Immediately, the group rushed to deal with the mess of lit fireworks before they could explode. Momo Sakai and her Pokemon were the quickest to spring into action, though perhaps not the most ethical. Hands are roughly slapped and anxiety is planted into hearts as the pyrotechnics hit the floor.

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki, meanwhile, takes a more all-encompassing approach, her Gengar swallowing one of the explosives whole. An odd solution, but surprisingly, it worked. A muffled BANG sounded out from the ghost’s stomach, and shortly thereafter, a cloud of embers and black smoke belched out from his mouth. The detonation had been nullified, but not without cost - After all, the valiant sacrifice had left Gengar with a nasty tummyache.

Still, that left plenty of fireworks laying on the ground, lit fuses getting shorter and shorter. Fortunately, Jack Napier was quick to handle the situation, sending forth his Gardevoir to quell the disaster. It teleported the explosives high up into the sky, allowing them to detonate at a safe distance, and painting the dark skies with an array of vibrant colours.

Meanwhile, John Sullivan took a more violent solution. Sending forth his Orbeetle, the bug used his Psychic power to gather the fireworks, before firing them towards the offending Iron Bundle. At first, the attack seemed most effective, hitting the mechanical bird with staggering accuracy. It managed to land all those big explosives right into the beak of the penguin! It was a perfect move. In a few seconds, they would all explode, and that robot would be reduced to scrap metal--

BOOM! Suddenly, all of those fireworks were launched forth, propelled by the power of a Beak Blast. There were no prizes for guessing who the target of this explosive payload was. Needless to say, BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!!

Fortunately, after that, the nonstop stream of fireworks would stop. The Iron Bundle reached deep into its sack, but could not find any more to offer. Was it… Was it running out of presents? An opportunity presented itself. This was the perfect time to attack!

Perhaps the Iron Bundle had sensed this, because it immediately turned tail and ran away, bumping into Elise Calcifet before scurrying into a narrow alley between two stalls. At the same time, the princess would feel her pockets get suspiciously lighter, and all it took was one glance at the bird’s flippers to solve the mystery: It had just swiped her wallet!

---

The next deadline for this thread is Sunday 27th November, 8PM GMT

John Sullivan, Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki, and Elise Calcifet have each missed one round of the event. If they miss another round, he will be kicked from the raid.

Momo Sakai Jack Napier John Sullivan Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki Elise Calcifet

Un-fashionably late

Death to the robot.

Time slowed down to a crawl for both Doug and his Orbeetle as the explosives came flying right back, their eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets.

"Oh my GOOO—!"

As a gazillion little explosions drowned out the chaotic mayhem of the mall, a pair of burnt out silhouettes flew through the air, ejected by the combined blasting power of a myriad of cheap fireworks and a beak blast.

The bodies arched through the air in a graceful, almost majestic line, coincidentally flying into a narrow alleyway between two close stalls and splatting on the floor directly in the run away robot penguin's path.

The mashed, burnt up corpses bodies twitched erratically, before beginning to glow pink.

eivzVckz

It all converges in the aleyway.

The Iron Bundle doesn't even make it halfway through the alleyway before Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki's Mega Gengar catches up to it, ghostly hands reaching out to grab its shadow and preventing its escape. That gives everyone else plenty of time to get into position, with Jack Napier and John Sullivan blocking its path forward, and Elise Calcifet and Momo Sakai's Rotom blocking the path back. Finally, it seemed that they had managed to corner the fiendish machine! Surely, now was their chance to stop it!

But the spirit of Christmas was indomitable, and it would take more than a few grinches to stop this holly jolly soldier from bringing cheer to the people of Slateport.

Once again, the Paradox Pokemon reached into its sack, scrounging around the deepest depths for just about anything to get out of this situation. And, against all odds, it would find it, pulling out a Cleanse Tag. It proceeded to slap the ofuda onto the Mega Gengar with gusto, and all of a sudden, the poisonous poltergeist would slump backward, drained of its energy by a high-level exorcism technique! That momentary disruption would be more than enough to let the Iron Bundle escape its bonds, free to escape once more!

The Iron Bundle would make a quick exit, hopping over the collapsed body of John Sullivan and away from the ghostly pursuit of Elise Calcifet's Mismagius and Momo Sakai's Rotom. That just left Jack Napier's Gardevoir as the last line of defense. Fortunately, with the psychic prowess of the Embrace Pokemon guarding the path forward, it would certainly be able to stop this hooligan in its tracks.

At least, it would seem that way. However, the Iron Bundle would not relent. It charged straight ahead without care or concern, barrelling straight under the Gardevoir's dress and emerging on the other side, completely unstopped. Perhaps they had made a few too many threats, and taken too few actions? Before they knew it, the Paradox Pokemon was free once more!

And, on the other side of the alleyway, they would be able to see its destination - A sleepy post office, away from the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Market. LED eyes shone wider than before, and the Paradox Pokemon doubled its pace, rushing for the building. No way... Was it planning to restock?!

---

The next deadline for this thread is Friday 1st December, 8PM GMT

Momo Sakai Jack Napier John Sullivan Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki Elise Calcifet

Un-fashionably late

Death to the robot.

Sickening cracks and pops filled the air as the censored mass of flesh glowed pink, before a limb suddenly reached out as the robot attempted to leap over it, grabbing firmly onto the robot penguin's foot—

Before getting pulled along its unstoppable rush.

"AAAAAAAACK!" Screamed Doug as the penguin dragged him along as if he weighted nothing. And yet... "I'll. NEVER. LET GO!"

No matter how much he suffered, he refused to surrender now.

After everything the penguin had done... It. was. going. down.

"AAAAAH, STOP IT!" He screamed as he whistled sharply—

A blurry figure soon was seen moving swiftly over the nearby rooftops, leaping from building to building before jumping towards the market's entrance—

Frankie the Silvally landed heavily before the chritsmas market, it's eyes narrowing dangerously at the robot in a terrifying grimace.

NOcNIj_r

tl;dr:
-Frankie used Scary Face.

The Iron Bundle made a mad dash for the post office, and everyone else made a mad dash to stop it. They’d managed to keep the shenanigans under control for now, but if the penguin got its hands on another sack full of contraband? There was no way they’d be able to stop the situation from escalating!

Luckily, things started off well. The frightful visage of John Sullivan’s Silvally, paired with the intimidating presence of Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki’s Arbok, was enough to spook even the steel will of the futuristic penguin. Its flippers began to seize up as its programming experienced errors, unable to handle this data that it hadn’t been programmed to receive. Its metal body could not sweat, its bright eyes could not go so wide, and its vocal processors could not scream.

As the robot grappled with the newfound emotion of “fear”, it proved the perfect distraction, allowing Elise Calcifet’s Mismagius to connect with a powerful Mystical Fire. The force of the blow sent the Paradox Pokemon tumbling down to the ground, and left a black burn mark on the back of its shiny red body.

But that wasn’t enough to stop it. Still, the penguin persisted, dragging both itself and John Sullivan along the ground and towards the post office door. It was only a few more metres away. A few more metres, and it would be able to fill its sack to the brim with gifts for the good boys and girls of the world. A few more metres, and it would be able to save Christmas…!

But it was too late. Momo Sakai’s Tinkaton and Jack Napier’s Garchomp both rushed forth, looking to land the decisive finishing blow. This was it. The Iron Bundle had fallen victim to tunnel vision, and now, its entire mission was about to derail. Try as it might, it seemed that this would be the end of the line…

...Chuggachuggachuggachuggachuggachugga--
CRASH!
--Chuggachuggachuggachuggachuggachugga…

Out of nowhere, a runaway train came careening down the road, sliding along on frozen wheels, and proceeded to completely pancake both Tinkaton and Garchomp alike. What the hell? Where did that even come from? What was going on?! But alas, as soon as it had arrived, the train left, leaving many questions and no answers. There was no logical explanation for it. It could only be described as a Christmas miracle!

And it also gave the Iron Bundle enough time to crawl along those last few metres, stretch out its arm, and reach for the post office door…

…Which proceeded to swing open, revealing a second, bigger Iron Bundle.

The newcomer took stock of the situation. One of its peers, a fellow postal worker, was laying in front of it, out of supplies and clearly damaged. Meanwhile, across the road were a group of miscreants and hooligans, all of whom were clearly harassing this poor delivery bot. It didn’t take a genius to predict how it would react.

Taking aim with its sack, the second Iron Bundle, henceforth called Iron Bundle B, fired out a Hydro Pump, looking to wash away the group of grinches before they could do any more damage. Meanwhile, the first Iron Bundle, henceforth called Iron Bundle 1, would mirror this attack with an Ice Beam, seeking to catch those trying to avoid the Hydro Pump mid-dodge.

As if dealing with one defective Iron Bundle wasn’t enough, now they had to deal with two! Or, well, one defective one and one misinformed one. But all things considered, that was the least of their worries right now!

---

The next deadline for this thread is 6th December 2023, 8PM GMT.
Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki Elise Calcifet Jack Napier Momo Sakai John Sullivan