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  1. #141
    "I was stupid... So stupid"
    Shruikan's Avatar
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    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?

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  3. #142
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
    Senior Administrator

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    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…

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  5. #143
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
    Senior Moderator

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    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..."

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  7. #144
    P i k a c h u Chakramaster's Avatar
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    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?"

    The time is upon us...


    . Pika Pair with the yellow bundle of fluff Chibi Altaria..


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  9. #145
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
    Senior Administrator

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    New Jersey
    Posts
    17,433
    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...”

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  11. #146
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
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    Jon and Alyssa Drake
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    "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?"

  12. #147
    "I was stupid... So stupid"
    Shruikan's Avatar
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    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?

  13. #148
    P i k a c h u Chakramaster's Avatar
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    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.
    Last edited by Chakramaster; 03-06-2021 at 02:40 PM.

    The time is upon us...


    . Pika Pair with the yellow bundle of fluff Chibi Altaria..


  14. #149
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
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    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.

  15. #150
    The Queen of Shaymin
    Noblejanobii's Avatar
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    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.
    Last edited by Noblejanobii; 03-11-2021 at 02:16 PM.
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