Jake wasn't sure how well the graveller would function with its trainer KO'd, so he signaled for Skipper to advance down the corridor instead of pressing the assault with more mud bombs. The goal was to help Phoebe, not totally destroy team Gaia.

In addition to signaling Skipper down the hallway, he released FeeFee,
"Follow that pokemon!"

He wasn't sure what the deal with the pokemon was, but he had a feeling that Fee-fee was in the vents earlier looking for it.

In all your time in Hoenn, you've never even heard of a pokemon like that. Maybe it's a specie native to Cadien? You do think it has some sort of a dark aura...

FeeFee opens up the vent closest to you, and slips inside.

Lombre manages to open a path wide enough for Skipper to pass through, though it's close. Seeing someone passing through it's defenses, the Graveler roars and rolls toward Skipper, and starts to glow...

Jake smiles as the graveller begins its wind-up. Time for a battle of the titans!
"Skipper, use bide!"

As for Feefee. He'd need to follow-up with him later. He was curious what was going on in the vents, but there was only so much he could handle at once.

"Captain, keep your distance and keep using Bubble." He didn't want the Lombre to get in Jakey's way. Also, with Bubble, Seymour wasn't too concerned about friendly fire either. If he was remembering correctly, blasting Skipper with a water attack might actually be beneficial anyway.

Skipper braces himself for the attack... but as the Graveler roars, you realize it may not be enough. The Gaia Grunt's eyes grow wide as she sees the Graveler glow, and she fumbles for the pokemon's ball.

Too late.

The corridor shakes as the Graveler Self-destructs, filling the air with dust.

A Self Destruct! That wasn't good. "Duck and cover!" he yelled, following his on instructions. A moment after the blast, Seymour was running down the hall toward the source of the explosion. "Phoebe, are you okay!?"

As the self-destruct became clear, Jake ordered Skipper forward to shield everyone else, and hopefully minimize the collatoral damage,
"Quick! Shield us!"

Not trusting even the bulky skipper would be enough, Jake took cover too. Only after the blast did he emerge to check on skipper and return it to its pokeball. He'd then follow Seymour to check on Phoebe.

Thankfully, you were out of the blast range. Unfortunately, Phoebe and Skipper were not. Once the dust clears down enough for you to see, you Skipper still standing, though injured.

As you get to the end of the corridor, you see Phoebe and the Gaia grunt are also hurt, and stunned by the sudden explosion.

"Captain, see if you can help Skipper. Jett, Shuriken, keep Team Gaia pinned," said Seymour, releasing Jett from his pokeball as he approached. Seymour himself rushed to help Phoebe. "Are you okay? What happened?" He had heard enough to get a good idea, but he wanted to hear it in Phoebe's own words.

Your pokemon dog-pile the Gaia grunt, while Captain waters Skipper to heal his wounds.

Phoebe groans as she sits up. "These guys chassed me down here. They said they would give me money for the amulet I stole yesterday, but when I said I didn't have it, they got angry and beat up Trio."

"Hey! Let go of me!" The grunt shouts, unable to move.

"Where are the authorities when you need them?" Jake complained as he did his best to tie up the currently unconscious team Gaia grunt. It was lucky that he had gotten the amulet, otherwise Gaia would probably have their hands on it by now. And now they had a captured grunt to interrogate,
"Hey, you, we might let you go if you tell us what is up with this amulet anyway. Why do you want it so bad?"

The woman groans. "I... We were told to get it..." She suddenly looks confused. "I... think? I... why can't I remember..." She looks dazed, like she has trouble focusing on you.

Seymour's brow wrinkled and he kneeled down near the woman's head. He snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Hey! Focus! This is important." Obviously something strange was going on here, and Seymour tried to figure out what that 'something' was. He pulled out his Pokedex and scanned around with his eyes. If that mysterious pokemon had returned and was causing this, then maybe he could be quick enough to read its entry this time.

You scan around, but the only pokemon you find are the ones pining the Gaia Grunt. And FeeFee, popping out of the air vent to tug at Jake's sleeve, pointing down the corridor.

Phoebe frowns as she looks at the grunt. "What's wrong with her? Is she drunk? She wasn't drunk five minutes ago..."

"Oh, sure, that's convenient." Jake sarcastically noted, assuming the grunt was playing dumb.  Before Jake could do something rash to try to get the grunt to cooperate, Feefee distracted him.

"Ah, can you guys hand this from here, I am going to check out what feefee found. Maybe one of us should tell the owner about the attack too."

Given the state of the hallway post self-destruct, Jake already figured the owner knew SOMETHING was up.

Before anyone could object though, Jake was already on his way down the corridor, pokedex in hand.

"We've got this. Do what you gotta do," Seymour replied. He and his pokemon worked at getting the grunts down to the lobby while Jakey did his own investigations. If any of the grunts tried anything, Seymour still had his Mantyke and two Magikarps in reserve.

Seymour keeps watch over the grunts while, Jake follows Feefee. After he leaves, Phoebe asks with a grin "So... do we dig through their pockets?"

Jake follows Feefee.
Jake follows Feefee.

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"Dig through their pockets? Like, for clues?" Obviously she couldn't m an for valuables, right? That seemed unethical. "I would normally leave that to the police, but it could be a long time until they arrive due to the storm. I guess it makes sense to check them for anything super important." In the elevator down to the lobby Seymour would help search the Gaia grunts.

Looking through the grunt's pockets, you find what looks like a propaganda pamphlet. It talks about how humanity is abusing the world, and should behave more like pokemon do. It's especially scalding toward the king and the military, declaring their actions to be abuse of pokemon.

Phoebe reads the paper, frowning. "That last line about 'becoming one with pokemon' sounds a bit... ominous to me."

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This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

"As it should," Seymour replied to Phoebe. "I have heard that Team Gaia even encourages their pokemon to eat other pokemon that they have defeated." He shuddered at that, thinking of what could have become of the Dodrio. Or of his and Jakey's pokemon if they had lost, for that matter.

"Yeah, these guys can't be put behind bars soon enough."

Inside the hotel, Seymour hears "It's over here!"

A couple of hotel employees run up to you, looking worried. "What happened? We heard an explosion?"

"Who are these guys?"

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This message was last edited by the player at 03:30, Thu 11 Aug 2022.

"These goons here are members of a terrible organization called Team Gaia," explained Seymour. "Their Graveler was responsible for the explosion. They were harassing Phoebe here, and we had to take steps to subdue them. Are you able to contact the authorities? I have seen at least one other member elsewhere in the building as well. Someone with a colorful shirt and a Chikorita."