[X] My Assistant

[Kamaitachi]

At the Peninsula north of Petropolis, the Furoh Pokemon League, in association with the Daioh Scientists, have endeavoured to create the most up-to-date stadium, the likes of which Furoh has not yet seen! Trainers from all over the continent are flocking to sign up in the massive battle tournament to take place over several days. Co-Ordinators invited are granted a stage for their appeals, and their own special contest field to engage in dazzling battles.

At the peak of the peninsula, overlooking the sea, stands the Grande Stadium, a gleaming structure resembling the Colosseum of mythical Rome, where the main event battles are to take place. Within its high walls is the main arena, a raised platform on gleaming marble tile, surrounded by ampitheater-style seating for thousands of people overlooking the sea. During the first day of preliminaries, several exhibition matches by Furoh's most revered trainers, and even some visitors from overseas, will take place.

Around the Colosseum are several other battle facilities, for the lower rounds to take place. On the cliffside, a specially built stadium has been carved into the wall, where people sit on stone benches and overlook a battlefield resembling an ancient cave, with plenty of stalagmites and a few raised platforms. It too, over looks the sea, with the Charizard Isle looming in the distance.

Below the Cliffside arena, and just out over a bridge, lies an island battle area. Seating is once again on outdoor stone benches, with several stonehenge like structures jutting up around the man-made island. The platform itself is a lovely seafoam green, with the usual markings for Pokemon Battle.

On the other side of the Peninsula, a raised sky tower reaches into the sky, where synthesized clouds hang low, simulating a battle in the clouds themselves. The seating is in the round, surrounding a beautiful circular steel platform.

At the center, before reaching the Colosseum, sits a dome style theatre, with a plain white platform floor, and an arcing, spherical ceiling. This is the Contest area, where each wall is actually a heavily protected HD television screen, allowing Co-ordinators to project anything they desire for their appeals and contest battles.

An entire village has sprung up around the area, providing makeshift Pokemon Center, several vendors selling their wares, and even a few makeshift food carts spreading out into full on outdoor restaurants and tents.

Competitors are given stay at the battle facility dormitories, while visitors and spectators are given lodging at a newly constructed Luxury Hotel. (Starfall Field Survivors are given a free stay for the duration of the event.)

The battle tournament is in honour of testing out Daioh's new technology! They're able to raise or lower Pokemon's Levels via the programming in their pokeballs. The Pokemon even gain all the techniques they would know up to that level. However, the effect is temporary, and after each match, the limiter takes effect, and all pokemon are returned to their original level, thus losing any techniques they gained.

Each participants Pokemon will be shot up or down to Level 50 for each match, thus providing one of the fairest means of tournament play to date. Those without the requisite number of Pokemon for a match will either be allowed Rental Pokemon, or the match will be shortened to the lower number of Pokemon. The choice is up to the competitors.

The Preliminaries consist of 3 v 3 battles, the style of which is agreed upon by the combatants (1 v 1, 2 v2 w/reserve, or triple battle)

The next Rounds will be 3 v 3 Battles, in the style of which is agreed upon the combatants. 1 v 1, Double Battle w/reserve, or triple battles.

With the various stadiums looming in the distance, and the sprawling makeshift village surrounding it, the spectators and combatants arrive at the first checkpoint. Spectators who wish to view the preliminaries file into the stands surrounding each of the individual fields, and those who wish to proceed to the village and its amenities are free to keep moving.

Trainers look about for their preliminary field, guided by the ever helpful event staff. Food and drinks stands have been set up all around the preliminary, and some vendors move by, hawking their wares to any competitor or spectator within their reach.

At check in, each trainer is assigned their field and opponent, and are instructed to make their way to their predetermined match.

There's several television screens set up in the sign in tent, with all the list of battles and their assigned fields

[colourcodedchaos]

Movement in the dark. Voices. Not hers.

A scream.

That was hers.

Open eyes light too bright hurts hurts hurts-

Black.

***

"<Is she gonna be okay?>" The Growlithe asked, worry in his voice. "<I like her. She doesn't - um... she's not like Master.>"

"<I don't really know,>" mumbled the Grovyle after some thought. "<We could try getting her to a Pokemon Centre. She's about as out of it as it's possible to get, but the other humans'll know what to do.>"

"<Normally, I'd suggest I carry her, but we have our metal friend over there for that.>" The Conkeldurr gestured towards Stompy Geoff with one of his poles. "<Grovyle, you've got the most experience with the thing. Can you make it move?>"

"<I - of course I can! And what's more, I can do it better than she did->"

"<You aren't fooling anyone, Grovyle,>" muttered the Patrat in hushed tones. "<You're as scared of what's out there as the rest of us. Act like it, instead of these lies->"

"<Who the hell is a PATRAT to tell me how I'm feeling->"

"<Someone who can notice. Someone with eyes.>"

"<Oh, I can see your weird-ass eyes, they take up half your bloody head->"

"Will both of you be silent for a moment? Please?" The Conkeldurr rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed before continuing in Poke. "<I'm sorry for shouting, but I can't bear all this needless bickering. Look, before she passed out, she said something about an army. Now, I know she was raving,>" he aimed a dark glance at the Grovyle, who had made to speak, "<but she might have been remembering something going on elsewhere. Let's just try to find some human healers on the surface and get out of this damnable compound.>"

"<I - I think I can track them,>" said the Growlithe quietly. "<The big thing has a leaky pipe thingy in its foot, and, um, the oil smells really strong and I think I might be able to take us back the way we came but I might not I'm sorry->"

The Zangoose interrupted, patting the Growlithe on the shoulder gently. "<You're safe here.>"

"Woo," said the Wooper, the meaning of which nobody could really guess.

"<... Well, quite,>" responded the Conkeldurr. "<Shall we?>"

"<Ugh, fine,>" the Grovyle agreed after a slight pause and some distasteful glares. "<So long as Dog Boy keeps quiet.>"

"<Yes ma'am sorry ma'am.>"

They picked up the unconscious body of the scientist and loaded her into Stompy Geoff's gunnery chair to rest off the worst of the pain, ignoring the heartbreaking screams as they echoed around the dimly-lit service tunnel. Grovyle gripped the control sticks until her knuckles turned white, eased them forward, and Stompy Geoff lurched like a punch-drunk boxer off into the waiting dark.

***

HurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtsHURTSHURTSHURTSHURTS-

Moving. Badly. Strange. Trapped? Trapped.

Hurts.

Everything hurts.

Even my mind.

Neural feedback. Well, ain't that a sonuvabitch. On top of everything else, where the hell am I going to get oily fish at this time... of... night...

Black.

***

The throng of people at the aid centre gave off smells of fear and pain, electric blue and a strange, basso-profundo red to the sensitive nose of the Growlithe. However, there were some who smelled clean and sharp and clear, and were only a little bit afraid. They smelled like Centres, and he barked like a maniac to tell Grovyle where he was and where she should take the others.

It had been slow going through the tunnels under the stadium. Despite Growlithe's Odor Sleuth-augmented tracking, they'd got lost a few times, mostly because Grovyle's driving left a lot to be desired and her willingness to accept that the "Dog Boy" had anything worthwhile to contribute even more. Still, now they were at the hospital point, and they had to get the attention of the doctors-

"Woo," said the Wooper, before slamming its face into Stompy Geoff's shoulder and activating the pauldron-mounted cannon's control systems.

The long barrel of the laser extended, soared through the air until it was almost vertical, then fired with the deafening FZZZZZAM! of ionizing air. The crowd turned round, only to find that the noise of the blast had startled Stompy Geoff's pilot, causing the entire thing to slowly crash forwards with the grace of a felled tree. The impact blew the hinges out on the cupola and disgorged the seatbelt-less Grovyle out through the hole, dragging the good doctor out behind her as her tail caught on the harness latches. The rest of the team was less caught out, Patrat and Zangoose rolling elegantly to guard positions by Adelaide's side, Conkeldurr standing like an ancient, disapproving statue atop the mech's rear panelling, and Growlithe... well, Growlithe did what he had done quite a lot in his life, but it was a close-run thing this time.

"Now that we have your attention," yelled the Conkeldurr while Adelaide twitched on the ground, "we have here a woman in need of urgent medical attention. There's... oh, Arceus' fuzzy danglers, Wooper, that's far too much blood on the outside there, right?"

"Woo," said the Wooper, whose vacant grin turned into an expression of concern, albeit still a rather gormless one.

"So if you could see your ways clear to helping her - oh, now WHY are you all screaming and running away? Is it because I'm black?"

"<You,>" wheezed the Grovyle disdainfully, "<are beige. Beige with purple bits.>"

"<I know that, Grovyle, but it's a common reference in human culture, which you'd know if you pulled your head from your voluminous backside once in a blue moon->"

"<Are you - are you calling me fat?>"

"<No. Just stupid and unwilling to accept you might be just as fallible as the rest of us, which makes you even more stupid.>"

"<Now who's engaging in petty bickering?>"

"<I've had to put up with you for the past few hours, madam. My words are entirely justified.>"

While they were arguing, the Wooper sat on Adelaide's stomach and waited patiently while the crash team took her off to be resuscitated. They were still at it when the pair of them returned, Adelaide stuffed into a flimsy-looking wheelchair with a drip feed hanging from the back.

"Nice to see you're all getting on so well... hello, little stress-incontinent minion. Who's a good tiger dog minion? Who's a good boy? It's you, yes it is, it's you!"

"Woo," said the Wooper, who hopped off the scientist's lap and wandered off in a random direction. Adelaide was a pretty fast learner, even if she was shaking like a leaf and covered in bandages, so she trundled along after him, the 'team' shuffling behind her without a word, even from Grovyle, though she directed a death glare at anyone and everyone she passed.

Eventually, the little blue thing found a small girl by bumping into her leg. "Woo," it said, before sitting down with a thud. Adelaide wasn't far behind, panting slightly from her exertions.

"Er, sorry to interrupt, but I think the Wooper knows something I don't and, well, he led me here. M'name's Adelaide. I think. Got a few head wounds so I'm not 'zactly sure yet. Er. Sorry. Was I interrupting something? I'm, I'm not too certain..."

---

((BTW, this Growlithe isn't Douken's. There's an arc I have planned regarding him that hinges on the use of Wild Charge, and since that can't happen with Rufus, I figured I'd forgo the opportunity this time. Sorry.))

((EDIT: The girl in question is Branwys, so Lori and Cesc, feel free to interact with the mad woman.))

This post has been edited by colourcodedchaos: Oct 17 2013, 04:35 PM