Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[JiMing]

IC: Aspen, Olivia, and Dahlia Seaton

 

"Flare, Flame Wheel, Jet, Superpower!" he told his Pokemon, who rushed forward with the attacks to counter the Scizor's and Weavile's.

 

"Ice Punch, and Drain Punch." ordered Olivia, to counter as well.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Zero: Maverick Hunter

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: ??==-

 

The man smirked, as he held out his hands, moving them around as if conducting a symphony almost; as his Pokemon reacted. The Scizor spiraled around the flame wheel, getting slightly scorched in the process on the underside of it's armour, but it made a quick U-Turn, attempting to crash into the Quilava as it did so.

The Weavile took the Super Power straight on, and buckled slightly, however, it charged up the ice shard, and launched it right at Jet's face while the Braviary was still nearby. Not aiming to deal a major injury; but it would still hopefully take it out of commission.

 

Meanwhile, the Lucario danced around the attacks, acting as if it were going at light speed at times; apparently although it was using ExtremeSpeed for the speed, it wasn't sticking to it for the attacks. The Lucario used ExtremeSpeed on the Sneasel quickly, even as Luke tried to keep up with the movements, and then sped past, deactivating the ExtremeSpeed for a Close Combat on the Croagunk as he approached.

 

The man laughed once more, as Zach another blast of some sort of energy hit Zach again; however, due to being supported this time, he simply collapsed to a knee, obviously not in the best of shape, however.

"You never thought about anyone other than yourself. You never gave any thought to how people might be affected by your actions... Even the ones older than you." The man said, and Ryan frowned, as he was trying to take this opportunity to figure out what was going on... The voice did sound familiar, but he couldn't place why...

[JiMing]

IC: Aspen, Olivia, and Dahlia Seaton

 

Flare exited the Flame Wheel, using SmokeScreen to hid his position. By the time the Scizor reached his spot, Flare came rushing from the side with a Flame Charge. Meanwhile, Jet turned around the attack with a U-Turn, attempting to hit the Weavile from behind.

 

Using Agility, Shade dodged the attack, and rushed forward with another Ice Punch. Toxic was struck and sent back, but took advantage of his damage and attempted to use Revenge on the Lucario.

 

"So I suppose the rest of us are just pawns in your scheme?!" Aspen yelled. "I don't see why a few people who worked at a flower shop would be so instrumental in your revenge against a region-destroying psychic!"

 

"Don't just stand there, do something!" Olivia barked at Ryan, while pulling Zach up once more.

 

OOC: Was it Ryan? I forgot...

Edited December 25, 2013 by Zero: Maverick Hunter

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach/??==-

 

The Scizor was hit; but slapped the Quilava in the process, and effectively tagged out, as he returned to the Pokeball; and was switched with a Dragonair. The Weavile, however, was indeed hit, and stumbled forward, as it tried to quickly whirl around and dash at the Braviary with another Ice Shard, before it vanished back to it's own Pokeball, effectively making it a pseudo Pursuit attack.

 

The Lucario, however, took advantage of the situation, and jumped straight up, attempting to let the two Pokemon attack themselves, as it charged up an Aura Sphere, and launched it straight down.

 

Zach slowly stood up with Olivia's help, as the man growled.

"You all ignored me... Even in my time of need. Everyone forgot. Even when we all were friends." The man stated, as Ryan's eyes widened.

"You... You're the one who got me free..." Ryan said, but that wasn't everything he realized.

"... Alistair...?" Ryan asked, confused; as he had thought that he had died years ago... the man growled, however, he pulled his scarf away, revealing a face that looked startingly like Ray's; however, with a hair style more like Zach's, and older.

"Yes. Alistair Hakuda... Eldest sibling of that family I once had. Presumed dead when I was 8. By all of you."

[JiMing]

IC: Aspen, Olivia, and Dahlia Seaton

 

Flare was knocked away, but quickly got back up, using Flamethrower on the Dragonair. Meanwhile, Jet sent the Ice Shard away with a Tailwind, attempting to send the Ice Shard into the Dragonair.

 

Shade jumped right before hitting Toxic, using Icy Wind to counter the Aura Sphere. Toxic then lobbed a Mud Bomb at the Lucario.

 

"So they know each other..." said Dahlia sadly.

 

"So that's why you want revenge on Zach... But my question still stands, what's the point of getting us involved?!" yelled Aspen.

 

Trying to keep Zach from falling over once more, Olivia looked straight at Alistair. "I actually agree with my brother, why did you single us out? I'm sure Zach has other friends that would've made better bait. And what's with your sudden interest in me?"

Edited December 25, 2013 by Zero: Maverick Hunter

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach/Alistair==-

 

"Long ago; a group of three families met up constantly. They were good friends at the time, though the passage of time drifted them all apart, including with tragedies. Representatives from each are standing right here, right now." Alistair stated bitterly, as he laughed.

"But they all forgot. Only one or two people really remember. And no-one bothered to remember me, or realize that I lived." Alistair stated, as he glanced to the side, and watched the flamethrower melt the redirected ice shard.

"You are the best friends that Zach there had, and he remembered that. I simply played on that." Alistair growled, as he waved his arm, as the Dragonair countered and attempted to smack the Quilava away, and then used a Dragon Rush on the fire starter. Meanwhile, the Weavile cooled the air quickly; and then jumped up quickly, attempting to smash down an icicle on Jet.

The Lucario quickly used double team, and used ExtremeSpeed to make it seem like it was still there. The Lucario appeared behind Shade quickly, and attempted to use a point-blank Close Combat on it, all the while, subtly luring the battle toward the house.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen
Ellen tossed and turned in her troubled sleep, as her memories and fears merged into a cacophony of fitful dreams.

She was at the top of Coeur Tower, facing Maddison Hayes. The Ford Agent had managed to overwhelm Kyle, Zach, Evan, and the others in the group. The bomb she had wired was ticking methodically, counting down the mere seconds to imminent destruction. There was no time to try and stop the bomb, or even to escape. Ellen could only watch in horror as the digital countdown on the device reached zero.

Time seemed to freeze as the metallic casing of the bomb began to split. Maddison Hayes appeared in front of Ellen, her eyes glowing a deep purple. The bomb, the room, the Liberty and Rocket agents, everything faded from view as Hayes opened her mouth to speak. "Do you know why I have spared you, child? It is because of your potential... the same potential that Ford saw in me. We simply cannot afford to let such potential go to waste."

Ellen shook her head. "No, I'm nothing like you!"

"Are you?" the Ford Agent asked pleasantly. "Did you not run away from your home, abandoning your family?"

"That's -- that's different!" Ellen stammered.

"Is it, now?" Hayes asked.


Suddenly the scene shifted, and Ellen found herself in the Sinjoh Ruins, facing Seven. The insane Darkrai cackled as he lobbed a Shadow Ball at the girl and her Pokemon. Terry, Solo, Artemis, and Maturin had all fainted from the Ancient Darkrai's attack. Only Chrono remained, calmly licking his paws and ignoring the battle raging around him.

"Chrono, please!" Ellen cried. "Help me!"

The Purrloin continued to ignore Ellen, causing Seven to laugh even harder.

"What kind of Pokemon Trainer do you think you are?" the Darkrai sneered, sending another Shadow Ball flying. "You can't even control a simple kitty!"

From out of the shadows, a young man in a black hoodie with golden hair stepped forward. It was Tyler, the man she remembered meeting in Fortree. "Don't give up, Ellen," Tyler said, helping her to her feet. "I know you can do it... I can see your potential. One day you could become a powerful trainer."

Chrono stood, ready for battle, awaiting Ellen's orders. But Ellen hesitated. "What if... what if I don't want to be a powerful trainer?" she asked. "What if I just want to be a normal kid?"

Before her eyes, Seven morphed into Sombra, taking on his form of an amalgamation of all the Darkrai. "Is that what you really want?" the Alpha Darkai's menacing voice boomed.

"I -- I don't know..." Ellen shook her head.

"If you don't live up to your potential," Tyler urged, "then what sort of difference can you hope to make?"

"Make up your mind, child, before I destroy you here and now," Sombra growled. As he unleashed a devastating attack, the shadows swirled and the scene changed once more.


Ellen was back in her own house. Ryan, Sonja, Evan, and the others were all there, sitting around the living room. In the back of her mind, Ellen recognized the scene from Christmas Eve. Everyone was exchanging presents, chatting merrily, glad for a break from their mission. Then Ellen's father walked in the room, with the Déoza emblem clearly visible on his briefcase.

"Daddy, is it true?" Ellen asked through tears. "Do you really work for John Ford?"

Mr. Burks gripped his briefcase tighter, giving an almost menacing smile. "I do," he said. "And one day, you will, too. After all, from where do you think you got your potential?" As he slowly walked towards Ellen, his eyes started to glow the same shade of purple as Maddison Hayes'...


Ellen awoke in a cold sweat.

Around her, her Pokemon slept peacefully, oblivious to the nightmare she had just experienced. Still shaking, Ellen went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of cold water. For the past six months, Ellen had suppressed those dreadful memories. But although Tyler seemed to have had good intentions, his words had brought back those thoughts Ellen had tried so hard to forget. The girl closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

She still couldn't believe that the company her father worked for, Déoza, had dealings with a man as evil as John Ford. For her entire life, Ellen had looked up to her father as a source of inspiration and encouragement. Now she didn't know what to think, much less what to do. She had come to the four main regions hoping to somehow bring about a peace between Team Rocket and Team Liberty. But shortly after she arrived, that peace happened on its own. Some people claimed the ceasefire was only a temporary solution, but Ellen saw no signs of war breaking out again.

With the rebuilding efforts nearly finished, the obvious next step would be to return to Village Bridge. In fact, she really wished she could just go home. But she knew that even if she did, things would never be the same -- not now that she knew her father sided with John Ford. No, she had made her decision on that cold Christmas Day six months ago. Sure, she could return to her house, but no matter how much she yearned for it, she could never return to the peaceful and innocent home she once knew. The old saying still held true: ignorance is bliss.

 

 

OOC: I may have gone a little overboard on the dream sequence, but I couldn't resist.

[Parugi]

IC - Ethan Worth/Gavin Braner - Abyss: "What--? Whoa!" Ethan nearly face faulted, but managed to stop himself. Regaining his balance, the Rocket agent straightened up. "I'm genuinely curious about how you did that, but I'm not going to ask."

 

"If we're done goofing around, can we get going?" Gavin asked.

 

"Sure, sure, just hang on a bit," Ethan said. "Sheesh. We're all here, but are we all ready?"

 

IC - Sonja Baron - Opelucid City: Sonja had no answer for Ryan, as she, too, was uncertain about what to do. On one hand, she was familiar with stories of Drayden's strength, and felt that there was a strong possibility that he could win this battle. On the other hand, something about Drayden's opponent just felt off, like the other enemies that her group had fought. That feeling was only aggravated further by the zombie-like state of the people around them, all of them acting as if entranced by the man with the cane.

 

The only thing she knew for certain was that he was trouble, and if Drayden could not beat him, then they were likely in for some big problems of their own.

 

"Evan," she said urgently, as the Plasma Agent had done nothing since their arrival. "What do we do--fight, or wait?"

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Jupiter - Opelucid City: They had materialized in a grassy area of town, just off of the main road, the short line of bushes and a few small trees providing some helpful cover from any unfriendly watchers. After taking a moment to let the teleportation disorientation wear off, Kyle followed Ray's gaze. Indeed, several dozen people shambled toward a single location roughly in the center of the city, all of them bearing the telltale signs of some sort of hypnotism. Amidst the eerie silence that had befallen the city, the sounds of an aggressive battle echoed back toward the three new arrivals. Though he could not see them from this distance, he was certain from Sonja's description that she and the others were somewhere in the slowly-growing group.

 

The Liberty agent looked around, scanning the buildings near the assembly. They bore the distinctive style of Opelucid, somehow managing to seamlessly meld old age architecture with that of the new age, and, more importantly, were just numerous enough that they could potentially be used to flank whoever--or, whatever--had begun to cause trouble in the City of Dragons.

 

"Not at all," Kyle agreed, keeping his voice low. "Let's go around back instead of following them." He pointed to the relatively short, nondescript buildings adjoining the area. "It doesn't sound like a ton of trouble has broken out just yet, so if things do turn ugly, we can definitely use a flank attack to our advantage." He ducked behind the bushes, opening his bag and removing his Poké Balls from within, then clipping them onto his belt. He glanced at Jupiter. "You're free to go whenever you want, just so you know."

 

The Galactic Admin sighed. "Unfortunately, I get the feeling that trying to leave the city right now would be a rather bad idea," she said. "I'll stick around for a little while longer. Besides, if this thing turns out to be related to Envy--which, it sounds like it could be--then I don't want to miss out on a chance for vengeance."

 

Kyle shouldered his bag again, nodding. "Let's get to it, then," he said. "Come on." Climbing through the line of bushes, he led the way across the street, carefully picking a route toward an office building that, they would eventually find, was situated a short distance to the left of Kane's throne.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Parugi

[Daniel Bryan]

IC - Lust/Greed - R&D

 

The Twins’ eyes widened as they saw the Malamar. “Well, I can’t exactly say that we were expecting to see that,” Lust yawned, almost unimpressed. Greed, however, was staring at it intently. “Whatever.” With a flick of her wrist, Lust tossed her Poke Ball, releasing a Lopunny, who proceeded to bounce around excitedly. A faint blue glow surrounded the Pokemon briefly, as it awaited the other combatants.

 

“I want one...” Greed muttered under her breath, garnering a giggle from her sister. With a sigh, Greed released her Pokemon, a buzzing of wings signalling the appearance of a Ninjask, who hovered in place beside Lopunny, as they both gathered various pieces of metal, delivering them to their trainers.

 

“Well, once your partner chooses his Pokemon, we may begin, and you can be easily swatted aside as we move on to bigger and better things,” Lust taunted, winking at their opponents.

 

IC - Kane - Opelucid City

 

“Kangaskhan, use Bite!” Kane commanded. Kangaskhan nodded and tackled the Haxorus, digging in with sharp fangs. Haxorus howled in pain, as it struggled to throw off its attacker. A well placed Brick Break to the jaw would knock the Kangaskhan away, buying the dragon some crucial time to take advantage. Haxorus itself used Crunch, sinking into Kangaskhan’s arm, tossing it aside. Kangaskhan landed on its feet, but was clearly worse for the wear.

 

"Now, Haxorus, continue! Do not give in!" Drayden ordered. In his mind, he knew that he could win. Kane's Pokemon was weakening, giving them just the opening that they needed.

 

Kane was visibly caught off guard by Drayden’s sudden come back, even though he could tell that Haxorus was beginning to weaken. As Haxorus landed a final Brick Break, Kangaskhan was knocked onto its back, nearly unconscious. As Kangaskhan struggled to its feet, having barely Endured the hit, Haxorus bellowed a roar, running in close, ready to deliver the final blow, a devastating Outrage. “NOW!” Kane screamed. In a flash, Kangaskhan’s eyes began to glow, as it let loose with a powerful Outrage attack, sending the shocked Haxorus to the ground. Drayden stared in shock and terror as Haxorus was defeated.

 

“I... How?” Drayden’s eyes widened as he rushed over to care for his dragon.

 

“Fear caused your Haxorus to hesitate, you see,” Kane explained, straightening his hat and outfit as he approached the Gym Leader. He pointed his cane at the old man, a smile crossing his face, once more flashing a horrific image. With a simple motion of his hand, two of those who were hypnotized moved forward, holding Drayden up by his arms. Displaying a tremendous strength for his old body, Drayden shook them off, as he reached for another Poke Ball. Drayden quickly found himself unable to move, as those he had shaken off rose up again, holding him tightly.

 

“What are you going to do now?” Drayden asked, which served to only elicit laughter from Kane.

 

“I’m going to do the best I can~” Kane chuckled. Raising his hand, a dark pillar appeared between the two, from which a glowing blue eye shone. “In admiration of your strength and drive to succeed, I shall release you from your fears, and grant you the ultimate gift, the gift of dreams! The gift of my dream! Now, rise! Gaigan! Free this man into a world of dreams!” Kane’s expression became one of pure elation as the darkness rose higher and higher.

 

It had survived the climactic battle. It had never taken part in Sombra’s final gambit. It had escaped unnoticed. It had a plan the entire time. There was a reason that it never spoke. It knew what it had to do. It would rise once more, ready and willing to follow the command of its true leader. And here it stood. Its very appearance would strike fear into the hearts of those who would recognize it.

 

The Sixth Darkrai returned.

~Det

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra, Opelucid City

 

Evan did not care about seeing the Sixth Darkrai. He didn't care about the fear he was feeling. He didn't even care about what may happen to him if this person got a hold of him. The only thing that mattered was he had to at least prevent this man from doing what he did to Opelucid City, to it's Gym Leader.

 

"Monstro, get on out and slap that man aside!", Evan shouted as he threw a poke ball, "Guys, the most we can do is get Drayden out of here! I'll try to hold off this guy! If anyone wants to help me, now is the time!"

 

Monstro emerged from his Poke Ball, roaring as he slapped Kane and Six away from Drayden. Evan ran to where Drayden was, thinking of how to free him from the people.

 

"Monstro, used Hydro Pump on those people!", Evan siad, "Make sure to use enough pressure to knock them out!"

 

Monstro fired off two shots of high pressure water, knocking those who were holding Drayden away from him, as well as soaking the Gym Leader in water.

 

"Sorry, sir.", Evan said, "You'd best get out of here with some of my friends, before that man gets to you."

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan

"You heard Evan," Ryan said as he sent out Togie. "We need to get Drayden to a safe place!" He hopped onto the Togekiss' back as the Jubilee Pokémon rocketed toward the center of the city, arriving just as Monstro managed to free the Gym Leader.

 

"Hop on, sir," Ryan said, extending a hand toward the Gym Leader. Even as he did so, Ryan glanced up and got a better look at the shadow that had emerged from the ground. He froze as he recognized the Darkrai as one of the Ancient Darkrai from the battle at the Sinjoh Ruins. He wasn't sure which Ancient this one was, but he knew that either way, the enemy they faced was incredibly powerful.

 

Suddenly Evan's words made sense: Something terrible, yet familiar is on its way...

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

Jake took a deep breath to calm his nerves, before turning to.. what was his name? Right, Jacob.

 

"Thanks Jacob. It was a very fun battle, but sorry about the mud."

 

"Anyway," Jake said while turning towards his opponent. "That was a great battle, but if we ever meet again I have a feeling there will be a very different outcome. So, goodbye for now!"

 

Jake turned to Jacobonce more. "So, you said you were heading towards Jubilife City, right? I was going there too, so would it be too much trouble to ask if I could go with you? The road is lonely when you are alone." As if in response, Pikachu popped out of his ball and jumped on Jake's head, lightly flicking his trainer's forehead with his tail. Jake grinned and said, "Well, not quite alone. But what do you say?"

Edited January 3, 2014 by sonyaxe

[Ehksidian]

OOC: Just saying, but Arius doesn't go by his actual name, and he didn't tell Jake his actual name, either. Arius goes by Jacob, and that's what he told everyone.

(so pls edit thx)

IC: Arius Jacobson

Arius looked back at Jake. "Well, I was more on my way out to explore the world, but I guess that Jubilife City would be a good place to start." Eyes stared at the Pikachu on Jake's forehead, and Hexcalibur floated in the background. Like a ghost sword would. "I wouldn't mind having more company, though."

[sonyaxe]

OOC: Thanks for the catch, I normally look back on the previous posts, but they were deleted in the hack. I edited it.

 

IC: Jake

 

Jake smiled. "Great. I really just have to pick up some stuff in Jubilife." Jake glanced at Espurr, who was once more staring at Pikachu. He sighed. "Sorry if I've already asked, but... is Espurr always staring like this?"

[Ehksidian]

IC: Arius

"Yeah, it's really creepy." Arius looked at Eyes. "I'm actually kinda scared what she'll be like when she evolves..."

[Metal Gear Minun]

OOC: Ack sorry for not posting. Holidays busy with family. And AC IV, and other video games. And then a horde of Slakoth appeared with Sloth sleeping on a Slaking next to Snorlax. Also had to take time to decide which of three billion clichés choice to go with or rather I suddenly decided to take a third option that I liked a smidge as I wrote it.

 

IC: James' emotions had continued to rise into a state of panic as he hurriedly looked through the faces of his team, sweat rolling down the sides of his face. His worst fears realized as each bore a slightly different expression and all of them seemed to be disgusted. But the worst of all was the look of absolute betrayal on Guinevere's face.

 

That hurt.

 

Not her, anyone but her, James pleaded internally as all color fled his face.

 

Years of surviving, training, bonding. Years of fond memories appeared to have been dashed in mere seconds, by one careless act. He had but he committed the one gravest crime to himself, carelessness. And his punishment was loss.

 

But then quite suddenly, looks of disgust, anger, betrayal all turned to shock.

 

Lancelot had taken his position on the battlefield in front of James.

 

"L-Lancelot," James muttered as he saw the Steel-Bug.

 

The Scizor was breathing heavily, having taken a lot of damage due to the events of the last battle, and appeared to have a couple problems with standing. James was speechless watching the one member of his team who should have hated his guts the most, the one who was directly betrayed, now stood as his only defence. Which in all regards wasn't much. Even he stood a better chance of fighting off the Pokemon of the sins.

The Scizor turned to face Guinevere, indicating that the Psychic was in all likely-hood conversing through telepathy, for privacy's sake. And after a moment the Scizor nodded as the two switched places with Lancelot lying down on the sidelines and Guinevere standing guard before James.

 

The Gardevoir did not seem particularly pleased with this arrangement, but the fact was someone needed to fight this battle.

It was not what James now desperately wanted, but it would have to do. He took a deep breath as he regained his hold on his senses.

 

Regardless of all circumstances this is still a Pokemon battle, and I must act rationally if we are to win. I can work on getting back what I lost after disposing of these two.

 

His façade restored the executive commented "I am sorry ladies for taking up far too much of your time, let us begin."

 

IC: If Jamie had looked down at her ankle, she may have noticed a Slowpoke trying to bite her leg. Trying being the key word. As with any shift of Jamie's legs the Slowpoke's plans were delayed about another two minutes. A big step up from when he first joined Jamie. It used to set him back three minutes.

Jamie seemed not to notice as she mimicked doing a quick headcount, "Well I know I am, Gavin is already impatient to get going, so that is him, you asked the question which seems indicative that your ready to go, and Lucia I am going to say yea in that she found it more important to "get" you than ask for more time to prepare."

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

"Well, she will look fluffier, I guess, and will stare at stuff in a hopefully less creepy fashion. Plus, aren't Meowstic supposed to be really strong? In the Pokedex there was something about being able to crush a ten-ton bus." Pikachu decided to continue the staring contest with the Espurr from atop Jake's head, making his eyes as wide as possible to meet her slightly soulless gaze.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen

What'cha doin' up so early?

 

Ellen jumped as the glass of water fell from her hands, shattering on the wood floor. "Duo!" she cried out indignantly to the Pokémon that was floating behind her. "Don't scare me like that!"

 

Sorry, the Duosion said sheepishly. I heard you get up, and I wasn't sure whether I should leave you alone or if you wanted someone to talk to. It was a tough decision, but you just looked so lonely all by yourself...

 

"You never gave me this much trouble as Solo," Ellen muttered as she grabbed a dustpan to sweep up the glass shards.

 

Hey, it's not my fault my brain split when I evolved! Duo cried. Or... maybe it is. You're right, I just can't make up my mind as easily as I used to.

 

Ellen sighed as she stared at the glittering floor. "I'm sorry, Duo. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I've just got a lot on my mind, that's all."

 

Do you want to talk about it? Duo asked as he telekinetically lifted the glass shards into the dustpan.

 

Ellen hesitated. Once she would have readily confided her worries to her telepathic friend. But with Duo's split personality, he didn't have the best judgment. And in a time when she needed sound judgment, a voice of reason, Duo was honestly the last being she wanted to talk to. "No," she shook her head, forcing herself to smile. "You've got enough on your mind as it is. Or should I say, on your minds."

 

Dumping the glass into the trash, Ellen quickly strode past the Duosion and crawled back in bed. However, she couldn't sleep. That was probably for the best, she mused, for she was not eager to return to the world of her frightening and confused dreams. In many ways, Duo's mind reflected her own: full of turmoil and unsure about anything. The past several months had turned her world completely inside out. She had learned of a war that had been going on since before she was born, a war which Unova's government pretended didn't exist. She had encountered an organization willing to go to any extremes to end said war, and it turned out her father was somewhat associated with that organization. And she had found a Purrloin that resisted every attempt she made to befriend it. I can't even maintain my bond with Duo, she thought irritably. Much less, form even the slightest bond with Chrono. She continued to stare at the ceiling until dawn.

[Daniel Bryan]

IC – Kane – Opelucid City:

 

“I thank you greatly,” Drayden said to Evan and Ryan, as he grabbed Ryan’s hand. Kane smiled, as he watched Drayden be rescued by those who initially stood by and watched the battle. Not once did he make a move to stop them, much like Gaigan, even as she was blasted aside. Resetting herself, the sixth Darkrai shot a glare at Evan and his Pokemon. Kane, however simply shrugged, turning to face Evan. Twirling his cane around in his hands, the man in the suit strolled closer, his smile growing wider and wider.

 

“Well, well, well, Mr. Tierra,” Kane said, ignoring any potential shock, before gesturing to the rest of those present. As he did this, Gaigan sank into the ground, re-emerging in the shadow of Kane. “Yes, yes, I know your name. I have minor knowledge of most of you, thanks to my good friends.” As he spoke, Kane’s smile never once left his face, even as his appearance flashed into that of a terrifying creature. Bright red eyes and long black hair would briefly replace his green eyes and short golden hair.

 

“Why have you come here? Do you all wish to be freed from the bonds of fear?” Kane asked loudly, spreading his arms wide in an inviting manner, as he spun in a circle. “These lovely people have joined the side of freedom, and soon too shall many more.” Gaigan hovered menacingly behind Kane, the Darkrai appearing almost like smoke as it hovered around. Still, as Kane spoke, his face flashed into an appearance that was far too familiar to Evan. And once it would register who it was, Kane would take all too much delight in seeing Evan's reaction.

 

High above Opelucid, a Hydreigon flew, its rider observing the chaos below, his eyes focused intently. He had heard from a source of strange occurrences occurring in Opelucid, and had decided to investigate, with the hopes of reporting anything to his superiors. His hair flowing in the wind, he watched with interest, waiting to see how this would play out. “Hydreigon, fly us closer, but far enough to stay out of range of danger,” Van said to his dragon. It wasn’t so much out of trying to keep himself safe, but more so a way to keep his dragon from causing destruction.

 

 

IC – Greed/Lust – R&D:

 

“It will be me first!” Greed proclaimed, pointing forwards. “Ninjask, use Double Team!” The Metal Sister commanded her Pokemon. With a buzz, her Ninjask began to move fast, creating a clone of itself, as they exchanged places. A smile crossed her lips as she focused intently on Malamar. Lust’s Lopunny, meanwhile, stood still, bouncing around, almost as if it was waiting for its opponent to make the first move. Lust herself sat upon her throne, resting her head on her hands as she leaned in, ready and waiting to see how everything would play out.

 

“Come on, don’t keep us waiting forever,” Lust taunted, winking at their opponents.

 

~Det

[Parugi]

IC - Ethan Worth/Gavin Braner - Abyss: Appearing unfazed by Jamie's implied sarcasm, Ethan clapped his hands together, smiling broadly. "Perfect! Right this way, then." He spun on the spot and took off at a brisk pace, headed in the direction of a stairwell that would lead the four Rocket agents up to the Abyss helipads. Gavin glanced at the two women, shrugging before following after their 'leader.'

 

"You still haven't told us what we're actually doing," Gavin pointed out. He blinked in surprise as Ethan whipped around, missing not a single beat as he continued to walk backwards with perfect precision toward their destination. The older agent held in his hands a large map of the Kanto regions. The paper was dotted with incoherent scribbles in a rainbow of colors, designating what appeared to be random locations across Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islands. Numerous arrows pointed toward a series of circles drawn around Two Island, complemented by a number of large question marks.

 

"So glad you asked, Mr. Braner," Ethan said. "I would like to go into the specifics of my answer, but as you can tell..." He gestured to the notes and marks scattered across the map. "... that might take some time. Instead, I'll just tell you what's up." He pointed to Two Island. "To put it simply, a weird statue appeared at Cape Brink recently, accompanied by what was reported to be a 'song on the wind.' Like something was singing. Understandably, it freaked out the old couple living up there. I figure it might be a good idea to check it out, in case it--"

 

"ALERT. REQUESTING IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. ALERT. REQUESTING IMMEDIATE RESPONSE."

 

The alarm blared suddenly from the four Rocket-issued Poké Gears. Ethan and Gavin opened theirs, reading the message. It was addressed from Joker's Executive of Security, amounting to a request for any free agents to assist in dealing with a small insurgent group in Celadon City. After getting over the initial confusion of why the Johto branch of Team Rocket was reporting on a Kanto affair, Gavin looked at Ethan.

 

"This sounds a little more pressing than a statue, don't you think?" he said, barely hiding his preference for this mission over that which Ethan had proposed. Without waiting for a response, he sent a confirmation reply, and then continued walking. "Come on!"

 

"What? But... Two Island... Old people..." Ethan said weakly, futilely reaching after Gavin. As Jamie and Lucia continued on, he sighed, shaking his head in defeat, shoulders drooping. "Oh, fine. I guess we'll stop by afterwards, or something." Frowning, he shook his head again, before running to catch up with the others. Finally arriving on the roof, they boarded their designated helicopter, taking off toward Kanto...

 

IC - Sonja Baron - Opelucid City, City Center: Sonja had not been present at the Battle of the Ancients, nor had she witnessed their attacks on Hoenn and Sinnoh. As such, she had never laid eye on any of the Ancient Darkrai in person, and for that, she was grateful. It was something that she had hoped would never come to pass, and with their defeat, it had seemed that such a meeting never would. As such, she could hardly contain her surprise and--admittedly--dread when her friends' reactions to seeing Gaigan clued her in to what she was looking at.

 

She unconsciously clenched her fist. I will not yield...

 

Under different circumstances, she might have acted differently, but, as things stood, she had to contain her panic. To collapse now under a shroud of darkness-induced fear would have been nothing but unhelpful. Besides that, there stood before them only one Ancient today, nothing close to the nine that her friends had faced half a year before. Surely, this Darkrai and Mystery Man could pose no more a threat than the Master of the Darkrai himself had? Steeling herself, she pushed through the crowd, coming to stand at Evan's side with a posture suggesting an unbreakable fortitude.

 

I will not yield...

 

It was all boiling to the surface now--all of the anger that she had come to harbor since her group had first stepped foot in Unova all those months ago. Castelia City, Nimbasa City, Black City, south-east Unova... How much chaos, destruction, and death would she have to bear witness to before it all came to an end? She was tired of her home being threatened. She was tired of everything being threatened. This had to come to an end. And by Arceus, if she could, she would ensure that it came to an end.

 

I will not yield.

 

"Just what do you want with Opelucid?" she demanded of Kane, staring straight into those uncanny eyes of his. All the while, her hand shook in barely restrained emotion, fingers wrapped tightly around a minimized Poké Ball...

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Jupiter - Opelucid City, Building: They were in luck: The building that Kyle had indicated was more or less an office building, and it appeared that one of its many entrances rested on the side of facing away from the square. It was here that he, Ray, and Jupiter entered, quickly making their way through the abandoned first floor and around to the back of the city center.

 

In essence, they had arrived, unseen, to Kane's far left, just in time to see Gaigan emerge again from the man's shadow. Though he could not explain why--particularly as he did not have nearly a good enough view of the two from this angle--the sight of the Darkrai sent chills down Kyle's spine. Perhaps it was a relic begot by his memories of the fight against the Ancients; perhaps it was simply that it seemed somehow... different... from a normal Darkrai, with those shoulders that flared too far out from what was normal. Whatever the case, this Legendary Pokémon did nothing to ease Kyle's nerves.

 

He watched the confrontation intently, noting that things did not seem to have escalated quite yet. Nonetheless, he readied three Poké Balls--Sanshou's, Lyxek's, and Kovian's--clearly prepared for the worst. Beside him, Jupiter grabbed a Poké Ball from her own belt, containing her Skuntank...

 

IC - Meghan Vert - R&D Test Area: The glasses came off again. Vert held them carefully, cleaning them with the hem of her coat. All the while, she and Malamar continued to survey the competition with a careful eye. Neither moved.

 

"Mr. Arthur," she said at length, never moving her gaze away from Lust and Greed's Pokémon. "How fast would you say your Gardevoir can move compared to the norm?" She nodded at the enemy Ninjask and Lopunny, indicating what she referred to.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

Ray frowned, but thought for a moment, having the same dread that Kyle did, but slightly recognizing it more just from the differences that Kyle had only had a suspicion on. It wasn't certain, but it was definitely cause for concern for him.

"Let's get ready." Ray stated with a frown, as he sent out his Froslass and Aizen again; despite the Psychic Type not being as much of a match for a dark type. He also readied his other Pokemon, but wasn't sure how to handle the fight exactly, since he was more of a close-quarters fighting kinda guy.

[Ehksidian]

IC: Arius

"Very true. But still, this isn't normal...I think she's not right in the head." Espurr stared at Jake's Pikachu, and didn't change her gaze slightly. Just the same, souless look, locked onto the Pikachu.

[Metal Gear Minun]

 

IC: Almost on autopilot, Guinevere set up a Psychic link between the two Liberty Executives' and Pokemon's minds, well Executives' and her own anyway. The Dark-Type would have to let the link in willingly due to aforementioned typing.

I would say that factoring in her mastery of teleportation, for all intensive purposes is far faster than the norm.

 

Both James and Vert (and depending Malamar) would have felt a small sensation as Guinevere prepared a Calm Mind boosting her Psychic Powers.

 

Of course we can also slow them down, should we need that.

 

IC: Jamie had to retreat the majority of her Pokemon as she stepped onto the plane. Having two very physically strong, fiercely competitive Pokemon out would probably cause them to crash, or at the least cramp up the whole helicopter. She retreated the rest save Grummore who sat in her lap, tired of trying to move (even more so bite her) and ended up napping. No one was speaking at the moment, so the Rocket agent took a sec to contemplate her current situation.

 

As a whole knowledge of Team Rocket's current cloning ability was on a strict need-to-know basis, even more so the fact that they engaged in human cloning. Therefore, according to the story she was to tell about her birth, she supposedly grew up in Celadon City with her fraternal twin. A problem, if pressed, in that she had only been to Celadon about once. The easy answer was simply not to say anything about it, and just shrug things off if ever brought up. But she wondered. Did one generally like to talk about where they were from? Would it be seen as weird that she didn't bring it up. If pressed about that what was she to say. Would she have to lie about not liking the place and didn't want to talk about it, if she ended up loving the city?

 

What a conundrum.

[Parugi]

IC - Meghan Vert - R&D Test Area: Replacing her glasses, Vert nodded. That is all I needed to know. Malamar turned to look at her again, having allowed the psychic link to connect. By all accounts, the Overturning Pokémon already appeared to know what she was going to command. Malamar, set up a Trick Room, would you kindly?

 

The Malamar nodded, turning back to face her opponents. A smirk crossed her beak at the same time that her eyes began to glow; the next instant, the walls of the test area shimmered with psychic energy, the entire field emanating a sensation of having been turned on its head. For a few minutes, at least, it would remain that way--slower Pokémon would gain a psychic-assisted speed advantage over those that were normally faster than them.

 

"That's better," Vert said. "Now, Malamar, would you kindly use Superpower against Lopunny?"

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Jupiter - Opelucid City: Kyle nodded, releasing his Mienfoo, Fraxure, and Dewott in a line behind him. Holding up a finger to his mouth to indicate that they needed to stay relatively quiet, the Liberty Agent turned back toward the window, continuing to monitor the situation outside. Beside him, Jupiter released her Skuntank.

 

"Just hold steady..."

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra/Feral Tierra, Opelucid City

 

Evan's eyes widened at what he had seen. For a few seconds, Kane's face had shifted into that of Seth Vicens, the late Hero of Time.

 

"Has it sunk in yet?", a taunting voice said in Evan's ear, "Your fight was for NOTHING. In fact, I think things are only going to get worse for you AND your friends!"

 

Evan turned to see who had been speaking to him and his heart sunk even lower. It was the Spacial Horror, Feral Tierra. The creature grinned mockingly at Evan as he walked to Kane's side.

 

"You honestly have no idea what a pleasant surprise it was.", Feral said, "Finding another one of my ilk is quite a rarity. I found him beneath this very city."

 

Evan's fists shook violently at Feral's mocking words. The very sight of Kane and Feral angered him greatly. A part of him was telling him to get out of there.

 

"Oh, did I make the poor Hero of Space angry?", Feral said sadistically, "Well, by all means, FACE ME. It'll be glorious to see how badly you fail!"

 

With that, Feral sent out his Swampert and Excadrill, waiting for his foes to make their move......

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan

"Why have you come here?" the man asked as the Darkrai returned to his shadow. "Do you all wish to be freed from the bonds of fear? These lovely people have joined the side of freedom, and soon too shall many more."

 

As the Ancient Darkrai hovered in an ethereal form behind the man, Ryan shook his head, forcing himself to keep calm. "Tempting offer, but no thanks. I'm scared out of my wits right now, but I think I'll use that fear to get as far away from you as possible. Fly, Togie!"

 

The Togekiss took off, fleeing the town square with Ryan and Drayden in tow, searching desperately for a safe building to bring the Gym Leader.

[Daniel Bryan]

IC – Kane – Opelucid City:

 

Kane laughed as everyone released their Pokemon. He smiled as he saw Evan’s reaction, and smiled wider as Feral appeared to challenge him. “Come now, children,” Kane chuckled, hopping back upon his stage, kicking his feet outwards and twirling his cane. Gaigan, the Ancient Darkrai, hovered over to Kane’s shadow, it’s lower half still part of the ground. A snap of his fingers and the crowd of civilians would form a barrier between himself and the agents. “Do you really think I’ll hand myself over so simply? Do you really want to do here what your kind has already done before?!” Kane’s face shifted into that of a terrifying abomination briefly once more, his grin clearly unnatural.

 

“Why can you not just enjoy the show? What do you have to gain by keeping your fears?” Kane asked. As the strange man spoke, a look of sincerity overcame his face. Gaigan herself was stoic as always, remaining absolutely silent, though her eyes seemed to express as if she was somewhat submissive to Kane, more so than she had been to Sombra. “Your fear will bring about madness within you, and that madness will be your undoing.” Kane opened his arms wide, revealing a sharp toothed grin. “What have you to lose from embracing my dream?”

 

 

IC – Greed/Lust – R&D:

 

Greed raised an eyebrow as the Trick Room was activated. Lust, however, seemed unfazed by the current situation. A look from Lust would calm Greed’s nerves, who simply nodded in response. “Lopunny, you know what to do,” the Lightning Girl spoke. The Lopunny, who had been bouncing around harmlessly, was waiting for the attack, ready to deflect it with a Detect, after which it would seem to be as if it was plotting something...

 

Greed let out a sigh of relief as her focus turned back to her Ninjask. Again, she continued with her strategy, as she motioned for Ninjask to continue, this time however, dancing around as swords seemed to circle around it. Greed smiled, as a golden light seemed to make its way over to Ninjask, as the effect seemed slightly more efficient than it normally would. Yes... Give it all to me....Greed would giggle internally to herself as she awaited for their opponents to respond.

 

~Det

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan

Ryan barely heard the man's talk of fears and dreams. He was concentrating on getting the Gym Leader as far away from the city's center as possible. Everywhere he looked he saw the citizens of Opelucid, walking around in a trance-like state. "Things look pretty bad, Mr. Drayden," he shook his head. "There's no telling what this guy plans to do with these people, but it can't be good. That was one of the Ancient Darkrai he was working with."

 

Togie darted down to the roof of an unmarked building near the city's outskirts. "Well, this should be a safe spot for you to recover," Ryan said as he dismounted. Peering over the edge of the building, he saw the streets were empty. It seemed like everyone had gone to the city's center. "You don't suppose there's a way to bring those people back to their senses, do you?" he asked the Gym Leader. "If we could somehow un-zombify these people, it might upset whatever that guy has planned."

 

IC: Ellen

Beams of sunlight cut through the thin fog that blanketed the forest as Ellen and her Pokémon went on their morning stroll. Ellen only wished the sun could do the same for the fog that blanketed her mind -- she was feeling groggy from her lack of decent sleep. Nevertheless, she managed a small grin. "Yesterday may have been a little unusual, but today's a brand new day," she said brightly. "So let's try and make the most of it!"

 

Behind her, Duo frowned. It seemed like Ellen was putting up this cheerful front to make up for her earlier outburst. But it looked like she was genuinely happy, so maybe she had put the past behind her? Duo couldn't tell, and he tried not to dwell on it -- the sun was barely up and already his head was starting to hurt.

 

***

 

Unbeknownst to Ellen, a silver-colored bird circled tirelessly just above the tops of the trees. His keen eyes spotted the girl and her Pokémon. Silent as the wind, the Skarmory descended into a nearby clearing and landed upon a tall branch, taking care that the sunlight didn't reflect off his metallic body and alert the girl to his presence. From his new perch, he got a better view of his target.

 

The Purrloin and Turtwig were new, and he barely recognized the evolved Mienshao and Duosion. But he could recognize that Herdier anywhere. There was little doubt in his mind that this was the girl he was looking for. Unfolding his wings, the Skarmory took to the skies once more, ready to report to his master...

[Parugi]

IC - Executive Meghan Vert - R&D Test Area: The dodge was executed perfectly. Lopunny managed to twist around Malamar's tentacles, putting herself into position to retaliate against the Dark/Psychic-Type. However, the Overturning Pokémon did not appear to be finished. Her gaze followed the Normal-Type, their eyes locking with each other. And in those precious moments between Malamar's miss and Lopunny's attack, hypnotic suggestions of sleep would intrude upon the latter's mind, the product of the former's powerful Hypnosis attack.

 

Vert had only to watch and wait to see what effect--if any--would come of her attack, even as she prepared to order Malamar to dodge whatever was coming next...

 

IC - Ethan Worth/Gavin Braner - Celedon City: The helicopter set down on top of an office building near the Celedon Pokémon Center. From their vantage point, they could see the Celedon Department Store, its many windows all alight with dozens of different colors. Below, the main entrances were blocked off by a long line of police tape, a handful of officers moving about to quell the discontented crowd that had gathered around.

 

Stepping out of their transport, Ethan pulled a pair of binoculars from his backpack, momentarily watching the people in front of the mall. After a moment, he shifted his gaze to the building windows, as if looking for activity within. Seeing nothing of interest, he replaced the binoculars in his bag, looking at the others.

 

"Well, I guess that's our target," he said, grinning. He raised a hand to the sunglasses resting on his head, sliding them down and over his eyes. "Let's go see what's in store for us, eh?" Chuckling to himself, Ethan headed for the stairwell, followed by a face-palming Gavin.

 

IC - Sonja Baron/Kyle Eston/Jupiter - Opelucid City: It seemed tensions outside were rising quickly. Kyle looked at his Pokémon. "Kovian, Focus Energy; Lyxek, Dragon Dance; Sanshou, Meditate and Calm Mind--quickly."

 

He looked at Ray and Jupiter, pulling another Poké Ball from his belt and standing up. "Let's go."

 

 

In the rush of the crowd, in the challenge of battle, Sonja found that she could only gape at Kane. Her question had gone entirely unanswered--ignored, even--in favor of more threats, more ominous speeches. All of her preconceived notions about this tangle of darkness vanished instantly as new realizations began to set in. Everything she saw before her, everything she heard, indicated that these three--Kane, Feral, Gaigan--were essentially devoid of motivation for their actions.

 

They were not the first to cause wanton chaos and injury to Unova--not by a long shot--but in other cases, Sonja could at least somewhat understand why the perpetrators had done as they did. Hayes had meant her attack as an example, an extreme measure to end a worse conflict. Gerald Hikari had used Black-Kyurem as a means to enact revenge on the region for previous transgressions against his own blood. None of these actions were necessarily justified, but they gave reason to their conductors, bringing some semblance of sense to the overall picture. But now? Nothing. The closest explanation came in the form of Kane's speeches about "freedom from fear," and yet those rung utterly hollow in their delivery.

 

The rhythmic pulse of fear swiftly gave way to a steady rise in anger. In the middle of Kane's final sentence, three bursts of light lit up the area. When the bright spots vanished from view, a Gurdurr, Totodile, and Petilil all stood in front of Sonja.

 

"I'm getting really tired of seeing people being treated as playthings," she snapped. "If you want a fight, then I'll give you one, but stop treating these peoples' lives like a game! Gaia, Sleep Powder"

 

Fueled by emotions equal to her trainer's, the Petilil fluttered the leaf-like edges of her body, releasing thick clouds of sleep-inducing spores into the air, peppering those before her--not just Feral's Pokémon, but Kane, Gaigan, and the brainwashed crowd, as well. Prepared for a counterattack, Loki and Neptune took up defensive stances in front of their trainer.

 

 

"Kitheus, use Lock-On and Tri-Attack!"

 

The Magneton buzzed, electricity, ice, and fire forming in the magnets of each individual section of its body. Taking aim, the Magnet Pokémon unleashed its attack, the three beams of energy coming together and tearing through the window on its course toward Gaigan. Kyle and his team climbed out through the shattered frame, careful of the shards of glass, flanking the group of shadow entities in the process.

 

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

Ray landed shortly after, appearing in a burst of light himself, as Aizen teleported them onto the other side, effectively forming a triangle between the main group, Ray, and Kyle. Rukia floated in the air nearby, as he sent out Hozukimaru and Zangetsu as backup, both taking up fighting psoes themselves.

"I agree with her." Ray said, and narrowed his eyes at Gaigan once he actually saw what it was.

"FUnny, I remember you being defeated. Let's remedy that, guys." Ray said, doing a more serious version of a dynamic pose, as Jenny nodded, and sent out her Gyarados in preparation, and her Emboar to back it up.

[Metal Gear Minun]

 

IC: It took Jamie about 5 seconds to realize Ethan had made a pun. And that it was terrible.

 

"There, there," Jamie said trying to comfort Gavin. "This is definitely not the worst pun that will come out of his mouth. And chances are you won't be there when he spouts that one out."

 

IC: With Calm Mind giving her greater focus, Guinevere was calculating the current trajectories of the current combatants. To be certain to hit their target and avoid hitting their ally, took a degree of planning.

Got it.

 

Then fire, James commented ignoring the slight impending irony.

 

The Gardevoir brought her hands close together as cold blue energy formed between them. The Ice Beam flew towards the closest Ninjask/clone counterpart. The beam passed through the massless clone, dissipating the clone, before suddenly coming to a halt. A different dark blue aura was covering the Psychic. The Ice Beam then launched a different direction towards the next Ninjask, with Guinevere intending to bend it's path until the true Ninjask was covered in cold blue light.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Lucia==-

 

Lucia sighed and shook her head.

"Chances are greater, however, that we'll all be present, especially once he realizes we're talking about chances in a town with a Game Corner." Lucia said quietly to the other two, so that Ethan wouldn't hear. Hopefully, at least.

[Konuju]

IC: Dack

"If we're trying to get to the Survival Area as quickly as possible, why can't we just fly there?" Dack grumbled as the group navigated across the rocky terrain. Route 225 was typically considered one of the most physically challenging routes in Sinnoh, as the path led them up steep slopes and near sharp drop-offs. To make matters worse, Teddy insisted on riding on Dack's shoulders. The small bear cub seemed to be enjoying the ride, while his trainer only found himself weighed down and covered in slobber.

 

"Not all of us have flying Pokémon, Dack," Luke reminded him.

 

"I don't remember that being a problem in Hearthome," Dack frowned. "Palmer has both Cresselia and Dragonite. Surely we could make it work."

 

"But then, my friend, you'd be missing out on the chance to prove your manliness with this physical endeavor," Palmer called back from the front of the group. He gave a hearty laugh. "How do you think I've managed to stay so fit at this ripe old age?" Dack was not amused. "In all seriousness," the Frontier Brain added, "we're investigating the area. If the Heatran did come from Stark Mountain, then we'll probably find some clue that will lead us to whoever is behind all this. It's just a happy coincidence that it's on the way to the town where we can find out more about the Magma Stone lore."

 

"Yes, and by the time we do find the criminal, we'll be too exhausted to do anything," Dack muttered.

 

They continued to walk in silence for a time until Madison gave a shout. "Mr. Palmer, I think I found something!" The skier pointed toward a series of felled trees off to the left of the path. Most of them were burned.

 

Palmer ripped off a piece of the blackened bark and sniffed it. "These are fresh scorch marks," he said. "Probably from Heatran."

 

"You know, we have the Heatran right here," Dack said, holding up the Ultra Ball. "Why not just ask it?" With a click of the button, the Legendary Pokémon materialized on the ground. "Heatran, do you recognize this?" Dack asked, pointing toward the charred trees. "We're trying to track down whoever took the Magma Stone from you. Is this the path you took to get to Snowpoint?"

 

The Heatran took a look at his surroundings for a moment. He then charged at Dack with a bellowing roar, knocking the trainer to the ground.

 

"Heatran, return!" Dack cried, fumbling for the Ultra Ball. The Heatran looked about ready to light the entire route on fire when the Ultra Ball's beam hit him, drawing him back into the capsule.

 

"That went well," Luke smirked.

 

"He seems like a very temperamental Pokémon," Palmer remarked, helping Dack to his feet. "The curious part is that if the Heatran did come from Stark Mountain, he would've had to swim through the ocean to get to the mainland."

 

"That would account for his bad temper," Madison shrugged.

 

"Maybe," Dack agreed. "So are we done here?"

 

"I think so," Palmer nodded. "But continue to keep an eye out for other signs. If we're lucky, we'll find some evidence from the person behind all this."

 

 

IC: Paul Burks

Paul Burks was silent as he hammered the last corner of a piece of metal armor into place; he was completely absorbed in his task. This was a prototype of the fireproof metal Déoza needed for their attack on Team Magma.

 

With a grunt, the blacksmith lifted the metal slab up off his work table, revealing a thick pad of insulating material on the back, and hung his work on the front of a mannequin, much like a breastplate. The actual metal would be armor for Déoza's tanks, but Paul found the mannequin to be a simple way of testing his samples. His Bisharp helped him hook up several temperature gauges on both the metal and the mannequin.

 

When at last everything was set up, Paul stepped back to admire his work. "Heat-resistant armor, Sample 4, Trial 1," he said to himself, writing his words down in a notebook. "Alright, Kimber. Light 'er up."

 

Turning around to face the armored mannequin, the Torkoal sent a condensed Lava Plume at the slab of metal. As she continued to pour on the fire, Paul looked at the readout from the temperature gauges and the timer on the wall.

 

Despite the intense heat on the front side of the metal, the mannequin was relatively cool. Paul let the experiment go on for a full five minutes before allowing Kimber to rest. "Good job," he said to the exhausted Torkoal. "It looks like the metal is able to withstand extreme heat, and the insulation will keep the people on the other side nice and cool. However..."

 

Paul set his notebook down with a frown and pulled out a pistol. Taking aim at the armor, he fired three shots. The first one made a slight dent. With the second, the armor buckled. The third shot caused the armor to shatter in half, falling off of the wounded mannequin.

 

With a sigh, Paul returned to his notebook. "Withstanding extreme heat: complete success. Withstanding physical impact: utter failure. You fix one problem, and another one takes its place." Bisharp picked up the two halves of the metal plate and set them back on the work desk.

 

Just then, a silver bird flew into the workshop, coming to rest right in front of Paul.

 

"Scar?" the blacksmith said in surprise. "Have you found Ellen?"

 

The Skarmory turned to a map of Hoenn hanging on the wall and pointed to Fortree City with his beak.

 

"Fortree, huh?" Paul said, quickly cleaning up his shop. "That's not far from here." Flipping to a new page of his notebook, he wrote a small note to the Déoza commander, explaining the status of his latest prototype and that he had to go out for some more materials. He suggested that other Déoza scientists might be able to find a way around the armor's brittleness.

 

With that done, the blacksmith recalled Bisharp and Kimber, and then swung onto Scar's back. "Take me to her," he cried as the metallic bird took flight. "Take me to my daughter!"

Edited January 22, 2014 by Konuju

[JiMing]

IC: Aspen, Olivia, and Dahlia Seaton

 

"So, I suppose I'm just some pawn in your insane plan for revenge after all..." Aspen mused.

 

"I'm sorry for what you've been through, I don't think any of us meant to hurt you. But you didn't have to do any of this..." said Dahlia.

 

Flare used Flame Charge to meet the Dragon Rush, while Jet became struck, retaliating with a Superpower.

 

Shade attempted to use Agility to dodge, but failed, and was struck several times, until Toxic struck the Lucario with a Sucker Punch.

[Daniel Bryan]

IC – Kane – Opelucid City:

 

A disappointed look overcame Kane as he shook his head. Much as he expected, clearly, those who stood before him were driven by fear of his power that they had to resort to violence. “Kangaskhan!” Kane called. With a weak roar, the Pokemon created a shield of energy around itself, Kane and Gaigan. As well, Feral and his Pokemon were covered by the shield, giving the gift of protection from the sleep powder. Grabbing a Poke Ball from his sleeve, Kane let loose, revealing a Blaziken.

 

Up above in a building overlooking the square, one of Kane’s puppets activated a news camera, focusing in as they began to film the attack by Team Liberty upon Opelucid. In Kane’s mind, he was smiling quite widely. Surely, this was going to cause a bit of fun once Unova witnessed what he had in store. Those he had brainwashed moved in front of the Darkrai, as if trying to protect it. Before the attack could hit, Gaigan sank into the shadows, rising up in front of them, using Protect to shield itself, before retaliating with a Dark Pulse attack. To those watching the feed, they would see what appeared to be Team Liberty Agents firing upon a group of citizens, only for a Darkrai to rise to their protections.

 

“You are all fiends! How could you attack these people?” Kane shouted. Blaziken seemed to growl while facing the Liberty Agents. “We will not allow you to ravage this land like you did before! In the name of those who stand here, we shall show that we do not fear you!” Kane’s face became a determined one, as he moved forward, pointing at the gathered Agents. “No longer shall these people live in fear of your actions!”

 

IC – Greed/Lust – R&D:

 

“NOW!” Greed shouted. As she did, the Ninjask all collectively rushed forward, each of them getting progressively dispersed by the Ice Beam, but still, they each rushed directly for their opponents. Still, as the Ninjask swarmed, their claws preparing for a Fury Cutter. Even as they fell, two remained, each headed for one of the two Pokemon. The true one, however, was heading right for Malamar, intending make sure that the Trick Room would not come into play again.

 

You sure you know what you’re doing? Those words seemed evident in the glance that Lust shot towards her sister. Your Ninjask isn’t going to be able to take much hits, you know, and that Trick Room isn’t going to work very much in your favor with Ninj... Lust’s eyes widened as Greed glanced back, shooting a cheeky grin as her sister finally understood exactly what she meant to do. Meanwhile, Lopunny continued its plotting, once more coming up with something truly Nasty...

 

-Det

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra, Opelucid City

 

"Sorry, but I am not of Team Liberty.", Evan shouted angrily, "I am an agent of Team Plasma, and I can clearly see you are in the wrong here! Monstro, Hammer Arm on that Excadrill!"

 

Evan's Swampert, seeming to channel Evan's anger, rushed towards Feral's Excadrill and smashed his fist against the shadowy mole pokemon. The impact from the attack knocked the Excadrill flat onto it's back.

 

"So you aren't all talk, Hero of Space!", Feral said, sneering, "But let's see how you handle this! Swampert, EARTHQUAKE!"

 

Feral's Swampert roared as it smashed it's fists onto the ground, sending a shockwave of earth towards the opposing Pokemon, aiming to damage them all at once.......

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan

From the safety of the rooftop, Drayden was silent as he watched the battle unfold in the midst of the brainwashed citizens.

 

"Well?" Ryan asked impatiently. "Do you think there's a way to bring them back to their senses?"

 

"I don't know," the Gym Leader shook his head. "If we tried to un-brainwash them individually, we'd risk harming them. I think the only thing we can do is defeat the man called Kane and hope that brings the people back to normal."

 

"Well, if you're good here, I'd better get back to the battle," Ryan said, hopping back onto his Togekiss. "Don't go getting yourself zombified while I'm gone!" Togie took to the skies once more, flying well above the battle at the city's center. Ryan was pleased to see that Kyle and Ray had joined the fight. He signaled for Togie to remain airborne, waiting for the best moment to strike from above.

[Metal Gear Minun]

 

IC: The calculations flowing through Guinevere's head also flowed before James' consciousness. At the current rate of travel of the Ninjasks and the time it takes for the beam to bend and strike a new target, all estimations showed only enough time to intercept one of the Ninjasks.

Strategically it makes more sense for the true Ninjask to try and take Malamar out of the equation. A double weakness to Bug, plus getting rid of Trick Room. However...

 

The troubled trainer shot a furtive glance to the sidelines. Any decision he made would be judged by his team. He doubted that they would forgive him just because he picked Guinevere over Malamar, or condemn him further for not doing so, but any action that may allow him one step closer to being back into their good grace, was good enough for him to try.

 

He would let Vert take of her own Pokemon, now he needed to protect his.

 

“Guinevere bring the Ice Beam back and down on the Ninjask headed towards you.”

 

The Gardevoir did not seem to respond, but the Ice Beam's sudden shift in movement proved otherwise.

[Parugi]

IC - Sonja Baron/Kyle Eston/Jupiter - Opelucid City: To say that Sonja was stunned by Kane's false accusations would be a terrible understatement. In those final, eleven words, the burning rage that had spread throughout her body vanished in an instant. Gaia, Neptune, and Loki froze where they stood, mouths and eyes opened wide in bewilderment, the latter two almost completely unaware of the Earthquake that ravaged them from below. Their trainer found, for the briefest of moments, that she could not move, as her mind tried to process the twisted deception that was taking place, the sheer falsehoods being weaved before her, the complete and utterly ridiculous slander

 

Indeed, like a candle snuffed by a chill wind, the fire was gone. And in its place emerged something far, far more potent.

 

"How... dare... you..." Sonja Baron seethed. She took a step forward. "After everything that has happened... After watching so much of what I call my home get destroyed by people like you..." Her hands clenched, nails pressing so forcefully into her palms that they were soon dotted with droplets of blood. Sonja hardly seemed to notice. "You dare try to turn this on us!?" The force and volume of her voice suddenly rose to a frightening degree, removing any doubt that the Liberty Agent was going to let this go lightly. "Well, guess what? I. won't. HAVE IT!"

 

As if by instinct, her Pokémon--having recovered from their earlier damage--charged forward, seeming to sense what she wanted them to do. Loki spun his metal girder around in the palm of his hand, leaping forward and swinging it down toward Feral's Excadrill in a form of Dynamic Punch. Neptune's fangs glistened, as he aimed to latch onto Feral's Swampert with Ice Fang.

 

Gaia did something entirely different: She began to glow.

 

Before the eyes of the gathered combatants, the Grass-Type's body grew larger, taking on a more human-like appearance. A hat-shaped flower sprouted from her head, and her numerous leafy appendages formed into a leafy skirt. Before long, a Lilligant stood where once a Petilil had floated, and she seemed perfectly ready for action. With only a quick look back at her trainer, Gaia raised her hands to the sky, which began to instantly brighten as the sunlight intensified. At the same time, she swayed her body back and forth, increasing her power with Quiver Dance...

 

 

"Skuntank, Protect!"

 

Gaigan's Dark Pulse was stopped in its tracks as a green shield appeared between it and its target, created by a much weaker--though still powerful in its own right--Dark-Type. Jupiter stepped out of the building, following after her Pokémon. Her eyes remained locked on the Nightmare Pokémon with each step, cautiously observing it and the actions of the brainwashed people around it. She looked at Kyle and Ray, nodding. "I think it's time we finished these creatures off for good, don't you?"

 

Kyle nodded back, and smiled as he saw his three Pokémon emerge from behind Jupiter, moving to join the fight. With their previous power modifications, they would hopefully be able to inflict more damage sooner than normal. Presumably, anyway; it would all depend on how things actually worked out. Nonetheless, he was ready.

 

"Let's try that again, Kitheus, hopefully without interference this time," he said, pointing upward. The Magnet Pokémon nodded as best it could. Levitating higher into the air, it locked on to Gaigan once more, taking aim at an angle high enough to prevent another person from jumping in front of his attack. Three beams of energy came together again, launching forward in a swirling triangle of fire, electricity, and ice energy that careened toward the Sixth Darkrai...

 

IC - Executive Meghan Vert - R&D Test Site: It seemed that Hypnosis had had no effect. That hardly mattered. Ninjask moved toward Malamar, distracting the Overturning Pokémon from its original target. Vert adjusted her glasses, speaking in a tone that, mixed with her order, almost literally froze the air around her.

 

"Malamar, would you kindly dodge, and then use Topsy-Turvy?"

 

So it did. Aided by its Trick Room, Malamar danced around Ninjask's swipes, barely clearing one space before having to move again. As it relented, Malamar focused, attempting to utilize its signature attack to reverse the very stat boosts that had been meant to give the Ninja Pokémon the upper hand against it. Though Hypnosis had failed against Lopunny, and in spite of the Bug-Flying-Type's increased evasiveness, Ninjask's proximity to the mysterious forces now turned against its body and mind meant that it would likely find itself at least somewhat weaker and less evasive than it had started, if not extremely so.

 

OOC:

Species: Lilligant.

Nickname: Gaia.

Trainer: Sonja Baron.

Appearance: Gaia looks like a regular Lilligant.

Personality: Gaia is a very gentle Pokémon, finding ways to be friendly towards almost anyone she comes across, whether they be friends or foes. Though she does not like to battle, nor does get she angered easily, she is willing to go to great lengths against those who push her far enough, and does not condemn pragmatic tactics against those who would harm her trainer.

Ability: Own Tempo.

Specialty: Gaia is mainly a support Pokémon in battle, inflicting status problems on her opponents so that others can take them out. Though she prefers not to fight, she will if she has to, particularly since her evolution has greatly increased her power.

Known Moves: Synthesis, Stun Spore, Sunny Day, Quiver Dance, Petal Dance, Sleep Powder.

Growth > Quiver Dance

Magical Leaf > Petal Dance

Mega Drain > Sunny Day

Battle Count: 8

Will make a Celadon Group post soon--was busy enough trying to make this one.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Pears Nivans

[Blessed Blade]

OOC: /hums the second SnK theme to Sonja's part of the post.

 

-==IC: Ray/Jenny==-

 

Jenny frowned as she looked over to where Sonja was, but nodded.

"Emboar, focus on the Darkrai. I won't let them slander Plasma agents like this." Jenny said, emphasizing the 'plasma agents' part, as she pointed right at the Darkrai, even as Gyaralite fireed at the Darkrai with a Hydro Pump as well.

 

Ray's Pokemon were equally prepared, as Zangetsu and Byakuya both jumped up, the Zangoose preparing a Close Combat, while the Bisharp attempted to quickly slash out at the Darkrai in reaction.

 

OOC: Still outta inspiration on how to continue the Zach portions. >>'''

 

/EDIT: Fail, I blame my memory for making me think Byakuya had Close Combat on its moveset. >>'

Edited February 3, 2014 by Null.