The next morning, you get up well rested, and with a nice meal to boot. Before you set out, you take a moment to check if you need anything before heading to Argenvers.

After getting all his pokemon healed up and a good night sleep -- not camping -- Jake was ready to hit the road.  He had a bit of an extra spring in his step knowing he had some more money. In fact, he had more money now than he ever had before. He wasn't sure what to do with it all. He considered asking Bandy, but it seemed like her hammer didn't need a replacement, so he asked Seymour,
"So, what do people DO with money?"

"Save it. Spend it. Waste it," Seymour replied to Jakey. He had honestly been surprised that there actually had been reward money for catching those goons. "I like to plan my purchases wisely and only buy what I really really want or need. Others... buy the first thing that catches their eye."

It felt good to be on the road again after having been so helpful the day before. Now that they were near the "survival and traps" gym though, Seymour had opted to change up his team again. He picked Pokemon he thought would help them to navigate traps and survive the wilderness.

---

New team: Ditto, Dunsparce, Snom, Pinsir, Castform, Lapimage

The walk is quite relaxed. By your estimation, you should reach Argenvers by mid-afternoon. You keep your eyes open for pokemons, but what draws your attention around noon is a sudden cloud of dust south of your, followed by a low rumble that you feel through the ground more than you hear. It's hard to judge, but going to see this would be a two-hour detour.

"What is that?" Seymour asked Jakey, referring to the rumble and dust cloud. It would be quite a detour to go check it out, but then again, they were not exactly pressed for time at the moment.

"Think we should go check it out?" He was game is Jakey was.

Jake noticed the dust cloud as he pondered what shiny object would first catch his eye. He didn't have a clear schedule for the day, and figured the risk of being caught out and camping for the night wasn't too high even with the diversion, so he was all in,
"Yeah, why not?  Well, if it is more team gaia, I'll blow a gasket"

Jake didn't really know what a gasket was, but he figured next time they encountered team gaia, he would try to interrogate one. Like, why were they so mad that they fight everything? Cadien seemed like a great place to live!

You walk through the wild grass, going more-or-less toward the area of the cloud. Is clear it was a dust cloud, and not smoke, as it was brown, and dissipated quickly.

Eventually, you spot what looks like a brand new dirt road, heading roughly in the same direction as you. Following it, you're lead to what looks like a large camp, with a few jeeps and trucks around. Some distance away from it, you see a group of people wearing khaki clothes, arguing next to a big crater.

The first thing you hear as you get closer, is "SAFE!? YOU CALL THIS..." (one of the men points to the crater) "SAFE!?"

"What do you think happened?" Seymour asked Jakey as the two approached. "An explosion? A meteor impact? An underground structure collapse?" The trainer was curious to find out the answer. He approached as closely as it seemed they would be allowed.

"Looks like someone dropped a geodude!" Jake cheerfully interjected, loud enough that the men in khaki's could likely hear. Still standing at a respectful distance, Jake proceeded to flash his badges at the group of... soldiers?  As if his badges gave him some degree of authority on the situation... or at least made him more privy to the happenings.
"Hey y'all. Everyone OK? Made a big boom we saw all the way from the route," he greeted.

The man who was shouted at just shakes his head, while the loud one turns to you. "Yeah, it turns out this battlefield actually has some LIVE ORDINANCE buried in it. Something our head archeologist forgot to mention!"

"Look, black powder doesn't survive long when exposed to the elements." The older man says. "That any of it managed to survive so long is just an amazing fluke. The chances that it would happen twice are lower than winning the lottery."

"Yeah, except instead of a million dollar, we just lose a limb. Or a companion." One of the woman says. "I'm not risking my Hippopotas on a lottery ticket, no matter how low you say the odds are."

"Can I ask what it is that you are looking for out here anyway? What kind of archeology is there to be done on a battlefield? Or, is it a really old battlefield?" The trainer wondered if they might be able to help these people come up with a viable method of safe exploration. But at the same time wondered if it was worth the potential risk.

"You've never heard of battlefield archeology?" The woman asks. "I'm sure you're heard the expression 'history is written by the victors'. Well, our goal is to get a more accurate, and unbiased, view of historical conflicts.

This plain saw the opening battle of the Chairluire rebellion, when a military division ambushed the royal carriage as it traveled from Levalac to Antoseau. The royal guards fought bravely, sacrificing themselves to allow the king and his daughter to escape."

"At least, that's the official story. Some historians claim the king met the rebels here in an attempt to negociate, only for one group to ambush the other. We're hoping to learn the truth of the matter by examining the remnants that were buried here decades ago."

Jake scratched his head. He hadn't heard of archeology before, but the explanation made sense to him... except for the fact that people cared about what happened hundreds of years ago -- that part was weird. Despite his skepticism on the purpose of their dig, he did have some feedback,
"Back where I am from, some pokemon have super cool noses and can smell stuff underground. Its called odour sleuth!" Jake then released growler for reference,
"I don't really care about history and stuff, but I don't want to see y'all blown up, so maybe we can try to help find the boom stuff."

"Ghost Pokemon could also be useful," Seymour suggested. "They tend to be resistant to explosions. At least the move called 'Explosion.' And they can usually move through solid objects as well, so they might be useful for scouting underground a bit. I don't have a ghost with me at the moment, but I could get one if there is a PC handy nearby. Or I could get my Ditto to Transform into one if somebody else has a ghost Pokemon for it to observe."

"An Odour Sleuth?" The younger man says. "That could help... We'd still have to be careful. With all the problems we've had already..."

"Enough about curses, Fred! Every dig has it's problem, and this one is no different." The older man says, before shaking your hand. "I'm Professor Otis. And I would appreciate any help you offer. Unfortunately, we don't have any PC here, so we're stuck with only our companions to help us with our dig."

"And I'm Jodie. Pleasure to meet cha!"

Given the existence ghost, psychic, and dark-type pokemon, Jake wasn't so sure that curses didn't exist. Nevertheless, he was onboard with helping. These nerds might even have some super special pokeballs to hand out. To Jake, all nerds were the same.
"Woah, nice to meet you everyone. Yeah, I also have a Wreckoon that might be able to have a sensitive paw on stuff that could go boom. Only issue is we don't got all day, we gotta get to the next city before it gets too late. I usually have bad experiences sleeping outside in the wild. Oh yeah, I am Faulkner."

Jake then proceeded to let the rest of his pokemon out so they could enjoy the fresh air. After all, most of his pokemon likely did not have an inclination to dig in random places, so it should be safe.

"And I am Seymour. Nice to meet everyone." Taking a cue from Jakey, Seymour released all of his pokemon as well.

"Malley, turn into Growler. Two odor sleuths are better than one." He considered his other Pokemon as well, and how they might be able to assist. "You said you were worried about black powder? That is like gunpowder, right? If we sniff some out, my Castform could probably dampen it and make it less... explodey. My Lapimage can provide light in low-risk areas, my Son can put up protective barriers, and my Pinsir can move or break obstacles that are in the way. And my Dunsparce? Hmmm. I suppose he might be useful if we uncover any traps? He is good at avoiding the effects of such things."

"Oh, well, we don't want to keep you if you have appointments. I'm afraid our search will take a while."

"If it's just the sleeping arrangement that worries you, we can spare a tent for you." Jodie offers.

"I wouldn't mind staying a night," Seymour said to Jakey, tentatively. "I am curious about what they have going on here, and it's not like we have a set schedule. Besides, maybe we'll discover some new Pokemon pals in the process." Since this was an old battlefield, Seymour wondered if there might be some ghost Pokemon about.

"Eeeh, I guess if I get a tent, it will be fine. I mean, its not like we are in a swamp. Ugh."
Jake was also interested if there were going to be any more explosions!

As you agree to help them, they show you the ropes of how they work. The bulk of the work, let's be honest, is quite boring. They pick an square area to examine, plant a bunch of sticks around it, and draw lots of strings to make a grid. Then, they slowly dig through each square slowly, noting anything artificial they find. Thankfully, they spare you from most of the hard work, just asking that you walk around the area with your Growlithe to seek strange scents.

After an hour, Fred stops digging to start preparing the evening meal. Not long after, your pokemons stop. At first, you think the smell of food is distracting them, but then you notice their ears twitching.

Following their gaze, you see a dust cloud heading toward you... Expect there's no real wind. Professor Otis looks at the cloud, and grows pale. "Swarm!"

Indeed, as they come closer, you see the cloud is actually a swarm of Kricketot, racing toward you.

"Oh... this can't be good..." Panic threatened to set in as the swarm approached, but Seymour managed to hold it at bay. Now was not the time to lose his head. "Faulkner, let's show these fine folks why we earned our Horde Badges, eh?"

Seymour called all of his pokemon near to begin coordinating. "Doom, Defense Curl as much as you can. You'll probably need to Roll Out soon. Rampage, use Focus Energy to pump yourself up." He scanned all of the bystanders and knew it would be a good idea to keep everyone together. To create a defensible position. "Everyone! Get into the same tent! The one with the most indispensable supplies. Me and my poke-buddies will do our best to keep the Kricketots at bay."

"Blustra, Malley, start sealing up that tent's openings with ice walls. Leave just enough space for people to get in and out. Rampage, you be the door guard. Double Hit any Kricketots who come too close." The trainer considered his other Pokemon and how he should utilize their abilities. "Weatherman, use Sunny Day. You and Locke try and create a barrier of flame to discourage the swarm from coming this direction. Locke with Fire Spin, Weatherman with Ember. I'll have Malley come help with another Fire Spin once the ice barriers are in place. Doom, roll around the perimeter to keep it clear of Kricketots." He considered that fire may not be advisable in an area with black powder present, but figured the area near camp had already been thoroughly scanned for hazards.

---

Snom: making ice barriers to mostly seal up the tent.
Pinsir: Focus Energy and guarding tent entrance.
Dunsparce: maximum Defense Curl, defending tent perimeter with Rollout.
Castform: Sunny Day, then dissuade the swarm with Ember.
Lapimage: Fire Spin to dissuade swarm.
Ditto: Help Snom make ice barriers, then help Lapimage make Fire Spins.

"Yeah, brings back memories. Too bad we don't have a hilltop to defend. But our pokemon are now way more cool." Jake wasn't too impressed by the nerds' technique. It seemed like they had been getting nowhere fast, so the Kricketot swarm was actually received by Jake as a fun opportunity to show off. As the swarm approached, Jake calmly and confidently gave out orders -- he definitely felt like he was coming into his own as a trainer,
"Skipper, use mud sport to keep the ground nice and wet so we can use fire moves more comfortably, then when free, use some rock slides away from the dig site to weaken the swarm"
"Rusty and Sparker, use air cutter and roar to break up the thick parts of the swarm"
"Fetcher and Growler, pick off tots that get separated from the swarm with Aerial Ace and Flame Wheel"
"Bandy, steal if you can, otherwise, stay close and just pound anything that gets near us!"

Jake wasn't sure if the nerds would be mad about skipper's muddy games, but he'd much rather people be blowing up at him than people blowing up because of him.

The archeologists gather in one of the tents, that quickly turns into an igloo thanks to Blustra and Malley. As Rampage takes his place to guard them, and Skipper muddies the area to protect from stray wild fires, Weatherman turns into her sunny form to start attacking with Locke. Your fire hare races ahead, creating a wall of flames to scatter part of the swarm.

On Jake's side, Sparky manages to scare part of it away, while Rusty swoops through the cloud of bugs, with little effect, partly distracted by the Kricketot's buzzing seems to be distracting her.

As the swarm draws closer, Fetcher and Growler gets ready to jump into the fray. But as you look at the scared off bugs, you notice some of them seems to turn path a couple of times, until they head back toward the main swarm.

"Great idea with the mud," Seymour complimented Jakey. It helped to negate one of Seymour's major concerns.

As the battle began and he noticed some of the scattered swarm already regrouping, Seymour's face contorted into a look of perplexity. "Why aren't they staying scattered? Is something drawing them all together? That could explain why they are swarming in the first place. Should Malley and I take a look from the sky? Or did you and Rusty want to see if you could spot the source of this mess?" If Jakey prefers to keep his feet on the ground, Seymour would have his Ditto transform into the Skarmory and take a look at the swarm from above. Otherwise he would continue directing the defensive maneuvers.

"Yeah, you go take a look. I'll try to scatter it so you can see the middle. I wonder if another Nanny came to the surface and is controlling them!"

Seymour was right that Jake was wanting to keep his feet on the ground. There had been too much flying lately! Not dissuaded by the swarm constantly regrouping, Jake altered his orders a bit,
"Rusty and Skipper, keep up the good work! Fetcher and growler, try to break into the center of the mass with everything you've got! Sparker and Bandy, try to keep the ones that get away from regrouping!"

With coordinated attacks, Jake manages to break up the bulk of the swarm, forcing the smaller groups, before they're forced to scatter and flee.

Taking to the air, Seymour looks down at the bugs to spot any strange movement. A few turn around, but not enough to reform the swarm. Diving lower, you see small movement in the grass. You can't quite make out what's causing it, only seeing a flash of pink before it's gone.

And with that, the swarm flees back into the wilderness.

Seymour returned to the tent where everyone was holed up. As he entered the icy fortifications, a look of confusion was plastered on his face. "I think whatever was encouraging the swarm to form has left. And the swarm with it. Whatever it was was small, pink, and gone so fast that I didn't get a good look at it. Does anyone know of any small pink Pokemon native to the area that might be capable of swarm-coersion?"

Seymour shrugged. "At any rate, I think it is probably safe to go back out now." Seymour regrouped all of his pokemon and thanked them all for their hard work and dedication. He also glanced around to see if there were any members of the swarm still scuttling around that he might be able to toss a pokeball at.

---

I wouldn't mind catching a stray Kricketot if there is one convenient. If not, that is fine too.

Jake clapped his hands together, satisfied with their performance. A lesser team would have taken much longer to disperse the swarm... but Seymour and himself were pro trainers at this point. When they all regrouped, Jake was still curious about the source as well,
"Yeah, maybe we can look for it tomorrow or if this evening if there is still some good light yet."

"Pink? Like a Clefairy or a Jigglypuff?" Professor Otis says.

"That doesn't sound like them, though... maybe some other kind of fairy pokemon? A lot of them are pink..."

As Seymour grabs one of the bugs, you see the sun is close to setting. Fred shakes his head. "There's not much sunlight left... We'd better put things away for the night. We won't make any more progress today..."

You're served a meal (slightly over cooked, due to the distraction from the swarm), before they show you your tent for the night.

Seymour helped where he could and enjoyed the cooked meal despite its burnt nature. It actually reminded him of his older brother's cooking back home. He also did some celebrating with his pokemon. Yet again he was extremely happy with their performance when faced with a challenge.

As they worked and ate, Seymour asked the people around him if anyone had any tips for the local gym tomorrow. He knew it was all about traps and survival and stuff, but he hoped someone could give a bit more detail about what he and Jakey might expect.

Jake didn't mind the food. He'd had worse. Dumpster diving didn't usually yield the tastiest vittles.  He was eager to hear more about the challenge, and was still feeling a bit energetic after the battle got his blood pumping. That being said, he was more interested in sleeping through the night than wandering around trying to find the pokemon that caused the swarm.

"The Trap challenge? Oh, that's was a stressing one..." Jodie says. "When I took it, they gave us a set of coordonates to reach in the middle of the forest. Some old ruined fort that's been abandonned for decades. It's not that hard to find, but the path is filled with traps. And the moment you fall in a hole, some pokemon jump out and attacks you. By the time I reached the goal, most of my team was knocked out."

"The whole thing takes... what, a day? Two if you get lost?" Fred adds. "At least you get the chance to sleep, unlike the Night challenge. I heard the old post got fixed up some. They added a room for the challenger to rest once they win."


You're not sure how long you've been sleeping, when a sudden honking wakes you up. You look outside, half-asleep, and see the lights of one of the jeeps are on, and it seems to be moving. That seems a bit weird, but it's even weirder when you spot a pair of ropes tied from the back of the jeep, all the way to yours and the professor's tent.

As you notice that, the jeep's engine starts...

Seymour fell asleep with various strategies and team combinations running through his head as he mentally prepared for the upcoming challenge. He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep when the honking woke him back up again. "Huh? What's happening?" He grabbed the vest with his pokeballs on it and headed to the entrance to see what was going on, but he was very obviously not completely awake.

That changed abruptly though when he noticed the ropes attached to the tent. His eyes went wide and he moved to get out of the potential path of destruction. "Watch out!" he yelled to Jakey and the professor. A split second later he grabbed two of his pokeballs and released his Pinsir and Lapimage. "Sever those ropes!" he urged. Their fire and pincers attempted to do exactly that before the entire tent could be dragged away into the night.

True to form, Jake was not getting good sleep while in a tent. The honking and lights on the jeep were not a help... wait, what? That was enough to rouse Jake from being half asleep to one-fourth asleep, and Seymour's confused exclamation hit as Jake saw the ropes. Hearing Seymour's plan, Jake took a more offensive route. He released Fetcher and Skipper,
"Fetcher, cut the tires of the Jeep, and Skipper, use mud sport to stick the tires in mud. Make sure they aren't going anywhere!"

Your pokemon jump into action at your command, cutting the ropes before they pull at the two tents. Fetcher slashes the nearest front tire, removing enough traction that it can't escape Skipper's mud.

In the confusion, you didn't notice right away that both of the jeep's doors are half open. And when you look inside it, you find the cabin empty, with just a head-sized rock on the gas pedal.

Professor Otis walks up to you, wearing a loose pair of pants and a t-shirt, looking still half-asleep. "What's going on? Why are you shouting?"

"Someone tried to drag away our tents," Seymour replied, pointing toward the evidence around them. He released all of his pokemon. "Locke, Weatherman, Malley. Illuminate the area. Everyone searched the area for whoever may have done this. Doom and Rampage, you two should probably Defense Curl and Focus Energy, just in case. Jakey, think you might be able to pick up a scent from that rock on the gas pedal?" he suggested.

The trainer then picked up Blustra so that the bug could help him with his own search efforts. He started near where the vehicle began, scanning for any additional clues. He used the light provided by his pokemon to see.

"What? Drag our tents?" Jodies says, still looking frazzled from the sudden wake up.

Fred looks at the ropes tied to the top of the tents. "This is weird... the knots looks pretty loose. And I thought we had brand new ropes? The end of this one looks pretty used..."

As Jake looks into the jeep, he notices small scratches on the steering wheel and the seat. The rock also seems to have finger marks. Very thin fingers.

Seymour searches outside the jeep, and although the ground is pretty solid, he does find a few marks in the mud Skipper created. They look like small oval depressions, and by how far they are from one another, they most have belonged to a pretty small humanoid.

"I bet we got a spooker!" Jake exclaimed with minimal evidence. He lugged the rock out of the jeep and examined it a bit better in the headlights of the vehicle.
"Any spookers with skinny fingers? I think that rules out the gengar line." Jake was still waking up a bit and he never really had an encyclopedic memory of pokemon, so he was hoping someone else would come to a conclusion... and determine if they can just go back to sleep. If Jake could write, he'd mark this in the book for yet another reason not to be camping.

"A spooker, or maybe a prankster. Or both. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. Hopefully that rules out Team Gaia yet again. Maybe a ghost or dark type pokemon. Take a look at these footprints." He pointed out the tracks and looked in the direction the headed, gesturing for his pokemon to look over there. He tried to search his brain for any known pokemon that fit the clues, and tried to cross-reference his pokedex as well. "Maybe an Impidimp?" It was a total guess at this point, but those were also pink...

Fred nods. "It could fit. Their clawed hands would have frayed the rope when trying to tie it up. And the feet matches too."

"Then... maybe your Growlithe could track them?" Jodie suggests looking at Jake.

Turning to Growler, she sniffs around the jeep and at the track, yapping twice and wagging her tail.

"Impidimp?  That doesn't sound like a real pokemon name but you guys seem to be taking it seriously, so I guess it is just a pokemon with a silly name" Jake then gave a thumbs up to growler,
"Looks like he is already on the case. Do you have any flashlights or torches?  Its already spooky enough out there, even moreso with a known spooker on the loose."

"Sure!" She reaches into the second jeep, and pulls out two large flashlight. Fred takes one, and signals to you lead the way.

Growler walks you through the plain, pausing a few times as the trail seems to get confusing, until Fred stops you. "Wait!" He points at a patch of grass that looks different. "Look at the ground. Something was dug in here." He moves carefully around the area, looking at the rocks around it, and at the grass. "I think this area used to be a well. That's why the grass is greener here. Except for..."

He pulls at the weird grass, and it moves aside like a carpet, revealing a shaft leading below the surface. "I guess our tricksters are hiding down there..."

Seymour was interested in seeing if his hypothesis about an Impidimp being the culprit was correct, but wasn't sure if going down a well in the dark was worth the risk. Then again, the meddling pokemon could have had a hand in the explosion the previous day as well. And the swarm...

Yeah, the pokemon seemed to be a real safety hazard that needed to be dealt with.

"We can't let this 'mon keep putting people's lives at risk. I'm not sure why it is doing what it is doing, but I do think it needs to be confronted." Seymour took the Snom from his shoulder and set her next to the well. "You are small and can climb walls, Blustra. Think you could make sure the decent is safe enough for some of us to climb down too? I'll hold the light for you."

Blustra nods, and makes her way down the wall of the well. As you look down after her, you see the top is a mix of dirt and stones, turning to stone bricks after a few feet.  Your Snom walks down about ten feet, before stopping and circling the well. Even with your light, you can't really make out what's below her, but by the way she seems to look around, you think the well opens into a cave.

By the time your bug returns to you, Fred managed to run back to the camp and bring some ropes and spikes. In a few moments, you have a rope leading down into the pit. "We should probably leave someone guarding the top of the rope, in case one of those tricksters slips out."

Jake nodded. Whatever it was could sneak out. He had two flying type pokemon that probably would not be too useful in the cave,
"Fetcher, Rusty, whackamole if the baddy comes out from the pit."

Jake then got ready to descend. All it would take was an easy slide down a rope. He didn't want to release all his pokemon, worried that it may attract attention, so he just kept growler out and added Bandy to the field,
"Bandy, do what you do best, and growler, keep on the scent."

Jake wasn't 100% sure what Bandy was going to do, but it was probably the right thing to do. He then waited for everyone else to descent down with him.

The cave is about forty feet across, with a few other tunnels heading into the darkness. The floor is covered with almost a foot of cold water soaking into your pants. As you look about, you hear giggles echo about, and your flashlight reflects on multiple pairs of eyes staring at you.

Growler is unhappy at being stuck in water, but is quickly distracted by something over her. For a brief moment, an unfamiliar pokemon appears, only to vanish again.

Seymour returned most of his pokemon to their balls before climbing down, just as Jakey had. The only two he left out were his Snom and Lapimage. The first because she could climb walls and sit perched on Seymour's shoulder. The second because Locke was like a living flashlight and would hopefully deter anything from attacking them. Locke was no more fond of the water than Growler was, however.

When the unknown Pokemon appeared, Seymour tried to scan it with his Pokedex, but was too slow. "What was that? I've never seen one before," he asked the native archeologists. Granted, Seymour had never seen an Impidimp in person either, bit he still knew that Pokemon wasn't one.

Fred looks around. "What? I didn't see it, but... was it flying? Because I'm pretty sure Impidimp can't fly..."

To confirm his point, multiple Impidimp jumps into the room, moving to attack.


Impidimp, the Wily Pokémon
Type: Dark/Fairy
It sneaks into people's homes, stealing things and feasting on the negative energy of the frustrated occupants.

OOC: Each of you have two Impidimp attacking you at a time. Give out your orders.

Before Seymour could respond, their enemies showed themselves. So there were Impidimp here after all. He focused on the two approaching him and gave his orders to Locke and Blustra. "Let's freeze them to the water they stand in you two. Combine your powder Snow attacks and engulf them in a furious flurry!"

If one or both happened to get frozen, Seymour would try tossing a pokeball at them.

Jake didn't know what the flying pokemon was, but other pokemon sure looked like what something called an impidimp would look like. Jake was quick to give orders to growler,
"Growler, fire fang!"

As for Bandy, still trusted her to do the right thing... but if she didn't commit to attacking, he'd consider releasing another pokemon.

As Blustra prepares her attack, she's blind-sided by one of the imp's Sucker Punch, throwing off her aim. Luckily, Locke is able to cover for her, turning part of the water around one of the imps, and sending the others slipping around.

Growler quickly grasp one of the imps with her fangs, eagerly dragging it away from the water as her victim flails helplessly. Bandy, for her part, jumps off the rope to swipe her foe off it's feet, sending it skipping on the ice.

The frozen Impidimp vanishes in Seymour's pokeball, while the other says something to Blustra to confuse her. It doesn't do much to stop the double freeze it's enduring, though.

Growler keeps it's own target pinned, and it looks about to pass out, while Bandy's opponent struggles to get back on it's feet, only to take a blow from the thief's hammer.

"Way to go!" Seymour cheered as his pokemon performed marvelously. He watched Jekey finish up his own battle as Blustra and Locke continued to keep the water nice and icy to deter further Impidimp from approaching.

---

Is the battle still going? If so, I'll keep up the double Powdered Snow for now.

Jake thought the battle was pretty much over, so tossed the pokeball at the impidimp Growler had pinned and called to his remaining pokemon,
"Just finish them off,"

Jake didn't particularly want the impidimp, but catching it was a way to get it off the field... and he may be able to pawn it off later.

One Impidimp vanishes in Jake's pokeball, and the other one flees in the side caves.

You take a moment to look around, only to see two more Impidimp step in, with the orange pokemon floating above them.

Tiefee, the Mischievous Pokemon
Type: Fairy

Tiefee perform practical jokes and tricks on anyone they can. Some scientists believe they actually communicate this way. Though mischevous to a fault, no one is sure if Tiefee are simply blissfully unaware, or subtly defiant.

Jake was impressed by the pokedex's description of the pokemon. Jokes and tricks?  That was his speed. He whipped out a pokeball and posed as impressively as he could with it, and whistled Bandy to stand beside him,
"Alright Tiefee, you wanna make some mischief?  Join me, I'm the leader of Team Chaos, that's what I'm all about... makin' and solvin' trouble all over the world. Together we will be unstoppable."

Jake was pretty sure Seymour was broadly OK with his M.O. by now, and as for the others... they probably don't mind him bragging about his unpredictable nature.  That and, as far as Jake knew, Team Chaos wasn't an actual organization. It was just what he liked to think of himself as.

Seymour's look of concern turned into one of amusement as Jakey did his best to bargain with the Tiefee. He watched with interest to see if Jakey would be successful in his endeavor. He also made sure his Lapimage and Snom were ready to jump into action in case things took a turn for the worse.

The Tiefee tilts it's head, before giggling and visibly shrinking. The two Impidimp starts laughing and saying teasing noises. Locke keeps cool, but Bandy seems confused by what they're saying.

OOC: The Tiefee doesn't seem convinced by Jake's speech, and is ready to fight. What do you do?

Jake was of two minds. He could either bluff and say they were leaving because Tiefee was not a serious enough mischief maker, or just show the pokemon what he was made of.  Because they were there to help the nerds, Jake figured that failing the bluff would mean they would still have issues and Jake would just look weak and silly. And Jake didn't want to look weak (but silly was OK).

"Alright, I'll show you who the real trouble maker is!"

Jake then signaled both growler and bandy forward,
"Go get those impidimps, lets put on a show for the tiefee."

He didn't give any explicit orders to his pokemon... part of the show was demonstrating how free he lets his pokemon act. Sure it looks like incompetence to some of the more controlling trainers, but he thought of it as just trusting the pokemon's instincts.

"You can do it Falkner!" Seymour exclaimed. He signaled for his own Pokemon to stay back and let Jakey do his thing. Hopefully they could learn a thing or two from watching a different style of trainer do battle.

Bandy rushes to attack before the imps are ready, hitting one squarely with her hammer. Growler goes after the second Impidimp, wounding it with a bite, though not before getting hit by a ghostly ray from the Tiefee.

Despite getting hurt, one of the Impidimp just teases your pokemon, daring them to attack again. Not a great choice, as he quickly gets taken down. But while your team does that, the other Impidimp creates a pulse of black energy, plunging the cave in darkness for a moment. When you can see again, the first thing you spot is the Tiefee kissing Bandy's head, draining her energy.

One down, one to go. Well, maybe he would need to take out the tiefee too, but he was still convinced he could finish this diplomatically... well, maybe not diplomatically, but without KO'ing literally all the enemies,
"Bandy, tail whip the tiefee! Growler, finish off the other impi with a fire fang!Then roar!"

He didn't want to tiefee to retreat from the roar, just wanted to assert his dominance by toying with them a bit more. Of course, one hand slipped behind himself to grab a spare pokeball in case he saw tiefee try to run.

Growler manages to knockout the Impidimp, but not before hurting himself in confusion. Bandy, unfortunately, gets drained unconscious after doing her tail whip.

You're down to a one on one between Growler and the Tiefee!

Jake returned bandy into its poke and took a moment for posturing,
"I got five more pokemon where that came from,"

Well, two were flying above the hole in the ground, so pretty much only three pokemon... and Growler was injured, so only two really... Nevertheless, he was confident that skipper and shinx would be enough to bring tiefee down. Not one to get lost in thought, Jake followed up his posturing/bluffing with an order,
"Growler, if it doesn't say uncle, flame wheel it to show it we are serious!"

Jake was a bit concerned that growler was going to get KO'd, but switching pokemon always seemed to him like admitting a minor defeat.

Realizing it's imp shields are gone, and taking a fast hit by Growler, the Tiefee seems a lot less eager to fight. Jake tosses a ball at it, and after briefly shaking, it locks shut.

Shining your lights into the surrounding caves, you no longer see any signs of hidden pokemon in them. "I guess catching the Tiefee scared them off..." Fred says. "I doubt they'll try to bother us again... but maybe we should back away, just to avoid aggravating them any more."

"Congratulations Falkner! Two new Pokemon! But yeah, I agree, we should probably get out of here. As much fun as it would be to explore these old tunnels, the middle of the night right after a battle probably isn't the right time to do so." The trainer headed back toward the exit, signaling to Locke and Blustra to do the same. Hopefully the rest of the night would be less eventful.

Exploring the tunnels did sound fun... more fun than struggling to get to sleep in a tent outside. Nevertheless, Jake DID have a responsible bone in his body and knew when to call it quits,
"Yeah, I got a feeling my new partner here was the source of a lot of your troubles.  Lets call it a night, but sleep with one eye open... just in case, yaknow."

You climb out of the old well, and return to the camp for the rest of the night. You sleep quite well, and wake up the next morning rested and ready to take on the world. At his request, you show the well to Professor Otis, who seems to consider moving his search here. The tunnels are... not easy to explore, being pretty small. Not that it matters, as the Impidimp seems to have left after your visit.

With the threat to the excavation gone, the archeologist thank you for your help, and offer to drive you to Argenvers. "I'll need to go there to get a new tire anyway." Jodie tells you.

"Sure, good thing we drove off the pokemon that were causing all those issues,"
Jake felt a little guilty for cutting the tire, but it seemed like the nerds were non-the-wiser.  While he didn't mind walking, having a ride to the next town seemed like a good deal.

Getting a ride to Argenvers sounded wonderful, and Seymour thanked Jodie for the offer. It would be nice to take it easy after such an eventful night. He looked forward to getting his pokemon looked at at a Pokemon Center and preparing for their next challenge.

Before leaving, Seymour made sure to share contact information with the archaeologists and asked for any exciting updates on their excavation. In turn, he would keep an eye out for any interesting undiscovered historical sites during his travels and let them know about it.

And with that, you're driven into Argenvers...

And the corresponding thread.