"...Whuh...?"

Lady Crane was completely caught off-guard by the sudden criticism of her credibility, to the point where her carefully-maintained mask entirely fell from her face. Mitsuru was left sitting there, frozen in place like a Deerling in the headlights, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. Mostly, though? She just wanted to curl up until a ball and die.

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuscloooooooooooooops."

It's a long and low groan from Ichi that snaps her out of her funk, and after quickly getting herself back into character, Lady Crane cleared her throat with a loud "AHEM" before taking a long sip of tea. That was... bad. Very bad. She really hadn't expected such a rude comment from someone as polite-looking as Marianne... But it was fine! They were past that now. She'd just need to be a little more assertive with her interpretations of the cards, and they'd hopefully make it through this without any further issues.

"Is it not?" Lady Crane asked, tapping her finger twice upon the card as she spoke. "The future will always become the present, Miss Lovelace. If you find your desires are out of reach, and the time comes for you to grab them, what then? Wouldn't you say that inaction, whether you intend it to or otherwise, is taking you further away from what you want?"

---

Marianne Lovelace

REDEEMING

we snow, boy, showdown!

1X Gacha Darumaka (FREE FROM SHOWBOY SNOWDOWN, EARNED HERE)
1X Gachapon Ticket (FREE FROM BOYDOWN SHOWSNOW, EARNED HERE)
1X Premium Gacha - Psychic (FREE FROM BOYSNOW DOWNSHOW, EARNED HERE)

Roll the appropriate gachas here please.

TOTAL

do come again!

0 PD

Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Officer Hyakkaryōran? That was surprising. It was so surprising that Mitsuru even blinked upon hearing it. She's really a policewoman? Really really? Huh. Not that it didn't make sense, mind! It certainly answered all of her lingering questions. Still, wasn't she a little young to be working in such a dangerous profession?

No, no, that wasn't fair. She shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Miss Hyakkaryōran was probably a very good and very competent police officer! If she wasn't, she wouldn't be trusted with such an important case. The same case she was trusting to Mitsuru. The fate of those fifteen missing people all depended on the two of them...

A single bead of sweat trickled down the occultist's forehead.

"A-Ah... Well, uh... I... I..."

If she'd understood just how severe this case was beforehand, then she never would've answered that e-mail. Collaboration between law enforcement and practitioners of the supernatural was frowned upon at the best of times, and this was far, far, FAR from the best of times. If they screwed this up? Forget her career, her life would be over. Everyone from Rustboro to Evergrande would know her as the fraud who not only swindled the Dewford government, but who made a mockery of those poor, poor people who disappeared. How could she ever show her face in public after that? How could she live with herself after that?

But... If they were really out of leads, and she was really their last chance, then how could she live with herself if didn't at least try?

"...I'll do it. I'll help you find your missing ship, Officer. And I won't rest until I know those people are safe! I promise!"

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

"This is fine... This is fine! This is fine..."

This was not fine. This was making Mitsuru wonder why she even got out of bed this morning. Seriously! All she wanted was to do was research that strange incident on Route 120 last year, and instead, she found herself hiding amidst the tall grass as the supermassive Garbodor rampaged in the distance.

But it would be fine, eventually. After all, there were already plenty of trainers dealing with the Gigantamaxed garbage bag. She just had to hunker down and wait for them to get rid of it, and then she could carry on as though nothing happened. Yep, that was the plan! Any minute now, the monster would be defeated, the day would be saved, and she'd be able to leave in one piece. Until then, she just needed to stay still and--

GLORP!

It was at that moment that a great globule of sludge was launched off the Garbodor by a stray attack. And, as though guided by the hand of some vengeful god, it arced high through the sky, and came crashing right where she had been crouching. One moment she was clean, and the next, she was completely painted from head to toe with bin juice. But not just any bin juice: Incredibly toxic bin juice.

"...Urk...!"

Needless to say, today assuredly wasn't, wouldn't, and would never, ever, EVER be fine.

---

PROMPT: be inflicted by the POISONED STATUS CONDITION.

TEAS & DESSERTS:

Send a special someone a bespoke box of sweets delivered by Stufful, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A homebaked blueberry cupcake, featuring a messily-drawn Stantler face on the frosting with a blueberry nose. The taste is... Not great. Really bad. Criminally dire.[break][break] TO: ollie morales[break][break] CARD: "You're the best Ranger anyone could ask for. Keep up the good work, Ollie! From, your secret admirer ~ ❤"[break][break]

TEAS & DESSERTS:

Send a special someone a bespoke box of sweets delivered by Stufful, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A small tin of honeycomb made from a Combee. The first bite is excellent. Every subsequent bite? Acrid.[break][break] TO: BARNABY FINCH[break][break] CARD: "I love The Bee's Knees! Thanks for making the news so interesting. From, your secret admirer ~ ❤" [break][break]

TEAS & DESSERTS:

Send a special someone a bespoke box of sweets delivered by Stufful, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A ten Pokedollar giftcard for Sawsbucks coffee. Of the original value, only two Pokedollars and one Pokepenny remains.[break][break] TO: annalise henderson[break][break] CARD: "Hope you're doing well! I miss your videos." - Sent anonymously.[break][break]

BOUQUETS:

Send a special someone a bouquet delivered by Leavanny, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A single white Lily of the Valley, accompanied by a paid dry cleaning bill.[break][break] TO: Preston Fugu[break][break] CARD: "I'm very sorry for vomiting on you. I promise not to drink as much next time. - Mitsuru Kagami."

BOUQUETS:

Send a special someone a bouquet delivered by Leavanny, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A "thank you" package, consisting of bouquet of roses, chocolate bar, and card. Closer inspection reveals the roses to be fake, the chocolate to be grubby, and that someone left a receipt in the card. The delivery was by a company called "Evergrande Mail", and this appears to be their "Appreciation Bundle", which cost a grand total of four Pokedollars plus delivery.[break][break] TO: june sleigh[break][break] CARD: "Thanks for the speedy deliery!" - Lady Crane's Mystic Services

OFFERINGS:

Send a special someone a traditional offering delivered by Misdreavus, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A selection of colourful feathers threaded into a necklace, accompanied by a ""Ho-oh Treat"".[break][break] TO: kyle lopez('s Ho-oh)[break][break] CARD: "To the Emergent and the Seven-Coloured Wings: May you bring eternal happiness wherever you fly."[break][break]

OFFERINGS:

Send a special someone a traditional offering delivered by Misdreavus, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A splinter of burnt wood, floating in a glass vial filled with rainwater.[break][break] TO: Isaac Merlo('s Suicune)[break][break] CARD: "To the Liberator and the North Winds: May you purify the world with crystal clarity."[break][break]

OFFERINGS:

Send a special someone a traditional offering delivered by Misdreavus, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A scrap of meteorite, crudely fashioned into an earring.[break][break] TO: Eva Morales('s Rayquaza)[break][break] CARD: "To the Peacemaker and the Dragon Lord: May your skies ever be clear."[break][break]

OFFERINGS:

Send a special someone a traditional offering delivered by Misdreavus, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: A chipped and cracked charm, roughly carved out of basalt with great effort. [break][break] TO: MATIAS SILPH('s Groudon)[break][break] CARD: "To the Earthshaper and the Ruby Titan: May the land you roam ever be pure."[break][break]

OFFERINGS:

Send a special someone a traditional offering delivered by Misdreavus, signed or anonymous!

[break][break]
ORDER DETAILS: An envelope sealed with black wax, containing an unspoken ideal within.[break][break] TO: Remiel Calcifet('s Zekrom)[break][break] CARD: "To the Exacting and the Deep Black: May you judge our world with a clear mind."[break][break]

Unfortunately, it seemed that the concerned stranger hadn't, in fact, seen Trubby. So, Mitsuru hurriedly excused herself before continuing her search for the little trash bag. Where could he have gone? Eventually, her frantic searching brought her to the merchandise booths. If nothing else, there were plenty of people around. One of them had to have seen Trubby, right? And so, she approached.

"excuse me! Have you seen..."

Her question was cut short as she laid eyes upon the 2024 Ranger Calendar, and her mind went black. Um... Well, surely Trubby wouldn't be in too much trouble, right? After all, there were plenty of big dragons wandering around as security! Surely, nobody would be silly enough to trubnap him with Garchomp and Salamence around? S-so, she could afford to delay for a few seconds, right...? Right...!

"Um, uh... One Ranger's Calendar, please..."


"Trubbish!"

Meanwhile, Trubby continued his efforts in sculpting the greatest snowboy known to Garbodourkind. Pristine white snow turned off-brown as he molded it in his little hands, before dumping it into a dirty pile. Then, he proceeded to smush it into shape, bringing it all together and forming a not-quite-sphere, a veritable David among the Pokemon art world.

Truly, he was the Trubbelangelo of his craft.

---

TL;DR - Mitsuru purchases a Ranger calendar while I try and ignore my sins against Snowboy Showdown.
DeTuPf|G (Bottom, Middle, Top, Decoration) ((-10 from the prompt, THAT'S SNOWBOY BINGO BABEY!!!))
Prompt fulfilled: Reference the Ranger calendar.

"Um, yes, that's me! Mitsuru Kagami of Lady Crane's Mystic Services. It's very nice to meet you!"

She had to admit, when she received an e-mail from Dewford asking for her to consult, this wasn't exactly what she'd envisioned. She thought she'd be meeting with Michael Navidson right now, but instead, she's talking to... Erm... Well, that's kind of the problem, to be honest: She's not really sure who's in front of her right now.

"Yes, it is Johtonian. I was originally from Ecruteak, but I moved to Slateport recently."

Is she just a police officer working under the "sheriff"? Maybe, but if that's the case, shouldn't she be in uniform? And if that's the case, then she couldn't be a secretary either, right? She'd almost think this was an elaborate prank, if they weren't sitting in this official-looking office in the Dewford Gym right now. Then, is she a gym trainer? Or maybe some kind of intern?

"Oh, well... He's free to believe whatever he wishes, but I assure you, my methods are tried and true! They might not be scientific, exactly, but they'll still get the jobe done, Miss..."

Mitsuru paused for a moment, before shuffling awkwardly in her seat.

"...Sorry, I, uh, didn't catch you name?"

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

Things were going well so far. Sure, Marianne seemed a little doubtful of her methods, but that was hardly unusual. This wasn't the first time she'd dealt with someone on the skeptical side, and it likely wouldn't be the last. All she needed to do was flip the right cards and say the right things, and everything would work out fine.

Of course, that was the hard part, wasn't it? As her fingers rested upon the top of the deck, Mitsuru took a deep breath. Then, in a single movement, she drew a card and placed it upon the table.

XII - THE HANGED MAN, REVERSED: A Malamar hangs off a T-shaped cross, a glimmering halo of indistinct energy encircling its head. Typically, the Malamar is supposed to be upside-down, but because the card is reversed, it appears rightside-up instead.

Okay. Okay! This? This was workable.

"Tell me, Miss Lovelace..." Lady Crane began, her voice softer and gentler than it had been the moment before. "How do you feel about your future? That is, the future you want for yourself. Do you feel as though you have to struggle every step of the way in pursuit of what you want? Or does it feel like the natural flow of your day-to-day life is bringing you closer to what you desire?"

---

Marianne Lovelace

Fortunately, the damage wasn't too bad. Being packed into a snowball meant that the rock's edges were covered, so it didn't draw any blood. It'd leave an ugly bruise, sure, but nothing serious. That did not make Mitsuru feel any better, though.

"I'm fine, I'm fine...!" She lied to Eko Darling, pulling herself up to her feet. "Don't worry about me, I'm alright."

Some start to the Year of the Dragon this was. "New year, new me" was starting to feel a lot more like "same crap, different day". Ugh... Well, at least it couldn't get any worse...

Oh heck, TRUBBY!

"Um, you wouldn't have happened to have seen a Trubbish around here, would you?"


"Trub ~ ♫"

Yep. He's still Trubbish.

---

TL;DR - Mitsuru talks to Eko while I try to ignore the fact that this is the worst post of all time.
_Km0Y3tJ (Bottom, Middle, Top, Decoration)
Prompt fulfilled: Reference the year of the dragon.
OPEN TO INTERACTION.

"Trubby? Where are you, Trubby? Trubby? Where'd you go, Trubby?"

Where oh where had her Trubbish gone? Despite all of her frantic searching and desperate yelling, Mitsuru couldn't find neither garbage-bag-hide nor trash-gunk-head of her beloved Pokemon. She couldn't even smell him, no matter how hard she sniffed! But, he couldn't have gone far, could he? No, even if he ran as fast as he could, his little legs weren't long enough to carry him very far. He had to be around here somewhere! She just had to keep looking...

"Trubby, where are--" She called out again, only to be interrupted by a clump of snow hitting her right in the face. Apparently, some jokesters had seen fit to start a snowball fight, which she normally wouldn't have a problem with, except for the fact that the snowball that hit her also had a rock packed into it. "--ACK!"

Needless to say, OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW.


"Trub Trub, Trub Trub Trub ~ ♫"

Meanwhile, Trubby was busying himself with building his Snowboy. Or, well, a Snowtrub. It was hard to tell what gender it was, but it was definitely a Trubbish of some kind. It seemed to be going well for him, though, so that was nice!

---

TL;DR - Mitsuru looks for Trubby and eats a rock-snowball to the face. Trubby has fun building himself a snowboy.
8H1bT_s6 (TOP ALREADY BUILT)
Prompt fulfilled: "Play" in the snow.
OPEN TO INTERACTION.

Mitsuru Kagami

League | Civilian | Expert in “Mysticism”

To say that things haven’t been going well for Mitsuru is something of an understatement.

Born in Johto and raised in the temples and shrines of Ecruteak City, her upbringing was anything but standard. From the moment she was old enough to walk and talk, she was groomed to become a priestess. Her earliest memories were of hearing the tale of Ho-oh, the legendary bird meant to bring eternal happiness. Her youth was spent learning intricate rituals, dances, and prayers, to the point where they became second nature to her. For a time, all that she knew of the world was the life of a miko.

And yet, here she is now, in Hoenn, running a dubious business peddling “the occult”, and struggling to even make rent. How did she even get here? It seemed like she had her entire life laid out for her, so how did it all go so wrong?

…Well, she knows why, but… She, um, doesn’t really want to talk about it…

---

Mitsuru Kagami is an abstract take on a scientist character, one specialised in the fields of mysticism, occultism, religion and mythology. She’s also constantly finding herself in what can best be described as Situations™. If you’re looking for information about “the supernatural”, or just looking to get up to some silliness, then Mitsuru is the character for you.

Supernatural Services
Purifications, invocations, evocations, consecrations, divinations, and more. If there’s anything “magical” that needs doing, then Lady Crane’s Mystic Services can almost certainly do it. Will it be authentic? Maybe! Are her methods effective? Sometimes! But as long as the customer is happy with the results, then Mitsuru is content to smile, nod, and sweep her feelings under the rug.

Religion and Mythology, Birds and Dragons
Mitsuru is intimately familiar with the many, many legends of the many, many legendary Pokemon. Having been trained since birth in the worship of these venerated figures, she’s well aware of the rich lore that surrounds them. Even after leaving the life of a miko behind, she still makes sure to keep up-to-date with all the discoveries and developments around them. If one is looking for information about the stories and tales of history and beyond, then Mitsuru is the woman to talk to.

Debt, Loans, and General Financial Difficulty
How much does it cost to move from Johto to Hoenn? How much does it cost to buy and maintain a collection of artisanal kimonos? How much does it cost to rent prime real estate in Slateport? How much does all of that cost combined? The short answer to that question is “a lot more than Mitsuru has”. Needless to say, her finances aren’t exactly in the best of places, and between juggling part-time jobs and fending off (suspiciously Rocketesque) debt collectors, things are fairly rough. But hey, all she needs is a few more months for business to start picking up, and she’ll definitely be able to pay it off eventually! Definitely… Probably… She hopes…

Situations™
Mitsuru will find her way into literally any situation you want as long as you can convince me it would be funny.

Relationships

TBA.

It was important to take breaks.

That was why Mitsuru had chosen today, of all days, to get out of the city and go on a walk. It was an opportunity to get out of the city, to explore the countryside, to enjoy the fresh air as she walked along the grassy paths. She had been more than a little skeptical about the idea at first, but more and more, she was beginning to come around on it. After all, it was healthy, it was relaxing, and it widened her horizons just a tiny bit more than they had been before! Even now, with every step, she could feel her stress and her worries beginning to melt away...

But she wasn't the only one prowling these streets. No, there was another, a Pokemon who had only one thing in mind, and it wasn't to relax. No, this Cyclizar had a NEED FOR SPEED, and it wasn't going to let something as trivial as a pedestrian get in the way of that.

"CycliZARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"EEP!"

CRASH!

The resulting impact sent both Mitsuru and Cyclizar tumbling across the ground, sliding across the dirt for a good few meters before they eventually skidded to a halt. For a moment, she simply laid there, staring up at the sky as the bicycle beast lay in a heap on top of her. Then, the shock and confusion wore off, and the pain set in. And then? The screaming started.

Needless to say, this really was a Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

---

mhPSP4mU