[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]here, she comes face to face with what angelo vestri had described: a sea of mist and floating islands.

it's pretty, she deems, as her head tilts up to the sky.

wisps pass them by, high up in the clouds. she wonders, briefly, if they're souls of people or pokemon she used to know. is her long gone furret here somewhere? or her departed golett?

a name beckons her attention in these confines of mist. it starts as a faint whisper, calling out her name from somewhere beyond. she doesn't quite seem to notice yet.

"ready?"

her head turns to regard the group, eyes slightly strained as more mist rolls in.

Yui Fujin Silph emerson whitlock
Niola bint Ahsan LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","icon"]

It’s much too late, but Emerson continues to wonder just what it is he’s doing here.[break][break]

Why is it that he’d thought at the time that fishing firsthand information about these strange rifts for his podcast was smart? He didn’t do well in the general outdoors, let alone in groups. No, the smart thing to have done would have been to stay home and hack some random volunteer’s equipment, should he find some pathway to gaining that intel.[break][break]

But no, here he was with literally no one he knew, looking like a deerling in the headlights. Instead of snatching someone else’s account for the listening numbers and the subscriber increase, it had been his own bold idea to volunteer himself and then maybe…sneak into the system and bump himself to the top of the list. A qualified candidate? Yeah right.[break][break]

He was kicking last week Emerson.[break][break]

Keeping himself to the fringes of the group, his porygon-z floats alongside him, at the ready to use a SIGNAL BEAM to cut through the heavy, ominous blanket of fog. His phone camera open and ready to record anything strange that might occur. His mouth opens to make the offer of assistance, then closes. Fingers twist anxiously around the straps of his knapsack instead. Silent, save for a muted “Um,” that probably only gets swallowed up by the chatter of the others and in the dense mist.

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"we'll just have to deal with the mist."[break][break]

which isn't ideal but what other choice do they have? from reports he's read from other expedition teams, it seems there's little they can do. they will simply have to adapt.[break][break]

a towering venusaur lumbers ahead, signs of age showing in the way it moves.[break][break]

"let's stay close to venusaur. she can act as our anchor of sorts."[break][break]

the grass-type grumbles in response before extending VINES towards each and every one of the party member, looking to tether them to it.

[attr="class","bottom"]illeana reyes Yui Fujin Silph Niola bint Ahsan emerson whitlock[break]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]as Yui Fujin Silph drifts closer to her, she glances between their party members.

Niola bint Ahsan tries to scout ahead to little avail. the mist is too thick, even with yui's orbeetle prepped and ready to detect things ahead. and as LANCE VOLLANS's shiny venusaur -- a whole cutie, mind you -- looks to link them all together with vines, she turns her head to regard emerson whitlock at the outskirts.

"are you able to get a little closer?"

her eyes are patient, despite the ominous air around them.

"i don't want to lose any of you in the fog."

it's obvious, she supposes, with how uncharted this place is. she has yet to receive full reports or maps of the terrain. they are truly blind in here.

with the idea of closeness out of the way, she takes a few tentative steps forward. the mist ripples but otherwise holds strong.

"maybe we can find a cave or something to set up camp?"

behind illeana, her gengar peeks out from her shadow to steal a glance at their surroundings. it feels something akin to malevolence, but it can't discern where just yet. if it didn't know better, it'd almost think they were surrounded by evil entities...

Yui Fujin Silph emerson whitlock
Niola bint Ahsan LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","icon"]

He nearly jumps out of his skin when Illeana speaks directly to him– not because she sounds unkind, but because he had become lost in his own head. “Oh! Uh, right. Sorry, er..yeah.” With a careful nudge from his porygon-z, Emerson does in fact drift closer toward the venusaur that the group now orbits around as they descend further into the mist.[break][break]

A small, wobbly smile is offered to Niola. Rust-colored eyes snap up from his feet to meet hers, “Right, yeah. I’ll..do my best.”[break][break]

Initially, it was only a placating remark, but the longer they wander the mist, the more uncertain he grows. There’s nothing worth recording yet. So maybe this is a dud? “Are you sure it’s not…like…an optical illusion?” A warbling response to Niola’s claim they’re going in circles. But maybe they only think that they are? Maybe they’re just wandering further in, with the pretense of remaining relatively close to the rift entrance.[break][break]

Maybe that’s what this place wants them to think…[break][break]

He’s only working himself up further, so when Yui Fujin Silph’s warning cuts through the worry spiral, Em is nearly too late to react. “You try to lock on too!” he directs his porygon-z, whirling toward the back of their group. It tries to pinpoint the central force through the dense mist, firing back with a crackling ZAP CANNON[break][break]

Within seconds, his camera is out and recording as well, though for all he knows, these could be attacks for normal Pokémon and nothing outright…ominous.

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it does not take long until they are met with obstacles that hinder their progress. getting lost in the mist is bad enough without horrifying spirits coming to attack them. but this is exactly what he had hoped for.[break][break]

the adrenaline that rushes through him is exhilarating.[break][break]

"shit. everyone stay close together!"[break][break]

he pats twice on his venusaur, giving it an order. SLUDGE BOMB begins spewing out in blobs, landing in precise locations to coat the spirits. acid sizzles away, reducing them to gas.[break][break]

"there are more coming!"[break][break]

🗺️ LANCE VOLLANS's battle prowess &/or childhood upbringing in twinleaf must be touched upon in this thread.

[attr="class","bottom"]illeana reyes Yui Fujin Silph Niola bint Ahsan emerson whitlock[break]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]well fuck.

attacks begin to fly from all directions as they become further embedded in the mist. here, there is no way around it: they are lost sitting ducks.

tch.

a soft multicolored glow begins to radiate from her wrist. the mega stone embedded in her bracelet reacts to her gengar's presence in her shadow. and as the ghost type fully drags itself out from the safety of her shadow, it shifts into its mega evolved form.

"brace yourselves!"

her gengar fires off a quick volley of multiple shadow balls, each one aiming for the spirits concealed within the mist's confines.

and for good measure (or overkill), she releases another pokemon.

her sableye joins the group quickly, already beginning to shift toward its own mega evolution as well. two mega stones on the same bracelet work wonders, perhaps. by the time more attacks come their way, her mega sableye shifts into a defensive position. the mega sableye drags its giant gem into a makeshift shield, bracing against the aggressive attacks as illeana pulls the vines connecting the group down with a sudden force. Yui Fujin Silph, emerson whitlock, Niola bint Ahsan, and LANCE VOLLANS... she needs them behind the shield now.

and once everyone is safely behind her sableye's giant gem, she gestures for the sableye to go on the offensive.

with a snicker, the mega sableye begins to use power gem to blind the advancing spirits. she hopes, in some shape or form, the bright distraction will be enough for them to all escape unscathed.

unfortunately, she does not seem to account for the familiar slippery nature of spirits and their knack for getting into places or people they shouldn't...

Yui Fujin Silph emerson whitlock
Niola bint Ahsan LANCE VOLLANS

🗺️ utilize mega evolution in an advantageous way.
06 engage in battle with a malevolent spirits.