass?” Violet asked. “Not a whole lot of time left.”

“Let’s see what happens,” Cassandra replied, looking back to her with a confident smile. “Avery is looking forward to this match and they deserve the best I can give without the crap antics. Besides, I’ve got to know for myself where I stand in all of this. For real this time.”

And now it was time for her to find out.

[Desolate Divine]

02-13-2021, 02:45 AM

Jon Drake and Alyssa Drake
Safe House G -> Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Whilst the Ladies had their doubts about how likely the plan was to succeed, they knew it was their best bet, and were willing to do what they had to to make it work.

"It will work. It has to." Jon said, "No half measures."

Cassandra stood up, speaking before taking Jon's broken hand, much to Alyssa's surprise, before whispering an incantation, speeding up the healing process, leaving Jon's hand the way it was before he put his fist into the reinforced wall.

"S***..." Jon muttered to himself, "If we didn't have to keep all of this a secret, I'd be recommending you pay a visit to the hospital..."

The conversation moved towards Cassandra's match for this evening, and whether she is ready.

"I meant what I said before. Out in Central Park." Jon explained, "You can plan all you want with these battles but your opponent never follows your plan. Opportunities are made and opportunities disappear. A good battler can make the most of the opportunities in front of them, and turn them to their advantage. Even without your witchcraft, I think you have what it takes. It will be freaking hard, but I think you can do it."

Jon got up, leaving the rest of the Pizza with the girls, as he made his way to the door, placing his card on it and deactivating the lockdown protocol he engaged earlier. Whilst it still needed a keycard to be opened, and the girls couldn't leave on their own, now any operative with clearance could open the doors.

"Cassandra, I will give you your Pokemon in the waiting room before your match." Jon explained, "I don't think you are liable to run, but I gotta keep the superiors pleased, especially since I am relying on them a bit for this plan to work, so I will hold onto them until then. I'll send an operative around to escort you to the arena, and Violet and Jarena to their booth. It would raise too many questions if they weren't there, and in the eyes of the public, this needs to look like a normal battle after a normal day. Maybe now would be a good time to come up with an alibi for where you were during the day? The only people in the arena when everything went down were myself, Steven, Jimmy and Avery, so that could be a good start."

"I'll see you in there."

***************

It was nearing 6:45 when Jon found himself in the Waiting Room, his own Pokemon on his belt, and a belt containing Cassandra's pokemon in his right hand, having stopped by the pool to fetch Latios who would have been quite content to stay there playing all night. Opposite him sat Ethan Caldwell, his opponent for this evening, who seemed uncomfortable in the silence as they waited. Avery and Cassandra's match would be at 7:30, so they would need to get here soon.

"So about today..." Ethan began before Jon cut him off.

"Today never happened." Jon explained, "We are in the works of making sure that the exixtence of witchcraft remains a secret. Otherwise, we will be dealing with this s*** every six months. The gears are already turning."

Jon leant back in his chair, hands behind his head, trying to relax.

"The best thing you can do is to pretend today never happened, and pretend that this is a completely normal tournament. When the official story comes out, that is the truth from then on." Jon explained, "It is for the best this way."

"Well in that case," Ethan began, "I'm looking forward to our battle tonight."

"Same here." Jon said, before cracking a grin, "But the real show will be tomorrow night. Make sure you're paying attention, and don't miss a thing..."

Ethan looked at Jon, slightly concerned at the implication he was making, but figured it was one of those questions left not answered for the time being...

Neo Emolga

02-13-2021, 10:13 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House G -> Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

The pieces were falling into place.

It will work. It has to. No half measures…

“No half measures,” Cassandra whispered to herself under her breath.

Ninetales, Espeon, and Hatterene. Despite what had transpired in the past, she had faith in their strength and capabilities. Like a mother letting their child out into the world and no longer providing that helping, nurturing hand, she had to do the same for legitimacy’s sake. Let them battle on their own. Let them prove themselves… show their strength, or at least realize where they needed to improve in the face of failure. It was the way battling had to be. It was the way everything had to be.

While Jarena and Violet would now only be watching, she knew she had their support as well. Jon, as well, after having sacrificed much to give them this second chance and put so much on the line.

And she had considered Jon’s words carefully. No strategy was flawless. No amount of pre-planning could ever guarantee a victory. It was that way with all things in life. “Opportunities are made and opportunities disappear.” And no matter what, she had to remember that her choices were half-chance. So were everybody else’s. Without foresight into the future, people and Pokémon could only move forward using the knowledge, experience, and beliefs they had acquired to make the best choices they could, even if the world and its ruling declared it was not to be.

One of the operatives, a younger teen with short black hair and wearing a red Pokéball bandana, had arrived to escort the Ladies to the stadium for tonight's battle. She seemed a little sheepish about being in the same room with the Ladies, but she knew she needed to make this look as normal as possible. She had been there at the pool on overwatch when Cassandra was an Eevee transforming all the affected operatives back into humans. She was just relieved nothing unexpected had gone down, half-expecting to be covered with fur or feathers before the day was done.

“Name’s Naomi,” she introduced herself, smiling quick and lightly. “I'll take you to the Battling Arena, but is there anything I can get for any of you before we go?”

“Yeah, I could use a few aspirin before we get started if you have any,” Cassandra told her, hoping to reinforce her intended alibi. “My head’s been feeling a bit… well, fluffy all day…”

Although in a different sense, the term “fluffy” took on a whole different meaning with regards to her being a soft and furry Eevee all day. But that could go off the record.

“Sure,” Naomi agreed. "I'll be right back in a minute."

They needed to wait until Naomi came back after the door was locked again, but when she returned with a few tablets and a cup of water, they were free to make their way to the arena, but under Naomi's close supervision. For now, Cassandra tried to pretend looking a bit ill, intending to wait until a fair number of people saw her being escorted before taking the medicine. From the way she saw it, Jon still needed to fake his injured hand while she needed to keep her alibi of having been ill and not seen out and about through most of the morning and afternoon.

When they had stepped out of the Safe House and headed to the arena waiting room through the ship’s hallways, she had seen Victini was there just outside the door to greet her, smiling optimistically as usual.

“Vic-ti-ti-ni!” (“Ah, back to normal, I see!”) Victini smiled before perching himself on her shoulder. “Victi-nii…” (“Although you make a very good and sweet-looking Eevee!”)

“Jon has a plan…” Cassandra started, smirking a bit at Victini’s flattering comments.

“Vic-tini!” (“Oh, no need to repeat, I overheard.”) Victini grinned. “Vic-ti-ti-ni…” (“So, about that alibi…”)

Cassandra felt falling back on the idea that she was not feeling well all day might be her best bet. It was the go-to coverup that they were using to conceal the fact she had transformed herself into an Eevee, and it didn’t make sense to deviate from it now.

“I'm sticking to following through on the rumor of me being sick,” she told him. “At least let them think I’ve been in bed most of the day. No one needs to know about Nathan turning the place upside-down.”

After making it to the waiting room, the Ladies had found Jon and Ethan there, while Jon held onto Cassandra’s Pokémon belt as he relaxed in his chair. It felt like it had been forever since she had last seen her Pokémon, but it was a refreshing sight to see as she would get another chance to battle tonight when just earlier today she had given up on almost everything as a panicked Eevee feeling like all the walls were closing in on her. Now, they had to take it as if this was like any other tournament, but Cassandra took it with a whole new mindset.

“Hey guys,” Cassandra greeted them with a smile. “Didn’t think I’d find myself saying this earlier, but I’m kind of glad the whole tournament didn’t go bust after all. Gives me a chance to see what we’re made of. For real this time.”

“Yeah, this is going to be fascinating how this turns out!” Jarena agreed. “But hey, at least Violet and I can now join in on the cheering! Instead of the… well, you know… hocus pocus stuff.”

“Now’s a good time to stop mentioning that altogether,” Violet reminded her. “This cover story is already fragile as hell, so let’s not push our chances.”

“Right…” Jarena agreed, flushing a bit. “Sorry about that…”

Now, they just needed to wait for Avery to arrive…

[Desolate Divine]

02-14-2021, 01:05 AM

Jon Drake
Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

The ladies arrived, escorted by the operative who let them out of the safe house, with Cassandra mentioning the fact she was glad the tournament was going ahead.

"Same. It's going to be one for the history books." Jon said, as he handed Cassandra the belt.

Violet made a point of mentioning they should probably be in propaganda mode right now, not taking any chances with their cover story, to which Jon nodded.

"You two should make your way to the booth before too many people show up." Jon explained, "Appearances sake."

Avery was still to arrive, but there was a little bit of time before the first match.

"You ready?" Jon asked Cassandra.

Neo Emolga

02-14-2021, 05:32 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

Jon had handed Cassandra her belt with her remaining Pokémon. For a minute, it was strange that something that used to be everyday for her now felt like it was something so much more. She didn’t realize how much these Pokémon meant to her until they were gone from her.

“You two should make your way to the booth before too many people show up,” Jon explained to Jarena and Violet. “Appearances sake.”

“Right,” Jarena nodded. “Catch you peeps later, have fun out there!”

“I’ll show you where we need to go,” Naomi told Jarena and Violet. “Now if you just follow me…”

“Good luck, Cass!” Jarena cheered as she and Violet followed Naomi out the door. “Kick everyone’s butt!”

Cassandra couldn’t help but shake her head and laugh a bit at Jarena’s silliness, but to her it was nice having her spirited support. It would be an interesting match up tonight, that was for sure.

“You ready?” Jon asked her.

“Ready for anything,” Cassandra replied with a smirk. “I just spent the whole day as an Eevee getting chased by your Latios and half the people on this ship, you and Avery might have some trouble trying to top that!”

She knew Avery would be there soon, and once they came, it was showtime.

Chakramaster

02-16-2021, 01:45 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Main Pool -> Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Jimmy, his Pikachu, and their new friend and partner, Jirachi left the bathroom. Changed back into his gear and ready to go. He nodded at the two and they made they're way forward.

The sun had begun to start to set. Areas like the pool were still blocked off as were many of the other areas where Latios had damaged the ship. Hopefully things can be mostly repaired before the semifinals match.

After exiting the area where the main pool was. Jimmy was stopped by another operative.

"Jimmy Kendo?" The voice said. "Operative Jon dent me these Pokémon. The one of the Diamond Ladies. Violet. This is her Pokémon. He asked for the time being that you please take care of these."

"Jon huh? I remember him. Still have yet to thank him for the help earlier. He's a pretty tough guy. Is there a rendezvous point?"

After a bit of discussion. Jimmy was able to discern a place they may be. After all. It was Avery and Cassandra that would be in the finals. Had everything been cleared. They would most likely be awaiting their chance for the match.

Jirachi smiles and hummed a little before asking Jimmy. "Are we about to go see your friend? This Jon guy?"

"Yeah. With any luck. You might get to meet everyone that had part in this action today. Would you like that, Jirachi?" Jimmy asked

"Oh would I?! I'd love that Mr. Cuddles!" Jirachi said as he snuggled Jimmy's face a litle before climbing up top. Making the top of Jimmy's head have a point sticking up. Though, it almost blends in with his spiky hair.

"Well don't worry. We will be there soon. Remember, my name's Jimmy. Jon just called me Cuddles while I was a Pachirisu." He said chuckling, but the nickname has started to grow on me honestly."

"Well you seem content" Pikachu said to Jimmy

"Ahh, I've kinda grown to like it. Plus, we've got another amazing addition to our team. I would've never thought I'd ever catch a Jirachi. The Wishmaker of all Pokemon. Just imagine the possibilities now. If it turns out to be true. Witchcraft could be totally overturned with Jirachi if we need some extra help." Jirachi totally distracted flying by Jimmy as he and Pikachu discussed.

"Well he did change that thunderstone you had been giving into some pendant. Did he say what it does now?" Pikachu questioned.

"I have a pretty good idea, Pikachu. Now isn't the time to test it. We're here." Jimmy said as they arrived at the Waiting room near the Battle Arena. Not knowing if anyone was actually there. Just hoping his hunch was right. Jirachi eagerly awaiting on someone to open the door to surprise them.

Jimmy scratches his head. Thinking to himself,"Man, Jirachi is really excited. Likes to just have fun. He's like a little kid" laughing a bit.

[Desolate Divine]

02-16-2021, 07:53 AM

Jon Drake
Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Chakramaster Neo Emolga

Jon chuckled to himself as Cassandra pointed out that if she could survive spending the day stuck as an Eevee being chased by Latios, she could handle anything.

Jon chuckled to himself, as he heard a knock at the door. Finding it odd, he made his way there, opening it to find Jimmy with a plush Jirachi sitting on his head. Except it wasn't a plush...

"Cuddles..." Jon said somewhat confused, "Have you been holding out on us this entire time...?"

Chakramaster

02-16-2021, 12:28 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine Neo Emolga

Jon opened the door. Inside, it was just Ethan, Cassandra, and himself. He chuckled slightly as Jon asked, "Cuddles...have you been holding out on us this entire time?"

"Actually no. I'm assuming you mean Jirachi here. He-" Jirachi interrupts Jimmy to speak to the others. As he knows since they're human. They might not be able to understand him. Speaking through telepathy. Jirachi flys in front of Jimmy to happily hover in front of Jon.

"Hi there! I'm Jirachi. I'm guessing you already know that since you are all on a ship that has a giant picture of me on it." Jirachi chuckles giddy.

"I saw all the fun you were having. Your friend Latios is very strong. It broke most of the ship. Was that part of the fun?"

Ahhhh, no Jirachi." Jimmy but's in. "Destroying the ship is bad, but I figure I'll let Jon explain his side. Latios is his Pokemon after all.

"I see. Well I wanted to have fun too, but I needed friends." Jirachi says. "I found your friend Cuddles here and he captured me! He agreed to be my friend and I'm happy to finally find a good friend! Will you be my friend too?" Jirachi says before flying into the room hovering around Cassandra.

"Yay! Your magic is kinda like mine! Can you grant wishes too? Do they make you sleepy like me when you grant too many?" Jirachi happily flys around the room. "So many people I can call friends!"

Jimmy looks to Jon. "Can we come in?" He asks scratching his head. As if he's embarrassed to ask while Jirachi imposes himself inside the room already.

[Desolate Divine]

02-16-2021, 08:45 PM

Jon Drake
Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jon chuckled as Jirachi referenced Latios destroying parts of the ship.

"I'll have you know that 90% of the ship is untouched by him." Jon explained, "But no, it wasn't part of the plan. Latios still has a bit of growing up to do, and makes some unwise decisions sometimes..."

Jirachi continued floating around the room, striking up conversation like a hyper-active toddler, until it founds it's way to Cassandra, asking her about her magic.

"You might wanna deal with that pretty quickly..." Jon explained to Jimmy, stepping aside from the door to allow him to pass, "We are going through hell and back to keep this covered up, and if Jirachi says something like that to the wrong person, our plan will never stand a chance..."

Neo Emolga

02-17-2021, 12:27 AM

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Like Jon, Cassandra was a bit surprised to see Jimmy Kendo arrive in the battling arena waiting room, just only a minute after Violet and Jarena had left to sit in a supervised booth. Still, Jimmy seemed to be doing well, though Cassandra found it a bit comical he was wearing some kind of Jirachi cap or plush doll atop his head, which at first she assumed it was probably from one of the S.S. Wishmaker novelty souvenir shops, the kind that sold water bottles, t-shirts, tote bags, and all kinds of other miscellaneous gifts guests bought to remember the trip.

And then she did a double-take and realized the Jirachi atop Jimmy’s head was actually moving… blinking… breathing. As if alive…

It can’t be… …can it?

“Cuddles…” Jon said to Jimmy, still calling him by his Pachirisu nickname. “Have you been holding out on us this entire time…?”

And then Jirachi introduced himself, flying before Jon and communicating to him through telepathy. He had mentioned the mishaps that had occurred from Jon’s Latios, as well as mentioning that he had befriended Jimmy and wanted more friends.

“Yay!” he had spoken to Cassandra. “Your magic is kinda like mine! Can you grant wishes too? Do they make you sleepy like me when you grant too many?”

Cassandra couldn’t help but put her hands over her open, gawking mouth in absolute spellbound surprise. She had heard of the mythical Pokémon before, of course the entire cruise ship was named in reference to Jirachi and even the whole marketing campaign behind promoting the cruise ship was based on wishes coming true in terms of entertainment and vacations, but she never suspected THE ACTUAL JIRACHI would be on this very ship.

I can’t believe it!

“So many people I can call friends!” Jirachi cheered as he flew around the room.

Before Cassandra could even respond, Jon had cautioned Jimmy, trying to keep everything about the Shadowcraft covered up and letting him know if Jirachi mentioned it to the wrong person, it could compromise the League’s mission even further and make an already difficult task harder to accomplish. While the Diamond Ladies still had their doubts it would be possible at this point, they at least wanted to help Jon try. The Zoroark idea was all they had and while it was a longshot, there was nothing else besides hoping people would dismiss recorded footage as special effects or video editing.

“He’s…!?” Cassandra gasped.

“Oh yes, the real deal!” Victini smiled to Cassandra. “Say hello!”

“Uh, yeah…” Cassandra replied, her heart still racing upon realizing she was in the very presence of Jirachi himself. “Nice to meet you, Jirachi!”

And yet, despite all that had transpired, no one on the S.S. Wishmaker was unfamiliar with Jirachi, and Cassandra herself knew what this Pokémon was capable of.

Wishes…

Most people and Pokémon never got to see Jirachi. Standing before this mythical Pokémon was clearly the chance of a lifetime. Any other person might wish for riches, true love, power, strength, or any number of things, things that might have seemed good at the time, but could prove to be problematic later on. And so went the phrase… be careful what you wish for.

And yet she recalled just a few hours before, when she was still an Eevee so overwhelmed and sunken with despair…

As she looked up and saw the depiction of Jirachi, the mythical Pokémon of wishes, on the S.S. Wishmaker’s hull, she made a wish of her own, hoping she could have that all back again, being okay with the idea of being broke but happy, even if all it meant was being a free and wandering tomorrow’s nobody.

She had changed. Where just days before she might have asked for more fame, power, materialistic things, or possibly more legendary Pokémon… no. No, she had pushed out those baseless and pretentious desires.

“I just wish to be happy…” she whispered to herself, “…wherever… whatever I’m supposed to be...”

She didn’t even care whether she would be rich or poor, victorious or defeated, human or Eevee, famous or forgotten. Her happiness, her friendship with her Pokémon and with Jarena and Violet… that’s what mattered far, far more than anything else. Because it was happiness that no materialistic thing, no battle victory, no rush of dopamine could provide.

Even if it wasn’t right away, wasn’t this very instant, she would be okay with that. But in the end, she wanted to be at peace, enjoy laughter, and not worry about the future, but instead have something to look forward to with guaranteed certainty. Something that said everything would be okay, and there was something waiting for her that she could look forward to. It was the one wish she could think of that she’d never regret, the one thing that would never deteriorate over time, become a responsibility she couldn’t handle, or bear the risk of being something that wasn’t what she thought it would be but now had to struggle to handle. Happiness… it was simple, elegant, and sincere…

…if it was something Jirachi could provide…

Chakramaster

02-17-2021, 01:07 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Jon moves to let Jimmy in. Telling him he might wanna handle this quickly. Jimmy nods and walks in. "Yeah, no problem."

Cassandra looked so shocked. Almost stunned as Jirachi was near her.

He’s…!?” Cassandra gasped.

“Oh yes, the real deal!” Victini smiled to Cassandra. “Say hello!”

“Uh, yeah…. “Nice to meet you, Jirachi!”

Jimmy stands by Jirachi and gives him a quick pat before shaking his head and keeping his voice down.

"It's alright Jirachi. Another time. We cannot go speaking about this with anyone. We're trying to hide this and make it so no one believes in it. That it was all just something else. We cannot let this out. Anyone outside this room you know wasn't involved well....they can't hear about this. So please don't go speaking about this too loudly. Alright buddy?" Jimmy said as Jirachi looked a little down.

"Alright Jimmy. I can still play with our friends here right?" He says perking back up like a sugar rush and pure excitement kicked back in. "I heard your wish lady! Cass is it? That's what I heard from everyone earlier." Jirachi closed his eyes. Floating closely to Cassandra. Jimmy keeping a close eye on both.

"Remember Jirachi. Be nice and she's got to stay with us. Like I told you on the way here." Jimmy said to Jirachi

Jirachi nodded. "I remember Jimmy. Don't worry." Jirachi said opening back his eyes. "I heard your wish just now, Cass. I even felt it earlier when you were so distraught. If that's truly what you wish for. Then consider it done." Jirachi says with a snap of his fingers. "You may not see the change yourself. It may not be today, tomorrow, or this year, but I promise you. The change you're looking for will come to you. If me granting this wish doesn't help. Then Victini can guide your path toward victory in a way you may not see at first. I should know. He's a good friend of mine after all. Oh I even added a little nice present for your other friends too! I didn't forget." Jirachi says laughing and letting out a small yawn, but still quite active and happy.

"Mr. Jon?" Jirachi says to him as he flys back up to him. "I'll be good now. I promise. Can we still be friends?" He says looking a bit saddened bouncing back and forth while playing with two of his fingers just hoping Jon would say yes. "I can feel it too. You have a desire deep within you too. Everyone does. If you're a friend of Jimmy's and a friend of mine. We can all have fun! Fun with friends is the best! I'm sure your friend Latios would agree. It's nice to have fun with friends!" Jirachi said floating around Jon then back to Jimmy. Flopping on his head and making his already spiky hair look like more of a mess.

[Desolate Divine]

02-17-2021, 01:19 AM

Jon Drake
Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jon chuckled at Jirachi's comments about Latios liking to have fun.

"Latios would definitely agree with you, almost to a fault." Jon explained, "Training him really keeps me on my toes."

However, Jon's mind was elsewhere, thinking about what Jirachi said, about what he desired most. He wasn't even sure what that was. Whilst if given the chance to change it, having his Dad not go down a bad path, or having his Mum not stay with his Dad would have made his childhood somewhat normal, he wouldn't be where he was now. He wouldn't be strong from years of suffering. He wouldn't be battling competitively, not having had his grandfather training him like he did, and he probably wouldn't have met Alyssa. Jon had made peace with this long ago.

Really, only one thought was on Jon's mind...

I wish that this plan of ours would work. That anybody who would try to reveal the truth about the Diamond Ladies, or who would try and do the same things they did, would believe the cover up completely, and be incapable of believing the truth. That the only people who could believe the truth, are those who are willing to keep it a secret no matter what.

Jon was pulled by his thoughts as he noticed the time on the clock on the wall.

"Avery is cutting it fine..." Jon muttered, looking at his watch to check the time was correct...

Chakramaster

02-17-2021, 12:30 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Jirachi perks his head up and floats over to Jon. "Don't worry. Wishes like that are simple! Illusions more so. I can make things look so realistic you can't tell the difference! I once made this huge illusion of Groudon too." Jirachi chuckles a little before winking at Jon and beginning to tug on his shirt. "That's not all you want though is it? I know your heart says that you want more. Though I can't promise the world to those you love. I can promise that things will get better. Those who have done wrong will soon see straight. As things happened today. More than three lives can be saved from those who have done wrong. The road to dawn is always a path in between light and darkness. No matter what you go through in life. Family will always be your one and only family. Cherish them as you do your friends." Jirachi says to him before poking his nose and giggling and giving Jon a smile. "I'm so glad to finally have friends." Jirachi floats quickly over onto one of the soft chairs in the room and lays down.

"Jimmy when are we gonna play?" Jirachi calls out to him.

Jimmy laughs a bit before saying to Jon in a quiet voice. "Jirachi acts so carefree. I've never met a Pokémon like it. You guys have been lucky to have the mythical and legendaries you have. It's a tough job. Don't worry. I'll keep a close eye on Jirachi here. Make sure he stays quiet on the cover we're making. And I'm sure if the plan doesn't work too well. We can always have Jirachi step in and turn things around. It is the mythical Pokémon said to grant wishes after all." Jimmy says as he picks Jirachi up, sits down, and rests Jirachi on his lap. "Soon Jirachi. Once the event is over. We will have as much fun as you want." Jimmy tells Jirachi giving him a light pat on the head.

"Soon Avery will be here. Then, we will be that much closer to the grand battles about to take place. You'd love to see those wouldn't you?"

Jirachi had fallen asleep in his lap. "Just...a few minutes of sleep. I'm sleepy." Jirachi said in a tired and hushed voice.

Neo Emolga

02-18-2021, 04:04 AM

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Battle Stadium Spectator Booth

It wasn’t long until Jarena and Violet had arrived at the spectator booth, accompanied by three operatives to make sure they wouldn’t break their side of the deal, though at this point, neither of them had intentions to. They already had a fairly good idea of what would happen and Jarena didn’t want to imagine such a horde of Pokémon pummeling her all at once.

The booth, while comfortable, didn’t offer a window to allow for live viewing of the battles. Everything they saw would only be on television, as if they were simply watching at home in their own living room. Jarena was a bit disappointed about the accommodation though she knew why they were doing it. She could tell they weren’t quite taking their word yet, despite the fact Cassandra had returned all of the transformed operatives back into humans. If they could only watch the event on a television screen, there was absolutely no way they could interfere with it directly.

“Yeah, guess they still don’t trust us,” Jarena shrugged, disappointed they wouldn’t be watching the event in person. “Guess there’s no point in cheering. Ugh, this is the pits.”

“Most of these people won’t ever trust us,” Violet confirmed, expecting something like this. “Expect to see this same thing tomorrow. They’re still watching us. I guarantee they’ll be watching even while we sleep tonight.”

Jarena wasn’t thrilled about it, but it still felt like there wasn’t much she could do from a privacy standpoint. The League still wanted to keep Shadowcraft hidden at all costs, with no imitators, no sympathizers, and as few people thinking about it as possible. But it made her wonder if they would still be trailed and watched long after they stepped off the ship.

“How should we go about this early retirement thing?” Jarena asked Violet, wondering what her thoughts were. “I mean, usually I’m next up for tournament duty after Cass has had her fun.”

“Just keep stalling,” Violet told her in a straightforward tone, “There won’t be any new tournaments for a while, at least none of these major ones. Say you’re waiting for a better one. If they ask you about a particular one, say you’ll ‘think about it’ but never sign up. That’s it. Repeat as necessary. We’ll do it for a while and then announce we’re retiring.”

“Eh, still think people are going to suspect something in time, you know?” Jarena asked, shrugging. “It’s not like we’re old. Who retires at nineteen?”

“Yes, we’ll lose our fan following in time,” Violet replied, looking like it didn’t concern her too much. “Although people will wonder why we’re selling everything off. God, I hope they don’t start asking questions. The lack of money and the debt to the League is the main issue.”

The way Violet saw it, they needed another plan to get the money. And fast. Liquidating all their assets might only cover some of the bill, and they’d have to do it quietly without it attracting too much media attention. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was another possible way to leverage the reputation they had now…

If Jon was able to pull off the trick with the Zoroark, the League might be able to keep Shadowcraft as a myth provided everyone that was on the ship cooperated. But in order for it to work best, Jon had mentioned they couldn’t make the retirement permanent, else it might prompt fans and followers to wonder what had happened on the S.S. Wishmaker for them to suddenly change their minds so drastically.

“We need a Plan B in case Jon’s plan for dealing with the debt doesn’t work,” Violet mentioned. “There’s a chance it may still cause us to go broke even with the payment plan. We also need to keep it quiet. Jon doesn’t want any attention being brought back to this cruise.”

“Just seems… you know, impossible,” Jarena sheepishly smiled with a shrug. “Pay off the debt but not make drastic decisions? How do I explain me suddenly selling my Ferrari after telling everyone and their mother I love that car?”

She could understand why she was being made to do it, but like Violet said, it might prove difficult to explain why they were selling their assets and where that money was going.

She was almost thinking… maybe it was time to turn Plan B into Plan A…

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Cassandra was emotionally touched. In a way she had never been before.

“You may not see the change yourself. IT may not be today, tomorrow, or this year, but I promise you.”

“Thank you…” Cassandra smiled, a feeling of comforting warmth coming over her. “Thank you so much, Jirachi.”

Cassandra had to admire the mythical Pokémon, seemingly always happy and carefree, just wanting friends to play with. When she looked to Jimmy, it seemed clear he would be a great trainer for him. But she had seen that granting wishes made the small star-shaped Pokémon sleepy despite wanting to play.

“He’s a sweetheart,” Cassandra smiled at him.

Noblejanobii

02-18-2021, 06:10 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Following changing back into human, Avery had taken the several hours of time to collect themself and plan with their team. They were very grateful for the fact that they would still have a chance to battle Cassandra, and even if they didn't win, ending up in the top 4 wasn't too shabby in its own right. Still, unlike before where Avery was assured they were going to lose, now without the witchcraft element in it, plus the confidence their team had, Avery felt like there was a chance they might go all the way on this. Maybe, just maybe, they could win the High Seas tournament!

Still, they had to wait and pass the time. And so they did. Exhausted from the day's events, Avery ended up passing out in their guest room, waking up up a bit later than they would have preferred. Thankfully, their hair and outfit were still mostly battle ready from when they had gotten changed back so a quick touch up for their hair, makeup, and clothes, and they were good to go. Ensuring they had all their belongings and everything they needed, Avery made their way to the Battling Arena Waiting Room.

"You're going to be late," Gloria chided.

"It's fine," Avery responded quietly. She was right though, and Avery wasn't fond of holding people up much longer. They checked their watch and winced. Yeah they were cutting it right close. Thankfully though, they reached their destination shortly thereafter. Opening the door and stepping inside, Avery smiled and waved at the others. "Sorry for the delay," they said, "but I've arrived." Avery yawned a little and stretched. "What all did I miss?"

Chakramaster

02-18-2021, 05:11 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii Desolate Divine Neo Emolga

Cassandra had thanked Jirachi. She smiled at him as Jimmy sat down after picking up Jirachi who had started to rest on a chair in the room. Jimmy places Jirachi on his lap and Cassandra smiled at him saying, "he's such a sweetheart."

Jimmy's Pikachu jumper beside them and gave Jirachi a light pat on the head. "Piii-ka. Pikachu. Pikapi" (he's gonna be an amazing friend. Right now, he's just tired from watching us today).

"Yeah, he's said to be able to grant wishes. Maybe he just grant some?" Jimmy said as he looks to Cassandra and then to Jon.

Just then Avery made it to then room.

"Sorry for the delay," they said, "but I've arrived." Avery yawned a little and stretched. "What all did I miss?"

Jimmy looked to Avery as they stepped inside. Not much. We've just settled down while we wait. Our new little friend here is just taking a quick nap." He said as he gives Jirachi another light pat on the head. "You can say hello if you'd like to Avery. I'm sure he won't mind. He was so eager to meet everyone he saw earlier today. Besides. He just wanted a few minutes of sleep and it's been just that. Care to say hi?" Jimmy said looking down at Jirachi. Giving him a small shake. "Jirachi. Avery is here. Want to say hi or sleep a bit longer?"

"I waft ta s-see." Jirachi says half asleep and slightly drooling a little before going wide-eyed again. "Ahh! Yay another friend hahaha!" Jirachi says eagerly getting up and floating over to Avery. "Hi! I'm Jirachi!" Giving a friendly wink to them.

Neo Emolga

02-19-2021, 03:15 AM

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Battle Stadium Spectator Booth

As spectators were gathering in the arena grandstands and taking their seats, thoughts were coming to Jarena’s mind, but she was quietly keeping them to herself, not even sharing them with Violet. At least not at first. As her mind kept thinking of the whole situation, her fingers couldn’t help but fidget.

She almost impulsively reached into the pocket of her jeans, once again making sure that zip bag was still there and she hadn’t lost it.

Ugh, this sucks… wish we didn’t have to change back. Being a Buneary was so much dang fun! I mean, minus the whole getting chased around and totally outnumbered thing, but it was really cool! Meanwhile, I got really bad feelings about this battle. It’s been six years since we battled without using witchcraft, I know that’s going to do a number on Cass’s Pokémon! They haven’t practiced one bit without it and they’re in a high stakes tournament battle! Oh my god, I know this is going to go badly…

“You’ve been fidgety lately,” Violet told Jarena, noticing Jarena’s fingers fiddling with her zipper pulls and pockets. “I would think it would be Cass that would be nervous, not you.”

“I got a baaaad bad feeling…” Jarena replied to her, trying to sugarcoat her thoughts with an anxious smile. “What if Cass loses this like… really badly? I mean, things might have been okay if she could have gotten some fun casual battles in before this one to get her team readjusted and warmed up, but now…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Violet replied, not sure why Jarena was worried about it. “Even if she bombs, we’re retiring for a while anyway. Truthfully, that makes it easier. Gives Cass an excuse to take some time off to think over a new strategy and train more.”

“It’ll look suspicious as hell!” Jarena warned her. “How does a superstar like her go from Pokémon Battle Queen to total wipeout in one match? Overnight, no less! Sure, the League may keep Shadowcraft under wraps, but we’ll still get hounded about that!”

Violet could see Jarena’s point, but she figured it might play as one really bad fluke. Things like that could happen. Maybe even the rumor about Cass being sick could hold more potential.

“Maybe a little commotion,” Violet replied. “Let the media think it was just one bad battle. Just think more about how you would leverage it.”

“You know Cynthia, Steven, and Lance would want to take her on to get their Champion titles back,” Jarena mentioned. “What happens if she loses all of those as well? And then they’ll want ours! And we lose! Because of all that… you know… stuff! All I’m saying is… League may be safe. But we’re sure not, you know what I’m saying? I don’t want to get ridiculed by the media about this! It’s going to be ungodly embarrassing!”

What Jarena said made sense to Violet and she started thinking it over herself. It would look rather odd if suddenly overnight, it would seem as though Cassandra can’t win anything and neither could the two of them. How would they try to explain that in interviews and on social media? Suddenly they win seemingly countless tournaments, get Champion titles, only to lose all of them immediately after like they were only just starting off again? The sudden disastrous turnout would likely get fans, the media, and the sponsors to start really probing the issue and withdrawing their support for disappointment. Where before Violet was worried more about the debt, she could see this being a problem as well, and as much as she wanted to tell them to just go to hell, they wouldn’t stop nagging them. Not to mention her relations with her family were already in hot water, and this would make things horrendous.

“Jon said we just need Cassandra to play out these battles,” Jarena whispered to Violet. “If Cass loses bad, we… really need to disappear. For good.”

“That’s not part of the deal, Jarena…” Violet whispered back to her with a voice of caution. “I know it’s probably bound to go badly and I hate this, also, but we have to give Cynthia, Steven, and Lance chances to win their titles back from all three of us. They and Jon will be pissed if we don’t follow through.”

“But what if… something were to happen…?” Jarena asked, whispering quietly. “Cass loses, ship docks, we get off and clock’s ticking. What if there’s some kind of… accident before those Champion defender title battles and suddenly…”

“You want to do that fake our own deaths plan, don’t you?” Violet asked, quite sure that’s what she was referring to. “Jon said…”

“He just doesn’t want Shadowcraft to go public,” Jarena replied quietly. “That’s all, and ok, that’s fair. But for us, it can be so simple! We go on a hiking trip around Lake of Rage, ski trip to Snowpoint, anywhere we could get… lost and never found again. We don’t need to blow up a car or crash a plane or anything like that. Just go missing, you know? Save some humiliation and dignity, eh?”

Violet hated to admit it but she was actually gravitating toward Jarena’s plan, especially with her concerns about the debt and having the League garnish her salaries and possibly being unreasonable despite Jon’s claim they would try to go easy. She knew their fame would die. Given the circumstances, it had to, one way or another, but it all came down to how painful it would be and what it would turn into. While the League would aid them in making sure the truth about their cheating was carefully concealed to prevent Shadowcraft imitators, they would not be there for them when their losses became constant and tragic or they suddenly shunned trainer battles entirely to hide the terrible weakness amidst the high expectations they now had. The situation with their disappointed fans would get ugly, especially in the wake of what were likely going to be disastrous Champion title defense battles. They wouldn’t be condemned as cheaters, but they would be terribly condemned as losers.

But if they took a casual adventure trip and made it look like they went missing and were never found again, the results would be different. Rescue teams would come up empty-handed, searches would be called off after some time, and their fans would sooner make a memorial for them instead and close their story on a much better, more respectful note. In terms of paying off the debt, instead of giving it all back to the League, they could give it to charity in their will. They could donate it to good cause like a Pokémon welfare and rescue organization and while the League would not be thrilled they wouldn’t see their money back, it sure wouldn’t be a sob story.

“We do this, there’s absolutely no going back…” Violet carefully whispered to Jarena. “Jon wins, they won’t go back to investigate this cruise or even find out about the witchcraft if everyone thinks it was just one bad battle before we ‘died’ after just wanting to take a vacation for Cass to get her mind off her loss to Avery. That’s a story people will buy. More than they’ll accept us going on a sudden losing streak and we get awful media publicity with harassment every day. But you had better be damn sure about this, Jarena.”

“Sure as buttons, chief,” Jarena whispered back to her. “Plus… really speaking honestly here. You don’t want to give up the Shadowcraft either, do you? Seems unfair to have to toss it all away after we spent six years learning it… you know?”

“We’d better talk this over with Cass before we go any further,” Violet told her quietly. “First, we see how this battle plays out and what the reaction will be. But if it really does go to hell…”

“…I’m listening.”

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster Noblejanobii

“Sorry for the delay, but I’ve arrived,” Avery apologized after arriving. “What did I miss?”

Cassandra had curiously checked the time and saw they were cutting it pretty close, but still, they had arrived. Jimmy was more than happy to introduce Avery to Jirachi, and of course Jirachi was more than happy to introduce himself to Avery, already regarding them as a friend.

“All battlers have been accounted for,” one of the stern, older male operatives had approached Cassandra. “We’re ordered to now escort you to the arena itself. We request that you fully cooperate.”

“Yeah, I know,” Cassandra sighed, realizing they still didn’t trust anything about her. “Guess we’d better get this show moving.”

Cassandra saw she had four operatives around her, almost feeling a bit like a prisoner again. Still, before she left the waiting room, she turned back to Avery.

“See you on the battlefield, Avery!” Cassandra told them with a confident smile as she and Victini waved. “Good luck, I’m not going to make this easy for you!”

And with that, she left the arena waiting room, taking the long walk to the arena itself.

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena

After being escorted to the waiting area just before the arena, Cassandra realized she had a few minutes to spare as the audience was almost fully seated to spectate tonight’s battle from the stadium grandstands. By no means was it enough time to prepare a whole new strategy, but it would give her a moment to have a few words with her Pokémon. The hired operatives still stood around her, carefully keeping watch, but for the time being, Cassandra pretended they weren’t there.

Once she had let out her Ninetales, Espeon, and Hatterene, there wasn’t enough time to fill them in on all the details, but she had to make them aware. While Victini was already very well acquainted with the situation, the others were completely uninformed.

“First off, I want to thank you,” Cassandra told all four of her Pokémon. “I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. I’m proud of all of you and we make an awesome team together.”

Usually, Cassandra didn’t give pep talks like this before battles. In her moments of pride and her conceited nature, she never thought it was necessary, always thinking she had it all worked out in her favor. So when this came to pass, it struck her team as unusual, and her tone of voice implied something had happened. Her Espeon blinked twice, tilting her head to look at Cassandra’s Ninetales in curious thought.

“Espee…?” (“Seems unusual, don’t you think?”) Her Espeon asked, tilting her cat-like head and blinking her two ruby eyes. “Espee…” (“I wonder what’s going on…”)

“I know, I don’t always do this before a battle,” Cassandra smiled, hiding the fact she could understand her Espeon for the very first time. “Let’s just say a lot happened today. We need to change things, take on a whole new approach this time.”

It caused her Espeon and her Ninetales to look curiously at her. It was almost as if…

“Niiinnneee…” (“I wonder what this new approach is about.”) Her Ninetales spoke to her Espeon as the white nine-tailed kitsune Pokémon showed some concern they were changing their strategy at the last minute.

“We’re not using witchcraft,” Cassandra confirmed, looking at them with determination. “That’s the approach. We’re battling the same way everyone else does. The way we should have been battling since the very beginning.”

“Hat-tteee…” (“Ohh… this might be trouble…”) her Hatterene muttered, looking away.

“No, we can do this, Hatterene,” Cassandra told her, trying to encourage her. “I know you, you’re strong. You’re all strong enough to do this without Jarena, Violet, and myself interfering.”

The three of them looked very strangely at Cassandra. All the coincidences were becoming confirmations. How was it that her responses connected with theirs when for many previous years, it was as though she couldn’t understand them?

“Espeee…?” (“Cassandra, did… something happen today?”) her Espeon asked.

“Yes,” Cassandra told her, nodding. “A lot happened today, actually, but I’ll tell you all later.”

The thee of them were suddenly spellbound and their eyes went wide. That was more than enough confirmation, she could understand them! Instantly all kinds of questions about the situation were coming to them, like how it happened and when. They had never heard of anything like this happening before!

“Vic-ti-tini!” (“Oh, it’s an amazing story!”) Victini laughed at what they were just realizing. “Victi-ni-nii!” (“One of peril, suspense, and adventure, but like she said, later! We’ve got a battle to win tonight! And if we win, I’ll let you know of all the really good funny parts! Otherwise, you only get the basic summary, which isn’t nearly as fun! So win out there!”)

“Espeee… on…” (“You’re one funny Pokémon, Victini.) her Espeon remarked, almost smirking.

“Yeah, and he’s darn proud of that,” Cassandra sighed, but with a smile this time.

There were only mere minutes left before the battle would start now. And her Pokémon had that feeling as well, even if they didn’t know what the “7:27” on Cassandra’s watch meant.

“Nineee…” (“She’s right, though, we can do this.”) her Ninetales told Espeon and Hatterene.

“Espee…” (“You know, I think I actually like it.”) her Espeon smiled to the other two. “Esp-pee…” (“Been a while since we’ve done things this way. The other day I was wondering how I’d do on my own in a battle.”)

“Hatt-tee…” (“Maybe we’re ready, maybe we’re not, but I think you’re right, this is how it should be done…”) her Hatterene replied, now knowing why the strategy had to be changed. “Hatteee…” (“Still, either way, I always liked how you battled by our side, Cassandra.”)

“And that part never needs to change,” Cassandra told her with a proud smile. “I will always be standing besides all of you in every battle, even without the witchcraft. We’ve always been in it together, before and after that.”)

“Victi-ni!” (“Always!”) Victini cheered with a smile. “Victini-ni!” (“Now let’s get out there! Go team! Hurrah!”)

It was time. After recalling her Pokémon, she stood ready behind the metal door that led to the arena, Victini on her shoulder, just as it was before the fall, before the deformation. When she had lost all hope and expected to spend the rest of her days defamed in the darkest of places, things had changed. A transformation out of the deformation.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to tonight’s semifinal match of the world’s first Pokémon High Seas Tournament! Please welcome our first contender, Cassandra Silvers!”

The door opened, light filling the hallway where Cassandra and Victini stood. But as Cassandra walked toward the center of the arena, both Victini and her wearing a proud and determined smile, what the cheering crowds and spectators excited for tonight’s battle didn’t know was this wasn’t the old Cassandra Silvers, even if she looked the same. She knew there would be speculation and rumors regarding today’s events, but none of that mattered now. Each step she took toward the arena’s center was a new step toward rediscovering who she was and who she was meant to be. She didn’t know what precisely the answer would be, but she wanted it more than anything right now. The spotlight was on her, all eyes watching, TV cameras rolling.

And after she had arrived at the center, she stood ready, waiting and gladly anticipating Avery’s arrival. They would be here soon, and win or lose, they would both take something from this and learn more about who they really were on that never-ending journey of self-discovery…

Noblejanobii

02-19-2021, 11:22 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Jimmy's new friend was quick to introduce himself to Avery, much to the coordinator's surprise. They hadn't been expecting that of all things. Avery looked at Jimmy. "A Jirachi? How long have you had one of these?" They crossed their arms. "We could've wished ourselves back human with this little guy's help." Avery watched as Jirachi flew around them and introduced himself. They offered a smile and nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, Jirachi. I'm Avery Miller." As the coordinator exchanged their greeting with the wishgranter, they noticed Cassandra start to be escorted off towards the battlefield. Guess it was time for them to get a move on too.

“See you on the battlefield, Avery!” Cassandra said with a confident smile as she and Victini waved. “Good luck, I’m not going to make this easy for you!”

Avery laughed and waved back. "The same goes for you!" they called back. Looking at Jimmy, Avery shrugged a little. "You'll have to elaborate on your little secret wishmaker later. I've got to get on the battlefield." Following after another attendant, Avery was escorted towards the arena down a different hallway.

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena

Avery waited at the end of the hallway where the large metal doors stood shut, waiting for the audience to get seated before the battle began. By now, Avery had released their team to discuss strategy with them. Even without her witchcraft, Cassandra was still a formidable foe, that much they wouldn't doubt. This was doubly so due to Avery's overall lack of any sort of advantage against her team.

"We're going to have to brute force this," Avery explained as they leaned up against the hallway wall. "Only one of you has any sort of advantage on Cassandra's team just by sheer coverage moves, and that's assuming we even make it to that Pokémon." They sighed and began to count down on their fingers. "Mint, I'm going to have you take on Espeon. Espeon isn't a very defensive Pokémon if my memory is correct, so the combination of Body Slam and Mega Kick from you should hopefully make sure work of it. You'll just have to take advantage of your rolling to ensure you can close distance between you and the Espeon, since they're known to be ranged attackers."

The dubwool looked uncertain and shrunk down a little. "Dubwool dub dub?" (You really think I can do it?) she asked meekly. "Dubwool dubwool. Dubwool dub wool?" (I don't have much battling experience. What if I mess it up?)

Avery knelt down and gently pet Mint. "Don't you worry about it," they responded, "Just do the best you can. If you lose, then we'll make due. But if you win, then go as far as you can. I'd love to use you against Hatterene too but if she sends out Ninetales against you it's going to be a very difficult fight for you. Your ability makes any attack from her pretty much an assured knock out. But that's okay, because I have a plan for that too. So just focus on winning against Espeon okay? And if you lose, we'll still love you regardless."

Mint grew a bit teary eyed and bleating, unable to produce any real words due to how touched she felt at Avery's words of encouragement. The coordinator chuckled before looking at Knautia. "I plan to have you go up against her Ninetales. Other than Acacia, you're the only member of the team without a weakness to Ninetales' fire type attacks, and since you're more of a physical attacker, I figure that'll be better against Ninetales."

"Zeb. Zebstrika!" (Right, boss. You can count on me!) he said confidently.

Avery then looked at Daybreak. "You're the best shot against the Hatterne, assuming we make it that far. Plus you'll have some resistance to Ninetales' attacks if Knautia goes down before we can finish her off. If anyone can clench the victory, it'll be you."

Daybreak snorted and held his head high in the air. "Rapidash. Ra ra ra rapidash," (Naturally. I'll ensure we are victorious,) he responded.

Avery nodded before hearing the announcer give the mark that the battle was about to start. "Well, it's almost time. Let's do this." They quickly returned all of their team except for Gloria to their Pokéballs. Helping the Shaymin onto their shoulder, Avery watched as the doors swung open. Avery strode out with a smile on their face, waving along with Gloria to all the people in the arena. They weren't sure if that meant anything in the battling scene, but it was very typical in the contest circuits. As they made their way to their mark on the battlefield, Avery looked across and spotted Cassandra. They waved before giving a slight bow towards her, as if to indicate that this was an honor, and it was to many degrees.

This battle meant a change in fate for them both. For Cassandra it was something of self discovery, while for Avery, it was tested to see if the battle circuit was something they really wanted to do long term. This was a new beginning for them both.

Neo Emolga

02-20-2021, 08:24 PM

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Battle Stadium Spectator Booth
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

“Well, she’s actually not doing half-bad!” Jarena remarked with a bit more of an optimistic smile.

Though Avery’s Dubwool had taken out Cassandra’s Espeon with a Body Slam attack followed by a nasty Mega Kick strike to Espeon’s head after she had been thrown off following a Psychic Fangs attack, it didn’t spell instant doom for Cassandra’s team. Her Ninetales was able to take out the sheep Pokémon with a Flamethrower attack, but now it was down to see who would prevail between Avery’s Zebstrika and Cassandra’s Ninetales. It was still anyone’s battle and Jarena had to admit, it was quite exciting.

Both Jarena and Violet had been watching pretty intently until suddenly door was thrown open with a harsh slamming sound when it hit the wall. The two Ladies nearly jumped when they turned around and saw Lance standing by the doorway, right besides one of his Dragonites. There was no mistaking the former Indigo League Champion and his navy blue uniform, maroon-colored cape, and spikey red hair. Meanwhile, his tall and pudgy orange-colored Dragonite looked ready to unleash whatever nastiness his trainer commanded of him.

“Son of a…” Violet remarked, irked about the suddenly intrusion. “Hell of a way to knock, Lance.”

“I wasn’t trying to be polite,” Lance replied to her with a scowl on his face, crossing his arms as he stared down at her. “I don’t know what your friend Jon told you, but I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands. His concern is your deplorable Shadowcraft going public, but he’s being paranoid of a magic that’s been buried for centuries. We’re going to eliminate it and destroy every last trace of it easily to ensure it goes right back to being forgotten. And not just for fair battling’s sake, either.”

“Hey, look, buddy,” Jarena told him, thinking they were being more than fair with him. “We stopped, we’re trying to clean up now, you gotta give us a chance here. We said we were sorry and we agreed to stop doing the witchcraft thing. Cass did change back all your hired friends after all. We’re trying to follow Jon’s arrangement and-“

“I don’t give a damn about Jon’s arrangement!” Lance shouted back at her in anger. “You cheated the League, you stole from the League, you robbed me blind of my Champion title, and you won the hearts and minds of millions with your deception! You three utterly disgust me.”

Violet was expecting an attack at any moment. She knew it was the only reason why Lance would have his Dragonite already out of his Pokéball. Meanwhile, the four operatives were at the ready in case Lance needed backup, although they were confident the former Champion had things more than under control by himself.

“Lance, give it a rest, you’ll get them back,” Violet told him, still readying herself for any trace of aggressive action. “I can’t liquidate my assets and investments from here to start paying back the debt, which you still haven’t told me how much we owe anyway.”

“Sixty million,” Lance told her in a strong, aggressive tone. “And forget what Jon told you, he doesn’t write the rules. We do. We want that money now.”

Violet knew even among the three of them, making up sixty million was going to take a lifetime even after they sold everything. She didn’t know how Lance even managed to get that number, but given how much they had earned over the years, it likely wasn’t far off.

“Despite how I’m going to demand you show us an itemized list of how you got to that amount so my legal council can review it, we can’t pay you back sixty million right here,” Violet told him, thinking he was being terribly unrealistic and unreasonable. “I wish I had the money to just instantly fork it all over, but I don’t, so back off.”

I wish I had the money…

…I wish I had the money…

Unrealized by Violet, Jimmy’s Jirachi had bestowed a wish to both her and Jarena. As Violet said those words, suddenly the value of Violet’s investments increased exponentially. Though Violet’s stock portfolio was wide and diverse, Jirachi’s power had allowed those exact investments to go up just enough to boost her asset and investment value to reach the sixty million she wished to have, but without so much drastic change in any one stock that there would be a sudden cause for alarm in the market that would be far beyond normalcy.

Had she been able to get an opportunity to view her stock and investment portfolio on her phone, she would have jumped…

“Look, what more do you want out of us?” Jarena asked him, shrugging. “We already admitted we screwed up, we’ll do what we can to get your darn money back once we’re off this ship. And if you want your title back, that’s going to need to wait, too, buddy, we can’t have a battle since we don’t have our Pokémon on us and we’re not getting them back until after the ship docks. So stop getting your Dratini undies in a knot.”

To the both of them, it was completely absurd for Lance to even come in here like this.

“That still doesn’t undo the massive damage you’ve done,” Lance growled at them. “You three are even worse than Team Rocket when it comes to your crimes. I’m going to do the world a favor and make it my personal mission destroy every last trace of this Shadowcraft, starting with you.”

Their hearts were racing when he told them that. Without their Pokémon, they had virtually very little way to defend themselves… unless they broke their promise with Jon. And they could tell Lance waited for this moment when they were separated and away from Jon to make his move, confident he could cover this up in his own way… a way that would eliminate them completely and keep the truth about it hushed…

“We don’t want any more trouble!” Jarena screamed back at him. “How many times do we need to tell you that!? This is probably the millionth time by now!”

“Save your breath,” Lance told her in a dark tone, taking a glace toward his Dragonite. “You’ll soon be savoring every last one you have left to take.”

“Fine, we’ll never battle again if that’s what you want!” Jarena shouted in desperation, ready to surrender everything she had. “Heck, I don’t even want anything to do with the League after this, because you guys are bouncing bonkers out of your minds! And the money and stuff? Just take it all, money, titles, whatever! Even my plushie collection, I don’t care! Heck, I wish we could just go back to the Pokémon we were before so we could just leave this place for a life of peace and quiet and never have to deal with you rotten people ever again!”

“Jarena…” Violet whispered, having never seen her this fired up before.

Violet hadn’t realized just how passionate Jarena had become about Cassandra’s “Suicide Pact Plan B,” but now she could see it and see exactly why. She was tired of fighting this endless pressure and wanted an escape. Despite Jon’s best efforts and sacrifices, there were people in the League that would never forgive, never forget, never let go, and never trust them no matter how much money they handed back, no matter how much they tried to make amends, and no matter how many promises they made and did their best to fulfill. To Lance and the others, their lives were forfeit and beyond redemption. Despite Jon’s attempts to keep the witchcraft hidden instead of attempting to destroy it, Lance and operatives like Nathan, Doug, and many others weren’t going to settle for anything less than completely eradicating every last trace of Shadowcraft. Their books, their reagents, and the Diamond Ladies themselves as well… intending to keep it all hidden while making their tragic deaths look like an accident.

…I wish we could just go back to the Pokémon we were before…

In the meantime, her wish was heard. Ever since Cassandra had proposed it in her moments of desperation and Jarena had let the idea sink in and resonate within her heart, she could picture it all in her imagination, and to her, it was euphoric. Herself as a Buneary with her two best friends as a Furret and Eevee, exploring nature, traveling the world and its many hidden wonders across scenic valleys, rolling plains, lush forests, captivating mountains, and raging rivers in an unending wonderous adventure, learning more about Pokémon as Pokémon, and using their witchcraft powers to help Pokémon in need of rescue and help instead of cheating. It would prove they weren’t all bad, even if the societies of humanity that Jarena had gotten so sick of believed otherwise.

Cassandra’s wish for happiness, Violet’s wish for financial freedom and release from the League’s demands, and Jarena’s wish for the three of them to have a fresh start with new lives as Pokémon were starting to weave together…

“Replace the security tape feed,” Lance spoke into his radio and to the operatives around him. “When they find the remains, you tell them that bastard’s Latios did it.”

“Copy that, sir.”

“You monster!” Violet shouted at him. “Jon is just trying to help and set things right!”

“Dragonite…” Lance told his orange dragon companion, “…eliminate them with a Dragon Rush attack.”

But just before the orange dragon Pokémon charged in with draconic fury, a soft white glow had surrounded Jarena and Violet…

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii

It was coming down to the wire.

Where Cassandra was worried her Pokémon would be out of practice and unprepared for this tournament battle, they were holding their own against Avery’s Pokémon. It was still clearly anyone’s battle, and for the first time, there was a feeling of fulfillment and legitimacy for Cassandra. It was clear, they didn’t need the witchcraft. They weren’t weak, they weren’t unprepared…

It was the way it should have been from the start…

Ninetales had fought hard, finishing off the work that Espeon started with taking out Avery’s Dubwool, and was now locked in a ferocious battle with Knautia, Avery’s Zebstrika. Both of them were scuffed and beaten from the battle, barely able to hang on while Cassandra and Victini led them on. But in the end, no matter who won, Cassandra was proud of her Pokémon, and she admired Avery for coming this far against so much, especially with everything that happened today.

And just a moment after Cassandra had ordered Ninetales to strike Knautia with an Extrasensory attack, suddenly Cassandra was surrounded by a strange, white glow.

“What’s… this…?” Cassandra asked as she looked at her glowing hands, never seeing anything like this before.

“Vi-tii…” (“Uh… oh…”) Victini muttered, having a bad feeling he knew what this was about. “Vic-ti-NINI!” (“Bad timing, Jirachi, VERY, VERY BAD TIMING!!”)

The next thing Cassandra knew, everything went black and she found herself waking up from a sleepy, hazy feeling, as if from a very surreal dream that she couldn’t understand and didn’t get the answers to before the dream ended. She could hear gasping, murmurs, and suddenly everyone in the crowds was standing up out of their seats, all looking at her with shock and awe.

“Eee…” (“Wha… what happened?”) she asked, looking up.

And then she felt that familiar feeling as her smiling but bashful Victini and curious Ninetales appeared before her, now eye-to-eye with her much smaller self. Once again she was on all fours, covered with Eevee fur with long ears, foxlike tail, and that familiar fluffy beige fur collar around her neck. It was exactly how she felt and remembered it from earlier that day…

“Ee-vee-vee…!” (“Oh no…!”) Cassandra panicked, realizing she had returned to being an Eevee again. “Ee-vee-vee!” (“I can’t believe it, the Affliction Reversal Spell wears off!?”)

But then she looked up to Avery and saw nothing had happened to them. They were still human and showed no trace of returning to Buizel, so suddenly she realized that wasn’t the cause. And then she made the connection with what Victini said about Jirachi’s bad timing before everything suddenly went black. This had nothing to do with Shadowcraft. This was the wish that Jirachi had given to Jarena… and she could easily recall how much she wanted that escape into the life of a Pokémon… for all three of them…

“Victi-ni…” (“We don’t need keep going if you’re not up for it!”) Victini told her like a coach trying to help an injured player to their feet. “Victini-ni! Vic-tini!” (“They’ll understand, I’m sure! This is crazy! Silly Jirachi just doesn’t understand trainers aren’t supposed to get turned into Pokémon in the middle of a major semifinal tournament battle!!”)

“Eee…” (“No…”) Cassandra got up off the ground from her pile of clothes. “Ee-vee-vee!” (“I’m fine, we’re going to finish this, all the way to the end! We’re all in this together!”)

“Nineee…” (“That’s our girl.”) Ninetales smiled despite the harsh pain she was fighting off from Knautia’s Wild Charge attacks.

“Vi-tini!” (“You bet that’s our girl!”) Victini cheered. “Victini-ni!” (“You heard her, no one’s backing down now!”)

She didn’t care what the audience thought, what anyone watching thought, or what the announcers were likely squawking about amidst the commotion of her sudden and abrupt transformation. She wanted to have this battle in its full entirety. Both her and Avery had come too far to pull the plug on it now, and she wasn’t about to let a very ill-timed transformation stop her. The whole ship could go flying to the moon, spin upside down, and turn into chocolate goop for all she cared, they would find a way to work around it until the final knock-out was declared. She had already learned so much from this battle that almost didn’t happen. It told her that her Pokémon could battle without her witchcraft, that they were strong and determined, and that they could go all the way. She was battling like a true trainer now and it meant everything to her, even if she would have to finish it as an Eevee.

“Ee-vee!” (“Come on, we’ve got a battle to win!”) Cassandra told Victini and Ninetales with a determined smile.

And she would keep her promise. To always be standing besides all of them in every battle, before and after that, no matter who tried to stand in their way or what tried to stop them. And no one’s doubts, no one’s confusion, and no force in the world was going to deny her of it…

[Desolate Divine]

02-20-2021, 10:14 PM

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Location: Waiting Room to private booth (Jon), Battling Arena Stands (Alyssa)
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jon was fixated on the match, thankful Cassandra was holding her ground. A win from her would make their performance tomorrow more believable. Latios floated beside him, watching the battle in awe on the screen.

Jon was pulled from his thoughts by Jimmy's operative radio sparking to life, which was odd since the operatives had no reason to continue acting outside of monitoring. If someone is using it something must be going on…

“Replace the security tape feed,” Said the voice in the radio “When they find the remains, you tell them that bastard’s Latios did it.”

When Jon recognized the voice as Lance's, something clicked. Violet and Jarena were in trouble…

"Latios, I'm sorry but the job isn't over." Jon said, pulling the Eon Pokemon's attention from the screen, "Violet and Jarena are in danger."

Jon got up, before sprinting for the door, Latios behind him.

"They are down the hall, to the left, then the third room on the right. There should be operatives out the front. Knock the door down if you have to. But keep me in the loop…"

Latios went invisible, before there was a boom as he accelerated, as his vision appeared in Jon's mind. It was a matter of seconds before Latios had left a hole in the door frame, entering the room with a loud bang. Jon could see Lance in the room, with his Dragonite staring down Jarena and Violet, ready to attack, however that wasn't the most unusual thing. The most unusual thing was the fact that Violet and Jarena had reverted to their Pokemon forms…

"Jon… Pokemon again… said Latios' voice in Jon's head.

"We have bigger problems." Jon explained, "Use your telekinesis to hold Dragonite in place, and twist its head so it can't use any breath attacks. Don't break it's neck though…"

Jon watched as he struggled to continue to run down the hallway, as Dragonite was lifted into the air, and slammed against a nearby wall, held in place whilst it's head was turned away from everyone.*

"That damn Latios…" Lance said, as he turned to the door, knowing what usually follows.

There were yells from outside as a red Pokemon whizzed past the door. The operatives keeping watch couldn't keep up with Jon's Scizor's bullet punches, knocking them out swiftly…

"Lance…" came a voice from the door, "What the f*** are you doing…"

********************

Alyssa watched in horror as Cassandra began to glow before turning back into an Eevee. However she seemed more shocked about it than anyone else, confused as to why it happened, before seeming to say, as Jon would, "f*** it", and continuing the battle.

"Oh God no…" Alyssa muttered, "Why now…"

Alyssa watched in despair as a single thought filled her heart…

"I wish this didn't happen…"

**********

Lance called out another Dragonite, to which Latios quickly attempted to pin as well, however his telekinetic grip wasn't strong enough to completely bind them. Both of them began to turn their heads to where the Eon Pokemon had turned visible to focus purely on his telekinesis, which he seemed to be visibly struggling with.

"You can't hold them both…" Lance remarked with an arrogant grin.

There was a boom as both Dragonite's heads were pushed back facing away from him and the two Pokemon he floated in front of.

"I could do this all day…" said Latios' telepathic voice to everyone in the room, though through great struggle. Jon was surprised at how long that sentence was...

"Why kid yourself…" Lance asked, seemingly forgetting Jon was there at the chance to blow the horn of his own dragons, "You don't stand a chance against two real dragons. You are only going to let everyone, even your own trainer down. You can't even fly somewhere without leaving damage in your wake…"

Latios' face began to sink at the hurtful words, as the two dragonites began to wrestle back control of themselves.

"Latios, don't listen to this piece of s***!" Jon shouted, "You could never let me down! No matter how many holes you leave in this f**king ship!"

"The whole damn reason we made it this far is because of you. This dragonf**ker wouldn't even have the opportunity to do this if not for you!" Jon continued, "And even more important than that, you help me see what is important. Like you did before we met them!"

"I wouldn't be half the trainer I am now without you…"

Latios looked at Jon, with a sudden look of determination.

"Thank you…"

There was a flash as Latios was enveloped in a rainbow light, emerging a foot taller, now a light purple color, and a slightly different shape to prior.

Whilst Jon had heard of Mega Evolution, he was unaware that Latios was capable of it. Additionally he didn't have a mega ring, as Mega stones and key stones were banned from competitive battling due to it giving an equipment based advantage not all trainers could afford. Mega Evolution without it was possible but incredibly difficult, relying purely on the bonds between trainer and Pokemon, with no catalyst…

The reinforced wall behind the dragonites dented in, as they were pushed further against it and held in place. Before Lance could respond, his belt was ripped from his pants and tossed to Jon, causing them to begin to fall, as Jon caught the belt.

"Now Lance, what is going on…" Jon asked.

"They were attempting to escape!" Lance shouted, "Look, the idiots accidentally turned themselves into Pokemon using that God forsaken witchcraft."

"LIAR!" Latios shouted telepathically.

"Yeah, I'm inclined to believe him." Jon explained, "Otherwise, why replace the security camera footage, and frame me?"

Jon lunged forward, punching Lance across the face, before kicking his feet out from under him, knocking him to the ground.

"You're a f**king coward!" Jon shouted, before kneeling down on Lance's chest, punching him again, this time in the eye socket, "You talk so much s**t with your f**king dragons fetish, but really you're a coward who needs four men waiting at the door, and has to use his dragons to attack people who are completely unarmed! Two women!"

Jon stood up, before kicking Lance in the stomach, causing him to gasp for air, and vomit on the ground. He knew this was too far, but years of seeing someone else beat him and his mother, because they were too much of a coward to take out their frustrations on someone who would fight back, had taken their toll.

"You are pathetic! F**king pathetic!" Jon screamed, launching another kick, "You don't even have the nerve to take responsibility for this, instead trying to incriminate me! But you aren't smart enough to pull it off, because you are too stupid and arrogant to change the radio frequency!"

Jon pulled Lance up to his feet, before shoving him against the wall. He was barely able to speak, let alone stand, as he stood bloody and broken.*

"You wanted a fight?" Jon shouted, "Raise your f**king fists, you cowardly sack of s**t and give me a f**king fight! Give me something to show for this before I leave you in a f**king hospital bed!"

In front of Jon stood the ex-indigo champion, but as far as Jon was concerned, he was doing what he couldn't do fourteen years ago...

Shruikan

02-21-2021, 09:38 AM

Luneth Tarot
Luneth’s Room > Battle Arena Stands

Luneth made it back to her room uneventfully. Once she arrived she collapsed onto her bed, before finally getting around to actually watching the videos.
The audio quality was bad, and Glimmer’s scarf cover half the screen at times, but she could make out some parts at least. Pulling out the notebook that contained Avery & Gloria’s signatures, she began to scribble down what she could make out.

After that was done, she took a photo of the notes, and saved them to her cloud too. She wanted as many backups as possible, in case the league found and confiscated any.

Next was trying to find those books for herself. Unfortunately Google results gave her nothing. Well, that was to be expected. If anyone could search “Dark Magic” and find them for sale, then it would be a lot more commonplace.
More obscure search engines didn’t help either. Maybe she was spelling the books names wrong? And she couldn’t just ask Cassandra how they’re spelled or when she bought them…

As she deliberated on her next move, Luneth’s phone buzzed and a notification popped up, reminding her that it was almost time for the Semi-Finals. Somehow she’d completely forgotten about Avery’s match against Cassandra!

* * *

Luckily there were no hold ups on the way, people even moved aside as Luneth rode past on Circuit. She arrived with time to spare, even with her stop to pick up a bag of popcorn on the way in, and still getting a relatively good seat in time to watch as the trainers made their way onto the field and the battle began.

While Avery was doing as well as ever, Cassandra was doing notably worse than normal, so at least she didn’t seem to be using magic to cheat anymore.

Glimmer and Circuit were out and watching the battle, taking up an entire seat next to her, both cheering on Avery loudly. Luneth herself wasn’t sure who she wanted to win though, opting to cheer for both sides.
Just as the match was heating up, Cassandra was wrapped in a strange light, then when it clears there was a familiar Eevee in her place.

Cassandra wouldn’t be stupid enough to reveal her shadowcraft like this, so someone must be trying to get her, another magic user who isn’t happy about the attention the Ladies drew to it perhaps?
Luneth looked around the stands, but everyone was reacting in confusion. Unlike in Harry Potter, there wasn’t a conveniently chanting bad guy sitting right next to her that she could stop.
Still, she needed to do something. The league might think that Cassandra was going back on their deal or something.

Luneth quickly made a bee-line towards the battle waiting room, knowing she might not be let in now she wasn’t a contestant anymore. But it was the best place to start looking for someone in with the league that might help. After all, the guy whose battling next, Ethan something-or-other? Wasn’t he one of the operatives that Cassandra transformed back?

Chakramaster

02-22-2021, 01:03 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Waiting Room -> Private Booth
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine

Jirachi has introduced himself to Avery, but sadly Avery didn't have much time. Having to get to the stadium. Avery tells Jimmy he'd have to explain about Jirachi later.

Time had passed and the battle had begun. Still in the room watching over the match with Jon. Something came up. Over the radio; suddenly there's chatter.

“Replace the security tape feed,” Said the voice in the radio “When they find the remains, you tell them that bastard’s Latios did it.”

Jirachi float down to the radio and picked it up. It heard a voice, but didn't see anyone. Obviously fixated on something it doesn't often see.

"Jimmy. Who was that? Another friend?"" Jirachi said looking curiously to Jimmy.

"It...sounded like...Lance?" Jimmy said in a questioning voice.

Jon has rushed out of the room. Jimmy started to gather his things to follow, but as he did. Jirachi let out a small glow and a really big yawn. Yawn after yawn.

"Fwaaaaaahh!" Jirachi stretching a little as it yawned.

Jimmy looks back as he noticed a commotion coming from the stadium. A glow surrounding Cassandra. Once it disappeared. A familiar Eevee in her place.

"Oh no. Jirachi? What's happening?" Jimmy asked.

"Her friend made a wish! I gave her what she wanted as promised!" He said giving Jimmy a quick hug around the neck and proceeding to float to his head and mess his hair up again.

As quick as it happened. Jirachi let out another loud yawn and stretch on top of Jimmy's head still. Suddenly. To Jimmy, it was like the whole world had spun counterclockwise a few moments.

"Back, back, back we go!" Jirachi said aloud before glowing again. Suddenly as it started, it stopped. He looked back down and Cassandra wasn't an Eevee. She was human again.

"Jirachi what just..." Jimmy was stopped as Jirachi said.

"I took us back. Before those wishes were made. Suddenly. Someone connected closely to your friend Jon made a wish I heard. She wished this last wish didn't happen. So I took everyone back involved before it happened. [b]Only you, Jon, Avery, his friend that made the wish, Cassandra, and her friends remember what happened. Everyone else here won't know it ever just happened. Like they're still watching an exciting fun filled Pokémon battle!" Jirachi said happily.

"But that would mean....Jon...". Jimmy said as he rushed off to try and make it there in time.

"Jirachi. You can feel where Jon is. Lead the way!"

"Yaaay! Time for fun! Hahaha!" Jirachi said happily floating ahead. Leading Jimmy to where Jon was.

Jimmy and his Pokemon made it to where Jon was. Lance was there with them. Jon's Latios looked different. More of a purple color. As if it had gone through a transformation. Mega Evolution? The Latios had pinned both of Lance's Dragonite to the wall. It had even begun to be dented in.

Jon had raised his fists to Lance. Neither one looking happy. Things were about to get serious.

"Oh no this could get bad ugly. What do we do?" Jimmy said looking around for any idea of what they can do.

"Leave it to me!" Jirachi said before floating out closer.

"STOP!" Jirachi said before holding both Jon and Lance in place. Looking more serious than we had seen in prior. "Don't fight!" Lance had already been beaten up, but Jirachi didn't want to see either one fight.

Neo Emolga

02-22-2021, 03:40 AM

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Battle Stadium Spectator Booth
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Ugh, my head, what just…

They heard a commotion, and the last thing Jarena remembered, Lance was about to attack her and Violet with his Dragonite. For a minute, she could have sworn somehow she had become a Buneary for a few moments, but then when she looked at herself, she was human.

Was it some kind of hallucination? What exactly had transpired?

And then when she looked up from the floor, she saw Jon and his Latios, now in his Mega form. Somehow Jon had found out about Lance’s dark and murderous plan, and she could see he had beaten him into a bloody mess while Latios had kept his two Dragonites locked in a telekinetic grip. She wasn’t sure how Jon found out and managed to come to the rescue just in time, but it definitely looked like he had way more of the upper hand now.

Meanwhile, Violet was certain Jon was going to beat Lance to death then and there. She and Jarena had managed to get to their knees, trying to understand what the situation was. One of the first things they saw was the four operatives had all been eliminated before they could respond to Jon’s all-out assault on Lance. Something or someone had struck the four operatives hard in their heads and knocked them out cold before they could deploy a single Pokémon.

Between the unexpected transformation, reversion, and the distortion of memory and time, Jarena and Violet weren’t quite sure exactly what had happened, but for the time being, it appeared Jon had the situation under control now and the two of them were at least somewhat safe. Although from the looks of things, it appeared Jon was not going to stop his attack on Lance, shouting angry obscenities between his powerful strikes that left Lance with bloody gashes, broken bones, and savage bruises all over his face.

“Holy hell, Jon…” Violet remarked, wondering if she was about to witness Lance’s murder.

“He’s gonna kill him…” Jarena muttered in shock.

But they couldn’t entirely blame him either. Lance was about to kill the both of them, cover it up, and frame Jon and his Latios for it, taking advantage of the eon Pokémon’s erratic tendencies and leveraging that as a means to cover up the murder and destruction that Lance was actually responsible for. They could distinctly remember that before everything became ambiguous. But she couldn’t entirely understand Lance’s motives. What was it all for? Revenge? The money? Pride? Eliminating Shadowcraft? She knew he couldn’t get it all and he’d never get his money back from two dead corpses, but it seemed in his reckless actions, he had lost his rational thinking from this realization and was simply out for blood in a berserk and deranged furor.

Violet could tell Lance never approved of Jon’s proposal, and the whole aspect of him being outvoted by the other Champions had driven him over the edge to take a chance on this nefarious plot once it had been decided this was where Jarena and Violet were going to be during Cassandra’s battle with Avery. Her only guess was his pride, his dark obstinacy, and his sheer unwillingness to compromise over any of it was the reason for his monstrous irrational behavior.

“STOP!” they had heard a voice cry out. “Don’t fight!”

Both Jarena and Violet looked up to see one Pokémon they weren’t ever expecting to lay eyes on in their lifetime. But there Jirachi was, holding both Jon and Lance in place before Jon could land that final killing blow on Lance.

“Oh… my… god…” Jarena gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “Is that… hooooly crap, THAT’S JIRACHI!!!”

Violet couldn’t believe it either, just now getting to her feet. Where before she thought she was going to need to resort to using her witchcraft in self-defense, it now looked like that wasn’t going to be necessary. But she kept an eye on Lance and the unconscious operatives. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had managed to catch her off guard while she wasn’t looking. If any one of those operatives looked like they were coming to, she would make sure they’d go right back to sleep again.

For now, she decided to let the small star-shaped mythical Pokémon decide what was best. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Victini had stopped what could have been a disastrous all out costly brawl back in the Royal Prominade…

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii

It was hard for Cassandra to fully understand what had happened, hitting her like a memory lapse but still with engrams of a glowing white mysterious power that had turned her back into an Eevee. But suddenly things reverted back to normal, or at least she thought they did. Was it some kind of daydream or an illusion?

And yet nothing had changed, but she could have sworn she remembered getting surrounded by a white glow, waking up as an Eevee again before speaking to Victini and Ninetales, and insisting on continuing the battle despite being transformed.

But now she looked at herself and she could see things had not changed within the battle itself, Ninetales was still attempting to strike down Avery’s Zebstrika, Knautia, with a telekinetic Extrasensory attack, exactly how things were before she noticed that white light surrounding her. It almost made her wonder if a stray psychic trace of the Extrasensory attack had made contact with her and put her in a hallucination trance. But for now, she felt fine.

Regardless, she decided not to dwell on it any further because every second was crucial in this battle…

Noblejanobii

02-22-2021, 04:56 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga

Avery felt a smile tugging at their lips as the battle raged on in front of them. They watched in shock and amazement as Cassandra's Espeon was quickly knocked out by Mint. Avery knew that she'd be weaker without her magic but to see the purple cat go down so fast was a surprise. Despite the tight situation they were in, it seemed to boost Mint's confidence quite a bit.

As Cassandra switched Pokémon, Mint turned out and began to hop up and down excitedly. "Dub!! Dubwool!! Woo woo woo!!" (I won! I actually won! I beat the mighty Espeon!!)

Avery couldn't help but chuckle at the adorable sight of the happy sheep. It seemed Mint was really enjoying the battling arena, just as much as she did contests. They'd have to remember that.

Still, Avery knew this confidence boost would be short lived as soon as Cassandra's Ninetales took the field. Whether it was by sheer coincidence or Cassandra had done her research, this was a horrible match up for Mint due to the Dubwool's ability. Part of the reason Mint had been able to withstand the two attacks from Espeon had to do with her ability, Fluffy, which make physical moves like Psychic Fang deal half the usual damage. The trade off, however, came at double damage from special fire type moves.

Avery tried to command Mint out of the way, but it was too late. It was a clean knock out. Switching her out for Knautia, Avery moved onto phase 2, hoping that the Zebstrika's strong attacks would overwhelm the Ninetales before the recoil from Wild Charge built up too much. This Ninetales was the biggest threat on Cassandra's team for Avery, so they needed to get in as much damage as possible, ideally knocking it out before Knautia went down.

Despite her lack of witchcraft, it was apparent that Cassandra still had tricks up her sleeve. She quickly used a Confuse Ray to cripple Knautia, a clever move that ended up causing the Zebstrika to take quite a bit of damage. Still, Knatia managed to pull through the confusion to get in one last Wild Charge before Ninetales could finish him off. Knautia then quickly went down to an invisible Extrasensory, the damage from that attack plus the recoil from Wild Charge just being too much. Avery bit their thumbnail again in thought as they returned Knautia to his Pokéball. Guess it was too much to hope for Ninetales to be completely taken out.

Avery got ready to send out their third and final Pokémon when they caught a glimpse of Cassandra on the other side of the field. Or at least... they thought it was Cassandra. Instead of a human standing across from them, there was an Eevee in a pile of clothes! Avery immediately stiffed and pat themselves down to ensure they hadn't transformed back into a Buizel. As they let out a heavy sigh of relief, Avery scratched their head in confusion. "Why... is she an eevee again? The spell obviously didn't wear off since I'm still human. Did... someone else use witchcraft on her?"

"Shay shaymin," (Beats me) Gloria responded. Still, it seemed like Cassandra was still raring to go, and Avery wasn't going to stop the battle on her account.

Enlarging their last Pokéball, Avery tossed it into the air. "Curtains up, Daybreak!" they called out as the light erupted and struck the ground, sparks spraying out everywhere as the capsules on the ball activated. They prepared to issue their next command to the Rapidash when suddenly the world just sort off... glitched.

Suddenly instead of Daybreak, Knautia was back in front of them, the Zebstrika barely hanging on from the recoil on Wild Charge. Had they just returned to the past? Or was this some sort of weird deja vu? "I really need to get some more sleep later," Avery muttered before calling out, "Knautia, dodge and go in for one more Wild Charge!" They weren't sure if that surprise psychic type attack was still coming, but if it was, they'd use this opportunity to their advantage at least.

[Desolate Divine]

02-22-2021, 11:15 AM

Jon Drake
Private Booth
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jon was hit with a strong sense of deja vu, before hearing a voice in his head.

"Jon, enough..." Said Latios voice in Jon's head, as he had his fists raised, ready to throw another blow at Lance.

"He was going to kill them without a second thought, even though it would do more harm than good! He is dangerous." Jon thought, knowing Latios could hear him.

"Doesn't seem dangerous now he is broken, bleeding, and I suspect not even awake..."

Jon looked back at Violet and Jarena and was surprised to see them human. But his instincts told him they had always been human? Yet he definitely remembered seeing them as Pokemon moments earlier. Lance even referenced it. What had happened?

Fists still raised, Jon took a breath, however before he could lower them he felt a telekinetic force hold him in place.

"Stop! Don't fight."

Jon was unable to turn his head to see the voice, but in his peripheral vision could see what appeared to be Jimmy and Jirachi. Suddenly everything made a lot more sense. Why these girls seemed to be Pokemon one moment, human the next, his memory of it seemingly tattered, and Jirachi seeming much more tired than before...

"Cuddles, take it from me, if you're gonna train a Legendary Pokemon, there is a lot more at risk than your every day Pikachu. And a lot more you need to do to minimize that risk..." Jon growled, still staring angrily at Lance, though knowing he couldn't do much about that being held in place, "Latios keeps me on my toes because he leaves holes in the ship, but that is the least of what he can do, and the holes are a best case scenario. You on the other hand have one that can alter reality at a whim that isn't even its own, so your job as its trainer has a lot more riding on it. Remember that before you give it this long of a leash... And you can start by having it let me go, so I can call Steven and Cynthia to deal with this s**tbag so I don't have to..."

Once Jon was released, he picked up Lance's belt that he had dropped earlier, finding the two Pokeballs that belonged to the Dragonites and calling them back, whilst Lance, who had collapsed after being let go by Jirachi, mumbled something that Jon didn't even want to bother trying to interpret. Latios let out a sigh as he could finally stop concentrating on holding the two powerful Pokemon at bay.

Jon sighed before turning to Violet, Jarena and Latios.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Jon apologized, "I took it way too far. As much as I try to hide it, times like this make it pretty obvious I still have a heap of s**t to deal with myself, and knowing he would go out of his way to try and kill someone who isn't in a position to fight back, struck a major nerve."

Jon grabbed Lance's stupid looking cape, wiping the blood off his fists on it, before pulling out his phone.

"Once this mission is over, assuming the plan can go ahead, I'll step away from these sorts of jobs." Jon explained, "It's becoming painfully obvious how much of a liability I can be..."

Jon tapped Steven's contact, as much as he thought of Steven as a friend, something he was getting sick of having to do, before holding the phone to his ear, speaking when Steven answered.

"You and Cynthia might want to get to Violet and Jarena's booth..." Jon explained, "We had an incident..."

"We know, we are on our way now." Steven replied over the phone, "I don't know why he didn't change the radio frequency. Probably too blinded by his pride, but we heard the order. Is everybody alright?"

"Everyone but him..." Jon said, "But I will leave you to decide whether its any sort of loss..."

"You didn't-"

"As tempted as I really was, no, he is alive." Jon explained, "Battered but alive."

"We will be there soon."

Jon turned his view to the screen, seeing that both trainers still only had one Pokemon KO'd each, however Avery seemed to be losing the upper hand they held earlier. The fact that the battle seemed to still be going without any sort of issue, with the shots of the fans still seeming like they had normal reactions to it, was reassuring. It meant that whatever happened before mustn't have happened to Cassandra, and if it did, those watching must have had their memory altered...

It wasn't long before Steven and Cynthia entered the room, stepping over the four unconscious operatives outside. Cynthia gasped as she looked at Lance, whose face was barely recognizable behind the swelling and blood.

"Jon, what the f**k did you do?!" Cynthia asked, shocking Jon with the cursing, seeing as her persona for the media seemed to calm, collected and professional.

"Goddamn..." Steven muttered, looking at Jon in shock.

"Exactly what it looks like..." Jon replied bitterly, "I snapped. I arrived as he was about to have his Dragonite kill the girls, Latios held his Pokemon off, and I went overboard in subduing him..."

"That's an understatement..." Cynthia muttered, as Jon handed her the belt with Lance's Pokemon. Jon wasn't sure if he was conscious or not. He kept mumbling, and occasionally wriggling, however seemed to be still. He could just be too sore to even move right now, but Jon was past the point of caring.

"So what now?" Jon asked, "I know this sort of thing shouldn't be swept under the rug. I'd be a f**king hypocrite expecting the girls to hand themselves in, and then trying to weasel my way out of this..."

"Under normal circumstanced, I'd be inclined to agree." Cynthia replied irritably, walking over to Lance to assess his condition, "I would make sure Ryan Mason is charged with assault, and punished relative to it being self defence but also unnecessary brutality..."

"But you and these girls have a bit more in common, since like our situation punishing them, us doing that will draw more attention to this god-forsaken ship, than if we find a way to tie it in a nice little bow for the public to see. Plus we still need somebody to take the fall." Cynthia explained, "If Jon Drake is the bad guy in all this, maybe we tell the public Lance figured out what he was doing and confronted him before being brutally attacked..."

As much as Jon was fine with adding to his villain persona for the sake of the cover-up, Lance being exalted as some sort of hero made him sick to the stomach. He was willing to murder in cold blood...

"What about him..." Jon asked, gesturing to the lump on the floor.

"He won't be getting away with this... You heard what we said to him. He was outvoted, and if he did anything to compromise what the vote was trying to achieve, he would be treated like anybody else. Champion aside, he attempted to murder Violet and Jarena, frame you, and interfere with legal proceedings." Cynthia explained, "He will be court marshalled quietly, and made sure to keep his mouth shut..."

"Is that a Jirachi?!" Steven asked, shocked, pointing at the Pokemon next to Jimmy. Being so focused on the situation, neither he or Cynthia had noticed the mythical Pokemon until now...

Chakramaster

02-22-2021, 12:40 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Private Booth
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Note: Jirachi speaks to everyone through telepathy

Jimmy had told Jirachi to let both Jon and Lance go after seeing they were both calm and Jon wasn't about to deal a murderous blow to Lance. Jon called in both Cynthia and Steven. Who were already on the way.

Luckily it seemed like then battle scene had returned to normal.

"I turned everyone back and may have had to turn back time a little for some. So they don't remember anything if they weren't directly part of it." Jirachi said. Looking a little more tired, but still seemingly awake as any of the others there.

"You turned back time a little? I guess you can't really control time. So that's understandable. Thank you Jirachi. Like I told you earlier. We're trying to do what we can so no one thinks too odd of this. So that magic and things like" he turns to a more hushed voice. "Witchcraft don't leak out. We can let anyone know it's real." Jimmy says a little saddened.

"But wishcraft is real! I can make whatever you want real!" Jirachi says happily bobbing its head back and forth.

"Hey Pikachu." Jimmy calls to him. "Can you keep Jirachi entertained a bit please? We're gonna need to talk with Cynthia and Steven." Jimmy says as they arrived and had already begun speaking with Jon.

"He won't be getting away with this... You heard what we said to him. He was outvoted, and if he did anything to compromise what the vote was trying to achieve, he would be treated like anybody else. Champion aside, he attempted to murder Violet and Jarena, frame you, and interfere with legal proceedings." Cynthia explained, "He will be court marshalled quietly, and made sure to keep his mouth shut..."

Jimmy had made his way to the group. Steven has noticed, but also notice the Pokémon with him.

"Is that a Jirachi?!" Steven asked, shocked, pointing at the Pokemon next to Jimmy. Being so focused on the situation, neither he or Cynthia had noticed the mythical Pokemon until now...

"Yeah believe it or not, it is. After changing back into my clothes once they reversed the spell. Jirachi came up to me in the bathroom. Kinda freaked us out a little at first, but he introduced himself and just wanted some friends. So he wanted to tag along. He let me capture him and just seems to want to have fun and make friends." Jimmy tells them as he begins to explain more.

"I'm trying to keep a close eye on him, but once making friends with someone he makes a close connection. If they have a deeply desired wish. No matter if they're close or not. Jirachi can feel the wish and grant it. So as it's trainer I have to take responsibility for what may happen. It seems like it's pretty young, but I have to help it learn not all wishes need to be granted. Plus, for every wish it grants he seems to get more tired. Not 1000 years tired like some lore may state, but tired enough to need rest."

Jirachi notices Jimmy talking with new people and floats away toward them. Pikachu calls out to stop him, but Jirachi still floats on.

"Pika-pi!" (Wait, Jirachi no!) Pikachu called out.

"Haha, hey there! I'm Jirachi! Is this more friends Jimmy? You have a lot of friends! Yay! I picked the best friend! So many new friends hahah!" Jirachi says floating around the group.

"What's your name?" He says looking to Steve. "And yours! You're so pretty!" He says to Cynthia.

"So many many friends to play with!" Jirachi says aloud.

"See? He's just friendly and needs someone to help train and guide him. Lest there be any more trouble. Plus, if we have to. Now we have another backup plan in case what we have now fails. Jirachi can make it a reality." Jimmy says to the group.

"I believe he's already grant a few wishes at this point. He's met Cassandra, he's seen her friends and told Cassandra he'd give them a gift too. He's met Jon and Avery as well. Oh and Ethan. Though they didn't really talk. Other than that. He just met you two." Jimmy mentions to the group.

Neo Emolga

02-23-2021, 01:07 AM

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Battle Stadium Spectator Booth
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

For now, the fighting had stopped with Lance on the verge of slipping into a coma. Jon had apologized to Violet, Jarena, and Latios, feeling his aggression might have gone too far.

“Once this mission is over, assuming the plan can go ahead, I’ll step away from these sorts of jobs,” Jon explained. “It’s becoming painfully obvious how much of a liability I can be…”

“Forget that, I might have done the same,” Violet told him, having no remorse for Lance. “Undercover operative duty may not be for you, Jon, but you’d be damn good for private security.”

Shortly after Steven and Cynthia had arrived, still a bit shocked at the aftermath of Jon’s handiwork. After assessing the situation, it was going to have to tie in with Jon’s plan of having his Jon Drake identity take the fall. It was going to have to be another strand in the difficult web to cover up, but it wasn’t impossible.

Afterword, they had learned that Jirachi had performed a kind of time warp to revert back some of the changes that had occurred, all pointing back to keeping witchcraft concealed. Jimmy had explained to Steven and Cynthia how he had found Jirachi and how star-shaped Pokémon could grant wishes. And as before, Jirachi was all too happy to befriend anyone he came across, provided they were kind and weren’t out to cause trouble. Jarena figured Lance was definitely not ending up on Jirachi’s Friend List.

“Oh man, so that’s why!” Jarena realized her wish from before was actually taken literally and granted by Jirachi. “Wow, that’s… but hey, why did someone undo my wish!?”

“Why do you think?” Violet asked her, rolling her eyes a bit. “Your wish transformed us and transformed Cass right in the middle of her battle with Avery. The one quite a few thousand people are watching right now.”

“Oh crap!!” Jarena exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands as she flushed with embarrassment when she realized how bad the timing was on that wish. “I didn’t mean to do that! I mean… come on, give me a break here, I didn’t think there was an actual Jirachi around and would take that completely literally right here and now, you know? Well, I… do I get my wish refunded or… how does this work exactly?”

Violet just sighed, shaking her head. She had to admit, while Jarena was comically reckless, she definitely made sure no one was ever bored.

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii

It had been an exciting battle, but now it was coming down to the wire. With both Cassandra’s Espeon and Ninetales knocked out, she was done to one left. Avery still had two, but Kanutia the Zebstrika was barely hanging on. It all came down to if Victini could take out Kanutia and whoever Avery would take out next.

Cassandra knew Victini was a very spirited and very lively Pokémon. He would not go down easy and he was going to fight vigorously to the very, very end.

“Flame Charge, Victini!” Cassandra called out. Rushing into action, Victini blazed across the arena battlefield, leaving a trail of flames in his wake. Faster and faster, he sped toward Knautia as his body was surrounded by fire, charging right toward the Zebstrika…

Chakramaster

02-23-2021, 11:46 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Stadium Private Booth
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Jirachi eagerly rushes over to the 2 Diamond Ladies and giggles as Jarena asked if she gets a refund on her wish or something. "Hahaha, of course not silly! Once you make a wish I can grant it. I can grant more though!" Jirachi says smiling toward her. "What's your name...and yours?" He asked both Jarena and Violet. "I'm so glad to find so many new friends! You two were both so cute as Bunary and Furrett. You should stay that way more often hahaha!" Jirachi pointed and laughed a little at them. "Being a Pokemon is so fun isn't it?" Jirachi asked.

Jimmy looked to Jirachi. "Hey Jirachi. I know a little more about your powers now. Wanna rest for a little while so you don't get too sleepy? We may need you to help us later. I promise I'll play with you afterward. Pikachu and I both will. I'll even introduce you to our other friends." Jimmy told Jirachi.

"Aww, fine. I'll rest a little. I am a little sleepy." Jirachi floats to Jimmy rubbing his eyes and yawning slightly. Jimmy gently grabs hold of Jirachi as it rests folded in his arms snuggly. Shutting his eyes and quickly falling asleep.

"I figured this might be for the best for now. Until we figure things out with Jirachi and it granting wishes. Right now it seems to be granting wishes for anyone who has been a part of today's events that he's seen or directly had contact with today. It's making him more sleepy as he grants these. So Jirachi could probably use this rest. I don't wanna over exhaust him, but I also wanna learn the best way to train him. It's totally different with a mythical Pokémon. I can see that now from a personal standpoint." Jimmy told the group.

[Desolate Divine]

02-24-2021, 11:36 AM

Jon Drake
Private Booth
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jimmy and Jirachi explained what happened earlier, leaving Jon slightly irritated that Jimmy seemed to be babying the Pokemon that could cause more trouble than the Diamond Ladies and Lance did, without even intending to. However his attention was drawn to the screen.

"Goddamn, she did it." Jon said, pointing to the monitor that declared Cassandra the winner, showing the last moments of battle, where Avery's Shaymin reverted back to its Land Forme at the worst possible moment.

The time in the bottom corner of the screen said 8pm, which meant Jon had half an hour before his match was due to start. Between the time to get back to the waiting room, and brief his team, he didn't have any more time to spare on Lance.

"I have to go, but can you make sure they're safe?" Jon asked Steven, gesturing towards Violet and Jarena, "Lance had four operatives follow him in here, as well as someone in data analysis willing to tamper with evidence to cover up him murdering them, so I doubt these are the only people out for blood."

"I'll watch the match here with them, then escort them personally to one of the lesser known Safe Houses." Steven explained, "Will lock it down with my own key so only I can enter the room overnight."

"Thanks. I owe you one." Jon explained, "Wish me luck tonight. As much as I am glad Cassandra won, it means I now have to make sure that I beat Ethan no matter what..."

"Good luck." Cynthia replied, "You know especially how much is riding on this match."

Jon nodded, before leaving the room, Latios, who had reverted to his normal form, now in tow.

*********

Twenty minutes later Jon found himself in a private locker room, moments away from entering the battlefield to face Ethan. Each competitor was given five minutes prior to pep talk their team. In front of Jon stood Blaziken, Jolteon, Nidoking and Latios, even though he was only allowed three Pokemon for the fight. Jon however, preferred to use this time to talk tactics. Unlike most trainers, Jon wasn't a fan of the back and fourth, calling out of moves that most trainers tended to use. Instead, his training focused on different tactics for battles, using the individual Pokemon as part of a larger unit, and improving their ability to make their own decisions on the spot. Jon viewed himself more as a coach to the athletes than the athlete himself. Just like his grandfather taught him.

"So tonight, we have to win." Jon explained, "Not just for the sake of the competition, but more so, some stuff bigger than this tournament is happening tomorrow night in the Grand Final, and I need to be there."

Blaziken looked at him confused, before Jon continued.

"For that reason, we will use the tag strategy."

Blaziken, Jolteon and Nidoking looked at him in shock, whilst Latios seemed giddy. Jon didn't blame them. Tag was a risky strategy, but if it paid off, would secure them an easy win.

"Blaziken and Jolteon, you two will be the main force." Jon explained, "If all goes to plan, Nidoking shouldn't need to make an appearance, but we will keep him in reserves in case we need him. If this goes pear shaped early on though, Latios, I will need you to take it home. But if we can avoid that we will, because your real show will be tomorrow night."

Jon spent the next few minutes running through the plan with the team, before being called out onto the battlefield.

Jon entered at the call of his name, before making his way to the centre, shaking Ethan's hand, before making his way to his side of the battlefield, sending out his first Pokemon simultaneously with Ethan. Blaziken.

"Blaziken, you will be out first." Jon explained in the locker room earlier, though Blaziken knew that would be the case, "Your focus is to build strength and speed. The reason I sent you out first every battle was in case we did this plan. If Ethan has paid attention, he should be able to guess you will be my first, and will act accordingly..."

As Blaziken materialized on the battlefield, Ethan's first Pokemon also materialized. A Feraligatr. Jon hid a grin at the fact that this was going to plan.

"No matter what he sends out, I know you can take it. If he sends out a Pokemon with a type advantage, that will set us up well for the rest of the match." Jon explained, "We don't want to beat the first Pokemon quickly, because we need time for your ability to work..."

The two Pokemon stepped forward before the bell rang, signalling the start of the battle. Not wasting a second, Ethan called out a command, as Feraligatr leapt forward, attempting an Aqua Tail, which Blaziken leapt away from.

"If your opponent uses any moves that are going to hit hard, do what you can to dodge them, but don't be too quick about it. We don't want them to realize you are getting faster." Jon explained, "If they are moves that aren't going to hit too hard, use Bulk Up instead.

Whilst Jon had plenty of faith that Blaziken could beat this Feraligatr with only fighting moves, what most people didn't realize about Blaziken is a special ability few of them have called Speed Boost. As the match goes on, Blaziken's natural speed increases, topping out at roughly quadruple what it was at the start of the match. The longer the fight gets drawn out, the faster Blaziken will get. Paired with the Bulk Ups, Blaziken will reach a point where it will hit harder and faster than any other Pokemon in this tournament, second possibly to Latios. It also helped that Feraligatr was naturally slower and less nimble on solid ground than Blaziken.

"We have to drag out this first fight, but not make it look like we are doing that." Jon explained, "If they realize we are leading them on, it might click what we are doing, so he may change his strategy. We need to make him think that his own strategy is working, so that he doesn't change it, and the match is drawn out like it needs to be."

About a minute had passed of Blaziken appearing to be on the defensive. Whilst it seemed like Blaziken hadn't sped up at all, really he was just finding it easier and easier to keep out of reach. Feraligatr alternated between hard hitting water attacks and physical attacks, slashes and bites and such. What Ethan hadn't seemed to notice was that Blaziken was dodging nearly every water attack, whilst taking the hits of the physical attacks, using Bulk Up during those few moments, building resistance and strength. Finally Jon heard what he was after. Blaziken who had been silent until now, crying out.

"Don't make any noises until the right moment. You calling out will be the signal." Jon explained, "When your buffs have reached their max, or you can't take another hit, make some noise, and we will move to the offensive."

Blaziken had made the signal as Feraligatr was readying a Hydropump attack, and was waiting for Jon to instruct one of two things. Fight, or...

"Switch!" Jon shouted, gripping Jolteon's Pokeball, as Blaziken erupted into a white light.

"When I yell switch, use Baton Pass." Jon explained, "That's where you come in Jolteon. In battles where Blaziken can't hit as hard as we'd like, you will hit for him."

The Hydro Pump hit its target, however its target had changed, revealing a now soaked Jolteon where Blaziken stood, now carrying all of the stored strength, speed and constitution that Blaziken had gathered.

It was almost instantaneous, the gap between the attack landing, and Jolteon launching forward, managing to land a Thunder Fang on the very confused Feraligatr. Jolteon sunk his fangs into the water type, as a discharge of electricity flooded from his body, amplified by Blaziken's Bulk Ups, creating several large bolts of lightning that launched in all directions, before a large bang was heard, and Feraligatr was launched across the stadium, crashing into the wall, knocked unconscious before it even hit the ground.

"The moment you find yourself out of a Pokeball, launch an attack. Don't give them any time to react." Jon explained, "This is how we will win this. Strike hard, strike fast, and cover each others weaknesses."

"Feraligatr is unable to battle! Ethan Caldwell has two Pokemon remaining. Jon Drake has three."

Ethan called back his Feraligatr, before summoning his next Pokemon to the field. Skarmory.

Jon cursed under his breath, knowing a flying Pokemon, whilst not impossible to beat, would not be easy. Whilst Blaziken could jump to land attacks, he was probably more tired from dragging out the fight with Feraligatr, and taking the hits, than Jolteon probably was. That and Jolteon had means of regaining energy. Jolteon could use ranged attacks, however they were not powered by Blaziken's Bulk Up, so Jon wanted to avoid using them outside of very specific circumstances. Lucky however, that Skarmory knows very few ranged attacks as well. It would not be able to attack Jolteon without getting close, however it came down to how many hits Jolteon could take, and how easily Skarmory could avoid Jolteon's attacks being able to fly.

This was one matchup Jon hadn't accounted for, so began speaking up.

"Wait for it to attack, and try and strike then!"

Jolteon waited, as Skarmory circled above before diving down, landing strikes on the electric type, who was unable to strike back, due to Skarmory's exit trajectory being near impossible to predict in the open air.

Jon scowled, as he tried to think of a way out of this that didn't involve sending out Blaziken. Blaziken had some heavier hitting moves than Joleton, but Ethan had one more Pokemon after this, and Jon wanted to save Blaziken as a one hit wonder in case Jolteon couldn't handle whatever was coming. There was a way out, Jon knew it. Thinking back to his instructions, he remembered something he told Jolteon.

"Truth is, in the next fight, I am going to pretend to be a bad guy. If there is any way we can hint towards that now, without seeming too obvious, people will be more likely to believe I'm the bad guy tomorrow evening. So tonight, if we have to tow the line between what is good sportsmanship and what is battling dirty, we do that. Enough to cause the crowd to dislike me, but not enough they can kick me out of the tournment tonight." Jon explained, "One thing we can do, Jolteon, if you're every low on energy, remember, you can absorb electricity, and it doesn't have to be from a Pokemon attack. There are stadium lights right on the edge of the battlefield..."

Jolteon looked at Jon, waiting for direction, before taking another attack from Skarmory, and looking back to his trainer. Jon's eyes darted towards the stadium light nearest them, which caused Jolteon to realize what he had planned.

"Don't just straight up attack it. That will be too obvious. Instead try and line up a shot where you look like you're attacking the other Pokemon, but if it dodges, the nearest thing for it to hit is the light." Jon explained, "Hit it hard enough with a thunderbolt, you might be able to tap into its power source and get some energy back. You want it to be obvious enough that people think it may have been intentional, but not too obvious that the league isn't going to risk disqualifying a competitor over what could be a complete mistake. Don't worry about the bill. It's nothing compared to what Latios has cost me so far..."

Going on the defensive, Jolteon darted to the side, as Skarmory began to follow from the air, diving down, occaisonally striking the Pokemon, but managing to miss a considerable amount of times. Jolteon ran towards the stadium light, then as Skarmory dived down, dug his paws into the ground, laying flat as the Steel type Pokemon flew over him, now sitting between Jolteon and the Stadium Light.

Jolteon cried out, as it let out a Thunderbolt, which Skarmory avoided with ease. What nobody saw coming was the thunderbolt hitting the casing of the main pole of the stadium light, breaking through it, and connecting with the power wires. The wiring became overloaded, blowing the globes out of the lights as broken glass rained down, and the power flowing from the power source to the wiring, now flowing into the circuit that existed between Jolteon and the pole, giving Jolteon a boost of energy, but doing something that Jon didn't intend for when he first gave Jolteon the idea.

The giant steel bird was like a giant lightning rod, and whilst the lights weren't high voltage, the amount of current that was flowing from the light was enough to do a significant amount of damage. The ark of electricity shifted from Jolteon to Skarmory, as fusebreaker finally kicked in, cutting off current, leaving Jolteon healthier than ever, and Skarmory unconscious on the ground.

"Skarmory is unable to battle! Ethan Caldwell has one Pokemon left. Jon Drake has three. However Jon Drake has received a warning, and any other incidents like that will result in instant disqualification."

Ethan looked at Jon furiously as the crowd booed, with Jon making a mental note to apologize to him later. Whilst he wanted to tell Ethan the plan, and apologize in advance for the underhanded techniques he was going to use, he didn't want Ethan trying to throw the match and it being obvious.

Ethan called back Skarmory, before sending in his final Pokemon. Golem.

"F***..." Jon muttered, realizing how much trouble Jolteon was in, and thanking God that he kept Blaziken aside. However he soon realized getting Blaziken out would be more difficult than he intended. Golem leapt forward, curling up into a ball, launching itself at Jolteon, who barely had a second to spare before being hit by it. If Jon switched out Jolteon without Baton pass, all the work Blaziken did before would be for nothing, and the best way to end this would be with Blaziken. Same thing if Joleton fainted. However, the only reason Blaziken was able to Baton pass so quickly was because he was the one signalling to Jon to do it. He was prepared, whilst with Jolteon, Jon had to make more decisions in this fight. Jolteon would need a second to use the move, however kept getting hit by Golem before he could.

"S**t..." Jon muttered, as he tried to remember what moves Jolteon knew that could help in this situation. Electric moves were out of the question, and whilst Jolteon knew double kick, getting that close to Golem was too risk. Suddenly, it hit him.

"Use endure!" Jon shouted, as Jolteon took a direct hit. He was knocked into the air, though whilst that should have knocked Jolteon out, instead, he was still conscious, with a sliver of energy. And this time being airborne would provide enough of a gap between barrages to...

"Now Switch Jolteon!"

A moment or two later, Jolteon was absorbed in a white light, before disappearing and being replaced by Blaziken, who remembered Jon's advice from earlier.

"Strike fast, strike hard, cover eachothers weaknesses. As soon as you're out of the Pokeball, attack."

"Revenge!" Jon shouted, as Blaziken took another hit from Golem, who still seemed to think it was battling a Jolteon half its height and a tenth of the weight.

Blaziken took the hit from Golem, holding back a cry of pain, before rotating around, seeming to roll off the side of the Pokemon, and launching a roundhouse kick into the Rock type, causing it to stumble in confusion at what had just happened.

"Now one last hit!" Jon shouted out, "Close Combat!"

Blaziken leapt forward at the dazed rock type, letting out a barrage of quick and powerful kicks, before jumping in the air, spinning around and striking the rock type with one last finishing kick. Golem was launched back, rolling backwards into the wall of the arena, leaving a significant dent, and laying unconscious. When Blaziken realized the fight was over, he sighed, before collapsing down into a sitting position on the ground, taking deep breaths.

"Golem is unable to battle. Jon Drake has won the battle!"

Noblejanobii

02-24-2021, 04:47 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga

Avery’s eyes widened as Victini was sent out onto the field. They folded their hands in front of their mouth and let out a long “hmmmm”.

“You know. I should have expected that. But I did not plan for it,” they mumbled to Gloria.

They tried to command Knautia out of the way of the attack, but the recoil damage he had suffered along with the still lingering effects of Confuse Ray ultimately cause the Zebstrika to trip and fall again, allowing Victini to quickly finish him off.

“Avery’s Zebstrika is unable to battle!” the referee called out.

Avery returned Knautia to his Pokéball, kissing it and whispering, “You did so well hanging in for so long. Thank you.”

Now they were faced with a tough decision. Victini was no joke that could easily trounce most of Avery’s team. Daybreak and Acacia were really the only ones that stood a chance of lasting a few attacks from the mythical, but even then there was no guarantee they would hold up under the barrage. So what to do…

“Min,” (“Hey,”) Gloria said, “Shaymin shay.” (“Send me out, coach.”)

“You? But Victini would easily have the upper hand! Why would you-?”

“Shaaay min min Shaymin shay shay.” (“I’ve been practicing some secret techniques that will help! And if you give me that little flower you have tucked away in your bag, that might give me the extra speed edge we need.”)

She made a good point. Plus a mythical vs a mythical might prove better than a mythical versus a normal Pokémon.

“Trainer Avery! Please send out your next Pokémon.”

“Ah what the heck. Let’s do it,” Avery said. Dropping their bag to the ground, Avery quickly dig through it and fished out a Gracidea flower. Even with Gloria’s alternate flower, the Gracidea still worked as intended. Gloria was quickly consumed by a glowing yellow light, changing shape and growing until she had changed into a Sky Forme Shaymin.

“Shayyyyy min!” (“Now this is more like it!”) Gloria jumped off Avery’s shoulder and soared onto the battlefield, staring Victini down. “Shay Shay!” (“It’s just you and me now, buddy!”) She cried.

“Gloria, Earth Power let’s go!” Avery cried out.

The audience was quickly captivated by the battle between two Mythicals, a rare sight for sure. Gloria managed to land the Earth Power, but this only prompted a strong retaliation from Victini in the form of a fearsome V-Create. Gloria managed to use Protect in time to shield herself and used the momentum from the attack to go into a "Spiraling Seedy Glide". This required Gloria to dive down to the ground and kick off using a Quick Attack to swiftly strike back with Grassy Glide, a move she had used in plenty of Contest Battles prior. But that wasn't enough to finish off Victini, as the fire rabbit soon came at the Shaymin again with another V-Create. Gloria and Avery knew that this would be too much for her to shield with just a simple Protect, so they used a different Contest Battle technique instead, "Seedy Protect". As Gloria spiraled in the air to summon another Protect, she also drew in some air around her, making her a ticking time bomb that exploded as soon as Victini hit her Protect shield.

The Seed Flare hit hard and true, causing Victini to seem down for the count. Avery felt happiness swell in their chest as Victini went down and they let out a loud whoop as Gloria spun in the sky.

“Shay Shay Shay Shay Shay!!” (I did it! I did it! I did it!”) Gloria changed excitedly as she twirled round and round, dancing through the air.

Avery couldn’t be prouder. Despite the huge disadvantage, their little partner had managed to show that Victini that type wasn’t everything. Maybe they were really cut out for this whole battling thing after all.

“Victini is unable to battle, victory goes to-“ the referee suddenly stopped and lowered the flag in seeming confusion.

Avery drew their eyebrows together. Why had the call been stopped? They quickly realized that Victini was starting to stand back up despite his injuries. The rabbit set his forehead ablaze again, putting everything into one last attack. He was tired though, so Gloria could just outrun him until he ran out of steam.

“Gloria! Use Quick Attack to-“ The command was interrupted by a sharp beeping from Avery’s watch. They glanced down and felt their face go pale.

8:00

Gloria suddenly felt the Cinderella spell wear off as a glowing light consumed her once again. It dispersed quickly, leaving the Land Forme Shaymin suspended high in the sky. “Shaymi-!” (“Oh fu-“)

Gloria quickly began to plummet towards earth, accelerating quickly as her body tumbled through the air. Losing her Sky Forme meant that Gloria could no longer bend the air to her will, leaving her completely vulnerable to Victini’s attacks.

“GLORIA USE PROTECT NOW!!”

Gloria just barely heard the command over the wind whistling in her ears. She was disoriented and dizzy but she put all she could into summoning a third Protect Shield.

But it was too late.

Victini hit his mark this time, colliding with Gloria before she could get her shield up. The Shaymin was sent flying, unconscious and spiraling towards the ground.

Avery's heart stopped in their chest. She couldn't survive a fall from that height. “GLORIA!!” They had a split second to make their decision on how to save her. Try to aim with the Pokéball or...

Avery didn't finish that thought before they dashed out onto the field and dove, barely catching the hedgehog before she hit the stadium floor. They let out a heavy sigh and stood up, cradling Gloria in their arms. “You did so well,” they whispered before returning Gloria to her Pokeball.

“Avery’s Shaymin is no longer able to battle! The victory goes to Cassandra!”

Cheers erupted across the stadium as the fight reached its epic conclusion. Avery had no doubt Cassandra’s fans, which outnumbered their own by plenty, were pleased. Avery turned to see one of the Rotom drones buzzing nearby and smiled for the camera. Sure a loss was a loss, but they didn’t feel bad about this one. This has been the most exhilarating battle they had ever had, and probably ever would.

Avery took a bow for the camera, more cheers coming from around the stadium as they graciously accepted defeat. Then they turned to Cassandra and flashed her a peace sign before heading back towards the waiting room.

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena Waiting Room

Avery watched Jon's battle on the television screen in the waiting room. They had their Rotom phone out and were actively taking notes on the battle. They had expected Jon to win cleanly so they mostly focused on taking notes on Ethan. A Feraligatr, a Skarmory, and a Golem. Picotee and Daybreak could make short work of them, assuming Ethan used the same Pokémon.

"Shayy..." Gloria snored softly as she rested in Avery's lap. The Shaymin had been fully healed up after the battle along with the rest of Avery's team, but she was still worn out, so Avery was letting her rest in their lap for the time being.

Neo Emolga

02-24-2021, 10:01 PM

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Battle Stadium Spectator Booth
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

“Ha ha ha!” Jirachi laughed when Jarena asked about her wish refund, “of course not, silly! Once you make a wish I can grant it. I can grant more though!”

While it sounded like being a kid in a candy store and all the candy was free, Jarena knew she had to contain herself, though it was hard. Jirachi was being especially friendly and she knew she needed to be polite and not get carried away. After all, each wish that Jirachi granted made him increasingly more lethargic, and the last thing she wanted was to put the poor mythical Pokémon in a coma because she got carried away. She figured if she was going to make a wish, it had to count and be important to her.

“What’s your name… and yours?” Jirachi asked.

“Oh, I’m Jarena!” she exclaimed with a smile. “It’s awesome to meet you, Jirachi!”

“Name’s Violet,” she replied, smirking a bit. “Sup.”

“I’m so glad to find so many new friends! You two were both so cute as Buneary and Furret. You should stay that way more often, hahaha!” Jirachi pointed and laughed at them. “Being a Pokémon is so fun, isn’t it?”

“Oh my goodness, it is!” Jarena smiled, taking special care to be mindful of using the word ‘wish’ around Jirachi. “It was crazy at first but it’s amazing! I would totally do it again!”

Violet nodded lightly, though still very much on the fence when it came to ultimately deciding on that. Choosing how their future would play out was a complicated matter, dependent on some things they could control, and others they couldn’t. Violet could tell it would be a challenge to get Jarena to decide against the Plan B option if she wanted to remain human, but the major factor was paying back what they owed, and how much crippling debt it would leave them in. If Violet found herself unable to pay back the debts, forced to declare bankruptcy, and liquidate almost all of her assets, she wouldn’t be against donning a coat of brown and beige fur to remove herself from a world of financial hell. She hated nothing more than debt and being impoverished. She’d be far happier living in a lush and peaceful forest as a Furret eating berries and apples as opposed to living on skid row in an urban hellhole eating out of a dumpster that someone defecated in.

Shortly after, Jirachi had decided to take a nap while Jimmy told the others to use caution when making wishes, as when done in overabundance, it made him very exhausted.

“Thanks for introducing us!” Jarena thanked Jimmy and Jirachi, flashing a friendly smile. “Enjoy your nap, Jirachi!”

With all the sudden commotion and since Jirachi needed time to rest, Jarena and Violet had turned back to the television screen, interested to see how Cassandra was fairing in her battle with Avery.

Cassandra Silvers
Battling Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii
OOC: Major kudos to Noble, this battle was amazing.

The time distortion had caused Ninetales to misplace her Extrasensory attack, and as a result, Knautia had cut through it with another Wild Charge attack, slamming into Ninetales and causing her to tumble upon the arena floor. The referee had declared it a clear knock out as Ninetales was completely unresponsive and far too exhausted to continue battling. Taking a deep breath, Cassandra took Ninetales’s Pokéball and recalled her into it, complimenting her on a job well done.

Cassandra was down to her last Pokémon. Before she stepped into the area, she thought there was a possibility that the battle would be a complete disaster, and it would be obvious they would need to start over and relearn how to battle without Shadowcraft being used from the sidelines. And at first, Cassandra could see that process taking months to address. But they had come this far legitimately… without cheating or tricks. It was really making her wonder why she ever did them in the first place when she had the potential to go this far without them.

Cassandra had looked to Victini. It had been a wild day unlike any other Cassandra had ever gone though, but they were here now.

“Well, what do you say, Victini?” Cassandra asked him with a smile. “Itching for action tonight?”

“Vic-ti-ni ni!” (“Ohh, thought you’d never ask!”) he exclaimed with a smile.

The fiery and feisty rabbit-like Pokémon of victory was more than eager to get in on the battle. After surging toward Knautia with a Flame Charge attack, the Zebstrika attempted to leap out of the way, but Victini made contact with the zebra Pokémon, causing them to be bathed with fire.

The referee had declared Avery’s Zebstrika unable to continue battling, leaving Avery with their last Pokémon. It was down to this. Both contenders had their reasons and desires to win. Avery to prove themselves as a battler after being a coordinator, while Cassandra wanted to see if she and her team could win, this time for real, this time without witchcraft. This final matchup meant so much to both of them.

After having a difficult time choosing who to send out, Avery’s Shaymin, Gloria, had talked Avery into choosing her. Cassandra was a bit surprised, seeing this was a type matchup that wasn’t in Avery’s favor, and even though she didn’t quite know the reasons behind her decision, she decided to take it carefully, knowing she was still running on her own disadvantage of having a team that worked on her using witchcraft for years and no longer had that going for them.

She still had to play it smart and be ready for anything. Avery had used a Gracidea flower, allowing Gloria to transform into Sky Forme, now taking on the resemblance of a deer rather than the grassy hedgehog. At the same time, it gave Gloria the ability to fly.

The audience was thrilled to see this unfold, now one mythical Pokémon battling another. Before Victini could get into striking position, Gloria had swiftly struck the arena ground, triggering a vicious Earth Power attack to ravage Victini with a powerful earthen force. Despite the type disadvantage, Gloria still knew how to make this bout hurt.

Victini winced in pain, and Cassandra made a grimace as she knew ground-based attacks were especially vicious to a fire Pokémon like him. Had he not quickly leapt back using his rear wings to create distance between him and the ground zero zone of the Earth Power effect, it might have finished him off and make this a very short-lived match.

Cassandra then gave Victini the command to unleash his signature attack, V-Create, which Cassandra knew would be devastating if it landed on Gloria. The mythical Pokémon of victory surged toward the Shaymin, blazing like a comet as he scattered sparks and embers in his fiery wake. However, just before Victini made contact, Gloria had defended themselves with a Protect barrier, suddenly forming a green and blue bubble shield between her and Victini. Instead of slamming into Gloria, he only struck the shield before causing a massive explosion of fire and flames.

Where the audience thought it might have spelled doom Gloria, she was completely unscathed. And not only that, but Avery had deployed Gloria into her own homebrewed “Spiraling Seedy Glide” maneuver, performing a spiraling dive, heading straight for the ground while Victini was only now just realizing the V-Create attack was stopped dead with no effect, much to his disappointment. After performing a Quick Attack to sprint off the arena floor, Gloria left a jagged crack in the ground as she rocketed toward Victini and struck him with a Grassy Glide attack.

Victini had tried to veer out of the way, but was struck with a glancing blow that forced him to stumble to the ground. Despite having some resistance to Gloria’s grass-based attack, it was still not something to casually laugh off and between this and her last Earth Power attack, it was taking a toll on him. Still, despite the infliction, Victini’s usual spirited and whimsical nature helped him channel the pain and frustration into raw, frisky and feisty energy.

Meanwhile, Cassandra could see how Avery managed to ingrain their coordinator experience into battling experience, which was not something she had seen done before at all. And she could see how this home-brewed battling strategy had helped them get to the semifinals. It was not something to be estimated and she could see where most trainers would easily see their teams succumb to this unique and unexpected strategy.

Deciding to attempt it once again, Cassandra requested Victini to use his V-Create attack, really hoping to cut through this time. Meanwhile, Avery was leveraging the coordinator experience and making their battling strategy like a contest performance. Before today, Cassandra could swear she had never seen this done before, and she was even more surprised to see it was quite surprisingly effective and very unpredictable to her.

Avery’s “Seedy Protect” tactic left her wondering what exactly this consisted of, and by the time Cassandra found out, it landed ended up with Victini slamming into yet another Protect barrier with a Seed Flare reprisal attack that detonated upon Victini’s abdomen. Even despite having some resistance to the grass-based attack, once the fire and the smoke had cleared away, Cassandra saw Victini tumbling down, immediately causing her to gasp in shock.

Victini just narrowly managed to avoid violently crashing into the arena floor, which would have dealt a painful blow and knocked him out cold had he failed at his landing. Despite landing on his feet, it was still a hard, tottering stumble and his aching legs couldn’t bear the weight of his body. As a result, he had tumbled on the ground, lying on his back as the arena ceiling spun like a merry-go-round as his muscles were aching and his breathing was labored and heavy.

“Victini!” Cassandra cried out as the audience was suddenly in awe at what was unfolding.

It was exactly what she was afraid of.

After coming this far and having so much hope for her team, she knew this would be difficult for them. With all her heart, she was hoping to win without cheating this time, without witchcraft and underhanded tricks. And despite it being much more challenging and difficult, she wanted herself and her team to say yes, they could do it and that there was hope on the horizon for them.

But she knew she hadn’t given them time to prepare, time to be retrained, and time to work out a new strategy. It was a hard setback for all of them and Cassandra knew the moment she stepped into the arena that this could be the setback that might cost them everything.

Nonetheless, despite it being one of the biggest rollercoasters of a day she had ever gone though, she was proud of her team. If this is how it had to end, she was still happy for the contributions and efforts each of her Pokémon had made. She rushed to Victini’s side as the small victory Pokémon was exhausted and spent, tired from a ravaging Earth Power attack on top of a glancing blow from Grassy Glide and a direct hit from a Seed Flare attack. It did a number on him, not to mention the exhaustion incurred from not one but two V-Create attacks that failed to connect with his intended target.

7:59…

Tired with hazy vision clouding over him, as Victini turned to Cassandra and tried to smile to let her know it would all be okay, he could see those three numbers on Cassandra’s digital watch, watching the colon mark blinking… blinking… blinking… counting down the seconds as Victini could hear his own heartbeat beating… beating… and beating…

Everything was aching, sore, and was painful to him, and then the arena referee stood over the tired Pokémon and his trainer kneeling besides him. The referee then raised a white flag into the air, and the audience was suddenly left gasping at the call.

Meanwhile, Avery and Gloria were already celebrating as the Shaymin danced in the sky and cheered.

It was over…

“Victini is unable to battle,” the referee announced, “victory goes to-”

<Oh no you don’t, bub.>

…or was it?

The referee, not expecting to get that kind of telepathic message from a source he couldn’t identify, had lowered the flag in puzzlement. Next thing he saw, Victini had taken a deep breath and had drawn out every list ounce of spirited and lively energy he could, doing whatever he could to pull into a second wind. Despite the scuffs and dirt all over his body, his aching muscles, and his fatigue, he fought hard to get back on his feet to get back into the action.

7:59…

Cassandra was a bit shocked at Victini’s tenacity and steadfastness to continue going, but she greatly admired it nonetheless. Meanwhile, Victini didn’t need a command from Cassandra. He knew what she wanted, a solid, flawless V-Create to do what it was supposed to, not like the other two that were stopped dead. With his V-shaped forehead lit up with flames, he blazed his way toward Gloria as more fire and embers were scattered like fireworks.

”Do it…” Cassandra whispered under her breath, in awe at Victini’s second wind. “You got this, buddy!

8:00

It was at that moment that the turn of the hour meant time was up for Gloria’s Sky Forme. He knew what would happen. Gloria would be forced to revert back to Land Forme, which would also result in a short moment of disorientation.

It was all he needed. That one window of opportunity to catch Gloria off guard as she tried to reacquaint herself with the situation.

And that moment was now.

“VICT-TININI!!!” (“HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!!”) Victini shouted out, flashing a menacing smile.

Speed, fury, and fire dashed right toward Gloria along with gusto that Cassandra never knew Victini had…

Gloria had plummeted toward the ground, leaving her with a moment of vulnerability.

“GLORIA USE PROTECT NOW!!” Avery had shouted out frantically.

But it was too late, and she could not get the barrier up in time. The collision was quick and harsh, striking the Shaymin into the air before Avery dashed and managed to catch the unconscious Shaymin that had fallen from the sky.

As Avery returned Gloria to her Pokéball, she admired Avery’s commitment to making it this far. It had been an extremely close battle, one that could have been anyone’s game…

“Avery’s Shaymin is no longer able to battle! The victory goes to Cassandra!”

The stadium was lit up with cheering and excitement and truly, Cassandra had never seen a battle this exciting and this exhilarating. She looked to Victini, and despite his complete and utter exhaustion and aching muscles, they made it. They proved themselves. They had given each other the biggest hug.

“You’re incredible, Victini!!” Cassandra cheered. “You’re the best! That was beyond amazing! Thank you for everything!!”

“Vic…ti…ni…?” (“Whew… geez… can we go for ice cream now?”) Victini asked, just now finally catching his breath.

“Forget that!” Cassandra laughed. “We’re celebrating with a whole cake, that’s what!”

“Vic-tiiii…” (“Ooh, I like that idea!”) he exclaimed, perking up.

Cassandra had looked back to Avery, who had taken a bow for the camera as they graciously and honorably accepted defeat. They then turned to Cassandra, flashing a peace sign before heading back to the waiting room. Cassandra wanted to thank Avery for a great battle and most importantly for their understanding, but they had turned around and left before she had gotten the chance…

“Avery, wait!” Cassandra called out to them.

The noise from the crowd had drowned her out, and Cassandra could only watch as Avery left the stadium…

I hope Avery’s not upset… they did a really great job out here…

To Cassandra, tonight’s battle meant so much more than just advancing to the final round. It answered so many of her questions about herself. She could compete without a single trace of witchcraft. In fact, the win felt pure, legitimate, and truthful. It had been a tough struggle and she accepted the fact she came extremely close to losing it at the end of a very long road.

She wanted to thank Avery for giving her that chance. She knew it would have been very easy for Avery to request that Cassandra be disqualified from tonight’s battle and Cassandra knew the League wouldn’t even hesitate about honoring that request given everything that had happened today and in Cassandra’s dishonorable past. But instead, Avery wanted things to be fair, to give both sides a chance and honor that battle despite what had happened. Avery had given Cassandra a chance to compete in this battle under fair circumstances… something that not every trainer would have agreed to if they were in Avery’s position.

“Thank you, Avery…” Cassandra muttered as she saw them disappear from sight.

Cassandra realized that for all those years, she wasn’t just cheating other trainers from winning. She was cheating herself and her team from getting better. From that day forward, she vowed to never, ever do it again, not even as a prank because she knew that’s where and how it all started, even if it seemed funny and harmless at the time. Cheating, no matter how or where, was just blatantly wrong and though she couldn’t change the past, she didn’t have to keep living in the same sins and mistakes now and in the future.

Cassandra had turned back to the crowds, waving to them with a bright smile. Victini, though exhausted and tired, had given them all of happy salute.

“Thank you, everyone!” she shouted, though it was mostly drowned out by the noise. “See you again tomorrow night!”

Following that, she was soon escorted off the arena grounds by two operatives. They had to prepare the arena for Jon and Ethan’s battle, while Cassandra knew she and the other two Ladies were still under tight surveillance, though they weren’t going to make it obvious to the crowds.

She then headed back to the waiting room, excited to see how Jarena and Violet were going to react when they saw she and her team had managed to survive this very intense and exhilarating battle.

Chakramaster

02-25-2021, 11:35 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Private Booth -> Battle Arena Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Noblejanobii

Jirachi was still sleeping with Jimmy. The match between Cassandra and Avery had ended. Though Avery lost. They still have their best to the cameras. Showing the kind of sportsmanship you love to see. Jimmy decided to step out and visit with Avery and more properly introduce Jirachi this time.

"Congrats to Cassandra for her win!" Jimmy told Jarena and Violet. "Victini really is something huh? I'm gonna step out for a bit."

Jimmy still held Jirachi. Out sleeping a bit longer this time, but he felt the longer he slept the better. Poor guy must really get exhausted being around so many others who want wishes granted. Regardless, he felt the need to take a moment to speak with Jirachi. Sitting down on a bench away from others. He took a moment to wake up Jirachi. Giving him a gentle shake.

"Hey buddy. How are you feeling?" Jimmy said to Jirachi. Pikachu jumping up beside them on the bench.

"Fwaaaah!" Much better now. Thank you for letting me sleep there! It was so comfy!" Jirachi said happily.

"Haha, just wait until you try sleeping on the pillows in our room. It's like sleeping on a cloud. Anyway. I needed to speak with you for awhile okay Jirachi?" Jimmy mentions.

Jirachi giggles at his statement. "I've tried sleeping on a cloud before. You fall right through! Well, most clouds. I did manage to sleep on one for a few minutes though!" Jirachi laughed. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Jirachi questioned.

"Yeah, but we just needed this moment. I know you have fun granting wishes and it's nice to see others getting their wish granted...but for right now I need to ask you don't just go granting wishes right away. Look to me first and I'll tell you if it's okay. Not everyone here may be a real friend. So if you grant a wish to the wrong person. Something bad may happen." Jimmy states.

"Something bad?" Jirachi tilts his head in concern.

"Right. Like how you took us back when Cassandra and her friends changed into Pokémon again for a brief moment before you changed them back by taking us back slightly in time? That could've been a disaster. No one is supposed to know about that happening and we're trying to cover it up. At least for now. So please. I know it's fun and you're really nice to want to grant wishes to those you care for. It's just...right now it's not safe. So please take caution." Jimmy says once more.

Jirachi looked down a moment thinking. Before smiling back up at him and floating to his head. Pulling on his hair and messing it up once more. "Okay Jimmy! I promise! I'll only grant wishes you say are okay." Jirachi happily days while playing with Jimmy's hair and laughing.

"You really like laying up there and playing with my hair huh?" Jimmy chuckles.

Still laughing, Jirachi says "Yup!"

Jimmy gets up and finished making his way to the Battle Arena's waiting room. Where Avery should be. He wanted to congratulate Avery on a hard fought battle and properly introduce Jirachi this time.

He knocks on the door.

"Hey Avery are you still there? It's me Jimmy. Can we come in? Someone here wants to see you." Jimmy says

"Avery! It's me Jirachi! I wanna meet yoooou!" Jirachi says laughing. Trying to repeat what Jimmy was saying aloud.

"You really are just like a kid in a candy shop huh Jirachi?" Jimmy says as Jirachi floats down right beside his face.

"Oooooh that sounds so nice! Can we get some candy later too? I loooooove candy!" Jirachi says excitedly bouncing back and forth just like a little kid already hyped up on too much sugar.

Chuckling again. "Later Jirachi. We can right right before you get to play. Sound good?"

"Yay! Hahaha, you're the best!" Jirachi said doing a little spin in the air. Eagerly awaiting Avery to hopefully answer.

Neo Emolga

02-26-2021, 04:18 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Battle Stadium Spectator Booth
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

After Cassandra got her team healed up at the Pokémon Center kiosk station by the arena stadium, she was then escorted by three operatives to the spectator booth where Jarena and Violet had been watching the battle unfold on a monitor.

“You go, girl!” Jarena cheered upon Cassandra’s arrival. “Holy crapola, that was a crazy battle!”

“Yeah, really,” Cassandra replied with a relieved sigh. “Avery’s team is tough as nails! Wasn’t expecting a wake-up call like that.”

Cassandra was a bit surprised to see Cynthia and Steven were in the spectator booth as well, but then shortly after, something on the wall caught Cassandra’s eye.

“Is that… blood?” Cassandra asked, a little shocked.

“Lance’s blood,” Violet informed her.

“Lance?” Cassandra asked, in shock that she might have heard that incorrectly. “As in former Champion Lance!?”

“There was an incident…” Cynthia informed her. “Lance had attempted to attack Jarena and Violet while they were watching your battle with Avery. Jon had… well, dealt with Lance the way Jon does things.”

Cassandra couldn’t believe her ears. Was it not enough that the three of them had come clean and were doing everything they could to cooperate now? How could that not be enough for Lance and what more did he want?

“Where the hell is he now?” Cassandra asked, wondering who else might be in on this plot.

“They had to use a stretcher to take him to the infirmary,” Violet replied, crossing her arms. “I doubt he’ll be leaving his bed before the ship docks tomorrow, but before he attacked us, he requested the video surveillance be changed out. He’s not working alone, Cass.”

Cassandra couldn’t help but look over her shoulder in caution. She really didn’t like the idea of having to constantly watch her back, now, but it was the issue they were dealing with.

“Look, let’s just grab a bite to eat and not think too much on it right now,” Cassandra suggested. “I figured we could celebrate with a cake and-“

“It’s better if you save that for another time,” Steven told her, looking uncertain if doing that was worth the possible risk. “We’re still not sure what the full situation is like and who else might have been connected to Lance and this incident, but it’s better you three stay here for your own safety. Once Jon’s battle is done, we’ll take you to one of the lesser known safehouses. Your personal belongings from your guest room have been gathered and relocated there.”

Cassandra wasn’t too happy about having to postpone the victory celebration, and Victini looked like he had just lost a $20 bill down a storm drain.

“I’ll make it up to you, buddy, don’t worry,” Cassandra told him with a smile, rubbing his forehead to console him.

With not much other choice, they had decided to watch Jon’s battle play out, trying not to think too much about the restraints that were on them at the moment. After turning back to the monitor, Cassandra figured it would just be one more day of this and the ship would dock tomorrow night after the Grand Final battle. Although she was hoping tomorrow would not be nearly as chaotic as today was…

Throughout the whole match Cassandra was quite impressed with the way Jon battled, utilizing a very strategic approach of employing Baton Pass between his Blaziken and his Jolteon, taking out a Feraligatr, a Skarmory, and a Golem without having any of his Pokémon downed, though by the time it was all over, his Blaziken looked exhausted. They never even found out what Jon’s third Pokémon was.

Damn, I’m not even sure if we would be able to stand up to that…

“Dang, Jon can fight kind of dirty,” Jarena remarked at the way he destroyed the lights. “Almost got sacked by the referee for doing that!”

“I have a feeling there was a reason for that…” Cassandra replied, getting a suspicion he was building it up to something else…

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House LZ

After the battle, Steven and Cynthia had taken the Ladies to one of the lesser-known safe house rooms on the cruise ship, intended for VIPs like government officials and diplomats that needed to have some security provided while they were on board. To keep things under tight scrutiny, only Cynthia, Steven, and a few select operatives knew about where they were located.

The room itself was spacious and secure and the amenities, furniture, and décor were clean and fanciful, though the room was also built to provide protection against explosive charges, gunfire, and Pokémon attacks. Since no high-profile officials were using the room for this cruise, it was open for this use.

“Gee whiz, certainly beats our last room!” Jarena smiled as she looked at everything in the room including the dresser drawers and the ornate lamp fixtures.

While Cynthia and Steven had left to go tend to other matters, the Ladies were free to spend the evening however they pleased… though they had to stay within this room until tomorrow.

“Never knew they had a room like this here,” Violet marked, looking around.

“Probably a good reason for that,” Cassandra replied. “Well, we should be safe here until tomorrow. Not sure if they’ll let us go anywhere save for the stadium for the final round.”

“Yeah but… what about after that…?” Jarena asked, looking a little unhappy. “Cass, Lance and his four goons tried to freakin’ kill us while you were busy with the battle. I mean heck, if it hadn’t been for Jon, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Sorry you had to deal with that…” Cassandra muttered, knowing Jarena and Violet didn’t even have their Pokémon with them. “I never really liked Lance but I never thought he’d be a murdering freak like that.”

And it made sense why they had to be put into this room. They already knew they had someone working video surveillance willing to perform the coverup for Lance, and chances were very good there were others involved in the plot. While Lance was out of the picture, it didn’t mean they were safe.

“Lance came after us first demanding the sixty million he thinks we owe him,” Violet explained. “Then he just told us he wanted to destroy Shadowcraft and that included us, so he attacked. Barely even makes sense, but I guess he realized he wasn’t getting the money right away.”

“I told him, I didn’t care about battling, titles, money, or whatever,” Jarena informed her. “And yeah, I wished we could just go back to being Pokémon so creeps like them would never bother us ever again. I didn’t know Jirachi was on board and would take that literally.”

“So that’s what happened…” Cassandra replied, realizing her memory of being an Eevee during the battle wasn’t a hallucination after all.

As much as Cassandra would have liked to see Jarena and Violet with their own Pokémon for their own personal protection, the League wasn’t quite ready to hand them over quite yet.

“We’re together now, at least,” Violet told them both. “Less of a chance someone like Lance is going to show up here to try that again.”

“Yeah, but are we always going to be hunted like this?” Jarena asked, looking anxious. “By freakin’ Lance for crying out loud? That creep is considered a hero to most people! And I’m sure he’s got friends all over the place.”

Cassandra was still surprised Lance was willing to go that far. And what Jarena said was concerning.

“I see you met Jirachi, too,” Cassandra told her. “Still thinking about running off as Pokémon once we’re off this ship?”

“Well, yeah, I thought that was the whole plan,” Jarena smiled with a casual shrug. “You as Eevee, Violet as Furret, and me as Buneary, right? You know, Victini’s ‘turning over a new leaf’ thing?”

“That’s the backup plan, Jarena,” Violet reminded her. “We probably don’t need that anymore. Cass just proved we can still win without witchcraft and we still have our standing among the fans and spectators thanks to that. If everything goes according to Jon’s plan, we should be fine even after serving out the ban.”

“Did… Jirachi grant your wish, too, Violet?” Jarena asked her.

Violet had a moment of silence before she decided to take out her phone and check her investment and brokerage accounts. And then she started flipping through the investment portfolio.

“Oh… my… god…” Violet nearly gasped at the numbers.

“What did she wish for?” Cassandra asked very curiously, knowing Violet almost never reacted like that.

“She said she ‘wished she had the money’ when Lance demanded the sixty million,” Jarena informed her. “My guess is… someone here had a really nice day financial fun land.”

“Look at this!” Violet exclaimed, showing Jarena and Cassandra her portfolio value total on her phone. “This pays off everything!”

Cassandra was very much surprised and quite happy the massive debt that the League would impose on them would no longer be a problem.

“Keep that… quiet, though,” Cassandra told Violet, almost laughing. “Just pay the League and no one needs to know where exactly that came from!”

But in the meantime, Jarena was silent, fidgeting a bit. She was glad Violet would be able to pay the debt easily now and Cassandra had won her battle. It seemed like everyone was getting exactly what they wanted… but not her.

“Yeah…” Jarena sighed, looking a bit glum.

Cassandra couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t celebrating like she and Violet were. She thought this was a major win.

“Jarena, really, this is huge!” she beamed a happy smile. “The only thing we’d have to worry about now is just some silly five year competition ban. That’s going to be so easy to hide. I mean heck, if the sponsors pull their contracts, it’s not even a big deal now!”

“I’ll pay them,” Violet told her, wondering if that’s what Jarena was upset about. “It’s fine, we don’t have to split the debt. I wasn’t even expecting Jirachi to actually grant it. We won’t have to sell anything.”

“It’s… not that…” Jarena replied, trying to smile a bit. “Ah, you know, maybe I was just being naïve and wishful, you know? The whole venturing off as Pokémon, going on adventures as stuff. It just seemed… nice.”

Violet wasn’t surprised at Jarena’s response, though now Cassandra was seeing for herself how much it meant to her. She had realized she had a close bond to cute and cuddly Pokémon, but this was a whole other level. It meant giving up everything about their futures, just when things were starting to look up and appear to be more optimistic.

“Jarena, you do realize how much we’d have to give up to do that, right?” Cassandra asked her, feeling like she really needed to think this over. “It’s like… everything, just when we’ve started pulling ourselves out of the hole. I was… really emotionally wrecked before when I came up with that idea, but things are actually going okay now. After the five-year vacation, you know, we could get back into battling and stuff again.”

“Yeah, I know…” Jarena sighed, still looking down. “I just… really liked it. I’m glad things are going well for you. You two are like my ultimate friends, and I just thought it would be fun. More fun than, well… having to worry someone’s going to try and hurt us. People like… Lance. Or that guy who spat on you before. Or whoever else may hate us and is trying to work out how to do what Lance couldn’t.”

And then there was a moment of silence. Cassandra and Violet had taken a glance at each other and Cassandra had an idea.

“Once we announce we’re taking some extended time off, we’ll get three nuggets and keep some water and some hair samples and stash them in a safe place,” Cassandra proposed to Jarena. “And then we turn ourselves into Pokémon and we’ll try it for about a month so you and the two of us can get a really good taste of what it’s like being Pokémon, traveling around, foraging for food, and what we’d actually be dealing with if this is something you seriously want to consider. And then at the end of it, we choose how we want our futures to go and what kind of life we think would be the happiest. That fair with everyone?”

“I like it, I think it’s a good idea,” Jarena seemed to smile a bit more.

“I guess,” Violet shrugged, seeing as how Cassandra was aiming for a happy medium with this proposal. “Curious to see what this would be like. Definitely different from some camping trip or weekend retreat.”

In truth, Cassandra didn’t want to lose either Jarena or Violet as friends. They had been through a lot together, especially today. She figured this would be a safe way to make sure they had a better idea of what they were getting into. There was a chance Jarena might realize it wasn’t what she thought it was. And it was also possible Cassandra and Violet might find themselves really enjoying the experience and deciding maybe it was worth forgoing civilization and enjoying simpler lives and pleasures. Cassandra figured it would be similar to her battling situation. It was worth a try to see what might happen, but it also at least helped Jarena feel she wasn’t being ignored or forgotten about. Cassandra knew… she did wish for this after all…

[Desolate Divine]

02-26-2021, 05:18 AM

Jon Drake
En Route -> Jon and Alyssa's Room
Affected RPers: None

"Hey, a**hole!" called out Ethan as Jon made his way out of the stadium. By now most of the audience had left, however there were a few people dawdling around, now watching having heard the cursing.

Jon ignored him, continuing to walk, knowing this would be a good opportunity to make the cover up more believable.

"Don't walk away from me!" Ethan called out, running forward, grabbing Jon by the shoulder, and spinning him around, "You couldn't beat me straight up, so you pulled some underhanded crap?"

Jon noticed in the corner of his eye someone holding up their phone, recording what was happening. If he wanted people to believe he was the bad guy, now was the chance.

"It was an accident." Jon replied, before turning around to walk away, "You're only embarassing yourself here. Try and lose with a bit of dignity..."

He felt a bit guilty, making those sorts of comments towards Ethan, who was just as much of a victim here as everyone else who had been cheated by this situation, but there were more important things at stake than one trainers ego...

Jon began to walk, as he felt himself shoved by Ethan. He stumbled before regaining balance, though without turning around, spoke up.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't touch me again."

"Yeah a**hole?" Ethan asked, "Try me."

Ethan grabbed Jon by the shoulder again, to which Jon responded by shoving his elbow into Ethan's face, before turning around and shoving him to the ground while he was dazed.

"That was a cheap shot a**hole!" someone called out from the crowd that had gathered.

Jon looked down at Ethan who was still on the ground, now seething.

"You lost because you were the lesser trainer." Jon hissed, "What kind of idiot sends in his Skarmory to beat a fully powered Jolteon, when he has a Golem in his team? Seriously, the only reason Jolteon didn't launch a thunder attack was because it wouldn't have suited our plan. Your Golem messed Jolteon up, and Blaziken was only just able to take it down. If you sent out Golem first, Jolteon wouldn't have been able to hurt it, nor would the incident with the light. It would have taken out Jolteon, used most of Blaziken's energy to take it out, then left your Skarmory to beat a weakened fighting type, then fight my Nidoking, which your Skarmory is almost completely immune to."

Jon turned around again to walk away.

"Your Pokemon were beaten and your Skarmory shocked by that light because their trainer made some stupid decisions." Jon called out as he walked away, "Don't take out your bruised ego on me. It's kinda pathetic..."

As Jon walked past someone filming, he shot them a glare, knowing the camera would pick it up. If all went to plan, people would be hoping he did something shifty tomorrow night, and he sure had something to show them...

Jon arrived in his room half an hour later, where Alyssa sat at the table on her laptop with a frown.

"Writing up about tonight's match?" Jon asked, catching her attention.

"Normally I'd rather be doing that, but given what you did to sell the cover up, I'm glad I'm not. At least not my normal style of writing anyway." Alyssa explained, "If it were anyone else I would have jumped on that light trick and shredded them for it. But I finished writing tonight's piece a few minutes ago. Made sure to completely turn a blind eye in it to your little tactic."

Alyssa looked back to her computer.

"No, I'm writing an email with my letter of resignation from BattleNET." Alyssa continued, "I've been writing under Alyssa Drake for years, and my following would be expecting my usual sort of writing. It would sell the cover-up more if I ignored the fact you technically cheated and then don't publish anything tomorrow, and send in my resignation the day after."

"I really appreciate you doing this." Jon said, walking over to proofread her writing like he usually did, "It can't be easy. You love working at BattleNET."

"Easier than you realize." Alyssa laughed, "I've been wanting to go solo for a while, and just needed a good enough reason. It's more the burning bridges that I am down about. The original plan to go solo meant that I'd still be on good terms with my previous contacts, and have my reputation as a writer to back me. Now I will be starting without that."

"Maybe when you start up, we ask the Diamond Ladies to help you out. Interviews, sharing your work, that sort of thing." Jon explained, "If all goes to plan, they should still have a bit of clout in the battling world. I'm sure if they shared one of your stories, you'd end up with hundreds of new readers overnight?"

"Maybe..." Alyssa replied, before having a brain wave, "By the way, Steven dropped some stuff by earlier."

Jon looked to the bed where there was a small box. Making his way over, he opened it, revealing a single Pokeball, as well as a case containing a Micro SD card. Jon grabbed his tablet from the bedside table, placing the card in it, which revealed dozens of files, containing information on every passenger on the SS Wishmaker that fit the criteria Jon mentioned before. Female passengers in their late teens to mid twenties. If Jon was going to find the girl who heard him offer to help the Diamond Ladies, this was how he would do it...

"If you hadn't told me what you were really doing here, I'd have thought I'd married a serial killer if I saw that." Alyssa laughed, "Also, you're doing a really good job of selling the whole bad guy thing..."

"How so?" Jon asked, looking back at his wife who seemed far too amused at the whole situation.

"Twitter is loving you right now." Alyssa replied, "#F**kJonDrake", #DisqualifyJonDrake, and #JusticeforCaldwell are all trending."

Alyssa clicked on a link opening a video, as Jon was slightly surprised to hear his own voice...

"Your Pokemon were beaten and your Skarmory shocked by that light because their trainer made some stupid decisions." Jon called out as he walked away, "Don't take out your bruised ego on me. It's kinda pathetic..."

"Goddamn." Alyssa laughed, "I feel sorry for him."

"Same here, but if he can't act his way through the next few days, this will go to s**t." Jon explained, "As much as I hate being such an a**hole, it is more believable if his reactions are genuine."

"Listen to this one." Alyssa said, giggling, "Jon Drake is a cowardly piece of s**t, who relies on bulls**t stunts like tonight to even have half a chance. My four year old has more natural talent battling than him. I can't wait to see Cassandra wipe the floor with his smug a** tomorrow night..."

"Can't say they aren't creative." Jon retorted, "Send me a link."

Alyssa looked confused, before sending Jon a link to the post. He opened it on it's phone, typing in a reply to the tweet.

"Karen, your four year old is probably the one his preschool teachers have to make sure isn't eating the glue..."

"Now refresh it..." Jon said with a grin, as Alyssa pressed F5.

Alyssa snorted as she read the reply.

"Jesus, you are already being downvoted..." Alyssa laughed, "Who knew it was this easy to tank your reputation."

"Thank God it is, because tomorrow night hinges on it..."

Jon stayed up another few hours, flicking through the files, trying to identify the mystery girl from this afternoon before giving up for the evening, and heading to sleep, Alyssa not far behind him...

Neo Emolga

02-27-2021, 09:23 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: N/A

As the time was getting late and Jarena had already gone off to sleep, Cassandra couldn’t help but think about what Lance had done, and how there were still other operatives out there working with him that had not been found out yet. The whole time, she wondered what their real motive was and why they felt they needed to do something so extreme. To her, a Champion title was definitely not worth hunting down someone for. And it wasn’t like Lance had become financially ruined because of it.

So what was really going on?

“Think we should have someone stay up and keep watch?” Violet asked Cassandra as she saw Jarena sleeping. “We could take shifts.”

“Would be so much easier to just put a hex on the door, but I guess that’s out,” Cassandra replied. “It’s locked and if someone tries to break in, we’ll hear it.”

“That reminds me,” Violet replied. “I get not using Shadowcraft for battles anymore, but what about everything else? Especially this month-long Pokémon nature trip we’ll be going on?”

“Only out of necessity, not out of convenience,” Cassandra replied, thinking Jon wouldn’t have a problem with that. “Was cheap to use it for battles in the first place, but if we need it for fending off an angry Ursaring or if we’re on the verge of starving to death, as long as no one else is around, I don’t see the harm in doing it.”

Violet could agree with that. The last thing she wanted was to end up as something else’s prey. A Furret, Eevee, and Buneary weren’t exactly the most ferocious apex predators out there in the wilderness. But with their Shadowcraft, they could ensure they were capable of defending themselves.

“We’ll be fine with that,” Violet replied as she climbed into bed. “Let Jon do his thing tomorrow night, we’ll get off this boat, pay off the debt, and announce some time off.”

“Well, that’s that,” Cassandra replied as she turned off the lights. “Night.”

And shortly after that, they had both fallen asleep…

Noblejanobii

02-28-2021, 01:20 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Chakramaster

"Can't really bank on Ethan using the same Pokémon again next time," Avery mumbled to themself as they continued to make notes even after the battle was finished, "especially since he no doubt is aware of my glaring inability to handle fire types." They recalled seeing Ethan use a Salazzle in a previous round so that would make things interesting. Acacia could probably handle that though, what with the psychic vs poison matchup being one in Avery's favor. They pat Gloria as the Shaymin snored softly. Poor thing was still tuckered out and likely would be for the rest of the night.

They checked their phone after a moment to see how Twitter was responding to the battles. Shockingly, it seemed Jon's battle had vastly outclassed theirs in terms of how many people were talking about it. Though the response was less than cordial towards Jon due to a video of his encounter with Ethan later. Avery sighed. That stunt with the stadium light was really dangerous so they supposed they could understand but...

Avery checked their own mentions and noticed there was a hashtag of their own trending, albeit not as much as Jon's were. #CancelAveryMillerParty was gaining some traction. It seemed that while overall the initial response to Avery's battle had been positive, a lot of Cassandra's fans didn't care for how close of a call Avery had made it. Accusations of cheating and other sorts of mudslinging were being flung their way, as well as the typical annoyances with battle purists unhappy in general that a coordinator was showing up so many skilled battlers and persistent misgendering from bigots. It seemed that even if Avery had taken great care to keep their birth gender a secret, people were still willing to go to great lengths to guess based on their appearance. "How annoying..." they muttered.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Avery are you still there? It's me Jimmy. Can we come in? Someone here wants to see you."

"Avery! It's me Jirachi! I wanna meet yoooou!"

Avery looked up from their phone and glanced at the door. Jimmy and Jirachi? They glanced back at the app. Probably for the best. They closed Twitter and called back, "Come in!"

Chakramaster

03-01-2021, 11:19 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Arena Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii

Avery gave Jimmy and his party the okay to come in the room.

"Hey Avery! That was-" Jimmy was interrupted by Jirachi who flew ahead to a Avery.

"Woooooooow you are so amazing Avery! You and Shaymin both! You're both like shining stars!" Jirachi said with glimmer and stars in his eyes. Looking really excited to see Avery after their match. "Giving your Shaymin a Gracidia Flower to make it change forms and fly! Shooooom!" Jirachi said as it flew around Avery a few time laughing. "You have such an awesome Shaymin, yes yes! Isn't having a mythical Pokémon so amazing?! So many mythical Pokémon here now. Victini, Shaymin, and me! We also have that Latios of Jon's. Another amazing legendary!"

"This is Jirachi Avery." Jimmy chimed in. "I didn't get the chance to explain earlier, but this little guy found me after we just changed back earlier. It gave me quite a startle in the bathroom that's for sure."

"And we've been besties ever since!" Jirachi said as it went to it's go to spot and messed with Jimmy's hair. This time, making it into more of a pointed end at the top.

"There. Now you look like me! Hahahaha!" Jirachi said floating in front of Jimmy pointing and laughing. Pikachu had climbed up Jimmy's shoulder giving a slight laugh and sweat.

(Pika-pi. Pika) "Gee, Jirachi sure is playful." Pikachu.

"You wanna look like me too. Don't you, Pikachu?" Jirachi said as it float closer to Pikachu. Pikachu, startled, jumped from Jimmy's shoulder and they began to run around. Jirachi chasing Pikachu while laughing.

"Well they sure are playful." Jimmy said with a slight laugh. "Anyway, Jirachi had apparently been watching each one of us all day. Then it found me while I changed back in the bathroom. It wanted to join me. He said he wanted to have fun because he thought we were all just having fun today. He's even gone and grant a few wishes since I've introduced him to others. Being the Wishgranter Pokemon. Though it makes him sleepy with each wish he grants. So yeah, as much as I'd love to say I could've saved us trouble and wished us all back earlier. That was before I caught this little guy."

"While I'm at it. Jon doesn't seem too thrilled that I've got this little guy now. Seeing as he has the power to grant any wish. It's a lot of responsibility. You said earlier that you raised your Shaymin here since it was real young. Jirachi here seems pretty young himself. Any tips you might be able to offer? The last thing I'd wanna do is upset Jirachi or have him bending space and time or destroying reality because of some random wish he's granted." Jimmy says with a slight laugh.

Jirachi had caught Pikachu. The top of his head now put into a point just like Jimmy and Jirachi's. Jirachi once again letting out a laugh as they all looked alike now. Pikachu crossing his arms as he sure wasn't happy at first. Jirachi then float over to Avery.

"You were the Buizel earlier right? Wasn't it fun? You all looked like you had so much fun earlier! I wanted to play, but I was so sleepy. So I just watched. And don't worry Jimmy. No one else is around. I'm making sure only you guys can hear me right now using my telekinesis! I remembered my promise to keep your secrets!" Jirachi said looking proud of its power.

Jimmy chuckled as he said, "thank you Jirachi. I'm glad to hear it!"

Jirachi looked back at Avery. "So Avery! Will you be my friend too? Is there anything you want? I already helped miss Cassandra and her friends get something they wanted. What about you? I wanna help my friends and play with them too!" Jirachi said as it began to playfully laugh and circle around Avery.

"Well I don't wanna keep you. I just wanted to explain the story while I had the chance of meeting the little Wishmaker friend as I believe you called him. As well as congratulate you on a hard fought battle. Jirachi he's a bundle of fun so far. May be quite the asset later. Cause who knows. There might yet be more trouble on this cruise." Jimmy said as he called for Jirachi to come along.

"Aww, fine. I'll find you later Avery! We can have fun then!" Jirachi said with a happy face as ever. Pikachu followed as they left. Giving his body a shake to get his fur back in shape and not fit to the Star shape Jirachi had left it in. Jimmy and his party left the room for their own for a good night's rest.

Neo Emolga

03-02-2021, 03:59 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: N/A

After waking up, showering, and getting dressed, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet weren’t sure if they were expected to stay in the room, but after thinking about it, it would seem strange and suspicious if they did. Despite what happened with Lance yesterday, they felt they should still be safe around people in large gatherings.

For now, Jarena was on her bed, looking at her phone while waiting for Violet to finish up.

“Wow, can’t believe these people on Twitter,” Jarena said cynically, a bit taken back as she scrolled through the tweet pages on her phone. “So much hate. #CancelCass is trending, one guy by the name of ‘Sixtysixsix’ says ‘Wow, Cassandra Silvers shows how you can be both a winner and a loser at the same time.’ Or this guy ‘Moneycash69” tweets ‘Cass is losing her touch, almost lost to Avery. Cass, tell my grandma I said hi when you take up bingo instead.’ These people…”

“I know a neat trick that gets them to stop doing that,” Cassandra told her with a confident smirk, holding out her hand as a prompt for Jarena to hand over the phone.

“There’s like a good six dozen tweets like this on #CancelCass alone, and I haven’t even started looking at #HighSeasShame and #CrassSilvers yet,” Jarena replied with an unsure smile as she handed over her phone. “You could spend all day trying to return the roasts on them and you still wouldn’t get to them all.”

“Nah, it’s nothing like that,” Cassandra told her, taking the phone and going through the menus.

Jarena wasn’t too sure what Cassandra had in mind as she went through the menus. For a minute, Jarena thought Cassandra knew of some kind of backdoor hack or glitch that would allow her to crack into other peoples’ accounts or ban them altogether by obtaining illegitimate administrator access. After about a minute, Cassandra handed Jarena’s phone back to her with a smile. Jarena took it and wasn’t sure what exactly Cassandra had done.

“So?” Jarena asked, smiling with curiosity as she looked through her phone. “What did you do to them?”

She was looking and scrolling through her phone applications and it seemed something was missing…

“Wha… wait, you deleted Twitter from my phone!?” Jarena asked, surprised once she realized what happened.

“No need to thank me,” Cassandra smiled. “It’s my pleasure.”

Jarena looked at Cassandra with shifty, suspicious eyes, but she decided maybe she had a point about not being concerned about what toxic communities and internet trolls had to say.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” Jarena asked, figuring Violet should be almost done. “I know that bonkers battle with Jon is happening tonight, but we still have all morning and afternoon to do stuff.”

“Jon and the League want today to look as normal as possible, especially considering what happened yesterday,” Cassandra told her, knowing what they did had to align with his plan. “We’re well aware that yesterday was… a hot mess, but we still have some work to do first. Chances are good people are still believing the whole scene where you and Violet turned each other into Pokémon. Heading off to Central Park to grab some breakfast would be nice, especially if we do it as humans.”

Jarena nodded, following along with Cassandra’s plan. It seemed to make sense, that’s what they had started the day off doing yesterday, first going to the pool before getting washed up to head back out again. And while most of the guests weren’t aware of what happened yesterday in terms of the hexes and reversions back at the pool, they might have seen the video.

Cassandra figured this would be a good time to dismiss it.

After Victini had woken up before holding on Cassandra’s shoulder and after Violet had stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready to head out, she looked to Jarena and Cassandra having their talk.

“For Jon’s plan to work, we need to act normal,” Cassandra explained. “Jon’s scheme with the Zoroark will need me to look surprised during the fight. I have a feeling he went out of his way to appear to be a jackass during his battle with Ethan. It’s setting things up for tonight.”

“So where do we head first?” Violet asked.

“We’ll keep it simple,” Cassandra told her and Jarena, “grab breakfast at Central Park and relax and sign autographs and greet fans. It’s our opportunity to dismiss the video that went viral when all three of us show up as humans. We’ll tell people we saw it and we’ll play it off as if it’s just some dumb meme with video filters going around. And that there’s no such thing as ‘Cinnamon the Eevee’ either.”

While Violet felt there was no guarantee of it working, it was better than nothing as long as they didn’t try too hard that people would see through with poor acting. But she agreed, not doing what they would normally do would seem suspicious to all the guests that weren’t fully aware of what had transpired like some of the operatives had experienced.

“So we’re officially not caring about Lance’s goons?” Jarena asked, wondering if she had forgotten about that.

“Not exactly,” Cassandra replied with a confident look. “They won’t attack us in a crowded area, hence why they waited until you two were alone last night so Lance could cover it up. Still, we do need to reinforce what Jon is trying to do and support the notion that the whole incident yesterday was just a Zoroark illusion.”

“I have my doubts, but fine, let’s try it,” Violet replied, grabbing her black leather bag in preparation to head out.

“Vict-tini,” (“Hey, every little bit helps!”) Victini chimed in with a smile.

And they decided to head out and hope today wouldn’t be a repeat of yesterday…

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park

Leaving Safe House LZ was not very eventful, though the Ladies had discovered there were two operatives standing by, waiting for them to come out of their room. One of them was even Sami Culver, who Cassandra had transformed back yesterday. Cassandra was getting a bit tired of the escorts, but she decided not to fuss about it considering it was the last day of the cruise and not worth starting a confrontation over. She told Sami and the other young female operative they had plans to go to Central Park and grab breakfast from a café before signing autographs and greeting fans under the pretense that the events that happened yesterday weren’t what really occurred.

Once they arrived at Central Park and had claimed one of the picnic tables, the four of them sat down while Victini hopped off Cassandra and sat down on the table itself. The early morning crowds were sparce, but seeing as how it was only 7:25am, they knew the crowds would progressively get bigger and more people would be around as time went on. For now, they used it as an opportunity to take advantage of the short lines and quicker service. In addition to that, the shelves and racks were fully stocked where in an hour or two, items would be selling out and wouldn’t be as fresh.

“If they see us as humans, it undermines the video that went viral,” Cassandra told them, not so thrilled she had to rationalize her actions to the operatives. “It’s best if we play today like we did every other day of the cruise, save for yesterday. We’ll handle the questions and deny there was any Pokémon transforming going on.”

“Fair enough,” Sami replied, smiling and trying to be friendly, but focused on the mission. “I’ll let the League know what you plan on doing. You understand we have eyes and ears on you at all times, right?”

“We know…” Jarena sighed, rolling her eyes. “Golly, you’re still afraid we’re going to turn everyone into cute and fluffy Pokémon?”

“Bear in mind it hasn’t been even a full twenty-four hours since that whole fiasco happened,” Sami reminded her, not looking too thrilled. “I spent thirty-nine hours as a Minccino trying to get another human being to listen to me, and I couldn’t even get so much as a pencil and a pad of paper to write down and inform anyone what just happened. All this while wondering if I would ever be human again.”

Cassandra could empathize with her, but it was still pesky to her to be led by the hand to each place they wanted to go to as well as explain and rationalize out why they wanted to go there.

It’s just for the rest of the day…

“I’ll get breakfast stuff and drinks,” Jarena offered, noticing the Shaymin Café out of the corner of her eye. “I take it you don’t want the Cinccino Cappuccino, Sami?”

“Only if you have a Cinnamon Buneary and Cass has the Chai Tea Eevee,” Sami replied cynically, a bit unamused.

“Oh god, knock if off,” Violet replied with a hard sigh, rolling her eyes. “If this keeps up I’m going to skip the caffeine and just go straight to alcohol.”

“Please, let’s just relax, take it easy, and not start all that up again,” Cassandra replied, looking tired and not in the mood. “Fine, one large Chai Tea Eevee for me with a Pikablu-berry muffin.”

“Cool,” Jarena smirked, playing along with it. “And I’ll get a Matcha Greninja Tea with that Cinnamon Buneary. Violet?”

Violet just looked at her, sighed, and looked away, avoiding eye contact.

“Please don’t tell me there’s a Furret-themed item on their menu,” Violet told her, looking unenthusiastic.

“…The Furret Frolic Fruit Cup,” Jarena giggled, trying hard not to break out into full-fledged laughter.

“Fine, get me that,” Violet replied cynically, figuring she might as well throw her hand into this nonsense. “And a large Appletun Tea. And we can all look like idiots together.”

And with a silly smile, Jarena turned to Sami and was quite interested to see how she’d play along with this.

“Ah, Sami?” Jarena asked with a goofy smile. “The Diamond Ladies would like to treat you to breakfast.”

“One large Cinccino Cappuccino and I’ll take one of your damn Cinnamon Bunearies, too,” Sami replied, looking a bit irked. “Don’t mind me if I look a little deranged biting into its head.”

“Nah, the ears,” Jarena reminded her, giggling at her reaction. “You always start with the ears. That’s the rule.”

Jarena then headed off to the Shaymin Café to put in the orders and pick up the food and drinks. But she couldn’t help but giggle on the way there.

[Desolate Divine]

03-02-2021, 04:39 AM

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Jon and Alyssa's Room
Affected RPers: None

Jon awoke fairly early in the morning, resuming his search for the mystery teenager from yesterday who was one of the few people that could quite easily tear this plan apart at the threads. He had made his way through a third of the files the evening prior, however hadn't made any headway. As Alyssa continued to sleep, Jon kept swiping through the files, whilst in the back of his mind, thinking through little details to sell the story. The biggest one would be making sure he isn't seen on any sort of friendly terms with the girls, especially Cassandra. Whilst they were allowed to leave their room when escorted, the only place where Jon could speak to them in person was their room, presuming he wasn't seen, however he didn't plan on taking that risk unless it was necessary. There was the chance of speaking in the waiting room, however someone like Ethan, who particularly now had a bone to pick, could pose a risk.

"Any luck?" Alyssa asked, as she yawned, starting to sit up in bed.

"Nothing yet." Jon replied, "I doubt it will be an issue. She barely seemed old enough to be travelling alone, so I doubt she was able to get on the ship off the record. More worried about other things."

"Yeah, there is a lot of delicate stuff that needs to happen today." Alyssa said, as she began getting out of bed, "Anything I can help with?"

Jon thought for a moment. If he needed to get in touch with the Ladies, he could always go through Steven, however Steven may have to go through other operatives if he is on the other end of the ship, or occupied with something else. Additionally, he had no idea which operatives were in league with Lance, so having as few messengers as possible would be more secure. Really, a direct line would be perfect. And they had been allowed to keep their phones, as their managers and publicity teams would begin asking questions if they stopped taking calls...

"You might be able to..." Jon said, before getting out of bed, grabbing the notepad on the nearby table and scrawling his mobile number and a note.

"I can't risk being seen in person with you before tonight's show. Send me a message so I can reach you directly if things change between now and tonight."

"Think you could pass on a message for me?" Jon asked, handing Alyssa the note, "I know you missed being able to do your sneaky reporter stuff this trip."

"Hey, I got to break out the wig." Alyssa laughed, as she started getting changed into her gym-wear, "But you got the right girl for the job."

"They're currently in Central Park." Jon explained, having been one of the few to recieve updates from the operatives who are acting as their escort, alongside Steven and Cynthia, "Reckon you could slip this to them there, with all the people around?"

"Piece of cake."

Alyssa scooped up the note, as well as her phone, before making her way to the door.

"I'm going to go to the gym after I give them this, but let me know if you need anything else." Alyssa replied, "Especially since Mr. Big-Bad Jon Drake can't be seen near them."

She chuckled to herself before walking out the door, leaving Jon to keep skimming through files.

Alyssa Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Alyssa made her way to central park, looking around at the Cafes, trying to find the Diamond Ladies. It didn't take long before she spotted Cassandra and Violet, alongside one of the operatives escorting them.

"Target sighted" Alyssa thought to herself, chuckling at what her cruise had turned into, before making her way towards them.

"Miss Silvers!" Alyssa called out, making her way over, very quick to continue speaking before Cassandra responded with any sort of familiarity.

"My name is Alyssa, and I'm a reporter with BattleNET." she explained, having to fight the habit to refer to herself as Alyssa Drake, knowing what the reputation of Jon Drake will be after tonight.

"I presume you are about to have breakfast, so I won't hold you." Alyssa explained, "I'd love an interview with you sometime before, or even after tonight's match, so please give me a call when you can spare a moment to make that happen!"

Alyssa quickly put her hand out, placing the note in Cassandra's hand.

"I loved last night's match! Good luck with tonight's battle!" Alyssa said, before turning to leave, quite quickly, not wanting to dawdle...

Shruikan

03-02-2021, 08:21 PM

Luneth Tarot
Battle Arena Stands > Central Park

Luneth could have sworn that she had been going somewhere, but here she was, watching the semi finals. Where could she possibly have been going? Maybe it was a feeling seeping through from an adjacent reality or something?
Glimmer started cheering wildly as Avery sent out Gloria, especially as the shaymin changed into it’s sky forme, but then drooped in disappointment as night fell and Gloria’s transformation expired, netting Cassandra the win.

The next battle was between two trainer that Luneth didn’t know, having mainly been following Cass & Avery’s battles and ignoring the rest of the tourney. All she knew was one of them had been an operative changed back from being a pokemon earlier today. When they walked onto stage however, Luneth was shocked to see the surly Latios trainer from before. So that was Jon Drake? Despite being in a huge crowd, she instinctively ducked behind Circuit, before remembering that she wasn’t secretly filming anymore and didn’t need to hide from him. Still, she stayed safely behind her Silvally as she watched the two battle, and returned to her room a little hastier that usual afterwards.

* * *

Despite feeling confidant that no-one had seen her recording anything, she didn’t want to be instantly recognised by the league on the off chance they knew, so the next morning instead of her kimono, she grabbed her backup outfit, a plain grey dress & jeans, and scraped her hair into a ponytail, finishing up with contact lenses, a blue-grey one in her right eye, and a yellow with a cat like pupil for the left.

Like the day before, she road her helmed Silvally down through Central park to the cafe.
Bu this time she was focused on her destination. Today was the last day of the cruise, so no looking through shop windows, no stopping to get famous trainers autographs, no randomly running into the Diamond Ladies. Visiting the Shaymin Cafe was top priority, and just in case her attention began to wander, Glimmer was riding perched on Circuit’s head ready to drag her back, which she did at least four times before they arrived at the cafe.

Luneth she recalled Circuit as Glimmer hopped into her arms. Despite it being early, the cafe still had a bit of a queue, so Luneth settle in to wait her turn, when she noticed ahead of her, ordering right now was Jarena. Oh all the places-No, she told herself. Ignore the diamond lady. The lady who knows real magic and can shapeshift people into pokemon. No, you’re here to eat at a special cafe with Glimmer. Put the magic aside for a while. It’ll still be there later… Won’t it?

Neo Emolga

03-04-2021, 03:47 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

While the Diamond Ladies had their breakfast with Sami, Cassandra took on a whole new approach and decided to say hello and sign autographs whenever they were requested. But she couldn’t help but notice that the number of requests was maybe only half of what they usually got.

There were a few people that asked about the incident at Central Park yesterday and the viral video online, but Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet were more than happy to dismiss it and say it was probably a video filter or some other camera trick. Despite their efforts, it didn’t seem to be sinking in all that well.

“Is it true you three are witches?” one male teenage trainer asked with a curious smile.

“Ha ha,” Jarena laughed, trying to pretend it was funny. “Nah, where did you hear that?”

“Yeah, First Watch Post and Silver Wing News had posted articles about it this morning,” he told them. “Apparently you guys had witchcraft books or something? I dunno, was just curious. I was wondering about it after watching that video people are talking about.”

“Huh, yeah, I’ll have to check that out,” Jarena replied nervously. “See ya!”

Feeling a bit anxious after overhearing their conversation, Cassandra decided to pull out her phone and look up the site for First Watch Post. Meanwhile, Jarena and Violet were looking at her, thinking the same thing. When Cassandra had arrived at the site, it didn’t take her very long to find the mentioned article on the front page among several other news stories. With her heart racing a bit, she tapped on the article icon.

And it got ugly very quickly. Cassandra couldn’t help but read the article out loud so Jarena and Violet were aware of it.

Diamond Ladies with connections to the occult

For years Pokémon trainers and non-trainers have been wondering how Pokémon trainer international superstars Cassandra Silvers, Jarena Farrell, and Violet Radcliffe got their famous battling talent and prowess from. Turns out it may not be what you think it is! Under the guise of youth and rich glamor, there’s something a bit more nefarious underneath.

In a recent investigation leak, informant sources confirmed that the Diamond Ladies did in fact possess multiple textbooks of ‘Shadowcraft,’ a form of old witchcraft which was banned over three centuries ago and thought to have been erased. Instead, sources confirmed it’s still very much alive and it supports claims and suspicions that the Ladies are doing something behind the scenes to get their advantages in battles.

While it was only a rumor at first, a recent upload to PokéTube with over seven million views says it’s more than just that. User “Zageon” caught Farrell and Radcliffe seemingly turning their own witchcraft on each other as the video depicts Farrell turning her friend into a Furret and Radcliffe returning the favor by turning Farrell into a Buneary. While video editing analysts have gone over the video multiple times, none of them have any suspicion any kind of editing or alterations were performed.

But the same goes for security video footage from the S.S. Wishmaker cruise ship, currently where Silvers is participating in the first ever Pokémon High Seas Tournament that has ever taken place. All this was recorded before sources confirmed Silvers had been apprehended by security and confessed to a long history of using the centuries-old witchcraft that Farrell and Radcliffe had also attested to. Photographs and page scans of the books that sources had confiscated are currently undergoing analysis, but so far the consensus seems to be genuine.

“Ohhh CRAP…” Jarena moaned anxiously, looking pale. “One of Lance’s goons leaked everything to the media!”

“They even have pictures…” Cassandra muttered, feeling anxious. “Look at this, someone must have scanned every one of the books and transmitted them.”

“Victi-nini…” (“Eww, that isn’t pretty.”) Victini remarked unhappily. “Vic-tini-ni…” (“Jon’s not going to be a happy camper when he finds this out…”)

As Victini mentioned, Cassandra knew Jon was going to be livid when he found out someone on the ship had been one of these “sources.” But as they soon discovered, the articles were popping up on various other sites. And Cassandra knew this was not a problem Jon could solve with his fists. While Lance was out of the picture, there were others working for him, and it had seemed to them that one of Lance’s operatives had found a way to work around Lance’s incapacitation and ruin both the Ladies and attempt to destroy Jon’s plan.

“Who the hell did this…?” Violet muttered, knowing this was pretty bad.

“Nathan, Doug, probably one of those two-bit punks,” Jarena growled. “Now what do we do? Tell people the truth? What will people say?”

But before Cassandra could answer, she had suddenly been approached by Alyssa, who she recognized from last night before Jon introduced her and they had pizza together.

“Miss Silvers!” Alyssa called out, unaware of what the group had been discussing. “My name is Alyssa, and I’m a reporter with BattleNET. I presume you are about to have breakfast, so I won’t hold you. I'd love an interview with you sometime before, or even after tonight's match, so please give me a call when you can spare a moment to make that happen!”

“Yeah, sure,” Cassandra replied, a bit sheepish considering the articles she just read.

Alyssa then placed a rolled-up note in Cassandra’s hand.

“I loved last night's match! Good luck with tonight's battle!” Alyssa called out before heading out.

“Thank you!” Cassandra called out to Alyssa. “See you later!”

Cassandra then took the note, and unrolled it as Jarena and Violet looked on.

I can't risk being seen in person with you before tonight's show. Send me a message so I can reach you directly if things change between now and tonight.

With it, Jon had left his mobile number. Almost scrambling to do so, Cassandra quickly grabbed her phone and added Jon’s number, as well as a message.

This is Cassandra, we’ve got a big problem. Someone leaked info about our connection to Shadowcraft and now it’s popping up on a number of news sites. We don’t know who did it, either, but it had to be one of the operatives Lance was affiliated with.

At this point, as much as she was hoping Jon would be able to pull off the illusion, it was looking increasingly doubtful it would dissuade what was rapidly unraveling around them. But just before she put her phone away, she had gotten a mysterious text from an unknown caller…

Truth hurts, doesn’t it?

Cassandra looked at it with a bit of unease, and then she quickly typed back a response.

Who is this and what do you want?

And then a few seconds later…

Just someone who thinks everyone should know the truth about you witches.
Call me ‘Karma’ if you’d like. But this should be easy for you to face. You confessed to the League, so now you can confess to everyone. Best get started. :)
It’s about time you three and Mr Jon Drake, who I’ll just call “Punchy,” get untangled out of these lies you keep spinning.

Cassandra turned off her phone and put it face-down on the picnic table. As if she needed a stalker on top of everything else…

[Desolate Divine]

03-04-2021, 11:03 AM

Jon Drake
Jon's Room -> Safe House C
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Jon was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of an SMS being received.

This is Cassandra, we’ve got a big problem. Someone leaked info about our connection to Shadowcraft and now it’s popping up on a number of news sites. We don’t know who did it, either, but it had to be one of the operatives Lance was affiliated with.

Jon read this, feeling his heart rate start to spike, as he closed the tab on his tablet and opened a web browser. Not even having to search, an article on First Watch Post had appeared under suggested webpages.

Diamond Ladies with connections to the occult

"S**t..." Jon muttered, as he clicked it, and began skimming the article, horrified at the images of the spellbooks which were still in his closet from yesterday...

Jon quickly grabbed his phone, calling Alyssa, as he copied and pasted the link on his tablet in a message to her.

"What's up?" Alyssa asked.

"We have a problem. Check the link I sent you..."

Alyssa fumbled the phone as she put it to hands free, finding somewhere where they weren't going to be overheard, and tapping the link.

"S**t..." Alyssa muttered.

"Are these the photos you took?" Jon asked.

"Yes, they are it. You can see Serena's colours on the edge of one of the shots..." Alyssa replied, "But the only copy other than the camera is with-"

"I know, I wanted to double check before I paid him a visit..." Jon explained, before hanging up the phone, and texting back Cassandra.

"We need to meet up now. Tell your escort that you have to get to Safe House C, and show them the following.

Operative ID 76293
Confirmation Code: Foxtrot Oscar Romeo Alpha Mike India November India Sierra"

Lastly, once the message was sent, Jon gave Steven a call.

"Steven here."

"Matt has leaked almost everything." Jon explained, "I'm going to pay him a visit, so you may want to get there first."

"Jon, don't do anything stu-"

Jon hung up, before exiting the room in a hurry, making his way to safe house C.

Jon was down the hallway when he saw the door open, and Matt walk out seemingly in a hurry. He saw Jon, before running in the opposite direction, leaving the door to the safehouse open. The pace the unfit data analyst kept however was a joke. Jon sighed, before taking off after him.

"Where do you think you're going, buddy?" Jon asked as he shoved Matt to the floor, before grabbing him by his foot and dragging him back into the Safe House.

"No, please!" Matt begged.

"I only want to talk." Jon replied menacingly, "You were happy to talk to First Watch Post..."

Jon dragged the struggling data analyst into the room, closing the door behind him and throwing him to the floor. He leant down, and grabbed the lanyard containing his room key, that was modified to grant access to and from these safe houses.

"This is why you don't keep it around your neck." Jon explained, "Someone might take it..."

Jon grabbed one of the office chairs, before shoving it towards Matt, it wheeling over.

"Sit." Jon said, "You and I gotta talk..."

Matt looked up at Jon fearfully as he scrambled to the chair.

"Give me your phone. Unlocked." Jon demanded.

Matt looked at him sceptically.

"Let me make this clear. This will go forward one of three ways. You give me your phone, and I verify it wasn't you who gave it to the media, and we can talk like adults. You give me your phone, I verify it was you, but I go easy on you because you're playing nice. Or you don't cooperate, and I gotta assume it was you and that you aren't going to play nice."

Realizing his options were limited, Matt unlocked the phone, passing it to Jon, who began looking through his messages, both on normal apps and the encrypted operative apps that could only be opened with the keycard Jon had taken from him earlier.

Without too much hassle Jon found an email containing the images and most of the information showing up in the article.

"Did Lance put you up to this..." Jon asked.

"He told me that I'd have a commanding role in the next mission if I did." Matt replied, "I wouldn't run into issues with lower ranked operatives..."

"Funny that." Jon replied, "Next question. Do you know which operatives are in league with him?"

"He hasn't mentioned anyone else, because he figured it might come to this..."

"That is convenient..." Jon muttered, as he began to walk towards Matt.

"But I did hear this!" Matt replied frantically, "There was no official callout, it was all word of mouth. Apparently Lance approached a few people, who approached a few others, and word spread that Lance was going to be dealing with the Diamond Ladies himself because the League weren't going to. That's how I found out. Friend of a friend."

"There's more, isn't there..." Jon asked.

"I did hear that the security that Cynthia put on him in the infirmary is sympathetic to his cause." Matt said, "She is unaware, but it wasn't just his team that are following him."

"That is handy to know..." Jon replied, "One more favor. Show me the security tapes from the private booth."

Matt was silent, Jon knowing this probably meant that the footage had been tampered with.

"I'm waiting..."

Matt sighed, as he wheeled himself to the computer, logging in and accessing the NVR for the ships security system. After a few moments, the camera feed appeared, showing Violet and Jarena in the private booth, discussing what would happen if Cass lost, before the footage cut out, replaced with static.

"Okay, now show me the real footage." Jon replied.

"I don't have it..." Matt replied, "There were people here when Lance gave the order, and I couldn't replace the feed without them knowing, so I overwrited it later. It's gone."

"See that's a rookie mistake..." Jon explained, as he walked over to the desk, picking up the keyboard, "You guys have wireless keyboards now? The League must be giving you more of a budget..."

The door opened as Steven walked in, thankful that it wasn't Jon with a corpse.

"Jon, what are you doing?" Steven asked.

"Investigating." Jon replied before turning back to Matt.

"See, that's a rookie mistake because you are dealing with a backstabbing piece of s**t like Lance, who is wanting you to delete evidence of him. A smart person would save themselves a copy of it, in case he decided to backstab you." Jon explained in a patronizing tone, "So now you have done illegal s**t for a backstabbing piece of s**t, who could throw you to hell any second, with no insurance? That sounds pretty dumb Matt."

"Jon..." Steven began.

"Are you dumb?" Jon asked, "Or is there a copy of the original footage."

"Jon..."

"There is no copy of the original." Matt replied, "Lance specifically said to not allow any copies to survive.

"Jon!"

"So you're an idiot..." Jon replied, "Yet somehow you got a role like this here..."

Adjusting his grip on the keyboard with both hands, Jon swung it, smacking it across Matt's face, who began screaming in pain as it hit his broke nose, and keys broke off, scattering across the floor.

"Hurts doesn't it..." Jon asked, "Cassandra as a sign of being willing to cooperate with the League, healed my broken hand using that magic. I felt a bit bad for breaking your nose, so was going to ask her to pay you a visit. Now, I don't feel too bad at all."

"Jon!" Steven yelled.

"Steven, I'm working... Now I am going to ask again..." Jon said, before throwing the keyboard aside, "And I am going to ask whilst admiring that nice fancy monitor you have there. Where is the original footage?"

"I don't have it!" Matt yelled, still in pain.

"I hope you aren't attached to the tower." Jon explained, as he began unplugging the cables from the monitor, "Because that's next."

"I'm telling the truth!" Matt shrieked as Jon lifted the monitor.

"Jon I have the footage!" Steven yelled.

Jon stopped mid swing, looking up at Steven as Alyssa entered the room.

"He is the leak?" Steven asked, now having got Jon's attention.

"Yep. Under order from Lance." Jon explained, "Whose security is really one of his own guys... Now the footage?"

"When I heard Lance give the order on the radio, I had one of my guys that I know and trust log into the camera directly, and record." Steven explained, "90% of what these guys do, including messing with the footage happens on the NVR when it is recorded, so we recorded a copy before it reached it."

"Great." Jon replied, before swinging the 32 inch monitor into the back of Matt's head.

"Jon!" Alyssa shouted horrified.

"A**hole!" Matt shouted, "What was that for? I told you everything I knew!"

"A lesson." Jon replied, "You cross me again, and I'll find something bigger..."

"Why are you so desperate for the footage now?" Steven asked.

"Because Lance is an arrogant piece of s**t, who is willing to destroy the entire competitive battling industry and f**k up God knows how much, over his pride." Jon explained, "Maybe it's time we paid him a visit, and let him know that we could let the whole world know that the Indigo Champion tried to kill two unarmed women with his beloved Dragonite, and frame a league operative for it, if he doesn't cooperate."

"Liss, what is BattleNETs readership numbers as of last month?" Jon asked.

"600,000 subscribed, and the average article usually gets about 3 million hits?" Alyssa replied.

"Don't know about you Steven, but I think it's time we made a hospital call..."

Chakramaster

03-04-2021, 06:24 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Arena Waiting Room -> Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga

Jimmy and his team had left to make their way to their room. It's been a long day. Chasing after the Diamond Ladies. Getting turned into a Pachirisu for a few hours, the Diamond Ladies cooperating with the League for now, and now Jirachi joined his team. A mythical Pokémon so many may seek, yet never find. A true miracle in their very presence.

"Wow this is your room? It's so big! This bed looks so comfy!" Jirachi says as it floats down onto one of the pillows and slowly sinks into it. Letting out a long sign of relief

"Yeah home sweet home. For now at least. Tomorrow is another busy day. So we need to get some rest for anything that could happen. You two sleep well." Jimmy says as Pikachu finds a nice spot on the bed like Jirachi and they both try to get some sleep while Jimmy prepares for the night before doing the same. Climbing into bed to get some much needed rest.

The next morning Jimmy wakes up early. Before Pikachu. Jirachi had already been up and apparently looking out the balcony.

"Wow so pretty! All the lights! It's so shiny like the stars at night!" Jirachi looks over the sea as the morning sun shines on the water. Giving off a sparkling shine the the horizon and sea itself.

"Yeah you can see things like that on the sea when it's early like this. It's a nice sight isn't it?" Jimmy asks Jirachi.

"Yes! So pretty! I love it!" Jirachi looks back to Jimmy. "Are we going to play today?"

Jimmy smiles, "yeah we can find time today I'm sure. How about we get some breakfast first?" He asks.

"Fooooooood!" Jirachi says as he floats around the room. "Pikachu wake up. It's morrrrrning! Jimmy is gonna get us food!" Jirachi starts bouncing playfully on the bed. Trying to wake up Pikachu.

Pikachu groggily wakes up being bounced up and down.

"Pika-Pi-ka..." (another playful day for Jirachi...) Pikachu says as he slowly falls to the floor. Getting to his feet and shaking his body to wake up.

After taking the time the group make their way to get food before finding a place to relax and eat in the Central Park.

"Hey look Jimmy. It's Cassandra and her friends!" Jirachi points out before flying ahead of Jimmy to talk to Cassandra.

"Wait Jirachi. You can't just fly off on your own!" Jimmy says as he gets up to chase down Jirachi. Pikachu quickly following behind. Only something looked wrong. Jimmy didn't like the looks of this. He looked back to Pikachu as they both nodded noticing the same thing

Jirachi as oblivious and happily as ever. Floats to Cassandra.

"Heeeeeeey miss Cassandra! Violet! And Jarena! Good morning! How are yooooou? Did you see all the sparkles on the sea?"

Neo Emolga

03-05-2021, 01:45 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

It was not how Cassandra and the other two Ladies were expecting to spend the morning…

“So, what exactly are our options?” Cassandra asked the other two with a frown, feeling there really wasn’t any solid choice in any of this.

“Vic-tini-ni…” (“Well, like you said, you could tell the truth, though I know Jon might not be in favor of that…”) Victini told her, shrugging and trying to keep an optimistic smile despite the mess. “Vic-ti-ni-I” (“I think it’s safe to say lying about it just keeps making this messy. Just lying is just dirty. I never liked it.”)

“They have the confession,” Violet told the other two bluntly. “Let’s face it, it’s already over.”

“Gonna be a pretty unclimatic end to this whole tournament…” Jarena sighed. “No one’s going to like it. Witch cheater versus cheap shot cheater. People are going to wish there was a way you could both lose.”

At this point, it didn’t really matter to Cassandra. At the end of the day, even if no one believed it, she had an authentic battle with Avery and came clean for that match. To her, at least that was legitimate. She had her answer and it didn’t matter what anyone else believed. She could walk away from this come hell or high water knowing she belonged in this tournament after all.

“We’re going on a five-year break anyway,” Cassandra told the others, being open and frank about the whole ordeal. “Yes, we use witchcraft. Yes, we did abuse it in battle, but no, we’re not going to keep doing it. That’s it, that’s the truth. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Jon’s biggest worry is someone being a copycat,” Jarena reminded the others. “I dunno, those books were pretty tricky to find, some of them were expensive, and the whole initiation thing was kind of a big pain in the butt. We came close to giving up.”

“It may become like athletes getting screened for steroids,” Cassandra shrugged, thinking that may be the new norm if what Jon believed took place. “You may get a case here and there, and a disqualification to go with it. I still think the League won’t get derailed too much because of it.”

From the way Cassandra saw it, even if the whole world knew about it, it wouldn’t completely ruin the competitive battling League. Once in a blue moon, a competitive battler could abuse it and get away with it for a little while, but the League would now know what to be on the lookout for. They wouldn’t get nearly as far as the Diamond Ladies did.

“So…” Jarena wanted to confirm. “…confirm we’re witches, mention we did use witchcraft in the past, but also mention we’re taking some time off after this to figure out how we can come clean for future battles. Think… people are going to be okay with that?”

“It’s the solid truth,” Cassandra shrugged with a sigh. “If they’re not okay with it, then, well, we just don’t competitively battle anymore. That’s all. We find other careers that might be able to see possibility in our unique skills, or-”

“Off the grid we go?” Jarena asked curiously.

“…If it comes to that, yes,” Cassandra replied.

It was then that Cassandra’s phone had beeped with a new message. She was almost expecting the stalker at first, but she saw it was Jon.

"We need to meet up now. Tell your escort that you have to get to Safe House C, and show them the following.

Operative ID 76293
Confirmation Code: Foxtrot Oscar Romeo Alpha Mike India November India Sierra"

“Jon wants to meet,” Cassandra told the others, summing up the message he sent. “Not sure what his plan is now, but… we can talk it over first.”

Cassandra then showed Sami the message from Jon as well as the confirmation code. She nodded, knowing what that meant and the details regarding taking them to Safe House C.

“Say…” Jarena looked to Sami. “I’m curious, what’s your take on all this? If you were in our little posse, what would you do?”

“If it was me?” Sami asked, thinking it over as she brushed back her hair. “The League is already having you drop out of the competitive battling scene for five years. By the time that’s up, you would have found something else to do with your lives. I don’t think it would even be worth going back if people know what’s going on.”

“Eh heh…” Jarena smiled bashfully. “In that case, know anyone that’s hiring witches?”

“We’d better move,” Sami told them, standing up while having no idea how to answer that question.

But before any of them got going, suddenly they heard a familiar voice and Cassandra turned around to see Jirachi floating before her.

“Heeeeeeey miss Cassandra! Violet! And Jarena!” Jirachi cheered happily, greeting all of them. “Good morning! How are yooooou? Did you see all the sparkles on the sea?”

“Hey, good morning, Jirachi,” Cassandra smiled with a sigh, looking around and figuring Jimmy was likely close by. “Well, could be better, but we’ll be alright.”

Jirachi’s sudden appearance caused Cassandra to think of possibly wishing for a solution to their problem, but after pondering about it for a moment, she didn’t think it would be possible at this point and she had seen what had resulted from Jarena’s wish getting annulled. Large-scale wishes seemed to have the tendency to be extremely disruptive and the last thing she wanted was to have the “solution” from the wish be something even worse than the original problem itself.

“Victi!?” (“Hey, how’s things going, Jirachi!?”) Victini smiled to the star-shaped Pokémon. “Vic-ti-tini!” (“Actually, we haven’t been outside yet. But we head out on the deck later!”)

A second later, Cassandra’s phone had received another message. She opened it up and saw it was from the mystery stalker again.

Everyone will soon know what you Ladies did, Cassandra. See, that’s the funny thing about the truth. Always comes out eventually.

Cassandra, a bit irked, decided to reply.

Fine. So what if they do? After tonight’s battle, we’re retiring anyway. Tell that to your media friends. It’s cute and flattering how you’re too scared to talk to us face to face.

“Jirachi, we’d love to stay for a chat, but we need to head off,” Sami told the wishmaker Pokémon. “You’re welcome to join us, but Jon needs us downstairs.”

“She’s right, Jirachi, something came up,” Cassandra told him, offering a sympathetic smile. “Up to you if you want to join us for a meetup with Jon, but if not, maybe we can meet up and play with your friend Jimmy later today, okay?”

After cleaning up the table and throwing away the leftover trash from breakfast, they followed Sami and headed downstairs away from Central Park.

Safe House C

Shortly after, Sami and the three Ladies made their way downstairs and soon arrived at Safe House C. Once they stepped in, they had seen Jon, Steven, and Alyssa were there, along with one of the other operatives. From what they saw, it looked like there had been another fight, and judging from the smashed keyboard, broken monitor, and the technician’s bleeding face with blood running down from his nose, Jon was feeling especially persuasive. All the while, Steven and Alyssa had very concerned looks on their faces, not liking what was transpiring, but not feeling brazen enough to physically restrain Jon.

“Ho boy…” Cassandra sighed, knowing this kind of scene was familiar when it came to Jon.

“Did we… come at a bad time, Jon?” Sami asked Jon, looking like they were definitely in the middle of something.

Despite whatever had transpired between Jon and this technician, who she figured might be responsible for some of what happened with the way Jon had given him his ‘special treatment’, Cassandra wanted to see what Jon wanted to say before moving forward. But she had a feeling there was going to have to be a change in plans either way.

“So what pray tell just happened?” Violet asked Steven, figuring Jon was busy.

“Well, Jon found one of the technicians responsible for the media leak,” Steven explained, not looking too particularly pleased about the technician’s actions nor how Jon was handling it. “Matt here was the one who did it on Lance’s order.”

“He’s not working alone,” Cassandra told him, showing him her phone message log. “Been getting texts from someone who calls themselves ‘Karma,’ who seems determined on exposing everything. All this stuff must have been leaked sometime last night by these guys, giving these media outlets enough time to write articles and post them up this morning for the public to see. We went to grab breakfast in Central Park and we’ve already been getting questions about being witches by people who happened to come across these articles. That’s how we even found out about it once we checked it out for ourselves.”

“Not sure what the motive is now…” Steven replied, looking over the chat message log. “Lance had a part in finding prospective operatives for the mission to find evidence on you three, which included a least several dozen personnel, any of which could be involved in this. When we finally had obtained the evidence and your confession, we had a disagreement over the sentence and punishment. It seemed Lance refused to accept our agreement and take matters into his own hands, ordering several of his hired operatives to carry out his directive. Lance is… very prideful, and he does have an ego. I know fair play meant a lot to him in earlier times, but… he’s changed. He’s not the Lance I first met…”

To Cassandra, she wasn’t sure what to make of it. At this point, she was actually beginning to feel she deserved this and had to own it. The truth was, the three of them were even surprised at the mild sentence at first, and she was beginning to see where Lance could have been furious and could legitimately feel justice was not being appropriately served. But despite that likely possibility, nothing justified his attempt at murder and framing Jon, but she could see where the murderous decision stemmed from and how it all got started.

“Maybe… it’s better if we stop lying,” Cassandra told him honestly. “Forget the five-year ban, our battling careers are shot. It’s just something we need to accept, especially with what the media now knows and has put it out there. Let us just be an example of what happens when you cheat, regardless of whether it’s with witchcraft, drugs, scams, or whatever. You get banned and you have to pay, just like if you were an athlete using performance enhancement drugs.”

“Yeah, we can move on,” Jarena agreed, trying to keep an optimistic smile. “I mean, it was a big unbearable suck at first when all went down the pisser yesterday and it nearly drove us nuts, but we definitely realized dirty party fun time is over, you know? We just need to start over… doing something else for a change.”

“What’s your take on it, Jon?” Steven asked, still looking a bit skeptical about the whole situation. “If you think Cynthia should be in on this conversation, I’ll give her a call, but it might be best if we meet wherever she is now, rather than her… well, finding this mess...”

[Desolate Divine]

03-05-2021, 03:42 AM

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

"Perfect timing." Jon replied irritably, "Matt and I were having a friendly little chat..."

When Steven asked for Jon's take, he took a breath, trying to think rationally about all of this.

"It could go either way." Jon explained, "I have Matt's phone, which the emails were sent from. Which means I could accidentally send something through with my name, and make out that the photos came from me. They were taken by Alyssa's camera when we thought you may have had the books booby trapped, and her Gardevoir is just visible on the edge of some of the shots. If I used Serena in the battle tomorrow night, we could basically just add all this to Jon Drake's rap sheet, by the end of it if the League were to officially deny an invesitgation into the three of you. We just need to make sure there are no more leaks, so I'd want to pay Lance a visit..."

"But it's not my decision." Jon explained, "Ultimately it's up to Steven and Cynthia, and I'd hope that you three have proven yourselves willing to cooperate enough that the league would allow the three of you to have some say in what comes next."

"I'd be okay with involving you in the decision. Whether we continue to pursue this cover-up, or not. Cynthia probably as well." Steven said, "Whilst we were justified in investigating you, your safety is now at risk because of one of us, and no amount of cheating warrants that. Personally I would like to see this covered, and not have to restructure the entire league to try and prevent this from happening again, but we would need your help to make that happen, and it is obvious this is putting a massive target on your back."

"Regardless, two things are happening." Jon explained, "The first is that I am going to be stepping back from battling. The crap I pulled last night with Ethan, both in and outside of the match was to get the audience already annoyed at Jon Drake. Now that it's hit the fan, if we don't go ahead with it, my reputation is already on its way downhill. That and I don't want to compete in what the league will become if we can't cover this up, with one exception. I'm still willing and able to tank it further to sell the story, but I agree with Steven. If it is putting you three in danger, and you would rather cut your losses, then I will respect that. Don't get me wrong, I still think we can make this work. We just need to plug up the holes before tonight. And speaking of that..."

"The second thing to happen is that I will pay Lance a visit." Jon explained, "He has made this personal, not just for you three, but for myself as well. He thought this f**ker had overwritten the footage, but Steven had one of his guys get a copy of him about to try and kill you and frame me."

"Lance is an egomaniac? Regardless of what decision we make here, I am going to let him know that we have this, and that if the truth about you three gets out, and this cover up doesn't stick, I will burn his whole world to the f**king ground. Starting with his reputation, by sharing this video." Jon explained, "If we go ahead with the coverup, maybe this can be the persuasion he needs to give us the names of all his idiots before tonight, including this coward calling themselves Karma, and to call them off. And if we don't, I want to see the look on his face when he realizes that all the s**t he has pulled in the last eighteen hours to spare his pride was for nothing. And because in that scenario, Jon Drake will still be allowed to battle, if by some miracle he isn't rotting in prison, I will challenge him for his title, like I could have done years ago if I didn't mind the attention, and I wil put him to the ground like the b***h he is. That is the exception..."

"Long story short, how we go about the rest of this cruise is up to Steven and Cynthia, but you three should have a say in this as well." Jon explained.

"So what do you all think?"

Shruikan

03-05-2021, 09:40 AM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park

After showing great restraint in avoiding so much as a word to Jarena, Luneth finally made it to order, where she let Glimmer pick out most of the food while she looked around to find a good spot to sit.
A few minutes later she took her mainly chocolate collection of food to her chosen seat, near the window, where by pure coincidence she could see the Diamond ladies in the distance, but she totally didn’t pick for that purpose, she told herself unconvincingly.

After a few minutes of eating and avoiding looking out the window, she overheard something at the next table that caught her attention.

“They say they’re been using witchcraft to cheat for years.”

It wasn’t one of the operatives she’d seen yesterday. He seemed like a normal guy talking to a friend over the phone. But then how would he know about the magic?

“Yeah, I never would have believed it either, but SWN reported on it this morning. How crazy is that? Witchcraft in this day and age?”

Oh dear.

A quick search showed Silver Wing News had an article proclaiming inside sources with evidence of the Diamond ladies confessing to using shadowcraft.
Oh, those league people will not be happy. From what Luneth had overheard they had made it pretty clear that covering up magic was their main goal.

Luneth looked out the window towards where the Diamond ladies had been eating, wondering if they were going to be ok after all, and nearly choked on her drink. There was a Jirachi there with them!

By now most of the meal was done. “You ok with cutting this a bit short Glim?” The Shaymin nodded, having also seen the Jirachi outside.
However, by the time they got back out there, the ladies were already leaving, the Jirachi with them.

Welp, Luneth thought. Back into stalker mode. Luneth started to follow them, while staying far enough back that she could conceivably just wandering on her own, and just so happened to be going the same way as the Diamond Ladies. Though in doing so, she lost sight of the Jirachi, hopefully it was still with them, or they’d know where it was at least?

Chakramaster

03-05-2021, 11:15 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park -> Safe House C
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Jimmy continues to try and catch up to Jirachi. Not watching who may follow him. He pushes past through some crowds to try and catch up to Jirachi. Jimmy shouting toward Jirachi to try and get it's attention back on him. Jirachi had followed the Diamond Ladies all the way from the Central Park area to the Safe House where they were heading.

"Gaaaah, Jirachi just has to go fly off to friends. I hope this isn't too much trouble." Jimmy says as Pikachu follows closely behind.

"Pika-Pika. Pi-Pikapika." (Focus Jimmy. We can't lose sight of Jirachi.) Pikachu said aloud.

They were turning a few corners as Jimmy and his Pikachu caught up. Almost out of breath.

"Yay! You made it too Jimmy!" Jirachi cheers for him.

"Jirachi don't just go running off like that! You had me worried!" Jimmy tells him. "But at least you were says. That's what matters." He smiles and gives Jirachi a gentle pat on the head.

"Aww, fiiiiine." Jirachi says crossing his arms. They all follow the Diamond Ladies in and listened the discussion progresses.

Jimmy chimes in and looks to the ladies.

"So someone has started texting you and they call themselves 'Karma.' You've no idea who it is? The number is blocked I'm assuming. What if the number it's connected to was fake? Scam callers do that all the time now. You try and call back and it's someone else entirely they never tried calling you." Jimmy states.

Jimmy then looks to Jon.

"You know Jon. I know you like this plan and all of yours, but at this point I'm starting to think it's a bust. We need a change of plans if we plan on doing anything here. Someone is trying to leak this footage we've all worked hard to prevent from getting out, but now it has. Don't you see? By now if we keep trying to go through with this plan we will just keep playing into their hands." Jimmy says aloud.

"We can't afford to let some mysterious person control us. Let alone the ladies here. They've already had enough fear with us chasing them yesterday. How about we do something different for once. Go see Lance if you want and get any information out from him you can. I have an idea to find out more about this 'Karma' person. But it's gonna require some help." Jimmy says as he looks to the ladies and then Jirachi.

"Also after you're done paying Lance a visit Jon. Find me and Jirachi. It'll be your turn. I'll explain it to you later. For now. I need the ladies to play their part. If they'd be willing. I'll follow them to see Cynthia and explain my idea to her there. Something has to be done though. Sooner than waiting around and throwing fists." Jimmy says. "If you just go along with me. I might try and help you in your hole in the walls problem here." Jimmy says to Jon.

Neo Emolga

03-06-2021, 05:58 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Jon still had some hope clinging on to the coverup, now intending to use Alyssa’s Gardevoir as part of the plan. But despite this, he felt it was up to Steven and Cynthia on whether it would still have the green light. Still, he wanted to allow Cassandra and the other two Ladies to have some say in the decision. But he also made it clear he would be stepping away from battling after tonight’s match, and that he had intentions of finishing his business with Lance.

When Jimmy Kendo had joined them, Jimmy had doubts the plan could still be salvaged, and Cassandra couldn’t help but lightly nod in agreement. Then there was also the concern about “Karma,” although Cassandra didn’t fear this mysterious identity. At this point, she felt their secrets were exposed and they would have to face the fallout of their past mistakes. But unlike before where the thought and reality of losing everything was on the verge of being unbearable, they were now ready to cut their losses.

It all came down to that one question from Jon. “So what do you all think?”

“I have a different idea in mind,” Cassandra told the group. “I think Jimmy’s right, I don’t see the coverup working at this point. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be and as much as I don’t want to admit this ‘Karma’ person is right, the truth needs to come out and we need to take everything that comes with it. We’ve found out the hard way what happens when you try to keep things covered up with lies. It’s a venom and the sooner we purge it out, the better.”

“I think I speak for Jarena and Violet as well when I say we’re not concerned about the danger,” Cassandra told Jon, looking at him with a determined look in her eyes. “Lance had the advantage of numbers, having us stuck on a ship under constant watch without our Pokémon, and with us in adherence to the promise not to use our witchcraft. Had it happened anywhere else under other circumstances, Lance would be on the floor reeling with a literal tail between his legs. Let’s just say his only opportunity at actually causing us any actual harm has passed.”

“Ha, you got that right!” Jarena laughed. “Okay, so yeah, maybe everyone knows we’re witches now. There’s a silver lining that comes with that in the form of ‘do ya feel lucky, punk, and wanna mess with a witch?’”

While Jon had his methods of dealing with threats in the form of bloody noses and using computer peripherals as bludgeoning devices, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet had their own means of protecting themselves, if it had become truly necessary. It was no secret anymore. Still, Cassandra wanted to make it clear it would only be done in do or die cases and not as reckless supernatural fun.

Not like how it was before…

“Here’s what I propose, Jon,” Cassandra told him, looking at him sincerely as the others listened in. “Let’s face it, for both of us, this will be our last League battle possibly for a long, long time, maybe even forever. Tonight, how about we don’t give a damn what the world rants about on Twitter or thinks of us in the news or says behind our backs and just have a normal battle, no games, no garbage. Even if only one person watches the whole damn thing, I want them to see that the two of us, Cassandra Silvers and Jon Drake, despite both of us having a train-wreck of a reputation that went to hell and tumbled face-first into a cesspool, had a normal, final battle. Let them analyze it, obsess over it, theorize about it, I don’t care if they spend the rest of their lives trying to find proof insisting one or both of us pulled trickery or some crap. But to you and I, this will be our one and only last chance to show we’ve come clean in front of anyone and everyone who stepped on this ship to see this tournament, because I still feel that means something.”

“A lot of trainers who got beaten out of this tournament were all people who aspired to win this whole thing because it means something to them and everyone watcing,” Cassandra continued, “and I saw that in Avery’s eyes when they tried their damn hardest to take me down. It would be a shame if all it amounted to was a longshot façade just to save face when we already know how this ends. So let’s come clean, Jon. For their sake, for the League’s sake, and for our own sake. And when we reach that last page, we shut the book and we don’t open it again, but at least we’ll both be walking away with a little more dignity.”

She knew, giving up the very slim chance of the coverup successfully working meant the lives they had before this trip would be no more. But it was the best way to be honest with herself… to be honest with everyone else. The lies had to end, and quitting cold turkey was hard, but the sooner it was done, the better.

“Vic-ti-ni!” (“Oh, you just really want to see me battle again, don’t you!?”) Victini laughed, taking a bow. “Victi-nini…” (“Actually, I like this idea, too.”)

“Win or lose, the prize money is yours, Jon,” Cassandra told Jon, knowing that was part of the original plan. “With that, you can start a new life for yourself, Alyssa, and your family. Meanwhile, Violet will give the money we owe back to the League. We had a little help with that… wish, but for now we’ll keep that off the record. As for the three of us, let a lifetime ban be put in place and strip the Champion titles we have. Make us the example and make that the price and the deterrent for breaking the rules with Shadowcraft, just like inventing a new illegal steroid would be banned. Zero tolerance. Steven and Cynthia may get a press conference about this and what they plan on doing about the infamous ‘Diamond Ladies.’ This can be the answer and everyone will know what the consequences are.”

“From there, I’ll do what I can to help write up some guidance notes and shed some light on Shadowcraft and how it works for the League’s sake,” Cassandra explained. “I understand you’re worried about someone repeating what we did, but I’ll let you know what to be on the lookout for, and what can be done to detect it so it never gets even close to pulling off what we did. Given how difficult it is to become trained in Shadowcraft, what the lifelong consequences of it are, and how the League will be ready for it now, I can attest this is never going to become one of your biggest concerns ever again.”

“After that, we’re off,” Cassandra told them. “Jon, what you do with Lance is up to you, but none of us are worried about that creep. Put him in prison, strip his titles, make a public spectacle out of him, or make him eat his own Dragonite until his stomach bursts. But just know that if you ever overhear he tried to come after us once more and no one ever heard from him again, you’ll know what happened.”

“We haven’t decided where we’ll go after this,” Cassandra told him, knowing she still needed to work that out with Jarena and Violet. “Maybe you’ll find us serving tequila in a local bar. Or maybe we’ll take after you and will be taking part as undercover operatives in some other sting operation just like this one. Or perhaps one day many years from now, you’ll look out the window of a car and in the forest you’ll see an Eevee, Buneary, and Furret and they’ll remind you of someone you used to know. Whatever we do and wherever we go, don’t worry about us. We’ll find a way through it all.”

After that, it was up to Cynthia and Steven to ultimately decide how it would resolve, but for now, they had Cassandra’s answer and what she thought of the whole situation.

Noblejanobii

03-06-2021, 06:37 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RP'ers: Chakramaster

Avery watched as Jirachi, Jimmy, and Pikachu entered the room. Jirachi was quick to introduce himself, to which Avery nodded their head in acknowledgement to the Wishmaker. They waited patiently as Jimmy explained the short story of how he and Jirachi met and why Jimmy had sought out Avery specifically.

“Well when it comes to raising a mythical, the best I found was pull every resource that you can get your hands on. Usually there’s some nugget of truth within the myths. It also helps to have a Pokémon of a similar typing around as well since often times there’s similarities in raising young. For example, my Sawsbuck, Picotee, was a huge help in raising Gloria because grass types tend to require a lot of the same nutrients as babies.”

Avery then looked at Jirachi. “Yes I was the Buizel. I’m glad to be back human though if I’m being candid. As for a wish…” they paused before shrugging. “I’ll think on it. There’s not much I want at the moment that I couldn’t reasonably achieve on my own. But if I think of something I’ll let you know.”

Avery waved as Jimmy and Jirachi headed out the door. “See you around then.” It was getting late. Scooping up Gloria into their arms, Avery headed back to their guest quarters and promptly fell asleep. Even their nap from earlier couldn’t stop sleep from claiming them a second time.

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Central Park Shaymin Café

“Thank you, Pumpkin,” Avery said as the kind waitress left them with a mocha latte and croissant.

“My pleasure,” she responded, “Enjoy your meal!”

Avery took a long sip of their drink as Pumpkin walked away. They were still mostly focused on their battle strategy for tonight and hadn’t really noticed the commotion with the others going on. As far as they were aware, their role in all of this was finished so they just needed to continue to play their part as a participant in the tournament.

“Hey! You’re Avery Miller right?” a loud voice boomed in Avery’s ears. The coordinator looked up to respond only to find a video camera lens shoved in their face. “River Haybell of Ninetales News. I was wondering if I could get an interview with you about last night’s battle.”

Avery didn’t feel much up to an interview right now but it would be uncharacteristic of them to say no. Sighing internally, they put on their best performer’s facade and smiled. “Of course. Though I do request you keep it brief. I’d like to drink my coffee while it’s still warm.”

“Of course. Really great battle last night. According to an article on BattleNet, you said initially you didn’t expect to win against Cassandra Silvers. But obviously last night’s battle was a very different story. What changed between then and last night?”

“Well to put it simply, I put more faith in my team. I never thought we were meant for the gym circuit and tournament scene but over the course of yesterday I came to realize that I wasn’t giving my team enough credit. And I think that faith in them pushed them to go the extra mile.”

“Of course of course. Now Miss Miller-“

“Mx. Miller,” Avery quickly interjected. This wasn’t their first rodeo with accidental misgendering in interviews and usually it was a quick and easy fix. This time though, not so much.

“I’m sorry, Mx.? That’s not a real salutation now is it?” River scoffed.

“It is, I’ve used it ever since my professional debut actually,” Avery responded, a bit more firm this time. “It’s a nice term to have in your lexicon for people like me who prefer it.”

“Ah yes, I forgot about your current indecisiveness phase. Whatever. Avery, could you please-“

“It’s not indecisiveness,” Avery interrupted again. “Now I will not be answering anymore questions from you on account of your rudeness. Please leave me be.”

River huffed and said, “Just like a friend of the witches. I bet it’s their magic that made you into a freak.”

Avery proceeded to ignore River until the man walked away. Then it clicked. Witches? Checking their phone, it didn’t take them long to spy all the news about Shadowcraft. “Well that complicates things,” they mumbled quietly.

[Desolate Divine]

03-06-2021, 12:43 PM

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jon groaned internally when he saw Jirachi float into the room, with Jimmy entering a minute later, seemingly catching up to it.

"After last night's s**tshow, he still lets it run around off leash..." Jon thought to himself irritably, before hearing out what Cassandra had to say. Really, what she and the others wanted was to cut their losses. And at this point, it made the most sense.

"Then lets cut our losses." Jon explained, "I only became involved in this investigation because I felt like I owed the league for giving me a sense of purpose, after a s**ty start to life, and by helping resolve this, I could keep it the way it is, and hope that it does for someone else what it did for me."

Thinking about his next words carefully, Jon continued.

"Even when I suggested taking the fall, that was the same reason behind it. That people who need it can get involved, without worry of being cheated, or the opposite, being overly scrutinized in the name of keeping things fair. I mean, you all probably have seen the way airport security is in Unova since the terror attacks twenty years back. The response is to treat everybody going through security like they're criminals. I didn't want to see the League turn into that."

"The sad thing is, that in the last day, I have seen the ugly side of the league. I have seen a trainer that I once looked up to, that is one of the faces of the League, try and murder three unarmed women in cold blood, all for his pride, and try and blame me for it, choosing me as the scapegoat probably for the same reason." Jon continued, noticing Steven's face sink at Jon's comments about the League, "Don't get me wrong, I know Lance doesn't represent the League. But it has put a person like him in a position of authority, and can't seem to stop the in-fighting between those at its peak, that I can't help but lose a little bit of faith you know?"

"Everything until now has been for the sake of the League. But I think I can finally say I have done enough, and been through enough for it. The League is on its own now." Jon said, before turning to Cassandra, "I agree to your offer, and I’m going to make sure that win or lose, you’re given the hardest battle you will ever face. I am still going to pay Lance a visit, because he made this personal, and I'm not the forgiving sort when it comes to stuff like that though."

Jon unclipped the Pokeball containing Zoroark, and tossed it to Steven.

"I won't be needing this anymore. But I will need you to send me a copy of that footage." Jon explained, before making his way out the door.

"Cass, if you feel like joining me on a trip to the infirmary, I'd appreciate the company. I think I'm going to enjoy seeing the look on his face when he realizes how little he actually achieved at the cost he paid..."

Jon Drake
Infirmary
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga (Bunnied with permission)

Jon and Cassandra made their way from Safe House C towards the infirmary, stopping by Jon and Alyssa’s room for Jon to get his tablet. As he opened up the lock screen, there was an email notification containing a video file.

Jon tapped it, and was quickly taken to security camera footage of Lance ordering his Dragonite to use Dragon Rush on Violet and Jarena, before being thrown by an invisible force against a wall.

”Lance… What the f**k are you doing?” said Jon’s voice in the recording.

Jon quickly scrolled through, seeing the footage of Latios Mega Evolving to hold the two Dragonite in place, before Jon began beating Lance.

“This is more damning than I remember… You want a copy?” Jon asked Cassandra, as he quickly sent a copy of the video to Alyssa and to his own mobile, just in case, before leaving the room and making their way to the infirmary.

When they arrived, and entered the safehouse that had been designated as the infirmary, they were quickly stopped by someone before they could get too far in the door. Jon recognized this person as Operative Anthony Hunter from briefing for the mission. During the briefing Jon had found himself irritated at how much Anthony would tend to run his mouth, before weaseling his way out of action when called out.

“Sorry, he isn’t allowed visitors.” Anthony said, stepping forward, “Especially you two. Cynthia’s orders.”

“Really?” Jon asked, “You have written confirmation? A confirmation code?”

“She gave me these orders in person when she escorted Lance here.” Anthony replied irritably.

“Even then, it’s policy to send through a written order as well.” Jon explained, “Covers your a** if she makes a bad call and something goes wrong…”

“Listen she-”

“Also covers hers if some a**hole is using her name to validate their bulls**t…” Jon interrupted before staring Anthony dead in the eye.

“I don’t know what you-” Anthony began before being cut off by the sound of a Pokeball activating, and Latios manifesting in the tight space they were already in.

“Here’s the deal Anthony.” Jon said, before brushing past, giving him a good shove when he tried to interfere.

“Matt told me you’re really taking orders from Mr. Dragon-Fetish in there, when I beat the truth out of him about the leak.” Jon explained, “Lucky for you, I’m really trying to stop getting my hands so dirty. I hadn’t been in a fight in years before this cruise, but s**t, it really brought out the worst in me.”

Anthony went silent, as Cassandra passed him.

“So be a good boy, and wait right here while we have a little chat with your boss.” Jon explained, “And if you are good, Latios won’t do to you what I told him to do earlier if you tried to leave this room.”

”Didn’t tell me anything?” said Latios’ voice in Jon’s head.

”You and I know that but he doesn’t. Just put on your mean face.”

“Cheers Anthony. Keep up the good work.” Jon called out as he entered the main part of the infirmary, leaving Anthony in the company of Latios.

“Now for the fun part.” Jon muttered to Cass as they made their way towards Lance’s bed.

In the bed sat a bruised and bandaged Lance, who gave Jon a glare before noticing Cassandra with him, his glare turning to an arrogant smirk.

“I’m so sorry that the truth got out.” Lance called out sarcastically, “I wish I knew who was behind it…”

Jon walked over to the front of the bed, noticing the machines that Lance was hooked up to, and the painkillers he was receiving via IV. He was talking big talk, but really, he was in a lot of pain still.

“Looks like I really did a number on you Lance.” Jon said cheerfully, before pulling the file from the holder at the foot of the bed.

“Hey what are you-” Lance called out, before being interrupted.

“Smashed eye socket, four broken ribs, bruised tailbone, missing teeth- Oh god, how will you ever do those cover shoots without that dazzling smile!” Jon read out, “Ooh, patient history, this will be fun. Oof, syphilis, that’s rough buddy.”

Lance began to speak up before Jon closed the file.

“Just kidding around. About the syphilis at least. All the current stuff though was legit.” Jon explained, “Just came to tell you that we are abandoning the cover up story. The Ladies are gonna come clean about the witchcraft, you will get your title back, and they will be punished, after tonight’s match of course. You get your pride back, and it only cost you…”

Jon opened the file again, reading it out.

“A smashed eye socket, four broken ribs, a bruised tailbone and some missing teeth.” Jon explained, “That’s what your pride’s worth, isn’t it?”

Lance began to speak before Jon interrupted him again, mostly because he knew being cut off would agitate an egomaniac like Lance.

“Except that’s not all.” Jon explained, “The ladies are getting punished but it’s going to cost a whole lot more. Because you involved me, and you made this personal...”

Jon made his way over to Lance’s bed, giving him a light shove to move aside, which would have hurt with the broken ribs, before sitting next to him, and unlocking his tablet to reveal the video footage.

“Wait, where did you-?” Lance began as he recognized the footage.

“Yeah, your guys didn’t do a good job of burying this.” Jon explained, as he pressed play, “I don’t blame you for wanting it buried. Pretty heavy stuff. The well loved Indigo Champion, having his oh-so powerful Dragonite attack two unarmed women, and arranging to pin it on someone who works under him.”

The video played, getting to the part when Jon began beating Lance.

“Ooh, this is my favorite bit.” Jon explained, “But want to know the best thing about this?”

“What…” Lance asked through gritted teeth, knowing Jon was going to tell him anyway.

“Had we all just played nice and went along with the plan we discussed, my wife, Alyssa, would have had to have quit her job. She is a reporter at BattleNET. 600,000 subscribers, and standard stories get 3 million hits.” Jon explained, “With Jon Drake being branded a cheater and given a lifetime ban, it isn’t a good look for her if she continues covering League Events, so she would have left all of that audience and influence behind.”

Jon locked the tablet, as he got off the bed.

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to pay you a visit Lance.” Jon explained, “To tell you that now that I am not taking the fall for the Ladies, just like you wanted, Alyssa can keep doing what she is doing. Spreading the good word about what is going on in the League. And as soon as this cruise is over, BattleNET will be getting the story of the century…”

“You wouldn’t.” Lance replied, trying to feign confidence, “If she publishes this, the public will see the High Sea’s Champion or Runner-Up, depending on how tonight goes, beating a League Champion ruthlessly. Your reputation will be just as ruined as mine.”

“Hardly.” Jon laughed, “Yeah, I went over the top. But at the end of the day, it was to protect someone you intended to harm, as well as having found out I’d be your scapegoat. I’ll get an assault charge at worst, which will probably get thrown out, seeing as no court will want to deal with the cancel-culture backlash of a man being punished for defending a woman from another man who means her harm.”

“See, wanna hear something that I find to be hilarious?” Jon explained, “I’ll tell you. We were originally going to show the second half of this clip. When I am beating you senseless, to sell the cover up.”

Lance’s expression shifted as it dawned on him what Jon was implying.

“We were going to tell everyone that the evil Jon Drake was blackmailing Violet and Jarena of the Diamond Ladies, but the heroic Lance, Master-Of-Dragons found out and tried to intervene, before being brutally attacked by the monster. You would have been a hero.” Jon explained, “So instead of just letting things play out the way we planned, winning your title back in a true underdog story, and being dubbed a selfless hero in helping catch the evil mastermind, Jon Drake, you now are sitting in a hospital bed, beaten to s**t, now branded as an attempted murderer and coward, and probably finding yourself in some s**ty prison cell instead of the house arrest the league would have pushed for to sell the story. But hey, now everyone will know the girls cheated, and you are still Indigo Champion. Sounds like a good price, right?”

Jon began to smirk, as Lance seemed worried by what he would say next.

“See, I am not too happy about you trying to throw me under the bus.” Jon explained, “If your plan worked, I would have wound up in prison, my wife would be alone, and you’d be living the high life. So there is going to be one more thing this will cost you.”

Jon leaned in close to the bed-ridden Champion.

“As you can tell, I have made it a bit of a mission of mine, to burn you and everything you love to the f**king ground.” Jon explained, “Tonight, Cass here, and I are going to battle, and put on a hell of a good show. It will be the last time for both of us for a while. And because I already began fulfilling my end of the deal with the league by tanking my reputation last night to set up for the cover up, I’m still getting paid regardless. It’s what, 500k, 300k, 200k and 100k for first, second, third and fourth? So whether or not I win tonight, I’ll be walking out of here with first and fourth’s prize money, so six hundred thousand dollars. And Cass is looking like she will be walking out of here with a pretty sweet gig consulting for the league on these sorts of matter in the future since she was so cooperative by the end of it."

“She was a target this morning, and now you’re on a nickname basis with her?” Lance hissed.

“Yeah, funny how cooperating and not being a general piece of s**t does that.” Jon retorted, “But I’m still talking, so be polite and listen.”

“The real fun begins after.” Jon explains, “Because once you are able to battle again, I’m taking the thing you care about most. Your title.”

“Even if the league strips it because of the whole attempted-murder thing, people will still see you as the champion unless someone earns that title from you.” Jon explained, “So when that time comes, I will challenge you, and make sure BattleNET is there to cover the whole thing, so that when I beat you, when people think of the Indigo Champion, it is me they think of.”

“You cocky piece of s**t.” Lance laughed, “You think you can beat me?”

“Oh I know I can.” Jon explained, “You know what leagues I participated in?”

“I got all the badges in Kanto when I was sixteen or so.” Jon explained, pulling out his Trainer Card App on the tablet, showing his sixteen badges, “I never challenged the league though, because I didn’t want the attention. I moved to Hoenn instead, getting the badges there, and even though I didn’t challenge the league there either, met Steven and wound up in this life.”

“That was twelve years ago now.” Jon explained, “And now that I think about it, I wouldn’t mind the attention of being the one to beat Dragon Tamer Lance. Hell, I might even raise a team of Dragons myself just to beat you. I imagine people would forget your battling prowess pretty soon, only really remembering the s**ty things you did.”

“So congratulations.” Jon explained, ”You won. Was it worth it? I hope so, because everything that comes now, is all on you…”

Lance sat quietly, fuming, but unable to think of a way out of this.

“Cass, you got anything you want to add?”

Neo Emolga

03-07-2021, 04:40 AM

Cassandra Silvers
Infirmary
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

After a long discussion, Jon had agreed with Cassandra’s plan to accept and cut their losses while the Ladies would take the rightful blame for their transgression, all set on the path of coming clean. The way Cassandra saw it, trying to cover the truth with the lies was never going to help. It would continue this same inane way for years and years and it would still leave her questioning the purpose of it all before the dishonesty caught up to her. The same way her glamorous life of fame, fortune, and deceit had once owned her. But she understood that Jon had dealt with his own demons in the past and now she was facing her own. But she wanted to fight them rather than hide them. She wanted the world to watch her as she fought them, and sure, there would be many that would claim she failed or succeeded, but everyone was going to witness her fighting them… one step at a time.

It was not going to be easy or clean. There would be days voices in her head would question why she didn’t take the easier route, and she needed to remind herself to tell those nagging voices in her head to shut the hell up. It was a harsh truth that would make her a better person. Own your mistakes and sins. And eviscerate them however you could by doing the right thing. Regret didn’t earn forgiveness. Redemption was only accomplished through action.

At the same time, there was unfinished work with Lance. Destructive intentions were put into motion and they needed to be shut down before the situation escalated. And for that, Cassandra was willing to help Jon every step of the way, even if it entailed turning the nearest object into a weapon to make a point and drive it home with pain if words weren’t working. She followed Jon to the infirmary, each step marking distance walked away from the dark life she once lived.

As Jon had reviewed the footage of Lance’s attempted attack, Cassandra looked on and saw for herself what Jarena and Violet had dealt with. It disgusted the hell out of her, seeing Jarena and Violet simply watching the battle on a monitor before Lance tried but failed to destroy them and frame Jon and Latios for the incident.

“This is more damning than I remember… you want a copy?” Jon asked her as he sent a copy of it to Alyssa.

“It’s going to make me sick as hell every time I watch it, but yeah,” Cassandra confirmed. “This is what the truth looks like, and Lance has to own it, too. I know people are going to remind us about the mistakes of our past, probably for as long as we live. But Lance has to with his own mistakes as well, and if anyone who believes otherwise and thinks Lance is still clean, they need to see the truth as well.”

But it wasn’t all that Cassandra wanted to get out of this meeting with Lance…

While Jon was dealing with Anthony and uprooting his attempt to cover for Lance, Cassandra approached the former champion in his hospital bed, bandaged, broken, and humiliated. He looked pathetic. A man defeated.

“I’m so sorry that the truth got out,” Lance called out sarcastically to Cassandra. “I wish I knew who was behind it…”

“Yeah, your friend who calls themselves ‘Karma’ seems to be enjoying it as well,” Cassandra told him, not at all looking anxious or intimidated about it. “And you know, it’s actually quite alright with me, because unlike you who tries to hide your demons away and expect other people to deal with them for you, we’re dealing with our past and our problems head on, even if you decided to open the floodgates all at once in a cute way to get the world to despise us. Between Jon, myself, and you, we all found ourselves in Hell in our own unique ways, but the difference between us and you is we started climbing out while you thought digging deeper would be your easy escape.”

After Jon had approached the bed, he had pulled the file on him and had his way with him for a while, going over the plan Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet had to come clean. And what Jon said was true, the punishment was severe and before, it would have driven Cassandra nearly to broken insanity.

But not anymore…

Jon then showed him the security tape footage, making it clear he was now armed with the truth, a weapon that would hurt Lance far more than any punch to the face or kick to the ribs would hurt. He made it clear where before he was ready and willing to take the fall for the Ladies, Cassandra wanted him to take a different path. Come clean. Let Alyssa continue her passion being a reporter for BattleNET. And there would come a time that Jon would strip Lance of his title, legitimately, and Cassandra could see how his anger would fuel determination and commitment.

“Cass, you got anything you want to add?” Jon asked.

“Sure,” she replied with a small casual sarcastic smirk that hid much more underneath it.

She took a step closer to Lance, looking into his eyes. Unknown to anyone else but her, she was using her phone to record the conversation. Because while the video recording of Lance was damning enough on its own, she wanted that one last nail to seal Lance’s coffin. Because to her, it was as if she was looking into the eyes of her would be killer.

“I learned something from all this, Lance,” Cassandra told him. “You want to know what this is? It’s that the truth will come for you, sometimes in pieces, sometimes all at once. And you’re never ready for it but it will haunt you until it appears. The first time you lie, the first time you cheat and break the rules, sure, you may get away with it once. Sometimes many times if you get the devil’s own luck about it. But you become a slave to it, forced to live up to new expectations everyone has of you, expectations you couldn’t achieve honestly and now can’t run away from without revealing the truth, so you keep trying to hide and bury your sins that keep trying to reemerge.”

“If all had gone in your favor, sure, Jarena and Violet would be dead right now,” Cassandra explained. “You might have found a way to kill me as well when I returned from the battle and was caught unaware. But I’m really wondering why you tried to do it, and what was it all for. Why did you?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Lance spat with a dark smile.

“You would have gotten away with murder,” Cassandra continued, “and once you crossed that line, you would have tried it again on whoever became a threat to you because you would now instinctively use that to solve your problems. But the difference is you got caught early, and here you are, broken, but at least alive and not prepped to be fried in an electric chair because once you started killing, you couldn’t stop. Maybe that’s something to think about when you’re able to walk again.”

“So you think you’re redeemed now?” Lance asked, chuckling despite his pain and broken teeth. “You have nothing now. We took everything you had, and now you’re empty. A has-been. How does the floor taste now that you’ve been kicked off the throne?”

“A good friend of mine told me it isn’t until you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do anything,” Cassandra told him, never mentioning said friend was actually Victini. “All you’ve done is give me exactly what I need to become someone else. Someone better. Right now, sure, you’ve destroyed my reputation, a false reputation that never should have been. And my privileges to compete in the League will be dead and gone after tonight, but I volunteered for that because I realized integrity means more than fame and attention. But what you didn’t take and never will lay on hand on is my ability to live well. And I intend to do just that, live a better, cleaner life. A happier life.”

And then she leaned in close.

“Because that’s how you really get revenge,” Cassandra told him in a serious tone. “Instead, you wanted to destroy us to remove us from the spotlight because it was easier, faster, and because you had the opportunity to do it and have Jon Drake as a fall guy to use as leverage. The League had already won and our illegitimate glory days were over, but for you, that wasn’t enough. Being the better man was taking too long, wasn’t it, Lance?”

“A prison cell would have been too good for you freaks,” Lance smiled wickedly. “After what you three did to steal the world’s love at our expense and dignity, no, you didn’t even deserve the right to breathe, see, hear, or feel anything in this world ever again, and the sooner the world is purged of fecal rot like you, the better. But Steven and Cynthia didn’t have the balls to do what I would have done had it not been for your pathetic dime-store guardian angel here.”

“So you thought this was justice?” Cassandra asked, looking at Lance like he was nothing more than a deranged madman.

“In part, but pleasure more like it,” Lance chuckled before growling at her. “Because after years of seeing you three everywhere I looked, illicitly fulfilling your fantastical dreams and never once suffering for what you did and what you stole… I wanted to hear your screams. I wanted to see what you looked like as mutilated corpses, a testament of filth purged that the world would no longer have to suffer with. Because unlike humanity and our pathetic justice systems, death has no due process! You think this is over? It will never be over until you’re over!”

And it was then that Cassandra had revealed she had been recording the whole conversation the entire time, putting the phone before Lance’s eyes when all he could do in his broken state was watch as the seconds were increasing… red recording light blinking… blinking… blinking… as the device was capturing every vile word that oozed out of Lance’s mouth.

And now Cassandra had her final nail for Lance’s coffin.

“Thanks, Lance, that’s all I needed,” she told him, standing up and looking down on him. “You can tell Matt, Doug, this ‘Karma’ person, and all your other goons that you all would do well to stand down and not pursue us any further. Because nothing you’re after or paying them will be enough compensation if you don’t.”

And with that, she was ready to go.

“Thanks for waiting,” Cassandra told Jon, stepping away from Lance. “Sorry you had to sit through another round of his crap, but I got what I needed and now I can put a bow on it before I pass it along to the League.”

After that, she headed toward the door, honestly hoping it would be the last time she would see Lance ever again.

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

While Cassandra was busy with Jon, Victini had decided to stay with Jarena, feeling he wasn’t really up for what could very well turn into more blood and guts being sprayed everywhere.

As Jarena looked at Jimmy and Jirachi, she couldn’t help but giggle at how Jirachi liked to go wherever he pleased and befriend everyone he saw while Jimmy comically had to run after him like a child chasing after a rolling ball. To her, it was one of those funny instances where the Pokémon was in charge instead of the trainer.

But he was right about ‘Karma.’ Jarena felt whoever this was, they were creepy and she knew what it was like to get creepy, cringy messages from annoying people. She wasn’t sure if Jon was going to follow through on Jimmy’s plan, but knowing how things went between Jon and Lance and how much Jon hated Lance with a fiery passion, she had a feeling it wasn’t on his mind at the moment.

“They may be a while…” Jarena flushed with a bashful smile as she looked at Jimmy. “Say, since Jon may be busy for some time giving Lance some loving extra tender care, maybe we can help you and Jirachi out. Yeah, ‘Karma’ sounds like a real creep. I wonder who it is!”

“It’s Nathan,” Violet confirmed, crossing her arms. “He’s been on Cass’s case ever since he broke into our room. Back at the pool he even said directly to her he was looking forward to us getting a lifetime ban from the League, and I’m sure Lance informed him that the actual sentence we received was drastically lessened with League attempting to make a coverup story. The likelihood of him sharing that disappointment connects with his involvement in the leak to escalate the fallout from all this. His texts, which have only been singling out Cass and not going to the two of us, also have the same snarky nature and undertones I remember from before back at the pool. But before he could do this, he needed Cass’s number from Matt, something he could have only acquired after our belongings were seized.”

“Well… holy smokes, Violet, you need to tell us where you buy your detective hats!” Jarena laughed. “When you mention that, it definitely makes sense. But where do you think he’s hiding?”

“Wherever he can see the feeds from the surveillance cameras,” Violet told her. “He knows he can’t trail Cass without getting found out, but it allows him to attempt to put pressure on her in a way that implies he’s always watching. At this point, he’s only a nuisance to us and his role in this leak operation was already carried out, but if we get to him, we may be able to squeeze him for more information about this network of leakers he’s connected to and what exactly they transmitted and to who. There’s no chance of saving face now, but it can give us a better idea of what we’re dealing with and if anyone else like Lance intends to try and add murder to their modus operandi.”

Jarena nodded, thinking that made sense and gave them a solid reason of why they needed to find him.

“Say, Jimmy, maybe you and Jirachi can help us with that,” Jarena smiled to him. “If you know where Cynthia is, we can get her up to speed and come up with a cool game plan to find where Nathan is and get him to talk! Nathan may have friends with him, too, so making sure we’re ready for that possibility would be great.”

“Vic-ti!” (“I’m in!”) Victini smiled. “Vict-ti-tini!” (“This kid is darn pesky, and I’m sure Cassandra would love it if he quit bothering her! Now if only we could do the same thing to those pesky scammers that keep calling Cass telling her that her car’s extended warranty is about to expire!”)

For now, the ball was in Jimmy’s court to see what he and Jirachi had in mind. But knowing Jirachi’s infinite potential of doing just about anything, they could have some fun with this.

[Desolate Divine]

03-08-2021, 12:56 AM

Jon Drake
Infirmary
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Cassandra began questioning Lance, as Jon listened in, standing from behind, noticing the phone held behind her back, as she tapped the screen before Lance started ranting.

"Goddamn, she's more cut out for this operative stuff than I am." Jon thought to himself, as Lance's tirade became more and more disturbing. If the video wasn't damning enough, then this would definitely bury him.

Cassandra soon after revealed she had been recording, before bidding him farewell, and thanking Jon for sitting through another round of Lance's crap.

"No, don't worry about it." Jon explained, "If not for this, I may start to feel guilty down the line for injuring him so badly. But now, I think I can sleep peacefully knowing I..."

Jon tried to remember the injury list.

"What was it, four broken ribs, a smashed eye socket, bruised tailbone and some missing teeth?" Jon laughed.

"Cheers Anthony." Jon said, calling back Latios, "Do yourself a favour and cut your losses with Lance. He is going down, and even though the Ladies are coming clean, the League is probably going to throw the book at everyone who helped Lance try and kill the Ladies, and leak private information. Leave now, and the worst we can get you for is faking orders from a superior..."

Jon called back Latios, who was still holding his mean face, as the pair left the room.

"Unless you particularly feel like joining me, I do have one last bit of unfinished business to attend to." Jon explained, "Don't worry, no beatings. I just owe Ethan an explanation about last night, now that things have changed, so want to give him that. Otherwise, I'll take you back to Sami. She seems pretty cool, and will probably not impose too much on you unless she has to."

Alyssa Drake
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Alyssa's jaw nearly dropped when Violet claimed with all certainty who Karma was, and made a pretty convincing argument for it.

"Well, now battling is out of the picture, I'd be happy to put in a good word for you at BattleNET." Alyssa laughed, "Your instincts are killer."

"But on a more serious note, I am sick of sitting on the sidelines while Jon and the others do the hard work." Alyssa explained, "He didn't even tell me what he was doing here until he thought I was in danger of you three turning me into a Psyduck. I tried to help by taking photos of the books while my Gardevoir levitated them because he thought they might be rigged, but they ended up getting leaked anyway..."

"I want to help catch this Karma a**hole." Alyssa explained, "So what can I do?"

Chakramaster

03-09-2021, 02:02 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Safe House C
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine

Jon and Cassandra left to handle Lance. Jimmy kinda scratches his head before shaking it slightly.

"Should've known that's about how that would've gone." Jimmy says to himself

Jarena had giggled a bit looking to Jimmy and Jirachi.

"They may be a while" Jarena flushed with a bashful smile as she looked at Jimmy. “Say, since Jon may be busy for some time giving Lance some loving extra tender care, maybe we can help you and Jirachi out. Yeah, ‘Karma’ sounds like a real creep. I wonder who it is!”

"It's Nathan" Violet claimed, crossing her arms. She insisted that it was him for various reasons. Including how he broke into their room. Jarena seemed to believe her and the evidence she provided.

"You're right. Wherever this 'Karma' person is. They've probably able to see anything and everything on this ship. So we need that extra precaution." Jimmy says as he reaches into his bag pulling out a Pokeball. Releasing the Pokémon inside. Revealing his Rotom.

"Ahhhh, finally decide to let me back out huh? Just cooooouldn't deal without me Huh?" His Rotom exclaimed using the voice box from his phone to speak aloud.

"Relax Rotom. It's time to do what you do best." Jimmy nodded.

"Crack jokes? I've got a million of those. How about the one about the old lady in the Pokemarket? Or maybe the one-" he was interrupted by Jimmy as he clears his throat.

"Okay okay fine. Whatcha need boss?" Rotom give a slight salute.

Jimmy looks to Jarena and Violet. Is there a device Rotom can jump into that this Karma person has been contacting? If we let Rotom in there. The moment you receive another message. Rotom here can bounce to the signal it's coming from. Turning on the GPS and sending your phone a location. We may only have a limited window of time before they know what's happening and so long as Rotom doesn't give away that he's jumped to the device." Jimmy says staring at him.

"Don't worry! I'll be quiet as a mouse." Rotom says as Pikachu glares.

"Pika! Pika pikachu!" (Hey! I take offense to that!) Pikachu says.

"Hahaha! You're so funny Rotom!" Jirachi floats down as it laughs at Rotom's joke. "It's funny because Pikachu is a mouse Pokémon!"

"Alright enough you guys. This is serious. The next step is a bit tricky, but I feel we need a distraction. One of you need to become a Pokémon...or both of you....again...Jarena and Violet. This is where Alyssa would come in. You are good with costumes right? How would you feel about dressing up as one of the 3 Diamond ladies? Posing as them to contact this 'Karma' person. Once we establish a connection. Rotom can do his thing. Then, you can lead us to the location." Jimmy sits there a moment.

"You might be wondering why Jarena and Violet would need to become Pokémon. If we recreate the event from earlier, without the witchcraft we of course. We stand to have reason to show that there's more here than that. Jirachi will be there right with them. Jirachi. That's assuming you'd be up for this. I can even be there too. Jirachi has already given me a way to turn into a Pokémon too." Jimmy says as he grips his new thunderstone pendant around his neck. Revealing it.

"Haven't used it yet, but Jirachi told me it'll turn me into a Pikachu. Like I asked you about earlier. Apparently it's my way of changing back and forth. Not sure if it has its limits yet. Maybe I'll find out one day, but for now. I could make good use of it and try it out this way too. Honestly this is the best plan I've got for now. Something to lure him out. Turning you both back into a Furrett and Buneary. Alyssa posing as Cassandra. Cassandra would just need to be either back as an Eevee or hidden for a short time. Would you okay being out in the open and at risk like that Alyssa? More importantly. Would Jon be okay with it?" Jimmy questioned her before asking the others.

"What do you think?"

Neo Emolga

03-09-2021, 04:22 AM

Cassandra Silvers
Infirmary
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

Cassandra couldn’t help but be amused at the way Jon had essentially memorized Lance’s injuries, and would probably commit that to memory to a ripe old age. Meanwhile, Anthony could consider himself fortunate that he had not ended up the same way Lance and Matt did. Still, it would mean Anthony would need to heed Jon’s advice if he wanted to keep it that way.

“Unless you particularly feel like joining me, I do have one last bit of unfinished business to attend to,” Jon told Cassandra. “Don't worry, no beatings. I just owe Ethan an explanation about last night, now that things have changed, so want to give him that. Otherwise, I'll take you back to Sami. She seems pretty cool, and will probably not impose too much on you unless she has to.”

“I hear you, Ethan probably has no idea what’s really going on,” Cassandra agreed with Jon’s plan after they had both left the Infirmary. “I’ll leave you to it, then, as I think Ethan needs some peace and quiet and maybe us explaining the situation to him one at a time would be best, especially since both of us really got on his case yesterday.”

In the meantime, Cassandra had a feeling Lance was not going to call off his operatives, and it was very likely there was someone else in Lance’s chain of command calling the shots for him while Lance was incapacitated. Still, she had given him fair warning, but considering Lance’s hungering for murderous revenge, she had a feeling it might not end even after she stepped off this ship with Jarena and Violet.

“Sup,” Sami had greeted Cassandra once she arrived. “I’m curious, Lance still alive in there?”

“Alive, but still a psychopath,” Cassandra told her, disgusted a bit. “Jon beat the stuffing out of him and yet he’s still hellbent on revenge and murder. You’d think Lance would have learned something out of that.”

“Yeah, there’s something really screwed up about him and some of the guys he hired,” Sami told her, keeping it a little hushed. “I was recruited by Cynthia, but I did some digging on some of these guys Lance hired after one of them started groping me and I had to kick him in the balls to get him to stop. I contacted one of my friends in law enforcement criminal records and it turns out a lot of them have their own file in that database. Makes me wonder if Lance was planning on helping them get a pardon if they got their hands dirty and if he was looking for some thugs with experience.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Cassandra replied, casting a suspicious glace back toward the Infirmary. “My word against theirs isn’t worth what a Rattata could spit, especially with what they just leaked out to the public. So I don’t have too many options right now. Jon and I have the video surveillance and a recorded confession, more than enough to get Lance in an orange jumpsuit. It’s his goons that are the problem now, and I don’t know how many of them are involved and how far they’re ready to go.”

Sami could see where this might be a problem. It was the last day of the cruise, and tonight the ship was expected to dock at Castelia City port shortly after the final match of the High Seas Tournament had concluded with the winner crowned and a celebration party had been thrown. Once the Diamond Ladies had stepped off the ship, tracking them down would be difficult. Lance had attempted murder but failed, and if they were going to attempt it again, they were going to have to do it soon.

“You know, this whole situation started off ugly as all hell with you three, but there was always something different about you, Jarena, and Violet despite all the cheating you three did,” Sami had concluded. “This Shadowcraft stuff is powerful, but you never used it to kill anyone.”

“No, we’d never do that,” Cassandra told her, reflecting on the fact that even at her worst, she still wouldn’t have done what Lance tried to do. “Pokémon transformation was the worst anyone ever got.”

“Which…” Sami replied, smirking a tiny bit when she tried to recall her experience as a Minccino, “…wasn’t even all that bad. I mean, the insightful conversation I had with my Pidgeot and Mienshao last night never would have been a thing had it not been for you. I mean thanks to that, if my Pokémon are ever feeling sad, or hungry, or sick, or there’s something bothering them, I know exactly how they’re feeling and I can do something about it whereas before… it was anyone’s guess what the problem was.”

Cassandra hadn’t thought of that, but Sami had a point.

“I didn’t really appreciate how smart and down to earth they are until I was really able to chat with them,” Sami smiled, thinking back to last night. “They know a lot of things and they feel happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety just like we do. Their memories and experiences stick with them just like they do with us. And there’s a lot we can learn from them and it’s nice understanding what they think of us and what they’ve learned from what we tell them. I never thought I’d find myself saying this but… thank you. I never realized how powerful this gift is.”

Cassandra didn’t know what to say, having a mixed feeling about it. But she was right, having that channel of communication opened up a whole new world of understanding and insight. It’s just the means as to how it was granted that had questionable circumstances…

“Ah sorry, didn’t mean to get philosophical all of a sudden there,” Sami flushed, trying to smile. “I’ll escort you back to the Safe House, maybe we can work together on this problem Lance started.”

“Sounds good,” Cassandra nodded, following Sami’s lead.

Jarena Farrell and Violet Radcliffe
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Jarena totally welcomed the idea of Alyssa getting in on the action, though she knew Jon was concerned for her safety. Still, she wanted to help catch “Karma,” but wasn’t exactly sure where she could pitch in.

Jimmy had an idea to use Rotom, who had been communicating with the group through Jimmy’s phone. Jimmy’s first idea was to have Rotom assimilate a device that “Karma” was using to contact them, but as Violet had concluded, the only one that had been receiving messages from them was Cassandra through her phone.

“We will… as soon as Cass gets back,” Jarena smiled, thinking the plan had a nice touch to it. “This Karma creep has been texting only her. But we’ll let her know what the plan is once she returns!”

Then Jimmy went over step two of the plan. It involved a distraction, having Jarena and possibly also Violet become Pokémon again. Meanwhile, Alyssa would attempt to try dressing up as one of the Diamond Ladies, posing as them to establish contact with “Karma.” The difference here was instead of using witchcraft to become Pokémon, they would be using Jirachi’s wish power. Jimmy had even mentioned that Jirachi had repurposed Jimmy’s Thunder Stone into a pendant that would allow him to become a Pikachu. But as Jimmy explained, to make the plan as effective as possible, Alyssa would best be taking Cassandra’s place wearing her clothing while Cassandra would go back to being an Eevee.

“Oh yeah, I love this idea!” Jarena exclaimed with excitement.

“Of course you do,” Violet sighed, rolling her eyes. “Back to this fun and games…”

Shortly after, Cassandra and Sami had returned. Cassandra had held up her phone, not realizing that while she had just used it for one intention, it was the interest for a second one as well.

“Got Lance’s confession right here,” Cassandra told the group, showing them she had it as a recording on her phone, “Just as a warning, it’s pretty ugly. He’s gone full-blown psychotic.”

“Cass, Jimmy came up with a brilliant idea!” Jarena told her excitedly, looking like she didn’t even care about the confession. “But we need your help!”

“Jimmy’s Rotom takes over your phone,” Violet explained the plan, shrugging while rolling her eyes, “and Alyssa here attempts to disguise herself as you before making contact with ‘Karma,’ who I have a feeling is Nathan. From there, Rotom would be able to discern where they’re calling from without ‘Karma’ knowing about the trace.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s actually Nathan,” Cassandra replied, thinking back to how she had to deal with him before. “Sounds like he’s one of Lance’s goons.”

To Cassandra, Nathan definitely fit the profile. But while Violet had her feeling and a way to rationalize it out, they had to confirm it to be sure, but most importantly, track down whoever it was and learn more about what was really going on and who else was involved in the plot. Besides leaking information to the media, they needed to know who else might be out to try and kill them.

“You wanna know the best part of this plan?” Jarena asked with a smile.

“Here we go…” Violet sighed, looking off.

“We get to be our cute Pokémon selves again!” Jarena cheered. “And go on a cool stealth mission!”

Cassandra had a feeling it was possible to do this mission without that component, but denying Jarena the opportunity to do that once it had already been presented in front of her was like asking a kid what ice cream sundae they wanted, buying it for them, and then just before pretending to give it to them, she swiped it away and ate it right in front of them while they cried. In any case, Alyssa, if she agreed to this, would need to wear Cassandra’s outfit. While Cassandra could have just gotten the clothes she wore yesterday and put those on in a place with no security cameras, it came at the cost of Jarena’s disappointment.

“So come on, we gotta nail this guy!” Jarena told them, trying to encourage them along. “This is going to be awesome!”

Cassandra shrugged, lightly smiling at Jarena’s silly antics, and then turned to Alyssa, wondering if she was really going along with this plan.

“You in on this?” Cassandra asked Alyssa, rolling her eyes a bit. “Though if you’d rather keep a low profile and not get spotted by people thinking you’re me, I get that.”

[Desolate Divine]

03-09-2021, 05:10 AM

Alyssa Drake
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Jimmy proposed a plan of using Rotom to track Karma whilst having the girls turned back into Pokemon, and Alyssa masquerading as Cassandra. Jarena was all for it, though Alyssa had a hunch that had something to do with Jarena's love of cute Pokemon.

When Cassandra asked her what she thought, she had to be honest about her concerns.

"Truth is, I think that its a start, but I don't think it'd be a good idea to run that plan as is." Alyssa explained, "Firstly, even though they are being pretty chill with you three, the Diamond Ladies are still technically detained by the League, even if you have a pretty long leash when supervised. If you guys do this, go track down and nail this guy, who we currently believe is an operative of the League, without someone like Steven or Cynthia okaying that, it could make your case worse..."

Steven had left at the same time as Jon and Cassandra earlier to discuss with Cynthia the changes in plans, so really it was the three Ladies, Jimmy, Sami and Alyssa.

"Like, even until now, you guys have been pretty squeaky clean since you have been caught right?" Alyssa asked, "Most of the bad stuff that has happened to people in the League since has been Jon, even if it was something about you three. I just think, you know, the League have shown they are willing to work with you three, and I doubt Steven would have a problem with this, but maybe chat with him, and see how he can help before doing something that could cause problems for the three of you later. "

"The other thing..." Alyssa said, before pointing to the security camera in the corner of the room, "You think that Karma is a league operative, using the surveillance system to watch you? Well as far as we know, there is probably another surveillance room, and they know your entire plan..."

"I am all for catching this guy, but if we are gonna do it, we gotta do it the right way, and be smarter about it." Alyssa explained, "First things first, we can find somewhere to talk where we aren't being listened in on, and arrange for Steven and Cynthia to join in..."

Jon Drake
Central Park -> Battling Stadium
Affected RPers: None

Jon left Cassandra at Safe House C, before making his way to Central Park. It had the best food on the ship, especially for breakfast, and figured that if Ethan wasn't eating breakfast, he was probably training so his match tonight with Avery wouldn't end in as much embarrassment.

It didn't take long to find Ethan sitting at a breakfast bar, staring at some pancakes and ice-cream.

"As if they don't serve alcohol before noon..." Ethan muttered to himself, as Jon approached from behind.

"Damn shame. Whiskey, Dry and Icecream go together well." Jon retorted, as he took a seat next to Ethan.

"Here to gloat?" Ethan asked, "Tell me how terrible of a trainer I am?"

"Here to apologize actually." Jon explained, "But not here. Too many people listening in. So how about you get that in a to-go container, and we talk somewhere more privately?"

"This had better not be more bulls**t." Ethan growled.

"None, truth is, what happened last night was the last thing I wanted to do, but I will explain later." Jon said, stepping out of his seat, "So you coming?"

Ethan looked at the breakfast in front of him, before quickly grabbing a spoon to scoff the ice-cream, and getting a container for the pancakes.

"What, the ice-cream would melt..." Ethan mumbled.

"Hey, no judgement here." Jon chuckled.

The pair made their way towards the battling stadium, getting the attention of the odd person who noticed them, however thankfully they weren't followed.

Once they were in the arena, which was closed to anyone not still competing, to allow practise for the evening, Jon began to speak.

"I owe you an explanation about last night." Jon said, "What happened with Jolteon was intentional, but I didn't do it to cheat you out of a win."

"I knew it." Ethan muttered, "Why else would you do it then?"

"Because I needed the crowd to hate me."

Ethan looked at Jon confused, before he continued.

"When we caught the Diamond Ladies yesterday I made a deal with the League. I had a meeting with Cynthia, Steven and Lance, where I offered to take the fall for everything that happened here." Jon explained, "The plan was that the league were going to get me a Zoroark, and I'd use it in the fight with Cassandra. If she had have beaten Avery I would have let you win, but if she won, I would make sure to beat you so I could face her in the grand final, where this plan would work best."

"So that's why you cheated..." Ethan said.

"No, I could have won without doing that." Jon explained, "The plan was to have the Zoroark accidentally create an illusion of the girls turning each other into Pokemon. The official story would have been that witchcraft doesn't exist, it was only me using illusions to try and blackmail Cassandra into throwing the match, but I got caught."

"I did what I did so the crowd would already be suspicious of me. Same thing with what happened after the match. Give the crowd reason to hate Jon Drake, so that when they are given an alternative story to the girls using witchcraft, they would want to believe it." Jon said, "Everything I did was to cover up the existence of witchcraft, so we wouldn't have people trying to copy what they did. I wanted to tell you ahead of time what I was doing, but I didn't want to put the pressure on you to keep up that sort of act. If you actually hating me would give the crowd reason to believe I was the cheater in this tournament, then that was the best way to go about it."

Ethan was silent as the pieces fell into place. He wasn't an intentional victim, just the person who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Wait, what do you mean, you could have won without doing that?" Ethan asked, irritably, "Prove it."

Jon smirked in response to that comment.

"I intend on doing that tonight." Jon explained, "See, Cynthia and Steven were on board with the plan, but Lance wasn't and ended up doing some really shady s**t to try and get the truth out about the girls, even if it had the possibility to destroy competitive battling itself. Like, he is probably going to go to prison after this, shady s**t. His goons as well. They ruined the plan, and leaked information, and we have decided to cut our losses."

"Tonight I am facing Cassandra, and showing her exactly what it means to be a trainer without your friends cursing your opponent. She already is starting to understand, but I probably can't compete for a while after what happened last night, so if this will be my last for a while, I am giving her a battle she will never forget." Jon explained, "Here is the thing. Cassandra isn't taking home any prize money. I made the deal with the league to take the fall, and by doing so, I wouldn't be able to compete again, so I was going to get whatever prize money I would get, accounting for Cassandra receiving none, as well as fourth place. Because Cassandra is receiving none, even if she beats me tonight, I am walking out with the $500k first prize and the $100k fourth prize. If you beat Avery you will get the $300k second prize and if you don't the $200k third prize."

"As an apology of sorts for last night, I will give you the $100k fourth prize regardless. Nobody deserves what happened to you last night in this sort of tournament, and I only did it because at the time, it looked like I had to for things to not go to s**t later." Jon explained, "But watch my match tonight, and if after that, you truly think that the reason I won yesterday was that cheap trick, once this is over, I will battle you, and if you beat me in that, I will give you the difference in prize money, so you're not at a financial loss because of last night."

Ethan looked at Jon silently, as Jon put his hand forward.

"Do we have a deal?"

After a few moments, Ethan put his hand out, as they shook in agreement.

"Well for my sake, finish those pancakes and get training." Jon said, as he made his way out, "If you lose to Avery tonight but beat me, then I'll be out of pocket twice as much, and my wife will murder me..."

Neo Emolga

03-10-2021, 02:05 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House C
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Alyssa Drake to the rescue…

While Alyssa’s advice was acknowledged and appreciated by both Cassandra and Violet, it was a brutal buzzkill to Jarena who wanted to charge in right away like Clark Kent jumping out of a phone booth as Superman. Still, the reality of it was the Ladies weren’t even close to being off the hook in terms of the League. And Cassandra and Violet were still very well aware this entire sting operation was organized and deployed with the intention of doing a covert investigation, an investigation that had very divulging results on the three of them. Still, as the Ladies realized, being cooperative was making considerable strides in getting them out of the hole, though they still had work to do there and the truth was to many of these operatives, they wouldn’t ever have a totally pristine record. Forgiveness and understanding was the best they could ever hope to do.

“Aww, but…” Jarena pleaded after hearing Alyssa’s words of caution.

“Jarena, Alyssa’s got a damn good point,” Violet told her, feeling she was being pretty childish and naïve about this. “You’re missing the whole purpose of this plan just for the sake of going Buneary again, which is not a priority right now. Like she said, this needs to be discussed in a secure location and we need to assess if becoming Pokémon really has any necessary efficacy to it in the first place. If Cynthia and Steven don’t give the plan clearance, then it’s a dead stick.”

“Keep in mind, Jarena,” Cassandra reminded her friend, trying to keep a sympathetic but realistic smile, “that less than 24 hours ago, we were running amuck getting into trouble and putting the whole ship on high alert. There’s a very good chance that while the plan has potential and they may go ahead with it if Steven and Cynthia give it clearance, they may not want us directly involved in it simply because of what happened just yesterday and the purpose of this whole investigation in the first place. As… much as I hate to admit it, we’re still on a leash as Alyssa said. Let’s not get careless and start running around wild on the last day of the cruise and after we’ve been trying to get on good terms with everyone again.”

It was enough to wipe the smile off of Jarena’s face, but she nodded and understood.

“Eh, yeah, alright I guess,” Jarena sighed and shrugged in disappointment. “I just figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“It’s… not impossible…” Violet sighed knowing that there was still a slight chance if she could put in a convincing argument for it, though she was honestly and secretly hoping they would decline as she felt playing ‘Secret Agent Pokémon’ was silly. “But, it’s likely that it will be considered an internal affairs only matter and the League wouldn’t want external parties involved. But even so, I still need to consult with Steven and Cynthia about transferring the sixty million to the League’s account, and there may be no time to handle that tonight. There’s government forms that need to be filled out for transfers that large, and if we don’t do it right, there’s penalties involved. There’s also a process involved to liquidate my portfolio assets to get that money, and I might need to call my attorney to ensure everything is in alignment, get the forms reviewed and signed, and then notarized. That’s a whole process in itself and could take a few hours, so you’d have to count me out even if this gets the ok.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get that…” Jarena sighed, nodding to show she understood, but not looking too thrilled. “Well poops, what can you do?”

Still, Jarena did remind herself that there was that month-long retreat that Cassandra had promised after they had gotten off the ship. She was at least looking forward to that, but in terms of Jimmy’s plan, if Cassandra and Violet couldn’t take part because they had to do other things in the meantime, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun to her.

She looked back to Jimmy and Jirachi, a bit glum.

“Well…” Jarena sighed, shrugging. “…kinda looking doubtful we’ll be in your party, but good luck, have fun, and let us know if you find anything! I’m kind of wondering if it really is Nathan. Let me know when you figure it out!”

In the meantime, Cassandra was looking at her phone, seeing that “Karma” had texted her five more times, giving her links to newly-posted news articles about the information they had leaked that was further wrecking their reputation. She could tell just from the article title words in the links that it was not something she wanted to read.

“At this rate I’m wondering if they’ll still let you be a greeter at the Celadon Department store!
Although now it doesn’t seem like your face will be the first thing customers want to see!
Maybe they can get you to wear one of those dumb mascot costumes?”

Cassandra could tell, this “Karma” was very full of themselves and likely thought they were hilarious when to her, these lame comments weren’t even worth an eyeroll. Still, she had decided against texting back any further replies. And she had no intentions to after this… not unless Jimmy's plan got the green light and they needed to her to keep feeding them reactions to get them more engaged in sending messages that might give them away once Rotom started tracing the source...

Chakramaster

03-11-2021, 03:06 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Safe House C
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Noblejanobii

Alyssa mentioned that it may not be such a good idea without approval of Cynthia and Steven. Much more so that they could have been watched and the whole plan turned to ruins. That they'd need to be in a more secure location before anything else is discussed.

"Aww" Jirachi said looking really defeated with teary eyes. "But I wanna have fun tooooo"

Jimmy cut in. "Well while that's true. My good buddy here Jirachi can easily fix that. Hey Jirachi!" Jimmy called to Jirachi.

Slightly sniffling Jirachi floats over to Jimmy. "Jimmy! Is it time to play yet? That idea you had sounded so fun!" Still looking defeated. Jirachi looked like he really wanted to take part.

"And of course we weren't gonna just go off and do the plan without first getting Cynthia and Steven here in on it. But first. Jirachi. I wish we were in the safest and most secure place on the ship. Anyone that views the footage of this current room or saw it just watched themselves My Little Ponyta on repeat and didn't see or hear a word of what we spoke about. Only we know of anything about this and the new secure room as well as Steven and Cynthia. This way the plan could still work. Just don't do this until I say so in a few moments." Jimmy instructed to Jirachi.

"Count on me!" Jirachi takes a Superman pose while floating. Smirking as it knows it can make it so.

"You see the thing is. We really don't have a game plan. The longer we stick around here doing nothing. The better chance for this Karma to get the upper hand. We don't need another fiasco like yesterday. Right now we have the chance to have and keep the upper hand. It'll only work if we keep the element of surprise. They might expect the the ladies here to use more witchcraft. Well, Jirachi isn't witchcraft. He specializes in...well wishcraft."

Jirachi bits in, "yeah! And I'm damn good at it!" Jirachi shouts with a cheer.

Jimmy looks to Jirachi. "Hey, watch your language! I agree he's really good at it. And right now he's only going to grant wishes if he plays it through me first. Jirachi you're psychic too right? Be sure I not only verbally say so, but I also say so in mind. Otherwise someone could force me to say it aloud. We don't need that happening either. If you get into trouble. Use your power to teleport right to me or Pikachu." Jimmy thinks ahead and giving instructions on what to do in case any issues arise later.

"You see this plan here might not be much, but it's the most we've got. Hell I could wish for whoever is posing as this 'Karma' to be right here in front of us here and now. Then I think we'd run into issues. Cause more than one person might be in this world. Plus I don't wanna exhaust Jirachi too much right now. We may need his help. For now, we need to take this opportunity. I'll make my first wish through Jirachi as I instructed a moment ago and we will be fine." Jimmy let's out a quick loud sigh.

"I'll be sure to go over the idea in more detail once together with Cynthia and Steven. Like you said. We have to be smart about this, but think for just a moment. To be smart you have to think outside the box. We have options outside the realm of our current reality here and available to us. If you went by the book. That'd be along the lines of what someone may think. So if you think outside the box. New potentials arose and you reach a peak where anything is possible. Not a limit set in bounds. The possibilities are endless. I'd rather not leave destruction around the ship either. Jirachi could...help there anyway. I'm sure he wants the ship fixed since it's based around him."

"Oh yeah! I wanna fix the ship! Please please pleeeeeaae!" Jirachi says like a child begging to it's parents. "I wanna fix a picture of me that broke. It was so amazing! It has a hole in it still though."

"Not right now Jirachi. We may still need your powers. The more power you exhaust. You'll fall asleep quicker. I trust you okay buddy, but we need to focus. Then it'll be time to play and have the fun you've been craving. Soon enough." Jimmy ensures his star shaped friend.

"Aww fiiiine." Jirachi says. "But you have to promise!"

"I promise. Pinky swear." He holds out his little finger. Jirachi questions it and Jimmy just tells him to hold out his smallest finger. Jirachi follows him and holds out the smallest finger on his hands. They both shake pinkies.

"There. Now it's an official promise". Jimmy tells Jirachi.

Now. How about that discussion. Jirachi. Go ahead and get us to that safest location on the ship. Remember to wipe the footage from this room from records. Oh and get Cynthia and Steven there too. And Avery who you met earlier too. Just...warn them telepathically first please. I know I'm never gonna hear the end of it, but we need them there as well. Everyone ready. Jirachi. Give a countdown for when you're gonna teleport us there."

"Okay". Jirachi floats above the room. "Everyone in this room will come with us. In 3....2....1! Aaaand we're goooooooone!" Jirachi uses his power to teleport everyone here into the safest and most secure place on the ship. Slightly disoriented at first. Jimmy catches his bearings. Jirachi still hadn't appeared. Probably warning Cynthia and Steven both. A moment later appearing in the room with them. Alongside with Cynthia and Steven both. Avery following right after with Jirachi floating back beside Jimmy afterward. Looking happy he finally gets to use his power.

"Everyone okay?" Jimmy asked

Noblejanobii

03-11-2021, 03:34 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Central Park Shaymin Café
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Chakramaster

Avery scrolled through some of the articles that were continuing to be released on the Diamond Ladies. Most of the focus was on them and the league's leaks surrounding them, which made sense. This was a huge conspiracy being unveiled that completely destroyed any credibility the trio had as battlers. Still it didn't take long for Avery to find a few articles mentioning them as well. Some were just brief mentions of the close battle from the previous night with speculations that this was the first battle that Cassandra had ever done without witchcraft, which was correct.

Others, however, were not as kind. Some of the more conspiracy based ones like Ninetales News and Real Unova's Voice were claiming that Avery was also a witch due to their friendly gesture towards Cassandra the night before and their gender identity. Avery couldn't help but roll their eyes. Seriously? "I'm being accused of witchcraft over a peace sign. Imagine that," they mumbled. Avery clicked off the news after that and began to play a game on their phone as they finished their coffee. That was enough news for the moment. Now they just wanted to relax and-

"Mx. Avery?" Avery looked up and spotted the waitress from before, Pumpkin, standing next to them. "Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to give you a heads up that there's a few more reporters outside. Chicory is doing his best to keep them busy but I figured you didn't want to be swarmed while you were eating so um..." She shuffled her feet for a moment before holding out a coffee cup and a grab bag. "I-I made you another mocha latte and croissant for the go, o-on the house."

Avery smiled and stood up. They took the coffee cup and bag from Pumpkin. "Thank you. It's much appreciated. Tell the other staff to keep up the great work. I look forward to coming back more before the cruise ends."

Pumpkin's face lit up at that response. "Of course!" She bowed a little before practically skipping off.

Avery began to collect their things to sneak off from the reporters. Slipping their bag over their shoulders, they double checked they had everything, but just before they could start to leave, a telepathic voice echoed in their head. "It's time to play!! Let's goooooo!!"

"Wh-What?" Avery said aloud in confusion. And then suddenly they weren't in the café anymore, but somewhere else entirely. And Jimmy was here, along with Cynthia, Steven, and a few others. "Uhh... good morning," Avery said awkwardly, still clutching their breakfast in hand. "Was there a meeting of the minds going on that I wasn't informed of?"

Neo Emolga

03-14-2021, 01:14 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster Noblejanobii

At first, Cassandra and Violet thought the plan might have been sunk and a done deal with what Alyssa said, but it seemed Jirachi was quite persistent, and Jimmy’s idea had definitely seized his interest. Despite the mythical Pokémon’s optimism and playful eagerness and Jarena’s energetic passion to join in on it, Cassandra and Violet could only shrug it off and opt out due to what they felt were bigger priorities. And Cassandra thought the Champions wouldn’t give it the green light either due to what they did just yesterday.

Then, when they weren’t expecting it, Jimmy had requested Jirachi to teleport them, along with Steven and Cynthia, to the safest and most concealed place on the entire ship, where they couldn’t possibly be heard or seen by anyone, especially “Karma”.

“Okay,” Jirachi cheered. “Everyone in this room will come with us. In 3....2....1! Aaaand we're goooooooone!”

Before Cassandra and Violet could even object or say anything in response, suddenly there was a moment of disorientation…

Safe House LZ

After awakening, they found themselves back where they started this morning, in the LZ Safe House where they had spent last night. Except this time, Jimmy, Jirachi, Sami, Alyssa, Avery, Steven, and Cynthia were there as well. It was actually a bit of a tight fit, but it was the most secure room.

“Whoa, wait, how did we…” Jarena asked, looking around. “Hey, isn’t this our room from last night?”

“Safest location on the ship…” Cassandra recalled, remembering Jimmy’s request.

Still, for Cassandra, it made sense. This Safe House LZ room was reinforced with security plating and built to withstand blast damage while there were no video cameras or microphones either. It was made for VIPs and that kind of surveillance was only provided at the VIP’s discretion. Since it was not being used before they were escorted here, it was never activated.

“Uhh... good morning," Avery greeted the others, still eating a breackfast that they hadn’t finished yet. "Was there a meeting of the minds going on that I wasn't informed of?

“Where exactly…?” Steven asked, looking around and realizing he was besides Cynthia now, who also looked skeptical about the situation. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh, hey everyone!” Jarena greeted them with a smile. “Glad you’re here! See, Jimmy came up with a brilliant plan. But we had to discuss it in secret.”

She then went over the details, explaining the plan to find “Karma” and how it would involve Jimmy and the Diamond Ladies to become Pokémon as the distraction while Rotom would try to track “Karma” through the radio while Alyssa would disguise herself as Cassandra.

“I take it this ‘Karma’ was involved in the press leak?” Cynthia asked, not at all sure about this plan.

“Yeah, they’re one of Lance’s goons!” Jarena exclaimed. “Lance has a bunch of goons, actually, still trying to do his dirty work. It’s pretty bad, they’ve got surveillance on the entire ship! Probably would be a great idea to stop them before things get rough!”

“There’s… a concern Lance’s attempt to murder us and frame Jon may get another similar attempt before the ship docks tonight,” Cassandra explained to Steven and Cynthia. “I mean, I understand it would be a good idea to do something, but I just don’t think this is the right plan…”

“Of course it’s the right plan!” Jarena nudged Cassandra, teasing her. “Lance and his goons betrayed the League! And we need to help the League get to the bottom of this! We gotta prove we’re not the bad guys! But we need to trick ‘Karma’ and Lance’s other goons, and we can do that by having someone else pretend they’re us while we catch them off guard as Pokémon!”

“Look, Jarena,” Violet tried to be honest with her. “This is all…

Violet could see Jarena was truly trying her hardest to make this plan happen, which she honestly believe was due to her wanting to get some action as a cute Pokémon, but instead she just sighed and was suddenly interrupted by a phone call and had to step away.

“Given the situation, I think you’re right that it would be best if you three would stay off camera and out of public scrutiny,” Cynthia agreed in part. “But given what happened yesterday with you three… let’s just say it’s still very fresh in our memory.”

“Come on, please, give us a chance to help!” Jarena pleaded. “We can’t help if we just keep hunkering down like this. Lance tried to commit murder! His toadies may try it now! And if they don’t try to murder us, they may go after you, too!”

The possibility of that threat did make Cynthia and Steven do a double take for a moment. They had seen Lance do something unspeakable they never thought he would do. But with Jarena mentioning that they might be a potential target now, suddenly, it seemed quite plausible given Lance’s sudden barbaric actions and his reaction to how they went against him and sided with Jon.

There was now a bigger concern…

While Jarena had been trying to make her case, Violet had gotten a phone call. She recognized the number and voice as being Hank Benton, her attorney. But it seemed strange that he would be calling her at this time, and at first it was making her wonder if something dire had happened and now she needed legal council.

“Hello, Mrs. Radcliffe, just wanted to confirm everything went smoothly with your financial advisor Rebecca Jager,” Hank told her. “Your balance transfer request for sixty million to the Pokémon League has been completed and the transfer was successful.”

“Wait… was this…?” Violet asked before suddenly Jirachi approached her.

“That’s right, I took care of all the pesky legal paperwork for you!” Jirachi smiled to Violet. “The debt is goooone, now you’re all free to help Jimmy with his plan!! Ha, ha, isn’t it great!?”

Wonderful…

“Uh… thanks… I guess,” Violet replied, really a bit taken back that Jirachi had actually completed government legal forms with her signature and she wasn’t even aware of it.

“Always happy to help a friend!” Jirachi smiled, striking a happy and whimsical pose.

Meanwhile, Jarena knew she had to convince Steven and Cynthia to let her do this, even though Cassandra and Violet were still on the skeptical side of the situation. She just had to find the right words. She wished she could find the right words…

“Look, if we don’t try to stop them, who will?” Jarena asked Steven and Cynthia. “Lance and his goons are trying to destroy lives, our lives, and you two might be next! And I imagine Jon as well! Time is running out, and we need to act fast! So if no one has a better plan, we need to go with this one right now. I know what we did yesterday was bad, but we’re trying to help now. You would appreciate us helping you, right? Let us help you to make up for that and nail this while there’s still a chance!”

Steven and Cynthia looked to each other, not quite sure how to balance the pros and cons of letting Jimmy and the Diamond Ladies do this kind of undercover operation, but as Jarena said, some plan of action was better than no plan. At the current moment, Steven and Cynthia didn’t have too many other ideas, never expecting Lance’s betrayal or seeing his followers now operating under his dark command and not their own. But if they decided to do nothing assuming Lance’s followers were not going to carry his dark plans, their misjudgment could cost lives, including their own, if they had a contingency backup plan ready to go in the event Lance was incapacitated.

Cynthia felt it just wasn’t worth risking not doing anything about it and being fatally wrong later, even if the plan was unusual and involved unorthodox mission parameters.

“For lack of having any other ideas right now but understanding there is urgency to this, I’ll allow it,” Cynthia replied to Jarena. “Jimmy Kendo and Sami Culver are to be your escort at all times, so remain with them. I’ll feel better about this as long as you three aren’t going off on your own unless they deem it’s truly necessary. As for you, Jimmy, you decide who else you need for this mission and what you want them to do. I’m leaving it in your hands.”

“If you’re really going to do this…” Steven stated, still feeling like becoming Pokémon for a mission like this was a bit oddball, “…I’m going to need you to find some kind of ledger or record that has all the names of the operatives that Lance hired and well as their network and clearance codes. Because the situation’s been compromised and we now have Lance’s operatives working against our own operatives and against our directives, I’m going to need to revoke their access rights and take their communication offline until we can screen each one of them and confirm they weren’t involved or detain them if we can confirm they were. We’re going to have to investigate all of them in a post mission debrief to see who was involved as an accessory to Lance’s actions. But for now, if you think this is the best way to stay under the radar and get us that information and anything else that you believe is mission critical. This isn’t the way I would ever do things, but… let’s just hope it works.”

“Oh, it will,” Jarena smiled. “We’ll also try to see who they’ve been leaking information to, and if there’s possibly another attack in the works that you and Cynthia aren’t aware about! We’re not going to let them continue the nasty plans that Lance started!”

“Well… good luck,” Steven replied to her, still not entirely sure if this was the right thing to do, but still hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be a mistake.

Meanwhile, Cassandra and Violet looked at each other, quite surprised Jarena actually pulled it off and managed to convince them to go ahead with the plan. Though they had a feeling the lack of anyone having any other ideas was a major part. That and they couldn’t help but take a suspicious look at Jirachi, thinking he may have influenced the decision. But there was no true way of telling…

“Looks like I’m officially assigned to this escapade,” Sami muttered, rolling her eyes. “Boy, I think this is the strangest cruise anyone has ever been on.”

“Hey, better than a boring cruise!” Jarena laughed. “But come on, this is important! Lives could be at stake! Maybe the whole League is in jeopardy now…”

Violet just sighed, taking a glance at Jarena and then at Jirachi, who both looked to be really enjoying all this. She had to admit, Jimmy and the both of them saw an opportunity and went to town with it. She actually had to admire how resourceful they were at weaving the whole rationale behind it, basically scrounging up any possible scrap of reasoning they could.

“Guess we’re really doing this again…” Violet shrugged, still surprised she was drawing a blank on alternative viable options when usually she was able to piece together at least something.

“I can almost feel the fur again already,” Cassandra nodded at Violet’s comment, wincing but almost laughing at the absurdity of it all.

“Ooh, that’s good, I’ll take that as a sign you’re all set to go!” Jarena smiled before looking to Jirachi. “Hey, any time you’re ready, Jirachi!”

“Pretty sure two runs at being a cute, mousey chinchilla Pokémon weren’t in my contract, but, well, here we are…” Sami muttered cynically, seeing as how she had been given official instruction to be an escort in these unusual circumstances. “Beginning to wonder why I even brought cosmetics along.”

Now, it was all down to Jimmy and Jirachi to decide exactly how they wanted to get this set up and who to bring along…

[Desolate Divine]

03-14-2021, 03:13 AM

Alyssa Drake
Safe House C -> Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster Noblejanobii

Violet and Cassandra seemed to agree with Alyssa's concerns, whilst Jarena seemed more interested in becoming a Pokemon again more than whatever course of action was safest and most logical going ahead. Jimmy on the other hand used Jirachi to Deus Ex Machina the concerns into irrelevancy. They were teleported to a safer location alongside Steven, Cynthia and Avery, the two former giving their blessing to the plan.

The evening before, Jon had mentioned Jirachi, hence why Alyssa wasn't too surprised seeing it in the first place. However Jon had mentioned Jimmy not going to a great deal of effort to keep Jirachi from causing problems with its unfortunate combination of naivety and sheer reality manipulating power. Whilst Alyssa thought he may have just been tired and grumpy after a hell of a day, seeing Jirachi fly in with Jimmy trailing to keep up caused her to agree with him, and wonder why he doesn't keep Jirachi in a Pokeball unless his abilities are needed until he has grown up a little. Now the plan that seems to have more holes in it than this ship does from Latios has been given the okay by Steven and Cynthia, but given Jarena's desire to run it anyway, and Jirachi's tendency to grant wishes without even telling the people who wished for it, she wasn't one hundred percent sure that there wasn't some interference.

Steven did raise a valid point about having to go through the operatives with a fine tooth comb, and weed out those under Lance's influence. Perhaps her talents would be better suited there.

"I think it best if I help Steven try and find the rest of Lance's guys. I met Jon because I figured out he was using a fake name, so I think finding these guys shouldn't be too hard." Alyssa explained, "Though Matt needs to be detained, since he is the one most able to ID me since I am technically not an operative. Steven, do you think we can isolate him and mess with my file in your database?"

"Should be easy enough. I'd appreciate the help." Steven replied.

"But we do have to teleport back, you know that right?" Alyssa explained, "If we enter a room with one entrance, then are seen leaving another room, it raises questions..."

Chakramaster

03-16-2021, 01:02 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Safe House LZ
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Noblejanobii

Everyone had been teleported to the "safest place" on the ship as Jimmy told Jirachi to do.

“Whoa, wait, how did we…” Jarena asked, looking around. “Hey, isn’t this our room from last night?”

“Safest location on the ship…” Cassandra recalled, remembering Jimmy’s request.

“Uhh... good morning," Avery greeted the others, still eating a breackfast that they hadn’t finished yet. "Was there a meeting of the minds going on that I wasn't informed of?

“Where exactly…?” Steven asked, looking around and realizing he was besides Cynthia now, who also looked skeptical about the situation. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh, hey everyone!” Jarena greeted them with a smile. “Glad you’re here! See, Jimmy came up with a brilliant plan. But we had to discuss it in secret.”

"Throw me under the bus why don't you" Jimmy chuckled scratching his head. "...but yeah we needed to discuss a plan with you both. Hopefully to catch or at least lure out this 'Karma' person." Jimmy told the two EX champions.

The plan was explained to the two in detail about what would need to be done. How everything would be handled.

“I take it this ‘Karma’ was involved in the press leak?” Cynthia asked, not at all sure about this plan.

Jarena pleaded her best to try and get the others to understand the plan. The plan to get them to all become Pokémon once again. Others may not have thought the plan would be for the best. Would it succeed in catching Karma? Most likely not, but something was needed to be done to help lure them out. At least cause a scene to capture their attention. Something to make this person stop, look again, and give themself away.

After figuring out their debt had been fixed through a wish from Jirachi. Cynthia gave the okay to them for enacting the plan. All on the fact that they didn't have one at all. That a plan enacted was better than no plan at all. Giving Jimmy the lead here that he and Sami were to be their escorts. Telling Jimmy to decide who else he needed for this mission.

Steven has his own set of goals. Needing to find records or something that can lead to anyone associated with Lance and his grunts. Anyone that associated with who he may have hired.

Jarena was just as happy to accept and tell them they would find everything they needed. That the plan WOULD work. They'd find whatever they needed. Steve wishes them good luck. While Cassandra and Violet were surprised this actually worked. They took a glance at Jirachi. Jirachi happily floats around the room in circles. Giving a cheer.

"Yaaay! We get to have fun! Fun fun with all our friends! Yaaaay! Hahaha!" Jirachi cheered and laughed.

Sami thought this must be the strangest cruise anyone has ever been on. Having been assigned to this team to go undercover.

“Hey, better than a boring cruise!” Jarena laughed. “But come on, this is important! Lives could be at stake! Maybe the whole League is in jeopardy now…”

"Couldn't have did it better myself! Sometimes to take action in the most unpredictable way is the best way. Plus it was fun being a Pokémon" Jimmy told Jarena. Giving her the thumbs up.

"You just wanna go back to being Cuddles don't you?" Jirachi pointed and laughed at Jimmy.

"I told you that was just a nickname Job gave me! They couldn't understand me while I was a Pokémon." Jimmy said crossing his arms while Jirachi continued to laugh at him.

Violet shrugged as she realized they were bound to be doing it again now. Jarena was eager to get to it though. Looking toward Jirachi.

Alyssa though otherwise though. Not wanting to help out with the plan as Jimmy had hoped.

"Well there goes our lead actor. If you're sure you don't wanna help..." Jimmy thought for a moment.

I thought we might need at least 2 to act as some of the ladies here. Sami. Would you be interested in posing as one of the ladies here? Avery what about you? Would you like to pose as a Pokémon here or as one of the Diamond ladies?" Jimmy asked them as he looked to Avery. "I know it's not the best situation, but I feel like some operatives posing as Diamond Ladies might help. Oh and don't worry. Jirachi will handle all the transformations and cosmetics to make everyone look their part. Before we get the transformations done. I want to make sure everyone has their role.

So Avery? Sami? Would you both like to play the roles of 2 of the Diamond Ladies? Someone has to.

Alyssa also explained that it'd raise questions if they weren't teleported back.

"Well I can handle that." Jimmy said as he released a Pokémon from one of his Pokeballs. Revealing his Grovyle. Telling his Grovyle a plan to take this note to the other safe house. Giving him a note Jimmy wrote that described he had them teleported using a psychic Pokémon. That Steven and Cynthia were also brought along to discuss a plan in private. After giving him the signal. Grovyle was off in a flash. Also instructed on where to meet them later. Pikachu would also meet with Grovyle. Since Jimmy would be a Pikachu too. It would be odd having 2 Pikachu in that group.

"That should settle that. We can't go having them reveal their Pokémon forms immediately either. If we were teleported back and seen walking out as Pokemon. Minus one Diamond lady or two. Something would seem equally fishy. Once ready. I'lol have Jirachi teleport each and every one of us to our destinations. It's just a matter of knowing who goes where and as who or what. Sami? Avery? Are you willing to pose as the Diamond Ladies? Alyssa. You sure you can't help our posing as a Diamond Lady? If we had all three I feel it'd work out better." Jimmy said. Hoping to figure out everything before he had Jirachi take action.

[Desolate Divine]

03-16-2021, 01:24 AM

Alyssa Drake
Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster Noblejanobii

Jimmy tried to convince Alyssa otherwise but the plan just seemed too much like Pokemon Playtime with Jirachi. If Cassandra and Violet were okay with it, she couldn't stop them, but in Alyssa's eyes, this wasn't a plan to catch Karma. It was a plan to play around as Pokemon, show off Jirachi's powers, and possibly catch Karma.

"I just think it's not a solid idea. I can't stop you doing it, but I don't want to be involved." Alyssa explained, "Using Rotom to ping the GPS is brilliant. Beyond GPS, if this message is being sent via data, not cellular, the ship is big enough to need multiple wifi networks to span it, so we could probably narrow down the location quite well. It's the distraction and the dressups. It just seems unnecessary, and puts further potential slander on the Ladies. If this doesn't work, and Karma isn't caught, then what appears like more witchcraft give them unjust persecution."

"If you want to know what I honestly think, Jirachi did just go and deal with Violet's money problem, without being asked, because it was one of the reasons she originally was not for this idea. And now its out of the way. And in all honesty, if a B grade reporter sees holes in this plan, it is surprising that the Hoenn and Sinnoh Champs aren't as well. But they were one of the hurdles to this plan going ahead, and now..."

"What are you saying?" Steven asked.

"I'm not saying this out of anger or bitterness, just concern." Alyssa explained, "If Jirachi solved Violet's money bearaucracy problem without her even knowing, something that requires her requesting it, and signing off on it, because that was a reason to not use the plan, I am not 100% sure that you would okay this if Jirachi weren't involved..."

Steven remained silent.

"Let's trace the phone over the span of an hour or two." Alyssa explained, "Try and ping a few different locations out of it. Whilst that is happening, we will try and narrow down the possible operatives it could be by going through their files, and following them on security cameras. Unless they are clustered in one place, the first ping should narrow it down to two dozen or so, based on the number of operatives Jon told me were here, the size of the ship and the size of the area it pings. Do you have location tracking on their roomkeys?"

"We do..." Steven said, though still pondering what Alyssa had raised earlier.

"If you get a ping back from the location, we can cross reference with the room key tracking on the operatives and have them detained quietly. The ship doesn't dock until tomorrow so they are stuck here until then." Alyssa explained, "No need to put a bigger target on the Ladies back than there already is, and risk messing something up with one of us not being a convincing impersonator."

"Again, it's not my decision what you guys do, I just don't want it on my conscience if I stay silent, or go along with it and cause more trouble. If you go ahead with it, I will try and help Steven weed out this guy and the others." Alyssa explained, "I just think there are better ways than this..."

Noblejanobii

03-16-2021, 05:33 AM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Safe House LZ
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Chakramaster

To say Avery was confused by everything currently going on was a bit of an understatement. Jimmy went over his plan, which had some nuggets of solid pieces to it, but overall was more than a little confusing for Avery. So many questions flashed through their mind as they watched Jimmy, the Champions, the Diamond Ladies, Jon, and Alyssa was interchange about the whole thing. And yet they had no time to ask any of them before Jimmy quickly spun on Avery somewhat insisting they play the role of one of the Diamond Ladies.

"Wait, hang on, I'm confused. So you want me to turn back into a Pokémon to pose as one of the Diamond Ladies? How would Karma know that this trio was actually the Ladies? And why do we need to run around as Pokémon anyway? Can't Rotom just track it remotely?"

Avery paused when Alyssa interjected, expanding upon the thought that Avery had had. It seemed they were reading similar sheets of music.

"I'm willing to help where I can, Jimmy, but I agree with Alyssa, I have some concerns."

Neo Emolga

03-16-2021, 09:18 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster Noblejanobii

The plan was… to say the least, not going according to plan. Alyssa continued to point out flaws that Jimmy’s plan had and from what Cassandra could tell, Jirachi might have been trying to influence the decision to what he wanted, not necessarily what was best. It was beginning to make Cassandra think maybe this wasn’t worth it after all, especially with the in-fighting that was starting to brew.

Alyssa had opted out of trying to disguise herself as Cassandra, and Cassandra knew that punched a hole in the plan. Jimmy had then turned to Sami and Avery instead. But after Alyssa went through the details with Steven again and Avery still remained confused as to what their role would be in all this, it was beginning to look like Jimmy’s plan might capsize.

Eventually, it was beginning to look like just tracing Cassandra’s phone might be the start, but in terms of the plan of action once the confirmation was made as to where it was coming from and who was responsible, it was anyone’s guess.

“Here you go,” Cassandra sighed, sliding her phone across the table to allow Rotom to trace it. “Trace away.”

“I swear…” Violet muttered, looking tired of the bickering. “I guarantee you it’s Nathan, but whatever. Go ahead and confirm it if you really need to.”

Meanwhile, Jarena was looking around, wondering if what she said had fallen on deaf ears. The possibility of another attack, not knowing who else was involved with the plan, it seemed like Jimmy’s plan, despite intentions to give it a second wind of consideration, weren’t quite working.

“And then what are we going to do?” Jarena asked. “What happened to taking action? Once we get that confirmation and figure out who these clowns are, what’s next? We’re gonna stop ‘em, right!?”

“Listen, Jarena,” Sami told her, looking skeptical again. “I like the part of Rotom tracing Cassandra’s phone and I think that might produce some good results, but I don’t get why Pokémon transformations are needed or why disguises are needed either. I mean let’s face it, I don’t really look like any of you, and neither does Avery or Alyssa.”

“Somebody needs to make up their damn mind, that’s what,” Violet replied as she sipped from her coffee cup before looking to Jarena with doubt. “Jarena, do you seriously think this plan cannot possibly work without people getting changed into Pokémon and disguises being worn, or are you all for this just to go Buneary again?”

“I…” Jarena tried to reply, looking a bit embarrassed, “Well… oh come on, it sounds cool and I still feel like it could work.”

“Truthfully now,” Cassandra told her, “Do you feel it’s the absolute best possible plan, or just the plan you think would be the most fun? Because I think you’re losing sight of why we’re doing this and just imagining the how it’s going to be done, even if the ‘how’ might be a total flop.”

Jarena couldn’t help but sigh again. In truth, Cassandra was right, the way Jimmy presented the idea sounded fun and thrilling to her, but she could see where the holes were when it came to being as practical as it could be. She knew she’d be lying if she really felt from a practical standpoint that this plan was solid.

“Ugh, yeah…” Jarena softly replied, looking away. “Fine, I know what you’re saying, but it could still work!”

“But it’s not the best plan,” Cassandra told her sincerely. “I agree with you, there’s some possibility ‘Karma’ and these other creeps Lance hired might be preparing for another attack and that should initiate some kind of preemptive counter response. What if they see through the disguises and what if the whole becoming Pokémon thing doesn’t work? Think you’d be able to break out of a Pokéball if you got caught in one? What if you can’t? You know what happens then.”

Jarena fell silent. The idea of her becoming some creep’s personal Pokémon really didn’t resonate with her very well.

“It would suck, yeah…” Jarena muttered in response, not looking too thrilled.

“That’s all we’re saying,” Cassandra told her. “It’s not to drive you over the edge or tell you no, you can never ever try being a Buneary again, but for this, it’s not the best idea.”

“But then what is?” Jarena asked her.

“First, we trace the phone, get the details we need,” Cassandra told her, thinking this needed to be handled in steps. “Once we know who is involved and where they are, then we can see what the best and most resourceful approach is. But I don’t think the disguises or transformations will be needed.”

Jarena sighed, but she nodded. While she admired Jirachi’s imaginative and playful love for just having fun, from a tactical and practical standpoint, it wasn’t the best fit. Meanwhile, what Cassandra told her was true, it wasn’t like she was never going to have her chance at enjoying being a Pokémon again. But in this situation, it could have heavy, unnecessary risks. She too, would have hated to see someone get hurt or captured when it could have been avoided with a plan that was more adapted to suit the conditions of the situation.

“Guess you’re right,” Jarena shrugged and sighed. “Sorry for being… a nutcase.”

“It’s alright, but yeah, it might even be better if we stay out of handling this directly,” Cassandra told her.

After that was said, she was still curious as to trying to figure out who “Karma” truly was, and while Violet had a point that it could be Nathan, it was possible that wasn’t the only thing going on from behind the scenes.

Chakramaster

03-17-2021, 02:50 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Safe House LZ
Affected' RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Noblejanobii Shruikan SlickSlack

Pinged anyone that has an official sign up for this RP. Please note: in my next post Jirachi will be affecting ANY and ALL players that gives consent. If you do not want Jirachi effecting your character please say so by noting in your post before Friday March the 19th. A post that evening will be made reflecting Jirachi and effecting ANYONE that has given constant. Even if you're not in the current room Jirachi and party are in.

Make a post as the top of your post in bold stating "DO NOT AFFECT ME!" If you do not make a post to teletext this it will be counted as giving consent. Wanted to add this as a warning first.

Alyssa didn't quite understand the reasonings behind what Jimmy explained. She went on to explain more. Even on how Jirachi handled Violet's money problem. Even giving her own plan a thought to everyone out loud.

Even Avery didn't quite understand what was going on or the plan.

"Wait, hang on, I'm confused. So you want me to turn back into a Pokémon to pose as one of the Diamond Ladies? How would Karma know that this trio was actually the Ladies? And why do we need to run around as Pokémon anyway? Can't Rotom just track it remotely?"

"See now there's more plans. Even that plan isn't without its holes. What if they plan on that kind a contingency? If they have access to seeing the ladies. Wouldn't them not being able to see them make them less vulnerable? They wouldn't be as eager to reveal themselves. If you were an operative and couldn't find your target. Would you keep yourself out in the open and vulnerable keeping yourself revealed and open to being caught? It's not a smart play. That's why the plan is essential to have the ladies here need to be open. Where we would have full eye contact at any angle and at all times." Jimmy stated aloud.

"...but to keep them safe. We have them play their role as Pokemon. While operatives disguised as them played their role to keep Karma on edge. That's why having them as Pokemon would be safer. To protect the operatives posing as the ladies and to protect themselves so they aren't out in the complete open. Unless you're telling me this room isn't totally safe and the plan is leaked once again. Jirachi handled anything that could make anything from this room leak out. Anything leaked earlier is wiped and anyone who was watching got a dose of a cartoon Ponyta and it's friends and magic and whatever. You get the point." Jimmy stated once again.

"Concerns are appreciated, but the longer we sit here and wait. The more likely Karma is to get away or be 5 maybe even 10 steps ahead of us. If there are concerns, let them be known."

"...stop it." Jirachi mumbled.

Jimmy turning to Jirachi. "What's wrong buddy? Everything okay?" Jirachi looked upset. Its eyes were close as he wasn't happy that no one seemed to be getting along. The plan was basically in shambles. The teams weren't happy with what was going on at all. It hurt Jirachi. Jirachi had begun to tear up a little.

"Whoa buddy, it's okay." Jimmy had begun to try and console his friend. But Jirachi just wasn't happy anymore. He'd seemed so happy before as everyone surrounding him he considered friends. Now, only a select few he seemed as strongly about being "friends." Jimmy still being his trainer he cared for the most.

"See you in a bit, Jimmy. Time for me to have some fun. I'll send Pikachu with you too." Jirachi said as he started smiling again. A little more impishly this time. He snapped his fingers and Jimmy started to glow in front of everyone before vanquishing in front together everyone. Jirachi let out a loud carefree sigh before looking to everyone else in the room.

"No one leaves this room without MY permission." Jirachi said with a snap of his fingers. Putting the room's lock and key under his control. Now...whose next?" Jirachi said before floating around rapidly. Stopping in front of the ladies. "Ladies first as some humans I've heard say. How about you?" Jirachi said looking happier than ever now that he was about to take action for himself. Since no one else would.

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park (Poke Park)

Jimmy appeared in a place he didn't recognize. It was slightly dark except for some light creeping through. It seemed he was in a bush? He crawled his way out and noticed he was much smaller in size. There were many toys for kids and Pokémon alike. He was in the Pokémon area. Where smaller Pokémon were kept to play with the kids. Looking to himself. He had been turned into a Pikachu.

"Nooo Jirachi what are you doing?" Jimmy thought. He gripped his chest where his pendant was...or should have been. Except it wasn't there. "Jirachi must have taken it. Jimmy thought. "Didn't want me turning back so quickly. He really wants his playtime I guess, but I have to step up as his trainer!" Before Jimmy could get moving. A group of kids stepped in front of him gawking.

"Awww he's so cute!" The little girl picks him up. The group begin to pet and want to play with him. "Come on Pikachu! Let's go play! One said.

"Pika. Pika pika pika CHU!" (Hey hey hey, no you gotta let me go!). Jimmy said squirming trying to get away. Knowing there were much more pressing matters. He couldn't hurt the kids though in the process.

Noblejanobii

03-17-2021, 04:20 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Safe House LZ
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Desolate Divine Chakramaster
OOC: Avery's probably not going to react well to shifting so shift them at your own risk.

Everything happened in a flash.

As Alyssa, Sami, and the Diamond Ladies began to question Jirachi's plan, it seemed everyone was in agreement that the plan itself was inherently flawed and they needed to come up with a better one. Jimmy, however, wasn't too keen on this, still deadset on using his plan. As he tried to address Avery's concerns, it only left Avery with more questions. Still it was starting to make some sense. They opened their mouth to ask something else when Jirachi spoke up.

All eyes turned to the wishmaker as tears welled in his eyes. Avery grimaced a little. They hadn't intended to hurt Jirachi's feelings, but they felt clarification was needed given they had missed half the conversation leading up to this point. Still, Jirachi had definitely not taken it well.

"See you in a bit, Jimmy. Time for me to have some fun. I'll send Pikachu with you too." Jirachi said as he started smiling again. A little more impishly this time. He snapped his fingers and Jimmy started to glow in front of everyone before vanquishing in front together everyone. Jirachi let out a loud carefree sigh before looking to everyone else in the room.

Avery's blood ran cold and their hand instinctively went to their belt, resting on Daybreak's Pokéball. A Wishmaker gone rogue was the last thing they needed right now. But a battle in this type of confined space wasn't exactly ideal either.

"No one leaves this room without MY permission." Jirachi said with a snap of his fingers. Putting the room's lock and key under his control. "Now...whose next?" Jirachi said before floating around rapidly. Stopping in front of the ladies. "Ladies first as some humans I've heard say. How about you?" Jirachi said looking happier than ever now that he was about to take action for himself. Since no one else would.

"You're going to forcefully turn us back into Pokémon?" Avery snapped. Their hands were shaking in a mix of anger and nerves. They wanted to help with the plan, yes, and they had enjoyed their time as a Pokémon, sure. But turning back into a Buizel was the last thing they wanted right now. They couldn't, they wouldn't. Jirachi couldn't make them!

"What makes you think you can force us to do that? I get you're just trying to help but forcing people to cooperate isn't the way to go about this," Avery said, practically shouting now. "We can discuss this. We can lay out a better plan. It doesn't have to resort to this." Their grip tightened on the coffee cup and bag in their right hand. "I wi...." they stopped themselves. They had to be careful. This was a wishmaker gone rogue. Careless wording could very easily backfire. And now was no time for wishes, since there was no guarantee Jirachi would grant them anyway.

"This isn't something a friend would do, Jirachi," Avery added, "You wanted us to be friends, right? This isn't what friends do. This is what enemies do. A-And if you do this, I will try to protect myself from you, do you understand?"

C0L0R3D

03-17-2021, 05:08 PM

Ozona Reverie
Ozona's Room
(I may not have been here in a while, but you have the all-clear to let Jirachi's powers do who knows what do Ozona.)

Ozona really hadn't been out much, she was honestly unsure of what to do. She was unaware of all the commotion on the ship, so she was quietly observing and watching her Cincinno's fur as she loved it to be in shape. The last time she had gotten it dirty was when being hit by a Mud Shot in the PML, and she totally went ballistic on the Seismetoad which used the move that day. It was a memory Ozona didn't like to think about all too much.

[Desolate Divine]

03-17-2021, 08:53 PM

Alyssa Drake
Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster Noblejanobii

I do not consent to my characters being changed to Pokemon. I signed up okay with Neo doing it because it's his story and if he chooses that it is a bigger picture thing. I didn't sign up for a PC to indirectly get God Powers and be able to make those decisions.

"S***" Alyssa thought to herself as it became apparent Jirachi was going to do whatever it took to make Jimmy's plan happen, and if her concerns were accurate regarding Steven and Cynthia, her free will was now a fleeting concept. She had to act.

Whilst Avery attempted to argue with the deranged Mythical Pokemon, Alyssa's watch buzzed as a call from Jon came through. She quickly declined it, before tapping a Pokeball on her belt.

There was a flash of light as Carbon the Ditto materialized. His imposter ability kicked in, almost instantly transforming into Jirachi.

When her and Jon started dating and he found out she had a Ditto, he had asked to borrow it to do some experiments. What he was really testing was how much like the original Ditto could be, having it transform into his Latios and using moves and abilities only possessed by Latios. To his surprise,* Ditto was able to use Luster Purge, harness the energy of the Soul Dew, turn invisible and even sight share, with the only drawback being how long Ditto could use these abilities and maintain the form. But if this worked with Jirachi...

"I wish for Jirachi to go to sleep for a while..." Alyssa said...

OOC: Leaving it up to Neo whether this works or not.

Shruikan

03-18-2021, 09:22 AM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park
OOC: Chakramaster Sure, you can do whatever you want, Luneth’s pretty much lost the plot by now, so anything that can give her something to do is fine by me

As Luneth trailed the Diamond Ladies, she eventually caught sight of her real target again. Jirachi was still with them, along with a guy with the spiky hair who was likely the mythical pokemon’s trainer. However, she just as quickly lost them again, rounding a corner to see a row of doorways but no idea which room they had entered.

Ok, Luneth though, I know they went this way, so they must have gone into one of these rooms to speak privately. Probably one with extra soundproofing or something.
Either way, Luneth knew that she wasn’t going to be able to get in, so she’d have to wait for Jirachi to come back out instead.

After a few minutes of waiting however, Luneth’s mind started to wander. She was not built for stakeouts, nothing happening for potentially hours on end.
As she pondered how to stay focused, a thought occurred to her. It didn’t necessarily have to be herself doing the stakeout.

She reached to her pokeballs and released her Ditto, who upon seeing Glimmer floating nearby quickly took on the Shaymin’s shape.
“Flan, I need you to stay watch while I’m not here. In one of these rooms there’s a Jirachi, when they come out of one of these doors, I need you to talk to them, and try and convince them to meet up with me. Tell them I’ll be in…” Luneth paused for a moment. She was going to say the battle arena, but she vaguely remember hearing that it was off limits to non-competitors on the day of the finals. “Central park,” she decided. “I’ll be waiting in central park. If you can’t get theme there, then come get me and show me where they went.”
The Ditto/Shaymin nodded an ok, then turned to stare intently down the hallway.

“Thanks, you’re the best Flan.” She said, before beginning to retrace her steps back to the park.

Neo Emolga

03-18-2021, 09:25 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Chakramaster Noblejanobii
(Bunnying Jirachi with Chakra’s permission)
(Also, pretty sure I have Desolate Divine’s clearance to do this for Alyssa, but if you change your mind or this wasn't handled the way you wanted it to be, just let me know and I’ll tweak this. No worries. :)

Jimmy had explained that in order for the plan to work, the Ladies needed to be present, or at least appear to be. He also explained that keeping the Ladies as Pokémon would keep them safe, but then to Cassandra, it seemed like that part of the plan would only make sense if they stayed behind and didn’t try to confront “Karma” and whoever else was involved directly.

“…stop it.” Jirachi mumbled.

Jirachi’s sudden abrupt displeasure in the whole back and forward dispute made it clear the frustration was getting to him. Cassandra had looked at him as he had gotten very unhappy. And when Jimmy realized this, he had tried to confront the small wishmaker Pokémon, trying to assure him it would be okay.

And then Jirachi outright snapped.

Jirachi had smiled impishly and snapped his fingers, insisting it was time to have some fun. Before the whole group had even a chance to respond, Jimmy had begun to glow in front of everyone and then just vanished into thin air.

“No one leave this room without MY permission,” Jirachi snapped his fingers, engaging the room’s lock.

Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet were surprised and speechless. Did Jirachi just betray his own trainer? At first, Cassandra thought it was a bit comical that Jimmy had next to no control over Jirachi and it was annoying Jon to no end, but now she had a feeling Jon had a solid point with his concerns and the almost nightmare-like scenario unfolding before them was driving that point home.

“Ladies first as some humans I’ve heard say,” Jirachi told Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet as he wore an impish, mischievous smile. “How about you?”

“Whoa, holy cow, little buddy, calm down…!” Jarena replied, never expecting Jirachi to suddenly do this.

Avery had protested against Jirachi’s sudden intrusion, looking angry, but a bit concerned trying to act against a mythical Pokémon with so much power might be a very risky idea.

“We can discuss this,” Avery insisted. “We can lay out a better plan. It doesn’t have to resort to this.”

And then Avery mentioned this wasn’t something a friend would do, only an enemy, insisting that if need be, Avery would protect themselves from Jirachi if it got to that point.

“So much squabbling…” Jirachi shook his head, still smiling with carefree demeanor. “Can’t agree on this, can’t agree on that. Wow. Since when did all of you forget to have fun? I think party time’s been put off long enough, yeah! What do you think!?”

Cassandra suddenly had a feeling she knew why Jirachi had snapped, even though to others in the room, he looked like he was acting like a complete brat. She theorized that after asking Jimmy and the others repeatedly for some playtime, which would have taken no more than fifteen to twenty minutes of their time, it had been put off and denied again and again, even after Jirachi had done them plenty of enormous favors in the form of wishes. For a moment, Cassandra felt terribly guilty. Jirachi had, after all, granted her a promise of happiness and the Ladies sixty million in assets to pay off what would have been a crippling debt to the League… and yet they had not even given Jirachi five minutes of simple fun and play despite it being the only thing he had asked for in return…

Before Cassandra could say anything, a Ditto had materialized, and immediately got to work on transforming itself into Jirachi. Trying to neutralize the real Jirachi, Alyssa had called upon the Ditto to try and make Jirachi fall asleep…

“I wish for Jirachi to go to sleep for a while…” Alyssa had requested.

The Ditto had tried to replicate this wishing power, but couldn’t quite grasp it. While it had copied Jirachi’s moves and attacks and appearance perfectly, it was Jirachi’s signature trait that it couldn’t replicate.

“Aww, that’s not very nice…” Jirachi shook his head, cynically faking his disappointment despite still smiling. “You wouldn’t like being a victim of identity theft, would you? See, no one can grant wishes like I can!”

But before Jirachi could take action, Alyssa’s Ditto had tried to drawn upon the only trace of power it could wield, able to save and defend its trainer by dashing toward Alyssa and teleporting her and itself out of the room, vanishing with a quick flicker of light beyond what Jirachi could target. Where they were now, no one in the room was sure, but they had escaped from what Avery had deemed a “wishmaker gone rogue.”

“They’re no fun,” Jirachi commented, disappointed they had found a way to flee from the sticky situation. “Now then… where were we? Oh, that’s right!”

He had spun around and then turned to the Ladies with a mischievous smile, and suddenly Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet felt a ping of fear they weren’t expecting to ever have from Jirachi’s presence. All of them were backed into a corner and they essentially couldn’t escape. Even Victini had taken a step back, wearing a nervous smile.

“Vic-ti-tini…” (“That look in his eyes… that can’t be good…”) Victini warned them, trying to keep optimistic in the face of certain panic.

“Look, I’m… sure it’s just a misunderstanding, that’s all,” Cassandra smiled, trying to ease Jirachi’s feelings and hopefully reason with the mythical Pokémon. “No one meant to make you upset, Jirachi. People just… sometimes don’t agree, that’s all. But no worries, we can still be friends, right?”

“Of course!” Jirachi beamed a happy smile. “Friends make each other happy! And friends know how to have fun! And you know what would make me really happy right now and would be a ton of fun? Ooh, take a guess!”

“God-dammit, we’re screwed,” Violet muttered.

But there was a moment of concerning silence…

“Tick-tock, time’s almost up!” Jirachi laughed.

And then, nervously, Jarena had raised her hand, thinking this was like a quiz game show to Jirachi and if they didn’t answer in time, it would be bad news.

“Okay, I know the answer, but… it’s… maybe… let’s just not do that right now,” Jarena smiled sheepishly. “Later, okay?”

“Later later later…” Jirachi sighed, sighing but smiling. “It’s always later later later with humans. ‘Let’s play later.’ ‘Busy now, yada-yada-yada.’ Boring! Time’s up!”

And then Jirachi snapped his fingers again, and the three of them started to glow. Cassandra had recognized this kind of glow before, and it was all too familiar…

Here we go again...

“Bye bye now, see you soon!” Jirachi waved to them as suddenly everything went white for the three of them, leaving a very panicked and deeply concerned Victini behind, backed into a corner…

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park (Poke Park)

Cassandra had awoken, but after opening her eyes, she immediately closed them again upon realizing what had happened, sighing and figuring she might as well go back to sleep instead of facing what would come next. It didn’t even take her two seconds to put it all together. And she already felt it. All around her, in the form of familiar brown and beige Eevee fur. To her, this truly wasn’t worth getting up for.

“Bun-earr…” (“Hey, Cass, you awake!?”) Jarena asked her, nudging her a bit with her paw. “Bun-ee-arry…” (“Uhh… yeah, we’ve… got a situation here…”)

“Fur-rreet…” (“I give up, I swear to god I give up.”) Violet growled before looking to Cassandra. “Furr-etttt…!” (“Cass, you getting up? Wake up already!”)

Cassandra didn’t budge, though. To her, this was worse than waking up on a Monday morning with a brutal hangover from spending all of Sunday night drinking. And right now, it felt like waking up was just going to put her through more madness.

“Eeveee…” (“Wake me up when this stupid cruise is over with…”) Cassandra mumbled to the two of them.

In the meantime, Jarena had looked off to the side of the PokéPark Playground, seeing a Pikachu get surrounded and poked at by a group of unknowing children. As she felt sorry for the electric mouse’s quandary, she felt there was something familiar about him. And then, she looked back to Cassandra, still trying to pretend to be a sleepy Eevee.

“Bun-bun-earry…?” (“Wow, what do you think made Jirachi go bananas like that?”) Jarena asked.

“Furr-rret!” (“Because he’s a complete brat with insane powers, that’s what!) Violet replied, looking like one very fed-up Furret.

“Evee…” (“No…”) Cassandra replied with a frown, finally ‘waking up’ and sitting upright with her long Eevee ears still drooping down. “Eev-vee-vee…” (“It’s because all he wanted was a little playtime from bickering, angry, violent, selfish people. And you’d think after granting heaps of wishes, including my wish of happiness and your wish of sixty million in financial assets to pay off our stupid debt, and even completing the aggravating transfer paperwork for you to make your life easier only to be criticized for it, we could have at least spent a simple half-hour having fun with him at the pool or at the arcade which would have been a good time for all of us, but no. That was just too damn much to ask for, wasn’t it? That’s what made him snap.”)

And then there was cold, hard silence among the three of them…

“Bunn…” (“I feel like crap right about now…”) Jarena sat down, having a feeling Jirachi would be arriving very soon.

“Fur-ret…” (“I… take back what I said.”) Violet replied, sighing. “Furrettt…” (“Yeah, I would be pissed too.”)

Cassandra looked to her, and nodded. She knew there was a lot at stake right about now if Jirachi were to go further over the edge.

“Eev-vee-vee,” (“Listen, Jirachi’s not a homicidal monster.”) Cassandra told Jarena and Violet, trying to come up with a plan to deal with this. “Ee-veee-vee,” (“When he comes, let’s have a good time, forget about anything else we’ve got on our schedule for today or if it feels like we’re hostages right now, and make up for the time we owe him. You even wanted this, didn’t you Jarena?”

“Bun..earyyy…” (“Uhh, yeah, kinda,”) Jarena giggled, flushing with embarrassment.

“Ee-veee…” (“Good, I think we’re all set.”) Cassandra smiled.

[Desolate Divine]

03-18-2021, 11:18 PM

Jon and Alyssa Drake
En Route to Central Park
Affected RPers: None

Jon had left Ethan who remained at the Battle Arena to train for his battle against Avery this evening, and was walking back towards Safe House C, a little outside of Central Park, when he heard Alyssa's voice.

"Wait, Carbon!" She shouted, before looking around and realizing they had teleported. Jon was shocked to see Jirachi floating next to her until it clicked she called it Carbon. Ditto had needed to copy Jirachi... Why.

"Liss, what happened?" Jon asked, as Alyssa looked around frantically.

"Jimmy lost control of Jirachi!" Alyssa said, looking around desperately at the people who were starting to stare, both at her being upset, and the Jirachi floating next to her.

"The idiot never had control of it to begin with..." Jon muttered.

"When you and Cassandra were gone, they were trying to come up with a plan to catch out the person who has been harassing her. Jimmy had this idea, of having his Rotom wait in her phone for the stalker to message her and to ping the stalkers GPS when he contacted her." Alyssa explained, "The problem was the next bit. For some reason, he was hell bent on having the Ladies turn back into Pokemon to spy on him, and some of us masquerade as them to lure the stalker out."

"What the fu-" Jon started, "If you pinged the GPS, you could use the room keys location tracking and the security system, we could narrow it down..."

"That's what I told him. First I told him that we shouldn't make plans involving the Ladies without Steven or Cynthia's okay, since the three of them are technically detained, and that if we think the stalker is an operative watching through the security system, they just heard his entire plan through the security camera in the safe house. Violet was against getting directly involved because she needed to start arrangements for paying off their debt to the league." Alyssa explained, "At this point the only person who was on board with the idea was Jarena because she wanted to be a Pokemon again, but Jimmy wished that we were all in a location where we wouldn't be overheard, with Steven, Cynthia and Avery, and that the footage that left the room since we all arrived was My Little Pony. We were all teleported to this room that I have no clue where it is on the ship, and Jimmy still kept pushing this stupid idea about the girls turning into Pokemon. Avery was there and he was trying to rope them into it."

"What did Steven and Cynthia think?" Jon asked, "Surely they didn't okay it..."

"They did..." Alyssa explained, "But here is the thing. Violet said she didn't want to be involved because she was needing some time to organize the money transfer, but without being asked, Jirachi made that happen. If Jirachi did that without telling anyone, because it meant Violet's reason for not being on board with it would go away..."

"You think it influenced Steven and Cynthia?" Jon asked, growing more angry by the second.

"I don't know that it didn't." Alyssa explained, "I raised that concern and basically told the Ladies it was their choice whether they go ahead with it or not, I had said my piece and if they went ahead with it, I would just go and help Steven weed out Lance's guys. Violet and Cassandra agreed and talked Jarena out of it, but Jimmy just kept pushing and wouldn't take no for an answer. Then Jirachi snapped."

"He teleported Jimmy out of the room, locked the doors, and made it abundantly clear that we were doing Jimmy's plan whether we liked it or not." Alyssa continued, "Avery tried to reason with it, so while it was distracted I had Carbon copy Jirachi, hoping I could get at least one wish out of him. I wished for Jirachi to fall asleep."

"It didn't work..." Jon said, realizing how bad things were.

"I think he could do a small wish, but putting a mythical Pokemon to sleep was too much for a copy." Alyssa said, "He teleported me out, to you, but everyone else is still locked in with that deranged little s**t!"

Jon quickly let Latios out of its Pokeball. He figured if Jirachi had snapped, this whole ship could be its playground. Which meant he and Alyssa might be in danger of being affected by the sociopathic Wishmaker. It also meant that a certain someone who couldn't be allowed to escape could quite easily if Jirachi's Pokemon Transforming Fetish extended past the mystery room the others are locked in.

"Climb onto Latios' back, and see if you can find any people who have been turned into Pokemon." Jon explained, "Latios should be able to see them freaking out from a distance and identify them. Try and round them up."

"Okay but where are you going?" Alyssa asked, as she climbed onto Latios back, calling Carbon back to his Pokeball.

"Lance is in custody, but if Jirachi turns people outside the room into Pokemon, he might be able to escape." Jon explained, before making eye contact with the Eon Pokemon.

"I lied. Fly Alyssa as far away from here as you can whilst still maintaining a telepathic link." Jon thought, knowing Latios was listening. "If Jirachi comes anywhere near Alyssa, kill it. It talks about being friends, but it is not our friend. Understand?"

"Wait, Jon, I know what you're doing, don't -" Alyssa began as Latios departed the ship, flying upwards and away.

Now Alyssa was out of danger, Jon began making his way to the infirmary, thinking about the choice words he was going to have with Jimmy, assuming they all hadn't been erased from existence before then...

Chakramaster

03-20-2021, 12:15 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga

also indirectly affected: Shruikan SlickSlack Noblejanobii
This post is following through with what I posted the other day. After some discussions. If you DO want to take action on this then you can create a post using Jirachi's action that will be mentioned in this post to move your character to the Central Park (Poke Park). You can just move your character or move them and have them transformed. It's totally 100% up to YOU. You do NOT have to take part if you do not want to. This is just to take one last shot at some fun, silly, and mischief before this story winds down. Please do not take this as you HAVE to. You do NOT HAVE to. Join the fun if you want. Now is the time and you can freely move your character to our location to have fun with everyone else!

Ugh, how did I get stuck in this mess. Jirachi really is gonna be a handful to train. Jimmy though. Jimmy closed his eyes before hearing a familiar voice.

"Piiiika! Pika-Pika Chu!" (Hey! Hey over here! Look!). Pikachu standing to the side looking friendly and happy toward the kids. Like he wanted attention too. The kids dropped Jimmy and he fell to the ground. The kids began to pet Pikachu and play with him as all eyes were on him now instead. He looked to Jimmy and yelled out.

"Pi. Pikachu. Pi-Pikachu!" (Well. What are you waiting on? Go now!"). Pikachu knew what he was doing. His been used to this attention his whole life. He's been a Pokemon since the day he was born. Protecting Jimmy was his top priority. He was his trainer after all.

"Pikaaaa! Pikapika! Pi-KA-chu. Piiii-ka!" (Go save the others and of course our friend Jirachi. We just have to take the time to train him. As all of our other friends! Now go!)

Jimmy nodded and ran off. He'd been turned into a Pokemon before. Having been a Pachirisu. He had learned to run on all four like a Pokemon. Only now he had been turned into a Pikachu. It was a little different. He didn't have the big bushy tail. He didn't know where yet, but he was running. Noticing to the side. 3 Pokemon looked frustrated, confused, one happy and eager another and just as much defeated and lost.

Jimmy quickly took a tumble to the ground. Recognizing the three. One thought came to mind. "Jirachi" Jimmy said quietly. He must've turned them into Pokemon and tried going through the plan regardless. I...didn't realize how strongly Jirachi was. He wanted to really help with the plan I suggested. Jirachi....I hope you're not causing too much trouble.... Jimmy thought to himself before getting back to his feet and running to the group of Pokemon.

"Hey. That you Cass, Violet, Jarena? What happened after Jirachi sent me away? I'm...sorry he's causing so much trouble for everyone." Jimmy said as his ear dropped to his sides, but quickly composing himself again and looking more confident. "We've gotta make it back to Jirachi and the others!"

"No need!" a voice said from a short distance. "I am here!" Jirachi conidently float by them. "I even got a few others connected to everyone here. I felt how strongly they wanted to have fun too! So I added a little extra of my power to bring them along to have fun too! Not everyone may have wanted to be a Pokemon as strongly as others, but they're here all the same!" Jirachi said happily.

"Yay! Finally! Play time! Fun time! hahahaha!" Jirachi cheered happily along the group as it float around.

"Jirachi..." Jimmy looked to him.

"Yay! You're back to being Cuddles! What's your orders Captain Cuddles?!" Jirachi looked to Jimmy with a confident smile and salute.

Jimmy was stuck on for what words to say. Jirachi was way too friendly. A Pokemon above his caliber. It was really poor timing to meet such an incredibly powerful Pokekmon. What the Diamond Ladies needed spells and items for. Jirachi could do with the blink of an eye and much much more. Jimmy looked down. He didn't wanna lose the friendly and cheerful Pokemon he felt so lucky to befriend, but he knew he has to step up as it's trainer.

"Jirachi. I see now. You just wanted to have fun. Everyone you met here this past day. You've considered friends to you. Sadly, not everyone will want to be your friend. Sometimes a friend is someone you just come to know for a short time and pass on the street as a stranger the next day. Others may be a friend in a short period of your life. Then there's friends for life. Those are the kinds you can come to know, love, and care for. Sadly....not everyone will want to be your friend. You can't force them to either. Using your power should be only in very special cases. You can't go using it as you want. So for now. Until I can help train you to be the best you can be. Please don't use your power unless I tell you it's okay. Jimmy looked to the Ladies in their Pokemon forms. Then to Pikachu in the far distance.

"Like Pikachu and myself. I raised him since he was hatched from his egg as a Pichu. It took some time, but we became really close friends. Much like I hope to with you Jirachi."

"But we are friends Jimmy! Friends friends! hahaha!" Jirahci played with his hair between his ears. Messing with it as usual.

"I know we are, but I've gotta step up more as your trainer. Take more responsibility. I'll need you to change everyone back here soon. We have a job to do, but since you're so eager. While we're like this. Let's let you have your fun. okay?"

Jirachi seemed a little confused. Not really smiling, but he seemed to understand. As he nodded and smiled.

"Okay Jimmy.....I mean...Captain Cuddles." Before giggling and flying over to the Ladies.

"Yay! You're back to being Pokemon! Isn't it great?! Let's have some fun! Fun fun!" Jirachi giggled again before tugging on Cass's Eevee ears playfully then circling the other two. Looking over to where he also said the others were that would be joining them if they decided to join. Hoping they would still decide to have fun before their journeys together ended. Jirachi really wanted the best for everyone. Someone anyone could count on even if it cost himself in the end. Though he has a lot to learn. Jirachi's potential could be endless. Once properly trained. For now. Jimmy looked to Jirachi to give him the time and fun he deserved before getting back to business.

Neo Emolga

03-20-2021, 02:36 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RPers: Chakramaster

Before Jirachi had arrived, the Ladies tried to think of how exactly they wanted to handle this. It was a unique and new kind of predicament unlike anything they had ever been in before, but to get through to Jirachi, Cassandra just felt they needed to think like him. Play, be playful, be creative, don’t take things seriously. As if they were young kids again.

“Bun-eary…” (“Uh, yeah, I don’t even know what kind of game Jirachi would want to play.) Jarena shrugged and smiled bashfully. “Bun-eary? Bunn…” (“Hockey, baseball…? Yeah, we don’t even have the gear for that.”)

“Eev-vee-vee,” (“Nah, it doesn’t need to be anything formal like that.”) Cassandra smiled, casually brushing it off with her paw. “Eee-veee…” (“Think back to recess when you were just a kid. Invent a game, make up rules as you go along, then break them anyway.”)

“Furr-rett,” (“Been a while since those days…”) Violet remarked, looking off as she tried to reminisce back to when she was just a young girl. “Furr-ret…” (“I’ll follow your lead…”)

Cassandra was confident she had a good idea of what kind of play Jirachi wanted. She figured Jarena would catch on quickly, and while she assumed Violet was probably thinking too hard on it and trying to structure something intricate, Cassandra decided something sporadic and spur of the moment in style might be more effective and would be exactly the kind of thing Jirachi was looking for.

And then a voice called out to them.

“Pi-pika?” (Hey, that you Cass, Violet, Jarena?”) Jimmy had called out to them. “Pika-pi-kachu!” (“I'm...sorry he's causing so much trouble for everyone. We've gotta make it back to Jirachi and the others!”)

Cassandra figured it was probably too late for that, and she hadn’t remembered the path from Central Park’s PokéPark playground to where the LZ Safe Room was. But rather then try to go to Jirachi, she had a feeling Jirachi would…

“No need!” he called out, floating in front of them. “I am here! I even got a few others connected to everyone here. I felt how strongly they wanted to have fun too! So I added a little extra of my power to bring them along to have fun too! Not everyone may have wanted to be a Pokémon as strongly as others, but they're here all the same! Yay! Finally! Play time! Fun time! hahahaha!”

“Bunearryyyy…” (“Yep, he’s definitely very lively.”) Jarena giggled, covering her mouth with her Buneary paw.

While Jimmy chatted with Jirachi with a one-on-one, out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra had noticed a Minccino, lying face-down only a short distance away from her. She had approached her, having a feeling she knew exactly who it was. Meanwhile, Jarena and Violet had gathered around, having the same feeling.

“Min-cii…” (“I swear I’ve never taking another job like this ever again…”) Sami grumbled, looking up to see she was surrounded by other Pokémon… as she realized she was now a Pokémon herself.

“Eev-vee-vee,” (“Hey, Sami, welcome to the party.”) Cassandra told her with a smirk, having a good idea of what she was thinking right now, but assuring Sami that she had a good idea of how to handle this unusual situation. “Vee-veee…” (“This is going to sound crazy, but just play along with the shenanigans.”)

“Min-cici-no…?” (“Are you kidding, why should we do that?”) Sami asked, unconsciously waving her new brush-like tail. “Minci…!” (“Look at what delinquent did to us! Please tell me your crazy witch magic can undo this!”

“Bunearyyy…” (“Probably not.”) Jarena smiled, shrugging as she knew this kind of transformation wasn’t a hex-based affliction.

Sami had just sighed, rolling her eyes before slouching with her eyelids drooping. She had then looked over to Jirachi and Jimmy having a conversation about friends and Jimmy’s Pikachu.

“Minci-no…?” (“Okay, so what exactly is your plan to handle this pest?”) Sami asked.

“Eve-vee-vee…” (It’s not complicated…”) Cassandra explained. “Eeve-vee…” (“Jirachi’s a bit wild and childish. We know that. Thing is, we owe him big time. He helped wish away our massive debt only to be criticized for it. Meanwhile, he’s been wanting some playtime for dozens of hours only to be told it would come later over and over and it never did. Even though he did some amazing favors for people, including us. And then when we were bickering over that whole plan to get ‘Karma’ and how best to do it…”)

“Mini-ci…” (“Yeah, I see what you’re getting at.”) Sami nodded, looking over to Jirachi. “Min-Minccinoo…?” (“It got ugly down there and I was barely even involved. So you think giving Jirachi the playtime he wants might get him to cool off a bit?”)

Cassandra had nodded, thinking she might have the answer. But before she could reply to Sami, she heard Jirachi giggling as he flew over to them.

“Yay!” Jirachi cheered with a giggle, tugging playfully with Cassandra’s Eevee ears. “You're back to being Pokémon! Isn't it great?! Let's have some fun! Fun fun!”

“Ee-vee-vee!” (“Hey there, those are my ears!”) Cassandra shouted back at him, smiling mischievously to play along with the antics. “Ee-vee-e? Veeee…!” (“Well, guess what, Twinkle? You just got yourself into a world of trouble!”)

“Bun-earry…!” (“No one messes with the Ladies!”) Jarena laughed, following Cassandra’s lead. “Bunearyy!” (“And you know what rhymes with ‘trouble?’”)

Then, Jarena had cast a simple Shadowcraft spell, suddenly encasing Jirachi in a giant, squishy bubble. She knew it might be a bit tricky to break out of, but overall, it would be harmless fun for him to try.

“Min-cino!” (“Oh my god, you guys…!”) Sami exclaimed, nearly laughing at the sight of what they had just done to Jirachi.

Meanwhile, Violet had looked upon them, slyly smirking at the ruckus that was unfolding. While it was very childish behavior, even she felt poking a little playful mischievous fun at Jirachi might be enjoyable for a while. And now she was curious to see if they could actually wear him out and outplay him. She began to see it as a challenge.

“Fur-rett,” (“Tsk-tsk, Jirachi, you know what getting bubbled does,” Violet shook her head derisively in a playful, scheming manner. “Furrett…” (“That gives us five-hundred Cool Points while you have… zero. That’s uncool, Jirachi. What are all your fans going to think?”)

“Bun-eary!” (“Your fans are gonna be our fans!”) Jarena teased him with an impish smile. “Bun-buneary!” (“And you’ll just have… a bubble. Ha ha ha!”)

Even Sami couldn’t help but giggle at the silliness. She had to admit, this was a very interesting and unusual way of dealing with what could have been a problem, but she was curious to see how it was all going to go. And she had to admit, that childlike desire to get in on this mischief was suddenly seizing her, too…

Shruikan

03-20-2021, 08:23 PM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park > Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

As she arrived back at central park, Luneth found herself at a loss as for what to do. By now she’d done just about everything there was to do here. Window shopping seemed boring now that she’d seen real life magic. She could go look online for that shadowcraft tome again, but something told her it would take a long time to find one, if anyone was willing to sell them now with the recent news.
Luneth sighed. It was a pity she hadn’t caught up to that Jirachi earlier. But what’s done is done, well, unless you know a Celebi. Or Dialga. Oh, or maybe there’s a shadowcraft spell that can turn back time-
Everything happened in a flash. First she heard a faint voice in the back of her mind, beckoning to her, then a flash of white, and Luneth was gone, leaving Glimmer frantically looking around, trying to figure out what just happened to her trainer…

* * *

Luneth opened her eyes blearily. Where was she? She felt like she had just been dragged out of a deep sleep, and the world had yet to come into focus. She went to stretch her arms, and promptly fell flat on her face. Looking down, She could see that her arms, or now forelegs, were covered it white-green fur. They looked like…
Luneth experimentally tried to move her tail, and found to her delight that she could. Real tail (Well, tails to more be accurate), white fur with patches of grey-green, quadrupedal, she had somehow become an Alolan Vulpix.
Was this a dream? She’d dreamed of being a pokemon before, but no, every time it’d just been her normal state, if this was a dream she probably wouldn’t remember being a human. So this must be more magic. Did the diamond ladies do this? Or was there another magic user on board the ship? But as she considered, the why quickly became uninteresting, compared to the fact that she was a real life pokemon now!

Luneth jumped around excitedly, both to get a feel for her new body, and at the sheer joy of being an actual Vulpix. As such it took her a few moments before she noticed where she was.
Instead of the entrance to central park, like she’d been a moment before, It looked like she was now in the subsection of the park where young kids could play with pokemon. In fact, there were some playing with a Pikachu a short distance away.

Aside from the Pikachu, there were several other pokemon nearby, most of which were being ignored by the kids in favour of the Pikachu. Three of them, an Eevee, Buneary & Furret looked eerily like the diamond ladies. And there was the Jirachi that was with the ladies earlier, talking to another Pikachu.
From what she could gather, this Pikachu was called Cuddles, and wanted to turn everyone back to normal? And that it was Jirachi that had turned some people into pokemon, just like the diamond ladies had yesterday? No magic then, Luneth was slightly disappointed to find.

Either way, the Jirachi seemed to have used it’s “Magic” because it wanted to play with everyone. It didn’t look like this was a dangerous operation like last time. Especially from the way the possibly-the-diamond ladies were acting. It seemed that they really were just playing like kids.

Luneth gave as close to a shrug as her Vulpix form was able. Well, it’s not like she had anything planned for today, and playing with a Jirachi wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence. Plus, if this Jirachi was responsible for her current form, then the favour was worth repaying.
Luneth bounced over to the Jirachi and lightly shoved the bubble they were entrapped in. “Vul,”(”Tag,”) she said mischievously before skipping back a few paces as the bubble rolled slightly from the push.
Even if this was only temporary, be it due to Jirachi turning them back later, or if it was just a dream after all, she was going to make the most of this regardless.

Chakramaster

03-22-2021, 12:08 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Shruikan and anyone else that still wanted to join

Jimmy had met back up with the Diamond Ladies who had been transformed back into their Pokémon forms. His Pikachu allowed him to get away from the kids. Although still in his own Pikachu form. He realized what needed to be done. Jirachi had to be calmed, but before he got too tired. They needed to be changed back. For now, they needed to work together to calm him. Let him have his fun. Anyone else Jirachi brought here could do the exact same.

Even Sami had been turned back into a Pokémon. The same Minccino as earlier. The ladies and Sami discussed this probably couldn't be undo by their magic. As this wasn't a hexed based transformation. Having to rely on Jirachi to change them back. Then discussing what needed to be done.

“Minci-no…?” (“Okay, so what exactly is your plan to handle this pest?”) Sami asked.

“Eve-vee-vee…” (It’s not complicated…”) Cassandra explained. “Eeve-vee…” (“Jirachi’s a bit wild and childish. We know that. Thing is, we owe him big time. He helped wish away our massive debt only to be criticized for it. Meanwhile, he’s been wanting some playtime for dozens of hours only to be told it would come later over and over and it never did. Even though he did some amazing favors for people, including us. And then when we were bickering over that whole plan to get ‘Karma’ and how best to do it…”)

It's true. Jirachi was far more childish than they knew. Jimmy had realized that. Having tired to get some information from Avery earlier on what best to do to raise Jirachi. It's still going to take time. Like Avery and Cassandra have. Jirachi is also a mythical Pokémon. Even Jon has his Latios and it's a legendary. It's no easy task to raise a very unique Pokemon. Right now only time will fix this. Jimmy will just have to learn what works with raising Jirachi. Without upsetting him or upsetting balance of day to day life with others. Only time will fix that as no one can fully train a very special Pokémon in just a few hours.

Jirachi had begun to try and play with them. Having float over to Cassandra and tugged on her ears.

“Ee-vee-vee!” (“Hey there, those are my ears!”) Cassandra shouted back at him, smiling mischievously to play along with the antics. “Ee-vee-e? Veeee…!” (“Well, guess what, Twinkle? You just got yourself into a world of trouble!”)

“Bun-earry…!” (“No one messes with the Ladies!”) Jarena laughed, following Cassandra’s lead. “Bunearyy!” (“And you know what rhymes with ‘trouble?’”)

Jarena had cast a Shadowcraft spell of simple sorts to encase Jirachi in a giant squishy bubble.

“Fur-rett,” (“Tsk-tsk, Jirachi, you know what getting bubbled does,” Violet shook her head derisively in a playful, scheming manner. “Furrett…” (“That gives us five-hundred Cool Points while you have… zero. That’s uncool, Jirachi. What are all your fans going to think?”)

“Bun-eary!” (“Your fans are gonna be our fans!”) Jarena teased him with an impish smile. “Bun-buneary!” (“And you’ll just have… a bubble. Ha ha ha!”)

While Sami began to giggle. An Alolan Vulpix came up and bounced into the bubble Jirachi was in. Yelling out "tag!" As the bubble moved back and slightly into the air.

"Yay! Hahaha bubbles bubbles! Bubbles are so fun! You should join too! Fly in the air like me!" Jirachi winked and giving just the most adorable smile. Making very similar bubbles appear around the area. Many bubbles to fill the area they were in. Even encasing the others here that had surrounded Jirachi. "So much fun to be had! Why not join me up here!" Jirachi giggles playfully as it followed the bubble as it bounced once more of the ground and back into the air. Bouncing like it was it's own personal bouncy ball.

Jirachi looked to the ladies. Having encased them in the similar bubbles as well. "If you got five-hundred Cool Points I must have just got like a bazillion! Just look at all the pretty bubbles!"

Meanwhile even Jimmy had been encased in a bubble by Jirachi. "Piii-kaaaa!?" (Whoa whoa WHOA! Now I'm supposed to fly too?! How do I control this this thing?!)

Jirachi bounced over and made its bubble bounce over into Violet's bubble. Giggling before saying, "TAG!" Bouncing away while still giggling before letting out a gentle yawn.

Neo Emolga

03-23-2021, 12:13 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RPers: Chakramaster Shruikan

What had started off as a prank had turned into a full-fledged game of tag, with bubbles and all kinds of rampant mischief. Luneth, as an Alolan Vulpix now, had shoved the bubble that Jirachi was in, declaring tag and that Jirachi was now “it.” Then using his power, Jirachi had let loose a swarm of bubbles throughout the park, enveloping Cassandra, Jarena, Violet, and Sami as well.

“If you got five-hundred Cool Points I must have just got like a bazillion!” Jirachi laughed. “Just look at all the pretty bubbles!”

“Eevee-vee!” (“We’re just getting warmed up, Twinkle, just you wait!”) Cassandra teased him.

Jimmy had soon become enveloped into a bubble as well, and was having trouble controlling it. The whole while, Cassandra and Jarena were just laughing at Jimmy’s comical floundering inside his bubble.

“Piii-kaaaa!?" (“Whoa whoa WHOA! Now I'm supposed to fly too?! How do I control this this thing?!”) Jimmy called out.

“Bun-earyy…!” (“Take it easy, don’t move around so much, you goofball!”) Jarena replied with a giggle. “Bun-eary!” (“Push it along gently!”)

And then, Jirachi had charged into Violet’s bubble, shouting “TAG” as he was giggling and then tried to bounce away. Violet tried to feign shock and Cassandra and Jarena tried to play along with the acting.

“Furr-RET!?” (“You DARE!?”) Violet shouted back at him. “Furrr-ret!” (“You don’t know who you’re messing with!”)

Conjuring up a gust of wind behind her bubble, Violet pushed her bubble toward Jirachi’s, and thanks to the wind gust, it was faster and closed the gap sooner. She then used a Scratch attack to break open her own bubble and then landed on top of Jirachi’s. Flashing a menacing grin, she then struck Jirachi’s bubble with a Slam attack, using her long furry tail to send Jirachi and his bubble toward a nearby basketball net, landing Jirachi and his squishy bubble right in as Violet deftly landed on the ground and smirked with confidence.

“Bun-eary!” (“Holy crap, that was awesome!”) Jarena laughed hysterically.

“Fur-rettt!” (“Oh, and Jirachi, you’re IT by the way!”) Violet winked at him.

Deciding to make things even more of a fun challenge for Jirachi, Cassandra had used some of her Shadowcraft magic. While Jirachi was fumbling to get out of the basketball net, suddenly a misty, foggy smoke wafted about the room and within just a few seconds, suddenly the park was flooded with a thick dark-gray smoke and fog, making it tricky to see and find anyone. It was bound to make Jirachi’s search for someone to tag become a lot more difficult.

“Min-ci!” (“Hey, what gives, we can’t see anything!”) Sami cried out, still floating about in a bubble of her own.

“Ev-vee-vee!” (“That’s right, and neither can Jirachi!”) Cassandra laughed. “Vee-Vee!” (“Now keep your voice down, let’s see how long it takes Jirachi to tag someone else now!”)

Cassandra had to admit this foggy spell was particularly effective when trying to make a quick getaway and disappear into a crowd, which helped her in the past, though she never expected it to be used like this one day. Right now, she was expecting Jirachi would use some of his wish power to counter the effect, but she had some further ideas in case that happened.

For now, like Violet, she had dived down with her bubble and broke it open when it came close to the ground. She couldn’t see where Violet and Jarena were due to her own fog, but she figured Jirachi would most likely be trying to search through the smoky fog in the air above, looking for an unsuspecting Pokémon’s bubble to tag.

Meanwhile, Violet, realizing Cassandra’s plan to cloak all of Jirachi’s opponents with a thick fog, whether they liked it or not, had decided to stay grounded as well. While some of the other Pokémon had trouble keeping their bubbles steady and going in the direction they wanted, she still felt it was faster to be on the ground rather than slowly floating along in the bubble.

As for Jarena, she decided to stay in her bubble, but use her magic to allow her voice to carry throughout the fog cloud, which was be confusing and disorienting to Jirachi.

“Bun-earryyy…” (“Hey Twinkle…!”) Jarena’s voice called out to Jirachi, carrying around and about throughout the room like an echo bouncing from all directions. “Bun-buneary…!” (“Betcha can’t guess where I am! Am I here? Or there? Also, you’re WAY behind on Cool Points! We’ve got an infinity times infinity with an exponential infinity times ninety-nine jazzillion Cool Point lead over you!”)

While Sami was impressed with the kinds of witchcraft antics they were conjuring out, at first she decided to hold her tongue, knowing any kind of sound might give her location away to Jirachi. However, after thinking about her options, she came to realize she could replicate Jarena's voice echoing effect using Echoed Voice, a natural move a Minccino like her could use.

“Minc-ci-no!” (“Hey Jirachi, let’s see you wish your way out of this one!”) Sami taunted him as her voice echoed throughout the room in a similar way that Jarena’s voice had traveled and bounced around. “Min-cino!” (“How long is it going to take you to find us, huh Twinkle!?”)

Meanwhile, she was slightly getting the hang of how to control her bubble. As she found out, it was more about gentle pushes and strokes rather than trying to swim in the air. All the while, she was quite curious to see what Jirachi was going to do to get back at the crazy trickery the Ladies were putting him through.

Noblejanobii

03-23-2021, 01:43 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Safe House LZ => Central Park
Affected RP'ers: Desolate Divine

As Avery tried to reason with Jirachi, Alyssa tried to use a Ditto to counterwish against the Wishmaker. But it didn't go as planned, resulting in the Ditto and Alyssa teleporting out of the room. At least they had managed to get away, Avery supposed. Perhaps they could try the same with Acacia while Jirachi was distracted?

However, as the coordinator began to fumble with their pokéballs, suddenly Jirachi appeared in front of them. He looked a bit... disappointed. "I don't want to hurt you. Please do not be upset. I just want to play! So I will let you go now, ta ta!" Jirachi snapped his fingers and suddenly everything went white around Avery. Panic ceased up in Avery for a split second before they felt themselves land on the floor somewhere else in the ship. Groaning, Avery rubbed their head and sat up. They glanced around and realized they were in Central Park. So Jirachi really hadn't meant them any harm?

"Kid could really work on his presentation," they mumbled before standing up. Miraculously, they had managed not to spill their coffee during the whole ordeal, so Avery quickly chugged it before tossing it in a nearby trashcan. Probably not the best thing for their nerves but it felt like a waste to toss a full cup like that. As they ate the croissant from the bag they had been carrying, Avery contemplated what to do next. Part of them just wanted them to say "screw it" and be done with this whole mess. But they supposed they owed Jirachi an apology, if nothing else. Plus they wanted to locate the others and figure out exactly what had become of the rest of the party.

It was then Avery spotted Jon and Latios. Latios quickly disappeared, flying off somewhere. Jon looked angry, headed off somewhere on a mission. Quickly scarfing down the rest of their breakfast, Avery chunked the to go bag and ran after Jon. Perhaps they could help? "Jon!" they called out as they ran over trying to catch up, "What's the situation? Anything I can do to assist?"

[Desolate Divine]

03-23-2021, 08:45 PM

Jon Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii

As Jon was making his way towards the infirmary, he was in Central Park when he heard someone call out his name.

"Jon! What's the situation? Anything I can do to assist?"

Jon looked back and saw Avery making their way over.

"You escaped?" Jon asked, "Alyssa will be glad to know. I had Latios get her off the ship until we know it's safe."

"Right now, you know the situation with the deranged wishmaker better than I do, but I am worried that Jirachi wanting to turn people into Pokemon might go further than the room you were all locked in, and if that's the case, it could prove a good opportunity for Lance to escape." Jon explained, " So I'm going to guard him myself, then go and have a nice little chat with Cuddles about Jirachi... You're welcome to assist in either."

Shruikan

03-24-2021, 09:25 AM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

Shortly after Luneth had tagged Jirachi, the mythical pokemon let loose a wave of bubbles of it’s own, trapping everyone around them, Luneth included.

Inside the bubble it felt like she was in one of those inflatable castles at kids parties. Luneth testingly jumped, and found that it was light enough to bounce around, despite it’s occupant’s weight. After bouncing on the spot for a few moments, Luneth decided to try and move it. She slamming her weight against the bubble, intending to nudge it in the right direction, but she misjudged the force, causing it to move much too fast and out of her control, rattling Luneth around inside it as the bubble bounced around the room like a pinball.

From the blur as she bounced around, Luneth saw the room go darker, like it was fogging up, though she couldn’t make out why.

Feeling very disoriented, Luneth tried to burst the bubble with a move. Instinctively knowing how to use powder snow she went with that, but instead of the bubble freezing then shattering like intended, the ice just froze the bubble into a hardened sphere, which dropped to the ground with a jolt, but otherwise kept up it’s momentum, continuing to roll around the floor, along with it’s rattled occupant.

Ok, maybe it was time to ask for help.
“Uh, hey, can someone give me a hand with this bubble? I’m a bit dizzy in here.”

Neo Emolga

03-24-2021, 08:53 PM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RPers: Chakramaster Shruikan

Cassandra couldn’t help but smirk. Though she couldn’t see Jirachi either, she had managed to keep herself from getting tagged. Before long, she had met up with Violet, just barely making out the Furret in the foggy cloud.

“Fur-ret?” (“Was it you that made this foggy mess?”) Violet asked after running up to her.

“Ev-vee.” (“Yep, no shame.”) Cassandra giggled. “Ev-vee-vee.” (“I imagine Jirachi’s probably fumbling around in this, trying to look for someone to tag back.”)

“Furr…” (“Good.”) Violet nodded, looking back into the foggy mess. “Fur-ret,” (“Should keep him busy for a nice, long while.”)

And that was when they had seen Luneth, being taken for a tumble inside her bubble. They could see the Alolan Vulpix had tried to freeze the bubble and shatter it, but instead that only caused it to become solidified and no longer bouncy.

“Vul…?” (“Uh, hey, can someone give me a hand with this bubble? I’m a bit dizzy in here.”)

Violet had used some of her Shadowcraft power to conjure up a sharpened bolt of shadow before sending it against the frozen sphere containing Luneth. Once the bolt made contact, it shattered the entire bubble, as if it were like broken glass. The icy fragments scattered about the floor, freeing Luneth from the frozen bubble.

“Fur-ret,” (“Easy money.”) Violet remarked with a smile, figuring Luneth would appreciate that.

In the meantime, Cassandra kept a watchful eye out, looking for any sign of Jirachi or Jarena. The fog cloud wouldn’t last forever, but it would be enough to disorient Jirachi for a little while after it had started to vanish.

She was curious as to what antics Jirachi would be trying next. Though she had a few of her own in case the Wishmaker decided to come her way…

Chakramaster

03-26-2021, 12:39 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Shruikan

“Eevee-vee!” (“We’re just getting warmed up, Twinkle, just you wait!”) Cassandra teased Jirachi.

Jarena offered advice to Jimmy as he tried to control his bubble instead of floating off.

"Pikaa. Pika pika!" (You know. This is actually kinda fun!). Jimmy said as he controlled his bubble better with the advice he was given.

Jirachi had tagged Jarena. Jarena wanted revenge on the impish Wishmaker.

Furr-RET!?” (“You DARE!?”) Violet shouted back at him. “Furrr-ret!” (“You don’t know who you’re messing with!”)

She had conjured up a gust of wind behind her and pushed her bubble into Jirachi's. Making him once again fly into the air a moment.

"Weeeeee!" Jirachi yelled as he laughed while keeping his bubble afloat in air. Violet's bubble had popped. She had used a Slam attack on Jirachi's bubble and made him fly again, but this time into basketball net.

This surprised Jarena. Such an amazing display unlike many have seen before.

“Fur-rettt!” (“Oh, and Jirachi, you’re IT by the way!”) Violet winked at him.

"Oh I LOVE being "IT!" Jirachi laughed as he fumbled out of the net. Everything suddenly got dark as Cassandra used a spell to release a dark mist all around the area.

Jimmy needed to get out of his bubble. He took a moment to focus on remembering what Pikachu has taught him earlier. He concentrated to make his tail sharper. A shiny silver coats his tail and he pokes it into the bubble to pop it.

"Pika. Chu. Pi-pika." (Man I'm sure glad a Pikachu taught me to use iron tail).

Jirachi wasn't done having fun yet. Not at all.

"Such fun magic! You can make it dark, but stars light the night sky! Let's all be pretty pretty stars!" Jirachi said as he began to glow brightly. Suddenly each of his "friend" began to glow. Illuminating the area. Jarena, Cassandra, Violet, Jimmy, Luneth. Everyone in the area Jirachi brought to the Poke Park area.

"But that's not all!" Jirachi says as he gives a wink. Before long. It begins to rain candy. Candy, Pokemon snacks, and Cool-Aid. "I'm sure you're all hungry like me! Enjoy a little break! Then I'm gonna come find you. Cassy!" Jirachi laughs as he tosses Cassandra's name out playfully as "Cassy" instead.

Jimmy makes his way around. Having noticed some of the lights nearby were together. Hoping it wasn't Jirachi he followed them to get closer. As he got closer he heard a noise. He saw some shards laying on the ground where a bubble that had been solidified shattered.

"Pika. Pi-ka-Chu. Pi-pikachu." (Hey it's you guys. I'm assuming here this must is your handiwork and not my little troublemaker).

Meanwhile Jirachi sees these lights now more clumped together. "Now stay still!" Jirachi smirked as he let loose another round of his magic. Turning the mist into cotton candy. While the mist was thick but traversable. Now more denser, but tasty. It's still traversable, but just a little more complicated to get around.

Neo Emolga

03-27-2021, 03:05 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RPers: Chakramaster Shruikan

While it had been a while since Jirachi had shown himself, Cassandra felt maybe she had really derailed his plans and she could just imagine him fumbling around trying to navigate the smoke and fog only to come up empty-handed. She couldn’t help but smirk. There was a certain kind of appeal to outsmarting the Wishmaker.

And then she saw Jirachi had gotten clever. She, Violet, Luneth, and all the others were now glowing, just like stars as Jirachi declared. It was almost magical, but yet… it meant there definitely wasn’t much good in trying to hide. Hiding behind cover was useless as the glow would give them away. And trying to blend in with the shadows was completely useless as well.

And then, it had begun to rain candy. Chocolate, jelly beans, snacks, and plenty of other junk food for everyone to enjoy. Before long, Cassandra was nearly chin-deep into a pile of snacks and candy.

“Enjoy a little break!” Jirachi announced. “Then I’m gonna come find you, Cassy!”

“Ev-vee…” (“Cassy…”) Cassandra remarked, thinking that was unusual. “Ev-vee-veee…” (“Wow, I don’t think anyone has ever called me that before.”)

“Fur-reet?” (“Where did he get all this stuff from?”) Violet asked, wading through a pile of colorfully bagged and wrapped snacks and candy.

And that was when Jimmy had found them, emitting a soft glow of his own. He had told them he assumed this was their work rather than Jirachi’s.

“Ee-vee…” (“Well, I made the smoke, but all this… food everywhere is Jirachi’s doing.” Cassandra shrugged with a smile.

And then Jirachi had performed a spell of sorts of his own, turning the smoke and fog into fluffy cotton candy. The poor visibility was resolved, but now Cassandra found herself digging her way out of colorful cloud of sugary cotton candy.

“Furr…” (“I swear…”) Violet remarked, trying to brush away and dig her Furret body out of the piles of cotton candy and sugary snacks. “Fur-rett…” (“It’s like he’s trying to make a Gigantamax Alcremie jealous of all the junk food he’s making.”)

Cassandra had to admit, she wasn’t expecting this kind of response, and yet, it was incredibly clever. The way they glowed now made it nearly impossible to hide. They would need to completely cover themselves to do it, or hide away in a closet or container and hope none of the light poured out of the slits or openings to give them away. Meanwhile, the piles of snacks and the thick cloud of cotton candy made it very difficult to move around… although for Jirachi, Cassandra knew he could just easily float right over it and find his next tag victim. And from what Jirachi said, he already had her in his sights to be his next target.

When it came to spells and the supernatural, Cassandra had to admit, she didn’t have anything in her spellbook that was anything like this. After sampling a pawful of the cotton candy, she realized it was definitely authentic, the same kind she remembered getting from carnivals. Light, fluffy, and sugary, and there was a whole lot of it as well. Shortly after, she had dug up one of the wrapped snacks that Jirachi had created, saw it was a cinnamon bun, unwrapped it and tried a bite of it. It was delicious and tasted exactly like she had gotten it from the supermarket. She took another bite and swallowed, enjoying it quite a bit.

“Ee-vee…” (“Huh, this stuff is actually real. And tasty.”)

“Fur-rett?” (“Are you sure this stuff is safe to eat?”) Violet asked, looking doubtful of the food around her. “Fur-ret…” (“Cass, this stuff is loaded with magical resonance. The only time I’ve sensed something like this was from a hex we created.”)

Cassandra had frozen still from shock and regret and her eyes suddenly went wide as she dropped the half-eaten cinnamon bun. It totally had not occurred to her the snacks and candy all around them could be enchanted to make Jirachi’s job at pranking everyone… easier and more successful. And more comical if there was something devious going on with them that didn’t seem so obvious.

And that was when Jarena had spotted them and made her way toward them, while still looking and taunting Jirachi. She was out of her bubble now, figuring she needed a break from floating and bobbing around in the air.

“Bun-eary!!” (“Ha, nice try, Twinkle, thanks for all the obviously-rigged junk food! Come on, any two-bit dumbnut wouldn’t fall for your candy trap! Who do you think we are!?”) Jarena laughed, playfully tossing a wrapped chocolate-covered snack cake at Jirachi as a tease.

“Veee…” (“I mean… I think it’s safe.”) Cassandra smiled bashfully, trying to not panic and be optimistic. “Vee-vee…” (“I don’t feel anything.”)

And Jarena looked at her with shock as the Buneary blinked twice in disbelief. It was all too reminiscent of exactly how Cassandra forgot to remove the hex from the pillow and became an Eevee in the first place.

“E-vee..” (“Yeah, I feel fine.”) She smiled, beginning to believe if the snacks and candy had any kind of hidden side effect, it would have occurred already. “Ev-ee…” (“I’d even say…”)

And then she felt a little odd. At first, she thought it had a sugar rush going to her head, but then she felt like everything around her was getting smaller. And smaller. Suddenly she was no longer barely able to keep her head above the cotton candy, and now she could sit upright normally. It was a strange feeling at first, and for a few seconds, she thought the cinnamon bun had some kind of bewildering enchantment put into it.

“BUN!!” (“HOLY CRAP, RUN!!”) Jarena shouted out to everyone around her. “BUN-EARRYY!!!” (“CASS IS GETTING SUPER-SIZED!!!”)

And then it hit her. Cassandra realized the room wasn’t getting smaller or wasn’t due to any kind of disorientation, it was her that was getting bigger. And fluffier. Suddenly her size went from quadrupling to quintupling to just outright growing bigger and bigger and higher and higher as the fur around her neck became softer and fluffier. She was suddenly so shocked and embarrassed that she couldn’t help but just freeze in place in complete disbelief, not sure when it was supposed to stop.

Jarena, Violet, and Sami had scrambled to get away from the now Gigantamax Eevee nearly taking up the entirety of the Poké Park. And they had just barely escaped, almost ending up getting enveloped by the fluffy fur around Cassandra’s neck. Even after she had fully grown, they were still trying to make distance.

As the now sixty-foot-tall Cassandra just sat there looking completely dumbfounded while everyone around her got shocked, it hit her. She was now way too big to run anywhere, hide anywhere, and she was now the easiest target to tag… to the point of being absurdly comical. And on top of that, she was still glowing.

“EE-VEEE…” (“OH MY GOD, FINE, JUST TAG ME AND GET IT OVER WITH.”) Cassandra comically sighed as her Eevee voice was now booming. “EE-VEEE” (“REALLY, JIRACHI, THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!”)

“Min-ci…” (“This is one crazy game of tag…”) Sami remarked as she looked up at the now towering Gigantamax Eevee, never seeing a game of tag handled like this before.

“Bun-eary!” (“Guys, no one else eat the candy, or we’re going to get squashed in here!”) Jarena shouted out to everyone.

Cassandra had to agree, there really wasn’t enough room for yet another Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon to fit in the Poké Park. Although she was wondering if different snacks and candies had different effects and they wouldn’t all result in the exact same outcome as what happened to her…

…but she sure as heck wasn’t curious enough to try and find out…

Chakramaster

03-29-2021, 11:36 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Shruikan

Through all the chaos. You'd wonder what happened to everyone else that was in that area. Luckily Jirachi had it all covered. Using his power everyone that was there still were! This group right here were just in there own space. A place of Jirachi's creation to have fun even for a moment. Something where they could go crazy. It took Jimmy some time, but he finally realized that. Luckily, this means no one would get hurt and no one would really know about what was happening. At least not really....the area itself was still quite compact as the real Poke Park area on the ship. Hard to tell a difference really.

"Candy! Candy candy candy candy! Candy!" Jirachi repeated over and over as he continued to have the candy, poke puffs, poffins, and all sorts of other candies kids and Pokémon alike would love.

Cassandra has been eating some of them. Not realizing that the candy had some magical potencies to them. Able to change their appearance and prank everyone that may try them. Only making Jirachi's little game that much easier. Of course, each prank only being temporary. It was still part a fun little "game" Jirachi tried to create.

Meanwhile Jarena had made her way towards the others too.

“Bun-eary!!” (“Ha, nice try, Twinkle, thanks for all the obviously-rigged junk food! Come on, any two-bit dumbnut wouldn’t fall for your candy trap! Who do you think we are!?”) Jarena laughed, playfully tossing a wrapped chocolate-covered snack cake at Jirachi as a tease.

Jirachi laughed. "Hahaha, of Jarena. You're funny! But so is Cassy there. She's had plenty of sweet candy! Enough to make her grow big. Big! Grow big Cassy grow big and fluffy!" Jirachi continued to laugh playfully and float around. "I'll catch you once you grown big!" Jirachi taunted Cassandra.

Cassandra had begun to wonder if there really would be any effects from eating it. Not having anything show from it. Until, suddenly she felt odd. Suddenly, she began to grow bigger and bigger.

“BUN!!” (“HOLY CRAP, RUN!!”) Jarena shouted out to everyone around her. “BUN-EARRYY!!!” (“CASS IS GETTING SUPER-SIZED!!!”)

Cassandra was frozen. Continuing to grow in size. The room only getting smaller as she was getting too big for anyone to fit in normally. Everyone had run away to me from getting squished by the now gigantimax Eevee. Stunned at what just happened.

“EE-VEEE…” (“OH MY GOD, FINE, JUST TAG ME AND GET IT OVER WITH.”) Cassandra comically sighed as her Eevee voice was now booming. “EE-VEEE” (“REALLY, JIRACHI, THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!”)

“Min-ci…” (“This is one crazy game of tag…”) Sami remarked as she looked up at the now towering Gigantamax Eevee, never seeing a game of tag handled like this before.

“Bun-eary!” (“Guys, no one else eat the candy, or we’re going to get squashed in here!”) Jarena shouted out to everyone.

Jimmy had followed the group as they ran away. Still with them. He felt bad as Jirachi was his Pokemon. He shout out to Jirachi.

"Hey Jirachi! Now's your chance! Tag Cassandra while she's big! Then hide in the fluff from her fur!

Jirachi looked to Jimmy. "That's a wonderful idea Jimmy! It looks like the most comfortable most fluffy pillow in the world there! Alright Cassy! Since you asked so nicely! I'll tag you!" Jirachi said as he float right into the fluffy collar of fur Cassandra now had in her gigantimax Eevee form. Tagging her on the neck. Jirachi hadn't come back out from it though. It was just too comfy for him. Jirachi had worn himself out.

Suddenly, the raining candy had stopped. The chaos had stopped and all fell silent. Jimmy couldn't help but take a deep breath and swallow hard. Hoping his plan hard worked. Suddenly they had all begun to glow. Before long, as he was the first. Jimmy disappeared in front of them again. Suddenly, he was human again. Still in the Poke Park portion of the Cnetral Park, but once again human.

"Pika-pi!" (Jimmy! There you are!) his Pikachu shout as he got back to Jimmy's shoulder.

"I guess...it's over? Jirachi's falling asleep. He's overused his power and everyone it's turning back... Thankfully. Now hopefully we can help control him a little better. It will....take time. I'll probably need your help for sure Pikachu. I hope you're ready."

"Pika!" (No problem!). Pikachu said proudly as they both wait for the others to be turned back and returned.

"Now once I get Jirachi back in his Poke ball. Hopefully we can take care of this situation with Karm. Let's hope they didn't see any of this unfold either before Jirachi took us into his own little play area. I swear those kids that were playing with me felt so real. When did he take us into a safer area?" Jimmy questioned.

"Pika-Chu. Pika pika?" (I dunno Jimmy. You just ran off and suddenly you were gone?)" Pikachu looked puzzled. "Pika. Pika-Pi" (the kids left me. I searched for you and you were all gone). Pikachu said

This still puzzled Jimmy. "Wow. Goes to show Jirachi has a lot more potential than I could've ever imagined. We really have to be careful." Jimmy told Pikachu with a pet to his head.

Neo Emolga

03-30-2021, 02:05 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RPers: Chakramaster Shruikan

To say the least, Cassandra was completely stuck with no where to run. It was already a challenge to avoid stepping on an unsuspecting Pokémon, all while it feeling very strange to her to suddenly be so huge and surrounded with fluffy fur.

Jimmy had encouraged Jirachi to tag Cassandra, seeing as how he had already marked her as a victim and she was by far now the easiest and biggest target to tag. Jirachi cheered at the idea and had levitated his way toward Cassandra’s neck.

“EEV-VEE…” (“AND I’M SCREWED…”) Cassandra slouched in defeat as Jirachi tagged her on the neck and then hid himself into her very fluffy collar.

She couldn’t look down far enough to see where Jirachi had tucked himself into her cloud-like collar, but before she could even begin searching, suddenly everything stopped. Suddenly all the candy had disappeared and everyone had started to glow brighter.

I hope I’m not about to get even bigger!

But instead, it had suddenly ended and after a moment of white haze and a moment of disorientation, Cassandra had come to, finding herself on the ground, but this time as a human. And right next to her were Jarena, Violet, and Sami, having just realized they had transformed back. After sitting up, it took her a moment to get her bearings back and get used to being human again. But for now, it seemed the chaos and the absurdity had concluded, and perhaps Jirachi had gotten enough playtime and was feeling tired and in need of a nap. Cassandra imagined nestling into a Gigantamax Eevee’s collar fur might have been cozy enough for him to doze off.

“Oh wow, that was wild!” Jarena had begun laughing hysterically before smiling impishly at Cassandra. “Holy cow, you should have seen the look on your cute giant Eevee face! Oh man, I hope, hope someone took a picture of that! I need that picture!”

“Gee, thanks,” Cassandra replied sarcastically, sighing as she rolled her eyes. “Next you’re going to ask me what kind of frame would go well with it.”

“I’ve had some weird dreams…” Sami told the three of them, looking at them for a second before looking past them at the spot where piles of candy had been just a minute earlier. “But really nothing compares to that.”

Violet had nodded, rubbing her face just to be absolutely sure it wasn’t still covered with fur.

“Jirachi playtime really is something else…” Violet muttered, still trying to understand the reality of what just happened minutes ago. “Hopefully he’s happy now.”

“Dude must have tuckered himself out,” Jarena replied, seeing as how everything suddenly vanished and was reset. “That was crazy fun, though! We should do it again sometime! So what’s it like being a towering Gigantamax Eevee?”

Even though she had only been as one for a few short minutes, Cassandra didn’t think it would be something she’d ever forget. To her, it was very vivid and the feeling was unlike anything she ever felt before.

“It’s… an experience…” Cassandra replied, almost laughing at the absurdity. “It was like being a giant Eevee plush pillow sitting in a pool of my own fluff and I couldn’t see anyone below me. There was just… fluff and fuzz everywhere.”

“We know, we nearly got buried in it,” Violet remarked, recalling the moment it was like running away from a fluffy avalanche.

“It was so cute, too bad you couldn’t stay like that,” Jarena giggled. “Although yeah… we’d have trouble getting you off the ship.”

Cassandra looked down and nodded, still feeling that would only be just one among many complications that would arise from being stuck in that kind of state. In the meantime, it was an experience she never thought she’d ever get to have in this lifetime… but she had to admit that despite the situation, it was captivating in a way. To her, it was like almost a wonderous dream, only it was real and on a level of experience she didn’t think was possible.

“Getting kind of late,” Sami told them, looking at her watch. “Isn’t your final tournament battle with Jon coming up soon?”

“Wow, that’s right,” Cassandra suddenly snapped to attention, looking at the time and seeing she only had little less than a half hour left before it was time for the final tournament battle. “If Jirachi had been able to go on for another hour or so…”

“’Pokémon High Seas Final Tournament Battle canceled, Finalist Cassandra Silvers stuck as giant Eevee,’” Jarena laughed. “What a headline that would be!”

“Guess you could have battled Jon’s Pokémon as… yourself,” Sami pondered. “I don’t think a ruling against that kind of thing exists.”

“I would have done it just to see the look on Jon’s face,” Cassandra snickered.

As Cassandra likely figured, the lack of a ruling was likely only because the heads of the League never thought contestants would become Pokémon themselves and consider entering a battle on their own accord. Although if it were to ever become a very common thing, it made her wonder exactly how they would ultimately declare the ruling on that.

“I’ll take you to the stadium,” Sami told them, knowing she was still on escort duty. “Probably best if you all come. Once we get to the waiting room, I’ll keep on standby and I’ll see if I can get Kyle to join me. He’s a bit like me, didn’t really take the whole thing with him being turned into a Yamper personally. I think the two of us together will make sure we don’t have an incident like yesterday night.”

“Yeah, I guess that would be better,” Cassandra nodded, looking over her shoulder. “We haven’t stopped this ‘Karma’ person, and if Lance hasn’t given up and wants someone to carry out his order, he’s running out of time and they may be looking to take action soon.”

“They do that and I don’t care what Jon or the League says about us using witchcraft,” Violet replied with a determined tone of voice. “They bust in like Lance did and I’m not holding back.”

“Yeah, I don’t even think Jon would argue with us,” Jarena replied with a confident nod. “Though yeah, we’re almost at Castelia City. Ship’s supposed to dock in less than three hours. We’ll be out of here, soon.”

“Well, we’d better go,” Sami told the rest of them. “I’ll text Kyle and let him know we’re on our way.”

As they left the Poké Park, Cassandra couldn’t help but look back at the park and think about the wild game of tag they had as Pokémon. She couldn’t help but admit she never thought she would ever have crazy and adventurous fun like that…

En Route to Battling Arena Waiting Room

Shortly after leaving Central Park, Violet tried to think about the possibility of them getting attacked again. She didn’t know what kinds of Pokémon Sami and Kyle had in their possession, but once Cassandra left to go to her battle with Jon at the stadium, she and Jarena were going to have to depend on their Pokémon, their trust, and their own witchcraft. Violet didn’t want to say she couldn’t trust Sami after her short time being with her, but she still felt she needed to be on her guard at all times. To Violet, Jarena and Cassandra were the only ones she truly trusted in full.

It was coming down to the wire. Once the ship docked in Castelia City and everyone stepped off, whatever Lance tried to do before would be much more difficult, although not impossible. As she thought about what happened last night, Lance was intent on killing the both of them and framing Jon and his Latios for the attack. As much as Jon questioned Lance’s sanity, Violet felt Lance was no idiot, even if he was a madman. Violet had recognized he had been an opportunist in this situation, looking and waiting for a moment the situation could be leveraged for his own goals. And though Jon had put Lance in a state that would likely require him being in an infirmary for a while, it would not stop him from possibly trying again sometime in the future, when Jon, Cynthia, and Steven were no longer around. He also had money and influence, and if he couldn’t accomplish his goals, he wouldn’t be above paying someone to do his dirty work, but his pride spoke more of wanting the opportunity himself. Still, she didn’t think he would put that above him waiting a long time for this.

It all came down to how far would Lance be willing to take his escalation of commitment and for how long. From what Cassandra had mentioned after she had gotten Lance’s confession recorded, it seemed he was willing to go very, very far. Enough to the point where even after the ship had docked, Violet figured they would do well buying new clothing as soon as possible and disguise themselves and blend into Castelia City pedestrian crowds. But would they still be followed and stalked long after that? She also felt there was a strong potential of that as well.

She didn’t want to mention this to Jarena, as she felt she would get worried, but Violet had a feeling Cassandra already knew the potential danger. Lance had been a Champion for quite some time and used to be regarded as a guardian and a hero, and from his own words, the way they had stolen that from him and had been showered with praise and attention drove him over the brink of insanity. Violet had figured he had his hunches about their cheating at first, and that had turned into anger, though it never reached its peak as he hadn’t not confirmed yet. And after being angry for so long and then finally getting the final confirmation he was right the whole time, it made him snap and become an entirely different person. And now that he was going to lose his position with the League and never get what he lost back… Violet figured he had nothing left to lose, a man who wouldn’t feel a thing if he spent the rest of his days rotting in prison. But if he could accomplish his dark goals in some capacity and the three of them were dead as he so desired, she felt it might be euphoric to him, regardless of what outcome would befall him as a result.

Still, she had every intention of watching the shadows carefully from now on. Even long after they got off the ship…

Shruikan

03-30-2021, 08:56 AM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga Chakramaster

The spinning stopped abruptly as the ice shattered.
Luneth sat there among the broken shards, head spinning as the room slowly came back into focus.
She saw that her savior had been the Furret, who was most likely Violet. “Thanks,” Luneth said returning the smile.

Still reorienting herself, it was at this point that Luneth noticed that it wasn’t just her dizziness that stopped her from seeing everything, but in fact the room was now covered in fog. “Huh, how did-?”

Before she could finish the thought however, Luneth’s body began to glow. Oh, is this the evolution glow? Luneth panic for a moment. She wasn’t ready to become a Ninetales, she wanted to stay a Vulpix longer. But she calmed down a little upon noticing that Violet was glowing as well. Furrets can’t evolve, so it must just be a light. So Jirachi could see everyone? Not really fair, but then neither was the fog.

Speaking of which, the fog was thickening. Jirachi had said something, but Luneth’s head was still a bit fuzzy, so she couldn’t make out what they had said. But it was most likely something to do with the fact that the fog seemed to have turned into candyfloss. And then other candy rained from the sky. Luneth guessed Jirachi must have wanted a snack.

From the distance Luneth could hear Cassandra talking. It seemed that she had eaten some of the fog, and Violet was admonishing her for note thinking about side effects first.

Then Jarena’s voice shrieked through the room, “HOLY CRAP, RUN!! CASS IS GETTING SUPER-SIZED!!!”

The figure of an Eevee was looming up into view, growing bigger and fluffier every second. Oh, wow, Cassandra is one of those Eevee that can Gigantimax? What were the chances? Luneth thought, before remembering that she should probably back up a bit. Getting squashed by a giant Eevee didn’t sound like a good idea.

While she had just eaten a few hours ago, after all that had happened she could use a quick sugar boost, plus she’d always wondered what it was like to dynamax. She’d just picked out a tasty looking candy bar from the piles on the ground, when Jarena‘s voice rang out again.

“Guys, no one else eat the candy, or we’re going to get squashed in here!”

Luneth dropped the candy bar she was holding, then grinned sheepishly. Yeah, now’s probably not the best time to eat. Though maybe she could save something for later, she though as she picked back up the bar with the corner of her mouth.

While Luneth struggled to keep hold of the candy, Jirachi had flown into the fluff ring around Cassandra’s neck, but hadn’t come out again. Instead, everything seemed to revert to before. The glowing stopped, and everyone appeared to be back to human. Apart from one Pikachu, which was strange. Maybe they hadn’t been transformed in the first place?

Luneth stretched awkwardly, feeling more uncomfortable that normal. Being human again felt like she’d gone from wearing casual comfy loungewear to a formalwear for a job interview.
Also, to her disappointment, the candy bar had vanished. So no dynamax humans…

Once she was a bit more oriented, Luneth saw the Pikachu climb onto the shoulder of the boy who was with Jirachi earlier. He seemed to be talking to it. Could he understand the Pikachu still?
Stumbling slightly, Luneth walked over to greet him, still getting used to walking on two legs again.

“So, I take it you’re Jirachi’s trainer? My name’s Luneth, nice to meet you.” Luneth held out her hand to the trainer, the smiled at the Pikachu on his shoulder.
“I saw you talking to you Pikachu, can you speak pokemon? That’s so cool if you can! I’ve always wondered if it was possible to learn. Could you teach me?"

[Desolate Divine]

03-30-2021, 11:06 AM

All bunnying done with explicit permission from Chakramaster and Noblejanobii in order to condense this into a single post. BTW that half hour gap to work in is killing me XD

Jon Drake
Infirmary
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii

As Jon and Avery passed the final corner leading to the Safe House that acted as an infirmary, for what Jon felt like was too many times in the space of twenty-four hours, strange noises were audible from the infirmary.

"Goddamn it..." Jon muttered, as he readied Scizor's Pokeball.

However as he pressed his ear to the door, the Pokemon chatter he heard sounded less like dialogue and more like a scuffle...

"Be ready for anything..." Jon said to Avery, before using his keycard to open the door.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next.

The room itself looked like a bomb had hit it, with furniture overturned, some having bite marks in it, and two Pokemon, Jon presumed Lance and his security playing a serious game of tag. One being an Applin, and the other a Munchlax, who saw the former as a snack now, more than a protection target or protector.

Applin couldn't outrun Muchlax easily, instead resorting to going through gaps the larger Pokemon couldn't fit through to buy time. Finally, it managed to jump onto the tipped over bed, and from there onto a nearby counter, out of reach.

"Goddamn..." Jon muttered, struggling to suppress his laugh. There were two possibilities regarding which person was which Pokemon, and Jon sincerely hoped he was right about which one was which. He turned to face the Applin.

"Lance?" Jon asked, "That you in there, Mr. Dragon Fetish?"

Applin began growling at Jon confirming his suspicion, as Jon burst into laughter before pulling out his phone.

"I know I should be taking this a lot more seriously, but the irony is too much." Jon chuckled as he got out the camera app and took a photo of the seething Applin and the Munchlax who seemed confused. Apparently Munchlax's hunger outweighs its own common sense...

"You love your dragons, how does it feel being one?" Jon asked, "Now behave yourself, or you might wind up in a Pokeball. That goes for you too, chubby."

"Now here's what's gonna happen." Jon explained, as he began resetting the toppled furniture, "We got a situation, and I promise you it isn't the Diamond Ladies fault. I'm not stupid enough to tell you what, but you can't add this to your rage-boner list. Nothing to do with them."

"Instead, we will give it an hour and wait this out." Jon explained, "Give the other operatives a chance to sort this s**t out, and that way, if someone makes their way in here, they don't mistake you for a stray Pokemon and take you out of here."

Jon quickly opened the messaging app, opening his text thread with Steven.

"Alyssa told me Jirachi went haywire and was going to turn people into Pokemon whether they liked it or not, and you were in the room? If you don't respond, I'll assume you got caught up in it.

I am keeping an eye on Lance, who somehow was caught up in it all in the infirmary, alongside his supposed guard. I'll sit here for an hour before taking him with me somewhere more secure, and try and figure something out, otherwise, I will leave it to the other operatives got turned.

If you weren't caught up in it, or get changed back, you mind keeping me in the loop?

Also, check this picture out...

Jon quickly attached the photo of Munclax reaching towards Applin, who was cowering away on the counter.

"Guess which one is Lance."

It wasn't too long before a response came.

"Cynthia and I are okay. Once Alyssa escaped, Jirachi decided to let us go, and teleported us away. We have lost contact with Sami, so can assume that her and the Ladies were turned. Stay with Lance, I will keep you posted."

After another twenty minutes of Lapplin hiding behind Jon, though hating every moment of it, there was a flash as Munchlax and Lapplin turned back into their human selves.

"Idiot!" Lance shouted at Anthony, "You turn into a Pokemon, and all you can do is try and eat me?"

Jon began laughing, as Lance shot him a glare.

"I swear to God, I will make you regret this." Lance sneered at Jon, "Everything."

"Try it." Jon said as his phone buzzed, "I hope to not get into many fights after this cruise is over, but I gotta stay in shape somehow."

Lance flipped him off as Anthony kept silent to the side in his embarrassment.

"Sami has been in contact. Everyone affected has been reverted and Jirachi is now in a Pokeball. They played with it until it wore itself out and went to sleep." Steven had sent.

"Lance is back to normal as well. I'll leave him here. The operatives all know not to let him out, and if one of his does, we will be on it. I'm gonna have a chat to Cuddles."

It didn't take long for Steven to reply.

"You know this is our only infirmary right?"

"Just a chat. I'll buy him dinner."

Jon quickly opened up the database of operatives that was hidden in an encrypted app on his phone, something they all had access to, finding Jimmy Kendo's number.

"Cuddles, we gotta talk. Sekichiku Ramen in Central Park, fifteen minutes. You might get there first, so get a table for three."

Jon's match with Cassandra was supposed to be in half an hour, however the last few evenings the matches started at least half an hour late, and Avery still had to battle Ethan to determine third place in the tournament first. He had time. That and the restaurants on the ship were renowned for their speedy service, and Jon knew exactly what he wanted to say. Assuming he could scoff his food, fifteen minutes to chat was plenty.

"Avery, I gotta have a chat to Cuddles. If you have something to say, you're welcome to come along." Jon explained, before making his way to the door, leaving Lance glaring between him and Anthony.

Avery agreed to come along, so the duo made their way to the Ramen Restaurant, where an awkward conversation awaited them.

"Everything okay?" said Latios' voice over a telepathic link, detecting Jon's calmer demeanour.

"Jirachi is in a Pokeball for now, so bring Alyssa back, but stick with her. Tell her to meet up with me in the waiting room at the Arena. Gonna have a chat to Cuddles first." Jon replied, as he felt Latios' sense of relief through the telepathic link, knowing that for now, killing Jirachi wasn't anywhere near as likely.

"Don't hurt him."

"You been talking to Steven?"

***********************
Jon Drake
Sekichiku Ramen, Central Park
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Chakramaster
It was fifteen minutes later when the pair arrived at the Ramen restaurant, where they found Jimmy sitting at a table with two other empty seats, and thankfully, no Jirachi in sight...

"Order whatever you like." Jon said, as he sat down, "Dinner's on me."

A waiter arrived very quickly, taking their orders, as Jon got his usual dish, as well as a beer.

"My grandfather was the one who taught me to battle, and I will never forget the first thing he taught me about being a trainer." Jon explained, "He said this. As a trainer, your first responsibility isn't to yourself or your Pokemon, but everyone around you. Pokemon are incredible with the abilities they possess, but us humans are a lot more average, and while your Pokemon can take a direct hit and still stand up again, one hit can be enough to kill the average person. That's why your responsibility as a trainer is to the people around you. The cost of training Pokemon is having to do whatever it takes to make sure everyone around you is safe from them."

"At the time, I thought he was being overdramatic, but as time went on, I remember seeing stories on the news of people, mostly children, killed by a Pokemon lashing out under pressure, and most of the time, the trainers are just shocked that their Pokemon did it... The Pokemon is euthanized, the trainer ends up being demonized by the media, and someone has died." Jon explained, "There isn't anything in this world I care about more than Alyssa, and today, I had her in front of me in a panic, because Jirachi teleported you out, locked her in that room, and made it clear it was going to do what it liked with everyone in the room. She escaped by chance, because it was equally likely her plan would have failed. Even if Jirachi had have teleported her out like it did Avery, and if everything is back to normal, the fact is, that Jirachi acted without your direction, in a way that directly affects other people, and especially seeing as no harm was done that we are aware of, under the current circumstances, I have no reason to believe that it won't do the same thing again, since it had so much fun, if not something worse..."

"I have had Latios in my team for ten years now." Jon explained, "I caught him when he was quite a bit younger and smaller, on an island in the south of Hoenn that it would roost on. Other than Latios and a few other Pokemon, it was completely uninhabited. And for the first six months he was in my team, I would travel there every weekend, as that was the only place that I could let Latios out of his Pokeball and know that there was no risk of him hurting somebody. I trained him to make a point of staying invisible around other people unless I okayed it, and to protect people, no matter what. And the reason it was six months was because that was how long it took for me to be satisfied that Latios was safe to be around other people."

Their food arrived, as Jon continued talking, sneaking in bites, and occasionally speaking with his mouth full...

"Once Alyssa and I moved in together, it took weeks before Latios got used to the fact he didn't have to be invisible around her, and even though he has done more than his fair share of property damage in the last few days, that was due to my lack of judgement when giving him instructions, and even then property can always be repaired. In the last nine years, he has given me absolutely no reason to believe he will harm another person. But that meant six months of him spending most of the week in the Pokeball and me blowing most of my income to go somewhere safe to train." Jon continued, "I trust Latios completely, to the point where when I wanted to keep Alyssa safe from Jirachi, it was Latios I tasked with protecting her, and told him that if Jirachi approached her, do whatever it takes to keep it away from her. And Latios hated being under that instruction, but was willing to do it anyway, without hesitation. But even though things are great, and I have no reason to believe that will change, I am still responsible for Latios' actions, and if he turns and the only way to keep others safe is to do whatever it takes, I will be the first person to do it. It is the last thing I'd want to do, but part of training such a powerful Pokemon is being prepared for that possibility."

"Cuddles, you have somehow wound up with a Pokemon that has incredible power, but your first responsibility isn't to Jirachi or yourself. It's to everyone else in the world. It's your responsibility to train Jirachi to never use its power against another human, unless you command it to, and in the event it does, it's your responsibility to do whatever it takes to minimize the damage, regardless of Jirachi. That's part of the responsibility of being a trainer." Jon said, taking another sip of his beer, "If I didn't think you were up for training Jirachi, I wouldn't be telling you this. I'd be having you held down, and taking the Pokeball from your belt by force. Training a Legendary Pokemon isn't easy, Avery and I can tell you that much, it's incredibly difficult. But I think you can do it, and am willing to help how I can."

Jon took another bite before continuing.

"However, I don't think anyone could get Jirachi to the point of certain safety before the end of the cruise, so my orders to Latios will still stand. Keep Jirachi away at all costs. Jirachi is in the Pokeball now, and the cruise has a matter of hours left. Make it easy for yourself, and keep it in there until we are off this god-forsaken ship. There is too much potential for another incident if you let it out, and too many distractions for it to focus on your training. And if you do decide to let it out anyway, keep it away from Alyssa. Nothing good will come from that."

Jon finished the last of his ramen, before checking his watch, seeing he was cutting it dangerously close with the match, before pulling some cash from his wallet to leave at the table.

"Also, a good word of advice, and this is for yours and Jirachi's sakes, train Jirachi to not run off like it has been, and keep out of sight of others, quickly. It puts a massive target on both of your backs." Jon explained, "If consequences can be wished away, there is very little stopping someone from slitting your throat in your sleep and taking Jirachi's Pokeball. That sort of power brings out the worst in people. If one of Lance's guys were to take Jirachi from you, we'd be in all sorts of trouble."

Jon stood from the table, making his way to the exit.

"There should be enough cash there to cover a few more drinks, but I gotta get to the arena for this battle with Cassandra, so I'll see you around." Jon explained, "You have my number. Send me a message if there is something I can do to help you train Jirachi."

With that, Jon left the restaurant, making his way to the Arena, reading messages from Alyssa asking where the hell he was, with the matches starting so soon...

*************************

Once Avery's battle with Ethan was over, Jon found himself in the empty locker room again, given some time with his Pokemon before the match. There wasn't a great deal to be said outside of tactics, however he gave Latios one instruction.

"You my friend, are going to cost me quite a bit of money with all the holes you have left in the ship." Jon explained, as Latios began to look away, struggling to make eye contact.

"They can be paid for so don't worry, but I do want to be able to battle again at some point without rotten fruit thrown at me by an angry mob, so we gotta make sure we can curb some of the hit to our reputation." Jon explained, "Reckon you can act all cutesy and funny in front of the crowd, and win them over? Make the damage look like a silly accident because I hadn't trained you right?"

Latios' expression turned to a grin as he began scheming. Jon put Nidoking and Scizor in their Pokeballs, whilst Latios turned invisible.

"Pretend you're going to send someone else out." Latios said telepathically, as Jon chuckled, seeing where he was going with it.

"This will be fun..."

Once their briefing time was over, Jon entered the battlefield, ready to win the High Seas Tournament.

Chakramaster

04-01-2021, 05:24 PM

Jimmy Kendo
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Shruikan Neo Shaymin Desolate Divine

Jimmy saw Cassandra and the others reappear nearby as well. All back in their human forms. On a nearby plush pillow on the ground. Jirachi laid out tucked comfortably in a divot. Wrapped by his own ribbons.

"Thank you all so much for playing with me!" Jirachi was still able to speak telepathically to them all to their surprise.

Jimmy couldn't help but to walk over and give Jirachi a good pat on the head. "You're more than welcome little guy. Sleep well and I'll be sure to keep good care of you from now on. Tomorrow. We start your training. Until then, get some good sleep buddy." Jimmy said as he pulled Jirachi's poke ball out and called him back with a red beam. Nestling Jirachi safely inside.

“So, I take it you’re Jirachi’s trainer? My name’s Luneth, nice to meet you.” Luneth held out her hand to the trainer, the smiled at the Pikachu on his shoulder.

“I saw you talking to you Pikachu, can you speak pokemon? That’s so cool if you can! I’ve always wondered if it was possible to learn. Could you teach me?"

Jimmy looked over to see a familiar face. Had he seen her before? "Luneth huh? Nice to meet you!" Jimmy said holding his hand out to shake her hand in return. "I take it you were part of that little game huh? Were you the Alolan Vulpix we saw?" Jimmy questioned.

"Yeah I can talk to Pikachu. It's a side effect from having turned into a Pokémon it seems. Maybe you can too now. Since you've been turned into a n Alolan Vulpix. It might not just be a "me" thing. So, give it a shot!

"Pika-pi-ka!" (Yeah! Give it a shot!). Pikachu cheered.

Jimmy took a quick look around and saw Cassandra and the others were gone. Most likely to get ready for the finals match between her and Jon.

Just then Jimmy's phone buzzed.

"Cuddles, we gotta talk. Sekichiku Ramen in Central Park, fifteen minutes. You might get there first, so get a table for three."

He closed the phone and looked back to Luneth. "Well, looks like I'm needed elsewhere. Hope you stay safe and enjoy the rest of the cruise. Hopefully no more crazy surprises here, right? He chuckled as he gave a wave and left to head to the meeting spot. Pikachu still hanging onto his shoulder.

Central Park (Sekichiku Ramen)

Jimmy got to the meeting spot. Did as requested and got a table for three. Not knowing what to expect. He only knew of how the last few events involving Jon went and was expecting an earful and hopefully not to be beat up. Letting out a small sigh as he thought about it.

Not long after he saw Jon arrive. "Order whatever you like." Jon said, as he sat down, "Dinner's on me."

Ordering dinner. Jon explained a story. Reasons as to how to step up and become a better trainer for Pokémon. Especially Pokemon that are very special like Jirachi. Jimmy just sat there to listen. Chilling in abruptly is never good in these situations. Jimmy stayed quiet to listen to the story even as their food arrived.

Jon had explained his peace, but before he had completely started to walk away. Jimmy called to him.

"Jon. I'll keep this brief as I know you're already behind to make it for your match. As you said. Know one is a great enough trainer to train a powerful Pokémon like Jirachi fully in a few hours. After this cruise it's full focus on managing that, but Jirachi has meant no one harm. Once I noticed the wish granting power. I told Jirachi not to grant any without my full permission. I'll see to he stays to that. If Jirachi had meant anyone harm I would have stopped him if that's what it took. He's far too young though. So earlier I can teach him the better. I appreciate your offer and the meal here, but he means no one any harm. No ones getting free wishes either with what power Jirachi possesses. That's not saying I'm taking money or anything either. Jirachi will be trained to be right within the daily standards so everyone can live peacefully. Jirachi will just need a little....extra attention. It was our mistake that he just wanted to play a little in the end. He gave to all of us and we didn't give back. He heard an idea he thought was fun and took action without hurting anyone and ensured that." Jimmy got up to part ways.

"Once again I thank you for the advice, offer, and meal. If anyone to contact in this case I know a few people who can help now. That much is a blessing. Good luck in your match tonight. You'll need it to beat Cassandra. She's trickier than we al may know. I also may be able to help with a small issue given some time. We will see. Just leave that to me."

Jon and Jimmy part their ways.

Jimmy made his way to the Battle Arena to spectate the match while trying to piece together one last issue. 'Karma.'

Neo Emolga

04-03-2021, 03:00 AM

The Diamond Ladies
Battling Arena Waiting Room
Affected RPers: Chakramaster Desolate Divine

Cassandra had to admit that experience with Jirachi was going to stick with her. She was also touched when Jirachi had thanked her and everyone else that had joined in on Jirachi’s wild game of tag, realizing at the end, it was all he really wanted.

It was soon time for Cassandra’s battle with Jon. Given last night’s events but still under the order to keep the Ladies under close watch, Sami tried to assure them that she and Kyle could at least be more trusted than “the other guys,” and while Violet and Jarena wanted to believe that, there was still a bit of uncertainty.

“No offense…” Jarena smiled though she didn’t want trouble. “If something crazy happens like last night, we’re going to have to bust a move. That whole incident could have been ugly.”

“Still hoping it doesn’t come to that…” Sami shrugged, hoping it wouldn’t come to that, but understanding Jarena’s side of things.

In the meantime, Kyle had escorted Cassandra to the arena grounds after Victini had met up with her once again. Despite all that had happened on this cruise and how it had changed her, she was looking forward to her battle with Jon, win or lose. While he was willing to risk all on the Zoroark ploy, to her, it didn’t feel right playing another game of deception with people.

As she walked into the arena, while there were some cheers, but also some booing in the crowd. Cassandra knew they had probably read some of the articles about her and her friends that were posted earlier that morning. She still decided to smile and wave, knowing they were here to see a real battle, not an act. Though she knew there were going to be many out there that hated her now or felt she had no business being a trainer, she decided to at least have this one last battle before the final lifetime ban was enacted.

Upon arriving in the arena, Cassandra had looked to Jon and smiled.

“Good luck to you, Jon,” she smiled. “Things may be different, but I’m not going to make this easy!”

She had then sent out Hatterene, and Jon had deployed his Nidoking. After attacking with Poison Jab, Cassandra’s Hatterene had not been able to take the blow well, causing Cassandra to wonder if she should already consider withdrawing her for one of her other Pokémon. She decided to keep her in the game, telling her to use a Psychic attack, which Nidoking had had painfully endured before a powerful reprisal attack with Earth Power. Hatterene had been thrown off her feet, left face-down on the arena floor, followed by the referee declaring Hatterene had been defeated.

Prior to this battle, Cassandra was almost never behind her adversary, and the audience didn’t seem to be impressed with this “new look” for Cassandra, even if she was coming out clean. Still, it wasn’t over yet.

Cassandra had then deployed her Espeon, relying on a second Psychic attack from the lavender-colored cat-like Pokémon. The telekinetic force was powerful against the hulking juggernaut drill Pokémon, which was enough to bring him down and get her back on level with Jon’s team. Jon had then deployed Scizor, and it was already another moment of concern for Cassandra as she knew there was nothing in Espeon’s arsenal that could take advantage of Scizor’s one and only weakness to fire.

After Scizor had used Double Team to make itself even more difficult to strike, Cassandra suspected Jon’s Baton Pass strategy was now being deployed, attempting to take advantage of Espeon’s lack of strength over Scizor. Cassandra had decided to withdraw Espeon to use Victini instead, hoping now that she had fire power on her side, Victini could make short work of Scizor and get ahead. In the meantime, Scizor had empowered itself even further with Swords Dance. Cassandra knew she couldn’t allow this to escalate, urging Victini to use a Flame Charge attack and hope it would hit the true Scizor and not one of the illusionary copies.

The attempt, however, had failed, and where Victini thought he would strike hard against the authentic Scizor, he hit nothing but an illusion. And instead of connecting, the attempt backfired as Scizor struck Victini from above with a Brutal Swing attack, resulting in a horrifying cracking sound.

Virtually everyone in the arena was shocked to see Victini go down crashing, never expecting the mythical Pokémon of victory go down so easily. Cassandra was horrified at the sight, while many members of the audience had become gravely disappointed.

“Victini is unable to battle, victory goes to Scizor!” the referee had called out.

Amidst all the booing, Cassandra had recalled Victini, feeling bad that she knew going out like that in the final round was going to do a lot of damage to Victini’s spirit and he might never forgive himself for it.

“Ah Victini, don’t worry about it,” she told him as she spoke to his Pokéball. “You still did an awesome job out there! You tried your best, that’s all that matters.”

Now, however, her shoulder felt cold, empty, and vacant without his cheerful and optimistic company. Meanwhile, many in the audience had become outright disgusted with Cassandra and how far she had fallen behind Jon, especially after losing her flagship Pokémon so easily. Where before there were doubts about the authenticity of her performance, some people were willing to give her a chance despite the accusations. Now, however, the supporters she had left were rapidly losing their faith and morale with supporting her.

Cassandra did her best to try and focus on the battle and not on the jeers and slurs that were being thrown out. Since she had already deployed Espeon, she was forced to have to bring her out a second time, and she knew if Jon’s Scizor could take out Victini in one strike, the same could apply to Espeon as well, and she was not looking forward to it.

Still, she decided she wanted to try as hard as she could, though she could admit, she knew why this was happening. Jon’s training was authentic and he came prepared with a tactical and diverse team and a strategy while she only had a smaller, less-diversified team of her favorites that had become too reliant on illegitimate support. Her only regret was she was never going to get the chance to rectify that and rise up from the ashes again. After tonight… it would all be over for her trainer career. For good.

Once Espeon had been summoned again, Cassandra had urged her to use Shadow Ball, realizing it was at least one attack that Espeon could use for some sustainable damage, though she knew it would not be enough to stop him entirely. After launching the Shadow Ball, Jon had ordered Scizor to Baton Pass, but Scizor had taken the blow to its burnt claw before the transition had been made.

It was then that Latios had made his rather jovial appearance, putting on a whimsical performance before the audience, though it seemed to confuse many of them. While Cassandra herself found it a bit comical, she knew it might be a ruse and she still needed to keep her head in the game. With that, she had ordered Espeon to use another Shadow Ball attack, which had caught the eon Pokémon off guard. She felt bad about it, but she was already far behind and it was a very high-stakes final battle. She already knew Latios had inherited Scizor’s empowerment, which was already devastating in addition to Latios being a powerful legendary Pokémon as well.

Latios had become invisible, although Espeon was able to detect this and still sense his location and presence despite not being visible to the naked eye. With limited options for damage, Cassandra called for another Shadow Ball, though its failure to connect was giving signs that she had become too reliant on the same pattern of attack, despite it directly attempting to strike at Latios’s weakness.

Latios had then attempted to strike at Espeon with an Outrage attack, which Cassandra knew would be painful if she didn’t come up with a response. Calling for a Reflect, Espeon put up a shield barrier just before Latios made contact, allowing Espeon to resist some of the damage. Now, Latios was locked into this frenzy, which Cassandra was hoping to take advantage of. Still, upon the second assault, despite the Reflect barrier, Espeon had been struck off her feet and just barely managed to land with only a stumble, but she was now running on fumes.

While Espeon hadn’t been struck unconscious, she appeared to be weak and exhausted. Some trainers might have decided to try and carry on despite the risk, but Cassandra felt it wouldn’t be right to do that to Espeon. The next blow might be something she’d never recover from, and it could become something Cassandra would have to live with over pride. She felt her Pokémon were far more important…

“Call it,” she told the referee.

He nodded, and then raised a white flag into the air.

“Espeon is unable to battle, victory goes to Latios, making Jon Drake the winner of the first Pokémon High Seas Tournament!” the referee shouted, his voice carried to the loud speakers.

The outcome of the battle had been a surprise to many. There was a sudden abrupt fanfare with cheering, confetti, loud horn noise, and falling balloons for Jon’s victory. And while this was the ultimate end for Cassandra’s career, at this point, in her heart, it didn’t matter. Instead, she just wanted to spend some time with her Pokémon as he knelt down by Espeon’s side, even while some members of the audience were shouting slurs at her.

“Es-pee…” (“I’m sorry, I wish I could have kept going…”) she muttered, looking very tired.

“It’s quite alright, you did a wonderful job out there,” Cassandra told her with a smile, easing the tension by stroking her back. “All of you were up against a lot this whole tournament, but I’m proud of each of you.”

“Esp-e…” (“Thank you…”) Espeon nodded with a tired smile.

Cassandra had returned Espeon to her Pokémon, and tried hard to be optimistic and in strong spirits despite what had just transpired. But after closing her eyes, she accepted Jon was the better trainer. Unlike her, he had done the right thing from the beginning, and she knew where she went wrong. Her only regret was knowing she’d never have the chance to correct that and try to reach the top again. Still, she was thankful for this last battle, as the League could have easily stripped her of this and Avery never would have been questioned if they had decided they would rather have Cassandra disqualified after what had been discovered about her. Still, to her, she counted her blessings that she was able to have this final, meaningful battle with Jon, and she was willing to accept he was the better trainer. To have the Zoroark ploy take the place of this… it just wouldn’t have felt right to her in the end.

“You put up a heck of a fight, Jon,” Cassandra smiled to him, ignoring the slurs and criticism that were being shouted at her. “Both with your fists and with your Pokémon. Many congratulations on your victory, and thanks for giving me this opportunity and allowing this to happen.”

“All the best out there,” Cassandra told him, shaking his hand. “You’re both a great battler and a great teacher.”

After that, she headed toward the arena exit. In those final moments in the stadium, while there were some people in the stands that insulted her, ridiculed her, and tossed jeers at her for tonight’s defeat and the controversies surrounding her careers, there were a few that still cheered her on. Cassandra wasn’t sure if they knew the truth, accepted it, and understood tonight’s defeat was due to the fact she had to come clean, but she knew deep inside, those were the ones she did it for.

She smiled and waved to them giving a supporting salute, up until every last step had been taken before she approached the exit and stepped inside. Kyle had been there to take her back to Jarena and Violet, and still, despite the defeat, despite the insults, Cassandra still felt content.

She never had any regrets about her decision that night, even despite how things had turned out. To her, it felt like these were the way things were meant to be.

The Diamond Ladies
Solarium
Affected RPers: Chakramaster Desolate Divine Noblejanobii Shruikan SlickSlack

After getting her Pokémon healed, Cassandra had met up with Jarena and Violet, and they had already seen the outcome of the final battle and now the victory celebrations were being held for Jon Drake and his team. Based on Cassandra’s recommendation, they had decided to head up to the Solarium on the top level above the stadium, just for some quiet time and to have a nice view of the night sky as the S.S. Wishmaker was preparing to dock in Castelia City. They had already been informed by Sami and Kyle that the captain had announced they would be approaching port, marking the end of a cruise that had a profound but positive impact on their lives.

“Vic-tiiii!” (“I’m so sorry!”) Victini cried. “Vic-tinini!” (“I don’t even know what happened, I just woke up and found out we lost!”)

“Victini, it’s okay,” Cassandra smiled to him as she sat on one of the recliners. “Things like that happen. I know it’s harder now that battles and things have been different for all of us.”

He nodded, but he still didn’t feel that great about it. He had also known that this had been Cassandra’s last and final battle, and now their lifetime ban would be instated. Already, the confirmation about the Shadowcraft cheating and the confession was circulating around, and the pieces were coming together to anyone who had doubts about the Diamond Ladies. The three of them knew that as soon as they stepped off that ship, the respect they once had everywhere they went would never be the same.

Jarena, unable to hold back looking at how other people were reacting online and through social media, had seen reactions to tonight’s battle were already looking very grim. Jon’s victory was already circulating around and an ugly smear campaign was being laid on the three of them, but especially Cassandra. It was everything they had dreaded, but somehow, even though the nightmare was really becoming true, Jarena felt like somehow she was tolerating it to some degree. At least for now.

“I still enjoyed the trip, even though… it got hectic toward the end there,” Jarena told Cassandra and Violet. “I mean, sure, there were some times that sucked, but you know, there were some cool moments as well.”

“It was a wake-up call we needed,” Cassandra nodded in agreement. “Thinking about what I was like when I first stepped on this ship… I was a brat. A lying, cheating, over-privileged, egotistical brat. I think what happened these past two days… happened for a reason.”

“It’ll never be the same after this,” Violet told them, looking up at the stars. “It’ll be bad in some ways, better in others. It’ll mean changes, but we’ll figure something out.”

And that was when a sudden announcement on the loud speaker had called out to all guests on the ship.

Attention all guests of the S.S. Wishmaker, this is your captain speaking! We have arrived at Castelia City Port, Unova! At this time, we ask you to please collect your baggage, personal belongings, and Pokémon to make your way to disembark the ship. Gift shops and stores in the Royal Prominade will be open for one more hour for any final purchases before you leave the vessel. Thank you for joining us on the maiden voyage of the S.S. Wishmaker and we hope to see you again with us soon! I would also like to congratulate Jon Drake on his prestigious victory in the first Pokémon High Seas Tournamement! All the best to all of you!

Before, there were times when Cassandra couldn’t wait to get off the ship, and now here they were, finally at the end of this life-changing voyage. She looked around her, and she couldn’t help but get the feeling that despite the captain’s words, this would be the last time she ever saw this place. And certain things came back to her, playing with Jirachi, that moment of victory in her battle with Avery as her meaningful legitimate win, and even the moment of her confessing, finally coming to terms that she needed to change and move on. She would not forget the pleasures and pains, but in the end, they had made her a better person, even if the world didn’t see it that way.

“Guess we’d better get going,” Jarena spoke up as she stood out of her beach chair, looking up at the stars one last time before turning toward Sami. “Think you can help us to Safe House LZ again? All our stuff is there and yeah, we’d like our Pokémon back now.”

“No problem, I can take care of that,” Sami agreed. “I’ll talk to the Champs, they’ll come up with an arrangement to make sure you get them back before you leave or they’ll have someone waiting on the docks. I’ll ask how they want to handle this.”

“Sounds good,” Violet agreed. “Hell of a trip this was.”

(OOC: I plan on making only one more post for the Ladies after this (besides the final epilogue post for them), so if you want to interact with them one last time before they get off the ship, this is your chance!)

[Desolate Divine]

04-03-2021, 06:56 AM

Jon Drake
Does it really matter anymore? I suppose the exit of the Stadium...
Affected RPers: Discussing Neo Shaymin's characters, but nothing major. Can be ignored if preferred.

Once the match was over, and Cassandra thanked Jon, he was surprised at her comments about being a good teacher. He thanked her for the match, feeling a little guilty that her career was ending in this low point, but also sticking by his guns. The words he said to her still rang true. Even though he was willing to look past his own ideals in order to achieve what he thought was a better result for everyone by covering up the mess, he meant what he said to them during that first meeting. They are gonna have to hit rock bottom and go through hell to learn from this, and based on the boos and jeers at Cassandra from the crowd, it was only the beginning for them.

He spent another hour in the waiting room, hoping to be able to escape the arena without media attention, however, as he left, he was flooded by cameras and microphones, recording everything, most likely to show on the late news that evening.

"Mr. Drake, people are dismissing your win as invalid, due to the events of last night's battle, what do you think about this."

"What do you have to say about the damage to the S.S. Wishmaker caused by your Latios, or the attacks it made yesterday afternoon?"

"Do you have any remorse for assaulting Ethan Caldwell yesterday evening?"

Jon ignored them, pushing past them, these vultures willing to believe whatever version of the truth would get them ratings.

"Do you think Cassandra Silvers and the other Diamond Ladies deserve the comments being made by internet trolls regarding the events of the last few days?"

Jon stopped in his tracks, hearing this, before turning to the reporter who asked.

"You mind showing me these comments?" Jon asked, "I have kept off social media this evening, given what was said last night..."

The reporter, surprised that Jon had acknowledged him after ignoring everyone else, before fumbling for his phone and opening twitter.

#CancelCassandra, #WitchCheats and #BurnTheWitch were trending, on tweets with equally nasty content.

"That cheating b***h deserves everything she gets and then some. Have her Pokemon taken from her, put her in a cell, and throw away the key."

"Would love five minutes with the three of them, purge style, no consequences. Can't convict if they never find the body can they?"

Jon seethed reading these comments, before facing the reporter, going against his usual No Interviews policy, with Alyssa being the only exception. He passed the phone back.

"I'm going to be dead honest with you." Jon said, "After I signed up for this tournament, I was recruited by the League, with a few others, to help figure out what was going on with the Diamond Ladies, and catch them out. People will say I'm a liar, who thinks he is some sort of cowboy, but I really don't give a damn at this point. I was the person who found the evidence of the witchcraft that was being used to cheat in battles, and helped to apprehend the three of them. That is why Latios did damage to the ship."

"And since then, the Diamond Ladies, Cassandra especially, in the space of twenty four hours, have earnt my respect in a way that nobody else could. They realized their mistakes, they took whatever measures they could to correct and atone for them, and Cassandra went into battle with Avery last night, completely legit, and took a win, before facing me tonight, giving me an incredible battle that I will never forget, better than some of the so-called professionals I met in the qualifying who had years of experience battling legit, but didn't have half the talent, instinct or bond with their Pokemon that Cassandra displayed in the finals. They were willing to give up everything, try to fix their mistakes and come clean, which most people wouldn't have the nerve to do being in as deep as they were. I agree with the ban, but think it's a shame that the League is now losing talent like that." Jon continued, "This is what I have to say about the Diamond Ladies. Their actions wronged a lot of people. People were cheated out of first place titles, prize money, and humiliated on false pretences. But if you aren't someone who fits into one of those categories, not somebody who faced them and was cheated out of something by them, but some self-righteous idiot sitting in the peanut gallery, who thinks they have any right to make these sorts of comments about them, I'd love to have a chat to you, right after you go f**k yourselves."

There was silence as Jon's expletive cut through the chatter, and shock at what had just been said.

"How f**king self-righteous can you be to judge someone who is actively taking steps to better themselves and fix the damage they did, as harsh as that?" Jon asked, "I have been a competitive battler for over ten years, and have battled enough people to know talent when I see it. Even without cheating, if any of these keyboard warriors had the nerve to face Cassandra in a legitimate battle, I'd back Cassandra any day over these pieces of s**t that only have the nerve to speak up like that when they are behind a Twitter handle."

"Also, to anyone who is willing to be this critical of the Diamond Ladies, and doesn't plan on changing their attitude, keep an eye on the news over the next few days. Some shocking news about a world famous battler is going to come to light, worse than any cheating scandal, and if you're going to tear into the Diamond Ladies this much, you damn well better be willing to go further when that comes to light..."

Jon turned to walk away, as the reported spoke up nervously.

"And what's next for you, Mr. Drake...

"I have an idea, but gotta flesh that out a little first. Stay tuned though. It will be big..."

************************************************** ************************************************** ****

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Jon and Alyssa's Room
Affected RPers: Neo Shaymin (Text message sent)

Jon breathed a sigh of relief as he got back to his and Alyssa's cabin, where Alyssa was packing their belongings.

"Oh Mr. Drake, I'd love an interview!" Alyssa said jokingly, as she approached him, "You seem a little on edge Mr. Drake, is everything okay?"

"Just a bit anxious, that's all." Jon replied using his best media voice, "My mistress was supposed to meet me here, but I'm worried my wife will show up..."

Alyssa gasped, before gently punching him in the arm.

"In all seriousness, great job tonight." Alyssa said, before kissing him on the cheek and making her way back to the suitcase she was packing, "Though you're already trending again from that interview, even though it doesn't air for another half hour. Few spectators saw it and posted online about it."

"How did you see it?" Jon asked.

"An acquaintance from that network forwarded me the footage." Alyssa explained, "She knew we were married, and asked me if you were out of your damn mind."

"In all honesty, I'm seeing a lot clearer now." Jon explained as the Captain spoke over the PA system, announcing the ship docking.

"What time does our flight home leave?" Jon asked.

"1am." Alyssa replied, with Jon groaning. It was only 9pm now and waiting four hours for a flight when being harassed by media sounded like hell.

"We have time to kill. Anything you want to do?" Jon asked, "Maybe find a nice bar, have a celebratory drink?"

"Well..." Alyssa began, "I never got that interview with Cassandra, and I know it's not much, but I feel like nobody should have to quit like she is without being able to say goodbye on their terms..."

Jon realized what Alyssa was saying. The Diamond Ladies ban is already public, with the League being forced to issue a statement after the match due to the increasing pressure and questioning of their silence on the rumours circulating from the day earlier. It was already being twisted, with lies added in among the bits of truth, destroying their reputation more than it already was. People were truly savages.

"I have her number..." Jon said, "What if we invite them for a drink, and you have your interview there, if she is interested."

"Brilliant." Alyssa replied, her face lighting up, as she grabbed Jon's phone from the table, copying Cassandra's number into hers.

"Hey Cassandra, this is Alyssa Drake.

Great job with the match tonight. Screw what everyone else is saying. Walk with your head held high.

I know it's probably not much, particularly this late, but I was wondering if I could interview you. If nothing else but for you to be able to step down from all this on your terms. Be able to have the last word, and have one last nice moment before everything changes?

Don't feel obligated, but if you're interested, Jon and I's flight home doesn't leave until 1am, so we will be at Diesel Bar in Castelia City until 11pm. I'd love to share a drink and hear your story before we all part ways.

Hoping to see you again.
Alyssa."

"Sent." Alyssa explained, "Now help me pack, will you?"

"Sure thing." Jon said with a smile.

************************************************** ************************************************** ****

Jon and Alyssa Drake
Diesel Bar, Castelia City
Affected RPers: Neo Shaymin

Bunnied with Neo Emolga's Permission to condense this into a single post.

It was 10pm, as Jon and Alyssa stood by a tall bar table, sipping their drinks, watching the highlights of the evenings match on the TV, which had segments of Jon's interview that had aired half an hour earlier, causing the few patrons nearby in the quiet bar to avoid him like he had some sort of Unnamed Global Pandemic Type Virus.

"You reckon they will show up?" Alyssa asked.

"I honestly don't know 'Liss." Jon replied with a sigh, "I get where you're coming from about giving her a chance to have one last say, but I also get the feeling she is equally happy letting people say what they want, and doesn't really care what they think anymore. It could go either way."

Alyssa sighed as she looked at her watch, before the sound of the door opened and a familiar voice ran through.

"How can it be this cold in the middle of summer? It was beautiful this afternoon!"

Alyssa's head perked up as she heard the voice and recognized Cassandra walking into the bar (OOC: Neo, if you want the other two there as well, have them. I only asked about Cass, but wanted to get a post up and this probably isn't good timing for your timezone). Alyssa pounced, rushing towards her, seeming nearly half her age with excitement, greeting her and ushering her to the table, where Jon said hello, before offering to buy her a drink.

"Look, this will be published, but I'm not doing this for ratings, or accolades as a writer." Alyssa explained, "I have always written with the desire to have my readers understand something better than they did before reading, so I guess I want to give you the chance to tell me what you want the people to understand. One last hurrah before you guys retire."

Alyssa got out her phone, opening the sound recorder, before placing it on the table in front of Cassandra.

"So what do you have to say? About the cheating, getting caught, the tournament, moving forward, anything." Alyssa asked, "I want to hear what you have to say."

Shruikan

04-05-2021, 08:53 AM

Luneth Tarot
Central Park (Poke Park)
Affected RP'ers: Chakramaster

The Jirachi’s trainer explained that he could understand pokemon as a side effect of being one temporarily. Luneth’s eyes lit up on hearing this, as the trainer told her to give it a shot herself.
"Pika-pi-ka!" (”Yeah! Give it a shot!”) The Pikachu said, and Luneth found that she could indeed understand it. Was this Jirachi’s doing as well?
“Oh, I, I can! Oh this is so cool! I can understand you!”
Shortly after, the trainer received a text and had to leave.
“Ok, see you again sometime I hope. Oh, and when Jirachi wakes up please thank him for me!” She called as the trainer headed off.

I guess I should be going now too, Luneth though, starting back to where Jirachi had plucked her from. But before she had gone very far, Luneth heard a voice calling out.

“Shay shaymin”(”There you are!”) It was both familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Luneth turned around and confirmed that it had come from Glimmer, who was running out of breath towards her. “Shay min, min shay” (”I’ve been looking all over for you!”)

“Glimmer, you’ll never guess what just happened!” Luneth said, barely able to contain herself. “But the best part is, I can understand pokemon speak!”

“Min, Shaymin?” (”Huh, wait really?”) They Shaymin’s eyes lit up. “Shaymin shay?” (Do you know if this is permanent?)

“Not for sure, but I think it is. It was a side effect from Jirachi, but I can ask them right now, so…”

“Shaymin?! Shay shaymin shay?” (”Jirachi?! Ok, tell me everything that happened after you disappeared. Starting with how did you disappear?”)

“I will, but we need to go pick up Flan first. Don’t want to make them wait for nothing. I’ll explain on the way.”

* * *

After picking up the Ditto/Shaymin, they rushed over to watch the battle, Luneth explaining everything that happened to Glimmer and Circuit as the traveled.
They cheered for Avery & Cassandra in their matches, despite the general crowd’s disposition towards the latter.

Shortly after the matches had ended, the announcement came that the ship had arrived at it’s final destination, and that stores would be open for the next hour for any last minute shopping.

Oh, this would be the perfect time to get a thank you gift for Jirachi! After all, Jirachi’d given her a big enough gift, and if she was that ungrateful Glimmer would never let her hear the end of it.

But then if she was shopping, she’d miss possibly the last chance to talk to the Diamond Ladies before whatever punishment the league enacts…

“Glimmer, mind splitting up again? I have an idea but it can’t wait and I need to go pick up some last minute stuff.”

* * *

Back in the central plaza shopping district again. There was a plethora of Jirachi themed merchandise, along with a lot of last minute shoppers. Luneth had trouble navigating the store, no room for Circuit and thus no one making way for her.
It did give her time to think about what kind of gift to get for the mythical pokemon. Jirachi could probably wish anything it wanted into existence, so getting random toys wouldn’t work.
She passed by a line up of life sized Jirachi plushies. Getting one of those might be kinda weird. Like a plush twin? But on the other hand, it almost definitely didn’t have one already, and would be unlikely to think of wishing one into existence.
In the end Luneth bought the plush, along with a Jirachi themed bottle of bubble mixture and some Jirachi lollipops.

So, that was done. Now she just needed to figure out how to get it to them.
Luneth hadn’t thought this far ahead. The Jirachi’s trainer might be off the boat by now, and she hadn’t gotten any contact info from him. She couldn’t even remember his name, or if she’d ever learned it in the first place. And the only people she knew of that might be able to find him were the diamond ladies, whose locations were also unknown.

Argh, I guess I’ll just have to hope to run into him again. She though, frustrated that she hadn’t planned this first. Maybe posting a call out online would work? Or perhaps contacting the cruise themselves?
Luneth pondered over this as she returned to her room to pack up everything ready to disembark.

* * *

Glimmer
Exit area? (IDK what it’s called on a ship)
Affected RP'ers: Neo Shaymin

Glimmer ran to the exit of the ship. This would have been so much easier if it was day and she could fly. While the stars were pretty, they forced her into her less mobile land form. Hopefully the Diamond ladies hadn’t immediately disembarked, and she could still catch them. If they were still onboard they’d need to pass by here at some point, so it was the best way to find them was to wait there.

Out of breath, glimmer arrived at the departures area, and found a good place to watch from, settled in for her Diamond Lady stakeout.

After a while Glimmer was starting to worry that maybe she had missed them after all, when they finally made an appearance.

After taking a few moments to confirm it was really them, and not look likes or mistaken identity, Glimmer ran over to the ladies, and started trying to grab the attention of the youngest one.
“Shay! Shaymin! Min! Shaymin! (”Hey! Jarena isn’t it? Down here! The Shaymin at your feet!”) Glimmer nudged at Jarena’s ankles a few times to be sure of her attention.
“Shay, shaymin? Shaymin shay shay shaymin” (You can understand pokemon too right? You hear what I’m saying as words and not just variants of “shay” yeah?)
“Shay shay min, shaymin min” (”So, I’m not sure how to ask this… Umm, how did you get that first shadowcraft book? I really want to learn how to do it. Just for self defence, not to cheat or anything like you did!”) The Shaymin added hastily, then realised what they just said. “Shay, shaymin. Min shay shaymin.” (”Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But uh, could you help a Shaymin out? Just how to get started is all I’m asking. I tried googling in on my trainers phone but nothing shows up, at least not for sale.”)
Glimmer proceeded to do her best puppy-dog eyes at Jarena. “Min?” (”Please?”)

Noblejanobii

04-05-2021, 02:55 PM

Avery Miller (They/Them)
A Bunch of Places since this’ll be a summary
Affected RP'ers: Chakramaster Desolate Divine

Avery followed along with Jon as they went to secure Lance. The champion had been turned into an Applin with his lackey, Anthony, now a Munchlax in hot pursuit of a snack. Avery felt a bit bad for the dragon master, since they weren’t aware of most of Lance’s crimes, but it seemed Jon was getting a kick out of this.

It wasn’t long before Lance and Anthony were changed back though. Once they were secured again, Jon invited Avery out for ramen to meet with “Cuddles” for a talk.

Once they arrived and ordered their food, Jon said his piece first. It had a lot of nuggets of wisdom for Jimmy when it came to raising a legendary, which Avery hoped dearly that Jimmy would take to heart. Whether he would or not remained to be seen. Still Jimmy’s response seemed promising.

Once Jon finished speaking, Avery jumped in to offer some advice as well. “Jon’s lecture is a tough act to follow but if I may second what he said, you need to be attentive to your Pokémon’s needs. Research them, yes, but also learn from them. Shaymin, and Jirachi, are the creatures of myths. There is not a lot of material out there on them. That is why you must listen to your Pokémon itself. It will convey its needs to you. Gloria was able to do so even without my ability to understand Pokespeech, so you have an advantage here. Use it. This whole situation could have been avoided if you had originally.

“In addition, remember that you are raising a child. You need to be a role model and parent to them. Be stern when necessary. It may hurt but they’ll need it if you want them to grow up into a Pokémon you can use freely in society. If stuff like what happened today continues to happen with no punishment of any kind, or even worse, a reward like playing with them, it only incentivizes the behavior. We can’t guarantee Jirachi won’t do this again just to get more playtime, so you have to be hard on him. Ensure that it doesn’t. Because then, as Jon said, it’s on your hands.”

Once they finished their meals, Avery and the others left to prepare for their battles that night.

***

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Wishmaker Stadium

Avery’s battle against Ethan was first so it wasn’t long before the two stood across the field from each other. Gloria was resting on Avery’s shoulder again, almost completely recovered from the battle prior. Avery hoped to not have to use it again if necessary but they’d have to play it by ear since it was entirely possible they’d need to use her against Ethan’s Salazzle.

Ethan initially sent out his Golem, likely anticipating that Avery would lead with Knautia, Mint, or Daybreak. Instead, to Ethan’s surprise, Avery sent out Picotee, wanting to give the Sawsbuck a chance to shine.

“Golem, use Earthquake!” The Boulder Pokémon leapt into the air and slammed its body into the ground, sending chunks of the battlefield all over the place.

“Picotee, dodge!” Avery called out. The deer gracefully leapt into the air, managing to avoid most of the debris simply by leaping between the disheveled parts of the battlefield. Still, he took some damage due to some debris managing to strike Picotee as he jumped around.

“Now set up a Sunny Day!” Picotee paused for a moment to charge up an orange ball of energy before launching it into the sky. The sun, while setting, seemed to get brighter for a moment.

Ethan took the opportunity to strike once more. “Earthquake again!” The golem slammed its body into the ground, sending ripples through the battlefield. Picotee wasn’t able to escape so easily this time, becoming caught between some parts of the shifting earth. Still, Avery had a plan for that.

“Nature’s Power!” Picotee grimaced as he found his lower half caught underneath the battlefield, but that still left enough of him free to follow Avery’s command. The Sawsbuck slammed his foot into the earth, sending ripples through it as Nature's Power turned into its corresponding move: Earth Power.

The ground underneath Golem erupted like a volcano and shook the entire battlefield, giving Picotee enough wiggle room to squeeze his way out of the crack he was stuck in.

“Now go in for a Horn Leech!” The Sawsbuck didn’t wait a moment, charging across the broken battlefield and slamming into the Golem with his horns. Picotee drained his opponent of its remaining HP, restoring his own health in the process. With that four times super effective attack, Golem stumbled and fell, rendered unconscious.

“Golem is unable to battle! The winner is Sawsbuck!”

Ethan returned the Golem to its pokeball before sending out his next Pokémon, the dreaded Salazzle. Avery quickly returned Picotee to its pokeball. “You did great,” they whispered before preparing their next pokemon.

“It’s showtime, Acacia!” They threw the pokeball high into the air, unleashing the Girafarig onto the battlefield. Acacia stomped her hooves on the ground and snorted, showing she was raring to go.

“Don’t give them a chance to attack! Sludge Bomb, let’s go!” Ethan called out. The Salazzle lowered herself onto all fours and unleashed a barrage of poisonous bombs towards Acacia.

Send them back with Psychic!” Acacia’s eyes turned blue as she unleashed a series of psychic waves that changed the trajectory of the sludge bomb attack. The Salazzle was unable to dodge them in time, taking a direct hit. “Don’t let up! Use Hyper Voice now!” Acacia stomped her hooves again before letting out a loud cry, sending the Salazzle tumbling. “Finish it with another Psychic!” Acacia started to prepare another Psychic attack when a Fire Blast came barreling across the field.

Acacia cried out as the flames consumed her, the attack doing a lot of damage. Before Acacia could fully recover, the Salazzle drew in for a close quarters attack with Poison Jab. Acacia wasn’t totally down yet, striking with a Psychic at the same time. An explosion ensued from the two colliding attacks and when the smoke cleared…

“Salazzle and Girafarig are both down! Trainers sent out your next Pokémon!”

Ethan set out his final Pokémon first: an Aegislash. Avery smirked. Easy. This battle was already won.

“Curtain call, Daybreak!”

The Rapidash burst forth, eager to battle in the final showdown for third place. Daybreak had been somewhat “cheated” out of a battle the previous night with the weird time jump that Jirachi made, so he was more than ready to let off some fire this way. The Aegislash didn’t stand a chance.

“Don’t even give them a chance to attack, Daybreak. Flare Blitz, let’s go!”

Daybreak let out a loud neigh before charging at the Aegislash. As he dashed forth, he erupted into a ball of flames, streaking like a comet across the battlefield.

“Aegislash, King’s Shi-”

Ethan wasn’t able to get off the command in time, and like that, in the blink of an eye, it was over. Daybreak slammed into Aegislash, knocking the steel and ghost type into the air. Daybreak then leapt up and struck the Aegislash one more time. The sword fell and clattered to the ground, unconscious.

“Aegislash is unable to battle! The victory goes to Avery Miller!”

Cheers erupted from around the arena. Daybreak trotted over to Avery and rubbed his nose against his trainer. “Shay-min! Shay-min!” (We won! We won!) Gloria cheered from Avery’s shoulder. Avery couldn’t help but laugh as he pet both of his Pokemon. They really were a great team.

“Come on, ease up. We can hug it out later. Let’s take a bow first.” Daybreak moved back from Avery and the trio gave a bow before walking off the field. Third place was theirs, and with it, a confirmation of what Avery intended to do next.

***

Avery Miller (They/Them)
Unloading Deck

Avery weaved their way through the crowds of people as they prepared to leave the ship. Since their battle last night (and the subsequent party afterwards), they hadn’t seen any of the others they had encountered on the ship. Jon, Alyssa, Jimmy, and the Diamond Ladies had all somewhat eluded them, though at least in the latter’s case there was a reasonable explanation as to why.

Still, this didn’t mean they’d soon forget them. In fact, quite to the contrary, this trip would be unforgettable. Not only was turning into a Pokemon on its own quite the wild tale, but also the fact that it helped set Avery on a new path in life was something incredible on its own. How long they’d remain a battler was yet to be seen, but for now, they’d play this out at least until they and their team changed their minds. For once, a socratic discussion wasn’t quite as difficult as it could be.

“Hey Avery!” Celestina called out, the fellow coordinator and operative shoving her way towards them. “Wait up!”

Avery stopped and laughed as Celestina struggled her way through the crowd. “I wouldn’t need to wait if you weren’t so slow,” they teased.

Celestina pouted a little and punched Avery in the shoulder once she caught up to them. “Now that’s a mean thing to say. Apologize right now!”

This only resulted in more laughter from Avery. It was only after Celestina delivered a few more shoulder punches that they raised their hands in surrender. “Okay okay, I give up. I’m sorry. Now come on, I want to get to the Castelia center before registration closes for the day.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Celestina asked as she followed Avery towards the dock.

“Yes,” Avery responded with conviction, “I’m one of the top coordinators in the world right now. There’s not much more I can achieve there before I plateau. People are constantly expecting me to come up with new and creative performances but if I’m being candid, I don’t know if I have much left in me at the moment. Challenging the Unova Battle Circuit not only gives me the opportunity to study battling to further incorporate this kind of thing into my performances, but also just in general serves as a creative break for me. I’ll be back eventually, but for now, it’s time to try something different.”

Celestina nodded her head in understanding after a moment. “I can understand that. Well I’ll be rooting for you the whole way. Perhaps we can travel to Mistralton together? My flight home is out of there.”

“Sure,” Avery said with a smile, “that’d be great.”

As Avery and Celestina made their way to exit the boat, Avery caught a glimpse of the Diamond Ladies. They were too far away to say anything, so instead they tried to catch one of their gazes’ and waved. It wasn’t much, but they hoped it’d be enough to convey the hope to meet again someday in the near or distant future.

Chakramaster

04-06-2021, 01:25 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Battle Arena Stadium

Jimmy had made his way after talking with Luneth. Before making his way in. His Grovyle jump down from a balcony.

"Glad to see you found us buddy. Sorry something else happened and the plan didn't end up happening. Maybe next time. Can't just sit around anymore and stay quiet. I'll be sure you take charge next mission." Jimmy said as he recalled his Grovyle back to its Poke ball. Placing it in a close by pocket as he saw the other. Pulling the ball out that held Jirachi in it a moment. Pikachu stuck close by on Jimmy's should.

"Sorry it came to having to put you in your poke ball little buddy. I wanted to thank you for everything. Sorry we could t have got everyone else to join and play with you. I just hope I can step up and become a better trainer for you. Don't worry. I'll do whatever it takes to train you up properly." Jimmy said holding Jirachi's ball close. "Sleep well little buddy."

"Thank you". A voice said to both Jimmy and Pikachu. Both smiled recognizing the voice as Jirachi's as Jimmy places Jirachi's poke ball back. "I only hope you remember not to ever grant anyone's wish without my permission Jirachi. Don't forget. Use your psychic if you have to." Jimmy said as secured Jirachi in place. Heading inside the arena.

After some time the match started. It was as expected. Many people were still against both of them. Both cheers and booing erupted from the stadium. The battle was great, but in the end it wasn't a total surprise. Jon came out as the victor. Both made their way out and the stadium began to clear. As did Jimmy and his Pikachu.

Jimmy Kendo
Nearing the exit
Affected RP'ers: @Neo Emolga Shruikan (can meet with Jimmy if you'd like to close things out there. Left Jimmy in case you'd like Gloria to see them and tell Luneth)

sometime later

The announcement went off. Confirming to everyone that the ship had finally docked at its destination.

"Castelia City. I've always wanted to come here. I think we need a little vacation. What do you think buddy? Take a little time to ourselves?" Jimmy asked his Pikachu while looking over the side of the ship as he began to head towards the cut where it was a little less crowded.

Jimmy noticed some familiar faces. The three Diamond Ladies.

"One last visit..." Pikachu nodded at Jimmy's questioning statement.

Jimmy made his way to the ladies. "So. You're about to be let go. Free as some birds as some may say. How do you ladies feel?" Jimmy asked jokingly. "Of course I joke. It's been...one heck of a crazy cruise. So. Have any plans? I'm sure it won't be anything too crazy since the League will have that ban on you all, but I'm sure that this isn't the end for the famed 'Diamond Ladies.'" Jimmy smirked at them. "Believe me. I have a lot planned too. Maybe much more once I train a certain new Pokémon up more. Much like I've been offered help from others here. I can with you three as well." Jimmy said pulling out a card and passing it to the ladies.

"Here. In case you ever need help. It's got every contact information you could ever need from me." Jimmy said before a voice popped up.

"You don't need that. Hehehe. Just call out to me! I'll help get Jimmy and myself and my friends anywhere if you need me. You have all been such lovely friends! Thank you again." Jirachi said as his voice faded.

Jimmy smiles closing his eyes. "As he said. It's been an absolutely pleasure getting to meet you there. Maybe we will meet again someday." Jimmy said as he gripped the thunderstone pendant that Jirachi gave back to him. Jimmy continued to standby. Making his way off the ship with the ladies nearby. Time together on this ship coming to a close.

Neo Emolga

04-06-2021, 02:02 AM

(OOC: Last post before the epilogue!)

The Diamond Ladies
Safe House LZ
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine Shruikan Noblejanobii Chakramaster

It hadn’t taken long for Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet to head down to the LZ Safe House and pack up all of their belongings. Considering their stay there had only been for one night, they hadn’t unpacked very much at all save for a few articles of clothes and their bathroom essentials. The whole time, Sami and Kyle had kept a watch on them, realizing any moment now, Lance’s goons or any of his hired lackeys might try to strike if they had been stalking them.

Thankfully, no such thing happened, and after the three Ladies had packed, they headed to the exit and joined the crowds waiting to disembark and start making their way home. It was then that Cassandra had gotten a text. She had half-expected it to be one last taunt from “Karma,” but thankfully it was Alyssa instead.

"Hey Cassandra, this is Alyssa Drake.

Great job with the match tonight. Screw what everyone else is saying. Walk with your head held high.

I know it's probably not much, particularly this late, but I was wondering if I could interview you. If nothing else but for you to be able to step down from all this on your terms. Be able to have the last word, and have one last nice moment before everything changes?

Don't feel obligated, but if you're interested, Jon and I's flight home doesn't leave until 1am, so we will be at Diesel Bar in Castelia City until 11pm. I'd love to share a drink and hear your story before we all part ways.

Hoping to see you again.
Alyssa."

With a bit more of an optimistic smile, Cassandra typed up a quick response while they were waiting on line to disembark the ship.

“Hi Alyssa,

Sure, we’ll be right there. See you in a few.

~Cass

While it took some time to get off the ship due to a heavy queue from most of the guests all trying to leave at once, eventually the three Ladies stepped off the S.S. Wishmaker and the night sky and moon-lit seaport had opened up before them. After they stepped off the ramp, they arrived on the docks among the river of people and occasional Pokémon heading toward the city.

Just as soon as they stepped off the ramp on got on the pier, suddenly they saw Jimmy and his Pikachu. Considering all the people around, Cassandra was surprised Jimmy managed to find them among the river of people head down the dock.

“So, you’re about to be let go,” Jimmy told them. “You're about to be let go. Free as some birds as some may say. How do you ladies feel? Of course I joke. It's been...one heck of a crazy cruise.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Cassandra sighed, shaking her head with a smile. “Pretty crazy stuff I wasn’t expecting in a million years, that’s for sure.”

“So, have any plans?” Jimmy asked. “I'm sure it won't be anything too crazy since the League will have that ban on you all, but I'm sure that this isn't the end for the famed 'Diamond Ladies.'”

“Yeah, it probably won’t be pretty for a while,” Cassandra replied, figuring it might be a while before they could shake off the bad publicity. “We’ll hang in there, though. Maybe we’ll find a way to return to the spotlight in a new and better way.”

"Believe me, I have a lot planned too,” Jimmy agreed. “Maybe much more once I train a certain new Pokémon up more. Much like I've been offered help from others here. I can with you three as well."

After he had pulled out his contact card and offered it to the Ladies, Cassandra took it and looked it over, checking out both sides.

“Here, in case you ever need help,” Jimmy told them. “It's got every contact information you could ever need from me.”

“Sure, thanks, Jimmy,” Cassandra smiled.

“You don’t need that!” Jirachi laughed. “Hehehe, just call out to me! I'll help get Jimmy and myself and my friends anywhere if you need me. You have all been such lovely friends! Thank you again.”

“Hey, anytime, Jirachi,” Cassandra giggled. “You take care now!”

“As he said,” Jimmy closed his eyes with a smile. “It's been an absolutely pleasure getting to meet you there. Maybe we will meet again someday.”

“We’ll see,” Cassandra told him with a smile. “I guess this is goodbye for now, but take care and hopefully we’ll see each other again, soon!”

To Cassandra, it was hard to imagine and think about how things started with Jimmy and how they ended, but in all, she was glad she had the chance to meet him and see for herself all the incredible things Jirachi was capable of…

All of a sudden, Jarena had felt a nudging at her ankles. When she looked down in surprise, she saw a Shaymin there, trying to get her attention.

“Shay! Shaymin! Min! Shaymin! (”Hey! Jarena isn’t it? Down here! The Shaymin at your feet!”) Glimmer nudged at her ankles. “Shay, shaymin? Shaymin shay shay shaymin” (You can understand PokEmon too right? You hear what I’m saying as words and not just variants of “shay” yeah?)

“Whoa, easy there little guy!” Jarena told him, almost laughing. “I gotcha, read you loud and clear!”

“Shay shay min, shaymin min” (”So, I’m not sure how to ask this… Umm, how did you get that first shadowcraft book? I really want to learn how to do it. Just for self defence, not to cheat or anything like you did! Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But uh, could you help a Shaymin out? Just how to get started is all I’m asking. I tried googling in on my trainers phone but nothing shows up, at least not for sale.”)

“You sure about this?” Jarena asked, knowing how much it turned her life upside down. “It can get pretty messy if you don’t handle it carefully!”

“Min?” (”Please?”) The Shaymin asked, trying to put on a sad and sincere face.

“Well, okay, if you’re absolutely sure,” Jarena smiled, shrugging with a light chuckle and hoping that’s all they were going to use it for. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Anyway, since this stuff is pretty taboo, and now going to be even more so after this whole mishap. Anyway, you can’t be checking all those mainstream sites and auction places like ESale and PeekyPlaza. Shadowcraft is kind of, you know, black market stuff in a way. What worked for me and Violet is try finding those obscure mom and pop shops online that sell the typical tarot cards and voodoo stuff online and that kind of thing. They’ll sell the gimmicks online, sure. But it’s when you go to these places in person, now that’s opening up more options because now you’re under the radar. There you ask if they have any Shadowcraft stuff. Don’t be surprised if they don’t, it just means you need to keep looking. I remember going through a dozen places before I found a cool carrier. Oh, and another thing. It’s not cheap. But it works!”

“Well, I gotta go, miss!” Jarena smiled at the Shaymin. “Be careful with that stuff! It’s crazy sometimes!”

After Jarena had quickly caught up to Cassandra and Violet, the Ladies had met with Steven and Cynthia who hailed them down, offering to give Jarena and Violet their Pokémon back after they had been secured in lockup.

“I know this wasn’t an easy thing to do, but the three of you did the right thing,” Cynthia told them as the other guests moved along past them. “I know some rather harsh things have been circulating around about the three of you, but I feel what you did to come clean was very admirable. There are many that never would have done that.”

“I just wish other people saw it the same way that you did,” Cassandra replied as Jarena and Violet received their Pokéball belts back from Steven. “But there are many that never will. Yeah, it’s… probably best to not think about what they’re thinking…”

“Yeah… sorry about the mess, guys,” Jarena shrugged. “Probably best we keep our noses out of the whole battling thing now. I’m sure we’ll figure something else out, but it’s a bit too late tonight to think over it too much.”

“Farewell,” Violet told them both. “Thanks for understanding us at the end. There’s plenty of people that never would have done that either…”

“Yeah, I guess this is goodbye,” Cassandra told Steven and Cynthia. “Best of luck with everything.”

“Same to you,” Cynthia told her. “Don’t let other people bring you down.”

With that, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet said one last final goodbye before they left, and it would be the last time they would ever see them again…

They continued down the length of the pier, but out of curiosity, Cassandra had turned to look at the cruise ship one last time. In the distance, she saw Avery, waving to her. Having not expected to see Avery again, Cassandra waved back, smiling as she felt good she got to see them one last time…

The Diamond Ladies
Diesel Bar, Castelia City
Affected RPers: Desolate Divine

After that, they headed toward the heart of Castelia City. With the help of Cassandra’s phone GPS, Cassandra tracked the way to the Diesel Bar and the three of them walked the way there. Once they had arrived, Cassandra noticed it was about 10pm as she made her way through the heavy wooden door. Around the exterior and the interior, the Diesel Bar belonged to a very obvious car enthusiast, especially with muscle cars. Plenty of car-related memorabilia was all along the walls, in addition to neon signs for many well-known brands of beer and other forms of alcohol.

“Looks like the place,” Cassandra told the other two.

“Yeah, I’m underage, but I’ll just have a soda,” Jarena smiled, shrugging.

Cassandra stepped in first, followed by Jarena and Violet. Alyssa and Jon had greeted them, offering them a place at the table along with a drink.

“Hey there, guys,” Cassandra smiled, taking a seat as Jarena and Violet did the same.

Cassandra had requested a bottle of Black Pyroar Beer while Violet ordered a glass of Crimsonland Red Wine and Jarena asked for a bottle of soda.

"Look, this will be published, but I'm not doing this for ratings, or accolades as a writer." Alyssa explained, "I have always written with the desire to have my readers understand something better than they did before reading, so I guess I want to give you the chance to tell me what you want the people to understand. One last hurrah before you guys retire."

“Yeah, I imagine it’ll be a lot more informative than what they read on Twitter or those other garbage social media sites,” Cassandra smiled, though she knew the situation looked pretty grim.

Alyssa had then placed her phone on the table in front of Cassandra with the recorder on. It was making her think back to the confession yesterday, but this was a little different.

"So what do you have to say? About the cheating, getting caught, the tournament, moving forward, anything." Alyssa asked, "I want to hear what you have to say."

“Where to begin…” Cassandra started, feeling it was hard to pinpoint exactly how she wanted to start this interview. “I got on that ship never thinking this was how we would be stepping off, but then again, it feels like it was bound to happen sooner or later. True, sometimes dirty little secrets never get exposed and found out, but when they do, this kind of thing happens.”

“I’ll admit, for a long time, I let a lot of this get to my head,” Cassandra confessed, shrugging that she was certain her previous explanation to Cynthia was being distributed around. “I thought I could get away with anything, like we were special, sneaking around the rules and finding loopholes. It turned me into a pretentious freak and I think if I could go back in time, I would smack myself in the face for doing what I did. Wanting that fame was like a drug, and here I had found a way to get it. But it wasn’t the right way, obviously.”

“Yeah, we kind of got really caught up in it,” Jarena nodded, trying to smile despite feeling ashamed.

“We deserved to get caught, though,” Cassandra nodded. “What we did was just wrong and I’m sure it cost a lot of people wins and championship titles that they would have gotten instead of us. But as I felt before, it only seems right we shouldn’t be battling anymore, and I think a lifetime ban only seems right to enforce so that no one does anything like we did. As for the debt, well, I’m glad we had some help pulling that off.”

After taking a few sips from her beer, she then continued.

“The tournament was… well, it was different,” Cassandra continued. “I cheated my way up to the semifinals. That hadn’t changed, but battling Avery with legitimate approach… it was very revealing of what I’m like as a trainer. I had to learn to adapt rather than cheat, and use my head rather than my tricks. Even just winning one battle told me I and my team were strong enough to compete, although I realized… up to a certain extent. I think by not having a diversified team, getting them too used to having us for support, and having fewer Pokémon on hand… yeah, that’s where Jon did me in. But it was a good battle, at least I didn’t make it too easy for him.”

She lightly chuckled at that last comment, and then came the most difficult question of all.

“Moving forward… I’m not sure,” Cassandra replied, looking away to gather her thoughts. “I know our reputation is shot down and dead in the water, and we’ve essentially lost the love of our fans. Probably rightfully so, as we didn’t earn it the right way, so I can’t be too sore on it all as I know how disappointed they are. I think I would be, too, if my role model did this kind of thing. I guess one thing I’d like to say is yeah, Shadowcraft is real, it does work, but I think moving forward, we can’t change the past as much as I’d like to tell my younger self right now. I know we’ve used this stuff for a lot of bad things, but as Jarena said, there’s bound to be ways to use it for good. It’s like any other skill or tool… it can be used for good and bad things. I would like the chance to prove to someone… anyone, that it can be used for good regardless of where it comes from.”

“I’m not sure what the future holds for us,” Cassandra shrugged, looking down. “I guess it depends on luck and forgiveness at this point. I know we can never be League competitors ever again, which I wholly understand, but maybe some other career path is possible. I don’t know, it may take a bit of time for this to settle down before we can successfully move on and most of this mess passes over. I just hope it doesn’t take too long. None of us want this to be the only thing people think about us for the rest of our days.”

“I guess that’s it, really,” Cassandra concluded, trying to keep a hopeful smile. “I want to thank everyone who gave us a second chance and didn’t give up on us. Hopefully we can turn things around in the future and people in general can believe in us again, but that may be a long road. I just want to say ever since the confession, I’ve felt better about my conscience, even if there was a lot of negativity that came out of it. The truth is important, along with empathy, kindness, and understanding. It’s something I’ve learned the value of most of all during these past few days.”

With that, Cassandra felt she had said all that needed to be conveyed. She had taken another sip from her beer as Jon noticed the sense of resignation particularly about the finality of their battling careers.

"Just remember that your ban only means you can't participate in League events,” Jon told her. “Private battles are fair game, and I'll be keen for a rematch, and know a few people that would always be down for s training match or two. Hell, I want to see you beat me one day." Jon explained, "I have had an idea for what the future holds for Alyssa and myself, actually stemming from something you said to me. I don't want to go into too much detail right now because it could be a pipe dream, but hey, there could even be a place for you guys in that."

Jon finished his drink before placing down the glass.

"What I am trying to say is that you will bounce back. This door may have closed, but so many have opened for you guys, even if you don't see it yet. The world's your Cloyster."

“Hey, you’re a tough trainer, though, Mister Pokémon High Seas Tournament Champion!” Cassandra smiled, hoping his optimism would be right. “Maybe. I think I’d have to do a lot more catching and training before that happens. I’ll always love these Pokémon I have, but I definitely need to strategize, rebuild the team, and train them accordingly. It’ll take some time and work, but you know, I think it will be fun, too. Just don’t be surprised if our next battle involves a very different team.”

After Violet had finished her wine and Cassandra had emptied her bottle of beer, she saw it was already getting late and they still needed to find another room for the night.

“Well, we need to head out and get a room tonight,” Cassandra smiled as her eyes were already trying to fight sleep. “I definitely want to thank you both for not giving up on us despite how dirty our hands got. And Latios, too, he’s a funny dude. Before, I’ll admit you drove me crazy, but sometimes a kick in the butt like that is needed when it’s time to wake up.”

“Yeah,” Jarena laughed, shaking her head. “It worked though! And hey, whatever you guys plan on doing for the future, I hope it’s great for all of you. But have fun and be happy out there! Life’s worth living, so smile!”

“Be well,” Violet told Jon and Alyssa. “You’ve got a great team of Pokémon, Jon, but you and Alyssa make a great team, also. I’m confident you two and your Pokémon are ready for anything this world might throw at you.”

“Catch you later, Jon and Alyssa,” Cassandra smiled as the three of them stood up and prepared to head out. “Have a good night and a safe flight home.”

“Cheerio!” Jarena smiled as she waved goodbye.

“Thanks for the drinks,” Violet smiled. “And all the best for you and your Pokémon.”

And with that, they headed to the exit, walked out the large wooden door, and back into the restless Castelia City late-night streets…

[Desolate Divine]

04-06-2021, 02:55 AM

One Year Later...
It was half past six in the morning, when Jon groaned at the sound of a baby crying. It was the fourth time since they tried to get to sleep at 11pm the night before

"Do you want me to get her?" Alyssa asked groggily, as she rolled over.

"No, I will check in on her." Jon said, as he got up, and started to get dressed, "I gotta get up anyway."

It had been three weeks since Amelia Drake was born, and almost exactly a year since Jon had taken the High Sea's Tournament Title on the S.S Wishmaker. In those three weeks, Jon had made sure to take as much of the burden as he could, seeing as starting today, the next twelve weeks would keep him busy, and Alyssa would be having to shoulder the burden a little more on her own.

He made his way out of the master bedroom of the small caretakers house they lived in on Mossdeep Island. It wasn't the cottage he and Alyssa had originally hoped for, as that had sold by the time they were ready to buy it. Instead, the house they bought was a little more expensive, meaning they still had to get a loan for it. However the property they bought contained an old monastery and lodge for the people visiting, with a house for the caretaker to live in.

After his battle with Cassandra, she told Jon something that had stuck in his mind, about being a good teacher. From there an idea was formed, and this property being for sale made the timing perfect. He had spent the good part of the most year, doing whatever he could to get League grants to fund the project, and today was going to be the official opening of it.

Jon made his way to Amelia's room, where she lay in her bed, crying like baby's do, as Jon and Alyssa had learnt very much so in the last few weeks. The air wasn't tainted with a certain smell, so Jon was able to cross that off the list, gently picking her up and trying to comfort her to no avail, eventually deciding to try and see if she was hungry, making his way to the kitchen, where he found Alyssa in her dressing gown, preparing breakfast.

"You can go back to bed if you want Liss, I can handle it."

Alyssa laughed, before opening the fridge and passing him Amelia's bottle.

"Nah, I know when I gotta cut my losses and give up on sleep." she said, "If we're both up, might as well enjoy it."

Once the bottle was warm, Jon held it to Amelia's mouth, who very quickly took to it, quietening down, as Jon found the headache that had formed start to cease.

"So how many are you expecting?" Alyssa asked.

"Five." Jon replied, "They'll be here at 11am."

A lot had happened in the year since they got off the cruise. Much to her bosses dismay, she published both the interview with Cassandra from the bar, as well as the footage of Lance attempting to attack Violet and Jarena and frame Jon, before being given a beatdown. Lance was already detained by the League, and whilst a few sympathized with him out of hatred for the Diamond Ladies, his reputation plumetted, with him being trialed and thrown in jail for a considerable amount of time. Conversations ended up happening about the amount of authority given to League Champions, especially seeing as they earnt that title based purely on battling skill. Jon had been consulted by the government about it, given his involvement, however he ended up siding with allowing the champions to retain their authority that they currently had. Lance may have been an example of that going wrong, but Steven and Cynthia in his eyes were great examples of that authority being in the right hands.

Whilst Jon had hoped people could learn to look past what the Diamond Ladies had done, they proved very quickly that wasn't going to happen. Whilst it became less front and center over time as the media realized they were beating a dead Rapidash, the public opinion of them was still soured, so it was hardly a surprise when they disappeared from the public eye. He had been in touch once since that night at the bar, but outside of that, he knew very little of what was going on. He hoped that eventually people would realize there are bigger issues at hand in the world than them, but he wasn't going to hold his breath.

As for Jon's image, the public opinion of him couldn't be more polarized. On the one hand, he was hated for the incident in his battle with Ethan, the damage his Latios did, the brutal beating he gave Lance, and the inteview he gave, defending the Diamond Ladies. But on the other, he was praised for his battle with Cassandra, brutal honesty about his role within the investigation and the situation overall, and his fighting off Lance when he tried to attack Violet and Jarena. On one side, people were demanding he be given a lifetime ban by the league, and on the other, to his horror, people calling for him to take Lance's position as Indigo Champion.

Alyssa had been on leave from BattleNET for a while, having been there nearly ten years and aquired a lot. At this point, she wasn't sure whether she would return. As much as she had loved working there, she felt like she could do more for the battling community working for herself. As well as being a mother now meant she would spend some nights awake, and some days trying to catch up on sleep. Something more flexible would definitely be a bonus.

The last year had been quiet, in a sense there was no life-threatening circumstances, with one exception, but a lot going on. Jon had spent a lot of time doing what he could to raise money to fund his new project, and get that prepared. The lodge and monastery needed a lot of work to be used for what he needed and that work didn't come cheap, however the winnings from the High Seas Tournament, as well as the odd compensation for an interview, or even the winnings from the occasional invitational tournament helped, in addition to knowing the right people in the League to get funding.

Morning passed and eventually Jon managed to get Amelia back to sleep. It was 10:45am before he left the cottage, making his way down the path towards what used to be the monastery, to unlock the front door, before hearing voices from the front gate.

"Goddamn, they're early." Jon thought to himself, as he headed to the front of the property to greet the trainers who would be training under him over the summer, passing a brand new sign that seemed to clash with how old everything else around it looked.

The Eon Academy.

Noblejanobii

04-06-2021, 06:20 PM

One Year Later

"Bisharp, finish this with X-Scissors!"

"Dodge it and go in for one last Earth Power!"

Gloria skated through the air as she watched the tall steel-type below her. Both Pokemon were barely hanging on, but they were the last ones standing on each of their respective teams. It was now or never. Gloria took a dive to draw the Bisharp's attack, hoping to bait him in before striking with a close range Earth Power. The Bisharp moved quick, lunging forward towards Gloria, but the Shaymin was quicker, twisting out of the way of the deadly X-Scissors. Slamming her paws into the ground, Gloria caused a series of eruptions to head the Bisharp's way. Except, the Bisharp wasn't there anymore!

Gloria looked around frantically, trying to locate her opponent. "Above you!" Avery shouted. Gloria turned her gaze skyward all too late, as the Bisharp landed the final blow to the Shaymin. Gloria was sent flying and landed near Avery. She struggled to stand for a moment, before casting her gaze towards Avery. "Shay..." (Sorry...) she whispered before collapsing.

"Shaymin is unable to battle! The battle goes to Unova Elite Four Member Grimsley!" Cheers erupted from all around the stadium as the ref made his final call.

Avery sighed and returned Gloria to her Pokeball. "You did great, Gloria. Get some much deserved rest," they whispered before clipping the ball onto their belt. They took a bow before waving to the crowd a bit. Even though they had lost, Avery couldn't keep the smile off their face. When they had first entered the Unova League a year prior, Avery hadn't imagine they'd make it this far. Yet, here they were. They had completed the Unovan Gym Circuit and won two of the Elite Four battles necessary to challenge the champion. Sure, they had lost against the famed Master of Chance, Grimsley, but they had made it much farther than they ever anticipated, and really that was more than enough for them.

Avery returned to the battling waiting area and began to wash their face. If there was one thing they missed about competing in contests, it was that most of the events were held indoors. Battling almost always was held outside, and in these Unovan summers, that meant they were sweating near constantly. "At least I don't have to wear a binder anymore," they mumbled.

"Hey, Avery, are ya busy?" Avery turned around and spotted Grimsley on the other side of the room.

"Not at all," they answered as they set the washcloth down. They walked over and held their hand out to Grimsley. "Thank you for giving me such a great battle out there today. My team really gave it their all, and it seemed like yours did too. It made the experience a lot more enjoyable for me."

Grimsley chuckled. "I should be thanking you for the same thing. That's one of the most exciting battles I've had thus far this gym season. I can definitely tell you got a lot of your flare from battling in Galar. Makes things a lot more exciting for me too." He paused then said, "Say, now that your Unova circuit challenge is over until next season, what are you plans from here?"

Avery sat in silence for a moment. It was a question they had been asking themself for the last few weeks too. "If I'm being candid, I'm not sure yet. I've consulted with my team though and I think for now we'll be hoping back into the contest circuit. Battling is fun and this was a great break from my coordinator routines, but contests are where my heart and soul are. I want to get back to that eventually."

Grimsley nodded his head. "I see. I can respect that. You're a person who knows what they want." Grimsley reached into his pocket and handed Avery a folded up sheet of paper. "If you change your mind though, call that number. It'll let you schedule a battle with the Elite Four again without having to go through the gym circuit for a second time." The dark type specialist turned and waved as he walked away. "Hope to battle you again soon, kid!"

Avery stared after the Elite Four member in shock before pocketing the piece of paper. That was definitely an offer they'd capitalize on in the future. For now though, they had other plans.

Avery checked their watch and grimaced a little. If they didn't hurry they'd be late. Avery quickly finished getting changed and freshening up before leaving the locker room. They exited the stadium from a back entrance while wearing a scarf and a pair of shades, hoping to avoid being spotted. Hailing a cab, Avery climbed in and directed the driver to a nearby hole in the wall restaurant. They checked around to ensure they weren't followed before entering. The place was dimly lit, meant to resemble some of the smaller more romantic locales in the Johto region. Avery scanned around before spotting the person they were here to meet sitting at a table next to a folding screen with Gracidea flowers on it. How fitting.

Avery walked over and peeked over their shades at the person. "Abital Ecker?" they asked. The other person nodded and gestured for Avery to sit. Avery quickly sat down across from Abital and smiled. "Thanks for agreeing to this. Celestina was a bit insistent."

Abital cracked a smile at that. He took a drink of water before answering in signs. "That's an understatement." Avery laughed in response. They were glad to see Celestina was equally tough on both of them about this. "I saw your battle earlier," Abital added, "your team did very well. Not many are as skilled as you."

Avery felt their face turn red at the compliment. "O-Oh you saw that? Ahaha, well I'm glad it impressed you. It'll probably be my last circuit battle for a while."

"Oh really?" Abital asked, "Why is that?"

"I'm returning to the contest circuit," Avery answered as they signal the waiter. "I'm thinking of heading back to Sinnoh to participate in more contests."

"You just want to escape the Unova summer heat don't you?" Abital teased.

Avery let out another loud laugh at that. "Guilty! I don't know how they do it here, especially so close to the desert. But hey, more power to them."

Abital nodded in agreement before pausing at the waiter came over. They quickly signed what they wanted to eat to the waiter before waiting for Avery to make their order. Once they finished, Avery turned back to Abital and tried to shift the conversation more in their direction. "So what about you? Celestina said you were in Unova for a break? A break from what exactly?"

Abital paused in thought for a moment before signing, "I'm a ranger from the Fiorre region. Things have been a bit chaotic over there lately. There was a Groudon sighting a little while back which explains the weird shifts in weather. We were having trouble locating the source when some of the rangers reported seeing a star-shaped Pokemon flying in and simply... wishing the Groudon away? Then it disappeared as quickly as it appeared." Abital took a drink of water before adding, "I know its sounds crazy but sure enough that did the trick. There's still some wild Pokemon running amok but otherwise it's improving. But since I've been working near constantly since the crisis started, I felt it was time for a break. You know?"

Avery mentally rolled their eyes at the mention of a "star-shaped Pokemon". Seems Jirachi was still up to his old tricks, albeit in a much more helpful way. "Don't worry, as crazy as it might sound, I can tell what you're signing is true," they said with a smile. "So tell me more about your ranger work."

The night went on for a while as the two chat for hours. Eventually, Avery signaled for the check, paying for both their meals. They two left the restaurant and began to walk through the streets of Castelia, eventually ending up at the docks. Avery eventually stopped during their stroll to gaze at a ship in the harbor.

Abital tapped Avery and signed, "Is something wrong?"

"No no," Avery responded, "it's just..." They smiled. "I went on this memorable cruise a year ago in a ship not unlike that one. So I was reminiscing a bit." They turned and kept on walking with Abital. "I'll have to tell you about it someday."

Shruikan

04-06-2021, 08:18 PM

Luneth Tarot (& Glimmer)
Near the ship’s exit
Affected RP'ers: Chakramaster, Neo Shaymin

Glimmer listened intently as Jarena gave an explanation of how one could likely find shadowcraft books nowadays, before leaving with a warning about the magic to rejoin her companions. “Shaymin shay shay!” (“Thank you so much! I’ll be very careful,”) Glimmer said, smiling back at Jarena. “Shay shay shaymin!” (“And I wish you the best of luck for the future!”)

So, mission complete. Now she just had to get back to Luneth and see if she’d given the guy with Jirachi the gifts yet.
Ash she began to walk back into the ship, something trickled down in the back of her mind. Just as she’d been approaching Jarena, hadn’t Cassandra mentioned Jirachi? She looked back at the trainer Cassandra had been talking to. He certainly fit Luneth’s description of the Jirachi trainer from earlier. The one that Luneth was buying gifts for right now. The one who was leaving the Wishmaker at this very moment!

Well, there was one fast way to confirm if it was the right guy. “Min! Shaymin! Shaymin min?” (“Hey! Jirachi guy! You speak pokemon right?”)
Upon seeing that he did indeed understand her, Glimmer bounced on the spot in a kind of excited jig. Shay, Shaymin! Shaymin shay min shay, min?” (“Um, can you stay right here please! I know someone who’s looking for you, they want to give you something. I’ll just go get them real quick! Don’t move ‘til I get back, OK?”)

* * *

Luneth had packed up all her belongings ready to go, and was just asking the receptionist if she knew which of the passengers had the Jirachi when Glimmer came hurtling back to her.

“Oh Glimmer, did they tell you-” Luneth began, before quickly being cut off.
“SHAYMIN! SHAY. SHAY. MIN. SHAY.” (“NO TIME! JIRACHI. LEAVING. DOCKS. NOW.” The Shaymin panted, barely able to catch her breath.
Luneth understood, and quickly finished checking out, before lifting the wheezing Shaymin and herself onto Circuit’s back.
“Ok Circuit, you still remember the map right? You know where to go?”
The Silvally looked up thoughtfully for a second, then nodded. Despite Luneth in theory being able to understand him now, Circuit had yet to say anything, though weather he couldn’t or was just quiet Luneth had yet to figure out.
Either way, he had a very good memory, and quickly bounded off towards departures, while being careful not to accidentally hit anyone in his haste.

As they reached the exit of the ship, she quickly saw the familiar spiky hair and Pikachu of the trainer from earlier. Luneth rushed over to him, waving as she approached.

“Hi again! I just wanted to thank Jirachi. Being a pokemon was like a dream come true for me, and being able to properly understand them I the greatest gift I’ve ever received, so I wanted to properly show my appreciation.”
Luneth handed over the bag of Jirachi merch. “Sorry I didn’t have time to wrap anything. I got them in a bit of a hurry,” she said apologetically. “I just wanted to make sure Jirachi got these before you left.”
“Anyway, I guess this is goodbye. Safe journeys, and I hope our paths cross again someday!”

Luneth waved as they parted ways, taking one last look back at the Wishmaker as she headed properly into Castelia. It had certainly been appropriately named, pretty much everything Luneth had every wished for had happened on that cruise. She found herself reluctant to leave.

Circuit made a repeated clicking sound, like the tick of a clock. “He says it’s getting late.” Glimmer translated. Oh right, the flight home was scheduled to leave in an hour. They’d better get a move on or they might miss it. Plus, on the way she and her pokemon had a lot to talk about anyway.

“So, did you get any info from the Ladies?” Luneth asked once the cruise liner was a reasonable distance behind them.
“Min!” (“Yup!”) The Shaymin beamed. “Min shay min, shaymin.” (“Jarena said that the best bet would be mom and pop stores, but you’d need to visit in person.”)
“That makes sense. Especially now that the League will be cracking down on it too. Hmm. Fancy taking another trip once we get back?”

One journey was over, but perhaps it had formed the catalyst for a new one…

Neo Emolga

04-06-2021, 11:51 PM

The Diamond Ladies – Epilogue

Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet felt their trip on the S.S. Wishmaker was one of the most life-changing experiences they had ever gone through. Cassandra would admit she had become someone different, someone better, especially after having confessed and after making strides toward redemption, even if forgiveness and understanding was not something she was going to earn from everyone after what had happened.

As anticipated, the League had instated the lifetime ban on Cassandra Silvers, Jarena Farrell, and Violet Radcliffe, making it clear to the public that they would be barred from ever taking part in League battles and tournaments due to the incident and the results of the investigation that had taken place on the S.S. Wishmaker. In the days that followed, rumors circulating the Ladies’ connection to Shadowcraft were confirmed, but very few attempts to replicate what they had done had been attempted. Though it had destroyed their careers, Cassandra was at least relieved very few others had ideas of doing the same thing they did, and she felt it was worth taking on the lifetime ban.

However, it came with its own drawbacks. The general public’s reaction to the incident had not at all gone down favorably with the Ladies. Online, fan sites that once dedicated their attention to them were taken down, while others, especially on social media, harshly criticized the Ladies for their wrongdoing and deceit as all their titles and accolades were annulled. Some of the fans of the Diamond Ladies had peacefully moved on to support other up and coming trainers, but most others had been so disappointed and disgusted by the recent turn of events that they had grown to detest the three of them. The Diamond Ladies had lost all their sponsorships and were rapidly losing money from voided contracts and no sources of income, forcing them to sell most of their assets for far less than they were worth due to their tarnished reputation and difficulty in finding willing buyers.

At first, the Ladies had tried their best to ignore the terrible publicity and slander thinking it would fade in time, but unfortunately, it had been too harsh and followed them wherever they went in public. Several incidents, including Cassandra’s hair being intentionally ruined by a stylist, deliberately being held up for over an hour with no service at a restaurant before they decided to leave, and having their property stolen and vandalized made it clear the situation had gone out of control. Death threats and online stalking had become common, though the Ladies felt if someone tried to take action and make good on those threats to attack in person, they would hold nothing back and defend themselves however they needed to. However, there was still that constant feeling of dread that they would be attacked when they weren’t expecting it and were vulnerable. Eventually, they found themselves going online less and less, which seemed to help a little, but public harassment was still relentless.

The sign that things had gone too far was when someone broke into Violet’s gym locker while she was working out and stole her Pokémon, which had become a spirit-crushing ordeal for her. She, as well as Cassandra and Jarena, did everything they could to try and get them back and track down the thief, making pleas and offering cash rewards only to be met with criticism and claims that she deserved it and “whoever stole them would be a better trainer for them anyway.” Even the police would not file a report or investigate the incident.

To the dismay of the three Ladies, they never found out what happened to Violet’s Pokémon…

While this had search been going on, Cassandra had tried to find work with the League, hoping to provide support in helping them track down and stop any use of witchcraft in League battles and tournaments as a means to make up for the wrongdoing. However, stakeholders of the League, including gym leaders, judges, and officials, felt there was no reason to employ someone who “had created the problem in the first place” and had been banned from the League as well.

Once those attempts had been exhausted, the Ladies found seeking employment anywhere in any kind of capacity seemed to be impossible with how badly their reputation had been damaged. They could not obtain even basic service jobs in public without being disrespected by employees and other customers around them simply for what had happened. It seemed that whoever employed them would have their own reputation tarnished… and no one wanted them to be a part and represent their business.

After being disowned by their other friends and family, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet realized they were truly on their own and only had each other now. Thoughts and considerations of asking Jon and Alyssa for help had come to mind, but they had become concerned that their spoiled reputation would spread to them if they tried to support them, and Cassandra didn’t want any of this to ruin their careers or whatever plans they had for the future. And while Jimmy had offered his contact information and offered to help as well, they didn’t want to bring him and Jirachi into a dire situation that had completely ruined their lives and their future and ultimately ruin theirs as well.

It had been several months of pain, loss, and disappointment since their voyage on the S.S. Wishmaker. Eventually, they had to resort to disguising themselves whenever in public, but there were plenty of times where Cassandra felt it was just a different way to lie and the three of them didn’t want to deal with it anymore…

On Another Path

Considering everything that had happened to the three of them and the dismal outlook for their futures, Jarena was fully committed to the “Plan B” option they had talked about before, with her becoming a Buneary, Cassandra becoming an Eevee, and Violet becoming a Furret like they had been back on the cruise ship. Originally, the three of them had decided to take a camping trip by the Lake of Rage in northern Johto, booking a cabin for the three of them for a month to make it look like that was where they would be staying.

As they found out, the cabin they had paid for and had been promised was nothing like the one they had actually been given. Instead of the comfortable cabin depicted in photographs, they had been assigned the most run down, decrepit one the campground had, one that they didn’t even rent out to normal patrons due to its desperate need for renovations. When they discovered the owner’s dishonesty, it did not make them feel guilty about what they were going to do next.

Now, the plan was the same. Save for it only lasting a month.

With their lives and the lives of their Pokémon at stake, they decided to burn the bridge behind them, and give the problems and threats of their past no way to follow them. Now, with everything that had happened, they were not planning on ever coming back…

Jarena and Cassandra had given their Pokémon a choice after they had made their plans apparent to them. They could either go to an adoption shelter and hope a new trainer would help them reach their full potential, or be released into the wild. Almost all of them had gone with the latter option.

Victini had been afraid of this day and never enjoyed goodbyes, but he could understand why this was being done and felt he might have done the same in their position. Nonetheless, he promised he would check up on them every now and then if he could, but he knew it had to be farewell and it was time to move on. He knew the life of a mythical Pokémon was very long and he had to say goodbye to other trainers in the past before, but there was something different about Cassandra. Something special that he would never forget…

It was extremely hard for Cassandra and Jarena to say goodbye to their Pokémon, but both of them felt they had to do it for their own safety, and because they would no longer be able to care for them. After they had disappeared into the distance, Cassandra looked downcast and Jarena cried into Cassandra’s shoulder, still unable to understand why it had come to this.

With the most painful part of the ordeal out of the way, the three ladies had gathered the remnants of their last remaining clothes and belongings, stowed them away into the dilapidated cabin, and then set it on fire to make it look like murder scene and the work of an arsonist. They knew with so many death threats against them, the suspect could be anyone among thousands. Meanwhile, it would be over a month before anyone found the ruins, and they doubted anyone would bother conducting a formal investigation.

And then, as Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet had planned, they used some of the collected fur back from the S.S. Wishmaker incident and Cassandra had become an Eevee, Jarena had become a Buneary, and Violet had become a Furret, just as they were before.

They never did bother to secure past DNA samples or gold nuggets before the transformation.

Once it was done, they had walked away from the ashes of the dilapidated cabin and left it all behind…

* * *

Their time as Pokémon in northern Johto had been life-changing.

At first, they had explored the area around the cabin before venturing further north, away from Johto civilization. And as they had ventured further into the northern reaches of Johto as Pokémon, their first week had been challenging, trying to figure out what to do for shelter and food despite having done some Pokémon wildlife research on their species, diets, and traits. But by the end of the second week, they had found their bearings and gained a better understanding of what it would take to survive in these new environments and habitats.

During that first week, it was disorienting for them, trying to find their way around without the use of electronic devices and realizing they didn’t know where their next meal would come from. While initially there were some regrets, they still felt it was suicide to try and return to human civilization. They had felt like strangers in a strange land, and in the beginning, it was only Jarena who was enjoying the experience of being a Buneary again. Though she had moments where she questioned herself, especially when Cassandra and Violet had feelings of dissidence about this decision, she had decided to keep going with it.

And then after the first week, things had slowly begun to change. They had gotten lost together and learned to enjoy it…

Gone were the insults, the smears, the looming feeling of dread of being attacked or having their things stolen and destroyed. After having gone deep into unexplored territory that had never been traversed by humans, they had come across a curious and insightful Sceptile named Maveri and her friend Genae, a cheerful and sympathetic Audino.

Unlike the humans that had scorned them, these new Pokémon that had never seen humans before helped show the Ladies the way around the area and where to find the best sources of food and shelter, and in time, they had taken them to Starglade, their hidden sanctuary community, once Maveri and Genae felt they would be great new members of the community. It was a safe haven place for Pokémon that had never been found by humans. As Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet had discovered, it was a hidden paradise for Pokémon that some of them had spent their entire lives in.

While most of the Pokémon in Starglade were more than happy to welcome them in and join their sanctuary community, two of the heads of the community, Namrice the Swoobat and Kenna the Meowstic, had sensed the Ladies were not quite who they seemed to be and there were many secrets to the Eevee, Buneary, and Furret. When they realized this, they had pulled the Ladies aside, not sure if they should be allowed to stay considering their psychic powers had given them insight to their human past, and even traces of their Shadowcraft powers.

Almost in desperation, Cassandra had explained herself entirely, offering to help protect Starglade however they could and “earn their keep” in some way. In the end, Namrice and Kenna had decided to give them a chance, sensing their honesty and sincerity, although they still felt they were taking a big risk. Still, they felt the Ladies were genuine in their desire to turn over a new leaf and start a new life with them, and in the past, they had never before turned down honest and empathic Pokémon that had come from all troubled walks of life. In the end, they decided to welcome them and give them a place to stay. Thanking them, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet vowed to help the community and respect their doctrine of compassion.

And when it mattered most, the Ladies had the chance to prove it…

A few days later, one of Starglade’s young children, a Teddiursa named Arisea, had fallen from one of the tree branches and landed on a jagged rock, snapping her spine and leaving her paralyzed on her back, bleeding out, and unable to breathe as she lay dying while all the Pokémon of Starglade Sanctuary had become horrified at what happened to the small, innocent child.

Reacting quickly, Cassandra used her Shadowcraft to stop the traumatic blood loss as Jarena kept Arisea breathing by trying to restore air in Arisea’s lungs while Violet worked on mending the critical damage that had been done to Arisea’s small bear cub body. Working together and little by little, they kept the young Teddiursa alive and mended the damage that had been done to her small and fragile body, one broken bone, one torn muscle, and one severed artery at a time… all while all of Starglade had been mesmerized by this never before sight unfold before them.

It took Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet all working together for twenty intense minutes to save Arisea’s life when it was on the brink of ending. But when those twenty minutes had passed and all the Pokémon of Starglade had witnessed this miracle unfold before them, at that moment life in Starglade would never be the same. Arisea was able to sit up, stand up, breathe on her own, move on her own, speak again, and her mother was able to hold her in her paws again, ever grateful to the Ladies for saving her daughter’s life and well-being after something so traumatic. Meanwhile, the rest of the Starglade community was in awe at what these three newcomers had just done for one of their own even when their welcome was somewhat dampened compared to other Pokémon.

The three of them felt something inside themselves change and awaken in that moment. They had used what had been called an “evil witchcraft” by humans to save a child’s life, leaving no trace of the mortifying incident behind. While there would be no one on social media to talk about it and no news story to cover the details, it was the acceptance and respect of this peaceful Pokémon community that meant far more than any fame they once had.

Any doubt about the three of them had forever been cast aside that day, and some of them had even referred to them as heroes. In time, they had found their place and members of the Starglade community had regarded them as the Starglade Guardians, using their powers to keep Starglade protected from human scrutiny, mend injuries and purge diseases, and protecting and saving the lives of dozens of Pokémon. Before long, the Pokémon of Starglade had respected them the way humans respect angels. But even with this, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet had performed these tasks simply to give back and support the community that gave them a second chance at life and happiness rather than for fame or attention. And it felt far better than anything they had ever felt before.

And in the days that followed, very often Cassandra would gaze up at the stars at night, remembering Jirachi’s wish those many days ago. Her wish for happiness. When everything had become so dark and gray around her, it seemed like it would never come to pass. But with the wish in her heart and the faith in her soul, in time it did and it gave her hope, now with the love and respect of Starglade’s Pokémon giving her a feeling of belonging and purpose.

And when she saw a shooting star streak across the sky, it was as if a soft and gentle whisper spoke to her with two simple words…

Welcome home

Chakramaster

04-12-2021, 01:53 AM

Jimmy Kendo
Near exit of ship
Affected RP'ers: Shruikan Neo Emolga

Having run into a Shaymin that asked him to wait. It ran off so urgently he didn't have much choice. Besides, wasn't like this line was moving fast enough anyway.

Not long later the Shaymin and her partner came running back up.

“Hi again! I just wanted to thank Jirachi. Being a pokemon was like a dream come true for me, and being able to properly understand them I the greatest gift I’ve ever received, so I wanted to properly show my appreciation.”

She then handed over a bunch of Jirachi themed merchandise she had bought at the shops. All to show her appreciation to Jirachi.

“Sorry I didn’t have time to wrap anything. I got them in a bit of a hurry,” she said apologetically. “I just wanted to make sure Jirachi got these before you left. Anyway, I guess this is goodbye. Safe journeys, and I hope our paths cross again someday!”

She then waved as she part ways. Before too far, Jirachi used its telepathic power a moment to thank Luneth. "Thank...you! I'll always treasure these! Let's play again sometime!" Jirachi laughed lightly. Still inside it's poke ball asleep.

Jimmy couldn't help but give a small laugh to himself as well. Looking to his Pikachu on his should and to Jirachi's poke ball.

"You really are something Jirachi. You're...incredibly powerful. Don't worry buddy. I'll have you trained up soon enough. I'll make sure you aren't seen as big of a threat to others. It'll just take time. You're still so young and playful, but I guess that's what helps to connect us. Pikachu and I are here for you and you'll always be a special friend of ours. I know I won't forget this cruise, but now you have many other friends who will never forget you either."

Jimmy looked to Castelia as he finally makes his first steps into Castelia. Giving one last look at the S. S. Wishmaker before turning back around and moving on.

sometime later

"Alright Jirachi lets go!" Jimmy commanded and Pikachu hopped off Jirachi's back and they both landed on the ground. Jimmy opening the door that Jirachi and Pikachu has just opened from the other side.

"Alright you two. Odds are like intel said. There are hostages in the next room. Jirachi, I'm counting on you. Remember our training." Jimmy said to the two.

"Right!" Both Pikachu and Jirachi said.

"Grovyle you in place?" Jimmy questioned.

"In position." Grovyle said. "It's still weird I have these earpiece like you humans now. Such strange pieces of equipment."

"How about you Rotom? Hows the security footage looking" Jimmy asked into his phone. Trying to contact his Rotom.

"Do ya really have to ask? I've been in and just WAITING on you guys. All cameras are set to repeat still images. They can't see anything new happening now. The hostages as you said are in the next room. There's 4 guys with weapons. 2 guys in the back at what looks like a safe."

Jimmy cut him off with a thanks. "Thanks Rotom". Alright Jirachi, I'm gonna count on you. Use your psychic power as we trained to hold them down. If anything happens use your power to only hold the bad guys that mean harm. Protect the civilians at all costs.

"Yoooouuuuu got it! Let's do this team!" Jirachi cheered with a laugh.

"Jimmy." Pikachu said. "If things get crazy remember our tag team." He smiled with a nod.

"Heh, as if I could forget our combo buddy. Now. On the count of 3. One....two...THREE!" They all said as the door slammed open. As it did Jirachi immediately held all the guys with weapons in place. Removing the weapons from their possessions. Meanwhile, Grovyle has jumped from the vent nearby the two in the far back. Grabbing them by the neck and slamming them both to the ground. Showcasing his strength and speed.

"Is everyone alright?" Jirachi asked as he continued to hold the others in place.

"Jirachi. Do it!" Jimmy said as Jirachi smiled and with a snap of his fingers. The 4 guys that he had held on place were wrapped in chains and bound in place. Meanwhile Grovyle had tied up the two guys he captured and left them unconscious.

"I think that's...." before Jimmy could finish. Rotom interrupted him.

"Jimmy behind you!" Before he could fully turn around. A brute had snuck up behind him and punched Jimmy right in the face. Knocking him across the room. "Jimmy! His team all shouted.

"You'll pay for that!" Jirachi said as it tried flying to Jimmy, but a Machamp had snatched Jirachi out from the air. Squeezing him tightly.

"Let's see your little Wishmaker make it out of this one. It can't perform its little magic safely without concentrating now can it?" The brute laughed as Jimmy slowly got back up. Spitting up a little blood.

"You must be the muscle. How could we forget about you." Jimmy let out a smirk.

"Now I'll ask this once. Let my friend go or the next thing you'll wake up to is a cold dark cell. One where you'll have to dig your way out. Though even that will be a risk cause once you do. I'll be waiting right there to put you right back.

The brute let out a laugh. "Show me!"

Jimmy gripped his pendant and with it let out a bright flash. With it he was gone. Leaving the brute looking lost and confused at what to do. He quickly turned to his Machamp to command it. The Machamp squeezing Jirachi tighter.

"Ahhhhh!" Jirachi screamed. Using its power to lessen the grip, but being held so tightly it was hard for Jirachi to focus and not hurt anyone else. Grovyle continued to watch over the two guys he had tied up while Rotom watched over the cameras.

"Pikachu now!" Jimmy shout. As he did both Pikachu and Jimmy struck the Machamp with their own X-Cross Iron Tail technique. A combo they created using Jimmy in his Pikachu form Jirachi gave to him a long time ago. Having had time to practice and train Jirachi and himself in this form. It gave them a new style to work with. Their teamwork was improving. The Machamp was stunned and released Jirachi in the surprise attack.

"Jirachi now!" Jimmy shout. Quickly as it was released, jimmy commanded Jirachi. It knew just what to do. Both the Machamp and the brute were held into place as the others were. Jirachi focused harder. As it did. Jimmy's other Pokemon. Salamance was teleported in. Slamming down on top of both the brute and Machamp. Holding them down and threatening to unleash its Hyper Beam directly on them. They both looked defeated and gave up. Jirachi latched a stronger psychic pair of chains he created using his power to hold the two in place. Waiting for backup to arrive and take them safely into custody.

Meanwhile they were taking the time to make sure every civilian was okay and untied. Safely let loose. Jimmy having turned back into his human form he entire everyone's safety. Anyone that needed medical attention was seen to by Jirachi and it learned to focus its power and heal others in a small way.

It wasn't long before the backup arrived and safely took everyone in. Thanking him for getting the job done safely without any harm being done and damage being left to a minimum. After they wrapped up Jimmy, Pikachu, and Jirachi were the only ones left. The rest of his team returned back to their poke balls for rest.

"Thanks you guys. For another hard days work. I'm sorry things got so risky back their Jirachi, but I'm glad you weren't hurt and even more so you didn't hurt anyone else. You made the right call." Jimmy said.

"Thanks! I learned from the best! That being you Jimmy! You make a great trainer AND Pikachu." Jirachi said and chuckled. Pikachu laughed with him.

Jimmy laughed with them and he looked to his pendant. "Thank you again for this gift Jirachi. I'll never forget all that you've done. You, Pikachu, and everyone else in our team. My life wouldn't be the same without you. I'm so glad we got to be friends. Let's keep training and doing whatever it takes to get better.

"Can we go back home and play for a while?" Jirachi asked. Jimmy and Pikachu both laughed.

"Well, we got time. Let's go have some fun." The three got up and began making their way home. Awaiting their next trial that awaits.

Shruikan

04-16-2021, 06:55 PM

1 Year Later

“Circuit, Ice Beam”
A frigid beam shot towards the enemy Flygon, but at the last minute the Flygon dodged, sweeping in close with a Breaking Swipe.
Circuit stumbled backwards, his mask cracked along one side, but didn’t have time to recover as his second opponent, a Duraludon, hurtled into the dazed Silvally with an Iron Head.
Circuit struggled to get back up, before collapsing on his side.

“Silvally in unable to battle! The victory goes to Gym Leader Raihan!” the judge announced, as the crowd erupted in cheers.

As far as last time. Luneth thought as she checked up on Circuit. Even the extra training she still wasn’t at Raihan’s level yet, but it didn’t bother her as much as she thought it would. After the debacles with the Diamond Ladies over the last few months, being in the spotlight didn’t seem that appealing anymore. Not making it to the finals wasn’t all bad.
Oh the other hand, losing still stung, and she felt bad for her team, Circuit especially, the Silvally had been training even more intensely after the failure on the High Seas Tournament, even though his loss had been due to magic. On several occasions Luneth had found him in the middle of the night practicing techniques on trees in the pokemon center gardens or local parks. But alas, it hadn’t been enough…

“Hey, You’ve gotten better since last time.”

Luneth looked up, startled out of her thoughts. While she had been thinking, Raihan had approached her.

“Commemorative selfie?” He said with a grin, holding up his phone.

* * *

Before heading home, there was one last stop to make in Hammerlocke.
The sign outside proclaimed it to be The Emporium of Mystic and Otherworldly Artifacts. Inside it was like a mishmash of anything that could be linked to to word “Magic,” with no regard to what kind.
Just about everything was purple, from the walls to the curtains to the shelves themselves, which were ladened with Kids magic sets, top hats, crystal balls, various coloured crystal pendants, and mountains of different tarot decks. They even had twinkly sounding music playing, like a magic shop in a movie.

Luneth was a bit nervous as she approached the cashier, who was dressed like a stereotypical stage magician. Now that she was out of the League, this was likely the last magic shop she’d get to visit for a while. And so far the decor wasn’t giving her much confidence that this place would have what she was looking for.

Despite being the only customer, she lowered her voice as she asked about Shadowcraft tomes. The cashier smiled sinisterly, before heading into the back. He returned with a book wrapped in yet more purple fabric.
As it was unwrapped, Luneth felt hope come back. It certainly looked older than most of the fakes she’d encountered until now. And the title checked out with the list that Cassandra had mentioned back on Luneth’s recording from the Wishmaker.
The price tag was hefty, all the money she had on her only just covered it,
The cashier looked momentarily surprised as Luneth pulled large amounts of money out of her wallet, but quickly recovered, handing over the book with a sinister warning about previous owners disappearing mysteriously, before cackling like a cartoon villain as Luneth left the shop, now the new owner of the potentially illegal Initiator Tome.

* * *

Though she skimmed though it, Luneth with great difficulty had saved reading the tome for when she was back home in Ballonlea.
When she finally returned home, she could barely wait any longer, and after greeting her parents again, rushed up to her room to crack it open.

The book lined up with Casandra’s confession. The audio on the recording was hard to make out, but what she could understand was here in the tome.
The initiation would take a long time, learning to align herself with the magic and stuff, but this time she knew it was the right direction at least.

Over the course of the next month, Luneth grew progressively more excited. After all the false starts and missteps over the past year, She felt she was making actual progress.
She was surprised to see that Glimmer joined in on the initiation rituals. Despite the instructions not being written for pokemon, she managed to adjust it enough to hopefully get the same effects, and proved to be as eager to learn the magic as Luneth, though when asked was coy about why.

After several weeks, all the rituals were done. All that was left was to try out a spell and see if it worked.
They chose a simple spell, temporary dizziness curse. Didn’t want anything permanent, after what happened with Violet and Jarena’s pokemon curses. Circuit had agreed to let them test it on him.

It worked like a charm, the Silvally’s eyes crossing, legs wobbling, then promptly falling on his side, head spinning.

Seeing it work, Luneth felt like she had been hit by the same curse. She had really done it. She’d cast a real spell, just like the Diamond Ladies!
After the initial excitement had calmed down enough, Luneth rushed back to inform her parents of the news.

Luneth had decided long ago that she wasn’t going to be like the Diamond Ladies. When she learned magic she would be open about it from the start.
However, he original plan had been tempered by the public’s reactions to the Ladies, especially the theft of Violet’s pokemon. Now she was going to be more careful. Only show it to people she trusted, or if it was absolutely necessary, like a secret superhero identity. And next on the list of people to tell would be the Pokemon League.

With the League’s crackdown on shadowcraft, Luneth wasn’t even sure if she would still be allowed to compete. She’d written a letter to the league officials, outlining that she had access to shadowcraft magic, but was not going to use it in battles, and wanted to declare it beforehand so no-one could accuse her of cheating with it, and so any precautions may be taken, but she was still unsure if they would accept that.
If they didn’t, she’d have to find other places for Circuit to battle, but that shouldn’t be too hard.

So next it was time to plot out her next move. She had the start of her magic, but she still needed the transformation spell. And she’d never learned which tome contained it, only that the ladies had the Evangtin, Anaksin, Xethen, and Zeketh tomes. But she knew that the Evangtin tome had the curse removal spell in it, necessary for transforming back, so that was a good one to go for next.

She had exhausted pretty much every magic or book shop in Galar. So her next search would have to be abroad. She glanced over at her trophy shelf, with her two Kalos badges sitting forlornly apart from the others.
A return trip to Kalos sounded good. Whether on the gym circuit or as a tourist was yet to be decided. But either way, this was just the beginning.