Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

"Well, you've gotten to know Chrono for a while it seems.... I've only been with Aria for a few days." Aspen sighed. "So I'm just completely guessing everything about her..... And maybe the way she acts has to do with something that happened before or during time with Alistair?" Aspen shrugged. "He's the only one she respects, after all, and I didn't expect her to be that strong....." Aspen muttered, before pausing. "Is it just me or is it strange how.... Resigned she was to the fact she was a monster? Like, she seemed bitter about it, but..... I-I dunno." he gave up with a shrug.

Olivia nodded at Zach's comment, and then shrugged at his next. "Either way, I wont mind where you end up sleeping..... I'll fall asleep pretty quickly anyways." she said with a giggle. "O-oh, thanks Zach.... These just seemed good at the time....." Olivia said with a slight blush, and rubbed the back of her head.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen
"Well, I still don't know everything about Chrono," Ellen said with a sigh. "It's like he doesn't want me to bond with him. He's actively resisting my every attempt." She shook her head sadly. "I see what you mean about Aria, though. It's sad to think that she sees herself that way. Sort of makes me wonder if she had a troubled past..." Ellen yawned. "Of course, I doubt she'd admit it if you flat-out asked her. By the way, thanks again for letting me sleep here. Even though we just met, it's nice to know how quickly we can still become friends. Goodnight..."
 
With another yawn, the young girl rolled on her side and quickly fell into a deep and restful sleep, although in the back of her mind, she was just as troubled as ever by the things Arddwyr, Amelia, Rugissement, and Aria had said...
 
IC: Dack
As it turned out, the abandoned house that the shopkeeper had referred them to was not at all difficult to find. It stood high on a cliff a good ways away from the rest of the Survival Area. Dack carefully approached the house, with Madison, Luke, and Palmer following close behind. He would have tried peering through the windows, but they were all boarded up. Sending out his Bastiodon, Dack kicked in the door, ready for whoever waited within.

The house was as abandoned as it was supposed to be. "It looks like our culprit must have left after getting the Magma Stone," Dack muttered. "But where could he be off to now?"

"Look at this," Madison said, picking up a travel guide that had been lying on the kitchen table. "It looks like a guide for getting up the mountain."

"Whoever this guy is, he must love RageCandyBars," Luke said from a corner. "There's tons of empty wrappers in the trash."

"So are we dealing with someone from Johto?" Madison wondered.

"That or someone who's been there recently," Palmer suggested. "Is there anything else in the trash can?"

"Actually, yes," Luke said as his Machoke pulled out a large piece of paper.

"It's a map," Dack said in surprise as Luke unfolded it on the table. "It looks like... the Hoenn Region? Why would this person have a map of Hoenn?"

"Look," Palmer said grimly, pointing to an island east of the mainland, which had been circled in thick red ink. "He's made a mark on that city -- Sootopolis."

"You don't think that's his next target?" Madison gasped.

"We'll find out soon enough," Dack said, recalling Bastiodon and sending out Swellow. "Come one, we're taking a little trip to Hoenn."

"Now?" Luke cried, looking out the window at the setting sun. "It's almost nightfall. And what if it's a trap? Don't forget, we have the Magma Stone. We could be playing right into this guy's hands."

"We also have Heatran on our side," Dack said, holding out the Ultra Ball. "And I'm not just going to sit around and watch as Sootopolis meets the same fate as Snowpoint. We have to get there as soon as possible -- we don't know when this guy is planning to attack. Now who's with me?"

"You know I won't let you go there alone," Madison replied.

"Nor will I." Palmer grinned. "You can count me in."

Luke glanced at the rest of the companions. "Fine." he shrugged. "I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight, anyway."

Stepping outside, Palmer sent out his Dragonite and Cresselia. "You remember how to get to Sootopolis, right?" he asked Cresselia as he hopped onto the Legendary's back.

Of course, the Lunar Pokemon replied. Oh and Dack, it's good to see you again.

"Same here, Cresselia." Dack smiled as Swellow grabbed him by the shoulders and Madison and Luke hopped on Dragonite. "Now let's get going. I only hope we're not too late."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

"Heh, you're welcome." Zach said, as he yawned, and carefully laid down on the air mattress, as he grabbed the pillow off the couch, and laid his head on it.

"Night... Liv..." Zach whispered, partially because he was already on his way to deep sleep; which, for once, was free of bad dreams, as he smiled in his sleep.

[Parugi]

IC - Sonja Baron - The Alamo, Courtyard:

 

At the mention of Opelucid, Sonja immediately perked up, all traces of fatigue appearing to vanish from her posture. She pressed the side of her hand against her mouth in an act of pensive trance, collecting her thoughts for a moment before looking back at Ray inquisitively. 

 

"You know, I've tried talking to Kyle and other people about it, and they never seem interested," she said, almost sounding like she was not going to say anymore. After a brief pause, however, she leaned her head to the side. "But, I think it's worth making note of, so I'm going to talk about it, anyway." She turned in her seat, and then placed her hands in a square on the table--which quickly broke apart as she began to gesture with her speech, a mesmerizing display of hand movements as swift and clean as the motions of a casino dealer.

 

"First off, that entire thing revolved around Evan somehow. I don't know exactly how, because I don't know the details about what Kane is or what he was actually doing, but it was Evan who sensed what was going on, Evan's shadow-self was there--and that's on top of that Darkrai being there. Any sign of an Ancient's involvement must mean that there's something going on related to the Heroes of Time, Space, and Reverse, right? That's their whole thing--they're immortal enemies and all that."

 

She paused, watching a pair of Liberty Agents walking through another part of the courtyard. "So that's one thing," she said. "Expanding on that--Evan said, both before and after, that 'something' was coming. Why would he say that after if that Kane guy was already around? He couldn't, then, have been referring to Kane, nor to any of the Ancients that showed up--they weren't 'coming', they had already arrived at that point. On top of that, Evan's lost his Spacial powers. He shouldn't have been able to sense anything to begin with without those, right? Not unless it was something really powerful or something connected to him--at least in theory. That, then, must mean that whatever Evan sensed is, one, still out there, biding its time; and two, it's worse than Kane and the Ancients. Which begs the question--what? What was it that he sensed? What could be that powerful?"

 

The birds chirped in the trees and bushes around Sonja, prompting her to take a deep, calming breath. Slowly, she exhaled. "Unfortunately," she said. "For all this speculation and information-sorting, there's no way that I can think of to get any inkling of what is actually going on outside of talking to Evan directly, but who knows where he is at this point?" She rested her chin on her palm. "I mean, there are some likely candidates, for sure--Ford, Team Energon, whatever that thing was that destroyed Team Galactic--but actual, solid evidence for any of them is near-impossible to think of when known activity from them has been minimal to nonexistent."

 

IC - Michael Travis/Team Energon/Déoza Forces - Titan, Preparing for Launch:

 

A number of guards had been assigned to escort and keep an eye on Ryan Hikari in the interim between his and Travis' departure from one another and the appointed meeting time for the planned attack on Team Magma. And as they now approached the warehouse where Travis had gathered nearly a hundred troops, almost all of them equipped with Energon's trademark energy-draining units. Each of them had also been given a set of the heat-resistant armor that had been delivered the night before, specially developed (so it was said) by one of Déoza's top blacksmiths, a true pioneer of defensive and offensive technology--armor guaranteed to assist in helping to disassemble the growing threat of Team Magma.

 

At the same time that Ryan's group had entered the place, another group had arrived. This was much smaller than the forces of Team Energon, and as they got nearer, it was clear that they, too, had been assigned to help in the battle--they wore armor similar to their allies, and walked with a uniformity that could hardly be matched. Team Energon's leader could hardly believe what he was seeing. He watched the group carefully, counting and recounting their numbers as if they might grow larger with time. Every count, however, returned the same amount of people--easily less than twenty--and it was clear that he was not happy with this development.

 

"This is it?" Travis said, looking from one Déoza agent to the next with growing aggravation. "How does Pierce expect us to penetrate Magma's defenses with an offense as pitiful as this?"

 

"Oh, believe me, Travis--this is more than enough for what we'll be doing," a voice said from the back of the group. The men and women parted, making way for their leader to walk through. Quincy Adams strode forward, helmet under her arm, and only stopped when she was face to face with Michael Travis. "Trust me--this isn't going to be a full-on battle. Hopefully not, anyway. If all goes well, we'll be in and out in a heartbeat, and Magma will be swimming in lava."

 

"I wasn't informed of this," Travis said. "If you don't mind, I'd very much like to get in touch with Pierce about this--hear for myself what is going on."

 

"Really, Travis, you have nothing to worry about," Adams said. "I've been given explicit instructions to stay by your side until this mission is finished. If, for some reason, you do go down, I go down with you. You have my word, as well as Ford's." When Travis still did not seem convinced, Adams sighed. "Trust me--Pierce is a man of his word. The two of you signed a contract, right? He's going to keep that no matter what."

 

Travis paused to consider this. After a moment, he looked at Executive Peter, before nodding. "Very well," he said. "I suppose we ought to get started."

 

Adams smiled. "That's what I like to hear," she said. The Ford Agent raised her voice, addressing the entire attack force now. "Alright, everyone--let's move it!"

Edited August 26, 2014 by Pears Nivans

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Aspen's eyes widened when Ellen mentioned them to be friends. He had been such a massive jerk beforehand, wouldn't it make sense if shenjust hated him.....?

"G-Goodnight..." Aspen replied back, falling on his back. He was bad at falling asleep and would have had Meadow play GrassWhistle to lull him to sleep. Combined with the events of today, he tossed and turned while desperately trying to get some sleep, and also making some sense out of today...

 

Once Zach plopped himself on the air mattress and said goodnight, Olivia smiled and yawned. "....I love you..." she whispered in an equally quiet voice, falling asleep very soon after. Even though the last couple of days seemed like a never ending rollercoaster of confusion, today melted away any conflict inside Olivia's mind. Rather than dread what was to come the next day, she was glad that she would get to have another day to stay with Zach.....

[Konuju]

IC: ?????
"Ah... the Cave of Origin. Said to be the place of beginnings." A tall figure descended into the cavern, face hidden in the shadows of a hooded cloak. "How fitting that this spot should mark my beginning as well. The beginning of my rise to glory! And for everyone else it will be the beginning... of the end. Snowpoint was a fluke -- that imbecile of a trainer messed up my plans. But he can't do anything to stop me this time."

The figure paused, holding out a Pokéball. The dull ring of the city's bell tower made its way into the deep cavern, signaling the final pre-dawn hour. "This is deep enough." The Pokéball opened in a burst of light. If anyone were present, they would have seen the light of the Pokéball temporarily illuminate a smile forming on the figure's face. But the light faded as quickly as it had appeared, returning the Cave of Origin to darkness. "You know what to do. Now let us... begin."

***

The city of Sootopolis was just starting to wake up. In the pre-dawn darkness, only the most determined businessmen and fishermen were up and about. And so those people were the first to feel the small thud that shook the city.

It was so small that hardly anyone took notice of it, and those who did figured it was just their sleep-deprived imagination playing tricks on them. Thud. There is was again, slightly louder this time. Some of the more concerned citizens turned to Rugissement's mansion, fearing the Kalos noble had finally managed to drain all of the city's water. In fact, ripples were starting to form in the lake that lay in the center of the city.

Thud.

A few people who lived on the northern half of the city were roused from their sleep. A lone fisherman eagerly cast his line into the lake, wondering if the source of the ripples was some rare aquatic Pokémon.

Thud.

Yes, something was definitely happening. The sleepy businessmen could no longer blame their imaginations. A few people peeked out of their homes, giving questioning looks to their neighbors.

Thud.

The tremors were growing in intensity. A flower pot toppled from the top of an apartment complex, shattering against the rocky landscape with a crash.

Thud.

The tremors were becoming more frequent as well.

Thud.

The fisherman lost his balance and fell into the water, dropping his pole as he did so.

THUD.

The entire city trembled as the land in front of the Cave of Origin started to swell like bread in an oven. A few windows shattered from the quakes. With the next impact, the earth erupted in front of the cave as a monstrous form emerged from beneath the city.

First came an armored head, with sharp ivory spikes. A clawed hand reached up to pull out a heavy, spiked torso. Finally two feet stepped out of the hole and a spiked tail swung dangerously, shattering the shrine that stood in front of the Cave of Origin’s entrance. Two beady yellow eyes opened to gaze at the island city. The first rays of the bright morning sun glistened off the blood-red armor as the beast raised its head and unleashed an earth-shattering roar.

Groudon had awoken.


OOC: Insert your favorite monster movie music here. Personally, I'm going with this gem by Eric Whitacre. (If for whatever reason the sliders aren't working, it's supposed to only play from 1:59 to 3:17; the rest of the piece doesn't exactly fit, but it's still a great song!)

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

Ray listened with interest to what Sonja had to say, nodding at the proper intervals. He had to admit, he was amused how she had just suddenly gotten so interested when he brought the subject up... But when she reached the end of her thoughts, Ray frowned and nodded.

"Yeah... it's a question that we can't answer well, huh?" Ray agreed, and then thought for a few moments, as he looked up in sudden realization, and smiled. "Though... I might have the answer to one of the problems..." Ray said, as he took out his Pokegear, and searched through his contact list for Jenny's entry.

"See, as Evan disappeared, I caught a glimpse of Jenny with him... And who can I just contact easily?" Ray asked with a smile, and then scratched his head, as he looked up at Sonja. "If you want to, I think I can get your answers, and maybe let you get them from the source..." Ray said, as there definitely were things that bothered him about the situation too... Especially with Evan's parting quote.

 

-==IC: Ryan==-

 

Ryan looked over at the new person who showed up, and was talking to Travis.

Something seems odd... Who is she? I don't remember seeing her before at the meetings where the leaders were announced, and something tells me that Travis wasn't out looking for new people the past seven months or so... Yet here she is, talking to Travis like they're old chums,and dressed like she's going on this mission too... Ryan thought, as he adjusted his helmet and gloves again, a little iffy about things, but now he understood why the specialized suits were needed. Ryan looked around, as he waited for the mission to start, even though something just seemed weird about this. There were so few people, and they were supposed to take down Magma? Even with there being skilled trainers on Energon, and likely in he backup, he doubted that it would actually be enough to take these people on... So why was there so little backup? Ryan shook his head, and simply looked forward.

I've just gotta get through this, then maybe I can get some downtime to figure out what is going in with the rest of things... like that message... Ryan thought back to the weird cryptic message he had received, and wondered who would go to such great lengths as to hide their contact information while sending it...

 

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach yawned, as he opened his eyes with a puzzled frown.

What the...? Zach wondered, as he looked around, feeling the shaking room. Zach looked around the room for anything that could have been making the noise and shaking the room, but found nothing.

It's probably a noisy truck... Zach thought, and was about to close his eyes, when he opened them again, and sat up quickly. "Wait... we're in Sootopolis..." Zach slowly said, as,through his sleepiness, he began to piece together where they were... And Sootopolis couldn't have trucks, not like that. Zach quickly shook Olivia to get her attention, as he quickly climbed to his feet, and looked around for his backpack, and then grabbed it quickly.

Of all days to manage to get changed... Zach mumbled to himself, as he made a beeline to the bathroom, and then changed in record time, and ran out of the bathroom, and toward the door, wondering what in the world could even be causing what he had felt...

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Olivia groaned slightly as Zach quickly shook her awake, sitting up groggily. "Zach....?" she mumbled, only to find that he had already run off into the bathroom. Frowning, she quickly grabbed a hold of her clothes, feeling the shake as well. Huh.....? What could that even be....? Olivia thought, shaking her head to get rid of the tiredness, and ran into the bathroom to change. 
After changing in a very quick amount of time, Olivia ran outside along with Zach, looking around confusedly. When she gazed up though, she paused and stepped back slightly, her hand reaching for Zach's. "Wh-What the....?" she said, unable to say anything else.

 

The rhythmic thuds eventually awoke Dahlia, who sat up in bed. "Huh...?" she muttered, glancing around quickly before stepping outside the room, seeing Zach and Olivia run outside. Quickly making her way out of the door, Dahlia looked up and stared in horror at what was happening. "Aspen! Kiri! Ellen!" she shouted, running back inside. "Get up! We're all in major trouble!"
Aspen rose from his bed with a groan, and stumbled out the door as fast as possible. "What's going on?!" he asked, sighing and blinking hard to clear his head. Once he did, his eyes looked up and witnessed the terrible aura of Groudon. "....Oh no." was all Aspen could  mutter, staring along with his siblings in silent terror.

[Konuju]

OOC: Additional music cause I can't make up my mind on what fits best.

IC: Ellen
Ellen was roused from her sleep when the thunderous roar echoed across Sootopolis. Falling to the floor in shock, Ellen scrambled to the window to see what was happening. What she saw made her freeze in complete and utter terror.

Groudon, a Pokémon she had only heard of in legends, had broken through the earth's surface and was now attacking the city. Each step the colossal creature took caused the entire city to shake. Amidst the screams of terror, Ellen heard Kiri yelling for everyone's safety. Zach, Olivia, Dahlia, and Aspen already appeared to be outside.

Geez, this city has one heck of an alarm clock! Duo cried as Ellen gathered her Pokémon and hurried them out the door.

"This is terrible," Ellen said as she saw Groudon demolish a house with one fell swoop of its tail. She didn't know much about the Hoenn Legends, but she had seen enough of Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem and Palkia in Unova to know the kind of damage Groudon could cause. "We have to do something to stop its rampage!"

Are you crazy?! Duo cried. Look at the size of that thing! It would flatten us before we could even get out an attack!

"But if we do nothing," Ellen argued, "Then Sootopolis could end up just like Southeast Unova. Do you want to see that happen to these people? We've faced the Darkrai before; surely we can stand up to Groudon."

She looked at each of her Pokémon in turn. Artemis struck a dynamic pose, eager for a battle. Terry bared his fangs, prepared to fight not to protect the city, but to protect his trainer. Maturin gave a nod, showing that he was willing to stick with Ellen no matter what her plan. Chrono stared at his trainer in disbelief; the Purrloin wished he could get as far away as possible from the monstrous Legendary. Duo for once agreed with Chrono, but after seeing the other Pokémon siding with Ellen, he started having second thoughts.

Another ear-splitting roar from the Groudon signaled the destruction of another building. "We don't have time to be indecisive!" Ellen told Duo. "The longer we wait, the more destruction that giant Pokemon causes." She turned to Zach and the Seatons. "Are you with me?" she asked.

Alright, I'll fight, Duo said. But don't say I didn't warn you.

"Artemis, start out with a Meditate and Calm Mind; Terry, Work Up; Maturin, Curse; Chrono, Hone Claws; and Duo, hold Groudon still with Telekinesis." Ellen tried to remain calm as she gave out the commands. On the bright side, there was only one enemy this time, unlike with the gang of Ghost Pokémon on Mt. Pyre. Not to mention, she had Zach, Olivia, Dahlia, and Aspen to back her up. Still, Groudon was a much bigger threat than a handful of Ghost-Types.

As Artemis, Maturin, and Terry prepared for the coming battle, Chrono raced along the top of the rocky crater, trying to get close to Groudon while he honed his claws. Duo strained in trying to keep the behemoth still with Telekinesis, but he was unable to stop the creature from flattening a half dozen more buildings.

It's no good! he cried. He's too big for me to hold!

Edited August 26, 2014 by Konuju

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach's eyes widened as he saw the giant Legendary tower over the city. Zach felt his hand being grabbed, but for a minute, all he could think about was his last encounter with a legend like this.

No... Not today. Zach thought, as his mind cleared, and the trainer focused. Psychic powers were out; he still didn't know what happened to get them to Unova,after all,and he wasn't risking a repeat of the Kyurem situation. Zach looked over and saw Ellen have all her Pokemon focus on Groudon... Zach looked over at where Kiri was, and felt indecisive again,but stayed calm, as he looked around.

"Everyone... I don't know if our safety can be guaranteed, so if anyone wants to head back to Olivine..." Zach said, leaving the implication there, but he frowned, as he looked back to the looming behemoth. "If everyone can fight, however, we need to get to higher ground, so we can better focus on this big angry thing." Zach tried his best to recall what type he had heard Groudon to be, but despite that, he had no clue at that moment...

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Zach's warning was met with silence, each of the Seatons appearing to be mulling over what might happen. After all, they were all just ordinary people.... Would their efforts even be able to contribute anything?

 

Finally, Olivia gripped Zach' hand even tighter. "I'm not going to abandon you...." she muttered. "We promised yesterday to stay together no matter what...." Olivia said with determination, sending out each and every one of her Pokemon. "Shade, Icy Wind, Dune, Dragon Breath, Willow...." she winced at the end, because the Nincada was understandably terrified. "....I-I'll tell you later.... Amethyst, help Duo hold the Groudon in place."

Shade let loose a blast of cold wind at the leg of the Groudon, hoping that the speed lowering affect would impede its ability to stomp on houses. Dune followed suit and fired a beam of blue-white energy from his mouth. Meanwhile, Willow retreated in a panic, along with Toxin who had not been given a command.

"Hello again, green bean." Amethyst said after teleporting next to Duo. "Seems as though you could use some help." the Gardevoir noted, her eyes glowing purple as she used Psychic on the rampaging Groudon to assist the Duosin's efforts in restraining the massive legend.

 

Dahlia saw Olivia's determination to stay, and turned back to Kiri. "Please go somewhere safe. I'm not going to leave my sister alone against that...." she muttered simply, giving an encouraging look to Kiri while sending out her Pokemon. "Let's be careful against this thing... Laurel, Leaf Storm; Gerri, Hydro Pump; Dracos, Dragon Dance; Coco, wait to see if they can stop or distract it!"

Laurel conjured up a swarm of leaves and then launched it towards the behemoth. Gerri gathered her strength with a determined look and fired off a large volume of water. Dracos slithered in intricate patterns to raise his strength. Coco fell back with a worried glance, not nearly as bubbly as she was normally.

 

Aspen looked back at the choice made by both of his sisters, and remained silent for several seconds. "....Fine, I'm staying too." he decided at last, sending out each of his Pokemon, even Aria. "Zach, Ellen, you've done this before, I'm gonna trust you to lead us through this..." he warned, looking somewhat disdainfully at Zach especially. "Hmm... Groudon huh.... Torrent, Ice Beam, Meadow, Magical Leaf; Aria, help out Duo and Amethyst! Flare, Jet, wait a bit...."

Torrent glared at the beast while charging up the Ice Beam, and fired it. Meadow did the same, launching several leaves at the Groudon. Flare and Jet both moved back, though Jet did so begrudgingly, eager to battle a legend. Aria dashed next to both Duo and Amethyst with ExtremeSpeed, and wearing a red scarf that billowed behind her as she did so. "I see my assistance is required.... Very well then." the Lucario said, eyes glowing blue as she used her own Psychic to restrain the Groudon and prevent its destructive rampage.

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra, Nimbasa City

 

"It's all right!", Evan said cheerfully as he began to walk towards the door, "C'mon, let's go get something to eat! Then, I think we should take in the sights for a little bit. You know, just for fun."

 

Evan then walked out into the shining city of Nimbasa. Evan had been here before, but he had been unable to take in what the city had to offer. He looked in awe at how marvelous the city looked. Evan then turned back to Jenny, smiling nervously.

 

"Do you know the best place to eat?", Evan said, "I honestly have no idea where to go."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

Jenny sighed in relief that it wasn't a big deal, but then scratched her head, as Evan brought up the places to eat, though definitely was thankful for a bit of actual downtime, as that hadn't truly been a part of her vocabulary for a good week or more.

"Hmm..." She looked around, as she tried to recall the best places she had seen before, and paused, as she pointed over toward the west. "I think there's some good places over there." Jenny said, as she didn't seem totally convinced, but it had been a good while, and things could have changed, after all.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Kiri/Groudon
"I-I'm not sure there is a safe place," Kiri said with a shaking voice. She turned back to the shaking house, then backed up slowly. "But... I'll see what I can find. Be careful, you guys!"
 
The Continent Pokémon paused from its destructive rampage as several attacks hit it in the side. The Icy Wind struck his armored hide, and the DragonBreath was enough to get his attention. As Groudon turned to face his attackers just in time to see a Leaf Storm and Hydro Pump headed his way. With another roar, Groudon lifted the roof of a building and hurled it at his attackers, blocking the Grass and Water attacks in the process.
 
At that moment, Aria's and Amethyst's psychic hold took effect, leaving Groudon helpless against the subsequent Ice Beam and Magical Leaf. Not that the attacks bothered the tough Legendary. Groudon simply gave a roar of defiance as he struggled against the psychic hold.
 
I am NOT a bean! Duo cried.
 
"Duo!" Ellen shouted. "Stop arguing and help us!" She pointed desperately toward the chunk of roof flying toward them.
 
Wait, what?! Duo whirled around in surprise, eyes growing wide at the oncoming threat.
 
"Telekinesis!" Ellen screamed. "Now!"
 
Before the Duosion could react, the roof suddenly exploded into bits of shrapnel, which harmlessly fell into the lake. Ellen looked up to see a Dragonite and a Cresselia, the former's mouth still steaming from the Hyper Beam attack.

IC: Dack
Dack's heart sank as the monstrous roar reached his ears. Despite having flown all night, Swellow beat its wings even faster, carrying Dack across the vast ocean of Hoenn. Behind him, Dragonite and Cresselia picked up their pace as well. The sun had risen behind them, and it bathed the island city of Sootopolis in a bright orangeish light.

As they drew closer, Madison stifled a gasp. "Is that--?"

"Groudon," Palmer replied. "It looks like our culprit has a thing for destroying cities with Legendary Pokémon."

"Not if I can help it," Dack growled, urging Swellow to fly even faster. As the bird Pokémon flew over the city, Dack looked down in horror at the destruction that had already befallen Sootopolis. Several homes had already been destroyed and the people seemed to be running every which way in a mass panic.

Cursing himself for not getting there sooner, Dack started to land when he saw several Pokémon launch a variety of attacks at the Groudon, taking it by surprise. Looking around, he spotted a young girl, no older than nine or ten, commanding her Pokémon to defend the city. Four other people behind her were similarly commanding their Pokémon.

Palmer, Madison, and Luke saw them too, and they also saw Groudon respond by hurling a roof at them. "Dragonite! Cresselia!" Palmer shouted. You know what to do!"

Opening his mouth, Palmer's Dragonite fired out a Hyper Beam, obliterating the roof into a thousand tiny pieces of shrapnel. Cresselia activated her psychic powers, sending the roof fragments into the lake where they could harm no one.

Dack swooped down to land next to the group of young trainers. "You're very brave, but I'll take it from here, kids," he said as he sent out Bastiodon and Servine.

"Thanks, but it looks like you'll need all the help you can get," the youngest girl replied as the Groudon unleashed another deafening roar and dug its claws into the roof of another building. "Artemis, Aura Sphere! Terry, get close to the Groudon and give it a Crunch, but be careful not to get trampled! Maturin, Seed Bomb! Duo, keep trying to hold it still!"

Dack suddenly noticed a thin outline of psychic power around the Groudon's monstrous form. The Continent Pokémon seemed to be struggling against the mental grip. It managed to rip the roof off of the unfortunate building and use it as a shield, causing the Turtwig's Seed Bombs to uselessly bounce off. The Aura Sphere managed to break the roof, but the Groudon was free from harm. However, those attacks gave the Herdier the distraction it needed as it maneuvered its way through the streets toward the behemoth and Crunched down on the Pokémon's armored heel. The attack didn't do much, but it was enough to make the Groudon stomp the ground in annoyance, hoping to flatten the poor Herdier.

"Are all those your Pokémon?" Madison asked as Palmer's Dragonite landed behind them, still catching its breath from the Hyper Beam. "They must be very brave to go up against a Legendary."

"Thanks," the girl replied with a smile. "I'm Ellen, by the way. These are Zach, Olivia, Dahlia, and Aspen. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Madison, and this is Luke. The man with the Cresselia is Palmer." Madison pointed to each of the trainers in turn.

"And I'm Dack, but we can save the introductions for later," Dack said. "Basiodon, use Metal Sound! Servine, Leaf Tornado!" As his Pokémon carried out their attacks, Dack looked at Ellen with a deep frown. "You didn't happen to see anyone suspicious hanging around the city before Groudon appeared, did you?"

Ellen shook her head. "Sorry, nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, I was asleep before Groudon woke me up." She glanced back at her friends to see if they had noticed anything. "Why do you think Groudon's attacking Sootopolis all of a sudden?" she asked Dack. "I thought Groudon was supposed to be a good guy -- didn't he help out against the Ancient Darkrai's Void Towers?"

"I think 'good guy' might be taking it a little far," Dack muttered as Groudon smashed another building, grabbing the wall to deflect most of Servine's attack.

"What you have to understand is that we just witnessed a similar incident in Snowpoint a few days ago," Madison explained as Anzu emerged from her Pokéball.

"Speaking of which, now might be a really good time to send out Heatran," Luke suggested as Machoke appeared in a burst of light, rearing for battle.

Unbeknownst to the trainers sending out various Pokémon in preparation for the coming battle, an Absol crouched behind a rocky outpost. The bright sunlight glinted off its scythe as it narrowed its eyes at the spectacle before it. Something had to be done, before the situation went from bad to worse.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach crossed his arms, as he heard Dack's first words to them.

Kids? Zach thought incredulously, as he shook his head. You look no older than us, you know. Zach ignored his annoyance at the new guy thinking he was so good, and instead sent out his usable Pokemon, holding back Heather, Ren, and Luke for now.

"Blade, Magical Leaf while getting closer; Cyndy, Swift; Smugleaf, Leaf Tornado as well; Katie, Night Daze; Elsa, Blizzard!!" Zach called out attack after attack, as the five split up, heading in different directions so as to not get the other Pokemon caught up in their attacks, though Zach frowned.

This isn't doing much at all... Zach noted, as he thought, trying to figure out what to even do, because he had no way to hold the Groudon even if he wanted to, and his Pokemon didn't either... The best he could do is use Extrasensory, but that couldn't stop the Groudon. Blade can Teleport, though... I could get Elsa close enough to try and unleash a Blizzard to freeze it solid... Zach thought, as he had no clue what exactly to do for that...

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra, Nimbasa City

 

"Well, lead on then!", Evan said, "This is more your turf than mine! Lead on and I shall follow."

 

Evan was incredibly glad he suggested the idea of downtime. His pokemon were still recovering from the fighting they had to endure before. Evan at least wanted them to take a good long rest before any more training. He also wanted to take a break, due to everything going on around him.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

Jenny smiled, as she nodded at Evan's point, and then thought, somewhat in a bittersweet manner.

Yeah... This and Opelucid are more of my home than anywhere else... Even if I have my memories back, more or less, now. Jenny thought, and then smiled widely, as she noticed one particular restaurant.

"Look, this place is still around!" Jenny called out, as she ran forward, leading the way to the restaurant in question. "This place was always my favourite; I used to come here with some of my old friends all the time..." Jenny said, and paused. "Err... New old friends..." Jenny corrected herself, and then scratched her head, shaking it afterward, since it didn't really matter. "Nevermind, you get what I mean!" The girl laughed; though it was definitely a burden to have that sort of memory offset.

 

The two walked in, and Jenny looked around with a beaming smile.

"Just as I remember! I probably can't say that about everything I recall, though, for one, Ray's a lot more frownier now than before." Jenny laughed, as although she wasn't entirely happy about the memory shenanigans that had happened, she found comfort in joking about them a lot. After they ordered, and Jenny picked out her old favourite meal, the two of them sat down, and Jenny sighed happily. "It's really nice to actually have an off day for once, huh?" Jenny asked in between bites, even as she wondered exactly what the rest of the day could hold for them.

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra, Nimbasa City

 

"Yeah, it is.", Evan said as he wolfed down his meal, "I think we deserve this, at the very least."

 

But did he really deserve it? Despite his best efforts, anytime he tried to make things better, they got even worse. Time after time, this was proven. Yet, he kept fighting. But why? Why did he fight, even though as a result, much had been taken from him? Was it out of stubbornness? Was it to show his strength?

 

Then it hit him. He was fighting because he could. Not because of wanting vengeance or glory. It was because he could fight. It could be the only thing he will ever be good at.

 

"If it is the only thing I could be good at, then I may as well fight for what I believe in.", Evan thought to himself, as he ate, "Not for what others say is right."

 

But, he did think that he did deserve this much needed break, if only to prepare himself for the days ahead. He would be ready, like it or not. Shifting his thoughts away from their current place, Evan looked at Jenny.

 

"How's the food?", Evan asked, as he started finishing the meal before him, "It's got quite a bite to it, if you ask me."

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Dahlia looked over in surprise at the new arrivals. When Dack told them to run away, Dahlia frowned and shook her head. "No can do.... We'll have the a better chance of making it through this with more people, after all...." she explained in a kind voice while also asserting her position. Turning back to her Pokemon, Dahlia shouted more commands. "Laurel, Gerri, same thing! Dracos, Dragon Dance and try to get in close for a Dragon Rush! Coco, try getting there with Bounce and hitting it with an Ice Punch!" 

Laurel once more surrounded herselves with leaves and fired at the Groundon, while Gerri strained to fire off a Hydro Pump at the same time. Dracos slithered around once again quickly to buff his power, and hurried forward quickly. Once he was nearly at the behemoth, Dracos leaped up in the air and attempted to slam into the Groudon. Coco hopped along, following Dracos' path, and used Bounce to reach high up, and tried to slam her ice-covered arm against the monster.

Dahlia looked around at all the people who were running away in terror and looking over dumbfounded at their efforts to stop the Groudon. However, once she looked up behind her, a gasp let her mouth at the sight of an Absol looking down on everyone as they fought. Its crimson red eyes were beautiful, but foreboding, as if it had known this would happen all along. Then again... It probably did... Dahlia realized, as the attack on Sootopolis was most certainly a crisis. But why would it show up now, after the disaster already happened...?

 

Turning her head to the newcomer, Olivia growled in response to Dack's order to retreat, letting go of Zach's hand. "You condescending idiot!" she cried out, running towards Dack while her hair she had no time to put into a ponytail billowed back, and jabbed him straight in the jaw. "I don't care WHO you think you are or what you've done, I'm not gonna leave!" she said, pointing directly at Dack, a fire in her eyes. "My aunt lives in this city, and the people I love are staying behind to help fight off this THING, and there is NO way I am going to abandon them..." Olivia finished, turning back to face her Pokemon. "Shade, Icy Wind again and try to get in closer! Dune, Dragon Breath again! Toxin, try to get in for a Sucker Punch! Amethyst, keep holding the Groudon back! Willow.... S-See if you can get around it...." 
Shade once more blasted a freezing rush of wind towards the Groudon, hoping that even if it wouldn't do much damage that the behemoth would eventually slow to a crawl from his onslaught, also using Agility to move in closer. Dune beat his wings to rise off the ground and once more fired a pale blue beam of energy at the legend. Toxin quickly ran forth and threw a Sucker Punch out of nowhere in an attempt to catch the Groudon off guard. Amethyst struggled against the beast, groaning. "W-We've gotta stop that thing before it can move again..." she said with strain, appearing as though she was trying to psych herself up more than the others holding it back. 

 

"KIDS?!" cried Aspen angrily, enraged at what he perceived as an insult. "Rrgh, whatever! Torrent, Meadow, attack again! Aria, keep it up! Keep waiting, Flare and Jet!"
Torrent and Meadow once more sent forth an Ice Beam and Magical Leaves respectively determined to not give up this fight. Flare awaited patiently, knowing full well this fight would be especially disadvantageous to him. Jet cried in annoyance once more, clearly aching to fight the legend. "Forgive me." said Aria calmly. "I had not expected this to require my full powers, and have been holding back. I shall rectify that problem immediately." the Lucario said, giving out a cry as her eyes once more washed over with a blue glow, her psychic vice grip on the Groudon tightening even more. "Time to tip the scales!"

"Hmm...." Aspen thought, turning to the others. "I've got an idea!" he called out. "I'll need an opinion on it!" 

Edited August 26, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

Jake smirked. "Not happening. Pikachu, use Agility to avoid it!" Pikachu waited until the last second, watching the Rock-type getting closer and closer until, just before the attack connected, Pikachu seemed to disappear, leaving speed trails as it reappeared directly behind Cranidos. "Now Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Jake called out, grinning. The Electric-type jumped, his tail starting to glow as he brought it down towards Cranidos's head.

[Konuju]

IC: Dack/Ellen/Groudon
As Aria tightened her psychic grip, Groudon found himself unable to do anything as the variety of attacks collided with him. The combined attacks were enough to seriously annoy the Continent Pokémon, who let out a roar as he ripped himself free of the psychic hold, sending a nearby building crashing to the ground in the process.
 
Dack reeled as Olivia socked him in the jaw. He was about to respond in kind when, much to his surprise, Madison spoke up.
 
"What was that for?!?" the skier cried, fuming as she walked straight up to the red-haired girl. "Dack only made a suggestion -- it was no reason to punch him in the face! You had no right to do that!" Madison shoved Olivia backward, hoping to teach the fiery redhead a lesson.
 
"Madison..." Dack said weakly. It was only his aching jaw that stopped him from running up and pulling his friend away from the red-haired girl.
 
"Dang, man." Luke smirked, giving Dack a small nudge. "She's really sticking up for you, isn't she?"
 
Ellen frowned. Fighting amongst themselves wasn't going to solve anything. She was about to open her mouth and tell the two older girls to start working together, then ask Aspen about his idea, when a glint of sunlight caught her eye. She turned behind her to see the sleek form of an Absol hiding behind the rocks. The two locked eyes for a brief moment before the Disaster Pokémon slipped away, vanishing among the rocky perimeter of the city.

"That Absol," she said with a frown. "That's the same one I saw in Lilycove." Realization dawned on her as she looked back at the Groudon wreaking havoc. "This must be what he was trying to warn me about."

"An Absol?" Palmer asked, following Ellen's gaze. The Tower Tycoon frowned when he saw nothing but empty rocks.

Teddy suddenly emerged from his Pokéball, running between Madison and Olivia, crying out in a small voice for the two girls to stop fighting.

"Teddy, this is dangerous!" Dack cried out, horrified so see the little bear cub so close to the rampaging Legendary.

"It looks like now might be our chance," Luke said, pointing to Groudon, who had been unable to avoid the barrage of attacks. "Send out Heatran now!"

Dack nodded and gripped the Ultra Ball at his belt. Before he could throw it, however, a white form flew at him with a deep growl.

Dack stumbled backward as Luke's Machoke struck the attacker with a Mach Punch. The attacker, which Dack now saw to be an Absol, yelped in pain as it fell to the ground, stunned.

"I didn't know Groudon had goons hanging around," he said darkly. "Swellow, get ready to defend me if that Absol thinks about attacking us again."

As Swellow flew low over the battlefield, the Absol painfully pulled himself to his feet, lips curled back in a snarl. He glared at each of the battlers, his crimson gaze lingering on Dahlia before he quickly limped away, disappearing into the shadows without a trace.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Konuju

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach didn't know what to think. First, he saw Olivia, with awesome hair, nearly knocking Mr. Arrogance off his feet in an action that made Zach open his mouth, kinda impressed by the sheer fact that she did that. Then he heard Aspen mention about a plan...

"What idea? We kinda need an idea about now." Zach said, but then, before he could press Aspen for more details, Zach blinked, as the girl walked up to Olivia, and shoved her. Zach ran up to her, and quickly put an arm behind her in case she lost her balance in the process, and inwardly sighed.

Of course Mr. Arrogant has someone sticking up for him... But, then, am I really one to talk? Zach said, not sure how to react, as he held a hand up.

"M-Madison, was it...?" Zach asked, as he looked around. "We can deal with all this later, alright? First, let's drop this for now, and focus on, you know, the giant hulking beast behind us." Zach said pointedly, reminding everyone who wasn't fighting amongst themselves of the real danger. Zach, as he finished, noticed the Absol, and wondered why it had nearly attacked Dack, aside from said Absol also thinking that Dack was too arrogant for his own good...

Wait, Heatran? Zach thought, and then paused, not sure he liked the sound of that. What are they thinking...? Zach wondered, as he looked incredulously at the two Trainers, wondering why that was even an option... And where the Heatran could be seen... But then again, it was a rather odd situation anyway.

 

Meanwhile, Zach's Pokemon repeated their previous attacks, though Blade and Katie looked worriedly back, Blade taking over the commanding for the moment, as Zach was preoccupied, but the two of them shared a quick mental conversation, and came to the agreement that it was a very bad thing that Zach was so distracted by issues with other Trainers.

 

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

"Hmmm... Does it?" Jenny asked, as she tilted her head, and tasted her food again, a little more thoroughly. However, after a few seconds, she shrugged. "Hm, maybe it's because I've had it a lot, but while I can taste a bit of heat in it, it doesn't have that big a bite." Jenny finally said, as she seemed a tiny bit amused, but then scratched her head with a laugh. "Then again, everyone always teased me that I tended to really, really, really like things that would be very spicy to others..."

 

-==IC: Roark==-

 

Roark raised an eyebrow at the tactic, as the Cranidos fell backwards, but not out yet.

"Scary Face, Ancient Power!" Roark called out, as the Cranidos glared up at the Pikachu with the scariest face it could muster, and then attempted to send rocks flying at the Pikachu in response, with an ancient power levitating them.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: (James)

The rest of the night had gone on uneventfully for James, besides some more catching up between. The time-traveler had seemed rather unwilling to go into a large amount of detail involving what she was doing, which intrigued James but he decided not to press the issue that night. The main event which struck his interest however, was the return of Guinevere and Lancelot to the office that night. While they were content to ignore him throughout the night (though Guinevere made a lot of conversation with Celebi, not that James could hear the telepathic banter), the fact that they chose to come back at all was slightly heartening. At least, less disheartening than the fact that the others did not.

 

The next morning came without much sleep for James. While not appreciating the lack of sleep, the fact that he was at least awake early in the morning did suit him well. If Goldhawk was going to assign him to a mission today (which there was no proof that it would come today, there was also no proof it would not), then he would have to do anything ‘personal’ beforehand.

 

“Celebi, please hold down the fort. I need to take a quick trip.”

Oh, where are you going?

“I need to stop by the hospital.”

IC: (Jamie)

No way! Lucan did that?

 

Indeed, this fellow is a complete man among men. And even after his noble sacrifice he continued to fell legions of our foes with his freezing rays.

 

Lucan was two minds (somewhat literally) of the praises he was being given by Tristan. The Metagross and the Heracross had been catching up on their respective battles, with the Metagross ragging on the other for being found fainted or “sleeping on the job” as Tristan had put it. On one hand, he did enjoy the positive attention. On the other, both of their tales were seemingly embellished, especially those coming out of Tristan's mouth to celebrate him. The Vanilluxe seriously doubted they would have won against one full legions of Pokémon, let alone the ten they both claimed to have beaten.

 

Jamie was ignoring the bouts of boasting going on between the transparent mode Pokeballs. She had to retreat all five of her Pokemon during the flight, as there wasn’t a huge amount of room on the helicopter. At least, not with the cargo they had to bring with them. She looked towards the tank that had contained the five Pokemon that she had found in the restaurant. Now it only contained four, as the fifth lay on her lap. The Shellder she identified as the one that had been inclined to using Shell Smash and fighting up close. She found that she really starting to grow attached to them, considering how much help they had given her, and was somewhat reluctant to give them up. While having all five of them on her team seemed pretty redundant, having one or two would be alright, and maybe keep the others as someone/thing/Pokemon to come home to.

 

That does sound nice, she thought thinking about it in more detail.

 

Maybe she could give her testimony and be granted custody of the ‘evidence’ as an agent of Team Rocket.

 

That might work, she thought as she closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep, a hand on the Shellder and her head fell onto Lucia’s shoulder.

IC: (Richard)

 

Richard woke up before his fellow Claus, and decided he’d let the boy rest. As well as the ghost on his bed, and left most of his Pokeballs behind, taking only the one belonging to the Diglett just in case. It was early in the morning, but he wanted an early start on working with his violin. While he loved to play for others, he preferred to do this ritual away from others, and so he wandered off from the bedroom he’d crashed in, to wander around until he could find a place to dub ‘the practice spot’.

 

He wandered around for a half an hour before he found a suitable spot in his opinion. It was a secluded area near the shore. Far enough away from the base that he wouldn’t expect anyone to stumble by. Plus the sound of the waves crashing down on the shore would provide some noise cover if needed, though not enough to block out his music, enough to distort it so any of his flaws could be attributed to it, should he not make too big a mistake.

 

He was about to get out his violin and start practicing, when he heard a voice. A singing voice. A decent one at that, if very shaky.

 

Well, so much for secluded, Richard thought as he gave up his plan to use that spot. He was about to leave when he noticed who or rather what was singing.

 

It was a strange little thing, only coming up to his knees by nature of its long ears. But it was singing and that was a plus. So naturally Richard decided he had to meet this creature, despite the fact that it was probably there for the same reason he was.

 

“Hi!” he shouted waving to the small Pokemon.

 

It was startled, but somehow less than what Richard guessed it would. It turned around slowly and stared towards Richard for a while, before murmuring something unintelligible.

 

“Hmm? What was that?”

 

Again it made the same noise, only slightly less quietly.

 

“One more time, a little louder, please?”

 

“…hi…”

 

“Oh?! Can you talk?” Richard asked genuinely surprised.

The Pokemon shook its head.

 

“So you can say 'hi', but you can’t talk?”

 

A slow nod.

 

“Well that’s interesting…. Want to join my band of merry Pokemon… and a Sableye?”

 

The Pokemon stared at him for a while before shaking its head.

 

“Aww… why not? You’ll be allowed to sing all you want!...Except when even I’m not allowed to, which even I don’t like, but I’ll make up for it by giving you any stage you can ask for… eventually once we make it.”

 

Richard quickly realized that what he was saying wasn’t helping much.

 

“Stage fright? Or a lack of faith in me?”

 

Two nods, one for each.

 

“Well I’m not sure how to cure the first. But how about I prove to you my capability. How about a music battle?”

 

The Pokemon was quiet as it shook its head slowly.

 

“Too nervous to sing in front of just me even?...How about a regular battle then, versus one of my Pokemon? At least I can prove my ability as a trainer, then a musician later.”

 

The Pokémon thought on this for a while, before nodding warily.

 

“Fantastic! Let’s get started then. Go Ponos!” he said tossing the Diglett out into the open.

 

The act of being thrown out of his Pokeball was thankfully enough to wake the Diglett from his sleep. The fact that were was a Whismur coming at him with a punch to his face was enough to make him alert. Not enough to dodge, but enough to realize it was time to fight.

 

“Use Slash followed by Dig to get away!”

 

The Ground Type responded by slashing (how I don’t know) his opponent, which caused the Whismur to recoil back in pain. It tried to respond with Supersonic, but the Diglett was already gone.

 

“IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, START UP AN EARTH POWER FROM BELOW THE GROUND!” Richard shouted quite loudly, which oddly caused the wild Pokémon to cover its ears.

 

After a while of waiting, blasts from the ground erupted which struck the Normal Type directly and tossed the Pokémon around. When the last blast finished, Ponos arose from the ground to see his opponent. The wild Pokemon was ready for the Diglett to surface as when it did, it unleashed a Hyper Voice. The powerful move struck the Diglett sending it reeling slightly (the ground makes a good anchor), but what surprised Richard was that the Whismur seemed to be in pain while using it.

 

“We need to finish this now… Ponos Reversal.”

 

The Diglett surged forward with the pain being caused by the constant stream of noise being turned into power. The Reversal connected and proved too much for the Normal-Type to bear as it fell over unable to move.

 

“Alright go Pokeball!”

The downed Pokémon was to weak to do anything to resist capture, and after three wiggles the Pokeball’s lock sealed shut.

 

“We did it!”

The Diglett responded to what Richard could only interpret as ‘yay!’

 

“Now let’s get you and him to the Pokemon Center, pronto!”

 

The Diglett nodded as he followed his trainer from behind. But the Diglett had to wonder, where did Richard get that Pokeball?

 

IC: (Claus)

 

Claus did nothing but snore, cause he slept in. Oh and the monkey slept in on his head, while dreaming of the wonderful fun he had last night. And the pig slept at his feet, thinking of food. The rock however was taking stock of Claus’ inventory and noticed there was a Pokeball missing, and only an IOU was left in its place.

How weird…

Edited August 27, 2014 by Claus Von Minun the 4th

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"Stop it, you two!" Dahlia cried out, having seen Olivia and Madison glaring at each other. "Now's not the time! We need to focus!" she called, out, looking back at her Pokemon. "Do what you think is reasonable!" Dahlia then saw the Absol glare at everyone on the field as it was retreating, and her heart paused once its gaze fixed on her for a longer period of time. Then, as quickly as it had arrived, he disappeared, the snowy white mane and crimson eyes melting back into the shadows. What the....? she thought, blinking at where the Absol had just been. Why.... Did it look at me? And what was it trying to stop us from doing...?
Laurel found that using Leaf Storm had been depleting her strength fast, and switched over to firing Magical Leaves. Gerri on the other hand continued on with her Hydro Pump assault, her tiny frame against the hulking Groudon understandably frightening her, but the Surskit's face had a determined glare, wanting to prove her worth. Dracos slithered back as the Groudon broke free of his psychic shackles, frowning, but lashing out with a Dragon Tail. Coco leaped away the moment the behemoth was able to move again, though the Buneary still jumped forward to hit its foot with an Ice Punch.

 

Olivia grunted as Madison shoved her away, brushing some hair that had gone over her face to the side, staring at the skier unamused. Before she could sock Madison like she had done to Dack however, Zach, Dahlia, and a Teddiursa all implored the two to set aside their differences and focus on the Groudon currently attacking Sootopolis. After a brief pause, Olivia lowered her fist and sighed, still looking at Madison. "....Getting all worked up over your boyfriend...?" she muttered simply. "...I think I can relate kinda... But that ego..." Olivia muttered quietly, quickly turning away to face her Pokemon. "Shade, another Icy Wind and see if you can use Ice Punch! Amethyst, Magical Leaves before you try to grab it again! Dune, fly up and keep using Dragon Breath! Toxin, Bullet Punch! Willow... Do something?" 
Shade used Agility to move away from the Groudon as he broke free from the Psychic grapple. Using Icy Wind once more, the Sneasel shot forth with another Agility to strike the beast with an Ice Punch. Amethyst shook her head from the strain of keeping the behemoth restrained, but quickly fired off some Magical Leaves. Toxin leaped up while the Groudon broke free and roared, launching forth with a Bullet Punch. Dune, already at a good vantage point, fired yet another Dragon Breath. Willow, having inched closely to the monster, beat her wings in an attempt to strike it with a Bug Buzz.

 

Aspen rolled his eyes as it seemed people were finally listening to him. "Okay, obviously that Groudon wasn't going to be held forever by that psychic grip, but it's much easier on us if it was immobilized. What if I had Jet ferry Meadow up above the head of that thing and dispersed a Stun Spore over its head?" Aspen inquired. "Since it's a legend... It'll probably need more than one dose. Laurel can use Stun Spore too, right?" he asked, to which Dahlia nodded. "Okay, then we might be able to get her up there too.... If other flyers here are up for it..." he muttered curiously. 

By this time, Torrent and Meadow had gotten the memo, firing Ice Beams and Magical Leaves aplenty, though Meadow heard her name and glanced over curiously. Jet cawed with an exasperated tone, having wanted to engage the Groudon directly for what felt like ages. Flare saw Willow meekly striking the Groudon, and ran over to the Nincada in case it needed support. Aria grunted once the Groudon broke free of their psychic grip, getting on one knee. "Well, at least we managed to strike the monster some more...." the Lucario muttered, firing off an Aura Sphere towards Groudon, while trying to find something else they could use to their advantage....

Edited August 27, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Konuju]

IC: ?????
The tall figure watched the group of trainers put up a formidable resistance against Groudon. Although the figure's face remained hooded, if one looked closely, the faint lines of a frown could be seen, growing deeper with each passing moment.
 
"This was not part of the plan. They weren't supposed to put up a fight. And those darn Snowpoint trainers... how did they find me?" A hand reached for a Pokéball. "I can't afford to let them stop the show so early... I'll have to bring in some backup."
 
The hand hesitated a brief moment. Then the fingers spread out to grab not one but three Pokéballs. If anyone had been watching the cloaked figure at the time, their view would have been blinded by three sudden bursts of light...
 
IC: Dack/Ellen/Groudon
Madison's face turned a bright shade of scarlet at Olivia's words. She busied herself with picking up Teddy, making sure the little bear cub was safe from the tremors that were still shaking the city. She said nothing to Olivia, but stole a glance at Dack. Her friend who happened to be a boy was more focused on the Absol that had just knocked him over and had clearly not heard the redhead's words.
 
At first, Madison was relieved. But deep down she started to wonder: did Dack really think of her in that way? He did imply that she was the one thing he cared about most. And he had traversed across the Sinnoh Region to save her from the Darkrai's nightmares. She thought back to the time they had spent together the last six months. They had always been close friends, but they had yet to take that step into being boyfriend and girlfriend. Why? The idea of Dack being her boyfriend had always delighted her, and yet they had both been hesitant to take that next step.
 
Another tremor from Groudon quite literally shook Madison out of her thoughts. Now's not the time to think about that. She berated herself for allowing her thoughts to wander as she turned her attention back to the battle, doing her best to hide the blush that remained in her cheeks.
 
Dack watched the Absol disappear with a frown, still shaken by its sudden appearance. Gathering his composure, the Snowpoint trainer tossed the Ultra Ball into the air. Heatran gave a mighty roar as he materialized, immediately setting eyes on Groudon. "Heatran, I need you to help stop Groudon!" Dack said. "But try not to do too much damage to the city! Madison, watch Teddy for me. Cresselia, I need you to search the city to see if you can find whoever's behind this."

I'm on it, the Lunar Pokemon said, closing her eyes as she began to mentally scan the city.
 
Madison nodded quickly as she hugged Teddy tighter, refusing to make eye contact with Dack.

The ex-Rocket agent looked to the skies. "Swellow, take me airborne!" The bird swooped down and gripped Dack by the shoulders before flapping its wings and circling above the city.

From his vantage point, Dack looked at the concerned citizens, scanning their faces for a reaction to the Heatran. Most of them were surprised by the appearance of a second Legendary Pokémon, but none of them seemed to react suspiciously.

Back on the ground, Heatran's eyes narrowed as it lumbered toward its foe. Luke's Machoke had already charged forward, ready to strike Groudon with a DynamicPunch. The Continent Pokémon roared as it kicked the Machoke aside and continued its rampage of destruction.
 
At that moment, a purplish blur screamed past Dack and Swellow, knocking them off course with a sonic burst. "What the-?!" Dack cried, whirling around to try and get a glimpse of the attacker. A Noivern grinned wickedly at the trainer and Pokémon before launching a Razor Wind at them. As Dack and Swellow spiraled out of control, they noticed a similar situation unfolding on the ground...
 
On the ground, Laurel, Meadow, and Amethyst found that their Magical Leaves had been been incinerated by a sudden nimbus of fire. Similarly, Gerri's Hydro Pump, Dune's DragonBreath, and Torrent's Ice Beam were knocked off course by a series of Thunderbolts. The rest of the attacks managed to hit Groudon, causing the Continent Pokémon to stomp his foot on the ground, creating a massive tremor.
 
The tremor did nothing to deter the Rapidash that was suddenly galloping toward the group of trainers, nor the Gardevoir riding elegantly on its back. With a fierce cry, the Rapidash leapt into the air with Bounce, intending to come down on Blade. At the apex of the jump, the Gardevoir teleported to the ground, firing a Thunderbolt at Gerri.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach looked over, noticing that Madison seemed as if she were staring off into space. Zach realized she hadn't actually responded to what Olivia had said, and his eyes widened, as he shook his head.

None of my business. Zach thought, as he scanned the battlefield, looking for a proper opening... However, at that moment, he noticed the new arrivals, and smiled. Looks like we get to have fun after all... Zach thought, as he gripped the Pokeballs of Ren, Heather, and Luke, and tossed them out to the field as well.

"Right then... Blade, you know what to do; Katie, focus fire on that Gardevoir, Ren, Thunder Fang the Rapidash when it decides to land, Heather, Luke, wait for the right moment." Zach said, as he wasn't willing to use his full abilities... But, aside from his Raikou, everything else was fair game.

 

Blade waited until the last minute, and then backflipped out of the way. Waiting for the proper moment, Blade formed a fist, and then quickly aimed a Close Combat right at the Rapidash's body, even as Ren waited nearby for the Rapidash to land.

Heather and Luke waited nearby, as Katie summoned a Night Daze, and flung it at the Gardevoir; not necessarily to stop the attack, but to land a hit while the Gardevoir was distracted.

Meanwhile, Smugleaf just fired off another Leaf Tornado, along with Cyndy's swift; more to distract the giant Pokemon, however, as Elsa sped across the battlefield, and attempted to make her way to the Groudon and launch off a chain Blizzard and Ice Shard attack, hoping to maybe freeze its legs in the process.

[Parugi]

IC - Sonja Baron - The Alamo, Courtyard:

 

"Thanks, but it's not really a matter of getting in touch with them," Sonja said, holding up her own Pokétch. "I already have Evan's number, after all. The problem is that this isn't something that should be addressed indirectly--we have a hard enough time communicating effectively in person, let alone over text or phone call." She shook her wrist, letting the watch-like device slip back under her sleeve. "No, we need Evan and Jenny to come back so that we can all sit down and figure out what's going on, but unless they're done with whatever they set out to do, I don't see that happening anytime soon."

 

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

All three siblings looked over in surprise at the Pokemon that had emerged from seemingly nowhere. Clearly, something didn't want them stopping the Groudon....

 

"Oh come on!" Aspen yelled indignantly, since his idea was both ignored and made completely useless. "Argh, guys... Do.. Something!"

Torrent paused in his assault on the Groudon, turning around to fire a Water Gun at the Rapidash before it landed, resuming his Ice Beam barrage afterwards. Meadow saw the behemoth raise its foot, and scattered Toxic Spikes on the ground it stepped on, and fired yet another Magical Leaf. Flare narrowed his eyes at the Gardevoir and directed Willow to use Bug Buzz on her, while the Quilava fired off a Flamethrower. Aria charged up yet another Aura Sphere at the Groudon, using an ExtremeSpeed to get even closer to the beast. Meanwhile, as the Noivern admired his handiwork on Dack and Swellow, Jet fired forward with a cry, aiming to strike the Noivern with an Aerial Ace and follow up with a Crush Claw. The Braviary had longed to enter the fray, and feel the rush of battle.... And now he could.

 

Dahlia finally looked away from the Absol's previous location and gasped at the new arrivals. "Gerri, watch out! Others.... Do what you can!"

Laurel frowned, but it appeared the new fighters were now preoccupied, and so launched more Magical Leaves. Coco was slammed back by the Groudon's stomp, but got up and once more attempted to use Ice Punch. Dracos was similarly knocked away, but used another Dragon Dance and followed up with a Dragon Rush. Gerri's eyes widened and she launched to the side with a Quick Attack, firing a Signal Beam in response.

 

Olivia scowled when she saw the three Pokemon arrive to act as obstacles. "Alright, don't let up on that Groudon, but make sure these newcomers feel very unwelcome!"

Shade got up after the shockwave hit him back, using another Icy Wind in attempt to slow down the hulking monster as much as possible, also dashing forward for an Ice Punch. Amethyst leered at the other Gardevoir, charging up and firing a Hypnosis behind it. Toxin quickly leaped to his feet, examining the newcomers, firing a Mud Bomb at the Rapidash and attempting to get closer to the Gardevoir. Dune fired yet another Dragon Breath, only this time aimed at the Noivern, before firing a Rock Slide at the Rapidash.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Dack/Groudon
As Groudon brought its foot down, Smugleaf's Leaf Tornado combined with Elsa's Blizzard and Shade's Icy Wind blew Meadow's Toxic Spikes away. However, the icy attacks, along with Torrent's Ice Beam and Coco's Ice Punch were enough to freeze one of the monstrous Legendary Pokémon's legs. This left him unable to avoid the Swift or Magical Leaf attacks, but he managed to get a claw up in time to block Dracos' Dragon Rush. The colossus then uprooted another building, swinging it at the small army of Pokémon who had gotten too close to him.
 
Rapidash was struck by Blade's Close Combat as soon as it landed, but it was fast enough to avoid the other attacks, dashing toward Torrent with a lightning-fast Wild Charge. The Gardevoir did not see Katie's Night Daze. However, she saw Gerri's Signal Beam and that was enough to make her teleport out of the line of fire. She would have been safe from all of the attacks, but little Willow was determined to land an attack. Turning to face her opponent, Willow redirected her Bug Buzz at the Gardevoir's new location, sending the Emotion Pokémon reeling from the surprise attack. As the Gardevoir fell to one knee, she noticed Toxin attempting to draw closer, and fired off a Psychic blast to defend herself.
 
Up in the skies, the Noivern was taken by surprise by Jet's Aerial Ace and quickly found himself crushed by the Braviary's sharp talons. However, this placed Jet in close enough proximity that when the Noivern used Boomburst point-blank, the explosion of sound waves was devastating. Even though they were several feet back (and falling), Dack and Swellow still had the wind knocked out of them by the sonic attack. They could only imagine how much the Braviary's ears must have been ringing. The Noivern used the distraction to escape from Jet's grip, leaving the Braviary to deal with the Dragon Breath that Dune had fired in their direction. Instead, the Noivern screamed toward Dack again, sending Supersonic waves ahead of him to try and confuse his foe. As such, Dack and Swellow had no chance to recover and continued to fall toward the ground.

Ellen looked around at the three Pokémon that had suddenly appeared and backed up into a corner. "Are they seriously trying to defend Groudon?" she asked herself. "Why would those Pokémon try and do such a thing?" She looked up past the Noivern at the cloudless sky, recalling what Ryan had once told her about the Hoenn Legends. "Groudon intensifies the sun, right?" she said. "If someone could use Rain Dance or something, we might be able to put it at a disadvantage."

"Great idea, Ellen," Madison said with a smile. "Anzu, use Hail!" The Froslass raised her arms as dark clouds formed in the sky, blotting out the bright sun. Hailstones began to fall, pelting Groudon as well as everyone fighting the Legendary.

Besides the already partially-frozen Groudon, the ones who suffered the most from the sudden change in weather were Jet, Swellow, and the Noivern. Dack cried out as a hailstone collided with his head, but the hail provided enough cover for him and Swellow to escape the Noivern's attention enough to recover their flight before they crashed into the ground.

But despite the trouble it caused Dack, it did not escape notice that Groudon was now distracted by the hailstones, ignoring the army of Pokémon as he swatted at some of the larger ice chunks that were headed for his armored body.

"Right, hail," Ellen said, raising an arm to shield herself from the ice pellets. "I was thinking more something along the lines of Rain Dance, but this works too."

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

"I-I'm not sure...." Dahlia muttered in response to Ellen. "Probably whoever was behind this...." she realized, as Dack had asked if any of them saw a suspicious man. At that moment though, the hail began to fall, causing Dahlia to grip her sunhat in surprise. However, she saw the Groudon uproot a building and looked on in horror at the Pokemon in the line of fire.

Gerri dodged a large hail chunk panickingly, desperately trying to get off another Signal Beam at the Gardevoir. Laurel also ran back after firing off another Magical Leaf, completely confused by everything going on.

 

"Doesn't matter who sent 'em, we still gotta take out that Groudon!" Olivia declared, lifting an arm above her head to deflect the hail. "And if they wanna stop us, bring it on!"

Amethyst frowned as the other Gardevoir teleported away, deciding to follow suit, appearing off to her side as the Psychic blast was fired, ready to act at any moment. Toxin ducked underneath the attack sent at him, and glared at the Gardevoir before leaping forward with a lightning-fast Sucker Punch. Dune frowned at the Rapidash and started up a Sand Tomb underneath it as it ran towards Torrent, trapping it.

 

"I guess we agree there..." muttered Aspen, who looked up and sidestepped a particularly large chunk of hail. "Watch the friendly fire!"

Meadow turned to face the Rapidash trapped in a whirlwind of sand, and tossed another batch of Toxic Spikes in, the double trap hopefully working before turning back and firing another Magical Leaf. Torrent prepared to leap away until the Rapidash was trapped, and instead fired another Water Gun at the fire horse. Jet, through a multitude of factors, was sent spiraling downwards. The ringing in his head was disorienting, but soon the overwhelming pain flooded everything else out. Such pain was what the Braviary lived for, and after snapping his eyes open, Jet found the Noivern still flying around. A red tint in his vision, he used Tailwind to launch himself back up to the Noivern, slamming it in the back with another Aerial Ace with a triumphant screech, only this time his follow up was far more brutal, repeatedly using Crush Claw to slash the Noivern over and over, and using his sharp beak to peck and bite it, especially aiming for the ears, the ears that had fired the Boomburst responsible for the continuous, maddening ringing in his ears.

 

Aria saw the Groudon swing the building at the small armada gathered at its feet. Using an ExtremeSpeed backwards, Aria once more used Psychic, this time gripping the behemoth's arm, slowing down the building's velocity considerably. Dracos quickly slithered near Aria, giving a warning cry to tell the Pokemon gathered to gather around him. Shade shot back with an Agility after quickly using another Icy Wind, Coco used Bounce to retreat, and Flare grabbed a flabbergasted Willow, Quick Attacking next to Dracos. With all the Pokemon around him, the Dragonair used Safeguard, Aria letting go of the Groudon's arm. A barrier around all the Pokemon then shielded them from the building swung, the dust from the impact quickly clearing....

Edited August 27, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach looked over in surprise at the building, and then guarded himself, though the hailstones never seemed to hit him anyway.

"Okay, that might help, and that heavy sun shouldn't activate again even when the Hail finishes, hopefully..." Zach mumbled, as he concentrated, and looked over. "Now, Luke, help out!" Zach called out, as the Lucario sped forward toward the Rapidash with Extremespeed, as he jumped up, over the sand tornado, and charged up an Aura Sphere, which he launched down into the eye of the storm... Where the Rapidash was.

That seemingly dealt with, Zach scanned the battlefield, and thought for a moment. "Katie, Extrasensory, Night Daze!, Heather, help out!" Zach called out, as the Zoroark tried to mess with the Gardevoir's mental senses, even as Katie quickly moved forward, attempting to fire off another Night Daze at the Gardevoir's back, before it could teleport again. As for the Pikachu, she quickly used Agility, and sped toward the Gardevoir from the front; zig-zagging at random intervals,a stream of electricity flowing behind her, as she tried to slam into the Gardevoir with a Volt Tackle.

As for Blade, he stayed back for the moment and fired off Magical Leaves at the Groudon, and then looked over at Ren, as the Luxray just sat patiently... And Blade got a mischievous smile on his face. A few moments later, and a few rounds of a Gallade swinging a Luxray around, Ren found himself flying through the air with the greatest of ease toward the Noivern, wondering how he got himself into these messes all the time.

Elsa, meanwhile, quickly grabbed the Servine next to her, and dashed back to where the safeguard was forming with Quick Attack. Elsa, trying to help, also attempted to freeze the air outside the barrier, to try and at least pad the impact of the incoming building.

[Konuju]

IC: Ellen/Dack/Groudon
As the hail fell upon the city, Rugissement exited his mansion with a look of outrage. "How dare this monstrosity attack my home!" the Kalos noble bellowed in a deep voice that echoed across the rocky city. Behind him floated a silent Aegislash, bearing the Rugissement family crest on its shield. The Royal Sword Pokémon used Protect, forming a bubble around the entire mansion. The hailstones bounced harmlessly off the protective barrier, leaving Rugissement's home unscathed. "Ha!" the nobleman cried. "That'll teach you to attack the Noble House of Rugissement! I've learned since those Darkrai attacked. You will not harm my home -- not while I'm still standing!"
 
The lightning-fast Rapidash was halted in its tracks by the Sand Tomb. With a whinny, the Rapidash used Inferno to dispel the sudden sandstorm. This did nothing to stop the Toxic Spikes, however, and several of the sharp spikes became lodged in the fire horse's hooves. Torrent's Water Gun blasted a hole in the inferno, but the Rapidash's attack was enough for it to escape, resuming its Wild Charge at the Buizel. Luke's Aura Sphere barely grazed it, only serving to spur it on faster.
 
Katie's Extrasensory stalled the Gardevoir long enough for Toxin's Sucker Punch and Heather's Volt Tackle to collide. Gasping for breath, the Gardevoir shot a Shadow Ball at Amethyst before teleporting into an adjacent street to catch her breath. Gerri's Signal Beam and Katie's Night Daze were too slow, passing through where the Gardevoir had been just a moment before, instead flying toward Amethyst, Toxin, and Heather.
 
The Noivern screamed as Jet made his ferocious attack. Supersonics and Boombursts flew in every which direction, demolishing streets and buildings and chunks of rock. "This is ridiculous!" Dack cried as he watched the battle unfold. "Someone has to stop that those two before they destroy the whole city by themselves!" Dack blinked as he saw a Luxray go soaring through the air, fangs crackling with frosty ice.... only to stop short several feet below the Noivern and Braviary and fall down into the lake at the center of the city with a splash. "If you want something done right," Dack muttered, "you have to do it yourself. Swellow, use Agility, then separate those two with a Wing Attack!" Doing his best to dodge the falling hail, Swellow darted through the skies, then clapped his wings together to create a burst of air that shot right between the Noivern and Braviary.
 
Duo, Artemis and Maturin were far enough away that they weren't affected by the Groudon wielding a building like a sword, but they were too preoccupied with the falling hail to do much else. Terry darted behind Dracos' shield, barking for Chrono to do the same. The Purrloin, however, saw the opportunity to rush up to the Groudon and attack with Slash -- the attack had the same effect as a small paper cut against the Continent Pokémon's tough armor.
 
Groudon's arm froze as Aria held it in place. This meant that the large building the colossal Pokémon held in its hand remained at the perfect angle to block the two Magical Leaf attacks. With a roar of fury, Groudon dropped the building, sending it crashing down against the Safeguard shield. The building splintered as it struck the barrier with enough force to send the Pokémon inside flying, but keeping them safe from harm. Chrono was not so lucky, as Groudon kicked out a foot, sending the Purrloin sprawling against the rocks, all but unconscious.

 

Dack's Servine and Bastiodon were about to launch another attack at the Groudon when Heatran lumbered toward his fellow Legendary Pokémon. When he was close enough, the Lava Dome Pokémon let out a series of barks directed toward Groudon.

"What's up with Lava Face?" Luke asked with a snicker. "I hope his bite is better than his bark, because this is pretty bad."

"He seems to be trying to talk to Groudon," Palmer said, scratching his chin with interest.

"I think Heatran's telling Groudon to stand down, that he doesn't have to attack Sootopolis like this," Ellen said, eyes glued on the two Legendaries. "And... Groudon doesn't seem to like that idea."

No sooner had Ellen spoken than Groudon broke free of Aria's hold and uprooted another building, moving to slam it down on Heatran. With surprising speed, Heatran lowered its head and rammed Groudon square in the chest with Iron Head. The colossal Pokémon gave a mighty roar and grabbed its opponent in one hand, hurling the Lava Dome Pokémon across the city.

Heatran sailed through the hail-strewn sky before landing with a crash in the side of the mountain that surrounded Sootopolis.

"Well, so much for that idea," Luke shook his head with a shrug.

 

Ellen turned her attention back to the Rapidash and Gardevoir the others were currently fighting. "Duo, Artemis, Maturin, see if you can't--"

Just then, a small, ragged-looking Eevee darted across the street, doing its best to avoid getting pelted by hail. It paid no heed to the group of trainers as it dashed into an old, abandoned building. Ellen paused mid-sentence as she looked at the foxlike Pokémon, feeling a sudden sympathy for the tired and scared-looking Eevee. At that moment, Groudon, fed up with the futile resistance, gave another roar and chucked the side of a building at the opposing trainers. The rubble missed the trainers, but struck the rickety building the Eevee had just run into, causing part of the roof to collapse.

"Oh, no!" Ellen cried, rushing off toward the building. "That Eevee's in danger!"

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

"Hm..." Ray nodded, as he thought about it for a minute or two. "Well... I mean, I guess if we call, we could ask about that? I mean, they never really said why they were headed off, so we can't really be blamed for asking, right...?" Ray said, as he scratched his head.

 

Sonja was silent for a moment. "I guess."

 

Ray seemed a bit unsure, and his face probably betrayed that as he did so. "I-I mean, it's your choice, but... I just figured it might help out with getting some answers and such..." Ray said, and then paused as Sonja responded again.

 

"Go ahead and make the call if you think it's worth it." Ray rubbed his arm, as he scratched his head. He admittedly wasn't sure either, but... After a few seconds, Ray selected the contact for Jenny, and then called her.

 

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach just blinked, as he saw the Luxray just crash into the water. Zach sighed, as he slapped a palm to his face, and then recalled the pathetically wading Luxray. Zach frowned slightly, as this meant he was down to... seven Pokemon.

... I really need to box some of these, huh? Zach thought to himself, as he put Ren's Pokeball back into his bag for the moment, and thought, as Elsa carried over Smugleaf, who, once again, was fainted from the force of landing, and one of the stray attacks, as well as the hail damage that was building up. Zach sighed, and recalled the Servine for the millionth time, as Elsa turned around, and looked at the Groudon with a frown. Zach, however, scanned the area instead.

"Elsa, can you help out up in the sky?" Zach asked, as the Weavile looked up, and then shook her head, since the combatants were too close together. Zach sighed again, as he shook his head. "Keep trying to do something to that Groudon, then, but try to be careful and keep a distance." Zach instructed, as the Weavile nodded, and sped off, attempting to to send another few Ice Shards the Groudon's way, this time more from a distance.

Meanwhile, Heather sent off a Thunderbolt toward the opposing Gardevoir, however, before any of the friendly fire attacks could hit, Heather felt someone grab her and teleport away, and once they finished teleporting, Heather looked up and saw it was Amethyst, and that Toxin had been grabbed too. Meanwhile, Katie scowled at the opposing Gardevoir, really not pleased with what it was trying to do, and the Zoroark ran toward the Gardevoir, and then feinted one way, and then slammed her paw out toward the Gardevoir in a Feint Attack, as she made sure to keep an eye on the Gardevoir's eyes... That would be a sure-tell sign of where the Gardevoir would try to go next, Katie had found.

Blade and Luke were about to attack with Close Combat and Force Palm respectively, when they heard a noise behind them. The two jumped to either side, when a rolling Pokemon aimed to strike out at the Rapidash quickly; Cyndy had rolled away toward the Rapidash when the Groudon had first started its building-sword stuff, and now was spinning rapidly, trying to hit said Rapidash first. Luke frowned, as he considered something, and waited to see how that attack went; as Blade quickly spun around for a Swords Dance, preparing himself in case things didn't go as planned.

Edited July 7, 2015 by An/A Blade

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Dahlia watched closely as Dracos and Aria worked together to stop the Pokemon gathered at the Groudon's feet from being crushed by the building-sword. While the impact still sent everyone flying, she was relieved that no one was actually harmed. Turning her head, Dahlia saw a mansion off in the distance with a barrier surrounded by it. "Oh?" she said curiously. "Maybe there's someone whose setting up a refuge from the attack...?"
Laurel was thankfully out of range of the building, and breathed a sigh of relief, firing off even more Magical Leaves at the Groudon, hoping it was distracted enough to be struck. Gerri turned once more to face the Gardevoir, exasperated at its teleporting. Not learning from experience, she fired off yet another Signal Beam.

 

Looking over at the house that Dahlia saw, Olivia frowned. "Hmm.... I-I don't know.... Something tells me that isn't the case...." she replied to Dahlia, before a particularly large chunk of hail fell right next to her feet. Olivia blinked at that, thinking about how lucky she just got there. 

Amethyst made sure the other Gardevoir did not try her teleporting again by quickly extending a psychic grip on her, trying to make it so the attacks fired off would land. If she could, Amethyst would also cause the other Gardevoir to crumple onto her knees. Dune flew up some more to get an even better vantage point of the Rapidash. Once he found it, Dune fired off another Rock Slide, trying to time it so that the attack would strike due to running into it. Toxin hurled a Sludge Bomb from his position at the Gardevoir as well, hoping she would go down soon.

 

Aspen scanned the battlefield, glad that it seemed the Pokemon were handling themselves alright. When Ellen mentioned something about an Eevee, he turned his head. "Huh? An Eevee?" he asked, only to see Ellen running inside the building. "Wait!" Aspen cried, running after her into the building. He may not have known her parents, but he was sure they would never forgive him if their baby girl was harmed..... 

Torrent stared down the Rapidash with a confident grin, jumping away at the last moment. However, that was a moment to late and his arm was grazed by the crackling electricity, causing the Buizel to fall to the ground, slowly getting up, injured but not out, firing a Water Gun at the Rapidash. Meadow, satisfied with catching the Rapidash with the Toxic Spike, turned back to the Groudon and used Magical Leaf again, refusing to yield at all, despite the impossible odds. Jet was still tearing away at the Noivern until Dack's Swellow separated the two. Preventing Jet from fighting caused him to once more go into a blind rage and screech, summoning yet another Tailwind to buffet both the Noivern and Swellow, Jet quickly rushing down at the former to resume his assault, planning to later show the latter that preventing him from fighting was the wrong thing to do.

 

Dracos managed to hold out for a little bit after being sent flying, all the Pokemon inside the Safeguard shield bouncing around. After a short while though, the barrier dispersed and everyone was sent flying into a different direction. Willow slammed to the ground hard, dazed and vulnerable. Flare quickly leaped to his feet and stood next to the Nincada, looking out to see Chrono collapsed on the ground as well. With a bark, the Quilava attempted to signal Terry's attention that his teammate was down. Shade got up off the ground with a grunt, looking back at the behemoth. Extending an arm, the Sneasel repeatedly used Icy Wind on the Groudon's other leg, in attempt to freeze that one as well. Aria slammed to the ground, getting up with a groan. Seeing that the building had been splintered, the Lucario got an idea and repeatedly fired Aura Spheres to break it up into somewhat smaller chunks. "Cover me!" she said to Dracos, who slithered over next to Aria. Coco landed on her feet, shaking her head to get rid of the dizziness from being sent flying. The Buneary looked over at Aria curiously, hopping over to see what was planned.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Konuju]

IC: Dack/Groudon/Rugissement
"Let us in!"
 
Upon seeing the barrier that had appeared around Rugissement's mansion, the terrified denizens of Sootopolis banged on the courtyard walls, demanding refuge. Rugissement laughed boisterously. "I'm sorry folks," the Kalos noble replied. "But I'm afraid it's every man for himself. My Aegislash can't let down his shield now, or my entire mansion could be destroyed!"
 
Those who were close enough to hear Rugissement's refusal clamored in anger, pounding harder on the walls. Those who hadn't heard noticed the riot starting and, realizing what had happened, joined in the crowd of angry townsfolk. "I never liked that man anyway!" one business man cried. "How can he be so cruel?" another asked. "If we survive this, once this is over, I will personally burn that mansion to the ground!" a furious fisherman declared.
 
Torrent's Water Gun pushed the Rapidash into the oncoming Rock Slide. With a sharp whinny, the fiery horse veered to the left, managing to avoid most of the rocks, but still coming out battered and bruised. However, this provided a formidable barrier of rocks between the Rapidash and the rolling Cyndy. This slowed the Typhlosion down enough for the Rapidash to jump out of the way, firing a Flamethrower and Meadow and Laurel from above.
 
The Gardevoir ducked under the Thunderbolt and Signal Beam, but the Feint Attack struck her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. At that moment, the Gardevoir found herself unable to avoid the oncoming Sludge Bomb thanks to Amethyst's Psychic grip. The Gardevoir's eyes narrowed before she fired off a Thunderbolt at Gerri and then snatched both Amethyst and Toxin in a Psychic vice grip. Her eyes started to glow as her grip tightened, hoping to do at least do super effective damage to the Toxicroak.
 
"This is ridiculous!" Dack cried as Jet resumed his attack. The Noivern seemed to agree, as the flying dragon fired off a combined Dragon Pulse and Boomburst, striking both Jet and Swellow, before summoning a Tailwind to retreat up into the clouds that had appeared with the hailstorm. "After it!" Dack cried as Swellow followed in pursuit, hoping to reach the Noivern and knock it out before Jet could make things worse.
 
Terry wearily picked himself up from the pile of rubble he had fallen into. Upon hearing Flare's bark, the Herdier looked and saw Chrono lying motionless amongst the rocks. Fearing the worst, Terry quickly dashed through the fallen debris, desperately trying to get to the Purrloin's side.

Heatran emerged from the side of a mountain with a look of pure rage. The Lava Dome Pokémon's body started to glow red-hot. Looking up toward the sky, it launched a combination of Lava Plume and Magma Storm into the dark clouds with a roar that rivaled that of Groudon.

The clouds glowed red and orange as droplets of lava rained down from them alongside Anzu's hailstorm. The people of Sootopolis grew even more panicked, for not only was the city's famous Legendary Pokémon attacking them, but the weather itself seemed to have turned on them. Fire and ice rained down from the sky, demolishing whatever hadn't already been damaged by Groudon.
 
IC: Ellen
Dust fell from the rafters as the abandoned building shook. Ellen raced through the failing structure as fast as she could, looking desperately for the Eevee she'd seen run inside. As she headed up the stairs, she saw the part of the building where the roof had collapsed.

A floorboard creaked as the Eevee slowly backed into the far corner of the room, half hidden in the shadows. Ellen knelt down so she was eye-level with the timid Pokémon. "It's okay," she said, trying her best to remain calm. "This building is dangerous, but I'll keep you safe."

The Eevee merely retreated further into the dark corner, looking at Ellen fearfully.

"Look, I can't help you if you won't let me—" Ellen was cut off as Heatran's Magma Storm started to fall through the hole in the roof. Ellen raised an arm to protect herself as one of the fiery meteors struck a support beam. The beam fell to the floor with a crash. When Ellen opened her eyes, she saw the Eevee struggling to get free of the support beam that was now pinning one of its hind legs to the ground. The flames from the meteor began to spread, slowly enveloping the room.

"Oh, no!" Ellen gasped, rushing toward the injured Pokémon. The Eevee swiped at her, missing her arm by a hair's breadth. "Hey, I'm just trying to help!" Ellen cried. Trying her best to ignore the spreading fire, she tried again to move closer to lift the support beam. But the Eevee swiped at her once more, insistent on keeping the young girl at bay.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: (James)

 

The walk to Liberty's medical center was short and, for James thankfully, with minimal contact with other people. The trend continued up until he reached the receptionists desk. Then he had to make contact with others. The first one was bearable, asking for directions to where a certain patient was. The second was far less so.

The second encounter happened as he was rounding a corner and came within five feet of a Breloom.

 

Officer Ross' Breloom.

 

James froze in his tracks when he saw that Breloom who turned on seeing him approach. The Breloom shot him a glare and began charging up a Focus Punch with his right hand before dissipating it on its own accord. It turned around and did not move again as James moved past it.

 

When James had passed it and around a corner and up a staircase, he finally released a held breath.

 

Less than a minute later he came to the door that separated him from the person he intended on speaking with. He cleared his throat before knocking on the door.

 

"Ms. Vert? Are you in?"
 

Edited August 28, 2014 by Claus Von Minun the 4th

[JiMing]

IC: The Seatons

 

Dahlia looked back at the mansion, faintly hearing shouting in the distance. "0h...." she muttered, realizing that the good man she had assumed was providing shelter for the Sootopolisians did not exist. Just as she wondered how Kiri was holding up, Heatran's lava fell from the sky, and all she could do was stare in silent horror.

Laurel stumbled away from the Rapidash, avoiding the brunt of the attack but still managing to get singed. Retreating further away, the Bellossom used Synthesis to heal back the damage. Gerri was nearly fried by the Thunderbolt, but Dune sped towards the electric attack and took it with no issue, flying away afterwards. Frusrrated with the Gardevoir, Gerri turned her sights towards a target she had a much better chance of striking, firing off a Hydro Pump at the Groudon.

 

Olivia looked around consufesedly, after having wondered why hail seemed to be missing her so much lately. "Anyone see Ellen or Aspen?" she asked, before lava crashed from the sky. "Nevermind, we've got molten rock raining from the sky apparently.."

Toxin endured massive damage from the four times weakness, refusing to faint in a situation like this. Amethyst struggled against the grip, until her eyes glowed purple, grabbing the other Gardevoir in her own mental iron grip. It would be a struggle to see whose grip would win out.... Though Dune, after blocking the Thunderbolt, sped towards the Gardevoir and attempted to strike her from behind with a Feint Attack of his own. If the attack loosened the psychic grip on Amethyst and Toxin, the former would teleport them both to the side of the other Gardevoir and fire off a Hypnosis, while the latter would dash forward with a Drain Punch.

 

Meadow gracefully leaped back, firing a Venoshock at the Rapidash, who was hopefully poisoned by the Toxic Spikes. Torrent gritted his teeth and lept forward with an Aqua Jet, speeding towards the side of the Rapidash. Jet once more spiraled down in the sky, struggling to stay airborne. Finally snapping his eyes open, the Braviary could make out the shape of the Groudon's massive head not too far away. With a triumphant screech, Jet swerved forward with another Tailwind speeding him up and sent a Crush Claw at one of the behemoth's eyes, before shooting straight up, aiming for the clouds. Few of his kind could have claimed to have engaged a Legendary in combat, much less injure it....

 

Shade fired Icy Wind after Icy Wind, determined to freeze the Groudon's other leg solid. Out of the corner of his eyes, the Sneasel saw an object protruding out of the rubble nearby. Pausing, Shade slowly stepped backwards while still attacking with Icy Wind. Once Aria had broken the splintered building up further, the Lucario's eyes glowed blue while nearly a dozen building chunks rose off the ground. Aria sent them hurtling towards the Groudon, levitating another dozen building pieces afterwards. Realizing what the Lucario was planning, Coco jumped up onto the hovering building chunks, propelling herself towards the beast's other leg, aiming to strike it with an Ice Punch....

 

IC: Aspen Seaton

 

Rushing inside the unstable building, Aspen panicked as there was no sign of Ellen. However, a floorboard creaking above him prompted the boy to sprint up the stairs, just as the already rickety structure burst into flames after being struck with lava.

 

"Ellen!" Aspen cried after finally making it up the stairs. "What are you doing?! We need to get out of here!" he shouted with panic, only to see what was preoccupying the little girl. A tiny Eevee with matted fur was swiping at Ellen while pinned down by a pillar, with a fearful look in its eyes. Aspen paused for a moment, blinking at the stray Pokemon. Not only did the Eevee had no one to protect them in this crisis, but it was actively refusing aid out of some sort of phobic desire to avoid humans. What could have that Pokemon have gone through to be this terrified of those trying to help them...?

 

"....We all need to get out of here!" Aspen cried again, running towards the Eevee, avoiding flames popping up everywhere in the room. Putting his scarf over his mouth to avoid choking on the smoke, Aspen desperately looked for some way to aid the tattered Pokemon, who had begun to cough while smoke continued to fill the room...

Edited August 28, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach's eyes widened as the lava was added to the mix.

"Oh come on..." Zach muttered, as he quickly grabbed for Olivia's hand, and then looked around quickly for somewhere they could hide for shelter from the Magma Storm. However, as he looked around in a panic; he couldn't see anything.

"Zach... Are you forgetting something?" A voice caught Zach's attention, and he quickly reached down to his belt, and grabbed Raikou's Pokeball. "I can help, in more ways than one... Send me out, now, or this might be too late." Zach nodded, as he sent out the golden Raikou, who roared out, as he created a wide Reflect over the group still present, right as a rather large Magma Storm particle struck the area that was now occupied by the Reflect, disintegrating the particle instantly.

 

"Hmm... But, now what, then...?" Zach thought out loud, as the Raikou scanned the field.

"Now... It's my turn. You must stop forgetting the movesets of your Pokemon, Zach." The Raikou replied, as it took off at near mach speed, jumping up with Extremespeed, as it landed on the Groudon's arm gracefully, and breathed in, using the opportunity granted by the hail, to fire off a rather point-blank Ice-Typed Weather Ball at the behemoth. After that attack, however, it quickly jumped off, and then dashed back, having seen the Groudon's fighting style while on the sidelines. After all, the Raikou was fast, but not invulnerable... However, the weather currently granted it an advantage, even if it was diverting about a quarter of its power constantly to maintaining the reflect that protected the main group.

As Raikou was dealing with that, though, Zach recalled Olivia's question, and then frowned, and looked around quickly.

"Hm..." Zach said, as he continued to scan the surroundings. "No, I thought I heard something about an Eevee, but then I got distracted by the fighting... Where could they be...?" Zach wondered, not having a good feeling about that.

 

Meanwhile, Blade waited for the attacks on the Rapidash to conclude, and then dashed toward it, attempting to unleash another powerful Close Combat on the fiery horse as it either dodged Torrent's attack, or as it was knocked back by the Aqua Jet. Cyndy, once again, stayed back, since her Rollout had failed, and Luke simply watched, trying to figure out a way to hit this constantly moving foe. However, the Lucario suddenly paused, and closed his eyes, as he slowly charged up an Aura Sphere, waiting for the proper moment before firing it off at the Rapidash's feet, attempting to ground it for a moment.

Meanwhile, Katie smiled. The Gardevoir apparently was focused on Am and Toxin, so the Zoroark reached back, and then slashed upwards quickly with her claws in a Night Slash, aiming to knock the Gardevoir back into Dune's attack, as she noticed the Vibrava approaching rapidly. Smiling, Katie attempted to continue slashing out with Night Slash, if Dune kept up the rhythm.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Colette Llyan

[Konuju]

IC: Kiri
Kiri found herself jostled back and forth by the crowd that had formed by the Sootopolis Pokémon Center. Hundreds of people were trying to get to the Center to seek help for their Pokémon that had been injured in the quake that had heralded Groudon's appearance. Nurse Joy was shouting as loud as she could that the Center had to be evacuated. Chansey and Blissey were running every which way with medical carts to help those who had been most severely injured. But if the tremors caused the Pokémon Center to collapse while everyone was inside, the result would be catastrophic.
 
As magma started to pour from the sky, Kiri shuddered. This battle between Groudon and Heatran had dredged up fearful memories of a time long ago. Suddenly she spotted a young girl, no older than five, standing at the edge of a cliff, eyes wide as they took in the battle unfolding. "Are you alright?" Kiri asked the young girl, kneeling down next to her.
 
"A big Pokémon is fighting with another big Pokémon!" the girl squeaked in a small voice. "Please, someone make them stop!"
 
Tears started to run down the little girl's face as Kiri pulled her into a comforting embrace. "It's going to be alright," she whispered. "My nieces and nephew and their friends are doing their best to end the fighting. It'll all be over soon." Picking up the small child, Kiri carried her under a tall tree, hoping they would be safe from the hail and magma raining down on them. "Let me tell you a story," Kiri whispered softly. "Long ago, I was around your age, and a similar situation happened. Two big, scary Pokémon fighting each other right in this city. I was just as scared as you are now. But you know what happened next? A pretty Pokémon came down from the sky... and it stopped the fighting. It was the most beautiful Pokémon I've ever seen in my life."
 
"Do you think that's going to happen this time?" the child asked.
 
"I don't know," Kiri admitted. "But just the memory of that pretty Pokémon gives me hope."
 
IC: Madison/Luke/Palmer/Groudon
Luke shoved Madison out of the way of a particularly large chunk of magma. "Alright, maybe Heatran was a bad idea," the black belt admitted.
 
"Did you see where Dack went?" Madison asked. "He's the one who has Heatran's Ultra Ball; he's the one who can recall it."
 
"He's up in the sky somewhere." Luke shook his head as he and Madison ran under the Raikou's Reflect shield. "This is turning out to be worse than Snowpoint..."
 
"Anzu, can you do anything to stop the hail?" Madison asked. The Frosslass shook her head. Her ability allowed her to summon hail, but she could do nothing to take it away. In Madison's arms, Teddy cooed worriedly.
 
"We can't do anything about Heatran now," Palmer said, the Frontier Brain sending out his Rhyperior. "We need to focus our efforts on the Groudon. Rhyperior, Rock Wrecker!" The Rhyperior roared as it launched chunks of rock at the colossal Pokémon that stood before it. Up in the air, Palmer's Dragonite struck at the Groudon with Iron Tail.
 
Groudon was having a bad day. A very bad day. Not only was a Lucario throwing chunks of a building at it, along with the Rhyperior's chunks of rock and the Dragonite's powerful tail, but a vicious Braviary had just Crush Clawed its eye. The Continent Pokémon swiped at the bird, but Jet had already soared out of the way, disappearing into the clouds. With a monstrous Roar, Groudon caught a chunk of the building Aria was throwing at him and tossed it in the direction where Jet had disappeared. Then a Raikou landed on his arm, firing a point-blank Weather Ball at him. Groudon leaned forward to bite the Legendary Beast with its sharp teeth, but the Beast had disappeared as quickly as it came. Just then a Hydro Pump hit Groudon in its non-frozen leg, just before a Buneary struck that same leg with Ice Punch, freezing it solid. The ice was held there by the Sneasel's constant Icy Winds.
 
For a brief moment, Groudon found himself unable to move. Then the magma falling from the sky melted the ice coating on both legs, leaving the Groudon free to resume its rampage. The behemoth raised a foot, threatening to flatten the Buneary. The foot was also positioned so that when it came down, the tremor would mainly target the area around the Raikou and the trainers standing near it.
 
Terry nudged the unmoving Chrono, a worried look on the Herdier's face. Putting their differences aside, Terry carefully picked up the Purrloin and carried him back to where the group of trainers stood. It was slow going, and more often than not Terry was unable to avoid the hailstones and magma stones pouring from the sky. But as the Herdier approached the other trainers, he suddenly realized that Ellen was not with them. Barking to gain their attention, he tried to question where his trainer had disappeared to.
 
The Rapidash outran Meadow's Venoshock, and it managed to kick Blade in the chest with its powerful hooves before Torrent's Aqua Jet struck it, bringing it to its knees, where it was left wide open for Luke's Aura Sphere. Panting as it picked itself up, the Rapidash fixed its gaze on Meadow, lowering its head to strike with Megahorn.
 
Katie's unsuspecting Night Slash struck the Gardevoir in the side, knocking her into Dune's attack. This loosened her grip on Amethyst enough for Olivia's Gardevoir to teleport, firing a hypnosis. However, the act of teleporting loosened Amethyst's own grip enough that the enemy Gardevoir made her own teleport -- but not before Toxin struck with Drain Punch. Sapped of most of her strength, the Gardevoir vanished from sight.
 
She reappeared on a rooftop a few blocks away from where she had been fighting. Gasping for breath, she uttered a Wish, hoping to recover some of her strength. Things are not going as planned, the Gardevoir thought to herself.
 
IC: Dack
Dack and Swellow soared into the dark clouds, hot in pursuit of the Noivern. Below them, the clouds started to glow red, but Dack couldn't imagine why. He didn't care why. All that mattered was catching up to the Noivern and taking it down before the vicious Braviary could make things worse. He squinted through the dark clouds, but try as he might, he couldn't see more than a few feet ahead of him.
 
A purple blur screamed past them, firing another Boomburst and then disappearing before Dack or Swellow could react. "Did you see where it went?" Dack asked.
 
Swellow turned in the direction where the blur had disappeared, only to have the Noivern come at them from above, still screaming in that high-frequency blast. Before Swellow could even turn around, Noivern came in for a third attack, this time from behind. Then a fourth attack, this one paired with a Supersonic aimed to confuse the pair.
 
"It's too fast!" Dack growled. "And we can't see a darn thing in these clouds. Swellow, we're going to have to go up!" Fighting the effects of the Supersonic, Swellow struggled to beat its wings, aiming for the skies above the clouds. Dack shielded his eyes against the shockingly bright sun as they passed through the cloud cover.
 
The Noivern was right behind them, a screaming purple blur as it fired a Razor Wind in their direction. Swellow tried to fly toward the purple dragon as it paused to fire off the attack, but the headwind was so powerful that they couldn't even get close.
 
"It's been using Tailwind!" Dack realized. "There's no telling how fast it could be now! Swellow, use Agility, then try to circle around and try to hit it with a Quick Attack!"
 
Dack's and Swellow's ears rang as the Noivern fired off yet another Boomburst before vanishing back into the stormy clouds. Being a sound-based Pokémon, the Noivern did not have to see its enemies to know where they were. Sadly, the same could not be said for Dack and his Swellow.
 
IC: Ellen
Ellen started to cough as smoke filled the room. Putting a hand to her mouth, she looked around the room. She quickly spotted a large chunk of wood that had fallen from the roof. Grabbing it, she ran back to the Eevee. "I'll use this to pry up the support beam!" she told Aspen. "You get the Eevee!" Lodging the wood chunk below the heavy beam, making sure to stay far enough away that the Eevee couldn't swipe at her, Ellen put all of her weight on piece of wood.
 
The chunk splintered with a resounding crack.
 
Tossing aside the useless piece of wood, Ellen looked around for something a little more durable. Then she spotted the metal railing that lined the stairs. Running toward the stairs, she desperately kicked at one of the bars, hoping it would come loose. Just then, a fireball rained down through the hole in the roof, crashing into the railing. Ellen stumbled backward from the blast, landing hard on the floor next to Aspen.
 
Stars popped in front of her eyes, although Ellen couldn't tell if they were from the fall or the smoke. Lungs burning, the girl desperately ran toward the pile of rubble that used to be the railing and pulled out a large, crooked bar. Racing back to Aspen and the Eevee, Ellen placed the bar under the support beam, struggling to lift it enough for Aspen to grab the Eevee.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach looked over, as he saw Terry barking as the Herdier. Zach couldn't understand a word of what Terry was trying to say, though.

"What's that, Terry? Someone's stuck in the middle of the city?" Zach asked, as he tilted his head, but then paused, as he realized the Herdier was looking at the group inquisitively.

Oh... He's probably wondering where Ellen went... Zach thought, as he sighed, and shrugged in response.

"Her and Aspen vanished... We're not quite sure where she vanished to..." Zach mumbled, as he looked around.

"We should look for them, though, because it's very weird that they're not back yet..." Zach said, a frown on his face, as he looked back and noticed the Groudon lifting its foot up.

 

The shiny Raikou noticed too, and then took off with Extremespeed, running quickly under the Groudon's descending foot, as he grabbed the Buneary, and then jumped out of the way, using the rubble nearby to get a foothold and jump up and away as the Groudon stomped the ground. Raikou looked back once clear, and set the Buneary down in a safe area, as he noticed that the trainers were definitely off-balance, however, Raikou dashed forward and jumped toward the Groudon once more, summoning and firing three weather balls toward the Groudon's neck area, as the Raikou quickly sped around the body of the behemoth, attempting to slam into it multiple times with Extremespeed.

 

Blade was sent flying back by the powerful kick, and then picked himself up, and looked around, as he obviously wasn't best suited for this particular fight. However, he saw the other group suddenly fighting nothing, and then frowned, as that didn't seem right, and looked around again, searching for high roofs, as he noticed something, but never paid much attention to it. Even still, Blade gathered a plan, and then teleported over to the other fight's area, and prepared things.

"Heather, you take my place, you're faster than me. Katie, I think I can help." Blade said, and the Zoroark looked at him skeptically.

"She teleported away, how do you hope to find her?" Katie asked, and Blade thought for a moment and then smiled, as he looked around again, as he sent out a brief scan of the area, making sure to not actually alert anyone about it. Blade noticed a presence somewhere it shouldn't have been, and teleported himself and Katie to around the place in question. Blade smiled to Katie, and nodded, as he then jumped up a building or two, in order to reach the rooftop the Gardevoir was on.

"Get ready." Blade said to Katie, as she nodded, and Blade teleported the two of them behind the Gardevoir, aiming to catch her off guard with a double Night Slash before she caught onto what happened.

 

Meanwhile, Luke dashed forward at a quick speed while the Rapidash was focused on Meadow, and then quickly slammed his hand forward, aiming to launch off a Force Palm at one of the Rapidash's legs, aiming to knock it to the ground again. As Cyndy was about to react, however, she noticed a spark out of the corner of her eyes, and watched in amazement, as Heather ran forward very quickly; having used Agility in the meantime while waiting for Katie to attack the Gardevoir previously. Heather quickly dashed forward, a combination of Quick Attack and Volt Tackle being used at the same time, as the Pikachu attempted to be a little too fast for the Rapidash to avoid... However, the Pikachu seemed to overshoot her target. However, Heather quickly whirled around, and then launched off a Thunderbolt right at the back of the Rapidash, and shot right back, aiming to instead Volt Tackle the back of the Rapidash.

 

Zach staggered as the Groudon slammed his foot down, the tremors knocking him off balance. Grabbing Olivia, Zach twisted himself so that he would cushion her fall, as the two of them slammed to the ground. Zach groaned, as he definitely felt the fall, but wasn't injured enough that he'd stop fighting.

"You okay?" Zach asked Olivia, to double check that she was alright, even if it him who had taken the majority of the fall.

 

-==IC: Cassie, Flashback==-

 

Six years later

 

Cassie smiled down, as she looked at the cute baby girl in her arms.

"Awwwww, she's so cute!" Cassie's best friend, Christina, squealed as she looked at the newborn. The baby girl in question had dark auburn hair, and was sleeping with a content look on her face. "Cassie, you're so lucky you have such a cute girl." Christina giggled, as Cassie smiled, and sighed.

"I think I need some help." Cassie said with a slight frown, and Christina smiled, and nodded, her more light reddish brown hair falling in front of her face for a moment as she did so.

"Whatever you need, I'm there to help!" The best friend said happily as she brushed her hair behind her ear, and Cassie smiled, happy that her friend was there for her, but frowned, not sure if it really was such a possibility.

"I'll explain later, alright?" Cassie said, and her friend gave her a thumbs up, which made both of them laugh. "You're so outdated, you know that Chrissie?" Cassie teased, and Christina nodded with a smile.

"Maybe it'll be a good thing. And I'm not THAT outdated... Just in how I tease you." Christina said with an amused smile, as she hopped out of the room with a mischievous smile, Cassie just shaking her head in response. Cassie then looked down at the child in her arms, and smiled.

"I'll always protect you... Lucia Nicole."

 

Cassandra opened her eyes, as she ruefully looked out the window.

Kanto, huh... I have a promise to keep. Cassandra thought with a frown, as Christopher approached.

"Thinking, my lady?" Christopher asked, as he brought her a cup of tea, and Cassandra nodded with a grim look, but then turned, and smiled in a slightly amused way.

"Yes... But, did I ever tell you how funny it was that you and Christina had such similar names?" Cassandra asked, and Christopher sighed, and shook his head with a hint of a smile as well.

"Yes, you did... Many, many, many times, in fact." The butler said, and Cassandra smirked slightly, and nodded, as she looked out the window with a frown.

"Was just wondering..." Cassandra said, as she was seemingly lost in thought, and Christopher bowed his head, sighing in the process.

"It wasn't your-" Christopher started to say, and Cassandra looked over at him sharply, a sad look in her eyes.

"Yes... yes it was. She trusted me, so much, so much that she did what I asked without even thinking about the consequences..." Cassandra said quietly, as Christopher frowned, and sighed.

"She wouldn't want you to be like this, though. Consider why she did what she did." Christopher said, and Cassandra looked back to the window, not responding for a moment.

"I have... For a long, long time."

 

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

Jenny paused, as her Xtransceiver began to beep. Jenny gave a slight chuckle, and nodded to Evan to wait, as she answered the call.

"Heeeellloooo, little brother~" Jenny said with an amused look on her face, as the voice on the other end sighed.

"Only little in age." The voice on the other end said, and Jenny giggled in response.

"So; what can I do for you?" Jenny asked, as Ray paused.

"Is Evan around?" Jenny seemed curious about the request, but nodded, despite Ray not being able to see.

"Yep, right here!" Jenny replied, as she passed the device to Evan after that.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Colette Llyan