{RP} The S.S. Wishmaker - Tides of Witchcraft

[[Desolate Divine]]

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?"