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PKMN-CrescentCavern

February 2020 event, part 1.
Laurel takes some fuzzy Pokemon north in search of a newly-discovered Blood Moon camp.

Story:

Morgan wouldn't have normally been Laurel's first choice for a steed to travel into the snowy north, but when the message had come through about the newly discovered Blood Moon camp, she'd had to get a team together quickly, and he had been the only one available. Shunned from the Mareep herd for a third time this week, the Girafarig cross had been all alone on the plains, and when Laurel had come running over to find someone to carry her, he had been so excited that she just hadn't been able to say no.

But Morgan wasn't the only member of the team who was... well... not exactly threatening to say the least. As Laurel had scouted the closest Pokemon to join her, she started to realise a pattern - Morgan, Dana, Muffin, Sinclair... They were all painfully fuzzy and cute. Which was fine for any normal day, but storming a Blood Moon camp with a bunch of adorable Pokemon by her side just didn't fill her with all that much confidence. Even Frosty wasn't exactly uncuddly, but at least she knew he could be fierce if he needed to. But the rest of the team who she had grouped together at the last minute, she wasn't so dire. In fact, it occurred to her, she had never battled with one of them.

"Ok..." She muttered as she stood in front of the team. They were all dressed in their winter gear and ready for the northern snowfall. "So, you're all aware that we're checking out a Blood Moon camp. We probably won't infiltrate it, but I think we all need to be repaired just in case we need to."

She saw Muffin and Sinclair look at each other, obviously concerned by the prospect of battling Blood Moons, and started to feel like an army captain forcing a bunch of unwilling recruits into battle.

"If any of you don't want to come, just say so." She said as she looked round at them.

At least Morgan and Dana looked relatively comfortable with the idea, though they didn't say anything. Laurel wasn't sure Morgan even knew what was going on. He was just happy to be involved.

"Ok, so I'm aware that we don't have the edge on looking intimidating, but that's fine, becayse--" Laurel's voice tailed off to a mutter as she scratched her chin and pondered. Then she lifted one hand in the hair as she had a lightbulb moment. "Actually, just give me two minutes. I think I might be able to rectify that."

With that, she ran off back in the direction of the cabin.

...

"Ok! Now, what was I saying?" Laurel called out to the team on her return. "Oh yes, if we do infiltrate the camp, I'm going to make sure we have the tactical advantage, so there's no need to worry."

Everyone was trying to listed, but the new recruit to the team - Cera, the ghoulish Furfrou - who was sitting in the middle of the crowd and snarling to herself, was starting to freak everyone out. Laurel knew that Cera wasn't the easiest mon to get on with, but she was just disturbing enough to take the edge off the fluffiness of the current team and make them look a little more intimidating. Plus, she was great at following orders.

In fact, she had to follow orders, otherwise she started to panic and go a bit insane.

That was fine. She could live with that. Or so she told herself.

"Now, it'll be a long trek, so we're all going to have to carry some provisions."

Muffin raised her hand, and Laurel nodded over in her direction.

"Will that include food?" The Eevee cross asked as she slowly lowered her arm.

"Erm, yes. Yes it will. But we'll have to ration ourselves. The camp is quite a way north."

Muffin looked suddenly disappointed, but before Laurel had a chance to tell her she could eat before they set off, there was a rattling sound from behind them that made her stop and turn around. From the general direction of the cabin, a Whirlipede was thundering over to them, pulling a rickety-rackety little cart behind it.

"Magna...? Where did you come from?" Laurel asked as the Whirlipede reached them. Magna just stopped beside her, then rocked backwards and forwards as though she was trying to say something. Laurel frowned, before she realised that she meant. "Oh! I see! You want to come along?"

Magna nodded.

"And you want to carry the provisions."

Another nod.

Laurel smiled, then turned to the others. "Ok, looks like we don't need to carry the food. Magna here will carry it for us."

Frosty let out an excited little bark and Dana sung a gleeful little song, while Sinclair nodded respectfully. Muffin looked rather less pleased - she was already worried about this venture, without having all the food being carried by a poisonous Pokemon. Her stomach started to rumble nervously just thinking about it.

"Cera, can you load the supplies?" Laurel called over as she crouched down to pat Magna on the head, careful to avoid the poisonous spines.

Cera let out a little gruff, making Morgan back away uncertainly, then she trotted dutifully over and started to load the provisions onto Magna's cart. Laurel took one small bag of food from the pile and threw it over to Muffin, who was unprepared and so batted it up into the air a couple of times before catching it.

Laurel laughed as she gestured towards the others. "Share that out between you, then we'll get going."

...

They headed north through the ranch, already feeling the chill from the snowy plains that had developed due to a large number of ice types living in the vicinity. Laurel tugged her coat to close the gap as she walked alongside Morgan. They passed along a valley with snowy mountains either side as they came to the northern edge of the ranch.

"Ok, Morgan." Laurel nodded as she adjusted the Girarafig cross's scarf. "The camp is several miles north and we need to get there quickly. Do you think you can handle it?"

Morgan let out a little half-baa-half-neigh and lifted his front hooves into the air, then lowered his neck, a sigh for Laurel to get on board.

"Going north?" Came a voice from somewhere over to the side.

Morgan lifted his long neck back up as Laurel frowned and squinted over towards the mountain rock, but couldn't see anything. She saw Frosty sniffing at the ground, obviously picking up on something.

"Y-yes we are." Laurel prompted the voice to speak again. "S-sorry, I can't actually..."

"Oh, sorry!" The voice said nervously. Over near the rock, a little mound of dirt started to shuffle and a Drilbur popped out.

Frosty let out a little yap and wagged his snowy tail.

"Oh! Hello!" Dana said merrily as she fluttered over and landed beside the Drilbur.

"Glacies." The Drilbur introduced herself. "Just been mining the ice crystals."

"Yeah, I heard there were some Pokemon mining crystals on the ranch." Laurel half-laughed. "I don't come this far north very often, so I've never really seen it."

"I can soon change that! Care to have a look?" Glacies jumped up out of the ground and beckoned them over to a little gap in the mountain wall.

Muffin and Sinclair looked interested, but they backed away when Laurel interrupted them.

"Well, we actually need to go I'm afraid. There's a Blood Moon camp up in the--"

"Ah. Say no more!" Glacies said with a wave of her shiny ice claws.

"Maybe on our way back?"

"Of course!" Glacies smiled. Then she appeared to look at an imaginary watch. "As a matter of fact, I'm overdue for a break. Do you need more hands on deck? Or... claws, as this may be?" She flexed her icicle claws in front of her.

"Well, yes, the more the merrier, if you're up to it." Laurel replied. Although it did mean another fuzzball in the team, those claws did look pretty intimidating.

"Marvelous!" Galcies responded excitedly as she clicked her claws together.

Laurel smiled, then nodded to Morgan who immediately lowered his head again to allow her to climb on board. Laurel heaved herself onto his back. It was incredibly cozy and warm, although the sparks of static electricity every time she moved would take a bit of getting used to.

"Right. We'll be moving quite quickly, so anyone who isn't a fast runner should squeeze themselves into Magna's cart or climb up here with me."

Magna rolled over to Morgan, pulling the supply cart with her, then waited patiently for Muffin to climb inside. Laurel wasn't sure whether it was because she couldn't run fast, or just because she wanted to stay close to the food. The rest of the Pokemon seemed comfortable with running. Frosty was bouncing around excitedly and barking. Cera was sitting patiently beside Morgan, sniffing wildly at the air. Dana had jumped up into the air and was now circling above them. Sinclair appeared to be looking nervously over at Magna.

"You ok, Sinclair?" Laurel called down from her perch. "There's room in the cart if you want to get in."

Sinclair nervously scratched his head as he looked up at her. "N-no.. I think I'll be ok. I can fly quite fast."

Laurel smiled and nodded, then looked over at the Drilbur, who didn't look like an especially fast runner. "Glacies, how about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Glacies laughed. "I may not be very fast on top of the ground, but I can tunnel my way through it at a tremendous speed!"

Laurel frowned. "But will you know where we are?"

"Of course! Subterranean Pokemon have a fantastic sense of what's going on above ground. It's all about the vibrations."

"Fair enough." Laurel laughed, then looked towards the sky. "Dana, you lead the way, keep an eye out for the camp."

"Got it!" The Moltres mix called back.

"I-I'll help too..." Sinclair said uncertainly before flying up after Dana so quietly that it was almost as though he was levitating.

Laurel looked towards the ghostly Furfrou. "Cera, you stay ahead, keep an eye out for enemies and give us a signal if you see anything."

Cera nodded with a grunt and started to trot on ahead.

"Frosty, stay close to Cera and make sure she keeps heading north."

Frosty let out an excited bark.

"Everyone else, stay close to Morgan." She gave the Girafarig a tap. "Ok, let's go."

With that, Morgan started to trot quickly northwards with Laurel on his back and Magna rolling close by his side, pulling the cart that was full of supplies and also carrying the nervous little Eevee cross. He kept his eyes on Cera and Frosty who were bounding along up ahead, making sure to stay behind them - especially Cera, who he was quite fearful of. Dana and Sinclair both flew on ahead, keeping their eyes fixed northwards. And behind them, as soon as they set off, Glacies leapt into the ground, tunneling underneath the team.

...

The snow didn't let up. In fact, it was getting deeper and deeper. Morgan didn't mind, though. He was happy to be involved, and he wasn't at all cold with his thick woolen coat.

"You ok?" Laurel asked him as he started to slow.

Morgan nodded back to her and then pointed his nose up towards Dana and Sinclair, who were now circling them up ahead.

"Ok... Slow down a little everyone." Laurel said quietly, spotting the signals that something could be wrong.

She watched as Dana and Sinclair both flew down to the ground.

"Blue Moon messengers up ahead." Dana informed her.

"Can't see a camp, though." Sinclair added.

"Hmm... Ok." Laurel muttered. "Let's slow down a little, have a break. Cera, at ease!"

The Furfrou looked back over her shoulder and then slowed down, although she still appeared to be on guard, circling the group and waiting for her next instructions.

"I'll go over there and see what's going on, but let's have something to eat first."

Laurel noticed Muffin's ears perk up at the sound of food.

Laurel was about to give her the go ahead to tuck in, when a rumble underfoot made Morgan baa and rear up. The snow lifted into a small mound in front of his hooves and Glacies popped up from the ground in front of him, almost getting trampled on when he brought his legs back down.

"Whoops, sorry, friend..." Glacies apologised. "Sounded like you were slowing down so i thought I'd see what was happening. Have we arrived?"

"I think so." Laurel nodded. "We're going to have a rest then go over and see what the Blue Moon messengers are planning."

"Ah, good. Gives me a chance to have a look at some snow samples around here, look for signs of good crystal mines."

As Glacies waddled away and started to dig up the snow, Laurel turned and gave Muffin a nod. Muffin immediately hopped out of the cart and delved into the supplies looking for something tasty. After she had stuffed several chunks of bread into her cheeks, she set about handing out some food to the others - apart from Cera, who was too busy growling at any wild Pokemon that came too close to think about eating.

Once they had eaten, they trudged through the snow, over a little hill, towards where the messengers were waiting...

[2254 words]

Levels:
Frosty gains 39 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2, Ice/Fire type bonus +2)
Dana gains 39 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2, Ice/Fire type bonus +2)
Glacies gains 39 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2, Ice/Fire type bonus +2)
Morgan gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Magna gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Muffin gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Sinclair gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Cera gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Nikolas gains 11 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)

Art, story, characters (c) careas

Description
PKMN-CrescentCavern

February 2020 event, part 1.
Laurel takes some fuzzy Pokemon north in search of a newly-discovered Blood Moon camp.

Story:

Morgan wouldn't have normally been Laurel's first choice for a steed to travel into the snowy north, but when the message had come through about the newly discovered Blood Moon camp, she'd had to get a team together quickly, and he had been the only one available. Shunned from the Mareep herd for a third time this week, the Girafarig cross had been all alone on the plains, and when Laurel had come running over to find someone to carry her, he had been so excited that she just hadn't been able to say no.

But Morgan wasn't the only member of the team who was... well... not exactly threatening to say the least. As Laurel had scouted the closest Pokemon to join her, she started to realise a pattern - Morgan, Dana, Muffin, Sinclair... They were all painfully fuzzy and cute. Which was fine for any normal day, but storming a Blood Moon camp with a bunch of adorable Pokemon by her side just didn't fill her with all that much confidence. Even Frosty wasn't exactly uncuddly, but at least she knew he could be fierce if he needed to. But the rest of the team who she had grouped together at the last minute, she wasn't so dire. In fact, it occurred to her, she had never battled with one of them.

"Ok..." She muttered as she stood in front of the team. They were all dressed in their winter gear and ready for the northern snowfall. "So, you're all aware that we're checking out a Blood Moon camp. We probably won't infiltrate it, but I think we all need to be repaired just in case we need to."

She saw Muffin and Sinclair look at each other, obviously concerned by the prospect of battling Blood Moons, and started to feel like an army captain forcing a bunch of unwilling recruits into battle.

"If any of you don't want to come, just say so." She said as she looked round at them.

At least Morgan and Dana looked relatively comfortable with the idea, though they didn't say anything. Laurel wasn't sure Morgan even knew what was going on. He was just happy to be involved.

"Ok, so I'm aware that we don't have the edge on looking intimidating, but that's fine, becayse--" Laurel's voice tailed off to a mutter as she scratched her chin and pondered. Then she lifted one hand in the hair as she had a lightbulb moment. "Actually, just give me two minutes. I think I might be able to rectify that."

With that, she ran off back in the direction of the cabin.

...

"Ok! Now, what was I saying?" Laurel called out to the team on her return. "Oh yes, if we do infiltrate the camp, I'm going to make sure we have the tactical advantage, so there's no need to worry."

Everyone was trying to listed, but the new recruit to the team - Cera, the ghoulish Furfrou - who was sitting in the middle of the crowd and snarling to herself, was starting to freak everyone out. Laurel knew that Cera wasn't the easiest mon to get on with, but she was just disturbing enough to take the edge off the fluffiness of the current team and make them look a little more intimidating. Plus, she was great at following orders.

In fact, she had to follow orders, otherwise she started to panic and go a bit insane.

That was fine. She could live with that. Or so she told herself.

"Now, it'll be a long trek, so we're all going to have to carry some provisions."

Muffin raised her hand, and Laurel nodded over in her direction.

"Will that include food?" The Eevee cross asked as she slowly lowered her arm.

"Erm, yes. Yes it will. But we'll have to ration ourselves. The camp is quite a way north."

Muffin looked suddenly disappointed, but before Laurel had a chance to tell her she could eat before they set off, there was a rattling sound from behind them that made her stop and turn around. From the general direction of the cabin, a Whirlipede was thundering over to them, pulling a rickety-rackety little cart behind it.

"Magna...? Where did you come from?" Laurel asked as the Whirlipede reached them. Magna just stopped beside her, then rocked backwards and forwards as though she was trying to say something. Laurel frowned, before she realised that she meant. "Oh! I see! You want to come along?"

Magna nodded.

"And you want to carry the provisions."

Another nod.

Laurel smiled, then turned to the others. "Ok, looks like we don't need to carry the food. Magna here will carry it for us."

Frosty let out an excited little bark and Dana sung a gleeful little song, while Sinclair nodded respectfully. Muffin looked rather less pleased - she was already worried about this venture, without having all the food being carried by a poisonous Pokemon. Her stomach started to rumble nervously just thinking about it.

"Cera, can you load the supplies?" Laurel called over as she crouched down to pat Magna on the head, careful to avoid the poisonous spines.

Cera let out a little gruff, making Morgan back away uncertainly, then she trotted dutifully over and started to load the provisions onto Magna's cart. Laurel took one small bag of food from the pile and threw it over to Muffin, who was unprepared and so batted it up into the air a couple of times before catching it.

Laurel laughed as she gestured towards the others. "Share that out between you, then we'll get going."

...

They headed north through the ranch, already feeling the chill from the snowy plains that had developed due to a large number of ice types living in the vicinity. Laurel tugged her coat to close the gap as she walked alongside Morgan. They passed along a valley with snowy mountains either side as they came to the northern edge of the ranch.

"Ok, Morgan." Laurel nodded as she adjusted the Girarafig cross's scarf. "The camp is several miles north and we need to get there quickly. Do you think you can handle it?"

Morgan let out a little half-baa-half-neigh and lifted his front hooves into the air, then lowered his neck, a sigh for Laurel to get on board.

"Going north?" Came a voice from somewhere over to the side.

Morgan lifted his long neck back up as Laurel frowned and squinted over towards the mountain rock, but couldn't see anything. She saw Frosty sniffing at the ground, obviously picking up on something.

"Y-yes we are." Laurel prompted the voice to speak again. "S-sorry, I can't actually..."

"Oh, sorry!" The voice said nervously. Over near the rock, a little mound of dirt started to shuffle and a Drilbur popped out.

Frosty let out a little yap and wagged his snowy tail.

"Oh! Hello!" Dana said merrily as she fluttered over and landed beside the Drilbur.

"Glacies." The Drilbur introduced herself. "Just been mining the ice crystals."

"Yeah, I heard there were some Pokemon mining crystals on the ranch." Laurel half-laughed. "I don't come this far north very often, so I've never really seen it."

"I can soon change that! Care to have a look?" Glacies jumped up out of the ground and beckoned them over to a little gap in the mountain wall.

Muffin and Sinclair looked interested, but they backed away when Laurel interrupted them.

"Well, we actually need to go I'm afraid. There's a Blood Moon camp up in the--"

"Ah. Say no more!" Glacies said with a wave of her shiny ice claws.

"Maybe on our way back?"

"Of course!" Glacies smiled. Then she appeared to look at an imaginary watch. "As a matter of fact, I'm overdue for a break. Do you need more hands on deck? Or... claws, as this may be?" She flexed her icicle claws in front of her.

"Well, yes, the more the merrier, if you're up to it." Laurel replied. Although it did mean another fuzzball in the team, those claws did look pretty intimidating.

"Marvelous!" Galcies responded excitedly as she clicked her claws together.

Laurel smiled, then nodded to Morgan who immediately lowered his head again to allow her to climb on board. Laurel heaved herself onto his back. It was incredibly cozy and warm, although the sparks of static electricity every time she moved would take a bit of getting used to.

"Right. We'll be moving quite quickly, so anyone who isn't a fast runner should squeeze themselves into Magna's cart or climb up here with me."

Magna rolled over to Morgan, pulling the supply cart with her, then waited patiently for Muffin to climb inside. Laurel wasn't sure whether it was because she couldn't run fast, or just because she wanted to stay close to the food. The rest of the Pokemon seemed comfortable with running. Frosty was bouncing around excitedly and barking. Cera was sitting patiently beside Morgan, sniffing wildly at the air. Dana had jumped up into the air and was now circling above them. Sinclair appeared to be looking nervously over at Magna.

"You ok, Sinclair?" Laurel called down from her perch. "There's room in the cart if you want to get in."

Sinclair nervously scratched his head as he looked up at her. "N-no.. I think I'll be ok. I can fly quite fast."

Laurel smiled and nodded, then looked over at the Drilbur, who didn't look like an especially fast runner. "Glacies, how about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Glacies laughed. "I may not be very fast on top of the ground, but I can tunnel my way through it at a tremendous speed!"

Laurel frowned. "But will you know where we are?"

"Of course! Subterranean Pokemon have a fantastic sense of what's going on above ground. It's all about the vibrations."

"Fair enough." Laurel laughed, then looked towards the sky. "Dana, you lead the way, keep an eye out for the camp."

"Got it!" The Moltres mix called back.

"I-I'll help too..." Sinclair said uncertainly before flying up after Dana so quietly that it was almost as though he was levitating.

Laurel looked towards the ghostly Furfrou. "Cera, you stay ahead, keep an eye out for enemies and give us a signal if you see anything."

Cera nodded with a grunt and started to trot on ahead.

"Frosty, stay close to Cera and make sure she keeps heading north."

Frosty let out an excited bark.

"Everyone else, stay close to Morgan." She gave the Girafarig a tap. "Ok, let's go."

With that, Morgan started to trot quickly northwards with Laurel on his back and Magna rolling close by his side, pulling the cart that was full of supplies and also carrying the nervous little Eevee cross. He kept his eyes on Cera and Frosty who were bounding along up ahead, making sure to stay behind them - especially Cera, who he was quite fearful of. Dana and Sinclair both flew on ahead, keeping their eyes fixed northwards. And behind them, as soon as they set off, Glacies leapt into the ground, tunneling underneath the team.

...

The snow didn't let up. In fact, it was getting deeper and deeper. Morgan didn't mind, though. He was happy to be involved, and he wasn't at all cold with his thick woolen coat.

"You ok?" Laurel asked him as he started to slow.

Morgan nodded back to her and then pointed his nose up towards Dana and Sinclair, who were now circling them up ahead.

"Ok... Slow down a little everyone." Laurel said quietly, spotting the signals that something could be wrong.

She watched as Dana and Sinclair both flew down to the ground.

"Blue Moon messengers up ahead." Dana informed her.

"Can't see a camp, though." Sinclair added.

"Hmm... Ok." Laurel muttered. "Let's slow down a little, have a break. Cera, at ease!"

The Furfrou looked back over her shoulder and then slowed down, although she still appeared to be on guard, circling the group and waiting for her next instructions.

"I'll go over there and see what's going on, but let's have something to eat first."

Laurel noticed Muffin's ears perk up at the sound of food.

Laurel was about to give her the go ahead to tuck in, when a rumble underfoot made Morgan baa and rear up. The snow lifted into a small mound in front of his hooves and Glacies popped up from the ground in front of him, almost getting trampled on when he brought his legs back down.

"Whoops, sorry, friend..." Glacies apologised. "Sounded like you were slowing down so i thought I'd see what was happening. Have we arrived?"

"I think so." Laurel nodded. "We're going to have a rest then go over and see what the Blue Moon messengers are planning."

"Ah, good. Gives me a chance to have a look at some snow samples around here, look for signs of good crystal mines."

As Glacies waddled away and started to dig up the snow, Laurel turned and gave Muffin a nod. Muffin immediately hopped out of the cart and delved into the supplies looking for something tasty. After she had stuffed several chunks of bread into her cheeks, she set about handing out some food to the others - apart from Cera, who was too busy growling at any wild Pokemon that came too close to think about eating.

Once they had eaten, they trudged through the snow, over a little hill, towards where the messengers were waiting...

[2254 words]

Levels:
Frosty gains 39 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2, Ice/Fire type bonus +2)
Dana gains 39 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2, Ice/Fire type bonus +2)
Glacies gains 39 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2, Ice/Fire type bonus +2)
Morgan gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Magna gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Muffin gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Sinclair gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Cera gains 37 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, 2200 words +22 +4, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)
Nikolas gains 11 levels (full body +3, shaded +2, complex BG +2, event bonus +2, trainer bonus +2)

Art, story, characters (c) careas