Clues and Things - OOC

[HelloYellow17]

A faint gleam of determination returned to Latios' gaze. "But I can promise to remain here and at the very least, look out for your trainer and those they trust." His expression grew grave once more and he shifted closer to Novo, his mental voice serious. "You and your brother must take heart. In this world, nothing is stronger than the bond between trainer and pokemon. Have faith in your brother, and your Wes. And we will do what we can."

She turned to Evie and June. "I will do whatever I can to guard you. And if I find anything else I will find you. Just... Have faith in your bond. Bonds here have power, and if you two stick together, you can do anything." And with thatm Latias shot off down a tunnel and vanished.

She dipped her head to Olivia. "Young Espeon... take care of your trainer. Your faith is strong. The bond you two share has power here. Do not underestimate yourself." The last line seemed directed at them both.

She paused and seemed to consider something for a moment. "You and Victoria. Have faith in each other, even when you are not in this world. Your bonds have power you know. And be careful, please."

Not related to the berries, but I wanted to quote these. This has been said SEVERAL times by various legendaries so I feel it’s important to point out. I’m thinking that at some point we will be able to use some sort of power that draws from the trainer/mon bond of our characters. Food for thought!!

 

[Sinderella]

So basically the flakes could be dye from gray berries flaking off and our culprit is actually yellow but simply dyeing themselves and shit smells fruity/chemical-y because it’s berries made into a dye?

PSA putting strange material on your skin is bad @culprit you’re gonna break out in hives or something

 

[Hanafuda]

Not related to the berries, but I wanted to quote these. This has been said SEVERAL times by various legendaries so I feel it’s important to point out. I’m thinking that at some point we will be able to use some sort of power that draws from the trainer/mon bond of our characters. Food for thought!!

Doesn’t Mega Evolution in canon involve a strong bond between Trainer and Pokémon as a requisite? Just saying, especially because I keep remembering Mega-Pidgeot.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

So basically the flakes could be dye from gray berries flaking off and our culprit is actually yellow but simply dyeing themselves and shit smells fruity/chemical-y because it’s berries made into a dye?

PSA putting strange material on your skin is bad @culprit you’re gonna break out in hives or something

Okay but hear me out: we found no flakes at the scene of Reena's disappearance. Nor at either of the first two disappearances. At Reena's scene, we found out from eyewitness testimony that we were looking for something yellow. Then at every scene after that, we found the flakes.

Who was at the scene of Reena's disappearance and who could have overheard that we were looking for a yellow culprit?

Then again we did find the sweet chemical smell at the first two scenes (but not Reena's?), and every scene after that.

Are the sweet chemical smell and the gray flakes related, or are they separate clues?

 

[Sinderella]

OH VALID. We only started seeing grey flakes after Irene outed that she saw something yellow. I thought it was mentioned that the flakes had a fruity smell to them but I might also be an insane person.

 

[Sinderella]

And then... something else. The same sweetish, chemical-like scent from before, that the others had spoken of. It was faint, but pungent and not very pleasant. It lingers all around, impossible to tell what exactly left it but... closer inspection reveals a few more of the same grasyish colored flecks. They distintegrate easily, almost like old parchment or the like. And the scent seems to linger strongest around them. It appears the scent may be from the flecks...

Hell yeah I'm not insane

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Are the sweet chemical smell and the gray flakes related, or are they separate clues?

The investigation of the training arena scene suggests a strong connection.

Deep breaths. Victoria scented the air drawing it in deeply, sorting through each smell. Forest. Grass. Earth. Humans. An avian scent, but a abit dragon-like, which had to be the Latii's.

And then... something else. The same sweetish, chemical-like scent from before, that the others had spoken of. It was faint, but pungent and not very pleasant. It lingers all around, impossible to tell what exactly left it but... closer inspection reveals a few more of the same grasyish colored flecks. They distintegrate easily, almost like old parchment or the like. And the scent seems to linger strongest around them. It appears the scent may be from the flecks...

And Weavile Hazel sniffing that directly:

Sniiifffff....

That odor. It's not like smoke or ash or metal. The sweet part its... almost berry-like, but much less pleasant. As if some part of the scent contains berries. But mainly, it is a pungent chemical scent, almost plastic like.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Hmm, I wonder why we didn't get any flakes from the other investigations then? Or did we get some kind of unknown residue from Franklin's room in addition to the smell, but it was so old that it didn't really register?

EDIT: took a look at Gladion and Hazel's read of Franklin's room, and didn't see anything that indicated flakes or residue of some kind

 

[Sinderella]

I am having to assume that the culprit knows they got caught and started using a dye.

But that also doesn't explain why there was a chemical-y fruity smell in Franklin's room to begin with, I remember Nurse Joy saying she had berries out FOR Franklin and Scizor but they were never picked up, so that's shot.

Idfk maybe there is more than one 'mon at work here and one got caught and is now dyeing themselves, and the other had already been using the berries for something different?

 

[HelloYellow17]

Hmm, I wonder why we didn't get any flakes from the other investigations then? Or did we get some kind of unknown residue from Franklin's room in addition to the smell, but it was so old that it didn't really register?

EDIT: took a look at Gladion and Hazel's read of Franklin's room, and didn't see anything that indicated flakes or residue of some kind

No flakes were found at that scene, but also this was over a day after Franklin and Scizor were taken, and the smell itself was pretty faint. Possible that the flakes would have disintegrated by then? But I’m also still wondering if the smell is connected to whatever sedative is putting people to sleep, because that’s been consistent every time.

 

[HelloYellow17]

The shadows danced and flickered, almost alive. Movement! No... Perhaps just the shifting shadows or a cloud in the sky then. An odd chill permeates the air, very faintly along with a strange scent-

And then, for a brief, terrible moment a malevolence fills the air, a sense of dread and unbridled, overwhelming hate

CRACK!

Everything went searing white, bright light blinding, wiping out all sight. A cloud of smoke fills the arena. And almost immediately after something strikes the ground before Steven and Aggron. Energy radiates from whatever the strike is, seeping into both of them. Unavoidably, their eyes would begin to grow heavy, their bodies fail them and sleep draw at their minds until its irresistible, a yawning darkness that feels almost physical as well as mental and threatens to swallow everything-

Hmmmm. On second thought, it seems like the smell might not be connected to the sedative, because the smell was detected first, and it was only after the attack/something striking the ground that Steven and Aggron were knocked out. What move is it, though? Seren mentioned Secret Power results in sleep on a grassy terrain, but that doesn’t explain the beach kidnappings.

 

[ShiniGojira]

Could the berries be used for Natural Gift?

 

[Shiny Phantump]

The Enigma Berry would be a bug move. The E-Reader berries themselves don’t have defined interactions with Natural Gift because they turn into Enigma Berries when sent up to a gen that has the move, so that’s… up in the air, I guess.

 

[Dragonfree]

Also note the scent also existed in the lounge, which was not the scene of a kidnapping, so it's probably connected to the culprit directly, and not to anything they're doing specifically to kidnap people.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Also note the scent also existed in the lounge, which was not the scene of a kidnapping, so it's probably connected to the culprit directly, and not to anything they're doing specifically to kidnap people.

Can we please talk to Sigmin and Salandit now?? Shini's post about Salandit's dex entry is pretty damn intriguing based on this tidbit.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Can we please talk to Sigmin and Salandit now?? Shini's post about Salandit's dex entry is pretty damn intriguing based on this tidbit.

Yeah Sigmin’s gonna get picked apart next day phase because I have QUESTIONS lol

 

[Seren]

Spoiler: Long Post

.

On the second to last page appeared to be a collection of symbols resembling unown text...

Spoiler

Surely this was some important message, a critical clue... Perhaps even everything they could ever need!

View attachment 4109

Perhaps the most intriguing, however, was the final page of the journal. For all intents and purposes, it appeared to be nothing more than a collection of dots. Random, as if doodled absent mindedly. But if Victor was right... A closer examination reveals a pattern, but what does it mean?

View attachment 4110

"I haven't seen anything like it, and she never brought up this code to me before," Victor said, shaking his head. "I trust you, so if you know someone who can decipher the code..."

.

Translation of the clue Steven was given:

Kidnapper has
disguise. Berry dye
leaves gray flakes.
Strange scent.
Stolen berries also
make pink or yellow
dye. Mythical
pokemon? Will check
all pokemon
tomorrow.

 

[Negrek]

Summary of what Nate saw when he was taken by the kidnapper, for anyone who doesn't want to try and sift through my posts:

- The kidnapper used Flash and Secret Power
- Nate was being held in some kind of void space, a dark, empty space with perhaps some stars in it
- There were other people trapped there, too, presumably the other trainers that were taken; they are still alive
- Nate remembers seeing red eyes, presumably belonging to the kidnapper
- After being brought back to the island, both Nate and Mightyena felt extremely drained and low-energy

And one additional item that didn't come out in Nate's reintroduction scene:

- After returning to the island, Mightyena wasn't able to use any of her proper attacks--anything requiring aura/infinity energy/pokémon energy/whatever

 

[ShiniGojira]

Was looking up Bulbapedia about the Prison Bottle and I noticed this little tidbit.

Spoiler: Taken from bulbapedia

"Hey, do you have a minute for a story? This is something that happened when I was watching the store one time... It was, like, a totally dark night. Moonless. And I was all, "No way! This is so-o-o-o creepy!" Then, suddenly—whoosh! Out of nowhere, the automatic sliding door...slides open. And then this super-duper-scary old guy comes in, kinda unsteady, you know? Kinda shambling... So I'm thinking how terrible and scary is this, and then the old guy shuffles over to me... He has a package, like, clutched in his hands... He's mumbling that he has to show it to me... Then he asks, "Do you know what this is worth?" He keeps staring right at me and not even blinking. I was so freaked out. I was, like... "Oh yes. It's, uh, really something, isn't it?" So the old guy grins at me, and he says... "Then I'll just give you this instead of money. Now give me everything you've got in this store!" That's what he said! Really! I was like, "What is this? Too weird, my dude!" But I was scared, so I started shoveling over Potions and, like, whatever I could reach. I gave the dude everything for his stupid package. And out he goes, like, with a wicked grin on his face... As he's walking out, he says, "Three days... For a mere three days will Hoopa be unbound..." Really! I was all, "Stop freaking me out with this nonsense!" I was, like, sweating. The back of my shirt was soaked. Anyway, nothing I could do, so I open the package. It's just a dirty old bottle. Li-i-i-i-ike, really. So I go, "Weirdness. Wonder what's in it." I grab the stopper and carefully pull it loose. Blapt! It popped open, but there was nothing inside! So I figure I totally got fooled. ...Thanks for listening to my story. Know what? I'm gonna give you the bottle from that night 'cause you're so nice. It's not doing me any good anyway. Really."
"Sometimes I wonder if it really is only a dirty old bottle. Those last words that the old guy said as he left... "For a mere three days will Hoopa be unbound..." Just can't seem to get that out of my head... "

After obtaining (top floor of Mauville City)
"Oh... You're that kid from that time... What did you end up doing with that old bottle? Though...I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Really. It's just, even now, it's still bugging me, you know? "For a mere three days will Hoopa be unbound..." That's what he said. I just can't seem to forget it..."

Tl;Dr Some guy's dialogue said Hoopa can only turn unbound for 3 days.

... Which I'm not sure helps or not given who we're focusing on.

 

[ShiniGojira]

GUYS! Holy crap! Look at the anime's adaptation!

Prison Bottle

bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

SHADOW Hoopa is a thing! And it can possess humans and Pokémon!

Here's a couple excerpts if you're lazy to check Bulbapedia.

In the present time, Ghris's great-grandson, Baraz, found the bottle and unsealed it. However, upon touching the bottle, he was possessed by the dark power sealed inside. He then returned to Dahara City and opened the bottle, causing Hoopa to transform back into Hoopa Unbound. This caused Hoopa to go on a rampage once again, prompting Meray to reseal the Unbound power back into the bottle. The bottle was later stolen by Team Rocket, who wanted to get their hands on the power inside of it. This action allowed Hoopa Unbound to possess Meowth and force it to release it once again. With the help of Baraz and Meray, Hoopa was able to resist the dark power from taking over its body.

However, the bottle then unexpectedly shattered into pieces, and the disembodied dark power formed into its own entity, a "shadow" of Hoopa. Baraz realized that the shadow was formed out of Hoopa's anger of being imprisoned for a hundred years, and it had destroyed the bottle to avoid being sealed away again. Knowing that the Prison Bottle could be remade, Baraz guided Meray, Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie to Dahara Tower, where they used Frogadier's Water Pulse, Braixen's Flamethrower, and a wild Hippopotas's Sand Attack to provide the same elements that had been used to create the bottle a hundred years earlier: Water, Fire, and Earth.