Ah, so this is what the one percent did in their spare time. This hoity-toity establishment was the definition of high class! Several of the atelier's patrons were flaunting their riches by wearing fancy tuxedos or evening gowns tailored by the most renowned designers in Kalos, often complemented with expensive jewelry and accessories.

Then there was Andrea, who had shown up to the lavish venue wearing her dragon pajamas. Now THAT was truly fancy! Blissfully unaware of the many funny looks she was getting for her unorthodox choice of attire, the young PokéManiac waltzed up to the center of the room, where a butler and his Mr. Mime soon greeted her and the other trainers.

The woman with pinkish blonde hair spoke first, introducing herself as Elinor and accepting a red balloon from the clown-like Pokémon (surely this is a reference to something). The dragon-costumed girl followed suit. "Nice to meet you, Elinor. I'm Andrea Vaneau. I know my masterful disguise makes me look like a Pokémon, but I'm actually a human... for now. Thanks, by the way, but I'm not hungry." She grabbed the Rawst Berry, mistaking it for food. "Maybe Chomper or Meatloaf would like to eat it."

Now came the most important question of all, namely what to name their team! Andrea wasn't quite sure. She didn't know any of these people or what their preferences were. After some deliberation, she came up with an idea that sounded cool in her head. "How about... Team Awesome!" She yelled out loud.

//taking the rawst berry

☉

nagi had been listening to his teammates' introductions. sort of. he had also been chewing. taking meticulous nibbles out of a petit four while thinking alright, those people who spend 10 dollars on a single éclair are maybe onto something.

he has about half a mont blanc fit into his mouth when the clockwise-round-the-table of introductions reaches him after andrea.

"nagi," he says, stumbling into his one-word introduction after a bout of hurried chewing and swallowing. he rubs the pastry crumbs off his chin with the sleeve of his hoodie, as surreptitiously as he can manage.

he shrugs, one-shouldered, to elinor's suggestions on the item distribution. reaching out, he gingerly lifts the mental herb out of the tray. "that sounds... sound. i don't really battle much. ...or at all," he says, with a measure of chagrin — if he were being completely honest, he'd admit that he'd signed up primarily because oh, neat. free lunch.

he shrugs again, leaning a little bit away from andrea as she yells. "it's either that or —" he glances at andrea's dragon pajamas, and pans his gaze over to his own hoodie and slacks "— team wardrobe malfunction."

taking the mental herb

☉

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Yes, Violet knew that this guy was referring to the oddly dressed girl. But that kind of term had other meanings. Ones that certainly would make the singular guy in a group of four girls look somewhat odd, to say the least. It was difficult to not make that kind of brief joke. Especially given that he, like the other, had picked without first talking it over. But then again, even if they had, she’d not really cared too much. This contest was just for fun for her. Choosing a held item probably meant nothing in that regard, so she simply pocketed the last item without too much thought.
[break][break]
However, the young woman in the white, frilly shirt over a black skirt did give some thought about the team name. Team Awesome sounded somewhat juvenile, probably befitting a girl that was seemingly naïve, like the one who’d suggested it. But she actually didn’t mind it over a name that sounded like a snide comment. Yeah, she had made one, but bullying him was perfectly okay since he dished stuff out. Dragon girl seemed like the optimistic and up-beat kind. The kind she would secretly hate, but not openly antagonize.
“Either way, I am Violet Fairbanks and it is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances. I do not have a suggestion of my own for a team name, but of those offered, I think I would go with Andrea’s. It certainly has an air of self-confidence and high aspirations about it. And it is refreshingly straight-forward, if you ask me.”
[break][break]

+ heavy duty boots claimed

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

'Wardrobe malfunction'? That was very unlikely to happen with Andrea's current getup. Such an embarrassing (yet funny) incident was better reserved for a future beach thread where all the female cast would be in bikinis (wink).

Elinor and the grumpy lady called Violet were both in favor of the name 'Team Awesome', however juvenile it sounded. The young PokéManiac beamed with joy. "Yay! Team Awesome it is! Let's, uuuh... get on like a house on fire as Mr. Tuxedo Man said!" She yelled excitedly, ready for a challenge that would live up to their team's name.

//voting for Team Awesome as the name

☉

at violet's rejoinder, nagi's nose wrinkles as if he'd eaten something sour. his brain certainly hadn't arrived on those implications, only thinking of andrea's and his outfit combination of strangely-dressed and underdressed when he opened his dumb, gaping mouth. he's not a lech. euck. yuck. nope.

"wouldn't plan on looking, if it happened," he answers contritely, with the consummate sincerity of someone who always skips the filler beach episode. being the sole guy in a team of women is, perhaps, a gift lost on him. "team awesome's fine."

throwing hat in for team awesome

☉

Oh, they were making a fire now? That was definitely hazardous to say the least. But she figured since it was part of the show, they had prepared for this. Probably meant they were used to do something with fire, too. Or maybe she just wanted to think that since it offered an opportunity to show off her fiery little friend.
[break][break]
Wasting no time and before the attacks even went out since that seemed to be the flow of events, she sent out her shiny Litwick this time. Only for that to be hit by a Will-o-Wisp, the most ghostly of fire attacks. Which was fitting for the occasion probably, but it also meant that the whole burning part did not exactly work. “Well, that just adds to the Litwicks little light.” She then turned her head towards her partners. “Feel free to pick up Litwick and have it absorb the Will-o-Wisps coming at you, if you can do such a thing and it does work. I don’t really know.”
[break][break]

+ Sending out the fire type Litwick to not get burned since already lit

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

So, it seemed their first challenge was to avoid being burned by Magby's AoE attack. As a certain quiz-loving Gym leader from a different timeline would have said, 'You'd better have Burn Heal.'

Violet and Elinor had a slightly different idea, namely sending out FIRE types that were immune to being burned in the first place. "Ooooh, good thinking! Go, Pepper!" Andrea followed suit, sending out a happy little Charmander that casually walked through the Will-o-Wisp without being fazed by the sinister flames in the slightest. Once it had reached the other side, the fiery lizard patted the Magby's broccoli-shaped head, as if to tell her fellow Fire type that they were doing a good job.

Meanwhile, Andrea ducked on all fours in order to read out loud the inscription that was written on the floor, her costume's fake tail sticking out of her rear. "'Once there were four'... What a coincidence, there's four of us too! What do you think this means?" She asked her teammates for input.

//Charmander cannot be burned due to Fire typing

☉

nagi nods in assent, and follows violet's lead, summoning his own litwick alongside hers.

"sherlock."

his litwick hums in response. the fire emitted from the magby twirl around them, a whirl of wisp-light - and with a spark of litwick's candle flame, dissipate.

task finished, sherlock raises their small hands up towards nagi, who reaches down obligingly to deposit sherlock back on their customary spot on his head. litwick hat secure, nagi peers at the inscription, careful not to tread on andrea's tail as he strides around the poem's periphery.

"... the world's far end would they greet," he reads quietly. ominous. "which one of us is which, then? i call dibs on the one which looked through its pane," he adds, in a wry murmur.

what a strange verse. compelling, though. with a quick glance around at the rest of his team, nagi slips a pen out of his pocket, and scrawls the poem across the inside of his left forearm in a messy shorthand.

litwick's fire typing makes it immune to burn
tag urself pokemon creation myth version

☉