Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

Zach's string of compliments proved too much for Olivia to handle, and she quickly looked down at her feet when Zach swung her arm around. "...Thank you, Zach.... You're really good at giving complments." she said with a giggle, looking up with a blush. "N-No problem, either, you can always count on me being there to back you up, Zach....." Olivia promised. "....Speaking of promises... Can we make sure  we don't end up separated again...? And even if we are, we try to find each other no matter what...?"

Soon afterwards, the two reached Kiri's house. The sun was already setting, and so Olivia walked up to the door and rung the doorbell. "Aunt Kiri?" she called, wondering just how long everyone had been waiting for them....

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri

"Olivia!" Kiri cried, a wide smile on her face as she answered the door. "How are you, darling? And oh my, is this Zach? He looks even more charming than you said he was all those years ago." She gave a warm hug to both Olivia and Zach.

 

Ellen gave the couple a small wink to assure them that she hadn't spilt their little secret.

 

"Now, it's getting to be around dinnertime, and I wasn't expecting an extra three, four, five guests in the house," Kiri said. "But to celebrate Dahlia's rescue, why don't we all order pizza? My treat!"

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"Hi, Aunt Kiri." Olivia replied with a smile, before quickly looking down at the floor to hide her red cheeks and hugging her Aunt. Afterwards, she looked over at Ellen, who winked at the two of them. Since everyone isn't congratulating me and Zach... Seems like she's kept a secret. she thought. When she looked over at Dahlia though, she got a somewhat ambiguous grin, equal parts happy and teasing. .....No idea what Dahlia's trying to say, though....

 

Dahlia shifted her gaze from Olivia to Kiri, who invited all five of them to go out for pizza. "Hey! If it's celebrating my rescue, I think I should pay too!" she said. "Plus, it's my fault I didn't give you a warning we were coming so you could prepare for this many guests.... So I can handle at least part of the cost!"

"Pizza?" Aspen mumbled, perking up at the mention of junk food. "We can figure out who pays when we get there, I haven't eaten out in.... Forever, really!" he said, temporarily forgetting about Zach and Olivia. "What are we waiting for?!" Aspen laughed excitedly, quickly heading out the door, with the others catching up quickly to him, as he had no idea where the pizzeria was located. 

 

Shortly after, everyone arrived at the small pizzeria, which held few others inside due to business being slower late in the afternoon. Once situated, each person received a menu, and it was time to make their choices.
"Oooooooh...." Olivia said, looking at one of the choices. "The pizza with the fire-roasted tomatoes looks delicious...." she muttered, before smiling at Zach. "What about you, what're you gonna pick?" she asked Zach, unconsciously reaching for his hand. 
"Ooh! I know, the margarita pizza! It looks delicious!" Dahlia said, giggling. "I don't really eat pizza a lot, this is probably my first time in years actually, but I remember really liking this kind when I got to try it.." she explained, having made up her mind. 
"I'll have that pizza with all the meat." Aspen decided, realizing that Dahlia was shooting him a dirty glance. "....What? Back home, we rarely eat meat.... Plus, it's only one night, so who cares if it's unhealthy?" he said, justifying his splurging.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Before they had gotten to Kiri's place, Zach nodded.

"Promise." Zach smiled, as they walked inside. Zach blushed as Kiri complimented him, but smiled, as he caught Ellen's wink. Zach also caught notice of Dahlia's look, and then looked away, though he seemed partly amused. I bet she can guess. Zach noted, as he also took interest at the mention of pizza, and nodded. Zach was about to suggest cooking one, when he closed his mouth and realized that a, he had no clue how to make one, and b, since the sun was already setting, it'd be much faster to just go to the pizzeria. However, when Aspen spoke up, Zach smirked, especially when he ran off.

Seems like we can agree on something for once. Zach noted, as he followed along, near Olivia. When they got to the restaurant and began to order, Zach thought for a moment, taking Olivia's hand as he did so. "Hmm..." Zach thought, as he looked over the menu, intrigued. "What about this?" Zach asked, as he pointed to one type of pizza that had 'Humilau' in the name.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

"We could be the sisterly duo!" Colette agreed with a giggle, as Zoe pointed out the dress. Colette blinked, and looked down, as she subtly blushed. "I guess I was just that tired, huh...?" Colette asked, not having even thought to change into her pajamas the night before. Colette looked at her hair for a moment, however, and then thought for a second. "Hmm...." The aura wielder focused, and then tried to use the same power she'd used the night before to manipulate her hair into standing up, to try and at least straighten her hair out, but then sighed, as it just looked like she had very hairy dog ears. "I guess I'll fix that when I get changed and such." Colette said with a smile, giggling at Zoe's joke.

 

-==IC: Ryan==-

 

Ryan frowned, as he considered what he had been told. All around, the former Energon member had to agree that it made sense.

It's not like I really focused on stuff while I was around... I really just did my own thing... Ryan thought, as he sighed. And I've seen what that Ford guy is capable of ordering... And I've heard everything about Magma in the past... Ryan continued to think, as he frowned more, and then sighed.

"Alright." Ryan finally said. "You've got a deal..." The man frowned, however, as he thought for a moment. "That said... Do you happen to have any knowledge of my family?" Ryan asked, intrigued about that still, as it wasn't a deal breaker, but it was something he was interested in.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Colette Llyan

[Parugi]

IC - Sonja Baron - The Alamo, Courtyard:

 

"Oh, you know," Sonja said, looking at Ray through fatigue-narrowed eyes. "Went to bed late due to an unexpected dance, woke up early to say 'good-bye' to Kyle before he went to Kalos." She shrugged, rubbing her neck. "Fun times. What're you up to?"

 

IC - Michael Travis - Titan:

 

Travis steepled his fingers, closing his eyes. "I apologize, but . . ." He looked at Ryan. "That's a difficult question to answer when I don't know your name. Though, considering how recently we came together, I wouldn't bet that we do."

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Esen Windred - Lumiose Airport:

 

By the time the flight had ended, Kyle and Esen had all but fallen silent--not helped by the fact that the latter appeared to have fallen asleep somewhere along the way. This left Kyle to stare out the window, chin resting on his hand as he watched the ground slowly approach them, soon followed by the runway and the surrounding city of Lumiose.

 

Even at this point, he had not brought up the idea of traveling together. While the prospect itself had grown more and more interesting on a personal level the longer he talked to Esen, a large part of him remained aware of the true nature of the proposal. The possibility of spurring that, in turn, continued to tempt him, even if it meant that Silvermind would have his head once all was said and done.

 

All in all, it was a confusing and frustrating situation, one that he did not enjoy being in the middle of.

 

As the plane finally came to a stop, preparing now for its passengers to depart, Kyle nudged Esen, who stirred from her sleep with surprising speed. She looked at him expectantly, entirely unconcerned with the surprised expression that etched his face.

 

"We, uh . . . we're here," he said after a moment.

 

"Already?" Esen asked, stretching her arms in her seat. "Time sure flies . . ."

 

"That it does," Kyle said. He paused. "Were you actually asleep just now?"

 

Esen looked at him. "Yes," she said slowly. "Why?"

 

"You woke up really quickly, then," Kyle said. Esen shrugged. "Well, either way . . . Guess we better get ready to go, yeah?"

 

They did. Before long, the cabin door had been opened, and the small group of passengers trickled out toward the airport. Through the windows of the receptacle, they could see the tall buildings of Lumiose, all of them gleaming with their own decorative lights and the orange glow of the sun above. In the distance, hundreds of cars crowded the multi-leveled streets, as crowds of people made their way about the city. The sight vaguely reminded Kyle of Castelia, before Hayes' interference had devastated the city.

 

He took a moment to suppress the thought.

 

Turning forward again, he focused on the mission at hand, forcing himself to speak. "Hey, Esen," he said. "You said you were just wandering around, right? No real plan or anything?"

 

"Pretty much."

 

"Would you consider traveling together, then?" he asked, turning his head to the side. The act of speaking had never before taken as much effort as it did now; Kyle inwardly found that his words sounded more like they were being spoken by Silvermind than by him. "Might be more fun than doing it alone. Not to mention it'd be helpful if either of us wound up in trouble."

 

Esen laughed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to end up in trouble," she said, briefly pausing as they emerged into the main terminal of the airport. "But, I don't know. Maybe. It wouldn't hurt to hang out for a day and see how it goes, right?"

 

"Good enough for me," Kyle said, shrugging. They remained silent as they collected their bags, and at last, emerged onto the neatly-paved streets of Lumiose--their first official landfall in Kalos.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Pears Nivans

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

"Oh, not too much, just woke up, and-" Ray started to say, but then paused. "Kyle... left this morning? Already?" Ray asked, and then sighed. "Well, that'll be an awkward conversation when he gets back..." Ray mumbled, as he scratched his head. However, the separatist looked over at Sonja, and went back to his initial line of thought. "I just woke up, after an admittedly strange night last night..." Ray said, as he still was a bit confused about some of the things that had happened, and especially intrigued about that light show girl.

 

-==IC: Ryan==-

 

"Fair enough." Ryan said with a sigh, as he frowned. "I should have guessed that, but wasn't certain if you and Silph were sharing any info, and if they even knew anything." Ryan shrugged, as he wondered just what was even up with that message then, and why the person seemed to know stuff. "When is this happening, anyway?" Ryan asked, referring to what Travis had been talking about, regarding the Team Magma stuff.

[Konuju]

IC: Zoe

Zoe giggled at her sister's attempt at fixing her hair. "Most people just use a hairbrush," she laughed. "Of course, most people don't have hair as awesome as you." She grabbed another muffin and took a bite. "Don't worry about being tired, though," she said seriously. "I was pretty exhausted myself -- in fact, I forgot to change out of my dress last night, too. It's all a blur... I remember looking for you after the dance ended, then next thing I know I'm waking up in my room, still in my dress." She shrugged. "Either way, I hope they let me come with you. Nothing can stop the Llyan Sisters when they work as a team!"

 

IC: Ellen/Kiri

"Ooh, that Humilau one looks good," Ellen said, leaning over to look at Zach's menu. "It even comes with Pinap Berries, yum!" The girl looked down at her own menu, then glanced at her Pokémon, who were situated around the table. "What do you guys say, shall we keep things simple and go with the four cheese?"

 

Maturin nodded, Artemis shrugged. Terry barked in agreement, and Chrono flicked his tail in impatience. Duo was the only one who gave any sort of objection, and Ellen wasn't even sure if she could even call it that.

 

There's so many choices! the Duosion cried as he spun around the table, reading everyone's menus. Oh, which to pick? Which to pick? If Kiri's paying for it, maybe we should just get one of everything!

 

"Duo, don't be rude," Ellen groaned, burying her face in her hands.

 

But they all look so good! Duo protested. I know how this is going to work -- I'm going to find something that looks good, then something else, then something else, then I won't be able to make up my minds and when the waiter comes to take our order I'll just shout out something at random!

 

"Or," Ellen muttered, "I can save you the trouble and just order us a four cheese pizza."

 

"Are we ready to order?" the waiter asked as he approached with their drinks.

 

The group each ordered their pizza in turn: Dahlia ordered her margarita pizza, Aspen taking the opposite route with his assorted meats choice. When it was Zach and Olivia's turn to order, both tried to speak at once, then blushed as they insisted the other go first. Finally, Olivia was able to get out her order for the fire-roasted tomato before Zach ordered the Humilau one. Amidst Duo's telepathic babbling, Ellen managed to order a four cheese pizza, and Kiri wrapped up the order with a supreme pizza for herself.

 

"Alright, I'll take those menus for you, and your pizzas should be out shortly." The waiter smiled as he disappeared into the back of the restaurant.

 

The group had decided to sit at an outside table, and they had no regrets about their decision. The pizzeria was located near the edge of one of Sootopolis' many cliffs, and their table offered a spectacular view of the lake in the center of the city. By the time the waiter had taken their order, the sun had sunk low enough in the sky to be reflected against the clear waters of the lake, casting the entire city in a beautiful orange glow.

 

"So Olivia," Kiri said, smiling at the not-so-subtle fact that Zach and Olivia were holding hands under the table. "How long have you and Zach been together?"

 

IC: Paul

Whatever footprints may have been left in the sand had long since disappeared. But as Paul turned his eyes toward the dense thicket of trees east of the river, he noticed a small path that had been cleared away. It didn't look like a standard path, but it was just small enough for a young girl to fit through the trees.

 

"I think we may have found her," Paul said, sending out his Bisharp. The Sword Blade Pokémon needed no prompting. One look at the trees and Bisharp started to enlarge the path that had already been made. Paul followed close behind, confident that Ellen had passed this way.

 

The sun had nearly set by the time they reached a clearing. A small house stood on the other end of a field of berry trees, and the smoke coming from the chimney was the telltale sign that someone was home.

 

Paul wearily made his way to the door and knocked, his hand already reaching for his billfold so he could ask the same question he'd asked a thousand times before. "Excuse me," he said to the old woman who answered the door, his brain almost running on autopilot. "I'm sorry to trouble you, but I'm looking for my daughter. Her name is--"

 

"Oh, come in dear," the old woman said with a smile. "Ellen was here just a few days ago. You just missed her."

 

"--Ellen. Have you... you... you've seen her?!" Paul stammered in disbelief. "You've seen my Ellen? Oh, thank God. Thank God! Where -- where is she now?"

 

"I sent her off to Sootopolis," the woman chuckled. "But there's no sense in following her right now. It's nearly sundown, and you look like you could use a good rest."

 

"Sootopolis?" Paul said, still trying to process the fact that after a day of nothing but failure, he had finally found someone who had seen his daughter. "She's not hurt, is she? Why... why'd you send her to Sootopolis?"

 

"Don't you worry dear," the woman said, ushering Paul inside. "Ellen can be a stubborn child, but she can handle herself. Now let me fix you up some nice hot berry soup. They don't call me the Berry Lady for nothing, you know."

 

"Yes... of course." As Paul sat down at the table, he suddenly realized how fatigued he really was. This 'Berry Lady' was right: it would be foolhardy to try and make it to Sootopolis tonight. The blacksmith rested his unshaven face in his hands, overcome by exhaustion and relief.

 

"You know... I completely understand your concern," the Berry Lady said with a knowing smile as she delivered the steaming soup. "My dear great-granddaughter was missing for several months. If these old bones had even a fraction of the energy I had in my youth, you can rest assured I'd have rescued Dahlia myself."

 

"Is Dahlia safe now?" Mr. Burks asked between spoonfuls of soup. The broth seemed to have the therapeutic effect of warming his spirit, and his anxiety had since melted away.

 

"Why yes she is, as of a few days ago," the Berry Lady smiled. "She has her brother and sister to thank for that. Those three don't always see eye-to-eye, but nothing can separate the bonds that hold a family together. I've gone through enough children and grandchildren to tell you that." The old woman chuckled as she glanced nostalgically at the dozens of family photos that lined her wall.

 

"Hopefully the same can be said for Ellen," Paul said thoughtfully. "You see, she ran away from home about six months ago. We're from Unova, far from the war that's ravaged these lands. But Ellen befriended some of the soldiers who have fought in this war, and now she seems to have convinced herself that she can help bring about and maintain peace. I -- I just want to bring her home safely."

 

"Like I said, that Ellen is a stubborn child," the Berry Lady agreed. "About as stubborn as that Purrloin of hers. And don't even get me started on her relationship with her Duosion. But she has a good heart. You shouldn't blame yourself for her running away. She didn't want to hurt you, only to help others. I sent her to Sootopolis because she wanted to grow closer to her Purrloin. I told her of a woman in the far off Kalos Region who has the ability to read the memories of Pokémon. The woman's cousin recently moved to Sootopolis, so I suggested that as a place to begin her search."

 

"Ellen's always had a heart of gold," Paul smiled. "It doesn't surprise me that she's doing all this for that Purrloin. I only hope she can see that I'm doing the same for her."

 

"She will," the Berry Lady assured him. "The bond between human and Pokémon is a powerful one, but if I've learned one thing in all my years of living, it's that family ties are even more powerful and deep-rooted."

 

"I can't thank you enough," Paul said as he finished his soup. "After spending all day searching for Ellen in Mauville with no leads, you have no idea what this means to me."

 

"Oh, I think I might have an idea," the old woman chuckled. "But now it is past my bedtime, and these old bones can't stand too many late nights in a row. Feel free to use the bed in the other room. I offered it to Ellen the other night, but the dear child chose to sleep on the floor next to her injured Purrloin. Anyway, I'll be down the hall if you need me."

 

IC: Anna

"I haven't found her yet, but I've found a lead."

 

"Oh, Paul... that's wonderful!" Anna cried, wiping away her tears as her husband's voice came through on the Xtransceiver.

 

"I met this wonderful old woman who met Ellen a few days ago," Paul explained. "Apparently her Purrloin was injured, so she went to the old woman for help. The woman says that Ellen spent the night on the floor, she was so worried about her Purrloin."

 

"That's our Ellen," Anna laughed. "Remember that time when Solo came down with that cold? The two were inseparable."

 

"Yes, we had to lock Solo in the laundry room so Ellen wouldn't get sick too," Paul smiled. "The poor girl was devastated."

 

"I guess some things never change," Anna sighed, grabbing an old family portrait from the bed-stand. "I do hope you come home soon, though. Things are awfully lonely without you here."

 

"Now who's the one who's worrying?" Paul laughed. "First thing tomorrow I'm heading to Sootopolis. The Berry Lady -- er, the old woman -- said that that was where she sent Ellen."

 

"You will be able to come home, right?" Anna asked. "Have you finished your project for Déoza yet?"

 

"Not exactly," Paul said with a frown. "But as soon as I find Ellen I'll bring her home. Then I'll be back once I've finished that project. I promise. We'll all be together again soon."

 

"Then I'll prepare a big feast to celebrate," Anna said with a grin. "I can call the butcher to reserve his finest steak... and I'll make my casserole... and that potato salad..."

 

"Stop it, you're making me hungry," Paul chuckled. "But listen, I've got to go. It's late over here, and I've got a big day ahead of me."

 

"Alright, stay safe," Anna said. "I love you."

 

"I love you too, hon."

 

Paul's face vanished as the Xtransceiver went blank. Placing the device on the bed-stand next to the family portrait, Anna lied down in bed. She closed her eyes, her mind filled with dreams of the day when all three Burks would finally be reunited.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Konuju

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"H-Huh?!" Olivia said, wondering why Kiri was asking her. Suddenly she realized that she was holding hands with Zach, and Kiri had already been anticipating Zach, which meant someone told her he was coming and that he was likely in a relationship with Olivia. With a blush on her face, Olivia rubbed the back of her head.

"W-Well if you're asking how long we've been friends, the answer would pretty much be.... Forever, really." she began, before looking down at her food. "....I-If you're asking if we're a couple..... Th-Then yes, we are now, but for about less than an hour...." Olivia clarified, blushing. "Right b-before we arrived at your house, to be specific...."

 

"Really?!" Dahlia exclaimed, a smile on her face. "You mean you two finally confessed?!" she asked, to which Olivia replied with a nod. Giggling happily, Dahlia clapped her hands together. "Well it's about time, really!"

 

Aspen looked at the new couple with an amused grin, but was far too busy savoring the greasy, calorie packed slice of pizza he was currently dining on. Afterwards, he distributed several slices to his Pokemon next to him, most of whom accepted the food readily, Jet especially wolfing his slice voraciously. However, Aria frowned at her given slice, muttering quickly about the fats and oils affecting her mental and physical performance. After a while though, the Lucario rolled her eyes and began to eat the slice begrudgingly, still ranting quietly. Meadow on the other hand took one look at her slice and turned her head. To her, such messy and unhealthy food was uncouth and undignified, and so she rejected the pizza entirely. 

 

Dahlia saw Meadow refuse to eat, and so handed the Roselia a slice of her margarita pizza. Meadow looked at the piece skeptically, but accepted it and started snacking. Meanwhile, Laurel sat next to Dahlia munching away at her pizza, Coco doing the same. Gerri nibbled at hers slowly, while Dracos ate his entire piece in one bite. 

 

All of Olivia's Pokemon accepted the pizza with no trouble. Amethyst absentmindedly took a few bites from her slice occasionally, her glance moving to everyone at the table or nearby, lingering on Blade at one point. Toxin appeared to be just as detached and unfocused as ever, but a close observer would see the Toxicroak was actually keeping close watch of his surroundings, in stark contrast to his previous self. Dune ate his slice next to Willow, the fellow insect-like Ground types getting along very well. Shade was enjoying his slice, but wanted to cause some mischief once more. Seeing that his previous target of Luke was no longer viable due to the latter's evolution, the Sneasel instead chose to target Smugleaf. Two times he used Agility, once to make it past the other Pokemon undetected, and again after tapping Smugleaf on the shoulder in an attempt to rush past and nab the Servine's pizza. 

 

"So, Kiri, how's life been for you these days?" Dahlia asked Kiri, smiling. 

Edited August 20, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach was caught off guard by the question, as he was mid-bite, however, slowly chewed in silence as Olivia explained, nodding in the proper places. When Dahlia seemed overjoyed, however, Zach smiled as well.

Huh, I guess that people did see it coming after all... Zach thought, as he continued to eat his slice of pizza, still holding onto Olivia's hand happily.

 

Meanwhile, Heather happily walked over to Toxin, and looked up with a smile, obviously still recalling the earlier battle. Heather squeaked a few times to restate that it was an amazing battle, and then sat down next to the Toxicroak. The Pikachu then nibbled on her slice of pizza, and then squealed in joy at the taste, and continued to nibble on it.

Shade, sadly, however, did not get totally unseen; and while the Servine was tricked by the Sneasel, a Force Palm suddenly knocked said Sneasel back, as a Lucario stood there suddenly. Luke held his slice of pizza in his hand, as the Lucario who had used Extremespeed to get over there, simply looked at the Sneasel without any amusement at all, recalling the prior incident still.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri
"Oh, how wonderful!" A wide grin broke out on Kiri's face as she pulled a camera out of her purse and snapped a picture of the new couple. "I'll have to send this photo to Rose -- she always told me you two would end up together. Congratulations! I think you two make a lovely couple."

Mickle, who was perched at the edge of the table, gave an amused chirp: she considered herself the first to have known about the couple.

"You really do seem to compliment each other well," Ellen agreed. "I'm happy for you two." The young girl quickly looked down, suddenly becoming very interested in her slice of pizza. Although Zach and Olivia seemed to be over it, she desperately hoped they weren't bitter about her earlier eavesdropping.

"Life's been wonderful, dear," Kiri said in answer to Dahlia's question. I grew up here in Sootopolis, and I couldn't think of a more beautiful place to live. It's a generally peaceful place too; we haven't been affected too much by the war, although every now and then there will be a rallying of rioters in the streets, and there was that one incident last year when that group from Team Liberty tried to recruit Groudon to their cause." Kiri's smile suddenly faltered. "And then there were those Ancient Darkrai," she said in a quiet voice. "Be thankful they didn't spread to Johto."

Artemis watched Shade's antics with a disapproving frown. Terry looked up when Luke intervened, narrowing his eyes when he realized what had happened. The Herdier glanced at Ellen, intending to make sure that his trainer did not fall victim to the Sneasel's attempted thievery.

Chrono followed Artemis and Terry's gaze, then looked up at Duo. The 'green bean' as Amethyst had called him was much too interested in devouring his pizza to notice anything else. Meanwhile, Ellen remained focused on her own slice. Chrono found himself inspired by Shade's daring raid. However, the Sneasel's time as a captured Pokémon had made him slow and clumsy. Although Chrono had also been captured, he refused to become domesticated, and liked to pride himself with the fact that he was just as skilled a pickpocket as he had been in the wild. A smirk forming on his face, Chrono glanced back at Shade, who was still dazed from the Force Palm, then darted toward the Sneasel's unguarded slice of pizza, intending to show his victim how a real burglary was done.

His time on the streets of Unova served him well. Chrono made it over to Shade's plate unseen. As he grabbed the slice, however, Maturin happened to look up and saw the crime unfolding. But Chrono was fast, and by the time the Turtwig uttered a small cry, the sneaky Purrloin was already on his way back, silently cursing himself for forgetting about Ellen's newest team member.

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Olivia's already red face became even darker when Kiri snapped a photo of her and Zach, and mentioned Rose. .....I-I guess that meant pretty much everyone saw this coming.... she thought, rubbing the back of her head as she continued to listen to Kiri. Olivia was not in fact angry or bitter at Ellen getting the front seats to her confession, and was instead embarrassed that their crush had evidently been that obvious to everyone. When Kiri mentioned the Ancient Darkrai however, Olivia snapped out of her thoughts. "O-Oh right....." she muttered, blinking. "....I'm sorry you had to experience it...."

 

As Kiri responded to her question, Dahlia listened on happily with a smile. That smile began to fade around the time Kiri's did, as her aunt went into the less pleasant aspects of life during the war and the catastrophe from over six months ago. Looking down at her slice of pizza, Dahlia sighed. "....And I thought it was hard being kidnapped....." she muttered sadly, looking back up at Kiri apologetically. "I-I'm so sorry you had to go through that... Have things gotten a bit better after six months....?" she asked. 

Aspen said nothing, as he wasn't the greatest at speaking when multiple people were conversing, much less when the topic was so serious. Therefore, he kept munching away at his pizza, but a bit more slowly than usual. However, he looked over at Kiri, just as apologetically as Dahlia.

 

Shade's eyes widened as he was struck from behind and sent flying. The quadruple damage from the attack, combined with Luke's evolution meant that the Sneasel was in quite a lot of pain, and when he finally stopped bouncing across the ground and landed face first in the dirt, he did not notice that Chrono had made off with his half-eaten slice of pizza. But even if Shade did know, there was not anything he could do about it, as moving his limbs was a near impossibility at that moment.

Toxin looked down as Heather approached him, and the permanent grin on the Toxicroak's face became ever so slightly larger as Heather said it was an awesome battle. While the Pikachu ate her pizza, Toxin did the same, suddenly turning his head in the direction first of Shade's attempted theft and Chrono's successful one. While he saw the events, Toxin did not know what to do about them, and so continued eating his pizza. 

 

Laurel immediately cocked her head and saw both commotions happening within a short amount of time. Frowning, the Bellossom angrily berated both Dark-types, like a mother scolding her children. Coco looked around confusedly, having missed both incidents and only seeing Shade eating the dirt and Chrono making off with a half-eaten pizza. The sudden noise frightened Gerri, whom jumped up on Dahlia's sunhat and hid behind it. Dracos looked over and frowned, but did not intervene and stop the Purrloin, for he knew Chrono's inevitable fate....

 

Flare was startled by the sudden increase in activity, and looked around, frowning at both Shade and Chrono, barking as a warning to the both of them. Torrent witnessed both events and threatened to Water Gun the Purrloin, but did not follow through as everyone's trainers were still conversing and the Buizel did not want them to have to intervene. Meadow immediately joined Laurel in her scolding of both thieves, criticizing their poor conduct and lack of camaraderie. Jet did looked over and immediately went back to eating, as the entire affair did not interest him. 

Aria had been continually looking around the environment as she ate, the fats and grease of the pizza not yet dulling her senses. When she saw Chrono make off with Shade's pizza with Maturin unable to stop the Purrloin, she narrowed her eyes and went to action. The Lucario quickly caught up with Chrono via ExtremeSpeed, similarly to how Luke intercepted Shade. Stomping on the Purrloin's tail, Aria pinned the master pickpocket right in his tracks. While Chrono would inevitably squirm, hiss and struggle to get away, the Lucario lifted an arm and charged and Aura Sphere. If the Purrloin turned around to see Aria's expression, he would have found that her nonstandard green-grey eyes were at that moment devoid of any sympathy for his actions. There was no anger either, only a complete void of no emotions, and a piercing gaze into the Purrloin's soul. As the Aura Sphere continued to charge and gather power, Aria's face was bathed in a blue glow and her dreadlocks pushed back as if it was being blown back from wind. One thing became clear, while the Lucario's eyes had no emotion, they communicated the clear intention to fire once Chrono made one false move.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri
Although Ellen continued to stare at her plate, determined to avoid eye contact with both Zach and Olivia, she listened intently as Kiri explained how she had been a victim of the Ancient Darkrai, just like Arddwyr and Rugissement.

As her nieces and nephew expressed their sympathy, Kiri managed a small smile, although it still contained a trace of sadness. "Things have gotten better since then," she assured them. "If one thing can be said about the people of Sootopolis, it's that they're resilient. I still remember the destruction that ensued when Team Aqua and Magma awoke Kyogre and Groudon when I was a young girl. We rebuilt from that incident, and we've rebuilt from the Darkrai. The Cave of Origin in Sootopolis is said to be the place where all life [[in the Hoenn region?]] begins. I believe that is what gives us hope in the face of destruction, the reason we can rise again after every catastrophe."

"The people of Unova could learn something from Sootopolis," Ellen said thoughtfully. "Team Plasma chooses to ignore the war, believing that ignorance will shield them from destruction. But try as you might, it seems like there's often nothing you can do to stop bad things from happening. You can only pick yourself up and move on." She smiled at Zach. "Much like that gardener I was telling you about earlier. I feel like I've learned--"

Up until that moment, Ellen had remained unaware of both Shade and Chrono's antics. Then everything seemed to happen at once. Shade went flying, while Maturin, Flare, Laurel, and Meadow cried out, the latter two ranting angrily at the scene unfolding. Then Aria dashed forward, pinning Chrono's tail to the ground, an Aura Sphere forming in her hands.

"MROWW!"

Chrono yelped in pain as Aria slammed her foot down, causing the half-eaten pizza to go flying out of his paws. Just as Aria had predicted, the Purrloin struggled and squirmed against the Lucario's hold before glaring up at his captor with a sharp hiss. The Lucario's cold, heartless gaze, illuminated by the glow of the Aura Sphere, was the only thing that stopped Chrono from scratching and biting at her leg then and there. Many times before, Ellen had tried to peer into Chrono's heart, hoping to learn why he acted the way he did. Naturally, Chrono had refused those attempts. But never before had the Purrloin met such a soul-piercing gaze as the one Aria was giving him now. It was as if Chrono's entire life, his memories, his thoughts, his feelings, had been laid out like a frog for Aria to ruthlessly dissect. He couldn't be sure if those emotionless eyes really were boring into his innermost thoughts, but they certainly seemed capable of performing such a task. Flattening his ears against his head, Chrono hissed again, warning the Lucario to leave him alone.

Terry started forward with a loud bark, ordering Aria to release Chrono. He had remained wary of the Lucario, and this was exactly the sort of violent behavior he had been afraid of. Artemis back-flipped over to where Aria stood, landing with her arm extended and an Aura Sphere of her own forming in her palm. She stared up at Aria coldly. It was not the Lucario's place to lay down punishments for Ellen's team. Maturin for his part handled the situation much more calmly than his team members. He watched as the pizza slice Chrono had stolen skidded across the floor, coming to a halt right in front of him. Picking up the pizza in his mouth, Maturin trotted over to Shade's empty plate and deposited the slice back where it belonged. The Sneasel may have been wrong to try to steal Smugleaf's slice, but that didn't mean he should lose his own food as well.

"Hey!" Ellen cried, standing up and placing herself between Chrono and the glowing Aura Sphere. She glared at Aria, her eyes blazing with something akin to a righteous fury. "Just what do you think you're doing?! You can't just attack Chrono like that!"

Duo's mouth dropped open as his slice of pizza tumbled down to his plate. Wait a minute, I blinked, he said. Did I miss something?

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach was right in the middle of nodding at what Ellen said, when he heard the commotion. Zach looked over in confusion, as he saw the stuff unfold...

 

Blade looked up curiously, as he caught Am looking at him, but then looked over in shock, as everything started to happen. Blade looked over to Luke, who growled and nodded back. Zach's Lucario dashed forward with Extremespeed, and attempted to launch a surprise Force Palm on the rogue Lucario, as the Gallade teleported to the other side of the Lucario; although Blade did not attack just yet. The rest of Zach's Pokemon mostly seemed shocked and wary, but remained on guard.

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Each one of the Seaton siblings listened to both Kiri and Ellen silently. Hailing from Johto, they had never really heard much from the perspective of foreigners, and now was their chance. Olivia was fascinated by the pride of the Sootopolisian people described, Dahlia in awe of their hardiness, while Aspen sighed quietly and thought it was just fairytale fluff. Just as Ellen began to mention another gardener, nearly everyone's Pokemon erupted into a clamor over Shade and Chrono. When Ellen ran forward, Dahlia shouted "Be careful!" Olivia and Aspen simply looked forward, completely shocked at what was happening.

 

With a groan, Shade finally lifted his head, woozy from the Force Palm. He did not expect to see Aria surrounded by several Pokemon from both Ellen's and Zach's team, while the Lucario was pinning down Chrono by the tail. Slowly looking in another direction, he saw Maturin return the Sneasel's slice of pizza back to his plate. After a few moments, Shade suddenly figured out what happened and attempted to hiss at the Purrloin, but made a noise so quiet he couldn't even hear it himself. 

Amethyst looked over at both situations, then saw Blade go along with Luke to rush the opposite ends of Aria. Rather than aid them, the Gardevoir quickly scanned the immediate thoughts from the Lucario, and was surprised at what she found. Amethyst stood still, waiting for Aria to speak her mind.

Toxin once more did not do anything, unable to make up his mind of whether to intervene or not. Dune looked over at the conflict around Aria, and began trying to reason with every Pokemon present, though it was a bit difficult to speak over the cacaphony. Willow, just as much a house pet as ever, looked around in panic. 

Laurel immediately stopped her rant once Aria pinned down Chrono, a shocked expression on her face. While other Pokemon threatened to assault the Lucario, the Bellossom weakly began to speak again, trying to defuse the situation. Coco's eyes widened and the Buneary looked over at those at the table to see if they could help. Gerri peeked from Dahlia's hat, and then hid once more, scared of what might happen. Dracos slithered near the Lucario to defend his friend, but kept a distance, knowing Aria likely had something in mind. 

 

Flare and Torrent both looked over in shock at the sudden conflict that erupted. Both Pokemon didn't act. While they were still wary of Aria's trustworthiness, the fact that Chrono seemed to be a remorseless thief made coming to the rescue a bit difficult. Meadow joined Laurel once more as they attempted to placate the rising tempers, though they had a feeling it was all in vain. Jet saw the chaos, intrigued at the prospect of a fight. However, the Braviary did not act just yet, for he wanted to see whether the Pokemon would break out into combat in the first place. 

Aria slightly tilted her head, though the fact her expressionless face did not change did not give any indication if the Lucario really was scanning Chrono's innermost thoughts and feelings or if she was simply amused at his reaction. Luke and Blade's assault did not go unnoticed however, and Aria closed her eyes in response. Right before her fellow Lucario could strike with a Force Palm, he was instead on the receiving end of the Aura Sphere originally meant for Chrono. Before the other Pokemon present could react, Aria opened her eyes which were shining a brilliant blue, Terry, Artemis, Luke, and Blade all gaining a similar glow around their body. Using Psychic on everyone present, Aria mentally forced them quickly behind Ellen and held them there. The Lucario made sure to put them at such an angle that any projectile fired had a chance of striking Ellen, Aria betraying a small smirk to show her satisfaction. "Now then, I'd like to ask some questions." the Lucario began. "I do request that no punches, kicks, projectiles, or other various forms of potential harm to not be inflicted on me. If you can follow that, I will hold my fire as well." the Lucario said, looking at everyone present with the same piercing gaze she had earlier. "Starting off, you, the other Lucario." Aria asked with an almost dismissive tone. "I'm curious as to what your motivations were to Force Palm that Sneasel and send him flying from the quadruple damage...." she asked, turning to Ellen next. "And you, child.... For one, I have yet to attack this Purrloin. I've only restrained it from causing further trouble." Aria said. "Besides, what do you even plan on doing with this 'Chrono' after I let him go? Hopefully you do not think he will be grateful for being freed from a dreadful beast and give up his thieving ways...." the Lucario muttered, putting a hand to her chin. "In fact.... What plans do you even have for this Purrloin.....?" 

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

There's got to be a way out of this one... Jake thought as he watched Machop careening towards the ceiling. Time seemed to slow down and he panicked, unconsciously losing whatever subconscious restraint was on his aura. For just a second, a blue glow emanated from his eyes, unnoticed by him in his panic, and as quickly as the glow had appeared, it vanished, taking his panic with it.

 

"Machop, face towards the ceiling and push off that light fixture with your legs!" Jake called out, hoping his plan would work. It half worked; instead of hitting the ceiling directly, the Fighting-type redirected his path so he skidded across the ceiling until his momentum was spent. He arced down towards the front wall of the gym, impacting and skidding down the wall until he shakily landed behind his trainer, wincing in pain with every movement. He fell to one knee, fighting to stay awake.

 

"Are you alright?" Jake turned around and knelt, looking at Machop with worry in his eyes. "If you want, you can sit out. You have done all you can," he softly pointed out.

 

Machop shook his head. He slowly, in pain all the way, struggled to his feet and limped back to the arena with fire in his eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" Jake asked once more. He got no response except for Machop settling into a fighting stance once more. "Alright then. Sorry for the mini timeout Roark, but it looks like Machop isn't finished quite yet. Now Machop, settle yourself with a Focus Energy!" Once again, a blue glow slowly started to emanate from the Fighting-type.

 

OOC: I am not 100% sure about how aura works, but I am pretty sure it is tied to emotions. So I figured that extreme panic would cause it to flare in some way. Maybe.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Roark==-

 

Roark nodded, very intrigued with this trainer.

"Alright, go. Iron Tail!" Roark called out, taking no chances now, as he wasn't entirely certain he had judged the trainer right; and as such, was gonna go all out with his tier one team.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette nodded with a giggle, and then recalled the night before, and nodded slightly, and partly distractedly.

Right... That did happen. Colette thought for a moment, and then smiled. "Well, nothing to worry about right now!" Colette said, as she finished her breakfast, and nodded to Zoe again. "I'll be back in a flash." Colette said with a wink, as she dashed off to get ready more than she was at that moment.

 

-==IC: Zach==-

 

"Hey, he started it last time. I only was giving him a warning tap..." Luke retorted, and sighed. "Guess I still don't know my own strength, huh?" Luke mumbled, as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, and looked away in the process. Blade, hearing that, was glad that his hand was restrained enough so that he couldn't slam it into the Gallade's own face, and simply shook his head in response instead. Katie, on the other hand, crossed her arms, now in human form, as she watched in amusement. the Zoroark just found this situation to be the funniest thing going.

They're all idiots, the whole bunch of them. Katie noted in her mind, as she just sat where she was, content just to watch.

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

"Machop, I know you can do it. Run towards Onix!" With all the strength left in his body, Machop bounded straight for the Rock/Ground-type, focusing all his attention on his opponent. At the same time, he noticed Onix's Iron Tail coming straight down for him.

 

Judging that the distance was close enough, Jake called out what he figured would be Machop's final move this battle. "Slide and use Low Sweep, aim for the boulder supporting the rest of his body!" Machop did exactly as asked, and impacted Onix just as Iron Tail smacked down. A cloud of dust was raised, obscuring the final result of the clash. When it settled, Machop was lying on the ground, clearly fainted.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri

Kiri looked over at the commotion in shock. She glanced at the Seatons, not quite sure what to do, then her panic turned to confusion when she saw a new girl sitting next to Zach.

 

Terry barked furiously as Aria's Psychic held him in place. If he could have, he would've charged at Aria then and there. Artemis glared at Aria, not pleased with her suddenly restricted movement. Maturin looked on worriedly but realized there was nothing he could do.

 

Hey, what's all this about? Duo cried. Ellen, I told you something was off about that Lucario--

 

"Duo, stay out of this!" Ellen cried, looking straight up at Aria. "I appreciate you stopping Chrono from getting away with his tricks, but threatening him with an Aura Sphere is going too far," she said hotly. "I took Chrono in to keep him from getting into trouble and to protect him from those that would wish him harm. That is, from people like you. And you can't expect anyone to give up their old ways overnight -- it's a process." She looked at Chrono with a small sigh. "A very long process." She looked back at Aria. "But you can't expect me to just sit there and let you Aura Sphere him into oblivion!"

 

A small cough alerted the group to a very shocked waiter standing a good distance from the table. "U-um, here's your bill," the man stammered, holding out the receipt at arm's length, not daring to come any closer.

 

IC: Zoe

As Colette went upstairs to get ready, Zoe stepped into the bathroom, using the mirror to put her hair up in her best imitation of her sister's favorite style. Once she was satisfied she adjusted the flower she had in her hair, then grabbed her shoes and stood impatiently outside of Colette's room. It was all Zoe could do to keep from yelling at her sister to hurry up.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Konuju

[Parugi]

IC - Sonja Baron - The Alamo, Courtyard:

 

"'Strange night', huh?" Sonja said. "Join the club." She stretched and leaned back against her chair, before leaning forward again and focusing on the laptop in front of her. "So, why is there going to be an awkward conversation with Kyle?"

 

IC - Michael Travis - Titan:

 

Travis looked at his watch. "Tomorrow," he said, his tone completely nonchalant. "We'll be leaving the night, of course, so there's plenty of time to prepare. And, as a matter of fact, we're supposed to be getting a shipment of specialized armor from Déoza today to finish our own preparations. So much to do, so much to do . . ." He shook his head. "Regardless, by this time tomorrow, we should be down one more source of disruption in the world." 

Edited August 23, 2014 by Pears Nivans

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"U-Uh, thanks...." Dahlia replied meekly, taking the bill from the waiter, watching him flee from the situation quickly. "So.... Kiri...." she began, unsure of what to do about the situation behind her. "W-Wanna just split the bill....?"

"Aspen, you're her Trainer now, do something!" Olivia hissed quietly. "We won't be able to get out of here until that.... Situation is fixed!"

"I have a feeling Aria will only listen to Alistair...." Aspen stammered, blinking. "A-And.... Well, he's nowhere near here....."
 

Aria noticed Luke rubbing the back of his head and Blade shaking his. Narrowing her eyes, Aria strengthened her Psychic hold on them, while also making sure the grip on Terry and Artemis were equally as strong. "Hmmm......." the Lucario began, proccessing the responses from both Luke and Ellen. "You, other Lucario... Your actions may have been accidental, but you used a Force Palm to strike that Sneasel.... An ordinary tap would have sufficed." she muttered. "And you interrupted the thief in the act partially out of a sense of justice, but also spite and anger...." Aria noticed. "As for me, what I did was out of a desire to aid this young girl.... Not to mention, you followed through with your attack, while the only time I have raised arms was to defend myself against the lot of you-the aggressors...." the Lucario said, turning to Ellen. "'People like me'.....?" Aria repeated, a small smirk forming. "Child, after the journey you've undertook and the things you've seen..... Surely you've recognized that heroes don't exist....?" she asked, before looking down for a moment. "....And even if they did, I wouldn't be one of them..... But I will give you this, I'm not the nicest Lucario there ever was or some noble knight..." she said, looking back up at Ellen. "Do you know why? It's because I know what are effective ways of helping people.... And what is effective often isn't nice.... And 'Aura Sphere him to oblivion'?" Aria asked, tilting her head. "Where exactly is your evidence I was to brutally savage this Purrloin....? There's a difference from implicit violence and actual violence." she sighed, shaking her head slowly. "And for your 'process'.... Show me the evidence of your progress." Aria said. "Even the slowest of procedures have subtle hints of heading in the right direction... And have you ever considered that to start a process, you might need a type of catalyst....?" the Lucario challenged, her emotionless green-grey eyes illuminated by a blue glow. However, she briefly looked behind her to examine the mysterious human that had appeared out of nowhere. "Show yourself, Zoroark, you may fool the others but I am not as gullible." Aria growled. "I do not appreciate your arrogance either, especially coming from someone whose primary skillset consists of hiding from enemies."

Edited August 23, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

"And just what do you know?" Luke hissed, as he tried to struggle against the psychic hold, really not impressed by that, and his body language making that very clear. "You want to insult me, do it when everyone's on fair ground." Luke growled, very much wanting to just Aura Sphere Aria in the face right then.

Katie, meanwhile, simply frowned, unamused, as she just stared at Aria with a scowl.

"You know, you keep saying you're here to help, and want to help... Your attitude royally sucks. You're not showing a single bit of that 'helpfulness', and despite what you claim, I don't believe you, simply because you should at least have the common decency to realize that you must have screwed something up at some point to turn this into a four vs. one fight..." Katie bluntly said, as she crossed her arms, having just been sitting there and watching.

 

Zach looked at Aspen, surprised that he was admitting that, and then frowned, as he turned to look at Aria again.

"There's one idea, but I'm not sure if it would work..." Zach mumbled, also not sure if it would help anything. With Aria so riled up at that moment, it might just make things worse...

 

-==IC: Ray==-

 

"Oh, I never said goodbye to him, so yeah." Ray said, as he scratched the back of his head, and paused slightly, as he looked over at Sonja. "So, uh..." Ray paused, as he mentally shook his head. Sonja's response had hinted, to him at least, that she didn't seem to want to talk about whatever had gone on the night before. So, for the moment, he hesitated and decided on something else. "I wonder what was with the stuff in Opelucid the other day, anyway...?" Ray asked; that probably wasn't much better, but, at that moment, he didn't have much other idea of what to say... Especially since Sonja looked exhausted, and he wasn't certain it was just because of an early morning...

 

-==IC: Ryan==-

 

"Alright then." Ryan said; it wasn't a ton of time, but it was enough for him. However, inwardly, he frowned. Specialized armour? What would it be for? Ryan wondered; if it were for bullets, that'd make sense, but... Then why is it specialized? Did they make their base in a volcano again? Ryan thought, as he remembered what he'd heard about the last time Magma had been around.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Having quickly changed and gotten ready, Colette opened up the door, her hairband and typical uniform on, although her jacket was open more than usual.

"I tried not to take too long..." Colette said, still trying to flatten the falling hair down to disguise the bed hair, her normal Lucario ears style in full effect at that moment.

 

-==IC: Roark==-

 

Roark sighed, as his Onix was fainted as well.

"Well then; how well will you do with your final Pokemon?" Roark asked with a smile, as he recalled the Onix, and sent out a Cranidos finally, waiting for Jake to send out his last Pokemon.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Colette Llyan

[Dr. Hidaka]

OOC: Gonna go with a time skip for Evan.

 

IC: Evan Tierra, Nimbasa City Hotel, 2 days later.

 

Evan rose up from the bed he was laying on, letting out a loud yawn. He hoped his Pokemon had gotten enough rest after the training session in the Battle Subway late last night. Shaking his head, Eva rose up and readied himself for the day, trying to push all distracting thoughts out of his head. Evan reached for his Pokegear and dialed Jenny's number.

 

"Yeah, let's get back to to training.", Evan said, "But first, let's get something to eat. Can't wage war on an empty stomach. Meet me in the hotel lobby."

 

With that, Evan left his room, yawning as he did so.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

Jenny groggily answered her Xtransceiver, as she heard Evan's message. Laying her head back down on the pillow, she smiled in amusement at what Evan said. Twenty minutes later, she burst out of the room, pulling her jacket in on a panic, quickly closing and locking the door, as she dashed down the stairs into the lobby, panting heavily, as she skidded to a stop in front of Evan.

"... I fell back to sleep..." Jenny admitted, as she continued to pant, feeling a bit awkward at that moment.

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

After recalling his fainted Machop, Jake grabbed Pikachu's Pokeball off of his belt. "I think I'll do well enough to beat you!" Jake called out. "Now, go! Pikachu!" With a flash of light, Jake's Pikachu appeared, static sparking from his cheeks. "I know this doesn't seem like the best choice, but Pikachu is my starter. I know we can win!" Pikachu confirmed his trainer's statement by standing and giving a thumbs up. "I believe that you can have the first move." Jake said with a smile, anticipating a great battle already.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri

Kiri nodded quickly, handing Dahlia her credit card with a shaking hand, not taking her eyes off the Lucario.

 

"It's called patience," Ellen argued. "If I keep at it long enough, I know I'll get through to Chrono. You're right, it doesn't make sense, it's not logical. I just know it." Even as she spoke, Ellen thought back to the berry the Berry Lady had given her, the one that would act as a catalyst in the process of befriending the troublesome Purrloin. Was it right to use such a thing? Ellen stared down at the ground. She wasn't sure she had the right answer.

 

She wasn't sure there was a right answer. And that made things all the more difficult.

 

Hearing Zach mumble something about an idea, Ellen glanced up at her friend, wishing very much to just get out of this situation and have some time to herself to think.

 

IC: Zoe

Running up to her sister, Zoe gave Colette a big hug. "This is going to be so cool!" she cried. "The Llyan Sisters, going on a Team Liberty mission together! Come on, Collie, we don't have any time to lose!"

 

Grabbing Colette's hand and leading the way, Zoe dragged her sister toward the Alamo in a similar fashion to her unofficial tour from the day before.

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"Oh yeah?" Aspen replied, looking over at Zach skeptically. "What sorta idea is it? You sure it won't just make everything worse?"

"Shut up." Olivia growled, gripping Zach's hand still, while looking over at him. "Zach, at this point, just tell us what the idea is, because we need to stop.... This thing ASAP."

 

Aria shook her head slowly and chuckled, doing the exact opposite of Luke's challenge and tightening her mental grip on everyone. "I'm sorry, but I really AM NOT that stupid. Letting you go would be highly detrimental to my physical integrity." she said, raising an eyebrow. "And did you really think I would be that easy to goad?"
At that moment, her eyes narrowed. "Of course I cannot know everything, did I ever claim to? But what I don't know, I find out. And while in the process of unraveling the unknown, I make hypotheses." Aria stated simply, a glint in her eyes. "And I've got one, actually.... Don't know how much basis in truth it has, but we'll see."
Clearing her throat, Aria paused to think of a proper introduction to her idea. ".....Appearances can make all the difference in many, many cases.... I'm going to guess wildly that this could have played some sort of role in this debacle.... I mean, let's review." the Lucario began. "First, let us compare the Sneasel and Purrloin. On one hand, Shade, was it, has two moderately large claws protruding at all times. As for.... Chrono, his paws conceal his natural weaponry for later use. And Sneasels typically have a sort of frown along with a conniving smirk. Most Purrloins have half closed eyes and a playful grin. I'm sure by now you can see some sort of difference..." she finished, taking a moment to look over everyone. 

"It could potentially apply to me and.... Luke?" Aria said, shaking her head at the name, but focusing her gaze on him. "Hmm.... His appearance is mostly typical for a Lucario.... Mostly. The star patterns and hairstyle I think I have seen on manga covers on the windows of bookstores? Apparently those are considered heroic qualities, but I digress." the Lucario said, once again taking a look at all those gathered. "I am quite sure my appearance is more atypical than that.... I've been told before how soulless and unnerving my eyes are.... That will be brought up later on, but for now.... That's my hypothesis. Please note I am describing initial reactions, I know very well how despicable you find mine, and how noble Luke's were.... But what about how you felt when you first saw the situation?" Aria challenged, daring them to come up with a counterclaim. "After all... Our actions were very similar.... Except the other Lucario followed through with his attack..."

"As for you, Zoroark....." she muttered, looking towards Katie with a questioning look combined with an amused smirk. "For a Dark type illusion manipulator... You're being quite bold and optimistic...." Aria muttered. "Decency, you say....? Unless I have been lied to all my life, I don't believe four on one fights themselves are quite polite.... And I never said I would be pleasant when attempting to do good.... See, that's the thing. In a perfect world, what is effective is always the nicest and most pleasant choice.... But in many cases, it isn't. Seems as though people don't want to see that though, which leads to rather idiotic decisions such as the ones displayed." the Lucario said. "Perhaps it's just too much to ask, but a bit of thinking could do some good.... And I wonder...." she continued, looking closely at the Zoroark. "What would your confidence be like without that illusion of yours....? If you truly wish to back up your claims, could you make them with your own, true form...?"

Turning back to Ellen, Aria shook her head. "I don't think you understand, when something doesn't work, you are supposed to change your approach and try again. Repeating the same tactics over and over again is not a reliable means of solving a dilemma." she said, her cold gaze once more upon Ellen. "And in this case.... I think a change of pace had the chance of leading to some very interesting results. See, it's a fine thing to extend the hand of friendship to others... But if they refuse time and time again.... Then perhaps something is just wrong with them. If they turn a blind eye to happiness....." Aria began, her eyes darkening. "Then fear may put things into perspective. Kick down their ego, show that they aren't invincible by themselves, that they need others to survive.... And who better to instill terror than a complete, soulless monster....?" the Lucario finished, with a hint of bitter laughter. While gazing at Ellen coldly, Aria found that the girl's hand twitched ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably. Aria's eyebrow arched slightly, as it seemed Ellen was looking for something.....

Edited August 26, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach paused, as he wasn't sure if this was the best answer.

"... We have to battle her... But I don't know..." Zach said, his face betraying the conflict he felt. Will it just make everything worse? Zach looked around, at Luke getting so annoyed, and even Blade and Katie starting to lose their patience with this Lucario. Zach put his head down in response, as Katie frowned, and stood up, and then flicked her arm, disengaging the illusion as she did so.

"You are too overconfident, and need to be taught a lesson." Katie restated, as she put a paw on her hip, smiling slightly as she did so. "And you also forget some things, I guess..."

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen

Ellen shrunk back at Aria's words. "I don't like that tactic very much," she said in a small voice. "Instilling terror... how is that supposed to make Chrono trust me? If anything you're only going to make things worse." She glanced at Chrono who was still struggling to escape Aria's hold. The Purrloin's green eyes seemed to portray a mixture of fear and anger; he clearly wanted nothing more than to be out of this situation and away from everyone else. "You're right, Aria," Ellen said. "You are a monster. Do you even have any real friends? Or just people who are scared you'll Aura Sphere their heads off if they get on your bad side?"

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"I've got another idea...." Dahlia spoke up, after paying the bill. "Aspen... She may not listen to you... But you've got her Pokeball. Can't you just recall her?" 

"......Argh! How could I have forgotten that?!" Aspen grunted, shaking his head. "Urgh, you're right...." he muttered, but was too busy berating himself to actually recall Aria.

 

Aria, upon hearing Katie call out mockingly, turned towards her. "My apologies, but I believe any battle will have to come later, even though I do so enjoy learning something new. For now, I'm wondering why the others haven't even taken the time to refute my hypothesis...." the Lucario muttered, raising an eyebrow. "I thought arguments needed two sides to respond to one another... But no matter." 

After Ellen responded, Aria turned to her. "I thought it was obvious...." the Lucario began. "That Purrloin refuses your friendship out of his pride in his abilities... He sees people like you useless and a waste of his time, thinking he can handle anything that comes his way by himself...." she explained, looking down at Chrono briefly. "Fear can serve as a sort of wake-up-call.... Let him know that there are things that he CAN falter in front of. But then also... It lets him know there are people looking after him." Aria said, looking all around at the bevy of Pokemon who had tried to attack her. "See how many people came to his rescue...? Each and every single Pokemon here, along with you, Ellen.... You've all proved your willingness to aid Chrono in his times of need. And maybe... Just maybe... That will get the cogs in his head to move.... As for if I have any friends...?" the Lucario muttered, sighing ever so slightly. "....The answer is no.... I don't have friends.... I've just got one."

 

"Aspen!" Dahlia called out worriedly. "Do it!"

"Huh?!" Aspen said startled, looking around quickly. "....R-Right! Right!" he called out, quickly grabbing Aria's Pokeball and recalling the Lucario mid-tangent. "....O-Okay, I think it's done now...." he muttered, blinking at what just happened."

 

Shade continued crawling pathetically towards his plate of pizza, before Olivia recalled him, scooping up his plate of pizza. "Any way to save this for later...?" she asked awkwardly

Edited August 26, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach sighed, as he put his head down, thankful for the rather peaceful solution.

What is even with that Lucario? Fear won't fix anything... Zach thought, as he frowned slightly, and recalled his own Pokemon before they tumbled to the ground, only Katie actually staying out, as she frowned at the spot where Aria had been, and then turned around again, as she reassumed her illusion form, and began to walk back to the table.

 

-==IC: Roark==-

 

Roark was caught off guard by the Pikachu, but nodded.

"Cranidos, Pursuit!" Roark called out, as the fossilized Pokemon ran forward, and attempted to hit the Pikachu first.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette was amused by Zoe's enthusiasm, and just smiled after her, even as she slightly frowned to herself.

Zoe's not an official agent, though, is she? Is this really going to work...? Colette worried, not wanting to see Zoe upset, after all.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Colette Llyan

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri

In response to Olivia's question, Kiri stood up. "I-I'll go see if we can get some to-go boxes," she said.

 

Upon being released from the hold of Aria's foot, Chrono quickly darted under an adjacent table. "Are you alright, Chrono?" Ellen asked, kneeling down to be at eye level with the Purrloin. Chrono only hissed in response, ducking further into the shadows of the table.

 

***

 

Chrono followed several paces behind the group as they left the pizzeria and returned to Kiri's house, but he followed the group nonetheless. Ellen, for her part, was silent for most of the walk. The last few rays of the summer sun had vanished over the edge of the ring of cliffs that towered above the city, leaving an orange-hued sky. It reminded Ellen of the summer days she'd spend hanging around Village Bridge, playing with her Pokémon. Those innocent carefree days felt like an eternity ago. Now her mind had become clouded with questions.

 

It would have been easy to dismiss Aria's ranting as meaningless ramble. But Ellen saw that the Lucario did have a point. And that made things all the more troubling. What would it take for Chrono to finally realize that he could -- no, that he needed to -- trust people?

 

Ellen looked up and suddenly realized that they had made it to Kiri's house. The Seatons' aunt ushered her guests inside and started to discuss sleeping arrangements. "I have a spare bedroom," she explained. "There's only three beds, though -- I'm used to only having Aspen, Dahlia, and Olivia over. How about the girls take the bedroom, and I can pull out an air mattress for Zach and Aspen to sleep in the living room?"

 

IC: Zoe

Zoe did not even think about the fact that she was not even an official agent yet. Even if the thought had crossed her mind, it wouldn't have deterred her from gleefully dragging her sister across Four Island and into the Alamo. It was only then that she realized that she did not have an inkling of where the Liberty Leaders' office might be. "Um... I think it might be this way?" she said, leading Colette down a random corridor.

 

The corridor, it turned out, led not to the Liberty Offices, but to the tech department. "Alright," Zoe said, darting the other way, continuing to drag Colette behind her. "We must've taken a wrong turn somewhere."

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Aspen walked near the front, slightly ahead of the others. His quick pace matched the speed of his thoughts, and he sighed. I-I can't even control Aria at all.... No no no, I don't even want to control her, controlling Pokemon is bad. he thought, frowning. Befriending Pokemon, that's what's good.... But even after these few days, I haven't even made any progress.... Was Alistair making her stay with me even a good idea...? Aspen sighed, completely unsure of how things would happen later on. 

 

Dahlia followed alongside Kiri, her thoughts similarly troubled. Things seemed to be looking up after we met up with Kiri again... Sure, there was some stuff that went wrong like Zach ditching us... But that was supposed to be balanced with him and Olivia finally being a couple again.... Dahlia mused. Then Aspen's Lucario started causing trouble during what was supposed to be a relaxing dinner.... What is even happening anymore? she thought with a sigh.

 

Meanwhile, Olivia walked right next to Zach, hand in hand. She was worried like her siblings, but slightly more hopeful. W-Well, there's been a few things that went wrong... But one thing went right. she thought, slightly squeezing Zach's hand. Who knows? Maybe our luck will change.... Since mine already has....

 

Once home, the Seatons listened to Kiri's explanation. Once she had mentioned how she was used to only the three of them coming over, Dahlia looked down and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, as she honestly meant to tell Kiri they were arriving beforehand. Aspen looked over at Zach somewhat disdainfully when Kiri made her suggestion, while Olivia glanced over sadly, as she had hoped to spend the night with him.

 

"Uhh.... I dunno, it'd probably be for the best if I didn't stay with Zach..." Aspen muttered, somewhat quietly towards his aunt. "Maybe I could switch places with Olivia...?" he suggested, doing his best to stop a smirk from breaking out.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

It was all Colette could do to control her face and not smile amusingly.

"Well, we've got like half an hour-ish, we can find it in time." Colette said helpfully, as she smiled warmly at Zoe instead.

 

-==IC: Zach==-

 

On their way back, Zach looked forward at Aspen in intrigue, noticing his attitude to have done a total 180.

Hmm... He seemed like a totally different person back there... What's his deal, even...? Zach wondered, as they reached the house. Of course, once back, Aspen's attitude continued to do a 180 right back to where it had been in the first place, and Zach simply sighed. Of course. Zach mentally rolled his eyes, but agreed, and that intrigued him too. However, Zach sighed.

"Yeah, what he said." Zach responded, only half paying attention right then, but not wanting much to do with Aspen and his attitude, even if it intrigued him. Besides... With what happened today, it's probably best to have my Pokemon and Aspen's separated... Zach thought, though mostly meaning Aria.

[Konuju]

IC: Zoe

It ended up taking an entire half hour and multiple wrong turns for the Llyan sisters to eventually find the Liberty Leaders' office. Had Colette been on her own, she probably would have knocked first. However, much to the Aura reader's disdain, Zoe barged right in, dragging her sister behind her. "Here we are!" she said happily. "I knew we'd find it eventually!"

 

IC: Ellen/Kiri

"Are you sure, Aspen?" Kiri asked. "I mean, you're probably comfortable enough sleeping in the same room as your sisters, but I thought we'd try and keep the boys and girls separated."

 

"It doesn't bother me," Ellen said with a shrug. "But do you happen to have a place for my Pokémon? I don't like keeping them in their Pokéballs."

 

"We'll find something for them," Kiri assured her. "But Olivia, are you fine with sleeping on a couch or an air mattress instead of a bed?"

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"I think I'd cause... Less trouble if I was separated from Zach." Aspen replied with a shrug. "So yeah, I'm sure." he said, nodding.

 

"Plus, it might be better for Zach to be in the same room as Olivia, given that they're now, well, in a relationship." Dahlia chimed in, much to the embarrassment of Olivia.

 

Turning to Kiri while trying to hide her scarlet face, Olivia nodded. "Y-Yeah, I'll be fine sleeping on either of the two... I'll probably just fall asleep instantly regardless of where I even sleep." she said with a shrug.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri

"Sounds good," Kiri said. She went to retrieve the air mattress, along with several blankets for Ellen's Pokémon to sleep on.

 

By the time the sleeping situation was set up, everyone was exhausted. After making sure her Pokémon were situated, Ellen climbed into her bed, looking over at Dahlia and Aspen. Aspen, who had seemed so arrogant beforehand, had grown unusually quiet after the incident with Aria. "Aria's been giving you trouble lately, hasn't she?" Ellen said kindly. "In many ways it seems like she's just like Chrono: stubborn, cruel, and isolated."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach yawned slightly, as he scratched his head. Zach walked out of the bathroom in pale green pajamas with pink stars, and somehow managed to get by Aspen before the latter could see the pajamas, and made his way to the living room.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

"Y-yeah, that's true." Colette said with a nod, as she blinked at Zoe's... forcefulness at going right inside. However, she wasn't quite sure what this place was, as she curiously looked around, since it seemed they had a tiny bit of time.

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"Huh?" Aspen muttered, having been situated on his bed as Ellen began to talk to him. After listening, the boy sighed and looked down. ".....I-I don't even know...." he admitted. "Alistair just tossed her Pokeball to me out of the blue after we beat him.... I was unprepared for her then, and I'm still unprepared now." Aspen muttered, making eye contact with Ellen again. "T-Today is probably the most I got to see of her... And I'm.... Not sure what to think. Stubborn, yes, isolated, deliberately so.... But cruel?" he mused. "....Yeah, her treatment of Chrono was unnecessary.... But then she started talking about why she even did that... And it's like she's trying to be cruel to be kind?" Aspen muttered. "...Does that even make sense....?" 

 

Olivia looked up when Zach walked into the living room, smiling. "Hey, boyfriend, nice jammies you got there." she chuckled, looking down at her own red pajamas with white hearts before flopping back on the air matress immediately afterwards. "Oof.... Long day, huh?" Olivia said, smiling afterwards. "Lots of stuff happened... Like us getting together..." 

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen

"I can see that," Ellen said. "Her intentions are good... but it's her methods that I disagree with." She fell silent as she recalled saying the same thing about Maddison Hayes' actions in Castelia. She sighed, looking sadly at the corner where Chrono was apparently sleeping. Whether or not he was simply feigning sleep and listening in on their conversation was impossible to tell. "I guess that's the difference between her and Chrono though," Ellen added softly. "Chrono's intentions are always about his own self-interest. No matter what I do, I simply can't seem to change that. Aria... at least she tries to do good."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach looked down, and blushed slightly at the pajamas comment, but giggled.

"Yeah, that was definitely a high point of the day." Zach said, as he paused for a moment. "H-hm... Should I go to the mattress or couch?" Zach asked, and then scratched his head, as he remembered the pajamas comment.

"I-it was... the only actual one that was in this colour..." Zach said with a slightly awkward look, as he referred to the pattern, but smiled, as he looked over at Olivia's pajamas. "Yours, on the other hand, look pretty nice, and match well." Zach said with a teasing smile, though he meant it.