You see the town a good hour before sunset. It's nowhere near as large as Rivierstel, but it has a few large buildings, and a lot of beach front. In fact, getting closer, you see only a few docks, and no major port. Kinda strange, for a sea-side town. What isn't strange, is the large number of hotels facing the ocean, making it clear that this is a resort town.

With the sun setting behind you, you decide where to head first...

Jake didn't seem to notice the lack of a major port. He didn't have clear expectations of anything having grown up and spent all his time in one city. Despite the lack of expectations, Jake seemed to have an idea of where to go immediately,
"Lets find a hotel and find a place to stay before we hit the town proper. They might have some local maps that show off some cool locations"

In his past life, Jake sometimes made a quick coin selling maps to tourists outside of hotels. The job offers stopped coming in after he was 'unfairly' accused of picking the tourists pockets while the transaction occurred. Jake didn't bring this up, of course,
"Looks like a lot of water for our new Tykes to play in the morning tomorrow if you want to stick around here a while longer. I wouldn't mind staying here for a day, after all, we got enough money to do anything we want now!"

"That sounds good to me!" Seymour said. He was excited to get to a new city to see what all it had to offer. "I'm not in any huge rush to press onward. Especially considering my legs are still pretty sore." Walking such a long way right after surfing on poke-back for hours was really starting to catch up to his under-exercised legs. "Maybe tomorrow we can even try to track down some rideable pokemon," he half-joked. What he wouldn't do for a good Dodrio right now...

As any good tourist traps, there's plenty of maps on display stands, paid for by advertisement from the various shop and hotels in the area. It's a simple matter to find a place to stay in the off-season. And despite Jake's belief that you both had all the money in the world, Seymour found a nice, affordable room that included supper and breakfast.

Looking at the activities listed on the map, it looks like a list of the world's regional stereotypes. There are advertisement for Alolan Surfing, Unovan Rodeos, Kalosian Gogoat racing, and Jotho-style dance lessons. Even though most of these are foreign to you, you still know enough to realize the brief sounds more like a parody of other regions than an actual cultural activity.

"Well, I think I am going to treat myself to a nice relaxing evening of entertainment," Seymour said to Jakey as they looked over the brochures. "I am thinking either the Gogoat racing or the rodeo. If either of those sound good to you, feel free to join me. Otherwise, I guess I'll see later tonight?" He wasn't sure what activities, if any, looked fun to Jakey right now, but if he decided to do something else then Seymour would go to whichever event was cheaper. He looked forward to fantasizing  about having a pokemon to ride. It seemed to be a theme for him at the moment.

Both racing and a rodeo sounded fantastic to Jake. Either he would wrestle a savage pokemon or go all out in a race. He wondered if there was any prize money for either. Given he had already ridden a willing pokemon recently, he figured a rodeo might be a bigger, better challenge,
"Yeah, a rodeo sounds great to me! Hopefully they will let me jump on in! Maybe we can look at racing tomorrow if the rodeo turns out to be a bust."

Jake spent a couple moments studying the map to try and figure out where the rodeo was from their current location. Even on their way though, Jake kept an eye out for other things of interest.

It's too late to do much now, and your time at the fishery tired you out any way. A good night's rest seems like the best thing for both of you.

After a good breakfast, you head to the rodeo grounds. It looks a lot like an old school western movie, the type that reflect misplaced nostalgia more than a historical era.

Case in point.

"Howdy, partners!" A man in wearing a bright red shirt and blue bandana walks up when he spots you. "Welcome to Windzall ranch, where we got Oh-thantic Unovan rodeos! What can I do you for? We got Tauros, Bouffalant, Rapidash, even Zebstrika! If it's your first time, we got some Rhydon to get you some tenderfoot practice!"

At that, he points to a girl trying to ride said Rhydon.

...You didn't realize something as heavy as a Rhydon could jump so much...

After a good night's sleep, Jake was full of energy (like usual) and ate more than his fill of food (like usual). On reaching the rodeo grounds, Jake expanded his arms to his sides and exclaimed,
"Woah, there are so many types, its so cool!"

Jake looked a bit around to see how the other tourists were faring on their mounts before enthusiastically replying, trying his best to articulate himself in the same way the Unovan tourists did back in Kanto,
"That is one bouncy Rhydon over there. This will be my first time on such an 'authentic' version of a rodeo! Maybed I should start with a Rhydon. Oh, hey, is there any prizes for staying on the longest? There sure is back in Unova."

The accent was probably about as authentic as the presentation of the rodeo, but Jake didn't really care if they knew he wasn't from Unova. He was more concerned about how they got the pokemon so riled up. He suspected the pokemon were trained and bribed with berries to buck people off. If he were running this place, that's how he would do it, at least.

"Rhyhorn..." Seymour muttered under his breath, correcting nobody in particular (after first double checking his pokedex to make sure his suspicion was correct). Then, more loudly, he added, "I think I will start by spectating. Being thrown about isn't really my idea of fun. Watching people being thrown about is more my speed." When it was Jakey's turn, he cheered the trainer of with gusto!
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Wed 17 June 2020.

"Well, we got prizes when we've got competitions, but yah'll need to come back tomahrrow for that!" If Jake's accent sounded fake, the man's accent was downright comedic. "But first, yah need to get in a suit! Don wanna damage them clothes, rawt?" Jake is sent to a locker room to put on a jump suit, one that has some form of padding to help prevent injuries.


Jake gets back to the field, ready to try his first rodeo. "Don't worry kid, ya'll start with a real..." Your host is interrupted when Jake's future mount breaks through the wooden pen, charging madly at anything in sight, eyes glowing red in berserk fury.

It didn't take long for Jake to switch out his travel clothes for a jump suit. He didn't mind if he got his own clothes roughed up (he liked them a bit dirty and worn in anyway), but if they were going to provide him with something to help him, he wasn't going to turn them down. Sooner rather than later, Jake strutted out to the field, ready for his first rodeo.

Only, the situation turned into something more resembling a bull fight or running of the bulls as the raging Rhyhorn burst through the wooden pen. Jake, however, felt a primal urge to challenge the red-eyed pokemon. He shouted to get its attention,
"I AM A REAL MAN"

After trying to get its attention, he raced towards the bull as fast as he could, hoping it would do the same in a risky game of chicken, but he had one trick up his sleeve. As much as the Rhyhorns could jump earlier, he bet he could jump higher. Leaping into the air, he aimed to boost his elevation by springing off of the back of the Rhyhorn.

OOC for reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull-leaping

When Jakey returned, Seymour headed toward him with the strange poster he had found on the supports while the other trainer had been changing. But before Seymour even reached Jakey, a rampaging Rhyhorn made its debut. Instinctively, Seymour reached for his Lotad's pokeball only to find it missing. Lotad was still off helping his Magikarp and Roggenrola get settled in. He grabbed Glumpy's pokeball instead.

But by the time Seymour had released Glumpy, Jakey was already heading forward to deal with the situation. "Of course. He has a ton of water pokemon now. It should be no problem for Faulkner to-" Seymour's jaw dropped when he saw Jakey's real strategy. "He's going to get himself killed! Glumpy, go Stun and seed that Rhyhorn before that happens!"

"Can somebody return that pokemon!?" he yelled to nobody in particular. The Rhyhorn's red eyes made him wonder if even putting it in a pokeball would quell it.

---

Out of concern for Jakey's continued existence, Seymour is sending out his Shroomish to use Stun Spore and Leech Seed to try and hamper the pokemon's wild movements.

Jake vaguely hears the scream of the rodeo clowns, who faced with the rampaging rhinoceros, chose to flee rather than try to distract it. That's just enough to bring an inkling of doubt in the teen's mind, but he's already committed. As the Rhyhorn draws near, he pushes as hard as he can with his legs... and he realize it's not enough. Lucky for him, the pokémon helps him out... by lifting Jake up with it's horn, tossing the youth into the air.

Seymour looks away for a moment as his friend spins into the air, landing flat behind the Rhyhorn. Closer, one of the rodeo's employees look on in horror. "This can't be happening... Matilda never acted like that! What's happening!?" The other employees seems as confused and panic as the customers, and it looks like none of them have pokéballs.

With most target climbing out of the arena, and Jakey lying on the floor at the moment, Matilda turns her attention to Glumpy. She stands her ground in front of the charging beast, engulfing her in a cloud of spore. Though she seems affected, she still flays wildly at Glumpy, injuring her.

But, before she can cause more damage, Matilda's muscle seizes, and she collapses. As the dust settles, Jake climbs back to his feet, apparently unharmed by his flight.

OOC: Glumpy took one wound, while Jake only had a brief scare.

Jake flew through the air with a whooping shout that was either out of excitement or terror. He hit the ground hard though, he just managed to avoid falling flat on his face, but he might have bruises the next day. All in all, when he figured out what had happened, he lifted his arms in victory, but sounded more relieved than anything else
"Woooooo.... that was close. I may be a REAL man, but I'm certainly no pokemon."

After rolling himself up to a standing position he walked over to Seymour and offered a high five,
"Thanks for watching my back, that got dicey fast. She almost got me good! This suit is sure nice and padded though."

He then turned his attention to the rhyhorn in the proverbial room,
"What made it go so crazy though. I thought they were just supposed to hop around and kick people off, not go blasting into people like that. I hope I can still do the rodeo with a different pokemon."

Seymour returned Jakey's high five before he even realized what he was high fiving. He looked at his hand afterward, then shook his head, realizing it wouldn't do any good to fret about congratulating Jakey's recklessness. Instead, he echoed Jakey's concerns.

"Yeah. That didn't seem normal." He picked up Glumpy and gave her a tender squeeze, careful not to agitate the brave pokemon's wounds. "The rhyhorn's eyes were red with anger! We were lucky Glumpy was able to stun it so that the rampage stopped. Or maybe it collapsed from the stress..." Seymour sounded unsure.

"MATILDA!" Your host runs to the fallen pokémon. "What happened to you? What's wrong? Don't worry, we'll take care of you... GET ME SOME WATER HERE! HURRY!" The Rhyhorn opens her eyes, barely, as the man fusses over her. Looking closely, her iris are still red, but before it looked like her entire eye had turned red.

One of the employees, standing with you off to the side, cringes as he watches his boss. "Oh, that's bad... he only drops the accent when he's really shaken... or furious. Heads are gonna roll later..."

Another employee, a woman dressed as a clown, joins you at the edge of the arena. "Yeah, I'm tempted to skip the rest of the day..."

"You know he'll just be angrier when you'll come back." He shakes his head. "I wish I knew what happened to her. I've never seen her act like that."

"How about instead of worrying about your boss's anger, you go find him the water he is asking for," Seymour said to the employees in a scolding tone. Then, as he began rushing over to the Rhyhorn's side, he asked Jakey, "Do any of your pokemon know a good water move to provide a drink? My Mantyke can only blow bubbles."

When he reached the boss and the Rhyhorn, Seymour kneeled down nearby, still holding Glumpy. "Sorry I had to Stun Spore her, but I didn't want her to seriously injure herself or anyone else. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Jake didn't hesitate to pop open the pokeball containing Roach. He hoped that the fish pokemon would do fine out of water for the time being,
"Ok, Roach, use water sport to splash some water so the big guy can get a drink!"

Roach isn't too happy out of the water, but his water move does help. And not long after, two employees bring a tub of water. Another one brought a first-aid kit, to deal with the paralysis. The man takes a moment to examine the Rhyhorn, before shaking his head. "This is... I've never seen something like that. It's like she's been running all day, without rest."

"What could have done that..." Remembering you're there, the man turns to both of you. "Sorry, thank you for your help. I'm sorry your session has to be canceled... I'm afraid I'll have to close the ranch to the public for the rest of the day..."

"Well, if there is anything we can do, let us know." Seymour was about to turn to leave when he remembered something. "Oh. When Faulkner was in the changing room, I did see someone in colorful clothes moving under the bleachers. Seemed kind of suspicious. Not sure if it is related, but I thought I would mention it. I found this poster when I went to go check it out." Seymour shifted his grip on Glumpy so that he could show the campaign poster he had found.

"A... poster?" He takes the campaign poster, giving Jake a brief look.  His hand tenses as he looks at it, and he seems furious. "SANFORD!" He stomps away, like he was on a warpath.

One of the employees facepalms. "Ah no... like things weren't bad enough already..."

The rodeo clown place a hand on Seymour's shoulder. "I take it you don't know about the elections... Come on, I'll get you something to drink."

While other employees take care of Matilda, the clown leads you to a break room, and hands you some berry juice. "So you're visiting trainers? Sorry kids, you really walk into a big mess... although, even I'm surprised how big it's getting."

Jake understood what was going on... in his own way at least, he whispered to Seymour as the employee led them to the break room,
"Hey, Seymour, it looks like we are walking into a full-blown turf war. Usually I like to stay out of these, but you can definitely get some street cred and tokens of appreciation by supporting the winning side.

Sipping on some juice, Jake tried to act innocent to the whole situation,
"Wow, mister looks like you got a real mess of a rivalry on your hands. Maybe you can just elect me, a wandering pokemon trainer, and that would solve everything."

Jake beamed with am impish grin. He didn't know what they were electing for, but it was a way to break the tension a bit.

"Eh... as much as that would take care of the issues between Jenkins and Sanford, I don't think you'll convince people that you can deal with the tourism problem.

The biggest topic this election is getting visitors during the off-season. And right now, that's a toss-up between the rodeo and the races. Thing is... both owners have egos wider than a stable. They've been sniping at each others since they announced they were running, and they keep going lower.

Attacking pokémons though... that's a new low for Sanford. Never thought he'd go that far..."

"Sounds... troublesome," Seymour said, putting it lightly. "Hopefully they figure out a way to reconcile their differences soon, otherwise everyone is going to suffer for it." He didn't say it out loud, but their feud had already made Seymour decide he no longer felt like attending the rodeo or the races. Not when a Rhyhorn might start raging at any moment.

"I don't suppose there is a way to combine the rodeo and the races? An event that only happens during the off season seems like it could draw a different sort of audience than the regular shows. Not that I actually know anything about show business though..."

She shrugs. "The problem don't come from the event, they could both work just fine... as long as the owners don't try to sabotage each others. Honestly... they're the real problem here. Sanford keeps calling my boss a peasant, and Jenkin considers him a... well, let's just say it's a word not to be said in public company.

I really wish I know what was done to Matilda, if only to know what to watch out for..."

"Yeah, I'm a little curious about that too," Seymour admitted. "I wouldn't mind going to go look for clues wherever Matilda was right before the... incident." He looked sympathetically from Glumpy to Jakey, both of whom had been roughed up as a result of whatever had been done to Matilda.

Jake's mind was working through potential solutions of questionable legality to the town rivalry. He didn't speak up about his ideas yet, but he seemed willing to investigate along side Seymour. He did have some ideas that he felt OK to speak about aloud in terms of what may have happened,
"Maybe something in her food or water?"

"Well, right before she was in the pen... as for what she ate..." The woman suddenly looks worried. "She ate the same thing as the rest of the pokémons... I need to check up on the others." She leaves without really paying much more attention to you. Without anyone to supervise you, you're free to look around the place.

Outside, you spot the clown you were talking to heading for the barn, probably to check on the pokémons' food. But seeing how the rest of the pokémons are acting, it doesn't seem there's an issue. In fact, they look far too tame for a rodeo, placidly working beside the other employees of the farm. You can't help but wonder if the bucking and jumping they do in the arena is more them acting than them trying to throw off their riders.

It easy to figure out where Matilda was before her rampage, just look for the broken fence. Next to the arena are a few small boxes where the pokémons waits for their riders, the 'bucking chutes'. The chutes are divided in three different sizes, to fit ponies, horses or tauros, or Matilda. Only one part of the chute was broken, with no real signs of damage on the other side... though Jake notices a small piece of glass next to the door.

It looks like a small tab that broke off from a larger item. Looking at the inside of the door, you spot a glass ampule taped to it that fits the tab you found. Unlike normal vials, it seems made to hold two liquids without mixing them. The content is gone, but one side still has a reddish tint, while the other has a blue or green tint. The way it was tapped, the ampule's top would have been broken by opening the door, releasing it's content.

Jake's attention to detail was not immediately rewarded with a sudden realization as to what happened... rather it was accompanied by a realization that the criminal was far more clever than himself. Fortunately, the Dr. Watson of Jake was paired with a Sherlock in the form of Seymour... hopefully. Finding the ampule, Jake flagged Seymour over,
"Look here, looks like we are dealing with a real genius. They must have blinded that Rhyhorn with science... or something. Looks like some pretty somphisticanted gadgetry, how did they get the glass to be so small?"

Jake knew well enough not to touch the crime scene, so he just resorted to pointing. He did swing the door a couple times to confirm the door was the culprit that triggered the chemical trap,
"I don't know if Mr. Rodeo is super science-y though."

While he was no chemist, it was pretty easy to tell the door opening triggered the trap... meaning if the door was opened or closed by the suspect during the escape, the trap would have gone off prematurely. That, and potentially the pokemon was in the stall. Jake checked to see if the Rhyhorn and/or the culprit had any other easy ways to get in and out of the stall. Jake also checked the sight-lines to see if someone could easily sneak in and out.

Getting out would be quite simple, really. Although the sides of the chutes are somewhat bigger than shown here, someone athletic enough (or with outside help) could have gotten out with ease. The vials setup was clever, but hardly impressive. Just a good amount of brown colored duct tape, and placed low enough on the door to be easily overlooked.

As for sneaking in and out, the farm has a lot of people walking around, many of them employees. But Jake can easily recognize the "I'm not paid enough for this" look they share. And considering none of them even called out to you as you're walking around, whoever left that little surprise would have no issue getting to the chutes without being noticed.

"The plot thickens," Seymour commented as he examined the broken glass trap. "Maybe the police could dust it for prints?" His voice betrayed that he didn't think they would likely get any results from that. Regardless, Seymour made sure to look at the device carefully in case he were to ever see another ampule that looked the same.

"I suppose fingerprints would be unnecessary though, if they can figure out which chemicals were used. They could then probably track who purchased said chemicals and backtrack from there. Alternatively, does anyone know anyone who has a pokemon with a keen sense of smell? Like an Arcanine or maybe a Slurpuff? It may be possible to track down whoever taped that there by scent. Especially if the tracking is done soon." Seymour shrugged and stepped back from the crime scene. He was curious enough to continue with the investigation if it were convenient, but would also be fine with leaving the actual investigation to the proper authorities.

None of your pokémons really qualify as trackers, and the only canine pokémon you recall seeing would be Evelyn's Riolu... or perhaps Portia's Abra.

...Or that big riding dog helping to clean the broken wood in the arena.

Adressing the nearby employees, Seymour asked, "Hey, do you know who's," he checked his pokedex, "Stoutland that is? And do you think it might be able to help us follow a scent trail?" He continued scanning its pokedex entry to learn a bit more about it other than its species name.

"Oh, him? He doesn't have one. Not anymore, at least. He belonged to the old owner of the ranch. He never accepted mister Jenkins or that Sanford guys as the new owners, but he still come over to offer rides to kids." The man shrugs "He never hurt anyone, so we pretty much let him do as he wants."

When you approach him, the Stoutland sniffs you, then turns to the side and lower himself. "Looks like he's willing to let you ride him. You could probably ask him to sniff out whatever it is you're looking for."

Seymour hadn't been expecting to get a ride, but the unexpected tugging at his heartstrings that the Stoutland's backstory had provoked had compelled Seymour to hop aboard anyway. After climbing aboard, Seymour scratched the pokemon politely behind the ears. "What do you say, boy? You want to help find out which meanie made Matilda go wild? There is a little glass vial in the broken chute over there. It should have the culprit's scent. Think you could track them for us?"

Though you're not sure if he understood you, he readily sniff the vial, and soon seems to follow a sent. He moves swiftly out of the ranch, and after a bit of hesitation, away from the town, taking some large trails heading toward small hills. As you look ahead, you notice you're heading toward some sort of farm, where rows of small green trees are lined up on the side of the hills. Seymour remember seeing something like that from Fortree City's highest bridges. A winery.

Though Stoutland goes near the farm, he takes a trail going around the crop, and toward a small patch of trees. Before you enter though, Jake stops, pointing out an almost invisible structure made of leaves and wood.

If there was room aboard the Stoutland, Jake would have hopped aboard. If not, Jake would keep pace jogging along side the big dog. He didn't have much clue other than it could be anyone, but he still suspected it was a third party wanting to take advantage of the chaos.  As they moved further away from town, Jake's suspicions grew.

As they made it near the farm, Jake was keeping his suspicious-senses on high alert and was rewarded for his diligence, spotting the structure, he put his hands on his hips and pointed it out before creeping towards it,
"Woah! Its like a secret hide-out, like the time me and my gang put a piece of wood over a doorway to make it look like just a wall. But this one is cooler because it is made of leaves and nature."

If anyone was inside, they would probably hear him chattering about it, so he probably didn't need to be sneaking AFTER alerting everyone to the fact he saw it.

Seeing no reaction from the lean-to, you move closer to examine it. And it seems even more like Jake's old hideout than before, complete with packages of junk food, and a few bottles of wine with no label. Stolen from the nearby winery, perhaps?

You also find a shipping box. The label is damaged, missing most of both addresses, but you can tell it came from Ryme City in Galar, and was shipped to... probably Vermillion City in Kanto. Although most of the box's content is missing, it's still half-full of bottles of pain relief pills from RKS Laboratories.

It seems the camp was used recently, but no one is here now, and Stoutland can't find any other scent in the area. As far as you can tell, your mount followed the path the saboteur used to reach the ranch, rather than how they left it.

OOC: The Stoutland is pretty big, and can actually carry both of you.

"Great job Stoutland," Seymour said as he scratched the pokemon behind the ears again, then disembarked. He was a bit disappointed they had gone the wrong way, but not much. There were still plenty of clues to examine here. "And great job noticing the hideout, Faulkner!"

Before he began looking more closely for additional clues, Seymour released Farrah. "Can you keep an eye from the sky? Or at least the trees? Keep watch and let us know if anyone approaches this hideout." Seymour then went about recording the hideout on his Pokedex, making notes of what they had found, and taking pictures of labels and addresses.

"Think we should set up a stakeout?" Seymour asked Jakey. "Or should we just notify the authorities?" He looked for any dates on the pill bottles to try and get a sense of how old they might be, taking care not to put his fingerprints on them.

---

Does Seymour know if a Galar-Kanto trade route would go through this area? Or did the package make a gigantic detour to get here?

During your investigation, Farrah calls down to point out someone, but you quickly realize it's only the farmer going through his field.

The date on the bottles says they've been bottled a few months ago. It also seems the box was shipped out not long after.

OOC: The geography of Poké-Earth is similar to the 'real Earth' geography, with each region placed approximately where their real-world inspiration came from. So...
Galar is the British Ilse
Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn are all parts of Japan
Cadien is inspired by Russia/China, so north of Kanto, and east of Galar... but with a few countries in the way. Normally, trade routes tend to steer clear of Cadien's coast, to avoid getting stopped by military patrols.

Jake wasn't sure what the best move was. The authorities might be able to do something about this, but he didn't trust them completely... plus, there was a bit more to investigate for themselves. After taking pictures of the evidence as well, he had a couple ideas,
"I mean, we need more snacks if we are going to stake out here. We might also want to talk to the farmer to know he he seen anything suspicious. Looks like there might be smuggling happening. We can get accusing if he gets ignorant, we got pretty good evidence."

Speaking of snacks, Jake investigated the packages of snacks to see if any had food left in them, he also checked to see if the wine was all gone too. Waste not want not (that, and if there was a lot of supplies left, it might mean the culprit would return sooner or later).


OOC: Cadien isn't inspired by Canada? Oh well, if it is inspired by China 我可以联系我的中文。

Seymour pondered for a moment, then replied, "I am hesitant to question the farmer just in case he happens to be in on it. The hideout is on his land after all. Could be his, or at least his family member's. Let's do a stakeout. At least for a couple hours. I can try to scrounge up se snacks for us."

If Jakey doesn't object, Seymour will spend a bit of time foraging for some nuts, berries, and other wild foods to supplement the ingredients in his pack. Luckily the people back in the mountain town had gifted him with plenty to eat.

The grove is very small, with little food to scavenge in it. You could sneak into the winery's field, but abandon the idea when you realize they are in the middle of their harvest. You do notice that the lean-to is pretty much invisible from the farm, making you think that the builder didn't want to be seen by them.

By midday, you haven't seen anyone heading toward the hideout. In the winery, it seems the farmers have headed inside to eat, while Stoutland has settled into the lean-to for a nap.

Despite his initial enthusiasm for a stake-out the impatient youth was starting to get bored of all the waiting. While giving attention to Stoutland and rummaging around in the shelter occupied him for a while, by mid-day Jake felt like changing plans,
"I wish we could like just set up a camera and do some more surfing while waiting to get more evidence. Maybe we can go just to the authorities to have them cover the place while we go have some real fun."

After a bit of mulling on the idea, Jake amended his thoughts,
"If one of us gets the authorities, the other should stay here. You seem to be best pals with Shoutland, so maybe you can grab some police while I hold down the fort... unless you got any better ideas."

"That sounds like a solid plan," Seymour agreed. "As long as you're sure you will be alright on your own." Truth be told, Seymour was getting ready to switch up their tactics anyway. He figured if their target didn't retreat to their hideout soon after their illegal escapade, there was no telling if or when they ever would. In other words, if they haven't shown up yet, they might not show at all.

So, so long as Jakey didn't have anything more to add, Seymour hopped aboard Stoutland and headed off to notify the authorities about everything they had discovered. He directed Farrah to scout ahead while they traveled, just in case.

Seymour quickly returns to town, and quickly locate a pair of police officers. "Afternoon. How can I help you?"

Now that Seymour had found the authorities, he was at a bit of a loss for words. How exactly was he supposed to put what happened into words? The trainer took a deep breath and gave it a shot.

"I'm sure you are familiar with the feud between the rodeo and the racers related to the upcoming election? Well, today there seemed to be an escalation. A Rhyhorn named Matilda was dosed with a chemical that made her go crazy and buck all over the place. I helped examine her pen and found a device rigged to release the chemical concoction when the gate was opened. Me and Stoutland here," he rubbed Stoutland's neck lovingly, "followed a scent trail back to what we believe was their hideout and took some pictures."

At this point Seymour showed all of the evidence he had collected to the officers. As he did, he added, "My friend is still near the hideout, watching to see if anyone returns. But we figured it was time to let the professionals step in."

Jake didn't do much in Seymour's office. He mostly just enjoyed the shade and the outdoors, occasionally checking his pokedex for messages. He wasn't sure if Seymour was going to shoot him a text when the authorities were coming, but he didn't want to be caught napping on the stakeout.

When Seymour mentions the elections, the cops give each others a worried look. Once you're done explaining the situation, one says "alright, I'll look into that hideout. Try and get that device at the ranch. Hopefully there won't be any trouble..." The way he said that, he doesn't seem to believe it.

The cop, a bald man with gray eyes, follows you and Stoutland toward the hideout. On the way, he ask "tell me kid, you're not from Windzall, right? Why did you decide to look into this? You could have just let mister Jenkins deal with it."

Seymour shrugged in response to the officer's question after confirming he wasn't from Windzall, but then added, "I guess I decided to look into this partially out of curiosity, and partly to see if I had the skills to be an investigator. But largely because I was there when Matilda went haywire, and I didn't want that to happen to any other pokemon if I could help it. And the best way to ensure something was done about it was to do something about it myself. With help, of course." And speaking of help, he replied to Jakey's text to let him know they were on their way.

"I doubt it'll be that easy... this election has been so cut throat, I've never seen anything like it. We tried to get both side to tone things down, but we just eneded up getting accused by everyone of trying to interfere for one party or the other. Hate to say this, but our hands may be tied until the election is over..."

Jake sees the pair return not long after receiving the text. The cop greats Jake with a nod, before looking through the lean-to. He takes a short look at the junk food wrappers, but focuses more on the wine bottles. "No labels? That's unusual... you didn't drink any, did you?" He takes out a pair of swabs in sterile vials, and rubs them on the mouth of the bottles. He also gathers some hair or fur from the lean-to. "It's not much, but it could help us ID a suspect."

Jake shrugged as the authorities arrived,
"They were like that when we got here. I don't drink sour grapes. I had that stuff years ago and it was nasty. I heard some farmboys talkin about wine going missing, so it is probably theirs. I didn't want to give it back yet because it is crime stuffs, and they might think -I- took it."

Curious about the next steps of the investigation, Jake pressed the officer,
"So, does this seem like something either of them might do? Seems too sciency to me. Maybe a mad scientist is secretly running for mayor too?"

"Nah, no scientist. But..." He looks at the box of medicine. "But there is a weird firebrand who decided to jump in. Olivia Melton. She's an online media star, or at least, she claims she is. Most people I know don't think she'll win, she's just too extreme. Her idea of 'improving tourism' is to open the border to Kanto. Something the government would never allow. But that her style: criticizing the government at every turn, and complaining about the military.

I don't know... it seems really extreme, even for her. I'll need to talk to the farmer here, in case they saw anything. As for you two... well judging by what you've done so far, I'm sure you'll find some way to enjoy yourselves."

He takes down your contact information (you see his name is Michal Walter), and leaves to visit the winery.

OOC: If you have other questions, feel free to ask them. Otherwise, the question is: what do you want to do with the rest of your day?

Seymour happily shared his contact information and said to Officer Michal Walter, "If you find out who was responsible for this whole mess, or even what chemical was used on Matilda, don't be shy about sending a message my way. I am very curious." Other than that, he was perfectly happy to let the professionals take over the investigation. He had had his fill of amature detective work for the time being.

Once the officer was off to complete his next task, Seymour turned to Jakey. "So what should we do with the rest of our day? Go find some wild pokemon? I suppose we should bring Stoutland back first though, whatever we do. Unless you want to hang out with us for the rest of the day?" He scratched the Stoutland's neck as he guaged its reaction. It seemed the big dog was free to do as it pleased and only hung around at the ranch on its own whims. As far as Seymour was concerned, it could come with them on their entire journey.

Jake shrugged at the idea of bringing Stoutland back,
"The big one is nice to keep around, if they don't mind, we just bring them back at the end of the day. Looking around for something wild sounds fun. After all, we are already out of the city. I just hope there is still a rodeo tournament tomorrow. I gotta win!"

Jake didn't know much about what the police officer was talking about. Social media kind of sounded like a science thing, but it didn't fit quite right. In any case, Jake's pet theory is this Olivia was behind it all. He didn't voice his opinion on that, nor his opinion that borders were dumb things too. Why all the hassle keeping people in or out of a place, just let the people have fun.

When you turn around, you see Stoutland hasn't waited for you. Instead, he wandered away from the grove, apparently sniffing a trail. You follow after him, wondering what he found in the tall grass, but before you catch up, you hear a loud roar, and see Stoutland fleeing back toward you.

"What is it?" Seymour asked. Although it was unclear if he was asking the Stoutland, Jakey, or even Farrah. Regardless, he slipped behind a nearby tree for protection as he tried to see what had given the huge dog such a fright. His fingers hovered near his pokeballs, ready to grab the appropriate partner once it was clear what the threat was.

Farrah takes off to fly over the source of the roar. A few burst of flame float up from the area, but they go out before reaching the bird. She returns to land on Seymour's tree, seemingly unimpressed by what she saw. "Fetch" she says, waving her wing toward the grass.

You soon spot what she saw, as a canine jumps out of the grass and into view.

It's tail is wagging wildly, and as soon as it spots Farrah, it gives out another powerful roar. The Farfetch'd jumps in surprise, and flies where Stoutland is crouching, looking more ashamed than scared.

Jake had taken cover when hearing the first roar, but when the pup appeared, Jake was confident enough to emerge from cover and crouch to get at its level -- from a safe distance of course. He knew enough city dog-type pokemon to know that a wagging tail wasn't an overtly aggressive sign, so he tried to talk to it,
"Hey there big woofer, you think you are something fierce. Do you wanna fight or just act tough?"

While one hand reached around his back to the pokeball containing Skipper, his other hand reached out, palm up, towards the dog to see if it wanted to be friendly.

Seymour was concerned at first when the tiger-puppy showed itself, but then laughed when he saw it was just goofing around and practicing its roars. No wonder Farrah looked embarrassed about being startled. "That little guy is nothing to be scared of," he said playfully. Seymour let Jakey do his thing while he walked over to Farrah and Stoutland to comfort them, still chuckling. He eventually returned Farrah to her pokeball too.

It's easy to see the Growlithe wants to play... problem is, it's playing with fire. It barks at Jake, who stumbles back from the burning embers. It's a good thing that the area is well watered, otherwise you'd soon have a fire on your hands.

Jake figured that the best way to avoid the situation escalating to a fight would be to ensure a human was playing with the pokemon, not another pokemon -- especially because the dog didn't seem to realize how dangerous the embers were.

Jake moved his hand a bit past Skipper's pokeball and instead opted for releasing roach behind himself as he continued to face the dog. He tried to keep his voice calm to avoid pepping up the puppy for the moment,
"Ok, Roach, use water sport to cool off this pupper so it doesn't hurt anything. Seymour, want to play with it, or any of your pokemon might?"

Roach splashes water all around the area, soaking both Jake and the Growlithe. The canine tries to shake it off, but to no avail. It also causes it to sneeze more embers, who sizzles and die off on Jake's wet clothes.

"I think he likes you!" Seymour quipped after the Growlithe sneezed on Jakey. Seymour relaxed even more and leaned against the tree he had initially hid behind. He absentmindedly pet Stoutland and checked his Pokedex on the Growlithe while he watched Jakey play with the energetic pup.

Growlithe, the puppy pokémon.
Friendly and loyal, but also jealously protective of its territory. Carelessly approaching it may result in a bite.

It doesn't seem like this one is defending it's territory, so that would explain why it's not really aggressive, just playing a bit rough. You think tiring it out could help.

"I am betting the Growlithe will get safer to interact with the more you tucker it out. I'll see if Locke wants to play with a fellow fire type and help you out."

He released his pokemon from its ball and hoped that letting a dog play with a rabbit wouldn't be a mistake. "Locke, want to have a bit of fun? That Growlithe seems to be in a playful mood. If you want, you can play too and help to wear him out a bit." He would leave the decision up to his pokemon whether he actually wanted to play or not.

When Jake heard Seymour let out Locke, he realized he had a fire-type pokemon too. With that thought, he released Lackey as well, but stayed on the ground to roughhouse with all three of the pokemon. He hadn't been doing much but sitting in the lean-to for most of the afternoon, so he had a lot of pent-up energy to burn off too.

For a moment, you fear you made a mistake by showing an excited dog two small, bouncing rabbits. The Growlithe chases after the pair, even before Seymour is done talking. The Laconneys have to jump all over to avoid the pooch, Lackey even seeking refuge on Jake, who find himself chased by the Growlithe too.

It's a good thing Jake is used to running away, as he's able to keep out of the dog's reach long enough for it to lose interest. Panting, it just lies down in the shade of the nearest tree to take a nap.

Jake decided to take the opportunity of the soon-to-be napping Growlithe to broker a deal. Crawling over to it on all fours, he reached for a pokeball and showed it to the dog while talking in a measured calm voice,
"Hey there buddy, do you want to take a rest in here? That way we can play together where ever we go."

You're not sure if the puppy understood you or not, but after giving the ball a sniff, it hits it with it's paw, and vanishes inside. After a few shakes, the ball locks, giving you a new pokémon.

After all that, you think you have enough time to get back into town before sunset.

"Looks like you have a new buddy!" Seymour commented after Jakey caught the Growlithe. "Got a name picket out for it?"

He looked to the sky to gauge the time, then checked the actual time on his pokedex. "I guess we should be heading back to town, huh?" He returned Locke to his pokeball then walked back over to Stoutland again. "What do you think boy? Think you could bring us back before you head home? Of course, you are welcome to keep traveling with us too, if you would prefer." He held out an empty ball to the Stoutland, much like Jakey had to the Growlithe. Although he was much more certain the Stoutland knew exactly what he meant, unlike the little fire pup. "No pressure though. I know you like the rodeo."

Stoutland just huffs and looks away, ignoring the ball, but offering his saddle for you to climb on.

Back in town, you try a restaurant promising 'genuine Hoenn recipes'... After eating, Seymour is convinced there sign must have had a typo, because he doesn't recall seeing such food back home.

His sentiments are echoed by a bearded man at another table. "Arr... still can't get the sauce right." He pays his bill, picks up a sailor's coatand leaves to the sound of alternating footstep, and the clop of a wooden peg leg.

With an empty evening ahead of you, you consider what to do.

Seymour was not surprised by the Stoutland's reaction. As much as he would have loved to have a new friend join his party (especially one that could give them rides), he understood the big dog already had a home here and loved giving rides to all the tourists. Back in town he made sure to give Stoutland a tasty treat as a thank you before sending it on its way.

After a... disappointing dinner, Seymour turned to Jakey after the sailor exited. "I bet that guy has a lot of stories to tell," he commented. "What should we do now? Go train a bit? Get some early sleep and head out early tomorrow morning? See what that pirate-sailor-guy is all about?" It was clear by Seymour's tone that he didn't really have a preference.

"Oh! And remind me to retrieve Lotad before we go to sleep tonight."

Jake didn't pay much attention to the sailor in the restaurant, and he didn't notice the inauthenticity of the food he was eating. Nevertheless, the idea of tracking down the sailor was not a bad idea, it was just like an investigation, and who knows,
"Maybe the pirate smuggled the pokemon poison in! We should definitely go find him!"

It was... unlikely, but the idea was a highly entertaining one.

Following the man is quite an easy task, as he's completely unaware of your tailing. Although... you can't help but notice someone else seems to be tailing him. It takes you a bit of time to get a good look, but the way the hoodie-wearing couple is trying to keep their distance from the sailor makes it look like... well, you two, to be honest.

You try your best to stay out of their sight, as the sailor makes his way to one of the few docks of the town. This one boast a sign announcing "Dread Pirate Joe's Boat Tour". As walks past it, the other stalkers suddenly run toward him, and push him off the dock in an abrupt splash!

The two run off, leaving a piece of paper on the dock. Looking at it, you recognize Sanford's electoral poster, though with a big "WE KNOW" scribbled on it. "What the b... blub... help!"

Seymour didn't hesitate to act, even though it meant "blowing their cover." Not that they really had much reason to remain undercover anyway. Unfortunately he hadn't yet retrieved Lotad, so his only water pokemon was the newly hatched Mantyke. "Turbo! Someone's in trouble! Help keep him from sinking under!" Hopefully Turbo could act as a handy paddle board if nothing else.

Even as his pokemon was attempting to help, a part of Seymour's mind couldn't help but wonder about the whole campaign poster thing. A second poster left behind at a second crime scene? What exactly was going on in this town?

Turbo does a good job of supporting the man, giving him a chance to get his bearings and calm down. With a bit of work, his soaked clothes slowing him down, he makes his way to a small ladder to get back on the dock.

"Tarnation... what was that!?" The man tries to shake the water off of him, without much luck. "Argh... Thanks for the help, lad. I be the Dread Pirate Joe. These scallywags almost sent me to Davey Jones' locker." It's pretty hard to take the 'dread' part when Joe is still dripping all over the dock, but he does his best to keep up his role.

Despite Jake being concerned when the man was pushed into the water, he could not help but laugh that the whole thing happened,
"Oh man, they got you GOOD, but really what was that for? A dread pirate makes some enemies. Yarr? Joe is a pretty tough name. Are you still doing any night boat tours tonight? I know my water-type pokemon might want to go for a swim along side a boat!"

Jake also picked up the poster and looked at it, showing it to Joe with a confused look on his face,
"What's all this about anyway?"

"Ai, they must be after me treasure. Alas, it's too late for me to show it to ya, as the sun would set before we reach it." He waves to his ship, a modified fishing barge. Rather than a typical hold, it has a seating area with a glass bottom to see underwater.

"Ya seem to have foreign accent kids, where are ya from?" Joe ask, before looking at the paper Jake hands him. His smile melts as soon as he sees what's written on it.

Seymour let Turbo enjoy a moment splashing in the water as they helped Joe recover from his quick dip into the sea. Almost without thinking, Seymour answered the man's question. "I'm from Hoenn myself. Near Lilycove City. Ever been there?"

He noted Joe's melting smile when the pirate looked at the poster. "Yeah, what is that all about?" he asked, echoing Jake's question.

"It's..." He looks at both of you. "Hoenn, you said? A nice place, I've heard..." You notice his fake accent is gone.

He looks around a bit, then signals you to climb aboard his ship, and into his cabin. Inside, you see a bunch of memorabilia from Hoenn, Kanto, Johto... a few seems to come from father still. And by the looks of it, they're not local reproductions.

"Here, have a seat." He clears out a small bench of it's DVDs (mostly bootlegs) and foreign magazines, one of them boasting an interview with Galar's champion Leon. "Galar... their league is really impressive. But I like Hoenn better. Much better cuisine..." He shuffles about, avoiding your gaze while he tries to put a bit of order in his fanboy room of anything not Cadien.

Jake piped in when he saw something of Kanto in the boat,
"Yeah! I am from Kanto! Not from a port city or anything though, so I never learned to swim like you though. Lots of this stuff looks real cool, I wish I had a boat where I could go all around collecting all sorts of cool stuff. Even better if I had a pirate crew to help out!"

Jake was momentarily overwhelmed by all the cool stuff in the living area to remember to press the guy about the poster.

"Yes, it's... neat." He sits on his bed, looking at the poster. "...It's also contraband... the government has a tight grip on what's allowed to come into the country, and it takes a lot to get approval. All these knick knacks are just not worth the bribes it would take to get in, so the only way to bring them in is by smuggling..."

"Smuggling?" Seymour asked, surprised. Well, not that surprised. "Does that have anything to do with why you were just shoved into the water?"

"Seeing who's got the contacts out of the country, and who takes care of distributing it..." He nods to Sandford's poster. "It's a pretty clear message that someone wants to sink us..."

The silence is heavy, with the waves hitting the ship the only sound around you. "I should call him... they'll probably go after him next. If they haven't already..."

Jake remained silent, waiting for the pirate to say more... until the sailor mentioned another person,
"Why do people care about a bunch of harmless collectables? Or were you also getting other stuff in that is not just cool stuff? Anyway, we got pokemon, we can protect people who need protecting... and fight people who need fighting!"

Jake felt bad for the old pirate, it seemed like the guy just wants to be free to do what he wants and the dumb laws keep getting in his way. Then again, this guy might be smuggling in the berserk potion that caused the rhyhorn to charge him. Jake didn't know what to think yet, so he decided to listen before jumping to conclusions, for once.

"Probably a good idea to call him though," Seymour replied to Joe. "Faulkner, do you think it was the same people who made trouble at the rodeo earlier today?" So far Seymour was starting to think that Windzall was pretty on top, but had a really seedy underbelly. Like a rose full of sharp thorns.

Seymour was starting to think he may not want to stay here much longer. If Jakey wanted to stay and fight, that was fine, but things were starting to get a bit too serious for his own tastes...

Joe shrugs at Jake's question. "The souvenirs are usually ignored. The mags and movies tend to need a bribe to pass. They don't like it when people learn about other countries..."

"What's that about the rodeo?" he ask at Seymour's comment.

Seymour went ahead and explained. "We went to the rodeo this morning and a Rhyhorn went berserk. It was drugged. We found a Theodore Sanford campaign poster at the scene." He didn't feel their subsequent investigation was worth mentioning just yet.

Joe looks surprised at that. "Drugged? That's... no, as much as Sanford and Jenkins hate each others, they'd never get pokémons involved..." He suddenly looks worried. "You don't think Jenkins is blaming Sanford for this, right? Cause if he did, he might attack anything else Sanford is involved with... like the smuggling..."

Looking pale, Joe grabs his phone. "I need to call Sanford."

Jake rummaged around, looking through all the knick-knacks out of curiosity as to what the pirate had collected, he wasn't planning on stealing though. He did remember one thing and piped in as Joe got on the phone with Sanford,
"Oh yeah, the drugs were from Kanto, I don't know if they were smuggled, there was mail stuff that looked pretty official on it."

"Here. I'll show you the pictures I took while we did our amature investigation." Seymour showed Joe the evidence he had collected.

"While you call Sanford, I think I am going to head out and call it a night." Seymour was not at all comfortable wedging himself into the middle of all of this foreign election drama and crime, and was looking for a good way to remove himself from it all. "You can stay if you want, Faulkner. But I'm going to go catch some Z's with a master ball. Call me if you need anything."

Joe looks curiously at the picture. "Drugs? Like... medicine? Why would anyone smuggle that in? No one in their right mind would buy medicine on the black market." He shakes his head. "Sanford never asked me to get something like that, just souvenirs and foreign media."

As Jake looks around, his gaze is drawn to the Galar magazine Joe was holding. Aside from the picture of the champion, there's also a mention of an article inside about "Chaos in Ryme City's Carnival, why are pokémons rebelling?"

Jake decided to stick around just a bit longer. He trusted the pirate's response and waited for him to finish the call to figure out how the situation was going to resolve that night. If it was going to be ongoing, he would probably just go back to the hotel anyway though. As he paged through the magazine, he was mostly reading for the pictures... but he tried to read an article that looked like pokemon being crazy. Rather than trying to read the entire thing with his less-than-fully-literate eyes, he showed it to the pirate,
"Look, there are crazy pokemon in other places too!"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I think it was written off as a disease or something... Hello? Sir, it's Joe... I know, but it's important..."

While Joe focuses on the call, Jake reads the article. The details are a bit sparse, only mentioning a series of incidents where pokémons went berserk, attacking everything around them. There's some 'expert' debating if it's entirely caused by something called R, or if it's a latent anger the pokémons had that was brought up by the drug.

"...I... I understand, sir. I will... I guess I'll have to leave for a while... At least until the elections are over..."

After Joe wrapped up the call, Jake decided that he helped out enough for the day and decided to head back to the hotel after getting Joe's travel plans and phone number.

Jake joggled lightly back towards the hotel, aiming to catch up to Seymour, whether he caught up with him on the street or met with him back in the hotel he explained the potential shortcut,
"Hey, Joe is planning on running off in his boat for now and can take us with him to Herenport. It should speed up the trip and makes sure we don't get stuck in a spooky swamp. Plus, our water pokemon can be in their normal place, in the water. If you don't wanna go on the boat, we can just meet up again in Herenport when you get there on foot."

Seymour wasn't sure how to reply at first. On the one hand, Joe seemed like a nice guy and it would be nice to shorten their trip. On the other hand, Joe was an admitted criminal. And Seymour did not want to have his stay in this region cut short because of his association with Joe. Eventually the thought of another day out on the water won him over.

"I guess it couldn't hurt if we hitch a ride, if he is willing to give us one. I'm not going to help do anything illegal tough. If he plans on doing anything illegal, I guess I'll walk. I would like to keep my record here as clean as possible in Cadien."

---

The only thing Seymour still plans to do before going to bed is to retrieve Lotad.

The night passes without issues...


You get a quick breakfast, before heading back to the beach. As you cross town, passing in front of a small alley, you notice a very brief flash of blue-white light behind a garbage container.

OOC: Seymour has his Lotad once more. You're also fairly confident that Joe's not planning to do anything criminal. From what he said, he's little more than a mule, grabbing packages left underwater by the real smugglers, and handing it over to his boss.

Jake seemed a bit distracted that morning. Still, whatever was distracting him was not enough to make him miss the flash in the alley. He turned to Seymour,
"Hey, wassat? Did you see that flash? Maybe it was another Lacconey!"

He didn't wait for Seymour's response before letting out lackey and heading towards where he saw the flash,
"Hey buddie, we may have found another one of your cousins!"

Looking behind the dumpster, you see a pair of cream-colored bunnies with blue ears. It's not clear to you why, but one of them seems rather angry at the other, attacking with electrical sparks.

"Another Laconney?" Seymour replied to Jakey. It seemed unlikely considering how far the two of them had traveled, but Seymour followed Jakey into the alley regardless. To Jakey's credit the pokemon they discovered was rabbit-esque, like a Laconney, but it was definitely not the same.

"Hey!" Seymour yelled at the Minun picking on the other, even as he pulled out his pokedex. "Can't you see you're scaring them? They're terrified. Stop that!" Considering he saw electrical sparks, Seymour called out Glumpy for a bit of extra protection. He figured the naughty Minun might need a little Stun Spore time out if it decided to be aggressive.

---

Seymour will check out Minun's pokedex entry. He will have Glumpy use stun spore if it gets aggressive. It doesn't look like it is being affected by the same thing as the rhyhorn, does it?

It's clearly lacking the glowing red eyes that the Ryhorn had, but it seems very angry at the one you're holding. The...

Minun, the Cheering pokémon
Minun is more concerned about cheering on its partners than its own safety. It shorts out the electricity in its body to create brilliant showers of sparks to cheer on its teammates.

This one isn't cheering, though. Instead, it screeches and tries to attack again. Glumpy stands in the way, releasing a cloud of spore at the same time... but the Minun seems to just ignore them.

Meanwhile, the Minun in Seymour's arms is so scared, it's wetting itself...

OOC: The stun spore seemed to have no effect on the Minun.

Seymour probably would have been upset about the Minun in his arms wetting him, but he currently had larger problems to deal with. Especially since he had forgotten that grass and electric types were naturally more resistant to Glumpy's stun pore. "Looks like this will be an old-fashioned battle then," Seymour commented, mostly to himself. "Glumpy, see if you can drain it. Mega Drain!"

Seymour spared a quick glance over to Jakey to see what he and Lackey were doing. If Jakey had a stronger strategy idea, Seymour would be more than happy to let his friend take over the battle.

---

Jakey, feel free to hop in and take the reigns if you were hoping to catch a Minun. I don't mind.

Storyteller, I was just noticing that Glumpy's Absorb and Mega Drain attack are identical. Is that an error?

Minun showers the area with sparks, but Glumpy ignores the electricity and replies with his own attack. It looks the little rabbit has more energy than your companion can absorb though, as it continues to attack without pause.

OOC: I think I rated Absorb's damage on it's Let's Go stats, but rated Mega Drain on it's SwSh stats. I've increased Mega Drain power by one step, instead of dropping Absorb.

Jake was surprised that it wasn't another Lacconey, but was ready to fight after realizing that a fight was going to happen. He didn't have a great plan and his words to Seymour reflected that,
"I guess we can stop the bullying brother!"

He then directed Lackey to jump into the battle,
"Alright Lackey, lets cool off that minun with a powder snow! And don't let the lightning get you!"

Jake didn't seem too interested in catching either of the Minuns, but might do so depending on how everything played out -- after all, he had yet to catch an electric type and there was one right in front of him. Though the attacking Minun was a bit too sassy even for Jake's taste.

Unlike Glumpy, Lackey isn't as resistant to the Minun's electricity. It breaks your Laconney's concentration, leaving the snowy assault to spread too much to cause damage.

Meanwhile, the second Minun slips from Seymour's grasp. When you look down, you see a confused Glumpy standing next to... another Glumpy?

"Uhh..." was all Seymour managed to say as the second Glumpy appeared. He pointed his pokedex at the second Minun/Shroomish. "Tr- try a leech seed," he managed to say to Glumpy. But he had to admit, he had become quite distracted.

Glumpy shakes off his surprise, and covers the Minun with seeds. They slow the hare enough that Lackey lands a hit with his snow, knocking it down.

With the electric threat out of the way, every eyes turn back to the second Shroomish. The attention seems to worry it, and it backs up as Seymour's pokédex speaks.

Shroomish, the Mushroom pokémon
If Shroomish senses danger, it shakes its body and scatters spores from the top of its head. This Pokémon's spores are so toxic, they make trees and weeds wilt.

That sounds perfectly normal... but where did it come from?

OOC: Seymour, you notice you're not actually wet, despite the impression you got earlier. Jake, do you want to throw a pokéball at the Minun before it passes out?

Jake opted not to catch the minun, after all, he had a limited amount of pokeballs, so he couldn't go around catching all of the pokemon he saw! Still, he felt weird to just leave the pokemon in the middle of the alley, so he approached it as Seymour figured out how his glumpy was cloned and where the other minun went.

Jake reached out a hand to the knocked-down minun, palm up to show he didn't mean it harm and talked in a level voice,
"Hey bud, you can't just go around shocking everything that makes you mad, your gunna get wiped out all the time if you do that. You gotta keep a cool head."

Jake wasn't sure if the pokemon understood him or if it was going to even stay conscious. If it did end up fainting, he would put it at the edge of the alley where it was less likely to get trampled if anyone else came down the alley and wasn't looking down.

The Minun is unconscious, but Jake easily finds a warm spot to hid it in so it can rest.

Meanwhile, the Shroomish looks curiously at Glumpy, while the latter tries to hide behind Seymour's legs. Or is it the Shroomish that's hiding? Even though pokémons of the same species look quite similar, there's normally enough differences to tell two of them apart. Here... they seem identical.

Seymour scratched his chin as he tried to figure out what was going on. Was the second Glumpy a psychic illusion? A transformation? An odd Double Team attack? "Glumpy, return," he said, holding out his pokeball. It would help to have only one pokemon to focus on so that he could be sure he was addressing the correct one.

Then to the remaining pokemon, he knelt down and offered it a bit of food from his pack. "Don't worry, the Minun won't hurt you any more. I have no intention of hurting you either. I'm a friend." He pointed toward Jakey who was dealing with the KOed pokemon. "He's a friend too."

As Seymour pulls out a piece of food, the Shroomish starts to... melt. It's skin turns purple, then pink, and it's bulbous shape turns into a sort of quivering jelly. The only indication that it's still a pokémon are it's two dot-eyes, and drooling mouth.


Ditto, the Transform pokémon.
It can reconstitute its entire cellular structure to change into what it sees, but it returns to normal when it relaxes.

Seymour's jaw slowly dropped in fascination as the Ditto transformed right before his very eyes. He had heard of Dittos before, but had never met one in person. "My, my. Aren't you just the cutest little trickster! Jakey, check it out. A Ditto!" Seymour let it have its pick of his food. "I don't suppose you would want to come along with us and have some more fun? We'll keep you safe, well-fed, and play lots of games!"

Seymour could see why the Minun may have become upset now. It probably isn't fun to have someone steal your face. Especially when you aren't expecting it.

---

This one was on my list of Favorites! Definitely going to try and convince it to come along on Seymour's journey. I'll use up to the maximum number of favor points to do so too.

You're not too sure how well the Ditto understands you, but it offers little resistance to your pokéball... so little that the ball got into the Ditto before the Ditto got sucked into the ball. But after a few shakes, the ball locks, confirming you now have a Ditto!

OOC: And for only two Favor points! Congrats!

With this little side trip done, you make your way to the beach, with Joe's boat waiting at the dock.

After taking care of the minun, Jake indeed checked out the ditto,
"Woah, I heard of these guys before. They are awfully spooky. Its really cool though. Can they turn into humans, or just pokemon? I never know. I don't want it to look like me, but its super cool anyway!"

When getting to the beach, Jake had a momentary second thought as he changed direction to the bathrooms,
"I never really been on a boat before. I am going to clean everything out so if I get sea-sick, I will be OK."

Joe greets you from his ship's bridge. "Ahoy, matey! Ready to sail the seven seas?" The idea of setting out to sea seems to have raised your captain's spirits enough to restore his accent.

OOC: Unless you have some last minute task to take care of, you can continue your travel in Herenport.

But first...
Both of you gain 10 favors for your time in Windzall.
Glumpy's SA increases to Below Average
Roach can choose one of these abilities:
  Mud Dweller (Pokémon resist Water and Ground moves one step further)
  Oblivious (Pokémon is immune to Enrage, Infatuation, Taunt, and Intimidate)

This message was last edited by the GM at 02:36, Sun 26 July 2020.