The trip took a whole day, but was without issues. As the sun was setting, you pass what looks like a lighthouse on the coast. Joe is at the wheel, and call out on the radio. "This is Sunken Treasure to West Herenport Watch. We're thirty miles from the protected area, ten miles off the coast. Request permission to head into port. Over."

The radio crackles, before an answer is heard. "This is Herenport Watch, we have you in sight. Area is cleared. You are free to approach, no challenge in progress. Over and out."

"Copy, over and out." He sets his radio back down."Look out, me mateys! We're about to pass the battlefield of the seas. Off our starboard bow is where the proud members of Cadien's navy practice their maneuvers, as well as where brave trainers challenges them to earn the anchor badge. If ye be brave, perhaps you'll sail these stretches yourselves!"

For all of Joe's promotion, the area looks far from impressive in the dying light of the day. Just a collection of small bare rocks, jutting out of the sea to serve as obstacles, or as perch for the local flying pokémons.

Seymour had enjoyed the boat ride from Windzall to Herenport, and it turned out his worries about riding with a smuggler were thus far unfounded. He let his pokemon out for a bit too, one at a time, so that they could experience a bit of the boat ride themselves. He thought that Malley, his malleable new Ditto, would like the boat too, but he would have to wait until port to retrieve the cute little gum-wad pokemon from the computer to add to his team.

As they neared port, he listened with interest to what Joe had to say. "I just might have to stop back here in Herenport after we defeat the gym in Roarac," Seymour mused to Joe. "An anchor badge sounds cool. Do you know what people need to do to earn it?" He figured now was as good of a time as any to get some more information.

And to Jakey, he asked, "So were you able to handle the waves? Was it better or worse than surfing on the back of a Mantine?"

"They often change the challenge to keep it fresh, but one that popular is a marine hide-and-seek, where ya need to find you're foe's ship before he can sink ya. But..." He leans close and speak in faux whisper "I've seen they were working on an old style schooner for a while now. Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll use it for a challenge!"

As a "bip" comes from the ship's console, Joe focuses on his sonar once more. "Oops, sorry kid, I got to focus here. We're comming in through the graveyard, and there's a lot to hit in here."

Jake looked a bit green for the first leg of the journey, but he seemed to be in better health and spirits as they made it near to Herenport. Roach and Many, on the other hand, was having significantly more fun swimming next to the boat. He replied candidly to Seymour,
"With a mantine, I can choose when to get off and it is so fast and close to the water. Here, I just wobble back and forth for ages and if I want to get off, I drown. Mantine surfing is WAY better. Still, it sure beats getting stuck in a swamp. It was a good idea to boat here."

As they got into more dangerous waters, Jake pulled his pokemon back into their pokeballs and kept and eye out for any debris as he listened to the description of the anchor badge. He was getting a bit more acclimated to the water, so the idea of roaming the waves in a game of hide-and-seek wasn't too alien to him,
"Hide-and-Seek in a place like this sounds really cool! There is so much to hide behind and explore. If the whole thing wasn't water, I could spend a week here looking through all of the junk!"

Jake seemed sincere in his desire to look through junk. He had a storied past of finding curious odds and ends while dumpster diving. Something he had not yet had to resort to in Cadien.

"I know what ya mean... well, it's getting a bit dark, but maybe you can get a bit of a look..." He flips a switch, and a light comes from the bottom of the boat.

You watched through the boat's glass bottom during the trip, but as you moved away from Windzaal, the sea got too deep to really see the bottom. Now with the setting sun, it's still pretty dark, but Joe seems to have a few lights installed under the boat, giving you a glimpse at a collection of sunken vessel, draped in a coat of silt.

As the bottom of the sea floor lit up, Jake quickly became entranced by what he could manage to see through the glass. He let Joe navigate in peace as Jake scanned the bottom for any skeletons or signs of buried treasure. He was not specifically looking for Pokemon, but if he saw one, he would try to get a picture of it with his Pokedex.

Seymour was similarly entranced by the view underneath the boat. But instead of looking for treasure or bodies, Seymour was enjoying catching a glimpse of a future battlefield, so to speak. A part of his brain was already formulating plans and strategies for winning a gym badge down there. Of course he probably wouldn't remember the layout or even be in the same area of the water when he finally tried for the anchor badge, but it was still a fun exercise for his mind regardless. And also like Jakey, he was interested to see what sorts of pokemon were in the water too.

When they reached shore Seymour said to Joe, "Thank your for the ride. And the information. I really appreciate it. I hope everything works out alright for you in the end. It will be interesting to see how that election turns out in Windzall. Hopefully things don't get too much more crazy there..."

A school of Finneon passes under the ship, passing between the sunken vessels.

Only for a humanoid shape to appear out of the wreak, diverting them in another direction. As you pass, the light gives you a brief look, just long enough for the Pokédex to identify it.


"Nommlin, the Helpful Fish pokémon
Some groups of Nommlin live in their own underwater villages, near human towns. Humans sometimes visit by wearing SCUBA gear.

The Nommlin vanishes in the shadows once more, as the boat continues on it's course. "It should be fine... I'll just keep my head low, and not make any waves. Once the elections are over, I'm sure it'll all sort itself out. Heck, maybe I can mail you a the result once they're in!" He looks back at the glowing lights of the very large port, were multiple warships are docked. "For here... keep in mind that the Navi is considered the 'elite' of the army... and they like to remind everyone of it. They're usually not too bad, but they love to challenge new trainers in town."

Joe settles his ship in a small section of the port, apparently dedicated to the maintenance of civilian ships. After a brief discussion with the watchman, Joe grabs a bag, and says "I'll show you to a good hotel. It's not fancy, but it's affordable and comfortable."

Jake was enthusiastic seeing the Nommlin, checking to see if there was a favorite button on his pokedex so he would remember to come back to try and catch one later. He was a bit uncertain about SCUBA gear, so he didn't pay much mind to it. Jake also expressed an eagerness to hear the results of the election,
"Yeah! And if you figure out who made the pokemon go crazy, let us know too! And being challenged by another person could be fun! I don't think I have any pokemon ready to beat up some water-types, but I think I could hold my own in a real battle!"

With that, he gave a thumbs up to both of them and got ready to get off the boat and head towards the hotel.

Seymour was impressed by the few pokemon they saw and wondered if they were friendly or not. At the very least, they weren't attacking the boat, so that was a good sign. Granted, with a harbor this big, boats had to pass overhead constantly.

Content to follow Joe to his recommended hotel, Seymour disembarked and followed along. He was ready to get some rest and start fresh the next day, after switching a few pokemon on his team. Unless, of course, there was a good opportunity for some evening leisurely activities. Like Jakey, he wouldn't mind facing one of the local challengers either. "Does the hotel have a pokemon center nearby?" he asked Joe.

"Sorry, this hotel is caters more to civilian sailors, like me. The trainers don't often come to this side, they prefer to stick to downtown, or the gym itself."

Despite the lack of trainer facilities, they do have a few flyers advertising a charity tournament. It takes place over the whole week-end, with tomorrow's event being focused on team battle. A quick call to the phone number at the bottom confirms you can still sign up if you want.

Jake didn't mind being in a hotel without a pokestop. Being in a place for a working man suited him just fine. It would probably have fewer amenities, but so long as the stay was cheap and provided shelter from crime, he figured it would be OK.

Seeing the flyers, Jake turned to Seymour,
"Do you think they mean team battle like two trainers working together or just more than one V one with pokemon. I'd be down for it either way!"

Asking the hotline, they confirm that it's teams of two trainers facing off, each with three pokémons. "Also, it's a chance to see none other than Colonel Kenya Corina, the communication expert!"

Joe's eyes grow wide when he hears that. "That's one of the Elite Four! She loves to promote up-and-coming trainers that could have a bright future!"

After finding out more about the event, Seymour still just as excited to enter the tournament. "I would be happy to try the challenge, if you're up for it," he said to Jakey. "I need to figure out my team though. Hmm. But regardless, it will be cool to see one of the region's elite four too! I am suddenly extra glad you convinced us to come to town the fast way. Otherwise we may have missed our chance to enter."

"I'm thinking that Glumpy is an obvious choice for my half of the team, since there is a high likelihood of facing water pokemon. And Farrah is a strong choice too. Not sure about my third choice yet though. Which pokemon do you want to use, Falkner?"

---

As of now, I plan to switch my team to Lotad, Shroomish, Farfetch'd, Laconney, Mantyke, and Ditto. I will send/leave Dunsparce, Roggenrola, Magikarp, and Magikarp back home.

Jake was effusive at the idea of the tournament,
"Heck yeah! I don't know if we would just be battling water pokemon, so you can handle countering them, I'll just make sure my new catches get a chance to have some fun. Since we have been on the water so much, Duder and Growler haven't had a chance to get out and about. I'll also put Skipper in, after all, Skipper is my first pokemon! Gotta represent!"

While two of his pokemon were weak to water, they were also strong to potential counters for water. Either Jake was attempting some 3d chess or he just happened to not have his pokemon that were weak to water out on the various boat trips they had been taking.


In terms of pokemon management, Manty will go back in the PC. I had one too many pokemon for the boat ride.

"I think I will give Malley, my Ditto, the third spot on my half of the team then. That way we can either double up our advantages, or match our opponent with an equal force. Plus, transforming is bound to be a lot of fun just on its own." Seymour was really looking forward to the tournament now. Even if they lost in the first round, it would be a blast.

"Should we work on a bit of team building training before bed? I know Malley hasn't gotten a chance to hang out with everyone yet."

The man on the phone notes down your information, including your number of badges and home town. He was quite surprised by your answer, but quite happy about it too. With the paperwork settled, you go to bed, still thinking about your strategy for the next day.


You wake up the next morning to grab breakfast, and leave the hotel soon after. "I need to check on my ship. I'll make sure to head to the stadium to see you compete, though!" Joe says before heading back to the docks.

That leaves you a bit of time before the competition starts, should you wish to do a bit of shopping.

After a good night's sleep, Jake was eager to battle it out in the tournament. While he was not too interested in shopping in general, he did look for some TMs to potentially give him an edge in the coming fights.

He would also stop by a pokemon center to ensure all his pokemon were in tip-top shape before the battles began.

The only thing Seymour was interested in shopping for before the match were some extra healing supplies at a good price. But he wasn't overly concerned about it. If he found a good deal, great. If not, he would make due with what he had.

Seymour, like Jakey, also made sure to stop at the pokemon center one last time before their first match. When they two met back up, he said to his friend, "I hope you're ready! Let's show these people what a couple of out-of-towners candy do!"

Seymour does find some affordable potions and medicine, enough to bring his Healing items to Below Average.

Jake doesn't find many useful TMs. In the end, he can afford either Incinerate or Rock Smash, but doing so will drop his Pokédollar by one level.

With your shopping done, you head to the arena, a quite impressive building compared to the places you've fought before, being a true professional arena. People are already filling in, passing under a large screen announcing the tournament. The image changes to that of an alluring black woman with alabaster hair, a small Dedenne sitting on her shoulder.

Once you're inside, you soon find the passage for competitor, where you're allowed to pass once they confirmed your identity. You join the other competitor, where one of the manager explains the rules.

"Good day, everyone. I'm Cynthia, I'll be the one calling you when your match is up. A quick run down of the rules: matches are team battles between pairs of trainer, three pokémons per trainers. You can switch what pokémons you use between matches. If you need to, you can use the PC here to access your stored pokémons. All pokémons will be healed between matches. Only item held by pokémons can be used, no potions or X attack here.

The tournament is single elimination, with Bye rounds given at random to contenders with the fewest badges. Finally, you will be divided into three tiers, same as the gym classifications, based on badge numbers. Contenders are seeded at random, and only revealed at their first match."

With that, she shows the three competition boards. There's no name on them, but it does show you the size of each group. And the largest by far is the second tier, who have two elimination rounds before the quarter finals. With just one badge, you find yourself in the first tier, meaning you'll have three matches to get through at most.

The elimination round for the second tier starts the tournament, since there's so many of them. Most of the competitor are relaxing in one corner or another. Most contender are keeping their pokémons hidden, hoping to avoid giving away their strategy to their opponents.

Most.

The muted discussions around you are soon overshadowed by the threatening growls of a Mightyena looking ready to pounce a Ninjask.

Seeing the Mightyena and Ninjask ready to face off, Seymour smiled. Not because of the conflict he was witnessing, but because they were both pokemon types from his home region. He leaned over to Jakey. "Say, do you think there are other trainers in the tournament who are from other regions? Or are we the only two?" After a moment's consideration, he figured he might as well find out. "Actually, I'll go ask those two pokemons' trainers if they are from the region. Assuming they can avoid a pre-match scuffle..."

Seymour approached the site of the Mightyena-Ninjask conflict and waited for a good opening to speak with one of their trainers to ask if they were from Hoenn. He figured since they had their pokemon out of their pokeballs they wouldn't be as secretive as most.

Jake wasn't sure if they were the only ones, he knew there were other trainers brought into the region, but the event didn't seem to be as well advertised as say, the final league. In short, Jake just gave Seymour a shrug. He followed Seymour to the point of the conflict, but was noticeably behind Seymour rather than beside him. He was less sure about jumping into a scuffle than an election conflict.

Like most of the other trainers, Jake didn't reveal his pokemon, except for Roach. He hadn't been planning on using Roach, so he kept it out to potentially make other trainers think that he was going to use it. It was not a sophisticated con, but it could be a bit of an edge. More than trying to deceive other trainers, he kept his ears open to try to overhear anyone talking strategy. He hadn't been a part of a formal team battle before, so any hints he could pick up would be good info.

"Hey! Quit buzzing Basker!" A short girl with dark brown hair holds back her Mightyena.

Further off, a black-haired boy who's reaching under the room's benches shouts over his shoulder "it's his fault! Your dog opened Zippy's ball... can't reach..."

Most of the other trainers look at the dispute with a chuckle. One of the watcher close to you say "she's not gonna get far... I heard the Singing Sisters are participating..."

To which someone answers "no kidding? I'm glad I'm not in the third rank, then!"

You notice the various trainers are wearing their badges, showing off their successes. The girl seems to have four of them (a walkie-talkie, a truck wheel, a jet, and an anchor). Most other trainers have two or three, most of them having the radio and wheel, while a few have a trapezoid with five... bugs, maybe? And some wear the Nightvision badge you have acquired yourselves.

OOC: Who do you want to approach?

Seymour was intrigued by the mention of the Singing Sisters and would have liked to find out more about who they were, but he instead rushed over to help the person trying to reach under the bleachers. "Here, maybe I can help," Seymour said, retrieving a piece of his gear from his pack to try and extend his reach a bit. He did his best to help swat the lost pokeball out from under the seats.

"I'm Seymour, by the way," he said with his face pressed against the floor. "Is that your Ninjask flying around? Zippy? I've always thought they were pretty cool. Shedinja too."

"Yeah, it is... come back!" He recalls his pokémon, letting the Mightyena calm down. "I would have love to see a Shedinja, but my dad didn't know about them when he caught Zippy. So when he evolved, the shell got left behind. Oh, and I'm Tray. Nice to meet you!"

Now that he's standing, you see he has three badges: the Night-vision, the trapeze, and the Anchor.

"That's too bad about the Shedinja, but not too surprising. They are kind of a mystery, even in Hoenn." He gestured toward Tray's badge collection. "Oh wow. Three badges? That's pretty cool! I only have one so far. I'll probably try for my second after this tournament though in Roarac. Looks like we probably won't end up facing each other, since you have an anchor badge. Is that trapezoid badge from Roarac?" He was assuming the bug-like things on it were a representation of the hoard theme.

"Oh, yeah. The Swarm badge. It's a pretty tough one, for a first level gym. They give you a small outpost to defend, and they send waves of bugs after you. And you got to command three pokémons at the same time too!"

"Tray, Edward, April, and Janet, you're next!"

"Oh, looks like it's my turn already. I'll see you when I win!" With that, he heads out of the locker room.

While you wait, you hear a bit more about the Singing Sisters. It seems they're the favorite of the tournament, though they're more interested in show business than training. Seeing how open the gossip on them is, you're assuming they're not present.

Tray and his partner come back after a while, but before you can chat, you hear "Jeffrey, Paris, Seymour, and Falkner, you're up!" Cynthia guides you to your entrance, and you get a look at your opponents. One is a tall kid with brown hair, while the other is bald with ruddy skin.

You wait for the match before yours, before walking on the field. "And here they are, ladies and gentlement. Two of the visiting trainer joining us to show their talents!" That gets a mixed reaction from the crowd, but seems to surprise your opponents. At the judge's signal, they throw their first pokémons into the fray: a Lotad and a Chimchar.

OOC: Time to send out your pair, and choose your strategy!

Jake waved enthusiastically to the crowd as he was called out. He was a celebrity now, even though there was a mixed reaction, it was still a reaction.

He decided to start with his starter, Skipper,
"Hey, Skipper water down that Chimchar with your water gun! Keep going until you put out its fighting fire!"

He then looked to see what Seymour was planning... hopefully something to counter that Lotad. Lotad had an advantage against Skipper... but Growler and Duder would also be at a disadvantage.

Seymour was starting to feel nervous as the two of them walked out to face their opponents. And the fact that they were pointed out as outsiders didn't help either. But when he saw their opponent let out a Lotad, the crowd seemed to melt away and Seymour couldn't help but smirk. He knew all about Lotads. Their every strength and weakness. He threw a pokeball high into the air. "Farrah! I choose you!"

He was glad to see Jakey had taken the initiative to go after the Chimchar so that he could focus on the water and grass type more exclusively. "Farrah! Peck the Lotad's leaf! Flip it upside down if you can." It wasn't easy to tip over a Lotad on land with its broad leaf. At least not without lifting it clear off the ground. But if Farrah happened to succeed, it would be even more difficult for the pokemon to right itself. Which would give their team a huge advantage.

---

My team is Farfetch'd, Shroomish, and Ditto. Farrah is dive-bombing the Lotad with a peck attack and tipping it over if the opportunity arrises.

Farrah's dive-bomb is a sight to behold, as she nails the Lotad's leaf, sending it spinning out of the ring. The Chimchar looked about to pose and threaten Skipper, but the sudden fall of his team mate causes it to pause... until he's sent reeling by a Water Gun.

The referee looks at the Lotad, before declaring that "Lotad is unable to battle!"

It's trainer grits his teeth, and replaces Lotad with a Piplup.

OOC: Well... I didn't think we'd get a OHKO on the first round. Or that Skipper would manage to outspeed Chimchar. You're off to a great start!

"Great moves Farrah!" Seymour said to his pokemon. It looked like even the Farfetch'd was surprised by the outcome. As the new for appeared and Farrah circled around, he called up to her, "Now let's show them who's the better bird. Cut that Piplup down to size!"

---

Farrah will use Cut for the time being.

Jake took a second to flash Seymour a thumbs up,
"Woah, Farrah is awesome, too bad Fetcher isn't in this round, they'd be unbeatable together!"

In terms of changing his strategy, Jake wasn't, instead he cheered on Skipper,
"You nailed him, now do it again! Blast him with all you've got, Skipper!"

The battle was going better than expected, Jake knew from his personal experience that people on the ropes tended to make a mistake, all him and Seymour had to do was keep up the pressure and the enemies resistance would collapse.

Seeing Farrah is the greater threat, Chimchar tries to attack her with a Flame Wheel, only to be struck again by Skipper. Piplup tries to help, only to stumble as Farrah swoops in and strike with a surgical Cut.

Seeing both their pokémon get overwhelmed, their focus breaks apart, as Chimchar shifts his focus to Skipper, trying to take him out with a flurry of claw strikes, dancing about to avoid the Mudkip's counter attack.

Meanwhile, Piplup tries to defend itself from the stick-wielding bird, only to be struck again an again, with a precision that any samurai would envy, until the little penguin falls. "Piplup is unable to battle!"

Two down, and the trainer throws his final pokémon on the field...

Curious at the unfamiliar pokémon, you pull out your pokédex.

Kaleidofly, the Stained-Glass pokémon. Type: Bug/Glass
It's beautiful wings are actually razor-sharp crystals, and can focus light into dangerous beams.

"Glass type!?" Seymour exclaimed with both astonishment and confusion. He had never heard of such a type before. But even a glace at the beautiful bug let him know that the pokedex was accurate in its description. He had no idea if Farrah was at an advantage or disadvantage against a glass-type pokemon, but he did know she had an advantage over bugs.

"Farrah! Shatter that Kaleidofly's wings with a powerful peck! Watch out for its sharp edges and be on the lookout for light beams." At least he shouldn't have to worry about Farrah's keen eyesight being hindered by blinding glares. It would have been nice to help out Mudkip with the Chimchar, but if they could take out this Kaleidofly then it would be two vs. one for the rest of the battle.

---

Farrah is using Peck on the bug to test out the attack's effectiveness.

For a moment, Jake was captivated by the beautiful bug pokemon, but Seymour's exclamation brought him back to earth,
"What in the world? I never heard of those!"

With the new, unknown threat on the field, Jake switched strategies from dousing the chimchar with endless water and pivoted towards the Kaleidofly,
"Good job blasting the Chimchar, Skipper, now lets smudge up that glass with a mud slap! Be sure to keep your distance from its blades though!"

If Farrah does well against the glass/bug, Jake will switch back to spraying the chimchar with water. Otherwise, he would keep trying to debuff it with mud slaps.

The glow from Kaleidofly's pokéball seemed to still bounce within it's wings... until it unleashes it on Farrah! The blast seems super-effective, but she struggles on, and lands her own super-effective blow, shattering the moth's crystalline armor.

As the shimmering bug falls to the ground, the referee calls out "Kaleidofly is unable to battle!" as April fall to her knees, out of pokémons.

Chimchar tries a desperate Ember to try and weaken Farrah, only for Mudkip to finally knock it out with another Water Gun.

With only June remaining in the fight, she throws in her second pokémon.


Sinisette, the Potion-Brewing pokémon. Type: Ghost/Psychic
Sinisette are apprentices of arcane knowledge. They eagrely pursue new spells, potions, and lore.

"Another one I haven't seen before," Seymour commented to Jakey. Then, to Farrah, he said, "You're doing great Farrah. Try to get behind that Sinisette and get in some well-placed Fury Cuts!"

Having Farrah use a bug type move was a bit of a gamble. But the attack would get stronger and stronger the more hits she got in. And right now, Farrah was on a roll! He just hoped she could keep up the momentum. And with Skipper keeping the Sinisette's attention divided, it seemed the chances were pretty good.

---

Farrah is using Fury Cutter.

Jake glanced again to Seymour,
"Yeah, they have a lot of awesome pokemon! I hope I can catch more pokemon like theirs"

In terms of tactics, Jake knew enough about ghost pokemon to know normal attacks wouldn't do anything, but he was less sure about what worked well against them. He considered switching pokemon, but he didn't know which would work better, that, and he did have a tactical enough mind to know showing off all his pokemon would put him at a disadvantage in future rounds. You should always keep your shiv well concealed.

As the situation was now a 2 v 1, Skipper had some more flexibility in what to do. It seemed like Seymour wanted to blast down the remaining pokemon with little delay, but Jake had a different plan in mind,
"Alright Skipper, use Foresight, then use bide! Prepare to fire your laser!"

Skipper, of course, did not have a laser. Nevertheless, Jake wanted to see how powerful Skipper could become when it had adequate time to prepare. That, and if the opponent overheard him talking about lasers, it might make them frightened!

Foresight first, then bide if 2 rounds go by. If three rounds go by, an epic water gun!

The small humanoid fires off a series of spells, focusing it's attacks on Farrah. It also tried to Confuse Skipper, but he shakes it off quickly.

Farrah does her best to avoid the repeated Psybeams, getting a few attacks here and there, with Skipper's support. In the end, after a long duel, Farrah manages to knock out the Sinisette, though not before she suffered a wound of her own.

As the referee calls out Sinisette, your opponent throws in her last pokémon: a Goldeen.

Farrah was looking roughed up, but not nearly as bad off as one might expect after her and Skipper took out five opponents. "Last one, Farrah. Think you can hold on for one more go? Let's give that Goldeen the old Peck, Cut, Peck maneuver. Keep it on its toes! Figuratively speaking."

Seymour had Glumpy ready to use Mega Drain if Farrah fell, but he knew Farrah would feel like a genuine champion if she made it until the end. And he didn't want to take that away from her. He just hoped the Goldeen didn't know any ice-type moves.

---

Using Peck, Cut, Peck, etc. to keep the Goldeen guessing. If Farrah looks close to fainting, he'll have her keep more distance and use Sand Attack to help out Skipper. If she goes down, Glumpy will come out and use Mega Drain.

Jake seemed frustrated that Skipper's mega-water-gun missed, but he didn't let that keep him down.
"Nice try Skipper. Now try to block for Farrah and use mud slaps to keep the goldeen dancing!"

Jake hadn't thought the goldeen would know anything but water moves, so he wanted to get into a position Skipper's dry skin would get some hydration. Now that they were near the finish line, Jake was starting to get even more animated. In his tournament debut, he might get a sweep! Well, Farrah had done most of the work, but even so, he was a part of a team that might sweep the opponent.

Blocking for Farrah as a priority, but doing mud slaps as convenient.

Goldeen immediately proves Jake's thought wrong, hitting Farrah with a Supersonic attack to confuse her. It doesn't stop her attack, but Goldeen endures the blow, and avoid Skipper's first Mud-Slap.

The fish continues with a Horn Attack wounding Skipper, only to be injured by both Farrah and Skipper. In a panic, it tries to hit Farrah with a Water Pulse, only to miss and hit Skipper instead, healing his injury!

But while Skipper is doing well, Farrah's attack ends with her crashing to the floor, further injuring herself. Stepping back, she adds her own Sand attack to Skipper's Mud, further blinding the overwhelmed fish.

As it stumbles, Skipper deliberately steps in the way of Goldeen's horn, and returns the hit with a Knockout Bide, ending the match!

With two fists raised in the air, Jake let out a massive whoop, offers a high five to Seymour then calls Skipper back to him, lifting Skipper onto his shoulders, then again raises both of his hands and waves to the audience as if he just won the final.

Despite the over-the-top celebration, if there is any indication of any such norm, Jake would happily shake hands with the opponents in honor of the good, fair (even if somewhat one-sided) fight that had just taken place. Even complimenting them on their awesome pokemon (especially the 'glassy butterfly' whose name he had temporarily forgotten due to his excitement).

Although disappointed about getting swept like that, but they congratulate you on your strong team. They also mention that Larfae, Kaleidofly's first stage, can be found around Roarac. You part ways as you return to the locker room for your next match.

Trey waves at you as you enter. "Great match! If all your pokémons are that strong, you could probably compete in the same tier as me!"

OOC: Quick level up for your active pokémons:
Farrah increases her HP and SpA to High
Skipper's SpA and SpD increases to Average

Also, I'll be leaving for the next two days to visit my family. So next update will be Wednesday.

Seymour stood frozen as his mind tried to process the fact that they had just won without either of them switching their pokemon. It wasn't until he returned Jakey's high-five that he began jumping up and down with excitement, then ran over to go scoop up Farrah for a victory hug. "You were amazing out there! Your moves were just unbelievable. Great job!" He squeezed the skilled bird tightly, yet gently, knowing she probably had received a few bruises during the battle. "We'll get you healed up right away."

Seymour was happy to shake hands with their opponents who were gracious enough to tell them where to find Larfae. He wished them luck in their future endeavors before heading to the locker room. In the locker room, Seymour greeted their new friend Trey with a wide grin. "Thanks, Trey. I hope you're right! How did your match go?"

---

Farrah's adjustments have been recorded on her page. Have fun on your trip!

After the match, Jake gave a thumbs up to Trey,
"Skipper is my favorite for now, but he isn't my strongest! Still, I'll only be on your level when I have as many badges as you!"

Jake wasn't going to boast about the strength of his pokemon when he didn't know the extent to them yet. He knew his Farfetch'd was almost as fierce as Farrah, but other members of his team only had minor encounters for him to gauge their strength.

After chatting with Trey, Jake would get Skipper all healed up before watching some more matches before his next one if possible. Rather than watch for any strategic purpose, he was more interested in the spectacle.

_____________________________________________________________________

Have fun and stay safe!

"It wasn't too bad... though our opponents tried using rain to hinder us..."

"Hey! Hey! It's them! It's their turn!"

Turning to a wall television, you see an image of the gym's pitch, where two trainers are waiting for their opponents. Then, with a cloud of mist and colored spotlights, two girls in idols outfit step on the field, flanked by a Greninja and an Aurorus, accompanied by an unfamiliar musical track. "That's them... the Singing Sisters." You can hear Trey's admiration in those simple words.

The fight doesn't last long, and seems even more one-sided than yours. As soon as the battle starts, the sisters and their pokémon begin to sing. And with just that song, the field gets surrounded by a cold mist, and their opponents fall one after another...

OOC: And I'm back! Your semi-final will start tomorrow!

Seymour watched in awe at the spectacle of the Singing Sisters' battle. He wondered what their actual strategy was that seemed to work so well. He had a feeling there was more to it than what was visible on the surface. He even considered the possibility of dirty tricks at play. However, maybe he was just tainted by their experience at the rodeo.

Regardless, he got his pokemon all healed up, chose his new team, and awaited his and Jakey's next match.

After a bit more waiting, you are called with your opponents, Annie and Nola. A short and muscular black-haired girl, and her plump chalk-white-haired friend. You remember seeing their match. They relied mostly on a strong Sigilyph, backed by a Finneon and Drowzee.

Knowing that, you head to the field... remembering that they probably remember your match as well...

OOC: Your opponents have chosen their starting pokémons, but are waiting for you to throw yours before revealing them.

Knowing a bit about their opponent helped Seymour decide which team he was going to use in the battle, but in the end he decided not to switch any of his pokemon. He was still going to use Farfetch'd, Shroomish, and Ditto. And also like last time, he decided to start with Farrah. He guessed they might have planned a counter for her, so it would be good to find out what that was right away before he revealed any of his other pokemon. And if they didn't? Well, Farrah was still a strong choice to send out first.

"Farrah, let's show them that you're not a one-hit wonder. Let's go!" He sent the fierce bird's pokeball spinning out into the center of the battlefield.

After being awed by the singing sisters unbeatable strategy, Jake was dreading the next match. His spirits were boosted significantly when his opponents were not the singing sisters (or perhaps a discount version of them). Despite his improved attitude, his entry to the battlefield more subdued than the first time. This time he just waved instead of jumping and waving.

Despite being mostly uneducated, Jake was able to figure out how to get the pokedex to tell him what he had needed to know about his current opponents pokemon that he had spotted when they fought last. It definitely helped that the device had symbols to represent the types of pokemon instead of written words. Words were overrated and hard to understand anyway.

Jake was wary that sending the same pokemon out twice would make him more predictable, but he still wanted to keep Skipper on his team, so he just benched Skipper for the first round and went with Growler. Duder was his third pick. As soon as the match began, Jake sent Growler's pokeball spinning,
"Alright Growler, show them what you are made of!"

As your pokémons are thrown on the field, they send out theirs. The Drowzee appears, accompanied by a Poochyena. You didn't see their canine before, but you have some idea how they use their psychic companion: lots of Hypnosis and the occasional Poison Gas.

OOC: the teams are set, and the battle starts! What are your first commands?

Jake reacted the instant he saw the Drowzee come onto the field. He felt proud of himself for doing research ahead of time to understand psychic type weaknesses,
"Bite that Drowzee!"

Jake kept his command as short as possible, trying to take complement Growler's speed with his own terse orders. He didn't want to see his pokemon being helplessly wailed upon while napping, so getting the drop on Drowzee was his plan from the start -- and he was lucky to have drowzee be on the field first.

Growler going for the jugular with bites until the drowzee goes down.

"Farrah, help out Growler with your Fury Cutter! Try to avoid eye contact and stay awake." It seemed Jakey also viewed the Drowzee as the bigger threat. If their pokemon fell asleep, there would be little they could do except wait for them to wake back up again.

---

Farrah will help attack Drowzee with Fury Cutter.

Jake's plan works, as Growler races across the field before anyone can react, wounding the Drowzee. Farrah follows up with a Fury Cutter, flying right through a cloud of sand kicked up by the Poochyena.

Rather than take advantage of her swift attack, Growler looks back at Jake for approval. When he shouts to attack again, the Growlithe tries to bite again, only to miss. Farrah does better, injuring the Drowzee again.

As she realizes Farrah is unaffected by the Sand Attack, Nola commands her Poochyena to hinder Growler instead. The attack distract her enough for Drowzee to find his focus, summoning a cloud of Poison. While Growler manages to roll under it, Farrah accidentally pulls the cloud toward her with her wing beats, poisoning herself.

Before it can try again, Growler manages to knock-out the Drowzee. With her first target down, Farrah manages to strike down the Poochyena with her Fury Cutter.

Your opponents toss out their next pokémons, a Pikachu and a Sandslash.

OOC: Being Badly Poisoned, Farrah will have a cumulative HP penalty to resist injury, and will take a wound if she rolls an Ex No.

"Farrah, return!" With his beautiful bird poisoned and an electric pokemon on the field, Seymour knew it was the right move to recall Farrah for the time being. But what Seymour was less sure about was which pokemon to send out in her place. His mind raced to figure that out while Farrah was being reabsorbed into her pokeball.

Glumpy would have an advantage against the Sandslash and was resistant to electricity as well. However, Ditto could transform into the Sandslash and be immune to electricity. Then there were Jakey's pokemon to consider as well. He had one that was good against each of their current opponents, should he decide to switch. But if he didn't, the Sandslash could pose a problem to Growler. Being an evolved pokemon, Seymour figured it was a wise idea to focus on defeating the Sandslash first. Besides, it was likely to use physical attacks. And if it used Physical attacks against Glumpy it might receive a poisonous surprise in return.

All that raced through Seymour's mind in a matter of seconds. And by the time his thoughts were finished, Glumpy's ball was already flying through the air into the Sandslash's general vicinity. "Glumpy! Seed that Sandslash, then use your Mega Drain!"

---

Switching out Farrah and switching in Glumpy. Glumpy will try using Leech seed on Sandslash, then switch to Mega Drain if successful or if she takes a wound.

Jake had similar thoughts to Seymour. When he saw each pokemon come out on their own, he felt confident... but when he considered them together, his confidence waned. The pikachu would be good against Skipper, but Skipper would be good against Sandslash. Meanwhile Duder would be good against pikachu, but would be countered by Sandslash. Growler had no advantage, but was in general awesome.

It took him a bit longer to work through his thoughts than Seymour, but came to a conclusion without too much of a pause,
"Great job Growler, you're fantastic! Nice job snapping up victory!"

Jake spoke as he called Growler back into its pokeball and he cautiously threw out Duder's pokeball. Duder was in some ways there to be beat up. He was a rock wall,
"Alright Duder, lay that pikachu low!"

Duder uses smackdown on pikachu. If duder is not targeted in the first round, switch to rock polish, then start using rock throw on pikachu.

You quickly realize the pair is far faster then your companions. The Sandslash attacks Glumpy with a Rapid Spin, avoiding the mushroom's spore but not causing a major injury. Duder tries to catch up to the Pikachu, but it runs too fast for the geodude, despite it's Rock Polish.

The two opposing pokémons decide to focus on Glumpy, paralyzing him with a Thunderwave, and tossing him around with a Dig attack. Glumpy managed to plant Leech Seeds on the Sandslash, but he wasn't able to attack again.

Then... your opponent calls back her Pikachu, apparently wishing to save it against Farrah. In it's place, she sends out a beautiful moth.


"Diamoth, the Arctic Moth pokémon. Type: Bug/Ice
A Diamoth's wings are made of crystal-clear ice. Lens-maker studying wild Diamoth must take care not to go snow-blind.

Jake's plan did not work out, unfortunately. Pikachu was able to run circles around Duder while attacking Glumpy. Still the quick pikachu was gone now, so Duder might be better off against this new pokemon... but it depended on the speed.
"OK Duder, try to smack down this new moth! If you can't keep up, use rock polish until you can!"

Jake had started to learn how to deliver more productive, contingent orders.


Duder tries to use smackdown on Diamoth. if EX:No on speed check, use rock polish again next turn, then try another smackdown.

Seeing what appeared to be another strong contender enter the battle, Seymour's optimism took a hit. And when Diamoth was revealed to be both an Ice and Bug type, it fell even further. Glumpy was at a double disadvantage against it. And she was currently at risk of paralysis.

But his other pokemon weren't necessarily going to fare any better. And Glumpy had already latched her seeds onto the Sandslash. Maybe she would be able to hold on long enough to take the ground pokemon out. Especially if Duder continued to draw its attention the way it was.

"Glumpy, focus on the Sandslash. Try and drain it dry! If it goes out of reach again, aim seeds at the moth in the meantime."

---

Glumpy will use Mega Drain on Sandslash as much as possible. But if it goes underground again, Glumpy will try to Leech Seed the Diamoth while Sandslash is unreachable.

You're distracted by Diamoth's wing, as the sun turns them blindingly bright. Duder seems quite annoyed by that, and puts an end to it by laying the Smack Down on the bug. Your cringes, then sends her Pikachu back on the field.

Unfortunately, Glumpy was unable to move through the paralysis, giving Sandslash the opening to land a Fury Cutter, injuring him.

OOC: Quick fight update: your opponents are down to three pokémons, one you haven't seen yet. Glumpy has an injury and suffers from Paralysis, while Farrah is Badly Poisoned.

"Way to go Duder!" Seymour congratulated the Geodude. "Glumpy, return!" The poor plant was having a rough time out there and Seymour figured she could use a bit of a break at this point. Besides, now seemed like the perfect time to double up on eliminating that Pikachu! He pulled out Malley's pokeball and threw it into the ring.

"Malley, time for some fun! Transform into that Sandslash and surprise that Pikachu from underground!"

---

Recalling Shroomish and sending out Ditto. He'll have Malley transform into Sandslash and use Dig on Pikachu (or another similar ground-type move). Can Ditto transform again at will?

Jake's plans remained the same, even when Seymour switched out his pokemon. He knew that duder would be weak against the Sandslash, so it was only a matter of time before the slasher knocked Duder out, but if Duder could last a bit longer, it could work with Malley to make the remainder of fights a 2v1.
"Alright Duder, great job with that moth thing!  Now use rock polish, then smack down the pikachu too!"

Malley appears on the field, and turns right away into a copy of the Sandslash... the only one on the field, as your opponent dove underground once more. The Pikachu dashes from side to side, ready to dodge any attack. Not that any take place, as Duder winds himself up to be even faster.

Instead of copying the opposing Sandslash, Malley hits the ground with both it's arms, causing a miniature earthquake, causing Pikachu to stumble and injure itself, and Sandslash to come out of the ground, a bit dazed.

The Pikachu tries to paralyze Malley, but it's copied Ground nature disperse the Thunder Wave safely. The mouse makes a surprised face, until Duder knocks it out.

Nola's shoulder drops, as she's out of pokémon. Only two pokémons remain!

Jake gives and enthusiastic cheer as another one bites the dust. Full of adrenaline, he doesn't think of the typing advantages and disadvantages and potentially switching in skipper. After all, his rock was on a roll! Still, he was cognizant enough to pay attention to the mimic'd sandslash's actions and what options duder had available,
"Way to roll, Duder. Now, speed up again with rock polish, then go for a BIG TACKLE on the slasher. But if the slasher digs, use magnitude to root him out!"

Seymour threw a fist into the air victoriously as the Pikachu fell. Malley's attack worked even better than he had anticipated against the Sandslash, and it's transformation proved to be a great advantage against the electric mouse's electricity.

But the battle wasn't over yet. They still had two pokemon to take out, and two of Seymour's own pokemon were afflicted with status effects.

"Keep it up Malley! Do almost the same as Duder. Use magnatude again if it goes underground. But if you can see it, slash it!"

---

Using Slash or a Slash-like attack unless the opponent goes underground. Then it is Magnitude time!

Malley and Sandslash face off against one another, Malley with a series of Fury Swipes, while Sandslash attacks first with a Rapid Spin to get rid of the Leech Seed, then with a massive Magnitude blast. The shock waves tears apart the arena, injuring Duder... and almost swallowing Sandslash as well! Yet Malley, the main target of the attack, merely shakes like Jello, unaffected by the vibrations.

Duder tires his best to help, but he keeps tripping over one rock or another, unable to land a blow on the swift shrew.

OOC: I forgot to tell you Malley's moves... oups.
Magnitude (Ground, P, Special, Acc 0)   Gets +2 Pow if target uses Dig. Affects all Close.
              Damage is based on a Above Average question. Ex No: Low, No: Average,
                 Yes: Above Average, Ex Yes: Incredible
Sand Tomb (Ground, P, B. Av, Acc -2)   Target cannot leave battle, and takes +1 Dam until a damage roll is Ex No.
Dig (Ground, P, High, Acc 0)   2 turn move, avoids all but Magnitude, Fissure, and Earthquake the first turn.
Poison Sting (Poison, P, Minuscule, Acc 0)   Poisons on a 1 to 3 on the damage check.
Rapid Spin (Normal, P, B. Av, Acc 0)   Gives user +1 Speed, and removes Entry Hazard, Bindings, and Seeds.
Fury Cutter (Bug, P, Low, Acc -1)   Gets +2 Pow after hitting once, +4 after hitting twice in a row.

Jake grit his teeth as duder struggled to control its speed and land a hit on the shrew. Still, despite the wound duder took, he was not ready to give up hope that he could nail the shrew,
"Get used to your speed and keep on trying to tackle! Keep the shrew moving so Malley can land a hit, maybe!"


______________________________________________________________________________

Jake is being stubborn and keeping duder use tackle instead of switching to a more effective pokemon.

Seymour nodded along with Jakey's orders. It seemed like as good a strategy as any. "Yeah, Malley, try to match its speed with a Rapid Spin of your own! You can do it!"

---

Using Rapid Spin to boost speed and try to land a hit. But, as usual, Malley will switch to Magnitude if their foe goes underground.

Malley uses Rapid Spin... but it seems he could only use it once! They try to return to Fury Swipes, but they can't land a hit even with Duder's help.

On the other hand, Sandslash can't seem to take down Duder, who resist a Poison Sting and dodge a Sand Tomb in quick succession. In desperation, it tries another Magnitude, still fearing how it almost injured himself last time. With how damaged the floor is, the attack becomes even more devastating, knocking out Duder.

And Malley still plays the wobbely Sandslash to avoid the blow.

"Malley, try a magnatude of your own before Falkner gets his next pokemon out. Then try using some poison stings!"" This Sandslash was even tougher than expected. Luckily his Ditto was too.

Jake's head sinks a bit when duder gets KO'd.
"Good job Duder, you did your best!"

The next pokemon choice was pretty obvious, Skipper. As the frog came out of the pokeball, Jake already had his head back up and ready to give the command,
"Alright Skipper, blow that sandshrew away with a water gun!"

Jake tosses his pokéball high into the air, while the ground shakes from Malley's Magnitude. Sandslash avoids the quake, but it throws out it's aim. Skipper appears high above, and showers the Sandslash... who seems to emerge unscathed.

Malley finds an opening, and stabs the shrew with a Poison Sting. The wound is barely visible... until the area turns purple from the poison! It's made even worse when it slashes at the ground around Skipper, trapping the Mudkip in a Sand Tomb...

For all of two seconds, before his Water Gun turns it into enough mud to swim out. As soon as he's free, he rapid-fires his water at your foe, knocking it out.

With a resigned sigh, Annie sends out her last pokémon: Sigilyph.

As soon as the sandslash was KO'd Jake called out his congratulations to skipper and recalled him, then threw out Growler's pokeball,
"Awesome job skipper, now groweler finish off the last of them with a massive bite!"

Jake had seen the previous match, so had guessed the last pokemon would be the psychic bird. A nice dark attack should make short work of it!

"Ah, finally. The fabled Sigilyph we were expecting to see. Malley, transform into Growler and bite it too!" Perhaps not the most efficient strategy, but it seemed better than facing a flyer with a ground type. And if it didn't work, at least he still had his two other pokemon as backup.

---

Malley will transform into Growler and attempt to bite the Sigilyph too.

Sigilyph is fast. Faster than even Growler. The two move so fast, that they're already trading blow before Malley's transformation finishes. Sigilyph starts on the defensive, creating a Light Screen to block attacks... that does nothing to slow down Growler's physical attacks.

The two flaming hounds bite repeatedly at the Sigilyph, but the bird endures the assault, alternating between Hypnosis and Psybeam to reply. The first beam blows away Malley's head in one of the scariest sights you've ever seen... until you realize that Malley imitated a turtle, and pulled his head inside his body!

Despite this, after a few exchanges, the Sigilyph seems mostly unharmed, while Growler is injured, and Malley just fell asleep.

OOC: Made a bit of a mistake, I forgot that Bite can cause Flinch. Sigilyph was unable to launch the attack that would have injured Growler, and he's still unharmed. The change isn't really enough to alter the following actions, so they'll stand as they are.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:45, Wed 19 Aug 2020.

"Shoot! That thing is tough!"

Jake exclaimed as neither growler nor malley were able to do significant damage aginst Sigilyph. Still, despite Malley falling asleep, Jake didn't have any better ideas than keeping up the attack.

"Don't give up growler, try biting its wings to slow it down!"


_____________________________________________________________________________

Jake hopes that Malley will wake up as he instructs Growler to keep biting.

"oh no!" Seymour exclaimed as the Ditto succumbed to sleep. Granted, it was a lot better than Malley losing their head. Even so, "Malley, try and wake up! You can do it!"

He hoped the Ditto could wake up on its own, but if it began to look like either Malley or Growler were about to faint, he would switch out to Farrah. Hopefully she would be able to finish off the Sigilyph before the poison overtook her. But there was a good chance Jakey's Growler could win this fight even without Seymour's help.

---

Waiting to see if Malley wakes up on their own. If either Malley or Growler enter critical condition (or get knocked out), I'll switch to a Fury Cutting Farfetch'd.

In a final gamble, the Sigilyph uses Swagger to confuse Growler. She hesitate, but manage to stay focused enough to finally land a solid bite on the bird.

Seeing her last pokémon injured, and knowing it's only a matter of time before Malley wakes up, Annie calls back her Sigilyph. "We yield. No point drawing out the inevitable. Good work." She walks over to shake your hand.

Seymour was caught a bit off-guard when their opponent withdrew their pokemon and conceded the match. Although it wasn't too surprising when he actually thought about it. All of Seymour's pokemon were still in fighting shape, even if they did all have status afflictions.

Speaking of which... "Malley, return." He returned the sleeping Ditto to its pokeball so that it might actually enjoy its surprise nap time. He then walked over to return their opponents' handshakes.

"Great match. You two have some really impressive pokemon. That Sandslash was a beast!" He meant that in the best possible way, of course.

"Yeah, I'm lucky to have him! Him and Sigilyph can make a scary combo, but with your squad, I just didn't have to time to setup!"

Jake paused in confusion as Sigilyph got called back and the victory was called. His team was on the back foot before sneaking in a lucky hit, but that was apparently all that was needed. After a moment of silence on his part, Jake leaped into the air with one fist up,
"Whoooooooooooo"

After he had a moment to cool off, he jogged out onto the field to give growler a big hug,
"Great job buddy! You are really something fierce!"


In short order, growler was brought back into its pokeball and Jake found himself shaking hands with the opposition,
"Yeah, both your sandslash and sigilyph were terrifying, I thought they had us a couple of times. Your status moves really made me worry!"

Nola nods. "It's a great advantage, especially in double battle. But you already noticed, seeing how quickly your Ditto took out Annie's Sandslash with just a bit of poison!"

You head off the field together, an arena employee separates you once you're inside. "Excuse me, this way please." Instead of leading you to the locker room, he heads for a set of stairs, leading to a better decorated part of the arena.

As they were escorted to the different area of the arena, for the first time in the adventure, Jake looked fatigued. While racing around the land wasn't enough to tire him out, it seemed a few tough fights and hard thinking wore on him. He glanced the Seymour with a bit of a concerned expression like an, 'are we in trouble' sort of look. Nevertheless, he followed along obediently.

Seymour said goodbye to their opponents and followed along behind the arena employee. He mirrored Jakey's expressions with similar ones of his own. But unlike Jakey, Seymour opted to speak up. "Where are you leading us?" he asked curiously. "And will it take long? Because I have a poisoned pokemon that needs some attention..." He was not all that concerned about where they were going, but he was concerned about Farrah.

"You will find a PC in the Private room. You will be able to connect to the arena's Healing Center with it." He opens a door, leading to a room meant for relaxation and private meetings. "You can watch the remaining matches on the screen. Colonel Corina will come to see you during the break."

He leaves you alone. You have no trouble finding the PC, the screen, or the mini-fridge stocked with soft drinks and snacks.

"Oh wow, this is posh!" Jake exclaimed as he flopped onto a piece of furniture, glad to be able to sit. After just a moment of sitting, he rose again to submit his pokemon for a healing and grab a snack and refreshment from the fridge. As he looked to the screen, waiting for the next match to start, he chatted with Seymour,
"This is nice! I guess we really impressed someone. I bet it is because we only have one badge, but we are kicking butt. I guess being late to get here was actually good!"

Jake was a bit less optimistic about their future matches though,
"You think we will be up against the singing sisters? What's with their gimmick anyway? I haven't figured it out yet, so I don't know how we can win. Maybe I'll get all my pokemon out when their next fight is so they might be able to think of any good ideas."

As you look at the screen, you see the other first rank semi-final. Your opponent, according to the announcer, will be a pair of girls named Tori and Madeleine. Tori is a black skinned girl with white haired, cut in a way that reminds you of an arrow-head. Madeleine, on the other hand, looks like a walking piece of art, with striking green eyes, and luxurious blond hairs.

At the end of their fight, you can see they used a Piloswine, Clefairy, Litwick, and Rowlet.

As he watched the pokemon used and referenced his pokedex, Jake thought about which of his pokemon would be best to bring them down. He thought out-loud, letting Seymour in on his train of thought,
"I think Growler will be great against them. His bite attack is downright nasty! Skipper is also awesome, I want to keep him on the team, but Duder might need to get a rest. I think I had him out too long last fight, but without spending a lot of time with rock polish, he is too slow.

Thinking some more,
"I probably should have gotten that little electric mouse. I don't have a lot of types to choose from. Like I got nothing to counter the clefairy."

And more,
"Duder is slow and is weak to a bunch of stuff. Roach has a lot of defensive abilities, but is pretty weak. Manty is really good on defense and might be able to confuse an enemy. Lackey is pretty good, same with Fetcher. Its funny that all the pokemon I am thinking of switching too are pokemons you have too!

After another round of the tournament, the television announces a two hour pause for dinner. It's not long after that someone knocks at the door. When you answer, the member of the elite four, Kenya Corina, standing there with her Dedenne on her shoulder. So, you're the visiting trainers. I'm Colonel Kenya Corina, communication division. It's a pleasure to meet you!"


OOC: Level up time!
Farrah learn the move Fury Attack
Glumpy Speed increases to Below Average
Malley SpA and SpD increases to Average

Skipper's SpD increases to Above Average
Duder's Speed increases to Weak, and his HP increases to Below Average
Growler's SpD increases to Above Average

After getting his pokemon all healed up via the PC, Seymour was happily pouring over his pokedex trying to figure out tactics for their next match. Especially when Jakey seemed interested in talking tactics too.

"Yeah, that Clefairy could pose a problem. I don't think any of my pokemon have an advantage over it. But then again, It doesn't seem like it will have much of an advantage over us either. Hmm..." He checked a couple more things on his pokedex. "I was thinking I would use Farrah and Locke in the next match. And Doom, if I am allowed to switch my current team. Otherwise I'll probably stick with Malley. Doom should be good against that Litwick. I think Fire and water and Ice are some of our best bets against our known foes. Unless, of course, they switch up their team a bunch too..." Seymour shrugged. "Maybe Growler, Lackey, and Skipper? They seem like a capable trio. The choice is definitely up to you though."

When Kenya Corina entered the room, Seymour had a wide smile. He had never met an Elite Four member in person before. "The pleasure is all mine, Colonel!" he said, standing up straight and giving an awkward military salute. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks in embarrassment, seeing as how he was far from being a trained military member. "What- what brings you here?" he asked sheepishly, now that he had made a fool of himself in front of one of the most respected people in the country.

---

Seymour will switch his team to Farrah and Locke. He will add Doom too, if he can switch his team through the PC. If not, he will go with Malley. Working on adding my Level Ups right now too.

Jake seemed enthusiastic to Seymour's recommendation,
"Yeah, Lackey needs some battle practice. I was thinking of just having him be a pet pokemon who doesn't fight, but that's not practical! I'll put him on the team. It will do good to throw out a pokemon they've never seen before."

When the Colonel came in, Jake did his best to mimic a salute, then spoke in as respectful a tone as he could manage,
"The pleasure is all mine too!"

Jake echo'd Seymour, figuring Seymour knew how to give people better respect than himself. He did have some creativity in what he said, however,
"Yup! We are from out of town. Its been amazing here! I've seen so many pokemon here that I have never seen in Kanto!"

She looks amused at your awkwardness. Despite your age difference, she's not much taller than you two are. "Part of my duties as Communication Specialist includes the oversight of tournament diffusion. That means I spend a lot of time meeting young trainers trying to make a name for themselves."

She settles in one of the chairs. "I like to meet the tournament finalist whenever I get the chance, to get a feel for who the rising stars are, and who's on a winning streak. Plus, I didn't want to miss a chance to meet some foreign trainers. So, what do you think of Cadien so far?"

OOC: The PC does let you switch your team, so Doom is in.

"Cadien is pretty cool," Seymour said, still a bit nervous. "I like all of the pokemon I am seeing for the first time. Like that glass/bug pokemon we battled earlier. We don't have any glass types in Hoenn." Which reminded him, he needed to look up their advantages and weaknesses once he got the chance.

"Overall, I have been having a really great time in this region!" He purposefully did not bring up any of the events related to Team Gaia, or the problems they had encountered in Windzaal. He didn't want to accidentally insult the Colonel's home region to her face.

Jake reiterated himself and Seymour,
"Yeah, we did a bunch of stuff like ride bikes down mountains, get lost in forests, do mantine jet skiing and a bit of rodeo action! The glass-bug pokemon was super cool too!"

Jake didn't mention getting stuck in the spooky swamp as one of his highlights of Cadien though.

She nods. "Yes, the extremely rare Glass type. As far as I know, they've never been seen outside of Cadien. And even here, we there aren't many known example. That Kaleidofly, the last evolution of Larfae, is the most known example. I've only heard of one other, a strange type of crystal Onix.

From what I've learned, glass types are pretty resistant. Grass, electric, poison, ground, psychic, and bug attacks does little to them. But for all their resistance, they're pretty brittle, and will shatter if hit by rocks or steel moves. Also, their strength seems to stem from light, so dark move are also good."

"That is extremely useful information. Thanks!" Seymour said after she told them about glass-type pokemon. "Now I really hope I get a chance to see one of those crystal onix. Do you happen to know where they live?" His apprehension was quickly melting away now that this almost legendary member of the elite four was beginning to feel more like a real person and less like an abstract concept of a person.

"I wish I did. We hear stories about them, but we've never had a confirmed sighting. What's strange, is we had reports of someone seeing such an Onix in the Orange Archipelago. I'd like to dismiss it as a tall tale, but there's no way they could have heard of the glass typing over there." She shrugs. "I guess we may never know.

Either way, I'm glad to know your trip is enjoyable! There were some worries that there would be some frictions at foreigners being free to travel here, but it seems you have no issues."

"Yeah, I haven't really noticed any issues with us being foreigners. Not negative issues anyway. Well, I guess there was that one guy near the boarder..." Seymour had nearly forgotten the guy with the Drifblim after all that had happened since then. He shrugged. "No big deal though. What about you? When did you become a trainer? And how did you manage to become a member of the Elite Four?"

"I was drafted. Thanks to my looks, I was given propaganda duty. Turns out, I have a talent for managing the various forms of communications an army needs, and..." she pauses to pet her Dedenne. "I get along very well with electric pokémons. I had enough time to train with them, and managed to impress the King enough to be given a spot.

That's the usual way the Elite Four get their place, though there are exceptions. The most recent one being Brigadier Mann, who built up the Psychic division so well that the King had her replace the Royal Guard's Elite. That was quite a shake up, I can tell you."

She glances at the screen, and says "I'm afraid I'll have to leave soon. I want to have a chat with the Singing Sisters before the tournament continues."

Seymour listened with fascination. He the colonel's information to be extremely enlightening. A part of him wondered if even a foreigner could potentially become a member of the elite four.

When Kenya Corina announced she had to leave, Seymour replied, "I understand. You are a very busy person. We should probably be preparing for our next battle anyway. Don't want to embarrass ourselves!" At the mention of embarrassment, Seymour was reminded all over again about his embarrassing greeting to Kenya Corina and his cheeks began to feel hot again. It didn't overwhelm him this time though. "Take care!"

"You too! I'll be sure to keep an eye on your successes!" She heads out, leaving you to rest until you are called.

OOC: Time to pick who you'll send out to open your fight. We'll start the fight once Jake has the time to post.

Listened with surprising discipline as the colonel answered Seymour's questions. Despite the discipline Jake started to look a bit nervous as he began to realize how important of a person this Kenya was. She was not only a member of the elite four, but a high-ranking member in the Cadien military. Jake shrugged at the mention of the guy near the border. He hadn't bothered them since, he was just a local crazy person or something. All he managed to comment on was how cool of a name "Brigadier Mann" was. That, and a surprisingly sharp joke (coming from Jake, at least,
"Wow, it was really great to meet you. I hope the singing sisters don't put you to sleep!"


//Will be starting with Growler! With Lackey and Skipper in the wings.
I'll still be working on moving this weekend. Hopefully everything will be done by Tuesday (or else I will have more problems than not posting in this game XD).

Kenya grins at Jake's joke. "I'll let you in on a secret... there are five pokémon moves that uses singing. Only one puts the opponent to sleep, and that's not the one the sisters are using. If you can figure out what they use, you just may find a way to beat the sisters!"

Seymour stored that information about the song-related moves into his head and knew he would have to make a point to look into it later. After waving his last goodbye, he took a few minutes to determine which pokemon he should send out first during their next battle. He ultimately decided to lead with Farrah once again. Locke seemed like too much of a gamble, and he wanted to keep Doom in reserve for later. Plus, both the Dunsparce and Laconney were surprise pokemon his opponents would not have seen yet.

The second tier of competitor have one more round before your finals, and you are treated to a couple of matches before you are called out.

You walk on the field, Tori and Madeleine entering from the other side. They send their partners at the same time you do, revealing a Litwick, and a simple Caterpie.

Your pokémons stands at attention, waiting for your commands.

"A... Caterpie?" Seymour said in surprise. What was their strategy? Did it have some secret skill? Seymour didn't know, but he knew who Farrah's target was going to be. "Farrah, extinguish that Litwick with a well-placed peck attack! Leave the Caterpie alone for now. The longer it is on the field, the longer they don't send out one of their other pokemon." Farrah's peck would have a stronger effect on the little bug than the Litwick, but Locke's fire or Doom's rollout would be just as effective later if Farrah fell. Or Growler or Lackey's fire for that mater.

Jake was similarly surprised to see a pokemon even he recognized as puny being sent out in a tournament. Originally at a loss, he heard Seymour's command to Farrah and decided to have Growler dogpile the poor candle,
"We can get the caterpie later, go and bite that candle out with your bite!"

Jake couldn't recollect the last time he'd used a fire-type move with Growler, but bite seemed to be working great on everything they had been up against, and litwick was part ghost, so why stop now?

Growler races ahead, biting the Litwick, followed soon by Farrah Pecking it... only to be burned by it's ghostly flame. The already small candle shrinks even smaller, only for another of Growler's bite to knock it out.

The Caterpie tries to catch your pokémon in a glowing web, only to fall horribly short. Farrah quickly turn around and tries to Peck it, only to miss.

Tori shakes her head. "It was worth a shot..." She sends out a Herdier as replacement.

"Woohoo! Great job you two!" Seymour was a little worried about Farrah's burn, but figured she still had a lot of fight left in her at this point. "Farrah, focus on the Herdier. Give 'em a taste of your fury. Fury attack! Cut 'em down to size if you have to. Only Peck at the caterpie if your other targets are gone."

---

Using Fury attack on the Herdier, then Cut. Farrah will try to get in a Peck on the Caterpie only if there are no other targets at the moment.

Jake waved his hand in the air in encouragement to growler,
"Awesome job! Now show off how hot your fire can burn with a flame wheel on Herdier! Keep focusing on whatever isn't the caterpie!"

Jake was a bit confused why the caterpie was still on the field, but if the opponents were going to throw the match, it wasn't Jake's problem.

"Herdier, Retali..." Tori is cut short as Growler forces Herdier to dodge her flames before it can attack. "Tch... alright, use Attract instead!" The Herdier gives a series of growls, causing Growler to hesitate.

Farrah does her best to strike the Herdier, but he's agile, easily avoiding her blow... especially with the hindrance of her burns, that turn out bad enough to injure her.

Meanwhile, the Caterpie continues to send it's glowing web, seeking to catch Growler and Farrah, but to no avail.

Seymour could see that Farrah's burns were causing her problems, so he decided it was time to switch things up. "Farrah, return! Go Locke! Get in there and coat those opponents with some snow!" He hoped his Laconney's skills with fire and ice would give them the edge they needed. Maybe even freeze their opposition if they got really lucky.

---

Switching to Laconney and having him use Powder Snow to attack both opponents (focusing on the Herdier).

As Farrah vanishes, Caterpie turns to Growler, and tries to catch her with more strings, though these don't seem to glow. Growler avoids them, but when Jake tells her to growl, she tilts her head and unleashes a massive ROAR, forcing Herdier off the field.

Locke appears on the field, at the same time as your opponent's third pokémon, her Piloswine.

"Piloswine?" Seymour said in surprise. "Locke, new plan! Dazzle that big pig with your Embers!" Perhaps they could take advantage of the heat mirages that tended to crop up when Locke used his fire attacks.

Seeing Locke shoots his embers inspires Growler to do the same. The Piloswine endures the flames quite well, though it's fur catches on fire. It tries to reply with Mud Bombs, but his targets are too fast for it to hit.

Madeleine grits her teeth as she recalls her Caterpie. "That Growlithe's too hot, the strings won't land on it! I think it's time to cool her down! Go, Basculin!" A green fish with a blue stripe appears on the field.

With the appearance of a water type (he assumed), Seymour's hope for success took a hit. Both Growler and Locke were weak against water types. Ground types too, which the Piloswine was. But he figured he would just have to risk it and hope that Locke's Heat Mirage would keep him safe. "Locke, keep up the heat! Turn Piloswine's burn into an inferno. Ember!"

Growler seems a bit surprised by the Basculin's appearance, but she's more annoyed then hurt by it's Aqua Jets. The Piloswine turns his focus from Growler to Locke, apparently trusting it's ally to deal with the fiery dog.

It doesn't work out too well, as Locke's illusion lets him easily avoid the clumsy attacks, while the repeated fire attacks manage to overcome it's thick fat layer. Unfortunately, Growler took a moment to pose in celebration... and got hurt by an Aqua Jet for her hubris.

With the Piloswine down, Tori sends her Herdier back in the fight, causing your pokémon to shake at it's intimidating presence.

OOC: Tori is down to her last pokémon.
Growler has one wound, and -2 Att because of two intimidate.
Locke has -1 Att from a single intimidate.

"Great job you two! Now Locke, let's try to put them into a deep freeze! Hit them with your Powder Snow!" He knew it was risky keeping Locke on the battlefield, and switching to ice moved would dim his heat mirage, but if he could freeze even one of their foes he felt it would be worth it in the long run. Besides, there was only one unknown pokemon remaining. Probably the owl or the fairy they had seen in the last match.

Growler is pulled from the field, leaving Locke briefly alone against both opponents. He dodges an Aqua Jet thanks to his mirage, but cannot avoid Herdier's retaliation. Still, the rabbit manages to freeze the Basculin, while the Herdier seems unaffected by the snow.

Skipper repeatedly growls at the opponents, even poking his head into the hole Herdier leave behind when he digs into the arena. Locke tries to jump to escape Herdier's Dig, only to be caught by surprise as Basculin manages to free himself, and strikes the rabbit with another Aqua Jet, knocking him out.

As growler returned and Skipper did the growling, Jake wasn't sure what the best move would be. He could try mudslaps to keep them from hitting, but that would mean skipper would have to land the slaps first, something Jake wasn't sure about. In any case, he could try to at least act as a shield so that Seymour's pokemon would have a bit more flexibility in taking down the enemy,
"Ok Skipper, try to make sure you get between the enemy and Seymour's pokemon and use bide! Use their own energy to knock them out!"


OOC: I have internet again!!!

"Time to meet your Doom!" Seymour yelled as he sent out his Dunsparce, Doom. With Skipper screening, he thought it would be wise to start with a couple defensive moves first. "Doom, start out with a Defense curl!"

---

Sending out Doom. He'll start with defense curl. Then use spite if one of their opponents uses a move that seems really good against them, or pursuit if it looks like a switch is about to happen. If neither of those are true, he'll use a second defense curl instead. In the third round he'll aim a rollout at the fish.

Doom enters the field... and immediately curls up. Herdier tries to give him and Skipper a seductive growl... but they don't swing that way.

With his previous target gone, Basculin tries to strike Doom with a Take Down, only for Skipper to get in the way. The Mudkip takes a few wound, though he does manage to return one of the injuries with Bide. Madeleine panics when she sees her fish get injured, and call it out, sending a Steenee in it's place.

Doom starts spinning, trying to strike the Herdier, though it's an elusive target.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:53, Thu 03 Sept 2020.

The appearance of the grass pokemon didn't change Seymour's plan much. He still wanted to focus on taking out that Herdier so that they would only have one opponent left to focus on. "Doom, use Spite on that pup and then hit it with another round of Rollouts!"

---

Using Spite on Herdier (unless normal types are immune to Ghost status effects too). Then he'll try to use another round of Rollouts. If Rollout misses, he'll do another Defense Curl then try again.

Jake seemed surprised as the fish was called back right as Skipper was countering it with bide, he wasn't sure if it was in the rules to call a pokemon back like that, but if there was a breach in rules, he thought the referee would call it. In any case, Skipper was not suited to fight the Steenee, but he had two pokemon that could.

He switched out Skipper for Lackey,
"Great job slowing them down, Skipper, now Lackey, it is time for you to show them what you are made of, use ember on the Steenee!"

Jake more or less ignored the Herdier, figuring it couldn't do much at the moment with Doom trying to run it over and it being growled into some sort of submission.

OOC: Embers on the steenee until it goes down. Taking advantage of the heat mirage to keep the evasion up!

Doom continues to Roll Out, but he just can't seem to hit Herdier. Herdier, on the other hand, can't seem to stop the rolling Doom. Finally, after his Return move got sealed by Spite, the Herdier digs underground.

On his side, Lackey gets confused by the Steenee's Teeter Dance, but still manage to strike it with a powerful Ember, knocking it out. In a panic, made worse by Tori criticizing her decisions, Madeleine throws out Caterpie again.

Seymour sighed in frustration at Doom's continued difficulty in hitting his for. Maybe Locke's powder snow left the battlefield extra slick or something. At any rate, he decided it was time to switch things up a bit. "Doom, that Caterpie is looking like a better target right about now. Try rolling over it!"

He then leaned over to Jakey. "Nice work with those flames!"

---

Doom will switch to trying to use Rollout on the Caterpie. If it gets down to just the Herdier and fish left, Doom will go into a Rage!

"Thanks!"
Jake quickly replied to Seymour as he thought of what to do next.

Lackey looked confused, but it had a great matchup against the caterpie. Growler also had a good matchup, but it would take time to switch out. In the end, Jake felt most comfortable staying with the status quo,
"Lackey, keep focused! Use ember again, this time on the caterpie. You're doing great and you are almost done!"

Jake totally lost track of the herdier, not realizing that it used dig and was somewhere below the arena. He was singularly focused on the steenee and now the caterpie.

Lackey keeps running and firing his Embers, wounding Caterpie. He's moving so fast, when Herdier pops out of his Dig, he does so right in Doom's face, spooking the snake!

Caterpie tried to throw another glowing web on your team, but Herdier's appearance surprises it, and it's forced to pull it's attack to avoid hitting it's team mate. Lackey takes advantage of it's distraction, hitting the bug with another Ember. And as soon as the Herdier dives down again, Doom starts rolling right over the poor Caterpie, who gets knocked out.

See? That wouldn't have happen with Basculin! Now send him out!"

Madelein sighs, and sends out the blue and green fish again.

"Great job Doom! You too Lackey. Keep on a roll, Doom. Knock out that Basculin! When you lose momentum, unleash your fury!" If they could get rid of that fish, then Seymour knew his Farfetch'd would be immune to the Herdier's dig attacks if Doom fell. She would still need to win before succumbing to her burns though, so hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

---

Doom will finish out his Rollout rounds, focusing on Basculin first. Then, once it finishes, He'll switch to using Rage.

"Awesome teamwork! Now lets keep it up! Lackey, you need to be careful with the fish around, try to freeze it with powder snow so Doom can roll it down!"

Jake was a bit nervous for Lackey's safety with a water type pokemon on the field. Nevertheless, it would waste precious time switching pokemon in and out and leave Doom exposed. Doom was probably their heaviest hitter at the moment because Growler was intimidated and Skipper was badly injured.

Jake continued to shout from the sidelines to try to help Lackey get its aim right on Basculin.

The Basculin fires and Aqua Jet almost as soon as it hits the ground... only to hit Lackey's mirage. Lackey quickly covers the fish in snow, slowing it down enough that Doom manages to bowl him over, knocking it out.

Meanwhile, it seems Herdier got lost under the arena, as it has not yet come out.

"We're in the endgame now. Doom, when you stop rolling, unleash your Fury!" Looking around the battlefield, Seymour wondered where Herdier might pop up. He was a bit worried about Lackey getting hit by a dig attack, so he added, "And let Lackey on your back for safety, if they want." If Lackey rode Doom, it could keep the Laconney safer while making Doom a stronger target, fueling his Rage. And Doom was more likely to be able to take a few extra hits anyway.

---

Switching to Rage, when able. Also, letting Lackey atop Doom's back if Jakey wants to get his Laconney into a bit safer position.

Jake pumped a fist in the air and shouted,
"We did it!"

Before looking around and realizing that no one had officially called the match yet. He tried to recover his pride by saying a bit quieter,
"We beat the fish!"

Not an idiot, Jake remembered the Herdier in the ground and decided Seymour's idea to protect Lackey was a good enough one,
"Lackey, hop on Doom and get ready to freeze the ground near herdier when it comes up so Doom can roll it up!"

The Herdier keeps playing the mole, popping in and out to attack Laconney. The white rabbit tries to balance on Doom, but he's spinning too fast to stay on.

Once his Roll Out ends, Doom rages, getting in the way of the Herdier's attack. He fails to strike the dog, but he's enough of a distraction for Laconney to slowly freeze it, until it passes out.

And with that, you defeat Tori and Madeleine, and win the Herenport tournament!

OOC: Level up time!
Farrah's Speed increases to Ab Av
Locke's Def increases to Average
Doom learns Screech
Screech       Normal     *            -2   Somewhat Likely to give -2 Def to a target

Growler gains one of these abilities:
  Intimidate (all opponents get -1 Att when the pokémon enters the field)
  Bodyguard (when a close ally is hit by a single target move, user can take the hit instead, and it's Pow is reduced by 2)
Skipper's Def increases to Ab Av
Lackey's Speed increases to Ab Av

And finally, you can increase one of your stat that is Average or lower by one step.

This message was last edited by the GM at 21:31, Sat 05 Sept 2020.

"Great job Doom and Lackey! Now try to-" Seymour paused mid-sentence as he realized there were no more orders to give. Their opponents were defeated. They had won the match. Not just the match, but their entire portion of the tournament!

"We won? Faulkner, Doom, Lackey, we won! We won!" Seymour began throwing his fists into the air in victory, then ran out to give his Dunsparce a victory hug. "We won!"

---

I will increase Seymour's Reflex stat from "low" to "below average." I will go update all stats very soon.

Jake repeated his prior claim,
"We did it!"

Again thrusting his fist into the air and cheering for himself and Seymour. Like Seymour, he ran to the field to embrace his pokemon before getting prepared to congratulate the runners-up. He then turned to the crowd and waved enthusiastically, cheering for his team more, soaking in all the vibes -- whether they be good or bad.


OOC: Boosting Jake's IQ to AA. He's no dummy anymore (Ok, still kinda a ditz though)

Your opponents congratulate you for your victory, as the crowd cheers for your performance. You are lead back to the VIP room to rest, while the other finals take place.

You're soon called back for a final photo shoot, and to receive your prizes. In your case, it a small purse, a bag of Net Balls, and basic SCUBA training with a trip in the ship graveyard.

OOC: The purse increases you Pokédollar rating by one. The balls don't change your Pokéball rating. Instead, it gives you the following strength:

Net Balls: +2 to Pokéball when catching Water or Bug type pokémons. When you roll a No when using this strength, you can reduce your bonus by 1 to change it to a Yes.

Seymour was in a bit of a daze after winning the tournament, and was nearly on auto pilot as they shook hands with their foes, took pictures, and received their prizes. All of it was great, but also a little overwhelming for Seymour. He was definitely not used to the attention. He was beginning to get used to it by the end though.

"I can all ways use more cash and pokeballs," he commented to Jakey when they were handed their prizes. "And a trip to the ship graveyard will be really cool too. I'm definitely bringing all my water pokemon along for that one. Think we should have a victory feast tonight though for all of our pokemon that helped us in the tournament?" He knew they couldn't have won if it wasn't for Farrah, Locke, Doom, Glumpy, and Malley.

Jake was similarly dazed, but also enthusiastic... as if his brain was auto-piloting on happy. He didn't remember much of what happened immediately after winning, but seemed to be more himself after getting done with the final photo shoot,
"Oh man, we are loaded now. And we get to explore the graveyard, how cool is that! I hope they do some swimming lessons too, I need to learn how to not drown! But yeah, lets splurge and get our pokemon some nice food! They definitely earned it. All of them!"

Jake then pulled out his dex to try to figure out if there were any nice restaurants that catered to pokemon and humans. He then got a brilliant idea,
"Hey, maybe if we let the restaurant hang up a picture of the first foreign winners of a tournament, they will let us eat for free!"

You look around a bit for a good restaurant, and manage to find one that eagerly welcomes you and your pokémons, giving you a major discount for your patronage. Your pokémon get to eat more than you, as you have a lot of people interrupting you to ask about where you're from, what your life is like, and so many other questions. For today, it seems you're pretty much celebrities.

You soon head to bed, to recover from the day's excitement.

Seymour enjoyed the food and the celebration, glad that he got to spend a great time with his pokemon and his good friend Jakey. By the time he made it back to his bed though, he was thoroughly exhausted from all of the day's excitement. He was still having a difficult time accepting that they had actually won the first ever tournament he had participated in. So amazing.

That night Seymour slept like a Snorlax, dreaming about nothing but good things.

The next day he woke up early to get to the pokemon center to switch up his team once again. Before heading out, he asked Jakey, "Should we redeem our SCUBA training right away today so we can go see that ship graveyard? Maybe there will be ghost water pokemon there! Surely something cool anyway. I plan to bring all my water pokemon if we go."

---

Will likely switch my team to Lotad, Mantyke, Magikarp, Magikarp, Ditto, and Shroomish.

You head out to the school, and see that despite being outside of the military base, it's actually where the Cadien Navy's amphibious squads train, a fact proudly displayed on a plate outside the main door.

You introduce yourself to the secretary inside, who smiles at you. "Ah! Mister Seymour and Falkner! It's a pleasure to meet you! We'll wait another hour for the rest of the winners to come in, then we'll begin your training. Before we start, how comfortable are you at swimming, and what water pokémons do you have with you?"

Jake slept well and enjoyed the cheap, but excellent food too. In the morning, he was chipper as could be and eager to make it to the Scuba school -- a school that he had not yet been kicked out of for delinquency, and a school he actually wanted to be in. He was open about his lack of swimming,
"Great to meet you too. I never did any swimming, but I did surf on a mantine! I got a little mantyke, a mudskip, and barboach as my water type pokemon with me! Like, half of my pokemon are water type, so it is good to practice swimming so I can hang out with them more!"


OOC: Team is Skipper, Fetcher, Roach, Manty, Lackey, Growler

"I have quite a few water pokemon with me today too," Seymour said to the secretary. "A Lotad, two Magikarp, and a Mantyke. I also brought along my Ditto, and my Shroomish who has had practice riding atop my Lotad's leaf-dish. I myself know how to swim, but I guess I would not describe myself as particularly proficient at it." He was really looking forward to spending time with his pokemon in and under the water. And he was sure his fish would enjoy spending time with Jakey's too.

The secretary nods. "Well, mister Falkner, how about visiting the trainer right away to learn the basics? Meanwhile mister Seymour, you could go to the supply room to get fitted with your diving suit?"

"Ok!"

Jake exclaimed as he found his way to the trainer. He assumed swimming would be like riding a bike; less about sheer power more about maintaining balance. Jake was well aware he was one fit kid, so he was optimistic that he could figure out the basics in just a bit... and if he ran into trouble, his pokemon would surely help him out!

Seymour nodded to the secretary and went to get fit for a suit. He was beginning to wonder if he should buy his own suit, considering how often he had been using one since coming to this region. "See you in a bit," he said to Jakey as they parted ways for a little while.

Although the suits are expensive, the school has plenty of used suits for sale that Seymour can get for cheap.

For the swimming training, Jake learned about his body's buoyancy, and how best to keep his head above water. His muscles are more a hindrance than a help when it comes to floating, but thankfully his endurance is quite useful in swimming. Jake isn't much of a swimmer still, but he should be able to keep his head above water when in trouble.

You are soon lead to the pool where the lesson will take place, where you see another team from yesterday's competition, as well as two other trainers. Ava, the one girl of the four and part of the second tier winning team, smile as she notices you two. "Hey, you're the guys with the Laconneys! Seymour and Falkner, right?"

Seymour did decide to buy one of the cheaper suits, so long as it wasn't completely nasty or about to fall apart.

When he got to the training pool, Seymour was quick to slip into the water to start getting himself warmed up and acclimated. He smiled when Ava recognized himself and Jakey and replied, "Yup, that's us! Although I didn't bring my Laconney along with us today. For obvious reasons." He gestured at the water. "Were you planning on doing the ship graveyard tour after this too?" It might be nice to share the experience with a couple more friendly faces.

Her partner Aaron, who was dressed like a stage magician during the tournament, nods in understanding. "We both picked Laconney as our starter, but we left them off the field during the tournament. We were getting a bit too predictable with them."

The other two boys, an overly muscular guy with bright green eyes and a cadet in a military swimming suit, smile at you. "Yeah, I wanted to take a trip there for a while. I'm hoping to take a few pictures. I'm Rudolf, by the way."

"Forrest, pleasure to meet you," the cadet adds.

After getting the basics of swimming, Jake quickly suited up and found Seymour and the other winners. Jake was happy to talk to people of a similar age of him now that they weren't at the tournament,
"I got my mudkip as a starter. We haven't done much formal battles, so we didn't need to worry about our reputation, cuz we don't got any! Well, maybe we do now. But we are all winners here, so lets just have some fun and find some fish! I'm so stoked for the graveyard tour. I am thinking of being a water type trainer!"

Jake got into the water much more gingerly than Seymour and held the edge mostly, but eventually let go and treaded the water a bit,
"I brought my Laconney with, but he'll probably stay in his pokeball, given the water stuff. Its nice to meet you all. I guess you are all from Cadien? We got here super late and barely arrived in town in time for the tournament!"

"Lotad was my starter," Seymour added to the conversation as he shook everyones' hands. "I'm sure you'll meet him later when we get out of this training area."

"Rudolf, are you a professional photographer? Or do you take them just for fun? Do you have any cool pics with you we could see?" Seymour wasn't all that artistically-minded himself, but he still had a healthy appreciation for the arts.

---

I added "Used Wetsuit" to my list of items.

"Oh, no where near professional... I've got a lot to learn before that! But... I got a few images I've keep." He shows you a few pictures of an abandoned city in a rocky desert. That's Vinmur. I took them before challenging the City gym."

On the side, Aaron says "yep! Cadien born and raised. We picked Laconney because we're both fans of stage magic, and Laconney's last form just fits the style..."

Your discussions are interrupted as a deeply tanned woman in military swimsuit approaches. "It seems the last three winners will not join us, so it will be only the six of you. I'm Lieutenant Corrine Gardner, and I'll be your instructor today. I understand non of you have SCUBA dived before? And that you all have a couple of water pokemon to help you navigate underwater?"

Seymour looked at Rudolph's pictures with interest until the instructor, Lieutenant Corrine Gardner, showed up. At that point he moved to find a good spot to pay attention. Seymour always had been a pretty good student, and he wasn't about to start slacking off in class now.

"I brought four water pokemon," Seymour replied when asked about the pokemon he brought to help underwater. "Well, four and a half. One of them is a ditto. I am sure any of my pokemon would be happy to help if someone is without a water-breathing buddy." He scanned his classmates to see if anyone wanted to take him up on his offer.

Jake gave a thumbs up to Rudolph and continued,
"I just became a trainer a week or so ago and I already won a tournament, so if you keep working hard, you can be a pro photo-taker in no time! They probably even have tournaments for photo-takers"

Jake was about to ask more about laconney's last form when they were interrupted; he quickly forgot the question as he responded to the lieutenant,
"I've got three! And no ditto! I think my barboach would be really wanting to creep on the bottom!"

Good, but you'll be better served with a pokémon that's easier to hold on to. Ideally, you'd want a small pokémon who can pull you along for a while. You goal is to preserve your strength, so you don't exhaust yourself too fast, or burn your oxygen too quickly. That's especially important if you're gonna fight underwater. You don't want to run out of breath while an aggressive pokémon is cornering you.

Speaking of fighting, there's a few thing you need to keep in mind. First off, fighting underwater is the same as fighting in the worst storm you can get. So water moves are stronger, while fire moves are completely useless, and some electrical move will have an easier time hitting. Unlike rain, no known pokémon abilities can remove those limitations.

Second, you are in a hostile environment. Never forget that. Loosing your backpack is troublesome when in the wild. But loosing your rebreather is a death sentence if you're too deep. So always protect your gear, and always keep a pokémon on hand that can pull you to the surface."

Seymour was both excited and unsettled by the lieutenant's depiction of moving about under the sea. Excited because it sounded exciting and unbelievably interesting. Unsettled because it sounded downright dangerous. But he figured he would probably be alright so long as he didn't act like a total imbecile. After all, this was a beginner's group.

When there seemed to be a natural pause in their teacher's instructions, Seymour raised his hand. "How deep will we be going today? And what is the most dangerous thing you've ever encountered on one of these trips?" He didn't ask because he wanted something to be scared of, but because he wanted to prepare for the worst.

Jake ordinarily did not fear danger, but water was something else, especially the idea of drowning. Still, he was prideful enough to override any fearful expressions (facial and verbal). So Jake remained silently stoic during the lesson. This was the most he had ever paid attention to a teacher. He figured he could trust Skipper to guide him safely underwater. Still, it was good to know which moves would and would not work.

"The graveyard is about twenty meters deep." She notes that some of you breath a sigh of relief at the short distance. "Hold on a moment..."

She throws out a pokemon, revealing a Dewgong. She lines you up against the wall of the school, and has her Dewgong make a line of ice about twelve feet in front of you, and a second one against the wall, at about midway through the building's second floor. "Now what line is the closest to you?"

"Um... the one on the floor?"

Corrine shakes her head. "The one above you is actually closer to your head... but because it's above you, it feels out of reach, and thus farther. So twenty meters may seem short, but that's because you imagine it horizontally. Look at the building, behind you. You'll be diving deeper then it's high."

She gives you a moment to imagine the depth, before answering Seymour's second question. "As far as danger goes, the graveyard is quite safe. We sink our old decommissioned ships there to provide shelter for smaller and tamer water pokemons, to insure they can spread safely. There's two things you should be careful about, though. There's a village of Nommlin down there, and if you try to approach it, you'll get attacked by their Shigon guardians. Also, there's been reports of a Sirenade moving in recently. So if you hear singing down there, don't follow it!"

Rudolf raises his hand. "Are there any ghosts down there?"

The teacher shakes her head. "Despite being called a graveyard, all the ships that were sunk there did so in controled circumstances. There's never been a naval battle so close to the coast, and no live were lost here. Though there were a few close calls from independent divers who underestimated the size of their equipment, and got stuck trying to explore the wrecks. Don't worry," she points to a bright red wall in the pool next to you, with openings of various size in it, some partly obscured by fake plants or growth. "As you can see, we'll train you to avoid such mistakes. Any other questions? If not, we'll start with the description of the gear."

Seymour was happy that their instructor seemed so knowledgeable, and that it seemed she would make sure they were adequately prepared before heading into the open ocean. It really helped put his mind at ease. He did not have any more questions for the lieutenant before they started with the gear, although he did take a peek at his pokedex to look up all of the pokemon she had mentioned. Only the Nommlin was familiar to him. And only because they had happened to spot one when coming into town on the glass-bottomed boat.

Shigon, the Guardian Pokemon. Type: Water/Dragon
The evolved form of Nommlin. Though intimidating, Shigon are quite peaceful. Should their homes or friends be threatened, though, they attack without hesitation. In some communities, Shigon teach humans how to swim and fight. Local children compete for ocean-rides on their back.


Sirenade, the Irresistible Voice Pokemon. Type: Water/Fairy
Sirenade use their song to draw listeners in. This makes them an easy audience - or easy prey. A navy once tried to use a recording of a Sirenade's song as a weapon. However, this caused the ships to crash into on another.

The trainer present the equipment you'll use. According to her, it pretty advanced... more advanced than a beginner would use, but that's more because of the training required to maintain the equipment than because of it's difficulty of use. An important point is that rather than a re-breather held in your mouth, the suits use full-faced mask, with built-in two way radio so you can communicate underwater.

She also explains that full SCUBA training involve gear maintenance, and basic repairs. Today's lesson is only enough for you to get into the water, and explore safely: how to use the gear, figuring out how big an opening you can fit in, and what to do when in trouble. In short, enough to give you a taste of the activity, without overwhelming you with details you'd learn in a full lesson.

Your pokemons have a chance to swim around you as you practice, on occasion getting called to help you move about inside the pool, and to see how well they can navigate small spaces.

You also get a look at the pokemon the others brought:
Ava and Arron brought a Gorebyss and Huntail respectively, as well as a Finneon each.
Forrest uses a Wailmer to move about, but also brought a Feebas for the smaller spaces.
While Rudolf choose a Tirtouga to pull him, while he has a Kingler in case of combat.

The training lasts most of the day, with a pause for dinner. But finally, the Lieutenant declares you ready, and you sail to the ship graveyard.

After a last session of safety checks, you put on your masks, and dive into the sapphire sea. Your pokemon pull you down into the depth, as you see the various vessels far more clearly then when you passed over them two days ago.

There are ships of all size, from small coastal patrol boats, to a massive destroyer half-swallowed by the silt below you. You hear Corrine over your radios. "Alright! You have an autonomy of one hour. Your watch will signal when it's time to get back to the surface. We're close enough to the surface that you don't need to stop for decompression, so no need to worry about that. We can talk about a night dive after supper, if you still need to get wet. For now, stay in pairs, and call me if anything goes wrong!"

You have free reign to explore... do you stick together, or pair up with Rudolf and Forrest? Or you could join Ava and Arron, as the couple stick together. And what ship do you seek out? A large vessel, or something small?

"Rudolph, want to pair up? I bet we could get some really cool pictures in and around that destroyer." He looked to Jakey. "As long as you don't mind splitting up, Falkner." He enjoyed traveling with Jakey, but thought it might be a nice change to see what an underwater photographer does "out in the wild."

After dropping backward below the waves, Seymour released his pokemon. Turbo the naughty little Mantyke immediately took off, swimming quick spirals around Seymour. Marigold and Magnus zipped right after him, showing off their impressive speed. His Lotad bobbed nearby, like a responsible schoolteacher watch a bunch of kids at recess. And lastly, Malley the Ditto slowly sunk as a pink blob under the water as it tried to decide which form it wanted to take. Before Malley ran out of breath, it decided to copy Forrest's Wailmer for the time being, which caught Seymour a little off-guard.

"Want to see if any pokemon decided to take up residence on the bridge?" Seymour asked, pointing toward that portion of the destroyer.

Jake didn't mind splitting up, there was a vast underwater playground to explore, so it might be fun to boast about whose fish that got away was bigger.
"I'll go with Ava and Arron. I hope we get to find something REALLY BIG and old. Like one of those wooden ships that they used like a thousand years ago! You know, the ones with gold coins!"

Jake then made his way over to Ava and Arron to figure out what they wanted to do. If they didn't want to find something titanic-sized, he'd still stick with them. For moving around, Jake relied on Roach, his plan was to use Skipper to battle and keep Manty as a backup to escape with.

As you split up, you see that Forrest decides to stick with the Lieutenant.

Rudolph gladly heads toward the destroyer with Seymour. "I read about it after I won the tournament. It used to be called the 'Lake Guardian', after the legendary trio. Apparently it was the first ship sunk here, as a test of some weapon system or other. When they saw how water pokemon gathered around the wreck, they decided to sink more, so they would have plenty of water pokemon they could catch for the navy..."

---

The couple have no problem with you joining them, though Ava says "A wooden ship? Not likely, the place is for military ship, and they only started well after the age of sail. Plus a wooden ship would..."

"Found one."

"...What?"

Arron takes the lead, pulled by his Huntail, and you soon see what looks like an old galleon, resting on the surface of the silt. A few mollusk have started growing on it's side, but otherwise it seems undamaged. "See? Wooden ship."

Ava pauses. "You have got to be kidding me."

Jake made a victorious post as best as he could underwater,
"Real ghosts, here we come! Lookin' for the real old stuff!"

Eagerly spurring Roach to follow Arron, Jake was eager to find a way in. He didn't bother thinking how the ship would not have rotten; he was too caught up in the "advencha" of it all.

"Legendary trio?" Seymour asked Rudolph. "Is that something commonly known about this region? One of the trio guards a lake or something?" He was intrigued to find out more, and briefly wondered if it was related to the restaurant named after the legendary poison pokemon he had eaten at his first night in the region.

Regardless, Seymour continued floating closer to the destroyer's bridge and tried to see through the window. He also kept an eye out for a good way inside in case Rudolph was feeling extra adventurous.

Arron follows Jake, only to pause as he gets near the ship's rear castle. "Hey, look at this..." He points to a series of bright spots on the wooden wall.

"Are those... bolts? That's not how old ships were built..."

Jake finds a wide door, it's brass handle still working. As he peeks inside, he notices the door's hinges seem quite modern as well. Beyond, the interior of the rear castle seems empty, save for a set of stairs heading deeper in the dark hold of the ship.

---

"It's not from Cadien, actually. From what I read, it's a trio of legendary pokemon from the Sinnoh region. They were called... ah... Uxie, Azelf, and... Mephit, I think?" Rudolph takes a few pictures of the outside of the ship, before following Seymour to the nearest door.

The 'door' is actually long gone, leaving only a gaping hole wide enough for a big pokemon to go through. It's much smaller over the years, but it's still wide enough to get inside. Beyond, the corridor is wide enough to easily navigate, though some of the doors may be too tight to get through. Ruldof stops you from entering, and points to the silt in the corridor, where a webbed foot print is visible...

Seymour was glad that Rudolph had stopped him. He wouldn't have wanted to accidentally scare a wild pokemon in tight quarters. "Do you think it is a Shigon or Nommlin footprint?" he asked Rudolph, already looking in his pokedex to compare the foot shapes. "Or is it from something else?"

He looked back at his pokemon. His Ditto was still in the form of a big Wailmer, but he needed his shifty pal in a different form right now. "Malley, I want you to transform into Marigold or Magnus. Then the three of you Magikarps can go take a peek inside." Magikarps were about as non-threatening as you could get. And if they ran into trouble, they were also his fastest pokemon. "If you get a look at another pokemon in there Malley, try and take its shape and come right back. Stay safe you three."

Jake didn't want to waste the precious time chatting about their bizarre discovery, but couldn't help a bit,
"I don't know if this is spookier than a normal haunted ship... lets check out what is inside!"

Without checking to see if people were following, Jake did his best to make his way to the stairs, as much pushing off of the surfaces and walls as he was swimming and holding onto Roach. He didn't have all the time in the world!

"It must be..." Rudolph take a picture. "There's not that many humanoid water pokemon."

The three Magikarp scatter through the various doors, and you want for them to return...

---

Jake quickly swims down the stairs, eager to see what the ship's hold holds. There's very little light there, but a shaft of sunlight reveals a treasure chest at the far end just waiting to be opened. But at the same time, Jake notices a barely visible golden star in the shadow...

---

Seymour hears a bubbling sound, and see a panicked Marigold return, waving her fins at him, and swimming toward a staircase leading deeper into the wreck.

"I think something's wrong..." Seymour said, rushing into the ship a bit recklessly. "Either my pokemon are in trouble, or they found something to be concerned about. I'm coming Marigold! Lotad, Turbo, let's go." He let his Lotad and Mantyke pull him forward, not really caring if Rudolph followed or not. He was extremely worried that Magnus and Malley hadn't returned with Marigold.

Jake wasn't sure what to think... it was awfully suspicious and looked like a trap, but at the same time, who would make a trap like this. In the end (i.e. after less than a second of deliberation), Jake's curiosity overpowered his caution and he swam towards the chest with his Roach leading the way. He was a bit concerned about a potential Staryu attack, so he brought Skipper to defend his flank,
"Skipper, no need to attack, just protect me. If things get bad, tackle into the wall to bust us out of here"

Rudolph is a bit hesitant to follow, his Wailmer a bit too big to fight inside the ship, though he still comes with his Feebas...

Reaching the door, Seymour sees three Nommlin, holding Magnus trapped in a seaweed net. When they see you, two of them move to block you, as the third retreats with the trapped Magikarp.

---

As Jake gets close to the chest, Skipper pushes him to the side, just before a large claw gets in his way.

The crustacean moves between Jake and the chest, snapping it's claws menacingly.

The situation was even worse than Seymour had feared. "That's my Magikarp! Give him back. Magnus, return!" Seymour knew he would be unlikely to be able to get his Magikarp back in its ball through the net holding it, but he had to try.

Assuming he was unable to return Magnus or convince the Nommlin to let go, he issued rescue orders to his pokemon. "Magnus, splash to slow them down! Lotad, Bubble left, and Turbo, Bubble right. Marigold, rush up the middle and pull Magnus back! Malley, if you're around, now would be a good time to make a surprise appearance!" Perhaps it would have been wiser to try negotiate with the wild Nommlin pokemon, but Seymour was currently in momma bear protective mode.

"Woah! That's no Staryu!"
Jake yelped when the crawfish cut him off from the chest. He then talked into his radio,
"Hey! Guys! A creepy crab with a star on its face cut me off. It looks pretty fierce, but I think I can juke it"

There was only one of it and he had three water-type pokemon at his disposal. Both Roach and Skipper were on the field, so he released manty too. Manty was his last resort to get away, but he figured the odd-looking pokemon would be intimidated by being outnumbered. As he released manty, he called orders to his other two pokemon, then finally to Manty,
"Skipper! Get in front and block, using bide! Roach, use mud slap to get in its eyes... Manty, when you are ready use signal beam to confuse it!"

Jake then waited for an opening to make an under-water leap for the chest!

The Nommlins are fast... incredibly fast! The first one is already out of the way before Turbo can throw his Bubbles, and it tries to pull the second one out of the way of Lotad's attack. However, the Nommlins stood in place too long, unleashing a scream to confuse Lotad before he's hit by the Bubbles.

The third seeks to escape with Magnus... only for a fourth Nommlin to appear from the darkness at the back of the room... and slaps the third Nommlin silly!

OOC: Malley's current moveset:
Aqua Jet (Water, P, B. Av. damage, +1 Priority)
Supersonic (Normal, *, Unlikely to Confuse a target)
Quick Attack (Normal, P, Low damage, +1 Priority)
Hold Hand (Normal, *, +2 Priority, gives +1 Eva and +2 HP to an ally until next turn)
Fake Out (Normal, P, +3 Priority, Can only be used on the pokémon's first turn, causes Flinch)
Screech (Normal, *, Somewhat Likely to give -2 Def to an opponent)

---

Roach tosses mud at the four-feet tall crab... but it seems unimpressed, using it's large claws as shields. It also deviate Manty's signal beam, leaving it unscathed.

On the radio, Jake hears "Um... Jake? I think something is moving out here..."

"Malley!" Seymour exclaimed. He was excited to see that his Ditto had not been captured. (At least, he assumed the fourth Nommlin was Ditto...) Additionally, that Malley had actually helped slow Magnus's capture as well. "Malley, help Marigold pull Magnus free while the Nommlin is dazed! Lotad and Turbo, keep up the bubbly distraction!"

"Rudolph?" He had almost forgotten about the man. "Can you make sure our escape rout stays clear?"

---

If it makes sense, Malley is using Hold Hand to assist either Magnus or Marigold in a way that will help get Magnus free of the Nommlin's clutches. At least free enough that Seymour can return the fish to his pokeball. Lotad and Turbo are blowing more bubbles at the other two. Moreso to distract them and slow them down than to defeat them.

Malley and Marigold make short work of the net, allowing Seymour to recall Magnus. The two Nommlin attack with Aqua Jets, one knocking out Lotad! The other stumbles, giving Turbo a chance to shoot him with his bubble, but to little effect.

"Bring the others back! I'll cover our escape!" Rudolph shouts, signaling his Feebas forward.

---

The Crab bats away Roach's Mud-Slap, before striking back with a shadow-shrouded claw. Skipper gets in the way, taking a wound from the blow... but returning the damage with his Bide!

With the wild pokemon stumbling, Manty fires her Signal Beam, cutting through it's shadows... and knocking it out!

"I'll be out in just a second!"
Jake's voice sounded after the scuffle had come to a close.

He then pulled Skipper back into its pokeball, but left both Roach and Manty out in case whatever was outside of the ship needed all their unwounded pokemon. More importantly though, Jake eagerly attempted to pry the treasure chest open to see what the deal was.

Jake struggles a bit to open the chest, but finally looks at the treasures inside...

And to his disappointment, it's not gold, it's just a pile of soaked bottles.

OOC: The usual stuff: potions, antidotes, and so on. Enough to bring Jake's Healing items to Low.

Jake wasn't 100% disappointed. He half-expected it to be a total prank and the chest be completely empty. So he was only 50% disappointed. In any case, the battle was won the loot was collected, it was time to get out of there... for now -- there were likely more unexplored nooks and crannys of the ship, but it sounded like his companions might need his help.

Holding onto roach and letting Manty float behind him, he made his way out of the ship and radio'd to his companions,
"I found a couple potions in there, but nothing else, what's up out here?"

"Everyone but Turbo, return!" Seymour yelled. He meant it in both the physical sense, and the pokeball sense. He Prioritized returning Lotad and Magnus to their pokeballs first though. "Turbo, once your friends are clear, help cover our escape with the biggest Twister you can manage!" He figured the naughty little Mantyke would appreciate causing a little havoc.

---

Seymour and co. are attempting to run from the battle. Turbo will help Rudolph and use Twister on the Nommlin group. If a Nommlin grabs Seymour or one of his pokemon so that it can't escape, he will chuck a net ball at the problematic Nommlin.

As Jake makes his way up the stairs, he sees Ava and Arron in the cabin, holding the door close. Through the cracks between the planks, Jake sees shadows moving around the ship. "It's a pack of Nommlin. They were making a bee-line toward us."

"I don't know how many there are, but it looks like a whole village..."

---

Seymour quickly recalls most of his pokemon, while they avoid the Nommlin's attacks. As he does, Rudolph's Feebass starts building up a Whirlpool, causing the humanoid pokemons to stumble in the room. With Turbo's added Twister, the group is pinned against the walls of the rooms, so you can escape. But with so much movement, throwing a pokeball is pretty much useless...

As Seymour and Rudolph are pulled out by their pokemons, they see a large pack of Nommlin passing through the cemetery...

Jake looked around the cabin nervously,
"Do you think this is their turf? Maybe they are just passing through. How much time do we got left. We might need to make a break for it if we are accidentally in their place. They sure didn't mark it like it was theirs though, unless they build giant wooden ships as their home..."

Getting trapped in an underwater ship was not how he imagined this would go, but he assumed there was still plenty of time left so he didn't start panicking... yet.

A quick check of your watch shows only fifteen minutes have passed. And despite being humanoids, the Nommlin don't seem to be tool users, meaning it's unlikely they'd build something as complex as a ship.

"Quick, get down below line of sight," Seymour said to Rudolph. He and Turbo were already trying to get behind some of the steps on the old destroyer. "Should you return your Wailmer too? Or do you think it would be a deterrent? Should I have my Ditto become a second Wailmer? I would really rather avoid having to run from Nommlins all day..." In the end he waited to hear Rodolph's suggestion as he tried to stay hidden from sight.

Despite his apprehension about the stressful situation, Seymour watched the Nommlins with curiosity. He tried to figure out why exactly they were moving through the ship graveyard. Were they in trouble? Or were they looking for trouble?

Rudolph calls back his Wailmer. "Better hide for now... they're not passing that close, and I think I can see the end of their group. But I wonder where they're going, I never heard of Nommlin traveling in packs like that."

"Yeah, where are they going, and what are they leaving behind? Do you think something happened to their home?" He did his best to try and guess whether they looked more eager to leave, or eager to get to wherever they were headed.

Jake looks to the two trapped with him,
"So... what do we do. The only thing I did that might have attracted it was fight that crab thing. Or maybe since we got time, we can explore more of the ship and hope the pokemon lost interest in, like, a bit. We got a lot of time to kill still."

Jake did an large underwater shrug. His panic had gone away when he saw they had a ton of time left.

It's hard to tell from a distance, but they don't seem in too much of a hurry... if anything, they appear to travel in a sedated lock-step pace. As for their direction, you think they're headed toward the rocky island that are used for the gym challenge.

---

"We may as well. They're not trying to get in so... we should be safe."

"I think they're all going in the same direction, too. Is it a migration we didn't hear about?"

Having no way to figure out anything more from inside the ship, so they follow Jake in exploring the ship. There's not much else to explore, though. The hull is just two large rooms, with little beyond the chest Jake opened. The section Jake had not seen yet has a hole in the hull, large enough for the crab pokemon to enter. Judging by how the planks broke, it's likely the crab broke it himself.

Jake eyed the hole curiously. He estimated whether he could slip through without losing his scuba gear in the process. If they had any luck, they could swim under the ship to avoid the pokemon that were close to the door. Even if they couldn't fit through the hole themselves, if the situation got desperate, he hoped Manty could get through to alert the others to their predicament, but for now...
"Go roach! See if there is a safe way out on the other end of that hole and come back!"

Even if the hole was too small for now, Jake suspected with enough pokemon helping they could widen the hole.

The hole seems rather tight, but Jake can see it leads right out of the ship. With a bit of digging, you could probably make it through. Roach goes to explore... only for an electrical bolt to come from the ground.

Roach gives the ground a curious look as the flash fades, and a flat brown fish that was hidden in the silt starts swimming away.

"Are they... headed toward land? It looks like they are headed toward the rocky islands that are used for the gym challenge. There's nothing there that their arrival would cause trouble for, right?" He risked leaving his hiding spot a tiny bit to see if he could tell where their instructor might be. He figured she would know what to do if this migration actually was some sort of emergency situation.

"There shouldn't be... it's considered part of the military base, so no-one's allowed outside of the military or the gym challengers..." Rudolph still looks worried. "We should talk to the Lieutenant, though. Just in case."

You can't see your instructor around, but your radio should reach her if you turn off the 'mumble' feature.

Seymour turned off the mumble feature, then spoke into his radio. "Lieutenant Corrine Gardner, do you copy? Are you seeing this migration of Nommlins? Are there any special precautions we should be taking? And is there anyone we should be warning, considering the direction they are headed?" He did his best to remain out of sight as he awaited a response.

"Copy that, visual on Nommlin tribe... I've never seen this before. It seems they're coming from the village at the west edge of the cemetary. But where are they going?"

"Aren't they heading for the challenge area?"

"Yes, but we have regular patrols there. The wild pokemons don't normally stray into the shoals. And never is such large numbers!"

"So... is there any danger?"

"There shouldn't be... the shoals are kept clear outside of the gym challenges. Still... we should check what they're doing. Just in case. We'll rendezvous at the destroyer. Can you make it there?"

As Jake waited for roach to return, the dirt fish was perusing the stunfisk. The bold fish cared not for an electric shock... it meant nothing to it, so it was more surprised than afraid. It decided to pursue to frightened flat fish and alternately tried to body it with a tackle and spit a water gun at it. It wasn't looking for a fight so much as to establish dominance as the top bottom-feeder.

Back inside the ship, Jake figured when roach came back, they should already have the hole widened,
"Skipper got hurt a bit knocking the crab around, do you guys have any pokemon that would be good to crack the side of the ship open a bit more. Manty here isn't really a heavy-hitter."

"Huntail should be able to crunch his way through..." The Huntail starts biting at some of the weaker planks, and with a bit of assistance from Jake and Arron, the opening is increased enough that you can get through safely.

While you do this, Ava answers Lieutenant Gardner. "The tribe passed us. We should get there soon."

With the Nommlin passed, Jake and the couple head toward the destroyer.

"Rudolph and I are already at the destroyer," Seymour replied to the lieutenant. "We have taken refuge behind a stairway, out of sight. We will keep an eye out for new arrivals." He scratched his Mantyke on the back as he awaited the others to return. He also let out his other pokemon again, except for his fainted Lotad. Malley copied Turbo's form this time around.

After chasing the stunfisk for a while, Roach found Jake as they were finishing breaking through the wall of the ship. With his primary pokemon back, Jake swam along side the couple towards the destroyer. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it sounded like no one really knew anyway!

The whole group gathers at the entrance of the destroyer, with Forrest and the lieutenant arriving last. "They spotted us as we were swimming above them. They didn't take kindly to our presence..."

"This is worrisome. If an aggressive band of Nommlin move into the shoals, we may have to put the challenges on hold until we can get them out."

"Did anything like that happen in the past?"

Gardner shakes her head. "They usually like to live near the coast, and away from large ports like Herenport. It's the first time I've seen anything larger then a hunting party get close to the shoals."

"So... what should we do? Do we have to cut our trip short?"

"I'd like to say no... but I need to look into this. You can come with me if you want, or you can return to the boat and wait for the late dive to return to your exploration. It's your call, trainers."

"I'm coming with you," Seymour said, nearly surprised by his own words. He was not usually the type to knowingly head directly toward danger, but he was incredibly curious to find out more about what was going on with the Nommlins. Not to mention, his team of pokemon might come in handy.

Jake was the type to head directly into danger,
"Yeah! Lets go solve this mystery!"

The other divers nod in agreement. The thrill of discovery outweighs the risk for many trainers, after all. "Alright then. I'll take the lead. Stay close enough to keep visual contact, and stay low."

Lieutenant Gardner quickly catches up with the tribe, pulled by her Buizel. She stays far enough behind them that you can just barely make out the Nommlin ahead of you. As you swim, the seabed has less and less sunken ships, and more and more rocks. Finally, the Lieutenant stops behind a submerged rock, and signals you closer.

"It looks like this is where they were heading... but why?" You notice a strange noise in the water... a song made by the Nommlin. As you watch them, they seem to be... praying?

"Are they... praying?" Seymour asked, saying aloud what others were probably thinking. "To who? Is there a sea God they pray to? Or maybe a powerful pokemon? Lieutenant, are there any exceptionally powerful ocean pokemon  this region? Maybe even legendary? In Hoenn we had Kyogre. Maybe they are praying to a similar being..."

"There shouldn't be... we would have notice something that major, I'm sure... The only pokemon that came through recently was... Oh no..." She pulls herself a bit higher to get a better look, only to sink back down as a new pokemon swims down from the top of the rock the Nommlins are facing.


As she floats down, the Nommlin's chant increases in strength.

"Is that... Sirenade?" Seymour asked, remembering the pokemon they had been warned about earlier. It looked similar, but not exactly the same. Granted, he couldn't see it perfectly from this distance. He tried looking it up on his pokedex.

Jake was puzzled by the praying, but also impressed by how many pokemon had gathered for one thing. It was cool to see such a congregation. If he were the photographic type, he'd love to have an underwater camera. But Jake was more a eye person than a camera, so his vision feasted on the scene before him. He didn't have much to contribute,
"I don't think Kanto has an ocean god pokemon."

He seemed pretty impressed by the new pokemon who came out, he spoke as he pulled himself out of view,
"What's wrong with that one, she's really pretty!"

"It's a Naiaqua... Sirenade's pre-evolution. Their voice isn't as strong, but they're know to put sailors in a daze with it."

"And it looks like it has the entire Nommlin village enthralled. This could be very bad. That's only one village... if the other villages join in, we'll need a full military assault to dislodge them from the shoals."

The Lieutenant fiddles with her radio for a moment, and you see her speaking despite you not hearing anything. After listening for an answer, she turns the radio back to your frequency. "I'm sorry to say this... but we have to attack them now. We're the only ones close, and by the time someone else shows up, the entire group could vanish. We need to act, and we need to catch that Naiaqua."

Seymour put a finger to his lips for a moment as he thought. Or, at least he tried to. It didn't work too well with his mask on. Even so, it only took the trainer a moment to come up with a plan.

"Malley, transform into that Naiaqua." He gave an uncharacteristically sly smile to his diving buddies. "If they are so enamored by Naiaqua's voice, we'll give them a different one to follow. I can lead the Nommlins away while you guys confront the real Naiaqua. Falkner, you still thinking of specializing in water pokemon?" Seymour figured this would be a good opportunity for Jakey to start making a name for himself. Whether Jakey decided to catch the Naiaqua, or simply defeat it.

Jake liked the idea of the plan though he also thought about Manty's signal beam as a way to disrupt the sound... the plans might even work together though,
"Yeah! That sounds great. I think I could confuse the singing pokemon so she stops singing so all of the nommlins try to follow your ditto! We just need to get enough away so that I can confront her."

Jake wasn't sure if he would be dazed by the pokemon's voice and didn't have a clear plan for a fight other than cranking signal beam to 11.

"Clever move. Alright, do your best to confuse the Nommlin. Once they start to scatter, we'll make a bee-line for the Naiaqua, and do our best to capture her. Understood?" The other trainers nod, each readying their team for a major fight.

OOC: Although there's going to be a lot of opponents, we'll assume you manage to face your foes one-on-one, so pick your orders based on that.

"Malley, I'm counting on you to lead them away, alright? Turbo, you'll be my bodyguard for right now. Marigold and Magnus, stay safe and watch our backs."

---

Turbo will be my champion. He'll start off any battles with a mighty Twister!

Do I have time to try using some healing items on Lotad before they enact their plan? I am willing to use up to 15 Favor points to boost any healing rolls to their next level.

Jake patted Manty on the head as they prepared for the fight. Turns out, Seymour and Jake were using the same pokemon species again. Just as well, they were both well designed for the job, quick enough to land attacks and cause some chaos before the Nommlin knew what was going on. Jake gave instructions to Manty,
"So anyway, you gotta come out blastin'. Signal beams all over, then we go for the Naiaqua at the first opening."


______________________________________________

I'd like to heal Skipper too, if there is time.

Between your own healing items and those of the Lieutenant, you manage to take care of Skipper's wound, as well as wake up Lotad. Lotad is still injured, but given some time to swim around, he should recover soon enough.

After a bit of discussion, the Lieutenant leads most of the group to the side, hoping to get closer to the Naiaqua while Malley stays on the rock you're hiding behind, with Seymour and Forrest staying close in case there's a problem.

Once the Lieutenant is in place, she gives the signal, and Malley takes it's place on the rock to draw the Nommlin's attention. The pokemons are confused by there being two Naiaqua signing to them, trying to draw them closer... In hesitation, most stay in place, with only a few moving closer to Malley.

But even that disobedience is enough to bother the Naiaqua, who shouts orders to her Nommlin, aggressively pointing at Malley. Another few Nommlin swims toward the Ditto, but with an angry expression. As they move closer, Malley uses it's Attraction to convince it's own Nommlin to stop them, and soon the two group come to blow. Naiaqua orders more of her subject into the fray, causing the brawl to spread as more and more of them fight each other in confusion.

Seymour holds his breath as the plan seems to work... only to see a few Nommlin reach Malley, intent on silencing it. Turbo jumps out to catch the Nommlin is a Twister, but despite injuring it, the Nommlin replies with a pair of strong Quick Attack that the Mantike can't avoid.

OOC: Nommlin has 1 injury, while Turbo got 2. The other Nommlin fights Forrest and Malley, who are holding their ground at the moment.

---

The Lieutenant orders the attack, seeing only one group of Nommlin between you and your target. They quickly leap to block you, leaving all of you to fight against a foe.

The rapid merman tries to stun Manty with a slap, but she avoid the blow, blinding it with her Signal Beam. Despite being hopelessly slower, the Mantike manages to avoid all of her opponent's attacks, wearing it down with Beam after Beam, before knocking it out as it tried to seek help from it's comrades.

Around Jake, the rest of the attacking group is stuck in their own battles.

The situation seemed manageable at first, but his baby Mantyke soon seemed to become overwhelmed by the wild Nommlin. It was time to switch up strategies.

"Turbo, come back! Magnus, get in there and distract with some splashes! Lotad, blast bubbles at Turbo until he is feeling better. Marigold, standby." Even as he was issuing his orders, he threw a net ball at the lightly injured Nommlin. If he could catch it, it would eliminate a threat and buy a bit more time.

---

Making an attempt to catch the Nommlin with a net ball. Also sending in Magnus to splash in case the capture fails. Lotad is using bubble on Turbo in the background, trying to take advantage of the Mantyke's Water Absorb ability.

As the fight raged on around him, Jake had a moment to look around for Naiaqua. While fighting his prior target, he developed a plan for Naiaqua. The difficulty in fighting her was she may be able to summon more nommlin's to her side when they were under her spell. If she was interrupted somehow, the nommlins may be able to shake off the hypnosis. Being stuck in a pokeball -- even just for a moment, might be enough.

So Jake took out one of his shiny new net balls and scanned for the singer, and a clear path to her. If he spots her, he'd urge Manty to carry him fast as she can to the proto-siren to begin their attack.

____________________________________________________________________
Start with a net ball, then try to land a wound (and potentially confuse) with signal beam. Once wounded, try another net ball.  I'm willing to take the reduction of net ball bonus to get a better catch chance.

The Net ball hits the Nommlin straight on, and it vanishes in a red light. The ball bounces a few time in the water... before landing on the seabed, locked tight. As Lotad tries to heal Turbo with his bubbles, Forrest gives a frustrated shouts as his own opponent stays too fast for his Kingler to stand a chance.

But as Seymour's opponent is caught, the second Nommlin makes an angry noise before charging Seymour. Then... a bright blue-green light gets in the way. A cloud of green seems to leave the Nommlin, knocking it out, and getting absorbed in the blue-green light.

As the light fades, Seymour see...

Lombre's Attack increase to Below Average, he learns the move Mega Drain
Mega Drain   Grass    S   Average   0   If the move causes damage, and the damage roll is even, user heals a wound.

He also gets to choose one of these abilities:
Swift Swim (Increase Speed in rain. +1 for a drizzle, +2 for normal rain, +3 for a downpour)
Hydration (While raining, at the end of it's turn, user heals a status effect)

Oh, and he's fully healed too. Congratulation!

---

The Naiaqua is easy to find, having not moved from her stone 'stage' since the beginning of the fight. Jake races within throwing range... and quickly realizes that throwing underwater isn't as easy as above water.

Manty fires a Signal Beam to keep her distracted while Jake moves closer for a second attempt. The ball shakes a bit... before locking the pokemon inside it.

OOC: Jake's pokeballs drop to Weak, but his Net ball bonus is unchanged.

The pokemons are on the way through PMs, as usual.

Jake did his best to fist-pump underwater. He achieved victory! Even before he picked up the locked ball, he radio'd to his compatriots,
"Target is neutralized."

Now, the source was cut off, but would the nommlins go crazy because their fair maiden was kidnapped? Jake wasn't sure, so he grabbed ahold of manty and goaded it to get to a safe area

"Let's blow this popsicle stand!" Jake gleefully called as he soared through the water.

Seymour was shocked at the appearance of the new pokemon form. So much so that he nearly forgot what was happening. He swam over to deliver a hug, with proud tears willing up inside his mask. "I am so proud of you Lotad- Er, Lombre." Seymour moved back a pace and tried (but failed), to wipe the tears from his eyes. They would need to figure out Lombre's new name later. They were still currently in a potentially dangerous situation.

"Malley, keep luring them away! Lombre, what do you say? Should we show these unruly Nommlins what you're made of?" Seymour and his first evolved pokemon acted as Malley's bodyguard, taking on any pokemon that failed to fall under the Ditto's spell and attacked the transformed pokemon.

Jake's group fall back, getting rid of their few remaining pursuers before rejoining with Seymour. With the capture of Naiaqua, most of the Nommlin were too confused to go after Malley. The few that did were quickly put to sleep by Malley, or drained out by Lombre. With the group reunited, the Lieutenant leads you back to the boat.

As you climb back aboard, you breath a sigh of relief as you can finally remove your mask, and feel the fresh sea wind on your face. "Well, that was far more eventful then I expected. Let's head back to land and get something to eat, shall we?" With that, the boat turns back toward the port.

OOC: You both get 25 favors for winning the tournament, and capturing the Naiaqua.

Level ups for Jake's pokemons:
Manty's Special Attack increases to Above Average
Raoch's Attack increases to Below Average
Skipper learns Mud Sport
Mud Sport   Ground   *      For 5 turns, Electrical moves have -2 Power

And for Seymour's pokemons:
Lombre already had his level up
Turbo's Special Attack increases to Above Average
Malley's HP increase to Below Average, and his Speed increase to Above Average
Magnus and Marigold each increase a stat of Seymour's choice.

Jake pantomimed a cheer, slowed a bit by the resistance posed by the water. While it had been quite a fun adventure underwater, some food and rest were well-needed and well-deserved. Part of him wanted to go back during the evening to see what else he could find in the graveyard, but he had a bit of a concern... something that might be able to be alleviated with the proper ask though. When back aboard the ship, Jake voiced his issue,
"Wow, that was fantastic! I can't believe that turned into such an epic battle, and that we won! I used most of my pokeballs catching it though. Before we go back out tonight, can we stop by somewhere so I can get some more? Are we still going back out tonight, or... "

Jake trailed off a bit. The trip may have been more tiring than was planned, and the lieutenant might need to talk about their day with someone higher than her. Jake didn't know what all military people did with their time, but he knew a few times getting let off the hook in kanto because an officer said something like it wasn't worth the paperwork.

When Seymour climbed back aboard the boat, he sunk into one of the seats almost immediately and let all of the tension leave his muscles. Jakey was right. It had been a fantastic voyage. But also exhausting. He allowed his pokemon to bob in the water and catch their breath for a while too. They had all performed valiantly in the face of adversity. He was proud of each and every one of them.

However, Jakey brought up a good point about the night-dive. "Yeah. Will this Nommlin invasion affect where we can go or what we can do this evening? I am thoroughly exhausted right now, but I am still excited to go back out again. I'll probably bring my new water pokemon with too, if that's alright."

"It shouldn't. I can make my report after we eat, and by the time we're done, the Nommlin should have returned home. Still, just in case, we'll head to the southern edge of the graveyard. There's not as many ships there, but you should be able to find some good pokemon if you look around. And you'll have time to get a few more pokeballs before we get back there, Falkner." She looks to the other trainers to ask if they want another dive as well.

"I think I'll pass..." Rudolf says. "I got enough pictures... and action... for a while. I'll join in on the meal though!"

Arron and Ava talk to each other for a moment, before answering "We'll have another go. We'd like to try getting another water pokemon or two."

Once everyone else has answered, Forrest nods. "I would like to dive again also. The Nommlin I caught was impressive, but I would like to try getting another pokemon too."

"Alright, that settles it. We'll have a late dive after we've had some time to recover."

Once the boat returns to the docks, lieutenant Gardner makes a swift call before taking you to a sea food buffet. "Don't be shy, but don't stuff yourself too much, or you'll have a hard time swimming. Oh, and guess who got some of the fishes you can eat here..." She grins. "Yep! The Nommlin sometimes give food they've caught to humans who give them medicinal berries."

Seymour looked at the buffet hungrily and headed for the sea food eagerly. He found it interesting that some of the seafood was traded for with the Nommlins. He was about to scoop some onto his plate when he stopped suddenly and put it back. His own Magikarp could have been one of the fish traded to the buffet if he hadn't saved it...

Suddenly he was not nearly as hungry.

For the rest of the meal he stuck to salad and fruits, as well as a slice of Nanab pie.

After supper, Seymour made sure to get his pokemon all checked out at the pokemon center before the night mission. He even swapped out the Shroomish on his team for his new Nommlin, Jett. He hoped Jett wouldn't have any hard feelings about being captured, and might even be able to show them some cool spots during the night dive.

---

Switching out Shroomish and adding in Nommlin. Ready for the night dive at any time!

Jake didn't care too much about where the fish came from, he was only concerned with where it needed to go -- his stomach.  Of course, he ate things other than fish, but when close to the sea, take advantage of the fresh food!

After eating probably a bit too much, Jake eagerly scoured the area for shops selling pokeballs before getting ready for the night mission. He was a bit sad that there would not be as much exploring old ships, but he still wanted to catch a couple more water pokemon... maybe even a nommlin for himself!
_____________________________________________________

Healing up at pokecenter
Buying pokeballs up to below average
Switching out Growler for Naiaqua

After a good meal, Jake does a quick run to buy a few pokeballs. He doesn't get as many as he wished, but he didn't want to miss the boat's departure.

As you're about to set out, the lieutenant hands you a pack of pokeballs. "With the thanks of Herenport's Navy." The boat heads back to the graveyard, and you dive down for more exploration.

As you were told, this section is more spread out, and most of the ships are closer to patrol vessel in size. After what happened earlier, this night trip is quite relaxing. And for the pokemons, you find a few interesting ones.

OOC: Your reward for stopping the Naiaqua is a level up in Pokeballs. Jake also bought enough balls to reach Below Average after his reward.

There's only so much description I can give to swimming in the ocean, so I think we'll just go straight to the pokemon encounter. I'll let you choose what you go after:
- Staryu
- Corphish
- Clauncher
- Tentacool
- Inkay

Jake again uses roach as his primary movement pokemon and skipper as his enforcer. He was reluctant to bring out his Naiaqua (who he has dubbed 'nanny') for combat, but both she and manty were still out and about in the water, entertaining themselves.

His primary target for the night was originally going to be a fish that looked like a fish, but he became mesmorized by all the different variety of sea life. In particular, he found the bioluminescence of Inkay totally cool, so he pursued it primarily (though clauncher and corphish were also pokemon that caught his eye.

Rather than aggressively trying to disable and forcibly capture the inkays, he instead tried to ingratiate himself by swimming at a friendly distance. He would even offered it the Persim Berry that he had let Fetcher hold for a while. However, if the carrot didn't work... Jake would try the stick -- a solid blast from Skipper's water gun to weaken it enough to throw a pokeball at it.

Diving at night turned out to be rather neat, and much different than in the day. For one, he couldn't see very far unless there was a light source at the point he was looking. He made sure all of his pokemon had buddies so they wouldn't get lost. Magnus and Marigold zipped around happily, Turbo and his new Nommlin Jett seemed to be having fun looking for trouble to get into, and Malley was having fun testing out a new shape. Lombre.

Or rather, Captain Lombre, as Seymour had named him.

Instead of looking for a battle though, Seymour had a similar mindset as Jakey. He wasn't looking for a pokemon to battle, but maybe one that would like to join in on the fun he and his pokemon were already having. If one decided to join his pokemon family, great. But he was not actively looking for additions to his crew.

After a bit of exploring, a couple of friendly Staryu eventually got into a chasing game with Turbo and Nomlin. Malley and Lombre joined in too when Malley hurried over to try out their shapes. And of course his Magikarp didn't want to be left out either. Seymour would have joined in too, but he was no match for any of their speed. Instead he just enjoyed himself by observing, and watching the sea stars twirl through the water by the light of his SCUBA gear.

---

If any Staryu want to come along with Seymour, he is more than willing to let them (or any other pokemon for that matter), but he is not actively pursuing additions to his team at this time.

Jake's Inkay is a bit worried at first... until he gets a bite of the Persim berry. It probably can't find many of those underwater, and it seems completely enthralled by the taste. Enough that it jumps at the change to follow Jake so it can get more.

Meanwhile, Seymour finds that the Staryu are far more stand-offish. After a few unsuccessful attempts at communicating, Seymour remembered something about the gem in the center of the star giving a mysterious glow. On a hunch, he tries to blink his flashlight at the Staryu, to see it's reaction. It worked, and the strange pokemon stayed still in front of Seymour, letting him capture it.

After a bit more swimming, you are called back to the ship, your dive over. On the way back, you compare your final captures. The couple went after the Corphish and Clauncher, while Forrest managed to find a Tympole.

You're soon back to the hotel, where you soon fall asleep after an exhausting but quite enjoyable day.

Seymour was thrilled that he had managed to get a Startup to join his team, even though he hadn't been actively trying to recruit. In fact, that made it all the more special to have Shuriken (which is what he named it) on his team now.

It seemed everyone had managed to make an addition to their teams, and Seymour happily chatted with everyone about it on the trip back in the boat. At the end of the day though, the trainer was happy to be heading back to the hotel for a good sleep. The day had been fun and exciting, but exhausting.

---

Normally Seymour was an early riser, but the day after the diving he allowed himself to sleep in past sunrise. All his muscles were stiff and it hurt to move. Even so, he was felt extremely satisfied with the direction his life had gone since arriving in the region. Especially since arriving in Herenport.

After fighting through the sore muscles to get dressed and eat some breakfast, he asked Jakey, "So, what is the plan for today? Should we go try and earn our Swarm badges in the next town? Or did you still have something you wanted to do here in Herenport? After a quick stop at the Pokemon Center to switch up my team again, I should be ready to go."

Jake was glad to have recruited another pokemon without force. When he still had oxygen, he just swam around with his nearly full complement of water-type pokemon. He had a theme-team now. Despite all the fun he had, he was glad to make it back to the hotel. While he was fit, he was still mortal and still needed to rest occasionally. It didn't take him long to drift off to sleep snuggling with growler.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Jake already was up by the time Seymour arose, and had acquired some seafood breakfast, with enough for Seymour if Seymour felt like eating fish again. If not, Jake would happily eat it all. Despite all the fun that was had in Herenport, Jake figured it was time to move on as well,
"I mean, I can't stay here forever, so yeah, lets go get another badge! I definitely want to come back and get this city's badge too though. The hide-and-seek sounds really cool and we already have explored some of the graveyard, so we would have a killer edge."


_____________
Jake's Team:
Skipper
Roach
Manty
Nanny
Inky (the inkay)
Growler

With you meal finished, and your pokemon healed, you set out on route 112 to visit Roarac. You move quickly, enjoying the morning sun as you watch the plains around you. You spot a few distant pokemon, but you doubt you could catch them.

As you reach the crossroad with route 111 and 207, you notice a man coming from the 207 route. His green suit, and the round lantern (currently unlit) on his shoulder seems vaguely familiar...

Before leaving Herenport, Seymour opted to switch his pokemon team to one that he thought he might use in the next gym battle. Which meant he currently had with him his Laconney, Mantyke, Roggenrola, Dunsparce, Ditto, and Farfetch'd. It was a nice morning, and after walking for a while, the muscles in Seymour's legs even began to loosen up again.

When they saw a familiar face approaching, Seymour waved eagerly to get their attention. There were not a lot of people they knew in the region, so it would be nice to see a friendly face again. But then Seymour remembered that not every familiar face was a friendly one and he stopped waving. He squinted to try and figure out who exactly it was that was approaching.

---

Switching my team to Laconney, Mantyke, Roggenrola, Dunsparce, Ditto, and Farfetch'd.

The man seems to have noticed you, and moves closer. "Well I'll be... it is you two! How have you been doing?" It's a bit distant, but you remember him now. You met him in Bluweil Forest, when you were chased by Team Gaia. Cary had lead you to his cabin, and helped you escape. "I heard you got the Night Badge for that little mess we had to deal with?"

Once he recognized Cary, Jake waved enthusiastically. It had only been a few days, but so many experiences were crammed into Jake's head he forgot all about the suspicious person in the woods that had helped them. In any case, his memory was sufficiently jogged now,
"Oh hey Cary, we definitely did get a badge. We are on our way to get the swarm badge now. We got a ton of pokemon in herenport... I am a water type trainer now!"

"Really? That's great to hear!" He says with a laugh. "So you're heading to Roarac too? I'm going there to trade some of my catches. The Major is always looking for more bugs to throw at challengers."

"Cary!" Seymour exclaimed when he recognized the trainer. He rushed forward and stopped just shy of hugging the guy. He did practically save their lives after all.

"I am glad to see you are doing well. What catches are you hoping to trade? And what will you trade them for?" Seymour was interested in finding out what types of pokemon they might be facing. Especially if they were bugs he had never heard of before. "You can definitely walk with us if you want. We can tell you everything that happened to us after you helped us evade Team Gaia."

You talk as you walk along route 111. "A bunch of Ladyba and Sewaddle, mostly. They prefer quantity over rarity. I did find a couple of Shelmet and a Veniped, too. I'm mostly trading them for food and healing items. It's not glorious, but it's a living."

Cary is quite interested in your adventure in the swamp. "A Lampert in the swamp? I guess it makes sense, with the stories about Chairluire Castle, but it's still pretty unusual..."

"Yeah, it was pretty freaky," Seymour agreed. "But not nearly as scary as the wild Gyarados we fought. Or as exciting as winning our first tournament!" So much had happened in the last few days that Seymour was glad that they had a long enough walk to tell it all. There was also the political shenanigans they had stumbled into, and the diving expedition too!

Jake was happy to have more company on the road, plus they were less likely to run into trouble with someone who knew what they were doing with them. Jake told the same stories, mostly from his perspective. He focused on what happened most recently, especially the wooden ship in the graveyard. After a while, he asked Cary another question,
"So what is the swarm badge challenge anyway, they need a lot of pokemon for it?"

"Well... have you ever seen a zombie movie? You know the scene, the heroes are pinned down in one place, and the hordes are advancing relentlessly toward them, while they desperately try to hold them back?" Cary says. "It's supposed to represent combat in 'colonies', where a small group of well equiped invaders are faced with a large number of less equipped locals."

He describes how the trainers are charged with guarding an outpost, where a large tub of honey is left open. The smell draws a large number of bug pokemon they've released, leading to a large battle for the trainers. "The problem with that of course, is that the bugs aren't commanded by a trainer. So they tend to flee instead of sticking around after the fight. And that's why they need to purchase multiple bugs from catchers like myself."

"So... does that mean we could theoretically catch the pokemon involved with the gym challenge?" He was surprised that they were not commanded by a trainer, but it did make a lot of sense now that he thought about it. He didn't exactly plan on catching any pokemon during the challenge, but it could still be an important detail to keep in mind. "Also, are bug pokemon commanded by participants typically lured in by the honey as well? Unfortunately I do not have any bug pokemon on my team yet, but I am still curious."

Cary shakes his head. "Bugs with trainers are normally obedient enough not to chase food when being commanded. Although... there's no telling what a really disobedient pokemon might do."

You reach a bridge, and see the town in the distance. "I guess you could try to catch one of the attacking bugs, but I heard it's pretty hard to focus on your pokeball when you're dealing with so much. You're better off taking a trip north instead, the forest is filled with bugs... they're just a bit more careful than usual. They tend to remember the fighting in the gym, you know."

Jake pondered for a moment before coming up with an analogy,
"So the swarm badge is like throwing a rock at a beedrill nest! That sounds really cool, except for the part about not being able to run away."

When hearing about the potential of catching bug type pokemon, Jake decided to ask the expert some questions,
"Now that I am a water type trainer, do you know of any water bugs? That would be cool to have!"

"Can't say I've seen many of those. A few Surskits at most, but when they evolve, they switch to bug-flying. I've heard of a water spider, but I've never seen them in my forest." You cross a second bridge, entering the town proper. "Oh, and I think there's an ocean critter that's considered a bug, even though it looks like some giant crawfish. A... Golisopod, I think?"

You look around at the town...

OOC: That you will find in the Roarac thread!

The city is as lively as it was during your last visit, though you need to make a bit of a detour due to road repairs.

As you head toward the port, you notice a faint movement out of the corner of your eye, in a small alley. It looked pretty small, so it's probably a pokemon.

Jake cheerily strutted down the road into Herenport. He had all but forgotten the run-in with the inspector and was thinking about all the fun battling they did on the road against various wild pokemon.

On seeing the movement, Jake was eager to discover what pokemon it was -- or, well, it was probably a pokemon,
"Hey, lets check that out before we find a hotel or something!"

"Sounds good to me," Seymour agreed as he turned down the alley. He was always eager to see some cool new pokemon. "What do you think it might be? You hoping for anything specific? Magnemite? Grimer? Those are city pokemon, right?" Seymour had his pokedex out and ready to ID whatever they spotted.

---

I went with Gulp for Magikarp's new ability.

You walk into the alley, looking around your for what could have moved. But try as you might, all you see are garbage bags, and not Trubbish. After a while, Seymour shakes his head and puts away his pokedex, and you step back out of the alley...

Until Jake glimpse, out of the corner of his eye, a small paw reaching out from behind a bin, and into Seymour's pocket to grab his pokedex.

"SWIPER!" Jake exclaimed as he lurched towards Seymour... and more importantly the thief behind Seymour. As he moved forward, his hand also moved towards his belt, aiming to get growlithe out so he could start tracking the thieving pokemon with odor sleuth right away... that is, assuming the thief-type pokemon tried to escape.

The paw moves back, still grasping the device. At Jake's shout, the small blue-grey creature jumps away, grabs the bottom rug of a ladder with a crowbar, and climb on a fire-escape, before glancing back at the two of you.

It was several moments before Seymour realized what was actually going on. He spun around and looked up at the critter on the fire-escape holding his pokedex. "Hey! I need that back!" he exclaimed. He reached for his pokedex in his pocket to see what the critter was, but of course the device was not there. "How about... I trade you?" He pulled out one of his remaining glowsticks and waved it around tantalizingly.

Jake was not sure if Seymour's plan to lure the little thief was going to work, but since the pokemon stopped and looked back, he also stayed put for a moment. For the moment, at least -- Jake assessed the surrounding, looking for the optimal route to chase the pokemon on foot.

He also talked quietly to Seymour as the situation developed,
"It got your 'dex so you have dibs on catching it if you like. Or I'll try to get it. I like its sneaky style."

The small raccoon looks about to run... until Seymour lights the glow stick. It jumps down from it's perch, bringing the pokedex with it, but it lets go of it as it lunges at Seymour, reaching for the glow sticks, only to come up short.

It's clear it wants that little toy of yours, and it's willing to fight to get it.

"Ah!" Seymour shrieked, a bit startled. He stepped behind Jakey to use him as cover. Or maybe because Jakey had Growler's pokeball ready already. Yeah. That was definitely the reason.

Regardless, Seymour said, "He's all yours, Falkner. I just want my pokedex back." He tossed his glowstick onto the ground in front of Jakey to help entice the mystery pokemon to deal with Jakey instead of himself.

Jake casually dropped one of his empty pokeballs next to where Seymour throw the glow stick. He wasn't sure how much the pokemon would want to pilfer the pokeball, but if it did... it might accidentally trigger the release.

In case the pokemon tries to escape, Jake quickly reached back again to hold growler's pokeball. If it began to make a move, he'd throw the pokeball where it was trying to escape to cut it off... but he also tried to lure it in with the promise of fun,
"Hey little dude or dudette, you seem like my kinda 'mon. We could have a ton of fun together... getting in and outta trouble."

Sure, technically it wasn't a water pokemon, but it was cool. Perhaps, Jake thought to himself, he could be a cool-type trainer.

The pokemon grabs the glow stick, jumping away from the pokeball and making a run for the other end of the alley. Jake cuts it off by sending how Growler, ready to confront the bandit. And said bandit seems ready to defend itself with it's crowbar.

What order do you give to Growler?

Jake didn't want to knock out the little pokemon, so he opted to have growler use a weaker attack,
"Growler, say hi to your new playmate with a tackle! And don't let it get away!"

As Growler and the new pokemon began to battle, Seymour took advantage of the distraction. He left his hiding spot behind Jakey and go to grab his pokedex from atop the trashcan, where it had been discarded for the more luminous glow stick. The moment he had his device in hand, he scanned the unknown pokemon. (Not to be confused with an "Unown" pokemon.) "What is this guy anyway?" he mused.

Bandicoon, the Scrounging pokemon.
Type: Dark/Normal
In cities, Bandicoon are common sights in back alleys full of garbage. One man's trash is a Bandicoon's treasure. Bandicoon use their crowbars to open doors, pull down fire-escape ladders, and to pry open windows. They also make a useful weapon.

The Bandicoon is surprisingly fast, landing a blow on Growler before she can even react. Though she recovers quickly, the little thief seems pretty durable for it's size, able to endure multiple tackles without harm.

"Woah, he is tougher than I thought!" Jake mused,
"Now I definitely want to catch it!"

With a dramatic point, Jake commanded his hound,
"Alright, show him how tough we can get and hit him with a flame wheel!"

Growler surrounds the area in flames, surprising the Bandicoon. It stumbles back, before getting slammed by the fiery attack. As Jake sees it stumbles, he tosses out his pokeball, capturing the little bandit.

"Great job, Falkner! You caught it!" Now that the pokemon was no longer a threat to Seymour's valuables, he realized he was a bit jealous of Jakey's new regional-pokemon catch. Only a little though.

"Do you have a name picked out already? Or are you going to brainstorm for a while?"

Jake's fist struck the air in victory. He caught a thief, literally!
"Yeah! Uhm, I need to think about it a bit more. Bandicoon is already a pretty sweet name though"

He took a moment to straighten out his clothes and return growler after a word of congrats,
"Ah, where were we? I forgot."

"Makes sense," Seymour replied in response to Jakey not yet deciding on a name. He then added, "I think we were headed to the pokemon center to make sure everyone is in tip top shape, then heading over to see when the next gym challenge is happening. I think I am also going to switch out Rampage, my Pinsir, for a water pokemon. I am thinking that Jett, my Nommlin, is probably the correct choice. I should probably switch out Glumpy too, since the challenge is underwater... Let's see how Shuriken, my Staryu, does. Both Jett and Shuriken are from the area, so maybe they will even give me an extra edge in the challenge!"

---

Switching out Shroomish and Pinsir for Staryu and Nommlin.

You take a quick trip to the pokemon center, make your switches, and head toward the port's military base. Unlike the building you visited for your diving training, you're now heading for the main base. You're surprised to see fountains decorating the area outside the walls. It gives a nice looking area, clashing somewhat with the idea of a military base. But as you walk along, Seymour notices faint movement in the water. A hidden pokemon, perhaps?

As you approach the base's entrance, you notice the guards call into their radio as soon as they see you. Once you're withing speaking distance, they jump at attention. "Sir Falkner, sir Seymour, welcome to Herenport base. Lieutenant Gardner will be here shortly to escort you to the Commodore."

Seymour was a little distracted trying to glimpse the potential pokemon in the fountain, so he almost didn't catch what the guards were saying. Thankfully he wasn't quite that oblivious though. He responded after a moment. "You- know our names? You were expecting us? Us specifically?" He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Should he feel unsettled because his movements were being followed so closely, or flattered that they had apparently accumulated enough fame to be notable? The trainer opted to decide how to feel at a later time.

Jake wasn't too surprised on the guards knowing their names,
"Hey, we won that tourni! We are local celebraties now!"

He then gave a royal wave to the troops and ensured his clothes were properly donned as they waited to be escorted to the man/woman in charge.


OOC: Long weekend, switching to the following team.
Skipper
Roach
Manty
Nanny
Inky
Bandicoon

"We saw you at the tournament, sirs! As the first exchange trainers in Cadien, many of us paid attention! And we were hoping you'd take the Herenport challenge." The guards relax a bit, and soon you see your diving instructor arrive at a jog.

"Hello again!" Lieutenant Gardner says. "I see you got the Horde badge, I'm guessing you're here for the challenge? Because you're in luck, there's still some room for you today!"

Seymour soon relaxed and smiled at the familiar face that was approaching. He waved at Lieutenant Gardner and replied, "That's great! Yeah, we are here for the challenge. I wasn't sure if we would have to wait a few days or not, so I am glad you still have room for us. Hopefully we haven't forgotten our training over the last couple days." Seymour smiled kindly at the diving instructor/Lieutenant and prepared to follow her to wherever they needed to go.

Jake waved to their former instructor and grinned on hearing they could get the challenge done with immediately,
"Woah, perfect timing, we just got back into town! I got all my watery pals set up and ready to go!  But I'm not sure if I want to just train water pokemon anymore, but there are a lot of awesome water pokemon... Maybe I can catch another during the challenge!"

"Oh, I doubt you'll have time for that!" She grins as she leads you through the base. "You're in for a treat, we got a special challenge today!"

Instead of being lead to a briefing room, she guides you to a group of trainers waiting at a picnic table. "You'll have to wait here for a bit, while we finish the preparation. It will give you time to get to know your teammates!"

You take a quick look at the group, composed of two guys and four girls. One, a girl with black skin and hair and wearing a green vest, smiles at you. "Hi! I'm Rochelle. Nice to meet you! What's your names?"

One of the guys, a ruddy skinned masculine guy dressed in black, sighs. "Sis, didn't you watch the news? They're Seymour and Falkner, the foreign trainers. They won the last doubles tournament in town." He shakes his head and looks at you. "I'm Bernard. Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh! Mysterious travelers from a foreign land, how mysterious!" The green haired girl says, fake swooning in her exaggerated cute dress.

Behind her, a short silver haired girl wearing a large sweater pats the swooning girl. "Adela... don't act like that, it's embarrassing..."

"Oh hush, Simone. We're here to enjoy ourselves!"

"Nice to meet all of you," Seymour said as he found a spot at the picnic table. "And yeah, we are those foreign trainers. I am Seymour." He offered to shake hands with anyone who looked like they might want to, then asked, "So, does anyone have any idea what special challenge for today is? Is it a twist on the typical gym challenge, or something completely new?"

"No idea. All I know, is they seem pretty proud of what they've managed." The last girl says, a blue-eyed woman with a practical white trainer suit. She gives Seymour a strong handshake. "I'm Tori. Nice to meet you."

Jake was happy to be the mysterious foreigner and shake the hands of the locals -- well, maybe locals, he didn't know which city they were from.
"Yeah, we are all here to have fun. Winning challenges is just a part of that. All I know is being a trainer is the best job I've ever had and, like, only job!"

Jake wasn't sure on the exact nature of the challenge,
"I thought it was going to be some sort of a hide and go-seek thing in the graveyard. Maybe a scavenger hunt though too! I wonder if we will be on big teams. The buggy badge had some team work which was really neat."

The last guy, a muscular man with violet hair, shrugs. "It sounded like we'll be a team. But it's a real change from the hide and seek. That one was just one or two trainers at the time, I heard." He shakes Jake's hand. "I'm Will. Pleasure."

Your talks distract you enough that you don't notice Lieutenant Gardner's return. "Getting along well, I hope? It's time to introduce you to your mission!" She leads you to a surprisingly small dock compared to the ones used by all the military vessels sitting around.

And the reason is obvious. Instead of the modern vessels you've seen so far, you see a small wooden ship, with two triangular sails.

Looking at it closer, Jake realize it's quite similar to the old sunken ship he saw in the graveyard.

"Here's your vessel, the Junior Buccaneer. You will have to sail the ship in the Shoals, where you'll have to attack and board a Marine vessel, manned by Commodore Lenola Laurel herself. If you manage to keep your ship afloat, you win the badge!"

"Ooh! A trip as a pirate! How fun!"

Gardner nods. "You can adjust your team before you leave. Once the anchor is raised, it will be sink or swim time!"

"Interesting... and who will be our captain?"

The Lieutenant grins. "That would be... him."

A thump-clop-thump-clop is heard from the door leading into the ship, and then... "Ahoy, me hearties! It's time to go on account, and batten down the hatches! Ye better be worthy of flying the Jolly Rogers, ye landlubber, or ye'll be walking the plank!"
You are surprised to see the Dread Pirate Joe standing on the ship, and yet can't think of anyone else who would be more fitting to meet at this moment.

Jake's face went through an expression of genuine surprise and into a false expression of awe,
"Woaaaah, a real pirate! I heard of this guy. I can't believe he is working for the government now, real G-man now, I even heard of him when I was living in Kanto, his rep is huge!"

After bolstering the dread pirate's rep, Jake had a more serious question,
"Oh, I bet I saw Buccaneer Senior when I was out scuba, that one went down. What happens if we go down if we mess up?"

Seeing as they would be on a boat instead of in the water, Jake figured he'd switch up his team before starting off. Roach was a perpetual under-performer and having some air-power would be nice. He had a bit of an idea to share with the rest of the team too,
"I was on a bike course with a buncha duders and turns out they got there when a bunch of birdo's dropped them there in a big fight. I got a duder from there but it can't detonate. Do any of you have a pokemon that can be dropped and go boom? Maybe we can sink them!"


Roach -> Fetcher

Seymour grinned widely as Joe walked into view. He hadn't expected to see the man ever again, much less helping to run a gym challenge. He wondered if it was maybe part of some kind of community service, but figured it would be a poor idea to ask. In fact, aside from his familiar and friendly smile, Seymour figured it would be best not to volunteer the fact that he knew Joe. Seymour liked the guy, but didn't necessarily want people getting the impression they were good friends. Purely for legal reasons.

Still, he couldn't help but share his enthusiasm for the gym challenge. "This ship-themed challenge sounds like it will be quite the experience! And vastly different than I had anticipated. I will definitely need to make some adjustments to my team..." Seymour began brainstorming his options even as he awaited the answer to Jakey's question. He was particularly interested in if it would be okay to sink their enemy or not. Gardner had only mentioned boarding the enemy vessel and avoiding getting sunk themselves.

---

As of now, I am planning to switch my team to: Lombre, Ditto, Pinsir, Nommlin, Farfetch'd, and Shedinja

"You can sink them if you want. The ships are built rather lightly, enough that strong or focused pokemon attacks could breach the hull. And be assured that your opponent will be trying to do that." Gardner explains. "You win if you sink your opponent, or manage to capture the treasure chest they're carrying.

And don't worry about rescue, we have a team of Mantine divers ready to fish out anyone who ends up in the water."

"And unless ye want to head to Davey Jones' Locker, ye best be ready to fix the holes in the hull!"

"Hmm... Rochelle's Cubchoo and Mawile could probably help with the repairs, by freezing small leaks, and fitting planks quickly. I don't have any high explosive pokemons myself. Anyone?" He looks around, but the other trainers just shake their heads.

"I've got a Snover that could help too. I also have a Geistowl for scouting."

Jake considered the two victory conditions,
"Should we go for one or the other... or both at the same time? I got some sneaky pokemon that might be able to do something. I just got a bandicoon. Maybe it can ride on a manty to get close and into their boat! My inkay can also go with to swim back with the treasure maybe!"

Jake thought about what his other pokemon could do,
"My skipper can fire water from the ship and fetcher can be air support. I do have a Naiaqua too. They can get swarms of other pokemon to fight for them I think. Maybe I could try that. Anyone else have any ideas of how to use my pokemon better?"

As Seymour settled on the team of pokemon he planned to use, he let their team know what resources he could bring to the table. "I have a Farfetch'd, Farrah, that can help Fetcher and Geistowl in the air. My Nommlin can probably help scout things underwater. He's fast, is from this area, and is good at teamwork. My Lombre can probably help in the water too. His head is just the right shape for giving a small pokemon a ride, if anyone's pokemon needs a lift. My Shedinja might be able to slip into the enemy ship undetected, maybe, and start working on making holes from the inside. And my Pinsir is super strong, so he can probably help with making holes on the outside! Or help protect our own ship. Lastly is Malley, my Ditto, who can help double up on any role we might need at any given time."

After a round of discussion, the other trainer settle on the following primary roles:

William will focus on repairs with his Timburr.
Tori will join the scouting and aerial attacks with her Jumpluff and Geistowl.
Bernard will focus on direct attacks, with Qwilfish striking below the water line, and Porygon serving as a cannon.
Rochelle will guard the deck, possibly moving to either help with repairs, or to board the opposing ship, depending on how things go.
Adela will guard the deck too, with her Miltank serving as a wall, and her Galvantula slowing boarders down with her webs.
Simone will stay as a wildcard, to provide help wherever needed.

None of them feel comfortable trying to sneak aboard the other ship, lacking any real affinity for stealth.

"Jakey, maybe we should focus on being the boarding party," Seymour suggested after everyone else had stated their preferred roles. "Maybe I can face them more head-on in order to give you a chance to sneak past them. Of course we will need to adjust all our strategies as unexpected situations crop up too." He looked around to see if that would be alright with everyone else.

Jake nodded,
"Yeah, that sounds good. I think we have enough people guarding the boat. We can be the risky risky people and try to take the other boat down or get the booty. Honestly, getting the booty is probably easier."

With the roles settled, you climb aboard and sail off...

And realize you're on a sail boat. Without engine. That means you need to adjust the sail to move. Joe commands you about, telling you what to do, but between his accent and his use of nautical terms, Jake has a bit of a hard time following his orders. Seymour manages a bit better, mostly from what he heard in movies.

The other trainer manage too... except Bernard. "Urp..." He bends over the side of the ship, clearly not used to the swaying of the ship.

"Arr! Seems we found the landlubber!" Joe laughs. Keep yer eyes sharp! Start sending out ye scouts. Them navy boys shall be chasing us soon."

When Captain Joe suggested sending out scouts, Seymour gave a quick salute and brought out three of his pokemon. Farrah the Farfetch'd, Jett the Nommlin, and Malley the Ditto. "Malley, transform into Jett. Then you two head off into the water. Help each other out and try to remain unseen. If you need to notify us of something, send Malley back first since I may need to switch their role at that time. Farrah, help search from the skies. We are on the lookout for the enemy ship, their scouts, and any tricks they might have in store for us." He gave a quick salute to his pokemon, same as he had given to Joe, then motioned for them to head out to fulfill their roles.

Tori sends out her Geistowl in the air, while Bernard sends a Lanturn to watch the sea.


You wait anxiously for your pokemon's return, watching as you sail around each rocks. Then, Rochelle shouts out "Hey! We're being tailed!" She points to the side, where you barely manage to spot an extremely stealthy pokemon passing near you.

This message was last edited by the GM at 04:03, Wed 20 Jan 2021.

Jake was too into trying to figure out what the dread pirate wanted. The funny talk was awesome when he wasn't expected to know what the dang guy was saying. Still, Jake managed to not capsize the boat as they sailed. He kept most of his pokemon in their balls, only having skipper and fetcher out. Skipper to guard the deck and Fetcher to patrol the skies.

He caught sight of the stealthy pokemon only when it was pointed out to him, but responded quickly,
"Hey, Fetcher, dive by that weird pokemon and give it a big fat leer. If it sticks around, take it down with a peck!"

Seymour threw a pokeball of his own to help out Jakey. When the Shedinja appeared, he said, "Corium, help out Fetcher and hit it with a Confuse ray. I would rather have be disoriented if it tries to retreat back to the other ship. Hopefully being confused will get it lost and slow its return." Of course that was assuming it wasn't a wild pokemon.

Seymour also scanned it with his pokedex. It would probably be useful to know its types if they had to fight it later (or now).

Drakloak, the Caretaker pokemon.
Type: Dragon/Ghost
It's capable of flying faster than 120 mph. It battles alongside Dreepy and dotes on them until they successfully evolve. Without a Dreepy to place on its head and care for, it gets so uneasy it'll try to substitute any Pokémon it finds for the missing Dreepy.

As Fetcher and Corium start to circle the dragon, it starts to spin around in a strange dance.

"Dragon? I got something for that!" Rochelle throws out a pokeball, releasing a Mawile.

"That's not gonna help, sis!" Bernard says. "She'll just sink if she goes there! Let us deal with it. Lanturn! Attack it from below!"

Jake managed to overhear the pokedex,
"Woah, that is a speedy one! Fetcher! Switch it up and use thief on the dragoncloak! Try to take the dreepy from it!"

Jake grinned as he completed the order. He had given the thief TM to fetcher, so he felt extra proud of being able to use this dark-type move against a ghost-type pokemon in a creative way. Jake was also happy he had not released the rest of his pokemon. He wanted the opposing boat to know as little about him as possible. Well, he kinda wanted everyone to know as little about him as possible, but ESPECIALLY the other boat.

Seymour was impressed by Jakey's strategy and hoped that it would work. But he issued some orders of his own in case some additional help was needed. "Corium, after you are finished with Confuse Ray, hit it with a Shadow Ball blast! Show 'em what you got!"

The Drakloak's dance drifts too close to the ship, and it ends up bumping rather hard into it. That gives Fletcher the opening to grab the Dreepy right off it's head. As it realize what the bird did, the dragon flies right at the ship, vanishing before Corium's Shadow ball can connect.

"He went in the ship... HE WENT IN THE SHIP!"

"What? Who did? Where is he?"

"From the right!"

Before you can head below deck, a shadow appears behind Fletcher, moments before the Drakloak rams into him, dizzying him and recuperating the Dreepy.

The Drakloak was quite crafty, it seemed. Even in its confused state. "Corium, try your shadow ball again, but be ready to follow it through the hull this time if it tries to take cover again." Two could play those ghostly games. His Shedinja certainly couldn't match the Drakloak's speed, but you didn't necessarily have to be fast to be effective, if you could be properly prepared.

Even as all of the excitement of battle was going on, Seymour took an extra moment to look at their surroundings. After all, defeating the Drakloak was not their primary goal. He looked up to see if Farah had spotted anything else yet. And he scanned the sea for any signs of Jett or Malley returning too.

Jake decided to keep Fetcher trying to filch the duo-pokemon,
"Keep taking it off with thief! It won't go back to report if it doesn't have its buddy. Keep it distracted till we take it down!"

Unlike Seymour, Jake was pretty much wholly focused on the drakloak!

Fetcher does another pass, knocking out the Drakloak with another attack. As you watch, a soldier riding a Mantine come to pick it up, before riding out of the way. "So that's how they return pokemon during the challenge. That's reassuring." Tori says.

Looking around for other threats, you breath a sigh of relief as the sky and sea seems clear. But Joe looks worried. The wind is growing weak. If it dies down, we be here for a while."

"Great job guys," Seymour commented to everyone. He returned his Shedinja, then gave some consideration to Joe's weather forecast.

"I don't suppose it would make sense to try towing the ship at all..." he mused. He doubted their pokemon were strong enough for that anyway. Maybe if all of their swimming and flying pokemon worked together they could pull the ship in an emergency, but doing so would surely be tiring and inefficient.

"If the wind dies down for us, it would die down for our competition as well. So at least we will both be stuck in the same predicament. Maybe we should focus on scouting out their location and making plans for the time being. I can even have my Lombre throw up some mist so that they can't see what is going on on our ship if they try to scout us too. Although it could limit our own visibility as much as theirs." Seymour shrugged noncommittally. He was certainly happy to hear additional or alternative suggestions.

"Not if we're not in it..." Simone blushes and looks down, until Adela nudges her to continue. "The mist would be easy to see, so if we make it somewhere else, it will look like we're hiding over there, instead of here."

While you're considering her suggestion, Tori's Geistowl return, pointing to the north-east. "I think he found them!"

"I like the plan of using a decoy mist spot," Seymour said. "Maybe we could even lead them to a rocky spot where they could damage their ship. Or even get it stuck!" He let his Lotad out of its ball in preparation for executing that tactic, but waited to give Jakey and the others a chance to add to the plan first. It helped that Geistowl seemed to have spotted them, as it would give them insight on where to lay their trap.

Jake was a bit disappointed he couldn't try to knock out the rescue team for the fallen pokemon,
"That's no fair, they get to spy on us like that."

He was considerably less disappointed that the wind died,
"What's the big deal? We weren't try to escape anyway. I do like the hiding idea... but if we create mist somewhere else, where do we hide?"

It didn't take him long to yes-and the plan regardless,
"So, if we find a place to hide the ship and lure them onto a rocky place, maybe Seymour and I can be in the mist too, so when they try to find our boat there, we can sneak aboard their ship!"

"We could have enough wind to catch them, if we sail now. But if ye want to trick them, ye'll have to be patient. What you say? Charge in, or wait?"

The other trainers talk among themselves for a bit, but end up split. William, Tori, and Adela all want to go right in, while Bernard, Rochelle, and Simone think taking it slow would be the better choice.

"As much as I love to charge in and cause trouble, I think it would be cooler if we were pirates in the mist and yo'ho'd their ship when they can't see us!"

Saying his piece, Jake then turned to Seymour and sensed a potential stalemate,
"I'll vote how Seymour does though. He's good with plans. He doesn't just do stuff because it is cool, he does stuff because it works!"

"In this case, I think it is both, Falkner. Setting up a sting operation in the mist sounds both cool and effective. Maybe have a couple pokemon guard the mist from the air and underwater, but most people should probably guard our own ship with their pokemon. Me and Jakey can probably handle infiltration ourselves, if we are lucky."

If nobody objected to Seymour and Jakey trying their mist trick, Seymour would lay out the plan in simple steps. (subject to modification from others' input)

• Find a good spot to set up their misty area, preferably where the enemy might be able to be lured to run aground on some rocks.
• Get Lotad (and possibly ditto) to fill the area with mist where their enemy will surely spot them.
• keep one or two fliers overhead to warn of the approaching ship.
• keep one or two pokemon underwater to warn of approaching scouts
• lure the enemy ship into the mist
• sneak aboard the enemy ship while the are searching for our ship in the mist
• sink their ship or steal their treasure without them ever knowing we were there
• come up with a new plan when something inevitably goes wrong

---

As of now, I plan to have Nommlin guard underwater, and Farfetch'd guard overhead. Lotad and Ditto make mist. Shedinja and Pinsir will help directly with infiltration, but his other pokemon shouldn't be too far away either if he ends up needing to call them over too.

After a bit of guessing game, where you do your best to explain what you want to your pokemons, you figure out a general makeup of the area, and where your opponent is. Jett points to an area to the east of where you are, indicating that there are shallow rocks there. The nearest island is high enough to hide you, and according to Joe, the prevalent winds (once it picks up) should head to the north-east, giving you the edge over the Navi vessel.

You get close enough to hide before the wind dies off. Tori throws up a Jumpluff into the air to keep watch, before turning to the group. "Does any of you have a pokemon to help pull my Snover? He could help with the mist, but he's not too good at swimming..."

"My Lombre's head makes a decent platform your Snover could stand on," Seymour offered to Tori. "He has even had practice carrying my Shroomish around like that, back when he was still a Lotad." Seymour climbed down into the water with the pokemon that would be joining him for this mission. He was wearing the old wetsuit he had purchased a few days prior. "You guys ready?"

"Lobre is a great idea. None of my pokemon fit the bill."
Jake was ready too. He had a bit of his own plan, but saying it aloud would ruin some of the fun. Once they got into the mist, then he could play around some. He popped manty out of its pokeball and slid into the water, holding skipper and manty so keep himself afloat without working too hard.

He then let a bit of his idea slip as he turned to Seymour,
"Hey, remember that time when I caught Nanny? You think we can do the same thing she did? That ought to keep their hands full."

The corner of Seymour's lip curled up in a smile. "We could certainly try!" A horde of wild Nommlins could certainly come in handy.

Then Seymour noted Jakey's Mudkip and another thought occurred to him. "Say, can skipper use any mud-moves that would make the water more cloudy? Something that would keep our enemies from immediately noticing that our ship wasn't here just by looking underwater?"

"That be nice, but... Snover is over a hundred pound, that's a good thirty pound over your Lombre..."

Checking your pokedex, you do see the difference is notable... you also see Mantyke is thirty pound heavier than Snover, making Manty a viable option, surprisingly enough.

Bernard raises an eyebrow when Jake mentions his Naiaqua. "That could be a great way to keep their scouts distracted. Either way... be careful. Until the wind returns, we won't be able to really help you."

"Huh, we can make a raft with many, turbo and lombre! It will look like the pokemon fused into a megamon too!"

He then glanced to skipper,
"Yeah, he can stomp up some mud alright. I'll get him on it once we hit the rocks. Then nanny can start her song too. Team Chaos for the win!"

You head out to the shallow rocks, finding a spot where you can float comfortably standing on a rock, without needing to swim. Snover and Lombre soon cover the area in mist, while Skipper muddies the water, leaving you cut off from the rest of the world, in a zone of white and brown. Even sounds seem to fade, as there are barely any waves at the moment. Only Nanny's song fills the air, but that only makes it harder to hear anything else.

The wait is unnerving, as you keep getting the impression of movement just out of the corner of your eye. You pokemons look around too, as worried as you are.

With Snover and Lombre busy with mist and with Skipper busy with mud, Seymour sent a few of his other pokemon out to keep watch for the enemy ship. "Jett, I want you to keep an eye out for approaching pokemon outside of the muddied area. Farrah, watch from above the mists and let us know if the ship or fliers are approaching."

He wanted to give Malley a task as well, but wasn't sure what. The whole "hiding in the mist" thing was a bit unnerving. Seymour kept thinking he saw figures or tentacles moving at the sides of his vision. Maybe it would be a good idea to help ensure any unseen foes remained docile...

"Malley, transform into Nanny and help her sing some soothing melodies."