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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Jon Drake
Central Park
Affected RPers: @Neo Emolga @Shruikan

Jon chuckled at the telepathic message from the Victini, somewhat glad it was able to translate, since Latios didn't seem capable of saying more than a handful of simple words.

"Straight to the negotiating I see." Jon replied, "I have a counter offer I want to make, and I think you want to hear, but I will get to that in a second…"

Jon crouched down, getting to the level of the three girls, wondering how to word what was going through his mind…

"Truth is, until five minutes ago, I wasn't going to even think about talking things out. You three were targets, and it was my job to bring you in. Nothing more or less." Jon explained before gesturing to Latios, "Until Wrecking-Ball here asked me to talk to you first."

"You know how he was able to find you before, and just now?" Jon asked, "Latios have a supernatural empathy. Their ability to understand emotions of people is off the charts. He found you so easily because earlier today, Violet and Jarena were scared, and Cassandra, you were angry. And just now, all three of you were scared and upset. Three young women who made some mistakes, and got themselves in way too deep."

"The reason I am even talking to you now is because I have seen what happens when people make mistakes, and aren't given, or don't take the opportunity to fix them. You know why I have these tattoos, and wear this stupid beanie in the middle of summer?" Jon asked, "My parents married even though they were about to break up, because they found out I was coming, and my dad's parents told him they would cut him off if he didn't stick around. And I wish they didn't, because even though he stuck around, he would drink himself stupid. That turned into a drug problem, and eventually him selling the s***."

Jon took off his beanie, revealing the scar just under his hairline.

"He would come home drunk, and take out his problems on whoever happened to be closest. This one I got when he smashed a plate over my head." Jon explained before pointing at a scar on his wrist that was partially covered by a tattoo, "This one was from his belt buckle, because he tripped over my shoes by the front door."

Jon put his beanie back on before continuing.

"The only reason it stopped was because one night, a guy who bought s**t from him showed up at our house with a gun, trying to rob us. He shot my mum dead, before Dad shot him and ran. I was fourteen and heard yelling from the lounge room then gunshots. I was scared s**tless and stayed in my bed, hoping if I just kept to myself everything would be okay. I remember being scared out of my mind when the cop came into my room, and took me out the back door so I wouldn't see the bodies."

"Based on the studies and the numbers, I should have turned out like him and continued that sick cycle. Instead my grandparents took me in, and treated me like their own son. Even though they were in their sixties and ready to retire, they kept working and raised me." Jon continued, "And when they found out I wanted to be a trainer, and compete professionally, they moved heaven and earth to help me pursue that dream. If not for them, I probably would be just as big of a piece of s**t as my old man is, sharing a cell with him in prison…"

"I often wonder, if somebody caught on to what my dad was doing before it reached its worst, made him answer for what he did, but then gave him the opportunity to move forward, and learn from his mistakes, would Mum still be alive? Would I have all these scars, and would he be in prison?"

"That's why I want to make this offer. Because even though you have dug yourself into a pretty deep hole, and caused a heck of a lot of trouble, you still have your whole life ahead of you, and I'd hate to see that go down the drain because of this." Jon said, "So here's what I want to offer."

"You three will come with me willingly, where we will give you what you need to turn yourselves and the six operatives you turned into Pokemon back to normal, and assist in finding the four operatives that we still haven't located. You then accept whatever punishment they give you. I can't make any sort of deal promising immunity. I am just here to take you in." Jon continued, "But I can offer to propose this to the League, and try my hardest to throw some weight around to get them to agree to it. This isn’t the first time they have recruited me for something like this, so maybe even threaten not to do any more of these operations if they don’t hear me out. Anyway, as an act of good will, tonight you give Avery the battle they deserve, whilst Jarena and Violet watch the live stream from another room under supervision. If the match doesn’t go ahead because both contestants are sick, people will ask questions If you win tonight, the same thing happens tomorrow evening. The League will endeavour to remove any content online regarding the incident today, and come up with a cover up story about it all. Anyone who can't be convinced by a cover-up story will be made to sign a non disclosure agreement. It is in the League's best interest to keep this all under wraps. The last thing they want is someone finding out that this supernatural stuff is legit, and copying you. It would be a s**tshow. Could you imagine that?"

Jon continued explaining what he would propose to the League.

“What I would try and propose is this. In the eyes of the public it would be the Diamond Ladies announcing their retirement after the cruise. They would give the Regional Champions a chance to win back their titles before retiring, without interference, and after that, they are done with battling in official Pokemon League Tournaments. In reality, you will face a ban, which I will push to be temporary, five to ten years, but I can’t promise they will accept that and not make it a lifetime ban. But, because they want to keep this under wraps, the ban will not be known to anybody outside of the league. If we announce you’re banned and don’t give a reason why, or give a reason that turns out to be false, the cover up won’t work anymore, and the league will be in deep s**t, with people trying to do what you did. You will still need to pay back what you scammed from the League, though I will try and make sure it is an arrangement that won’t leave you homeless.” Jon explained briefly, “Lucky for you, this being kept under wraps means your sponsors would not hear about the ban, so you won’t need to pay them back. And even luckier for you, because most people believe it impossible, there aren’t laws about turning people into Pokemon, so I would be incredibly surprised if they could charge you for anything that would result in jail time.”

“Your reputation to the public will be undamaged, and you can do whatever it is famous people do in their spare time. Get into acting, start a music career, whatever. You can still do interviews as the celebrity guest at some event, or even be a guest speaker at some trainer school seminar. You just can’t participate during the ban. And of course, we will be confiscating your books as evidence.” Jon explained, “Heck, if you proved yourself trustworthy, having someone like you guys around for this investigation would have made things a lot easier. We wouldn’t have kept sending in agents if somebody had told us they were being turned into Pokemon. Maybe once a bit of time has passed, and you have shown you have turned things around, the League may even be able to use your help, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.”

“But that’s basically it. If they take my suggestion, and you have my word that if you agree, I will do everything I can to get them to do that, you don’t have to hide, or fear for your safety or financial security. You will still pay for your crimes, but it won’t ruin your life.” Jon explained, “And if they don’t take my suggestion, and they don’t spare your reputation, which would surprise me, because doing that would raise questions the league don’t want to answer, you have my word I will still try and help you. Even if it means helping you find work, or even helping find somewhere to live. My wife works as a journalist at BattleNET, and is thinking of starting her own agency, so may be looking for employees, which is an option.”

As Jon said this, he had a brainwave.

“Other thing. If they spare your reputation and you get to battle tonight, Alyssa gets an interview. She was going on all morning about how much she wanted to interview you, Cassandra, and I had to keep giving her false leads so she didn’t run into you and end up being turned into a Psyduck.” Jon explained, “Truth is, as much as the thought of what may happen to me if I battled you tomorrow night scared me s**tless, I was actually really looking forward to the battle. Even without the bulls**t you guys were pulling, I know you’re talented trainers. The way I see it, a good trainer is able to make the most of the circumstances they are in, and if you weren’t able to do that, it wouldn’t matter what you did, you would still lose. I said it before and I’ll say it again. You have your whole lives ahead of you, and I’d hate to see that go to waste, especially since if we play our cards right, ten years from now this could all be a bad memory.”

“But,” Jon explained, “As I said, I want to make this offer to you. But so far, all evidence indicates that if I try and make this offer, it will bite me later. Wrecking-Ball seems to think you are worth taking that risk for, but his judgement is shown by the seven holes in the ship, and I am not sold yet. I need a reason to trust you will follow through, and I won’t wind up as a Dunsparce. So give me that reason.”

“If you want me to make this offer, you can start by telling me how exactly how three young women like yourselves wound up being the center of the biggest cheating scandal the League has ever seen.” Jon said, “If I find a reason to make that offer, and you take it, you have my word I will try my best to help you move forward. Or you can tell me where to stick it, and myself and Wrecking-Ball will take you in anyway, and my hands are wiped, and I get to take home a paycheck that will not even begin to cover the damages done by Wrecking Ball. I know which option is better. I can guarantee within a month, somebody will be so happy with the Eevee they just caught, before she is forgotten about in some PC box, so I get the feeling living life eating Poke-Chow, running from trainers and being beaten up by stronger wild Pokemon would get old quickly...”

“Ball’s in your court, Ladies. How did we end up here?”