For weeks, Andrea racked her brain trying to figure out a solution to the mask question. She had lucked out with the Teal one. Rebuilding the other three felt like a fever dream.

Slotting Tera Crystals into perfectly-cut holes seemed like an impossible task. In her test runs using various blocks of wood, the holes always wound up being either too wide or too narrow.

While traversing the great chasm of Hoenn leading into Area Zero, inspiration hit her: The trees there were overrun with crystalline growths spreading across their barks like a viral infection. It almost looked like those trees were in the process of Terastallization.

What if she used that wood that was already imbued with Terastal energy as her material?

“Pon! Poni~!” Ogerpon cried out happily, seemingly approving of her idea.

With the ogre’s stamp of approval, the eccentric trainer sent out her Haxorus. “Mirabelle, use Dual Chop to cut down that tree!” At her order, the black dragon started slashing at the trunk with its axe-like tusks.

//using rock type incense

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The PokéManiac stared back at Aqua quizzically. “Fencing them in? I’ve never thought about it that way. I guess there IS a fence around the ranch. It’s not that tall, though. Or that tough. I bet most Pokémon could just climb over it. Or tear it down if they’re strong enough. Makes you wonder why we even bother building fences in the first place, huh?”

Likely in an attempt to spare themselves from her yapping, the young Rocket begrudgingly agreed to challenge her Minor Gym, opting for the non-traditional option. “An excellent choice! Follow me!” Said Andrea. On their way to the designated area, they came across a majestic Slowking that gave off a faint pink glow.

“Hey, Bronson. Can you bring the stuff from the house?”

“Slooooooooooow.”

Eventually, they reached what appeared to be a picnic table. The Slowking from before Teleported back in, setting ‘the stuff’ onto the table using its Psychic powers; a wide selection of food ingredients, a plate, and two long slices of bread.

“Thank you, Bronson! Now, the non-traditional challenge is pretty simple: You’ll have to make a sandwich using five ingredients from this table.” The eccentric Gym Leader explained to the androgynous teen. “Choose any ingredients you like. Your Pokémon can help with the sandwich-making process too!”

Aqua Kennedy //non-traditional

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The Fallarbor Minor Gym was certainly unconventional. For one, it did not have what one would call a proper lobby. The only indication that it was even a Gym were the two Rhydon statues at the front gates. The one to usher the young challenger in was a woman in her forties who bore a striking resemblance to Andrea.

“Come this way, Abby. My little girl is always happy to accept new challenges!”

Yeah, this was definitely a family-run business. Did they even have funding from the League? In any case, the Minor Gym Leader could be found further within the ranch, tending to a litter of baby Pokémon (Pichu and Azurill for anyone curious). Her Kangaskhan put the babies to sleep by Singing a soothing lullaby.

When offered a modicum of privacy, Aqua immediately dropped the act. “Oh, it’s you.” Andrea put a hand over her mouth in shock, evidently fooled by their disguise. “Thank you so, so much for coming! I’m gonna test you to see if you’re worthy of the Monster Badge, yes! We could either do this the traditional way or the non-traditional way!” She eagerly explained.

Aqua Kennedy //traditional/non-traditional

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“I’m over here!” Andrea hollered, not too far from the Hisuian expert and her Braviary from another era. Although she was eager to explore this mostly uncharted realm, she knew very well the dangers of straying from the group.

True to its name, the Distortion World was a distorted mess of land structures floating nonsensically in an ever-swirling void. Up was down, and down was up. Waterfalls flowed backwards or even sideways.

Perhaps its most eerie feature was the complete absence of life. Even the Border was known to house the occasional Ghost-type, yet this realm that mocked every known law of physics was truly and utterly desolate.

“Whoa… This feels completely different from the Ultra Wilds!” The enthusiastic PokéManiac remarked in sheer awe. Her Iron Jugulis, on the other hand, showed no emotion on its robotic visages (all three of them).

“Where do we even begin? We should probably find someplace to land first, huh?” Andrea suggested, scanning the vicinity for any platforms that looked large enough to support the weight of two humans without crumbling.

Then again, it was possible that the concept of weight did not exist here.

Yuina Higashi

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An important lesson that had unfortunately never been imparted on Andrea was never to underestimate the enemy. Another new thing learned today was that Eris was a surprisingly adept swordfighter. Sadly, those skills did very little against the Paradox Pokémon that appeared out of thin air.

“Pon, help Eris out!” The PokéManiac exclaimed, as her Ogerpon dashed forward, aiming its signature Ivy Cudgel on the Iron Crown’s metallic noggin. Thanks to the established Grassy Terrain, the ogre’s thorny mallet could deal more damage than it otherwise would have.

Noticing the ghostly hands at the last second, Andrea hugged her crocodilian son tightly. “Jalapeño, dodge with another Springtide Storm!” At her order, the Fuecoco shot a second tornado of cherry blossom petals downwards, causing them both to get launched into the air and out of the spectral limbs’ reach.

“TRAINER MOVE: PHYSICAL SHIELD!!” The Sygna Suited woman manifested a quick barrier to soften her landing, but still hurt her back upon impact with the hard soil. She tried to hide her pain for her son’s sake. “It’s okay, Jalapeño… Mommy’s okay…” She reassured her worried Fuecoco.

Eris Halla //skirmishes

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Josh’s comment about war couriers got ignored. Needless to say, anything remotely related to war left a sour taste in the young woman’s mouth after everything that had transpired.

“If he hasn’t passed on, I don’t want it to be because of me. I want him to find peace.” Andrea said sullenly, before taking a look at her friend’s collection of Ghost types. “You’ve really come prepared, though. With this team, we should have no trouble pacifying Chomper, Kyle, or anyone else!” She declared, trying to stay as optimistic as possible.

That optimism waned when an eerie wind blew past them, a mist of unnatural origin slowly encroaching on the area. Gigi moved closer to her trainer, the Gengar’s trademark grin turning into a tense frown.

“Something’s coming. Could it be…” The draconic cosplayer muttered under her breath, feeling the pangs of dread and anticipation.

Josh Devlin //GHOST STORY G

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Upon being called adorable, the drunken girl smiled like an imp. She brought a hand closer to Lulu’s face and tried to playfully poke her nose.

“Boop~!”

Andrea laughed like an idiot, before addressing the older woman’s inquiry. “Pon loves sandwiches, movies, long naps, sandwiches, and masks. One day I’m gonna rebuild all four of her masks!” She declared.

Lulu Flint

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The previous Pumpkaboo turned out to be smaller than her guess. This one looked even smaller. However, the more she looked at it, the more Andrea found that the best word to describe this Pumpkaboo was ‘nice’.

The eccentric girl scribbled a number on a piece of paper, giggling uncontrollably. “Teeheehee~ What do you think of this?”

Ogerpon took one look at the scribbled number and started giggling too.

‘Nice’, indeed.

//guessing 69

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Fafnir’s nose did not lie. There were no more dragons on this desolate island. However, there was a fish. A very ugly fish that looked like it was in constant pain from the mere act of existing.

“Meatloaf, Outrage again!” At its trainer’s behest, the Salamence made quick work of the wild Arctovish, sending it crashing against the rocks. Taking pity on the mutated abomination, Andrea threw one last Pokéball at it.

“I’d love to visit the draciary someday! It sounds fun!” The dragon lover beamed at Freya’s invitation, blissfully unaware of the events that were about to transpire in the coming weeks.

freya morningstar //attempting to catch arctovish

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“It’s not so much flying as it is riding the cloud.” Andrea mused, while staring at the fluffy mass of lightning and thunder looming above them. “My dad read me a story once about an Infernape who could ride on a cloud and beat up demons with his magical staff. I think his name was Son Goku.”

The duo quickly located the next set of doors, but they were locked, and indeed no amount of brute force could pry them open. The only way to open them was electronically, but the generator, despite its insane readings, appeared to not be directing any power to the doors.

“Maybe they’re not plugged in?” The young woman theorized. “I’ll look around to see if there’s any unconnected cables lying around.” She said, mounting her Iron Jugulis once more.

Josh Devlin //mission thread

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It all started with a picture she randomly found while scrolling through social media posts (which she rarely did in the first place, since she would much rather spend time outside). It looked too blurry to make out the details, but she knew better. This was a Shiny Hydreigon. Not just any Shiny Hydreigon either; this was Chomper without a doubt.

Was such a thing even possible? Ghosts wandering among the living was nothing new, and the place where the original poster alleged the sighting had happened was close enough to where her beloved partner had met his tragic end. If there was even a sliver of a chance of this being real, she needed to get some kind of closure.

“I’m sorry for roping you into this, Josh. I didn’t know who else to call…” Andrea said to her friend Josh after explaining the situation to him. “You’ve dealt with dead spirits before, so I figured you’d know what’s the best place to start looking. I need to do this. If Chomper is out there, I need to see him one last time.”

Andrea’s Gengar, Gigi, melted into the shadows cast by the surrounding trees in search of any signs of paranormal activity. The young PokéManiac rarely used her Gengar, but in this case, who better to assist with ghost hunting than a Ghost-type Pokémon?

Josh Devlin //GHOST STORY G

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“Heyyyy!” The young PokéManiac waved back at her fellow girlie, quickly closing the distance. She was clad in her Hydreigon Sygna Suit, yet Chomper was nowhere to be seen. “Yep, this is the place. At least that’s what the neighbors said.”

Interdimensional portals were bad news. Fallarbor and its surrounding areas were already susceptible to corrupted droughts thanks to Groudon’s rampage earlier that year, and now, another anomaly had taken root. It was her duty as Minor Gym Leader to ensure the safety of her people.

Andrea saw it first. The same ‘eye’ that had stared at her and MATIAS SILPH back in Area Zero was staring at her once more. “S-so, does any of your books have any info on this?” She nervously asked her historian friend. What lay beyond that rift were horrors beyond their mortal comprehension.

“T-this is kinda exciting! We could be the first humans to fully explore the Distortion World! Let’s go, Mecha-Chomper!” After gaslighting herself into thinking this was a good idea, Andrea mounted her Iron Jugulis, and they boldly went where no man had gone before.

Yuina Higashi

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Those Rocket grunts seemingly recognized one of their own. Eris’ criminal history was a topic that Andrea often overlooked or outright forgot. The past was the past, and people changed. Well, some people did anyway.

“Don’t mess with hounds unless you wanna get bitten!” Said the flamboyant cosplayer in an antagonizing manner. “Pon, hit ‘em with your Z-Move! MEMORIES OF ONIGASHIMA!!”

“GRAAAH!! POOOOON!!!!”

Brimming with verdant energies, Ogerpon conjured a pair of gigantic arms made of thorny vines, pummeling the hordes of Poison-type Pokémon the grunts sent after them, and setting up a Grassy Terrain in the process.

“How the hell are they this strong?!” One of the Rockets cried out in shock.

“Welcome to Hoenn, bitch!” Andrea spat as she symbolically took revenge on Chomper’s killers. Jalapeño’s Pokéball shook with RAGE, the Fuecoco wanting to avenge his fallen friend too.

“Go get ‘em, Jalapeño! Springtide Storm!” The onesie-clad woman tossed the ball with the skill of a professional pitcher. Empowered by its trainer’s Sygna Suit, the baby crocodile summoned a roaring storm of cherry blossom petals that obscured the enemy’s vision.

“We softened them up for you! Now it’s your turn!” The woman told Eris and Reiner, giving them both a thumbs up.

Eris Halla //skirmishes

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