Blessed Blade

-==IC: Lucia -- Lumiose City==- It took them a little while to get off the plane and through baggage, but once they were out of the airport, it didn't take the two long at all to get to the Gym. Lucia looked up at the Lumiose Tower in awe before she stepped into the building. Her first impression was that it was a lot less crowded than she had expected it to be, even with the power out. There were a handful of people here and there, but nowhere near the amount there normally would be if Pokémon could use their moves. "I think this is the right place. The elevator will at least give us a good view if they aren't accepting challenges, but Clemont's eager enough that he just might be up for a fight regardless." Lucia said, though she wondered how much she was correct about that. -==IC: Colleen -- Lumiose City, Except Later==- "No worries, I get it." Colleen smiled in a friendly way to try and reassure the gardener. "I don't think you're holding the group back either; being worried about a Pokémon that's lost and scared isn't a bad thing. Though, I'm not really sure that she abandoned you. I can't say why I think that, but it just didn't feel that way, especially with everything that happened, and how you seemed to be able to calm her down. Maybe she just found Zoe's stash of flowers and is ransacking it." She grinned with a chuckle at the mental picture of that. "Oh! That reminds me, though..." Colleen paused for a moment as she thought back to what was first said. "Just to mention, I'm going by Colleen now, some things happened and long story short, that's my name." "Oh!" Dahlia looked at the aura wielder in surprise. "Sorry about that. I didn't know." "No worries; didn't get a chance to explain earlier." Colleen gave a small smile. "We should catch up, though, looks like they might leave us behind if we're too slow. But if you wanna talk sometime, I can try to help." -==IC: Chloe -- Train to Blackthorn==- Chloe snickered at the hole that Ryan tried his best to dig himself out of, only to dig his way further down. When he changed the subject, though, the girl smiled. "My mom suggested it way back when. My real mom. I've been thinking about those days a lot recently; I'm surprised how much I actually forgot about that time in the four years that I was focused on other things." Chloe paused for a moment as she fell into her thoughts. "It's what she had in mind for me, though." -==IC: Natalie -- Celadon City==- "Umm..." Natalie was about to stand back up when Guinevere's question came. She tried her best to think about what Stacy had said back then. "I'm having a little trouble; I never actually memorized it well since it wasn't really my business..." She bit her lip slightly as she continued to struggle. "I think the name began with a P... Pat or something, I think...?" -==IC: Jenny -- Heahea City==- Jenny managed to wake up for a little bit to get off the plane, but once the two had gotten into their room, she headed straight for the bed and curled up in it once again, as she tried to hold onto the dream that she had been having. She tried to recall specific details - some felt surreal, some felt like it had veered off course to something entirely different, and then something felt so familiar that it was on the tip of her tongue. Despite that, she couldn't place why it was familiar. Jenny closed her eyes, as she tried her best to fall back into the same dream. -== -- ==- Four years earlier. . . A groan echoed through the empty streets. Crowds had long since dispersed. A hand clawed through rubble as a door opened, sending yet more rubble falling down into the darkness. How long had it been? The person crawled out further - had they broken something in the chaos? What even caused it? A gasp - had they been injured? A quick check showed nothing truly major, but there was pain from somewhere. They needed to get away. The person reached for their belt - the Poké Balls were still there. The trainer let out a ragged sigh of relief. With a wince, they slowly unlatched one of the capsules from their belt. A flash of light, as they felt tired. They needed to get away. Somewhere. . . The person blinked, it felt like sleep was a good idea, but they had to get away. The person didn't remember how they got on, but they were suddenly on the back of their Pokémon - movement showed that they had taken flight. But to where...? Their eyes felt heavy. Closing them for a few moments wouldn't hurt, right...? . . . But... who am I...?

Good chapter! I liked the WAZA twist! ^^

-==IC: Lucia Zyther==- Lucia grinned at that as she listened to Jamie's explanation of Evan. "Nice! Sounds like a great role model to me." After she finished speaking, she paused as an announcement about the plane's landing played on the speakers. As she waited, the redhead glanced out the window again to watch the rapidly approaching scenery. The tall tower in the center of the city caught her attention quickly. She stared at the tower for a while before an idea clicked into her mind. "Say, Jamie, why don't we check out the Gym here?" Lucia glanced back over at her friend with another grin. "I think I should get some supplies, but we can get those after." -==IC: Natalie -- Celadon City==- "Umm..." Natalie sat down on the bed, as she tried to think. "I don't recall many enemies at all when I knew of them. But when my friend, their brother, and their friends were here, I recall them saying something about Gerald fighting them or doing something bad? So they might have been Gerald's enemies? I don't really know, admittedly..." She paused as something appeared to come to mind. "Wait. There was something else that Stacy once said while Gerald and Cassie were out of earshot." Natalie closed her eyes as she tried to focus on it. "It was something about... um... I think something about a rivalry with some family friend?" She let out a growl of frustration. "I'm sorry, I want to be more help, but my mind's in overdrive right now... I think I can take you to the branch here though. Not sure if they'll let me in, though." -==IC: Ryan -- Vermillion City==- "If Miyu wants to, then I'd say she's welcome to join us. I'm sure my friend won't have any complaints when she gets here." Ryan gave Aori a warm smile for a moment before he glanced back toward the ship. "She should be here any time now, she got held up by the crowds."

-==IC: Chloe -- Train to Blackthorn==- Chloe was about to respond to Ryan's initial comments when he mentioned how she looked. She took a moment to quickly flip through her PokéGear to try and find something. It took a tiny bit to locate them, but eventually she found two pictures from when she was younger and still living in Goldenrod. "I'm not so sure. Back when I was in Goldenrod, I actually rejected that name so much that I went by my middle name - Yuki. And well... you see how I looked back then. If it was someone I knew from back then, then this technically would look different, as my hair's a lot shorter now and I have a different name and all." The psychic woman tried to think again, but paused. "Also, I'll have you know that Ray couldn't recognize his own sister either. I refuse to take responsibility for that one, since she had changed too." A teasing smile crossed Chloe's face as she said that. -==IC: Natalie Dexter -- Celadon City==- "Hmm..." Natalie bit her lip as she scrolled through her PokéGear to try and check about that. "I'm not actually sure. I think they had some sort of issue with their phone a while ago, as I hadn't heard from them in like four years. I think they gave me their new number, but... it was a hectic day, honestly." She glanced up at the Gardevoir to make sure she wasn't saying anything else. "Is there anything in particular you'd like to know? I could try to recall if there was anything mentioned while I'm searching, if you want." -==IC: Lucia -- Plane to Kalos==- "That's pretty cool." Lucia flashed Jamie a smile as she explained the deal with the Adamant Shard. "What's that Evan guy like, anyway? I don't think I ever got a chance to meet him yet. Is he a cool person?" The healer glanced back out the window for a moment, as it almost felt like the plane was moving down. She noticed that they were beginning to approach the ground. Lucia seemed surprised for a moment as she looked out the window, wondering if it had already been however long the flight was. She turned her attention back to Jamie, however, as she felt that the conversation was most important right then. -==IC: Ryan -- Vermillion City Docks==- "Nice to meet you, Miyu." Ryan said with a smile. "Thank you for helping Aori." He glanced around slightly to see if Miyu had any parents around either - but a cursory scan didn't see anyone who was watching them in the way that would point to being her parents. He wondered if she was another refugee from One Island, though he wasn't sure quite how to ask that. -==IC: Ray -- Train to Blackthorn==- Byakuya fell to the ground hard as he tumbled around for a few seconds. As he stood up, he noticed Neptune leaping toward him once more. He quickly side-stepped the small crocodile and attempted to gently knock him out of the air, trying to not hurt him too much. Zangetsu looked to the side in surprise as he saw Kovian. He didn't have any time to react at all, as he was his by the scalchops hard and sent tumbling to the ground. The Zangoose pushed himself up slowly, as he kept an eye on his two opponents. He suddenly realized that perhaps the plan to split themselves up between two opponents had maybe not been the best idea, but wasn't sure how to fix this at this point. Ray fell silent as Sonja explained her side of the story. He wished there was something - anything - that he could say to help here. But nothing came to mind. Everything that he could think of just felt hollow to him. So, he chose a different approach. "I hear you." Ray said with a nod. "It... really sucks, honestly." -==IC: Olivia/Colleen -- Lumiose Airport==- Colleen tinkered with her communication device while the discussion of Dahlia's disappearance and Fiora's vanishing act took place. She dropped her pace slightly to fall back with Dahlia - she trusted that the others could at least find their way out of the airport without her guiding them. She placed a hand on Dahlia's shoulder, with a nod. "Here if you need it." The girl said with a small smile, before she looked out the window. "I wonder if there's some other explanation, but if she's somewhere here, we'll find her when we have time. Maybe she's hanging out with Zoe or someone and we don't know it." Olivia watched quietly as the girl from Kalos tried to help talk to Dahlia. She had to wonder if the girl was right, but she agreed with Jared - right now, there was no time to look, no matter how disheartening and distracting that was. At the same time, she had no clue if there was any good way to say that. The redhead closed her eyes for a brief moment as she continued to walk forward.

-==IC: Ryan -- Vermillion Docks==- Ryan said nothing for a long while as he decided to simply hug the young girl back - he knew this was an important emotional time for Aori, so he simply let her have it. His silence didn't last all too long in total, however, as he glanced over at the bouncing young grey-haired girl. "Hello." He said back, slightly surprised that there was someone else there. "Did you make a new friend, Aori?" -==IC: Colleen -- Plane over Who-Knows-Where==- If the look Dahlia gave her didn't clue her in, a quick read of her aura did. "No." Colleen said with a bit more flatness to her voice than she intended. "If there's something bad, then it's not going to do anyone any help to stay behind any more than it will for her to come with us. Not any more than any of the rest of us. Head count, how many of us are above 18?" Olivia put up her hand. -==IC: Chloe -- Train to Blackthorn City==- The psychic seemed to not hear Ryan for a moment, before she finally replied. "It felt like I recognized that guy. I don't know why or from where, but I just got a sense of... familiarity, somehow." Chloe said as she continued to wear that perplexed look on her face. "The odder thing is I'm not sure if he recognized me, which adds another element of confusion to things." With a sigh, Chloe put her head in her hands for a moment, but then tilted her head up to look at Ryan a moment later. "Do you have any ideas?" -==IC: Ray -- Same Train==- Ray was surprised by the tactic that Atem and Neptune used, but had to laugh at the sight of the Totodile hanging off of the much-less-impressed Bisharp. Byakuya in turn tried to shake his head to at least attempt to get Neptune to let go. However, in the process, Atem succeeded in knocking into Byakuya, which meant that the Bisharp was currently hitching a ride on the head of the Rhyhorn. Zangetsu was surprised by the Fraxure joining in to help, but tried his best to nimbly jump over the tail. With a quick swipe at Lyxek, the Zangoose tried his best to keep an eye on both the Dewott and Fraxure in case they tried any other moves. Ray, on the other hand, fell quiet for a moment when Ford was brought up. "To be honest, we were... not really in the midst of most of that stuff. Or at least, I wasn't. It's an odd feeling to go back in a very different circumstance, but..." He trailed off, legitimately not knowing the words to say at that moment. At the same time, he could talk about his recruitment now. "I got mixed up in that mess when I returned to Four Island. McKinley set a trap and lured me in. . . there were only two options - fight and likely lose, or join. Some of the things he said... sounded like they were threatening all of the group. So I tried to bargain instead." His gaze fell toward the ground. "It didn't work - McKinley ended up both going after all of us anyway, no-one trusts me anymore, and to boot, McKinley likely always just was doing it simply to manipulate me into accepting." -==IC: Lucia -- Different Plane==- The trip to Kalos was rather quiet. A couple times, Lucia had wanted to say something - anything to break the silence. She couldn't find the words, however, so she took to staring out the window for a while. She thought that the view from so high in the sky was very pretty - something that made her blush slightly as she compared it in her mind to Jamie. Lucia finally turned her head to look at the heroine of Time. She wanted to start up a conversation to bring things to how they normally were. "Where'd you get the pretty new necklace from?" -==IC: Natalie -- Celadon City==- "Gerald?" Natalie repeated with a small frown. "Hm... I've heard bad things about him recently, yeah. My friend, they apparently had a bad run-in with him a couple weeks ago when the city was attacked; but last I heard, he had been arrested and taken to Unova. If he's involved..." She trailed off with a small frown. "You don't seem to think what the police does - do you disagree that Cassie's the killer?"

-==IC: Olivia/Colleen==- "No, we don't, but can she actually tag along anyway?" Olivia frowned slightly, as she watched the antics of Zoe with a worried look. "She doesn't look that old, can she actually hold her own in a fight?" "I think she's going to have to." Colleen replied with a disapproving look. While she couldn't deny that Zoe's reasoning had a rather understandable feeling to it, she also wasn't certain how she felt about her little sister tagging along like this, especially with the way the mission sounded. She sighed as quietly as she could manage, as she went to sit back down, not even sure what the first thing to actually say to Zoe was. -==IC: Ray==- Ray tensed slightly as he ran through ideas in his mind, his Pokémon mimicking the battle stances of everyone else. "Three!" He quickly pointed in the direction of each of his friends. "Zangetsu, attack Kovian; Byakuya, go after Neptune!" The Zangoose and Bisharp quickly growled an affirmative, as they set off for their opponents. Ray knew that he couldn't do much against the rock-tough hide of Atem at the moment, and that Lyxek could prove to be a tough fight with Kovian still around, so he went with the most logical matchups. The Zangoose prepared his claws to strike out at the Dewott, looking to be raring for this fight. The Bisharp, on the other hand, looked a lot more calm about the fight, preparing to hold back the strikes from his punches, since Neptune was currently still a Totodile. OOC: Zangoose > Dewott Bisharp > Totodile -==IC: Chloe==- Chloe let out a snicker at the mention of Cyndaquil. She stayed quiet until Ryan had finished speaking, however. "That definitely sounds like Evan." The psychic finally said with a small smile. "He's pretty good at firing people up. You're not too bad at channeling him, yourself." As Chloe fell back into silence, however, it seemed more like she was thinking hard about something. There were no obvious signs as to what she could be thinking about. A couple times it looked as if she were going to say something, but then she shook her head and looked out the window as if that would help. -==IC: Ryan==- As Ryan looked around, he caught the glimpse of someone slowly approaching. It took a moment to really take notice, but after the crowd passed, he fully recognized Aori. As she slowly stepped forward, he did as well. He wasn't entirely certain what to say; what he could say. But he offered a small smile, as he waved a bit. "Heya."

Good chapter! Nice idea using Acid copies here, since that makes a bit more sense than the out-of-nowhere Mega copies in the games ^^

-==IC: Ray==- "Agreed." Ray said with a nod, as he sized up the opponents. He wasn't certain how things would work for his strategies without any power, but he realized that could help things in the long run. He waited to see if anyone else would make the first move; he didn't want to accidentally attack while things were setting up, after all. "We begin on three?" -==IC: Chloe==- "That might work for some, but I was gone for like half the other mission. I feel bad saying it, but I'm not sure if I have the same kinda bonds that like, you or Ray or Kyle or Evan have with the group. Like, I vanished for so long, and then when we got back, I just hid away in more ways than one." Chloe sighed, as she bit her lip. "I'm sorry; I know I should try to keep focused on the positive things. I just can't shake this feeling like it might take a lot more work than I expected to even try making things up to some of us." -==IC: Ryan==- Ryan checked his Pokégear as he received the message from Shannon. He looked around at the crowd uncertainly as he realized he was near the front of the line. "Alright. Hope the traffic goes away soon." He sent the reply off as he made his way through the crowd and off the ship. Ryan tried to find the most prominent spot on the dock that he could wait in, as he scanned the dock awkwardly. He looked around for people who both might recognize him and anyone who might cause trouble - a learned behaviour from spending so much time in dangerous situations. He hoped that Shannon wouldn't take too long making her way off the ship. -==IC: Olivia==- "Hum... Can't say I do. Don't really have much experience with either of ya, so it'd have to be something I'd figure out as we go, I reckon." Olivia thought for a few moments as she considered things. "I think being more open works for ya, though; awkwardness can be a tough thing to push through at the start, I know from experience, but... I think it could help a lot." She trailed off slightly at the end, as she wondered whether she was talking about herself, or Jared. The crash in the airplane caught her attention, however. -==IC: Colleen==- Colleen yelped out with a start as she heard the sudden crashing of people behind her as the overhead compartment opened. The girl quickly turned in her seat to see what had just happened. Her shock increased as she saw the culprit who crashed into Dahlia. After a few moments, she seemed as if her expression was a mix of many, many different emotions, most of which involving the imminent exhaustion the situation would likely bring. "... Zoe? What are you doing here?" Colleen asked with a confused tone as she placed a hand on her hip.

-==IC: Olivia==- "I got some training in hand-to-hand combat when I joined up; I got the boot camp treatment at times. I wanted to make sure I could protect people I needed to." Olivia explained as she followed Jared, not sure why they needed to go so far on such an empty plane. She didn't voice that thought, however, as she instead looked to see if there were any follow-up questions to her response.

-==IC: Ray Hakuda - Train to Blackthorn==- Ray seemed shocked for a moment, especially at how eager Kyle seemed to be about all this, up to and including shutting Sonja's protests right down. He blinked after a moment as he realized he had likely taken a few seconds too long to reply. He nodded with a small smile. "Sounds good to me." The Separatist still seemed a little laid back regarding the fight, though he afford himself a moment to glance toward Sonja as he thought over the two Pokémon to fight with. He had to admit that it felt a little strange that she didn't seem to want to do anything. The man hoped it wasn't any more than her staying ultra-focused. Still. . . Ray did recall one time that the brown haired woman had relaxed even slightly in recent times. He just hoped this battle could be a return to that. "Alright, come on Zangetsu! You too, Byakuya!" Ray sent the two Pokémon of his that were most suitable to fighting without supernatural powers. The two seemed slightly confused as to why they got sent out, but after assessing the situation quickly, caught the drift of what was going on.

-==IC: Ryan - Boat to Vermillion==- "Not a problem, I don't think it was a weird thing to talk about." Ryan shrugged for a moment as he realized that he'd likely have to try and find Shannon soon if they were nearly there. "I hope everything goes well with you two and that Luke guy." -==IC: Chloe - Train==- "I guess..." Chloe didn't sound too convinced about that. "But what if it never gets back to the way things were? You're right that a lot has happened since Unova, and a lot of it has been bad. What if that affects us for good?" -==IC: Olivia==- "What about combat training particularly?" The redhead seemed curious still, though she wasn't sure exactly how to go about describing anything like that. "I'm up for talkin', though ya might have to explain some of what ya wanna know about."

-==IC: Chloe==- Chloe stayed quiet for a little bit, as if still lost in thought. "Things feel different... I know that everyone's likely stressed because of the end of the world thing, but... It feels almost like the group's atmosphere changed at some point while I was gone - and I'm not sure why..." She fell quiet again for a moment, before chirping from her purse interrupted her. The Rowlet half-emerged from her purse with a happy look. She thought for a moment, then sighed as she took one of the Poké Balls from their compartment and tapped it against the grass bird's forehead. After a couple moments of the capsule shaking, a click signaled the ball could be shrunk and attached to her purse strap. She didn't want to bring the Rowlet into danger, but at this point, being safe in a Poké Ball was a lot better than roaming free in her purse. -==IC: Olivia/Colleen==- "No worries here! Hope ya have a safe trip home!" Olivia replied as quick as she could to the mention of Celadon - she had been able to put two and two together from everything that had been told to her about the trip with Xander and how that McKinley guy had shown up, so she knew it wasn't at all Ellen's fault. She wished there had been more that could have been done to help, but she thought about everything else that had happened and realized that if anything had changed, a lot of things likely wouldn't have happened. She kept those thoughts to herself, but got dragged out of those thoughts by Jared when he showed up. "'Sup?" The redhead asked with a curious expression. Olivia wasn't entirely sure what Jared wanted to discuss with her, especially since they had only really talked once - something that hadn't really... gone that well at the time. Colleen, meanwhile, found herself surprised when Paul approached her. "Oh, um, you're welcome." The girl said with a smile to try and hide the shock of being thanked for that. She had to admit he had a point - even if it was more thanks to Ryan and the others for convincing her to help. She still wasn't sure what to think of what had happened in that weird egg, but she wasn't going to make things seem weird by contesting anything. "I, um, hope everything goes well for you." -==IC: Ryan==- "I..." Ryan had to stop and think about that. He had to think about everything that had happened since things really got serious for him. "It... depends on the battle. Sometimes I just feel... numb about things, like I've been affected by other things too much to even pay attention. But sometimes... I just don't keep myself together." He sighed, as he looked up to the sky, wincing at a particular memory of a battle that had broken through his past numbness. "I can't say there's a real strategy - at least one I know of. My sister's pretty much kept her mind preoccupied on different things after a bad day before, but... I don't know if that actually helps with battles at all. I'm sorry if that wasn't helpful." -==IC: Ray==- Ray was surprised by both Kyle's insistence and the suddenness of everything. He let himself get effectively pulled down to the next car, stunned into silence by that. He allowed himself a bit of a smile at the idea of a battle that was just for fun - powers or no powers, it had been quite some time since he had last had a fight like that... not since before the left the Alamo to head to Fortree. Besides, it would be a while before they arrived at their destination. They had some time to spare here.

-==IC: Ryan Hikari - Boat==- "Sorta... it's a little complicated, though in a way that mission is related to some other things..." Ryan paused as he glanced back toward where he had last seen Shannon - although the spot was severely lacking in the blonde girl's presence now. "What about you? It seemed like you got hit hard by that mission yourself." -==IC: Chloe, Ray==- "That wasn't what I was trying to say." Chloe furrowed her brow as she felt like the point went unnoticed for the most part. "I just, I agree with Kyle, I don't know if that was really the way to go about saying things. I know we don't have a lot of time, but it seemed like they did, and--" "Just drop it." Ray said, as he cut into the conversation suddenly. "If we don't have time for helping or anything like that, and if we shouldn't have gotten involved in any of that in the first place, then we don't have time for debating any of this no matter what was meant." He glanced back at the group, having gotten a little bit ahead of the rest to try and get away from the escalating argument. "We can talk about this during any downtime if that's something we really want. I think Coleman here would appreciate us getting on the train on time, though." Chloe felt as if she had been deflated after what was said. She looked down to the ground as she knew she couldn't challenge or refute what was said. She didn't even know that she was right about whether they would help. When did we start being like this, though...? Or were we always like this, but I never saw...? The girl shrunk slightly, as she fell even quieter, opting to simply follow everyone at the back. Had everyone been this goal orientated and she just hadn't seen it? She paused in her thoughts. Or is it me who changed? I was blindly chasing Ryan so long I don't even know...

-==IC: Chloe and company==- Chloe frowned as she looked over at Emmerich for a moment, then Sonja. She could see their points, but the phrasing about both points made her feel a little concerned. She decided to keep quiet and glanced around the group as she noticed Ray just looking away - the psychic girl felt it was very possible that he felt the same way. Corey, on the other hand, stopped and glanced between the two who had spoken as well. An uneasy silence seemed to have fallen after the two comments. "I think we can take a hint." He finally said after a few moments. "We're not far from the station anyway and it doesn't feel like the two of us are welcome." With a small shake of his head, the man turned away before he began to walk once more. Nikki looked torn between wanting to repay things and accepting that the situation had fallen apart badly. Reluctantly, she followed Corey. Once the two were gone, Chloe quietly stood there. "... Was that... really needed?" She asked in a small voice as she wondered what the reason was to push people away like that. Her gaze fell on Sonja in particular, as she wondered if it what comment it was that caused the situation to unfold the way it did.

-==IC: Chloe et al.==- "It's a little bit complicated. It's the sort of matters that I feel would be left to locals - stuff like what just happened. They take care to not do things that would attract too much attention, though some things feel like they're either leading to something, or being because of someone." From the look on his face, Corey did not know how to explain exactly. "I can't say what their end game is, though. Me and my team have been working on trying to figure that out, to keep the city safe. But I don't actually have any real concrete ideas, just that it's far from being ready. I can't even say if the leader actually was here today or not." "It's okay, you've been trying hard!" Nikki exclaimed, then gave a smile as she looked up toward the sky. "We'll find something, I'm sure of it." "Yeah..." Corey didn't look to be too positive about that. "What about you? What are you all up to?" The man eyed Coleman in particular - if he were asked, Corey would admit that he had no clue who Emmerich was, but the air about him seemed more... important than the others in the group.

Sorry for delay again! Another good chapter, and about how I expected it to be; I can't wait to see how things continue, and it was nice to see Vega again! It's definitely pretty cool to see how things are this time compared to SSS1, though ^^

-==IC: Chloe/Ray/Whoever Else - Goldenrod==- The birdnapper quickly handed the Rowlet back to Chloe, the Rowlet chirping happily. The blonde man looked over with a small frown. "If you have a train to catch, we can walk and talk. As I said, I'm Corey and this is one of my companions, Nikki." The man adjusted his blue hoodie for a moment before he waved a hand to have the group follow the two of them in the direction of the station. "Those people are thugs that my friends have been trying to keep from causing trouble here. The police haven't had any luck finding evidence that definitively links anything they do to their members. I keep hearing rumours that they have some sorta ties to some big organization or something." "I was going to try to help get some evidence, but I messed up..." Nikki chimed in with a nervous chuckle. "I actually thought that Rowlet was a wild one that you were chasing... I didn't know it actually belonged to you until you stopped me." "Wasn't your fault. They'll know something's up now, though. Especially since I stepped in." Corey sighed, as he looked to the side. As Chloe looked at the man, she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity, yet she couldn't place where she might have seen him before at that moment. Before she could focus more on that, however, the man glanced back at the group while he led the way. "My friends have these kinds of situations under control, though; a lot of them have been pushed into this before." -==IC: Colleen Llyan - Soaring Through The Air With The Greatest Of Ease==- "That could work. I wasn't really filled in on how well everyone's fighting skills are." Colleen shrugged slightly, as she was being honest. It would take knowing their base skills to find out how to train them, but she was rather interested to find that out before any incidents began. -==IC: Ryan Hikari - Boat==- Ryan was enjoying a nice quiet moment. That moment passed. Someone decided to talk to him suddenly. "Gyah!!" The Rocket yelped as he spun around in shock. After a moment, he relaxed. "Oh, hey... you're that one from Celadon... and that mission..." Ryan tried to quickly think of what her name was, but couldn't recall if they'd actually introduced themselves to each other.

-==IC: Chloe Hikari/Ray Hakuda/???/Ryan Sanders/There Are A Lot Of People Here - Goldenrod City (Jam)==- Chloe watched as the woman seemed to be nervously contemplating the situation. The Rowlet snatcher bit her lip as she looked around as if trying to find a way out of the blockade of Pokémon. At first it seemed as if the woman wouldn't respond, but she looked toward the ground. "I... don't know if I can..." The woman said, her voice barely a whisper. Chloe subtly looked behind the woman - from her angle, it wasn't hard to see the group of people there without them actually noticing what she was doing. The psychic had an uneasy feeling about what might be going on. "Why not?" Sonja asked. "Is it because of those people you're trying to get to?" "How hard can it be?" Ryan added. "Just let the owl go and we'll put all this behind us." The woman bit her lip uncertainly. She mouthed "yes" to Sonja's question as best as she could. She didn't have any way to answer Ryan's question, however. The Rowlet snatcher took a very small step back, uneasy about the pressure that Ryan was adding to the situation. Ryan's Garchomp let out a low warning growl. "We've got places to be," Ryan said. "So if you don't give up the owl we'll be forced to take it from you." Sonja fell silent. "Are they making you steal Pokémon?" Ryan glanced from the thief to Sonja and back again. "Making?" The would-be thief mouthed another yes with another small step back away from the growling Garchomp. Chloe gave Ryan a look for a moment, before she looked back toward the woman to keep an eye on things. In the background, the group of people seemed to be getting wary of what was going on, from their postures. The psychic had to admit that she wasn't certain if there was much time to sort this out. Ryan followed Chloe's gaze with a frown. Clearly the situation was a little more complicated than a simple birdnapping. "Who made you do this?" he asked, trying to make his voice sound more gentle. "We can help you." The thief seemed uneasy, as if uncertain that it would work anymore. As she was about to say something, she heard commotion behind her. *** The group of people watched the gathering of legends and vaguely the confrontation of their recruit-to-be. One man in particular frowned. "She doesn't seem to have what it takes if she was caught this easily." The man stated blandly, regarding the situation with distaste. "Sir, isn't that a little harsh?" Another of the group's members inquired quietly with a puzzled look. "I don't think anyone expected legends to show up to a simple Pokémon theft. It feels like odd circumstances." "Perhaps." The man in charge seemed to consider that for a moment. "But if they are part of the authority, that means she's already been made. She hasn't even joined the group and has already been caught by big-time people." His eyes, however, caught sight of the blonde man approaching. "We might have bigger trouble, anyway." The group turned their gaze toward the newcomer, as he strode up, standing between the gang of people and the legendary beasts. "What exactly are you doing, standing around like this?" The man asked rather loudly, as if to attract the attention of the group of trainers that accompanied the legends. "Great," Ryan muttered, casting a glance at the blonde haired man as he assessed the situation. "We'll make our escape while he keeps them distracted." He turned back to face the Rowlet thief and spoke in a low voice. "Come with us. I can promise we'll keep you safe. And maybe you can explain along the way how you got caught up in this group of Pokémon thieves." The leader of the other gang seemed to have other plans, however. "Let's go. There's too much risk now." He turned his face away, motioning to the others in his group to follow before any trouble could be made for them. One of the gang members hesitated for a moment as they looked back, but then followed the rest out of sight. The dark-haired woman and the blonde man both let out a sigh of relief as the gang disappeared from sight. The woman quickly held the still-stunned Rowlet out as she looked around the group. "Um, oh, I don't know whose Rowlet this actually is..." She glanced at Chloe for a moment, but then looked at Ryan and Sonja, since they had spoken up more vocally. Meanwhile, however, the blonde eyed the group. "So, who are you, anyway? I guess you must be important to have three of the sacred Beasts on your side..." He frowned slightly. "I'm getting ahead of myself, I guess. I'm Corey." The man stayed at a fair enough distance, ever so slightly cautious about the group of people. -==IC: Natalie Dexter - Celadon City==- Natalie bit her lip for a moment. She didn't quite know how to exactly answer that. "Stacy likes-- liked to go around and help out people who needed assistance for any reason. She was the aunt of that friend I mentioned. My mother got into some serious trouble a while back and my dad couldn't do everything on his own. My school began to notice - I think my dad nearly got into trouble with the law because of being unable to keep up with everything we all needed. But Stacy took notice." The former waitress sighed as she sat down on the bed. "Things got better with her help; my dad was able to keep things running smooth enough and things just got better in general. My mom eventually got released and everything went back to normal, but Stacy would always check in on us." Natalie gave a small smile, as she glanced down to the floor. "My mom was always grateful to Stacy after that. It was like by that one act of kindness, she was like family to us afterward." -==IC: Colleen Llyan - Airplane==- "It might be global, but that doesn't mean everyone wants to speak it or is good at it." Colleen pointed out, as she mulled it over a bit more. "I think it's wisest to at least have someone who speaks the language when headed somewhere - that way in case someone refuses to speak English over the regional language, there's a backup plan."

I only got to read now, but... that was definitely a chapter. Very good work adapting that chapter. It was just as I expected it would be, if not moreso. [applauds]

-==IC: Colleen Llyan - Plane, Goldenrod City==- The intent wasn't lost on her either. The silver-haired man earned a pointed look for his efforts. "So, have you ever visited Kalos at all, ever? Or have you just stayed in and around Kanto?" Colleen responded with a more subtle hint of snark in her voice. She had to admit to herself, she wasn't entirely enthused at the unsubtle implication - she wasn't going to outright voice it, but certainly wasn't going to just leave it alone either. "Because even though most of my time was around Anistar, I most certainly visited other places. Besides, I'd kinda honestly be surprised if anyone else here spoke Kalosian." She let her words hang in the air for a little bit as she looked Jared in the eyes in an attempt to show her thoughts on the matter in an admittedly intimidating manner. "So, what's the point again?"

-==IC: Chloe Hikari/Ray Hakuda -- Goldenrod City==- As everything happened and everyone began to take off without even considering her, Chloe slowly placed the Poké Ball for her Raikou on the ground as it opened. She hopped onto the legendary beast with silent frustration, and began to follow the others. Ray, meanwhile, was caught by surprise as two Raikou and a Garchomp quickly passed him up. "Oh, so we're using our legendaries now? Okay then." He sighed as he got our Entei's Poké Ball and shook his head slightly. "So much for secrecy." He mumbled under his breath as he sent out his own Entei and climbed onto it so he wouldn't be left behind. The Pokémon snatcher happily hummed a tune as she ran back toward the rest of her group, who were watching with wide smiles. The tune and smiles all faded as a Raikou cut in front of her. The woman who was holding the stunned owl glanced around nervously, as another Raikou and an Entei effectively surrounded her. A blonde haired man stalked up toward the group of Pokémon snatchers. He reached for a Poké Ball on his belt as he saw a woman run out of an alley holding a Rowlet. However, he was stunned into not moving as he saw two Raikou and an Entei suddenly appear, then joined by a Garchomp not long after - and was that a Charizard in the air? "What in the world is going on today...?" The man mumbled with a look of pure confusion on his face. -==IC: Natalie Dexter -- Celadon City==- "Gerald Hikari...?" The woman mused for a moment as she thought about that name. "I want to say that's the father of one of my friends, actually. I forget a lot of what was talked about, but I think Y- I mean..." Natalie trailed off with an uncertain look as she seemed to consider something. "I think my friend mentioned him a lot, though he didn't often come visiting here. He sounded like a very busy person, why did you ask?"

-==IC: Ryan Hikari - On A Boat==- Ryan stood on the opposite end of the boat, Tyranitar by his side. He gazed out across the horizon thinking about the events of the past few days as he gave a small sigh. "How do we get ourselves into these messes, buddy?" The Rocket asked his partner Pokémon, though he only got the Tyranitar's best attempt at a shrug in return. Ryan turned his head toward where he guessed One and Three Island was. "But seriously… how was that monster still alive? We saw him dissolve into fire and ash - but there he was, fighting with that giant sword. I feel a bit uneasy…" The man bit his lip. "Is it because of Celadon, because I lost my temper when that woman attacked us? Did he return because I didn't actually beat him? But how does that make sense?" Before he could continue, he felt the Tyranitar's hand clap his shoulder. The black-haired man fell silent as he nodded. "... I know, overthinking these things won't help anything. I've been making strides recently and I need to focus on that. Plus, losing focus would interfere with the rest of what we're doing here." He glanced back to the other side of the deck - although he couldn't actually see Shannon or her Pokémon from where he stood, he imagined her looking out over the waves excitedly. Still, he had to wonder what he could do to help her out. Ryan was uneasy trying to help shoulder all her worries, or to mask what she was feeling, but. . . he couldn't help but wish that he could do something to help out. "I don't know what to do there. I don't know how to really help, or if there's any way to help right now." The man sighed as he stared out at the waves. "Like, I don't want to cause any issues, but I'm probably the only one who can help at the moment from what she's mentioned…" Ryan sighed again, frustrated at himself for this. "But I don't know anything about how to help. I have my own experience, but that only goes so far." The Tyranitar nodded. As Ryan looked up, he paused as he saw a pair of old fashioned glasses on the dark type. "... Do I even want to know when you got glasses, Tyranitar?" The Pokémon sheepishly removed the glasses and innocently hid them behind his back. Ryan gave him a suspicious look for a moment, but then turned back to the ocean. He took a deep breath for a moment. "I want to help her the best I can, but I don't want to force her into something she'd be uncomfortable with. I guess I'll just have to do my best to try and keep that balance in check…" The Rocket closed his eyes as he listened to the sound of the waves and every other sea sound. He felt the Tyranitar tap his shoulder again, and when he looked up the dark type pointed over to Shannon's end of the boat. "You're right," Ryan murmured. "Maybe all this worrying is for nothing… but I need to talk to Shannon about this either way." -==IC: Natalie Dexter - Celadon City, Celadon Mansion==- "My name's Natalie." The woman seemed curious at the Gardevoir's presence, but decided to not press the issue just yet. "I knew Stacy well and wanted to look to help the police with gathering up her personal effects." Natalie stayed quiet for a moment after as she glanced around the room for anything of note. "I also want to find out who was responsible for this..." The last part was said more quietly than the rest, but she wore a troubled look on her face. -==IC: Colleen Llyan - Goldenrod City, No Snakes On This Plane==- "I lived there for twelve years." Colleen replied simply, as she glanced over at Jared for a moment. She felt a little awkward with the get-to-know-you stuff still, but at the same time, she knew this was needed if she was going to make more friends than she had now. Since these people knew she was an Aura wielder, she felt more comfortable sharing some more things too. "I was there with my aunt to learn how to control my aura powers." -==IC: Olivia Seaton - Goldenrod City, Airplane!==- Olivia bit her lip as she looked around the plane. Although there weren't many people left, she wasn't sure how she would get along with everyone but Dahlia. Sure, she had met most of them before, but at the same time she still felt awkward. She decided to push that thought out of her head - that was just something she'd need to work with later. As she looked, however, she noticed that Dahlia was now sitting by herself and that she seemed to be fast asleep. With a smile, she quietly stood up from her seat and went to sit by her sister. Olivia didn't want to sit by herself either, so she felt it was a win-win. -==IC: Chloe Hikari/Ray Hakuda - Goldenrod City==- Chloe ran forward after the Rowlet as she ignored Ryan's teasing about the owl. She watched as the Rowlet happily fluttered around the Togekiss, thinking it was a game. As the grass owl hovered in place for a moment to wait for the psychic woman to catch up, Chloe slowed down slightly with a small smile. "Alright, there'll be time to play later, but we'll have to talk about how you followed me here..." The Liberty agent held out her arms for the Rowlet to fly to, but before either Chloe or the Rowlet could react, two arms that definitively were not hers wrapped themselves around the owl. "Alright boss, I got it!" The woman who grabbed the owl said, before dashing off in the opposite direction from Chloe. "Did you catch up to the Rowlet?" Ray said after a moment of panting as he caught up. Chloe simply stood there for a moment with a blink at what just happened. "Um. . . no? Some woman just took off with--" "What?!" Ray exclaimed before he sighed in frustration. "Why does this always happen to us? Okay, let's go, Chloe. We have to catch whoever's responsible for this quick. I get the feeling that our new friend won't like any delays that take too long." He lowered his voice to a whisper at the last sentence, but didn't wait for a reply before running forward again.

Things are getting really interesting, but that was a very cute chapter ^^

-==IC: Chloe/Ray -- Goldenrod City==- "Right--" Chloe was about to speak further when her purse suddenly started to shake. "... This might be stating the obvious, but that's not supposed to do that." She mumbled in confusion, as she unbuttoned the purse. As if just waiting for that cue, a Rowlet popped out of the bag and fluttered into the air. "What's a Rowlet doing in your purse?" Ray asked with a raised eyebrow. Chloe looked between everyone, a look of equal shock on her face. "I'm... not sure. I don't recall seeing it when I put everything away earlier. Maybe it flew in when I had it set down...?" The woman seemed completely baffled as she moved toward the Rowlet slowly. It chirped happily, and then flew off in the direction they were headed in. "Wait!" Chloe yelped, as she had not expected the Rowlet to fly off like that. -==IC: Colleen -- Goldenrod City Airport, On A Plane==- "First of all, I'm going by Colleen now, figured this was the best opportunity since there wasn't really any time for a big explanation earlier." The aura wielder said as she looked up in confusion at Jared's rather spontaneous question. "Second, what's up?"

-==IC: Chloe/Ray -- Goldenrod City==- "Ahhh, it's nice to be on the ground again…" Chloe said as she stretched her arms out. She grimaced as she adjusted her purse's straps on her shoulder. The group was reunited once more outside the airport, the psychic woman glancing around to get a mark of where they were. "So much stuff has changed around here since I was a kid; I either don't remember there being an airport here, or I just plane forgot." The reactions to the pun from Ryan and Ray were mixed, to say the least. Ray decided that was a good point to cut in. "So, you do know where to take us, right tour guide?" His valiant efforts to prod Chloe earned him a look from here that seemed like it could cut through him. "Of course I do." Chloe mumbled with an uncertain tone in her voice, as she glanced around again. "The train station to Blackthorn's in the middle of the city. And unlike some places, it's actually designed good, so even I can find it." She didn't sound that confident about their chances. "Besides, I've lived here my whole life." A pause. "Until I had to move to Four Island at least, but still!"