Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Feral TierraFeral looked upon the apocalyptic rain of fire heading towards him, a slight look of worry on his face. Even with his regenerative abilities, the damage from that attack WOULD slow him down.He, obviously, could not let that happen. He had a lot to do, and he wasn't going to let some righteous firebird hamper his plans. He looked at his Garchomp, grinning insanely. He erected a Spacial Barrier around himself and his Garchomp, if only to soften the damage from the attack.The fiery hail hit Feral's barrier, opening holes into it, and him. Feral howled in pain as he saw that a great portion of his body was charred or ablaze. Feral began the slow process of regenerating the damage dealt to himself as he looked up at Ho-Oh."You CAN slow me down.", Feral said, "But I can just find another way around it. Look at my Garchomp. You honestly think it is a pokemon I caught? THINK AGAIN. JOIN ME, GARCHOMP.!"The Garchomp roared as it suddenly shifted form, from it's normal shape, to a small sphere, which then floated over to Feral. Feral made a grabbing motion towards it as it seemed to melt into Feral's form."You're in trouble now." Feral said, his aura appearing to become more sinister as he himself began to change.It started at his legs, with them becoming more bestial and his feet becoming claws. His torso became more slender, with scale-like armour forming on it. His arms were covered in the same armour, with two large hooked talons appearing on the back of both hands. Then, as soon as it started, the transformation finished, with Feral looking at Ho-oh, a very sinister grin on his face. Feral then roared, as he rushed at an incredible speed towards Ho-Oh, making a slicing motion with his talons....IC: Evan TierraEvan nodded and said, "Let's get the business here in Unova settled, then we can focus on the Darkrai, hopefully."Evan looked around, when he saw what appeared to be his friend, Klim Prizak. Then as suddenly as he saw him, he disappeared. Evan blinked twice in disbelief. This was the second or third time this happened. He wondered what it meant....IC: Lafoyae Belrose"Scout around the area.", Lafoyae told her Accelgor, "Return in five minutes. Leave marks around the areas you go through. Return to me in one piece, please."The Accelgor nodded and leapt off, moving at a fast rate, Lafoyae watching him vanish."He'll be fine.", Lafoyae said telepathically, "He's done this before. Usually a little worse for wear, but he does provide excellent intel and can hamper anything that chases him."

[Blessed Blade]

OOC: Oh, this'll be awesome. >=)-==IC: Zach==-Zach smiled, and nodded, as he sent out Blade quickly."The boy said "My name's Johnny, and it might be a sin... But I'll take this bet, you're gonna regret, I'm the best there's ever been!"" Zach sang, as Blade shot forward, aiming a Psycho Cut at the Snorlax quickly.-==IC: Ray==-Ray nodded, as he walked over to where Sonja was."Hey there." Ray said with a nod, and looked back toward where the town was."This place is something that should be protected. This entire region, in fact. But not everyone thinks that way..." Ray said, and sighed."That was my parents' vacation house; that's where they were killed... The blaze burned them to death." Ray said with a frown, but shook his head."However, I think I know who did this now. But we need to leave; as soon as possible. If what I found is right, then we don't have time to waste." Ray said, a slightly grim look on his face.

[ZTG]

OOC: Devil went downto Georgia. The best Country song ever.IC: ShadowsShadows flew through the trees, hoping to find some kind of town. Zac was still leaning against the tree, tending to his wounds, not the best entrance...

[Parugi]

IC - ? - ?: White mask as cold as death and transparent as the water in the air, burning flesh to deepest blue and blackest black. The old man shifted where he sat, his arms drawn around himself in a tight embrace. Empty Pokéballs littered the floor at his feet, lying beside the edge of the bluish pool of liquid before him. The substance seemed to swish back and forth ever so slightly, almost weakly, with each passing second, lines of something like dirt swirling in its midst. Twenty-three separate lines stretched out from the center of the pool, tracing along the floor of the cave and out into the forest, like thin umbilical cords, moving as their unseen ends moved.The man with the mask stared blankly into its depths, his tattered hood drawn over his head, his face and mask shrouded in shadow. He did not move an inch, even when a sort of shuffling sound could be heard approaching. It was joined by the contraction of one of the lines of the substance, shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller as the noise drew closer. The slight illumination from the pool did nothing to provide a view of the creature as it approached the man, though its glowing eye was easily visible. Only when it was at his feet, coming to a complete stop there, did the man turn his head, pale eyes staring out from the depths of his mask. He reached out a hand, placing his palm on the creature's smooth head.In... intru... ders... People... Iron... bug... In... truders... Sicken... sickening...The man rubbed the creature's head softly. "They are... sickening..." he said quietly, his voice barely audible even in the absolute silence around him. "Disgusting creatures... we will remove them..." The other twenty-two cords extending from the pool twitched; they began to contract, feeling the call back to their origin point. The man allowed his hand to drop, turning his head slowly to face the cave's entrance. From where he sat, he could see much of the endless forest, including the clearing that his child had observed.The sacred place.His origin point.Shapes appeared at the cave's entrance, twenty-twp of them, all of them black in the light behind them. The man slowly raised a hand, beckoning them forth. With slow, uneven gaits, they obeyed, moving toward their father."Disgusting beasts..." he whispered. "We will remove them..."IC - Ethan Worth and co. - Strange Forest Clearing: Jackson shrugged. "Who would worry?" he asked. The clearing was becoming more active now as more and more people came to, filing out of the carts and forming larger groups, trying to figure out what had happened. The assassin saw Lucia go off to help heal the injured, as well as two of Gavin's Pokémon doing the same. Gavin himself, as well as Ethan and Jamie, had finally crossed the clearing. "Looks like you're all alive. That's good.""You, too," Ethan said. "Though we're still stuck here... wherever 'here' is.""True," Jackson said, pulling out his PokéGear. He checked the map, though found that their location wasn't registering on it. "I get the feeling we aren't in Johto... or the Orange Islands... or the Sevii Islands... or the Kanto regions at all, for that matter... Not even Unova or Orre or those other unimportant places...""'Other unimportant places'?" Gavin repeated."You know the ones," Jackson said simply, though did not elaborate. He closed the device. "Well, that explains a few things--that weird shadow, for one. Who wants to bet that we're in another dimension?""Maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions..." Gavin said. "Look, why don't we just make sure everyone is fine and then track down Adams and her gang? They got us into this mess, we can make them get us back out. Simple as that.""A'ight," Jackson said. "That works for me." He looked around. "We just need to figure out where they went off to. Lafoyae's Accelgor is looking around as we speak, so let's wait for him to get back and see what he has to report. It's possible he'll be able to find a trail."Gavin nodded. After a moment, Ethan did, as well. "Any other thoughts?"IC - Sonja Baron - Undella Town: Sonja nodded. "I feel like that's been said before," she said quietly, crossing her arms and looking to the side, thinking of others who had made a point of mentioning the time. "We really haven't been very proactive about doing things quickly, have we? Too many detours..." She sighed. "Well, whatever. The others didn't go that far from the Pokémon Center--I think I saw them going to a cafe or something?"She turned back toward the town, beginning to walk away from the house. In all honesty, she wasn't sure what to say about Ray's parents. Everything she could think of sounded inappropriate for the moment. Insincere, in some ways. It reminded her too much of her own issues...IC - Ho-Oh - Above Ocean: To say that Ho-Oh was shocked by this development--the failure of his attack to incinerate this creature, as he had hoped it would, as well as this strange merger of the two entities before him, something he had only previously seen between the three Tao Dragons--was an understatement. For a moment, it seemed to leave him absolutely stunned, unable to respond, unable to move.A moment too long, as he quickly realized. Ho-Oh flinched in pain and his eyes widened as Feral's talons cut across his chest, causing deep gashes to appear on his chest. Blood poured from them, causing Ho-Oh to begin to fall several feet. Closing his eyes, the Rainbow Pokémon used Recover. Rainbow light engulfed him, healing his wounds and reinvigorating him, though not completely. It was enough to allow him to catch himself in mid-air, though, and in turn was enough to let him rise into the light again, facing Garchomp-Feral.It doesn't matter whether that thing is an extension of you, Ho-Oh said. His eyes flashed. A field of electrical energy engulfed Feral, trapping in--at least momentarily--in a paralyzed state. You are only a shadow, and I am the light. Embrace eternity!Feral had put himself in the epicenter of Ho-Oh's light, and he was about to realize why that was such a bad idea. The Rainbow Pokémon summoned forth its legendary flames--far more powerful than even those it had launched before. The Sacred Flame attack grew and grew, a swirling mass of heat and flame that engulfed both the Legendary Bird and his opponent, spanning upward and downward, creating a large cloud as it struck the ocean below.Ho-Oh breathed deeply, absorbing energy from the sunlight to replenish his own, waiting for the smoke to clear so that he could see just how much damage had been done to Feral. At this point, the Legendary Pokémon knew that it was not a matter of destroying the thing, as that was evidently going to be impossible. No; all he had to do was damage it to the point where it would have to go into hiding, where it would lose the ability to regenerate and heal itself so quickly.For that reason, Ho-Oh noted, it was a good thing that he personally held so much power. That, and the fact that even if he died, he would regenerate, as a phoenix is prone to do upon meeting its end...OOC: This may be my most epic post in a while...Also, Time Lord-regeneration Ho-Oh, anyone? The Nth Ho-Oh?I'm so brilliant.

Edited October 5, 2012 by Parugi

[Blessed Blade]

OOC: That must happen. =O-==IC: Lucia==-Lucia frowned slightly, but nodded at the idea. She did wonder just what this place was, but knew it was a question better left for later.-==IC: Ray==-"Right." Ray said with a nod, as the two headed back to the main part of Undella."Hopefully everything will be finished soon." Ray said with a sigh, not liking the danger everyone was being put in, because of that madman they were chasing.

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Feral TierraA loud scream, full of agony and rage rang through the sky. The smoke cleared, revealing a very damaged and angry Feral. Even with his regenerative abilities, he had to escapeto recharge, lest his ability be diminished. He knew that Ho-oh, in a way, was like him.He had to at least slow him down.Feral then teleported up close to Ho-oh and slashed with all of his might. Before he could raze him with fire again, the Spacial Horror teleported behind him and slashed again. Feral did this five more times, each strike more brutal than the last. After the last strike, he said, "This should be enough to at least kill you. For now, anyways. I must say good-bye now, since you utterly wrecked my body, and I can't have that."With that, Feral bolted off into the darkness of Sinnoh, leaving a mortally wounded Ho-oh behind......IC: Lafoyae Belrose/Lafoyae's AccelgorFive minutes later, right on the mark, Lafoyae's Accelgor returned to his master."Glad to see you back in one piece.", Lafoyae, a tinge of relief in her telepathic voice, "Report your findings."The Accelgor reported to Lafoyae that there were signs of travel in the area. The Accelgor then pointed towards the mountain."The mountain.", Lafoaye said, returning her Accelgor, "My Accelgor has informed me that there may be people heading to the mountain over there. I suggest we head there as well."

[ZTG]

IC: ShadowsShadows kept searching until he exited the forest and saw a village...Entera Town. He nodded and went back to Zac to get him here.IC: ZacZ-pup got out of his pokeball and started to lick Zac's wounds, with Zac swatting him away, not wanting him to, it wasn't going to help, "Thanks Z-pup,"

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: A quick flashback happened in Jamie's mind. She remembered that when they were first assigned the mission. The fact that Pryce had supposedly came back from a different dimension....

 

Please tell me that it is a coincidence, she thought as Pelleas returned to her.

 

"By the way..." she said, "Who is he?" she said pointing to Jackson, as she had no clue who he was, never having seen him before.

 

IC: James wrote down the address of the cafe he mentioned, and a time of which I really can't say I've thought this through enough to give an pretty good guess. But my bet is that it would be sometime the next afternoon.

 

"I look forward to it," he said handing her the note before leaving.

 

The walk back to his office was quiet as he did not have Guinevere out and he was trying to mull something over. Entering his office, he opened his laptop and began searching through files of his own.

 

He finally found the file he was looking for.

 

"JAMIE_ARTHUR"

 

IC: The clown smiled as he saw that Zach knew what he was doing and let the CD spin at normal speed. Richard had "YES!" face on him before he started singing again.

 

"Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard.'Cos yup broke loose in Driftveil and the devil deals the cards."

 

The Snorlax took the brunt of the attack head on, using Curse to minimize damage as he could, before throwing himself into a tumble.

 

"And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold."

 

Dionysus then launched himself at Blade using the fullness of blubber to use Body Slam.

 

"But if you lose, the devil gets your soul!."

Edited January 30, 2018 by Metal Gear Minun

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Feral Tierra, Eterna CityFeral flew into Sinnoh at meteoric speeds. His powers were actually beginning to be exhausted and he had to rest soon. But he had to finish one last thing. His little distraction with Ho-Oh proved to almost undo it. His mission?Destroy Eterna City. If only to push Evan Tierra into despair.Finally seeing what may be the outlines of the city, Feral crashed downward into the street, creating an immense crater in the center of the city."I guess I'd better use what little time I have left before sleeping.", Feral said groggily, "Time to let loose!"With that, Feral tensed up his body, focusing his power, aiming to release it in one fell blast of it. When he felt ready, he roared, releasing an enormous blast of energy that made buildings fall and caused an upheaval in the earth.Yawning, Feral looked at the destruction he caused, his tired eyes gleaming with joy. This was gonna work so well in his favor. But first, he had to sleep.Entering a hole that his blast created, Feral went deeper and deeper into it so he would not be disturbed while he slumbered. Finally reaching a suitable area, Feral collapsed and began to snore........

[ZTG]

IC: Zac and ShadowsShadows had returned to Zac and helped him onto his back, tellin him about the town he saw. Zac returned Z-pup to his pokeball as the two flew off.The two exited the forest, only to find a destroyed town. Zac gave a stern look at Shadows, who was baffled at what happened, he was gone for like ten minutes, and when he returned... This..."Wait..." Zac said as he remembered the ruins of this place..."Eterna was destroyed...we have to go before the same thing comes back that over killed this place, if I remember...if we go south of here we should reach Floamora Town, we should be safe there,""They already eclipsed this place into darkness...why do more damage?! It's like beating up a dead body," Shadows said as he floated off.

Edited October 1, 2012 by IX. Dymex

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-Zach raised an intrigued eyebrow, and nodded, as the instrumental played. Blade was sent flying back, however, he teleported behind the Snorlax quickly, and then attempted to quickly, and powerfully, punch his opponent in return, as the instrumental began to fade.OOC: Floaroma? Just checking, I think that's what the town's called.

Edited October 1, 2012 by BZP Blade

[Parugi]

OOC: Blade: We shall.By the way, if you're free to talk on Steam right now, send me a message.IC - Sonja Baron/Blackskull - Undella Town: Sonja nodded. As they came within view of the Pokémon Center, she saw Blackskull exiting the building, rubbing his head in exasperation. She saluted him as the Team Liberty agent spotted the two, moving toward them."Is something wrong, sir?" she asked."In a way," Blackskull replied. "Mr. Aleivy has requested that Silvermind, Maxie, Bounty--for Arceus-knows what reason--and I return to Four Island to discuss 'developments' in the Darkrai situation. As you can imagine, that means I have to leave.""Already?" Sonja said sadly. "But we just met up like, two days ago! Are Gold and Mr. Eston staying?" Blackskull nodded. That seemed to soften the blow. "Well, at least we'll have a little bit of higher-ranked help.""That you will," Blackskull said. "Do me a favor and let the others know--I'm supposed to catch an Alakazam out of here any minute now."IC - Meghan Vert - Lab: Vert took the note, nodding in thanks again to James as he left. Interesting... I wonder what sort of proposals he'll have for getting this thing moving along...IC - Jackson Sang and co./Passengers - Strange Forest Clearing: "Jackson Sang," Jackson introduced himself. "The best assassin ever, thank you very much. I'm guessing you're the Jamie Arthur that these guys went off to find on the train. It's a pleasure to meet you.""Right, and now that that's out of the way," his Ditto said, upon releasing himself from his Pokéball and assuming a human form again. "We should probably jump on that whole 'check on the passengers' thing, right?""Right," Ethan said, seeming completely unsurprised by the Ditto's appearance. By now, the group of passengers had gathered together, looking around curiously--and in some cases, fearfully. Ethan led the way over to them. Upon seeing Jamie and Gavin and recognizing them from the cart that they had saved, several of the passengers relaxed. Lucia and Gavin's Pokémon exited the crowd, returning to their trainers. "Excuse me, everyone. As you've probably noticed, we're all stuck in this... place... forest... clearing... area. Yeah. Anyway--as official agents of Team Rocket, and as such protectors of the public, my friends and I have elected to go after the people who stranded us. I suggest that anyone with Pokémon send them out now and set up a defensive wall around this area, in case anyone or anything tries to attack you.""Why should we trust Team Rocket to help us?" a boy--about sixteen or seventeen, from the looks of him--asked from the crowd. Ethan looked at him, noting his green and black clothes, as well as the Weavile and Infernape that flanked him. The Rocket Agent recognized him as Drake Masters, a known Liberty Agent and member of the rebellion team's Operation R.A.L.L.Y. Under different circumstances, Ethan would have tried to arrest him (maybe,) though right now did not seem like a good time to do so."Because we're just as confused as you are and want to get back to our own business as soon as possible, too?" Gavin answered. Drake seemed to consider this. While he still seemed hesitant about trusting Team Rocket, he finally nodded, backing off. Gavin crossed his arms, nodding back at him, and then at Ethan."Anyone who wants to is welcome to join us, if you think you can handle these people," Ethan said after a moment. "But I strongly encourage all of you to stay put if you don't have the kind of training that we do. These people are powerful, and there's no guarantee that even we will survive a fight against them." There was murmuring in the crowd at this. The people went silent after a moment, confirming Ethan's assumptions. "We'll be heading toward the mountain. There should be enough food and supplies in the remaining carts to keep everyone comfortable. Stay safe."With that, he turned to the mountain, prompting Accelgor to lead the way to the path. As they moved, he glanced up at the mountain, wondering what it was that had captured Quincy's interest...IC - Ho-Oh - Above Ocean: Ho-Oh heaved, feeling the blood pouring from the multiple slash wounds on his body, watching as Feral fled. His attempts to use Recover proved futile, the rainbow light dissipating seconds after being established. It was obvious that Feral had succeeded in killing Ho-Oh, though the Legendary Bird knew that he, too, had succeeded in his own goals.He had power, too, for one last attack. Absorbing the remaining sunlight around him, Ho-Oh summoned forth his remaining energy, pulling his wings toward himself and raising his head. Sprawling his wings and feathers out to either side, Ho-Oh unleashed a massive beam of yellow-green power, which shot forth after Feral's retreating form. Ho-Oh was not given a chance to see if he had hit the beast, for in that moment rainbow-colored flames engulfed him, pouring out in every direction, forming an egg-shaped cocoon around the Rainbow Pokémon. His body changed ever so slightly, his various wounds healing rapidly, wings becoming stronger, larger, and his eyes changing color from yellow to green.The regeneration lasted only a few moments, before the fires dissipated into the air around him, leaving a perfectly circular void in the shroud of shadows. Ho-Oh floated there, his wings appearing as if they were on fire, the flames slowly dying down as they were pulled back into his body. The Legendary Bird lifted his head, opening his eyes slowly.For the third time, I am born into this world... he thought, taking in the quiet of the area around him. I held Sympathy for the Lost... I delivered Justice for the Wronged... But now, I am Vengeance. Vengeance for the Fallen. The Rainbow Pokémon cawed loudly, flapping his powerful wings and sending out a burst of fire around himself. I will see this chaos ended, in the names of all who came before me!

[Cosmic Titan]

IC: ?Charizard landed and gave Chaz a full report of what he saw. Chaz smiled and thanked him."Okay I think we should look around for others..." He paused gazing at the corpses of some of the victims of this event. "Maybe getting on that train was a bad idea."Caterpie squealed at Chaz, reminding him of how he had been caught on the train. Chaz lifted up the bug Pokemon, giving it a hug. "Well I guess that is still good but you can't deny the horror of this situation."He paused thinking about all the people on the train. How many lives had been interrupted by this?"Maybe if I had noticed you crawled in my backpack earlier or had caught up to Zapdos. I wouldn't be here."His soliloquy was cut short as his PokeGear beeped as it turned back on and came back to life. He seemed to not be getting a signal. But that didn't really matter because all the numbers on it where what? Twenty or so years out of date. He started to feel scared again, not only was he in a foreign place but he was not even in his own time. He may have gotten to new Pokemon friends but still the whole idea was very disconcerting.He started to move around faster to try and get his thoughts away from that subject. Maybe he would see someone he could talk to.OOC: So no armor? Okay I really wouldn't even know how to write up a logical way for him to acquire such a thing.As for the training thing. I was just giving out examples of psychics. I don't know who would even train him. Personally I think a legendary psychic Pokemon would be best to train him but it is also the most far-fetched. So I don't know about that either.I think it is best if I don't get another character. I just don't seem to be able to actively control more than one character.

[ZTG]

IC: Shadows and ZacThe two flew through the forest, with Zac's flash light guiding their way to Floamora Town. It was a pretty small town, they could try to start waking people and pokemon up there first.

[Blessed Blade]

OOC: Blade: We shall.By the way, if you're free to talk on Steam right now, send me a message.

OOC: I have fail timing. D= I apologize, was watching the new Blender movie at that point, and I must get off now. >_< When you see me on tomorrow, just send me a message, I typically drop what I'm doing in-game(Unless I'm in the middle of being killed in TF2. =P), especially if I'm not even on a game. xD-==IC: Ray==-Ray nodded, as he wondered what that was all about."Alright, we will be sure to do that, sir." Ray said with a smile, though the loss of another member of the team did not help, especially when Kyle and Zach were still missing in action.OOC: Quick question, I forget, does Sonja have a teleporting Pokemon?Also, that is just awesome. =D-==IC: Lucia==-Lucia recalled her Pokemon, and then looked toward the mountain with a frown, having a bad feeling about all this.Well, we have to at least try to figure this situation out. Lucia said with a smirk.Actually, wait, 'try'? No; we WILL figure this out; there is no try.

[Parugi]

OOC: Blade: k.She doesn't, no.CT: A'ight on all three points.Also, feel free to have Chaz follow the Rocket agents. IIRC, Chaz and Gavin met in Lavender Town, did they not?IC - Blackskull/Sonja Baron - Undella Town: Blackskull nodded to the two agents as an Alakazam appeared before him. "Good luck, then," he said. "I'm sure this will be over soon enough." Saluting them, he placed a hand on the Psychic-Type's shoulder, disappearing in an instant.Sonja relaxed her posture, sighing slightly. "Another one gone, then," she said, beginning to type up a message to Gold and Richie telling them to meet the group at the northern gatehouse. "Darn. I guess we'll have to make do for now..." She placed her hands in her jacket pockets as a gust of wind blew. Turning, she started leading Ray toward the cafe, arriving on the street just as the others exited the building. "And there we are..."IC - Kyle Eston/Keston Ail - ?: Blood everywhere. Blood bleeding seeping flowing from wounds cuts bruises gashes slashes. Everywhere blood. It shone in the light emanating from Jaeda's tail flame, glowing weakly, though the Fire and Flying Type stood strong, glaring out at her attackers. She was the only one left standing now, all of the others knocked out, unconscious, on the black floor, too overwhelmed by fear and confusion to be saved. Kyle stood in their midst, behind Jaeda, his expression blank as the specters slowly closed in.Keston seemed to have melted into the shadows, only to be replaced by the body of a woman over there, dead at last after suffering for years on end; the shrouded form of a man over here, present yet not, seen yet unseen; another girl, half in darkness, her visage blurred by the light. A wolf-like companion, her form disfigured, staring out with reproachful eyes.All these and others. Others that had been killed in the war. Others that had been lost. Mothers, fathers, brothers, daughters, sisters, sons, friends, enemies... People he had known."Things I've lost..." Kyle breathed to himself. He closed his eyes. "Lost... So that's it..." He looked at his hands. "So many people gone... while I'm still here... Why am I still here? Is that why I've been so confused... so anxious... because I'm still here..." All movement and noise had stopped as this moment of clarity--the first that Kyle had felt in... ages--set in. The Liberty Agent looked at the phantoms around him, which were beginning to dissipate. "You're my darker half... you've been feeding off of me... trying to lead me into a broken life..." He clenched his fists. "Like a lamb about to be slaughtered... Not anymore. I'm done. I won't let you make a broken doll out of me anymore."Glowing points of light from the shadows--from the silhouettes of Suicune, Richie, Gecynde, and his mother, from the egg in his bag. The shadows began to die, disappearing as the light intensified, melting away the cold, the blood, the dark versions of Kyle's team. Black was replaced with white, restoring energy to Kyle's Pokémon, whose wounds began to heal and who began to stir where they lay. Soon enough, Keston was all alone, staring, dumb-founded, at his other half."You wanted a battle," Kyle said softly. "So let's have one. A fair one. Or are you afraid now?"Keston smiled. "Never." He snapped his fingers, prompting the dark versions of Kyle's team to appear again. Seeing Kovian move forward, he sent forth his own Oshawott. "Via, Shell Blade!""Kovian, Aqua Jet!" Kyle called. Via charged forward, grabbing his shell and holding it outward, the edge of it glowing white with energy. At the same time, Kovian shot forward, summoning water with which to propel himself toward his opponent. Via slashed outward, missing as Kovian dodged, before transitioning into his own Shell Blade attack. He slashed into Via's side, knocking the otter away from himself. He had no time to react before Kovian shot forward again, slamming him into the wall with Aqua Jet.Letting out a shriek of pain, Keston's Oshawott seemed to evaporate into darkness, his body turning black and bubbling up. Keston's eyes widened in anger as light began to envelope Kovian, who nodded at Kyle before also vanishing. In his place, Daiga moved onto the mental field.Keston growled, pointing at Daiga as his own Sandslash moved forward. "Dai, Swift!" Dai glared at Daiga, spinning and swinging his claws. Stars of darkness appeared, shooting toward Daiga. Knowing what his trainer would order, Daiga rolled into a ball using Defense Curl, before using Rapid Spin to take off to the side, rolling away from where he had been. Moving in a wide arc, the stars trailed behind him for some time, before eventually evaporating as the energy broke apart. When that happened, Daiga shifted toward Keston and his Pokémon, slashing out at the other Sandslash as he rolled past.Dai dodged by jumping upward. In doing so, however, he left himself open for Daiga's own Swift, as the Sandslash uncoiled and quickly launched white, glowing stars at his counterpart. They struck, knocking Dai to the ground, and Daiga closed in, slamming into the Ground-Type's side with Rapid Spin. The dark Sandslash seemed to crumble into darkness where he lay, while Daiga, like Kovian, disappeared in a flash of light."You pushed me, Keston," Kyle said to his counterpart, his tone oddly devoid of malice as he motioned for Ruji to move forward; it was as if he was simply stating a fact. He was met by a similar action from Ru, Keston's own Gligar, who tried--and failed--to hit Ruji with Night Slash. "You should've prepared for the possibility that I would push back."

[Blessed Blade]

OOC: This should be interesting.And these posts are just awesome. =D-==IC: Ray==-Ray nodded, as they approached the cafe."Yeah... Hopefully we have enough people." Ray said, not frowning, but not entirely sure of whether they had enough help at that moment. He looked around, to try and see where the others were, and then noticed them near a table, and raised an eyebrow, as he noticed Burgh among the crowd, too.

[Konuju]

OOC: We actually just stepped outside the cafe, Blade.

IC: Ryan/Ellen
"You okay?" Ryan asked Evan as the Plasma Agent appeared to be staring off into space.

"Hey, there's Ray and Sonja!" Ellen cried, running towards them.

The appearance of the two members of their group distracted Ryan from Evan's predicament. "Hey, guys," he said. "How've you been?"

Edited May 3, 2014 by Konuju

[ZTG]

IC: Zac and Shadows"It's weird not seeing any awake pokemon...it feels like this whol forest...well this whole region is dead, like in a horror game," Zac said as he looked at the sleeping Pokemon with a slight shiver. He felt like something would pop up out of nowhere and scare him, or worse...kill them.Shadows was, however, used to the darkness, like every Darkrai. He felt fine in this place but it was a bit much, even for him as he saw the Pokemon lie asleep, making those awake believe the sleeping are dead. It wasdisturbing.

[Blessed Blade]

OOC: Ah, whoops, my mistake. ^^'-==IC: Ray==-"We've been alright." Ray said with a nod, as he scanned around the group."Everyone ready to go?" Ray asked, wanting to get on their way sooner, rather than later.

[Cosmic Titan]

IC: Strange Forest ClearingHe saw the group of people and approached them, catching the most of their talk.I don't know if I should go or stay... he thought. They did seem very dangerous, but I have experience with legendary Pokemon. Well maybe not Mewtwo but still maybe I could help.He started to follow the group of Rocket Agents not saying a word. He was a bit confused on how Team Rocket was now protectors of the public; back in his day they were a gang of criminals. But he had been told things had changed.And was that Gavin? How did he get here?OOC: Yeah they met in Lavender Town.

[ZTG]

IC: Shadows and ZacThe two made ther way through the dark(er) forest of Eterna and made their way to the small town that was once vivacious and vivid with color, with flora that gave life to the once barren land. Now it has seemed to returned to that state with the who island cast within a deep, seemingly endless slumber. Zac and Shadows went through the doors of the Pokemon center after using a shadow ball to open it.Zac was placed on the ground by Shadows as the two looked around the place. Zac was planning on making an antidote other than the lunar wing to cure them. It seemed impossible, and it just might be (plus Zac wasn't exactly a class A chemist), but he had to try something."Zac what are we doing here?""Making a cure," Zac said heading into the ER. Shadows followed him saying, "No, that's not a good idea, we can't do that we may cause more harm than good,""We'll we can't just go around sticking the lunar wing in people and pokemons'!"

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-As Zach focused on the fight, he tuned most things out, and turned his attention to simply relying on his psychic abilities, and the fight itself. However, a sudden beeping, that was not from the music being played, broke his concentration, and he blinked for a few moments, not sure what was going on. However, he looked at his wrist, where his Pokegear was, and saw it flashing. With a frown, Zach sent a mental command to Blade to continue fighting, and attached earphones to his Pokegear, and answered it."Well, well, taking a break on the job, Zach?" A very familiar voice taunted him, as Zach's eyes widened, as his brother Ryan's face appeared on the screen."Black..." Zach growled, and Black smirked."Too bad. You have lost; just think about it. I know where you are, from the looks of things. That's not a gym, and the only event that's going on now, with those type of lights, is the Pokemon tournament over in Driftveil. You're too far away, by far, to stop anything I'm planning. And it's too bad, because I would've liked to have taken all your hope away, before my plans are finished." Black stated, as Zach growled once more."Just try and stop me. I doubt you'll be able to even come close; but what's that you always say... 'nothing's guaranteed'? 'Anything's possible'? Then prove that." Black stated with a scowl, as he hung up, and Zach closed his eyes."... I forfeit this match." Zach said, as he opened his eyes, and sighed.Kyle was right; this was a bad idea... Zach thought, as he walked off the stage, much to the astonishment of the announcer and by-standers. However, he was stopped, as Clay, the Gym Leader, stepped in front of him."Just what is going on? That's two forfeits in a row." Clay wondered, and Zach frowned."A criminal, who I've been chasing across the region, contacted me, taunting me that I haven't been able to stop him yet. I'm going to remedy that problem, and take him down, once and for all." Zach explained, and Clay considered that."I see. Do you know this region well?" Clay asked, probably having heard from the other Gym Leaders how he was not native to the region, and Zach shook his head."I see. Then teleporting likely won't help..." Clay said, and considered that for a moment."Go see Skyla. She might be able to help you out, since she flew here, not wanting to deal with the cave. Also, take this. I think you deserve it." Clay explained as he handed Zach the badge of Driftveil, and Zach nodded, and began to go off to search for the flying type Gym Leader. However, as he began to walk into the outer parts of the building, Zach suddenly remembered how Kyle had taken off, and frowned, not sure what had happened...-==IC: Black(Earlier)==-Black panted, as he made his way through the Giant Chasm. As he looked back, he noticed his team, which included some newly evolved members, following slowly, and sighed.We won't get anywhere fast, at this rate... Black thought; however, they managed to get to the main chamber of the Giant Chasm rather quickly. Black searched around, and noticed a steel staff stuck in the ground around the middle of the chamber... However, he did not see the object he was looking for anywhere."Where could the Link Pin have gone...?" Black muttered, not noticing the shadow above him from a flying type Pokemon that was carrying N, who frowned at the name mentioned.The Link Pin? He can't mean the DNA Link Pin, could he...? N wondered, and frowned, as it appeared that Black was making his way out of the main chamber...-==IC: Black(Now)==-After moving out of the chamber, and taunting Zach hopelessly despite his plans not being totally complete, he decided to do some more training to work on getting his Pokemon even more powerful.Despite them being powerful now, they still cannot take all of the challengers I'm likely to have in the next little while... Black thought, not sure of what would happen then.

Edited October 2, 2012 by BZP Blade

[Parugi]

OOC: #movementspeedincreaseIC - Sonja Baron - Undella Town: Sonja rubbed her head. "Well, unfortunately Blackskull had to return to the Alamo," she announced, figuring it would be best to get that out into the open. "Just so everyone knows. Richie and Gold are still around, though."IC - Kyle Eston/Keston Ail - ?: Gligar against Gligar. The two flying scorpions flew around each other, tails and claws glowing purple and white as they Slashed and Night Slashed at the other, a flurry of dancing purple blurs that seemed to be in perfect tandem with one another. With a feint to the right, however, Ruji gained the upper hand, darting under Ru and slashing upward. The dark Gligar was thrown into the ceiling, falling to the floor slowly as a tornado of darkness engulfed it, causing the Pokémon to vanish in the wind, adding Ruji's light to the others.Magneton fighting Magneton. Kitheus loosed a Tri-Attack at Ith, the Electric-Type dodging out of the way and attempting to use Thunderbolt. Kitheus charged through the attack, shrugging it off and locking on to his opponent, before unleashing a fire-charged Tri-Attack at his opponent. Ith reared back, leaving himself open to a Discharge from Kitheus, which caused the dark Magneton to burst into thunderbolt-like protrusions of darkness.This went on and on with Sanshou and San, Lyxek and Xek, each time ending with a victory in Kyle's favor. Keston's body seemed to shudder with each loss, until only Jaeda and Jaed were left. Without waiting for commands, both dragons charged toward each other. Jaeda dodged an Inferno attack from her opponent, charging forward and slamming a Metal Claw into Jaed's chest. Dark gashes appeared, which seemed to cause shadows to spill from the dark Charizard's body. Attempting to slice into Jaeda's body, Jaed found herself knocked back, before a powerful Flamethrower engulfed her, burning her away into nothingness.Keston collapsed to his knees in disbelief, glaring at Kyle. "You were supposed to break..."Kyle's eyes fluttered open, closing again as sunlight flooded his vision. He looked around, noting that he was still in the spot where he had collapsed. How long had he been out? Kyle looked at his Pokétch. Not long... What a weird dream, though... He breathed deeply, finding that he felt... different. Something was cleared. It was like a veil had been lifted...Pulling himself to his feet, he rubbed his eyes, beginning to make his way back outside...

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-Ray nodded, and looked toward the north exit of the town."We should get going; there's no telling what will happen from here on out, but we have to hurry along. The sightseeing was fun and all, but it's time for us to realize that we are short on time as it is, and that Black is getting away every minute we waste." Ray said with a frown."I admittedly shudder to think of what would happen if that crazed and broken lunatic fulfilled his plans and 'won'..." Ray stated, slightly on edge from earlier, though he still masked it as best as he could. He wasn't sure if what was said was entirely true... But he had to find out. He had to know if that was the truth or not."I'm only going to ask this once. Is everyone ready? If they are, then follow me now. If not, then hurry up, because we can't afford to wait." Ray said, as he tried to focus on anything but that note; that very oddly intact note.-==IC: Zach==-Zach walked around the perimeter of the building. He had so far not had any luck finding Kyle; however, as he was working his way toward the interior of the building, he nearly literally ran into Summer once more, and the two looked at each other, somewhat startled."What are you doing out here already?" Summer asked, rather confused, as she knew he had a match that should have been going on right at that moment, and Zach frowned."I'll explain inside, once we find Kyle." Zach said, and Summer looked at him curiously, however, she followed the Liberty trainer inside, the automatic doors opening as the two walked close to them.As Zach looked around, he thought over the message, and sighed.No matter what I do, Black always manages to surpass me somehow. He did it back in Cerulean and escaped. He did it in Castelia and escaped. He even managed to steal the Dark Stone in Nimbasa and escape. And now he's apparently close to fulfilling his plans? I don't know what his plans are, but I think I know my brother well enough that if he's put his mind to this, and is willing to go to such extremes to fulfill his ideals, it can't be anything good... I just hope I'm wrong, or that there's still enough time to prevent whatever he's planning. Zach thought, as Blade looked concerned inside his Pokeball; Zach never just gave up, and although this was certainly a situation out of the norm, there still was the question of whether Zach was taking things too personally, or if he felt that he couldn't handle this stuff... Especially the hero talk that the leaders kept going on about.There's always power... You could always embrace your hatred, and use that as fuel for power... A voice stated in Zach's mind, which caused his to stop in his tracks, and blink for a moment, and Summer looked back, as Zach shook his head."That was odd..." Zach muttered, and Summer raised an eyebrow."What was odd?" She asked, and Zach paused, as he considered how crazy he would sound, talking about psychic voices that told him to embrace hatred to gain power."Nothing. Let's just find Kyle..." Zach said, and walked onward. As he moved forward, he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eyes, and noticed Kyle. He nodded to Summer, and then began to run off toward the other Liberty trainer, feeling this was worth the rush for once.

[Delta Titan Sparta]

Username: Delta Titan SpartaName: Rex DrakeFaction: Neutral, but is more than willing to go out of his way to make any evildoers' lives miserable.Hometown: Fuchsia City, KantoAge: 17Appearance: Rex is rather short for his age, standing about five and a half feet tall, and has spiky black hair and silver eyes. He wears black boots, old, ripped jeans, a gray t-shirt, a black/red/gray/white army grade camouflage jacket, and black leather fingerless gloves. He has a faint scar on his right cheek in the shape of a "T".Personality: Rex is usually quiet and flighty upon first meeting him, but he warms up to people he is familiar with. He hates it when both humans and Pokemon are mistreated, and has been known to enter bouts of "righteous fury" when witnessing such atrocities. He is still haunted by the fact that his parents are members of Team Rocket.Background: Born and raised in Fuchsia City, Kanto, Rex always grew up asking himself, "Where is the love?" His parents were gone almost all the time, and when they were around, they either completely ignored him or kicked him around. Finally, at fifteen, he'd had enough of it, and ran away. He has been traveling between regions, making as many problems as humanly possible for Team Rocket (undoubtedly his most famous escapade was blowing up one of their tanks). Several months ago, he stole a pair of eggs that had been stolen by Rocket grunts, and hatched them himself.Pokémon: Charmander (Sparta), Gible (Crunchbite)Species: CharmanderNickname: SpartaTrainer: Rex DrakeAppearance: Sparta is slightly larger than the average Charmander, with gaudier colors as well. He wears a red bandanna around his neck.Personality: Lax in nature, Sparta is more than willing to go with the flow of things. However, he fights just as fiercely against criminals as his Trainer.Ability: BlazeSpecialty: Hand-to-hand combatKnown Moves: Scratch, Growl, EmberSpecies: GibleNickname: CrunchbiteTrainer: Rex DrakeAppearance: Crunchbite is slightly darker in color than the norm, with multiple nicks in his fin, and a yellow headband tied around the base of it.Personality: Rash in nature, Crunchbite tends to rush headlong into situations which, more than once, has gotten him, Rex, and Sparta in trouble.Ability: Sand VeilSpecialty: Stealth (surprisingly), defenseKnown Moves: Tackle, Sand Attack, Dragon Rage

Edited October 2, 2012 by Delta Titan Sparta

[ZTG]

IC: ZacAs Zac entered the ER, he saw several Chanseys and Audinos and nurses lying on the floor or beds in a deep sleep. He pulled out his nightlong and use it on a nurse, unaware of the fact the Ancients' powers were too powerful for the single Lunar Wing's powers to work,"Come on work!" Zac said, "We need to wake at least one of these nurses up!"

[Nara]

IC - Zac Flash, PNT, Unova"Shoot," Zac said, seeing the Bone Vulture Pokemon. "Well.. Might as well try. Rollout!"Kongo nodded and curled up into a ball. He pushed himself with his legs, shooting forward. "If it flies, jump!"

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan/Ellen
"Well, that's a bummer," Ryan said in regards to Sonja's news. "Blackskull would have been a big help in battle."

"I'm sure everyone here is ready, but we've still got to find the rest of our group," Ellen told Ray. "We're still missing Alex, Seth, Gold, and Richie."

Just then, Alex stepped out of the Pokemon Center and, seeing the group, walked over to them. "Hey, guys, are we ready to move on yet?" he asked.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Konuju

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Masked Man==-The Masked man looked over at the other fight, and how it had been forfeited, with intrigue, and then shrugged."Hmm. Well; since my potential opponents are now guaranteed, I might as well reveal myself." The person stated, and then pulled off his mask with a confident smile, revealing himself to, in fact, be Grimsley of the Elite Four."I trust this battle will be good." Grimsley said with a smile, as the Mandibuzz took the hit from the Rollout, and then rushed forward, attempting to slam the opposing Pokemon with a Bone Rush attack.-==IC: Ray==-"True... I'm sure the other three are nearby though, and can catch up." Ray stated with a shrug; he doubted they had wandered very far off, and he had really wanted to leave at that moment.Besides; the longer we wait, the longer Black has to get further away... And I really have things to say to him now, and to confirm...

[Nara]

IC - Zac Flash, PNT, Unova"Oh hey," Zac said, holding a Pokeball. "You finally took that mask off. The moment would be more dramatic if I knew who you actually were, though." He gave a mischievous smile. The Bone Rush hit Kongo three times, inflicting a rather large amount of damage. "Kongo, get back," he called, recalling his Darmanitan and throwing out another Pokeball. "Melon, your turn. Finally."A Kecleon emerged from the Pokeball. "Substitute."IC - Eric and Pierce, Johto"We're lost." Eric stated.All around the three of them were trees. The Ilex forest was not kind to strangers. They were sitting at a lakefront; Lotad swam through the water and Surskit danced across."We're hopelessly, hopelessly lost."Pierce hit him on the side of the head. "Juan says the exit is literally right there." he said. "I can see it from here."

[Parugi]

OOC: wait waitrex drakespartacrunchbitedelta sparta:oSPARTAN YOU'RE BACK! :oAnyway, sorry for posting so late today, peeps--school killed me today. Like, really, it sucked. I'll post more stuff tomorrow; until then, here's this.IC - Sonja Baron - Undella Town: "Richie and Gold are meeting us at the northern gate," Sonja said. "I sent them a message on our way over here, so it's not going to be an issue. Seth, though... I don't know." She looked at Evan. "You don't happen to know what he's up to, do you? Considering you guys seem so close and all."IC - Kyle Eston - PNT: Kyle stopped and turned as he heard two people running toward him. One hand still rubbing his temple, he smiled at the two as they neared him, his expression genuinely happy for the first time in several months. "Hey," he greeted. "I though you had a match going on?"

[Delta Titan Sparta]

OoC: Yeah, I figured I'd do better just to start from scratch.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-Zach nodded."Yeah, I did." Zach said, noting Kyle's expression."But, eh, I figured we'd wasted enough time here. We need to get going, and there would've been one more match. Plus, I mostly just wanted to fight Skyla and Elesa anyway; I didn't come here to win the tourney anyway." Zach said with a shrug, not wanting to bother him with the fact that Black might win because of his delays. Summer looked at him curiously, but he sent her a psychic message to keep quiet for the moment, which caused Summer to grip her head with a scowl, not expecting that, or even really knowing about Zach's psychic powers, which allowed him to pick up a few choice mental comments that nearly made Zach laugh.

[Daniel Bryan]

IC - Seth: On the way, Seth had woken up, but, realizing he had a free ride, continued to pretend to sleep. Once they had split up, Seth had decided to make his escape, going off on his down and trying to relax. His mind wandered, but the most consistent thing on his mind was of somewhere he had never been. Somewhere close, but very familiar to him. He could hardly control when it ran through his mind, but when it did, it overrode every other thought in his head. Seth could feel the madness, but there was something off about it. Not only was it madness, it was calculated as well, planned, yet unpredictable, a terrifying combination. The thoughts would end with a scream, and then they would vanish from his mind.For the first time in many years, Seth felt true fear.~Det

[Dr. Hidaka]

OOC: Zacax, you can try to wake people up, but it will be a long and tedious process, so it would probably not be worth it.IC: Evan TierraEvan shook his head, trying distract himself from what he may or may not have seen. He looked toward the group, seeming a bit impatient."I am ready when you are.", Evan said, "I can seek Seth out. He'll be easy to find."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-"Then let's go." Ray stated, as he walked off toward the north exit to the route right above Undella."Find Seth, and bring him to the group; we won't be far." Ray said with a shrug.

[ZTG]

OOC: Zacax, you can try to wake people up, but it will be a long and tedious process, so it would probably not be worth it.IC: Evan TierraEvan shook his head, trying distract himself from what he may or may not have seen. He looked toward the group, seeming a bit impatient."I am ready when you are.", Evan said, "I can seek Seth out. He'll be easy to find."

OOC: Yea I know, I'm doing it for a reasonIC: Shadow and Zac"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," Zac said as he used the lunar wing. But it wasn working."Zac I just said the Ancients' powers are far surperior to a norm Darkrai's, you would need more than one, or in fact, maybe even a Cresselia," Shadow moaned in annoyance,"We'll we dot know anything about chemicals," Zac said as he got up, "So-wait...the Ancients' are stronger versions of Darkrai...that means we can use you to make a cure!""What?! I'm a regular Darkrai, they are stronger than me!" Shadow said,"Exactly! If we can find out how strong a regular Darkrai's Dark Void is, we can figure out how much stronger their's is and use that as a cure!""..."

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan/Ellen
"Alright, then," Ryan said as he followed Ray, glad to be on the move again.

Ellen glanced back at Evan for a moment, wondering if it was wise to split up the group when they had just found each other again. Ellen, hurry up! Solo cried telepathically. "Right," Ellen said, running to catch up to Ray and the others.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Konuju

[Parugi]

OOC: Well, welcome back, Sparta. IC - Kyle Eston - PNT: "Fair enough," Kyle said, following Zach and Summer toward the exit. "So, where exactly are we headed now?"IC - Sonja Baron - Undella Town: "So I guess we'll be teleporting to Iccirus?" Sonja asked Ray as they walked toward the northern gate. If she remembered correctly, that had been their plan of action: Finish business in Undella and then meet the others at the tower. If so, that meant they would have to wait for Evan and Seth to return. Still, at least they would be on the move again.IC - Gavin/Ethan/Jackson - Strange Forest: The group of Rockets trudged along at a steady pace, easily following the trail that the Déoza agents had left. Whether or not they had tried to be careful while making their way through, Quincy's men hadn't been very inconspicuous--even someone like Gavin, who did not spend a particularly large amount of time around trees like Ethan did, could see which direction they had headed.Still, nothing about the situation actually made sense to him. From the sounds of what Ethan and others had said in the past, this Ford guy was careful with his actions. Granted, those actions were crazy, but they were still careful. Somehow, though, Gavin could find no logic in sending a group of armed agents onto a train, only to hijack it and send it off into another dimension. What purpose did that serve to anyone, exactly? Arguably, they were probably looking for something, but what could be of such value to him--and why not just use something else, such as anything that wasn't a train, to get here, if he possessed such powerful things already?It made his head hurt, and so decided to stop thinking about it. Instead, he focused on their surroundings. Trees, trees, and more trees--that was what this place boiled down to. Lots of trees and a mountain in the distance that apparently housed whatever Adams was looking for, judging from the direction they were going in. On top of that, it was devoid of life--seemingly. There had been that weird-looking eye thing, but had that actually been real, or a figment of Gavin's imagination? He was pretty sure that he had actually seen it. It had been too real to be imaginary...Somehow, that only made it worse."Does anyone else get really bad vibes from this place?" he asked the other Rocket Agents, pushing a strange-looking bush aside.Ethan glanced back at him, and then at the forest around him. "Now that you mention it... I suppose a bit?" he said at length."I mean, it seems like a nice place and all..." Gavin said uncomfortably. "But... I don't know... Something just feels wrong about it. Like it shouldn't be here to begin with.""Yeah..." Ethan said absentmindedly. "The fact that we haven't seen any sort of living creature here--aside from the plants--doesn't help at all..."IC - Quincy/Damon/"Mewthree"/? - Strange Forest: They were nearing the mountain now; Quincy could see its towering form bearing down on them with each step that they took. Behind her, Mewtwo--or "Mewthree," as she had taken to calling him--floated along, keeping an eye on their surroundings, and behind them, the Déoza agents followed. Thus far, they had encountered no resistance, though Quincy was not sure whether that was a good sign or a bad sign--particularly when it came to the facts of what they were searching for to begin with.Presently, the edge of the forest and the base of the mountain came into view. Quincy moved further ahead, quickly passing the line of trees. The mountain loomed before her like a giant, blotting out the already-weakened sunlight above. She stared up at the pale rock, waiting for the others to catch up to her. When they did, she pointed to a cave higher up the mountain, from which a number of silvery lines seemed to sparkle in the light, spilling out over the face of the rock, some of them streaming all the way down the mountain and into the trees."That's where we need to go," she said. "We'll be able to head back soon enou--" She stopped as a rather violent rustling sounded from the trees behind them. The Déoza agents turned, aiming their guns at the spot. A strange, glowing circle with a single line going horizontally through its center appeared in the shadows of the trees, staring out at them. For a moment, the Déoza agents blinked in confusion, before opening fire at the thing, the bullets cutting through the leaves and foliage, The thing did not fall.After a moment, however, their guns collapsed on themselves, the metal crushed into lopsided, jagged orbs."Do you dare try to harm my children..." a voice said from behind them. Quincy, Damon, and several other Déoza agents turned to face the source, all equally surprised at the speaker's appearance--especially Mewtwo, who had not sensed the man's arrival. Standing before now was a man in a tattered black robe, a hood drawn over his head covering all of his features--except for the white, ice-like mask over his face, from which pale, lifeless brown eyes stared out at them. He seemed almost disgusted with their presence, though his voice did not express that. "Disgusting... humans..."Five more glowing circles appeared in the shadows. The Déoza agents stared, dumbfounded, at them for only a brief instant, before lines of dirt trailed toward them, as if something was moving underneath the ground. Black vines erupted at their feet, ensnaring them and pulling them toward the forest, the men screaming as they tried--and failed--to get a grip on the ground. Others who moved in to help were forced back by more vines, which lashed out at them if they got too close. Almost as soon as the two men disappeared into the forest, their screams were abruptly cut off."Three, Psystrike!" Quincy ordered, not waiting for any input from Damon. Mewtwo moved next to her, eyes glowing as he focused on the man and sent out a telepathic burst of energy--which, to his surprise, was deflected by a psychic barrier around the man. Growling, Quincy sent out Voodoo, her Banette, and Ent, her Abomasnow. At the same time, the Déoza agents began sending out their own mixture of Pokémon, the majority of them facing the things staring out from the forest.The masked man seemed unimpressed, merely observing Ent. "An Abomasnow..." he said thoughtfully. "I had an Abomasnow once... until I came here... and met It..."A great shuffling of the trees as six more circles appeared, bringing the total number of unknown enemies to twelve.A great shuffling as they struck.