"A Pokéball?!" Okay, this one she could kinda rationalize. Maybe some trainer had failed to catch an elusive Water-type and the ball ended up in the bottom of the ocean. Yep, that was her wacky headcanon, not to be confused with mental illness.

The swimming dragoness dove once more, hoping to find another piece of treasure with its own unique and interesting backstory.

//CLAMPERL DIVING - AUG 12

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In the scientific method, the most dangerous word of all was ‘Oops’. How many experiments had gone horribly wrong due to a slight miscalculation? Granted, most scientists didn’t work with Paradox Pokémon.

“W-what went wrong? I was sure this was gonna work!” Andrea blurted out in bewilderment, while running away from the growing cloud of smoke, her Iron Jugulis in tow. As for her Slowking… he took his sweet time, but he eventually caught up.

“Bronson, use Ice Beam!” The costumed trainer ordered, hoping that they could at least contain the explosion by freezing some of the broken machinery over.

Lulu Flint

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Environmentalists were wrong. The sea was not filled with microplastics; it was filled with Technical Machines! Seriously, who kept yeeting these things into the water?

"Maybe we're finally gonna be able to teach you Hyper Beam." Andrea told her Gyarados, while rubbing the serpent's red scales.

Too bad those sea litterers were not as gung-ho about tossing Kasib Berries in there. That would have been extra helpful.

//CLAMPERL DIVING - AUG 11

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A tiny Jangmo-o curiously approached the costumed trainer, but scurried back to its den upon seeing the larger dragon. Meatloaf was too Intimidating for his own good.

“Looks like there are no new friends to catch today…” The draconic cosplayer sighed dejectedly. It was getting late. Checking her Rotom Phone, her face lit up. “Oh, it’s 12 AM! You know what that means, right? It’s my birthday! Happy birthday to me~!”

Meatloaf was the first person to congratulate Andrea on her special day, nuzzling his head against the girl. Perhaps she should have thrown a party, but all of her friends were busy dealing with the aftermath of the war.

Besides, celebrating publicly might have been inconsiderate to all the victims the war had left behind. 21 was not an important number anyway. Just this once, she could celebrate alone.

//skipping & thread end

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"Another Salac Berry?!" Andrea stared long and hard at the unassuming, green fruit, trying to decipher its mysteries.

What kind of secrets did the Salac hold? Could it truly reverse causality as some people alleged? Could it alter the future, or was the future set in stone? Could humans control their own fate, or did fate control them? And if the former was true, would that make them gods?

Too much philosophy, not enough diving. There was more treasure at the bottom of the sea waiting to be discovered.

//CLAMPERL DIVING - AUG 10

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Another great success! Now that Andrea had gotten the hang of pulling off these tricks, she felt like a surfing master.

"Woohoo! I'm the Kahuna of Hoenn!" The young woman boisterously declared, challenging the gods of probability and luck with her hubris. Rule No. 1 of gambling was to quit while you were ahead, but she could not part with her rental Mantine just yet.

She just needed to get this one last trick right.

//MANTINE SURFING - AUG 10

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Another blue rock.
In a raging, deep blue sea.
Treasures aplenty.

"Haikus are fun!" Andrea mused, before taking a deep breath and diving in once again.

//CLAMPERL DIVING - AUG 9

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"Yay, we did it again!" Andrea jovially cried out, this time remembering to BOLD her speech. By all accounts, that had been the most flawless, most perfect, most immaculate Primarina Twist in the history of the sport.

But what if they could do even better? What if they could go further beyond?

Ah, hubris. The folly of man and woman alike.

//MANTINE SURFING - AUG 9

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Ultra Space ran on its own set of rules, and getting acclimated to those rules was a steep learning curve. Despite their unfamiliarity, the group managed to get past the first obstacle, finding themselves in a corridor filled with electrified Xurkitree wires.

Obviously, relying on Saber was the smarter move here. This dungeon seemed to have been designed with Electric-type Pokémon in mind. Very fitting for a place that housed the elusive Quickinium-Z.

“I don’t wanna use specific Pokémon. I wanna use my favorites!” Andrea protested, before pointing at the jumbled mess of wiring standing in their way. “Mecha-Chomper, use your Hyper Beam!”

[player]https://file.garden/ZdjOR5zmo3pLm51e/hoenn/HyperBeamLaser.mp3[/player]

A destructive beam was fired from the mechanical Hydreigon’s middle mouth, hopefully clearing the path forward for the Hoennian explorers to pass through.

Josh Devlin //mission thread

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