#downpour arc

[lumenflowered]

[Another audio file is attached, likely due to the difficulty of taking a video for this particular situation.

"...Where do we begin?" Maria asks, very quietly.

"I am more convinced," Solaire says, "that there is some reason Lugia is working for Team Rocket. He mentioned a secret..."

"Could be a secret she'll be angrier at us about if we uncover," Mallory says. "That a risk you want to take?"

Maria hesitates. "Not if there is another choice."

"Somehow, I didn't think you would. Weird hunch, I know."

"Is there another choice?" Dee says.

The silence, however brief, is telling.

"There is another choice I can think of," she continues. "To do nothing, and to see what Giovanni does next. Silver, how certain are you that Giovanni is bluffing?"

"I could be damn fucking certain," Silver says, "and I still wouldn't want to do nothing."

"...Ah. I see."

"Some secrets are... better left well alone," Maria says. "There is every chance that this is one of them."

"If I still had nightmares, I'd hear that monologue of yours in 'em," Mallory grumbles under her breath.

"...But even if it is," Maria continues, "Team Rocket already knows it, don't they."

"That they do," Solaire says.

"That's definitely worse than any of us knowing it," Silver says. "So... how do we figure it out?"

"I'm not sure," Maria says. "What does being willing to listen to the seafoam entail..."

"...I may," Dee says timidly, "have an idea. Though... no, that likely wouldn't be it..."

"Ideas are ideas. What is it?"

"I don't know that this would be applicable for Lugia, I don't know if human names for places would even be used by him..."

"That rather depends," Solaire says. "Some are older than others. The Whirl Islands have been called some variation of that for as long as they have been known to mortals who cared to name them."

"There is..." Dee hesitates. "In Kanto, to the east of Cinnabar Island, there is a small chain of islands known as—"

"The Seafoam Islands," Silver blurts out. "You don't think... there?"

"I don't know," Dee says. "I wish I could think of something better, truly. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Maria says. "It is more of a lead than I have. I don't believe anyone else has had a better idea within the past several hours."

"Or any idea," says Mallory. "Dee and I only visited them briefly, and it was mostly to make sure we didn't run into you too early. Could've pretty easily missed a Rocket setup if they had anything then."

"Then it is at least worth investigating." Maria sighs. "Of course it's more islands..."

The recording ends.]

[cosmic-crobat]

why tf did maria just stumble in looking like she fought sleep itself and lost. did I miss something

[lumenflowered]

To Ecruteak City, then. Where I have a date with the Kimono Girls.

[lumenflowered]

Hm. Well. That is unfortunate.

...General question to anyone who might have advice: how does one go about persuading an individual who already displays a certain habitual disregard for authority that they will not be removed from their position as Gym Leader if they take time off due to an injury that, to my knowledge, was not the fault of anyone involved?

[lumenflowered]

🕵‍♂️➡️🏔

😨➡️👩

👩👌

🔴➡️😨

🆘️ ❗️❗️❗️

[lumenflowered]

Pelipper mail!

Maria the Absol. It seems she jumped into the nearest pelipper, maybe in an effort to get a break from her kittens for a bit.

@yharnamcrow

[A picture is attached of a moderately damp shiny Absol, whose face has an uncanny resemblance to Maria's own, sitting on the floor of Professor Elm's laboratory in a puddle. She looks very pleased with herself, in spite of dripping all over the floor.]

...You were missing an Absol, Eileen?

[lumenflowered]

...We've arrived.

This part of the cavern seems... not necessarily manmade, but it doesn't seem entirely natural, either. I suppose, if anything, it might be Lugia-made.

The Kimono Girls are setting up what they need to now. My role is limited to being there, and to ringing... this.

[A picture is attached of a bell held in Maria's gloved hand. It's silver, old-fashioned—where the bell she'd been given to summon Ho-oh with was gold, and emblazoned with feathery emblems, this one instead has a faint rippling design.]

It is called the Tidal Bell. The sound of the bell, combined with the ceremonial dance... should at least be enough to attract Lugia's attention.

I sincerely hope it can be enough. All I have to do is warn her.

That is all.

[lumenflowered]

...I have made it to Olivine City.

I would like it to be known, for the record, that I do not like this. That, personally, I would rather stay as far away from any deity even loosely associated with the ocean as possible.

My history with ocean deities—one in particular—was terrible for everyone involved. I would not make the decisions leading to it ever again, so I could not bring about something like what happened with the Hamlet—something like what happened with K os—ever again.

However. I remember far too well what Giovanni said. That any Pokémon could be bent to the will of humans, in one way or another, and the gods of this world are all Pokémon.

I fear for what he might do, should he find Lugia first and should she prove as unwilling to work with him as Ho-oh. I cannot allow him to find Lugia first.

The good news is that my own role is minimal. I simply need to be there while the Kimono Girls perform a similar ritual of dance to what they did for Ho-oh. And, should that suffice for calling upon Lugia—

He needs to be warned about Team Rocket. And strongly encouraged to remain out of their reach for the foreseeable future.

That is it. That is all.

I can do this. I will do this.

...Not least of which because, without a mortal Lugia takes an interest in as Ho-oh did for me, I am likely the only one who can.