THE RAID HAS BEGUN!

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Cherry red light burst before her eyes, meters flashing dark and light with slashed rows of symbols. Buzzedness. Corruption. Badass. Insight. Winning. Threat. The world vanished in heat and starlight. Her head spun, dizzy as a drunk.

Was she whiting out?

EXTERNAL STIMULUS WARNING! A pop-up appeared, followed by another one. EXTERNAL STIMULUS WARNING! EXTERNAL STIMULUS WARNING! The world before her eyes began to retreat as the WorldScreen automatically powered down, her senses rushing back to her. Real arms and legs on a feather bed. A feeling like electricity ran through her, twitching muscles, movement that should have been impossible in the throes of a Deep Dive.

Ah.

She was having a seizure.

No one was home. She was alone, as she'd planned. Her emergency response bracelet sat on her bedside table, just a few feet away, but Chryssa couldn't make herself reach it. She contorted, puppeted by physiology, even her weak, skeletal legs flipping back and forth as if shaken by a dog.

Contrary to what her father thought, she was safe. There was no chance of being injured. She couldn't fall and hit her head, or run into sharp objects. She might choke on her own tongue, but she played UNOVR sitting up, and even as she shuddered, gravity—for now—was her friend.

She was not afraid of that.

She was afraid he'd come home to find her still, unable to move, with the WorldScreen on her head. She was afraid she would be helpless to protect it, or defend herself, or even to make a stand. She was afraid this would be her last time on UNOVR, and that a quirk of her body might very well spell the death of Bergamot Gristleborg, if not of Chryssa Glasgow.

In time, the spasms ceased. Chryssa lay breathing hard, the world still black, body weak and aching and exhausted. What time is it?

When she had enough control back to do so, she raised her hand. Not to reach for the bracelet— to turn on the headset. It took barely a beat of consideration. Why wait? Why suffer? Why turn Chryssa's head to check the time, when Morgana could turn her whole body in a corrupted hellscape?

But the Dungeon and Bronstanton Manor did not reappear. Instead, she faced a simple message.

SERVER TEMPORARILY OFFLINE.
PREPARING FOR WORLD EVENT: NOONLIGHT RAID
SERVICE WILL RESUME IN 24 HOURS

On the outside, her body began to shake again as Chryssa laughed.

The account had only been made a few hours before the message from C0D13:ProfessorAsh arrives, and when it does arrive, she does no more than stare down at it – unfazed by words most would perhaps consider concerning. ”Good luck” says the Professor, and there, at that moment, the slightest smirk forms upon Domino’s lips, standing alone in the midst of the Surging Steppes.

SERVER TEMPORARILY OFFLINE.
PREPARING FOR WORLD EVENT: NOONLIGHT RAID
SERVICE WILL RESUME IN 24 HOURS

While the servers are offline, Hilda works hard. All hands on deck, it’s raiding time. In reality, she had strategically taken shifts others might not want for the sake of being free on the day and time of the raid, and now, back in the safety and comfort of her home, it’s reclining in her gaming chair that she dons on a customised yellow WorldScreen...

Once back online, she wastes no time.

“Balerion, we’re about to witness something real fucked up.” She tells the little Charmander as they make their way to the Birchwild Grove, and inevitably so, she smiles.

BALERION THE CHARMANDER (SUPPORT)
FODDER1 THE GOTHITA (SUPPORT)
FODDER2 THE MAGNEMITE (SWEEPER)

Where the hell did Treecko go? The Greenhouse?

Kath dragged her feet there, one at a time. She wasn't sure what was going on, just that whoever was banging a drum inside of her head was getting to their solo. What a racket it was to exist. Her brain smacked back and forth against her skull with each sordid step.

That's when she got Ash's message. There was a lot of 'corruption' and 'save the settlement' and Kath desperately tried to close the message.

"Don't care!" She moaned. "Sleep thirsty only."

But she was far too brainhurt to do anything effectively.

"Goodness sake, Kath," Treecko said. She splashed Kath's face with a watering pot. "You gotta do something!"

"I can't... do anything..." Kath slumped to her butt. "Shut up."

Treecko stared at her for a good 30 seconds.

"Fine."

Treecko reached into Kath's bag and pulled out two pokeballs.

"Drillbur, Psyduck," Treecko said, her voice trembling. "I choose you!"

There was a brilliant flash of light.

DRILLBUR spread his arms wide, splendid, happy, covered in dirt and ready to drill!

PSYDUCK was already an anxious mess, rocking on the spot with both hands on the side of his head.

They both looked at Treecko with a mixture of concern and excitement.

They'd just been summoned by a pokemon. They didn't know they could do that.

And then the entire thing shut down

Ezra sort of knew there was a raid going on. But he hadn't been intending to join. He'd only recently caught a second pokemon, and his hours had been weird lately, meaning he hadn't been in the game as much as he'd intended. He hadn't even named Virgil's new Zubat friend yet! But, when he logged on, it was to a message from Derk_TheJerk.

RAID'S BANANAS. YOU SHOULD HOP OVER AND HELP OUT IF YOU HAVE TIME.

And... He couldn't say no to that. Even if he didn't really have time, even if his life was a mess, Ezra just wanted to help folks out. Derek had been so kind to him, too. He doubted he'd be able to manage much at all, really, but, maybe every little bit made a difference? He hoped.

There was another message from Tuesday, he realized. But, it was Derek's simple request that encouraged him to join. Just as it had been Derek who had encouraged him to do the rival tutorial because the other player had needed help.

It was time to try and help, he decided. Ezra quickly upgraded charge attack and then healing to tier two. Then, at last, he clicked accept.

bringing...

+ virgil the rowlet (tank)
+ unnamed the zubat (support)

Butterfly had heard of the Noonlight Raid - a raid presumably associated with the shrine she had visited once before, with the ancient tree and the almost soothing atmosphere.
The teen had been playing the game on and off, going through the motions when offline and trying to understand the game when online. She had even managed to catch a few Pokemon - A Timburr named Washington and a Gothita named Elizabeth! She even met another catgirl called Tuesday when she was...honestly struggling even to fight Washington, let alone catch him.
So, when the teen obtained a message from the person she had met one time, she was honestly surprised...and then startled by the contents of the message.

NOONLIGHT RAID. WE NEED BACK UP. COME RN.

Tuesday helped her obtain a Pokemon while she was struggling. It was only right to try and help when she was toiling. Help for help. A battle for a battle.
So, with a level-up of the Support and Tank trees (because if there was any time healing and HP would be needed, it would be now), she hit Accept.
Anything for an ally.
Butterflies are harmless. Dainty and beautiful, they sip nectar from flowers and flutter to and through, a representation of a effect that ripples outwards, affecting all...but daintiness, fragility...those are not the truth, are they?

THE FOLLOWING POKEMON ARE BEING ENTERED FOR THE NOONLIGHT RAID EVENT:
Caesar the Chimchar [Tank Class]
Washington the Timburr [Support Class]
Elizabeth the Gothita [Support Class]