As the boats set off, Oscar suddenly got the feeling that he should have stayed on the dock. This was confirmed as Oscar looked back to see a portal opening for Adrian and Rowan--which could lead to who knows where. "That can't be good." Oscar mumbled as he turned back to look at the path ahead. There would be time to worry about them later.

As Oscar looked to his forced companions, he yelped and attempted to make space between him and them. An impossible task, contributing to a sense of anxiety that steadily rose within Oscar as his boat-mates grew wretched tattoos. He could not make sense of them, and really did not wish to. His voice cracked as he expressed his panic, "What kind of fucky Halloween bullshit is that!?" 

A bright light drew Oscar's attention forward, his eyes bulging as a mysterious figure pierced through the veil of reality and flew deeper into the cavern. Oscar had been pretty level headed up until now, but the absolute horror of his situation was slowly starting to set in. The portals left behind by the being displayed eminent danger, and he didn't have to be told twice to help keep their boat from experiencing it.

Oscar pulled out a pokeball, choosing to respond harshly as Aaron laid out his plan. "Yeah yeah cool whatever just do it!" Oscar released Slayer once more, pushing Oscar's upper body over the edge of the boat as he took up precious space. Oscar pointed to a passing boulder. "Slayer, grab that boulder and swing our boat clear of the portal!" Slayer jumped into action immediately, grabbing the boulder and keeping a tight grip with his Sticky Hold. Oscar held onto his pokemon's lower body, using all of his strength to keep Slayer in the boat. 

Speaking of strength, Slayer did not have enough of it. If he wanted to steer the boat with a swing, he would need some extra muscle power. Slayer flexed, the darkness of the room seemingly warping around him. Shadows seeped into Slayer, and he fed off them to increase his physical fortitude--for better or worse (Curse). The boat shifted as Slayer used his strength to swing the boat past the portals. With the help of the other trainers and their pokemon, this should keep them out of harm's away.

Slayer's strength may not have failed him, but Oscar's crumbled quickly. As the boat pushed forward, Oscar could not maintain his grip on Slayer. Soon the accelgor would slide through his grasp, stranding him at the boulder. Oscar reached out with both arms and yelled to his loyal soldier, "Jump! I'll catch you!" Alas, Slayer could not break his hold on the boulder, let alone jump far enough to reach his master. Oscar watched helplessly as his boat drew further and further away from the boulder. That would be bad enough, but the portal's suction clearly managed to dislodge the boulder from its resting place--allowing it to roll through with Slayer attached. For all Oscar knew, his second Accelgor was lost.

Oscar slacked, looking forward with spiteful determination. That spite was soon directed toward Seismo, who floated on without even trying to help. Seismo's body had darkened further, making only its now white eyes visible. It looked like--a band of Unknown. Tied together by twisted shadows, staring down with detached indifference. Oscar felt a hot rage boiling within him as the thing that was Seismo just--stared at him.

What did it want?

tl;dr
--Oscar wished he stayed home at the docks.
--Oscar sent out Slayer to help steer the boat away from the portals.
--Slayer couldn't break his Sticky Hold in time, and was left behind at the boulder.
--The boulder was dislodged and sucked into a portal, along with Slayer.
--Seismo has become something else.

MK9gjcPY+125

Avoid the canal portals at any cost (+20 Black)
Have a pokemon fall through a portal (+50 Black)
Put your boat over capacity (+10 Black)
Use a move and ability of the same color (+10 Black)
Something is wrong with Claydol (+10 Black)
? (+25)

oscar clayton

☉

Oscar felt rather silly during his exploration group's journey into the darkness. While they all walked like normal human beings, he had to be comically dragged along by his pokemon. Or two of them anyway, Seismo remained in the rear just out of sight. Oscar would probably be starting to feel nearly worried about the claydol's bizarre behavior, if he weren't too busy trying to shake off his rigidness. 

By the time they reached the dock, Oscar had only then started to regain control of his body. He stretched, letting out an exaggerated moan as his joints clicked and snapped. "Fuck, feels like I've been stuffed in a box." He wiggled a little bit more to get his blood flowing before stepping away from his pokemon helpers, both of which seemed rather spent from lugging their master around. Oscar took note of this, and returned the two to their pokeballs for some rest. He would have done the same for Seismo, but Oscar didn't see it anywhere. Oh well, it couldn't have gone far.

Oscar took a look around, speaking aloud his thoughts on this discovery. "I wonder if Bill knows there's a fuckin' dock under his church. Eh who are we kidding, he probably built the damn thing." Like his fellow explorers, Oscar took a look in some of the abandoned crates strewn across the dock. Opening one revealed an array of familiar looking necklaces. They looked just like the one Oscar had dropped earlier, had the same heft too. Oscar sighed as he realized he had been fooled. "Fuckin' forgeries. Of course." He pocketed one to replace the necklace he lost before closing up the crate and moving on.

Oscar opened three other crates, two of them being filled with fake evolution stones and what seemed to be badly made plushies of Arceus. Damn dock was bootleg central. The third box was--different. It wasn't full of any particular item, but rather a variety of used items. Burnt out candles, a strange variety of random singed pokemon bones, spent chalk and charcoal, papers with unfamiliar symbols, all hastily stuffed into this crate. It was as if someone was trying to hide the evidence of some sort of botched ritual. It sorta creeped Oscar out, and he was ready to just seal this weirdness away when his eyes rested upon a small empty sack. Oscar looked to the sack and then to some dust that lingered on his shoulder, smiling at the possibilities that formed in his devious head. 

He took the sack and carefully dusted off the wayward powder that stuck to his clothes inside. When he felt satisfied by its weight, he tied the sack up and held it gingerly in his palm. He turned toward the end of the dock, where two boats floated quietly in the still water. Katherine and Kyle had already taken up one of the damn things completely, with one of Kyle's pooches taking an entire seat for itself. Oscar sneered, dick move dog. Oscar looked to the other boat, where the kid he didn't know had taken a seat for himself. Two seats, four more people. 

Make that one seat three people, another stranger sat down with the kid cradling an egg. Rowan and Adrian hadn't seemed to notice yet, and while Oscar would rather ride with them he wasn't about to give up a chance for an easy ride. Still, he thought he'd help the love birds out. Oscar walked toward the boats, going out of his way to walk past Rowan. He bumped into his fellow beast, stuffing the bag of powder into one of his pockets. As Oscar passed by, he would whisper in his ear. "Boat looks a bit full, you'll have to make room." He continued toward the boats, giving Rowan a nod before turning away. He took his seat without much trouble, noticing something in the distance as he settled in. Seismo, illuminated by Cosmic Power, was well on his way across the water. It was a tad hard to tell from this distance, but Oscar could swear the claydol had changed again. It's body had gotten darker, and its eyes brighter. What was going on with that thing?

tl;dr
--Oscar regained control of his body and withdrew Alice and Slayer.
--Oscar found some counterfeit necklaces and pocketed one to replace the necklace he lost.
--Oscar found the clumsily hidden remains of a botched ritual, and stole an empty bag of it to store some butterfree powder in.
--Oscar grabbed one of the seats in the remaining boat, discreetly giving Rowan Wrynn the bag of powder to do with what he wishes to make room for himself and Adrian Malcolm . 
--Something is seriously wrong with Seismo.

qS2p7B|f+40

Grabbed Contraband (+10)
Join a group to set across the water (+10)
Notice signs of a past ritual gone wrong (+10)
Something's wrong with claydol (+10)

oscar clayton

☉