Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[Parugi]

IC - Executive Scott Stone - Streets, Lavender Town:

 

As much as Scott wanted to keep going, he did not have much choice but to agree with Lafoyae. It had been late enough when they had departed from the Alamo, and the night had only progressed from there, to the point that the sky was already beginning to show the first signs of the morning sun. With a sigh, Scott relented.

 

"I guess we'd better," he said. "We're going to need as much energy as possible if we want to keep investigating, let alone confront our killer." Kai's killer, he mentally corrected himself. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Scott followed Lafoyae toward the hotel.

 

 

IC - Nobuddy - Hatchery, Vermilion Rocket Base:

 

The Payback impacted the Instance's stomach, knocking 'Miyu' back several feet. The Nobuddy slammed its hand into the ground, tearing through tile as it skidded to a stop. It staggered and stood upright, just in time to throw its hands in front of itself and catch the Tyranitar's jaws mere inches away from its face. Though the Nobuddy's arms shook from the effort, its Strength allowed it to push back against the Armor Pokémon, putting both into a deadlock. It shifted its weight to free its left leg, and with a massive heave managed to Mega Kick directly into the Tyranitar's chest.

 

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Emmerich Coleman - First Room, Vertrag Living Quarters:

 

The first thing Chloe noticed was that every single picture in the room contained the same subject: Two boys, identical to one another, each with dark brown hair and maroon eyes. Going through, there were pictures of a small family of four, two young boys, both the same age, and their parents. In one, they were posed in front of a large, extravagant house, each well-dressed and well-groomed--too perfect, it seemed. In another, equally posed, they were seated around a fireplace. An older woman holding a cane stood with them in the middle of the family.

 

Their ages differed from picture to picture, but each time, the story presented was the same, progressively more clear the older they got--a smiling, confident boy standing tall and proud next to a sullen and frowning brother. 

 

The most recent picture--at least, the one with the oldest set of twins--depicted the two boys in front of the gates to a university. They were older--around fifteen--but still clearly the same people as the other photos. Their expressions--so similar in the other pictures--had taken on a stark contrast in this one. The twin on the left, though clearly pleased with his prestigious accomplishment, bore a look of slight distraction, as if he had been deep in thought just before the picture had been taken. The one on the right, meanwhile, echoed the annoyed look that he had worn throughout all the other photos.

 

This photo, in particular, had been smashed on the messy desk.

 

"Isn't that Pierce?" Kyle asked, peering at the pictures from behind Chloe. "That must be him and his brother. I can't tell which one is which, though." He tilted his head, reading the sign stationed above the gate that they were in front of. "'Heaven's Cloud University.' They look way too young to have been in college."

 

"I'd say crazier things have happened . . ." Emmerich muttered. He had spent his time looking over the various textbooks in the room. "Religion, philosophy, political science, engineering . . . Interesting array of studies . . ." He brushed his fingers through the dust that had accumulated on the desk, grimacing in disgust. The Rocket General reached into his coat, producing a bottle of hand sanitizer. He applied a drop to his palm, rubbing his hands together, and then picked up one of the letters off of the messy desk, falling silent as he read it. He put it down, then moved to the next one. "Our brothers here did not appear to have the best relationship . . ."

 

"Not very surprising," Kyle responded. "What were they saying to each other?"

 

"A lot of outgoing messages from 'Paris', to Piers," Emmerich said. "'Dear Brother, we have been hard at work in our operations . . . It's been hard being away from you, but I trust you to understand my decision . . .' Hm . . . Excuse my paraphrasing--'Dear Brother, our search continues, and today bore a mark of success: We recruited an up-and-coming Champion, our Second. Words cannot describe how I am feeling. I hope your studies are going well.' A lot of vague updates on how Ford's operations were going, a lot of checking in . . ." Emmerich frowned. "'Piers, at this point I can't honestly say how long it has been, but I feel . . .

 

I feel I must apologize. I have had a long time to think about this and I know that I must have hurt you by leaving. Recent events have only solidified this sentiment, not the least of which was our . . . disagreement in court only a few days ago. I must say, seeing you there after such a long time with no returned contact . . . Is it any wonder that I lost my composure? Even on opposite sides of the case, knowing the intent behind your presence and where that intent came from . . . I was happy to see you. And perhaps the shock of seeing you was what I needed. It certainly seems that way now.

 

You must be tired of the vague details by now. As a matter of fact, I know you are--you've probably been sick of it since before my first letter. I wish I could help it. When I left to join him all those years ago, I made an agreement. I think I've told you about that? In exchange for my silence, I could help to save the world. I didn't fully realize it at the time, but that deal was much more complicated than it sounds. To save the world, I would have to make sacrifices. And in making those sacrifices, I would become someone beyond redemption, beyond love or comfort. I would have to give my very life, everything I had ever worked towards, to secure a future for everyone. For you. And in the process, I'd have to hurt people--you and countless others.

 

I wish I could put into clearer words, but I need you to know that that was never my intent. I never wanted to hurt you. I never intended to make you feel lesser. And I don't mean just in this pursuit. In all of our lives, from birth to death, I sought to protect you, and to give you the space and opportunity that you were never allowed. Our circumstances tied us too tightly together. If the only means of separation meant betraying one another . . . I had to take it. And I am sorry for not explaining that sooner. I wanted what was best for you, and in my desperation I hoped you would come to understand. I don't know if you ever did; if mother and father remained as they always have, I imagine not. I cannot begin to pretend that I know what they put you through when I left. A more naive me assumed they might allow more room for you in their heart, but when I saw the anger and hatred in your eyes the other day, I knew that was not the case.

 

I am sorry for that. I am sorry I did not do more to help you. I am sorry they cast your accomplishments in my shadow. And I am sorry I was not there when you most needed me to be. I want you to know that even if they are unwilling to show it or say it or feel it, I am proud of you for everything you have accomplished and everything you have made for yourself. I never saw you as lesser than me, but as equal, if not greater--two brothers on top of the world, standing together atop the pedestal.

 

It is July 29th. Time is almost out, and this is almost done. When it is, maybe we can reconcile. I suppose that's a wishful fantasy--I don't expect to walk among free men for very long. You know some of my crimes, so this should come as no surprise. As to the others . . . You can only imagine, Piers. The contract is binding. The contract is binding. The contract is binding. The contrac...

 

 

IC - Sonja Baron - Command Center, Vertrag:

 

It took a moment to tear her eyes away from the screens. Sonja had to agree with Ray: However this place worked, it would be an incredibly valuable asset if they managed to bring it around to their side. She made a mental note to secure another visit with Ford later to ask about that. With his cooperation . . .

 

Sonja shook her head. One thing at a time. She gripped the cane tightly in her hands and nodded at Ryan. "Yeah, go ahead and open it."

 

With the press of a button, the door opened. Behind it lay another hallway. On the left-hand wall, at the very end of the hall, stood a door; to the left of that doorway was a large window, looking into what could only be described as an interrogation chamber. A single table with two chairs stood inside. There was nothing else visible in there. On the right-hand wall, meanwhile, stood another door, much closer to the door that they had entered from.

 

They could not see into the room, so Sonja approached--slowly--and opened the door. She was disappointed to find what amounted to a conference room, occupied by a long black table surrounded by ten chairs. A television screen stood at the far end of the table.

 

"Door number one is . . . anticlimactic," Sonja said. Disappointment hung heavily in her voice. "Guess it's onto the next one?"

[Konuju]

IC: Dack Majors/Madison Morrow/Shannon Willows - Hatchery, Team Rocket Vermilion Base

"What I wouldn't give to have those power suits with us," Madison muttered under her breath. "I hate not being able to help."

 

Thinking quickly, Dack swapped his Heatran's ball for Servine's. The grass snake emerged in a flash of light and took a moment to process the battle before her. Dack wasn't sure if she was more confused by the Tyranitar-esque creature or its faceless foe, but he quickly called his Pokémon to attention. "Use your vines to drag that monster out of the hatchery," he commanded. Servine continued to stare at the battle, as if trying to decide which combatant was the monster. "The one in dire need of a facelift," Dack clarified.

 

With a nod, Servine slithered over to a better position and extended her vines towards the fight, wrapping the tendrils around the Instance's -- at least, Dack assumed it was an Instance -- remaining leg. The leg not currently trying to kick a giant dinosaur.

 

IC: Ryan Sanders - Command Center, Vertrag

Ryan lingered in the conference room for a moment, as if hoping some clue would magically pop up. When nothing did, he turned back to the hallway. "Onto the next one," he agreed. As the group made their way back to the central screen room, Ryan couldn't help but glance back into the interrogation room. He had never been in one himself (James' office didn't count), but it did not look fun. Still, a question hung in his mind that he couldn't shake.

 

"Who do you think Ford would have interrogated? Did you ever see anyone in the base besides Ford and the Children? I don't know, it just feels weird that he'd have to question somebody if he already had this enormous wealth of knowledge."

 

IC: Dahlia Seaton/Zoe Llyan/Alex Lockwood - Kalos Route 5

"Gerri, are you alright?" Dahlia scooped up the Surskit in her arms. The water bug nodded and skittered up to her trainer's shoulder before pointing at the recovering Inkay. By now the squid had regained its balance and was keeping its distance from the pair. It held a pebble aloft in its tentacles as if in warning. Reaching into her bag, Dahlia pulled out an empty Pokéball. "The professor wanted one of us to catch it," she said. A brief glance behind her showed that everyone else was neck-deep in a gang war between reptilian thugs and bubble frogs. "It looks like it's up to us. Gerri, distract it for me, would you?"

 

The Surskit hopped off of Dahlia's shoulder and began waving her arms at the Inkay. The squid took one look at the approaching Surskit and tossed its stone. Gerri sidestepped out of the way, and at the same time Dahlia lobbed her Pokéball. She expected the Inkay to be sucked into the capsule, but instead it caught the ball and flipped it upside-down. Deeming it uninteresting, the Inkay tossed the capsule over its shoulder.

 

"Alright, we'll play by your rules," Dahlia muttered. Grabbing another Pokéball, she held it out so the Inkay could see it, then turned it over in her hands before rearing back and tossing it. The Inkay caught the ball again and flipped it around again. Cocking its head to the side, it frowned and turned it upside-down once more, as if confused as to which way the ball was supposed to go. Taking advantage of the Inkay's distraction, Dahlia tossed a third ball. This one struck the squid on its head and pulled it in with a flash of light. The capsule fell to the ground alongside the one the Inkay had been holding.

 

Dahlia approached warily, expecting the Inkay to pop out at any moment. But both capsules stood still. She picked them up and opened them. One was empty, but the other sent out the Inkay, who appeared disoriented from the sudden capture.

 

"Hey, there." The gardener held out her hand with a smile. "My name's Dahlia. Would you mind helping out our friends there?" She pointed over to the battle raging behind her.

 

 

While Aramau struggled with her Scraggy foe, Alex chanced a glance at the rest of the group. Zoe had temporarily ceased her violent rampage and was helping get the Frubbles out of her Fennekin's mouth. "You know, Zoe," he said, "This would go a lot faster if we all teamed up on the Scraggy instead of making enemies with the Frogadier."

 

Zoe stared up at the guy who had twacked her on the head mere minutes before. "And why should I take orders from you?" she demanded. "Do you not see how sinister that Frogadier is? A true hero must face a worthy foe like him. I haven't seen bubbles this destructive since the time I let the bubble bath overflow!"

 

"Yes, but," Alex sighed in exasperation. "Wouldn't a true hero team up with his nemesis to fight the true evil?"

 

The gears turned in Zoe's mind, as if this was something she hadn't considered before. A smile dawned on her face. "Alex, you're a genius! Esmeralda, get Mr. Frog Face on our side!" The Fennekin spat the remaining Frubbles out of her mouth and ran up to her former foe, barking a plea for them to work together. The Frogadier narrowed its cold eyes and swiped at her with a webbed hand. Esmeralda yelped as she just barely leapt out of the way. "It's not working!" Zoe complained, shooting a look of annoyance at Alex for even suggesting such a strategy.

 

"Yeah, well maybe if you hadn't tried to murder it in cold blood it'd be a little more sympathetic to our side!" Alex shot back as Esmeralda dodged more projectile Frubbles.

 

"That's it!" Zoe cried, pointing her finger into the air in a pose reminiscent of a Hero of Space she'd once met. "Esmeralda, lead him towards our Scraggy friends! Maybe a few sticky bubbles will help keep their pants up!"

 

Catching onto Zoe's strategy, Esmeralda gave her froggy foe a taunting bark before turning tail and racing into the fray of Scraggy. She approached the Scraggy Aramau was busy fighting and scampered between the two combatants. The Frogadier  tossed another handful of Frubbles, only to strike Aramau and the Scraggy, gluing their feet to the ground.

 

"Sorry about the friendly fire," Zoe said with a sheepish grin to Alex. "Although I guess it wasn't very friendly, considering it came from Mr. Frog Face."

 

After a few failed attempts at pulling itself out of the sticky bubbles, the Scraggy picked up a handful of dirt and tossed it at the Frogadier. The attack was hardly more than an annoyance, but it was enough to make the Frogadier lose sight of its Fennekin foe. As the two wild Pokémon began fighting each other, Alex quickly recalled his Amaura. "Good work, Zoe," he said. "Hopefully that'll keep them distracted for a while."

[Flipz]

OOC: No Lionel response yet b/c waiting on Lucia post.

 

-==IC: Route 5==-

 

The old-looking Frogadier scoffed at Em's definition of "handled", but turned away to survey the situation. The Inkay had been captured--not ideal, but at least no longer an imbalance. The Scrafty and its gang, while too aggressive for their own good, were technically within their turf, so not a valid target even if they had attacked the others. That only left--

 

The Fletchling was used to going up against opponents stronger than itself--it was how it had developed a rivalry with the Scrafty gang leader, after all. What it was not used to was those opponents being airborne, nor clutching it in their talons like prey, sending every instinct screaming into a panicked overdrive. Despite Aolani's attempt at a firm-but-gentle approach, the Fletchling struggled, scratching and pecking with all its might. The small bird's struggles seemed futile, but at the last moment it struck a nerve, forcing itself free as Aolani's foot twitched involuntarily. The Fletchling tumbled briefly, needing a moment to gain its bearings--

 

--but taking a moment too long, as it found its prison of claws exchanged for a prison of bubbles. The old Frogadier leapt above the other combatants' heads to catch the ensnared Fletchling and gently cradle the helpless bird to his chest. Croaking out a response to the other Frogadier, he gave them a wave and then bounded off to return the Fletchling to its usual habitat.

 

The Scrafty was displeased. It had enjoyed taunting the little bird, and wasn't finished playing with its victim. With a scowl, the Fighting-type launched in a flying leap at the old Frogadier, but the younger Frogadier Lachina had befriended leapt to his defense, the frail frog wincing as she was spiked to the ground, winded. As it landed, the Scrafty's scowl slipped into a smirk as it advanced on the stunned foe.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Flipz

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: James Arthur - En Route to Aether Paradise

 

The waves felt extra bouncy today. James was waiting inside the ship while Lancelot was on the deck (or perhaps beside it. We’ll talk about that in a bit). The representative the Aether Foundation had sent was doing his best to tend to James and Lancelot. 

 

James was thinking about his strategy for the upcoming meeting. He hadn’t had the best luck with places called Paradise. In today’s defense, unless a Machamp Thunderpunches him, it couldn’t end up worse than how the first time he’d been to a place called Paradise. And if it did, he’s hiring that Machamp, they need all the help they can get.

 

Lancelot, on the other hand, was catch and release fishing. He was hanging off the side of the boat, using his wings to keep himself stable. Between the fast vibrations of his wing, and holding onto the bumping boat without breaking it, it was actually pretty good training. Pretty nice to have a practical benefit to hurting fish. There was a Finneon in his clutches that clearly wanted to get back in the water. 

 

James eventually got fed up and came up the deck. There were really wasn’t anything he could do to prepare that he hadn’t already done. He saw Lancelot hanging off the edge. The Scizor seemed to be enjoying himself.

 

“Having fun down there?” James asked leaning over the edge.

 

Lancelot decided to release the Finneon after a moment of letting it struggle in his pincer. He climbed back aboard to see what James wanted to talk about. 

 

“I thought to mention,” James started pulling out a disc from his coat pocket, “that I got a present for you. I had some ideas last night, about how to improve your fighting style. Our style. I think this move will compliment those ideas.”

 

James returned Lancelot to his Ultra Ball so that he could apply the TM. After the process was finished, he sent Lancelot back out.

 

“I cannot say I do not have any reservations about this, Superpower is a strong move to give up. Well, we will have to test it out soon,” James said with a slight bit of apprehension in his voice. 

 

Lancelot stretched his body. He thought about what he had just learned about his new move. The move was less crushing and personal than Superpower, but it harsh and would require his finesse to use to its full potential. He could see where James was going with this.

 

“Well, that is all I had to say for now,” James said waving to Lancelot as he started to walk back inside. “You can get back to what you were doing.”

 

Lancelot obliged, and retook his fishing position. The Aether representative walked by. He grimaced at the sight of Lance’s claws on the guard rail. If James didn’t pay for the damage if it broke, it would come out of his salary. He didn’t say anything though, he was told to make sure they were comfortable, and Lancelot clearly looked to be in his element.

 

Lancelot was observing the waves. There was a small disturbance some ways ahead. He worked out the timing in his head. He shot his arm into the water, clutching a small fish right as the boat was passing it by. The fish was small, he could’ve crushed it with one hand. Lancelot’s glare caused the fish to start crying. The pathetic sound brought a crooked smile to Lancelot’s lips. What he didn’t expect was for light to start pouring out of the fish’s eyes instead of tears.

 

The light caught the attention of the Aether representative, who turned to see what happened. He paled as he saw the fish in Lancelot’s clutches.

 

“Throw it back, quick!” he shouted.

 

Lancelot looked towards the man as if he’d grown a second head. Why let it go? Then it hit him. He knew what kind of fish this was. It had been a while since he’d seen one, but he remembered. But the realization dawned too late, already a multitude of shapes were converging on their location.

 

“Oh no, no, no, why did you-” the representative was interrupted by a great shaking. Lancelot loosened his grip for but a moment, letting the fish into the water. The shapes began to coalesce into one. The shape rushed the boat, causing it to rock violently, and a wave of water to rush over the deck.

 

“What is going on out there?” James called out from the door to the deck, really hoping they had just hit a rough patch. A really rough patch.

 

“We’re being attacked by a school of Wishiwashi!”. The representative called back, his clothes soaked from the wave.

 

James grimaced. “I will deal with it.”

 

The representative didn’t feel comfortable letting the man he was responsible for escorting safely throw himself into danger. But James was already moving past him onto the deck, pulling out an Ultra Ball from his briefcase.

 

James sent Gawain out onto the deck. Gawain took a look towards the enemy in the water. The Swampert dove over the edge of the ship, as Lancelot climbed back aboard. The large shifting form was unlike any opponent Gawain had seen in his life. He’d seen schools of fish before, but nothing like this. He swam towards the mass.

 

The cohort of fish that made up the legion’s right arm swam in perfectly sync. Despite Gawain’s best efforts, he was repelled by the combined efforts of the right cohort. Gawain tried to grab some of the fish as he was launched back, but they swam out of his grasp, leaving him with only one hostage. And judging from the charging mass, that only served to enrage the legion. Right as the mass was about to collide with Gawain, a sword cut into the water, separating Gawain and the mass.

   

The legion turned its attention to the Scizor that interrupted its attack. The Scizor was hovering right over the surface of the water. The legion threw its left flank at Lancelot. As it broke the surface, it slowed slightly, giving Lancelot a chance to dodge. He sliced through the flank, severing the flank from the body, for all the good that did. Some of the Wishiwashi were indeed knocked out by Lancelot’s attack, but the rest merely reformed its shape.

 

The legion decided not to react to Lancelot directly. Instead it hit the ship again. The ship rocked, nearly flipping. James held onto the railing, barely holding on. James tried to focus on a strategy while the ship rocked. Normally when fighting an opponent like this, wide ranging special attacks, such as Discharge were ideal. He didn’t have that, per se. This would be an ideal opportunity to test out Lancelot’s new move.

 

“How convenient,” James said with more than a hint of irony.

 

He dropped an Ultra Ball carrying Galahad onto the ground. The Togekiss took stock of the situation and waited for James's orders.

 

“The enemy lies just below the surface. I need you to distract it,” James said looking over the water.

 

Galahad nodded and hovered over the water. Lancelot and Gawain were both dodging around the legion’s attacks. Galahad slammed into the face of the legion that was poking slightly out of the water. It had the desired effect, the legion’s attention turned to the Togekiss. Galahad deftly dodged torrents of water that the legion raised up.

 

“Gawain, carry Lancelot into the center of the school while they are distracted. Lancelot, when you are in there, use your new move,” James called out. “Galahad, lead them closer to Gawain!”

 

Lancelot landed in the water next to Gawain. The Swampert was watching the legion’s movements right beneath the surface. He watched as Galahad approached with the legion following close behind. Giving Lancelot just enough time to hold his breath, Gawain dove beneath the waves with the Scizor holding onto his back. The legion was too focused in a single direction. It didn’t see the Swampert and Scizor rise up into its belly.

 

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Galahad rose at the last moment, causing the legion to rise near the surface. Lancelot eyes glinted. He brandished his incorporeal swords and turned them sideways. His gauntlet and blades became wreathed with the power of darkness. He span in a great arc, the blades acting like blunt fan blades, scooping great numbers of Wishiwashi with his swords. The pained cries of the small fish only encouraged Lancelot further, causing him to spin faster. When his spinning stopped, the legion had been completely dispersed.

 

Those of the legion who had not been knocked out, tried to reform ranks, but found many of their cohort knocked out. Deciding further combat was not worth the cost, they dragged their allies away. They formed up enough to create a large tail, which they slapped at the ship as one last act of defiance, before swimming away for good.

 

James was standing on the deck, right above where the Wishiwashi decided to splash. He saw the action coming, and quickly pulled out an umbrella from his briefcase. It was a decent sized umbrella, and it kept him mostly dry. Not entirely, he would need a bigger one in the future. He closed the umbrella, and twirled it until halting it as it faced straight down.

 

The trio of Pokemon that had fought the legion climbed back aboard (or just flew over in Galahad’s case). James smiled at them.

 

“Great work all of you. Lancelot, glad to see you are capable of using Brutal Swing. Gawain, Galahad, your positioning work was on point.”

 

Gawain seemed happy with the praise, while Galahad seemed neutral about it. Lancelot on the other hand, was actually more concerned with the umbrella. James hadn’t brought that to Alola with him. It was new.

 

“Oh, this? I thought I might need it. Tell me, how do you all feel about rain?”

 

OOC: Lancelot: Superpower -> Brutal Swing.

[MELON LORD]

IC: Jared Winters(Anubis, Froakie)/Lachina Adaon(Aolani, Frogadier)

 

As the Frogadier fell, Aolani swooped back around and screeched at the Scrafty. It was just a distraction though. With its back turned, Anubis and his Froakie companion had no trouble coming up and hitting the Scrafty from behind. Anubis kicked it solidly in the back, and the Froakie landed on its head and shot Frubbles down towards its eyes.

 

The Frogadier fought to her feet and croaked a thank-you to the trio of rescuers.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Lucia/Colleen -- Route 5, Kalos==-

 

As the Scraggy attempted to kick Blissaga, the Blissey quickly stepped to the side to take advantage of the disorientation the pain from punching Lionel's Bisharp had inflicted.

 

"Alright, punch it now!" Lucia called out as she held her hand forward. The Blissey might not have known any sort of moves like Mega Punch, but certainly knew how to throw a regular one. She placed all her strength into the one attack, aiming to hit the Scraggy square in the middle of the face. It seemed surprised by the sudden assault right up until the attack connected. The Scraggy stumbled backwards as Blissaga got a running start. The Dark type's last sight before it was knocked out, was of a giant egg-shaped Pokémon soaring through the air with the greatest of ease, leg outstretched to kick it in its face.

 

"Good work, Blissaga." Lucia said with a pleased smile as she glanced around the battlefield. The others seemed to have things covered - she contemplated sending her Blissey to help Jamie, but with Lionel's Lilligant there felt that it wouldn't work well. She waited for the moment instead, to see if anyone else might need help.

 

***

 

Colleen, meanwhile, advanced on the Scrafty herself. She got the sense as well that the Frogadier didn't trust them, but... she also knew that her and Jared were the only two here who could draw the fight to a close if need be. With a quick glance to Myriam to make sure she was doing alright with her battle against the Scraggy, Colleen ran forward toward the downed Frogadier. As she approached, the girl noticed that Jared and Lachina's Pokémon were also attacking and distracting the Scrafty.

 

Colleen took advantage of the opportunity granted by the distractions to fire off an Aura Sphere toward the Scrafty's chest, before she made her way close to try and force the Scrafty into a checkmate. "Please give up now, and you don't need to be hurt any more." Colleen said, deciding to add in the 'please' to get brownie points with the Frogadier. To back up her words, she held a hand out toward the Scrafty, prepared to quickly charge another Aura Sphere if that was necessary.

 

-==IC: Chloe -- Vertrag==-

 

Chloe was silent for the longest time because of the emails. "That was the guy who..." She let her sentence trail off again as she turned her head. "I wonder... if his brother knows..."

 

-==IC: Ryan -- Hatchery==-

 

Ryan grit his teeth as he considered everything that the others were saying as well as what was currently happening in the battle itself. "That might be best..." The man conceded to the idea of luring the Instance back out of the Hatchery. He contemplated what he could do as his Tyranitar groaned out from the force of the blow.

 

"Tyranitar, use Payback to knock it out of the Hatchery. We can't afford a long term fight in there!" Ryan called out, as he motioned for everyone to move back and make room in the outer room for the inevitable fight. The Tyranitar let go of the Nobuddy briefly, before trying to pivot and punch the Instance back out of the Hatchery as was instructed. He grimaced at the force of the Mega Kick, however, and ruefully realized that he couldn't afford to take too many more of those.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Lohe Mahina/Richard Apollo - Inner Cell Block

 

Hades tried to warn Richard before Blackskull saw them, but failed. Richard froze as he heard Blackskull's voice. Anyone not of his rank would be better than the top brass. The gears in Richard's heads were turning. Sadly, his mouth was already talking.

 

"I'm doing an interview," he said, starting again on his strategy of 'use technical truths'. "I'm from the archives department."

 

Lohe could hear the subtle uncertainty in his voice, that belied the false confidence on Richard's face. Whether or not the boy's words were false or not, Lohe knew he was lying in spirit. Chances he was supposed to be here? Zero percent. Lohe had to hand it to him though, this was pretty far in. The boy made it as far as he did. Maybe he'd have to ask how he infiltrated so far.

 

"Well, now we are," Lohe said.

 

"Riiight," Richard casually packing up, dumping what he could onto the Sableye by him. "Well, don't mind me. I was just wrapping up," he said, trying to start walking in the other direction.

[Dr. Hidaka]

-==IC: Evan Tierra/Jenny Hakuda/Kris -- Alola -- [6]==-

 

After James had left with the Aether Foundation employee, Evan focused back on Kris, relaxing his posture. “Sorry about the whole show there, but, I kinda wanna keep what I truly am under wraps for now.” The man said, grinning. “I’m a Hero, alright, but I am Palkia’s Hero of Space. It is my, and two other Heroines’ job to protect this world.”

 

"Palkia's Hero of Space, huh?" Kris nodded slowly. "I can see that. I didn't think that the legendary Creation dragons had anyone like that, but you learn something new every day." The woman said, as she beckoned the other two with her hand to follow her to elsewhere on the beach. "Well, 'Hero', do you think you have what it takes?"

 

The “Hero” gave Kris a determined look as he followed her. “Of course. I’ve seen the other side of life and death, I’m sure I’ve got what it takes. What about you, Jenny? You think you have the guts for whatever she’s gonna dish out?”

 

Jenny clenched her fist and put one foot forward with a wide grin as she struck a pose of her own. "Definitely! I'll break through whatever barriers stand in my way. I may have to take it easy at times, but I know I can handle this."

 

Kris smiled at the answers, then stopped at one of the booths set up on the beach. Despite the lack of Pokémon Power, this part of the beach was still pretty packed with tourists and Mantine Surfers. After a little while, she grunted as she dragged four tires out. "Could you help me with this?"

 

Evan looked at the tires and grinned. “With pleasure.” The man said as he helped lug out the tires with Kris. “So, what do tires have to do with Z-Moves, Kris? I’m sure there’s good reason, but bear with me.” The man said, winking, as he continued exerting his strength to get the tires out in the open.

 

"These will help with making sure that you can handle and control the power to flow it into your Pokémon." Kris explained, as she dragged them back to where they were, with the help of Evan and Jenny. "These will train your bodies to have higher stamina. In theory. The person who taught me about this said that was how it worked, and it seemed to work for me. I'll be able to keep things from getting as dangerous as it was with my master, but with the same outcome."

 

“Dangerous, huh?” Evan remarked, and he thought about Kris’s plan. “I -do- need to work on my stamina, seeing as I’ve kinda lost myself in everything that’s gone on.” Evan looked around curiously, seeing only a lone Berry Tree. “So, are we lifting these things even more or is it something else I can’t seem to see, Kris?”

 

"Wait, wait! I know this one!" Jenny exclaimed excitedly as she grinned. "There's a tree, isn't there? I saw a show about this once!" As she looked around the beach, she paused, however. "Wait, but I only see one tree, will that really be enough? Why did we get so many tires if that's it?"

 

Evan eyed Kris, a little bewildered by what Jenny had said. “She’s….right, there’s only one tree.” The man said, sounding a little hesitant. “I think I know what she’s talking about but, why did we lug more than one tire over here…...?”

 

Kris chuckled with a smile. "There's two extra tires because wearing them might help with the exercise. There's some lighter tires depending on needs and building up, but I chose those two in particular since they looked like they would fit you two." She glanced over at the tree afterward. "That tree won't help anyone, though. There's a sturdy metal pole that can support two swinging tires past that. Only two, though; if there were tires swinging back and forth and the poles were like, plus shaped, then the tires would just continually crash into each other or hit other people training."

 

"I get it…" Jenny nodded with a smile, then thought for a moment. "What about our Pokémon, though? How will they get stronger by this?"

 

"Well…" The blue-haired woman thought that question over for a moment. "They could benefit from this too, I feel, but right now I think the biggest concern I have is making sure you two are strong enough stamina-wise to handle the Z-Power. I'll pay in the currency of the beach for your teams to train up while you're working on this. I don't think the Move Tutors are quite used to this sort of training-while-Pokémon-have-no-power stuff, but, I don't see it being an issue."

 

Kris took a moment to glance out over the ocean. "There's two more things, however - one, I request that you leave your newer Pokémon here. I want to see them get trained up personally through normal fighting. But two… I might as well explain other parts of your training." She smiled as she motioned toward the water. "We'll be switching between training like this on the different beaches depending on which island we're on… and surfing. Surfing is a key component as well - not just for stamina, but for balance. It will make it easier to use the poses that are required for your Z-Moves."

 

Evan considered what the woman had to say and smiled. “I can agree to your terms, Kris. My team’s had a lot of time in the sun, but I need to focus on my newest friend. As for the surfing and training……” The man looked at the vast and unstill ocean. “I can’t say I’ve surfed before, but if it’ll help my posing game…..” The Hero posed dynamically. “Then I’m totally in!”

 

"Alright." Kris glanced over to see Jenny nodding eagerly, then smiled. "Alright," she repeated with more enthusiasm. "Let's bring these tires over to the pole, then we'll get your Pokémon set up with the Move Tutors."

 

***

 

 

"Absolutely not!" The man at the move tutor booth exclaimed as Kris explained the situation and saw the twelve Pokémon standing behind Evan and Jenny. "I don't think I could take on that many Pokémon alone even in the best of times, and you're asking me to train them up like this? When we have no means of properly teaching anything and knowing it'll work? I know we can teach the ideas behind the moves, but that would be one at a time! I can't handle twelve of them by myself!"

 

"Then why don't you get Marina to help out, Alphonse? I'm sure you of all people can get help from the others here." Kris crossed her arms with a frown. "I'll even up how many Beach Points I give if you do this."

 

"Look, I know that you're a regular, Kris. I get it. I know very well how much you surf here, always trying to improve yourself. But this is a bit much even for me." Alphonse glanced around nervously. "You know I don't get along well with a lot of the vendors here. You'll have to give a whole lot of Beach Points to make it worth it."

 

"10,000?"

 

"Holy--" Alphonse cut himself short as his eyes widened. "... You drive a hard bargain. I'll talk it over with the others. Uh, leave them, uh, here with me for now, I guess…" The man appeared to be a bit uncertain on how well this would work out, but as Jenny watched him walk off, she noticed he appeared to have steeled himself for this.

 

"Well then," Kris looked over to Evan and Jenny once that was over, a smile on her face. "Shall we begin?"

 

Evan threw a smile of his own back at the blue-haired woman. “As a Unovan Gym leader once said.….bring it!” He then looked at the tires and the metal pole with interest. “I’ll take your challenge, and surpass your expectations!”

 

Jenny seemed lost in thought for a moment, but then nodded with a grin. "I'll do my best too."

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia Seaton/Zoe Llyan/Alex Lockwood - Kalos Route 5

"Sorry about that." Dahlia rested her hands on her knees as she caught her breath, casting a furtive glance at Alex and Zoe, the two closest members of the group. "I had to help out Gerri, but I made a new friend out of it." The Inkay from earlier poked its head out from behind the gardener, then quickly hid again at the sight of the dueling Frogadier and Scraggy.

 

"No worries." Completely ignorant of the cowering Inkay, Zoe proudly drew Dahlia's attention to the pair of wild Pokémon like a child showing off her science fair project. "They say 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' right? Well in this case the enemy of my enemy is also my enemy, and we can just sit back and enjoy the show!"

 

Zoe spoke too soon, and too loudly for that matter. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the Frogadier turned and tossed a handful of Frubbles her way before ducking under a swift kick from the Scraggy. The projectile bubbles struck Zoe square in the chest, knocking her flat on her back and pinning her to the ground.

 

"Hey, no fair!" the girl cried as she struggled in vain. "That was a Foul Play!"

 

Alex had already retreated his Amaura, so while he tried to pull Zoe free of the bubble trap Dahlia turned to her Pokémon. "Think you might be able to lend a hand?" Her question was directed at the Inkay, but the squid-like Pokémon looked like he was still recovering from his fight with Gerri. The Surskit, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes and darted through the grass towards the Frogadier.

 

Thanks to her tiny form, a small rustling of the grass was the only warning the Frogadier received of Gerri's attack. That is, until the rustling grass started to glow. Gerri's legs scampered so fast she felt like she was practically floating. Two large wings erupted out of her head, slowing her run just long enough for her to aim the horn on her head at her enemy. The Frogadier turned around in surprise, but had no time to react before the sharp horn struck him in the shoulder. The Scraggy took advantage of the distraction and delivered a sharp kick to the Frogadier's head.

 

Using her newfound wings to control her flight, Gerri lifted her head-spear up to the Frogadier's neck. It was at this moment that Dahlia stepped forward to speak. "Listen, I know you don't want us in your turf," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "But we're only passing through. We're trying to stop a group of evil humans from rising to power once more, and if you don't let us through, things will be bad for both humans and Pokémon. Please, we don't want to hurt you."

 

"What? Of course we do!" Zoe shouted, lifting her head as much as she could to shoot a death glare at the frog that had trapped her on the ground. "You'll rue the day you crossed the brave warrior prin--"

 

"Shush!" Alex clamped a hand over the girl's mouth. "Let's see if she can get through to them."

 

"But my vengeance . . ." Zoe grumbled, although her words remained trapped behind Alex's hand.

 

The Frogadier seemed to ponder Dahlia's words. He didn't have long to think, however, for the Scraggy delivered a flurry of punches to his enemy while the Frogadier's back was turned. Whirling around in a rage, the Frogadier hurled Frubble after Frubble, until the Scraggy was practically buried in the sticky bubbles. With one enemy subdued, the Frogadier slowly backed away from Gerri. Once he had put a sizeable distance between him and the Masquerain, he hopped over to his old-looking comrade as if awaiting his elder's orders.

 

Dahlia breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at Zoe. "See, not everything has to be solved with violence," she said with a weary smile.

 

By now Zoe had ripped Alex's hand off her face and resumed trying to pull herself free of the Frubbles. "Yeah, but that's not it's not as exciting that way," she muttered.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Jamie Arthur - Route 5

 

Sooo... are you more a special attacker or a physical? Pelleas asked Lillina.

 

Pelleas had gotten most of the frubbles off himself, but at this point Bedevere was covering most of the Frogadier's body. There wasn't exactly much he or Lillina could do. Any attacks were more likely just going to hit the Cloyster, leaving the Frogadier basically unharmed. So the Heracross tried to make small talk while waiting for orders.

 

Jamie, for her part, was getting kind of impatient. Most of the other fights had wrapped up already. She wanted to give Bedevere some exercise, but this was taking too long. The same song and dance routine had been going on since Bedevere first clamped on. The Frogadier would thrash around, try to get the Cloyster off but Bedevere would slowly gain more ground.

 

She wanted to send Pelleas at the Scrafty. But with the amount of combatants already fighting it, she was worried sending Pelleas over would disrupt their cohesion.

 

So Jamie would have to wait. Bedevere's full weight was brought to bear on the Frogadier. The clamping was more of a bonus at this point.

[Flipz]

-==IC: Professor Elaine Alderson==-

 

"Oh, good," the Professor exclaimed upon sighting Dahlia, "you caught it!" She held up her Pokédex as she made her way over. "Mind if I get a closer scan?"

 

-==IC: Lionel Zyther/Route 5==-

 

Anubis and the Froakie put themselves in prime position to end the Scrafty's fight in one fell swoop, but they were missing one key factor:

 

They'd forgotten a Scraggy.

 

The smaller Dark-type let out a shriek and tackled the Water-type off of its leader's head, the warning giving the boss just enough time to interpose an arm in the way of its attack. Of course, an arm glued to one's head did little to aid in one's balance or maneuverability, and the Scrafty tripped over its own shed skin as Colleen's Aura Sphere struck it in the chest. The gang leader wavered, wincing at the strength of the attack, but clung to consciousness even as it rolled to avoid Anubis' inevitable follow-up. Down, but not out--but it was on the defensive, at least.

 

Lillina looked curiously at Pelleas as the Heracross offered conversation. <"Special,"> she answered. <"We have tried branching out, but my flexibility is...limited. We tend to rely more on him."> The Lilligant tilted her head towards Lionel's Bisharp in illustration. <"It has made recent events rather...difficult.">

 

Looking back and forth between his daughter and her partner, Lionel managed to conclude that neither was in immediate danger--for the moment. Satisfied that Lillina was sufficient backup for Jamie's team, the businessman locked eyes with his Bisharp. "Watchful eye," he ordered, "you see the chance, end this." The Bisharp nodded, but still stayed close to Lucia for the moment.

 

Seeing its leader had already left, the scar-eyed Frogadier surveyed the battlefield, seeking a new opponent. Seeing a human-summoned Vibrava menacing his yellow-striped companion, the Bubble Frog leaped over to join the fray.

[MELON LORD]

IC: Jared Winters(Anubis, Froakie)

 

Jared scowled as the Scrafty managed to avoid being taken out by Anubis and the Froakie. The water-type was grappling with the Scraggy that they had somehow missed, but it looked like he was holding his own. With Colleen having already stepped in, he saw no reason not to do the same -- after all, the Frogadier were likely to act the same whether one person broke truce or two did.

 

Stepping up, he formed a silver ball in his hand. As he went to launch it, he felt something shift, and he was suddenly unable to control his body. Silver aura turned dark red, and Mercury grinned as the ball shifted form into a blade. He raised it--

 

Jared struggled as the Scrafty scrambled to get to its feet. The aura shifted between silver and red. With a roar, he brought it down. There was a slicing sound, a spray of blood--

 

They had sliced into the Scrafty's shoulder. Its arm hung uselessly, and its free hand clutched at the wound. The silver-haired trainer panted, glaring down at the now-terrified creature. Anubis interposed himself, teeth bared at his trainer in a menacing snarl.

 

Finally, he clenched his teeth. "That was a warning. Get lost."

 

IC: Lachina Adaon/Emily Lockwood/Jared Winters

 

As the aura shifted into a blade and came down, Emma lunged forward and covered Zoe's eyes. Her own eyes clenched shut as well, not wanting to see whatever gruesome fate befell the Hoodlum.

 

Lachina winced as she felt her bond with the Frogadier break. As the Scrafty and its companions ran off, she took a step forward and swallowed. "Jared?"

 

The older boy was quiet for several seconds before he slowly nodded. "Yeah, it's me." Only after he said it did Anubis relax, and Lachina put her hand on Jared's shoulder.

 

"Should we explain?" she asked quietly.

 

"After we finish up here, I think. Sorry." He stepped away from the group, away from her, and closed his eyes.

 

IC: Amelia Zann/’Mel’ Zann/’Donna’ LaDonna/Alma Mason/’Lex’/Belle LaDonna/Alex Zyther

 

Amelia and Mel had led them out of the base, and they made their way out of Geosenge and back to the cave in record time. Once inside, Donna looked around quickly. “There’s a tonna mirrors here, how’re we gonna choose the right one?”

 

Alma sighed. “We guess, of course. We’ll keep guessing until we find our way home.”  As if on cue, Coralie floated forward, eyes closed in concentration, and the glimmering pool of light manifested before her.

 

Mel sighed, shaking her head. “Y’all,” she said, pointing at the freed rebels that had followed them out. “Git. Go with this group, here. Don’t matter if you stick with ‘em afterwards, just find a

place to lay low on the other side. You, too, Donna.”

 

“What-- You been hittin’ yer weird herbal drink, Pond? I ain’t leavin’ you.”

 

“I ain’t havin’ this argument with you again, Donna.  Flare already got ya once. I ain’t lettin’ em take ya again.  You’ll never be safe long as they know you’re the only way to get to me.”

 

Donna was opening her mouth to respond, when the sound of footsteps interrupted. Everyone whirled around to see Lex in his bloodstained suit approaching, his Gallade and Delphox flanking him.

 

Mel snarled as she spotted the intruders.  “Go!” she ordered the others, following with a desperate “Harvey, Rock Slide!”

 

The very foundation of Reflection Cave shook as enormous boulders came crashing down from above.  A shrill scream echoed through the cave, before being abruptly cut short with a sickening crunch. Mel whirled, eyes wide as she belatedly realized her lack of foresight.  Her other team members quickly set to defense, shattering what stones as they could and deflecting those they couldn’t--but with a BANGs that echoed even amongst the din, the rebels were still dropping.

 

Lex’s lips curled in a sneer as he casually picked off his enemies from afar.  “Amy, Amy, Amy. What happened to you? You used to be so strong! Now? You’re nothing. You rely on others, and that makes you weak!” He aimed the gun at Mel. “And now . . .”

 

“Everyone left, get through! Diancie, don’t you dare hold that portal for me, ya hear?!”

 

“Pond, no!” Donna shouted. Lex turned to look at the pair of purple-haired women and scowled as he saw one dragging her double to the portal.

 

“Alright, then. Let’s make this game meaningful again.” He aimed the gun and fired his final shot.

 

*BANG*

 

The bullet hit one of the purple-haired women, and the two were pushed through the portal.

 

Amelia’s mouth hung open in horror, hearing a heartrending scream in stereo she took several seconds to recognize as partly her own.  Her cry was cut short as Alex, of all people, tackled her through the mirror, his “Carbink” following just behind. The portal closed after her, and the world of horror was no more.

Edited September 9, 2018 by MELON LORD

[Flipz]

-==IC: Route 5==-

 

A roar, a screech, a whimper--the scar-eyed Frogadier skidded to a stop and turned to survey the carnage. As the Scraggy scattered, their leader dragged off by the one who'd been fighting Myriam, the four Frogadier caught each other's eyes, all pale with the realization of what happened. The cross-scarred Frogadier recovered first, letting out a loud whistle and waving the others into the tall grass. One by one they departed: the yellow-striped Frogadier tossing the captured Inkay a pitying glance; the scar-eyed Frogadier leaving the humans a glare of hate; the young-looking Frogadier fixing Lachina with a stare of fear, heartbreak, and betrayal. The last, the cross-scarred Frogadier, studied the group grimly. She leveled her gaze upon each of the group with a quiet intensity, watching, studying, before at last turning away to join the squad she led in her elder's absence. One thing was clear:

 

She would remember this.

 

 

-==IC: Lionel Zyther==-

 

With an expression of surprise, Lionel studied Jared as he went to return his Pokémon, only at the last moment stopping as they indicated their wish to remain outside their balls. Shrugging, the man tucked the balls away once more, shooting Winters a puzzled glance now and again as if trying to assess an offer he hadn't expected to receive.

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia Seaton/Zoe Llyan/Alex Lockwood - Kalos Route 5

Darkness. Zoe had just managed to get herself free of the sticky Frubbles when someone came up from behind her and plunged her whole world into darkness. Thinking it must've been one of their Scraggy or Frogadier enemies, Zoe flailed incessantly. "Let me go, let me go, let me go!" she wailed, but the firm hands remained clasped around her eyes. "Esmeralda, teach this hooligan a lesson!"

 

The Fennekin cocked her head at Emma. She wanted to save Zoe, but she didn't want to hurt a friend. And so a pitiful bark was all she could muster.

 

Meanwhile, Alex had no such coordinator to shield his eyes from the horror that befell the Scrafty. "What the . . . ?" he breathed, unable to take his eyes away from the bloody mess. Zoe's rants about 'going for the jugular' were one thing, but Alex felt it was obvious the girl was just spouting words she thought sounded cool. This, on the other hand . . . it was way out of line for a simple skirmish with wild Pokémon defending their territory. And who should be responsible for such carnage but the silver-haired so-called leader of the group. Finally tearing his eyes away, he exchanged a worried look with his cousin. Just what kind of a group had they gotten themselves caught up in?

 

Dahlia simply stared at the silently retreating Jared. There was no mistaking it -- this violent outburst had to be the aura wielder's dark side, the part of him called Mercury. The scene was one all too familiar to Dahlia. The Scrafty's bloodied shoulder might as well have been the shredded remains of McKinley's Xatu. The memory made her stomach churn, and for the briefest of moments she thought she'd be sick.

 

It was only when she closed her eyes and took a deep breath that she realized she'd left Professor Alderson hanging. "Go ahead," she said distractedly. Leaving the Inkay with the professor, Dahlia pushed her way through the crowd, pausing only briefly next to Lachina before running to catch up to Jared.

 

"Hey," she said softly, coming to a halt a few feet behind him. It was only now that she realized she did not know what to say. Kind, comforting words usually came naturally to her, but they'd sound empty when pertaining to a situation she herself was struggling with. Biting her lip, she nervously clasped her hands in front of her as she wracked her brain for the best way to diffuse the situation. After several moments of nerve-wracking silence, she settled on an honest, heartfelt response. "I know how it feels. You've told me before it's not my fault, so I could say the same to you, but I know that's not what you want to hear right now. It's a terrible feeling, I know, and I'm sure you need some time to yourself, but I'm here for you if you need me."

 

Dahlia held her breath as she waited for Jared's response. The gap between them felt enormous, and yet she knew she was the only one who could even come close to understanding what he was going through. In that sense, they were truly alone together. Two stars of a constellation that appeared close but were in reality light-years apart.

[MELON LORD]

IC: Jared Winters/Lachina Adaon/Emma Lockwood

 

The silver clouds had, just for a moment, parted to reveal the storm beneath. After a brief struggle, the bloody color had ebbed and been concealed once more beneath silver. The Froakie hopped forward and sat next to the silver boy's feet.

 

Jared took a deep breath, held it for a moment, slowly let it out through his teeth. He turned, silver eyes opening to look at Dahlia. "Thank you," he said. "I appreciate that. I was hoping I wouldn't have to have this conversation with the rest of the group, though." He could see most of the group watching him warily, as if they thought he would strike at them next. Colleen, especially, was staring him down.

 

Lachina watched silently as Dahlia stepped up to speak with Jared. She turned and walked back to the group. "We should probably keep moving," she murmured to Colleen. "If want to make it to town by nightfall, at least."

 

Emma removed her hands from Zoe's eyes, but she kept a tight grip on the girl's shoulders to keep herself from shaking. "Sorry, Zoe," she said, trying to put some levity into her voice. "I thought things were going to get messier than that." She glanced at Alex, giving him a small shrug in return to his incredulous look.

[Parugi]

IC - Nobuddy - Hatchery, Vermilion Rocket Base:

 

The combination of the Servine pulling on its grounded leg, the force of its own kick, and the impact from Tyranitar's Payback knocked the Instance onto its back. It slammed against the floor, appearing--for lack of a better term--winded from the landing. Instead of retaliating, the Nobuddy raised its hands. Its form shifted, and suddenly Miyu lay in front of the Armor Pokémon again, tears streaming down her terrified face.

 

"P-Please d-don't hurt me, T-Tyranitar."

 

Miyu changed into Aori.

 

"Please, Mr. Hikari?"

 

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Emmerich Coleman - James Pierce's Room, Vertrag:

 

Neither Kyle nor Emmerich had a good answer to Chloe. In all likelihood, the former figured that there hadn't been much of an opportunity to pass the news onto Pierce's brother. From what he had heard in regards to the trial against Pierce, and Piers Ebner's testimony, he didn't get the feeling that the surviving twin would care all that much.

 

Emmerich appeared to think somewhat differently as, with a sigh, he folded the letters and slipped them into his coat. "Well, it might be worth dropping these off in either case," he said. "I don't think he sent these last couple."

 

"We'll see if we ever have time to take another trip to Unova," Kyle said. He rubbed the back of his head. "Onto the next room, then? Doesn't seem like there's much else in here worth looking at."

 

 

IC - Sonja Baron - Command Center, Vertrag:

 

Neither Sonja nor Ray had an answer to that. They merely exchanged troubled looks at Ryan's question, before Sonja shrugged, and that was that. With that oddly unsettling question on her mind, she approached the door on the wall directly across from where they had entered. In their brief absence from the main room, nothing had changed. Hopefully it stayed that way.

 

She opened the door.

 

Door number two was not anticlimactic.

 

This door opened into what could best be described as a studio. A camera stood, pointed at a silhouetted desk and chair situated in front of a series of screens emitting a constant white light. At a glance, this was nothing particularly special--simply a broadcasting station. But anyone who had seen or received a direct message from the Shadowed Man would recognize it immediately, the signature in each of his videos.

 

"Oh . . . wow . . ." Sonja struggled to find the right words to convey her awe. She stepped cautiously into the room, feeling again that sense of weight in the air that had been present when they entered the command center. "This is . . . I feel like I know a few people who'd kill to be where we are right now . . ."

Edited September 15, 2018 by Parugi

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Guinevere/Natalie - Black City

The two ascended the stairs to their target’s apartment. Guinevere had combed Natalie’s hair to look more neat. There wasn’t much they could do about Natalie’s outfit now, so Guinevere worked on the only things she could. They were interrupted when Guinevere asked to take another pit stop at a public restroom. Guinevere didn’t say why, but pattern recognition meant Natalie could probably guess.

They stopped in front of the door to Bobby’s apartment. It had a great view of White Forest from its position in the complex. The complex itself had so far been remarkably clean and its staff was friendly. That only further convinced Guinevere of the high price of the apartment. She gestured for Natalie to knock on the door.

After a moment of the woman knocking on the door, a wiry man appeared in the door-frame, eyes locked onto Natalie and Guinevere. "Yes? How many I help you?" The man asked with a hint of unease in his voice.

Guinevere peered into the room. It seemed even more opulent inside than out. Not super rich, but the decor wasn’t exactly that of a poor man. A prison guard didn’t make that much money.

"My name is Natalia Grants, and this is my partner Guinevere. I am an accountant for the company Leavanny Strauss, may we have a word?" Natalie asked, as she pushed up the glasses that she now wore.

Guinevere pulled out her trusty whiteboard, and wrote a message on it. She would let Natalie start, but she wanted to be part of this conversation.

[Pleased to meet you
=D]

The man eyed the two as he seemed to consider 'Natalia's words for a moment. "I see." His face seemed scrunched up in contemplation for a moment, but he then looked over the woman. "What are you doing around here, then, with little ol' Bobby Tables? I don't believe there's much of a countin' to be done here, seeing as I've not been with Leavanny Strauss for years now.."

Natalie cleared her throat. "We're here to clear up some… irregularities that have cropped up." Natalie said with as much formal conviction as she could muster. "We were hoping you could aid us in this matter."

Guinevere had become a master of the erasing-and-writing game as of late.
 

[We got majorly scrambled

during the attack on Celadon]

 

[Any help you can give

would help us a lot!]

 

While they were speaking with Bobby, one Grimer was squeezing his way through the man’s pipes. It was even worse than the prison had been, the pipes were in better condition and Guinevere’s directions had been even worse. ‘Follow us?’ Doing that was an absolute nightmare. He stuck one of his eyes out of a hole, and noticed something odd. He was on the ceiling. Somebody put a water pipe that connected to the man’s ceiling. This would be the outright worst time for some fire Pokemon to gain its power back.

Bobby looked around nervously for a moment. "Right, right…" He half-mumbled as he could not see any way around this at the moment. "Right this way. What would… you like to check on first?" The man asked, as if having to force himself to ask that.

Guinevere was already writing as Bobby was talking.
 

[We need to see your

financial statements

from the time of your

employment.]

 

Erase, erase, erase. Write, write, write.
 

[And could you state

the reason for your

resignation?]

 

"Ah, uh…" Bobby looked at the whiteboard with an uneasy look on his face. He seemed as if trying to recall what the reason was. "You see, Patrick's death was rather, ah, traumatizing. I simply couldn't stay there when a trusted co-worker had passed away." He looked between Natalie and Guinevere. "If you would stay here, I'll go get the statements you need."

Natalie watched as Bobby vanished to a room further into the apartment. "I don't trust him at all. He's too shifty." Natalie whispered to Guinevere as she crossed her arms while waiting.

Guinevere had to agree. He claimed trauma, but was working in a high stress environment. She somewhat doubted that he was gonna be totally honest with what he showed them. But that’s why you send a spy.



Bobby locked the door behind himself as he let out a long sigh. "Why would they send people after me…? Wasn't that betrayal of trust enough? What are they even trying to do…?" The man muttered darkly under his breath. He shook his head. "Doesn't matter, Bobby, doesn't matter. You've got this, this is an easy fix, just as they told me to do if anyone else went after me." With a nervous chuckle to himself, the wiry man walked over to the safe where he kept his financial records.

The safe wasn't too fancy at all, but the contents were rather out of the ordinary. As he picked up one set of files, he looked over to a second set that looked visually similar, outside of a small X in the top right corner of the manilla envelope. "Don't worry, they won't ever find you." Bobby said as he close over the safe door for a moment, not bothering to lock it while he still needed to return the files that were in his hands once he was finished with them.

With a reinvigorated energy, the man began to walk back out of the room to head back to where Guinevere and Natalie were, humming a small song quietly as he did so. All the while unaware of the eye that had followed him around the room.

The Grimer popped out of the ceiling. The poor idiot really should’ve locked it anyway. Not that it would have stopped him from getting that safe open. He saw how the man opened it. And if he couldn’t open it well, he’d just have to slip in anyway.

Thanks for telling me exactly what I needed to know, he thought as he took the papers from the safe.



"I'm ever so sorry for the delay." Bobby said as he returned with an overly sweet smile on his face. Natalie felt like it was the sort of smile a Rattata would give, though could not think of a fitting scenario for when that would happen. The woman was pulled out of her thoughts regarding that as the man began to hold out the papers to her. "You will look over them and then leave, no?"

Guinevere took the papers from from Bobby before Natalie had a chance to. The speed that Guinevere took them, might’ve been called snatching.

 

[Yup we just need to]

 

She paused in her writing, and began to double over slightly. The Gardevoir looked up with an embarrassed expression, with but the briefest glance behind Bobby.
 

[Excuse me, could I use

your bathroom?]

Bobby couldn't help but grimace. "Yeah, sure, whatever, right down the hall to the left. Just don't take too long, y'hear?"

Guinevere nodded with a smile, and hobbled over to the restroom. True to her nod, she wasn’t in there that long. A minute at most. She definitely seemed like she was in a better mood. She hopped over to a chair and sat in it. She wrote a message quickly asking permission to use it.
 

[Hope you don’t mind.]

 

Though she really didn’t care for what he would have responded. She began to look over the information in her arms, making a show of how much she was focusing on the words. Guinevere nodded as she read through the documents that were in her hand. She read at a slower pace than she needed to, letting Bobby stew there for a bit. When she got to the end of the first page, she seemed like she was going to move on to the next, her fingers on in prime position to change pages. But then she put the papers down and wrote again.
 

[it must be tough

to be on house arrest.]

 

"Pah." Bobby tapped his fingers against his now-folded arms. "I was framed. Framed I tell you. I don't have a clue why someone would go after me, but they -did-. 'Course, it feels like no-one believes me."
 

[Of course you didn’t

You’ll be fine.]

 

Guinevere worded her reply to not be convincing, despite the fact that she honestly believed him. Just because she believed him, didn’t mean she wanted him to believe her. The Gardevoir began reading through the documents much more quickly. She seemed to only be skimming through a few of the pages, until she got to a certain page. She covered her mouth as she read the page at a more deliberate pace. She had to hide her smile.
 

[That’s strange.

These pages don’t match.]

 

Bobby was about to reply with a bitter tone about her not believing him, but paused when he saw the second reply. "Wh-what? What do you mean?" The man asked with a wary look on his face and a shocked tone to his voice.

Natalie glanced over as well, trying to show her curiosity to Guinevere over what she had found - but hid it from the shocked man standing near her. "The pages don't match? Do elaborate."
 

[You got a few pages that

show your finances

over the same period.]

 

[but the numbers on

these pages

don’t match.]

 

[According to this version

you had a number of debts.]

 

[Debts

that disappeared

right before you moved.]

 

"Wh-wh-wh-what?" Bobby's eyes subtly widened as he glanced at the papers. He didn't dare move in case it gave anything away, but he didn't feel it could have been possible.

Guinevere smiled. She meant for it to be slightly reassuring, but she felt like a predator closing in on her prey.
 

[i don’t think it’ll

be a problem.]

 

[I just need you

to answer some

questions.]

 

[From around the time

you moved.]

 

"O-of course!" Bobby said all too enthusiastically as he smiled more confidently. "Go ahead, then."

Guinevere thought about what to ask him. They needed information on their culprit. A culprit they had vague clues on, but no hard evidence on. Well, best to keep focus. They had gotten permission to ask details about the time of Patrick’s death. May as confirm some details.

Time for the real battle of wits to begin.
 

[What were you doing

at Patrick’s house

the night of his death?]

 

Bobby visibly bristled at the choice of words. "Are you accusing me?" The guard asked all too quickly as he seemed on edge about the subject. "I had nothin' to do with that, nothin' at all, ya hear?" When neither the Gardevoir nor Natalie actually reacted to the defensiveness, the man calmed down slightly.

"Alright, if you really need to know, I was checking up on my friend and co-worker at the time. He'd invited me over for the big game that night, but then just stopped responding to my messages in the afternoon. I wanted to make sure he was alright."

A coincidence then? Guinevere thought. She didn’t believe his words, considering his earlier defensiveness, but she would remember them.
 

[How close were you to

Patrick?]

 

"We were pretty close, you know. Drinks at the pub every night, that sorta thing." Bobby said with a wave of his hand. He watched as Natalie crossed her arms slightly and realized she believed him about as much as Guin did. "... alright, alright, so maybe we were more like acquaintances."

Guinevere just nodded. He didn’t have much reason to lie about that per se. But it made his earlier claim more suspicious.
 

[Why did you leave Celadon

after Patrick’s death?]

 

"It was traumatic, you know? It's not every day that you go to visit a pal and you see their bloody house up in blazes. I figured the least that could be done to honour the guy's memory would be to try and help keep things safe here. Plus, I'd saved up enough to move here beforehand, so it was just a matter of time." Bobby shrugged, though Natalie kept a close eye on him. Something didn't feel like it fit well, but she opted to keep quiet for the moment in case Guin had an idea there.

The Gardevoir’s smile fell. She made slow deliberate strokes with her marker. She held up the documents that proved the man’s financial troubles and turned the board around.
 

[Do not lie to me.]

 

Bobby's face contorted in a mixture of fear and desperation as he fell quiet for a moment or two. He tapped his finger against his leg as he glanced around the room, something that Natalie decided to keep an eye on.

"I was gonna get a bonus, you see? I did loads for… for the company, and they were gonna pay that back big time."

Natalie shook her head as she frowned at the man. "No you weren't. That was never in the plans at all."

"Grk…" Bobby shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "... more like a gift…" The man quietly mumbled, an awkward look on his face at the constant scrutiny.

Guin was proud of Natalie for that one. She’d love to praise her for it, but what Bobby just said was quite revealing.
 

[Let me get this straight]

 

[You were at the house

of a man you barely knew

the night he died.]

 

[Soon after he died

you came into a

significant amount

of money]

 

[It just seems like

you seem to benefit

from his death.]

 

Bobby grew increasingly agitated as the messages on the whiteboard were written. He stood up, hands clenched. "Are you accusing me?!" He yelled as he glanced between Guin and Natalie. After a couple seconds, he turned around and bolted toward the door, but then stopped as an oddly coloured Grimer blocked the way.

"That isn't such a good idea, Mr. Tables. Running could very much land you in trouble with the people who have you under house arrest." Natalie said with a slight cough to get the man's attention. "Why don't you sit down?"

The wiry man reluctantly listened as he walked back over to the couch and sat down with a small grumble.

Guinevere was worried. They were so close, but if he turned violent, they might not be able to stop him from running away. She didn’t know what Pokemon he might have had, nor what combat strength Natalie had. She had to finish this quickly.
 

[Where did you get

the money for

this apartment?]

 

"Well, I had a side job you see, which uh…" Bobby trailed off as he saw Guinevere holding the papers in her hand. That was not a thing he had accounted for. With a slightly frustrated noise, he put his head down. "I made a deal with someone high up in Leavanny Strauss. Didn't catch her name, don't care to try to remember even if I did, but that's how that happened."

There. That was something she’d been waiting to hear. Guinevere just needed one more push.
 

[Why were you framed?]

 

"How should I know?!" Bobby looked like he was about to flip the table as it seemed as if a sore spot had been hit. Natalie subtly moved back in her seat, not exactly trusting that the table wouldn't still go flying sometime in the near future. Nonetheless, they waited until Bobby calmed down a bit more. He still looked frustrated, however. "I don't have a flipping clue who would want to frame me. I've been trying to figure this out for the past week, you know? But I can't think of anyone."

Guinevere had an inkling. She had no proof of this, there was every possibility that she was wrong. But it made sense to her, and more importantly, she knew he would buy it.
 

[You took money

from someone

at Leavanny Strauss.]

 

[That someone now

considers you]

 

[a loose end.]

 

Bobby paled visibly as the gears turned in his head as well. "A loose end…" He repeated, as he started to shake ever so slightly.
 

[What was the deal?]

 

"I- I don't think that's something accountants need to know." Bobby seemed to buckle down once again, but his guard appeared to be broken now, as he still seemed shaken over the realization.

Guinevere paused for a moment. If this was a chess match, the game was over the moment he admitted to making a deal. Now it was finally mate in one.
 

[You were framed

for a murder

over this.]

 

[Do you really

believe that’s

the end?]

 

Bobby fell silent at the mention of that. "I- I…" The man began to tremble again. "You're right. What do I do?! I don't… this isn't what I signed up for at all, you know?!"

Guinevere did feel pity for the man, but they needed what he knew. They could work on his situation once they had what they needed.
 

[What was the deal?]

 

Bobby bit his lip for a moment. "I was approached and paid to be a witness to Patrick's death." He glanced around nervously. "If this gets out at all, I'm a dead man."
 

[is Patrick still alive?]

 

"... Yes."

Guinevere leaned back. Ooh boy.

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia Seaton/Zoe Llyan/Alex Lockwood - Route 5, Kalos

"Hrmph. Next time you give someone a hug from behind, be sure not to blind them," Zoe muttered, looking irritated but thankfully none the wiser about Jared's actions. Nor about the growing tension that threatened to suffocate the group, it seemed. "I'm not that short, you can hug me like a normal person."

 

Alex gave the silver-haired aura wielder another wary glance before looking back at the rest of the group. "Lachina's right," he said heavily. "If we wait here too long, more wild Pokémon may come along to challenge us." He didn't believe his words in the slightest -- Jared probably had every wild Pokémon within several miles scared out of their minds -- but it was as good an excuse as any to keep moving. "We're still quite a way's out from Camphrier, so the sooner we get back on the road, the better."

 

Dahlia heard Alex's request, but kept her eyes locked on Jared. "I won't force you to tell them anything. I know how hard it can be. But they have a right to know who's leading them. That's not something Lachina or I can do for you . . . it's something you'll have to tell them yourself. When you're ready." She gave her words a chance to sink in, offering a small smile. "It sounds like the others are ready to move on. We'd better hurry, or they'll leave us in the dust."

 

IC: Shannon Willows/Dack Majors/Madison Morrow - Hatchery, Team Rocket Vermilion Base

"Augh, stop it!" Shannon covered her eyes, unable to face the image of the girl Ryan had fought so hard to save. "Stop toying with us, you monster!"

 

"Don't let go, Servine!" Dack commanded. He narrowed his eyes at the image of Aori before shifting his commands to Ryan. "Don't let it fool you. Kill it now, while we have the chance!"

 

IC: Ryan Sanders - Command Center, Vertrag

Ryan's breath caught in his throat. He slowly moved around to get a closer look at the screens, although he instinctively kept his distance. In his mind's eye he could practically see The Shadowed Man situated at the desk, taunting Blackskull over the fate of Bluefalcon. It felt like an eternity ago, yet the execution, as with so many others, had been ordered from this very room. If they had known then what they knew now . . . .

 

He closed his eyes against the memory. Ford's war crimes would do nothing to help them solve their current crisis. Nor could the man's efforts in trying to stop the Missing Zero justify his crimes, but that was a debate for another time. Opening his eyes, Ryan scanned the desk.

 

"The grimoire doesn't seem to be here," he said in a low voice, as if to preserve the solemn air in the room. "Unless one of you wants to try your hand at Ford's computer, we should move on to door number three."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colleen Llyan/Olivia Seaton/Lucia Zyther - Kalos Route 5==-

 

Colleen reflected on what happened as she followed the group. As she walked, she gave Em a small pat on the shoulder before mouthing 'thank you' to her. Still... she glanced over to Jared after that with a frown. That had seemed completely out of character for him - plus the odd shift in aura when it happened. She made a note to ask about that later, but knew that wasting time right now causing strife between the group would be a horrible idea.

 

Olivia, meanwhile, made sure to warily watch Jared. She had an idea as well that something odd was at work, as the only issue she'd had up until then was how he had acted during the training session that one time - which she had forgiven after finding out why - and how he seemed to want to speed through the investigation without any breaks or side paths. This seemed completely out of the norm, and she figured that they'd need to know what was going on before they continued. She knew well how easy it could be to do things that weren't intended, but she also wanted to make sure that this wasn't something that could put them in danger. Olivia also briefly wondered if Xander should know about this, but decided that could wait until after they found out about what was up.

 

Lucia, on the other hand, was a lot more conflicted. What did I get myself and Jamie into...? She wondered as she bit her lip. She wished that she could have helped out the Frogadier or the injured Scrafty even despite what the Scrafty had done, but... she also knew well that it was not a wise idea at all. So she just kept walking, trying to figure out what could have caused Jared to do what he did.

 

-==IC: Ryan Hikari - Hatchery==-

 

Ryan looked down at the shapeshifting creature in front of him. "Aori is upstairs - you can't fool me. You tried to hurt my friends." He wished that there was some way that Miyu could just be saved from being this creature - but did 'Miyu' even exist? He couldn't risk it regardless of the case. "I'm sorry." Ryan simply said, as he snapped his fingers. Tyranitar gave the transformed Instance a look of pity for a split second, before he attempted to very quickly Crunch down on the Instance's body, even as the image of Aori made the Tyranitar nearly hesitate during the usage of the attack.

 

-==IC: Ray Hakuda - Vertrag==-

 

"Hmm, I could give it a try." Ray said, as he glanced around the room. "If... we could find it. Hmm..." The man frowned slightly as he looked around a bit more. There had to be something that could be used to control the camera, unless it was a tablet. But as he thought some more, he realized that they likely would have had to have found it by now, and that it didn't seem as secure to use a tablet when there was this sort of elabourate setup. A laptop would make sense too, but that still brought up questions.

 

Ray walked over to the chair and sat down as he began to look at the desk to figure out the mystery. He wondered if there were any kind of hidden panels or drawers that would hold what they were looking for, then began to run his hands over the desk. As he did so, Ray noticed the desk seem to react to his touch as he could see numbers on it that were arranged like a dialpad. Out of curiosity, he decided to tap in the number for Chloe's PokéGear, wondering if it was related to phones.

 

-==IC: Chloe Hikari - Vertag==-

 

"Yeah, let's keep going, just in case the others found something already - we don't wanna keep them waiting. Still, I kinda do wanna see what the other rooms have, especially if it's anything like these are." Chloe bit her lip as she wondered if the home decor stuff extended to Ray and Sonja's rooms as well, but decided not to voice those thoughts.

[MELON LORD]

IC: Jared Winters/Lachina Adaon/Emily Lockwood

 

Jared stayed silent as they continued the walk. He wanted to explain, but now wasn't the time. It would cast doubt on him, if he said that Mercury could just take control. The thought terrified him; it was a backslide to a horrible time in his life. He walked in silence, with Anubis at his side and the Froakie -- the one he'd seen briefly in the lab -- on his shoulder. He would have to figure out what to do about that later.

 

Lachina walked beside him, offering silent support. Aolani flew overhead, beside Emily's Talonflame.

 

The Performer strode beside Colleen, considering everything that had just happened. Finally, she spoke quietly enough that only the other girl could hear. "So, that light . . . He's an aura user, too? Is it . . . common for it to change color like that?"

[Flipz]

-==IC: Professor Alderson==-

 

Professor Alderson, too, hung back, looking hesitantly back and forth between Dahlia and Jared as they conversed. Once their exchange ended, however, she approached Dahlia, the newly-captured Inkay resting on her outstretched wrist as she delicately ferried it back to its new Trainer. The professor raised the Pokédex in her other hand, consulting the data on its display as she delivered her report. "I... finished my analysis on your Inkay. Like I suspected, this Inkay comes from one of the western colonies near Route 8, but seems to have been living solitarily for at least the past while. If I had to make a guess as to why... my scans seem to indicate a deformity in his statocysts and the connecting nerves, which would leave him to tend toward... well, the closest human equivalent would be motion sickness. I suspect he was shunned by the rest of his kind, though why he would flee into the territory of the Fairy-types on Route 7..." The professor shrugged. "In any event, I appreciate you capturing him so I could get this data. Do you plan on keeping him, or will you release him back into the wild once we reach the coast? Oh, that reminds me..." The Professor fiddled with her Pokédex for several seconds, finding it unusually difficult to navigate the less familiar portions of its menus with only one hand. "This Inkay has the Contrary ability, and would normally have the moves Hypnosis, Swagger, Topsy-Turvy, Constrict, Foul Play, and Psybeam. There's genetic data here suggesting that he could potentially learn Guard Swap in the future as well, if you wanted to put in the effort to train for it. Anyway, thank you again, Dahlia, he's all yours now." The professor smiled at Dahlia, though the expression was rendered slightly awkward by her efforts to keep Jared out of her peripheral vision.

 

 

-==IC: Lionel Zyther==-

Lionel's Lilligant and Bisharp were Jamie and Lucia's first indicators of the businessman's approach. "The two of you are unharmed?" he asked with uncharacteristic uncertainty. "I know Chalmers can patch everyone up once we reach the castle, but if either of you are injured I'd rather get something in place now rather than risk letting you go untreated." He looked up at the horizon, the stone wall around Camphrier slowly growing more distinct as the afternoon wore on. "It won't be more than an hour or so at this pace, but still..."

 

 

IC: Amelia Zann/Alex Zyther/??? LaDonna/??? LaDonna/Alma Mason

 

*BANG*

 

The distinctive sound of a bullet bearing death echoed in Amelia’s ears, despite its source being literally a universe away. A ringing white noise blurred all else, filling her mind like an ocean of black tar, dragging her down, down, down…

 

“Amelia!”

 

She was falling, falling, the forest below filled with thick, black smoke, hazel eyes glaring in accusation before burning pink with hatred--

 

“Amelia!”

 

The name rang out in an ever-increasing litany, but cut off as she hit hard metal, the old and rusted room a long-forgotten prison trapping her in with a lime green lizard, its eyes blazing red even as its fins flashed teal and its enormous jaws opened wide in the final sight she’d ever--

 

“AMELIA, HELP **** YOU!!!”

 

The voice of the dead shook Amelia from her stupor -- only to plunge her neck-deep into a new nightmare.

 

An incredibly pale-looking Alex knelt next to Belle, hands pressed desperately to an abdominal wound gushing with blood and viscera, while another Belle stood shaking Amelia by the shoulders. “Snap the **** out of it!” she shouted, arm winding up for a wake-up slap.

 

Amelia caught the arm before the blow could land. “Ah’m here, ah’m here,” she reassured…Belle? ‘Donna’? Belle? She wanted to shake her head to clear the confusion, but the world already felt like it was spinning, and the rapid motion could only make it worse.

 

Alma had the woman’s head in her lap, her own head down so her hair concealed her face. “Miss Zann, she’s asking for you. Please, make haste. She does not have long.”

 

Amelia shuffled forward, dropping to her knees at the purple-haired woman’s side. “Ah’m here… ah’m here…” she repeated, voice cracking like a damaged record.

 

The woman -- Donna? Belle? Donna? -- looked up at her with a glazed look in her eyes. “Sorry, Pond,” she slurred, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth as she spoke. “Guess . . . guess ya were right. Looks like I really am leavin’ ya.” She coughed, droplets of blood spraying across Amelia’s face in its wake. The purple-haired woman gasped for breath, her face scrunching in pain.

 

Amy was paralyzed. What should she say? What could she say? Who was she even saying it to? “If I could…” she started, stopping short as the lump in her throat grew too tight to speak. “If I could even begin to… to…” She found herself at a loss for words, wishing her sheer emotions would be enough to break the barrier between them. She cursed herself internally. “If I was half the woman you think I am…”

 

“You are,” two voices said in unison. The woman in front of Amelia kept talking. “You fought fer a world that weren’t yours. Ya coulda left us, left me . . .” She coughed again, this time turning her head to avoid spraying blood on Amelia. “Sorry I wasn’t any help.”

 

“You were,” Amelia forced through tears, “you were.”

 

“Don’t you lie to me--”

 

“No… no. Because every time I thought… whenever I couldn’t…“ Amelia shut her eyes, trying to close off the horror and fear she’d suppressed throughout the lab, her torment, her escape. “You were there. Your voice, your face, they reminded me of why I… why I…”

 

“…Why you keep living.” Donna’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I was gonna be with you -- her. Forever.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Rest of my life. Traveling. Together. Amy and Donna… but I can’t go back.”

 

“I’m sorry--”

 

“Don’t be. We had the best of times. The best.” The woman’s eyes clouded, shuddering as she took her last breaths. “I don’t… I don’t wanna go…”

 

The woman’s body went limp in Amelia’s arms.

 

It was over.

 

Alma gently set the woman’s head down and stood. The young girl wiped at her eyes and sniffed. “I am going to check our environment,” she said quietly. “Alex, will you come with me?”

 

Alex nodded and stood to follow her, leaving Belle and Amelia alone with the body. Belle walked over and quietly untied her cape. “Pond, I honestly don’t know what to say in this situation.” She draped the silver cloth over her doppelganger’s corpse. “I guess . . . I’m here, if ya wanna talk.”

 

Before Belle could say any more, Amelia’s arm shot out, grabbing her hand and gripping it tightly, painfully even. The two stayed together in silence for many long, dark minutes.

Edited September 23, 2018 by Flipz

[Parugi]

IC - Nobuddy - Hatchery, Vermilion Rocket Base:

 

The phantom of Aori screamed as Tyranitar's jaws closed around her midsection. She struggled futilely against it as the Armor Pokémon jerked his head around, swinging the Instance against the floor and walls. Her form shifted like a distorted video, flickering between Aori, Miyu, and Matthew, to the Nobuddy's real form. For a moment, it changed into the form of a girl in her mid-teens, tanned with brown hair and grey eyes wide with fear. The cloth of her dress fluttered in the air amidst her cries: "Mom! MOM!"

 

With a loud snap from what could only have been either its spine or neck, the creature went limp, and the illusion faded, the distorted screams echoing in minds within the hall before finally coming to a stop, lost to the sirens that continued to blare.

 

 

IC - Blackskull - VIP Cell Block, The Alamo:

 

Blackskull kept his eyes on Richard the entire way down the hall. The Liberty Leader dialed a number on his Pokétch. "Executive Ladon, increase security presence in the VIP cells," he said. "I do not want anyone near Ford's or Hayes's cells without written clearance CC'd to myself from this point on."

 

He shook his head, ending the call. Ford offered him a look caught between amusement and disappointment. "I was honestly enjoying that," he said. "Do you need something from me? I've heard little about the Power Suit operation, aside from that it did not go as planned."

 

"I have an official from Alola wanting to speak with you," Blackskull responded. "That's all."

 

 

IC - Scott Stone - Streets, Lavender Town:

 

The night had passed without much fanfare, save for what Scott hoped was only the howling of the wind outside his window. In a town renowned for its ghosts, however, he could not be too certain. Not helping matters, either, was the old newspaper he had found in his room regarding an incident several months ago involving a carnivorous Hypno that had terrorized the area. That had not made it any easier to sleep, and had only served as further fuel for his nightmares about Kai's murder.

 

He sighed, finishing off the last of his coffee. The hotel lobby had been sleepy as he made his way outside, and the streets were, too. It was peaceful, almost. Fruitlessly peaceful; he couldn't relax until they had caught Kai's killer. And not just for Kai, but for the other victims, too--Drake, Roderick, and likely more.

 

With a sigh, he glanced at his Pokétch. 8:32 AM. He wondered whether he should call Lafoyae or give her more time. After a moment, he settled on waiting. Ten more minutes, and then he would fetch her.

 

 

IC - Ethan Worth/Gavin Braner/Skye Hall - Infirmary, The Alamo:

 

The hospital room was as tiny as ever. Truth be told, as many times as Ethan had already visited, he hadn't felt as welcome as he currently did until this visit. It was different, just hanging out--Gavin and Skye had reconciled, Gavin was no longer hopped up on knockout drugs, the general air of anger was gone. True, Gavin was still bothered by his current case of asymmetry--who wouldn't be?--but all things considered, this was a regular ol' return to normal.

 

So much so that the three currently sat in complete silence. Ethan's arms crossed his chest, Skye fiddled with her thumbs, and Gavin more or less lounged in his bed. They couldn't have been there for more than twenty minutes, but already, Ethan was fidgeting.

 

"So . . ." he said at last. "I think it's time we talk about our next steps."

 

"Yep." Gavin said. "Gonna be a while before I can leave here, though."

 

"That's fine," Ethan said. "We can wait a few weeks."

 

"You sure that's fine? You've waited like a week already."

 

"Pssh, yeah. I've got Stan to entertain me now, no biggy."

 

"It's not--ugh . . ." Skye face palmed.

 

Gavin chuckled. "Let's be real, though, Ethan." The older Agent gave him a confused look. "This isn't what you actually want to talk about right now."

 

"No?" Ethan thought for a moment. Then his face lit up. "Oh. Are you . . . giving me permission?"

 

"Yeah, whatever. Get it out of your system."

 

"What?" Skye looked confused. And concerned. Particularly as Ethan clapped his hands together, jumped to his feet, and then began pacing.

 

He stopped at the foot of Gavin's bed. "I know you're not all right, but at least we've got some of you left." Ethan continued pacing.

 

"What . . .?" Skye gave Gavin a look of pure confusion.

 

Ethan stopped in front of Gavin again. "I take it you're no longer looking to join the army?"

 

Skye double face-palmed. "Oh my lord . . ."

 

Gavin shook his head. "Keep 'em coming, I know you're not done."

 

"If you ever need me to, I'll lend you a hand, pal. Hopefully fighting Missing Zero won't cost you a leg to go with that arm. Although I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you could probably use a little evening up."

 

"##### you, Ethan."

 

"I love you, too, pal!"

 

"I'm going to harm you both."

 

 

IC - Esen Windred - Living Quarters, The Alamo:

 

The door was right in front of her. All she had to do was raise her knuckles and knock, introduce herself, say something nice . . . Her muscles ached from the thought. Kyle had suggested this, but she wasn't sure it was a good idea--for her or for anyone else. She'd hardly interacted with these people, and they had done the prep work for getting her m--Ace killed. Much as she hated to admit it, she found it difficult to let that go, no matter what Ace had done to her. Esen uttered a quiet growl of frustration, stepping back and pacing down the hall several steps before coming back.

 

"Come on . . ." she muttered. "We can do this . . ." With a deep breath, Esen raised her fist, hesitated and pulled back, and then forced herself to knock on the Alarics' door.

 

There was not an immediate response. Maybe no one was home. Seemed likely--it wouldn't have surprised her at all to discover that the Alarics and Morenos had fled in the night, given what had happened with Goldhawk. If she had anywhere else to go, she likely wouldn't have stayed for so long, either. With a sigh, she turned to leave.

 

The door eased open behind her. Esen turned back. A bright blue eye stared at her from behind the door, framed at the top by locks of jet-black hair. The pale face only emphasized these features further. "H-Hello . . ."

 

"Um . . . hey," she said. "You're Levi, right?" The boy gave a nervous nod. "Hey, you maybe don't remember me, but I'm Esen. I was at the . . ." She trailed off, realizing that mentioning the Egg probably wasn't a good idea. "I'm a friend of Kyle's. He asked me to stop by and check on you."

 

"Oh . . . Yeah, I-I remember." Levi looked down at the floor, opening the door more. He wore another outfit like the one had had worn the last time Esen had seen him--almost a schoolboy uniform. "Did he--"

 

"Levi? Who are you talking to?" A teenage girl popped up behind Levi. Green hair peeked out from underneath a purple bandanna. She wore an ankle brace--support for an injury, if Esen had to guess. Her kind face shifted into a concerned frown at the sight of Esen. She placed her hands on Levi's shoulders, looking around the hall. ". . . Hi. Can I help you?"

 

"Um . . . hi," Esen replied. "I'm . . . No, I'm sorry, I--my friend asked me to check on Levi, I didn't know he was being watched already."

 

"Weeell, he is!" the other girl said. She blushed, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm sorry--we're just not supposed to be talking to, like, anyone right now, so it's probably best if you go."

 

"Wait--no, S-Sam!" Levi said. "I-I know her! She's Mr. Kyle's friend!"

 

"I . . . don't know who that is, kiddo . . ." Sam looked between Levi and Esen. She sighed, finally relenting at the look Levi was giving her. "Okay, fine, but if she's actually trouble . . ."

 

"I mean . . . I'm not . . ." Esen said. "Can I come in, then?"

 

Reluctantly, Sam stepped out of the way. Levi looked behind Esen. "I-Is Torith with you?"

 

"Not today, buddy," Esen said. "I have a Pokémon I can introduce you to, though, if you want." She gave a smile to Sam as she passed by, letting the younger girl close the door behind them.

 

 

IC - ? - Intensive Care, The Alamo:

 

Walking was a pain. The damage from the heat had never quite healed; melted rubber did that. It made it hard to walk, hard to breathe, hard to do much of anything. But the doctors had ordered a discharge after a while, so clearly the damage wasn't too bad, at least in their opinion. Occasional stays were necessary, of course--observations to check the healing process, plans for further grafts and techniques to lessen the damage from spreading any further.

 

It was work, but it provided the freedom to roam, at least.

 

One thing would not heal, however, and that was the ever-burning rage in the chest. Anger, humiliation, dread, betrayal--these things coalesced into a furious flame that spread from the center of the body and out into the very fringes, down to the last nerves in the fingers. Answers had never come--whether the injuries were intentional or accidental--but they no longer mattered. Word had spread; the punishment had been all but revoked without so much as a care given to those affected the most. And why? Because of some 'good work'? Because of 'I didn't mean it' and 'It won't happen again'? Then the realization--it didn't matter what had been damaged, because it could be replaced. The one who had done the damage? Not so much, but as long as there was a promise of restraint--that would suffice, certainly.

 

The cameras were still on. If they weren't, a table could have flipped from the resurgence of anger. But no, no, not yet, not now--the release would come soon. This went higher; someday the next tier down would receive their due, but for now, a kindred spirit--an ironic echo of what had been forgotten--awaited. Lungs hurt, hands hurt, the mind hurt--but they had had some time to heal, and they were good enough.

 

The cameras clicked off. The hallway was empty. It would be a bit--time enough to go and get back. No trail, no suspicion. Everything was accounted for.

 

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Emmerich Coleman - Living Quarters, Vertrag:

 

As the last in line out of the room, Kyle pressed the button to shut Pierce's door behind them. The three stepped across the hallway to the next nearest room. The plaque to this door read '2.' "Three guesses who this one belongs to," Kyle said.

 

Just as Emmerich reached for the door button, Chloe's Poké Gear started ringing. It was an extremely jarring sound in the stillness of the hall up to now. The caller ID displayed an anonymous message. Kyle and Chloe exchanged a concerned look. After a moment, Chloe opted to answer, displaying the call on her Poké Gear's video screen.

 

The sight made Kyle's blood run cold. A silhouetted figure stood in front of a series of white screens, his hands pressed on the desk before him. Though he had only ever seen that same, silhouetted figure in a sitting position during his previous experiences with these calls, Kyle recognized the Shadowed Man's form immediately. He could not help but recall the last time he had personally received one of these calls, just before he had been injured on Four Island.

 

"Ford," he said, perhaps a bit more terse than intended. "They let you out of your cell?"

 

 

IC - Silvermind/Executive Josiah Lorn/Executive Elena Seaver - Silvermind's Office, The Alamo:

 

"I don't know how much clearer I can be," Lorn said. His exasperation was clear, and Silvermind did not appreciate it. "We need to come up with a solid plan for the Power Suits if we ever expect to see them deployed again." He held up a hand, listing off with his fingers. "We need an established training regiment in their use. We need any operators to know exactly how each Suit and its power module is supposed to be used. We need to ensure that we know exactly what their technical weaknesses are in addition to their Type weaknesses. We need--"

 

"You need a new PR campaign," Seaver summarized. "The One Island mission can hardly be called a success. We know you consider them a trump card, but power isn't everything--you can't just throw Agents into them and expect to beat Missing Zero like that."

 

"One Island was a special circumstance," Silvermind said flatly. "You know that."

 

"Exactly," Seaver said. "We know that. The rest of the world doesn't. And if they see anything else like what happened there . . . Those Suits will never get backing, no matter what you do. Producing more of them can work, but you need a plan first."

 

Silvermind sighed, leaning back in her seat. This conversation had reached these same points about three times already, and each pass only frustrated her further. The issues with the One Island mission had been made clear to her numerous times--she did not need to be reminded about the errors that she, Goldhawk, and the others had made. Still, they had a point, and it was a point she had not given much thought to thus far.

 

"All right," she said. "Suppose that we get a jump on this now. What would be the best--" Silvermind stopped and held up a hand as her landline started to ring. She picked it up. "Silvermind speaking." 

 

The two Executives could not make out what the person on the other end was saying, but they could tell from the surprise growing in Silvermind's expression that it was something urgent. She nodded, though did not respond. After a moment, the other end fell silent. They said something--repeating Silvermind's name--and she took a breath.

 

"I understand. I'll be down shortly. Thank you." She hung up the phone, leaving her hand on the receiver for a second before bringing both hands to her chin. The two Executives watched her in silence, dreading the moment she would pass along whatever news she had just received. Finally, Silvermind lowered her hands to the table. "That was Intensive Care. Goldhawk is dead."

Edited September 24, 2018 by Parugi

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Miriam Shields - Vermilion Rocket Base

 

Miriam's excitement at the footage was almost insulting, considering the emotional struggle Ryan was undergoing. She saw the monster through the uncaring eyes of the camera. Thoughts of the PR potential rushed through her mind. She was mouthing 'finish it' to the Tyranitar, when she made a mistake. Miriam looked over the tablet. She wanted to see the final blow with her own eyes. 

 

Then she saw her.

 

Miriam's eyes widened. Her pulse stopped. Her sense of reason dulled, and time slowed down.

 

It called out to her in words she never thought she'd hear.

 

And then the moment, that Miriam had been so eagerly waiting for, finally came. Miriam dropped the tablet, held out an arm towards the girl.

 

"No!" she yelled as he heard the crunch, as she watched the image slowly fade away.

 

When the illusion finally died, and the corpse of the monster was revealed, time began to move for Miriam again. When she realized what she had just done, she hit the wall in frustration. That reaction was unforgivably foolish of her. She'd seen this creature's ability. She knew it was fake. There was no way that she would be here.

 

"The reinforcements should be here soon. Let's wait for them to dispose of this trash," she said as she picked up the tablet, which she used to hide her face.

 

 

[Konuju]

IC: Shannon Willows/Dack Majors/Madison Morrow - Hatchery, Team Rocket Vermilion Base

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Shannon stared transfixed at the disfigured remains of the Instance, her eyes swimming with tears. A thick, blood-like substance oozed out from the creature's remains; the same substance that dripped from Tyranitar's fangs. She instinctively hugged her arm, which under her sleeve still sported scars from the very Tyranitar that had destroyed their transforming enemy. Her knees buckled, and Shannon slowly slid down the wall, never once taking her eyes off the Instance.

 

In contrast, Dack closed his eyes and turned to hide his face from the others. He could still hear Matthew's screams, intermingled with those of Aori, Miyu, and the unknown brown-haired girl. They had been screams of genuine terror. Miriam's voice sounded far away . . . it was a request to stay put. Dack wanted nothing more than to storm off. He wished he could be anywhere but here. Somewhere he could cry freely. Instead he clenched his fists in silence, pondering the implications of an Instance that could disguise itself as anybody; one with some level of mind-reading.

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't real," Madison said. Her voice sounded as emotionless as Miriam's, but it wavered ever so slightly. "N-none of it was real."

 

"It felt real." Dack didn't have the strength or the willpower to say more. He brushed Madison aside and moved to sit down next to Shannon. As he waited for the authorities to clean up the mess, the Rocket agent stared at the white floor, tainted with specks of red. His Servine moved next to him, a concerned look on her face. Refusing to meet her eyes, Dack recalled the grass snake to her Pokéball.

 

He continued to wait in silence.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Lohe Mahina - Ford’s Cell

 

Lohe looked at the man who sat in the cell. So this was the man that all the fuss was about. The man who erased Pokemon power. He was feeling pretty awake right now. He could hear the shift of a camera in the corner of his ear.

 

“I’ve been asked to get some answers from you. About that stunt you pulled.” 

 

Lohe looked at the bars that separated him from Ford.

 

“Am I allowed in there?” he said to Blackskull before shaking his head. “Naw, doesn’t matter. That Pokemon de-powering thing you did. How’d you do it, and how do we know someone else won’t?”

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia Seaton/Zoe Llyan/Alex Lockwood – Kalos Route 5

"I . . . oh, right . . ." Dahlia held her arm aloft, inviting the Inkay to join her. The small cephalopod eyed the gap between Professor Alderson's arm and Dahlia's arm warily, before carefully making the jump. His tentacles wrapped around the gardener's wrist for support, and it was only after he was sure he was secure that he let out the breath he had been holding.

 

Dahlia stared at the new Pokémon. She had captured it by the professor's request, and had assumed Alderson would care for the Inkay. With the necessary research done, it only made sense to release the Pokémon back into the wild. And yet . . .

 

The Inkay clung to her like a small child gripping its mother's hand in an unfamiliar crowd. What was it Professor Alderson had said? The Inkay had been shunned by its peers and suffered some degree of motion sickness. Even as she walked, the slight movements in her arm seemed to make the Inkay uncomfortable. It was only when she stopped moving, keeping her arm perfectly still, that the squid managed to relax.

 

"I can't just leave you like this," she said softly. She reached out to stroke the Inkay's head, and the Revolving Pokémon opened its eyes to stare up at her. "Alright then, it's decided. If you'd like, you can come along with us." The Inkay pondered her words, then nodded slowly. Dahlia smiled. "Then welcome to the team . . . Marsala."

 

Gerri chose this moment to land on Dahlia's head. She had been buzzing around with her new wings, but upon hearing the Inkay would be joining them, the Masquerain decided to greet her new friend. The bug type broke into a warm smile and buzzed her wings in greeting. Her antennae shifted back and forth in a waving gesture, although their eyeball patterns gave the appearance that she was trying to observe the Inkay from every angle.

 

The newly named Marsala let out a terrified shriek and pushed off from Dahlia's wrist with surprising force. He floated backwards into the air into the branches of a nearby tree, wielding a small twig to defend himself.

 

"Gerri!" Dahlia picked the Masquerain up off her head and gave her a scolding look. "That's no way to treat a friend. Marsala's not used to us yet, you can't just scare him like that." Setting Gerri on the ground, Dahlia reached up into the tree to grab Marsala. The Inkay hesitantly crawled back onto her arm, but kept glancing cautiously over at Gerri. "Don't worry," Dahlia said with a laugh. "Give it enough time, and I'm sure you two will be best friends."

Edited September 24, 2018 by Konuju

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Jamie Arthur - Kalos Route 5

 

“Nah I am good. Are you alright, Bedevere?” Jamie said calling out to the Cloyster.

 

The Cloyster beamed. It was great to win a fight again. He hadn’t taken too many hits. Pelleas looked a little jealous, but knew that the Cloyster deserved a chance to fight.

 

Jamie nodded, “You did great, Bedevere, return.”

 

Bedevere returned to the Poke Ball from whence he came.

 

“Ooh wee though, did you see that last move Jared did, Lucia? I better step up my game.”

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colleen -- Kalos Route 5==-

 

"It's not really that common, no..." Colleen replied quietly with a small frown. "Usually it only happens when like, something big happens, and I've never seen that happen, let alone it go back to its original colour right after."

 

-==IC: Lucia -- Kalos Route 5==-

 

"It was a bit..." The woman decided that she'd choose her words a bit carefully. "Damaging, yeah. I wonder what prompted it though...?" Lucia turned to look at Jamie for a moment, trying not to look too surprised that she had thought that move to be that cool.

 

-==IC: Ryan -- Hatchery hallway==-

 

Ryan stood frozen, breathing heavily as the danger of the situation slowly seemed to pass. "That was definitely... I don't know what to say, but that was rather dangerous..." He glanced around at the others, who all seemed to have been affected just as badly by that fight in one way or another. "If anyone needs to talk about what just happened, just give the word, okay?" The man looked at Dack and Miriam in particular, who seemed to have been hit the hardest by what happened there.

 

-==IC: Chloe -- Vertrag==-

 

Chloe looked over at Kyle in surprise at the mention of Ford's name. When she looked at the screen again however, she noticed that the figure did indeed resemble the imprisoned man that they had visited a few days ago. But how could that be? She stayed quiet but wary - she wondered what he could want, did he have more information?

 

"Ford?" The shadowed man repeated, a hint of confusion present in the man's voice. "What are you talking about? I'm not Ford."

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan Sanders - Command Center, Vertrag

"That voice . . ." Ryan muttered. "Kyle?" He walked over to Ray was standing at the desk, and was surprised to see a familiar redhead staring up at him from the desk's surface. "Chloe, too?" He looked over at Ray incredulously. "What did you do? Is this some sort of PA system? But more importantly . . ." He looked back down at Chloe. "Have you guys found anything?"

 

IC: Shannon Willows/Dack Majors/Madison Morrow - Hatchery, Team Rocket Vermilion Base

When Dack refused to meet Ryan's eyes, Madison took it upon herself to explain their situation. "The little boy that thing disguised itself as . . . that was our friend Matthew. We had all grown up together in Snowpoint. Matthew died in the avalanche that hit our hometown last year." Her glistening eyes flitted to the ground and she briefly glanced over her shoulder to where Dack sat in silence.

 

"He doesn't like to show it, but Dack took it harder than either Luke or me. He'd left Snowpoint to join Team Rocket and he hadn't been back in years. He never got a chance to say goodbye to Matthew." The skier's mouth curled into a melancholy smile as she looked up at Ryan. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I should be the one to talk with him . . ." Her lip started to quiver, and she abruptly turned her head. She hadn't realized it before, but her hands had been shaking uncontrollably. She clasped them behind her back and took a deep breath. "I . . . I think we all just need some time to process everything."

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: James Arthur - Aether Paradise

 

The rest of the trip was comparatively uneventful. James was in a better mood after the battle. Fighting things at least had clear win conditions. He’d just have to figure it out when he got there.

 

A structure came into view on the horizon. A large white tower in the middle of the ocean. A genuine marvel of engineering. Even the Pokemon on the deck where admiring it as they saw it.

 

“Our pride and joy,” the Aether representative commented as the ship pulled near.

 

The events that transpired between his arrival and his meeting were thoroughly uninteresting. James ended up waiting for a while in a room of nearly solid white. The decor was elegant, if almost glaring when the sun from outside the room. Lancelot was seated while James was looking out of a window. He could see some of his other Pokemon in the conversation area below.

 

After enough of a wait, there was a wooshing sound as the door to the room opened. "Mr. Arthur, I presume?" An elegant flowing voice rang out behind James as a woman with extremely long blonde hair walked into the room, heels clacking as she walked.

 

James put on his best business smile. He didn’t have the best knowledge of the woman’s personality. Yet her reputation preceded her. “That would be me. A pleasure to meet you, President Lusamine.”

 

 

 

 

IC: Miriam Shields - Vermilion 

 

"She..."

 

Miriam was taking deep breaths. She was still staring at the ground where the monster's corpse was. She bit her lip before exhaling one last deep breath through her nose.

 

"No, there's nothing to discuss. I made a foolish lapse in judgement. That's all."

 

A number of agents finally showed up. Finally. She would have to see to it that the base's emergency protocols were updated. Some of the agents were looking to deal with the body. She would vaguely remember one of them asking if she was alright. She replied that she was physically unharmed.

 

"Let's return to the office. We don't need to be here any longer."

[Flipz]

IC: Jamie Arthur - Kalos Route 5

 

“Nah I am good. Are you alright, Bedevere?” Jamie said calling out to the Cloyster.

 

The Cloyster beamed. It was great to win a fight again. He hadn’t taken too many hits. Pelleas looked a little jealous, but knew that the Cloyster deserved a chance to fight.

 

Jamie nodded, “You did great, Bedevere, return.”

 

Bedevere returned to the Poke Ball from whence he came.

 

“Ooh wee though, did you see that last move Jared did, Lucia? I better step up my game.”

-==IC: Lucia -- Kalos Route 5==-

 

"It was a bit..." The woman decided that she'd choose her words a bit carefully. "Damaging, yeah. I wonder what prompted it though...?" Lucia turned to look at Jamie for a moment, trying not to look too surprised that she had thought that move to be that cool.

-==IC: Lionel Zyther==-

 

"Yes, I was impressed by young Mr. Winters there. I of course have my concerns with his degree of control, but he did a masterful job of recognizing an opportunity to bring the fight to a definitive conclusion and capitalizing upon it."

 

The Bisharp leading the way in front of him made a hollow, echoing noise.

 

Lionel grinned wryly. "I'm aware that's usually our job, my friend. But in a group this large, I think we're going to have to accept a degree of overlapping roles and capabilities." He chuckled. "We'll adapt. We always do."

Edited September 30, 2018 by Flipz

[MELON LORD]

IC: Jared Winters/Lachina Adaon/Emily Lockwood - Camphrier Town Outskirts

 

As they approached the wall surrounding Camphrier town, Lachina stretched. "So, I know we all probably want to get settled in and call it a night, but the sun's still up for another hour or so. What sites does Camprhier have, besides the big fancy castle that we gotta book a tour for?"

 

Emily smiled. "Well, the boutique, of course, has some nice clothes to check out, and they get new stock fairly often. As Dahlia said earlier, there are also the berry fields nearby."

Jared sighed, shrugging. "If you all want to go see the sites, feel free. I'd rather go check in at the hotel and let Xander know that we're still alive."

 

IC: Yamamoto Aori

 

Silence fell on the facility. Aori finally felt safe in lowering her hands from her ears. She sniffled and hugged Yuri. She looked up at Luke. "Is it over?" she asked.

 

As if in answer to her question, the door opened. Aori crawled out from under the desk. She saw Hikari-san enter with the woman he had come to see and Luke's friends. But no Miyu. She frowned and shifted her feet.

 

"Did you find her?"

[Flipz]

IC: Dahlia Seaton/Zoe Llyan/Alex Lockwood – Kalos Route 5

"I . . . oh, right . . ." Dahlia held her arm aloft, inviting the Inkay to join her. The small cephalopod eyed the gap between Professor Alderson's arm and Dahlia's arm warily, before carefully making the jump. His tentacles wrapped around the gardener's wrist for support, and it was only after he was sure he was secure that he let out the breath he had been holding.

 

Dahlia stared at the new Pokémon. She had captured it by the professor's request, and had assumed Alderson would care for the Inkay. With the necessary research done, it only made sense to release the Pokémon back into the wild. And yet . . .

 

The Inkay clung to her like a small child gripping its mother's hand in an unfamiliar crowd. What was it Professor Alderson had said? The Inkay had been shunned by its peers and suffered some degree of motion sickness. Even as she walked, the slight movements in her arm seemed to make the Inkay uncomfortable. It was only when she stopped moving, keeping her arm perfectly still, that the squid managed to relax.

 

"I can't just leave you like this," she said softly. She reached out to stroke the Inkay's head, and the Revolving Pokémon opened its eyes to stare up at her. "Alright then, it's decided. If you'd like, you can come along with us." The Inkay pondered her words, then nodded slowly. Dahlia smiled. "Then welcome to the team . . . Marsala."

 

Gerri chose this moment to land on Dahlia's head. She had been buzzing around with her new wings, but upon hearing the Inkay would be joining them, the Masquerain decided to greet her new friend. The bug type broke into a warm smile and buzzed her wings in greeting. Her antennae shifted back and forth in a waving gesture, although their eyeball patterns gave the appearance that she was trying to observe the Inkay from every angle.

 

The newly named Marsala let out a terrified shriek and pushed off from Dahlia's wrist with surprising force. He floated backwards into the air into the branches of a nearby tree, wielding a small twig to defend himself.

 

"Gerri!" Dahlia picked the Masquerain up off her head and gave her a scolding look. "That's no way to treat a friend. Marsala's not used to us yet, you can't just scare him like that." Setting Gerri on the ground, Dahlia reached up into the tree to grab Marsala. The Inkay hesitantly crawled back onto her arm, but kept glancing cautiously over at Gerri. "Don't worry," Dahlia said with a laugh. "Give it enough time, and I'm sure you two will be best friends."

-==IC: Professor Alderson==-

 

Elaine chuckled at the newly-christened Marsala's antics. "Inkay are Psychic- and Dark-type, dear. It may take quite some time before he overcomes his instinctive fear of Bug-types."

 

 

IC: Jared Winters/Lachina Adaon/Emily Lockwood - Camphrier Town Outskirts

 

As they approached the wall surrounding Camphrier town, Lachina stretched. "So, I know we all probably want to get settled in and call it a night, but the sun's still up for another hour or so. What sites does Camprhier have, besides the big fancy castle that we gotta book a tour for?"

 

Emily smiled. "Well, the boutique, of course, has some nice clothes to check out, and they get new stock fairly often. As Dahlia said earlier, there are also the berry fields nearby."

 

Jared sighed, shrugging. "If you all want to go see the sites, feel free. I'd rather go check in at the hotel and let Xander know that we're still alive."

-==IC: Lionel Zyther/Professor Alderson==-

 

"Hotel? What's this nonsense about a hotel? Ridiculous. No, as long as you're my guests in my city, you'll be staying at my castle."

 

Elaine's attention was forcibly torn away by Lionel's authoritative declaration. "Surely not," she said in disbelief. "You can't mean to say that you own Shabboneau Castle?"

 

Lionel smirked, waggling a finger at the professor. "Au contraire, Professor, I very much can say I own the castle because I do own it."

 

"But... but it's a historical landmark--"

 

"That's been in my late wife's family for generations, which means it now belongs to me. Now, you can sit here and argue the sincerity of my hospitality, or you can come with me and experience it firsthand."

 

The Professor gaped at Lionel for several long seconds. Finally, however, she managed a reply. "That... that seems... reasonable."

 

"Excellent. I'll have Chalmers prepare refreshments once he's finished readying everyone's chambers." Lionel typed a brief missive into his Holo Caster, a common one it seemed by the familiarity with which his fingers flew. "If anyone wishes to enjoy Camphrier's more mundane pleasures, feel free, Chalmers will let you in at the gate once you're finished. Do try not to stay out too late, though; he worries when there's guests out after sunset."

[Konuju]

IC: Shannon Willows/Dack Majors/Madison Morrow/Luke - Miriam's Office, Team Rocket Vermilion Base

Aori's question pierced the air. No one seemed to really know how to respond. Shannon found herself looking to Ryan. After all, he was the one who knew Aori the best, so he should be the one to decide how to answer.

 

"Miyu wasn't real." The words came from Dack. The Rocket agent stared at the ground, unable to meet Aori's eyes. "She was a fabrication created by the Missing Zero to trick us. We ki--"

 

"That's enough, Dack." Madison shot him an icy glare. "She's just a kid. Don't put her through this."

 

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it," Dack retorted. "She deserves to know the truth. That thing tricked her just like it tricked us. If we keep quiet, she'll fall for its lies again. She needs to learn to be more careful."

 

"She's been through enough already!" Madison forcibly grabbed the neck of Dack's shirt. "How can you be so thoughtless?"

 

"Both of you, shut up!" Luke slammed his fist down on Miriam's desk as his Machoke ran up to force the two apart. The blackbelt took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone of voice. "Aori's a delicate girl. Your fighting will upset her more than whatever the story is behind Miyu." He walked out from behind the desk and knelt next to the young girl. "Don't mind my friends," he said with a smile. "Ever since they declared their love for each other they've been fighting like an old married couple. Although to be honest, it feels like they've been doing that since we were kids. Now, why don't we ask Hikari-san to explain it to us?" He gave Ryan a knowing look. "I know we can trust him to tell us what happened."

 

IC: Dahlia Seaton/Zoe Llyan/Alex Lockwood - Camphrier Town

Dahlia had been walking in silence, Marsala perched on her arm and Gerri buzzing behind her. Mr. Zyther's words disturbed her. Most people in the group seemed to be off put by Jared's reckless display of violence; she could feel the tension in the air and hear the hushed whispers. Yet Lucia's father claimed to be impressed by the ruthless attack. She knew she shouldn't judge a man she barely knew, but the level of praise Mr. Zyther seemed to pour on the young aura wielder despite the latter's clear regret felt wrong. Dahlia wanted to speak up against the businessman, but she couldn't bring herself to divulge Jared's secret in front of the entire group. Perhaps when they reached Camphrier she would pull Mr. Zyther aside and give him a piece of her mind.

 

When they finally did reach the cozy town, however, Lionel Zyther once again made their sleeping arrangements for them, this time at the historical castle he apparently owned. The resolve that had been building up in Dahlia melted away in an instant. Mr. Zyther was clearly a far more important man than she had realized, and as an honored guest at his castle, she couldn't just disrespect his opinions.

 

"We're sleeping in a castle?!" Zoe wore the biggest smile Dahlia had ever seen on her face as she took Colleen's arm and dragged her into the town square. "Come on, Collie! We have to visit the boutique right away! Show us the way, Em!"

 

Alex, who had been walking with his cousin and the Llyan sisters, balked at the young girl's seemingly endless enthusiasm. "The boutique?" he questioned. "What's that have to do with Shabboneau Castle?"

 

Zoe came to an abrupt halt and spun on her heels to face the elder Lockwood, her eyes rolling in the exasperation of a teacher lecturing an inattentive student. "It's a castle, duh! We can't just waltz into a castle wearing jeans and t-shirts. In order to live like royalty, one must dress like royalty." Shifting her stance, Zoe pointed a finger to the sky in a dynamic pose she could only have learned from Evan Tierra. "We'll visit the boutique to acquire dresses befitting of a true Aura Princess!" she declared.

 

As silly as the notion was, Alex couldn't say no to Zoe's resolve. Even still, a shopping spree with a bunch of girls was the last thing he wanted to do. "I'll be waiting for you at the castle," he said with a smile. "I look forward to seeing what you three can come up with. Have fun."

 

As Zoe started to drag Colleen and Emily away, with Lionel continuing to lead the remainder of the group toward the castle, Dahlia realized she had too much on her mind right now to fully enjoy the castle. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the berry fields," she announced. Marsala looked up at her, surprised at the suddenness of her statement. Gerri buzzed closely behind as Dahlia split off from the group. She walked along the cobblestone streets in silence, deep in thought.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Jamie Arthur - Camphrier Town

 

Jamie's eyes widened as she took in the structure in front of her. It was the first time that Jamie had ever seen a castle. She crossed her arms and began to think on the matter. It wasn't as mind-blowing as she expected it would be. It was cool, but not instantly life changing.

 

"Hey, Lucia. This was not the castle King Arthur lived in, was it?"

[Parugi]

IC - Blackskull/John Ford - VIP Cell Block, The Alamo:

 

"They won't, because they can't," Ford said. It was as simple as that. He might as well have offered Lohe a croissant. "The recipe for the spell lay within the Grimoire of the Signs, and only the most experienced in the arts possess the ability to reach those depths. Even if someone were to manage it, I suspect it wouldn't give out the same recipe twice, seeing how it failed in its purpose the first time. As for the how . . . Suffice to say that I am a rather gifted magician."

 

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Emmerich Coleman - Living Quarters, Vertrag:

 

This was . . . strange. Two Shadowed Men now occupied the screen. They were soon joined by a third, with one arm held in front of him and the other seeming to press buttons on his raised wrist. He stopped, and a moment later Kyle's Pokétch rang. He answered. Sonja's face projected on the screen.

 

"So . . . You guys are seeing the Shadowed Man on your end?" she asked. Before he had time to answer, she turned the camera. Ray and Ryan stood at a desk. On the surface, Kyle could see the view from Chloe's camera--including himself in the background, communicating with Sonja. "Because it's definitely not him calling you."

 

"Yeah, you guys are . . ." Kyle adjusted his own camera to show Chloe's screen. "How are you guys doing that?"

 

"No idea," Sonja said. "Ray turned this on, so he'd be the one who knows. But this camera set-up is where Ford's been sending out his messages, there's no doubt about that."

 

"I have no words," Kyle said, followed by a sigh. "This place is insane . . ."

 

"To answer the . . . not-Ford's question," Emmerich said. "We've only investigated one room so far. We're fairly certain it belonged to James Pierce. Outside of that, we haven't found anything major, but we're about to head into the next couple. How about you three?"

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Lohe Mahina - VIP Cell Block

 

Lohe turned his head from side to side, and scratched his head. He placed a perplexed look on his face. He opened his lips as if he was going to speak more than once, before pointedly closing his mouth.

 

"Grimoire? Recipe?" he asked at last.

 

Lohe up-righted his posture for a moment before he slouched again. 

 

"Could you elaborate on those for me? I'm not sure my bosses will accept that explanation unless I can tell them what they mean. What's the 'Grimoire of the Signs'? And what do you mean by a recipe?"

[MELON LORD]

IC: Jared Winters

 

Jared sullenly followed after Lionel and his daughter and her friend. Mercury was being quiet, which was more frustrating than if he'd been gloating. At least then, Jared would have an answer as to why or how Mercury had taken control.

 

Despite his sour mood, he gave an appreciative whistle as they approached the castle. "You know, Mr. Zyther, at first I was skeptical of traveling with you, but, I have to say, it has its benefits."

 

IC: Lachina Adaon

 

As Dahlia took off, Lachina knew what had to be done. With a resigned sigh, she gave chase. "Dahlia, hey!" she called. "Wait up for a sec!" The gardener slowed, just enough for the ranger to catch up to her. Aolani flapped along above them. Lachina took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "What a jerk, huh?" she asked, referring to Lionel. "Who just talks like that when they can plainly see how guilty Jared felt over that whole ordeal?"

 

IC: Emily Lockwood

 

Despite really wanting to see the castle sooner rather than later -- and not even the guided tour parts, but the actual living areas! -- Emily would not leave her newfound friend and said friend's sister to blindly wander through Camphrier in search of the good shops. "Come along, darlings, this way!" The Performer took the lead, smiling brightly. "You know, I think Zoe would look like such a doll with a designer beret to wear! And Collie, we simply must get you a scarf or jewelry to accessorize with."

 

IC: Yamamoto Aori

 

The adults were fighting. That was bad. Luke said it was okay.

 

Luke was lying. Aori tried to believe him anyways. She nodded and looked to Hikari-san. "Hikari-san," she said, "is it true? Was Miyu-chan a fab--" she fumbled, scrunching her brow at the unfamiliar word. "Fabriction?" That wasn't the right word, but the right word was large and clunky. She defaulted back to vocabulary she knew. "Was she fake?"

Edited October 4, 2018 by MELON LORD

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia Seaton - Streets, Camphrier Town

The gardener met Lachina's eyes and nodded ruefully before turning back around to continue walking through the rustic streets, at a much slower pace now that she had company. "He doesn't know what it's like," she muttered after a long silence. It was hardly a defense of Lucia's father. Free from prying ears, Dahlia felt her pent-up rage return. She didn't know Lachina that well, but if Jared could trust the Ranger with his secret, that meant Dahlia could confide in her as well.

 

"Mr. Zyther is a man who's always been in control," she said bitterly. "He has no connection to our group outside of Lucia, yet he overrules any decision he disagrees with, like where to stay for the night. If we're not careful, he could end up taking over this mission entirely, all under the pretense of generous hospitality." Her outstretched arm shook to the point that Marsala had to dislodge himself from her wrist before he grew sick. "He could end up leading us somewhere we don't want to go, and arguing with him would only cause strife within the group. And because control has never been an issue for him, he's only concerned with Jared's potential for power, not with the emotional toll it puts on him. It's like he only wants to use Jared for his own personal gain."

 

The girls came to a stop at the southern edge of town, where a raised terrace overlooked the berry fields to the west. Stone steps off to the side led down to the fields themselves. The scent of freshly laid mulch intermingled with the delicate aroma of various berries and flowers filled Dahlia's nostrils with a serene nostalgia. She closed her eyes as she leaned against the railing, letting the gentle breeze and faintly chirping birds transport her back to her family's garden in Olivine. Perhaps it was the power of her fond memories, or maybe it was simply because she had gotten that rant off her chest, but Dahlia felt more relaxed and tranquil than she had in a long time.

 

"Sorry for dumping all of that on you. I'm starting to sound like my brother, aren't I?" She looked back at Lachina, her eyes faintly glistening. "I guess I'm just scared. For all his willingness to help train me, Jared only has a slightly better grip on his powers. He tries to act confident, but deep down I know he's scared of himself. Of what he might do. I'm worried Mr. Zyther might take him under his wing and end up cultivating the darkness inside him." With a heavy sigh Dahlia slid her back down the iron railing that marked the edge of the terrace and hugged her knees. "Of course if I told all this to Jared it'd just upset him further. And I can't voice my distrust of Mr. Zyther in front of Lucia or Jamie. Maybe I'm just overreacting, but if I do nothing and something bad does happen, that's on me." She blinked to hold back her tears as she looked desperately up at the Ranger. "Lachina, you know Jared better than me. What do you think we should do?"

[MELON LORD]

IC: Lachina Adaon

 

Lachina nodded slowly, considering. She hadn't seen fit to interrupt Dahlia, because she could see that the gardener was upset. Slowly, Lachina sat next to her.

 

"Jared is a tough person. When I first met him, he'd made his way to Sootopolis with only a few hours of sleep over the course of what he said was a few weeks. He did that because there was this list of places that had been or were going to be destroyed, and he wanted to help. He was just a bit too late." She sighed, wondering what might have changed if Jared had been there.

 

"I'm telling you this because I want you to know how tough he is, and what lengths he's willing to go to help people. Even if Mr. Zyther tries to cultivate the dark side . . . No, sorry. I fhe tries to cultivate Mercury, Jared won't let him. Jared isn't great with people, but even he would see through the sleaze and tell Lionel to leave him alone.

 

"And if not, then, yeah, we'll have to do something. You and me, we're the only ones that know about Mercury, so we're the only ones who are informed enough to help Jared deal with this. ANd that's sort of what he needs, I think. He needs people to support him when things get tough, just like he supported you."

 

Impulsively, Lachina reached out and squeezed Dahlia's hand. "I'll support you, too, if you need it. I don't know specifics, but you've mentioned that you also lost yourself once. I don't want that to happen. To either of you. I've seen Mercury at his worst once, and it was scary. I don't want anything like that for you guys, so if you ever need someone to talk to, just say the word, okay?"

 

 

IC: Xander Cruize/Sylph - The Alamo, 3:30 AM

 

Xander woke up at three for breakfast, then showered quickly while waiting for the call-in from Jared and Colleen. As he sat his desk, he glanced up at Sylph, who had woken up with him. The Gardevoir was scowling softly at him.

 

Xander sighed, adjusting the white button-up shirt. "Go for a walk, Sylph? Come back at, say, five."

 

"You're doing something stupid," she accused. Xander shrugged, unable to deny it. "It's even worse when you know it's stupid, but go to do it anyways."

 

"It's a necessary sort of stupid, I promise." Xander tucked the shirt in quietly. "It's for a good reason."

 

"Give me some clue, so i know how bad it's going to be?"

 

"Nope. If I get caught, I want you to be able to truthfully say you didn't know what I was up to." He grabbed his belt, and Sylph put her hand on his arm.

 

"You're bringing the others? You're planning to battle?" Worry was evident in her eyes.

 

Xander sighed. "I'm not planning on it, but I also would rather be ready if I had to." he laced the belt through its loops, then picked up the holster that held the gun he had stolen from Captain Jack. Sylph squeezed his arm.

 

"No," she said. "Battle is one thing, but if you're taking the gun then you'll be tempted to use it. Leave that here."

 

"Can't," the trainer replied, sighing. "I'm not going to shoot anyone, but I may have to convince a guard to let me lock him in a room or something."

 

Sylph glared. "Fine, but compromise with me. Remove every bullet from it, and leave them with me so I know you're not going to kill someone on accident."

 

Xander nodded slowly. "Yeah, that works." He slid the clip out of the gun and emptied it, bullets rattling onto his desk. He pulled back the slide to show nothing in the chamber. "Done."

 

Sylph sighed, kissing his forehead. "Don't be too reckless? If you're going to go out like this, at least try not to be seen."

 

Xander, half-dressed in his Team Flare uniform, nodded. "Of course I'll try."