CH78 (600), Disaster Relief (8)
Jean/Espeon's evolution and subsequent breakthrough were certainly a great way to tie up a week, but it seemed that the month had more in store for me since week 3 did not pass quietly either. On Giratiday, an hour into my shift, I suddenly received a transfer order that urged me to head to the location in the mail, and seeing the reaction of my fellow "newbies", I knew I was not the only one who had received this order.
I offered the 3 newbies working with me to take them along, and after they agreed, I had Horus/Xatu take us to the location as fast as possible. Bubble Town was a small town on the eastern coast that was ravaged by an attack from the sea, and this was the first time since I joined the Disaster Relief Bureau that I got assigned to a "fresh" post-tide area. The other 3 confirmed that it was a first for them as well.
When we made it there the attack had ended just an hour before, so we got to witness the aftermath as "fresh" as possible, and seeing how many "newbies" were arriving with every passing minute, I was pretty certain that this was on purpose on the part of the disaster relief bureau. It appeared that they thought that the newbies were finally ready to see some more serious disasters caused by Pokemon.
The missions we were assigned so far had been a bit vanilla, at least in my experience, and I had been wondering if they would ever hand out some "heavy" missions. Considering the body part I saw sticking out of one of the destroyed houses, I had my answer, and from the gasps I was hearing beside me, some others had noticed the limb as well. Well, that or they had finally noticed the various blood traces/stains across the street.
I had to say that I felt a bit uncomfortable with the picture I was seeing despite having gotten somewhat used to blood, destruction, and death, but frankly, I was okay with feeling a bit uncomfortable. I honestly did not look forward to the day I saw something like this and felt absolutely nothing.
Yet, in my opinion, the opposite was not good as well, if not worse, and there were actually two people who had to empty their stomachs, which was a surprise for me since I would have thought that the military, hospital, and PokeCenter phase would have hardened their wills/stomachs a bit, but 2 out of 50ish was already good enough I guess.
Regardless, less than 3 minutes after our arrival, a superior spoke up and told us that he had sent us our assignments. He urged everyone to start immediately since every minute counted, before heading in my direction. He stopped in front of me and asked if I was okay with employing my Pokemon to help out, and I agreed.
My Pokemon once more split up, those capable of healing helped heal the injured, while those with perception abilities looked for any survivors. The rest helped with the "cleaning" efforts, while some stayed on the lookout, just in case some of the Pokemon that managed to flee decided to return. All in all, it was a rather tragic picture, and all newbies were in a somber mood, at least as far as I could see.
Due to the situation at hand we only stopped working/helping at around 9 p.m., and even then there was a new batch of workers that worked throughout the night to search for any survivors. It took until midday of Dialday for the perception teams to finish surveying the whole town without missing any spot, and by the end of the survey, 226 survivors had been rescued from beneath the wreckages.
Unfortunately, we also had a tentative number of casualties that had been shared with us, which was as high as 891 for now, which together with the 226 rescued people, who had suffered various degrees of injuries, was close to 10% of the town's total population. It was possible and even likely that some more bodies would come to light as the wreckage got cleared, so that number was likely to grow.
Anyway, after the survey mission was complete, the "cleaning" one picked up its speed a bit. We were even asked to keep working on Kyoday, which was usually one of our days off. It was a voluntary thing, but as far as I knew, no one, including me, had declined the request. I actually got some good news that day from none other than Ignis/Gyarados, who advanced to the (high) dark gold stage while helping guard the coast with the rest of the Water Squad.
Obviously, celebrating within the town proper was not appropriate given the circumstances, but we made sure to celebrate Ignis' success after returning to Utopia that evening. The next day was my sole day off for this week, and as usual, we held our routine Grouday checkup session after breakfast. We pretty much relaxed the whole day and I had to say that after a week in such an atmosphere, we all needed that.
Still, we were back to work on Arcday, and I/we stayed in Bubble Town until Dialday. It was only at the end of that day that I received a notification that I would be given a new assignment on Arcday, which also happened to be the start of my final week with the Disaster Relief Bureau. By this point, the clearing work was done as well, and the next step would have been the reconstruction of the town and the re-establishment of the various town facilities.
From what I managed to get from the other newbies, they had all received the same notification, so it seemed like the higher-ups had decided that the "experience" had gone on for long enough and that it would be better to transfer us to another site. I was inclined to agree with them since I had seen the "transformation" of my fellow newbies during these 1.5 weeks.
They went from their initial gloomy/sad attitude after their arrival and the handling of the deceased to a resolute one throughout their time at work. Their hard work in the "cleaning" of the town helped them settle down, and the moral support from the seniors, some of whom I suspected to be actual therapists, certainly helped as well.
Anyway, we all left the town and went our separate ways, knowing full well that most of us would be assigned different tasks come Arcday. I chose to head to Hope Town since I was planning to check up on the orphanage tomorrow.
Upon arrival in Hope Town, I first entered Utopia for dinner before leaving and going out to our backyard. I checked up on our little cemetery and cleaned up the place a bit. Only after making sure that Sunny/Vileplume as well as Lono/Lombre's resting places were clean did I return to Utopia and spend the rest of the night with my Pokemon.
The next morning after breakfast, I left Utopia and made my way to my orphanage. I greeted Penny as well as Leon and asked them how it was going. Penny gave me a rundown and I took a look at some of the reports/statements she gave me. After confirming that everything was fine, we left Penny's office and joined the kids who had just started coming down.
I spent nearly the whole day at the orphanage and only left after helping clean up after dinner. The kids were sad to see me leave since I allowed them to "play" with my Pokemon, but they quickly cheered up after Penny reminded them that they were going to the Hope Town Petting Zoo tomorrow.
The rest of the evening was spent with my Pokemon, and upon their request, I put up an earth puppet battle show for them. The next morning we did our usual checkup routine following breakfast, and once it was the Eevee Squad's turn, I saw something delightful. It appeared that after Borr/Eevee and Jean, Ferrus/Eevee had completed his limit-breaking phase as well.
I naturally told him that he was ready for his breakthrough to the silver stage, but like everyone else, he had to wait until I was done with the check-up session first. Hestia/Eevee, whose turn was after Ferrus was rather excited when I checked her out, but unfortunately for her, I had to tell her that she was still missing the final step, though I made sure to assure her that it would be her turn soon enough as long as she kept up her training.
Anyway, I finished everyone's check-ups before announcing Ferrus' upcoming breakthrough over Utopia FM, and once I had done that, we made our way to the Eevee Squad's place. We waited a bit for everyone to arrive, before Fortuna/Togekiss, the whole Eevee Squad, which included Nyx/Umbreon as well as Jean/Espeon, and I went up to Ferrus to hug him.
Well, Fortuna and I hugged him, while the Eevee Squad let him enjoy his turn at being dog-piled. We obviously did not forget to wish him good luck before joining the others in the circle around him, and once we had taken our position I told Ferrus to go ahead with his breakthrough. The whole thing ended smoothly, and soon enough Ferrus' (mid) silver undulations spread out.
The Eevee Squad rushed out as soon as the process was over, and I just followed after them. I fished out Ferrus from the Eevee(lution) pile he was buried under and hugged him while congratulating him on reaching the silver stage before I returned him to his fellow Eevee Squad members with a laugh, though I did not forget to open his status sheet before that.
So, while Ferrus dealt with his fellow squad members and the others who had joined us by now, I took a look at his new/updated status.
'Name: Ferrus
Species: Eevee
Gender: Male
Age: 6+ years
-
Type: Normal
Potential: Purple (72.78%)*
{Light Purple (11.22%) -> (12.78%) -> Purple (72.78%)}'
Looking at his potential, I was confident in helping him attain deep purple potential during his evolution to Ferreon. A mere 28% was no problem at all since I was confident in helping him gain a bonus of around 50% through the supplements I had prepared, maybe more if he was lucky. Sadly, the sections after that until the parameter one were unchanged.
'Parameters:
Stage: Silver Stage (mid)*
Vitality: E
Strength: E
Endurance: F
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: F
Energy Density: E'
His parameter spreadsheet was pretty average, and it would take some time for Ferrus to reach the (high) silver stage, but this came as no surprise, so I simply continued looking at the rest of his status sheet. While looking at his type relations, I decided to let Ferrus start on his fighting type resistance since Ferreon would retain that particular weakness as a pure steel type.
That together with his regular training would cost some time he would have spent on his moves, but that was fine for now since he already had a decent enough move set right now, which unlike Borr and Jean's move pool was more focused on his physical moves since Ferreon was more of a physical specialist.
'Techniques:
-
Beginner:
Star Shield (C, new)
-
Proficient:
Take Down (+), Double Edge (+)
-
Advanced:
Quick Attack (+), Double Kick (+), Work Up (+), Swift (+)
-
Combos/Custom:
Star Shield (Beginner)'
Anyway, I shared everything I learned with Ferrus as well as the others, before pulling out the usual celebration stuff. The party that followed went on until close to midnight, and after the work we did the last few days, we certainly deserved to have some fun.
The next morning started off my final week with the Disaster Relief Bureau and as previously announced, I got assigned to a new site, though maybe it was because of the previous mission, the new one(s) was/were pretty mild, with minimal loss of life. Most simply had some injured people, and I had to stay for none of the missions for more than a day before I was assigned to a new one.
Still, eventually, Dialday arrived, and I managed to complete my disaster relief phase. On Arcday my Ranger phase would start, but before that, I still had the weekend ahead of me. I spent Kyoday inside Utopia with my Pokemon and the same was true for for Grouday as well, which happened to be the last day of the month.
I did get some pleasant news on Grouday, more specifically during our check-up routine. Hestia/Eevee had followed the footsteps of her companions and managed to complete her limit-breaking phase. Since Hestia wanted to evolve into a Flareon, she, just like Borr and Ferrus, had to wait until the (high) silver stage for her evolution as well.
That was why she only went through with her breakthrough once I had finished the check-up session. Her breakthrough went just as smoothly as Ferrus' last week, and I honestly wondered if all Eevee were saving their luck for their evolution.
Still, ignoring the lack of any extra light, I followed after the Eevee squad members who had once again rushed ahead of me. I levitated Hestia out of the Eevee pile and took her in my arms before I congratulated her. I then slowly let down so that the others could congratulate her as well, while I checked her new/updated status sheet.
'Name: Hestia
Species: Eevee
Gender: Female
Age: 6+ years
-
Type: Normal
Potential: Purple (68.73%)*
{Light Purple (6.96%) -> (8.73%) -> Purple (68.73%)}'
Her new potential was a bit behind Ferrus' potential percentage-wise, but just like with him, I was confident that I could help her attain deep purple potential during her evolution as well. The lack of changes in the next few sections came as no surprise, and looking at her parameter section, I saw that it was identical to Ferrus's parameter sheet.
'Parameters:
Stage: Silver Stage (mid)*
Vitality: E
Strength: E
Endurance: F
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: F
Energy Density: E'
Unlike Ferus, Hestia could ignore her fighting-type weakness since it would vanish upon her breakthrough, though in return she could focus more on her moves. She had/required a more balanced move pool due to Flareon being good with both physical and energy moves.
'Techniques:
-
Proficient:
Take Down (+), Double Edge (+), Star Shield (C, new)
-
Advanced:
Quick Attack (+), Swift (+), Body Slam (+), Yawn (+)
-
Combos/Custom:
Star Shield (Proficient)'
Anyway, I shared what learned with Hestia and the others before we celebrated her successful breakthrough, and I had to say that this was a pretty great way to conclude a month.
---------------------
---------------------
This part is purely to display Ferrus and Hestia's status sheets. Neither of these count toward the word count.
'Name: Ferrus
Species: Eevee
Gender: Male
Age: 6+ years
-
Type: Normal
Potential: Purple (72.78%)
Modifiers: None
Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability
Talents: None
Affinities: Normal
-
Bond: Mikail (weak)
Quirk: None
----
Parameters:
Stage: Silver Stage (mid)
Vitality: E
Strength: E
Endurance: F
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: F
Energy Density: E
----
Immunity:
Ghost
-
Resistance:
None
-
Weaknesses:
Fighting (Minor)
-
Standardized:
None
----
Condition: Healthy, Excited, Pleased
----
Masteries:
Normal E. Manipulation (Advanced)
----
Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
N/A
-
Novice:
N/A
-
Beginner:
Baby Doll Eyes, Charm, Last Resort, Mimic, Trump Card, Stored Power, Star Shield (C)
-
Proficient:
Growl, Helping Hand, Tackle, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, Refresh, Bite, Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Dig, Rest, Protect, Endure, Shadow Ball, Hyper Voice, Take Down, Double Edge
-
Advanced:
Copycat, Iron Tail, Body Slam, Quick Attack, Double Kick, Work Up, Swift
-
Mastered:
None
-
Combos/Custom:
Star Shield (Beginner)'
---------------------
'Name: Hestia
Species: Eevee
Gender: Female
Age: 6+ years
-
Type: Normal
Potential: Purple (68.73%)
Modifiers: None
Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability
Talents: None
Affinities: Normal
-
Bond: Mikail (weak)
Quirk: None
----
Parameters:
Stage: Silver Stage (mid)
Vitality: E
Strength: E
Endurance: F
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: F
Energy Density: E
----
Immunity:
Ghost
-
Resistance:
None
-
Weaknesses:
Fighting (Minor)
-
Standardized:
None
----
Condition: Healthy, Excited, Happy
----
Masteries:
Normal E. Manipulation (Advanced)
----
Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
N/A
-
Novice:
N/A
-
Beginner:
Last Resort, Mimic, Trump Card
-
Proficient:
Growl, Helping Hand, Tackle, Tail Whip, Baby Doll Eyes, Sand Attack, Double Kick, Refresh, Bite, Baton Pass, Charm, Calm Mind, Dig, Rest, Protect, Endure, Iron Tail, Shadow Ball, Stored Power, Hyper Voice, Work Up, Take Down, Double Edge, Star Shield (C)
-
Advanced:
Copycat, Quick Attack, Swift, Body Slam, Yawn
-
Mastered:
None
-
Combos/Custom:
Star Shield (Proficient)'
-----------------------------
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it. Those that don't, I wish a wonderful weekendđ
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