1/5 Stars on Yelp

Evelyn was pretty sure that the nicest thing she'd ever said about Grima Outpost was that it, in the most technical sense, offered shelter from the rain. She was really struggling to come up with anything nicer to say than that. The place was a goddamn eyesore, shitty tents raised out from the ground like acne. There was no redeeming qualities unless you really liked the mafia, she supposed. The smog was visible in the air, and the people sucked. ... or, most of the people sucked. She had to reluctantly admit that there was an exception or two.

"We're gonna have to get through the house first." Evelyn explained as she walked onward. "And I'm not gonna lie, you aren't gonna like the house, but it'll be worth it after we get to the end, promise. That's where we'll find my favorite spot in all of Grima." She'd just have to give any ghosts that tried to scare Rui a nasty surprise of her own. Evelyn wasn't really all that scared by ghost stories. They could be fun, sure, but at the end of the day? This was just a mystery dungeon like any other. She wasn't gonna go nuts from some weird rooms.

And she'd make sure Rui didn't, either! No harm, no foul. And even if something terrible had happened in the Chateau... Grima was full of unspeakable acts every week, every day. Eve was pretty sure someone went missing in her old apartment. That's just the way things were. You couldn't think about what had happened on the dirt you're standing on.

Not that she was going to tell such musings to Rui, of course. They'd probably just have the opposite effect and instead of making him less scared of the house, he'd be more scared of everything else. Not exactly what she was going for. So she keep her mouth shut long enough to shoot the Skiddo a smile. She hoped it was reassuring? She didn't really think she was good at being reassuring, but hopefully Rui would take it in the spirit it was meant in.

"Just stick close to me if anyone tries to mess with you, yeah?" She added, her voice a little more gentle than it usually was. Rui wasn't built for the smog. She was fine, sure, she was a poison type - she was built for this. But Rui... she'd caught a glimpse or two of his mother coughing, and she wasn't naive. Grass types weren't exactly meant to be living in someplace like this, especially not long term. The least she could do was take him somewhere with cleaner air, right? Hopefully he'd enjoy a place with some actual plantlife.

And apparently he didn't know it existed! Evelyn hadn't technically been there herself, either, but she had some solid intel. You could say a lot of things about the Desert Rose, but their intelligence was solid. "Trust me. It'll be worth it."

'Trust me' was a bit of a low blow. Eve was sure he did. Rui trusted way too easily for his own good. The trust wouldn't be misplaced, though, she was sure of it. She knew he'd love it.

Evelyn's Energy: 3
(19 - 16 = 3)

Rui had never really left Grima Outpost before. Sure, he’d been near the outskirts - sometimes a plant or two would be able to grow where there was less foot traffic and Rui liked to visit them – but he’d never left the outpost. When he was younger his mother had always warned him that the smog was much more dangerous outside the settlement. Rui had always kept that warning in mind.  But when Evelyn had said she wanted to take him somewhere, he hadn’t wanted to say no.

It was nice to be invited somewhere! That was what friends did right? Invited each other places? Knowing that Eve wanted to share something with him, Rui had felt warm inside. Like someone had wrapped him in a soft blanket and tucked him in on a cold night. Of course he’d said yes!

“Oh… Maybe it won’t be so bad…?” Rui replied hopefully, even as his ears flattened. Eve seemed very confident that he wouldn’t like the house they were heading for. Which was... worrying. What could be so bad about it that Evelyn was so sure he wouldn’t like it there? Maybe it was dark and he wouldn’t be able to see very far – that would be scary… but they could try and light the way! Or perhaps it was even smoggier than the journey to that point? It already clung to his throat out here, making it harder to breathe in a way he’d not really experienced before. Rui was quite sure he wouldn’t like that, but hopefully that wouldn’t be more than a little unpleasant.

Almost as if Eve could hear each worry worming their way into his thoughts, she flashed Rui a smile and tried to reassure him. If he was going there on his own, perhaps it would be just as scary as Eve was implying. But knowing that Evelyn was there with him was comforting. She wouldn’t take him anywhere too dangerous. And it wasn't their destination, just a part of the journey.

Rui nodded and smiled back. A small, half-smile. “Okay,” he confirmed out loud. It would be fine! Even if was a little scary, Eve said it would be worth it and Rui wholeheartedly believed her.

That said... they'd been travelling for a fair amount of time. That wasn't to say that Rui couldn't keep going... but he wouldn't say no to a pit stop. “Uhm. How much further do we need to walk?”

Rui's Energy: 3
(19 - 16 = 3)

According to the people of Grima Outpost, the Chateau is cursed so to speak. From rooms rearranging themselves for no clear reason to Pokemon getting lost, it seems like a nightmare, yet it was all too real to the people who had dared to enter. Yet it can’t be that bad, right? That was what Viktoria wanted to figure out in the end- the reason this curse exists if at all.

Surely this isn’t an absolutely stupid idea? A fighting type Pokemon with no real way to fight a ghost just going to the Chateau that was said to be haunted by ghost type Pokemon? Moving her scarf up yet again to try and keep out the smog, Viktoria sighed, trying to steel herself once more to enter, standing at the entrance. Despite that attempt to keep at least her fear at bay, she ultimately stayed at the door, nervous as to what would happen if she did go in.

"The more I think about this, the more I'm psyching myself out of it. So I just have to not think about it all, right? Yet it's almost too hard not to." She muttered in a rather annoyed tone to herself, beginning to pace near the entrance of the Chateau in a pathetic attempt to simply just make herself enter it without thinking. If only she had just ran in instead of letting herself truly process the rumors at all, then she wouldn't be in this stupid mess in the first place!

Energy Count: 0
(16 - 16 = 0)

"We're right here, lazybones." Evelyn teased gently as the two of them crested a hill, revealing the rickety old house below them. Hmm. Yeah, it didn't look like it was in great shape, but it'd stayed standing this long. Probably the weird mystery dungeon stuff that kept it from collapsing? Evelyn wouldn't claim she knew, she didn't know anything about that junk. She'd always had more important things to worry about, like staying alive. That was a big one.

Speaking of staying alive, a big part of that in Grima was knowing when people were trouble. The Riolu was one. Was she another one of the Desert Roses? Evelyn hoped not. She could stomach the business end of things, but... not while Rui was here. Crap, what was she gonna do? Evelyn shifted her weight, unsure of herself as she looked down at the Riolu. Well, whatever she was gonna do, she only looked more fishy watching her pace back and forth, standing at the top of the hill like a stalker.

She began scampering down the hillside, clawed feet digging into the ground to keep her from slipping and losing her grip. Well... what did she say now? She thought on her feet, shooting the stranger her brightest smile. "Hey there. Evelyn Kimura, doing a supply run for Cafe Sawsbucks." A phrase like that was usually code for something a little less innocent, but if this was a member of a rival group, that'd probably get her to leave them alone.

The cafe being a front was an open secret at this point. So she thought before she'd met the Skiddo, anyways. But what it was a front for was also something you'd definitely know, and if Evelyn had one good thing to say about the Desert Rose, it afforded her some measure of protection. Her tone was chipper, despite the loaded words, shooting the Riolu a toothy smile. "Don't suppose you have business here too?"

Evelyn could make a call on what to do after she figured out what the stranger was up to.

"...oh! S-sorry!" It turned out they didn't have much further to go after all. Rui stared down at the house from the top of the hill. It looked like it was on the verge of collapse, even more so than some of the buildings in Grima Outpost. It looked a little... dangerous.

Was that why Evelyn had said he wouldn't like it? Just from the outside it didn't look very safe. Could they really go through it? Well... he supposed they must be able to if that's where Eve was taking him.

Eve scampered down the hill and Rui was left perched at the top, still apprehensive of the ruin of a house down below. How come no one had tried to fix it...? Just looking at it made him nervous. There were parts that even from the outside looked like they'd caved in... but maybe it was still stable? Rika would know more than him about this kind of thing, with her experience fixing homes back at the outpost.

There was someone else by the entrance too - perhaps Eve knew them?

After a moment of hesitation Rui followed Evelyn down the hill, picking his steps carefully so he didn't slip. This was to no avail, as one small misstep and he was sliding down the remainder of the hill, coming to a swift halt as he reached the bottom.

"H-Hello..." he stammered, hyper-aware of his very unceremonious entrance. He scrambled to his feet but shrank back from the stranger, nervously shifting in place. He hadn't expected they would meet anyone new on their outing. Was this Riolu also visiting the place Eve wanted to take him? Or perhaps they lived here.

Both of the voices caught Viktoria off guard, having not expected anyone to show up either. A Skiddo and a Salandit huh? An odd pair for sure, but she wasn’t one to judge- she was an equally as odd sight most likely.

”Supply run for a cafe? Odd place to go for one, but eh, what do I know. The name’s Viktoria. Sorry for possibly freaking you two out and nice to meet you Evelyn. Though if you guys are going through the Chateau for this supply run or whatever, mind if I join you two for a bit? I’ve been wanting to explore the place in general, but well, I’m not sure if I’d be able to get through on my own...” She sheepishly spoke, knowing numbers were her best bet while being simultaneously oblivious to the darker implication of Evelyn’s supply run statement.

They didn’t have to accept her offer in the end, but it was worth a shot, right? If this didn't work out, well, she'd probably just leave and come back when her nerves are in better shape than they are right now.

Energy: 0
(0 + 10 from an Oran Berry from Venusian that’s being used now - 10 for rolls = 0.)

StarDay carried out 10 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

, , , , , , , , ,

Okay. What did she make of that? Either she was playing dumb, or she was actually oblivious. That was a little sketchy. Pretty much everyone knew the implications behind a 'supply run' here. ... well, Rui was an exception. Evelyn felt pretty uncomfortable either way as she mused over it. They weren't really anyone strong enough to earn anyone's ire, right? Except Evelyn, maybe. Maybe this was some relative of the guy she poisoned? Nah, that seemed pretty unlikely. A healthy dose of paranoia kept her alive, but even she had to admit that was a bit of a stretch.

And if the Riolu tried something, Evelyn was pretty sure she could take her. She was, to put it kindly, a major pain in the ass when she wanted to be. Toxic pared pretty well with running away like a coward, turns out. She hadn't been in a ton of battles, but she'd learned pretty quickly from the few scraps she'd been in that honor wasn't going to get her anywhere.

Having weighed the situation, she shrugged her shoulders, glancing back at Rui. "More hands might make our trip go smoother. What'd'you think, Rui?" She paused, waiting for her friend to chime in, even as she creaked the door open. It even made that signature creaking sound from scary plays, to her amusement.

Energy: 13
(3 + 10, using an oran berry)

Venusian carried out 10 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

, , , , , , , , ,

Rui was caught off guard by Evelyn's question and tensed visibly as she pushed the door open. The creaking sound disagreed with all of his senses. They weren't even inside yet and it was already spooky!

Hesitantly, Rui glanced up at the mansion's entrance. His ears flattened and he shrank into his leafy mane. Perhaps it was just how big it was, but the house looked twice as menacing up close.

It's okay. Eve's here. She's not scared of spooky noises. Or spooky things. We'll be fine! He reasoned silently, shifting nervously from one hoof to the other.

Rui glanced to Viktoria. That's right- question. He was quite content just to go along with what the others wanted to do. Sure, he was a little nervous that they'd be exploring somewhere relatively unknown to him with someone completely unfamiliar, but that was no reason to disagree when she seemed nice. Perhaps knowing there was someone other than him and Eve would be comforting? "S-sure... I don't mind."

Energy: 13
(3 + 10 from eating an Oran Berry!)

Solilo carried out 10 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

, , , , , , , , ,

The creaking noise wasn't pleasant to say the least. Viktoria knew her luck wasn't the greatest some days, and she didn't want to end up getting caught in a cheap horror book's plot. Yet she had allies, they should be fine!

"Thank you Evelyn and Rui. I won't let you down." She spoke calmly to the Salandit and Skiddo, deciding now would be the time to actually enter the cursed building after the door was fully open. Sure, if she encountered a ghost, she didn't have really any quick options to handle that, but one of the other two had to have something, right?

Though if there was one thing she could be grumpy at, it was the sheer lack of lights at all. Clearly the supposed ghosts around here didn't know how to properly set the mood for guests. Well, she could hope it's just simply a lack of lights in this old chateau and nothing more.

As soon as the three of them crossed the threshold through the door, it slammed shut behind them. Pretty rudely, at that. Evelyn flinched, but soon after rolled her eyes, huffing an irritated sigh. "Hey, cut that shit out." She scolded. A little Haunter half-hovered through the floor, looking up at her in confusion. At least it kind of had the audacity to look ashamed before it sunk into the floor and sulked off. Good, it should feel ashamed for scaring Rui. Would've been even better if it apologized, but she'd take it. She turned back to the Riolu with a nod, shooting her a smile.

"No problem." She answered reflexively, hopping back to her previous train of thought as if the ghost had never appeared at all. "You're not from Grima, right?" It was a wild guess, since she was unfamiliar with the jargon and the open secret that was the cafe. She felt pretty confident about it, though. Maybe one of those explorer types? Probably shouldn't let it slip that she wasn't exactly keeping her hands clean - not that she was going to mention it in front of Rui, anyways.

Speaking of Rui, she glanced back towards him with a tilt of her head. "Holding up alright, bud?" Well, she didn't want to baby him, but she knew that door slam would probably spook him. Probably for the best to check in. She didn't want him to get too afraid. With any luck, they'd be able to tear through this mansion pretty quickly.

That was her hope, anyways, until some ominous cackling came from around the corner. Evelyn only heaved an exhausted sigh, having little patience for this. She crept up to the corner and darted around it lightning-fast, her fangs glowing with a green aura as held the enemy pokemon in her jaws and plopped it unceremoniously in front of the others for them to see. "See?" She hummed, satisfied with herself as she dragged the little ghost-type into the light of day. Just a Sableye. Nothing tough. "There's not anything actually scary here, just some jackass ghost types."

After a long pause, Evelyn noticed their would-be tormentor was carrying something shiny. She knocked it out of his hands for good measure, trapping the shiny rock under her paw as she ushered the goblin off.

Evelyn's Energy: 10
(+10, Leech Life on Sableye)

Rui was the last to step inside the mansion. The door slammed behind him and he squeaked in surprise, jolting and skittering forwards a few paces. Hesitantly, he glanced back towards the door. He was barely inside the house and already it was living up to how scary it had looked from the outside.

Eve didn't seem worried about the door in the slightest. It was relieving in a way. If Eve wasn't worried then... it probably wasn't a big deal. Rui found himself agreeing with her words. He would definitely appreciate if it didn't do that again! Please...

Rui shuffled a little closer to Evelyn, shrinking into himself, "Y-yea. I'm okay- Are.. are you both..?" he replied, cautiously stepping after her. The floorboards would creak beneath his hooves. Step. Creak. Step Creak. He focused on Eve. On the red pattern on her back. That was familiar - he saw Eve every day.

The cackle echoed through the room and Rui froze, hoof raised mid-step. Was that... another pokemon? Or something else? Eve quickly snuck up on it, revealing it to be a mischievous Sableye. So they were doing it on purpose? "Wh-why…?" he whispered in a small voice as the Sableye scampered off. Rui didn't understand. What would anyone get out of scaring someone?

The group continued onward, around the corner that had sheltered the Sableye until Evelyn had driven it away, and down a hallway. It was dark and windowless, with only a single candle providing light. The creaking floorboards had given way to velvety rugs. They were old and dusty, but the softer feeling underfoot drew Rui’s attention. It was more comfortable than hardwood. Carpeting wasn’t very common in Grima - it felt opulent.

The candle was snuffed out. Rui whipped around as the hallway was thrown into darkness. He glanced from side to side, where the others had been just a moment ago, but could see nothing but black. His ears swivelled, trying to locate the others by sound in the dark. “E-Eve? Vik...Viktoria? Are you alright?”

Something brushed against Rui’s leg. He shrieked, short and sharp, flinching back from the contact. Moving backwards at speed, he collided with the wall behind him, knocking an ornament from its perch. It shattered, the pieces ringing across the wood that fabric didn’t cover.

Seconds later, the wall beside Rui burst open, wood splintering across the hallway. Light flooded into the passage, illuminating a Shuppet brandishing a feather duster and a very angry looking Hattrem.

“Who on earth is causing all this racket!? I can’t get thirty minutes of peace here today!” the Hattrem yelled, flicking splintered wood from her braids. She skimmed over each of the pokemon present before landing on Rui, who shrunk even further under the weight of her angered expression.

Rui's Energy: 3
( Encounters: 5 - 8 - 5 - 5 - 1 - 5 = 0
0 + 10 for trap = 10
10 - 5 - 1 - 1 = 3 from the last few roll )

”I’m...not from Grima. I’m guessing it was easy to tell, huh, Evelyn?” She sheepishly admitted to the Salandit, her nerves a bit wrecked by the door being slammed earlier by the Haunter. Guess she wasn’t very good at possibly disguising herself in general.

Viktoria also realized she could’ve been a simple alarm to Rui only after he kinda made a giant mess from being spooked seven ways to Sunday, having been caught rather off guard by the light they had going out. ”I’m alright here-” She was cut off by the angry voice of another Pokemon entirely, along with well. A wall being busted and a sudden with light pouring in from that direction.

Seeing the angry Hattrem staring the three of them down, she instinctively tried to stand in front of Rui when he shrunk back, not quite willing to talk that much to the witch like Pokemon. At least she can actually kick the Hattrem in the face if it tries anything against them. The glorified feather duster of a ghost though…

Yeah, Evelyn or Rui's gonna have to take care of that for her unless if Viktoria herself was able to find a chair to throw really.

Rui had asked why the ghost type had found amusement in scaring someone, and to that Evelyn could only shrug her shoulders. Because they could, or because it was fun, she doubted it was anything deeper than that. Maybe it was some creative way of defending their turf. She didn't not understand - sometimes messing with people could be fun, she was guilty of that herself - but if they were gonna have their fun at Rui's expense, they'd have to get through her first. "I guess they think it's funny." She offered, pondering over Viktoria's response.

"Lucky guess, mostly." And it was true, she didn't really have hard proof until the Riolu admitted it herself. "You can tell who's new in town by the way they carry themselves." It was an observation, but she didn't mean it as a judgement. In fact, she was a bit jealous. Maybe more than a bit jealous. Her life would've been a lot happier if she hadn't been born and bred here. She couldn't help but ponder over what brought the Riolu here of all places. It was probably an interesting story. Probably best not to ask it, though. No one came to Grima for a happy reason.

Any idea of asking any other questions was put on hold as the lights went dark. Evelyn offered an annoyed huff. She'd flinched, she'd own up to that, but she was giving credit to Rui for scaring her, not the ghosts. Before she could speak up to let Rui know she was fine, he'd yelped in fear, followed by the shattering of something ceramic. She sparked a bit of fire from the marking on her back, lashing her tail defensively. It was at least enough light to see by. "Rui! You okay?"

Before a response could come, Evelyn was very rudely bathed in a shower of drywall and splinters, courtesy of their new uninvited guests. (Technically, the three of them were the uninvited ones, but details.) Rui was scared and Viktoria looked ready to brawl, so seeing if they could weasel their way out of this fell to her. "Hey, it's not our fault. We wouldn't be making such a racket if the pokemon here would stop jumpscaring us, we're just trying to pass through." She bit back. She was a bit bitter, but she'd at least give talking a shot, see if the pair would listen to reason.

"We're not the ones picking fights, trust me, I want to get out of here just as much as you want us gone." She added, and that much was true, she had no desire to stay in this dusty old house any longer than she had to.

"I-I'm okay-" Rui stuttered in reply to Evelyn. He was very grateful to Viktoria for stepping between him and the stranger. Having all of their anger directed at him like that, even for just a moment had been terrifying.

The Hattrem instinctively stepped backwards as Viktoria stepped between her and Rui, poised to attack if it came to that. Evelyn's words shifted her attention once again. "Jumpscaring?!" The lilt in her tone gave away her frustration, and for a moment it looked as if she was going to lash out. However, something seemed to click and she immediately zeroed in on the Shuppet now attempting to sneak away.

"You." The Shuppet flinched as the Hattrem leapt after it, fumbling with the feather duster. It clattered to the ground only to be smashed in two a second later as Hattrem lashed out, thwacking her braids into the floorboards. She missed the Shuppet by only a hair as it vanished through them. "The next time you try to feed off my emotions I won't miss!" she yelled, pulling her braid from the splintered boards and scattering more debris across the hall.

With the Shuppet gone, the Hattrem turned back to the other three. “My apologies. The ghosts that live here can be incredibly troublesome-” She halted, one tiny hand grasping at her head, “I can still feel it, urgh. It’s not as bad, but..”

Slowly, the Hattrem skimmed the trio once again. Rui shied away from her gaze a second time when she landed on him. It was nowhere near as heavy as the first time but… this pokemon was scary. She’d just broken through a wall, and smashed up the floor with hardly any effort. “S-Sorry!” Rui apologised. He wasn’t sure what he was apologising for, but he felt like he’d done something wrong. Why else would she be staring at him.

“Ah, I see now.” The Hattrem moved closer to the group, Rui taking a small step backwards as she did so. However, he only had a wall to back up into. What did she see?

The Hattrem halted in front of Viktoria, brow furrowing as the skittish Skiddo refused to calm down. She tapped her chest and took a small breath in. She then extended her hands, both glowing a pale green. “This will help both of us, but i’m not a grass type so it works better if I can touch you.” She eyed Viktoria, who was still positioned between her and Rui, “It’s Aromatherapy.”

”Aromatherapy, huh? ...Fine. I’ll...trust you for now.” Viktoria spoke, not sure if this was ultimately a smart decision as she decided to let it ultimately happen. If nothing else, she could promptly kick the Pokemon pretty hard if it did decide to go violent, but if they could avoid a fight, that’d be far preferable.

Merely sighing as she let the action occur, she decided this time there would be precaution taken up as well. Specifically, to avoid Rui being spooked into the ninth layer of Hell, since he seems like the type to somehow manage that. All Pokemon have an aura, regardless of if they’re a ghost or not, right?So scanning for that aura should help figure out where those ghosts may be, and to avoid future scares even slightly more than they could before.

However, Viktoria knew fully well she couldn’t precisely tell what that ghost would be if it was nearby, nor was it a hundred percent foolproof. So it's time to start being the living ghost alarm for both Rui and Evelyn and hope it works.