Research 006: Hoopa, Portals, SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE [HOOPA EVEN]

"The what now-?" Click.

The boy stared at his PokeNav blankly, the name of his ever unreadable friend flashing on the screen a couple more times before it shut off. Pocketing the device, the boy took a moment to exhale slowly, reaching for the bridge of his nose and rubbing at his knotted brows. 

He then sighed.

He slowly turned his gaze back to the mass of bodies on the courtyard, pairs of two of masters and students alike sparring ferociously under the burning sun. 

His job was just beginning, but at least these days, he could gaze upon the courtyard without feeling like retching at the sight. Turning his gaze towards his resting sparring partner, he gave the man a nod, before motioning him to walk with him, moving to walk back inside the Jade Palace Gym.

---

"If I'm not back within three days, just assume I ran into some minor difficulties." Said the boy to the old man as the shoji door swung open and he walked out of his chambers, his previous garb discarded for less traditional threads.

The elder man nodded at the boy's words, keeping his gaze carefully on the boy's own and keeping any outward reaction to his current appearance to himself.

Even on a good day and with his full Grand Master garb on, he didn't really meet anyone's image of what a fighting type gym's leader would look like. With his straw hat on his back and his more casual trainer gear on, he looked damn near ordinary. 

Well, as ordinary as he could manage, all things considered.

"Well, gotta go babysit a du-" The boy almost bit his tongue, clearing his throat. "A-hem. A fool. I'll see you soon." He said as they descended through the stairs of the palace, his gaze looking down over the courtyard as they passed by a large window, before he turned away.

He left through one of the back entrances of the gym, unseen by masters, students and citizens alike; save for one. 

There was a lot of ground to cover if he was to make it to Vega City before Dokuro got it in his head that he could reprimand him for being late. He glanced over his shoulders as he heard the sound of steps rushing towards him, recognizing the silhouette approaching him hastily easily enough.

"I don't remember telling you to stop sparring." He said sternly as Mienfoo stumbled to a stop behind him, hastily bringing her palms together before bowing towards him. The boy did not return it immediately, staring her down for a couple of seconds before sighing again, turning to face her and bowing back.

"There's no guaranty there'll be any fighting you know; and there'll definitely not be any time for any real training. You'll probably be better off just staying here and training." He informed her as he resumed moving, his student falling in line besides him, his words not deterring her in the least. 

"Well, since you insist."

---

It would be sometime before he arrived to Vega City; he didn't have any pokemon capable of transporting him for any extended period of time; at least, not any that could do so at any considerable speed. For the moment however, he was on his way at least.

The portal leads to a terrifying hellscape covered with thick, dense forests. The only light is a full moon shining bright in a cloudless, starry sky. Fog sweeps through the area; there's some sort of an ominous energy in the air. You can't help but feel anxious. Pokemon are here, except it's hard to tell if they are truly Pokemon to begin with. They see you as prey, and they will pursue you with a relentless hunger. Fear drives them and makes them stronger; fear also warps your perceptions and makes you descend further into madness. There's a way to get out: defeat the twisted horrors and shatter this realm's control over you.

However, it's much easier said than done.

It was a long trip, to say the least. Doug was certainly not looking forward for to the trip back, so he hoped whatever the heck it was that Dokuro had planned would be worth it.

Except that his friend had simply told him to 'come to Vega City'. A massive, sprawling metropolis filled to the brim with people and shit to do.

"God... Damn it, Dokuro."

---

(Before jumping into the Portal like a bunch of idiots)
 
After having returned his student to her pokeball to keep himself from losing track of her, and after sending lot of frustrated texts to Dokuro, the boy finally found his increasingly vexing friend, walking up to the shorter youth with an air of tired irritation to him, his face set into a frustrated grimace.

"Yo." He almost growled, before proceeding to try and make a mess of Dokuro's hair by headlocking and nooging the hell out of him. "Could have at least sent me a GPS location, asshole!" Growled the boy, finding there was little catharsis in physicality no matter how it went, sadly.

"This better be good; I don't think I need to tell you that I was nowhere near this place when you called." He mentioned as he stood back from his friend, arms akimbo at his waist. 

The portal near where his friend had chosen to safely stand certainly seemed interesting; it reminded him of the ones made by Hoopa back when shit had hit the fan. He wasn't sure that was a good thing.

Turning away from his friend and the portal, the youth brought his gaze to the only other person (of importance) in the area; he was standing close by, so it seemed like he was tagging along with the researcher.

His first impression was that he was a tall morph with pretty rad fur color. 

"Yo; I'm Doug. Cool fur." He said while raising a hand in salute, nodding at the tall morph. "You hanging out with Purple here? Is that portal over there supposed what we are researching today?"

---

(After jumping into the portal like a bunch of idiots.)

"I can't believe I actually came into this portal willingly." It would be a nice thing to write on his stone slab. 'Willingly walked into his death'. His mother would spend the entire service face palming herself repeatedly.

Lo and behold, he had been right to think checking it out was a bad idea; hellscape galore, not to mention a forest that was so incredibly eldritch and alien the boy couldn't help but feel put off by it, his familiarity with regular forest biomes everything he saw get worse by the minute.

Unfortunately, a glance over his shoulder informed him that their exit was no longer available.

How typical.

"Oh boy." He grumbled under his breath, tugging at the tall collar of his top before beginning to walk forward. "Talk's cheap, purple. Less posturing, more walking." Was his flat reply to Dokuro's attempts to rile him up. 

There was something in the air that just made the entire atmosphere of the place feel unwelcoming and all around uncomfortable; Doug wasn't sure if he should regret heeding his friend's call or be glad he was here to drag his ass out of this mess before it killed him.

"I damn hope there's treasure or something 'round here..." Grumbled the boy anxiously. "Make the trip to literal hell worth it."

---