5th Spell: [Video/Action for Ecruteak Pokecenter]

[friendyousohard]

[It's late night when a set of images, clearly pictures in an old book, flicker by the gear. First one of Entei, then Raikou, then Suicune.

After the third one, the gear turns to show a very tired-looking Twilight Sparkle, bags under her eyes and all. She yawns, but shakes the sleep-fog out of her head.]

Given the current situation this may seem like an odd time for a question like this, but it's very linked with this town and my curiosity is just eating me alive here. Can anyone tell me anything about these three Pokemon? Particularly if anyone's been lucky enough to see them, I'd like to hear the story.

[She sighs and rubs one of her eyes.] Really glad the Centers have their own generators. Hope someone gets the Power Plant up and working again... anyone know anything about what's going on there? I'm guessing not since it's out of the way, but it's bugging me, so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks in advance.

[Private to the PGC]

[As soon as she's got the filter up, Twilight starts looking more alert, wary, and worried. The bags under her eyes are still there though, so it's obvious she is tired, just full of nervous energy.]

This is a message to the Pokemon Guardian Corps at large from Squad Seven member Twilight Sparkle. I believe I may have discovered the source of the recent weather phenomena, and although my research into this issue isn't yet complete, this is important enough that I have elected to share this with all of you immediately.

As you may have guessed from the content of my post before now, my theory revolves around the three Legendary Beasts of Johto: Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. The legends I've been researching all agree that Suicune has the ability and, presumably, the desire to purify tainted waters. I think it's obvious that if that's true, the recent events would have awakened it. This explains the cold weather and the brief mist we experienced earlier, as these are signs of Suicune being on the move.

The full fury of the storms we're dealing with now would be the result of Suicune's influence mixing with Raikou's and Entei's. As to why Raikou and Entei would have been roused, I can only come to one conclusion: Suicune must have been lured into a trap and captured, and the other two are attempting to rescue it. I think it's obvious who would be behind a trap like that.

I feel it's necessary to point out that this is all only a hypothesis. Without visual confirmation of any of the Beasts it's impossible to prove. But everything seems to point to this chain of events. If I find any more evidence to prove or disprove this, I will let you all know immediately.

As to what we can do about this if it is indeed the case... that, I'm afraid I don't know. If any of you have suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Thank you for your time.

[OOC: For the curious, this is how Twi figured out what was going on. Thanks for the help, Carmen and Robin!]

Comments

[friendyousohard]

Well, Pokemon swarms aren't an unheard of thing. Them being manipulated into swarming by an outside force, however, is something I don't think has precedent, though I could be wrong.

[enjoymyatelier]

I think the fact that it was a swarm of living trash is more unusual than the fact that it was a swarm to begin with. Though, if that is the case, that would make it even stranger.

[friendyousohard]

True. But a surprising amount of Poison types seem to spawn out of those sort of situations. Koffing, for example, is born from essentially air pollution. Maybe it's just that they wouldn't swarm in a natural environment.

[enjoymyatelier]

That would make sense, yes. Given that Pokemon such as Grimer and Koffing related to manmade things, it stands to reason that, with the correct resources, someone could force a swarm of that sort of Pokemon more easily than they could force a swarm of, say, Pidgey.

[friendyousohard]

Precisely. Point of fact, forcing more "natural" Pokemon to swarm artificially might be borderline impossible, though I'm not willing to rule anything out completely.

[enjoymyatelier]

In theory, it's possible, but causing a "natural" swarm would likely involve doing something extremely destructive, so only a madman would consider it.

[friendyousohard]

Which means that we should probably be on the lookout for something like that the next time a certain group decides they want something.

[Because Team Rocket is insane. Twilight is certain of this now.]

[enjoymyatelier]

Oh, certainly.

[yeahhhh they kind of seem that way...]

In any case, this was a fairly profitable discussion. Thank you for all the information you've provided. May I have your name? I don't believe I caught it.

[friendyousohard]

It's Twilight Sparkle, sir. And might I have yours too?

[enjoymyatelier]

[...Twilight Sparkle? Didn't that girl who thought she was a pony bring that up-

...well perhaps she was hallucinating or something, he doesn't have to assume that this girl thinks she's a pony

of course not she seems to have her head on straight

and anyway Twilight Sparkle is only slightly stranger than "Waver Velvet," so]

A pleasure to meet you, then, Miss Sparkle. I am Lord Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi.

[friendyousohard]

"Lord"... You're a noble?

[Titles don't mean as much to Twilight as they might to certain others, but she does know to be polite to nobility. She bows her head.]

It's most definitely a pleasure, Sir El-Melloi.

[enjoymyatelier]

I certainly am-the ninth head of the esteemed Archibald family.

[OH GOD, HE IS SMUGGING SO HARD]

[friendyousohard]

That sounds... very impressive, sir.

[Though of course she has no idea what the Archibald family is or why they're important or... anything.]

Me, I'm just a commoner. If it weren't for my magical talent and Princess Celestia taking me under her wing I wouldn't have anything of note about myself. So I don't often have the chance to talk with nobles.

[enjoymyatelier]

You have magical talent?

[WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU oh right, you do not talk about mage club]

You're awfully lucky, then, to be apprenticed to someone of such high rank. If I'm assuming that correctly, of course.

[...why would a princess do that, though... she seems intelligent but. you know. commoners.]

[friendyousohard]

Well, I don't like to brag, but as it turns out, my talent is magic. That is to say...

[She pauses, trying to determine how best to explain this to a non-pony.]

In Equestria, everyone has a mark depicting what they're best at. A representation of their innermost special talents. Mine is magic itself, meaning that theoretically speaking, I have the capacity to learn every spell ever devised, given enough time and knowledge.

That's why Her Majesty took me in. There was quite literally no one else with the knowledge and power to keep me under control while I was still learning to control my abilities. I would have been a danger to myself and others.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...oh, right

...well that's something, though it doesn't really offend his sensibilities]

...So I see. That's quite understandable, then-having all that magical power without the knowledge of how to use it properly would have made you incredibly dangerous.

[friendyousohard]

[Just be glad she didn't mention what the marks are called. Kayneth might have had trouble keeping a straight face.]

Precisely. So that's how I got into such a position. Kind of embarrassing, really. I'm sure your story's a lot less... awkward.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...yep.

yep pretty much.]

I wouldn't say it's awkward-more that it's simply a somewhat peculiar quirk of your world. In my world, those with magical talent on that level are invariably from established families of mages who almost always end up receiving training from their parents.

[friendyousohard]

There's a certain logic to that. It prevents... accidents from happening. Unfortunately natural ability doesn't tend to be so predictable in Equestria. And most magi only have one or two specific types of spells they can master aside from the universal basics like telekinesis anyway.

[enjoymyatelier]

That makes sense to me-the last thing you said, I mean. I'll admit, while I'm something of a prodigy myself, the primary reason I was able to master so many spells was because in my world mages tend to have family crests containing the cumulative knowledge of all their previous ancestors who practiced magecraft engraved into their bodies-the longer the lineage, the more powerful the crest. For example, if I didn't have one, I would probably only be able to manipulate water and air currents and perhaps learn a healing spell or two.

[friendyousohard]

Amazing. That sounds like an entire library of knowledge, carved into one item. If we could do that...

[She trails off, thinking about it. Just the concept is fascinating.]

But I assume it's too tied up in bloodline to form any sort of universal equivalent.

[enjoymyatelier]

Yes, it is. If it isn't transferred to a direct descendant of the owner, it's almost certain that the body of whoever it's transferred to will reject it, and even direct descendants have to go through a lot of preparation before it's certain that the crest will take.

[and it hurts like a motherfucker]

Of course, the point is moot if your child would have an equal chance of being talented in magic, music, or art.

[friendyousohard]

It also becomes moot if you don't have any descendants. The Legendary Starswirl the Bearded never married or had a single child, so if he hadn't been able to transcribe his discoveries into books and add them to the sum total of Equestrian knowledge, they'd have simply been lost.

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, theoretically it's possible that, if properly preserved, the crest can be used by someone who isn't of your own blood, but the chances of that are extremely low and no proper mage would want that to happen to begin with. Books are infinitely more useful if you actually want your studies to be accessible.

[friendyousohard]

Exactly. That's why I live in a library back home.