Therrester

31

Update 1: An Explosive Start! So immediately after obtaining Voltaire, we're introduce to my BFF Pretty Boy Cain, who calls us cute and challenges us to battle -Insert photo that I forgot to took- Fighting Cain was pretty simple; Voltaire opened with Thunder Wave and spammed Charge Beam, ending the fight in three rounds. After dealing with Cain, Victoria returns and decides she wants a rumble. Voltaire flexes its eel muscles and enters the second fight of its young life. The battle with Victoria proceeded similarly to the one with Cain: open with Thunder Wave and spam Charge Beam. Thank god I paralyzed her Tepig though because Voltaire decided to provide my first heart attack of the run and miss the final Charge Beam. However, Tepig's paralysis kicked in, allowing me to end the fight with Spark. Yeah, Voltaire has that effect on the ladies. Even I didn't know what to say when his number was generated by my RNG. Finally being able to leave the Grand Hall, I decide to forgo the Opal Bridge for now and instead run through Peridot Ward, playing cat and mouse with its citizens in order to obtain the second member of our motley crew - Epilep (short for epilepsy)! Thank god, something more versatile than Tynamo. I then make my great return to Opal Bridge to show the citizens of Reborn how battling is truly done. Along the way, I encounter a couple a bullies who are making fun of a poor Zigzagoon, so I teach them who's boss and decide to take the poor little guy with me. One Training Montage Later However, the little guy proved useless because he repeated kept headbutting his head against any and all trees. I should take this as a sign to avoid the drinking the water in Reborn. Clearly there's something in it... However, that poor Zigzagoon's mental state allowed us to acquire Kamakaze! The third member of our crew! (It's also worth nothing that while I was training Zigzagoon for it to learn headbutt, my very first encounter of the training montage, and consequently the run, was a shiny Rattata. I don't know what kind of omen it provides, but I'm officially concerned.) It's also at this time that I'd like to give a huge thanks to Lord Drakyle, here on the forums, who saw my run and offered to trade me his shiny Trubbish for my team. In exchange, I offered him my mentally unstable Zigzagoon. May he live a better life. So here's our last new member before Julia! Aptly named Mrs. Biggles. Because Garbodor is cute and nothing Ame says will change that. Team in hand, I took to the streets of Peridot, battling trainer after trainer, leveling my team and taking the streets by storm. Kamakaze even lived up to his name, following Julia's example by self-destructing during the Goldeen fight. She'd be proud. It was then that I met Top Dog Swag Bag Fern. To quote Julia: "Hi Fern." The Fern fight was actually exceeding easy; apparently my team's a natural counter for his. Voltaire made quick work of Lotad with Charge Beam, Kamakaze decimated Snivy with crit Bug Bite, and Epilep annihilated Bidew. Guess I'm top dog now, huh Fern? Peridot vanquished, I then return to Julia's gym, only for me to be called out to the local factory for some help. Apparently, it's been taken over by one Team Meteor, and I'm forced to team up with Fern Swag Bag in order to help. Clearing the factory proved to be simpler than expected, despite all the rock and steel types. I also shed a tear at meeting Simon and Tara the first time. Oh if they only knew. Also, apparently Julia ran out of boomies. Don't worry though! Kamakaze's got this! ....I said Kamakaze's got this! We don't need to borrow additional explosives! Is no one even listening to me? I have one to spare! God Dammit Fern! You even battled against Kamakaze! You know I'm not lying! These people, I swear... One pointless explosion later Following out failed attempt at explosions, I encountered Aster and Eclipse, ??? who's real name is totally not Sirius A&E was actually pretty fun. Since Mrs. Biggles was higher level than everyone, I sent her out first and spammed Poison Gas until both Magby and Elekid were poison. Mrs. Biggles fainted shortly after. I then sent Voltaire to clean up the rest with Charge Beam while A&E focused on Swag Bag's pokemons. Apparently even Team Meteor doesn't like him. But then ??? tells everyone to escape and OH MY GOD THERE GONE! Whatever shall we do? Challenge Julia obviously! So Julia took two tries because of poor execution on my part. The two fights started the same however. I opened with Epilep and used Light Screen, rendering any attacks her Helioptile does useless. I then switched to Mrs. Biggles who set up double Toxic Spikes and defeated Helioptile with two Acid Sprays, all while getting paralyzed, having her accuracy dropped twice, and tanking electric attacks. Helioptile was even defeated the turn that Light Screen faded. Mrs. Biggles for MVP. I switched to Kamakaze for the two Voltorbs and used the same strategy for both: Turn 1: protect, turn 2: Bug Bite (get hit by Sonic Boom), turn 3: use Bug Bite while Voltorb heals, Voltorb dies from poison. The second Voltorb used Rollout instead of SB, leaving Kamakaze with 22. The Emolga's where I went wrong on fight 1. Initially, I switched to Epilep to set up Light Screen, forgetting that Emolga really only has physical moves. So Epilep went down after accomplishing nothing and the fight turned sour quickly after that. During round 2, I instead sent out Voltaire, who resists all of Emolga's attacks and can't be paralyzed. As a bonus, he does neutral damage on Emolga due to its dual typing, so I defeated it in three rounds using Charge Beam, increasing my SA every turn. Voltaire tanked Blitzle's Quick Attack, landing a super charged Charge Beam before fainting next turn. Sent out Kamakaze who used protect, letting the poison kill Blitzle. Julia send out Electrode who used Sonic Boom, leaving Kamakaze with 2 HP, allowing me to LET HIM EXPLODE! BOOOOOOOOM It was then that I learned my first of two oversights this fight: the field super charges the explosion and renders it not very effective against Electrode. It still took out almost half of its health. Also, Julia should totally gain 5 relationship points in my favor for using an explosive move during her battle. Why is this not a thing? From there, the fight got risky. My second oversight was not realizing that for Aftermath to trigger, Mrs. Biggles needs to faint from a physical move, so when I sent her out, Electrode used Charge Beam and the ability didn't trigger. Luckily, Epilep confused Electrode with confusion, and it ended up attacking itself the same turn I healed Epilep (redundantly, it seems). Poison took it out shortly after. Volt badge, acquired! And that's part one! Please let me know if this was too long, too short, too many pictures, anything. I've never really done one of these before, so I'd love some feedback. --- The Team So Far:

Hello and welcome! So my exams are both soon starting and coming to a close, meaning I will have tons of free time over the holidays. I've been waiting on Episode 16 to start new runs of the game, considering my current Dark/Ghost run has just reached the end of the new content, and today I find myself with a bit of a free time. So! I figured I'd set the stage for the my next run. Introducing my PokeRandom run! I was browsing the forums and came across this thread here, where the premise of the run was to have other users pick one pokemon of each type, and the runner randomly selected one choice, using those 18 pokemon for their run. I took the idea and modified it a bit as follows: - Pick 5 pokemon of each type, ensuring any mons with dual typing only appears once in the total selection. Distribute the mons as follows: - Pick one mon you really like - Pick one mon that's considered "top tier" - Pick one mon that you've never used, but have been curious about - Pick one mon that's rarely used - Pick something that's absolute garbage From there, randomly generate a number between 1 through 5 for each type, and build your team with the resulting pokemons. I'm choosing to call this a PokeRandom Run. So that's what I did and here's the result! As you can see, we've got the good, the bad, and the ugly; ranging from Archeops to Mismagius to Eelektross to Bastiodon. But I'm excited for this run! Should be interesting! Some final ground rules before we get started: - I can only use the pokemons listed above - I can catch another other mons needed for these specific purposes (Headbutt, HM slaves, breeding for particular moves), but nothing else. Wish me luck and hope you enjoy! ---- Current Team: Badge Count: 1/14 ---- Update 0:

Noticed another one. These pesky water types.. Edit: That's a lie, there's actually two more missing

Thank you for your work on this thread!

I know we're under spoiler lock, but we're allowed discussion threads on the episode, right? If not, admins, feel free to remove this thread. Spoilers in case anyone wanders into this thread. Anyway, E16 has been out to the community for over 24 hours now, and us non-Ace users have had their chance to bite into the new release, hopefully long enough to form and share a few opinions on it. Here's mine.

I'll happily give 10$ a month if it means the continued success of this game. Loving Reborn's E16, and here's to more great things from you Ame!

I'm pretty sure the list of available pokemon on the website has been updated to reflect E16. From memory, it seems like we can now find Slowpokes, Shellders, Tentacool is no longer exclusive to the Mystery Egg, Goomy, Weavile, and Gliscor. Oddly enough, it also says we can still obtain Beldum and Magnezone. Edit: Further inspection shows that Bulbasaur is now catchable in the wild, and that the only starters we're missing are Torchic, Froakie, and Snivy. Klefki and Frillish also seem to have been added.

Actually, I did the math wrong. If he's missing Charlotte, than Fern would only be able to fight Charlotte, and the 3 leaders that follow her, which is Terra, Ciel, and EP16's leader. So if he's battled Amaria already, yet skipped Charlotte, than Amaria has to follow Ciel.

Based on this information, can't we conclude that we're facing Amaria either next, or after EP16's leader? Because if the league rules state that you can only fight the next 4 leaders based on your lowest missing badge, and Fern's missing Charlotte, he'd technically only be able to fight Terra, Ciel, Leader 14 and Leader 15. So Amaria's one of the next two 2 leaders we're facing. I'd wager it's Adrienn, then Amaria.

What's suppose to happen once I give Titania the ice cream in the Water Treatment Center? She says to give her a moment but no events are triggering. I searched through the "un-stick" me thread in the Bugs section of the forums and found a similar issue but they were told to simply leave the room and the event would trigger. I've left the room and can even leave the water facility but nothing's happened. I gave her a Chocolate Ice Cream, if that matters. ---- Nevermind, I got it. I didn't know I was able to move the trash. HerpDerp.

Got a question regarding obtaining Misdreavus.I understand that since EP15, it replaced the Gastly you obtained after defeating Ghost Kiki. How do I access the cave in which Kiki's location, in order to trigger the event? I know you have to use strength to move a rock from the level above, but when I go there, I only see a rock smash-able rock, and no strength stone behind it.

Darkness has Descended: Part 4 - Onyx Ward: Chaos had erupted throughout the entirety of Onyx Ward. Normally populated with the city’s middle class and the region’s students who attended the prestigious school, it suddenly found itself afflux with the citizens who were escaping the collapsing Obsidia Ward. People clogged the streets as they tried to find shelter, breaking windows and tearing down doors in order to hide under a solid roof and find a semblance of safety. Children cried while their parents screamed, and the ward’s beggars were huddled together in the hidden alleyways, whispering that the end of the world was upon them. Yet all this noise was buried underneath the endless sound of collapsing rubble as Obsidia feel onto itself. Streets were torn in half and rooftops exploded upon colliding with their building’s foundation. Shadows and dust filled the air, and, if one were to stop and attempt to ignore the sound of mayhem that was orchestrated around them, they could vaguely hear a sinister laugh, echoing in the distance. Florinia, despite the injuries she had obtained mere moments ago in Obsidia Park, had rushed to Onyx at Amaria’s request. When she turned to see if her fellow Gym leader had followed her, all she saw was a giant fissure in place of where the road had been. She pressed on, knowing the girl would be safe, and contacted her brother, ordering him to open the doors to the school and let everyone in. She soon found herself swallowed by the sea of panicked citizens and struggled to make her way ever northwards. She had to form a perimeter and raise the school’s defenses, for she had seen the army of darkness that had gathered and she knew with absolute certainty that it was heading their way. Nothing else mattered than stopping that incoming wave and preventing Onyx from becoming like Obsidia. She eventually reached the school’s front gates, and rushed in. She was glad to see that her brother had listened, having awoken the students from their sleep and rushed them to form a perimeter in an attempt to thwart the incoming tide. She took over the task of handling the citizens, ensuring that they made it safely into the school. In the distance, she saw the approaching pokemon battle through her defences, defeating student after student. Along the way, she watched in horror as their numbers grew, her enemy having hatched a Cacnea egg and adding its strength to their team. Sahaar / Level 1 / Lax / Ability: Water Absorb She turned away, making sure that the citizens that were huddled within the school were safe and secure. As an added security measure, she opened the hidden back doors, allowing them to flush back out into the city, at the very back of the ward, on the off chance something happened to the school in the upcoming battle. When she glanced back, she saw the dark pokemon had reached her brother Fern, and the two were locked in a vicious battle. She knew with certainty that her brother would also fall, his forces being outnumbered two to one, and readied herself upon her desert field. Fern soon found himself defeated, and the army pressed forward, finally reaching Florinia. She threw all her pokeballs at once summoning forth her team in an instant. They stood together, six wide, Onyx Ward’s last line of defence. “Your team is surely weakened after all that battling. My hypothesis is certain, this will result in your defeat.” Her team exploded against the army of dark pokemon, the resulting clash bringing her opponent’s pace to a grinding halt. Each individual member of her team took on a single member of the shade’s troops with Florinia confident her pokemon would prevail. Her team started off strong, each launching powerful attacks, most of which landed. Victory seemed certain, and her hypothesis was coming true: the school would not fall. To her great dismay however, things started taking a change for the worst. The opposing Mightyena howled, a sound that echoed through the walls, and redoubled its efforts against her Maractus, its strong jaw suddenly doing more damage on her pokemon. Her Breloom was took busy covering its ears due to the opposing Stunky’s screeches, who then used the opening to land powerful slashes. Ferroseed proved the worst; despite its strong spike-riddled armor, the Pancham it was fighting against continued attacking it with strong attacks, despite the gashes that kept forming on its hands. Her Cacnea, clashing with an opposing Cacnea of its own, came out victorious after sustaining little damage, her first victory of the evening. But it too fell as the enemy’s Liepard took to the battle, having defeated her Cottonee after blinding it numerous sand attacks. All eyes fell on her Cradily, who was too busy battling with a Frogadier. She nearly cried out when she saw it wasn’t managing to land many attacks, since the blue frog kept disappearing in puffs of smoke, effectively blinding her ace. Soon enough, the army regrouped and, following another mighty yell from the large black dog, the team of six pounced on her remaining pokemon, effectively defeating it and bringing it down. Florinia fell to her knees, stunned and unable to comprehend that all her calculations had gone wrong. She had failed; the school had fallen. She remained there, transfixed, as a dark form took shape in the middle of the room, a ghostly smile stuck to its lips, and a deep booming laugh resonated through the battleground. Erebus quickly made his way from the burning building behind him; it casted too much light, and he preferred being at home in the dark. He briefly thought back to the girl in blue from before, the one from Coral Ward, and the words she had said that had caused him doubt. He scoffed at them. He had utterly destroyed one ward. He had crippled another. It was empowering. He knew the girl was still alive, he could still feel her presence buried as strongly as even, there beneath the fallen ward. He knew she’d eventually make her way out. Maybe one day he’d run into her again. He allowed himself to briefly wonder what she’d see in him then. But memories of the recent attack came rushing back, and he smiled. Rage had consumed him entirely and he felt addicted. Nothing felt better than feeling all that power coursing through him and knowing that it was his own will that judged whether it was used or not. The destruction made him feel alive and made him grow stronger. He gathered his team and slowly made his way back to the center of the city. Biding his time; waiting for the next moment to strike.

I really enjoy the style you have going with these logs. Feels like I'm reading a diary and each entry is written in a cheerful manner, which is refreshing with all the chaos going on in Reborn. I'll certainly be keeping an eye on your future entries. Best of luck with Florinia and the rest of your run!

You can get a Cacnea egg between Julia and Florina by completing the Daycare Couple side quest.

Darkness Has Descended - Part 3: Coral Ward was a quiet, empty, and desolate place. Most of the buildings seemed abandoned, with cracks running through their walls and most windows laying battered and broken. Debris was scattered across the floor and a thick layer of dust lingered in the air, giving the ward a misty haze and making it impossible to see further than a dozen feet in front of you. The air dulled out the sound, making the ward seem empty and void of life. Erebus felt at home. His troops noticed the emptiness as well and relaxed, happy to be have a small break after constant fighting. Erebus allowed himself to mix with the shadows, disappearing from mortal eyes. One with the ward, he was able to confirm that very little life lived here, and that the state of the ward itself was somehow even worse than his initial impression. One of the buildings was already fully collapsed and covered in shadow, a sign of the ward’s abandonment. Erebus liked it here. This was one ward he would not destroy. A powerful presence still loomed in the distance, near the water’s edge, and he was there in an instant, his pokemon tracking and following him in the darkness. There, he found someone who looked vaguely familiar, a boy of purple who was busy rescuing a small pokemon stranded on the offshore lighthouse. However, it was the one behind him who had his attention. She was a girl of blue, with clothes of varying blue shades and aquamarine hair that fell down her back. While she appeared as just another part of the colorful spectrum of individuals living in Reborn, there was a powerful presence about her, one that troubled Erebus. Immediately he knew he wouldn’t be able to defeat her. The sound of his approaching army made the boy turn in their direction. He simply stared at the army of five, glancing from one pokemon to the next until his eyes fell on Nightingale. Immediately he smirked, pokeball in hand, and yelled something about a rematch. The battle was over quickly. Korlat made for the perfect distraction while the main powerhouses of the army, Twilight and Aromort, took advantage of their opponent’s openings. Nightingale directed the battle; Erebus wanted him to gain leading experience, in case of the off chance the two were ever separated in the future, and he wanted to keep a watchful eye on the girl, in case she tried to pull anything. His team defeated, the boy in purple left the ward in a haste, vowing that he would one day defeat the small army. Erebus made a quick note of the boy’s oddity, before drawing his attention back to the person still standing on the peer. The way she looked at him made him uneasy. Although he was mixed in with the ward’s shadow, thereby surrounding her and being everywhere at once, he felt like she was able to see him in his entirety. He was so caught up in that odd sensation that he wasn’t prepared when she spoke. “I know what you did to Peridot Ward.” This was the first time that, since his birth, anyone had spoken directly to him. It did nothing but added to the uneasiness Erebus was currently feeling. Twilight growled. She ignore him. “Do you have a name? I’d like to know who it is I’m addressing.” Now she was asking him to speak, something he hadn’t done since before the accident. At first, he felt as though he wasn’t strong enough to reply, he was still figuring out his newly found powers, but he soon discovered that it came easily to him. The reply came out fluidly and without effort. “Erebus” To her, it seemed like his voice came from the shadows itself, projected from every direction at once. His voice was nothing more than a whisper, but, had they been talking in a large room, it would have carried enough power to blow out all of the room’s candles. With enough force, it would have shattered glass. “Erebus” she repeated, “Darkness. That is what I sense from you, endless darkness.” She paused. “But I also feel something more...” Erebus didn’t reply, and she made no attempt to continue. She simply turned and stared out into the water. And yet, he still felt like she was looking straight at him. “Despite everything I have, status, a good education, the love of my life, everything still feels so grey. The world itself is grey. Even you, Erebus, are grey. There’s a lot of darkness in you, but there’s also a bit of light.” She stayed quiet for a time, simply staring out towards the rolling waves, before looking back at Nightingale and every other pokemon before him. And then she locked eyes with Erebus, who had unknowingly taken his humanoid form beside Nightingale. “I won’t try and stop you. I should, for what you’ve done in Peridot; for what you plan on doing to the city. But I won’t. Because despite your dark nature, there’s still a bit of light in you.” Erebus didn’t know how to reply, so he simply stared back at her, a blank stare that remained fixed with her gaze. After a moment, she started walking, avoiding his pokemon while heading towards the exit back into Obsidia. “I’m heading back to Obsidia; I’m going to try and save it.” She said, her figure a haze in the fog. “You’re welcome to help.” And with no further comment, she faded into the night. Erebus stood there, puzzled, and unsure about both himself and the girl who had just departed. Before he had been so sure of everything, of his need to cause destruction and bring darkness to Reborn. Before it had felt… justified. He didn’t know how long it was before he made his way back to Obsidia, the minutes had felt like hours. But despite his return to chaos, with the rampaging roots causing damage to the ward around him, he was glad to leave the quiet Coral Ward behind him. It wasn’t long before he made his way to Obsidia Park, where the cause of Obsidia’s trouble was found. Before him stood a giant machine, within which a Tangrowth had mutated and grown into a monstrosity of a pokemon. The creature’s tentacles descended into the ground where, as Erebus now understood it, they had created a web of roots that solidly gripped the city and had sprouted onto the ward’s streets, causing nothing but mayhem. On both sides of the machine were two giant pair of roots that were slowly crushing two individuals that were trapped within them. One of them was a city official, one of the three that had invaded the factory in Peridot. The other was the girl he had just talked too. Before him, looking directly at his army, was a third girl, this one dressed entirely in black. Her presence mystified Erebus. It seemed, to him, like it was three distinct individuals trying to clash into a single entity; almost as though they had all attempted a rebirth, much like the one that had created him, and that it had gone horribly wrong. The entity was speaking to him but Erebus simply ignored her. Instead, his gaze was focused on the girl who had talked to him in Coral Ward, who was now being crushed by the roots and slowly losing her life. The girl in black, not liking that she was being ignored, directed the Tangrowth towards Erebus’ army, who sprang into battle. Their tactic was simple, but effective. Korlat went first, avoiding the first set of attacks, while Sabrina started kicking up sand into the air, hindering the Tangrowth’s visibility. Meanwhile, Aromort made large screeching noises, creating openings in the mutate pokemon’s defenses while Twilight launched his powerful attacks. Although strong, the Tangrowth couldn’t keep up with the onslaught of attacks and, after succumbing to all of its wounds, it perished in the middle of the park. As it fell, the roots plaguing the immediate surroundings, as well as those that had sprouted across the ward, slowly dried up and turned a sluggish brown as they died. The girl who was one but also three disappeared shortly after the Tangrowth’s defeat. The two city officials who had been trapped broke free from their prison, the roots crushing them having withered and died, and the one with whom Erebus wasn’t familiar started making her way northwards, calmly reassuring the citizens who had gathered nearby. But the girl in blue stood there, staring at the shadow that was Erebus, with a ghost of a smile on her lips. Erebus’ mind was in shambles as he looked back at her. She had been unable to save Obsidia, and instead Erebus had saved her. Despite all the power she possessed, she had been powerless when it came to saving the ward. …Just like how she had been unable to stop the train carrying Erebus from exploding. Rage consumed him. Rage for the battered body that had once been, and for the destiny that had been lost. And his rage was nothing compared to his desire to seek revenge on her, the city, and all of Reborn. The girl immediately felt it, her hidden smile gone as she directed the citizens northwards, trying to save them from what was about to happen. Seeing nothing but black, Erebus directed Nightingale, who jumped from the shadows and sent a ball of pressurized water towards the PULSE machine. It condensed under the force of the attack, before contracting and exploding, lighting all the lifeless roots around it on fire. The shock was felt across the entire ward as the complex system of roots that had grown and flourished underneath Obsidia, grown by the mutated Tangrowth, also exploded into a blazing flame. The resulting force cracked and destroyed what remained of the ward’s foundation, collapsing Obsidia onto itself. Streets cracked open as large crevices were formed where they used to travel, buildings fell as the floor beneath them gave away, and people rushed northwards, towards Onyx Ward, for safety. And as Obsidia succumbed to a different form of darkness, consumed by a loud cacophony of collapsing rubble, Erebus’ laugh was heard above everything else as he followed them, wanting nothing more than to cause more destruction. * * * * * * * * * * And here we have part 3 of Erebus' tale. Longer still than the other two, this one brought out the inner novelist in me. Hopefully that didn't change the tone of the tale too much. I really enjoyed writing this one, the idea had been forming on my commute all day and I'm glad with how it turned out. Thus far, Amaria's my favorite gym leader so far (from the little that I've seen of her - remember, I've only just arrived at the circus in my normal playthrough), and I'm glad to got to flesh her out a bit in my story. I might do the same with other characters, I already plan on doing so with the doctor, so I trust it'll be well received. Hopefully you all enjoyed reading it! And if you have any comments, criticism that's constructive or otherwise, I'd love to hear it! EDIT: To those who keep track of my progress through my signature, I've decided to move the run ahead of the written part of the tale while I work out the specifics of the story. I'm keeping track of the strategies I use for each major boss battle as well as any big happenings so I can incorporate them in the story at the appropriate moment. Writing a story chunk takes a good amount of time, as well as some degree of concentration, and sometimes I like sitting back and playing the game instead. Sorry for any delays! But don't worry, I'll do my best to not let the gap get too big! I'll get Onyx and Flobot out tomorrow!

Oof, now you're making me nervous! I plan on writing the next little bit tomorrow evening, so hopefully I end up touching upon what you hinted at. I'm honestly at a lost as to what it could be, so no pressure! Thank you kindly for the generous words, as always!

Darkness Has Descended - Part Two: Obsidia Slums The streets of Lapis ward were eerily quiet the rainy night that Peridot succumbed to darkness. The night came with a commanding presence, having forced the two gangs plaguing the ward to retreat into the depths of their hideouts, and making the few citizens to who preferred to be out in the dark stay indoors out of fright. Even the wild pokemon sought shelter, avoiding directly moving around the ward, for it seemed as though nothing could survive, even the slight fall of the rain having gone silent. A lone light flickered in the darkness of the ward, coming from the highest window of the ward’s tallest building. When it flashed, it blinded even the night, and if anyone was outside to pay attention they could hear the distant, chilling echo of a scream piercing the rainfall. The citizens of Reborn were too caught up in the chaos engulfing the city to notice that Peridot had fallen. The power shut completely off, sending the ward into pure blackness, the only light coming from the blaze produced by the exploded gym. Hidden by the blinding rays from the window in Lapis, a dark silhouette watched as a small army of Dark pokemon retreated from the flames, the rain already dowsing the damage behind them. It observed as the man leading the army seemingly disappeared into nothingness, becoming one with the darkness. And in the dark, eerie silence of the night, the doctor smiled. Erebus felt more than watched the rain put out the fire caused by the explosion. A creature of darkness, he could tell when the light was overcome and felt himself becoming slightly more powerful with every dying coal. As the night consumed all, he thought back to the broken mingled body beneath the train station; the being that had once been him, and the destiny that had been his to claim but had now been robbed and stolen. Those from the city had failed him, having failed to stop the menace that had grown among them, the menace that had claimed his life. He had vowed to get his revenge and he would do so by creating a new destiny, one build upon shadows and darkness. His army in tow, he ventured out back towards the building where he had partnered with Nightingale, the place where everything had begun, and he sought out his next target. As his pokemon grew stronger from fighting the trainers on the bridge, he used the shadows to cast his presence north, learning the layout of the city and seeking a place where his wrath could be brought upon next . Immediately he recoiled, having felt a presence much like his own hidden deep within the shadows of the night. Instinctively he knew where it came from: a lone building at the very top of the city; a desolate place consumed by death, one he would have gladly called home. And during this questing, between him and the lone shade high next to the mountain, he felt the presence of another; not another shade for this one was most certainly alive, but someone with a heart so cold it could chill the fires of hell themselves. And what made him paused was that they both know that Erebus is in the city. Knowing he isn’t strong enough to face either of them, Erebus instead quested east, venturing in the night. What he found there was much more pleasing. It was a ward much smaller than Peridot, but build at a much higher elevation. Almost half of it was comprised of only bridges, most of which had already collapsed, while the rest seemed on the verge of joining any second. Before sending Peridot into ruin, he had heard rumors of events unfolding in this Obsidia Ward, most likely brought forth by Team Meteor, and he decided to check if they had any truth to them. He knew he’d have to be discrete in the ward's destruction however, for he had found an audience. Upon entering the ward, he immediately saw the root of the problem plaguing the ward. A bunch of plants had sprouted from cracks beneath the city and were destroying everything that came close around them. Most of the citizens had sought shelter, but the street were littered with the bodies of those who had failed to join them. Citizens and city officials alike moved quickly through the streets, trying to get the invasion under control and Erebus watched with glee as the plants fought back, preventing them from doing their jobs. Questing out in the dark, Erebus felt a great power surge coming from the central park of the ward, however damage done to the streets prevented his army from reaching it. He instead sought a different route, heading south towards the ward’s hidden slums. He encountered the girl, Victoria, that Nightingale had battled back at the Hall and upon seeing his small forces, she took it upon herself to block his way into the slums. She didn’t stand a chance. The combined effort of Sabrina, Aromort, and Nightingale, all three of which had grown far stronger than her team due to the events in the electric powerplant, made short work of her pokemon and the small band successfully entered the slums. Reminding them of home within the streets of Peridot, Twilight and Sabrina happily took charge, leading the army deeper into the hidden alleyways. As their quest took them above and below the ward, Erebus took note of the infrastructure around him. He discovered that the reason the plants were sprouting across the ward’s entirety was because a vast system of roots had taken over the foundation of the streets. Dark, brown greenery clung to the walls, creating a vast web of roots that pulsed with life. Erebus was brought out of his reverie by a distant sound. Looking around, he saw a wild Pancham following a box that was seemingly moving on its own. Intrigued, he followed the duo around the slums, noting how the Pancham observed the box with incredible patience. However, this left it open to attack, and he smirked when something jumped out of the box, landing a swift hit, and ran off in the distance. The Pancham’s reaction was expected, but equally intriguing; she bellowed with rage and attacked the box with a mighty punch. And in that moment, Erebus knew this Pancham harboured a darkness within her. So he caught it and named her Korlat. Korlat / Level 12 / Rash / Ability: Iron Fist Eventually, Sabrina and Twilight led them out of the slums, although not before having encountered a pokemon gang of its own. Recognizing the pokemon that had hit her, Korlat found herself consumed with anger and attacked, Aromort following closely behind her. Battled exploded in the slums and, due to Aromort’s poison and swift hits from both Nightingale and Sabrina, the battle finished in Erebus’ victory. He was more than pleased to see that Sabrina’s experience had paid off, making her evolve in the aftermath of the battle. . Knowing Obsidia Park was before them, Erebus was about to make his way north when his attention was once again caught by another powerful presence. Feeling no malicious intent coming from this one, he instead turned south, and exited Obsidia. Erebus had just arrived at Reborn's Coral Ward. * * * * * * * * * * * * So this one is much longer than the first. I was in a creative mood and decided to add a much larger story element to the part. Especially given how little actually happens this time around, I wanted to try and make it interesting. I'll most likely stick with this style of writing for a while, since the first post was extremely rushed and I didn't like it as much I would have had I taken my time with it. Plus, I love writing like this, so hopefully you all enjoy the read! Again, let me know what you think and I'll try and incorporate your feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying the story thus far! I promise to check yours out as soon as I have another couple of hours to myself again.