[attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"]

Cass passes by the Rustboro Gym - stands there for a moment, contemplating, with the Trubbish in her arms fixating on the Gym sign. "Hey, let's ... go, for now, hm?" she says to Jon, who nods, his plastic bag arms flapping as they continue.

The mood is solemn, pensive - and she only welcomes a distraction as she hears unexpected noises. She approaches, curious - then tense. "Oh, hello, Sir- uh, Mr Maher." She spots the Gym Leader of Rustboro nearby, too, and suddenly feels a bit awkward, even if she contemplated challenging him mere seconds ago.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"]

Cass follows her pokémon further into the cave, looking around. "You know, if you'd just tell me what you're looking for," she murmurs. She knows Umlaut's also been staring at Pic when he's drawing - there should be some basic drawing ability.

But nope, they have to be here, with only Umlaut looking. And also drawing the fury of some wild pokémon, it seems. A Marowak charges forward, maybe feeling threatened by the Toedscruel sudden appearance, using Mud Slap with her mud-covered bone. "Don't! Spore!" Cass commands, before covering her mouth with her sleeve as Umlaut releases sleep-inducing spores.

skipping marowak

[attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"]

"Are you sure you lost it here?" Cass asks, shivering. It's the end of may now, and it's warm. And she really didn't really want to get to the cold again, but well.

Umlaut got his ways to be quite convincing.

The Toedscruel nods affirmatively, looking around with incredible focus. It's odd how he hasn't brought it up before, either ... is he bluffing? Why did he want to come back?

[attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][newclass=".emapokemonteam"]height:40px;width:40px;background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100%;margin:0 5px;[/newclass]

After seeing this vision in the chamber of desires, Cass finds herself shaken, believing. In dreams, she continues to try and live in another reality, tries to remember who she is while everything is urging her to forget, forget, forget.

Don't.

She sees other people allying, exchanging information, and, whenever she isn't with Thea or Knight in her dreams, she approaches, sidelines. Listens, but leaves again - filing away information, but also ... what's the point? She's not even sure if she's truly afraid - if she ever has not been, frankly (it's like white noise in her mind, an ever-present weariness that lives with her soul) - but the situation ...

(Don't lose it.)

Upon awakening this time, she finds tears in her eyes. As if waking up from a nightmare, from re-living a sad memory. (It's like the dreams she has of her father, sometimes. She'd wake up, her hand in the air, tears in her eyes.)

These tears are important.

She can't tell why, but she has to collect them, somehow - they're important. But how? Their clothes are changed regularly, there's nothing, nothing ... ... except the mask. Stirring Thea and Knight awake, she murmurs apologies as she detangles herself from the pile, facing the ground. Trying to let the tears fill crevices, maybe, in her mask, as it's the only thing that doesn't change. She carefully tries to jab a finger beneath the mask, too, holding a bit of the liquid on her fingertips.

For a moment, she looks at it, sniffs it - wonders what might be the reason she feels so strongly about them. (Should she ... drink them?)

Knight Naito Thea Naito
tl;dr dummy ward
MAIN ACTION collect tears (trying to do it with the mask somehow)
- in dream: eavesdrop on alliances/information sharing a bit, but mostly spends her dreams to re-find herself and remember who she is beyond the prison
- wakes up with tears in eyes, shuffles to get in position to try and catch them in her mask
- ponders about drinking the tears
wDbQ0TS5

Cassandra Kubrick rogue-coded, maybe even bard (animal handling expertise either way)
STR 8
DEX 15
CON 13
INT 14
WIS 10
CHA 12

Lutgarde Dijkstra paladin-coded. if we had an oaths of the ancients for cities ...
STR 15
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 12
CHA 13

Fenelle Miller artificer-coded. probably battle smith; lowkey hates being alone lol
STR 10
DEX 12
CON 13
INT 15
WIS 14
CHA 8

link name of the post proof will have who the reward goes to, not who completed it! probably.

[XXX] (3x pokéballs) make an ic-post within may.
[XXX] (shard) complete a thread within the event period.
[XXX] (rainbow shard) participate in any forum game thread.
[XXX] (type 1 evo) involve a ground-type move in an ic-post.
[XXX] (type 2 evo) utilize or involve entry hazards in an ic-post.

[XXX] (type 3 evo) teach your pokemon a ground-type move.
[] (sparkling dust) involve one of the following pokemon abilities in a post: earth eater, arena trap, sand force, sand stream, levitate. can be a NPC/wild pokemon.
[XXX] (level tutor) capture/defeat/redeem a ground-type pokemon in a wild, safari, gacha (no trades/gifts).
[XXX] (tm/tr) complete a solo/duo wild or safari thread.
[XXX] (move tutor) participate in 1 imminent instability swarm or distortion.

[XXX] (move tutor) publish an ic-post in your exhibit or garden.
[XXX] (egg tutor) reference another character by tagging them in an ic-post.
[XXX] (egg tutor) use a gif or image that features a ground-type pokemon in your post.
[XXX] (tm/tr) include music in an ic-post (link or the player code).
[XXX] (incense) use one of these names in a post in any capacity: giovanni, bertha, clay, hapu, rika.

[XXX] (ability capsule) use one of the following words in an ic-post: firmament, demesne, dregs, balance.
[F] (starf berry) use the idiomatic noun "run (something/someone) to the ground" in an ic-post.
[XXX] (gacha) complete 1 imminent instability mission.
[] (gacha) complete 2 imminent instability missions.
[] (prem gacha) complete 3 imminent instability missions.

[FENELLE] (level tutor) post in a communication thread or comment on an HNN article.
[CASS] (ability capsule) post in a plotter or wanted ad thread with a genuine plotting idea, affirmation of a relationship, or a compliment (minimum 100 WORD COUNT).
[] (form change) sell a pokemon to the black market.
[XXX] (ability capsule) buy a pokemon from the black market.
[XXX] (mega shard) reference any of the organizations listed in the local hoenn guidebook thread, or any on-site player-led business.

[] (mega shard) reference information from the hoenn dragonology document created by Crow.
[FENELLE] (salac berry) complete a thread that features a conflict of any kind with a character in the opposite faction.
[FENELLE] (devo stone) use mega evolution, terastallization, or dynamax in an ic-post.
[] (honey) use a z-move in an ic-post.
[] (tm/tr) use a sygna suit in an ic-post.

[XXX] (sparkling dust) incorporate a sandstorm (weather) in your post or thread.
[XXX] (level tutor) incorporate a character or a pokemon falling/tripping in your post.
[FENELLE] (type 1 evo) terastallize a pokemon into the ground tera type.
[XXX] (3x pokéballs) reference or involve a heavy ball in your post.
[XXX] (incense) involve the emotion of fear in your post or thread.

[XXX] (tablets of lutum (mud bomb)) complete 3 total endeavors.
[XXX] (ground tera shard) complete 5 total endeavors.
[F] (legendary candy) complete 10 total endeavors.
[XXX] (mega stone) complete 15 total endeavors.
[XXX] (dynamax candy) complete 20 total endeavors.

[attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][newclass=".emapokemonteam"]height:40px;width:40px;background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100%;margin:0 5px;[/newclass]

Reality hits hard as they awaken from the pleasant, but still confusing dream. Cass wishes to have more answers, but it's just ... confusing. What was this pokémon at the central tower, just before waking up? She thinks back to the tubes, as well, and shudders. No matter what it is ... it's truly terrifying to behold. She barely dares to move upon waking, scared she'd accidentally kick any of her friends of the bed they've somehow managed to triple share.

It's to be anticipated, that they'd be put to work again - however, before that, something else happens. After stomaching some mochi, The Laughing Hour commences. Knight is singled out among others she doesn't recognise, and while her expression is dumbfounded under the mask - there's no way Knight is that stupid, so something else ... - there's only laughter escaping as her Toxic Chain tickles her, the toxin rushing through her veins towards ridicule. She frowns, but still chants, and it feels like she's driven mad by those words that she doesn't want to say, but can't keep inside. Her wound from yesterday's also still untreated, so the strain of forced laughter only adds salt to injury.

She flails while she's laughing, shaken by the tremors of the forced sound, but also trying to grasp, connect - find Thea's hand while her vision's focusing on two points (her and Knight), giving her something to hold onto. "It's-" she tries, but only the echoes of laughter escape truly. "It's all Munkidori! It's all... Hunkydory!"

Eventually, they are freed from this.

"Knight, are you alright?" she whispers then to him as they're working on sorting again. "That's so shit. And for the last-" she lowers her voice even more, barely above a bitter murmur, "It's cheating if you shuffle the boxes yourself."

The hours turn to days - all caught in a routine, all the same, over and over ... with only the dream being something to actually hold onto. And also dreams made manifest ... a vision so starkly different from her current situation, the only wish she's ever had, she feels like. A wish that could maybe come true, as they continue to slave away.

Knight Naito Thea Naito
tl;dr dummy ward
- perceives azelf but is just more confused, wakes up with the trio being canned sardines
- reaches for thea's hand during the laughing hour
- talks to knight after his laughing hour
- short summary of the general days passing (implying her vision: a world in which she doesn't have to be/isn't scared), main action & rolls will be in next post!

[attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"]

Cass puts down the café menu after they've both ordered and smiles at Thea. A new café has opened up in her hometown - the green forest scenery considered more home than her birthplace in Kalos - so she's of course had to try it out with one of her best friends! "I'm really excited to see what this tart is going to be about ... it's definitely an interesting combination, to put cucumber and caramel, salted, together ..." And one she'd be up for - she's really adventurous when it comes to food.

"But you also mentioned you have a gift?" she says, not able to contain her curiosity as she does her best not to look around, see where Thea could have hidden a present ... well, her bag's a good start, for sure. But what could be in there ... "I actually have one for you, too!" she then adds with a grin, revealing her card now at last, too. It's ... honestly something she just grabbed on her way, but it's still fairly pricey and high-quality to count as a valid gift, she thinks. And it's also on-theme with the season! Hah!

As always, Jon is seated on the table on Cass' side, enjoying a glass of lemonade just like Martin who's sit-floating next to Jon. The Trubbish is waving at Thea's pokémon, but Martin seems to engage more with them while Jon is in the background. Glimmer, the Glimmora, is also chatting up whoever would be up for it, while Dermot is fully engrossed in the cookie that Cass has already gotten for him. It's one large cookie and thus has to be treated with the utmost care, else it would vanish into tiny pieces before its time ...

Cass' Furfrou Kordel has stepped a bit away from the table, with the Silcoon Philomena fashioned into her hairstyle today. The dog-pokémon is showing the bug-type around, walking around the outdoor café area idly with the Silcoon wrapped up on her head fur like some really strange, but oddly fashionable headpiece. (The first time Cass has found Philomena in Kordel's hair, she's been dead-worried she'd have to keep those seperate forever, but gladly, it seems that when there's intent in Philomena getting all tangled up in Kordel's fur, the two actually got along super well.)

Thea Naito

• player/ooc name: ema
• character tags: Cassandra Kubrick Lutgarde Dijkstra Fenelle Miller
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): ---
• ic posts for characters: cass, lutgarde, fenelle
• are characters in directories?: Y
• any notes/comments: thank you so much for your hard work, shiv, spiral and crow !! and thanks as well to the amazing community of writers here <3 looking forward to what's to come!

[attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][newclass=".emapokemonteam"]height:40px;width:40px;background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100%;margin:0 5px;[/newclass]

Cassandra blinks as she looks around at futuristic lights, a city so vastly different from everything she knows in her day-to-day. But, given her father's disappearance, she is not a stranger to it entirely - it seems to be Megalopolis, the origin of their guards. However, the texts that she's read on it ... this is a thriving version of it, and ...

Is this a dream? At least here, she's not chained, and her clothes are not this prison garb either. Her hair still feels like a wet, air-drying mess, but at least it's not that bad.

"What the ..." she murmurs, looking around. "Huh," she says in surprise, then waves and approaches a familiar figure - Thea. "Hey, Thea! Are you... Thea?" This is a dream, after all. ... PROBABLY a dream. Are they dreaming together, or is this just a fragment of her imagination?

Thea Naito

[attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"]

After hearing that there's a space-time distortion, Cass immediately has been on her way, hoping to still catch it in time. There's almost no hesitation as she enters the dome, this weird space distorting reality in inherently violent ways - or inherently natural ways. After all, the state as everything must be is chaos ... and as everything returns to. Order is something to be maintained, and it is such a fragile thing ...

But she isn't here for anything philosophical today - she's looking around, desperate to find any hint of ... something that might give her any information on where her dad might be, has been, will be. She's surrounded by her pokémon that brave the storm with her. She's looking at Sona, fighting with unusual bravery against the other pokémon, her hammer swinging endlessly. She also feels something shift slightly to her right-

"Oh fu-" she starts swearing, but her sole's actually not pierced by the familiar three hairs anymore. Instead, there's a whole wig of hair it seems, still hard as steel, but ... "You evolved!" she comments, and smiles faintly as she looks at Rina. Rina who has come with because Sona would never say no to more people on a dangerous mission. (Cass wonders why she hasn't declined in the first place; this isn't exactly up her wheelhouse, but there's been some changes recently ...) "Now I won't have to fear for my feet anymore," she grins vaguely, before her steel type's battle cry catches her attention again.

"Huh-" Sona's swinging her hammer again, but instead of a fiery dragon spirit possessin her, the temperature drops amongst the relentless storm winds. She whips up something cold and frosty, using Ice Hammer for the first time ever. "How do you keep picking up those moves?" Cass asks, baffled.

rewards
- 1x green shard
- rina the alolan diglett evolves to alolan dugtrio
- sona the tinkatuff forgets sweet kiss and learns ice hammer

[attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"][attr="class","emapkmn"]

Cass isn't really actually painting the egg - it's Pic next to her, who swiftly has taken the new canvas in his hand without even giving Cass a chance to draw. She doesn't really mind, however, instead watching Pic at work - a rare opportunity, actually, now that she thinks about it ...

"Are you finished?" she asks then, as Pic proudly almost rubs the egg into her face. "Woah, woah, I can't see aynthing like this, hang on ..." she laughs, bringing a bit of distance. The lines are odd, she thinks, as she takes a look, before ...

"What the hell. That's not a flat surface, but ... if you look at it from here ... what the hell Pic?" A simple, nice rose motif made by straight lines only, and also a drawing that looks entirely flat if you look at it from the front.