pokebox | TESTRUN SHIT

[...Well then.

Tsukiyama had been made...aware that something was going to happen today, as had the rest of the network; that charming "Seth" individual had guaranteed that much. That said, he almost hadn't expected the guy to actually go through with the threat; it seemed that anonymous recruiting individual days prior to the warning had actually known what he was talking about.

Interesting.

Tsukiyama had meant what he'd said to that person as well - that he hunts people, it's what he does, and it's what he would quite like to continue to do here; if this is going to be a matter of proving himself, then so be it. If anything, the idea invigorates him; it's been a while since he's done a raid.

Obviously, the place to start is probably the place with all the smoke; Tsukiyama is dressed halfway practically today - the red shirt is still a little loud, but the black dress slacks and tie balance it out, and he looks professional enough to not get too many stares. It's a matter of looking like you know what you're doing, like you're supposed to be there, so...let's see what's here, shall we?

The entry building seems like as valid a place to start as any; are there sages here as well, or is it unguarded?]

[There are three sages in the building, all huddled together near the exit and frantically speaking in hushed tones. There really isn't any difference between the three men and they all look just as panicked as the next. Clearly this isn't something that happens to this particular building often.

Should you approach, you might hear some of their conversation.]

...a bad omen, this will disrupt the Pokémon.

There weren't any trainers inside, were there?

No, I didn't let any pass me last night, did you?

[Hmmm.

Now is normally when he would forego subtlety in favor of results - he's fairly sure he can take them, though taking three at once would be a challenge, but at the same time, that's likely to lead to him getting arrested. And last he checked, getting arrested was not conducive to getting the job done.

So. Plan B it is. He doesn't bother feigning authority when he approaches, because he's fairly sure a 20something who's obviously one of the foreigners to this place having any sort of authority isn't going to fly, but there's a definite confidence to him that indicates that he's certain he's supposed to be there.]

Gentlemen!

[...And that greeting is a little on the loud-and-overfamiliar side, but holy shit does he sound sort of relieved to see you guys.]

It seems we've got a bit of an incident on our hands, doesn't it?

[All three men eye him suspiciously, but apparently Tsukiyama's greeting is enough to win one of the men over.]

You're telling me!

[The other two give the third matching irritated looks.]

Unauthorized entry to the tower is not permitted. Please leave.

You really think now is the time to uphold the rules after the tower has been attacked? We need all the help we can get!

[Sage #2 looks between the others cautiously before finally voicing his opinion.]

...We don't know if the person behind this is still in the tower. Perhaps we should seek outside assistance.

You're just going to let the first person show up into the tower without even checking to see if he's worthy!?

We don't have time to check! Someone has to go in there to see what happened!

[...Apparently it didn't occur to them to split up. So now what, Tsukiyama?]

[Well, it'll be a lot easier to get this done without having to deal with these people arguing with him every step of the way...let's try amping up the charisma a little, shall we? They seem the, ah, religious sort, so...]

I understand your skepticism - I wouldn't allow just anyone to enter the sanctity of the tower myself! But I think my credentials check out.

[He kind of...flutters a bit as he speaks, his hand alighting gently on his chest as he continues.]

I was one of those summoned to assist in repelling Teams Aqua and Magma...the threat they provided was immense, devastating, but my compatriots and I prevailed! As I've been specifically summoned by Arceus itself to handle threats to this region, I think I can assist you here as well...?

You were one of the ones called by Arceus?

[Sage #1 doesn't look like he believes it, but Sages #2 and #3 look sold.]

We would appreciate your help. We need to remain here to keep everyone else out of the tower, but if you could help us investigate what happened, we would be very grateful.

Unfortunately, we have no idea who could be responsible for this. We didn't let anyone into the tower last night - or at any time this week, actually.

[Sage #1 sighs but finally gives in.]

I was the last one here last night and I didn't see or hear any disturbances. No one came through here and I heard nothing from the tower. I usually have my Noctowl out and he would have altered me if there had been something odd happening.

[The other two sages look confused and speak up at the same time.]

That can't be right, I was the last one here last night--

You had the shift before mine, I was here last--

[They all realize what they're saying and look at each other in confusion.]

[...Wow. Okay, first of all, his "I...didn't actually think that would work..." tally is getting entirely too high to count here, since this is far from the first time this has crossed his mind since entering Johto; secondly...that is a bit of an interesting discrepancy, isn't it. Either everyone here is stupid, or...]

So you all remember being the last person here...? At what time would that have been, if you don't mind?

We always lock the doors to this building at exactly 10 PM every night. There's no way into Bellchime Trail without passing through here.

We each take turns looking after this building and the Bellchime Trail. The final shift is from 8-10.

I don't understand. We definitely weren't all here last night, so why do we all remember being the last one here?

But one thing remains the same, correct - you don't remember seeing anyone else?

[All three sages nod.]

That's correct. I didn't see anyone at all.

Neither did I.

That's right; there wasn't anyone here and there wasn't anything abnormal that happened. At least, I can't remember anything abnormal happening.

[All right. So they all remember being here, yet none remember anything happening, nor do they remember seeing each other... Furthermore, they didn't see anyone, yet obviously there's someone here.

That's...odd, to put it gently. Hmmm.]

I'll bear that in mind, then, but for now I think I'll see whether our mystery man is still inside the tower - however he may have gotten there.

[He smiles a bit then, tossing his head.]

I'll send down one of my Pokémon if I need assistance, if that's all right with you?

That's perfectly fine. We'll be down here if you need us! Just follow the trail and you'll be in the tower.

And be careful, don't go messing anything up in there!

[Because you know, knocking something over would be so much worse than a bomb going off. Anyway, the sages part and allow enough room for Tsukiyama to pass.

Should you continue out back, the Bellchime Trail looks very peaceful. There are plenty of trees with leaves in a wide variety of autumn colors, though a good number of those leaves are on the ground. Aside from the smoke coming from the tower, the place is incredibly peaceful, and very quiet.]

[Out back we go, then - after offering a brief gesture of appreciation to the sages, of course.

The trail back here is rather nice, though; the quiet and the open air would lend itself well to reading, if he were to be here for leisure. It occurs to him vaguely that Kaneki would probably like it, because Kaneki appreciates things like this in the same way he does; it's almost enough to distract him, though he's able to shake it off after a brief moment's pause.

He looks the place over for a moment before reaching for one of the Pokéballs at his belt; the last time he was anywhere with lots of foliage on the ground, someone had been using it to his advantage - namely, there were tripwires everywhere. The one he decides on is the one containing his starter, Alessia; if there's anything amiss on ground-level, it's better that she find it before he does.

That said, though, he'll be scanning himself for anything amiss with the entire setup; does it look like anyone's been through here recently?]

[No, it doesn't look like anyone's been through here recently, but that might be because a lot of the leaves on the ground look a little... odd. They're definitely leaves from the trees, if you know enough about leaves to try to place them, but they're not wet like the leaves underneath. It looks like a bunch of trees dropped a lot of leaves all at once.

...Oh, and there's something sticking out of the leaves near the end of the trail, if you care to take a look at that. It's black, about the size of your palm, and sharp, so be careful!]

[...monsieur does he look like he knows jack shit about leaves

he's not exactly going to assume that somebody carted in a bunch of leaves because reasons, they came from the trees because of course they did

...that said, though, Alessia doesn't seem to be behaving particularly oddly, so he's going to assume the place is free of tripwires, wild Pokémon, or little children dressed like ninjas who jump out of the leaves to challenge him because the children around here seriously need a hobby. Something does seem to catch her attention near the end of the path, however - ]

Oh, what's this now...

[He'll just be attempting to pick th-

...AH. RIGHT. GODDAMN IT. HIS SKIN DOES NOT ACTUALLY BREAK KNIVES HERE ANYMORE, GIVE HIM A MOMENT.

While he is doing some impromptu first aid involving a handkerchief from hammerspace because he is, in fact, a fucking idiot, Alessia will be checking out that black thing that is currently lying on the pavement. What is it, does it smell funny, is it food, etc.

Because she is a helpful snake.]

[TSUKIYAMA PLEASE....

Well, don't let your snake eat it, it's very definitely Not Food. It does smell pretty funny though, and unless your snake likes the smell of chemicals she probably won't eat it anyway.]

[Oh. Oh, wow, no, that thing is very definitely Do Not Want, holy shit.

Tsukiyama will find out exactly why when he picks it up, too (thankfully without slicing his fingers open this time); god this thing...smells strange, doesn't it, and it's not a good sort of strange, either.]

...Alessia, be a sweetheart and see if there are any others around here, hm?

[It shouldn't be too difficult for her to find a few more pieces scattered about the trail. Some are out in the open like that piece, but others are under that new layer of leaves. The pieces vary in shape and size, but they all have the same smell.]

[...As he'd thought, actually. Whatever this was, it was here before the leaves fell, possibly in one piece; that said, these are...a lot of leaves to have come down at once. It might be expected if there was some sort of windstorm, but the weather has been clear for the past several days; presumably it came from some other force.

One of the bombs, most likely.

All right, so we're looking at chemical explosives, from the...scent of it, and presumably one of them may have gone off nearby, or at least close enough that the shards would end up out here.

Good to know.

Since there doesn't seem to be anything else obviously jumping out at him out here, however, he'll call Alessia over to him as he approaches the doors to the tower itself. Let's try opening them.]

[Unfortunately, the doors don't look like they're in any condition to open. They're very tall doors and they're clearly very heavy and well-built, but they look a little... charred. It looks like the doors suffered some heavy damage and getting them open just by pushing on them doesn't seem to be a possibility.]

[Damn it.

All right, so we have doors that are...presumably welded shut from the inside. He could try to break in somehow, but with his luck that'll just piss off the Bell Tower Host Club out there and he'll be theirs until he can pay it off.

Fortunately, he is Shuu Tsukiyama and he has never been stopped by the idea of unconventional entrances, so he's going to look around before trying to kick the door in like a damn barbarian. Pacing the exterior of the place, then, circling it a bit; how are the windows looking?]

[You're in luck! The windows are unharmed and while they're a bit high off the ground, they shouldn't be too difficult to break into! Opening them without breaking them might be a bit of a problem though, there isn't any way to do that from the outside.]

[What matters is getting the window open in the first place; it's easier to replace those than it is doors.

So he'll let the damage to the doors be Seth's problem; after a moment's thought, he recalls Alessia and lets Léa out. She is thankfully no longer a Surskit, but a rather pretty Masquerain; he'll send her up to check out what's visible though the window before he tries to do anything about entering - there's been a lot of smoke around, and parkouring up just to end up in a damn room on fire isn't his idea of a good time.]

[Smart man. There isn't much to be seen in the interior of the tower; the first floor is very plain and simple, with stairs leading upwards towards the back. The door is indeed welded shut, though it looks like whoever did it isn't very familiar with welding or fire in general. It's sort of an awkward x-shaped mark across the door. It looks like you could have busted in without too much trouble.

There isn't anything else to note; getting in through the window shouldn't be a problem and there isn't anything on fire to worry about.]

[It takes Léa a while to convey that to him, given that she is in fact a bug and he has no powers that allow him to directly speak to such; however, after a few moments of awkward conversing, he...will actually vault up anyway, despite the fact that the doors are easily opened. Doing that should limit Seth's escape routes a bit, assuming he's still in there; he has no doubt the guy has other ways out of here, but if those can be disabled it'll be easier if he can't just open the door easily.

So! It takes some convincing but he manages to talk poor damn Léa into opening the window for him, if by "opening the window" we mean "he gets her to smash it with her face"; after that, it's a matter of looking at his shoes, shrugging because eh, they're good enough, aaaaaaand up we go. Unlatching the window from the outside through the opening Léa has provided and actually getting inside without falling off the damn building is a bit of a production, but fortunately he has years of experience of breaking into pretty girls' apartments!

...yeah.

Either way, it's an experience that may or may not require a second jump once he's gotten the window open, but he manages without killing himself and jumps down after just...chilling on the sill for a second and making sure nothing's going to happen at the sound of the window breaking and Captain Freerunner making an appearance.

All clear?]

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