On the way back from the Draconid shrine at Meteor Falls, Blinky the Jolteon took an uncommanded turn toward a narrow mountain river. On the other side of the river was a secluded cave that the electric-type saw but Josh didn't. "Wait, was that there before?" he asked, taking his right hand off the reins just long enough to briefly rest it under his helmet. "If you wanna take a look at it, I'm down!" With a nod, the Pokémon got a running start and leaped across the waterway, onto a steep trail that tested the rider's stamina.

The small cave they discovered was filled with enormous Pokémon plushies, some of which appeared to be Ride-On ones! "And I thought I was extravagant for having just a Raikou one!" In particular, a Tyrantrum one got Josh's attention. It looked just as vicious as the real thing, yet adorable at the same time!

The Leader hopped off his Jolteon to take a closer look at the sturdy yet soft Tyrantrum, finding the base's flag hidden behind it. when the guardian Rhyperior caught sight of Josh climbing a stepstool to get on the Tyrantrum facsimile, the only warning of the rock-type's presence he got was the whirring of its spinning drill. He reached for the flag, hopped back on his Jolteon, and booked it, though it was too late. Five ROCK BLAST explosions rocked both mount and rider, Blinky making a WISH for her trainer's safety as she fled as fast as her weakened legs could carry her.

Who knew Kommo-o could be such amazing climbers, even able to carry a small person on their backs while doing so? The scaled fighting-type crawled above the surface of a river winding around Meteor Falls, stumbling upon a small cave filled to the brim with expensive-looking Pokémon plush, some of which were ride-on dragons! A ride-on Dragonite caught her attention almost immediately, the girl wanting to slide down from her mount to cuddle it from the front, then hop on it and imagine herself Extreme Speeding across the sky. She could ask Josh Devlin for a flight on Tiamat, but the moody dragon didn't seem to like her too much.

The sound of a whirring drill broke the ambiance of distant moving water, Shalin letting out a loud eek as she reached to grab the base's flag. The real Rhyperior among the plushies was not having it, launching a barrage of ROCK BLAST at her far faster than Treble could run, just as she reached the start of the exit tunnel. There was nowhere to dodge. Treble had one way to keep Shalin safe from the rock-type attack, but it would certainly be the lesser of two pains.

This was gonna hurt.

Treble briefly rattled the scales beneath his saddle, a sign for Shalin to cover her ears in preparation for one of the Big Ones. She quickly put her earplugs in, then grabbed onto the Kommo-o with everything she had. The dragon's tail, then every scale on his body, began shuddering in a cacophonous discharge of CLANGING SCALES, each shaking just as fast as an insect's wing. The attack shattered every boulder and piece of shrapnel before it could hit Shalin, but she was delirious from madly Treble had shaken her up. Now swaying in her seat, the Kommo-o simply stood still and watched wild Pokémon go by at the cave's entrance, well outside the Rhyperior's territory.

Secret bases! Flags! Ettie didn't wholly understand it - but having people come visit her pack when they were set up at a den more often was pretty fun, all the same! And on the flipside, there was also the prospect of her going and visiting other peoples' dens!

It had been a bit tricky getting here, given the rough terrain - but if there was anyone who could handle it, it was Ettie and Anne. The lycanroc was more than happy to help Ettie scale any ridges that were too steep or tall fort he young wildchild - and in following the scents and trails left behind by prior visitors (including Andrea herself,) it didn't take long for the duo to find the cave.

Inside, they were startled by what they initially thought to have been a horde of pokemon - but when none of the supposed swarm moved a muscle, it quickly became obvious that they were just realistic plushies. Happily, Ettie couldn't help but snuggle up to one briefly - giggling to Anne. "Is-cute! Get, when make-den?" She suggested to the lycanroc. They had to travel relatively light with the pack's nomadic nature - but maybe if they ever found a place that they were happy to settle down in, she could fill it up with plushies like this!

Anne, in response, would make an amused but endeared chuff - nuzzling Ettie to nudge her onwards. With how cozy these plushies seemed, she was sure it'd be a hit with the pups, too. But, they were here to get a flag - not get distracted by cute human-objects. As Ettie giggled and ran on ahead to retrieve the flag, though, Anne realized something. Namely, that there was the scent of a pokemon in the air. A particularly fresh scent, at that - which meant that someone had been through here quite recently...

... Or was still here. As Ettie plucked the flag for herself, the rhyperior Donna stood - raising the arm-cannon in preparation to fire. Anne snarled in alarm - whipping around to face the massive beast, and jumping to the side just in time to avoid of one of its Rock Blasts!

It seemed that it was time to leave. Using her own body as a shield, Anne picked Ettie up and begin running for the exit - the young wildchild yelping as she was scooped up like a kitten. There was no point in staying and fighting, with the flag in hand - and so, the two left without any further fuss.

Apparently, people were making these so-called 'secret bases'. In fact, he stumbled upon one at route 114, which was fairly close by to where he lived, so it was a nice start. When he entered the secret base, had immediately noted that there weren't any traps, just filled with life-sized pokemon plushies. He even spotted the flag that he came for, sitting near a Rhyperior plushie. "Well, that was easy," he said picking it up.

However, just as he turned his back, the supposed Rhyperior plushie turned out to not be a plushie at all. The gaurdian of the base glared at Alec, while he looked at, blinking. "hehehe ... Thanks for the flag?" Alec gulped nervously. Then that was when the Rhyperior started to attack, flinging a barrage of rocks at him as he made a bee-line for the exit while shouting "I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!" while also somehow managing the dodge the rocks that were sent hurdling at him. Just as Alec had almost reached the exit, the Rhyperior, flung another set of rocks at him, but his shiny charizard, Inferno materialized out of its pokeball on its own; casting Protect, preventing the rocks from hurting Alec or itself, allowing them to escape unscathed.

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Notes:
- Flag Captured!
- Prompt Completed: Enter a secret base owned by a League member.
Andrea Vaneau