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Closed Shadows

Cynder

Cynder

hapless homestuck
Pronoun
any
A voice from the darkness calls:
Heed the shadows on the walls.

The small Village of Chicole is now packed with refugees fleeing the crisis. A breeder from further south, and a young man from further north chafe against the totalitarian rule of "Relief Forces" from far northern Hoenn. The region had not been as badly affected by the cataclysm as Hoenn, but it still had warped
Pokemon roaming its wilds.


Hoenn, on the other hand, was now limited to the coasts and many islands of the continent, as its proudest city was home to one of the laboratories studying the rifts. Mauville and most of the interior of the region have been destroyed, and tainted Pokemon compete with warped ones for territory.

(Warped Pokemon can be returned to their original form, tainted Pokemon count as a different species, such as Growlithe and Houndour. Tainted Pokemon can also be warped.)

(Sign-ups)
 
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Marcos dutifully brushed Calixta's hair. "I don't understand why those refugees had to come here, of all places. Was Pueltown already full or something?"

"Clef!" Calixta asserted in agreement. Meanwhile, Lolo the Lombre was rounding up some newly-hatched babies. Slowly (and with the help of Marcos's Riolu, Dario), he managed to corral the six tiny babies and bring them over to the Breeder.

"Now, you all behave, especially you," he pointed at a particularly rascally Chingling. "Lolo is just one caretaker." They ran off. "Be gentle, you guys!" Marcos called out, then sighed.

The new kid hung out in a corner with his Nosepass. "Yo, uh..." he seemed unsure of the boy's name. "Aaron, I'd sure appreciate your help. Could you give Lolo a hand? Those six are a handful."
 
(I thought I specified Pueltown, but don't change anything; I can roll with this.)

"Yo, uh... Aaron, I'd sure appreciate your help. Could you give Lolo a hand? Those six are a handful."

Aaron heard his name and looked up; he saw the breeder that he was staying with (Marcos? Yeah, that was it.) address him and ask for help with the babies. "Yeah, OK. Come on, Tenerock"

There was playful chaos ensuing inside the pen. Aaron kneeled down next to the Lombre and looked at the 6 babies: "A Smoochum, an Elekid, a Magby, a Chingling, an Azurill, and a Munchlax, huh?" As he said this, the Chingling came up to him. "Hey, Chingling! You're a cutie, aren't you?" The Chingling bounded up onto his lap, and let out a loud Uproar. "AAAAH!!!" Aaron yelled as he had to stop himself from saying some colorful words. Lolo, who was attempting to break up a fight between the Elekid and Magby had to stop to cover his ears, and Tenerock, who was rocking the Azurill to sleep, jolted upwards. "C'mon Chingling! Tenerock, use Secret Pow-" Aaron stopped himself before he could finish. Secret Power does damage. If I used it now, it would seriously hurt these little guys "On second thought Tenerock, use Block." Aaron said. Tenerock complied, and a wall of invisible energy formed around each baby. "There, now you can't harm yourself or anyone around you." As he said this, the babies started falling asleep, as without constant movement, they realized how tired they were.

"Guess I should report back to Marcos. Hey, Tenerock, you can unblock the babies now." he said, starting to get up as Tenerock lifted the invisible walls. "This was the least I could do for him letting me and my family stay here." "Pass." Tenerock said in agreement, as the they walked out with Lolo.
 
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Marcos noticed the new hired hand walking out with Lolo, who puffed his chest out triumphantly. "Good job, you guys. I think we're about done for the day; the sun's starting to go down." Effectively, the first streaks of orange and pink began to color the sky.

The Breeder roused a Cacturne from its sleep and called on a Mankey. "Colo, Koko, you're up for the night guard. Take good care of the place, all right?" The helpers nodded assertively.

"So, kid, where're you from? I know you're one of those refugees, but I haven't been keeping up with the news much. Farm's got my hands full."
 
As Aaron turns around to answer a bell chimes nine times, signaling curfew. A pair of officers walk up the road towards the ranch. They appear to be drunk and looking for trouble.
 
Suspicious, Marcos raises a brow. He calls over his Mankey nightwatcher and whispers to him to get some backup; it complies and scampers off in search of some of the workforce. Cole, Lolo, and Calixta stood steadfastly next to Marcos.

"Good evening, officers! Is there a problem?"
 
Aaron walks up beside Marcos, ready to give backup if necessary, with Tenerock following suit. He clenches his fists and grits his teeth.
 
The guards approach, staggering slightly.
One of them asks, "Hey, isn't it past time for bed, kids? You shouldn't be out at night. Hahaha."
The other pulls out a pokeball, but before he can throw it everything goes dark.


The darkness goes just as suddenly as it appeared, but the second guard is nowhere to be seen, only a small pool of blood and a pokeball remain. The first guard cowers on the other side of the road yelling, "Stay back! Get away from me!"

Neither of you are harmed, and no pokemon have been injured.
 
Tenerock gets a rock at the ready, and Aaron gets ready to command, when a wave of darkness overtakes him

Black. Black everywhere. Aaron holds his hand up to his face, but sees nothing. Am i even here? he thinks to himself. "Tenerock? Marcos?" he says. Then hears a whispering voice. "Can't... kill... protect... humans......". "Hello? Who is that?" Aaron responds. "Killkillkillkill! No... cant kill...". "Hello?????" he responds. "Heed the shadows. You cannot stop it." a new voice responds. And then, a loud roar comes from nowhere, jolting him awake...

Aaron wakes up on the ground, with Marcos, Tenerock, and Calixta over him, looking worried. "Hey bud, you ok?" Marcos asks. Aaron looks over at the pool of red liquid where the guard was, and the other guard cowering, and feels sick to his stomach. did I j-just speak to a warped... he thinks. "Uh, Marcos, it's, uh, getting late, i-im gonna head in. G-gnite!" And with that, he dashes in quicker than normal, with Tenerock following suit.
 
Marcos just stood stunned in his spot. Koko approached with a few other of Marcos's Pokémon. The caretaker gave a thumbs up and they dispersed; he gave the other Pokémon some orders.

"Lolo, go check the babies. Cole, make sure everyone's accounted for. Calixta, stay here. You'll probably be needed," he said sternly.

He approached the puddle and gingerly picked up the sphere the guard left behind. Examining it closely, he noticed nothing peculiar about it.

"Hey," he called the other guard. "Why are you even here?"
 
The guard, upon hearing Marcos address him, does his best to get up and he runs off towards town. Cole returns, and signs to you that all pokemon are accounted for.

(Stryke, and therefore Aaron, might not be joining us for a while. Should we continue this bit of the RP in his absence?)

The guard pokemon make sure the babies are asleep, and station themselves around the barn, nervously staring into the shadows of the surrounding plant life. The time is now about 9:30 in the evening. (21:30)
 
I've already gone inside for the night in the RP, and I'm not in any place to do a full RP post yet (though I can do a short one like this), so go ahead.
 
(@Stryke, Ok. Good luck with whatever it is you're doing!)

The tropical paradise of Oblivia: warm, sandy beaches; tropical jungles; perilous mountains; and many other attractions. It was the only region to escape the Cataclysm, and those who know about it do their best to get there in these dark times. But Oblivia hold a secret. An ancient secret, cleverly hidden. The Sky Fortress incident a few years ago nearly exposed it, but stopped short. We are Steelhead, knights of old.
 
Daybreak Ruins - a neolithic site on Mitonga Island. Is it a settlement, a burial ground or something else entirely? Lyla doesn’t care what exactly it is, just that something intriguing lurks within... Where the hell is it though? Kong, her Abomasnow, and her will be here until daybreak before they find it at this rate!

‘There, Kong!’ exclaims Lyla after turning a corner and freezing a Gible half to death. She has shone her torch upon a wall. A special wall. Red lines reach across it, applied thousands of years before; probably undiscovered until now... Kong grunts as he runs his almost human fingers across them.

‘Kong!’, his partner berates, ‘Don’t touch. These are proper old, you know...’

She flips open her old Pokégear, Oblivia is very slow to adopt modern technology, to contact an acquaintance, a breeder over in Almia named Marcos Jerrod.
‘Marcos. Yeah, it's Lyla. I’ve found them... The cave paintings. I think the Steelheads are involved in all this...’
 
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Marcos fired up his C-Gear's Xtransreceiver. Lyla was calling him, for some unknown reason; he wasn't unable to see her (backwards compatibility hadn't gone that far back), but he could hear her just fine.

"Lyla?... What?... Wait, are you serious? Where are you?... Alright, I'll get over there as soon as I can."

Before he left, though, he dropped by Aaron's family, leaving in their care a note detailing his own whereabouts and some money for a ferry if need be. He also delegated his duties; his dutiful Lombre would take care of

After a lapse of time, he finally arrived at the ruins. The looming figure of Kong intimidated Calixta, causing her to hide behind Marcos.

"Whoa. You finally found 'em," Marcos remarked. "I gotta say, I'd never thought you'd actually find 'em."
 
I think it might be time to introduce d'Argent.


Mars shook ash off his fur, coating Morgan in a fine cloud. They had just entered the old Contest Hall where a government agent was trying, unsuccessfully, to cajole the people of Fallarbor into leaving. Morgan strode over to the man, who was a good six inches shorter, glaring menacingly.

"I suggest you leave"

"You are the ones who should leave, this land is uninhabitable. The ash chokes the sky, ruin your livelihoods."
"This ash has made Fallarbor the top producer of glass in the region. It also is very good for crops. Anyway, those who wanted to go have already gone. So remove yourself, or we'll remove you."

Mars Leered at the grunt, frightening him.

"But... you... can't..."

Morgan picked up the cowering man and carried him out the door.

"These people who stayed are extremely independent folk. I've done you a favor, they would have thrown you off Meteor Falls like the last guy who overstayed his welcome. If you return, I'll join them in sending you off."

The agent, sufficiently cowed, ran to a clear space and dialed in his Xtranreciever for something, presumably the hoverplane that showed up minutes later.
After the guy left, Morgan turned around and walked to the abandoned observatory, his temporary base. The winds that had once kept the town's skies clear had been altered in the Cataclysm, and now ash fell like rain, rendering the observatory useless. The rare times when it did actually rain, it mixed with the ash, creating a mud-like substance that stuck to everything.

As Morgan entered the Observatory he checked the seismometer, there had been some freak quakes earlier that year. Mars settled down in a fireproof bow set aside to be his bed. Morgan went up to the observation tower, where he slept. The telescope had been removed when the scientists left. The words of the government agent were true, they should leave, but he and the residents of the town would never go crawling to the government for help. It went against the grain, the government never bothered them before the Cataclysm, and they were all part of the land. All accept for Morgan, a Ranger. He had traveled the world, been to important places, met with important people, why should he of all people stay in the danger zone, on the edge of the Riftlands? It was because he was a Ranger. It was his duty to protect pokemon and nature, and he saw that the only way he could do that was if he closed the Rift, and told other people how to do it. So he stayed in Fallarbor, helping the people, protecting the land. But he would leave soon, and adventure towards the Rift.
 
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'Yeah, I was just about to give up! It was good training for Kong, though.' She ran her hand through the giant's fur. 'There's an old man on the island, a historian, who told me the Steelheads used this place as a prison. Now, I think this was painted by one of the prisoners - an agent, maybe, trying to expose the secrets of his captors.'

She flicked her torch over to the opposite wall, a couple of metres away. Slumped against it, limbs hanging like coats from hangers, was a decaying skeleton.

'There's our culprit... I expect.'
 
Aaron came inside, and flopped on the couch. Tenerock stood beside him. "Ten, what happened? There was that darkness, and the voices, and the roar..." Tenerock sat beside him and put a hand on his back. "Ten... I'm scared." "Pass" Tenerock said. "L-lets try to get to sleep." Aaron said, and flicked off the light.

In the morning, Aaron woke up, and went to help Marcos when he saw the note. "He left!? Oh no... what do I do now??" "Pass! Nosepass!" Tenerock said as he gestured to the Relief Forces office. "Yeah... they could help with this! That's their job! Good thinking Ten!" Aaron said. "Let's go!", and with that they rushed towards the office.

Inside, it looked like a typical waiting room painted beige, complete with a coffeemaker and magazines. A rather bored receptionist was sitting at a desk, typing away at a laptop."Uh... I'd like to see the Chief Officer." Aaron said. "Do you have an appointment?" she said. "Um... no." "Sorry hon, you can't see the CO without an appointment." "Please miss, it's really important!" "Sorry, but no." as she gestured to the door. Aaron sighed as he trudged out, when he heard someone say "What do you need?" A tall sandy-haired 17 year old stepped out of the door with a warm grin on his face. "I'm Zak. How can I help?"

"Let's step outside" Aaron said, and they went outside, behind the building. "Ok, what do you need?" he said. "I promise I'm not making this up. Here it is." And Aaron told him all about last night, the guards, the blackness, and his encounter with the warped kind. And all the while Zak listened intently, looking not scornful or doubtful, but with a look of concern and interest. And finally, when Aaron finished, he said "Alright bud, meet me by the entrance to Chicole Village. I might be able to help. "Really? You believe me?" he said with disbelief. "Yes. Aaron, right? Well Aaron, I think I can help. Meet me there in 15 minutes." "OK! C'mon Ten!"

Zak waited until they were out of sight, then dialed a number on his Xtransciever and hit Call. "Hello? ... Hey, it's me? ... Listen, I found another one. ... Yeah, he's 13, and really scared. ... No, he's different. He can TALK to warped ones. ... I know, it's crazy, but you know we need to help anyone in need. It's who we are. Besides, remember that Boyleland kid? He was in the same boat, and we helped him. ... Well, if we can't help, he could help us! Talking to warped Pokemon could help us return them to their original form! ... Alright, I'll update you if anything else happens. ... Talk to you later." And with that, he walked off towards the Chicole Village entrance, the sun glinting off the Capture Styler dangling from his belt.
 
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Ranger Connor Green, head of the taskforce covering the evacuations of northern Almia, was very annoyed with his secretary who had woken him up at midnight. He had just went to sleep for Arceus’s sake. But his anger left him with a bit of coffee, black as night. Then he excused the secretary of any fault when he heard the news. A boy was found who could talk to pokemon; they had to find him right away. Green ordered the nearest Ranger to pick him up.

That was how Zak got into such a tight spot. By the time orders got back to him, Aaron had found money for a ferry and was half-way to Oblivia, following a friend of his who had left the two days before. Zak was supposed to stay in Almia, and would get into much trouble with his immediate superiors if he left, but if he didn’t go, he would probably be fired by people farther up the chain of command. In the end he decided to call Summer, a retired ranger from the Oblivia region and ask her what to do.

And here's Morgan:

Orders were rare in these dark times, even rarer still for a Ranger in such an out-of-the-way place like Fallarbor, but when Morgan was hailed by a mail swellow, he gladly received them.

To Morgan d’Argent,
Your mission to explore the interior of Hoenn has been approved we are sending a communication specialist with you. You are to escort him to the Fortree City ruins and capture any Warped pokemon along the way. Additional orders will be waiting there.
Connor Green

So, he was to escort a scientist across miles of rough country. He probably wouldn’t even have any survival lessons before he got here. This was going to be fun.
 
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Calixta and her Trainer both winced simultaneously out of disgust. The nasty skeleton had obviously stayed put where it was for entirely too long a time.

"So," Marcos began, suppressing rising bile in his throat, "what exactly do the paintings say?"
 
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