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

[[Desolate Divine]]

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.