#friede ic

The Beast responds to Lucky with a growl, but rolls his eyes. “If that is supposed to impress me, it’s not working. I have encountered your Circle before, and I am still here.” Turning to Donnie and the Charizard, the Beast starts to circle them like a predator. “Tell me, does a sunken city truly require the attention of the Sorcerer Supreme? Understandably, this place is quite the archeological marvel. Yesss…” His head slowly turns to the direction of their camp. “You seek the Mother of the Hawthorn girl. She had come through here some time ago.” Donovan perks up at that, and lowers his arms. “Yeah, we’re hoping to find out what happened to her, if she’s still alive. But if you say she came through here…” He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but some information was still information. The Beast hops up onto a rooftop, looking down at the group. “I would tread carefully here, little ones. The Guardian of this city doesn’t take kindly to outsiders. They’re quite….Atrocious. Most life down here is towards the city center. I would recommend searching there.” He chuckles darkly before darting away deeper into the city, leaving Donovan to rub his chin. “Okay…We got some information. That’s something, right? And how did they know I’m the Sorcerer Supreme? Literally nobody outside of our circle knows about that.” He groans, rubbing his face. “Let’s head back for now, share what we found out.”

'Wait!' Lucky's voice cracks. The Sylveon's chest heaves and Charizard moves to scoop up the Sylveon in his arms and rumbles softly. The Sylveon whimpers. '... He knows... He knows where Miss Phoebe is...' The Sylveon whimpers. Charizard sighs deeply. The pokemon looks to Donovan and looks to where the others are waiting.

Mewtwo simply stares in the direction of the other group, sighing deeply. “Neither do I Friede, but I trust Donovan won’t do anything reckless here. He isn’t going to risk damaging this place.” The Primal Beast stares down Lucky with a mix of annoyance and amusement on its face, growling at him. “I wouldn’t anything runt; unless you are assured of victory.” His head tilts in interest at why they’re here before staring down the Charizard. “Unnatural? Any more unnatural than a Charizard in an underwater city?” Donovan however, is struck by the strangest sense of deja vu, slowly raising his arms and causing glyphs to form. “You….Why do you…Have we met?” He snaps his fingers and summons the Scarlet Book he got in Paldea, flipping through its pages until he comes across the Beast in question.

“Wait….were you in Area Zero? How are you here? Why are you here?” Donovan holds out the book, showing the group the photo in question. The Primal Beast snorts, amused at his confusion. “Boy, I go where I wish, when I wish. You really think that crater could contain me, let alone any of the Pokemon there? I am here because I choose to be. I am simply checking in on some…friends shall we say.”

The Sylveon hisses. 'I speak for the Fae of The Circle of Unova! How dare you look upon me, you beast! The audacity!' The Sylveon takes a step forward, a Moonblast threatening to form. 'State your business or be gone! What friends? You heed our passage!'

"Look, Area Zero has dozens of Paradox Pokemon everywhere. Right now, there's just one." Was he being optimistic? Yes. Cautious? Not so much as he gets closer to the alleyway, his scanner trained on whatever is there....

Only for a deep growl to reverberate out as if to challenge Lucky and his hissing. The glowing eyes return, and the source reveals itself, fading into visibility. With each step the form of the Primal Beast is revealed. A Pokemon resembling an amalgamation of Raikou, Suicune, and Entei stands before them. They make no move to attack, they simply observe them. Back at base camp, Mewtwo pauses as he feels a familiar presence. Looking off in the direction Donovan and the others went. Shredder looks at him, as if to ask what was wrong, and Mewtwo speaks up. "It seems Donovan has discovered what was watching us.."

".... That doesn't sound good." Friede comments from where he's pitching the tent. "I don't like you tone, Mewtwo..."

Meanwhile...

Lucky braces himself, hissing at this large beast. He stands his ground, and Charizard lets out a low growl beside Donovan. Lucky speaks first; 'Well aren't you a sizable beastie! Look, we're here looking for someone. We don't want any trouble. Run along now!'

He slides off Charizard carefully, his eyes glued to his map. The calls of the Lugia echo through the ocean before fading gracefully into the deep. Donnie has heard the call numerous times throughout his life, but he doesn’t miss this chance to secretly record it. “Theres what I can assume to be a Pokemon around here. It’s moving too fast and erratically to be a human. Then again, I’ve been wrong before.” He remembers being pranked by Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler and Gambit while in college. The assholes. Carefully scanning the area with his magic, he briefly catches the eye shine of a Pokemon in a dark alley before it disappears. “Something is watching us.” The smell of rain begins to permeate the area, along with some static buildup making the hair on Donnie’s arm stand up. “Hold on….this sensation…” He eyes the alleyway where he saw the glowing eyes, and carefully starts walking towards it. “It’s the same feeling of the Paradox Beasts from Area Zero! Maybe a Paradox Pokemon has able to get down here!”

Charizard lowers his head near Donovan's head and looks him in the eye, and while not the same bond as Lucky and Ashe, his eyes speak for Friede; Is this wise to pursue so deeply in? If there is a Paradox Pokemon? Thankfully Charizard is far more relaxed and chill compared to Friede.

Donnie climbs on with a grunt, and holds on as they take to the air, although not before recalling Shredder to his pokeball. He looks down at the dark city with a small frown, finding this all to be a bit depressing. The sounds of a Lugia can be faintly heard from out in the ocean, making Donnie snap his head in its direction before turning his attention back to the eerily calm Pokemon. “….I don’t know Lucky. There are so many theories about what happened to Atlantis. One of the theories that Professor Xavier has is that maybe the city sunk because of the Apocalypse. Or the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Another theory is that perhaps the people drew the ire of a Legendary, causing it to sink.” Deciding that he’s had enough of the darkness, he conjures several floating orbs of light and disperses them around the area, lighting up not the whole city, but a few blocks at least. “The Apocalypse was a major subject back at College. It had something to do with the first Mutant…” A ping from the map made him jump a bit, before he calmed down. “We got movement about three blocks from here.” He gently pats Charizard’s neck. “Set us down. We don’t want to spook whatever it is.”

The sound of a Lugia has Lucky's attention as well. Legendary Pokemon were still Pokemon at their heart, but to hear one just out in the open... That was a sound the Sylveon won't forget. It was... a beautiful melody. Still locked onto the noise, his attention is broken once Charizard shifts and follows Donovan's commands.

Moving to land, the Charizard dims his own flame for now and Lucky is set down as well as lowering himself so Donovan can slide off. The Charizard grumbles slightly and Lucky huffs. Moving to slowly peek out from the alleyway, he moves just enough to where he can get a look.

Donovan nods to Friede as Mewtwo hands the man something to help him set up camp. Donnie makes a noticeable glance at Ashe, and speaks up. "Make sure she doesn't run off. We know next to nothing about what's out there." He wasn't saying that to be mean, he just knows Ashe too well.

Donnie gives Charizard a chin scratch, smiling softly. "I'll take the help. Didn't bring any flying types with me this time." He makes the map float over his arm, and he turns to Lucky. "What we do now is make a sweep of the area. First rule of being in an unfamiliar environment is to get the lay of the land. I say, we should take about an hour to get a good look around, then make our way back to camp. Spot any landmarks or buildings that warrant investigating later. Nothing too difficult."

A low grumble of sorts escapes the Charizard before slowly inclining down so Donovan's able to slip on. Once he's on, the Charizard picks up Lucky and begins to fly off. Beating his wings, he takes Donovan skyward to get a more aerial view. It is... massive. A sprawling metropolis and toward the center, the makings of what must have been an ancient castle or citadel.

It was dark. Beneath the ocean's waves here at the bottom, there is little light save the fact Pokemon overhead in the waters above would glow or move. Sounds call out in the darkness from Wailord or other mysterious dark denizens. There appear to be other water-type or deep denizens that scurry in the shadows, but they are unafraid of humanity. It's like the three of them are ghosts.

Mewtwo takes notice of Ashe and her current state and decides to take over the conversation as Donovan focuses on what he should do. "In all fairness, there is much about the ocean humans do not know. We have barely searched the city, but this place could serve as a base camp, of sorts." Donovan stands in front of the dilapidated stone home, and makes his choice. He looks at Lucky, and shrugs. "Maybe, but I'm going to need more than what we came here with for that." His arms and hands begin to glow gold as various runes and Unown symbols float around him, and Donnie conjures up a magical 3-D map of what they explored so far. "I'm not sensing anything yet, but there is a strange power source further in the city. I want to say it's mystical in nature, but I can't say for certain." He looks to Ashe, and offers an idea. "I can have Strange and Ultron send some small drones I can send out while we set up camp. That way we can get a heads up in case anything pops up." He turns his attention back to the map as Mewtwo starts setting up their temporary base camp. "Hold up. I got movement not far from here." Donovan looks up from his map, and turns to the others. "I got something wandering around here, could be a Pokemon, but not one I recognize. There's also a group of...something close to the city center. Whatever energy is flowing around is messing with my spells, so I can't get an accurate reading."

Lucky's fur bristles as his eyes lock in the direction of said place. For now, Lucky is acting as Ashe's proxy. Friede, seeing this, moves to stop and he turns to Donovan; "I'll get camp set up. If you want to go check this out, go on ahead." He whistles to Charizard and the pokemon swoops down to land just near them.

"If you need Charizard to go with you, go for it." Friede notes Lucky who likely will go with Donovan regardless if he chooses to go check it out. For now, Friede guides Ashe to have a seat, moving to cradle her face and speak something to her softly. She only nods and he goes to begin preparing a camp for those present.

Charizard approaches Donovan, snorting softly and nudging the man before turning and following his gaze to the map he has. Lucky himself remains rigid but more letters appear on the RotomPhone;

Donovan and Shredder are at the head of the group, eyes carefully going over anything and everything in case something pops out. Donovan is either unaffected by the chill, or is just powering through it. “…No signs of life yet..” This was starting to creep him out. At least Area Zero had Pokemon all over the place. Sure there were Pokemon here, but they were few and far between, sticking to mainly the outskirts of the city. Mewtwo stays at the rear, just in case something tries to sneak up on them. That presence he felt watching them has vanished, leaving him unsettled. “Whatever was watching us has disappeared. Be on your guard.” Donovan also fishes out a high powered flashlight from his backpack to help brighten up the immediate area. Slowly sweeping it back and forth, Donovan eyes some carvings with suspicion. “From the looks of things, this place must be hundreds of years old. Give or take maybe two thousand years. The architecture predates the ruins of Dragonspiral Tower, I know that much.” He’s tempted to just use magic to try and find any signs of life outside of Pokemon, but a little voice in the back of his mind is telling him not too. That it would be a bad idea. Shredder seems to have noticed something, and darts ahead a short distance. “Shredder? What is it?” Catching up to the bipedal isopod, he takes notice of drag marks on the ground, as if someone was dragging stone against stone. “Guys. Shredder found drag marks. They look pretty recent too. Considering they’re still pretty light.” Mewtwo touches down to examine the marks, and rubs his chin. “It could’ve been a Pokemon. Perhaps a variant of a Dwebble? They make their shells out of rock and stone, after all.”

Friede grips Ashe's hand. She's just... staring. Her heart is beating fast. She's listless. She doesn't know how to feel. None of this interests her so much as she just wants to try and find the reason they even came here; her mother. Lucky, however, is also looking around which proves through some way that Ashe is intrigued (mentally, physically, she is not). His ear flicks and as if Ashe herself is through Lucky, he reaches a ribbon to tap Donovan and gesture to some of the more ancient and ruined houses.

Ornate, ancient places that looks like people at one point had lived here. It was... haunting. Sad. The Sylveon's ears droop and a chirp of sadness escapes him.

It's the drag marks that bring everyone to a halt. Friede remains where he is, but his gaze drag over the marks. "Hmm..." He shifts focus instead asking; "Could be, but Dwebble lines are land-based. If it is a variant, well... that's a Pokemon that even I have come across." He shifts his attention once more, noting the houses and then the marks. "... I'm going to hazard a guess that perhaps... whomever lived here long, long ago, either left or died out. The Pokemon reclaimed it..."