Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[Parugi]

IC - Xander Cruize (Sylph, Astraea, Psyka)/Dahlia Seaton (Asriel, Dracos, Coco)/Gavin Braner (Vel, Irest, Dothe)
WOBBUFFET/XATU/GIRAFARIG/HYPNO/CLAYDOL/SIGILYPH - The Chamber of Treachery:
 

Hydro Pump and Ice Punch were an incredibly effective combination, particularly on a Ground-Type like Claydol. The water soaking its body served to further the damage from Coco's attack as well as helped facilitate the ice that spread across Claydol's body. With the earlier Safeguard still in effect, they could not fully freeze the Clay Doll Pokémon, but this was still better than nothing. Though it moved at a sluggish pace, it managed to retaliate with Psychic, stumbling Irest. The Ogre Scorpion regained his footing and charged, managing to wrap his arms around Claydol, temporarily immobilizing it and Biting down on its head.

 

Hypno focused on Dracos and Asriel, attempting to Disable their moves even as they bore down on Xatu. The Mystic Pokémon hardly flinched as it was hit, even thought it was clearly injured. It used their close proximity to its advantage, flashing a Confuse Ray at the pair.

 

Wobbufett grinned at Asriel, attempting to Charm the Absol.

 

Girafarig and Vel had done a number on each other. Both bled heavily from their wounds, and were it not for Psyka's Psybeam forcing them apart, Gavin wasn't sure Vel would have survived the encounter with the Long Neck Pokémon. It seemed a new plan was in order, particularly since he couldn't shift his focus anywhere else as long as Girafarig threatened him. He didn't know what, but he could tell by the look in Girafarig's eyes that it was planning on doing something.

 

After another look at Vel's condition, he reached for a Poké Ball. "Vel, finish it with--!"

 

He didn't get to finish the command. Girafarig sprung into action, eyes glowing with a Psychic attack that--coupled with the earlier Miracle Eye--allowed it to send Vel flying, spraining her wing in the process. Gavin hardly had time to process this before the Long Neck Pokémon turned its gaze on him. The next thing he knew, his brain felt as if it had caught fire, overloaded with pain from his right hand. He could not even begin to describe the extent of the damage that had started at his fingertips and now rippled up his arm, slowly crawling along his skin, muscle, and bone and utterly distorting what had once been an appendage.

 

Dothe turned at the sound of his trainer screaming in pain. It was good fortune, then, that Sylph's Moon Blast hit Sigilyph before it could retaliate for his Ice Punch. It was thrown back against the wall, where it hovered for a moment before managing to recover and aiming to increase the Gravity around Sylph. The distraction allowed Dothe to hurtle toward Gavin and Girafarig unimpeded. He drew an arm back, thrusting it forward just as the Long Neck Pokémon's tail caught sight of him. The Dusknoir's attack slammed into the side of his enemy with an audible tear, knocking the Normal-Psychic-Type away; some of the stitch-like scars had torn open, oozing out red from the fainted Pokémon's body.

 

With his attacker taken care of, Dothe could move to check on Gavin. The Rocket Agent twitched and gasped on the ground, clearly in shock from the sheer damage that had occurred to his arm. Dothe could think of little else to do aside from pulling Talsim's Poké Ball from Gavin's belt and releasing him, then shifting to guard the Psychic-Type as he attempted to at least keep their trainer's mind from utterly breaking.

 

 

Claydol: Psychic > Astraea, Irest, Coco

Irest: Bite > Claydol

Hypno: Disable (Night Slash) > Asriel, Disable (Outrage) > Dracos

Xatu: Confuse Ray > Asriel, Dracos

Wobbufett: Charm > Asriel

Girafarig: Psychic > Vel, Gavin

Vel: Fainted

Sigilyph: Gravity > Sylph

Dothe: Shadow Punch > Girafarig (KO)

Talsim: Stabilizing Gavin

 

 

IC - Sonja Baron/Kyle Eston/Esen Windred/Sleight/Eileen Alaric/Bounty/Jackson Sang/All - The Chamber of Grievance:

 

What . . .?

 

She was sure it was clear that Sonja had not been expecting that. Part of her felt genuinely relieved that someone had finally recognized and acknowledged the frustration that had plagued her for the past several weeks. Yet part of her wished that Ryan hadn't realized the mistakes that he and the others had made, that he would have continued in his fairy tale delusions of somehow being the savior that she needed from the Big Bad Ford--not because she wanted that, but because, as she was now realizing, this change was going to make things so, so much more difficult.

 

"Oh, no . . . No, no, no . . ." She looked panicked. Her projection began pacing for a moment, as she attempted to calm herself down. "No, no, no, no, no . . ." She stopped. "Listen--all of you, you need to leave. Please."

 

"Sonja," Kyle said. "What are you talking about? We need to stop Ford."

 

"I am not abandoning my son," Eileen cut in. She met Sonja's gaze. "Please, tell me--is he safe?"

 

"I--yes, he . . . He is . . ." Sonja placed her hands to her head, shaking her head at Ford. "Please--I know what you're thinking, and I know it sounds crazy, but he isn't the enemy. He isn't. We need to stay here, for all of our sake." She looked at Ryan. "I do--I forgive you. You made a mistake, we all do,I get that, and I don't hold it against you. But I need you to trust me now and I need you to take everyone and go away from here until dawn--please, don't go any further."

Edited October 6, 2016 by Parugi

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Ryan==-

 

Ryan grit his teeth slightly as he scanned the battlefield, and saw that the tides, while turned in some cases, were still rather... against them. He heard Ethan's call, and nodded slightly, more to himself than anything, as a plan began to somewhat form.

 

"Simisage, attack again, but from the back! And keep pressing the attack! Excadrill, use Hone Claws using your leg to break free of the ice, then help out Simisage with a Metal Claw!" The two Pokemon perked up, slightly surprised at the call, but both nodded. The green monkey quickly leaped around the Abomasnow, and then his face furrowed as he tried to quickly slam into the Ice type with his still-thawed hand. The steel mole sliced at the icy prison claiming his leg, and as the ice broke around the limb enough that it could support him again, the Excadrill joined in the assault from behind as well.

 

The two were aiming to push Ent back, but Ryan had to admit that he wasn't sure how successful they could actually be like this. He knew that no-one else could provide backup either, so he had to hope that these two were enough to have the plan work correctly.

 

Meanwhile, Tyranitar was a little uncertain what to do. Seeing no opportunity to dodge, the rock type took the heavy blow from the Phantom Force head on and was pushed back a few feet. His fist began to glow a moment later, as the Tyranitar swung upwards with a Payback hit, aiming to strike before Voodoo could turn intangible once again. He wasn't sure what the deal with the energy had been, but was intent on not finding out.

 

The Porygon-Z was taken aback as much as the artificial Pokemon could be. It made a sharp movement to the right to try and dodge the reflected attack; however, it was still grazed by the beam as the attack hit its 'leg'. The Porygon-Z paid little attention to the affected area, and instead focused on the Gothitelle, as it launched off a Tri-Attack to try and coax it into guarding some more, knowing that it was most vulnerable after disengaging the shield. It would just have to figure out the best way to keep it busy upon dropping the Protect...

 

Xana was surprised by the crackling Thunderbolts as they were fired off toward her. She quickly focused on a spot behind the Beheeyem, and Teleported there to safety. She let out a bit of a sigh, noting to herself how close she had come to being deep fried by the electric attacks. Not wanting to give Wizard any chance to counter attack, however, she focused on the spot where he was, and let loose a Confuse Ray to try and stop any plans of attacking again.

 

Sammy was rather amused by this turn of events. Mulling over how things were going, she decided to just keep up what she was doing, and slashed out at the poor Sudowoodo with another Razor Shell. She wanted to go for a couple more slashes just in case, but wasn't entirely certain if she wanted to push her luck. She knew that Chan probably wasn't going to stay stunned the entire fight. She wouldn't mind it, on the other hand, if she was wrong.

 

OOC:

 

Moves:

 

Simisage: Acrobatics > Ent (Aiming to push it to the centre)

Excadrill: Hone Claws > Self (To free ice), Metal Claw > Ent(Aiming to push to centre)

Tyranitar: Payback > Voodoo (Cursed body fails to affect)

Porygon-Z: Tri-Attack > Doll (Analyzing situation)

Xana/Xatu: Teleport > behind Wizard, Confuse Ray > Wizard

Sammy/Samurott: Razor Shell > Chan

[Konuju]

IC: James Arthur (Galahad, Gawain, Mordred, Lancelot, Perceival, Agravain)/Claus Diamond (Hades, Flint, Baccio, Porky, Lucas)/Jared Winters (Styx, Anubis)
COFAGRIGUS/GOLURK/PORYGON-Z/CHANDELURE/KLEFKI/AEGISLASH - The Chamber of Authority:
The Lucario was not giving it time to recover. Even with its typing changed from Normal to Electric, Porygon-Z would have to be very lucky to survive the Aura Sword. Resigned to merely do as much damage as possible, the Digital Pokémon flew toward Anubis, its body crackling with fire, ice, and electricity. Moments before the aura blade struck it, Porygon-Z unleashed the explosive energy of its Tri-Attack in the Lucario's face.

Then its circuits went black.

A Protective shield was enough to block the Absol's Shadow Rush. But that wasn't what had Cofagrigus' attention. The ghost-type turned to the Absol's trainer, who seemed to be suddenly overcome with a darkness similar to that of his Pokémon. A curious matter indeed. From behind his shield, Cofagrigus grinned, waiting to see what this Shadow Trainer would do with his Shadow Pokémon.

The self-inflicted Fire Punch did not do too much damage to Golurk, but it threw the giant off balance enough for Lancelot to escape and begin a Bullet Punch assault. Mordred's Night Slash to the back caused the Golurk to stumble forward. It felt dangerously close to unconsciousness. It was time to go all out. The colossal Pokémon stomped a foot on the ground with enough force to create an Earthquake that encompassed the entire room. Chandelure, Klefki, and Aegislash were all floating enough to avoid the quake, and Cofagrigus was hiding behind its Protect, so Golurk wasn't worried about hitting any of its teammates.

The Chandelure was tempted to enter into a battle of endurance with its fellow chandelier, but decided against it. Instead, even as the Shadow Ball hit it, Chandelure used Imprison to prevent Perceival from launching any more Shadow Balls. Bright lights flashed from its flames as it followed up with a Confuse Ray aimed toward its double.

The Night Shade was timed perfectly; Klefki had no chance to avoid the attack. Not wanting to risk another Protect so quickly, the keychain used Double Team, forming half a dozen copies of itself. Unfortunately, the doubles were still surrounded. One was taken out by an Ember, two more by Baccio's Rock Blasts. The remaining copies dissipated under the force of Gawain's bided power, leaving Klefki alone once more.

Klefki's intended protector, meanwhile, was busy getting pummeled by a surprise Draco Meteor and Flamethrower. Aegislash was wounded more than it wanted to admit, but it was resolute on taking down its intended targets. Battered and bruised, the Aegislash resumed its assault, aiming to use its Sacred Sword attack on both Flint and Lucas.

Porygon-Z: Tri-Attack > Anubis; hit by Aura Sword, fainted
Cofagrigus: Protect > Self
Golurk: hit by Night Slash and Bullet Punch; Earthquake > entire battlefield
Chandelure: hit by Shadow Ball; Imprison > Perceival (Shadow Ball sealed), Confuse Ray > Perceival
Klefki: hit by Night Shade; Double Team > Self (doubles taken out by Rock Blast, Ember, and Bide)
Aegislash: hit by Flamethrower and Draco Meteor; Sacred Sword > Flint and Lucas


IC: Jenny Hakuda (Gyaralite, Lurelite, Scizlite, Eelite, Sandlite, Boarlite)/Evan Tierra (Vlad, Monstro, Hippowdon, Gnip, Lazengann, Behemoth)
BRONZONG/EXPLOUD/WIGGLYTUFF/JYNX/KRICKETUNE/CHIMECHO – The Chamber of Promise:
Exploud was not having the best day. Its attempt at chomping down on the Eelektross had been a shocking experience, to say the least. The pair hit the ground hard, but Eelite was unmoving. Exploud had just staggered to its feet when shards of ice dug into its back. The Loud Voice Pokémon roared in pain and quickly turned to face the mammoth. Moments later an Earthquake struck courtesy of an angry Krookodile. It was all too much to handle, and the Exploud fell to the ground with a resounding crash, unconscious. Exploud had played its part, and now the rest of the symphony would have to continue without it.

Kricketune had gotten a mental warning of the Trick Room and was thus able to adjust more easily than Scizlite and Vlad. The cricket barely managed to avoid getting hit by Scizlite's Aerial Ace, but the Ice Shards found their mark and the Earthquake threw Kricketune off balance. The cricket knew it couldn't take many more attacks, and so it rubbed its arms together to produce an eerie melody; a Perish Song directed at its two opponents. It was time to bring this concerto to its coda.

Wigglytuff yawned. She was feeling unusually drowsy, despite the shaking earth and the cold Ice Shards that had just struck her. Something wasn't right; it wasn't time for this song to reach a meno mosso. Scanning the battlefield, Wigglytuff quickly found the source of her sudden tiredness, a Hippowdon. Taking a deep breath, the Balloon Pokémon shot an Ice Beam across the field at the hippo.

A hasty Protect shielded Jynx from the Shadow Ball, the Ice Shard, and the Earthquake. From behind the barrier, the Humanshape Pokémon hummed to herself in a soft soprano as she formed a Nasty Plot.

Bronzong was off the ground to avoid the next Earthquake, but despite its tempo being upped to vivace, it couldn't dodge Monstro's smash. The bronze bell rang with a dull gong as it was struck first by the Hammer Arm and then by the Ice Shards. But its mental energies remained focused, this time on directing a Psychic attack at Boarlite.

Bronzong's aid was too late to stop Chimecho's assailant, and although the wind chime tried to throw up another Protect, Boarlite simply crashed through it, striking the fragile Chimecho. If one good thing came out of the world of pain the psychic-type was in, it was that the following Ice Shard melted from the heat of the flames, forming a small puddle on the ground. A light pink energy enveloped the wind chime, and moments later a similar energy glow appeared around the rest of Hayes' Pokémon. For a moment the energy wavered in a rapid tremolo. With the Heal Pulse delivered to its allies, Chimecho tried to float away before Boarlite could attack again.

Exploud: fainted
Kricketune (Perish Count 3): Dodge Aerial Ace, hit by Earthquake and Ice Shard; Perish Song > Self, Scizlite, Vlad
Wigglytuff: Hit by Earthquake and Ice Shard, drowsy from Yawn; Ice Beam > Hippowdon
Jynx: Protect > Self; Nasty Plot > Self
Bronzong: Hit by Hammer Arm, hit by Ice Shard; Psychic > Boarlite
Chimecho: Protect (failed) > Self; Hit by Heat Crash; Heal Pulse (25% power, split between four Pokémon) > Kricketune, Wigglytuff, Jynx, Bronzong


IC: Dahlia - The Chamber of Treachery
Coco was busy thanking Astraea for its help in subduing the Claydol when she was suddenly struck with a Psychic attack. The Buneary doubled over in pain, for she had no way to block the mental assault. When at last the attack subsided, Coco panted to catch her breath and leapt back toward her attacker with another Ice Punch. She knew with the Safeguard kept her from freezing the Pokémon but it was the best move in her arsenal against this opponent.
 
Asriel Detected the immediate danger of the Confuse Ray, which in turn protected him from Wobbuffet's Charm. With his Night Slash disabled, Asriel dashed toward the Wobbuffet, lowering his head and aiming to strike with Megahorn.
 
Dracos was not so lucky. Hypno's Disable cut his Outrage short just in time for him to be hit by the same attack that had crippled his trainer. Amidst the flashing lights, Dracos struggled to locate the one-winged bird and fire a Thunderbolt at it.
 
Dahlia heard Gavin cry out in pain and quickly turned in his direction. The sudden movement triggered her vertigo and the next thing she knew she was back her hands and knees, trying to make the world stop spinning. She reached for one of her Pokéballs -- at this point she didn't care who she happened to grab -- and depressed the release. A blurry image of a Surskit appeared in front of her, and Gerri crooned in concern. "Don't worry about me, Gerri," Dahlia said with a wince. "I'll be fine; go help the others!"
 
The Surskit nodded and quickly scanned the battlefield. Most of McKinley's Pokémon had at least one opponent, but the Hypno and Xatu were ganging up on Dracos. Gerri scuttled forward and shot a Signal Beam at the Hypno to keep it from doing anything more to the wounded Dragonair.
 
Coco: hit by Psychic; Ice Punch > Claydol
Asriel: Night Slash Disabled; Detect > Self (blocks Confuse Ray and Charm), Megahorn > Wobbuffet
Dracos: Outrage Disabled; Confused; Thunderbolt > Xatu
Dahlia: Recovering from confusion; sent out Gerri
Gerri: Signal Beam > Hypno
 

IC: Ryan/Dack/Paul/Jayron - The Chamber of Grievance
Ryan held Sonja's gaze. He felt immense relief at her acceptance of his apology. His burden should have been lifted. Instead, his uncertainty only weighed more on him. Sonja was only one of three people he had come here for. While he intended to stay true to his word and not force Sonja to leave if she didn't want to, he wasn't sure he could say the same for Ray or for Ellen. But he was trying to rebuilt trust with Sonja. How could he expect her to trust him if he refused to trust her? She appeared genuinely worried for their safety, and it was clear she knew more than they did about what was going on here.
 
"We can't leave." Paul stepped forward, recognizing the girl as one of Ellen's friends. "I came here to find my daughter, and I won't leave this place until she's safe in my arms." At his feet, Terry barked his agreement and whimpered at the memories flashing on the walls.
 
Jayron folded his arms and gave the projection an inquisitive look. "Agent Baron, I don't think I have to remind you of the laundry list of Ford's transgressions against Teams Liberty and Rocket alike. He killed Bluefalcon... sucked Blackskull through a hole in space... you can't tell me he's not the enemy. We came here to stop him, and if you insist on standing in our way we'll have to stop you, too."
 
"...Words couldn't stop the war..." Dack muttered Skye's last words under his breath. Was that Ford's justification? Unlike most people here, Dack hadn't come with any personal investment in grudges or rescue missions. This allowed him to step back and approach the situation objectively. And what he saw was a lot of words exchanged with no end to the conflict in sight.
 
Ryan tried to block out the others. They were making it difficult to think. Steeling himself, he walked across the chamber until he was face to face with Sonja's projection. Up close, her worry seemed much more evident. "I want to trust you," he said in a low, trembling voice. "But after everything we've done to try and stop Ford up to this point... I need to know what he's trying to do. What is so important that he needs all of you here?"

[MELON LORD]

IC: Xander Cruize(Sylph/Astraea/Psyka) - Chamber of Treachery

 

As the third trainer in the room was incapacitated, Sylph felt something snap. A team of psychic types was extremely dangerous to her side. She reached out and attempted to Imprison the opponents.

 

The Psychic washed over Astraea, and the star-shaped pokémon let itself be hit. As it did, its form distorted and slowly vanished to blend in with its surroundings, its type changing to poison. It spun away from the Claydol for the time being to try a different angle.

 

Psyka was standing next to Xander as the trainer tried to get control of himself. Seeing another opening, she unleashed a Psyshock at the opposing Hypno. Xander heard someone scream nearby, felt a sudden pain in his arm, but he quelled it. He reached out to try and find and hit something -- preferably that Xatu -- but the psychic energy fizzled out, and he hit his knees as dizziness washed over him.

 

Sylph: Imprison (Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Moon Blast, Teleport, Heal Pulse, Imprison) > Enemy team

Astraea: Hit by Psychic; Camouflage > Self (Poison Type), Rapid Spin (Speed away)

Psyka: Psyshock > Hypno

Xander: Incapacitated by Confusion

 

IC: Mercury(Anubis/Styx) - Chamber of Authority

 

Anubis took the Tri-attack but managed not to collapse, even as his opponent did. He let out a sigh of relief and turned to see what other opponents were close at hand. He growled when he saw the aura surrounding his trainer; why did this happen when he was busy? He moved forward, summoning another Sword and focusing on the Golurk near the middle of the room. As he drew closer, the Earth shook, and Anubis barely dodged a spike of rock flying at him.

 

Styx roared, for he had his opponent on the defensive. He Rushed again, heedless of the damage he was dealing to his own body as he did.

 

Mercury smirked, glancing around at the chaos of the battle. "Eenie, meenie, miney. . ." He unleashed a blade of aura at the Klefki. "Mo."

 

Anubis: Hit by Tri-attack; Sword Dance > Self, Foresight > Golurk

Styx: Shadow Rush > Cofagrigus

Mercur: Aura Slash > Klefki

Edited October 6, 2016 by Carbevoir

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra

As everything happened so fast, the Hero of Space frowned. These Pokemon were truly dedicated to their trainer, but even so, he was not going to let them beat them so easily. At Jenny's suggestion, Evan's frown turned upside down. It grew even bigger, when he noticed that Gyaralite seemed to sparkle with vitality, as if she had just woken up from a quality nap. "I agree with you, Jenny." the young man said, a hint of confidence in his voice as he looked at Jenny. "Despite the fact that idea will hurt our teams immensely, they won't hold it against us."

Evan then looked back at the chaos unfolding. "After all, they wanna win as much as we do!"

OOC:

                                                                      May the earth shake with
                                                                   grand applause at our power
                                                                             as we end this now!

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: James/Claus

 

James pulled out Gawain's Pokeball, while trying to keep himself low to the ground. Regardless of the Earthquake, Gawain's time had run out. While Toxic hadn't quite knocked Gawain out, it would pointlessly cruel to keep him out any longer.

 

 

Lancelot smiled at the sight of his punch digging into the Golurk. There was something about a well-formed punch that made him feel a little proud. The common scrapper might not quite get the subtleties that lie in causing as much pain as possible with just a bit of shifting weight and extending his arm, but he had to congratulate himself a little for it. But the time for self-praise had past. It was time to knock the giant off his feet. And he meant that quite literally as he stormed towards the epicenter of the Earthquake. He wondered what panicked thoughts the Golurk would think when it realized what he was about to do. The thought of it, made him feel warm inside. Warm enough to forget the pain the Earthquake was causing him

 

The Scizor wrapped his arms around the leg the Golurk was using to activate Earthquake. He had to wonder if the Golurk knew that Earthquake could still activate Counter. Didn't matter at this point. Lancelot then threw the fullness of his strength and his malice into trying to slam the giant to the ground.

 

Mordred rode out the Earthquake on top of the source. He looked down to see the As soon as Mordred realized what Lancelot was about to do, he grinned nervously. He believed that the Scizor could do it, just that it meant he was about to lose his perch.

 

"Mordred, Percival, switch targets! Night Slash, Overheat!"

 

That was his cue. The Weavile leaped from his perch atop the Golurk to the ground and bounded over to the Chandelure, specifically the one who wasn't his ally. His arms encased in darkness, he lashed out with the fell power, intending to finish it off once and for all. Meanwhile, the Chandelure who -was- his ally vanished as he retreated back from his opposite number. He appeared right next to the Klefki. Flaring every one of his flames at once in a brilliant Overheat, the Klefki was gonna get a nasty surprise if it tried to Protect against it.

 

Hades was annoyed. He wanted to pressure the Klefki with Confuse Ray but suddenly found himself unable. He had to settle with using to Detect to figure where faults from Earthquake were going to occur and evade them and prepare what to do next from there. Though watching the other trainer suddenly attack made him feel he needn't have bothered. But seriously, if he had that up his sleeve, why did he wait until now?

 

Lucas sighed and pushed Flint away from him. Claus was desperately scrambling to get both of their Poke Balls after falling to the ground due to Earthquake. The Cubone tried to use his club to block the Sacred Sword, but knew bitterly what would happen next. The bone was cut clean in two, and all he got was a similar wound to match Flint's. By that moment, Claus had found all his Poke Balls and retreated both Lucas and Flint.

 

 

Deep down, Claus knew that the wounds Aegislash gave to Lucas and Flint were going to leave scars. That... was gonna lose him more than a small amount of sleep.

 

 

Near silently, Galahad appeared in front of Claus. Summoning forth his own aura, the Togekiss sent forth an Aura Sphere at the Steel-Ghost.

 

Porky was still too inexperienced to take such an Earthquake and had to be retreated by Claus after falling unconscious from the one hit. Claus wasn't sure if it was by Iron Defense or by Sturdy that Baccio stood after taking the hit. The Boldore used Autotomize to rush towards Claus's defense. Without Lucas, Flint or Porky, he was now Claus's final line of defense.

 

Lancelot (+2 Atk, 2 Sadism boosts): Hit by Earthquake; Counter > Golurk

Mordred (+2 Atk, 2 Spd): Night Slash > Chandelure

Percival: Dodge Confuse Ray; Overheat > Klefki

Gawain: Retreated (KO)

Galahad: Aura Sphere > Aegislash

 

Hades: Detect > Self

Flint: retreated (unable to fight or contribute)

Lucas: Hit By Sacred Sword > Thick Club damaged > KO

Baccio (+4 Spd, +2 Def): Hit by Earthquake; Autotomize

Porky (+2 Spd): Hit by Earthquake > KO

[Parugi]

IC - Sonja Baron/Kyle Eston/Esen Windred/Sleight/Eileen Alaric/Bounty/Jackson Sang/All - The Chamber of Grievance:

 

The projection had closed its eyes in an expression of defeat. It stood silent for a long time, hardly moving. Kyle stepped forward, uncertain. "Sonja?"

 

She opened her eyes, matching Ryan's gaze. Her image began to flicker. "How do you stop something that never stops eating?" she asked. "If you can't divert it elsewhere . . . then you have to remove the reason that it's coming for you . . ."

 

Sonja's projection fizzled out of existence, leaving an unblocked path forward and downward to the seventh circle.

 

The room fell silent for several moments. "I think she's right about one thing," Sang said at last. "Ford isn't the one we need to stop. I don't know what he's planning, but it's apparently important enough that at least two of the people he's 'kidnapped' are willing to see it through."

 

"Two out of five isn't a majority," Kyle pointed out. "Do you really think the rest are going to view things the same way? Someone like Ellen?"

 

Sang shook his head. "I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me." He looked to the exit. "What I'm gathering is that, as bad as Ford is, there's someone--or something--even worse out there that they don't think can be stopped. And I know for a fact that McKinley isn't as on-board with stopping it as Sonja and Skye seem to be."

[Konuju]

IC: James Arthur (Galahad, Gawain, Mordred, Lancelot, Percival, Agravain)/Claus Diamond (Hades, Flint, Baccio, Porky, Lucas)/Jared Winters (Styx, Anubis)
COFAGRIGUS/GOLURK/PORYGON-Z/CHANDELURE/KLEFKI/AEGISLASH - The Chamber of Authority:
A sinister smile appeared on Cofagrigus' face as the Absol Shadow Rushed once more. If this kept on much longer, the Shadow Pokémon would knock itself out from the force of its wild attacks. Of course, Cofagrigus didn't mind helping it on its way. The coffin glowed with a dark energy and suddenly doubled over in pain, using its shadowy arms for support. It had taken a lot of Cofagrigus' energy, but the Curse had been laid on the Absol. Now Cofagrigus merely had to wait out the rest of the fight, something much easier said than done...

Before the Golurk even knew what had happened, it was falling. The ground was rushing upward, and the giant knew the impact would hurt. Even so, Golurk twisted its body toward the Lucario that had approached it. Lancelot had sent all this weight into a freefall; the Automaton Pokémon might as well put it to good use. Unfortunately the Golurk would not remain conscious long enough to see effects of its heavy slam.

By the time the blinking lights of Confuse Ray had faded, Percival was gone. Chandelure spent a moment wondering where its double had gone. That moment was enough to distract it from Mordred's Night Slash. The attack dug deep into the floating chandelier, eliciting a burst of flames that licked their way up the Weavile's arm. However, the damage had already been done. With the last of its strength, Chandelure enveloped itself and its new opponent in a dull glow, and attempted to draw energy from Mordred with a last-second Pain Split.

When Percival appeared and began to glow with the power of Overheat, Klefki knew it couldn't stay in the fight much longer. Desperately hoping it wouldn't melt in the process, the fairy-type emitted a burst of steel-cold energy at its opponents. It didn't know how likely it was that Hades, Percival, or Mercury would even need healing, but now they'd be unable to, thanks to Klefki's Heal Block. But more important than preventing healing, Klefki's attack was the final key to unlock its most powerful attack. From within the flames, Klefki glowed with a brilliant power. Then Mercury's Aura Slash struck, causing the key ring to explode. It was truly a Last Resort, as sharp keys flew in every direction, as did the very unconscious ring that had once held them.

With the taunting monkey out of the picture, Aegislash was able to devote its full attention to the Aura Sphere coming its way. The sword blade shifted its stance, blocking the attack with its King's Shield. From behind the gilded shield, Aegislash spun around in a Swords Dance while sizing up its opponent.

Cofagrigus: hit by Shadow Rush; Curse > Styx
Golurk: hit by Counter; Heavy Slam > Anubis; will faint upon impact
Chandelure: hit by Night Slash; Flame Body > Mordred; Pain Split > Mordred
Klefki: hit by Overheat and Aura Slash; Heal Block > Percival, Hades, Mercury; Last Resort > Percival, Hades, Mercury; fainted
Aegislash: Stance Change to Shield Forme; King's Shield > block Aura Sphere; Swords Dance > Self


IC: Ryan/Dack/Paul/Jayron - The Chamber of Grievance
"Remove the reason it's coming..." Ryan stared at the spot where Sonja had disappeared and tried to make sense of her words. At long last he turned to the man who had suggested Ford wasn't the one we should stop. "You're right," he said. "Until we know more about just what Ford's trying to do here, we shouldn't try to stop him."
 
Jayron started forward. "What are you saying, Sanders? If Ford's plan is really that important, then why all the secrecy? Nine willing children, and none of them can give us a straight answer? Sounds more like a cult to me."
 
"I won't let Ellen be put in harm's way," Paul said. "You go back if you want, Sanders; I'm finding my daughter."
 
Ryan shook his head. "We've come too far to turn back now." He mouthed a silent apology to Sonja. "But if we act rashly without understanding, we risk causing more harm than good. Believe me, I've done it before. The guy in the next room can tell you all about it." With that, Ryan walked the rest of the way across the chamber. Sonja's words still echoed in his head.

[MELON LORD]

IC: Mercury(Styx/Anubis)

 

Anubis had no chance to move, no way to avoid the hit. As the Golurk fell, he raised his hands to try and toss it, but found his strength lacking. He'd used too much energy on the Porygon-Z. He fell beneath the ghost type. His last conscious act was to look towards his friend and trainer in despair. Mercury's aura seemed to grow as Anubis' vision dimmed, then went black.

 

Styx roared as the Curse took hold. The pain drove him forward, but his body was disobeying. He lunged forward in one last Shadow Rush as his legs gave out. The recoil from the attack finished him, and he collapsed to the ground, defeated.

 

Mercury smirked as the Klefki exploded. He side-stepped, dodging the lethal key, and pulled three pokéballs from his belt. Two shot out red beams of light to return his fallen pokémon -- Jared wouldn't have it any other way -- but the third was tossed into the air, releasing a thirty-foot rock snake into the room. "Stones," he said, using his aura to force the creature to obey, "destroy."

 

The Onix roared a challenge and unleashed a cascade of boulders upon the room, heedless of who he hit.

 

Anubis: Fainted

Styx: Shadow Rush > Cofagrigus (faints from recoil)

Stones: Rock Slide > Everyone

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: James/Claus

 

Whoops.

 

Lancelot had been so focused on defeating his opponent that he hadn't noticed the Lucario move over to try and help him. By the time the Scizor had noticed, the Golurk had already landed on the Lucario. He strained to at least remove the Golurk from on top of the Lucario. He could vouch for how heavy the Golurk was. He'd have to get Galahad to heal the Lucario when the fight was over.

 

And he had to be careful not to get tunnel vision when focusing on fighting an opponent that intensely. Lancelot was inwardly grateful not to have been the victim of that lesson.

 

Right as the Golurk was being tipped over, a rock came and smacked him in the face. He really didn't need that right then. Lancelot considered what to do right then, when he saw James signal for him to hold back. Taking the opportunity to heal while he had the chance, the Steel-Bug began to Roost.

 

Over where James himself was, Agravain rang out a Bug Buzz at a rock that threatened to strike the both of them. The rock to pieces harmlessly before them.

 

"Nicely done, young Agravain," James said with an approving look to the Karrablast. He'd respond to that in a moment. There where still several other problems to deal with.

 

Likewise with Claus, the Boldore that served as Claus's final line of defense, after using Iron Defense to prepare himself further, used his body as a shield to protect Claus from the rocks. Claus didn't seem happy though. Another one of his Pokémon was getting hurt for his sake. He knew that's how it worked but that didn't mean it was pleasant.

 

Mordred was about to respond to the Chandelure's sapping of his health with a Night Slash intended to finish of the Chandelure before it could get its health back, when a rock smacked into him. That really, -really- annoyed Mordred. But it also gave him an idea. As another rock flew by, the Weavile used it to disguise his movements. As the rock passed, Mordred ran quickly at the Chandlure and moved to strike it, before instead ducking beneath. Coming up on the other side, he struck at the chandelier with a Feint Attack, intent on knocking the Chandelure into one of the rocks for extra damage.

 

Percival was conflicted on whether to help Mordred fight his old opponent or to help finish of the Aegislash with the other group. The rocks falling didn't help. Galahad, though not needing to choose a target, was trying to choose a move, and the rocks falling didn't help him either.

 

"Percival, Fire Spin on Aegislash. Galahad, Flamethrower, likewise."

 

That answered that. The Chandelure rushed to get inside of the King's Shield while he good and an entrap the Aegislash with his flames. Meanwhile, Galahad produced a stream of fire from his mouth, knowing he could outlast the King's Shield with his stream of fire.

 

Hades was getting ticked off. First of all, Fake Out has one opportunity per fight to use it, and after that it's useless. Then suddenly, Confuse Ray stops working, and right after that, Recover goes kaput. Detect was likely not gonna work, leading to him getting smacked with a rock. And all he had to retaliate with was Fury Swipes and Night Shade. And one of those two moves was also useless in this specific situation due to the typing of literally every one of his opponents. Even the Onix, if it was hostile and not just stupid. Meaning he only had Night Shade. Well, when all you have is a violin, like Richard used to say.

 

However that saying was supposed to go, Hades knew that wasn't it.

 

Well, anyway, he had to help Claus out now that he was free. He sent a dark shade towards the Aegislash after a moment's delay. He figured that the Aegislash was very soon going to be forced to drop its guard and he didn't want the Night Shade to reach the steel-ghost before then.

 

James looked over towards the unaffiliated trainer. It was perfectly possible that the Rock Slide was a simple lapse in judgement. But the way he had been acting put James on edge. Well James still had one ace up his sleeve at least, in the worst-case scenario.

 

"Attacks that cover the whole field are not profitable at this point. Focus on a single target."

 

OOC:

 

Lancelot (+2 Atk): Hit by Rock Slide; Roost > Self

Mordred (+2 Atk, Burned, +2 Spd): Hit by Rock Slide; Feint Attack > Chandelure towards Rock Slide

Galahad: Hit by Rock Slide; Flamethrower > Aegislash

Percival (-2 Sp.A, Shadow Ball Blocked): Hit by Rock Slide; Fire Spin > Aegislash

 

Hades (Confuse Ray, Recover blocked): Hit by Rock Slide; Night Shade > Aegislash

Baccio (+4 Spd, +4 Def): Iron Defense > Self; Hit By Rock Slide;

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Jenny Hakuda==-

 

Jenny grinned wider than usual. "Excellent..." She mumbled, as she began to laugh quietly. The girl struck a pose with a serious look on her face, as she saw Evan pose a little more subtly than usual. "Now then..."

 

"SURGING QUAKE!" Jenny and Evan's voices rang out throughout the chamber. The effect wasn't obvious at first, as nothing seemed to happen. However, the more alert Pokemon on Jenny's side seemed to pick up their pace, as the restricting Tailwind petered out. The redhead hoped that this plan could work out and had faith in her Pokemon here.

 

Boarlite stumbled for a brief moment as she took the headache from the Psychic attack head on. However, she pressed forward, a snarling look on her face as she launched herself at the Chimecho, totally unhindered by the Tailwind as it ended. She tried to grab the chime and use yet another Heat Crash. She understood that she was using that pretty much exclusively, but also could acknowledge that it was the only real option here. Besides, the Emboar wanted to use this as an opportunity to lock the annoying Chimecho to the floor, and due to its overuse of Protect... it was very likely that it was, in fact, going to be unable to try that tactic again.

 

Scizlite wasted no time as the terrifying song rang in her ears. She rushed forward even as the Kricketune played its song of doom. She slashed out with Aerial Ace multiple times, a look of determination in her eyes, as she intended to keep the Kricketune on the defensive, ready to use her own speed if necessary. She heard the command from Evan and Jenny, and was determined to let this work out without the other bug's interference. And she knew that Vlad had another job to do in the meantime.

 

If Lurelite could smile the same way as a human, she would at the moment. The Protect had gone up, which meant that she was free to deal with certain other things. The Chandelure focused, and quickly launched off Shadow Balls toward the Bronzong. She wanted to press the attack as she noticed that the bell had been rather caught off guard by the previous attacks. Therefore, she needed to keep up the distractions while the others worked; even if it meant she fainted to keep the attacks up.

 

OOC:

 

Moves:

 

Scizor: Aerial Ace multiple times, to press the attack > Kricketune

Emboar: Heat Crash > Chimecho

Chandelure: Shadow Ball > Bronzong

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: "Putting the 'Quake' in Surging Quake"

As Jenny's remaining pokemon set things up, either by disorienting their foes, or maximizing their vulnerabilities, Feral Tierra was laughing to himself. Especially as Gyaralite began to charge up a Hyper Beam, likely due to feeling so refreshed from her nap. The former Spacial Horror was not only excited to see what happened next, but for what he was going to do. Using the connection that was fashioned upon his sealing, he decided to peek at his better half's mind. Just one peek told him all he needed to know.....


Evan was caught in suspense, especially since the next move, was his turn. As the set-up occurred, Vlad floated, making conductor motions while still being poised to strike when his time came. It was at this moment, that the young man felt the familiar presence of his other...half. However, this time felt different, as if it had a more "joking" feeling to it, compared to other times.

What now? Can't you see I am very busy right now?

.....

What are yo-

Oh, how long can trusty Hero Evan hold out? How can he possibly resist the diabolical urge to yell out the command that could end this battle?

...No, you wouldn't.

Will his frazzled mind give in to its uncontrollable desire?

....You are.

Evan felt a slight grin crawl onto his face, as Feral drummed up the suspense further.

Can he withstand the temptation to utter the command that, even now, beckons him closer to the end?

This is really happening, isn't it?

Will he succumb to the maddening urge to end this lunacy?

Will he hold out, folks? CAN he hold out?

"No I can't!"

OOC: Bunnying of Sandlite and Gyaralite approved by Blade.

IC:


Evan couldn't hold back his smile any longer as he pointed forward, noticing that there wouldn't be a better time for this. "All right everyone, you included Sandlite!" Evan shouted, looking quite spirited, yet serious at the same time. "Earthquake, and hold nothing back!"


At their master's command, Evan's pokemon let out a resounding roar, at least those who could anyway. Behemoth stamped his feet on the ground, giving his foes a cold glare. Vlad could only pogo his way down, despite feeling like his ears being utterly trashed, and used his tail as a catalyst for his Earthquake. As the room shook with both noise and the shockwaves from the combined attack from the Earthquake, Sandlite smirked. The Intimidation Pokemon clasped her claws together and brought them down hard on the ground, adding her own Earthquake to the calamitous chorus of quakes.


The sheer damage from the combined Earthquake caused Gnip to fall over, clearly unable to continue adding to it, much to her disappointment. Hippowdon was feeling down, but it would take more than this to take her out completely. She had to show her spirit as well! Monstro, thanks to his increased defense, didn't feel the power as badly, but held his ground regardless. He was going to see this battle to the end, no matter what. Vlad had gone beyond the point of caring about what was going on with his ears. What mattered now was this most Grand Finale. He could rest afterward. Behemoth kept his footing, but sincerely hoped their foes would be taken out by this attack, otherwise they'd end up looking rather silly.

As this all went down, Gyaralite had been charging a Hyper Beam, having had a good while to do so, without interruption. The Atrocious pokemon, feeling like the time was right, unleashed her attack into an incredible beam of energy. The attack caused an incredible blast, which caught friend and foe in it's path.....


OOC:

Gnip: Fainted
Monstro: Earthquake > Everyone
Behemoth: Earthquake > Everyone
Hippowdon: Earthquake > Everyone
Vlad: Earthquake > Everyone, considering hearing protection after this
Sandlite: Earthquake > Everyone
Gyaralite: Hyper Beam > Anyone caught in the blast radius.

[Parugi]

IC - Ethan Worth (Suya, Céris, Tox, Kada)/Ryan Hikari (Xatu, Excadrill, Simisage, Tyranitar, Porygon-Z, Samurott)
SUDOWOODO/BANETTE/BEHEEYEM/GOTHITELLE/MISMAGIUS/ABOMASNOW - The Chamber of Isolation:

 

Damage was damage was damage, and Chan could only take so much. With the battle so wholly turned against him, there was little else that he could do but accept defeat. And so he did, collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

 

Tyranitar's attack struck, sending Voodoo flying upward. He slammed into the crystal ceiling and floated there for a moment, stunned. He managed to shake it off somewhat, regaining his bearings enough to use Destiny Bond. It was clear that the hit had dealt heavy damage on his frail body.

 

Kada could not cover his ears to block out the Screech. Neither could Suya. Suya, however, was much more annoyed by it, and thus retaliated in traditional manner: With a Power Whip that managed to knock Witch right out of the air. She fell to the ground, dazed by the sudden hit, but still standing. She stuck her tongue out at her opponents, and then hurled a Shadow Ball at them. Kada responded with a Leaf Storm, which met the attack head on. Though the ball of dark energy burned through a large swath of the attack, it still struck, allowing both Torterra and Mismagius to exchange damage with one another.

 

Wizard turned in time to get caught by the flashing lights of Confuse Ray. He still had some of his mental faculties about him, however, and he knew that there was one attack that Xatu would not be able to avoid. Pulling all of the confused and swirling thoughts from his mind, the Beheeyem unleashed a Synchronoise attack on the field, targeted at any like-Typed Pokémon--such as his current opponent. It was thus lucky in one sense for Doll that she chose this moment to use Protect, allowing her to simultaneously block Porygon-Z's Tri-Attack. It was unlucky in the sense that once the shield fell, she would not have enough time to defend herself from another attack . . .

 

Ent did what he could to avoid the group of attacks that were being thrown at him, but that was a difficult task considering the forty different directions they were coming from. Avoiding one swipe from Excadrill put him into the path of a hit from Simisage, knocking him into the general path of the Scizor, and so on. Before long, they had succeeded in their task of getting him to move, at which point the Abomasnow felt that he had had enough. He swept his arm about him to clear the space, before lashing out at Céris with Focus Punch. The attack connected, denting the Scizor's chest plate and knocking him back. The Pincer Pokémon stumbled and fell to a knee, Roosting to recover some health.

 

Ent heard a whistle.

 

"Tox, now!" Ethan yelled. The Beedrill slashed at the rope tying the bag to his body, letting drop the Poké Ball within. It spun in the air for a moment before opening, and from it emerged Paruk. The Crustle seemed startled for a moment at his sudden, mid-air appearance, but quickly regained his composure as he realized who he was falling towards, and adjusted himself appropriately so that his heavy shell was aligned with Ent's head...

 

THWAP

 

Ethan wasn't terribly glad to hear the sickening sound of a massive rock hitting a tree-thing, but he was nonetheless pleased to see the instantaneous results. Paruk's Rock Wrecker would have done a fair amount of damage on its own, but with the added velocity from a free fall? Ent stumbled, dumbfounded, before collapsing to the ground, a trickle of blood running down the side of his head.

 

 

Chan: Fainted

Voodoo: Destiny Bond

Suya: Power Whip > Witch

Witch: Shadow Ball > Kada

Kada: Leaf Storm > Witch

Wizard: Synchronoise > Psychic-Types

Doll: Protect > Self

Ent: Focus Punch > Céris

Céris: Roost > Self

Tox: Item Drop > Ent

Paruk: Falling Rock Wrecker > Ent (KO)

 

 

IC - Xander Cruize (Sylph, Astraea, Psyka)/Dahlia Seaton (Asriel, Dracos, Coco)/Gavin Braner (Vel, Irest, Dothe, Talsim)
WOBBUFFET/XATU/GIRAFARIG/HYPNO/CLAYDOL/SIGILYPH - The Chamber of Treachery:

 

A wave washed over the battlefield. Sigilyph's Psychic attack suddenly felt impossible to tap into, and the same could be said for Xatu's Teleport. Claydol had it the worst, as it lost access to both moves.

 

This loss of power left Claydol unable to target the retreating and now-vulnerable Astraea, forcing it to focus on the closer threats. As Coco closed in for another attack and Irest doubled down on his own Bites, Claydol focused its energy on the floor beneath them. The next moment, an explosion of earth erupted, throwing all three to the sky. Claydol and Irest crashed heavily to the floor from the makeshift explosion, both out for the count.

 

Wobbuffet was knocked silly by Megahorn. It wah-wahed, and then stuck its tongue out at Asriel, before clapping at the Absol in an Encore.

 

With its primary method of dodging disabled, Xatu could really only let the Thunderbolt strike. The attack did clear damage to it, as some of the seams on its body appeared to loosen, revealing red innards beneath. Nonetheless, it used Future Sight to signal an attack against Dracos.

 

Psyka and Gerri's attacks were . . . admirable, though they seemed to do little to faze Hypno, who merely burst into a series of mad chuckles. The Psychic-Type responded with Hypnosis, attempting to put both to sleep. It stopped laughing when Dothe appeared from the shadows behind it, letting loose a powerful burst of Night Shade upon his enemy that threw the Hypnosis Pokémon off of its feet.

 

Sigilyph, meanwhile, could do almost nothing without its Psychic attack. The only method of directly affecting others that it now possessed was its Mirror Move attack, which would require one to target it first. That being the case, it instead floated around the Chamber, attempting to use Hypnosis on Talsim. In retaliation, particular since its antics were interfering with his attempts to care for Gavin, the Alakazam laughed a Thunder Wave at the Avianoid Pokémon, stalling it in midair. Talsim returned his attention to Gavin, attempting to use a highly-focused Psychic to repair some of the damage to his Trainer's arm, though the Psychic-Type feared that the damage was too much for him to heal--particularly in the current conditions.

 

Moves Imprisoned

Sigilyph > Psychic

Claydol > Teleport, Psychic 

Xatu > Teleport

 

Irest: Bite > Claydol

Claydol: Earth Power/Improvised Explosion > Self, Coco, Irest

Wobbuffet: Encore (Megahorn) > Asriel

Xatu: Future Sight > Dracos

Hypno: Hypnosis > Gerri, Psyka

Dothe: Night Shade > Hypno

Sigilyph: Hypnosis > Talsim

Talsim: Thunder Wave > Sigilyph (Hit)

 

 

IC - The Chamber of Wandering:

 

Kyle wasn't surprised to find that the next room was orange, all things considered--he recalled Ray going by such a code name back before they had been on a first-name basis, and it was a color that he had associated with the Rocket Agent ever since. What did surprise him was the expression on Ray's face when they entered. His projection stood in the center of the room, surrounded by his own memories. He looked almost relieved to see them, though sad at the same time.

 

"So you all followed me after all, huh?" he said. "It's kinda refreshing to see everyone, honestly. But I think you coming here was a mistake . . ." Ray moved a hand to rub the back of his head, at the same time that a yellow symbol blinked onto and then vanished from the wall. "You're almost to the bottom, you know . . ."

[Konuju]

IC: James Arthur (Galahad, Gawain, Mordred, Lancelot, Percival, Agravain)/Claus Diamond (Hades, Flint, Baccio, Porky, Lucas)/Jared Winters Mercury (Styx, Anubis, Stones)
COFAGRIGUS/GOLURK/PORYGON-Z/CHANDELURE/KLEFKI/AEGISLASH - The Chamber of Authority:
Cofagrigus hid behind another Protect, but hardly grinned as the Absol knocked itself out against the shield. Things were looking grim. Porygon-Z had crashed, Golurk had fallen, Klefki was in pieces, Chandelure seemed to be barely hanging on as it was, and Aegislash was getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of their opponents. Cofagrigus was safe from the falling rocks behind his shield, but his allies were vulnerable -- especially those that had already succumbed to unconsciousness.

A hint of a grin appeared on the coffin's face, one filled more with malice than glee. As things stood now, the battle was clearly lost. But that Shadow Pokémon and Trainer were clearly volatile. If Cofagrigus could manage to turn its foes against each other, then perhaps they'd be too distracted to deal with Ford. Grinning wildly, the Cofagrigus scaled the walls, moving stealthily across the ceiling like a shadowy spider. Once in position, it lobbed a Shadow Ball in the direction of Claus.

The sphere sailed well above the trainer's head, possibly too high for him to even notice, for he was not the intended target. At least, not the direct target. Cofagrigus scuttled away into the shadows, leaving the unfortunate Claus (and consequently Baccio) as the one the Onix would find when it turned to see who had hit it.

Chandelure caught sight of Cofagrigus and quickly realized its plan. While weaving around the falling rocks, Chandelure focused on the Shadow Pokémon's trainer. A low-powered Confuse Ray would likely be enough to break whatever control the trainer had over the giant rock snake. Whether the disorientation would be enough to make him confuse friend and foe, it was hard to say.

Chandelure never got a chance to find out, for the moment the attack had been launched, it noticed the Weavile had disappeared. The next thing it knew, it had been struck in the back. Chandelure pitched forward, unable to stop itself from colliding with a massive rock. The chandelier fell to the ground, pinned under the boulder. Its flames slowly dimmed before flickering out, signaling its defeat.

The King's Shield was the only thing between Aegislash and a massive Flamethrower. The Sword Blade Pokémon was trying to figure out the best way to move away from the flames while retaliating against its opponents and also avoiding the Rock Slide, when Percival moved around the shield to ensnare Aegislash in a Fire Spin. Aegislash responded by shifting its stance and smashing its blade into the chandelier.

Unfortunately, the attack left Aegislash vulnerable to Galahad's Flamethrower. The ghostly sword survived just long enough to execute its Head Smash. Then a Night Shade came out of nowhere. Trapped within the swirling flames, Aegislash was unable to avoid getting hit. Sword and shield clattered to the ground, badly singed and covered in pockmarks.

Cofagrigus: Protect > Self; Shadow Ball > Stones (aimed from behind Claus)
Chandelure: Confuse Ray > Mercury; fainted
Aegislash: Stance Change to Blade Forme; Head Smash (using blade as "head") > Percival; fainted


IC: Jenny Hakuda (Gyaralite, Lurelite, Scizlite, Eelite, Sandlite, Boarlite)/Evan Tierra (Vlad, Monstro, Hippowdon, Gnip, Lazengann, Behemoth)
BRONZONG/EXPLOUD/WIGGLYTUFF/JYNX/KRICKETUNE/CHIMECHO – The Chamber of Promise:
There was little Chimecho could do to prevent Boarlite from grabbing it out of the air and crashing it into the ground. The wind chime struggled to send waves of Hypnosis at the fiery pig. But it was too late for Chimecho to escape the chorus of quakes, and the struggling chime soon ceased to peal.

With the Chandelure gone, Jynx was free to direct her Ice Beam at Monstro. She had just launched her attack when the opposing team responded with an ensemble earthquake. The Humanshape Pokémon struggled to move her body in time with the quake, to ride the wave and minimize damage. But this quake had five sources, and the waves interfered and distorted with each other so much that it was impossible to keep any sort of tempo. Jynx tripped over her feet and fell victim to the surging quake.

It was fortunate that Lurelite had caught Bronzong off guard. With no time to dodge the incoming Shadow Balls, the bronze bell summoned a Protect. It was that Protect that kept Bronzong safe from the quintuple earthquake that followed. The bell watched the destruction erupt all around it, and knew it was unlikely that any of its allies would survive. As if in answer, a massive Hyper Beam shot through the shield, threatening to break it. As Bronzong struggled to maintain the Protect, it saw the less fortunate Monstro take on the full force of the attack. These trainers were truly desperate.

With its arms busy defending against the barrage of Aerial Aces, Kricketune shifted to whistling its haunting melody. The bug took a few steps backward under the relentless attack, before retaliating with its own flurry of Brick Breaks. It was only a matter of time before the Perish Song took them both out, so Kricketune had no qualms about going on the all-out attack. The surging quake that shook the entire room threw the cricket off balance, but neither Kricketune nor Scizlite seemed intent on giving up. Between the punches and the massive quake, it seemed both bugs would meet their end before the Perish Song could claim them. Shifting one arm into a more defensive stance, Kricketune drew its other arm back, aiming to finish off the Scizor with one final strike. Then the Hyper Beam hit, incinerating the pair of bugs.

Wigglytuff was struggling to stay awake. She had the sinking feeling that the Hippowdon's yawn would end up being her downfall. Even if she managed to survive the quakes, sleep would leave her vulnerable to any subsequent attacks. The Balloon Pokémon's eyes widened at Gyaralite's Hyper Beam. The attack sailed through Bronzong and obliterated Kricketune, striking the nearby Scizor and Gliscor as well. And in her drowsy state, there was nothing she could do to escape the path of destruction. Wigglytuff tumbled head over heels, battered by both quake and beam. She lost consciousness long before the earth stopped shaking.

Path of Hyper Beam
Bronzong (Protected) > Monstro > Kricketune > Scizlite > Vlad > Wigglytuff

Chimecho: Hypnosis > Boarlite; fainted
Jynx: Ice Beam > Monstro; fainted
Bronzong: Protect > Self
Kricketune: Multiple Brick Breaks > Scizlite; fainted
Wigglytuff: fainted


IC: Dahlia - The Chamber of Treachery
Dahlia carefully got to her feet. Although she still felt a little dizzy, the effects of the Confuse Ray appeared to have subsided. The gardener got her bearings just in time to see Coco fly through the air like a ragdoll and crash rather painfully on the ground. "Oh no, I'm sorry Coco." Dahlia quickly recalled the fainted Buneary in a beam of red light, then turned her attention to the rest of her Pokémon.
 
Unlike his trainer, Dracos remained under the disorienting spell of Confuse Ray. He tried to follow up his Thunderbolt with a Dragon Rush, but instead crashed into the ground beside the Xatu. The Dragonair winced in pain and decided it would be best to just wait for the world to stop spinning.
 
Asriel narrowed his eyes at the Wobbuffet. He did not trust a punching bag that knew what attack he was going to use. With a growl, the Absol turned on his heels and dashed back toward the Hypno to give it a taste of his Megahorn. Gerri had already succumbed to the hypnotizing pendulum, and Asriel was not about to let the dream-eating Pokémon take advantage of the sleeping Surskit.
 
The situation was worse than Dahlia had feared. She grabbed another Pokéball and sent out her Turtwig. "Nutmeg, give us all some protection with a Wide Guard," the gardener said as she closed her eyes. "And keep me safe." Even as Nutmeg formed a shield around their allies, Dahlia began to tap into her Powers of Reverse. The last time she had used them in the heat of battle, she had lost control. But as Gavin's contorted arm proved, the cost of inaction far outweighed the risk of overwhelming her powers. Nevertheless, her heart raced in anticipation. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. "Mr. Giratina," she murmured. "Please grant me strength."
 
Coco: fainted
Dracos (Outrage disabled, turn 2 of confusion): attempted Dragon Rush; hurt himself in confusion
Gerri: asleep
Asriel (Night Slash disabled): Megahorn (encored) > Hypno
Nutmeg: Wide Guard > Dahlia/Xander/Gavin Teams
Dahlia: preparing Reverse powers
 
 
IC: Ryan/Dack/Paul/Jayron - The Chamber of Wandering
Paul approached the projection. "A mistake?" he growled. "That's a far cry from what you said the last time we saw you. McKinley's Xatu... it brainwashed you. Made you believe all of Ford's lies."
 
Ryan held up a hand for Mr. Burks to be quiet, then looked over at his old friend. Orihime flew up to the image of her trainer and greeted him warmly. Ryan smiled. "You were there for me in my darkest hours," he said quietly. "I trust you know what you're doing. And although I can't claim to understand what's going on here... I'm willing to accept the possibility that Ford might be right." Paul started to protest, but Ryan pressed onward. "That said... I don't think we can say the same for all of Ford's 'Children.'" He glanced back at Sang and nodded. "Tell him."

[MELON LORD]

IC: Xander Cruize(Sylph/Astraea/Psyka) - Chamber of Treachery

 

Sylph was glad to see more enemies falling. She teleported back by Xander as the trainer rose to his feet. The nausea and confusion were gone, and he was ready to step it up. The two linked minds quickly, and Sylph shuddered as she felt power coursing into her. She raised her left arm, pointing the stub at the opposing Sigilyph floating around the room. Bright purple energy gathered at the end of her arm, and fired off like a cannon, briefly bathing the room in purple light.

 

Psyka tried to avoid the Hypnosis, but found herself drifitng to sleep. Astraea moved to guard the sleeping Espurr, and it joined Sylph in firing a blast of light, a Power Gem aimed at the opposing Xatu.

 

Xander focused his mind and unleashed a Psionic Burst at the Hypno, knowing that the Wobbuffet would probably take the hit well and maybe redirect it at him.

 

Sylph: Teleport > Self to Xander; Synchronize-empowered Moon Blast > Sigilyph

Psyka: Asleep (1 turn)

Astraea: Power Gem > Xatu

Xander: Psionic Burst > Hypno

 

IC: Mercury(Anubis/Styx/Stones)

 

The silver-haired trainer gave a not-at-all-apologetic grin to James. "Sorry, heat of the moment." He turned back to the battle just in time to be hit with the Confuse Ray. He stumbled back, trying to close his eyes against the attack, but failing. He lashed out with a blind Aura Slash towards the attacker.

 

Stones roared as the Shadow Ball hit. He turned to look for his attacker, and growled as he saw only two supposed allies. Knowing that the human wouldn't have been able to launch the attack, he honed in on the Boldore. He lunged and lashed out with a tail of iron.

 

Mercury: Aura Slash > James

Stones: Iron Tail > Baccio.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Jenny Hakuda, SLAYER OF CRICKETS==-

 

Jenny quickly switched Pokeballs as the quake took down both friend and foe. She bit her lip for a moment as her Emboar and Chandelure fell near instantly to the Surging Quake; however, it did its job well. Four of their opponents fell from the quake, even as the trainer had to grip her head from the sheer amount of vibrations. As she glanced up, however, she saw one last obstacle in the way. The Bronzong still stood, as the Hyper Beam crashed into the barrier.

 

"FINISH IT!" Jenny cried out, as she held her head with a hand. Sandlite breathed heavily, as she had taken the force from the other Earthquakes as well, but still stood strong. As the Bronzong's barrier began to fade, the Krookodile acted quickly. She surrounded the bell with as much sand as she could muster up for the Sand Tomb, trying to seal it in one spot. It wasn't simply to defeat it, however, but to allow the broken and still-sizzling Scizor to slowly make her way toward the Bronzong with a very broken smile. When close enough... she would give one final strike with Thief. She also had to really thank Arceus for Steel typing.

 

All the while, Gyaralite watched from the distance, simply opting to gather her strength back after the powerful Hyper Beam.

 

OOC:

 

Moves:

 

Sandlite: Sand Tomb > Bronzong

Scizlite: Thief > Bronzong

Gyaralite: Recharging

[Parugi]

IC - Ray Hakuda/Kyle Eston/Esen Windred/Sleight/Eileen Alaric/Bounty/Jackson Sang/All - The Chamber of Wandering:

 

Ray watched Sang as he approached. The Rocket Freelancer looked troubled as he came to a stop next to Ryan. "Hey. The name's Sang," he said. "Listen, I don't doubt that what Ford and you all are trying to do is for our benefit, but there's something you need to tell him: McKinley isn't--"

 

The entire structure suddenly trembled, enough to make the non-projections stumble. Ray looked around, confused, and then raised a hand to his head, looking off into the distance. "Huh . . .?" His eyes suddenly widened, and then he vanished, his projection blinking out of existence. The trembling stopped immediately.

 

Sang looked about the room warily. He cursed under his breath. "What the ###### is going on here . . .?"

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Chloe==-

 

Chloe and Colette yelped out when the room started to shake. When Chloe looked back up from her stumbling, Ray had disappeared, which caused the psychic girl to frown slightly. Something didn't feel right about this situation, not the least the fact that the shaking only happened while Ray had been there.

 

"I don't think this is a good sign." Her mind was made up, as she glanced toward the way down. "We need to keep pushing onward. I don't know what this is all about, but... something feels wrong." She glanced to the others, however, namely Paul. "I get the sense that we should try to keep calmer, though." Chloe looked away after that, as she bit her lip, and began to walk toward the stairs that would take them to the next floor.

 

-==IC: Ryan(Tyranitar, Porygon-Z, Excadrill, Simisage, Samurott, Xatu)==-

 

Ryan sighed in relief as two of their opponents had been taken out. That luckily freed up three of his Pokemon to do other things, but... that didn't mean they could do all that much against the remaining four Pokemon. The man thought about sending some of them to fight off the Gothitelle, but knew that sending too many would just make things worse. He nodded to Sammy, who began to head toward the psychic Pokemon.

 

Xana screeched out in protest as the attack scrambled her brain for a moment. The bird went into free-fall, though she managed to pull herself out of it before she hit the ground. She hovered near the ground and sent out a relatively weak Ominous Wind back toward the Beheeyem, intending now more to distract it from targeting any of her other friends. She knew she couldn't handle another of those Synchronoises, however.

 

Meanwhile, Porygon-Z could see the Samurott headed toward the fight. It moved itself in the air, to try and move to an angle that would block Doll's view of the approaching water-type. As it did so, it fired a Signal Beam. This time, however, it was also more intended to move the Gothitelle into place; the damage would simply be a happy addition. If this could work, then Sammy would strike from an angle that wouldn't put her into the path, and use Night Slash. The Porygon-Z felt this was a perfect idea. Therefore, it also knew the grim fact that it could very easily fail.

 

Tyranitar felt funny. He wasn't entirely certain why, but here was the Banette that had given so much trouble, seemingly wide open. He was not going to waste this opportunity. The Tyranitar roared out, as he summoned a spiky rock for Stone Edge, and sent it flying toward the ghost-type, hoping that it would hit Voodoo this time and get them one step closer to winning in general.

 

Meanwhile, the Simisage and Excadrill decided to take a little moment to catch their breath, after their close encounter with icy doom. They glanced around to see what the best place to head to next would even be, but most of the opponents were either covered, floating, or both. Just in case, however, they began to make their way toward where the Mismagius and Kada were duking it out, just in case three people could be better than one.

 

OOC:

 

Moves:

 

Xatu: Weak Ominous Wind > Beheeyem

Porygon-Z: Signal Beam > Gothitelle

Samurott: Night Slash > Gothitelle

Tyranitar: Stone Edge > Banette

Excadrill: Waiting

Simisage: Waiting

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra, "Forget Earth-shaker. This is outright Earth-destroyer!"

As the ground shook, Monstro felt Gyaralite's Hyper Beam hit him. Despite the fact that he was going to faint again, the Mud Fish felt content with the end result. Sure, he wasn't able to see it through to the end, but at least, he could say that he fought the good fight. Monstro fell to the ground, giving a satisfied look as he was returned to his poke ball.

Vlad knew that when the Hyper Beam hit him, combined with the previous damage he took, that it was time to close the curtain on his act in this play. As much as he didn't like it, he had to admit that he played his role well. The flying scorpion couldn't help but give a smile as he fell from above, only to be recalled, before he could thud onto the ground.

Evan, despite his head feeling as shaken as the ground he stood on, smiled at the end result of Surging Quake. While others would be disappointed that such an attack didn't take down all the targets, Evan was satisfied with this last one. "My being unable to beat your master started with you." Evan said, giving the Bronzong a grin that radiated confidence. "I'm glad, that it also ends with you! Hippowdon, Yawn! Behemoth, Super Power!"

Nodding, the Hippowdon let loose yet another Yawn, managing to do so quickly, thanks to the Trick Room. If anything, this battle was a thrill ride for her, and she would be certainly getting some well-earned rest. The Heavyweight pokemon glared at the Bronzong, knowing that it stood no chance with was going to be thrown at it.

Behemoth, despite buckling quite a bit due to all the damage from the Surging Quake, charged at the Bronze Bell, not caring if his attack power was less than it used to be. The Twin Tusk pokemon radiated an aura of power as he ran. Nothing was going stop him, especially with his fellow ground type making sure his target wouldn't be able to do anything sneaky. It'd be an insult to his friends if they were to lose with the odds as they were, after all....

Edited October 14, 2016 by Hades

[Konuju]

IC: Jenny Hakuda (Gyaralite, Lurelite, Scizlite, Eelite, Sandlite, Boarlite)/Evan Tierra (Vlad, Monstro, Hippowdon, Gnip, Lazengann, Behemoth)
BRONZONG/EXPLOUD/WIGGLYTUFF/JYNX/KRICKETUNE/CHIMECHO – The Chamber of Promise:
Bronzong was not about to go down so easily. The moment it saw the sands starting to swirl around it, the bell retreated towards the exhausted Gyarados, taking advantage of the lightning-fast speed granted by the Trick Room. Scizlite struck only sand where the Bronzong had been. It was fortunate for the Scizor that she slowed down upon reaching the empty Sand Tomb, for moments later Behemoth plowed through the cloud of sand.

Hippowdon, however, was not fooled by the feint. Her yawn met its target, and Bronzong felt its eyes starting to grow as heavy as its body. The bronze bell knew its time was limited, but it was determined to take out as many of its foes as it could. Turning to face Gyaralite, Bronzong exerted a Psychic force on the sea serpent, aiming to take her down before she could recover from the Hyper Beam.

Trick Room: Turn 4
Bronzong: drowsy from Yawn; Psychic > Gyaralite


IC: Ryan/Dack/Paul/Jayron - The Chamber of Wandering
The sudden quake sent Ryan tumbling to the ground. "Ray!" The Liberty agent cursed and punched the ground. They had been so close. Orihime squawked in surprise and flew circles around where the projection had stood, begging her trainer to come back.
 
Paul glanced at Ryan and then back at Chloe. "Yeah. Calm. We think the guy who stole my daughter and your friends is going to betray Ford, and you want us to remain calm. It doesn't matter if Ford's right or not; none of them are safe with a traitor in their midst!"
 
Ryan shakily got to his feet, leveling his eyes on the blacksmith. "We'll just have to warn them."
 
"You mean stop them." Jayron folded his arms with a frown. "I don't care what Ford's kidnapped 'children' say; this whole business is fishy. There's too much secrecy. Haven't you stopped to consider that nobody's giving us a straight answer?"
 
"Maybe they can't," Ryan shot back. "Just because we don't understand it doesn't mean we have to stop them!"
 
"They're playing with your emotions, Sanders." For a brief moment, Ryan thought he saw a glow in Jayron's eyes. "You came here ready to play the hero, but as soon as we stepped into Sonja's room your motivation did a complete 180. I understand they're your friends, but you can't forget that it was McKinley who recruited them. We don't know if they're themselves, or if they're being used by McKinley for his own devices. And you can't rule out the possibility that Ford is just as evil as McKinley but in a different way. It's too risky to let Ford's plan play out without knowing his intentions."
 
Ryan flushed angrily. "They wouldn't willingly join Ford if they didn't believe in what he's doing!"
 
Jayron's eyes narrowed. "Unless they've been tricked! I've seen a little girl get lured into a trap by a swarm of Unown. I was betrayed by my own master when I needed him most. You remember those twisted games Ford played during the Battle of Four Island; he's too cunning to just suddenly be doing things for the greater good."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Chloe==-

 

"Everyone shut up!" Chloe stopped in her tracks and whirled around to face the bickering two, a look of annoyance on her face. "Look, I get that everything is totally weird right now. I get that we're all stressed because of how the situation has been playing out. But right now, I get the feeling that we're playing into the hands of whoever is behind all this, if we keep this up." The girl struggled to keep herself calm as well, seeming like she was fighting some part of a headache from all the yelling. She wished that all this constant fighting among themselves could just stop. Why did this have to happen everywhere? It was bad enough with everything in Sootopolis, then everything in Celadon, then all the stuff at Four Island... Chloe was really starting to just get tired of it just continually happening.

 

"I don't know things about Ford as much as you all do. But this entire situation has been weird from the start." The psychic looked between Jayron and Ryan with a look of warning on her face. "Have you not noticed how some of the things were happening? How that first guy didn't even think that we would be here? That it was mostly McKinley and our friends that realized that we were even possibly going to be here?" The girl shook her head, as she looked pointedly at Jayron in particular, as she figured that he would try to cut in with some form of protest about this.

 

"Besides... I don't know what's going on here, but from what Sonja and that other girl were saying, something just leaves me unsettled. That's why we need to at least keep going, to find out answers. I don't know if fighting is the answer anymore; but, we won't learn anything if we just keep fighting among ourselves. And this is really getting to be too common a thing, and I'm just frustrated about it." Chloe finally stopped to take a breath, her look of frustration still on her face. "If it turns out that fighting against Ford is needed there, then we'll deal with it there, when it comes to that... but yelling at each other, what does that accomplish? Doesn't it just delay us, if this is something we need to stop?"

 

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

Gyaralite was caught off guard by the sudden speed of the Bronzong, but was not about to fall for the same trick a second time. She got hit by the Psychic attack, but roared out in defiance, as she whirled around, as she attempted to whip her tail at the pesky bell; a similar tactic to what she tried at the beginning of the match. Bronzong's one fatal flaw, however, was that she assumed that the Gyarados had taken a lot of damage, when, in fact, she had actually been left alone for more or less all of the match after she fell asleep.

 

Sandlite muttered darkly as the Bronzong escaped her trap. However, she whirled around, and tried to trap the Bronzong in a Sand Tomb once again. This time, on the other hand, she tried to guess which way the Bronzong might try to escape from the Gyarados' attack. That said, she also noticed how drowsy the sentient bell seemed to be, and had a feeling that soon enough, it would be over regardless of whether these attacks hit.

 

Scizlite fell to a knee as the attack failed, and she was recalled by her trainer shortly after. Jenny smiled at the Pokeball that held the Scizor and nodded. "You did good." She whispered, as she placed the Pokeball back on her belt.

 

OOC:

 

Moves:

 

Gyarados: Aqua Tail > Bronzong

Krookodile: Sand Tomb > Bronzong

[Konuju]

IC: Ryan/Dack/Paul/Jayron - The Chamber of Wandering

"You're right." Jayron gave Chloe an apologetic smile. "If we can't agree on what to do, then we lose no matter what." He looked back at Ryan. "I'll agree to at least attempt to learn what Ford's doing before trying to stop him, but if it turns out we need to stop Ford as well as McKinley, you have to be ready to fight." The aura wielder's features softened, as he gave Ryan a somber look. "Even if that means fighting Sonja and Ray."

 

Ryan looked about to protest, but thought better of it. "I can't say I'll like it," he muttered. "But if they really are mistaken, then they'll understand. I hope." With a sigh, he turned towards the stairs, pausing only briefly as he passed by Chloe. "Sorry this keeps happening. I don't like it any more than you."

 

"It was drawn to us by our cruelty and conflict." Dack glanced between Ryan, Jayron, and Chloe. His eyes lingered on the auburn-haired girl, for she looked familiar but he couldn't quite place it. "That's what Skye said before she disappeared. Have you noticed that the last few 'children' have refused to fight us? I have a sinking feeling all this in-fighting is doing way more harm than any of us realize."

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: James/Claus

 

Percival had no time to evade the sword. The powerful rock-type move was enough to finally fell the Chandelure. But as he fell with the Aegislash, Percival had the satisfaction of knowing that his job was done.

 

Baccio forced Claus back with a sudden push. The push was enough to clear the trainer away from the incoming Iron Tail. The Boldore tried to use Stone Edge to fight back against the Onix's Iron Tail, but it cut through the rock and slammed into the Boldore. The earlier Earthquake from Golurk left the Boldore with not much health left despite the Iron Defense. The Iron Tail just finished the job.

 

"No, Baccio!" Claus said running over to the fallen Boldore. Thankfully the Boldore's wounds weren't as bad as Flint or Lucas's but that was small consolation.

 

James watched the Confuse Ray fly and strike the other trainer. If he wasn't a handful already, this would surely make him one. When he saw the aura slash fly at him, James instinctively and hurriedly opened his briefcase and held like a shield, letting certain contents of it fly out. Certain contents, including one Ultra Ball. As the slash hit the brief case, it flew out of James's arms and landed a ways away, the laptop contained inside flying out and slamming on the ground. James was miffed about the damage to his things, but frankly his life was more important.

 

Well, he'd send an invoice to this trainer if he ever needed to deal with Team Liberty again.

 

Quickly counting the bodies of Pokémon lying on the ground, James noted there was one opponent unaccounted for.

 

"Sir, I apologize in advance for all I am about to do. But I am ending this now," James stated as the aforementioned Ultra Ball fell to the ground. He wanted to save her until after the fight had ended. But it was late enough in the game that it would likely not make a difference. The Celebi that popped out of the Ultra Ball surveyed the battle field.

 

Is there even a fight left? the Celebi said before yawning slightly. She hadn't actually expected James to let her out. He generally didn't do that. So she had been taking a bit of a nap right before then.

 

James ignored the time-traveler for the moment. First priority, stopping the trainer's wild aura strikes. They had virtually no chance of being helpful.

 

"Lancelot, restrain him until confusion wears off."

 

The Scizor nodded before dashing over and running up behind Mercury. He threw his arms around the confused aura wielder with intent to hold onto him tightly, to restrict his movements.

 

"Celebi, use Giga Drain on Onix."

 

No problem. The Celebi, with probably greater flourish than was necessary, sent green tendrils towards the rock-snake, intending to suck the life out of it until it yielded.

 

"Galahad, flush out that last opponent with your Aura sense."

 

The Togekiss's eyes lit up with a white aura in compliance with James's order. He looked around (trying to ignore the auras of Mercury and Celebi) and found no auras that sight had not left unaccounted for. So he looked up and found one glowing shape. In response, Galahad spew forth a stream of flames. Half to damage the Cofagirgus, and half to light up the area to show his allies where the target was.

 

Mordred didn't need an order after that. He was once again grateful for taller Pokemon. He bounded up the Onix, ignoring the pain from his burn. Reaching the top, he kicked off the Onix's head towards the Cofagrigus. The Weavile swiped at the Cofagirigus's nearest shadowy hands with Night Slash, intent on trying to bring the Cofagrigus back down to the ground with him. (That and more direct hit probably would've got him in some cross-fire. And he really didn't want that. The burn he had was bad enough, thank you very much).

 

Hades also looked where the Togekiss was pointing with fire, and gave a small grin. Overwhelming a single opponent was kind of fun. Much simpler than fighting a mass of strong enemies. His Night Shade followed to join Galahad's Flamethrower.

 

OOC:

 

Lancelot (+2 Atk): Bullet Punch for movement; attempt to restrain Mercury;

Galahad: Flamethrower > Cofagrigus

Mordred (+2 Atk, Burned +2 Spd): Burn Damage; Night Slash > Cofagrigus

Percival (-2 Sp.A): Hit by Head Smash (KO'd);

 

Hades (Recover Blocked): Night Shade > Cofagrigus

Baccio (+4 Spd; +4 Def): Half formed Stone Edge > Stones (KO'd)

 

Celebi: Giga Drain > Stones

[Konuju]

IC: James Arthur (Galahad, Gawain, Mordred, Lancelot, Percival, Agravain, Celebi)/Claus Diamond (Hades, Flint, Baccio, Porky, Lucas)/Jared Winters Mercury (Styx, Anubis, Stones)
COFAGRIGUS/GOLURK/PORYGON-Z/CHANDELURE/KLEFKI/AEGISLASH - The Chamber of Authority:
Cofagrigus nimbly moved out of the path of the Flamethrower and subsequent Night Shade. But the metaphorical damage had already been done: its hiding place had been discovered. Before Cofagrigus could crawl away to a new corner of the room, the Weavile leapt up with frightening speed and dug its claws into the ghostly sarcophagus.

As the pair tumbled through the air, the ethereal wisps emanating from the coffin gained a dark glow. Cofagrigus waited until they were falling past Galahad before unleashing a Dark Pulse at its foes. Unfortunately, that was all Cofagrigus could muster. Already weakened from its battle with the Shadow Absol, the sarcophagus knew it had found its grave. Mordred's claws had been the final nail in the coffin.

As the Cofagrigus slammed into the ground, it turned its eyes to the Shadow Onix and its trainer. A cracked grin appeared on the face of the coffin as Cofagrigus' ghostly arms retreated inside its container. The damage had been done, and Cofagrigus was more than content to leave its opponents to duke it out amongst themselves. Its eyes closed, and Cofagrigus was finally laid to rest.


Cofagrigus: Dark Pulse > Mordred and Galahad; fainted

[MELON LORD]

IC: Mercury(Styx, Anubis, Stones) - Chamber of Authority

 

As quickly as the confusion had taken hold, it disipated. Mercury tried to pull himself from the Scizor's grip. "Let me go, let me go!" He looked to where Stones was being attacked by a Celebi and scowled. "Down, Stones! Enough." As the Onix approached, he glared at the fallen opponents.

 

"Cheap tactics. Hope I didn't do too much damage to anyone." His tone was flat, not betraying any care or concern for his temporary teammates. "Should we keep going, or take a knee here?"

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Pearl Is Unshakable

You have got to be kidding me.

Feral's mental message hit the mark on everyone's feelings at this moment. Evan shot a glare at the Bronzong, who had dodged everything thrown at it, but his Hippowdon's Yawn. The young man had enough. He was tired of this bell's irritating tolling, and knew exactly how to deal with it. "Behemoth, use a bell-breaking Superpower on Bronzong!" he cried, quite clear. Hippowdon, hit it with Ice Fang!"

Hippowdon growled as she utilized the Trick Room's effect once more, to lunge at the Bronze Bell, her maw aglow with cold energy. She had to admire this foe's persistence, but there was also a time to give up, and this was it for the Bronzong. She was going to make it realize this cold truth the hard way. Hopefully, the water from Gyaralite's Aqua Tail would make this even more effective than it should be.

As his fellow remaining teammate was going to bite down, Behemoth had simply, due to the room's effect,moved at a relatively brisk pace towards his target. He knew what to do, especially considering his foe's current drowsy state. As he drew close enough, the sizable swine-mammoth started to, with great effort, rear up onto his hind legs, mystifying even his master. This was the first time he really considered -not- outright charging his foe, instead opting to use Super Power lift himself up, and then gravity would do the rest.....

OOC:

Hipppowdon: Ice Fang > Bronzong

Behemoth: Superpower > Bronzong

Edited October 15, 2016 by Hades

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: James/Claus

 

James retreated Mordred as he fell from the ceiling. The Dark Pulse didn't -quite- knock him out, but with his burn, he wasn't gonna stay conscious much longer. Galahad tried manipulating his aura to block the attack, but failed and the attack landed. If Galahad was annoyed that his experiment failed he did not show him. He merely closed his eyes and began uttering a silent prayer, a Wish to heal his wounds.

 

"Celebi, that is enough," James said, though the legend had already started the process of relinquishing the Onix from her tendrils. "Lancelot, you may release him."

 

The Scizor nodded and let the struggling Mercury go from his grasp.

 

Before responding to Mercury, James turned towards Claus and asked "Agent Diamond, are you and yours alright?"

 

Claus nodded as he retreated Baccio, "Yeah, Baccio'll be fine. We'll be alright."

 

Hades waved and noted that Heal Block's grasp was waning. He'd have access to Recover in moments. I'm good too, if anyone cares, not that anyone could understand him.

 

"Then we accept your apology and offer our own," James offered to Mercury.

 

For a moment, James wondered what would have happened had Guinevere and Pierce been there, but Claus and the other trainer had not. Would he have been able to defeat Pierce in a straight fight, with him commanding his Pokemon? James wasn't sure that he would've, meaning he still had lengths to go.

 

Still, there was nowhere near the gulf that had separated them the last time he had fought Pierce.

 

"What do we do now, sir?" Claus asked, walking over to James.

 

Snapping out of his thoughts, James turned towards Claus. "I would suggest you two return to Goldhawk. Pierce's Pokemon will not recover from this thrashing for at least several hours and you have one battle ready Pokemon. Go tell Goldhawk what you have seen thus far. For you, Agent Diamond, that is an order."

 

"Wait, just us? What are you gonna do, sir?" Claus asked curiously.

 

Good question James thought in response. Half of my team is unfit for battle, though Galahad and Lancelot can heal their own wounds, they are still exhausted from that fight. Assuming they'll be healed in time, that's three Pokemon I have to fight with.

 

James walked over to pick up his effects that had been knocked from his hands. He looked with dismay at the briefcase. He'd need a new one. His computer had been dinged but didn't appear broken. He picked it up as well as various cords and flash drives. There was still one thing he could do, one thing he could take if he could find the opportunity.

 

"I'll be going on ahead."

 

 

 

IC: Jamie/Richard

 

Wordlessly, Jamie continued walking towards the stairs. She had her own reasons to disagree with Ryan, but she kept quiet. She didn't want to have a repeat of that incident in the cafeteria. But she had no intentions of stopping now. The Rocket Agent intended to see the rest of the mission through to the end. The Heroine of Time couldn't let Ford escape his crimes. And Jamie intended to bring Skye home to face Tristan and the rest of their friends.

 

She paused for a moment when she overheard Dack. A moment though, and no longer.

 

 

 

Infighting between friends. How did one capture that in musical form? Richard let his mind focus on his song, because he couldn't meaningfully contribute to their conversation. He didn't enough about Ford or the people they were rescuing. He'd have to let the others decide. Silently Richard followed those that were heading down the path further in.

[Konuju]

IC: Jenny Hakuda (Gyaralite, Lurelite, Scizlite, Eelite, Sandlite, Boarlite)/Evan Tierra (Vlad, Monstro, Hippowdon, Gnip, Lazengann, Behemoth)
BRONZONG/EXPLOUD/WIGGLYTUFF/JYNX/KRICKETUNE/CHIMECHO – The Chamber of Promise:

Dong

Bronzong swung backwards to avoid the Aqua Tail.

Dong

As the Bronze Bell Pokémon began to swing back, a second set of swirling sands erupted around it. Specks of dirt and sand struck against Bronzong's body, creating a cacophony of small pings as they began to dent the bell. Even with its Trick Room boosted speed, Bronzong found itself unable to escape the twister of sand.

Dong

Hippowdon had entered the twister and sunk her teeth into the side of the bell. Bronzong hung lopsided as a coating of ice on one side threw it off balance.

Dong

In trying to escape the hippo's wrath, Bronzong looked up to see the silhouette of a gargantuan swine rearing up through the swirling sands. Brongzong's eyes glowed as it reached out with Psychic power to try and stop the behemoth. It realized too late that even if it knocked the Mamoswine out, gravity would finish the job for it.

DONG

Bronzong crashed to the ground under the weight of Behemoth. Two mammoth-sized footprints left the bell disfigured, distorting the tone of its final ring. The symphony had reached its bombastic climax, and the final note died quickly in the air.

The only sound remaining was the thunderous applause of sand clanking against Bronzong's cold metal body.


Trick Room: Turn 5
Bronzong: Psychic > Behemoth; crushed by a pig; fainted

[Parugi]

IC: James Arthur (Galahad, Gawain, Mordred, Lancelot, Percival, Agravain, Celebi)/Claus Diamond (Hades, Flint, Baccio, Porky, Lucas)/Jared Winters Mercury (Styx, Anubis, Stones)
COFAGRIGUS/GOLURK/PORYGON-Z/CHANDELURE/KLEFKI/AEGISLASH - The Chamber of Authority:

 

Red beams of light shot forth from the walls and ceiling, encircling the First Child's team of Pokémon. They vanished in the beams a moment later, leaving a clear path forward.

 

 

IC: Jenny Hakuda (Gyaralite, Lurelite, Scizlite, Eelite, Sandlite, Boarlite)/Evan Tierra (Vlad, Monstro, Hippowdon, Gnip, Lazengann, Behemoth)
BRONZONG/EXPLOUD/WIGGLYTUFF/JYNX/KRICKETUNE/CHIMECHO – The Chamber of Promise:

 

Red beams of light shot forth from the walls and ceiling, encircling the Second Child's team of Pokémon. They vanished in the beams a moment later, leaving a clear path forward.

 

 

IC - Ethan Worth (Suya, Céris, Tox, Kada, Paruk)/Ryan Hikari (Xatu, Excadrill, Simisage, Tyranitar, Porygon-Z, Samurott)
SUDOWOODO/BANETTE/BEHEEYEM/GOTHITELLE/MISMAGIUS/ABOMASNOW - The Chamber of Isolation:

 

Voodoo did not even attempt to avoid the attack. As a matter of fact, he actually laughed, bursting into a fit so strong that he found he couldn't move. The boulder struck, smashing him against the ceiling. He floated in the air for a moment before plummeting down to earth, a grin still on his face. With his loss, however, Destiny Bond took hold, sapping Tyranitar of all his energy. In the end, it seemed Voodoo had gotten the last laugh.

 

A chill wind buffeted Wizard. Though still disoriented, he could sense the general direction that the attack had come from. The Beheeyem released another Synchronoise upon the field, striking out at the Xatu. Unfortunately, this attack came at the same time that Doll was having to deal with attacks from two angles. The Synchronoise disrupted her to the point that all she could do was use Mirror Coat to reflect Porygon-Z's Signal Beam back at it before fainting.

 

Witch smirked as the dust from their attacks cleared. As Kada regained his footing and Suya charged toward her, she released two Confuse Ray attacks, one aimed at each of them. She succeeded in her ploy, as evidenced by the Victreebel's sudden, skidding stop and the rapid blinking of Kada's eyes. The two turned toward Simisage and Excadrill, clearly raring to attack, but were suddenly enveloped in red lights that pulled them from the field.

 

"Yeah, not falling for that one," Ethan said, bouncing their Poké Balls in his hand. He looked at Céris. "Buddy, hit 'er with X-Scissor." He glanced upward at Tox, nodding at the Beedrill, who immediately took off. "Paruk, stand by."

 

Céris's claws clacked together. Now fully recovered from his previous bout of damage, the Scizor pushed off, flying toward Witch. The Mismagius hardly managed to avoid the first swing of his claws, though soon found herself in the path of his second swing as he spun around. He shifted into a kick with his wings, knocking her back.

 

"Tox, String Shot--double the norm!"

 

The Beedrill zipped by, spraying a sticky web at the Mismagius. He continued to do so, hitting her from angle after angle, until the Ghost-Type had been tied down by more strings than she could count. As she struggled against them, Céris appeared in front of her, claws glowing green. He brought them down on the Magical Pokémon, slamming her into the ground with enough force to make her bounce back up from it before falling back down. She was out of the fight.

 

That just left Wizard.

 

 

Voodoo: Fainted; Destiny Bond > Tyranitar

Wizard: Synchronoise > Psychic-Types

Doll: Fainted; Mirror Coat (Signal Beam) > Porygon-Z

Witch: Confuse Ray > Kada, Confuse Ray > Suya

Suya: Returned

Kada: Returned

Paruk: Standby

Céris: X-Scissor > Witch

Tox: String Shot x2 > Witch

Witch: Fainted

 

 

IC - Xander Cruize (Sylph, Astraea, Psyka)/Dahlia Seaton (Asriel, Dracos, Coco, Gerri, Nutmeg)/Gavin Braner (Vel, Irest, Dothe, Talsim)
WOBBUFFET/XATU/GIRAFARIG/HYPNO/CLAYDOL/SIGILYPH - The Chamber of Treachery:

 

With the immediate threat taken care of, Xatu turned its attention to its other opponents. It shook its head as Astraea's Power Gem struck it, hardly seeming fazed by the lower-leveled Pokémon's attack. With no other way of attacking, however, all Xatu could do was foresee a retaliatory attack on the Staryu with Future Sight.

 

Hypno couldn't do all that much to defend itself. Given the chance, it would have used some sort of psychic ability to land more softly, but a certain Psionic Burst disrupted that plan. More disruptive than that was the Megahorn that came afterward, impaling the Hypnosis Pokémon on the Absol's horn. It groaned from the pain, using the last of its strength to foresee an attack on Asriel.

 

Paralysis froze Sigilyph where it floated, leaving it a sitting duck for Sylph's Moon Blast. The attack heavily damaged it; something red dripped from its body and down to the floor, though it still managed to stay afloat. It glowed with reflective energy, launching a copied Moon Blast attack back at Sylph.

 

Dothe glared at Wobbuffet, who continued to clap and cheer and laugh despite the carnage around it. Soon, the Dusknoir felt himself compelled to attack, launching a Night Shade attack at the Patient Pokémon that sent it bouncing all around the place. Still it laughed, unresponsive and uncaring of the damage that wracked its body.

 

 

Xatu: Future Sight > Astraea

Hypno: Fainted; Future Sight > Asriel

Sigilyph: Mirror Move (Moon Blast) > Sylph

Wobbuffet: Encore (Night Shade) > Dothe

Dothe: Night Shade > Wobbuffet

Talsim: Tending to Gavin

 

 

IC - Kyle Eston/Esen Windred/Sleight/Eileen Alaric/Bounty/Jackson Sang/All - The Chamber of Wandering:

 

"Agreed." Sang nodded at Dack. "If nothing else, it's taking up too much of our time. Regardless of whether it's Ford, McKinley, or both that we need to stop, it won't matter if we take too long to get to them." He looked at Sleight and Eileen. "I think Levi should be next."

 

"Then let's go." Sleight had already begun moving to the exit. "I'm not letting him wait any longer."

 

Eileen cast a look around at the others as she followed, joining Sleight in pushing to the front of the group to lead their descent into the eighth chamber.

 

 

IC:

 

Bang.

 

Bang.

 

. . .

 

Bang.

 

Bang.

 

. . .

 

Bang.

 

Bang.

 

 

 

IC - The Chamber of Despair:

 

I can't . . . I can't . . .

 

The Eighth Child wept.

 

He sat, arms curled around his knees, in the center of the chamber. The green walls, so reminiscent of the forest that he had grown to love, did nothing to comfort him--not when above and around him, images of trees burning, crackling and popping in flames, played over and over again. He rocked back and forth slightly where he sat, unresponsive to the saddened Phantump that floated in front of him. It stared at its trainer, compelled to reach out to him yet unable to in his current form--it had tried once, only for its hand to pass through his body, his form slipping through like smoke between fingers. So Phantump watched, at a loss for what it could do to help.

 

Another bout of shaking rocked the chamber; Phantump had lost count of how many times this had happened. They had started out small, little more than vibrations inside the crystal floor. Then they had grown a little bit larger, then larger still. They hit infrequently, such that it was impossible to predict them. Yet as they grew more and more intense, the chamber trembled, and the damage intensified. The walls in several places had cracked; now, with the latest quake, holes broke open, and water began to pour into the chamber from outside--at first a drizzle, then rolling like a waterfall down the side of the crystal. It did nothing at first, simply vanishing into the floor, but before long large puddles had appeared on either side of the chamber. They grew and then hit their peak size, where they then remained despite the incoming flow.

 

Phantump's eyes were drawn from the water by the sound of approaching footsteps. It turned in time to see the first of several trainers taking steps into the chamber. At the sight of the black-haired woman at the front of the group, the Stump Pokémon's spirits lifted in shocked joy. It waved desperately at her.

 

"Leif!" Eileen yelled. "Levi!"

 

For the first time in what felt like ages, Levi's eyes opened. He raised his head, stunned at the sight before him. "M-Mom?"

 

A dark blue symbol flashed above his head. It was soon replaced by another symbol, this one light blue. Something moved in the waters that had now reached across the empty floor of the chamber to join hands together. A silvery-white shape took form behind the Eighth Child, catching the attention of Leif and Levi both. Levi's eyes widened as he turned, falling back.

 

"Oh my God . . . LEVI!" Eileen broke away from the group, running forward. Sleight reached after her, and then followed. From behind them, the rest of the group watched the scene unfold.

 

"M-Mom . . ." Levi's projection attempted to back away from the figure. It kept pace with him, a wide smile emerging on its face.

 

Phantump flew between them, his horn-like head branches glowing green with a Horn Leech attack. The figure smirked; Phantump flew backward a moment later, sent flying by a single kick. Kyle tracked Phantump's path and ran to the side, breaking from the group. He managed to lunge and catch the Pokémon before it could strike the hard wall, cushioning its landing.

 

Esen hurried to where he had landed on the floor, placing a hand on his shoulder to help him up. "You okay?"

 

"Yeah," Kyle groaned. He looked back at the center of the room. "What is that thing?"

 

The creature had watched Phantump's flight, though now turned its attention back to Levi's projection. It reached for him.

 

"Help me . . ." Levi turned, reaching for Eileen. "MOMMY!"

 

"LEVI!"

 

There was nothing to be done. As the thing began to close its hand around Levi's face, his projection shattered, leaving it to stand there. Disappointment drooped its shoulders, though it soon regained its composure with a sigh. Its silvery complexion slowly dissipated, replaced with the pale skin and dark hair of a man. Without the previous display of monstrosity, he would have appeared harmless--just another tired civilian on the street. Now, however . . .

 

"Mm . . . Gosh darn it . . ." The man grinned at the group of trainers, adjusting his headgear. Glowing blue eyes stared at them from the shade of his visor, finally settling on Sleight and Eileen. "Hello."

 

The Phantump scrambled from Kyle's arms. It rushed back to the center of the room, coming to a stop in front of where Levi had vanished, staring. Sleight edged forward, scooping up the Pokémon and stepping back, his icy glare never leaving the man's face.

 

"What have you done . . .!?" Eileen seethed. "Where is he!?"

The man chuckled. "You know, it's kind of funny . . ." he said. "I haven't actually done anything to him . . . not yet, anyway." He laughed. "You, on the other hand . . . Parents of the year, right? Totally."

"Who are you?" Sleight demanded, though he already had a suspicion just who--or rather, what--currently stood before him.

 

"Different people call me different things, y'know," he said. "Sadness, apathy, despair . . ."

 

Kyle exchanged a look with Ryan.

 

"Me? I was once a kid named Decaia Holts, but that was a long time ago . . ."

 

Sang felt his stomach drop.

 

"Now?" The man grinned. "Call me Sloth."

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia (Asriel, Dracos, Coco, Gerri, Nutmeg) - The Chamber of Treachery

Dracos painfully lifted itself up from the ground. Its vision muddled by confusion, the Dragonair tried to retreat. It had only gone a few paces from the Xatu when it fell to the ground and writhed in place, its body wracked by the powers of a Future Sight.

 

Asriel tossed the Hypno aside, its scythe crimson with blood. The Absol glanced at the remaining foes. Two of them had sub-types that negated the effectiveness of his Megahorn. That left the Wobbuffet. Trusting its ability to foresee any disastrous retaliations, Asriel charged toward the stalwart punching bag, lashing out with its horn.

 

Nutmeg Withdrew into herself as she kept a wary eye on McKinley's remaining Pokémon. So far it seemed they were focused on the other Pokémon; none of them appeared to notice Dahlia. Of course, that would probably change once the Heroine of Reverse made her attack, so Nutmeg knew she had to be ready to defend her trainer.

 

A cloud of shadowy aura swirled around the middle Seaton's feet as power flowed through her. She opened her eyes, whose coloration had changed from their ordinary sky blue to a bright gold. She lifted an arm, her hand trembling slightly, and extended it toward the Xatu. "Fall under the spell of the Distortion World."

 

The psychic bird suddenly found its movements reversed. The effects might have been more noticeable had the Xatu actually been moving, but Dahlia found her powers reaching out to affect her foe on a more micro level. Breathing became distorted; air was expelled from its lungs as it inhaled, and they filled with each exhale. Blood coursed through its veins quicker than its heart could pump it. Any movement in the head would result in a change in vision moments before. Dahlia gasped under the strain of her powers but managed to maintain her hold on the bird. Her goal was not to directly attack the Xatu, but rather to disorient it, leaving it vulnerable for others to attack.

 

Her powers of Reverse had the unintentional side-effect of reversing the effect of Xatu's most recent Future Sight. The attack was pulled to an earlier point in time than initially foreseen, and Astraea found itself instantly struck by the psychic power.

 

 

Dracos (Outrage disabled, turn 3 of confusion): hit by Future Sight

Asriel (Night Slash disabled): Megahorn (encored) > Wobbuffet

Gerri: asleep (turn 2)

Nutmeg: Withdraw > self

Dahlia: Reverse Power Disorientation > Xatu (negates time delay for Future Sight > Astraea)

 

 

IC: Ryan/Dack/Paul/Jayron - The Chamber of Despair

Memories flooded back, and Ryan felt his heart skip a beat. No. No. Not here. Not now. We don't have time for this!

 

"Who are you here for?" Dack stepped forward, fist clenched. Ryan looked at the Rocket agent in surprise. "Surely not all of us are slothful. Although I'll admit there are a few who have slowed us down." Dack cast a bitter look at Ryan and Jayron.

 

"You-" Ryan could only stare open-mouthed. "You know how the Sins work? You've met one before?"

 

Despite the situation, Dack smirked. "You of all people are surprised by that?"

 

Paul on the other hand was less concerned with talk of Sins, and more with the shattered projection. If this so-called Sloth was out for Levi... that meant Ellen, who was only one chamber away, could be in just as much danger. The blacksmith took a nervous step toward Sloth, debating whether he could run past the man. "What do you plan to do to Levi?" he asked, his eyes darting between Sloth and the exit. "Or to us?"

Edited October 16, 2016 by Konuju

[MELON LORD]

IC: Xander Cruize(Sylph/Astraea/Psyka)

 

Astraea hadn't expected the attack to hit so soon, so it couldn't brace itself or allow the Future SIght to roll off. Instead, there was a gush of clear liquid as its right two points were disconnected from its body. Rather than allow itself to fall and leave the still-sleeping Psyka undefended, it released a torrent of water at its aggressor.

 

Sylph barely flinched as the Moonblast hit her. She focused a Psychic attack through her arm, releasing it at the annoying flying-type. She smirked as she felt no backlash from the uncontrolled attack. It still took more out of her, but she didn't need to worry about inadvertently knocking herself unconscious with it.

 

Xander took a deep breath to steel himself, then grabbed onto the mental string connecting him to the Wobbuffet. After making sure his own defenses were well in place, he plucked the string, resonating it just like he had the first time he'd tried telekinesis.

 

Astraea: Hit by future sight; Hyrdo Pump > Xatu

Sylph: Super Psychic > Sigilyph

Psyka: Snoozing.

Xander: Psionic Resonance > Wobbuffet

 

IC: Jared Winters

 

He took back over seamlessly, having watched the entire thing in silence. He shook his head, returning Stones to his ball. "Yeah, you're probably right." He turned and started walking to the door leading out. He would apologize for real later, once things had calmed down a bit. Now wasn't really the time to explain about Mercury.

[Parugi]

IC - Ethan Worth (Suya, Céris, Tox, Kada, Paruk)/Ryan Hikari (Xatu, Excadrill, Simisage, Tyranitar, Porygon-Z, Samurott)
SUDOWOODO/BANETTE/BEHEEYEM/GOTHITELLE/MISMAGIUS/ABOMASNOW - The Chamber of Isolation:

 

Three dropped lines. Three cut strings. Wizard could not tell whether they were friend or foe, only that they were not longer present in the battle. He had to assume the worst. As the lights in front of his eyes began to fade and he began to regain his mental faculties, the Beheeyem focused his energy, gathering as much electrical energy in his hands as he could.

 

"Team, it's time to end this!" Ethan yelled. "Paruk, Smack Down!"

 

The Crustle clacked his mandibles together. He drew a claw back, chipping a hunk of concrete off of his shell. Then he took aim, and with as much force as he could muster, Paruk hurled it. It met its mark, catching Wizard in his head and sending him spiraling backwards through the air.

 

"Now! Tox, Céris, get in there!"

 

The two Bug-Types rushed forward. Tox was first, hurtling past Wizard and slamming his stingers into him with Fury Cutter. A moment later, Céris followed. The black energy around his pincers matched the intense glow in his eyes, and with a shout, he slammed his Night Slash into the Beheeyem.

 

Wizard crashed to the floor a dozen feet away, struggled for a moment to get back up, and then fell again.

 

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, returning his team to their Poké Balls. "Great job, everyone," he said, then looked to Ryan and nodded. "Not bad."

 

Red beams of light shot forth from the walls and ceiling, encircling the Third Child's team of Pokémon. They vanished in the beams a moment later, leaving a clear path forward.

 

 

IC - Xander Cruize (Sylph, Astraea, Psyka)/Dahlia Seaton (Asriel, Dracos, Coco, Gerri, Nutmeg)/Gavin Braner (Vel, Irest, Dothe, Talsim)
WOBBUFFET/XATU/GIRAFARIG/HYPNO/CLAYDOL/SIGILYPH - The Chamber of Treachery:

 

Sigilyph. The Avianoid Pokémon could not protect itself from Sylph's attack, which sent it careening back into the far wall. Already heavily damaged, its body could take no more punishment. It slammed into the wall with a sickening crunch, its body splitting open in the back as it fell to the floor far below. Something red oozed into the surrounding crystal.

 

Wobbuffet. It had fallen into its own insanity, uncaring of the world about it. All it knew was the hurricane of nonsense that flowed through its head, which had not transformed into a psychic pull on all aspects of its body. It ballooned up, capable of and willing to do nothing to save itself. Before Asriel could hit it, it burst, exploding into a gush of red ooze that splattered the floor, walls, and opponents around it.

 

Xatu. Such a fragile creature. Dahlia's powers worked against it in ways that she might not have intended. The Mystic Pokémon squawked as it felt its body ripple, felt the seams that appeared to hold it together now tearing it apart from the reversed forces upon it. Before it knew what was happening, a torrent of water tore through it. A thousand stitches came undone, and Xatu fell apart, torn into threads where it stood. Red ooze flowed into the waters around its feet, its many pieces almost seeming to melt like gel.

 

Red beams of light shot forth from the walls and ceiling, encircling the remains of the Fourth Child's team of Pokémon. They vanished in the beams a moment later, leaving a clear path forward.

 

 

IC - Sloth/Kyle Eston/Esen Windred/Sleight/Eileen Alaric/Bounty/Jackson Sang/All - The Chamber of Despair:

 

"I think we might get a straighter answer if we don't bombard the monster-man with a dozen questions all at once . . ." Bounty muttered. Kyle couldn't help but agree, though found himself too preoccupied with watching Sloth's movements to vocalize it.

 

The Seventh Sin sauntered about the space, his eyes fixed on the group with every step. His gaze alternated from face to face, as if he were sizing each of them up. Sloth looked at Paul, smiling. "I'm not doing anything to you . . . Too spirited, man . . ." He shrugged. "Or Levi . . . It's been fun, but terrorizing a kid isn't ideal, y'know? I've got bigger fish to--hey, there." He stepped back, out of the path of a Flamethrower attack as Sleight released his Charizard. Sloth grinned, eyes fluttering half-closed. "Touched a nerve, huh?"

 

Sleight glared. 

 

Sloth sighed, shaking his head. "Alright, alright," he said. "You all are in a rush, I get it . . . I'll make this quick . . . Let's see here . . ." He cracked his neck, looking down the line. He nodded to Ryan and Dack. "You can go . . . You're no use to me . . ." Paul. "You're no fun . . ." Bounty, Esen, and Sang. "Literally zero interest . . ." Colette, Jamie, and Richard. "Ditto . . ." He tilted his head at Chloe and Kyle, glancing between them. He fell into a long pause. Kyle frowned as the Sinner began to walk toward them, his hands in his pockets. "You two . . . Out of this group, I see it . . . Your distaste with people . . . The crushing hopelessness . . . You've felt it before--recently--haven't you . . .?" He smiled. A Poké Ball appeared in his hand. "I . . . choose . . . y--"

 

A plume of fire washed over Sloth, drowning out his words. As the fires dissipated, Sloth withdrew. His body smoked, but as a whole, he appeared to be unharmed. He turned to Sleight.

 

"You." He grinned.

 

Kyle looked between Sloth and the Shadow Admin. "Sleight--wait," he said. "You should--"

 

"No." Sleight's eyes never left Sloth's face. "This creature targeted my son. I intend to do everything in my power to make sure he pays the price."

 

"Heh . . . Alright," Sloth said. "You and her both . . . I'll take you."

 

Bounty glanced between Sleight, Eileen, and their opponent. He approached the Shadow Admin of Kanto. "Elijah," he whispered. "This doesn't accomplish anything. You should go--"

 

"I know what I'm doing," Sleight snapped. "Go."

 

Bounty hesitated, though finally nodded. With a last look at Sloth, he began toward the other end of the chamber.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Parugi

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Chloe==-
 

Chloe felt a chill run down her spine for a moment as Sloth glanced at her and Kyle, and then again as he began to talk. She recalled how things had gone with Ryan in Goldenrod, and how the whole situation had nearly caused a bigger disaster than had happened as it was. She unconsciously shivered at the memory of the Conkeldurr that had so easily defeated Alvis, and probably would have done more damage if Ryan hadn't been the one to be targeted instead.

 

It was for those reasons that when it became obvious that it was Sleight who was the one being targeted here, that the psychic girl made her way around the would-be battlefield quickly before anything could happen. Although she wanted to help, she also had a feeling here that she would simply be a hindrance in this case. Besides... Chloe's face turned conflicted as she realized that the only person left that they had come to help, was Ellen. She had to wonder... what would the next chamber and its discussions be like? Would there be any talking with Ellen? After all, the last couple chambers had been rather... different than the first few. She closed her eyes, as she made her way toward the stairs.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

If nothing else had unnerved her until now, the appearance of the odd young man certainly did. Something about his aura just seemed wrong. And not in the same way that the auras of the Heroes of Creation had when she tried to read it. This just seemed... illegible, completely and absolutely. As if it weren't even a proper aura in the first place, she tried to feel. With a wince of pain from the beginnings of a headache as she tried to comprehend the odd aura, Colette followed the others toward the next staircase.

 

However, the way that the auburn haired girl had acted upon seeing the Sin bothered her for some reason. The aura wielder wondered if she had run into this person before... Or, considering how Ryan and the other man had acted, whether Chloe had run into something else that was similar to this guy. Colette made a mental note to ask the psychic girl about that later on.

 

-==IC: Ryan==-

 

Ryan let out a sigh of relief as Quincy's Pokemon finally fell and were recalled by the red beams of light. He slowly recalled the fainted Tyranitar and Xatu, and then began to return his other Pokemon, including the heavily damaged Porygon-Z, which had been struck head-on by the Signal Beam. The man felt a twinge of pain in his broken arm for a moment as he twisted in a wrong angle, but had to hope that didn't mean anything bad.

 

As Ethan addressed him, Ryan gave a small smile to the other Rocket. "Same with you, good work." The black haired man chuckled, as he glanced at the way forward. "Let's say we go catch up with the others? Who knows if they need our help or not, but..." The man unconsciously moved a hand to his arm, as he wondered if he had disturbed its healing with too many rough movements.

 

-==IC: Jenny==-

 

The red haired girl laughed to herself in a giddy state of adrenaline as the bell finally fell and lost its tell as it was recalled because its shell was pierced. Jenny recalled her remaining two Pokemon, and took a moment to catch her breath from admittedly close calls a lot of the fight had. She glanced over at Evan with a wide smile.

 

"We did it." The girl said, as if to cement that this was actually real. "We beat Hayes' team, including that Kricketune that gave us so much trouble in Fortree." Still, she wondered if a lot of it had been sheer dumb luck. Jenny pushed that thought aside, however, as she decided that she'd take the victory as it was. "Come on, let's catch up the others and tell them of our achievement here!" With a happy giggle, the redhead strode toward the way down, humming a happy victory tune as she did so.

[Dr. Hidaka]

IC: Evan Tierra

Evan, at the moment the Bronzong had rung it's last, felt a weight lift from his shoulders. He, with Jenny's splendid help, had finally managed to beat Hayes. Even if she wasn't there, the Hero of Space felt he finally had managed to pay her back for it all. The past three fights with her, had always either ended in a loss, or a pyrrhic victory. The young man smiled at the red-haired girl, her words filling him with confidence. "Yeah, we definitely did it all right!" Evan said, as he recalled his pokemon. "We've gotta tell Ryan and Kyle, especially! They will be ecstatic!"

With those words and a spring in his step, Evan Tierra caught up with Jenny as they made for the way down...

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia - The Chamber of Treachery

Dahlia let out a gasp and abruptly cut off her powers. She fell to her knees as a nausea overcame her, a product of both her own exertion and the sight of Xatu getting ripped apart. The carnage that lay around her may have disappeared, but its memory was engraved in her mind. She hunched over and fought the urge to hurl. Were her powers really that out of control? She had only wanted to help... to not stand uselessly by the sidelines. Instead she had torn her enemy to shreds. Her mind flashed back to the boat. Jack's Pinsir. And the look in the others' eyes... like she was some kind of monster. Were they right?

 

"No, no, no, no! I never wanted any of this!" The gardener's arms shook under her weight as she sobbed. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

 

Nutmeg nuzzled herself against Dahlia's arm. Dracos and Gerri, recovered from their confusion and sleep, similarly moved to comfort their trainer. Asriel made to join them, but fell to his knees as the Hypno's Future Sight took effect. The Absol grimaced, but despite the pain, continued to stumble toward Dahlia. The middle Seaton looked up and met eyes with the Disaster Pokémon. The often stalwart Absol had a look of sympathy and sadness in his eyes. Dahlia reached out and hugged Asriel with renewed tears. It was the first time she truly understood the struggle of the wandering Absol; he who was shunned for his premonitions, the herald-turned-scapegoat.

 

"Wh-why...?" Her words were muffled through her choking sobs. "I-I was... only t-trying to... t-to slow him down... I-I didn't m-mean to.... Wh-what have I done? M-my control... m-my training... was it all... w-worthless...?"

 

IC: Ryan/Dack/Paul/Jayron - The Chamber of Despair

Paul did not need telling twice. He walked at a brisk pace. Ellen was waiting. He couldn't know if there was another monster like Sloth terrorizing her... it was a thought he'd rather not dwell on. His only concern was reaching his daughter's side.

 

Jayron, like Colette, could not comprehend Sloth's aura. He cast a glance at the Rocket leader. He hoped Sleight really did know what he was doing. Regardless, their mission was to find Ellen and stop Ford. Ellen was no doubt in the next chamber. And Jayron could only assume that Ford would be waiting after that.

 

Dack stuck by Ryan's side as the two walked onward. "Mine was Pride," he said in a low voice. "Yours?"

 

"Gluttony."

 

"Yeah, I never would have taken you for a Sinner." A wry smile crossed the Rocket agent's lips. "Then again, a few weeks ago I would've said the same about goody-two-shoes Wright. I guess sin lies where you least expect it, huh?"

 

Ryan wasn't entirely sure what Dack was talking about. "You barely know me. You kidnapped my parents, tried to kidnap me, then came back later to try and finish the job. What makes you think you'd know whether I'd be a Sinner or not?"

 

"Yeah... sorry about your parents, kid."

 

"Where are they?"

 

"Beats me. The order to capture them came from higher up. I was just doing the dirty grunt work."

 

Ryan scoffed and jabbed a finger toward the chamber that was now behind him. "Well, I'd ask a higher-up, but Sleight seems a little preoccupied at the moment."

 

Dack couldn't help but chuckle. "To be frank, kid, I doubt your parents were that important that a Shadow Admin would know about them."

 

Ryan abruptly stopped walking and looked the Rocket agent in the eye. "Right now, I made a promise to help a father reunite with his daughter. But when this is all over, I'll need your help to find my own parents."

 

Dack could have brushed him off with some talk about prisoners of war, or the particulars of the Liberty-Rocket truce, or just flat out ignored him. But he could see the fire in the kid's eyes. A fire that reminded him of himself in many ways. Dack put a hand on the Liberty agent's shoulder and smiled. "No problem, kid."

[MELON LORD]

IC: Xander Cruize

 

Xander's eyes widened as the Wobbuffet exploded. What were you expecting? You knew what would happen!

 

He, like Dahlia, was fighting the urge to vomit. When she spoke, he turned to her, wide-eyed. "It's over. We did it, and it's over. They were monsters, we had to stop them." He was reasoning as much with himself as with her. He stumbled forward, kneeling by Dahlia and putting a hand on her shoulder. "They wouldn't have mourned for us, alright? No matter what, it was us or them. Look what they did to him!" he shouted, gesturing towards the fallen Gavin.

 

"Don't feel guilty for trying to help. You didn't ask for this, you didn't want to be chosen."

 

I did. I wanted my powers, wanted to be stronger. 

 

He turned and got sick away from her. Only a little. He wiped his mouth and stood. "We need to move on. G-Gavin. Gavin, if you can hear me, just . . . Stay here. We're going to end this. We can't get you out of here yet, so stick tight."

 

He offered a hand to Dahlia, pulling her up to her feet. "We go through that door and we don't stop until everyone's safe, alright?"

 

Sylph stepped forward. I think we all need to rest, first--

 

"No. If we stop now, we might not find it in ourselves to keep going. Come on." Without waiting for a response, he turned and stalked into the next chamber.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: James/Claus

 

"Then it is settled," James said. "Lancelot, Galahad, Celebi, are you all ready?"

 

Lancelot was Roosting off the last of his wounds, but nodded towards James. Galahad seemed distracted by Jared for a moment but then turned around towards James and replied affirmatively. Asking Celebi was only a formality. Agravain protested not being asked himself.

 

"I apologize. Agravain, are you ready?" James asked the young Karrablast.

 

The bug nodded happily.

 

"Then I will be going," James said walking towards the exit.

 

"Wait, sir," Claus suddenly said.

 

James stopped, and turning around asked, "Yes, Agent Diamond?"

 

"Could you take Hades with you?" Claus said pointing towards the Sableye. "His trainer is down there and well... I promise that he won't slow you down."

 

To be frank, the Sableye wanted none of this. He'd much rather stay where it was safe. But Richard was still down there. And that idiot was gonna throw himself straight into that mess, Hades knew it. So Hades had to go down there to bail him out.

 

Right, the violinist. Agent Apollo, the Executive thought as he looked at the Sableye. "...Very well then. I will do my best to reunite trainer and Pokémon. In exchange," James offered Mordred, Gawain and Percival's Poké Balls, "please take these with you."

 

Claus took the Poké Balls and nodded.

 

James nodded back before walking past Claus. "Give my regards to Goldhawk," he called to him before his disappeared into the stairs with Lancelot, Galahad, Celebi, Agravain and Hades following him.

 

"Right..." Claus responded before turning to follow Jared. He felt a little helpless at this point, but he gave his best. And he'd like to think that he made a difference. Nothing left to do but wait for everyone else.

 

 

 

IC: Jamie/Richard

 

Now, here was a plot-twist the bard didn't see coming. How far would he have to go get the full story of today? This seemed important, but without context it would be meaningless and seemingly out of nowhere for the casual listener. He'd hate to cut it out, but that meant the only alternative was to start interviewing the others after the conclusion of the battle. Richard had to be physically shaken out of his sudden fascination with the newcomer before he started heading towards the exit.

 

Jamie on the other hand, needed only the command of her superior to keep moving. To be frank, something about that man made her feel that a hero needed to be the one to stop it and yet another part made her feel like anything she did to it would be pointless. Plus there was the issue of Skye and Ford to consider, she couldn't stop here. So she interpreted Sleight telling Bounty to 'go' as a direct order for her and that settled her internal conflict.

 

That being said, not knowing what this 'Sloth' was bothered her. A fact she made vocal, "Does anybody know who that guy was?" Jamie called to anyone who would answer.

[Konuju]

IC: Dahlia - The Chamber of Treachery

"I..." Dahlia sniffled as she wiped her tears away. Xander had a point, their mission was far from over. Still, she didn't like the idea of just abandoning her teammate like that. Sticking by Asriel for support, Dahlia slowly moved toward Gavin. Seeing the disfigured arm up close caused her to wince, and she instead trained her eyes on the Rocket agent's face. "A-are you sure you'll be alright...?" she asked hesitantly. "I feel bad just leaving you in the state you're in."

 

IC: Dack - Path Between Chambers

"He was Sloth: one of the Seven Deadly Sins." Dack let Ryan move ahead as he hung back to accompany Jamie. "They've been targeting specific people recently; people who portray each particular sin. They fight until their targets either come to grips with their faults, or until they're destroyed. Consumed by their sin, I suppose." The Rocket agent fell into an uncomfortable silence, trying not to dwell on the revelation that the Shadow Admin of Kanto had been slothful. But he had to wonder where Sleight's sloth truly hid. In his political life as Shadow Admin? Or, as the events of the last chamber might suggest, in his personal life as a father?

[MELON LORD]

IC: Xander Cruize

 

The psychic swept into the next chamber and frowned. Nobody in sight, no projections, no pokémon. Either there had been no battle, or the others had been extremely efficient in dealing with the opponents in this chamber. He wasted no time walking on, towards the sixth chamber.

 

Finding that chamber empty as well, he started jogging. He could catch up with the others, if he hurried. He could be there when they met with Ellen. Sylph followed behind him at a more moderate pace, leading the wounded Astraea and a freshly-awoken Psyka behind her.

 

They entered the Seventh Chamber.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC: Jamie/Richard

 

Jamie got most of what Dack was saying except for the first line that he said. "'Seven Deadly Sins'?" she asked unaware of what exactly that term meant.

 

Richard chose to insert himself into the conversation. Half because he wanted the context that Dack was providing and half because it was a chance to talk about literary tropes. Always a fun subject.

 

"Yeah, y'know." Richard said, despite Jamie not knowing. "Jealousy, hate, material desire, lechery, indulgence, hubris and uh well Sloth, apparently."

 

Jamie didn't exactly know as much about Sleight as she did Joker. And she knew even less about his wife. So she wasn't exactly in any position to say whether not Sleight or his wife exhibited sloth.

 

"Wait, so -they- have been targeting people? As in, he is not the first one to show up?" Jamie asked the question with a rather obvious answer, but followed up with, "How many times has this happened?" and a silent 'how did I not hear about something like this beforehand?'