Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rachel hadn't seen the group until Sub spoke, inviting all of them to join the picnic. She joined them for a moment, making a sandwich that she could share with Rainer. She didn't really interact, not certain what kind of topics to bring up. After she and Rainer were done, she got up and slipped away, wanting to explore a bit more before the festival started. She wandered around for a while, looking at what shops there were, seeing a few that caught her interest. Among those was the mochi demonstration, but she would forgo that for now. She could always pick that up later, since she knew there were a few Snagems that liked to cook.

The one that finally caught her attention was one that she recognized as a fortune teller's tent. She'd heard of them before, even seen one from afar, but hadn't actually taken the time to approach. Normally, she didn't put much stock in fortune telling, but for some reason, she found herself wondering what it was all about. So with that in mind, she decided to take a chance, and walked into the tent, taking a seat across the table from the man inside.

The ogre would make a grumble-like sound as it stood there in the light of the moon and stared at Tsuki, its shimmering rainbow crystal eyes fixed on him the whole while. For a second it looked like it would attack again as it began to lower and point its club at Tsuki only for it to stop at a forty-five degree angle the moment Tsuki pocketed the gemstones. For whatever reason this was enough to give it pause and snap it out of its 'Primape smash!' state, the ogre looking around its general area as if noticing it for the first time. The ogre would then look off into the horizon, staring at the rising moon, and after several seconds of staring it nearly jumped as if it remembered something and immediately threw its club onto its back.

"Pon pon!" It cried out, the pitch of its voice far higher and way less aggressive than before. With its club put away the ogre would turn around, back facing to Tsuki and began to run off, heading down the path Tsuki just came up. What was all that about? Where was this 'ogre' going anyways? Not that those were important questions to Tsuki in this moment, what was important that it was gone and he made it out of that encounter in one piece.

...what's that? Where it hit the ground, a piece of crystal sparkling in the moon's light. Small and green in color. It was a Fire Tera Shard. Where did that come from? Did it drop it? Oh well, finders keepers, right?

What would Tsuki do now?

[Happy Requiem Mask Shop]

"Welcome and salutations, dear adolescent male, I invite you to gaze upon the wearable wares of the Happy Requiem Mask Shop!" The shop owner greeted Tristen, speaking in a very peculiar way, the manner of speech not helping with the creepy aura they were putting out what with that mask they were wearing. "Might I entice the young one with one of my carved face coverings? I'm certain I possess a mask that might fit the particulars of a young man such as yourself. That is unless I have made incorrect assumptions, in that way might I ask; what can I do for you?" The mask seller asked as they leaned over the counter and close towards Tristen, staring at him from behind their mask.

At this point Tristen might realize the two different Yamask had appeared on either side of him, both staring at him expectantly, as if mimicking their trainer who was also awaiting an answer.

[Fortune Teller's Tent]

Rachel would enter the tent and find the inside very dimly lit, filled to the brim with little trinkets with just enough room to enter and sit down at the provided pillow in front of the small table at the middle of the room of which a Rabsca floated over. The smell of the various incenses burning would prove to be an assault on her senses. Looking across the table and beyond the Rabsca she would see an old man sitting on the floor as well, their face hidden in the darkness of their hood with only their long white beard showing. The man would wait for Rachel to sit before he spoke.

"Welcome, young miss. What could I do for you this evening? What answers do you seek? Through my connection with my faithful Rabsca I can glean information from the past, future, and everything in between. However my services are not free but I do not have a set price. So please, contribute what you believe is an adequate amount and ask what question you will of me and we will see what the powers that be have to say." He explained to Rachel and when it came to payment he gestured towards a small box next to the table, a slot in the top to insert money.

(Donate however many Snag Coins you wish. The amount you give determines the outcome, however in what way I will not say.)

[Loyal Three Battle Tribute]

Several Snagems, including Crystal, Amaranth, Darts, and Clare, would gather along the sidelines of the Kitakami Hall battlefield, awaiting with many other festival goers the beginning of the reenactment of Loyal Three's battle with the Ogre of Oni Mountain. Amaranth would be the only one to willingly step up and volunteer to battle, the old man overseeing the entire thing confirming her participation and asked that she step up onto the field on one side, release a single Pokemon to use for the battle, and tell the audience her name.

The old man would then proceed to look around, hearing many pleas to let them battle, only for him to ignore their pleas as a certain hybrid caught his eye. "You! With gold crown! You're perfect! Come come! You must battle!" He said, pointing at Crystal. After being singled out several festival goers around her would try and usher her up to the front, saying how big of an honor it was to be chosen like this. Certainly once she realized Amaranth was battling too she would feel more comfortable accepting participation.

Once Crystal had stepped up, released her Pokemon, and told the audience her name the old man would go back to searching for another participant, the third and final one. He felt lucky to find such a catch in Crystal and thus was uncertain he would find someone equally visually impressive as her until the light from a nearby lantern bounce off of Darts' golden crest, catching his eye. "Ah ha! You! Yes, you! In the golden mask! The two of you are meant to battle together! Come on up!" He said, pointing at Darts and insisting her step up, once again the crowd ushering him up to the field.

With Darts stepping up Crystal would no doubt be caused some discomfort, the two for whatever reason avoiding each other this whole time. Amaranth would quickly pick up on the vibe as she stood between the two 'feuding' Snagems. Either way with Darts' Pokemon out and his name declared the old man would inform the crowd that it was time for the battle to begin and with that said two other old men stepped up to the field, carrying on their shoulders in a wooden litter a very large green crystal that looked exactly like the ones found in Paldea, the crowd oohing over it.

After setting the litter and Tera Crystal inside of it down the two old men would shuffle away while the first one stepped up to the crystal and place a hand on it, then reciting some sort of poem about the plight of the Loyal Three and their struggle against the Ogre. With his poem recited he took out an Apricorn Pokeball, a Friend Ball. He would then proceed to insert the battle into a little carved out indent in the crystal, press the button on the ball, and quickly withdraw.

The ball would soon burst open in a show of white light and at the same time the Tera Crystal would give off a tremendous green flash. A dazzling displace of shimmering light would go off and before they knew it from all this light an Alpha sized Grimmsnarl would appear, already Terastalized with a Grass type Tera Crown perched atop its head. "Snaaarl!" Roared the Grass Tera Type Grimmsnarl. An ogre to stand in for another ogre, a fitting stand-in for the Ogre of Oni Mountain.

Let the battle, begin.

Clare and Darts made their way up to the group, arm in arm presumably from where they had come from the main festival proper and they mill around as they wait for the event to start, seeing Amaranth get picked first, it didn't surprise him very much that she was eager to battle. The Flying channeler was a bit of an extrovert when it came to battles recently and seemed to be itching for a fight. He crosses his arms, smirking slightly as he watches her raring to go. Him and Amaranth had never interacted much, come to think of it, but she had been around in the team nearly as long as he had been. This should be good.



Ugh. Here the gambler had been hoping for a nice relaxing spectacle and SHE had to be here, and thrust into the spotlight no less. He watches her walk up, the spindles of her golden crown winking in the lights of the stadium as she gets pressed into service, space cat in all her glory brought center stage. With her being distracted because of the battle, that WOULD keep the heat off him for a little bit. At least he got to just sit back, stay off to the side, and continue avoiding her-



...Arceus damn it. These people. Loved. Costumes. Darts sighs, letting go of Clare's hand and shrugging at her apologetically as he walks up, murmurs running through the crowd as they see his 'Giratina-inspired' costume. Despite his best efforts to keep a low profile it was impossible when you had a face like his, he supposed. Speaking of which. "Evening ladies." He says with a cheeky tip of the invisible cap to Amaranth and Crystal, blatantly disregarding the blueish-purple patina of rage he could see coursing through the Solgaleo hybrid's face as he clambers onto the stage. His jacket wags cheekily at her with a mind of its own, almost like a tail swishing in a lion's face.



The Grimmsnarl screams its defiance over the head of he crowd, a massive pulsing pile of muscle and hair that shimmered and glowed with the light associated with terastallizing, a crown of jewels in the shape of a flower ringing its skull as it played the part of the Ogre. Boy, that was not a Dragon trainer's most encouraging sight, Grass-tera or no it was going to have a proverbial full quiver of Fairy moves to blast any of his Dragons back to the eggs they hatched from. So that just left his other Pokemon. Empoleon was shadowified, and a Water-type so no-go there. Honchkrow was old and sleepy by this point in time, plus Dark wasn't doing it any favors either. Gengar might be his best shot here, given the arsenal of Poison attacks and the lack of Dragon-typing... In the midst of his strategic breakdown, there's a brilliant flash of light from inside his coat. Gimmighoul, you choose you!

"Gimmi?" The diminutive little item hunter asks him quizzically from its position on the battle stage, pointing at the gem-looking crown on the Grimmsnarl. Its item-finder antennae wave anticipatorily in the direction of the massive brute staring the both of them down with murderous intent.

Are. You. Kidding. "N-no! I don't think it's going to want to rip that off and give it to you!" Oh Arceus, this was going to be an unmitigated disaster. Both of his hands clutch his crest as he tries to hide his very visible panic. The only thing the Gimmighoul had present was the ancient coin given to it by Clare earlier, holding tight to the rusted coin like a security blanket as it takes in the scenery, scanning the area with the golden blobs that served as its eyes.

"Ghoul?" It follows up, pointing next at the enormous terra gem with the Pokeball set into it.

He doesn't dignify that with a response, running one hand down his face. This was bad. The villagers were going to think he was making a mockery of their demonstration, not to mention... Oh lord. He steadfastly stares forward onto the battlefield, condensation starting to form on his crest as he pointedly DOES NOT look in Crystal's direction. He was the center of the three of them now, keeping his body angled as much as possible towards Amaranth as he can. 'Help me' his red eyes would scream at the Flying channeler, pulsing an emergency warning that looked like morse code. He takes out his SNAG to try and get himself a list of moves for Gimmighoul, maybe there was something he could do with an unevolved Pokemon that he hadn't used in a battle and had only caught a few hours prior.

"List of naturally-known Gimmighoul Moves: Tackle, Astonish. End of list. If you're trying to use this Pokemon in a battle daddy, I'd say you're f-"

Click. Darts shuts his device rather pointedly, cutting off the sultry modified voice of his Pokedex as he clenches it in one golden hand, trying his best to keep the device from breaking. Boy. This was going to be a battle of all time.

Clare took Darts' arm in their shattered one, hooking their elbow around his as he offered his arm and smiled at the gambler. "I try." They offered with a giggle as they began to walk off with him, further exploring the festival grounds as they made their way to the performance site. By the time they had made it, Clare had switched to the hybrid's other side and had the hybrid leading them by the hand through the crowd. Once they had finally found a good spot to watch from, they spotted a few other Snagems scattered around the area and waiting as well. When the MC called for volunteers, the Nihilego hybrid shrunk back slightly, not wanting to be in the spotlight for now. They got enough of that when they were working with Elesa and knew they'd be seeing entirely too much time on the runway once their arm had fully healed since it clearly was recovering. Hiding behind Darts, they found it amusing that, entirely by chance, it seemed every person needed for this performance had been selected from the Snagems, giggling a bit as the realization settled into. They watched as Darts, Crystal and Amaranth began to make their way out to the designated space, head tilting as it became apparent to them that something was going on between the two hybrids. It almost felt one-sided, however, they found themself distracted from that when Darts' newly acquired Gimmighoul let itself out of its Ball on the battlefield. "Oh, that can't be good..." They noted, seeing Darts' reaction to it. That looked like he just learned something awful from his SNAG and the only thing they could figure is that Gimmighoul was not a good option for this display beyond how tiny it was. They'd have to ask when he was done.

Standing on the sidelines, they waved at the Snagems with their undamaged arm, cheering for all three of them to give it their all.

[Loyal Three Battle Tribute]

Apparently, they had missed getting there for the initial volunteering, judging by the decently sized crowd that had formed by the time they arrived. Well, decently sized for the village. Demon Wing looked annoyed, and Crystal would pat him on the back as they hung out in the back of the gathering. “Sorry, Demon Wing. I tried to get packed up as quickly as I could. At least-” She paused when she got called out, blinking and looking around. Once some of the other festival goers urged her to go up, she finally realized that she was being volunteered. Not mile Demon Wing minded. “Oh, uh, well, alright then! Let’s go, Demon Wing.” The pseudo dragon perked up as he realized his trainer was starting to walk forward toward the battle field, the Charizard roaring in delight and getting himself a pathway cleared for them, the others getting startled and backing up. Once the pair of them got to their spot, Crystal waved while Demon Wing flexed his wings and roared again, clearly pleased to be fighting after all. “Uh, hello there! My name’s Crystal, and this is my trusty Chariard, Demon Wing!” Almost on cue, when his name was called, he would breathe a stream of fire in the air, pretty much showboating at this point. “Demon Wing, watch it,” she’d warn him quietly. “Don’t get too excited now. You need to focus.”

She would nod to Amaranth with a smile, though that would immediately fall when she saw who their third ‘volunteer’ was. Of course their paths would cross again. Why did Demon Wing have to be the one Pokémon of hers that wanted more challenges? Because she wanted to indulge the Charizard, she now had to contend with Darts again. Fine, fine, whatever. It was just for one- Did he seriously just pull that?! And that jacket! Light, he was full of himself! Fate was just such a kind mistress, wasn’t she? Just one battle, just one battle…

Demon Wing would start to calm himself as the Tera Crystal was brought out, Crystal shaking her head and turning her full attention to what was happening in front of them. When the Friend Ball was placed into the Tera Crystal, Crystal’s eyes widened slightly as the Pokemon that came out was a rather large Grimmsnarl, with a grass type crown on its head. Even if she didn’t have any experience with the Terastal Phenomenon before, she probably would have sent out Demon Wing anyways, just judging by the crystal grass bouquet that adorned the giant ogre’s head. This was his idea, though, so he was going to be a part of it one way or another. Now what was-

That thing. Darts decided that was a good idea to bring out?! DIdn’t he also have a Gengar or something? Something other than that tiny little thing? Light, could he take anything that dealt with her or Snagem seriously? Well, anything in Snagem that didn’t involve Sub, at least… Seriously, though-

No, not the time to get lost in that train of thought. There was a battle in front of them, and Demon Wing was chomping at the bit to let loose. Well, depending on what Ammy brought out, he would need to at least help carry this fight. “Right then… Demon Wing! Let’s start this off with Fire Blast!” AT this point, she knew her dragon wasn’t going to want to buff up any, and they might as well get started on this fight. Demon Wing took a deep breath and sent out one of the largest gouts of fire he could, the fire splitting into the classic five arms of the move, appearing like a certain kanji that probably helped give the name.

Tsuki stood there, hands up and death gripping Baja’s Pokeball while the ogre of Oni Mountain decided whether or not to try its hand at turning the young Snagem into a human stain on the ground. When the Pokemon seemed to be snapped out of a daze, he tilted his head in confusion. Had it also been in some kind of trance, he wondered. He looked down and felt his pocket for the gemstone he had put away. Still there- and there he was going to leave it just in case that was the thing that caused this.

With its weapon away and its tone a lot less murder hungry, Tsuki finally let out an exhale. They’d exchange another glance before it turned tail and ran down the mountain. “The hell…?” He asked quietly to no one in particular. When it wasn’t trying to kill him, it really did just look like a kid. Still though, not wanting to be in the same spot if the ogre returned in a bad mood, he made his way back to the stone bridge. Where it had struck the ground there was now a Fire Tera Shard- something that immediately caught his eye with strange recognition.

That shouldn’t be here. This wasn’t Paldea and Kitakami wasn’t exactly a vacation destination. Tsuki looked around before crouching and taking it for himself.

That encounter had given him so many questions, as most things tended to do for him, but he had a clear answer to something he hadn’t seriously considered. In Kitakami hall, the signpost he had read in the early morning hours said something about the ogre’s masks being able to give it different powers depending on what it wore- at least until the Loyal Three died taking most of them from it. What those masks did sounded like Terastalization, and with the Tera Shard that the ogre left behind, that confirmed a suspicion that he had earlier in the day.

Terastalization wasn’t landlocked to Paldea and the ogre was related to that somehow.

Tsuki figured he would have to ask more about that from one of the locals at the festival, so he headed back down the way he had came. Something about hiking up a mountain and nearly dying startled the mood he had been in out of him. He felt calmer now, calm enough to start back downhill at least.

Aile would quietly and patiently listen to her predecessor, absorbing the information she was learning. That temple had an animated skeleton… Was that the monster she was referring to, or was there another? And then, finding out that the staff had a name, one that didn’t sound… really positive, to be honest. Something about the name Shaitan. Learning that the damned thing was a curse as well was honestly the less surprising part of all this. Things hadn’t been going well for her even before that, so learning that she was cursed to be miserable after getting this probably explained a thing or five. At least. Arceus, she really wouldn’t be able to catch a break, would she?

Then she watched the woman begin to grow more and more transparent, like she was beginning to leave this plane. s**t, and she hadn’t even asked her name! “Wait! What am I doing by claiming it?! And what’s your name?!” Her questions would just echo out in the white void, however, as the woman had fully disappeared by now. And even if she hadn’t, she was fully robed, including a full facial veil, so she wouldn't have had any sort of ability to read her lips. No, once again, she messed up by not asking for a name. And now she was stuck here with no-

Blink.

Suddenly, she was back at the Crystal Pool, with it being completely dark out now. Well, that was one worry gone. Another one rose up, though, as she realised she was alone. What happened to Aden? Before all that, she was trying to shake him out of his trance, where had he gone?! In a panic, Aile fumbled around for her SNAG, taking it out to send another message out when she saw the one from Aden. Well, it seemed like he was alive this time, at least. Handling some personal stuff? Okay, but… Why would he ditch someone that was vulnerable like that? That didn’t seem like him, just up and leaving when someone wasn’t alright. What had he seen, if that was anything like what she had gone through? What was so urgent that Aden needed to bail on her like that? Hopefully it wasn’t…

No, it probably wasn’t anything relating to Aile. Probably. Arceus, though. This was way more than she bargained for. Dropping to the ground before laying herself out, she watched the stars above as she attempted to sort through things in her head. It sounded like the two biggest things to do were to find a trainer of some sort, and to find something to protect. What, though? Her family was probably better off without her nearby, and that was still the best way to protect them, at least in her mind. Her friends, Snagem? They were all whole heartedly capable of protecting themselves, why would they need her? As for ruins and such, the only one she could think of was the temple of the Ice Titan. And it seemed empty enough after dealing with that skeleton. She didn’t think it was quite capable of leaving, anyways, in her experience. In theory, she could look at other places like Terminus Cave, where part of Zygarde resided, but A) she doubted that Zygarde would need her protection, just like Snagem, and B), after her misadventures with Flare, why the hell would it want to deal with her? So, that one was out.

And then there was the matter of finding a master! Where would she even start on that end? Robert knew she had an artifact when she came back with it, so maybe she could ask him? Maybe she could ask that Ursaluna woman as well, back in Paldea. Ussuri, was it? She seemed like she was responsible for another student, Mateo. He was a well trained kid for all how he was. She wouldn’t mind meeting that hybrid again as well… Though, she couldn’t remember what Pokemon he was a hybrid of. However, those were her only two leads that she could think of off the top of her head. “Arceus. Which of the wrong turns that I took in life wound up being the point of no return?” She really wished she could go back to a simpler life, one where she didn't now have this curse hanging over her head, was happier, and didn’t feel like an absolute piece of trash in relation to her teammates. But, that seemed like that was never going to happen at this point, so might as well just lie in the bed that she made.

At the very least, though, she shouldn’t just lie down here in the middle of nowhere, at the peak of a mountain next to a special pond. There was supposed to be a festival going on, right? Maybe that might lift her spirits a little. At least before she went back to trying to figure out everything relating to her artifact, Shaitan’s Dust as it was apparently called. Giving one more look at her arm before sitting up, she’d call out Tatooine before typing out a quick message to Sub.



With the message sent, she would stand up and stroke the dragon, before hopping onto her back. they’d take off into the night sky and look for where the most lights seemed to be, and aim for an area near there to land.