As the Ceruledge rushed forth to attack, so too did the Grimmsnarl rush forth to retaliate. It extended its claws and reached forth, aiming to rip and tear at the knight, targeting his elbows and knees in an attempt to cripple it. From that alone, it was evident that the Grimmsnarl was Playing Foul. This would not be a fair fight.

Burning blades sliced away at hair, leaving singed tufts to fall down to the ground. However, none cut so deep that they managed to slice the ogre's flesh. It seemed that the mess of hair was proving effective armour, even against the flaming swords. It would take more than a few cuts and slashes to put him down.

With a vicious roar, the Grimmsnarl surged forth, aiming one particularly malicious blow towards the throat of the Ceruledge.

---

Thomas Benoit

As you step into the baths, you're faced with a sight more akin to the sewers of Spikemunth than anywhere people would go to relax. There's filth EVERYWHERE: Muck on the floors, sludge on the walls, and ooze on the ceilings. You sniff the air, and are attacked by what can only be described as the stench of guttering. Y'know, like stale rainwater and rotting leaves and bird shit, that sort of thing? All in all, it's a fairly wretched assault on your senses, and coming from you? That's saying something.

And in the middle of it all is the culprit behind this act of vandalism - A snail. Apparently, it's name is Wo-Chien? That's a pretty weird name for a snail, but hey, your Gholdengo is called Chester C. Coins, so who are you to judge?

You look at the snail, and the snail looks back at you. All of a sudden, you're reminded of that time three weeks again when Howard borrowed your pocket knife. Why hadn't he returned it yet? How long could he possibly need your pocket knife for? If he really needs it for so long, couldn't he just buy his own pocket knife? No, he probably doesn't even need it, does he? He's probably just too lazy to return it to you, the bastard! You look away from Wo-Chien and over to Howard, ready to chide the man for his failures, but as soon as you take your eyes off the snail, you falter. Hm. Well, he's currently busy crying and pleading and begging for his life, so this probably isn't a good time. The knife can wait.

For now.

"Fucking hell, man, get a grip!" You shout at Howard, watching him fruitlessly toss his mop towards the beast with little effect. "What's wrong with you? It's just a snail! Are you really so afraid of this... What even is it, actually? Paldean Magcargo?"

You glance back at Wo-chien. You don't know what it actually is, but you do know that it looks pretty cool. And, thinking about it, they did say that you just had to mitigate the damage, right? Well, you know of one way to stop a rampaging wild Pokemon. Idly, your hand shifts down to your Pokeballs, lingering on an empty one for a moment, before sliding over to those containing your team.

"Alright, look, how are we doing this?" You ask aloud, looking over to your peers. You're talking to the both of them, but really, you're addressing Grigori, because you're getting the sense that Howard will be too busy shitting himself to actually help. "We just need to to stop it from causing any more damage, right? And the best way to do that is to knock it out, yeah? So let's just send out our heaviest hitters, and hit it heavily. Does that sound like a plan?"

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli howard slayte Grigori Sokolov

Yeah, alright, THIS is the window you were looking for.

Smacking the return button on their Pokeballs, you recall both Cofagrigus and Slither Wing and proceed to dive into the water, swimming away from the murderous wizard and towards relative safety. It's not pretty, but you survived, as a far as you're concerned, that's a win.

---

MATIAS SILPH

MP:
SHORE = 100MP
9 IC POSTS = 90MP
KNOCKING OUT MIME = 10MP
USE OF A PARADOX POKEMON = 25MP
COMPLETING A MISSION = 100MP
COMPLETING A BATTLE = 150MP
PARTICIPATION = 50MP
WINNING = 200MP

TOTAL = 725MP.

"FUCK YEAH!"

You reciprocate the high five, hooting and hollering with excitement. Then, the realisation sets in that you're celebrating that you managed to take down a million-year old Magneton with three Pokemon and one casualty. That takes the wind out of your sails real quick, and leaves you more than a little deflated. You look over, and your Cacturne is giving you a side-eye that lets you know that yes, you really are THAT lame.

"Ahem. Yeah, good job." You pat Howard on the shoulder, before stepping over to your Cacturne with her Pokeball in hand. "You too, bud. Your job here is done, so take five, alright?"

"Whatever you say, jackass."

"Hm?" You intone, tapping a button and returning the mouthy cactus back to her Pokeball. "Sorry, didn't catch that last part. Oh well, guess it wasn't important."

Having effectively proven her point, you return Cacturne's Pokeball to you belt, before returning to what you were doing before the Paradox Pokemon had arrived: Trying and failing to figure out how you'd get out of this hole.

"...So, like, you're SURE you don't have any grappling hooks or ziplines in your jacket or anything, right? You're sure you're sure?"

---

howard slayte

This is not a good day for Team Shrigorward. To your right, Howard is having a complete and utter crisis, like his brain is about to explode. Meanwhile, instead of using your jacket like a blanket like you intended, Grigori just tried to put it on, and ripped it to pieces in the process. How did this get so bad so quickly? This is terrible. If the car had exploded in the middle of the intersection, it would've been less of a disaster.

You toss a clump of napkins back towards Grigori without even looking back at him, before shotgunning what remains of Howard’s Diet Bepis, also without looking over to him. Okay! Alright. Time to talk the talk, walk the walk, and if all else fails, reach for this cop’s gun.

Clearing your throat, you tap on the button, waiting for the window to slowly go down, before leaning your head out of the window to look towards the mysterious traffic officer.

"Evening, officer. What, uh… What seems to be the problem here?"

---

howard slayte Grigori Sokolov kyle lopez

TO:
FATHER WINTER THE 2ND
NORTH POLE H0H 0H0
HOENN

FROM:
SHRED ZEPPELIN
17 KAINA ROAD APT. 105
SLATEPORT CITY
HOENN

---

Hello, fucker.

I know you haven't met me, but I've met you. I saw you in the big Arceus computer. Apparently, you're some important bigshot within some kind of Dark Triad? I don't really get it, but apparently, you also do Christmas here. Or I guess you call it "Wintertide" for some reason? Why do you call it that? Are you stupid?

I'll level with you: I hate Christmas. My family could never afford shit like nice gifts or roast Ducklett or anything like that. We couldn't even afford to turn the heating on. Still, I'm a Rocket Beast now, so I guess I have a little more money to spend. Plus, a bunch of my Pokemon won’t shut up about it, so I guess I might as get in the festive season and write to you.

For Wintertide, I would like more Paradox Pokemon, especially the dinosaur ones. I already have two, but I’d like a few more to really bulk out my collection. I know you’re apparently some kind of an extradimensional being, too, so don’t hold out on me. I know you’ve probably got the really good stuff, like Venom Face (Paradox Arbok) and Moon Claw (Paradox Lycanroc) and Old Money (Paradox Ghol DON’T SEND ME MORE GHOLDENGHO. But you get my point. Give me the rare ones.

What would I change in my past? BUDDY, I don’t have enough paper and you don’t have a big enough mailbox for us to get into that. To cut a long story short, the fun was temperar termp temporal short lived and the regret is long lasting. I think I should have just been born luckier. That would have solved most of my problems.

What would I change in my present? I already told you what I wanted in my present, and now you want me to change it?? Alright FINE. I want one of those “””legendary””” Pokemon that all my coworkers are so enamoured with, like the Bastard Snail or the Big Fish or the Dark Crystal Man That Makes Howard Piss Himself. Between you and me? They’re just normal Pokemon but I think it’ll impress some of them, so hey, whatever, right? Just give me a Dialga or a Kyurem or a Zygarde or something.

What do I want my future to be like? I’ve learned not to worry about anything like that. Unless you have a time machine or a Celebi or something, and you can change the future? In which case I want to become Champion of Hoenn and marry the most beautiful woman in the world and become the boss of Team Rocket, in no particular order.

Anyway, make it happen big man. Chop chop.

Yours truly,
Shred Zeppelin.

P.S: My Meltan is proofreading this letter for me and he wants me to ask you to make him strong? That seems like a weird ask but he’s a nifty little guy so could you also do that for me? Thanks.

P.S.S: I solved your crossword, too. Easiest shit of my life.

SPOILER: Click to show

Kazimir Wynter makes the first move, charging forth in tandem with his Lokix. However, it isn't long before the man slips on ice left behind by the cataclysmic frost storm, sliding across the ground. His Lokix tries to Lunge towards the Iron Bundle, only to end up having its legs knocked out from under it by its own trainer, sending them both careening out of Santa's Grotto and crashing into the Stantler enclosure. The two only stop when they crash into a pile of hay, burying them in straw, and causing the reindeer much dismay.

The second member of the Shirtless Squadron doesn't have much better luck. It starts off well for Tempest Quinn, as the man not only manages to avoid slipping over himself, but his Dipplin even manages to launch a successful attack, too. The Infestation of insects rushes towards the Iron Bundle, eager to crawl into the circuitry, gnaw on the wires, and lay eggs in the USB ports. However, things begin to sour as the machine's head tilts up, looking to the bugs. For a moment, their ravenous advance halts, thousands of legs all stopping at once, thousands of eyes looking upon the Iron Bundle as though they were looking at the face of Arceus. Then, a flipper is pointed towards Tempest Quinn, and all of a sudden, the Infestation rushes to return to sender. Whoever would've thought that the bottomfeeder scum and hungry vermin would've betrayed their crisp apple commander in favour of this unholy wretch? Truly, a tragedy for the ages.

Fortunately, the last member of the Topless Trio manages to find some success. Aidan Hereford calls forth his Scizor, and the bug manages to avoid both slipping on ice and being mutinied by its own attack. Instead, it launches a simple and effective Bullet Punch at the Iron Bundle, hitting it head-on and sending it tumbling across the ground. It's not particularly flashy, but it worked, and that's more than can be said for his Clotheless Compatriots.

Meanwhile, ana fell and Eris Halla have the privilege of watching the ongoing farce on the sidelines. Certainly, not having to get close to that abomination is a luxury, but they can't exactly just leave it alone, either. So, the two send a pair of their own Pokemon on the offensive.

Eris Halla's Wooper is the first to arrive, hitting the Iron Bundle with a Chilling Water. However, it seemingly does very little to disable the creature. Sure, it washes off all the gunk, but it doesn't actually slow it down. In fact, as soon as the water drips off and hits the ground, it proceeds to shatter. Had it froze over after touching the Iron Bundle? That's strange enough, but it's made all the stranger, as the black gunk once again pours out from the robot's every orifice. What the hell is wrong with this thing?

That's what ana fell tries to find out. Her Porygon scans the Iron Bundle, trying to hack into its software so that it can be disabled. With some effort, it manages to breach a few layers of security, but it falters against the deeper protections. Still, the Porygon is left with read-only access to all of its data. Surely, it can find something, some error in its code or glitch in its system?

...Except, it can't. Sure, the code of Paradox Pokemon is highly advanced, incredibly futuristic, and near-incomprehensible, but even still, there doesn't seem to be anything notably wrong with it. Seriously, what's wrong with this thing?!

Well, there's no time to think about that. After all, the Iron Bundle is down and out! It's time to finish it off quick, before it can get back up and start wreaking havoc again!

---

The next deadline for this thread is Sunday 27th November, 8PM GMT.
ana fell Tempest Quinn Kazimir Wynter Eris Halla Aidan Hereford

The trainers quickly scramble to counter the Air Cutters. robin coello's Gengar and Snorlax clash against the attacks, managing to fend off the bulk of them. The rest are covered by trinity beckman's Cubone, who Flings anything he can get his hands on into the path of the projectiles. Together, they effectively manage to blunt the attacks, nullifying the slicing blades entirely.

That leaves the others free to take action. trinity beckman and her Pokemon rush off to find the control panel for this train, hoping to redirect the train into a dead end. Meanwhile, schuyler tate has his Ditto Transform into an Iron Bundle, hoping to be able to freeze the tracks and stop the locomotive. The moveset that the blob gains is... More than a little unorthodox, but it does the job.

Ditto-Bundle
Quark Drive; Close Combat, Sucker Punch, Blizzard, Whirlpool, Play Rough, Air Cutter, Present

The Iron Ditto aims a Blizzard at the tracks, ice and snow piling up in front of the train and stalling its forward momentum, but not stopping it. Still, it buys enough time for trinity beckman's Zoroark to find the controls and hit the switch, causing the train to redirect towards its "railyard", so to speak. Now, all they need to do is pull the brakes on the train itself, and they'll have this rogue robot cornered. Speaking of which...

virgil roach and the Iron Bundle stand off at the front of the train like it's high noon. Granted, it's much closer to 6:27PM, but that's neither here nor there. One would think that the man who styles himself after a cowboy would have the advantage in this showdown, yet the Paradox Pokemon is more than capable in the ways of violence. As virgil roach throws his Cubone like a baseball towards the Iron Bundle, it swings its sack like a bat and hits the fastball special head-on, sending him flying back towards his trainer and hitting him in the nose. If it were on the diamond, it would've been called the greatest homerun of the season. For this cold and unfeeling machine, it was just another day on the job.

However, perhaps it's not that cold and unfeeling. After all, as luka chêne's Togepi showers it in Sweet Kisses, assisted by Sylveon, its eye seems to twitch. Had the cuteness of this child thawed its icy heart? Had said heart grown three sizes that day?

No. Instead, it just made it completely and unfathomably furious.

SMASH! SLAM! CRASH! The enraged Iron Bundle thrashed about in a confused temper tantrum, flippers and feet smashing just about everything in reach. Fortunately, that didn't include Togepi, nor did it include Sylveon, nor did it even include virgil roach and Boomer. What it did include was the control console, which was beaten so hard that it was soon reduced into a mess of broken metal, severed wires, and electric sparks.

Uh oh.

---

The next deadline for this thread is Sunday 27th November, 8PM GMT.
schuyler tate robin coello virgil roach trinity beckman luka chêne

Immediately, the group rushed to deal with the mess of lit fireworks before they could explode. Momo Sakai and her Pokemon were the quickest to spring into action, though perhaps not the most ethical. Hands are roughly slapped and anxiety is planted into hearts as the pyrotechnics hit the floor.

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki, meanwhile, takes a more all-encompassing approach, her Gengar swallowing one of the explosives whole. An odd solution, but surprisingly, it worked. A muffled BANG sounded out from the ghost’s stomach, and shortly thereafter, a cloud of embers and black smoke belched out from his mouth. The detonation had been nullified, but not without cost - After all, the valiant sacrifice had left Gengar with a nasty tummyache.

Still, that left plenty of fireworks laying on the ground, lit fuses getting shorter and shorter. Fortunately, Jack Napier was quick to handle the situation, sending forth his Gardevoir to quell the disaster. It teleported the explosives high up into the sky, allowing them to detonate at a safe distance, and painting the dark skies with an array of vibrant colours.

Meanwhile, John Sullivan took a more violent solution. Sending forth his Orbeetle, the bug used his Psychic power to gather the fireworks, before firing them towards the offending Iron Bundle. At first, the attack seemed most effective, hitting the mechanical bird with staggering accuracy. It managed to land all those big explosives right into the beak of the penguin! It was a perfect move. In a few seconds, they would all explode, and that robot would be reduced to scrap metal--

BOOM! Suddenly, all of those fireworks were launched forth, propelled by the power of a Beak Blast. There were no prizes for guessing who the target of this explosive payload was. Needless to say, BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!!

Fortunately, after that, the nonstop stream of fireworks would stop. The Iron Bundle reached deep into its sack, but could not find any more to offer. Was it… Was it running out of presents? An opportunity presented itself. This was the perfect time to attack!

Perhaps the Iron Bundle had sensed this, because it immediately turned tail and ran away, bumping into Elise Calcifet before scurrying into a narrow alley between two stalls. At the same time, the princess would feel her pockets get suspiciously lighter, and all it took was one glance at the bird’s flippers to solve the mystery: It had just swiped her wallet!

---

The next deadline for this thread is Sunday 27th November, 8PM GMT

John Sullivan, Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki, and Elise Calcifet have each missed one round of the event. If they miss another round, he will be kicked from the raid.

Momo Sakai Jack Napier John Sullivan Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki Elise Calcifet

"Aaah... My eyes...!"

You rub your eyes as your vision adjusts to the newfound light, and your sight slowly but surely returns to you. Once it has, you blink a few times, before your gaze settles on the strange woman and her Slowking. You want to be mad at her for unintentionally flashbanging you, but considering you had just been wandering around in the dark, you can't blame her. Besides, her whole getup is real distracting. Why is she dressed in silly pajamas in the middle of this alien world?

Wait... Is she... Is she an alien? No, no, surely not. Don't be stupid. She's probably just some stupid trainer who fell through a wormhole and decided to explore. There's no way anyone would willingly come to Ultra Space dressed like that.

"Yeah, uh, kind of." You mumble, your tone of voice somewhere between puzzled, irritated, and inquiring. Well, if she's just a civillian, you might as well try to pump her for information before you continue on your way. "I'm just looking for some kind of map? If you've seen anything like that?"

She probably hasn't, but hey, it can't hurt to ask, right?

---

Andrea Vaneau

Whew. You're still dizzy from watching that Baltoy spinning. To what end was he rotating? What was he trying to do? You don't know, and you're not sure that you want to know.

Putting the full Pokeball into your right pocket, you fish a fresh one out of your left. Time to make some more headway. You push ahead, keeping an eye out for interesting Pokemon to catch. Then again, how much more interesting can they get? You've just caught an ancient psychic guardian. What, is another one just going to fall out of the sky?

THUMP.

Right on cue, a Sigilyph falls out of the sky, landing with the thud. Huh, seems like it got hit with some real bad Ancient Power. Actually, doesn't the shade of grey on these rocks look a little familiar...? Well, best not to dwell on it. Just catch it and move on.

Yoink.

---

Catching Siggy, moving on.
2/4 Balls remaining.

Alright, change of plans: You'll make an opening, and then run for the water. All you've got to do is make out to the open sea, then he won't be able to do that earthbending shit anymore, and then it's just a straight fight. That is, if he even bothers to chase you that far? If he doesn't, that's fine too. That just means you've got to wait for a few hours before you head back to your hideout, make sure he's really properly gone.

Slither Wing's Close Combat is interrupted by a well-placed Crunch, and Cofagrigus' Shadow Ball is repaid by a mimickry by the Mr Mime. They're both looking rough, but they've still got fight in them. Unfortunately, this guy isn't giving you the opportunity you're looking for, so you'll just have to grit your teeth, accept that it'll hurt, and make one of your own.

"Double up on the Mr Mime!"

Both of your Pokemon oblige. Pulling itself free from the teeth of the Kangaskhan, Slither Wing lurches forth, aiming to hit the Mr Mime from behind with a Leech Life. Meanwhile, Cofagrigus conjured up another Shadow Ball, recovering from the supereffective hit for just long enough to throw out another attack from the front.

It's a simple pincer attack, but you really hope it works out, because if it doesn't? Then you're up the creek without a paddle.

---

MATIAS SILPH

As the pair made their uninvited arrival on the island, they would find that somebody was already waiting for them.

Sitting upon a pile of limp bodies, both League and Rocket alike, was a Grimmsnarl. It watched impassively as the boat beached itself, unmoving even as the boat kicked up sand and scarred the shore. However, when the passenger upon the runaway vessel revealed itself to be an enemy, the ogre's mouth stretched into a wicked smile.

"Snarrrrl..."

Pushing off of its makeshift throne, the monster took a few steps forward, standing in front of Thomas and his Ceruledge and blocking their path forward. It seemed that he would be next.

---

Thomas Benoit