Adventures in Helnith: Assault on the Town of Ash (RPG)

[Lord Ruby34]

"Not at all." Less said. Surf could be useful for Princess, too.

With that, Less made his way to the Ranger's office, Buck trotting happily by his side.

[Gnomes2169]

And so Mark joined Less on his way to the ranger's office, Tattersail falling in behind the two of them. Somehow, the psychic type held herself in such a way that it made Mark seem like her chauffer, rather than her trainer... might be something to do with the haughty way she turned up her head, or how gracefully she seemed to glide across the sidewalk (clearly abusing her psychic powers to partially levitate along the way, she was hardly afraid to cheat like that). Regardless, the two of them took in the sights of the city along the way, Mark so that his sleepy mind could take pictures of what he saw and meld them all together into his artistic rendition of what this city's essence was when he finally took the time to draw a bit later in the evening.

It would probably be something nonsensical, at this point. He was still very sleepy.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Matt:

((As mentioned in the OoC, need a little clarification from you.))

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Less and Mark:

You make your way to the Ranger Base. The streets are busier now, making the going somewhat slower, and there is a brief interruption as a Growlithe from one of the patrols bounds over to bark at Buck and trade sniffs - not an official trained police dog, as she seems to just be saying hello, and her trainer comes over a moment later to retrieve her apologizing profusely before returning to her patrol.

The Ranger Base is likewise busy, though with more of an air of having been that way for a while - the Rangers as well as the remaining police presumably being exempt from the curfew. You can hear numerous operators on calls to Rangers in the field, sometimes more than one Ranger at a time per operator, and the desks you see show signs of having more than one person crammed at each station - multiple headsets, name tags, and so on.

This includes the receptionists, but the blonde girl is on a call with someone already, so the black-haired man waves you forward instead. “Can I help you?”

[WindStruck]

Flotsam smiles demurely and says, "Oh.. well, you can tell them thanks. Thanks a lot, please!"

Well seeing as the Chansey was right here, Flotsam turned to wave and smile.

She goes back to rest and spend time with her Pokémon, and if they want, some more time in the shower! Unless that was frowned upon? Well maybe. That was probably considered 'wasting water'.. Maybe it was going to rain again soon? She looked outside one of the windows.

[Lord Ruby34]

Buck preens under the attention. It's fairly clear that he thinks he's setting an excellent example of Adulthood for the little Growlithe. Less used the opportunity to make some brief small talk with her trainer, but the encounter puts Buck in a better mood. He's moving with an obvious spring in his step as the reach the Ranger Station.

"Yes. I was advised by Ranger Wain to apply for a Bounty Hunter's license. I was hoping to get that done today, if possible."

[Gnomes2169]

Mark was about to ask his question, when Less brought up the license... and his eyes grew wide as he realized that oh right he should probably get one of those! Pointing his mechanical hand at the older man, Mark said, "Uh, yeah, can a seventeen-year-old get one of those too? Because I should probably apply for one of them too."

[gorman]

"Gastly come out, we'll get you an hour training too." If each takes one hour to level up I'm fine with that. Unless we've got places to do and Bandra to beat up before that time has passed.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Flotsam:

The sky through the window remains clear and sunny. You recall that is its normal state; it’s probably too much to hope for another borderline-unnatural storm right on the heels of the last one.

No one says a word about you wasting water although one of the Chansey does waddle in after about an hour to check on you.

Most of your Pokémon enjoy the shower, but King remains unmoved. He’s still mad at you.

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Less and Mark:

To Mark, the receptionist says, “I can’t exactly recommend it but you can drive and you can drink, it’s legal. Here’s the form.” He picks a pair of stapled stacks of papers out of their holder and hands one to each of you as well as giving each of you a pen.

Spoiler: Bounty Hunting Form

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Any criminal background for either Mark or Less?

Spoiler: Bounty Hunting Overview

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There exist criminals that have behaved poorly enough that someone – be it the authorities, bereaved loved ones, or the general public – want them gone, and are willing to pay to make it happen.

Rules:

• Unless their Bounty specifies otherwise, anyone you want to collect on needs to still be alive when you bring them in (per the paperwork, ‘you are a Bounty Hunter not an assassin’).
• They do not have to be completely unharmed but torture will get your license revoked.
• If more than one Bounty Hunter brings in a target the bounty will be split between them.

You also get access to the Bounty Hunting App. You can use this to look for targets, or see if any of the Bandra goons you’ve already apprehended have a cash reward for their capture.

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Matt:

((Two hours I said. Gorman, training rules are in the first post of the OoC thread. Please reread them.))

[Gnomes2169]

Spoiler: License application

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Shockingly, Mark wasn't a wanted criminal himself, and while he had a single instance of curfew violation on his Johto record, that was from when he was 14... and of course it never went to trial because that's not even a crime. It's just a way to keep kids from wandering around, making noise at inconvenient times. It barely even qualified as a regulation!

As he filled out the application, Mark asked the receptionist a few questions. "So I know that this bounty hunter gig is mostly for trainers and criminals and stuff, but is there an outstanding bounty for things like shadowed wild pokemon? Oh! And on that subject, I know that rangers are working to try and cure shadowed pokemon in the region. If we have a device that can track down tagged pokemon shadowed and released into the wild by Bandra, should we coordinate with you guys on that?"

Pausing as he was writing, he remembered the reason why he was here and asked, Also, do you know if anyone has the Surf HM anywhere around here?" Then he signed the paper, and had a different realization. "Wait. This is a license. It probably has registration and processing fees." Mark didn't exactly have the most money at this current moment.

[Lord Ruby34]

Less filled out the application alongside Mark, though with fewer questions. He grimaced as he got to the criminal history section. More than forty years of driving had left him with a few infractions, and Less dutifully noted down all his stops for speeding, broken taillights, and parking tickets. A hospital really should have more patient friendly parking. It amounted to perhaps a half dozen tickets over the course of his lifetime. Remembering the dates and places was honestly the more difficult part.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Akio and Mina:

The conversation is interrupted when the man with the clipboard, looking quite cross, throws the clipboard at the ground, shouting, “—and where are my chairs?!”

The people marking out rows look startled and try to unobtrusively edge away.

Mina spares a glance in that direction before turning back to Akio. “…We should probably deal with that. Come on,” she motions in the direction of the raging collegiate man before trotting over.

“Hello?” It’s clear she’s trying to be polite, but she almost comes off as timid. “We’re here to help with the chairs.”

“There are no chairs! Useless, lazy students haven’t brought them yet!”

“Ah. Where are they? The chairs, I mean.”

“In storage, back at the college,” he rambles off directions, finishing with “unless those lazy students got lost on the way here.”

“Okay, I’ll go see what’s happening. Akio, do you want to come with?”

----------------

Mark and Less:

As he filled out the application, Mark asked the receptionist a few questions. "So I know that this bounty hunter gig is mostly for trainers and criminals and stuff, but is there an outstanding bounty for things like shadowed wild pokemon?"

“Yes, but it’s a little different for Pokémon. Any trainer can catch a wild Pokémon, so you don’t need a Bounty Hunter license for that. We do list them from time to time, but they generally aren’t listed only in the Bounty Hunting App. Bounties for Pokémon are usually because someone stole it, or it went missing, and someone wants it back.”

Oh! And on that subject, I know that rangers are working to try and cure shadowed pokemon in the region. If we have a device that can track down tagged pokemon shadowed and released into the wild by Bandra, should we coordinate with you guys on that?"

The receptionist blinks, and his blonde compatriot is apparently paying enough attention to stop dead in her conversation. (She starts up again with some prompting from the person on the other end of her headset.) “Yes, yes that would be helpful.” He starts, then glances at Mark’s prosthesis as though just seeing it. “Oh, you’re the trainers Wain mentioned!”

Also, do you know if anyone has the Surf HM anywhere around here?"

“In Skybreak? No, but I heard there’s a trainer on the coast south of here – surfer, I don’t know his name - who has offered it up to anyone who can beat him in a Water Pokémon battle. I hear he’s been really obnoxious about it, actually.”

"Wait. This is a license. It probably has registration and processing fees."

“If you really the trainers Wain mentioned, I’m sure we can waive the fee. We’ll need a few hours to process your application anyway, I’ll make a note to check that too.” He scribbles on a couple post-its, which he sticks onto the forms once the two of you turn them in.

[Lord Ruby34]

“Yes, but it’s a little different for Pokémon. Any trainer can catch a wild Pokémon, so you don’t need a Bounty Hunter license for that. We do list them from time to time, but they generally aren’t listed only in the Bounty Hunting App. Bounties for Pokémon are usually because someone stole it, or it went missing, and someone wants it back.”

Less nodded. "Anything for a Honchkrow nicknamed Connie?" Given what the flying type had told him about her capture, Less doubted there would be. Still, there was always a chance her trainer had escaped without Connie's knowledge. A small one.

The receptionist blinks, and his blonde compatriot is apparently paying enough attention to stop dead in her conversation. (She starts up again with some prompting from the person on the other end of her headset.) “Yes, yes that would be helpful.” He starts, then glances at Mark’s prosthesis as though just seeing it. “Oh, you’re the trainers Wain mentioned!”

Less nodded. "We acquired it alongside a Bandra jeep. Ranger Wain advised me to drop by here if I intended to make a habit of catching Bandra goons."

“In Skybreak? No, but I heard there’s a trainer on the coast south of here – surfer, I don’t know his name - who has offered it up to anyone who can beat him in a Water Pokémon battle. I hear he’s been really obnoxious about it, actually.”

Less doubted he could manage it. Princess was only one Pokemon, and he didn't like her odds against a whole team. An idea hit. "Mark, do you remember that girl who was at the Pokemon Center yesterday? Floatsom, I believe? Her whole team was water type Pokemon, from what I remember."

“If you really the trainers Wain mentioned, I’m sure we can waive the fee. We’ll need a few hours to process your application anyway, I’ll make a note to check that too.” He scribbles on a couple post-its, which he sticks onto the forms once the two of you turn them in.

Less nods, and confirms again that they are the trainers that Wain mentioned. "I helped bring in a Bandra scientist and a grunt yesterday, with Wain. Did there happen to be any bounty's on either of their capture?"

[Gnomes2169]

“Yes, but it’s a little different for Pokémon. Any trainer can catch a wild Pokémon, so you don’t need a Bounty Hunter license for that. We do list them from time to time, but they generally aren’t listed only in the Bounty Hunting App. Bounties for Pokémon are usually because someone stole it, or it went missing, and someone wants it back.”

Well, that made sense. Even if it was a little disappointing, since Mark suspected he'd be fighting a few shadowed pokemon in the near future... assuming they survived the coming raid, at least. Still, he nodded along as the receptionist spoke, and filed that away under information to use later.

The receptionist blinks, and his blonde compatriot is apparently paying enough attention to stop dead in her conversation. (She starts up again with some prompting from the person on the other end of her headset.) “Yes, yes that would be helpful.” He starts, then glances at Mark’s prosthesis as though just seeing it. “Oh, you’re the trainers Wain mentioned!”

Less nodded. "We acquired it alongside a Bandra jeep. Ranger Wain advised me to drop by here if I intended to make a habit of catching Bandra goons."

"Uh, yeah, I'm one of them. Hi. I'm Mark. Hopefully he hasn't told you all too many bad things about me." He said, looking off to the side a bit sheepishly and rubbing at his organic shoulder. Turns out his arm is pretty distinctive. That was going to be... awkward, at points. "But yeah, we've learned that it's part of the jeep. Haven't figured out how to turn it on just yet, but the device is how the captured scientist and grunt were checking in on the shadowed pokemon that Less here rescued."

“In Skybreak? No, but I heard there’s a trainer on the coast south of here – surfer, I don’t know his name - who has offered it up to anyone who can beat him in a Water Pokémon battle. I hear he’s been really obnoxious about it, actually.”

Less doubted he could manage it. Princess was only one Pokemon, and he didn't like her odds against a whole team. An idea hit. "Mark, do you remember that girl who was at the Pokemon Center yesterday? Floatsom, I believe? Her whole team was water type Pokemon, from what I remember."

Hmmm... Mark had a couple water types himself, but if they could get the girl to help out with a full team instead... "Yeah, I remember her. Maybe we should stop back in that town and talk to her. I'm sure that she'd be able to put the HM to good use, too."

“If you really the trainers Wain mentioned, I’m sure we can waive the fee. We’ll need a few hours to process your application anyway, I’ll make a note to check that too.” He scribbles on a couple post-its, which he sticks onto the forms once the two of you turn them in.

Well, hey. That was a perk of his growing infamy. Mark turned in his form, thanking the receptionist before adding, "Oh, and I still owe Wain for all his help and the Shrine... I won't be available for the next couple of days, but after that I'm happy to help however I can." And hey, if that tag tracker in the jeep worked, that would probably be a good way to help the ranger out!

[WindStruck]

"Oh, King... I know you're still mad. But what am I supposed to do!" Flotsam exclaims.

She seriously thought about that for a minute, but it all seemed like negative thoughts and bad prospects. Get eaten by wild Pokémon? Go back to that village she grew up in, where no one really cared about her?

"I think, maybe we shouldn't have come so far inland. Who's idea was that anyway? Mine?" Flotsam sighed.

"Maybe next time it rains we should head north again. Or would you rather go now?"

[Feathersnow]

“In storage, back at the college,” he rambles off directions, finishing with “unless those lazy students got lost on the way here.”

“Okay, I’ll go see what’s happening. Akio, do you want to come with?”

"Of course! Glad to help." This wasn't what he had in mind as a great Samurai, but it was at least honest work....

Who knew, maybe the students actually needed help, and weren't just being lazy.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Less and Mark:

"Anything for a Honchkrow nicknamed Connie?"

“Hold on, I’ll check…” he types and clicks for a few moments. “No, we don’t have a Pokémon by that name on the list.”

"We acquired it alongside a Bandra jeep. Ranger Wain advised me to drop by here if I intended to make a habit of catching Bandra goons."

"But yeah, we've learned that it's part of the jeep. Haven't figured out how to turn it on just yet, but the device is how the captured scientist and grunt were checking in on the shadowed pokemon that Less here rescued."

“That reminds me.” He pulls out another packet of papers and hands them to Less. “Wain got the paperwork switched over on the vehicle, but it needs a signature.”

"I helped bring in a Bandra scientist and a grunt yesterday, with Wain. Did there happen to be any bounty's on either of their capture?"

More typing and clicking. “It doesn’t look like it. Grunts usually have to do something notable to get on the list, and the facemasks make identifying them difficult when they do.“

"Oh, and I still owe Wain for all his help and the Shrine... I won't be available for the next couple of days, but after that I'm happy to help however I can."

“Great! I’ll let him know.” Scribble, scribble, and another post-it joins the first on Mark’s form.

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Flotsam:

King just looks sullen, and doesn’t answer.

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Akio and Mina:

The pair of you follow the university man’s directions, but only make it halfway there before discovering the problem.

Four people in their late teens to early twenties - presumably the students - are gathered around a wheeled rack filled with folding chairs. A second rack is sitting behind the first, unattended. As you watch, they push and pull and there’s a screech of metal on concrete: one of the wheels has come off.

[Lord Ruby34]

“Hold on, I’ll check…” he types and clicks for a few moments. “No, we don’t have a Pokémon by that name on the list.”


“That reminds me.” He pulls out another packet of papers and hands them to Less. “Wain got the paperwork switched over on the vehicle, but it needs a signature.”

More typing and clicking. “It doesn’t look like it. Grunts usually have to do something notable to get on the list, and the facemasks make identifying them difficult when they do.“

No surprises about Connie or the grunts. The paperwork for the jeep though . . . Less couldn't help but be impressed by Ranger Wain's diligence. Having all of the right paperwork prepared and ready to go showed a commitment that Less found commendable. "Please pass my thanks onto Ranger Wain," Less said while he signed the vehicle paperwork and put the finishing touches on his application.

That done, Less stepped back and petted Buck while Mark asked any further questions. If the young man was already busy for the next few days he probably wouldn't be up for helping him raid a Bandra facility anytime soon. Which might be for the best. The fight against Connie and her flock had shown Less that his team probably wasn't in ideal fighting shape. He needed time to train, money for SMs, and heart scales. Years ago, Emilia had told him about a teacher who would accept them as currency for teaching Pokemon new moves, though he couldn't quite remember where she had said that person was. Or if that person was still in Helnith at all, given the war.

Spoiler: OOC

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What time is it now? I don't think I have anything else planned for Less in the morning, but if we still have a couple hours Less might train Princess for a bit.

[Gnomes2169]

Mark, for the most part, was done with the important questions, though he did suppose that he should ask, "Do you know if we're going to have another one of those heckstorms tomorrow?" Sailing when there was a monsoon going on didn't sound like a great idea, with or without surf. Once he got the answer for that, he thanked the receptionist and made his farewells.

Outside the ranger's offices, he would look at Less and ask, "So, want to do a bit of training and then go to the chairs thing? I could help with training one of your pokemon, if you wanted to do two at once." If this old man was up to assisting him and Mina, like Mark hoped, then squeaking out all the strength that they could before tomorrow would be a good idea, and Mark was willing to put in the work for that.

[Feathersnow]

"Okay, okay here what we do, some of us go on to unload the first rack of chairs. Then, once it's empty, come back with that rack and we switch them over. Unless one of you knows how to fix this?"

Akio certainly didn't, but he figured they could carry the broken rack the hard way once it was empty.

[Lord Ruby34]

Less thanked the receptionist, and left the ranger station with the younger man. Mark's offer was very kind, helping to train Less's Pokemon when he had time to train his own was very generous . . . then again, if the young man was one of the Heroes of Helnith that he had seen in the newspaper, then it stood to reason that his team was probably far stronger than Less's own.

"I would be grateful. Thank you." Less scanned the area, looking for a place that they could train without inconveniencing the rest of the city.

As the pair walked towards their training destination, Less couldn't help but remember the extremely expensive Pokemon training weights that he had bought Emilia for her thirteenth birthday. She always had specfic goals, too. Maybe Princess could practice that interception maneuver that she had pulled when fighting the Murkrow?


Once a suitable location was found, Less released Princess from her Pokeball. The little Corphish narrowed her eyes at Mark, then looked around with suspicion. "No one to fight today, Princess. We're going to get some training in." The little water type clicked her pincers menacingly. She had never particularly enjoyed training, and it was clear that she was about to throw a fit before Buck rumbled something in Pokespeak. Princess replied back, but was cut off by the large fire type. She let out a resigned "Phiiish" before snipping her pincers together again, signaling that she was ready. Buck, for his part, was happily wagging his tail as he settled in to watch the training session.

Spoiler: Pokespeak Translation

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Buck rumbled, low and deep in his chest. "We agreed, Princess, no complaining." The little water type began let out her signature whine "I don't waaant to --" Before being cut off by the large fire type. "We agreed for Emilia, and for Less. We have to save her, and you need to be as strong as possible so that can happen." With a dissolute sigh, Princess agreed. "Fiiine." She snapped her pincers together again. If they were going to do this it might as well be done sooner.

Less shook his head. He was lucky that Buck was so good at motivating his team. He turned his attention back to Mark, and asked "Do you have any specific equipment or techniques that you use to train? I was hoping to focus Princess on intercepting attacks for her teammates with her Protect ability."

Spoiler: Training

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If having two trainers reduces the time to train, then I'd like to focus entirely on Princess. If it just allows us to train more Pokemon at the same time, then I'll bring out Leo as well.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Less and Mark (Ranger Base):

"Please pass my thanks onto Ranger Wain," Less said while he signed the vehicle paperwork and put the finishing touches on his application.

“Will do!” The receptionist scribbled on another post-it, but this time stuck it to his desk next to a small mound of paperwork and half-a-dozen other post-its.

"Do you know if we're going to have another one of those heckstorms tomorrow?"

“No idea, they usually come out of nowhere when they come. Having two so close together would be unusual though. Err, more unusual.”

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Akio and Mina:

"Okay, okay here what we do, some of us go on to unload the first rack of chairs. Then, once it's empty, come back with that rack and we switch them over. Unless one of you knows how to fix this?"

One of the students, a lady with curly green hair who was nearly in tears prior to your arrival, just nods her head yes, and then shakes it no, and with the extra help the assembled students manage to get the working rack off the sidewalk, past the broken one and back onto the sidewalk without too much disruption of traffic. Three of them take off with the working rack, the fourth staying behind to stand guard over the broken one.

Mina, sizing up the broken rack, removes a chair and discovers that individually they aren’t very heavy at all, though she’s glad her Natu had Wished away most of her Slashpeak injuries before she needed to do this.

Reasoning to herself that there was no reason to head back empty-handed she pulls another one off, managing one under each arm; the burden is awkward but not unbearably so. “All right, I think that’s all we can do here for now. Let’s head back then.”

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Skybreak Park (Less, Mark, Akio Mina):

Spoiler: OoC

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If having two trainers reduces the time to train, then I'd like to focus entirely on Princess. If it just allows us to train more Pokemon at the same time, then I'll bring out Leo as well.

Sorry, no time reduction for extra people. I’ll make a note that your Pokémon are halfway to the next training level though, since you don’t have time for a full level. Gnomes, who are you training?

Less and Mark find a place in the park to train. Their Pokémon are just starting to get warmed up when 10 AM rolls around, and Princess (still looking for a legitimate reason to slack off) gets Less’ attention as a trio of students roll in a big wheeled rack holding lots of folding chairs. A middle-aged man with a clipboard stomps over to them and starts yelling about being late, being interrupted as the three break into a confused babble, something about a broken wheel.

A moment later Akio and Mina arrive on the scene. Mina brightens when she sees Less and Mark, though she doesn’t wave – there’s a folding chair under each arm. “Hello! Nice to see you again. Do either of you have a screwdriver? There’s another rack of chairs a way back that way,” as both her arms are occupied, Mina tosses her head to indicate the way she and Akio came from, “but it lost a wheel.”

[Gnomes2169]

Spoiler: OoC

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I'll give Leo some training, get him up 1/2 of the way to a level too. Make the next level come in faster.

Also, I don't have anything else for the ranger base, so I'm defaulting to Mark having already said farewell and moving on to the training.

To be fair, Mark was pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to get a full level in on any of his current party, and he wanted to see a few of the members on Less' team. "Don't mention it. I'm happy to help." He'd respond, then get into the training effort. While doing a bit of training, he sent a message to Lijan reading, <Hey, it's Mark. Going to be busy until around 2 pm, let me know when you have time for the trade and talk!>

When Mina approached, Tattersail, who Mark was basically just going to keep out all the time now, prodded him in the side to get his attention and sending him a telepathic tease that made his face absolutely scarlet for some reason. Clearing his throat, kind of choking a bit and covering it up with some coughs, he holds up a finger and says, "I'm fine, I'm fine... hey Mina. How's... oh. Yeah, I have a few." Fishing into his backpack, he pulled out the repair kit for his arm and asked, "What gauge of screw are we talking about here? Flat-head, hex or Allan wrench? Load bearing or- you know what? Let's just get over there. I'll check it out and see if one of these work for it." Who knew that losing one of your hands could be so handy in the right circumstances?

[Lord Ruby34]

Less was surprised by how much he was enjoying the training with Princess. It had been years since he had worked with any of his Pokemon like this, but he found it coming back to him with surprising ease. Princess was even mostly compliant, which was unusual. Less gave the credit to Buck, who was rumbling out what sounded like encouragement from the sidelines. Still, the session ended before Less had hoped. He had almost forgotten that he had agreed to help move the chairs.

Still, when the group of students arrived Less reluctantly stopped training and waved hello to Mina and Akio. He felt his face go hot with guilt at seeing Mina again. He should have dissuaded her and her friends a month ago. But he couldn't change the past. He would simply have to take steps to protect her, Mark, and the rest of the young people. That they were almost certainly more capable than him in a Pokemon battle didn't matter, not really. He would still shoulder the risk if possible.

Less recalled all his Pokemon, except for Buck, and trotted towards the young trainers. He was certainly the oldest person here helping to move chairs. He was certainly going to have his work cut out for him to fit in. "Good to see the both of you as well." Less said, by way of greeting, before continuing onto the stranded chairs. Buck echoed the greeting with a bark of his own before trotting off after his trainer.

"Now, let's see this missing wheel. Did it pop off, or snap?" Less said, looking at the rack and at Mark, who seemed to have come well prepared with his tools. Hopefully those would fix it up, but if they couldn't he and Buck could probably manage. It wouldn't be the first piece of spot welding he and Buck had done in their lives.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Mark and Less training:

Leo stares at Mark for a long time, before Buck says something brief but stern and then he gets on with it.

Part way through Mark gets a response back to his text.

Spoiler: Text for Mark

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Lijan sent you a message!
I’ll be waiting at the Ceris Pokémon Center any time between 2 and 5 this afternoon. Good luck on your endeavors until then.

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Skybreak Park (Less, Mark, Akio Mina):

"What gauge of screw are we talking about here? Flat-head, hex or Allan wrench? Load bearing or- you know what? Let's just get over there. I'll check it out and see if one of these work for it."

"Now, let's see this missing wheel. Did it pop off, or snap?"

“Not this rack,” Mina clarifies, “A different one got stuck about halfway to the campus. I didn’t get a good look at the screw type, sorry. One sec.” She takes a moment to unfold the chairs she is carrying and adds them to a row that is starting to form with the chairs already present. “Okay, this way, I’ll show you.”

She motions for Mark and Less to follow and backtracks to the stranded rack. Another working rack is being detoured around the broken one, to the annoyance of the local traffic patterns.

On inspection the broken wheel is (was) held in place by a fairly standard Phillips-head screw, but it came loose somehow (there’s no sign of a washer or nut but it’s unclear if one had been there before the breakage or if it just got lost along the way) and the students’ previous attempts to move it without the wheel have warped the frame enough that it doesn’t fit like it should – the wheel sticks out at an angle instead of touching the ground.

[Lord Ruby34]

"It appears someone got a mite overeager in their pushing." Less takes a moment to look at the damage from where he's standing, then continues. "It's probably going to need to come off the ground before it can be fixed. Mark, you've go the tools, so why don't you see what you can do while the rest of us lift this up?" With a flash of light, Leo reappears from his Pokeball. "If you have any Pokemon with hands, or who are good at bearing weight, they can help too. All the metal here suggests this thing is going to be heavy."

The older man attempts to direct Mina, Akio, their Pokemon and the student standing guard to help him lift the whole apparatus a few inches off the ground so Mark can get a better look at the damage.

[Gnomes2169]

Mark arrived, surveyed the scene, took a look at the wheel bearing... and shook his head. "Going to take more than just unscrewing it and screwing it back in here. The joint itself has been kinda broken... Wait." Yeah, this was probably going to be heavy, but, "Tattersail, you lifted like, 30 pokemon at the same time with nothing but your mind back at the Shrine. Think you could levitate this over to the field for us, so we can get the chairs there for the presentation? We could fix the wheel after things get set up."

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Skybreak Park (Less, Mark, Akio, Mina):

Mina had just been thinking it was a shame she couldn’t just have Natu Teleport the whole thing where it needed to go. She berated herself that she shouldn’t be using that as the solution to everything in any case and called out Sandshrew to help lift the rack. She wondered if she should suggest taking the chairs off the thing first (there wasn’t a lot of space to do so, and they’d either need to put them back on afterwards or carry them individually to the park but they weren’t exactly secure) when the whole thing glowed faintly and started floating a few inches into the air and drifting sedately in the direction of the park.

Mina felt a stab of jealousy that Natu couldn’t do that yet. But all she said aloud was, “That works.”

Spoiler: Mark

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<Whatever would you do without me?>

[essCee]

Pinklady:

Just about the time your food is finished, Leapsy lets you know someone is approaching, although by the mild concern in her voice it’s not someone you know.

He screeches to a halt not far from your fire, and nearly trips over you. He’s in his mid-teens if that, wearing a hard hat with mining equipment hanging off his belt.

“Oh I’m sorry! I thought, I saw the smoke and thought there was a fire, and I guess there is a fire but I thought it was a fire that wasn’t supposed to be there, and yours is supposed to be there, or at least I guess it is because you’re cooking on it. Hi I’m Stef!”

He also very quickly proves himself to be a bit of a motormouth.

Pinklady smiles and waves. "Hi there, Stef! It is an intentional fire, though now that you mention it, I wonder if I really am supposed to make a fire here... maybe there's some sort of... city ord..." She looks momentarily lost, repeating the "ord" a few times quietly. "Ord-nance! That's it." She gets the feeling that's not quite it. "But, nobody else has come to stop me, so maybe not! Wanna malanga?" She offers him one of the roasting vegetables she thinks is done.

[Gnomes2169]

Spoiler: Telepathy

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Perhaps it was a sign of what he'd gone through that his first thought was that they probably just wouldn't have gotten away from the Shrine of Light. Still, he followed that up with a wry, <Probably be stuck on this sidewalk with a broken cart instead of going to the domain of the bellowing event tyrant.> Helnith certainly had its share of colorful people...

Outside of his own head, Mark would look off into space for a second and then snap back into focus, flashing Mina two thumbs up and a grin. "We're good to go! Now then... let's go make some easy PD." Looking over at Less, Mark said, "When we get to work, if you wanted to talk to that honchkrow of yours, let me know. 'Sail and I can help translate." Even if the psychic type wasn't able to detect the dark type's thoughts, as they'd discovered when she couldn't sense Sengar when he was wild a week or so back, she'd be able to translate any pokespeak for him quickly and accurately... in theory. Unless Connie spoke some kind of different dialect. Were there different pokemon languages?

These are the kinds of thoughts that filled Mark's mind as he made his way back to the park.

[Lord Ruby34]

That did, indeed, work. Less stood up awkwardly from his squatting position and nodded to Tattersail. That psychic type was powerful. Less followed the others back to the park, answering Mark along the way. "I appreciate it. Go, Connie!" The large bird appeared in a flash of light, and Less was careful to brace himself against the nearest solid object.

"Connie, this is Mark, a friend of mine. His Gardivor, Tattersail, can translate for us. I know we were able to talk yesterday, but I figured this would be easier. Does that sound like something you want to do?"