<div class="floatleft">(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/1/11/VSBrock.png)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Brock<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Douglasberg Casino<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Elly, Draven, Marco<br/><br/><strong>Current Pokémon:</strong>Onyx<br/><br/><hr/><br/>"Hey!" Brock shouted out in surprise and anger as Specs pulled his move that, while not technically illegal, he certainly didn't feel was very sportsmanlike. Onyx's head broke the surface of the sand, its eyes wide and jaw open in confusion as the sand took on a life of its own and pulled away the treasure hoard it had discovered. "Onyx, use Rock Tomb!" the Kanto Gym Leader ordered as he realized that his loot was close to being stolen, prompting Onyx to lift its tail free from the beach and slam it down. The quake brought rocks, both real and fake, up in the formation of a cage around the shifting treasure, preventing both the Krokorok and itself from getting to it at the time being. "You should watch what kind of impression you make in your own town," Brock scolded the woman, either thinking her tactics were unbefitting of a local icon, or just mad she was trying to take his stuff.<br/><br/>Over in the much denser area of synthesized mineral and foliage, the man and his Dodorog weren't facing nearly as much direct competition, if only because they were staying fairly out of the others' way. The man had a decent armful of valuable golds and gems by now, his dog leading him to each loot deposit with its legendary sense of smell at a slow pace. He wasn't that far behind whoever the leader was, but he wasn't thrashing the competition, either. That was until the Dodorog parked its red and brown furry behind under a large palm tree and started barking cries of "Rog! Rog!" up toward the top, where it had spotted a mysterious rope that seemed to actually disappear<em>into</em>the three. Seeing his pokémon was clearly in no shape for climbing, the man groaned his frustration and started to climb, thick arms shimmying his life-worn body up the rough tree.<br/><br/>Nearly slipping a couple times with his utter lack of athleticism, the middle-aged trainer was in for more than he had bargained for trying to get to that rope, and it took him a fair bit of time in doing so. If the pay-off wasn't good, he told himself, he was going to be pissed. As he neared the top, he lunged up and grabbed the rope, pulling with all of his might until he heard a solid CLUNK. For a brief moment, the man was able to grin with elation, but as the rope snapped under his weight and he found himself having far less physical contact with the tree than was needed to keep himself from falling. Having waited down below, his Dodorog could only watch with dread as a thick shadow fell far too fast toward him, eliciting a yelp as he landed on the unfortunate pokémon, with leaves and sand flying up around the impact area.<br/><br/>Around this point, a little past the edge of where the tropical oasis met the plain, mostly unaltered sand, the ground began to quake harder than ever, despite the fact that Onyx wasn't burrowing around at the moment. As the quake increased in intensity, it was soon accompanied by the sound of moving stone, along with the rippling of the sound outward from the spot where the sounds originated. After several seconds, something pushed up from beneath the surface, sand cascading off as a smooth structure rose up. Soon, a full, ten foot-wide platform in the sand was revealed, made of sandstone or clay, with detailed hieroglyphics. At the center of the platform was a pedestal, and atop that pedestal, an ornate idol of solid "gold," an elongated skull with bare teeth, studded around its crown with gems.<br/><br/>Climbing off of his poor Dodorog, who got back up on its feet like a champ, the older trainer stared with awe at the hidden trophy, briefly making eye contact with his competitors before going full sprint toward the mega pointage, his pokémon right ahead of him.<br/><br/>===<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://moe.animecharactersdatabase.com/uploads/chars/5688-670803075.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Dr. Cedony Pierce<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Old Douglasberg, Ruins<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Hibana<br/><br/><strong>Current Pokémon:</strong>None<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Dr. Pierce followed a few paces behind Hibana, trying to follow the sounds of the other woman's footsteps and keep up with her, yet also moving cautiously, since this was an unfamiliar area to her and also a very old one, so there was no telling when the floor could just give out under their weight. "That man with your Elite Four; Mathis, I believe his name was. He told me that some strange sort of mineral, or stone, had been discovered in quite large quantities down here, and they were looking for a researcher to investigate it, since they were having trouble contacting their usual one. I'm not very experienced with the hard sciences, but I have dabbled in archeology, so, naturally, I decided to investigate," the woman explained, as if completely unaware that she could have been killed with no pokémon on hand.<br/><br/>Coming to the first staircase back up to the walkways, she grabbed the rail and proceeded slowly, smiling apologetically for slowing their progress. "Unfortunately, I haven't found much, even though I've scanned a large area. I did find this, though." Pierce stopped, reaching into her bag to withdraw and present a stone about the size of a tennis ball, perfectly smooth and spherical. Even in darkness, the surface seemed to glimmer like a massive pearl, and it looked faintly translucent, as if it should be gelatinous to the touch, yet it was harder than diamond. "I'm not familiar with the stones that react to pokémon DNA, though I do believe this is a new one..."