[Pokemon World] Mage Quest

"alright, seeya!" Nick waves goodbye to Brae, confident they'll see each other again some time.
They then turn their attention to the brick.
"I've never used either of these gadgets first-hand before, but it looks like this brick probably works wirelessly? Maybe it has a button or two on it somewhere."

---

Meanwhile, not too far away, a couple blocks over, someone quite fashionable is making their way to the contest hall, single polished luxury ball in their see-through plastic chic purse, resting in a smaller see through padded case on a pillow.
Who could this mystery style maven be?

Nick nods and then takes out their captchalogue camera. they take photos of the items that Brae gave them, making them disappear from the table. Thankfully, the memo connector brick still works while captchalogued.
"So, shall we get going soon?"

Slope belatedly looks at the front door, still flopped on the floor.

And so, they gather their things and soon take off.

---

Chapter 4: Why did the TORCHIC cross the road?

After some confusion, a bit of walking, and some requests for directions, Nick, HAZEL, CHIM, and Slope manage to reach a point where they can see the Contest Hall not too far away. However, there is just one thing in their way: the city's namesake crossroads.
Electric cars of various makes and models mercilessly race down the main drag, only impeded by the very rules of the road that bind them.



"This was not in the first draft at all..." Nick mumbles to themself.

The person with the sunhat turns around, it appears to be a reasonably fit woman in her 60's.
"out-of-towner, I take it? Just follow my lead."

The traffic continues swiftly. Where are all these cars coming from??

Soon enough however, the traffic light changes and the cars halt to a stop. The lady looks both ways, and then begins walking.

Not wanting to get left behind, Nick follows along across the street.

The lady at the crosswalk walks with purpose, but speaks in somewhat of a wistful tone. "Funny thing, this place didn't always have such busy roads. There's been a lot of residential development across the region over the past few years. I worry about what the noise has been doing to the wild pokemon sometimes."

"Huh... so that explains it..." Nick remarks as they keep walking.

Slope still stands at the corner, taking a moment to process things.

"whoa cool! I'll have to thank them for that later."
Soon enough most of the group is across the road, except for Slope, who has only just started taking steps upon the pavement.
Nick waits at the corner for their slowpoke to cross the road, very worried about the possibility of Slope getting ran over, but not wanting to compromise her autonomy by returning slope to her pokeball.
It winds up taking at least a half minute, horns honking all the way.

Somewhere backed up in the traffic, a businessman is grinding his teeth in frustration. He's going to be late all because of a slow sidewalk crossing. This would be the second time this week that this has happened. Maybe at this point it would be faster if he biked to work rather than take the car. Of course then he'd have to pack a cycling outfit so he wouldn't get sweat on the suit. His Chatot in the passenger seat looks over at him, and chatters something familiar. "Getting cranky?"
The businessman sighs heavily.
"Yes Chitty..." He reaches over to pet Chitty behind the stem. Chitty makes a satisfied noise, calming them both slightly.

Eventually, Slope makes it across the road.
"Alright, let's get to that contest hall!"

---

Chapter 5: Highly Contested

Nick, HAZEL, CHIM, and Slope soon make it to the Crossroad Contest Hall.
It appears to be bustling with activity in the lobby. A group of coordinators can be seen huddled over a berry blender device together. There appears to be a doorway for contestants and one for spectators. Some of the contest pokemon can be seen preparing for their next show with their coordinators, much more camera-ready than your average pokemon.

"Whoa, this place is cool..." Nick looks about the place in awe.
It's one thing to see it in the games, but a whole 'nother to be standing there physically.

Upon the shiny shaymin appearing, a fair amount of bystanders start staring. Its not every day you see such a well-groomed shiny shaymin. Nick is definitely impressed.
"Whoaaaa! You got a shiny shaymin? That's so cool...." They stand there starry-eyed for a moment.

Sensing a worthy challenger, a fashionable figure steps forwards, the crowd parting before them. This mystery fashionista is notably wearing a see-through bag. They shoot a glare at HAZEL, not unlike one that a challenging trainer would give when looking for a battle.
"So you think you can show up in my house and upstage me before even stepping up on stage?" The absolute bitch scowls.

Nick speaks up "Hey, don't be mean to my friend!"

"You're one to talk. I heard you and your pokemon caused a major traffic jam earlier today. Delayed my press release by 15 minutes!"



Nick holds their tongue, cheeks puffed out, relenting their divine wrath.
Slope sits on the floor, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere in the lobby.