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 Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 10:51 am
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Arven jumped a bit as Aile followed him, immediately recalling that she offered to stay outside with him back at the academy and let out a sigh as he calmed down. "No...it's okay." He told her, reassuring her that she didn't insult him. "You mean Mabosstiff? They aren't uncommon here in Paldea, that said my buddy here is actually evolved, their first form much smaller and called Maschiff. People are a little split on whether or not they care for the species as they can be a little difficult to train but not my boy! Huh buddy?" Arven said, a little bit of joy bubbling to the surface as he talked about his Pokemon, it was clear he cared a lot about his dog and no doubt it helped him get through all this stuff about his parents.
Realizing he had gotten down on his knees and was nuzzling his face into Mabosstiff's fur all while Aile was watching. Standing back up he cleared his throat and readjusted his vest. "So yeah, I think they are a really good Pokemon. My parents actually got him for me as a Maschiff pup when I was little and he has been with me since. If I don't have anyone else I'll always have Mabosstiff and that's enough for me." Arven would then turn to Brian and take the poffin from him, thanking the boy and giving it to Mabosstiff, the dog happily scarfing it down and seeming to bark a 'thank you' are Brian. Sweet dog.
-----
Back inside the lab Ms. Raifort was still looking around with the rest of the students, trying to find some sort of clue as to where the Violet Book was, Barbara herself helping out by going through the bookshelf one book at a time, putting aside any books she found referring to Rock types for herself. The teacher would perk up as they heard Freth call to her and put down a book on early Paldean civilization she found among a ton of books all pertaining to ancient history, a trove of history for her, no doubt some of Sada's favorites considering she signed her name on the inside covers of these books.
"They originally tried to be normal professors, give out Pokemon and that sort of thing, but their research just kept escalating and they got busier and busier until those duties were transferred to the academy. Their specialties though originally pertained to Paldea's Terastallization phenomena and general type changing Pokemon can experience, like how Professor Sycamore of Kalos specializes in Mega Evolution and general Pokemon evolution. Their research of course frequently directed them to the Great Crater of Paldea and Area Zero." Ms. Raifort answered Freth, talking as she went back to her book digging. "Sada may have a greater interest in historical matters than myself, though more inclined to ancient Pokemon species...I prefer matters of civilization." Raifort commented offhand as she looked through the books. Freth didn't find too much of note in the drawers and if she found any papers or notes they were all written by Sada in incredibly messy almost indecipherable handwriting, the only thing consistently recognizable was her name, Turo preferred to type.
Then came Rachel's question, figuring the girl had latched onto that mention of Area Zero and wanted to know more. Putting aside the books she would respond. "Area Zero is the lower level of the Great Crater of Paldea, completely off limits to the public and anyone not given explicit permission by the government, not even Gym Leaders or the Elite Four are allowed to visit that place without permission. Not much information on Area Zero is publicly known just that it's off limits, poorly explored, is said to be an incredibly hostile place with many powerful Pokemon and it holds the origins and source of the Terastallization phenomena. Turo and Sada also obtained the knowledge to create the Tera Orb from Area Zero. Much of Area Zero is shrouded in mystery and both professors worked to lift that veil of secrecy."
The screens would show the login screen as well as warning that three failed attempts would delete all data as well as a custom warning for Arven not to play with 'daddy's' computer. Looks like Turo had problems with young Arven messing with his work. "I could give it a try, despite what the walking undead bird has to say. Find a USB port and plug your SNAG into the computer." GRAY spoke up to Tsuki, dismissing Sol's concerns.
Sol would look around and find nothing too interesting pertaining to the Violet Book, like everyone else, the hybrid's eyes drifting to the dog bed for whatever reason. If Sol looked underneath the dog bed he'd find a loose piece of paper stuck to the underside, whatever had adhere it to the bottom long since decayed and the paper came loose with ease. Upon closer examination he could tell the paper was old but preserved well thanks to being stuck underneath the bed and shielded from light and other elements, in good shape besides a small chew mark on it. Reading the page he would have a shocking discovery; this was the front page of the Violet Book.
'Violet Book, the records of Heath [ineligble] and the Area Zero expedition.' Professor Turo's signature could be found at the top of the page.
How did the front page of the Violet Book get ripped out? Why was it underneath a dog bed? And where is the rest of the book? Was it nearby? This was a massive clue but it only made more questions.
Odd didn't find much on the bookshelf but one thing he did notice was a brief glimpse of 'Arven' again, standing by Sol and the dog bed, the hybrid looking at some sort of piece of paper. Odd could feel it, something over there was very important, something happened there years ago that had a 'spiritual' impact and shadows of it still lingered.
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Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 12:41 pm
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Odd was still searching through the bookshelf when something crashed into senses like a charging Tauros. Slowly turning and scanning the lab for whatever he had suddenly picked up, he found it relatively quickly. Sol had found something. It looked like a sheet of paper but it reeked of spiritual energy. That page was involved in something that left a powerful spiritual residue behind.
"Hey...mind letting me see that for a sec?" He asked as he approached. "It's got some nasty energy hanging onto it and I think I might be able to see why." He offered, reaching for a Dusk Ball on his belt. He wasn't sure why he hadn't sensed this before it was brought out into the open but hopefully what he had in mind would answer the question.
He released Remix, his Alolan Marowak as he waited for Sol's decision and looked at the Pokemon momentarily. "Think you can assist with manifesting some spiritual echoes?" He asked the Ghost-type. Remix nodded and tapped his bone to the rough mark on his face a few times in response.
"Marowak!" The Ghost type exclaimed, igniting the eerie green flames on the ends of his bone staff.
Upon receiving the paper from Sol, Odd held it in front of himself with his left hand and reached for his artifact, removing it from the clip at his waist with his right. Holding the sickle over the paper, he looked to Remix and spoke only two words. “Do it!”
“Maro!” The bone keeper exclaimed, beginning a strangely eerie Alolan dance. Spinning his bone around himself, stomping and bending about in seemingly unnatural ways for several moments, he would stop suddenly, the dance ending with the green flames shooting from his bone through the paper in Odd’s hand, leaving it unharmed. Odd’s artifact would capture the flames in the center of it’s blade and as he removed the paper, returning it to Sol for the moment, he turned to face a clear space in the middle of the room. With flick of his wrist, Wraith Harvest cut through the emerald flames, the energy they had pulled from the page being released at the same time, causing it to begin manifesting as a visible echo of the events that had left it tied to that paper. “Let’s see what happened, why don’t we?” He asked the gathered class, assuming everyone had noticed what he was up to by the time he’d reached this point.
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Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 7:16 pm
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”See, they were all about that terastal stuff more than anything. The formula on the board is probably something pertaining to that. I have no idea why you went off on a Ultra Space tangent there.” Freth spoke to her mental resident.
“I’m not fully convinced.” The Hunter replied. “And now that she is talking about Area Zero is really leaving me uneasy.”
“Why?” Freth then said.
“Call it a hunter’s intuition. Never mind the fact that Sada and Turo goes missing and no one bothers trying to get down to the bottom of it. Strong Pokémon or no. What the hell is in that crater that makes people hesitant to go down there, let alone try to rescue esteemed professors. And there’s no telling what kind of applications this terastal phenomenon could do. Well, apart from making Pokémon into sentient jewelry temporarily.”
“I’ll concede everything other than the intuition part…” Freth said. With a gentle wave of her hand, noting there didn’t seem to fit the description of a Violet Book, she moved the papers and other items back into the drawer, still using her psychic power and the drawer would slide closed once more. Checking further yielded similar results. More things, more scrawl, papers and what not that were neatly filed away, though not too certain they were organized in any particular way, but she’d send it back the way she got it. When she was convinced she wasn’t going to get anything out of the drawer, she moved on to start searching elsewhere.
“Is it a possibility they took that book with them?” Freth then spoke up to no one in particular. “If so, then its a good chance that thing is lost for good.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 8:01 pm
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Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2024 11:20 pm
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“Pfft, remind me to not let you meet my uncle who works at Silph. Dude’s password had the word ‘password’ in it.” Tsuki snorted back to Sol. What was the issue with letting GRAY take a peek at the old computer? As far as he knew at least, it didn’t seem like anyone here had any skills with hacking into computers. Well, he had WANTED to take coding classes, but apparently that was more of a Uva thing, while he was a student on the Naranja track.
Tsuki made a small jump at the sudden sound of GRAY using his SNAG to speak, caught off guard by the AI’s presence already being there. He swiveled sideways in Professor Turo’s computer chair towards Beau, whispering “Is he always listening? Like, always always?” and keeping his SNAG lower while he spoke. Did the new SNAG’s have that as a safety feature, in case they were taken captive, or was that just GRAY being GRAY? If the former was the case, he guess that wasn’t something he’d take issue with. But… well there was probably a way to turn it off! As fun as constantly being surveilled by a misanthropic artificial intelligence was.
Pulling a plug out of his SNAG and putting it inside of the computer’s USB port, Tsuki caught wind of what Beau was doing. That was a good idea! “Wanna bet a Snag Coin on if you can get first try?” He asked GRAY, figuring that whatever commonly typed letter on the keyboard would be helpful if he wasn’t lucky enough to get it right away.
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 10:39 am
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SubonicXP Arven jumped a bit as Aile followed him, immediately recalling that she offered to stay outside with him back at the academy and let out a sigh as he calmed down. "No...it's okay." He told her, reassuring her that she didn't insult him. "You mean Mabosstiff? They aren't uncommon here in Paldea, that said my buddy here is actually evolved, their first form much smaller and called Maschiff. People are a little split on whether or not they care for the species as they can be a little difficult to train but not my boy! Huh buddy?" Arven said, a little bit of joy bubbling to the surface as he talked about his Pokemon, it was clear he cared a lot about his dog and no doubt it helped him get through all this stuff about his parents. Realizing he had gotten down on his knees and was nuzzling his face into Mabosstiff's fur all while Aile was watching. Standing back up he cleared his throat and readjusted his vest. "So yeah, I think they are a really good Pokemon. My parents actually got him for me as a Maschiff pup when I was little and he has been with me since. If I don't have anyone else I'll always have Mabosstiff and that's enough for me." Arven would then turn to Brian and take the poffin from him, thanking the boy and giving it to Mabosstiff, the dog happily scarfing it down and seeming to bark a 'thank you' are Brian. Sweet dog.
Aile chuckled as she watched the affection Arven gave to his Mabostiff, a giant smile on her face. “That’s good that you’ve got someone else, at least. It’s like me and my Flygon. The whole world could be against me, but as long as Tati’s okay…” She’d bring out said Pokemon’s Pokeball and smile at it. “I didn’t get her in the same way as you did with your Mabostiff, but…” She shook her head, putting her focus on Arven and Mabostiff again. “There’s no need to get into my family drama, though.
“So, Mabostiff. He seems friendly enough. Would it be fine if I pet him some?” |
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 12:19 pm
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Brian listened as Aile and Arven spoke about Mabostiff and Aile's Flygon, Tati, not really paying attention to the conversation. He was thinking about what Ms. Raifort had said about Arven's parents having gone missing, and how long Arven had been alone since. That didn't sit right with him, and he frowned as he wondered if anybody had even tried to go find the Professors. He needed to know more about this Area Zero, and how to get to it, so he could go looking, himself, especially if there was information to be gleaned from the area.
Shaking his head to bring himself out of his thoughts, he looked at Arven again. "Hey, Arven, I just remembered something," he said. "When we were trapped in that cave yesterday, ye mentioned something about 'so many recipes to be tried,' or something like that. Are ye interested in cooking, or anything like that?"
Rachel listened as she searched; Ms. Raifort's explanation of Area Zero had definitely piqued her interest. It wasn't so much about the Pokemon that hadn't been discovered for her, as much as it was about exploring a new area and possibly finding Arven's parents. Hearing that nobody was allowed in without express permission from the government had her pausing briefly, but only for a moment. "Is there any way we could gain that permission to search the area?" she asked. "I can understand making the area off-limits if it's so dangerous, but why would Arven's parents need to go there, and why hasn't anyone done something to try and find them? At the very least, there should have been a search party sent to look for them."
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 6:54 pm
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"I suppose they could have took the book with them, though Professor Turo wasn't one for carrying around papers let alone books, he preferred just a single laptop if he carried anything. Always the digital nomad." Ms. Raifort answered Freth, standing upright to stretch a bit and take a break from the book search. "Evidence? Hm...I suppose not. All the information we have pertaining to Area Zero is what the professors revealed and what the government tells us. They claim the wild Pokemon are particularly powerful there, even around the rim of the crater which is why the Pokemon League is nearby. As for visiting Area Zero, no, it's strictly off limits. Even to the Elite Four. Anyone who steps into Area Zero has forfeited the right to any aid, they are completely on their own. That is how dangerous Area Zero is. If anyone was sent they too would be sent to their likely deaths. It's a miracle the professors returned once." She answered Beau and Rachel.
GRAY would immediately go about attempting to hack into the professor's computer as soon as Tsuki plugged in his SNAG only to immediately come up against the security measures which were fierce. Meanwhile Beau's Powder would reveal the heavy use of almost all the keys heavily used showing just how frequent Turo typed away at this keyboard. It was a good effort but it came up with nothing useful. The next thing the pair knew the computer and screens would go dark, suddenly shutting down followed by the scrambled voice of GRAY for a few seconds before he was able to speak correctly. "The the the...system deleted itself. It almost reached into my own network and deleted me with it. What on Earth was Turo trying to protect that needed such incredible security? I didn't stand a chance..." GRAY said, sounding spooked.
After Odd and Remix's Channeling feat the ethereal flames would twist and reshape themselves as they took on the vague form of one small human and an even smaller canine Pokemon. The 'echoes' began running around the room, harmlessly passing through any Snagems in their way as they appeared to be playing a game of keep away, at least the Maschiff was, some sort of rectangular item in its mouth. They could hear no sounds but it was clear the boy was distraught, trying to retrieve the item from the dog. Eventually the boy would catch up but would notice a piece of paper had came loose from the item, an apparent book. Looking at the page another echo appeared in the form of a much older adult. Quickly the boy hid the paper under his dog's bed before spinning around in time to be confronted by the adult.
The boy was clearly being scolded by the adult, the echo of a man snatching away the book and pointing in the opposite direction, the boy sadly sulking off, that echo fading away. The man would reach down and pet the dog before going to the computer and sitting down in the seat Tsuki was currently in. The echo would then set the book down on the desk and begin to type away. It wouldn't take long for them to witness the phantom push the book out of the way, pushing it underneath one of the computer towers on the desk, raised for better venting, the book perfectly fitting underneath and disappearing from sight, soon after the echo would disappear. Now with just the echo of the dog left it would move over to its bed, do a few rotations and then lay down, a sad look on its face as it stared off in the direction the boy disappeared before disappearing itself. That was how the page got where it was and more importantly where the Violet Book might be.
-----
Outside the house slash lab Arven would continue to talk to the two Snagems that followed him. "Pet him? Sure, he loves pets. The more the better to old Mabosstiff, isn't that right boy?" Arven said to his dog with a smile, his mood getting better and better. When Brian spoke Arven perked up and nodded enthusiastically. "I'm extremely interested in cooking! It's my passion. It's my dream to become a master chef one day, one sandwich at a time!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 7:22 pm
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Rachel frowned at the information they were given; it seemed getting into Area Zero was a no-go, at least for now. Still, she felt there was something missing, something they weren't being told. Sure, the area might be dangerous, but why would the government allow the Professors into Area Zero, but not the Elite Four? Surely the Elite Four could handle themselves, or were the Pokemon in the crater something else entirely? "If the Pokemon in the crater are so powerful, why were the Professors allowed inside?" she asked. "If it's as dangerous as you say, then surely the government wouldn't risk sending their Professors into an area that was rumored to be certain death."
Brian couldn't help but smile at Arven's enthusiastic reply. Ah, so they did have something in common, then. Seems he just found a way to keep the boy's mind off whatever was going on inside the lab. "I know a bit about cooking, myself," he said. "Not just sandwiches, but other things, as well, like curry. That poffin I gave Mabostiff? Those are all homemade, each made for specific types, though I do make ones that are catered to individual Pokemon, as well. If ye're interested, I can share some of the recipes I've got with ye, see if there are any ye'd like to try."
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Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2024 9:29 pm
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Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:22 pm
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Freth stared in confusion at the explanation of Raifort. That didn’t necessarily mean anything unless he somehow digitized the contents of the book. And that was not getting into if Sada took it herself. Freth would leave it alone for the time being and went back on her hunt for the book. She lifted herself off the ground with her psychic power, hovering only a couple of inches off the ground and started to make her way back around to see if there was anywhere else to look. There couldn’t be that many places to hide that book, could it?
Freth then perked up, looking back towards the computer, hearing GRAY panic. She floated over towards Tsuki, staring in confusion. A botched hack, and worse, nearly took GRAY with it. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t imagine that if they went out of the way to make such a security system, they’ wouldn’t of had some manner of backup. That said, that raised the question where that backup would be. “I’m starting to believe these two didn’t want anyone to come looking for anything in this place.” Freth said.
“Honestly.” Eris spoke up. “Who installs that kind of security system on their computer shy of governments? That’s ridiculous. Worse, I wonder if Sada and Turo knows now.”
“…what?”
“These kind of security systems don’t go off without alerting the owner. Or at least if one got their money’s worth, that is.”
Freth sighed for a moment, rubbing her eyes for a second. “So what do we do?” Freth then asked no one in particular.
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2024 5:09 pm
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2024 9:48 am
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"The professors have always be risk takers, doing whatever they want to advance their research. They had visited the crater before with full security details, before all projects involving the crater were abandoned by the government, funding pulled. One could assume at least Turo decided he'd continue his research on his own dime...and safety." Raifort answered Rachel.
Freth and the bounty hunter's concerns over the security of Turo's computer were understandable, why would a Pokemon professor go to such lengths to protect his data? And for that matter there likely was a chance that one of the professors, if they were still alive, would know of what transpired here. What this meant was anyone's guess, hopefully it didn't become a problem in the future.
Odd would approach the desk, after asking Tsuki to move aside, and reach underneath the computer tower to find...the Violet Book! As Odd pulled out the purple book Ms. Raifort would spin around to face his direction, as if she sensed the book's discovery (she had just seen its reveal out of the corner of her eye). "The Violet Book!" The woman shouted with astonishment, running over and almost tripping over herself as Odd held up the book. "I can't believe it! It was here they whole time! Please, let me see it!" She begged Odd and once he handed over the book she would begin to gush over it. "This is it! The real Violet Book! I-I can't believe this is real..."
Barbara didn't react much to this discovery, in fact she had positioned herself at the front of the room towards the door.
-----
"You made that? Oh wow, I would absolutely love the recipe you use. Mabostiff seemed to really like it." Arven said to Brian, his canine buddy barking in agreement. "But yes, the Herba Mystica. Growing up I was enamored with the Herba Mystica, my mother teaching me all about them, sometimes I even swiped her notes of theories on them just so I could learn more. Her love of myths and legends rubbed off on me concerning the Herba Mystica and their fabled traits. But yes, Paldea is known for our sandwiches, we love them! You can't throw a rock without hitting a place that sells sandwiches."
-----
Eventually Ms. Raifort would gather everyone outside the lab, including Arven, Rachel and Aile, informing them with almost insane enthusiasm that they had found the Violet Book. Arven seemed unsure how to feel. "To celebrate let's have a picnic!" Ms. Raifort happily declared. "I'll have the school's Squawkabilly fly us in some supplies! Arven, care to grace us with your culinary delights? Maybe Brian could help you as well! I can't believe we found the book! All thanks to Odd!" She shouted at points, so ecstatic over finding the book, not even realizing her student, Barbara, had disappeared at some point.
In time a pair of blue Squawkabilly would fly in and deliver two large baskets full of food and other items needed for a picnic. They would spread out two large blankets in the yard in front of the house slash lab, the teacher inviting everyone to sit down, let their Pokemon out, and relax. Arven would be inside preparing sandwiches for everyone, asking Brian to help him. While waiting Ms. Raifort would get straight to research the Violet Book, reading through it and making notes along the way in her own notebook, her Gengar now out of its Pokeball and trying to provoke someone to play with it, having attempted to scare Freth at one point but getting nowhere and instead tried giving Tsuki a big lick.
Arven and Brian would come out with a variety of half sandwiches and pass them out, letting people pick whichever they wanted. Arven and Mabostiff would make themselves comfortable and the boy would begin to feed his dog, not too concerned with the Violet Book himself. Arven would shoo away a few food curious Nymble, the grasshoppers leaping off into the distance.
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2024 7:51 pm
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