Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

MELON LORD · January 29, 2018

IC: Jared Winters/Ryan Sanders

"Ryan, hey," a familiar voice said from behind the lost agent. Jared was standing there with two foam trays of food. The silver-haired trainer looked fully awake, as if he'd been up for hours.

"Jared." Ryan turned around, taking note of the trays of food and quickly piecing the situation together. "Having breakfast with Dahlia?"

Jared nodded. "Yeah, we're just waiting for the doctors to discharge her. Come on, this way." He bagan walking. "How's your morning going?"

"Not bad." Ryan fell into step behind the aura wielder, choosing not to mention that he had gotten lost in the medical wing's winding hallways. An awkward silence fell between them for a moment. "So, you ready for your mission?"

The shorter man sighed softly. "As ready as one can be, I guess. What about you?"

Ryan nodded, before realizing Jared couldn't see him. "Y-yeah, I guess. I just hope we manage to succeed. This mission feels like the only hope we have against that Missing Zero, so it kind of feels like I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders." He closed his eyes with a small chuckle. "I'll manage, though."

There was a subtle shift in the way Jared held himself, his shoulders sagging a bit. "I don't know the details, but it sounds like your mission is a bit more important. If I'd known about it before, I would have offered to come along, but . . ." He shrugged. "Either way, I wish you all luck. I think we'll need as much of it as we can get."

"I wish the same to you." Ryan smiled softly. "Your mission may not be as important in the long run, but like Xander said Team Flare is a more immediate threat to the Kalos Region. Not to mention . . . it'll be your debut as a group leader. Get a good grip on your team dynamics, and you'll be able to lead them for the truly important battles." He gave Jared a teasing nudge. "Don't let us down, Silvermane."

Jared snorted. "Silvermane, that's a good one." He grinned for a second before letting it slide into a more serious expression. "The only thing I'm really worried about is that most of the people in this group know each other, and I don't." He paused outside of one of the doors. "Are there any insights you could give me to the girls?"

The Liberty agent thought for a moment. "Well, Colette's pretty serious about her training, although she's still pretty fresh when it comes to actual field experience. She can get a little emotional at times, but if you talk things through with her, she's usually pretty good at seeing the other side of an argument. She also lived in Kalos most of her life, so make sure you pay attention to what she has to say. Remember she's your fellow leader, not a subordinate. Not giving her any say in the matter is a surefire way to make her angry at you, and trust me, nobody wants that."

Jared nodded. "Makes sense, I'll keep it in mind." He glanced at the door. "What about Dahlia and Olivia? I get the impression you know Dahlia well enough to give me advice on her, at least."

Ryan shifted his weight, sliding his hands into his pockets as he fixated on a spot near Jared's feet. "Well, admittedly I don't know a ton about Olivia other than she can be a little hotheaded. As for Dahlia . . . The biggest thing I'd say is don't underestimate her. If she thinks you're selling her short, then she'll resent you for it. She can struggle with self-confidence, but if you act even less confident in her abilities than she is, instead of feeling down she'll just get angry. She grew up trying to keep her siblings from fighting -- her older sister joined Team Rocket while her younger brother joined Team Liberty, leaving her caught in the middle. If there's any kind of tension in the group, Dahlia will be the first to try and resolve it . . . but I get the feeling she hates having to do that kind of thing, especially when she isn't able to make the opposing sides see common ground. And as far as her powers go . . ." Ryan swallowed and forced himself to meet Jared's eyes. He spoke slowly but firmly. "Don't let her lose control. If she gets too emotional in a battle, her powers will run wild and . . . just don't."

Jared weighed the words carefully before he nodded. "Understood. Thanks, Ryan." He shifted both trays to one hand and knocked on the door.

Parugi · January 29, 2018

IC - Esen Windred/Kyle Eston - Living Quarters, The Alamo:

A long day of work warranted a long bath and a night of rest. A long day of fighting for one's life warranted more than that--several glasses of wine, some therapy, a pill or two to drop into a dead sleep. At present, Esen had none of that, and thus had to make do with a bath and her bed. She couldn't sleep, though, try as she might to drift into her dreams. Even with closed blinds, the clerestory windows at the head of her bed allowed specks of moonlight into her room. They danced with the shadows in front of her, and in those shadows she saw the same creatures she had faced earlier that day--Minotore skulking about, the circular bodies of Magnode. Worst of all were the rippling shadows of leaves, emulating the movements of the Fraygrins that had taken to the field in the final stretch of the fight, their jaws bearing teeth in a dead, emotionless smile.

Closing her eyes only made the monsters clearer, more vivid and real. So she didn't close her eyes. Instead she lay on her side, staring at the wall, running over the day again and again. All things considered, Esen couldn't call the events on One Island a failure--they had, after all, minimized their losses and allowed the island's inhabitants to escape. But she also couldn't call it a success, not when their groups had acted so incohesively with one another--when their failure to strategize and work together had gotten someone, possibly two someones, killed . . .

Her phone buzzed. Esen reached her hand up beside her pillow, grabbing it. In the darkness, the light from the screen felt blinding; she lowered the brightness, looked at the time--1:30 AM--and then at the message that had arrived from Kyle.

Hey. You awake?

Clearly not the only one with sleep problems. . . Esen adjusted her pillow, placing one hand underneath it, and with the other typed her response.

Yeah.

Can't sleep either, huh?

Not for lack of trying.

I bet . . .
I saw videos of One Island today; I can only imagine what it was like in person.

Don't try very hard--it wasn't fun.

. . . Wanna talk about it? :3

. . . Not over text.

Could talk about it in person.

Maybe if you had a therapist's license.

Maybe I have one already?
Fine. Wanna go to a cafe and talk? Maybe the caffeine will help you sleep.

What kind of cafe have you been to that's open at 2 AM?

Um . . . Good point. I haven't.

Esen couldn't stop a breath of amusement from escaping her lips.

You're pretty dumb sometimes, I hope you know that.

Ouch.
Nah, Sonja pretty much told me the same thing earlier today.

Oh yeah?

Mmhm. :3

. . . Wanna talk about it?

>
You hurt me.
but no I don't. It was a good point.

Gotcha. Maybe another time.
Another time.

A lull in the conversation. Esen frowned, staring intently at the screen in anticipation of another message. When none came, she typed out her own.

So . . . Out of curiosity, is there a reason you wrote so late?

It occurred to her how that might have sounded as soon as she sent it. Luckily in the dark, alone in her room, there was no one around to see her face redden with embarrassment. Esen pulled her covers higher toward her face, almost covering her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as her phone buzzed, and she read the initial message.

There . . . actually is.
I was hoping to tell you in person after you got back, but I don't think I'm going to get a chance.

. . . Yeah?

If I'm being honest, it's kind of . . . weird.

'Weird' how?

Yeah . . . So . . .
I don't know where to start . . .

This mixture of warmth, excitement, and apprehension in Esen's chest was something she hadn't felt before. It was almost painful, yet simultaneously exhilarating--a type of suspense that pulled directly at the heart and shortened her breathing.

We found something pointing us to Kalos today--specifically to the Signs.
I'm heading there immediately with some of the others to look into it.
Tbh I'm fully expecting it to go sideways, but . . .
Well, I figure it's better to have someone there who's experienced some of it, right?

Oh . . .

This news was unexpected. It was also strangely disappointing, and Esen could not figure out exactly why. She released the breath she had been holding and rolled back onto her side, eyes sliding half-closed as she read the messages that continued to pour in.

Part of this involves stopping at Ford's own HQ, too--looking for something he says might help with the Signs.
If everything goes well, it's supposed to help with M0, so . . .
idk. I'd rather not go, but it . . . kind of has to be done, you know?
I'm not sure how long I'll be gone--could be a matter of days, or worse, weeks. I'm not really sure.
But I just wanted to let you know.

. . . Esen?
You still awake?

Yeah.
Sorry, just . . . processing.

Understandable. It's a lot to take in.

For sure.
Are you going to be okay, dealing with the Signs again?
It's been . . . less than a month, right?

Yeah, I'll be okay.
They got the jump on me last time. Not happening this time.
Besides, I've traveled with Sonja and them all before.
We can handle them.

And you leave tomorrow?

In the morning, yeah.
Surprised we snagged seats for a flight on such short notice, but . . .
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'll leave you to it, then.
Anything you might suggest for someone staying on Four Island?

Hm . . .
Not really one for sightseeing, but . . .
You might try visiting some of the mountains around the island.
Maybe bring Levi with you? He might enjoy that.

The Alaric kid?
Wait, aren't you supposed to be watching him?

Yes, but he knows what's up.
Idk. I think you'd like him--he's cute and super shy, but so are you, so . . .
Wait.

Cute or shy?

nvm.
Besides, you two are going to be around each other a lot anyway once I get back, right?

What's that supposed to mean?

. . . I spend a lot of time with you?

. . . right.

I'm just going to stop now before this hole gets any deeper.
Good night, Esen. I'll see you when we get back.

Night.

Esen turned off her phone screen, setting it back beside her pillow. Though the disappointment lingered in her chest, she felt a bit better. Finally, sleep overtook her.

IC - Skye Hall - Infirmary, The Alamo:

His room was right in front of hers.

Skye hadn't realized it when she had entered her hospital room last night. Perhaps it was the tunnel vision that had set in, or perhaps it was just the stress of the day in general that had caused her to overlook it. Either way, she stood now in the hallway, her door hissing shut as it closed behind her, face to face with the realization that by some stroke of fortune or misfortune, she had spent the night across the hall from Gavin. It had been some time since she had seen him last, and that was a deliberate choice on her part. His words had stung, and she hadn't wanted to face him again--not until she was ready. Whether that would take days or months of years, she had no idea, but she knew that the choice was right and that she would know when she could look him in the eye and give him her response.

That was why it was a complete shock to her when she felt herself moving as if on auto-pilot, taking five steps forward, reaching a hand out toward the doorknob, twisting it open, and pushing. Her heart raced a mile a minute, her brain screamed at her to turn around and leave, but her body carried her forward as if of its own accord.

However this conversation ended, Skye needed to have it. And she knew that if it didn't happen now, it would never happen at all.

Gavin was awake. The sight of him with a tray of food over his lap, and his awkward attempts to use his cutlery with his non-dominant hand, almost sent Skye back out the door. It certainly made her pause. He looked up at her with surprise in his eyes, and an immediate tightening of his jaw--a sign of discomfort that she had come to recognize. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when she raised a hand, pulling the door closed behind her.

"Gavin," she said. Righteous fury burned her face in tandem with uncertainty about what she was going to say, but she held her ground. "We need to talk."

His expression hardened. "I already told you, I don't want to hear--"

"I don't care!" The force of her response shocked both of them. Skye closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself; meanwhile the silence hung over them both like a suffocating blanket, punctured only by the single metallic clink as Gavin set his fork down on the tray. Skye brought her hands together in front of her chest, taking a deep breath and opening her eyes. "I didn't want to talk to you, either, but I need to, and I don't care if you don't want to hear it. Okay? Please, just let me get it out of my system while I still can."

"'While you still can'?" Gavin repeated. His brow furrowed in worry. "Are you . . ." A shift back to furious indifference. "Fine."

Skye glowered at him. "'Fine.'" She let the word hang in the air. "You're still mad at me. Fine. I said it last time and I'll say it again, if you need to be mad at me, then I get that. I know I messed up, I know you suffered for it, and even if you don't want to hear it, I am sorry about that--more sorry than you could ever know." She clenched a fist. "You told me I did the wrong thing by going with McKinley, and I agree--I was an idiot to trust him, and everyone is paying for it now. But have you thought at all about why I went with him?"

"I know why you went--he fed you a fantasy and you bought--"

"When did you get your first Pokémon, Gavin?"

"What?"

"You heard what I said." Skye took a step forward. "You're five years older than I am. How long have you had Ithes and Dothe?" It was clear from his expression that Gavin did not understand where Skye was trying to take this conversation. She raised a hand to the bridge of her nose, sighing. "You've had them since you were a kid, right? About ten to twelve years?"

"Yes, I got them both when I was ten," Gavin said. "What are you--"

"I got my first Pokémon last year," Skye said. By now she had arrived at Gavin's side. "Okay? You're twenty-three. You've had thirteen years to spend with your first Pokémon. You've had almost that long to train on the field with Team Rocket, to get stronger, to grow tougher--to deal with the kind of stuff that you've been through. Heck, you lost an arm and you're still . . . you! You're angry, and you're sad, and you're upset at me and everything else, but you're still Gavin, and you're hiding whatever pain you must be feeling a million times better than I could!"

She took a moment to catch her breath, suddenly aware of the storm of emotions swelling in her chest. Gavin wouldn't look at her--he remained with his head forward, eyes locked on the door. She stooped down so that she was level with him. Desperation clawed at her insides, but Skye knew that she had to keep calm--the path was clear, and she knew that she had to get to the end if she had any hope of getting Gavin to listen. And even if he didn't . . . Well, she needed to say it all for herself, if nothing else.

"Please, just think about that for a minute," Skye said. "I don't have what you or Ethan or Lucia have. I haven't had years to toughen up. I can hardly call myself independent from my family when, up until a few months ago, they were paying for everything for me--my college, my housing, my food--all stuff I've thrown away now to go on these adventures that I can't even say I'm prepared for. I got dragged into that stupid Team Zephyr business because I wanted to make my friends happy, and because of it, I've been tossed into stuff that is . . . way above my head. I've never had to deal with someone threatening me before, or threatening my friends, or my family. I was scared--I'm still scared. I didn't even realize how scared I was until yesterday, when I once again got myself involved in something I shouldn't have, and had to face those . . ." She couldn't suppress a visible shudder. "things."

Skye's shoulders drooped. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I'm not asking you to forgive me for what happened to you or anyone else, but I need you to understand why it happened. It wasn't something random--it was fear, it was manipulation, and it was a mistake." She grit her teeth, feeling the tears begin to flow down her face. "And, yeah . . . it was my fault. I did what I did and you got dragged into the crossfire. I can't take that back, but . . . well . . . You gave me a chance when we first met, remember? You thought I was stealing comics and stuff, but I wasn't." Skye stared at him. "I know I shouldn't ask, but . . . maybe you could give me another chance. I won't disappoint you guys this time--I've grown, I've seen things, I know how to better handle myself . . ." Skye trailed off. When Gavin did not react, physically or vocally, she wiped a hand across her face and stood up. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have bothered you like this."

She turned to leave. As she did so, she felt Gavin's hand closed around her wrist, startling her. Skye stopped, turning back to him. His expression remained locked into one of fury, but when he finally he looked up at her, eyes glistening with tears--the look he gave her told Skye everything she needed to know. Gently, Gavin pulled Skye into a hug, which she returned with fervor. When they finally regained their composure, they separated, allowing Skye to slide back onto the nearby stool.

"You guys are so annoying sometimes . . ." Gavin said. "With your . . . emotions and making sense." He rubbed his eyes, offering Skye a forlorn smile. "I'm sorry. I'm angry about what happened, but I shouldn't have taken that out on you. Or Ethan."

"You don't need to apologize," Skye said. "I'm just glad you listened."

"Let's agree to disagree, then," Gavin said. He looked at her after a moment. "So you fought that blob thing?"

Skye couldn't help but smile, nor could she stop the frown that followed. "Yeah." She ran her knuckles across her hand, recalling the previous day--how little she had actually contributed. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Another time?" Gavin offered. "I've got a story of my own about that . . ."

"Sounds like a deal." Skye smiled again, but could hardly hide her confusion. Gavin couldn't have had time to encounter Missing Zero since its arrival. She made a mental note to ask Ethan about it later. Clearing her throat, she looked at Gavin again. "In the meantime . . . I wanted to ask you something." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Ethan said you could just get a robot arm. He was probably joking, but . . . is that true?"

"Of course he said that." Gavin shook his head. "If I was rich, then I might be able to. But Rocket would discharge me before covering that kind of thing."

"Figured that." Skye dropped her eyes down to her hand. "So . . . I told you when we first met that my parents are both engineers, right? Well . . . it kind of runs in the family . . ." She did not notice the expression of interest and apprehension in Gavin's eyes. "My parents do work for airplanes, but my brother . . . doesn't. He's more into that whole . . . robots prosthetic thing. So . . ." She looked back up at Gavin. "I might be able to hook you up, if you're willing to do a bit of traveling with me."

"No," Gavin said bluntly. "There's no way--you can't just get me a new arm like that."

"Yes, I can, and I'm already doing it," Skye said. "I made up my mind before I even asked you. So . . . it's going to happen."

"Your brother won't want to make me a robot arm when he realizes how big of a jerk I've been to you."

"We're from Alola, and he's the most hospitable and loving person I know. He'd probably make one for McKinley if it weren't for the whole . . . clown monster thing."

"What?"

"Oh. Right." Skye scratched the back of her head. "We . . . need to catch you up on some stuff, don't we?" She stood up. "No worries. I'll give him a call, then find Ethan and we'll work out all the important details later."

"Skye . . ."

"Gavin." Skye placed her hands on her hips, mimicking his tone. "Stop arguing. I'm rich, you're not. This is one way I can help make things up to you. Just let me do this? If you don't want the arm when it's done, then you don't have to use it, but at least let it be an option. Please?" Gavin glowered, but finally sighed and nodded. Skye clapped her hands together, smiling. "Thank you. I'll come by again when I've got the flight details and everything all worked out."

He offered a small smile to her. "Thank you, Skye."

Skye smiled back, giving him a small salute as she eased the door closed behind her.

The door had hardly shut when Skye felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She jumped, turning around, only to discover Ethan right in front of her.

"Ethan!" she exclaimed, a broad smile spreading across her lips. "You just missed it--it was amazing, I was so nervous but I got Gavin to listen and I--"

"Excellent work, kiddo!" Ethan responded. He grabbed her hand and began walking, pulling her along behind him at a faster-than-normal-for-Ethan pace. "Feel free to keep talking because I'm still listening, but holy cow do I have something amazing to show you guys!"

IC - A Girl - Refuge Center, Vermilion City:

"Aori . . . Aori . . ." The girl turned her head to Aori, repeating the name to herself and no one. Her dark eyes leveled unsteady with Aori's, cloudy, hardly acknowledging of the girl before her. She blinked, and her eyes lifted. "Aori . . . Hello." Her words came slowly, as if she were uncertain of how to properly express them. "Miyu . . . I am Miyu . . . Miyu . . ."

IC - Tyler McKinley/? - Reflection Cave, Kalos:

A soft whistle escaped McKinley's lips as he surveyed the extent of the damage to the three ladies and one gentleman currently present. "You all are banged up pretty good, huh? No worries at all." He pulled a Poké Ball from his belt, holding it forward. A beam of light erupted from within, releasing the stoic form of a Xatu onto the field. It was a proud bird, with cleanly-groomed feathers and a remarkable air of health. "My buddy Xatu here is specially-trained for injuries--he'll get you guys at least to the point of moving again."

A ball of energy gathered in front of Xatu, which coalesced into a pleasant beam that engulfed each of the four, one by one. A soft sensation like a pillow enveloped them, as the Heal Pulse worked to gradually repair their wounds.

Though McKinley did not appear to have actually heard Amelia's question, it was soon answered as the second man approached. Like McKinley, the mirror illuminated his features, casting them in a pinkish light. Even so, it was clear that his hair was a shade of red, close to maroon. He wore a white jacket with red clasps, over a red dress shirt and clever dress pants.

"Tyler." He gave a pointed look to McKinley with eyes that matched his hair color, dropping one hand to his hip. "What did you do this time?"

"Hey, I didn't do anything--these guys got attacked or something." McKinley shook his head. "Excuse my partner, guys--he's a bit of a stick in the mud. In any case, his name is--"

"Thomas Warren," the man said. "A pleasure to meet you."

**Dr. Hidaka** · January 29, 2018

IC: Evan Tierra

As he made his way to the airport, a thought crossed Evan Tierra's mind. He had to update Zarth about what the others were doing, especially if she would need the information for later use. He clumsily input the necessary information into a message on his Pokegear and sent it out to his fellow Plasma Knight. Smiling, he continued on his way to his current goal...

MELON LORD · January 29, 2018

IC: Yamamoto Aori - Vermilion City, Refugee Center (August 5th)

"Miyu," Aori repeated. "That's a pretty name." She looked around quietly, wondering if she should continue on back to her bed. She did not want to be by herself right now, so maybe . . . "Would it be alright if I sat with you, Miyu?"

IC: Xander Cruize/Sylph - Alamo, Four Island (August 6th)

Sylph was still giggling as Xander pulled his new jacket on. He ran his fingers through his hair -- it was getting long, he would need to do something with it soon -- and sighed. "I really don't see how you can find it that funny."

"The dream is funny enough, but the fact that you feel so guilty about it is hilarious." Sylph covered her mouth to stifle another short burst of laughter. "It was a dream, Xander. You had no control over it, and we both know it didn't mean much of anything."

The trainer sighed, shaking his head. "If you say so." He glanced at where the rest of his team was still sleeping; he'd tried to wake them, but even Ellen had given him a tired-looking scowl before going back to sleep. He would let them sleep in for the day, since he didn't have much going on. "It's still going to be really hard to look Chloe in the eye for a while."

Sylph snorted. "I just can't wait to see how red you turn. I bet you'll look like a tamato berry."

He rolled his eyes -- still purple, unfortunately -- and turned towards the door. "Let's just hurry up. The plane leaves in like half an hour."

The two began walking the winding halls of the Alamo.

IC: Lachina Adaon

The Ranger girl looked herself over in the mirror one last time before she picked up her backpack and Aolani's Poké Ball. It felt good to be in her Ranger uniform, knowing that she was going to be out stopping bad guys from doing bad things to good people. Her Syler was secure on her hip, and she was ready to go. She checked her watch and nodded. Not long before the plane took off. No doubt Jared was already up and out the door, practicing, or eating, or visiting Dahlia--

Nope! Stop it, Lachina, nice thoughts! She thought as she turned and headed out the door. She would grab something quick for breakfast before reporting in at the airstrip.

IC: Aspen Seaton

Aspen cracked one eye open and looked at the clock before rolling over and going back to sleep.

**Blessed Blade** · January 30, 2018

-==IC: Chloe Hikari/Olivia Seaton/Evan Tierra(Jam) - Four Island Airport==-

“And look, look! This one is cute too!” The discussion between the couple had been stuck on repeat for about an hour since they had stopped at the tech lab to get an update to Chloe’s Pokédex. The psychic had gotten inspired after the meeting with Lohe and when she freed the Rowlet the day before, so she got the data for the Alola region added. In the process, the technicians discovered that her Pokédex was also missing data from Kalos - an oversight likely resulting from the overall lack of Pokémon there.

The time since then had resulted in her showing Olivia every second Alolan Pokémon in a loop. For the most part, the taller woman simply smiled and nodded as her own thoughts were cycling around the upcoming mission. On one hand, it was a chance to grow and prove herself - but on the other. . . she had to admit that she was very nervous about the whole thing. Olivia tried to remind herself that it was like a fight from the earlier days of the Rocket war. They just had to go in, find out the location of this cell of Flare, and take it down if it existed. But this was anything but a fight from the early days, as half the team they were taking was neutral or Liberty. The woman realized that she probably actually was the only Rocket on this mission. That was even before taking into account the fighting skills of the team and the lack of Pokémon power.

The two walked toward the gate they had been instructed to wait by, even as they took two entirely different approaches to waiting. Chloe stood flipping through the virtual pages of her Pokédex and Olivia nervously scanned the surroundings for anyone that would be joining. Her eye caught a glimpse of a man that seemed familiar to her enter the airport. She took a moment to place where she could have seen him before, then her eyes widened as she realized who he was. Chloe turned her head in surprise as Olivia began to quickly walk over to the newcomer.

“Heya.” Olivia said after drawing close to the man. “Whatcha doin’ here?” That was most definitely not what she planned to say. She grimaced slightly. “I-I mean, uh, how are ya doin’? Are ya goin’ on one of the missions too?” I wonder if that’s better?

Evan was jolted out of his thoughts by the sudden approach and initial greeting of Olivia, but didn’t let it deter him from smiling at what followed. He recalled the discussion on the boat, and was determined to be kind to the woman. “Considering things, I’m doing alright.” The Hero said cheerfully, restraining his urge to pose for the moment. “Sadly, I’m not joining for the mission. I’m not sure how much use I’d be, what with my arm and such….” He then gestured to his restrained right arm, smiling sheepishly.

Evan then focused on the woman in front of him. “How about you?” The man asked kindly. “You going on the mission? You nervous about it?” The man knew that the anticipation before a mission gave everyone a case of the nerves, and Olivia seemed no different than in that regard…

Olivia bit her lip for a moment, and then nodded. “I dunno why, but I am a bit.” The Rocket glanced off to the side for a moment as she thought about it. “I’m just worried, I guess. I dunno most on my team other than my sis… one guy seems okay, but…” She let her sentence trail off as she knew she wanted to trust Jared, but still wasn’t 100% certain what she felt about his trustworthiness yet.

Evan chuckled a bit at the woman’s worrying, hoping to set her mind at ease. “I know what you mean, honestly.” He said kindly. “I know Dahlia, you and…...Colleen well enough, but that one guy, I really don’t know much about him. I can see how that might worry you, but it can’t hurt to lend a little faith to him?”

“I guess ya got a point…” Olivia sighed, as she closed her eyes. She could give Jared another chance. It was best not to make things awkward now - if there was a reason to distrust, then that could be dealt with in the moment, not before anything else happened. Second chances. . .

“By the way…” The redhead paused briefly as she struggled to find the words that she was wanting to say. “I’m sorry for what I put y’all through back in Lilycove. I was outta line, and I just… I dunno why I even got so upset. It wasn’t fair to any of y’all and I just… I was scared for some reason, that somethin’ else might go wrong. But that’s just an excuse, so I’m sorry for not trustin’ ya more.”

Chloe listened quietly behind them, as she did her best to pretend she wasn’t listening to the conversation. She flipped through the Pokédex some more with a small smile, as she just subtly nodded at what Olivia did.

It must be the end of the world. Evan thought as he processed what Olivia said to him. He didn’t expect an apology from her now, let alone ever. But he’d take it. He smiled at her and spoke. “It’s not in my nature to hold grudges for stuff like that, so I forgive you.” He then held out his unbroken arm out for Olivia to shake. “Shake on it?”

Olivia stared at the outstretched hand in surprise as she tried to process what happened. She lowered her head for a moment, as she realized that this was an example of why Chloe believed in her friends so much. The woman grabbed Evan’s hand, before she pulled him into a hug, overwhelmed by the forgiveness shown.

Yep! It’s the end of the world! Evan’s thoughts rang out as Olivia embraced him gently. Surprise turned to relief, as this meant that the woman seemed to at least trust him now. He returned the hug with his one free arm, squeezing with what strength it could afford him. “It’s no handshake, but it’s definitely better than I expected.” He said cheerfully. “Thank you.”

After a couple moments, Olivia stepped back and wiped at her eyes with a small smile. She still seemed more reserved than normal, but took a deep breath. “One day we should have a fight if the power comes back for everyone. I’ll try to prepare in the meantime, then I’ll show ya just what I can do.” Olivia grinned more as she held out her hand for real this time. “A match between friends, ya know?”

“I’d have it no other way, Olivia.” Evan replied as he shook her hand happily. “Those are usually the best matches, and I am sure you’d be a force to be reckoned with!” The man definitely didn’t expect this turn of events, but he guessed on what he considered his best day ever, anything could happen…

Edited January 30, 2018 by Blessed Blade

Konuju · February 1, 2018

IC: Ryan Sanders/Jared Winters/Dahlia Seaton - Medical Wing, The Alamo
The woman who opened the door was not Dahlia.

"Why, hello there." The unfamiliar woman smiled at Ryan and Jared, her blue scrubs giving away her role as a nurse. "I'm just finishing up Dahlia's paperwork, and she'll be ready for release. Why don't you have a seat over there?" The nurse motioned toward a pair of uncomfortable-looking stools in the far corner of the room.

Dahlia's face seemed to brighten as the two men entered the room. "About time you got back," she told Jared with a teasing smile. "And I see you brought Ryan, too! I don't suppose you brought him any breakfast, did you?"

"I'm not hungry," Ryan said quickly. "Besides, after what you've been through, you need it more than I do."

Jared chuckled. "I ran into him after I got here, so there wasn't time. How are you feeling?"

You asked her that earlier.

"I mean, I guess much hasn't changed in the past ten minutes or so, but . . ." Jared cleared his throat, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Here." He handed her one of the trays before sitting.

"I don't know, the nurse coming to finally get me out of here makes me feel a lot happier than I was ten minutes ago." Dahlia laughed as she started eating. The Flabébé she had rescued in Keturi popped out of an artificial plant in the corner and hovered over the tray of food.

"That's what I like to hear," the nurse said as she scribbled down some notes. "You're a lucky girl to have friends who care so much about you."

The tips of Dahlia's ears turned red and she suddenly became very interested in her pancakes.

Ryan shifted in his seat. "So . . . there aren't any lasting injuries, then?"

"She'll have a small scar on her side, but that should fade over time," the nurse explained. "My recommendation is that she lay low for a couple days and stay away from bikinis for the rest of the summer."

Jared frowned. "What about traveling? We have a trip to Kalos today."

The nurse smiled. "That should be fine as long as she has you two to carry her luggage for her."

"Speaking of which, Dahlia, are you packed yet?" Ryan tried to hide his concern as he glanced at the clock.

Much to his relief, Dahlia nodded. "I had Olivia gather some things last night, but I still want to go over everything and make sure she didn't forget something."

Ryan turned to Jared. "What about you?"

"I never really unpacked from the trip over here, so I'm ready to go. We have plenty of time before takeoff, too." The silver-maned trainer smiled. "What about you? Everything was a bit sudden."

"I packed earlier this morning. I think Chloe went to get all the supplies from Xander's room, so we should be --" Ryan suddenly fell silent, the color draining from his face. He pulled out his Pokégear and began rapidly typing out a message.

"Well, that's that." The nurse placed a stack of papers on Dahlia's bedstand. "Just sign here and take this to the front desk when you're done with your breakfast, sweetie. Enjoy your time in Kalos!" Dahlia nodded her thanks and set her tray aside to sign the forms.

Jared raised an eyebrow at Ryan's sudden shift. "What's wrong, did we forget something?"

Ryan quickly read through the message he had typed out to Chloe, Sonja, and Kyle. It was a mere eleven words, but he dreaded the likely response.

Did any of you remember to ask Bounty for his cane?

He pressed send, then looked up at Dahlia and Jared.

"You'd better finish your breakfast quickly. We might be taking a slight detour on the way to the airport."

Flipz · February 1, 2018

IC: Alex Zyther/Amelia Zann - Kalos, Reflection Cave

Alex's eyes widened as the Heal Pulse washed over them. "Whoa, wait--when did powers come back? How long have we been out?" The Trainer's words cut off with a hiss as the wounds began to close around crystal--Raleigh and Didi quickly got to work removing the embedded shards so the healing would continue properly. The Ralts, for his part, frowned in confusion as he attempted again to contribute his own Heal Pulse, only to fail utterly.

Amelia smirked as she realized she'd be the one making proper introductions. "Amelia Zann, Alex Zyther, Belle LaDonna, Alma Mason," she announced, gesturing to each of them as she gave their names. "We were on our way through to...where'd ya say again, kid? Geo-somethin'?"

"Geosenge," Alex supplied.

"Right. That." Amelia paused to flip Sina the bird when the pink Sneasel rolled her eyes at her. "Anyway. We were goin' through when outta nowhere a buncha Sableye decided t' try an' make us their mornin' snack. Guessin' that ain't normal fer 'round here?"

Alex shook his head. "Maybe it's been harder for them to hunt with the power out?" the Kalosian speculated. Without warning, the pink Carbink begain sobbing, to Alex and Amelia's confusion. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Alex apologized, looking to Amelia for clarification but getting only a bewildered shrug in return. "I won't bring it up again, okay?"

The Carbink looked up at Alex with watery eyes and nodded, sniffling pathetically as she tried to stem her tears.

MELON LORD · February 1, 2018

IC: Alma Mason/Belle LaDonna - Reflection Cave, Kalos

Belle stared as her wounds began to close. "No in' way." She turned to Hemlock, the Dragonair looking just as shocked as she was. "Use Twister or somethin', Hem." The dragon tried, truly she did, but . . . nothing came of it. Belle frowned. "McKinley, was it? How's yer Xatu able to use moves?"

Alma cleared her throat. "Perhaps we could talk on the move? We don't know where those Sableye got to, and we should best be moving if we wish to get anywhere in a timely manner."

IC: Jared Winters - Alamo Hospital, Four Island

The aura wielder nodded. "Sounds good to me." He began eating quickly.

Konuju · February 3, 2018

IC: Paul Burks - Barracks, The Alamo

Today was the day. After eight long months tireless yearning, Ellen was finally coming home. Their family would finally be whole. Paul prepared himself some coffee and pulled out a photo from his billfold. The ignorantly cheerful faces of his wife, his daughter, and himself smiled back up at him, assuring him that everything would be fine. He hoped he could trust their naivete.

Ellen's friends had done everything they could for her. It pained him to pull her away from those who clearly cared about her, but if yesterday's mission was anything to go by, a military base was the last place Ellen needed to be right now. It would only serve as a constant reminder of what she had been through.

Setting his coffee aside for the moment, Paul quietly walked over to the bedroom to wake Ellen up. When she did not respond to his gentle knocking, he opened the door and slipped inside, making his way over to her bed. Ellen slept soundly, her arms wrapped tightly around her pillow like a life preserver. Large blotches of what appeared to be water stains on the upper half of the pillowcase indicated she had cried herself to sleep. The disheveled blankets suggested she had spent most of the night in a fit of restlessness.

And yet despite the obvious signs of a rough night, in her current state she looked more peaceful than Paul had seen her in a very long time. He couldn't bring himself to wake her. Not yet, anyway. They still had some time before they had to leave for the airport, and after what she had been through Ellen deserved every last minute of relief she could get. Returning to Village Bridge would only be the first step on the long road to recovery. With a melancholic smile Paul tiptoed out of the room and closed the door as gently as he could.

Flipz · February 11, 2018

OOC: Jam with Minun!

-==IC: Nani/Mu==-

Nani stared down her opponent, the familiar sensations of readying for battle contrasting against the hollow emptiness where her powers formerly lay. She studied her opponent, trying to determine how the loss of powers would affect his strategy--

What strategy? she suddenly realized. There’s no powers. The only option left is…

And with that, Nani launched forward to attack. She hit the ground running, headed for the central boulder where Mu was surely…

…not waiting?

As she finished her jump atop the boulder, she found to her surprise that the Dark-type still stood atop his very same perch, hardly having moved from his starting position. What is he doing? she wondered, What possible plan--?

The skeptical stares of the onlooking audience spurred her back into action. No time to think, have to show them what I’m...what Alola is made of! She resumed her race across the field, panting slightly as she neared the opposing ridge. A familiar surge of adrenaline launched her leap toward the edge--

--and right into Mu’s waiting fist. The sucker punch lacked the power of its Dark-type namesake, but it was nonetheless just as effective. Nani felt herself crashing into and then rolling off the Ratatta as her mind caught up to the situation. Right, she thought to herself, power-less...not powerless. She’d underestimated him. She couldn’t do that again.

Off to one side, the Fennekin who’d spoken up earlier was snickering.

Mu walked from his perch slowly towards where Nani was. He stopped when his forepaw stepped onto a patch of grass that was growing amid all the rocky terrain.

The Rockruff saw Mu move forward and stop suddenly. What is he planning? Rather than close in again, she instead began circling warily, instinctively raising her tail for a Rock Throw before the failure of the move to materialize reminded her once more of how everything had changed. Her eyes narrowed. This...this is why we’re here. To fight, to train, to find a solution, so no one we love will ever have to feel this way again. She lunged forward once more, a plan in mind and determination in her heart. Mu revealed his hand at that moment. Literally. He tossed a mound of loose earth from his hand towards Nani’s eyes. Nani yelped with pain, but to her fortune, her plan hadn’t relied upon sight; rather than trying to tackle her opponent, she instead spun on her front legs at the last moment, kicking blindly backward to try and launch the Ratatta out of the ring.

Mu lamented slightly when he saw his opponent’s response. He positioned himself low to the ground. He was still hit by the Rockruff’s foot, but he wasn’t launched. Instead, he reached to grab Nani’s tail to slam her to the ground.

Still blind, Nani had no way to notice Mu’s attack until his claws were already wrapped around her tail. After a few moments’ confusion, she realized his plan, but could not make sense of them. Without powers, surely he wouldn’t be able to--

And then her feet left the ground.

With a yip of surprise, Nani lashed out again with her rear paws, claws scrabbling away as she tried to curl inward to bring her forepaws to bear. She couldn’t force Mu to release her--but then, that wasn’t been the goal, not yet. She hit the ground, hard, and rolled, whipping her tail around and into the ground with as much strength as she could muster. Whether she broke free or turned the Ratatta’s strategy back upon itself, she was too tired to care--all that mattered was regaining the momentum, or at least enough to finish the fight on passably equal terms. She blinked her eyes blearily, rubbing at them with a forepaw to try and clear them from Mu’s earlier dirty tactic.

Mu released the tail when Nani started to whip it. He didn’t need to throw her again. There was only one way Rattata finished fights. He lunged towards Nani from a side blinded to her from sand, and opened his mouth.

<“Nani! Look out!”> cried an impossible voice from the crowd.

Nani sat bolt upright, bleary eyes searching in vain for the source.

Had the duel been to the death, the move would have saved her life. Mu’s fangs, poised as if to puncture the jugular but held just shy from fatality, sank instead into the canine’s chest. Though the honorable Ratatta had indeed held back, it was still too much for the Rock-type to bear, and she fell to the ground with a definitive thump, the pain of her injuries sending her in and out of consciousness.

“<Enough!>” Mitama declared, though Mu had already disengaged from his fallen foe. <”The challenger, Mu, is victorious.”>

Mu bowed his head in respect to his opponent on the ground. He signaled for his minions to help clear Nani from the field.

<”The rest of you,”> Mitama continued as the remainder of Mu’s minions cleared the crowd away from a number of other surrounding spaces, <”choose your opponents. This night’s battles have only begun!>

---------------

When the world finally stopped flickering, Nani found herself supported by a pair of Ratatta as they guided her behind a nearby boulder just out of sight of the main battlefields. One of them, having noticed Nani’s return to consciousness, spoke to her.

<”Lady Nani,”> she said, <”it is good to see your rapid recovery. Master Mu instructed we gather these for you.”> The Ratatta indicated a quartet of Sitrus berries laid in a neat line. <”Please recover your strength, so that you may rejoin Master Mu for the conclusion of the night’s festivities.”>

The two Ratatta then left her, leaving the Melemele representative to her own thoughts. Well, that could have gone better, she groused, mentally replaying the fight as she wondered just how her plans had gone so far awry. For some reason--no, actually, she knew exactly for what reason--she kept finding her attention drawn to the moment when Mu had lifted her, bodily, and slammed her to the ground even without the aid of Pokémon power. Okay, she admitted to herself, definitely seeing what Fini sees in him, curse her. Shoving her baser responses aside, she tried to take an unbiased look at her opponent. He’s...better than me, she was forced to admit. For all my plans, for all my preparation, he was just...better. The fact rankled, but there was little she could do to change it. She stifled a groan. Her head ached--well, all of her ached, really--and it was too much effort to think. Tomorrow, she half-heartedly promised herself. Tomorrow she’d try to salvage things; tonight, she had a ceremony to complete...and then, gods willing, rest. Behold your chosen champion, Tapu Koko, she sarcastically prayed. I hope you’re satisfied, oh great spirit.

Thousands of miles away, a sound like a rooster’s crow rang out from atop a claw-shaped peak.

Edited February 11, 2018 by Flipz

Parugi · February 11, 2018

IC - Miyu - Refugee Center, Vermilion City:

It took a couple of moments, but eventually Miyu nodded. "Please do," she said, perhaps her first properly-spoken sentence since their arrival. "Aori," she added. "That's a pretty name, too."

IC - Tyler McKinley/Thomas Warren - Reflection Cave, Kalos:

"Pssh, Sableye? Small fry. I wouldn't worry about them," McKinley said, offering a cocky smile. "Xatu's skilled enough to take on anybody, Dark-Type or n--"

"What do you mean?" Warren interrupted.

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" McKinley responded. "They're worried about Sable--"

"Stop." Warren looked from Belle to Alex. "'When did powers come back'? What are you talking about?"

IC - Kyle Eston/Sonja Baron - The Alamo:

Did any of you remember to ask Bounty for his cane?

Approximately twelve seconds after receiving the message, Sonja's Poké Gear rang--a conference call from Kyle to Sonja, Ryan, and Chloe. She shouldered her bag and answered. "I forgot."

"Same," Kyle said. "But I think I can convince Bounty to give it to us."

MELON LORD · February 12, 2018

IC: Yamamoto Aori - August 5th, Refugee Center, Vermilion City

Aori moved to sit on the edge of the bed next to Miyu. Once again, her mind hit a snag as she thought of what to say; hello, introductions, and then . . .? She had nothing. Silently, she ran her fingers over her Eevee's head.

IC: Belle LaDonna/Alma Mason - August 7th, Reflection Cave, Kalos

"What'm I-- I'm talkin' about the flash of light! July 31, white light hits everywhere from Kanto to Kalos to Unova. Power goes out, Pokémon can't attack, and from the reports psychics and whatnot lose their abilities, too. A bit later, we get a second flash of light. Human stuff comes back, but Pokémon are still powerless." Belle glared, jabbing a finger towards Tyler. "'Cept for yours, apparently."

Alma nodded. "It has been inconvenient, to say the least. Sableye wouldn't have been a problem for us -- nor would they have been half so crazed -- if it weren't for that flash of light."

IC: Emily Lockwood

The girl onstage had dark red hair that was cropped into a short 'pixie' cut, the back half pulled into a plume that matched that of her Talonflame's. Her pale blue eyes were ringed in black and yellow, giving her a slightly predatory look. She pointed in the air, the 'wings' of her dress billowing in the ongoing Tailwind. "Right, grand finale time, let's go!"

A Pikachu jumped from the girl's shoulder, heart-shaped tail flicking to form an Electro Ball. With a cry, she slammed her tail into the ball, scattering it into a series of brightly sparking rings. The Talonflame swooped around and, as he did, began glowing blue. With a screech, he flew through the rings, the blue energy of the Brave Bird attack trailing through them to form a dazzling light display.

Emma raised her arms up, her two faithful Pokémon perching on her shoulders as the crowd applauded.

The video ended, and Emma grinned as she turned to her companion. "That was the last Showcase I was in before I heard you were here. Whattaya think, pretty cool, right?"

Konuju · February 13, 2018

IC: Ryan Sanders - Medical Wing, The Alamo

"That would be awesome," Ryan said to Kyle. "I've got Dahlia and Jared with me now--" he cast an eye at the two trainers as the former scarfed down her breakfast, "--so let us know if you want us to help or if we should just head straight for the airport and meet you there."

IC: Alex Lockwood - Laverre City, Kalos

Alex had found himself captivated by the spectacle, so much so that it took him a moment to gather his thoughts. "That's amazing, Emma." He grinned. "When I first got here and your mother told me you had become a Showcase Performer I couldn't believe it, but here you are. It's still hard to believe -- I'm pretty sure the last time I saw you, you were still in diapers." Alex let out a teasing laugh as he prepared to duck out of the way of the punch his cousin was sure to throw for that remark.

MELON LORD · February 14, 2018

IC: Emily Lockwood - Laverre City, August 6th

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?" Emily did take a light swing at her cousin, not really putting any force behind it. "You could have at least called or written or something. Mom thought you were dead, that she'd lost a nephew along with a brother and a sister-in-law. We had now way of knowing that you'd gone and joined Team Liberty."

She sighed. "But, hey, bygones. Speaking of Team Liberty, I bet you have all kinds of great war stories, dontcha?" Emma elbowed Alex in the side, the grin returning to her face. "C'mon, let's go get some coffee or something and you can tell me all about your rebels."

Konuju · February 14, 2018

IC: Alex Lockwood - Laverre City, Kalos

"I don't know . . . I don't think your mother would want me filling your head with stories of the war." The somber expression on Alex's face lasted all of three seconds before he broke out into another grin. "Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I'll tell you some stories. If you're old enough to be drinking coffee, then you're certainly old enough to hear my harrowing tale."

Alex stood up and stretched, allowing his exaggerated yawn to cover the fact that his smile had slipped. He had given little thought to Team Liberty over the past few months, and for good reason. For as many thrilling stories that he had from the war, there were just as many sad ones. He would have to pick and choose which ones were suitable to share. Composing himself and putting on another smile, he looked down at his little cousin. "So what's the best cafe around here? And how does it compare to your mom's coffee?"

MELON LORD · February 15, 2018

IC: Emily Lockwood - Laverre City, Kalos

Em snorted, shaking her head. "Oh, please, as if you're going to 'corrupt' me or something." She hopped up, chuckling. "I know a pretty great café over in Lumiose, if you don't mind flying twenty minutes or so to get there."

The girl nudged Alex, grinning. "We can even hit some of the boutiques so you can have nice clothes to wear." She didn't wait for a rebuttal before going to grab her Pokémon and rushing out the door.

Konuju · February 15, 2018

IC: Alex Lockwood - Laverre City, Kalos

"Hey, my clothes are fine the way they are!" Alex shot back. With an amused sigh, he grabbed his Pokéballs and followed her out the door.

Once outside, he tossed a Pokéball into the air, releasing his Braviary. The war eagle stretched its wings and took to the skies, performing several complicated maneuvers as it quickly gained altitude. "No training today, Braviary!" Alex called. "Emma's taking us to Lumiose!"

With what passed for a scoff, Braviary descended back to the ground and folded its wings, allowing Alex to climb onto its back. "Sorry about that," he told Emma. "Braviary's just used to our daily training exercises."

MELON LORD · February 15, 2018

IC: Emily Lockwood

Emily tossed a Pokéball high into the air, letting her Talonflame out as well. "No worries, Spitfire can be the same way." The fire-type screeched, wheeling around a few times before landing. Emily grinned, stroking his head. "Ready to go, then?"

Alex nodded, and they were quickly on their way.

Konuju · February 17, 2018

IC: Alex Lockwood - En Route to Lumiose City

Over the course of his time in Kalos, Alex had only ventured into Lumiose City a couple of times, and never for very long. The city was like an urban maze, and while the same could be said for Castelia in the Unova Region, at least his visits to the latter had always been with a large group and Liberty tour guide. Even with the glittering tower in the heart of Lumiose acting as a beacon, it was easy to get turned around on the winding city streets.

However, this was the first time Alex was seeing the city from a bird's-eye view. The boggy trees of Laverre Nature Trail gave way to a cluster of buildings, the Lumiose Tower dominating the skyline. The winding streets far below felt like a work of art all on their own, constructed in an enticingly intricate pattern. They hadn't completely left the nature trail behind, either, for the roads were lined with trees in a way that suggested the countryside was rushing up to meet the city.

At long last Emma signaled for them to land. As Braviary descended toward a small courtyard, the city's beauty only grew more apparent. Flower arrangements lined the buildings surrounding the quaint area labeled Magenta Plaza. The steady flow of a nearby stream of water added to the ambiance. If Alex didn't know better, he would have thought he was in Kalos' equivalent to Village Bridge, not a major city. "This is spectacular," he said as Braviary touched down on the cobblestones. "I never saw anything like this during my last trips to the city."

MELON LORD · February 17, 2018

IC: Emily Lockwood - Lumiose City, Kalos

Emily nodded, grinning. "I fly over all the time going from one place to the next, and it always takes my breath away." She pointed. "Here, this way!" Without waiting up, she began walking briskly. "We overshot it a little bit, but that's fine, you can get more of the scenery this way. It's in this little alley, here." She turned off of Magenta Plaza and headed towards Autumnal Avenue.

"This place is a bit infamous around here, but that's part of the appeal." She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Alex was keeping up as she made her way inside. Everything in the café was high-end and decorated in shades of red. The barista greeted them as they entered.

"Welcome, folks, to the Lysandre Cafe."

Parugi · February 27, 2018

IC - Miyu - Refugee Center, Vermilion City:

The silence ran deep. It lasted for a long while, too. The rest of the center had fallen into sleep when Miyu finally broke her steady gaze on the wall, looking at Aori and her Eevee. "What is it called?"

IC - Tyler McKinley/Thomas Warren - Reflection Cave, Kalos:

Thomas Warren and Tyler McKinley spent a long time staring at Belle and Alma, evidently unsure of what to make of their claim. The pair turned their heads toward each other, first McKinley and then Warren, engaging in a silent exchange. With a final shrug from McKinley, Warren sighed, crossing his arms and redirecting his attention back to the four trainers before them. Though they appeared no more understanding of the situation than they had a few moments before, it was clear that situation troubled both of them.

"I will be completely honest, I have no idea what you are talking about," Warren said. "But if what you are saying and seeing is true, we might know someone who can make sense of this. If you all will follow us, we can take you to him--you can tell us more on the way."

IC - Kyle Eston/Sonja Baron - The Alamo, Four Island:

"Nope--all good. Just make sure the plane doesn't leave without me. Shouldn't take more than forty-five minutes."

He hung up.

Approximately an hour later, Kyle stumbled onto the airplane. He breathed heavily, suggesting that his trip from Bounty's office had been a very fast one. Luckily a seat was open near the front of the vessel, and he was able to promptly take a seat--after muttering something to the steward, .

Sonja appeared above him, leaning over from the back of his seat. "How did it go?"

"Well . . ." Kyle stretched. "I've got good news and bad news." He sat up, turning around to face everyone. "So, first off, we have the cane." He held up the instrument in question. It was fairly plain, brown in color with a white handle. To all present, there was nothing particularly special about it.

"That's the one that he had in the egg?" Sonja asked. "The one that Ford wanted?"

"Yes, I made sure."

"Okay, that's definitely good." Sonja breathed a sigh of relief. "What's the bad news?"

"Okay, so we were hoping to get all of this done without any executive oversight, right? Bounty . . . did not like that idea, particularly since I had to tell him why we needed his cane, and that involved telling him about what Esen and Victoire and I got involved with last time I was in Kalos, and . . . well . . ."

Kyle turned to the plane entrance as a man stepped on-board. He was impeccably dressed in a black suit, with red buttons and trim on his sleeves. His hair was a dirty blond color, and his eyes a light blue. He carried a simple black bag in one hand, which contained the few belongings he needed for the mission. Every aspect of his dress and hygiene could be described as perfect--not a single hair out of place.

"This is Emmerich Coleman, Team Rocket General and Bounty's son," Kyle said, offered a half-hearted gesture to the Rocket officer. "For better or worse, he'll be joining us on our mission."

"Yes, I will," Coleman affirmed. He wasted no time in placing his bag in the overhead storage and taking an open seat. "And we ought to have left by now, if we're to stick to the transportation schedule."

IC - Ethan Worth/Skye Hall - Mt. Payat, Four Island

Skye was . . . stunned. Her entire body had frozen solid. Her eyes, wide as saucepans, drank in the simultaneously awesome and terrifying sight before her. It made her want to run away, and yet she couldn't. Her legs didn't work. She survived only by autonomous reflex--were it not for her body taking care to breathe and pump blood without conscious thought, she might have accidentally asphyxiated in the time that she had remained standing still.

"Sooo . . ." Ethan nudged Skye. "Whadoya think?"

She wanted to say something, though did not know what she would have said, but her voice had abandoned her. What came out instead was simply a high-pitched breath of air escaping her lungs.

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. He crossed his arms, grinning. "It's pretty cool."

'Pretty cool' was not the way that Skye would have described the creature. It had emerged atop the nearby hill from a strange Poké Ball in Ethan's possession, a massive, muscular, multi-limbed mosquito thing. At first it had merely stood tall in the sunlight, its black and blood-red armor glistening in the morning rays. But then . . . then it had posed. Sunlight flashed off of its body in dazzling displays of showmanship, blinding bright and startlingly spectacular all at once. It stretched its arms, flexing banded muscles with enough gusto to send a flock of nearby birds aflight from the sight.

And that was all. It had not done much else since being released from its container, but what it had done immediately froze Skye.

This was partially because the creature was impressive in its own right. But it was also because Skye was fairly certain that she knew what it was.

"Ethan," she breathed at last. "Where did you get . . . that?"

The Rocket Agent rubbed his head. "Well, it's kind of a funny story," he said. "Some guy bumped into me at the airport and dropped it. He was in a rush, so I didn't get to get it back to him, but honestly I don't feel too bad about that considering he had kind of lousy manners--"

"Just 'some guy'?" Skye repeated.

"That's what I'm saying, yeah."

Skye inhaled. "Ethan." She brought her hands together, slowing turning to face him. "Do you have any idea what that is?"

"Nope. But it's pretty cool, right?"

"Ethan." Skye lowered her voice to a high-pitched whisper. "That is a Buzzwole."

"A Buzz-who?"

"BUZZWOLE!"

The creature in question turned toward Skye and Ethan with a suddenness that caused another flock of birds to take flight. She could not read its expression, but it felt accusatory. Skye could not prove this, so instead merely raised her hands up with a meek chuckle. "Don't mind me." The creature gave her a curt nod, and then resumed its posing. Skye grabbed Ethan and dragged him a few feet away. "Seriously Ethan, do you have any idea what that thing is?"

"I'm getting the distinct impression that I should." Ethan glanced at the beast. "What's the big deal, though? He seems harmless. He's been pretty friendly every time I've talked to him."

"How many times have you talked to him!?"

"Mmm twice? Three times?" Ethan scratched his head. "I think this is the third. Kinda thinking I should name him at this point, don't you think? I was thinking Stan."

"Ethan, this is serious," Skye said. "That thing might be dangerous."

"Pssh, no way." Ethan waved her off. "Stan isn't dangerous."

"Stop calling it Stan, it's a Buzzwole."

"What's a Buzzlul?"

"Buzz-wole. It's a thing that appeared in Alola not long ago--a bunch of them did. They nearly tore the region apart. They're like . . . I don't even know what to call them. They're from somewhere else. Like that blob thing."

"Stan? No, he's not the blob thing. He's a lot nicer."

"Is he, Ethan? Is he?"

"Skye." Ethan placed his hands on her shoulders. "You're worrying too much. Look at him." He directed Skye's gaze toward Stan. The creature had resumed its posing, and now stood in a Crane Kick pose at the very top of the hill. "Trust me, I've dealt with dangerous things before--people and Pokémon. If he was going to hurt anyone, he would've done that by now."

The look that Skye gave Ethan could have scratched a diamond. "How do you know that he wasn't captured because he harmed someone?"

Ethan paused.

When he did not answer, Skye gave him another look. "Well?"

"I'll be honest, I had not considered that."

"I figured." Skye sighed. "Look, let's call him back and bring him back to Alola--that's probably where Some Guy was headed. While we're there, we can see if Stan--if Buzzwole is dangerous or not. And we can also get Gavin that arm I promised him."

"Deal."

They shook on it.

MELON LORD · February 27, 2018

IC: Aori Yamamoto

It took a moment to realize what Miyu meant. "Huh? Oh! Her name is Yuri." She smiled softly. "She was a gift from my mama."

IC: Xander Cruize/Jared Winters/Lachina Adaon

Xander and Sylph were the last to arrive at the airstrip, but they still had plenty of time. The duo looked at the assembled group, and Xander took a deep breath. "Thank you all, again, for doing this. It means a lot to me. You all watch out for each other, alright? Keep each other safe, make sure everyone comes back from this in one piece."

"Don't worry," Jared said. "We have good groups here, and we'll be careful." The psychic trainer nodded, making quick eye contact with everyone -- well, almost everyone. He glanced at Chloe and turned red before turning back to Ryan. "Sanders, can I talk to you for a second, just a quick word?"

Flipz · February 28, 2018

IC: Evan Tierra

As he made his way to the airport, a thought crossed Evan Tierra's mind. He had to update Zarth about what the others were doing, especially if she would need the information for later use. He clumsily input the necessary information into a message on his Pokegear and sent it out to his fellow Plasma Knight. Smiling, he continued on his way to his current goal...

IC: Amanda Zarth (August 6th, 2017, 6:43 AM Kanto Standard Time, Alamo Ambassadorial Quarters, Four Island)

A strident chime interrupted Amanda’s analysis. Frowning, she crossed the room to her bed, shifting a sheath of reports to extract the Xtransciever beneath.

At first, the report read as gibberish, and it was only on her third re-read that she was able to properly contextualize the information contained within. Kalos, she considered. How does Kalos factor into the current situation? She read through Tierra’s summary once more, but the connections established were tenuous at best. Still, it was good to be informed of their allies’ movements, even if they did not directly involve--

Amanda stood bolt upright, re-sorting her thoughts for several long seconds before flicking her eyes over the sender’s line for confirmation. Knight Tierra. The One Island mission had come to its close hours before, but she had yet to properly inform either of her superiors of the situation. Without hesitation, she hit the call button to begin a videoconference.

**Dr. Hidaka** · February 28, 2018

IC: Jam: Evan Tierra/Amanda Zarth

Evan was sitting around, watching for signs of the others, when his pokegear started ringing. When he saw it was Zarth trying to initiate a video conference, he signed and hit “Answer”. What now, I wonder?

“Knight Tierra,” Amanda began with a salute. “I must offer my sincere apologies.”

“Wha?” Evan said, caught off guard. “What are you apologizing for?”

“I will now offer my belated report on the meeting you assigned me to attend on the fourth of August.”

“Go on.” The Knight replied as he readied himself for Amanda’s report, and whatever info she had on their enemy.

“On the afternoon of August 4th, 2017, General Goldhawk of Team Liberty announced a joint operation between Team Liberty and Team Rocket, requesting a total of eighteen adult volunteers to take part. During the briefing, the General shared our governments’ collective intelligence on the Missing Zero entity and their projected predictions for its activities, and revealed the existence of a previously-unknown prototype technology platform dubbed as ‘Power Suits’--”

“Oh, those things!” Evan exclaimed as he recalled their use during the climatic battle at Sinjoh Ruins.

“You have experience? Excellent, your report on mine will provide excellent exterior perspective. In any event, it seems that Team Liberty has perfected a technological means by which to store Pokémon powers, allowing their agents to utilize them in combat; we embarked on a joint mission to use their current prototypes against the Missing Zero entity.” Amanda paused for breath, collecting her thoughts in preparation for the actual mission description.

“You don’t seem the type to go out on the field often, Zarth.” Evan replied, concern in his voice. “Did you fare well?”

“Yes, that was a point of some confusion during the preparatory phase, as a result of the Type Affinity Protocol--which reminds me, I have a separate report already prepared recommending implementation of a similar system in future Team Plasma operations.” Thankfully for everyone involved, the Plasma agent chose merely to attach the report to an email, rather than reciting it verbatim--though it was clear she would have happily done so if she hadn’t had further information to disclose. “As you and Knight Hakuda were unavailable during the assessment period, I deemed it prudent to participate directly so as to demonstrate our Team’s continuing cooperation with Teams Liberty and Rocket during the current crisis. However, what was planned as a reconnaissance mission on Three Island was diverted to become a distractionary exercise to aid in the evacuation of One Island...” She went on to list the participants, their suits, their assignments, followed by a (perhaps overly-) detailed description of her actions during the battle, as well as a half-complete analysis of the registered Instances based on the report she was still compiling for Executive Arthur. “Unfortunately, this analysis is still incomplete, but should serve as preliminary intelligence until the remainder of the mission debriefs are conducted on the other Teams’ end. Finally, we come to the casualties. While a number of mission participants including myself sustained minor to moderate injuries, ultimately the only fatality that occurred was that of one Theodore Willows, though I have yet to ascertain if our efforts to save General Goldhawk’s life were fruitful or if his injuries are indeed mortal.”

“That’s……..wow.” Evan’s eyes widened as he heard that tidbit. “That’s definitely a blow to the leadership, if he succumbs to his injuries.”

“It is indeed exceedingly unfortunate that a member of Team Liberty’s upper leadership has been put in jeopardy; it will no doubt promote instability and may have an adverse effect on our Teams’ political relations. Unfortunately, my initial analysis suggests that difficulty with orderly leadership and unit discipline may be to blame, suggesting that the situation within Team Liberty may be less stable than our initial assessments suggested.”

“That would seem likely.” The Knight spoke and nodded.

“Finally, it is my duty to report that I have tested positive for psionic potential, having discovered a number of paranormal abilities while operating within the field. I have requested the assistance of Executive Arthur in seeking training for my abilities as a safety measure, until the current situation reaches an appropriate point at which I may return to Unova for official Team Plasma instruction. Additionally, my Magnezone and three other Pokémon exhibited an unusual pseudo-evolutionary phenomenon, the end result of which seems to have been the return of their Pokémon powers; with your approval, I would like to investigate further with the assistance of Executive Arthur on the Team Liberty side and,,,” Amanda paused. “Agent Ryan Hikari on Team Rocket’s. Do you have any objections?”

“I do not, Zarth.” Evan said, a tone of curiosity in his voice. “But I will have to ask that you keep myself and Knight Hakuda updated on what you come across, regarding this phenomenon , is that clear?”

“Of course, sir.” Amanda’s ringtone cut off before she could elaborate. “It appears that Rook Kingsley is requesting contact. I will patch him into the call.”

An unfamiliar male voice cut into the conversation. “WHAT. HAPPENED?!” The middle-aged man was sweating profusely, glasses askew as he pulled his ordinarily well-groomed hairstyle into messy disarray.

“Rook Kingsley. I was just completing my debriefing to Knight Tierra--”

“You--to Tierra?! Zarth, what in blazed happened?! He’s the one who’s supposed...you were only...the plan…” The flustered supervisor spluttered off futilely, panic and rage joining forces to rob him of his ability to form complete sentences.

“It was unorthodox, but as my report to Knight Tierra states, a number of unexpected circumstances conspired to conscript me into the joint operation--”

“NO ####ING ####!!!”

It occurred to Amanda, for the first time, that for once Rook Kingsley might actually be angry with her. The reaction perplexed her. “Rook Kingsley, I do not understand. While the circumstances were unusual, it is my belief that they fell fully within the mandate of the orders both you and Knight Tierra--”

“YOUR ORDERS WERE…” At this point, the beleaguered Rook cut himself off, turning briefly away from the screen to take several deep breaths (though they bordered more on hyperventilation than anything properly calming). “This wasn’t the plan,” he mumbled, his voice oddly small and fragile compared to his normal poise. “I’m gonna be stuck here forever…” He turned sharply to the screen, staring at Amanda. “Do you have any idea how close you were? Any idea at all?”

“I’m pretty sure we do.” Evan said, clearly not liking the attitude being shown.

“YOU ALMOST MADE ROOK--!” Kingsley’s panicked outburst was cut off once more as he finally noticed Evan also on the line. He groaned. “Of course. Of freaking course.” He scowled darkly at the Hero of Space. “You’re a bad influence, Tierra, you know that? Thirty-six years I’ve been at this, a third of it training her, and you go and teach her to ruin all that hard work in one fell swoop.” The distraught executive buried his face in his hands.

Amanda remained mystified. “I do not understand. How does my participation in the operation affect anything?”

Kingsley sighed, unable to maintain his anger in the face of Amanda’s incomprehension. “They don’t send Rooks into the field, Amanda. They stick us behind a desk, or if we’re lucky a mobile command outpost. We sit around and try to keep you Knights from getting yourselves killed, and then if we’re lucky we get to stick one of you lunatics in our seat before we go stir-crazy.”

Amanda cocked her head, trying to process this information. “I apologize, I fail to understand your implication that your duties as Rook are negative.”

Rook Kingsley snickered, the expression of amusement spiraling into a pathetic half-crazed laughing fit before he could control himself. “See, this is why I picked you, Zarth. You were the perfect candidate. I thought I might actually make it out of this pit with my sanity intact.” The man hefted a stack of news website printouts, holding them up in front of the camera before letting them drop one by one, each new headline declaring wild speculations about the One Island mission and its participants, accompanied by blurry long-distance shots of the group in their helicopters. One even seemed to have captured Amanda, Ryan, and James alongside their Mega-Evolved Pokémon. “Then this happened. Suddenly you’re famous. Tierra-tier famous. All my hopes. All my plans. Up in smoke.”

“So you believe that my gaining public attention during the mission will adversely affect my eventual promotion?”

“Zarth.” Kingsley sighed. “Sorry. Knight Zarth. When I say ‘Plasma Knight’, who comes to mind?”

“Knight Evan Tierra.”

“Which of our agents holds the current record for highest-profile engagements?”

“Knights Evan Tierra and Jenny Hakuda.”

“And which of our agents are currently planned for our next wave of region-wide recruitment campaign?”

Amanda finally made the connection. “It seems...unlikely that I could have achieved the same level of notoriety from a single combat engagement.”

“You’d be surprised.” The Rook massaged his temples frustratedly. “Look, just--try to keep your head down, okay? Maybe--maybe--this will all blow over.”

“And if it does not?”

Kingsley affixed Evan with a pointed stare. “Ask him. I never wanted to be famous. Rook Kingsley out.” Before either of the Knight could object, the Rook disconnected from the call.

“...Well that was…”

“Informative?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Amanda could only agree.

“Anything else to report?”

Amanda shook her head, for once at a loss for words.

“Well, you may well be on your way to making a splash.” The Hero of Space said kindly. “I wonder what this may lead to. What about you? Aren’t you….excited?”

Amanda did not have a word for the sensation currently clawing at her insides, but she suspected ‘excited’ did not describe it. “I do not believe so, but I have little frame of reference for such a claim.” She paused. “I will report back this evening. Knight Zarth out.”

As he hung up, one thought echoed in Evan Tierra's mind, and it didn't seem real. At. All.

So naturally, he had to vocalize it.

"I'm famous?!"

Edited February 28, 2018 by Dr. Hidaka

Konuju · February 28, 2018

OOC: Partial jam with Alku.

IC: Ryan Sanders/Dahlia Seaton/Ellen Burks/Paul Burks/Evan Tierra – Airplane Hangar
Much to Ryan's relief, he, Dahlia, and Jared made it to the hangar with plenty of time to spare. It seemed a few other people from the joint mission had arrived, and he was sure more would filter in as the clock ticked closer to takeoff. He even noticed Evan Tierra sitting off to the side, engaged in a phone call on his Xtransciever.

Still, it came as a surprise when Ellen ran out of the plane and threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. He felt her warm tears soak into his shirt. "I'm sorry I made you worry so much!" she sobbed. "I'm sorry I ran away! I'm so, so sorry for everything you went through because of me!"

Taken aback by the sudden outburst, Ryan nodded for Dahlia and Jared to go on ahead into the plane. Then he knelt down in front of Ellen and brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to apologize," he told her. "If anything, it's my fault for not keeping a closer eye on you."

Ellen shook her head. "I'm not trying to play the blame game. I just . . . I know this is goodbye, and I don't want you to have to worry every time you remember me. I just wanted to thank you for everything."

Even in the midst of sadness, Ellen continued to surprise Ryan with her mature outlook. He couldn't help but laugh as he pulled her into a hug. "Ellen, you're the bravest girl I know. I have no doubt you'll be able to get through this. Tell you what. I'll promise to smile when I think of you, if you promise to smile when you think of me. Don't lose that kind heart of yours, Ellen. Arceus knows we desperately need it in this day and age."

"I promise," Ellen said. Her chin rested on his shoulder, and he could not see the sad melancholy in her eyes as she spoke, which would have betrayed the certainty in her voice. Her expression had recovered by the time she pulled back from the embrace, and with an innocent smile she produced a gift-wrapped box from her bag. "I also wanted to say Happy Birthday."

Ryan's jaw dropped open. With everything else going on, he had opted not to tell anyone that today was in fact his nineteenth birthday. It would just distract from more important things, he reasoned, and he didn't need the extra attention. "You didn't have to do this," he muttered, looking down at the carefully wrapped present. It was a crude job -- the paper was uneven in several places, at it seemed the bow had been strategically placed to cover up a part where the wrapping paper had ripped, but somehow that made it more charming than if it had been professionally wrapped.

"She insisted on giving that to you." Paul Burks stepped out of the plane, clearly pleased at his daughter's return to normalcy, fleeting as it might be. He held out a hand for Ryan to shake. "You've made some mistakes, Sanders, but you always seem to bounce back. That's a good trait to have. I don't think I ever thanked you for looking after my daughter all that time. It means more to me than you'd know."

Ryan shook his hand, feeling his cheeks flush. "It was no problem, Mr. Burks, really."

Ellen, meanwhile, grew strangely quiet. It wasn't a depressed silence like she'd displayed in the past few days, but more one out of a shyness that seemed unusual for her. "A-aren't you going to open it?" she asked in a timid voice.

"Oh . . . of course." Ryan hastily ripped off the wrapping paper, revealing what looked like a snow-globe of the Hoenn Region . . . only the pieces of glittering snow were dull and grey. He inspected it curiously.

"It's an ash-globe," she quickly explained. "It's supposed to represent the volcanic ash coming down from Mt. Chimney. At least, that's what the guy in Slateport told me. I-I thought you might like it . . ."

"I love it." Ryan's expression softened as he pulled Ellen into a hug. "It's perfect. Thank you, Ellen."

Evan Tierra chose that moment to approach, his phone call evidently finished. "I hope I'm not interrupting," he said. "But I would like a chance to speak with Ellen."

"Of course." Ryan stood up and smiled, cradling his present in his hands. "We'll have time for a proper goodbye on the plane," he told the girl. Leaving Ellen and her father in the capable hands of the Hero of Space, Ryan climbed onto the plane. Dahlia was waiting for him at the door.

"You never told me it was your birthday." Her tone was clearly meant to be neutral, but it carried an inescapable hint of accusation within it. Her arms were folded across her chest as she peered at him with narrowed eyes in an expression he couldn't quite decipher.

Ryan shrugged, carefully placing the ash-globe from Ellen in his backpack. "It's not that big of a deal, really. There are more important things to worry about."

"Not that big of a deal?! If I'd known it was your birthday, I could've—" Dahlia bit her lip to bring the train of thought to a screeching halt and furtively shook her head. "No, you're right," she admitted with a sigh. "We need to focus on our missions right now. Still . . . Happy birthday." She brushed past him to go look for a seat, leaving Ryan to wonder why she had gotten so worked up in the first place.

***

Once Ryan had left, Evan faced the young Unovan girl and her father. "I'm glad I caught you two before you two left." The man said. "I had news for Ellen, about things that happened while we haven't seen each other..."

"You do?" Ellen looked up at Evan curiously.

Evan flashed a small smile. "Well, quite a few days back, I found myself a.....girlfriend." The Hero told his surrogate sister. "It's been a big change for me..."

"A girlfriend?" Ellen wasn't normally one to fawn over romantic couples, but for some reason the idea of the quirky yet lovable Hero of Space having a significant other was incredibly amusing. In spite of herself, she let out a small giggle. "I'm amazed you managed to find someone as heroic as you." Behind her, Paul's face contained a wide grin. He knew how much Evan meant to his daughter, and he was pleased she was able to find joy in this bit of good news.

"She's my match in heroism." Evan said, blushing a bit. "She's so sweet and kind. I wish you could have spent more time with her. She would find you to be so wonderful." The man was quite happy that Ellen seemed to take joy in his news. Hearing her giggle was music to his ears.

"But, that's not all I've got to tell you, Ellen." The Hero said happily.

Ellen cocked her head to the side. "Spent more time with her? Is she someone I know?" She went through the list of eligible women she knew that Evan knew, and the list came up surprisingly short. "It couldn't be Sonja, she would've said something . . ."

"Oh, definitely not Sonja." Evan replied, chuckling. "I'm afraid our personalities would clash too much. But it is someone you know. It's Ray's sister, Jenny."

"The Plasma Agent we helped back in Unova?" Ellen's mouth dropped open as her father's grin emitted a bellowing laughter. "You're right, I don't know her as well as I'd like. But that makes sense, being a fellow Plasma Agent and all. I guess now you're partners in more ways than one." Ellen gave her surrogate brother a big grin. "Congratulations, then! I'm happy for you!"

Evan's heart swelled at Ellen's joy, which gave her a glow. "But, there's more to tell you." The Hero leaned in close, grinning. "After I am done here, I'm going to go see her and......see about getting married after this is all over."

That sent Ellen's little heart aflutter. "Whoa . . . she must mean a lot to you then, huh?" She took a moment to recover from the astonishing news, then let out a peal of laughter. "That's just like you, Evan," she said with a teasing grin.

"She means the world and then some to me." Evan said, taking so much glee in Ellen's reactions. "I'm so glad you approve of my news, Ellen. That means the world to me. Now, you got time for one last hug before you have to go home?"

It was only then that Ellen realized Evan wasn't getting on the plane with her. She threw her arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could, as if he might vanish at any moment. "Promise me you'll visit?" she whispered, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes. "I . . . I'll try to be strong for my family, but I don't know if I can do it . . ."

Evan was taken aback by how hard Ellen was squeezing him, but only for a moment. He returned the favor to the girl, wrapping his left arm around her. "I promise, Ellen." The Hero kindly whispered to her. "I know you are strong, but if you feel like you aren't up to it, maybe see someone who can help you out?"

Ellen held the embrace. "Like who?" she asked, her voice muffled as she buried her face in the Hero's shirt.

"Like someone who you can tell everything that has happened, and they'll help you deal with it all." Evan whispered. "I think that's definitely something you need badly, don't you agree?"

Ellen pulled back and stared at Evan. A hint of fear had returned to her eyes, if only for a brief moment. "B-but who can I tell . . . ?"

"I recommend a Psychologist, and a good one at that." Evan said, aiming to pounce on that fear. "After we defeated the Darkrai, when I had time, I went to see one about what happened to me in Unova. It helped me a lot ..."

"That's sound advice." Paul, overhearing the conversation, stepped forward. "However, I'm afraid due to the nature of what happened with Ford, going to a psychologist might end up causing more problems than it solves. Ford may have been known in Unova as a wealthy client of Déoza, but he's also marked as a terrorist in this corner of the world, and I'm sure Unova will be looking into his involvement with those things from Two Island."

Evan considered the facts that Paul laid out and frowned. "Then what do you suggest, Mr. Burks?"

Paul sighed. "I don't really know. We'd need to find someone who already knew of Ellen's involvement, or someone who was sworn not to go to the authorities or the media with this information."

Evan pondered what to suggest, before he remembered the professional he saw in Unova. "Might I suggest a Psychiatrist within Team Plasma?" He said, trying to be helpful. "They are already in the know, so I don't foresee any problems?"

Paul seemed hesitant, but eventually nodded his consent. "Might you be able to put in a word for us, Mr. Tierra?"

"Anything for Ellen, Mr. Burks." Evan said, grinning. "I could recommend her to the same professional I went to."

"That would be wonderful." Paul smiled as Ellen gave Evan another hug.

"Thank you, Evan!" she said. "For everything!"

Evan returned a tight one-armed hug. "No worries, Ellen!" The Hero said, basking in Ellen's thanks. "You take care, all right?"

"I promise!" With that, Ellen said goodbye to her friend and boarded the plane, her father smiling behind her. The future remained uncertain for the father and daughter, but at least in this moment, it appeared somewhat brighter.

***

Ryan nodded politely to Emmerich Coleman, offering him a smile as he welcomed him aboard. "I think everyone's on board by now, if I'm not mistaken." He glanced around the plane, taking the opportunity to let his façade drop.

Executive oversight was the last thing they needed. No, the last thing they needed was to give said executive reason to distrust them. He exchanged worried glances with Kyle, Sonja, and Chloe before returning his smile to Emmerich.

"Well, I think we're about ready for takeo—"

He was interrupted by Xander and Sylph's arrival. The Kalosian gave them words of thanks, and words of warning, then asked to speak with Ryan privately.

Surprised by the request, Ryan nodded and stepped toward the front of the plane where Xander and Sylph stood side-by-side. "What's up?" he asked.

Metal Gear Minun · March 1, 2018

IC: Ryan Hikari's Pokégear

Ryan's Pokégear beeped, indicating it had received a message. The message read:

Dear Agent Hikari,

Your recent exploits have created an opportunity for Team Rocket.

Please respond with a convenient place and time for a meeting. We will discuss my ideas there.

-Ambassador Miriam Shields

Edited March 1, 2018 by Metal Gear Minun

**Blessed Blade** · March 2, 2018

-==IC: Chloe/Colleen/???==-

Chloe watched from the distance, keeping mostly to herself for the moment amid the executive’s appearance on the plane. She glanced over first at Colleen, who was currently reading a book as if it were any other day. Then she looked over the rest of the passengers in their group, though she seemed confused when Xander seemed to skim over her in comparison to the others. However, she glanced back to Emmerich in both curiosity and a hint of caution.

“Let’s see how this plays out for now.” Chloe said telepathically to Kyle and Ryan, as she tried to keep herself occupied as if nothing was happening. “This could work out well, didn’t we have some good luck in terms of executives the last time we had a mission like this?”

The door to the plane opened once more, however, as a man breathed heavily. It looked like the young man had run the last little while to the plane, though he glanced up after a moment with messy orange hair nearly covering his eyes.

“Sorry, am I late?”

***

After giving his regards to Ellen, Evan was about ready to be on his way, when he saw a particular orange-haired young man heading for the plane. This is such great timing, honestly. Evan thought as he made his way to Ray. “Hey, Ray, what’s up?! You joining them or seeing them off?”

Ray yelped in surprise as he turned to Evan. To say he didn’t expect the man to be there or call out the way he did, would be an understatement. “Evan?!” The orange haired man called out in a mixture of shock, surprise, and many other related emotions. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you going on the plane too?”

Evan chuckled a bit at Ray’s reaction. “Naw, I’m staying behind this time.” The Hero said, a note of disappointment in his voice. “I don’t think I’d be much use while I am still relearning my powers, let alone with just one arm backing me up.”

Ray seemed surprised as his eyes followed to the sling. “Huh… I would have thought that would have healed by now, honestly. That’s kinda too bad. What’ll you do in the meantime, then? Kick back and--” He paused for a moment. “Wait, relearning your powers?”

“Yeah, I kinda…….got them back!” Evan said, grinning now. “Palkia, I guess, decided we needed every advantage we could get, and must have given them back. I’m not complaining, relearning aside….” The man then focused his eyes on Ray. “I can tell you’re raring to go, though. These people need all the help they can get, and I know you can do it.”

Ray nodded with a smile. “Yeah. It’ll be a good test, I think - and honestly after yesterday’s mission, I think I need something a little lower on the danger scale.” He chuckled for a bit before a mischievous look crept onto his face. “Besides, someone needs to keep Ryan in check. Can’t “tell what mischief he might accidentally get into.”

Evan chuckled at what Ray had to say about Ryan. “Well, I can think of no one better for the job.” He said, flashing a bright grin. “I trust you can do that, while I am back here recovering.”

It was then, that Evan recalled why he pulled Ray aside. “Ray, buddy, pal, amigo, I’ve got earthshattering news for you.” The Hero said with his trademark melodrama. “You got a minute?”

“... What do you mean?” Ray tilted his head curiously, but nodded. “Yeah, I think I do, what’s up?”

“You see……..” Evan said, a mischievous grin creeping onto his face. “It’s about your sister……” As he spoke, the Hero reached for the velvet box that contained the Lustrous Ring. “I’m thinking...of asking her to marry me, if we survive this. What do you think?”

It took a moment. Then the Separatist looked at Evan incredulously. “WHAT?!”

“You heard me! M-a-r-r-y, as in to be wedded together!” The Hero said, drinking in Ray’s over-the-top reaction. “I figure the end of the world is the best time to ask that!”

Ray was speechless. Completely and utterly speechless. “... What?” He blinked for a moment. “Okay. That’s new. Marry?” He shook his head. “Well, wow, congrats! Huh. Didn’t expect that, gonna admit.”

“As her brother, I felt that you had a right to know.” Evan said, amused at the Separatist’s current state of mind. “I did kind of wanted to tell the others, but I didn’t want to distract them with such…..unrelated news.” He then focused on his friend. “Got any suggestions on how to…..bring it up?”

Ray shook his head in uncertainty. “Not a clue, honestly. Wish I did, but I can’t really think of anything. Never been in this situation and well, I can’t say I know much about what Jenny would like right now.”

The Hero could only smile at Ray’s uncertainty, as he pondered ways to bring it up. “I suppose I’ll just have to do things the Tierra way!” He said, pointing at Ray, then above. “I do wish you could be there, to see how it goes down, but the mission takes priority….”

“It’s okay, I’m sure I’ll hear about it afterward.” Ray smiled brightly as he nodded. “I hope that everything goes well, honestly!”

“Well, if I can, I’ll be sure to call you before I propose, so you can hear it live.” The Knight asked curiously. “Do you feel that’d be a good idea or would it just be best if I kept it private?”

“Either works for me.” Ray shrugged as he didn’t seem to know what he wanted there too.

Evan nodded, and flashed a grin at the younger Hakuda sibling. “All right, well, I’d better let you be on your way, lest we hold up the group.” Evan said, about to turn away, before facing Ray. “By the way, looking good! Safe travels!”

Ray returned the grin, but then paused as an announcement to head to the plane rang out through the airport. A sudden panicked look crossed Ray’s face, as he quickly booked it toward the terminal to get to the plane.

MELON LORD · March 2, 2018

IC: Xander Cruize/Ryan Sanders

Xander sighed, purple eyes looking away for a moment before moving back to Ryan. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday." Realizing that there was a lot that had happened yesterday that might warrant an apology, he quickly clarified. "For what I said to you, I mean."

"Hey, I get it. Tensions were high, patience was thin." Ryan offered him a smile. "Don't worry yourself over it; it's water under the bridge."

Xander nodded, scratching the back of his head. "Right, yeah, just . . ." He sighed again. "Maybe I'm being a jerk, but I still think it's something you need to work on. It's not that I think you're a coward or anything like that, understand, I just . . . You can't let what might happen keep you from doing the right thing, y'know?"

Ryan frowned. "So you're apologizing for what you said, but you aren't taking it back?"

"I can't. If I worried over every possible consequence before doing something--"

"You'd be going on this mission," Sylph interjected, earning a soft scowl from Xander.

"Sylph wouldn't be here, Ellen -- my Eevee, I mean -- wouldn't be here, I might not have made it here. Weighing your options is good, but there's a time and a place for it. In the middle of a battle, or when somebody might be bleeding out in front of you--" Here, his eyes darted to Dahlia and back. "When someone's life is on the line, then you have to act."

Ryan subtly clenched a fist, then took a deep breath to calm himself. He looked straight at Xander. "You think I don't know that? I acted with what I thought was best. There's enough things that can go wrong with teleporting a healthy person. But you were under stress and Dahlia was bleeding out. Critical condition is not the time to be teleporting someone. I made a decision not to make a bad situation worse. If you disagree, that's fine, but don't try and tell me I wasn't doing the 'right thing.' In case you haven't noticed, Dahlia's alive and healthy right now, something that wouldn't be guaranteed if you had tried to teleport her in the state she was in."

"Teleporting wouldn't-- Look, I'm not here to argue. I'm here to say that I'm sorry my words hurt you, but it is a legitimate concern. You worry too much about what might go wrong, even if it's not very likely. Just . . . think about it, alright?"

Ryan opened his mouth to protest, then shut it. "Do you think I really worry that much?" he murmured. He stared at a spot on the wall behind Xander, lost in thought.

"From what I've seen, yes." Xander sighed. "I'm not saying to never worry, or not to think before doing something, but don't get so caught up in possibilities that you put someone in danger. Dahlia was lucky yesterday, that the bullet didn't hit something vital. Next time, somebody could be in real danger."

"Hey, we need to take off." Xander glanced over his shoulder at the pilot, standing in the doorway to the cockpit.

"Alright. Sanders, be safe. Watch out for everyone, watch out for yourself." Xander held a hand out to shake. "I'll see you when you get back."

"Thanks, Xander." Ryan shook the offered hand. "I know you mean well . . . I'll try and keep your advice in mind."

Xander nodded and stepped off the plane.

IC: Xander Cruize/Sylph

"Are you alright?" Sylph asked. "You seemed like you were having trouble with that conversation."

"I didn't realize how much I'd been using my empathy and telepathy to guide me through conversations." Xander sighed.

"Meaning?" she prompted.

"I'm burnt out. I don't have any of my abilities right now." He scowled. "I hope it doesn't last long, we have things to do." Without further ado, he began walking.

**Dr. Hidaka** · March 2, 2018

IC: Evan Tierra, The Best Day Ever

As he saw Xander get off the plane, Evan walked away in the direction of the medical wing, his mind thrumming with ideas on what to do next. There were so many ways to approach the task ahead of him. So many, that when he woke up today, he had no idea what he could say to Jenny. What could he say to her? Thankfully, Ellen and Ray gave him the right idea. His surrogate sister had given him an idea on how to go about it, and one of his best friends gave him the bravery he needed to put it in motion. The Hero couldn't help but smile as he made his way to his destination.

As he did so, Gnip had her own thoughts about her friend. As a Garchomp, thinking wasn't exactly her strong suit, but she couldn't help but admire how different her master seemed. He radiated with anticipation, yet didn't appear to be afraid. Her master was more excited, if his pace was any giveaway. It wasn't the same excitement as she would feel during battle, but anything was better than the fear and doubt he had before. Maybe he was going to see about finding that girl he always hung out with? Regardless, the Shooting Star Dragon was content just waiting and seeing what her trusted equal was up to.....

IC: Feral Tierra, Rude Awakening

Feral stirred in the void that he dwelt in. He felt almost dizzy, or whatever passed for dizzy in this woman's mind. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was grateful he, and by extension, the girl, weren't dead. Despite that however, he couldn't help but feel...different. It felt like he was being draped in warmth. The fact that it was only growing warmer and heavier worried the consciousness of the Spacial Horror.

"What now?"

Edited March 3, 2018 by Dr. Hidaka

Metal Gear Minun · March 3, 2018

IC: Guinevere - Celadon mansion

Guinevere followed one of the police officers out of the parlor. She was the last witness to be interrogated. She had gotten Whitby’s story. When he had finished telling it, she knew that Cassie would become the police’s prime suspect.

She had a choice to make. The ‘correct’ thing to do here was to cooperate with the police and tell them everything she knew.

However, something felt off.

The entire time she had stayed there, she hadn’t witnessed any conflict between the two sisters. It was possible that conflict would have happened behind closed doors, but she felt she would have caught stray thoughts at some point. It wasn’t impossible that she missed them either, but she still could figure out a motive.

The officer in front of her asked for Guin’s statement.

She continued to ponder what to say, tapping the butt of her marker against her chin, when remembered something she learned from James.

She began to write down most of her actions the night before. Writing a sentence or two to show the officer, before erasing the words to make room for more. She told them about hearing the scream, checking the body for a pulse, seeing the broken glass. She did leave out the details of her own investigation however.

When she had finished her story, she placed the board and marker down to signal she was finished. The only other thing she had not yet told them was about the car that had driven away.

“Can you recall anything else relevant?” the police officer asked her.

She remembered the lesson James taught her when he first contacted Team Liberty to leak info to them.

[i cannot recall.]

Hedge your bets.

**Dr. Hidaka** · March 4, 2018

IC: Evan Tierra/Jenny Hakuda, The Best Day Ever

When Evan had made it to the Medical Wing, he promptly made a request to have his arm checked up on, and was taken in by a nurse. The whole time, the man’s heart was skipping beats. If Colleen’s blurting last night was any indication, he was so close to Jenny. When he saw the Doctor, he gave indications that his arm seemed to be feeling better, to which the Doctor nodded. The Hero was met with statements that he’d still have to take it easy on the arm, but he could finally take the sling off. Evan, on the inside, whooped and hollered at the news, as it meant he didn’t feel like dead weight anymore.

Before he left the office, he turned to the doctor and asked a simple question. “Has a Jennifer Hakuda been admitted here recently?” The Doctor furrowed his brow and led him to the front desk, where he advised Evan to ask the receptionist. “Excuse me, ma’am, but has a Ms. Jennifer Hakuda been admitted here?” The receptionist smiled as she pulled up a list and went down it, before looking at the man again. “Why yes, we do have someone with that name here.” She said sunnily. “Have you come to visit? If so, then I’ll have to ask how you are related to the patient.”

Evan’s heart refused to sink at the confirmation. Whatever the reason Colleen had to conceal this information, it had to be a good one. He focused on the receptionist and spoke. “I’m her boyfriend.” The receptionist smiled as she then called for an orderly to lead the Plasma Agent to Jenny’s room. The entire time, Evan’s anticipation grew. When they got to the room, the orderly went inside and called. “Ms. Hakuda, someone claiming to be your boyfriend is here to see you. Shall I let him in?”

“Eh?!” Jenny sat up quickly with a deep blush on her face. “Yes!” She said after a moment of trying to piece together just how Evan had found out she was here. The woman regained her composure quickly however. She put on a smile despite pulling her covers up a bit while she waited, a little self conscious now of being seen in her hospital gown.

Evan walked in, after hearing the confirmation that he could come in. Upon seeing Jenny, he weakly waved with his right arm, his heart beating a mile a minute at her smile. “Glad to see you again, Jen-Jen!” The man said, with a tone of amusement, as he approached a nearby chair and sat down. “You seem a little surprised to see me.”

“Ehehehe…” Jenny awkwardly played with the end of her hair for a moment, but then noticed which arm he had used to wave with. “Wait, your arm’s better again? Nice! When did it finally heal?”

Despite the fact he knew she was trying to divert his attention, Evan decided to play along. “I got the OK to take off the sling today!” He said, smiling. “I would have rather had it off earlier but, considering the situation, I can deal. What about you? Why are you here, if I may ask?”

Drat. The redhead thought as she realized her plan hadn’t worked. “Well, uh, you see…” She tried to figure out a good way to spin the story in a way that didn’t cause any worry, but sighed as she just came up blank. “Uhh… well, basically…” After a moment, she decided to just bite the bullet and explain what happened since she had gone to help Colette the other day.

Despite the worrying news, Evan did his best to not worry. She had been taken care of here for the day he hadn’t seen her, and….how could he be worried when he saw that smile? It was plain as day that she didn’t want him to worry, and he had to abide. “I see.” The man said, smiling at her, before he realized what she said. “Well, that aside, you should call her Colleen now. I…..kinda helped her, and that came to be a thing. I heard you helped Zoe out, too!”

Jenny looked surprised about the name for a moment, but smiled and nodded. “Yeah, we had some fun yesterday! I’m glad you helped Colleen, though, the situation looked pretty tense.” For the first time that conversation, the amused smile was on Jenny’s face.

“No doubt on that account.” Evan said, meeting Jenny’s amused grin with one of his own. “We had pizza, and we even had a bit of training going on! It was really fun, and I hope to do it again with them!” The man cursed at the fact that he didn’t grab the leftover pizza from his apartment, but would solve that later. “I’m glad to see Colleen took care of you as well.” He said happily. “I swear, we must be those two’s guardian angels, and they ours.”

Jenny giggled at that, but then paused. “Huh, so, how did you find out anyway?” She raised an eyebrow suddenly, as she had a sudden guess as to how Evan had found out she’d be here.

Evan laughed at Jenny’s question and grinned. “Colleen blurted it out while we were talking last night.” He said, amusement in his voice. “She tried to distract me from it, but, I had to stop by here anyway, so, no harm no foul!”

Jenny snickered for a moment. “Well, at least it worked out well. Knowing you, you would’ve found some reason to find me anyway.” She paused once more as she finally noticed that something big was missing. “Wait, what happened to your coat?”

Oh snap. Evan tried thinking of ways to explain why his prized coat was gone, but decided this was perfect. He explained how he had sold it while he was with Colleen, but tried dancing around why he sold it, before deciding that it was time. “As for why I needed the money, it was for this!” The Hero produced a small, black velvet box, and walked over to Jenny’s bedside, and handed it to her. “Take a look!”

Jenny seemed confused, but opened up the box and saw a piece of the Lustrous Shard embedded in a ring. “Oh, wow! You made yourself a ring? Pretty neat, and it looks pretty cool too! How does it look? Have you tried it on yet?”

Evan grinned at Jenny’s remarks, laughing at how it just flew over her head. Regardless, he chuckled and decided to play along a bit. “I haven’t tried it on yet, but was wondering if you would put it on?”

The redhead seemed even more puzzled at that and frowned for a moment. “You want me to put on your ring? Well, okay then.” Jenny took out the ring and slid it on her finger. One thing about it confused her, as it was not nearly as loose as she had expected it to be. “Huh, it’s pretty neat. Surprisingly well fitting, though…” She eyed the ring a bit, then smiled suddenly as she struck a pose with her hands, allowing the ring to be the focus. “I think it’s a cool thing! Will it actually fit you, though? I think the person who made it got your ring size wrong.”

Seeing Jenny pose with the ring made Evan’s heart beat a mile a minute. She looked so cool with it on, moreso than he expected. “Well…..I think they got the size right, because it was never meant for me.” The man said, smiling. “It’s your ring, Jenny.”

“Eh?” Jenny blinked with a blank look for a moment. “For… me? My ring? What do you mean; isn’t this your Palkia gem thingy?”

“It may be, but I’ve found someone more precious than it: you.” Evan said, blushing as he spoke. “Jenny Hakuda, I give you this ring, along with this question: Will you marry me, heroine of my heart?”

Jenny’s eyes widened as she felt her face grow hotter. She covered her mouth as she honestly didn’t know how to react at that moment. “Right now?” She asked, though the words were muffled by her hands. Despite that, she nodded, though it was quite obvious that she had been completely caught off guard by that.

“Well, not ‘now’ now!” The hero said, amused that he had caught his love off guard. “The world is kind of ending, and I’d hate to get married only for it to mean nothing. So…...what do you say? Interested in becoming Mrs. Tierra?”

“Hmm, and here I thought you’d be Mr. Haku- wait, no, that’d just get confusing.” The woman seemed amused behind her hands, but then nodded. “Sure. Sounds like a plan to me!”

The moment Jenny said yes, Evan felt himself burning hot with the emotions he was feeling. He recalled Nimbasa, and what she did after he confessed to her, and so there was only one course of action: he leaned in, pushed her hands away, and kissed her on the lips.

Jenny was caught off guard at that too, but smiled as she laughed at what happened. She reciprocated quickly, laughing giddily at the mix of emotions she was feeling right now.

Evan backed away, smiling. “I got you back for Nimbasa now.” He said, laughing as he reveled in the emotions he was feeling…..

Edited May 14, 2018 by Dr. Hidaka

MELON LORD · March 4, 2018

IC: Xander Cruize - Research and Development, Alamo, Four Island

The purple-eyed trainer pushed open the door to R&D, stepping in quietly and looking around. The techs he was looking for were nearby, nearly identical to one another, talking. Xander was just able to hear what they were saying.

"Do you know where the drive with the Signs dossier is?" one of them asked. Xander paused, trying not to make it obvious that he was listening in. "I've had somebody asking about it."

"I believe," replied the other, "that the Investigations Director still has it. He was updating information and seeing what he could turn up about that whole incident."

"Why do we even have protocols if they can be ignored so easily? We're supposed to log them every night."

"Eston is throwing around his executive privilege, I'm not going to tell him no."

"Well, perhaps somebody should have one of the other Executives talk to him. Perhaps Arthur."

"Perhaps." They lapsed into silence for a moment before the first one shrugged.

"Anyways, let's go over these schematics--"

"Excuse me," Xander said as he stepped up. The two men looked to him. "Tatsuro and Tetsuro, right?"

"Yes, that's us," one said.

"Good, just wanted to make sure I had the right guys. So, I was in Keturi yesterday, and came across something interesting." He glanced around, making sure he wouldn't be overheard. "Why don't you two tell me what you know about the poached Pokémon that were being transported here?"

**Dr. Hidaka** · March 4, 2018

IC: Feral Tierra

Feral was in the worst place. He really didn't care about emotions and such, but this was grating to him. It's fine and good for them, but good heavens! The warmth was downright oppressive, and he wasn't willing to yell about it, because it wouldn't go anywhere. Then, he felt a familiar spark of power the moment that she put on the ring, and when the two kissed. It felt like the power he once wielded: the Power of Space.

That's.......odd. What the heck is going on?

Flipz · March 4, 2018

OOC: Jam with Merc

IC: Belle LaDonna/Alex Zyther (August 7, Reflection Cave, Kalos)

As they walked, Belle flexed her right arm, frowning softly as she felt the metal sleeve restricting her movement. “Darn,” she muttered quietly.

Alex, immediately in front of her, looked back. “Problem?”

The purple-haired woman nodded. “My Snag Machine got a bit banged up in the fight.” SHe undid the straps that held in place quickly, sighing. “Guess I’ll hafta find a tech person to fix it.”

Alex paused a moment, considering. “You know, my dad’s a tech guy. His company makes the Holo Casters everyone uses, and he comes up with some of their other stuff himself. I’m...well, I’m still learning, but maybe I could take a look? Hold onto it until Dad and I can fix it together?” The Trainer didn’t know exactly what a Snag Machine was, but the idea of poking around in new technology with his father held significant appeal.

“I’m not sure how comfortable I am with that, but . . .” She frowned. “Alright. Amelia trusts you, so I guess I can, too.” She handed him the strange device. “Just understand, if you completely break it, lose it, or steal it, you will regret it.”

Alex nodded, paling a little. It took a little awkward maneuvering to hold the device with his crutch arm, but with the help of a shoelace and a couple of hair ties (Alex silently thanked Valerie for the complementary beauty kit she’d given out with her outfits), the two managed to fasten the device securely to the crutch for safe transport.

MELON LORD · March 4, 2018

IC: Xander Cruize - Alamo R&D, Four Island

The two techs exchanged looks , and Xander leaned over the desk they were sitting at. "Guys, do us all a favor and don't lie to me here," he said. "I know you were involved, because I ripped it directly from the mind of one of the guards at the warehouse."

That got their attention, though they still seemed hesitant. The one bearing the name tag of "K. Tatsuro" sighed. "Agent . . .?"

"Cruize," Xander supplied.

"Cruize," Tatsuro repeated. "You don't want to get involved in this. It's dangerous--"

"Well, I suppose I could always talk to Executive Eston about it. I'm sure he would be really interested in why a couple of supposed Liberty scientists were working with the Signs that kidnapped and tortured his son."

The duo glanced at each other, and Tatsuro stood to grab a mug off the desk. "This isn't the place to talk. I'm going to get more coffee."

Xander nodded lightly. "I'll come with you."

"Tetsuro, check out those schematics and tell me what you think."

"On it."

Xander and Tatsuro walked out of the R&D lab.

Konuju · March 4, 2018

IC: Ryan Sanders/Ray Hakuda/Dahlia Seaton - Plane, 35,000 ft. cruising altitude

Seeing how Dahlia had already taken a seat next to Jared, Ryan sat next to the latecomer Ray. It would be a long flight, meaning this would be the closest he’d been to Ray since the whole Ford fiasco. He waited for the plane to actually take off, busying himself with staring out the window until they were high above the clouds. Then he turned to face the redhead next to him.

"So when did you decide to join us?" he asked. A smile played at the corner of his lips. "You certainly took your sweet time getting here."

"I decided a couple days ago, Sonja invited me." Ray glanced over with a chuckle. "Gotta say though, I'm sorry for being later than I wanted - Evan stopped me on the way to explain some rather surprising things."

"Evan? Surprising?" Ryan laughed. "What did he do this time? I wouldn't put it past him to have given Ellen a big emotional goodbye."

"Well, he did say he had talked to Ellen, but… apparently he's got his powers back." Ray then grinned. "And that's not even all! Wait'll you hear this. . ." The separatist then explained the other piece of information he had been told by the Hero of Space during their conversation.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "He's planning to propose? They've only been dating for what, a few months?" It took a moment for the initial shock to wear off, but then he broke into a grin. "That said, I can't think of anyone more compatible for him. Plus you get a crazy new brother-in-law to lighten up your serious nature."

"Hey, I'm not always serious. You fit that bill sometimes, yourself." Ray's mouth curled into a smile. "Or do you think I forgot what happened a month ago?"

Ryan shook his head and returned his gaze to the window. He kept quiet for a moment, then, ". . . do you think I worry too much?"

Ray scratched his head, but glanced over at Ryan oddly. "Honestly, sometimes I almost feel like it's the opposite at times. But what brought this up? I don't recall you being like this before." He wore a puzzled look on his face as he leaned forward. "Did something happen again that I don't know about?"

The Liberty agent forced himself to meet Ray's eyes with a solemn expression. "If I had a dollar for everytime something happened that you didn't know about, I'd be ruling Kanto." A smile flickered on his face before his serious expression returned. "Xander and I had a bit of an argument yesterday, and this morning he tried to apologize but claimed I need to lighten up and not worry so much. Xander's got good intentions, but . . . I'm just not sure." He briefly explained the situation in Keturi with transporting Dahlia, being careful not to mention the poachers in case any unfavorable ears were listening. "Was I wrong to be cautious there?"

Ray nodded slowly as he listened to the explanation of everything. He thought it over for a moment, but then shook his head. "Honestly, I don't feel it was wrong at all. I would've been just as cautious, I feel… especially if Xander seemed a little bit overtaxed by everything like you said." He sighed for a moment. "I don't entirely know how to feel about Xander; he's nice, but I get the feeling that he sometimes might hide his true feelings about things - I don't even know whether he actually likes me or not after the boat."

"Don't we all hide our feelings at times?" A wry smile played on Ryan's lips as he seemed lost in thought for a moment. "In some ways that's almost a good thing -- acting purely on raw feelings doesn't always end well, something you know I've seen firsthand."

"You think I have?" Ray asked teasingly, as a certain incident popped into his mind. "I could have sworn that raw feelings were always good. . . or always missing in our case. I feel like hiding things hurt us in Unova a couple ti-- Yeeeh!" The orange haired man yelped out as something landed in his messy hair and yanked on it for a moment.

"Fiora?" Ryan leaned over and plucked the Flabébé out of Ray's hair -- taking a few strands of the orange lockes with it, much to the Separatist's chagrin. The tiny fairy observed its steal and, evidently dissatisfied, tossed the hair aside.

Ray rubbed his now-sore head, as he looked incredulously at the Flabébé. "... is this one of those things that happened that would make you ruler?"

"Ohmigosh, I am so sorry!" Dahlia had gotten up from her seat and now stood over Ray, inspecting his area of injury. "Are you alright?"

"Fiora's a Flabébé, but she lost her flower," Ryan explained as he cupped the hysterical fairy in his hands to prevent her from escaping and wreaking more hair-related havoc. "She seems to have a tendency to do . . . well, that."

"I'm fine, yeah." Ray said, still a little confused as he tried to figure out just how his hair was anywhere near close to being a flower. "Does this happen… often?"

Ryan scratched his head. "Well, we've only had her for a day, so we're not really sure."

"Fiora's just lost and scared," Dahlia said tenderly. "Anyone would freak out under that anxiety. It's not her fault. I thought by bringing her back to Kalos, where she came from, we might be able to find the flower that she lost . . ."

"That sounds like a good idea." Ray nodded as he replied, though he wondered just how tough it would be. "Hopefully that works out, I can't say I know that much about anything Kalos related… but I feel like it's possible." There were some things that it felt like the two weren't actually telling him yet. From the nervous expression when the day before was being explained, the Separatist had a feeling it was somehow connected to whatever caused Dahlia to get hurt and start an argument with Xander.

Dahlia smiled warmly at Ray's positive outlook. "Well, I'll take this little rascal off your hands, then." Despite the cramped space of the airplane seats, the middle Seaton leaned over past Ray to take the Flabébé from Ryan. Ryan seemed to freeze as she cupped her hands around his, and it was only with the help of her prodding glance that he released the fairy into her grasp.

The moment their hands separated Dahlia backed away as if the contact had never happened and whispered into her palms. "Now Fiora, you know better than to go around plucking hairs off people. I've told you about this. We'll find your flower when we land in Kalos, but for now you have to be patient." A small squeak came from the fairy in her hands. Evidently satisfied with the response, Dahlia smiled her thanks at Ryan and Ray and returned to her seat.

After Dahlia had walked away, Ray glanced over at Ryan. "So, is this one of those situations where you keep your feelings to yourself?"

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" Ryan felt his face grow hot and he turned to the window to escape Ray's all-too-knowing smirk. "I just wasn't sure what she was going for there; don't read too much into it."

Ray gave his friend a raised eyebrow in response. "Looked pretty obvious to me."

Desperate to change the subject, Ryan scanned the various heads of the seats around him, settling on the dirty blonde scalp of their other unexpected companion Emmerich Coleman. "Ray, you're a Separatist," he said in a low voice, keeping his eyes trained on the back of Emmerich's head. "What can you tell me about Bounty's son? He insisted on coming along for this mission. Can we trust him?"

"I dunno, he didn't join with Bounty from what I heard. Not like we haven't worked with other people who are high ranking before. I just hope he keeps as hands-off an approach as Richie and Gold did last winter…"

"I see." Ryan bit his lip with a frown. "I don't suppose you've heard about Bounty's connection to the Signs before either, have you?"

"Not at all. I wonder what it's all about…" Ray's face fell into a frown as well after he finished speaking. He placed his hand on his chin as he pondered what it could mean.

***

The Flabébé known as Fiora flew around the confines of the plane. It didn't take her long to realize that there was little to no plant life here. Some of the more colorful or bountiful heads of hair belonging to the plane's many passengers tempted her, but after a strict scolding from her flower maiden guardian Dahlia she was wont to resist such florid desires.

And so she merely drifted across the ceiling watching the heads of hair from afar. She was tiny enough to escape notice, and so no one gave a thought to her plight. They all had their own thoughts to worry about. Even her flower maiden guardian hadn't noticed her departure, and she probably wouldn't as long as Fiora managed to remain discreet.

Unfortunately it was hard to remain discreet with the sheer boredom that came from floating back and forth across a pressurized cabin for hours on end. Before long Fiora had taken to searching through the belongings of the various passengers. Maybe one of them had a flower that would suit her. Her small stature let her slip into backpacks and purses alike without drawing attention to herself, although her findings were largely unsatisfactory.

Growing tired of her fruitless search, Fiora let out a pint-sized yawn and settled into a small nook in one of the bags she had been exploring. The constant drone of the plane's engines was enough to lull her off to sleep, where she dreamed of her flower lost in Kalos . . . .

Metal Gear Minun · March 6, 2018

IC: Lohe Mahina - Four Island

Lohe waited with a cart right outside the door to Jenny's hospital room. He scratched his head as he mulled over his conundrum. He had a cart of food that his instincts told him to serve right away. Most of it, he wasn't sure how much it would affect the taste if a bit of time passed. After all, the food he had ordered. But the coffee. The coffee he made himself. And that wasn't something you let wait.

But there was a moment going on in there from what he could he hear. A big one at that. Couldn't just interrupt that either.

He mulled about in impatience, listening to the conversation, until it finally hit a lull. In the good name of coffee, he could wait no longer.

He knocked on the door and said "Room service."

Edited March 6, 2018 by Metal Gear Minun

MELON LORD · March 6, 2018

IC: Xander Cruize - Alamo, Four Island

Tatsuro walked briskly, causing Xander to half-jog in order to keep up with him. The tech sighed, running a hand through his hair as he thought. Finally, he looked at the teen. "What happened in Keturi yesterday?"

Xander considered carefully before responding. "I'd heard of something happening in the city that might be related to the Signs. I went down to investigate, and found the warehouse using my psychic abilities."

"So you weren't bluffing about that?" Tatsuro hummed. "We don't have much data on human psionics, you know. Have you considered--"

"Focus?" Xander scowled. "I found the warehouse and took on the guards there, to free the Pokémon that were being held."

"You fought the guards there by yourself? That's . . . impressive." Tatsuro's face expression wasn't giving anything away, so Xander shrugged.

"Yeah, it was a hassle, but I managed. Now, tell me why the Signs were holding Pokémon here on Four Island?"

The technician looked into the empty coffee mug. "I don't know exactly what they were being used for, and I don't think I should tell you who would know."

"Yeah, that guy who I ripped information from? He's probably in a coma right now."

"Right, of course." Tatsuro scowled. "You realize that that's highly unethical, right?"

"So is poaching Pokémon."

"Fair. Alright, so, we were just following orders from our direct superior."

"And your superior is . . .?"

"Well, it was Vert, but she's in jail now, so I guess that's that. Project done."

"Right . . ." Xander hummed. "Don't suppose you could tell me where they're keeping her."

Tatsuro cast him a look, considering. "I think you would need to talk to Executive Arthur about that. You'll find his office up near the other Executives', but I'm not sure how accessible he is right now. He had a big mission yesterday."

"Right, that mission." Xander nodded. "Alright. Thank you for being so forward about things."

"You didn't really leave me much of a choice. Tetsuro and I both like having our brains in tact, thanks."

"Right." Xander hummed. "So, hey, if anyone asks--"

"We never talked. I do wish you luck with whatever it is you're trying to do here, Agent Cruize."

"Thanks, I could use it." Xander turned and began walking towards the west wing.

**Dr. Hidaka** · March 7, 2018

IC: Evan/Jenny/Lohe

“Room service?” Evan asked, raising an eyebrow curiously as he eyed the door. “Jen, did you call for something like that before I got here?”

Jenny scratched her head for a moment, as the voice seemed vaguely familiar. "No, but… let's see who it is." She took a deep breath. "COME IN!"

When Evan saw Jenny take a breath, a choice presented itself: To either cover his ears and not risk hearing loss, or to add his voice to the chorus. Naturally, there was no contest. “COME ON IN!”

Lohe opened the door, trying to shake the ringing out of his ears. His eyes almost looked awake, equivalent to Lohe actually being shocked.

“Geez, you didn’t need to shout that loud,” Lohe said as he brought the cart in behind him. “I can hear you just fine out there.”

“Anywho, I know I said lunch yesterday, but I do need to get to my actual work at some point today and well…” Lohe said whilst preparing the coffee. “I felt the urge to brew some coffee. Felt it would go better with a morning dish.”

It took Evan a moment, but he recognized the man from yesterday. “Hey, you’re that man from the other day!” The Hero said in a normal tone of voice. “I don’t think I caught your name, Mister…….?”

“Lohe Mahina,” Lohe with some recollection of the day prior. He wasn’t looking at Evan. Preparing the coffee took all priority. When he was satisfied, he brought the cart close to Jenny. “It’s best served hot, will that be okay?”

"Uhhh, hopefully!" Jenny looked at the cup curiously, surprised at the effort that seemed to have gone into this meal. "I hope I like it." She didn't add that most coffee wasn't quite her cup of tea. After a little debating whether or not she should drink it at the temperature it was, the redhead took a sip of the drink. "Not too bad." She finally said with a grin. Despite not being fond of coffee in general, Jenny found this to be good enough to be to her liking.

Evan had taken note of the painstaking effort Lohe had put into making the coffee, and upon seeing Jenny’s reaction to the coffee, decided to take a shot. “Mind if I try a sip? He asked curiously. The redhead nodded, and held out the cup to him. The brown haired man took a small sip, and was amazed at how different it was to the coffee he had before. “It’s pretty good! You did a pretty excellent job, Lohe.”

“Heh, still got it,” Lohe said quietly with a smile. “I don’t take pride in much, but I take pride in my coffee.” Lohe laid out some of the plates from the lower layer of the cart. “The rest of it is just stuff I ordered in town. Feel free to dig in whenever you’d like. How’s your shoulder by the way?”

"Huh?" For a moment, Jenny blinked in confusion, then recalled her bandaged upper arm as she reached out to touch it. "Oh, I think it's doing better. Totally forgot about it for a moment in the excitement of everything!"

“That’s a relief,” Lohe said, starting to yawn. “Be careful about going out after dark.”

Evan grew a bit curious at the conversation, and decided to find out what it was about. “What happened to Jenny after dark, Lohe?” He asked.

“Eh? Ah, y’see, Jenny here got jumped by a wild Pokemon that took a bite out of her shoulder. Had to take her back here,” Lohe explained.

“Well, at least she got taken care of!” Evan said, a bit cheery at what the man had done. “Thank you for taking care of her while I was gone.”

“Meh, I just happened to be there,” Lohe said picking sand out of his eye.

That wasn’t nearly enough of a thank you. Let’s try it again! The man thought, wanting to really sell it.

Evan then started to pose, speaking hammily as he did so. “Regardless, you acted heroically to help my girlfriend out of that mess. For that, I, Evan Tierra, thank you!” The Hero ended on a pose that was easier on his right arm, hoping Lohe wouldn’t think him a fool.

Lohe raised an eyebrow slightly. He’d seen a lot of posing in his day. Not that it was much use with all the power out. “You trying to use a Z-Move mate?” He said sizing up Evan.

Not the reaction I expected. Evan thought.

“Z…..Move?” The Hero asked, drawing a blank on what Lohe meant. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve never heard of a Z-Move? They seem right up your alley. Well I guess it’s mainly an Alola thing,” Lohe said. “Alright, here’s the short of it. Z-Moves are incredibly powerful moves that are activated by dramatic posing.”

"Whoa, that sounds cool." Jenny said with a look of total shock on her face. "I've never heard of that before, how does it work? I mean, outside the posing and such, since I'd think Evan would have activated one accidentally by now if it was just posing…"

“Hah,” Lohe chuckled. “I take it the posing comes standard with him? Well, there are also certain items you’ll need, and you’re probably gonna need to go to Alola if you’re interested in that. The two most important items would be a Z-Ring for the trainer and a Z-Crystal for the Pokemon.”

Evan listened, enraptured by what Lohe was explaining. It definitely sounded right up his alley, and it also seemed like a promising thing to research, especially if the power comes back. “This all sounds interesting, but I’m not sure about being able to go to Alola, especially in these trying times.” The Hero said, sounding a bit disappointed. “Unless, you can vouch for us, Lohe?”

“Well I can vouch that the power is real. But as far as getting permission, that’s on you. I’ve got business to take care of here,” Lohe said scratching his head again.

“We’ll have to see a way to do so.” Evan said, considering his options. “We’re Team Plasma, and we are kind of the representatives here, so we could figure a way out? Because this seems promising, if I may be honest, Lohe.”

At that moment, Evan’s Pokegear emitted a small chime, indicating to the Plasma Agent that he had received a message. He read the message carefully, eyes widening a bit at who had sent it. It seemed that an Executive Arthur wanted to see him as soon as possible. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to go.” He said, a regretful tone in his voice. “A Liberty Executive wants to see me, and I’d best not keep him waiting.” He paused. “I’ll be sure to head right back after I am done, Jenny.”

"Alright, have fun!" Jenny giggled in amusement. "Ever popular, aren't you?"

Evan smirked. “According to some info I learned today, all of Unova knows my name, so I’m not surprised! I'm actually famous over there! See ya later!”

IC: Feral Tierra

Feral did a double take within Jenny as he could see the Hero leave the room. WHAT?! WAIT, NO. DON’T LEAVE.DARN IT. The creature desperately wanted to know what happened earlier and this would only prolong his wait. ”Hey, jailor! Something happened when you two were getting mushy! I’m not sure how to say it, but…. The shadow gulped. “I think the power of Space may have affected you, what with him and I being with you. How, though, I do not know....”

Edited March 7, 2018 by Dr. Hidaka

MELON LORD · March 7, 2018

IC: Xander Cruize/Sylph/Unexpected Companions - Alamo, Four Island

Xander and Sylph were just turning the corner into the more residential portion of the Alamo's labyrinthian halls,, when a voice rang out. "Oh, there he is! Xander, hey!" The psychic groaned. Not now . . . But he turned towards the voice and put on a slight smile as he saw Isabella jogging towards him. The blonde was dressed more casually than normal, though still more "dressy" than he would have chosen for a relaxing day.

"Hey, Isa. What's up?" He looked over her shoulder and saw Cameron and Octy following her at a leisurely pace, both also dressed comfortably. "Have the day off?"

"We do," Octy said with a smile. "Isa wants to visit the city."

"Yeah, I thought it'd been ages since we all hung out together. You were going to catch us up on your life the other day, but you sort of literally vanished."

"Oh, um . . ." Xander glanced at Sylph, who crossed her arm and gave him a look that he couldn't interpret. "We're . . . a bit busy, actually."

Isa pouted, hurt apparent in her eyes. "Really? C'mon, we hardly ever all get the day off at the same time, what's so important that you have to leave us hanging?"

The Signs, Xander thought, but he couldn't say that. Not only would Octavyn take issue with it; he didn't want to get them involved. If the Signs were as dangerous as Director Eston claimed, then just knowing could put his friends in danger. He chewed his lip, trying to think of how to get out of it.

"Nothing," he finally said. "You're right." He smiled again, shakily. "Lead the way, I guess."

The quintet began walking, with Isa chatting animatedly. "Believe me, Xander, I know all the best shops in the city. None are really Kalos-level, but you know, they're alright."

Xander nodded idly, wishing he had thought quicker. He had just lost the one free day he had to dig up information on the poaching ring.

Edited March 7, 2018 by MELON LORD

Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

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