Pokémon: Rise Of The Rockets

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"Oh, about twenty minutes or so," Mrs. Llyan said, looking at her watch. "Now hurry up, we haven't got all day. We still need to do something with your hair, get you some shoes, and find you a pack of breath mints."

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

Olivia was reduced to staring back at her friend, his next words more unexpected than the last. ".......I, uh..... Th-Thanks." she managed to squeak out, blinking hard again. "....You ..... You look pretty nice right now too." she said quickly, still embarrassed from Zach's previous comments.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach nodded with a smile, wondering for a moment why she was seeming so much more awkward; and realized exactly what choice of words he had used, and then blushed; but didn't take them back.

"H-how does the dress feel? I see you didn't opt for heels this time..." Zach said with a slightly nervous chuckle, realizing that he'd likely done the opposite of what he'd wanted to, and likely made her more nervous.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette nodded to each, and was about to walk back into the boutique, but then paused, and looked back at her mom.

"... Breath mints?" Colette asked, confused, as she had no clue what she'd need those for.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"Nothing is worse than dancing with someone who has bad breath," Colette's mother said, ushering Colette inside when she hesitated at the door. "It's just a precaution, dear."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette nodded with a better understanding then.

"Th-that makes sense." Colette said, as it was a better explanation than her worry about what her mom thought it would be needed for. Colette hurriedly looked around, and then paused and took a few steps back, as she noticed a multi-tone blue summer dress with a yellow 'belt' sash. It had straps, and when the aura wielder held it up to herself, it was the right length that she wanted, and just looked nice... Colette smiled, as she turned around and showed it to her mother.

"This is the one I want." Colette said confidently with a smile.

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

"........Uh, yeah, the dress feels alright." she responded after a second of seeming slightly detached from the current situation. "I-I'm still not used to wearing these though, but uh.... Seems to look nice." she commented with a slightly less noticeable blush. "A-And the heels, right, of course I'm not wearing any." Olivia said, starting to sound less nervous. "I hate those things, and even if I did wear them, doors would be an absolute nightmare, huh?" she chuckled, slowly but surely loosening up.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"That's a cute one," Mrs. Llyan smiled. "Although it wouldn't be my first choice, I will admit that it looks similar to Zoe's dress. The two of you would be matching! Try it on and make sure it fits."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach chuckled as well with a nod.

"Yeah, guess I was right about you getting to be taller than me, huh?" Zach asked, finally regaining his composure, as he nodded to her earlier statement.

"It does look very nice; and hey, red." Zach said with a teasing smile, as he knew about her favourite colour and all.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette quickly nodded, and dashed into the change room, and returned wearing the dress, seeming pretty happy about it.

"This isn't bad at all..." Colette said with a smile, forgetting about how she had been so worried about people staring at her for that moment.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"Perfect!" Mrs. Llyan cried, pulling her daughter up to the cash register. She bought the dress with Colette still wearing it, as it didn't make sense for her to change out of it only to change back into it again.

 

As they exited the boutique, Colette's mom led her down the street to a shoe store. "We need to get you some nice shoes to go with that dress of yours," she said. "See any that you like?"

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

"Um, I've never actually worn heels before..." Colette reminded her mom, wary of them, but more willing to give them a shot than she was the long dress.

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

"Hey, green." Olivia retorted, chuckling slightly in response, as she wasn't the only one with a favorite color. "And, well... Yeah, I guess you were right. You must be able to see in the future." she shrugged, smiling and nowhere near as nervous as she was before.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"Well there's a first time for everything," Mrs. Llyan said brightly. She chose a pair of dark green heels and handed them to Colette. "They take some getting used to, but you'll look fantastic in them."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach chuckled in a giggly way to both with a nod.

"Yep, maybe my psychic powers were active longer than anyone thought." Zach jokingly said, as he thought for a moment.

"Though, I don't have nearly as much green on as usual right now. If only because there weren't any dark green suits." Zach said with a laugh.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette gulped, and then tried them on. They seemed a tiny bit big, but not enough so that she'd easily slip out of them, though tripping might do the trick.

"... I have no clue how to walk in these though." Colette said, nervous about taking the first step after standing up in the pair of heels, which were luckily not that tall.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"It's just like tiptoeing," Colette's mother assured her. "Surely Lucina showed you how to keep your balance?"

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

"W-well, she did, but..." Colette said, as she nervously took a step forward, however, was not used to having the heel part in addition to the ball of her foot when tiptoeing, and fell to the side, hoping that her mom could catch her before she actually fell.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

Mrs. Llyan caught her daughter and stood her up. "Like I said, it takes some getting used to. But you'll manage. Lucina always said you were a quick learner."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

"True..." Colette said with a small smile, as she focused, and put on a serious face, as she tried again, and, while she had her eyes closed initially, and opened them as a test, she had succeeded in taking a step forward.

"I guess those balance training sessions weren't for nothing... Though not quite the way I expected to use it." Colette said with a quiet chuckle, as she slowly walked around, doing all sorts of test movements to make sure she wouldn't fall over instantly.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"Perfect!" Colette's mom cheered. "That was much easier than picking out a dress."

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

"Good, I'd never be seen with you if you had chosen a green suit." Olivia joked, chuckling even more as the tension continued to melt. "Though, I see you do have your glasses on..... They're green." she pointed out. "Also bring me back to the good old days, when we would do this more often." she said nostalgically, before the music started.

"....Guess it's starting then." Olivia murmured, moving in front of Zach, some awkwardness creeping up once more.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette chuckled, and nodded.

"A lot less fainting, too." Colette pointed out with a smile, and then thought.

"What next, then...?"

 

-==IC: Zach==-

 

Zach laughed at Olivia's joke, and then nodded at the other comments, as he took her hand, and paused with his other hand.

"Is this fine?" Zach asked, as he placed his other hand on her hip, having no clue what the proper dance positions were still.

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

"Perfect. Machop, wait until I give the word!" The fighting type nodded and glared at the Hawlucha that now was on a collision course with him. Wait... just a second longer... now! "Machop, half step left and use Low Sweep!" Literally a second before impact, Machop did exactly as his trainer said; he preformed a half step to the left. With no possible way to change direction quickly enough, the Hawlucha crashed one-legged into the ground directly where he had been standing, and before a reaction was possible Machop's leg flashed out with a glint of blue light and hooked his opponent's leg, sending him crashing to the ground.

 

Jake called over to Ruth, "I knew you were going to pull that move at some point. I have studied signature moves like that one extensively. A bonus of using Low Sweep is that since it acts on the weight of the affected Pokemon, if it is performed quickly enough next to no momentum is lost, effectively adding to the weight." Thus finished with his explanation, he called to Machop, "Now, while he's down, Seismic Toss!" Machop  quickly made to grab the fighting-type's leg to perform the move.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"Next, we need to do something with your hair," Mrs. Llyan said as they bought the shoes. "Let's head to the stylist."

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

"I-I guess..." Colette said with a slight nod, though she wasn't exactly the biggest fan of having a different hairstyle still.

"B-but to what...?" Colette asked, still skeptical.

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

"U-Uh, yeah, yeah, it's fine." Olivia said in response, not entirely sure how dancing worked after all these years as well. Deciding to emulate Zach's stature, she hoped that this dance would turn out alright.

 

IC: Ruth Fishers

 

Ruth shook her head as that attack failed miserably. "Oh well, Fuerte always liked showing that move off to his opponents." she shrugged, as the Hawlucha used Detect to leap back while the Machop attempted to grapple his leg. "We've got tricks to show off too, Jumping Ace!" Ruth bellowed in a showy voice, pointing forward. Fuerte first lept forth with a lightning fast High Jump Kick, though even with his pinpoint accuracy from the Hone Claws, appeared to be veering off course slightly. However, that all changed when he drew his leg back and instead spread his 'wings', quickly righting himself to set up for a super effective strike on the Machop.

"The speed and momentum of High Jump Kick combined with the accuracy of Aerial Ace.... Little startup time to achieve a similar speed compared to Fuerte just using Aerial Ace by itself, and no risk in taking damage afterwards even if the attack misses. I think it's quite interesting, wouldn't you agree?"

Edited July 3, 2014 by Phoenix Zero

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

"Definitely is a change from last time..." Zach said with a slight chuckle, as he leaned in toward her, nearly putting his head on her shoulder, before moving it to look up at her.

"I believe I recall you doing this the last time; now it's the reverse." Zach said, with a slight smile.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"We can ask the stylist what she thinks would work best," Mrs. Llyan said. She led Colette down the street, which was easier said than done, as she had suggested Colette wear her heels now so she had more time to get used to them.

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

Olivia chuckled in response, shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey, it's not like I'm THAT much taller compared to you." she pointed out with mock indignation, a grin on her face. "So your pride wont be damaged too much." Olivia said, glad that things seemed to be going more smoothly than she expected.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

"I dunno why it would be anyway." Zach said with a chuckle, as he smiled back, as things were indeed going better than expected.

"This really does remind me of the first dance, though... I remember how..." Zach said, and then paused as he realized what Dahlia might have meant, but smiled.

"How I messed up because of getting distracted that time." Zach finished, though he decided to just focus on the here and now, instead of the future.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Despite how well she had been doing in the store, Colette was still not used to walking in them, especially at a brisk pace, and was stumbling along as she was being led down the street. To her credit, however, she in fact did not actually trip, though there were a number of close calls before her reflexes and awkward jumping saved her.

[JiMing]

IC: Olivia Seaton

 

"And stepped on my foot, which wasn't fun." Olivia noted, teasingly smirking at Zach. "Since you were distracted when it happened, the solution would be to not get distracted, huh?" she finished, taking a moment to glance around. Compared to the others, Zach and Olivia were very slow, due to the fact neither of them had any idea how to dance. Despite this though, this event also took her back to their first dance, which was even more awkward than this one, but she still had fun then. "..You're right, this is like the first dance." she stated, flat out smiling as she reminisced. 

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Zach==-

 

"It's a very good thing to compare to, though..." Zach said with a happy smile, as he noticed the overall pace, but didn't mind.

"Though, yes, I shouldn't get distracted, or try to get you distracted..." Zach said with a chuckle,as they simply continued to dance for a while.

"Is it just me, or am I mesmerized...?" Zach whispered quietly, wondering if Olivia would hear that, but wondered if it was too much to say after what had happened earlier.

[Konuju]

IC: Mrs. Llyan

"You're getting better at it," Colette's mom said with an encouraging smile. When they finally reached the hairstylist, Mrs. Llyan informed the stylist about Colette's dance and asked her to give her a hair style that would compliment her dress.

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette awkwardly sat in the chair, as she gulped, wondering how her hair would be affected. Especially the hair she used for the Lucario ears, since that was kinda her style, and she didn't want it to be affected too much.

I hope they don't have to actually cut my hair for whatever style it is... Colette worried with a slight frown, as she looked around.

[Konuju]

IC: Hairstylist

"Alright, dear, let's see what we can do with this hair of yours," the hairstylist smiled. She ran her hands through Colette's hair, testing its length as well as its weight. "So a dance, huh?" she inquired as she thiughtfully picked up a pair of scissors and held them against Colette's hair. "Sounds like a lot of fun. Are you going with anyone in particular?"

 

The hairstylist paused, then set the scissors down in favor of a curling iron. She grabbed a handful of bobby pins and folded the back of Colette's hair against her head. "Hmm... yes, I think this will work nicely," she smiled as she got to work on curling Colette's hair.

[Metal Gear Minun]

IC (Pelleas):

Pelleas had had a rough time of keeping up his chase. The Zephyr agent he had been chasing proved experienced in using the mall to throw off her pursuers. It was only through some quick reactions, lucky sights, and using Palomides to check through corners that the Heracross, Vanilluxe and Ghastly kept up the chase. Pelleas was somewhat surprised though. He expected that the person he was chasing would have tried to keep going up or towards a window. His quarry did neither, and kept moving down the floors of the mall until they were on the bottom.

They kept up the chase until they saw their target enter a large establishment. They came to a halt a few feet in front of the place, as Pelleas looked up toward’s the sign.

Mr. Mime and Hypno’s Funland? Something about that seemed off to the Heracross, but he paid it little mind. After all, he had bigger fish to fry. Though in this case, bird was probably the more apt expression.

He walked in, leading the way for his two companions, he followed close behind, one shaking and one pleasantly smirking. When the Heracross looked around the place, he admitted the Zephyr agent had picked a good place to hide. The building was built on two levels, and had huge amounts of amusements which the agent could use to hide. It would take a while to find the…

“Hi!”

Or not.

The Heracross looked up to see his quarry, riding on a merry-go-round on the second level. He would have believed the Dodrio she was riding on might have been part of the ride, had its feathers not just been too real… and one of its heads kept looking around, to the annoyance of the other two.

“Wha? Hey where’s your trainer?”

Heracross would have shrugged if he felt like answering her questions.

“Ooh I see, split up, eh? Well, fine, I can deal with just a few Pokémon off on their own.”

The Heracross had to wonder for a moment how the Zephyr agent got up their so fast, (and try to keep his thoughts off of how much fun Jamie might have in this place).

He was distracted long enough for an Excadrill and an Amoonguss to join the Dodrio as the Dodrio’s trainer got off.

“The name’s Skya, pleased to meet you.”

The Pelleas decided to play along for the moment, and politely bowed. He’d have introduced himself to her, but he didn’t speak a lick of human. He understood it well enough. Speaking it, no way.

“Well I had a bunch of stuff to say, but I didn’t expect I wouldn’t end up with a Pokémon only opponent. Takes the fun out of it when the other person can’t really respond. I had some stuff to say to that smart mouthed girl in the dress.”

Pardon?

“You wouldn’t happen to be hers, wouldya? Because I wouldn’t mind of wiping that look of her face when-“

Skya’s words were cut short when Pelleas had tossed the nearest object (in this case, it was a bouncy ball. And not his full strength of course, would still hurt though, a lot) he could find and launched it right at her (when pressed later, he claimed that he was aiming for the Dodrio but aimed too far to the left, which wasn’t entirely false, just that the intent was to cut off that sentence and hopefully do something). To the Heracross’ surprise, she moved out of the way quite nicely.

“Ooh, hit a nerve did I? Welp, catch me if you can!”

Dashing off to their right, placing the Amoongus on the back of the Dodrio, Skya dashed off into deeper into the Funland followed by her team.

Pelleas immediately gave chase, sending the Ghastly above to try and stop them from running if he could. Watching her from a floor below, Pelleas could admit one thing about Skya. Skya was agile. She did not slow down for a moment dodging various obstacles in her path, and the same could be said of her Dodrio and Excadrill. They followed them to a large play area with several entrances on both floors of the store. The Ghastly however did have one advantage over them. It merely moved through the walls of the play area and its various netting and wire and alerted to which exit their targets were going out of. The quartet had chosen a slide exit on the far side. That might have presented a problem, had the Heracross any inclination to go around. It would cause a few holes, but nothing that wouldn’t be fixed pretty easily, the Heracross thought as he Brick Breaked a new shortcut into the play area.

The Vanniluxe (with a bit of bravery from being right behind the Heracross) fired an Ice Beam which struck the Amoonguss, doing a good amount of damage. Skya noted that problem, and looked for a place where it would not get a free shot. She smiled as she came across a nice and large ball pit.

“Into the pit, boys!” she shouted gleefully jumping in cannonball style.

Upon all four figures dropping into the pit, the pit quickly became still again. This had Pelleas confused. Why would these opponents, who had clear skill in maneuvering, choose to hide in a ball pit? Wouldn't it only hinder maneuvering.

Palomides, keep them sealed in there. If any of them try to get out, stop ‘em with Mean Look.

The Ghastly agreed after a moment. He wasn’t yet used to obeying Jamie or anyone yet. And yet he

Lucan, I’m planning on flushing them out, when you have a clear shot, fire.

This shouldn’t take long, the Heracross thought to himself as he stepped into the ball pool. After all how hard could it have been to find three Pokémon and their Trainer in a ball pit?

Quite hard as it turned out.

The first problem Pelleas noticed when he got in the pit, was that it was about as deep as he was tall. The second was the vibrate shades of colors made it hard to detect if anything was out of place. The third was that background noises from the rest of the Funland would make it hard for him to find his targets, by any means other than sight. Fourth was just the sheer width of it, it was pretty wide (definitely for a ball pit, though he didn’t know what exactly the standard measures were)… whoever made this establishment must really have loved ball pits. Or thought kids would at least.

“Hi!”

The Pelleas tried to grab Skya as she taunted (any of the targets caught would have helped, even if it was just the one giving orders). But as he propelled himself towards her, she ducked beneath the pool of colorful balls. He searched the area where she was, but he suddenly tapped on the back by a Dodrio head. He swung around and tried to punch the head, but it ducked, with its two other heads launching a wave of balls at him, to distract him as they disappeared.

“Over here!”

He tried the same tactic once again, only to be met with the similar me. Behind him he heard a call of “Nope! Over –here-!” to which he decided not to leap for this time, and thankfully too because the Dodrio was lying in wait to eagerly peck on the Bug-Fighting.

At that point Pelleas thought he’d try the sneak tactic. He knelt down to hide himself from his opponents, only moving when he heard movement. He found a crack that he could just look to surface from. He waited for a while until the Excadrill appeared out of the pit with his back turned towards him. This was his chance, he thought as he leapt from the pit, intent on smashing the Steel Type with a Brick Break.

The blow however only landed on the center of the Amoonguss’ Pokeball, triggering a Poison Effect Spore, which was well complemented by a Clear Smog. The Grass-Poison was soon pulled underneath but its Ground-Steel ally.

The Clear Smog really was not fun. But he had to look on the bright side of that one. He didn’t mind a little status from time to time, he thought as the power from Guts kicked in. But at the same time, the Heracross knew that this meant he had a time limit.

Despite earlier claims of sound not being so useful at the moment, he began to notice a noise coming from the pit. First, he heard a light rumbling, then it grew louder, before it suddenly erupted in a climax of loud metallic noise.

Holy! the Heracross exclaimed as the rumbling came to climax as the Excadrill charged the pit with Horn Drill. The Heracross struggled to move out of the way, as the incredible attack moved towards him. He barely made it out of the Excadrill’s path before it crossed his. Many of the balls had been displaced by the attack (those that weren’t ripped to shreds), so the Excadrill used Rock Slide to make the balls fall into place as he disappeared once more.

Okay using a ball pit to make it easier to land a devastating hit like that. That was pretty clever, the Heracross begrudgingly admitted.

Since we are admitting things, also admittedly, Pelleas would later think that day, the next event to happen was another obvious trap. One of the Dodrio heads was sticking out of the pit. He hadn’t been thinking at the moment, only leaping at the chance to finally strike an opponent. Just as he grabbed the Dodrio’s neck, both of its other heads popped out of the ground and bashed the Heracross between the two heads. As they sank into the pit once more, the third head smacked him with its beak, loosening his grasp enough for it to disappear. He searched where it had been, but it had somehow snuck out from under him.

And then the final straw, he heard faintly, over the sounds of the building around him. Muffled by the pool of balls, and their own attempts at covering it up. They were laughing. All of them.

The Heracross would have been incredibly infuriated by it, if it wasn’t for the fact that it completely gave away their position to them. All he had to do now was flush ‘em out, Horn Attack style.

Only when he tried to use horn attack to try and quickly get the balls out of the way, he felt an odd rush of power, far more than when he normally used the move. His horn grew a light green in tint, and felt far stronger than, allowing him to effortless the plow through the light though many balls before launching all four buried occupants out from the shadows and launched them against the wall of the pit.

“Ow…” Skya said as the sudden realization kicked in that none of her Pokémon or her were safe any longer.

The Heracross would have stood there to appreciate his new found Megahorn, if it weren’t for the fact that this was their best chance. FIRE! Pelleas yelled to his icy companion.

Lucan was as surprised as Skya was, that he was almost stunned for too long. But this indeed was their only chance, and therefore he unleashed the most powerful Ice Beam he’d fired (on account of having been preparing since before the Heracross entered the pit) straight towards the Amoonguss. It was just about to regain its composure when it suddenly was struck by the icy bolt and encased in ice. As he prepared to fire a second at the Excadrill, the Excadrill launched itself at the Heracross with Horn Drill, but this time Pelleas was ready. He waited to the last moment to dodge (launching a good number of balls as he did, before doing so and smashing down with Brick Break, before lifting him up. The Vanilluxe then fired the Ice Beam, hitting the down but not till then out Excadrill, failing to freeze, but not failing to faint.

The Heracross stood there a moment, when suddenly the Dodrio launched itself at him with no time to dodge, with a Brave Bird that seemed like it was twice the normal power one would expect. The attack struck home, slamming the Bug-Fighting type into the ground. The Dodrio looked down at the seemingly fallen opponent. Pelleas did not move, and so the Dodrio began laughing. And laughing a quite mocking laugh. Until suddenly their laughter was silenced.

Complete and abject fear filled all three of the Dodrio’s heads when they realized the Heracross was not quite out… and was holding all three of their necks together.

That was a nice blow, the Enduring (and only at the last second had he been able to throw up any kind of guard, but it was enough) Pelleas said smiling darkly. And by darkly, I mean about as horrifying as you can get with a Heracross. But I think I can top it.

A blow exactly which contained the power of twice that he felt, was now contained in his right arm. Taking about as much enjoyment as he could in it, the Heracross unleashed the full force of Counter on the head the furthest on his right, letting it slam into both of its brethren, before the force sent all three flying through the wall of the cage, and to only stop when the hit the side of the wall of the store

Skya at watching all three of her Pokémon go down in such succession, retreated them as fast as she good and leapt out of the ball pit with the agility she had. She didn’t put all of her eggs in the basket of her winning. With a grin and the knowledge that she could outrun the Heracross and the Vanilluxe, she waved back mockingly towards the Heracross, who merely grinned in response. The trainer seemed confused until she turned around.

Boo, Palomides said before unleashing a Hypnosis on the Trainer.

“Ah yes... forgot about… you…” she said before collapsing.

Pelleas felt like gloating (even though his opponent wouldn’t get it, doubly so now that she was fainted (if only he had a felt marker)), but there were far more important things to do right now. Like not fainting himself, he thought as he sat down.

A-a-are you o-o-kay? Lucan’s right face asked as he approached the Heracross.

Just need to rest for a sec. Please go and get Lady Jamie for me. Palomides, keep watch with me. Maybe get an antidote if you can. Oh and you guys?

They both paused for a sec as the Heracross leaned back.

Great job, mission complete, he said gratefully before letting himself fall asleep.
 

OOC: Upgrading Horn Attack to Megahorn.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Claus Von Minun the 4th

[Blessed Blade]

OOC: Well done, Minun, almost literally right before I woke up. =P Took a while to get through it because there weren't any opportunities to do anything.

 

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette paled for a moment, as she saw the scissors. Luckily, they were taken away shortly after that, and Colette sighed, as the stylist began to work on her hair. Colette was admittedly intrigued, as she had no clue, really where the style was going at that moment.

[sonyaxe]

IC: Jake

 

"I agree... It is interesting. We really have to compare notes about combination moves." Even as he said this, Jake's mind raced as he ran through ways to counter the attack. He sighed. There was only one, and Machop wouldn't like o

it.

 

"Machop, grab its leg!" Machop glanced back at his trainer, wondering if he had gone crazy, before turning back to the rapidly appraoching Hawlucha. He braced himself, then just before impact he grabbed for his opponent's leg. However, the force was too great for him to resist and a foot slammed into his chest, knocking him to the ground, but with one crucial factor. He had Hawlucha's leg in a vice grip.

 

"Now, use seismic toss!" Jake called, making a slashing motion with his hand. Machop rose to his feet, simultaneously beginning the motion of spinning the fighting/flying type around in circles, preparing to slam it into the ground. As this happened, Jake eyed his Pokemon, knowing that the super effective attack probably took a lot out of him.

Edited July 3, 2014 by sonyaxe

[Parugi]

OOC: Ethan and Sang post inbound. Was going to post as Sonja, too, but I'm hitting roadblocks with her, so it'll have to wait until tonight.

 

IC - Ethan Worth/Windy - Celadon Department Store: They were losing. Badly. As much as Ethan hated to admit it, Windy had been right about their surroundings. Her Rotom were able to abandon their vessels and occupy new ones virtually (Heh.) on a whim. And try as they might, Kada and Paruk couldn't attack without doing more damage to the expensive electronics around them--collateral that, frankly, Ethan himself was not terribly enthused to cause.

 

They were, for all intents and purposes, stuck. And Windy knew it.

 

"This is legitimately embarrassing, Worth," Windy said, crossing her arms as she watched Kada get knocked back by an Air Slash from one of her Rotom. "It's like your Pokémon aren't even trying to beat mine."

 

Ethan ignored this. At this point, he knew his object had to change--this battle was less about beating Windy and more about slowing her down, something she didn't seem to consider. That, or she simply didn't care. Considering the advantage she had over him, it almost seemed like she was deliberately wasting time, herself.

 

Perhaps that point needed to be dug into . . . 

 

"So, say you do get to the roof," Ethan said, forcing himself not to show any signs of worry over the damage being dealt to his Pokémon. "What makes you think you're going to be able to just fly out of here and out to Lilycove? Surely the authorities have got the airspace around here covered by now, yeah?"

 

Windy flicked her hair to the side, punctuating the Shadow Ball and Air Slash that struck Kada and Paruk from an otherwise-innocent-looking gaming system and ceiling fan. "As if," she said. "You know, the funny thing about the sky is that it stretches around the entire world. So I really don't need to be in Lilycove in order to do what I want to do, now do I?"

 

That sounded ominous. As he turned this over in his mind, Ethan ordered his battered Pokémon to retaliate, Kada using Bullet Seed and Paruk attempting to strike the other Rotom with Smack Down. Unfortunately, the latter's attack struck just as the Electric-Ghost-Type abandoned the ceiling fan. Likewise, Kada's attack proved totally ineffective, though in his case it was almost as if he was holding back--not that Ethan noticed, preoccupied as he was with Windy's words.

 

Then, "Wait . . . what?" Ethan's eyes widened, Windy's implications suddenly crystal clear. "You don't mean . . . You're going to try to summon Rayquaza, anyway? Here?"

 

"He finally figures it out," Windy said, scoffing. "Guess you're not totally brainless after all . . ." The Zephyr leader shrugged. "Well, duh. Like you said, how can I get out of here, right? Might as well give the Legendary Sky Dragon a shot. Oh, but don't worry--I won't level the city or anything. That's beneath me." A smirk crossed her lips. "Get it, Pungeon Master? 'cuz I'll be in the air, so it'll be literally below me?" She chuckled at her own joke.

 

"Alright, I'll give you that one," Ethan said, forcing a smile. "But I'm warning you--there's a reason Team Aqua and Team Magma failed. Don't go trying to control something you can't control, or else you're going to be in for a horrible surprise."

 

"As if," Windy said. "Whatever. At any rate, I'm getting bored here. Rotom, let's finish this." The ghosts buzzed (Heh.) their agreement, reappearing above their trainer's head. With a combined cackle, they launched a flurry of miniature Shadow Balls at their opponents, quickly overwhelming Kada and Paruk and causing both to faint. As the carnage became clear, the Zephyr leader brushed her hair back. "Told you I'd win." She walked forward, flanked by her Pokémon, and pushed her way past the stunned Rocket agent. "Toodles, Worth. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a dragon to call."

 

She broke into a run, quickly vanishing up the stationary escalator. Ethan could hardly process what was on the horizon (Heh.); when he did, he turned to look after her, almost shaking in urgency. He recalled his Pokémon and then took off after Windy, hoping against hope that he could at least get her back in his line of sight. 

 

As he ran, his radio crackled with a familiar voice, prompting him to pull the communication device from his belt so as to hear it better. "Hey, Ethan, this is Gavin. I've got one Zephyr agent under wraps here and another on the run. Any luck on your end so far?"

 

Ethan took a moment to compose himself before answering. He pressed the button on his radio, lifting it to his mouth. "A little," he said, tone flatter than he meant it to be. "Windy's headed to the roof. Likely the same for Skylark. Head up--I'll meet you there with the others."

 

"Will do," Gavin replied. At that, Ethan switched channels, contacting Jamie and Lucia. "Ethan to Jamie and Lucia. Unless you two've got any more work to do, we're going to need you on the roof, ASAP."

 

IC - Jackson Sang/Sleight/??? - Sleight's Office, Chapel: " . . . know what else you expect me to do at this point," Sleight was saying, his tone suggesting extreme exhaustion--both physical, and in the sense that this argument had been going on for some time.

 

"You can't go out and personally search?" the woman said. "You can't tell me that you're content to just . . . sit here and let everyone else do all the work, Elijah!"

 

"No, but without any idea of a place to start, there's no point in doing that. It would only serve to put a moving target on the map for whoever took him, or for others who might try to take advantage of this--which, in all likelihood, is exactly what his kidnappers are trying to do."

 

"And you don't think the risk is worth it? Not even for your own son?"

 

"That's . . . not what I said . . ." Sleight fell silent.

 

A pause. Then, " . . . Well, I'm not staying on the sidelines on this. And for his sake . . . I hope you don't for much longer."

 

Footsteps.

 

Approaching footsteps.

 

In the blink of an eye, Sang had recalled Tracer to his Poké Ball and taken three steps away from the door, loitering as one who had just arrived in the lobby might do. Seconds later, a woman emerged from the office. She had short, black hair, and stood fairly tall--roughly 5'9", if Sang had to guess. Perhaps the most surprising part of her appearance were her eyes, which were a striking blue--as fierce as Sleight's, but in a different way. Whereas his shone with an icy determination, hers gave off the impression of two contained flames, kindly warm yet deadly serious.

 

These pieces all came together to clue Sang in on several points, the first of which being that he was fairly certain this woman was none other than Eileen Alaric--Sleight's wife, and thus easily the most powerful woman in all of Kanto.

 

Second was that, the first point being true, Eileen Alaric was currently in full-on Mama Bear mode. Her son was missing, and she was going to do anything in her power to get him back.

 

Finally, that, regardless of the validity of point one, this was not a woman to be trifled with--particularly given the validity of point two. And with that in mind, he stepped to the side, so as not to impede on her walk toward the elevator.

 

She, however, did not immediately head that way. Upon seeing him, Eileen stopped in her tracks, staring. Jackson was not entirely certain of the reason, although it occurred to him that, considering just what he had stumbled upon, perhaps there had been orders not to allow anyone up to Sleight's office. In that case, he was almost certainly breaking the rule, and he fully expected the woman to snap at him, demand to know what he was doing in a temporarily restricted area.

 

But she didn't. Instead, she merely nodded at him, her gaze softening. "Mr. Sang," she said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to hear all of that."

 

"Oh," Sang said, caught off-guard by this reaction. He stepped aside, watching her walk past to call the elevator. "It's no problem at all, ma'am. Sorry for . . . eavesdropping . . ." She merely smiled at him as the door closed, an expression that clearly wanted to show strength, yet radiated more with sorrow and fatigue--a shot in the heart that put a word to what, exactly, Sang had been hired to fix. Even after the doors closed and Eileen Alaric made her descent, Sang could not help but stare after her, suddenly engulfed with a sensation of icy wind sweeping over him.

 

Of course . . . Missing kid, torn-apart family . . . He sighed, closing his eyes and bowing his head. This is like the Ketchums all over again . . . Sang rubbed his eyes, shaking his head at the ground. No . . . No, it's not. I'm not going to let anyone else die if I can help it . . .

 

Lifting his head, he turned back to the office, clenching his fist as he walked forward at a brisk pace. Pausing only for a moment to knock and grab the Shadow Admin's attention, he stepped inside. "Sleight, we need to talk."

Edited July 3, 2014 by Pears Nivans

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Lucia==-

 

Roughly as soon as Ethan finished communicating with Lucia and Jamie, Skyle ran by him as if in a hurry, and smirked at the older rocket. Lucia rounded the corner as Skyle vanished, panting as she rubbed her throat unconsciously again.

"You haven't happened to have seen a Zephyr agent run by, have you?" Lucia panted out, annoyed at herself that she had lost track of Skyle.

[Konuju]

IC: Hairstylist
The hairstylist worked quickly and efficiently, her hands flying through Colette's hair. As she curled the hair, she formed it into an intricately braided bun, brushing her bangs back as she did so. Slowly but surely the bun took form, and lastly the stylist left a lock of wavy, curly hair to fall over Colette's left shoulder. "There you go," the stylist smiled, handing Colette a mirror. "What do you think?"

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Colette==-

 

Colette gasped in surprise, as she saw the hairstyle.

"Wow..." Colette said, impressed by the hairstyle, not actually thinking that it would be able to be that... complex. That said, it wasn't necessarily a bad surprise, and the aura wielder turned a bit, as she examined the hair.

"It looks pretty nice..." Colette said, definitely not having expected this; it was disappointing that she wasn't able to have her lucario ears for the dance... But she didn't mind this either really.