Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan
The combatants and the burning trees that surrounded them faded out of focus as Ryan felt the disturbingly familiar presence of Gluttony's mind touching his own. He tried to block him out, but the Sin's words echoes in his mind, consuming his thoughts.
 
"This isn't exactly the sort of spotlight I had in mind," Ryan said mentally, trying in vain to push Gluttony out of his mind. "You... you tricked me! You told me if I put Ray in his place, I'd have no one between me and Sonja. But this spotlight is nothing like you promised! Instead of a stage, it's a pillory, exposing my worst traits and putting them on display for all the world to see. Sonja will never forgive me for what I've done, and it's all because I fell for your dirty trick!"
 
IC: Dack/Hannah - Celadon City, Central Park
Dack clenched his hand into a fist as his eyes followed the man calling himself Pride. "You can keep your title!" he spat. "Pride is marked by selfishness... and while I may have been selfishly seeking revenge long ago, I've put all that behind me. So unless you're trying to make me atone for the sins of my past, I think you've sorely mistaken who I am. I'm not the man I once was." As Dack spoke, Swellow swooped down and landed on his shoulders, spreading his wings with a loud caw, warning Pride against attacking his trainer.
 
Hannah's eyes darted from Pride to Dack, her lip curling up in a smirk. "You may have buried your past, but there's no escaping it, Dack," she said. "The fact that you think you're a better person than you really are just proves Pride's point." She glanced over at Aspen with a scoff as the boy fiddled with his PokéGear, the expression on his face betraying his stark terror. "The kid's in the same boat, if his actions in Sootopolis are anything to go by." She turned her gaze toward Pride, crossing her arms. "I won't deny that I'm prideful. It probably comes from growing up in someone else's shadow. On that note, if your goal was to collect the most prideful people in Celadon, I think you're missing a big one: Shannon Willows. She was always better than me, or so she claims. She loves to ride on the success of her oh-so-wonderful parents. And believe me, I would love nothing more than to see her punished for her arrogance and snobbery." Hannah scowled. "That was the entire reason I came to Celadon today. So why am I the one being accused? Yes, I'm prideful, but unlike Shannon or these two buffoons, I've earned my pride. For nearly six years I've toiled long and hard to get to where I am today! How dare you say I haven't the power or superiority! I am a Rocket Executive!"
 
As Hannah brandished the executive badge on her chest, her Gardevoir kept her eye trained on the Rapidash. The Charizard and Noivern flew above her, ready to help their trainer back up her claims. Staraptor stood at Hannah's side, paying no heed to Pride as he cleaned his ruffled feathers in anticipation for what seemed like an inevitable battle.
 
IC: Madison - Celadon City, Rooftop
"Anzu!" Madison cradled the Froslass in her arms, the last attack having brought her dangerously close to unconsciousness. A sudden hopelessness fell on the skier. Dack had not wanted her on the rooftop like this, and now she saw his wisdom. She was not a battler, but she had thought she could prove that she was capable of holding her own in a battle like this. To show Dack he had no reason to worry. Instead, she found herself woefully underpowered and unprepared.
 
The Drifblim cackled as it readied another Shadow Ball, aiming to finish off Anzu. Stacy's Archeops sped toward them to try and intercept the attack, but it was a moment too late; the Shadow Ball had already been launched. There was a burst of light, the sound of a capsule opening.  Madison gasped as a Teddiursa materialized in front of Anzu, the Shadow Ball passing harmlessly through its soft fur.
 
"T-Teddy?" Madison cried in surprise. The small bear cub smiled back at her. Dack had left him in Madison's care after they had left Shannon's house, not wanting him to get hurt. Madison was about to recall Teddy when he leapt toward the Drifblim, striking it with a Night Slash. "Of course..." the skier said, her eyes widening. "You want to prove yourself just as much as I do. Alright Teddy, give it another Night Slash!"
 
As Teddy jumped up to attack again, the Drifblim summoned a Gust of wind to try and keep the ferocious cub at bay.
 
Meanwhile, with its Quiver Dance complete, the Masquerain hovered over Stacy's Archeops and let loose a Stun Spore. The Emolga and its Double Team copies all clapped an Encore toward Diggersby. It then darted toward the rabbit, performing a series of Acrobatics that aimed to strike the Diggersby again and again. The Diggersby could choose to Protect itself from the first few swoops, but its shield would fail long before the Emolga let up on its assault.
 
OOC:
Drifblim: Gust -> Teddy
Teddy: Night Slash -> Drifblim
Masquerain: Stun Spore -> Archeops
Emolga: Encore + repeated Acrobatics -> Diggersby
 
IC: Luke - Celadon City, West
To put it kindly, Luke was having a pretty rough time. First Aspen had disappeared under his watch. Now his Machoke, his prized Pokémon (and his only Pokémon, for that matter), was getting pummeled by a psychic cat. Worse, while Luke was stuck in a one-on-one battle, Commander Ballard's troops were advancing. The small handful of Celadonians he had with him would only be able to keep the army at bay for so long. They needed something more durable. Some way to stall the troops. "We need a barricade!" he cried out in desperation. He knew it was wishful thinking. He might have been more hopeful if Dack were there with his Bastiodon. But last Luke had seen, Dack was somewhere up in the clouds, where a Bastiodon was completely useless. The blackbelt cursed his friend for taking off so quickly. Luke soon became focused on his battle with the Meowstic and Mawile.
 
However, his cry had not gone unheard. The Celadonians repeated the command amongst themselves. It was nothing more than talk until one brave soul chased after a Rocket soldier that had tried to slip around the group. The lone Celadonian chased the Rocket into a side street, where he tackled him in front of a fruit stand. A sharp hit from his Charmeleon's claws rendered the Rocket unconscious. The Celadonian was about to head back to the group when he saw there wasn't just one fruit stand. There were dozens of them. He recognized it as Celadon's fruit and vegetable outdoor market. A smile etched its way onto the man's face. "This will be perfect." The Celadonian and his Charmeleon lifted one of the stands, heaving the wooden structure back out to the main street. It was slow going, but eventually they made it out of the side street, throwing the empty stand in the middle of the road about a block-and-a-half behind where Luke and the others were facing the Rockets. "Here's our barricade!" he declared, running up to his fellow citizens.
 
A single fruit stand would have proven useless against Commander Ballard's army. But the other Celadonians quickly caught on as the man and his Charmeleon darted back to grab more stands. The better battlers of the group stayed back to hold off the army, while the others ran to the vegetable market. Someone sent out a Kangaskhan to help carry the stands, while a Solosis lifted some with telekinesis. Some of the quicker citizens sought out the carts that were on wheels and ran them back to the barricade. Other people got creative and threw chunks of fallen building or uprooted pavement onto the steadily growing structure. Palmer's Rhyperior A few people who had been hiding in the shops that lined the street looked out curiously at the barrier. Spurred on by the Celadonians rallying, one of the shopkeepers brought out a heavy table, adding it to the heap. Soon the barricade consisted of not only fruit stands, but tables, chairs, wooden pallets, and even an old file cabinet. As more and more people saw the growing structure and decided to add whatever bulky items they could find, the barricade grew exponentially. Soon it stood a good six or seven feet tall across the entire width of the street.
 
Meanwhile, Luke and the others still fighting the Rocket army found themselves pushed further and further back. One of the citizens building the barricade hailed them, urging them to retreat behind the huge structure. Luke turned around and his mouth dropped open. "W-when did that happen?" he asked in disbelief. Shaking his head with a grin, he retreated his Machoke back into its Pokéball and darted toward the barricade.
 
"What is this?" Commander Ballard cried as the citizens they had been fighting fled, clambering over the teetering barricade. The Rocket Commander laughed. "Do you really think that pile of lumber is going to stop us?" The soldier with the Meowstic stepped forward, his Pokémon glowing with psychic energy as it prepared to rip the structure to shreds.
 
At that moment, Palmer's Rhyperior peered over the top of the barricade and shot a Rock Wrecker at the psychic Pokémon. The Meowstic skidded across the pavement, knocked out from the unexpected attack. The Celadonians cheered and began launching attacks at the Rocket army, aiming to take out their other psychic types and any other Pokémon that proved a danger to the haphazard structure's integrity. Most of the attacks weren't enough to immediately knock out the Pokémon, but the constant bombardment managed to keep the Rockets distracted enough that they couldn't actually do anything to try and damage the structure.
 
"This is awesome!" Luke grinned as his Machoke Fire Punched a wheel that had fallen off one of the carts at the bottom of the barricade and then hurled the burning disk at an enemy Parasect. "Hey Machoke! I think you just learned Flame Wheel!"
 
"I hate to rain on your parade," one of the Celadonians said. "But it's only a matter of time before they decide to just use another street to go around."
 
The grin vanished from Luke's face. "We're gonna need more barricades."
 
IC: Palmer/Natalie - Celadon City, outside Pokémon Center
Natalie watched Amelia run off toward the west, then shook her head and started to go in the opposite direction, toward the east gate. That was when a group of five Rockets appeared. Three of them stepped toward Natalie, Palmer, and their small group of Celadonians.
 
"Where do you think you're going?" the Rocket in the middle asked, sending out a Vaporeon. "My name is Agent Jordan, and under the command of Team Rocket, I'm ordering you to get off the streets."
 
"Oh, please," a Rocket girl said, her Leavanny stepping forward. "You're so formal about this stuff. Clearly if they're still out in the streets after seeing our army rain down from above, they're up to no good."
 
"Don't question me, Haley," Agent Jordan said. "I'm just following protocol."
 
"Screw your protocol," Haley said with a bored yawn. "Let's just get this over with. Leavanny, Stun Spore them all." The Leavanny raised her arms to unleash the paralyzing powder when Natalie's Aipom leapt forward and struck it with DoubleSlap.
 
"Haley!" Jordan cried.
 
"Hey, it works," Haley shrugged. "Walter agrees with me, doesn't he?"
 
"Hm?" The third Rocket said. "I never said that... but that Cresselia looks mighty powerful. Hey! You're Tower Tycoon Palmer, aren't you? Wormadam, Iron Head!" The trashy-cloaked Pokémon at his side shot forward with surprising speed.
 
"Always a pleasure to meet a fan," Palmer said. "Although if you know who I am, you should know the power of a Frontier Brain!" He sent out his Dragonite, who took the Iron Head for Cresselia and began to Dragon Dance.
 
"Oh, for Arceus' sake!" Jordan cried. "If you won't get off the streets, we'll be forced to attack! Vaporeon, Aqua Jet!" The aquatic Pokémon shot toward Cresselia. The Legendary was unable to avoid the attack, but retaliated with a powerful blast of Psychic energy.
 
IC: Zoe
Kayla cried out in frustration as her Gorebyss was repeatedly slapped by the determined Feebas. "I've had enough of this!" she cried. "Ice Beam!" The attack struck Eilonwy point-blank, sending her flying into the Lapras' side.
 
"Hey, watch it!" Matt cried indignantly as his Lapras was thrown off balance, sending its Confuse Ray toward the ceiling. "Now look, you made Lapras miss! Great going, Zoe."
 
"You've been missing all day!" Zoe cried in exasperation. "Just like you're missing the point of this battle! We're supposed to be working together!"
 
"Don't tell me what to do," Matt shot back. "I don't take orders from crazies."
 
As the two agents-in-training bickered, the Gorebyss fired a Water Pulse at the Lapras and Eilonwy. Travis' Kabuto followed up with a Slash to the Lapras.
 
Zoe saw the commotion and forced herself to turn away from Matt to focus on the real battle. "Don't let Kabuto get away!" she cried. "Quick, Tackle it!" Eilonwy charged forward with all her might.... straight into the wall of the pool.
 
Travis snickered as Eilonwy tried again, only to slam into the adjacent wall. "This is going to be the easiest battle ever," he gloated. "I don't even have to do anything!"
 
"Eilonwy..." Zoe knelt by the edge of the pool as the Feebas continued to ram into the walls, growing more and more disoriented. "What's wrong, Eilonwy?"
 
"Isn't it obvious?" Kayla jeered. "Water Pulse can confuse the opponent. Any trainer that's worth anything knows that."
 
"Eilonwy... snap out of it!" Zoe pleaded. The Feebas stopped her attempted attacks and waited for the world to stop spinning around her.
 
Meanwhile, the Lapras Body Slammed into the Kabuto before it could get away. The crab Pokémon was rammed into the wall and scuttled weakly away.
 
Zoe grinned, seeing Travis' Pokémon seemed close to fainting. "Eilonwy, DragonBreath! Finish it off!"
 
"Oh, no you don't!" Travis cried. "Kabuto! Grab it!" The Kabuto ducked under the DragonBreath, then gripped Eilonwy with its skittering claws. The Feebas tried to squirm free, but Kabuto held tight. Travis smirked. "Giga Drain."
 
Zoe cried out as Kabuto drained Eilonwy's life force, restoring its own health. Eilonwy had been unable to escape the Kabuto's grasp before, and now that her energy was drained, she was completely hopeless. The Feebas continued to writhe in pain.
 
Travis laughed. "Giga Drain again."
 
"No!" Zoe cried out. Eilonwy twitched feebly.
 
"Is it still moving?" Travis frowned. "Giga Drain again."
 
"Stop it!" Zoe shouted in tears. "You've already beaten her!"
 
"Oh, is someone being a sore loser?" Kayla sneered.
 
"I said stop!" Unable to take it any longer, Zoe ran to the water's edge and dove in. She grabbed the Kabuto roughly by the shell and pried it off of her Feebas. Tossing Travis' Pokémon aside, she cradled Eilonwy in her arms and swam for the surface.
 
Travis, Kayla, and Matt were stunned. "I-is that allowed?" Matt asked. "Trainer's can't enter the battlefield, can they?"
 
Zoe crawled out of the pool, worriedly cradling Eilonwy. The Feebas breathed heavily, struggling to hold on to consciousness.
 
"Zoe!" The instructor walked over to their arena. "What are you doing? If you're going to retreat your Pokémon, use the Pokéball.  It's against tournament rules for trainers to enter the battlefield. That disqualifies both you and Matt."
 
"Of course!" Matt threw up his hands. "I should've known I was screwed from the beginning. Thanks for nothing, Zany Zoe!"
 
Zoe continued to cradle Eilonwy and looked up at the instructor. "But wars aren't fought using tournament rules. I thought we were training to become warriors."
 
"Soldiers still stick to the rules of warfare," the instructor replied.
 
"Tell that to Travis," Zoe said, rolling her eyes. "I'm pretty sure there's a rule against attacking when the enemy is down."

IC: Jayron/Colette
The illusion shattered. They were back in the chamber, Jayron and Alexa in one corner, Colette in another. The Unown still swarmed in the middle, but they appeared to be much weaker than before. Colette looked down to the floor with a blank look on her face, as tears continued to stream down her face.

Jayron held Alexa tightly, looking numbly at the spot where Colette's double had disappeared. "Why...?" he asked, turning his gaze to the Unown. "Why did you kidnap Alexa? Why did you cause this interference throughout the island? What is the reason for any of this?"

The swirling mass of letters undulated, glowing with psychic energy. They offered no answer to Jayron's question, only growing more agitated.

Colette didn't look up. "Why... did you do this...?" she said blankly. The swirling emotions in her aura pulsated, subconsciously conveying the meaning of her question.

The Unown swirled faster, their small voices growing in volume. At first they seemed to be ignoring Colette like they had ignored Jayron. But then a handful of Unown floated away from the horde and began to spin around her. Faster and faster they orbited around, then finally came to a halt in front of her. There were four of them, and they stared intensely at Colette with their large white eyes.


Colette looked up at the Unown, her face twisting in confusion. "... Ford? What...?" She dropped her gaze, her aura becoming visible once again, but fluctuating in brightness.

The four Unown wavered, growing impatient and beginning to glow as they tried to attack Colette with Hidden Power.

Colette grit her teeth as she leaped back, the attacks slamming into the ground where she had stood. "You have no concept... of anything, do you...?" she growled. Her aura began to circle around her, even as she clenched her fists. "You are all just... MONSTERS!" The aura that surrounded her became a dull yet bold gold as she dashed forward with a vicious look on her face, attempting to unleash a close range aura sphere on the nearby Unown. At her side, her Pokémon leapt into action as well.

One of the Unown quickly floated up and began to charge another Hidden Power, dodging out of the way of Kammy's Bite. Two others dodged Colette's aura sphere, only for one to flinch from Myriam's Fake Out and the other to fall to Vivian's Water Pulse. The last one was not so lucky. If the Unown O had a mouth, it would have formed the same shape as the letter it represented, as it found itself in the dead center of Colette's attack. The Unown had no time to recover from the attack, as Colette immediately grabbed it and spun around, flinging the O like a frisbee. The Symbol Pokémon struck the wall of the chamber and fell to the ground in a daze.

Colette landed and growled as she looked around the room to see what other Unown would try that again. Her aura fluctuated in brightness once more. She tried to ignore the wave of fatigue that was drifting over her, knowing she had to stop this menace no matter what.

The rest of the swarm felt the pain of their fallen brethren, and responded in kind. The mass of Unown descended upon Colette, their eyes brimming with rage as they prepared countless Hidden Power attacks.

Colette's Pokémon were not about to let their trainer fall, however, and leaped in the way. Colette looked on in shock, gritting her teeth as Kammy, Myriam, and Vivian fell to the ground, winded from taking the attacks meant for her.

"I'm done playing around," Colette growled. "Now... I'll finish you!" She brought her hands back, gathering up as much aura energy as she could muster. The aura sphere fluctuated with power as she launched it, attempting to hit at least some Unown with it. At that moment, another Unown took advantage of her distraction and fired a Hidden Power at her. Colette looked up in surprise, realizing there was no time to get out of the way...

A flash of light illuminated the chamber as a Magikarp materialized, launching itself into the space between the attack and Trainer. Colette watched with stunned silence as the Magikarp was slammed into the ground, flopping around helplessly. The fish stared up at Colette, its gaping mouth curving into what looked like a smile before it succumbed to unconsciousness. The Trainer recalled her Magikarp before any further damage could be done and clenched her fists, her aura fluctuating with both shock and outrage.

Jayron's Zwelious unleashed a Dark Pulse to take out a handful of Unown, but even more swarmed around Jayron and Alexa. It was all the Liberty Executive could do to create a shield to block the incoming Hidden Powers. He hastily tried to make his way over to Colette, seeing her Pokémon were down. "They've gone mad!" Jayron cried. "I don't think they want to use Alexa anymore. They want to destroy her, along with all of us!"

Colette didn't answer. Wordlessly, she dashed toward Jayron and Alexa, coldly firing off another large aura sphere toward the buzzing Unown. She was mad. And she was going to make the Unown pay for everything they had done. Kammy, Vivian, and Myriam slowly picked themselves up with a worried glance toward the aura wielder. This was the worst they had ever seen her, and they could tell she was couldn't take much more of this.

The aura sphere blasted through the horde, but the Unown continued to relentlessly pound against Jayron's shield. The executive knew something had to be done. He carefully set Alexa down, and stood up. His eyes brimmed with aura as he concentrated on manipulating the shape of his aura shield. In a fashion similar to the power Colette's double had portrayed, Jayron slowly wrapped his aura shield around the horde of Unown. The letters bounced furiously against the shield they found themselves trapped in. Jayron gasped from the pressure their psychic energy was putting on the shield, but he managed to keep it maintained, at least for the moment.

Colette held her arms out, charging an aura sphere in each hand. The aura around her flickered as she called upon her last reserves of power. Her rage fueled her emotions as she poured as much energy as she could muster into the spheres. Her vision swam before her, bright spots popping in her eyes. She forced her eyes shut, trying to maintain her focus. Her arms burned from the intensity of the aura she held in her palms.

Colette! Lucario yelled out, as he ran up to the aura wielder. I know what you're trying to do. Let me help. The Lucario put a hand on her shoulder, knowing that such a powerful attack could be dangerously draining.

Colette nodded to the Lucario, and then focused on stabilizing her aura. She was dangerously close to losing control, and she knew that losing control at this stage would be devastating. Then Colette felt a new burst of energy, as Lucario began to pour his own aura into her. The added energy helped Colette focus more on stabilizing her aura, as the glow in her hands brightened a bit. She took a deep breath. Collie, this one is for you... "One... two... THREE!" She brought her hands forward, and combined the two aura spheres into one charged attack. At her side, Lucario fired off his own charged aura sphere, and the two attacks flew toward the shielded Unown.

Jayron gritted his teeth as he opened the shield partially. The moment the aura spheres struck the Unown, Jayron forced his shield closed again. The result was an explosion that tore Jayron's shield apart, scattering the Unown everywhere. Jayron raised his arms, but the Unown merely sailed past him. Many fell to the floor, but those with enough energy left latched themselves to the walls, returning to their dormant state. It seemed the Unown had finally been defeated.

Colette panted heavily from the attack, as she warily looked around at the Unown. She especially paid attention to the ones who had returned to the walls. She glanced suspiciously at the Unown on the floor as well, paranoid that at any second they would hop back up and start to fight again.

Jayron panted as well. The Unown that lay scattered across the floor seemed to have latched themselves there instead. He looked over at Colette as he tried to catch his breath, managing a weak smile. "It's over."

Colette fell to her knees, feeling lightheaded. The fight had drained her, both physically and emotionally. She closed her eyes as her aura returned to normal. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, causing her to shake weakly as tears streamed down her face.

Jayron's smile vanished as he saw Colette's reaction. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey... you alright?"

Colette didn't say anything in response. However, the subtle shake of her head seemed to indicate that she might in fact not have been truly okay. As it was, Colette just wanted to leave this cursed place, and all the bad memories that haunted it.

Lucario and the rest of the Pokémon gathered around the two aura wielders. Their expressions ranged from sad to exhausted. "Come on, Colette," Jayron said gently. "Let's bring Alexa home."

[Parugi]

IC - Pride - Celadon City, Central Park:

 

Pride smirked at Hannah and Dack, chuckling at their new display of bravado. He clasped his hands together, pacing around the group again as the pair spoke. This time, his Rapidash remained in place, a staunch guardian overlooking the proceedings of their conversation. By the time they finished speaking, he  had made a full lap around the group, and thus came to a stop on the other side of his Rapidash. Pride raised a hand to the Fire Horse Pokémon's neck, running it through the flames.

 

"Your flimsy justifications more than support the constitution of my judgment," the Sinner said. He looked down at the makeshift line composed of the footprints from where he and Rapidash had tread; and with the mere application of a thought, another of Pride's symbols appeared at his feet, along with three others that appeared at regular intervals along the circle. Pride crossed his arms. "She is correct . . . in one regard--one perhaps not of her own making, as I hinted to it before. Your Pride--ill-found as it may be--is a facet of yourself set deep within you." He smiled. "Whether you know it to be there or not is without consequence; for in either case, it drives you. No matter what you may believe, you have merely traded one type for another."

 

"Consider . . ." Pride's voice came from behind them--and, indeed, it seemed that he had actually vanished from the symbol he had been standing upon before they could truly process it. When they turned around, he was standing again before the burning tree, though now, by some means, his form did not appear as a silhouette against the dying flames as it had before. "When push comes to shove, you rely on no one but yourself. You charged after Wright in Sootopolis. You charged after Wright in this very city. You give no thought to the safety, the situations, of those in alliance with you once you decide that you must act." He locked eyes with the former Rocket Agent. "You are suicidally overconfident. And what has that gotten you, Dack Majors? Dead friends, the way I see it--it won't be long now before their final breaths escape their lips, wondering why their fearless leader has forsaken them, simply so that he can prove himself capable of beating the big, bad threat." He briefly smirked, though the expression did not last long.

 

"And you . . ." Pride vanished again, reappearing to the left of the group, were they to face Rapidash again. "I have watched you for some time now, Hannah. And I must say, I am less and less impressed with you every day that we remain connected." He shook his head. "You are indeed a proud one, and perhaps you have earned it--to a degree. But for what purpose were you driven? Dreams of grandiosity fueled by a genuine desire for prestige, fame, glory? Or so that you can use that power to settle a childhood grudge? Against a girl who didn't even know any better, at that!" Pride clenched his fist and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to regain his composure. "You condescend to tell me that Shannon Willows's Pride is on par with yours--that I have made a mistake in glossing over her. Yet you seem utterly incapable of recognizing the truth of your own crusade: That what justified anger you bear toward her is distorted and directed toward the wrong transgressor. Your Pride is built upon a pathetic and ill-conceived foundation of self-pity and revenge, and is self-serving in a way most demeaning to any outside observer. You are no queen--merely a brat with far too much time on her hands. Your Pride, Hannah Wright, is false."

 

Pride vanished once more, falling silent for several moments now--as if taking his time to collect himself again. When he spoke, it was with an utmost calm--quite a turnaround from the tone he had been using mere seconds before.

 

"And, of course, we can't forget you, now can we, Aspen Seaton?" He stood on the symbol across from the previous one, glowing eyes boring into Aspen's very soul. "You perplex me, as I'm sure you do your various allies. You treat those who wish to fight beside you like scum. You act as if those who accomplish acts of heroics are worth nothing--as if they owe you something. Ellen, Zach, Luke, Madison, Dack--all good people, surely, despite their moments of weakness? They've helped to save the world in their own ways, haven't they? Yet you place yourself upon a pedestal and look down upon them with such a scornful gaze . . ." Pride's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, what do you have to be proud of? What compels you to act the way you do, to rip and tear into the spirits and actions of those around you with no regard for their past, their experiences--their feelings and fears and regrets? I want to hear it in your words--I want you to earn this."

Edited March 27, 2015 by Apears

[Konuju]

OOC: Jam with Blade
 
IC: Shannon Willows/Ryan Hikari
Shannon bit her lip. For a moment, it looked like she was about to argue. Instead she sighed in defeat. "I was so sure that if I just talked with Hannah... But you're right. We can't do anything right now if we don't even know where she is." She looked over at Ryan. "But what do you mean by gathering up my stuff?"

Ryan nodded at what she had said about Hannah; they had no clue where she was, so no matter what, they couldn't try to talk her down. "Well, we don't know what will happen to the city, and just in case things get really bad, I don't want to see anyone lose stuff."

Selena crooned worriedly at Ryan's words. Shannon felt he was overreacting, but the attacks raining down across the city proved otherwise. They had already damaged her shoulder. Who was to say her house wouldn’t be next? She nodded. "Alright, then. I guess there's really no use sticking around here."

Ryan nodded, as he frowned. The Trainer spared a glance back toward the snow, and then looked toward Shannon again. "Right. Let's go, then." He began to walk forward, unsure of which direction they needed to go in after everything that had happened.

Shannon gently nudged him in the other direction. "It's this way."

Ryan paused, and looked the other way. "Oh. Right. I knew that," he mumbled, not wanting to actually admit that he had lost his way.

The two started to turn down a small street when a glob of poison landed on the ground in front of them. Shannon jumped backward, holding Selena tightly. The frenzied form of Allison Kinsley stood before them, her dirt-marked face twisted into a scowl. "You're not going anywhere!" the Rocket agent cried, one hand clutching her side with what seemed like a broken rib. "Hand over Willows -- right now!" If the panting Rocket Agent didn't seem like much of a threat, her Dragalge more than made up for it as it prepared another Sludge Bomb, warning Ryan and Shannon that it would be in their best interests to comply.

Ryan sighed in annoyance, as he shook his head. "No can do." Ryan threw a Pokéball forward, as his Excadrill appeared. "Drill Run," he said with a bored tone, as the Excadrill launched himself forward, spinning rapidly.

Dragalge spat its poison forward, but the attack did nothing to deter the giant mole spinning toward it. Kinsley barely had time to open her mouth before her Pokémon was flattened against a wall, collapsing to the ground unconscious. The Rocket glared at Ryan as she reached for another Pokéball. "Why, you little..."

Not wanting the situation to get any worse, Selena leapt out of Shannon's arms and fired a Hyper Voice at the Rocket Agent. Allison Kinsley cried out as the attack drove her to her knees before knocking her out. "S-Selena!" Shannon gasped in surprise at the fainted Rocket as her Furret scampered over and jumped back into her arms, curling up in a ball. Shannon gave the Rocket and her Dragalge an apologetic smile before stroking Selena affectionately. "G-good job, girl..."

Ryan seemed surprised by the attack, but smiled, and walked over to the Furret, petting the Pokémon's head in thanks. "Right, let's go before that one wakes up again and wants to try that again." Ryan sighed at Kinsley's persistence, and began to walk forward again.

Shannon nodded and followed Ryan, casting one last look at the poor Rocket girl before leaving. She remained silent, seeming lost in thought as she trailed a few steps behind Ryan.

Ryan continued to walk, but then paused as he looked back. "You alright?"

The girl gave a nod, looking down and petting Selena. "I... I just hope that Rocket girl is alright," she said in a small voice. "I didn't want to hurt her...."

Ryan nodded and scratched his head. "I'm... sure she's fine," he said, figuring she was better than the other Rocket girl they had fought.

Shannon smiled sadly as she passed Ryan and led the way down another street. "I always knew I wouldn't like warfare. But... seeing it for myself... Th-this is just horrible."

Ryan nodded, as he sighed. "Yeah... I wish there was more of a way to help..." They fell silent once more. For a while, the only sound other than the attacks exploding in the skies above was the crunch of the snow on their feet. Ryan looked over, and frowned slightly. "I want to help more. Are there others we could warn? Any like, friends we might be able to help out?"

Shannon shook her head. "The only friend we could help out is Hannah." She sighed, lowering her eyes to the powdery snow. "And, well, you saw how well that worked out."

Ryan looked back, as he seemed confused, and stopped for a moment. "Oh? Do other friends live outside the city, or...?" He paused, looking to Shannon in surprise. "... Do... do you have friends?" He had never stopped to consider that; she'd had a bunch of friends back in Ecruteak... wouldn't that have applied here too?

Shannon stopped walking and simply stared at the ground for a long moment. Her hair fell over her shoulders, partially obscuring her face. When at last she spoke, it was in a tiny voice, shaking as though she might break down at any moment. "...I thought I had friends. In Ecruteak. But after seeing Hannah, I don't know if anyone was every truly my friend. They probably hated me... for the same reason everyone here hated me..."

Ryan looked at Shannon sadly, and then walked up to her, and put a hand on her good shoulder. "Chin up. I don't think things are hopeless. I'm sorry you had to go through that, though." He had no clue what else to even say, but he could definitely relate to everyone hating him, especially recently.

Shannon smiled wryly. "It's my own fault, really. I have no one to blame but myself."

Ryan sighed, and nodded. "Yeah. Been there, done that. But the only way to move is forward, and I've been learning that the last few days. Don't be so hard on yourself." He patted her shoulder again, realizing he was horrible at reassuring people.

"I tried that." Shannon glanced up at him, her hair still covering part of her face. "I tried putting my past behind me. And for a while, it worked great.... until you came knocking at my door."

Ryan paused, and then looked away, as he nodded. "Ah. Yeah, I guess that makes sense..." Ryan said, as he turned around again. "Let's... get going. We might be lucky, but wasting time would lower those chances." He closed his eyes as he realized that once again this was his fault, and nothing that happened would change that.

With a nod, Shannon continued walking, falling back into a silent melancholy. Selena crooned sadly, not liking seeing her trainer like this.

[Franco]

IC: Cero had been taking his time moving toward the strange noise. As he held Viajero, he had felt a perturbing thrum in the pup's body, one that remained even as the excitement of the fight wore off. A successful Pickup did nothing to assuage his unease. What if the Lillipup was sick? He was too new a trainer to know the signs, and he was too poor to have access to much medicine. What to do...

 

He finally resolved to have it examined later and headed toward the truck at full speed, retrieving Viajero with a sense of foreboding. By the time he reached the truck's vicinity, though, he was too late to investigate. The vehicle's roar was fading in the distance.

 

But he heard Esen, and he knew that she would know more. He just had to ignore her strangeness.

 

"Who is 'them?,'" he questioned, entering the open area between windmills near Esen with a guarded stance. Immediately, he noticed a pair of bats next to her, as well as dust on her hand and foot--with the thud from earlier, had she been hitting the windmill?--and her downward gaze. What he didn't notice was the presence of Kyle.

 

Perhaps Esen could elucidate.

Edited April 2, 2015 by The Scottish Play

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Gluttony

"The spotlight is like a magnifying glass, Ryan.", Gluttony replied mentally, as the battle continued. "It magnifies all of your traits, good and bad. The fact you cannot grasp this, only proves how mindlessly hungry you were."

"You're like a Durant burning up in a Sunny Day under that magnifying glass.", Gluttony continued, "You brought this upon yourself. Only you can fix it, but will you? The way you are acting and denying your Sin tells me you won't."

 

As the chaos erupted around them, Gluttony's laughter echoed in Ryan Sanders' mind, loud and clear........

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Arthurs – Central Celadon

 

The recoil from the Flare Blitz one-hit KO’ing Audinaga was severe enough that the Talonflame was forced to Roost. In doing so, the Fire-Flying was left a sitting duck for the Water Pulse coming from Claraga as well as a Mud Bomb being dropped on it by Gawain. The two attacks were enough to finish the job the Talonflame had started itself.

 

Before the Pelipper could celebrate that the on the successful knockout or the Swanna on doing anything, both Water-Flyings were hit by an attack from Blissaga and Lucan. The Hyper Voice boosted by Helping Hand landed solidly on both targets. The twin heads of Lucan both launching Ice Beams encasing both targets in Ice merely finished the job.

 

James watched as the three trainers left behind ran off to catch up with their superior. If he had Mordred with him now, the Liberty Executive might have been able to keep them from running away to potentially have their Pokémon teams healed. The last thing he needed was a repeat of that battle. A few well-placed Ice Punches and he could have had all of them either unconscious or frozen stuck. Even he sent Guinevere after them now, it would be too large of an investment at this point. An unaffordable distraction from his goal. He had to hope that the Rockets did not bring a large number of healers with them.

 

Speaking of Rockets and Healers…

 

“Well I was not planning on being bailed out by my younger half, but as it is, thank you… What happened to your nose Jamie?”

 

“Oh this?” Jamie said gesturing to her face, “There were a couple of ruffians earlier today, and one of them punched me in the face.”

 

Upon hearing of this most grievous offense, James’ aura grew as cold and dark as the weather.

 

“Who dared to harm your face?”

 

“Um…well, I don't know who he was. But, I am pretty sure Pelleas broke his ribs” Jamie said sheepishly.

 

“Well done, Pelleas,” James said his mood relaxing and his face brightening.

 

The Heracross grinned.

 

“At any rate, I am glad to see that not all Rockets subscribe to this madness. I would like to discuss this further, but I have to secure our childhood home first. If you will excuse me,” he said turning around to walk off.

 

“Wait, we’ll go with you.”

 

James stopped for a moment beside Guinevere and turned back around. The words ‘Are you sure?’ in James’ voice appeared in Jamie’s head.

 

…Yes. As a Rocket I need to protect this city… and I want to see where you grew up.

 

James was silent for a moment longer before responding “…Very well. I could use your help.”

 

Jamie nodded and followed the elder Arthur.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Stacy's Pokemon==-

 

That probably didn't work as well as the Masquerain had thought. The Archeops waited as the stun spore started to fall, and then shot a rock up in a makeshift Rock Slide. The Archeops felt its body start to slow down and seize up; however, it was not about to give up just yet.

 

The Diggersby, on the other hand, simply kept taking the attack upon the protect shield time after time. He could feel the energy starting to break, and knew it wouldn't be long before it would dissolve for good, and the Emolga would break through... He just hoped something could take the Emolga out first.

 

-==IC: Stacy==-

 

Stacy frowned, as the battle seemed to be turning out alright so far. "You handle the rest of the fight with the help of my Pokemon; I'm going to head back." Stacy said, as things seemed to be in control; but she was worried about Madison, after she saw the attacks coming from the nearby rooftop.

 

-==IC: Lucia==-

 

Lucia sighed, as she recalled her Pokemon, the fight finally done. The girl watched as Jamie and James talked for a bit, and then walked up toward Jamie, intrigued a bit. "So..." Lucia began, as she scratched her head, having not really focused on the discussion between Jamie and James that much. "Where we going?"

[Flipz]

IC:Blissie (Blissey; T:Alex Zyther)/Sylph (Eevee; T:Alex Zyther)

Blissie closed her eyes serenely and released the breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding; though experienced in battle, in truth it never seemed to get any easier for the Happiness Pokémon. Walking closer to her master's kin--Lucia, was it?--the Blissey crooned and laid a stubby hand upon Audinaga's and Megana's Pokéballs, clearly concerned for the creatures contained within.

 

Meanwhile, Alex's other present Pokémon pounced from his perch, pacing perilously between Pelleas' and then Jamie's legs before thrice circling the group and finally leaping back up onto Pelleas' shoulder. It seemed the little creature had energy to spare from its encounter and was eager to move on to the next, apparently oblivious to the very real danger they'd all been in. The furry fluffball wrinkled its nose and then sneezed at the hint of ash on the air, but neither knew nor understood enough to make anything of it. He wiggled his tail innocently, wriggling with anticipation.

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan
Ryan stood rooted to the ground, locked in his mental struggle with Gluttony. Once again he tried in vain to push the Sin out of his mind. "The only thing I'm denying is you of your sense of victory!" he cried. "I won't let you consume me like you consumed Albero, like the other Sins consumed Melanie and Melissa!" He gave another mental shove, but Gluttony's laughter permeated throughout his mind, seeming to come from everywhere at once. His skin crawled with an unnatural feeling.
 
In his mind's eye he saw himself as through a tainted mirror. He was towering over Ray with a sinister grin, seamitar in hand... he was sending Hayes to her death, not caring what happened to her as long as he looked good in Sonja's eyes...
 
Sonja...
 
She was at the root of all this. She was the reason for his Gluttonous actions.
 
Or... was she?
 
 
Although they could not see the mental struggle, Ryan's Pokémon clearly saw the effect it was having on their trainer. Ryan had collapsed to his knees, his face contorted in a look of pure anguish. Quil paused from his attack on the Emboar to give his trainer a concerned look. He barked an order to his teammates. Ampere fired another Signal Beam at the Metagross, intent on keeping the enemy Pokémon away from Ryan. Missy phased through Rhyperior's attacks as she turned her attention to Ryan. She was sure they'd be able to defeat Gluttony's Pokémon, but it would all be for naught if Ryan failed in his own personal battle. Samurott spared one look at Ryan then resumed her assault on the Snorlax, her worry for her trainer fueling her attack.
 
Togie landed on one of the few surrounding trees that had not yet caught fire, a deep frown set on his face. Although he had been able to form Aura Spheres ever since he had evolved into his final form, he was not well-versed in manipulating his aura beyond this simple attack. He was, however, able to read Ryan's aura, and he knew his trainer was in trouble. The question was, how to help? The Togekiss closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and extending his own aura toward Ryan. It was a long shot, and he wasn't even sure if it would work. But Togie was sure that if he could give Ryan just an ounce of support -- even if it was nothing more than letting him feel his presence -- it would help him overcome the darkness that had taken root inside himself.
 
OOC:
Attacks more or less continued from last time, but here's the specific ones mentioned in this post.
 
Ampere: Signal Beam -> Metagross
Samurott: Revenge -> Snorlax
 
IC: Dack/Hannah
Dack's eyes narrowed. "You think I haven't given a thought to Madison's safety? Or Luke's? I charge into battle because I don't want them to be the ones to get hurt! I put myself on the line for their sake; is that not the most selfless thing one can do?" In the back of his mind, Dack wondered if it really had been a mistake to leave Madison on her own. Sure, she had claimed she could handle herself, but did she really know the danger she was in? He hoped Pride's threat was just an empty one designed to put him on edge; but with the seemingly supernatural power the young man had already displayed, Dack wouldn't put it past him to have set up some clever scheme to kill off his friends one by one.
 
For a moment, Hannah thought Pride was going to lash out and attack her. She tensed, her Pokémon ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. Instead, the Sin disappeared and focused instead on Aspen with an eerily jarring calmness. "Hey!" she cried before Aspen could open his mouth. "I'm not through with you yet! I proved myself for my own worth as much as to get back at Shannon! But you--" She took a step forward, pointing a finger at Pride. "You took me away from my moment of glory! You could have chosen any moment to bring us here, and you waited until I was in the middle of reaping the benefits of my years of hard work and preparation! Everything I've done was leading up to this moment, and you ruined it by bringing me here and telling me that my Pride is pathetic! I've put far too much work in this plan for it to be deemed pathetic! Building up my army, planning the attacks on Celadon and Sootopolis, I even attacked Snowpoint in a failed attempt to get Dack on my side." Hannah turned her nose at her fellow Rocket, irritated that a portion of her plans had fallen through. "Clearly he was too arrogant himself to want to help me," she muttered, turning back to face Pride. "The point is, I've earned this. And no matter my motives, they've driven me this far. Surely that's worth something."
 
IC: Madison
Teddy struggled against the strong Gust, but managed to pull off a second Night Slash. "Keep it up, Teddy!" Madison cheered. "Give it another go, it looks like it's almost defeated!"
 
Sure enough, the Drifblim was close to fainting. It knew it, and it was not about to go down without a final, devastating blow. The air balloon rose into the air as it gathered pressure, slowly expanding.
 
Madison's eyes widened as she realized what the Drifblim was doing. "Teddy, look out!" she cried, already knowing her warning was too late to stop the bear cub. Anzu, however, saw what was happening and leapt into action. With the last of her strength, the Froslass threw herself in the Teddiursa's path, knocking the cub out of the way before the Drifblim burst with a sudden Explosion. The move phased through the ghost, doing only minimal damage to the surrounding combatants. The attack may not have hurt Anzu, but she still collapsed from exhaustion. The effort of knocking Teddy to safety had taken the last of her energy.
 
The Masquerain was struck by the Rock Slide, but managed to fire a haphazard Water Gun toward the Archeops before it became pinned under the rocks. Its wings fluttered rapidly in an attempt to escape. Meanwhile, Palmer's Milotic, who had been given to Madison for the battle, slithered its way over toward Diggersby, shooting an Ice Beam at the Emolga. The Double Team copies disappeared as the flying squirrel fell to the ground, taken by surprise but not quite knocked out. Chittering in annoyance, the Emolga fired an Electro Ball at the Milotic.
 
OOC:
Drifblim: Explosion -> Largely absorbed by Anzu
Masquerain: Water Gun -> Archeops
Milotic: Ice Beam -> Emolga
Emolga: Electro Ball -> Milotic
 

 

Continued jam with Blade.

 

IC: Shannon Willows/Ryan Hikari
As the trainers rounded another corner, they came to a halt. A large portion of a building had collapsed, leaving a mountain of debris in the street, completely blocking their path. Shannon stared at the mound in shock, not sure what to do.

Ryan frowned as he walked up to the blockade and thought for a moment. "We might need to burrow through." He reached for his Excadrill's Pokéball, but stopped when Shannon reached for one of her own. He gave her a nod, not wanting to just do everything himself.

"Sousa, do you think you can help us?" Shannon tossed the capsule in the air, sending out a brightly colored Dunsparce. The Pokémon took one look at the explosions lighting up the sky and cowered in fear. Shannon knelt by his side. "It's okay, Sousa. I just need you to burrow your way through this debris. Think you can do that?" The Dunsparce shook its head and started to dig a hole in the ground to hide in, but Shannon grabbed him and pulled him out. "Sousa," she said firmly. "Listen to me. I know you're not used to this, but I need you to be brave for me." Selena placed a comforting paw on Sousa's back, offering the Dunsparce a warm smile. Sousa looked at his two friends and then nodded. Flapping his wings, he floated over to the mountain and started to burrow through it.

Ryan smiled, seeming slightly amused at the Dunsparce's antics. "You know your Pokémon well," he said as he walked toward Shannon. He gave an amused chuckle. "That said, he didn't seem too impressed."

Shannon pushed her hair out of her eyes as she smiled at Ryan's compliment. "Sousa was never much of a battler. I mean, Selena isn't either, but she'll still fight to protect me when she has to." She sighed as she looked over to where the Dunsparce was rapidly digging through the debris. "Sousa's a timid little guy, but he's really sweet once you get to know him. And I know he wants to help me, even though he's scared."

Ryan nodded as he looked over to see the progress. "I can see that. Those two trust you a lot, I think." He grew quiet, wondering what it was like to actually be trusted.

Shannon smiled warmly as Selena leapt back into her arms and nuzzled against her. "I have to agree with you there," she said. "Selena and Sousa, they're my best friends in the whole world."

Ryan looked over with a smile as the Furret jumped into Shannon's arms, and then looked back toward where Sousa was digging away. "That sounds pretty cool," he said, as that was pretty much one type of friendship that couldn't truly be messed up unless you screwed up badly.

Shannon giggled happily as she hugged Selena, momentarily forgetting the war going on in the skies above her. A Fire Blast melting the roof of a nearby building brought her back to reality, just as Sousa finished carving a sizeable hole in the debris. The Dunsparce smiled at his handiwork, then darted back to his trainer, and hiding between her feet.

Ryan frowned, as he sent out his Tyranitar to guard them with a Stone Edge, and then looked to the hole. "Good job, Sousa. Let's go." He nodded to the Dunsparce as he made his way toward the new path through the debris.

Sousa looked up at the trainer he didn't recognize, trembling at the monstrous Tyranitar. Shannon knelt down to pat the Dunsparce on the head. "Good work," she said with a kind smile. "Don't worry, Ryan will keep us safe." Shifting Selena over to one arm, she picked up Sousa with the other, then turned to crawl through the rubble.

Ryan looked back and recalled his Tyranitar once both of them had made it to the other side, and then looked around. "Which way now?" he asked, as he finally had to admit he had absolutely no clue where they were.

Shannon took a moment to get her bearings, then nodded with her head toward another street. "This way," she said, leading the way. As the two walked, Shannon looked over at Ryan curiously. "How's your relationship with your Pokémon?" she asked. "I haven't really been able to tell from what I've seen of them so far."

Ryan looked over in surprise, and then scratched his head, not having expected that question. "Oh, uh, I guess it's fine," he said, raising his arm with a shiver as a gust of wind headed their way. "I'm probably closest with my Tyranitar. Porygon-Z is digital and more or less synced to me, Excadrill understands what I want, Simisage is a goof, and..." Ryan paused, as he considered his Samurott. "... I'm not sure what my Samurott thinks of me," he admitted as he rubbed his arm. "However, my Natu likes me a lot, and, uh, I think she caught me, instead of the other way around." He smiled as he began to explain that escapade.

Shannon laughed as she listened to Ryan's story. "I've never heard of a Pokémon catching a Trainer before. It sounds like you really love your Pokémon a lot." She smiled as they turned another corner. "Here we are," she said, nodding toward her house which stood a little further down the street.

Ryan looked at Shannon in surprise, as he hadn't really thought much about his team, but then smiled at the compliment. I should try to actually repair relationships with Samurott... he thought as he saw the house come into sight. "I gotta say," Ryan said,as he looked at the house. "When we were trying to find you, I thought we had the wrong place." He scratched his head, as he hadn't expected Shannon to have such a large house.

Shannon nodded with a wry smile as they approached her home. She did not reply, however, and instead looked as Selena to crawled up to her shoulder, freeing up her hand so she could open the door.

Ryan frowned at the silence as he stayed back and watched Shannon open up the door. He wondered what was up, as something seemed off, but he stayed somewhat quiet as well.

Shannon turned around and beckoned for Ryan to come inside. "Come on, you'll catch a cold if you stay out there in the snow," she said. "Besides, with my shoulder the way it is, I might need someone to help with the heavy lifting."

 

IC: Zoe

Zoe stood by the healing machine, waiting impatiently as Eilonwy's wounds slowly closed. Her hair was sopping wet, as she had refused to change out of her drenched clothes until her Feebas was fully healed. She gripped the locket around her neck as her thoughts drifted back to her sister. It was like she was living in two worlds: her normal, everyday school life, and the time she got to spend with Collie, which normally only happened during their annual vacation. Somehow, seeing Collie again so soon made dealing with Travis and her other classmates all the more difficult. She was usually able to put up with their taunts. Now, she wanted nothing more than to just run into the comfort of her sister's arms.

 

"Stop hogging the healing machine, Zany Zoe," Travis said, holding up his Kabuto's Pokéball. "We haven't got all day, you know."

 

"What do you want?" Zoe asked rudely. "Your Pokémon doesn't even need healing -- it just sucked all its health from Eilonwy, need I remind you."

 

"You really think Kabuto would get that much energy from a pathetic fish?" Travis sneered. "He needs more than that."

 

"Well, you'll just have to wait your turn," Zoe said, sticking out her tongue.

 

"Well I'm not waiting around here, that's for sure," Travis said. "You smell like a fish. They don't chlorinate those pools, you know. They're for Pokémon, not people. Do you have any idea how dirty that water is?" He snickered. "Perhaps I should start calling you Fishy Zoe."

 

As Travis walked off, Zoe slumped down to the ground with her back against the healing machine. She closed her eyes, thinking back to the time she had received her first fishing rod from Collie. She had been so excited to finally be able to fish like Collie, for fishing had been an important part of the aura wielder's training. As Zoe had quickly learned, however, fishing is a very boring sport. Especially when the fish don't want to cooperate. It had been a miracle that she'd been able to sit still long enough to catch Eilonwy. The Feebas might not have been as pretty as the other fish, but Eilonwy had managed to endear herself to Zoe's heart. The little fish had spirit, and an astounding amount of resilience. Not to mention, she was Zoe's first real catch on a fishing hook.

 

The young girl was pulled from her thoughts when the instructor approached, handing her a towel. "You'd better dry off and change into new clothes before class resumes, Zoe," he said. "I don't want you getting my classroom all wet." He started to turn away, but paused as he wrinkled his nose. "Take a shower while you're at it. You smell like a fish."

Edited April 1, 2015 by Konuju

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Miriam – Chapel Meeting Room

 

"May I?”

 

It wasn’t technically her jurisdiction to be a part of the investigation itself, at least without the express permission of the person in charge (not that the question didn’t imply that she had it). She had served in one such investigation before, and provided information for numbers more. But she felt the need to stick to protocol and ask for express permission.

 

I will always have time to ensure that a job is done right.

[Prowl Nightwolf]

IC: Jam that was supposed to be a lot longer between Ruth, Jake, and Yugo.

 

SNIP

 

"Well, now that we have our ladder... who wants to go first?" Jake asked everyone

== Alamos Power Plant  ==

== Yugo Doseki ==

== Pidgey (Airazor) - Sandslash - Charmander (Spitfire) ==

 

IC: Yugo looked around at the others in the group then to Airazor who was circling above. "I guess I will take the lead this time." Yugo said as he lined up the latter with the window. Taking a Pokéball () from his belt pouch and pointed it at Airazor calling her back into it before preceding up the latter and over the windowsill. It was a bit dark due to the power issue so Yugo was unable to see inside right off. His eyes needed to adjust to the change in light. While he waited he opened the window the rest of the way so that everyone could get in. "Alright the window is open. Everybody up and in... One at a time of course." Yugo laughed at that last part as he climbed through vanishing with a thud. "Oooh. I'm going to feel that in the morning." Landing on his back Yugo could see the window was about 4 feet off the floor. He yelled out the window at the next person coming up the latter. "Watch that first Step!! Or it will knock the breath out of you!!"

 

Slowly getting back to his feet with a groan Yugo once again accessed the Pokéballs () along his belt and selected Spitefire's () with a click the ball expanded and released the Pokémon with a flash of white. Spitfire appeared with a cry and a scowl. "Do you think you could give us some light Spitefire?" The Charmander gave a small salute and the fame on its tail increased in size. "Thank you."

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

"Me next!" Jake called, quickly scrambling up the ladder. Heeding Yugo's advice, he bent his knees on impact with the ground, Pikachu landing lightly on his shoulder. "Wow, it really is dark in here." Jake commented, already peering around outside the circle of light provided by the Charmander's tail. He released his Charmeleon, who without prompting flared his own tail, adding its illumination to what was already there.

 

"Maybe we should look for a light switch..." Jake said to no one in particular, already inspecting the walls.

[Naota Takizawa]

OOC: I'm open for interaction!

Fun fact: Viridian City was originally called "トキワ シテイ" in the Japanese version of pokemon. The katakana reads "Tokiwa City". I'm not sure why Tokiwa is written in katakana when normally, katakana is used to write English words like "city".

 

IC (As Jake Weston) (Viridian City, かんと): The blonde teenager was standing in the middle of Viridian city, looking around at the many tall buildings that towered over the streets. *This place is kinda cool, it's kind of like Nimbasa city combined with a forest.* Jake thought to himself as he spotted a pokemon academy. The trainer decided to enter and walked towards the building in search of any kind of information on Team Liberty and Team Rocket.

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Gluttony

 

"You, you, you you.", Gluttony's voice echoed ominously in Ryan's mind, "It was always about you. You sought to sate your hunger, no matter who it hurt!"

 

The Signal Beam struck the Metagross, enraging it. It started charging towards Ampere, dark energy surrounding it as it used Pursuit. Snorlax readied a Focus Punch to counter Samurott's Revenge, growling as he did so.

 

As Gluttony waited for a reply to his statement, he felt the Togekiss' presence reaching out to Ryan, but getting distorted as it got closer.

 

"Let's see how this plays out then." Gluttony mused to himself.....

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

As the Metagross charged forward, a metallic fist covered in dark energy shot forward at the psychic/steel type. Byakuya had stepped in front of Ampere as he used Sucker Punch to counter attack, taking the hit head on. The Bisharp staggered back slightly, but glared at the Metagross directly, and dashed toward the opponent, preparing a Night Slash, as he knew he had to help out as best as he could.

 

Meanwhile, as the Snorlax prepared his Focus Punch, a Zangoose charged toward the Snorlax, and leaped at him. Zangetsu knew how Focus Punch usually was used, and attempted a Close Combat on the Snorlax, attempting to disrupt him while he was gathering his focus.

 

Orihime flitted around worriedly. She wasn't sure what to attack, and noticed Togie focusing on something. Nodding in determination, Orihime flew over to her fellow Togekiss, and hovered in front of him, turning around, prepared to do anything to protect the Togekiss that, unbeknownst to her, was trying to help out Ryan.

 

OOC:

 

Byakuya: Sucker Punch > Metagross, Night Slash > Metagross

Zangetsu: Close Combat > Snorlax

Orihime: Guarding Togie

 

-==IC: Stacy==-

 

Stacy frowned, as she reached her front door. The woman looked up, as she noticed an explosion on the roof, and then opened the door quickly, as she dashed up the stairs to the roof...

 

"Ice Punch! Protect!" Stacy yelled out, as the Archeops and Diggersby steeled themselves. The Diggersby shot forward as the Encore finally wore off, and attempted to punch the Emolga in the face successfully this time. As the Water Gun launched toward the Archeops, the formerly fossilized bird prepared a barrier of energy to block the attack. Its stamina was quickly draining, but it was not about to just give up like that.

 

OOC:

 

Diggersby: Ice Punch > Emolga

Archeops: Protect

 

-==IC: Ryan/Shannon==-

 

Ryan seemed surprised at the offer, but nodded. "Alright," he said as he walked into the house, and then took off his shoes. After he did so, he looked around, somewhat surprised at the layout.

Shannon went to grab a glass of water as Selena scurried over to the living room, where she curled up happily on the couch and began to rest. Sousa fluttered after her, glad to be away from the battle raging outside. Shannon sipped her water quietly, watching as Ryan looked around.

Ryan continued to look around, pausing at a photo, which seemed to be of Shannon's family.

Shannon noticed the photo and turned away as she set her glass on the counter. "Yep," she said. "This is my home."

Ryan looked up in confusion, as she seemed almost... bitter. "It's definitely something," he said, a slightly unsure look on his face as he looked over at Shannon. "Have you been alone all day, then?" he asked, as something just seemed off... The way she was reacting, the fact that no-one seemed to be home right then...

The girl gave a curt nod. She stood there a moment longer, awkwardly fidgeting. "...I'd better go pack my stuff, then."

Ryan nodded. Something still seemed off, but he couldn't tell what. Nevertheless, he set the picture down and continued to look around the room, as he figured she probably wouldn't want him in her room.

"Well, um, make yourself at home, I guess," Shannon said. With that, she disappeared upstairs, leaving Ryan on his own.

Ryan sighed with a frown. I wonder what's going on with her... he thought, feeling her responses seemed a little odd. He poured a glass of water for himself and then walked out of the room, heading into the living room to look around. As he walked into the living room, he looked over and saw a fireplace. That wasn't what caught his attention, but rather the pictures on top of the mantle.

He saw a bunch of pictures of Shannon and who he assumed were her parents. However, the only pictures of the family together seemed to be from when Shannon was still young. Ryan kept looking with a slightly confused frown, as he noticed that while Shannon seemed to get older in every picture, the parents didn't seem to change much, and his look turned from one of confusion to one of slight understanding. Was this what she meant...?

Ryan was torn from his thoughts as he caught a glimpse of another picture of a younger Shannon hugging a Sentret. He smiled, moving on to the next picture, of a slightly older Shannon with a Furret draped around her neck. His smile grew as he looked over at where Selena was sleeping peacefully on the couch. "They just adore her," he said, then sighed as he took a sip of his water and looked around the room further. There were books everywhere; books on the shelf, books on the table, a book covered with a cloth to ensure the bowl of popcorn resting on top didn't even possibly leave a mark...

Ryan was kind of impressed at all the books, and scanned the titles lined on the shelf. He chuckled as one in particular caught his eye, called 'Pride and Prejudice'. "Huh... I remember that one." Ryan left the books alone, and then walked out into the hallway, and then looked around, confused as to where Shannon had even headed off to. With there being so many rooms on that floor alone, Ryan couldn't tell which were specialized rooms, and which were normal rooms. He sighed, surprised at how quiet it seemed given the chaos that covered the rest of the city.

[Parugi]

IC - Bounty/Goldhawk/Emmerich Coleman - Divide, Bounty's Office/Chapel, Meeting Room:

 

The large, glowing screen before Bounty illuminated the conference room that he sat in, casting a bright light upon him that--fittingly--accentuated the shadows upon the Admin's face. His eyes were closed in contemplation of the plan that had just been shared with him regarding James Pierce and the Hojohsin League. All things considered, it was a lot to take in. However, it was no indigestible.

 

At last, he opened his eyes, looking at the live feed of Goldhawk. "So, you want a televised, in-person debate?"

 

The Liberty Leader nodded. "In this case, we believe it would be the best option against Hojohsin," Goldhawk said. "Pierce's position is unlike that of Hayes or Adams. He's not someone whom we can just organize an assault against, or even start an investigation into, without justifiable means."

 

"I recognize that," Bounty said. He clicked the mute button on his Poké Gear as a message arrived. "I'll support Team Liberty regardless of what course of action you decide to take." He paused. "That being said, there is one concern that must be taken into consideration." Goldhawk frowned at this. "We cannot trust that Pierce or Ford won't try to take advantage of that kind of opportunity. You know as well as I do that Ford will throw away an ally's life at a moment's notice, and I don't doubt that he would do the same to any Hojohsin officials who come to this meeting if it means killing off members of Team Liberty and Team Rocket's leadership."

 

For a moment, Goldhawk fell silent, letting this sink in. "I'll keep that in mind," he said. "We'll keep you updated as we continue to work on this. Until then, farewell."

 

Bounty gave a short nod before the feed cut out. Picking up his Poké Gear again, he read the message that he had received before, raising an eyebrow as he saw who had sent it. Frowning, he set the device down, and then input a number into the keypad on the desk . . .

 

 

 

"You may," General Coleman affirmed. "I've contacted Agent Rufius and instructed him to meet us in the Command Center, so we should head there immediately if we--"

 

The Rocket General was interrupted as his Poké Gear rang. Coleman pulled it from his belt and, upon seeing the contact's I.D., plugged the device into the desk console. The communications screen lit up as Shadow Admin Bounty appeared, seated at a conference table within Divide.

 

General Coleman saluted. "Shadow Admin Bounty, sir," he said. "We weren't expecting to hear back from you so quickly."

 

"At ease, Emmerich." Though clearly annoyed by the informal greeting, the General relaxed. Bounty ignored the look. "I guess you're lucky I haven't had much to do for the past few months, aren't you?" He smiled. "Even so, I'm surprised you came to me for help."

 

"With all due respect, Shadow Admin, you were not my first choice," Coleman replied. "Unfortunately Shadow Admins Sleight and Joker are currently preoccupied, as are a number of other Chapel Executives."

 

"So you decided that I was the next best thing," Bounty said. "Despite the fact that I no longer have any sort of jurisdiction within Chapel. Or Kanto as a whole, for that matter."

 

"Technically speaking, your authority was never struck from Chapel's records," Coleman said. "It's certainly an oversight, but given the circumstances at the time of your . . . departure from Team Rocket, it is not a surprising one."

 

Bounty seemed impressed. "I never would have expected you to do act through a technicality, Emmerich. That seems much more along the lines of Victoire or Fallon."

 

General Coleman sighed. "Are you going to help us or not, sir?"

 

"I'll be there in half an hour," Bounty said. "Until then, I suggest you get your communications technicians off the air, just in case the guilty party decides to let anything else like this happen."

 

General Coleman nodded. "We'll get to it." With a bow of his head, Bounty ended the call. The General gave Miriam an exasperated look as he retrieved his Poké Gear, before leading her out of the room.

 

 

IC - Maddison Hayes (Kricketune/Wigglytuff)/Sonja Baron (Neptune) - Fortree City, Ground Level:

 

Hayes's eyes flashed with annoyance as the switch in Pokémon occurred. She raised her own Poké Ball, recalling the tired out Kricketune and leaving the Scizor's attack to slam into the tree behind where it had stood.

 

"Your Pokémon seem oddly capable of matching your thoughts without any sort of order," the Second Child said to Jenny, closing her eyes. "Either you're secretly psychic, or you're hiding something else. Or maybe you're cheating? I wonder which it could be..."

 

"You'd be one to talk about cheating, wouldn't you?" Sonja said. She threw another Poké Ball forward, sending out her Totodile. "What with Ford's stellar record and everything."

 

"Did I ever claim to be honorable?" Hayes asked. "Honestly, if you're going to try to get under my skin, maybe try something more pertinent." She released her Wigglytuff, who proceeded to pump herself up in a surprisingly threatening manner. "Flamethrower." The Normal-Type exhaled, launching a stream of flames in Scizlite's direction.

 

"Neptune, Water Gun!" The Totodile opened his mouth, spraying the incoming flames with a relatively weak jet of water. It managed to abate the flames, but not by much. Sonja whipped around to face Hayes again. "If you want me to get to you . . ." she said. "Then tell me something . . ." Hayes glowered, confused as Sonja gave her a very steady, exhausted look. "Why didn't you talk to me?"

 

The Second Child paused. "What are you talking about?"

 

"In Castelia . . . You said you knew about Team Plasma--what had happened. And that you knew that I'd been looking for you. Remember?" Sonja's gaze dropped to the ground. "You knew where I was. And I know that you cared--you put everything you had set up in Castelia in jeopardy just to talk to me. You could've come to me before then--supported me, taken me away--at least let me know that you were fine. That I wasn't alone. But you didn't." She looked back up at Hayes. Her shoulders drooped. Her voice all but cracked as her volume dropped. "Why?"

 

Sophia fell silent.

 

 

IC - Esen Windred - Dendemille Town, Kalos:

 

Esen looked up at Cero. Admittedly she hadn't given his presence all that much thought up to now--like a lot of things, she didn't remember exactly when he had joined herself and Kyle on their little trip around the region, but he hadn't impeded anything by tagging along, and so she had not said anything about it. Now, however, she felt perhaps an even greater sense of urgency than before. Was it because this meant she might have help in a rescue effort? Or was it thinly-veiled frustration that she'd have to catch him up on the situation? That there was another person to keep track of? Another person in danger?

 

She wasn't sure she knew the difference anymore.

 

"Poachers," Esen said. "Eight or nine in total, operating three cargo trucks. Two noteworthy individuals, probably their leaders, both dressed in higher-end get-up--think Gentlemen's Society. Other six or seven looked pretty sub-par by comparison, likely hired help. They just left, and they have Kyle. Why, I don't know, but we need to follow them now." If Esen held any qualms about being so blunt, she didn't show it. Nor did she appear to want to wait any longer than she already had. Turning on her heel, she began to hurry down the hill, aiming to follow after the trucks on foot.

 

Once again, a tug at her heel stopped her, almost tripping Esen. She regained her balance to find that Noivern had clasped her jaws around the trainer's boot, not wanting her to go.

 

Esen sighed, exasperated. "Would you stop?"

 

 

IC - Pride - Celadon City, Central Park:

 

"So the great savior blesses us with his presence," Pride said to Dack. "Answer me this, then: Does that sentiment extend to the others currently defending this city? The nameless civilians also operating without a guiding force? Or is your selflessness amidst this crisis reserved purely for your friends--for a second time?"

 

Pride glanced at Hannah out of the corner of his eye. The next instant, he was in front of her, having not walked over so much as simply materialized on the spot. He loomed over her, his much taller frame granting him several inches over the Rocket Executive. Even discounting that, in interacting with her, Pride almost appeared . . . stretched. Distorted. And Hannah, too, to a small extent. As if the interaction of their two incredibly prideful Auras bent the very perception of space around them.

 

"Accomplishment means nothing if it cannot justify itself to an objective force," he said quietly. He walked around Hannah, lowering his voice. "If I build a tower upon a cracked foundation, then it will fall to its own weight, regardless of how grand of a design it bears." Pride now spoke in little more than a hiss, his voice inaudible to Aspen and Dack. It seemed to ring in Hannah's head, reverberating throughout her very soul. "It doesn't matter how lucrative your position is. It doesn't matter how successful you are. And it never will, the way you've gone about it. Your Pride is rooted in a schoolhouse rivalry. It means nothing."

 

 

IC - Quincy Adams/Tyler McKinley/Levi Alaric - Ford's Base:

 

What constituted as a "lounge area" within Ford's base felt as if it had come out of the seating area of a dreary ferry, and then had been mixed with the evidence room of a private investigations office. Black sofas and armchairs sat in a broken rectangle around a short, long black coffee table. The many seats opened out to an inactive television set on one wall. Behind this area, there stood a wall adorned with diagrams, pictures, lists of people and locations and groups, and strings linking each of these things to another. Another, taller table stood in another corner, framed by booth-like benches that jutted out of the wall.

 

Here, Levi Alaric sat. The boy's toes barely swept against the floor as he absentmindedly kicked his feet back and forth. He rested his head in his arms, peering over them to stare blankly at the table's surface. Occasionally he would softly sigh in boredom, though otherwise remained unresponsive and inactive, lost in his own thoughts. Across the room from him, seated in one of the armchairs, Quincy Adams sat, resting her left foot on the coffee table as she aggressively shined her boot. Every now and then, despite her attempts to focus on the menial task before her, she could not help but glace at Levi, growing more and more agitated with the silence in the room every time she did so.

 

At last, she threw the brush she had been using back into her bag, setting her boot down with a sharp crack against the floor. The noise briefly caught the Eighth Child's attention, prompting him to glance at her. "Are you just going to sit there all day?" she asked. When he looked away without an answer, Adams sighed. "You're a kid. You should be running around, making noise. Being obnoxious." She picked up her bag and stood up, headed toward one of the two exits. "Doom and gloom is supposed to be for adults . . ."

 

"Sorry." Levi's eyelids drooped. "There's nothing for me to do here . . ."

 

She paused, resting her hand on the door frame and looking back at him. "Well, what do you want to do?" A pause. "Aside from going home." Again, the boy did not answer. The Eighth Child merely closed his eyes and looked away, eliciting an annoyed sigh from the Third. Without another word, she departed.

 

I know he's Sleight's kid, and I get the idea of having people with 'prestige' in the group . . . Quincy mused. But I don't get why we chose him, of all people. And I don't get where his issues come from . . . She frowned and shook her head. As she continued down the hall, a side door opened, and McKinley emerged, shouldering a bag. He seemed surprisingly disgruntled. Not necessarily irate--he never completely lost his cool--but the smirk that typically occupied his face was gone.

 

She nodded as he turned toward her. "McKinley," she greeted. "You don't look too happy."

 

"Hmph." The Fourth Child adjusted the strap of his bag. "I take it you haven't heard the news from Ford, then."

 

"Apparently not," Quincy said. "What's going on?"

 

"Another vacancy has opened amongst our ranks," McKinley said. "That of the Fifth Child."

 

"Harrison is gone?" McKinley nodded. Quincy leaned against the wall, brow furrowing in disbelief. All their hard work, and now this . . . Did this mean that they would have to start over again? "So, what--is he dead, or just . . .?"

 

"He's not dead. At least, not yet," the Fourth Child said. "He's merely vanished. I don't know how he did it, but I suspect it may have something to do with that entity who appeared in Opelucid--the one with the Ancient Darkrai. Suffice to say, he's no longer with us."

 

"How can you be so sure that he's still alive?" Quincy asked. "And . . . what does this mean for the rest of us, exactly?"

 

McKinley smirked. "I never took you to be such a worrywart," he said. "Do you remember last year when Thomas Warren vanished? Do you remember the thing that happened--the thing in your head?" He pressed a finger to his temple. "The things that we all felt and saw? That nagging whisper in your mind that slowly grew until it felt like your head would split in half? That's how I know." McKinley placed a hand in his pocket. "So don't worry--we've caught it early enough that we can replace him. Not to mention, the first four Children and Ford are still the only ones who actually know what it is we're doing. He's not a threat to us--just a broken cog waiting to be replaced."

 

The Third Child nodded after a moment. "Lucky us . . ." she said. "I take it that's where you're headed now." McKinley nodded again. "Let's hope this new Fifth Child is a little more reliable than the last."

 

"Oh, believe me," McKinley said, turning to walk away now. "I've been thinking hard about it, and I already have the perfect replacement. I won't make the same mistake twice."

 

 

 

Levi was still where she had left him when Quincy returned. She approached and prodded the Eighth Child's head with the bottom end of the book she was carrying, prompting him to look up. His expression changed from a look of confusion into one of surprise as she held it out to him. "Here."

 

He glanced apprehensively between Quincy and the book. "I . . . I'm fine, really--"

 

"Come on. You said you had nothing to do, so here's something," she insisted. When Levi still did not move, she sighed. "Just take it." She did not give it to him so much as shoved it into his hands. Quincy crossed her arms as she watched him read over the title, and then returned to her seat on the other side of the room, opening another of her books to the last page she had marked.

 

"'The Classical Fairy Tales'?" Levi said. Quincy glanced at him, prompting the young boy to hide his face behind the aged story collection. "I-I didn't know adults read these kinds of stories . . ."

 

"Well, some of us have to keep some semblance of our innocence alive somehow . . ." Quincy muttered. "I've been reading those since I was a kid. I guess I just never grew out of them."

 

"You still like them?" he asked.

 

"I have every page of that book memorized. What do you think?"

 

"S-sorry . . ." Levi said, shrinking back into the corner.

 

Quincy returned to the story in her lap. She quickly became engaged again with the silence of the room, broken only occasionally by the sound of her turning a page--or, after some time, Levi doing the same; she glanced up to find that the boy had finally begun to look through the collection.

 

After some time, he cast a wary look her way. "Miss Adams?" She looked at him. "Who's 'Tiana Soldati'?" He had come to the page listing the book's owner. On the straight, black line, the name had been written--first a young child's attempt, then crossed out and rewritten by someone older, more elegant with her penmanship.

 

The question took Quincy aback. She rubbed her forehead. I thought I took that out . . . "She's no one."

 

"I like her name," Levi said. "She sounds like a nice person."

 

"Trust me . . ." Quincy turned back to her book. "She's not."

Edited April 7, 2015 by Apears

[Konuju]

IC: Zoe
The moment Eilonwy was healed, Zoe grabbed the Pokéball from the healing machine and headed for the locker rooms to change into dry clothes. The word about her sudden dive into the pool had spread throughout the class, although the story became highly embellished, as people seemed to think she had fallen in out of clumsiness. She ignored the stares and mutterings of her classmates as she made her way to the locker room.
 
Once inside, she sat down on a bench and closed her eyes. Somehow, she had thought that with Collie now living with her on Four Island, her life would suddenly improve. But nothing had changed at all. Travis was still deplorable, her instructor remained irritatingly stubborn, and Collie was still gone with her aura wielding duties. She brought her knees up to her chest and cried.
 
Zoe was not sure how long she had been sitting there, but eventually she heard the locker room door open. "Zoe?" a voice called out. "Are you in here?" Zoe recognized the voice as Kayla's. No doubt the girl had been sent against her will on an errand to retrieve Zoe when she had not returned to class. "Hello?"
 
Zoe blushed. No matter how bad she was feeling, she would never hear the end of it if Kayla caught her crying like this. She quietly got up and tried to slip down a row of lockers, wondering if she should try hiding in one of them. No, that would just make things worse if Kayla discovered her.
 
"Zoe?" Kayla started to walk through the locker room. "Don't tell me you forgot your locker combination again."
 
Zoe tried to keep silent as she snuck over to the end of the row of lockers and hid behind the last one. She waited until she heard Kayla's footsteps walk past that row, then ran as quickly and quietly as she could the other way. When she hit the last row of lockers she turned and made a beeline for the door. Kayla turned when she heard the door open, but saw no sign of Zoe, for the young girl had already slipped away.
 
Ditching class was not a usual thing for Zoe. She knew she was going to get a strict lecture from her parents when they found out. But she couldn't bring herself to go back to class. Instead, she left the Alamo and headed down to the beach.
 
Along the way she found a long piece of string in the sand that looked like it had used to be part of a volleyball net. She took the string and tied it to the end of a small stick. When she made it to the water's edge, she sat down on a rock and tossed the end of her makeshift fishing rod into the water. Thinking about Eilonwy had made her nostalgic for the old fishing rod Collie had given her as a birthday present long ago, the one she had used to catch her trusty Feebas with. She smiled as she watched the end of the string slowly drift in the water. Back in the day, Zoe hadn't had the patience for fishing. She found it so boring that she often wondered how she had managed to keep at it long enough to hook Eilonwy.
 
But now, she was just grateful for the chance to relax. She was less concerned with actually catching something and more looking for something to take her mind off of her troubles. As she stared across the ocean, Zoe was stricken by a sudden thought that made her smile. Somewhere, on the other side of that vast ocean, Collie might be staring back.
 
IC: Madison - Celadon City, Stacy's Roof
"Stacy!" Madison cried. She ran to scoop up Teddy in her arms, then watched as the Diggersby punched the Emolga into the roof, a thin coating of ice forming over the flying squirrel as it fainted from the attack. Palmer's Milotic grimaced as the Electro Ball hit it, and aimed another Ice Beam at the Masquerain. The small bug withstood the attack, but it seemed close to fainting.
 
Teddy leapt from Madison's arms with a pint-sized battle cry as he swiped his claws at the Masquerain. The bug-type batted its wings at the bear cub, trying to fend him off, and the two ended up in what looked like a miniature wrestling match.
 
IC: Luke/Rocket Commander Raphael Ballard - Celadon City, West
Hannah's army had expected people to try and resist. What they had not expected, however, was any form of organized resistance. And so Commander Ballard and his troops could be forgiven if they were completely dumbfounded by the cacophony of junk that formed the makeshift barricade that stood before them. The Celadonians defending the junk heap seemed determined to make life as difficult for the Rocket troops as possible. Any move they made to try to tear the structure down was met with dozens of attacks raining down on them.
 
Ballard cursed. They had lost more 'mon in the last twenty minutes trying to take down that darn wall than he'd expected to lose in the entire battle. "Sound the retreat," he told his Lieutenant. "We're sitting Duckletts here."
 
"But sir--"
 
"Think, Lieutenant, think! This is a city! There's more than one way to get from Point A to Point B. If these people have blocked off one path, we'll just go around. Now sound the retreat. I won't have my troops defeated by a ragtag group of civilians!"
 
When the Celadonians realized the Rockets were retreating, they fired as many attacks at them as they could, trying to catch the few straggling troops. Once the Rockets were out of sight, the citizens quickly set about healing their Pokémon and making what repairs to the barricade were needed.
 
Commander Ballard had a simple strategy: march one block south, two blocks east, and one block north. From there, if he felt spiteful enough, he might try and take the Celadonians by surprise, pinning them against the barricade they had fought so hard to defend. Ballard grinned to himself as he anticipated the terrified look on the Celadonians' faces when they realized they had trapped themselves. The grin vanished from his face when he turned east and found the path blocked by a second barricade, more crudely built than the first.
 
"Surprise!" Luke said as he poked his head over the structure. Without warning, Palmer's Rhyperior fired a Rock Wrecker into the middle of the army, sending them scattering.
 
"March further south!" Ballard cried as he tried to gather his troops and send them down the next street. Before he had even reached the end of the block, he saw a third barricade waiting for them, a Charmeleon standing atop the structure with a smirk.
 
Had Commander Ballard been thinking straight, he would have realized these new barricades were much smaller than the first and not guarded nearly as heavily. But he had already lost too many 'mon to the first barricade to want to risk attacking another. Instead he turned his troops west in hopes of finding away around the line of barricades. They were met with another barricade blocking the way south, and yet another one past that. The Rocket Commander was growing steadily more irritated. His frustration grew when he saw the path west was blocked as well.
 
Little did the commander know, when his troops had been busy trying in vain to tear down the first barricade, the Celadonians had spread the word to build more barricades. Luke had helped guide them in setting up the hastily-built structures in a ring around the Rocket troops, effectively boxing them in. It would still be several minutes before Ballard realized they were trapped. And Luke knew they would need those precious minutes to continue to reinforce the other barricades and organize enough people to adequately defend each of them. Once the Rockets started attacking the smaller barricades, it would only be a matter of time before the structures were overwhelmed.
 
IC: Dack Majors/Hannah Wright - Celadon City, Central Park
Dack was silent as he let Pride's words sink in. He was suddenly reminded of what Cresselia had told him long ago, when he had wanted to save Madison from the Ancient Darkrai's nightmares. That he was only concerned with Madison, not caring about anyone else. But he had moved past that... hadn't he? Wasn't the whole reason he had come to Celadon in the first place so that he could protect and warn the hapless Celadonians?
 
That should have been an easy question. But Dack found that he was starting to doubt himself. Was he really more prideful than he'd like to admit?
 
Hannah took a step back in spite of herself. For a brief moment, she was overcome with fear as Pride loomed over her. However, she steeled herself and glared back at him. "It may mean nothing to you. But it means everything to me!"

IC: Shannon Willows/Ryan Hikari - Celadon City, Shannon's House
At that moment, Shannon stepped out into the upstairs hallway, leaning against the railing as she looked down at him. She seemed somewhat nervous, as she fidgeted awkwardly. "Um... Sorry, but... c-could you come up here? I need your help with something..."

Ryan looked up with a blink, but nodded in confusion. "Sure, what's up?" he asked with a frown.

Shannon shuffled her feet. "I, uh... I didn't realize how bad my shoulder was. C-could you just come and help a bit?" She took a step back towards her room and began twiddling her thumbs.

Ryan frowned a bit further, but nodded, not sure what could require her shoulder that much, as he walked up the stairs. It did, however, answer his question about where she had gone.

When Ryan reached the top of the stairs, Shannon quickly ducked into her room. Ryan followed, his eyes widening at the sight of various sketches pinned to the walls. Pencils, erasers, and sketchbooks covered a large desk. Shannon quickly closed a sketchbook that had been lying open, then knelt down in front of the desk. "I... I sort of accidentally dropped a picture behind my desk," she admitted. "See, I can't really reach my arm up that high without hurting my shoulder..."

Ryan stared at the different sketches for a moment, taken aback by their stunning detail yet simple nature. He blinked when he realized Shannon was still waiting for him, scratching his head awkwardly. "Want me to find the picture, then?" he asked, knowing they didn't have much time to waste.

Shannon nodded. "And after that, maybe you could help me take the others down, if you don't mind."

Ryan smiled, and nodded. "Right, will do." He quickly moved the chair out of the way and crouched down, peering behind the desk to try and see where the picture had fallen. He noticed a piece of paper curled up between the desk and the wall and carefully pulled it out, making sure it didn't accidentally rip. When he finally got it out he gave a sigh of relief and slowly backed out of the desk, glancing at the sketch to see what it was. He saw a drawing of Shannon, with Selena and Sousa by her side, all enjoying themselves under a large tree. Ryan smiled at the picture as he stood up and looked over at Shannon. "Did you draw all these...?"

Shannon was busy cleaning up her drawing supplies. She carefully lined up her pencils in a special box which she then set in the dark blue duffel bag that lay at her feet. At Ryan's question, she pushed her hair out of her eyes with a shy smile. "I-it's just a small hobby..."

Ryan smiled back as he held out the drawing to Shannon. "Well, you're pretty good," he said. She seemed surprised at the compliment, but smiled as she took the sketch and carefully laid it in a box. "Also, sorry 'bout that question earlier regarding your parents..." Ryan mumbled. He moved to go take down the rest of the sketches, trying to figure out how to phrase his suspicions in a way that wasn't blunt. "Have your parents not been here... for a while?"

Shannon had been busy packing more supplies into the duffel bag, but paused at the mention of her parents. "They come and go," she said simply. "They're gone a lot because of their... um, work." She fell silent, staring awkwardly at a loose stitch in her bag.

Ryan blinked at the answer Shannon gave. "So, they're not dead?" he asked, abandoning all attempts at avoiding bluntness.

"What?" Shannon blinked in surprise. "Of course not." She sighed and continued packing things into her duffel bag.

Ryan looked away uncomfortably, busying himself with studying one of the drawings he had taken down. "Uh, my bad then. I just thought, because of the pictures... and you seeming to not want to talk about it..." Ryan felt like dirt at that precise moment, as that was a rather large 'foot-in-mouth' moment.

Shannon shook her head. "Believe me. At times I wish they were dead." She fell silent once more and turned her back to Ryan, taking her time to carefully place more sketches in the box.

Ryan frowned as he continued to take down the sketches. "...It has to do with what Hannah was talking about, doesn't it?" he said quietly. "You two were talking about your parents."

Shannon gave a curt nod, keeping her back turned to Ryan. She did not say anything for a long moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was strained. "My parents are Liberty Agents. I-I used to look up to them. They're both powerful trainers. But then... one day..." She trailed off and looked down at the sketches she had placed in her box.

Ryan frowned sadly, wondering what had happened. He walked over to her and handed her the sketch he was holding, surprised to see that Shannon had tears in her eyes.

She took the sketch, staring at it with a nostalgic smile. It was a picture of a Sentret against the rustic landscape of Ecruteak City, the Burned and Bell Towers in the background. "You went to school in Ecruteak," she said softly. "Do you remember the Liberty raid on the city about six years ago?"

Ryan nodded slightly, vaguely recalling the incident. "Yeah, I wasn't there at the time, but I heard about it. People kept making a big deal about it..."

Shannon placed the sketch into the box with the others, taking her time to make sure it was lined up perfectly. "...My parents were a part of that raid." She hastily turned away from the box to keep her tears from falling on her drawings and moved to sit down on the edge of her bed, busying herself with packing clothes into her duffel bag.

Ryan seemed surprised and frowned sadly, having no real clue what to do. He didn't like to see people crying, but he couldn't figure out how to really help. After a moment, he walked over and sat beside her, putting a hand on her non-injured shoulder to try and help comfort her. "That's terrible... I know that feeling, through and through," he said with a sigh, as he recalled his own daddy issues.

Shannon paused when she felt Ryan's hand, and tried to blink back her tears. "Th-they destroyed my hometown, shattered the lives of my friends... all without a second thought... all because of some stupid war..." She then sniffled and buried her head in his shoulder, her tears streaming.

Just when Ryan thought that he couldn't be more surprised, that happened. Ryan nodded numbly, utterly confused as to how he had ended up in this situation. Unsure what else to do, he recalled what others used to do to comfort him, and tried to awkwardly pat her on the back.

Shannon's shoulders heaved as she cried harder, all the emotions that had been swirling inside her since her encounter with Hannah finally breaking loose.

Ryan frowned. He didn't like to see people cry. However, he realized that it was probably a good thing that Shannon was able to release all of her emotions, rather than just keeping them bottled up. B-but, how'd it end up being me? Ryan wondered, even though he already knew the answer: he had been there, and he had asked about her parents.

"I-I never knew Hannah h-h-hated me because of that... th-that she blamed me for it," Shannon choked through her tears. "E-everyone else p-probably does, too. I would a-always brag about my parents, a-and then they go off and do that..."

Ryan smiled ruefully, as he knew what that felt like. "There's still hope," he said as he scratched his head. "I know what it's like to have a horrible parent..." Ryan paused, unsure if this was the best time to explain.

Shannon lifted her head in surprise, her face red from crying. "Y-you do?" she asked as she wiped her tears on her sleeve.

Ryan nodded awkwardly. "Did you ever hear about an attack on Goldenrod about... five years ago?"

Shannon shook her head. "I-I sort of stopped paying attention to the news, especially in the time immediately after the attack on Ecruteak..."

"Ah..." That made things more complicated. "Well..." Ryan began to explain about what had happened, how his friend Jessie had apparently died in an explosion from a Hyper Beam. How a second explosion had destroyed his own house, killing his mother. How he had thought the explosions had been caused by Team Liberty and Team Rocket, and how he had spent years seeking revenge against both teams for Jessie's and his mother's deaths. How he had learned the terrible truth -- that it had all been a setup by his father in an attempt to manipulate him into helping with his nefarious schemes.

Shannon's eyes widened as she listened to Ryan's story. "Oh, wow... I... I'm so sorry..." Her eyes started to well up with tears again. "That's just... that's absolutely horrible."

Ryan opened and closed his mouth as he noticed more tears. "Y-yeah. Sounds like it didn't have quite as much impact as I thought then, though," he added hastily as he went on to explain how most of the people were still alive. "Doesn't change the fact that my father's despicable, but..." Ryan scratched his head awkwardly, deciding to leave out the fact that Jessie -- or Jenny, as she called herself now -- had been brainwashed by his father as part of his plot. He looked over at Shannon, having no clue what else to say. Please don't cry... he thought desperately.

Shannon blinked through her tears and suddenly threw her arms around him. "A-all these years... I've never had anyone to talk with about this, aside from Sousa and Selena. J-just knowing that I'm not alone... th-thank you..."

Ryan was utterly speechless. H-how did I get myself in this situation again? "N-no problem," he said, still very confused.

After a few moments, Shannon pulled back, wiping her tears and pushing her hair out of her eyes. "I-I'm sorry about that..." she muttered. "It's just been... a really, really emotional day for me..."

Ryan nodded, as he sighed. "Yeah, I've known that feeling..." He stood up, and then looked over to Shannon. "Feeling better, though?" he asked, as he hoped that might have helped out, even if it did cause him so much confusion.

Shannon sniffled, but nodded. "Yes. Thank you. I... I needed that." She managed a small smile as she looked up at Ryan.

"Good to hear." Ryan said. He sighed in relief, and then looked around the room. "Alright, anything else that needs to be packed?"

"Oh." Shannon looked down to her half-packed bag. "R-right. Um, yeah." She got up and walked over to her box of sketches. Carefully putting the lid on the box, she placed it in her bag. As she resumed packing her clothes, she gave another smile, feeling strangely at peace.
 
IC: Ryan Sanders
Me.
 
Gluttony's words seemed to hit home, with the strength of a dagger and the force of a bullet.
 
Me... It was always about me...
 
In that moment, Ryan saw himself for what he truly was. Despicable. He had done more than commit horrible acts for his own self-interest. He had insisted on shifting the blame to anyone other than himself. He refused to take responsibility for his own actions. And that was the worst crime of all.
^_Ryan...
From far away, he felt something pressing against his mind. But it was weak, minuscule compared to the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him.
^{_{I'm here for you...}}
"I... I never wanted..." Tears started to well up in Ryan's eyes as Gluttony's darkness seemed to press against him from all around. His breathing became labored, as if the Sin itself was crushing his lungs. "I'm... a monster..."
^{_{No. You're not.}}
Gluttony's laughter reverberated in every corner of his mind. "Yes. Yes you are, Ryan Sanders. Have you finally seen yourself for what you truly are? Some mindless creature who sought to do nothing but sate his own hungry instincts?"
^{_{Don't listen to him, Ryan.}}
"Yes..." Ryan closed his eyes in defeat. "I've hurt everyone around me... A-and I have no one to blame but myself."
^{_{Don't lose hope.}}
"Is that it, then? Guilt won't satisfy your hunger -- are you going to just give up and allow your Sin to gnaw away at your being until you are nothing more than an empty shell?"
^{_{We're all here for you.}}
"I... I don't know..." Ryan cringed as he felt the weight of his transgressions beating down on him.


Ampere flinched as the Metagross charged toward her, and gave a grateful baa when Byakuya shielded her from the Pursuit. Before she could move to help in the Bisharp's counterattack, Quil charged at the metallic monster, positioning himself so his Flamethrower would pass harmlessly past Byakuya before hitting its target, should the Metagross try to dodge.

Missy cast another worried glance at Ryan before shooting another Magical Leaf at the Rhyperior. She knew there was nothing she could do but try and defeat her enemy and hope her trainer had the strength and will to defeat his. Meanwhile, Samurott spun her seamitar around for another Revenge attack. She hesitated just long enough for Zangetsu to finish his Close Combat, hoping to hit the Snorlax the moment it lost focus.

Togie spared Orihime a quick nod before redoubling his efforts in getting through to Ryan. Gluttony's influence had completely surrounded Ryan, dragging him into a personal struggle devoid of any outside interference. Togie had been worried before, but from what he had seen in Ryan's aura, from what he had heard in his anguished thoughts, the Togekiss now feared for his trainer's life. He had to do more than just trying to contact Ryan across an ocean of darkness. He had to get through to him.

^{_{Don't give up...}}

Ryan felt the presence on his mind again. It was smaller than Gluttony's, but it was also warmer. Comforting. It wavered, far off, like a drop of sunlight far above on the surface of the pool of misery he was drowning in.

^{_{You're stronger than this.}}

It was reaching out to him from across a great distance. It wanted to embrace him. Ryan couldn't be sure, but this new presence did not seem to hold any contempt for his past actions. It was not focused on what he had done. It was focused on what he was going to do.

^{_{Please... Ryan...}}

There was something oddly familiar about the presence. As if he had known it for a long time, but was now looking at it under a different light.

^{_{You have to fight back!}}

Ryan gasped in surprise. He did know the presence. It was Togie. Somehow, through Gluttony's taunting, the Togekiss had managed to reach out to him. He was suddenly reminded of the time the Ancient Darkrai Seven had cast Quil and Togie into an eternal nightmare. Ryan had used the power Kinali had granted him to enter the Dark Void to try and save his Pokémon. But even with Kinali's Power, Ryan would have been lost himself if it hadn't been for his Pokémon. Togie had stood by his side then. And Togie stood by his side now.

^{_{The only one who can overcome your Sin is yourself!}}

Even though Ryan couldn't see them, he knew that his other Pokémon were fighting their hardest to keep him safe from Gluttony's Pokémon. It did not matter what he had done. It did not matter how much of his recent actions were of his own free will and how much was Gluttony's influence. His Pokémon would do anything for him. They were his teammates, his trusted partners.

His friends.

And even after Ryan had threatened to kill him, Ray had insisted on fighting by his side. Even at the risk of being consumed by the darkness, Ray did not back down. He had stood up for Ryan when Ryan could not stand up for himself. That was the marking of a true friendship.

"Togie..." Ryan said, as the tried to focus on the Togekiss' presence, doing his best to ignore Gluttony. "Ray... everyone..." A surge of hope sprung from the innermost reaches of his heart. "You... you're all fighting for me..."

Suddenly, the darkness around him felt lighter, for he knew that Togie, Ray, and the others were all helping to share the burden. As much as Gluttony might have wished him to believe it, he was not alone. He had never been alone. Encouraged by this fact, he slowly stood back up, turning his focus back to the Sin that enveloped his mind.

"I've been a fool," he said, directing his thoughts as much to Togie as to Gluttony. "Ray, Sonja, Evan, Jenny, Ellen, Alex, and all my Pokémon... and even Jake, who died in this very city; they all believe in me. They all support me. They're the best friends I could ever ask for. I've just been too focused on my own desires -- and my own guilt -- to realize it. Alex and Jake took me in when I had nowhere else to go. Evan vouched for me when Team Plasma was about to lock me up for trying to stop a criminal from stealing Jenny's Oshawott. And even though I wasn't able to get it back, Jenny was thankful that I at least tried. Ellen's like the little sister I never had, and she's given us all hope in some of our darkest hours. I really screwed up with Sonja, but even though things were awkward after the dance, she still tried to be my friend, and she comforted me when I learned what had happened to Melanie and Melissa. And Ray... he may be a blockhead, but even when I attacked him in a gluttonous rage, he refused to stop believing in me. Right now he's risking his life to give me a chance to save mine. And then there's my Pokémon, who have stuck with me through thick and thin. With friends like that, why should I crave anything more?"

OOC:
Ampere: flinched
Quil: Flamethrower -> Metagross
Missy: Magical Leaf -> Rhyperior
Samurott: Revenge -> Snorlax

[Parugi]

IC - Pride - Celadon City, Central Park:

 

Pride smiled. It was a cold expression, and with the perfect sharpness and curvature of his cheeks and jaw, one would be forgiven for thinking it to be a sculpted, porcelain mask worn upon the boy's face. This did little to help the crushing atmosphere that was beginning to build the longer Pride spoke to Hannah. It seemed, almost, that with every word they spoke, the more twisted Pride became, his movements rough, sweeping, like those of a mangled puppet guided by a hand devoid of finesse.

 

"You obsess over it," he said. "And like a mindless agent of death, you allow that obsession to act as your strings, free to be manipulated by anyone with a motive and a means to do so. Like me." Now he was behind her, speaking directly into Hannah's ear. "Do you remember, Executive?" Pride raised a hand to her head, close enough that it just barely grazed the hair at her left temple. The past year seemed to play out before her very eyes, everything she had witnessed and seen--battles, debates, meetings, planning sessions for her great revenge, promotion ceremonies . . .

 

"Think, Hannah. You had your army. You were set to go . . . and then you couldn't. Out of the blue sky came the Ancient Darkrais' defeat, and with it, the end of your line of action--something you had not planned for."

 

_{The ceasefire.}

 

"How frustrating, to be denied your final restitution for so many years spent in that girl's shadow. How frustrating, to be trapped by the very rules and guidelines that had allowed you to gain the power and recognition you now flaunt. What to do, what to do in that situation? Merely wait, as you would have done, in the hopes that the war would reignite and you could continue forth?"

 

_{Go to Sootopolis . . . Reignite the flames . . .}

 

". . . Or allow me to lend you my certainty of self, and thus set off a chain of events that would allow you to wind up here, in the very city that you had intended to target?"

 

_Snowpoint. 

 

"Perhaps take my suggestion, and set the world aflame yourself. Offer you my protection, allowing you to see your plan through to the finish line."

 

_Sootopolis. 

 

"Shrug off the bindings of your leadership and, under a new hand, accomplish both your goals . . ."

 

_{Celadon City.}

 

". . . and mine."

 

Pride yanked his hand away from Hannah's head. "Do you understand, Executive? You are nothing but a puppet, forever bound by its strings. Your goals do not matter, because you do not possess the strength of will, the independence, to see them through--whether mine or others, you are held to the thrall of the hand in charge. Team Rocket gave you the tools necessary for this invasion, and I drove you forward. I made this happen. Do you see now? You were always under another's control, and you never had the presence of mind to realize it. This meant everything to you . . ." He leaned down, staring straight into her eyes. "And so, it became your destruction."

Edited April 9, 2015 by Apears

[Franco]

IC: Anger wasn't much, but it was better than sleep, and it was better than sick. Coming from Esen, Cero would gladly take it.

 

But Kyle kidnapped? That, he would not.

 

Incapable as he knew he was, him and his companions certainly lacking the training necessary to handle such a circumstance, he supposed they would all have to be improved as they went. It was just important to move now. He had a mission. He considered sending Buitre to tail the truck--she'd spot it with her eyes--but doubtless Esen had already sent one of hers after the targets, to ensure they wouldn't escape--

 

Wait, what?

 

Cero had never heard the word 'tail' used as a verb, and he had never known its espionage definition, but now he was acquainted with both. And the cloud of association around the word was a fair bit more cold than he had thought he was.

 

He squirmed at whoever had been in his brain before him.

 

Then, searching for a diversion, he latched onto Esen's question and followed her gaze until he found something he could help with.

 

He crouched in front of the Dragon-type. Though he did not look into his eyes, knowing some Pokémon found that a sign of aggression or dominance, he angled himself toward it calmly. His fear and indignation had melted away. He was dealing with Pokémon now.

 

"You must be a Noivern, and that," he murmured, jerking his head toward the littler version of the creature, "your young. Let me go out on a limb: you don't want Esen to leave, and that's because you don't like those poachers. You've probably lost someone to them as well. You might think they'll come back for you, you might think we might not beat them, that we could lose." He grew into a low, rapid voice. "But Esen's worked with Kyle, and I helped beat a giant Golurk. We're qualified as Kyle was. And I'm sure he gave them trouble when it was two on one. We can take on one leader each and beat them. We will win this, Noivern. You can count on it, and let go."

 

He smiled.

Edited April 11, 2015 by The Scottish Play

[JiMing]

OOC: Getting these Celadon ICs in for the people who want them. I'm too tired to write anything else, Ruth and Lachina are tomorrow. 

 

IC: Aspen Seaton

 

Pride.... His.... No, its name.... Is Pride?

 

Aspen, looked up, unable to find words to use against the humanoid anomaly, as he tore apart Dack, then Hannah.... And then him. 

The boy was expecting to be reprimanded loudly, as Hannah had been... But the quiet, reserved response he got was much, much worse. Confusion wrought his mind, Pride's words echoing...

 

You act as if those who accomplish acts of heroics are worth nothing--as if they owe you something.

 

Tell me, what do you have to be proud of?

 

I want you to earn this.

 

Confusion wrought his mind. Confusion that soon gave way to anger. The sounds of Dack and Hannah's retorts to Pride and his continued scorning of them faded to the background, as Aspen clenched his fist and felt his blood boil. They knew nothing of him.... Dack, Hannah, Pride..... None of them had any right to crush and tear him apart.....

 

And yet... They do.... he thought bitterly

 

"...You said I interested you...." Aspen began. "....But then you go off and pay attention to the others. Like everyone else has before, and how th-they will from now on.... H-How well do you even know me anyways?!" he asked, gritting his teeth. "Because I don't think anyone here does..."

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

Azumarill leered as Smugleaf first sent a Leaf Tornado towards them, dodging the attack masterfully, though was nearly caught off guard by the Leaf Blade. In the end though, it was Cyndy's Swift that struck the Aqua Rabbit Pokemon. Even though Robert's intent was for them to counter Cyndy, the Servine would prove to be too big a threat, and so they leaped forward with an Ice Punch, hoping to freeze the grass snake solid, knocking aside Toxin and negating the latter's Sucker Punch attempt.

 

Mawile and Glalie fared not much better than their teammate, the Swift from Cyndy making their mark after a token effort to dodge. Then their day got even worse when Dune launched a Rock Slide attack. While the two of them were continuing to reel from the Swift, they had to react to the incoming rocks rather quickly. Both dodged the brunt of the strike, though Glalie was struck more than Mawile, leaving them both in rough shape. However, neither of them were to take the attacks sitting down. Both of them focused on Cyndy, with Glalie firing off a Shadow Ball, and Mawile charing forward with a Play Rough, not stopping even after a Night Slash from Shade.

 

Elsa's Ice Shard missed horribly, with Greninja effortlessly stepping to the side. That left him to be struck by the Electro Ball, though not dead on. One painful zapping later, Greninja moved back, launching Spikes around him in desperation, close to fainting from that attack.

 

Skarmory was nearly about to finish off Blade, had the bright flash of light and sudden appearance of Anna not thrown a wrench in the plans of finishing off their foe. A Confuse Ray launched towards them from the Natu, and the Armor Bird Pokemon shifted to the side at the last second and took to the air, coincidentally dodging the out-of-the blue Shadow Sneak attempted. While the sudden appearance made the Skarmory squawk in surprise, it was not long before it regained its bearings and dove down towards the psychic swordsman in a Drill Peck.

 

Amethyst looked at the battles raging around her, and gritted her teeth, focusing all her efforts in breaking free of the paralysis fully. She managed to reach a hand up, looking as though she might succeed.... Only to suddenly tense up and fall back onto the ground, having once more lost control over her movements....

 

Roberts looked at the tide continuing to go against him, and growled. "Oh, you are persistent little fleas, aren't you...." he muttered, taking out his last Pokeball. "Unfortunately for our favorite pair of lovers, I don't do losing. So bye soon, see you never." the Rocket agent said, sending out a Tropius, who aimed an Air Slash at one unfortunate Servine.

 

"Aren't we winning right now?" Olivia asked Zach, looking confusedly back at Roberts. However, her Pokegear rang just then, and intrigued Olivia enough to reach for her phone... But then she hesitated, unsure of whether to divert her attention away from the battle against Roberts or not....

 

IC: Dahlia Seaton

 

"Huh?" Dahlia replied, having not expected Erika to make that comment. The middle Seaton looked back to the battle, where Coco was holding her own surprisingly well. A Throh moved forward to grab the Buneary in a Seismic Toss, however, Coco leaped up with a Bounce and landed on the Judo Pokemon's cranium. A Gyarados flew in to aid his teammate, but Coco springboarded off of the Throh's head, and as her fist crackled with electricity, slammed into the Atrocious Pokemon's jawline with a spinning, rising, electric uppercut, then used the falling dragonfish's body as leverage to leap away, while it collapsed on top of the recovering Throh.

 

The gardener was taken aback at the scene, and simply stared awestruck for a moment, before snapping to and looking back at Erika. ".....Th-Thanks.... Coco's doing really well... She must be a natural at this...." Dahlia said, watching the battles around them unfold..... "Though, you wouldn't happen to have a p-plan, would y-you?" she asked nervously, before getting a notification on her Pokegear....

Edited April 11, 2015 by Toph Beifong

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Celebi - Celadon

 

The assignment given to Celebi was quite easy, especially for a legend like her. No Rockets were -intentionally- causing grief to the colony of Grimer. The main problem was keeping stray Rocket Agents away. Unfortunately she did attract some unwanted attention to the Grimer colonies, simply on account of being her.

 

Hmm, maybe I should go and take a more active role in the battle.

 

The Time Traveler tried to remember if she'd seen anything about this point in time before. Likely anything she did see might have been meaningless by this point, but it never hurt to know possibilities.

 

Sadly, if she ever did come across this event, she couldn't remember the experience. But she had a bad feeling she couldn't shake.

 

 

IC: Mordred – Four Island Forest

 

The bug wouldn’t stop bugging him, and since he had nothing better to do anyway, Mordred decided to let the bug follow him. From the Weavile’s experience, the bug was an amateur in the art of thievery. He lived with a pack of Sneasels in the snowy north of Sinnoh, where food was often scarce, thus learning how to steal what food other Pokemon (and the rare human) had was a necessary skill. The bug on the other hand lived on the much more forgiving Four Island, where food was much more plenty all year round. As a result, his technique was sloppy.

 

The Weavile decided he’d succeed where nature failed.

 

Lesson one: Picking a mark.

 

The first lesson Mordred decided the bug needed was picking a proper mark. Considering that the bug’s earlier choice was an experienced thief who, more importantly, was both much quicker and stronger than he was, the bug was clearly a bad judge of target.

 

So he let the bug lead him around for a while, as they skulked about the island. He would let the bug pick out a target and then he’d judge his pick. Upon finding a good target, Mordred would show the bug proper technique on stealing from a mark.

 

The bug seemed excited and pointed to his choice of mark. The Weavile took one look at the Machamp smashing boulders twice Mordred’s size together before giving the bug a rapid shake of his head. The Machamp probably didn’t have anything worthwhile stealing anyway. They went through a number of choices who didn’t have anything worth stealing before the bug pointed at a human girl. She was by herself on a beach, using a makeshift fishing pole.

 

The Weavile considered the target. The makeshift fishing pole was a fair prize at least for a lesson. Wasn’t exactly the best spot to steal from someone without being seen or noticed, though there were no other witnesses besides her. But there was also extremely little risk. Worst case scenario, James would get in trouble.

 

That thought convinced him to go for it.

 

Mordred motioned for the bug to stay still while he approached the girl on the beach. He hid behind a rock on the beach as he observed the mark closer.

 

 

IC: Fools Even when it’s not April 1^st – Virbank City

 

Richard was joyful, ecstatic, elated even. He had heard of the Virbank City Gym but never thought he’d get to see it himself. He could hear the muffled sounds of music even outside the Gym itself. He would skip, but he had his violin case in his left hand and a Sableye on his shoulder.

 

Upon seeing the bard’s face Claus sighed. “Let me guess, you dragged me all the way to Unova just so you could listen to the music here.”

 

Richard displayed mock offense, “What me? Of course not. It was more of a… happy afterthought.”

 

“Right…”

 

The pair walked up to a burly-looking man dressed in what Claus assumed to be typical punk attire.

 

“You here to fight or just be a part of the audience.”

 

“He’s a trainer, I’m just here to watch.”

 

The bouncer had to search the area Richard was gesturing to before he noticed Claus (who was holding out his ID) was there.

 

“A’ight, you’re in,” he said stepping aside.

 

The pair walked past the bouncer into the club itself. They came to a three-way fork in the building with a sign on the wall directly in front of them.

 

“Backstage right... challengers head backstage.”

 

“Well, guess this where we split. Will be cheering for you from the crowd!” Richard shouted and ran off the other way, waving all the while.

 

Claus stood still for a moment, before gulping and heading backstage.

 

“Here goes it.”

 

 

 

IC: Miriam – Chapel

 

As General Coleman and Shadow Admin Coleman spoke, Miriam wrote down an electronic note in her tablet.

 

“Reminder: Reprimand and/or kill whoever forgot to strike Bounty’s authority from our records after thanking them for their convenient incompetence.”

 

She retreated Twister before following the General out of the room. As she was walking with the General, she looked through a list of personnel files.

 

“Sir, How will this Agent Rufius be assisting us?” she asked General Coleman.

 

 

IC: Arthurs - Celadon

 

Jamie was silent for a moment because, like Lucia, she did not know exactly where they were going. She knew what the place was supposed to be to her old home, but since that was a lie she had no idea where she was going. Fortunately there was someone there willing and able to help her keep up the lie.

 

The words, 'To the St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage' came into her head.

 

The words, “To the St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage” came out of her mouth.

 

"It is not too far away from here, but I would like to stop by the Church itself first," James elaborated.

 

The old nag had better be alright, James thought before berating himself for letting such an old bad habit show up.

 

James' estimate was about accurate, with the Church being two blocks south and east of their location when he made the statement. When the building came into view, the Executive's Togekiss paused. Galahad sensed an overwhelming feeling coming from the building which gave him such pause. Had he more training in his Aura abilities, he would have been able to discern the feeling he sensed was that of fear. But even as it was, the Togekiss was unnaturally apprehensive. James, lacking Aura ability and eyes in the back of his head to notice that the floating Togekiss had stopped, continued ahead, cautiously relieved to see the building standing.

 

He was not able to put the feeling into words quick enough to keep James and Guinevere from hurrying ahead.

 

"Please wait out here and keep an eye out for any enemy reinforcements. We should only be a few moments," James called back to Jamie and Lucia.

 

Guinevere approached the building with James, but stopped and turned when she heard sobbing. She saw a young man with a Drifloon sitting across from the church wiping tears from his eyes. Upon seeing her and James, the man reacted in shock and lifted a device with with right hand. The Gardevoir eyes widened in horror as she realized what the device in the man's hand was. Without thinking, she yanked James away from the Church doors right as he opened them. James gasped in shock upon feeling the Psychic force.

 

He was in greater shock still when the church burst into flames.

 

But it was with horror that he looked back towards Guinevere, lying splayed on the ground knocked clear by the explosion, covered in burns.

 

"Guinevere?"

 

The Gardevoir did not respond.

 

"GUINEVERE!"

 

 

 

IC: ?????? - St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud Church

 

A young man sat sobbing across the street from a large building, a small device next to him on the ground. He didn't know why the mean people in that building all hated his big brother so much. They all kept calling to him, telling him to let them leave, even though his big brother clearly said that no one was allowed to leave. Big brother had to leave himself, and he took his little R badge with him, but left his three ghost Pokemon with his three ghost Pokemon to guard over the metal containers his big brother's friends put around the building, with his Aegislash guarding him as it always did.

 

"My big brother told me not to let anyone through those doors. If you try to leave, I press this button."

 

The mean green robed man pleaded, "Please don't listen to your brother. What he asks of you is monstrous," with affirming calls from the other people in the building.

 

"SHUT UP ABOUT MY BROTHER!" the man called before punching the priest in his face. He wanted to punch them all in the face, but there were too many tears in his face.

 

After hearing more and more insults being placed upon his brother, he ran out of the building, tears in his eyes while his Aegislash took his place in guarding the entrance, with a Drifloon flying after him. He didn't run very far though. Just far enough away that he was certain they could not see or hear him crying. He sat down next to trash can and continued crying. The Drifloon, the only Pokemon he had caught himself, floated next to him to comfort him. He liked Balloony; he didn't feel as bad when the Drifloon was near him. He stayed like this for several minutes when he saw a man wearing black and a pale lady at the doors of the church.

 

-"Just stay here. If anyone tries to leave through those doors, press that button."-

 

He was scared. He disobeyed his brother and left the building. And now somebody was moving through the doors. He scrambled to pick up the button his brother gave him and stood up. Right after the man wearing black was suddenly launched from the building's doors was he able to press the button. He had never seen anything like what had happened next. It looked beautiful, but felt so hot, even from the distance he was sitting at. But it was a welcome heat; a relief from the cold of the snow.

 

However when he looked again, he saw the man wearing black and the pale lady again.

 

"No no no, big brother told me not to let anyone leave."

 

With their task complete, five ghosts came out of the bombed church. The five ghosts were the Aegislash, a Banette, Dusknoir, a Trevenant, a Spiritomb, the first two which lived under his ownership while the other three were his brother's. The Aegislash and Banette were looking at the other three apprehensively and received similar looks. When they all saw the man, the former two looked relieved while the latter three looked with emotionless expressions towards him.

 

Jamie, while in shock and horror from the explosions, regained her senses long enough to register the words from the man's mouth and the fact that he was the culprit.

 

"Who are you?! Why would you do this?!" she asked in spite of the circumstances.

 

-"And if anyone asks who you are, tell them: 'I am from Team Liberty."-

 

"I am from Team Liberty" he said almost like a robot.

 

Jamie didn't buy that line for a moment, in lieu of those same circumstances.

 

"And I did this because my big brother told me to."

 

The Rocket couldn't believe that someone would be blindly loyal as to blow up a building that someone was trying to enter. She didn't know whether there were people in the building, and frankly, she hoped she would never find out.

 

"Then your brother is an irredeemable monster," she said her voice colder than the snow on the ground.

 

That word again.

 

"Stop it... STOP CALLING HIM A MONSTER!"

 

The Aegislash heard his trainer's cry of anger and disappeared, moving towards Jamie. He would not allow her to further upset his trainer's mind.

 

But then Galahad shivered. The earlier aura of fear felt nothing compared to the aura next to him now. While the earlier feeling was unknown to him, there was no doubt that the feeling coming from the Scizor next to him was of pure hatred. The Aegislash burst from an ethereal state to drive away Jamie who was agitating his trainer, only for his blade to be stopped by a metal claw. Pelleas was about to intercept the Aegislash himself when Lancelot intervened. The aura that Galahad had sensed was so thick that even those not Aura-inclined could now feel the emotion seeping from Lancelot. With his full strength, the Scizor tossed the Aegislash back at his trainer. The Aegislash only barely managed to evade crashing into him. Lancelot walked forward slowly, an ugly murderous glare on his face.

 

The man had never been so frightened in his life.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

"Yeah, we are." Zach said with a blink, as he didn't get what the Rocket man was trying to say. Zach crossed his arms with a frown for a moment, as he noticed the attack coming, and Olivia seeming distracted. "That could be important; I'll handle this." Zach said, as he sent out a Pokeball quickly...

 

Cyndy saw the Shadow Ball coming, and quickly jumped to the side, the shadowy energy clipping her arm, as the Mawile appeared in front of her. However, the Typhlosion's mouth curled into a smile, as her back flared, and sent a point blank Eruption toward the poor Mawile. The attack might have been slightly less powerful thanks to the Shadow Ball dealing some damage, but it was also more likely to deal more damage from sheer proximity.

 

The Servine's eyes widened for a moment as the attacks were sent his way. However, as Smugleaf braced himself for the impact of both super effective attacks, a flash of light made him pause. Smugleaf looked up in surprise, as Ren took the brunt of both attacks. Ren roared out, as he attempted to run down the Azumarill with Wild Charge, on his way to the Tropius. The Luxray roared out once again, and then his fangs glowed with the blazing fury of fire, as the Luxray utilized a Fire Fang on the flying grass dinosaur. The Servine was snapped out of his shock, and nodded with confidence, as he dashed forward, spinning around, as he tried to use a combination Leaf Blade/Leaf Tornado attack at the same time.

 

Heather landed with a smug smile, as the Greninja seemed to be attempting to hole up on his own, judging by the spikes being used almost like a shield. Heather glanced behind them and noticed the Skarmory fight, and then nodded to Elsa, who launched off a warning Ice Shard toward the Greninja, and the two then ran toward the other fight.

 

Heather attempted to quickly use a Thunderbolt on the Skarmory, and the Weavile dashed forward with Quick Attack, attempting to get close enough to smash the metal bird with an Ice Punch.

 

Blade seemed surprised both at the miss, and at the sudden reappearance of his allies. However, he smiled as their total strength had gone up by this. As the Skarmory headed toward him again, Blade focused, and teleported across the battlefield to get away from the Drill Peck. Meanwhile, Anna focused, and attempted to get a glimpse of the Future with her Sight.

 

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

Jenny frowned at the accusation, but then smiled, as Hayes seemed to be rather short-sighted. "I don't have any special powers. We just have strong mutual trust, and have trained together a lot recently. And it's not hard for us to be in sync when there's an annoyance." Jenny said with a thinly veiled jab at the Kricketune in the last point she had made; but it was true. Jenny had been training so much the past six months, and that had only been increased after the last encounter with Gerald. Jenny looked to Scizlite, as the Wigglytuff launched off the flames toward her.

 

"Dodge it!" The Scizor launched into the air as Jenny called out, her wings allowing her to hover in the air for a moment. "Now, Quick Attack into that!" Scizlite dove forward, a determined look on her face, as her arms flattened to her sides. The Scizor stopped short of the Wigglytuff, however, and attempted to speed around it, as the steel bug aimed to slash out with an X-Scissor at the normal type's back.

 

-==IC: Lucia==-

 

Lucia's hands went to her mouth, as the building burst into flames. Lucia ran forward, as she noticed the motionless Gardevoir, and James not far off, trying to get Guin to respond. Lucia then turned her head, worried about the situation in general, as Jamie seemed be growing angry at the situation, for rather obvious reasons. Lucia sent out her Gothorita again, and stepped to Jamie's side instead, as she shook her head at the man.

 

"Did you really do this just because your brother said to?" Lucia asked with a frown, as she was just as stunned as Jamie was that anyone could be that loyal to anyone else. She didn't know what was happening with Guin... But despite not having as close a connection to James or Guinevere as Jamie did, she hoped that both were alright. Lucia looked at the man, and tried to get a read on his expression, trying to figure out just what in the world was going on at that moment.

 

OOC: Shannon's birthday jam~

 

-==IC: Ryan Hikari/Shannon Willows==-

 

Ryan watched for a moment, and then scratched his head. "Need any more help?" he asked, as it didn't seem like he was needed there anymore.

Shannon nodded and stood up, leading Ryan down the hall to a sizeable library room. "I'll need your help to carry some of these books, if you don't mind," she said.

Ryan blinked, as he saw all the books. "Wow..." He hadn't expected there to be a full library as well, especially after he had seen all the books downstairs. "I take it you really like books," he said as he walked into the room and looked around, wondering just how many of them she wanted to keep.

"Yep," Shannon said with a smile as she started taking down books one by one and piling them up in Ryan's arms. Soon he was carrying a stack of at least thirty books, struggling to balance them all as Shannon continued picking out her favorite novels that she wanted to save.

Ryan's mouth dropped open behind the stack as he watched her continue to pick out books. "... Uh... How many are you taking exactly?" he asked, struggling to hold them all, let alone keep them balanced.

"Only my favorites," Shannon replied. She picked out two books and looked at them with a nostalgic smile, trying to decide which one to keep before adding both of them to the top of the ever-growing stack of books in Ryan's arms.

Ryan watched with a sinking feeling as both were added to the pile in his arms. "... I might need Tyranitar's help at this rate..." he mumbled quietly as he sighed.

Shannon continued adding more and more books to the pile, until Ryan's face was completely hidden behind the huge stack. "Hm," she said thoughtfully. "I might need a second duffel bag."

"Y-you think...?" Ryan said, his voice muffled behind all the books.

"Sorry," Shannon said with a slight giggle. "I just have so many favorites..."

"I... I can see that." Ryan said.

Shannon grabbed a handful of other books that she carried herself, then turned to face Ryan. "Alright, this'll be the first batch. Let's head back to my room and start packing them."

Ryan nodded, but then paused. "... First batch?" he mumbled to himself with a sinking feeling. Why did I sign up for this again? he wondered, but he followed Shannon nonetheless, as it was too late to refuse, and he had wanted to help out in any way possible...

The moment they stepped back into the hallway, however, there was a loud knock on the door. Shannon looked at Ryan curiously. "Who could that be, I wonder?"

Ryan frowned, as he had a bad feeling about this, and then continued to her room and set the books on her bed. "I'll go check this out," he said, as he walked back out of the room. He sent out his Excadrill, and motioned for it to stay back with Shannon, even as Ryan walked down the stairs toward the door.

"D-don't you think you're taking a lot of precautions just for answering the door?" Shannon asked. However, she let Ryan go, and started packing her books into what space remained in her bag.

Ryan frowned at Shannon's question, but he couldn't ignore that foreboding feeling he had. If her parents were away, and she didn't have any friends, then who could be at her door? Ryan unlocked the door and opened it. He tried to keep a neutral look on his face, as if he was supposed to be here, just in case it was unpleasant company.

A tall man stood at the door, wearing a casual suit. He smiled at Ryan, although the smile betrayed a hint of disappointment, as if he had not expected Ryan to answer the door. "Hello," the man said pleasantly. "I'm looking for a Miss Shannon Willows. Is she here?"

Ryan frowned slightly, and shook his head. "'Fraid not," he said, as he attempted to throw off the trail by disguising his voice and changing up his speech patterns. This guy was bad news, he was almost certain of it. On a normal day he might not have suspected anything, but with everyone out for Shannon, Ryan was on guard, though he didn't betray his suspicions. "I recall hearing of a Miss Willows in the past, though I haven't heard of her for some time now... Whatcha lookin' for her for? I might be able to pass on the message if I ever see her around."

The man scratched his chin with a frown. "She's not here? That's strange, I could've sworn she lived here..." He pulled out his phone and checked it, the motion revealing a small red R emblazoned on his jacket. The man looked back up at Ryan, clearly disappointed. "Tell her it has to do with her old friend. Hannah Wright. They grew up together, and Miss Wright is very excited to see Miss Willows again. Do you have any idea where Miss Willows might have disappeared to?"

I knew it. Ryan shook his head, as the man confirmed his suspicions. "Sorry, mate. I have no clue." He shrugged. "I'll be sure to relay the message if I ever see her, but from what I recall hearing, she hasn't been 'round these parts for like a week or two." Ryan continued the lie, pleased at how smoothly his plan was going.

"Miss Wright will be disappointed by this news," the man muttered. "Thank you for your help, kind sir." He gave Ryan a small nod, and turned to leave.

At that moment, Shannon appeared at the top of the stairs. "Ryan?" she asked. "What's taking you so long? I need your help for the second batch of books!"

At the sound of Shannon's voice, the man whirled around. He took one look at Shannon, then narrowed his eyes at Ryan, a hand reaching toward his belt. "Didn't your father ever teach you not to lie?"

Ryan knew the ploy was up the moment he heard Shannon's voice, and quickly shot his hand out toward the man's face, hoping to either distract him or deal damage. "No, in fact, he taught me to lie," Ryan scowled. He looked back at Shannon. "Run! Get somewhere safe!" he yelled out, as he reached for Tyranitar's Pokéball.

 

-==IC: Erika==-

 

"Surround them like this." Erika said, as she motioned out a plan to Dahlia. Her Vileplume and Lilligant launched forward, as they prepared to launch synchronized Petal Dances on the already-downed Throh, to actually knock it out. If even that failed, or the Throh managed to get out of the way, then Coco and Dahlia's other Pokemon would be able to finish it off. As that happened, Erika's Venusaur attempted to wrap around the stunned Gyarados with Power Whip, preparing to throw it away if that managed to work.

 

-==IC: Stacy==-

 

Stacy smiled with a nod to Madison, as she recalled her damaged Archeops. She was about to order her Diggersby to go attack the Masquerain. However, the lady paused with a blink, as she noticed that the bug was already occupied with Teddy. Stacy her up her hand to the ground rabbit, as she didn't want to accidentally get Teddy caught up in an attack.

 

OOC: Final part of current Collie/Jayron jam.

 

-==IC: Colette/Jayron==-
 
Colette nodded numbly, as the shock of everything caught up to her again. She felt like she was going to collapse from sheer exhaustion. But she managed to push herself back to her feet and walked over to Alexa. She knelt down, slowly lifting the girl with a sad smile. "Well... I fulfilled my promise to you and Collie... didn't I...?" she asked, hoping beyond hope that Alexa was alright.

Alexa stirred slightly, bringing a hand up to her head as she slowly opened her eyes. "C-collie...?" she said weakly, blinking in confusion.

Colette smiled warmly as she looked down at the child in her arms. "Heya, Alexa," she said in slight relief, as the girl seemed be okay.

"I was having the most terrible dream," the young girl said in her tiny voice. "It was horrible. So full of pain... It still hurts, kinda."

Colette nodded and smiled sadly. "Well, you'll be okay now, that's for sure," she said, trying to keep herself as composed as she could, for Alexa's sake.

"I hope so," Alexa said. "I still have a huge headache..." She glanced around in confusion. "Where are we?"

Colette paused awkwardly for a moment, before deciding to tell the truth. It just didn't feel right to lie to the young girl. "We're in the Tanoby Ruins, just off the south end of the island."

"The Tanoby Ruins?" Alexa repeated, looking around at the chamber as she tried to clear her muddled mind. Her eyes seemed to linger on the odd shapes that marked the walls and floor. "W-what are we doing here?"

"Um, well, you kinda went sleepwalking a bit, I think... Not quite sure, but we followed you here." Colette gave a slight smile, unsure whether she should mention the Unown. But what she had said was the truth; or at least part of it.

"Sleepwalking?" Alexa continued to stare at the walls, shuddering slightly.

"We should get going," Jayron said with a worried glance at the young girl. "Lucario's found the exit. And it's an actual exit this time, not another tunnel."

Colette nodded as she stood up, holding Alexa close. The aura wielder followed Jayron quietly, as she looked down at Alexa, to make sure she was alright.

Alexa remained silent as they left the final chamber. Her eyes seemed glued to the walls, and it was only when they stepped outside that her breathing steadied. The skies were still overcast, but they were nowhere near as thick as they were before. The sun shone brightly behind the clouds, blanketing the island in a light gray.

"Hey!" Jayron cried, holding up his PokéGear. "It works now! We've stopped the interference!"

Colette smiled, and nodded as she looked up to the sky. "Guess that was the cause after all, huh?" But what was really the cost...?

"Here," Jayron said, nodding toward the small boat that lay on the beach. "We can use that to get back to the mainland." He turned around and recalled his Pokémon, and motioned for Colette to do the same.

Colette nodded as she set Alexa down for the moment, keeping a hand nearby in case she was unsteady, and began to recall her Pokémon, and then led Alexa toward the boat, glad that everything seemed to finally be back to normal. As they neared the boat, Colette chuckled slightly. "Sheesh, am I going to sleep as soon as we get back..." She yawned to emphasize the point.

Alexa shakily stepped into the boat, leaning against Colette for support. "Collie..." she said with a slight frown. "Are you still in your pajamas?"

Colette nodded as she held Alexa's shoulder to help support her. "Sure am, kiddo." The aura wielder chuckled, as she had completely forgotten that she hadn't changed back to her normal clothes.

Alexa giggled slightly as they sat down. Jayron sat opposite of the two girls and grabbed the oars, beginning the journey back to the mainland.

The rocking of the boat quickly lulled Alexa back to sleep as she rested her head against Colette. Jayron glanced at the sleeping girl, then looked up at Colette. "You seem troubled," he said in a quiet voice.

Colette nodded, as she awkwardly scratched her head with her free hand. "... I... I just..." She tried to explain what she was thinking, but her thoughts began to jumble up. She recalled how her clone had died not once, but twice, and how even though she was nothing more than an illusion, all she had wanted was the same thing Colette herself had wanted. Colette closed her eyes, shaking her head. This was the one time she desperately wanted to talk, but she found that she just couldn't thanks to her scrambled thoughts and emotions.

Jayron frowned, but did not press the issue. "The one thing that troubles me," he said, "is that we still don't know why the Unown did all this. What was their motive?"

Colette frowned slightly, as Jayron's words cut through her troubled thoughts. "Hm. That's a good point. All I know is that there were four letters: F, O, R, D. None of that made any sense to me, though..."

Jayron stopped rowing. "Ford?" he asked. "Are you sure? Did they say anything else?"

Colette scratched her head with a frown. "That was it. And yes, that's what it was," she said, feeling like she was out of the loop.

"John Ford," Jayron said gravely as he resumed rowing. "I don't suppose you've heard of the Shadowed Man?" Colette shook her head. "We've known about him for years, but it wasn't until the Battle of Four Island last year that we first had contact with him..." Jayron glanced down to make sure Alexa was still asleep before continuing. "He was responsible for Bluefalcon's death. He also sent Blackskull into a pocket dimension for some time. We don't know much about him, but he seems to have his own agenda, playing both sides of the war. I had a rather nasty run-in about a year ago with a weapons company associated with him. I barely escaped with my life."

"Bluefalcon?" Colette asked curiously, as the name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite put a face to the name. "Who was that?"

"One of the original leaders of Team Liberty," Jayron explained. "Silvermind's predecessor. She, Goldhawk, and Blackskull united several smaller rebel groups to form Team Liberty."

Colette was quiet as she processed that information. "Hmm, interesting... Too bad to hear about her." She scratched her head awkwardly and frowned, unsure what else to really say in a situation like this.

Jayron nodded, closing his eyes as he remembered that fateful day. "At any rate, Goldhawk will definitely want to know about this," he said quietly.

Colette nodded as she leaned her head against Alexa's and closed her eyes for a moment. She hadn't been kidding about how much that ordeal had tired her out, and the wave of exhaustion finally overwhelmed her.

Jayron smiled at the sight of Colette and Alexa leaning against each other. It was only then that he realized how tired he was himself. In fact, it was only his rowing that was keeping him from falling asleep as well. For the briefest of moments, the clouds parted and the sun shone brilliantly on the small boat, and Jayron basked in this rare moment of peace. Then the light faded as the sun retreated behind another cloud. The gray, formless shapes remained ever-present; a solemn reminder of the trials they had been through... and the trials that were yet to come.

 

-==IC: Ray==-

 

Ray grit his teeth, as he continued to work on healing his Samurott quickly. He saw the flames continue to spread, and knew that he had to stop them somehow. Ray glanced over to Ryan, as he fell to his knees for a moment. Ray was about to call out to the Liberty Trainer, but then paused, as Ryan began to stand up again. Ray returned his focus to Gluttony and the forest fire with that in mind, a grim frown on his face.

 

I don't know what's going on, but... If Ryan's getting attacked somehow, then he has to fight back, and win. Ray thought, as he recalled what was said about them losing. But I believe in him. He's stubborn enough to not lose out. Just, do this in time, Ryan. Ray thought, as he wasn't sure how much longer they had.

 

-==???==-

 

As Jake Weston was approaching the Pokemon Academy, however, as he was about to enter, a brown haired teenager walked out, lost in thought, and nearly walked into him.

 

"Oh!" The teenager looked up, as he noticed Jake and took a step back in surprise. "Are you a trainer?" The teen asked as a smile appeared on his face.

[JiMing]

IC: Ruth Fishers

 

"Hey, wait up, everyone!" Ruth cried, scrambling up the ladder as fast as she could without falling.... Which admittedly wasn't fast at all. 

After slowly plodding up the stairs, Ruth hesitated at the window, until she sent out Caliburn, who leaped down first, and let Ruth land on top of his shield as a platform, though as a result, the Aegislash's hilt was slightly buried into the floor.

 

"....Probably shoulda thought that better, huh." the trainer commented, before leaping off. "Man, can't see a thing here... They weren't kidding when they said there was no power here, huh?" she muttered, before following Jake's lead and looking for a light switch.

[Konuju]

IC: Madison
Madison was, for lack of a better word, surprised. Unlike Dack's other Pokémon, Teddy had never been a trained battler. If Dack had been secretly training him, Madison did not know, for around the skier Teddy had never been more than a lovable little bear cub. Now, however, the Teddiursa was actually putting up a fight against the Masquerain. The two Pokémon were neck and neck, neither giving the other any room to breathe.
 
The skier saw Stacy looking at her and knew that it was up to her to finish the battle. With a nod, and an air of command, Madison took charge. "Alright, Teddy! It's time to end this! Use its strength against it -- throw it off balance then use your Fury Swipes!"
 
Teddy's growl was surprisingly fierce for such a small cub as he flipped the Masquerain over his head. The bug flitted its wings, but before it could regain its balance, Teddy struck out with Fury Swipes, slashing furiously at the Masquerain. And then it was over. Already weakened from the battle, the Masquerain found itself unable to hold up against such a relentless attack. It fell to the ground, fainted.
 
Madison ran over to Stacy, scooping up Teddy in her arms as she passed him. "Oh, Stacy!" she cried in relief. "Thank goodness you got here! We almost weren't able to hold them off! I'm afraid we won't fare as well against the next round of attackers."
 
IC: Zoe
The fish were not biting. This thought floated through Zoe's head as her eyelids started to droop sleepily. Her head nodded, and then she jerked awake, almost falling off her rock into the sea. She blinked. This would not do. Even if she didn't care about catching anything, if the fish were biting, it would at least give her something to do beyond just sitting there waiting for Collie to return.
 
She reached for a Pokéball and sent out Eilonwy into the ocean. The Feebas splashed about happily. Zoe smiled. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that earlier, Eilonwy," she said. Eilonwy waved a fin to show she was alright. "You're a real trooper," Zoe giggled. "You know, this reminds me of the time we first met. What would you say to a little reenactment of that day? I was no warrior princess, but merely the humble sister of an aura master who had been blessed with the prime tool of the aura master trade: a fishing rod. And you were naught but a humble fish making a living swimming around in the vast ocean you called home. But it was fate that brought us together that day."
 
Eilonwy smiled -- as best as a Feebas could smile -- and splashed about happily in the shallow waters near the shore. Then with a playful grin, she grabbed the string at the end of the makeshift fishing pole and yanked on it, nearly pulling the stick out of Zoe's hands. The young girl laughed and pulled back. "Travis and the others can have their tournaments with all their rules and regulations. Now this is a real sport! The true test between woman and fish. And the rod that holds us together, the symbol of our friendship. Who shall prevail? And who shall suffer the shame of knowing they lost in a tug-of-war with a fishing stick? Aha!" Zoe yanked back with all her might and for a moment, it seemed Eilonwy had lost. She came flying out of the water, only to flail about and begin swimming away the moment she landed back in the ocean. And so the warrior princess and the fish named after a princess continued their playful struggle, neither gaining the upper hand for long.
 
Throughout their play, neither of them paid any heed to the Weavile watching them closely, or the small bug watching that had become its protégé...

 
OOC: It may no longer be Shannon's birthday here, but it still is on the west coast. So this still counts as Shannon's birthday jam~
Also, soundtrack for the following fight sequence.
 
IC: Shannon/Ryan
The suited man brought up a hand to block Ryan's arm as he sent out a Metagross that materialized just inside the front door. The Metagross swiped a leg at Ryan, hoping to knock him off balance before he could send out his own Pokémon.

Shannon stood petrified at the top of the stairs, her legs shaking. The man looked up at her with a smirk. "No need to worry, dearie, we don't want to hurt you." Stepping inside the house, he spoke into a radio embedded in the collar of his suit. "I've found Willows, but we have confirmed hostiles. Requesting backup immediately."

Ryan growled as he was knocked off balance, but got the Pokéball off his belt. He pressed the button and threw the capsule, his Tyranitar roaring out and crashing against the Metagross, aiming to keep the opposing Rocket busy. Ryan's Excadrill stepped protectively in front of Shannon with a growl as Ryan pushed himself to his feet again. "You believe everything Hannah has to say, don't you?" he snarled as he gritted his teeth, not about to let this man have his way.

The Metagross tried to exert a psychic force on Shannon, but was distracted when the Tyranitar crashed against it. "Miss Wright is my executive," the man replied, trying to push his way toward the stairs. "It's nothing personal; I'm merely following orders."

At that moment, there was a sudden crash as the window behind Shannon exploded. The girl let out a shriek as an Ariados skittered through the broken window, followed by a man in a Rocket uniform. The Rocket grinned devilishly as he spotted Shannon, sending his Ariados after her and taunting her in a sing-song voice. "The itsy, bitsy spider climbed up the Willows House!"

Ryan attempted to body slam the Rocket as he glanced upstairs and grimaced. "Excadrill, Metal Claw!" he called out. As the mole dashed past Shannon and attempted to rake the Ariados with its claws, Ryan turned his attention back to the first man with a scowl. "Hannah did this all just to get back at Shannon, for revenge. We've already run into her once today." While Ryan talked, the Tyranitar roared out, and then Crunched down on the Metagross.

The Metagross cried out in pain and swung a Hammer Arm at the Tyranitar. The Metagross' trainer scowled as twisted and threw Ryan aside with surprising strength. "Then Executive Wright will be pleasantly surprised to get another chance at meeting her childhood friend," he said.

Shannon found herself completely frozen in fear. She knew Ryan had told her to run. She knew she had to find somewhere safe. But her legs had turned to jelly. She could do nothing but stand there shaking as the Ariados scuttled toward her. At the last possible moment, Ryan's Excadrill swatted the spider away with its Metal Claw. This somehow managed to bring Shannon back to her senses. She looked at the battle taking place at the bottom of the stairs, and then gasped with a sudden realization. "Selena and Sousa!" Throwing caution into the wind, the girl pushed past Excadrill and ran down the stairs, taking the steps three at a time. She frantically ran toward the living room -- then jerked back as the suited man grabbed her wrist. Shannon cried out in pain as she felt her injured shoulder twist, and struggled to get free of the man's firm grip. But the man held tight, a sinister grin on his face. "We've got you now, Miss Willows. Now are you going to come quietly, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"

Ryan growled, as he placed a hand on the ground to slow his fall back, digging into the floor with his feet. Not on your life! Ryan thought as he heard Shannon cry out and looked up suddenly. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a Pokéball off his belt and threw it toward the man. As the Simisage appeared, it attempted to swiftly slash out with its claws toward the man's face, not aiming to kill, but definitely wanting to hurt him enough that he would let go of the girl.

The man cried out as the savage Simisage slashed at his face, but he managed to keep his grip on Shannon's wrist as he pressed another Pokéball on his belt, sending out a Conkeldurr. The massive Fighting-Type roared out, swinging its concrete pillars at the Simisage.

Meanwhile, Tyranitar staggered back at the Hammer Arm, but then dashed back toward the Metagross and attempted a Payback on the steel type. The Metagross took the attack in stride, and unleashed a powerful Hyper Beam at the Tyranitar, blasting a large hole in the side of the house.

The Excadrill, meanwhile, pursued the Ariados and began to spin rapidly, aiming a Drill Run toward the spider once again. "After her!" The second Rocket cried. The Ariados shot forward a Spider Web at the spinning Excadrill in an attempt to slow it down, then skittered across the wall as it tried to make its way back to Shannon.

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Gluttony

 

As Ryan spoke to Gluttony, his Metagross finally gave out to the Flamethrower being blasted at it. It's eyes flickered shut, finally ending it's rampage. Rhyperior finally gave out to the Magical Leaf. He couldn't take any more attacks and thus went down with a mighty thud. All that remained was his Snorlax, who seemed to be putting his all into staying in the fight, to no avail. He'd taken too many hits. With Samurott's Revenge, the agile Snorlax finally fell down.

 

Upon seeing Ryan's defiance and his own team fall, Gluttony felt his presence start to flicker in and out as leaves began to surround him. Obscured by them, it appeared as though the Sin had been defeated once and for all. At least until, aura ablaze, Gluttony leapt out of the whirl and rushed towards Ryan.

 

 

"So, your hunger has finally been sated? Unfortunately for you, mine hasn't." Gluttony exclaimed. "And it won't be until you are completely consumed!"

 

 

As Gluttony drew closer to Ryan, Quil leapt in front of his trainer, roaring fiercely as he blasted a red-hot Flamethrower towards the advancing Sin. Gluttony screamed as the cloud of flame scorched and burned his body. When the fires subsided, however, Quil was surprised to see that Gluttony was still standing, scorched to a huge degree.

 

"So, you saw through my bluff." Gluttony growled. "At least I tried to make things interesting."

 

Gluttony's breathing was harsh and labored from the damage Quil's attack had inflicted upon him. He tried to take a step towards Ryan, and immediately collapsed onto one knee. The Sin looked up first at Quil, then at Ryan, his eyes still shining with a malevolent hunger. Ryan simply stared back with resolve.

 

"The only thing that can sate you now, Gluttony, is your demise," Ryan said. He looked hard at the Sin kneeling before him. "I pity you. For in you, I see what would have become of me had I continued down the path I was on. I feel sorry for you, and for the man you once were."

 

"Take heed, Ryan Sanders.", Gluttony rasped. "For you may very well end up on that path again in the future. But know that the spotlight will not be so easily obtained again. Nothing can stop the future from consuming us all..."

 

With those words, Gluttony started to truly evaporate into brown leaves. He had been defeated. As his body faded away amongst the whirlwind of leaves, a look of kindness briefly appeared in Gluttony's eyes, a momentary return of the mind that had once occupied his form.

 

 

IC: Albero DeLargo

 

"Ryan Sanders, you've done well to overcome that which I could not.", the kindly voice of Albero echoed softly in Ryan's mind. "I wish that I could see the man you will become. But, as you can see, my time has finally come. But you have my eternal gratitude, for you were able to grant me what I hungered for in the end: peace."

 

With his final message to Ryan, Albero DeLargo closed his eyes, and his body disappeared in a whirl of leaves........

 

 

OOC: Will edit in an Evan post later, due to how much this took out of me.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Hades

[Parugi]

IC - Maddison Hayes (Wigglytuff)/Sonja Baron (Neptune) - Fortree City, Ground Level:

 

Normally, the term "short-sighted" might have annoyed Hayes upon picking up on it. In this case, however, it provided a convenient distraction for her to avoid responding to Sonja. The Second Child rolled her eyes. "Really?" she said. "Because from my perspective it looks more like your Pokémon are questioning your orders in lieu of their own."

 

Protect. No sooner had the thought popped into Wigglytuff's head than a green shield materialized around its entire body, shielding it from Scizlite's attack. Sing. And then she was singing through the shield, her melodic lullaby emanating in an eerie field around her--a blast-zone currently containing the Scizor.

 

Hayes crossed her arms. "Maybe you're not cheating, after all--maybe you're just a poor commander. I think your father's Scizor might agree."

 

"Stop it, Sophia," Sonja snapped. "Stop these stupid mind games--and stop ignoring me!" Hayes glared at her. The Liberty Agent matched the look for a time. Eventually, however, Sonja sighed, and then returned Neptune to his Poké Ball, prompting a look of surprise from the Second Child. "You know what? This is pointless."

 

"You're actually giving up?" Hayes asked. She waved her hand, summoning Wigglytuff back to her side and bringing the battle to a sudden pause.

 

"Yeah, I am," Sonja said, ignoring whatever looks she might have received from her teammates. "I'm not wasting any more of my time on a fight that isn't going to accomplish anything. You won't answer me about business between us, and you can't answer anything about what you're doing for Ford. Yeah, I noticed," she added, as Hayes's lips parted slightly in surprise. "Every time we bring it up, your clamp up. You can't tell us, no matter how much you might want to, can you?" Sonja frowned. "So there's no point whether we win or lose. Either way, we aren't getting anything out of it."

 

"You know, Second, your sister really is clever," a voice called from above. Hayes sighed half-way between relief and resignation as the others looked up at the branches above her, where a smiling man with golden-blond hair, golden gloves, and the Hojohsin uniform stood perched upon a particularly thick limb of a tree. A thin and scarred Xatu floated nearby, its rigid, forward stare contrasting with its trainer's almost gleeful observation of the group below.

 

Sonja furrowed her brow. Somewhere, deep in her mind, she felt something . . . familiar about him, though she could not place her finger on what it was. As she watched him float down to the ground alongside his Xatu, however, one thought did come to her--a name that she felt she had heard before. From Blackskull? The Rockets in the Alamo? Elsewhere? She didn't know.

 

"McKinley," she said.

 

"What are you doing here?" Hayes asked.

 

As he touched ground, the Fourth Child bowed. "The pleasure's mine, however brief," he said. The Hojohsin Agent straightened up, turning to Hayes. "I hate to interrupt this little reunion, but I'm afraid I'm in need of your assistance, Second." A shadow of annoyance flickered across his face. "We've hit a snag--the Fifth is gone."

 

"Harrison?" Hayes said. "Gone as in 'dead,' or gone as in 'missing?'"

 

"You know, the Third asked me almost the exact same question . . ." McKinley said, chuckling. "He's just missing. Nothing to worry about--just means we need to find a replacement, which is what I want your help with. I need someone who can ensure that our next Fifth isn't going to run out on us like Harrison did. Or die, like Warren. You know--with mind reading and all that jazz." McKinley sighed. "It's as if they get their moment of fame, and then they up and lose their heads . . . I don't get it, Hayes. I do not get it."

 

IC - Pride - Celadon City, Central Park:

 

". . . You said I interested you . . ." Aspen's voice suddenly sounded from behind Pride. ". . . But then you go off and pay attention to the others. Like everyone else has before, and how th-they will from now on.... H-How well do you even know me anyways?! Because I don't think anyone here does . . ."

 

The Sin Trainer straightened up at Aspen's words, his aura pacifying now that he was no longer so focused on Hannah. His stretched and warped form returned to normal, though the porcelain-like smile on his face never quite vanished. Pride closed his eyes. "So the gardener boy remembers how to speak . . ." he said. He turned to Aspen, one moment staring at him from afar, the next appearing only two or three feet away from the youngest Seaton. Pride waved a hand in a circle through the air before him, moving it counter-clockwise from Aspen's perspective. "Wind back the clock, Aspen, and I think we'll find a number of revelations about you--number one being that I said 'perplex,' not 'interest.' To confuse and baffle--to be baffled." He smirked. "But that's beside the point."

 

_{Zach Hikari}

 

"Case Study the First, Aspen--follow along, because we're starting at the first stepping stone. Your sister's boyfriend vanishes for years and comes back at a time of need, when your other sister's been taken and you have no leads--not to mention little power to deal with the psycho who's taken her. Alistair Hakuda. Certainly a monster, and apparently Zach, too, by association. Despite his help, you treat him like garbage, ridiculing him for the slightest slip-ups and the smallest display of ineptitude. You care not for the damage he's endured at his previous failures--they mean nothing to you. Zach is expendable. He's worthless, because he has dared to be anything but perfection. And yet, paradoxically, perfection, too, would have earned him ridicule. There's simply no middle-ground for the poor gentleman, is there?"

 

A snap of fingers.

 

_{Unova League, Palmer, Erika}

 

"The connections of those amongst your association anger you. The Unova League wished to test Zach, some excitedly, some against their will. Why should so many public figures care to come out and witness the power of the one who accidentally destroyed their region? What a waste--they should be doing their real jobs, sitting around all day, unable to act for the betterment of the world thanks to Team Plasma's policies. Far be it for them to be able to provide such explanation, for they are not doing their designated assignment, and so they mean nothing, and their advice bears no applicability toward you. Fast-forward to Sootopolis, to Celadon--enter Palmer and Erika. At the threat of such a large-scale assault by Hannah, their presence and previous connections should be a God-send, but you? You react in disbelief, in anger, virtual disgust at the prospect of them already knowing the likes of Dack and Zach. What despicable connections."

 

Snap.

 

_{Madison, Luke, Dack Majors}

 

"In such a dire time of need, surely friends and allies are the most important assets? Yet you treat these three with such disdain, antagonizing them at any given opportunity. Perhaps Dack deserves it, but Madison and Luke? They're such friendly individuals, aren't they, Aspen? Why should they suffer just because their friend is a jerk acting as best as he can? Treating them like dirt, insulting their relationship, splitting focus by accusing them of feeling a given way toward one another . . . This is not enviable behavior, Aspen."

 

Snap.

 

_{Shannon Willows}

 

"Your callous streak is really beginning to show by this point, Aspen, and I dare say it's just a touch concerning to your friends--not that they are necessarily surprised by it. You join the group going to warn the target of this entire city-wide attack, and you don't even have the couth to feel sympathy for her in the wake of Hannah's revenge. In your eyes, it's her fault all of this happened, isn't it? Why didn't she see this coming? Why didn't she step back, act like a normal girl, and not let her parents get involved in a Liberty-led raid? Why couldn't she have simply known that Hannah was going to enact such brutal revenge on something that occurred in their childhood? Yes--through and through, all. Her. Fault."

 

Snap.

 

_{Hannah Wright}

 

"Remember Sootopolis, Aspen. How you looked down on Hannah. How you listlessly beat her when she could not defend herself, justifying it by calling her a monster. You nearly broke my puppet, do you know that? Yet, the great irony is that, in forcefully taking away another human being's right to that title, their right to civil treatment, you yourself become an oppressor, one who forces their views on others. You're a monster just as much as Hannah is, regardless of whether she deserved it. A different kind, perhaps, but still a monster--one who puts their own feelings before the life of another person."

 

Snap.

 

_{Aspen Seaton}

 

"If you ask me, Aspen Seaton, youngest child of a small gardening family from Olivine City," Pride said, finally lowering his hand and wiping away the disorienting tornado of words and memories. "It seems as if you're envious--envious of those who have accomplished things that you could hardly have dreamed about before you were forcefully pulled into the real world by a single, unfortunate resurgence of a particular lunatic. And in being envious, you act prideful, putting yourself on a pedestal above all others for fear that they will overshadow you, a pedestal that allows you to hide away in the comfort of your own reality whilst dishing out what insults and belittlements appeal to you."

 

He smirked. "Then again, I did say I wanted you to word your own pride, didn't I? So why not get to it, now that you have my undivided attention. Prove to me that I'm wrong . . ." Pride leaned forward. "If you can."

 

 

EDIT: Additional ICs

 

IC - Emmerich Coleman - Chapel, Halls:

 

The file on Aulus Rufius appeared on Miriam's feed, allowing her to open it and review the information contained within:

 

Name: Aulus Rufius

DOB: May 27 (Age 18)

Rank: Field Agent/Security

Description:

• SX: M
• GR: M
• HT: 5'10"
• WT: 140 lbs.
• EC: Blue
• HC: Red-Brown
• SK: Caucasian
• CX: Pale
• BT: O+

Background:

• Born/raised in Celadon City, Kanto
• Age 12: Parents killed under unknown circumstances, prompting relocation to Goldenrod City, Johto
• Former member/leader of Goldenrod Runaways prior to recruitment by TR
• Involved in recruitment of TR Latios and Latias

Pokémon On Call:

• Vaporeon
• Arcanine
• Meganium
• Raichu
• Beartic

 

"Rufius is to provide immediate reinforcement should the offending technician attempt to resist orders," General Coleman answered. "Or any other personnel in the area, for that matter. If Wright is the most recent Executive to have made contact with the technicians and security guards in Chapel's Comm Center, I would not put it past her to have given them additional orders to protect her cause. In that event, though I hope to avoid it, I would not be surprised if any physical conflict were to arise."

 

IC - Esen Windred - Dendemille Town, Abandoned Windmills:

 

Noivern contemplated Cero for some time, hesitating to respond in any particular fashion. After several moments, the Dragon-Type eased her mouth open, freeing Esen's ankle. Instead of immediately running off as she had planned to do before, Esen found herself staring at the Pokémon and Cero, impressed by how carefully and easily he had managed to convince her to listen to him. She rubbed her boot against the ground, shaking off the lingering needles where Noivern had applied pressure.

 

"Thanks," she said to Cero after a while. "We really should get going, though. Swoobat will be able to follow them to wherever they're going, but that won't matter if he has to trek all the way back here just to tell us--they might've moved by then." She unclipped Krow's Poké Ball from her belt. "If you don't have transportation, Krow can carry me ahead and I can meet you wherever we end up. While I wait, I can stake out their defenses and--"

 

Esen was interrupted by a slow rumble from Noivern, who suddenly slunk underneath Cero and knocked him onto her back. The Dragon-Type chirped at him, as if asking if he was steady, and then made a similar noise at Esen.

 

The trainer smiled. "All right," she said. "We'll all do this together--no splitting up." She sent out Krow, gesturing for him to take hold of her shoulders. She felt his claws clutch deeply into the protective fabric of her jacket, securing her for the flight. "Follow me whenever you're ready."

 

She headed off.

 

IC - Kyle Eston:

 

The floor rumbled horribly. This did nothing to help the throbbing sensation already present in Kyle's head as he stirred awake. Wherever he was, it was dark; and if the glinting metal and glass in front of him was any indication, he was confined--perhaps in more ways than one.

 

Through the fog of unconsciousness that was slowly beginning to fade from his vision, the Liberty Agent could make out vague lights ebbing in and out of focus around him. Several came from large, see-through containers--brief flashes of electricity, like the ones he had seen in the windmill. Others came every so often from the ceiling, where various holes allowed sunlight to stream through every so often. These dimmed and shone with the rumbling, as if dictated by the outside world.

 

Was he in a truck?

 

That's what it seemed like . . .

 

Kyle saw a bright light shining at his face. It was blinding; and as he turned his head to avoid it, he heard someone say something, though could not quite make out the words. The voice sounded excited, to the point of sending a shiver of dread down the Liberty Agent's spine. The next few moments became a blur.

 

Someone opened the container. The movement and sounds of the truck became less muffled.

 

Someone grabbed him. The light remained directed as his face, held there by a man in a mask.

 

Someone did something that he only heard and could not see. They wore a mask like the other's. They all wore masks. He could heard their mechanical breathing.

 

A cloud of dust erupted from nowhere, and he couldn't help but breathe it in because it was so potent. It burned his throat. He coughed in pain and discomfort.

 

They let him go and he fell back to the floor.

 

The world exploded in a whirlwind of color and light and sound around him and suddenly he knew nothing but convulsions, and soon he was falling back, back, back to the dark, unable to move and unable to figure out whether he was unconscious or awake.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Apears

[Franco]

IC: Cero did not hesitate. He had a job, rescuing Kyle, and he had been given a gift to do so, the help of an intelligent and awesome Noivern. He calmly sat straight and nudged the creature into flight forward.

[Prowl Nightwolf]

== Alamos Power Plant  ==

== Yugo Doseki ==
== Pidgey (Airazor) - Sandslash - Charmander (Spitfire) ==
 
IC: Yugo had a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face when Jake suggested they look for a light switch. "The power is out on this side of the plant, even if we did find a switch it really would not do us any good. Though if you do happen to find one that actually works more power to you." Yugo looked over at his Charmander and Jake's Charmeleon as they tried to increase the ambient light in the dark room. When Ruth stumbled her way through the window Yugo spoke to both of them. "Well that makes three of us here now. What is taking the others so long? Ruth do you have any Pokémon that can help us see a little better in here?" Walking over to the Door that led to the rest of the facility he tried to open it first by using the door handle and then hitting it hard with his shoulder. "Great it is locked. There is no keyhole. It must be an electronic lock."

 

Spitfire for his part had walked over to Jake's Charmeleon and shook his tail in a taunting manner to try and impress the evolved fire Pokémon.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Mordred – Four Island Beach.

 

…

 

The Weavile sighed. Now he just felt like a total James. This was bad; guilt spelt doom for any thief's career. Try as he might, he couldn’t convince himself to go steal the fishing rod.

 

Mordred covered his tracks before silently climbing the rock wall. Silently and sullenly, he back to the bug who just looked at him in confusion. He couldn't just let the lesson end in failure, so he had to steal from someone. Someone who had something that they wouldn't willingly part with, but not something he'd feel as guilty as he did earlier if he stole it.

 

The Weavile walked past the bug and signaled for him to follow. He had a Machamp to find.

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra, Fortree City

Evan had watched in disbelief as Sonja recalled her Pokemon, as well as Hayes having her Wigglytuff back off to her side. He listened to what Sonja had to say regarding the battle and her actions and nodded to himself. There was no real point to this battle. Evan returned Vlad to his Poke Ball, sighing with disappointment at this result.

"You know, Second, your sister really is clever."

Evan watched as someone descended from the trees above. Evan assumed a defensive stance. He wasn't sure what was going on, but if this person, whoever he was, was speaking with Hayes so casually, he had to be trouble. Evan waited to see what would happen next.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Jenny==-

The word of the day for Jenny was confusion. She was about to retort about the orders questioning thing, when first Sonja withdrew from the battle, and then another mysterious guy showed up. Jenny looked over at the newcomer, apparently named McKinley, as she was a bit unnerved about how he just randomly showed up. That Xatu didn't help things at all. She was totally lost by the stuff that the two were talking about, and she had a feeling she didn't want to know, if it was a scheme related to the people who ordered Castelia's destruction. She was cautious, and recalled her Scizor quickly, knowing that the now-asleep bug type would be useless if things came down to a fight; however, she kept a grip on her Gyarados' Pokeball, just in case.

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan
Ryan stared at the spot where Gluttony -- where Albero DeLargo -- had vanished. For a long moment he just stood there, dimly aware of his Pokémon gathering around him. This was the second time he had seen someone die before his eyes in Fortree. Unlike Jake Soren, Ryan did not know Albero DeLargo. That did not make his death any easier to comprehend. Just as Ryan had known Melanie and Melissa Garven, he knew Albero DeLargo must have had friends, or family, blissfully unaware of the Sin that had taken over and consumed the man's body. The Sin that had nearly consumed Ryan himself.
 
He was not aware of his legs giving way. He merely felt the jolt as his knees hit the dirt, quickly followed by his hands to support himself. He closed his eyes as tears started to form -- tears for Albero, tears for Melanie and Melissa, tears for how his friends had suffered because he had become so lost in his Sin. He looked up as Quil laid a comforting hand on his back. Ampere nuzzled against him with a reassuring baa. Missy landed on his head, for once in her life choosing to not yank on his hair but instead just offer her support. Samurott finished extinguishing the remaining flames before sheathing her seamitars and moving to Ryan's side. And then Togie enveloped his trainer in his warm wings. Ryan embraced his Pokémon, his tears flowing freely.
 
With a sniffle, he looked over his shoulder at his fellow trainer. "Ray... I'm sorry. For everything. I'm so sorry. I could blame my recent actions on Gluttony, claim he influenced me, but I know that's not the case. It was all me. I've called you rash, and arrogant, and rude. But I see now that you've only ever had everyone's best interests in mind. You were willing to share my fate so that you might pull me back from my own darkness. And I can't thank you enough for that."
 
IC: Dack/Hannah - Celadon City, Central Park
Pride had moved on to Aspen, but Hannah still felt like he was staring at her with those cold, arrogant eyes that viewed her as nothing better than an insect.
 
Or a puppet.
 
"It was you..." Hannah was not speaking to Pride as much as to herself, in a voice barely audible. Her eyes had grown wide and her face paled at Pride's revelation. "Sootopolis... Restarting the war... That was... my idea..." Hannah frowned as she tried to make sense between what Pride had told her and what she believed to be true. "You... you used me... Is my entire master plan all your doing? No... I'd always intended to go to Celadon... or was that your idea, too? Snowpoint? Snowpoint was my idea, I'm sure of it. But I was so sure I'd come up with the attack on Sootopolis..."
 
Paranoia began to set in. How long had Pride been pulling the strings? Was her entire life nothing but a lie? How much control did she really have?
 
Dack was still struggling with his own conviction and was only dimly aware of what Pride had told Hannah. In the back of his mind, upon seeing Hannah's stark-white face, he started to piece together what had happened. Revenge against Shannon had always been Hannah's goal, but while she had carried out the events in Sootopolis, it seemed as if Pride had been the one behind that scheme.
 
He recalled the sinister, purplish hue he had glimpsed in the executive's eyes moments before she had teleported from his grasp in Sootopolis. A chill ran down his spine as he looked over at the young man now speaking with a terrifying calmness to the youngest Seaton. And for the first time, Dack had an understanding of just how powerful the man who called himself Pride really was.
 
IC: Luke/Rocket Commander Raphael Ballard - Celadon City, West
The Rocket army had dissolved into chaos. Those with Flying Pokémon attempted to fly over the barricades, but they were flying one at a time, and so the Celadonians were able to pick them off relatively easily. A few Rockets disappeared in bursts of light, having teleported out of the ring of barriers. At first, Luke lamented that the citizens didn't have the technology to set up an anti-teleport field like he knew some of the Rocket bases had. But like the fliers, the teleporters were scattered and without a plan. Most of them, it seemed, were more interested in just escaping than forming some sort of retaliation against the Celadonians.
 
The remaining Rockets focused their efforts on either climbing the crudely-built walls or attempting to tear them down. But the army was split between about a dozen different barricades. All the while, more and more Celadonians saw the ring of barricades and decided to join the resistance efforts. Luke figured their number had at least tripled from the group that had left with him and Aspen from the Olivine Garden.
 
Speaking of Aspen, where was that kid? Given that no one else had been suddenly teleported away, Luke was left to assume that one of Aspen's sisters had used her Pokémon to bring Aspen to safety. At least, he hoped that was the case. Both Dahlia and Olivia had already proven to have terrifying tempers.
 
While Luke was busy worrying about the Seatons' wrath, Rocket Commander Ballard had come to the realization that the Celadonians weren't just pouring in from the outside of the barricade. Plenty of citizens had been hiding in the buildings that happened to be inside the ring. A small handful charged into the fray of Rocket troops, doing what they could to sew chaos. But Ballard knew that for every brave citizen that had chosen to put up a fight within the ring of trapped Rockets, there were more that had been left cowering in fear, lacking either the strength or the will to fight back.
 
Ballard eyed a young man -- no older than fourteen -- charging out of what looked like an ice cream parlor and yelling heroically as his Rattata scampered amidst the Rocket forces. The Rocket Commander smirked and turned to one of his lieutenants. "Follow me," he ordered. "It's time we played our hand."

IC: Shannon/Ryan
Ryan growled, as he was rather quickly running out of options. "Psybeam!" he yelled out, holding his Pokégear forward. Because he did not have the Pokéball with him, his Porygon-Z had taken temporary residence in the device, and now was appearing to help, as a psychic beam shot toward the Conkeldurr. The Simisage nimbly used the pillars as springboards and proceeded to flip around with Acrobatics, slicing out toward the Ariados. Ryan slowly stood up again and glared right toward the man. "SELENA!" he yelled out, hoping the Furret could hear him.

The Tyranitar panted heavily as the Hyper Beam wore off. However, he ran forward once more, his tail glowing as he swung around with a Payback. Before the attack had even hit, the Tyranitar attempted to bite down with another Crunch. The Metagross used its close proximity to lash out with Bullet Punch. That is, until Tyranitar grabbed it and fired a point-blank Hyper Beam. The devastating attack sent the Metagross flying through the bathroom wall, where it shattered the porcelain tub and simply laid there, dazed for the moment.

The Conkeldurr used its pillars to block the Porygon-Z's attack, although it still found itself knocked back several feet from the Psybeam's force. It curled its fingers into a fist and threw a Power-Up Punch at the Digital Pokémon. At that moment, Selena scampered up to the fight, took one look at Shannon's situation, and Slammed all of her weight against the suited man. The man cried out in surprise, letting go of Shannon's arm as he fell to the floor.

"Selena!" Shannon cried. "I'm so glad you're safe! Where's Sousa?" The Furret squeaked worriedly and motioned for Shannon to follow her into the living room. Selena had barely started to move when the Ariados fell to the ground in front of them, having been thrown off the wall from Simisage's Acrobatics. Shannon froze at the sight of the giant spider, which clicked its mandibles menacingly. The Ariados reared back, aiming to ensnare Shannon in a Spider Web. At the last moment, however, Selena jumped up and waved her paws, squeaking furiously to get the Ariados' attention with Follow Me. The Spider turned its head just as the webbing shot out, trapping the Furret in Shannon's place. Shannon's eyes widened in horror as her beloved Pokémon struggled against the sticky webbing.

"Keep it up!" Ryan cried to his Pokémon. The Conkeldurr seemed to be about to hit the Porygon-Z when a drill-like mole hit it while spinning. The Excadrill grabbed the Conkeldurr's shoulder and slashed out again with his other arm, even as the Porygon-Z focused and launched off another Psybeam at the Fighting-Type.

With Selena trapped in the web, the Ariados was free to charge toward its target once more. Shannon slowly backed up against the wall, her eyes wide in panic as the Ariados came closer. Then Simisage dropped down from above and squashed the bug where it stood. The Ariados hissed in annoyance and shot a Poison Sting at the Grass-Type. Shannon gasped in shock, but forced herself to move, picking up the web-trapped Furret and rushing off to the living room, hoping to find her other Pokémon before it was too late.

IC: Ellen
Ellen winced as she stepped out of the submarine-ferry and into the lively crowds of Slateport. As one of Hoenn's major harbors, Slateport was a city of commerce. Hundreds of ships bobbed up and down in the bay, ranging from cruises that offered a day's tour of Hoenn to trade ships exporting goods to the four corners of the earth.

As Ellen wandered from the docks, she saw dozens of people gathered around a small outdoor stage, listening to a wealthy-looking man passionately doting over his darling Rapidash. A banner above the stage read "Pokémon Fan Club: 25th Annual Summer Festival."

On an ordinary day, Slateport would have been a lovely place. There was so much to do and see, it was almost overwhelming. But after the solemn boat ride from Sootopolis, the city's carefree spirit seemed especially jarring. These people don't even know what's happened, Ellen realized. They're just going about their lives as normal. Indeed, few people gave heed to the group of distraught and traumatized passengers that had just left the harbor.

The group from Sootopolis slowly dispersed throughout the city. A mother struggled to comfort her crying children before succumbing to her own tears. A small group of friends, or perhaps siblings, put their arms on one another's shoulders as they wandered aimlessly, still coming to terms with the fact that they had lost their home. The different passengers all had different ways of coping with their pain, but they all had one thing in common. They all had friends or family with whom to share their grief. They all had someone to help comfort them.

All except Ellen.

She was alone.

As the lone girl wandered through an open market, she barely registered the cries of various merchants advertising powerful TMs and hand-made Pokémon dolls. Ellen paused in front of a snow globe that contained a scale model of the Hoenn Region. Spotting the lone treehouse that marked Fortree, Ellen traced the path she had taken in the past few days. Her eyes lingered on Sootopolis. From the outside the island city looked much more impenetrable, and she was again reminded of the fortifications of Black City. And yet Sootopolis' natural wall had proven useless when the threat had come from within the city itself.

"Fascinating replica, isn't it?" the merchant said with a grin. He grabbed the snow globe and shook it vigorously, before setting it back down for Ellen to see. "It's not really a snow globe, per say," he explained. "It's supposed to represent the volcanic ash coming from Mt. Chimney, so I call it an ash-globe."

Indeed, the tiny specks within the globe were a dull gray and had none of their usual sparkle. For several minutes Ellen watched in silence as the particles whirled about in their mad dance, obscuring the Hoenn replica. But when the dust finally settled, the Hoenn region remained, standing exactly as it had been before the merchant's sudden ash-storm. "It takes a while to settle down," Ellen remarked in a quiet voice. "Sort of like the recovery from the Ancient Darkrai. The threat of the Darkrai is over, but the ash still hasn't completely settled."

"Well, that's one way to look at it," the merchant shrugged.

"But will things ever go back to the way they once were?" Ellen asked. "Things were finally starting to look normal again before the disaster in Sootopolis. If you keep shaking things up, will the ash ever truly settle?"

OOC: I would say happy birthday Ellen, but... this post isn't exactly a happy one.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

"Any time." Ray said with a smile, as he walked over, and held his right hand out to help Ryan up, even as he scratched his head with his free hand. "... Though, admittedly, I have been a bit rash in the past, and the things I've done to try and help tend to end up backfiring, but..." Ray said, as he sighed. "Apology accepted though. Let's get going; we have some friends to get back to, and to explain stuff to."

 

-==IC: Ryan Hikari/Shannon Willows==-

Excadrill threw the Conkeldurr off balance, its punch instead going through the wall and striking an expensive-looking vase. The Fighting-Type staggered backward from the Psybeam, and then roared out as it tried to throw the Excadrill off of it and charge after Shannon.

Simisage jumped to the side, avoiding the Poison Sting with his quick speed, and then dashed forward again, attempting to smash the Ariados with Acrobatics yet again. The Ariados hissed at the Simisage's persistent attacks. Rearing its head, the spider clamped down on the monkey with Bug Bite, hoping to at the very least take its opponent down with it. The Simisage screeched in annoyance at the Bug Bite, and then proceeded to chomp down on the spider with his own Bite. No matter how much pain the grass monkey was in, he was not about to let go.

Ryan sent out his Samurott to help against the Conkeldurr and ran off toward the living room as well, knowing it was a bad idea for Shannon to run off on her own. The Excadrill and Porygon-Z seemed like they had things relatively under control, but then the Samurott showed up. She gave a warning growl before she shot off toward the Conkeldurr, just as the Fighting-Type managed to shake the Excadrill off. Excadrill spun as he hit the floor, then nodded at the Porygon-Z as they both followed Samurott in pursuit of their enemy.

Meanwhile, Tyranitar staggered back and collapsed to a knee, keeping a wary eye on the Metagross he had shot into the bathroom. The Metagross moved its legs like an overturned cockroach in an attempt to escape the tub, but it seemed to be thoroughly trapped for the moment. Tyranitar seemed smug, and then slowly walked toward the Metagross, preparing another Payback. The Metagross continued to squirm frantically as the Tyranitar approached. At the last moment, however, it lifted itself with Magnet Rise and shot toward Tyrantiar at an astounding speed, tearing through another wall with Meteor Mash.

"Sousa!" Shannon cried as she ran frantically around the living room. "Sousa, where are you?!" Selena did her best to squeak directions from her webbed trapping, although it should have been obvious from the gaping hole in the ground next to the couch where the Dunsparce had disappeared to. "Sousa!" Shannon shouted, setting the Furret down and peering into the deep hole. "Sousa, come out; I'm right here! I know you must be terrified out of your mind, but we have to stick together!" The girl tried to reach her hands down into the whole, then shrieked as a concrete pillar sailed past her, missing her by inches, and shattered the large bay window.

The Conkeldurr hefted its second pillar, a devilish grin on its smug face. It would not miss a second time. The fighting-type prepared to throw its pillar, then tripped over itself as the Porygon-Z, Excadrill, and Samurott all struck it at once.

The suited man ran after Ryan, attempting to tackle him to the ground before he could send out any more Pokémon. "Stop interfering with my mission!" he growled. "This was supposed to be an easy op; grab the girl and go. Why must you make things so difficult?"

Ryan scowled as he hit the ground. "Because your mission is wrong," he said. "Your executive is corrupt; all she wants is petty revenge... And even then, she's not even right about that. You don't even question whether anything's right... And for someone who criticized me lying, it sure seems like you were lying when you said you wouldn't hurt Shannon."

The trio of Pokemon stepped in front of the Conkeldurr, as they attempted to shield Shannon from it. The Porygon-Z quickly launched off another Psybeam as the Excadrill slashed out as quick as it could. The Samurott dashed forward, drawing her seamitar and slicing out with a Razor Shell. They could not allow the Conkeldurr to advance any further.

[JiMing]

OOC: Olivia and such other ICs coming soon.

 

IC: Aspen Seaton 

The young boy's blood continued to boil the longer Pride went on his speech. Anger clouded his mind and made him unable to think straight, but Aspen would still make his mind known. 

"I. Am. Not. A. Monster." he said forcefully, his voice only barely staying level. "Don't you accuse me of not caring about the lives of others.... Even if you hadn't swooped in and done... Something, to Hannah, I wouldn't have killed her." Aspen asserted. "She is the one with no disregard for the lives of others... She condemned two cities to death!" the trainer cried. "But you know what.... I wouldn't have killed Hannah. She's beyond that.... Too much to pay for to make her death meaningful...."

"Maybe Shannon couldn't have gotten her parents to destroy a town.... But her actions caused... Someone or something to have an excuse to kill two cities!" Aspen cried, confused on what was going on still, but clear in his belief at what started it. "What that girl did is fuel her own ego by making others feel inadequate... Like every bully I've ever met, like every person who looked at me with disgust, like EVERY PERSON THAT'S NOT MY SISTER!" he screamed. "She was a bully... And even if she didn't see this coming... Her past actions have caused Sootopolis and Celadon to die..."

Aspen's chest heaved from the shouting, as he wiped away the sweat from his brow. "....All my life, I've been put next to people with my situation and being just as flawed and fallible a person as I am... But fate smiled on them. They're now regarded as heroes, flawless, outright moral paragons... Even by those in authority." he muttered. "They were lucky. I am not. When push comes to shove, even if I help defend cities, I am always condemned to a slog of a life, with everyone looking down and treating me like I am the root of all evil... Just like now."

 

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

The appearance of Ren couldn't have come at a worse moment for Draco Robert's Pokemon, as the Azumarill was slammed back by the Wild Charge, and Tropius took the impact of both Pokemon. The leaf dinosaur cried out in pain upon their wings getting bit by firey fangs, though thankfully Ren was knocked out of the attack by Azumarill hitting him back with a Superpower, following up with a Rollout. Meanwhile, Tropius saw Smugleaf's combination attack, and summoned a Leaf Storm to counter. 

 

Said point-blank Eruption caused the Mawile to skid to a halt, desperately trying to put up an Iron Defense. But she had taken too much damage beforehand, and stood no chance against the overpowering flames. The Glalie saw his comrade fall, and hissed, firing off Shadow Balls in a desperate attempt to take back the battle.

 

Greninja attempted to sidestep the Ice Shard, but tripped and landed on his side after dodging. When he tried to tiredly get up, a Magical Leaf sliced his side from nowhere, causing the ninja frog to collapse at last. 

That's whatcha get.... Amethyst said with disdain, looking over the fallen enemy, before observing the other fights going on.

 

Skarmory was displeased to see its target suddenly appear elsewhere, but was not bargaining for the sudden Thunderbolt attack nor the Ice Punch. The Armor Bird was sent to the ground from both, but leaped up enraged. It eyed Elsa, and prepared a Steel Wing, but an unseen force seemed to knock the wind out of it. Afterwards, the Skarmory was panting, and attempted to fly up to get a height advantage, but seemed to be struggling to do that.

Roberts looked at the fight going on and frowned. "Wh-what the..... No, this is not supposed to be happening...." he muttered. "....Th-this should have been a simple task....!"
 

Olivia sighed at the shock of the Rocket Agent, but shrugged it off after a shrug towards Zach, and was about to check her Pokegear at last, when a new voice rang. 

"Failing again, Draco?" said a girl who appeared to be slightly younger than everyone else there in a bored voice. After a yawn, the girl opened her eyes halfway through and shook her head, causing her twintails on both sides of her head to sway, as well as the two strands of her reddish hair running on opposite sides of her face styled in such a way they appeared like drills. 

"R-Rebecca??!" Draco sputtered, looking over in disbelief. "Wh-why are you here?? I have this! I-I just need a bit more time...!"

 

"Really?" she said in a questioning manner, raising one eyebrow lazily. "That's not what I'm seeing here, little bro......"
 

"You can just shut up!" Draco hissed. "Get out, I have this!"

Rebecca held her head down and shrugged "Okay. I could do that..... And then I'd go home and tell Mom and Dad my pathetic excuse of a little brother couldn't stop a couple of lovebirds." she said. "That sound alright with you?"

Draco visibly flinched from that, and growled. "F-fine....." he muttered angrily, recalling his Pokemon. "I was getting bored anyways...." the Rocket agent said, before running off. 

Rebecca watched him run away and sighed, turning towards Zach and Olivia afterwards "Right, right, sorry about that.... My brother can be a bit of a pain." she said, before clearing her throat. "We are the mighty Team Rocket, we demand all civilians allow the operation to proceed, failure to comply will result in-you know what, I don't really want to do this." she said in a completely deadpan tone. "I have better things to be doing than to clean up my brother's messes, so if you could.... I dunno, keel over or something, that would be great."

Edited April 25, 2015 by Toph Beifong

[Prowl Nightwolf]

ooc: Going to start an encounter to try and capture a new Pokémon Joltik while waiting for the rest of the crew to come inside.

Species: Joltik

Gender ------ Female

Appearance --

This specimen of Joltik does not appear to be any different than you average variety. It is only about 5 inches in size and has a yellow fur coat and blue tips for feet. Her eyes are also a vibrant shade of blue.

 

Personality -

 

Abilities --- Swarm -

Voltia bug type attacks become more powerful the more she is injured.

Specialty ---

 

Held Item --- Razor Fang

A sharp fang that could make the opponent flinch when struck.

Attacks -----

1) Leach Life - Bug

2) Bug Bite - Bug

3) Thunder Wave - Electric

4) Spider Web - Bug

5) Cross Poison - Poison (Egg)

 

== Alamos Power Plant  ==

== Yugo Doseki ==

== Pidgey (Airazor) - Sandslash - Charmander (Spitfire) ==

 

IC: As Jake and Ruth were looking around Yugo noticed a flash of light over in the corner of the room. "What is that?" He said allowed as he slowly walked over to where the flashing light was emanating. Spitfire had noticed his trainer's interest in something off to the side. Walking over to help light the way. Yugo for his part slowly crept ever closer to the flashing light. When he finally reached over he noticed a very small yellow Pokémon chewing on some exposed electrical lines from a popped outlet. "Well hello there little guy. Are you the reason we have no power?" The small Pokémon stopped what it was doing just long enough to look up at Yugo then went right back to what it was doing. As it was chewing on the lines its body was giving off a yellowish glow. Taking out his Pokédex he opened it to scan the newly discovered lightning bug.

 

Species: Joltik

"The Attaching Pokémon: Joltik are incapable of generating their own electricity and must attach themselves to either electrical devises or larger Pokémon to absorb static electricity. They then store this electricity in a special pouch."

Type--------- Bug/Electric

Gender ------ Female

Abilities --- Swarm -

-Joltik's bug type attacks become more powerful the more it is injured.

Held Item --- Razor Fang

A sharp fang that could make the opponent flinch when struck.

Attacks -----

1) Leach Life; Bug Bite; Thunder Wave; Spider Web; Cross Poison.

Putting away his Pokédex Yugo then called out to his companions. "Hey Jake, Ruth. I think I may know why the power door locks are not working!" Yugo reached onto his belt and selected a Pokéball ()  as it expanded in his hand he looked at the tiny Pokémon. "Spitfire would be too powerful as would Sandslash. Airazor you are up." The red ball opened in a flash that illuminated the whole room for a second as the small Pidgey burst forth in a sparkle and flash of white light. Yugo knew from his Pokédex  that the little Joltik didn't have but one electric attack so he figured that Airazor would do fine.

 

Airazor eagerly awaited orders as she perched on Yugo's shoulder. Looking around it was still hard to see in the darkness. The distant flicker from Jake's Charmeleon and that of Spitfire was the only real light in the large room. Looking down she could see the small Pokémon between flickers of the two ambient flames. She already knew what Yugo wanted and this was going to be her first battle. What sucked was the ceiling would limit her flight capabilities and also her range of attack. The little Joltik finally realizing that it was going to need to defend itself stopped chewing on its meal and turned to face Yugo and the large bird that was bearing down on it. Yugo looked the small thing in its four eyes between flickers of Spitfire's flame and almost couldn't bring himself to issue an attack. Still he wanted to add it to his team as an electric type could be useful in dealing with the pesky water types that would no doubt plague his Charmander.

 

The die was cast and Yugo could not wait any longer as the tiny Pokémon attacked first. With a surprising amount of speed for such a small body expelling a large amount of sticky thread in a large net design it covered Airazor in the gunk. "Airazor no!" Yugo was at a loss for words as his Pidgey struggled to get the spider web off its wings. If flight was even a remote possibility before it was now completely out of the question. She would not be flying anytime soon, however her feet were not tangled and she was still able to move thankfully. "Airazor... Use Agility followed by Peck." He ordered of his Pokémon.

 

Airazor flashed as she ran around on the floor to get in close to the Joltik and attack it with her beak as it glowed with power anticipating the strike. The Joltik for its part was small but by no means lacked in the intelligence department as it defended by expelling the stored energy within its body in a Thunder Wave. Airazor had no choice as it ran right into the wave as it crackled over her body halting her attack in its tracks. Yugo was not too happy as this battle quickly went south. His only option was to recall Airazor before she got hurt any more. Pulling her Pokeball () from his belt he activated the return beam as it fired out of the core and hit Airazor only for it to do nothing due to the webbing all over her wings and body. "That's just great. Airazor see if you can blind it with Sand Attack..."

 

The wild Joltik was not going to wait around for its prey to retaliate as it attacked with its front claws as they glowed with a purple energy. Striking Airazor and knocking her back a few steps. Airazor was none too happy with this arrangement either. This tiny bug was not going to get the best of her even if she could not fly. Glaring at the wild Joltik she kicked her feet and tried to flap her wings the best she could to kick up some of the dust in the room and focus it at her target. The Joltik couldn't help but close its eyes and cover them with its claws to try and keep the dirt and dust out of them.

 

Battle Summary:

Pidgy (Airazor) - VS - Wild Joltik

Airazor = Trapped in battle by Spider Web; Speed boost from agility; failed Peck attack due to becoming paralyzed; defended with Sand Attack

Wild Joltik = Attacked with Spider Web; defended with Thunder Wave; attacked again with Cross Poison; lost accuracy due to Sand Attack.

[Konuju]

OOC: Happy Five Year Anniversary, Rise of the Rockets!
 
I know I say it every year, but it's hard to believe it's been this long. Five years ago, no one could've ever imagined all the fantastic things in store for us. This past year alone, although slow, has seen a lot of great new things to the RPG. For my own characters, I think Ryan has had a neat little character arc wrap up in pretty much a single year, much like what Bionicle used to do. Granted, given that the arc started with him falling for Sonja, it could have gone a lot better, even if it did end up culminating in the battle with Gluttony. But hey, I made do with what I had. Dack has definitely been fun, and it's interesting getting to see how his reformation after the Darkrai arc might not have been as complete as he thought. Madison and Luke have continued to expand, and I love how the Celadon plot has allowed them to branch out even further, giving us a chance to see them in action as their own characters and not "those two NPCs always hanging around Dack." And then there's Ellen. Due to unfortunate timing on my part, we haven't seen a ton of Ellen since the Sootopolis battle ended back in September. But trust me, she's close to the culmination of her current character arc, and it will be well worth the wait. I can't wait to finally share it with you all.
 
And then there's the plethora of new character's I've had in just this past year. Zoe was the quickest I've ever created a character, and she is immensely fun to write as. Things have been fairly slow for Zoe for now, but I expect things will be getting more interesting for her in due time. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd end up adopting someone else's character, least of all Jayron Aaron. It's been interesting taking the helm of a character who is not my own and trying to stay true to the original as best I can without letting Colette steal the show. And that brings us to another character I never thought would happen: Shannon. Originally meant to be nothing more than an excuse for Hannah to go on her crazy Pride-driven rampage, Shannon has quickly turned into one of my favorite characters.
 
Looking back is fun, but I also turn my head to the future. I'm excited for all the great things that are in store for us this coming year. But enough talk of the past and the future. The present is now, so let's get on with the post!
 
Again, Happy Fifth Anniversary!
 
IC: Ryan Sanders
"Well, this is one case in which your helping out didn't backfire," Ryan said with a smile, wiping his tears on his sleeve and taking Ray's hand to help himself up. He clasped Ray on the back, then turned toward the treetop city with a sigh. "But you're right, I've got a lot of explaining to do. Especially to Sonja." The Liberty trainer bit his lip as he led the way back toward his home. He was not looking forward to facing Sonja's wrath, but he knew he had to apologize. And sooner rather than later.

IC: Shannon Willows/Ryan Hikari
The man scowled, jamming his knee into Ryan's side in an attempt to get the trainer to stop talking. "Executive Wright gave us specific instructions to bring Shannon back alive. She may be rattled, but otherwise she'll be unharmed. Of course, if you insist on resisting us, any harm that might accidentally come to her will be no one's fault but your own."

Ryan gasped in pain, as he scowled at the man. "Yeah, sorry if I don't believe that, someone tried to kill her earlier..." he managed to gasp out. He continued to glare for a little longer before attempting to knee the man back, except this time in a more unfortunate place.

The Ariados hissed as it struggled in the Simisage's maw. Craning its neck, the giant arachnid fired a series of point-blank Poison Stings at the monkey in rapid succession, hoping to tire it out. The Simisage yelped, and then planted his foot on the ground. He was tired out, but not out of the fight yet, and proceeded to kick off from the ground, attempting to slam the Ariados into the wall with some Acrobatics.

Shannon tried her best to ignore the Conkeldurr behind her and focused on urging her Dunsparce out of his hole. "Come on, Sousa," she pleaded. "I promise I'll keep you safe. You can even stay in your Pokéball if you like. But please, please, don't stay in there! We need to get out of here as fast as we can!"

The Conkeldurr wielded its concrete pillar, matching Samurott's Razor Shell. It growled in annoyance at the Psybeam and Slash, but held firm, pushing Samurott back with all its might. The Samurott growled as she was pushed back. She leaped up and used Aqua Jet to get behind the Conkeldurr as the Excadrill took her place in blocking the Fighting-Type from getting to Shannon. The Samurott then spun around and sliced out with another Razor Shell aimed at the Conkeldurr's back. The Excadrill began to spin around once again as he prepared another Drill Run, and the Porygon-Z launched off another Psybeam, since that attack seemed to work the best.

Meanwhile, Tyranitar was surprised by the sudden Meteor Mash, but grabbed onto the Metagross' legs, slamming through the wall with a scowl. The Tyranitar then swung the Metagross around, letting go when it was aimed at another wall. The Metagross went flying, crashing through the wall and destroying the bookcase on the other side. It skidded across the room, tearing deep gashes into the wooden floor as it pulled itself to a halt. Narrowing its eyes, the Metagross scanned Tyranitar with a Miracle Eye, then unleashed its Psychic power on it from afar, pushing it up through the ceiling.

Shannon was having no luck at all in coaxing Sousa out of his hiding place. With an irritated sigh, she tried to pull him out forcefully. But the Dunsparce would not budge. She turned to Selena, who had managed to free herself from most of the sticky webbing. "Selena, I need your help," Shannon said. "I've never seen Sousa this scared before. The poor guy's completely lost his wits!" The Furret looked back at the battle behind them and, trusting Ryan's Pokémon to continue to keep Shannon safe, she darted into the hole to try and talk some sense into the Dunsparce.

The Conkeldurr hefted his pillar and spun around, trying to take out all three of his enemies at once. However, the Razor Shell threw him off balance, and he crashed into the table, sending the books on it flying. With a low growl, the Conkeldurr picked up the Excadrill and threw him into the fireplace.

The suited man squealed in pain, loosening his grip just enough for Ryan to manage to push free. He fell to the floor, gasping as he tried to recover from the unexpected attack. Ryan panted as he scowled down at the Rocket, and then dashed off before he could recover more. As he reached the living room, he noticed Shannon on the ground and as he ran toward her, barely able to stop himself as his Excadrill flew past him and crashed into the fireplace with a groan. "What's wrong?" Ryan asked as he approached Shannon, wondering why she was just sitting there.

"It's Sousa!" Shannon cried, staring at the hole in the living room floor. "He's scared out of his mind, and nothing I say can get him to come out!" She looked up at Ryan worriedly, unsure what to do.
 
IC: Zoe
Zoe remained blissfully ignorant of the Weavile that had almost tried to steal the makeshift rod. She and Eilonwy continued to play until the sun began to cast long shadows on the beach. Esmeralda and Merida had also joined in the fun, frolicking around in the sand. Zoe had completely forgotten about her earlier troubles that day. That is, until she stood up to start the long walk back home. That was when she realized once crucial flaw she had overlooked in her plan to play hooky.
 
Her backpack was still in the classroom at the Alamo.
 
Her heart sunk as she realized she would have to trek back into the classroom, risking an interrogation by her instructor on where she had been all afternoon. This sinking feeling lasted for all of thirty seconds. Then she brightened up as her lips curled up into a smile. "Esmeralda, Merida, Eilonwy, listen up," she said in a low voice, crouching down to speak to her Pokémon. "This could be our most dangerous mission yet. One that requires the skills of a true warrior princess. Liberty intel has been leaked into the hands of one Mister Kallan. By day, he's an unassuming instructor for Liberty trainees. But by night, he's planning to leak information to Team Rocket and The Shadowed Man! This intel is kept safe in a small backpack Mr. Kallan is keeping in his classroom. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, will be to enter the classroom undetected, grab the backpack with the intel inside, and slip out before Mr. Kallan suspects anything. It will be tough. Anyone who sees us is likely to alert our presence to Mr. Kallan."
 
Merida's eyes widened in surprise as she took in this information. Esmeralda gave a serious nod. Eilonwy listened carefully, realizing that she would likely be of little to no use on this land-based mission. Zoe caught the Feebas' eye and gave a sad smile.
 
"You may have to sit this one out, Eilonwy. But if there's a situation where we could use your particular talents, we'll be sure to call on your aid." Recalling the Feebas to her Pokéball, Zoe turned to Merida and Esmeralda. "You two ready for this?" The two Pokémon nodded. "Then let's go. Mission begin!"
 
Had Richard been there, Zoe would have asked him to play the most epic secret agent music he could think of. In lieu of the bard, Zoe hummed to herself as she darted through the trees on the path leading back to the Alamo. As she approached in imposing building, she was forced to quiet down her rhythmic "dun dun dun-dun dun" so as to not be heard. She pressed herself against the outer wall of the Alamo, peering through the glass doors to the lobby.
 
"All clear," she told Esmeralda and Merida. "Remember, act casual. Any suspicious activity will be reported to Mr. Kallan." Straightening up, Zoe walked through the sliding doors, smiling up at the secretary as her Pokémon trailed behind her. The moment she was through the lobby and into the empty hallway that lay beyond, the girl broke out into a run, softly humming her spy motif again.
 
Zoe slowly made her way through the winding corridors of the Alamo. She hid behind every corner, peering around to make sure no one was there -- least of all her instructor -- before continuing on. Several times she doubled back or took a detour to avoid getting seen. When at long last she reached the classroom, she peered through the window and stifled a gasp. Her instructor, Mr. Kallan, was sitting at his desk, filling out paperwork.
 
"This is worse than we thought," she whispered to Esmeralda and Merida. Holding her breath, Zoe slowly inched her way back to the end of the hall, where she slid around the corner to think up a strategy. "We're going to need a distraction," she said. She glanced back down the hallway, an idea forming in her head. "Merida, you think you can use your psychic powers...?"
 
Mr. Kellan's eyes drooped as he turned to the next page of his paperwork. He'd had a tough day. Although he knew the importance of providing education to the sons and daughters of Liberty agents, he felt the Alamo's schooling program was severely understaffed. He had half a mind to write a letter to Goldhawk himself requesting smaller class sizes -- or at the very least, a pay raise. His mind started to wander, and he was about to doze off when a resounding crash echoed throughout the hallway. The instructor jolted awake, crying out as his knee banged against the bottom his desk. With a grimace he stood up and walked over to the door, peering out into the hallway. He frowned as he looked into the room across the hallway, where a large bookshelf and file cabinet had fallen over, spilling their contents across the floor. Mumbling to himself, he walked over to the room to investigate.
 
The moment the instructor had entered the other room, Zoe darted as quickly and silently as she could down the hallway and into the classroom. Her heart was pounding. She knew she had precious little time to grab her backpack and get out of there. She quickly moved to the cubbyhole where the backpacks were stored... only to find it empty. "No," she gasped, her heart beating faster as a panic started to settle in. "No, no, no..." Her eyes darted around in the room, scanning every corner her backpack could possibly be. "Where is it...?" She moved over to the instructor's desk. There was no sign of her backpack.
 
"...Yeah, I just heard a crash, looked up, and they fell over." Zoe panicked even more as she heard Mr. Kallan talking on the phone, slowly walking back toward his classroom. The young girl looked around desperately for a place to hide, quickly squeezing herself in a nook between two cabinets that stood behind Mr. Kallan's desk. She hid not a moment too soon, for an instant later Mr. Kallan walked back into the room and sat back down at his desk, continuing to talk on the phone. "Yes..... No.... I know, but I know I was completely alone!"
 
Abort mission, Zoe thought to herself as she tried to keep silent. Repeat, abort mission. The warrior princess is trapped! If she's discovered, she'll likely be taken hostage. But don't worry... she won't divulge any Liberty secrets to the enemy! Zoe's eyes grew wide as Mr. Kallan turned around and reached over toward her hiding spot. She was sure she'd been found out, but instead he opened one of the cabinet drawers and pulled out a piece of paper before turning back around, muttering to himself.
 
The ticking of the clock echoed loudly in Zoe's ears as she waited silently. She could hear her heart pounding in her eardrums, and she was sure Mr. Kallan could hear it as well, over the thin scratching of his pen on the paper. The clock continued to tick out the seconds, although Zoe felt like she was waiting there for an eternity. Then at long last, she heard a barking that she recognized as Esmeralda's echoing throughout the hall. Mr. Kallan jumped again. "What is it this time?" he muttered. He walked over to the door again and poked his head out. "Hey, what's going-- you get back here!"
 
When Mr. Kallan ran out into the hallway, chasing the yapping fox, Zoe knew she'd been given a chance to escape. With one last glance around the room to confirm her backpack wasn't there, she quickly ran out, hoping she could find a rendezvous with her Pokémon while still staying out of her instructor's sight. She was just starting to wonder where she should go when a white hand grabbed her and pulled her off to the side.
 
Zoe stifled a gasp as she recognized Merida, who brought a finger to her lips. Zoe nodded and waited in the empty side hall, trying to catch her breath. Several minutes later, Esmeralda appeared, having successfully shaken the instructor off her tail. The Fennekin gave Zoe a questioning look, and Zoe immediately knew she was wondering where the backpack was.
 
"It wasn't there," she said sadly. "They must've gotten word of our operation and moved it to a more secure location. Esmeralda, Merida, our mission has just become that much harder. For now we must brave the dark depths, venture into those mysterious shadows that are..... the lost and found."

OOC: Since it's been over two months since we last had anything with Dandy and George, I'm gonna be bunnying Dandy, continuing from this post.

IC: George/Dandy
The Rhydon snarled behind its fiery prison as it summoned another Earthquake. "We have to get out of here!" George shouted to Dandy. The upper portion of the canyon started to collapse from the force of the quake, and George knew they only had a narrow window to escape their tomb.

Manectric slammed into the Rhydon with Wild Charge, wincing as he breached the Fire Spin that had ensnared the wild Pokémon. The attack did little to damage the Rhydon, but it managed to knock it back far enough to give George and Dandy an opportunity to escape.

Motioning for the younger trainer to follow him, George led the way past the Rhydon, doing what he could to avoid the falling boulders. Manectric and Razorface did what they could to protect their trainers from the rocks as Dandy scooped up Sunhound in his arms and followed the police captain.

The Rhydon roared as it watched its prey escape. It was faced with a tough decision: allow George and Dandy to run away, or brave the Fire Spin and chase after them? As it turned out, the falling rocks made the Rhydon's decision for it. When the dust settled, the wild Pokémon was buried under a pile of boulders.

George panted as he looked back at what had almost become their tomb. "The Rhydon's still alive," he assured Dandy. "But it'll be some time before he can dig his way out of that. Let's make sure we're far away when that happens."

The unlikely duo made their way through the canyon, bearing south. With the mysterious chamber buried, their only lead was the word that had been engraved on its wall: "Tanoby." George did not know what they would find at the Tanoby Ruins at the southern tip of the island. Nothing could have prepared him for what they did find.

A man lay unconscious near the exit to the Sevault Canyon. His hair was matted and his clothes were ragged, and although Geroge did not recognize him, he knew from the stylized badge-like symbol on his shirt that this man was a Gym Leader of one of the nearby regions.

"Dandy!" George cried. "This man needs water!"

Dandy hurried to grab a water bottle, but paused as he handed it to the captain. "Um, sir...?"

George looked up. His mouth dropped open. A small boat was approaching the shore of the beach that stood just outside the canyon. And in it were Colette, Jayron, and...

"Alexa!" Leaving Dandy to provide water for the unfortunate man, George raced across the sand, grabbing his daughter from the boat and pulling her into a tight hug. "Oh, Alexa! I was so worried about you! Are you hurt? What happened?"

Alexa gently hugged her father back in a groggy daze. She mumbled something that sounded like "sleepwalking." Jayron got out of the boat and gave George a grim look.

"It's a long story," the aura wielder said. "I promise we'll explain everything. But right now, Alexa needs rest."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ray==-

 

Ray nodded, as he recalled the party members that were still out, and then followed behind Ryan. "Yeah." Ray said simply. It was a matter that only Ryan could fix, but he had no clue how Sonja would actually react. Ray figured the others would be a bit more forgiving; and hoped Sonja might be too. However, Ryan had crossed a line, and he would definitely need to do quite a bit of explaining.

 

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Ren skidded along as he was knocked back by the attacks with a wince. However, the lightning tiger wasn't out of the fight yet. Likewise, neither was Smugleaf, who was pushed back by the force of the Leaf Storm, however, the Servine focused, and pushed out with more force, attempting to turn the tide back in his favour.

 

Cyndy, on the other hand, was mostly forced to go hopping around, as the Shadow Balls were flung her way. A few slammed into her, and sent her tumbling back; however, the Typhlosion stood up and roared, glaring at the Glalie, as she prepared her flames more.

 

Zach's Pokemon were set for retaliation after the attacks finished flying around; however, the sudden appearance of the sister and her prompt for Draco to leave the fights managed to stall out any attempts for retaliation, and Smugleaf stumbled forward and fell to the ground, as the Tropius' Leaf Storm subsided.

 

Zach himself frowned slightly at the new arrival, as he considered what Draco had said. "So..." Zach mused, as he put a finger to his chin curiously. "You're Rebecca, then?" Zach asked, as if they weren't in a life or death situation.

 

Rebecca seemed taken aback at the question, but grudgingly nodded. "Y-yeah, what's it to you?" The Rocket asked with grit teeth. As if it wasn't bad enough that I've been worked non-stop this past week, I have to do what my brother should've done in the first place... Rebecca thought with a frown, even though something didn't seem right. These people didn't seem that strong, just from their personalities; so were they really so weak that Draco couldn't defeat them? Or was there something else to this?

 

"Well, you didn't introduce yourself, so I was curious, especially when you called him Draco. Which, kinda is a weird difference if you ask me..." Zach said with a shrug, and scratched his head. "I think people should introduce themselves before a fight usually, and your-" Zach started to say, and then was surprised as he got cut off with a growl from the opposing Rocket, who narrowed her eyes.

 

"We fight now." Rebecca said, unsure just how naive this kid could be. The Rocket quickly sent out her Donphan, Medicham, and Goodra. Whipping her arm to her side, Rebecca looked fiercely at her opponents. "Earthquake, High Jump Kick, Earthquake!" Rebecca yelled out, as the respective Pokemon moved forward quickly, to launch off their attacks. The Donphan and Goodra's earthquakes combined, and began to shoot forward to rapidly damage the Pokemon on Zach and Olivia's sides that were currently there. The High Jump Kick allowed the Medicham to leap up into the air to dodge the damage, and then began to shoot toward Dune...

 

Zach frowned, as he wasn't finding that very nice, to be cut off like that. "Counter it!" Zach yelled out, as the Servine kicked off from the ground, and aimed a Leaf Blade toward the Donphan while it was distracted. Meanwhile, the Typhlosion and Luxray simultaneously nodded to the other. Realizing that Toxin and Shade were the only ones who would really be able to do much against the two earthquakers, Cyndy and Ren tried to launch them into the air both to dodge the superpowered Earthquake, and to get them close enough to deal more major damage. However, the Earthquake hit the two of Zach's Pokemon at full force, and the two fell to the ground, fainted, as Zach recalled them.

 

Blade panted as the group of Pokemon rested for a moment. Blade wasn't quite sure why the Skarmory had vanished, other than guessing it had been recalled. However, as the ground shook, the Gallade looked over in surprise at the new arrivals, and then nodded to the others. "Let's go help." Blade said, as he began to slowly head back to the fight.

 

-==IC: Ryan/Shannon==-

Porygon-Z quickly launched off another Tri Attack at the Conkeldurr's arm, and then switched first to a Signal Beam, and then to a Psybeam. The Samurott quickly pushed forward aiming a stab at the Fighting-Type's shoulder, attempting to Retaliate for the attack that had launched the Excadrill into the fireplace. The Conkeldurr managed to block Samurott's attack, although it could do nothing against the Porygon-Z's rapid series of attacks.

But, as is an unwritten law of the universe, this Conkeldurr possessed Guts. And Porygon's attacks had just activated them. With a sudden surge of strength, the Conkeldurr picked up the remains of the table and smashed them against the Samurott, then flung its concrete pillar against the samurai otter like a club, aiming to knock it out the shattered window.

Ryan frowned as he looked at the hole Sousa had disappeared into, and then turned with a wince as he heard a crash. He stared in shock, slapping his palm to his face as the Conkeldurr's Guts activated. "Of course it does," he mumbled in annoyance.

The Samurott seemed surprised at the sudden increase in strength as she was sent flying out the window. However, she quickly righted her course and shot back in with Aqua Jet. She seemed rather annoyed at being unceremoniously tossed out the window. Meanwhile, the Porygon-Z seemed a bit awkward, since it was the Pokémon's own fault that the ability had activated. However, it was undeterred, and launched off yet another Psybeam, wondering just how much this thing could take. However, the Excadrill shot out of the fireplace at about that moment, swirling as it attempted a Drill Run again.

Tyranitar growled out as it crashed to the ground upstairs, and then jumped back down through the hole, creating a stone to launch toward the Metagross. As the Stone Edge flew, the Tyranitar considered its options, not liking the fact that they had to fight indoors. The Metagross braced itself with Iron Defense and, letting the Stone Edge strike its hardened body, responded with another display of Psychic force, sending Tyranitar flying back up through the hole in the ceiling into the room above. Tyranitar growled as he launched himself back down the hole again, attempting to use Payback on the Metagross, not realizing how possibly futile that attack might be. The Metagross let the Payback hit it, then rushed forward with another Meteor Mash, this time aiming to pin the Tyranitar against the floor. The Metagross was really getting on Tyranitar's nerves. He let the Metagross pin him; but that was simply a distraction, allowing him to fire off a point blank Hyper Beam, intending to send his opponent through the ceiling.

The Ariados sunk its teeth into Simisage with a last-ditch effort Bug Bite. However, as it was slammed against the wall, its grip loosened, and it slowly slipped into unconsciousness. The second Rocket Grunt recalled his Ariados and disappeared into one of the upstairs rooms, wondering if he would find anything useful. The Simisage frowned in the general direction of the Rocket Grunt, but slowly walked toward where the living room fight was happening, really feeling the effects of that fight.

The Rocket Grunt was disappointed to find nothing but books in the room he had entered. The only other thing of note was a sizeable hole in the floor. He peered down it curiously, wondering who would place a hole in the floor of a library. At that moment, a Metagross came flying up through said hole, pushed with the force of a Hyper Beam. The Rocket Grunt yelled out as both he and the Metagross were pushed up into the ceiling, the two of them knocked out from the force of the attack.

Tyranitar panted as he walked back toward the hallway, and then collapsed from pure exhaustion.

Shannon winced and backed up as she saw the Conkeldurr's vicious attacks suddenly increase in strength. The Fighting-Type roared as it picked up the couch and threw it at the Porygon-Z, aiming to knock the Digital Pokémon out of the air. It let the Excadrill ram into it, meeting its drill with a Power-Up Punch. The Porygon-Z saw the couch flying toward it. It was no surprise, therefore, that it was on the ground, fainted, the next moment. The Excadrill took the Power-Up Punch to the face, and was sent flying across the room, also fainted. Feeling an even greater surge in strength, the Conkeldurr leapt out of the way of Samurott's Aqua Jet and began lumbering toward Ryan and Shannon. Shannon backed away, but her main concern was for her two Pokémon stuck in the hole at the Conkeldurr's feet.

Ryan stared down the Conkeldurr as he held out his arm in front of Shannon. It might have been a useless gesture in the long run, but he was not going to let this Conkeldurr do anything, no matter what. "Just try it," he growled. The Conkeldurr narrowed its eyes, giving a warning for Ryan to get out of the way. When the trainer refused to budge, the Conkeldurr reared back its fist, ready to send Ryan flying through the wall.

At that moment, however, Selena popped out of the hole in the ground, carrying a shaking Dunsparce. Selena took one look at the Conkeldurr towering above her and Headbutted its leg. The Conkeldurr looked down in fury and tried to stomp the Furret, but Selena quickly darted out of the way. Hugging Sousa close against her, she turned around and unleashed a powerful Hyper Voice, pouring all of her strength into the attack.

Already on its last legs, the Furret's attack was the last straw. The Conkeldurr collapsed on the ground, its concrete pillar falling afterwards and hitting it in the head, ensuring it would have a massive headache when it awoke.

Panting from her effort, Selena quickly scampered up to Shannon to make sure she was okay. "Selena..." Shannon said, pulling her Furret into a warm hug. "Thank you!" She cradled the terrified Dunsparce in her arms, looking at him sadly. "It's okay, Sousa. It's over... I think." She glanced up at Ryan to confirm.

Ryan sighed with relief and nodded with a smile. "Yeah... I think it's finally over," he said as he recalled the Pokémon in the room, even the Simisage who slowly walked in. With his Pokémon secure, Ryan looked around the room, and his heart dropped. "Uh-oh..." he said, staring at the destruction all around them.

 

OOC: Apologies for the bunny here too, but this is part 2/2 of the Collie jam. >>'

-==IC: Colette/Jayron==-

Colette watched the reunion tiredly, as she remained in the boat for the moment. She wanted to move, but she was just too exhausted to do anything.

George nodded through his tears as he continued to hold his daughter in an embrace. "I don't have the words to express my gratitude to you two," he said. "Thank you."

Colette smiled as she closed her eyes. "You are very welcome..." she said, as she began to accidentally doze off again.

Jayron chuckled as he nudged Colette and held out a hand to help her out of the boat. "I think we all need some rest, to be perfectly honest."

Colette nodded as she tiredly opened her eyes, and grabbed Jayron's hand to stand up. As she shakily got out of the boat, she looked over at Morty. "Has he been there the whole time...?" the aura wielder wondered out loud, frowning in worry.

"I don't know," George admitted. "We just got here ourselves and found him like that." As the captain looked over, he saw that Dandy had managed to revive the Gym Leader, who gave a weary groan.

Colette watched with a sigh of relief, as Morty seemed to be okay at least, and she then scratched her head. "How will we get back? I mean, I don't think all of us can make it on foot..." she said, resisting a yawn that would only reinforce her point.

"Normally I'd call Jackie to arrange a teleport, but with everything--" Still carrying Alexa in one arm, George looked at his Pokégear in surprise. "Well would you look at that. Our communications are back up!"

Colette nodded tiredly. "Yeah... we kinda helped solve that..." Colette said with a weary chuckle.

George spoke into the Pokégear, and the two aura wielders dimly heard a shrill female voice on the other end of the line. After a few minutes, the police captain hung up and looked over at Colette and Jayron. "It'll just be a few minutes." He turned to Dandy and the Gym Leader. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine," Morty said in a rasping voice as he looked confusedly over at Jayron and Colette. "You found the girl...?"

Colette nodded to Morty. "Yes... and we solved the issue, too..." The aura wielder said, wincing slightly at the sound of the voice.

Dandy helped Morty walk over to the aura wielders. At that moment, there was a sharp crack! as an Abra appeared, accompanied by a youthful woman in her mid-twenties who looked none-too-pleased at having been called into work on what she had assumed would be a day off.

Colette looked over at the new arrival in confusion, not recognizing her. "Who are you?" she asked curiously, as she tilted her head slightly.

The woman raised an eyebrow at Colette. "The name's Jackie," she said, extending a hand. "And who are you? New recruits the Captain picked up?"

Colette seemed confused; obviously George hadn't explained the situation, so she began to briefly explain who they were, leaving out their affiliation with Team Liberty.

Jackie pursed her lips. "Aura wielders, huh? Didn't know they traveled in groups. 'Course, I haven't met many aura wielders. Any aura wielders, actually. But from the stories I've heard, they usually travel alone. Like they got some Lone Ranger thing going on. But not you two. There more where you came from?"

Jayron was not quite sure what to say. "Um..."

"Now's not the time for an interrogation, Jackie," George cut in. "Can't you see they're exhausted?"

"Right, right," Jackie said with a nod. "So where's the Jackie Taxi going first? Burger joint? Five-star hotel?"

"The hospital will do just fine," George growled impatiently.

Colette nodded tiredly, as she yawned again. She was completely exhausted, and didn't care where they went.

Jackie nodded curtly. "Alright, fine. Abra, you know what to do."

Jayron could have mistaken the Abra for having been sleeping the entire time. But the PSI Pokémon evidently heard the command, for the assembled trainers felt a field of psychic energy crackle around them before they were whisked away in a sudden teleport.

Colette stumbled with a gasp, as she collapsed to her knees. She held one hand to her mouth and the other to her stomach, as she breathed deeply. Thankfully, the sick feeling passed after a little while, although when she looked up her face still looked a bit queasy.

Jayron took a moment to regain his balance, then looked over at Colette in shock. "Are you alright?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Colette nodded quickly, and breathed a bit deeply. "Th-think so..." she finally said after a few more moments to make sure she was okay.

"First time teleporting?" George asked kindly. "It takes some getting used to. Personally, I prefer my car. But, when time is of the essence..." He glanced down at Alexa, who was now sleeping soundly in his arms. He looked back at Jayron and Colette. "I won't ask you to tell me everything right now. But I need to know what to treat her for. Was she hurt any?"

Colette frowned, but nodded, and began to explain what had happened while in the Tanoby Ruins, though she left out the point about her clone for the moment.

"We're not sure to what extent the Unown affected her," Jayron said. "But she should definitely be treated for shock. Morty too, since it seems he was their previous victim."

George nodded gravely as he looked down at his daughter. "You two better get some rest. I'm gonna get Alexa checked in, then I'll check back with you two. Jackie, you take care of the Gym Leader." Without another word, the police captain, hurried into the hospital.

"Always leaving me with the grunt work," Jackie muttered as she glanced at the haggard-looking form of Morty.

Colette closed her eyes, and nodded, but opened her eyes again wearily, as she tried to keep herself awake. "Where... Where should we go, though?" she wondered aloud with a frown.

Jackie was about to head inside when she turned back to glance at Colette, Jayron, and Dandy. "There's couches and chairs in the lobby. Maybe not as comfortable as a hospital bed, but unless you're planning on admitting yourself to the hospital..."

Colette nodded, following Jackie into the hospital, and then looked around once in the lobby. After seeing what looked to be the comfiest couch, she promptly collapsed on it and closed her eyes, just utterly exhausted from everything that had happened that morning.

Jayron and Dandy followed Colette inside. Dandy started to head toward a couch right next to Colette's, but Jayron saw what was happening and beat him to it, stretching out across it and closing his eyes. Feigning sleep, he watched Dandy's aura until he sensed the boy sitting on a couch further away. He felt bad about cutting Dandy off, but he knew how much he irritated Colette, and Dandy's antics were the last thing she needed right now. And so with mixed feelings, Jayron allowed himself to drift off into a much-needed sleep.

[Parugi]

IC - Esen Windred - Flying:

 

Esen didn't know how long they had been flying before Bat returned. It must have been several hours at least, given that the morning sun had already begun to fall; even then, Noivern and Krow had hardly missed a beat, continuing to fly despite an increasingly obvious fatigue that was beginning to set in.

 

It was lucky, then, that at that point Bat had returned, clearly exhausted and losing altitude. Esen ushered Krow forth, descending to meet the failing Swoobat in a clearing amongst the trees, Noivern and Cero landing several feet behind her. The trainer caught Bat, feeding the Psychic-Flying-Type a Sitrus Berry from her backpack before inquiring into his findings. It was a quick process, as Bat used his Psychic abilities to relay the information directly into her mind.

 

Esen sighed, turning to Cero. "We've got a problem," she said. "The trucks split up. For the most part they've all gone in the same general direction--east, toward Anistar City--but their specific destinations were all different. Bat managed to locate all three, so we can check them all out, but I don't know of a good way to hit them all at once short of getting the authorities involved. And that might take too long, itself."

 

IC - Maddison Hayes/Tyler McKinley/Sonja Baron - Fortree City, Ground Level:

 

The subtle actions of the others did not escape McKinley's attention. He turned briefly to look at Evan and Jenny, offering only a darkly amused smile before shaking his head and shifting his attention back to Hayes. "I do wonder what could be going through their heads," he said. "Whatever. Are you coming? Or would you rather I help you finish this battle first?"

 

"No," Hayes said. She looked squarely at Sonja. "As my sister said, there's no point."

 

"Cool," the Fourth Child said, watching as the Second recalled her Wigglytuff. "In that case, we should get going immediately. We'll need to do a bit more scouting first, but I think she'll be more than open to our--"

 

"Wait." The two Ford Agents turned to Sonja as she stepped forward. There was something in her posture now that hadn't been there a moment ago--something that certainly had not been present in Castelia. Hayes only managed to figure out the source of the resolve, the resolution, the understanding, a fraction of a second before Sonja said it herself: "I want to go with you."

 

The Liberty Agent wasn't sure who began to protest--whether it was Hayes or Evan or Jenny, though she was certain it wasn't McKinley. She cut them off nonetheless, speaking directly to Hayes. "I want to know what you know," she said. "I want to understand why Ford is--why he's making all of you do what you've been doing. I can't understand if I have to keep chasing after you." In spite of the steel in her eyes, there was an underlying plea that only Hayes picked up on. "I need to know what could possibly have enthralled Sophia Baron to go down such a horrible path. You and the others. None of you could possibly have been like this before Ford. Right?"

 

Hayes couldn't respond. She was too shocked to find the right words, and too horrified by the realization that Sonja was, at her core, right. She hardly remembered her own days before working for Ford, but of what little was there, she knew that Sophia Baron and the Maddison Hayes persona were two completely separate entities. And she did not know whether the fact that she had forgotten those days was voluntary.

 

McKinley recovered before Hayes did. He smiled at Sonja, amused by her earnestness more than anything else--though the irony of the situation came in a close second. "All right. Sure." Hayes looked at him. McKinley ignored her. "You can come with us, Baron. Just be aware that you can't go back once you're in."

 

"It certainly doesn't sound that way, going off of this 'Harrison' person's situation," Sonja said, stopping halfway between the two sides of the field.

 

"Let me amend that," McKinley said. "Going off of your specific personality, you're not going to want to go back once you're in. Because once you're in, you'll know; and when you know, you'll realize that you can't."

 

Sonja nodded. "You don't have to worry about that. I can promise you that much."

 

IC - Pride - Celadon City, Central Park:

 

"Answer me this, then," Pride said. "You stand by your claims about the others. But what proof do you have, for instance, that Willows truly acted the way that Wright claims, particularly to such a horrid extent as to inadvertently cause this kind of destruction? Is Wright not, by your own profession, someone who does not care for the lives of others--someone who would bend the truth to suit their own reality? Are you not, then, projecting your own assumptions onto a situation where you truly know nothing?"

 

He leaned forward, until his face almost touched Aspen's. "Judgment is the ultimate demonstration of Pride, Aspen. You claim to be a target of ill fortune and baseless hate, the supposed 'root of all evil.' Have you never stopped to consider that perhaps the cause of others' discontent with you lies less in your 'lack of luck,' and more in your willingness to so negatively and preemptively judge others--to treat your assumptions as truth?"

 

IC - Kyle Eston - I think, therefore I am am am I am somewhere where I don't know and it is not a place that I want to be because to be here is to be a dead man persisting upon the notion of immortality of form but not of mind and I don't understand where these thoughts are coming from or where they're leading me and I

 

need

 

help

 

but here I am alone with nothing at all but myself and the knifes digging into my brain and the burning sensation in my eyes amidst the crushing loneliness and loss that are taking hold and egging me on to lose and give whatever it is that they want from me because they are here and I am stung and whatever their intentions it is clear to me that I am

 

powerless.

 

 

1. n. the subjugation and assumption of control of a place or people by use of military force.

 

I'm blinded by the lights around me. I'm deafened by the music blaring through the speakers and echoed in the rhythmic stamping and clapping of feet and hands. This place is familiar. A heavy fog obscures everything, and so, my vision swims, trying to make sense of the energy, the activity all around me. And slowly, I do. I recognize the dresses. The suits. The decorations. The guards watching the dancers, and the musicians on the stage.

 

I'm back at the Liberty Ball. A girl stands in front of me; we're locked into a dancer's pose, one set of hands entwined, the other resting on my shoulder and her waist. We move to the beat of the song. It's a noiseless sound, meaning nothing and oppressing all sense of self. I don't know it. I don't know her. I don't recognize her. She's a faceless entity before me, visage featureless and motions devoid of purpose. We cannot stop. No one can stop. We're a part of this scenario, as necessary to its existence as the music and the decorations and the atmosphere and light itself. But we do not matter. No one matters. They are all faceless, all nothings existing together, stamping their soundless song.

 

They're watching me. As one, their eyeless faces turn in my direction. The music slows to a crawl, a drawling drone that screeches and rips and tears at the ears. 

 

They're watching me. I'm being interrogated. They are seeing everything in my face and everything in my mind and my heart and my soul and it's tearing up the very foundations of my sense of self, that sightless gaze alone is doing it and

 

and

 

the music swells again. I'm stone cold, but the room is warm, and we're moving together again. I'm not being watched. The manikins have looked away from me, taking their maniacal judgment elsewhere, leaving me to dance with the soulless entity before me.

 

"Kyle Nicholas Eston." It's Silvermind speaking. We're cuffed together at the wrist, and she has the key. She speaks like a snake, cunning and charming, ready to strike when it most benefits her. And she does not wait. She's peering into my eyes and reading my mind, smirking at the comparison because it truly is a stupid thing to think about one with more influence and power than you when you can do nothing against them. "Executive Richard Eston's son. His last remaining family member. And he yours. Psychoanalysis suggests an overall melancholic personality. A propensity for inward judgment--susceptible to self-imposed criticism and depression and warped perceptions of outward relations with others. Notable weakness in ability to reconcile the past with the present. Independent in thought, yet dependent on others to support own sense of self-worth." The words snap together like two sides of an open book. 

 

What do you want from me?

 

"You had a mission."

 

It was your mission.

 

"It was your mission, Eston. And you hardly fulfilled it. To ensure our victory over Team Rocket." 

 

No.

 

"We gave you the tools, the means to do so. It was a simple task--find and recruit Legendary Pokémon."

 

You sent me out with two Pokémon who had hardly any experience. How could I have fought anything like that?

 

"Recruit Gym Leaders, people tired of Team Rocket's rule."

 

I tried.

 

"Defend your home."

 

I almost died defending it. I pretty much died defending it.

 

"Destroy the Ancient Darkrai. Destroy the Hojohsin League. Destroy the groups that prevented peace."

 

I did my best against Eight. I did my best against Hayes. But they are perpetual . . . and they were stronger than me.

 

"You weren't alone in this, were you? You had others. You managed. And you stopped the war--in a sense. But it's not enough."

 

It's never enough.

 

"I'm not asking you to betray your morals. I just want you to do what's best for Team Liberty."

 

I did. And you are.

 

"She's an asset!"

 

She's alone.

 

"She could help us!"

 

She won't destroy us.

 

"She's valuable!"

 

She's a person!

 

The faceless things look at us. We have stopped moving. And now Silvermind, her smile, her smirk gone, leans in close, until our foreheads are almost touching. She is crushing my hand in her grip. The look in her eyes begins to split my head apart again, but I can't let her win--not again. Never again. To be controlled, to be coerced--never again.

 

"Why do you protect her?"

 

What?

 

"Is it because it's the right thing to do? Or is it because she's the first person since the medic to show inexplicable interest in you?"

 

. . .

 

"You resent disregard. You resent pity. You could hardly stand the others. She's the first person in a long time to genuinely interest you, isn't she? Do you defend her because of this--a personal attachment? A selfless one? Or is it more selfish than that?" Silvermind smiles. "Think about it, Eston. To fight for her, and thus for our enemies--or to fight for your family? That's the true conundrum, isn't it?"

 

She's not an enemy.

 

"Wake up."

 

On the contrary, I feel myself slipping back into dark. The scene fades. The lock and chain vanishes. The music dims to a low roar.

 

"I said, wake up."

 

It is no longer Silvermind speaking to me.

 

1. n. freedom from limits on thought or behavior.

 

 

A powerful, painful electric shock ran through Kyle's body, emanating from his stomach outward and pulling him out of the strange hallucination that had come to take hold of his mind. The involuntary clenching of every muscle in his body prevented any sort of controlled or voluntary scream of pain, though his mind demanded that he voice his discomfort somehow. All he could do was endure until the pain subsided, thankful that at least this time, he appeared to already be on the ground and thus out of danger of falling into another table. Amidst the gut-wrenching feeling of his muscles locking, he was still keenly aware of the soreness in his forehead, where the blood from his earlier wound appeared to have dried. He felt it on an unnervingly large portion of his face and tasted it in his mouth.

 

He was thankful that the shock did not last as long as it felt it did. Within a few moments the current had subsided, leaving the Liberty Agent curled up on the ground, panting in a pained attempt to catch his breath. He took the time to glance about him. The place appeared to be some sort of warehouse--possibly a former meat storage facility, given the various rusted hooks hanging from the ceiling and the overall nasty markings on the floor. It was incredibly cold, further supporting his assumption, and numerous wooden boxes lined the walls, covering almost the entire space except for the door and a singular table next to said exit. Chains led from his hands up to a ring on the wall.

 

Both the chains and Kyle's hands shook as he slowly regained his composure, finally gathering enough strength to stir and push himself up from the ground. He barely managed to raise himself a few inches when he felt a heavy, booted foot press into his back, pushing him back to the floor.

 

"Look who finally decided to wake up," a voice said from above him. The man's white coat, and bits of hit bright orange hair, were visible out of the corner of Kyle's eye; however, as he attempted to turn his head to look at him, the Liberty Agent felt the end of a cane press against his cheek. It felt as if it ended in a hole, like the barrel of a gun, although the feeling of some sort of wire disrupting the outer edge indicated that it was instead connected to something.

 

Nonetheless, it prevented Kyle from turning his head, forcing himself instead to continue staring forward.

 

"You've been out of it for a while, kid," he said. "To be honest, I was worried you weren't going to wake up--we're still experimenting, see, so there've been a few unwanted side-effects every so often. But I'm glad to see you're all right--really." Kyle could virtually hear him smiling as he spoke, a sensation that sent shivers down his spine. "As a dealer to a potential customer, I have to ask: How'd you like the nap?" Kyle did not answer. He felt the man press harder on his back, prompted a gasp of pain from the Liberty Agent. "Please, kid, I'm looking for honest opinions here. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate it?"

 

Kyle struggled to speak under the weight. Seeing this, the man eased his weight off of him. "O . . . one," Kyle said. Though the air in the place was horrid--a fact that became more and more obvious with every breath--he breathed heavily, closing his eyes. "A . . . solid . . . one."

 

The man fell silent for a moment. Then, he laughed. "Funny kid," he said. He pulled his cane away from Kyle's face and pressed a button. The prongs that had shocked Kyle retracted, covering the cane's opening. Stepping off of Kyle's back, he slid a box over, taking a seat on it and staring down at the Liberty Agent. Kyle stared back at him, drinking in the details of his face as best as he could. "You'd best get used to it, Mr. Eston, because I guarantee that's not the last dose of 'it' that you're going to get while you're here."

 

"What . . .?" Kyle's heart pounded in his chest.

 

"I know, I know--'it' isn't that great of a street name for a drug. Unfortunately it takes time for a good name to pop up."

 

Was this a joke? Kyle couldn't tell. "No . . . how do you know who I am?"

 

"Oh, that," the man said. "I mean, the easy answer would be that we took your bag. Right?" He pointed over his shoulder. Kyle's bag was, in fact, sitting on the table beside the door--essentially just out of his reach. Even from where he lay, he could tell that several items had been removed from it. And now that he was thinking about it, Kyle realized that his Pokétch, too, was missing from his wrist.

 

But the man continued. "At the same time, it's only part of the answer. So there's that, and there's the fact that, between the incidents in Unova and your involvement in stopping the Ancients, you're not unrecognizable. Kind of the opposite, actually, at least for those of us who care enough to look." He rubbed the back of his head. "Truth be told, I was kind of excited when I saw you. Honestly thought you might've been our pick-up guy. But I guess that was a silly idea from the get-go."

 

"You thought . . . whoever hired you from Keturi . . . sent me."

 

"Bingo."

 

Kyle grimaced. "I'm sorry to disappoint you . . ."

 

"You should be," the man said. "Frankly, it would've been fine . . . if you hadn't gone and set those Noibat free. Do you know how long it takes to collect those things, especially in those numbers? A long time. And, frankly, Mr. Eston . . ." He pressed the end of his cane against Kyle's face again. "I don't like seeing my time go down the drain like that." The pressure against his head sent horrible jolts of pain through Kyle's body, causing him to yank his head back. He did not answer. The man smiled. "You seem like you've got a lot of resolve. A shame it won't last."

 

"What do you expect to get from me?" Kyle asked.

 

"From you? Nothing," the man said. "Quite frankly, I just want to watch you break. And afterwards, who knows? I know a few people who might be interested in whatever you've got to spill--information or blood; whatever comes first." Kyle's eyes widened. The man chuckled, picking up a gas mask that had been sitting behind him and clipping it around his mouth and nose. "Don't worry, kid. You're not dying under my watch. So just relax . . ." He held his arm forward, pulling the sleeve back to reveal an odd watch-like device. "Take a deep breath . . ." He pressed a button, releasing a thick cloud of the same dust from the truck. Soon enough Kyle found himself in a coughing fit, forced to inhale the burning material, until he finally blacked out.

 

"And sleep."

 

Quentin Dallas watched as Kyle's random spasms slowly died down, before finally standing up. His cane tapped at the floor as he turned and exited the room, leaving the motionless Liberty Agent to stare blankly, corpse-like, after him.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Apears

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

With a facepalm and a sigh, Jake stopped his search for a lightswitch.

 

"Of course I wouldn't think of that..." Jake muttered. He glared at a wall for a moment, then noticed that Yugo said something. Upon seeing the Joltik, he came to the same conclusion.

 

"It's possible that this is freezing the doors... But why would those wires have power? I'm gonna look for a light switch again. Good luck with the battle!" He called, then with Charmeleon's help continued his search for a light switch.

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan
Ryan fell silent as he walked through the city of trees, his Pokémon and Ray following at his side. He knew Ray had forgiven him, but he couldn't expect the Separatist to back him up when he tried explaining himself to Sonja. However, if Gluttony had taught him one thing, it was that he couldn't ignore the fact that the blame was on him. He had made a mistake -- several of them -- and now he would have to own up to it. Ryan subconsciously brought a hand up to his cheek where Sonja had slapped him earlier. He wasn't looking forward to getting slapped again, but whatever punishment Sonja dealt him, he knew he deserved it.
 
If Ray was paying attention to the path Ryan was taking, he would likely be amazed at the Liberty agent's knowledge of the city. When he had first led the group to his house, Ryan had navigated the network of bridges and platforms that spanned the trees high above. Even when he had run off, he had traversed the platforms for some time before moving to the ground level. This time, Ryan led him across the ground, walking across the earth with just as much familiarity as he had across the wooden platforms.
 
A few buildings dotted the landscape on the ground -- homes of those who wished to live with their feet on solid ground, or the occasional building that was too large or too expensive to practically be built so high up in the trees. As such, the ground level of Fortree was not without roads; although "roads" in the city sense was not an accurate term. Dirt paths lined the city's floor where the underbrush had been cleared away, zigzagging in a pattern almost as complex as the bridges and platforms high above.
 
It was not long before Ryan made it to the base of the tree that held his home. He was prepared to climb the wooden steps that had been mounted to the trunk; he stopped in surprise, however, when he saw Evan, Jenny, Sonja and Hayes all standing on the ground looking like they were in some sort of argument.
 
"Sonja!" Ryan cried, breaking into a run. "Listen, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I've been completely selfish. Everything I've done since our mission in Opelucid... no, even before that, I --"
 
He paused. He could tell from the expressions on Evan and Jenny's faces that something wasn't right. Now that he was closer, he spotted a golden-blond haired man he did not recognize standing next to Hayes. Another agent of Ford, perhaps? Ryan's eyes darted from this newcomer to Sonja, who stood halfway between the two groups. Behind him, he could hear Quil tense up. His Pokémon were still exhausted from the battle with Gluttony, but they were prepared to take action should the situation take a turn for the worst.
 
Ryan kept his eyes trained on Sonja, forcing himself to remain calm. He remembered all too well what had happened the last time he'd acted rashly in front of Hayes. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth once more. Even so, he could not hide the nervousness in his voice. "What's going on?"
 
IC: Dack/Hannah
As Pride spoke to Aspen, Dack glanced around at the park. They were surrounded by those strange purple symbols that had brought them there. Even if he were to assume the symbols posed no threat, their path was still blocked by a burning tree on one side and a stoic Rapidash on the other. They were trapped, and Dack knew that if they were to have any hope of escape, they'd have to take out that Rapidash.
 
Hannah was still too shell-shocked to contribute much of anything to the attack, although Dack doubted he'd be able to inform her of his plan without raising suspicion anyway. Aspen, on the other hand, was already proving his use by keeping Pride busy. As much as Dack disliked the kid, he had to admit his stubbornness came in handy. They also held another advantage: Pride had brought their Pokémon with them, with several of them already out of their Pokéballs. Hannah had her Staraptor, Noivern, Charizard, and Gardevoir, Aspen had his Braviary and Lucario, and Dack had his Swellow, Bastiodon, and Luxray. Even if Pride had more Pokémon besides his Rapidash, Dack knew they'd be able to pull off a quick attack without wasting time fumbling with Pokéballs. For now, Dack could only rely on his own Pokémon, but he was sure the others would catch on.
 
Dack checked to make sure Pride was still occupied with Aspen, and then subtly moved his foot to nudge Bastiodon. The Shield Pokémon's expression did not change as she focused her power. She knew they'd only have one shot at a surprise attack.
 
Without warning, the ground erupted at Rapidash's feet and several chunks of stone emerged, gravitating toward the fire horse through Bastiodon's Ancient Power. Luxray began to Charge power as he dashed towards the Rapidash, aiming to follow up with Thunder Fang. Swellow left his perch on Dack's shoulders and shot upward, increasing his speed with Agility and urging the other flying-types to make similar preparations.
 
IC: Luke/Rocket Commander Raphael Ballard
Luke was feeling pretty good at the moment. Against all odds, they had managed to turn the tables and trap the Rockets with a series of barricades. And with more and more citizens streaming in to help, Luke was sure it wouldn't be long before the Rockets fell or surrendered. With any luck, one division of the army surrendering would lead the Rockets attacking the rest of the city to surrender as well.
 
Then the front of an ice cream parlor situated inside the ring of barricades exploded. A Nidoking and an Aggron emerged from the parlor, each carrying a struggling girl. Luke noticed the Aggron's captive was much younger than the woman held by the Nidoking. A man Luke recognized as the commander of the fleet of Rockets climbed up the Nidoking's back, standing on its shoulders.
 
"Attention Celadonians!" Commander Ballard cried as he faced the nearest barricade. "I have taken two of your own hostage! If you don't value their lives, then by all means keep fighting. However, if you do not want their innocent blood on your hands, you will recall your Pokémon to their balls and stop attacking us! You'd do well to spread my little candygram to your friends at the other heaps of scrap you've built. If word reaches me that just one of you brave little rebels chooses to keep attacking us..." The commander grinned devilishly as his Nidoking brought a claw to the woman's throat.
 
"Mom! Sis!" A young teenage boy ran forward, stopping before the Nidoking and Aggron and looking up fearfully. The boy's Rattata continued to dash forward, lashing out at the Aggron with a Hyper Fang. The Iron Armor Pokémon casually kicked the Rattata away, sending it flying into a wall where it crumpled on the ground. The mother screamed for her son to get back, as her daughter burst into tears.
 
"Oh, you know them?" Ballard said in mock surprise. He laughed. "Perfect! You can have a front-row seat to their tragic deaths if your friends don't surrender."
 
Luke cursed. They had been so focused on building the barricades that they hadn't considered there would be Celadonians trapped inside the ring with the Rockets. "Do what he says."
 
"No!" one of the Celadonians shouted. "There has to be another way!"
 
"We can't risk hurting innocent lives," Luke said, recalling his Machoke. He pulled out Palmer's Pokéball and called back Rhyperior as well. Even as he stared hopelessly at the hostages, his mind was racing. "Do we have any teleporters?" he muttered. "We need something that's quick enough to get in there, grab the hostages, and get out before the commander can react."
 
"That would have to be ridiculously fast," another Celadonian said miserably. "The teleporter would get shot down or the hostages killed in the time it took for the disorientation of the teleport to wear off."
 
A third Celadonian climbed to the top of the barricade and glared at Ballard. "Take two of us instead!" he shouted. "We're the ones willing to fight for our city; take us and let that boy's family go free!"
 
Ballard laughed. "You know what they say about hostages: women and children first! However..." a smile creeped onto the commander's face, one that sent chills down Luke's spine. "I might be willing to offer an exchange for one person in particular. A certain Shannon Willows."

IC: Shannon/Ryan
Shannon's face paled as she saw the destruction in the living room. Recalling the shivering Sousa to his ball, she set about gathering up the fallen books. Some of them were in relatively good condition, but many had pages or covers that had been ripped to shreds. She smiled bitterly as she picked up a cracked picture of her with her parents, taken shortly after they had moved to Celadon. Selena nuzzled herself sadly against Shannon's leg. "...I guess it's a good thing we got here when we did," Shannon said in a quiet voice. "It's hard to believe. My parents had so much pride in this house... and it was completely destroyed in an instant."

Ryan nodded as he walked over to her side. "How are you holding up?" he asked, his eyes lingering on her shoulder before he gently took the picture from her hands.

Shannon pushed her hair out of her eyes with a heavy sigh. "I... I'll be alright," she said. "For now, let's just continue packing. If... if Team Rocket knows where I live, then others might show up."

Ryan nodded with a slight frown. He started to head back to her room, but then paused. "Wait, if you don't have friends, where will you stay?" Ryan mentally cursed himself for forgetting to ask about that after she had mentioned her lack of friends.

Shannon looked up in surprise. "I-I'll stay at the Pokémon Center," she said. "It'll probably be the best place for me, so the nurses can get a better look at my shoulder. If that doesn't work out for whatever reason, I'm sure they'll set up some place for people who have lost their homes."

"That makes sense..." Ryan scratched his head. "What about all your stuff, though?"

"...Well, I guess I'll be carrying around some duffel bags for a while." Shannon chuckled. "At least until I can find a new place to live."

Ryan continued to frown, not entirely convinced that was the best idea. "Hmm... Let's go finish getting your stuff together, then," he said, deciding to let the topic go for the moment.

Nodding slowly, Shannon picked up Selena and led the way back to her room with a melancholy look at the wreckage throughout the house.

As they passed by a fainted Tyranitar at the foot of the stairs, Ryan recalled his Pokémon, frowning at the gaping holes in the walls. "I'm sorry... Tyranitar caused some of this, I think..."

Shannon remained silent until they had reached the top of the stairs. "...You did what you had to," she said. "You fought to keep me safe. And for that, I thank you."

Ryan seemed surprised, but nodded with a sad smile. "Well... Let's see how bad this is..." he said with a slight grimace as he began walking toward Shannon's room, dreading how much damage it probably took.

Shannon opened the door, revealing the room was largely intact. A window had shattered, and some of the unpacked clothes had been strewn about, but everything else was as they had left it. Shannon immediately went over to check on her drawings, sighing in relief when she found them unharmed.

Ryan let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding, and then let out a chuckle. "I think you have, like, the luck of a Blissey or something..." His smile vanished as he glanced back at her shoulder. "...At least, right now."

Shannon gave a tired laugh as she resumed packing her clothes. "Yeah... seeing the rest of the house, it's a miracle my room was more or less spared."

"Yeah... I'd say a good miracle, though," Ryan said as he walked over to the bed. He sighed as he noticed the bedsheets were littered with shattered glass, and he instead moved to the desk to sit down. He winced, the glass reminding him of the Conkeldur's attack... "Shannon?" he asked with a slightly worried tone. "Did you see that suit guy on our way up...?"

Shannon froze. "I-I thought you took care of him..." Her face paled as she looked toward the door.

The tall man stood in the doorway, his suit ruffled and his hair matted. "Thought you had won, did you?" he asked, panting with a maniacal grin. "Not by a long shot!"