PKMNation: Event - What are you aiming for

He has always been a gambling man.

The kind to walk the fine line between insanity and just plain recklessness but it has never been a problem before. Well, at least not until now. All it took was the word of a Gallade to actually turn the tables and his trait did, in fact, become a bother this time.

It all started with a very unplanned visit to the Renaissance Faire, an unwelcomed distraction after the young scientist and ranch owner had blown up his laboratory. Again. And despite the damage having been... not as cataclysmic as expected, he had just not been able to find a single care in his body to take care of the mess.
No, instead he had allowed his experiments (others called them 'Pokémon' – oh these silly people today) to drag him out of the smoke-filled building and towards this festival of fools.
Atrocity was walking around in form of people and pets clad in hideous clothes, everyone seeming rather happy and... and... loud. Very loud.
The colours, he could have drowned out by closing his eyes but there had been no chance for Evan to /not/ hear all this noisy commotion.

Guffaws. Animated discussions. And not a single research within his grasp, nothing to seize his attention. Furthermore, he didn't even have a cup of coffee in his hand and his energy for a life without conducting experiments was subpar at best.
A Vulpix-Fletchling cross (named Leilana but he didn't know that) here, a water fusion Zorua (she was called Neaera) there. He didn't even have the time concentrate on any of those potential experiments. How frustrating.

Simply said: He couldn't deal with life if it didn't resolve around his work.

Resigned to surrender, the male dragged himself trough the crowds, the squeaking little moth Eevee named Palladium on his shoulder to warn him whenever there was a need to evade another body moving towards them. And that happened a lot. Sadly, the same could be said about collisions as well because the ranch owner just didn't react quick enough to step aside when those aforementioned body masses blocked his way.

This wouldn't do.

In the long run, Evan would collapse after having been exposed to actual people and their crazy lifestyles for much too long. Hence he moved a little quicker, following his experiments as they – driven by their mercy for their unfortunate owner – searched for a place of tranquillity.
Apparently, Lady Luck was on their side.

It was Radium who started to bark at Evan, little teeth nibbling on the lab coat before he tried to pull his owner towards an Archery Range. Due to its huge size, it was already less populated but it appeared like a weird Gallade was also doing a good job at scaring people away.
How intriguing. Some energy returned to the scientist as soon as the idea of investigating this phenomena popped up in his mind.

Finding refuge on a bench, Evan was finally allowed to take a few calming breaths though he couldn't help glancing at the strange Psychic-type Pokemon from time to time. And whenever he moved his head slightly, his cheek brushed against Palladium's fur, making the tiny moth squeak in protest.

“I wonder what's going on.”

Voice kept low and nothing but a mere whisper, it was still enough to claim the attention of some of his Pokemon.
The electric mice trio, Nitrogen (the disturbingly strange Emolga), Argentum (the Pichu that had been with him since the beginning) and Krypton (the Dedenne fusion who often seemed to facepalm – increasingly so after the arrival of Nitrogen), were the first to notice their owner's interest in the game ahead of them. Some mutters could be heard coming from them, spoken in their own language that Evan had yet to decipher. 'One day', he reminded himself, 'good things come to those who wait. Wait and research.'
He was pulled out of his thoughts when they all nodded in unison and scattered, running away from the spot where the young researcher was sitting. Well, that was new. Naturally, he could understand why they would run away from him but now was such an odd timing. They had dozen of chances to flee earlier, especially whenever he left the fence to his ranch grounds open (not accidentally, of course. No, he just hoped and unfortunate soul to experiment on would get lost there for him to find).

Not entirely sure how to deal with this, he eventually opted for the easiest approach: Just ignore this had happened and wait for their return.
Surprisingly, this actually did work out. Because after a couple of minutes, the trio came back. With a bow, a quiver and arrows.

How peculiar.

Did they truly expect him to actually use these? Silly little creatures. There was nothing that could tempt him enough to make a fool out of himself.

He honestly believed this. Until that Gallade spoke.

“Come and try your skill! Can you hit the target?? Will you win a prize; dear lords, gentle ladies, surely there is someone amongst you whom dares try your skill with these simple, but elegant and deadly weapons??"
A simple word was enough to make Evan fall hook, line and sinker: Prize. Not like the usage of 'deadly weapon' helped making him less curious, quite the opposite in fact.

And this brings us back to the start: Evan was a gambling man.

The bow felt right in his hand. The arrow had just the perfect weight. Rubidium, the shiny blue Fennekin, was carrying the quiver while Beryllium, the electric fusion Eevee, made sure to find a spot where their owner could shoot. Without any potential onlookers that could distract him from shooting at the actual target.


“I'd rather shoot at the Gallade.” His honesty left frightened expressions behind and the worried glances Beryllium and Rubidium exchanged were almost like a silent conversation, as if the two were seriously doubting their choice to have handed the weapons to their owner. But it was all too late now.

Their master was holding the means to their all demise and all of a sudden, his subjects realised the gravity of their error. Cobalt (who was still refusing to listen to any other name than 'Black Pearl') and Argon were the first to flee. The duo was smart enough to create a huge distance between themselves and the man with the bow. Even if he actually did actually possess any form of skill, they just couldn't trust him to aim for the target.

Not because he wanted to actively hurt them or see anyone writhe in pain. Quite the opposite, believe it or not. No, Evan was just too curious for his own good. He wanted to know what would happen in these situations. How the hurt person would react or – and this was even more interesting – how they could be helped.
In a twisted way, he searched for answers.

But no one was willing to help him find these because they went hand in hand with agony and blood loss. Therefore: Everyone hid as quickly as possible.

Caesium was first, Sulphur was the next and it seemed like the other new addition to the ranch, Molybdenum, the Buneary, wanted to follow the cross but she wasn't even given the chance run off.
Her medieval costume made her stumble and within seconds, she was grabbed by the ears, eyes squeezing shut so she wouldn't have to watch what her owner had in store for her. It wasn't until she was set down that she allowed to crack one eye open. And then, the poor bunny froze in place.

In front of the target. Moly was right in front of the target. And the apple that was placed on her head did not seem promising at all.

“Who cares about your target, future text subject of mine,” Evan mocked the Gallade before he pointed at the fruit on the Buneary's head. “If I can shoot an arrow straight throw that, I win this round.”

Who cares? WHO CARES? Molybdenum for one. After all, it was her who was facing the prospect of becoming a pin cushion for an arrow. Okay, so she already kinda was the former but an arrow? No, that didn't sound right.

Yet she also couldn't move, body not listening to her as Evan walked away to return to where he would launch his shot from. And even though she was hearing the frantic calls from Neon and Calcium to just run away, the shiny fusion couldn't move.
Good thing she was already a ghost because she had little to no confidence in the scientist.


Adjusting his clothes, Evan took a deep breath before flexing his fingers around the bow stave. His eyes were a tad squinted, face showing sincere concentration as he measured the distance between him and the target.
Alright, he could do this. And with that thought in mind, he took an arrow from the quiver and pointed the bow towards the ground as the shaft of the arrow met the arrow rest. Nocking the arrow so that the string was filling the small groove at the end of the arrow, Evan assumed the right stance and raised the bow to draw it.

When his hand moved back to draw the string towards his face, the Buneary with the apple on her head gulped and her ears moved upwards to cover her eyes.
Lithium's gasp could be heard a few seconds after Evan had released the arrow (although Molybdenum couldn't actually see that with her ears in front of her face, the sound of the rebounding string as well as the noise of the launched projectile were unmistakable indicators).

Thud.

And then, there was only silence. Silence and...  liquid dripping down the shiny bunny's face. It wasn't warm though. The liquid was not warm. Encouraged by the thought, she lowered her ears and peeked one eye open. And then the other one.
Indeed, the very substance on her face was not blood but the juices of the pierced apple and the moment she breathed out in relief, people around them started to cheer. Phosphorus, Lanthanum and Platinum made their way over to her, all three foxes concerned about the victim of their master's latest shenanigans yet they were easily assured after Molybdenum confirmed that nothing had happened to her. She was fine.

The apple on her head with the arrow stuck inside... less so. But that was not of her concern.

“Okay, that was easy.”

Heads turned towards the source of the voice, all the inhabitants of the Hazard Zone ranch paled simultaneously because their owner was certainly not able to read the air. Here, his Pokemon had feared for her life and he was just so aloof about the whole situation as if it had nothing to do with him at all.
Even the spectators could believe what he had just said. So much about modesty. A shiny Zorua (Cyoty) was staring at the stranger with big eyes whereas the Eevee-Caterpie cross (Papilon) next to her eyes the fruit, unsure if the arrow had hit the intended target or if the blonde man had missed what he had wanted to aim for.

That boy should truly learn a thong or two about social etiquette and compassion. He didn't seem overly familiar with either.

Yet all of this was still acceptable, in a sense. His next actions, however, were not something they could tolerate at all.

“Let's make this a little more interesting.” The glasses were taken off his nose and his heterochromic eyes narrowed a little as he tried to make out the shapes of the floating Aurum and Arsen next to him. “I am going to shoot again. Who wants to volunt-”

The explosion of the Thunderbolt attack that was directed at the male could be heard even miles away (or so he would claim later on).


-----------------------------------------

“I would have loved to study that Gallade...,” Evan sighed as his pupils strayed back to where the creepy Pokemon was continuously advertising the archery event. Oxygen was putting a wet towel on his owner's forehead, a little concerned after the male human had been knocked out by the revolting Pokemon.
In the end, it wasn't even clear who had made him pass out with their electric attack but the way Beryllium was too ashamed to look at him whereas the electric mice trio just stood there, was giving her away.
An accident, that was all it had been. Plus, it was his own fault. Everyone knew that. But at the end of the day, he was their caretaker and so it was only natural that they worried about him.
“Dissect him and find out more about his ability to speak.”

By now, Oxygen had difficulties to say whether Evan was the creepy one or if it was truly that terrifying Gallade.

In the meantime, Strontium, Calcium and Silicon had been sent away to get some water but when the trio returned, it became apparent that they had bought more than just some simple water for the human to feel better his electrifying experience.
Little containers with food were carried towards the huge group which was sitting in a semi-circle around the scientist. The latter blinked in confusion upon the arrival of the three experiments and even more so when he noticed the food they were carrying.

“A... picnic?” Certainly, he had better things to do than to sit around leisurely and eat some bought festival snac- oh. Coffee. Coffee was good. Coffee made him feel alive.

Naturally, no persuasion was needed to make him stay.

The rest of the afternoon was spent just like that: Eating, relaxing and some chattering among the Pokemon and even though Evan couldn't understand a single word they said, he was pretty content for once despite not being occupied by some sort of research.

Lutetium functioned as some sort of pillow for him, her tails brushing against his cheek as he closed his eyes. Palladium was busy making a nest out of his hair and didn't even care for the fingers that tried to pry him out of the blonde looks, a soft 'myuuuu' the only sign of disapproval he showed.
Eventually, Evan just gave up and allowed him to do as he pleased.

Hydrogen had wandered off by now, obviously meeting with that Luxio named Io from that other ranch where Pokemon were actually treated as.... Pokemon. And not as experiments. Oh, what a silly person THAT ranch owner was.
And knowing how the other 'dates' she had planned in the past had went, Metis was most likely accompanying them and silently watching how they didn't make any progress at all.

But it appeared like she wasn't the only one. So, while his orange little fox tried hard to be noticed by the oblivious lion, Rubidium was busy trying to strike up a conversation with Elara who did probably not quite understand that she was flirted with. Strangely enough, she also didn't quite like it when he tried to flirt with two other girls names Muhali and Kimba afterwards. Drama was avoided thanks to the appearance of Platinum and Lanthanum who complimented the girls away before Rubidium could have said something stupid.
Because Arceus knew, he was prone to that when he found someone cute.
Where Aurum had gone, no one knew but the rumours among the Hazard Zone occupants had it that a certain see-through cross named Telesto was with him.

Stibium was nowhere to be found either. Nevertheless, her whereabouts were not that much of a mystery due to her being certainly accompanied by a fusion Espu- pardon, a fusion Meowstic with the name Crypt. And seeing that Molybdenum had gone missing as well, the odds were good that the morph Eevee Dimitri was with the other two.

Even without the missing Pokemon, the little picnic continued and after a while, more Pokemon from different ranches started to join them.
From a cute snake named Sinope to a little fairy bug with the name Perdita, everyone was welcomed.

Perhaps it would have continued like that with more and more Pokemon joining the little gathering on the archery grounds while people were still trying their best to shoot the targets... if only Evan hadn't waken.

“Quite a collection you have got here.”

His nose scrunched up and he moved his head backwards to glance at Delilah, the fellow scientist from a ranch that specialised on fungi. Why the hell she wanted to spent her time surrounded by gross Pokemon with mushrooms growing on their skin instead of adorable subjects... was beyond him.

“Future experiments,” he replied, voice a bit shaky because his nap had left him a little groggy. He truly wasn't used to sleeping. One of Delilah's mushrooms, Oriol, made a whistling noise in response to his 'experiment' comment.
“What brings you here?”

She shrugged whimsically, shoulders moving up once before they slouched down again.

“Curiousity. And what are you doing here?”

An excellent question. Sadly one he didn't have an answer for.

Pushing Chantarelle out of the way because her 'happy' face was not the thing he wanted to see after having woken up, he sat up and scratched the back of his head. Something he regretted a few seconds later for now he was face to face with the other creature that Delilah took care of: A cordyceps-infested Charmander.

She called him 'Morchel'. He called it 'Why would you ever let something like this live' or 'Oh God, why'.
Either way, looking at that face was even less pleasing that staring at Chantarelle's frown.

“Dunno... I came for research and ended up getting caught up in all this commotion.”

“You went with the flow.”

He remained silent though his refusal to acknowledge she was right was just the answer the blonde woman needed.
Getting up, Evan stretched his back and yawned, many of his Pokemon following his example and mimicking his actions just a few seconds later.

“Guess it's time to go home now.” And with that, he raised his hand to salute and march off but was even more surprised when she followed him and they walked next to each other, all of their Pokemon trailing behind.
Back into the crowd, they had to evade huge Wailmers (Enceladus, another inhabitant of a certain space-themed ranch) or were almost hit by the wings of a Skamory (Epimetheus, be a tad more careful next time, will you?) that flew above them.

Passing a glowing sun lantern (which was no lantern at all but a Pokemon called Himalia instead), the duo and their army walked through streets adorned with various stalls before they eventually reached the end of the faire grounds.
A shiny Sentret-Goldeen cross (Methone) brushed against Evan's leg as it ran home from the faire and the male stopped, glancing at Delilah who was watching him with a grin on her face.

“You look like you had fun today.”

He blinked once. Twice. And then he pointed at his own face as if she could have been talking about someone else.

“You've kinda been smiling. Faintly.”

Scratching his neck again, the blonde bit his lip in thought before realising he couldn't deal with this or her right now. Not when she treated him like one of her experiments again. In fact, he wouldn't put it past her to actually think of him as one of those. Even to the point where she was hoping some mushrooms would start to sprout on his skin.

“I suppose... today... was actually kinda fun. And with this confession, he turned on his heel and marched off, not wanting to discuss this matter any further. To him, it felt like treason to admit something unrelated to his studies could be entertaining.
His experiments ran after him, everyone bidding their friends goodbye before they tried to catch up with their marching owner.

Associating himself with that woman... Just how stupid had he been? After all, she was quite dangerous because she was a scientist. And no one wanted to end up being a scientist's experiment. But as dangerous as her company was, it was also quite educational...

Darn, he really was a gambling man...