Dual Pokemon Quest

[Blacksheep]

Jaden was careful as he introduced Uri to Sam and Oliver. Oliver was more than happy to investigate the abra, if a touch spooked when Uri mentally poked at him. Sam immediately set about trying to show off his fierceness and devotion to Jaden. Uri was deeply amused and promised his fullest respect to the little charmander.

He returned with his team back to the visitor center at the entrance to show off his new team member. The worker at the front there was impressed that Jaden had brought in an abra that was so close to evolving. The timing when it would actually happen was unknown, but the abra certainly had enough power to be doing it in the next couple months.

Finding a ranger to bug about training was a little more tricky. There were rangers available, but they were busy looking over the Safari. It took a while before he found one that was happy to take the time to work with Jaden for training. They were actually pretty excited about taking a break, talking about how fun it was to see different people battle and how it differed from facing wild pokemon. Trained pokemon tended to have higher discipline in fighting, as they received direction to improve their battling rather than figuring it out from trial and error or what they could get from another pokemon.

The ranger's advice on how to train pokemon to battle in a group was useful. First, Jaden should consider the strengths of the pokemon, and what roles he would want them to take. Will they be ranged, defense, focused on attacking? Designing basic team attacks for them to practice would also help, setting up a routine for them to take a position and attack from when he calls something would give them practice coordinating. The last one was just lots and lots of time spent with them working together. The more that they worked together the better they would become at it.

The mock battle for Sam and Oliver was set up against a stantler and pinsir. The ranger carefully called out the attacks and positions, and took the time to explain why he made each move for Jaden to listen and respond to. Sam was very eager to attack and rushed forward, quickly using his flames to try and strike the pokemon. Oliver was much more casual about the battle, clearly enjoying trying out these new tactics. Uri rested next to Jaden sensing how the battle was playing out. There was a small amount of confusion coming from the abra, but that was likely because he was not observing the battle with his eyes, changing how the battle would come across to him.

The ranger was more than happy to help Jaden come up with ways for Sam and Oliver to coordinate, suggesting that Sam could tag in after Oliver did an attack to make the most of Sam's flames, and pointing out ways they could try to trip up their opponents. Oliver really took to that, seeming to take special glee out of getting the stantler to prance nervously as it worked to not trip over the zigzagoon that was tangling up beneath it. The pinsir moved in there to get Oliver out, covering for the stantler's weakness and demonstrating another way that team battles could work.

The practice battle ended after a good hour of getting to try out different things, Sam and Oliver more than happy to pile up on their trainer after the hard workout. The ranger rewarded his pokemon with treats, praising them for working so well with the younger and smaller pokemon.

[ ]Visit the Water Area
[ ]Visit the Psychic Area
[ ]Visit the Forest Area
[ ]Visit the Fields Area
[ ]Visit the Jungle Area
[ ]Ask to learn from a ranger
[ ]Write-in

Pokemon Actions
[ ]Train your pokemon in battle
-[ ]Write-in specific training (speed, offense, dodging, train a move)
--[ ]Train pokemon team
--[ ]Train Oliver
--[ ]Train Sam
-[ ]Train Uri
[ ]Play with your pokemon
-[ ]With all
-[ ]With Oliver
-[ ]With Sam
-[ ]With Uri
[ ]Write-in

Travel
[ ]Turn north up Route 120
[ ]Head to the dock to catch a boat towards Mt Pyre
[ ]Head back to Lilycove

 

[Blacksheep]

Kate was more than happy to ramble away about her pokemon journey. Jasper joined in more sparingly. Despite dressing in black it was quickly becoming apparent he was rather withdrawn and more secure interacting with Kate and his pokemon than anyone else. Kate was a walking disaster. Her stories were filled with constant minor mishaps, tripping and falling and somehow managing to almost die before she was rescued. It was becoming clear that her pokemon journey had been less about battling and more about the fight for her pokemon and boyfriend to keep her alive on such an adventure.

Jasper was the one to answer about the ruins. He explained that it was supposed to be something built by an old civilization that worshipped pokemon as gods, and supposedly some rare pokemon that had once been worshipped could still be found there. There was no evidence of it, so they would likely be wandering the desert for some time before possibly getting lucky. It was known that there had once been people who lived in the desert, though they had been a nomadic group who hadn't stayed, and wouldn't have been the sort to build anything like the ruins the stories talked about. Still, it was an interesting idea to pursue, and would be fun.

Kate was very enthusiastic about having another travel companion, especially once she got to meet Archer and Crunchbite. She couldn't stop cooing over the pokemon and introduced her own starter, a haunter she called Snowflake and her spinarak Sunshine. Sunshine was very happy to meet Archer and Crunchbite, while Snowflake remained hovering protectively around his human.

The group began to travel towards the desert. Traveling together took some adjusting. Lee was a new addition to their group, if a welcome one, and such a change always took time. Jasper slowly warmed up to Lee as they traveled, introducing his own team who was far more evolved than Kate's.

It was during a day of travel that a group of bandits with fire pokemon stopped the group. They claimed that the desert was off limits, and they would beat anyone who tried to go into it.

[ ]Turn around and leave
[ ]Try to reason with them
[ ]Challenge them to a pokemon battle
[ ]Try to outwit them
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[X]Train your pokemon in battle
-[X]Practice calling out commands for Sam and Oliver attacking particular trees or rocks, while Uri tries to mentally trick Sam and Oliver false commands or information
[X]Play with your pokemon
-[X]With all playing tag. If Uri isn't up to running around yet, he can tag by gently hitting people with a psychically controlled ball
[X] Find a river or pond at the crossroads of where, and then walk around to see reflections and divine what might possible happen upon going along each route.
-[X] Pay particular attention to the possibility of ruins

 

[Space Jawa]

Something about traveling with a group - a human group - it just felt right to Lee Hinsu.

As much as he liked his Pokemon - as much as he was thankful for the bond he'd formed with Archer, as much as he looked forward to getting to know Crunchbite more - it didn't quite click the same way as human companionship. People he could actually carry on an intelligible conversation with.

Even as a comparative outsider next to the relationship that Kate & Jasper had, that they allowed him to join them in their travels felt right. The opportunity to get to know them, to become friends with them. Compared to the first leg of his journey, devoid of human interaction, it felt like a breath of fresh air.

It also turned out to be an extremely fortuitous turn of events. The bandits would have been trouble under most circumstances, but not having to handle the issue alone left him far more confident about solving it.

[X] Try to outwit them

While Lee felt a strong inclination to fight through the problem, his better senses suggested trying a different approach. In large part due to the fact that he himself wasn't well suited for such a fight. Had he been on his own, he would have had only a single viable Pokemon to fight the opposing group with. Even with numbers, the fact of the matter was that between Lee's own small inexperienced team and Kate's status as some kind of peril magnet, Jasper was the one who'd be left to manage the heavy lifting of any major conflicts the group encountered for the time being.

Lee was already a guest in the party, it wouldn't do for him to go arbitrarily picking fights that would effectively be on Jasper's behalf.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden had plans for training his pokemon now. Ideas to help them grow. He was going to get them attacking and turning on commands so he could coordinate them better. Uri could help too, adding in distractions to make it harder for them to listen to him!

It was a mess for a while. Sam and Oliver did fine listening to him when Uri wasn't butting in, but as soon as the abra joined in they quickly began to struggle to pinpoint what Jaden was asking them for. Sam wasn't going to let such a thing get in the way of course, figuring out how to lean on their bond so he could feel what Jaden was directing him on. It was unfortunate Oliver didn't have such a thing to help, but he was still enthusiastic at trying to attack whatever tree or rock he believed that Jaden was trying to direct them towards.

Sam has learned Smokescreen and Dragon Breath

Oliver has learned Covet and Headbutt

Jaden didn't just train, of course. They were here to have an adventure. So they played tag as well. Getting Uri involved was a little tricky. The abra liked watching, but running around was not something he did. He mainly floated, and napped on whoever would stay still long enough for him to do so. Jaden did figure that Uri was decent at using telekinesis, so maybe he could throw a ball around to join in? Uri was fascinated by the idea. He seemed to have trouble grasping the ball with his psychic powers. From what Uri was able to explain, it didn't have a presence like the others did. It was solid and real, but grasping the idea of it in the physical realm and moving it around was more tricky. He took a lot of breaks between playing tag along with everyone else. Uri was involved though, and that was what mattered.

The real trick was figuring out where to go next. Uri had been very interested when Jaden told him that he wanted to divine where some cool ruins for them to visit would be. Uri helped him focus when he looked in the river to get an image of what could be.

Jaden could glimpse an old sealed up tomb with something sleeping inside if he went to Route 120. But he could see on Mt Pyre ghosts drifting among graves. The real question was which would be better to chase.

[ ]Go west to Route 120 towards the old tomb
[ ]Take a boat south to Mt Pyre
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

"We're new recruits. We've been sent to help," Lee lied. The bandits looked at Lee in disbelief glancing at the group. Lee looked back to them for help.

Jasper sighed and stepped forward. Then he straightened up. Jasper is a tall guy. It's not something that was really obvious most of the time. He tended to slump, and had a fairly quiet presence. He was easy going too. Now however, he loomed. "Just recruited them," Jasper rasped. He let out his houndoom. The houndoom let out a low huff. It was easy to envision the houndoom losing control, ripping through and shredding the fire pokemon in front of them to shreds. An effect of the dark typing, one that would emphasize fear and danger when looking at a dark type that was feeling aggressive.

The bandits were clearly thinking things over, trying to decide if they had in fact tried to stop their own group, or if this was someone trying to lie their way past. Jasper cracked his fingers. The bandits backed down calling their pokemon back. "Fine. Admin Tabitha should be able to find something for you."

The trio headed further into the desert. "Well that's something. Do you think they're looking for the mirage ruins too?" Kate asked. She was very cheerfully unbothered by the whole encounter.

"Could be," Jasper said calmly. He had relaxed back into his easy going self as soon as the bandits were out of sight.

[ ]Look into the gang combing the desert
[ ]Focus on looking for the Mirage Ruins
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[X]Take a boat south to Mt Pyre
-[X]Congratulate Sam and Oliver on learning two new moves. Practice by having Oliver headbutt trees and then Sam tag leaves or branches that fall with dragon breath.
-[X]Alright team, we're going on a ghost hunting adventure! There's graves, and ghosts, and that's all I got actually. We're going to start getting up earlier each day, until we are ready to go exploring while it's still dark out. That way, we don't get stuck out all night if something happens.
-[X]In preparation for dealing with ghosts, we'll be telling ghost stories while we travel. I'll go first, with a story of a monstrous undead geodude that eats clowns and sleeps in a tomb not far from the Safari. He moves so fast that sometimes the only warning of his presence is when the clown shoes suddenly stop squeaking. Supposedly, the geodude sleeps on a bed of red noses. If you eat a cream pie close enough to route 120, you might be able to hear the sudden crunch of gravel as he investigates and woe for anyone hiding white makeup in their bag.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden is incredible, 10/10 ghost story. Absolutely something a 10/11 year old would come up with. His logic is also so full of holes you could swim through it, and I love it XD he'll do great with the spooks

 

[Space Jawa]

"Good job back there." Lee said, complimenting Jasper on his performance before turning back to the more immediate matter at hand.

"The Mirage Ruins are the most likely answer, unless there's anything else out here worth searching for while trying to keep people away."

Lee glanced back to the bandits briefly.

"We should look into those guys." Lee suggested. "Whatever they may be up to, it's clearly not good."

He didn't want impose upon the pair that had so generously allowed him to travel with them, but something about the encounter didn't sit well with him. Hopefully, he could convince Jasper & Kate that investigating the matter further was the better option.

Given Kate's undying cheerful state of bliss, it seemed mostly a matter of convincing Jasper without making him resentful about it.

"If they are looking for the Mirage Ruins, maybe they've learned something we can use to find the Ruins first." Lee posited. "If they're not, maybe we can learn what else in the desert is worth looking for and we'll have more to report to the Rangers or local Law Enforcement or whoever the next time we run into them so they can do a proper investigation."

"Besides, as you said, we don't have much to go on to find the ruins right now anyway, so how much of a detour could looking into them possibly be?" Lee finished, the last part said half-jokingly.

[X] Recommend looking into the gang combing the desert.
-[X] While you're at it, keep your eyes open for any signs of the Mirage Ruins.
--[X] The desert is part of the Trapinch natural habitat; every so often check to see if Crunchbite might be able to pick up on something to help the group navigate. Maybe he can locate some clue to where the group should be going?
-[X] Don't go out of your way to find Pokemon, but be alert for potential Pokemon encounters.
--[X] If you could by chance happen to cross paths with Vulpix, that would be ideal.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden was ecstatic about his pokemon learning new moves. He was quick to figure out how they could practice on the trees as they traveled. Oliver was cheerful about ramming into things and checking to see if anything dropped, while Sam simply seemed to delight on setting everything on fire with his dragon breath. There was a strong sense of rightness that he conveyed to Jaden when he used Dragon Breath, that this was how it was supposed to be. Jaden couldn't help feeling slightly enthralled with the flames himself, staring deeply into them. They started out almost multicolored before fading to a regular flame.

Jaden had what he considered a really good plan when they made it to the boat to go to Mt Pyre. They were going to go super early in the morning, when it was dark but with dawn coming towards them, instead of things getting darker and scarier as they went. Everyone also had to get into the right mindset of course, with ghost stories to tell.

Oliver's main contribution to the ghost stories was listening cheerfully to what everyone was sharing and curling up on Jaden's lap. Sam's story was slightly more coherent, mainly involving the idea of someone bigger and stronger than the group that would eat them. Uri's ghost stories were much more interesting. He shared how ghost pokemon could be born if a place had enough strong emotion in it, how if a dying pokemon or human clung strongly enough to life while dying they could come back as a spirit, transformed for a second life that left them driven to try and fulfill what they had lost in their death. Uri shared of how ghost pokemon could go somewhere that psychic pokemon could not sense or reach. How the brush of a ghost pokemon brought a feeling of death.

Mt Pyre rose tall and majestic above the water surrounding it. The boat pulled in to a cheerful if slightly solemn town, decorated with lilies and pale roses. Further ahead in the town the gates leading into the temple and graveyard could be seen. It attempted to be as imposing as the mountain itself, blessings of renewal and peace in times of grief carved into the posts. It lead into the mountain itself.

[ ]Look around the town
[ ]Head straight to the temple to look inside
[ ]Climb the summit
[ ]Investigate the graves
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Kate grinned at Lee's suggestion. "Full vigilante justice, huh? I could get behind that."

"Will be dangerous," Jasper pointed out quietly.

"We're out on a pokemon journey, it's always dangerous," Kate replied.

Jasper sighed. "Alright. Guess we're going hunting." Kate cheered. Her haunter let out a chilling laugh.

Jasper released his arbok to join walking with his houndoom as companions while they traveled. The intimidation factor would hopefully help against anyone in the gang in the desert that they would run into. They traveled for another hour before they spotted another pair of bandits that were searching out in the desert. They had a poochyena and a cacnea with them.

"Hey! How'd you get here?" one grumbled.

"New recruits." Jasper repeated their lie from earlier.

"Ah. Been in to see Tabitha yet?"

"Nope."

"It's the desert, ain't it? Impossible to keep track of where things are here," one bandit complained. "Don't know how we're gonna find these mirage ruins."

"But when we do, it'll be worth it," the second one said. He looked over at the trio. "The camp's set up couple hours west from here. Admin Tabitha should be coordinating the search from there. Good luck."

They turned and headed in the direction the bandits had indicated. It was hot. Crunchbite was fine, but Archer was obviously wilting under the heat, even with his attempts to keep up a cheerful outlook. When the camp finally came into sight it was obvious that it had been thrown together as something temporary that was being adjusted on the spot for a longer term stay. A bulky man stood at a table in the center of the camp pouring over paper and barking out orders to those running around.

[ ]Talk to Tabitha
[ ]Try to sneak around the camp and snoop
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

With Archer not taking to the heat well, Lee elected to return the Pokemon to the comfort of his Pokeball. It would ensure Archer wouldn't be out of it already if he was needed, and given that Rowlett weren't native to Hoenn it would help him stand out as less conspicuous.

Already, their act was yielding dividends, confirming that the bandits - whoever they were - were indeed looking for the Mirage Ruins. Lee didn't know how long they could keep up the act, but thus far nobody suspected anything.

[X] Keep the act going for now
-[X] Talk to Tabitha

 

[Tascion]

[X]Look around the town
-[X]Look for areas that people avoid. See what makes those areas interesting.
-[X]If Uri has teleport, does he need to visit the pokecenter in order to teleport to it in case of an emergency? If so, visit the pokecenter
[X]Investigate the graves
-[X]Tap the stones to look for secret passageways, like in videogames, but do it respectfully in case a ghost lives in one. Maybe knock politely, or ask permission first.

 

[Blacksheep]

"Here for our assignment," Lee told Admin Tabitha with all the assurance that he could summon.

The admin scribbled down some notes and passed a paper over. "Here. Report back if you find anything that looks like it might be ruins. And not interesting rocks. I have no interest in whatever rocks you find unless I can sell them." The admin glanced towards the trio only to be distracted by a crash in the camp. "Groudon curse it! What now?" He got up and headed towards the crash. "Don't forget to drink water!" he shouted over his shoulder as he ran.

Kate leaned over the desk Admin Tabitha had left examining the map. "They've covered a fair bit." It was clear the group's search was far more random than expected from how they were laying out their search, groups assigned where to look at complete random. "Do you think they know the ruins are only supposed to appear at dawn and dusk?"

[ ]Try to get as much information from the desk as possible
[ ]Head to your assigned search area
[ ]Head to a random area that's not searched yet
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden eagerly ran through the town. They were going to find so many cool things here! He started poking his nose into different corners of the town. Unfortunately as far as he could tell, the town at the dock was normal. It grew quiet as he drew near the mountain and the temple with its shrine, but he couldn't find any secrets. Well. There was a pretty cool looking path that lead away from the town and off to the mountain.

[ ]Take the little trail
[ ]Take the main path up the mountain
[ ]Enter the shrine
[ ]Check out the graveyard

 

[Tascion]

[X] Put the options to a vote amongst the team. If there's a tie, then Jaden will break the tie according to the first option that creates a win in the order of: little trail, graveyard, big trail, shrine

 

[Space Jawa]

"I hope not." Lee said with a hushed tone, trying to avoid drawing unwanted attention. "It may be the best edge we have on them for now."

It was also their best hope for finding the Mirage Ruins first, otherwise the group might have to contend with this mystery team finding it first and trying to swoop in after the fact to undermine whatever they were doing while they were in the process of doing it.

Which, admittedly, would still be better than trying to find the ruins on their own only for the bandits to find them and leave Jasper, Kate, and Lee trying to play catchup.

[X] Try to get as much information from the desk as possible without raising suspicion.
-[X] Continue to play along for now
--[X] Head to your assigned search area
--[X] Use Crunchbite to help with searching and navigation
--[X] The group should try to do its own separate mapping in addition to the mapping it's 'officially' doing for this mystery team.

[X] Don't go out of the way to look for Pokemon encounters, but keep a lookout for possible opportunities

 

[Blacksheep]

Sam wanted to charge straight up the mountain, while Uri and Oliver were much more interested in the more wandering path that Jaden had discovered. So up the small trail it was.

The path really did wander. It had to have been a long time since anyone had walked it, with parts completely overgrown with grass and plenty of rocks and ridges sticking up on the trail. It took effort to walk along it, especially as the trail began to lead higher up the mountain. Even more, there was some kind of weight. One that seemed to hide things away. Jaden was used to just sensing things, with Sam helping to quiet things enough for him to be able to ignore it. The odd silence was more unsettling, like whatever was up ahead was hiding.

[ ]Keep going
[ ]Turn around, it's spooky

 

[Blacksheep]

The trio took photos of the papers laid out on the desk before hurrying back out of the camp. Of course Kate tripped and almost knocked down one of the tents, but Jasper picked her up and carried her the rest of the way out.

"Guess we start searching now." Lee was practically vibrating with excitement at what they could discover. They would have to go over the papers later, maybe once they set up camp for the night. They traveled out, Crunchbite being released and asked to help keep them heading in the right direction towards where their area to search was set up.

They reached the area they'd been assigned to and started looking around to familiarize themselves with the place while they waited for the sun to set. As it began to come down, a tower did in fact shimmer into view. The architecture was unfamiliar, with odd curls on the edges and unown writing marking the entrance. A pair of vulpix came out of the tower and paused in surprise at the sight of the humans in front of where they denned.

[ ]Enter the tower
[ ]Talk to the vulpix
[ ]Try to catch the vulpix
[ ]Write-in

Really lucky rolls, on both vulpix appearing and the tower

 

[Space Jawa]

Normally, Lee Hinsu would have jumped at the opportunity for battle and possible capture.

However, Lee was pretty certain that they had in fact located the Mirage Ruins, and given the full circumstances - including the bandits who were looking for the place - Lee reasoned that it would probably be in their better interests to take a more practically diplomatic stance toward the Pokemon who were right there and probably knew a thing or two about it.

[X] Talk to the Vulpix
-[X] See if Jasper or Kate have any more familiarity with this kind of communication situation
--[X] See about using both Archer and Crunchbite to help if necessary (Archer might be better given that Lee has had more time to work out some kind of communication with the Rowlett)

 

[Tascion]

[X]Keep going
-[X]Spend a few minutes picking out landmarks for meeting up if we get separated, and bird calls or something for meeting back up if we're still close.
-[X]Use the buddy system from school field trips, if things get more scary. Entrust Sam with holding Uri's hand, because Sam is brave and the oldest member of the team. Jaden would carry Oliver, because Oliver isn't buy-pedal.
-[X]We shouldn't attack just because something is scary. However, if something tries to touch us, it's okay to make them back off.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden paused for a moment to look over his team. Things were getting tricky now. Oliver and Sam seemed as bold as ever, but Uri had a slight pause to himself, also picking up on the unsettling silence that sat heavy around them. Jaden took a moment to make sure that at the right signal Uri would grab them all to flee. Sam was not so keen on this plan, as he believed he could take on whatever was there. But Jaden said they'd leave if necessary, so they would.

Sam and Uri were partnered up, Sam leading at the front with his tail flame guiding the way, while Jaden held Oliver in his arms. Oliver absolutely loved this. He was very happy to snuggle up with his human and just coast away on the travel. Every once in a while he wriggled so he could poke his nose against Jaden and encourage more petting. It was very comforting to experience.

Things got thicker as they kept on, until they reached a cave with an absol lounging in front of it. It looked down on the group. Inside the cave unearthly chittering noises could be heard. The absol got up and stepped forward. Sam immediately puffed up and snapped a challenge at the absol, making it sit down again. It looked over the group thoughtfully.

[ ]Challenge the absol
[ ]Try to sneak past it
[ ]Flee
[ ]Ask the absol what is going on
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Kate squealed and grabbed one of her pokeballs. For a moment Lee feared all was lost, that she was going to engage in a battle and cause them to lose the ruins. Instead she released a vulpix. "Look Enat!" She promptly charged forward to greet the wild vulpix. They did not look very impressed or pleased by a human charging at them, but from the way Jasper and her pokemon reacted, this was very much a normal reaction for her towards pokemon.

Her haunter followed after her, keeping her safe as the wild vulpix found themselves being fed and petted. It was clear they were more than a touch unnerved by the aggressively friendly girl that was snuggling up to them, but didn't know what to do about it when there was a haunter right behind her watching to make sure they didn't hurt his human.

"Can you ask them about the ruins? What's inside, if we'll be attacked?" Lee asked.

Kate nodded and quickly repeated the question. Her own vulpix and her haunter repeated it again to the wild vulpix. They conferred for a bit, before managing to escape Kate thanks to Enat scrambling up into her arms instead, and spoke back. Her pokemon listened before looking back. "It's safe, it's mainly empty besides a room that they can just squeeze into with a sleeping golem. They like it cause it's normally quiet and safe to live in."

"So they're fine with us going in?"

"As long as we're out the next day, yeah," Kate said.

"The next day?" Jasper asked.

"Can't go in or out when it isn't visible," Kate explained.

[ ]Make preparations to enter it tomorrow at dawn
[ ]Enter it now
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[X]Ask the absol what is going on
-[X]Offer it a pokeberry

A straightforward next step.
I assume that if Jaden knows the name of a pokemon, I can check the pokedex with an expectation of decent accuracy?

 

[Space Jawa]

Thoughts passed through Lee's head, until it was like a lightbulb went off.

"We can use this." He suggested.

"Those bandits still think we're working for them and expecting us to report back to them." Lee explained. "We obviously can't tell them we've found it, but if we don't report back they're going to get suspicious. Either they'll come looking to find out what happened to us, or suspect that maybe we weren't who we said we are. Either option leads them to this tower."

"I think we should pretend to keep searching this area, use the time to study that information we have so we know what we're up against, then we can go back, report that we didn't find anything here, get assigned to one or two other areas, and then when we feel good about leading them away from this place we can sneak back here and be ready to enter when it first appears."

"If we play things right, we might just be able to throw off their search enough to buy time to both search the Ruins and report these guys to the authorities before those bandits can locate it for whatever their nefarious plan is."

[X] Plan Suggestion
-[X] Pretend to search the rest of the area, but use the time to instead study information about the bandits.
--[X] When ready, return to the bandits and report that nothing of value was found in this area.
--[X] Continue to pretend to work for the bandits a little longer and "search" other areas.
---[X] As long as you're "Searching" the other areas, keep an eye open for potential points or items of interest or possible Pokemon encounters.
--[X] Once group is satisfied that the bandit's search is disrupted enough and it will take them time to figure out what's going on, sneak back to the Mirage Ruins and prepare to enter as soon as they appear.