Ariados was off. Alas, it seemed he wasn’t allowed to go far. As he tried to storm off as only a spider could, he felt something heavy suddenly latching onto his thorax, disrupting the carefully cultivated suction he applied for moving on the ceiling. With his ability to stay upside down disrupted, he fell to the floor, hitting it with a heavy thud as it rolled onto its stomach.

It shook its head, shaking away the dizziness that hitting the floor caused it. It seemed these two were not about to let it get to Priscilla, so it would simply have to deal with them first. Luckily, in the bug world, it was eat or be eaten. It would not be the first time he took on more than one opponent at once. His shadow began to wiggle before shooting forth like tendrils of hardened darkness. One tendril aimed at the Totodile and another at the Cubone. Ariados was confident his double SHADOW SNEAK, would be more than enough to handle these two.

Meanwhile, Priscilla was covering herself up creating a makeshift toga with it while she saw the man struggle, or rather a blob, for she could honestly not identify Isaac’s gender from here. All she saw was a person struggling against her bug friends, and the bugs were winning through their continued struggle. The longer it took, the more string Weedle and Sewaddle succeeded in using. Larvesta kept on biting, and the Joltik? Well, surely Isaac would be able to feel the tingly slowly building up as Jolting was charging up its electricity for a good shot of ELECTRO WEB unless something quickly removed it from him.

Now no longer as panicked by her lack of clothing she had time to assess the situation. If only she could see what was happening. As if on cue she felt something fluffy grace her. She turned her attention to it, and her eyes fell upon the cutest little Eevee. It seemed to wave its fluff around, she noticed something shining in its fur and gently took it. Wait, that’s my glasses! She thought as she then put them on, resting them gently against the ridge of her nose.

Suddenly the world became clear to her. She saw the hilarious sight of Isaac being overpowered by her bug Pokémon. But with the clarity of the world appearing, so to did his words finally make sense, though outlandish as they were. “Well because this was the…” She halted mid-sentence as she was about to answer the question before having processed the last part of his sentence. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BLOW UP!” Her voice raised naturally in alarm.

A conspiracy! That was what this was, and Priscilla was the target. Ariados was sure of this. So much were his fatherly instincts going off that he didn’t much care for the fact that it seemed the other Pokémon was trying to handle her spectacles rather gently. After all, what use was fake eyes if those to whom they belonged were hurt? And so he stormed off, with the nimbleness of a spider climbing the ceiling down the hallway.

The rest of the Bug group fought valiantly against the giant invader. Alas, Isaac’s physical strength was superior to their feeble bug-type strength. And when the traitor-Combee joined in using its amazing bug powers, it would be all but a lost battle, had it not been for the sudden appearance of a barely clad Priscilla.

They felt the tide of battle turn as this person’s attention was drawn to the beauty that they knew Priscilla was. Larvesta, being the smartest of them all, quickly deduced that their human invader was a male, and though his words said otherwise, they would have to do something about him before he overpowered them and had his way with Priscilla. A sense of pride welled up in the Larvesta, as he was sure the Ariados would give him lots of head scratches for his detective work.

With a few chittering words, Larvesta informed his merry band of bugs of the new plan. Quickly Wimpod jumped off and scurried over to Priscilla, ready to defend her. Meanwhile, Larvesta, having reached up and around to the abdomen of their intruder tried to bite him right then and there, but he wasn’t sure if it was merely clothes he caught in with his BUG BITE.

Meanwhile, Sewaddle and Weedle were trying to quickly use their string shot to bind Isaac’s feet together so that he couldn’t move and hopefully toppled. And last, but certainly not least. The Joltik joined in on the physically harming Isaac plan and used its tiny Joltik legs to try and SUCKER PUNCH Isaac in his holiest of places.

Almost blind and confused did Priscilla perceive the world around her. Isaac was even at this length an unidentified smudge of colors to her eyes. Still, his words reached her loud and clear. Something about the voice seemed familiar, also the way it almost spoke her name. Though the latter made sense if this was all just a nightmare she was experiencing.

His words began to take effect, realizing now that a guy was looking at her most privates. She screamed louder than ever before, as she tried to cover herself with the duvet that she had dragged along “WHO ARE YOU!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!? AND FOR ARCEUS’S SAKE LOOK AWAY!” Her words were spoken with the speed of a charging Arcanine, made possible only by the fear and embarrassment that only Ecchi fanservice scene of a B-rated Horror-anime could produce.

Priscilla v Giant Murder Kaiju

Ever tried to sleep while someone is watching you? The strange pressure of eyes gazing upon you from the unknown. Even in her dreams, she sensed it. Wondering where it came from. Maybe it was just her Ariados? That’s the excuse she went with as she continued sleeping until a low rumbling caught her attention.

“Five more minutes please.” She asked in her sleep. At first thinking it was Ariados. But then her mind caught up. That was not the rumbling of a Bug-type Pokémon. She opened her eyes and in the limited lighting that her feeble human eyes caught, all she saw was the tail of a giant monster looming above her ready to consume her. Had she maybe spent a few seconds to think about why she was still alive if that was what it wanted? She might’ve figured it out.

Alas in her sleep-addled brain, that was not what happened. She had had enough of those dreams to know what would happen if she thought about it. “M-m-m-m-MONSTER!” She screamed loud as she sprang up from the bed with surprising agility, dragging the duvet with her in one hand as she sprinted past the Aggron, not even bothering to give it a second look, and out of the room down the corridor straight to towards where she remembered her Bug-pals had been.

Ariados v Totodile / Cubone ( + Aggron )

They weren’t attacking him. It seemed they were trying to intimidate him? Most curious, the Ariados had to admit. Perhaps they had a purpose here. Still, he spent a few more minutes doing chittering charades against the Totodile and Cubone trying to scare them off before deciding that it wasn’t having the effect that he wanted.

Though before he could ask them what brought them here. A horrifying scream reached his ears. True fear was painted upon his face. Had this been their purpose all along? To get him away from Priscilla so whoever they worked with could get to her.

Loudly he sneered some rather foul curses in his bug-type language and stormed off in the direction from which he came, reaching the room just in time to see Priscilla storming off. From his position, he could just barely glint at the shine of something huge in the room. His fears had been confirmed. Before thinking further about it he shot a ball of TOXIC THREAD, which quickly exploded into a web that covered the doorframe, hopefully halting the monster inside.

Isaac V Horror-trope
The Bug group was waiting in almost eager anticipation. It was not often they got to fight like this. More often than not they would all be scattered and too weak to fight. But not this time. This time they could handle this intruder, this time they would be the ones to feaster and not the feast.

But alas the high-pitched beating of wings announced the presence of another bug-type, a traitor among them? No, it wasn’t Ariados. He didn’t have wings. The leader of this group, the Larvesta looked from one member to the other. Nobody besides Ariados was missing.

There was only one thing to do now. If the enemy wasn’t going to come to them. They would have to go on the offensive. The Larvesta made some wiggly moves, explaining the plan quietly. They all nodded in agreement.

The Larvesta began to count down from three. But before he even reached zero, they all heard a scream echoing through the building. Fearing the worst, they bravely charged through the door. Larvesta led the way by DOUBLE-EDGE’ing the door of its hinges as they went through. The others quickly began to swarm Isaac trying to overpower him if the Combee allowed them to get close enough.

Priscilla Running

While everyone was reacting to her previous scream in one way or another. She ran down a corridor at full speed duvet dragged along with her, she had no idea why she kept holding on to it, but maybe it would prove useful in this nightmare. Because that was what this was, right? There was no way such a giant monster had sneaked past her Ariados.

She reached the main entrance area where Isaac and the rest of the Bug-troupe were, just in time to see them trying to charge the man. The sight itself was so unreal, that her mind just disconnected from reality for a brief second. She spoke not a word, she just watched as much as her eyes allowed her to without glasses, which wasn't a lot.

While Sleep was ever so slowly claiming her from this heat. The Ariados stood guard valiantly. But like any good spider, he had spread his thin threads through the building. A move that now paid off as the sensation of something stepping onto one announced itself to him.

He hurried off in the other direction, intent on sneaking around to see what or who it was. In doing so it avoided the presence of the giant Metallic monster which was currently checking the rooms though it worked for him as well since he did not notice the Aggron either.

It didn’t take long for him to find the intruders, a Totodile and a Cubone. Though something seemed off, he had felt more than a single tug on his strings. With a sigh, he realized that there was naught to do but scare them off. He could not let these dangerous wild Pokémon get too close to Priscilla. From his perch atop the ceiling, he shot a small ball of web forth, which quickly burst out into a big wall of STICKY WEB, halting the two Pokémon from progressing. While he made some angry chittering noises and gestures!

Meanwhile, the happy chittering noise of the rest of the Bug-types had come to a halt. They had heard the talking and sneakily peeked out of their room. Their eyes spotted Isaac, and they collectively realized a trainer had come here, clearly in hopes of catching them. They wondered what they ought to do. They whisper-chittered among each other for a short second, and then came up with a plan. They would ambush him. In best horror fashion, they closed the door that they were peaking out from, just enough to catch the attention of the trainer, while they all hid on the ceiling behind the door ready to ambush Isaac when he would walk into the room.

The sun was setting upon one of many decrepit buildings in the area. Priscilla and her bug-pals had taken to using one of those decrepit houses as a home. The one they had picked was the worst of them all. The lawn looked like a jungle, with cracks in the walls, the roof missing several tiles, the door barely hanging onto its hinges, and windows were long since broken. Long had it been abandoned by an unknown owner.

Ariados recently evolved from the stress she had given him by leaving unannounced for a short stint and had fixed up most cracks with its silk. The others had gathered leaves, sticks, and a used mattress, to make a bed for their favorite human in what they had assumed was a bedroom, because the room was tinier than all the others in the house.

Priscilla currently found herself lying in said bed, covered by a thin duvet. Her clothes were neatly placed in an unorderly pile by her side alongside her glasses. She was currently smelting underneath the duvet, and yet she needed the cover. She needed the comfort of darkness, and what little light came through the window in the room after Ariados had covered with a thin film of web was still more than she could handle. Though it did hide her from the prying eyes of outsiders.

As she laid there, the thoughts kept trying to creep into her mind. Thoughts that reminded her that she needed to return to her actual home, for surely her mother had left a will. She might lose that home if she did not return or contacted her mother’s lawyer. But she didn’t want to go back there, she didn’t want to know if she had been left anything. It was all too much for her to even think about. And so she ever so slowly tried to drift into the darkness of sleep so that the day and the thoughts would end.

Meanwhile, her little group of bug-pals had made themselves comfortable in the living room, which bordered right towards the entrance hall. They were all making chittering noises as they spoke among each other, laughed at bad bug jokes, and such. The only one not there was the Ariados, who had made himself comfortable outside the door to Priscilla’s impromptu bedroom. He did not need the company, he just needed to know she was safe.


Location: Slateport City Lower District
OOC: Mission thread for "FOR THE SWARM"

If Isaac thought that she’d simply accept such an excuse. Well, he would be wrong. There was no way that it wasn’t just a simple lie spoken to rid her of the guilt. She knew such lies. She had personal experience with them.

Still, Isaac seemed hellbent on not getting the money back and she in turn was hellbent on returning the money. There was but one compromise to make. She looked towards the Aggron who seemed rather amused by the whole ordeal.

She looked deep into its eyes. Then down at the wallet, then towards Isaac as she said. “Well, sorry but you are getting it whether you like it or not!” And then she did something she never thought she would do in her life. She gently threw the Wallet towards the Aggron, hoping that it would catch it but she didn’t stay to see as she began to run off in the opposite direction.

OOC: Well, I figure this might be a fitting end. Let us not cook more soup upon it than necessary!

The confused stare from Priscilla told Isaac all that he needed to know. She had not seen through the rouse that Isaac had attempted, and quite frankly would not have accepted it even if she had. He beat her to her next question by quickly explaining why he tried tricking her into the money.

His reasoning was sound. She could see it from his point of view. Still, she couldn’t accept it no matter what. She shook her head a bit stubbornly, as a slight pout formed. He was either being far too kind or he knew the guilt would eat her up at some point.

She figured after all this, he would probably not be coerced into taking his money back by words and so she tried to reach for his hand and with her own hand force the wallet into his grip while she spoke “I know you mean well, but I can’t accept this. I will get by somehow, so don’t worry about it.”

So, gravity was still a thing. This she had just confirmed as she was about to faceplant into the person whose Pokémon she had just tripped over. Luckily she didn’t fall further than what the initial faceplanting allowed her, as Isaac caught her heroically in his arms.

Though he didn’t keep her in his heroic grip for long. It was long enough for her to start blushing and feeling all warm and flustered. “I – I - I am sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you like that.” She spoke voice and face both radiating equal amounts of embarrassment as she gave quick apologetic bows in the direction of both Isaac and the Aggron.

Once she figured she had done enough apologizing, she straightened herself, pushing her glasses back in their place upon the ridge of her nose, as she prepared to hand the wallet over. But before even having the chance, Isaac baffled her with a statement she hadn't thought she would ever hear.

Whatever was left of her embarrassment quickly switched to a look of confusion when he simply stated that she hadn’t been supposed to return it. “But it’s your wallet?” She stated as she extended the hand which held the wallet towards him. “And there’s some money in there.” For once she spoke bluntly. “It wouldn’t be right to NOT return it after you helped me.”

"I will, don't worry." She gave him a reassuring nod, or at least as reassuring as she could make it. It was nice of him to ask one final time before leaving. And so she watched the pair leave. So focused on the leaving part was she, that she didn’t notice his wallet falling out before her eyes fell upon it as she was about to leave as well.

Oh no. She looked upon it eyes wide. She quickly grabbed the wallet, opened it, and looked at the money. Sure there was enough for some food. And she was rather hungry. But a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that this was not her money to take, and her bug-pals would be very disappointed in her if they knew she had kept this money.

With a sigh, she closed the wallet and exited the alley in the direction that Isaac had gone. She tried to look down the street where she assumed he would have gone, eyes straining as she fought valiantly to see. But She couldn’t distinguish his figure from the back, nor could she distinguish the Aggron shape among all the other Pokémon currently walking the street with their trainers.

She began to walk down the assumed path. Hoping that maybe if she walked quick enough, she could catch up to him and return the wallet. At the pace that she was walking or more like running, and the fact that she was rather hungry, stomach growling as she moved, She was one pebble on the street away from falling into the nearest person. Alas, the metaphorical pebble didn’t stay metaphorical, quickly taking the shape of the tail of a trainer’s Pokémon. She stumbled over it and began to fall at full speed forwards.

One of three things could happen now, perhaps she would slam into the back of the stranger whose Pokémon she stumbled over, perhaps she would hit the ground hard and potentially destroy her glasses, or maybe just maybe a knight in shining white armor would save her from this cruel fate.

Only fate would know for now.

@tag

“I appreciate the concern. I really do, but…” She wanted to say that she didn’t need it, but the words got stuck in her throat. That she could handle herself. But after a month of having been pretty much useless, this couldn’t be further from the truth. This had been her first excursion out from the safety that the home of her bug-pals had provided. Honestly, she wanted to just crawl back into the hole from whence she came and stay there for the rest of eternity. But she knew they wouldn’t let her nor did she want to impose herself upon them.

Isaac even went so far as to offer her one of his Pokémon for a brief period. She shook her head. “Oh no, I can’t accept that.” She shook her head. Though the offer was kind, she feel no more safe with a stranger’s Pokémon than with the stranger. It could very well have been trained to show him where she lived if she allowed it to follow her home.

“I promise, it’s going to be fine. I am sure those creeps are long gone.” She didn’t believe those words, and her voice reflected as much. But the longer she imposed herself upon Isaac’s time, the worse she felt about it.