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The White Elephant in the Room Playground

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
"Oh, this is is just delightful. Not only have I made a fool of myself by completely misinterpreting the Beldum, they meant to use me as bait to identify the killer. Oh, this is just too rich!" The dragon collapsed into a fit of hysterical giggling.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
"...This reminds me that I'm probably, like, target number one for the baddies, huh?"
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
Gen found himself listening to the conversation as he tried to figure out how to write this letter.

"...This reminds me that I'm probably, like, target number one for the baddies, huh?"

The reality that some of the people in this room that were talking right now would be dead tomorrow hit Gen like a truck.

Darkwhite might be the next to go. Or Abigail. Or Jesse. Or even Palkia.

He didn't want to see those four go. He didn't want to see Ang of

Just ignore it. Just ignore it.

Now, what to say to Saltriv and Burhalla?
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
*He didn't want to see those four go. He didn't want to see any of them go. He started to hyperventilate.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"It was... blind trust,"
Jesse clapped Lee's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "It's alright, partner. Can't say I don't appreciate it, but we gotta stay on our toes til the game's over."

Jesse made himself a coffee and paced in front of his chalkboards, tugging at his face.

"Let's see if I got this straight. Since just before my last update..."

  1. Darkwhite explained she was prompting anyone who secretly gave her an item, to fess up in order to clear them. Eating the item in someone's name identifies the named person's alignment, this time as Naughty.
  2. Abigail made an attempt at finding the legitimate mountaintop cathedral by extinguishing the fire.
  3. Palkia also found a powered food item earlier. I trust Palkia, so this could be useful.
  4. Darkwhite's named person was Mia, and she's sure that unless the item was tampered with, Mia is Naughty.
  5. Nilam provided the following takes:
    1. Aggressive lynching results in earlier victory over the Naughty guests.
    2. Abigail has had plenty of time to weight in by now, (Nota Bene, she hasn't had a chance to use her inherited power yet.)
    3. Nocitlalin should get a chance to verify herself.
    4. Darkwhite is confirmed Nice, and therefore Mia must be Naughty.
    5. They suspected Palkia on day one for not using the Wii as an alignment verification device, even though there wasn't a chance in hell that would work. I think they're being sincere, but foolish.
    6. They suspected Palkia doubly for ignoring Mewtwo's vote for them, which I note was cast before voting via the Wii was explained to us. This'll be due to false memories of other 'hidden traitor games'. Ditto the above.
    7. They voted Palkia over their other choice to align with Mewtwo's vote and have a chance at lynching a Naughty guest at all.
  6. Gen is ignoring my push for all guests to participate in hunting for Naughty guests, and distrusts Mia.
  7. Abigail and Lee are voting Mia.
  8. Nocitlalin claims to have a target-switching power. She says she used it to redirect Mewtwo's night actions to Palkia, due to her suspicion of Mewtwo for rushing a vote, but that the results are unclear as Mewtwo was murdered that night.
  9. Nocitlalin voted first for Nilam for being an aggressive voter, then switched to Mia.
  10. Palkia defended themself against Nilam, interrogated Nocitlalin's power, clarified that their hen has a different power to Darkwhite's, and votes Mia.
  11. Nocitlalin explained that she suspected Mewtwo of being Naughty, and redirected him to Palkia to test if he used a murderous nightly power. Why Palkia? Certainly not for amusement at another's expense by having a legendary die before they could participate in the game. By which I mean, that is absolutely what she was doing. Her alleged actions make sense for a utilitarian Nice player, though.
  12. Darkwhite reckons she's the top target for the scum.
  13. Gen seems particularly keen not to see Darkwhite, Abigail, Palkia or myself dead by tomorrow.

"Or, to simplify all that..."

  1. Darkwhite used a one-off hen item to identify Mia as Naughty, prompting a bandwagon. Two other hens with different powers exist, one of them is in Palkia's hands and I don't have the other.
  2. Abigail is interacting with the environment, slowly. Nilam can justify their track record, but I don't think much of their reasoning. Gen is trying to opt out of scum-hunting but has indicated some trust in specific guests. Darkwhite suspects she'll be nightkilled.
  3. Nocitlalin is a mischievous little fucker, but if she's honest, she has a target redirection power.

"I'll fix up my guest history board later."

Day 4 vote:
  1. Mia
  2. Nilam
  3. Nocitlalin
Day 4 voters:
  1. Nilam, Darkwhite, Abigail, Lee
    Nocitlalin, Palkia, Jesse
  2. Tabitha
  3. Mia
Night 4 murder: none yet

"I'm provisionally voting Mia, but I wanna hear her speak in her own defence. I'll update my suspects board later, but for now I'm still suspicious of Nilam, I have my eye on Abigail, and if we lynch Mia and she ain't scum, I'll be looking to press Darkwhite about that, of course. Also, I'm gonna see if I can make any use of those turtle doves..."

Jesse pursued the turtle doves before collapsing back into the couch whether he caught any or not, downing the rest of his coffee as he did so.

"Fuck this, fuck this, fuck this fuckin' game. Anyway. Looks like we're waitin' on Mia most of all. I'd also like to test Nocitlalin's power, if at all possible."
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
For a brief moment, a thought crossed Gen's mind.

Should I reveal what my power is?

...no. They probably wouldn't believe me, especially after Darkwhite already said it in that list.

Isn't that the same line of thinking that caught me in that web of lies with Saltriv and Burhalla, though?
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora

Fusion

Oh knee on
Location
Here, silly
Pronouns
Him/His
Partners
  1. zoroark
Jesse clapped Lee's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "It's alright, partner. Can't say I don't appreciate it, but we gotta stay on our toes til the game's over."

Lee briefly lit up and a toothy grin stretched along his snout. "Yes, right," he nodded. A moment later, he realized how hard his tail was wagging and turned his back away from everyone else to hide it. "I cannot tell if I hate this place or not..." he muttered quietly.

He read over Jesse's chalkboard and nodded. "I had to admit it, but my mind's been somewhere else through most of this. Can't possibly know why," he sniffed. "But if this is everything, then I thank you for being able to keep track of it all. I don't really have much to say other than to keep the pressure on Mia unless she's able to explain herself."

Lee glanced over to the Scyther with a suspicious glare, then shrugged. "The only thing I find suspicious of her is her aggressive push when we had next to nothing to work with, then how she reluctantly went with the skip wagon after it was obvious no one else was going to vote Darkwhite with her."
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
Gen tensed up as Jesse asked him to speak his thoughts. He clutched tightly onto his reunion cape with his arm that wasn't holding the scalchop

"I-it's nothing!" Gen lied.

Please don't push further...
 

Fusion

Oh knee on
Location
Here, silly
Pronouns
Him/His
Partners
  1. zoroark
Gen tensed up as Jesse asked him to speak his thoughts. He clutched tightly onto his reunion cape with his arm that wasn't holding the scalchop

"I-it's nothing!" Gen lied.

"I mean, we kinda gotta know what you're thinking to work effectively, kid," Lee said. "Doesn't help anyone if you keep your mouth shut about it."
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
Gen gripped his reunion cape tighter at Lee's statement.

He's right, but...what if it gets me killed?

Just focus on the letter to my parents right now. It'll...be difficult to write, but at least I can take my mind off of this.


He put one nub on the flesh-parchment, and the other nub on the blood-tipped scalchop, and began to write in Johtonese. The fine lines and details were a lot messier than when he had hands and wrote with a pencil, but it was better than nothing.

Letter to Gen's parents said:
親愛なる母と父

Dear mother and father

Gen paused after writing the first line. How would he explain everything that happened to him? He wasn't even human anymore, for Suicune's sake!
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Jesse's ears pricked and he looked up from his blackboard. The chalk fell from his paw and clattered on the floor.

"Aw, fuck yeah. Okay."

He turned to the group and gave them a fanged grin.

"Remember I said I gained a powered item from participatin' in the datin' nonsense? Well, I tried to use it last night, and I figured it failed because we've been at it a while today and I still didn't have the result I expected, but I just finally got it. I got info."

He looked each other guest in the eye.

"I know the alignment and brought item of one random guest. The alignment info I got back was pretty hazy, so we might have one or more folks whose alignments are hidden even from powers, and/or third party alignments. But this person doesn't seem dangerous, so I'm willin' to work with them. I wanna give them a chance to speak up and prove to me they can be honest, so I'm gonna say now that their brought item, which they no longer have, is the original murder weapon used to kill Santa, judgin' by the name of the item. I know who you are, partner. Why don't you volunteer yourself and let me clear your name, huh?"
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
Gen trembled as Jessie looked at him.

Just focus on the letter. Just focus on the letter.
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
Palkia's grin widened. "Fascinating. The gift I brought sure doesn't seem dangerous, though."
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"I should also mention," mused Jesse, "that accordin' to the instructions on my item, the person I've identified will also know my alignment and brought item. So this person oughta be able to clear me, on top of the clear I already got from Lee."
 

Fusion

Oh knee on
Location
Here, silly
Pronouns
Him/His
Partners
  1. zoroark
Gen trembled as Jessie looked at him.

"Look, kid, if there's something on your mind just say it. I don't get why you think trembling in the corner is gonna help anyone. The only scary looking one here really is me and the Scyther, and I've barely talked to you," Lee rolled his eyes. "It's not like we're gonna instantly vote you out over anything you have to say."
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
"B-but what about the killer, or even killers?" Gen asked. "What if they target me if they find out what I can do?"
 

Fusion

Oh knee on
Location
Here, silly
Pronouns
Him/His
Partners
  1. zoroark
"B-but what about the killer, or even killers?" Gen asked. "What if they target me if they find out what I can do?"

"That's a good point, but if nobody knows what you're thinking, then you're pretty much not helping anybody. We've all made our thoughts clear and are still alive for it, why would the killers go for you when there are other, more threatening targets?" Lee tilted his head and raised a brow. "You could probably point at who you think the killers are, be correct, and they'd still not do anything since you're about as quiet a ghost."

Lee snapped his claws. "Actually no, I've been speaking with the dead, so you're somehow more quiet than them."
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
"I...I guess I can say a few things about what I know," Gen said, relaxing a tiny bit. "But...I'm afraid to say too much,"
 
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