[Mr. Game & Watch]

Brightwing Lane, not a place known for its commerce districts, but it had its fair share of small general corner stores for the convenience of those who don’t want to stray too far from the living district. As safe as the Police Force like to say the Life Sphere was, you never know who might be lurking about, or what their motives are. Best not be roaming the streets longer than necessary.

Anyways, the coordinates that were uplinked by the mission creator lead here, on this particularly busy street. Several delivery trucks were parked, along the side of the road. One, right outside the corner store, the operator was in the middle of moving boxes into the building. The other two were a bit further down the street, both were operating at different house holds. One house had a sign outside, a name for their business, while the other just seemed to be a regular civilian’s abode. The operators of these trucks were walking to and fro, seemingly without end with the boxes that they were loading and unloading from their trucks.

Across the street from the corner store was a food stand, proudly displaying its wares. Sushi on ice. The vendor himself was quite the showman, slicing and dicing nondescript fish with the flare of a ninja from a action game. He gathered a bit of crowd with his display.

One person who was decidedly not impressed by the sushi chef was the Aether Foundation’s President, Lusamine. She glared at the man’s artsy display of murder from afar, but couldn’t concern herself with his insignificant food stall at a time like this. Her eyes remained peeled and forward. Of course those felons were planning on evacuating on a day such as this, there was so much going on they could easily slink away if she wasn’t careful. This was why she had help though.

“Anything?” she questioned with a whip of her head, over to her masked employee, Steve.

The nervous sweat of the Aether employee could be seen through his thick suit, but his eyes remained trained on the science-y device in his hands. It looked like a tablet, but Steve might get offended if you call it a mere tablet. “Nothing!” he responded with his filtered voice. “I’ve checked for electromagnetic pulses, radio waves, even if there were traces of Pokerus! They must have it contained somehow! I’d wager in a Pokeball.”

There was a curious quirk to Lusamine’s countenance as she stroked her chin. “The way that thing was acting during its fight with Megaman? Doubtful. They’d need a strong Pokeball to contain that thing.”

“Master Ball?”

“Unlikely. Based on their profiles, they’d have a better chance at winning one in the lottery than acquiring one for themselves.”

Should any of the three heroes approach the scene from the ground, they might catch a glimpse of something scurrying through the alleyways just before the meetup position, but as far as they could tell, it was just shadows, gone before they could get a good look at them.

[Sunnivale]

Yumiko never really had any interactions that much with Pokemon, but still, the thought of that Genesect being in trouble made her worry about it and she wished to rescue him from this Team Plasma group. However on her way to meet up with Lusamine, she thought about the mission that she was about to partake in some more.

Lusamine had said that Megaman helped Team Plasma capture it, which she found strange. Why would Megaman do something like help a group like Team Plasma, wasn't he a good guy? The only reason that Yumiko could think was that the Genesect was on a rampage around the Life Sphere and that Megaman was sent to stop it, with Team Plasma maybe capturing him after the fight had ended.

And then there was Lusamine. Yumiko has heard some unflattering rumours about her, but for now. She wasn't going to act suspicious to her, unless she wanted to make Lusamine angry. She would just have to wait and see how this mission turned out.

Yumiko soon saw Lusamine talking to someone. It looked like her from the pictures that she had seen of her and she appeared to be fashionable. So she approached her, but as she did, she briefly stopped at an Alleyway.

"Huh?" And turned towards it. Strange, she thought she saw something move there just now, it was probably a stray pokemon or a regular animal or someone making their way at the Black Market, if it wasn't vital for the mission then Yumiko wasn't going to check it out, and so she approached Lusamine.

"Hello, you must be Lusamine. I'm here to help rescue this Genesect that you mentioned." Yumiko introduced herself to the Woman.

"Shirasagi Yumiko. It's nice to meet you as well." Yumiko smiled and tried to look polite.

[Pokémon Trainer Lillie]

The last time Lillie had seen her mother, Lusamine couldn't even walk properly on her own. Nihilego's poisons had devastated her body, and she'd been put in charge of taking care of her. She remembered hearing about a man named Bill, boarding a boat and saying goodbye to her best friend in the whole world Moon, and setting off to Kanto with her mother to see him in. She remembered the world descending into everlasting twilight and the ocean water's losing their luster. She remembered the creatures that crawled from the depths of the ocean to consume crew members. She remembered the crew losing their minds and beginning to attack each other. She remembered barricading herself in her room, trembling in terrified silence as people slammed into the door. She remembered having to sneak around the boat for food and water. And she remembered the crash of the boat running ashore on an unmarked island. The rest was a starvia induced hallucination where she couldn't be sure what was real and what wasn't. Wandering around hopelessly after the crew abandoned ship in search of help. Her brain refused to reflect upon one crucial detail, blotting it out from her consciousness to protect her from the pain that would follow.

...She's been thinking of what she would say the entire way here. No moving shadows out of the corner of her eye could have distracted her for more than a moment, as she had an important reunion to make that she wouldn't miss for the world. It wasn't shadows she was looking for, but her mother. When she finally caught sight of her, standing there watching... something going on in the distance? Her attention span refused to make room for that. Not until after she'd gotten her greeting off her chest.

Approaching Lusamine, Lillie's anxiety was as visible on her face as it was in her tone. She spoke meekly, and with a certain insecurity. She was just barely avoiding breaking out in tremors. She wasn't sure why. She couldn't remember. Her mother had been doing better, hadn't she? They hadn't been on bad terms... And yet... “...Hi, Mom. I'm glad you're feeling better.” Lillie greeted with a small bow of her head. “I'm here to help--with the mission.” she went on to explain a after a moment. She figured given their prior relationship, it might not be clear she wasn't just here to visit.

Lillie 150/150 HP 50/50 Shield

Nebby Jr. 110/110 HP 30/30 Shield

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Unlike the other two, Yōko took her time to assess the situation, she was the last to arrive and the first thing that came to her attention was the strong family resemblance between mother and daughter, but would be nice and let the two have their moment before the commencement of the task at hand.

"We are here." Yōko would say, her eyes on the others because of her unnatural ability to read the heart and mind of those around her.

---

Yokai Asterisk Jobmaster; Yōko
HP: 140/140
Shield: 45/45
Status: ready to go!

[Mr. Game & Watch]

In the merest instant, Lusamine’s eyes changed from analytic to round and pleasant, greeting her first in the line of hired help. Her body language completely morphed, her closed arms becoming open and welcoming of the young woman that stood before her. “And a pleasant hello to you as well, Ms. Shirasagi” she warmly greeted in sing-songy manner. She stepped forth, her scientist ally quickly descending into her shadow. Her gaze quickly fell from Yumiko’s eyes to her body. “My, my, don’t you wear the school uniform well. They must have designed it with you in mind” she complimented with a thoughtful finger tapping against her chin.

Lusamine was fully committed to socializing further, but a familiar face was the next to arrive. A face that was perhaps a bit too familiar. Upon seeing Lillie, Lusamine’s complete attention fell to her. It was a moment of stunned silence, reducing her countenance to a neutral expression. After all, the last time that she heard anything about Lillie’s whereabouts was when she was stranded on that deserted island. As words struggled to exit the little girl’s mouth though, a wide, proud smile grew on her face. “Oh, sweet Lillie, I’ve never felt better!”

Her eyes very subtly shifted to the side. “I had no idea you signed up for this little rescue of mine” she stated as if it was a pleasant surprise. Steve could feel Lusamine’s eyes on him like beacons and decided it was best to keep his face hidden behind his science device, but skillfully disguised it as though he got a sudden reading that needed his attention.

Not lingering on that thought too long, Lusamine returned her pleasant eyes onto the little girl that stood before her. “I’m so very glad to see that your little trainer friend has rubbed off on you, it’s a terrible thing, losing a-”

Seeing as the last adventurer had arrived while Lusamine was distracted, Steve took the opportunity to cut the pleasantries off before they got a bit too endearing. “Genesect! It’d be a terrible thing to lose sight of that now!” Steve loudly interrupted as he stepped between the two. “Not when we’re so close!” he added as he tapped a thing on his techno kajigger, causing a holographic map of the street they were on to project. “See! The dotted red lines here indicate their movement patterns from the last month or so. Any place with high activity could be where they’re hiding out!” the masked man explained, gesturing at the specifics he was explaining.

With her attention finally away from Lillie, Lusamine’s face switched to one of focus, analyzing the data before her with the finesse of a professional. “Yes. We’re of the opinion that they might be stationed underneath the corner store, but they might just be disguising themselves as everyday shoppers and stopping there for supplies like everyone else. Don’t know how they could think they blend in with their garish hair styles though” Lusamine commented with a snobbish flip of her hair.

“Right, they’re a pair. Human. Their most distinguishing feature is their hair colour. The male has neon green hair, the female, bright red… like the colour, not auburn” Steve continued to explain, scratching the back of his head.

Upon viewing the map, Yumiko might notice that the alley she passed by before arriving at the meetup location had a fair bit of overlap, but it was mixed in with so many squiggles and circles that the two scientists might have overlooked it as a potential subject.

[Sunnivale]

Yumiko would smile when Lusamine saw her and even complimented on her school uniform. She was surprised that was the first thing that she commented on her when she first arrived, as not a lot of people were interested in the school that Yumiko used to attend, she was considering getting new clothes. But she really liked the Jusho High school uniform and so kept it and her alternative uniform that she used to wear.

"Thank you. I used to wear a similar uniform before just wearing the one that I wear now." Yumiko very much preferred the black coat and skirt rather then the white cardigan and blue skirt that she used to wear.

Lillie and Yoko soon arrived, where it turned out that the former was Lusamine's daughter. Yet, it appeared as though there was an awkward atmosphere regarding the two. Judging by the silence that Lusamine had done just now before greeting Lillie.

Steve, the guy that was with Lusamine, talked about two team Plasma members that were seen awhile back, he showed the group the map of the Brightwing Lane, where Yumiko had noticed the Alleyway that she passed just now.

And thought about the strange movement that she had seen just now before meeting up with Lusamine and Steve.

"What about that Alleyway?" Yumiko tried to point at it on the map.

"Before I met up with you two. I saw something strange moving there. I thought it might be something to point out and it might even be related to Team Plasma's current whereabouts." She said.

[Pokémon Trainer Lillie]

Lillie stepped back slightly in surprise as Steve inserted himself between them, perhaps too naive to understand what had just happened. Her gaze shifted away for a moment, a somewhat perturbed expression on her face. However, it didn't last long as she quickly pushed her thoughts on the matter to the side. She remained quiet as they spoke, sort of absorbing the details of what was going on. Her mother's comments made her eyes wander in search of a garrish hair style down the street. She was a little bit curious, though if she were being honest she didn't doubt her mother's opinion on hair for a moment.

“So... Should we go pretend to shop at the corner store and search for a basement?” Lillie asked. Avoiding attention was neither the easier nor the hardest thing she could be asked to do. At Yumiko's question though, she briefly reconsidered. “Would an alley really be a good place for hiding a pokemon..? ...I guess that could be where the entrance is.” she mused aloud, trying to imagine the art of secret entrances for a moment.

Lillie 150/150 HP 50/50 Shield

Nebby Jr. 110/110 HP 30/30 Shield

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"We feel that it is best to split up if this is the case, otherwise we will lose track of them." Yōko would say, noting the ideas that her fellow colleagues posited and mulling over the possible options for the plan to work.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

At Yumiko’s suggestion, Steve and Lusamine turned to one another. Steve’s expression couldn’t be accounted for, but Lusamine seemed quite analytic of the new information. Their heads quirked curiously, as though they were communicating telepathically between one another. Steve was the first to turn back to the group, adding “it’s possible… they could have commandeered one of Captain Guy’s old tunnels, or maybe there’s an old aqueduct that isn’t on any current Life Sphere maps. I wouldn’t put it past these sneaky rats.”

On the other hand, Lusamine’s eyes were locked onto the alley location, her gaze as skeptical as ever. Her head turned slightly at the sound of Lillie’s voice, her eyes dropping to the corner store displayed on the map. She didn’t seem to be particularly convinced of that area either, or at least that’s what her expression suggested. Seemed as though she was still calculating her options, perhaps not speaking her mind until the fox spirit chimed in. Her placid mouth formed a smile. “What a lovely and novel idea” she praised as she turned to Yōko.

With a sense of initiative, Lusamine stepped forward and shut off Steve’s techno kajigger. “It’s settled then. We split up. Any one of us would be more than enough to deal with these ‘trainers.’ Its just a matter of casting a big enough net. You and Ms. Shirasagi can investigate the alley” she instructed, pointing to the fox spirit.

“And we’ll check the corner store?” Steve interjected.

Lusamine playfully poked at the visor on Steve’s helmet, like she was commanding a dog to sit. “I need you right here. If we’re both wrong and those two try to make a run for it, you’ll be in the perfect position to spot them.” Afterwards, she turned her head back to Lillie, tilting her head pleasantly “besides, we have some catching up to do.”

Lusamine beckoned with her finger, beginning to walk off toward the relatively vacant general store. Steve remained stationed where he was, but drew a hand of hesitation “uh, Miss Lusamine…” He trailed off as she threw a curious glance over her shoulder. He withdrew his hand after locking eyes with her. “…Grab me a candy bar while you’re in there…” he added dejectedly.

The woman snickered. “Oh, don’t be silly, I’ll be sure to grab something for everyone” she added motherly.

Meanwhile, an alley between two unsuspecting residential buildings awaited the other two. It was rather straight forward, but at the same time, naturally dark. Not much to the walls, aside from empty fire escapes. Though, it was very clearly an entrance to a maze of the void between apartment lots.

[Sunnivale]

Normally Yumiko doesn't like the idea of splitting up, but that was only when she was outside of the Life Sphere or in some place that was really dangerous, like some sort of abandoned building where someone could jump out or attack them any minute. But here in a public area of the Life Sphere, with people from a large company backing them up for this mission, it was actually a good idea because whatever happens. They can easily handle the threat of what was in both locations.

"Alleyways tend to be where shady things happen, so it's also likely a good place to hide Pokemon if team Plasma can keep them quiet." It was decided that she and Yoko should check out the Alleyway while Lusamine and Lillie headed to the corner store. Yumiko briefly looked at Lusamine when it was decided and nodded.

"Oh, alright. I'm ready when you are to check out the alleyway Yoko." She turned to the fox spirit and was prepared to face whatever was there in the Alleyway.

However, Yumiko couldn't help but get a strange tingling feeling at the back of her neck that something was amiss, but she didn't know what just yet. She just had to wait and see whatever was in the Alleyway.

[Pokémon Trainer Lillie]

...An anxious whine was all that passed through Lillie's mind as Lusamine suggested any one of them could take these bad fellows on. She had a tack record of 0-...Memory loss when it came to winning battles. Running away was really more her style--but at the same time... The thought of disappointing her mother really was scarier than losing a pokemon battle. The jury was still out on what would happen if she was at those trainers mercy, but there wasn't a lot she could do about this. If her mother wanted to see her battle, that was just how it would have to be. Honestly, if the stakes were a little lower she probably would've relished the opportunity. Maybe with a wild pokemon instead of an enemy trainer. But that was the way the cookie crumbled, right? In silent fear as it revealed itself to be an undesirable mess!

Lillie nodded her head in understanding at Lusamine's remark. Time to catchup? That sounded about right. As she moved to walk off with her though, she found herself curiously looking back at Steve without understanding. Why did he sound so defeated? The implications were lost on her. She offered Steve a delicately small smile, appreciating the parting words. 

She then turned to her mother and summoned her admittedly very limited courage. “Ready when you are, Mom.” she remarked.

Lillie 150/150 HP 50/50 Shield

Nebby Jr. 110/110 HP 30/30 Shield

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"May our respective groups be victorious in our search." Yōko would say as she followed Yumiko into the alleyway, her ears and eyes open to hear for sudden noises and to detect potential threats, like Yumiko, she too would sense something off and would prepare just in case something happens.

"We should at least be prepared in case we need to fight... I trust you are versed in self-defense." Yōko would say to Yumiko as she took a look around her so as to ensure that nobody else saw them enter the alleyway outside of Lusamine and Lillie.

She would then take to scanning the surroundings in front of them so as to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
Perception Roll for detecting suspicious things: D7MqtZVRp_1d20+5(Nothing can avoid detection from her cold gaze!)

---

Yokai Asterisk Jobmaster; Yōko
HP: 140/140
Shield: 45/45
Status: Cautious1d20+5

[Mr. Game & Watch]

As the two groups splintered down separate paths, Steve was left amongst the busy street, standing tall and attentive. Well, he was until Lusamine’s distant figure was no longer reflecting off his visor. Once he was finally alone, his head fell into his hand and it slowly shook in agitation. “She’s going to ruin everything” he muttered to himself exasperatedly.

Meanwhile, once more the alley did not offer the duo much of anything. To everyone’s shock and awe, they crossed the border into the darkened path and absolutely nothing jumped out at them. No feral lost Pokemon, no pick pocketers or thieves, nothing. It must have been nice to be adventuring in a good part of the Life Sphere. Or perhaps it was too nice. As the duo continued on their path, Yōko’s perceptive ears would pick up on some whispers, silent spattering of scaly lips coming from up ahead. The words were unintelligible, at least with how distant she was from the source.

Just up ahead was one of many branches in their path, what made this one relevant was the crocodilian tail wavering outside of it. It was unmistakably Kremling in look and shape, however, thanks to the caution that the two displayed about their current predicament, they seemed to be completely undetected by the tail’s owner, along with any that might be accompanying them.

There was a delightful ring to the way that Lillie spoke. “Always ready” Lusamine softly answered, though with an underlying intensity. With that, she continued forth, her ridged blanket of hair acting almost like the enshrouding wing of a mother hen over her defenseless chick. “You know, after seeing your little friends around, I had to wonder if you somehow made it to this planet as well. It’s a shame really, I would have less to worry about if you were back home. Li is hardly a place for a young girl to be. Much too dangerous” she explained simply, yet elegantly, like the natural truths from a mother.

Their venture wouldn’t last long, slowly entering the building as Lusamine spoke. The store’s layout was rather simplistic by design. It had rows of long waist high tables adorn with varieties of bare necessities, though an over abundance of globs of honey and leaves advertised as a hearty meal. The store was naturally open concept due to this, so anyone in the store was immediately noticeable, down to the human shaped delivery driver, two amorphous customers that looked like pink jellyfish with long legs, and the two insectoid shopkeepers at the backmost of the store stationed behind a counter.

The truck driver had the signature hat and shades combo, though was too busy dollying supplies around the store to get a good look at his face. Primarily, the man was wheeling the stock over to a massive snail that was essentially the backdrop to the duo at the counter, as the wall behind it was almost completely hidden. The snail would accept the stock that it was given, coiling around the boxes and dragging them into its shell, then re-emerging afterwards to accept more.

In the meantime, one of the store clerks, a tall red clad cricket with feminine physique, was preoccupied by the phone pasted to the side of her head. “He’s been out there all week, stealing our business! I demand to see his licence!” she barked with a enraged fury in her eye. Standing a mere two feet from the cricket was a much shorter yellow-brown cicada, who, despite being half hidden behind his own countertop, looked quite calm and gentlemanly, with an underlying nervousness to his eye.

[Sunnivale]

"Definitely, I'll be able to help with whatever trouble we might come across in this alleyway." And with what she saw earlier, Yumiko felt as though the danger that her and Yoko will get into during their investigation in the area will come very soon. She was precautious when she entered the Alleyway.

Only to find nothing so far despite what she had seen earlier. "Huh, it's gone." Yumiko lowered her guard slightly when she entered the empty alleyway. Whatever she saw must of left now when the group had split up, but that doesn't mean that they might have entirely left the area. For all Yumiko knew the figure she saw might of saw Yumiko watching them and quickly hid themselves and whatever they had with them further into the Alley in case she would investigate it.

"Let's keep going. They might be hiding, or haven't gone too far." Yumiko had advised to Yoko. But maybe she had found something while Yumiko was looking around.

"Actually, were you able to find anything?" Yumiko didn't have good abilities when it comes to sensing something unusual compared to Yoko. But as she walked further into the Alleyway, she stopped when she saw something up ahead.

"Wait." She tried to stop Yoko upon noticing the tail.

"I think that might be what I might of seen earlier." Yumiko crouched, so she didn't get noticed by the owner of the tail, while moving a bit closer to see if she can see more of the alligator like creature and hoped that it didn't see her or Yoko and run off.

Unless she and Yoko manage to stop it if it does try to run off however.

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"As a matter of fact, we have... But it would be best for the two of us to not rush in blindly like headless cluckatrices, let us listen in without being seen or heard." Yōko would say to Yumiko, showing as least some form of respect for personal space so as to practice safe distancing.

So rather than use a human form, Yōko would instead adopt the use of her Illusion ability and transform into a small cat so as to keep a low profile.

Yōko uses Her Illusion technique to disguise themselves as a cat to observe the Kremlings, the Kremlings must make an INT check of 11+ to take notice or be completely fooled into thinking that Yōko is a cat just hunting for mice; no exceptions.

CHA ROLL FOR FOOLING THE KREMLINGS: UMRMdHP5p_1d20+4(Not that bad, but not good either)

---

Yōko
HP: 140/140
Shield: 45/45
Status: in disguise
Cooldowns:
Illusion(4)1d20+4