Torrent Beach

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Aggron was curled up beneath the shade of a tree at the dorm room's garden. He'd almost fallen asleep by the time Steven emerged from the room, cleaned up and refreshed from their hike that morning. Steven sat down in one of the patio chairs with a cup of coffee in his hands. Aggron caught wind of the scent and cracked one eye open, regarding his trainer with a curious look.

"I know, I know. It's well after noon but I have a feeling the time change is still going to catch up to me tonight," Steven explained. "I don't feel like having to call it an early night two nights in a row. This is a vacation after all."

Aggron gave a bored huff, because why would he care about the reason? Steven could do whatever he liked. Not like Aggron or Metagross's opinion would ever change his mind anyway. He grumbled sarcastically that it wouldn't be on him if Steven couldn't curb his caffeine habit enough to get a decent night's sleep.

But Steven ignored him with practiced ease, instead opting to lean back in his chair and take a sip from the mug with a satisfied sigh. "What do you think?" he asked his partner. "Should we take another trip to the beach today? The sunset last night was rather pleasant, and there were some nice berry trees nearby."

Aggron shifted in his shady spot, slightly more interested now that they weren't talking about coffee.

Steven cupped his mug in both hands, looking down at the contents with a slightly rueful expression. "I have a feeling the days will be getting busier going forward... I doubt Mr. Montorzi would arrange all this to treat it like a resort getaway. He did mention something about events during his introduction speech last night."

When Aggron interrupted with a sarcastic snort, Steven scowled at him.

"I may have been tired at dinner but I paid attention, thank you. Still, we should take the opportunity to spend one afternoon relaxing and enjoying the scenery while we have the chance. No paperwork, no photo ops, no mandated battles--" he took another sip of his coffee and smiled. "It certainly has been a long time since we've had no obligations. Might as well make the most of it."

His partner stayed quiet and looked around the garden, letting his gaze linger meaningfully on the shady tree above. Steven laughed.

"We'll find a shady spot at the beach, too. The trees were nice and close near where the boat docked. Give me a minute to grab some reading material and we can head out."

Aggron grunted something petulant, but Steven was already headed back into the room to get ready.

-----

The sun was well on its way toward the horizon by the time Steven and Aggron made it to the beach. This was a good thing because the heat of the afternoon was cooling somewhat. But, this was also a bad thing because that meant all of Aggron's precious shade was dwindling as the sun dipped lower in the sky. He made sure Steven was very aware of the consequences of his choice of excursion with a grumpy stare the entire way along the tree line toward the only decent patch of shade he could find.

"It's not my fault this beach is facing west," Steven said as he settled down next to his partner, leaning against his side like a backrest. "The sunset in a few hours will be worth it."

Aggron rumbled a quiet disgruntled noise, but he was already beginning to forgive Steven. The sound of the waves against the shore were soothing; it reminded him of warm summer nights at their house back in Mossdeep. Soon, the gentle sound of Aggron's snores mixed with the waves, and Steven tucked into the scientific journal he'd brought with an easy smile on his face. Now this was a vacation.

 

[Flyg0n]

But before anything can be done about the mysterious note...

The day dawns quiet and peaceful, like the previous one. Many of the trainers seem relaxed and at ease. Some head to the cafe for breakfast, others seek out training rooms or choose to explore. Despite the gray clouds on the horizon, the island is pleasantly sunny for the time being.

However, it is not long before that peace is shattered...

A loud, shrill scream pierces the still morning air. By its tone, it sounds like the cry of a young girl. It seems the scream came from the direction of the beach.

Upon arrival, the beach seems empty, but there are signs of a struggle not far from the edge of the woods. The sand is disturbed and a small stretch of it has been turned to glass, as if a fire-type attack had struck it. The pawprints of a Drampa can be seen in the sand, alongside small prints like those of a young girl... Combined with the lack of seeing Reena and her Drampa at breakfast, there is only one dreadful conclusion - Something has happened to Reena and Drampa!

OOC note:

Spoiler

A few reminders:

-So for the sake of keeping everything organized and making sure I don’t miss anything, please do not forget to ping me for investigation powers, and write them in bold so it's easy for me to see!
-Try to keep things unchaotic (concise posts when possible and bold the investigation power you want to use, etc)
-Try to avoid double posting - if you have posted once, wait until I have made a reply, especially if you’re using a power. This is mainly to allow me time to reply properly :coolbat:
-Take caution to avoid unintentionally implying any details not mentioned by the GM, or having your characters see any clues or NPCs not explicitly mentioned in flavor/reply to investigations. If the flavor is unclear, please ask for clarification!

 

[Flyg0n]

Aggron nodded, and turned his snout this way and that, sniffing the air for anything out of place.

[[Use **Odor Sleuth**]]

Aggron Used Odor Sleuth! Aggron discovered a strange scent!

A slight breeze blows from the woods at the edge of the beach towards the ocean. It carries the usual musty scents of damp earth and wet leaves and - wait, there's something unusual. A scent that wasn't there before. A fresh one at the edge of the woods, seemingly leading away from the beach. Human.

Perhaps it's worth following?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

When he left his shadow on the waves, Malachai recalled why he preferred to hunt at night. One spooked one's prey by alerting them to the presence of a large creature above the surface. But his master was diurnal, and as such, so must he be.

Base creatures of flesh alone could not escape the predations of a fae being, nonetheless.

Malachai collapsed his wings, dove into the ocean, and released a blast of sonic force from his ears, followed by subtler sonar. The stunned shoal of tuna appeared in his mind as a silvery mass, more impulse than vision, and he lunged for them with the abrupt speed of a true dragon. Exquisitely performed; in his jaws, he held a prize well-deserved.

A minute later, he was crouched on the beach, gulping down his meal with satisfaction. Yes, the ocean might be unpleasantly briny, but saltwater fish were worth the effort. He rumbled with satisfaction despite himself, the bassy waves pinging off of any interesting masses within a fair distance. Including one that was most certainly a large, dense pokémon. Interesting. He'd stay put, for now.

 

[Hanafuda]

After having decided that perhaps it wasn't exactly the best decision to have an usually-not-a-fighter Pokémon fight, Seb went down to the beach for a stroll to take his mind off of the news of the morning. To think that a police officer was kidnapped. Silently and unnoticed until now? The host didn't mention where it happened, so nobody seemed to have an idea of where to investigate. For now, Seb wanted to relax with the soft breeze cooling off his face.

"Guess this is where things will start getting worse, right?" He sighed with eyes closed and head raised in worry. "Can't this case be solved faster? I don't want Mom to worry..."

 

[MintyMimix]

Hazel hummed as she eyed Violet's anxious gaze as they headed towards the group meeting. Her trainer's eyes kept darting back and forth between the sky, what was in front of her, and Hazel herself as an uncharacteristic pensive frown etched into her features. Hazel looked back down at her phone and at the messages again. Was Violet still thinking about that "other self" of hers? She wrapped the digits of her claw around her fingers, hoping to reaffirm her, but Violet only responded with a sympathetic smile before looking wistful again.

Seeing this reaction, Hazel typed with her free claw. [Say, Violet — with Wallace and some of the others there, I'm sure they'll relay to us via text what's already happening. I'm thinking that we could try to get ahead of things and start looking for the other mythical Pokémon. The text Wallace sent talked about bonds having literal power in this world. Maybe that one mythical we read about — Meloetta — could help us learn a bit more about that?]

Wanting to seal the deal, she decided to throw something personal in. [And... it would be nice to learn more about dancing. As a Weavile, rather than in your body.] It was a bit underhanded to intentionally tug her heartstrings like that, but this was for Violet, too. Even if they didn't learn anything, Hazel hoped she could ask for a soothing song to put Violet at ease.

"I..." Violet bit the underside of her lip before exhaling, "...Alright, I understand. We can cover more ground this way and figure out a potentially large piece to this intricate puzzle." She tried to convince herself before mumbling to herself, "...I wonder if anyone else has that same idea... I have questions for Gen..."

Hazel frowned as her sensitive ears picked up on the muttering, but she said nothing. If that was what it took to convince Violet, so be it. The Weavle would drag her trainer out of her thoughts one way or another.

The two arrived at the beach as they felt the smooth, soft sand press underneath their feet. For the briefest of moments, everything about the situation had washed away as the serenity of the environment overtook them. However, like the sea breeze, that feeling blew by as the tides of reality came in. "So... what was your idea to attract the attention of this Meloetta, then?" Violet asked, placing her hand underneath her chin. She realized she should have asked that question earlier.

[Simple, with music! 🎶 😃] Hazel replied dutifully, before swiping up to her audio player. She scrolled through the playlist — flinging past the many, many rock songs Violet had asked her to download once her trainer had discovered the genre and became obsessed with it — before settling on a particularly relaxing, yet jubilant song. She hoped that the more positive, lyric-less music would appeal to the mythical, or at least any passing trainers that might have a better idea of what Meloetta would like.