"You're good. You're good. You're good. Too far to the right--You're good." Oscar was miraculously keeping calm as he directed the placement of the roof. He was lucky to have the assistance of Howard's golurk, Navitas acted as a natural crane but it did not have the strength to make subtle adjustments on the fly. With golurk's help they were able to fine tune the perfect placement for the roof, causing it to fit snuggly into place as designed.

As the roof was put down, Oscar quickly realized a flaw in his base plan. There was no light inside, the base went completely dark. Oscar was kicking himself, this was like minecraft base building 101 how did he forget to have light? Oh well, he shall improvise. Genesect had been waiting patiently while the roof was being placed, and once everything was in order it would begin using its claws to weld the walls to the roof (Fell Stinger). While Genesect did that, Oscar poked his head outside to call upon their team. The sand was actively hostile now, stinging Oscar's skin as it whipped by.

"The sand's getting rougher, we gotta go!" Oscar stood outside as his and Howard's pokemon piled in. Whenever Howard himself would enter the base, Oscar would follow the admin inside. There was one more slab of steel left, a makeshift door to be used until Oscar could design a hydraulic door that would properly seal in the base. Rosco propped up the steel slab, pushing it into place just as the ultra sandstorm properly began.

Once the steel slab sealed everyone in, the base would briefly become pitch black. This darkness was broken by Navitas, who used Tail Glow to illuminate its bulbous head. Oscar clapped his hands together, "Good thinking Navi, you're always one step ahead you beautiful bastard." Rosco propped himself against the slab, keeping it in place as the sandstorm picked up outside. Oscar rubbed his hands together, he was admittedly a little too excited to see if they could survive this test from the desert.

"Everyone get comfortable, we might be in here for a while."

PROMPT
20 attempt to spend the "night", surviving the elements or any threats.

howard slayte

Why Zapdos chose him? Oscar chuckled nervously as his pale face turned slightly red, "You and I are cut from the same cloth Howard. A couple forward thinkers." Oscar looked down, trying not give into self doubt. Zapdos had not chosen him, nothing has. He did not need such patronage, but would he fulfill his dreams without it? His ambitions were indeed getting larger and larger, and the scope of their project was unraveling before their eyes. Could they alone manage this incredible feat?

Howard's dusty clasp on Oscar's shoulders pulled the scientist back to reality, and he found his morale boosted by Howard's mere presence. No wonder he was an admin, the man had natural charisma. Missing the strange thing that zipped overhead, Oscar's attention was locked onto Howard's gathered pokemon. His weird mutant magneton had brought them a couple of cacti, and Oscar agreed that they would be worth studying.

"Yeah I mean, if these guys can survive out here surely we can get other plants on board. I wonder if we can drink the water inside?" Oscar had an impulse to split one of the cacti open then and there, but something held him back. He half expected their insides to be full of acid or something worse.

Sand brushed past Oscar's face, more intensely than normal. Oscar looked up toward the horizon, and indeed the winds seemed to be picking up. "Just our luck I guess." Oscar mused. "Sandstorm's building! We gotta get into the base!" Oscar turned toward said base and to his exasperation the roof had not been placed yet. Oscar clapped his hands together, "Alright double time that roof we don't have much time!" Oscar ran into the makeshift entrance of the base and began directing his pokemon on the proper placement of their steel roof.

howard slayte

As his memories returned, Oscar was not sure he deserved the moniker of 'smart guy'--even sarcastically. He thought he was being so careful, but clearly his own confidence blinded him to the true difficulty of this heist. Well at least what to do next was crystal clear.

"Prime, use Techno Blast!" Genesect looked to the backseat and let out a series of beeps. Oscar groaned, "Let me worry about collateral just do it!" Genesect saluted before once more sticking its upper body out of the window. It charged the cannon on its head, keeping itself stable by shoving its claws into the body of the truck. When maximum power was reached, Genesect let out an incredible blast of energy into the mob of voltorbs. The resulting impact caused a chain of explosion that not only cleared out the mob, but shook the ground for several blocks in every direction.

As genesect pulled itself back into the shaking truck, Oscar held onto the headrests of the front seat--hoping that his destructive gambit would allow them to escape.

--One Hour Later--

The trio were trapped inside of a ludicolo themed taco joint. They had decided to ditch the truck and try to sneak through the city on foot, but this proved to be difficult due to a heightened police presence. Of course their were more cops out, there was a fuckin' gigantic explosion in the middle of Mauville's tech district. With few other options, they elected to break into this here taco restaurant and hide behind the cashier counter until the heat died down. Oscar had spent a lot of the time longingly examining his prize, the small generator core that had caused all of this trouble. This little bastard better be worth it, the effort to steal it was already more than Oscar had bargained for.

Genesect's task was to take out all of the restaurant's security cameras with Electro Webs. When that was done, it kept itself busy by covertly making torchic tacos behind the counter. When Oscar realized what it was doing, he would crack his first smile in hours. "When did you learn how to make tacos?" Genesect beeped as it carefully balanced ingredients on its claws. Oscar nodded, having missed what Genesect had actually said. It was crazy how it already made five tacos without any opposable fingers. Oscar looked to Shred and addressed him directly for the first time in a while, "Hey do you want a taco?"

Shred

A winter drink? A WINTER DRINK!? Oscar marched back to his workspace with a twitch in his eye. He was tasked with creating a winter themed flavor for a primarily summer based beverage. On top of that, his drink quality thus far was crashing. He had to nail this thing if he wanted to scrape by with a win. But what the fuck could he make!?

Oscar thought long and hard while Boris paced back and forth, still agitated by the actions of that damnable eevee. He really wanted those tomatoes! Oscar had no time to linger on grudges though, focusing entirely upon his drink. Yet as his expression hardened at the pinnacle of his focus, it would suddenly dissipate into a look of relaxed awe.

Oscar's favorite tradition, every year, was drinking some of his favorite Alolan Eggnog. It was such a strange little drink, just like normal eggnog but with a passion fruit twist. Oscar's mouth broke into a demented grin. The answer was right in front of him all along. Oscar launched toward the fridge, searching desperately for eggnog. When he found it he would laugh maniacally and lift the carton above his head. "This will either be perfect or horrible! No in between!"

Boris hastily cleaned out the blender while Oscar brewed some passion fruit green tea. Oscar's placid mask had all but melted away, replaced by foreboding chuckles and wild looks as he prepared his final beverage. The eggnog was blended with the tea, and tapioca pearls were placed within a cup. The mixture was poured in and iced, and then Oscar would run his beverage to the judges' table. He placed the cup firmly before them. "Behold! Eggnog passion fruit boba tea!"

KZCEQ4U2

Final score: 299 rip

Oscar received Howard's fantasy like a parent hearing out the dream of a child. Perhaps his expression of joy was a little patronizing, but he was just happy that Howard felt comfortable enough to share his inner thoughts with him. Oscar did not see it the same way though, and in the spirit of honesty he would make this known.

"Howard, your perspective is an absolute delight. This is anything but simple though! You and I are embarking upon an amazing journey. We are making the impossible possible, bending an alien ecosystem to our will! That's--fuckin' incredible! The scope of our project reaches beyond the prosaic needs of Rocket. We are making history!"

Oscar's look of wonder as he reflected upon the underlying grandeur of their endeavor mirrored Howard's--just for the opposite reason. Perhaps it was macabre to be elated by the subjugation of another world, but to Oscar it was everything. To prove that his ambitions of branching out to other worlds was possible, why it was a dream come true. He was a mad man with mad dreams, but at least he was very honest about it.

Howard's concerns would bring Oscar back down to earth, and the more experienced trainer would clap his hands together to give this dilemma some thought. "The problem is, castform can predict every weather condition except sandstorms. It's a peculiar imperfection in an otherwise perfect weather forecaster. Cloud nine might work, though these Ultra Sandstorms may be too powerful to completely negate. It can at the very least slow it down. We could possibly utilize other weather conditions to weaken a sandstorm, but something tells me that a Rain Dance or Sunny Day may make our lives harder."

Oscar looked to their base, which nearly had half of the walls up. "Of course if we're lucky, the base will be completed by the time a sandstorm comes around and we won't have to worry at all." Oscar turned back to Howard. "I don't have a psyduck, do you?"

@howard

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

5X Premium Gacha (Dragon Type) (750 PD)
1X Passho Berry (350 PD)

TOTAL

do come again!

1100 PD

Oscar watched Howard work the hoe, more than a little glad to hear that their dream of forcing this wild world into submission was a true possibility. I mean, Oscar had been optimistic but the news that Howard dropped made him downright giddy! It would seem that it made Howard giddy too, as the admin would suddenly find himself laughing at random intervals.

Unaware of Howard's inner thoughts, Oscar would find himself laughing alongside him--just because other people laughing made him laugh. The two would exchange episodes of laughter as their pokemon worked tirelessly in the background. Their occasional pauses would be intercut with the sounds of welding and folding earth--before more laughter would occur.

Howard eventually commented that something was funny, causing Oscar to realize that he had in-fact been laughing at nothing. Blissfully unaware of what Howard might say, he finally thought to ask: "What's funny?"

howard slayte

Solid progress from Howard's farming initiative made Oscar beam. They had not succeeded in anything yet, but their hard work made Oscar optimistic. As he turned his attention back to construction, Oscar would find Rosco pounding in the last pile into the sand. With that it was time to build. Oscar put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, calling his three construction workers to him.

He had one last pokemon join the effort: his Xurkitree, Navitas. With all four pokemon gathered, Oscar would retrieve a personal bag he had brought and take out five construction helmets. "Safety first!" Oscar exclaimed as he handed a hat to each of his workers.

He kept the fifth hat for himself, securing it on his head as he gave instructions. "We have concrete slabs for floors. There are slots to put the walls in, and each wall has small holes for you to place in fitting pipes. Y'know, to keep everything sturdy! Make sure all of the walls are welded tight, we don't want any radiation leaking in. Same with the ceiling structure. Hop to it and good luck!" Oscar pumped up his fist, and his four pokemon imitated the gesture before running off to fulfill their duties.

Oscar meanwhile walked over to Howard to see what he had discovered with his sample garden. "What's the test site showing? Only good things I hope."

howard slayte

Oscar scratched his chin, his face squished by the weight of his concentration. Eventually he would speak, yelling over the noise coming from Howard's crew. "Move it to the left, like two feet!" Oscar's Conkeldurr, Rosco, nodded and grabbed ahold of the concrete pile he had just placed. Using his extraordinary strength, Rosco picked up the massive pillar of concrete and smashed it down two feet to the left of its original position. The concrete had been mixed by Rosco himself, so it was extra sturdy and extra heavy.

Oscar observed for a moment, tilting his head from one side of the other before giving Rosco a thumbs up. "Alright get these bad boys into the ground!" Rosco once again nodded, jumping into the air to smash down the pile he had relocated into the sand with Hammer Arm. This was just one of thirty two piles, all lined up in columns of four. Once pounded in, they would serve as the foundation of Oscar and Howard's first Ultra Desert base!

Meanwhile, the parts that would serve as the building itself were being organized by Oscar's Kommo-o and Genesect Prime. Kommo-o did all of the heavy lifting while Genesect used its superior intellect to keep everything stayed orderly. The building's walls, which were made from melted down steel type pokemon, had just been sorted by size. Oscar nodded at their progress, content by the work of his hard working pokemon.

By then Howard would call for an update, which Oscar would happily provide. "We are finishing the foundation, should be able to start on the actual building within an hour! How's the agriculture!?"

Prompt
17 begin building a base camp/settlement of some kind.

howard slayte

SIGN-UP

Participating Character: oscar clayton[break]
Wishlist: Paldea bugs, BELLIBOLT, I'm not picky whatever you got <3[break]
Are you willing to be a back-up Santa?: Sure thing![break]

mint frost would very quickly sense the presence of someone behind him. Oscar had sneaked his way into the booth and was currently looking over Mint's shoulder. As he took in his Plus One's DJ setup, Oscar's brow would furrow. "Hey I could have sworn some of this stuff was in the junk heap, did you dumpster dive without me?"

Oscar propped himself against the wall behind Mint, taking in the party from the DJ's point of view. It was crazy how well everything was set up, a potluck of Rocket's resources turned into a wild company party. Beautiful in a way, kinda funny in another. Oscar himself provided Casino Starlight with some extra power to take the load off of Yumi Hasegawa , just do not ask how many pokemon had to die to make it happen.

For now Oscar was content with watching the party from afar, hanging out with 'DJ Minty Fresh' will be enough entertainment for the first hour or so. Oscar had made a beeline for the DJ booth, entrusting Genesect Prime to handle delivering Oscar's Gold Pokeball to its place under the tree. The Genesect would then march its way through the party, having instructions to grab drinks for Oscar and Mint. It would only stop to wave at familiar faces, such as priam conrad and Lulu Flint .

Genesect grabbed a taro boba and matcha tea, expertly balancing the beverages on its triangular claws. It made its way to the DJ booth without hindrance, keeping to the outer rim of the festivities to avoid and pranksters that it would have to vaporize. Upon reaching the booth Oscar would walk over and grab the drinks. "Thanks Prime. Go enjoy yourself for a bit." Prime waved at Mint before wandering off in a random direction, not sure how to 'enjoy itself' just yet.

Oscar placed Mint's matcha tea safely away from his equipment and took his place back at the wall. "Hey give me a rundown of your set mister DJ."

tl;dr
--Oscar is hanging out with Mint in the dj booth.
--Genesect Prime put Oscar's present under the tree and is doing funny robot things.
--Oscar's outfit is the same as his Hover Art.

Disclaimer: No actual depictions of suicide are present within this story. Trigger warning for violence.

Oscar had fallen asleep at his desk again. It was a bad habit, but when you had as much as he did to get done there was little time to lounge around his apartment anymore. Did he still have an apartment? Now that I mention it I do not believe Oscar has visited his loft since returning to Hoenn. I cannot say I blame him, everything of value was at his office now. His life was at the office.

Fitting then that the most significant occurrence of the year should take place within his office, during an otherwise ordinary night's sleep. Oscar would be awakened with a start as a goth twink and his unknown magically appeared out of thin air. Oscar's tired mind struggled to comprehend what was happening, only connecting the dots when his mysterious visitor opened a portal to an unknown point in time. Pushing through his brain fog, Oscar recognized the man to be none other than Father Winter--the second presumably--to whom Oscar had recently sent a letter.

Realizing that he was being offered yet another life-changing adventure, Oscar would abruptly leap over his desk to dive into the portal. He knew not where it would end up, but that did not matter much as long as he experienced something worthwhile. As he broke the threshold of the portal, Oscar would begin free falling down the thruway of time. As he tumbled and tossed against every twist of the road, Oscar would cackle maniacally. His excitement could not have been more palpable; who knew what amazing adventure would await him?

Oscar came upon another portal, and he would screech with delight as he flew through its welcoming embrace. He launched out onto a rocky surface, rolling like a stray barrel. His childish giggling contrasted the rather rough nature of his landing. He skid to a face down stop, and wasted no time jumping to his feet. Ignoring the pain in his joints, Oscar brushed off the dust on his suit and adjusted his tie. With his hands on his hips, he would let out a content sigh as the guessing game of where he ended up began.

This mystery was not hard to solve, as Oscar was looking upon the closest thing to Hell that he has ever witnessed. Oscar stood high upon the rim of the Sootopolis crater, which had been completely drained of water. In fact, as he took a 360 degree examination of his surroundings, Oscar would find the entire ocean to be absent. In its place would be countless crags and valleys normally hidden by Hoenn's crystal blue waves. Across what was once the ocean floor, countless armies of trainers were engaged in battle with titanic pokemon. The glowing red auras of these behemoths were unmistakable: these pokemon were dynamaxed.

Oscar turned back toward the city, or what was left of it based on his observations. Sootopolis was now ninety percent Power Spot, with an array of bright red beams splitting through shattered buildings and the splintered rock of the crater. The bodies of pokemon and human alike lined the ruins, most of which were being feasted upon by feral megalopolans. Overlooking it all was a twisting black cloud that stretched as far as the eye could see. Within its center sat one last red light, casting a crimson aura across the entire apocalyptic scene. Oscar pushed air through his teeth, this was a lot more of a bummer than he was expecting.

Considering the fact that Sootopolis was not, nor as it ever been, a devastated hellscape--it was not hard to guess that Oscar was currently in the future. Hopefully the very far future--but for some reason he did not believe he would be that lucky. This particular environment was not exactly appealing for exploration, but there was one thing that caught Oscar's interest. A massive tower that for sure has never been seen near Sootopolis was looming over the city. It was hard to miss, but for some reason Oscar did not really take it in until he realized that everywhere else around him was a shit-show. The tower looked vaguely familiar--and then it looked extremely familiar. It bore a resemblance to one of the Megalopolan Towers that he had seen within Ultra Space--specifically the one Oscar saw within that alternate Hoenn during his first Father Winter excursion.

This one, however, did not have the bright light to emulate sunshine. It was just black, with smaller red lights dotting the exterior. Was this--no it couldn't be. Oscar was just theorizing--does he actually build it? The tower had captured Oscar's interest, so he determined that it would be his first stop on this nightmare tour. Oscar pulled Genesect's pure red ball off of his belt, but before he could open it a guttural growl from behind him would catch the former beast off guard.

A megalopolan had sneaked up behind him, and managed to get close enough to make a leap onto Oscar. By the time he turned to face his hunter, Oscar had no time to move out of the way. Oscar cried out as he was pushed to the ground, Genesect's ball rolling out of his hand and just out of reach. Oscar propped his arms up to keep his assailant off of him, its ghastly appearance ringing home how unfamiliar this future was. This Megalopolan's armor was falling apart, and it looked like it had not eaten in an age. Its teeth were bloody and gnarled, and its blue skin was now a distressing grey. To top it off it seemed almost rabid, desperately gnashing its teeth like a wild animal. It took all of Oscar's energy to keep it at bay, but even then the creature's superior strength was slowly wearing Oscar down. Death seemed imminent, and Oscar would cry out as his demise drew near.

Suddenly there was a bright flash from behind the creature. A massive blue form smashed into the Megalopolan, sending it flailing back into the crater. Oscar looked upon his savior, breathing heavily as he slowly sat up. He could not believe his eyes, but the truth was right in front of him. Dialga, the time incarnate itself, stood proudly before Oscar. Did--did Father Winter come to save him? He had said that he needed Oscar alive, but Oscar had never taken him to be the intervening sort.

Dialga did in fact have a rider, but it was not Father Winter. It was an old man in a winter coat, a scarf hanging loosely around his neck, and a pair of spectacles sitting on the rim of his nose. He had long matted white hair and a well kept beard, as well as tired red eyes that were currently glaring at Oscar.

Dialga knelt down, allowing the old man to slide off of its back. He landed on bent knees before slowly rising and walking toward the still prone Oscar. Oscar's mind was screaming for him to run, yet he remained frozen as the old man approached. Even as the old man drew close enough to look down upon the vulnerable rogue, Oscar would do and say nothing. The two stared at each other for a moment, and the old man would make the first move.

He pulled a familiar cigarette case from out of his coat, and popped it open to reveal an array of lollipops. He squatted down and aimed the cigarette case toward Oscar.

"Lollipop?"