• player/ooc name:Kohaku
• character tags:Elaine Highland
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable):None
• ic posts for characters: pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/post/146285/thread
• any notes/comments: <VERY GOOD>

In other words, the amount of necessary information they had gleaned about their supposed underwater vehicle was zilch. Given how quickly the situation had gone awry during their first diving attempt, this should have been an acceptable result.

Yet, she could not help but find it somewhat disappointing that more details weren’t elucidated, even cursing the fact that it was not her who had seen the submarine first in the first foray and gleaned off some information.

“In that case, no point in hesitating.”

Elaine knelt back down on the Metagross’s back.

“Ginga, let’s go back in. Try a different angle this time, though.” It was best to try to avoid the current of fauna that had intervened in their descent before.

With that, Ginga formed another barrier, trapping the air in before it descended back into the waters.

Round two of the deep dive had begun.

---

MISSION: SOMETHING FISHY

Selena Desmarais

Realistically, his guess would be a logical first attempt. Elaine shrugged as she took the moment to move her foot back a bit to allow the running pups to cross in front of her.

“That’s a decent first guess, but no. She’s a Metagross.”

No harm in giving away that information now that he had made a decent guess. It wasn’t like she was worried that this stranger would have anything to use against her anyway.

“She once tried to play the role of a car to dangerous effects. We got berated quite a bit by the commissioner back then. Luckily, that scandal never made it to the news.”

---

Billi Marsh

Given that Elaine hadn’t seen the submarine that Selena was talking about, she could really do nothing more than make idle speculation after speculation with what little information she had. Rather than trying to force her attempts at piecing together the minimal knowledge she had, she turned her focus to Selena.

“Huh. That’s it? The way you were speaking about it, I had figured either you had personal experience with a legendary Pokemon or you had logically come to a conclusion that it was an expected outcome. Either way feels a bit outlandish, mind you.”

As much as she felt like she wanted to press further, she could hold that off for later.

“Were you able to catch any more details about the submarine when you caught a glance? We’ll have to dive back down anyway, but it’s better to get all the necessary information out of the way so we can narrow out possibilities. Shore out what we know versus what we don’t.”

---

MISSION: SOMETHING FISHY

Selena Desmarais

Elaine winced as her hand made contact with Selena. What had felt like a shock seemed to course through every epineurium in her hand all the way through her spine. It was quick, but it was enough to make her muscles contract and keep holding tight. Even if she wanted to, Elaine was completely unable to let go.

But that was not the crux of the whole phenomenon. Far from what she was feeling, it was what she was witnessing that drew far more attention from Selena.

The woman had taken on a glow that resembled an electricity. The light emanating from her and the sparking of the air spread out like branches on a tree or a snowflake to the point where it had even gotten onto Ginga’s head.

Even as Ginga had resurfaced and undid the barrier to allow new air in, Elaine could still feel that.

Really, what was that all about?

After letting go, taking a deep sigh, and clenching and unclenching her fist, she heard Selena’s words of exasperated.

Yeah, I’ll leave it for when she’s a bit calmer.

“I didn’t really catch a glimpse of that, so you’re going to have to guide the two of us back to that. But why would there be a submarine out here for long enough that it’s causing disturbances in the fauna?”

Wait a minute. Wasn’t there something even more jarring about those statements that she had just heard?

“Wait! Before that, what do you mean by another legendary Pokemon?!” Clearly, it was time to rip the bandage off of that wound.

---

MISSION: SOMETHING FISHY

Selena Desmarais

“Nothing yet!”

Even if it was muffled, Elaine could still try to make sure to properly communicate. Though she questioned if Metagross could use Psychic to enable some telepathic communication, she decided not to push further considering that method was what was keeping oxygen in and the torrents of the sea out.

It didn’t take long until Elaine could see the light of the sun getting almost completely refracted from within the water, leaving only whatever weak light Ginga’s own Psychic was emitting out to illuminate the depths.

In the meantime, she made sure to keep an eye returning to Selena as they darted around, trying to pick up any information from what minimal visual stimuli she could get.

And as she did, she noticed the light she had been keeping her eyes on flickering.

“Ginga, up!”

Without any hesitation, she and Ginga flew upwards until they could see Selena and her Metagross.

“Get on! Hurry!” Quickly, Elaine stood up and held a hand out to Selena. She could only hope she would take it.

---

MISSION: SOMETHING FISHY

Selena Desmarais

Elaine found herself chuckling as the two dog Pokemon began to play around, with Fiamma taking a moment to back up and poise itself for a game of tag...or a race. Whatever it could come up with that involved running around, really.

“Ginga’s a bit big and being a steel-type, it can cause damage to structures if it’s not careful, so it prefers to stay in a Pokeball whenever we’re near anywhere populated.”

---

Billi Marsh

With that seemingly playful taunt, Elaine could feel an eye twitching, but suppressed it all in hopes that nobody would notice. There was something far more pertinent happening at the moment. She watched as a boundary had formed around Selena, placing her into a protective space for the dive she had been planning.

“Ginga. Can you do the same?”

With a low grunt, the Metagross had began to emit a pale glow of its own, that had expanded to encompass her inside, sealing in air for her as well. Once it had finished the initiation of the boundary and began to maintain it, Elaine rubbed its head gently next to where she had taken a kneel.

But, her eye twitched once again.

Elaine wasn’t sure whether Selena was doing it on purpose, but the way she had asked the question had almost seemed like the she was beckoning her on as if she were the one leading her on.

So, rather than waiting to get her approval, she decided it was best to start taking the plunge.

“Of course. Let’s not hold up. Time’s not going to just put itself on hold for us, you know~”

After flashing a smug grin and a v-sign with her fingers, Elaine and Ginga initiated descent.

---

MISSION: SOMETHING FISHY

Selena Desmarais

That sounded about right. Elaine was surprised that Selena would just candidly spell out why she was here, but that made things easy, as strange as it was. She could at least be a bit thankful that Selena was being forthcoming.

“That sounds about right.” Elaine sighed as she scratched at her head with her free hand. “The changes in the local fauna are concerning. I had figured to start checking the shoreline first for any possibilities, but that turned up absolutely nothing. I had figured an it could be a spike in the predator population or something man-made, but as far as solid ground is concerned, there’s nothing here aside from some jostled fishers dotted across the route.”

So, if that was the case, then the source was likely somewhere she hadn’t checked yet.

The bountiful blue expanse that had stretched to the horizon. The body of water over which Selena was floating.

With a quick hop, Elaine got on the back of her Metagross and spoke softly to it.

“Up, Ginga.”

Within a few seconds, Ginga had broken away from the bounds of gravity and was floating as well.

“Teaming up sounds like a plan, Selena.”

---

MISSION: SOMETHING FISHY
Selena Desmarais

The sounds of dirt being shifted and crumpled by a pair of shoes resounded as the Wingull squawked in the sunny heavens above. Below her, the waves crashed against the vertical face of rock and dirt she stood upon, falling apart before returning to crash once again.

Anyone with a pair of eyes could tell that the young woman did not belong there. Her blazer, ribbon, and skirt reeked of a person who was neither a fisher nor a swimmer. Her hair ornaments reeked of someone who had failed to leave something behind.

Elaine had been hired for a job—one that took her to the Lilycove shoreline. Such was the life of a freelancer who still clung to her glory days and stayed stuck in the crags of those days.

And as she stared off, almost listlessly, into the sea and the horizon before her, something had dared encroached her field of vision—a Metagross floating above the water, carrying a single person who had decided to call out to her.

As she turned her head to focus on the new person, she pinned a piece of paper folded twice between her fingers.

“Yes, that would be me.”

On second thought, that’s probably a good idea. Would beat walking around here.

She pulled out a Pokeball and released a Metagross of her own. After placing her hand on the Metagross’s front leg, she directed her gaze to the one calling herself Selena.

“You can call me Elaine. May I ask what brings you out here?”

---

MISSION: SOMETHING FISHY
Selena Desmarais

• player/ooc name: Kohaku
• character tags: Elaine Highland
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): None
• ic posts for characters:
  Elaine: [X]
• any notes/comments: None

Taking a second after she pulled out her Pokeball, she thought.

Wait. This is Ginga’s Pokeball. Did I grab this one on reflex?

Without a further thought, she put it back into her bag. After all, Ginga was not exactly the type of Pokmon to let out in the middle of a city like this. Instead, the best one to pick up was probably...

“Fiamma. Come out.”

The fire pup jumped out, landing next to the electric corgi that had been let out nearby it.

“I’m personally in the mood for some tea. I always felt that kind of thing complemented the waves of the sea in the daytime the best.”

Despite the rocky start, she had found herself falling fairly easily into his pace. As much as she was not a fan of being the follower, she would let it slide. Just this once.

“The other one I picked up, Ginga, isn’t really a fan of cramped places like cities.”

---

Billi Marsh