[X] My Assistant

[rt117]

At first Sera didn't believe his words, trying to understand how such a place could have a dojo for fighting. Surely it would be damaged and destroyed by people getting carried away? However as they walked toward part of the building and stepped inside, Sera let out a small gasp. As the scene changed to that of a beach, she looked around, awestruck as her feet crunched against the sand underneath. The sounds within the room even sounded like a beach, the distant echo of waves rolling, crashing against the shoreline before retreating back toward the endless blue.

Of course, this was nothing new for Spark, who jumped down onto the warm sand, flopping onto his back to feel the warm summery sand. Sera let out a small giggle, before commenting: "Now this is something I've never seen before.", before looking up at Richie. Yet again he was off in his own little world, so she decided to take the opportunity to show the place to her other two Pokemon, so they could take things in before their practice round.

Throwing up two Pokeballs, she released Ryu and Cinder from their captivity, the two Pokemon stretching out, before realizing that they weren't at the park, as they had always been before. Rather they appeared to be at some kind of beach, much to their surprise. Cinder was a little anxious, knowing that sand normally meant water, the one thing he feared most of all. Meanwhile Ryu buried herself in the sand, taking the opportunity to relax.

"Don't worry Cinder, it's not a real beach, so you don't have to worry about getting wet." Sera explained, crouching down to his level before patting him on the head. The Charmander seemed to ease slightly, though held his tail up, as if some wave of water was going to crash over him.

"Change of plans, we're going to have a real battle today!" Sera told her team, giving her two Pokemon the same treats that she and Spark had enjoyed before. "I think we have a good chance of putting up a good fight, so don't be afraid to give it your all!"

This post has been edited by rt117: Jul 15 2012, 01:43 AM

[Protoman]

Richie was astonished. No, Astonished wasn't a good enough term to describe how he was feeling at this very moment. He almost saw history repeating itself right before his very eyes. He and Tikal used to come in here almost everyday and practice. She would pick her Charmander named Cinder and her Dratini named Tikal. Richie would usually use both Snap and Ryu, but since Sera didn't have the proper experience, he decided to take it easy on her. Pulling out the Dive Ball from his belt, Richie tossed it into the air, revealing Snap, his trusty Totodile. Bouncing around like a rubber ball, Snap flapped his arms up and down like a bird, trying to see if he could float in the air. Richie walked up to the Totodile, placing his hand on his head to make him calm down.

"Listen," Richie whispered, causing Snap to...well...snap into attention. "These two Pokemon aren't on the same level as you are. I want it to be fair, but I don't want her to feel like I'm just taking her lightly. I need you to partner up with Spunky and just use light attacks, okay?" With a nod, Snap began to bounce around, heading for the center of the dojo, soon followed by Spunky. Snap, who was very serious when it came to following orders, told the same thing to Spunky, who nodded in reply. Having a playful look on their faces, they were awaiting the first move of the Charmander and the Dratini.

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

Coming downstairs from the seventh floor of the mall, the three Magmas looked around in frustration.

"Where the hell are they," one of the recruits asked, looking around everywhere.

"No idea," the Grunt responded, "let's check every store from this floor down. With a nod, the three split up, checking every store on the sixth floor, planning to make their way downstairs. Time was not on their side from the looks of things.

[rt117]

Turning, Sera took note that Richie seemed to be ready, already having two of his Pokemon ready for the practice battle.

”At least he wasn’t out of it for too long” Sera thought to herself, shaking her head with a smile. Returning to her team, Sera couldn’t hold in her excitement, hands clasped together before her, and a big grin on her face. She just hoped that she could do well enough, to give her some sort of encouragement to try again, and hope that she could do better in the future.

“I think this would be a perfect opportunity for you two to try out your new moves.” Sera told Cinder and Spark, who were still relaxing at the ‘beach’. After all, this was technically training time, still having some form of schedule to follow, and it was their turn to start first. Both Pokemon nodded toward their trainer and hurried off to face against Snap and Spunky.

This left Sera with Ryu, who was still bathing in the sand, not seeming too bothered by the fact that she was going last. “I’ll let you get your chance later, I promise.” Sera smiled, patting the Dratini’s head, before returning her to her Pokeball. After the earlier incident, she didn’t want to turn her back on any of her Pokemon. Straightening up, she walked over to the rest of the group.

It was obvious that her Pichu and Charmander were already excited for their first match. Cinder’s tail-flame was burning brightly in anticipation, while sparks flew from Spark’s cheeks. He even released the stored electricity, though shocking himself in the process, while scaring the daylights out of his partner. Rolling backward from the resulting shock, the Pichu quickly rolled back up onto his feet and waved at Sera, letting her know that he was fine, unlike his partner

“So how does this work? Are we just going to do a two on two match?” Sera asked, clearly oblivious to what Richie had whispered to Snap, believing this to be the real thing. “I thought I’d give Spark and Cinder a shot at the fight, because they each have a move I need them to try to use.” It was one thing to simply hit idle pieces of wood, but a battle would be the real test, with the additional stress and moving targets to worry about. And with the opportunity Richie was giving her, she knew that it was now or never.

This post has been edited by rt117: Jul 15 2012, 08:48 AM

[Protoman]

The sight of Spark shocking himself and dropping to the floor was a rather hilarious sight. Stifling back a laugh, Richie regained himself and focused on Sera's question.

"Yes," Richie responded, "this will be a two on two battle." He paused for a moment, hearing that she wanted to practice a couple of moves that she had them pick up. Richie nodded, giving her his way of approval for the battle. "As you already know, this one goes until one of us quits, both of the moves are used perfectly, or...your Pokemon are K.O.ed." Richie, who always highly anticipated a battle, licked his lips and cracked his knuckles. Snap and Spunky both let their playful demeanor slide from their faces and got into their battle ready mode.

Upstairs at about the fifth floor, a little boy was walking with his Bulbasaur and his mother. The boy stopped, noticing that a battle with two trainers was about to take place downstairs, immediately wanting to watch it.

"Ooh, ooh, mommy," The little boy hopped around, resembling a small Spoink that just couldn't sit still, "I wanna watch the trainer battle!" The little boy pumped his fist into the air and then put it forward. "Go Charizard!" The Bulbasaur sighed, shaking his head at the excited youth.

"Okay," the boy's mother replied, "we can watch the battle, but only for a little while. Daddy's at home waiting on us."

"YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY," The little boy triumphantly screamed, immediately rushing to the steps, running into the Magma Grunt. Colliding with him and then the floor, the little boy simply looked at the strongly built Grunt. While he smiled at the boy, knowing that something must have had him very excited, the Recruits began to torment him.

"What's wrong with you, punk," one of them asked, glaring at the little boy, making him cry. "You had no business running over here!"

"Go on to your mother," the second recruit added, which brought the mother right in front of all three of them.

"How DARE you," she hissed angrily at the trio, "talk to my son like that." Getting only one look from the Grunt, the woman instantly felt something dark in his eyes. Sheepishly, she took her son and walked back towards their belongings, including the Bulbasaur. The Grunt, who was now rather upset that the woman would actually come to him like that, ordered the recruits to grab the Bulbasaur. As they walked towards them, they said nothing, picking the small dinosaur up off of the ground and walking away.

"Hanoko," The boy cried out, reaching for his only Pokemon, "give back my Hanoko!" Without another word, the three disappeared.

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

"You ready Sera," Richie asked before smirking to himself. He hadn't battled for a while now...time to see if he still was able to coordinate them well.

[rt117]

(ooc: extra long collab post between myself and Protoman)

For a brief moment, Spark’s ears twitched as he heard something not far away, someone yelling. He didn’t have time to focus too much on it however, as Sera took a step forward, clenching her fists. “Sounds good, I’ll go first!” she smiled, her Pokemon readying themselves for battle.

“Spark, use Helping Hand, and Cinder use Mud Slap on the Growlithe!” Sera commanded, both of her Pokemon leaping into action. Focusing on his partner, Spark concentrated on lending his partner power, a flicker of blue light was emitted from the Pichu, transferring to Cinder, who only felt a slight tingle. While Spark had managed to use the move, it wasn’t quite as effective as it should have been.

With Cinder going next, he dug one of his claws into the ground, before throwing it upward, a ball of mud flying from his grasp. However the projectile had a considerable arc to it, causing the attack to glide around Spunky, and hit the wall behind him. This caused Sera to frown slightly. “This might not go so well...” she whispered to herself.


Spunky, who was anticipating a direct hit to avoid, simply watched as the mud smacked against the beach like wall. After face-palming for a moment, Richie decided to focus on the battle at hand.

"Okay then, Spunky, use Leer to hold Cinder in place. Snap, Water Gun to knock him down." Almost like clockwork, Spunky held the Charmander at bay, which left him wide open for Snap to attack.

Snap's Water gun collided with Cinder, but since he held back quite a lot of pressure, it wasn't as devastating.


Even though Snap was holding back on the Water Gun, the water attack still caused Cinder to recoil noticeably, quite startled by the spray of water. Sera realized that if she wanted to win, she’d have to make sure her Pokemon would use attacks they knew, while working in the new moves.

“Spark, use Charm to stop Snap’s attack, and Cinder, get out of the Water Gun and Leer right back!” Sera called, watching as her Pichu raced forward, before proceeding to cuddle up next to Totodile, and give him a cute look. Cinder simply ran around to dispel the water from his face, before giving a glare back at Spunky. Since he didn't know Leer however, all he really ended up doing was simply staring at Spunky


With Cinder now in a dead lock stare down with Spunky, Snap had Spark to worry about. Just because he was small, didn't mean he couldn't hurt him with one well placed Thundershock. Looking at the small mouse as he nuzzled his arm, Snap raised an eyebrow, confused as whether he should attack or just let the Pichu have his fun. Meanwhile, Spunky's eyes were not leaving Cinder's, making this a very interesting stand down.

"Use Bite," Richie exclaimed, before Spunky began to run towards Cinder, zig zagging so that he couldn't keep up.


Now things were getting interesting, as what was a two on two battle started to seem more like two one-on-one matches. "Cinder, use Embar to slow down Spunky!" she called, watching as her Charmander began to spew red-hot embers toward the charging Growlithe, in some hope that it would either slow or stop the oncoming attack.

"Spark, Thundershock!" she added, turning her attention to the second half of the battle. Spark's cute expression turned to an almost sinister look, as he blasted the Totodile with a well placed Thundershock


With the embers hitting the body of the Growlithe, Spunky continued to barrel forward, maybe even faster than he did before. Richie already knew about the ability that Spunky had: Flash Fire. Because of the numerous fire type Pokemon that were out there, Richie was glad that he had the one that could absorb fire type moves and get stronger off of them. Finally reaching his destination, Spunky, though not very powerfully, bit Cinder's tail.

Right when Snap was about to smile and pat the Pichu on his head, Spark's look changed. With a large zap, the once friendly Totodile was now quite angry. His body began to turn red with anger and he set his sights on the culprit for this. Running towards the Pichu, he no longer had any intentions in holding back, since this was now war.


Spark blinked as he saw Snap grow outraged, and grinned sheepishly before turning on an angle and retreating from the angry Totodile, back over toward his partner. If it weren't for his agility, he wouldn't stand a chance.

“Uhh... wait... Cinder, use Mud Slap while he’s close!” Sera called, knowing that he needed to break out of the attack. Digging his claw into the ground once more, Cinder flung the mud right into Growlithe’s face, before trying to pull away from the Bite. It was then that Sera took note of Spark’s current situation as he was chased around by the Totodile. “Try using another Thundershock!”


With the Mud-Slap connecting directly, Spunky let go, trying to wipe his eyes in agony. Whimpering, Spunky continued to remove the mud from his eyes to continue his battle. His ears, however, worked perfectly fine. He heard everything that was going on, from Pichu's Thundershock on Snap, to Snap's enraged pursuit.

Snap was getting angrier by the second, anticipating his grasp of Spark, but it seemed that no matter how close he got to Spark, he kept getting knocked farther away. Each Thundershock took its toll, but it also made him that much angrier. His mouth began to glow blue and he dove forward, trying to catch the Pichu with his Ice Fang.


Readying another Thundershock, Spark stopped to gather the energy to release the attack, which proved to be a critical mistake as Snap caught up. With a yelp, the Pichu was caught in the Ice Fang attack, succumbing to the flinch.

Upon hearing his companions cry, Cinder saw the Totodile with Spark in his mouth. Ignoring the Growlithe, he hurried over toward the two. Sera saw this as well, the girl looking almost horrified as she saw what Snap was doing. “Cinder, use Scratch and save Spark!” Sera shouted, watching as the Charmander collided into Snap, slashing with both of his claws to get him to drop Spark.


Richie, who was not expecting Snap to use that move at all, immediately pulled out his Luxury Ball, releasing his Riolu. The Riolu began to bounce up and down, standing in his usual Shotkan fighting stance.

"Ryu," Richie said, still maintaining his composure even in a time of crisis, "use Force Palm and paralyze Snap. I know it sounds ridiculous so don't give me that look(Ryu's facial expression had the usual human way of asking if someone is crazy)." Without any questions, Ryu immediately made it towards the trio of Pokemon, hitting Snap in his side.

Before Ryu got over to Snap, he didn't realize what he just did. Snap simply caught the Pichu with his Ice Fang technique to try and freeze him, but instead, hurt the poor Pichu. Though he was still in a rage, he knew when he took things overboard. Before he got a chance to let go of the Pichu, Cinder continuously clawed at Snap, which began to fuel his rage once more. In a flash, Ryu was underneath Snap, hitting him with a force palm and making his jaw drop. Out came the poor Pichu, collapsing on the ground in front of all of them. Without anymore anger fuelling him, Snap passed out and fell to the floor, knocked out.


The moment he was released from the grip of Ice Fang, Spark rolled out onto the floor, immediately running over to Sera and hiding behind her leg. He then proceeded to climb up her, whacking one of her Pokeballs with his tail, and releasing her Dratini in his place. It was clear that he didn’t want to continue the fight, causing Sera to shake her head with a small smile.

“I think he wants me to switch him out.” She explained, patting her exhausted Pichu before looking over to Richie. “Do you still want to continue the battle, or should we call it a day?


"I'm done," Richie stated, "that Rage ordeal was just entirely too much for me to continue." He called Ryu and Snap back into their Poke Balls, letting Spunky stay out and walk freely. "We can probably use some of the items that we got from the stores." Richie pulled out a small diamond like item from his bag and released Snap, who was still highly unconscious. Placing the diamond in Snap's mouth, Richie moved the Totodile's jaws to make him chew it thoroughly.

With his eyes snapping open, the Totodile looked apologetically to Spark, Sera, and Richie. Richie, who knew that Snap meant no harm what so ever, patted him on the head and smiled.


“No problem, I think it was a great learning experience.” Sera smiled, plucking her Pichu from her shoulder and setting him down. She dug through her pocket and found the Potion she had bought from the money she had left over, making sure to give Spark a good douse so that he could recover properly. Wincing a little from the stinging spray, Spark shook himself off before slowly approaching Snap. He offered him a paw and smiled, wanting to forgive his earlier outrage.

“So where are we off to next?” Sera asked with a smile, watching as Spark made peace with Richie’s Totodile.


With Snap and Spark both shaking hands and letting the past stay in the past, Richie looked at Sera, smiling back.

"Well," Richie began, "unless we have any other obligations, I say we can get out of here."

"Help," a woman cried out, "someone stole my son's Pokemon!" Without any further delay, Richie ran outside, Spunky and Snap soon following suit. Richie ran to the panicking woman, offering his assistance.

"Which way did they go, ma'am," Richie asked, beginning to think that the skate punks were at it once more. The woman pointed upstairs, leading Richie to the fifth floor, where three Magma's were holding the child that owned the Bulbasaur upside down by his ankles. "Put the child down, you cretins." Hearing this, the two recruits glared at Richie, who glared right back.


Sera blinked, watching as Richie suddenly took off as someone cried out for help. Sera grabbed Spark, immediately taking chase after Richie, trying her best to keep up as he was faster than her. The girl nearly bumped into Richie as he stopped upon the fifth floor, encountering the three men holding the boy by his ankles.

Upon seeing the three men, Sera felt Spark shiver in her grasp, trying to hide behind her head to keep out of their sight. She might not have known better, but her Pichu did.


With the boy and the Bulbasaur in tow, the three Magmas looked at both Richie and the girl holding the Pichu. Instantly, they dropped the boy onto the ground, standing next to their superior.

"Boss," one of the recruits stated, "I think it's them."

"I know it is," the Grunt replied, cracking each of his knuckles in anxiety. Richie, who didn't know one Magma from another, simply glared at all three of them.

"I'll ask you three one time," Richie began, scowling at the trio. "Where is Ramirez?"


Sera looked a little confused as Richie started demanding someone from the three Magma’s able to tell who they were right away from the uniforms. It wasn’t the first time she had seen a Magma member, having recalled seeing quite a few of them when she landed in Slateport city awhile ago. Noticing that Spark was freaking out over them, she held the Tiny Mouse Pokemon close, to try and calm him down, though without much success as his cheeks proceeded to spark in anxiety.


"We don't answer to the likes of you," the first recruit stated, becoming a lot braver since he had backup. The Grunt signalled for him to stop, but to no evail. "We're gonna crush you and take your pathetic Pokemon too, Richie Palmer!"

"Enough," the Grunt stated, "you can't do anything, Jamie." Making the first recruit feel as if he was being challenged, the Grunt glared at him, making Jamie turn away in detest. Richie, who still had no idea what was going on, simply watched as both recruits stepped back behind the Grunt.


“Who are you?” Sera demanded, feeling a little braver despite Spark’s struggling. She let out a small gasp as the Pichu squirmed free from her arms, running out in front of her and Richie before clenching his paws, growling angrily at the Grunt before him as his cheeks sparked even more. He had gotten a little braver before, but Sera still feared that he would get taken away.

[Protoman]

The Grunt, who was a lot more patient with civilians than the recruits he had with him, simply removed his hood, revealing his face and hair. Richie's demeanor went south. Entirely south. He could only let one word escape his lips.

"Ramirez," Richie stammered, all of his focus finally leaving him. He remembered the whole battle that they had.

Richie wasn't sure if Ramirez actually was serious about being a Magma, and wanted Richie to escape, or if he was playing dress up and had to sell the role. It didn't seem as if he was attempting to harm him, true, but at the same time, he wasn't trying to assist them out either. Richie knew that he had to figure out something that made sense. At that point in time, nothing made sense. With Katt and Violet not too far behind him, Richie played the ninja role, placing his back against the wall in order to hear exactly what was going on with Ramirez and who all these people were. He couldn't make out all of the conversation, but he heard Ramirez's voice clear as crystal. Burn in to the ground...surely he was joking. He couldn't have meant burn the warehouse to the ground. Not while they were still in there.

"Richie," Katt whispered, getting the signal to hold on as Richie continued to listen.

"There are three prisoners that got loose because of a clumsy guard's mistake," Ramirez scowled, causing the rest of the operatives to stand in attention. "Find them before the building burns down and collapses. If you do find them, either call for help or attack with extreme prejudice."

"What if they find us," one of them asked patiently, getting a look from Ramirez.

"If they all find you," he replied, "then you're already of no more use to us." Walking away from them all, Ramirez took an elevator down to the bottom floor. Richie already knew that things were going to get hectic, so he prepared himself in advance.

"Violet," Richie stated, hoping that she would be ready, "do you think Storm could distract them long enough for us to catch up to Ramirez?" Violet nodded, but Katt stopped her from releasing him.

"I'll do it," Katt replied, trying to get Richie's attention. "I can stop these punks." With a nod, Richie allowed Katt to go be a distraction while Violet and Richie rushed down the stairs. Right when the pair reached the bottom floor, Ramirez was about to leave. Giving him a hard shoulder charge, Richie knocked Ramirez onto the ground, turning him around to deliver a hard right hook. Richie went for another one, but his arm was stopped by Ramirez, who in turn headbutted him. Knocked senseless, Richie staggered to get up, releasing Ryu when he came to his senses. In turn, Ramirez released Tyrogue, who flexed his muscles before beginning to do battle against Richie's Riolu. The pair of them were in a dead heat, neither letting the other get in any direct hits...

[rt117]

"Spark, get back here!" Sera called, not wanting her Pichu to get too close to these people. She had nearly lost him once, and the last thing she wanted was another repeat of that incident. Spark had wanted to exact his revenge on these people, especially Ramirez, as he knew him to be the reason that Violet was gone. He wanted so badly to see his trainer and friend again, as well as his other human friend, and simply being in the presence of the cause of his loss was almost too much for the young Pokemon to bear.

As Sera ran past Richie to grab her Pichu, she noticed his change in attitude, causing her to be a little worried. His once confident and demanding expression had changed, which made her worry that they were getting into something that they would regret. Could this man be part of his history, the reason he kept looking back to old memories time and time again? Despite being pulled away from his spot, Spark continued to glare daggers at Ramirez, cheeks crackling violently with electricity.

She knew she probably wouldn’t get an answer if she asked, because it would probably violate some protocol that he had to uphold, but she needed to know what was going on right now. If this man meant trouble for the two of them, then Sera wanted to know, especially if he had something to do with his friend’s disappearance. Spark was surely being worked up over his appearance, so it must have had something to do with his owner. Anything to fill her in on the situation, and give her some chance to help out her new friend in his time of need.

“Richie...” Sera started, turning to face him while turning away from the Magma members, her face reflecting a strong sense of concern toward their well-being. “...What’s going on? Who is this?” she asked, before turning to face the man named Ramirez once more

“And what did you do to Spark’s owner?!” she added in anger, almost forgetting the situation as she advanced toward the three Magma members. Never before had she seen Spark act with such animosity. It hurt to even look into Spark’s eyes, a mixture of anger and sadness within them as he continued to stare down at the former Rebel, who had taken away everything from him.

This post has been edited by rt117: Jul 15 2012, 12:55 PM

[Protoman]

"What's wrong, Palmer," Ramirez asked, adding a cocky smile to his demeanor, "Katt got your tongue?" This made Richie snap out of his trance, bolting towards Ramirez at full force. Drawing his fist back, he launched a full powered hay-maker towards Ramirez's face. With the punch being caught, both Recruits knew that it was that time again, circling Richie entirely. As the three of them continued to walk around Richie, Ramirez began to seriously focus on an ending strike early. Meanwhile, Richie's serious attitude returned to him, making him become entirely focused on countering each attack thrown at him. He already saw one of the recruits flinch towards him. Tell tale signs of anxiety and discomfort. He would make the first mistake.

"What's wrong, Ramirez," Richie finally responded to Ramirez's statement, "ran out of people to manipulate?" Laughing at Richie's attempt to anger him, Ramirez stopped moving around, deciding to back out of the circle. Richie already felt the pair of them acting like sharks in the water, with he himself being the bait. Pulling out his Luxury Ball again, Richie released Ryu, who decided to exit the circle as well, only to be surrounded by two Poochyenna and a Mightyenna. This Mightyenna, however, differed from most others. His fur color and body structure were the same, but his eyes and his paws showed that he had been in numerous battles. His left eye, while it was covered in a scar, showed signs of his war skills and past experiences. Meanwhile his paws were all rugged and weathered, meaning that he had been outside of his Poke Ball for quite some time. Ryu, while not underestimating the Mightyenna, wasn't afraid of what it could do in battle. Standing in a battle ready pose, Ryu awaited both Poochyenna to stop circling him and close in for an attack.

[rt117]

Sera couldn’t stop Richie as he threw himself toward the Magma members, unable to help but watch as he became surrounded by the three men, looking almost ready to pounce on him. She couldn’t just leave him to fight by himself, but what could she do? Surely her Pokemon weren’t strong enough to take out any of their Pokemon, especially with what had happened earlier.

“Pi!” Spark snapped at the girl, jumping down in front of her with a look of determination, little paws clenched and sparks showering from his cheeks. Sera could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to help their friend, even if it meant their own defeat in the process. Sera was a little surprised, knowing that Spark was usually more timid than this, as part of his survival instinct. But she also knew he was right: they needed to help their new friend, even if she was completely clueless on what this was all about and their past together.

“You’re right, we can’t let him do this alone!” Sera told her Pichu, making a fist and smiling. “Let’s give it all we’ve got!” And with that, she released her Charmander, who upon seeing the three opposing Pokemon, let out a small gulp of anxiety. However after a short speech in a tongue that Sera could not understand, Cinder was filled with determination, just as Spark had displayed. Wasting no time, the three of them ran over to Richie to lend him a hand. Spark and Cinder quicky ran over to join Ryu in the stare down with the three dark Pokemon, while Sera skidded to Richie’s side.

Before he could offer any protest, Sera flashed him a small smile and a quick thumbs up.

“There’s no way I’m going to let you stand here and fight them by yourself. What kind of a friend would I be if I let you do that? I’ll take care of the others while you go for the head.” She told him. This time, no would not be an option, as she refused to let him do this by himself. It was time to pay him back for what he had done for her. “Don’t worry about what happens to me. They aren’t going to get far.”

[Protoman]

With Spark and Cinder backing him up, Ryu stared down the Mightyenna, half expecting him to attack. The Mightyenna scoffed at Ryu and his friends, making Ryu's nose twitch.

"No amount of friends can save you," the Mightyenna growled, causing Ryu to tense up a lot. "None of you can stop the might of Beowulf!" Without another word, the Mightyenna attacked Ryu, who used Low Kick to slow him down. Knocking his feet from under him, Ryu jumped over Beowulf, landing behind the confused Mightyenna. Ryu didn't need to be given direct orders for him to understand what he was required to do. He and Richie always practiced their fighting strategies before they even got into a battle. The only time it was necessary for them to make new plans is when they are using new moves. So far, Ryu has used each move at least once, and didn't plan on leaving anything out of the fray. Beowulf got off of the ground, snarling and motioning for the two Poochyenna to attack the other Pokemon. Both Poochyenna dashed towards Ryu, breaking around him and aiming for the Pichu and the Charmander.

-----------

"Sera, I want you to listen closely," Richie stated as the pair of them were standing back to back, facing the pair of recruits. "When I say now, haul ass towards the kid and the Bulbasaur and grab them both." He looked at Ramirez, knowing he would be a major road block. "I'll hold off these idiots and then stall Ramirez while you get the boy and his Pokemon back to the woman downstairs, got it?" Richie clenched his teeth, knowing that his anger was going to get the best of him pretty soon. "Don't argue with me, and don't try and improvise. Follow my instructions to the letter." Richie punched the first recruit in the nose, making him instantly grab it and writhe in agony. He reached around Sera to grab the second recruit, who made a mad dash towards her, and threw him at the first recruit, knocking them both to the ground. Nodding his head quickly, Richie signaled for Sera to grab the boy and his Bulbasaur, leaving Ramirez to him. Once more, Richie threw a solid punch at Ramirez, getting it caught once more, but this time, he followed it up with a side kick to his midsection. Not expecting this, Ramirez skidded back a few inches, patting his stomach with one hand.

[rt117]

Spark was a little startled by the two Pokemon suddenly racing toward them, quickly realizing that they would be on their own for this fight, as their trainer was busy with other things. Tensing up, Spark started to concentrate twice as hard, the blue spark of Helping Hand connecting with Cinder, making him glow with blue light as energy coursed through his entire being. Even is eyes glowed, as he dug both of his claws into the ground. Mud forming on his claws, he whipped them toward the two charging Pokemon, each Mud Slap hitting its mark. While the two Poochyena were blinded by the mud in their faces, Spark made a mad dash forward, leaping onto one of the dark Pokemon, which spun and thrashed as it felt the Tiny Mouse Pokemon on its back. Spark didn’t stay long, the Pichu letting out a quick Thundershock before landing in behind. Despite being blinded, both of their foes had a keen sense of smell. The un-shocked Poochyena let out a fierce Howl, causing both Cinder and Spark to cover their ears. It then managed to locate Spark through the baby Pokemon’s scent, before slamming into his side with a Tackle.

Sera frowned a little as he dismissed her from the battle, not wanting to leave his side for fear of something going wrong, but the child did need to get back to his mother, before he or his Pokemon got hurt in the process. It seemed like Richie could handle himself anyways, but the girl still worried about his well being, especially as the fight became more fierce.

“Alright, but I really hope you’ll still be here when I get back.” Sera told him, before spying his nod – the signal. She quickly ducked out of the fight and ran over to the watery-eyed boy, his Bulbasaur staying close to his side to protect him. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” She told him calmly, taking the child by the hand, escorting him down the escalator. She didn’t waste any time, running down the moving steps as the Grass Pokemon followed closely. As soon as she got off the steps, she spotted the worried woman and ran over toward her. She too saw them, and upon seeing the boy, ran over to them and hugged the child. Sera barely stayed for a ‘thank you’, before running up the escalator once more

[Protoman]

Richie and Ramirez were originally close friends. Pretty much the closest friends within the Rebellion. They had a fierce rivalry, true, but that was as far as it went. Richie never wanted it to come to this, but he had no control over how this went. Their friendship went downhill the moment Richie's first punch connected.

BAM! Richie slugged Ramirez with all of his might, knocking him slightly off balance, but pissing him off more than anything. In response, Ramirez threw a hard left hook, knocking Richie clean off of his feet onto the ground. Meanwhile, Ryu and Tyrogue were in a fierce battle as well, both Pokemon countering the other one's attacks the entire time. Neither seemed to be letting up, but when the time came, that would make that attack that much more devastating. Knowing they would get nowhere soon, Ryu countered once more before using Feint, to trick Tyrogue into believing that he was attacking immediately. As the Tyrogue attempted to counter, Ryu paused before he struck, knocking Tyrogue to the ground....

Richie kipped up, dashing towards Ramirez the second he was back onto his feet. After faking a punch, Richie threw a knee to Ramirez's face, making the Grunt step backwards. Becoming very agitated, Ramirez noticed the girl had returned from leaving the battle. Being distracted, Ramirez soon caught a left hay-maker from Richie square in the jaw. Being sent farther backwards, Ramirez growled at Richie, who was breathing lightly for now. Ramirez wiped his mouth, noticing blood on his hands. Aggravated to the highest, Ramirez decided that Richie deserved to be punished. Cracking his knuckles, Ramirez threw a right cross, which was barely caught, a left hook, which dazed Richie entirely, and a hard uppercut to send Richie sprawling backwards.

Meanwhile, Ryu and Beowulf were still in their deadlock battle. Ryu may have been very agile, but Beowulf was faster. Ryu continuously had to use Quick Attack to outmaneuver the larger Beowulf. Beowulf used a powerful Tackle attack, knocking the Riolu to the ground. Springing up shortly after being knocked down, Ryu began to tense up, knowing that this might be one of his hardest battles to win. Looking back behind him, Ryu decided to give assistance to Cinder and Spark before continuing. As the first Poochyenna charged towards Spark, Ryu jumped over the Pichu, landing in front of both of them and connecting a well placed Karate Chop to the head of Poochyenna. As the second one was still shaking the mud out of its eyes, Ryu was sure that Cinder could handle that one alone.

[rt117]

Letting out a sigh of relief, Spark grinned at Ryu, though heard a loud growl as Beowulf was starting to get closer to the group. Seeing that the Riolu and Cinder would be fine, he hurried over toward the stirring Pokemon, leaping onto his back and grabbing handfuls of fur to keep on. He felt himself getting bucked around as the Mightyenna struggled to dislodge the Pichu from his back, but it gave Spark the opportunity to get in a well-placed Thundershock.

Meanwhile, Cinder ran at the other Poochyena, taking in a deep inhale before letting out a red-hot Ember attack, searing the blinded Pokemon. As his foe’s vision started to return, he closed in quickly, bringing both of his claws down against the Poochyena’s head, knocking it back with two well-placed Scratch attacks. Now able to see once more, Cinder’s foe retaliated with another tackle, pushing the Charmander toward the railings of the floor’s edge.

Sera came up to the floor just as she saw Ramirez delivering the uppercut to Richie, causing her to clench her jaw as she saw her friend get knocked to the ground in a bloody heap. Her knuckles white from her tightened fists, she stormed toward the two, breaking into a run before throwing herself at Ramirez’s backside. Before he had the chance to react to what she was doing, Sera quickly wrapped both of her hands around his eyes, to at least try and keep him from landing another hit on Richie.

“Let’s see how well you fight now, tough guy!” Sera hissed, digging her toes into the arch of his back as well, her style of combat not very elegant in the slightest. In fact, she resembled something more along the lines of a cat, trying to claw at some unfortunate target’s leg in what it considered a playful manner. However this was nowhere near playful as she struggled to maintain her hold on the larger, stronger man.

“Richie? Are you okay?” Sera asked, her voice full of concern as she saw the condition her friend was in. She wanted to help him up, but she knew that there would be consequences if she were to let go now, especially since she could feel Ramirez’s current state of anger, causing her to cling on even tighter as she denied him his sight.

[Protoman]

Richie, who was aching especially in his jaw area, sat up, shaking his head in an internal struggle to make everything stop rippling. He vaguely heard Sera asking him if he was okay, but very soon snapped into reality. Looking around, Richie noticed that the two recruits were stirring, which made him worry extremely. He signaled for Sera to get down and move quickly so he could get a running start and drop kick Ramirez through the clothing store window.

Ryu, on the other hand, wanted nothing more but to end all of these battles at once. He knew he couldn't but he just had to do something. The ominous threat of Beowulf and his Poochyenna cohorts still loomed over the three of them...well the four of them. Without another word, Spunky decided to join Ryu in battle against the odds. Looking back at Cinder, Spunky began to assess the situation at hand. For now, there was a downed Poochyenna, but there were also the two other Pokemon right in front of them. Spunky looked at Cinder once more.

"Cinder, I need your help," Spunky told the Charmander that was backed into a corner. "Ryu, clear a path for Cinder to get through!" Almost like Ryu did for Richie, he immediately sprung into action, knocking the Poochyenna away, allowing Cinder to escape the rest of the group.

Richie, who was struggling to make a decision as far as whether or not he should just kick them both through the glass. Eventually, he didn't have to, since Ramirez grabbed both of her hands and threw her to the floor. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, Richie began to run towards Ramirez.

"Now you're gonna learn not to screw with Team Magma, you arrogant little bi-" unable to even get the last word out of his mouth, Ramirez went flying through the display window, being covered by the mannequins and the curtain that framed them. Lying there motionlessly, Ramirez was pretty much too tired to continue fighting all together. He wasn't the only one, since Richie simply laid on the ground after the devastating drop kick took its toll on him and his back. Grabbing the middle of his back in agony, Richie simply rolled onto his face, hoping that the recruits didn't get up before he did.

"This is Initiate Palmer," Richie coughed, "I'm in need of back up within the shopping mall located in the suburb area. I've found and incapacitated ex-Rebel Gregory Ramirez." After making that statement, Richie simply placed his face calmly onto the floor, hoping he would no longer have to deal with Ramirez.

[rt117]

As Spark continued to cling onto Beowulf’s back to keep him busy, Cinder was entangled with the last standing Poochyena, trying to fend him off while help arrived. Fortunately before his foe could engage with another Tackle, Ryu had entered in, and knocked him away to allow the Charmander to head over to Spunky. It didn’t take Cinder much to realize what the Growlithe’s plan was, recalling their earlier match when he had attempted to fend off his attack with Ember. Taking in a deep inhale, he spewed forth a hail of embers at Spunky, watching as they clung painlessly onto the Pokemon’s fur.

With one last thrash, Spark was dislodged from the rampaging Mightyena, landing right by the pair of fire Pokemon. He was a tad dizzy, though shook it off as Cinder approached him.

”Quickly, use your Helping Hand on Spunky! We have a plan!” he told the younger Pokemon as he helped him up. With a nod, the Pichu focused deeply on their Growlithe friend, passing on his power through the same blue electricity that he had used earlier in their fight.

Hitting the ground hard on her back, Sera let out a small groan, staring up at Ramirez as he loomed over, before he could lay another hand on her however, she saw a blur above her, Richie having thrown himself hard into Ramirez and knocking him away. She scrambled up onto her feet as she noticed the two of them, laying against the ground. Fortunately Ramirez didn’t seem in any condition to get back up, but neither was Richie. With a small gasp, she hurried over to her friend to see if he was already, using her backpack as a pillow to prop up his head.

Hearing a couple of groans, Sera glanced around to see the two recruits beginning to stir, getting to their feet. Pulling out her Pokeball, Sera tossed it forward, releasing her Dratini, Ryu. Shaking herself awake from her slumber, the long blue serpentine Pokemon glanced toward the two approaching men, letting out an odd growling noise.

“Ryu, use Thunder Wave to incapacitate them!” Sera called, refusing to leave Richie’s side. The Dratini’s body lit up with blue electricity, which she launched straight at the two recruits. Both were shocked by the attack, before crumpling to the ground, paralyzed.

“Great job! Now use Wrap on the third one to make sure he doesn’t get away!” Sera added, still kneeling by her friend. Slithering over to Ramirez like a snake, the Dratini proceeded to coil her long elegant body around his, before tightening her muscles to keep him in place, and prevent him from budging at all.

[Protoman]

With the embers finally sinking into Spunky's fur, the Growlithe grew four times as strong before the increased boost. With the increased charge, he noticed Beowulf charging in to finish Ryu, but he was hit by a charged Flamethrower coming from Spunky. Collapsing to the ground from the increased power of the Flamethrower, Beowulf no longer could stand up and battle. Unfortunately, neither could Spunky, seeing as he completely fell to the floor. Richie, still feeling pain in his back, struggled to even place his hands in front of him to push himself up. After what felt like an eternity, Richie got on his hands and knees, breathing heavily as he mentally prepared himself to stand up. Knowing that his Pokemon were concerned about him, Richie looked to see Spunky had collapsed from over working himself, but he had protected both Spark and Cinder. With a smile, Richie continued to struggle to get up before he heard several footsteps coming towards him.

"Not more of them," Richie sobbed, since he pretty much couldn't take another battle with any Magmas...neither him nor his Pokemon. "I need to rest more." Luckily, it was the cavalry that he had called in prior to his collapsing onto the ground. Richie sighed in relief as the rest of the Agents and Initiates came in to clean up the remaining problems. Ryu, Spunky, Spark, and Cinder were all escorted back to Richie and Sera by a tough looking Stoutland. The lone Veteran that was escorting them helped Richie up, making sure that he was stable enough to stand.

"Nice work, Palmer," The Veteran stated, "because of you, Ramirez is captured and can be brought in for questioning." Richie nodded, pulling out the Premier Ball and the Luxury Ball, making the fainted Spunky and his tired out Ryu go back into the spheres for safe keeping. One of the Agents saw Ramirez being wrapped tightly by a Dratini, who was struggling to keep his grip on Ramirez. As they all looked at Ramirez, Ryu the Dratini finally let go of Ramirez, making sure he couldn't move. After all three of the Magmas were made to stand, Ramirez broke away from the Agent, elbowing him in the face and taking off after him. Richie tried to join the chase, but he heard something go "pop".

[rt117]

Upon seeing the last opposing Pokemon go down, both Cinder and Spark sighed in relief, before flopping over in exhaustion. Today had been far too long for them, a far cry from the days of simple training. However they were not given long to rest, as a large intimidating Pokemon ushered them over towards Richie and Sera. Immediately they raced over toward Sera, hugging her briefly before passing out again in exhaustion. Patting her two Pokemon gently, she returned them to their Pokeballs for a well deserved rest.

Sera let out a sigh of relief as she saw their help arrive, slowly getting up to her feet as she tried to help Richie up as he struggled upright. As the Agent arrived however, her assistance was no longer needed. “That was too close...” Sera commented, looking around to notice how they barely got through that scuffle, though Sera felt a little bad that she didn’t help more. After all, Richie was badly injured, and here she was walking away without a scratch or bruise. It just didn’t sit well with her.

Watching as the Agents and Initiates crowded around to grab the Magma members, she heard a scuffle and saw Ramirez break free, bolting off as fast as he could to get away. It seemed as if nobody else was giving chase, so she broke into a sprint after him. But as he turned a corner, Sera skidded through to see that he had apparently vanished into thin air. She continued a small ways ahead, before finding that there was no longer any sign of him. With a small groan, she walked back to the rest of the group, her palm over her face. All of that work, and he still managed to slip away.

Sera couldn’t help but feel a little left out as the Rebellion members conversed with one another, unsure who any of them were, what group they belonged to, and so on. It didn’t help that Richie couldn’t tell her anything, leaving her in the dark with the current situation. Quietly, Sera returned Ryu to her Pokeball and approached her friend, unsure what exactly she was supposed to do at this point.

“...He got away... I couldn’t catch him.” She told him with a frown.

[Protoman]

Richie sighed deeply, aggravated at the fact that Ramirez was so slippery and evasive all the time. Collapsing onto the ground once more, Richie noticed that the Pokemon that they had battled were still there, obviously belonging to other trainers and were no longer necessary for their mission. Richie then looked around to see just how much damage had really been caused. Minus some broken glass and a damaged railing, the mall was still intact and people were still able to shop. Struggling to get back up, Richie finally was able to stand and place his hand on Sera's shoulder.

"You did your best," Richie replied, "which is a lot better than doing nothing if you ask me." Richie tried to walk on his own, but heard a sickening pop and crumpled once more. One of the Agents saw as Richie fell to the ground, picking him up as he complained about his knee hurting now. Apparently, the drop kick made him hurt himself more that Ramirez. With a depressing sigh, Richie decided to try and hop on his left leg, which helped to an extent, but he was soon given a pair of crutches. Looking at the ominous escalator, Richie placed one foot on the moving stairs.

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

As everyone began to walk downstairs, the little boy and his mother were both watching as the Magma operatives were being escorted out. The little boy, who had his Bulbasaur taken from him at first, stuck his tongue out at the Magmas, who wound up getting free. Both of them took off, the one named Jamie actually grabbing the boy's Pokemon once more and heading for the eastern exit. Meanwhile, the other recruit, who had nothing, went towards the western exit. Richie wanted to chase after them, but instead...

"Snatch this," Richie yelled, throwing one of his crutches at the Magma to the east. As the crutch hit the recruit in the back, two agents tackled the recruit onto the ground. The Bulbasaur bounced onto the ground, landing on its back. As the operatives apprehended the recruit once more, Richie picked up the Bulbasaur, taking him back to the little boy that owned him. As the little boy jumped in excitement at the fact that this man saved his Pokemon, Richie simply walked off.

"Wait mister," the boy called out, causing Richie to stop and turn around. The small boy pulled out a blue Poke Ball with yellow stripes coming from the center. calling back his Bulbasaur, he then proceeded to give the Poke Ball to Richie. "Take Hanoko with you!" Richie was speechless. Never had he been offered a Pokemon by someone so young. He didn't want to ruin the child's experience.

"No," Richie said, "I can't accept your Bulbasaur without feeling as if you aren't getting anything out of this experience." Richie began to hobble away, but the child was obviously much faster than he was.

"You have to, mister," the small boy replied, "otherwise the bad men will try and take him again. He needs a strong trainer like you to take him." Richie couldn't believe it. He looked at the boy's mother, hoping she could talk some sense into him, but she told Richie the same thing. Struggling to do so, Richie squatted down and placed a hand on the boy's head.

"What's your name, kiddo," Richie asked, smiling warmly.

"My name is Tommy," the boy replied, grinning widely.

"Well Tommy, what's your favorite Pokemon?"

"Charizard!" Without any further ado, Tommy began to flap his arms and roar like a Charizard, causing Richie to laugh.

"I'll tell you what," Richie told Tommy, grabbing the Quick Ball lighly. "Next time I see you, you'll get to meet a Charizard, okay?"

"You mean it," Tommy asked happily, jumping up and down in excitement. "I'm so happy! Thank you mister!" Without warning, the boy gave Richie a hug, who hugged the small boy back.

"You can call me Richie," he responded, almost shedding a tear before letting his mother take Tommy by the hand.

"Thank you so much," the woman responded, getting a nod and a smile from Richie. "Both you and your girlfriend are so helpful." Immediately, Richie's face became flush, knowing she was referring to Sera. Hopefully, she wouldn't react like Violet did.

[rt117]

Fortunately for Richie, Sera had been out of earshot of the woman’s comment, only now just heading down the escalator to meet up with Richie and the others as they made their way out of the mall. She thought about what he had said, and decided that next time she would do more, regardless of what he said.

Making her way over to Richie as they saw off the only remaining Magma initiate, she looked him over. He looked as if he was ready to pass out, and after everything that had happened in the shot span of time, she couldn’t blame him.

“Perhaps we should leave the rest of the tour for another day.” Sera suggested, offering him a small smile as she added: “After all of this, you could really use a good break from... whoever it is you work with.” She could only hope that she would see him again after all of this, since he seemed like such a nice guy. After a few moments of though, she let out a small sigh, and shook her head. Sera had to ask him.

“Listen... I know you can’t tell me anything about what you do, or who you work with, but after everything that’s happened today... I’d like us to be friends. If that’s alright with you, of course.” Sera asked, offering Richie a fond smile.

She hoped to be able to forge a friendship, and with any luck perhaps the group he belonged to would allow such a thing, seeing as how he kept her in the dark about quite a bit. To her it didn’t matter who he worked with, but he seemed like a nice person, and someone who would be a loyal friend. And being in a city where she didn’t know anyone, that was what she needed more than anything else.

“And if not... I would still like to help in any way I can to get Spark back to his original trainer. I know it would mean a lot to him if I could reunite the two sometime in the future.” Sera explained. Either way she wanted to help him find this friend of his, even though she had no idea where to begin looking. After all, the last person who had actually seen the Pichu’s owner was the Pokemon himself. And without Richie’s help, she would probably never find his owner.

This post has been edited by rt117: Jul 15 2012, 11:05 PM

[Protoman]

Richie, who was pretty much used to getting banged up during these kinds of missions, nodded in response, giving her a smile back. She was a very nice girl. She just didn't need to be in the Rebellion, regardless of how tough she was physically and mentally. This was a war that she happened to get into the middle of, and unfortunately, she'd have to pick a side soon...

But not now...for now, she was just a civilian that knew nothing about the Rebellion. Richie wanted to keep it that way for as long as he could, seeing as how he did ruin the whole tour today. It almost seemed as if his job was never done, but it made it worth while in the end. The Veteran, who already knew that Richie at least tried to complete the mission, simply asked how he felt about it.

"It wasn't a complete success," Richie responded, "I was supposed to find and interrogate Ramirez about what he knew, but I only did half." Richie began to walk towards the front exit of the large mall, realizing that he probably couldn't drive in his condition. Regardless of whether he could or not, Richie was about to try his hardest. With a failure of a mission behind him, Richie really wondered if he could complete a mission without getting injured. Still, he admitted to himself that each of the missions were extremely fun and always had him moving. Pulling the Quick Ball off of his belt, he looked at it, thinking back to his promise to the young boy. He honestly didn't know if he would see him again or not. Richie just made a promise to make the little boy take his mind off of being so generous. After he got inside of the car, Richie noticed Sera already in the passenger's seat, fallen asleep on the seat belt. Sighing deeply to himself once more, Richie simply put on his seat belt and drove as slow as he could to enjoy the new friendship.