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Xavian's Private Quarters

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HelloYellow17

Gym Leader
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. suicune
  2. umbreon
  3. mew
  4. lycanroc-wes
  5. leafeon-rui
No shot," she retorted. She opened her mouth to continue, but realized Hoopa could hear her. She offered them the warmest smile she could muster, before standing and walking over to Wes, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him a few feet back so she could talk to him a little more privately.
Wes was not expecting such force from such a tiny person. He jerked his arm out of her grasp and snarled. “The hell are you—?”

"We cannot risk Orzo seeing Hoopa; that's a one way ticket to shit hitting the fan before we're ready," she said quietly. "We can't take them to the infirmary right now; all it takes is Nurse Joy offhandedly mentioning to Xavian that we found another Hoopa, or even Orzo overhearing us if we decided to explain ourselves to her, and we're fucked."
“Look, I get that, but where else can we go? I know we want to be discreet, but I’m pretty sure we can trust the nurses at the infirmary. They’re not morons. And this is coming from someone who hates hospitals, all right? Xavian and the officers and everyone else here may be an idiot, but the nurses haven’t let us down once.”

He huffed and folded his arms, stealing a glance at the Hoopa, who was now being comforted by both Neo and Novo, before looking back to Odette. “What else would you suggest?”
"I say, at least for now, we take them to the dorms. My dorm. I have a shit ton of medical supplies, and some leftover medication from when I spent the night in the infirmary." With a sigh, she shrugged. "I'm not a Pokemon doctor, but I train ghost and psychic types enough to at least have enough knowledge to tie (tide) them over until we can figure out what specifically to do next. I know the fucker is stealing us out of the dorms now, but I'm also the only one here with a legendary, so...I can't think of a place that would be much safer right now. But if you have a better idea, I'm all ears."
For some reason, Odette’s incorrect use of “tide them over” was somewhat amusing to Wes; maybe it was the way she was glaring daggers at him while saying it, but in any case, now wasn’t the time to comment on it. Especially since there were other ludicrous things coming out of her mouth.

He stared for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “I’m sorry, but that’s idiotic. And reckless. What if you get ambushed? You’ve only got one exit and entrance out of that room. And in case you haven’t heard, just one legendary apparently isn’t enough to deal with this thing—with Orzo, whatever the hell he is. He took out Wallace and his ace and Manaphy in thirty seconds flat.”

Still, she did at least have a point about it being a more discreet location. It was at least a private room, and the infirmary was…well, not private. “All right, let’s make a deal. We take Hoopa to your room, but you let me and maybe a few others guard them with you. The more people we have there, the better our odds will be if Orzo comes busting down your door.”

He glanced over at Odile, who was holding several paint brushes, and then at the bottle. “We’ve also got enough evidence to incriminate that bastard, so we ought to confront him. But…I’m not sure how. Whatever we do, we probably want as many people present as possible for it. Strength in numbers and all.”
 

Sinderella

Angy Tumbleweed
Staff
Location
In Guzma's Closet
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. sylveon-shiny
  2. gothitelle
  3. froslass
  4. chandelure
  5. mimikyu
And this is coming from someone who hates hospitals, all right? Xavian and the officers and everyone else here may be an idiot, but the nurses haven’t let us down once.”
Odette Deadpan.PNG
Her expression morphed into something of a lazy glare. "Bringing my fear of hospitals up at a time like this is a low blow," she said. "Sure they haven't let us down, but the bottom line is that it's a public place. Better safe than sorry. If you're that concerned and convinced the nurses can help, we can call them to my room."

“I’m sorry, but that’s idiotic. And reckless.
Odette Pissed 2.PNG
At that, her eyes began to blaze. She stared up at Wes from under her browbone as her jaw clenched.

What if you get ambushed? You’ve only got one exit and entrance out of that room. And in case you haven’t heard, just one legendary apparently isn’t enough to deal with this thing—with Orzo, whatever the hell he is. He took out Wallace and his ace and Manaphy in thirty seconds flat.”
"That's where you're wrong," she said slowly, trying not to lose her cool. "I'm on the third floor. I have a balcony. And a Pokemon who flies. We're good on the multiple exit thing."

Odette Deadpan.PNG
She then rolled her eyes. "Sure, but that was just one champ and one mythic. I'm sure one champ," she pointed to herself, "one cautious and handy trainer," she pointed to him (unsure of why she was complimenting him because she was mad), "the trainer who already dealt with this fucker once," she nodded her head out the door toward where Mitch was, "a legendary, a trio of magical Eons, and a dark type who's gone up against this fucker once could decently handle themselves for at least sixty seconds flat."

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I'm reckless, but I'm not fucking stupid."

“All right, let’s make a deal. We take Hoopa to your room, but you let me and maybe a few others guard them with you. The more people we have there, the better our odds will be if Orzo comes busting down your door.”
She scoffed and managed something of a smile. "A sleepover? Now we're getting down to the friendship thing. Fucking finally," she quipped sarcastically. Nonetheless, she held her hands out to her sides. "But fine. I'm sure we could get Kimiko, Steven, Olivia, and Aggron to help on first shift."

He glanced over at Odile, who was holding several paint brushes, and then at the bottle. “We’ve also got enough evidence to incriminate that bastard, so we ought to confront him.
Odile Neutral Grin.PNG
As she was regarded, Odile held up the brushes. "̴F̴o̸u̸n̶d̷ ̷t̴h̷e̷ ̵d̸y̷e̷ ̸h̶e̵ ̴u̴s̴e̶s̵.̵ ̴W̷e̷ ̵g̷o̶t̵ ̴h̶i̷m̸ ̵g̸o̶o̵d̸.̶ E̷n̷o̶r̵a̷ ̸s̷a̵i̵d̴ ̷s̵h̴e̷, N̷e̶o̶,̸ ̷a̷n̴d̶ ̷N̷o̸v̴o̵ ̴f̶o̵u̸n̴d̶ ̵c̵h̶i̵p̴s̷ ̷o̵f̴ ̶p̶a̴i̵n̸t̶ ̵a̶r̴o̷u̵n̴d̸ ̴t̶h̸e̶ ̸l̵i̴v̶i̵n̷g̶ ̵r̸o̸o̵m̶ ̷t̷o̸o̴,̴"̸ she explained, nodding toward the shiny Sylveon, whow as helping Neo and Novo comfort Hoopa.

Odette Neutral.PNG
Odette momentarily stared at the brushes in Odile's hands. "We can't take any stuff with us," she said after a beat. "Everything needs to go back to exactly where we found it. If Orzo goes looking for anything and finds it's gone or misplaced, I'd be willing to bet money he'll go on a damn hunt."

Odile Thinking.PNG
"̷I̸ ̴d̶o̵n̸'̶t̶ ̷t̵h̴i̷n̸k̴ ̴y̸o̷u̵'̴r̴e̸ ̴i̷n̷ ̶a̶n̷y̸ ̷p̸o̸s̶i̵t̴i̴o̸n̷ ̷t̴o̵ ̴b̸e̴ ̵m̷a̵k̶i̷n̷g̷ ̶b̵e̶t̴s̴ ̷a̶f̶t̷e̴r̴ ̵s̸p̶e̴n̵d̷i̵n̴g̶ ̶f̷i̵v̴e̷ ̵g̶r̴a̷n̷d̴ ̸i̸n̶ ̶S̴a̵p̵ ̵S̴i̴p̶p̴e̴r̷.̴"̸

Odette Pissed.PNG
"You spend five grand in Sap Sipper," she hissed.

Woops. Her anger flared. With a deep sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose and bowed her head. At least...Odile seemed to be feeling better enough to be making jokes. That was a good sign, so she should be happy.

But…I’m not sure how. Whatever we do, we probably want as many people present as possible for it. Strength in numbers and all.”
Odette Deadpan.PNG
"Well, speaking from personal experience, confronting the big nasty malicious entity head on with words usually doesn't end well. I'd be first to suggest we catch him off guard so at least he's frazzled enough to not immediately strike back."

Odile Neutral Grin.PNG
"̴S̴o̶ ̵I̶ ̴s̸u̷g̷g̷e̶s̶t̸ ̶b̴e̵a̵t̸i̷n̴g̸ ̸h̸i̵m̴ ̵o̶v̵e̴r̸ ̷t̸h̵e̷ ̸h̵e̴a̷d̸ ̷w̸i̶t̷h̸ ̴a̵ ̶b̶a̷t̴,̷"̵ she said, holding up a finger, ̵"̴d̵r̷u̶g̷g̸i̵n̴g̷ ̸h̶i̴m̶ ̷w̴i̸t̶h̸ ̵l̸i̵k̵e̶.̶.̴.̴a̴c̵o̵n̷i̴t̴u̴m̶,̷"̶, another finger, ̷"̷o̷r̸ ̶t̷y̴i̴n̸g̴ ̵h̸i̸m̸ ̵t̸o̵ ̷a̸ ̴p̸o̴l̴e̶ ̸w̷i̷t̴h̶ ̸b̶a̵r̵b̵e̶d̵ ̷w̷i̵r̸e̶.̵ ̶I̶n̷ ̸t̷r̶u̸e̴ ̷p̵i̴r̵a̵t̷e̷ ̴f̶a̵s̵h̶i̸o̷n̴.̵"̸

Odette Deadpan.PNG
"Yeah, thanks freak."

Exhaling sharply, she pulled her phone out again. "But that's thinking too far ahead. RIght now, we need pictures of everything we've found, to put everything back exactly how we found it, make any last sweeps, then we need to figure out how we're getting Hoopa to my room."

She could put them in her backpack. But, it was already so full of her things that she'd need to fully empty it to be able to fit him. Maybe she could have Odile phase her way back to the room through the electricity wires or something with them, but that might put too much stress on them being that they were so weak...

She eyed Wes up and down, her brow raising at the sight of the trench coat. "If somehow teleporting Hoopa back to my room doesn't work...do you think you could fit him in your coat somehow?”
 

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HelloYellow17

Gym Leader
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. suicune
  2. umbreon
  3. mew
  4. lycanroc-wes
  5. leafeon-rui
Her expression morphed into something of a lazy glare. "Bringing my fear of hospitals up at a time like this is a low blow," she said.
Wes was taken aback at that. “I—what? I was talking about me, not—”

Oh. Oh. He’d completely forgotten about her phobia of hospitals. Gods, he probably looked like such an ass right now.

“Sorry. That wasn’t aimed at you. I swear.” Idiot.
She then rolled her eyes. "Sure, but that was just one champ and one mythic. I'm sure one champ," she pointed to herself, "one cautious and handy trainer," she pointed to him (unsure of why she was complimenting him because she was mad), "the trainer who already dealt with this fucker once," she nodded her head out the door toward where Mitch was, "a legendary, a trio of magical Eons, and a dark type who's gone up against this fucker once could decently handle themselves for at least sixty seconds flat."

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I'm reckless, but I'm not fucking stupid."
Her snark was not lost on him, and he had to hold back a biting retort at her condescending tone. Now is not the time to argue.

And, well, at least she acknowledged the bit about being reckless. But who the hell was he to judge? They were both in the room of the dangerous and capable culprit, after all.

Wes sighed and folded his arms again. “Fine. As long as you don’t try to do this solo, I’ll agree to it.”
She scoffed and managed something of a smile. "A sleepover? Now we're getting down to the friendship thing. Fucking finally," she quipped sarcastically.
Wes could not tell if this was friendly ribbing or just an insult. Maybe it was a bit of both. He smirked. “Sure, a sleepover. be careful not to get the wrong idea, though.”

What? What kind of comment is that? Good gods, she’s going to think I’m hitting on her.

“On second thought,” he said quickly, his face reddening slightly, “pretend I never made that last comment.”
"We can't take any stuff with us," she said after a beat. "Everything needs to go back to exactly where we found it. If Orzo goes looking for anything and finds it's gone or misplaced, I'd be willing to bet money he'll go on a damn hunt."
Fair point. Wes hadn’t originally planned to give Orzo enough time to find any of his things missing—he was ready to hunt down the bastard this instant—but playing it safe was more reasonable.
Exhaling sharply, she pulled her phone out again. "But that's thinking too far ahead. RIght now, we need pictures of everything we've found, to put everything back exactly how we found it, make any last sweeps, then we need to figure out how we're getting Hoopa to my room."
“You’ll send those pictures to the group, I take it? Or…no, that’s too risky. Someone else could get a glimpse of that message. We probably should call a meeting and tell everyone in person. Under the radar, obviously.”
She eyed Wes up and down, her brow raising at the sight of the trench coat. "If somehow teleporting Hoopa back to my room doesn't work...do you think you could fit him in your coat?"
Wes blinked. He glanced at his coat, then at the frail little ghost. “Well…sure. I don’t see why not.” Hoopa was about the size Neo and Novo had been as Eevee, and Wes had managed to stash both of them under his coat back in those days. Though, granted, he himself had been a lot smaller back then, but his coat was still plenty roomy enough. “Let’s go, then.”

As everyone began putting things back into place and tidying up any evidence of their presence, Wes approached Hoopa and knelt down, holding out a hand. “We’re gonna get you out of here. But we’ll have to be subtle about it, so we’ll need to keep you hidden. I can keep you under my coat, if you’re all right with that?”

@Flyg0n
 

Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
  6. joltik
  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
View attachment 4623
Needless to say, Odette was dumbfounded.

"I don't understand," she said. "But Xavian...and Clink...they're calling the other Hoopa Orzo..."


As Hoopa explained themselves a little more, her brain continued to work. The Golden King's name was Orozoquiselin. Orzo, so to speak. So did that mean that this entire time, Xavian and Clink were dealing with...?

Ambushed. Locked away. Many years ago. Visage stolen.

She shook her head once. "So, wait," she said slowly. "You're the real Hoopa. The Golden King attacked you, locked you away, and has been mimicking you this entire time?"

Scoffing to herself, she averted her gaze away, finding that she could think a little clearer when she wasn't staring at the defenseless 'mon. Because the longer she looked at them, the more angry she felt herself getting on it's behalf.

"Do you even know who Xavian and Clink are?"


At that follow-up question, she found herself tongue tied. Hoopa was clearly terrified, and she wasn't too keen on the idea of scaring it even more by telling it that Orzo was down the island path in Dragon's Maw having a feast. Their team was trying to stay quiet, and they didn't need this 'mon freaking out and possibly getting them caught.

"Orzo's...not here right now," she spoke cautiously. She then reached her hand out and set it on Hoopa's head--a gesture that would hopefully prove that they were allies here.

"But yes, you're definitely safe. I promise."

She wasn't sure how true that was now, but all things considered, she certainly wouldn't be putting Hoopa back in the bottle.
At her first question, Hoopa managed a nod. "He must have started calling himself... that, after he disguised himself as me."

"Xavian? No.... But Clink.... Yes. They're this universes Gatekeeper. A Klefki. But I don't know them very well..." its gaze dropped. "It's been so long..."

“You…what? Hold on.” Wes rubbed his forehead. This…didn’t make sense. If this mon was the real Hoopa, then why weren’t things lining up? Unless…?

Odette voiced his exact thoughts. If Xavian and Clink have been fooled this entire time…gods. Either Orzo was insanely good at deception, or the former two were just idiots. Or maybe a bit of both. Or…maybe Orzo has been messing with their minds all this time…



Wes shot Odette a frown, but chose not to say anything. This Pokémon was definitely not safe—nor were they, or anyone else on this damn island until Orzo was gone. For good. He wasn’t about to contradict Odette’s statement—gods knew Hoopa didn’t need more stress at the moment—but he wasn’t a fan of sugar-coating the situation, either.

Instead, he turned back to the little ghost with a sigh. “I’ve got a lot of questions, but first I think we need to get you—all of us—out of here. We’ve been here longer than I’m comfortable with, as is.”

But first, he quickly slid his trainer’s bag off his shoulder and rummaged through it before procuring a potion. He gingerly held it out for Hoopa to see.

“This…probably won’t be enough to cure you, but it should at least help you feel better.” After Hoopa nodded, Wes spritzed them all over with the potion, then stowed it away. “It will do for now, but we probably should…take you to the infirmary…?” He glanced questioningly at Odette as he trailed off. What was their next move? This Pokémon definitely needed medical attention, but would the infirmary be safe enough?

Neo and Novo cautiously stepped up to Wes’ side, sniffing curiously at the ghost. Neo then greeted them with a friendly blink and a chirp, and Novo purred and swished his tail.
As Wes sprayed the potion on Hoopa, a little bit of color returned to it, and it perked up slightly. "Thank you..." it said softly.

Hoopa watched, wringing its hands together as the two humans argued. Orzo... Orzo was still around. They weren't free. Not truly. Not until he was gone.

With great effort, Hoopa managed to levitate over to them. "Hoopa want to help. Not free until... until Orzo is stopped." They tapped their chest. "Now Hoopa free, can heal faster. If Orzo-" he spoke the name with disgust "been out this long, he's strong. We must not wait too long."
 

HelloYellow17

Gym Leader
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. suicune
  2. umbreon
  3. mew
  4. lycanroc-wes
  5. leafeon-rui
With great effort, Hoopa managed to levitate over to them. "Hoopa want to help. Not free until... until Orzo is stopped." They tapped their chest. "Now Hoopa free, can heal faster. If Orzo-" he spoke the name with disgust "been out this long, he's strong. We must not wait too long."
Wes hesitated. He was appreciative of the little ghost wanting to help, but was he really in any shape to do so? “I get that you want to help, but I’m not sure that’s the best idea. Given your condition and all.”

However, there was a part of Hoopa’s statement that he agreed with, and it was giving him second thoughts about his first proposed plan. “You have a point, though. As much as I’d like to be discreet about things, I don’t know that we have much time. We can put everything back, but what if Orzo checks the bottle and finds it empty? The sooner we act, the better our odds are of catching him off guard.”

He looked Odette in the eyes. “I think we need to tell everyone immediately. Text, announcement, whatever—we have everything we need and there’s no reason to hold back anymore.”
 

Sinderella

Angy Tumbleweed
Staff
Location
In Guzma's Closet
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. sylveon-shiny
  2. gothitelle
  3. froslass
  4. chandelure
  5. mimikyu
, there was a part of Hoopa’s statement that he agreed with, and it was giving him second thoughts about his first proposed plan. “You have a point, though. As much as I’d like to be discreet about things, I don’t know that we have much time. We can put everything back, but what if Orzo checks the bottle and finds it empty? The sooner we act, the better our odds are of catching him off guard.”
Odette also wasn’t entirely on board with the thought of this weak Hoopa spending so much energy to help. It already looked like it had it’s consciousness hanging by a thread, so fighting off an angry mythic hardly seemed like a good idea. But…the point was taken. She could agree that they really were running low on time. She wanted to approach this as carefully as possible, but they couldn’t be slow about it either. Fuck…

He looked Odette in the eyes. “I think we need to tell everyone immediately. Text, announcement, whatever—we have everything we need and there’s no reason to hold back anymore.”
She sucked her teeth in annoyance at the idea, but Wes was right. Everything was splayed out right in front of them, and they had their culprit distracted in the Maw. If there was a time to full send, it was probably now.

With a huff, she used her phone to snap a picture of the bottle. The painting. She gave it to Odile to go take photos of the jars she found. And whatever else needed logging.

When she got her phone back, she sighed again and began penning her text to the group chat.

“Let’s get out of here, then. Put Hoopa in your pocket, I guess.”

<><><><><><><>
 
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