Fandom Pokémon: Orange Islands (RolePlay Thread)

[Sir Mayday]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

Floric

Spinzar

Name: Floric Spinzar

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Reactions: Merciless Medic ThAtGuY101 godjacob

Cordinator Class

Floric

"It all about the little moments old man! Lead to the Finale!" Floric smiled and stepped forward into the clearing. Pulling a pokeball out, he tossed it forward and out popped a green Roselia. Immediately did a backflip and raises its hands with a smile as it said "Roooooselia!" It paused as it saw the cowd of pokemon and people. Immediately a sweatdrop appears down its face and it laughed nervously. Floric whistled and beckoned the pokemon to him, and Bubu scampered over. His Masquerain appeared as well, floating beside his head. Whispers would happen for a moment. Floric even pulling out a notebook and opening it. the two pokemon leaning in to look.

Stuff is quiet for the minute. A few shakes of heads. Bubu looking at the crowd and nervously waving, but soon Floric snaps the notebook close and nods. He nods at his pokemon and walks back to stand beside Reggie. He nudges him and says "Usually they like more prep time." As soon as those words came out his mouth Gulpin shouted "GULPIN!".

"Time is up eh? Alright cuties! Show them what you got!" Floric clapped his hands and shouted "SHOWUS WHAT YOU GOT!" Floric strikes a pose, pointing forward..and immediately the Masquerain shot up into the air in a gust disappearing for a moment with a flap of its wings! The Roselia stands before everyone, bowing its head..and then raising its arms and a bussel of leaves shoot from it into the air. The leaves flash colors as they go into the air and seem to dance in the wind. Roselia grabs one of the leaves that fell and brings it to its lips. It takes a breath and then a melodic slow tune started to play. A tune that was loud but slow, the notes drawling and carrying on into each other. As the song starts, Masquerain floats down its wings flapping. Gusts of wind keeping the magical leaves afloat as the flying pokemon gently seems to land on one of the bigger ones..drawing its wings around itself and a sweet scent filled the air as the whistle pitched higher and higher...then it stopped. Everything froze. With a loud trill, the whistle picks up again. A quick succession of trills that broke the calm melody, and the leaves started to move towards the Masquerain rapidly.

Floric smiled as Roselia shot out more magical leaves and they raced for the Masquerain, Cheeky. Cheeky shot forward, her form racing as she raced through the sky. It almost looked like it was hopping among the leaves. Her body moving and dodging in a impromptu dance also like a ballet dancer. Water shooting from her to blast leaves out of the air, which in turn reflected the light of the glowing magical leaves. A array of colors in the sky as Masquerain danced and Roselia popped off on her leaf Whistle. A beautiful sight.

Yet the leaves stuck to Cheeky, slowly but surely they stuck to the pokemon and almost covered them. Soon the Masquerain was covered in leave and shot to the ground. Rosleia raised her head as she played the whistle faster and faster...and right before hitting the ground the Masquerain stopped, hovering..a large of gust flowing over its body. Stripping the leaves off of it, and allowing it to spread its wings fully. "MASQUERAIN!" The pokemon shouts triumphantly. Roselia bounced and played a soft trill again, melodic and slow. All the leaves slowly floating to the ground.The Masquerain floated to the ground and bowed its head before unfurling itself and hovering upside down. The Roselia itself bowed and then ate played a final note before hiding its face behind its flowery hands.

Floric clapped himself for his teammates and laughed turning towards Reggie and the judges. He grinned and asked "What you think?"

He looked over waved to Adrianne and Briar "Welcome back! Hope you caught some of that!"

 

[Merciless Medic]

Reginald Valerias​

Date: June 2, 2022
Location: Pokémon Park, Tangelo Island, Orange Archipelago
Interactions: Floric Spinzar, Adrianne Silvers, Briar Hightower
Mentions: N/A
Sir Mayday godjacob ThAtGuY101
WCS Rank: 80,906
Pokemon Team:
Gordon the Mankey
Emeric the Shiny Haunter
Missy the Misdreavus
Bob the Shedinja
Large Marge the Drifloon
Elvira the Munna
Jones the Frillish (male)
Legion the White-Striped Basculin

Reggie's expression became flat when he was called 'old man' again, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the Roselia that popped out. He almost felt bad for how shy it was, it honestly reminded him of his Misdreavus. Great potential for Contests and performances, but an absolute shy sweetheart.

He waited for Floric to get done with his planning, his eyes scanning the forest. Weren't his Frillish supposed to be watching from the treeline? Where did he go?

His attention was snapped back as Floric came back to him, and the show began. Whereabouts of his Frillish became a non-concern as he was sure that jellyfish ghost could take care of himself. He just hoped it didn't go anywhere near the people.

The show before him was absolutely captivating. It wasn't just some cool flashy movements, it told a story, something that wasn't lost on Gordon or Emeric either. The Mankey and Shiny Haunter stared in awe, sparkles in their eyes at the gorgeous display of a story about progress and struggle.

When it was over, Reggie was snapped out of his stupor when Floric asked him. "It was... incredible." His voice was pretty high-pitched for a guy. He noticed Briar and Adrianne had came back and he waved at them. But before he spoke to them, he went back to Floric, blue eyes sparkling with glee. "That was so amazing! I hadn't seen a performance tell a story like that unless you're like some advanced performer! Have you gotten any ribbons from contests or done any other kind of performances similar?"

He was so psyched out and his Haunter seemed to be feeding off of it, twirling about behind Reggie as he was unable to contain himself. Gordon, on the other hand, had his interest piqued by something else and he was staring off into the treeline.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Reginald Valerias​

Date: June 2, 2022
Location: Pokémon Park, Tangelo Island, Orange Archipelago > Unova
Interactions: Floric Spinzar, Adrianne Silvers, Briar Hightower
Mentions: N/A
Sir Mayday godjacob ThAtGuY101
WCS Rank: 80,906
Pokemon Team:
Gordon the Mankey
Emeric the Shiny Haunter
Missy the Misdreavus
Bob the Shedinja
Large Marge the Drifloon
Elvira the Munna
Jones the Frillish (male)
Legion the White-Striped Basculin
Scyther

After all the hubbub died down, Reggie realized his Mankey was missing. He also got a text from his father - to call him immediately - and he felt his heart sink.

"Ah, sorry, fellas, but I think my journey with you guys has been cut short. My dad wants me to call, and knowing him, it's likely some business I have to deal with at home." Reggie then bowed. "Thank you, Floric, for the amazing spectacle. I hope to see you again someday. And Adrianne, Briar, it's so good to travel with you two for as long as I have. I hope you three find what you're looking for and get closer to your goals and dreams."

With that, he ran towards the treeline, where he found his Frillish attacking the Scyther that Mankey was friends with. Sighing, he went ahead to pull the Frillish away, startling the blue jellyfish and surprising the Scyther enough to stop mid-swing. "You okay, Jones?" He asked, the Frillish looking at him with some surprise, maybe awe, and then crossed his tentacles and looked away. "Heh, you want to continue fighting?" Jones nodded, and then slipped out of Reggie's hold to face off against the Scyther.

Readying himself, Reggie decided to help the Frillish with this fight, with Mankey watching the fight with awe. The Scyther agreed to the fight, and Reggie commanded Jones - who respected him enough to listen, whittling down the Scyther's energy enough with shots of Water Pulse and Night Shade. Jones got the Scyther close to being knocked out and - upon seeing the agitated look Gordon had - threw a Net Ball. The Scyther was surprised and fell into the ball, easily catching it.

Gordon looked up at Reggie, eyes watering. Reggie patted Jones on the head, rewarding him for his good behavior, and returned him, before picking up the Mankey and putting him on his shoulder. "I don't want to leave this island without bringing your friend along."

Gordon squealed happily, hugging Reggie's head and nuzzling it. Reggie chuckled, petting Mankey's head before going into his phone to call his dad.

"Yeah, what's up, daddy-o?"

"Bit of a family emergency. We've already sent your mom's Braviary to pick you up. Tangelo Island, yeah? Bird'll be at the Pokemon Center."

"Thanks, dad. I'll be there quick." With how calm his dad sounded, it made him wonder if this was really an emergency or this was his famous 'stoic' look. He made his way to the Pokemon Center, leaving the park and then hopping on his mother's Braviary to leave, flying back home to Unova.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Briar Hightower...~
~Briar Pokémon: Grafaiai/Baba(F), galarian wheezing/Puff Puff(M), tentecruel/Maggie(F), Revavroom/Hemi(M), clodsire/Claudia(F), smeargle/Frida(F)...~
Tangelo Island, June 2nd...~
~Rank: 48,420...~
~Reactions: Adrianne, Reggie, Floric...~

As the battle went on, seeing Floric and Reggie's pokémon go at it began to give Briar some ideas. Briar took a few moments to admire the flying bug's performance. Responding to Floric,

"I really like the elegant ballet moves on your masquerain." As everything seemed to be running smoothly, a bit of an abrupt unexpected response from Reggie presented itself. With a look of concern, Briar glanced at Reggie.

"That sounds concerning. I really hope everything is okay with your folks, Reggie. do take care getting back now. It was a pleasure traveling with you as well. Take care!" Briar looked at Baba then at Adrianne, then at Baba again who was too busy giving Briar the stink eye look for no discernible reason, briar looked at Floric and shrugged.

"Well that was certainly something! Anything you guys would like to do here while we have time or just head out as well? We could always arrive at the docks early or enjoy the park a little longer" briar crossed her arms.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Reginald Valerias​

Date: June 2 > June 5, 2022
Location: Mikan Island, Orange Archipelago
Interactions: N/A
Mentions: N/A
Reggie’s Pokémon Team:
Gordon the Mankey
Emeric the Shiny Haunter
Freydis the Scyther
Bob the Shedinja
Elvira the Munna
Jones the Frillish
Legion the Basculegion (Red)

Opelucid City, Unova; June 2nd…

“What’s going on?” Reggie walked up to his father after dismounting the Braviary, scratching the bird’s neck.

His father approached him, and Reggie couldn’t help but realize just how much of a spitting image he was of his father, if his father had blond hair. “You remember your cousin, Annie?”

Reggie’s eyebrow furrowed. “Yeah? What happened to her?” His hand stalled on the Braviary’s neck.

“I can sense something is wrong with her. Please, see to it that she’s safe. I would do so, but unfortunately I’m busy with something else and I think this would be great practice for you.” His father gave him an encouraging smile, a pat on the shoulder, and then left to grab his Zebstrika and ran off the property.

Reggie watched his father go, then looked up at the Braviary with a quirked eyebrow.

~~(TW: Body Horror, Supernatural Horror, Mock Suicide)~~

Reggie left his Pokémon aside from his Munna, Haunter, and Shedinja at the house and changed into his more casual suit before leaving on the Braviary, flying into the main portion of Opelucid City and landing near the northern end to a quaint little cottage specifically made to look like it was a part of the nature in its backdrop.

However, Reggie can feel something strange coming from within, his Haunter shivering from an eerie sensation. Taking a deep breath, Reggie took a deep breath and settled his aura as he was taught. He felt his aura encapsulate the immediate area around him, creating a sort of bubble around his body. Once that was established, he walked up to the door and knocked, his Haunter delving into his shadow to hide.

“Coming!” The sound of a little girl echoed out from within the home before it was opened by a young girl with dark brown hair pulled back with a hairband and bright blue eyes, similar in hue to Reggie’s father’s side of the family. However, he can definitely feel a sinister feeling from her, but she seemed alright so…

“Hey, Annie. Can I come in?” He asked, putting on a sweet smile.

“Sure thing, cousin.” She skipped further into the home, letting Reggie come in and close the door behind him. “You want something?”

Reggie nodded as he looked around the home. Plants were well taken care of, the sigils and tokens of spirit warding were in place on the doors, things have been cleaned and put away… Everything seemed to be in its place, all except… “Yeah, just wondering how you and your parents are doing. Where are they? Shouldn’t they be home?”

The girl paused and her fists clenched, making Reggie anxious, but she turned around and had a big smile, which only magnified his concern. “They had an errand to run today. They said they’ll be back soon.”

Reggie didn’t know how to respond to that answer, but he just nodded slowly. “Right. Uh, I’d like some tea, if you don’t mind.”

“Okay!” Her cheerful disposition felt more genuine this time, from what Reggie could tell. It concerned him. First, the fact her parents didn’t open the door as she was still nine and too young to be talking to strangers so haphazardly (what if he weren’t the one knocking?). Second, the strange eerie and sinister sensation he felt from her. Third, her hesitation when asking where her parents were.

Granted, it could just be him seeing things, her parents were probably actually busy, and she was probably irritated that they both left her alone. He needed more information.

Annie came by with some hot tea, but curiously Reggie didn’t hear the tea kettle go off. “What did you use to make the tea?”

Annie giggled and whispered to him despite no one being here to overhear. “Heehee, it’s a secreeet~.” She then skipped away, going into the kitchen. “I’ll make you some toast, too.”

Well, Reggie hadn’t heard a microwave’s beep (granted, she could just keep it from beeping by opening it early), but the cup itself wasn’t piping hot. He looked at the liquid and saw it was a bit dark… Was this coffee?

He took an experimental sip, and immediately set it down as the bitterness overloaded his mouth. He spat it back out, and made a disgruntled grunt, putting his sleeve against his lips. Why was that so gross?!

He looked at it again, swearing he saw something inside of it. A swirl pattern? It was barely visible, so he took his finger and stirred it. Immediately, the dark brown liquid became purple and the swirl became a vibrant yellow before losing its shape.

Eyes widening, Reggie recognized it immediately. A Sinistea.

Looking around, he made sure Annie wasn’t there before sitting back and stretching out his hand towards the teacup, his palm facing it. He remembered his father saying that - due to his gifted empathy ability for Ghost-Types and the psychic gift he received from his mother - he can establish a mental connection with them without the use of a trained Psychic-Type. He enveloped the teacup in his aura, and spoke softly and calmly. “Sinistea… It’s alright, I won’t hurt you. Please, lend me your aid.” The teacup shivered a little, and Reggie only received one word in response, echoing in his head.

‘RUN’

“Reggie…”

Reggie froze up, concentration broke as he slowly looked over at Annie. Her fists were clenched, head bowed as her face was scrunched.

“You didn’t like the tea, did you…?”

Why was that her only worry? Reggie recomposed himself and put his hand away, raising an eyebrow. “Uh, n-no, I didn’t.” Better be honest, but she was really starting to concern him.

Her fists shook, making Reggie stare at them, readying himself if the girl decided to assault him. But she didn’t act yet. Her voice shook. “But… I worked so hard to make it just for you… So, drink it…”

“Huh?”

“I said, DRINK IT!” She slammed her fist on the table, causing the teacup to rock and Reggie to quickly stand up and back away. Reggie suddenly felt the fear emanate from the Sinistea as it hopped off the table and slipped under a cabinet nearby.

Reggie held up his hands, his aura working to create a more dense barrier around him as “Annie” looked up at him, her once blue eyes now tinged a strange purple-green.

“I can feel it, you know… I can feel your aura… It’s juicy…” The girl walked towards Reggie, each step more of a partial stumble, putting all the weight in each foot as she took a step with it. Reggie backed up a bit more, his teeth gritting.

“What did you do to Annie?” He growled, uncertainty clouding his vision.

“Silly boy… Annie isn’t here… No, I’m Annie now.” The girl giggled, her body becoming mulch, skin bubbled and sloughed off, yet her body continued to stumble, then crawled towards Reggie, her arms breaking and bending at unnatural angles.

Eyes widened, pupils dilated, hair rose, knees shook. Reggie quickly backed away, whimpering as he threw random items he could get his hands on to stop Not-Annie’s advance, but she just twisted her body, avoiding the items with practiced ease.

Reggie hit the wall and dove to the side, Not-Annie crawling up the wall as she turned a little late, but continued to follow Reggie, the wall only helping her travel towards him.

“Shadow Ball!” He called out, a sphere of ghostly energy shot out of his shadow and at the creature, making it cry out with a shrill, inhuman screech. Haunter flew out of his trainer’s shadow, chortling at the recovering creature.

“So cute… So futile…” It giggled, and then reached out towards Emeric, the small girl’s hand suddenly turning dark, darkness energy grasping at the ghost. Emeric’s specter skin shuddered and he zipped back into the shadow, avoiding the darkness.

Purple mist seeped from the skin of Not-Annie, the girl’s body writhing and warping as it continued its horrific crawl. Another Shadow Ball was shot out from Reggie’s shadow as Reggie scrambled to his feet and tried to run, panic setting in as the spherical energy barely did anything. It only made it mad.

It lunged at him, Reggie wailing and slamming his back against a door, feeling something hard dig into his back and then-

Nothing.

Reggie fell back and felt ungodly pain as his body rolled down the stairs to the basement. He sat up, groaning. Blearily, he looked in front of him and saw what likely dug into his back. The doll that was on the door earlier. The thing crawled up to the stairs, but stopped just short of going down the steps. Reggie looked up the stairwell and found a couple more of the same dolls, preventing that thing from coming down.

But, Reggie had never seen these before. His father never told him about these, but then again, his father had been rather frugal when it came to information regarding the supernatural. It was then that he heard a whimper.

He turned his head and saw a young girl - about nine - with disheveled brown hair and shining blue eyes, curled up in the arms of a woman. Alongside her was a man, back slumped against the wall, bright blue eyes barely open and his hair a dark brown. A woman who held the young girl had disheveled black hair with brown eyes. Their skin and clothes looked scuffed.

Reggie’s eyes widened when he realized who he was seeing. “Annie? Uncle? Aunt?”

The girl’s lip trembled and she nodded. “Yeah?”

The mother’s arms wrapped around her daughter tighter, giving Reggie a wary look. “You aren’t something else, are you?” Her voice sounded raspy.

Reggie shook his head. “I came because my dad told me he sensed something wrong with Annie, and then rode off on his Zebstrika as he had other stuff to do. He told me this was good practice, but I guessed it’s a bit more than that.” He then looked down at the strange doll. “Dad never told me about this… This something you made, uncle?”

The man groaned and nodded, his weak voice croaking. “Yes… I followed the general instructions of creating a warding doll, combining the drawing of both the spiritual part of the Spell Tag’s drawing and the warding part of the Cleanse Tag’s drawing to ward off Ghost-types and spirits specifically… It’s something passed down through our family for a long time now.” He coughed, and the sound that came from him made Reggie wince. Rough, coarse. “It’s made similarly like a Darumaka Doll, and in fact our ancestors made spirit-warding Darumaka Dolls for some time now, but the practice has diminished.” He then gave a wry smile. “Maybe when this is over, I can teach you.”

Reggie’s eyes lit up, but his smile was a little less enthusiastic. “That’s really cool and all, but if you had these all over the house, how did it get inside?”

The girl piped up, voice terrified. “I let it in…”

Both the parents looked at her, surprise etched on their faces. “What?” Her mother spoke, voice in shock.

“It said it was a friend and we played outside sometimes. And when I asked if I could bring my friend over, you said it was okay… So I brought it in…” Tears silently fell down her face, no doubt blaming herself.

Reggie’s gaze lowered as he sighed. “Did it look human? Did you see what it truly was?”

Annie sniffled. “It always looked human, but it would sometimes have this green and purple mist stuff around it.”

Reggie tapped his chin, trying to think of any Ghost-Type Pokémon with that type of multicolored mist. He shook his head, mind frazzled right now. “Okay, I’ll figure out what it is, and I’ll get rid of it for good.” He said confidently, carefully standing up as his body ached. “Shadow Ball just made it angry, so we’ll just have to use a couple different attacks to weaken it.”

“Good luck.” Annie said shakily, eyes filled with hope now that bolstered Reggie’s determination to do this.

Standing up, Reggie placed the doll in his breast pocket and ran up the stairs. “Alright, you demon, come on out-... Huh?” He looked around, and aside from the items that were strewn about in Reggie’s attempts to get away, it was as if it wasn’t even here. Reggie couldn’t even sense it.

A thumping came from upstairs, Reggie’s legs moving on their own as they took him upstairs in a flurry. He fumbled his way through the upstairs hallway, looking through the different rooms before his ear catching the unmistakable sound of a taut rope creaking. He charged into Annie’s bedroom, and froze. His blood ran cold as he saw the body of his cousin, dangling on a rope in the middle of her room. Chanting arose from around the room, singing some sort of diabolical song. “She killed herself~! She killed herself~! Stupid girl shouldn’t trust strangers, not even her own peers~!” Reggie panicked, trying to find something around the hallway outside of the bedroom to cut the body down. The chanting followed him, echoing in his ears.

“Who will she hurt next? Can’t even trust herself, can’t even trust her peers, who can she trust? Her parents will hate her, distant family shun her, she will become her own worst enemy~!”

Reggie gritted his teeth as he realized - belatedly - that the body wasn’t her. He almost fell for its tricks, he was just talking to her. He shook his head and ran back inside the bedroom, Annie’s body still hanging there as the chanting had its crescendo.

“Can’t even trust herself, she might as well die~! Take her parents with her too, don’t let them suffer that she died~!”

“SHUT UP!” He yelled out, the chanting ceased. Reggie didn’t think it would work. That was, until Annie’s head moved, neck snapping with a sickening crunch. Her eyes were a purple-green, that purple-green mist surrounding her. The rope snapped, her body suddenly hitting the floor like a mangled piece of meat. Something fell with her before rolling under her body, trying to conceal itself. It lunged at Reggie, but as its sickening claws hit his chest, it suddenly screeched in agony, holding its burning hand as the young man can feel his breast pocket get warm from the Darumaka Doll.

Reggie sighed as he realized the obvious answer. “Well, hello there, Spiritomb. Dazzling Gleam!”

Emeric popped out of his shadow and made a blast of sparkling light, the body letting out an unholy scream. As the light dissipated, the body melted into goop as the Spiritomb’s real form took shape, the amorphous purple-green mist emanating from the stone that tried to hide under the body.

Reggie’s lip curled. “Filth like you should be eradicated. But, I’m pretty sure my dad has an answer for a depraved amalgamate such as yourself.” With that, Emeric made another blast of fairy light, and Reggie threw a Pokéball at the thing, the burning light disrupting its Shadow Ball before being sucked into a Pokéball. The creature wiggled its best, but couldn’t escape the device’s clutches. With a satisfied sigh, Reggie shook his head and grabbed the ball, and then set it inside of a dome. It looked like a Ball Capsule for creating exit effects for Pokémon, but this particular one allowed him to lock it.

With a sick feeling of bile rising in his throat, he quickly went downstairs, set the Darumaka Doll back on the basement door, and ran downstairs. “Hey, guys. Guess what?” He held a tired smile, but the look of relief and utter joy on the suffering family’s faces were all that he needed as he held up the locked Pokéball. Annie cried as she suddenly ran into Reggie, hugging him tightly. Reggie held her close, petting her hair. “I will need to help clean up the mess around here, but we need to call an ambulance. We need to get you three checked for any injuries.”

“What about you?” The mother asked as she tried to help her husband up.

Reggie simply shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I can’t dilly-dally though, I need to take this Spiritomb with me.”

The uncle and aunt froze once the identity of the Pokémon was revealed. Annie was oblivious. “What’s a Spirit-oom?”

Reggie chuckled. “A type of Pokémon that is usually pretty bad when not trained. You’ll learn about it later, okay?” With a pat of her head, he was about to leave before pausing. “Hey, did any of you guys hear anything from up there?”

All three shook their heads, with Reggie giving a sigh of relief. “Good.”

An ambulance came and took the three to the hospital. Meanwhile, Reggie went around cleaning up the house, throwing things away and making a list of things to replace. The teacup flew out from under the cabinet and landed on the table next to his paper. Raising an eyebrow, Reggie smirked as he pulled out a Dusk Ball. “You seem willing to join. D’you wanna?” The Sinistea seemed hesitant, but Reggie could also sense its sense of safety. He pet the purple blob as it peeked out, chuckling as it hugged his finger with an adorable smile.

“How about coming with me back home? Just try not to make my parents drink you. They don’t tolerate pranks like that.” The Sinistea looked up at Reggie with a puffy-faced pout before grabbing the lip of the teacup and flying it right into Reggie’s bag. He chuckled, finishing up the list of items he needed to buy for his cousin’s family and then left to see his father.

~~~~~~~~

“Hey, sport.” Reggie’s father greeted him at their house, smiling as he approached his son and gave him a bear hug. “How was it?”

Reggie sighed, relaxing in his father’s hug. “Well… To make a long story short, Annie and her parents were stuck in the basement of their home because she accidentally let in a Spiritomb, thinking it was her friend. It said some pretty horrendous things…” He shuddered, getting a sympathetic squeeze from his father.

“Yeah, they’re the worst. Having the minds of a hundred and eight criminals from bygone eras makes the job ten times harder. You have to either have a mind of steel or be so traumatized from it all that you get used to it.”

Reggie scrunched his face up at the thought. “Eugh… How long did it take you to get used to it?” He looked up at him, his father looking up briefly.

“Well… Let’s just say there’s still room for improvement, but I’ve seen quite a bit. I’d say it took me twenty years.”

Reggie made another scrunched up face, making his father laugh.

“Well, hopefully things don’t get too bad for you in the future. It’s probably going to be hard for this job to top what you saw, but I’m glad you powered through. Get some rest before going back to do what you need to. Oh, and we’ll keep that Sinistea and Spiritomb for you. We need to send that Spiritomb to the authorities anyway, see if it needs to be destroyed or put away somewhere.”

Reggie nodded along, then he got an idea. “Hey, mind if I train my Pokémon here for a bit?”

“Sure thing, kiddo. Just try not to break any windows.” A lighthearted laugh and a back pat later, and his father retreated inside the house, where Reggie went about trying to distract himself from the day’s events with training his Pokémon and getting to know them before leaving first thing in the morning on June 5th.

June 5th

Two days after the mission, Reggie found himself on Mikan Island during the morning. He had trained his Pokémon for a couple days, rested, and then flew back to the archipelago once the morning hit.

His first objective, get his Basculin to evolve, and he got some confirmation that it required Legion to suffer some recoil damage before winning a fight. Fainting will reset progress, but it doesn’t have to be from the same battle and he can heal afterwards. He managed to sucker his mom into buying him a TR for Take Down, so he can easily have Legion learn the move early. He was maybe a bit impatient.

He let Basculin get the hang of using Take Down a couple days ago, so that meant they were already pretty close after healing.

After a nice breakfast he made for himself and his seven Pokémon (his Munna being an accessory Pokémon to aid in his psychic and empathy training), he went about finding Pokémon to train against. Walking around on the beach, Reggie found several Pokémon to fight against. With each fight, he had Legion use Take Down a handful of times against a Krabby, Seel, and a Horsea before he was finally bathed in evolutionary glow.

Before him was a large Pokémon, a long fish with white fins, and red spots, mustache, eyebrows, and a red curling smoke thing… was that even a part of his body?

Reggie jumped up in happiness as he hugged and helped care for his Basculegion, congratulating him. It was then that he realized how late it was.

It wasn’t horrible to train how to ride it, considering he remembered the gym leader here surfed on her Blastoise, so that’s what he did: He rode around on Legion, whooping about as he had his Frillish sit in front of him and fire a Water Gun at discs his Munna shot into the air, the pink tapir floating just behind them.

They had everything set up, until the night…

 

[godjacob]

Adrianne Silvers (Normal Class: 95,044)
Pokemon Park, Tangelo Island, Orange Archipelago (June 2nd)
Interactions: ThAtGuY101 (Briar) & Sir Mayday (Floric)
​

To say that the performance that Floric and his Masquerain was impressive were an understatement, Adrianne and Briar had been lucky enough to catch the action and the movements and presentation and style were, well, incredible! "W-wow! I didn't get to make it for Reggie's full performance but that was amazing!" Adrianne said with full flattery to Floric.

The judges seemed to agree.

"A-azu!" ("W-wow amazing!") Aqua the Azurill seemed to hop up on its tail over. "Star!" ("Top tier stuff well done!") Aster the Staryu cried out with its not too expressive face, but its tone suggested it was happy. Ace the Spearow even seemed impressed but tried to downplay it. "Spear...Spearow." ("It was okay I mean...I guess.") Ace muttered before a bump from Aster caused it to roll its eyes. "Spearow." (Fine it was pretty good.")

However the mood changed when Reggie seemed to get a call from his dad and seemed to imply his journey with them was over. What!? No! He was her first companion and to leave so soon? Adrianne was not sure how to take it but those selfish concerns were buried by the worry she had for Reggie as he seemed to express his enjoyment on this venture. "H-hey be careful! I hope you are okay Reggie and I..." Adrianne began to say but as she got her words out, Reggie already said his goodbye and seemed to leave as it was visibly clear Adrianne was heartbroken.

She...she didn't even get a chance to really say goodbye.​

Adrianne seemed to feel some tears well up, course more than anything she wished Reggie the best but it still hurt to see her oldest friend on this journey leave so soon. Felt like she was cheated of getting to know him better, but as her Pokemon yes even Ace came up to support her and Briar's words got her attention she worked to quickly wipe those tears as she tried to mask the sadness.

"I-I think maybe getting some gifts here could be on the agenda and then we can prepare for tomorrow." Adrianne said to Briar as she glanced over to Floric as she seemed to pause a bit. "H-hey, if you want to travel with us we're not exactly shy with company, but it is up to you. Plan to explore the islands and get myself a ticket to the Orange League." Adrianne said as she made her desire clear for Floric.

Though in the back of her mind, she had a new promise in mind. She would see Reggie again, no way could she just let this be the end of things. Once she finished up business here, she would check up as she hoped things worked out for him...

 

[Merciless Medic]

Reginald Valerias​

Date: June 5 > June 6, 2022
Location: Mikan Island, Orange Archipelago
Interactions: N/A
Mentions: N/A
Reggie’s Pokémon Team:
Vulpix
Gordon the Primeape
Emeric the Shiny Haunter
Freydis the Scyther
Bob the Shedinja
Elvira the Munna
Jones the Frillish
Legion the Basculegion (Red)

After the successful challenge of evolving his White-Striped Basculin and training both him and his Frillish, Reggie had finished making dinner and was about to pass out for the night. He laid on his sleeping bag, his Pokemon laying about haphazardly. His Mankey used Reggie's side as a pillow, his Frillish used Reggie's other side as a pillow, his shiny Haunter rested in Reggie's shadow, his Scyther laid near Mankey, his Shedinja rested on Reggie's chest, his Munna laid near his head, and his Basculegion was resting in a pond nearby.

All were content and either resting or sleeping, pink-grey mist drifting from Reggie's forehead over to the spot on Munna's forehead as she ate his unpleasant dreams. But something had stirred the Basculegion from his slumber. With a tired blub, his groggy red eyes drifted over to the strange noise. A wail? A roar? But it was high-pitched. With a smack of his lips, he raised his voice to make almost a soft blubbering roar, rousing everyone from their slumber.

Reggie groaned as he rubbed his forehead, slowly getting up. With a cough, Reggie looked over with squinty blue eyes at his fish. "What's up-"

That's when he heard it too. A strange sound that Reggie could only assume was something crying. He didn't know of many people who would be on this island. Rousing up the rest of his Pokemon and getting them alert, he stood up, rubbing his eyes. "Alright, let's get going, guys. Be alert. And thanks, Legion. Get some rest, there's not much water further inland." He said quietly, returning Legion, who grunted in response.

The human and his six Pokemon stalked along the overgrown thicket that was Mikan Island's dense forest. They got closer to the distressed sound, which Reggie could tell it definitely was a wailing Pokemon. It didn't sound like a Misdreavus, so it was definitely an upset Pokemon.

As they finally made it to the source of the sound, a dirty Vulpix was curled up, hiding his face within his six tails. Fur and hair was matted, and he looked hungry. With a fallen face, Reggie knelt down and pulled out some leftovers he had made earlier for his Pokemon. He set it in front of him, smiling as the Vulpix smelled the aroma and looked up.

They both held a tense stand off, as Reggie's Pokemon backed away to not encroach on the clearly suffering vulpine. Reggie just gazed softly at the little thing, realizing it might be a runt. "Hey..." He started off, his voice soft and quiet. He watched as the Vulpix's ears perked up a bit more. "We heard you crying and wanted to help. Here, eat this. I made this earlier for my own Pokemon."

The Munna floated into view, making a soft coo as she attempted to rub her belly with her nubs. Convinced, the Vulpix very carefully began eating the food, too hungry to care now. Once the Vulpix had his fill, he looked up at Reggie, then looked at the Munna. He then bit down on Reggie's sleeve cuff of his jacket and pulled.

This sort of desperation from a clearly afraid Pokemon was something Reggie had never seen before. Normally, when they're in this bad of shape, they'd stay away, but clearly this Pokemon seemed to care less about himself. The Vulpix let go as Reggie stood up, his calves screaming at him for crouching for so long. The Fire-Type then ran ahead, his little legs stumbling as he made his way back.

Looking at his Pokemon, Reggie stared as the Vulpix disappeared in the underbrush, only for his head to pop out and make a low short growl, and then a huff as he turned away. Getting the hint, Reggie followed along, his Pokemon keeping their eyes peeled for anything that may be amiss.

After a bit of trekking and smelling something potently disgusting, Reggie found himself upon a beautiful cream-colored fox laying on her side. Her nine tails draped over the ground, her legs pulled together, and her chest showed... no breathing.

This mother Ninetales - based on how thin her stomach was - had been dead for some time.

The Vulpix whined and came to her body, nuzzling her head and warbling as fresh tears fell down his face. Reggie's heart ached. He looked over to his Scyther and Mankey, about to ask them something, but instead of upset expressions like he'd expect, they stared around the space with some confusion.

Could... Could they not see her?

His Munna could likely sense something was there as she held a focused expression like she would normally have when sensing something spiritual, but she wasn't focusing in on the area where the Ninetales was with her gaze. Did that mean...

Oh no...

"Vulpix, get away from her. Please." He asked, almost pleaded. The Vulpix stared at the human with shock, his tails curled around his posterior and his ears were folded back. Why would he ask him to get away from his mother?

Seeing his shock, Reggie tried again. "She's... She's not here. She won't be able to feed you or groom your coat anymore. Here." He knelt down, extending his hand, palm opened up. "Let me take care of you. Please."

The Vulpix, still confused by Reggie's initial outburst, came around slowly. His body relaxed a little, and he slowly walked towards Reggie.

A groan escaped from the Ninetales, and the Vulpix's ears perked up fully. He turned around to see his mother slowly stand up, her legs shaking. He squeaked and barked happily, bounding back to her.

"Vulpix, wait-"

The Ninetales's eyes opened, and what the Vulpix saw caused him to suddenly stop. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he saw the black sockets of where would once be kind ruby eyes. He whined as he backed up, and Reggie's Scyther, Mankey, and Munna got tenser as they couldn't see the threat, but they could definitely feel her rising power.

With a sudden ominous cry, the Ninetales roared at Reggie and the Pokemon, the spiritual pressure surprising those who couldn't see the spirit and they faltered slightly before getting into a battle stance. Reggie could feel her fear, her pain, her determination and desire to continue caring for her young, but those negative emotions would impact her care. Emeric the Haunter appeared before Reggie from his shadow, popping his knuckles as he glared at the mother.

Scared for what his mother turned into but also scared for what Reggie and his Pokemon will do to her, the Vulpix ran back to Reggie and placed his forepaws on the human's leg, shaking his head. Reggie sighed as he knew this was going to be painful, but knew there wasn't much he could do.

"Vulpix, get behind me and stay there. I know you don't want me hurting her, but she won't see clearly if I don't. It's like slapping someone to get them to hear you and to stop what they're doing. She's afraid and in pain. She wants to take care of you, but if she tries, she will end up hurting you and everyone else trying to help you because of this fear and pain. If we defeat her in a battle, she will calm down and realize that - with as strong as I am - I will be able to protect you and help you grow and become strong. That's what parents would want for their kids, right?" Reggie tried convincing the Vulpix, who looked away with confliction in his hazel eyes. With a resigned scrunch of his face, he jumped behind Reggie and hid in the brush.

With the Vulpix hidden, the Ninetales's rage was even more palpable. Reggie needed to help his other Pokemon hit this thing. "Jones, Water Sport. Focus your ghost power into it too." Confused, the Frillish obeyed, spraying water around their location.

The water - tainted with ghost energy - was able to drench the ghost Ninetales and cause her gorgeous fur to drip. To Scyther, Mankey, and Munna, they could see the dripping water cling to something invisible in front of them. "Freydis, Night Slash." It was a gamble, but her scythes became cloaked in darkness.

"Good. Emeric, Dark Pulse. Elvira, Shadow Ball. Bob, Shadow Claw."

As the Scyther attacked with her sickle arms, the Shedinja slashed with his ghostly claw as it creaked from his shell, the Haunter blasted a pulse of darkness, and the Munna fired a ghostly sphere at the Ninetales, the ghost took the attacks, but her anger was growing ever more, the spiritual pressure increasing.

With a screech, ghostly wind surged from her body. Due to how bunched up Reggie's Pokemon were, the attack fanned over the group. But as they were recovering the blast of wind, the Ninetales quickly fired off a Shadow Ball from her toothy maw, and it landed against his Munna. With a strangled cry, the Munna was slammed against a tree.

Reggie's voice died in his throat. How strong was this thing...?

Quickly, he held out his arms towards the Ninetales, breathing deeply as he magnified his aura and reached out towards her. There was a backlash of energy, like a sweeping punch to the gut, and Reggie coughed. Yet, he did not stop just as his Pokemon repeated their attacks.

"Ninetales... Listen to me..."

With a cry of pain, another Shadow Ball, and it slammed into his Frillish, knocking him out as he landed against a tree.

"Stop..." He coughed more as he felt her energy encircle him.

Not wanting to let this Ninetales continue attacking, Emeric fired another Dark Pulse, but she had absorbed the negative feelings, empowering her own spiritual pressure. Reggie was sent to his knees from the sheer weight.

"Ninetales, your child will be safe..." He tried to send his good intentions through, but she didn't want to entertain it. Another Shadow Ball from her as the Scyther came in with another Night Slash, only for the attack to send her flying back into a tree, her scythe unable to hit the dripping Ninetales.

Reggie didn't give up, trying to brute force his aura through her angry shield, hoping she'd see it and calm down.

Emeric tried a Shadow Ball, all the while Reggie's Mankey watched on in horror, unable to attack let alone even see the enemy that was knocking out his friends one by one. Reggie coughed as he felt another swift kick to his gut from the pressure, nearly doubling him over.

The Ninetales cried out from Emeric's attack, only to fire one at Reggie. Emeric dove for it, and was suddenly sent back by the blast, phasing through Reggie and landing behind him.

Reggie grunted as he saw his ace get thrown back like he was some Cutiefly. He gritted his teeth, grunting as he continued to try. But there seemed to be no end to this ever-increasing pressure.

With a final Shadow Ball against his Shedinja, all there was left was Reggie and his Mankey. Reggie was finding difficulty in not only protecting himself from the now attacking aura of the Ninetales that had surrounded him, but from breaching her walls. Not wanting to stand back anymore, the Mankey punched his head to get back into the game and charged into the fray. First, with Retaliate, then Cross Chop, then Acrobatics. He grew angrier, all of his attacks hitting nothing, and yet he can feel the presence of this ghost now. It made his hair stand on end. He hated it, he hated not seeing his opponent, he hated that he just stood there and watched uselessly as his trainer and friends were beaten so effortlessly.

The anger made his blood pump faster, as he screeched loudly. The Ninetales didn't seem to attack him, which only made him angrier. He screamed at the fox, yelling at her for being such a coward. He suddenly felt something hit him, but it wasn't even an attack. Was he batted away like some annoying gnat?

He slammed his fists into the ground like a child with a tantrum, and he stood back up. How dare she not consider him a worthy opponent! He will make her pay! Pay for the defeat of his friends! Pay for the torture of his trainer!

Light enveloped his body, his spherical body getting bigger, and his arms and legs growing more muscle. For as strong as this Mankey was, he never evolved because he never reached the peak of anger like this before. Cream fur receded as he got fluffier and lost his tail, and metal shackles formed around his wrists and ankles. The light dispersed, and the newly-evolved Primeape cried out as his fist glowed with ghostly energy. He slammed his fist into the Ninetales, felt something physical react to his punch, and his anger took over. He saw red, no longer able to think clearly as he kept punching the ghost in front of him.

Reggie can feel the pressure around him weaken and the barriers around the Ninetales weaken. With a sigh of relief, he focused more on trying to hep her see that he wasn't going to hurt her son. With each use of an attack from the Ninetales against the Primeape, he got angrier and stronger, and continued to attack her. However, the third attack sent the Primeape down to the ground, his anger unable to help him shrug anymore of the pain away. The red color receded from his vision and his gaze went back to his trainer.

He was standing now...

Yes, yes... Good...

Reggie, with no Pokemon aside from his Basculegion who was still too tired to help fight, stood back up and focused his energy again. This time, he finally got a connection. It seemed the constant angry pummeling beat away the Ninetales's anger, and she was finally considering his intent.

With a growling coo, she tried to summon her child. Shakily, the Vulpix peered out, and saw with growing concern all of Reggie's Pokemon laying there, exhausted and defeated. With trembling tails, he walked cautiously towards his mother, who seemed... Better? Was she cured?

The Ninetales leaned her head down, nuzzling her child's head fluff with her nose. She said something to him, because the Vulpix's eyes widened and tears fell. He whined, paws coming up to try and hug his mother, but he phased right through her body. Her form was slowly phasing away.

With a defiant cry, not wanting to lose his mother yet, the Vulpix chased after her fading figure. When she finally disappeared from view, the Vulpix's head hung as he sat there, dejected tears falling.

Reggie - his energy sapped from him - fell to his knees when he finally felt her spiritual pressure vanish from the air around him. She accepted her death and he felt the trust she imparted to Reggie.

'Take care of my son. He is the only one living of my litter. Don't make me regret this.'

With a sigh, he moved his aching body to crawl towards the Vulpix. He didn't expect the Vulpix to jump into his arms, paws digging into his shirt. Cradling the crying fox close, he got up with legs that felt like jello and lead and began checking up on all of his Pokemon before returning them. His Frillish stirred, Munna and Haunter were fast asleep, Shedinja was still but he knew he'd be back, and Scyther grunted at being pushed.

When he made it to his Primeape, a single tap on the shoulder was all he needed to know he was good. A fist landed square on his cheek, punching him to the ground. He chuckled a cough, sighing as he returned his last Pokemon.

"Phew..." He sighed, pulling out a Luxury Ball. "And you, sweet pea, will stay with me. I'll take care of you." He smiled, petting his fur. After this terrible waking nightmare and feeling comfort once more, the Vulpix fell fast asleep, making a purr-like noise as he did so.

With a soft tap, the Luxury Ball swallowed up his new Pokemon, and Reggie limped his way back to camp.

Now... Now they can sleep.

He didn't wake up until the sun's zenith, groaning at how bright and hot the sun was through the treetops and at how sore his body was.

Time to go to the Pokemon Center...

 

[Merciless Medic]

Reginald Valerias​

Date: June 6, 2022
Location: Mikan Island, Orange Archipelago
Interactions: N/A
Mentions: N/A
Reggie’s Pokémon Team:
Ignis the Kantonian Vulpix
Gordon the Primeape
Emeric the Shiny Haunter
Freydis the Scyther
Bob the Shedinja
Elvira the Munna
Jones the Frillish
Legion the Basculegion (Red)

That was a very eventful night and it left him exhausted. His entire body ached, his body hurting - most specifically his gut. He took a deep breath, packed everything up, and returned everyone that was left. He decided they would have their brunch at the Pokemon Center.

Once he had limped inside, he gave a soft sigh. "Hi..." His voice croaked, and Nurse Joy looked at him with worry, brows furrowing.

"Oh my, are you okay, sir?"

Reggie nodded. "I have eight Pokemon here. They need to be healed."

"Eight?" Her eyebrow raised incredulously. He must have a permit to hold more than six.

"Yes, we got attacked by a Ninetales. Please." He didn't want to even bother with explaining to her his spiritual adventure, lest she would look at him funny.

Realizing the dire situation this was, the nurse immediately set his PokeBalls on a tray and left quickly towards the back. Meanwhile, the Chansey left the counter and guided Reggie to the bed, her stubby limbs helping to keep the barely stable human up. She helped Reggie sit down, and he leaned against the booth with a heavy sigh. Pulling out an egg, she gave Reggie her Soft-Boiled egg. Reggie couldn't help but chuckle, receiving it and nodding in thanks to the Chansey, who trilled happily and walked back to where the nurse went.

With a troubled sigh, Reggie unwrapped the hard shell from the soft-boiled egg, then slowly ate it. He regained his energy, his soul didn't feel like a raisin anymore, and his chest and stomach wasn't aching. The after effects of the spiritual pressure from last night finally eased, and he could breathe easy. With a soft sigh, he stood back up, stretching his still-aching body before walking back over to the counter. The nurse came out, giving a professional smile.

"It seems you're doing much better. The same could be said for your Pokemon, though some of them need more time. You can come back later and collect them. Would you like to see them now?" The woman smiled, and Reggie was a little surprised. Did she have enough time to do that?

Reggie gave an eager nod, smiling. "Y-yeah, I do."

He was led into the corridor in the back, going to the cluster of operation rooms. Some of his Pokemon were doing better than others. First up was his Haunter, who was busy roaming around the room, bored. Upon sensing his trainer, he gave a happy chortle and swooped over, grabbing his beloved trainer and giving him a sudden lick with his blue tongue. Reggie chuckled, leaning away as the entire side of his face was slobbered in chilling paralytic ghostly venom. Well, it would've been dangerous for Reggie if he hadn't been slimed like this so often.

He just simply patted the ghostly body, giggling as his Haunter affectionately showed how much the ghost missed him. Taking the Pokeball he was housed in, he gave his Haunter a nuzzle before pocketing the Pokeball, letting Emeric tag along with his shadow. "Glad you're doing alright, Emeric-buddy."

His next Pokemon to collect was his Munna. The Psychic-Type was floating around aimlessly, humming to herself. As she twirled about in the air, she noticed her trainer, leaning against the doorframe, trying to hide a chuckle. She cooed happily, floating over to him and nuzzling his chest, earning herself a little kiss on the forehead. She cooed and batted his chin with a stubby limb, then crawled with the little gravity she had to perch herself on top of his head, making him chuckle. Petting the top of her head, Reggie moved on to his next Pokemon, grabbing Elvira's Pokeball and putting it on his belt. "Glad you're doing alright, Elvira. How's your body?" She cooed as an answer, which sounded happy.

Good.

Next Pokemon was Scyther. She was sitting on the bed, looking down at her scythes, her wings buzzing a bit. "You alright?" He asked, the Scyther languidly looking up at him. She made a series of clicking noises and chirps, which sounded like she was upset. He smiled, stepping closer and sitting on the bed beside her. "It's okay, Freydis. You did great out there. It wasn't a Pokemon we could have beaten traditionally, and I bet that was your first time fighting an actual ghost." Freydis looked at him, confused.

"A spirit is an entity. It's not a Ghost-Type like Haunter here-" Emeric waved his disembodied hand from his shadow. "-but you do need some moves that can hit spirits, which is why I had you use Night Slash. But because it's a spirit, it doesn't faint. It loses its energy until it can't fight anymore, but even then it'll just be too weak to show itself or affect anything around it. It still stays, it doesn't go away. The goal is to weaken them enough and then calm them down before helping them move on." He then reached out and held her scythe by the wrist joint, sensing a bit of her confusion. "It's okay to not win by beating your opponent until it's knocked out, is what I'm saying. There's other ways to win."

Freydis clicked as she contemplated this, her gaze drifting. It was difficult to wrap her mind around it, but she was able to at least understand that victory can come about in different ways. She nodded, smiling and trilling. She then tapped the Pokeball next to him, getting sucked inside. Smiling, he took her Pokeball and walked out of the room.

His next Pokemon was his Primeape, his newly evolved Pokemon. The Fighting-type was pacing back and forth, glaring at the ground. When Reggie knocked on the doorframe softly, his head snapped towards the noise. Upon noticing Reggie there, he oinked happily, squealing a little as he charged Reggie and hugged him, nuzzling his chest. Reggie chuckled, holding him and ruffling his hair. "Yeah, I'm alright, Gordon. You feeling good?"

Gordon squeaked, pumping his fist and showing off his bicep. He chuckled, patting his arm. "Good. Freydis is also good, she just seemed confused on how winning something like that worked. But I'm glad you evolved out of that. We'll focus on training that new move and working out your new body, okay?" He smiled, earning a pumped up oink. Gordon then grabbed his Pokeball and gave it to Reggie, who returned the spunky Fighting-Type.

He just had a few more Pokemon left.

He walked to another room and found his Shedinja, sitting there in the corner of the room, his back facing the corner. With a soft, eerily haunting whistle, the Shedinja moved off the wall, as if roused up from the sound. The shell floated over to Reggie, settling himself within Reggie's jacket pocket. Reggie chuckled, scratching the top of the shell's head, earning a haunting clicking noise that echoed from within the shell. "Glad you're doing good, Bob." More chittering echoed from the shell, making Reggie chuckle.

The next two Pokemon were in a soothing medical pool for them. The Frillish was glaring at him from just under the water's surface, and Reggie sighed. "Oh boy..." He patted Munna, easing her away from his head, same with his Shedinja. He then took off his jacket and set it away, then sat at the edge of the pool. He held out his hands, his spiritual energy giving a sense of calm. Jones gave a few bubbles before his tentacles came up and held those hands, letting the human lift him from the pool. Reggie sighed. "Are you okay?"

Jones stared at him, eyes narrowing. He then cooed, sending his own energy for Reggie to understand. Jones was frustrated. Ever since he was caught by Reggie, he's been confused with everything that's happened and hadn't been able to spend enough time in the water. He didn't want to be caught in the first place, and being slammed down by some spirit wasn't great for him either. It was the worst pain he felt in a long while, and he was starting to wonder if Reggie was going to help him get stronger, and he was sure that Water Gun accuracy training wasn't it. Reggie sighed, petting the Pokemon's arm. "I understand. Do you want to leave?" He asked, confused.

The Water/Ghost-Type actually sat there, troubled emotions running through his mind, visible on his face. Reggie watched with some anticipation, as the Frillish considered it. Jones was honestly surprised Reggie would ask that of him. Did Reggie really care about his gym stuff more than his Pokemon like what Jones thought he did? Was Reggie even willing to let him leave?

The confusion was great with this one. Jones knew that - through the gossiping of the Wingull - Pokemon who were caught by Pokemon get stronger and evolve faster than those in the wild. Jones figured it would take him years to become a Jellicent, but with Reggie, that expectancy would be a fraction. But could he really sit here and struggle understanding what the hell he was seeing every day?

As far as Frillish saw it, the chaotic trainer life wasn't for him, but he was honestly getting impatient to get stronger.

Well... This human could've been much worse. If the human didn't care for him, and even asked him that question, the human wouldn't even be here to check up on him, would he...? Jones was a loner, so this sort of care was foreign to him.

Why did this human care so much...?

Reggie smiled, petting the Frillish's arm, giving the ghostly jellyfish something to ground him from his thoughts. Reggie - being as sensitive he was to the emotions of Ghost-Types - gave a small smile. "I understand the confusion. How about this: you stay with me for as long as you can take it and I'll take care of you and train you as much as I can. I will help you evolve. Whenever you decide, you can leave for any reason. I don't want to keep you with me if you feel trapped or like you can't be yourself. I don't want you to feel like you're being coerced to do things you don't want to do."

Jones stared at Reggie hard, but it wasn't a bad glare. It was just a lot to think about. Jones gave a hum, then a small smirk. A devious one, one that had prepared Reggie for what was about to happen. He sucked in a deep breath quickly as the Frillish wrapped his tentacles around Reggie's head and pulled him down into the water. His three Pokemon freaked out as they watched him get pulled in, only for them to stop as they felt Reggie's spiritual aura beckon them to stay put. They uneasily sat still, while Reggie pried off the tentacles from his head.

He swam there, looking at Jones confused, letting out a bit of his breath to make sure he wouldn't get his lungs to ache. He floated there, the Frillish blowing bubbles, swimming around the human. Reggie raised an eyebrow as he saw the Frillish swim close to him, only to whisk himself away. Realizing that Jones wanted to play chase, he smirked and began swimming after the Frillish, trying to catch him.

The Frillish's more aquatically suited body let him flow through the liquid with such ease, as if he weren't there to begin with. Reggie had trouble catching up, let alone catching him. It got to the point where Reggie felt strain in his lungs. He coughed, and was about to swim up, only to feel something keep him down. Jones was keeping him from the surface, which made him panic slightly.

The Frillish grinned, then blew out a bubble, carefully placing the large bubble on Reggie's face. Carefully, Reggie breathed in, surprised that there was air he could actually breathe. He gave a huff, then breathed in the rest of the bubble. Jones patted Reggie's cheek, earning a deadpanned look and giggling about it. Jones swam away, with Reggie swimming after him once again. Their little game of chase continued, only pausing whenever Jones gave Reggie a breath with a bubble or two. It was sort of fun, swimming down here in the holding and resting pool for aquatic Pokemon.

The Pokemon he had sitting outside of the pool could still see Reggie swimming about, so they eased up some. However, Elvira noticed the presence of a nurse coming by to check up on the Pokemon. She sent a warning feeling to the two who were down there. Jones perked up, and then smirked. He suddenly pushed the human back up to the surface, making him climb out of the pool before going back to the depths.

The nurse came in to check up on the pool, noticing a very wet Reggie laying on the floor, panting. "Uh, sir? While I did say you can check on your Pokemon, you can't be in there-"

"I know... I uh... Fell in." He can just hear his Frillish chuckling under the waves, but Reggie knew what that was all for. A little game to help Jones feel more enriched, and a trust exercise. Reggie had to trust Jones that he would provide him with air, and Jones had to trust Reggie that he wouldn't throw the blame at Jones.

The nurse sighed, and pointed to a towel nearby. "Please be more careful." Reggie nodded, getting up as he watched the lady leave. He looked back at Jones, who peeked his head out from the water. The two shared an amused glance, then they both laughed.

"Well, that was exciting. You okay, Jones? From earlier, I mean." Jones gave a scowl - albeit a pouty one with no venom - as he was reminded of the pain he was put in, but he gave a resigned nod, with Reggie giving a nod in return. "Good. Where's Legion?"

The Basculegion peeked from the water, giving bubbly chortles as he had watched everything. Reggie rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Uh-huh. Right. Well, glad to know you're feeling better, too." Reggie got up and grabbed a towel, patting himself down and throwing it in the hamper once he was able to wring the water out of his clothes. He then grabbed the two Pokeballs, returning his two Water-Types.

"Alright, last Pokemon." He said, grabbing his coat so his Shedinja can return to his pocket, Munna can return to perching atop his head, and Haunter can return to his shadow.

He walked over to the last room he needed to go to, finding the Vulpix there, the Luxury Ball sitting pretty on the table next to the Vulpix. Reggie smiled, walking in calmly and sitting beside the Vulpix, whose back was turned as he was curled up in a ball, hiding his snout under his six fluffy tails. He was all cleaned up, looked like he had eaten as much as he could, and was just resting.

Reggie smiled, patting the bed next to the Vulpix to alert he was here. "Hey..." The vulpine ear twitched. "You okay...?"

There was a soft whine, and then a huff through his nose.

"Do you want a hug?"

The fire fox looked up briefly, and Reggie's heart got caught as he saw the poor fox's tear-filled eye, staining his furred face. Reggie's lips turned into a shaky frown, but he fought to give an equally shaky smile instead. "C'mere..." He said, his arms open.

Shakily, the Vulpix got up, his six tails folded between his legs as he crawled up to Reggie's lap, whining as he nuzzled Reggie's chest. The Vulpix's new trainer wrapped his arms around him, cradling the warm and fluffy fox to his body. "It'll be okay... I'll take care of you now... At least your mother is safe and at peace..." He smiled, nuzzling his face against the Vulpix's head fluff. "I will make good on my promise to her. I'll make sure you're well taken care of and grow up to be just as strong as her, if not stronger..." He said softly, reiterating his promise to the Vulpix this time. There was a soft whine and a chirp, and Reggie can feel the Vulpix's paws tighten on his shirt. It tugged at his heart, and he smiled as he pet him.

"Want a name?" He asked, using his sleeve to wipe away his tears. The Vulpix looked up and smiled warmly, giving a soft squeak. "Mmmm... There's an old name that will suit you. Ignis. It means fire. And you'll be the brightest flame, no matter how stormy it gets." He smiled, lifting up the Vulpix in his grip, getting a happy chirp - albeit a shaky one from still being sad - with flailing legs. Reggie chuckled, bringing the Vulpix to his chest. "I will make sure you're well taken care of, alright, Ignis?"

He got another chirp.

With a smile, he pulled a blanket out of his bag and fashioned it into a little sling, making a little pocket for Ignis to rest in. He figured that - after his unfortunate letting go of his mother - he would need a lot of closeness. The Vulpix was set inside, his ear twitching as he heard Reggie's heartbeat. More tears fell as he curled up in the warm cocoon that was the blanket, a small smile to accompany the tears that stained the blanket.

Reggie nearly cried, seeing the sweet Vulpix feel comfort at last. He smiled, petting the top of his head before getting up, grabbing Ignis's Luxury Ball, and leaving.

Now... It was time to train...