Aurum Badge Challenge

The two edges clashed. The eerie screeches of two blades resounded as sparks flew with every minutia of force exchanged between the two. There was only one problem.

The more they stay locked, the more Jeanne gets forced into a disadvantage.

Though the situation looked like a stalemate, Elaine had already been placed on the back foot. It would be a battle of attrition that would end in the Aegislash's favor. They needed to gain some advantage somehow.

"BURN!"

That was all Elaine had to say as Ceruledge's blade no longer glowed a deep purple but a bright blue and purple instead. If they were going to keep damaging each other, then she merely needed to siphon life from an enemy, sucked in by the vacuum that those flames of regret were.

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TL;DR:

• Ceruledge holds her ground and changes from Shadow Claw to Bitter Blade.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

Aurum Badge Challenge

It was not even an instant before the onslaught had begun. The opposing Aegislash had flung itself into the air before flinging its shield towards Jeanne. She had been lucky that its dance was quick enough. Had it been even half a second slower, Jeanne would have taken a critical blow at the very start.

The battle would have been over before it could even truly begin. The Ceruledge took a step inwards. That was all it took--a simple step forward. Even the slightest of movements were enough to evade a grand frenzy. But that was not the end. The shield smashed into the ground behind it, throwing the earth up in a plume of dust and rubble.

"Ride it." She didn't even need to say it. The Ceruledge had used the force from behind itself to press forward. The shield and the blade had separated, meaning it was the opportune moment. "Cut down."

Her dual blades glowed a deep purple as they threatened to slash into the airborne blade.

Gwyar was not kidding when he said this Aegislash was especially aggressive. But that just meant she needed to use that to her advantage. Somehow.

If it had let loose the shield so easily, it could regain it just as quick. But, acting on the razor thin margin was the absolute right answer here. For now.

---

TL;DR:

• Ceruledge uses the shockwave to propel it and uses Shadow Claw.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

Aurum Badge Challenge

It was strange. Back when she had lived in Sinnoh, the idea of taking its gym challenge had never crossed her mind. Perhaps because of the world she had lived in, she had never thought too deeply about it. It was a separate world from her own. But, she had come to a realization. That was the reason why she stood here to begin with.

She could not merely stand on ceremony as the world progressed beyond her time and time again.

"Let's begin, Jeanne." As Gwyar had signaled the start of the battle, Elaine issued a single command. Pointing her fingers up, she spoke. "Start with Swords Dance."

Her opponent was an Aegislash. When in their shielded forms, their defenses were absolutely formidable. Only when they began to attack could they deal damage. So, they needed to bring things into their advantage.

To turn this match into the high-risk high-reward fight that would only occur at blade's edge.

The spectral knight raised its swords as it began its short dance of power.

---

TL;DR:

• Ceruledge uses Swords Dance

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY

Imprisoned Investigator--Prison Sucks

Ever seemed like he couldn't give up the theory that the Megalopolans were all behind this and that they were all merely waiting to be eaten up. Elaine could not help but want to tear down that theory.

But now isn't the time for that.

Elaine took a deep sigh. She could probably present a good argument against it, but there was no need to be striking out someone else's possibilities just yet. What they truly lacked here was information and until they could get that, the amount of possibilites that they could come up with for what was happening was sorely limited.

"Who knows?" Elaine shrugged before leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms. "I'm sure whoever is behind this will make themselves known eventually."

As whirring reverberated throughout the ward, the platform began to descend. "And speak of the dev...il...?"

Despite her attempt at trying to make light of her timing, she found herself stopping as she saw what had been coming down on the platform. Three Pokemon, each wearing a chain had descended with the platform before it stopped on the ground.

As she watched what was going, she could hardly believe it. The largest one pulled out several crates that read 'For the Weakling Ward' before it remained off the platform.

If it weren't for the fact that they were behind bars, Elaine would have taken offense to the insinuation by someone else that she was weak. That judgement belonged to her and her alone.

Regardless, the platform once again began to descend, this time until it disappeared from view, taking the other two Pokemon--a bird-like one and a monke--along with it.

If one Pokemon left boxes here and stayed, that meant there was a chance that the other two would probably be doing the same down below. That meant there were definitely two floors down below, probably with prisoners themselves, though she was unable to catch the names of the other wards on the crates before they descended. On top of that, there was a chance that there were others on higher floors.

Cataloging what she had come to deduce about the structure they were all in, she listened to the greeting from the Megalopolan who clearly looked to be nothing more than a puppet as it spoke.

Wronged this creature? Three-Day war? Elaine had no idea what the representative was talking about considering this was the first time she had ever seen these creatures and even the chains that wrapped around them. It was not the first time she had been part of a group blamed for some great evil, but it still made her blood boil.

She clenched her fist, but before she could slam it into something and shout out, a cacophony erupted elsewhere. One had slammed the tray presented to them to the ground. And as quickly as they rebelled, they were immediately brutalized.

Elaine was a detective. She had seen her fair share of mutilated corpses and had seen many mutilations in progress before, but witnessing the act in person would have been enough to make her take a step back if she hadn't already had her back to a wall.

She grit her teeth as she let her fist unfurl. She had just barely been saved for a similar fate by someone else who had taken the punishment before she could transgress.

After calming down for a moment, Elaine had come to understand something. They could not rebel. Yet.

They did not have the strength to oppose their captors yet.

They had to bide their time. They needed to wait for their opportunity.

So, she silently ate the mochi. Elaine must not have had a meal in a while because the food she had just eaten almost resembled ambrosia at this point.

After the chains extended from their necks to the cell doors, she heeded the instructions the entire ward had been given.

"Well, we have no tools, so that's probably the best way to deal with it." Elaine sighed as she walked towards one of the nearest crates. As she did, her eyes trailed across the entire space. Numerous people had already walked out of their cells and had begun to chip away at their work. Above them was a strange light that felt a bit too omnimpresent for her liking. And then to her side was the corpse of the one who had been brutalized laying on the ground, untouched.

She was almost tempted to take one of the bones with her and fashion it into a knife using the wall or the ground. The thought of desecrating a corpse like that was not a welcome one but definitely one she had to consider.

However, she could also see a couple of others trying to pocket objects. There was no point in being the guinea pig yet. She had no idea if they would frisk everyone before they returned to their cells or even search their cells.

In other words, she needed to let the others be the test run for this while she remained in a safe-ish zone for now.

Getting to work, she began to sit on the ground and smash the rocks into the ground and against each other just like her cellmate had suggested. It was a solid idea, so she was hardly surpised when she was getting some semblance of chipping and fragmenting done.

"If only that were the case. I'd love nothing more for that desire to be returning to home but I doubt our captors are going to make it that easy to leave." The other young man was hopeful, but even he could clearly see that the situation needed a bit more objectivity to it.

As she stood up after getting enough fragments to return to a nearby crate, she looked at Ever. "For the time being, let's make sure we keep compliant. There's no safe zone here and they all can probably hear anything that has a hint of rebelliousness in it so just keep a watch of what you say and do. At least for now."

As she had finished saying that and dumping the shards she had already been able to create, she saw something in the corner of her vision that made her eyes widen.

Okidogi had grasped her chain a mere few feet away and immediately began to pull. As she found herself lifted upon the ground and flying, she felt like her breath had been squeezed out of her throat, but it wasn't over. The green Pokemon immediately tackled her, causing her to fly in the opposite direction.

As she flew, she could see it let go of the chain, start laughing and pointing at her. Had it deemed even what she said another sign of rebellion or had it been merely trying to mess around with her as it was everyone else?

The answer didn't matter as she slammed against the side of another crate a few yards away, causing it to tip over. As it did, she rolled over the side that then became its top before landing on the pile of rocks that had fallen over from within.

"Agh...." She couldn't even muster a cry of pain. It was hardly the worst thing she had faced. She had once been flung onto the surface of a meteorite before so hard she tore up her shoulder, arm, and chest. Compared to that, this was nowhere near that level.

As she caught her breath enough to sigh, she got back up off the ground and stretched a bit till she felt like she could move again before pulling the crate back up to the proper orientation and tossing everything that had fallen out back in.

As soon as she finished, she had caught sight of something--or someone--familiar. Long silver hair and long black hair. What were the odds that the two of them were both in each others' viscinities.

"Violet? Kyr?" She uttered both their names as she walked up to the ones she could swore she had recognized. Seeing friends she knew at this point was a greater ambrosia than even the mochi had been--even if it meant people close to her had been trapped too. "Is that really you?"

But she could still just reach out and hug them. In fact, she damn well tried.

---

TL;DR:

• Weakling Ward
• Elaine considers creating a bone knife from the corpse's bones but opts to watch what happens to anyone else who attempts to smuggle something
• Complies and agrees with Ever on how to proceed
• Tells Ever there is no real safe space right now and that they need to bide their time
• Gets tackled by Okidogi and smashes into a different crate
• Recognizes Violet Fairbanks and Kyrenai Black and ends up running to give the two of them a hug.

Tags: ever blackwell , Violet Fairbanks , Kyrenai Black
vzuivs30

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY

Imprisoned Investigator--Prison Sucks

"No dice, huh..." Elaine sighed. There were a few possibilities. The space was dyed too much by the wails and cries of everyone else. The cells were too far away for any subtle messages to reach. Someone else had heard and replied but she couldn't hear. Perhaps it was a combination of the three. "I know it was a long shot, but it's disappointing to see that fail."

Elaine was hardly the type to shout out to everyone to simmer down, especially when she couldn't see the faces of everyone else. Anonymity was a harder wall to stare down than a mob of faces in the end.

The whole situation was a powder keg waiting to explode, so she decided to focus more on the one who introduced himself as Ever. At the very least, he seemed like he was not trying to divulge a fake name, so there was no need for her to put up the airs of suspicion just yet.

He was merely in the same situation as her.

After flipping her hair, she crossed her arms. "I'm going to have to refute you there."

While keeping her arms, she raised three fingers on one hand. "There's three problems with that theory."

She started by leaving up only her index finger.

"Number one. While there have seemingly captured us and stripped us of anything we can use to fight back, we're still alive and clearly conscious. I'd never encountered a Megalopolan before, but this all seems kinda roundabout, don't you think?"

She raised her middle finger next.

"Number Two. They don't even seem to be paying attention to us. I imagine that would change if we tried to escape, but for the appearance of them guarding us...I can't really see any rhyme or reason to their lack of action."

She finally raised her ring finger. "And number three..."

Uncrossing her arms, she pointed to the chain around her neck. "I couldn't see my own, but based on the one you have, they have these things around their neck. Which means that they're probably not in control of this situation either."

Having finally closed her deduction, she sighed and let her arms drop to her side.

"But, there's no point in pontificating over all of this at this stage. We just need to keep wary in gather more information."

With that said, she lifted her dominant hand and faced Ever. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ever. Since we'll probably be stuck together for a bit, I hope we can get along."

---

TL;DR:

• Weakling Ward
• Elaine contradicts the idea that the Megalopolans are the orchestrators
• Seriously, why did they strip her
• Formal introduction to Ever.
• Plan: Morse Communication was a bust.

Tags: ever blackwell

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY

Imprisoned Investigator--Prison Sucks

"Hey you, are you okay?"

"Mmm...Twelve more hours please..." Elaine Highland could not have felt more at ease as she found her consciousness being roused for the first time in what felt like forever. Even the worst of nightmares could hardly fade her when she was in deep slumber. Sure, her neck felt a bit sore and that pain was making its way straight to the back of her head and maybe she was feeling a tad too sweaty for comfort, but she could honestly sleep sprawled out like this forever.

But perhaps after uttering those words, the reality of the situation finally hit her.

Something was clearly not right here. After all, a stranger was clearly talking to her. Not to mention the shouts and yells in the background.

All while she knew that the last thing she did was fall asleep sprawled on the long couch in her office space.

That she left locked.

Forcing herself out of the comfortable sprawl, she sat up to see the source of the voice--a masked young man who was wearing a strange mask and outfit. On close inspection, it looked Johtian in origin. Why he was wearing an outfit like that, she could not tell.

But it was at that moment that she had come to notice the odd feeling of her own clothes. Upon her face, too, was a mask strapped by a toxic chain around her neck. Upon her outfit were near identical clothes as the young man.

She had clearly been stripped to the skin and re-dressed considering she couldn't even feel any underwear between her skin and the fabric. She was lucky it was somewhat loose or the chafing would have been enough to drive her up the wall.

"I could be better, I guess," she replied to the young man before quickly grabbing the mask but trying to pull it off. But, no matter how much she tugged, she only made that neck soreness worse and worse. It wouldn't budge. Not yet at least. After a deep sigh, she addressed the young man once again. "Well, could be much better."

Turning her head around and standing up, she finally took stock of the room and herself. "Considering we're in some...jail cell, I think, I could be much better."

She threw her hands across her whole body, feeling across as much she could until she had also come to realize that her clothes were not the only thing. Her Pokeballs. Her notebook. Her phone and motorcycle keys. Even the hair ornaments she normally sported were all gone. She took one moment to frown before focusing on the problem at hand.

While continuing to talk, she began to examine as much of the area as she could.

"So, what do you think brought you here?"

She looked under every location she could think of to see anything that could be hidden until she walked towards the bars themselves. Beyond them, she could see little more than the aliens who were also wearing similar chains to them.

"Considering I don't remember being read my rights before being led here in shackles, can I assume you're the same?"

She could hardly see much outside. She had hoped to hear some familiar voices from beyond the veil of the darkness, but this was to no avail.

"In that case..." She muttered as she rested her hand on the chin of her mask. It was not the best substitute for her usual thinking pose, but the usual was obstructed so she had to make do with what she could. "...maybe we should try announcing our presence too. Maybe someone doing that will calm everyone else."

It was hardly the most optimal solution, but it was a start. She turned to face the other young man.

"So, what's your name? Mine is..."

And at that moment, she began to knock her knuckles onto one of the bars behind her in a rhythmic fashion.

- .... .. ... / .. ... / . .-.. .- .. -. . / .... .. --. .... .-.. .- -. -.. / ... .--. . .- -.- .. -. --. .-.-.- / .. ... / .- -. -.-- --- -. . / . .-.. ... . / --- ..- - ... .. -.. . / .- -... .-.. . / - --- / .... . .- .-. / -- . ..--..

---

TL;DR:

• Elaine wakes up in the Weakling Ward
• Elaine quickly begins investigating the room while talking to her cellmate
• She's a bit disturbed at the fact that someone stripped her
• While talking, she knocks on the cell door in morse code three times with the following message: "THIS IS ELAINE HIGHLAND SPEAKING. IS ANYONE ELSE OUTSIDE ABLE TO HEAR ME?"
• She hopes someone attempting to communicate will calm people down and hopes her cellmate will understand her name in the morse code

Tags: ever blackwell

ULTRA DESERT: EMSD

3rd Expedition

"Fair enough. Elaine sighed and shrugged her shoulders in response to the other two who had just landed. "Be ready to attack on command.

While descending, she locked her eyes with one of the tall, thin ones that was fighting. There was nothing else needed. She would go straight after that one. As she landed on her feet, far more gracefully than the man who had jumped off before her, she pointed towards that one target. However, something broke through before she could even do that.

"Eh?"

The insect that had locked eyes with her had flown off into the sky after being struck.

The culprit? One of the larger, more muscular ones who was now taking a few seconds to flex its muscles. It had charged, shoulder first into its enemy and claimed an instant victory.

"Wait, what?"

But that moment she had been stunned was enough for it to grab a new target. The being that clearly looked different from the rest of its kind. A clear enemy.

"Dammit! Tiamat! Fire Blast, now!" She pointed at the enemy first, allowing for the dragon above her to target it with five pointed flames before throwing a ball at it. It may not have been the Pokemon of her choice, but it was the one she had to choose now. After all, the other options had closed themselves out in that moment.

---

Tags: John Sullivan , maverick noah ryder

Elaine aims to catch the interloping Buzzwole

ULTRA DESERT: EMSD

3rd Expedition

"Phew." Elaine breathed a sigh of relief as none of them had ended up plummeting to their untimely doom. Sure, it was a feat of skill that had led to everyone being barely suspended in the air by the grace of her own Flygon (though Tiamat definitely could not maintain this forever), but it still led to her heart racing at the pace of a rocket.

It was only after their position had stabilized in the air that Elaine had seen what transpired on the ground beneath them--a grand and bloody battlefield between two opposing species.

"Those...are some of the corpses we saw. There were that many more in close proximity?"

It was enough to leave her awestruck to the point where her heavy heartbeats had faded into the background, obscured by the clamor of a battlefield.

"Yeah, it probably is a territorial squabble. But...it may not last much longer. Look. Don't you think..." Elaine pointed her finger to one side of the battle. "That they may be gaining the advantage?"

---

Tags: John Sullivan , maverick noah ryder

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY[break]SIGN-UPS

LOCK IN

CHARACTER: Elaine Highland [break]
WHICH WARD?: The Weakling Ward[break]
PREFERRED CELLMATE(S): Whoever RNGesus ordains[break]
PKMN TEAM (6 MAX): See below[break]
WHY WAS YOUR CHARACTER SORTED INTO THEIR WARD? (OPTIONAL):Those who seek strength in some way do so ultimately because of their weakness. That is a cardinal reality--one Elaine cannot yet escape. Not until she can hold the strength to enforce her ideals.

ULTRA DESERT: EMSD

3rd Expedition

"Yeah, that tracks." Given the presence of the sundial, it was clear that turning would manipulate the room somehow. Such reasoning was feasible for Elaine. The day on the ceiling had turned to night as the walls around them depicted a starry night. Was this meant to be a model of the universe around them or perhaps a ceremony meant to unlock something with a certain auspicious arrangement of the sky?

But none of that mattered as the ceiling opened up to reveal the moon.

Before Elaine could point out how beautiful it looked in the night sky, state the fact that too much time had passed for what they perceived, or even suggest that turning the sundial caused the passage of time for the world around them, the group was launched upwards.

With the sudden acceleration, she found herself falling to her knees, barely avoiding slamming them into the flying ground before them.

"Everyone!" She had to be wary to night bite her tongue here. "The moment it starts to decelerate, grab onto Tiamat or jump out! We'll pull you along!"

There was no guarantee how far this thing would fly, but there was a snowball's chance in hell that she would want to be on it the moment it started to fall back to terra firma. She and her Flygon would be ready to bring as many of them to safety as possible.

Some would say turning the dial in that moment was a mistake, but in the absence of any path forward, Elaine had no regrets with her actions. She would make sure that stayed true till the end.

---

Tags: John Sullivan , maverick noah ryder

This was the rangers' domain. Elaine knew that from the very outset, but she still ended up walking towards the center of the storm. It was hardly a smart idea, but it was strange enough that she could not help but avoid leaving stones unturned here.

That had been her intention--a simple curiosity driven by a simply strange phenomenon. Entering a storm led to sheltering in caverns of Meteior Falls. Taking shelter meant finding somewhere safe or navigating towards another exit, of which she ended up choosing the latter. Of course, the thick fog did not make that easy as she found herself slipping on the wet floor and falling, tumbling until she ground to a halt by a waterfall.

"Ow..."

Getting back onto her knees, she rubbed at her head to try and get the blood flowing and stifle the pain, only to wince with every time she made contact.

"Where is..."

But her voice trailed off as she saw the sight before her. In a world of fog ionized into a bright blue was a certain Pokemon only spoken of in legends--a great Pokemon who had embodied the very concept of ideals.

She had heard that it had chosen an avatar, but said avatar was nowhere to be seen. Though, she could hardly discount that they were hiding somewhere in this fog that pervaded everything around them.

It had a presence about it. Though it held no clear intent to attack or even intimidate, it still felt like a regal and imposing aura had fell atop her. In a way, it was similar to the fear that a certain icy beast instilled after the clash atop the meteorite.

But that was fine. It was not suffocating. It was not like she had been teleported into the bottom of an ocean without even a hint of equipment.

"I don't know." She pressed her fist to her chest and looked down towards it. Even as her legs were splayed on the ground in the uncouth shape of an M, she could not even thinking of moving or looking away from her fist.

She had many times declared her resolve with that clenched fist, but she was no longer sure.

"There was a time I thought I could build a peaceful world through capturing and reforming the worst of humanity. There was a time I thought that the only way to build an ideal world was through obtaining absolute strength. But..."

As she spoke, she got dropped her small fist and picked herself off the ground.

"I may have been wrong about the idea of an ideal world. My world is so, so much smaller than that. And it's not just me. Every person's world is the same. A small net of interlinking bonds. That was why I wanted strength."

This time, she gazed into the eyes of the black beast before her.

"I want power. A power great enough that I can protect my world until the very end. A power so great that it can resonate with other worlds. In doing so, only then can I create that ideal greater world I strive for. One where everyone can protect their own small world with their own strength and in doing so protect each others'."

Once again, she clenched her fist, but she did it right between her and its eyes. "Don't you think that sounds like a beautiful ideal?"

---

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character tag: Elaine Highland[break]
pokemon: Jeanne the Ceruledge