"It looks like a giant Omistar," offered Seymour to the man who had addressed them. "That is literally all I know. I wish I knew why it was so big. Or why it attacked the bridge. Is there anything we can do to help? I would hate to see it roll over everyone stuck in traffic." Seymour had no idea what they might do to help, but wanted to at least ask. In the meantime he returned his pokemon to their pokeballs after letting them all know how proud he was of their efforts.

After receiving confirmation from the crowd that, yes there was a mega pokemon sloshing about in the water, Jake calmed himself.

"I guess maybe just leave it alone for now" He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious, but the fact it smooshed bandy without an issue and was completely impervious to any attacks they threw at it cowed Jake significantly.

"So, ever hear anything like this before... and just how big are the re-enforcements? Like, that dude could probably handle ten snorlaxes bodyslamming it!" He seemed game to help if it didn't involve taking on the Omastar.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:47, Fri 17 Feb 2023.

"We have a Dynamax-counter squad... though that phenomenon is supposed to last only a short time..." the lieutenant says.

As the giant shell slows down and falls over (making another large splash), the lead officer look over his own pokedex. "Let's see... rumors of a Dragonair attacking a lighthouse... unconfirmed attack of a trio of giant pokemon attacking an archeological site..." he mumbles, until he speaks up. "This looks promissing. Get into contact with Porta Vista. Ask them how they dealt with their giant Tentacruel attack."

"Yes, sir!"

"In the meantime... that thing must come from somewhere. It deliberately destroyed the bridge, then hid until you tried to make a way through. That's not normal behavior for a wild pokemon, regardless of it's size. We have to keep it busy until backup arrive, so we need you to try looking around to find who's commanding it."

"I'll do what I can to help," agreed Seymour, thinking of everyone's safety. "I don't suppose you have a way for us to swap out our pokemon teams, do you? I have a few pokemon companions that may be better suited to the task at hand than my current team." He figured the chances were slim, but if anyone would have a portable pokemon transfer system, it would probably be these guys.

Jake also indicated he would want to switch his team around. None of his current team were well set-up for this kind of a challenge. Nevertheless, he could try to overwhelm it with status moves.
"Uh, commanding it? I guess I can send fetcher to look around. Hopefully it won't chuck rocks at birdo."

"Unfortunately, our wireless network isn't on par with Galar. Seriously, where did that Rose find the money for something like that? Otherwise we wouldn't need to wait for backup." He says something to his assistant, who runs back to their truck. "I'm afraid we'll have to manage with what we have. But at least, we can lend you some gear."

The lieutenant returns, and offers each of you a solid looking suitcase. "You're lucky, most trainers visiting Vinmur don't get to try those until they join the gym challenge." He opens the case, showing it contains radio equipment with a screen in the top part. A padded area on the side holds a communication headset, and six smaller boxes on straps. "Those are special audio/video communicator, designed for pokemon use. With that, you can command your team at a distance. The screen will show you what your team sees, and is controled through this."

He gives a crash course on how to work the radio's control, while his boss fishes out an emergency bag to heal up Bandy. "Now, I wish I could tell you where to look for that pokemon's trainer, but I'm not sure where they could hide. The plains are an unlikely spot, so it would either be in the badlands to the west, or the swamps to the north-east. I'll leave it to you to choose where to start."

Seymour accepted the new gear with barely suppressed glee. He couldn't help but be intrigued by the new tech, especially considering that being able to experiment with it would likely help give them an edge in the Vinmur gym challenge. Still, this was not the time for any sort of celebration.

"My Magikarp won't be able to search the badlands very effectively, so I think I will send her toward the swamps. It is probably smart to follow the water in that direction anyway. It seems like the obvious place to search. My Nommlin and Ditto can accompany her. Then perhaps my Lapimage and Shroomish can ride my Gogoat out into the badlands to search that area?" He looked questioningly toward Jakey. "Would it be a good idea to split our forces? It would probably be a lot easier to manage our teams if something happened in one area or the other if all of our buddies weren't in harm's way at the same time." That was Seymour's ratonale anyway. Maybe Jakey had a different perspective.

Jake scratched his head. He accepted the radio equipment but wasn't sure exactly how it worked. He also wasn't sure how to coordinate pokemon in two totally different areas.
"Uhm... do you have any recovery items to get bandy back up?" Jake asked the lieutenant as he thought a bit more about splitting forces.

After a moment he had maybe a bad plan,
"Do you think we could command each others pokemon for just a bit? That way you can be swamp command and I can be badland command. It will be hard to know what is happening if we both have divided attention. I can send Skipper, bandy, and fee-fee to the swamp; and growler, fetcher and fairy can go to the badlands."

Jake didn't want to admit he didn't really know what badlands were, but he'd probably find out soon enough.

"That sounds like a good idea," admitted Seymour. "I am fine with that plan as long as our pokemon are. Besides, we will still be right next to each other if anything does come up."

Seymour asked Glumpy, Glade, and Locke to follow Jakey's instructions for the time being. And also asked Jakey for a refresher course to know what his Skipper, Bandy, and Fee-fee were capable of.

With Bandy back on her feet, and the camera strapped to your companions, you send your teams out in the direction you were given.

The badlands looks like the backdrop of most western movies: small shrubs covers the low parts of the terrain, in between hills made of alternating layers of gray and reddish stones. It's very open, but between the hills and rocky spires, there's plenty of places one could hide.

The swamp, on the other hand, is even worse than the last one you visited. The thick tree coverage makes it almost impossible to see the sky, while the trunks are close enough that there no way to see more than twenty feet ahead of you.

What commands do you give your teams?

As the pokemon headed to their destinations, Jake gave Seymour a quick lowdown on his pokemon's capabilities:
"Skipper has both water and ground moves, so they should be most useful in the swammpy swamp.
"Bandy is a sneaky specialist. Lots of physical moves, some normal, more dark. If you find the baddie, you can have it steal some of their gear.
"Feefee is kinda spread; I don't really know. Might be good to minimize and scout covertly too. He has stuff like incinerate, confusing, twisters and hexing.
"Probably use bandy and feefee for scouting and keep Skipper in reserve as a heavy"

As his pokemon get into position, he crossed his arms. Comparing his video to Seymour's he felt like the badlands were an easier pick to scout... but the enemy was only in one of the environs.

He'd need to get the lowdown on glumpy, glade, and locke. He had a basic idea of what locke could do, but less on the others.
"Glumpy, glade. Hold back for now.
"Fairy, harden until you can take a big fall.
"Fetcher, keep scouting the air holding fairy.
"Growler, use Odor Sleuth to try to detect any humans around.
"Locke... can you do a heat mirage and use ember to make yourself harder to see, then do some scouting as well?"

Seymour nodded to Jakey's suggestions. "Good advice. I will keep it in mind. Glumpy is good at stunning and draining opponents. Glade is an all around tough lady, and great at transporting too. Lock has the fire and ice, of course, but is also good with mist and hypnosis."

After filling in Jakey on a few more of his team's quirks and strengths, Seymour issued the orders he had for his own team of 'mons.
"Marigold and Jett, you two stick together and be the underwater guard. Make sure nothing sneaks up on the rest of the team from below the murk. Jett, lend a Helping Hand when able, and Marigold, Splash big and loud if you need to give the team a warning.
"Malley, be Skipper. Then Malley and Skipper can search around at ground level.
"Feefee and Bandy, try to search from the treetops where able. Hitch a Ride on Bandy if you need to Teefee, and try to stay Minimized.
"If we come across any suspicious areas, everyone can hang back and Bandy can try to Infiltrate to gain intel."

You watch your respective screens closely, trying to guide your pokemon in their search.

Jake gets the first result, as Growler sniffs something in the air. She yaps a few times, looking around like she was searching for Jake.

Seymour, for his part, notices something as Feefee looks down at the other pokemon. A set of footprints in the mud, heading deeper into the marsh.

"I see footprints!" Seymour reported. He thought for a moment on how to proceed next. Obviously the prints needed to be followed. But they needed to be followed safely.

"Alright, Skipper, Malley, follow those footprints, but use caution. Marigold and Jett, keep up the underwater guard, but you can narrow your perimeter a bit. Feefee and Bandy, try to scout ahead a bit from above and make sure the direction Skipper and Malley are going isn't going to lead to any hazards while they focus on the footprints." Aside form helping the pokemon to be cautious, there wasn't a lot else to be done at the moment. Seymour kept a close eye on the camera screens though, looking for any sign of the person who made the footprints in the mud.

Jake thought if he was closer to growler, he may be able to divine the subtle meanings of the yaps. Alas, he could only use the screen.
"Oh, ah, great, you found something. Well, lets go investigate it then.
"Glade, carry glumpy and follow. Glumpy, prepare to use stun spore on my command. We are going non-damage route!
"Fetcher, follow as well and prepare to drop fairy on the target if it is hostile.
"Locke, follow in parallel so you can flank the target if it tries to escape"

IN THE SWAMP
The team follows Seymour's instructions, doing a good job of following the tracks. After a short while, you notice a cabin on a dryer patch of land. It looks like the track are going toward it. It looks rather old, but in good shape.

IN THE BADLANDS
Growler gives a bark, running toward one of the rocky outcroppings, sniffing the air from time to time. The others follow, their path going over more and more broken terrain, until they pause at a crack between two large rocks.
Growler stops, barking as she looks at a dark brown stain on the stone.

"Hold up, team," said Seymour when they came upon the cabin. He needed a moment to figure out what move to take here. They needed to be careful, but also needed to keep in mind that this might be the dwelling of someone other than who they were looking for.

"Okay, let's do this carefully. Malley, be Bandy. The two of you will sneak up to the cabin to take a closer look. Infiltrate without being seen, if possible. We especially need to know if anyone is home. Skipper and Feefee will be your backup. If anything happens I want you two to be ready to rush to Malley and Bandy's aid. In the meantime keep watching the cabin area from further back, one on each side. Jett and Marigold will be the outer lookouts. Stick to the water where you can and circle the far perimeter. Make sure nobody enters or leaves the area without us knowing."

After giving the instructions to his team, he looked to the military members that were lending their gear. "Do you guys have any record of a cabin being at this location in the swamp? Or know who owns the property?"

Is that a poo stain? Jake wondered. He paused a bit. Wondering if whoever they were hunting had the same sort of remote technology that he was using. Surely they couldn't be using conventional orders for the big pokemon this far away. Or maybe they weren't controlling it, just vaguely monitoring it through like a microphone or something.

He was a bit cynical about being able to impact their current situation, but it was good practice for the future gym mission, and he got to experiment with 'commanding' another persons pokemon.

"Hmmm, Fetcher, get a good view of everything from the top. We will try to smoke them out... or something.
"Growler, approach the crack and begin to enter.
"Locke, use ember on growler to give some light and trigger flash fire
"Glumpy, prepare stun-spore so if anything comes out this way, you can stun it.
"Fairy, prepare string-shot"
"Glade... stay in the sun, so you can keep maximum speed in case something comes out"

The lieutenant turns to Seymour. "No, but there's always some trainers building cabins in the wilds. It could be one of those."

IN THE SWAMP
Bandy and Malley move ahead, examining the cabin. Bandy climbs one of the walls, and take a peek at the window. It's dark inside, but you can spot a form on a chair. It's moving a bit, making you think it's a person that's sleeping.
As the other pokemon look around, they find more tracks, but it looks like they all belong to the same person, going to and from the cabin.

IN THE BADLANDS
Growler starts slipping into the crack, until Locke sends his ember down to light things up... giving you a flash of a mummified reaching for Growler.

"What in tarnation?!"
Jake exclaimed as he saw the figure in the darkness
"I really hope that isn't the trainer, if it is, we reached them a thousand years too late!"

He was moderately sure it was a pokemon, but had no idea its typing. In any case, it was unethical to attack a human... well, maybe? Jake wasn't entirely sure on the whole 'ethics' thing when it came to dealing with potential threats.

"Growler, get away from it and shoot an ember in, but don't target whatever it is directly.
Locke, use your glow for better lighting!
Glumpy, use stun spore at the thing!
Everyone else, stand by!"

It sounded like there was excitement happening on Jakey's screen, but Seymour didn't have time to look over at what was going on. He had his own situation he was dealing with. To Malley and Bandy, he said, "Alright, I think we will need to sneak in and look for clues to make sure this is the person we are looking for. Bandy, see if you can Infiltrate the building safely. Malley, follow inside. Try not to wake the person sleeping inside." Everyone else would stay on watch for the moment, ready to step in if things went sideways.

---

I am intending for Bandy to use their Infiltrator ability. I believe Malley has the same ability while transformed, correct?

IN THE BADLANDS
Glumpy releases his spores, unfortunately before Growler could pull out of the way. In Growler's camera, the hand seems to keep reaching for the canine while she moves back.

It's only when Locke leans in closer and lights the crack better that you see, from Glumpy's camera, that Growler is too fascinated by the hand to pull away, and she's trying to snap at the inanimate member. The thin crack doesn't allow Locke's light to reach the bottom, so you can't really see more then a dried arm coming out of the dark.

IN THE SWAMP
Bandy and Malley poke around a bit, before finding a chimney on the roof. There's a grill inside to stop pokemon slipping in, but that means little to the nimble thief and malleable clone. Inside the room, the figure doesn't seem to notice them, as the pair looks around the room.

The place looks pretty much as you'd expect from the outside. A hunter's camp, left for anyone to rest while crossing the swampy terrain. The only things that seems new are the sleeping figure, and a backpack left against the wall. The pack seems pretty run of the mill, with only a tie-dye scarf hanging from it's side.

Seymour was beginning think maybe this was just a random person resting in the cabin after all. But then he spotted the tie-dye scarf. Never would Seymour have ever though that the sight of tie-dye would become so distressing.

"I think I may have located a Team Gaia member," he reported to the officers nearby. "Owning tie-dye isn't a for-sure giveaway, but it certainly points in that direction. I'll have Bandy try to search their pack, but let me know what specifically I should be looking for."

Once he received an answer, he would have Bandy check the pack. He would also have Malley peek around the rest of the cabin to make sure the sleeper was really the only one there. He would want to get a look at their face if possible, as well as know how many pokemon they possessed.

Jake grunted. It PROBABLY wasn't a person, so he commanded growler to act as a dog would,
"Fine, Growler, if you like it so much, grab it in your mouth and pull whatever it is into the daylight!"

IN THE BADLANDS
It takes some works for Growler to reach the hand and pull at it, until she manage to back out slowly. It's only when she's out that you get a good look at what she's pulling.
It's a dead body.
By how dried out it is, they must have been dead for a while. They still have clothing, and a ripped backpack on their back. Their belt also seems to have a couple of pokeballs on it.

IN THE SWAMP
Bandy starts fiddling with the pack. You can see three pokeballs on the side, but Bandy is more focused on the bag itself.
Malley starts looking around... only to find a large green shape. The camera turns before you can see what it is exactly.