WHO PUT THE CHARIZARD IN CHARGE OF SCUBA DIVING

[rivalkidneypunch]

Who: Zero, Knuckles, Char, Riwane, Jolt, Connor (possibly Melia? Chiyo?? If I've missed someone, let me know!)
What: LAKE EXPLORATION. Why's the water rising? What's down there?!
Where: The lake, of course
When: Late afternoon, July 9
Warnings: Mysterious watery bullshit, probably

It had taken a little looking to get his hands on some Devon Co. scuba gear, but Char, being Char, had of course come through in the end. Char was much more familiar with Silph Co.'s stuff, but he had to admit, this would work nicely enough: a pair of goggles and a small, portable breathing apparatus, not bad. He couldn't say that he felt all that much more at easy about this idea, though -- Charizards, water, still not great friends.

Even so, he arrived at the lake, a messenger bag full of the scuba gear he'd promised hanging off one shoulder. Jolt and Riwane should have been arriving any second now, and considering how much attention the rising water levels had gotten, they probably wouldn't be the only ones.

Comments

[rivalthunderbolts]

Any second now? Try sooner than that.

"Think you got enough scuba gear there?" Jolt asked, looking over the bag of gear he'd packed along.

[blazebottom]

Didn't take Riwane that much longer to swoop on down.

"I'm readyyyyyy!" she cheered, a big grin on her face.

[mohawk_tomahawk]

Connor arrived a little bit later, presumably after a few others arrived. He'd been elsewhere, namely the port. He was about to embark elsewhere.

Here he was.

[lovesclearlakes]

Chiyo had been at the lake earlier in the day, sticking to the surface of the water to make sure things were still safe for diving. The last thing anyone -- particularly her firey-tailed friends -- needed were last minute watery surprise and dangers. The waters hadn't been giving her the safest of vibes lately either, so she didn't completely approve of this scuba expedition. But, at the very least, it was being conducted with a large and seemingly reliable group, so things may very well turn out okay.

So, as soon as she saw people approaching, especially her sister, she ran over to them across the lake and gave them a Poke-versed greeting while sticking to Riwane's side.

[awakeningwill]

Who are all these people and why are they suddenly at the lake.

Because there was a robot and an echidna in a bubble shield who were already getting in the water when all these Pokemon and that terribly skilled janitor showed up. Zero muttered, "Wait," at Knuckles and signaled him to stop as he took in the sudden crowd. There was scuba gear, so presumably they were prepared for the exact same objectives as them. But man was Zero not enthused about having to look out for all these air-breathing people.

The reploid didn't say anything, but he did glance down at Knuckles by way of asking, are these all your friends? Because the last time he asked for your help with a mission, you brought a lot of rowdy friends.

[monotreme_101]

Uh, he only meant to bring one rowdy friend. You know how these things go, though.

He caught Zero's look and shook his head. He actually knew exactly None of these people. At all. Some of these people were On Fire and he was kind of unsure how that was going to do anyone any favors considering... you know. Lake. Water.

"You guys checkin' out the lake too?" he called to the assembling group from his position, which was roughly chest deep in the water. Chest deep for him. So like... mid thigh deep for most everyone else.

[rivalkidneypunch]

Not a big surprise that they hadn't been the only ones worried about the lake. Probably all a crew a lot better suited to diving than Char, too -- he sorta kinda debated trying to pass this off to them and maybe just going out for a burger or something.

But no, that would be Wimping Out. Charizards do not Wimp Out. "I got enough for everyone, I think... that hamster-ball you're in let you breathe underwater or something, Knux?" Char asked, using his name out of habit despite this being the first time they'd spoken since... well, since he'd gotten here.

Either way, he fished out the goggles and rebreathers, passing them out to Jolt and Riwane. He offered a set Connor's direction, too -- just in case. "Well, I got no complaints if there's gonna be a group of us. If there's some kinda Hell Kraken down there, it can go after you guys first."

[rivalthunderbolts]

"Good stuff, bro," Jolt replied, taking the equipment passed to him. He was already in swim shorts and ready to dive. He wasn't about to sit at the sidelines and let others handle things for him. It wasn't his nature. "If nothing else, at least we're gonna get a nice swim!"

[monotreme_101]

"Uh... yeah. It does."

'Knux' was something only a few people called him, and they were generally his friends. Sonic, Tails, maybe Amy on occasion. Still, this was hardly his first rodeo - guy probably knew the Other Him. Weird they hadn't run into each other before now. Anyway.

"You folks with fire on your tails gonna be able to go down there with those?" he asked, pointing at the scuba gear. "You want me to, I can go back to the stadium storage closet and see if there's any more shields?"

[awakeningwill]

"They wouldn't have prepared for the mission themselves if they couldn't," Zero pointed out in his usual deadpan. Not that he knew a blessed thing about how Pokemon worked, mind you - this was a reploid who could equip a flame chip and shoot fireballs underwater, so his elemental perceptions were a bit skewed. But having to deal with a crowd made him kind of impatient to get going.

All the air-breathers could just use whatever apparatus they were most familiar with. Zero had already begrudgingly accepted the fact that he couldn't stop anyone with enough motivation from joining up on what should've been a low key investigation. Surely if they wanted to see the mission through, then they knew what they were getting into...

[blazebottom]

"Whoa! Sure got crowded quick huh? Ain't a bad thing though! If there's somethin' down there that we need ta handle, the more the better ain't it?" she smiled and greeted everyone! Especially her sister who she pulled into a big hug and planted a smooch on her cheek. "Hey there pretty lady! Glad ta have ya with me here." she chuckled.

Looking over to Char, she smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Alrite! Time ta git these things on!" she put her bag to the side and took off her shirt and jeans, now wearing more adequate wetsuit made for diving and started to equip the diving gear.

[rivalkidneypunch]

"It ain't exactly gonna be pleasant, if that's what you mean," Char grumbled, still continuing to not look forward to this in the least. He, frankly, expected it to hurt, but he had his pride and that was that. "Ain't something you'd expect a Charmander to try and survive, but we're grown-ass Charizards, and these ain't ordinary fires."

Having declared that much, he too pried off his hoodie and shirt, leaving him down to shorts. On went the diving gear. "We made up our mind we're all goin', so no point puttin' it off. Let's get this over with."

[monotreme_101]

"Hm. Alright."

Hey, if they were OK with it, he sure wasn't going to argue with them. There was way too much about the people here he didn't get and he didn't want to be a burr. Still. He'd keep an eye out. If it looked like trouble, he could probably heave them back out onto shore. Maybe. Possibly.

"Well, I'm ready when you guys are." he said, starting to walk out towards deeper water again. There was green grass under his feet, now. The kind that usually didn't grow under water. This thing really WAS rising, wasn't it?

[mohawk_tomahawk]

Connor was ready when he arrived here. He had no idea he was going to see a lot more familiar faces but that made it easier for him.

He knew most of these people knew what they were doing. People were explaining risks and Connor was soon simply looking into the lake and spotting the area.

He was saying very little. Until Knuckles spoke.

"It is important we leave no stone unturned," Connor said as he went into the lake. He didn't wear any swim gear, but he did remove the top layer of his robes.

[birdlady]

"Ah, please don't chew on that!" Came a new voice, slightly panicked.

Melia had heard the crowd gathering at the lake, but as she was there for a different reason, she had paid them no mind, until now that they were wading into the water. It was then that she noticed one of the chao she had been checking up on had wandered away and had found a new chew toy in the form of that expensive looking diving equipment. She may have accidentally shoved somebody out of the way in her rush to get the little critter before he did any damage to it.

"I'm... I'm so sorry!" She gasped, turning beet red. "I was trying to keep an eye on them, but it seems this little one was a bit curious about your diving trip."

[awakeningwill]

"It's not a trip, it's a mission," growled Zero, his exasperation starting to bleed through. This was seriously just like the Egg Carrier all over again, wasn't it. Ugh, fine.

He snapped at the ostentatiously dressed girl, "If you're not prepared, then stay out of it," before running into the lake. Clunk clunk splash, there go the metal robot.

[birdlady]

R U D E RUDE. Melia is too dumbfounded to reply while Angry Robot Man splashes away, instead opting to yank the chao up into her arms (...gently).

"Well!" She finally huffed. "Maybe I'm not part of your special mission, buy you're not the only ones concerned with the lake water."

She bounced the chao in her arms and looked away in a huff. That ought to do it.

[blazebottom]

Riwane kind of smiled apologetically and waved. "Don't mind 'im, things are jus' a bit outta place rite now. I'm sure erryone's concerned an' we all appreciate erryone 'elping!"

With that though, she finished putting on her gear and waved one last time before following into the water.

[rivalkidneypunch]

"I'm with... whoever the hell that was," Char agreed, not actually having any idea what Zero's name was or anything but always continuing to be on board with just getting shit over with. Niceness and cooperation with the team never had been specialties of his. One of the actually-civil folks could handle the teamwork, he'd handle the getting shit done

He, however, managed to be far less graceful of a swimmer than Riwane. His tail immediately began hissing and spitting the second it hit the water, and it was with a great deal of muffled swears and bubbling that he dipped down beneath the waves.

[monotreme_101]

....man. There was some Deja-vu for you. Chao, a young girl, rising water-slash-the threat of a watery grave.

"Hey! Girl!" he said, pointing a gloved mitten-finger at Melia. "Take good care of those Chao! If they get hurt, bad things can happen!"

He'd hate to see FDC go down like Station Square.

Though, Chaos couldn't be in this lake, right? And even if he showed up here, no Chaos Emeralds meant no perfect form. So things should be fine.

....still. He couldn't help but worry as he started walking deeper into the water, following his Robot Pal and the two Fire Tails.

[rivalthunderbolts]

Well, Jolt wasn't about to stand by and let himself get shown up by the girl with the ponytail, Knuckles, or the two firetails.

"Here goes nothing!" he declared, hopping into the lake as well, diving in after his friends.

[blazebottom]

For a flamebutt, this girl almost looked at home in the water! Swimming fairly gracefully and using all her appendages to glide through the lake. Those who knew her well knew she had a deadly fascination for water and she practices her endurance and swim often.

That said, she was following closely those who have ventured in first, with the occasional exploring out of curiosity.

[monotreme_101]

Knuckles was plenty used to running around under water in one of these shields. His feet didn't leave the lake bottom as he sprinted to catch up with Zero.

The water was a little murky, waves of silt having been stirred up by... something. Not the bright, clear lake water he was used to seeing down here the few other times he'd gone swimming in the school lake.

"...So, about that whole 'if there needs to be combat, let me take care of it' bit." Knuckles said to the reploid. "I think we better rethink that considering now I'm not the only guy who needs to breathe down here and I got the added advantage of not bein' a creature who's supposed to be on fire."

He had no idea how dependent on their tail flames Charizards were, of course. He didn't take Pokémon studies as a class. But his general take on nature was there was a reason for pretty much everything it did. If something was born On Fire, it probably needed to stay On Fire.

[awakeningwill]

"Hrmgh," was the sound of Zero's decidedly displeased grumble. This was officially too many people for him to control and, if it came to it, protect on his own. Such was the problem of people insisting to investigate in huge, unorganized groups instead of leaving it to a smaller squad. He didn't really have a choice but to reconsider the plan, now.

"If it's too much for everyone to handle, then I'll distract it while the others get to safety." Probably not a plan B that Knuckles would be all that satisfied with either, but when Zero didn't have the limitation of needing to breathe, then he had the luxury of taking bigger risks.

With the water so cloudy, and the light form above growing further and further away as they ran deeper into the lake, Zero began to charge his weapons, letting the energy's glow in his helmet light the way.

[rivalkidneypunch]

Char, meanwhile, was having a lot less fun than everyone else present. Even with a steady supply of air, thanks to the Devon scuba gear, his soul-flame still felt painfully smothered, dimmer than usual in this extremely hostile environment. It, at least, provided a beacon in this cloudy, piss-awful water.

For whatever good that did, anyway. He could see whats-his-face's... forehead lightbulb? Whatever that was. Riwane's tail, too, shone through the murk and the darkness, so at least there wasn't much chance of getting separated.

Though... bright beacons all around in their little group... shouldn't they have been attracting fish? That was what happened with Starmies and Chinchous, anyway. If there was something down there... surely it was bound to notice a bunch of big bright lights coming into its turf?