Metal Gear Minun

IC: James/Jamie/Richard

What a twist, Richard thought as he looked from Ford to his allies. He might have to edit this part depending. Spice it up a bit. He wasn't going to cause a fight if it could be avoided, though he had to admit that this would be rather anti-climactic if it ended here.

"An -egg-?" James replied dumbfounded by that revelation. He hadn't been able to see the outside structure very well, but even if he had James doubted that he would've made that connection. The Liberty Executive had far too many questions to come up with a single rational one. Instead, he stayed quiet to put his thoughts in order and let Ford answer Chloe.

Jamie's heart fell. With the talk of dimensions, her mind kept flashing back to the day on the train. The Mewtwo statue, the feeling of dread. It was far more familiar than she would've liked.

"Ethan, he is not talking about -there- is he?" Jamie asked, clearly perturbed by the thought that Ford might have a point. That he might actually not be the complete evil that she saw him as.

IC: James/Jamie/Richard

Magic, eh? James mulled over the new possibilities that it brought up and folded his arms.

"I can testify that no one above felt anything like an Earthquake spontaneously occurring during our battle, unless it occurred during the one Earthquake that was utilized," James offered.

"I have been wondering for a while now about the seeming contradictions concerning this building that have been popping up," James said, finally vocalizing all of his recent concerns. "We came here expecting to find you and your headquarters, and yet none of us expected what we found here, if I may be so bold as to speak for us all."

James unfolded his arms and continued speaking, "Pierce made it quite clear that he did not expect our arrival and yet the room his projection was in clearly expected otherwise. Poké Balls in place, memories on display, and clear fields for fighting. And now that we have reached the end, I feel like there are parts missing. Computers, weapons, or at least living quarters. This whole building is over-theatrical and completely lacking in any of the necessities needed to run an operation such as yours."

James wasn't sure whether he was on the right track, but figured it couldn't hurt at this point to ask, "So I have to ask, where are we? Are we actually in your headquarters? And if so, is this how it, for lack of a better term, normally appears?"

IC: James/Jamie/Richard

James had been stunned upon the sight of Sloth fighting Sleight. He was stunned enough that he automatically followed the Rocket agent down the exit without any thought as to whether he should have. He at least had experience fighting a Sin before, maybe he could've helped in some small way.

Greed's former target wanted to have some assurance that the being would be destroyed. At least he knew of Sleight's power. Hopefully that power was as strong internally as it was externally.

As James entered the room, he overheard Kyle's response to Ethan and mulled it over in his head. Whilst doing so, he walked over and stood near Jamie. For her part, Jamie was beginning to become impatient. She could not trust a word that came from Ford's mouth. She had only waited thus far because her friends had questions for Ford, and it was a hero's duty to listen to the villain before the final showdown. But she could only listen to so much before she had to act.

Richard temporarily lost his focus on mentally recording the events playing before him, due to him sighing relief as a familiar Sableye took a perch on his shoulder.

"Where's Claus?" Richard whispered to his compatriot.

The Sableye pointed back towards the entrance and said, outside, waiting, to which his trainer nodded.

James chose not to interject any of his own questions. He would allow for Ford to answer first. He would need to get up to speed first. But before Ford answered James once again focused on the building itself. This room that they final came to appeared to have no other exits. As he did not see any alternative routes in any of the other rooms. Meaning that what they had seen thus far seemed to be the whole of the building. And yet nothing he saw nothing here that would actually be useful to a terrorist overseeing his operations. There were not even any sort of living spaces. This either meant that Ford was hiding the entrances to the rest of the building, or this was not his true headquarters.

Both options raised more questions than answered. The former lead into the earlier contradictions. If Pierce was to be believed and their appearance was unexpected, then would Ford have had time to hide them? He supposed it was possible. He could even do it remotely if for some reason he couldn't leave that tube of light if he had some remote or conspirators in the rest of the complex.

If the latter, then why was this structure built? Did Ford even build it? Was it solely for this purpose? Such answers could explain Pierce's earlier surprise and yet even if it did, it only raised more questions.

Well, if it truly mattered, he could ask Ford after he answered those questions already posited. Or in jail after the fact.

IC: James

James followed the others down and his remaining Pokemon followed him. As they descended, James thought about the apparent contradiction that these rooms and Pierce presented him with. Pierce made it clear that he wasn't expecting them, and yet without them, these rooms served no purpose. The images that had played, clear tiers to stage battles; they all seemed to expect an audience. Ford had to have expected this place to be found. Either Ford had hid something from Pierce or they were here early.

That or the architect or Ford (perhaps one and the same) were far too artsy to use the space efficiently.

Regardless of the answer, James wished he had asked Jamie more about the source of the message.

IC: Jamie/Richard

Pelleas let go of Jamie's hand after Ellen's projection disappeared. He had to to move in front of her. No matter what happened next, he would not allow Jamie to get hurt. That was an absolute truth in his eyes.

Jamie kept walking. While she didn't know the full story behind most of last four rooms, she knew that the resolve of her allies had been tested in them. If they could get past them, then the last step should be easy... right? Her own resolve faltered for a moment when she heard of Gavin's injury.

"Gavin will be okay. Sleight will defeat Sloth. Lucia is safe," Jamie began repeating to herself with a voice so quiet, she hardly even knew she was speaking.

As Richard saw Xander and Dahlia show up, he began to think of Hades. Now to be fair, even after winning his battle, the Sableye would have to get through three more rooms. Thus far, only the people from the battle in McKinley's room had showed up. Meaning that Hades could still be held up by another room and would be coming in a few minutes. But Richard wasn't at ease.

IC: James

James walked out of the third chamber. He found it like he had found the second chamber, empty.

If we assume that both chambers held battles like ours, and the absence of allied trainers meant they had already won... then I say we have made some excellent progress, James thought to himself a smile on his face.

Lancelot, Galahad and Hades had finished healing all their wounds, so if push came to shove, he'd have half a team ready. The Sableye seemed independent enough that James could trust him to act on his own. All in all, things were looking up.

Then James reached the next room.

James wasn't an idiot; he knew this was war. And in war there are casualties, and war was never clean. Yet, somehow James wasn't expecting what he saw before him. He approached silently, he recognized the man as one of Jamie's friends. James only hoped that she had not been present to see this.

"Do you need assistance?" James offered as he reached the assembled group. "Sir Galahad here," James said gesturing towards the Togekiss, "has a certain degree of healing power... and if necessary, he can help cauterize his wounds."

OOC: Estimating that Claus would be at the surface by now. Not sure what to post IC for him, so just making an OOC note for it.

IC: Pelleas

A father reuniting with his daughter. Pelleas thought he'd have found the scene more heartwarming. He was rather unprepared for Paul's reaction. Though he could not keep looking towards father and daughter for long, there was no respite to be gained from averting his eyes. Every horror that Ellen had faced forced Pelleas to create a world in which Jamie was going through the same tragedies.

Pelleas's mind immediately considered how much despair he would feel if his daughter had been kidnapped the same way Ellen had been. And how much more his heart would break if he ever needed to fight Jamie the way Ellen and Paul had.

He couldn't bear to even imagine that.

No matter how powerful Ford truly was, Pelleas knew that facing his daughter would be a far greater challenge for him if he were in Paul's position.

Jamie didn't notice the Heracross's discomfort until she felt Pelleas's hand grasp hers. She hadn't quite grasped the dots together, so she simply returned the grasp, and hoped it would calm whatever fear her father had.

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?'

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.

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.

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

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;

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

IC: Richard

Richard saw images of Castelia playing on a wall. He stared at it for a bit and then averted his gaze.

This... could be left out of the song.

IC: James/Claus

If there was a Pokemon equivalent of a swear, Mordred made one as Golurk recovered from his Ice Punch to respond with a Fire Punch. How much punishment could this giant take? His mind raced, barely outpacing his own movements. The Weavile dropped to the ground and leaped as soon as he did. The fist followed his movements, it was time to see how dedicated the Golurk would be to his assault. He reached the top of his leap above the Golurk's other fist which Lancelot was still pushing back on, and the fist followed and collided with its brother.

With a smirk on his face, Mordred leaped over the Golurk's head. Reaching the apex of his jump he let both of his arms grow dark with power, span around and sliced the back of the Golurk's through the ice. Meanwhile, Lancelot side-stepped away from Golurk's tangled fists and drew back his fist. Rushing in at his opponent, he threw all of his weight into his Bullet Punch and at the Golurk.

Percival (and by extension, James) was shocked that the other Chandelure still managed to hold on, despite two boosted Hexes. He had been counting on his combo with Galahad to remove the other Chandelure quickly, so he could help his allies. Flustered, he built a Shadow Ball and slammed it down on the other Chandelure, intent on holding it on him until he went down, while ignoring the pain of Pain Split.

Detect and Protect, while having very different mechanisms to achieve their ends, were fundamentally the same move. Hades knew Detect very well, and knew that it could only go for so long before the Klefki had to drop it. The moment that happened, Hades leaped out in front of it.

Where are you goin'? he said, grinning as he threw another Night Shade at the Klefki.

The Night Shade was more of a distraction really, though if it connected that was all well and good. The real goal was to be a distraction, because not far behind the Klefki was Gawain. All the pain he had felt had been transformed into a brilliant beam that was poised to strike the Klefki. Porky and Baccio had taken positions on either side of the Klefki, to box it in. Porky spew an Ember that he hoped the Klefki more on instinct than by actual fear of the fire, while the Boldore sent a stream of Rock Blasts at the target.

As the Togekiss took in surroundings to see how the battle had changed since James took him out of it, he noticed the third trainer. He hadn't given him much thought before, but his aura as it was bothered him. The color and feel of his aura had changed and the change was dramatic.

And well, the aura didn't feel... right.

"Galahad, use Flamethrower on Aegislash. Quickly!" James to shock the Togekiss out of his thoughts.

He'd have to worry about that later, the Aegislash was approaching the smaller Pokemon and didn't have much time to react. Closing the gap as much as he could, he unleashed a stream of fire perpendicular to where he estimated the Aegislash would be when it reached.

As the Monferno saw the really strong (and he would know) Aegislash approach, he ducked behind Lucas and once more smashed his back with a Thunder Punch. While Lucas had been charging his attack, he had been sure to use Focus Energy, for that chance at the extra punch critical hits provided.

Claus was worried, however. Even with that preparation, there was no guarantee that it was gonna be enough.

Two Lightning Rod boosts and a Focus Energy. Please, let this be enough.

The final round of the Gym Battle. He had a choice between Porky and Lucas. Porky did have Fighting type moves and he knew what moves the Tepig knew while the Cubone was a mystery to him. At the same time, Flint had only barely won in his battle and he knew Flint was stronger than Porky. So Claus decided to take a gamble and picked Lucas's Poké Ball. The Stoutland that Cheren had picked for his final Pokémon proved resilient against the Cubone's attacks. Claus more or less had to guide rather than direct Lucas throughout the fight.

Not knowing the Cubone's moves kinda limited Claus's ability to command.

The moves that Lucas had started out with made sense, Bone Club which was later followed up by a Bonemerang. While both strong attacks with the aid of that bone the Cubone carried around, the Stoutland powered through such attacks and hit Lucas with powerful Returns. It became a similar drag-out fight that Flint and Watchog had already done, except with Lucas being more suited towards such combat than Flint had been. However, Claus saw that the advantage was still on the side of the Stoutland. Claus asked Lucas quietly if he had any other tricks up his sleeve. The Cubone hesitated for a moment, but nodded. He prepared one final attack that would the fight.

That final move Claus needed here once again. It's what he was banking on at least. Maybe not the best type, but it had power.

The Cubone turned to the side and held his Thick Club like a batter at the plate. He had formed the attack into the size of a dense blue baseball. He tossed the ball in the air. Right as the Aegislash reached him, the ball fell into his strike zone. Whamming the ball with his bat, one would expect the projectile to go flying. It did not.

It erupted.

The tiny baseball exploded into a violent storm of meteors originating from the spot the ball once was. The falling stars each glowed a distinct vibrant colors as they sought their very close target. The light prevented Claus from seeing the Aegislash, but Claus had to admit, if this didn't work, they could at least say their moments were absolutely beautiful.

OOC:

Lancelot (+2Atk; 1 Sadism activation): Bullet Punch > Golurk;

Mordred (+2Atk; +2Spd): Dodge Fire Punch; Night Slash > Golurk;

Percival: Health sapped by Pain Split; Shadow Ball > Chandelure;

Galahad: Flamethrower > Aegislash

Gawain: Bide > Klefki;

Hades: Night Shade > Klefki;

Porky (+2Spd): Ember > Klefki;

Baccio (+2Spd; +2Def): Stone Edge > Klefki;

Flint: Thunder Punch > Lucas;

Lucas (+2SpA): Focus Energy; The Fun One (Draco Meteor) > Aegislash;

The true profile

Species: Cubone

Nickname: Lucas

Trainer: Claus Diamond

Appearance: The skull Lucas wears is of his father, a Tyrantrum.

Personality: Lucas is Lonely. Most of the time he appears stoic and aloof. A lot of the time he feels like he needs to cry. All the time he just wants to be with others.

Ability: Lightning Rod

Specialty: Lucas is very skilled with using the bone for physical attacks, but is also very dependent on it for any physical attack. Also has skill with Special attacks.

Known Moves: Bone Club, Bonemerang, Tail Whip, Growl, Focus Energy, Draco Meteor (Special Egg move).

Item: Thick Club

IC: Jamie/Richard

"'It was drawn to us by our cruelty and conflict,'" Richard quietly repeated to himself. He'd need to remember that line. It'd make a good addition to the ballad.

The plot thickens, he considered to himself.

Richard knew he shouldn't be enjoying this, especially not while Hades and Claus were fighting for their lives above him, but the scenario proved too tempting for the bard not to stretch his imagination. His hand tightened around the violin case's handle. He had to put it away because Hades wasn't there to carry the case, but he itched to play it.

"Mrgrgr, how dare she brush us off," Jamie said, her face still clearly mad. "Just leaving us with nonsense. Not even giving me a real response."

Pelleas walked out in front of Jamie grabbed both of her arms. He signaled to her that she needed to take a deep breath before continuing on. She wasn't happy about it, but Jamie complied and eventually found something close to calm again.

"We need to keep moving," Jamie said matter-of-factly.

IC: James/Claus

James casually dropped Galahad's Pokeball back down to the ground. Enough time had elapsed that Galahad should have regained his bearings and be ready to rejoin the fray.

Percival couldn't quite tell what sort of unconsciousness that the other Chandelure was in and decided to use Hex once again to be safe.

As the Dynamic Punch approached Lancelot, he adopted a defensive stance. When the fist was close enough, he thrust both of his claws forward to meet it. Using the fullness of his strength, he pushed back on the Golurk to keep it from squishing him. While they were connected, Mordred hopped on top of the Golurk's arm and ran up it to smash him in the face with Ice Punch.

Problem with using Bide was that dodging wasn't exactly an easy thing to do while focusing so much power. Fortunately, Gawain was not the only one fighting the Aegislash. Baccio and Porky both rushed the Aegislash with Stone Edge and Flame Charge respectively to try and knock the Steel-Ghost off course more than to deal damage.

Flint looked between Lucas and Claus trying to decide if he should try and interfere with Aegislash or to continue activating Lucas's Lightning Rod. With a glance to Claus, the trainer mouthed a command, and Flint once more began to Taunt. His previous Taunt would have worn off by about now and he needed to try and get the Aegislash to attack him and more importantly not protecting itself from what they had planned. Seeing what Flint was up to, Hades throw a Night Shade at Klefki to try to keep it focused on itself.

OOC:

Lancelot: Stopping Dynamic Punch;

Mordred: Ice Punch > Golurk;

Galahad: Sent back out;

Percival: Hex > Chandelure;

Gawain: Bide; Round 3 of Toxic;

Hades: Night Shade > Klefki

Porky: Flame Charge > Aegislash;

Baccio: Stone Edge > Aegislash;

Flint: Taunt > Aegislash;

IC: James/Claus

There were some downsides to No Guard. For example, moves like Phantom Force don't hide you as well they normally did. When the Golurk disappeared, Lancelot could tell see a sort of general idea of where it was moving. While the attack would be darn near impossible to evade, it was also pretty hard to be taken by surprise by it. As he waited for the Golurk to reemerge, he positioned himself to withstand an attack from above. One thing he had noticed earlier that further made it easier to keep track of the Golurk was the small fire-type who had sniffed him out. After Odor Sleuth had been used, Lancelot noticed the Golurk seem more... 'solid'. That meant in theory, this next move should work. The force of the Golurk's Phantom Force was crushing, but Lancelot held out for his opportunity. He sidestepped slightly and pulled the Golurk down, and unleashed Counter on the Ghost-Ground Type. Lancelot felt his pincer dig into the Golurk's chest, and smiled.

Mordred's speed allowed him to dash away from the Confuse Rays directed himself and Galahad. Galahad however was not so lucky. Deciding that temporarily taking him out of the game was preferable than for the Togekiss to wildly attack with Aura Sphere, James retreated Galahad to wait out the confusion. Percival finally appeared onto the field, right behind his opposite number. Now that Galahad had done his job, it was time to make sure the other Chandelure was out of the match for good. Creating an eye of ghastly energy, Percival charged a Hex as much as he could before slamming it onto his opposite number.

Gawain saw the Aegislash approach. He could have taken the opportunity to try and attack again, but decided instead to use Bide. He took the massive hit mainly due to his typing, but Toxic was taking its toll on him.

At the same time, Flint stood behind Lucas. Charging his fist full of electric energy, he punched the back of Lucas's skull. The power of the attack was completely absorbed by Lucas and the strength of the attack Lucas was building skyrocketed further. The Monferno had been surprised when Claus told him what to do, but now he was beginning to understand.

Hades realized the general idea that Gawain and Claus were going for. Not sure what method, but they both needed time to unleash a powerful attack.

Follow my lead, Hades said to the rock.

The pair of Hades and Baccio dashed around the Klefki and Aegislash. Once they were on the other side of the pair, Hades launched Confuse Rays at both while Baccio followed up with Stone Edge. The goal not being so much to hit, but to corral them in the right direction. Right as he began to use Stone Edge, the Roggenrola began to grow and so did the stones coming out of the ground. A bright appeared, that when it dimmed, left behind a Boldore where the Roggenrola once was. Porky, upon seeing what his fellows were up to, used Flame Charge to start building his speed, dashing off to the side to prepare to help corral as needed.

The way the tie had been broken between Baccio and the Tranquill was by the lesser known property of Autotomize. Sure the speed was nice, but there were benefits to weighing next to nothing. The element of surprise needed would only work once, so he had to get it right. He waited for the Tranquil to attack him again with Air Cutter. The Tranquill moved just a bit closer, when Baccio made his move. Using Stone Edge to create a pillar right beneath, the Roggenrola propelled himself into the air. Reaching an altitude above the Tranquill, Baccio shot it down with four Rock Blasts.

That one had Cheren's attention. It wasn't quite as dynamic as the Explosion he had used with Roxie, but winning without going 'boom' was satisfying. Still the damage he had accrued throughout the fight meant that he too was better benched at this point. Which meant that effectively, they were both down to their final Pokemon

OOC:

Species: Boldore

Nickname: Baccio

Trainer: Claus Diamond

Appearance: Has a lot of sheen, much more than a normal Boldore. He has a diamond growing out of his head and shoulders instead of the average rock.

Personality: Baccio has a very Serious personality, and would prefer it if Claus took his duties seriously.

Ability: Sturdy

Specialty: Baccio likes to buff himself to as powerful a form as possible before fighting. Will explode as a last ditch resort.

Known Moves: Rock Blast, Stealth Rock, Iron Defense, Automotize (Egg move), Explosion, Stone Edge

Battle Count: 9

Lancelot: Hit by Phantom Force; Counter > Golurk (auto-hit approved); Sadism activation

Mordred: Dodge; Swords Dance > Self

Galahad: Hit by Confuse Ray; Retreated

Percival: Hex > Chandelure

Gawain: Hit By Head Smash; Round 2 of Toxic; Bide

Hades: Confuse Ray > Aegislash, Klefki

Baccio: Evolve; Stone Edge

Porky: Flame Charge (no target; boosting speed)

Flint: Thunder Punch > Lucas

Lucas: Max Charge

IC: Jamie/Richard

Every image that Jamie recognized mad her blood boil more. Before the projection even appeared Jamie knew who it was. Of all the people that they were coming to rescue, Skye had to be first. Her mind reminded her of how Tristan looked in the immediate aftermath of Havoc. Needless to say, Jamie was not a happy camper. Skye's response didn't help.

"Don't give me that!" Jamie barked at the projection of Skye. "If anyone needs to be stopped for everyone's sake, it's Ford."

Pelleas let Jamie vent by yelling at Skye's projection. If the Spinarak was part of the projection, that meant her Pokemon were with her. That, and he wasn't exactly worried about Skye as an opponent. Better let her emotions out now while they aren't actually fighting anyone than let emotions cloud her judgement in battle.

"If you don't come up here right now, I am going to drag you back to Abyss myself and make you apologize to everyone!"

OOC:

Jamie: Rage > Skye

I thought the rule was that young Pokemon with OP egg-moves need some sort of nerf until they can control them. Since No Guard can't help Agravain's Megahorn, he's left with a very strong but inaccurate attack.

IC: James/Claus

Lancelot held out both of his pincers and caught the Golurk's fist. The fire from the fist caused the Steel-Bug immense pain to hold and the colossal weight of the Pokemon put weight behind his fist that even Lancelot couldn't quite match, but he would not budge. Pain from his old scar was not helping. Help, did however, come in the form of a Weavile, who with unmatched speed ran up to and climbed the Golurk's back and used Ice Punch on the back of his neck. Lancelot used that opportunity to break off and Roost off the wounds. Lancelot waited to see how the Golurk would respond as he healed, forming a plan depending on who the Golurk decided to attack.

Silently, Galahad rolled to the left to evade the Inferno. The fact that it then Yawned might have made the Togekiss seemed bored, but it was very attentive to the Chandelure's actions. Even without getting hit by the flames, Galahad could feel the great heat from them. The Yawn bubbles that Galahad spread were, while an attempt to put the Chandelure to sleep in and of themselves, also a diversion to allow the Togekiss to move in closer.

Flint had underestimated the range of Aegislash's Sacred Sword. The sheer power behind the slice cut hard . Hades immediately yanked Monferno away, to take him to Claus, tossing a Night Shade to dissuade the Aegislash.

"Flint, are you alright?" Claus shouted, as he threw off his backpack and pulled out a potion.

The Monferno gave a thumbs-up, wincing as Claus applied the potion.

Claus sighed with relief. "Don't worry, you don't need to fight anymore. I got another job for ya."

When Gawain saw Klefki retreat towards the Aegislash, the Swampert had an idea. Two stones, one wave, as they said. And now that his allies were out of the way, he had no reason to hold back. Creating a new wave, sent the torrent of water at the two Steel-Types, to try and wash them away.

Baccio had been watching while preparing himself with Iron Defense. With speed and defenses ready, the Roggnerola advanced. He tossed several Rock Blasts into Gawain's stream, the rocks being carried along with the purpose of striking the Steel-Types.

As the Roggenrola advanced, Claus was reminded of his turn in fighting Cheren. Flint had to call it a day after fighting Watchog. While he hadn't technically been KO'd, he wasn't going to have much meaningful effect on any of the other two that he could effectively be called out. Meaning that when Cheren had thrown in the Tranquil, Claus immediately substituted in Baccio. Where the fight between Flint and Watchog had been a quick slug-fest, the battle between Baccio and Tranquil had been a slow stalemate. The Tranquil did not have moves that could hit a Rock-Type hard, a problem compounded by Baccio's Iron Defense. On the other hand, the Tranquil could easily evade Baccio's Rock Blasts by flying high, out of its range. That stalemate went on for a long time.

OOC:

Lancelot: Roost > Self

Gawain: Hit by Toxic; Muddy Water > Aegislash & Klefki

Galahad: Evades Inferno; Yawn

Mordred: Ice Punch > Golurk

Hades: Night Shade > Aegislash

Flint: Hit by Sacred Sword; Retreating to Claus's side

Baccio: Iron Defense > Self; Rock Blast > Aegislash & Klefki

Porky: Odor Sleuth > Golurk

Lucas: Charging

The bug deserves a profile so here you go.

Species: Karrablast

Nickname: Agravain

Trainer: James Arthur

Appearance: Agravain has some bruises all over him from failed theft attempts. Bit shorter than average

Personality: Aspires to be a thief. Not especially skilled. Very suspicious looking and makes Rash decisions that make it hard for him to approach. Tends towards hero worship.

Ability: No Guard

Specialty: Good at giving and taking hits.

Known Moves: Megahorn (Egg Move, Unaffected by No Guard), Peck, Endure, False Swipe, Thief (special move), Bug Buzz

Also adding Lancelot's Sadism specialty to his profile

IC: Jamie/Richard

Jamie and Richard ran past both Hayes without much incident. Neither of them had any particular past with Hayes and knew that the Hero of Space could handle his own. Then in the next chamber, Quincy Adams showed up. Jamie had some history chasing her, but nothing matching Ethan's personal story with her. Anything that Jamie felt was easily matched by Gavin and many times exceeded by Ethan. And she had to find Skye.

Besides, Jamie wasn't angry. She was righteously infuriated.

Still, leaving friends behind wasn't hero at all. She looked back and forth, incredibly conflicted about which way to go.

"I...I'm here if you need me, Ethan! But otherwise I am going on ahead, okay?"

Richard had no history with any of Ford's Children except Pierce whom they had already passed (and he had a really small part of dealing with anyway).

A trainer with a plethora of Psychic and Ghost types and I gave away my one Ghost-Dark type... well it's not like he had moves for capitalizing on that anyway.

"I can stay too if you need it. I've got no more right than anyone else to go to the end."

Though I'd very much like to.

IC: James/Claus

With the room cleared, James and Claus were free to toss out as many Poké Balls as they had on them. With a brief glance, James surveyed his forces. Agent Diamond only had Pokemon in their first stages which didn't exactly inspire confidence in James. Agent Apollo had given Diamond the Sableye he had with him, and with the two Pokemon the rather unknown ally had, there were thirteen Pokemon towards Pierce's six.

At least they had numbers.

The other agent could keep the Cofagrigus and the Porygon-Z busy for now. Hopefully between the five of his Pokemon, Agent Diamond could distract at least one more.

"Galahad, begin paralyzing Pierce's Pokemon. Start with the Chandelure."

Silently, the Togekiss stirred up a weak electric current and shot it at the Ghost-Fire Type.

"Gawain, use Mud Bomb on that key-ring looking Pokémon."

James was not familiar with the Pokémon known as Klefki, but figured it was a Steel-Type. Trusting such sentiment, Gawain created a large ball of mud and tossed it straight towards the Steel-Fairy Type.

"Mordred, move about the field with Agility. I will tell you when to strike."

The Weavile nodded and jumped back. He began to circle the battlefield, building up speed as he did so. He had several Ghost-Type targets to attack when the time was right. If he was targeted it would be harder to attack, but he was confident that he could lead them on a chase if such an event happened.

"Lancelot, challenge Golurk," James said simply.

The Scizor slowly approached the taller Golurk. He did not rush in against an opponent he knew nothing about, but began moving in the pattern telling of a Swords Dance. The Scizor preferred to pressure the Golurk into making the first move that he could react to it.

"Agravain..." James said to the Karrablast who he dubbed 'Agravain' to honor his seeming loyalty to Mordred. He didn't exactly know yet how to use the Karrablast, so all he said was, "stay by me, I will tell you when to act,"

The bug pouted but obeyed.

Percival he did not address. If Pierce and his Pokemon had not yet noticed the invisible Chandelure, then James preferred to keep it that way and play his card at the opportune moment. First he had to have Galahad do his job in preparing them for Percival's assault.

Still, where is the man himself? James wondered.

Hades looked about the rest of Claus's Pokémon to figure out a strategy. Running away still seemed attractive, but leaving Claus to fend for himself didn't sit right. Plus if they didn't catch up with Richard, there was no telling what sort of trouble he would get himself into. He didn't have the sheer damage output of any of the Executive's Pokemon, but he was sure between him and the monkey they could keep one of the enemy Pokemon occupied. Time to cause a diversion.

Follow me, Hades called to Flint. He and the Monferno closed in on the one unoccupied Pokemon, the Aegislash. The Sableye launched a Confuse Ray, closing the gap with his Prankster ability. The Monferno leaped over the Aegislash, landed in front of it, and used Taunt.

Baccio held back and used Autotomize to prepare while Porky used Odor Sleuth to track the Aegislash. If Baccio needed to go 'boom' at any point, it'd help if most of the opponents weren't immune to Explosion.

And then there was Lucas. He stood nearly motionless as he charged his attack. This battle was gonna need his full power if he were gonna make a difference and they were likely gonna only receive one-shot at this. Claus was worried though, he had only been in one battle with Claus beforehand.

That battle being the Gym Battle against Cheren. It had started evenly enough, though Claus didn't exactly feel proud about that. Flint had a type advantage against the Watchog, so he felt the handicap was the only reason they were about even. Flint had thought his generally acrobatic skill would be enough to keep the Watchog spinning in circles.

He was wrong.

The Watchog had been more than able to keep track of the Monferno's movements. It managed to catch the Monferno with a Super Fang. Then the Watchog nearly put Flint to sleep with Hypnosis before the Monferno's Taunt put a stop to it. They were both forced to resort to simply trading blows, until finally Flint's Mach Punch KO'd the Watchog with a solid punch to the face. Flint smiled at his victory, though he wasn't looking much better at that point.

Cheren had seemed pleased, but not particularly surprised.

Claus wasn't sure why he was thinking about that battle now, but decided that anything he learned during that battle would be important to remember now that he had gotten himself into such a life and death situation.

IC: James Arthur/Claus Diamond/Jamie Arthur/Richard Apollo

"I will join you," James said, he and Lancelot stepping forward. He let Gawain's Poké Ball drop to the ground. They needed some more room before he could let Mordred and Galahad out of their Poké Balls.

"I at least have had a chance to face Pierce before," James said, completely omitting how that battle turned out. "And well, I think I am... uniquely suited towards keeping Pierce's attention."

And I need to know how much I have grown since then...

"If anyone else wishes to stay they are welcome," he said, genuinely wondering if anyone would.

Claus grabbed for his Poké Balls, but looked around first. He wasn't sure how much he could offer, but if no one else would stay, he could.

"If not, then I would suggest anyone who already has a Pokémon ready to be ready to make an opening," he said looking towards Gawain, who began to produce small volumes of water, waiting for the moment to strike.

Seeing no other volunteers, Claus stepped forward, "I'll stay too, sir."

The bard seemed a little surprised. A bit worried, he reached into his pocket.

"Hey Claus, take this," Richard called throwing a Poké Ball at Claus.

That's my Poké Ball...ah. Hades thought. He hopped off Richard's head as he took the hint.

"Take care of each other, will ya?" Richard said with a worried smile. "I'd rather not have write a tragedy."

Claus nodded. Frankly, he was about equally worried about Richard as well, but his problem was more pressing.

James sized up the two trainers who joined him. Somehow, he didn't feel particularly reassured, but he'd find a way to work with it. Pierce lacked the same advantages that helped him the last time. Now it was down to a straight fight.

"Alright then. I would suggest running like pandemonium just broke loose. Gawain, Muddy Water!" he called to the Swampert who raised a giant column of water and dirt and sent it splashing down towards those Pokémon that were directly blocking the way.

Lancelot followed in the wave's wake to force out of the way any Pokémon resolute enough to brave the wave and not dodge and fight any Pokemon that tried to interfere with the soon to be mass-exodus. Jamie and Richard wasted no time in running as well, intending to use the resulting chaos to break past the six Pokémon. Lucan 'stood' prepared to Ice Beam any attackers while Pelleas planned to toss out anyone who came too close.

IC: James/Richard/Claus/Jamie

As James descended with the others, James considered the fact that he could be walking towards his grave, the building his tomb. This would be the first time walking into such a dangerous place without Guinevere by his side. There was something stabilizing about her presence for James. Though Celebi could fill the hole of Guinevere's combat ability, it still wasn't enough to calm his heart. Lancelot looked towards him, with a look of concern. He still had his champion at least. That would have to suffice. James took a deep breath and let his heart-rate fall close to resting rate. King and champion exchanged nods, and the Scizor turned back around.

James looked at the images scattered across the walls. They seemed to be recordings of Pierce's life. Except, some of these seemed to be of Pierce and Piers's early child-hood, and if Ford had been recording him since then... well, that was even creepier than the images. James considered that Pierce may have recorded these, as despite the calls of 'Paris' and 'Piers' he only ever saw one twin suggesting it could be from Pierce's point of view, but it seemed... odd.

James heard a whistle and turned. Agent Apollo looked towards him and began pointing at the image of the debate. James nodded towards the agent. He saw his own face looking back at him. He ignored just how smug he looked to consider the fact that he knew that Pierce hadn't been holding some recording device at the time.

So if he wasn't recording them, what are they? James considered.

Then a hollow projection of Pierce appeared. As it spoke, James found it odder than the images. This was not the same Pierce that he had fought twice in Hoenn. This person seemed a shell of that one. As he spoke, he found only further oddities. They were here because they followed McKinley's message. Well he couldn't speak for everyone, but that's how he knew at the least. If that was the case, why didn't Pierce know about it? Either Pierce had been left out of the loop or McKinley had gone behind Ford's back.

But for what purpose...

Time to provoke for info.

"The front door was left open." Kinda hard to close doors that don't exist. "And were invited in, of course."

IC: Guinevere - Stacy's Mansion

The Gardevoir shook her head slowly. That was not enough.

As long as a shred of doubt remains, I will not help you go down this path. If you act on this while even a fragment of you believes it to be wrong, you will regret it for the rest of your life. No one could fault you for not taking it. There is no way I can tell you if this is the right path. If you find another path worthy enough, I would suggest you take it.

The Gardevoir then stared deep into Shannon's eyes. She held her eyes still for several long moments before continuing.

But if you find your heart resolved to do this... come see me. I have... ideas about how you could bring them to justice. I will be here until I fully recover.

Having said what she needed, she turned towards the Grimer who escorted her in.

Excuse me, uncle. Could you push me to the porch? I need some fresh air.

The Grimer shifted in a way that if you looked at it right seemed to be a bow, before pushing the Gardevoir out of the room and leaving Shannon and Lucia alone.

IC: James/Jamie/Richard/Claus

James tossed out Percival and Lancelot and let them retake their earlier positions. Personal safety-wise, it was probably better . And considering how thoroughly he had embarrassed Pierce on a international stage, he no longer needed the satisfaction. But there was a saying: if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself. He considered sending Celebi out early, but as usual, he decided to keep the legend as a last resort.

"If you do not mind, I intend to go with the assault team," James stated to Goldhawk. He wasn't really looking for an answer; he couldn't imagine that Goldhawk would say no now. It was for formality, or perhaps reflex, that he asked.

Jamie just nodded and grinned at Gavin's praise while squeezing Ethan. She'd tell them James did it later.

"That's right. We're all heroes here. And we are gonna stop the bad guys!" Jamie shouted, blood pumping through her body already.

Jamie just realized then that she never told Ethan or Gavin anything, including the hero thing. Well, this would be a great chance to show off. Jamie chuckled slightly to herself, imagining the look of surprise on their faces.

Richard plucked the strings of his violin before retreating Oceanus and sending out Orpheus. His hearing would help warn them in case of ambush. His blood was boiling like Jamie and Evan's. 'Heroes'. What a perfect word. He began memorizing everyone's faces at that moment. He didn't yet know who his song would focus on here, but it had to be one of these people.

His focus on the others was so strong, that he forgot to say some witty one-liner, the Sableye noted. If they survived this, Richard would kick himself for that.

Claus had one trick up his sleeve. He wasn't terribly strong or skilled and he'd have to stick close to Richard and the others if he was gonna contribute but... this was something the son of one of the 'Dex holders had to do, right? He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he backed now.

IC: Guinevere - Stacy's Mansion

Guinevere had been on both sides of the aisle so she could testify that the term 'innocent Rockets' was a bit... far-fetched. In all her time as a Rocket, she had only met one person she could classify as innocent. And she helped raise her. Though Lucia at the least did not display any corruption, only time would tell.

This count included herself and James. He had been corrupt upon joining and her his willing accomplice.

Not to say that Team Liberty was any better. The likes of Vert and James proved it wasn't all sunshine and smiles over there too.

It didn't help that Shannon was being vague. What counted as 'enough' to her, wasn't specific enough for someone like Guinevere. Still, she could probably find a way to work with it if she cared to do something about it.

Whether she did or not depended on the answer to her second question.

I have another question. Do you -want- your parents to be punished? Because if you ever want to see them get punished, it requires you to act.

IC: Richard/Claus - Two Island

"Whaaaat? You thought I was gonna sit out on this? A final battle, dripping with tension and excitement!" Richard said with a grand grin, clearing not reading the mood.

"I think she means, 'what are we doing here -with- Goldhawk and Executive Arthur?'" Claus offerred, to which Richard responded with a silent 'ooohhh'.

Richard scratched his head with one hand and pointed at James with his thumb in the other, "Apparently helping take down some guy named James Pierce gets you picked for ultra-important missions. That and the Executive owed me for making a distraction, that probably would've caused an international incident had he not been proving Pierce a fraud, on his orders."

Yeah, that was really annoying, and horrifying, the Sableye mentioned, not that anyone could understand him. In fact let's never speak of it again.

Confuse Ray should never be used en masse. And the less said about what the Diglett got up to, the better.

"And I rode his coattails into getting here. I was continuing my Gym challenge in Unova when Executive Arthur dragged Richard into helping him. If you don't mind me asking, why are you all here? As in, why you all didn't come with our group and instead showed up on your own."

IC: Guinevere - Stacy's Mansion

Even after hearing the argument from earlier, Guinevere was surprised at the sheer rift between Shannon and her parents. She was silent for a moment as she considered whether or not to mention her own connections to Team Liberty.

Considering she had never heard of those two particular people before, she knew that she had more authority than either of them (de facto if not in proper rank). Between her and Lucia, a member of Team Rocket, there wasn't much of anything her parents could do. Thus, Shannon's worry of her parents hearing her seemed superfluous, at least from a viewpoint of personal safety. Accusing her parents of being evil evading karma wouldn't do any favors for their relationship.

She could give the answer James would have said, continue to appeal through the proper channels, or the answer James might have done, dig up information on his target and expose it when it would most harm them, but neither of those were what Shannon needed to hear.

Do not apologize when you have not done anything wrong, Guinevere said, echoing what she said earlier. No one can fault you for having emotions.

She had two questions she needed to ask before she could give any worthwhile advice. They were probably going to be painful for Shannon.

Take your time in answering what I am going to ask you. I can assure you that no harm will come to you. But how much do you know about what your parents have done as part of Team Liberty?

IC: James/Richard/Claus/Jamie - Two Island, Cape Brink. Are you happy?

Richard flew over on Oceanus, the large Gyarados having enough room on his back for him, Claus and James. James considered using Galahad to fly, but the Togekiss had never had experience transporting anyone on his back. Deciding he'd rather not risk that, he chose to risk the Gyarados. He looked a bit less than dignified holding onto it though. Heights were never his strong suit in the best of times. He'd much prefer teleporting any day. As soon as Oceanus was near the ground, he leaped off back to safety on the ground. The transportation had been stressful enough that he didn't notice the large number of familiar faces that had arrive until he was about to jump. Still, he wasn't exactly surprised. He had told both Team Rocket and Team Liberty about the information after all.

He saw an agent approach Goldhawk and give his appeal. This was information he hadn't heard.

"We will do our best," James answered for Goldhawk, "though we cannot guarantee their safety." He knew he had met this agent somewhere before. But he completely forgotten his name. "However our first priority will remain the defeat and apprehension of Ford. "You have my permission to leave once the hostages have been rescued, though note, we will not leave until Ford has been dealt with."

"Ethan! Gavin!" Jamie called jumping off the Flygon and running up to her friends, a bit louder than she meant to be. "Glad you got my message," she said with a smile, glad to finally have some familiar faces.

James looked towards the clone with a faint discomfort. He wondered if she had ignored him or just saw those two agents first. If she had, he'd have felt a bit hurt.

"In addition," he said quieter so that a certain someone wouldn't overhear, "Shadow Admin Sleight's son is also a captive. If you have the opportunity to rescue him, I am sure the Shadow Admin would be grateful."

"And don't forget Skye!," Jamie yelled, sensing the topic of conversation and not hearing Skye's name, "We can't leave until we knock some sense into her!"

"...Whoever she is, I would suggest rescuing her if you have the opportunity to do so. But I suppose you do not need me to tell you that," James said shaking his head.

Richard looked around the many varied faces gathered. He was taking in as many details as he could.

"Claus?"

The other agent turned towards him, sending out Flint, who quickly climbed on his head, and said, "Yeah?"

"There will be songs sung of this day, one way or another. And I'd like to be the one to write them," he said smiling.

Claus chuckled, "Yeah, I know." He then put on a more somber smile. "I hope I get to hear them."

Hades sighed quietly. Just don't do anything stupid, he thought. He'd like to hear whatever Richard planned to write too.

IC: Guinevere - Stacy's Mansion

Guinevere had drifted off into thought on hearing Shannon's response to what she said, with a look on her face that could only be called pensive. It was true, despite everything, she still threw herself into danger for him.

Hearing what Shannon had just said shook her out of her trance.

She wanted to sarcastically answer 'throw yourself in front of an exploding building for them.'

But she did have a serious thought to add, Are they not being punished because their guilt has not been proven to the authority that could punish it or because authority knows and does not care?

IC: James/Richard/Apollo - Two Island

"There is not much, sir," James said shaking his head. "All I can say is that I doubt Ford would have put his base of operations right near civilization. I would suggest we focus our efforts on the northern half of the island, Cape Brink to be specific."

It was embarrassing really. Two Island was close enough to Four Island that they really should've noticed this. How Ford managed to build his base in their backyard surprised him.

Or... did we build -our- base in -his- backyard, James considered. If it had been built first, it would explain how it would've been built without their notice. Well there would be time to get his question answered when Ford was in custody.

"Team Rocket is likely to have sent forces as well. We would do well to join our efforts to theirs if we wish to find Ford's base quickly."