[attr="class","illieicon"]

[attr="class","illie b"]it's difficult to tell what's sludge, what's water, and what's the floor. everything mixes together in a muddy mess and she's flung into the thick of it. sludge splashes across her skin, burning sensation quick to follow. a wince, a soft whimper, and a scramble forward. she has to keep going, has to ignore the fuzziness. the sap has to be here somewhere... otherwise, she will have failed. again.

nefas manages to protect them against the barrage of branches but it isn't enough. custos still goes down, a loud rumble unlike any she's ever heard escaping the automaton as it falls to its knees. oh god, what was that? her eyes try to dart to the clay being as quickly as they can but they're sluggish, tired, dazed. it takes a moment for her to focus, to understand exactly what's happening. and then, she's gasping. the golett is chipping, small pieces of clay breaking apart and away from its body. oh god oh god oh god. nonono. this can't be happening.

"custos!" she yells, feebly reaching and reaching but she doesn't connect with the familiar feeling of clay beneath her fingertips. no, its too far away and she can barely breathe, let alone move closer to it. "the shadows!" if she can't move to protect the automaton, perhaps the shadows can...

another round of smog begins to descend upon them and her mind is already hazy, vision already spotty and doubling by the minute. what is this? her limbs feel heavy, dull and aching. each crawl forward brings another new sensation to the forefront of her attention. first it's pain, sharp and unforgiving. and then, nausea is quick to overtake her. she hurls at the roots, gagging and struggling to get her shit together.

and then, she sees it. flashes of blue and green, almost too vibrant against the darkness. her trembling form inches closer to the colors as a mawile joins her side. overhead, beckett carlson 's rookidee watches with keen eyes, squawks growing in volume until she can't focus on anything but the noise and the colors. it's all a haze but she's trying to stop the opportunity from slipping through her fingers. her hands tremble, barely able to even pull a vial from her belt without dropping the first one into the sludge. the second one manages to come out easier, firmer in her grasp. get the sap, get the fuck out. simple. except, not really.

the beginning signs of an explosion are beginning, a fatal rumbling from somewhere behind them. oh god, is this it?

she's trying to hurry, trying to hastily gather sap into the vial using any means necessary. her fingers aren't doing a good job at collecting, however, as they're too coated with sludge and sticky sap to be very effective. and so, without a second thought, she's blindly shoving her face into the mess of colors, hoping and praying that she manages to gather some into her mouth. it's gross and probably the worst idea she's ever had but hey, maybe it'll work? bringing the vial to her mouth, she spits into it and then shoves it into the sap, deciding that attempting to gather more into her mouth would just be awful.

"virgo," she gags, nausea once again threatening to overtake her. it's paired with pleading eyes and she's backing away from the colors with flailing limbs and blurry vision. everything is starting to swirl by this point, poison fully settling in. her breathing is ragged, chest barely able to gather enough oxygen to supply her brain. "get -- get us out. please." nefas sticks close, the kirlia behind her stepping up to the task at hand.

the beginning of TELEPORT starts to take hold and she's hoping, praying, that they make it out in time. behind them, the explosion starts to detonate and her vision begins to darken, mind fading. if they manage to escape before the bomb goes off, she's unconscious when they reappear...

and yet, the last thought on her mind is custos. did it make it out using the shadows around them? or did she leave her golett behind to die? a whimper escapes before her eyes flutter shut and space begins to shift around them.

[attr="class","kheader"]

[attr="class","mthread"][attr="class","league"]

The branches couldn't retract fast enough, scarlet was running down her arm, the Stealth Rock that had been acting a convenient plug now free and letting the scarlet liquid pump down her arm. She was prepared, however, and hauled herself up the moment the way was clear, looking about and-thank goodness. Her Pokemon ran towards her, alive and well, and she tilted her head at the brief helpers (Cillian Quinn and Emma Wolfe) lowering her head in a sort of thanks as she rushed to grab Freya's Pokeball. The Perish Song would hit soon, and the victims needed to be returned. As such, she tried to return the Salnazzle just as a deafening noise burst into her ears. [break][break]

So she was destined to be muted and deafened today, was that it? [break][break]

Nonetheless, the pack had one chance, and they could return no more Pokemon. They needed to move. Something flashed in movement, bursting through the floor (priam conrad ). Despite having a disadvantage to it, Hel pounced. Her Quick Attack launched her forward, up, and towards the Braviary's back in a blur of movement. There was another Pokemon there too, no matter. If it fell, Kaida could fit, right? Even if Kaida couldn't talk right this moment, her Pokemon needed no communication. A presence landed on her back, Hema, the trusted serpent wrapping herself so tight, Kaida could hold onto her even if she fell unconscious. A pink flash of the eyes, and Attract pulsed forward, towards the flying bird, if only to have him accept the extra weight. [break][break]

Both actions took only moment, a moment that dragged unbearably long as Kaida pitched forward...and jumped. If she was unable to return her Salnazzle, the Pokemon jumped alongside her too. Either way, Kaida attempted to reach for the bird, if not its back, then to cling to its feathers. She couldn't have gotten this far in life, just to die so suddenly. [break][break]

HqCWn0s|


[break][break][break]

The swan song of the Tyrantrum manages to startle Katherine. No, not because of the damned Pokemon who had just died - she didn't care about one who didn't belong to her team. It did, however, remind her of the perish song of the Mismagius. Who now felt comfortable enough to shoot leaves at them.

How bothersome.

Morpeko dispatches the portion that is directed at Katherine and the rest with a well-aimed BULLET SEED. He attempts to shoot through each leaf to ensure the safety of his trainer. Hatterene, however, hisses in anger, warning the Mismagius of further retaliation should she not stop. Regardless, the bickering of the Pokemon is put to a stop sooner than expected. A peculiar clown-like Pokemon is sent out, its head soon detaching from its body. Hatterene's ANTICIPATION comes into play once more, warning her of the explosion that is soon to come.

A barrier of PSYCHIC energies rises to protect the group from aftermath of the explosion and the debris it promised to send off. It throws Katherine off her balance, the woman falling down along with Morpeko who clung to her and Gallade, who remained alert despite the fall.

A grunt of pain escapes from her lips, but time was of the essence. She could deal with the bruises at home or at the headquarters.
The portal the clown creates captures Rocketess' attention, who acts as quickly as possible. If this building was going to finally collapse fully, Kat might as well take her leave. After all, the tree had been dealt with.

"We're with her, Gallade!" Katherine brought her hand up to point at Eva Dumont just as she announced her departure. A bright, pink light flashes within the room as the Mega-evolved Gallade teleports Katherine, himself and the rest of the party near the portal itself, as soon as it could manage.

"I hope you don't mind! I've always been a fan of free rides, y'know?"

Morpeko and Gallade are both recalled into their respective Pokeballs a moment before the masked woman takes the final step forward and is swallowed by the wormhole.



- SALAC ROLL

OOC:
tl;dr
★ morpeko shoots seeds (BULLET SEED) at the leaves to deal with the attack of kaz's mismagius (magical leaf). he focuses only on those that'd be directed at katherine.
★ just when hatterene hisses at mismagius in anger, ANTICIPATE comes into play again and warns her of the coming explosion. she creates a barrier of PSYCHIC in order to defend her trainer and the other pokemon from the aftermath of the explosion + any debris.
★ gallade acts as soon as he can, following katherine's orders by using TELEPORT to take her to where the wormhole was created.
★ kat recalls morpeko and gallade into their pokeballs before stepping forward to enter the wormhole. she is fully ready to leave with eva since... why not?
★ she clearly has to thank her next time they meet. she might even bake her a cupcake.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

[attr="class","kheader"]

[attr="class","mthread"]it's easy to forget when he's been with these people--this sort--for so long, but as marcel watches the blacephon perform its damning finale, a single word enters his mind: ruthless. "fuck," he mutters, "we need to go."
[break][break]
thankfully, in his attempt to distance themselves from the sludge, they had also distanced themselves from the tree. as far as they could, anyway. a PROTECT surrounds marcel and his pokemon as titan surges with a newfound AGILITY towards their hopeful exit.
[break][break]
that they'd completed their objective registered somewhere in the back of his mind. he would've been a lot more grateful if he knew he'd get out of this in one piece.
[break][break]

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","kheader"]

[attr="class","kthread"][attr="class","pokkenger"][break]
he could see the tree root in sight, or rather he could see it in sight but that was before he was knocked clear off his faithful dinozord by some underground attack that sent him splashing into the pool of sludge and water that covered the floor. he coughed up some of the crude water that entered his mouth and was ready to fight back when he was slammed face first back into the ground by a shadow ball striking him in the back. the pain was not great. seeing his machoke collapse half dead was not great.
[break][break]
what was great, in hindsight when this is all over, was the sudden surge of green that caught his attention as he tried to get to his knees as the world started to fade from his vision. at first it was a powerful glow that nearly blinded him until it died down and before him was a...dog? "wha-" he couldn't even finish his half conscious thought before it moved under him and placed the man on its back and began running. "whoa whoa hey-hey hang on a second! goodwitch!" he called out to his mismagius who was a witness to the sudden appearance of a clown monster that kazimir was all too familiar with the second he spotted it out of his peripheral, "shit! we gotta get outta here!"
[break][break]
not needing to be told twice the mismagius flew after her trainer and sunk into the ground to turn into a blob of dark shadow with her phantom force and merged herself with the dog's shadow. as it ran kaz quickly took out a ball and recalled his machoke as they ran past him, the pokemon giving a thumbs up indicating that he at least got his job done. "don't worry man, you deserve a spa day...hey where the heck is..." two were accounted for but the third one of his team was not. instead the dracovolt was near the tree, watching the clown throw its own head at it to cause an explosion and try to escape through a hole in time and space.
[break][break]
mismagius used phantom force!
[break][break]
it seemed like fun to the dracovolt who began to charge towards the blacephalon with electricity crackling around its body as it lunged with a playful cry and a bolt beak at the ready. kaz's eyes went wide as he saw this and held out a hand towards his pokemon who didn't know the danger it was putting itself in. "DINO! was it trying to take out the clown monster? did he just not grasp the situation and thought this was some kind of regular battle? all the superhero could do was watch and hoped by some miracle that his buddy would be ok somehow.
[break][break]
dracovolt used bolt beak!
[break][break]
Di7fCagn

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Kaida Adachi, Selena Desmarais

Nr5xr|Mr - 1st roll
- Salac reroll (using the LONE Salac berry!)

[attr="class","merkpokesI"]

[attr="class","merktagI"]

[attr="class","omgentop"]ROOT OF THE MATTER[break]
ROCKET VS. LEAGUE

[attr="class","omgenmid"]

DEATH-ENABLED

FACTION EVENT

SIGN-UPS CLOSED

ILLEANA & BECKETT

Under the incredible duress, the young Head Scientist, illeana reyes, manages to procure a sample of sap. It oozes into the vial from her mouth, and before she succumbs to fatigue, her Kirlia manages to TELEPORT her to safety. Her Golett is caught up in the explosion, its small body crumbling into ancient dusts.[break][break][break][break]

[break][break][break]

beckett carlson’s Mawile crunches the bark and the sap drips from its maw. Heroically, his injured Aron attempts to protect against the Blacephalon’s explosion. The explosion expands, and with a cry, the small Iron Armor Pokemon manages to take the brunt of its force at the expense of its own life. beckett carlson is still flung from the root— and cracks his head against a wall. His Mawile screams at its lifeless owner, sap still secure in its other mouth.[break][break][break]

SELENA, ALEXEI, KAIDA

Selena Desmarais’s Aegislash KING’S SHIELDS against the explosion. As the ball of flame reaches them, the Pokemon valiantly protects them from the flame. The sword Pokemon is successful, but succumbs to its injuries as it falls lifelessly toward the floor below. This provides enough time for Alexei Ivanov to catch Kaida Adachi and produce a FEATHER. The feather disintegrates, summoning a dramatic updraft to propel him, Selena Desmarais, and Kaida Adachi up to relative safety…[break][break][break]

PRIAM, DOMINIC, ZACHARIAS, KAIDA

During their escape, Kaida Adachi’s Grovyle and Sceptile attempt to attack priam conrad’s Braviary after the Rocket’s Pyukumuku is recalled. The lizard QUICK ATTACKS the breast of the bird— but is deterred by the sheer strength of it propelling upward with SUPERPOWER and the SPORES from priam conrad’s Shiinotic. The Grovyle retreats, covering its nostrils to keep it from falling asleep. Likewise, the Seviper’s ATTRACT is attempted— but the SPORES prevent it from charming the bird adequately.

[break][break][break]

In swift retaliation, dominic sinclair’s Houndoom uses its Z-MOVE BITEY BITE. With a roar, a pair of fiery fangs materialize near her— but they do not target Kaida Adachi’s Pokemon.[break][break][break]

They target Kaida Adachi, herself.[break][break][break]

The fangs close and dig deep into her skin. Excruciating pain and burning enter her flesh before she falls limp in Alexei Ivanov’s hand. Kaida Adachi is dead.[break][break][break]

@zacharias and dominic sinclair flee on a DOUBLE TEAMING Noivern. A SMOG begins to pool downward, obscuring vision. The Ariados zips upward on its STICKY WEB, having tasted blood. Satisfied, it is recalled. They flee the explosion successfully.[break][break][break]

KAZIMIR & DRACOVOLT

Kazimir Wynter recalls his Machoke. As the 10% Zygarde helps him on to its back, the severely injured hero calls upon his Dracovolt to attack the Blacephalon. The dragon lunges forth with a BOLT BEAK. Briefly, it electrifies the clown; however, the clown grabs the dragon by its yellow snout and tosses it into the WORMHOLE it has created. With a roar, the dragon is lost to the chaotic stream.[break][break][break]

EVA, KATHERINE

Eva Dumont’s will notice that the wormhole is unstable— but the Blacephalon seems confident in its creation. In a wise decision, Katherine Fairburne and her party join Eva Dumont to escape the conflagration. Her Hatterene staves off the edge of flames while the hole closes. They warp quickly in a dizzying swirl, but the Ultra Beast manages to carry them, transporting them to a remote location outside Littleroot.[break][break][break]

RUBY, GUARDS, MR. MIME, SILPH

Ruby Walker, the guards, and FERNANDO SILPH manage to escape. The guards recall their Galarian Mr. Mimes into their balls while Greninja allows FERNANDO SILPH to scramble to the upper floor. FUTURE SIGHT does not reveal a safe place to TELEPORT to; however, they do manage to materialize in a chaotic crowd on the first floor.[break][break][break]

The guard’s Galarian Mr. Mime falls, tumbling from branch to branch before serendipitously landing behind beckett carlson and his Mawile. With a wail, the Galarian Mr. Mime helps the lifeless man and Pokemon escape the compromised building with its PSYCHIC abilities.[break][break][break]

GAVIN, EMMA, MARIE, MARCEL

Cillian Quinn and Emma Wolfe are able to escape as well on top of the Aerodactyl. The AGILITY of the prehistoric Pokemon allows them enough speed to flee, while Emma Wolfe’s Zoroark successfully reaches her alongside her Crobat.[break][break][break]

[break][break][break]

marie jules escapes too. The tree is weakened from the poisons and root damage, and the branches wither in the Salazzle’s FLAMETHROWER and Scizor’s FURY CUTTER. On the upper floor, the Salazzle is returned while the Rocket Admin escapes on her swift Scizor. Likewise, the other Admin, marcel maeda, is able to escape too. The Metagross rushes upward, while Sylveon’s PROTECT prevents the edge of the explosion from hurting them at its last moments.[break][break][break]

KAZIMIR, GORO, ZYGARDE

Kazimir Wynter escapes on his Zygarde, but manages to find a stowaway hugging his body (Goro Shimizu). The HYPNOSIS attempts to settle on Kazimir Wynter— and the Pokkenger begins to feel drowsy. Next, the Mime Jr.’s attempt to MIMIC the wormhole fails. Such an ability is foreign, even to the shadowfied clown. The 10% Zygarde leaps from branch to branch, allowing them to escape to the upper floors. Should Goro Shimizu attempt to attack him, he will find that the green-hued dog will defend the Pokkenger at all costs.[break][break][break]

THE TREE, THE FIRST FLOOR, RESURRECTION

The tree groans and crumbles. Dramatically, it withers and cracks. Severed in two by the explosion, the ivory tree collapses and takes down floors and walls alongside with it. A glow of blue light pulses outward before the tree darkens with the hue of death.[break][break][break]

[break][break][break]

Above on the first floor (not B1) and outside, the theatre is being evacuated. The beauty contest’s contestants and judges can be seen, some helping others escape. They can hear staff shouting commands to leave the building, while others are screaming that the building is collapsing.[break][break][break]

beckett carlson and Kaida Adachi have experienced death— but they will come back to life the next morning with a brief flash of blue light. It seems as if the final blue glow from the tree of life granting them a rare second chance. However, Kaida Adachi still feels pulses of burning where she has been bitten...[break][break][break]

OBJECTIVES

IN ORDER TO CLAIM COMPLETE REWARDS FOR YOUR FACTION, and to facilitate plot moments within the event thread, your respective groups will have objectives to fulfill collectively. for example, if your rocket character becomes captured, that objective is fulfilled for the entire group.[break][break]

throughout the event, more objectives may be added/these objectives are subject to change.[break][break]

league

• ic objective: extract a biosample of sap from the tree's roots; protect the tree. ☑
• sub: have three league-affiliated pokemon die by rocket hands (3/3). ☑
• sub: be captured, seriously injured, or killed by a rocket character. ☑
• sub: heal/defend a teammate against a rocket's attack (pkmn or human). ☑
• sub: every character must reference every teammate at least once throughout the thread. ☑

[break][break][break]

rocket

• ic objective: poison or destroy the tree from its roots, at all costs. ☑
• sub: have three rocket-affiliated pokemon faint/die by league hands (1/3). ☐
• sub: be captured, seriously injured, or killed by a league character. ☑
• sub: heal/defend a teammate against a league's attack (pkmn or human). ☑
• sub: every character must reference every teammate at least once throughout the thread. ☑

[break][break][break]

THINGS TO NOTE:

• perish song will affect your pokemon imminently (and can faint your pokemon in the next post!)— but the event is basically over!
• illeana reyes's golett, beckett carlson's aron, Selena Desmarais's aegislash, & Kazimir Wynter's dracovolt have perished.
• beckett carlson and Kaida Adachi: you two can post about your "deaths" in the next round or their "awakening" the next day.
• Eva Dumont and Katherine Fairburne are outside Littleroot, most likely in the woods somewhere.
• Kazimir Wynter and Goro Shimizu - you two can figure out a way to resolve what is happening between your characters/i can resolve it in the final mod post/rewards post next round.
• illeana reyes, beckett carlson, Eva Dumont/priam conrad have successfully procured samples of sap and a soil sample. this can be followed up with soon!
• you can post here with characters that participated in the beauty contest if you'd like; however, you can not do anything fancy with them (just roleplay them helping out or commenting). they will not receive rewards for this.

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DEADLINE & TAGS

[break][break]

Selena Desmarais illeana reyes Ruby Walker Kaida Adachi Kazimir Wynter beckett carlson Alexei Ivanov FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]
priam conrad Cillian Quinn Katherine Fairburne Emma Wolfe marcel maeda Eva Dumont marie jules @zacharias dominic sinclair Goro Shimizu