A low, dull hum crept around the edges of Mage's meditation, and then intensified into a full-on buzz. It sounded like the very air was being chopped apart! On alert, Mage put his feet down from his rock, his eyes scanning the sky above him. Soon, the culprit emerged - a Beedrill, but thankfully not one here to impale him. A young woman waited on its back before disembarking, perhaps waiting to centre herself and let the buzzing wear off.

What a way to make an entrance!

"Feeling alright?" Mage called out, keeping a distance from the Beedrill's stingers. "Maybe pick a ride with less turbulence next time?" He said with a nervous laugh. He didn't have this problem - he mainly just floated on his Haunter's back.

Shalin Nariya

• player/ooc name: ROBIN
• character tags: Finnegan Yang Mage Maddox
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): -
• ic posts for characters:
  Mage - pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/thread/39438/friendly-fighting
  Finn - pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/post/473372/thread
  
• are characters in directories?: Y
• any notes/comments:

Mage sat on a dry rock, crosslegged, his mind expanding and becoming like the sea before him. The cool, slightly damp air rose around him.

Meditation was important to Mage to keep his own inner sea at peace. Yet, he felt an undeniable thrill in his spine. Things were calm here in Hoenn. Too calm, in fact. Watching his breath could only go so far; Mage wanted to make something happen!

[Party as shown here!]

Mage let out a snort that sounded like a good-natured cross between a laugh and a sneer. It's good Biscotti thought his name sounded cool... If only he knew Mage's real name was Malcolm. But on to Biscotti's other question - what did ghosts taste like?

Yes, Mage knew that was directed at Clarence. But he, the human, knew that sticky, tar-like taste of the other side too.

Mage blinked and looked away for a flash. His mind jumped off the edge, falling into the deep banks of his memory, back into his first memories of mediumship. Shaking on the living room floor, ghosts crawling through his throat to feast on his insides, pulled out by the people who sent them through psychic wounds that never really healed.

Ignoring the Trevenant that pottered through the trees, Mage took a deep drag of his cig. He released that awful stain on his memory with the smoke.

"Eh, I bet they taste bad."

But some memories could not be exhaled. They had to be worked through with sweat and a slow, grinding strip of scar tissue.

An exorcism.

Mage's lips curled.

"You seem like a nice guy. What say your ghosts play with my mine?" Clarence's yellow eyes blinked rapidly.

"Down for a battle?"

Biscotti Kingsley

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X type 1 evo - discount for fire-type (Cubone -> Alolan Marowak) (50 PD)

TOTAL

do come again!

50 PD

Mage laughed. This guy seemed innocent, friendly to a fault. If Mage was black coffee, this guy seemed like a vanilla cupcake with pastel frosting.

But he wasn't a simple guy. That much became clear when a Runerigus faded into view, its sticky claws floating around his body. Mage raised a dark lined eyebrow. He was impressed. It took some kind of person - someone who's seen stuff - to handle a ghost that strong.

"Your nurse!" Mage exclaimed. That wasn't one he heard often. He wondered what kind of relationship and history that hinted at. One of Bubbe's tendrils reached out towards Clarence, who snapped at it playfully as he wagged his tail. If Clarence trusted them, so could Mage.

"I'm Mage, by the way. You smoke?" Mage pulled out a small tin can of his handrolled herbal cigs and rapped its cover with his black laquered nails. A Shuppet poked out of the grass - like a lizard, Clarence shot out its tongue and slugged the creature with a binding slap, pulling it into his wide open jaw.

Biscotti Kingsley

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X Type 3 Evo (25 PD)

Discounted for Poison-type (Haunter > Gengar)

TOTAL

do come again!

25 PD

• player/ooc name: Robin
• character tags: Finnegan Yang Mage Maddox
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): -
• ic posts for characters: Mage: pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/post/413953/thread; Finn: pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/thread/34717/drowning-sorrows
• are characters in directories?: Y
• any notes/comments:

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

HARVESTING

2x pokeball
20 PD

"Nice to meet you too, Aki." Mage nodded. He wondered why Aki's speech started and stopped like she was trying to walk with her shoelaces tied together. What was it that she was trying to maintain or hide?

Mage wondered if he should pry. Before he could address that thought, a pink blobby ghost materialised next to him, probably because he was the darkest creature on the route. Mage sneered at it and smashed a Pokeball down on its rose pink head.

"Where are you from, Aki?"

akira

Capture attempt - Jellicent

Mage heard footsteps crackle in the wild grass, and then a question announcing another person's presence. He swept around to meet a man with a condition Mage could spot on sight. Mage's eyes widened with surprise - Biscotti was possessed! Mage spent enough time being possessed by ghosts himself to identify the uncanny signs immediately.

Sometimes, more than one possessed him; often, not even his own.

"Not like I was gonna jump in or anything." Mage shrugged jovially. He tried to play it cool but he couldn't help but have his guard up, and he wondered if it showed. Nothing seemed off yet, but encountering another ghost person, here alone in the wild? He wasn't sure how far Ecruteak's shadows stretched.

And so, Mage went straight in.

"What's inside you?" Mage asked, putting his ringed hands on his hips.

A minor distraction, but a gorgeous one - a Starmie's rainbow hues shone through the water. Excitement broke through Mage's veneer of cool can't-be-fuckedness as he tossed a Pokeball at the gorgeous creature. Then, slickly, Mage turned back to Biscotti, his eyes sparkling like the Starmie's gem.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Mage's Drakloak golden eyes blinked. The rest of his body, although invisible, occasionally filtered iridescently into the sunlight.

Biscotti Kingsley

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

2X pokeballs
20 PD

Mage was becoming increasingly drawn to investigating these gashes in the sky and ground. This time, he stood on the border of an aurora that raged out from the ground in a reverse iridescent waterfall. Tim, his Gastly, enshrouded him like a shawl of purple vapour.

And slowly, like a rousing of insects in the grass, Tim started to tremble. A subtle light shone across his body and something shifted in him, like knowledge from another world was flowing into his mind...

Mage coughed.

"Oh god dammit!" Tim smelled different - rough and burning!

Gastly learned Poison Gas and Venoshock!
Mage gains a Red Shard!