Eve was quick to offer her advice when they were clothes shopping. It proved to be something of a hobby, not that that was surprising. While Jakey might not know why she was famous, anyone could see she had an intense sense of fashion in every meaning of the word. She had of course let him pick out an outfit for himself, to which she had answered when asked for her opinion with a bite to her lip, and a quiet, "Faulkner... Oh, hunny, no..."

And with that, she had quickly moved to find him a much more fashionable outfit, including slacks, nice shoes, a blue fitted vest over a button shirt with a tie. The fact that this outfit was completely inappropriate for travel and much more expensive than he likely wanted to spend didn't really register with her as she admired her handy work in his outfit!

In the end, of course, she could only offer what suggestions she could to what he could afford. And in the meantime, they talked...

Although she was proud of her work, she realized quite suddenly how low Jakey's funds were compared to what she was used... especially when she realized how proud he was of his monetary reserve, even though he would struggle with expenses she wouldn't even notice.

Still, with Evelyn's help and revised objectives, Jakey manages to form a quite decent outfit, including reliable walking shoes and matching trainer backpack. The perfect clothes for an aspiring trainer.

As they finish their shopping, Evelyn notices a nearby hotel is marked as having a discount for trainers in the Pokéleague.

---

Portia quickly pulls Seymour into the express elevator to the roof. The glass sides gives you a great view of the castle from higher, and of the land beyond it. Listening to the other people on the ride tells you where the tourism industry comes from: the rest of Cadien.

The top-floor viewing platform includes various information panels talking about other regions, as well as some of the Pokémon that were 'brought back' from each. Combined with the presence of coin operated binoculars all pointing to the Southwest, it seems this 'gateway' is more for the natives to look out, than for foreign visitors.

Seymour, on the other hand, spots a more interesting sign (for him, at least):
An arrow points to a wide staircase leading to the roof.

Seymour chuckled lightly as he allowed Portia to swoop him along with her. "Up top we go!" Seymour had to admit that he was at least passingly interested in checking out the view. Mostly so that he could get a better sense of the surrounding landscape. It would help him better anticipate what they might expect to encounter the next day, pokemon-wise or otherwise.

He was certainly intrigued by the sign promoting the duels, but knew his grass types would be weak against the fliers that were likely being used. Still... he would likely be tempted to join in regardless, if Portia didn't mind. He knew she didn't seem all that interested in battling.

Then, when they were finished sightseeing, Seymour wanted to see if he could scrounge up any new healing supplies to replace some of the ones he had used earlier in the day.

---

Edit: added more to my post.

Seymour will take some time to see what his intuition tells him when observing the surroundings from up on the tower. Is there anything noteworthy to observe?

He will likely join in a battle if Portia doesn't mind, and the battles don't seem too out of his league.

Seymour will also try to increase his Healing Items if he can. I am willing to use up to 15 favor points if it will result in a better outcome (assuming favor points can be used for this kind of roll). I am also willing to drop my Pokedollars one step.

And, as always, Seymour will keep an eye out for any wild pokemon that might be captureable. Even within the city limits.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:21, Thu 14 Nov 2019.

Although the view of the city is beautiful, it's hard to spot anything specific. Especially when everyone looks like Joltiks. Going on the roof gives you a slightly better look of the parts you have yet to see, including a suburb and major port across the river to the East and North. You're clearly in the heart of the city, with the rest of the island covered in smaller buildings. There are a few parks though, maybe you could find some Pokémon there?

While they look around, the pair also get a look at an ongoing fight. A Snover taking on a Dugtrio. Though the Dugtrio seemed stronger, the Snover's grass moves turned the fight in his favor. Both Pokémon are healed after the match, and the winner receive a small amount of money from the organizer.

It also gives you a look of how organized this mini area is: any trainer who wishes to compete presents his trainer card (or Pokédex, for trainer competing in the League like you), and the organizer tries to match the contender against someone with comparable experience.

A small sign bears a disclaimer, stating that by participating you allow the company owning the building to upload your match to Twitch, and wave any rights to the video's income. It would seem that this is where the prize money comes from.

OOC: Favor can be used for almost any roll, including the shopping ones. Although your shopping will take place after the fight, if you do fight, you can increase your healing by one right away, at the cost of dropping your cash by one. It would cost 21 favors to get the increase without the cost.

So, do you try your hand at a quick match?

Not many people enjoyed heights, but Portia always found it thrilling.  To be able to look out over the landscape, to feel the wind rushing by carrying the scents and sounds from all over... there was something about it that lured her to lofty spots more often than not.  Though that wasn't to say she was there only for leisure's sake.  The young woman hurried to the railing with an eager smile and shuffled out of her bag a set of high-powered electronic binoculars that looked leaps and bounds more powerful than the mounted viewing stations set around the area.  With a twist, however, the binoculars split into a pair of individual scopes instead and she quickly handed one up to her Abra.  The duo looked a bit silly - each with a handheld telescope in hand, looking about eagerly in all directions near and far - but Portia's smile couldn't be denied.

Her eye was drawn a bit when she heard the noise of nearby battle and caught Seymour paying more attention to it than the view.  Portia could only sigh and shake her head.  "You League Trainers really just have fighting on the brain all the time, huh?" she chuckled.  They'd just gotten out of a battle and he was already hankering to get into another one... she saw it all the time as she traveled.  The whole concept never really made much sense to her, but it took all sorts to care for Pokemon.  She was quite surprised, however, when Houdini patted the top of her head to get her attention and grumbled his low, sleepy sort of chitter at her.  "Wait, seriously?  Since when do you--?" Portia seemed to have no trouble understanding her Abra and could only relent with a slump of her shoulders as he continued to chitter at her.

"Alright... hey, Seymour?  How about we have a quick match ourselves?  I can't promise I'll be much of a challenge, but Houdini's got an itch to scratch."

Roof: Portia and Houdini take some time to scope out the region as far as her Binoculars will allow, for the sake of establishing Teleportation points in the future.  She'll also cross that with the listed information about Pokemon taken from other regions to try and learn what Pokemon live where in the area.

Battle: Portia and Houdini will participate in a battle as well - preferably against Seymour, if he's willing and it's allowed in the match-up.  Otherwise she'll try her luck against whatever pairing is set against her.

Shopping: When they do head down to do some shopping, Portia will want to buy some TMs - specifically looking for Rest, Thief, Psyshock, Psychic, Toxic, Grass Knot, Dazzling Gleam, and Calm Mind.  She will spend up to the maximum 25 Favor and drop her Pokedollars stat by one rank as necessary.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:33, Thu 14 Nov 2019.

Jake clearly enjoyed dressing up and despite the impractical nature of the outfit Eve set him up with, he seemed to like it. Of course, he ended up going with the cheaper outfit that was more worthy for the road. He wasn't made of money after all. He didn't seem inclined to reveal much about his background though. He did say his parents were probably pretty normal people compared to Eve's family. He also mentioned he tried not to worry about them too much. He definitely did like to talk about Saffron City and all the hi-jinks he and his friends got up to. He did leave off certain more legally grey bits though. He also enjoyed talking about the famous trainers from the Kanto region, but seemed to have limited knowledge other than their name, their most famous pokemon partners, and their company sponsors.

He did display minor interest in the teenagers talking about a terrorist attack and speculated to Eve,
"Do you think that was the castle that we just came from? Maybe the guy with the fake face was a terrorist!"

He also registered interest in the hotel with a discount for people participating in the pokemon league. Rather than delighted, he was a bit skeptical that a real discount was being offered.

Seymour was about to give Portia a witty reply to her League Trainer comment, but instead ended up being a bit taken aback at her suggestion that the two of them battle. "Oh, um, yeah. I guess that would be fine." Suddenly Seymour realized how dazed he must be sounding and he shook his head clear. "I mean yes. Yes, I would definitely like to battle you, Portia. So long as we get the ok."

Seymour went to go ask the event coordinator if it would be alright if they battled. He made sure to mention that it would be two non-Cadiens who would be battling. He figured that might get the coordinators a few extra views on their broadcast and might entice them to increase the reward they might dish out to the winner.

The organizers are indeed interested, and quickly arrange for the two of you to face-off next. The announcement that two foreign trainer are facing off draws a lot of attention... from the other trainers. It seems the tourist aren't that interested.

Portia steps up in the trainer's square, an unfamiliar position for her, while Houdini takes his place near the center of the arena. Seymour does the same on the other side, before commanding his Pokémon to the field...

OOC: Time for the two of you to give me your orders, and what Pokémon Seymour is using.

Most of the Pokémon mentioned are somewhat common, at least in other regions. Two are noteworthy though. First is a Dratini brought back by the king himself during the Kanto war. The other are Swannas that apparently saved a camp from a surprise attack, and inspired the tradition of having wild Pokémon nesting on the border of military camps.

I'll go over Portia's shopping after the fight.

As she squared up on her side of the field, Portia looked around worriedly to the various onlookers and then over to Seymour.  Battling Trainers to the last.  She'd always run from danger and problems in the past; it was what she and Houdini were best at.  That her companion suddenly seemed to want to spar himself... she wasn't sure what to make of it and the whole situation, along with the echo of the Stranger's surprise attack, left her feeling rather adrift.

"You're sure about this?" Portia asked her Abra one last time as he shuffled across her shoulders to one side.  Houdini's chirr and nod was all she got in reply, but it was all she needed as well.  She trusted her partner, even when something seemed like a bad idea on its face.  With a sigh she reached up to gather her Pokemon in the crook of her arm and, with a quick spin in place, lobbed Houdini out into the field.  Despite being tossed without a pokeball in play the Abra arched smoothly through the air and, rather than land, slowed to a graceful stop mid-flight to simply hover a few feet above the ground via innate telekinesis.

"Alright Houdini, do your thing."

Houdini will remain on the defensive using Teleport to evade and confuse his opponent.  He'll try and create openings by Teleporting into blind spots and using Tackle from unexpected angles, or Teleport his opponent into the line of fire of their own ranged attacks, if that's possible.

Seymour was glad that Portia and himself were being allowed to battle, but he was a bit nervous as well. He was not used to having so many eyes on him at once. He felt like they would be scrutinizing his every move.

Seymour took a deep breath and tried to push those thoughts from his mind. He need to focus on the battle. He would already be a step behind if he let himself get distracted.

With one pokeball in each hand, Seymour swiftly contemplated which of his partners to send out against Portia. Neither lotad nor shroomish had a clear type advantage against an abra. His lotad was probably slightly stronger, more familiar with Seymour himself, and did have a ghost-type attack... On the other hand, shroomish might have the tricks he would need to pull ahead if the match stretched out longer. And the little mushroom could use some more combat experience too.

Seymour threw out his pokeball. "Let's go Glumpy! Let's give it our best!"

---

Seymour will have the shroomish try using leech seed up to twice, then use stun spore once (if the abra hasn't already been affected by another status effect). Then he will have Glumpy switch to tackle if he is still unwounded, or absorb if he is wounded. Glumpy will continue switching between using tackle when unwounded and absorb when wounded.

The battle was one of agility rather than brute strength. Houdini's Teleportation made it hard for the mushroom to hit him, but also hindered him own attack. But as Glumpy maintained his various attacks, the psychic Pokémon had more and more trouble avoiding them.

First he was hit by the Leech Seeds, then caught by the Stun Spore. As he was reeling from those, Glumpy manage to land a solid Tackle. Houdini tried to turn things around, letting Glumpy hit him, only to teleport both of them in front of a wall. Alas, the plant's body was too bouncy for the attack to have a noticeable effect.

Realizing he's on the loosing end of this engagement, Houdini teleports near Portia, a bit disappointed by his performance.

OOC: Oh boy, that was a long one. With no one else to distract Glumpy, Houdini had no real way to launch a surprise attack through teleportation, since the plant was always focused on him. In the end, the only real opportunity to turn things around was a pair of unimpressive tackles, but the attack wasn't strong enough to make a difference. Rather than prolong the most likely result, Houdini decided to throw in the towel.

The building's employees congratulate Houdini on a brave effort, and quickly tends to his injuries. Meanwhile, Seymour gets a nice little pile of cash and a round of applause.

OOC: Long battle log incoming!
Does Houdini goes first? Odds: 7/35/88 Result: 28 -- Yes
Houdini prepares to Teleport.
Does Glumpy's Leech Seed connects? Odds: 13/65/94 Result: 68 -- No

Turn 2: Does Glumpy goes first? Odds: 13/65/94 Result: 34 -- Yes
Does Glumpy's Leech Seed connects? Odds: 17/85/98 Result: 50 -- Yes
Does Houdini's Tackle connects? Odds: 3/15/84 Result: 18 -- No

Turn 3: Does Houdini goes first? Odds: 7/35/88 Result: 46 -- No
Does Glumpy's Tackle connects? Odds: 17/85/98 Result: 92 -- No
Does Houdini's Tackle connects? Odds: 3/15/84 Result: 21 -- No

Turn 4: Does Glumpy go first? Odds: 13/65/94 Result: 1 -- EXCEPTIONAL YES
Does Glumpy's Stun Spore connects? Odds: 13/65/94 Result: 35 -- Yes

Turn 5: Does Houdini go first? Odds: 3/15/84 Result: 67 -- No
Does Glumpy's Tackle connects? Odds: 10/50/91 Result: 59 -- No
Houdini keeps Teleporting

Turn 6: Does Glumpy go first? Odds: 17/85/98 Result: 49 -- Yes
Does Glumpy's tackle connects? Odds: 10/50/91 Result: 38 -- Yes
Does Glumpy cause a wound? Odds: 15/75/96 Result: 51 -- Yes
Houdini keeps Teleporting

Turn 7: Does Houdini go first? Odds: 17/85/98 Result: 26 -- Yes
Does Houdini's Tackle connects? Odds: 1/5/82 Result: 7 -- No

Does Glumpy's Tackle connects? Odds: 19/95/100 Result: 23 -- Yes
Does it cause a wound? Odds: 17/85/98 Result: 100 -- EXCEPTIONAL NO

Turn 8: Does Glumpy go first? Odds: 13/65/94 Result: 16 -- Yes

Does Glumpy's Tackle connects? Odds: 19/95/100 Result: 68 -- Yes
Does it cause a wound? Odds: 17/85/98 Result: 99 -- EXCEPTIONAL NO

Does Houdini manage to Teleport Glumpy into a wall? Odds: 19/95/100 Result: 27 -- Yes
Does it cause a wound? Odds: 10/50/91 Result: 59 -- No

Does Houdini call it quit? Odds: 16/80/97 Result: 47 -- Yes

OOC: Houdini doesn't level up, but Glumpy gets to improve a stat of his choice.

With the battle over, Portia and Seymour returns to the mall to look for some healing items and TM. While Seymour has no trouble finding what he seeks, Portia has a bit more trouble. She quickly found that the main shop is pretty over priced. She was about to give up, when she spotted a small stall near the exit with more affordable disks, though less choice.

Portia gets the Rest and Psychock TMs for almost peanuts... but as she's about to pay, a small blue flame run right at the stall, causing some of the items to fall. "Hey! Watch it!" The Rest TM falls and break, causing the merchant to panic. As Portia picks up the TM, she notices two things: first, the TM's disc has a DVD-R mark in the center, indicating it's a fake. Second, the blue flame is the tail of a small, injured Pokémon...



OOC: After carefully checking the Psychock TM, it seems to be genuine. The Rest TM is unsafe, to put it gently. That TM cost you a total of 20 favors, but no money.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:59, Fri 15 Nov 2019.

"Do you know, you might actually be right!" Eve said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Hiding his face, attacking people he knew to be outsiders to stir up controversy... But, why? What would a terrorist want with us? Like he said, we're just kids. More or less." She considered the potential consequences, but tried not to think on it too much. They had enough trouble ahead of them. She also thought about Portia and her reaction to it all. But that was for another time.

She was also struck by the deal offered by the hotel. She didn't really find it that suspicious. A hotel in a touristy town wanting to attract tourists made perfect sense to her! "Come on, let's go check it out. If the place isn't totally scummy, we could save a good amount of money sleeping here." She smiled. "The worst that can happen is we turn it down, right?" With that, she lead them to the hotel and into the reception area to find the front desk and inquire.

The reason for the discount is pretty evident when you reach the hotel. Next to the entrance, a sign bearing the Cadien army flag states that the hotel is sponsored by the League. The hotel even boast a Pokémon Center in it's lobby, and offers an arena for trainer's pick-up match.

And checking the price at the counter confirms Evelyn can easily afford rooms for the four of them.

Seymour was proud of his shroomish's performance, and also quite impressed by Houdini's technique as well. It was a strategy he had never encountered before. If it wasn't for Glumpy's tough and flexible exterior, things may have ended quite differently. He certainly was not expecting Glumpy's stun spore to mysteriously paralyze herself like that!

After pocketing his winnings and spending them on some new healing supplies, Seymour was so busy reorganizing his pack that he almost didn't notice what was going on with Portia at the TM stall. But when he looked up, he saw a pokemon he did not recognize. "What in the world is that?" he asked, mostly to himself. But the trainer was already pulling out his pokedex to find an answer.

---

Seymour is checking his pokedex for information on the roasted rabbit.

Glumpy will improve her HP stat. I am guessing the winnings weren't enought to raise Seymour's Pokedollar stat?

Edit: Glumpy is a she, not a he.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:35, Sat 16 Nov 2019.

There were some curiosities about how Portia battled Seymour was bound to notice - he had more experience in such things, but his unlikely opponent was quite unorthodox compared to the standard breed of Trainer.  Not only was the Abra difficult to track in his flickering assault, but Portia herself didn't call out any commands; she remained silent the entire time.  It almost seemed as though she was just letting Houdini do as he pleased without trying to control or advise him, but a careful watch on the Trainer herself revealed a hint.  Wherever she looked and focused her gaze on in the battlefield, Houdini soon Teleported to.  Abra were natural mind-readers... it seemed the two were intent to use that to their advantage when it came to keeping Houdini's movements a surprise until the last second.

Still, things ended up just about how Portia imagined they would.  Houdini may have gotten an urge to test himself in battle, but willingness of spirit didn't equal strength of body.  As he teleported back to her side Portia crouched down and offered her companion a fond ruffle atop his head.  "Got it out of your system now?  Where's all this coming from all a sudden?" she asked, though all she got was a mutter as Houdini flickered and reappeared sat atop her shoulders in his usual perch.  All she could do was shrug haplessly and rejoin Seymour to get their friends treated by the on-site med team.  "Thanks for that, Seymour.  I don't know what's gotten into him, but I appreciate it all the same."

---

On their way back down to rejoin the others, Portia stopped short when Houdini patted at her head a few times to get her attention, only to scowl a bit when he directed her gaze to a nearby TM vendor.  "You and me are gonna double-down on our telepathy lessons so you can actually tell me what's gotten your tail in a knot all a sudden." the teen's tone was scolding but it didn't stop her from indulging her partner as she stepped over to check out the wares.  The exorbitant prices soon pushed her to less reputable vendors, however, and she kept a critical eye on the value versus the price.  Flea markets and back alleys were always good for getting deals, but knock-offs were a risk one needed to be aware of.

Such was the case as Portia discovered a fake TM in the supply when a surprise dash of blue fire darted between herself and the merchant.  She scowled darkly as she waggled the phony TM in his face and tossed it down onto the display of other discs with a noisy clatter.  "Seriously?!  You outta be ashamed of yourself pulling stunts like this." While Portia made a bit of a fuss, it was mostly a cover - just the distraction needed for her to snatch the genuine Psyshock TM into her bag and rejoin Seymour while the shady vendor was busy cleaning up the other items scattered about.

"What in the world is that?" Seymor asked.

"Dunno... I've never seen a Pokemon like that before.  Maybe Cadien really does have its own native breeds?" Portia remarked as she knelt down near the spooked critter.  A quick shuffle through her bag produced a juicy Oran berry for her to gently offer out to the little lapin.  "C'mere hon', it's okay.  You look a little roughed up... we won't hurt you."

Portia plies her "Pokemon Friend" strength and will use a Healing Item rank, if necessary, to help the unknown Pokemon.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:21, Sat 16 Nov 2019.

OOC: I forgot to mention. Yes, Seymour's cash increases to Below Average.

Having been found out, the merchant quickly gathers his wears and runs off while Portia and Seymour examine the small rabbit.



It does seem pretty hurt, and quite scared. It only settles down once Portia manages to patch up the most painful. What you wonder, is why it's so scared.

The answers comes quickly, as you hear shouts in the distance. "A white bunny? Blue flames on it's butt?" "That way! Hurry, before it escapes!" You can't see who's shouting yet, but they could round the corner at any moment...

"I might be right? Wow! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense with covering the face. Maybe he wants to make an example of people he doesn't like, both in Cadien and out. It's probably not a big deal though. It seems like there are a lot of soldiers around." Jakey clearly didn't think it was a big deal. Despite being attacked it still seemed like someone else's problem to him.

Jake followed Eve into the hotel, curious to check it out because the deal DID seem pretty good. His skepticism let up significantly when he saw that there was a pokemon center and match-pickup spot. It would be a high effort con for not a huge payoff. He nodded to Eve and gave his vote of confidence,
"Yea, seems legit as anything."

He looked around the lobby for a place to sit for a moment. When he was out and about shopping he felt comfortable, but now he was probably going to be waiting in the lobby with someone he barely knew and had little in common with. He considered making an excuse to go out again and leave Eve behind, but they had agreed to stick together. It did not take him long to think of something to talk about though,
"Hey, uh, can you show me how you use your pokedex? I don't really know much how to use it other than the big map and the pokemon info. It was pretty cool that Portia could take video on it."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:32, Sun 17 Nov 2019.

Seymoure's eyes shifted nervously as his brain tried to work out what course of action to take in this situation. Based on the pokedex entry, he wasn't sure if the little rabbit was the victim or the guilty party in relation to the people looking for it. But in the end he determined that it didn't really matter. Portia was trying to help it, so the least he could do was try and give her enough time to finish that up. He decided to go investigate why the people were after it in the first place.

Seymour walked around the corner where he heard people coming. He made sure they wouldn't be able to see the rabbit from where he was at, then held up his pokedex with the picture of the Laconney still visible. "Is this the pokemon you are looking for? He asked the group. What did it do? It looked injured."

With any luck, he would stall the group just long enough for Portia to do whatever it was that she needed to do. Heal it, hide it, restrain it, convince it to join her team? He wasn't sure of her goals, but would be sure to find out eventually.

The shout of approaching voices made Portia flinch a little and draw some quick conclusions.  While Seymour was perhaps more generous with his appraisal of the situation, she erred on the side of the Pokemon's favor by kneejerk response.  She quickly looked about and spotted a nearby rooftop - not too high, but high enough to offer some cover and get out of line of sight of the street.

"Houdini." she urged her Abra with a quick nudge and look up at the intended target.  Her companion nodded and reached down to take the Laconney's paw in his own, offered a reassuring chitter, and promptly vanished with the other in tow to leave Portia behind. 

Assuming the Laconney is willing, Houdini will Teleport himself and it onto a nearby rooftop out of sight and hide.  Portia will remain where she is on the street to keep an eye on things.

As Seymour turns around the corner, he hears a soft chime coming from Portia.  Before he has time to worry about it, he find two man with scruffy beard, long hair, and tie-dye shirts.

"Ah... yeah man, that little thing got hurt. We're trying to get it into a Pokémon center, but it ran off. Where d'you see it?"

Seymour has a sick feeling in his stomach talking to these guys, and not just from their stench. They try to be friendly, but he noticed a small sneer when they saw his Pokédex. Also, one of them glances around, like he was counting how many people were seeing this discussion...

Portia jerked in surprise when she heard that chime, momentarily confused before she realized it had come from her own bag.  She quickly fished out her PokeDex and checked the message on the screen, then quickly typed back a reply before she stowed it away into once more.  Portia hurried around the corner to join Seymour in his unusual confrontation with the two strangers and did her best to look put-out... an easy task, as she already didn't like the look of the two men who had come in pursuit.

"Did you see where that little Pokemon went?  I tried to grab it, but it ran off down an alley and--" she stopped short beside Seymour and eyed the two strangers up-and-down briefly.  "Uh... who're your friends?"

Portia's comment causes both men to focus on her. "Yeah, it's a quick one. What alley did it go in?" Their focus shifts from the alleys to the people moving about, their focus always shifting.

"Down that way, past the shopping center." she said with a gesture off in the general direction necessary to send the men off on a wild goose chase.

With barely a 'thank you', the two run off in the direction Portia gave. Once they're out of sight, Houdini returns to her side, still holding the small bunny. It still looks frightened.

Houdini tugs at Portia's arm. He points at the Laconney, then points in the direction of the castle.