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Global PokédeX Plus Forums _ Finished RPs _ The Petropolis Grand Invitational - Main Thread

Posted by: Kamaitachi Jun 1 2013, 03:56 PM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Posted by: Toogee Jun 2 2013, 11:48 AM

Pan found herself flying over the western coast of Furoh, admiring the waves washing over the shorelines. From an aerodactyl’s eye view, the country was so very small. The researcher knew better though; she traveled through much of it on foot and arcanine. How she wished to feel the wet sand against her bare feet. There was no time for such recreation. After the events of Lenoilia, Pan knew that “TD” would come for her. For the sake of everyone in Furoh, she had to leave. And yet, she couldn’t just up and leave her friends without a good bye.

That’s where she was headed: to the Petropolis Grand Invitational. Darryn and Lyla would be there. She would meet them for brunch and let them know what’s going on. She was not worried about running into Deception forces in such a public area.

Perhaps she should have been.

Pan opened her eyes to find herself in a hotel room of modest size. It included a kitchenette, two bedrooms with their own bathrooms, and a TV room with a good sized couch. She would have taken a tour if her hands weren’t zip-tied to the bed post of one of the rooms. The researcher racked her brain as to how she ended up here, but her head was so foggy. She had a pretty good idea of how when the door to the bedroom opened.

“Ah, you’re awake, Right on schedule, Ms. Gibbs.”

Dr. Mondo entered the room, his eyes fixed on a file. He poured over the details of the document as he addressed the girl.

“I figured you a much smarter girl. We’ve been tracking you through your phone. I must thank you for making this your stopping point. It saved us the trouble of transporting you for the mission.”

“Mission?” Pan said, sounding incredulous to his choice of words. “I don’t work for you!”

“For the sake of your babydaddy, you will do what the mission requires.” Mondo chuckled a bit, seemingly writing down the quip for later use. “Yes, Justin Smart has been with the organization for quite some time now. You don’t seem surprised? Ah, he told you. Then you should also know that I have the power to send him on a suicide mission. Just one phone call and your family spends Father’s Day at a cemetery. Now, do we have an agreement?”

Pan stayed silent, giving the scientist a death stare. The utter silence made Mondo look up from the papers to make sure his captive was awake.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” Mondo closed the file and set it upon the table. “You’ll find your necessary equipment in the closet. The file contains your aliases and the mission details. You’ll be happy to know that I’ve put you in Justin’s unit; I’m sure he’ll untie you whenever he arrives. In the meantime, relax! Watch some TV!”

The scientist turned the TV on in the other room, which Pan could see through a crack in the door. With that, Mondo was off.

“You should be thanking me. Deimos has some obsession for you. Who knows what he would have you do for him. Good day and good luck!”

The front door slammed shut, leaving Pan all alone, watching highlights from various preliminary battles.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

The village surrounding the arenas was bustling with activity. There were hundreds of storefronts waiting for customers to pour their hard-earned cash into. The store chain Pokemart had taken over a whole block of stands, all selling special edition pokeballs, flavored potions, and shiny stationary specifically created for the Petropolis Grand Invitational. There were many more small retailers however. Some offered temporary tattoos for the kids, another offered a wide selection of pokemon picture books, and one other was a photo studio that pasted customers’ heads onto a celebrity’s body (the most popular being Lt Surge).

There were an equal number of food carts and restaurants in the area, offering cuisine from all around Furoh and the world. Berry Bonanza offered hundreds of smoothie flavors and combos to beat the oppressing heat. The smell of grilled burger originated from the PokeKing, though that smell had to compete with the barbeque from Charizard’s Maw. All of these choices were fantastic, but perhaps the biggest crowd had to have been at Dopeymon’s (named after the owner’s slowpoke). This particular restaurant specialized in hotdogs, and in order to get a big crowd, they organized a competitive eating contest. People gathered around to watch three people gorge themselves on the delicacy. An announcer stepped up on stage to start the festivities.

“Welcome to the Dopeymon Grand Invitational Competitive Eating Marathon! Here, we put the pokemon battle aside and settle our differences with our own stomachs! Let’s meet our competitors!”

The announcer flipped through a few cards, reading the script as he introduced the participants.

“Up first, a man said to be half snorlax, the woodsman Lumber Jack!”

A bearded man dressed entirely in red flannel (right down to his pants), sat down, waving to a receptive audience.

“Next, a regular at our contests, the Undisputed Hot Dog King of the North, Edward Stark!”

A surprisingly skinny man took the next seat, adorned with a paper crown from his last victory.

“And finally, he’s a newcomer hailing all the way from Opeleucid in Unova. He is the Dragon Tamer, the Foe Crusher, the Trail Blazer, the Bush Master…the Savior of Plant Town? Does this end?! …Ah, the one and only, Darius Dovakin!”

Fully clad in his armor and cape, Darius took to the stage, waving to surprisingly accepting audience. Evidently, they love odd characters in their competitive eating contests.

“Alright guys, you have 5 pounds of hot dogs before you. No buns, no toppings of any kind. Whoever finishes first will win a lifetime supply of meals at all Dopeymon locations across Furoh. Are you ready?”

Each competitor looked upon their giant meal, as if trying to psych it out. Darius quickly put on a bib, hands on the table.

“GO!”

Each man used both hands to cram as many hot dogs into their mouths as their bodies would allow. To most people, this would have been rather grotesque, but the audience was loving it. Edward was surprising quick to swallow, but poor Jack was overambitious, falling off his chair as he began choking.

“Lumber Jack is out! Don’t worry, the paramedics are on standby! Let the contest continue!”

Edward was already halfway done when Darius sized up his results. The hotdog king simply shook his head, a smirk splashed on his face. “”Noob,” he muttered to Darius before stuffing his face with the last half of hotdogs.

“You’ve just awoken the Dragon!” Bits of hot dog sprayed from Darius’ mouth as he accepted the challenge. The dragon trainer took a single hot dog and slurped it up like spaghetti. He did this with another in rapid succession, almost machine-like in efficiency. Edward was so taken aback, he bit down, causing hotdog halves to fall from his mouth and all over the table. The king scrambled to get them back, but Darius slurped up his last.

“WINNER! Darius Dovakin wins the Dopeymon Grand Invitational Competitive Eating Marathon!”

Darius flips the table in excitement, standing up and roaring with delight. He took the paper crown off of Edward’s head and posed for pictures. A little charmander ran out of the audience and towards her master. Darius took Bindy onto his shoulder and pumped his fist into the air, while a distraught Edward was led off the stage.

“The North remembers!” the former king cried out, but no one could hear him over the chants of Dovakin.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jun 3 2013, 02:20 AM

A blinding white limo pulled up to the front of the festive arch that saluted the beginning of the makeshift village that had become the Petropolis Grand Invitational. People looked on as the driver helped out a small boy from the left side. He held a graceful exterior and looked purposeful and confident, despite the trembling that went on underneath. From the right side, a slightly taller man helped himself out and fixed his thin wire glasses with light reflecting off the modest rectangle lens. The boy was a sight without the limo because he was clad in bizarre attire that was somehow incredibly formal and remarkably like an Eevee. The reason why hopped out from the leather seat and greeted the sunlight with aplomb.

"Eeee!" The smiling Eevee captured the hearts of all the onlookers, for which Joey was thankful the attention was off his costume. The pair strode through the arches and proceeded to where they would sign in, with the young boy's personal assistant trailing nonchalantly behind as the driver drove away to deliver their luggage to their respective hotel accommodations.

A few moments earlier~

Joey rested his head against the window of the limousine with Babylon contentedly in his lap. He watched the scenery go bye and quietly murmured to himself.

"This is ridiculous."

The young man on the other side of the luxury leather seat tapped his knee gently to get Joey's attention and firmly signed his Y hand underneath his chin.

Wrong.

Why? Joey stiffly waved his palm at his own head in response. His signing still was not quite fluent, but he thought his personal assistant was trying to tell him it was a good experience. He would have argued more, but the black haired man had gone back to reading, bending his slender form to peer closer at a line of words.

Instead, Joey took comfort in petting Babylon who looked perfectly cheerful and excited, being hopeful about getting some time in the show ring. The brown Eevee fluff was almost imperceptible from Joey's own attire, a custom-made show costume designed to look like his Eevee. His sponsor, the business tycoon Jana de Vries, was a woman not to be contended with in the matter of wardrobe and showmanship, and she insisted upon her new protegé that he comply. To be safe, he had to wear it before the battle in case there wasn't time or place to change, and in his sponsor's words, "the built-up attention will be a blessing once you're in the arena".

Joey shuddered while remembering that quote, but was taken out of his daydream by his P.A.'s prompt. They reviewed the strategies for the upcoming matches and the rules. He had decided that using Babylon for the Preliminary 1 vs 1 would be least stressful for the young Pokémon - hence, his beginning attire. They reviewed the subsequent battles (acknowledging the chances of Joey getting that far), and Joey almost hoped he would be out before the really outrageous costumes came into play. The last thing before arriving was a quick review of the battle move signs that Joey and his Pokémon would be learning. Since losing his hearing and not having had much battle experience since, this was the best remedy they had so far. In the practices at the Fidona Villa, it worked reasonably well.

-- Present Time

Joey internalized a groan while walking around the festive plaza. The Eevee by his side didn't have a care in the world, but he had to gulp down all the stares. Luckily, the wide array of vendors gave him something with which to distract himself. Everything was bright, colorful, and exceedingly joyous.

The smell of the food wafted towards the small boy, and tantalized him cruelly. As much as he wanted to sample everything he could, he was reminded of the strict and all-knowing chef he had waiting back at the villa, and the approved prepackaged meals for sure waiting in his hotel room by now.

Joey spotted just what he needed in the form of a Pokéball vendor. There were some specially designed Pokéballs and some had mascots on them. He talked himself out of buying the Spinda themed Pokéball, but instead stocked up on some well-needed seals. At this point, they would have been fun to play around with had he not been subjected to actually entrance practices. In his new career of Co-Ordinating, apparently even the manner of throwing the Pokéball was important.

Joey pulled out some of his spending money, still quite amazed that he possessed such an allowance from his sponsorship, and made his purchase. The transaction caused him to glow a little inside from being reminded about his situation and why he should be overwhelmingly thankful. Bartholomew leaned over his shoulder and guided him pointedly, yet humbly towards their current destination of the registration tent.

Joey made his way through the registration process and was only slightly apprehensive about the leveling technology. His personal assistant, Bartholomew, had made sure that Joey was fully prepared, and that he learned the signs for all of the techniques his Pokémon would temporarily possess.

However, worry still lingered in the back of his mind on how this would really affect his Pokémon. He once had the ability to hear, and now he didn't. He couldn't imagine having the ability to create a Hurricane one day, and then the next day barely be able to perform a Wing Attack. However, he had enough stereotypes of poverty stacked against him that he didn't want to reenforce any suggestions that he was technology illiterate. Glimpsing the battling going on right now from the convenient television screens placed by the registration, Joey was reassured.

He steadied himself from the discouraging thoughts, and then as gallantly as he could muster, made his way to his first preliminary assignment with Bartholomew at his side and Babylon ready in his be-sealed Pokéball.

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Jun 5 2013, 01:48 PM

"Doctor."

"GRUNFNUNFNUNF."

"Doctor, this can't be healthy-"

"GRUNFLNYAM."

"Doctor, I really think you need to stop-"

"NYAMNYAMNYammm... hic. Mo' pwees."

The huge man running the sparsely-populated burger joint looked at her with an expression normally associated with the better kinds of religious experience. "C-coming right up, Doc! You stay right there. VELMA! 'NOTHER SIXGUN SPECIAL FER THE LADY IN THE LAB COAT!"

"Uh, Bubba, she only got the last one five minutes ago..."

"She don' seem ta care, so I won't neither. Snap to it, hon!"

After a few minutes, another plate of six towering burgers arrived, just in time for the spent one to be thrown on the pile with the others. Each of them bore a peculiar little flag in red, white and blue, because some ideas can transcend the multiverse. Adelaide let out a little chirrup of joy as the plate was set down, alongside one of Bubba's patented Neva-Melt Supa-Dupa-Slurpees (blue raspberry flavour, about as natural as a Kraftwerk album) and a small vat of freshly-cooked crinkle-cut chips and a little bowl of salad with a pickle in it. Roxy, now recovered from the mild brain damage she'd sustained in the fight against Seican Serroc, was trying to get her new mistress to not kill herself. Mantyke had flopped exhaustedly on the countertop and Joltik had flopped on top of the Mantyke. Tynamo was stealing the pickles.

"It's just like being back at home! Thank you so much for letting me eat here!"

"Aw, hey now, yer a contestant, right? That means yer eat fer free as far as I'm concerned."

At this point, Velma screamed several things that it would not be becoming of me to repeat. In response, Adelaide just smiled cutely, looked at the menu, saw that the Sixgun Special's normal price would be around 6500 Poke, hacked into the bank account of some drunk guy she'd seen falling out of a limousine, quietly removed around five hundred thousand (a sum that might be missed, but could be explained by mysterious drunken purchase habits), and transferred it to the corporate account of Big Ol' Bubba's Big Ol' Burgers via a series of shell-games so complicated and obtuse it was practically performance art. Then, she dug in with relish, closely followed by brown sauce and several varieties of mustard.

Roxy trotted up to the counter and struggled up onto a stool. "I, um... I'm sorry about her. If she dies, I'll move her, it's okay."

"Naw, li'l lady, ya worry too much," rumbled Bubba cheerfully. "I have a Sixgun or two every mornin' fer my breakfast, and it ain't done me no harm at all!" He leaned back and slapped his belly, which took a while to stop moving. "Always said it's the skinny gals as put 'em away quick-smart. Here, you try yerself a Veggie Supa-Deluxe once I got the other deep-fryer warmed up. Other ones use beef fat, see."

"It-it's okay! I'm omnivorous. I, I'll have a Supa-Shoota Meal please, sir."

"Hehehe, ain't no call fer callin' me Sir, sweetie, I ain'tcher pa. VEL, 'nother Supa-Shoota fer our new bestest friend!"

"Comin' up, Bubba!" About a minute later, a steaming burger was laid reverentially before Roxy's domed head. It was massive. Three pounds of minced beef, several slices of different cheese types, a wide array of bacon products, lettuce, cherry tomato slices ("Yer big tomaters, they're jes' a big bowl a nothin'," explained Bubba, "ain't got a lick a flavour to 'em. Whole buncha cherry tomaters, on the other han', that gots a punch to it like, well, like one o' your'n Head Smashes!"), pickles, grilled onions, and enough sauces to drown a Mantyke (who was now awake enough to countenance a slice of cherry pie about the size of her own wingspan). Nervously, Roxy picked up a knife and fork, then...

"Ah."

"Well, I'm not rightly sure what you expected was gonna happen, sweetheart. I don't mean ter be rude or nothin', but you ain't exactly got the world's longest arms."

"I... yeah. Shall I just, um, shall I just put them here?"

"'S'alright, hon. You jus' works at it yer own way. Now, lemme getcha that Neva-Melt Slurpee. What kinda flavour ya thinkin' of?"

"I... I'll take your recommendation, si - Bubba." Roxy just sat there, tail swishing in the hot summer air, looking at the leviathan burger. How Adelaide could down six of them in a few minutes, knock back a Slurpee that appeared to come in an oil drum, and beg for more afterwards was beyond the little dinosaur. Oh well, she thought, I ordered it, I'll eat it. With that, she selected an angle of attack and bit deep into the freshly-cooked burgerbeast-

"RARRRRRRRR!"

"Hehehe, I think yer li'l friend likes it, Doc!"

"Grf nurmfl nurf!" Adelaide said, which speakers of conversational Burger will know translates to "Of course she does!"

"Eeyup. I gotcher a cola flavour Slurpee, uh... Roxy, wasn't it?"

"I CAN SEE FOREVER!"

"I'll take that as a yes. Hol' on just one second, ladies - hey there, welcome to mah Big Ol' Burger Shed! Mah name's Bubba, may I take yer order?"

This went on for some considerable time. After a few hours, the afternoon rush died off and Bubba went back to talking to Adelaide. "So, where'd ya learn to put it away like that, hon?"

Adelaide swallowed. "When I was a little girl, out in - um - out in my hometown, my dad used to take me to the local Gourmet Burger Kitchen for these massive blowouts. I, um, I've got something of a metabolism and the guys who worked there used to call me the Little... Little Raptor..."

Bubba nodded. He'd seen that face before; running a burger joint out in Sandgem Town was like running a bar anywhere else. "It's alright, Doc. When'd it happen?"

"A... a year ago... we were really close, and..." And then it came out; a life story, edited for normal people but not by much. It's amazing what people will tell other people in the presence of a counter top and comforting comestibles, it really is.

"Well, that's quite a life. I wouldn't worry about it, though; yer father, he'll be up with Arceus now, lookin' down from His big ol' mountain. An' if I was him, watchin' my girl kickin' a little posterior in a major battle champeenship, I'd be proud as all hell."

"I..." Adelaide sniffed and dabbed at her eyes while a cross-eyed Roxy continued to nick her chips. "Thanks. I, I think I just needed to tell someone."

"I'm a burger chef, hon. It's what I'm for."

For a brief moment, Adelaide smiled, and believed.

Posted by: Toogee Jun 5 2013, 10:19 PM

After a hard earned victory eating hot dogs, Darius and his charmander Bindy strolled through the crowded streets of the arena village. The dragon trainer was not adverse to window shopping, especially when the rations for his entire trip were taken care of via a lifetime supply of hotdog meals. One store caught his eye; it was displaying ceramic statues of dragon pokemon. Sadly, such fragile items did not mix well with rough and tumble adventurers.

“I wonder if they have any blacksmiths around here. Maybe I can get my sword fixed up.”

Before Darius could begin his fruitless search for swordsmiths, Bindy was pulling on his hand. The fire-type was dragging him towards a very popular moonbounce area. Three different inflated castles were set up: one for human, another for pokemon, and a third for everyone. The last one, named Star Valley, was the most impressive: it was the size of a large ice rink. The materials were extra durable to handle even the spiniest of pokemon. With people inside bouncing around and having fun, the charmander certainly wanted to join in.

“Do I have to? That looks like it’s just for little kids,” Darius remarked, ignoring the fact that people of all ages were entering. Still, he had a backup plan.

“Here, take Snake with you- huh?” When Darius attempted to summon his ekans, he found the pokeball empty. “Well dragon dung, where did he run off to?!”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Across from the moonbounce was another storefront: the Loch Ranch Adoption Center. It too was bustling with prospective trainers eager to take a pokemon home. Most of the employees were out for lunch, leaving twelve year old Nessie Loch to man the store. Currently, she was caught in the middle of a pack of lillipups, all eager for the bag of milkbones in her hand. This certainly drew the majority of the customers as they watched the little blonde girl play ringmaster with the young ones. There was also a large selection of eggs, each displaying various color schemes of their mothers. It was a simple display, with eggs sitting in crates while under a heat lamp. Tags identified lineage, while times alerted when it was time to rotate. For many, it gave the chance to make a friend for a lifetime. For a certain ekans, it was the buffet line.

Snake weaved between table legs while most eyes were on the playful lillipups. When everything was clear, the ekans raised his body onto the table to view the selection. Pidgey and Spearow eggs were a staple for his wild cousins, but Snake wanted something more exotic. He found his delicacy of choice in the largest egg he had ever laid eyes on: one from a snorlax. The blue and tan egg appeared to be the size of a beachball! The ekans fantasized about swimming within the yolk as he slurped up the contents. With no one watching, he slithered into the crate, wrapping his body around the giant egg.

“Breakfast is served,” Snake proclaimed before biting down on his prey. It was then that he encountered a problem. The egg was so big, he couldn’t wrap his mouth around it. Alas, delicious yolky goodness was kept at arm’s reach, an impossible distance for a creature with no arms to speak of. That didn’t stop Snake from trying, moving his mouth around to find a weak point.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jun 8 2013, 02:42 AM

Lyla Moore, fresh from her defeat at the Island arena, returned to the tournament village to wait for Darryn, as agreed. She had no doubt that he would probably win at least one or two rounds so she’d be in for a wait before he got back to the makeshift Pokemon Center. She sighed.

“What should I, like, do?” She muttered, looking about her for some inspiration. A games paddock had been set up nearby with people placing bets on which Lickitung could eat the most food in a minute, which Magikarp could Splash the highest and even which Drowzee could send a spectator to sleep the fastest. She giggled to herself and turned away. What she was really interested in usually had a stall or two at these sorts of events…

“A-ha!” Lyla clapped her hands with delight and skipped towards the sign saying ‘Loch Ranch Adoption Center’. “Babies babies babies!” She squeed.

On arrival, Lyla wasn’t sure where to look as brightly coloured eggs dotted a field-like pen while numbers of recently hatched young-ones played in others. A chorus of yipping drew her attention to a bunch of tiny puppy Pokemon that Lyla didn’t recognise all trying to get a treat from a young assistant’s hands.

“So cute!” Lyla began to trot over when a different sound found her ears.

“Ssss… ugh… kansss…”

“Huh? Wha-?” Lyla stopped short and looked back over to the Pokemon eggs. Her eyes widened. “Oh, oh NO!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLZwxD8kwc8

Posted by: Toogee Jun 8 2013, 09:57 AM

Darius’ question was soon answered by a scream coming from the adoption center across the street. After a quick read out from the signs, Darius put two and two together and realized that Snake may have gone out for a quick bite to eat.

“Ah crud…”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone in the store quickly turned upon hearing Lyla’s scream. Some fled upon seeing the ekans, more so when the miltank went on the attack. In surprise, Nessie dropped the bag of treats at her feet, causing a swarm of lillipups to swarm her. The girl tripped over the pups, falling on the floor. This only made the pups more excited as they piled on top of her. In other words, she was not going to be able to help Lyla out.

Of course, it didn’t look they needed any help. MoMo’s stomping attacks met the target, but when the dust settled, all that was left was shreds of snake skin. Either the miltank completely obliterated the ekans, or Snake used his Shed Skin ability to create a decoy to escape. Seconds later, it was revealed that the latter was the case, as a white flash took place behind the two.

A shadow creeped up between Lyla and her miltank, appearing from a figure that was 6 feet (2 m) tall. As they turned to see the source of the flash, they would find that the ekans had grown ginormous, both in girth and height. His neckpiece flared outward in a ferocious display, one of fiery eyes and a wide dark mouth. Snake’s eyes glowed in a Glare as he bellowed out his new name.

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBOK!”

Evolution! (click to show)


The arbok’s Glare worked to paralyze the miltank, aided by the surprise of his sudden evolution. Once the pokemon was temporaily stunned, Snake turned his glare towards Lyla. The arbok’s face came closer to the human’s, his forked tongue licking the tip of her nose. Meanwhile, the rest of the patrons, most having no pokemon of their own, fled the store. Only one man ran into the store. With his charmander by his side, he defied the fear and challenged it. He was Darius Dovakin, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsnRQJxanVM

Oh sweet, Snake evolved! he thought to himself. “Oh right, the girl!”

Snake was in one of his rowdy moods again it seemed, but Darius was used to wrestling with the snake (at least, when he was smaller). In what appeared to be either very brave or very stupid, Darius rushed the arbok from behind, wrapping his arms around his neck to pull him away from Lyla. Snake hissed violently, but his attempts to bite his trainer’s arms failed; his fangs could not reach below his neck. What Snake lacked in flexibility, he had in strength. The arbok flung his body around, swinging Darius into a wall. Bindy was about to come to his aid, but the trainer was quickly back on his feet.

“Stay with the girl,” Darius commanded as he unsheathed his sword. “I got this one!”

In this case, the sword would not be used to stab his own pokemon. When Snake attempted to stare down Darius in a Glare, the dragon trainer moved the blade of his sword over his face. This created a mirror that shot the glare back at the Arbok. The snake roared as the paralysis took over his body. Darius sheathed his sword and charged at the arbok.

“FUS RO DAH!”

He leaped into the air, sending a flying punch into the snake’s face. Snake toppled to the ground, and Darius proceeded to sit on top of the snake’s neck as he went to grab his pokeball. But the arbok wasn’t quitting just yet. He had overcome his paralysis, swiftly moving his tail around his trainer’s neck.

“That’s…clever,” Darius managed to speak before his airway closed completely. His hands fumbled around his belt for the pokeball, but would he reach it in time? Bindy wasn’t going to wait to find out. The charmander looked back to Lyla, then rushed to the arbok and attacked.

“CHAAAAAAARRRR!”

Bindy spewed out purple flames in a Dragon Rage, sending the arbok squirming. His tail released Darius, allowing the trainer to grab the pokeball and smack it into Snake’s head.

“Hah, victory!” Darius shouted, coughing shortly after gaining the ability to breath. He realized he had an audience: all the lilipups were standing on their back legs, leaning against the play pen. Nelly stood behind them in awe.

“Golly,” she said. “You just wrangled that wild snake pokemon almost by yourself!”

“Well…yeah, I guess I did,” Darius replied, brushing off his cape and armor of dust. No one needed to know the arbok was his all along. He patted his charmander on the head as he went to Lyla.

“You alright?” he asked, lending her a hand if needed.

Posted by: rt117 Jun 13 2013, 10:17 AM

Having finished up her battle against her first opponent in the tournament, Tikal had spent some time getting settled into her temporary residence for the event, mainly just to unpack and take a small break, while allowing her Pokemon to relax. The room was cozy: not too big and not too small, but enough for her and her four Pokemon to be comfortable while staying in the room. Charmeleon would have to watch his tail flame to keep from setting anything on fire, while the rest of the team took to exploring the lodging.

Eventually deciding to get some food while she waited for the announcement of her next match, Tikal eventually recalled her Pokemon before heading down to the stalls scattered outside of the Colosseum, deciding to find something to eat. A variety of different booths offered fresh fruits, baked goods, poffins, and even sandwiches. She took the time to buy a few packets of poffins for her Pokemon, while buying a bottle of juice and a churro for herself. Finding herself a small bench off by a small decorative fountain, she called her Pokemon back out again, before setting out the fresh poffins for her team to enjoy while she ate her own food.

While her Croconaw, Nidorino, and Charmeleon ate together, her Jigglypuff decided to remain at her side, sitting next to the girl on the bench while nibbling away at a poffin. She watched the crowds of people walk by, feeling more content to stay close to her trainer versus mingling with all of the strangers that filled the area. The last thing she wanted was to get separated after all. Upon finishing her poffin, the Pokemon glanced up at the treat that Tikal was eating.

Curious, she began tugging at the other end lightly until a small chunk ripped off, which she proceeded to eat as well. Quite pleased, she began to wave her small pudgy arms to get her trainer's attention. Tikal laughed lightly, before breaking off a few more pieces for her newest member to share with the rest of her team.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jun 16 2013, 11:48 AM

“Are you, like, kidding me!?” Lyla screamed at the kid who had wrangled the Arbok away from her and rose quickly to her feet, dusting her white and pink dress off with annoyed flicks of her wrists. “Just got attaced by an Arbok! How do you think I am!?”

“Miru…” Momo’s shoulders were hunched as she reached Lyla’s side and patted her hand comfortingly. The angry stare in Lyla’s eyes instantly softened as she tended to her Miltank.

“Oh no, Momo,” Lyla fussed her cow with a soothing stroke between the horns, “I’ve, like, got some Paralyze Heal in my bag somewhere…” She rummaged quickly and drew out the yellow spray bottle. She sprayed it copiously over her Pokemon’s head and let the medicine do its work for a second before holding up a Pokeball. “You did great so, like, take a rest.” A flash of red light and Momo was gone and back in Lyla’s bag.

“I’m sorry,” Lyla sighed as she turned back to the guy from before, “I, like, overreacted… Thank you for, like, saving… my… life…?” She blushed deeply and held out a hand to Darius. “I’m Lyla Moore, pleased to, like, meet you.”

Posted by: Toogee Jun 16 2013, 09:29 PM

Darius was a bit taken aback when Lyla started yelling at him. It was almost as if he started all of this (well, it was his arbok...). After she had healed her miltank however, the girl was much more thankful.

"Darius Dovakin," he replied, taking Lyla's hand and kissing the back of it. "I hail from Unova in search of dragon pokemon and all around high adventure! An what of you? Here to look at the little ones?"

As those two were talking, more employees showed up from their lunch break. Many were appalled by the damage and immediately went to work to set things up once more. A pair of magmar gathered any fallen eggs, warming them up with their Flame Body ability. Soon enough, customers returned and it was business as usual.

Posted by: rt117 Jun 19 2013, 12:33 AM

Having been minding her own business, Tikal's attention was soon caught as the sound of shouting was carried on the wind, distinctly through the crowd of people. The first thing that popped into the girl's mind was that someone was in trouble and in need of help. Not many others around her seemed to pay much attention however, and so with a small shrug to herself, gathered up the small pink furball that was her Jigglypuff, recalled her Pokemon, and made her way toward the scene.

What she found instead was the aftermath of the battle against the reckless snake Pokemon, only to find a man and woman exchanging some words, the girl seeming to recover from the shouting that the girl had heard from not too far away. Whatever had been the cause for the grief, it seemed as if it was no longer present, and people were beginning to get back to normal.

Perhaps they were okay, as nobody was rushing off to the Pokemon Center right away. Still the girl could not help but feel as if she should at least see if the two were all right. She wouldn't have felt right after all. And so stepping forward after watching the man introduce himself to the girl, the young trainer spoke up.

"Hey, are you two okay? It looks like something happened here."

As she spoke, she felt her young Jigglypuff worm her way out of her grasp, and slowly bound toward the two strangers, tilting her head to examine them with large round eyes.

Posted by: Shiro Azuma Jun 22 2013, 05:28 AM

"Hm...Which should we go to first hm? All of this sounds delicious right Vulpy?"

"Vulpix!"

Replied Kazuiki's trusty Vulpix known as Vulpy that was walking with him while looking at all the festivities going around the town because of the tournament that was going to start pretty soon. Sadly though he didn't make it to the signups for the preliminaries but that didn't bother him to much. He decided to take his older brother Isami Shu's advice and go out and meet other trainers that he might become good friends with in the future. Thanks to his brother living in Petropolis City he didn't have to go that far so he decided to check out a few shops first before heading into the stadium to watch the epic battles that were soon to begin.

"Hmm hey why not that place over there Vulpy? We can eat outside so Digs can actually enjoy himself......Better yet why not let everyone out? Since this days so special and all They could all use a break right?"

"Vulpix!"

Vulpy replied with a slight nod as she smiled happily about her trainers decision so that she and Rena Kazuki's Eevee and Vulpy's best friend could play abit before they got something to eat. Kazuki took the three pokeballs from his belt and pressed the button in the middle of the pokeball that caused them to expand. Once they did he called out his pokemon in order.

Rena, Digs Frilz come on out and have some fun!!"

Rena was was the first to appear running around Vulpy and Rena happily about being back in Petropolis Cit, giving a friendly tackle to Vulpy as Digs just watched in a slight confused manner. Frilz of course loved glomping Kazuki each time it was out of its pokeball excited almost about pretty much anything that dealyt with playing with Kazuki.Chuckling lightly from the surprise glomping attack given to him by his Frillish he'd pat him on his head laughing.

"Alright Frilz you got me, now come on lets get you guys something to eat hm?"

Diglet!!"

Digs spoke out happily as he turned his attention toward Kazuki after hearing that they were going to get something to eat. Frilz let go of Kazuki and helped him up now floating around Kazuki as they walked toward a restaurant that served ibside and outside the patio. This was the perfect place for his pokemon to have fun and relax while waiting for the matches to start which was what Kazuki had been waiting for ever since the tournament was being talked about by the locals

Posted by: Toogee Jun 22 2013, 02:18 PM

Just as Darius was making his introductions to Lyla, another girl came up to them. The young teen looked like a typical trainer, wearing tattered jeans, an orange shirt, and a red vest. This was a stark contrast to the armor that Darius chose to wear, but he paid no heed to it. It was always nice to get a potential fan on his side.

“Of course we’re alright!” Darius began his boast. “You just missed me wrestle an arbok into submission! Just another step in path of the dragon trainer!”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Misplaced Memories (click to show)


Pan woke up in a jolt, finding herself already sitting upright. She rubbed her head, trying to remember the weird dream she had. It was then that she realized that she was no longer tied up. The zip tie lied beside her along with a hair clip. Did she do that? Whatever happened, she was free now, so Pan picked herself up and headed for the file on the table.

She spent several minutes pouring through the papers; it was quite clear what Team Deception wanted. If they had possession of such a device, their dominance over Furoh would be unquestioned. Only the strongest of trainers would be able to take them on, but Pan felt that there were far more TD members than elite trainers. No one would be able to stop them. And she was one of those responsible for delivering the device.

Pan could no longer wait for Justin and Nate to return. She would have to come to them. Judging from the TV showing the matches, the researcher had a pretty good idea of where Justin was. And so, Pan gathered the file, slipped it in a canvas bag, and walked out the door…which was locked.

Pan immediately started looking around for a spare key card and found it conveniently placed on the kitchen counter. Pan grabbed it and then walked out of the door.

Posted by: Kamaitachi Jun 23 2013, 12:58 AM

Upon his defeat, Cesc made his way slowly back towards the main area. Figuring that Branwys' matches were probably happening at the same time, he had more than likely already missed them. This only added to his disappointment.

In order to keep his head somewhat up, he had resorted to burying his head into his notebook. He scribbled away in his notebook, writing down the combinations he'd seen employed in his match against a fellow co-ordinator. He had not seen Joey in any of his contest-watching research, and the young lad had brought some fresh new combinations to Cesc's mind. He figured he'd need to catch a greater variety of Pokemon; right now, most of his Pokemon replied on cool looking blades and various combinations of slashing attacks. While he loved the aesthetic, it would probably turn stale in the eyes of the judges, who essentially appeared in every contest hall. Part of being a co-ordinator meant staying a step ahead of that stale-ness. It was up to him to remain a la mode in the Contest Circuit. He'd now lost to Darryn Kellor, recently, and now Joey Sweet. He couldn't afford to lose to any more coordinators.

As he weaved effortlessly through the stalls, scribbling notes on what sort of Pokemon would help his team. Joey's Seel and Pidgeotto had left a definite impression on him, so he figured some sort of flying Pokemon and some sort of water Pokemon to add to his retinue would round out his current team. The next contest wouldn't know what hit it.

As he looked up, he noticed the big screen TV.

"MIERDA!" he exclaimed loudly. Right there on the screen, he saw Branwys right at the Cliffside Arena that he had just exited. He turned on a dime and began to make a mad dash to root on his girl...

as he looked down, he saw an adorable Jigglypuff in his path. Stopping on a dime, he jumped over it, but botched the graceful landing. Doing something that looked like a flip, he managed to land flat on his ass.

Groaning, he rose back up, turning to the Jigglypuff.

"I'm so sorry, little friend---Lyla! Hello!"

He looked around, noting a girl with a red vest, a man in...armor? Why had they all congregated around Lyla? The armored man still stood in a pose that suggested he had just completed a boast.

"Hello everyone. Lyla, did you see the screen?" He pointed up, indicating the screen where Branwys and Darren were about to engage in combat.

Posted by: Douken Sota Jun 24 2013, 11:06 AM

Letting off a long stretch, Douken returned from the tournament field over to the stands that surrounded the complex. Business seemed like things were going at a somewhat slow speed because of the round one battles, but with battles ending, participants and spectators took a break by visiting these grounds to see what they had in store. He even took a moment to get himself a wood carving of Raikou, one of the three Legendary Dogs that he thought looked the coolest as well as act as a souvenir he would send home later.

However, one of the busiest spots seemed to of been the Breeding Center, lead by the Loch Ranch,with two familiar faces in site. "Nessie! Lyla!" With the five Pokeballs and one Dream ball bouncing from his belt, Douken ran up to the two, giving a quick salute before seeing how much attention has been gathered here: a lot towards Lyla.

"Wow, our Breeder-in-Training is certainly being a busy girl, isn't she?" Douken chuckled. "Didn't expect to see you so soon after the phone call. I'm guessing Darryn is participating as well?" His stomach decided to cut him off there, the Amazon replying with a faint chuckle. "I forgot that I still need to at. Lyla, care to join me for lunch? My treat."

Posted by: rt117 Jun 24 2013, 12:25 PM

The Jigglypuff blinked, a little surprised about almost being flattened by the strange man, before making a quick run over toward her trainer, whom she quickly hid behind. The young trainer smiled lightly, scooping up the startled Pokemon to comfort and calm her down. Glancing around at the sudden additions to the small group, Tikal almost immediately realized something: she was the only one here that did not know anyone else. They all seemed to know the one girl, and yet the only two people she had met since first travelling were probably long gone by now.

Time to make friends it seemed.

Turning to the man who made the boastful claim about having wrestled the Arbok, the girl noted that he made some note about being a Dragon Trainer. This of course caught the girl's interest rather right away.

"So you're a Dragon Trainer?" the girl asked, sounding rather interested as she took a step closer. She knew her dad had been fond of them, having been one himself. And she always liked to think that the Charmander he had left in her care (now a Charmeleon) was a sign that she was supposed to continue his work, before he disappeared.

"My dad was one, at least the last time I saw him a number of years back. How well have you progressed with your 'training'?" she questioned, wondering if perhaps the man might have ever seen her father within the last few years.

Having been calmed by the presence of her trainer, Tikal's Jigglypuff hopped back down from her arms once more, taking care not to get stepped on by any of the crowding trainers as she went in search of a nice delicious Pecha Berry to curb her appetite.

Posted by: BanalityPanda Jun 24 2013, 07:23 PM

Sitting at the end of a small fountain, taking the occasional bite from his burger and drawing things in his notebook, Skyler didn't have a thing to do. He missed signing up for the tournament. Suggested here by a stranger a while back on his wondering travels he set out for it, but by the time he made it they were closed. Though he would have failed, it's always fun to try new things. At least that's what his parents say.

Speaking of those two. He'd ran into their tent a few hours ago. His mother selling special shirts for the tournament and his father 'trying' to sell travel brochures. Their attempts to get Skyler to work for them again failed miserably, so as punishment his father gave him a stack of brochures to hand out.

"No one wants to go to a place called, Lilycove or the Sevii Islands." Skyler mumbled, holding one of the brochures in his hand.

"Woopah, woopah woopah." Lewton replied, sitting the opposite direction, watching Skyler's other two Pokemon, Bastion, a Horsea and Mozly, a Shellder play in the water.

"You've never been to the Sevii Island, don't lie." Skyler scoffed, tossing the brochure to the side. With a long sigh he began digging through his backpack, pulling out one of the various items he didn't know how to use.

It was a red metal booklet with colorful buttons and 'SKYLER' written in marker on the front. Running his fingers along the sides, it popped open, startling Skyler.

"Good after-morning, hello. How are you? I am good." The booklet said in a mechanical male voice. "Pokemon dectected!" It screamed with a slight warble. Confused, Skyler looked up to see a pink ball with huge eyes standing around several people.
"Jigglypuff! The Pink Pokemon!" It continued to scream, "Good-morning? How are you?" Randomly interrupted it's own message, the voice distorting near the end. "It's song will put you to sleep, aim for the eyessssssssssssssssssss- KSHHHHHHHHH!!" Loud static came from the speaker and cut off. "Happy hunting, good-night"

Almost terrified, Skyler threw the demon machine back into his bag, shutting it tight. "It must be... broken..." Skyler mumbled to Lewton. His Dad probably got it from cheap shop at Port Barely. Was it a Poke-Dex? He heard other trainers used them to identify new Pokemon. If so, Skyler was at a steep disadvantage, his didn't even give good information and he only knew Water Pokemon... maybe he would by chance find another one? Highly unlikely, but fate is a funny game.

Posted by: Toogee Jun 25 2013, 08:04 PM

In a matter of minutes, Darius and Lyla were surrounded by trainers of all kinds. Many of them immediately starting talking to the blond. One of them even asked her for lunch! Who was the one who fought the arbok again? She seemed to have plenty of attention at the moment, while Tikal took an interest in his dragon trainer title. Darius turned his attention to Tikal in hopes of having another potential apprentice.

“Ah, the dragon trainer’s blood is in you then,” Darius replied to the girl, taking one of her hands and putting it in both of his. “My name is Darius Dovakin. I have recently arrived in Furoh in search of one of the greatest of our guild, Taggarty Lee! I have learned techniques from the dragon trainers of Unova and Johto, so I know many names. Tell me your father’s name, and I shall tell you whatever I know of the tales to his name. Better yet, tell me your name and we can start telling your story.”

As Darius spoke to Tikal, his charmander was growing impatient. Bindy still had her eyes on the giant bouncy castle across the street. It didn’t seem like her trainer was going to take her there. Bindy had a plan though; if he wouldn’t take her, then she would go with someone else. That someone else happened to be Tikal’s jigglypuff.

“Charmander!” Bindy shouted to the balloon pokemon. She then pointed to the large moon bounce known as Star Valley. She didn’t even wait for an affirmative answer before grabbing the jigglypuff by the arm and heading out of the adoption center. Luckily, Darius caught the two heading out.

“Bindy!” he called, but the charmander was too enamored in her great escape. Seeing that it was Tikal’s jigglypuff being dragged off, the dragon trainer turned back to the girl to suggest a course of action.

“Shall we?”

Posted by: Shiro Azuma Jun 25 2013, 11:32 PM

Finally picking a seat outside the restaurant and now waiting for their food to be served Vulpy decided to stay with Kazuki While Digs and Rena where playing out in the grass. It wasn't to far from the restaurant so Kazuki didn't have to worry to much about them wondering off, but what he did have to watch Frilz a little since he was so curious and wanted to know more about his surroundings. He was doing just that wondering around the restaurant at first until it overheard two trainers talking about a trainer that had wrestled an Arbock.

This fascinated the ghost type jellyfish now floating back towards Kazuki flailing its tentacles in excitement wanting to go see the trainer.

"Fril Frillish Fril!"

Frilz replied forgetting about the meal that was about to be served to them, the wait finally over. Digz and Rena rushed over smelling the food that was brought toward's the table but stopped the moment they heard about Frilz's tale. This also peaked their interests as well. Vulpy looked towards Kazuki and explained to him what Frilz was so excited about causing him to be interested in this as well.

"Alright we'll go check it out, but first lets at least fill our bellies at least. Its been a while since we found something to eat...Though I do miss home cooking...The times mom made her pastries were so good.....Well anywho lets get to eating shall we?"

With that said they all started to eat.


Posted by: Living Arrow Jun 26 2013, 02:35 PM

Lyla was a little taken aback by the kiss on her hand from Darius and she found het blossoming in her neck and cheeks. He kissed her hand?! How… how…Knightly! No wonder he wore armour. She allowed her cheeks to redden, examining this new masculine presence in her life and, like all teenage girls, began to see him in a new light.

*OMIGOSH! He kissed my hand! But then… That is just a greeting in some places… But he wrestled an Arbok for me!... But bravery isn’t uncommon among adventuring Pokemon Trainers…*

She looked at him sideways. Was he even hot? It was so hard to tell with that… that costume. That said, how did she look? White summer dress with pink detail on the hem and creeping flowers over the tight-fitting bodice led up to a lace edging over her bust and thin shoulder straps. Milky skin connected her white pumps to the hem of the dress that rose high above the knee. Her hair was down, as usual, and as thick and golden as a Ninetails’s fur. There wasn’t anything she could do right then to improve her looks but if only she had a mirror to try!

“Oh, Cesc!” Lyla’s attention snapped back to the real world and her recently acquired friend directed her focus to the battle screens. Her eyes widened. “Oh, Darryn! And... Branwys! I’m, like, not sure who to cheer for! Umm.. Like, good luck, both of you!” She laughed, waving a fist at the screen.

“Lyla!"

“Wha-? Douken?!”

"Wow, our Breeder-in-Training is certainly being a busy girl, isn't she?" Douken chuckled. "Didn't expect to see you so soon after the phone call. I'm guessing Darryn is participating as well?"

*And me! I’m a Trainer, too!*

Lyla opened her mouth to speak but Douken’s stomach interrupted her. “I forgot that I still need to eat. Lyla, care to join me for lunch? My treat." He offered.

Lyla looked sideways at Darius. His attention was now taken by the girl that had come right after the Ekans/Arbok attack and no longer was his hand-kissing self directed her way. DAMN! Lyla’s dagger-glare for the girl lasted a millisecond before she looked back at Douken.

“Sorry, Douken but Darryn and a friend of mine are battling right now at the Cave Arena.” She nodded to the overhead screens where her cousin had summoned his Pokemon. “Ooh… India…” She whispered to herself.

*Really? He’s sending India?* She scrutinised Darryn’s selection of the Butterfree but inwardly shrugged. He was bound to know what he was doing.

“I’ll come find you later, though.” She smiled, stepping back and linking an arm around Cesc’s. “C’mon, Cesc! Let’s run over to the Cave and spectate from the sidelines!?” She saved another glance for the knightly Darius. DAMN!

Posted by: rt117 Jun 26 2013, 04:37 PM

Tikal blinked, not having expected to receive such attention from the armoured man. Dragon Trainer's blood? Wasn't the path meant to be by choice? She wouldn't question such an ideal however, especially since it was possible that the man might have met her father at some point, maybe even within the past few months.

"Well, I haven't seen him since I was ten, so I'm not sure where he would be right now. His name is Zekiel Faylen, and I'm his daughter Tikal." the girl explained, rubbing the back of her head. "The last time I saw him, he gave me my first Pokemon: a Charmander. I know he had a Charizard, a Hydreigon, and he was starting to raise a Dratini.

Upon hearing the call of the Charmander, Tikal's Jigglypuff turned to watch as she was suddenly being dragged over toward the strange, air-filled structure. Those within seemed to be having quite a bit of fun, so it did not take much convincing for the round pink Pokemon to follow along with the stranger's plan. Food could wait for now, for at the moment the looming structure seemed all the more inviting.

Following Darius' gaze toward their Pokemon and the structure, Tikal nodded with a small smile, pulling three Pokeballs from her pocket. It seemed like it would be worthwhile for the others to have a bit of free play, before they started up their next round anyways. Tossing them forth, the forms of her Charmeleon, Nidorino, and Croconaw could be seen.

Her Croconaw would be more willing to join in on the fun, running headlong past the two walking Pokemon and flying into the bouncy structure, while Charmeleon saw the opportunity only as a chore to babysit the others. Arms crossed with a somewhat stern look on his face, he walked alongside the other two, watching the unevolved Charmander carefully. Meanwhile her Nidorino stopped just outside, having the sense to stay out of the seemingly delicate structure as his poisonous barbs would likely puncture the air-filled materials.

Posted by: Kamaitachi Jun 26 2013, 11:59 PM

As Cesc had started up a conversation with Lyla, a young man man muscled his way between the two. The young man, Douken, evidently, completely ignored the conversation Cesc had struck up with Lyla. Cesc, at least, had acknowledged the existence of the Armored Man and the Jigglypuff Girl, which, admittedly, wasn't that much better. In the way that little collections of people like this form, it just as quickly broke apart. The Armored man and the Jigglypuff Girl struck up a conversation, and headed off towards the delightful looking moonbounce.

However, Lyla locked her arm around Cesc's notably tanner arm. The young man flashed a grin at Lyla, before turning to give a wink at Douken as if to say: Sorry, brother. Not today.

"Lady Lyla, I must say, you've a great number of admirers. It's your impeccable looks with your chic sense of fashion." He patted her hand as he started to speed up. "Allow me to get you in touch with my Aunt and Uncle back home in Arasam? I'm sure they'd be happy to whip up any clothing ideas you had. They're tailors, you see..." Even as they jogged away from the group, Cesc continued to chat away about the wonders of his home-base tailor shop.

* * *

It had been a close battle, and Tag had barely scraped by. This wasn't a good sign for the first round, but the again, he'd been up against the remarkably talented Jill Laurent. From what he had heard, the second round wasn't until the next day, so he had time to decompress, see some of the sights, and perhaps get a well-deserved drink.

He looked up at one of the passing screens, watching a few of the battles as they flashed by...and sure enough, there was his co-ordinator friend, whom he had not seen since Starfall Field. Darryn Kellor. He appeared to be facing a young girl, who commanded a Cubone, Golurk, and Torkoal. Interesting choice in Pokemon on both sides made the battle appear quite interesting.

The screen flashed, and suddenly he saw Liz Shir, who had made it past her preliminary, facing a young blonde in battle. Silently, he clenched his fist, cheering Liz on in his mind. The girl would do well; she was rather talented.

He took a moment to stare up at the various screens, wanting to scope out the other competition. A screen showed the Deranged Doctor Spatula and...the Loudmouth Rock Star kid he'd met back in Gigarte. Or was it Demented? He couldn't quite keep her moniker straight, but it appeared that she had emerged victorious. He watched intently, noting the trainers that had appeared to make it to the next round.

The next television showed...Justin Smart. His old frenemy had made it past the preliminaries, and was now waiting for an opponent. The camera was mostly showing the back of his head, but Tag knew instinctively who it was. His heart gurgled at the thought of facing Justin, especially given the even playing field. It appeared that Justin's next match was on standby, and he wondered whether or not to head over to the field to spectate like an actual friend, and spy on his team like a competitor.

There was really no need at the moment; he knew Justin's team in and out; he just needed to prepare for their boost in level.

The tattooed man resumed walking, figuring he'd see the results for the next round at some point later in the evening. In the mean-time, however, he found himself walking past a moon-bounce. Within, some delighted looking Pokemon were bouncing around happily. A Nidorino appeared to be guarding the entrance to the tent, which probably meant that Tag himself couldn't enter and play with all of the delightfully cute Pokemon. Allowing himself a moment, he let out a rare smile, the joy of the playing pokemon filling him with joy.

The moment passed swiftly, however, as he continued moving past the moonbounce. Surely one of the tents sold alcohol. Once he found one, he'd let Jill know. If she was unable...perhaps Justin. One of the two would surely be a good drinking buddy.


Posted by: colourcodedchaos Jun 27 2013, 05:10 AM

While Tag was standing by the bouncy castle watching the rubber withstand the improbably-spiked Pokemon within it, a small shape took up a position alongside him before nudging him in the leg. Were he to look down, he would see a Cranidos with a worried expression and an anxious-looking Joltik on her head.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lee. Sorry to bother you, but we've got a bit of a problem. I, er... I lost my human, and we never had the money to get her microchipped. Could you help us look for her? Normally she's easy to find, but there aren't any people running from the flames and maniacal laughter right now-"

BOOM

"... Tik," opined the Joltik, her head in her foreclaws.

"I, er, that'll be her. We need someone who can calm her down. Food madness, you see. Or at least, that's what Mantyke told me."

*******

Food madness was about the best term for it. It was a general rule of thumb among the Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter community that if you did not have a lightning-fast metabolism, you had Daddy build you one. Adelaide being, well, Adelaide, she did it herself, and since her background was in theoretical physics and not biotech, she succumbed to hyperactivity in the event of a food binge, her body flooding with energy faster than it could be converted into picotech upgrades and breed new upgrades within her.

As a result, she'd decided to try and make a good old-fashioned giant robot to let off some steam.

This had gone about as well as one might expect.

The machine had definitely worked, yes - for about four seconds. However, the experimental biomass compression chamber that powered the thing had gone a bit wonky, which was Professional Mad Scientist for 'was currently scattered over a rather wide area and had been billowing thick orange smoke into the atmosphere for several minutes now.' Adelaide pushed up her welding mask, examined a few bits of burnt, rapidly-regenerating hair, and grinned like a maniac.

"Well then. Tynamo, fetch the spanners, I think I know what I did wrong!"

"Tyyyy," groaned Tynamo, and went off in search of the toolkit and a comfort pickle.

Posted by: Toogee Jun 29 2013, 06:32 AM

Darius walked with Tikal towards the giant moon bounce while they watched their pokemon run ahead of them. He took a few moments to think about the names Tikal passed along. The dragon trainer couldn’t think of any Zekiels in his travels through Unova or Johto, nor was he in Furoh long enough to know much of anyone. Nonetheless, he decided to improvise.

“Well, there are those of our guild who choose the path of the lone wolf. They journey to the deepest, darkest corners of the world in search of the strongest dragons. You rarely see them in civilization. Your father may be one of them. One of my goals here is to find one of those lone wolfs, an outcast of Blackthorn that has made his home here. It won’t be easy to find him; he’s likely taken shelter in some deep cave or something.”

The person Darius spoke of was Taggarty Lee. The dragon trainer was completely oblivious to the fact that Mr. Lee passed right behind them. However, Darius had more pressing concerns as he reached the attendant.

“What do you mean ‘no swords’?! This is practically my right arm! You want my leg too while you’re at it?”

“Sir, no weapons on the moon bounce,” the attendant repeated. Darius begrudgingly handed over the scabbard along with his blade. He watched as Bindy disappeared within the structure. Once he came inside, Darius found the massive size of the attraction rather daunting. He’d been in grocery stores smaller than this! He figured he was going to wait outside while the charmander had her fun for a few minutes. He quickly realized this wasn’t going to work and started wading in.

“Man, how do people stand in these things?” Darius said aloud as he tried to make a walk across the structure. With so many people jumping around, he felt like he would topple over just like most people. It was quite clear that Darius had never experienced the joys of moon bouncing.

Posted by: rt117 Jul 3 2013, 11:53 PM

"I dont think most people carry weapons around for that to be a problem..." Tikal thought to herself, holding back the comment as she did not wish to offend the man. Soon they would begin to crawl inside, after shoes and any sharp items were removed from their person. She had only been in one of these things once before, a long time ago when she had a few friends that lived in town. Otherwise most of her time had been spent within the wilderness. Crawling forward, she caught sight of their Pokemon further in, the almost weightless form of Jigglypuff bouncing about in the structure carelessly, not seeming to mind if someone bumped into her.

"You're not supposed to stand in them." Tikal replied to Darius as he appeared to find difficulty in moving about. Slowly moving to her feet, the girl suddenly grinned almost fiendishly. "You're supposed to just have fun." And with that, she leaped toward him, bringing her knees into her chest as she landed right beside his feet, in an attempt to knock him off balance. Tikal hadn't noticed until now, but perhaps this was one of the first times that she had been so...open. The trainer was more used to being less talkative, out of shyness. Perhaps it was because she missed having the opportunity to socialize with others, rather than just her Pokemon. It was nice to get to talk to someone again, even if she knew almost nothing about them.

The girl couldn't help but feel that the man was perhaps a bit too uptight. Disipline and routine were all well and good, but it wouldn't hurt to just unwind every now and then. Perhaps she could make him see that, if not for him than for his Pokemon. His Charmander seemed to want to play around more than anyone. Slowly moving back onto her hands and knees, she looked over at her new companion. "So how long have you been a Dragon Trainer?"

Posted by: Yzarc Drowsnam Jul 4 2013, 11:43 PM

Jill had managed to find a concession stand which sold beer. She had almost given up hope, especially since most of the combatants here were minors. As expected, the prices were damn near ridiculous, but hey, where the hell else were you gonna go?

"Howdy," she nodded to the evidently overworked cashier. Seeing Jill's face was apparently enough to lift his spirits.

"Howdy, cowgirl," he smiled. "What can I do ya for?"

Obviously making fun of her accent, she just forced a smile and moved on. Though she was normally sarcastic and cold, she always made an effort to be just as friendly as possible to people who handle her food. "Uhh, the sign says you guys sell beer, but doesn't say what kind?"

"Yeah, we got Silph and Silph Lite."

Her heart sank, but not enough for her to put her wallet away. "Can I get two Silph Lites? Please."

"Yes, ma'am, that'll be ten dollars." She handed over the money and grabbed the two beers. "You want me to open both, or just one?"

"Neither," she nodded. "I got my own."

"Great! Well, have a good one."

"You too, thanks."

She put the two beers in her purse, if only so she wasn't the lady walking around the stadium with two beers in her hands. Eventually, she managed to find Tag in the crowd. She saw him before he saw her, so she walked up to him and forcefully put one of the beers in front of him. "You're gonna tell me exactly what I should have done to beat you." Before he was able to respond, but after he acknowledged her, she continued. "And then, since your next battle isn't 'til tomorrow, we're gonna get trashed."

It was about that time that an insistant looking Joltik was juding up against Tag, and then a noticeable "boom" sound went off nearby, pulling Jill's attention. She forcefully turned her head back to Tag. "Nope. Not my problem. Not interested."

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jul 5 2013, 05:36 PM

Bartholomew!

Joey furiously finger-spelled his personal assistant's name to get his attention. Bartholomew just shrugged at him and kept walking, obviously looking for something among the various vendors. The young boy had shed his overzealous Pidgeotto themed suit and now donned a classic black tuxedo, which he desperately wished they could have started with as it were the lesser extravagance. The pair weaved their way through the crowds, with the smaller boy steadily following in his taller assistant's trail before it closed to the onslaught of people. Joey never considered himself an agoraphobic, but now he could see where those people were coming from. That classic Pyrite crowd caution showed itself when Joey was running his hand along his freshly healed Pokeballs, making sure he still had everyone. They were on small, fashionable clips along the lower edge of his tux jacket, in just the right position to touch them discreetly.

When they finally came to a stop, Bartholomew waved his hands palm up in front of him signing, "Here we are!". This vendor had various eggs scattered around and some newly hatched Pokemon running around. Some were playing, others were looking curiously for their new trainers. An arched sign above read Loch Ranch Adoption Center. Bartholomew looked quite pleased that they had found it, but Joey was only confused. Joey tried signing "Why?", but Bartholomew was already in conversation ahead of him with the staff workers which led the pair inside the pen to get a closer look at the Pokemon. Bartholomew caught Joey's eye and tapped his forefingers together, alternating, signifying that it was time for the new Coordinator to find a new friend.

Joey quickly nodded a closed fist in agreement, and set to work. He had less enjoyable tasks than finding a new Pokemon, but he was worried about how it was being paid for, and immediately decided to use his own allowances he had been saving. His worries soon vanished as the horde of happy Pokemon overtook him. There were some Eevee much like his own, and a Growlithe he got along with quite well. He had always wanted a Growlithe while growing up. He hugged the warm, fluffy body and brought it into his lap. The happy puppy licked him generously, which Joey rewarded with likewise generous rubs.

He was almost sold on the Growlithe, but an Eevee inched his way towards Joey's jacket hem, sniffing curiously. He pawed at one of Joey's Pokeballs, and Joey just watched in fascination while lazily petting the Growlithe. The Eevee nosed the Pokeball, and energy zipped out and compiled on the open grass.

"Oooeee!" Babylon squealed as he took in the fresh air and sunlight. Blinking, he looked at the new Eevee in front of him. Registering a fellow species, the two Eevee both squealed happily and started playing, tumbling in brown blurs around the small pen. The Growlithe started barking at the pair, and a staffworker came over to calm him down and apologized to Joey with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, he can be a bit excitable," the woman took the Growlithe in her arms and patted him to calm him down, which worked fairly quickly. Joey moved to get his own Pokemon and recall him.

"Babylon! Babylon," Joey called, and both Eevees scampered over to sit at his feet and look up at him endearingly. Which was his? He picked up one and then the other, comparing. Having worked in a Pokemon Daycare thoughout his teen years, he was usually pretty good at discerning individuals even of the same species, but this was a little bit more challenging. Aha!

"Here you are, Babylon," Joey said, holding up his own Eevee. "You need to lose some weight, buddy." A statement which earned him a tiny Eevee glare. Joey brought up Babylon's Pokeball to recall him, but the Eevee squirmed out of his arms and rejoined his friend on the ground. He scuttled behind the Loch Ranch Eevee, and appeared to be unsuccessfully hiding, but instead he was nuzzling the other Eevee forward towards his trainer with an approving smile.

"Oh come on now," Joey started verbally and finished mentally, "now my own Pokemon are making choices for me." Bartholomew clapped him on the back and startled him out of his thoughts.
"Another Eevee sounds like a fine addition! I always believed they should come in sets," Bartholomew charismatically winked at the staff woman holding the Growlithe. Joey couldn't quite suppress a glare at his personal assistant.

"But I already have an Eevee," he started again verbally and smoothly transitioned into sign, "and wasn't it you who just recently accused me of being bland?"

Bartholomew dismissed the younger man with a small wave of his hand and insisted, "Eevees are different. They can become anything."

Joey rolled his eyes and accepted the second Eevee, which seemed to overjoy Babylon.

"Talk about fast friends," Joey thought.

Joey recalled both of his Eevee now while Bartholomew talked to the staffpeople. As it turns out, Pokemon were free to league and circuit-participating Trainers and Coordinators.

"And it's the strangest thing," the staffwoman mumbled contemplatively as they were leaving, "that Eevee actually had a twin that went on to be a participation prize for beginning Coordinators..."

Joey signed to Bartholomew, "Okay, but the next Pokemon has to be Exotic!"

Pokemon Acquired (click to show)

Posted by: Kamaitachi Jul 6 2013, 01:26 AM

Tag's attention was tugged downwards by a short little arm. Looking down, instantly irritated at being pulled from his solitude. He recognized the Joltik and Cranidos as pokemon belonging to Adelaide, but was still visibly jarred when the fossil Pokemon spoke to him.

"Oh...uh...Adelaide is running around somewhere I'm sure-"

With that, a beer appeared in his hand. He hadn't had a beer since his last stint in Gigarte, so it had been some time. Looking up from the distraction, he met the eyes of Jill.

"Oh. Trashed sounds...just great." Tag let out a rare smile, popping the beer and holding it up for Jill. "Honestly, you had me on the ropes the whole time. You did everything right, I just got lucky."

As the giant boom went off, Tag let out a noticeable irritated sigh.

"Roxy, I believe you've found the good Doctor." He looked to Jill, then down at the beer in his hand. "You know what...today it's not my problem either."

Too much sticking his nose in other peoples' business had been taking up a lot of his time recently. He was in a big battle tournament, and that alone was a massive amount of stress and anxiety. Tag needed some Tag-time. Beers with a new friend seemed like the best idea.

"Next round's on me."

* * *

They left poor Roxy and Joltik to care for their deranged master, and headed back to the area that sold beer. However, something caught Tag's eye, and he jerked his head for Jill to follow him.

"Insta-Move Tutor."

He approached the stand, hopefully with Jill in tow, and was amazed to see it mostly empty. The promise of Pokemon learning new moves had always been a source of excitement for Tag, even if he didn't show it. Furthering the complexity of his strategies and the ability of his Pokemon was basically what he lived for, being a trainer and all.

"How does this work?"

Without bothering to introduce himself to the mousy-looking man at the computer, Tag immediately got to business, posessing the luster in his eyes that he reserved for new Pokemon-battle related things.

"Well...I pull up your file...and...you...uh...pay me...and I can basically transfer the information into the pokeballs. They'll learn the new move in no time."

"Side effects."

"None to date...hm...merely skepticism...maybe some disdain for my genius."

The man's clear egotistical behaviour should have set Tag ill at ease, but all he heard was "new move", and with that alone, he was sold.

"Taggarty Lee."

"Yes...hmm...uh...I just saw your battle against...well...this lady. You're friends?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes." Tag nodded, sounding a bit irritated that the topic was being strayed from, "Moves please."

"You possess...10 pokemon. What moves do you want?"

He turned the computer screen to face Tag, whose fingers literally flew over the display, pulling up all sorts of windows for the potential Technical Machine and Move Tutor moves that all of his Pokemon could learn. Surprisingly, he found that he did not care for hunting down the machines and move tutors, and this demonstration seemed like a perfect way to beat that. When one was about twice the age of the average trainer, it made sense that one would not be as keen to go hiking all over the continent just to find one man who required something as trivial as shards or heart scales.

"How much?"

"Ten Pokemon...one move each? $1000 poke?"

"TAKE MY MONEY" The mad glint still in his eyes, Tag pulled out a fistful of bills and shoved it towards the man.

"Okay...here we go."

Tag felt the Pokeballs at his belt whirr a little, which was a fairly unsettling sensation. Each pokeball chimed with their 'ping' noise, which usually indicated capture, and was really the only sound a Pokeball made outside of the "vomiting out a Pokemon in a blast of light" noise.

"Try it out?" The mousy man leaned forward eagerly. Perhaps he hadn't tested it out yet, and Tag was his first guinea pig, but Tag seemed to preoccupied to care.

"Suzu!"

Suzu appeared before Tag, looking a little confused.

"Swords Dance!"

She tilted her head to the side, processing her trainer's request. With a look that surprised even her, she flashed out a series of aerial acrobatics that neither of them had been prepared for. Tag noted the aura that whipped up around her; a sign that Swords Dance had been successfully performed.

"This is amazing...more moves-" he reached down into his wallet, then looked over to Jill, his eyes calming down a bit. "...eh...never mind. There are beers to drink."

Why he made that choice was beyond him. Perhaps he really didn't mind the extra effort to train his Pokemon to learn new moves. Perhaps he really did want to spend his money having beers with a companion that was actually of age to drink beer. Either way...Tag felt slightly proud that he'd taken a social choice, rather than his constant "Pokemon Master" choice.

"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to seek you out again sometime." Tag bowed respectfully as Suzu latched on to his shoulder. "So Jill, where'd you find those beers?"

Update! (click to show)

Posted by: Toogee Jul 7 2013, 08:10 PM

"WAH!"

Darius was caught completely off guard as Tikal dived right in front of him. He landed flat on his back, bouncing up and down with everyone else jumping around. It made getting up quite difficult, but Darius seemed to have finally started to enjoy the experience. He looked over to Tikal, who was curious about his past. The girl seemed to have opened up to him, genuinely curious about the life of a dragon trainer. Perhaps she wanted to become one herself?

"Well, the path of a dragon trainer begins like any other: with their first pokemon. I had to catch her with my bare hands! She kinda made it easy with all the hugging and stuff..."

While he spoke, Darius looked over to his charmander, who was trying to grab at the floating jigglypuff's feet to make her a makeshift parachute. He couldn't help but smirk; in spite of his encouragement of toughness, he still had a soft spot for Bindy's antics. This of course inspired his own mischief as he held out a hand to Tikal.

"Here, help me up," he asked the girl, totally intending on pulling her down with him.

Posted by: rt117 Jul 7 2013, 10:19 PM

"Interesting. I also started with my Charmander, though he had been given as a gift." Tikal noted, following the man's gaze over toward their Pokemon, her Jigglypuff seeming to struggle to stay aloft with Bindy holding onto her foot. Almost immediately the pink Pokemon puffed up, flapping her small pudgy arms in an attempt to stay afloat, though with virtually no success as the heavier Fire-type weighed her down. Tikal's Croconaw and Charmeleon were nowhere in sight, likely further inside the structure, while her Nidorino continued to sunbathe outside of the castle, waiting for the others to finish their play time.

Upon his request to receive help in getting up, Tikal followed along in his little plan, extending out her hand to help him up as he had asked. However upon doing so, the girl was almost immediately pulled down by her companion, flipping over onto her own back, and staring up at the rubbery ceiling in a slight daze. Laying there for a few moments, the girl suddenly laughed, rubbing her eyes with one of her hands.

"Okay okay... now we're even, okay?" she asked, slowly pushing herself up onto her back into a sitting position, and looking over at Darius with a small smirk. At least he had eased up a little bit, versus the more strict and almost tough man that she had first seen earlier in the day.

Posted by: Captain Combusken Jul 8 2013, 06:14 PM

Zack knew that he was late, but he didn't care. Just the experience of being at an event like the Grand Invitational was enough for him. The 18 year could name all the different types of rock in the Furoh region, but when it came to life experience, he wasn't quite so hot. Whilst he had big dreams of travelling and achieving something with his life, he struggled with the motivation to get out and do things. He was only at the Invitational because his father had practically dragged Zack to the Dragonite Express Transportation building back in Arasam. Zack was grateful for that. Being here was much better than sitting at home or working in the mines. He enjoyed both those things, of that there was no doubt, but maybe this event could finally kiclstart Zack's Pokemon journey, which was something the man needed to.

Zack currently stood in front of a small cabin. The luxury hotel was extremely pricey for most people, and Zack's father couldn't afford the costs of staying there, so Zack had rented out a slightly more rustic abode. The cabin was tiny but comfortable, and Zack's stuff was sage inside. It stood in a small field with other similar cabins, all of which were owned by a respectable company, so the man wasn't worried about his things. He had just left the cabin to go and explore the stalls of the Invitational. He had admitedly already missed out on quite a few battles, but the big ones were still yet to come, and they would be excellent to watch.

Zack had decided that he didn't want to explore alone, so he had decided to give Olympus a bit of fresh air. He had thought about letting his other Pokemon out, but Kodo was very shy, and Zack was afriad that the little guy might get a little scared of the business of the event, and he didn't want to have to deal with Arthur's tricks, so Olympus was the only one out of his Pokeball. The energetic little Torchic jumped around with enthusiasm at his surroundings. Zack couldn't help but smile at his starter Pokemon. The Torchic clearly loved life, and it made Zack happy to see it.

"Ol, buddy, if you jump around much longer you're gonna break something!" exclaimed Zack
"Chiiiiick! Tor-chick-tor!" replied Olympus, which Zack could only assume was a reply of denial.
"Hehe, come on mate, let's explore."

And with that, Zack and Olympus left the cabins, heading towards the main Invitational site.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jul 8 2013, 07:17 PM

Aaron was exhausted as the boat pulled into the Petropolis harbor. Seasickness was the main cause of his grief--Aaron had never actually travelled by boat in his life before, he was most certainly not expecting the endless ebb and flow of the ships's constant movement. Grayson, on the other hand, had really enjoyed the trip, taking advantage of the open air and gliding around the boat as it hurried along. Regardless, the trip was finally ending, and as soon as the boat hit the shore, Aaron bolted from the deck and into the city of Petropolis.

Although he had grown up in a major city, no brochure could have prepared him for the sprawling city that was Petropolis. Grayson was loving the open air, but rested on Aaron's shoulder in order to make sure he didn't lose sight of his trainer amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. All of the light posts seemed to display the same flag--inviting trainers to the Petropolis Grand invitational. Although it appeared that the actual tournament had already began about a week ago, Aaron was certain it was still going on. Maybe he could be able to find a battle or two himself, who knows.

As he followed the flags and made his way to the battle site, Aaron and Grayson could not help but notice that despite how impressive the city looked at first glance, it was full of a lot of shady people and going-ons. Aaron and Grayson couldn't help but look over their shoulders as they walked through the streets, feeling as if they were being watched. Aaron thought more than once about putting Grayson back in his ball for protection, but it was their first time in a new region--he wasn't going to stop his best friend from checking out the scene.

As Aaron finally reached the battle area, the city started looking a lot cleaner and less shady. It seemed as if the money plugged into this event had created a sort of safe haven at the battle site, where normal looking trainers from all over could relax without the fear of being robbed. The first thing Aaron saw as he approached was a black trainer with a scarfed Torchic running around like a crazy pokemon. Grayson, being high on excitement energy, took off from Aaron's shoulder and tackled the Torchic playfully.

"Oh geeze, I'm so sorry," Aaron started as he ran after Gligar. "He's just a mischievous little fellow is all. He really means no harm"

Posted by: Captain Combusken Jul 9 2013, 08:26 AM

The Petropolis Grand Invitational was truly stunning, Zack and Olympus spent most of their time simply gazing at the vast array of brightly coloured stalls and beign amazed at the sheer scale of the event. There were stalls everywhere, battles going on all around them, the Contest stage which was simply stunning in its own right and hundreds of trainers and people milling about. Zack's natural quietness meant that he didn't interact much with other people much, but there was something about the atmosphere at the Invitational that was just so friendly, so animated, that it made him feel a little more open to other people. He was still far from talkative and chatty, but he had noticed that he was being far more sociable than he usually was. Maybe it was the fact that most of his time at home was spent home alone or in the mines working mostly by himself. Zack didn't know. He just knew that the Invitational looked set to be extremely good for him.

It was early afternoon presently, and Zack was looking at a colourful stall advertising special types of Pokeball from Johto. Olympus was running excitedly around Zack's feet. Zack was about to approach the stall to talk to its vendor when he heard a startled yelp from Olympus. Zack, worried, turned around and saw a large Gligar smothering his Torchic playfully. Olympus, who originally was angry, changed mood quickly when he saw that the Gligar's actions meant no harm, and began attempting to play with the Flyscorpion Pokemon. Zack turned round to face a young man headed his way. The man was about the same height as Zack and had jet black hair. He was smiling apologetically.

"Oh geeze, I'm so sorry," said the man. "He's just a mischievous little fellow is all. He really means no harm."

"Oh, that's fine, I'm used to it. I have a Pokemon who is quite naughty at times too. Besides, Olympus doesn't seem to mind" replied Zack.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jul 9 2013, 10:40 AM

Aaron sighed with relief at the fellow's ease with the situation. He knew Grayson could get out of hand, and was glad that the other trainer seemed to be used to this kind of behavior. The stall that he had been standing in front of featured a topic Aaron was very familiar with--Apricorn balls. Falkner had always encouraged his gym trainers to use them, as they were most traditional and had character, whatever that meant. Also, buying them had meant supporting Kurt of Azalea Town, who refused to use modern technology to make his balls, opting instead to use old-fashioned artisanship. As yet another example of his rebellion against his father, Aaron had specifically chosen to use a regular pokeball for his captures to prove that modern day technology was just as good as any of the old crap his dad still wanted to use. Still, Apricorn bals were pretty

"You thinking about buying an Apricorn ball?" Aaron queried as the two pokemon continued to play. "MY name's Aaron. I'm from Johto actually, and can tell you that these things are the real deal. Each of them have different, specialised effects on the pokemon they hold," Aaron explained. He wondered for a moment if any of these stalls might hold the item he had been searching for--the Razor Fang. He knew it would help Gligar grow exponentially stronger, but until this point had had not been able to find one. They were very rare items, and judging from his track record, he knew wasn't going to have an easy time finding one.

After the trainer answered Aaron's question, Aaron was tapped on the shoulder by a short man wearing a white labcoat. He had very large, horn-rimmed glasses, and a bit of a hunched back. He was old, definitely old, and looked sort of pathetic and helpless in the way that he had approached the two trainers. On his shoulder sat an interesting looking pokemon, the likes of which Aaron had never seen. It was sort of like a Pikachu and a Pachirisu combined, but smaller. It looked longingly over at Torchic and Gligar playing, and like the old man, Aaron sort of felt sorry for it.

"Excuse me young gentlemen...." the old-timer began. Yup, this guy could've been a sage at Sprout Tower. He was that old. "My name is Angus. I am a scientist trying to transition into being a pokemon trainer. I came here at this competition to see as many battles as I can to understand the art of battling, but it appears as if all of the battles going on are sold-out crowds. Would you mind doing an old man a favor and showing me a battle between your pokemon?"

"Trying to transition to being a trainer? He's like 70 years old!" Aaron thought to himself. This guy was really eccentric--no, odd would be a more apt term. But even though the old guy gave him the creeps, but he could never say no to what sounded like a dying man's last request.

"Sure, of course we can. That is, if you're up to it?" Aaron said towards the trainer with a smirk. He looked like the type of trainer who'd be up for some fun, especially if his pokemon was as jolly as it was. As weird as the old man and circumstances had become, Aaron was excited to finally battle someone.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jul 10 2013, 11:12 AM

“Thanks, Nurse Joy.” Lori bobbed a polite curtsey, taking up her green-capped Pokeballs and minimising each before clipping the four to her belt. The balls were still slightly warm from the make-shift Pokemon Center’s healing machine, almost giving the impression that they were giving off the heat of the creatures within while they waited patiently inside them. “Is everyone OK?”

“Well, they’re just fine.” The nurse bowed her head in perfect time with her partner Chansey. “Please look after yourself and we hope to see you again!”

Lori smiled and made her way out of the healing tent and back into the main tournament village, pondering over those words.

*You hope to see me again? But wont that mean that my Pokemon are hurt? She hopes my Pokemon get hurt… weird…*

“Hmm?” Lori stopped her aimless wandering not long after it began, her eyes halting their lazy drifting over the crowds and stalls to land on a black and white Pokemon on an old man’s shoulder. It was so so adorable, Lori couldn’t help but grin, that an indetification from her Unovadex was in order.

[Emolga. The Sky Squirrel Pokemon. It glides on its outstretched membrane while shocking foes with the electricty stored in the pounches on its cheeks.]

“Emolga, hmm?” Lori read the extended description on her handheld device, finishing the entry with the regional data. Her eyes widened. “U…U…UNOVAAAA!” She cried, triumphant in her latest discovery of the list of Pokemon she had been sent to investigate. With a skip, she ran to the old man who was talking to two boys.

“Excuse me, sir?!” She hopped on the spot with unrestrained excitement. “If you caught that Emolga somewhere in Furoh, please will you tell me where!?”

Posted by: Yzarc Drowsnam Jul 10 2013, 05:42 PM

Jill couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she watched Tag gleefully throw down money to improve the skillset of his pokemon. Spending money to improve his team didn't surprise her, but she definitely figured Tag to be much better at holding his alcohol. When he finished paying for his new toys, she just smiled at him. "Mind if I have a go now? Then beers."

She looked over the options, and, fortunately for her, didn't have nearly as many decisions to make. She only had three pokemon. "Looks like you have some TMs available?"

"Yeah," the man nodded. "They're more expensive, but you can use 'em as many times as you want. And, hell, you can even sell 'em after. Not to me, but, you know."

"Got it. Okay, so here's what I want.

Vinyl, her Weepinbel, needed more power. He had speed, and he had a way to boost his own strength, but what he really lacked was a powerful attack to make use of sunlight boosted Growth. He also had a way to heal himself very effectively, but it used up a turn, which was risky on such an offensive pokemon. He needed a better way to sustain himself, a way that wouldn't sacrifice his insane speed and offense.

"For Vinyl, I'll take Giga Drain."

Flare, her Vulpix, had power, speed and utility. She brought in sunlight just from being nearby. But, Jill noticed, Flare's abilities in battle dropped off after summoning the sun. She didn't have a powerful passive ability like Chlorophyll or Flash Fire. So, this particular move would allow Flare to copy her target's ability, which could potentially create massive opportunities for making plays.

"For Flare, Role Play."

That left Pele, the Ponyta. She had power, speed, surviveability. She lacked a few things. She lacked type coverage. Things which resisted Fire had to be dealt with using Bounce, which was far from a fast attack. But type coverage wouldn't be an issue as a Rapidash. She'd immediately learn Megahorn and Poison Jab, so she could at least deal with Psychic and Dark. Though, she didn't really need the extra damage against Grass. She could figure that out later, though. What Jill's team needed was another way of inducing the Sun. Knocking Flare out and then getting rid of the sunlight left her whole strategy impotent.

"Pele gets Sunny Day."

She paid for the two move tutor attacks and the TM (Sunny Day) and led Tag towards the concession where she found the beer. "Drinks are on me, if you want. I can't help but notice you just blew through a thousand bucks."

Posted by: Kamaitachi Jul 12 2013, 01:49 AM

Tag allowed himself a smile.

"You know, a thousand bucks isn't that much to a travelling trainer. Every week, at least a dozen or so kids march up to me, and challenge me to a battle because I "look tough". They get their asses handed to them, and they angrily throw their parents money at me."

He flipped out another set of bills, handing the amount over to the beer vendor. Receiving the cups, he handed one over to Jill. "You can get the next round. Let's find a place to sit down."


Posted by: Douken Sota Jul 12 2013, 09:51 AM

Blinking at hat occurred, Douken sighed at the wink that came from Cesc. Make it seem like its a competition, he thought before having to deal with lunch by himself. So, having to go by himself, he toured the facility of other outdoor restaurants. In the end, he found himself going to one called Sparkies, a pizza joint that, by what he would guess by the name, used electricity to cook the pizza. It was an odd concept, but it would have to do. He hadn't had pizza in a while.

As he waited for his order of a personal deep dish with sausage and pepperoni, he took a bottle of milk and took a sip as he watched the recaps of events. It showed nothing the prelims, so he still had no idea Lyla had participated. However, there were a collection of faces he did recognize. Tag was a big one, considering the tattoos made him stand out like a sore thumb. Then there was the kid with Lyla earlier.... A doctor and guitarist? Well, both of them seemed nuts at least. Then it paned over to his battle with Lori, just in time for his order to arrive.

"That's you, right?" the server asked as he set down the order. "That was a really good fight. Hey, I bet you got a ton of strong Pokemon that need to eat as well, right?"

Thanking for the food and compliment, he said, "Sorry, but I take care of my own Pokemon's food. besides, wouldn't want any researcher types to spy in on what I have and plan a counterattack, right?" They both laughed at the comment before he walked away, the server giving off a quick sigh. Giving it a moment to cool, Douken took another sip and thought, But if that's true, then that means three of them have been revealed, leaving 5 at secret, though most would only expect another three.

the screen went to a current battle then: Darryn vs a girl named Branwys.What was funny was there was a kid who was starting the support cant for one side. But what made even littler sense was he started doing it for the other side too! "C'mon kid," he said, pulling off a slice, "If you are going to root, choose a side. You can't take both ends so freely." As for what side he was on, Cmon Darryn, you can do this! With a quick bite, he thought about the cahnces of actually being able to take him on himself.

Posted by: Toogee Jul 14 2013, 06:56 AM

QUOTE(rt117 @ Jul 7 2013, 10:19 PM) *
"Interesting. I also started with my Charmander, though he had been given as a gift." Tikal noted, following the man's gaze over toward their Pokemon, her Jigglypuff seeming to struggle to stay aloft with Bindy holding onto her foot. Almost immediately the pink Pokemon puffed up, flapping her small pudgy arms in an attempt to stay afloat, though with virtually no success as the heavier Fire-type weighed her down. Tikal's Croconaw and Charmeleon were nowhere in sight, likely further inside the structure, while her Nidorino continued to sunbathe outside of the castle, waiting for the others to finish their play time.

Upon his request to receive help in getting up, Tikal followed along in his little plan, extending out her hand to help him up as he had asked. However upon doing so, the girl was almost immediately pulled down by her companion, flipping over onto her own back, and staring up at the rubbery ceiling in a slight daze. Laying there for a few moments, the girl suddenly laughed, rubbing her eyes with one of her hands.

"Okay okay... now we're even, okay?" she asked, slowly pushing herself up onto her back into a sitting position, and looking over at Darius with a small smirk. At least he had eased up a little bit, versus the more strict and almost tough man that she had first seen earlier in the day.


Darius remained on the floor, his hands behind his head. He too had a smirk, satisfied for getting the last laugh. He was in no rush to get up, allowing his body to bounce up and down with the movements of surrounding visitors.

“So, see anything interesting in Furoh? I’m looking out for some high adventure where ever I go.” Though he usually let fate decide his destinations, that didn’t mean Darius couldn’t have a list of stuff to do should fate choose somewhere specific.

Meanwhile, Bindy was using the jigglypuff’s attempts to float to jump even higher. The charmander pressed hard onto the floor, then leaped up. This allowed Jigglypuff to float to a certain height, before crashing back down to the floor to repeat the process. Bindy was having loads of fun, cheering every time she soared into the air.

Posted by: Captain Combusken Jul 14 2013, 07:50 PM

Zack saw the relief on the boy's face and smiled inwardly. It was always good to be on good terms with people. The boy then introduced himself as Aaron, and explained that he came fromJohto and knew all about the Apricorn balls on the stall Zack had been looking at. Zack found it interesting, but he didn't have a great deal of spare change with him, so couldn't afford to buy any of the Pokeballs.

"Nah, I was just browsing really," he said. "It's nice to meet ya, though, Aaron. It's interestin that you're from Johto though. I ain't met a guy from Johto before."

Zack felt as if Aaron was going to continue talking, but as he was about to, an ancient manand his Emolga approached the two boys, asking if they could battle for him, as he was transitioning to becoming a trainer. Zack was a little uneasy at this suggestion. None of his Pokemon were that experienced in battle, and he wasn't sure if they were ready for that yet, especially Kodo, who was very shy and preferred not to fight. When Aaron asked Zack if he wanted to battle, Zack sighed inwardly. There wasn't really going to be any avoiding this battle.

"Yeah, sure. Ain't like I got anythin else to do. Olympus, return."

Zack returned Olympus to his Pokeball. He wasn't sure that he wanted Olympus battling first. Olympus was easily Zack's strongest fighter, and he wanted to keep the fiery little guy's energy for later. Zack still wasn't sure about Kodo, so he decided that Arthur would be his best shot to open.

"Ready when you are, dude," he said, grasping Arthur's Pokeball in his hand.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jul 15 2013, 03:54 PM

OOC (click to show)

Posted by: Kamaitachi Jul 30 2013, 01:53 PM

QUOTE
A loud booming voice burst over the mainframe PA, announcing to all attendants of the Petrpolis Grand Invitational:

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Our First Round Battles are almost over, please draw your attention to one of our many screens to see the results!'

Every television screen shifted over, showing the next round brackets for the participating trainers.

"For those who lost their First Round Matches, fear not! You are now in the 2nd Bracket, and are still eligible for prizes and awards! Ladies and Gentlemen! The Consolation Bracket!"

The board filled up with names and pictures of the numerous trainers who had entered the tourney, but one particular bracket stood out:

"The loser of Kellor/Muphenz vs The Loser of Cortoma/Shir"
"Seiccan Serroc vs Sebastian West"
"Francesco Rojas vs Lori Pardare"
"Jill Laurent vs Hunter Price"

As the bracket faded, each of the trainers' respective devices updated with the time and place for their next battles, which gave them several hours to recuperate and prepare themselves for the next set of battles.

"And now, presenting the main event...your tournament's 2nd Round! These trainers blazed past their first rounds with spectacular battles, and are still in it to win it, here at the Petropolis Grand Invitational! Cheer your faces off for the following trainers!"

Once again the bracket re-appeared, presenting a quick action clip of the trainer in action before settling their headshot comfortably into the bracket.

"The winner of Kellor/Muphenz vs the Winner of Cortoma/Shir!"
"Adelaide Robinson vs Justin Smart!"
"Joey J. Sweet vs Douken Sota!"
"Taggarty Lee vs Tikal Faylen!"

The trainers in question's devices beeped, signifying that they, too, had a few hours to prepare for their next matches.


Tag blinked owlishly at the screen. Looking down at the half finished beer in his hand, he drowsily stood up.

"Well...crap magikarps." He sighed as he stood. He'd been hoping to continue drinking with Jill for the moment, but it appeared that he had only a few hours until his next battle. "Sorry, gotta go get ready for this one...more drinks afterwards, okay?"

Posted by: rt117 Jul 30 2013, 05:39 PM

As the booming sound from the announcer echoed across the area, Tikal stopped in her playful fun to glance at the entrance of the bouncy castle. She crawled over toward the entrance, stealing a peek at the announcement board, seeing that the matchups had already been announced. It didn't take long for the girl to find her name up on the screen, and rubbing her head she looked over at her friend Darius. The name that was set beside hers... he had made mention of it.

"Hey... isn't that the guy you were telling me you were trying to find?" she asked, pointing out at the announcement screen. If this Taggarty guy was as good as Darius imagined, then perhaps she would encounter more trouble than she had hoped for. She then glanced over at her Jigglypuff and his Charmander. They still had some time to play around before they had to return to the stadium, so she figured it would be best to leave them be.

"You know, I bet if you come watch my match, you'll get to finally meet him."

Continuing to try and escape the Charmander's grasp, Jigglypuff flailed helplessly in the air, before finally deciding she had enough. Upon landing, the small pink Pokemon began to spin on the spot, charging a Rollout attack to release her from the Fire-type's grasp. However the moment he did, she would fly into the wall out of control, and bounce about helplessly.

Posted by: Douken Sota Jul 31 2013, 12:49 AM

Finishing his slice, theannouncement ran over the intercom, swapping the screen over from the battle with Darryn and Brawyns to the display, showcases the next rounds. His eyes skimmed for his name or face before he saw it. Joey J. Sweet. Personally, he was a little disappointed he couldn't get Tag or possibly Darryn, but not like he had any control over things. The server thought otherwise.

"You and Joey, eh? Think you are ready to take on a Coordinator?"

"A Coordinator?" Douken asked in return, as if the stupid way to verify what he said. He had tried to do a contest battle so he knew they can use big moves flashy to act as a distraction, but he did lose that battle because of score. If his fight with troy had no timer or score, the match with Cubone and Duskull would of simply be one-sided win for him.

"Yeah. His opponent was a Coordinator as well, so it was almost like a contest fight. I think he used a Se-" Douken's hand raised in front of him to shut him up. Sure, he could use the information on what he used, but it could of easily been half of what he had and part of him preferred the surprise. He gave a small sigh to the response, but continued. "Well, the battle looked amazing and flashy, but the kid rarely spoke, if at all. I'm not sure if the kid was mute or unsocial, but it looked like he told his moves through sign language." An interesting note he took into hand.

When his Pokegear beeped from a text, he checked to see how much time he had. "I got a couple hours to finish up lunch and plan before the next round. Anther milk please?" Douken asked, finishing off the glass he had. If his opponent was a coordinator, he would need tactics to throw him off his game if he fights like a coordinator and not direct like him. Now then, if he decides to...

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Jul 31 2013, 08:05 PM

Roxy looked up at the big screen with an expression of abject dread and continued headbutting Adelaide's leg. "Doctor, come on, you have a match starting-"

"Heyhaveyouevernoticedhowcoolitisthatbignumbersjustgetbiggerandbiggerandbiggerwhi
ethecomputersthatunderstandthemgetsmallerandsmallerandsmaller? BecauseIthinkit'sreallyneat!
"

Silently cursing the woman's food madness, Roxy's head impacted a little harder than before. "Doctor, this is absolutely absurd. You have to come with-"

"Can'ttalkplacestogopeopletoseemechadendritestoattachtome! Heythatrhymes!"

"Doctor, please-"

"ItrathersoundslikeOprahWinfreydoesn'tit? Yougetamechadendriteandyougetamechadendriteandyougetamechadendrite! EVERYBODYGETSAMECHADENDRITE!"

Roxy lined up another headbutt, paused, then put her face in her hands. Well, she tried, at any rate. "You know what? Fine. Fine! We'll go ourselves. Joltik, Mantine, you're with me. Tynamo, keep an eye on Mum - I mean, um, the Doctor. Hehe. Er. We should be leaving now..."

Posted by: Living Arrow Aug 1 2013, 01:00 PM

"For those who lost their First Round Matches, fear not! You are now in the 2nd Bracket, and are still eligible for prizes and awards! Ladies and Gentlemen! The Consolation Bracket!"

“Huh? Wha-?” Lori mumbled as she left the old geezer behind with the Emolga. Turned out he hadn’t caught it in the wild in Furoh so he really couldn’t help Lori’s mission of researching such a species. Even so, it had been incredibly cute and she would surely get one for herself given half an opportunity. Now, however, she had other things to worry about.

On the overhead screens within the Pokemon Center she was faced with another faceless name.

"Francesco Rojas vs Lori Pardare"

“Another battle?” Lori almost sighed. But she had only just lost and hadn’t really come up with a new strategy! Well, there was one option but it would cost a whole of of money with the Move Tutor who had set up in the tournament village and she wasn’t even sure if the combo that she had read about would be all that effective.

“Hmmm,” She rolled a hand in her bag, judging how much cash she had. Could she really afford to spend out for something that might not even work? Could she afford not to take the risk? “Guess we’re rolling the dice on this one.” She sighed, hoisting her bag and hurrying to the Move Tutor.

Posted by: Toogee Aug 4 2013, 02:33 PM

QUOTE(rt117 @ Jul 30 2013, 05:39 PM) *
As the booming sound from the announcer echoed across the area, Tikal stopped in her playful fun to glance at the entrance of the bouncy castle. She crawled over toward the entrance, stealing a peek at the announcement board, seeing that the matchups had already been announced. It didn't take long for the girl to find her name up on the screen, and rubbing her head she looked over at her friend Darius. The name that was set beside hers... he had made mention of it.

"Hey... isn't that the guy you were telling me you were trying to find?" she asked, pointing out at the announcement screen. If this Taggarty guy was as good as Darius imagined, then perhaps she would encounter more trouble than she had hoped for. She then glanced over at her Jigglypuff and his Charmander. They still had some time to play around before they had to return to the stadium, so she figured it would be best to leave them be.

"You know, I bet if you come watch my match, you'll get to finally meet him."

Continuing to try and escape the Charmander's grasp, Jigglypuff flailed helplessly in the air, before finally deciding she had enough. Upon landing, the small pink Pokemon began to spin on the spot, charging a Rollout attack to release her from the Fire-type's grasp. However the moment he did, she would fly into the wall out of control, and bounce about helplessly.


Darius did not hear Tikal's first question, as he was giving a loud gasp of shock. After taking a breath, he gasped once more for effect before returning to Tikal. He crawled over to the entrance to confirm the name. The dragon trainer then grabbed the girl by the shoulders.

"You're facing the Dragon Master? the Anti-Champion? The Bane of Blackthorn himself?!" Darius faced Tikal as he spoke, his eyes wild with excitement. "I both envy and pity you all at once!"

Meanwhile, Bindy was thrown by the jigglypuff into the inflatable wall, causing her to ricochet right back to the pokemon. Darius was too enamored with the prospect of finally seeing Taggarty to see what was going on over there, even as the charmander cried out.

"CHAAAAAAAARRRRR!"

Posted by: Yzarc Drowsnam Aug 4 2013, 02:59 PM

Jill Laurent was halfway through her second when the announcement came on. Evidently, she wasn't quite out of the tournament, which was definitely fortunate. Being paired up against the contestant who was probably gonna win the whole thing didn't seem too fair. But she could deal with double elimination.

"Good luck," she said, also standing. "Expect more from me in the finals."

She appeared to be against someone by the name of Hunter Price. Sounded like a kid's name, but then again, he'd keep the name as an adult too, so that didn't really mean anything. Either way, she was expecting a freakin' cakewalk compared to her battle with Tag.

So, now she had a few hours to prepare. Shrugging, she finished off the rest of her can and headed to the nearest open space. She wanted to practice the newest moves added to her pokemons' skillset.

------

Not long after Justin was announced winner by default of his match, his next opponent was listed. Pan was still questioning whether or not they should go through with the plan, but there was no question in his mind. Pan was a hostage, and while it made sense that she wanted to rebel, Justin's priority was protecting her. More importantly, he had to protect his unborn child.

But, of course, he couldn't tell her that. She wouldn't stand for it. She could never accept the role of damsel in distress, but pride won't get you anywhere against an opponent of their magnitude. "Look, Pan," he said as they got to a relatively quieter area. "Now's just not the right time. We're outgunned, heavily. If we don't use our only advantage of being on the inside to perfection, we lose. And we can't gain that advantage again. The plan's just not in place yet, so we gotta play along 'til then."

"Let's head to the room. Nate lost his placement match, so he's out of the tourney. You'll probably be working mostly with him."

Posted by: Living Arrow Aug 7 2013, 12:09 PM

“So, I guess this is where we cross our fingers, huh?” Lori sighed, pushing cash into the Move Tutor’s hand. Who knew Move Tutors weren’t able to teach a new attack instantly!? From what Lori had heard, the process was meant to be a fast and easy one but no-one had ever mentioned that moves needed to be perfected before they were 100% reliable. That said, Triss wasn’t like most other Pokemon.

“Cross your fingers or not, that Snivy will master that move in no time at all!” The Tutor beamed at the flame-haired trainer as he stooped to smooth the top of the grass snake’s head. “A Pokemon with as much drive and focus as this won’t need too much practice before she’s nailing it every time!”

“Every time, huh?” Lor muttered as she recounted the numerous failed attempts as Grass Pledge that her Pokemon had been through. This was nothing like how she had imagined it to be. If Lori had stopped to consider that Pipster’s mastery of Water Pledge was in his bloodline then she might have brought a little more understanding to the situation but right now nothing seemed as simple as it should have been.

“Well, thank you sir!” Lori bobbed a quick curtsey and recalled Triss, trotting away at a brisk pace. “My battle is about to start, we better hurry!” And with that she ran for the main arena.

Posted by: Toogee Sep 15 2013, 02:31 PM

Meanwhile...

Inside the little hotel room, three individuals plotted to change Furoh forever. The plan was simple: disguised as staff, they were to make off with the Leveling Device, the very thing that made the Grand Invitational possible. It was originally conceived as a way to even the playing field. In the wrong hands however, it could create an unstoppable army, one that could seize power and rule in tyranny.

It was those hands that Justin, Nate, and Pan were plotting to hand the device over to. At least, that was how they wanted it to appear. It was clear that Justin and Nate needed to stay in good graces with their employer, even if Pan was totally against even thinking about the plot. Yet here she was, looking over security badges, ID cards, itineraries, and various other objects spread out along a large table.

Pan sighed as she finished reading over the main points of their mission. This had to be some sort of bad dream. She was no criminal, nor were Justin and Nate. How did they get into a position to ruin the hopes and dreams of the hundreds of people around them?

Pan stayed silent, looking for a reassuring response from Justin or Nate that everything would be OK after all this was over.

"I have a quick question," Nate said fairly casually. "I mean, I guess I could have missed something, but I really don't remember anyone going over this. And definitely, no offense intended here, but Pan - What in the hell are you doing here? I mean, shit, I knew they were gonna assign us someone we didn't pull for, but you? Why are they even interested? Someone's not telling me something, and it's really starting to piss me off."

Justin just sat, his arms crossed, as Nate spoke. His eyes didn't leave Pan's, and his face was as stoic as it had ever been. After Nate finished his rant, Justin didn't say a word, just kept his demeanor and his focus on Pan.

This was quite the opposite response that Pan wanted. Clearly, neither Nate nor Justin were updated as to what happened to her in Lenoilia. What she did there that brought her here. It was no use in keeping it a secret from them any longer. Nate seemed particularly agitated by her presence, while Justin's stare pierced Pan's, making her feel even worse about what she was about to say. And yet, she began her story.

"They found us in Lenoilia. Douken and I...we didn't know they were TD. We were to stop Darkrai's Disciples from completing their summoning. ...We were too late. The two of us fought him within our dreams, our memories. I know how it sounds, but that's the truth. And somehow...we won. He let us go. But Mondo and that other man, Deimos. They were waiting, waiting for Darkrai to be weakened. They had this special pokeball. That's why I'm here Justin, Nate. I helped them. I helped them capture Darkrai."

She immediately turned her focus onto the window, trying her best not to break down right there.

"Mondo knocked me out as soon as I got here and took me to this room. He told me if I didn't cooperate, he would have Justin killed. And...now we're here..."

Justin was stunned for a moment. He took in what she said, and finally shook his head and spoke. "That was a bad call. You sacrificed your life, and the life of our child to save me? I would love to see that piece of shit try to kill me."

"I dunno, man," Nate said. "He mighta just said your name to make her comply. I bet her life was in danger if she didn't cooperate. I think she made the right decision."

"Oh, do you, Nate?" Justin asked. "Do you think she made the right decision, Nate? How about you shut the fuck up, Nate? How about this has nothing to do with you, Nate?"

Nate just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, signaling for Justin to continue on with his rant. "Okay, so," Justin shook his head. "Whatever. You're here. I wish you weren't. But here you are, and we'll deal with it. But you know what? It bothers the absolute shit out of me that the first thing you wanna do when you have all eyes on you is to stab this powerful organization in the back.

"No. This is too high profile. We're doing this mission, and we're doing it right. We're going to capture the dogs, and we're going to hand deliver them to Team Deception. That's it. We're the bad guys. We got our reasons, but then again, so does everyone, right? So we just gotta move past it, get over it, and tear some shit up. Good?"

Pan went from the verge of breakdown to being absolutely livid. Her face reddened when he started ranting and chastising Nate. She was knocked out, tied to a bed, and somehow Justin blamed her for being in this situation? And she was wrong to want revenge against the organization that was about to attack her friends, her family? She wanted to yell out all of this to Justin right then and there, and she would have had Justin not revealed their secondary objective.

"Wait, dogs? I thought they wanted the device? What dogs are we talking about?" Pan sounded generally surprised, but there remained a hint in her voice that she was still totally pissed off about what Justin said.

Justin was a little taken aback at Pan's question about dogs. Evidently, she wasn't fully briefed on the mission. "That's- That's the second part, did they not-" Just then, his phone started vibrating in his pocket. "Shit. I have to go, my battle's starting. Nate, fill her in on the details."

He stood up, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It is really good to see you again," he said to Pan. "I just, really wish it was for a different reason. Sorry, I, uh. I gotta go." He turned around and walked out of the room. Before he could close the door, he heard Nate.

"Be right back," he said to Pan before jumping up and joining Justin in the hallway.

Justin stopped and looked at Nate, his arms crossed, but stayed silent. Nate spoke first. "So, we're dropping it for now? The plan?"

"We're doing the mission. That's it."

"But our original plan was to fuck it up, right?" Nate asked. "I mean, we were gonna stop this thing from happening. We have the public spotlight, this is the perfect-"

"No." Justin interrupted. "It's not. Because Pan's here. She can't be involved in this."

"She already is, dude."

"She's involved with TD, and that sucks," Justin agreed. "But she's not involved in our plan. And that can't change."

"Okay, so we hand over the leveling device, we hand over the dogs. How the hell are we gonna beat them if we help them get this powerful?"

"We'll just have to get help."

"And put more lives in danger?"

"Lives I care less about," Justin shrugged, knowing exactly how bad the thing he just said was. Nate just shook his head.

"So, we're doing the mission normally then," Nate continued. "Let's say we succeed. You really think Mondo's gonna just let her leave the continent?"

"I'll deal with it."

"How?"

Justin paused for a moment and finally looked Nate dead in the eyes. He honed his glare at Nate and finally broke the silence. "I'll kill him." Nate raised an eyebrow. "I'll find him, and I'll beat him until he can't be recognized."

"Justin-"

"His thing, this weird obsession he has with the three of us. It's personal. It's because we stood up to him, and that pisses him off. But it won't carry over to whoever replaces him."

"That's not what I'm worried about dude."

"Then what?"

"You just said that you were gonna-" he paused for a moment to make sure no one was around, and lowered his voice. "You just said you were gonna murder a man. Like it was a normal thing to suggest."

"I just don't think anything else will work. Look, Nate, I gotta-"

"Go. It's fine. I'll brief Pan. It'll be fine. But I wanna talk to you about this later."

So Justin left the room to head to his battle, while Nate walked back into the room to see Pan waiting. "Sorry about that." he said. "I just had to clarify a few things. So, like Justin kinda mentioned, there's two parts to the plan."

"First, we get the leveling device. It bumps pokemon to level 50, which is insanely powerful, but that's actually not the main reason we're here. It's more of a 'by the way' thing. Raikou, Entei and Suicune are beneath the arena. They are creating the effects all over the place. We're here to capture them, and hand them over to our bosses."

Nate didn't like the idea, but he didn't let his hesitation show. Before continuing on with the rest of the plan, he really wanted to see what she thought of the second half of the goal.

Pan was initially shocked that Justin left with little more than a sorry, especially after the reveal that they would be capturing not one but three legendary pokemon. That left Nate to explain that part himself. Frankly, she had enough problems with the first task.

"No, we're not giving them that device," Pan said vehemently. "There would be nothing stopping them from increasing the level limit further, to max it out. Who would need legendaries when you have hundreds of level 100 pokemon at your command? We'll say it broke during the escape or something. I don't know, but they're not getting it."

Pan broke away from the subject and turned back to Nate.

"Are you OK with this?" she asked Nate. "Justin told me you two were working to cripple this organization. Why are we making them unbeatable?"

Nate refused to look Pan in the eye as she insisted that they fail in giving Team Deception the leveling device. Nate knew she was right - Giving them that would make them far too powerful. And yet, Justin was sure. They had to succeed in this plan, because they had to protect Pan, or at least what she was carrying.

But Pan was never Nate's priority.

"We have to go behind Justin's back," he said, finally looking up and locking eyes with her. "And we have to succeed in capturing the legendary dogs. We need to make it look like the failure was due to incompetence, rather than disloyalty, but we need it to be clear that we're not completely incompetent either, or they'll off us just as fast.

"So, here's what I think. This place is crawling with kids, right? Teenagers, raging with hormones, who just wanna be heroes. So, we steal the leveling device, but we get beat by the heroes.

"It'll have to be me. I think that's the only way to make it work. If it's you or Justin, it's suspicious, but far as they're concerned, I got no reason to fail other than incompetence, and honestly, they don't think too highly of me anyway. So, I'll steal the device. I'll draw the attention of the crowd, I'll put up a fight, but I'll make sure I lose. I'll probably be arrested, but I can play a pretty mean dumb. So, I'm not too worried.

"Justin's gonna be leading the initial attack. A few low level units are gonna be joining us, as well as one higher level unit, but I don't know anything about them. Your job is to set off the initial blast. We have a small bomb set up beneath the arena, which will open the way to the science facilities below, where the dogs are. The blast shouldn't hurt anyone, but Justin knows to keep people away from it anyway. That was our little addition to the plan.

"So once you blow it up, the attack will commence. Justin's gonna keep all civilians in check, along with the grunts. I'll head for the leveling device, and you'll need to be prepared for people to come running your way. Most people run away from an explosion, but we're dealing with teenagers who have powerful battle monsters at their disposal, so they'll run towards it. Deal with that how you need to, but remember, you have to succeed.

"About the higher level unit. I imagine they'll be split up similar to us. That would be, one person to get the leveling device. One person to capture the dogs. One person to keep the hero situation under control. You need to work with whoever they send to capture the dogs. Do what that person says. He or she probably has a pretty good plan.

"I'll do what I can to sabotage the leveling device capture without being obvious. I think it's best that way. I know you were initially slated to do that part, to steal the device, but that has to fail. And you can't be the one to fail.

"And," he added after a moment of silent thought. "Don't you dare tell Justin we're doing this. He'll kill me." Nate did his best to make that seem like an exaggeration, but part of him thought that Justin might actually do that.

"What do you think?"

Pan didn’t feel much better about capturing the legendaries, but if any of them were to get out alive, that portion would have to work. That being said, she was glad Nate was on her side in all of this. She suspected that Justin was too, but he was more interested in getting her out of here than toppling the organization. In retrospect, she couldn’t blame him for acting like a jerk.

As for the plan…

“How are we supposed to do all of this when we’re getting into the science facilities at the same time as everyone else? If we’re going to do this, we need time to set up. We have ID badges here and clothing in the closet. Let’s sneak in before the bombs go off so we’re ready to accept whoever joins us. You’ll get time to find the leveling device, and I’ll get time to help coordinate the capture.”


Nate nodded. "Yeah. Sounds good," he said, somewhat timidly. It was true, he was nervous, but mostly because he was going against Justin's idea, which definitely made him uncomfortable.

"Hey, just-" he interjected, but paused because he didn't quite know how to say it. "Justin's not mad at you. He just doesn't know where to direct his anger. He cares about you so much, it's ridiculous. Like, I can't get him to shut up about you, you know? I know he's kind of acting like a dick, but once we figure this out, it'll be fine."

Pan brightened as Nate told her of Justin’s feelings towards her. No they weren’t surprising, but having confirmation made her feel much better, especially after the meeting today.

“Thank you, Nate,” Pan replied. “I know this must be hard, going behind Justin’s back and all. It’s going to make your jobs a lot easier in the long run. At least, I hope so. Now, there isn’t much time left, so let’s…let’s get this over with.”
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBgp5aDH23g

One could not simply sneak into a science facility dressed like they were. Luckily, their employers knew this and provided appropriate attire. Pan emerged from her closet wearing a white long sleeved blouse, a short black pencil skirt, and matching slip-ons. It was formal enough to blend in with the rest of the staff, yet the skirt would hopefully direct watchful eyes away from her face. In addition, she wore a pair of glasses with thick rimmed frames. The lenses were merely plastic; they were only meant to help obscure her face. The researcher wasn’t planning on running into anyone she knew, as most trainers would be in battles or watching them. To tie her look together, Pan wore a long lab coat to complete her background. With ID badge clipped to her coat, she became her identity, which according to the name on the badge happened to be…

“Marsh Mallow?” Pan questioned. “Who came up with this name?” In any case, once Nate finished, they were off to carry out their mission.

Nate looked himself in the mirror as he donned his labcoat. He took off his cap and actually combed his hair. He still just looked like...Nate, though. He had hoped to avoid this, but it was just all too clear that he was no scientist. Sighing, he looked at the two pieces of clothing he initially decided not to wear and shook his head.

He walked out of the closet to see Pan rolling her eyes at her own name tag. He was wearing a button down shirt this time, tucked neatly into his slacks. The labcoat was on, his badge was clipped. But in his right hand was the necktie he was supposed to wear. "Dr. Mallow," he said softly. "I may, uh. Need your help with this."

Pan smiled as Nate gave a pleading look, necktie in hand. She walked up behind him and took off his labcoat. She then took the necktie and led him into one of the closets, specifically one with a tall mirror in front of it. Standing behind Nate, Pan undid his collar and proceeded to wrap the tie.

“You clean up pretty good,” Pan commented on Nate’s looks. “If this were a different place, girls would be all over you.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nate and Pan made it to the science facilities underground without any problems. They looked the part, they pretended they were confident, and no one asked any questions. They also had the badges necessary to get there in the first place, which was obviously the biggest factor.

"So, uh," Nate said with his eyes closed as he tried to remember the layout of the facility. "The arena should be that way," he pointed down a particular hallway. "The, uh. You know," He held up both his closed fists and opened them rapidly to show an explosion. "Should already be set up. There's a few computers in that room, you need to use the one whose monitor has this serial number."

He pulled out a yellow sticky note on which he had written two numbers - One very long, and one only four digits. "This is the serial number," he said, pointing to the longer series of numbers and letters. And this," he pointed to the four digit string, "Is the code. There's a file called "OKTP," it should be searchable. Open it up, and put the code in there. That should start a 5 minute timer.

"One other thing," he took a deep breath. "It's a work room. There's gonna be a few scientists there, and one might even be using the computer you need. You might have to play rough.

"Anyway, that should open the way to the cells where the dogs are located. It'll also open it up to the arena above so the soldiers can storm the place.

"I'm gonna go down this way," he pointed straight ahead down a separate hallway. "That's where the leveling device is." He took a deep breath, then looked at Pan. "Well. Good luck."

“Hey, you too,” Pan replied as she walked towards the work room. This was now a solo mission for her. She was now responsible for capturing three legendary pokemon, likely to be used for nefarious purposes. Pan wasn’t sure what would be waiting for her, so she summoned her pachirisu for backup. The electric squirrel perched happily on Pan’s shoulder and listened to her human.

“Listen Chi-Chi,” Pan whispered, “We’re caught up in something again. I need you to trust me and watch my back.” Ever the faithful pokemon, the pachirisu nodded enthusiastically. To her, it was another exciting adventure. Chi-Chi hid inside the lab coat as Pan entered the computer room.

The room was filled with busy scientists constantly monitoring the status of each arena. Every match was displayed on giant screens that lined the walls of the room. Computers were stationed at every desk, displaying everything from graphs to spreadsheets to keep track of power consumption and stability of the arenas themselves. Pan blended right in as she strolled through the aisle of work stations. Each serial number was displayed on a metal plate on the corner of the monitor. She strolled along the aisles trying to find the right one. Since they were in some order, it didn’t take long for Pan to find the station she was looking for. Unfortunately, it was currently occupied by another scientist, seemingly busy with prepping the next arena stage. Pan had to think of something quickly to get him away. She recalled an episode of a TV show, a spy drama if she recalled. The researcher quickly improvised the plot and implemented it to her use.

“Excuse me,” Pan said to the man, “I need to do a quick system restore on this station. Some coding got mixed up.”

“Now? We’re about to reveal our water arena, with Suicune as the centerpiece. He’s going to be the honorary referee as a surprise for the audience. It’s quite exciting!”

“The water arena?!” Pan responded in a staged panic, “The code’s mixed up! You’re setting up the poison stage…and it’s unstable! You’ll flood the entire area with toxins! Do you want this to be the next Lenoilia?!”

Pan did not wait for a response as she sent his office chair across the aisle (with him in it). While he recovered, Pan immediately started searching for the file. It was easy to pull up, so it didn’t take long to enter the code and start the timer. Pan thought her role was done until someone came by and gave her papers and a cup of coffee. After everything that had happened so far, she really could have used the refreshment. As she sipped into it however, Pan found that there was no liquid at all. Opening the lid on top revealed a set of three master balls. Right…the dogs. Pan looked over her shoulder, but the one who gave her the items had disappeared. She turned back to the papers: it was a list of code and protocols that she didn’t recognize. And yet, she started working, opening up windows and entering the codes. Pan knew what she was doing, and yet had no idea how she knew.

“I put the best in you.” The voice rang once more as Pan went into a trance.

Misplaced Memories Redux (click to show)


When Pan came to, she found two more programs running. One was the Emergency Retrieval System, which would summon all pokemon in the area back to the PC. The other was far more distressing: the ID Reshuffle. The program would randomly reassign ID numbers to pokemon entering the local PC system. That meant that everyone in attendance would lose their entire pokemon teams, to be replaced by a random assortment of other pokemon. An exemption list appeared on the side: Pan, Justin, Nate, and various others working for them would be unaffected by either the retrieval or reshuffle. Pan looked on in horror as the computer prepared to swallow up everyone’s pokemon. She then looked up to the screens, to the faces she recognized as they fought on, oblivious to what was about to occur.

“I’m so sorry…”

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Sep 15 2013, 05:48 PM

((Contents moved; will be replaced with actual post shortly.))

Posted by: Kamaitachi Sep 16 2013, 05:39 PM

As soon as the match had ended, millions of lights burst out all over the stadium. Radiating from every single trainer's belts, purses, pouches, etc, light shot out, blinding everyone for the moment in its brilliance.

As the light began to fade, a shout pointed everyone's attention skywards, where a hover of helicopters had appeared in the sky. Without warning, several objects began to fall from them, flung from the helicopters.

As they fell closer to the stadium, the sharper eyes began to note the perfectly spherical shape. The sharper ears would hear the bone-chilling monotone cry of:

"ELECTRODE."

Dozens. Hundreds of the Pokemon fell to the stadium. The swiftly reacting trainers threw out their pokeballs, yelling commands...only to realize that the Pokemon they released were not the ones they had summoned. In fact, they weren't even Pokemon they had caught.

The flashes of light had randomized and shuffled everyone's pokemon.

With the confusion at hand, the Electrode began to impact in the various stadiums, exploding on contact, causing widespread panic throughout the arena.

Posted by: Douken Sota Sep 17 2013, 05:55 PM

Douken Sota (click to show)


"Master! I'm so sorry! I promise to clean your room better! And to make sure the tea is to your liking! And to make sure your clothes are stainless! And..." The Gothita he had in his arms would not stop cry, going on a list of things she wanted to do to "forgive her master" (some things you simply don't want to know), but it felt like that his time with Reep helped him understand Psychic communication, helping him hear the rantings of the small Psychic. As for why he had a Gothita in the first place, he had no idea. As he, Koldo, and Reep waited, something happened which changed registration between his Pokemon and someone else... well, everyone else, and now seemed to of been with the Gothita and Gible.Something was definitely up, considering his Dream Ball was replaced with a normal Pokeball. "And clean the mirrors! And polish the statues! And-"

"I get it," Douken interrupted the Gothita. "You did nothing wrong, little one, and I am sure your trainer is wondering what is going on himself."

"You mean Master didn't give me to you? But then why am I with you?"

"I don't know, but I have a suspicion who may be behind it." Pulling out His Pokegear, he quickly went though the contacts before he reached Lyla and gave her a ring. When she answer, Douken replied, "Lyla, its me. Get Darryn and meet me over at the bounce house. I think -" He had to pause as another Electrode fell in front of them. "Gible, Dragon Rush!" the small Land shark charged in, swiping at the explosive ball and knocked it away before it exploded. "I have a feeling I know our deceptive invaders."

Posted by: Toogee Sep 17 2013, 08:04 PM

The sounds of explosions were met with the blaring of sirens as emergency services entered the scene. Trucks of orange clad workers entered the arena, accompanied by bulky water pokemon. Feraligatr and Swampert were among them, shooting off hydro pump attacks at the helicopters to drive them away and cause a lull in explosions. They were fortunate enough to be stationed outside the range of the recall, allowing them to operate with full capability.

“All units, clear the civilians from the area. I repeat, clear the area.”

The rescue workers were escorting the confused and wounded out of the bombing range, out of the stands, and into the shopping areas. Areas outside of the arena were mostly unaffected by the electrodes, though they were suffering a power outage. That left communications of all kinds down; it wasn’t entirely clear whether anyone outside the competition knew what was happening here…

As the workers were attempting to clear the area, another explosion went off. This time, it was not from an electrode. The blast tore through a portion of the arena, revealing a hallway that led to the deeper sectors of the facility. The rescue manager quickly took note of this and organized a unit to investigate.

“Get in there and search for survivors!” he shouted as a dozen men ran into the new doorway. He then took out his radio, to alert the rest of the team of the new development.

“Initiating Phase 2. Please stand by.”

Deceptive indeed…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What’s going on out there?!” Pan thought as the sound of explosions raining down above her. They were certainly not told about this aspect of the plan, so Pan had to adjust quickly. The other scientists were in a state of panic, so Pan had to play the part. She hid under a desk, making sure the master balls were placed in her shirt pocket. The researcher watched as the other scientists made a beeline to the exit.

“There, the emergency exit!”

“You fool! There are explosions going on out there! Take the back exit.”

Pan closed her eyes in relief as the scientists went deeper in the facility, avoiding the explosive placed at the arena exit. Soon, just like clockwork, the explosion set off, causing the doors to fly off. Pan emerged from under her desk to begin the next phase: receiving the TD unit. The plan was to coordinate the team to search every arena in storage until they found their desired legendaries. Once found, the separate teams would converge to the legendaries and team up until captured.

“Return, Chi-Chi. You don’t need to see this.” Pan recalled her pachirisu and began thinking of how to divide everyone up. It sounded as though she needed to come up with something fast: the voices coming from the new exit indicated that the unit was approaching. However…

“Hold here. We already know the layout. We can’t have some rookie take all the glory.”

“ELECTRODE.”

Instead of people coming out to meet Pan, an electrode rolled into the computer room. She had come to the horrible realization that office politics and promises of promotion were set to obliterate her where she stood. Reacting fast, she grabbed one of her pokeballs.

“Droid! Earthquake!”

It was a knee jerk reaction, using a powerful ground attack against an electric type. She did not think about the stability of the ground beneath them and whether it would withstand such a move. Not that it mattered: the electrode was far faster than the bulky golurk and began emitting light in preparation for explosion. Realizing what was about to occur, Droid turned around and wrapped itself around Pan. Seconds later, the heat of the explosion blew past her and Droid, followed by the sonic boom. It seemed they survived the blast…until the floor gave way. Pan was taken by shock as they fell through the ground. And then, darkness.

“Find her body, take the master balls. And don’t spend too long looking. There’s always a backup.”

A team of grunts, dressed as search-and-rescue units, quickly entered the computer room. As they looked down the massive hole created by the explosion, no sign of Pan could be found. And so, they prepared to grapple down and proceed with the mission.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pan woke up on top of her golurk. They both were bruised but miraculously OK after the fall. Well, relatively OK: Pan had a big gash on her forehead from the landing. Pan called back her golurk and looked at her surroundings. She could no longer see where she fell from; the wreckage formed some sort of dome over her, albeit a fragile one that could give way at any moment. Around her, it seemed she was in some sort of control room, but there were no handles or otherwise traditional control mechanisms. No, this room was meant to be operated by pokemon, and a quick nuzzle behind her head made her realize which ones.

Circling around her, were three large dog pokemon: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. They were more ornate and beautiful than Pan ever imagined. She wasn’t sure if they were real or if she had a concussion and was seeing things. The researcher didn’t dare call upon her other pokemon for aid; she was far too shocked to have actually encountered them. All three were looking and smelling her in an attempt to figure out what to do with her. If only she knew what they were saying…
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“Looks like one of the human scientists. At least one survivor.”

“We must guide her out of here if this is to be a battlefield. Suicune, what say you?”

“…she is a childbearer. By that virtue alone, she should be under our protection like every other creature here in this time of need. We cannot simply send her back up and face whatever evil is attacking this place. Not in her condition. We keep her deep in the facility.”

“It’s getting noisier. It won’t be long until every human out there comes to pillage this place. Defense Mode!”

The computer seemed to have reacted to Raikou’s voice, beginning the process of rotating the fields. The remaining functioning fields, fire, electric, and water, were quickly brought to the forefront. Pokemon residing in the facility were quickly gathered in their respective fields, ready to defend the technology that lied beneath. Raikou and Entei quickly went to their respective fields, ready to rally the troops. Suicune did the same, nudging Pan along to come along. She was still quite disoriented from the fall, so she leaned on the legendary for support. The pokemon were so willing to come to her aid, but Pan was there to capture them for some evil organization. How could she do this?

Posted by: Master Houndoom Sep 18 2013, 02:12 PM

SCRAMBLED! (redux) (click to show)


Branwys came to the mouth of the arena, the lucario hovering protectively in front of her. She couldn't help but think how similar she was to Dimo, who, when not smacking her around with his bone club, would walk side by side with her, watching warily. Recently, Dimo had a partner, Ognian, who would take the other side. It was silly, but it made her feel safe.

There were singe marks on the beautiful blue and gold coat, but the pokemon didn't show any signs of pain or fatigue. Still, she had done a lot...

"Let's see what we have here. Maybe we'll get you some help," Branwys said, wincing at how wooden her voice sounded. In her mind, she knew she was struggling with all that had happened recently. Losing Dimo and Ognian had hit her hard, she knew, but she didn't know she'd been feeling it so directly. She swallowed, feeling the lump in her throat, but pressed each button in turn as the Lucario watched.

Five pokemon appeared; A red-domed (and tailed) cranidos, slightly taller than the norm and therefore passing Branwys' height by about an inch. A lilligant that overgrew her by about a foot, and a luxray who was the same, but broad in the shoulder. The biggest, however, was a pokemon she had only seen in the lab; a gigantic snorax about twice her size. Because she was looking up, she had missed the one pokemon that was smaller than her; the poochyena, who was excited to see her and jumped up, wildly, trying to get her attention.

The Lucario disappeared, and for one panicked second, she wanted to cry. Until the lilligant, with a kind look, pressed the button on one pokeball, re-freeing the lucario.

"Oh... thanks." She took a moment to control her heart and breathing, then straightened. "We have to find out how to get you back to your trainers, and to get my pokemon back. To do that, we ned to get through these electrode..."

The lucario looked out into the field, then, looking at each pokemon, nodded. They surrounded Branwys, the snorlax directly behind her, then charged forward. Branwys was more pushed along than running herself at first, but soon she was keeping pace, the poochyena at her heels, and four tall pokemon swatting, batting, or picking up and throwing electrode in various stages of self destruct away from her.

It was slow going, the pokemon being careful to get all of the electrode, and stopping when one exploded nearby to take cover behind the lucario and snorlax, but they made progress.

It was only a matter of time.

Posted by: Kamaitachi Sep 18 2013, 10:22 PM

"I don't know what's going on...but stick with me. I'll keep you safe, okay, Lori?" Cesc smiled reassuredly at the young woman who had attached herself with a deathgrip to his arm. Lori Pardare's streaming red hair had gotten all over the place as she buried herself in his shoulder, and, for true, it was a little hard to see past the mass of hair on his right.

In the mean time, he was being followed by an odd looking bird wielding a leek like a sword. He had attempted to summon Oberon, his Sneasel, but wound up with the Farfetch'd, who quacked his name loudly at Cesc in panic.

"Okay Sword-Bird! Show me your best moves on these Electrode! Cut us a path out of the Arena!"

With a flourish of his leek sword, the Farfetch'd rushed into the fray. The leek took on a distinctly green glowy look as he hacked and slashed his way past the next two Electrode that landed nearby.

Meanwhile, several of the Electrode invaders had been knocked towards them, but trainers desperately trying to get past the destruction.

"Okay...everyone go!"

Cesc took a moment to register each of the Pokemon on hand. He had Sword-Bird, Fire-Pig, Ninja-Bug, Aipom, Swirltail Pig and Floating Seahorse...and no idea what any of their capabilities were. Unlike most trainers, Cesc wasn't exactly learned on most of the other Pokemon types, and had no Pokedex to aid him.

"Friends, you're with me for the moment, for some reason. But let's work together, okay? Attack those Electrodes! Cut us a path to safety!"

The Pokemon before him looked confused at the man trying to encourage them and spur them to attack. Even more confusion set in as the Electrodes continued to go off around them.

"FAR-FETCH!"

They turned to see Sword-Bird wielding his leek like a General's Baton, and as if motivated by their makeshift teammates actions, the rest jumped into the fray as well.

Fire Pig (Pignite) curled up before rolling into a one-pig wrecking ball, smashing his way through any Electrode unfortunate enough to enter his path. Ninja Bug (Accelgor) flashed her way around the field, releasing heinous, shrill noises from her body, stopping Electrodes from detonating while Aipom would rush up to the still exploders and bodily launch them away with Fling. Surely, that wasn't what the move was designed to do, but she had found a way to make it effective. SwirlTail Pig was firing off swarms of psychic motes, impacting them with the Electrodes nearby. The Floating Seahorse settled himself into Cesc's arms, meanwhile, and braced himself before firing off a multitude of projectiles. Cesc looked down in wonder at the little creature, who launched first an Aurora Beam, then a Bubble Beam, then a Dragon Pulse in quick succession.

"Okay Lori, let's go!"

With Cesc's team leading a gallant offensive defense through the crowd, they quickly exited the arena. The co-ordinator looked around in dismay at the crowds of people running willy-nilly in a panic from the explosions, while stands and buildings had already been toppled. Somewhere in this mess, he'd find Branwys.

"Lori, stay close, I won't let you go, okay?" He clasped his hand onto hers as they began to make their way through the chaos, his makeshift team performing surprisingly well, given the circumstances.

Posted by: Douken Sota Sep 18 2013, 10:55 PM

"Hello, Champion in the making," could be heard form behind Douken, having him turn around. "You know, I would love to inform you on your next opponent, but I am afraid you may shoot me down once again, seeing as you already know who we are." The suited man chuckled, watching the chaos around them ensue.

"Know who... You are another one of Deception?" Douken answered back, clenching his free hand.

"Bingo! You see, since you already knew who we are, the boss placed me to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't interfere. How you performed in this tournament I honestly didn't give a shit. Whether you won or lost didn't matter as long as we keep you away from spreading word about us. And to help me that, I was gifted this beaut." reaching into his coat, he pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it into the air, soon to show off a Kadabra. "Sure she is not as strong as the boss's, but no doubt she will get the job done of keeping you away... or better yet assisting. Kadabra, possess this man at once!"

"As if I would let you. Gible, use -gyuh!" the Kadabra's eyes and spoon were already glowing as she tapped into her psychic powers, forcing her way into Douken's mind. It made a severe headache look like a paper cut in comparison, bringing Douken to his knees, screaming as he fought against it.

"Cmon, what are you waiting for! Do it before he draws a scene!"

"You make it sound like it is easy," the Kadabra replied, keeping her eyes on the target, "but unlike the others, this one has adapted mental link into the Psychic Realm. Though it may not be a strong one, it is allowing him to resist me."

"I see. It must of been that Dusclops, considering he was able to talk to it so easy. Fine then. No need to go easy. Simply crush his mind and possess the remaining corpse afterwards. We will clean up the mess as if it was like suicide."

The command placed pounds of pressure inside his skull, causing Douken to scream out louder and completely collapse to the floor, grasping his skull as he tried to fight it back. The Gothita did her best to try and help form a psychic barrier within the Psychic Realm, but the Kadabra was clearly able to break through whatever she could put up.

Posted by: Living Arrow Sep 19 2013, 12:32 PM

*He won’t let me go! He won’t let me go!* Lori reminded herself as they stumbled amid the wreckage of the arena and into the tournament village. However many Electrode had fallen, it had clearly been more than enough to obliterate most of what had been a beautiful and vibrant event – turning it into a veritable warzone instead.

A lone scream amid the dim of explosions and the clash of battle stood out amid the din, causing Lori to tear her eyes away from her feet to prevent another trip and towards a small girl ducked under a broken sign, clutching a wide armful of Pokemon Eggs to her chest. A lone Electrode rolled casually towards her with a menacing grin. Young and terrified, there was no way the girl could protect herself or the eggs in her possession effectively and there was no sign of anyone to help her.

*You can do it, Lor!* The flame-haired girl chided herself for not reacting immediately, *Running around like a scared idiot isn’t your ‘Way of the Trainer’!*

“Cesc, wait!” Lori fumbled her hand free of the boy and grabbed for a Pokeball. “That girl needs help! So, let’s help her out Triss!”

The Pokeball in her hand span free and, for the first time, Lori noticed that the capsules in her possession no longer had green tops – they were all plain red. The realisation hit her only as the released energy from within the ball took a solid shape in the air before her.

“NYOOO!” Lori screamed, ducking low and swatting furiously at the fluttering Bug that danced before her. She twisted and screeched, scrabbling wildly for the Pokeball on the floor. She snagged it up and shook it aimlessly over her head until the sound of a recall was activated and the ball opened to take the offending Pokemon back into confinement.

Lori warily scanned above her as she pushed hair out of her face to reveal fear-filled eyes.

“A D-dustox?!” She stammered, looking down at the Pokeball in her hand. “This isn’t Triss’s ball… None of these are mine!”

“Waaaah!” The girl’s scream pierced the air again, making Lori flinch.

“Right, we’ve got to help!” Lori readied another Pokeball.

*But where is Triss? Pipster? Chico and Apache?! I hope they’re safe somewhere!*

“Let’s try this one!” Lori threw another ball, already holding up her arms for defence in case another Bug-type invasion was the result of her selection.

“Mudkip!” The blue amphibian announced proudly upon his exit. Lori lowered her arms and nodded to herself.

“We can work with this! Mudkip use Water Gun on that Electrode to roll it away!” She cried, pointing dramatically at her target. The small water type obeyed instantly, firing out a powerful jet of water at the electric sphere and knocking it far clear of the girl under attack. Not wasting any time, the girl took hold of her eggs and leapt out from under the fallen sign, sprinting away into the madness of the scattered crowds.

“Uh, you’re WELCOME?!” Lori shouted at her fleeing back. A soft nudge at her heel announced the Mudkip had come back to her for a reward. She scooped him up quickly. “And you are awesome.” She confided in him, cuddling the mudfish in both arms as she ran back to Cesc and resumed their search for this Branwys person.

Posted by: Yzarc Drowsnam Sep 19 2013, 07:09 PM

Jill Laurent's New (temporary) Team!! (click to show)


As chaos erupted around her, Jill took a step back. She was never the kind of person to run head strong into danger, but she also knew she couldn't just run away. She need to figure out her priorities in the situation. Yes, Electrodes were falling and exploding all over the place, but there were plenty of trainers around dealing with that. Clearly, pokemon battling was not her forte, being in the losers bracket and all, so she needed to put her other skills to use. Those being that she was smarter than most of the kids around, and certainly more level headed.

She walked fairly calmly through the battling and explosions, seeking out anyone else who appeared to have a level head. That was the person she needed to talk to, because it either meant that person could help to figure out what was going on, or it meant they already knew and were the culprit.

As she silently walked through the arena, she heard one of the most painful screams she'd ever heard. Someone was dying near her, and not slowly. This wasn't the kind of pain that happens from blunt force trauma, or from a fiery explosion. She turned to where the noise is, and found herself speeding up. Her priorities changed immediately, as someone was clearly being tortured.

There she found Douken Sota, whom she hadn't yet met, being psychically attacked by a Kadabra. Behind the Kadabra was a man, whose goal was clearly murder, or something like it. In any case, he was clearly at least one of the people behind the attack, and she needed to take him down.

"Pele, come," she said as she tossed out her Ponyta's ball. But Pele didn't emerge from the pokeball - She was replaced, instead, by two pokemon: Onix and Dewott. "The fuck?" The boy's screams grew louder in front of her. "Okay, I don't have time. Onix, use, uh. Anything. Just break its concentration as fast as possible."

As Onix prepped its most powerful attack, Stone Edge, against the Kadabra, Jill tossed out her other two pokeballs, revealing four more pokemon, two from each ball. Her stomach clenched up. Where was Pele? And what about Flare and Vinyl? She hoped so much that they were okay, but she already knew that, wherever they were, they were scared. And now the burden was on her, as it was on everyone in the arena, to stop this threat, to ensure the safety of their pokemon.

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

The Higher Ups Appear!

"Initiating Phase Two. Please stand by."

Outside of the stadium, a perimeter had been formed by Team Deception grunts. Their mission was not to keep people from getting out - It was to ensure no one else got in. Not far from the entrance, in an armored jeep, sat three people.

In the driver's seat was a tall, skinny man, who may have been nearing thirty, but didn't dress it. His clothes were baggy, and way too heavy for the heat. Clearly, his choice in style was intentional, though few could hope to understand why. Rarely, however, was it brought up. This young man, who went by Ace, was good at what he did. And what he did was drive, and fight.

Next to him, riding shotgun, was Omar. Like Ace, he dressed for the job he wanted. Unlike Ace, they wanted different things out of life. Omar was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVW34_gnxu4&t=0m17s. He held the radio in his left hand, and a single pokeball in his right. Omar was the team leader. He took his orders from higher up, but if the shit hit the fan, it'd be him people came running to.

In the back seat was their strategist, Miriam. She was probably about as old as Ace, a little younger than Omar. Unlike the boys, she chose to be more practical with her aesthetics. Her brunette hair was held back in a ponytail and she wore a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. At the moment, she was pecking away at her handheld tablet. After they got the call from the radio, she was the first to speak. "We're on schedule."

"Good," Omar nodded from the front.

"But we still don't have a lot of time," Miriam added. "We don't have much room to breathe."

"I know," Omar agreed. "We gotta prioritize the leveling device."

"What?" Ace asked. "I thought Dr. Mondo said the dogs were the priority."

"Mondo ain't my boss," Omar insisted. "Ain't yours either. I'm not gonna prioritize his unholy science experiments over something that can actually bring us to the next level. The leveling device will make us unstoppable. That's our priority."

"Okay," Ace put his hands in the air as though to surrender. "Sorry."

"It's good," Omar continued. "But that means the plans changed. I don't trust the grunts with that device. Ace, I want you to lead that effort. Go into the facilities, and get the device."

"Okay, then who's gonna get Suicune?" Ace asked.

"I'mma have Justin Smart take care of that."

"The fuck?" Ace asked. "You gonna trust that kid? You know Mondo has a gun to his head, right? He'll break free soon as he can."

"Technically," Miriam spoke from the back seat. "It's to Pan's head. Smart won't turn on us until he knows Pan's safe. I'd honestly say that, as long as Pan is here, Justin will be the most reliable soldier in Team Deception. I agree with you, Omar. The leveling device is more important anyway. Ace is better utilized there."

Ace nodded. "Got it."

"Alright," Omar sat back. "Let's get in there. We got work to do." He tossed the pokeball he had in his hand out the window and, as it bounced back towards him, a Rhydon appeared. "Break us a hole in that front door up there. We'll be right behind you." Rhydon nodded and charged towards the front of the stadium. Ace drove behind it, and a few other cars filled with grunts was shortly behind them. Omar lifted the radio to his mouth. "Clear the door. We're comin' in."

Posted by: Douken Sota Sep 19 2013, 08:11 PM

the stones crashed into the side of the Kadabra, causing it to fly away and lose its focus. This, in turn, let go of the hold on Douken's mind, though he body laid there, gasping for breath as it tried to re-ordinate itself back to his normal mental state. "Shit," the man in the suit muttered under his breath before turning away from Douken and over to Jill. "What are you doing? I was trying to catch someone who may be responsible for the chaos! I saw him on the phone earlier, most likely calling in on the raids and where to attack! All we have to do is have him talk and-" he was interrupted by getting thrown over Douken's shoulder who used the moment to get back to his feet. However, he was still showing to be weak legged.

reaching fora Pokeball on his belt, he tossed it out, soon to show a Sudowoodo stand before him. "That will do," he said as he used it like a cane to lean on, telling him, "Sorry for using you in such a way, but by balance is sort of shot." Luckily, the unknown Pokemon accepted the terms and followed him as he walked over to the girl who helped him.

"Don't trust any of the staff," he warned her, "or anyone who shows power. There is an organization out there called Team Deception who hide in these kinds of places looking for rare treasures and Powerful Pokemon. Why they are here I can't say... no." Looking back at his Pokeball, he remembered the ad. What promoted so many trainers here to not be afraid of power differences. "They are here for what we have been using all along. Its the level module. What's set everyone on an even plane. If they get a hold of that, there is no need to train, just simply set them to max. All that would be left is to force evolution then you can simply breed Dragonite and other powerful Pokemon into an army." he held his head as he winced in pain, but he had to keep his mind set. "Considering I helped them get Darkrai, then no doubt they would aim for other legendaries as well. Put the two together, and no one can really stop them.

Heading back to the stadium, he told her, "Spread the word of Team Deception and their plans. Make them known to the world. Drive them out of the shadows and stop them from deceiving us further. And remember, don't trust those who show power over the many." He had to keep moving. There would be others trying to silence him.

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Sep 21 2013, 06:22 PM

OOC (click to show)


"You... YOU..." Adelaide rushed forward, her tired and staggering legs belying a surprising speed. "You dare to hide behind moral relativism? You, who probably can't even fucking SPELL it? You are a boy, a pitiful whelp, shaking naked in the dark. You are nothing that cannot be easily replicated with a standard Tortured-Evil Program 1-B. I've got it on file, if you like. Compare and contrast exercises are always useful.

"See, I'm not in full possession of the facts, but unless your sole goal was to carpet bomb a stadium - and it might be - you're doing all kinds of shitty. People are coming, but they don't know actual villainy. I do. I spent my entire life learning. Don't talk to me about grey areas or sob into your bloodstained hanky about how hard it is being you. Can you look me in my one remaining eye and tell me that you know hardship? Can you look at this face and call yourself cursed? A clue: no. You cannot.

"I will not fight you, though. That means something different in this place, with your nation's little proxy wars played out between enslaved sentient beings. No, I only have one option," Adelaide said, staggering to her feet and putting her weight onto a piece of salvaged rebar, "if you do not tell me what you are planning, then I will beat your minions to death, and then I will beat you to death. Your gang tried and failed to blow me up. Your masters saw me as a threat and devoted resources to halting me. You are expendable, minion boy. You are not just weak; you are weakness. I will leave you a broken, boneless husk, mewling in the dark until I know which Centre you're taken to, at which point I will wait for you to leave and beat you senseless again. And I will repeat the process until you understand what I'm saying:-

"I'm just not very nice. You are evil, and you will be punished as such."

With that, Adelaide began to walk towards him, her legs shaking like a pack mule on a mountain path as she moved, the rebar clutched in her hand so hard that her knuckles were white and blood dripped onto the ground.

Posted by: Yzarc Drowsnam Sep 21 2013, 11:50 PM

Justin allowed Adelaide to continue her speech, his arms remaining crossed as she spoke. It seemed only fair, her body beaten and broken as it was. It seemed as though his remarks about her not understanding good and bad hit a nail. And it was interesting that she made sure to mention that she had learned villainy, as though that made any kind of sense.

So once her threats were made, and her insults flung, Justin simply nodded. She was dragging herself towards him, but he didn't budge, or make further aggression. "Yeah, I don't have time for this," he said, turning away from her, and walking towards the Rhydon once again.

He finally made it to the jeep just behind the Rhydon to see Omar, Ace and Miriam exit. "Sup, Justin!" This was a surprise. Justin knew senior officers would be leading the charge, but to see familiar faces was unexpected. Knowing he was supporting Omar did put him somewhat at ease. He was probably the most calm and in control person he'd ever met. Of course, it did mean that when he did eventually turn on Team Deception, he'd probably have to fight the guy. That wouldn't be a fun bridge to cross.

"Justin, I'm glad you're here," Omar said, approaching him, while simultaneously looking around to assess the battle. "Been somewhat of a change in plan. Are Nate and Pan in position already?"

"Should be," Justin nodded, crossing his arms. "I mean, the explosion went off successfully. That hallway over there," Justin pointed to where the more recent explosion had been, the one not caused by the Electrodes. "So, Nate's in position at least. And then, Pan should be securing the leveling device. Some grunts made their way into the hallway, so she has some support there."

"Ace?" Omar turned.

"On it." Ace then sprinted towards the hallway, to meet up with Pan and help her secure the leveling device. Of course, when he would get there, he'd learn that the plan changed, and that Nate actually went for the device.

"So, here's what we got," Omar continued. "The dogs should be split up in the elemental tunnels through that hallway. I'm gonna take the Fire hallway. Miriam will take Electric. And you'll take Water. That's Entei, Raikou and Suicune. You're on Suicune."

"Oh," Justin seemed taken aback. "You want me on one of the dogs? Okay. Yeah, no problem."

"Good. Well, it should be something like that. Intel was pretty spotty, but hopefully it'll make more sense when we get in there." Omar nodded. "Alright, let's get moving." He held out his pokeball and called back Rhydon. Then, he turned to the other cars and trucks which had followed into the arena.

And so, at Omar's order, Team Deception made their way across the battlefield and into the tunnel created by the bomb. Beyond the initial facilities, the way would split into three. But there were ultimately four objectives. Somewhere in the science facility was the leveling device. Nate and Ace were both seeking it out, but it was likely that many of the would-be heroes still fighting a losing battle would figure out that that was their goal, and would do everything in their power to try to stop them.

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Sep 22 2013, 05:48 AM

"Yeah, I don't have time for this."

That, to use one of the colourful local euphemisms from Adelaide's home dimension, got her all up an' pig-bitin' mad. She stood there, speechless, watching him walk away towards a Rhydon. She then saw a jeep drive off from behind it, an adorable little internal-combustion effort too. Back home, it'd be a museum piece. Here, she thought, it would just be another target. Then everything went all fuzzy at the edges and she blacked out again.

A few minutes later, she sat bolt upright, hurling the Wooper who'd been sitting on her chest a few feet into the air. The Conkeldurr, free from the predations of the Ninjask and Ninjask-suit, was watching her closely while digging sand out of an ear. The Grovyle was idly stroking the Growlithe, the Watchog was standing guard on top of the mech, and the Zangoose-

Wait, back up a minute.

How the hell did that get here?

"No need to shout," said the Conkeldurr. "In answer to your question, I carried it after those dreadful insects were summoned back to their master. Can you repair it?"

"Er, I... probably? I don't think there's a huge amount that needs repairing, to be honest. All it did was fall over."

"It's tougher than it looks, then, I take it." He pointed at one of the feet, the toes of which were hanging rather limp. Then he gestured at the mech itself, which was built in five minutes out of scrap metal, and looked it.

"Oh, yeah. Redundant systems all over. Why's my eye socket all warm?"

"You're bleeding into it and out of it," mumbled the Grovyle darkly, "did you not notice?"

"No, actually, I didn't. Thanks for the heads-up. Right. Let's get this thing repaired..." And so they did. Adelaide was becoming rather used to using Pokemon for additional help; the Conkeldurr was able to lift up the panels and beat them back into shape, the Growlithe was adept at welding the seals on the hydraulic pipes shut again, and the Wooper... well, it was moral support. Eventually, the thing stood tall once more, and Adelaide hopped inside (quite literally; her knee was playing up) and gunned the engine.

Once more, Stompy Geoff roared into life. The Pokemon returned to their previous positions, and Conkeldurr and Wooper clambered onto the back, the former's concrete posts being jammed into some convenient-looking slots for a moment before Adelaide yelled a warning about heatsink outlets and not wanting to catch fire, at which point they were strapped to the outside. The Wooper, meanwhile, pushed a button on the outside and a long black tube telescoped from the mech's pauldron. It finally popped out all the way, and its unveiler let out a little "Woo" of inane contentment and sat down behind a cluster of white boxes.

"What... is that?" The Grovyle asked, shock in her voice.

"Oh, that's just a microwave laser. Couldn't do a visible light one, since they didn't have enough shielding for it, so I made that instead. At least, I think that's what happened. It's all a bit of a blur."

"... And, um, what exactly did you make it out of?"

"Microwaves."

"Of course," sighed the Grovyle, and let it go at that.

Stompy Geoff lurched off again, the strange gait even lower to the ground now thanks to the additional weight of the Conkeldurr and his bridge abutments. It entered the tunnel system at a dead run, then slowed, then stopped. "Er... anyone got a satnav?"

"Is that one from Kanto?"

"Grow grow growlithe."

"Ah. Didn't think it was."

"When you're all done being silly, I have absolutely no idea where I'm supposed to go, I can't see any tracks, and while I could probably scan ahead with my cybereye it needs a charge." As if on cue, the little dot clanged against the hatch before it was let in and reconnected to its owner's optic nerve. "That's better. Now then... any guesses?"

"That way."

"Why that way?"

"You said to guess."

"Well, alright then." Stompy Geoff turned and stomped off down the tunnel to the right, leaving the network only to be confronted by-

"WHAT THE BLUE CHRIST IS THAT?"

"There would appear to be hundreds of Electric-type Pokemon in the vicinity, if not thousands. Projected generation capacity in excess of-"

"SHUT UP!"

"Shutting up."

"Uh, laaady? Who're you talking to?"

"My eye."

"Oh, well that's alright then. Hey, what's with the cameras, it looks like there - oh. Oh, wow. Oh, WOW! Guys, it's - it's an army!"

There was a chorus of Pokemon-speak, which generally consisted of "<We know>". "We are, after all, on the outside," added the Conkeldurr.

"I... I knew that!"

"So, er, engage standard new encounter protocol, then, I assume." With that, Adelaide fumbled with her seatbelt for a moment and shucked herself out of the old car seat. She opened the hatch and looked out at the Raikou. "GREETINGS, CITIZENS! I AM THE DEMENTED DOCTOR SPATULA, THIS WORLD'S REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MAD SCIENTIST'S UNION AND FRIENDLY BENEVOL-" She stopped halfway through, bent double by a hacking cough like an old beggar under his sack. She looked at her hand. It had blood on it where there hadn't been before. That was... worrying.

"Er, as I was saying... hi. I suppose."

Posted by: Toogee Sep 22 2013, 06:16 AM

Back within the research facility, a team of nine grunts descended into the newly created hole on an attempt to find the legendaries as well as Pandora Gibbs. As they grappled down, they immediately noticed how quiet it had become. Not even so much as the rustling of debris came through the abandoned halls. This didn’t feel like a normal calm. Something big was waiting for them. None of them liked the feeling.

“Hurry up and find the girl, something ain’t right down here.”

“Er…yeah, I say she’s gone. Don’t we have a backup.”

“Yeah, the doctor said we could go straight to shadowfication if we lose the master balls. Ah, come now, she couldn’t have gotten that far.”

ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRR!

The group looked up to see the darkness light up in fire and lightning. Blinded by the sudden blast of light, they were unable to see the many shapes coming towards them. Immediately they scrambled back up the ropes, urging their unit to pull them back up. The terror on their faces was clearly evident that there were more than the legendaries down there. They immediately went to the radio to inform their boss of the happenings.

“D-doctor, there seems to be a very large population down here. A-an army for sure! We’re going to need reinforcements!”


~I figured as much,~ the radio buzzed back. ~Oh yes, it seems they’re prepared to defend their keep to the bitter end. Amazing behavior, considering they’re protecting a human facility.~

“I-I’m sure it is sir, but we’ll need several units down here to get deeper and capture the dogs.”

~Indeed you will! I’m staring at your aid right now. Dozens of them, fleeing the arena. Most are confused and distraught, but there are those who want to help in any way possible. Given the right motives, they’ll help you do whatever you need done. They’re the best kind of reinforcements, because once you’re done with them, you stab them in the back and never see them again! Yes, you’ll be seeing them real soon.~

“Yes sir. We’ll be ready to receive when they arrive.”

~Ah, one last thing. How is our latest pet project doing? Put Pandora on the line. I do want to hear her voice, see if she’s enjoying her new line of work.~

“Er…” the grunt looked over to the others for guidance. “I t-think we lost her, sir. There was an explosion in the computer room. There’s no trace of her.”

~…a pity. She would have been a good recruit. Let us keep radio silence on the matter, shall we? We wouldn’t want the bereaved to abandon their posts. Mondo out.~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scientist put down the radio to enjoy his coffee. He sat on the second floor balcony of his hotel room, overlooking the panicked masses flooding the pokemon center across the street.

“Ah…chaos,” he remarked as he went back to his crossword puzzle.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under the Suicune’s guidance, Pandora was led into a room deep within the facility. All around, pokemon were busy terraforming the building to their liking. Whatever this place was, it was designed to have pokemon take it over in the event of some emergency. At the moment, however, Pan just wanted to sit down and recover.

The room she was in appeared to be some storage facility, with a vast array of locks behind it. In addition, several security camera feeds were running in the center of the room, giving Pan a good idea of what was happening around the facility. As Pan turned around to say thanks, the door closed; Suicune was gone. The researcher turned her attention to a glass cabinet, also heavily fortified with locks. She could see an array of rainbow colored rocks inside, though most of the contents were hidden behind a sign taped over the glass:

Mega Stone Samples. Do Not Open Until October 12.

“Is this why they’re defending this place?”

Posted by: Aura Dynasty Sep 30 2013, 04:46 PM

She knew it. Had she really? Yes, and if not, she'd probably guessed it and be right about it either way so that didn't really matter. The point was, what now? When seeing the exit of the tunnel, oh god bless the accursed light that had shone through and blinded her when stepping inside of it, she'd ran even harder and when stepping through the bashed doors noticed the chaos in front of her. Thousands of people were standing in the safeness that was the pokémoncenter. It appeared that they were standing outside since the inside of the pokémoncenter was already fully jammed with other people.

"This is..."

"RROOOOAAAAARRR!!!!"

As stung by a bee she turned her head into the direction of the sound, as it echoed through the tunnel behind the door she'd just passed through. Jill looked around with a quick gaze, but there didn't seem to be someone near her that had heard the roar. Was it her imagination? She'd no idea, but the roar seemed vicious, perhaps it was for the best to stay away from it. She let it slide and walked back towards the assembled masses, seeing how rescue-workers tried to calm the people down and in the overcrowding trying to run back towards the arena to help out. People beside her were discussing what they would do next and how to get their pokémon back.

Jill shook her head. She too had that question to worry about and she had another three pair of pokémon she had to deliver back to the their rightful owners as well. But the pokémon left in her care were her priority now, so instead of wandering off she made her way towards the pokémoncenter, which took twice as long due to the constant squeezing through and apologizing afterwards.

The doors opened in front of her, with their oh-so familiar zooming noise. Stepping through she stumbled over someone who'd laid himself down on the ground and had the utmost luck not to run over a small Azurill before crashing into the plants at the side of the orange bench. The people next to Jill looked at her as if their eyes were asking why the hell she'd possibly wanted to lay down in a pot of ferns, truth to be told, that pot would've been sent flying if there weren't so many people around. She got back up straight and removed the pieces of fern that had decided to tag along before making a 90° spin and paced towards the counter of the pokémoncenter.

"How can I help you?"

The nurse asked her. Honestly, how could that woman be so calm when being surrounded by so much chaos? Must be of part of the job-requirements.

"Eh, a quick healing of 'my' - well-you-know-not-really-mine-but-you-get-the-picture - team should suffice, thank you very much."

"Then please proceed through the right door and ask one of the in-white dressed people to help you out. We try to keep the counter free in case we have some pokémon that need immediate care, so I hope you don't mind..."

The pink-haired nurse gave her apologizing smile as she pointed towards the door she'd described earlier.

"Of course, I understand. Well, thank you anyway."

Jill tried to make her way towards the door and made it there with some effort. She felt like a fresh-caught sardine, ready to be put in a too small packaging. The area behind the door looked even more busy then the previous one, but luck seemed to have taken it easy on her. A man with a white lab-coat gestured her to come towards him and when arriving at the spot explained what she had to do. A small *Ding* resonated and she took back her pokéballs from the small plate, backing away and making some room for the next trainer to heal up his party.

When getting back to the main waiting-area of the pokémoncenter she was planning to get across and ask about the situation, which she quickly dropped as being a futile act. There was no way she'd get through the crowd unharmed and thus proceed back towards the exit. Once out she inhaled deeply, smelling the freshly cut grass, smoke and the sharp scent of incinerated objects. Unable to sit on tight she walked back towards the arena, looking anxiously at the gaps in the sides.

The roar she'd heard earlier seemed to have been replaying itself inside her mind and the very thought of it was making her crazy. Crazy from excitement and indecisiveness. What was she going to do? Help out here or go her own way? Come to think of it, she'd managed to lose track of her new friend Darryn as well. That didn't really work out that well, helping people that is since she always managed to get herself in need of aid, so her decision quickly fell upon a somewhat rash solution. Going back inside on her own.

"Just. Go.Destroy...."

A voice resonated, it appeared to be coming from behind her, but when turning around nobody seemed to be there.

"Wha-?"

Jill shook her head slightly and looked back forward. She had to make a decision here and now. Go on or take her hands off of this. That last option however was impossible. So going on would be the case indeed. Jill hesitated just a bit, not being able to make up her mind. She knew what to do and yet the wavering indecisiveness of the typical 17 year old adolescent made her doubt. Shit happens, even in times like these.

Posted by: Toogee Oct 1 2013, 12:48 PM

After the events in the arena, various trainers flooded the streets of the village outside, to the one place they could count on to be safe: the pokemon center. As a result, a massive crowd circled the building, the inside already packed with trainers looking for answers. Poor Joy was being yelled at from all sides by angry trainers wanting to know where their pokemon were. Accessing the computer system proved pointless: communications were down with the box system. In fact, not so much as an email could be sent to the outside world. All the trainers could do was wait for everything to come back online and tend to those wounded.

Darius found himself among the waiting, learning more about his pokemon team. It wasn’t a terrible bunch for pokemon that weren’t named Bindy and Snake. Though his Cherrim was back inside her petals, something about the sun turned her into a complete psychopath. One that shot off giant lasers. It was the latter that somehow inspired the dragon trainer and his other pokemon to perform better.

Next up, Slowbro’s moveset was fairly decent. If only he weren’t so slow. Darius wasn’t sure what he could do with such a slow pokemon. His Beautifly was armed with bug moves, helpful for status effects. The dragon trainer wasn’t exactly a fan of bug tactics, but he figured bug catchers loved these things, and that whirlwind proved quite handy.

As for the glaceon, Darius usually saw ice types as an enemy, being one of only two types having an advantage over dragons for the next twelve days anyways. This would be a good learning opportunity to see what ice is capable of. The teddiursa simply sat in Darius’ lap, looking cute as he nibbled on a biscuit. Those claws of his looked quite capable, but the bear cub was apparently quite effective as a wingman. Women were coming up to Darius, complementing his relationship with the teddiursa. Darius was usually a big fan of evolution, but not in this case…

Gible proved to be Darius’ first experience in training dragon pokemon. After Tag’s stern command to the little one, Darius realized that some tough love was needed to keep him in line. A confident tone was all that was needed for the dragon to obey commands.

Speaking of Tag, where did he run off to? Darius had finally found the dragon master, only to find that he hadn’t mastered very many dragons. Darius had so many questions to ask.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before he could begin his search, a rescue worker with a large megaphone came up to the giant group, calling for their aid. The young woman looked quite sad as she pleaded for help

“Could I have your attention please?” the rescuer began. “The group causing the explosions has retreated, but the arena complex has been greatly damaged. Under the arena was a research complex, where we believe several people are trapped inside. However, the pokemon residing in the complex are loose…and wild. The scientists may have been experimenting on them, causing them to take over the building and keeping the survivors as hostages. We can’t help them without more pokemon trainers to keep the hostiles at bay. If there are any trainers willing to help with the rescue effort, please speak now. We don’t know how much time the survivors have…”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The right motivation…” Mondo mumbled as he witnessed the show going on down below.

Posted by: Master Houndoom Oct 1 2013, 02:16 PM

Together, they had made their way to the gathering place. Branwys looked, between the crowd of pokemon and the clamouring trainers, and despaired of ever getting inside. With a sigh, she sat down.

Making oneself smaller and not human shaped in front of a snorlax is a generally bad idea.

Suddenly she fond herself lifted in the air, rising higher and higher. For a split second she panicked, until she felt the pressure on her foot where a claw had picked her up. It wasn't the first time she had been mistake for a meal. It probably wouldn't be the last.

It would, however, be the easiest to deal with.

Her arms crossed even as she rose to the snorlax's face, her eyes hooded. Unimpressed. THe snorlax looked momentarily confused, deciding whether or not to go through with his plan to sate his stomach for five minutes or so.

"You're lucky I'm wearing a skort," she snarled, then, lifting the one of the pokeballs she attached to her belt, recalled the snorlax.

She admitted as she hit the ground on her backside that she hadn't thought that all the way through. The commotion, however, had covered her: No one had bothered to look up when she shrieked.

"OK, everyone back in. Thanks for the cover, but we've got to find your trainers!" And I have to find Dimo and Oggie...

Being small had its advantages. While she couldn't shoulder her way into crowded rooms (and if she hadn't been afraid of becoming an annoyed snorlax' snack, she would have used him to do it), she could find opening where others couldn't hope to fit. There were some tight squeezes and a couple of embarrassing moments when her hair or, worse, her hand brushed someone's rump (and some were rumpier than others), but eventually she'd made it to the counter.

Getting the nurse' attention proved futile, as many others had wanted to know what she did. Why were their pokemon missing, who were these strange pokemon, and what was being done to fix it?!

Branwys had another plan, however, and one she felt was important. So intent was she on getting her point out that she didn't notice the group fall quiet as the rescuer made her announcement. Finally, frustrated, she shouted out, "I CAN HELP!"

"Oh, thank you, little girl!" The voice came from behind her. "We really could use all the help we can get." The rescuer pointed to where volunteers were gathering. Branwys blinked.

She had meant the machines, but the rescuer's eyes were so earnest that Branwys hung her head, embarrassed by her outburst and the mistake, and walked to the gathering place. People, well, some, made room for her. One man, whom she had brushed against before, hadn't move, looking back eagerly at the girl. Branwys made a face and gave him a wider berth than needed, much to his look of disappointment.

Muttering to herself, trying not to be heard, she crossed her arms. "Any one want a snorlax..?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Oct 1 2013, 03:45 PM

“That’s, like, impossible…” Lyla whispered to herself after Tag explained the Pokemon swap-out situation a for the second time (a little more slowly for her distressed mind to capture it). She fumbled awkwardly for her Barbie-pink Pokedex and set to scanning the balls in her bag.

[Rotom. Swellow. Jigglypuff. Alakazam. Buizel. Typhlosion.]

“No way… Then, like, where’s Kaki and Momo and the others?” She wondered out loud as she removed the balls from the bag one by one and fastened them to her rarely-utilised trainer’s belt even as her escort trio of trainers battled around her. Oblivious, she clipped them in alphabetical order so that she wouldn’t lose track of who was in what ball then began to flip through their pages on the Pokedex with one hand while her other found Tag’s arm once more.

*I’d definitely need a strong Pokemon like Alakazam or Typhlosion to protect me but what if they don’t listen?* She fretted as they oved into the more crowded area around the Pokemon Center. *Maybe I’ll just stick with the Jigglypuff or the Buizel if it comes to-*

“Huh?” Lyla bumped into Tag as they suddenly stopped moving and her chest brushed up against cold armour plates. “Wah!” She cried with alarm in Darius’s face. “Where’s Tag gone?!” She demanded, searching around wide-eyed through the pressing crowd. “He said he’d keep me, like, safe…” She sniffed weakly.

Posted by: Aura Dynasty Oct 2 2013, 03:45 PM

Even though she stood a while away from the immense crowd -Jill still tried to figure out how so many people could possibly fit inside the stadium- she was clearly able to hear the rescue-worker's speech on how they needed trainers or people capable of helping out and finding the survivors. An outstanding opportunity, but she'd no idea how she would be able to help out, she didn't had the guts to raise her hand, leave alone stand up against the people who'd done this! From several groups she'd passed one thing kept repeating itself. Team Deception. No idea who they were, not even what they were exactly, but by seeing what they'd caused at the tournament, they wouldn't be an innocent group of illusionists.

"I CAN HELP!"

The voice was loud and clear, perhaps a little frustrated by focusing on its tone, but it was heard and the rescuer who'd just made the announcement looked hopeful as she pointed at the gathering place. This girl seemed a lot younger than Jill was, and she had the guts to raise her voice like that for the sake of helping their cause. Admirable. Jill thought about what to say, what to do and looked at her hands, who'd started shaking. Thoughts of indecisiveness, uselessness rushed through her head. Again that feeling. She hated it. This time there was a chance she could help people in need, keep them from suffering, pain or even worse, death. Helping them, a chance that'd become riskier with every second that passed.

"What am I? A coward? No, take an example at that girl and rise up!"

Clenching her hands into fists she looked up at the rescue-worker, who obviously couldn't see that Jill was watching her, and she too opened her mouth.

"I-eh,... would like to help!"

The people close enough to hear it looked at her, then shook their head as if they'd imagined hearing something and went back on with their babbling. This sudden ignorance somehow made something snap inside of her. After she finally spoke up she was to be plainly ignored?! No way that this was happening! Boldly she paced towards and partially through the crowd, to stop fifty yards from where she'd first stood and raised her voice once again.

"What are they, deaf? I VOLUNTEER!!!"

The people around her suddenly backed away and looked at the blonde girl who'd just managed to shut an entire crowd up. Well, she had to admit that the way she'd said it was pretty loud. Actually, ridiculously loud. Atop of that she'd managed to not repeat herself, but to use a film-quote as well. A little bit shocked herself she hadn't noticed that she held both her hands in front of her mouth, until she tried to utter an apology. The rescuer herself looked at her, both pleased and taken aback. This girl sure was a strange one.

"Uh, okay that's fine." the woman replied, still a bit confused. "That way, if you'd please..."

Jill lowered her head, a bit ashamed and quickly walked through the crowd and towards the group of volunteers. People made way for her, which only made her more embarrassed. First impression: Failed. Big time. If she'd be remembered later, hopefully she wouldn't be remembered as the Shouting Volunteer or something.

"And that's why I don't open my mouth so often." she mumbled to herself as she proceeded.

Posted by: Douken Sota Oct 3 2013, 02:33 PM

It was a risky move finding himself at the Pokemon Center, but at the same time a safe one. If they wanted to take him out secretly, then being in the midst of a crowd would act s a safety net. Anyone try to do anything and they will be easily spotted by a number of faces. during that time, he could sit down, straighten up his head, recover, and find out how things looked on his end.

Releasing his other three Pokemon, he was soon able to take a look at his full team: Flaffy, Bulbasaur, Hariyama, Gible, Sudowoodo, and Gothita. Sure enough, no one knew each other and were staring at each other either confused or angry. "May I have a moment?" he called out to them, getting their attention. "As you are aware, we got a bit of an issue going on. We have all been separated from our trainers and families because of an attack. This was made to try and confuse us and prevent us from fighting back in the midst of the confusion. However, as we speak, we are trying to get things fixed up as soon as possible. However, during this time, I want to make sure that this distraction they threw at us will not stop us at stopping them, so I ask of you to please lend me your strength for moment." he gave them a moment to let them think it over. "Gothica, may you please give me their names?"

"Yes, Temp Master!" echoed in his head, feeling a small sweat drop form on the back as she asked about. "I am Nina. This one," Gible, "is Snap. This one," Sudowoodo, "is Mimic. This one," Bulbasaur, "is Lily. This one," Flaffy, "is Plush. And finally, this one," Hariyama, "is Don't-act-like-you-fucking-own-me." However, Douken watched the Hariyama face palm while giving a brief comment before Nina added, "But you can call him Hachi."

"Alright, well it is ice to meet you all and I do wish to help out as much as possible myself. I am Douken Sota. i am not your new trainer or temp master, but I do wish to help get this situation taken care of. So please, lend me your strength and I shall do the same."

A bit after some Q&A to try and understand some things between each other, Douken was able to get an idea on what they were like and what special skill they possessed outside of their normal move arrangement. however, one of the rescuers soon came up, asking for volunteers to help them in their situation. His eyes narrowed a bit, betting what he had this was a secret move for TD to use them just like in the Lenolia Graveyard. Standing up, he returned what consisted of his team except for the Gothita, who sat on his shoulder, and pushed his way through the crowd to get in front of the "rescuer," and stared her right in the eyes.

"Sounds like you are having trouble with your job, aren't you," Douken muttered under his breath,making sure only she could hear. "I mean, it must be hard to do your job without the help of civilians. Who else makes great pawns to do some dirty work?" Stepping away, he soon found himself walking over to the other volunteers. "I am helping too," he announced. This way, I can make sure you don't get what you want.

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

Seican Serroc (click to show)


"Goddamnit this blows!" Seican shouted, A Porygon 2 and Delcatty sitting next to him. "how the hell can I get ready for my next concert if my band is everywhere but here?!" Groaning under his breath, his head dropped as he slowly made his way over to the overly crowded Pokemon Center. Stepping in was simply impossible, so he had to wait outside throughout the rest of the noise. "Geez, talk about uber crappy luck."

However, it seemed like there was a rescuer outside looking for help as well. It was a good way to get the attention of everyone if they had a few guys trying to get extra hands. With a sigh, Seican simply said, "Why not? If I can beat something up to let out my frustration, then so be it. Not like I can thrash some metal now anyways."

Posted by: Kamaitachi Oct 4 2013, 01:49 PM

Lyla had not go of his arm the entire trip to the Pokemon Center. The girl clung to him with a death-grip even as he barked out commands to his temporary team. He made a face down at the girl, silently wishing that she were a bit more assertive in the fight. But, this was yet another disaster that they'd endured. He couldn't fault her for shutting down.

They reached the overly crowded Pokemon Center, and Lyla, for a moment, let go of him. He used the opportunity to gently slip away, leaving her with Darius and Tikal for the moment. Now that the majority of the excitement had petered out for the most part, now was the time to find some answers.

He moved through the crowd, making his way to one of the healing stations where his makeshift team was tied up. He looked around for a moment, wondering if he'd recognize any of his Pokemon. However, there were so many moving about, and a vaster majority still in their pokeballs, that the probability seemed rather low.

Sure, he was worried, but he'd trained them well. They would be able to do just fine in the situation. It was their makeshift trainers he had to worry about. Yet, that was another bag of worry he didn't even want to think about. He was quite convinced that if the new trainers were sub-par, his Pokemon would simply just do their own thing.

His Pokedex beeped loudly, startling him. He never received messages via pokedex...no one really knew him well enough to send him messages anymore.

Flipping it open, he noted a message from...unknown sender.

"Meet me at the entrance to the Arena. Bring anyone you trust."

Trust? Tag trusted very few people. Justin and Nate he trusted now, but they were nowhere to be found. He didn't really know anyone else well enough to trust them. For that matter, he didn't even really trust the message. If this was an attack, certainly they'd want to take him out. It would be foolish to go alone.

Throughout the hustle and bustle of the center, he noticed a few people starting to form into groups, probably for some sort of rescue mission? He would've gladly volunteered as well...but this message was bothersome. His gut told him that much more of the answers would become apparent should he go meet the mystery messenger...or at the very least, he'd have a new lead to follow.

He returned back to the group, forcing a smile as Lyla sniffled attached to Darius.

"I'm right here." Tag nodded as he looked over at Lyla, Tikal, and Darius. "I'll be heading back out to see if I can't find the wounded or stragglers. Dragon Trainer, may I task you with keeping the young lady safe?" He paused for a moment, looking the man up and down, finally pinning the armor as a variant of the proud leather armor worn by die-hard trainers from Blackthorn. No wonder he'd recognized Tag and asked him to summon his 'mighty dragons'. If only the poor lad knew. Taggarty Lee, the Bane of Blackthorn, was no longer a dragon trainer by rite of his exile.

"Tikal" He looked over at the opponent he'd narrowly beaten only moments before. The tattooed man leaned in to whisper the next bit: "You're in charge of keeping an eye on the both of them. I think we know that you're the sanest one in the lot."

With that, and whatever responses they could muster, he hurried from the Pokemon Center, looking to meet with the mystery man or woman.

Sure enough, as he was running, hands on his pokeball belt, he noticed someone else moving through the debris. Jill Laurent! He moved over instantly, eyes darting about for any sign of enemy or Electrode.

"Are you hurt?" He asked calmly, crossing his arms. "If not...I could use your help. Care to follow me back to the arena? I believe I've a lead on what's going on around here."

Jill...probably the most sane and down to earth person in all of Furoh. The one person who didn't particularly rush headlong into danger like almost every other trainer in the universe, Tag included. Someone of her sensibilities was someone that Tag could inherently trust.

* * *

"Lori, we're almost there!"

Once they'd crossed the threshold into the safety perimeter of the Pokemon Center, Francesco Rojas and Lori Pardare moved about, looking for Branwys. However, looking for Cesc's Lady-Friend in the crowd of people was proving more and more difficult, especially with more haggard and terrified people surging in. Cesc sighed, holding on to Lori as he looked about the Pokemon Center.

He listened intently, wondering if he could locate her via the sound of her voice. What he did hear, however, was someone asking for trainers to help rescue people somewhere.

"Lori, let's go help out." He nodded grimly, moving towards the groups gathering to travel somewhere to rescue some people. There was a chance that Branwys was one of the people in need of rescue, so this seemed as good a lead as any. "Time to be heroes, yeah?" His charming grin broke out despite all of his worry, aimed to bolster the spirits of the woman he was leading around.

Cesc pushed his way through the crowd, making a path with Lori until they arrived at the rescuer's location.

"We volunteer!" he waved, taking Lori by the hand and pulling her into the group. Looking around at the smattering of trainers he'd assembled, he noticed long-haired rockstar Seiccan Serroc, whom he waved to noncommittally for a moment. As he scanned the group, he noticed his lovely lady love. It stood to sense that she would be someone rescuing, rather than someone needing to be rescued.

"Branny!" He grinned, letting go of Lori and moving over to his fellow trainer. "Branwys...I'm so happy you're safe."

Posted by: Toogee Oct 5 2013, 08:28 AM

Darius could have giggled like a schoolgirl if it weren’t for all of these people around him. There he was, Taggarty Lee, taking charge of the situation. He gave Darius the task of protecting Lyla, the beginnings of a tale of chivalry and danger! As Tag whispered something to Tikal (probably about how awesome Darius was), Darius turned to Lyla as he recalled the teddiursa in his arms.

“Not to worry, milady. No harm shall come to you while I’m standing. You have my word.” He put his free hand on Lyla’s shoulder, as solid a promise as the dragon trainer could make.

Soon, under Tag’s leadership, they would infiltrate the arena, fend off the creatures within, and rescue the survivors. What was a simple outing was turning into another epic chapter in the Chronicles of Darius Dovakin!

And then Tag left without them.

“W-wait, what about us?” Darius asked, but his idol had disappeared into the dense crowds. What kind of chapter would this be? They just stand around while someone else saved the day? Darius wouldn’t hear of that! The dragon trainer saw his opening when people began volunteering to help with the rescue effort. Yes, this was how this chapter would begin! Darius, alongside his fellow trainers, would fight into the decrepit arena and save the day!

“People in danger? We must help as well!” Darius said to Lyla and Tikal. “We cannot sit idle while more damage is done! That wouldn’t be very heroic at all!”

Posted by: Yzarc Drowsnam Oct 5 2013, 03:05 PM

Jill Laurent was searching the pokemon center desperately to find her companions. Pele, Vinyl and Flare were missing, and in their stead she had quite the random assortment of pokemon. Her top priority was finding her lost pokemon, but it was difficult in the chaotic crowd, filled with trainers on the exact same mission as she.

Then, a rescue worker darted in and insisted that they needed help. Perfect. That meant some of the trainers blocking her way would undoubtedly rush headstrong back into the arena with their new and powerful pokemon, which would surely make it easier to find her own.

But it's never quite that easy. She happened to run into Tag Lee, which was for a moment a relief. After that, he insisted that she come with him, he had a lead on what was going on. He began to move towards the stadium, but she stayed put.

"Tag-" She began, and he stopped to listen. "I'm not-" She couldn't quite figure out what to say, but she knew that her priority was finding her pokemon. She wasn't out to save the world, or to stop the bad guys. Frankly, she didn't care. But she did kind of care about Tag, and he appeared to care very much about fighting for good, or whatever. So, she had to say it gently. "My priority- I can't-" She stopped to take a deep breath and figure out what to say. "I can't come with you. I need to find my pokemon." She could feel a tear coming, but she fought it off. "They're all I have left."

Posted by: Kamaitachi Oct 5 2013, 04:59 PM

Tag stopped in his tracks, slightly befuddled at Jill's reaction. He hadn't expected the sort of emotional panic from her; in the few instances he'd seen her, he'd never been met with this sort of desperation.

"Everyone is looking for their pokemon." He stated matter-of-factly, not entirely sure how to explain his point. "It's going to be a mess here, but if we can sort out the problem at its source, everyone's Pokemon should be returned to them. The sooner that happens, the better. I've got someone else's Pokemon, and I intend to take care of them as if they were my own. I can only trust that whoever has my Pokemon will do the same. Until then, I think this is the best way to set things right across the board."

He hadn't intended to monologue at her, especially with so much still going on.

"I'm going." Tag clenched his jaw for a moment, not really sure how to sum up his thoughts properly. He really needed to learn how to talk to people, or at the very least express his own thoughts in a way that didn't sound stupid. He was surprisingly elegant when it came to being noble, but when it came to being a human, he had no idea how to phrase things. "You have your priorities...and I understand that. There's more at stake here...if we don't stop whomever is behind this, then we may never get our Pokemon back. So, I hope you change your mind." He gave her an awkward sort of wave, drawing a Pokeball, he summoned his temporary ally.

"Togekiss, you're on overwatch. Keep an eye out for trouble."

With a determined sounding trill, the Jubilee Pokemon swept up into the air as Tag broke into a jog away from the Pokemon Center.

Posted by: Master Houndoom Oct 11 2013, 12:41 PM

Branwys stood there, twiddling with the pokeball that held the snorlax that had almost eaten her. She could tell, could feel that it wasn't Dimo or Ognian's ball, and not just by the lack of their stickers on it. It just felt... wrong. Heavy, even though she had done the measurements and experiments with her brother that proved that the ball didn't change dimensions unless activated or put into storage mode, and the weight of an empty ball and an inhabited ball never changed by more than 21 grams...

She sighed. She hadn't seen a familiar face since Darryn had defeated her in their match. Not even Gol had seemed to stay around (but, then, could one blame him?). She knew Cesc was here, he had texted her as much, and she was certain that if Daryn were here, then Lyla was likely with him, but she hadn't seen anyone.

Dimo and Oggie were always out, unless they just couldn't be. She wondered where they were, if anyone had them, and if whoever had them was treating them right. Branwys almost laughed at that, except for one thing: While Dimo and Ognian were strong willed and loyal, they were still very small, not evolved. She was beginning to fear that, if a trainer mistreated them, they would act up, and if he didn't like it... well, then what? She had some pretty strong pokemon on her, and a fe- one not so strong one. What if this guy sicced a stronger one on her boys?!

There was no guarantee the strength leveller was working, either.

Dimo would find her. Or she would find him

It had to happen. She couldn't bear losing more right after losing Tinka.

Branwys looked up just as another group of volunteers made their way to the group; That Seiccan guy from the bug caching contest, and...

Cesc. Holding a girl's hand.

For a moment she could feel the blood rushing from her face. It came back with a vengeance when he had't even noticed her at first, still holding to the other girl's hand, he turned, and finally spotted her.

She had managed to calm her formidable ire by the time he saw her, but she wasn't about o stop the icy look in her eyes, or the grit teeth, or the way the ball nearly popped out of her hand from trying to squeeze it at seeing Cesc's hand in another...

Inwardly, she sighed. Of course. Of course he'd turn to someone else. Either he was a complete jerk and was playing her for the novelty, a complete ass and had several girls in reserve, and she was the one who'd simply popped up most often lately, had decided her size and manner of dress was off putting, which, honestly, just confirmed every fear she'd ever had about finding a relationship ever, or he was intimidated by the fact that she had had to bail him out on two fights during that whole debacle and his male ego was bruised (nevermind that he had asked for her help... that probably made it worse in his ass-jerk-non-committing mind!).

He came toward her, but she was looking at his chest and not his eyes, stepping back to avoid the inevitable hug. Her eyes, she knew, said it all: Keep your distance, and maybe I won't bite you in that non-pleasant way you are guaranteed NOT to like.

"Cesc," she said, cooly, her voice lowering a full octave. "Who's your..." she wanted to say little, but even that petty insult would backfire on her, given the facts, "friend?"

Posted by: rt117 Oct 15 2013, 09:45 PM

Watching Tag leave to tend to his own business, Tikal realized that perhaps he was serious when he had asked her to keep an eye on them. When he left, she could see why, as Darius made a potent declaration about having to be heroic. This, combined with his attire made it all the more difficult for the girl to resist the urge to cover her face with her hand. She would agree to let him go on with his plan, so long as she could be the voice in his head, to steer him away from some epic failure.

"Right... well... let's get started then. What's your plan?" she asked, recalling the Pokemon she had summoned to help the group escape from the madness out on the battle arena. All but the Oshawott, which somehow reminded the girl of Darius, swinging his scalchop about as if it were a sword, in a demand to take part in the 'heroics' that the armour-clad trainer promised them.

Tikal looked down at the little Oshawott, which was quick to run over to Darius, examining his gear. Unable to hold back any longer, her hand slipped over her face.

"...Looks like you've got yourself a fan."

Posted by: Kamaitachi Oct 16 2013, 01:23 AM

Cesc reeled for a moment. While they were embroiled in yet another horrific situation, he had been expecting Branwys to be as relieved as he was. The rather icy glare that met him instead surprised him to no end.

"This is Lori Pardare." He gestured over to her, "She was my opponent during the tournament. "Miss Pardare won handily in our match, but then those Electrode fell out of the sky." His mismatched eyes looked over Branwys, who seemed haggard, and not in the 'just-rolled-out-of-bed' way that he normally enjoyed. Something had been very off about her recently, and now he thought he'd finally placed a finger on it.

"Bran," he frowned, placing his hands on his hips. He had hoped that Branwys wasn't one of those horrendously insecure girls that immediately jumped to conclusions whenever it suited them. She had never shown that face before, usually being the cooler of the two of them. But he was tired at this point, perhaps from what now felt like a constant slew of dangerous situations. So despite all of the warning signs, the tired, frazzled Cesc refused to step aside for the gentler, more thoughtful self. "You've gotta be kidding me. Now, of all times, you're jealous? The world just exploded and you're getting upset over this?"

Kamai (click to show)


* * *

OOC (click to show)

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Oct 16 2013, 12:19 PM

Pre-Crisis & Pre-Battle


Joey fought his way through the crowds and eventually found his way by following in Bartholomew's generous wake. When the young boy could see in front of him, his line of vision was greeted by an earthy display featuring supposed long-extinct Pokémon. Joey recognized a couple from toys he had once possessed in childhood. Bartholomew, with surprisingly gentle guidance, brought his young protégé to the front of the crowd to better peer at the fossils in the glass case.

Exorbitant prices were available for buying outright, but a game of chance accompanied lower prices. In a brightly painted tub featuring a sunny Lotad design swirled Magikarp and one lone Feebas. Old rods were propped against the counter expectantly. Bartholomew turned to Joey slightly and started signing.

"Is this exotic enough for you, Master Sweet?"

Joey made a derisive face and signed back regarding the excessive title.

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Barty." To indicate a nickname, Joey used the name sign he had assigned his new assistant by slapping his B hand against his chest over his heart.

"It's all about style," Bartholomew brushed off the comment easily.

Joey rolled his eyes subtly before reaching for an old rod, but Bartholomew promptly slammed his own B hand against his opposing open palm. Joey obeyed the "stop" sign and focused as it was explained to him. He was transitioning out of being a rookie, and a new teammate should not be left to chance. Consideration must be carefully made to assess his team needs. Joey made a mental run through of his team and tried to recall his tactics he had read.

"Defense," he muttered orally.

Bartholomew nodded, as if expecting him to come to that conclusion, and confidently handed him a fossil. The dirt was tightly packed and rough against his skin. He ran his fingers over the grooves in the fossil in wonder, trying to feel if life indeed existed within what appeared akin to a rock. He scanned the brochure and matched the fossil to the Pokémon. It was an Armor Fossil, and housed the DNA of a Shieldon. It might have hiss his over-active imagination, but the deaf boy would have sworn up and down that he had felt a tingle as he handed the fossil to the vendor clerk to be restored. The machine hummed to life, and Joey could feel the vibrations throughout his body and rattling his ribcage. His excitement soared with the same growing intensity. A dull glow escaped the lid, and before the spots dissipated from his eyes, a young scaly Shieldon was thrust into his arms, which he had to set down quickly due to its in proportionate weight. However, he knelt down and kept his hand on it in greeting.

Wide, innocent eyes gazed into Joey's own from beneath the metallic ridge jutting from the head of the ancient creature. The Pokémon vocalized his name and Joey felt it and the calm breathing. The eye contact of calm adoration wasn't broken even as Joey recalled his new teammate into the Pokéball.

"Well?" Bartholomew signed warmly to Joey, who cradled the Pokéball with devout affection.

"That was the most amazing experience…" Joey signed slowly.

Bartholomew smiled.

***

Bartholomew noted a kiosk detailing the battle information and then herded Joey to his next match. Getting flustered, Joey had trouble hiding his reluctance to conforming to his next costume change.

Battle Thread (click to show)


A small water basin was brought to Joey so that he could rinse out his eyes, which he accomplished desperately with great relief, and minimal trouble. He slowly blinked back into the world of vision and found himself sitting out on the grass with the Pokémon Center not far away. An overwhelming crowd of distraught and angry people were gathered in front of him in all imaginable positions of sitting and standing, and as he could see through the center's glass doors, it was overflowing with people.

While he had hated it with all his might only moments ago, being deaf became an advantage as his panic faded away. It was very easy to tune out the chaos and mentally check out of the situation. As he did so, his logical and analytical side bubbled to the surface, and he was able to take a step back and think.

Everyone else was fleeing to the authorities during the crisis and it was getting them nowhere, therefore Joey had no inclination to join them in beating their heads against PokéCenter walls. Instead, the people outside and closer to him appeared to be getting into groups formed by members of the rescue team. After tending to Joey and seeing he was relatively alright, the rescue worker who had helped the deaf boy appeared to be making an announcement and doing the same thing, accompanied with a crude cardboard sign denoting "Rescue Group". They were placed more on the outskirts, farthest away from the PokéCenter, so no one flocked to their group immediately, for which Joey was thankful. This many people made him uncomfortable, and he considered going off on his own looking for his Pokémon and Bartholomew. Deep down, he wished Bartholomew would show up, interpret for him, save the day, and they could all go home and Joey could hide in his room under his covers. But the day seemed to not be taking that direction. He had to remind himself that he had been a person, and a functioning one at that, before being gifted a personal assistant. He could be that person just as easily as before his life took a miraculous turn of events that landed him life comforts, couldn't he?

He reiterated it to himself and steeled his nerves. He clutched the Pokéball that housed the monster from before, and now being able to think more clearly, he was sure it was a Tyranitar. Knowing that alone, he was hesitant to check the other Pokéballs for what monstrosities they sheathed. He had heard stories of disobedient Pokémon if they thought the trainer was weak, and he was sure he hadn't left a good impression on the dark/rock type.

However, he had to know and use the tools available to him, so he firmly called out the next Pokémon in line, which had been Claw's Pokéball. Just holding it, Joey knew it didn't feel right, although he couldn't explain it. He continued calling out all of the Pokémon, besides the Tyranitar as another sandstorm wasn't needed, and they all looked just as confused as he was, clearly not knowing each other. Joey's own enthusiasm dissipated when he realized he had no introduction to this new group, no easy communication like a hearing person would have. Not relying on the near impossibility of the Pokémon knowing to sign, he started talking in his rather unused voice, and signed complementary out of habit. One of the Pokémon, a Mr. Mime, perked visibly, and started signing in return, to Joey's astonishment. Although visibly floored by this revelation, the boy quickly focused on the clearly fluent hand-flapping. From that conversation, Joey gleaned that the Pokémon were just as disoriented as the trainers, but Mr. Mime personally was on board, and he convinced the others gathered around Joey to throw in their support, some more begrudgingly than others.

During that, Joey noticed that another individual on the impromptu team with definitive digits, an Electabuzz, was vaguely mimicking the Mr. Mime's signs with potential signing dexterity, but limited effort. Joey softly smiled at the thought of such harmonious luck. As his mother would say, someone was watching out for him. Oddly, he was surprised he remembered such optimism from her, as it had been squished out steadily in his early years of life.

A Floatzel now under his command was making a futile attempt at signing, but quickly became frustrated and gave up, opting instead to only having to read it. The remaining two on the field were completely out of luck as a Rhyperior and a Shedinja, but they both proved to be focused and willing. The large Drill Pokémon was intimidating on par to the Tyranitar, but thanks to the Mr. Mime's liaison, it was cooperative.

Due to crisis-induced time constraints, Joey and Mr. Mime helped the others understand three basic signs: Attack, Defend, Retreat. He prayed they would be enough. For anything more complicated, Joey hoped signing and Mr. Mime's psychic ability would suffice, and on that note, he recalled all the Pokémon to let them rest aside from the Mr. Mime. If anything, he was slightly lonely and felt more secure with a Pokémon at his side. Mr. Mime seemed to understand and settled down easily. In sign, he introduced himself as "Mimely". Joey smiled and signed, "Please to meet you," before taking a seat back on the grass. He wasn't seated long before he sprang back up. It felt as if he had sat on something. After some ineffective grass inspection and then awkward wiggling, he reached behind him to straighten out the stiff blazer, and clutched something long, slender, and furry, ending in a defined spiked point.

"Sweet Arceus," he sighed exasperated. His costume had come complete with a springy Purrloin tail, and suddenly, he had second thoughts about finding Bartholomew.

Pokemon Acquired (click to show)

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Oct 16 2013, 08:24 PM

OOC: So I finally found what Stompy Geoff looks like... ish. (click to show)


Movement in the dark. Voices. Not hers.

A scream.

That was hers.

Open eyes light too bright hurts hurts hurts-

Black.


***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

HurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtsHURTSHURTSHURTSHURTS-

Moving. Badly. Strange. Trapped? Trapped.

Hurts.

Everything hurts.

Even my mind.

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

Black.


***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

Posted by: Living Arrow Oct 17 2013, 02:24 PM

Lori felt herself tighten her grip ever so slightly on Cesc’s hand when the small girl with blonde pigtails looked their way. Her stare felt like a million pin pricks assaulting her face and scalp, resulting in an itchy hairline that begged to be scratched with the discomfort of that gaze. The fiery red-head swallowed thickly. Was she staring because of Lori’s hair? Admittedly it was long and bright and a little messy from the running but there was no need to be so judgemental. Typical for yet another idiot to latch on to her most prominent feature and see it as freaky and weird.

*Why is she still staring at me that way?...* Lori wondered at first but it transformed into a *what are you lookin’ at?!?!* demand that pursed her lips with irritation.

Cesc had spotted the girl, too, and began to lead Lori in her direction. She prepared herself for a verbal assault, plucking at offensive straws about the girl’s small stature or her evident need for eyedrops because she wouldntstopstaring but Cesc managed to speak first. All for the better, really. The handsome Co-Ordinator released Lori’s hand to greet the girl but she stepped back rudely.

The blonde’s tone was none-too friendly with Cesc despite it being obvious that they knew each other. Lori heard the heat in the word ‘friend’ and noted the pause with which the man in the middle hand to take to collect himself from what seemed an unexpectedly cold exchange.

*I’ll be the girl with a pigtail in each hand if you don’t stop staring!*

"This is Lori Pardare." Cesc allowed for a much more polite introduction, forcing Lori to smile weakly at the less-than filling stack of pancakes. "She was my opponent during the tournament. Miss Pardare won handily in our match, but then those Electrode fell out of the sky."

*And I can fight just as well as my Pokemon, shrimpy!*

"Bran,"

*Woah, wait! Is this that girl, Branwys, we’re looking for?!* Lori blinked. Cesc had seemed so concerned to find her and yet she was being just rude when he had been looking out for her. *Well, if I had Cesc looking out for me, things would be different!* Lori quickly lowered her brow as she thought that last thought, attempting to hide the heat blooming in her milky cheeks. *C’mon, Lor! Not some random boy!*

"You've gotta be kidding me. Now, of all times, you're jealous? The world just exploded and you're getting upset over this?"

Alarm bells rang. Well, at least to Lori anyway. Jealous. That’s what he had said. And the way he said it was so… Meaningful. It wasn’t the kind of jealous that suggested Lori was prettier (despite that being obviously true) but more of a jealousy that Cesc might think such a thing because… because they were… dating? More serious than that? Surely not – there would have been more of a heartfelt reunion if that had been the case. But still, they had to be involved in some way. And if they were involved to the sort of degree where proper feelings were involved then Cesc had just made a dumb boy move.

Lori’s eyes widened and she took a slight step back, casting her eyes away from the pair to avoid getting dragged into the obvious train wreck that was about to run its way throught he Pokemon Center.

Posted by: Master Houndoom Oct 19 2013, 01:55 AM

Branwys twitched as if she had been slapped. Her eyes widened, and she felt her face heat up dangerously. A mad part of her imagined herself as a cartoon character, walking up his body until he was bent over backwards, parallel to the floor, her standing on his chest and giving him a scolding on his chest.

It was a relatively small part. The rest of her was gritting her teeth hard enough that she felt they'd crack. She felt her blood rising to her head, fit to burst.

But her voice was quiet.

"The world... exploded...? The world exploded, is that it?" Her tiny fists clenched tight enough for her knuckles to turn white, and she could feel her fingernails biting into the flesh of her palm. "My world exploded, Cesc, in that ätzend forest! Did you even know?! I'm starting to wonder, because while I'm dealing with that, while Dimo is trying to get me out of my depression, I'm getting texts from you about going off to 'get some'," her voice deepened in mockery of a typical male, "'hehehe you got that bikini hahaha', and just as I'm starting to feel even a little bit like myself, just as everything looks like it might be ok again, Dimo and Oggie disappear, I've got to deal with six pokemon I don't even know and I almost got eaten by a bómánta snorlax!"

She ended, her chest heaving, feeling the hot pinprick in the back of her eyes that could only mean one thing.

"You know what? Forget it. I... I can't even be around you right now."

Posted by: Toogee Oct 19 2013, 06:54 AM

QUOTE(rt117 @ Oct 15 2013, 09:45 PM) *
Watching Tag leave to tend to his own business, Tikal realized that perhaps he was serious when he had asked her to keep an eye on them. When he left, she could see why, as Darius made a potent declaration about having to be heroic. This, combined with his attire made it all the more difficult for the girl to resist the urge to cover her face with her hand. She would agree to let him go on with his plan, so long as she could be the voice in his head, to steer him away from some epic failure.

"Right... well... let's get started then. What's your plan?" she asked, recalling the Pokemon she had summoned to help the group escape from the madness out on the battle arena. All but the Oshawott, which somehow reminded the girl of Darius, swinging his scalchop about as if it were a sword, in a demand to take part in the 'heroics' that the armour-clad trainer promised them.

Tikal looked down at the little Oshawott, which was quick to run over to Darius, examining his gear. Unable to hold back any longer, her hand slipped over her face.

"...Looks like you've got yourself a fan."


"My...plan?" Darius replied, as if Tikal said some foreign word. He managed to come up with how he expected things to go, but it wasn't clear whether this was an actual plan.

"Well first, we're joining the party of rescuers. Then, we're going inside the arena. Give any foes what for and rescue the hostages. The hostages, being super smart scientists, will of course have the answers to where our pokemon are. Before you know it, we're back in time for dinner. All in favor of the plan?"

Darius of course raised his hand and he could count on his new buddy Oshawott to join the party. Lyla appeared distracted, which only left Tikal to decline.

"Majority rule!" Darius exclaimed. "Come on. Let's go be good guys."

The dragon trainer dragged Lyla to the volunteer sign ups, presumably with Tikal in tow. He then proceeded to volunteer all of them into the daring rescue effort.

"Darius Dovakin and his merry band shall assist. Victory is no doubt in our grasp!"

"Uh...K," the girl replied, pointing them to the staging area where the volunteers were to be gathered. This wasn't far from where a small girl was erupting violently on (what he presumed to be) her beau and another girl. Darius decided to let them be; not even he was that brave.

Posted by: Kamaitachi Oct 28 2013, 01:22 PM

Ah.

Cesc's eyes widened in surprise as Branwys lay into him. He watched her explode outwards, and was briefly reminded of supernovas. Yet, at the same time, his own blood boiled dangerously past critical levels. Before he could even think through his responses, he heard himself fire back:

"You couldn't tell me that!? You spend all your time moping around, leaving me here wondering what's become of you? If at any point, I stopped being who I was, would I have lost you? If I didn't try to get you the cheer up, would you just curl up and die? What was I supposed to think, especially when you wouldn't talk to me. You look at me like all of this is my fault, but check this out:"

He angrily threw the six pokeballs he had on the floor. His temporary team of Pokemon came out, looking between Cesc and Branwys with confused looks on their eyes.

"I don't know these Pokemon either! You're not the only one who's missing her friends. This isn't just about you."

He panted heavily, tears of frustration stinging the back of his eyes. It'd certainly been a long time since he'd felt this sensation. Almost sheepishly, he recalled the makeshift team back to their pokeballs, watching Branwys for a silent, terse moment.

"Fine."

He moved over, scooping up the little Wooper at Branwys' feet, looking at the woman who appeared head-shocked and wounded "C'mon, let's find you a Doctor."

He needed something to distract himself, otherwise he'd start stewing and stewing to nobody's relief. He took Adelaide by the arm and started leading her towards one of the makeshift medical tent. Such a wild move confused even him as he started to think about it, but it happened to be the most convenient excuse for getting away from the conversation with Branwys. Funny enough, he'd also completely left Lori ditched behind without saying a word. It was getting hard, under the duress, to keep all of his thoughts straight.

"Él que tiene boca se equivoca", he muttered to himself.

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Oct 28 2013, 07:32 PM

"It's not a doctor I need! I, I need to... do... something? Yes! I need to do something! Something positive, something I can actually do, which is mostly find out what the hell is going on and also where are my shoes?"

"They're on your feet, Doctor," sighed the Grovyle.

"Woo," added the Wooper.

"Anyway, I, I need to get back into there. We haven't got much time! Whatever this bunch of cretins running around in there want, they've got the manpower to get in and out quickly. We need to get everyone to... to... oh, dear... I had it a moment ago... why are my hands warm, strange blue thing that goes Woo?"

"Woo," confirmed the Wooper with a vacant grin and a shrug.

"Ah. Thought so."

"You can understand him?" The Conkeldurr asked.

"No, but I can make the odd educated guess. Also, I remembered how I did it. AHA! That's what I needed to remember! Justin Smart! He's part of this, he's working for Team Erection or whatever they're called, bloody stupid name if you ask me, oh, er, chaps, where did the lusty Latin lover come from?"

"I don't know," growled the Grovyle, "maybe you just wished really hard?"

"If that were true, I'd not be here now with a massive head wound and a load of talking animals. You're purple. You weren't before, I don't think. Wherefore the dye job, pray tell?"

"Ugh, we don't have time for this! Pull yourself together! You shrugged off everything that those guys in the helicopters threw at you, I think you can handle remembering something that happened all of ten frigging minutes ago!"

"<Sorry about her,>" mumbled the Conkeldurr.

"<Woo,>" replied the Wooper. He then tipped off the chair and faceplanted on Cesc's foot, bouncing off and coming to rest beside the stricken frame of Stompy Geoff.

"Ah, there we go. Magically-appearing sexy Spanish man, do you know how to pilot this thing? Or at the least, can you point a joystick at someone? You never know, you might get a few chances to practice..."

Cesc was then treated to a woman with a face so covered in scars and burns it looked as if it was in the grip of trench warfare trying to look smouldering and alluring at him. Lesser men would perhaps have run away or wet themselves. Frequently, both outcomes happened at the same time.

Posted by: Living Arrow Oct 29 2013, 03:24 PM

Lori’s eyes bored holes into Cesc’s back as he swooshed away on an oddly smooth breeze of fiery intent with a Wooper and a weird looking woman. What did he think he was doing, leaving her like that?! He said he wouldn’t let her go and yet here she was… abandoned with his… girlfriend? After that performance, maybe not anymore.

“Awkwaaard…” Lori muttered to herself, hugging her arms around her upper arms and rubbing some heat into them. She tried averting her gaze anywhere but at the short blonde that Cesc had left behind but there was simply no avoiding her. The poor girl was more down-trodden than she had first appeared and, even to Lori’s surprise, seemed to be in a worse emotional state than her.

*Damn, Lor! This Branwys girl must have been through a lot, huh?* Suddenly her initial reaction seemed so stupid and petty. *Did she say nearly eaten by a Snorlax?!*

“Sooo…” Lori sighed, offering Branwys a weak smile. “Nearly eaten by a Snorlax… I had the same problem with a Braviary once… Guess we look good enough to eat, huh?” She looked down at herself to find her usually cute pop-dress torn and dusty, clumpy swathe of red hair spilling over her shoulders outside of her normally well-controlled pony.

“Or maybe not.” She gave a pathetic chuckle, idly considering the way in which her sister Kino always looked perfect. In fact, she wouldn’t be surprised if the once Unova Champion could walk through a hurricane unscathed.

Posted by: Master Houndoom Oct 31 2013, 08:18 PM

Branwys' eyes narrowed during Cesc's reaming of her. Part of her recognized that others were going through the same thing, their pokemon being stolen. That had, however, not been her point! It wasn't just that her pokemon were missing, it was that they were missing after everything else that had been happening!

And now he had walked away. Like a little baby. People expected her to act like a little baby, but he should know better!

She wiped at her eyes furiously, facing the direction Cesc had walked in, scowling hard enough to braise the lower calves and knees of anyone between her and the man who was the focus of her ire, had such a feat been possible.

Then a voice sounded, behind her. She stiffened. The voice was friendly enough, but she knew, she just knew it belonged to the girl who's arm Cesc had recently been holding.

Damn it all to hell, anyway.

She turned, just as the girl had made a joke that they were good enough to eat, after mentioning her own problems with a braviary. In truth, Branwys would have laughed her tiny buns off if she had been in a better mood. Even now, the attempt, the very fact that she wasn't being a little (had had, the tiny woman called the larger one little, it is to laugh) harpy about Cesc. It made her less prone to want to rip her face off.

It was a mildly nice face.

She couldn't laugh, though. It wasn't in her at the moment. Instead, she let her shoulders drop and sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see that... I'm... we're..." She stopped. Was she making excuses for him now? Or was she making excuses for them as a couple..?

"I don't know what we even are..."

Posted by: Kamaitachi Oct 31 2013, 11:37 PM

"The 'lusty latin lover' has ears." Cesc allowed himself a half-smile. A part of him wondered if this was his problem. He had emotions. He felt things. Deep things. But as soon as he felt a certain way, it tended to vanish. Cesc's anger burned at both ends, and vanished as quickly as it arrived. Sure, he was still seething, but his quick humour returned in a way that surprised him.

Of course, there was all the psychiatric talk about defense mechanisms and whatnot, but that didn't really matter. The bizarre woman he was moving about had talking Pokemon (which he barely seemed to register), and it was definitely distracting him from his earlier, unexpected blow-up.

He'd put it aside for now; he could always come back to the discussion with Branwys once he...they...cooled off.

"I have handled joysticks." Cesc shrugged "Never anything so...elegantly destroyed." Perhaps the lady had not witnessed the quarrel. Perhaps she had, and was an opportunist. Nevertheless, the young co-ordinator felt quite the opposite of 'lusty', 'sexy' and 'magically-appearing'. Perhaps the Electrode had done a number on this woman with the "Woo"'ing blue creature. He had an ear for innuendo, but felt no need to engage in otherwise flirtatious behaviour at the moment. He cast a glance over at Stompy Geoff, wondering where such a machination had sprung up from.

"It appears...the nurses are very busy." Cesc gently scooped the Wooper back up absently, holding it to his chest like one would a stuffed-toy. "Well, you seem okay to go. Let's..." he paused for a moment, looking back at the group. This distraction was quickly losing its distractive capabilities, despite Adelaide's best efforts. "Let's, as you say, do something positive. There are people trapped down below. Shall we go be heroes, Miss..."

He stopped, tilting his head slightly to the side, meeting her still smouldering gaze. "I'm Cesc."

Even in introduction, he'd skipped utilzing his full name, which he often employed to dazzle people; Francesco Rojas was a name that rolled off the tongue like silk into velvet pudding. He felt a bit hollow, his usual showmanship fading into himself. The poor man was not used to having strong feelings about anything really. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd fought with anyone remotely resembling a paramour.

But therein was the question: What was Branwys to him, and why was he so upset. If only, he thought to himself, half-depressed but half-amused I didn't have the emotional capability of a four year old.

Awareness, was perhaps, the first step to getting better. It was the only step he felt like taking at the moment. He had Pokemon to find, a maybe-girlfriend to console later, a red-haired trainer whom he'd left with the maybe-girlfriend, and a scarred woman attempting to glamour him with battle scars. The world had exploded in a rain of exploding sphere creatures, and his team of Pokemon companions had been replaced by new, weird Pokemon companions, and he was standing next to a mechanized battle robot that operated on joysticks.

For just a moment, the sheer absurdity of his situation rested on the top of his head. It would've crushed him had he not resolved to gently tuck it aside the way he did most things. There were things to do, and he could process thoughts later.

"Your name is...?"

* * *

Cesc and Adelaide rejoined the group after the brief and ultimately pointless detour, just as the Rescue Worker declared that the group was to set out. As per usual for all catastrophic events, a rag-tag group of trainer had banded together for a rousing event of heroics.

"E-excuse me, sir?" The Young woman rounding up the rescue team seemed quite taken aback at Douken's accusitory tone and intense eye-contact. "Of course we need everyone's help, it's an emergency." Her reaction seemed fairly reasonable to anyone watching body language: Most people did not like intense eye contact with strangers.

"Okay everyone! We've got no more time to spare, let's move out!"

She waved an arm, leading the raggedy group of trainers back towards the arena.

* * *

The path back to the main battlefield seemed much less vibrant than before. While earlier there had been crowds of people, abuzz with excitement, there was nothing but emptiness. The occasional creaking of something buckling under its own weight mixed with the rare, sad, "...trooode..." of a moaning, exploded Pokemon. Trainers looking around saw nothing but devastation, and the occasional strewn body on the floor. In the distance, a few people were helping out wounded, pulling off debris with the help of what appeared to be makeshift partners. The rescuer woman would wave them towards the Pokemon Center, calling out to them with her Megaphone.

The group ultimately reached the battlefield; the once magnificent colliseum had been torn to shreads, with several pieces of debris and detritus strewn over the once pristine fields and stands. The scent of sulfur, spilled food, burned flesh, among many other odors, filled the area with a slushy, almost hazy like smell. A thick dust cloud appeared to be hanging over the air, as if the earth itself had decided not to come back down yet. There was nothing but the air of devastation, speaking to the trainers as they entered with the absolute silence of despair.

The Rescue Worker called out into the heavy air with her megaphone, and a few more similarly dressed men and women appeared, handing the trainers ropes.

"We'll have to rappel down into the facilities through the blast holes. Try and get any survivors back here, and we'll pull them up. Please refrain from catching any Pokemon if you can help it; we have no idea where they'll end up due to the storage system being all crazy. " She instructed.

Small group at a time, the team would descend.

* * *

Sure enough, once the entire team had assembled, they appeared to be on yet another Pokemon Battlefield. This one appeared to be made with little 'volcanos' of toxic sludge. The unused "Poison" field, it would seem. The tiny man-made mountains had been ruptured, apparently, and several pools of clearly poisonous liquid had collected on the floor. Surely, even the gentlest contact would prove devastating to the touch.

"Hey...there's more than one path." Cesc said aloud. He immediately regretted it, as it was possibly the most obvious assertion he could have made. He summoned up a little of his bravado, pointing towards the three exits. "So...let's split up!"

He inwardly groaned. Why had he been the first to speak up, and why had he failed so miserably at being inspiring?

"I'm going this way." He pointed towards a path, pretty much arbitrarily. He didn't bother to explain his reasoning, or even really stay with the group. Having rejoined the group, while maintaining a safe distance from Branwys, had made him edgy and uncomfortable. The opportunity to branch off on his own seemed like the perfect vacation from his emotional duress. Even if the vacation turned out to be yet another death-trap with horrible night dwelling creatures, it still somehow seemed preferable to confronting his own feelings about stuff.

Posted by: Living Arrow Nov 1 2013, 12:57 PM

Darryn lost track of Jill as he entered the Pokemon Center but didn’t think she would mind him disappearing on her – they were, after all, mid-crisis and they didn’t really know each other all that well. He was, however, thankful that he had been with a talented trainer when everything had gone to piece back at the colloseum.

*Are you here somewhere, Jaima? Meiko? Tuesday?* He wondered, casting his eyes over the dirt-stained faces filling the Pokemon Center. There was next to no chance of him finding a single person in that room and opening himself to the Empath space was an accident waiting to happen. A voice stole his attention amid the hubbub.

“You’ll go to help, won’t you Mister Kellor?” A pair of young female trainers hovered nearby, their question drawing the attention of others close enough to hear. Darryn looked at them blankly.

“Sorry, what?” Darryn scratched the back of his head.

“You’ll go and help with the rescue effort, won’t you?”
“Yeah, a strong trainer like you would know what to do, right?”

Darryn swallowed. Surely this couldn’t be what he was coming to? His face recogniseable within the trainer community was one thing but having such expectations thrust upon him because of it? He wasn’t some adventurous wannabe Pokemon Master – he was a Co-Ordinator! He specialised in beautiful displays and musical appeals, not diving into danger for the sake of some adrenaline rush or the glory of being a saviour!

“Uh-“

*****


Darryn kept to himself as the rescue effort drew together and was led out of the Pokemon Center and into the wreckage of the grand invitational village. The eyes from those watching him before had pushed him from the room with their intent pressure and the next step in his ridiculous saga was written by those onlookers. His legs moved of their own accord, all thought drifting from his immediate situation and and seeking answers as to what happened to his cousin, Lady and his other Pokemon. Where were they now? Were they safe? Heck, were they even alive?!

“Let’s split up!” The melodious voice of Cesc Rojas sounded over the murmurs of the collated Pokemon trainers for a moment, jerking Darryn’s head up from staring at the ground. Darryn had seen his potential rival’s name up on the lists of entries for the battles in the collosseum but hadn’t considered that he might actually meet up with him so soon since his last venture to the Boutique of Bonnies Breeding Center.

Darryn’s eyes widened at the suggestion that Cesc made. He’d only experienced bad things when he had been separated from his friends so Cesc’s suggestion only inspired hesitation in the Co-Ordinator. Split up? Into what groups?

*Who’s here, anyway?* Darrn wondered, searching through the unfamiliar faces that surrounded him. *Who’s the most experienced here? The strongest? Wasn’t Tag Lee meant to be at this event? Why isn’t Jaima?! Maybe Pan made it or- it’s him!*

Darryn’s eyes landed on Douken Sota at the far side of the group of trainers. Surely Douken would be one of the stronger trainers at the event – wouldn’t it make sense to make sure Darryn got into a group with him? At least the chance of survival would be improved around someone like that…

“Mister Kellor, would you lead a group this way, please?” The young woman rescue worker pointedly raised her voice with a worried look painting her face. Darryn balked, staring at her in shock. Surely she had meant to say someone else’s name. A number of pairs of eyes began to turn his way.

“Uh-“

Posted by: Toogee Nov 2 2013, 11:28 PM

And so, the group of volunteers gathered beneath the underground facility. The area didn't seem to fare much better than the outdoors, with rubble, broken electronics, and a caved-in floor the highlights of the room. Everyone was climbing down with the aid of ropes that other rescue workers had set up. Darius too had joined the cavalry, helping his young charge Lyla down if and when necessary. Reaching the bottom had led the group to the poison arena, along with a path split into three portions. As everyone else began gathering down, the dragon trainer examined an ID card in the rubble. The picture depicted a girl with a bobbed black hair and green eyes along with the curious name of Marsh Mallow. Before Darius could question the wisdom of the girl's parents, he looked up to find a rescue plan being put in place

One of the volunteers, Cesc, had suggested to split the group up to cover all the paths. They would almost certainly have to if they were to find all the survivors. Each path was likely fraught with danger, specifically from angry pokemon. Needless to say, no one was jumping at the chance to lead the way. Even Cesc, who had made the suggestion in the first place, wasn't exactly convincing in his assertion. This group needed to be rallied into action. They needed motivation to become the heroes that people needed. They needed a bombastic battle cry from Darius Dovakin.

And so, Darius walked up in front of the crowd to give just that. His leather armor and cape alone would turn heads his way.

"Do you see this?!" Darius shouted to get everyone's attention. "Fate has chosen to deter us once more with these paths. Each one is filled with vicious creatures ready to tear us limb to limb. But that won't deter us, not today. When fate placed a myriad of obstacles between us and this journey, be it oceans, mountains or entire continents, did we choose to stay home? We did not. When face with a vast continent completely foreign to us, did we falter? We did not! And when the sky fell and all our friends left our side, did we sit and mourn in the streets while the call for aid went unanswered? WE DID NOT!"

Darius quickly unsheathed his sword, it's blade gleamed in the dim light of flashlights and temporary lighting around the area. He pointed his sword to the group as he continued.

"We're all being tested today. The cataclysms that have occurred would break a lesser man. And if we get to these hostages, they'll have answers to where are friends have gone. This shall be our last trial today, the last before everything is set right. By those you hold dear, I ask you step forward once more! Step forward and fight! Fight for answers! Fight for our pokemon! Fight for...MARSH MALLOW!"

Darius tossed Pandora's fake ID into the crowd and pointed his sword towards the blue path one of the paths.

"FUS ROH DAAAAAAAAAAAH"

The dragon trainer charged forward, completely negating any sort of stealthy approach. He didn't bother to look back, for he knew everyone was going to follow after a speech like that. Right? ...right?

"That is one brave fool," one of the rescue workers commented. "Seriously, someone should go make sure he doesn't do something stupid- wait, too late."

Posted by: Master Houndoom Nov 4 2013, 11:31 PM

Her confession to the girl she'd just been jealous of was not as therapeutic as she'd hoped. Shock and awe.

They were moving. Cesc was in the crowd somewhere, but despite the nagging, Zeetha-like voice nagging her that she was being a child (and passing up a rather enticing hunk of meat, which is how she could tell it was Zeetha-esque advice), she continued staring forward. She wouldn't be the one making the first move. She hadn't done anything wrong!

Maybe he hadn't, either, came another, softer, gentler, more logical voice. Branwys growled at it internally to shut up.

Soon, the came to the split, and someone, a complete and utter idiot, based solely on the advice, suggested they split up. They were in a series of tunnels, with Nature Trio knows what down there with them, and someone wanted to split up.

They were lucky she was to short and the cavern was too echo-y for her to recognize the voice, otherwise they would get such a kick in the shin...

Then came the speech. Branwys couldn't say she wasn't moved. Not at all. She was moved to not move! But the... She sighed. He took off, and she couldn't just leave him to get eaten.

Could she?

If she'd had a nickel for every time she'd almost been eaten... she'd have ten cents, but it was weird that it had happened twice, wasn't it?

She sighed, let out the poochyena, and pointed. "Follow that sword-wielding maniac!"

Posted by: Douken Sota Nov 5 2013, 12:18 AM

Catching the card that was tossed away, Douken couldn't help but look at it. The name was one that would point a lot of jokes, but the facial features she shown made his gut turn. He swore he felt like he was seeing Pan in the picture. However, his attention was turned away when one of the kids decided to try and throw up a speech to boost morale. It only made him look like a fool as a lot of murmuring around depicted worry about him. Still, if they were planning to move in a group, they should move in a group, not run in one at a time.

Stepping away from the crowd, Douken walked calmly to one of the pathways, but instead of heading inside, he leaned on the wall to the entrance, seeing whoever would be joining him. With the Gothita sitting on his shoulder, he heard her ask, "Master, why do we wait here? Why not head in like the others?"

Sighing, Douken replied, "One, I told you to not call me that. Two, we are better sticking as a group. I learned that while at Castle Vonmoto and Starfall Field. So whoever does plan on joining me in this route, we will go as a team, not as a reckless group of kids."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"HEEEEY!" Seican screamed, chasing after Cesc. "What's the big idea, man? Shooting off such a cool idea without any form of speech? You had to let someone do that job for you." However, giving a strum from his speakerless guitar, a very faint note rang out as he commented, "Though i don't mind. it just gives me a better chance to show off better than you!And don't think you got an advantage just because you got a girlfriend!" As if to entice him more, Seican ran off deeper into the cavern. You know, just like one of those reckless group of kids.

Posted by: colourcodedchaos Nov 7 2013, 10:12 AM

Still slightly confused about what was going on, Adelaide wheeled herself off down one of the tunnels, following the rather hypnotic movements of Cesc's hips and lying to herself quite strenuously about whether or not it was the sole reason for her picking that tunnel. The wheelchair didn't really help matters much; it had the same attitude to suspension as bulldozers had to condemned buildings, and it threatened to tip her into pools of disgusting, toxic slurry with every bump and divot in the arena. A constant stream of profanities sneaking past her lips under her breath, she eventually caught up with the others, her concussion now giving way to an absolute belter of a headache.

Conkeldurr and Growlithe had kept up, and the twitching Zangoose had actually run ahead before smearing the poisonous muck all over his face as though it was war paint, but the other three members of her impromptu team were nowhere to be found. There was a noise like distant thunder, though, so she could sort of hazard a guess. She didn't want to believe they could pilot Stompy Geoff, because that made her feel even more redundant that normal, but she had to press on. This was the only chance she had of getting her team-mates back, and her eye was still charging so she couldn't hack into the systems properly and fix what Team Deception (for who else could mount an operation on that scale?) had buggered up. She had to rely on determination, cunning, and the technology of this world to carry the day.

She was therefore rather sanguine about her chances.

The quartet caught up with Cesc properly, who had been bounding ahead with gay abandon, but before she could strike up another conversation more full of incompetent innuendo than a Frankie Howerd marathon, she felt her cybereye buzz with an incoming comms transmission. She tapped the side of her head and spoke.

"I'm here. Where the hell are you guys?"

"Er, well, we've got a bit of a problem," said the Grovyle, "but we're going to be arriving shortly."

"Then I don't see what the problem is."

"Actually, um... that pretty much is the problem."

The thunder was getting louder now. Much louder.

"Ah."

"And, um, we're not stopping once we get to you."

"What? Why not?"

"Well, mostly because we can't."

"Oh, just use the brakes! Honestly, the controls for that thing are really intuitive, you'll find them easily enough-"

"Er, I'm not driving."

"Well, put the driver onto the call, then!" The thunderous noise was growing louder by the minute, echoing off the walls of the tunnel.

"Er, okay, but this is the actual crux of the issue..."

"Doesn't matter. Driver! Whoever you are, you need to use the brakes-"

"Woo," said the Wooper from the driver's seat.

"EVERYBODY GET UP AGAINST THE WALL NOW!"

Posted by: rt117 Nov 8 2013, 05:57 PM

Upong seeing her strange sword weilding companion shout something, she watched with surprise as he suddenly charged down one of the paths, not bothering to turn and look if anyone was even following him. She blinked, trying to register the moment in her head, before letting out a heavy sigh. Apparently the job of 'looking after him' would be trickier than she had thought. Especially with his seeming lack of the ability to think things through.

"Damnit Darius... you're gonna get yourself hurt." the girl sighed, slapping her palm onto her face for a few seconds, before lowering her hand to see that the Oshawott that had joined up with her since the mix-up began had taken to trying to follow behind the sword-wielding man, still struck with awe at his new idol as the small Water Pokemon waved his scalchop about.

"Darius, get back here! You're going to get yourself lost if we split up!" she called down toward him, before the roar of what sounded like thunder began to echo all around the group. This, followed by someone shouting to get up against the wall, caused the girl to sprint forward down the pathway that her companion had decided to take, rather than the more sensible solution of staying behind and devising a plan with the rest of these strangers.

"I swear... you're going to owe me later." she thought to herself, looking ahead to see that Darius was not the only one to dash off down the pathway, spotting a girl with a Poochyena. With the intent of not getting left behind, she moved quickly, scooping up the smaller Oshawott, before picking up her pace.

Posted by: Toogee Jun 29 2014, 10:50 AM

((The following takes place in the aftermath of the http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=70427))

After regaining their pokemon, Darius led Lyla, Brawnys, and the others back to the surface. They found themselves back in the arena, the setting sun pelting their faces with the last glimmers of sunlight. There were no crowds waiting for them: the arena had been evacuated. They could however hear intense cheering coming from the town: they weren't the only ones to get their pokemon back.

As much as he wanted to cheer and shout, Darius couldn't exactly call the outcome a victory. The perpetrators were gone, Suicune was captured, and no one had any idea what this organization was planning next. And then there was the fact that they were the only people in this arena. The dragon trainer was wondering what became of the other teams.

"Hey, anyone think the others are already in town?" Darius asked Lyla and Brawnys. "Maybe they're waiting for us to share stories and spirits in the local tavern. I could certainly use a drink after all of this..."


Posted by: Kamaitachi Jun 30 2014, 03:58 PM

Tag, Jill, Darryn, and Nate had emerged from the tunnels, and were now headed back towards the main group at the Emergency Response Tent. Still holding Suzu, Tag seemed a bit oblivious to the other three in his group, mostly focused on the fact that his pokemon had been returned to him. The Ledian in his arms also hugged tightly, not letting go of her beloved, intimidating faced trainer. Her face was buried in his chest, and between the occasional shudder of her carapace, and the moisture on his chest, Tag figured that the large ladybug was crying in his chest, but didn't want anyone else to see.

As he approached the tent, he saw a few familiar faces in Lyla and Darius. Not sure if he wanted to greet them or just spend some time alone he simply hovered nearby, just holding his Pokemon to his chest. He figured that Darryn would run off to meet Lyla, and Nate would probably disappear into the crowd. Jill was, if her earlier reaction to losing her Pokemon was any indication, was probably in just as much of a stupor as he was.

Yet, as he stood there, watching other trainers make their happy reunions, he noticed two men in lab coats approach him.

"Mr. Lee...we're from the Daioh Research Foundation."

"Uh huh." Tag said stoically, staring at the two men blankly.

"Well, while we were trying to get the Pokemon swapped back, we noticed you handling your Pokemon, and...well...two of the Pokemon you were with seem to have taken quite the shine to you."

"Oh?"

"Togekiss and Pichu immediately escaped from their pokeballs to look for you. We figured it was you, because well...we saw..." The other man abruptly raised his hand.

"As a compromise, we're offering you their company for your journey. They took a real shine to you, and perhaps this will be a means to keep mum on what you saw in those tunnels. We, in turn, will hold silence until such a time is right." He stroked his bare face as if he had a chin for a moment, sizing Tag up. "They do not know we were watching, but for our assured safety, we offer you these Pokemon."

"They're not bargaining chips. You could've just asked me." The corners of Tag's mouth curled down.

"Yes, but we wanted a show of good-will. We're not your enemies, Mr. Lee."

"Even if we're kinda acting like them." The other shrugged. "Just...know that we're on your side."

Reaching out, they each offered him a pokeball, both of them looked like standard Pokeballs, except that instead of the white bottom, they were black.

As Tag accepted them, he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or grateful, yet all the same, he felt pleased to have welcomed two new allies. He wasn't someone that people actively sought out for...well...good things, so he really wasn't sure how to feel at all.

As he accepted the two, one of the scientists attached a device to the Pokeballs via a cable and a suction cup. After a little odd blooping, remiscent of R2D2, the pokeballs disappeared.

"They have been registered to your trainer ID, as if you were the one who caught them. Please take good care of them Mr. Lee. I'm sure you'll hear from us one day."

"Your names."

"Roth." The older man who had stroked his non-existent beard smiled, nodding at him.

"Heath." The other, younger man smiled, extending his hand for a shake.

"Taggarty Lee. I don't look forward to our correspondence...but I understand the necessity of it. We'll be in touch."

Captures (click to show)

Posted by: Toogee Jul 13 2014, 07:09 AM

Darius caught sight of one of the other teams, in particular Taggarty Lee. As he walked to Tag, the dragon trainer noticed Tag talking to two strangers and receiving two pokemon. These two were not dragons however. Darius had heard rumors that the “Bane of Blackthorn” had reformed, but to give up on dragon pokemon entirely? That was the one thing Darius wanted to know. He probably should have asked about the captured Suicune or the mysterious criminal organization. Yet he had to ask this one thing to his idol.

“You were the greatest of our guild,” Darius said to Tag. “You’ve started anew, yet you have no dragons to your name. Why not dragon pokemon?”

Posted by: Kamaitachi Jul 15 2014, 07:29 PM

Still staring vacantly at his hand from where the two new Pokemon on his team had just vanished, it took Tag a second to register that Darius had approached him. The young man, armor-clad in the proud tradition of ancient Blackthorn, asked about the Dragons.

"You'd put me above even above the likes Lance?" a frown slowly crept across Tag's already rather stern features as he met eyes with the armored man. "Greatest in our guild." He repeated slowly; Taggarty Lee couldn't help but think it some perverse joke, even despite the fairly obvious good intent. Darius didn't seem like one for subtlety, or backhanded compliments.

"If I'm anything, I'm the greatest failure Blackthorn has ever seen. Failed the test of the Dragon Master. Became nothing more than a base murderer. An exile. The 'Bane of Blackthorn', right?" His hands clutched tightly into fists as his shoulders began to tremble slightly. He swayed ever so slightly from one side to another, as if dizzy. The day had been an emotionally devastating one already, and now Darius was bringing up the failures of his past once again.

"If you know my story," His voice rasped slightly through his tightly clenched teeth, "then you know why I'll never be worthy of Dragons ever again."

He reached up, pulling the chain around his neck, showing the remains of what had once been his proud dragon talisman. It was nothing more than a little, indistinguishable stump along an otherwise plain silver chain. It had been just that since he left Blackthorn for the last time. For a moment it seemed as if tears were going to burst from the hardened man's eyes as they continued to meet Darius' younger, more earnest ones. Then, as he lowered the chain almost reverently back to his chest, he deflated. The tension seeped from his body until he stood before Darius, looking tired, haggard, and defeated. He let out a low, almost mournful sounding sigh as he finally broke eye contact with the young Dragon Trainer.

"My legend is over. I'm just a cautionary tale now."

Posted by: Living Arrow Jul 16 2014, 02:52 AM

“Lyla.” Darryn spared a quick glance for Tag and Jill before leaving them to join his cousin. Whatever had transpired between himself and the older trainers, Darryn still did not consider either of them to be his friends – how could he? Thanks to them he’d literally been put through a life-or-death situation and their circumstances still had not changed; there’d be no way to know if he was safe anymore and that only meant anyone he was close to could easily be put in harm’s way.

For a brief moment he considered going back to lay his hands on both of them just once before leaving. Maybe he could sew seeds of fear so deep that neither could stand to be around him, or maybe to tie ribbons of love upon their hearts so that they would protect him to their final breaths…

*No way, Daz. Just leave it.* He chastised himself coolly. *Just get out of here.*

“Darryn!” Lyla cried when she spotted him, waving frantically for him to join her and the tiny Branwys. He trotted to them quickly, wrapping his arms around his cousin tightly. She didn’t look injured so much as messed up – her hair was in disarray and her clothes were utterly ruined – but she felt absolutely destroyed.

“Ly,” Darryn held her at arm’s length to look into her eyes with concern, “are you alright?”

Her eyes shimmered with tears but Lyla Moore managed, for once, to hold them back. She sniffed deeply and wrapped an arm around Branwys’s narrow shoulders. “W-we’re OK… Right, Branwys?”

The smaller girl barely gave a response. Her eyes were focusing on something in the near distance, the traumas of whatever they had been through catching up with her like a Tauros catching up with a matador’s red cape. Darryn reached out to smooth the girl’s fringe back from her face, his fingers brushing her forehead. His eyes came up to Lyla’s quickly.

<She is most certainly not OK, Ly!> He gasped between their minds. Lyla outwardly flinched.

<Oh, so we’re doing this again, are we?> Lyla muttered back. <A little warning next time, please!>

<Seriously, this girl needs help.> Darryn frowned. <I mean I could…>

<No.> Lyla supplemented quickly. <No mind control!>

<It’s not mind control – it would just help her emotions settle.> Darryn rolled his eyes. <Nothing bad would happen.>

<Look, Daz.>
Lyla took her cousin’s hand and squeezed it silently. <We’ve been through, like, a lot and it’s changed us but we need these things to make us stronger. Branwys might be stressed now but I’m sure she’ll deal with it later – these things, like, make us who we are, y’know?>

Darryn exhaled slowly. <When did you get so philosophical, anyway?>

<Who says I haven’t always been?> Lyla replied, sticking out her tongue cheekily. Darryn smiled. Trust his cousin to see the silver lining in every cloud.

“C’mon,” Darryn roused Branwys enough to get her attention from the nothingness that she stared into, “let’s get cleaned up and get out of here.”

Posted by: Toogee Jul 20 2014, 10:41 AM

Darius always thought the tale of Taggarty Lee was one of rebirth after a dark past. Darius thought he would see a new dragon trainer, one that worked to reclaim his title with newfound wisdom from his exile. Indeed, he thought he saw this in Tag earlier when they were escaping underground.

That was not what Darius was seeing now. What he saw caused him to pause, unable to immediately respond to the story. Tag’s past left him broken, unable to join with the creatures of his birthright. And yet, despite all of that, Tag was here. He did not give up on training. In fact, stories said he was halfway through Furoh’s league. Tag could have lived the rest of his life as a hermit in some vacant land. Yet here he was, still pursuing the title of greatest trainer. It was a different team than Darius expected, but the outcome was the same. Surely there was something to learn from all of this.

After a brief silence, Darius shared his own story.

“Out of all the lands I could have trained in, I chose this one. Not just because it was unexplored or because it was home to strong opponents. I chose it because you were here. I came all this way to learn your greatest skills. I wanted to see how you fought your opponents, how you led people out of dire situations. Most of all, I wanted to learn your greatest skill: rebirth. I wanted to know how you rose from the ashes after everything that happened and continued your journey a new man. I did not hear a cautionary tale of a broken man but the next chapter of a legend still being written. Tell me I didn’t come all this way for nothing.”

Posted by: Kamaitachi Aug 20 2014, 10:23 PM

Branwys barely heard Lyla's question. It only seemed vaguely directed at her anyways. The onslaught of thoughts rushing around her already cramped mind seemingly kept all external stimulus at bay for the time being.

She responded with the tiniest of nods.

A hand brushed a fringe of hair away from her face, and she looked blankly up at the handsome face of Darryn for a moment, barely registering that he had touched her. Barely recognizing any presence other than the comforting familiarity of Lyla.

And even then, she wished it was Agatha's. Or Zola's. Or Zeetha's. or Theo's.

As she pictured the faces of her siblings, all in order, she came to the sad realization that Zola had been right all along. She needed to go home for now. Recuperate. Whether she ventured out into the world again...well...she could decide that after she got her footing back. If that ever happened.

"Yeah." She said weakly as Darryn caught her attention. "Let's get out of here." Her voice still just a touch robotic, she followed after the cousins.

"I need to find Cesc."

* * *

Tag looked intently at Darius as the man spoke. For a man who had proven to be a bit of a Leroy Jenkins lout and an oaf, he showed surprising depth and eloquence. Even if it sounded at first like thoughtless flattery, Tag felt himself empowered by the sincerity behind them.

"Rebirth isn't a 'skill', Darius." Tag sighed, "It's just something that survivors do. It also means that the Tag you followed here had to die in order to become me. And I'm still nothing. Can't even save..." He paused, as he nearly let slip the name "Entei". Not knowing that Darius had encountered Suicune down another path.

"Thank you for your kind words. You didn't come all this way for nothing; you came here to surpass me. With a heart like yours, you'll be a better Dragon Master than I could ever have dreamed of being."

After a slight pause, a slow smile crept back onto the older man's tattooed face.

"But, of course, you'll have to defeat me one day. So train hard. Battle fiercely. Live proudly."

Slowly, he lifted the remnant of the Dragon Talisman once more. "I heard your battle cry. Fus Ro Dah? 'Force, Balance, Push'? I hadn't heard that in years. Brought back memories."

Tag straightened his back, standing as regally as he could in front of the taller Darius.

"I impart to you the battle cry of Clan Lee: 'Su Grah Dun'. Do not ever forget the power of words, like I once did."

Posted by: Toogee Sep 19 2014, 09:10 PM

Darius froze as Tag suggested that he could become a better dragon trainer than the infamous Bane of Blackthorn. In fact, he was speechless for almost a month after being bequeathed with the battlecry of Lee. Such honor lifted his spirits further. It sounded like Tag needed a bit cheering up himself.

“Their victory is but a minor setback for us. They may have Entei…and Suicune,” Darius was a bit hesitant in addressing his failures but carried on, “but they are mistaken if they think we will abandon Entei and Suicune so easily. I shall continue gathering strength to my side. With a team of dragons, I will find out who these people are and strike with the might of dragons! These fiends will cower into shadow at the mere mention of my name!”

Darius’s little speech did more to pump himself up than Tag. The dragon trainer was already marching out of the arena, drawing his sword and raising it over his head.

“We shall do our ancestors proud! But first, onward! SU GRAH DUN!”

Darius had no idea who he was going after, but the day’s events had filled him with a new purpose. He wasn’t bettering himself for the sheer act of getting better. Now there was a dark force, a shadowy legion bent on causing more chaos for the rest of Furoh. They had made one mistake in their plans: they got Darius Dovakin involved.

And so, the adventure continues…

Posted by: Kamaitachi Sep 23 2014, 03:25 PM

Bolting upright, Francesco Rojas looked around in a panic, only to have shushing hands placing him back into the surprisingly uncomfortable slab that passed for a cot. His chest heaving, he looked down to see his clothes thoroughly ripped; his whole body appeared to be in a state of aching, and he frantically looked around.

"Lori! Jill! Doctor!"

"Hush, hush" a nursy placed a hand on his shoulder, easing him once more back into the bed and quickly soothing his thrashing. "They're all here; we managed to get you out once we saw the collapse."

"The...collapse?"

Cesc blinked owlishly as he rested his head back on the hard pillow.

"The tunnels you were in collapsed. As soon as we noticed, we dispatched a crew to see what had happened. We could hear something roaring, and we managed to excavate you all, as well as the Pokemon that were down there with you. Luckily, most of you only suffered some superficial damage thanks to that Salamence. The trainer Adelaide Robinson, however, appeared to be in really terrible shape. She's been sent off to the hospital complex in Petropolis, but we expect her to recover just fine."

The co-ordinator breathed a sigh of relief, gently settling into his bed. He didn't need the nurse to tell him that he just needed some rest.

He lay in the cot for a little while, until another rescue worker came over. Silently, he obeyed the commands, noting Lori and Jill nearby, as the Nurse had promised. Off came his shirt, and bandages were wrapped around his body and a few spots on his head. He hadn't been hurt badly, save a few cuts and bruises, surprising for a cave in. Once the rescue worker left, he swung his legs over the side of the makeshift bed, feeling his feet on the earth again. Looking over at the little box where his belongings had been put he noticed a set of familiar pokeballs.

"My friends..." he smiled, blinking back a tear. He new exactly the look of his pokeballs, right down to the seals he had placed on the frame. He would have to find and thank his makeshift team for fighting so bravely for him down throughout the day, but for now, he was just happy to have his own Pokemon back.

As he reached out towards the belt, he stopped as a shadow stepped into the doorway of the makeshift tent where he'd been lying.

"Cesc."

"Bran." A confused smile crossed his face as he straightened his back to look at her.

"...can we...can we talk?"

"Sure." He shrugged, "It's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon."

"Well, that's precisely it. I think I might be."

Cesc's eyes scanned the small, seemingly fragile face of the girl he'd been dating up until recently. It hadn't been a long engagement, but it still felt very special to him. He couldn't place his finger on why, but it did.

"Where're you going?"

"Castelia. Home. I can't..."

"I understand." The young man sighed as he cut her off. "I had hoped-"

"-that we could patch things up before I left?"

"...just patch things up. I don't wanna think about the second part."

"That's just it, you don't ever want to think about the things you don't want to hear." Normally, at this point, Branwys would cross her arms, jut out one of her hips and stand her ground, her voice firm and commanding despite her stature. But here, her arms hung loosely by her side, she looked utterly defeated. Just like how he felt, but he had no desire to show it. Not to anyone. Ever.

"Can you blame me?" He slowly slouched until his elbows rested on his knees, causing a few aches to shoot through his body. "I'm not good at that."

"Yeah." Branwys' expression softened considerably as she moved over, sliding into a seated position on the bed and placing her hand on his resting arm. "So...no hard feelings, okay? I feel like I've lost a lot here...I wouldn't want to lose you too."

"So we're-"

"No."

The awkward silence hung in the air quietly, punctuated only by the sound of other patients in the tent breathing lightly, and the forced silence of the people working in the tent, who for some reason didn't mind Branwys sitting in the tent with Cesc making everything worse. Surely they'd kick her out for disrupting his healing or something...

"But I'd hate to lose one of the only friends I made here. It's not the end, right? I'm just going home. Maybe someday, if it all works out, we can-"

"Sure." Cesc tilted his head slightly away. "I'm not gonna wait though."

"I didn't say I would wait." She leaned over and placed a little kiss on his cheek. "Aside from everything and everyone on this continent trying to kill us, we had some fun times. I'll remember those."

Turning to her, the young man reached over and wrapped his hand around Branwys' much smaller one, clutching tigthly.

"Me too."

"Goodbye, Cesc." She smiled, tears welling up in her big eyes as she started to slip off the bed.

"Don't go." he groaned softly, squeezing her hand tighter. "Just...stay with me for a little bit."

It had been a rough day. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. The two broken people looked at one another quietly before Branwys settled back into the bed, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder, holding Cesc's hand tightly. The two stared at the ground before them in silence, breathing softly in unison while the workers in the tent continue to shuffle around them, tending to the rest of the wounded.

"We're gonna be okay." Branwys whispered softly, nestling into Cesc's shoulder. "We're gonna be okay."

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