[X] My Assistant

[Shiny Ninetales]

Xiao was quite relieved when Matthew got up a few minutes after Nikado gave him some cheri berries to rid the paralysis effect of stun spore. Now with one problem taken care of, Xiao looked around and counted off who was still around. That was when she noticed the certain trainer that she had a battle between her Turtwig and his Charmander.

Oh there was the Charmander, running about and attacking everything it saw.

There was not much for Xiao to do, since there was not much she could do, as she stood there confounded by the situation at hand. Being a novice Pokémon breeder and a terrible fighter did not help in solving the problem of the RAGING Charmander. Well at least Matthew tried to take care of the raging Charmander as he yelled for someone to help David.

“Ah… okay!” Xiao simply replied as called her Pokémon to follow her to where David was. Once there she simply ordered Oni to block the Charmander’s route to them. It would be bad if the raging Charmander attacked them and set the tree on fire.

“So… what should we do? I’m not sure how to order Oni to lift up the tree… I might smash David…”

[Webbyness]

Zeke watched in amazement as David's Charmander began thrashing around and attacking, unsure of what to do. Watching Matt spring into action (surprisingly, based on his fall and injury), Zeke stood back to let him take charge. When given the order to help, Zeke was flustered; how on earth would he help get the tree off? Croagunk was barely strong enough, and Aipom wouldn't be much help, either. Xiao was obviously feeling the same, being hesitant over what to do. Her Onix would obviously be a good choice to lift it, but it would be dangerous; one slip would be enough to crush the poor trainer. Knocking it away would be equally dangerous, as it would carry David's body with it. The only choice would be to combine both... lifting and knocking.
"Would that work?", thought Zeke, with a solemn look on his face. "I'm pretty sure we could try..."

Shaking slightly, and with a lump in his throat, Zeke stepped forward uneasily to put his idea forward.
"Hey, Xiao... how about we lift it slightly and knock it past him? Croagunk would be able to lift it up... Aipom could help. Maybe get Lulu or Twiggler to knock it away? That would give us chance to drag David out from under it..."
Zeke was quite amazed he remembered the name of Xiao's Pokémon, feeling thoroughly impressed. He quickly snapped from his current thoughts, turning his attention back to David's trouble.
"... We should hurry though, I'm not sure how long Charmander will keep this up..."

[tiakall]

Nikado's examination of David was interrupted by the Charmander going absolutely bonkers, knocking Nikado to the ground. Toneri hissed at the attacking pokemon, ready to counterattack, but the Ranger was already getting to his feet, pulling out his baton again. "I got it, Toneri, cool down."

The Torchic huffed, giving a statement of his thoughts on Charmanders in general and that one in particular. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the top whirling toward the Charmander. "Hey, calm down," he called as he sent the top around the small pokemon. "We're here to help, okay? We're going to help, but if you don't calm down, he could get hurt worse, okay?"

[DJSanders]

"We're here to help, okay? We're going to help, but if you don't calm down, he could get hurt worse, okay?" Said the voice in Charmanders head. Wa..? Who's there? Charmander looked around for a moment and hesitated. At that moment the Poliwag came up from behind and knocked Charmander out with a watergun to the head. As he fell he saw pokemon lifting the tree and helping David. With that Charmander passed out.

[Shiny Ninetales]

"Sure... that seems a good plan, you guys know what to do," Xiao simply replied with a smile as she turned to look at Lulu and Twiggler. With a nod, both of them acknowledge the plan that Zeke had and got ready to push the tree away once Crogunk and Aipom lifted the tree off the ground. It was rather a simple and easy plan to perform and within a few minutes the tree was off of David. With the tree off and Charmander out cold, it was pretty obvious that the only thing left to do was to rest up for a bit.

"Gah... today is so troublesome... I want to take a quick nap," Xiao yawned before she sat down on top of Twiggler.

This post has been edited by PedoTonberry: Apr 27 2009, 02:03 AM

[Troy Bolton]

"And that's damned right." The Poliwag proceeded to jump up and down on the Charmander, twirling as it did its little victory dance. Obviously, Teresa had not been strict about training regimens. Still, Matt chilled.

There was nothing pressing for him to do, now. Besides, of course, figure out what the hell to do with Danved. They could bind him to a stretcher and put him on Skarmory, leave him to die, camp out and wait for a recovery, among other things.

"Right. So, uh, what are we gonna do? We could press on- it's not long till the cave, and Arasam is just on the other side, or head back to the nearest town. I think I have a map here..." He searched through his pack.

He did not have a map.

They were horribly, horribly lost.

But all was not lost, he quickly remembered. His PokeGear had a map. Furoh Map -> Arasam Mountains. NO DATA AVAILABLE, came the block letter reply.

"Javier!" shouted he into the PokeGear.

"What, Matt?" The manservant was not in the best of moods.

"I need the maps for the Arasam mountains. It's all undefined."

Some typing from the other end.

"I'll get 'em to you. It'll take a while for the satellites to align, though, so if you already knew where you were going, you should be on your way."

End transmission.

Well, I guess we could always split up, gang...

[Webbyness]

Upon removing the tree from David, Zeke rushed over to thank Croagunk and Aipom for their hard work. Aipom seemed incredibly pleased with herself, and Croagunk acted like normal; bouncing around and laughing heartily in response. Zeke's concentration was broken by Matt asking an open question, about their next destination. David needed care, and it wouldn't hurt to get Croagunk checked over at a Pokémon Center. Before he had time to finish thinking, Matt had begun talking to someone through his Pokégear, about maps to Arasam. It seemed like it would take a while before they had any chance of getting to Arasam, which meant Zeke's contest would have to wait.
"So, uhm... what's the plan? We need to go somewhere... there could be a Pokémon Center around here, I know in Johto they have Pokémon Centers in rural areas, so it might be a good idea to look for one... maybe using Skarmory?"

[tiakall]

Nikado gave the joyous Poliwag a look. It wasn't necessary to knock the poor worried Charmander out cold, but it was only acting on its instincts. Putting his Styler away with a soft sigh, he picked up the fire pokemon, setting it near its trainer. "That's a good idea. It didn't look like he broke his back or anything, but his side seemed tender, so he might have broken a few ribs. All we can do for that out here, really, is bind up his chest some." He pulled some bandages out from his pack before turning to the Skarmory, who looked ready to playfully headbutt his shoulder again.

"Well, pal, how about it? Think you can help us?" The Skarmory cocked its head curiously. "We're looking for a place with more people, outside your territory. A big building, with one of those on top." He pointed to one of the trainer's pokeballs. It took a few more repetitions before the bird seemed to understand, taking off into the sky with a flurry of flapping wings.

Sitting back down next to the Charmander, he began looking for something that might help. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he didn't have a revive, not since the incident with the Wailmer. "Matt, wasn't it? You want something for that ankle? Got plenty of bandages," he laughed.

[Shiny Ninetales]

As Matthew shouted at his Pokégear, Xiao silently laughed at him because it was quite silly to see someone yell at a cell phone-like tool. But the little girl was a bit jealous that he could have such a luxury, her parents did not have enough money to give her one of those useful electronic Pokémon tools.

As Xiao quietly sat on top of Twiggler, she thought up an idea that would help carrying David a lot easier. Make a nest out of the branches and leaves off the fallen tree and then bind it on top of Oni. It was a rather simple plan that made use of Xiao’s experience in her family’s daycare because a nice nest always made a good place for Pokémon to lay their eggs and rest.

“Hey I could weave a nest with the tree’s branches and leaves and then use the nest to carry David by bounding it on top of Oni,” Xiao suggested as she jumped off of Twiggler. She then quickly made her way to the fallen tree and David. When she reached the tree, “it’ll take only a few minutes to make. And it’ll be a suitable way for David to be carried on. Come on Twiggler, grab the branches that I need.”

Within a few minutes, Xiao finished weaving a net-like skeleton and began to place the branches and leaves on it to make the nest. As the nest was almost completed, Xiao called over Oni and began to tie the woven nest to the back of large rock snake.

“Okay Oni, I’ll cook you some excellent sour tasting poffins when we reach the Pokémon Center, until then can you carry this nest and David on your back?” Xiao asked the large rock snake and he nodded his head. Xiao knew that the only way to make her impish Pokémon obey her by offering him a lot of food.

“Now to just carry David on top of Oni… I guess you guys can do it because I’m way too small to carry him. He he,” Xiao happily chirped at her work before to her spot on the back of Twiggler.

This post has been edited by PedoTonberry: May 8 2009, 03:29 PM

[Troy Bolton]

Matt, who was balancing on Skarmory, had to quickly hop over to a tree for support. Croagunk presented himself as a good balance, and the trainer's hand was greeted with flaky, dry skin. He suppressed a shudder, and let himself slide to the ground. With Croagunk's not so gentle assistance, his sneaker slid off, revealing a grainy looking sock and a- yep, swollen- ankle. Gingerly, he went to straighten his toes. Nothing worse than crooked toes. Matt frowned, scrunching his face as he made his toes curl. At least they were okay.

"Yeah, a bandage would be just peachy. And maybe it'd be best to keep Charming over there knocked out, so he doesn't go berserk on us again. If you take one of his Pokeballs, we can return it, get it outta the way." There was an amiable silence for a while, only broken when Xiao came up with a novel stretcher.

"Excellent thinking, Xiao! I should've thought of that. You're a breeder, eh? Or, your parents are, I guess. You might wanna make it a bit more rigid, so Danny boy doesn't slip out."

He gave a deep sigh.

"I can't help but think I'm not a bit responsible for this whole mess, though. At least Zeke's portion. I apologize deeply." He felt bad for himself for...maybe 20 seconds, then he was back to normal.

"Anyway! Anybody see that Skarmory, yet?"

[tiakall]

"Give him a bit," Nikado reassured. "He's having to look outside his normal territory; if there'd been one nearby he'd know about it. And a Skarmory's territory tends to be pretty large. And don't blame yourself, Skarmory are really territorial. Unless you've been out here before and knew it was here, there's no way to know ahead of time. Anyway, here you are," he said, producing the bandage. "Want some help with that?"

Toneri plopped himself down next to the unconscious Charmander, fluffing his feathers fiercely, as if stationing himself as a guard. "Don't worry about the Charmander," the Ranger added. "If he wakes up in a bad mood, I'll handle him. Make sure his tail stays okay, all right, Toneri?"

[Webbyness]

Zeke was amazed by Nikado's knowledge; he himself would never have known a Skarmory had a large territory, and Nikado was incredibly resourceful. They must be the perks of being a Pokémon Ranger, and it sounded like an impressive career choice. Zeke was pretty amazed, and found himself with a great sense of respect for him. Since Skarmory would still be a while before getting back, Zeke decided to ease himself to the ground, still holding Croagunk close to his chest, making sure he would still be OK. He could still take a turn for the worse, with such a beating. As he became comfortable, Zeke's hand brushed against Croagunk's skin and it seemed to be very dry; drier than usual.
"I really hope there's a lake of some kind near here... Croagunk's skin feels really bad... the last time it got this bad I needed to bathe him in water for a while... nothing else seemed to help..."

Aipom leapt onto Zeke's shoulder to snap him out of thought, causing him to tune into the current conversation. All that had been said... was basically protecting against the Charmander. Zeke doubted it would attack again, since David had been freed; there wouldn't be a need for it to attack. Still, it was a good precaution nonetheless.
"I hope Skarmory gets back soon... otherwise we'll be here a while..."

[Shiny Ninetales]

“He he, I’m glad to be of help. I hadn’t really done much up till now. Glad to be of use. He he…” Xiao chirped when Matthew praised her for her good work; she loved being appreciated by others and it was one simple way to get on her good side. Being on her good side is important since being on her bad side usually quite hazardous. Xiao was not someone that could be easily reasoned with.

“Hm… I guess I could strengthen up the nest and probably a good idea, too. Since we don’t know when we’ll reach the Pokèmon Center. It’ll be quite troublesome if the nest unraveled midway…” Xiao simply muttered to herself as she quickly made her way back to Oni and the nest. Without much effort, Xiao made a few quick adjustments on the nest and added a lot more branches to the side to reinforce the nest. It would take a very powerful gust of wind to knock this nest around, especially with the deadweight on top of it. As she worked on it, Xiao heard the boys talk about the Skarmory that had left a few moments ago to find the Pokèmon Center and decided that she could help for looking for it in the sky.

“Hey Lulu, go on top of Oni’s head and look for the steel bird. It shouldn’t be that hard to notice it and becareful when you’re up there,” Xiao asked Lulu as she continued to reinforce the nest for good measure. Xiao decided it would be best to continue to work on it until Skarmory came since there was no harm on making an already strong nest sturdier. A short float later, Lulu was on top of Oni’s head looking for any signs of the large steel bird. It was a matter of minutes for Lulu to notice something in a distance.

“Rio! Riolu!” Lulu quickly chirped as she pointed towards the sky and what she saw.

“Huh? You see something, Lulu?”

[tiakall]

With a whoosh of smooth steel feathers, the Skarmory dove for the group, landing neatly near Nikado. It then began squawking at him, flapping its wings. Nikado listened for a bit, nodding his head as Toneri chimed in with a few chirps of his own.

He then turned to the members of the group that were conscious. "She says there's no such buildings out here--Pokemon centers, that is--but there is some sort of human building further up that way and it's fairly large." He pointed the proper direction. "She isn't really sure what it is, it's not in her territory so she didn't investigate too closely. Shall we try there?"

[Webbyness]

As Skarmory came in to land, Zeke lifted Croagunk rather awkwardly and proceeded to move from his seated position to a kneeling position, and finally to his feet. He didn't have enough hands to dust himself off, so left the dirt on his behind. He listened to Nikado closely, taking in each word.
"So, there's some kind of building out of this Skarmory's territory...? Well, it... sounds kinda fishy. I mean, it could be a log cabin, but it could be anything, really..."
Zeke placed Croagunk on the floor, dusted himself and calmly approached the steel bird, stroking its shiny surface with his hand, mentally remarking how amazing Skarmory were as a species. He took a small moment to deliberate, carefully choosing their options.
"Well, I guess we could check it out... we have nothing to lose, and it's better than laying around here for hours, right? Thanks for the help, Skarmory." said Zeke, still stroking the metal bird's smooth and flawless surface.

[Troy Bolton]

"Well, then. It's better than nothing, and night's coming quick. Let's go!" After applying the bandages Nikado gave him, Matt bade Croagunk to get him a large stick. The frog hopped off, returning with his token grin and several possible sticks. He chose the basswood, after sampling a wide variety of honeysuckle from a shrub. Rummaging through his pack, he pulled out his multi-tool. An amazing buy, this little Swiss Army Knife had earned its keep several times over.

Matt began from the top, slowly peeling off the offshoots of the main stick. Croagunk would pile this detritus neatly. Once finished that, he began ever-so-carefully peeling the bark off of the thicker top portion of the stick till it burned white. Then, he took some handy dandy antiseptic paste and lightly applied it to the exposed wood. There, a walking stick. Carefully, man and wood stood up, testing one another. Both passed.

"Yeah, that really is an amazing Pokemon..." Meanwhile, a little part of him had remembered what the dumb bird had done, and that part solidified itself as a hand slowly fishing into a bag and closing on something hard and circular.

"Yeah, we should get going...Ultra Ball of Vengeance, go!" The ball curved in a graceful arc, landing plum on the steel bird's head. Zeke was forced to pinwheel his hands frantically as the ball shook...once...twice...and three times.

"Son of a gun. Can't believe that worked." For a moment, all stared at the ball. Then Matt hobbled over and picked it up. "I caught a Skarmory!"

"Well, then. Let's go!"

~`~`~`~`

The hike was scotfree, though Matt probably got a dirty look or two from the Ranger for the underhanded capture. Well, whatever floats his boat. Matt's boat was held aloft by giant steel birds that could use Stun Spore.

They came upon a large structure, made of logs. It seemed cozy, and better yet, there was light in the windows. A half hidden sign proclaimed: "..lcome to the Ove...lok Inn!"

Matt was first, gathering up his best 'rich boy' look. A matronly woman appeared, wearing a flowery printed apron and rather conservative clothing. She was short and stout, but her eyes were crinkled with smile lines. Nervously, he dusted some dirt and grime from his shoulders.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but me and my companions need a place to stay...I can pay, of course..."

"No, no, I won't have it!" said she brusequly. Hopes dying, Matt tried a different approach.

"My companion's been badly injured, he really needs a bed..."

"I meant I won't accept any money! Come in, come in, and welcome to the Overlook Inn!" It was a cozy place, fireplace, overstuffed furniture, and what's better-

"Food," groaned Matt, as he stumbled into a chair. He didn't even notice the pun on the name.

"Oh, please, help yourself! I was just about to get the other guests!"

A huge spread of almost everything imaginable. How they had gotten Moomoo Milk and steamed Shellder all the way in nowhere was beyond him, but he wasn't about to complain.

Suddenly, it came to him.

"Croagunk, I will give you a name, and it shall be Frogger."

The frog couldn't be more chuffed.

(Level 13 Skarmory caught)

[Webbyness]

Zeke's eyes lit up in joy as he noticed the spread on the nearby table. An inn, of all buildings! He was more than pleased; he was ecstatic. Travelling for so long without rest was hard for a person, so it was amazing to have such luxurious food available and a place to stay. If it wasn't for the amazement of the situation, Zeke would have thanked the old lady before dashing in. He ran to a nearby chair and pulled some kind of steak onto his plate before cutting away at it and placing many forkfuls in his mouth. As he began to speak, pieces of food sprayed from his mouth and onto the plate.
"Man, this food is good! Here, try some guys!"

Zeke began shovelling more food while Aipom and Croagunk watched him in amazement. They obviously hadn't realised that Zeke was that hungry; even his faithful partner had seen him eat this violently. He stroked his noisy stomach as the last mouthful went down, followed by a cold glass of Moomoo milk; the taste that Zeke had longed for since leaving Johto, and taking his last mouthful in Olivine City before stepping on the ferry. Zeke wiped his mouth as his Pokémon looked on, still bewildered. He giggled slightly before turning back to the group to speak.

"So, uh, how long should we stay? I could get used to this... but I know we shouldn't stay long..."
Zeke sounded slightly upset at the end of that sentence, but he knew he would experience these comforts again, but it would be a while before he would reach Arasam, which would be where this food would be next.

[Shiny Ninetales]

There wasn’t much for Xiao to do, other than to make sure David did not fall off the nest on Oni, as the Skarmory flew back to the group and then got by Matthew. After that it was decided to hike towards the building that the Skarmory had found out, which ended up being an inn with a shabby looking sign. It was a rather nice looking place because of the nature-like feelings the logs gave and the nice plume of smoke came from the chimney that gave it a nice homely feel.

Once they were at the inn, Xiao immediately went to take the nest off Oni’s back and then she gently dropped David to the ground with the help of Twiggler. After that, Xiao reached into her bag and took out a large bag of Sour Poffins for Oni to eat and Spicy Poffins for Twiggler. With David on the ground, Xiao simply followed everyone into the inn and found a nice seat after grabbing a nice pile of meat.

“Well I say we should just rest for the night and leave tomorrow after breakfast,” Xiao suggested as she began to dig into her meal.

[Webbyness]

Zeke took a moment to think of what to do; it was pretty late in the day, but there was still quite a lot of time before he would get ready to sleep. He had plenty of time to do something, but he couldn't set his mind on something. He held his chin in thought, and leant back on his chair ever so slightly. His deep moment of concentration pulled his mind away from his chair, and he began to lean back, further and further; before he realised it, he began to fall backwards from his chair. Croagunk leapt forward and stopped the chair using his right arm, and forced Zeke up to a seated position once again. Zeke turned back to thank Croagunk, but found himself thinking again before speaking, looking at Croagunk with an open mouth.
"His skin... it's still dry..."

Zeke leapt from his chair, and bounded out the door with his Pokémon close behind him, calling out to Matt and Xiao at the top of his lungs while quickly fading from sight.
"I'll be back, I need to find some kind of lake for Croagunk!"

Zeke continued running, turning his head in several directions to find some kind of clearing in the dense rows of trees, looking for any sign of a body of water. Croagunk's movement was very sluggish, due to being slightly tired and having tight and flaky skin. He obviously showed some degree of discomfort, but there was no wince of pain, no scream of despair. Zeke knew that Croagunk's skin wouldn't get to the point of pain, but the discomfort was obvious. Zeke stopped for a moment to allow Croagunk to catch up, and as he tilted his head sideways, he noticed a break in the trees just ahead. He took slow baby steps towards the clearing, and screamed in delight as water came into view.
"Hey, Croagunk! I found water!"

((Just wanted a chance to set up Zeke's catch before I forget.))

EDIT: No activity, so I thought I'd add to it.

Zeke jumped in joy towards the water, gazing at the perfect blue surface. It was a small lake, and it seemed almost untouched. There was no sign of disturbance of the area, which meant this was perfect for Zeke to use. He noisely called Croagunk over, who slowly limped to the pool of water. He stopped at the surface, and looked down on it, croaking loudly.
"Go on, Croagunk. It'll be good for you."

Croagunk nodded weakly before slipping his body into the water, resting his arms and his head back on the muddy ground on which Zeke was stood. Pleased that Croagunk was able to hydrate his skin now, Zeke decided to relax also. He carefully removed his shoes and socks before thrusting his feet into the water, which attracted a glare from Croagunk. Zeke laughed it off, before turning his attention to Aipom, who was having trouble with the water. She began to tap the surface, and quickly pulled her hand away from the cold lake surface, feeling quite scared.
"Aipom, it's water. Don't be scared" called Zeke, hoping her timid nature would soon lessen; Aipom was becoming more and more fearful of sounds around her, it seemed.

Aipom nodded hesitantly at Zeke, before pulling her left foot forward toward the water, and placed it on the surface. She let out a scream through clenched teeth, before calmly looking at the water. She deduced there was no danger, as Zeke tried to show her, and a wave of relief spread over her. As she proceeded to bring the foot through the water, Aipom was blasted by a wave of water which was aimed at her face. She began screaming, even as the water died down. Zeke followed the path of the jet of water, and saw that it was coming from a blue fish, which was presumably a Pokémon of some kind. Zeke carefully studied its appearance; it was made of two shades of blue, with pink in places along the body. It had tailfins which looked strangely like butterfly wings; was it a Finneon? He didn't know for certain what it was, but Zeke wanted it. He stood up and commanded Aipom into battle.

"Aipom, use Tail Whip on that Pokémon!" cried Zeke. Aipom did as she was instructed by nervously leaping towards the water, and smacking the fish with her tail. Having no surface to stand on, Aipom fell backwards into the water, leaving the Pokémon to follow up by smacking the purple monkey with it's two fins. Aipom was pushed back in the water, leaving the fish to charge towards Aipom once again. Zeke needed a plan, otherwise Aipom would be in trouble. He realised not long before Finneon neared the monkey that she had an advantage; her extra tail!

"Aipom, block the attack with your hands, and then use Tail Whip!"
Without time for thought, Aipom waited for Finneon to jump and launch forward with its tails. Aipom forced her arms up, blocking the fins, and brought her tail up forcefully, making Finneon jump several feet into the air.

"Aipom, Scratch!"
Aipom smacked her tail on the water to cushion her own fall before launching weakly towards Finneon, and scraped at the fish's body using her two hands. Finneon crashed into the water while Aipom managed to land somewhat easily, leaving Zeke to toss a Pokéball at the fish Pokémon. The ball enveloped the fish in a flash of light, and began to wobble awkwardly in the water. One, two, three... and the ball stopped moving. Zeke began to cheer loudly as Aipom retrieved the red and grey polished, and now damp Pokéball.
"Aipom, thanks! That was great, a good first battle...!"

((Level 8 Finneon caught.))

This post has been edited by Webbyness: Jun 16 2009, 02:11 AM

[Troy Bolton]

After engorging himself and the newly dubbed Frogger with as much food as possible, Matt figured it was time to have another chat with his more-than-friendly host. Taking several large gulps of Moomoo milk, he finished the glass. He was debating on whether to call Skarmory out and build a Bond of Fellowship, or some other strange idea with Capital Letters, when the trainer noticed with a start that Xiao had left.

"Evening," he said evenly, as the matronly old woman entered once more.

"Evening," she responded. "That's odd, nobody else has come down?" Matt shook his head.

"Just me and Xiao. And Zeke, but he left to get his Croagunk some water. Which is...weird, because I'm sure you have a tub somewhere. Is it strange for them to not come down?"

"Quite, unless they've got food up there, I haven't seen them since...well, this morning. They were saying something about checking the water content of the lake."

"Why's that?"

"Euh...I'm not a scientist. Maybe you should go 'n' ask them, eh?"

"Yes, I will. And you-" he stood up, pulling his wallet out of his pocket, "will take this. I'm not taking no for an answer, that was the best meal I've had for several years." He placed nearly half of his total funds, around 5000 Poke, into the old woman's hands.

"You-you're sure? This is enough to buy-"

"Yes, I am most surely sure. It's my pleasure." To cement the point, Matt took the old woman's gnarled hand and placed it over the other. "Please."

"Well, 'hun, I never said no to free money. I'll make sure that lad you brought with you is alright, and don't worry. The closest nurse is very discreet." She gave him a sly wink. It dawned on the trainer what the old woman had misconstrued.

"Be most sure, ma'am, that we have done nothing wrong. The lad had a tree fall on him from a wild Skarmory's attack."

"Sure, 'hun." She smiled, eyes almost disappearing from smiling-crinkles. Matt stretched, returning Frogger to his Pokeball with almost unconscious movement.

Let's go see this lake and find these egg heads for this old lady. Wasn't difficult, finding the lake, or Zeke. He had simply released Maresa and followed her wobbly steps.

"'Hoy, Zeke. You see a couple of scientists around here?" He noticed a few dark figures out of the corner of his eye.

"Nevermind, think I found 'em."

Without any sort of trepidation, the elder trainer strode forward. "Hey, you all staying at the Overlook Inn? The hostess's lookin' for you. You just missed dinner, but maybe she can...warm...something...up..." His words trailed off as the two came into view. A man, and a woman. Behind some rocks, they seemed innocent enough, but behind it was a net, a massive one. Dozens if not hundreds of Magikarp, Poliwag, Feebas, and Finneon were trapped beneath it, and it seemed to be rising up into something Matt couldn't see in the dying light.

"We'll get some good Poke on this one, Beth."

"Enough for you to get a haircut, Sams?"

Friendly sparring. They didn't notice him.

"'Hoy, did you hear me? The Overlook Innkeeper's looking for you!" They froze, hands at their hips.

"Shove off, kid," said the man.

"Hell no," replied Matt, "she's a nice lady and I spent all this time looking for you. Not to mention, it's clear as Tentacool that you're stealing those Pokemon." He was no fool, and his hand was already at his Pokeballs.

"Stay out of Team Deception's affairs or you'll get hurt, kiddo." Matt stopped dead in his tracks. [No, it can't be...!/i]

"No, you're kidding me. Team [i]Deception? I mean, come on, Galactic, Rocket, Magma, Aqua, those could have some nobility in them. But Deception? Who the- who the hell would join Team Deception? It's just a terrible name. You guys could be saints, for all I care. You just angered me through sheer naming idiocracy. Skarmory! Stun Spore!" With a cry, he tossed the Ball into the air. The iron bird appeared, gliding on an air current. It did not, indeed, use Stun Spore. Instead, it dive-bombed the net, grabbing a Finneon in his claws. He then proceeded to kill and eat the fish. Matt was...less than pleased.

"Looks like you can't even control yer own Pokemon, kid. Now, you've lost your chance." The male, Samson, if he remembered correctly, outstretched his left arm. Attached to it was some sort of strange...he couldn't call it a glove, or a sleeve, but more of tubing leading from his shoulder to his hand. In said hand he placed a Pokeball. The tubing began to glow, and with a strangely over the top throw, he chucked it. A malignant aura seemed to seep from the ball as it flew through the air, but Matt wasn't concerned. When a Pokeball was tossed and made to capture a Pokemon, it formed a sort of link with it. This link maintained the connection between Pokemon and Pokeball, disallowing another Pokeball to place a new connection on the Pokemon, and forbidding stealing. Sure, those Yanks down at Orre seemed to think they had a way around it, but Matt had seen the news reports. Shadow Pokemon? Really? It was a shame, too. He liked UNBS.

The Pokeball didn't connect with the iron bird, as expected, but it did open, concerning Matt greatly. 5 tendrils of light seeped from it, converging on the Skarmory. To his shock and abject horror, it disappeared, and the ball sank to the ground. One...two...Ah! It appeared to be caught!

"The hell, man? You can't steal another trainer's Pokemon!" His hand was already at his Gear.

"Hello, um, Officer? I've got an owned Pokemon stealing in progress! Request backup!"

"Request backup, mate? Your call's from Carello, we don't have any units around there. Sure you can't sort it out?" Matt exploded.

"SORT IT OUT?! Listen, mate, if you don't send an officer right now, I'll file so many reports it'll make your head spin. You don't know what I'm capable of, mate." With a rather dull beep, the transmission ended.

By now Zeke had showed up behind him. Sams and Beth had stood up, holding big-time Pokeballs in their hands. Ultra, Luxury, hell, looked like even a Cherish.

"We'll give you a minute to cry. Cause that's how Team Deception does it."

Matt sighed, rubbing an eye with a palm. "Alright, Zeke. I'm sorry to force you into this, but they just insulted my pride and my Pokemon. I can't fight them alone. Are you with me?"

Even if he wasn't, maybe he could run back to the innkeeper for help. He still had 5 Pokemon. He might manage this on his own.