[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepoke"]

[attr="class","text"]

calls could not be any closer than what this expedition team had just experienced over a span of just minutes. first, an unnaturally giant orthworm sought to trap them in a sandstorm, then there was the sight of an oasis that wasn't truly there, and finally, a violent plant needing to be pruned. what a day it's been, and strangely enough, it had barely gotten started.[break][break]

after the battle with the killer flycatcher, silverio had regained his senses, albeit with some much-needed help. "i understand now...why the league doesn't want anyone exploring these rifts alone, that is, and here i was thinking that we've seen it all..." far from the truth, on the contrary. to say the least, very few of what he had experienced previously could compare to what has transpired here and in that mechanical kingdom.[break][break]

"huh...!?" he spotted her crouching down at the sight of something poking out of the sands, and the ground tremored once again, this time with an impact comparable to a garchomp's earthquake, which causes the ranger to stumble a bit. when it passed, an outrageously tall structure emerged from the sands.[break][break]

eyes widened as he examined it, its sheer size taking the man by surprise. who or what could've designed it this way? "something that must've lived long enough to see through its construction in its entirety, i'd bet. no telling as to what though..." a free hand grazed the stone, holes and all, then...was something...? "looks like it's missing some parts, just like that pillar we saw before!"[break][break]

a eerie aura suddenly wafted around the ranger's stature, prompting him to cross arms in a way that would describe having been blasted by an arctic burst of air. "whoa...i just got a chill...somehow i get the feeling that we're not the only ones here..."[break][break]

who knew what other surprises this realm has in store for them....

keiko mori

NOTES

✦ prompts completed: 1 of 4[break]
✦ ---[break]
✦ ---

[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepoke"]

[attr="class","text"]

attempts to come up with something to support his theory would have to wait, although it was likely that nothing else would even come close to being as viable as silverio's hypothesis. then again, was anything in this realm truly logical to begin with? perhaps that remained to be seen, but the man's interest in the obelisk had been piqued. until the wave of chills had struck him, mysteriously.[break][break]

she felt it too!?[break][break]

that ruled out the possibility of another illusion, or in this case, delusion. and reality would be verified by the presence of a spectral coffin, and like the victreebel and orthworm just moments ago, it too sought to intervene in the team's plans to explore the desert. another 'fight or flight' scenario. this time, it seemed that the latter was chosen.[break][break]

silv turned to dash away, but at the sight of the girl practically burying herself, instincts took over, and he rushed over to try and pull her up from the sands. meanwhile, sandslash chose to fight. it balled itself up to rollout on the moving coffin, but it was met by the fiend's shadowy hands and blasted away with a dark pulse, putting the spiny mouse down for the count.[break][break]

seeing this, silverio than called out another team member, his patented frog ninja. with its speed, it easily evaded confagrigus's hands and threw a slew of water shuriken towards it. "...you good!? we've gotta move!!" the ranger called to keiko.[break][break]

chalk this one up as another otherworldly experience that neither of them would expect, yeah...this would explain the cool air they'd felt.

keiko mori

NOTES

✦ prompts completed: 2 of 4[break]
✦ sandslash has fainted[break]
✦ ---

[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepoke"]

[attr="class","text"]

thanks to the combined efforts of their pokémon, despite the slowking's last attack having no effect on the moving coffin at all, the team has miraculously managed to survive another skirmish. but how much more of this nonsense would they be able to endure? a loaded question, for there was still much more to see and do in this realm. despite keiko's eagerness to acquire some snapshots to remember this trip by, the cofagrigus was one thing that the ranger himself will want to forget.[break][break]

seeing the two humans fleeing the scene, the greninja followed suit of them, hopefully with slowking in tow. but just as silverio had begun to believe that he had seen the last of that spectral menace as he called for his sandslash to return to its ball and rest, another hand begun to drop on the pair, similar to that coffin's. "you're kidding me...wait, is that even real...!?!?" judging from what they think they've seen, it may be just another illusion.[break][break]

regardless, instinct took over, this time on the part of the frog ninja, as he unleashed an emphatic hydro pump on the massive ghost hand.

keiko mori

NOTES

✦ prompts completed: 3 of 4[break]
✦ sandslash has fainted[break]
✦ ---

[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepoke"]

[attr="class","text"]

somehow the ghost hand had managed to evade the greninja's water blast, and still, it insisted on haunting the group, perhaps until nothing would be left of them. if silverio were to go out, he would certainly not want to do so quite like this. it was bad enough that the team of pokémon he decided to carry along is already down one member at the hands of a vicious coffin. but when his expedition partner had finally remembered to try and catch a flick of an otherworldly experience...[break][break]

there was nothing...?[break][break]

a heavy sigh passed through the ranger's drying lips. "thought so..." another mirage; what else was new? "agreed, a third person could help stop us from losing our damn minds out here; anyway, we'd better keep moving. maybe we can find something that'll give a us clue on what the story is behind that obel...isk..." before he knew it, a mysterious wave of energy flashed in front of him, and suddenly...[break][break]

thump![break][break]

he found himself eating the sands, quickly losing control of his muscles. "what...happened...!? i can't...move...!!" words muffled by the grains of sand on his tongue. silverio, now immobilized for the moment, would be unable to see that an espathra had just shocked him into submission with its large, beady psychic eyes.

keiko mori

NOTES

✦ prompts completed: 4 of 4[break]
✦ sandslash has fainted[break]
✦ 14 become immobilized by an espathra's psychic eyes

[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepoke"]

[attr="class","text"]

it all happened so suddenly...[break][break]

and because he'd been rendered immobile by the that obnoxious ostrich, he could not get a clear view of what was happening around him. he heard fighting, however, and also keiko calling to him. that alone was enough to keep him in the fight despite of the unexpected circumstance of being physically stunned by a bird that probably doesn't even fly.[break][break]

before he knew it, he'd then be smacked with a pulse, but a rather soothing one this time. and with that, he managed to regain some bit of life in his limbs. when his body could finally function once again, he looked up from the seat of his pants in the sand to see the obelisk had come and gone, leaving behind...perhaps the clue they'd been looking for?[break][break]

what lies beneath...?[break][break]

he met the girl's gaze briefly, plainly, before propping himself up from the sand. "i am now." he then alternated looks between her and the slowking which may have offered an assist. "thank you guys." directing his attention to the path that presents itself before them now, hands swivel about to dust off the sand from his attire. meanwhile, greninja dash onward to scout immediate distance ahead of them. "i think that's worth checking out, yeah?"

keiko mori

NOTES

✦ prompts completed: 4 of 4[break]
✦ sandslash has fainted[break]
✦ ---