LEAGUE HOLIDAY PARTY

Eris Halla

He released an amused snort, shaking his head as he reached down to ruffle both of the kids' hairdos— Well, almost.

He paused just short of ruffling Eris Halla; wouldn't do to ruin all of her hard work! Hideo though, he got the full hairdo-ruining treatment.

"Pu-lease. Who would even date me?" He said with a laugh. "No one with self-respect is gonna be tolerating my work hours."

And unlike the rest of AQUA apparently, he had no interest in workplace shit-shows romances.

"Don't worry 'bout me. I ain't got nuthin'." He said, before yawning tiredly.

One of the reasons he hadn't originally intended to come was that, well... it was a rare opportunity to catch up on his sleep. Life on the Emergency Ward was long and tiresome.

Unfortunately, he couldn't say no to a pretty face.

Speaking of which—

"Oh, but I do have to go say hi, though..." He muttered, looking around for Yuina Higashi... before sighing and giving up. "Guess I'll do it later."

Much as he wanted to let her know he was there— there was a certain... tension in the air that made him reluctant to leave.

He looked around, giving every single one of the league members around him a flat, somewhat disappointed look.

What is this, a highschool hallway? Why is everyone having dick measuring contests and making out?

Even if he had wanted to go find others, he couldn't justify leaving Eris and Hideo alone here. It felt like a fist fight or a make out session or both would break out soon.

"Adults really are just children pretending to know what they're doing." He sighed out of nowhere, before joining Hideo and Eris.

Fiery climax

Vs: dorian westcliff

The Accelgor rolled along the ground before launching forth like a bullet, its body glowing as its wounds healed through recovery, flying through errant flames and other blows to reach its ally and grabbing the Orbeetle in a rush, not stopping for even a moment as it leapt atop one cargo container and then to the next.

Things could've been going better.

"Gagk— Urgh— Oup—! Fuuugk—!?" Doug's gagged grunts and wheezes filled the air as he got pummeled with questions (and fists).

Getting his face punched in hadn't been part of the plan, but then, the plan had fallen apart long ago. He could only be glad that the others had gotten away already.

Luckily (?) for Doug, he could afford the consequences of being careless and reckless.

His face glowed with each blow he took, bruised eyes shining as gleaming pieces of skin(?) tore off and floated in the air, a colorful, magenta aura around them.

Just as quickly, his face seemed to heal.

Hopefully, these proved distracting for Dorian— because the youth swung his foot right around the time his bruised eye recovered enough for him to see, his shin flying towards the other man's groin...

Though whatever the result of that was—

CREEEAAAK! CLANG! KRRRRRRKK!

The steel deck broke open without warning, tearing off from one end of the freighter to the other (and crucially, towards them) like a container of canned food.

The ship beneath their feet trembled as if a sea seism was rocking its foundation... and the line of the horizon in the distance began to lower.

No— the freighter was rising in the air, the cargo around them also suspending itself above as if gravity had once again been negated. However—

The orbeetle remained unconscious?

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/850907874325823529/892597733599379476/Lele_is_here.mp3[/player]

STUDY

Field studies with Eva Morales

The zombified beast folded unto itself like a dented punching bag as the Machamp's fist sunk into its gut, vile spilling over the grass before it launched backwards like a soccer ball, bouncing across the dead soil in a roaring, uncoordinated mess of limbs.

Doug released a sigh of relief, nodding Eva's way gratefully. His Escavalier rubbed its spears together to scrape them clean as it moved to stand besides the Machamp, glaring down at the thing.

As it grind to a stop, its limbs twisted into awkward angles, a number of sickening cracks and pops filled the air as it began to rise, neither pain nor self-preservation preventing its ascent.

A neck that had snapped out of place when its head first met the hardened soil.

A large fist-sized chest cavity revealing a the putrid innards and weakened bone structure of the creature.

Shifting arms that seemed to lengthen as the weight of blood and overgrown claws settled upon them, its knuckles touching the soil despite it standing at its full height.

Just looking at it made his hairs stand on end. His lip curled, before he swallowed hard.

His hand let go of the net ball in his hand, placing it back on his belt before shifting it to another.

"Fire would work, I think..." He said, brows tense before he threw the new net ball out, releasing his Scyther into the field. "But we can't use flames in dry woods."

It would turn into a roaring forest fire in an instant if they made even the slightest mistake.

His Scyther's sharp gaze fell upon the zombified pokemon with a measure of curiosity and aggression. As ever, she seemed to remain fearless even in the face of whatever that unnatural thing was, seemingly getting more pissed with each passing second.

"Let's try taking off its limbs until it can't move, Major! Kama! Bedy!" He shouted, prompting his Scyther's wings and arms to spread wide, its stance lowering. "Go! Bedy, create an opening. Kama, if you see it, take it!"

The Scyther hissed, before launching forth. Bedwyr pointed a spear towards the creature, before launching a beam of pressured water its way.

LEAGUE HOLIDAY PARTY

Eris Halla

They had been... delayed. Honestly, if he had known he would be waiting that much, he would've worn something other than a clean uniform...

Originally, he hadn't even been intending to come— but Yuina Higashi had asked...

Ah, whatever. Fortunately, it didn't seem like they had missed out on much.

The young medic held onto his little sister's hand gently as he led them inside the Observatory, smiling at her softy as they crossed the threshold and the seasonal celebration stretched out before there.

Eris liked science. Observatories do science. Ergo— Eris might like the Observatory party. Such was Doug's line of logic when he invited her to join them in the festivities.

He hadn't expected her to take a gazillion hours getting ready for said celebrations, but eh. He wouldn't hold enthusiasm against her.

"Princess Eris— we've made it." He said, bowing at the waist teasingly before rising again, his eyes finding a familiar coconut head. "I believe that's your royal buddy over there?"

He casually pointed Hideo Kino out from the crowd, before gesturing with his neck towards him.

"Let's go say hi, runt."

Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

"Yeah, well, you might wanna hold off on those Party Tuesdays from now on." Doug said dryly as he shoved his hand into a disposable glove.

He couldn't see precisely into Isaac's body— he only had the report as given to him by Garo.

"Sheesh. Wish I had some equipment— if I wrote a paper on your ass, my face would feature on the cover of The International Journal of Medicine." He sighed, approaching the other's bedside.

"Anyway... let me explain how dead you are, 'fore I put ya to sleep." He said simply, before casually reaching down to poke at the other's chest. "See this?"

He poked it irreverently. It felt... weird. For him, and likely, for Isaac as well.

"Autolisis." He said simply. "I shouldn't be able to say this, but it's half-putrified on the inside."

He poked at Isaac's stiff abs next.

"Not just your chest— most of you is." He said simply. "If you think of your flesh and muscle as being composed of multiple layers, it would be accurate to say the innermost layer is dead and stiffened."

He paused.

"It's familiar, this. There's a method to this madness that makes me think of kyle lopez. " He said simply, before crossing his arms. "But his revival isn't half assed like this."

When Kyle Lopez revived someone, it was like a perfect, salvation-esque spell that brought them back with fully restored bodies. No remnants of the death were left.

"Legendary pokemon are selfish assholes that only act on their own interests—" Doug declared bluntly, unilaterally shoving all the legendary pokemon into the asshole box. "So... congrats on your new avatarship, I think?"

INVASIVE SPECIES

A dual wild thread with Yuina Higashi

He shrugged his shoulders, smiling dazzlingly. "I have nothing but time."

Wasn't he free to wander the region on a bike? If he, who claimed to be a medic, hadn't dedicated even a little bit of that free time to healing the people, he would've been lower than an orthworm.

"How very studious of ya." He chuckled, cocking his head slightly. "How goes yer studies, then?"

Honestly, he couldn't imagine how she must've felt. Losing his memories, he could comprehend. Losing his knowledge about pokemon, though? It must've been scary as hell when she first regained consciousness after losing her memories; Hadn't she said she woke up in Petalburg woods?

So many bug pokemon...

Actually, that doesn't sound too bad... Wait— no, you mad man, not everyone is a bug maniac like you.

"I've been a couple o'times around this area. Want some suggestions?" He asked, grinning.

He could think of a few local pokemon that a rookie trainer could make great use of.

"For example, you could go for—" He began, turning in a familiar direction to point out what he knew was a colony of Arons—

"What the fuck is that."

Only to find the colony decimated, a weird looking, hammer totting gremlin standing amongst the ashes.

Leave

Gotta look my best to meet the Commissioner!

Well, if it made it any fairer— Doug had striked out with a girl.

Doug smirked as the gym leader quickly dropped the offer, a snort getting caught in the back of his throat.

"'ppreciate the offer, Sheriff! I don't drink anymore, though. Thank ya kindly." He said, leaning back onto his arms as he kicked his feet at the edge of the pier.

He didn't immediately reach for any of the softer drinks in the man's cooler either. He seemed more focused on the horizon line, eyes drawn to the distant, merging blue.

"Don't mind it one bit. View's fantastic, nevermind the breeze!" He said cheerfully.

It was embarrassing to think this of himself, but he was pretty sure that he had achieved the mindset of a sage at some point during his Galar-stay. Probably after reaching 30 years of age as a virgin. Or maybe it was 40?

Maybe he was suited for the life of an ascetic.

"She does? That's comforting. With that in mind..." He said, half turning to the man before bowing his head. "Thank ya kindly for lookin' after her and Hideo Kino, Sheriff. I care for them a lot— but it's very hard to keep 'em out of trouble on my own."

Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

"Don't be so dramatic." Doug said, rolling his eyes as he rounded around the bed. "Oh, and... Uh. Try to keep calm about what I'm about to say."

He paused briefly, his hands moving to his hips as he considered his words. Oh hey, he did comprehend bed-side mann—

"So you're like, technically dead?" Nevermind then.

He shared a glance with his Orbeetle, as if asking for confirmation.

"Definitely technically dead? Oh, okay."

Leave

Gotta look my best to meet the Commissioner!

He scratched at the inside of his palm, the uncertainty of her words making his hand itch for a stethoscope.

She believed?

And... How literally was he supposed to take her words? He was dearly hoping liberal use of hyperbole was being utilized here.

Six months, minimum... Probably. Maybe more? He surmised to himself, pulling the numbers mostly out of his highly worried ass.

He gathered his hands together thoughtfully... Wait, no, concernedly.

"Ma'am."

Dahlia Goode was Hoenn's one and only Commissioner. What did being Hoenn's Commissioner entail?

How would Doug know? He had never been the commissioner, nor anything even remotely close to it.

But he had been in a position were his decisions could directly lead others to their death, and every second of it had been stressful enough to give him stomach ulcers.

So he imagined that Dahlia at least had all manner of Proton-pump inhibitor-type medication in her desk.

"A spoink that stops hoppin' might die— but a human under constant pressure will break." He said suddenly. "For both Hoenn's and yer own sake, Commissioner, I implore ya to keep tabs on your health. I can't even imagine what sort of long term damage yer health might've undertaken over the past 6 years."

Presidencies and such forms of work were known to rapidly age those who held unto those positions for prolonged periods. The amount of 'before-&-after's style memes in the internet concerning the presidents and commissioners of other nations was as amusing as it was both alarming and telling.

And there was no leadership position on Earth more taxing and demanding than Hoenn's Commissionership.

"Once a month... is my suggestion." He said suddenly. "Where it anyone else, once a year would be fine. But not you."

Not only stress— but any chance of foul play as well, had to be kept in mind and accounted for.

[attr="class","milkyac"]

NON-CANON AVATAR[break]AC TEMPLATE

DECEMBER 2023 NON-CANON AVATAR ACTIVITY CHECK

[break]

[attr="class","ynospace"]

• player/ooc name: EBC
• character tags: John Sullivan

4 ic posts for avatar character:

[attr="class","ynospace"]

• LEAVE
• SMOG
• SECRET
• NYEH, WHAT'S UP DOC?

summarize how you've utilized[break]the avatarship for collaborative narrative:

• LIVING IT UP AS A MAGIC MAN, FT. TAPU LELE THE TERA GOBBLER[break]
  [break][break]
  I still don't know what the hell I'm doing so this is just my stream of consciousness.
  [break][break]
  I would've liked to say that Doug has remained sane and hinged and not at all as crazy as Lele's (apparent) ideals would have one appear to other normal, hinged folk— but he recently started piling up rockets for dosage experimentation (as Kazimir Wynter can well attest) and has been looking at Isaac Merlo like he were a guinea pig, sooo....
  [break][break]
  Look, the important thing here is that it's for the GREATER GOOD! He's only slightly Lele-unhinged.
  [break][break]
  When he isn't single handedly pushing the field of medicine forward one rocket body at a time, however, Doug is a kindly, good samaritan and totally-not-unlicensed-what-do-you-even-mean-by-that physician.
  [break][break]
  The Resurfaced Treasure were very conducive to solidifying Doug's new role (SURVEY ft. Hideo Kino, (SURVEY with Yuina Higashi); though he inevitably got into a few unavoidable scraps with the likes of Cillian Quinn (Vs Cillian RT) and Zev Harcourt (Vs Zev RT) (Big thanks to both Thorn and Gunsmile for the threads, I look forward to building towers of spite (or grudging respect) between our chars from these foundations ♥), they were also chances to showcase his newfound distaste for being forced to fight instead of serving in the tents. He fought defensively in order to secure the medical supplies and personnel and contented himself with spooking off the literal demigods instead of giving chase.
  [break][break]
  One instance were he very clearly jumped into a battle as opposed to being strictly 'forced into it' was with Kouji Matsubara (Sea: Vs Kouji), of which I'm very happy with the relationship Joker and I decided have built between these two after their angst packed first meeting way back in postdormitum. That said, even this particular fight, though Doug was confrontational, he undertook it because Kouji was a direct danger to league medical personnel and supplies— as well as standing in the way of Doug's medical work. Grit those TEETH.
  [break][break]
  Another instance of a direct, unwanted struggle was his short battle— skirmish, really— with Lulu Flint (Sky: Vs Lulu) were after injuring each other's pokemon they both more or less managed to talk each other out of a fight. Doug's a physician who would rather be in a medic bay, and Lulu a scientist who would rather be in a lab— so they pretty much agree to a ceasefire on that particular frontline. Leave it to the intellectuals to brush aside command's orders and just leave to do something else.
  [break][break]
  Anyway, when he wasn't running the ones for the sake of the medical nerds, he played his preferred role of medic and support for most of the event cycle with gusto, whining every step of the way whenever League HQ deployed him in his functions of an AQUA member (SMOG with Yuina Higashi) instead of as a medic bay member.
  [break][break]
  I think can get away with claiming Doug's still something of an ambassador for Lele; Cleaning up her image, making her more guardian deity and less force of nature by making Lele's healing abilities hopefully more famous than her apathy 'cruelty's infamous.
  [break][break]
  Going back to Isaac Merlo, The Eye™️ Plot is advancing well, me thinks. It has intersected well with an Eris Halla plot regarding her health and the league's... handling of her(SECRET ft. Eris and Isaac). This plot is going well, though I need to be faster if I wanna keep up with Wanderer and Myria.
  [break][break]
  The next thing isn't something that's actually concrete but an idea I gotta throw at Shiv soon; It came up in the thread with best girl dahlia goode (Leave) after I finished writing about routine Health checks. I wanna turn Doug into doctor/medical expert of AQUA— Let me put a stethoscope to your tits chest, COWARDS!!!
  

• any notes/comments: I wanna wish everyone in the forum a merry christmas and thank everyone for continuing to thread and play with me :pepechu:— and I wanna thank shiv, SPIRAL and The baby specially for continuing to do amazing work for 6 years now. Merry Christmas y'all, let's keep getting along in 2024!

[newclass=.ynospace li] padding: 0px 5px; } .milkyac b { font-family:Poppins; } .milkyac a { font-family: Poppins!important; [/newclass]

Un-fashionably late

Death to the robot.

Everything was going to hell.

"No, what is it with today?" He shouted as he palmed his Orbeetle's back, his scales spreading over the still injured bug. '

As its carapace popped and healed into place, the Orbeetle's eyes gleamed, before entrapping itself into a semi-transparent cube made of sheer psychic energy.

It glimmered magenta as it solidified, before suddenly spreading outwards to envelop a large area around them. Checkered patterns spread all over its semi-transparent surface as it grew, enveloping both the robots and the party of foolish humans trying to ruin christmas.

Trick Room was in place— So Doug grabbed his bug, and zoomed out of the blast's past while screaming at the top of his lungs.

"No, really, what the hell is up with today!!!?"

MlJXK91k

tl;dr:
-Garo used Trick Room.

INTERVIEW

Oh boy, a date with FERNANDO SILPH!

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/850907874325823529/873390743643906138/Rainy_Day_Cafe.mp3[/player]
His first instinct was frustration.

He tried to reign it in, swallowing down whatever spiel he would've wanted to launch into.

"Well... you're right." Fernando wasn't wrong, even if Doug might've balked at the idea of giving the league any more than he had.

A champion level trainer working for the league surely had a number of responsibilities most others wouldn't.

"But." Only one problem.

Doug's eyes closed. His lips pursed. His arms crossed over his chest. And his head lightly cocked.

Think, think, think...

"... I can't think of anything more I could do for the league, though?" He finally said, opening his eyes. "I'm not like the Major or Ms. Illeana. I don't have any special talents."

The major meaning Eva Morales, who alongside illeana reyes, were, well... geniuses. Meanwhile, Doug knew how to fight and how to heal, and... that was about it.

"I'm already fighting and leading on the frontlines. I'll be using my healing powers to the fullest extent from now on, too."

He would be taking over the military's medic corps, that was for certain.

"Aren't those most of my applicable talents?" He asked. "Or... do you want me to also help with propagandizing efforts?"

That would make some sense; Champion level trainers were rare, and with that scarcity came fame, love, envy and admiration— which could be used to guide public sentiment, if wielded correctly.

"Maybe I'm overthinking things?"

---

Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

Un-fashionably late

Death to the robot.

He felt his heart nearly stop as the little penguin reached out to the post office's door, his hands clinging to the pavement below him in meaningless attempt to stop it.

"NOOO!" He roared... before the doors swung open.

And revealed a another, bigger penguin.

"... How does that even work?" Who the fuck kept all these penguins?

He didn't get a response— not a proper one, at any rate. What he got instead was a high pressure water-laser, at point blank at that.

For the second time that day, his life flashed before his eyes.

And the sound of popping and crunching filled his ears, dragging a pained hiss out of him as something semi-lodged onto his back managed to pop out and unflatten itself, taking on a semi-spherical shape as it quickly zoomed to hover before him.

Oh, right. Garo!

A barrier popped into place as the blasts of water and ice came towards them.

mAxEpnIG

tl;dr:
-Garo used Protect.