[ti]location[/ti] ASPER TRADE SHOP: Bethany's Boudoir

Gothic Bethany offers Domino an ebony tissue from a frilly box beside the counter. "Their spirits are going to a better place," she promises, taking the three former companions from the counter.

"A hardened shell," she says, picking up Yanma's Pokeball. "Armor for your body, to keep at bay the teeth and claws of those who lurk in the murk." The ball disappears into one of Gothic Bethany's voluminous black sleeves.

"Steel. Cold and true." Magnemite's ball disappears.

"A keen spirit," she muses, cradling the final sacrifice. "Attuned with those around you. You can hear their calls, can't you? Drawing you forth."

And any psychic or aura reader nearby would clearly feel the very moment that the bonds between trainer and Pokémon pull taught and are snapped. The last of the three is spirited away, the spheres now out of sight. But not out of mind.

The candlelight dims, and Gothic Bethany extends her pale hands, grasping Domino's. "The Depths!" she cries, and suddenly a sphere of ice drops into Domino's hands. Her palms clutch at the frigid sphere. The 'hello' to replace her 'goodbye's.

Wimpod has been added to Domino's Box!

"Creatures of the night," murmurs Gothic Bethany, collecting your feline offering and brushing away the residual pocket lint. "Plague-bearers, the pawns of witches and vampires both. Marvelous, truly."

She walks into a coffin, closing the lid behind her. After a short time it swings open again and she returns from the dark passage beyond, a new capsule cradled delicately in her moon-white hands.

"The parasite. The twin-soul."

Just as she's about to offer it to Manish, Gothic Bethany's eyes roll back in her head and her form grows rigid. Her dark lips part, and a strange voice emerges as if from far away, though it seems not to match the movements of her mouth.

"When the lake begins to dry, a flint will guide the way. Dark and vine will obscure the moon from view and the fate of the Clans will depend on the flint. Four will become one." The woman trembles, Nincada's Pokeball still clutched between her fingers. "FOUR WILL BECOME ONE-"

Gothic Bethany's head snaps back, then she abruptly seems to seize control of her body again. "Oh my," she whispers hoarsely. "I seem to have forgotten myself. Faced with all those cats, something just... came over me. Bear these words well, traveler."

The Pokeball enters Manish's possession, wrapped in the cold comfort of prophecy.

NINCADA has been added to manish's box.

Gothic Bethany looks up at you with wide, blackened eyes. Perhaps they are black from lack of sleep. Perhaps the sockets were deepened when she bartered a piece of her soul in an eldritch ritual. Maybe her mascara has just smudged.

"A traveler from Yggdrasil," she says, and you would be forgiven to think that she is talking to you. But no, she is addressing the Blipbug. "I can sense the latent quintessence that flows through its form."

She takes the Pokeball from you, holding it as if it is a priceless jewel. "Bug Pokemon are endlessly fascinating. They peak early, yet in doing so remind us that life is nothing but a series of stages. Primary among them is change."

Gothic Bethany puts the ball away below the counter, and hands you the glossy black orb that houses your new Mudbray. "Did you know that if you were to peer inside a Metapod, you would not find some half-Caterpie half-Butterfree hybrid, but instead simply a mush of cells?" She hands over the ball. Her lace sleeve brushes against your arm.

"Bug Pokemon remind us that we cannot change who we are without first destroying who we once were."

She pauses.

"I'm not sure what horses teach us, exactly. Humility, perhaps?"

MUDBRAY has been added to Kazuki's box.

"You who live among the wretched..." intoned Gothic Bethany where she stood behind the counter, facing away from Big Bee as he entered. She held a single candle in her hands, eyes closed, praying to some invisible gothic god. She reacts to the trade request absentmindedly, like a housewife answering the phone while trying to vacuum and wrangle a child at the same time. "Deliver us from the Light..."

Mudbray is released into Big Bee's custody, exchanged for the Magikarp. "A horse can have many names," she says, turning luminous eyes on the bandana-wearing trainer. "Eclipse. Hades. Loki. Dark Knight. Silhouette. Lucifer. Voldemort. Darkest Secret..."

The candle sputters out, leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the boudoir.

"You will cross paths with a stranger soon," says Gothic Bethany. "With hair like night, and eyes like fire. 'Ware the One..."

MUDBRAY has been added to Big Bee's box

Killian had stumbled upon this place by chance before; his eyes wide with anxiety and curiosity since the shop really looked like a haunted, abandoned little thing. A gothic shop. The candlelight flickered inside, casting shadows that danced on the walls and the cabinets and the spherical Poke Balls. This must be part of the game setting, since it just seemed odd that everything here felt like it wasn't touched, even if he was sure there were already some players going in and out of this shop some days back. He pursed his lips and walked further in, Magikarp's Poke Ball in hand.

❝Bethany, I've come to bargain.❞ saying the same joke to two NPCs felt awkward, and he immediately regretted saying it after it left his lips. ❝No, sorry, I mean I've come to trade, yes.❞ uneasily, he would move to the counter and place the Poke Ball on the wooden surface, trying not to stare too long at any single memorabilia or decoration that could spook him.

❝Trading this koi-like Magikarp for a Mudbray, please.❞ goodbye, sweet Magikarp -- even if he had only known him for that one split second when he pulled it out of the water, it will be missed.

Killian trades Magikarp for Mudbray!

After returning from the nearby Shrine to get his Pokémon back in top shape, Josh did a field test to see if he actually wanted to keep and evolve Mazirek. As a Yanmega, it would make an incredibly nimble flying steed. Standing in an alley, he made sure no one was around before ordering the attack. "Mazirek, AIR CUTTER!" he commanded the Yanma while grabbing onto its back.

The two remained planted to the ground as the large insect's wings buzzed. The vibration was more powerful than Josh expected, rocking him and making his cry sound like he was yelling through an industrial fan. The shaking would only be harder after evolution. No way; it was just too much. He was getting a much more steady steed.

Making his way to BETHANY'S BOUDOIR, he browsed the Pokémon the shop had on offer. Nincada caught his eye, but even after evolution, the Pokémon would be simply too small. As fun as it would be to zip around on a Ninjask, the size and strength just weren't there, and it would run into the same vibration problem the Yanmega would. There was one other that caught his eye, though: a Mudbray.

Responding to Bethany's greeting, Josh replied, "Yes. I have this Yanma for you. I need a reliable steed, such as that Mudbray, to travel the world faster." Provided the terms were acceptable, he would have a reliable, and tough, partner to travel across the world. It wouldn't be a lot faster than walking, but it would still be a help until he got something with a really high movement speed.