[SEASON 2] The Stalkers RPG - Main Action and Team Status [ENDED... FOR NOW]

[Suicune's Fire]

Search (48d) Floors 31-40 <UNSEARCHED>

Balek Manufacturing Plant is not a pretty sight. The smell is also rather undesirable, and as you make your way to the thirty-first floor, you wonder if you're going to come across a body to explain the source of the stench. You also think it's possible that part of the floor or ceiling might collapse. As you begin your search, you find nothing, however, and keep moving as the air grows colder.

You become a little concerned as you venture further up, as the closer you get to the top, the icier everything becomes. You notice that the walls are glistening with a thin layer of ice, and at one stage, you step on a sharp icy rise. It's also darker as more windows are boarded and covered, so you activate the torch you brought with you and shine it about. You curse a little when a stalactite above you shatters right in front of you and splinters into millions of shards. You pick up your pace and enter a room with walls encased with ice. The sight is a shock to you, and you wonder where the ice came from.

There is a glowing switch on the opposite side of the room which tempts you in, and although you feel hesitant about entering, you do so anyway and head closer to what you imagine is a type switch similar to ones your teammates have found in other locations. Its green energy clues you in to the fact that you probably can't activate it.

Object {Type Switch: +Grass+} was added to the Team Records.

Suddenly there is the sound of a crack, and one of the giant stalactites above you snaps and plummets toward you. You shriek, unable to do a thing as it crashes into you and smashes against your body, sending a shock through your entire nervous system as your front slams against the floor. Another mound follows, shattering in the centre of your back and causing you to yell out in pain. You can feel your life energy rapidly declining as you struggle to remain conscious, and manage to hang on by the smallest of threads.

Felix has suffered 4 points of damage to Health.

Your entire body is screaming as you force yourself upright and high-tail it out of the room. You limp all the way back to base, still feeling the sting of the super effective hit. You know that if you hadn't been susceptible to ice, it would have affected you to a lesser degree. However, there is nothing you can do for now, so you let your teammates know what you found and remain in the safety of the quarters for the remainder of the day.


Felix the Archeops (M: Rock/Flying)

Health: 1/5
Sanity: 3/4
Perk: Science | Learned Abilities: Investigate
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Spiderc]

Shortly after we arrived Udipheign said that he had a strong lead on one of the stalkers and that he would need some help from us once he secures the final piece. I should follow up with him and see if he's gotten all of the information he needs.

{Interview (Mission): 3. Udipheign the Drifblim}

[Suicune's Fire]

Shortly after we arrived Udipheign said that he had a strong lead on one of the stalkers and that he would need some help from us once he secures the final piece. I should follow up with him and see if he's gotten all of the information he needs.

{Interview (Mission): 3. Udipheign the Drifblim}

You find Udipheign on his lunch break at his workplace, Greendash Restaurant. He is halfway through eating it when his eyes go wide at your appearance. At first he tries to flee, but then he seems to realise who you are. The fact that you are also a Ghost-type appears to settle him further. He sets down his lunch and approaches you.

"Y...you're here because you know I need help, right?" he asks quickly, his eyes darting left and right. "I know. I just know he's a Stalker. Th-there's something on the same floor where he lives. Something locked inside a locker; I just know it. There's also his workplace--oh, his suspicious workplace!" You ask him to slow down, so he takes a deep breath, inflating his balloon-like body further. "Talm the Throh. He's so suspicious. He lives on the thirty-ninth floor of Jetstone Apartments; you have to check it out. He works at Dhalshaw Laboratories now, but he used to work at Rhombus Medical Research Laboratories, right, where weird things have been showing up. Also, there were rumours that he was fired for being 'clumsy.' I think he was destroying evidence on purpose--evidence of his toxins and his poisons that he uses to kill people! There's a Stalker who does that, you know. And I bet he's it!"

The Drifblim rotates his body a few times, clearly paranoid that somebody is watching him. He turns to you again. "Go check it out, please. I couldn't live with myself if I knew he was a Stalker and said nothing about it!"

Udipheign gobbles up the rest of his lunch and enters the restaurant through the back door, leaving you alone.

MISSION OPENED: Investigate Udipheign's Stalker lead.


Kames the Lampent (S: Ghost/Fire)

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

[sammy0295]

Search (78) Valcon Glassworks.

[Neo Emolga]

Madder wishes to take proof of the mission complete to 80. Ovben the Goomy and see what he has to say about the stalkers or anything else he can give us.

You manage to track down Ovben and when he notices your arrival, he starts to giggle. You give him the printout, but it seems like it wasn't even necessary to prove it...

"Oh, that was beautiful, my friend," Ovben laughs. "I was watching you sneak in from the roof of the east Metro Station entrance! And here I thought because you guys were buddies were Pormalu, there was no way I'd convince you to do it! I'm not sure what's better, the fact I have a clean record now, or the fact I managed to convince you!"

You give him a dirty look, but it seems that doesn't faze him one bit.

"Oh, right, Stalker evidence," He chortles. "Well, as it turns out... I don't have any! Really, I don't care about the Stalkers and I don't do Pormalu's work for him. He's a cop, he needs to do his job! Same with you. If you're good at something, you never do it for free! But, there is one thing I'd like to give to you instead."

He then pulls out of his stomach two Adrenaline Syringes and one Verge Syringe. They're dripping with his own goop, but he doesn't seem to care. He lays them out before you and you just look down at them with distain and they now sit in a puddle of Goomy goo.

"DRUGS!" Ovben laughs even harder. "Beautiful, lovely drugs! Oh, I totally recommend trying them together! They'll make you fly as high as a kite while everything moves so slooooow. Oh, I haven't tried them myself, that's just what that one kid Machop told me when he used them together. And then his heart stopped, but hey, you learn new things every day!"

You try to reach out and seize him, but all that happens is your dark hands get slathered by his goo as he slips away from your fingers, laughing hysterically.

"Ha ha, we're still friends, you know!" Ovben laughs, dashing and slipping away into a storm drain that you can't access. "Oh, and tell Pormalu I said 'hi.' And that he can go drink piss and wet himself!"

He slips away through the storm drain tunnels and there's no trace of him. You're tempted to call Pormalu, but you figure by the time he gets here, Ovben would be long gone anyway. Not to mention there wouldn't be a way for the Arcanine to slip through the drains either.

You decide to take Ovben's "gift," thinking you might as well put them to good use.

Items [Adrenaline Syringe] x2 and [Verge Syringe] have been added to the Team Inventory.

With there nothing left to find here, you decide to head back.

Madder the Mimikyu (S: Ghost/Fairy)

Health: 4/4
Sanity: 3/4
Perk: Lockpick | Learned Abilities: Restrain, Exorcism
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Neo Emolga]

Hey Hunu (the skrelp) mind if I talked to you? I was wondering if you've seen anything suspicious around lately.

Actually, I have some more specific questions for you too. You know Natisha and Min, your two friends, could you tell me a bit about them? Like what sort of things you three do together, and what they do on their own? You see, I recently found a trap set up specifically to target Natisha in the windstone housing complex. Would you know who might have made that?

Another thing, a friend of mine recently discovered a bunnelby who'd been captured in a cage by you and your friends. Did you or one of your friends make the trap the bunnelby was caught in? If you guys did make it, where did you learn to make traps like that? Where did you get the supplies for it? That reminds me, the bunnelby claimed you had threatened them with bleach, could you tell me where or who you got that bleach from?

Anyway, it would be a huge help if you could tell us where the other bunnelbys are. Why did you three trap decide to target and trap those bunnelby anyway?

Interview Rapport: POSITIVE
+1 Shared Type (Poison)
+Intimidating (Grass vs Water)
+Modesty (Grass vs Poison)

You find Hunu by himself just outside of Brookheights School. He doesn't seem interested in anyone or anything else at first as he fiddles with his smartphone while waiting for the bus. You approach him and introduce yourself and ask if he's seen anything suspicious. He then looks at you from the corner of his crimson eye as if you made a face at him.

"Oh nothing, just stories of a couple of dead Pokémon turning up all over town," he tells you cynically like you flipped your lid. "You kidding? Everything is 'suspicious' around here. I find random body parts just laying around like it's nobody's business. Like a severed hand at the park. Seriously, you must have just gotten here or you've had your head stuck in a storm drain and used some razor wire to yank it back out. Welcome to our special hell. Why not buy a 'wish you were here, Silvercoal City, go to hell' postcard to send to all the people you hate?"

You then bring up some of the other questions, asking about Natisha and Min and what Hunu knows about them. You also ask about the trap.

"Friends," Hunu nodded, chuckling when you say that. "Ever have someone you hated so much you actually liked hanging out with them and wanted to one-up every damn annoying thing they did just to prove you're better than them constantly? That's how I feel about Natisha and Min, or who I refer to as Princess Pissface and Admiral Asshat respectively. We steal each other's stuff, we set traps for each other, we break each other's things, and that kind of crap. I send Admiral Asshat to the school nurse, he breaks my phone, Princess spits in my face, I hit her with my textbook, Asshat sets her bookbag on fire, and the cycle goes on. I don't even know who set that trap. Could have been Asshat. Or it could have been something I set up weeks ago and forgot about. Hell if I know."

You then ask about the captured Bunnelby as well as about the cage, the traps, and the supplies. He gives you that look. Even though Hunu started off liking you a bit, he doesn't seem too thrilled you asked about that.

"Why the hell do you care?" Hunu shrugged, spitting on the sidewalk. "You're helping him but you've been totally ignoring me for the past week. And for crap's sake, it was a prank, but oh, screw me though. Whatever. But if you really want to know about the god-forsaken bleach, then wake the hell up and do me a favor for once. Otherwise I'm not telling you a damn thing about it. It means nothing to you anyway."

You then ask about the other Bunnelbys. He looks even more annoyed by that and sucks his teeth in discontentment.

"I swear to pissing Arceus, we had nothing to do with the others," Hunu pouts, really looking aggravated with you. "I didn't even know there were more besides that one. Unless Pissface and Asshat did something I'm not aware about. Why not go ask them these annoying questions? You'll sure as hell be doing me a favor."

Soon enough, the school hoverbus arrives and Hunu puts his phone away and grabs his bag. He seems quite relieved it has finally arrived.

"Great chat," he tells you sarcastically. "I would have enjoyed punching staples in my face a whole lot more than that."

He then boards the bus with several other students and soon enough, the bus takes off and leaves you by yourself.

Amia the Roserade (M: Grass/Poison)

Health: 4/5
Sanity: 3/4
Perk: Lockpick | Learned Abilities: Rescue/Escape
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Neo Emolga]

Escort 71. Caagu the Numel to the Object {Type Conductors: +Fire Type+, +Ground Type+} at (89) Macanan Textile Manufacturing

You decide to pay Caagu the Numel a visit and get his help with something. He gets home from work just in time to see you by his door. He definitely wasn't expecting you, but you then talk to him about the conductors at the textile manufacturing plant.

"I guess," Caagu shrugs. "I kind of had a long day today, but you did me a favor so I'll help out."

You both then head to the Macanan Textile Manufacturing plant, specifically where the upper floors are. The area around it is full of broken machines, damaged supplies, and obsolete raw materials. The area around is a mess, but you head to the back where the console is and relocate the nodes.

"Wow, what a dump," Caagu remarks as he looks around. "Really makes you wonder just how some Pokémon get this negligent to let something like this happen. Sure glad it's not my job to clean this up."

He then approaches the nodes and nods as he recognizes what these are for.

"Ah, now I see why you needed my help," He nods with a smirk. "I'll handle these."

Caagu then focuses on the red node first, taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, and then lets loose a Flame Burst attack on the node, heating it up quickly and causing the trigger mechanism to activate. He then turns to the brown node and then strikes it with an Earth Power attack, causing the ground beneath the node to shake and tremble. And that in turn causes the second node to activate which then opens the metal door in the back.

"Mmm, that was almost fun," Caagu tells you as you both head into the next room.

You both see that this room is nearly empty save for a large but dated computer console stationed beside it with wires and tubes running everywhere along with many machine parts well beyond your knowledge. Both you and Caagu try approach it, but when you get close, the main, large screen suddenly flickers on with a hologram of a Chatot dressed in a black hoodie. You're not even sure if this Chatot is real and being broadcasted from somewhere else or if it's just an AI. He gives you the evil eye as he has a mike wrapped with his wing. Suddenly, a rap beat begins to play in the background.

"Looks like fresh meat," the Chatot replies cynically, looking down upon both of you. "I'll tell ya what, homie, 'cause I'm about to talk street an' I'm about to spit my thug over this here beat while ya take a seat."

"Wait, wait!" Caagu speaks up to the hologram. "Who or what are you?"

"Name's Chatz," he nods as he dances a bit, mocking and taunting Caagu. "Talkin' down the brats before they fall flat. I want to hear ya words rattle as I challenge ya to a rap battle so if ya want me to fork over the goods I'm gonna need ya to talk to me like ya got ya blood from the hoods."

Object: {Argumentative AI: <Diplomacy>} has been noted in the Team Records.

"Uhh... but I don't-" Caagu mutters.

"Well ain't that a shame," Chatz taunts Caagu and you. "One fat camel and one chilly weasel can't bring the rush like a truck still runnin' on diesel. When you're ready to ignite the flame, come at me hard or ya will always just be the same, losin' the game an' never taste the kiss of the fame."

You try to tell it to listen, but even after only muttering a few words, the machine shuts off and the holographic image of the rapper Chatot simply disappears, leaving you two alone in the dimly lit room again. It seems like Chatz is sentient enough to not even want to be bothered to come back on despite your pleas to just have a reasonable conversation.

"AI that wants to rap battle..." Caagu mutters, looking defeat. "That's not something I can do."

Unfortunately, you don't think it's something you can do either. It seems like you'll need someone who has a good way with words to deal with whatever this Chatot seems to be expecting.

You both decide to head back as the sun is coming down.

Katzu the Sneasel (M: Dark/Ice)

Health: 5/5
Sanity: 3/4
Perk: First Aid | Learned Abilities: Escort/Protect
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Neo Emolga]

I'll search Silvercoal Medical Center (28d) Floors 21-30

Many medical staff members are buzzing around inside the Silvercoal Medical Center. Some are attending to patients while others are hurrying toward various offices, patient rooms and elevators. The waiting room is filled with nervous Pokémon present for differing cases and problems, while the many rooms you pass on the way to the elevators are occupied by those who are recovering from surgery or other treatment.

You make your way up to the floors specializing in oncology, cardiology and hematology. The first thing you notice is the sterile smell, followed by the white lights, many curtains, and overall glum ambience. You head down the hall, following the signs pointing you toward the specific area Uru's research pointed to, oncology. There are a few facilities which you can see are occupied by patients in private meetings with the specialists, but you know that in order to find this piece of evidence, you need to sneak in and take a look around.

There is one particular office that catches your attention. There is something inside it which grabs your senses, which you recognize to be Stalker energy. The pungent and nasty stench should repel you, but your duty as an Emissary bangs louder in your head than your instinct to flee. The door is closed, so you turn yourself invisible and turn the handle to enter. The doctor and the patient inside both fix their eyes on the door but you slip by unnoticed, heading for the desk to poke around. The doctor, a frowning Watchog, rises from his seat and makes a move to close the door as the Girafarig patient glances around nervously. You feel the Stalker energy speaking to you through a drawer, which you open to find a small instrument giving off unmistakable dark pulses.

The Watchog moves back to his seat and sits down, apologizing to his patient while you sneak around the desk and make a run for the door, opening it and racing out again. You hear shouts of anger and conclude that the doctor imagined that a Ghost-type or other illusion-caster must have stolen from his office. You realize that you do not have enough time to take the elevator to the ground floor before someone sees a floating piccolo and catches you, so you head for a small window in another doctor's office and force it open, just squeezing your shell through and flying away from the building.

You get several yards away before you land and inspect the instrument you found. You can feel that it belongs to a Stalker, and because Uru's research pointed you here, you put two and two together. The sculptures your teammates found around town must belong to Extol, as well as their corresponding instruments. There is something unsettling about the way this piccolo makes you feel, in particular the fact that its creepy dark energy seems to be mixed with a sick, foul happiness that turns your guts like they were inside a washing machine.

Item [Playful Piccolo] was added to the Team Inventory.

The piccolo's energy isn't enough to affect your sanity, but it does freak you out enough to make you want to put it down. Keeping this in mind, you take your leave and head back to base, hoping there would be no follow-up investigation to the Silvercoal Medical Center thief.

Carly the Heracross (M: Bug/Fighting)

Health: 5/5
Sanity: 3/4
Perk: Science | Learned Abilities: Rescue/Escape
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Suicune's Fire]

I'll search Valcon Glassworks (78a) Floors 1-10!

Valcon Glassworks appears to be functioning as normal when you enter, and you head past the floors of scrubbed white tiles and polished machinery to arrive at the destination that Uru alluded to--the sixth floor. Nothing about this floor immediately speaks to you as being special, but you imagine that that's part of the trick for hiding something important: it's being hid in plain sight.

While you think of "plain sight," you also consider that perhaps it isn't as plain and in sight as you first imagined. The searching process takes well over an hour, as you imagine you are looking for another key to his second locked box. You know that all you need is to find the key, and then someone else - or perhaps you later on in the day - can take it to the box located at Summer's Moon Condominiums.

You get excited when you find a bundle of keys lying about, but realise that it's not what you're looking for. The search seems hopeless until you're walking through a short hallway and step on what is clearly a loose floor tile. You take a step back and eyeball the tile before removing it, finding a hole about the diameter of a tennis ball. You reach in a few claws and feel around until a weighty metal piece comes in contact with your feathers. You grab it and extract it, marvelling at what you know to be the very key you are looking for.

Item [MMC Key] was added to the Team Inventory.

Having found what you came here for, you head back to your fellow Emissaries and leave the exterior for someone else to search.


Sarah the Archen (S: Rock/Flying)

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

[Neo Emolga]

I ask Areggi the Rotom about recent events, and if he knows anything that could help.

Interview Rapport: POSITIVE
+1 Shared Type (Electric)

You find Areggi the Rotom who works as the manager for Indicative Hardware and Appliances at the shopping center. Business is a little slow and he doesn't seem all too happy about it even after all the hard work he puts in to make sure the store is well-stocked, features the latest high-tech gadgets and tools and has plenty of promotions to try and get people to at least take a look.

You approach Areggi and he seems happy at first, but then he realizes you're here to ask about the Stalkers and not actually buy anything. He sighs, and then his eyelids droop a bit over his beady blue eyes. He looks away and seems to recall something.

"So I visited Monty for lunch at the Silver Cloud," he tells you. "Monty. Not sure if you've ever met him before, but he's a Dartix. Yes, really charming chap. I wish he told me how expensive that place was and how he wasn't treating me even though he works there and extended the invitation to me. Word of advice. If they don't show the prices on the menu, RUN."

"I had to leave for a minute and take a walk around," Areggi explains. "Monty was on a rant about how they handle the food there and I was really wondering just why the blazes we were eating there if he wasn't too thrilled about neither working there nor the food they were preparing. He didn't say anything and then changed his mind to say they weren't all that bad, but I'm sure it had to be something along the lines where he got an employee discount. He wouldn't say that to my face, however."

"So while we waited for what seems like forever to get the bill, I was taking a stroll and I noticed they had security processor there," Aregii tells you, seemingly hooked into his own conversation given that there's not really much else he can do with a lack of customers around. "See, I like gizmos and gadgets. A Rotom like myself naturally enjoys these things, so I couldn't help but tinker with it. What I found was strange. There was some kind of fabric contained in it, which didn't make sense. Why? At first, I couldn't explain who would go through so much trouble to lock up a rag until I felt this... otherworldly presence coming out of it. Now that... I've never felt that before. I would have checked it out longer, but I had already been away from the table for fifteen minutes and I don't like leaving Monty alone for that long. Who knows what he'll do."

"Beyond that, well, nothing much save for what the newsfeeds tell me," Aregii replies. "Business has been grim, but I've seen worse. I haven't seen any Stalkers around and frankly, I'd rather not meet the lovely Pokémon responsible for all this. Especially considering how those encounters usually play out."

"Well, nice chatting with you, Lita," Aregii tells you, sighing as he needs to get back to work. "But next time, do me a favor and well... at least buy something. I swear I think you'd like the Firesnap DDX Holophone. The camera in that one is a hell of a lot better than anything else out there at the moment. Plus with 50 Zetabytes of memory, you'd never run out of space!"

You nod with a relaxed smile and then head out on your way.

Lita the Pikachu (S: Electric)

Health: 4/4
Sanity: 3/4
Perk: Security | Learned Abilities: Rescue/Escape
Failed Assassinations: 0/2