[Locked to Residents]

[malnosso]

[Appearing on the journals is a written message as follows. A voice option is provided for a computerized reading of the text.]

Attention Luceti Residents.

The following names are being called to participate in a strike against the cultist hordes:
[the names listed here appear on the journal.]

All subjects are required to arrive at the tunnels at 8AM on the 27th of March for deployment. All listed individuals are required to be present. Subjects will then be escorted to TERRACE for battle preparation and further details.

Target will be Region One, a former Malnosso stronghold, presently in cultist hands. Subjects are advised to prepare for combat in forested areas. Further information will be made available at TERRACE. Questions and answers will not be provided at this time.

[The Malnosso will not reply to this message, but everyone is free to use this post to discuss among themselves, whether using voice options on the journal or doing action threads.]

Comments

[acuity]

[ wow pearl, leaving lady behind, RUDE!! she hurries to catch up, empoleon and rapidash and lopunny in tow. SORRY DIA, SNEAKY ISN'T YOUR FORTE when you're not infiltrating galactic like solid snake. ]

Diamond? Pearl? Excuse me...!

[willpowered]

[bros before hos little miss sry

but he is not sorry for boxing Dia's stupid head.]

We're gonna have to! [His voice is higher. Strained. Angry.] Or-- We might! You don't know! I don't know! I --

[A deep breath.]

I don't want to kill anyone either, Diamond, but we gotta watch our backs. And we gotta look out for Missy. What would the old uncles say if they knew she got hurt while under our care!? And that professor, and her dad!

[He's probably grabbed Diamond's shirt by now. Shaking him a bit.]

We're gonna do our best not to kill anyone, but dammit Dia you can't control a Pokémon's instincts!

[-- he doesn't even know his point, he just knows Diamond's being dumb and he's being dumb and please, someone, calm this fuckass down.]

[heartofthematter]

[Diamond lets himself be shaken, though Wig's vines whip out to stop Pearl. He knows it's best to let his best friend's anger to wear down, and he lets his emotions subside for the better. For now. A look of calmness. Not the epitome, since his voice is shaking a little, but it's still strong.

He's not going to kill. At all.

(If he can help it.)]

They might have family and friends too, Pearl. I'm going to do the best I can to keep you and Missy and everyone else safe, but I'm not going to let Wig or Moo hurt anybody that badly.

[Very firm. He glances over at Platina worriedly. Not wanting to picture his princess covered in blood - whether it be her own or someone else's.]

[acuity]

[ arriving just in time to catch the tail-end of their argument. and even Wig had to hold Pearl back... watching Diamond and Pearl fight, even if it was over something as terrible as this, was terrible enough. she lays a hand on Wig's vine. ]

Let's discuss this more calmly. Something as important as this... we shouldn't be considering killing at all. But if we are, let's listen to each other.

[willpowered]

[But it's --

He fists his hands into his pants and sighs. It's a lot like letting a lot of hot air out of a balloon; one long, big whoosh. His shoulders slump and he pats Wig's vines.]

You're right. [A struggle for words that aren't calling Diamond a big ninny.] Sorry, Dia. Missy.

[heartofthematter]

[Happy to have helped, Wig unwraps his vines from around Pearl and settles for letting Diamond lean against him. Almost as a comfort.

He nods and relaxes. Let them go at it first.]

Okay.

[acuity]

[ glancing between the two, but... good. watching them fight was wrong. but she'd be here to help. ]

... Diamond, if there's something important you wanted to tell your pokemon, you should tell us, too. We need to trust each other.

[willpowered]

[Pearl rocks back and forth on his heels, then uses Rayhiko for support as soon as the Luxray wanders over from keeping an eye on his and Platina's teams. His voice is, unsurprisingly, hardly level, but at least he's not yelling.]

Our pokémon have to hear it too, you know. [Although none of his are within hearing range -- whatever, he'll just tell them later.] Tell us what you were gonna tell yours, and we'll relay the orders back to ours.

[Leader.]

[heartofthematter]

[... Diamond inhales, watching the ground briefly before looking back at Moo and down at Lax. Patting Wig. Straightening up with his palms up in front of him as a silent plea.]

I was telling them what a draft was, and what it meant, and that I didn't want them to hurt anybody too badly. Even if I got hurt, I didn't want them to... you know... [to kill] the person who did it. Um, we'll focus on distracting enemies so you two can fight, and since my team is big we can all stay behind them... If things get tough, Moo can do ice things and Wig can handle warding off people too.

[His team isn't the strongest or the fastest, but as the defense build of the team they can sure as anything do that. Lax tugs at Diamond's hand because what is he gonna do.]

Lax can help distract too, even if he's not as big as the others, so with his fur we'll be okay too. I know everything he's hiding in it after all. [A pause. He's not a leader.] I don't want... I don't want to see either of you at your full power either, no matter what. I want everyone to stay safe.

[He knows it's asking a lot, but he's baring his heart and that's honestly all he wants.]

[acuity]

I... I have to agree. And I'll be fighting to incapacitate, too. Battling someone who doesn't have pokemon to defend themselves is just...

[ it just doesn't sit well with her. and when she glances back at rapidash and empoleon, they look similarly doubtful. none of them were wild, they'd always been pampered, and even if empoleon liked fighting, it was always against other pokemon. ]

What do you think, Pearl?