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 Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2023 7:53 am
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So you have chosen to join Clavell's secret mission as a means to graduate, the only 'path' which is composed entirely of Snagems. This path, known as 'Starfall Street' involves the Snagems executing Clavell's 'Operation Starfall', named so as your mission is to topple the rowdy group of students known as Team Star. Clavell claims that Team Star has been a nuisance to the academy in the past but their antics continue to escalate, now pushing criminal. To protect the academy's reputation Clavell decided to dismantle Team Star in secret.It is unknown what about Team Star has Clavell so concerned, besides their pranks and possibly criminal conduct, but regardless Team Snagem is being presented with an opportunity to allow the entire team to graduate and appease the Indigo Alliance and in Sub's mind this wasn't an opportunity they could afford to pass them by.
[The day after Clavell's office meeting.]
After class yesterday Sub instructed his team to meet up in his dorm room so they might devise a plan of 'attack' against Team Star, to hopefully take them down quick and spare the others the trouble of graduating. Sub had instructed his teammates to bring a diverse team of Pokemon from weak to strong, but no legends. Clavell wants Sub to give these students a chance to surrender, see the error of their ways and only escalate as needed and while it wasn't Sub's style he would honor Clavell's wishes if it meant graduating.
For now Sub waited for his teammates to show up, spinning around in his chair, his young Murkrow Nevermore perched on the flat screen TV in the room slumbering.
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2023 11:44 am
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Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:15 am
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Monique had been forced to think long and hard. All her unevolved Pokémon were Shadow Pokémon, which was a public health risk because she wasn't sure which Paldean cities had Immunizers.
The strong part of her team was a no-brainer. Marowak and Crawdaunt provided basic type coverage, and Castform was logical support for both of them. There were obvious travel Pokémon to support the expedition: Wyrdeer and Honchkrow, plus Honchkrow and Castform had weather synergies. That left a single slot open, and Sub's request dictated a weaker Pokémon. She chose the blue Orthworm that hatched from the egg in Paldea's market. It was Steel, a type she didn't have in her other Pokémon, and it was native to the region.
The walk from Naranja House to the Uva House dormitories was long, criss-crossing the facility, but Monique made it. One or two others were in the room, which predictably had the curtains drawn. Sub was waiting, his Murkrow perched on the TV. Absinthe was sitting on the bed. Which left Monique to wonder... Who was rooming with Sub? There was a second bed, but it looked unused.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 10:23 pm
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The night before...
Out of anyone, Cera still hadn't been able to decide on a path, going from her dorm to the rest of the team for the meeting about who'd be tasked with Operation Starfall. As everyone talked about the paths they were considering and how to best bring in a group for the mission Clavell was entrusting them with...
"So if anything, it sounds like we'll want a smaller group with more varied power. Something less obvious," Sol commented.
"Let me come with," Cera spoke up. "I haven't signed up for anything yet, so it shouldn't be hard to arrange things."
There were a couple of comments, but it was quickly conceded that it'd be a better fit with her ability to transform and mask herself. And her and Sub did work well together, too. And weirdly enough, she fit the bill well about having a diverse team of varying power... so long as she didn't fight much. But if any Pokemon of the legendary or mythical persuasion was going to be around, she might be the only one to get away with it thanks to the team's fame. Eventually...
"So we're decided? We meet here in the morning to start the operation? Also Ammy, you're sure about just taking more classes here?"
"I am," Amaranth answered, nodding. "I can come in if it's needed, but I'm fine not having to worry about missions or fighting for a bit."
"Right... alright, we'll meet here in the morning."
"Before you go," Sol spoke up. "If you don't mind, I'd like you to join me outside Mesagoza's gates. I'll explain more when you get there, so take your time."
"Okay...?"
---
Cera ended up having about as long a night as Sol did, helping however she could to get his Leafeon to learn a few more tricks. He was right, the exercise did end up helping her too, if she found herself having to take on that form again. Her Smoliv had joined in a little bit too, but being so young, she couldn't do a ton and easily went from okay to tears. But maybe it'd help for what's to come?
Still waking up, she'd get to Sub's dorm and knocked on the door before opening it. "Sub? It's me- oh. There's others here too, hi." She floated on in and closed the door.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2023 4:42 pm
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2023 6:07 pm
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Amber, while not actually attending the academy and instead exploring on her own, did actually keep up with what was going on with the rest of the team. Brian, being ever the helpful one, had kept her updated on the happenings, and that was how she knew about the options presented by Clavell. Hmm, hearing what the rest of the team could do to graduate had piqued her interest, and she looked over the information her friend had passed on to her. She had to laugh at his choice; of course he'd go for the history and legend route. For her, though, going after giant Pokemon held absolutely no interest for her, and neither did the Victory Road. Going around getting Gym badges wasn't something she was inclined to do at the moment, so there were two other things she could do.
She was going to avoid the academia like the plague, which only left one option. Starfall Street. These guys had apparently been giving the school trouble for quite a while now, and she had to wonder what had caused it. Hmm, perhaps she should make herself known, since most of the team hadn't seen her since they'd arrived at the academy. Yes, she would take part in this, and going by what Brian had said, Sub was requesting those participating in this choice to gather in his dorm room. So she got the information from Brian and followed the directions, then walked inside and took a spot behind everyone else. She didn't need to worry about her Pokemon being too strong, seeing as most of them were unevolved, but at the same time, she couldn't use Sander at the moment, with him still being infected with the Shadow Virus. So the battling for her would be left to the rest of her team, and she hoped they would be able to bring Team Star down without too much trouble.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2023 9:08 pm
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 3:03 pm
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"Thank you all for coming." Sub would address his gathered teammates as he finally spoke up. He'd catch Monique staring at the spare seemingly unused bed and decided to address that Donphan in the room. "I paid them to go somewhere else." The man said with a sly grin. 'Paid them', said the notorious cheapskate, Mr. Stickyfingers himself. "Now that we're all here it's time to devise our plan of attack, if you will. As Clavell explained our goal is to take down this group of delinquent students as quickly and quietly as possible, to avoid drawing attention to the academy. For whatever reason, I suppose because these are still his students, Clavell wants us to limit our firepower, to only escalate as needed and to always offer up surrender. Not usually our way of working however the allure of receiving his personal approval of the team and conveying this to the Indigo Alliance, thus restoring our ticket of free operation in all regions, is too good to argue with the man." Sub summarized for his teammates.
"From what information Clavell has provided there is no true leader of Team Star, at least not anymore. The mysterious individual who created the team disappeared and left behind the team's five admins to co-lead the team together. Normally losing your leader causes a team to collapse but not Team Star. It hasn't gone smoothly though, there has been plenty of infighting among the five factions and admins which lead them, we can perhaps use this to our advantage." The man explained. "The first faction we'll focus on, or squad as they refer to themselves, is Schedar Squad. They have one of the two bases nearest to Mesagoza, across the drylands some of us have already visited, just north of a settlement called Artazon. From what GRAY was able to detect and map out via SNAG and information by Clavell we were able to deduce the exact location of Schedar Squad's Base."
"Now for information about Schedar Squad. This faction is ran by a female student named Mela who specializes in Fire-types, as does the rest of her squad. From what we know of her she is a talented trainer, her squad having evolved a large group of Pokemon under her tutelage. For what we don't know. Schedar Squad seems to provide the 'grunt work' for Team Star, the daily manpower needed to realize their plans, the fuel for the fire, so to speak. Getting out their man labor force right away would cripple them tremendously, thus why I've chosen to target them first. Plus being so close to a city like Artazon will make this perhaps the easiest to strike out at." The man explained their first target and the rational behind picking them, it wasn't a bad reasoning.
"So, if you have any Rock, Ground or Water types be sure to bring them. We're going to head out from Mesagoza together, trek across the drylands and arrive in Artazon, and extinguish the flames that power the machine that is Team Star. They might just be students but Team Snagem is coming for them, and we always get the job done." He grinned, Nevermore squawking to concur with her trainer. "Nevermore!"
-----
South Province, Area Three [Drylands]
Sub and the rest of the Snagems would in time find themselves walking along the semi-arid landscape of Area Three of Paldea's South Province, the sparsely vegetated drylands. Unknown to this group of Snagems there was another group of Snagems led by Ms. Raifort nearby searching for the Titan Pokemon they stumbled upon yesterday, a giant crab known as Titan Klawf. Fortunately for Sub and his crew they were just passing through and had no intentions on dealing with any giant crabs today. "Artazon is just on the other side of the drylands, in fact it's typically the second Pokemon Gym trainers typically face here in Paldea so it's relatively simple to find your way there. See?" He said, pointing out a sign post pointing the way to Artazon. As they passed by the sign a very tiny pair of golden eyes belonging to a gray alien-like body gaze upon them from behind the post, it's entire physical form almost too small to see. "Gimmi..." It whined as it watched the Snagems walk off.
[You may capture or snag one Pokemon during the entire 'Schedar Squad' episode. The Pokemon found here on South Provice Area Three are linked. You may encounter and capture one as the group walks to Artazon or wait for a different area to catch a Pokemon in.]
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 3:59 pm
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Absinthe followed along the Starfall team, but her displeasure was going increasingly more obvious. Clavell's imposed limitation of only escalating when necessary was the exact opposite of how she prefered to fight. These guys were criminals, right? Who cares how roughly they're handled? She preferred to crush her enemies swiftly, and being forced to to beat around the bush like this only made the prospect of battling them boring.
To make matters worse, she didn't have any of the types needed for this first leg of the mission, so she'd likely be sitting out on battles for a bit, which only made the boredom worse. Still, arguing wouldn't solve anything, so she just had to keep quiet and stick with it. And hope they'd eventually need the types she had on her. That, or were desperate enough to not care, but she wasn't holding out hope that the enemy had trainers that strong.
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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 9:48 am
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Monique stepped out from the east gate of Mesagoza to a rugged badlands dominated by massive, red-cliffed mesas and spots of green. Alongside and even on the main path forward, there were Pokémon. Off the beaten path, there were more cliffs, rapid changes in elevation, and even… *Why is that Pokémon glowing?* the sheriff thought to herself, though she wasn’t exactly in the mood to add to her already burgeoning team with any of the fairly small Pokémon in front of her. The Pokédex was ringing, though some species still didn’t seem to get the Pokédex to trigger. One was a walking or gliding rock with glowing eyes and what looked like a massive cube growing out of its head.
The road rose gently, a grade noticeable enough that if you looked back you could see how much elevation you’d gained since departing Mesagoza. There was a Pokémon Center, one of the kiosk-types that she had seen in Porto Marinada, and shortly after a small cut through some rock. Stepping across revealed the immensity of the Paldean badlands, a landscape that reminded the Alolan girl of Vast Poni Canyon except…way more vast and intricate. She was slowly walking, gaping down at the massive chasms, the possibilities of gliding with her Honchkrow and seeing the sights. But not this time, no, she didn’t want to draw too much—
*Klawwwww!* A large crab Pokémon skittered across the path and stopped Monique. It was going to pinch her if she did not stop and battle it. The first Pokémon that came out was her biggest unknown: the blue Orthworm, freshly hatched from its egg.
She wondered what type it was, but the Pokédex was not forthcoming. The irritated crab grabbed a rock and hurled it at Orthworm, which seemed to take it in stride. *Rock type?* Selecting from the available moves, Monique chose one that would be super-effective: Iron Tail. The large blue earthworm appeared to coat itself in a metallic layer before turning violently, smacking the rock crab hard on its shell.
“Klaw! Klawf awf awffffff…” The crab glared at its foe, evidently smarting from the blow and—unbeknownst to Monique—its Anger Shell ability activating, amping up its attack and speed. The Pokémon used Rock Smash, a Fighting-type move that managed more damage on the Orthworm, though that was relative because that was actually a weaker move without considering type matchups.
The Orthworm seemed to take umbrage at its opponent's zippy attack. Without Monique commanding it, it used Iron Tail again, thwacking the crusty crustacean where it hurt. With lowered defense, the Klawf stood no chance, being sent some distance away and down one of the gullies off the main path. It would have to seek revenge another day.
Orthworm was happy to have defeated its foe, swinging its tail wildly and nearly clipping its Trainer. *Gotta watch out,* Monique thought to herself. She looked ahead. There was some sort of old-looking viewing tower with two platforms visible in the sort-of-distance. The town they were looking for, Artazon, was still not yet in sight.
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Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 3:36 am
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Cera narrowed her eyes a little, but not at the idea of someone being paid to butt out for a bit. No, those words from Sub suggested something else, but not anything that really changed the circumstances any. "Well, limiting myself shouldn't be that much of an issue..." Out of anyone, her hardest hitters were Kiri- her Tyranitar- and Lapras. Anyone else wasn't really as expperienced, other than the shadow Starmie she snagged some time ago. But she didn't dare sic that on anyone without a good reason, even with an Immunizer on her.
"Does sound like Kiri and Lapras might be good in a pinch, though. Guess I should transform before we drop in for a visit, though, otherwise they might think I'll be fighting them too."
From the sounds of it, raiding a base sounded more her speed anyway, and she was fine with heading out into South Province towards the apparent location of Schedar Squad. It was still a bit of a trek floating around, being unfamiliar with the landscape and wishing to keep somewhat close to the others. This would break for a moment when she looked at the sign Sub pointed towards along the way, hearing a faint whine- but with how small the source was, she failed to notice it entirely. She was about to continue onward when she heard a light growl, seeing a Shinx trying their hardest to intimidate the Mew floating before them.
"Hm? I'll be leaving shortly, you don't need to growl at me like that- actually..." She had a feeling this Shinx was on the younger side, though having an aggressive streak wasn't uncommon. Still maybe this was a good way to ease her newly-hatched Smoliv into things...
"You mind giving this little one a fight?" She asked before lowering herself to the ground, unfazed by the intimidation tactics as she tried to set Smoliv down in front of her. This plan ran into a few snags immediately when the intimidation was much more successful on an olive that was now crying and trying to practically attach herself to the Mew that dared tried to introduce her to something so scary.
"What? It's just a Shinx, they're really cute when they're not acting like they've already evolved- oh right, you're not gonna understand that yet... and I'm not sure what something like you can learn." She still managed to set the Pokemon down, though she did realize a few errors in judgement. "You seem to be a lot easier to figure out than Buzzwole was, so maybe..."
Focusing for a moment, Cera would have an easy time getting a feel for Smoliv's form and energy, transforming to match the young Pokemon. "See, I look like you now! Except pink. And, um. Oh..." All at once, she realized maybe this wasn't the best idea. She'd managed the form just fine, and Smoliv was confused at what she was seeing. But with it came one of the reminders that sometimes, her innate ability to synchronize her mind with the others sometimes kind of sucked.
With how young Smoliv still was, she wasn't sorting much out in the way of moves yet. Types gave some ideas, noting mostly Grass and hints of a more ordinary sort. Normal, maybe? Apart from this, a few uneasy steps on now-stubbier feet almost saw her fall over and she was almost too privvy on Smoliv's overall discomfort alongside. The early morning felt cold and that led to a hard-to-ignore hunger in the moment, the desire to seek out safety- except she was the safety. When she finally lost balance, a bit of oil shot out from her head and at Shinx, stopping their growling from a sudden, immensely bitter taste they weren't ready for.
"Er! Sorry, I'm still figuring this form out-"
Shinx understood the remark just fine, but not having the apology, they'd retaliate with a Thunder Shock. Something she noted didn't hurt too badly, giving her a feeling she was right about her guess. But she still wasn't thrilled about it and though the jagged mouth made her look like she wanted to cry herself, the glare she gave broke any and all pretenses.
"Okay, crash course time. Sweetheart, it's time I taught you how to Tackle. So you get yourself ready on your legs, carry yourself with everything you got and-"
Suddenly, Cera ran at Shinx as fast as the form would let her, shoving into them hard as more oil shot out from the impact and got subjected to even more unwanted bitterant. "Throw yourself at them! And I guess shoot oil, I guess that's something you do too."
Smoliv, however, was more in the 'cry and hope it stops' camp and wasn't keen on tackling anyone at all. The next Thunder Shock from Shinx would see a stray bolt hit her alongside Cera and, in the moment, saw Smoliv both crying and wanting to mimic the whole thing. Though her movements were shakier and hardly had any force behind them at all, she'd less tackle and more flop next to Shinx and make them wish they weren't having such a bitter experience.
Unable to get the taste out by this point, the Shinx would end up letting out an upset cry before deciding it was better not to keep dealing with this and taking off. Cera would sigh at the outcome, though she couldn't bring herself to be too upset about it when it was admittedly a poor idea to immediately try battling with someone so new to the world.
Reverting back to normal, she'd lift Smoliv up and keep her close again while moving to catch up to Sub and the others. "Sorry, maybe I should've found something your speed for that. Like maybe a plush I don't mind being ruined with oil..."
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 3:12 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:09 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 10:46 am
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The Snagems would in time make it to Artazon, the road becoming paved with stone and a giant windmill appearing at the horizon and cottage-like houses coming into view. Making it to the city's Pokemon Center Sub would walk up and inquire something with the local Nurse Joy. If anyone needed to get their Pokemon healed now was the time to do so. Once ready they would move on.
Making their way into the city proper they would begin to see Sunflora statues dotted around, so many that no matter which way you turned you were going to have at least one in eye sight. Behind one of the statues lurked a small grey alien-like creature with a coin on its back, having followed them to Artazon, its presence still not known to the Snagems.
Despite the humble homes, giant windmill at its center, and numerous statues of the Sun Pokemon the city of Artazon was still very 'green', plenty of grass, trees and other plant life, as if the city was built to co-mingle with nature rather than supplant it. It was a pleasant city.
Passing through the center of the city they could spot a tower white modern-style building that certainly clashed with the aesthetic of the rest of the city. Judging by the huge Pokeball shaped facade the Snagem leader assumed that must be the city's gym and considering the statues and general design of this city he would further assume the Gym Leader specialized in Grass Pokemon. But that wasn't why they were here, Artazon was just a pit stop on the way to their true location; Schedar Squad's Base.
As they left the city Sub informed them that he obtained information from the Nurse Joy of a passage that led up to a large hill on the other side of Artazon which conveniently overlooked the Team Star base. Nurse Joys were a wealth of local knowledge considering how many travelers they see and speak to in a day, sometimes you just need to know how to coax the information out of them. With this knowledge he led his teammates into the wilds and up the hill and once arriving at the top they would finally lay their eyes upon their target.
"There it is, Schedar Squad's Base." Sub proclaimed as he looked down upon the sprawling 'base', which was really an area sectioned off by a crudely built fence with white buildings of various sizes dotting the inside as well as various ramps littered through out. The largest building was located at the back of the base, likely the 'headquarters' of this squad's leader.
"Here is the plan. Cera and Monique, I want you two to move in as close as you need to get a good look at the two guards in front of the base and transform into a young human person wearing the same outfits they are. You are then to approach them proclaiming you are defecting from another squad, Segin Squad, and want to see Mela to relay important information to her. Once you're on the inside and make it to Mela you are to restrain her and give her the ultimatum to come back to Mesagoza with you peacefully to speak to Director Clavell. She'll almost certainly refuse and the squad turn on you, that's where we'll jump in from our own positions and deliver a clobbering. If you don't get to see her, or if you're cover is blown too early then simply give them a display of strength to try and intimidate them, scare them, we'll then jump in as well. Don't worry we'll be watching you girls the entire time. Remember our goal is to get them to surrender, not actually beat them into submission but if they refuse to cooperate then we have no choice." He explained to the girls and the rest of the group for that matter.
"Deo, you are to find a good view closer to the base, maybe a nice big tree at the bottom of this hill, and keep an eye on things with your x-ray vision and give the girls a head's up if anything is coming for them. Absinithe and Amber, you stay up here with me and prepare for a fight, if one comes." With that said he took out his SNAG and tapped away on it a few times before Claydol suddenly appeared beside him, the Psychic lazily rotating. "Figured it might be a good idea to have him handy, just in case we need to teleport in." He said, patting the Claydol. "Also, Deo, when you get down there take a look on what's inside that big building in the back, I'm curious." He instructed the hybrid. If it was anything too interesting he might send Amber in to sneak in and get a better look. "You guys ready? Move out."
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2023 9:18 am
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Artazon was pleasant enough, Monique thought as she strolled through the city. Almost every building—except that big, shiny white one that could have belonged in Goldenrod or something—was quaint, human-scaled, and calming. But they had no business in Artazon besides the Pokémon Center. Sub led them to a large outcropping past town and pointed down to a small area of ramshackle construction. It was dotted with little white buildings and ramps, the largest sitting at the back from the front.
Cera and Monique, I want you two to move in as close as you need to get a good look at the two guards in front of the base and transform into a young human person wearing the same outfits they are. You are then to approach them proclaiming you are defecting from another squad, Segin Squad, and want to see Mela to relay important information to her. Once you're on the inside and make it to Mela you are to restrain her and give her the ultimatum to come back to Mesagoza with you peacefully to speak to Director Clavell.
Monique sighed. The disguise she was going to take was not going to fit her voice. And that would be a problem if Cera weren't tagging along. "You will have to do all the talking," she would explain to the Mew, "because your voice changes when you Transform and mine doesn't when I cast an Illusion."
From there, it would simply be a matter of following, getting a look at the guards, and adopting an appropriate appearance. And hoping Cera was a smooth enough talker.
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