Despite her inexperience as a Rebel Operative, Dr. Regan Chamuel was quite sure that most missions didn't involve leisurely strolls around the suburbs. Her mission, today, was to scout out the Magma and Aqua activity around the Trivianni Apartment Complex, which was a 'neutral' area in the on-going fight between the Magma and Aqua Factions in Noverus. She had been paired with another novice, purportedly named Alexis, and together, they would perform the mission.
Regan slowly strolled from the bus-stop nearby, adjusting her neatly pressed white blouse. It was one of her more favourite shirts, considering the ruffly material around her neck and shoulders. However, she wore a nice blue cardigan with a matching scarf and skirt, giving her a fairly matched appearance today. As per usual, her glasses sat sternly on her face, allowing her to spot her trademark severe expression.
With the weather so nice, she decided on letting her two pokemon friends out. Since her misfortunes had occurred, her only real companions were her pokemon. Sadly, four of them had been carted away by Magma, and part of her agenda was to find and rescue them. At least two remained; Sophie, her Togepi, and Uri, her Minccino. The two pokemon appeared in a flash, which went generally unnoticed by the civillian population around her. Pokemon were commonplace creatures after all. Scooping the Togepi up, she allowed herself an uncharacteristic coo as the little egg-baby pokemon wiggled and trilled back at her.
Uri, ever the more mischevious creature, bounded off immediately, poking through piles on the ground and gathering up bottle caps and coins. Uri had inherited her species' predisposition towards shiny things, and she certainly never missed an opportunity to grab something to show off to her trainer. Regan, each time, would smile, chiding the Minccino for picking up dirty things, and praising her for the more valuable finds. She knew full well the power of conditioning, and made sure that the Minccino learned the difference between useful things and trash. Even genetic predispositions could be cultivated, and Regan enjoyed the little training routines, often finding herself amused at the things Uri considered 'valuable'.
Before long, Regan arrived at a bench in front of the Trivianni Apartments. She would never have known that it was the building in question, save for the large sign that proudly labelled it as such. It was times like this where Regan blessed her literacy. She had witnessed full well during her career as a physician that most people were doomed to never use that power of theirs for anything useful. Things like "Not for Consumption" were not meant to be consumed, but people never seemed to realize that unless there was a big skull and cross-bones on the label.
In any case, she hoped that her partner, Alexis, was at least intelligent. Not that Sol hadn't been an intelligent lad. It just seemed that he lacked social graces. As a gentle reminder, Regan placed a finger to the corner of her eye, where she traced over her crows feet. She sighed softly, since they were becoming more and more visible with each passing day. Sol had been wrong to remind her of them, but at least he had been honest, which was probably something she preferred. Agism still existed, even in smaller forms, and she wondered, briefly, if she'd be able to keep up with the younger, more energetic, and probably much stupider initiates in this war.
"Well Sophie, let's see what this Alexis is like, shall we?"
There was something about the apartments that made Alexis feel bad about himself. It was the lingering thought of the people that entered and made their way out of these doors that made him less uppity than usual. The man in the pink ponytail has had his fair share of travel. Ever since his youth, he has been moving from one place to the next. At first, it was just out of necessity: his parents couldn’t afford the current house so they have to live somewhere else, his father finally got that promotion but it needed him and his family somewhere else, yadda yadda yadda, etcetera etcetera etcetera. After a while, travelling, moving, felt like the only normal thing to do, especially since he’s in the business of progress or rather inspiring progress. At least, that’s what he tells himself to sleep at night.
Don’t get him wrong: Alexis loves to travel. In fact, it’s the only idea that keeps him from killing himself. Not that he has thought about killing himself, though. But there was that one guy who killed himself in one of these apartments. He had heard the story from Charley the waitress. Before he left his favourite café, it was the first thing Charley told him. It was a perfect side to a piping hot cup of coffee.
Alexis wasn’t here for leisure, however, and although he was torn between visiting the apartments on his own time and not coming back at all, he knew that it was for the best. It has been quite some time since he was on a mission. Despite it being justified — after all he has yet to prove his status to be made a more veteran member of The Rebellion — he still felt that he could do more than just sit on the figurative bench. He was between eager and plain bored. Alexis has had a habit of fantasizing about a more spy hero streak in The Rebellion for the past few weeks.
As he continued walking, he found a woman sitting alone on a bench. She was wearing a lot of blue, which felt quite ironic considering he himself was wearing more pink than any other man would consider. Alexis walked behind where the woman sat. Only then did he realize that she had two Pokemon for company: a Minccino and a Togepi. He smiled and then discreetly took the opposite end of the bench.
He sat there and sighed, looked around them, and with a smile, asked, “Excuse me, miss?”
His accent was hard to ignore, most people would say. He didn’t think much about it in this scenario, considering he was on official Rebellion business, but he did wonder whether his charm worked on more distinguished professionals, say someone who didn’t spend every day bumming out in the same coffee shop until he gets a mission like this one. He knew little of the person who was to be his partner, apart from her name being Dr. Regan Chamuel. From the looks of her, she was going to be a lot of work. She was definitely older, Alexis could tell. But it could work to his advantage. He has been looking for a mentor of sorts. The very idea of which excited him to no end.
“Are you, by any chance, a doctor?” he kept his smile less thrilled and more pleasant, like he was on a first date.
Out of the corner of her eye, Regan had noticed a veritable explosion of pink, quite in contrast to her blue. However, it briefly disappeared and out of her periphery.
"Excuse me, miss?"
Turning her head slightly, the aforementioned pink storm was now sitting on the same bench as her, something she'd failed to notice to due getting lost in her thoughts. She peered at him over the rim of her glasses in a manner that suggested he talk quickly, or keep moving.
"Are you, by any chance, a doctor?"
Either it was a lucky guess, or she was simply that easy to read. The boy was either an idiot, or a genius at guessing former professions. But, there was really only one person who would know that she was a doctor beforehand, which simply meant that this man was probably her partner in this endeavour.
"Unless you've a medical emergency, no, not anymore." A hint of sadness rang in her voice. The only people who referred to her as a doctor, or "The Doc", were fellow rebellion agents. "I suppose that makes you Alexis." Looking down at her pokemon, she then looked back to the young pink man and frowned a little. With a name like Alexis, she'd been expecting a girl, and after working with Sol, had hoped for a little woman-time. However, there was a chance that Alexis could still provide her with that pleasure, despite his sex.
"Regan Chamuel, pleased to meet you." She extended her hand to give the young man a firm handshake. While in her youth she had been taught to extend her hand in a lady-like fashion, she found that in her profession, someone with a weak grip found no respect. It was an old habit, but one she rather enjoyed. Even if she was not physically intimidating, she could still provide a grip to be reckoned with. "And these are my partners: Sophie." She indicated the Togepi in her arms, "And Uri" she glanced over at the Minccino, who had hopped up on the bench to offer Alexis an empty rootbeer can.
She made a 'tsk'ing noise with her mouth, and the Minccino gave up her attempt to give the pink man a present, and instead tossed it into a nearby recycling can. At least Uri had the good sense to know that most shiny things were recyclable.
Alexis simply smiled at the doctor when she acknowledged his name. He looked forward, beyond in front of him, and leaned towards the same direction where his eyes were pinned against. He sighed and looked around them, feigning interest for the immediate vicinity, as if to suggest that his very presence there was of no significant importance. The last time he was bold enough to stand out in a crowd, he found himself ganged up on by two Magma grunts. Luckily for him, they were young women.
“Regan Chamuel, nice to meet you,” the doctor held out her hand and Alexis met it with his own, the older rebel having a firmer handshake than the man in pink.
Alexis had a habit of pressing hands to impose his own strength but he was genuinely caught surprised when the doctor did him one better. His was an assurance that, for his part, he would be as reliable as he could be. He felt strongly now that this woman wasn’t just going to be dead weight. he couldn’t help but smile at that thought. Older people were wiser and therefore more composed and useful as partners.
The doctor’s Minccino tried to offer him an empty rootbeer can but before Alexis could courteously accept the gift, the doctor motioned for the Pokemon named Uri to instead throw it away. Alexis smirked when Uri tossed the can into a recycling bin. At the very least, her Pokemon was polite. It spoke volumes for her reputation as a trainer. All in all, Alexis’ excitement was building inside of him.
Alexis mouthed the words “thank you” at Uri. He then took two Pokeballs and released his partners from both, “Sophie and Uri, I’d like for you two to meet my friends.” Flashes of light erupted from the spherical containers. When they finally cleared, what were left in their place were a Silcoon and a Metapod. Both of them chirped at the sight of Alexis.
“These are Dorian,” Alexis pointed at the Silcoon, “And Khalleen,” then at the Metapod. “They’re pretty good friends with each other, if you catch my drift.”
At their trainer’s introduction, Dorian felt a little flushed and embarrassed, whereas Khalleen couldn’t be more oblivious. Alexis realized their reactions and let out a little laugh. It would do everyone a lot of good if they get acquainted with each other right then and there. Until they meet their goal, they were all stuck with one another. It would do him, both personally and professionally, good if he could learn a few things from the good doctor. He owed himself that.
“So, what’s the plan, doc?”
Third spying mission in a row. While Khezu did appreciate the stealth involving missions, he was looking for at least some variety. One good thing the mission had, though, was its simplicity. No driving prototype submarines, no infiltrating a ball to squeeze out a little bit of information, nothing. Eavesdropping, at best, and the fact that he was standing on the rooftop of a nearby apartment building also gave him a good vantage point. How he got up there in the first place? Simply put; the lock on the main door was crappy and some fool had left the roof access open. Just his typical (and rather convenient) luck.
"See anything unusual, Double S?" he turned to his Aipom who was, as usual, grasped on his shoulder. Magmas had almost no reason to go undercover in a city they owned but it wasn't a bad idea to keep sharp. The worst dangers are the ones that go unnoticed, as Khezu frequently reminded himself. A few minutes passed before the Aipom reacted to something; a couple, the woman obviously much older than the pink wearing guy next to her... wait, pink? Probably what the Aipom thought Khezu meant by "unusual". Seeing how there wasn't anything else that interesting, the boy pulled out a piece of equipment from one of his previous missions: a bowtie with an hidden camera cleverly hidden inside.
"Alright, I want you to keep a close eye on them so that tree over there should provide enough cover. I'll remain up here to see if I spot anything else." he spoke to the monkey while tying the accessory on its neck "And take this, just in case something breaks out. If it comes to that, I'll try to make my way down as fast as possible." he gave the Aipom a Pokeball, the one holding his Rhyhorn, more specifically, and the Long Tail Pokemon trailed off, heading towards the bench the couple was sitting on. Khezu took out his last Pokeball and, in a burst of light, his Houndour appeared. It was good to have some stand-by back-up, just in case.
Khezu took a note of his surroundings and his "opponent"'s Pokemon. Two cocoons and a couple of Normal-types, eh? Tank could easily handle both, even better with Slinger Shot messing up their opponents with his supportive moves. Everything was going according to plan
...Until the Aipom dropped the Pokeball from the tree. In another burst of light his oversized Rhyhorn emerged, slowly moving his head from size to size to understand where exactly he was and why he was being summoned. Without any direct leads he simply started to walk away from the park, probably scaring a few people along the way. After catching up with the uninterested beast, Slinger Shot tried to explain the situation, only to notice that they were now standing in front of the two people who shouldn't even know they were there. With a very loud "eeeeeek!" the Aipom started to flail his arms while running in circles, leaving Tank completely oblivious to what in the goddamn hell was going on.
Meanwhile, back on the rooftop, Khezu slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Sighing, he simply told Lucille to follow him quickly while he stormed his way down the staircase of the apartment building.
Why must everything turn out the wrong way for him?
Sophie chirruped excitedly from her perch in Regan's lap, greeting the two chrysalis pokemon in her usual, adorable way. Uri curiously peered at the two, sniffing at them cautiously. Alexis introduced them as "Dorian" and "Khalleen". Once Uri settled down a bit, she wagged her tail back and forth, cheeping out her own, very vocal introductions.
Regan didn't at all seemed surprised at Alexis' choice in pokemon. He was a bright and colourful person (well, pink, at least), and it made sense that he would have two butterflies for companions. Well, they were butterflies yet, but it still made sense all the same.
She sniffed a little, trying not to look irritated at his comment about his pokemon. Looking at the reactions of Dorian and Khalleen, she surmised that it was only teasing after all. Even though they were simply coccoons, it appeared that Dorian fancied his comrade. Part of Regan felt a bit sorry for the Silcoon, both for having an unrequited crush, and also for having a trainer who announced something so private so brashly. She jotted down a quick mental note that perhaps Alexis was not yet a person to be trusted with her own, personal, secrets.
"So, what's the plan, doc?"
Her darkened expression lightened slightly. Now they were back on busienss, which is something she liked better than psychoanalyzing insects.
Knowing full well that someone could be spying on them, and that anyone could be Magma, Regan simply reached into her blouse pocket, procuring a small piece of paper. In very small print, it simply read:
"Minimal Game Ties"
"You'll understand if you enjoy anagrams." Regan crossed her legs, "Too many of them here at Trivianni. I suppose someone should chase them away." She placed two fingers on her cheek, before furrowing her brow. "The problem is that...we can't tell who's who."
As if on cue, a large Rhyhorn trundled up to them, accompanied by a chittering Aipom. Regan stood, still holding Sophie in her arms. Even though the Rhyhorn was rather large, Regan stood before it with a rather terrifying iciness in her eyes and voice.
"Excuse me, you two." Her tone, however, indicated that she didn't actually wish to be excused. "Your presence is rather noisome, so I'll kindly ask you to take your antics elsewhere." Though she did not say the word 'immediately' out loud, it came out heavily implied from her rather stern glare over the rims of her glasses.
Although Khalleen seemed perfectly unaware of the dangers of a Mincinno sniffing her, Dorian on the other hand started to mouth off at what the latter perceived to be as "competition." Of course, since Silcoons are rarely a threat, Uri didn't really bother to put the protective Pokemon in its place. That only made Dorian more furious, thinking Uri wasn't giving it the respect it deserved. Not that what it thought was what it truly deserved. Dorian had always been that way, especially when it came to Khalleen. Alexis has grown too used to its antics to give it any thought.
The trainer in pink slouched back in his seat. When the doctor took out a small piece of paper, he didn't have a hard time reading what was on it, despite the size of the print. He had his glasses on, after all, and they weren't just for show.
"Minimal Game Ties?" Alexis though, obviously confused.
Thankfully for him, the doctor explained what it was, "You'll understand if you enjoy anagrams."
Alexis wasn't a fan of anagrams. Although, in his defense, he wasn't too associated with them. He had been spending too much time with average intelligence: the cafe, the waitress, the old man who owned the cafe and the waitress. There was no one in his life who was fond of anagrams. Well, there was that one girl from before but she wasn't exactly that interesting to last his attention span.
He merely shrugged in response. He thought that because the doctor was older, she would be more experienced. It would be to his advantage, to their advantage, if he would just follow her, whatever she really intended to do. The mission was clear. He was asked to meet up with the doctor and to do as much "cleaning out" as possible, though the specifics were but a blur. If push comes to shove, he would just wing it. It didn't mean he wasn't serious with the mission. It only meant any amount of preparation or planning usually doesn't end well. You're always better off with having plan B, or plans B to J.
Alexis noticed the Rhyhorn and the Aipom from the corner of his eyes, even before the doctor opened her mouth. It was the weirdest thing ever. The two Pokemon walked up to them and then the Aipom looked like it was panicking for reasons that were yet obvious. They didn't look like they were on the same page, as well, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they were with each other. Not just physically. They knew each other. They couldn't have been mindlessly walking towards them either. Alexis started to look around for their trainer. He was sure they'd have a trainer. Trivianni wasn't exactly where large Rhyhorns would go bumming about.
"A Rhyhorn?" The words slithered out of his mouth.
He leaned a little bit forward, addressing the Aipom with a smile, "Where's your trainer?"
"We've some business to attend to, and we've no time to make friends today." Regan waved her hand dismissively at the Rhyhorn and Aipom "Go find someone else to bother." Uri had shifted over, sniffing at the massive Rhyhorn before attempting to clean his flanks with her broom tail. Regan reached down and gently moved the curious Minccino away from the much larger pokemon, prompting the little rodent to resume her inspection of Khalleen. The metapod had the potentially to be a very shiny thing, and Uri set about cleaning her almost immediately.
Regan simply sighed at her little OCD pokemon, who enjoyed picking up trash and brushing things off with her tail. Sophie chirruped happily in her arms, immensely enjoying all the happenings around her. She wiggled her arms and feet cutely outside of her eggshell body, emitting all sorts of joyful noises.
"As you can see, my pokemon are not really suited for battle." Regan continued on with their missive, looking around again. "I fear that any direct confrontation will lead to our immediate loss. We'll have to resort to wits or sneakier tactics if we're to have any success."
The Doc pondered momentarily as to why these two had been paired up for such a mission. The idea seemed outrageous that the partners with potentially the least combat effective pokemon were dispatched to 'rout' the enemies. She was not a solid tactician by any means, but she had the shrewdness to determine that there was probably a bigger scheme at work. She had to at least trust the Rebellion Elders in this manner.
As if fate were being particularly cruel to them, a pair of Magma agents appeared around the corner. They appeared to be working as a pair, and were clearly on the lookout for any suspicious activity. Magma had been growing wary of the happenings around Trivianni. It seemed that this neighborhood seemed to be a popular hiding spot for civilians who caused trouble.
"Well." Dr. Chamuel sniffed at the air, a bit irritated that the enemy had appeared before they had formulated some proper plan. "Do you have any ideas?"
Alexis reverted to his slouching position when the Doc shooed the strange Pokemon away. She seemed a bit too stern for Alexis' taste, which offended him a little. He tried to force the thought to adapt to the fact that she's older and more mature than he could ever hope to be. It probably came with the territory. After all, can a doctor be that stingy for no apparent reason?
"Sil! Silcoon!" Dorian protested at the sight of Uri touching his precious Khalleen but to no avail. Alexis patted him on his head and gave the Pokemon a reassuring smile. Dorian calmed down, sighed, and eyed Uri glaringly. Khalleen, on the other hand, was more confused at Dorian than Uri. In fact, she welcomed the Minccino's attempt at cleaning her.
"Well, do you have any ideas?"
Alexis blinked in confusion. He wasn't known for being that great with ideas. But he didn't really want to disappoint the Doc. The least he wanted was to lose her as a prospective mentor or something like that. What was that thing written on the paper again? Minimal Game Ties? Whatever it was, it must have something to do with these Magmas. The Doc looked absolutely annoyed when they appeared.
"Pick your poison?" Alexis smirked, now cradling Dorian to make a point.
He leaned forward and whispered to her an explanation, "Dorian is very poisonous. Can you make a distraction? Lead them to that alley over there and we'll do the rest."
Alexis pointed at the nearest alley, withdrew Khalleen back in her Pokeball, and before the Doc could say another word, he stood up and walked off, taking with him a very confused Dorian.
Her pink haired companion had stated a plan and disappeared into an alleyway. While his confidence impressed her, she wasn't sure exactly how to carry out his plan. Perhaps he expected her to be a stellar battler. Perhaps he expected her to be in great shape (she was in fine shape, but didn't exactly enjoy grueling physical activity).
Finding herself alone on the bench, she racked her brain for a quick ploy. Surely there was some way that she could distract them and get them to chase them into the alleyway.
Regan looked down at her two pokemon, then leaned down to whisper in Uri's rather unproportionately large ear.
"While I distract them, grab one of their pokeballs and run into the alley where Alexis went."
She frowned inwardly at the thought of enacting in such a slap-dash plan, but that seemed to be the Modus Operandi of the rebel agents in Noverus.
As Uri scampered off around the street, Regan stood, Sophie still in her arms, and simply walked up to the Magmas.
"Sir, Ma'am." She offered a curt head nod as she approached. "I'm relieved to see you here."
"Oh?" The male crossed his arms, eying her suspiciously "People aren't usually happy to see us in this part of town."
"While that may normally be the case," Regan paused to concoct a good lie. At least it appeared like it was more of a dramatic pause than anything. "That large Rhyhorn there belongs to an Aqua agent. I heard him commanding it to perform all sorts of unseemly things in training."
"That's pretty bold. You sure he was Aqua?" The woman took her turn eying Regan. Regan, a much older woman than the 20 something Magma agents facing her, did not appear to be much of a threat. There was something about the superior look on Regan's face that bothered her, but she wasn't quite sure why. It was probably an age thing, or so she brushed it off.
"I thought the unstylish sailor get-up was favoured by Aqua Agents." Regan shrugged "And he's wearing some ungainly blue bandana. He's around the corner somewhere."
While Regan described an Aqua grunt to a tee, the other two weren't greatly convinced by her story.
"You both appear to be skilled trainers, so would you please help by chasing that Rhyhorn away? The dull-witted beast is a nuisance."
Sure enough, there was a Rhyhorn trundling around, which seemed very out of place for the decidedly urban neighborhood. That much of her story was at least true. However, as they reached down to draw pokeballs to fight it, they only grasped at their own hips. Looking around in confusion, they saw a Minccino scampering off with their belts, making a bee-line for an alleyway.
"You! You were trying to steal our pokemon!" The man growled, his face flushing into the shade of red matching his uniform.
"Hardly." Regan sniffed, meeting his glare from behind her glasses with equal, if not greater, severity. "Regardless, I can't help it if you're too careless with your pokemon. Now I suggest you catch the scamp, else you lose them entirely."
With that, the two broke into a run after their pokeball belts, wielded by a mischevious Minccino. Uri tore into the alleyway, muffled but happy chirps sounding from her stuffed mouth.
"Sil?"
Alexis made sure each step was discreet as he quickened his pace towards the alley. He wasn't that great with improvising but this simple plan would do. He only needed to disable the two men right now. Immediately after, he and the Doc should have plenty of time to make a better plan. Hopefully, the Doc would lead the second time.
"Relax, Dorian," Alexis whispered to his partner, stroking its head. "We're not getting into a full-on fight. This'll just be quick and easy."
In his head, the man in pink played the Doc's contributions to the plan. As a distraction, you could either play the part of a physical attention-seeker (he imagined the Doc snatching something from the targets and leading them to the alley, not realizing that doctors and older people and women don't usually resort to such juvenile tactics) or play the part of the damsel in distress, which he realized would suit her frame and built and status better than the first option. Alexis had played the distraction before, but he was lucky enough to have the targets female and younger, a demographic that he was efficient with. In his head, Alexis could charm the stingiest of women. In most cases, however, he appears too feminine to be anything but a suitable distraction.
Alexis found a green dumpster and positioned himself and Dorian to its side farther from where he came from. He made sure to be inches from the actual dumpster, mostly of preference. He found the shadows suitable enough, although they didn't perfectly hide them. He had just leaned against the wall when the Doc's Minccino appeared from the corner of his eyes. She had Pokeball belts with her. That should work, Alexis thought. Following the Pokemon were the two Magma grunts.
"Show time, Dorian..."
Uri walked past the Silcoon and his trainer, not realizing they were there until Alexis finally walked into the light. She stopped just in time as the man in pink stood in the way of her pursuers.
"Hey, give us back our..."
At the sight of the strange trainer, both grunts stopped. They seemed confused and rightly so.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Where's the rodent? Are you its trainer?"
Alexis flashed them a smile, which only irritated them, "Hmm... Let's see... I feel as if I should say something witty here..."
One of the grunts, probably the older one, noticed Dorian cradled comfortably in Alexis' arms. As per any sufficient training, the sight of a strange Pokemon should be handled with caution, especially if you're unarmed and without your own Pokeballs. The fact that the hostile Pokemon was in some stranger's possession, and the fact that they were in an "unfriendly" area heightened the degree of possible danger.
"Hold your ground..." he cautioned his partner with an outstretched arm.
Alexis smirked, "Ah, that'll do!" He held Dorian closer to the two and farther from his own body, "Poison Sting!"
The Silcoon held its breath and closed its eyes, concentrating on the attack. Seconds later, multiple purple darts were fired from the bulk of its body towards the two men. As the darts made contact, both men succumbed to the pain, the poison, and fell unconscious on the asphalt.
"That should do..."
Alexis put Dorian down and started to heave one of the men on his shoulders. The dumpster had already been opened. It was only the lifting that was his problem now. Minccino walked towards them, mostly near Dorian, as Alexis continued cleaning up. The body plopped against black bags of trash.
Minccino started to clean Dorian, much to the Silcoon's disapproving whines.
Keeping a respectful distance, Regan nevertheless followed the two Magma into the alleyway. She appeared in the alleyway as Alexis dumped their bodies into the dumpster, which seemed a fairly appropriate way to get rid of any opposition without making too much of a scene.
However, the unfortunate part was that the Magmas would eventually wake up, and would probably recognize Regan and Alexis, marking them as enemies of Magma.
Something didn't quite sit right with her, as leaving them in Trivianni defeated the purpose of removing them from Trivianni. She wondered if more back-up would arrive, once they realized that one of their teams was missing.
"Good work." She nodded to Dorian and Alexis. With a snap of her fingers, Uri came bounding back over to her, jumping up onto her back and perching. With the Minccino's happy face poking over her shoulder, Regan turned and began to leave the alleyway. However, she stopped dead in her tracks as two more figures appeared.
"What've we got here?"
"Looks like two ladies are causing some problems."
The two men, a bit gruffer and a bit rougher looking than their previous two comrades advanced menacingly down the alleyway. "Looks like we're going to have to teach them a lesson."
Regan backed up, a little unnerved with two large men approaching her, especially two large men decked in the intimidating reds of the Magma uniform.
"Uri!" Springing out from behind her, the Minccino stepped up, facing down the two men with her arms spread wide. She chirped at the two men in her rapid chatter, obviously attempting to intimidate them into backing off. However, they paid her no heed, summoning two pokemon of their own.
"Speedy!" "Tweety!"
A Rattata and a Pidgey appeared on the field, facing down Uri. Regan looked over her shoulder to Alexis, hoping for him to take part in a match where she was clearly outgunned. At least with his help, there was a chance that they could stall enough for an escape.
"Huh..." was the only thing Alexis could mutter as the disconcerting events unravelled before him. He had just cleaned the streets out of two Magma grunts and now another two had taken their place. The Doc had arrived just a few minutes before they did, standing between him and the two party crashers who now called out their Pokemon to fight. From the far end, behind the Magmas, a Rhyhorn made its presence felt. Its trainer appeared not a minute too late. He summoned a Houndour to, from how he phrased his sentence to the Doc and Alexis, fight with them. All this before he could take his phone and call up the bartender to pick up the trash.
"Sil!" Dorian valiantly jumped towards the fray, right next to Uri, not wanting to be taken for granted. He was the best of the best, at least according to his ego, and he wasn't just going to let these ugly Pokemon take his spotlight. Despite one of the Magmas having a Pidgey, something that could have easily scared any Cocoon Pokemon off, Dorian took on a fierce and outraged look. This even though he had no idea what Alexis' initial plan was and if it's still their concern. Khalleen may not be around to see his heroic stand but the bruises will benefit his courtship.
"Okay, okay... People, let's all just relax and take a moment to think things through..." Alexis flamboyantly took his place beside the Doc, leaving a few inches of space between the two of them. "Good sirs, this is my grandmother. In her old age, she found herself lost and unaware that we were no longer in Kansas..."
Both men looked confused at what Alexis was saying. They gave each other a glare before staring daggers at the man in pink.
"What are you talking about?" one of them said. "We don't care about your excuses. We saw two of our men go here and now they're gone, missy. What did you do to them?"
Alexis grimaced, "You guys seem to have a bad habit of appearing in the most inopportune moments. If I didn't know any better... Wait, did you just call me, missy?"
A look of horrific proportions dominated Dorian's face. It was, however, quickly replaced by an angry glare coupled with expletives in the language of Pokemon. If Khalleen was around, she would've disappproved of his language. Thankfully, she wasn't and only a handful of illiterate humans (at least they were to his language) and strange Pokemon whom he wouldn't ever see again were present. He has enough room here to be the arrogant prick that he is, and he knows himself to be quite the arrogant prick.
"Oh, it's on," Alexis took a more defiant stance, ready for the battle that will inevitably ensue.
Now that he thought about it, maybe calling the Doc his grandmother wasn't such a great idea. It was definitely NOT a good idea. But he was pressured and had little to no other option. Then again, that did nothing but delay the inevitable and also piss the Doc off. He really needs to work on these things.
"No, but I heard Magmas were too dumb to realize the obvious," Alexis grinned, confident that he had just hit two birds with one stone: easing the Doc's annoyance and insulting the Magmas.
As the Magmas initiated the battle, Alexis could only stand there and think of how he should play his part. There were three of them, at least during this battle, and there were only two of the opposing team. Maybe he should just sit this one out? The Doc's experience and that physically intimidating Rhyhorn over there can handle a Pidgey and a Rattata by themselves. Not to mention Houndours breathe fire and both Normal-types would burn just like Alexis would in a medley of panicked screams and unwanted regrets. But then again, Dorian did look like he wanted in.
But Alexis didn't have to think that long. The Doc told him her stance, which left him no choice but to follow suit. She was more experienced in these things, he kept telling himself. Besides, they did call him "missy."
"Dorian, are you ready?" Despite the rhetorical question, the Silcoon still voiced out its opinion with a hard chirp. "Nail that Pidgey hard with Poison Sting!"
The Silcoon jumped forward and let loose a barrage of purple darts towards the target, bombarding it with a hundred painful and poisonous small stabs. Even though Dorian intended to hit Uri, the Minccino was able to get out of the Silcoon's range, mostly thanks to the evil Pidgey and its Gust attack. Hopefully, Alexis thought, one of those darts would hit and give them the advantage. With the stranger taking on one of the Magmas, it was 2-on-1 in Alexis' game field. The disadvantage was if they continued letting a Bug-type go head to head with a Flying-type.
The Rattata lunged forward towards Lucille at a tremendous speed. At the pace it was going Lucille didn't have any time to dodge it and simply waited for her instructions. Khezu, on the other hand, was having some trouble deciding what to do. Dodging was not an option and the Houndour's attacks couldn't really slow down the Quick Attack. The only other thing she could do was to take the hit. Unless...
"Lucille, block it with your head!" the order may have seemed strange at first but the pup did so. The bodies clashed and the Rattata jumped backwards, slightly stunned from the impact of its own move. The reason? Lucille's skull. While some may regard it as a simple ornament on her forehead, the skull is actually pretty thick, absorbing a small part of the force but not all.
"Howl!" the Dark Dog Pokemon looked upwards while releasing a powerful howl. This would raise her attack power slightly, making her an even fiercer opponent than Houndour are regarded as. The Rattata shook its head, finally getting over the small stun it had suffered, and charged at Lucille with another Quick Attack, this time hitting her square on and dealing a considerable amount of damage.
"This is bad. That Rattata is too damn fast..." Khezu's thoughts echoed inside his head. He needed to find a way to limit the Rattata's movements or sight "...Wait. That's it! If it can't see Lucille then it can't charge at her!" obvious logic doesn't save anyone without the right action coupled with it. Thankfully he did have such action.
"Smog!" the Houndour grinned at the Rattata before releasing a cloud of black, poisonous gas from her mouth. With enough luck it could even poison the Rattata but, at least for now, some cover was enough for Khezu.
The Pidgey, named Tweety, found the very obonxious Minccino tickling her all over. The desired effect occurred, and the little pigeon emitted a cackling sort of laugh. Uri's feathery tail had done the deed and now the bird's defenses were definitely down. That didn't prepare her at all for the hail of little poisoned needles, which struck with a little extra ferocity.
Dorian's Poison Sting had worked wonders, but as Regan watched, she noted that no signs of lingering poison appeared. The attack had hit hard, but it's secondary effect had not taken place, which meant that she probably needed to start hitting too.
Meanwhile, their mystery trainer, who had evidently commanded the lumbering Rhyhorn from earlier (and probably the little monkey too), engaged the Rattata with a Houndour. A small cloud of black gas shot out into the air, and Speedy rather speedily ran straight into it.
The Smog attack had succeeded in halting the Rattata in his tracks, and he took a moment to cough some of the smoke back up. In doing so, however, he too avoided poisoning at the hands of the enemy.
"Tweety, use Gust on the bug!"
"Uri, intercept! Then use helping hand!"
Tweety obediently whipped up a little windstorm, sending out a gust of wind aimed at the fairly immobile Silcoon. However, Uri faithfully did as told, and with her trajectory, created a resulting vector. Uri received the brunt of the attack, but Dorian remained unharmed, even as the Cinchilla pokemon breezed by.
As Uri clambered back to her feet, she started clapping her hands together and dancing, drumming up a blue aura around herself. With a bow and a sweep of her little hands, she easily transferred it over to Dorian, to hopefully empower his next attack. With Tweety's defenses lowered, and now with Uri boosting Dorian's attack, it seemed that they'd managed to drum up a pretty solid combination attack.
Regan noted that for not only her first time battling, she was battling with a partner. The two of them shared a very interesting synergy, and, she noted, it was probably fueled by their mutual dislike of the Magma authority.
"Speedy! Hyper Fang!"
The Rattata's next attack was not nearly as swift as his previous attempts, but this one appeared to be infinitely more dangerous. His single, intimidating overbite gleamed dangerously as the little rat pokemon charged forward, seeking to clamp down on Lucille with everything he had!
The first thing that Alexis wanted to see was the Pidgey, "creatively" nicknamed Tweety, vomiting its lunch out but it seemed that Dorian's Poison Sting was all sting. Needless to say, the poison part didn't take effect. It was the biggest draw to the move, which had become Alexis' trump card thanks mostly to the fragile state the Silcoon was in. What Alexis really needed was for Dorian to evolve and evolve fast. Despite not precisely knowing if it would happen soon, Alexis felt it and Dorian had expressed the same notion a few weeks back. It had been tricky fighting with a limited set of skills and a more limited maneuverability. Silcoons aren't as fast as most Pokemon and are barely threatening as well. They were just built to survive, just survive, and attacking wasn't their top priority. It annoyed Alexis that these things had to cross his mind right now.
The Pidgey's trainer told it to blow Dorian away with Gust, a move that was only logical for a Bird Pokemon to use, especially on a Bug Pokemon. Alexis yelled for Dorian to move out of its way. He knew, however, that even if Dorian made the effort to move, it would still definitely get hit. Dorian wasn't the fastest Pokemon around. That one hit would really hurt it.
"Uri, intercept!"
From out of nowhere, the Minccino jumped in defense of Dorian. It was an act that surprised both the Silcoon and the man in pink. Dorian wouldn't have thought Uri would commit to such a thing, especially since the former pegged the latter as a fighting rival for its lo---err, friendship, with Khalleen the Metapod. Alexis was too absorbed in his own world to remember he was fighting beside the Doc. When their eyes met, Alexis gave her a smile. Inspiration suddenly struck him. He can't lose now. Someone's watching.
Uri the Minccino proceeded to power Dorian up. Dorian was staring at Uri throughout, with disbelief. If it was Dorian, it would probably have fainted and would be unable to carry out the second part of its trainer's order. But there was Uri who was still conscious. Dorian felt completely useless. There was only one way to rectify that. And that's to...
"Rain on their parade with Poison Sting, Dorian!"
Dorian once again tried the move but this time, it was borrowing Uri's power. The Silcoon glowed a darker shade of purple and the same barrage of darts exploded from its body. If Alexis didn't know any better, Dorian was intending to hit not only their two Pokemon adversaries but also the grunts. Either way, they needed to stand their ground. Without Uri's Helping Hand, Dorian wouldn't be as formidable as they needed it to be. This team-up was something Alexis had wanted for a long time. It felt real good to work with someone with a brain for a change.
Tweety's trainer watched Alexis and Regan carefully. It had become painfully obvious to him that Dorian, the Silcoon, was the main attacker, and Regan's Minccino, Uri, played support. His Tweety had taken two poison stings; between her lowered defenses from tickle, and the attack boost on the last one from Helping Hand, he wasn't sure how many more she could take. Luckily for him, though, the poisoning had not taken hold.
Uri seemed to be getting along just fine, having only taken one gust attack. She focused in on the pigeon pokemon across the alley from her, but still retained her cheerful appearance. Her tail twitched irately back and forth; there were more important things to do other than fight, notably find more treasure for Regan and Alexis.
Regan stood rather regally next to Alexis, not dropping into the hunched posed that most trainers took while commanding their pokemon. She surveyed the scene as best she could, trying to find any details that would come in handy. Chancing a glance at her partner, she saw a flash of excitement in his eyes, the kind that indicated to her that they couldn't lose. A small smile crossed her lips; she wanted to have that look in her eye too. Working with a partner was incredibly invigorating, because now she didn't want to lose for his sake either.
"Tweety, Quick attack Minccino!"
Regan drew a sharp breath once she realized that the grunt had changed tactics. The bird, even with lowered attack, flew low to the ground and tackled Uri with blinding speed. Letting out a little shriek of displeasure, Uri tumbled around the dirty alleyway before hopping back up, looking extremely peeved.
"Uri, Helping Hand!"
Once again, Uri clapped happily, prancing about her partner Silcoon. A little blue aura whipped up around her and quickly transferred to Dorian, once again boosting his next move. Regan figured it would be Poison Sting once more, and by her calculation, should've been enough to finish off the Pidgey.
The Rattata lunged forward towards Lucille, fangs glowing in a faint white that demonstrated the usage of Hyper Fang. The smoke strategy probably wouldn't work twice and there was no way to block the incoming attack this time, leaving the only option of enduring the hit. Lucille rose a paw as to protect herself which resulted in the Rattata gnawing at her ankle. A small crack was heard signaling the fact that the left bone covering the pup's ankle had cracked. Lucille yelped back in pain due to the attack. A Hyper Fang wasn't something to take lightly, much less coming from a Rattata who, being in their natural typing, had better mastery over the move than other types, something scientists usually referred to as S.T.A.B., translated to "Same Type Attack Bonus". Lucille, however, could also use that in her advantage, having a bigger selection between two types compared to the Rattata's single Normal-type.
"Lucille, Bite its tail and throw it upwards!" this confused the hound slightly. Throw it upwards? Why not just biting his face off? She followed it nonetheless and rushed by the Rattata, snapping her head in a ninety degree angle and taking hold of her foe's tail. With her bigger size and natural strength, the rat found itself mid-air with no way to escape. No friction meant no running which meant no dodging.
"Alright, lets light up that bastard! Ember!" the whole plan cleared up for the Houndour as she shot an group of blazing embers at the defenseless Rattata. Having no means of escape, the Mouse Pokemon took the attack and fell to the floor. However, at the same time, Lucille collapsed on her left front leg, still suffering from the previous Hyper Fang and bone injury.
The Dark Pokemon was now in a defenseless position herself, leaving her open to attacks would her foe still be able to get up and fight back.
Alexis was alarmed when the other Pokemon, supposedly in their corner, yelped. It wasn't how Pokemon trainers should act, especially those from the Rebellion. They were supposed to be more focused and determined, not easily distracted and concerned. But he was an ally and Alexis wasn't the type to ignore his comrades.
He was, however, the type to get annoyed at his own lack of creativity. He had been using Poison Sting twice in a row now and still no lingering Poison effects on the target. It was frustrating, considering how limited Dorian's moves were.
"This is getting annoying," Alexis muttered under his breath. "If this doesn't go well, I may have bitten more than I could chew."
He once again assumed a persistent stance, "Dorian, use Harden then Tackle!"
It was a confusing command, so confusing that for a minute, the Silcoon had to look back at its trainer to try and figure out if he was serious. Alexis seemed dead serious. Dorian, not really wanting to just stand there and take a beating, especially since Uri's efforts had been geared towards helping him take that Bird Pokemon down, followed suit. It concentrated and its whole body glowed silvery white for a brief moment. Dorian could feel every part of his body tighten and strengthen.
The next thing it knew, it had flung itself towards the direction of Tweety. It was already mid-air, ready to reach impact. In Dorian's face, impact was the only solution. However, Tweety was too fast for it and it simply dodged the obvious attack. They could hear the Pidgey's trainer laugh.
"What are you trying to do? Defeat us with laughter?"
Alexis had other things in mind, "Now, Dorian! Poison Sting!"
The trainer's cheery face contorted into horror. This was what Alexis had planned to do from the beginning of his seemingly desperate commands: get close enough for the poison barbs to strike directly. By taking distance out of the equation, it could very well up their chances of poisoning the bird Pokemon. The effects would strike almost immediately in point blank range. Alexis and Dorian had their fingers (well, Alexis literally did) crossed for that scenario to happen.
The Magma Grunt grunted in something that sounded like a cross between horror and surprise. Speedy fell to the ground with a soft thud. Before the Rat pokemon had a chance to get back up, the red recall beam struck it, sucking it back into his pokeball to rest.
"Daffy, you're up!" In the rather customary flash of light, a blue duck pokemon appeared on the field. Even though its back was to her, Regan identified the foreign creature as a water type-pokemon. This was not due to any amount of Pokemon Knowledge, or even her own experience. No, the good Doctor had figured it out with basic logic: The Ember attack had indicated the Dark Pokemon's fire type. The blue bird had been summoned most likely to swing an advantage in the Magma's favour.
"Daffy!" he roared to the duck-pokemon, (Ducklett, as Regan would later find out from the report), "Water Gun!"
Her instincts correct, she hoped the mystery trainer who had arrived to help them could correctly combat the new threat. He had a Rhyhorn, which unless Regan missed her guess, was horribly weak to water. If he was, in fact, the owner of the Monkey from earlier, then perhaps the odds were more in his favour.
Meanwhile, on her own side of the battle, Alexis had ordered a "Harden" and "Tackle" respectively, much to the jeers of their opponent. With Uri's Helping Hand in play, Dorian's Harden had gained attack power, but the Tackle remained at its same power. She felt a bit irked that Alexis had wasted her support, and opted to use a foolish change in tactic, especially when the one they were using had worked so well. She half agreed with the enemy, but she definitely wasn't laughing. Instead, she had spent that round of combat glaring out of the corner at her eye at her partner who seemed deadset on losing the battle.
Her heart soared back up, however, upon sight that Alexis had indeed pulled something of a clever ploy. The result? A poisoned Pidgey on the verge of collapse. With Uri's speed, it would've been easy to run in and finish the creature off, ending this part of the match. In truth, Regan could not stand the sight of the creature suffering in such a way. Knocking it unconscious became her immediate priority.
"Uri, please use Pound."
Chirruping in a most pleasant manner, her Minccino scampered forward before delivering a hard smack with her tail to the Pidgey's face, sending the creature toppling to the ground. Regan's aim had been achieved. She didn't like ordering offensive moves from her pokemon, but it was, after all, de rigeur of Pokemon battles to include them. She wouldn't always have a partner, after all.
Yet, a nagging feeling in the back of her brain told her that the battle wasn't quite over. As if confirming thoughts pulled directly from Regan's brain, the Magma Thug summoned another pokemon to the field. He'd had the opportunity to even the field earlier, but had chosen to weaken his opposition first. That meant that he would now attempt to sweep up the remainder of his competition with this next pokemon:
"Marvin!"
A Pokemon that strongly resembled an alien appeared on the field. While it bore some resemblence to a humanoid anatomy, its dimension were entirely different. It also floated, which, admittedly, creeped Regan out a little bit.
"Confusion!"
A wave of psychic energy hummed through the air, knocking Uri back with surprising force. It seemed that the grunt had begun to decipher their fairly simple strategy, and was now aiming to take out the support before the main artillery. Regan mentally commended her enemy on his decisiveness, but found herself worried that Dorian alone couldn't take on the new threat. Then, upon realising that both she and Alexis had second pokemon of their own, she settled down a bit. In no way did Regan want to send in Sophie, unfortunately. The Togepi, despite her years, still looked and moved with the fragility of an infant. Battling with a Togepi was a desperation move to be sure, and one that held the possibility of actually killing their enemy with laughter.
Renewed with the goal of not having to send Sophie into a battle, Regan swung her hand out towards the pokemon that reeked of mystery.
"Uri, Pound!" If the alien was using Psychic moves, then it most likely focused on Special attacks like Confusion. From what Regan understood about Psychic Pokemon, she figured that this one was physically frail like many others. Unfortunately, as the pound attack landed squarely on the creature's large head, it seemed fairly unfazed by the hit. Regan's brow furrowed in concern as she noted, grimly, that perhaps its defenses were just fine after all.
The Rattata was no longer a threat. Lucille had done her job of defeating the Magma fair and square, much to Khezu's rejoice. His first, actual battle against Team Magma ended up victorious.
Or so he thought. The Magma called a duck Pokemon out of its Pokeball. Khezu couldn't quite figure out what the thing was but assumed it was Water-typed, basing his guess on the blue feathers and, well, the fact that it was a duck. His fears were realized at its trainer ordered a Water Gun attack. The attack was powerful enough to finish off the weakened and crippled Lucille as she collapsed and was promptly called back to her Pokeball.
"Goddamn it." Khezu cursed under his breath. Lucille was out but Tank could probably crush the bird with one Stomp, the only problem being his rather low resistance to Special attacks and low speed. In normal circumstances the Rhyhorn would fall before even reaching the Ducklett. This left Khezu with Double S, who, up until that point, was serving as a mobile spy-cam. He didn't have another choice, though, and the Aipom would have gathered enough footage by now anyways.
"Double S, I'm gonna need your help here." the Aipom's hears perked up as his name was mentioned and made his way swiftly down the buildings. He took out the bow and tossed to Khezu as he didn't want his efforts to go to waste by losing the camera in battle.
Now came the tricky part; the Aipom lacked in firepower. His only damaging moves were Scratch and Astonish, counting Shadow Ball out to avoid any self-inflicted knockout from the exhaustion. The Aipom did, however, have a lot of harassing moves, most notably Sand-Attack and Tickle, even Tail Whip if the opponent was dumb enough to fall for that one.
It was worth a shot.
"Open up with a Sand-Attack and follow up with Astonish!" Astonish had the possibility to cause flinching is used accurately. Backing it up with Sand-Attack would, as Khezu hoped, create a miss-flinch situation where the opponent had both the chance to miss its attack due to the sand or flinch while receiving damage from Astonish.
Regan placed a forefinger and thumb to her forehead and temple respectively, closing her eyes for a moment to clear everything out. What she lacked in raw power in her pokemon, she made up for by supporting her allies wholeheartedly. She disliked combat, hence why she'd opted to try and play medic.
Noting that Marvin, the Elgyem, held dominion over Uri in terms of power, she opted to simply switch partners. For the time being, Alexis would have to deal with the alien-looking pokemon, which she hoped he could handle.
"Uri, use Swift on the duck!" Uri spun gracefully, slashing her tail at the air before her. Bright little star shaped shuriken shot forward, aimed directly at the Alien. As they neared impact, the Elgyem threw up a psychic barrier, which Regan figured to be protect. However, Uri's swift curved gently around them, slamming into the Ducklett, her true target.
As Daffy found himself struck from behind, Slinger Shot's Sand Attack and Astonish hit him from the front. He vaguely heard the command for 'Water Gun', but opted to remain flinched.
"You there, child." Regan called across to their ally "You take on the alien. Let me handle the duck! Uri! Doubleslap!"
Uri skittered past the alien, chanting her own name wildly as she did. The Elgyem, Marvin, seemed unsure as to what to do as the little chinchilla pokemon rocketed past him. Jumping up, Uri jumped onto the Ducklett's back and began pounding away with her little arms. Regan pressed her lips into a thin line, noting just how much Uri was enjoying the battle. Uri was a little monster that needed constant objectives to find fulfillment in the day. Usually, these involved her form of pleasing her trainer, so a battle seemed the right sort of thing. Even still, the cheer that the Minccino employed in battle did not seem fitting for a warrior, which meant that Uri probably thought the whole ordeal to be one big game.
"Marvin! Use Confusion!"
Regan froze for a moment as a psychic energy wrapped around Uri and threw her heavily into the alley wall. With a shriek of pain, Uri impacted hard and slid slowly to the ground. The Doctor's heart stopped for a moment when she noticed that the Minccino wasn't moving.
"Uri, return." Heartbroken from seeing her pokemon in such pain, she was hesitant to send out Sophie, her oldest and dearest friend, into the battlefield. As she touched the pokeball, however, it simply popped open, revealing the Togepi, who chirped excitedly on the field.
"Sophie..." Regan found herself at a loss for once. As if sensing her friend injured, Sophie had summoned herself to the field to partake in the fight. However, she didn't have a lot of damaging moves, except for the wildly unpredictable metronome. Dr. Chamuel wasn't the gambling sort, though, especially given the fact that she couldn't afford to lose the battle. "Fine. Use Sweet Kiss!"
Sophie waddled up to the Ducklett, hopping up and planting a kiss on his forehead. The Magmas laughed outright at the silliness of the technique.
"Daffy, Water Gun!" he managed to bark out between his guffaws. His laughter quickly subsided, though, as he watched his pokemon slam his head into the ground instead of use the commanded technique. Regan folded her arms, watching the Ducklett intently. Confusion had indeed set in, and now the Duck was a liability.
"Child, what are you waiting for?" Regan's iron gaze settled on Khezu across the field, summoning her most imperial sounding voice, she ordered: "Remove that psychic pest from the battle without further delay!"
With the battle raging on in the alleyway, Regan was sure that by now they'd made too much of a hullabaloo. Surely their anonymity had been compromised, and she had never been a good one for lying. Hearing shouts from behind her made it perfectly clear that defeat was imminent. More Magmas had arrived, and she'd wind up detained once more. The chances of a second rescue were minimal at best.
"Doom!"
Yes, that's right, Regan thought bitterly to herself. That's precisely what lies in store.
From behind her, a black body rushed past. Within only a moment, the alien-looking Elgyem lay on the ground, unconcious after a single bite from...a Houndoom? The two stunned Magma trainers looked on at the sudden reinforcements.
"Daffy, Water Gun!"
The desperate command fell on deaf ears as the Ducklett found something more interesting to do. Notably, the chosen activity involved hitting his head repeatedly against the wall while trying to drunkenly fly into it.
"Funderdang...dang..." Regan heard behind her. Snapping her head back, she found herself surprised at the sudden appearance of a disgusting hobo. He appeared to be missing several teeth, possessed sunken yellow eyes, and porous skin. Her mind flashed to jaundice and malnutrition, but noticed an odd sparkle to his 'remaining' teeth. Peering over her glasses and squinting, she deduced that the 'blacked out' teeth had been painted over. The Hobo's yellow eyes seemed unnatural...contacts perhaps. His oily, bulbous skin lacked the actual tone of skin, and seemed off in patchy places. Make-up.
Meanwhile, the Houndoom, evidently responding to 'Funderdangdang', bristled ferociously. The demon dog's mouth filled with crackling electricity before he sprang forward, clamping down on the obfuscated duck. The creature fell unconscious almost immediately, but it still broke Regan's heart a little to see the poor bird twitching from the electricity coursing through his body.
The two Magma grunts fumbled about to return their pokemon, successfully doing so, but not before the Houndoom released a cloud of poison gas into their faces. The two dropped to the ground immediately. Wordlessly, the hobo strode forward, running his greasy hand along the Houndoom's back. The Dark-Fire type beamed happily up at his apparent trainer, looking quite pleased with himself. With a real lack of concern as to their well being, the Hobo picked lifted one, then the other, as if they weighed a mere nothing, and carelessly tossed them into the dumpster with the other two. Touching a spot underneath his bedraggled had and stringy hair, he whispered something that sounded like: "Disposed."
As he walked back past Regan and Alexis, he smiled, then said: "Get back to base." softly to them, so as not to let Khezu hear. With that, he stumbled back to the corner of the alleyway, where he'd gone unnoticed the entire time. The Houndoom disappeared in a flash of red light as the Hobo settled down. Once settled, Regan heard nothing but: "Flurging Mamagas. Schtoopid rood margmfas."
With a smile, Regan scooped up Sophie, who wiggled happily in her arms. She reached out, leading Alexis and Dorian out of the alleyway, passing the probably confused Khezu.
"You really helped us out there. I'll find a way to repay you." She nodded curtly as she passed, leading her friends out of the alley and back to the bus station.
Even if not entirely under their own power, it felt good to accomplish a mission, no matter how rookie it had been.
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