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Posted by: Vincent Lance Jul 5 2010, 04:22 PM

The halls of the Aqua base were swarming with activity, the likes of which Vincent had not seen in quite a while. Had they been recruiting? Whatever the case, it made him feel uneasy; as detached as he was to this organization and its causes, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for this new wave of recruits. Vincent was just outside the office of his new boss, the first name of whom he’d still yet to learn. Lanette stood next to him, smiling despite herself; both of them were. A few nights prior had been special for them. They had basically celebrated their early honeymoon; screw the consequences.

“Ready?” Vincent said to his fiancé.

“Run me through the plan one more time,” Lanette replied.

“Alright, we go in, ask for some time off for a wedding, and never come back. We’ll never hear from Aqua ever again.”

“And I’m here to…”

“Say you’re pregnant,” Vincent suggested. “He would buy it if you said it, but not if I did.”

“I think I’m ready, then.” Hand in hand, the couple walked into the office. The new head of development was facing his window, back to the couple, talking on the phone. When his door opened, he apologized to whoever was on the line and hung up abruptly, turning to face them.

“Lance, Saital. I have a mission for you two.”

“Actually, sir,” Vincent began, but was cut off.

“You both remember the fossil resurrection facility we lost a few days ago, correct?”

“Sure, but-”

“I need you both to go to the quarry about half a mile north of it. Bring a truck and some extra men, if you need to. But there are many….priceless….artifacts in that hole. High Commander Lucy deems it necessary to recover them.”

“SIR!” Vincent asserted. Silence, then he continued. “Lanette and I need some time off.”

“What?”

Lanette spoke for the first time. “I’m pregnant, sir. I’d like to have some maternity leave.”

The admin looked the two over a few times, then nodded. “I can arrange that. Three months from now.”

“WHAT?!” the couple responded in unison.

“She’s not pregnant enough,” said the man. “Three months, then you may….quit, or whatever newfangled plan of escape you had.”

Defeated, Vincent turned to Lanette and sighed. “I can see why he’s in charge.” Then, turning to the man at the desk, “When did you want us to leave?”

“Now, if you can. There shouldn’t be too much to recover, but bring everything you can back.” Then the man swiveled his chair around to face the window and picked the phone back up again, hitting redial to continue his chat. Lanette and Vincent exited the room, the door shutting behind them, and continued on down the busy hall to their next mission, for which they had no heart to complete.

Posted by: ShinyTyphlosion Jul 5 2010, 05:51 PM

Will it be worth leaving the Rebellion? Paul thought to himself as he walked down an empty street. Did I really give them a big enough chance to prove that they are trying to stop Magma? That is the reason they recruited me. That is what they stand for.

"Quil." he heard the Cyndaquil on his shoulder say.

Paul pet the Pokemon. "You're right, I'm probably just trying to avoid it. I'll just go down there and resign now."

"Quil?!" It almost seemed like the small Pokemon was warning him.

"Huh? You think maybe they won't let me resign and stop me?"

The Pokemon nodded.

"I guess they are pretty secretive. But we need a plan to stop Magma first. I need to use what resources of theirs I can access first."

"QUIL!!"

"Huh what?" Paul quickly turned around thinking Cyndaquil was trying to warn. Seeing no one there, he looked at the Pokemon who was flown off his shoulder with the spin. "Sorry." He picked up the Pokemon off the ground. "I thought you were trying to tell me something else. I didn't know you were telling me to stop thinking about staying. But you're right, I'm only trying to avoid it. It's clear they're not going to stop Magma. So we'll just have to do it ourselves. But first, we need a plan. Where do you think would be a good place to do that?"

His Cyndaquil jumped out of his arms and looked towards Groudon's Thumb. He had no idea he had walked so far.

"So, you think we should try and infiltrate them?"

Cyndaquil nodded and ran forward.

"Alright..." Paul said not sure if it was the right thing to do.

Posted by: Kishk Jul 5 2010, 07:09 PM

Kishk stood in front of a mirror in his room at The Sanctuary, admiring his new look. Slightly tighter black pants, a tight sleeveless workout shirt which revealed his muscles, a custom trench coat of sorts covering the shirt, a black ball belt with room for a PokéNav holster, a pair of black army boots and a pair of tight knuckle gloves. This new http://kishkakrias.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/daemontrainer.png suited Kishk much more than the past one, with that ridiculous cape. Sure, this look would attract more attention than the previous one, but it wasn't anything suspicious. It was just a bit... peculiar.

"I'm actually glad Jan made her Pokémon attack me. If it wasn't for that, I would have never realized how pathetic I looked in my old outfit." he told Tesla, the newest member of his team. "Although," he continued. "There is something missing..."

His eyes darted up to the reflection of his hair and moments later, his hand was deep inside a nearby tub of hair gel. Imagining a new hairstyle in his mind, Kishk applied a small amount of gel to his hair and started changing its style to something a bit more epic, as Kishk would put it himself. Several minutes later, he stood in the bathroom, washing the remaining gel off his hands and grinning at himself on the bathroom mirror, imagining himself asking Jan out. Remembering that she was a Magma, Kishk decided to push the thought from his mind. Shaking his head slightly, he took another look at himself.

"Now that's more like it!" he told himself, running a hand through his spiky hair. "C'mon now Tesla, we should probably train a bit so the other Pokémon get used to you." The Shinx simply watched the teenager as he ran through the open bathroom door on his socks and attempted to jump over his bed. Before he could even jump though, he tripped on the shoulder strap of his backpack, which he had carelessly thrown on the ground after the last mission, falling face-flat on the ground and making one of his Pokéballs open, bringing out a grumpy Poochyena.

As he started to get up, his Shinx pulled the mess of covers off the bed and onto Kishk's head. Once he had untangled himself from the covers, he was met with a frown from Tesla, which clearly did not approve of the lack of organization in Kishk's room.

Kishk understood the look in the Shinx's eyes, and looked around at his room: under a poster of his favorite metalcore band, Bullet For My Valentine, was a chest full of open drawers overflowing with clothing. Next to the chest was an enormous bookcase, filled to the brim with books (mainly fiction and fantasy novels). Near the bookcase were two desks, one for drawing, with an unfinished manga on top, and the other for what Kishk called "his little beast of a PC", currently running Halo: Combat Evolved (which was paused on Kishk's Legendary difficulty campaign) and blasting loud music from his favorite band. On the other side of the room was his king-sized bed, whose white covers were now thrown at the foot of the bed. Facing the bed was a 50 inch High Definition TV (with an odd sock hanging on the side) linked to a PlayStation 3 console, which was currently downloading the latest update. Behind his bed were two doors, one leading to his small bathroom whose tiled floor was littered with underwear, and the other leading out into the corridor of the dorms section of The Sanctuary.

"You're right. This room is a mess." he told Tesla, as he watched his Poochyena retreat back into his Pokéball after being rudely disturbed (on accident, mind you!).

Getting up from the floor, Kishk picked the odd sock off of the TV, throwing it into the bathroom where it joined an assortment of socks and underwear on the floor. Kishk ignored Tesla's second frown as he looked at the PlayStation 3... remembering his parents...

After his parents had died, Kishk was left with quite a large sum of money, something he wasn't used to having to himself to do whatever he wished. Deciding against using his parents' money too much, Kishk started working to earn his own living, only spending the money his parents had left him when he really needed to. After he joined the Rebellion though, he started spending all the money he had a bit more freely, seeing as he had gained new lodgings and food in The Sanctuary.

Walking up to his bedside table, he turned off the lamp which he had left on last night, closed the copy of Brisingr by Cristopher Paolini he had been re-reading for the 13th time, and cleaned the dust from a portrait of his parents holding him as a baby.

I will avenge you... mark my words...

His thoughts were interrupted by a slight tug on his pants. Looking down, Kishk saw Tesla frowning at him once again.

"You know, you look pretty weird when you're frowning." he said as he pulled the Pokémon off of him. "Alright Tesla, we can go train after I'm done cleaning up."

The Shinx retreated to the top of his chest of clothes while Kishk fixed his bed, wondering when he'd be getting a new mission.

Hopefully the next one can have something to do with Magma...

Posted by: nuttyjigs Jul 6 2010, 05:19 AM

There wasn't really much to do on that day, it seemed so, at least. After what happened with the fossils, Jan stopped receiving even those silly little errands. Well they could do whatever they wanted with her and she wouldn't ever care. She wasn't there for money, or for power, or for whatever silly philosophy they had. Personal issues, that was all, and she'd rather not delve on that.

So, on that day, Janette Fey was strolling around Noverus with her Pokemon at her heels (or in Etheria's case, above her). That day she wasn't wearing anything special--shirt and tight shorts were enough. She disliked wearing the Magma uniform in public--it got people to stare at her and whisper among themselves as if some tyrant was strolling through. Not that it completely avoided that--some citizens who had seen her around still tend to gossip a little. But it was fine to that extent. It was worth it in the long run, right?

Except it was hard to forget why she was in Magma if she was absentmindedly clicking that lighter on her stroll. Black with wispy purple waves that form a rose--the Zippo lighter that her parents gave her on her fifteenth birthday. She don't know why they chose a lighter. Maybe they'd already given her everything else.

Since she looked like she was thinking of something quite deep, Ember tried to avoid interrupting Jan. Even if she hated that lighter. To think the other two were formidable enough rivals.

The Pokegear interrupted for Ember, the loud, familiar beeping forcing the rest of Jan's thoughts out. If she was someone else, she would have probably dropped the lighter in shock. But she was Jan, and she simply pocketed the lighter and took the call.
"Consider yourself lucky. After that failure you were still immediately issued a new mission. Report to the briefing room ASAP."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, you seem...more obedient than usual." The voice on the other end sounded like he had called a wrong number.
"Something's just on my mind." And then she hung up. Yes, she wasn't in a very productive mood, but it would do for the moment. Jan turned the other way, back to Groudon's Thumb, her party trailing after her.

Posted by: Fei Fei Jul 7 2010, 02:23 PM

What the hell time was it? Hell, what the hell day was it?

Oscar Stark lay face down on his pillow, bare-chested with his blankets all but falling off the bed. The curtains were drawn so heavily across the windows that the room rivaled some caves for its darkness. A high-pitched ringing practically echoed around the pristine room, echoing off top-of-the-line immaculate furniture. As the ringing persisted, one of his hands snaked its way out from under his pillow to fumble around on the bed-side table in search of the offending device. Finally, after barely avoiding knocking over a glass of water, his hand landed upon his cell-phone, buzzing around the table as it vibrated in time with the tonal-rendition of Oscar's favorite song.

It was quickly becoming his least favorite song.

When he finally picked up the phone, he didn't even lift his head to look at the caller-ID. He simply, and without hesitation, threw it across the room, where it thudded against the wall before falling to the floor, silent. He probably knocked the battery loose. Good.

Now, back to sleep.

Except, more sleep didn't seem to be in the equation for the morning. Diamond, who'd been curled against his side but had awoken when the phone went off, slowly picker her way off the bed, landing on the floor easily on all fours before padding over to the curtains. Club, who'd been laying asleep, curled in the egg-chair that Oscar had paid over one hundred thousand pokedollars for, was already up and standing by the curtains. Diamond took one side of the curtains between her teeth, and Club took the other side in his free hand (refusing to let go of his favorite bone), and they both simultaneously pulled.

Oscar had been about to look up, to see what his pokemon had been doing, but quickly realized the folly of his ways. Unfortunately, he didn't realize it quickly enough. Just as he looked up, sunlight poured into the previously pitch-black room, and his eyes were blinded. With an ungraceful yelp, he hastily put a hand up to block the light, and fell off the bed in a tangle of sheets.

He laid on the floor, staring blearily up at the ceiling for a few moments as his eyes adjusted to the light. A blue and white form swam into his vision, and Spade happily cooed into his face, greeting him for the day. He stared back at her, scowling, as Diamond and Club walked into his line of vision.

"If any of you ever tell anyone that I just fell out of the bed, I will kill you all," he said, looking at the ceiling. Diamond rolled her eyes as Spade chuckled, and Club walked over to the side of the room to retrieve Oscar's cell phone. Oscar reluctantly accepted it, shoving the battery back into place as he sat up, resting his back against the side of the bed, not bothering to get up from the floor. Almost as soon as he clicked the battery back in, the phone began to ring. 'Work' the ID read, and Oscar rolled his eyes. Diamond stepped into his lap and made herself comfortable as he lifted the phone to his ear, answering it as his free hand went down to stroke the Meowth's fur absently.

"Stark?" Came a harsh voice from the other end of the line, grating on Oscar's sleep-addled ears.

"I'm sorry. You've reached the voice-mail of the fabulously handsome and awesome Oscar Stark. If you'd like to leave a message-"

"Shut up, Stark, and listen."

Oscar rolled his eyes as he lifted his hand to rub across his face and through his hair. After an almost inaudible sigh, he nodded. "Yeah, what is it boss?"

"I need you in my office in ten, Stark. I've got a job for ya'."

"Boss, you can't rush perfection. I need at least a half-hour to get rea-"

"Make it five," and then the line went dead.

Oscar lowered the phone, looking at it petulantly before snapping it closed. His pokemon all looked at him, and he at them, before he got up, Diamond jumping out of his lap. He padded towards the bathroom, waving a hand dismissively at the concerned looks he knew his pokemon were giving him. "Shower time, kids. If the boss-man calls again, tell him I fell and killed myself. He'll probably die of happiness."

Oscar got out of the shower seven minutes later, and took his time drying his hair and getting ready. Finally, after 19 minutes in total, he stood in front of the floor length mirror next to his bed, making sure everything was in order.

"Yep. Completely worth it." He smiled at his reflection, and the reflection smiled back, dressed in a finely tailored black turtle neck, black pants, and dark maroon pinstripe suit-jacket.

"Alright then, kids. Lets see what our dear old boss wanted, hm?" His pokemon nodded with him, and Diamond jumped up from the chair next to him onto his shoulders as he recalled Club and Spade back into their pokeballs. Going to the door with one last look around the apartment- immaculate as always, and tastefully decorated- he exited the room, locking the door behind him.

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Jul 12 2010, 10:18 AM

6am and Daniel was wide awake lying on his bed mulling over the events that transpired yesterday.

Now, although they managed to secure a fossil reviving lab from Aqua, Daniel began to think that it seemed a little too easy...

He sat up and began to go over the events in his mind... He began by mulling over how Max, Lily and Belle performed.

With Lily and Max having about the same experience he decided that having them double team would be a good idea for future battles. Max would need to work on his speed a bit more and Daniel decided on getting him some Carbos to boost his speed. He also thought about the amount of damage Max normally takes in battle and decided that a couple of Iron boosters would do the trick.

As for Lily, Daniel decided she needed to work on her stamina and so decided to test her in the pokemon gym that was on the lower ground floor.

Then it came to Belle. Now although Daniel hadn't had her for long, she would eventually become a valuable asset to his team. Her strategy would have to be speed and power. 2 Carbos and a Protein would sort her out for a few levels, and after that he would have to re-evaluate her stats.

When Daniel finally looked at his pokenav he realized he had been fulling over everyone's stats for 2 hours as it was 8am.

"Good god... How could I have been thinking for over 2 hours?" He said to himself. Daniel was shocked at how much time flies when you're thinking.

He got out of bed and put on his usual clothing. However there was one difference these days, a thin gold necklace with an Ankh on it... He had received it in a package from his parents that arrived via Pelipper mail. His parents had sent a note in it that said it was for good luck. He appreciated the sentiment and sent a thank you letter back with the Pelipper.

Recently, Daniel had bought a new pokeball belt which he slung over his chest. He looked pretty cool, even if he did say so himself.

He made his way outside and was almost blinded by the morning sun as he made his way into town to get the stuff for his team. Soon after he had bought the stuff he needed, he got a call on his pokenav from his CO.

"Daniel? You're needed in the briefing room immediately."

"How urgently am I needed?" Daniel sighed

"Very. Get back to base now."

The phone cut off shortly after that and Daniel sighed again. He really wanted a day off for once. He began to wander back to base muttering about how he needed a couple of days off...

Posted by: Vincent Lance Jul 13 2010, 12:38 PM

The speedboats that Aqua used were fine when you didn't have a more efficient way to travel, but Vincent did. The couple was now flying over the Noverus environs on Aerodactyl, easily the most efficient way to travel either of them had experienced since they joined. It didn't take them long at all to find the quarry, able to spot it almost immediately from the air. So Aerodactyl made its way down and began searching the area before determining it was safe enough to land.

When they arrived, Vincent noticed the entire quarry was empty. While he hadn't expected there to be much of anything, he had also expected rocks, or perhaps some archeological equipment, to be lying around. But instead the whole place was barren; no rocks, no equipment. Just potholes and caves. And dust.

"Lanette?"

"Yes?"

"What's going on?"

She looked at him, puzzled. "I'm not sure. He said to get everything, yet there's nothing to get."

Vincent started walking toward one of the caves that dotted the outskirts of the dusty bowl, thinking perhaps there was something of worth in them. But Lanette stopped him.

"Wait," she pleaded. "It may not be safe."

"Lanette, you worry too much," he protested. "Besides, what could be in there other than rocks?"

"That's what we said about the quarry. Guess what? No rocks."

She had a point. "I'll be careful, I promise." Then he kissed her quickly and walked on in, leaving her and Aerodactyl alone in the empty boneyard.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Jul 14 2010, 04:48 AM

Much to her surprise, Jan was the only one there.

The Elite waiting for her was the same as last time, sharp, distinct features pretty hard to forget. Jan raised an eyebrow, but to Elite only gruffly motioned for her to sit. For once in her life, she followed what someone else told her to do.

"Janette Fey."

Jan frowned in distaste, but said a little mockingly, "Yes, sir?" Amethyst eyes proceeded to wander around, the empty room a little strange to her. It was quiet, chatty voices of her two past teammates missing. For one, Jan didn't believe she was doing this mission solo. No way would they have trusted her with a solo mission after what happened last time, and she was quite inexperienced, after all.

"I know what you're thinking, Fey. And no, you're not doing this alone." The Elite was half-psychic.

Content with the sudden disappearance of awkwardness, Jan returned to her usual uncaring self, crossing her legs and glaring at the Elite with a smirk. "Okay then, fill me in. You don't need to be too concerned about me~"

The reply was a groan, the Elite noting the return of Jan's natural aggravating self. But he knew they were running out of time, so he went on straight with the briefing. "Do you remember your last mission?"

It caught Jan by surprise, but she managed to reply, "Now, how could I forget such an...enlightening experience...?" What was Magma up to?

"Yes. Now, the fossils which you were tricked out of came from a quarry, correct?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Well, our sources tell us that there is more to the quarry than Aqua is showing. However, we have no idea what it is they are hiding exactly. We want you to investigate, inform us of your discoveries, and if it is anything of value, attempt to take it from Aqua. Do you understand?"

Instead of a "yes" answer, Jan said with a cock of the head, "And who might I be working with on this?"

The Elite seemed reluctant to answer. "It's...someone I reckon you'll get along with pretty well." Was that good or bad? "He'll meet you around the area of the facility you discovered on your last mission. Now go!"

Jan rolled her eyes at the Elite's now stern command and exited the room with a smirk. "Anything you say~"

Posted by: Kishk Jul 16 2010, 11:45 AM

Kishk flopped down onto his bed and almost immediately jumped off, fixing the creases he had just created. Pulling up a black beanbag chair from underneath his bed, Kishk sat down for a few minutes simply looking around at his room. Everything was now neatly in order: books ordered in alphabetical order (and those that would not fit in the bookcase were placed in a neat stack at the foot of his bed), clean underwear and clothing folded in their respective drawers, dirty clothing set in a basket ready to be sent to The Sanctuary's laundry, and finally, his backpack properly packed with everything he needed for his next mission.

"So, satisfied yet?" he asked Tesla, who was sitting on the floor by the door. The Shinx gave a small nod of approval, got up, and proceeded to scratch the dorm's door. "I don't even get to rest a little?" Tesla simply looked at him, then continued scratching at the door. "Fine. Let's go." said Kishk, getting up from the beanbag chair, closing his backpack and slinging it across his back.

Placing his PokéNav on its proper holster which was attached below his Pokéball Belt (which was buckled tightly around his hip), Kishk picked Tesla up, cradling the Shinx in his arms. "C'mon, hopefully we can get some training done before we get sent out on another mission."

Leaving the dorm and locking the door from the outside, Kishk pulled hard on the door handle to make sure it was locked properly. As soon as he had done so, his PokéNav began vibrating and blasting loud metal music. Pulling the device off its holster and flipping it open, Kishk read the message he had just received:

'Kishk, make your way to Briefing Room 9 immediately. You're getting sent out on another mission.'

Great, I barely had time to train with Tesla after I caught him and I'm already getting sent out on another mission. Ugh, I can't wait until I get a proper break off this.

"Sorry Tesla, but we won't be getting any training done today. We just got assigned a new mission by one of those lazy high-ranking guys." he said, sprinting towards the Briefing Room and placing the PokéNav back on its holster.

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Jul 17 2010, 12:53 PM

Daniel was sat in a chair waiting for the CO to come and give him his mission... He didn't have to wait long as a door at the back opened and in came his CO.

Just as Daniel was about to ask something, his commanding officer held up his hand and said "Before you say anything we have to wait for someone else to arrive."

Daniel closed his mouth and remained seated wondering who else would be coming, he got his answer sooner than he thought as the back door burst open and Kishk stood there panting hard. Daniel just shook his head and smiled as Kishk stood in the door way trying to catch his breath before eventually entering the room and sitting next to him.

"Now, there would be a third man with you but your usual teammate as disappeared." he said. "Now, to business. After your mildly successful capture of the Aqua facility, we received intel that the place was basically a decoy and expendable on their part. What they are really doing is unknown but the mine has recently seen a spike in activity and that's what you two are going to investigate. Find out what Aqua are doing and stop it."

"Right. C'mon Kishk, let's see if we can find Paul on the way to the mine." Daniel said to Kishk as he stood up.

Kishk nodded and followed Daniel out to the garage, where a heavily modified car sat waiting.

"Looks like the garage boys have done what I asked them to do..." Daniel said with a smile.

Posted by: Fei Fei Jul 19 2010, 06:35 PM

The meeting with his superior had gone about as well as Oscar had expected.

That is to say, there was a distinct lack of yelling involved. It was more like a mutual silent battle of wills that ended when Oscar had finally stepped away from the door (after standing there for a good five minutes, staunchly refusing to sit until his superior had given in and invited him to take a seat, after which he had proceeded gladly to the pro-offered chair with a grin as if nothing had happened), after which his boss had quickly (and rather poorly) informed Oscar of the bare minimum facts about his mission.

"So, who am I going to be working with?"

"You'll like her," was the simple answer, as his superior barely looked up from his work. He had already dismissed Oscar a few minutes ago, and yet the blond-haired, suited man had not yet risen from his seat.

"Well, that's a given. You said 'her'- that's all the qualification I need to get along with someone." Oscar smirked, his legs elegantly folded as his hands rested on top of them. He paused, watching his supervisor with unblinking eyes as the man valiantly tried to ignore him by pretending to look at some papers, though Oscar could see the sweat beginning to form on the back of his neck. He smirked. Good. His unnerving stare of awkwardness was taking effect.

Finally, the man thumped his hand on the desk and looked up with a growl. "I've given you the information, Recruit. If you don't get out of my office immediately, I will have you forcibly removed."

"Oh. Sounds like fun," Oscar replied cheekily, and hastily stood up with a mental laugh, sending the chair scraping a few inches back, as the man broke his pencil in his fist in aggravation. "Alas, as entertaining as playing with Guards Dumb and Dumber sounds, I really should be getting on my way to the mission sight. Really, Boss, keeping me here when I have such vital work to attend to- it's almost irresponsible."

Oscar was too busy being impressed with himself for that comeback to noticed that the door behind him had opened and a hulking guard had reached through the violently jerk him out of the office, a smug grin finally on the supervisor's face.

With the office door closed, Oscar looked up at the intimidating guard with a half-worried look (mostly because the man was easily a foot taller than him, much bulkier, and was still hanging onto his collar).

"'Guard Dumb', eh?" The hulking man asked, clearly not impressed with Oscar's charade inside the room.

Oscar hastily brought up his hands to wave the man off, shaking his head. "Oh, no, no. Of course not. I wasn't talking about you. I mean, clearly you are, in fact, Guard Dumber."

Oscar found himself thrown out of the headquarters building after that, sporting a black eye for his troubles.

"That was clearly unnecessary!" He yelled back into the building as the door swung closed, and he straightened out his suit jacket after dusting off his pants. With an expression that could only be called a pout (whether it could still be called a 'pout', even on a 26 year old man's face was up for debate), Oscar turned on his heel to head off to the meeting sight, where he was apparently to meet his partner for the mission. As he walked, he gently poked at his quickly bruising eye, his pout deepening as the skin throbbed with pain.

He was so completely going to file for employee assault charges.

And that was how he now found himself standing in front of a building that he wasn't familiar with, waiting for a girl who he didn't know the name or appearance of. Hopefully she'd have better luck finding him than he'd have finding her.

At least he was in a much better mood now, despite the now distinct darkened and tender skin around his left eye. Hey- if anyone could pull of the just-punched-in-the-face look, it was him, he thought proudly. Clearly, though, Diamond didn't agree, as she sat at his feet, her tail flicking lazily behind her.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Jul 23 2010, 04:34 AM

The red dot on the map continued to blink tirelessly. Why they decided to use red dots for digital map markers, Jan had no idea. Red dots blinking over and over can be quite annoying, especially when there wasn't much signal to connect to the database and none of the walls Jan had kept encountering were appearing on it. Ember trodded at her heels, ticked off by all the walking required.

But finally, after a lot of pointless wandering, Jan came across the building that the Elite had indicated on her Pokegear map. It wasn't very special. A lame, ordinary building with a few people wandering outside. Problem was, she wasn't told exactly who she was looking for here. Ember looked around at the people passing by, seeming to be thinking the same as Jan.

...But then again, it wasn't so much of a problem after all. There was only one person in the entire vicinity who was waiting for someone--a tall blond man with a Glameow sitting at his feet. Ember rolled her beady eyes at the arrogant way the cat carried itself, but she probably forgot to look at herself first, especially at that moment.

"Come on, Ember. Let's get this over with." Jan briskwalked forward towards the man, Ember eventually catching up, although with several squeaky whines.

Posted by: ShinyTyphlosion Jul 27 2010, 07:52 PM

Paul walked into Groudon's Thumb to see what looked like a high ranking Magma officer talking to the clerk at the front desk. The officer looked over at him when he walked in and asked the clerk something. After she responded, the officer walked over to Paul.

"So, why are you here?" He asked Paul.

"I was hoping I would join Magma." he replied trying to keep a straight face. It was much to soon for him to be caught already.

"Excellent!" the Magma officer said quite loud. "We need a new recruit for a certain job. I'll tell you what, you do this job and you'll join Magma with a higher pay than most other members. It is a difficult mission after all."

"Well, what is it?"

"Sorry to say it, but I can't tell you what it is until you accept."

Paul thought about it for a minute. It's clearly dangerous if their doing this to get people to do it. If I accept, I might not get the chance to take down Magma. On the other hand, if I do succeed, I will gain a lot of credit here and advance through the ranks that much quicker. Paul weighed his choices for a bit before answering. "Alright, I accept."

"OK." the officer said as he took a folded piece of paper and pen out from his pocket. "Just sign here." He gave Paul a pen and pointed to a line at the bottom of the paper.

Paul took the paper and put it up against a wall for a flat surface to write on. He messily wrote his name over the line and handed the paper and pen back to the officer. "So, what am I supposed to do?"

The officer took another piece of paper from his pocket, this one much smaller than the last. "Just follow the instructions on here, and don't make contact with any Magma members until instructed or forced to."

Paul took the paper and left Groudon's Thumb. "That was slightly weird. I just hope this is a real mission. Considering the fact that he tried to keep it so secret, it almost seems like he's not part of Magma." Paul said to Cyndaquil. "Now, let's see what I'm supposed to do." Paul looked at the small piece of paper. The writing was quite small, so Paul had to push his glasses up his nose to read it.

It read, "Join Aqua. When valuable information is achieved, go to the Hall of Mirrors in Uncle Maxie's Fun Fair and ask for Brad."

So, I'm a double agent posing as a double agent and possibly working for a double agent. How ironic. Paul chuckled as he thought to himself.

Posted by: Fei Fei Aug 3 2010, 08:26 PM

Diamond seemed to notice something before even Oscar did, and when he saw that his Meowth was looking up and over into the crowd, the blond-haired man turned his head to look in that same direction. A pleased smile took to his face when he saw a young girl walking towards him with purpose, a Torchic trotting at her heels.

"Hm. Maybe a little young, even for me," he mused as he uncrossed his arms, and Diamond's head-coin flashed as she glared up at her master, slapping at his lower leg with her paw, claws extended. He winced, looking down at her as he dragged his leg back with a wince. "Was that in bad taste?" The meowth nodded definitively. "Alright," he said with a chuckle. "I'll stop. I was joking, anyway." Diamond rolled her eyes, as if to say 'sure you were'.

Oscar took up a more professional stance as the blond girl approached- not that his previous stance was careless (he was never careless with his appearance), but it was slightly more casual. He wasn't worried about appearing as a good member of the Team as much as he wanted to impress the girl. It was reflexive, really- she really was too young for him. He straightened out his custom-made, top-of-the-line, finely tailored pinstripe maroon jacket, despite how there wasn't a single thread out of place, and plastered on his most winning smile at the girl finally came up to him. Diamond cast a far less impressed look upon the Torchic, sticking her nose up without even bothering to put on a show of respect.

"Greetings," he said jovially yet casually as he made it obvious that he was speaking to her. "Forgive me if I don't greet you properly- I haven't been informed of your name. In fact, I haven't been informed of much, but that is neither here nor there. Details must be pushed to the wayside until introductions are made. I am Oscar Forrester Stark, and it is my divine pleasure to make your acquaintance." He smiled toothily at that, and made a grand show of a shallow bow, and even Diamond found herself grinning- albeit mockingly- at the Torchic in greeting, waving her tail elegantly.

Posted by: Kishk Aug 5 2010, 12:39 PM

Kishk held his breath as the heavily modified vehicle sped through the streets of Noverus with Reeves at the wheel, his eyes burning with an intense passion. The look in his eyes only made Kishk even more afraid for his life, causing him to double-check if his seat belt was properly buckled. Now that he was inside the vehicle, "heavily modified" seemed like an understatement. The car had received a reinforced hull, a roll cage (which made Kishk extremely uneasy), what seemed to be a Nitrous Oxide tank (by now, Kishk had his hand on the door's handle) and many other upgrades that hadn't been revealed yet, but were certainly there, judging by the button-filled panel in front of the gearshift.

"Having fun over there, Kishk?" asked Reeves, laughing as he powerslided through a street corner. "'Cause I sure as hell am!"

"Reckless endangerment of public safety is considered fun to you?" replied Kishk, gripping his seat tightly.

"You're not scared, are you?"

"Me? Of course not!" said Kishk, whose nails were now digging into the seat.

A sort of stifled coughing came from the back seats after Kishk's reply. Turning to the source of the noise, Kishk saw Tesla doing what seemed to be... laughing at him? It was the most peculiar sound he'd ever heard, but the longer he listened, the more it seemed like laughter. Frowning at the Shinx, Kishk gave it a flick on the nose, which was countered with a Bite to his index finger. As he reached for Tesla's Pokéball, the Shinx jumped on his head, pawing at his hair until he let go of the Pokéball.

"Fine! Just stop messing up my hair!" he said, placing the Pokéball back on his belt.

Half an hour later, Reeves powerslided into a parking space, letting out a whoop of delight. He turned to Kishk, who was as white as a sheet and who hadn't noticed that Tesla had once again jumped atop his head.

"Since it's clearly noticeable that you loved the ride so much, I'm willing to use a little boost on the way back, eh?" taunted Reeves, patting the Nitrous Oxide tank.

Kishk gave him a sarcastic, yet nervous, laugh as he pulled Tesla off his head by the tail.

"Let's just get going already before I have a heart attack."

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Aug 5 2010, 01:11 PM

Daniel couldn't help but laugh at the look of sheer terror on Kishk's face.

"Oh lighten up, It's not everyday you get to ride around in a highly modified car is it?" he asked with a smile.

"Admittedly, no, but how you learned to drive like that is beyond me... Have you ever done motor racing in your life?" Kishk asked.

Daniel thought for a moment or two about this question before saying, "Hmm... Well, unless you count that short stint of go-karting when I was a lot younger, no."

Kishk just looked at him with a look of absolute incredulity which made Daniel smile all the more.

"Right, enough chat, lets get moving. We need to see what Aqua are up to and fast. So I suggest we start by going up that hill." Daniel said pointing towards a small hill in front of them. Kishk merely shrugged and went along with it, desperately trying to pull Tesla off his head, who as it happened, was still annoying Kishk and refused to release his head.

"Kishk, it might be a lot easier if you returned Tesla to his pokeball cos there's no way you're gonna pull him off without ripping out your own hair." Daniel remarked with a smile.

Kishk just scowled at Daniel before eventually managing to pull Tesla off his head minus a few tufts of hair.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Aug 6 2010, 04:34 AM

Well, he seemed like quite a gentleman, that man who was apparently her teammate for the day. Oscar, was it? Jan found his introduction quite amusing. Unfortunately, Ember did not, at least not with the arrogant little Meowth that seemed to think she was so much better than her. Quite a show-off, that feline, sticking her nose up like she was the queen of the world, and even taking that irritating sarcastic greeting. Ember imitated the gesture, not wanting to lose to a pussy cat. Like Jan, Ember hated losing.

Jan, however, was busy with the introductions. "Ah, it isn't much of a hassle. I understand completely the lack of information given, as I was in the same situation. The name I was given is Janette Fey, however, you can shorten that to Jan." She took a bow back, evening the situation. "A pleasure to meet you, Oscar Forrester Stark."

Posted by: Kishk Aug 16 2010, 03:13 PM

They were almost over the hill when Kishk suddenly stopped and turned to Reeves, noticing something odd.

"What is it, Kishk?" asked Reeves, looking puzzled.

"Why is it," said Kishk, "That there's an enormous parking lot this far from the city, practically in the middle of nowhere?"

Reeves slapped himself in the forehead. "Why does it even matter?!?!"

Kishk opened his mouth to say something back, but decided against. Shrugging, he continued walking.

Once they were past the hill, they could clearly see the mine their superior was talking about. The entrance was hidden from one side by a cluster of trees, but all other sides were wide open and visible. The only reason why they weren't able to see into the mine from this far was because of the immense rocky overhang above it.

As they drew closer to the mine, however, they spotted a gray figure flying in circles in the sky. Taking out a pair of binoculars from his backpack, Kishk took a better look at the figure. It was an Aerodactyl, apparently keeping a lookout for intruders of some kind. From that height, he would've probably already spotted them, but for some reason, he kept on flying in circles.

"Let's hide in that tall grass over there." Kishk said. "He might've not spotted us yet."

As they ran across the field over the hill, Reeves noticed someone standing at the entrance of the mine, and pointed it out to Kishk. It looked like a young woman, attempting to hide in the shadows of the entrance, but not doing a very good job at it. Kishk motioned for Reeves to follow him, and they hid in the tall grass of the field.

"There's no way we can get in the cave unnoticed," said Reeves, panting heavily. "One of us is gonna have to stay back and fight that lady."

Right away, Kishk volunteered himself. "I'll do it. I want to test out Tesla's strength in a real battle."

Reeves nodded. "Fine, but be careful."

As they got up and walked towards the mine, Kishk took off his coat and slung it over his shoulder in an attempt to look cool and intimidating. Somehow, he thought this wasn't going to work out quite the way he planned.

Posted by: Vincent Lance Aug 16 2010, 08:22 PM

Deep in the recesses of the surprisingly well-lit cave, Vincent was descending as speedily as he could. Lanette was up top, all alone with Aerodactyl, so he had to be quick. The radios the man upstairs had provided did not work underground, as Vincent had found out within the first fifteen minutes of descent. Twenty minutes in, and the reception was no better. It felt like the further down he went, the closer Vincent was coming to death; or perhaps treasure. The pit in his stomach telling him to go back couldn't decide.

Every so often, the young Aqua dropped a glow-stick. They were good for about two hours of blue/green light--more than most factory-made ones--and would help him find his way back to the top without delay. He only had ten, though, so he dropped one any time he cam to an intersection, making sure to leave it where he came from in case he came back from a dead end. Vincent was no spelunker, but he knew pokemon well, and the cave was full of them, from Golbat to Dugtrio, to the occasional Mawile and a Ditto here and there. He knew they needed water, too, so if he came to an intersection and there were pokemon leaving a tunnel, he went there first, deciding they had just left this underground stash of valuable artifacts, or whatever. Because, knowing Aqua, they would be....

"-right next to an underground lake," Vincent said aloud as he walked into a huge stone chamber. The walls were elegantly wrung with electrical lights still left on, as though they had expected his arrival. In the center of the vast hall was a lake, the water of which was teeming with fish and various stone fixtures jutting out in all directions. A small island in the middle of the small lake had one lone tablet on it, and Vincent only realized this because all the lights in the cavern were pointing at it.

"Must be important or something."

As he drew nearer and nearer, the pokemon around him became more and more agitated. With only steps to go from the water, a Crobat came out of nowhere and barred Vincent's path. He extended a friendly hand to it, only to be met with a warning glare from the angry cave-dweller.

"Hello," Vincent persisted. "Crobat, I must see what's over there."

It didn't move. Vincent hated to be mean to pokemon, but he had to know just what it was they were protecting. So he drew a flashlight and shined it right at the bat, and it responded by rapidly withdrawing from Vincent's presence.

"I'm sorry!...." But no response came, as though Vincent had expected one. He waded into the water, freezing and waist-deep at the bottom, and made his way to the island. Upon closer review, the tablet had what appeared to be instructions in another language. It was cracked in many places, some chunks missing entirely, but all the text was intact. Perhaps this was what the boss wanted? It was, after all, the only thing in the cavern worth taking.

"Lanette, please be safe. I'll be back up soon...." Why was he talking to himself? And why was he worrying? She'd be fine. Aerodactyl was with her. She's probably up there worrying about her hair, or something, he thought to himself.

------------

Lanette leaned against the rocks, distressed. Her hair was a mess. She had only been allotted an hour to get ready this morning, not nearly enough time, and the sun was beating down on her pretty hard out in the middle of an abandoned quarry. Aerodactyl wasn't helping, either. The thing was a reptile--cold blooded--so naturally it was just lying there, absorbing sunlight. It wouldn't move for, talk to, or even acknowledge Lanette. If anyone bothered following them here, they'd probably be able to walk on by without so much as a glance from the fossil.

"Aerodactyl?" she pleaded. "Please move. You're making me hot just looking at you."

It didn't move.

"You make me so sick, you lazy reptile, I hope you know that."

Nothing. Hopeless. If she was attacked, she was probably better off using her own pokemon than trying to get Aerodactyl to listen to her. But Mothim and Beautifly would burn to a crisp in this blistering sunlight, so that wouldn't do at all. Lanette walked a few steps into the cave, hoping Vincent would return before troubled followed them here.

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Aug 17 2010, 07:39 AM

As Kishk walked towards Lanette, Daniel made a wide arc towards the mouth of the cave, as Daniel got closer he could see Lanette was standing just to the side. Daniel hoped Kishk would distract her and the Aerodactyl long enough for him to sneak past.

Soon enough, Kishk had reached her and said something he couldn't hear, although it seemed to have the desired effect, drawing Lanette away from the cave mouth. Daniel saw his chance and sprinted towards the cave mouth and skidding to a stop a few metres inside the cave. Unsurprisingly, it was well lit and as you would expect there were many bat pokemon flitting about.

He slowly made his way down into the cave and noticed a few glow-sticks on the floor right at an intersection. Daniel assumed they were dropped by Vincent and decided to follow them. As he carried on walking he saw more glow-sticks at each intersection he came to and followed them. Soon enough Daniel had got bored and had started throwing rocks down the tunnel, it stifled the boredom ever so slightly.

Unfortunately whilst throwing the rocks he took a wrong turning and threw a rock further than expected, which when it hit something did not make the usual rocky skitter but rather a soft thump. His curiosity got the better of him and he walked further down the tunnel to see an angry Buizel standing in his path with the rock he had thrown sitting at it's feet.

"Oh, bugger..." Daniel muttered. Daniel didn't have much time to react when a Sonicboom came hurtling towards him. "Crap! That was close..." he said as he ducked down. Thinking quickly, Daniel pulled out Lily's pokeball and threw it in the air. Lily appeared in a flash of white and immediately shot forward with a quick attack.

Daniel got up and dusted himself off before turning his attention to the battle. "Lily, after the quick attack use absorb! Follow it up with Fury Cutter!" he shouted.

Lily impacted the Buizel with a lightning fast quick attack and then drained it's energy with an absorb. As Lily moved in for a Fury Cutter, Buizel used Aqua Jet to knock her back. "Come on Lily, you can do this. Quick attack then Fury Cutter!" Daniel shouted. Lily shot forward avoiding each attack Buizel sent at her and knocked Buizel backwards upon impact. Daniel could see Buizel was getting tired, one more hit would do it. "Ok, Lily, one more hit and then it's done!" Daniel called. Lily moved in with her blades glowing green and hit Buizel with a Fury Cutter, knocking it to the floor. Daniel quickly pulled an empty pokeball from his belt and threw it at Buizel. Upon impact, Buizel was sucked inside and the pokeball hit the floor, rolling once, twice, three times and ending with a click. Buizel was caught!

"Yes!!! I got Buizel! Thank you for everything Lily. You deserve a rest now." Daniel said as he returned Lily to her pokeball. Daniel decided to go backwards to see where he had gone wrong and eventually found his way to an underground lake. It was pretty astonishing in itself but soon enough Daniel noticed someone at the very middle of the lake. As Daniel got closed he could make out the persons hair colour... Light Blue.. That could only mean one person, "Vincent Lance." Daniel said.

Posted by: Kishk Aug 17 2010, 10:46 AM

Kishk sighed as he walked towards the young woman, wondering how fast she'd beat him with that enormous Aerodactyl of hers. The Pokemon had landed by now, and was lying down, eying him suspiciously. Kishk's fingers inched towards Growlithe's Pokeball, a plan already forming inside his head.

Plenty of grass here... he thought to himself, grinning.

When he was near enough to be heard, he threw his coat aside, which was carried away slightly by a sudden gust of wind (it also gave his hair a nice effect, mind you). Acting cool and confident, he began speaking to the young woman.

"You," he said, pointing at her with his left index finger (his right hand lay on top of Growlithe's Pokeball). "Let me through."

The young woman, who was previously busy attempting to fix her hair (it looked fine to Kishk), looked up and started walking towards him.

"I don't get what's with women and taking care of their hair so much." he mumbled to himself, fixing his own hair.

Posted by: Fei Fei Aug 26 2010, 02:28 PM

Oscar smiled at the young girl- Janette, he reminded himself (a lovely name, though her insistence on the name 'Jan' suggested a more rebellious nature)- and lifted a hand to silently suggest they begin walking. At the very least, he knew in what direction they were going (for all he knew of the mission, he may as well lead them back to his apartment- damn, if only she was older). He assumed they were going out of the town, and so this was the direction to go. Diamond yawned, stretching her hind legs out before taking up her position at her master's feet, striding easily alongside him, her tail swishing in time to the trotting of her four paws.

"Well, Jan," he began, remembering to use her preferred nickname rather than risk offending her. It was important to remember little things like that about people to work them in whatever way you wanted, and it was a hobby of his, knowing things about people (well, sometimes- sometimes he was too enamored with himself to care). "Since I seem to be lacking dreadfully in the information department, I hope you at least are aware of the parameters of this mission." It always took all of his will-power not to say 'mission' like it was the funniest word he could think of. It just seemed so... childish, to him. Well, rather like a game of pretend, or something out of a spy movie. He could never quite adjust himself to the thought of being in an organization like this, no matter how well it worked for him, but couldn't they at least think of something more creative than 'mission'? "I'm afraid to say that, as far as I know, we're running the Boss's grocery list." Wouldn't that be just the kind of thing he'd do to piss Oscar off. At least Oscar would have the satisfaction of getting everything on the list wrong (can you say 'Ultra Spicy Bottled Hell Hot Sauce' instead of 'Mild'?).

As Oscar spoke, a more serious part of his brain (a part that was seriously underused, and was even beginning to gather mental cobwebs) began to wonder why, exactly, he was on this mission. Jan didn't seem like grunt material, and though neither was he, in his own not-so-humble opinion, he still ranked in that dreadfully low level (still, it did allow for a lot of time-off, and required little to no dedication). Grunt missions weren't usually so hush-hush, and he was never accompanied by a higher-rank. Something in his mind told him that this was probably some kind of suicide mission (Jan looked rebellious enough that they'd try to get rid of her- unless she was there to kill him...), and the Boss had finally had enough of him. Hm. Not a bad theory. He'd have to watch his back, and in the event of a worst case scenario, make a mental note to offer Jan large sums of money to convince her not to kill him. No one was above the influence of large sums of money, and he really didn't want to die. It would be really bad if Jan was sent to kill him (it would still be bad if they were sent off on a join suicide mission, but at least he could bribe his way out of an assassination).

While her master was busy worrying about his life and possible bribes, Diamond was busy being pompous. It had never occurred to her that the Torchic she was having so much fun antagonizing might be stronger than her. The Meowth had a lot of confidence in her own ability to be quick, but she wasn't so great in direct conflict (not that she'd ever admit it to herself). If she wasn't careful, she'd really annoy the fire-pokemon into attacking her, regardless of team loyalties. Still, she was having far too much fun ruffling its feathers (both literally and figuratively) to pay attention to its readiness to skin her alive.

Finally, mindless of Diamond's obliviousness, Oscar stopped short, and looked at Jan very seriously, aware of how much taller he was. "Jan," he started gravely, and put a hand on her shoulder. They hadn't gone very far from where they'd initially met up, but that didn't matter. He just really had to do this. "I will pay you a million dollars not to kill me." He was willing to go higher, but a good haggler always started low, and then slowly met the assassin's demands. His life was a lot to him, after all. "I will also buy you a house, if you're so inclined. And a ponyta." Little girls loved ponytas, right?

Diamond stopped short as Oscar did, looked up at him with a confused look, tail twitching in curiosity. Then, her eyes perked up and her whiskers flared when she heard her master say 'kill', and she looked down from him and at the Torchic with wide eyes. They were going to kill her master?! No! That wasn't good. No more master meant no more baths, or fancy food, or having a warm body to curl against at night! No more master meant her best friend and brother would be gone! She didn't even know what to do with this information! She remained frozen for a few more minutes, and then hastily moved into action. She brought a paw up and scratched at the back of her diamond-studded collar until it fell off, and then took it into her mouth. If her master could bribe, so could she! She lifted it up and held it up to offer to the Torchic, eyes still wide in shock. Who could refuse such a pretty, sparkly, comfortable collar? No one! That's who! Even if it was her's and Oscar had gotten is especially for her, she could part with it to keep him (and probably herself) alive.

Posted by: Vincent Lance Aug 26 2010, 03:31 PM

Lanette stared at the young man ahead of her. She was easily three, maybe four, years older than him, and she felt a few inches taller as well, though from a distance and without an accurate measurement it was hard to tell. To her dismay, however, her hair had started to fray at the edges. If she had any intimidating presence, certainly it woud be lost if her hair was the mess it was. Now she would never win. Oh, this was going to be a long day, Lanette knew it.

"Umm....no?" she replied meekly to the boy's demand. Lanette found it hard to find a voice to respond with. This was her first field mission outside of the city, and she had hoped not to see anyone else. Aerodactyl finally came around and noticed the approaching teen for the first time. It stood up slowly and took flight, beating its wings hard against the dry air, kicking up a sandstorm of dust that last a good twenty seconds. When it settled, the pokemon was off the ground a few meters, its glare penetrating deep into the souls of anyone stupid enough to lock eyes. Lanette took notice of the evil glare, and giggled. "Stop that, Aerodactyl. You'll scare him."

The girl mustered up some courage. "Listen, I'm not letting you, or anyone, through this cave." But wait; hadn't that one guy...."Okay, nobody else." How embarrassing....Lanette's bangs hung lazily in front of her eyes. Why weren't they behind her ear, where they should be? Everything was going wrong today!

--------------

His name echoed off the walls of the cave. Vincent shook his head slowly, without turning around.

"Why?" he thought aloud. "I'm a nice guy. I don't deserve this." After a minute of self loathing, he turned to see Daniel Reeves, the Rebellion operative he'd met a few weeks ago. So far, this would be his fourth meeting with the boy. He looked around, trying to find an advantage he had. Each time he fought Daniel, the tactics Vincent used always required out-of-the-box thinking, and he knew this time would be no different.

"Daniel," he said lazily, trying to buy time, "I'm kinda busy. I'm going to have to report this find to my boss-" He stopped mid-sentence. Did he? Vincent turned to face the tablet, trying to read it. Using his flashlight, he went over each line as carefully as he could. "And you here just complicates things." The king of the sea, the bringer of rain. "So, if you wouldn't mind...." The water will rise, and a deluge will sweep the land clean. "....I'd like to get back to that." He who rules the sea, rules the world. Then the light caught on a sparkling object embedded in the stone. There it was; a small diamond fixture. Inside the gem, a light formed an almost perfect arrow that reflected off a smaller gem within the encasement. It was pointing east, which meant only one thing: it was a compass that pointed to Kyogre.

Vincent had to destroy it. Screw his boss. No way a respectable pokemon master would let a criminal mastermind use any means to abuse a pokemon, even one as vastly powerful and uncontrollable as Kyogre. Team Aqua always had a way. They could steal the blue orb again, or find another method; but the icy-haired teen refused to be a part of it, even if he was only delaying the inevitable.

But....what about Daniel?

"Reeves, let me work. Just go, before I make you."

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Aug 26 2010, 03:57 PM

"Really? I do believe the only time you've beaten me was the first time we met? Every other time it's either been a draw or you've had to go." Daniel said with a bit of a laugh, "And if you don't mind me asking, what is it you are here to do? I don't see anything of value in here..."

He looked round the dimly lit cavern and could honestly see nothing of much value...

"Because whatever it is Aqua want, I'm here to make sure they don't get it." Daniel said.

He was determined to stop Aqua from doing anything that would harm the world. He also wanted to kick both them and Magma out of Noverus and give the City back to the people.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Aug 27 2010, 04:40 AM

One fact in this world, at that moment, stood clearly above the rest: That was odd.

Cautiously, afraid to cause an explosion of more bribes, Jan took Oscar's hand and placed it back by his side. She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Whatever made you think of such discriminating thoughts? If I had been out to murder you, I would have done so another time, not when I have a task at hand." After adding a cocked head to her already puzzled expression, she added, "And I cannot fathom what I would do with a Ponyta."

Ember, however, seemed highly amused by Oscar's (not to mention Diamond's) act of sudden submission. Her glittering eyes gave it all away, and if feathered Pokemon could smirk, hers would be quite blatant at the moment, as if to say, Well, you can still hand over that collar, if you insist so badly.

Posted by: ShinyTyphlosion Sep 3 2010, 01:18 AM

Paul was walking around wondering how he was to join Aqua. "I know they don't just recruit anyone who walks in and asks to be hired like Magma." Paul sighed. "Any ideas?" He asked the Cyndaquil sitting on his shoulder.

The Pokemon shook it's head telling him no.

"I guess I'll have to make friends with an Aqua since bribing is out of the question..." Paul took out about 10 dollars from his pockets knowing it's all he has and put it back in. "Well, what if I help one of them stop a Magma? That might convince them I'm not a spy, right?"

Cyndaquil had an uneasy look like it wasn't sure if it would work.

"Well what's your idea then?" He stared at the small blue and tan Pokemon still walking.

"QUIL!!" It shouted.

Paul walked right into a small wall and flipped right into it falling into the river hitting his head on the way down. He moved his legs and arms as much as he could to try and stay above the the water, but the current was much to strong. "HELP!!" He shouted when ever he managed to get his head above the water. He yelled it a few times before he noticed his voice was drowned out by the raging current.

"QUIL!!" He though he heard his Cyndaquil yell when he managed to get above the water again.

Did Cyndaquil manage to jump off my shoulder in time? He thought. He had hoped that it jumped off and was yelling for help for him and not for itself.

"QUILLLL!!" He heard it again when he got above the water. Then he saw the Cyndaquil helplessly attempting to swim.

Oh no! I've got to so him! He thought to himself. Just then, the current pulled him deep under. This is it... He thought. I'm sorry Cyndaquil... The current pulled him into a rock forcing him to breath out. He breathed in some water and within a few seconds, everything went black.

Posted by: Fei Fei Sep 8 2010, 04:37 PM

Oscar still wasn't completely sure if he believed her, but he was going to let it go- for the moment. After all, there really was nothing more important than his own skin, so if there was even the slightest threat to it, he was going to make sure he had all possible bases covered. And if she didn't know what to do with a Pontya, well, he'd just have to get her a Rapidash instead.

As he gladly took his hand back to his side and motioned for them to keep walking, he flashed her a grin. "Well, in that case, I suppose I shall be infinitely more comfortable in your company. After all, I've always found it rather difficult to properly associate with someone who was plotting to kill you. I dated a girl like that once. She said it was her kink, but I severely advise you to stay away from people like that. It's fun for a week or so until the cost of Kevlar starts eating away at your bank-account."

Diamond sniffed, every ounce of her previous smug-superiority back in place, and she re-affixed her collar to where it properly belonged. That week had been far more stressful than it was worth for the attentions of a single Growlithe. He hadn't even been a particularly good-looking Growlithe, either.

"In any event," Oscar continued, feeling much relieved that he (probably) wouldn't be finding a gun to his head any time soon. "You did mention your methodology for a potentially hypothetical situation in which you would murder me. If that case still stands, I would like to make you a larger offer to ensure that it never crosses your mind again. Ever." The talking helped to distract him from the fact that he actually had no idea what their mission was, or where they were going, but he suspected that, sooner or later, Jan would catch onto the fact that he was quite aimless at the moment. Stupid Boss, not telling him anything. He supposed it was some conspiracy, envisioned by his superior for the sole reason of making him look bad in front of a girl (even if said girl was too young for him).

"Pardon me for breaking the mood," as if there had been any mood, "but I am a professional," not, "and it seems to me that now should be the time for sharing information about the mission we've been collectively sent on." Perhaps he'd been beating around the bush, but by now the bush was thoroughly beat, and getting down to business would probably be a good idea. Regardless of if he took it seriously or not.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Sep 12 2010, 04:48 AM

Hmm. Jan began to wonder how the idea that she was out to murder him crossed Oscar's mind in the first place. Had she done something offensive...? Nothing she had done seemed very offensive...Ah, it didn't quite matter at the moment. There was discussion to do. Jan flipped open her Pokegear to review the map which would point out the location of the quarry.

"Our mission? Well, I propose we begin by traveling in the correct direction." Indeed, wherever Oscar was leading them was a few degrees astray from the route to the quarry. "Come on. The quarry's over this way." She switched directions without looking up from her Pokegear, cutting to the right, where the quarry was supposedly located.

Posted by: Vincent Lance Sep 17 2010, 08:54 PM

(The following is a joint post by me and Kishk to reduce clutter. All posts are separated by dashes.)

Kishk sighed and gave in to the inevitable. His hand went from Growlithe's Pokeball to Pidgey's, wondering how skilled this woman was in battles. She seems a bit distracted..., he thought, pulling the Pokeball off its place on his belt. His gave shifted from the woman to the Aerodactyl as he pressed the button in the middle of the Pokeball, making it enlarge. But that Aerodactyl seems to make up for it... This is gonna be a long day...

"I guess there's no way of avoiding this battle. Get ready, 'cause I don't plan on losing to the likes of an Aqua such as yourself." said Kishk, wondering if she would choose the Aerodactyl first. "Go, Pidgey!"

The Pokeball rolled once. Twice. Three times in midair before opening in a flash of red and revealing Kishk's Pidgey, her beautiful wings beating slowly and keeping her off-ground. Make me proud, Pidgey..., Kishk thought, still looking at the Aerodactyl.

---------------Lanette------------------

Lanette turned to Aerodactyl.

"Will you help me, please?"

The hulking fossil merely stared her down, indifferent to the situation. She wasn't Vincent, after all; who was she to command him?

"Oh, you make me so sick, you stupid bird! Get up!"

-------Vincent-------

Vincent started tutting.

"Same reason I'm here," he replied under his breath, so Reeves couldn't hear him. He finally turned to face Daniel. "Why don't we fix that? I have some spare time. Let's battle."

Then, putting two fingers in his mouth, Vincent whistled as loudly as he could. The chime reverberated off of the cavern walls, amplifying the sound to a degree.

-------Lanette-------

Suddenly, in the middle of Lanette's tirade, Aerodactyl stood up and took flight, flying in the direction of the Aqua base much further up the river.

"Wha-....?" Lanette turned to face her opponent. "You know what? Whatever."

She unclipped a pokeball off of her belt and hurled it skyward, where it exploded into a jet of white light that reformed as a Ponyta. Lanette loved her Ponyta; what girl wouldn't love one? It had been her first pokemon she ever caught.

"Alright, Ponyta, let's have a go at this. You ready?"

It whinnied with delight.

------------------Kishk--------------------

"Well, that pretty much ruins the plan I had in mind." Kishk said aloud, frowning at the Ponyta. "I really wanted to battle that Aerodactyl, to be honest. He seemed like a good match... Ah well. Let's get on with this."

Kishk called his Pidgey to his shoulder and quietly gave it instructions. Hopefully this plan would work at least for the beginning of the battle... Or not. He'd have to find out one way or another. Turning his back on the Pokemon and the young lady, Kishk walked over to his jacket and put it back on.

"You know what to do, Pidgey." he said, sprinting past the Pokemon and into the cave, his hand already pulling Totodile's Pokeball off his belt. Before he was absorbed by darkness, he saw Pidgey flying upwards and darting back down in zig-zags, commencing a furious barrage of Quick Attacks.

Good luck. I'll see you soon...

-------Vincent-------

A few awkward seconds passed before a small chip of rock fell from the roof of the cavern and splashed into the pool. The ripples moved across the otherwise undisturbed water with an overwhelming sense of foreboding. Vincent looked up; it was apparent where the chip had fallen from, made obvious by the jet of light now piercing the now much more well lit cavern.

"Thought so," he muttered. He had calculated the bright sun outside was the cause of the wonderful natural light within the cavern because the top layer of stone was not stone, but was in fact a reflecting crystal of some kind. Thick enough to block out the sky, but not the sun's light; thin and easily broken. Soon thereafter, Aerodactyl shot through the crystal roof, sending shards of the paper-thin crystal all over the room. Vincent had to shield his face for a moment before he introduced Daniel to his pokemon.

"Reeves, this is my Aerodactyl. Say hi, Areodactyl."

It roared with a thunderous bellow, which didn't echo because the roof was now gone and the sound no longer trapped. The hulking fossil took up surprisingly little space in the voluminous rock bowl.

---------------Lanette-----------------

Lanette wanted to stop the boy, confused as she was to his sudden approach, but was unable to catch him in time. He'd left his Pidgey behind to battle Ponyta, which annoyed her greatly.

"Ponyta, use Ember!"

The horse charged forward, the flames around it waving in the breeze, and sprayed a volley of fire at the bid behind it.

--------------Kishk------------------

Kishk walked through the winding tunnels, his hand always on the cavern wall to his right. This would keep him from getting lost should he have to go back and help Pidgey out beforehand. Pidgey knew what to do in an emergency, but he didn't really want to have to see it.

Alright, time to set things up., thought Kishk, releasing Totodile from his Pokeball. If that lady has any brains, she'll know it's a trap... I can't believe I'm actually counting on someone's stupidity for my plan to work...

His hand still on the wall to the right, Kishk took out a flashlight he had always kept in his backpack, but never remembered about.

If this cave wasn't so damn dark, I would've never remembered about these things. I really need to organize my backpack a little better...

Digging a little deeper, he found what he really needed: nails and a few hundred meters worth of transparent nylon string.

Throwing the flashlight to Totodile (who turned it on and kept it aimed at the floor where Kishk was going to set his trap), Kishk started getting to work. With a sharp-looking rock he had found on the floor, he made a few preliminary holes where the nails would soon be, firmly placed.

---------------Pidgey-----------------

Oops. I think I need to be more careful around this Ponyta. That Ember could've hurt quite a lot!, thought Pidgey as she just barely avoided the flames by diving low to the ground. This caused her to lose her balance, though. Before she had time to flee again, the Ponyta came around for another charge.

I won't be able to dodge this one... I guess I'll use Quick Attack head-on and cause as much damage to him as possible.

Flapping her wings in two short, yet powerful, bursts, the Pidgey stabilized and turned to face the Ponyta. Her mind set, she darted directly at the Ponyta. The flames burned and stung, but she kept going and hit the horse Pokemon in the snout. Before it could attack her again, she took refuge in the overhang above the cave entrance.

Well, that hurt. She winced, stretching her wings slightly.

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Sep 18 2010, 01:48 PM

"Aerodactyl huh? He looks pretty good for a million year old pokemon." Daniel commented. He was suitably impressed by Vincents latest capture. He could tell it was rather strong.

"Well then, considering i've just met your newest pokemon I do believe I should return the favour." Daniel said. He unclipped a pokeball from the bottom of his ball belt that was slung over his chest and threw it in the air.

The pokeball erupted in a flash of white light and a Buizel materialised in the water in front of the trainers.

"Meet Jet. He's a relatively new capture so this will be his first battle." Daniel said.

Posted by: ShinyTyphlosion Sep 24 2010, 11:25 AM

After going black and not being able to see a thing, everything quickly went white. Paul coughed of a lot of water before noticing the white was the sun. He continued to cough for the next five minutes or so his body trying to get all the water out of his lungs. It was a while before he started seeing again, mostly because he was staring at the sun for the first few minutes which caused the white.

"Lets never do that again..." Paul mumbled to himself as he sat up on the grass after his coughing started to slow down. "How'd I live any-" He stopped mid sentence noticing he didn't manage to save Cyndaquil. "Oh darn!" Paul quickly got up and looked around for Cyndaquil noticing a small Ralts looking up at him. It was the same one he brought to Nurse Joy a few days ago.

Paul looked at the small white and green Pokemon staring intently up at him. "Did you save me?" Paul asked it. It slowly nodded. "Well thanks, but why?" He asked forgetting that Pokemon can't talk. It just stared at him. "Is it because I helped you before?" It nodded again. "Thanks." Paul smiled at the Pokemon. I guess helping helps more than just the one you're helping. Paul thought to himself. "Sorry, but I can't stay around, I have to go find Cyndaquil." He started to walk off not having the slightest idea where he is.

After walking for about two minutes, he remembered he had Eevee. Eevee's have pretty good noses, right? He thought to himself as he reached into his pocket for Eevee's Pokeball. Stupid deep pockets, where is it... It was a few seconds before he noticed his pocket was empty. "Just my luck!" He said aloud. "I lost two of my Pokemon!" Paul opened another velcro pocket and took out Mareep's Pokeball. He kept all his Pokeballs in different Pockets so he can tell them apart. "At least I didn't lose you..." He held it close remembering what his parents were put through for getting him the Pokemon before putting it back in his pocket.

He turned around hoping that Eevee's Pokeball fell out when he was laying down on the grass coughing. It was then he noticed the Ralts that had saved him was following him. "Huh? Why are you following me?" he looked at the Pokemon who was staring up at him as intently as before. "Do you know where Cyndaquil or Eevee are?" The Pokemon shook it's head. "Did you want to help me find them?" It shook it's head again. Paul thought for a minute not knowing why it was following him. "Alright, tag along I guess..." Paul said as he started to walk back towards where he got up.

Posted by: Fei Fei Sep 24 2010, 01:08 PM

Oscar looked at the pokegear curiously, craning his neck to see what Jan was doing on the little hi-tech device. Why hadn't he thought of checking his own pokegear? He didn't know where they were going, that's why. He couldn't have used the GPS on it if he didn't have a destination to put in. He watched intently as she pushed a few buttons, and a map appeared on the screen, complete with blipping red light, indicating where the sight of their mission was located... Hm. Her pokegear was nice. Well worn, maybe, but a good model. The newest model that he had, while shiny and brag-worthy, didn't have quite the same memory space, and the smaller size made it almost too hard to use, when the model Jan had was a little bigger, but still the perfect size for carrying around. Oscar found himself frowning as she busied herself with the device. He wanted one like that. Her's was better than his, and he wanted it. Maybe he could buy a new one off the internet. Old model, but not used, of course. Never used. Oscar didn't buy used things. He physically shuddered at the thought.

Diamond looked up at her master, her whiskers crooking upward in curiosity. Her master looked as if he'd just thought of something particularly unpleasant, like the time where a fellow grunt had asked him to cover his shift for night cleaning duty, because he had a date. Oscar had balked, and instead offered the grunt a million dollars, and said he would go to the date in his stead. Diamond often found amusement in remembering how Oscar ended up dating that particular human woman, and the fellow grunt in question had gotten fired for slacking off on the job. It always made the Meowth proud that she had such a rich and clever master.

Both pokemon and trainer were lost in their own private thoughts when Jan's voice shocked them out of it. Diamond blinked, startled at the sudden intrusion into her happy memory, and Oscar actually yelped, and then refocused his confused eyes on Jan from looking out into space blankly.

"Ah, did you say something?" He said, managing to sound perfectly suave, even after his less-than-masculine yelp. A moment later, though, his brain caught up with him, and he nodded. "Oh, yes. The destination. Yes, well, Jan, please lead the way." He put a hand out to signal, like a gentleman, that she should go ahead, but she'd started walking before his gracious gesture. Oscar shared a look with Diamond, and the Meowth rolled her eyes, obviously thinking that Jan (and, more specifically, her upstart Torchic) had very little manners, while Oscar simply shrugged and followed.

For a little while, Oscar followed Jan, watching in acute fascination as she managed to walk unhindered, while never taking her eyes from the pokegear map. The silence annoyed him, as it usually did, and so he stuck his hands in his pockets, and tried to come up with reasons for why she could walk without looking where she was going. Psychic, maybe, or a trained ninja. Or maybe she had an extra set of eyes that Oscar couldn't see. That would be a strange thought. She'd have to have them implanted, of course, because people just weren't born with extra sets of eyes. That would require a good surgeon. He knew most of the good surgeons in this area. He'd never heard of them giving anyone extra eyes, though. Unless, of course, it happened before he moved here, or it was a big secret.

Diamond padded along next to Oscar, occasionally glancing up at her master as he looked lost in thought. If Oscar was mesmerized with how Jan could walk without looking, then Diamond thought it was even more fascinating how he could walk, without ever bumping into anything or going astray, while completely ensconced in his own thoughts. He often got like this, of course- when he was thinking of whatever crazy idea had gotten into his mind, whether serious or not, he didn't even notice the outside world. Club always assumed that Oscar just put himself on auto-pilot, but Diamond had a theory that his desire not to mess up his suit was so great that it kept him on path, like a magnetic force field. Tripping or bumping into someone would wrinkle the expensive jacket, or get dirt on his one-of-a-kind trousers, and so, he just didn't do either of them. Diamond was fairly sure that this was the case.

Not even Oscar's thoughts could keep him entertained forever, though, and after what seemed like forever of walking, he cleared his throat, and tugged a hand out of his pocket, raising a finger in questioning. "So, Jan, have you any idea when we're going to arrive at the quarry?" His hand found its way back to his pocket, and Diamond looked up and over at Jan as both awaited an answer.

Posted by: Vincent Lance Sep 25 2010, 09:42 PM

Vincent looked at Buizel curiously. His own Buizel, or moreover, his father's, was at the laboratory back home in Sinnoh. This one wasn't as lean, and perhaps a hair shorter, though it was hard to tell with this blasted sunlight enveloping the once drearily dark cavern. Vincent whipped some sunglasses out of his emergency kit -- he was inherently photosensitive -- before confronting Daniel.

"Right then. Aerodactyl, Supersonic."

Aerodactyl unleashed a horrendous screech that had a physical aspect, sending small spots of dust airborn and shaking the shattered crystal on the floor. The effect of the attack sent Buizel into a tizzy, holding its head in a futile attempt to block the sound. And with a spare minute, Vincent unclipped his radio and hit the button. The distance might be a bit too much, but at least there wasn't a cavern wall blocking his signal now.

:: Lanette? You alright? ::

--------------

"Ponyta, roast that sucker! C'mon!"

Ponyta was in a frenzy, launching fire attacks in between head-on tackles. As fast as it was, Pidgey had the aerial advantage that had allowed the situation to stay in its favor. Grounding it would be next to impossible without her other pokemon....

Then her radio chimed with :: Lanette? You alright? :: The transmission was a tad spotty.

:: Yeah, :: she replied quickly. :: This one kid came by, left his Pidgey behind. He's coming down to find you. Please be safe, Vincent. I love you. :: Had she just gone mushy in the middle of a fight? How bipolar.

"Oh, curses....Ponyta's getting nowhere...."

------------

:: Alright, thanks. ::

So, Reeves had backup coming. Or, perhaps not. A trap, maybe? Those glowsticks he'd laid out from before seemed rather irrelevant at this point.

"Sorry about that. Had to check on my woman." Oh, how good that felt to say.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Oct 3 2010, 04:33 AM

The entire trek, Jan had her eyes glued on the map on her Pokegear. For some reason she had an amusing affinity to the gadget, toying with it when she was bored, and even when she wasn't. Like a drunkard's addiction to alcohol--For no particular reason. Maybe she had nothing better to do, or maybe she was avoiding thinking about her life and ending up emo. Or something. Well, it didn't matter. What mattered was the mission and the quarry.

The point is, Jan had her eyes glued to the screen when her partner suddenly questioned about their arrival at the scene. Oscar's timing could not have been more coincidental. "Mm. Just about now." The teenager swatted away the last of the branches to reveal...a quarry. Well, that wasn't the amusing part. It just so happened that outside the entrance, a battle was transpiring. One was a young woman, barking orders at a firey Ponyta launching flames at a Pidgey up in the sky. And it just so happened that Jan knew the other side--Kishk, the amusing boy battling Jan back at the Aqua research center.

"Well, isn't this interesting? A battle..." Jan pretended she didn't know him, but even she couldn't keep a smirk and a scoff from entering her system.

Ember shifted her weight in anticipation. She had unfinished business with that boy and his Poochyena, and she intended to nail the coffin. Unfortunately for the Torchic, the boy soon bailed, ditching his Pidgey to battle the Ponyta alone and venturing into the quarry. "Chic." She was pretty irritated by that boy. He just had this vibe that the little Pokemon disliked.

"He bailed it, did he?" At least, Jan was a little bit disappointed. It was interesting to watch Kishk go through his amusing mood swings, from fired up and furious to tired and bored. Well, they might have to go after him anyway. Their target was where he was headed. "Hmph. It doesn't matter. Is it your opinion to chase after the boy?" She turned to solicit a reply from Oscar.

Posted by: Kishk Oct 3 2010, 08:32 AM

From her perch on the rocky overhang, Pidgey noticed something she hadn't noticed earlier: some minor movement in the vegetation a little way off from the quarry entrance.

That's weird... Perhaps those are Magmas on their way here?

Her thoughts were interrupted by another burst of flame from the Ponyta, which came dangerously close to her previously injured wings.

Oops. I guess it's time to go now. Kishk must've set things up by now.

She darted upwards, hoping to make the Ponyta look up after her and get temporarily stunned by the sun's glare. Whether it worked or not, she didn't know. After going high enough, she let herself stall in midair and fall slowly to the ground. Before she got too low, she spread her wings again and darted to her right, circling the overhang, and then went into the cave, taking the chance to mess up the young woman's hair on her way in.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kishk looked up at his handiwork, appreciating how the lack of light didn't reveal the massive pool of water and the tangle of wires and string in front of it. It was admittedly a dirty tactic, but he didn't really want to lag behind when Reeves might be needing help. Besides, he wouldn't have to waste as many Pokemon in the battle.

A few seconds later, Kishk heard a rush of wings and knew that Pidgey was on her way there.

Just in time, too!

"Alright Totodile," he told the Pokemon behind him. "This is gonna be a fun battle for you..."

Turning off the flashlight and placing all the extra items he had brought out back into his backpack, Kishk hid behind a decently-sized rock so he wouldn't get trampled or crushed when the Ponyta came charging down the tunnel.

Posted by: Fei Fei Oct 11 2010, 08:46 PM

Oscar looked towards Jan as she spoke in answer to his question. Except, it wasn't quite what he'd been expecting, and his head quickly swiveled back to facing front. And, as Jan drew the branch back, he peered around her and saw that there was, indeed, some sort of rocky clearing beyond the woods. How strange, then, that he'd never known about it, when it wasn't quite so far from home.

It felt pretty far, though, judging by the walk, he complained mentally. If there had been a rational portion of his mind, which there wasn't, he might have admitted that the walk wasn't actually that long. Of course, because there was very little logic to be found in his mind, he was quite content to believe that they had been walking forever, and that he was perfectly justified in never having come this far before. He also rationalized that, having just (relatively) moved to the town, he hadn't done much exploring. Unless it was in clothing stores. He'd done a lot of exploring in clothing stores. And furniture stores. And some po-

His attention was arrested from his thoughts as his mind finally caught up to his eyes. In the center of the quarry was a particularly feisty looking pidgey battling a ponyta (he could probably buy that one for Jan, if she was still interesting in killing him). But the most interesting thing he picked up on was the attractive woman at the center of the battle. Long red hair, nice, good height, young, but probably legal. In an instant his mind switched gears from his recent shopping excursions to getting near the red-head.

Diamond could practically hear the gears in Oscar's mind screeching, and she didn't need to look up at him to know that his gaze had zeroed in on one thing in particular with more accuracy than a pidgeot. She know, of course, because she had caught sight of the woman as well. It wasn't just Oscar's reaction that had her interested, though. In front of her, that torchic looked like it had had its feathers ruffled, and Diamond could only assume it had something to do with the battle up ahead. She didn't know what the reason was, but if it meant annoying the fire-bird more, Diamond was going to find out, so that she could hold it against her. Call her petty, but that's just how she rolled. She was okay with petty.

Oscar's planning was cut short when he heard Jan speak, and he was brought back to the present by her question. "Boy?" He asked, looking down at Diamond. He hadn't seen a boy, but then, he hadn't been looking at much aside from that hot trainer. Diamond curled her tail around her legs, shrugging her little cat shoulders to show that she didn't know one way or the other. On her end, she had been too busy wondering how to rile up the little birdie to notice if there was or had been a boy in the clearing or not.

"Well," he started slowly, glancing up from Diamond to look at Jan, "if there's a boy, why don't you run off and find him, while I keep guard out here?" And maybe possibly perhaps get her number, yes?

Posted by: ShinyTyphlosion Oct 11 2010, 10:19 PM

Paul walking back (or he thought he was) to where the Ralts brought him was just thinking about his favorite comic that he used to read in all the newspapers people used to throw away and all the stupidly funny things that were done in them.

"Where am I anyways?" he quietly asked himself after walking for a bit. "All this forest is starting to look the same..." He took out his PokeGear to look at the map only to see that the water had broken it. "Just great... I've got no idea where I am, I'm missing two of my Pokemon, and I'm starting to get hungry!" He threw the PokeGear out of rage, and quite far to before hearing the gentle thump of it hitting a tree. Paul sighed and sat down. "Now what?" he asked himself as he sat down to rest for a bit.

After resting and pitying himself for a while, he started walking again. Wait a minute! he thought to himself. Turning around to see the Ralts still following him he asked, "Can you show me where you brought me before?" Then he realized, How did it bring me there? Looking back at the Ralts he saw it jumping right at him grabbing him and in a bright flash, he noticed he was where the Ralts brought him before. "Not exactly what I meant..." Paul said falling over dazed from the teleport. Oh, that's how... It wasn't for a few seconds did he notice he landed on something. Quickly getting up hoping it was Eevee's Pokeball. "That defiantly isn't a Pokeball." He said staring face to face with an angry Electrike.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Oct 12 2010, 04:22 AM

"If there's a boy"? "Get her number"? It looked like Oscar was an easily distracted man. By many things, delirious thoughts of murder and appeasing women included. Jan's own internal instinct caused her eyes to roll themselves, not to mention maybe a crude smirk appear on her face. "Mm. Interesting theory, although I do have to wonder, however am I going to sneak into the quarry when the outside is thoroughly occupied by a woman engaged in battle with a Pidgey?" Sarcasm, half of it. Jan was admittedly good at sneaking, although the woman did look pretty alert. Maybe. Then again, Jan had never tried sneaking past this anonymous woman.

"Let's see here. What if we try sneaking, and if that fails, you go ahead and flirt. Or, we could go with your suggestion of me slipping into the tunnels all alone, while you go ahead...and flirt? Hmm?" Again, sarcasm, but for some reason, judging by her experience with him so far, Jan might have felt that Oscar would actually take the second option. No sarcasm. Which would leave her to actually slip into the tunnels and investigate whatever caused Kishk to ditch his Pokemon. She didn't exactly enjoy the idea of having to face the two-faced boy all over again. Burning determinedly, then suddenly going bored. Jan would have wondered what would happen if the battle actually went on. How many faces would the boy show then?

The answer to that, she didn't know. One thing, she did: Oscar sure had one face. The one he must have spent hours looking at in the mirror.

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Oct 13 2010, 11:49 AM

"Jet, go under water! Then launch a Water Pulse straight at Aerodactyl!" Daniel called.

Jet immediately dove under the water, feeling a lot calmer now that the screeching had stopped. He powered up a Water Pulse and slowly rose to just beneath the surface before letting loose. Daniel watched with a small smile as the water pulse shot out of the water behind Aerodactyl and headed straight at it.

"Follow it up with an Aqua Jet from the front!" Daniel called.

Jet soon shot out of the water in front of Aerodactyl covered, head to toe in a veil of water.

Posted by: Vincent Lance Oct 13 2010, 06:48 PM

Vincent watched as Buizel dove underwater, where it launched a large ball of water at Aerodactyl. There wasn't much room for avoiding it, so the attack connected, causing a decent amount of stress to Vincent and an equal amount of pain to his pokemon.When Daniel issued his second command, however, he knew the next attack could be avoided.

"Aerodactyl, up! Fly up!"

The words rang true, and Aerodactyl went skyward. It left the collapsed cavern altogether, and was now free-flying around outside. It was far beyond reach of Aqua Jet now. Or, at least, Vincent hoped it was.

-----------

More than anything, Lanette was furious. Her hair was a mess, what with that infernal bird going by it at supersonic speeds. She was so mad, for a fleeting moment, she considered pursuing it out of rage. But, despite herself, she didn't move. For a few minutes, all Lanette could do was fume. In the midst of her indecision, she noticed a shining object over the ridge, where the forest began. Someone was there.

"Hey, you there!" she called. "What are you doing over there?"

Moving to the left, further inspection revealed to Lanette than the object that caught her eye was a Meowth's gem. There was a boy standing by it, dressed real nicely and standing with a certain composure.

"Oh, great....more company...."

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Oct 14 2010, 08:12 PM

Daniel watched as the Water Pulse hit it's mark, he knew launching two attacks simultaneously meant that if one missed, the other wouldn't.

As Aerodactyl flew up, Daniel had a brain wave.

"Jet, use Sonicboom to push yourself further, then use swift when you're closer to Aerodactyl!" Daniel called.

With an extra boost from Sonicboom, Jet shot straight out of the cavern and into the sky until he was almost level with Aerodactyl, who was now hovering, waiting for it's next command. He then launched the strongest Swift attack he could muster before plummeting back into the relative safety of the water.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Nov 3 2010, 04:41 AM

The woman in front of the quarry turned to them, attention caught by something. Well, perhaps "them" is not a proper word, and "him" would serve better. Jan followed her gaze to Oscar and his Meowth with the sparkly gem on her forehead. That would explain a lot.

"We've been spotted." hissed Jan under her breath, then paused, adding, "Hmm. No, you've been spotted. Why don't we continue with that plan, eh? I sneak in, you flirt. It's surprisingly practical, now that I think about it." That plan being practical only began with the fact that the woman had spotted them--no, him. If Jan lingered long enough for the woman to spot her as well, then they would be stuck for quite a while. She wouldn't let that happen, would she? At least Oscar would be getting what he wanted after all.

Without so much as a dismissive flick of the wrist or a pause for a reply from Oscar, Jan ducked into the bushes, aiming for the quarry, while the woman was distracted by sparkly feline gems and the man whose ego barely fit inside himself. Ember followed, except with a little tongue stuck out at her rival Diamond before heading to catch up with her trainer.

Apparently, the woman either didn't notice or was too preoccupied with Oscar, Diamond and her hair, because Jan was able to slip in without much as a glance from the her. It was dark in the tunnel, and dark just wasn't Jan's thing. "Curses. I hate dark places. Not only that, but it's starting to feel quite damp in here," Jan muttered to herself as she nearly stumbled over an unseen rock.

"Chic," agreed Ember irritably, nearly tripping over the same rock herself.

"Ember, perhaps you could spout a little fire to shed some li--Ah!" Jan stopped completely when she realized she had walked into...something. She couldn't recall any experience of vines in caves, and these were definitely not vines. Too thin and hard. She blinked several times, attempting to see a little better in the dark, staring blankly at whatever had caught her hand. Nylon...? What was nylon doing in a cave?

"Tor," said Ember, sensing something...or someone. Jan followed her Pokemon's gaze...well, look who it was.

Posted by: Kishk Nov 3 2010, 10:07 AM

Kishk blinked several times and rubbed his eyes. What the hell was she doing here? Why was it that Jan was stuck all roped-up instead of that Ponyta? Had the woman given up? Had Jan beaten her in such a small amount of time? No... That was impossible. She would've never come here alone... or would she? Kishk scratched his head and got up, still staring at her.

"Before I untie you," Kishk said, releasing Tesla from his Pokeball. "I'm gonna ask you a few questions. Ok? Ok. As a precaution, I'll keep Tesla out here to shock you if you try to resist or go all smartass on me." He gestured towards the floor and nylon. "You might have not noticed yet, but the floor is pretty wet and slippery, thanks to my little buddy Totodile over there. He's also more than capable of taking down your evil little Torchic if it tries anything funny. Oh, and NO, I haven't forgotten what that accursed Pokemon did to my old outfit." he finished, with a small pout.

Putting his overcoat back on, Kishk sat on top of the rock he was previously hiding behind.

"Let's begin, shall we?" He paused and started thinking ahead of the conversation, preparing different scenarios in his mind. "Why are you here? Who's here with you? What happened to that lady at the entrance cave?"

And why are you so damn beautiful?, he averted his eyes and tried to focus on the mission.

"Oh, and why are your teammates here as well?" he added, attempting to weed out any smart-talking possibilities.

This might take a while...

Posted by: Fei Fei Nov 3 2010, 11:02 AM

Oscar glanced back at Jan as she hissed a whisper at him, distracted from his appreciative chick-watching. Diamond's tail flicked, and she turned her annoyed eyes onto the torchic for no particular reason other than that she could, and that Oscar's attention had been arrested and so her's had been as well.

The Magma's eyebrow raised, and his eyes flicked back to the red-head in the clearing before nodding to Jan. "Yeah, sounds like a plan. You sneak by, I get her number." He winked at her, and watched as Jan began to sneak around the bushes to get out of the woman's line of sight before he glanced back down at Diamond.

"Well, baby, looks like we've got ourselves a date." The cat-pokemon's mouth twisted up in amusement, and she stood up to her feet, stretching out her front legs before padding over to the edge of the bushes they'd been hiding in, the coin on her head twinkling as it hit the light.

"Remind me," Oscar said in an amused whisper, "to cover your head-coin for future 'stealth' missions, yeah babydoll?" The meowth made a chuckling noise in the back of her throat, and Oscar shook his head, straightening his suit (even though there hadn't been a thread out of place). A red-silk clad arm raised to offer Diamond the right of way. "After you."

Diamond's tail flicked a branch playfully as she stepped out of the bushes, glancing around the clearing before bounding ahead a step, looking back to wait for Oscar to join her. He did so not a moment later, fine leather shoes somehow clean after all that walking (it was believed by a select few among the Magma grunts that Oscar possessed the super-power of personal cleanliness).

"Good afternoon," he called pleasantly, his eyes scanning over the red-head's clothes - or, rather, uniform. Aqua, no doubt. Pity - he wasn't much a fan of Romeo and Juliet romances; they were far too much work. He came closer to her, but stopped at a 'safe' distance, which was to say, she'd probably need to pull a gun on him to be any sort of immediate threat - never let it be said that Oscar ever willingly put himself in harms way - his well being was far too precious for needless sacrifice. Diamond stopped at his heels, sitting on her haunches as her eyes followed the flitting pidgey in the air, her tongue licking at her lips hungrily.

"It seems you've spotted me and my darling meowth, so there really is no point in hiding any longer. I'd ask what such a beautiful young lady was doing out here all on her own, but then, I think I can see the reason - is that pidgey giving you trouble, perhaps?"

Posted by: Vincent Lance Nov 3 2010, 07:23 PM

Aerodactyl took the brunt of the Swift with no trouble. The ancient pokemon was rock type, to be sure, but it was one of the few with a naturally higher defense against special attacks, as well as having a type advantage against normal moves. Barely flinching, it shook the attack off like dust off of a ceiling fan. Vincent had to hand it to Buizel for its amazing feat; Aerodactyl was almost forty feet up, maybe higher, and it had bounded the distance up to get the attack in. However impressive it was, the final effort had been wasted, as the attack had amounted to nothing.

"Aerodactyl, Come down on it with Thunder Fang!"

The fossil swooped down from its aerial position and attempted to bite down on Buizel with lightning-infused teeth.

----------------

Lanette studied the young man trying so desperately to flirt his was out of whatever situation he presumed to be in. He wasn't doing anything wrong, though the suit was a little over the top, and maybe a quarry wasn't the greatest place to get a girl's number. Oh, and she was engaged.

....

Sliding her hands nonchalantly behind her back, Lanette wiggled at the engagement ring on her finger as she replied.

"Pidgey?" Looking in that direction, Ponyta had ceased chasing that which was not there. At that point all Lanette had cared about was that the blasted bird had ruined her hair. "I, uh....think it left. I had it under control anyway."

Realizing she could probably get away with crushing the boy's spirits, but too good natured to try, Lanette quickly snapped her hands back to her waist and shifted her weight from one leg to the other; dropping the ring from her one hand to her back pocket in the process. He was handsome, granted, and apparently rich. Probably used to getting his way. That gave her an idea. She leaned forward just a smidgen to give the kid a better 'perspective' of her body and changed her voice to a more musical tone.

"What was it you wanted, by the way? You look kinda lost out here, no offense, and I doubt you came all this way for me."

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Nov 3 2010, 08:14 PM

Daniel knew the swift wouldn't have done any real damage but it had served it's purpose. He watched as Aerodactyl hurtled after Jet, it's fangs sparking with electricity.

As it got closer, Daniel and Jet made their move.

"Jet, use Brick Break!"

Jet's paws glowed white and he shout out of the water and straight into a very startled looking Aerodactyl. Brick Break hit Aerodactyl in the middle of the chest but Jet didn't come off without a scratch. Jet's left arm had scraped along Aerodactyl's thunder fang causing some serious damage.

Jet dropped back into the water whilst Daniel tried to think of another way to surprise Vincent. Trouble was, he was fresh out of ideas.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Nov 5 2010, 05:17 AM

"Straight to the point today, are you not?" Jan replied distastefully, attempting to release her right hand with her left, but only getting both caught. These infernal strings! If I were in broad daylight, I could untangle this messy workmanship quite easily... And another reason for Jan to hate the dark. Ember narrowed her eyes at Kishk's Totodile, disliking that threat quite thoroughly. "And yes, maybe I have noticed this disgusting mess on the floor as well." She wasn't exactly a fan of water either, especially when it meant the liquid seeping into her shoes. Simply put, the Magma was in a bad mood.

"As for your little interrogation scene, which you seem to be enjoying quite so, I would like to inform you beforehand that you aren't CSI, and I have the right to refuse any questions that get too personal." Jan hated mentioning her past, and if Kishk was planning to play detective longer than she anticipated, then she's like it for him not to pry in too much. He did seems curious in that field.

"So, your first question inquires as to my motives for coming here?" Jan frowned, disliking the quarry in the first place, ever since she entered it. "If you had any common sense, you would know the reson. You are, after all, part of the Rebellion, and I don't think you're quite the type to take leisurely strolls in dark mining facilities, weaving webs in which to catch women whom you plan to interrogate. Are you?"

Rolling her eyes, she continued to the next question. He asked who was with her, and she didn't enjoy the thought of Oscar being ambushed by a little boy and his Totodile. That would ruin his outfit, and Jan wasn't planning on coming across Oscar's ego with a ruined outfit. And so, her reply was simple. "As to if I have anybody with me, no, I in fact don't. Mark and Randy were...put under questionable duties due to their incredible cowardice on the last mission. Other than those two dolts, I work alone." Lying was easy.

"The woman outside?" Again, Oscar and his ego could get involved, so she went with the half-truth. "Her hair was messed up. She was so preoccupied with her hair that she failed to notice me entering the quarry she was guarding." Jan tossed her own blond curls out of her eyes as she strained to see the translucent strings in such dim conditions. "And your last question? As I said, no one is with me."

"Chic," approved Ember, never averting her gaze from the Totodile at its trainer's feet.

"Is that all? It's not gentlemanly to leave a young lady tangled up in a web of one's own selfish desires, you know. Both literally and figuratively."

Posted by: Kishk Nov 5 2010, 07:54 AM

Kishk blinked. What the hell was CSI? Perhaps it was some sort of cop show? It probably was, but he wasn't much into watching TV. He spent most of his time drawing, training or gaming, so anything TV-related would leave him a bit out of place. Of course, this didn't mean he was misinformed about important matters. Every day a newspaper would be delivered at his dorm, courtesy of the Rebellion.

"Umm... I wasn't trying to be CSI?" he felt awkward attempting to talk about something he didn't know of. "I just wanted to know what was asked... sheesh." He rolled his eyes and got up, pulling a switchblade from his pocket.

"Back on topic... You avoided answering my first question directly, which probably means you're not exactly up-to-speed on the whole situation..." he stepped closer to her, trying to see the strings in the dark. "And for your information, taking leisurely strolls in dark mining caves is, in fact, very fun. That's how you find different kinds of Pokémon to catch or train with. As for the weaving webs, this wasn't supposed to catch a woman, or any human being, to be exact. It was supposed to tangle up her Ponyta..."

Kishk thought a little more. "Your stories seem to have lots of holes in them. If you weren't with anyone, that lady would've probably followed me here. Someone or something's keeping her busy outside, which means that either the Rebellion sent backup, which I highly doubt, or you have some friends along with you. So now basically all your answers mean nothing to me..."

Either way, she probably won't tell me the truth... I guess I can let her go. It's not very polite to leave people all tangled up and wet in some dark cave.

Kishk flipped the switchblade open and started cutting the strings, being careful not to accidentally cut Jan in the dark. Once he had finished he extended a hand out to her, offering to help her up.

"You're right. It's not polite to leave a young lady tangled up in a web. The only problem here is that it isn't selfishness, so that rules out your final statement."

Posted by: nuttyjigs Nov 7 2010, 04:58 AM

Interesting. Of course, amusing. Kishk seemed to see right through her, a master liar. Years of experience back from home. What could this mean? Were Jan's lying skills getting rusty, or was Kishk actually some sort of ace poker player? Two could play at that.

Shaking off the remaining strings around her wrists with disgust, Jan stated simply, "Well, believe what you want, but I told you what I knew. I just don't know whether you're completely clueless or some sort of wisdom guru anymore."

"Tor." Ember still seemed suspicious of Kishk's decision to release her trainer despite his doubts on her answers, thus the Torchic kept her beady eyes fixed on the Rebel threateningly. She wasn't afraid of some feisty little Totodile. If this was some sort of trap, Ember would definitely take action, against any type of Pokemon.

At the drop of the last strand, Jan muttered, "Thank you. Well, actually, that wasn't very fitting. After all, it was you who set this tangled mess in the first place. No matter."

Posted by: Kishk Nov 7 2010, 09:44 AM

"Wisdom guru sounds a bit weird... Let's just keep it at "kid who uses his head", ok? Also, as I had said before, the trap wasn't meant for you. Regardless of that, I could've just left you there to rot until someone decided to come along and release you." he said, returning Tesla, Totodile and his Pidgey (which had been hiding quietly behind the rock) to their respective Pokeballs. The part about leaving her to rot, though, was made of pure lies and he doubted that she'd actually believe him. "Now please excuse me. I have places to go."

Kishk turned and walked into another tunnel, heading in the direction of what seemed to be a battle. This could only mean Reeves had run into some trouble, and that trouble might quite possibly be another Aqua, judging by the woman who was standing guard outside the mine. Perhaps it was that Vincent guy again?

Looking farther into the tunnel, he noticed something he had not seen before: glowsticks. They seemed to make a path to... somewhere. Maybe Reeves had set these? It didn't really matter since Kishk would be walking around aimlessly without the glowstick path.

He didn't know if Jan was following him or not, but he decided that he'd better pick up the glowsticks, in case somebody tried to follow him. If they got lost on the way back... Well, that was another problem they'd have to deal with when the time came.

Somehow, I get the feeling Jan's gonna want some revenge for the whole interrogation thing...

Kishk sighed and walked on, picking up glowstick after glowstick.

Posted by: Fei Fei Nov 10 2010, 11:12 AM

Oscar smiled back at the girl, smirk full of confident swagger. He might have forgotten about his "mission" if it hadn't been for Diamond at his feet - though she too was playing up her own charms, her presence reminded him that sometimes Jack needed to work as much as he needed to play.

Pity.

Jan would probably skin him alive if he let this one get away, to follow after her into the cave - and if he might have believed that she didn't want him dead before, he could safely bet that she'd changer her mind on that one if he let her get caught. Not that he had any personal care for her well-being - he'd only met her a scant hour ago, after all - but she was "part of the Team", and he'd feel bad if he let a little girl into danger. It was easy to forget, especially with his typically self-absorbed and entitled attitude, that he was a good few years older than her. It would damage his pride as a man if he let a girl get hurt - even if she was underage.

"Well then," he grinned, "if you've got it covered, I can stop pretending that I came over to help you." Diamond's eyes rolled languidly up to look at her master, a princess at ease even when on a mission. She was used to her master's flirting, and had been amused early by his unwillingness to tempt the child-human-girl. Now, though, this was what she was used to. Her master was her brother and her friend, and she enjoyed watching the women-humans fawn over him, knowing that no matter what, she'd always be more important than any of them. She was perfection, after all. She unconsciously straightened her tail in pride.

"You see," he continued, "I am a bit lost. My dear Diamond here ran after a pidgey in the woods - I doubt it was the same that I saw giving you trouble - and I followed after her. Needless to say, I'm hardly where I expected to be." He looked about the clearing, then back at the girl, the corner of his lip lifting from a smile to a smirk. "Though if I always found such beautiful women standing alone in the forest, I might let her run off more often. If I look out of place, then I can only wonder what a girl as lovely as yourself is doing out here. Alone."

Posted by: Vincent Lance Nov 10 2010, 07:13 PM

Aerodactyl, more startled than hurt, curled into a protective ball and fell in response to the attack. It had landed cleanly on its chest but had only done mild damage. However, the rock-solid pokemon landed on top of the shrine to Kyogre, smashing it to pieces. Before his pokemon had collided into his location, Vincent had jumped clear of the mess, hands on his head as pieces of stone rained on his back from behind. One sharp piece managed to prick his fingers, drawing a few drops of bright red blood, but otherwise the trainer remained unharmed.

Standing up and dusting himself off, Vincent looked to see Aerodactyl start to take flight again and not get more than a few feet before it came back down. It seemed his pokemon was either restricted by the cavern or tired of flight; either way, it wasn't airborne at that moment. It stood, resolute, a few feet over Buizel.

"Supersonic again, Aerodactyl." A jet of sound emanated once more from the fossil's maw, shaking the ground ever so slightly around it.

-----------------

Lanette paused to think for a moment. The kid was suspicious that she was alone, and the fact that she was in uniform didn't help. He also didn't seem to notice she was trying to pass off as a whore. This was unfortunate; that had been her first approach in hopes that it would deter unnecessary questions.

"I'm actually not alone," she began. That stopped her, though, because she didn't want to say anything about Vincent. "I have my Ponyta. See?" Her pokemon trotted up next to her and whinnied cheerfully. Lanette stroked the fiery mane as she pressed on with her lie. "I'm out on a....secret mission. It's classified...Magma...information."

The boy was too well dressed and too conveniently placed to not be a faction member. He did, however, seem legitimately interested in her, so she played it up a bit more instead of trying to explain her presence. "My name's Lanette. Do you, uh, meet lots of girls in your adventures?"

Posted by: nuttyjigs Nov 16 2010, 04:24 AM

Jan stared after the boy, long and hard. Was he going after him? She would seem too attatched, and such a spacey boy might think she was making an attempt at something if she was so quick to follow. That, and an angry cry called her to turn.

A Mawile. The young Pokemon carried herself with poise, but also looked defiant, her unusually blue eyes vicious. Simply, she could be comparable to some young teenage girl who was dumped by her first date, but wanted to look like it didn't bother her at all. Jan was amused at the comparison. "Why, what a pleasant little Mawile. Hello, there."

"Wile," frowned the Pokemon. As if to release her pent-up anger, the Mawile let out a deafening shout, causing Ember to flinch and Jan to cover her ears. Apparently, it was an Astonish attack.

"Impolite little Pokemon, are we?" Despite her rude act, Jan found the Mawile quite an interesting Pokemon. She smirked. "I like that."

Mawile lunged forward for a Bite in response, but Ember got out of the way, scratching her in response. And so, the battle began.

((Not feeling up for it right now, sorry. @_@))

Posted by: Kishk Nov 28 2010, 06:02 PM

Kishk was walking in silence, following the glowing trail and picking up the glowsticks as he passed, when something caught his attention: a purple- and gray-ish form was hurtling towards him at an amazing speed, dodging the wooden support beams with ease. Sometimes, it even seemed to go through the beams, although it might have been the sheer speed of it playing tricks on Kishk's eyes. Either ways, it probably wasn't something good.

Pulling Growlithe's Pokéball off its place on the belt, Kishk readied himself for a battle. It was hard to tell what the figure was, but judging by the fact that it had a purple hue, it must be one of Kishk's worst nightmares: A ZUBAT! Kishk shuddered at the thought of facing the Pokémon whose only duty (or so it seemed) was to confuse his Pokémon and cause them to run around wildly, banging their heads against the walls and hurting their trainer (or, in Growlithe's case, making barbecue out of Kishk). Zubat truly was a Pokémon Kishk detested.

Freeing Growlithe from his Pokéball (and attempting to push away the memories of what happened the last time Growlithe got confused), Kishk watched as the Zubat rushed towards him. When it finally came to halt, Kishk was both relieved and worried. It wasn't a Zubat, but it wasn't exactly the best Pokémon to encounter while trying to get somewhere: It was a Shuppet.

The moment the Shuppet saw Growlithe, it headed straight for him, eyes glowing ominously. Their surroundings darkened as all the glowsticks were extinguished by whatever attack the Shuppet was using. And as Kishk's Growlithe began contorting in pain, eyes swimming in tears, he realized it was a Night Shade attack.

"Growlithe! Snap out of it! Use Ember!" he yelled, attempting to distract Growlithe from the pain.

Hang in there a little longer, Reeves...

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Nov 29 2010, 02:42 PM

Daniel could see that Aerodactyl was getting tired and probably couldn't last much longer. Aerodactyl had launched another supersonic attack that was now hurting Daniels ears rather than Jets.

"Jet, we need to shut this thing up! Send it a Sonicboom sandwich!" Daniel called. The Supersonic attack was beginning to hurt Daniels head.

Jet jumped out of the water and launched 3 separate Sonicbooms at Aerodactyls mouth, as they traveled through the air they formed into a row, one after the other.

"That'll shut him up and hopefully cause some damage.." Daniel thought.

Posted by: nuttyjigs Dec 23 2010, 05:15 AM

The Mawile was faster than Ember, so to speak, and was able to squeeze in a second Astonish before Ember was able to get back on her feet from the Scratch she pulled off. The sudden scream caused Ember to flinch, stumbling and landing on the ground.

"Don't let it get the better of you." despite the bad start to the battle, Jan was still considerably calm. After all, Ember had a type advantage in the situation, although the wild Pokemon was faster. "Attack it with Ember." Mawile moved in to attack further, but Ember was able to pick herself up and fire a stream of tiny flames towards the Pokemon, causing considerable damage. Mawile, however, was not ready to give up. No matter how many times Ember insisted on firing attacks at her, she would refuse to give in, still seeming frustrated over something neither Jan or Ember new about.

After a considerable amount of time, Jan grew frustrated herself. The Mawile kept picking herself up and running around when Jan finally got her down, leaving no opportunity for Jan to throw a Pokeball at it. The wild Pokemon was now panting hard from all the damage she had recieved, yet she pushed herself to run around and fight. Finally, she decided on one thing: "Kepp scratching, Ember. Don't stop."

Ember, also now damaged and frustrated, seemed a bit confused by the order, pausing for the briefest of moments before obliging. She trusted her trainer, after all, and endlessly pummeling the annoying Mawile seemed like a good stress reliever at the moment.

Mawile managed to thrust her paws to block the brunt of the blows in time, but with each Scratch, she was forced a step backwards by the intensity of the blow. And finally, she figured it out: She was now stuck between two boulders, Ember blocking one exit, a wall blocking the other.

"It's about time," smirked Jan, mirroring her Pokemon's triumphant expression and contrasting her target's dumbfounded one. She took an empty Pokeball from her pocket, clicking it to enlarge. "Next time you battle, Mawile, dear, take note of a strategy. Well, Mawile's not your name anymore. I think I prefer Serissa; don't you?"

Mawile, or Serissa, to Jan's decision, seemed utterly ticked off at the notion, but there was nothing she could do about it when the Pokeball flew her way, forcing her inside. She attempted to escape, but it was inevitable that she was already severely weakened, and the Pokeball's shaking eventually stopped.

Jan slowly trodded to the captured Mawile. She picked up the still Pokeball and whispered, "It's fine. I'll take good care of you," before stashing it with the others. She patted her faithful Torchic's head. "Good job back there, Ember."

The torchic chirped as her trainer stood up and started towards the direction Kishk ran off to. "Now, to chase down a certain pesky little boy..."

Posted by: Vincent Lance Dec 26 2010, 10:54 PM

Aerodactyl was unable to fight any longer, no doubt ready to faint. It caused what felt like a thunderous earthquake as it collapsed on the ground. The last assault on Buizel's part was causing it strain, and Vincent could tell it was done. Instinctively he reached for the Aerodactyl's pokeball, ready to return it and continue the fight with his next pokemon, but was halted by a quiet kzzz-BOOP! from his belt. Vincent's boss was talking, no doubt, though the radio's volume was muted almost completely.

The he remembered Lanette. His mission. The diamond compass in his left hand.

Instantly he knew it was time to leave. Vincent took the crystal and threw it straight down into the stone, shattering it into hundreds of shards. Looking up at Daniel, he smiled. "You broke that, if anyone asks. Oh, and I'm afraid I can't stay any longer. Goodbye, Daniel. Let's do this again sometime, shall we?" And, without another word, Aerodactyl sprang up and grabbed Vincent in its talons. The pair flew through the air all the way back to the quarry, where the giant fossil dropped its trainer and finally collapsed in exhaustion, unable to continue flying.

Vincent was worried he wouldn't be able to get back to base now, as Aerodactyl was out for the count. Normally a pokemon could fly even when ready to faint, but on top of being exhausted, his pokemon was badly beaten. Rocks were only so tough....

---------------

Lanette heard a loud noise that sounded like an avalanche, and wheeled around to see what had happened in time to see her fiancé dusting himself off. Hastily she turned back to a confused Oscar and smiled sweetly. "I, uh....I need to go. That's my ride, you see. Let's meet again sometime, for dinner or something." Then, making a 'yeah right' expression as she rotated, Lanette ran to where Vincent stood and embraced him quickly. "What happened?"

"I'm fine, I'll explain later. You got any potions?"

"Right here. Why?"

"I need a few."

"How many?"

"All of them."

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Jan 3 2011, 03:33 PM

"Well that was anti-climactic... I would've expected him to keep fighting until either Jet or Aerodactyl had fainted.." Daniel said as he watched Vincent fly away.

He turned to Jet who was looking just as confused as he was. "Nice work. You almost had it." Daniel returned Jet to his pokeball before going to examine the shards of the crystal.

"Hmm... Interesting... I could probably do something interesting with these shards." He pulled a small bag from his back pocket and placed as many shards as he could find in the bag before heading back the way he came.

Posted by: ShinyTyphlosion Jan 4 2011, 06:23 PM

"Sorry." Paul said to the Pokemon while quickly backing up. The Electrike shot a bolt of electricity at him, it wasn't far off, but it looked powerful. "Is that a warning or bad aim?" He asked himself right before getting hit by the second bolt. "Urg... Fine, go Mareep!" He said as he pulled the Pokeball from his pocket and pressed the button.

"Use Thundershock!" The Mareep started surging with electricity before firing off a large bolt that was easily dodged with a Quick Attack. "Tackle!" He yelled. The Electrike managed to zoom around the Mareep as it charged towards it and hit it from behind.

"It's to fast... I've got to find out a way to slow it down..." He thought to himself. "Thunderwave!" The Mareep fired off a wave of static that the Electrike jumped over to land another Quick attack. "This is impossible! Wait, doesn't Mareep learn another move that slows Pokemon down? It's like Cotton something..."

While Paul was talking to himself, a bolt hit his Mareep. "Oh, woops... Use Cotton Swabs!" Paul said unsure of the actual name of the attack. The Mareep just looked back at him with a questionable face. "Cotton... Spore?" Paul asked it. Then the Mareep looked back at the Electrike and fired of cotton balls in all directions which slowly floated around the battlefield and attached to the Electrike when they came in contact with it slowing it down quite a bit.

"Yeah! Now finish it off with--" Paul was cut off when something zoomed by hitting his Mareep knocking it over. Paul saw another Pokemon that looked a bit like Electrike. "Guess your it's parent huh?" The Manactric just looked over at Paul with an angry face before hitting the Mareep with a Thunderbolt.

Mareep slowly got back up looking quite weak. "Come on Mareep, you've got to win this somehow!" Just then, Mareep turned a bright white and Paul was forced to look away. When he looked back, Mareep wasn't there anymore, but a pink sheep Pokemon. Paul wondering what it what had happened looked at it. "Is that you Mareep?" Paul asked it which it responded with a nod.

"Alright, don't know what happened, but hopefully you still know your moves. Use Charge!" The Pokemon began storing electricity as the Manactric and Electrike charged towards it. "Now use Thundershock, and give it everything you have!" The Pokemon unleashed the stored energy with a large burst launching it in all directions doing major damage to both the Pokemon, and Paul. The two Pokemon quickly backed off and left while Paul fell to the ground, electricity still running through him.

"Well, that was powerful. What was that?" Paul wondered. "Guess I'll have to get used to your more powerful shocks now, huh? Thanks Mareep." Paul said still having no idea what happened or what the new Pokemon was called.

Paul laid back his head landing on something round and hard. He quickly got back up hoping it wasn't a Geodude, and spun around. It was a Pokeball. it was Eevee's Pokeball. Paul picked up the Pokeball and let the Pokemon out to make sure it was Eevee. "There you are!" Paul said after he saw the Eevee appear in a white flash. I was worried about you. Now, maybe we can find Cyndaquil."

Paul looked around to see the Ralts still watching him intently. "Wait, do you want to be my Pokemon?" He asked it. It nodded. "Well OK, dunno why after you know I just lost two of my Pokemon." Paul took out a Pokeball and pressed it against the Ralts. The ball shook a few times then beeped. "Well, guess you guys have a new friend. Now we just need to find Cyndaquil and everything will be fine." It was then that he noticed that he cared more about his Pokemon than about finding his parrents. Suddenly he wasn't sure what to do next.

Posted by: Kishk Jan 6 2011, 03:26 PM

Growlithe was still dazed from the Night Shade, causing him to miss the Ember and hit one of the wooden beams holding up part of the tunnel. As the fire spread throughout the beam, several cracks and groans emitted from the entire structure. Kishk soon realized that if he didn't stop that fire soon, something really bad was going to happen.

He started to pull Totodile's Pokeball off its place in the belt, when the Shuppet turned its attention to him. While Growlithe was still recovering, pawing at its head, the Shuppet attacked Kishk with Night Shade. He barely had enough time to release Totodile before everything except him and the Shuppet went completely dark, and a sharp pain began building inside his head. It reached an almost intolerable level in just a matter of seconds when it suddenly stopped. Kishk fell to the floor, clutching his head and trying to see what had made the Shuppet stop attacking him.

Looking ahead, he saw that the Shuppet was pinned to one of the cave's walls by a continuous Water Gun attack from his Totodile. When the Totodile stopped for a breath of air, a continuous burst of Ember coming from the now-recovered Growlithe kept the Shuppet pinned. Seeing a chance to end this battle, Kishk fumbled with the zipper on his backpack until it opened. Taking one of the empty Pokeballs out, he clumsily threw it at the Shuppet, who was forced inside it. The button on it glowed red as the Pokeball rolled around feebly, until it finally came to a halt in front of Kishk.

"Ow... You're pretty powerful," he paused and thought for a while, rubbing his head. "Vitória." he finished, patting the Pokeball and placing it on his belt. Looking up, he noticed that the beams were now smoking slightly and giving off a bad smell, instead of being on fire. "I guess you took care of the fire, eh Totodile?"

"To-dile!" replied the Pokemon, hugging his trainer's leg.

"Growlithe, you should get some rest. You've had enough action for today." The Growlithe looked delighted as it was sent back into its Pokeball. "So... I guess we should get out of here before this section collapses." The smoking beams seemed to be barely holding up the tunnel.

Before he could get up, though, he heard hurrying footsteps. Soon enough, Reeves came into view, illuminated by the green glow emitting from the glowsticks that remained farther ahead into the tunnel system. Kishk hoped that his presence meant that whatever trouble he had run into ahead was now gone. But then again, not every threat behind them was gone...

This time I'll finish our battle, and I WILL win!

Posted by: Vincent Lance Jan 9 2011, 03:16 PM

-------Later that day-------

"WHAT!?"

"I said the rebels smashed the tablet in the cavern. There was nothing else to recover after that."

"I do hope you know that means you've failed another mission, right?" Vincent's boss retorted.

"Technically, I did as instructed: I brought back everything. Everything, being nothing."

"Get out of my office!" Then, sitting in his chair, the Administrator picked up the phone and began dialing a number. He made the hand motion for Vincent to vacate, so he did. Lanette was waiting in the lobby for him.

"How's Aerodactyl?" Vincent asked.

"Fine, healing slowly. Rocks don't bruise easily, so they don't unbruise easily. What about you?"

"Me? I'm fine. Boss classified the mission as a failure, not that it matters."

"'cause we're leaving."

"Right." Vincent took her hand and led her back to the room. When he got there, he found all of his pokemon were playing quietly, waiting for his return. They were so young; they deserved so much better than being thugs for a criminal. And that was what he was; Vincent was being a crook, a thief. It made him sick to think about it, but Lanette was a small comfort. "Everyone, start packing. We leave tomorrow."

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Jan 9 2011, 06:34 PM

Soon enough Daniel reached part of the cavern where there was the most light. Turned out that Kishk had been picking up the glowsticks so that nobody would follow. Daniel looked down and saw Kishk sitting on the floor of the cave with a pokeball in his hand and his Totodile doing a little dance in front of him.

"You alright there?" Daniel asked.

"Hmm? Yeah fine." came the reply.

It was obvious that Kishk was deeply engrossed in the pokeball in his hand. Daniel guessed that he must have caught a pokemon whilst he made his way through the cavern.

Daniel waked a bit closer to give Kishk a hand up and was a little surprised by Kishk suddenly jumping up and getting extremely close to him.

"Guess what..." Kishk said as he slowly moved his head forward.

Daniel was now beginning to get a little creeped out, the smile that appeared on Kishks face being one of the creepiest he'd seen in a while.

"What?" Daniel replied.

"I caught a Ghost type" Came the almost whispered reply.

Daniel, now being exceptionally creeped out pushed Kishk away from him using his face as the thing to push on. Kishk then began imitating his Totodile with a strange little Jig.

Daniel shook his head, it was one thing for a pokemon to imitate it's trainer but as for the other way around? It just made Kishk look like he belonged in a mental institution.

"Alright crazies, we've got to get out of here. We have a report to deliver." Daniel said. A few seconds later, Kishk had calmed down and they began to walk through the cavern until they came to a crossroads.

"Uh, do you remember which way we came from?" Daniel asked.

"Uh... Nope. I think we're just gonna have to guess and hope we come out at the right spot." Came the reply.

Daniel shrugged and took the path to his left, Kishk following close behind. Eventually they began to see light and each step they took made the light get gradually bigger and bigger until they reached the mouth of the cave. Daniel took a quick look around and noticed the car was parked just a short distance away. He realised they must have taken a different exit because they had to climb a hill before.

They walked to the car and shoved their bags into the boot before getting in.

"You better put the 4 point harness on, this is gonna be a rather short drive." Daniel said to Kishk.

Kishk put the harness on and held Totodile tightly in his lap as Daniel started the engine, reversed and took off at amazing speed.

"I tell you what, how about giving that Totodile of yours a nickname?" he suggested.

"Uh, like what?" came the reply.

"How about Jig? Considering he's always dancing around?" Daniel replied.

"Sounds good to me. Jig it is then." Kishk replied happily.

Soon, they had reached the base. Daniel parked the car round the back and they walked into the base. Daniel then went and had a quick chat with his CO about what happened in the cave.

"So do you have any idea what Aqua was looking for in there?" his CO asked.

"Not a clue. The Aqua that I fought smashed some sort of crystal there but I couldn't see where the pieces were because of the reflections in the water." Daniel lied.

"Alright. Good Job you two. You can have a few days off if you want." The Co turned around and walked into his office whilst Daniel walked back to Kishk and told him the good news.

"Oh that's excellent." Kishk said. he had a good long stretch before asking Daniel a question.

"Hey, you want to come and check out The Bungalow with me? I heard it's pretty sweet."

"Yeah, sure. What better way to relax than at a resort like that?" Daniel replied.