[Journey] Candle in the wind

The beach in late autumn exudes tranquility, its once-crowded shores now abandoned by most visitors in the late autumn cold. A lone figure walks in the distance, leading a pack of Houndour. Over the waters, kite surfers catch the last winds of the season, their colorful sails contrasting against the colors of the sky. The beach seems to belong to the Pokémon now, a myriad of creatures going about their business in the deep waters. A small Buneary hops playfully into the hills further up, its fluffy tail disappearing into the shadows. Wingull glide gracefully above the water, their keen eyes scanning for food beneath the surface, while the vast ocean below teems with life, unseen yet deeply felt.

Amidst the scene, you notice a vivid splash of red, a stark contrast against the muted tones of the beach, thinking it to be your blanket. You reach out to pick it up. With a roll of 5, you're momentarily oblivious to the cause for concern, until you grasp it fully, realizing it's nothing like your familiar blanket. The texture is foreign. Before your eyes, a Palossand emerges from the ground, seemingly materializing out of thin air. Its eerie rise is slow and deliberate, reaching its full, towering height.

Good luck.

Your heart races as you sense a sudden shift in the air, a palpable surge of energy that grips the very atmosphere. Just as your gaze darts towards the corner of your eye, expecting to see a familiar sight, you are met with something far more ominous. Instead of the comforting hue of your Inteleon, there is a stark, midnight black—a Shiny Palossand.

Two of these spectral creatures now stand before you, their forms casting eerie shadows on the sand. With an eerie glow in its hollow eyes, the Shiny Palossand weaves an incantation. The very air seems to thicken as it employs the sinister power of Hypnosis, its sand-like particles dancing in a hypnotic pattern.


!! This Palossand is far above your strength and cannot be added to your party; it will remain wild despite the course of your journey.

Try as you might to resist, the mesmerizing rhythm of the Shiny Palossand's power lulls your senses into a drowsy submission. Your eyelids grow heavy, your movements sluggish, and you find yourself succumbing to the hypnotic trance, slipping into a deep slumber.

In your dreams, the world twists and contorts, mirroring the bizarre reality you face. Shadows dance, and the Palossand's haunting whispers echo in the recesses of your mind. With an 8, you struggle to regain control of your senses, your mind clouded by the Hypnosis. The dream world spins around you, and your limbs feel heavy as if weighed down by invisible chains. You fail to wake up.

Meanwhile, as the powerful jets of water collide with the Palossand, they emit ghastly cries, momentarily disrupted from their sinister incantation. The distraction provides a brief window of opportunity. With a burst of speed, Qiān, your loyal Inteleon, darts towards you.

But it's too late.

With a 19, the shock of the Psychic attack jolts you awake, the world transitioning abruptly from the surreal dreamscape to the cold reality of the ocean.

Disoriented and gasping for air, you realize you've been hurled into the water, far from the reach of the menacing Palossand. You attempt to swim back to the surface. However, a powerful current grips you like a vice, pulling you downwards with relentless force. The salty water engulfs you, and your limbs flail against the invisible hands that drag you deeper into the ocean's depths.

As you struggle against the relentless pull of the current, your senses are heightened, and you become acutely aware of the haunting lights flickering in the water around you. The ethereal glow dances before your eyes, casting an eerie, mesmerizing ambiance. At first, they seem like distant stars, beckoning you towards an otherworldly realm.

The lights, however, draw nearer, revealing themselves as ghostly, translucent figures. Their forms are both captivating and unsettling, their tendrils resembling flowing robes as they sway in the underwater current. A sense of both dread and fascination washes over you as you realize these haunting lights are not stars but living entities.

Your lungs ache for air, the saltwater stinging your throat, and the pressure in your chest intensifies with each passing moment. The water affinity seeps into your very being, mingling with your essence. It's a strange sensation, the fluidity of the ocean becoming a part of you, merging with your consciousness. You can feel it in your fingertips, in the rhythm of your heartbeat, and in the rise and fall of your chest.

The decision looms before you, a pivotal moment in the midst of your struggle. Do you allow the water affinity to permeate every fiber of your being, accepting its embrace and becoming one with the ocean? Yet, with this acceptance comes a stark warning: once you embrace the water affinity, you can never gain another elemental connection. The decision would mark you for life, binding your essence to the ocean's depths, forever forsaking the possibility of another affinity.

The lights flicker with a hypnotic allure, and the world around you seems to blur. The choice is yours, a defining moment in the depths of the ocean. Do you allow the water's essence to become a part of you, embracing the affinity that calls to you, or do you resist, clinging to the surface world and the potential for other connections that lie beyond? The haunting lights pulse, awaiting your decision, as you teeter on the precipice of transformation.

In the suffocating embrace of the ocean's depths, your senses drown in a chilling cocktail of cold, pressure, and overwhelming despair. The world around you dissolves into a nightmarish haze. Your feeble attempts to resist the encroaching void result in convulsions, your weakening body echoing with the morbid drumbeat of your fading existence. The ghostly figures linger just beyond your grasp. They seem to anticipate your surrender, waiting for your final moment of capitulation.

As hope slips away, a sudden jolt courses through your being. The ghost affinity, an elusive and ominous force, caresses your essence like a phantom breeze. Initially, it feels like a shiver, a fleeting touch that electrifies your senses before enveloping you in a cocoon of peculiar warmth and bone-chilling cold, life and death merging in a haunting embrace.

Then, it reaches deeper, attempting to settle into your very soul, offering a chance at survival. It presents itself as an enigmatic entity, shrouded in mystery, both terrifying and alluring. The question looms in the waterlogged air, a haunting refrain that reverberates in your mind: Will you allow this eerie force to seep into your fingertips, merging with your essence and dragging you from the ocean's suffocating depths?

The ghost affinity promises escape, the flicker of life amidst impending demise. Yet, its bargain is clear and ominous—once embraced, it forever seals the possibility of another elemental connection. It's your sole tether to the world, but at what cost? It is not a benevolent savior; it's a sinister essence thriving in shadows, weaving illusions that blur the line between reality and nightmare.

Your fingertips tingle, brushing the fringes of the ghostly figures. Their energy seeps into your very being, your body a vessel teetering on the precipice of fate.

Do you surrender, allowing this enigmatic force to claim you, granting a second chance at life amidst its darkness? Or do you resist, clinging to the tatters of your former existence, and brave the unknown fate awaiting you in the unfathomable depths?

The world appears strangely vibrant yet unfamiliar, as though colors have taken on new shades, and sounds are slightly distorted. Every passerby, every wave of ocean water, seems to whisper secrets you can no longer decipher. A subtle hollowness remains, a void echoing with the absence of something vital.

The confusion deepens as you attempt to recall the events leading to your awakening on the shore. It's like grasping at smoke; the memories slip through your fingers, leaving you with fragmented images and emotions. The ghost affinity, the drowning, the haunting figures—all blend together in a disorienting amalgamation, leaving you with a lingering sense of loss.

As you continue to walk, a chilling realization takes root within you. You have left a part of yourself behind, submerged in the ocean's depths. Each step you take away from the shore feels like leaving behind a piece of yourself, an intangible essence forever bound to the depths you emerged from. It's a sacrifice you can't quite comprehend, a nagging feeling that lingers like a ghost in the recesses of your mind.

Though you move forward, the specter of your former self remains tethered to the depths, a silent guardian of the secrets buried within the ocean's embrace. As you navigate the world, you can't shake the feeling that you are now a mere echo of your former existence. The world may see you as whole, but deep within, you know that something irreplaceable has been left behind.

Your journey ends here.