PMDU: Circus Asylum V2

HUNTERS GUILD: Circus Asylum
Date Joined: 23^rd September 2013
Current Funds: 11 St

Merits: 0
Strikes: 3
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Harlequin
Species: Ditto
Nature: Sassy
-Characteristic: Very finicky
Gender: Female                    Age: Adult
Ability: Limber (prevents paralysis)

Strength: 1                    Agility: 2
Intelligence: 5              Charisma: 2 (+2)

Total Points Left: 0/10
Type Bonus: Normal -> Charisma

Transform

Inventory:
-Performer’s Cape
----Description: Harlequin’s beloved stage prop is a handsome black cape tied at the front by a red bow, with a white lace frill hanging down over her neck.  However, she must remove the cape if she is to transform into anything with a bigger body mass than her own, as it is liable to tearing if she is negligent in doing so.
 
-Ornate Chopsticks
----Description: You learned how to use Iaponese cutlery. The Ambassador gave you these fancy chopsticks as a gift. They’re great for training your hands too! Allows the use of Pluck.
 
-EMPTY
----
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Joker
Species: Zoroark
Nature: Bold
-Characteristic: Likes to fight
Gender: Male                   Age: Adolescent
Ability: Illusion (can temporarily create illusions of other Pokémon or objects)

Strength: 4                    Agility: 4
Intelligence: 1 (+2)      Charisma: 1

Total Points Left: 0/10
Type Bonus: Dark -> Intelligence

Night Daze
Fury Swipes
Low Kick
Trick

Inventory:
-Twilight Hood
----Description: A hooded cape designed solely for Joker’s use.  The main material is black, with two brown flaps sewn on to cover his ears.  A pair of holes have been cut at the front for Joker’s eyes, and a small medallion with a star on it has been sewn onto the front.  The underside of the cape is red.  When hunting, Joker pulls the hood over his head, but usually leaves it off in general everyday situations.

-Hand-Made Kunai
----Description: An Iapon-style farming tool turned throwing dagger. Sturdy, but crafted from shoddy materials. It has a certain charm to it though, as if it was made with much love, and allows the use of Fling and Recycle.

-EMPTY
----
 ========== WRITTEN TEST ==========
The moon shone down on the pair as they approached the meeting place, illuminating the black fabric of their accessories with a faint silver glow.  A tall figure clad in a black cloak approached the spot, his short pink partner seated comfortably on his back as he did so.  He had been given orders to come here, in order to meet with the representative of the guild for dinner and a formal welcome to the Hunters.  Despite hating formalities, the male’s leader had essentially forced him to suck it in and go.
 
The cloaked figure glanced up, grunting as he read the restaurant’s name silently to himself. “Café Obscurité.” His ears bent back; wasn’t the name a slight oxymoron given the ritzy reputation of this place?  He growled, stopping just outside the doors.
 
“I ain’t goin’ in there!” His partner started to scold him, but was quickly silenced by a quick snap of her partner’s jaws. “I’ll look like a moron!”
 
His partner rolled her eyes.  She was a short, pink Ditto with a black cape wrapped around her body, a small red bow adorning the front.  Petting his head gently with one long, arm-like appendage, she attempted to soothe him.
 
“Oh Joker, you don’t look like a moron!” She chuckled, adding her own comment in a sardonic tone. “Besides, it’s not your appearance that’ll make them think you’re an idiot.”
 
Joker frowned, pushing open the restaurant doors and stepping foot inside.  Almost immediately, a Raichu with a stiff upper lip guides the pair to a private booth.  It was located in a rather darkened corner of the already dimly-lit establishment, with the guild’s representative already there to greet them.  The representative was a sly-looking Furret with a blue cap pulled over his eyes.  Joker’s lips curled into a snarl; he knew this little weasel all too well
 
“You!  Why, I oughta…” The Furret held up his paw, stopping Joker halfway through his sentence.  The Zoroark obliged, his mouth reluctantly snapping shut.  Chuckling slightly, the Furret gestured towards a pair of empty chairs.
 
“Hey, pull up a seat.” He waited for the pair to sit before continuing in a rather nonchalant tone. “Order your favorites; this one's on the guild's checkbook.”
 
Not long after, an Empoleon wearing a fancy waiter’s uniform arrived at the table.  He presents Joker and his team leader with a menu each, before handing one to the Furret as well.  Harlequin’s eyes widened as she took note of the prices…still, it seemed the food more than lived up to the ritzy prices presented.
 
The Normal-type gently pushed the menu back against the Empoleon’s chest, responding with clear disregard. “The usual.” The waiter rolled his eyes, turning his attention instead to the pair sitting across from the Furret.
 
Joker glanced at his team leader as she answered. “Oh, I’ll have the pasta main please.” She passed her menu over as Joker responded with a gruff “I’ll have the same.” The waiter collects the menus, shooting one last dirty look at the Furret before walking off.
 
The strange creature appears unfazed, chuckling to himself about it. “No sense of humour.” He looked up at them, though his gaze didn’t seem to settle on either of them; they just stared off somewhere into the distance.
 
“The name's Cuffin, but I'm sure you've already heard of me. No need for introductions on your part, I already know who ya are,” Cuffin tapped his paws together, smiling smugly. “So... I work for this kid, Sundance. He made me promise to ask ya a few things before I go off on my own thing.”
 
“Hey, wait jus’ a sec!” Joker slammed his paw down on the table, shaking the cutlery and glassware and drawing the attention of some Sableye in a nearby booth. “We a’ready gone an’ answered ya bloomin’ quest’ns, buddy!  What more ya wan’ us ta do, huh?”
 
Cuffin chuckled mischievously, covering his mouth with a paw. “I’ve met a lot of Pokemon over the years, sonny, and I don’t remember half of ‘em.  What makes ya think you two are special enough for me to remember?” Joker withdrew, his ears bent back in submission.
 
“Besides…” Cuffin’s hollow gaze focused in Joker’s general direction, crossing his fingers as he rested his head on his knuckles. “The boss'll get his feathers in a bunch if I don't, so humour me. First things first: why do you wanna join the Hunters?” The last point was hammered home with a dramatic roll of the eyes, as if trying to reinforce the fact that he didn’t particularly care either way.
 
Before Joker could go off on another long-winded rant, his leader spoke up. “Well, honestly we think you’re the only guild worth our time.  We need some sort of day job if we’re going to stay here.” On seeing her partner’s expression, the Ditto laughed meekly and carried on. “Besides, the guild’s ideals resonate very strongly with our own.  Why wouldn’t we want to join?”
 
Despite his earlier attitude, Cuffin does at least look interested as he listens.  After waiting for a moment to ensure the Ditto was finished, he pulled out a piece of parchment settled in the middle of the table. “All right.  Respectable, yeah.  Down the list…”
 
Instead of holding the parchment up to read, Cuffin crumples it into a ball in a rather rude display before tossing it away.  It bounced off of Joker’s nose, making the Zoroark’s snarl widen.
 
Cuffin didn’t seem bothered by this, however, as he asked more in a rather mocking tone. “What can you bring to the Hunters?  What skills or talents can you utilise for us?”
 
This time, Joker butted in before the Ditto could get a word in. “Well, me and ‘arlequin be good when it comes ta tricks.  Me illusion and her transform…we us’lly use them as part o’ our act, bu’ y’know.  Ya got skills, ya use ‘em.”
 
Harlequin sighed. “What my partner is trying to say is…we’re quite good at deceiving people with our special talents.  You know, being what we are.”
 
Cuffin nodded, rubbing his chin with a finger and thumb. “Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. I guess we'll get to see some of that soon enough. Don't get me wrong; your answer don't mean you're gonna be taken or thrown out. This is basically... formalities...” Cuffin paused, tilting his head up towards the ceiling in a contemplative fashion “...Yeah, formalities. I think that's the word he used. Whatever that means.”
 
Joker and Harlequin watched Cuffin, waiting expectantly for him to snap out of his thoughts and ask them more.  Eventually, a grin spread across the Furret’s face, his voice dropping in pitch as he asked the next question.
 
“This one's more interestin', to the little guy's credit.” He leaned in close, his paw covering one side of his mouth to the public as he spoke. “Are you against doin' things that the Royal Guard ain't gonna like if they catch ya doin' em?”
 
Harlequin glanced towards her partner, who was still glaring at the fuzzy rodent with disdain.  Rolling her eyes, she answered in his stead.  In a similar manner to Cuffin, she leaned forward with one blobbish arm shielding the left side of her mouth from the public’s view. “We’ve done so in the past.  So long as the outcome is overall for the benefit of Andalusst, we don’t mind bending a few rules.”
 
The Normal-type’s ears twitched slightly as he heard the reply.  He seemed impressed at Harlequin’s honesty. “It ain’t me, just sayin’.  I know well enough that if yer here, then you an’ I are prolly already aware of the answer to that question.  I just needed somethin’ to tell the kid.”
 
With a sigh of relief, Cuffin leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.  “Whew. All right, enough of that stuff.” He folded one leg over the other, further relaxing his posture. “The kid is on the right track, but sometimes it seems like the royals crammed a stick really far up there, if ya know what I mean. All these "formalities" and junk... anyway, the rest is straight from me.”
 
His pale pupils darted left, and then right, never focusing on anything.  Harlequin rubbed her chin, thinking how this behaviour must be a formality of his own.  In an oddly sincere tone, Cuffin began to explain.
 
“You already know the basic stuff, so I'm gonna level with ya. Truth is, the Hunters are all about knowin' things about everybody else. Yer gonna learn secrets that nobody else will know.” His expression became serious as he went on. “It'll change the way you look at this whole city, and yer prolly not gonna like what you see, but you'll always know exactly what's goin' on under the coat of sugar. I wouldn't blame ya if you'd rather go hang with a Guild that doesn't deal in the worst of what Andalusst can offer.”
Joker snorted, noisily gulping down a glass of water. “Aw please.  Whadaya think we are, wimps?  I ‘eard more threat’nin stuffin me sleep!” Harlequin scowled as water dripped down the Zoroark’s maw and onto the table.
 
Cuffin chuckled at Joker’s response. “Is that so?  Well…to be honest, I would’ve blames ya, actually.” His tone was slightly teasing. “Who doesn’t wanna know everything about everyone?  Life is all about keepin’ yer options as open as possible ‘til the right moment.”
 
As if on cue, just at that moment the waiter comes into the scene, his flippers laden with everyone’s orders.  He hesitates with the platter containing Cuffin’s meal, almost as if he was contemplating spitting on it.  The Furret didn’t appear to be watching him anyway…then again, perhaps he couldn’t, given his earlier antics.
 
The plates were presented one at a time, creating a mild clatter as they hit the table.  The waiter began to wipe up some of the mess Joker had made, but was swiftly shooed away by a swift motion from Cuffin.  Indignantly, the waiter threw a towel over his flipper and briskly departed.  Despite the food before them, and a rather hungry Joker leaning over the platter with drool dripping from his teeth, Cuffin seemed to pay the meals no mind.  He faces the team again, a cheerful expression on his face.
 
“Before we eat…” He picks up the nearest glass, holding it up and forward across the table.  Joker watched as Harlequin did the same, confused by the gesture and not joining in with it.  With a grin, Cuffin continued. “Let’s toast, to the new recruits!” He and Harlequin take a sip from their glasses, confusing the Zoroark further.  Shrugging, he began messily drinking from the glass again, forcing Harlequin to smack herself on the forehead in shame.
 
Cuffin laughed, leaning in with a wink. “That’s you, just so ya know.  Welcome to the guild.” And with the formalities done, all three fell silent and tucked into their meal without a second thought.