[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]well this is definitely the... oddest place she's ever been.

she can't decide what to look at: the water, the weird floating stones, the glowing algae. all of it is pretty in a creepy, probably going to kill you sort of way.

isn't that the best?

she's the last in the group to "swim" forward, shorter legs kicking a little awkwardly. is she supposed to just sort of float along or swim? this is weird.

"hey boys!"

she grins. somehow, the skin of her arms and cheeks feel off. itchy and irritated, almost, despite the water around them.

"which way are we going first?"

she trusts their collective sense of direction more than her own. the right idea, really.

and when she gets close enough, she leans toward ollie and raises a finger toward his shoulder as if to poke it.

"looks like ya got a lil something..."

mint frost thomas nightingale ollie morales

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]she blinks as ollie morales writes off his weird little saplings, shuffling along to introduce himself instead.

and after a moment, she mirrors easygoing atmosphere of her team with a grin.

"sounds good to me!"

maybe it holds some treasure... she's in the market for new pearls, anyway.

she's the last to follow the group, swimming along behind them as they approach the looming shadow. as they get closer, the ship begins to take shape. it's ominous, as if it's moving yet not. creepy.

and halfway through, the burning in her arms grows. with each kick of her feet to swim forward, it's almost like the sensation is getting... worse? at one point, she even has to stop because she swears she's started seeing stars. or, wait... are they staryu?

the group doesn't wait, however, and she's lingering too far behind.

all the way in the back, it's easy to feel fear creep in. it's subtle at first. and yet, when she rejoins the group, the fear stays. it lingers, persistent.

"can we kick it in? or, uhh, is there a hole somewhere to sneak in through?"

as she talks, she waves an arm around to gesture toward the hull of the ship. her eyes don't catch sight of the state of her arm but her group can see pieces of seashells sticking out of her arm as if growing out from the bone within. and when her face turns toward the ship to inspect it for a moment before turning back to the group, it's clear that the seashells are also beginning to come out from the skin of her cheeks as well.

mint frost thomas nightingale ollie morales

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]thomas nightingale begins to talk to her and for a moment, she stills to listen.

he doesn't get to say whatever he intended to. it's cut short and she doesn't have a chance to ask what he had meant to say. instead, there's a quickness to the way events happen. from ollie morales's pokemon's electro ball blowing a hole through the side of the ship to thomas nightingale protecting their group with his own pokemon as a group of huntail and gorebyss begin to swarm.

she treads water, watching as the threats are quite literally swallowed up. their blood still lingers a little in the water...

and as mint frost leads them into the hole ollie had opened, she feels a stronger burning sensation on her body than before. she raises a hand to scratch at her face. and where soft skin should be, she meets... shell?

"oh!"

when did that get there? she plucks at it, irritated by the protrusion of it coming out of her skin. she hadn't felt it embed itself and the longer she tugs at it, the more it clings to her nerve endings. she yelps and leaves it alone. it's not the worst thing in the world to have seashells sticking out of your body, she supposes.

in the process of trying to remove the odd mutation, her group has already pushed on ahead.

and there, in the darkness of this water, she feels fear creep back in. it poisons the mind. she looks left then right. no sign of life. even the aggressive pokemon have seemingly vanished.

"hello?"

her voice sounds small, afraid.

she can't shake the thoughts as they come, either. did they leave her here? did they escape to fend for themselves? is she going to be stuck here all alone? will she die here?

a whimper escapes and she begins to panic in the ship's opening. by herself, she doesn't stand a chance. she... she doesn't even remember what pokemon she's brought with her! does she have her whip? was that left behind too?

she tries rushing forward, tries blindly finding the group again. it does little to quell the panic, the fear, the tears swept away by the dark sea.

and the longer she searches, the longer she tries to avoid abandonment by her little group... the more lost she becomes. she ends up in another part of the hollow ship, among treasure troves and shiny objects that she can't even begin to look at because how is she going to get out of here and how could this happen to her again and again?

mint frost thomas nightingale ollie morales

09 the longer you stay, the more likely you will receive a temporary and horrific mutation (e.g. a barnacle growing on the skin, a patch of shell, etc.) that disappears upon your return to hoenn.

🗺️ GIADA MORGAN's bitterness about being abandoned by SÉNON GAME in Rocket, or general fears over abandonment, must be recalled or affecting in this thread.