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Lutgarde has not expected that there'd actually be another pokémon involved with the sword - and probably also with the shield? But this question would have to be solved during another trip. The pokémon has a regal bearing, or maybe it's more knightly ... as it accepts the sword and transforms yet another time, this time shining in all its full glory.

"They are rather beautiful," Lutgarde comments, before also bowing slightly to it. "It's an honour to fight along your side, Knight," they add, and chuckle slightly - it feels a bit odd, given that they do know someone whose first name is Knight. At Josh's question, they ponder for a moment, before grinning, "I'd call shotgun for that one, if you don't mind?" Sylv also approaches the hero without hesitation, cooing in greeting as Lutgarde recalls Oreo again. Zacian regards the much smaller creature, but there's not much time for chatter - after all, there's a whole army to fight off!

"Alright ..." Lutgarde needs a moment to get seated in a stable position. The energy radiating from this pokémon feels enormously powerful - and even as their opponents are dynamaxed, all but colossi, they have the feeling that this sword could take them. "Ready to go!"

And how they go, indeed. The air has been almost still before, but is now cutting the air - or maybe they are cutting the air as the Zacian leaps forward with a ferocious, fierce battle cry. One would think that a large dog with an even larger sword in its mouth would move a bit awkward, but it's fast, cutting through its enemies with apparent ease.

Josh Devlin
50pts, 1 curio

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The news of Kyle's death- disappearance is ... devastating, to say the least. Even if Lutgarde hasn't spent much time with him overall, it's hard not to say that he left an impression - and a hole on the region as whole. Is he truly dead?

They try to shake off those thoughts, focusing on the possibility. A hope. "Hey there! I'm Lutgarde, and this here is Sylv." They point at the black-red dyed Sylveon, as ever attached to their wrist by one of his ribbons. They smile, but it's tense. "Got any idea where we might start the search?"

Mimi Hirose

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The initial mission of freeing the Silicobra from the Flygon's grasp is successful, but a new problem is quickly presented and solved - a harsh collision with the ground prevented by a Wrap. Sylph nods at the Silicobra, almost unnoticeable in the sandstorm - despite her often distant behaviour, she does care deeply about others.

For now, the best she can do is, however, focusing on the Flygon with her eyes narrowed. Once more, she roars, with the sound being swallowed by the wind, and charges forward, finishing the Flygon with one more Dragon Hammer.

Lutgarde in the meanwhile does their best to hurry over to the other trainer, but doesn't shout until the sandstorm subsided - hopefully now? They aren't sure if the Silicobra or the Flygon is the cause for it.

haoyu tso

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Despite shouting as loud as they can (which is fairly loud), the sandstorm is much louder. However, they manage to figure out what the other tries to convey to them, even if they have to blink quite a lot of times to prevent their eyes from getting too much sand in them.

They nod, twin tails bobbing up and down, and also give a thumbs-up. They don't dare opening their mouth again, and simply wave to someone behind them - and quickly, Sylph, their Togekiss, charges forward, just as the Flygon is pulling out the Silicobra by the tail. She narrows her eyes, summoning the spirit of dragons before ramming the Flygon full force with a Dragon Hammer, hoping to force it to release the Silicobra.

haoyu tso

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Lutgarde tilts their head slightly, frowning a bit, at the odd undertone in Ever's voice. However, they aren't really sure what it might mean, so return to a smile again and nod, "Yeah! A bit of exercise before bed can help tire the mind out a bit, too," they reply, "Which is also kind of funny, since I also exercise in the morning to get awake, too." After growing up at a farm, the idea of a start into the day without moving at all just seemed incredibly strange.

(But also, they definitely are an exception with how much they like physical exercise.)

Now, their pokémon would rather get the exercise however, as it comes to removing the blockage. They make another mental note (one they tend to keep forgetting) of looking into poison-type attacks for their pokémon, but it's just. Really unlikely there's actually anything, but maybe ... "Bug Buzz could definitely be helpful! I think we'll have to rely on the help of the pokémon here for the most part though, agree." It's a feat, encouraging the pokémon to take some distant shots - Sludge Bombs, Toxin and other such attacks eventually, hesitantly, start emerging from the crowd. Sylv also has managed to communicate and find some to use Clear Smog for anything that might emerge in gaseous form, keeping the air still stinky, but at least not poisonous.

"I think we can buzz in now," they ponder, "And Sylph can Air Slash it, too, to loosen it up more, break it up in chunks."

They believe to also see some round blobs that look kind of soft - purple, and so, so familiar with everything going on. "Mochi...?" they murmur.

ever blackwell

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Lutgarde has mounted Oreo for the current trip, seeing as Shalin chose to saddle one of her own many quadrupedals. Sylv is also loafing comfortably in front of the saddle, but his comfortable stance is a lie to the attentive eyes - he knows of the dangers of the region, even if they're, today, not on duty for that.

"Hmm, a favourite?" they echo, wondering. Legendaries have never been of much consideration for them - they all seemed to distant to their day-to-day that they probably don't even know that many, unless some urban myth is tied to them. (They really loved urban mythologies, the whisper of the streets.) "I think I've always thought of ... Xerneas? as quite neat," they eventually say. "What about you?"

In Hoenn, too, it seems like legends are way, way more real than they used to be in Kalos, at least for them. It seems impossible here not to get mixed up somehow in whatever shakes the region at the moment.

Shalin Nariya

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Lutgarde's general demeanour isn't quite one you would expect from such a mysterious event - but at least, the curiosity might come in quite handy later still. They smile openly under their black mask that only covers the upper half of their face, leaving the rest unobscured, but even through the satin blackness, their eyes shimmer with a friendly attitude and no ill intent whatsoever. They dress in a more formal, gothic lolita dress with a pants suit instead of their usual poofy dresses, giving them an elegant air if they would be able to maintain it (they aren't).

"Thank you very much for the invitation!" they talk to their hosts, MAKI YUKIMURA and Seiichi Yukimura, "I'm looking forward to it!" They also greet the other guests friendly, wondering if there might be any familiar faces lingering beneath the masks, any voices they might recognise. Upon realising Elise Calcifet and Josh Devlin as ranger colleagues, they give these two another happy greeting, excited to also brave this evening with friends.

They do not know Marya Kareva , Elaine Highland or howard slayte , but they'd greet them similiarly kindly as they eventually take their seat - Lutgarde would be content to sit at whatever seat that would be empty still. The soup's served - or would be, if the maid hadn't spilled it. Lutgarde's half-way up to help them, before everything's already been handled and they sit back down. "It's alright, a bit more appetite will make the food even more delicious," they try to lighten the mood, continuing to chatter until the soup would be served proper.

Given their lack of culinary expertise, they do not notice anything at fault with the soup, and finish it up with the speed of someone who had quite a lot of siblings growing up - while never hungry, there's a certain hurry that just starts to become part of your soul. "What have you gotten?" they ask as the main course is served, curious to actually see different dishes on every plate. For them, they simply asked for meat and something filling, eventually ending up with a really high-grade Tonkatsu combination with some additional meat slices in sauce as well, and some vegetables. It's really strange how oddly refined it feels right now.

It's all- huh. In the dark, Lutgarde's standing up (again), though they once more remain unmoving, uncertain in which direction their host, slipping and falling perhaps because of the soup, has moved to. "Glad to see nothing happened to you, Mr Yukimura!" they say with relief, and sit back down again, before glancing at the floor where Seiichi has just laid. Has it been the soup?

tl;dr
- left image but in black-red + relatively normal black pants (but a bit frilly), black, gentleman-style leather shoes with bows on them & a upper half mask not fashioned after anything, black with lace
- greets everyone, thanks maki & seiichiro for the invitation
- takes whatever seat's empty still
- halfway stands up to help as the soup's spilled; sits back down, tries to make light chatter while waiting
- inhales soup, then the tonkatsu plus extra meat + veggies combo that's tailored for them
- asks the others what they've gotten for food
- stands up during the outage but doesn't move, relieved to see seiichiro is alright
- looks at the floor, trying to figure out if seichiiro slipped on soup from before?

NOTES

Lutgarde regards the notebook with a pensive look, before opening it up and starting to fill it. There's been quite a lot of information to keep track of, something that they always tend to struggle with if it isn't movement that they could remember physically - so, the easy solution seemed to be, get a notebook and start taking notes this way. However, by the time they have decided to do that, it's already been a bit (three months and more) since they've gotten to Hoenn, so ... they'd have to try and recall the information they've gathered over time to the best of their ability.

Well, better get started now than never.

SPOILER: Click to show

They put their fountain pen down (also something to consider ... Hoenn's humid climate makes it take a really long time for the ink to dry) down after the first stream of consciousness, wondering if they got everything ... probably not, but in the future, they hope to write down the most important data (and some not so important ones) more timely.

Oh, they should maybe underline the especially important information, maybe even in a different ink colour ...

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"Oh, so Suicune runs hot? Fits its tropical look," Lutgarde laughs - hoping Josh hasn't actually burned himself badly. Their bareback situation is objectively more comfortable, even if the amount of dress might be a bit of a hindrance. But at least, they favour dresses that would technically allow them to ride normally, since they're essentially glorified circles, if you think about the sewing pattern of it all. They take a moment to balance themself properly on Oreo, before giving Josh a thumbs-up.

"Let's go for it!" they grin, challengingly. "Oreo, Fairy Wind!" It seems like it'd be wind against wind - with no doubt, at the moment, in Lutgarde's mind that of course, Hoennian Suicune should be able to use a move that they've only ever seen with Flying types. Their own steed doesn't concern itself with this, either, as a mythical, glittering wind kicks up around their quickening hooves, and Lutgarde holding both themself as well as the shield attached to their arm steady.

However, as they clash, Lutgarde is thrown in for a loop. The shield comes dangerously close to breaking, and the impact of the sword on it jerks their arm away, exposing their upper body in theory for any follow-up attack.

They barely manage to stay saddled, probably also thanks to the aid of Oreo who notices that something is amiss. The Galarian Rapidash neighs, before pacing down, now using the Fairy Wind in reverse - coming to a slow before crashing into the nearby woods at high speed, buffering them. "Seems like offense is the better defense here," they shout over the distance and distant battle cries, reminding them again of the current scenario. "Let's see what the sword has in store for us."

4NQRToFk
Josh Devlin
choice sword, 1 curio
50pts, 1 curio

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Lutgarde frowns slightly as the boat comes closer, bringing them to their current residence - Lilycove City. A sandstorm is rather ... odd. "Thanks, but we'll hop off for now!" they tell the Captain with a grin and a wave, before calling out their Primarina Noh, who'd be a tad bit faster in getting them to shore.

They shield their eyes and face with their arms, approaching what they believe to be the source. "Hey, everything alright?" they shout, trying to be heard over the harsh winds. "Need help?" They wave at the person, who seems to battle a Flygon with his Silicobra - and an explanation for the situation starts to form in their mind.

haoyu tso

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Even with their combined efforts, it doesn't seem like it does all that much, and Shalin's words only hammer the reality in more. At this point, the Hydreigon would run them into the ground before they could progress further - and they wonder, for a brief moment, what would happen then.

And they really, really would rather not find out if they could help it in any way.

"Light Screen!" Lutgarde yells out, but even with the half damage from the protection, it still is freezing here. Sylv barely manages to use a Quick Attack to get away from the brunt, while Sylph does the same with Extreme Speed, keeping herself and Lutgarde as her rider safe. Noh, however, isn't quite as lucky, and loses consciousness. The ranger quickly recalls him, "Thanks," before focusing on the situation at hand.

How to defeat something that doesn't have a weakness? It does seem to be significantly weakened now, with the Hyper Voice also, so maybe ... they'd have to keep at it, persevere against all odds. At least, there's no real other idea in Lutgarde's mind as they hop off Sylph, running over to Shalin. "Sylph, Extreme Speed to get close, and then Dragon Hammer!" they shout, before kneeling down next to Shalin, trying to get them both to a slightly safer spot - hoping that the pokémon attacking would be enough to distract it. "Oreo! Use Confusion!" they also call, hoping maybe - maybe itself would be the key to its own destruction ...

The Galarian Rapidash neighs, charging in shortly after the Togekiss. Sylph speeds up to attack as suggested, and the Fairy type, almost unreal-ly so, seems to appear surrounded by the roar of dragons as she slams her entire body against the Hydreigon with incredible force, quickly followed by Oreo attracting the heads' attention with a neigh, before directing their eyes to the shimmering horn on their head. The glittering lights try to confuse the heads, leading to them attacking each other - hopefully.

Shalin Nariya
choice confront a hallucination made real, 50pts
150pts