After they complete the previous challenge, another dark room awaits them. With a frustrated sigh, Eva shuffles into the chamber. There’s no inscription, just another ominous voice in the dark that they can’t really pinpoint. The challenge is again complicated, but hopefully a little SHEER FORCE would go a long way!

A flash of light barely penetrates the dark as a Tauros takes the stage, “Get ‘em!” she commands with a pointed finger. The beast stomps its hoof, raking it across the ground before charging forward. A pink energy coats the bull before a psychic force moves past him, striking at the Golisopod with ZEN HEADBUTT.

---

MATIAS SILPH & Greyson Connors & boruta maher

only darkness awaits them. more and more. endless.[break][break]

the brief flash of light from their pokeballs help illuminate the space around them. ahead lies a golisopod, and it's there that matias points as well.[break][break]

"get 'em!"[break][break]

cranidos' SHEER FORCE shines through as its ANCIENT POWER lifts the golisopod, damaging and preventing its escape.

[attr="class","ooc"]Eva Morales Greyson Connors boruta maher[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cranidos"]

”y’know, you’d think they would’ve told us this was a haunted house...“

he squinted through the dark in the direction the voice vanished from. the glow from pokeballs illuminated it, but they were already gone, deeper into the dark. the hairs stood on the back of his neck as he glanced up briefly at the glowing stars on the high ceiling.

it reminded him of the soiree. it made his stomach turn.

he threw out another pokeball, following after eva and matias. ”EARTH POWER.”

nidoking’s SHEER FORCE hit it even heavier as rocks jutted up out of the floor underneath the golisopod.

Greyson Connors MATIAS SILPH Eva Morales

☉

of course it's an unown.[break][break]

channeling the same brain cell he shares with kyle lopez and Melody Miro, matias understands what needs to be done to complete this final challenge.[break][break]

"tch."[break][break]

his arcanine roars to life, taking up its position on the field before flames start to engulf its entire body. it radiates heat and light, a clear sign of it BURNING UP as it charges straight for the unown.[break][break]

once the attack is done, arcanine has now become TYPELESS.

[attr="class","ooc"]Eva Morales Greyson Connors boruta maher[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-arcanine"]

The final challenge? Wow, that was fast. Well, it wasn’t fast but looking back at it all now, it seemed rather quick. Perhaps she was just really into it.

Immediately, her eyes flash across the room in search of an inscription now that there was dim light. The disappoint doesn’t last long. The Doctor’s lips curl into a small smile at the sight of the Unwon A. Her practiced eyes don’t miss the way that it flickers between realities.

“Alright then, let’s finish this!” Eva releases an Oricorio in the Arcanine’s wake. The small bird coos happily, fluttering in place before settling into a dancer’s pose. The pokemon shakes its booty in a REVELATION DANCE at the Arcanine.

---

MATIAS SILPH & Greyson Connors & boruta maher

looking at the booty, arcanine falls for the REVELATION DANCE and ends up getting hurt for reasons beyond matias' understanding. whatever the case, he is quick to snap his fingers before tossing the FIGY BERRY over to the once-fire-type.[break][break]

"eat this."[break][break]

the berry works its magic and suddenly arcanine MIMICS the bird, turning instead to the unown to shake its booty for its own REVELATION DANCE.[break][break]

"that's this challenge done."

FIGY BERRY on ARCANINE to learn MIMIC

[attr="class","ooc"]Eva Morales Greyson Connors boruta maher[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-arcanine"]

greyson was uncomfortable contributing nothing. first it was the last floor, now this one... he suppressed the small sigh that threatens to escape, instead turning his lips into a smile.

not that anyone could see it, in this dark room. but, they would hear it, no doubt.

"good job everyone," the challenges were done...

...so why did he feel like they were just beginning?

@teatime

finally, they were granted some light. though it wasn’t much, they’d acclimated to the darkness after a couple of rounds. mere slivers did plenty in relief from nothing at all.

”...?” what was this lady even talking about?

dr. eva and matias had it covered—impressively so. bo decided to deploy a powerful companion anyways. kubfu sank into stance, but did nothing else. they waited.

unown were suspicious, and considering the themes they’d all just been led through, this was off. a very audacious, or oblivious move on behalf of the event’s coordinators—unless there was something else going on.

when things had quieted down, he called across the shadows, intent to find out.

”ma’am, with all due respect, this is weird. are you all just trying to mess with people?”

Greyson Connors MATIAS SILPH Eva Morales

☉

"i don't think you'll get an answer, boruta." he could be wrong, of course — he wanted to be. but counting on what he'd seen on the previous floors, he knew he likely wasn't.

greyson turns to the voices of his teammates in the dark. around his wrist, ellie the comfey, glows a dim pink, giving the group a small light.

"i don't have a good feeling about what comes next. not after those weird inscriptions. should we prepare ourselves...?"

@teatime

perhaps his teammates are overcautious and are worrying about nothing. the alternative, however, is that they're accurate with their worries and that there actually is something foul at play here.[break][break]

out of the two, which is more likely?[break][break]

the brilliant minds of a ranger captain, a gym leader, and a head professor. but nothing sways his opinion more than his own observations.[break][break]

"these are the same people who ran the cook-off. the same people who left us these devices."[break][break]

he fishes out the unown report — a relic by this point — and points it at the floating unown.[break][break]

"...the same people at mount chimney?"

[attr="class","ooc"]Eva Morales Greyson Connors boruta maher[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-arcanine"]

Huh, are these the same people that gave them the devices?

Eva pulls out her own Mysterious Device alongside Matias’. It beeps to life in the presence of an Unown. But the same people from Mt. Chimney?

Eva glances curiously over to Matias, “What makes you say that? Mt. Chimney?” was he referring to the Groudon fiasco? What about the Star Soiree? Because that would mean . . . No, just because they had an Unown didn’t mean they were assassins. Assassins after Avatars. She instinctively steps closer to Matias.

The Doctor peers through the dark, eyes narrowing on the figure of the woman who had yet to respond to Boruta’s inquiry. Eva returns her Oricorio and replaces it with Blade . . . Just in case.

---

MATIAS SILPH & Greyson Connors & boruta maher