The rain was falling heavily, causing a soothing symphony of water drops against the various metal, brick, and cloth surfaces that made up her theme park. Clad in a bright yellow long raincoat that almost reached her feet,
Johanna Joy strolled through the theme park streets late at night.
She couldn’t sleep and didn’t know why. But she hoped a short walk through her Magnum Opus might grant her the sleep she desired.
As she walked, the rain bathing her in its cold waters, she noticed something gently bobbing along a stream of water. And as a small beam of light reflected upon it, she noticed the red and whites of a Pokeball. This caught her by surprise and as she saw the small sphere floating toward a rain drain she hurried over to it. But it was all too late. It fell into the drain on the sidewalk just as she was reaching for it.
She sighed and bent down hoping that she might see it stuck on something within arms length. But all she saw was a glowing pair of light orange eyes. She gasped in surprise and blinked. And when she returned from that moment of blindness the eyes she saw were gone.
Weird. I guess I am more tired than I thought. She eased her mental worry for a moment before moving on. The Pokeball lost to the tides of rain. She only hoped it was empty.
As she moved on this weird sensation kept following her. As if someone or something was watching her. Call it intuition or what not, but it felt weird.
Days later she found herself walking through the empty streets of the theme park once more deprived of sleep. The air would do her good, she kept telling herself. Though, she remembered all too well the previous happening. But she would not let a mere single instance of weirdness keep her from her pride and joy.
And as she walked down the darkened streets she saw a silhouette gliding around in the cover of darkness. A medium sized sphere hanging in mid air gently bopping along. At first she thought it was one of the countless Drifloons she let stay in the park. But as she approached it, it revealed itself to her as nothing more than a normal red balloon. A balloon that stayed put in midair, neither rising nor falling, nothing anchoring it but what looked like a small card at the end of its string.
Johanna looked around trying to see any signs of a prankster, but there was none. And so she gently took hold of the card and read what had been written on it.
WE SEE YOU.
WE ADMIRE YOUR DESIRE FOR UNITY, COMMUNITY, FRIENDSHIP. WE ADMIRE YOUR EFFORTS AND DOTH NOT WISH TO SEE IT WASTED.
WE ARE ALLIES OF JOY
She felt her heartbeat grow stronger with this ominous message. A warm sensation spread in her cheeks, pushing away the paranoia waking from these red-flagged words. Whoever these people were, they made her feel seen with their words, even if they were brief, and the words played all the right tunes that pleased her ears.
She turned the card around and found more text to be read.
IF THOU DESIRETH THE SAME GO TO WONDERLAND.
FIND THE BOOTH.
CALL XXX-X-XXX-XXX-XXXX AND BE AMONG FRIENDS.
Strangely cryptic. Johanna was suspicious about it. This could very well be a trap. She wouldn’t put it past Team Rocket to create some elaborate trap like this. But if this was true, if these like minded people that, like her, desired to see a world united and joyful. Then she had to give them a chance. If she couldn’t then how could she ask others to do the same?
Foiled by her own internal logic she made her way over to the part of Joyland designated as WONDERLAND. And there she came upon a curious apparatus. A phone booth had found its way into her theme park, standing there as a thorn against the fantasy aesthetics she had carefully created.
She carefully walked over to the phone booth, eyes glancing around to see any hint of this being a trap, yet she saw none. And so she made her way inside, picked up the phone and gently rested it against her shoulder and head while she held the card in one hand and dialed the numbers with the other.
The phone rang for what felt like an eternity. And then she heard a crackling static before a voice she did not recognize as natural broke the noise. It began to speak, politely asking if she wanted to know more, reassuring her that she would be among friends should she accept. Yet for all the words it spoke, Johanna felt like it never gave out more information than what it had to even when she inquired deeper into some of the things it said. And once all the information had been shared with her, it asked one important question.
“Doth yee accept?”
She took a deep breath, and though she knew it might well be a trap of some sort, if they were like minded individuals then having them as allies would be for the betterment of all.
“I do.” Eagerly anticipating the triggering of a trap, but all that came was words and a gift.
“I am thou... Thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new bond with SEELE...
It shall become your wings of opportunity that breaketh thine chains of limitations.
We grant thee the mantle of THREE OF CUPS.
Thou art now required to bestow upon us a token of potency, a symbol that shall proclaim thy existence within our midst."
For a moment Johanna hesitated. She didn’t know what that could possibly be. But then she felt a warmth on her ring finger. The Black-Steeled wedding ring calling to her perhaps subconsciously? She didn’t remember why this object was important to her, but ever since that time in the
Ancient Tomb, she knew it HAD to be. And so she offered the ring up for scanning.
The object was accepted and as it was scanned a Rotom came to her. The voice on the phone explained its purpose, and she couldn’t help but think that it was pretty neat.
With the Rotom given, and the object scanned. The meeting came to an end. And as Johanna left the booth she could not help but ponder what she had gotten herself into.
NOTES-
LOCATION: Joyland (Ever Grande City) In the middle of the night while it's completely empty.
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OBJECT OF POWER: Black Steel Metal wedding ring.
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REASON: To find like minded individuals that want to better the world and free it of the constant battles.
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DESIGNATION: Three of Cups