No. (OPEN/Beta Test) [Industrial]

[Lucas Gunnarsson]

As Lucas turned his head from his merchandise, an opportunist emerged from the crowds. Black cap, sunglasses, and polyester trench-coat left the man practically unrecognizable. If there were doubts to his affiliation before, the grip of the metal bat behind his back, poorly obscured with black fabric, ejected from behind his shoulder. With his hands opening and closing, five of his nine fingers applied for a legendary discount.

Unfortunately for our black-hat opportunist, the flaws in his plan became quickly apparent. Obviously, Lucas didn’t accept coupons, but close footsteps weren’t too hard to hear. Reaching for the
Furthermore, his laziness led him to ignore perfectly laid-out clogs, boots and other valuable goods in lieu.

Lucas turned his head from an unfolded stool, giving the most telegraphed possible wave, smiling wide. “Hello, there. How can I help you?”

The black-hat dropped the shoes.

The moment Lucas stood up, the semblance of a casual customer became the thread ready to split this confrontation into a brawl. Lucas stood up as the black-hat moved in. Lucas, though shorter, carried more mass - and much less nicotine under his breath. The standoff, though intense, lasted for about five seconds before the other capitulated. “Oi, oi, just browsin’ the catalog.”

Right. Lucas’s eyes already wandered to the exposed bat. Lucas didn’t bother quesioning this guy with words. Either this was some kind of secret police sting or a man who forgot to boil his water. “Alright, then. Take your time; I’ll be here a few hours, yet.” Lucas paused, spinning a needle through old rubber. “You know, I don't always require full cash up-front. If you’d like, I can offer a payment pl-“

A quick response: “No. I’ll use cash, thanks.” Okay. Maybe a little smarter than Lucas judged. The encounter ended with the black-hat simply walking away, leaving everyone in a three meter radius confused. Lucas could only watch, his blank face concealing an internal befuddlement. “See you around, sir” the taller man said.

“See you around,” said Lucas, carrying a bittersweet pang in his voice. The richer shoes were laid back on their pedestal.If this was some gang affiliation acivity, the lug put about everyone he loved at risk. If this were a Plasma spy, they were an obnoxious kind. And if this was an idiot...well, there were other ways to deal with them.

[Lucas Gunnarsson]

In the meantime, Firebird shared her commentary: “You think he was serious about coming back?” Her head shook, expressing about the confidence Lucas had in him. "Questionable fellow."

“I don’t know.” Lucas wiped his hands of that mess. “Didn’t like how he carried that baseball bat. Looks like he's used it before” Lucas stitched some fabric to rubber. “Won't curse my blessings, though. If he had a Pokemon, there was nothing I could do.” That was mostly a lie. Lucas carried the tools, now. There was little he could do without immediately summoning every quota-thirsty Plasma member in a fifty-meter radius.

Firebird offered a question: “You seem pretty savvy. Are you always going to be a lone operator?”

Savvy? No? It was just putting things where they should be. It wasn't that hard.

At least within five stands, he was unique in that regard. Even Firebird wasn’t the sole recipient of business receipts. Firebird ran some days, and on others, a senior chocolate farmer who called himself at least twenty variations of “John Doe.” Never the same name.

Perhaps John was trans-alphabet?

Lucas answered: “I’ll have to see how things pan out.” Despite his lack of full response, Lucas gave the idea some thought.

General Shoes carried itself on being a one-man operation; part from pride, part from circumstances. His priority was to secure his family, and setting up a legitimate payroll would require a wholly different operation. It wasnt a bad idea to get some more helpers, and he could extend his operating hours doing so. At the same time, assuming another head would make the current climate hard. He could extend his operating hours doing this, but assuming the few left in Anrui wanted to work with shoes was a dangerous gamble at best. To Lucas, they were a solid fashion statement - and under his lens, a comfortable one.

There were other issues to get to the matter of. Like subterfuge against the Plasma expansion against his block.

Or making sure he was equipped to challenge them.

Right now, Lucas had to pick his track; right now, the mask was it. He had about three of five hours to finish that mask, no matter how bad it was.

When he did, it went straight into a plastic bag, one fished out the ocean. It still smelled vaguely of salt and sand.

The rest of the day went by with little incident. Wingull chirped in the skies; Rattata and Poochyena, littered the streets. For dinner, a brief prayer, followed by mushroom borscht. After an empty stomach the day before, the soup was a welcome addition.

Black jacket and pants went around his arms. The night approached, and Lucas prepared to enter one of the most dangerous roads in Anrui.

---

[Lucas Gunnarsson]

1:00. The sun wasn't the only figure hiding its face this early at dusk.

Halfway to his destination, another man in black took to the streets. Most of the figure's face was covered by a black, rubber "frame," resembling the letter H. Two slits from the eyes were cut in a surprisingly neat fashion, at least compared to the rest of the cover. None of his hair was remotely visible beneath his laughably patchy "cowl." The more you looked at the patchwork, the closer to a Sandslash Lucas resembled. The gardener's gloves and knee-length black coat made him look closer to a Gothitelle with hair issues than anything truly intimidating.

But, as far as guises go, it worked. This was fine. He wasn't trying to be identified on a street he'd have no contact with in the first place. He didn't expose his hair, and his eyes remained mostly covered. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

A message he'd keep in mind for his location. No longer could Lucas clutch his bootstraps and just avoid the worst parts of town.

---

INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT

Turning his head around a corner alley, sandwiched between two buildings of brick, Lucas rarely crossed Marbury. (Not like there were crosswalks to do so; the city budget could never cover them.)
The bullet-wounds, old tracks, and shrapnel made avoidance a very reasonable decision.

The man in black kept his distance from walls. Shopfronts and industrial stockhouses, broken down or about to be, could only await the sweet, sweet release of condemnation. If Lucas could avoid it, he'd rather not take apart facilities. If the Grim Reaper brought souls to the underworld, then Lucas returned these unnatural structures back to their makers.

At least, as Lucas like to rationalize to himself. Organ harvesting was a much more apt comparison to his activities.

There were so many things one could learn on this hitherto field trip. Some intrigue about the residents? Perhaps the mystery of the bizarre black-hat would be resolved? Some weird Pokemon might wander at around this time. Again, his Pokemon got to see just what they were going into.

All those possibilities, and Lucas just set out to grab some pipe.

And maybe, just maybe, one of those rare, white flowers.

---

TOOLBELT
DRIFLOON | Female | Lv. 11 | Constrict/Minimize/Astonish/Gust/Telekinesis | 100%
SKRELP | Female | Lv. 06 | Tackle/Water Gun/Smokescreen/Faint Attack | 100%
x3 Potions
x3 Poke Balls
x1 Lava Cookie

-x1 Backpack
-x1 Crowbar
-x1 Pipe-cutter
-x1 Pipe-wrench

[jello]

Wild Pokemon Appeared

A pair of ghosties working together, although that might not be clear at first...


gastly | female | oo6
levitate
lick | confuse ray | hypnosis | reflect type*



misdreavus | female | oo8
levitate
growl | psywave | spite

You may choose which pokemon to interact with. Choosing to ignore the gastly OR the misdreavus will NOT count as ignoring an encounter. Choosing to ignore the gastly AND the misdreavus WILL count as ignoring an encounter. Of course, if they're working together, you might not have the option of ignoring just one...

[SAIL]

You could meet quite a number of grisly fates on a street like this—caught in the crossfire of a turf war, bludgeoned by a loose piece of rooftop, swarmed by starving pokemon who see you as little more than meat and bone—but there is perhaps one danger you may not have accounted for, and that is the presence of things that go bump in the night. Case in point: a stack of lidded crates in an alleyway shudders violently once, almost to the point of collapse. A shuttered window glows from within as if a switch has been flipped, dimming a moment later. Someone or something somewhere in the distance is laughing, or crying. Hard to say. If you were to investigate any of these occurrences, you'd find no explanation for them. You might as well be looting a graveyard with this atmosphere. Organ harvesting indeed.

There's movement at the corner of your right eye. Turn and you'll find a gastly phasing through the cinder block wall of an abandoned shopfront. She spots you and begins drifting towards you as soon as her body has collected into its usual shape outside. It's fortunate that you've covered your nose with your cowl, as she comes close enough that her gasses might have made you nauseous otherwise. She revolves around you once, twice, then returns to her original position in front of you. An unnaturally wide grin sprawls across her face as she drifts backwards down the street, keeping her eyes on you all the while.

It seems she wants you to follow her. You wouldn't be wrong in thinking that nothing good would come of letting a wild pokemon, and a ghost to boot, blindly lead you to possible doom. However, this pokemon isn't as hostile as most of Hyo's inhabitants are. In fact, she seems downright friendly. Her ability to phase through solid barriers also means she probably has access to hidden areas you wouldn't be able to unearth otherwise. Might there be a reward to this risk?

Whatever you do, know that the witching hour has arrived, and do your best to emerge from it with both your body and soul intact.

guide or trickster?

note: the misdreavus will appear sooner or later if you interact with the gastly.

[Lucas Gunnarsson]

Little things contribute to a lot of unrest on a street as loose and loveless as Marbury. Factory stationery, like pallets and plates, weren't exactly something he expected to see out here, particularly with the number of unfortunate events it's known for. Seeing whole boxes tumble, as if churning their own contents in a blender, jostled a response from the young wanderer. He brought his hand close to a wall - then the back of his arm.

rrrRRRrrrRRRRSssssTTL

"Shit." Maybe he wasn't as ready as he thought for this. Taking from the dead was one thing. A city block, one that once beat with a rough-but-steady populace, was a much subtler disturbance. Would you take a cookie from the dead baker?

It might surprise no one that that the ball of dead and gas, hurtling towards Lucas like a harbinger of bad intention, brought less than a smile to his cowled face. His breaths were short but spaced, if he took any at all.

Somehow, her presence was far less morbid than. Was it hers? Lucas had a passing interest in ghosts, never getting much more than a glance at their inner workings. When Plasma came to power, any ambitions he might have had of owning Pokemon were put to the wayside. Even with his stalwart beliefs, outright keeping a Pokemon trained wasn't on his to-do list, with more devious ghouls and goblins in offices above. 

No better time than with one in his hand and others roaming one of the worst parts of the neighborhood. He did not dismiss the gas cloud, though he did waft its fumes from his face.. "Hmmm."

His wary eyes glossed at the smiling orb, one who travelled to some lightfooted area. He decided -against-  going too close to the home of hevada kadabra without a second party, and who better to translate the work of Ghosts than his very own Drifloon? Shaking one of the boxes for a little shifting noise, the Drifloon warily stumbled out, their limbs tangling with shards of box-wood.

"Stay close," was his only order.
It was one he stood closer to, moving towards the Gastly's site. That there was electricity at all in one of these complexes, real or fabricated, made Lucas rather wary of what could follow.

---

 Drifloon | o12 | F | (100%)
aftermath | unburden
constrict | minimize | astonish | gust

you're up late, kid. what's going on now?

+1 level to Drifloon!