Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation (Sorry for the delay, everyone. Had a lot of things whirring in my head and took me awhile to untangle it. )

"BAD NEWS, EVERYONE!!!" a certain Fennekin yelled upon entering the mess hall. She then ran up to the Expedition Society's higher-ups and cried, "The mailmons can't reach Spikeford now!" Both Ampharos and Mawile were alarmed at the reveal even as the latter held Celine in her embrace. "Did you tell Dedenne about this?" Chief Ampharos asked. "Y-yeah... she's letting Ludester guild know about it," Celine sobbed in response.

Not long afterwards, a certain pair of Eeveelution warriors joined them in the dining hall. Seems like the two of them just had to abruptly take a break as soon as they'd heard Celine's rushing footsteps passing by the practice room they were in. "For a liaison to the resistance, this must be quite a terrible news," Josson remarked at the news to which Blacky nodded in agreement.

 

"That's the thing, miss. Communication was fine before," Chief Ampharos said on Celine's behalf, seemingly implying that the mailing ban might be a recently established law in Spikeford. "Did they, perhaps, get suspicious?" Blacky mused.

 

"They might be going into lockdown. If news of the other Dragons got to them - they probably will be expecting us." Xuehua scowled from the tactics table.

 

Atelier also looked up from the notes he had been co-writing with Chief Ampharos and Mawile. That was bad news to take in.

“We need to act soon then,” Atelier concluded, looking at Xuehua as if responding to her. “We can’t jump to any quick conclusions that the resistance is in any real danger. For all we know, they might be lying low. But we should check in on them to be safe. Where they might be is another matter.”

 

"B-but how?" Celine clutched the not-yet-to-be-sent mail as she said that. The letters had been their main method of communication to the resistance with all things considered, but if even that was banned...

"If there's no way to check on the resistance..." Blacky mused only to draw a blank on what to do. That is, unless the resistance had a secret mailing system of sorts that he was not aware of.

"...then we need to seek more help," Blacky's liege finished the sentence for him. "Those dark wizards may expect the Society and us Eeveelutions, yes, but I'm sure they won't expect the noble schools around here to help."

"Yeah, and I bet they won't expect a Jolteon either," Chief Ampharos added as a friendly jab to his fellow electric-type, much to Josson's mild embarrassment, Celine's amusement, and Blacky's "I'm sorry, what?" expression. To be fair though, Josson wasn't even there during the first six raids on the Dragon Kings' lairs.

 

"Wait, you'll be coming with us for this raid?" Xuehua paused, turning to Josson. Nobody had told her about that detail quite yet, at least. But given what she knew of him, that was at least a positive surprise. They could use the added firepower, at the very least. In fact, she found herself nervous as to whether or not she herself met his seemingly high expectations.

 

"Yes. Given we're about to raid a town, I figured we'll need all the help we can get," Josson nodded to his student's Glaceon friend. In fact she could also see Blacky nodding to his mentor's statement, though it was partially because Dedenne and Chief Ampharos had already spilled the beans the other night.

@WavePearl @122 Generation

"Can I have the mail?" it was Bunnelby who asked from behind Celine. He'd already overheard everything while taking a break himself. Celine gladly obliged after getting over the initial shock from Bunnelby creeping right behind her. "It's for my big bro in Spikeford," she said. I mean, knowing Bunnelby, she could've just said "It's for my big bro," but since not everyone present were members of the Society, a little additional context was in order.

So after retrieving the letter, Bunnelby made his way to a small chest in a corner of the mess hall and put the letter inside. This particular chest bore the Spikeford resistance's insignia: a circle with a diagonal scar-like line crossing over it. This, in turn, reminded both Chief Ampharos and his right-hand Mawile that they hadn't told Celine (and anyone else in the room, for that matter) about the chest's function yet.

Spoiler: The insignia (more or less)

(Yes, I used Bass.EXE's emblem here.)

"Oh, we didn't tell you about the resistance's secret mailbox, huh?" Chief Ampharos wondered, to which Celine shook her head. "Secret... mailbox?" Blacky repeated out of curiosity. "Yes, the secret mailbox. This is how the resistance send and get their mails," Mawile explained. That sure was one way to get communications past the tyrants' radars, alright.

 

Raiding a… town? Atelier was not expecting it to be phrased like that. It sounded like the party was about to perform a hostile takeover. Furthermore, it appeared that the guild had its means of reaching the resistance. Bunnelby's demonstration proved it. The communication also appeared risky, since mail was literally being smuggled out from under the Shadow Dragon King.

Come to think of it, Atelier almost forgot to write down Josson as part of the roster. With this many units, it should be possible to create a well-planned attack.

 

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation
(Now fast forwarding to the next day...)

The next morning, after having breakfast and other preparations (with Swirlix packing loads of extra snacks, probably), the considerably big group departed in high spirits. Blacky, for one, simply followed the lead while catching up with Celine and Josson -- especially considering they barely had enough time to do so yesterday.

 

Xuehua stayed near the front, not far behind Blacky. She kept her satchel close and her staff closer, and her frown - not unlike the one she kept on all the time back in Summerton and Greenbury, during the first raid - rarely left her face.

At least to her, this training was no break from the dragons. Every day they remained here meant a day they weren't storming Spikeford and Shadowblight, and that meant that she had to make sure she ended each day having grown stronger than her foes would have in the same amount of time.

Given Celine's lockdown news, Spikeford's defense was probably already ramping up. The Society probably had more information on their next target than Spikeford had on the resistance and team, but at least for Xuehua, knowing exactly how strong her old teacher could be now was not exactly going to reassure her.

For now, she just did her part to not be a nuisance or the weak link. And that meant finishing meals quickly and not lagging behind when traveling, just like they were doing now.

 

As for the Expedition Society members, they seemed to be doing their own things while moving along. Ampharos and Mawile, for one, could be seen holding hands like they were a couple or something. Buizel looked about as wary as Xuehua did. And the other three, well...

"Hey," Bunnelby called out to the lead. "Where are we going now?"

(I'll leave who the lead is (I'd guess Sammi, but we'll see) and where the group's next destination is up to host @WavePearl.)

 

(Aight -- and here I thought you already have a premade list or something.

Speaking of dojos though, I do remember you mentioning Mizu Village and Mikazuchi School. Still up to you on when we'll visit them though.)

 

(Sure. You're the host, so do as you see fit. )

 

Atelier had stayed at the back of the group, partly because he had to manage the convoy’s supplies as well as his own inventory of tomes. Plus, he was also there to help keep Swirlix from exhausting the snack supply. Still, he wondered if he could be playing matchmaker with his companions. Ampharos and Mawile looked like an obvious one. Then there was Blacky and Aine, possibly? Or Blacky and Celine? Xuehua… whelp, she was a hard one to decide on. Absentmindedly, he jotted down his thoughts in his journal.

At least that was until he heard that the convoy was on its way to get air support. That would be useful, Atelier figured.