Sae- Um, Lord Blackthorne had filed in to Bunya's lab with everyone else. It was- odd. An event had never ended like that before, and the office was in a bit of chaos- Apparently some data had been lost. Reports had come in of some players losing items- Sae figured from what he could glean that it was all tied to Bunya's event. Some players just... respawned and had nothing to show for it.

Maybe he was lucky, then. Blackthorne pulled up his ui, tabbing to his inventory. There was a Spell Tag, which he had certainly never picked up, and an Armor Fossil. Which he had.... also not picked up. Had quest rewards been scrambled? Was there a player out there with things he had gained? Someone probably quite happy to have an Arctozolt, which... well, they weren't his favorite.

But, also, neither were Shieldon. He pulled the fossil out, looking at it, and paused to look around the room. A bunch of other players were there... including one holding a Plume Fossil.

Sae just stared at him. Alistair... loved Archen. Adored him. He liked a lot of bird pokemon, of course, but Archen was special. And he'd said in texts that he was looking for one. And one was... right there. Sae swallowed. He- He could do this. He could be brave.

Summoning his courage, he walked over to Big Bee, taking a breath and smiling. "Excuse me- I have to say, I don't quite think that suits you." Blackthorne said, eyes flicking to the kind of small Plume Fossil. "Perhaps... something a bit tankier would be better?" He mused, holding up the curved edge of the Armor Fossil.

There was more shouting- both joy at fossils and arguments- but it was hard to tell what was going on with the popup in the way. Blackthorne frowned. Santa’s naughty list… What did that mean? Was there even a Santa figure in pokemon? He had no idea-

All he knew was that it was really hard to see, because the box wouldn’t close out.

Blackthorne chewed on his lip, thinking. He could see Domino from where he was, and that was a safe choice, but-

But-

“… Alistair,” He started, trying to infuse his voice with more Blackthorne, and less Sae. “Here. It’s customary this time of year, isn’t it? Maybe you’ll even think a bit more highly of me… Gifts and affection go hand in hand, don’t they?”

Distantly, the pumpkaboo laughed shrilly again.

[Fossil2]kbJpHkTv1d15

pumpkaboo || 160/350

Lord Darien Blackthorne gave a slight, detached smile as he helped Tuesday onto the boat, mostly grateful that she wasn’t crushing his hand in her clawed gauntlet. Once she was settled, he sat as well, looking over the water. If the sudden lurching of the boat startled him- it hadn’t- he didn’t look it.

"What do you think we'll find there?"

Blackthorne hummed. In truth, he had no idea. He wasn’t a quest designer. He knew what he’d made, but had no real idea when or where it’d all be implemented. “I’m not sure… But things like this come in threes.” He said. It was a basic principle for developing… uh, anything. Humans liked the number three.

And, one was quick to approach- a creature, drifting over the surface of the water- a gleaming light held close to its body. Blackthorne fell silent, eyes trained on the creature, minutely gesturing at it for Tuesday.

The chimchar stumbled back, looking angrily at the sobble, as if he had done something wrong. Regent seemed pleased, though, giving a bit of a purr before turning her attention back to the blitzle, lashing out with another shattering disc of light.

Lord Blackthorne frowned, listening to Alistair’s tale. “Frightened? Aggressive?” He echoed, concern in his voice. That… didn’t sound right. All pokemon had their personalities, but the ones from the Lab specifically were meant to have- maybe not all good personalities, but they shouldn’t be afraid of their trainers. And certainly not aggressive towards them.

He turned to look at the sobble- who did seem to be doing well for himself. When the battle was over, he’d see what Regent thought… “Hmm… and how was Dr. Bunya? Was she…?” His voice trailed off. There weren’t really. Appropriate words.

Blackthorne hummed softly, sitting on the stone edge of a raised bed. The Refresh instance could look however he wanted, and a spooky gothic castle seemed right. It was made all the sillier by Kingsguard, a defiant speck of blue amidst the gloom.

<I'm ready.> He said, voice a sturdy, but high-pitched, chirp. But Blackthorne had no space to comment on the disconnect of one’s voice to their self, and so said nothing about it.

“As you say…” He mused instead, imperious, canting his head a bit in condescending disbelief. Blackthorne then lashed out, not with words or magic- but with soft yarn balls, tossed at the little quail.

The way Kingsguard acted, though, the balls might as well have been from the Legendaries themselves, the quail dodging out of the way, feathers raised, eyes bright.

“Very good…” Blackthorne drawled, Kingsguard perking up a bit at the praise. “But- what about your duties?”

With that, he started lobbing not at Kingsguard, but at Regent, who was taking a well-deserved nap. Kingsguard shot forwards, taking blow after blow of the soft, fuzzy balls. At the end of it, he was breathing hard, stray feathers scattered, and Regent-

Was still fast asleep.

“Very good, Kingsguard.” Blackthorne praised, pulling out a bag of treats- Which meant Regent was no longer napping, but that was fine. Hard work had to be rewarded, after all.

	SUPPORT
UNCOMMON +5 350 HP 6D12 LVL 20	CAMARILLA <#e7ad93 - #f9e0a2 - #675942> One of the first pokemon Blackthorne caught, Camarilla is capricious and mischevious. She's adept at taking care of the rest of the party, even if she's catty about it. In her eyes, there should always be a bit of learning with healing- Whether it's learning from mistakes, or simply learning that the healer is to be feared. ghost Trick-or-Treat, Astonish, Shadow Sneak grass Razor Leaf, Leech Seed, Bullet Seed physical Astonish, Shadow Sneak, Razor Leaf, Bullet Seed healing Leech Seed

	TANK
COMMON + 0 300 HP 1D50 LVL 20	KINGSGUARD <#3e6096 - #322c1e> Kingsguard was Blackthorne's accompaniment during the Quail Quest, and Blackthorne has kept the quail by his side ever since. Noble and fearless, Kingsguard acts far more defensively than offensively. However, should an opening appear, he will not hesitate. Strict and solemn, he's protective of the rest of the party. normal Leer, fury Attack flying Peck, Pluck dark Power Trip, Hone Claws, Taunt physical Peck, Power Trip, Fury Attack, Pluck