The duo ran up the obelisk, the Orthworm getting closer every second. Howard yelled out for Oscar to hide, and he did not have to be told twice to do so. Part way up the obelisk, Oscar found a circular opening big enough to fit himself and Howard if he so chose. He slid into it, huddling himself up as the Orthworm burst from the sand once more. Oscar watched as the massive titan sailed over the obelisk, its body briefly shading the entire structure from the sun. Eventually its full body landed back into the sand, causing the obelisk to quake.

Oscar half expected the tilted structure to fall over, but it stood firm against the sand's vibrations. Oscar peeked out, just in time to see the tail end of the Orthworm submerge itself within the dunes. Moments later the Orthworm would burst out again, much further away. Believing it would continue in that direction, Oscar turned away and let out a sigh of relief. "Fuuuuuck...fuck."

Oscar pinched the bridge of his nose, allowing himself only a few seconds of frustration. There was no further time for lamentations though, so he quickly stood up and climbed out of the circular hole to form a plan. He raised a gloved hand to his chin, rubbing it as he considered what path to take.

"Alright, as far as I can tell, we have two main options. We can wait for your Stakataka to reform and find us, or we can sit tight until the Orthworm is far enough away and start walking. What do you think?"

Prompt
07 involve the discovery of ancient obelisks that possess holes for missing seals.

howard slayte

Oscar let out a chuckle, amused by Mint's apparent discomfort. "I promise to turn off the on-ride photo in the elevator." Once his suit was properly zipped and his covered hood was secure, Oscar would toddle his way toward the door to his office. He checked the unassuming red light directly next to it, which was luckily still brightly shining. Good, that meant Zapdos was still in.

When Mint was ready, Oscar would lead him through the door and down the hall to the elevator. "You know, I wanted to have the elevator come directly to my office but apparently that's a security issue. I don't see why, you need a key card anyway." Upon entering the elevator, Oscar would push the following floor buttons in a specific order: 7, 1, 8, 4, 7 again, and 3. He then swiped his card, which caused all of the floor buttons to light up.

"The password is new." Oscar said as he put his keycard into the chest pocket of the suit. "I don't want anyone surprising Zapdos while he's chillin'." Or was Oscar just becoming possessive of the bird? It was hard to tell, he did not really know. What he did know was that Zapdos needed to be protected while it was staying on his property, lest the wrong people find their way to its perch.

The elevator rose for a long time, which made since; The Perch was the highest point within Mauville's power plant. When they finally arrived, the doors would open to a cascade of electricity. They probably would have been thoroughly zapped if not for their suits. Oscar stepped through the wave of voltage, out into the bowl shaped home of Zapdos. The legendary bird was indeed standing upon its perch, absorbing an unending stream of electric power that came from the countless pylons dotted across the sides of the 'bowl'. The ceiling was open, revealing the blackened sky that followed Zapdos wherever it travels--bursts of lightning rolling through the churning clouds.

The mighty Zapdos looked to the elevator, at first raising itself to look especially threatening. It did not enjoy unannounced company, and while their suits would protect his visitors from stray electric shocks they would do little to save them from the great bird's wrath. After a moment of examination however, Zapdos would recognize the face of Oscar Clayton and relax slightly. He was not an unwelcome sight, even if he had brought a plus one. Oscar gave Zapdos a small bow, low enough to show respect but short enough to not show reverence. Believe it or not, it was what the mighty bird preferred.

"Hey there, long time no see." Zapdos nodded slowly, a sign of welcome. They were officially its guest within this Perch. Oscar pointed to Mint, "This is my friend Mint, and he had some questions for you. Is that alright?" Zapdos was still for a moment, as if considering if it had the patience to be interviewed. Eventually it would nod. Oscar gave the bird a thumbs up and looked to Mint. "Alright you start."

mint frost

While Howard looked at the Orthworm, Oscar thought aloud about his 'mobile base' idea. "That would be metal as fuck! I wonder, how many would that take? Also if I recall correctly, each block is its own organism. If they mixed up and shit, do they like--know? Can the other blocks tell if others don't belong? If they do are they treated just like the blocks they replaced or like--do the original blocks shun them? This is why this has to happen Howard, we need an--"

Oscar should have payed more attention, perhaps he could have prevented the Stakataka's collision with the dune. Oscar let out a shock gasp as he was flung toward the sand, rolling like a rag doll before landing in a heap face down. After allowing himself a moment of pained laying, he would gracefully lift himself to his feet and begin dusting himself off. Sand was now everywhere, and while Oscar did his best to hide it he now felt maximum discomfort. "Fuckin' sand man..."

Oscar looked up as Howard yelled out his name, his stomach nearly launching out of his asshole as he saw the Orthworm change course--toward them. Damn thing must have felt them when the Stakataka hit the sand! Oscar frantically looked around, and when he realized that the Stakataka was not going to fully pull itself together in time he would clap his hands together and look to Howard. "Run."

Oscar launched into a sprint down the dune, the ground rumbling as the Orthworm came closer. As he ran he spotted a partially submerged obelisk nearby, slanted just enough for someone to run up toward its tip. Oscar pointed toward the structure, "Run toward the convenient obelisk ramp!"

howard slayte

Prompt
02 involve gigantic orthworms who attempt to hunt you using tremorsense.

Howard had no way of knowing this, but he was taunting Oscar by describing the perks of owning a stakataka. He had the opportunity to catch one of his own within the Ultra Plant, but an aggressive Xurkitree got in the way and was caught instead. It was doubly painful because Oscar had already owned a Xurkitree by that point, now he had two alien Christmas trees that did not get along. Oh well, life and lemons or whatever.

Oscar removed his sunglasses, grinning to hide the deep agonizing pain within his heart. "It's a fuckin' wonder. I bet with a few of these you could make some crazy shit." Oscar got over his regret quickly. It helped that he was excited to be here, on an archeological adventure with Rocket's newest Admin: howard slayte. Oscar had heard a lot about him since getting back to Hoenn, and the former treasure hunter was overjoyed to dig through alien ruins with what could be a new endearing friend.

Plus if the rumors were true this would be Oscar's chance to catch some particularly evasive bug pokemon.

For now though, they crossed the desert in style. Oscar pulled out some binoculars from out of his bag, raising them to get a better look at the passing ruins. Most of them were too submerged to make out any detail, but the alien architecture still fascinated Oscar.

They began passing by a sea of dunes, their surfaces shifting with the desert winds. Thanks to his binoculars, Oscar could see what seemed to be an Orthworm bursting in and out of the sands far into the distance. Oscar chuckled and pushed the binoculars toward Howard. "Hey look at this! It's like a giant Orthworm swimming through the sand or somethin'."

It was only amusing because it was so far away. Hopefully it stayed that way.

SIGN-UP (RSVP)

CHARACTER RSVPing: oscar clayton[break]
ROCKET POSITION: Executive[break]
POKEMON: Genesect Prime[break]
PLUS ONE?: mint frost to support his dj career[break]
WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT?: An empty gold plated pokeball. It's very heavy.[break]
EVENT CONTRIBUTION?: Oscar will freely provide clean and "Ethical" electricity for Casino Starlight during the party.
[break]

Oscar squatted to get a better look at the rubbing his chin as he tried to think of what to do. Temp had the pretty good idea of trying to dig them out, and after a moment's consideration Oscar would slowly nod. "Yeah fuck it. Prime?" Oscar stood up and faced his Genesect, who had been there the whole time just staring at nothing because even cyborgs space out from time to time. Hearing its name caused it to snap to attention though.

Oscar pointed his thumb toward the crystals. "See if you can do anything about these." Prime gave Oscar a salute before revving up its claws and smashing them into the crystals with a ferocious velocity (Fell Stinger). It would slam its claws into the crystals over and over again, growing faster and faster as its power grew. Eventually though its arms would begin to smoke, forcing it to stop to avoid damaging its inner machinery.

As the dust cleared, Oscar was dumbfounded to find the crystals unharmed. He calmly folded his arms, attempting to seem alright when he was clearly seething. He took a deep breath, unfolding his arms to clap his hands together. "Well fuck." Oscar turned toward Temp, "This actually boggles my mind. Where did these tera crystals come from? Did the Power Spot make them? Are they DYNA CRYSTALS!? I hope not, that would be stupid and I have had it up to my tits with stupid today."

Tempest Quinn

It took a lot of will power for Oscar to not slowly back out of the office and close the door. He was not freaked out or anything, but the comedic timing was very tempting. Luckily Oscar had mastered proper self control and stepped in fully once greeted. Seriously though, Jayden was in worse shape than he imagined. I mean he was not expecting him to look great but he was for sure surprised to see just how serious Jayden's condition was. The man looked like a frail ghost from the industrial revolution, complete with an unearthly chill.

Oscar did not let that get in the way of being happy to see his friend though, even opening his arms to offer Jayden a rare Oscar Clayton hug. "Oh I'm very alive, just a little paler. What about you my friend? You seem--alive?"

jayden cross

Productive uses--Oscar could not help but smile. Considering his own plans for these power spots, perhaps it would be best to shed no more light on his own ambitions. He would not want to upset Miss Kwan during their first encounter. He admired her drive though, and would make that clear as he approached the now stationary machine.

"We're cut from the same cloth, you and I. Seeking answers to insurmountable questions, it's the core of our craft. Nature clings tightly to its secrets, and I see nothing wrong with occasionally prying its mouth open."

Oscar flipped a few switches, causing the machine to whir to life. Oscar pointed toward the laptop that Soyeon now held. "I'm going to plug in the usb cord into the machine, that should open an app that will help us read the data that this machine creates." Oscar did just that and waited for Soyeon to confirm that the app was open.

While he waited, he would bundle the wires with orbs on their tips and begin plugging in their unadorned ends into the machine. "Just a fair warning, when the test starts--anything can happen. Are you ready?"

soyeon kwan

Oscar listened carefully, as Lulu was dispensing a great deal of information and he wanted to keep track of it all. Even with his intense focus, Oscar found himself fumbling over a few of the revelations. Seal Stones? Simulations? "Arceus?" Oscar had missed more than he thought, but it was never too late to jump into the deep end.

However he was not so sure he wanted into the rks pool. After all, this whole business seemed exceptionally trying and Oscar did not know if he could spare the time. Nevertheless, he was sure to note his interest.

"I should probably at least take a look at some point, though I must admit our so-called 'creator' and its lackeys are the least of my concerns. I am more interested in the forces of destruction within our world. The living cataclysms that could eliminated existence at any moment. Who know of whom I speak."

Kyurem, Necrozma, Eternatus, three immense powers that could effortlessly crush their world should they be given the chance. What Oscar could not decide is if he would rather stop them--or control them. He chuckled briefly, "But such things are beyond the scope of this moment. Tell me more about the now, how have you been?"

Lulu Flint

Oscar accepted the praise of the judges with grace, and after the new challenge was given he would make his way back to his work station without urgency. As soon as he was behind the counter, Oscar would grab some of the spare aprons hanging on the wall and bundle them up into a ball. He then carefully stuffed his face into the bundle, and let out a scream that was muffled into near silence.

Once he was finished he would dump the aprons on the ground, just in time for Boris to arrive. Oscar laced his fingers together as the thought aloud, "We just did the only fuckin' fruit tea I know. I knew we should have done taro first, damn it." Oscar raised a finger to his chin and pressed it as he considered his options, with Boris taking some initiative while his master was distracted. The utensils they used last time were washed, and once the blender was dry Oscar would arrive to the counter with a bag of lemons in hand.

He dumped the bag out and grabbed two lemons. "Alright this should turn out okay but who knows I'm free fallin' over here. Peel this." He tossed a lemon to Boris, and after briefly struggling to catch it the mighty dragon would begin daintily peeling the skin off of the fruit. Meanwhile Oscar began brewing some green tea made from Alolan Exeggutor leafs. The minty flavor was sure to compliment the sour lemons. When the tea was done he would toss the brew in the blender along with a splash of milk, just in time for Boris to finish peeling the second lemon.

Both lemons were thrown in, and the whole concoction was blended together into a singular fluid. When it was done Oscar would pour some lemon crystal pearls into the bottom of the presentation cup before filling it up with the lemony tea mix. He topped the cup and hurriedly brought his entry before the judges. After placing it before them, he would nod his head and step back.

"It's a lemon-mint milk tea with citrus flavored crystal pearls. Enjoy it."

0sEUn9RQ

Score: 185

"Alright so this might be a big ask, but you gotta wear this if you want to enter the Perch."

Oscar pulled off a chunky orange outfit from a hanger and pushed it toward mint frost. The two Rockets were in Oscar's office, preparing to seek an audience with the legendary pokemon that lived just a few stories above their heads. The fashion disaster that Oscar was pushing toward his compatriot was an insulation suit; kind of like a hazmat suit but a lot more gaudy for no reason.

Oscar pulled another insulation suit from within his office's closet and began putting it on over his dress clothes. "It's ugly but it will protect us from all the lightning Zapdos emits--like constantly. Better getting electrified." Truth be told, Oscar was a little nervous. He had not seen Zapdos since the two parted ways so that Oscar could recover from his sickness. He was unsure how the great bird would react to seeing Oscar again, but given how they departed on pleasant terms Oscar was optimistic.

Oscar zipped up his suit, hopping a little to get it to settle correctly. "Have you thought about what you wanted to ask it? Remember it can only answer yes or no questions."

This was actually Oscar's second trip to the moon, and that was two more trips to the moon then he ever thought he would have. While the first trip could be characterized by anticipation, Oscar felt almost casual about this second voyage. At the very least he was much more confident, which hopefully helped set his first-timer companions at ease.

It felt a bit like a zero-gravity road trip; he would perform rudimentary data collection most of the day and socialize with his good friends Tempest Quinn , Lulu Flint , and kepler brueshaber in his down time. It was very relaxing, especially without pesky gravity getting in the way. Oscar could literally spin himself for hours in mid-air and never get bored, he had to get himself one of those artificial vacuum rooms when he got home.

Yet it could not all be sunshine and rainbows, hardship would assault the ss party rocker at the worst possible time. Their long journey was nearly finished, and a swarm of Lunatone would appear to muck up an otherwise enjoyable excursion. Their attacks were swift, falling upon the team's vessel faster than they could actually get pokemon out to fight back.

There was a little confusion while Oscar was trying to find the very same vacuum chute Lulu used to get her beheeyem into the battle. Temp had announced that a particularly immense Lunatone was approaching off the 'port bow'. Being unfamiliar with nautical terms, Oscar had no idea where that was supposed to be.

"The fuckin' what!? Did you make that up just now?!"

Oscar eventually spun his way toward the chute, inserting his own pokeball for launch. "Firing now!" As the ball emerged, it would open to reveal his signature Genesect. The cybernetic gladiator flew toward the nearest Lunatone, smashing into it with enough force to shatter its otherwise sturdy exterior (Dragon Hammer).

"Well, this certainly complicates things."

Today was supposed to be a pretty standard examination of one of Sootopolis's new Power Spots, this one being located not too far from the gym. Oscar had arrived with his partner for the day, the lovably aberrant Tempest Quinn. Temp was one of Oscar's favorite lab partners, so when he agreed to help examine a Power Spot Oscar could not have been more excited. It would have been a very enjoyable afternoon--if not for this sudden obstacle.

Oscar looked down at the Power Spot, his hands fidgeting from within his pockets as his eyes tried to comprehend what he was looking at. There were crystals surrounding the Power--hole--? You know what I mean. The normally vibrant red light seemed slightly dimmer, as if the Dyna Energy resting within was weaker. The crystals looked very similar to the same ones that normally produced Tera Energy, but Oscar had no idea why they would be growing around a Power Spot.

Oscar rubbed his chin, unsure what to make of this. He eventually looked to Temp to see if he had any insight, performing an exaggerated shrug to indicate how lost he was.