[X] My Assistant

[Dragon Maiden]

Adele watched as Jened went around the complex scouting with his Growlithe. She lifted her eyebrow for a moment and followed. Meowth trotted at her side while James kept up with a fast walk. As he sent his Pokémon in to scout, Adele looked down at James and nodded. The Pokémon needed no other encouragement. James put on a cute little smile, saluted, and then walked into the shadows. The ghost Pokémon disappeared through the wall in a moment. If there was anything Adele liked best about ghost Pokémon it was they were the best for scouting. They may not have as good a sense of smell as a Growlithe or a Meowth, but they were nigh impossible to keep contained because they could phase through solid objects such as walls, which meant they could go anywhere they pleased in most cases. Nothing was a secret from their prying eyes.

Adele continued to follow Jened as he scouted. She didn't mention she had sent James on her own spying mission. As Jened searched for a secret entrance, Adele didn't mention they wouldn't need one. James could just open the back door for them, but if the boy wanted to search for one, it couldn't hurt to find one. If he didn't find one there was always her plan to fall back on.

Suddenly Adele heard a voice. Looking over at Jened, she noticed the boy was listening to a voicemail. It didn't take much thought to figure out it was the man Jened wanted to rescue by what the man was saying. As soon as the message stopped, Adele said. "I suppose we'll need a door then. Just wait for a while. James will take care of it."

[knil1]

"I suppose we'll need a door then. Just wait for a while. James will take care of it." Jened was glad to hear it. Ardaine was still walking around and Sol assumed that Jame was out looking for entrances.
They're sure to have a good start when it was time to enter.

He looked to Adele, "I'm going to walk around as well. My uncle said that he was on the second floor and somewhere in the complex is a grunt with the keys to his cell."

He rubbed his temporal lobe. For what reason, he had no idea, but he succumbed to the common act of which most people do when speculating. This was going to be difficult. By the time they go in, the grunt might be gone. And then the only way to save his uncle would be to break through the cell, but whatever happens can't be accurately predicted.


Quite a while after looking around, Ardaine came running back to Sol. She barked and started running back expecting her trainer to follow. She trotted around the corner and Sol groggily followed. He looked at his pokegear and it said 6:30. "Oh, my god," his subconcious was regaining it's energy. He couldn't believe he had just spent two and a half hours at a Magma base. He hoped that Adele didn't go crazy. He needs to think timing through much better next time.

Ardaine led him to a stack of boxes below window on the second story. He looked inside and saw in the building. it really was a maze. He stuck his head through a small hole in the window and saw the rooms and halls. The floor in front of him had a hole in it and he could see a Magma grunt walking around Pokemon ran around. An Ariados was making a web in a corner and wild Skitty ran around playing.. He jumped down and went to Adele.

It was dark enough and Sol was quite tired of waitng. "Adele, I'm sorry about the long wait, but we can go now. Did James find an entrance?"

Zarkan isn't active enough to continue so the story will proceed as if Melody never joined the mission.

This post has been edited by knil1: Nov 8 2009, 09:56 AM

[Dragon Maiden]

James

James walked through the Magma base stealthily, memorizing as much of the layout as possible. She took notes in her mind of possible exits around the base in case they would need to make a hasty exit. Whenever a band of Magma grunts came around, she simply moved into the shadows and phased through the walls. James got so caught up memorizing the layout of the base the Sableye soon lost track of time. She was so busy collecting as much information as her little brain could hold that she didn't realize that she was being followed.

Lima

Lima followed the intruder quietly. The rascal was hard to keep up with because she kept on phasing through walls, but Lima somehow managed it. That was a superheroes job wasn't it? Superheros were meant to the incredible, the amazing, the impossible, and that's what Lima planned to do. Running around corners, she tracked the Sableye's movement while hiding from the other villains that infested this building. Lima could not figure out the Sableye's intentions. She was obviously scouting the building, but why? Was it for the same reason as Lima? Was this Sableye friend or foe? Lima watched as the Sableye was looking intently at a door when...

James

James looked intently at the door. It would suffice as an entrance she decided. It was far in the back of the building where few Magma grunts seemed to come. There was only one guard. It was the best she had found thus far. Marking it down in her mind, she prepared to return to Adele with the news when...

Lima

One wrong placement of her foot and Lima went tumbling across the floor. Her cover was blown! The little green Cubone went tumbling across the floor, the bed sheet tied around her neck as a cape wrapping itself around her body. Before she could stop her tumbling, she had run straight into the intruder she had been watching so carefully these last few hours. The two of them tumbled in a crazy ball of flailing Pokémon arms and legs right in front of one of the villains. The human jumped up to attention and said "Holy crap!" Disentangling herself from the Sableye, Lima stood up proud and tall, preparing for the ensuing battle. There was no fear within her little breast. Superheroes always win in the end.

The grunts eyes got wider as he viewed he Cubone standing before him so confidently. It had an old white bed sheet tied around its neck. Painted sloppily on its chest were the letters BB as if that was supposed to mean something important. Its eyes had a gleam that professed confidence and disdain. It held up its bone in a threatening way as if that alone was supposed to scare him off... but besides all of this, the most astonishing thing was that that Cubone was... green? The grunt had wondered if this was some kind of joke. There were plenty of other grunts who had Cubones. Laughing, he called out "Alright Jacob, Summer, Hansel. Which one of you is it? Did you seriously expect to scare me by spray painting your Cubone green?" As he said this, Lima's eyes burned with fury. The guard hesitated as he saw the Cubone's rage, but suddenly...

James

Some Pokémon came barreling into her. The two tumbled right into the most inopportune spot. Right in front of the guard! Before James could react, the other Pokémon had stood up and appeared to be challenging the guard by the way she stood and held the bone threateningly in her hand. James almost laughed as she watched the Pokémon. It was a green Cubone with a cape tied around its neck. The effect was more humorous then scary, but she didn't have time to indulge her amusement. Jumping into the guard’s line of site just as he began speaking, she jumped on his face and gave him a square punch to the jaw. The guard's eyes rolled into the back of his head as fell to the ground.

Jumping down, James nodded at her handiwork for the briefest moment before returning her attention back the strange Pokémon behind her. She readied an attack just in case, but she didn't believe this Pokémon posed much of a threat. "Thanks for breaking my cover. What are you supposed to be? A superhero or something?"

To her surprise the Cubone nodded an affirmative. Taking a second wary glance at the Cubone, James said skeptically "Well... that's nice. I have to... um... go now?" Inside her head she was questioning the Cubone's sanity. She went to the door and opened it, but the Cubone called out behind her, "Wait! I'm not leaving you. You fought valiantly by my side! A superhero never abandons their friends." James took the briefest look back before sighing and wondered what she had just gotten herself into.

Adele

Just as Jened said this, James appeared before them. Nodding her head urgently, she pointed towards the back of the base. Smiling, Adele said "I think she's found our entrance." Looking up, Adele gasped as she saw that James wasn't pointing at an entrance but at the strangest Pokémon Adele had ever seen in her life.

That's right everyone. Lima really believes she's a superhero even though she isn't. XD Lima's going to be a little mental, but in a fun way.

This post has been edited by Dragon Maiden: Nov 8 2009, 09:10 AM

[knil1]

Jened chortled. It wasn't him making fun of the pokémon though, Sol just laughed every time something cute like that had appeared. He had to admit, it was the cutest Cubone he had ever seen. But he was more impressed at its green color. He looked to Adele with a warm smile on the verge of laughing again,
"I do believe this might just be your pokémon."

Sol did want to catch a shiny pokémon as such, but he bore no interest in Cubones at all, though the super hero getup provided some extra want of the little bone-pokémon. However, it was Adele's pokémon that found it; therefore Sol believed that Adele "found it".
"Congrats Adele." He had calmed down and returned to his stoic expressions. He knew Adele would catch it. Who wouldn't want to?

He walked back to where James had showed up to see if he had found an entrance that would work. He turned the corner around the base and saw a wall. There couldn't be anything here. He walked along the side of it, examining every detail. Rotting wood was falling off the structure and there were many rusted screws on the ground. He kept examining until he saw something odd. There were two door hinges attached to the wall, but he couldn't find a doorknob to go with them. He noticed a crack in the wall going along the hinges forming a rectangle. It was obviously a door, but there was no way of opening it, nor did he know if there was anybody on the other side.

He knocked on the door and waited for a response. He grabbed hold of a bump in the door and pulled. It creaked and opened slowly. Sol stopped when he believed it was open enough to look inside. He saw a Magma grunt walking down the halls calling out other people’s names.
“Summer? Hansel? Come on guys, this isn’t funny.” Sol could only assume he was crazy.

He had found the entrance and the sun was almost disguised entirely by the mountains. Ardaine yipped and nudged Caile’s poke ball on Jened’s belt.
“Not yet, but I think we’ll need him soon.”
Sol closed the door and walked back to Adele.

[Dragon Maiden]

Adele tried to find something to say as the little green Cubone waddled up to her foot, but she was speechless. The Cubone stared at her intently as if trying to find something hidden inside her. It's gaze was calm and confident, if not a bit overconfident. It puffed up it's little chest with pride and pointed to the two B's on it's chest before saying "Cubone. Bone." Adele couldn't help herself. It came out of her like a fountain. Grasping her chest, her whole frame started shaking with manic laughter, but between each laugh she managed to say "James... Where did... you... find... this one?" The Cubone looked affronted as if it had just been insulted. It brandished its bone and looked at James with a skeptical look. James ignored the Pokémon’s look, instead turning towards Adele and answering her question by putting a hand to her temple as if she had a headache. James sighed and then shrugged.

The Cubone waddled over to James' side and stood there confidently as if that was where it belonged. James crossed her arms and glared at the Cubone. The Cubone didn't seem to notice James' hostile glare. Instead, the green Cubone was still staring at Adele skeptically. Uncrossing her arms, James huffed and proceeded to push the Cubone. Startled, the little Cubone fell over and tumbled away becoming entangled in its cape... bed sheet. As if on cue, Ninja stepped out of the shadows and proceeded to trot up to the Cubone, sniffing it. After only a moment of sniffing, Ninja huffed her dislike and turned tail. The Meowth trotted over to Adele's side and sat down while purring.

Adele immediately stopped laughing when she saw the Cubone look up at her. Its eyes were huge and it looked as if it was about to cry. Adele couldn't help herself. She glared down at James and said "That was a fairly nasty thing to do James." James huffed in response and immediately crossed her arms again. James glared up at her with her jewel like eyes and mumbled "Sable." Instead of crying like Adele had expected, the Cubone scowled and brandished its bone higher as if it were threatening her. “Cubone!” It screeched. James jumped up and screeched right back “Sableye! Sable, Sable eye!” The Cubone grunted and scowled, but it ran over to James’s side and looked up at Adele with a confident gleam once again. “How did you manage to find this one James?” she repeated. James sighed. Taking a step, Adele watched with disdain that the Cubone followed Sableye after each step. Muttering under her breath, Adele squatted down and looked the Cubone in the eye. “It seems I’m stuck with you whether I want you or not.”

[knil1]

Jened walked to Adele and her new cubone. He couldn't help but stare at the tiny green pokemon. It glared back at him in a defiant manner, ready to take him on. Ardaine obiently sat by her masters side waitng for a command, but at the sight of the new pokemon, she jumped in joy right for it. She hit it and they both landed on the ground with a thud and Sol was as embarassed as ever. Ardaine humiliated the Cubone even more by licking it to apologize if she had just hurt it. Sol grabbed his pokemon before any more harm could be done.

"I'm sorry. Ardaine has a way of making new friends..." He paused as he looked over the Cubone for any slight injuries it may have.
"I found a way in the building. Follow me." As he turned and started walking, he forcefully tapped his pokemon on the head. Ardaine whimpered in acknowledgement of what she had done. Jened found the door and opened it slowly.

[Dragon Maiden]

The Cubone looked a bit distraught as Aradaine crashed into it with unrestrained happiness. Adele managed to avoid laughing this time. She reprimanded herself for letting her amusemsnt show before. Emotions were weakness and she couldn't afford to show them. Business came first... and yet the Cubone seemed to work a magic spell on her similar to that of Rain. Although Rain offered little in the way of battling or missions, she couldn't help loving the fluffy litttle pokemon. This Cubone was much the same way.

Still, although the Cubone was lovable, Adele didn't immediately put the Cubone in a pokeball as most people would. She was one to think of consequences and outcomes. Catching a shiny Pokémon had many outcomes, not all of which were good. Shiny Pokémon tended to attract attention and they tended to get stolen. Only if the benefits outweighed the risks would she consider sealing the pact. Giving the Cubone one quick glance, she decided the Pokémon would have to prove its worth in the field if she was going to consider catching it. Turning her attention back to Sol, she nodded her head and started to follow him.

As James followed her, the Cubone trotted faithfully by her side. Adele briefly wondered what sort of connection that the Cubone felt to James that caused it to follow her like a faithful puppy.

[knil1]

Jened watched as the Cubone followed James. It seemed as though the Cubone was only there to repay, but Sol turned back to the mission. He wandered through the halls somewhat aimlessly. Ardaine knew the scent of Sol's uncle, but with all the dust and dirt and wild pokémon scents, she could not smell him.

Jened watched as the rooms passed by. Room 52, 51, 50, 49.... 67? The next hall had led to a dead end and Ardaine was getting frustrated, which Sol found very strange. She never gets frustrated because she's such a happy-go-lucky type of pokémon. But now she was running through the halls looking for room 102. Sol's priorities were in his uncle, but Harrison would rather enter Groudon’s Thumb and shout "I'm a Rebel," than have his pokémon taken from him. But Sol had to admit, he would probably do the same.

After the next turn, Jened found room 107. Ardaine barked happily, now that the group had been put on the right track. Sol yanked her off the ground and covered her muzzle.
"Quiet."

Dirt fell through the ceiling as Magma grunts from above started running.

Sol ran along the wall and found room 102. He hurried inside and found the poke balls next to a hefty grunt that had fallen asleep. He grabbed the pokemon, ran out and grabbed Adele's arm,
"Come on."

He started to run and dragged Adele through the halls. He went as fast as he could, but his choice in direction had led him to a Grunt, just waiting to see him. Sol turned and was about to take off again as another Grunt showed up on the other side.

They were walking closer and closer to the two. Jened clicked the button on the poke ball containing his Shellder and it grew.
"We need to split up. These walls are flimsy enough to break down for me. You do whatever you need to as to get away. And expect a fight soon."

Jened smiled at Adele warmly and somewhat maniacally, completely confident that she could get away, but glad things were getting exciting.
"Ardaine, ember." An array of coal and flames flew toward the grunt facing him. Jened took his long leg and rammed it against the wall. The wall collapsed and wild pokémon in the surrounding area fled from their hiding places. He gave thumbs up to Adele,
"Good luck." and winked at her.

He took off at a great speed. The muscular grunt released a water pokémon and doused the area around him. He returned his pokémon and started running after Sol. He glanced over to the other grunt in a way that spoke, "Take that one while I get this brat".

It wasn't long when the grunt caught up with Sol. He knew the layout of the building and knew a way to corner him off. When the opponent was finally trapped at a dead end, he spoke up.

"Hey there. Are you lost?" Sol smirked and the grunt grinned back.
"Well, I know just how to fix this problem." He took out two poke balls and released her pokémon. It was a Meowth and a Slugma. The Meowth hissed and spat at Sol. The Slugma faded in and out of sleep then it became attentive.

Sol released Caile who, much like the Slugma drifted in and out of sleep.
"I hope you're ready."

The Grunt laughed, "Please, the thought of you beating me doesn't even register."

~~~

"Ardaine, use helping hand. Caile, supersonic. "
The hall reverberated a high pitched noise that surrounded the enemy’s team. The Meowth looked dazed, but the Slugma stayed focused throughout.

"Slugma, use flamethrower on the mutt!" A blast of flames engorged the area surrounding Ardaine, who sat helplessly waiting for a command.

"Come on, Ardaine, get out!" The Growlithe quivered and waited to receive the blow.
"Caile! Use Tackle on the Slugma!" The Shellder lunged toward the mass of magma, but was blocked by a furious Meowth using Scratch. The Attack missed, but Caile lost his concentration and missed his target. The flames struck Ardaine and she yowled. She was hit, but it didn't do that much damage.

The Meowth shook off its confusion and poised for attack orders.
"Meowth, use Pay Day!" Slugma, Smoke Screen!" Smoke flooded Sol's side of the hall and coins began flying toward his pokémon quickly.

"Protect Caile! Ardaine, use Oder Sleuth, and be sure to dodge the coins!" Caile closed his shell and Ardaine scanned the area. She immediately let out a yip to let her trainer know she had found her target. Coins flew everywhere, leading Jened to have to move out of the way.
"Great! Now use Fire Spin!" Ardaine ran toward her opponent and jumped in midair to start spinning. With the combustion, the smoke caught on fire and incinerated almost everything. And then Ardaine landed a direct blow on the Meowth.

Coins stopped flying through the air and it was clear again. Some of the structure was on fire and some crates were burning. The Meowth let out a mew and fell.

"Damnit. Ok, then, are you ready for this one?" He grabbed another poke ball and released a Squirtle.
"Squirtle, Bubble beam the Growlithe!" Bubbles flew furiously from the Squirtle's mouth and spread throughout the battle area. The bubbles doused the flames from the previous attack and were a moment away from hitting Sol's fire-type pokémon.

"Run to the Slugma Ardaine!" It yielded for a moment and continued with its order. Sol grabbed his still protected Shellder and tossed it through the forest of bubbles. The pokemon's flight had made a perfect path for Ardaine to go through. Ardaine dodged the few remaining bubbles and jumped, ready for a demand.

"Bite it Ardaine! Caile, use Icicle Spear on the Squirtle!" The pup opened its jaws and clamped down on the Slugma as hard as it possibly could. Caile formed shards of ice and shot them directly at the Squirtle as it was flying overhead.

The Slugma had endured all it could and the Squirtle was breathing heavily. Sol knew that the man was about to lose. He returned the fainted pokémon to its poke ball.
"I hope you’re ready for this." He pulled out two hidden poke balls that Sol hadn't noticed earlier. He clicked both of them and released two more pokémon, a Graveler and a Houndour. The Grunt tossed his Squirtle a berry and it ate it hungrily.

Caile landed next to the Grunt, who scowled at his arrival. Caile performed a quick Withdraw right before he was kicked back to his side of the field.

The grunt laughed tauntingly.

This post has been edited by knil1: Nov 14 2009, 05:06 PM

[Dragon Maiden]

As Sol whipped away like a sparrow, Adele felt a bit affronted at being left behind, but she soon pushed those feelings down. Feeling hurt wouldn't change the situation. The grunt in front of her examined her wordlessly as the muscular grunt charged off after Sol amidst a mass of running wild Pokémon. One of the grunt's eyebrows rose as she examined Adele and she reached for her pokeball. "I know you from somewhere." The girl said with a calm coolness that Adele also recognized.

Adele didn't take the time to respond. It wasn't worth the trouble. It wasn't like she was going to wave a flag above her head proclaiming her identity. Examining the small redheaded girl in front of her, she tried to remember her name. Brianna was it? Something along those lines. She had seen the girl sometimes in the Rich District while growing up. They hadn't been friends or even acquaintances, but seeing someone from her old home sent a flicker of longing through Adele's chest but she didn't indulge this feeling for long because the grunt's eyes widened. "You are Adele right?"

The girls whistled through his teeth and laughed. "I didn't think I'd see the day where you would join the rebels. You were so intent on your training and so focused. I still can barely believe it. I wouldn't if I hadn't seen you standing here, but it doesn't hurt me. You were always one of the strange ones Adele. You kept to yourself and ignored the rest of the kids in the Rich District. I'll be glad to beat your snobbish head into the ground. You always thought were better then everyone else."

James stiffened at these comments and pointed accusingly at the girl while a soft growl emanated from Ninja's chest. The strange green Cubone that had followed her here gave the girl a smoldering look before raising its bone-club high above its head. The girl gave the Cubone a questioning look, taking in its strange costume and colors and smiled maliciously. "Is this one yours?" she asked.

Adele kept her face blank. Instead, she held out one of her hands and beckoned. This banter was useless. It was time to get down to business. "Still too stuck up to talk to me? Let's get on with it then." The grunt growled as Adele watched her with calm confidence.

Reaching into a bag tied around her waist, the grunt withdrew a pokeball. Pushing the button on the front, the pokeball expanded. Smiling mischievously, the grunt released her Pokémon swiftly, revealing a large round Miltank.

Adele felt amusement build up in her chest. A Miltank. It was hard to take seriously, but she had to. She had a mission to complete. Adele looked down at James and gave her the briefest of nods. James was just about to enter the battle field when the green Cubone let out an ear piercing cry and ran into the field. Adele felt a bit of annoyance build up in her chest, but she stepped down and watched the Pokémon. It wouldn't hurt to see how the Cubone held its own in battle.

This post has been edited by Dragon Maiden: Nov 12 2009, 06:29 PM

[knil1]

Jened waited patiently in the time that he had. He was ready to finish the battle the moment it started. Sol enjoyed battling, but never wanted them to last any longer than this one had.

Ardaine sat patiently waiting for an order and Caile peeked through his usually closed shell.
The pokémon opposite of Sol looked tough and healed. Sol's pokémon, on the other hand, were tired. Sol took a moment to think of any healing items he may have that he could use before the opponent decided to attack. He couldn’t think of any, and the battle would have continued before he could get it out anyway.

"Squirtle, use Bubble beam! Graveler, use Rock Throw on the dog!" Bubbles once again flew throughout the dead end, hitting and damaging the already busted walls.

"Ardaine, dodge as many as you can! Caile, Help her with Icicle spear!" frost flew toward the bubbles as Ardaine jumped through the remaining ones and just barely missed the huge stone that came hurtling toward her. She landed and dashed for the Squirtle. Her attack was executed amazingly. The attack was dead on and it did a grand amount of damage, causing the opponent to faint. But she had done it without her trainer’s orders. Her aggravation had embarrassed Sol again.

The Grunt, however, was surprised, “How long have you had her?” Sol was partially aggravated now as well. The battle was still going and Sol was ready to finish it. Ardaine sat happily and yipped. She knew she was being talked about and loved attention. But Sol didn’t want to take the time to answer, and he thought the Grunt knew that as well.

“Ardaine, use Leer on the Graveler and Caile, Supersonic it.” The sound was sent to the Graveler and Ardaine glared threateningly at it.
“Now Ardaine, use Fire Spin.” The Graveler was trapped now, which was exactly what Sol wanted. The Houndour had done nothing the entirety it had been outside of its poke ball. It seemed perceptive and strong, and looked as if it would become a big threat if left unattended to.

“Houndour, use Odor Sleuth.”
It growled. “Great, now use Thunder Fang on the Shellder!” It ran to Caile with sparks flying from its open jaw. The fangs looked as though they each contained 1,000 volts of energy and Sol had no desire to see what would happen. It was going to be a critical hit.

“Ardainebitenow!” But Ardaine had already started. Her jaw was opened as wide as possible and clamped down just as the Houndour's fang had touched Caile’s shell. The two dogs went flying from Ardaine’s momentum and they both hit the wall. Some nearby crates fell over. Ardaine jumped up as Caile used tackle and soon thereafter was ordered to use Bite again.

The Houndoom Growled and acted out without it’s trainers orders as well. It used Beat Up on Caile and Ardaine attacked it as much as it could. It soon became a battle without any order and Jened steeped in with and order.
“Ardaine! Use Helping Hand Now! Caile, use Tackle!” The brawl had injured all of the pokémon, but two against one made the Houndour very weak. And Sol was ready to end it with the Houndour.

The Houndour’s teammate only watched as it got up and fainted upon standing. Ardaine and Caile were considerably tired. Ardaine had just taken on a large amount of damage. She panted heavily and sat down to relax a little and slowly stood up, ready to fight again. Caile was motionless, saving as much energy for the rest of the battle as possible.

The Graveler was freed from its prison and ready to avenge its partners defeat.
“Alright, use Hammer Arm on the dog! And follow it with an Earthquake!” The Graveler raised its massive, rocky arm and ran towards Ardaine. Ardaine was too tired to move. She winced as the arm came down, only to hit her front paw. She yowled in pain and jumped back, trying to keep as much weight off of it as possible.

Sol watched as the Graveler was getting ready to perform its next move.
“Caile, use Protect! Ardaine, try and jump as it hits the ground!” The Graveler launched itself up, and hit the ground with a huge smash. The ground shook and Sol fell over on his “high ground”. He believed it could probably be felt through the entire complex, but he knew that wouldn’t happen. However it could be heard in the distance, a loud cracking sound and a lot of breaking wood.
Caile was protected and just bounced with the huge waves traveling through the dirt below him. Ardaine jumped, but quickly fell because of her hurt paw, on which she accidentally jumped on. She received a blow from the final wave and took on a large amount of damage.

She fell over and whimpered. The grunt and his pokémon laughed and pointed fingers, commenting on her weakness. Sol ran over to her, but when he tried to help the growled at him. She got herself up and prepared for battle.

“Great.” Sol smiled at his Growlithe; she was determined and would fight to the end.

“Ardaine use Odor Sleuth, and Caile, Withdraw.” Ardaine focused on the laughing pokémon and Caile prepared its defense for whatever may happen.
“Caile, Supersonic!” The sound ended up confusing the Graveler once again. The Grunt watched as the battle looked as though it was about to finish in his favor and all attempts to beat him were futile.
“Ardaine, use Helping Hand!” She yipped pathetically and waited to cheer on Caile.
“Now Ardaine, use Flame Wheel and Caile, Icicle Spear!” Ardaine ran and started spinning and Caile shot thousands shards of ice at the Graveler as fast as possible. As the Shards were going by Ardaine, the fire melted the ice and thousands of fast water drops struck the Graveler. Ardaine, now in the air, struck the Graveler as hard as possible. Some of the drops had passed the pokemon and hit its trainer, tearing holes and ripping off small pieces of his clothing.

The Graveler toppled over and it was soon returned by its trainer.
“I give up!”
“Ardaine, prepare a Fire Spin for him.” Ardaine opened her muzzle and a small flame grew larger and larger.
The grunt stood up and ran off. Jened sat down and looked at his pokémon. The way they looked made him tired. Ardaine was beat up the most lacking the special ability to protect herself as Caile could.
“Thanks guys.” They were returned to their poke balls and Sol stood up. He walked out of his corner and heard something in the hall.

“Hello? Hello? Gilliam?” Sol found a Walkie-talkie and a key right next to it.
“Hey Gilliam, you there?”
Jened pressed the Talk button and made an attempt to sound like his former opponent.

“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Great. Half of the Western side of the Building has been destroyed. We almost had to move because we almost fell with it, but it stopped right next to our room. Gerrard nearly fell with the room next to us. Is this your doing?
“Quite possibly.”
“Whitney’s going to have your head for that. Also, There’s been some talk of some intruders, have you seen them yet?”
“Yeah, I’ve taken care of them. What is the status of Gerrard?”
“Unfortunately he’s fine. He was sleeping until he heard there were intruders.”
“Great.” Jened removed the back panel and shook out the batteries.

Jened put the key in his coat pocket and strolled down the hallway, his heavy boots making a clunking sound every time they hit the floor.

Sol looked out the holes in the walls and saw a large luminescent cloud where the moon should have been.

This post has been edited by knil1: Nov 29 2009, 02:44 PM

[Dragon Maiden]

The grunt laughed as the cubone stepped up. "You really expect to beat me with that Pokémon? It may be green but I've never seen anything more wimpy looking in my life."

At this provocation the Cubone's eyes suddenly went wild. It brandished its bone high and screamed its challenge to the girl, its screams echoing off the floors and ceilings of the building. Everything was silent for a flutter as a heartbeat as the last echo died away. The Cubone stared down the girl and her Miltank with vicious eyes. Its very fury sent a shiver down Adele's spine. This Cubone wasn't someone she would want to make an enemy of. The grunt briefly assessed the Cubone's reaction. A look of uncertainty crossed her face for the briefest moment, but then she smiled and laughed. "Tackle Miltank."

With an enraged Moo the Miltank came barreling towards the Cubone. The Cubone looked prepared for the attack. As the large mass of bovine Pokémon rocketed straight for it, the Cubone jumped to the side. It managed to hit the Miltank with a growl before the grunt screamed "tackle" again.

The Miltank turned around with surprising agility. Before she could blink, Adele watched as the Miltank smashed into the Cubone and sent it rolling across the floor... but she almost laughed when she saw that the Miltank had tripped over the Cubone's cape... blanket. The Miltank had rolled across the floor, becoming entangled in its folds. Jumping up, the Cubone looked more enraged then ever before. It reached up its arm to where the cape had previously been tied and only found empty air. "CUBONE!" it screamed louder then ever,

Adele froze. This couldn't be a good thing. If the cubone insisted upon being so loud soon the whole base would hear it and know about her presence. A bead of sweat appeared on her forehead. There was no way she could beat a whole base full of grunts no matter how much she wanted to. There was no place to escape to either. She didn't know her way around the base and was just as likely to run into trouble as out of it. She would just have to hope that this Cubone ended the battle quickly and that no one had heard the commotion.

[knil1]

Jened meandered about the halls. He had no compass and could only find west when he could see the moon. It proved quite inconvenient when he wasn't near the outside wall. On the inner part of the structure, there were rare glimpses of the sky, but the moon wasn't always visible.

Not only could he not find the western side, but he couldn't find any stairs going to the second story or Adele. He was more intent on finding his uncle, but he was looking for her on the way. Sol knew that she could fend for herself. Although he regretted leaving her behind, he's heard about Rex's training. He probably would make sure his daughter was more set than any other Magma member.

Jened ventured through the halls and found he was on the outside again. He looked out and sat down. He watched as people in the city meandered about their daily lives. What Sol could see of the water shone brightly and glowed the same color as the large cloud. The mountains were a dark green. And they sky was pitch black except the one large feature attracting all of the attention from it. Sol stuck his head out the building to view the outside wall of the building. He knew he was on the western side, but he couldn't find the broken down part at all.

He pulled his head back in and stood up. With him, dirt rose, then fell. He started taking steps north.

Sol kept walking until he heard the yelling of a Magma agent. He peeked around the corner and found him not but 10 feet from him. He was taller than Jened and he looked strangely terroristic. He was yelling out orders to three other Grunts who carried broken wood in and out of a room. At the end of the hallway was a dead-end of broken wood and dirt. He had finally gotten where he wanted.

He dashed past the hall to look around for stairs. In the halls that led to the broken part of the building, wild pokémon would occasionally scurry out of the wooden mass. He found what looked like a stairwell at the end of a hall. He walked slowly down the hall, trying to make as little noise as possible, hoping that a Grunt wasn't nearby.

"Hoppip." Sol flinched and almost fell over.
"Hop-opip." The noise vibrated from the pile of wood.
Sol walked over to it, completely forgetting about the stairwell and began lifting and setting down pieces of wood.
He had uncovered so far a Rattata and a Caterpie, but he kept on lifting wood searching for what made the noise.
After lifting a piece covered in nails, he saw a long green leaf emerging from the pile. Sol lifted another piece and found a small pink mass that slowly floated to the ceiling. It had a smile on its face and it looked oblivious to its surroundings.

It turned slowly and floated down the hall bouncing off of the ceiling, and with every bounce it let out a little "op. ip."
Jened was expressionless, but he couldn't stop thinking about how adorable it was and how he just had to have it. He remembered his mom had one and it was actually her best pokémon. Sol grabbed a poke ball and threw it at the floating pokémon.

It was sucked into the orb and it wiggled...
Once...

And then the ball broke open. The Hoppip had the same joyous expression, but now it floated over Sol and cast out a light blue powder. Sol kept himself awake by covering his face with his thick jacket. When he believed the powder settled, he took out a poke ball.

"I know you're weak, but I'm sure you can handle something like this."
He released Ardaine, who looked weak, but she stood straight, ready to fight.

[Dragon Maiden]

The Miltank returned the Cubone's cry of rage with a deafening Moo. Adele covered her ears at the sound and swallowed. Someone was bound to hear that one. Looking around frantically, she locked eyes with James and nodded. James looked at her curiously for a moment before nodding in reply. The Sableye took off down the halls. Adele was sure more grunts would be coming soon. If she got captured at least James would be free. If James was free then there was a chance the little Pokémon would be able to free her too.

As Sableye bounded away, the Cubone attempted to duck and run for cover as the Miltank finally unwound itself from the blanket and charged at it. The Cubone wasn't fast enough. It got hit square in the chest causing it to fly into the opposite wall. Adele watched with blank eyes as the Cubone hit the wall with a solid thump. The wood wall splintered at the impact and the little green Pokémon went flying through. Looking through the hole in the wall, Adele flinched at what she saw. There was a group of four grunts... and her father. All of them appeared to be in the process of walking out the door, probably to investigate the source of the loud sounds on the other side of the wall, but they didn't need a door now.

For a silent moment everyone stared. The grunts looked from their fellow grunt, to the Miltank, to the strange green Pokémon that had just flown through their walls, then to Adele. The only one who didn't have eyes for any of this was Rex. His eyes were glued to Adele as if she was the only thing that existed in the world. Adele stared back. His eyes were impossible to read. The world was silent completely for that moment before one of the grunts hastily drew out his pokeball and prepared to open it.

"Wait." Grunted Rex.

The grunts all turned to look at him with expectant eyes.

Rex stared at Adele again for what seemed an eternity. Sighing, he unconsciously reached up and ran his hand through his bright red hair as he had a tendency to do while deep in thought. Adele felt as if she could melt under his eternal cold glare, but soon he broke the spell with a few words. "Let them fight it out. I want to see how Brianna does in a battle and also, we can always take down this intruder if she wins this battle. She can’t beat five of us. There is no chance for her to escape."

These words wounded Adele deeply. Her father hadn't even bothered to acknowledge her as his daughter... of course it was his job as part of Team Magma to put aside his personal feelings in view of the larger goal. Adele's stomach flipped. That was what her father was telling her. He had chosen his side. Now it was her turn to choose hers. Looking at the group, she knew her choice had been made long ago. "Let's finish this battle then." she said while gazing intently at her father.

Her father nodded briefly. She had chosen her side. He didn't seem bitter about it or surprised, just flat and emotionless. Adele returned his flat emotionless nod with one of her own and signed the silent agreement. She and her father were on opposite sides. They were now enemies. The battle came first.

With that, she looked down at the Cubone. It hadn't moved. That hit must have caused it to faint. Silently, Adele withdrew a pokeball from her pocket and pressed the button. The green Cubone was enveloped in light. The ball moved once... twice... before it broke open. Adele smiled as the green Cubone emerged and stared at her with hard adamant eyes. Drawing out another pokeball, she threw this one. This time the pokeball did not break open.

"That wasn't your Pokémon?" asked Brianna, looking at her strangely. Adele shrugged then looked around. When she spotted Ninja, she nodded. The Meowth trotted over and took its place on the field of battle.

[knil1]

The Hoppip lunged at Ardaine, performing a very good Tackle.
Ardaine jumped out of the way and landed with a heavy thud. She had fallen over when she hit the ground, but she responded to her opponents attack with a successful bite.

The Hoppip grimaced as she was hit and returned with a Stun Spore. The powder filled the hallway and settled down over the Sleep Powder performed earlier. Then while Ardaine was trying to find a way to avoid the dust, the Hoppip fired seeds at her, causing just enough damage for Ardaine to fall to the ground. She wasn't able to get up and deserved a good rest in her poke ball.

Jened grabbed an empty poke ball and threw it at the floating pokémon to see where he was in the battle.
It moved twice before she finally escaped.

"Aright then." Sol grabbed his other pokémon and sent him after the Hoppip with an Icicle spear. The Hoppip evaded the attack with what seemed like great ease. She countered with another Stun Spore.

Caile sat paralyzed as the Hoppip fired another Bullet Seed. It hit Caile with little precision, but it dealt a good amount of damage.

"Caile, use Supersonic." Caile paused from its paralysis, but managed to send out sound waves that made the pokémon twirl even more than it already did. She tried to Tackle, but hit the crates next to Caile.
"Alright Caile, use Tackle." Caile went flying to the pokémon and hit her directly. She floated down slowly, and in the time she tried to float back up, Jened pulled out another poke ball and threw it at her.

The ball moved once...
Twice...
*ping

Jened slowly walked over to the poke ball and picked it up. He put it in his backpack and walked to the stairwell.

He prayed that there wouldn't be any more battles. His pokémon were not doing good and the new one seemed pretty tired too. But if there was one, he hoped that the Hoppip would do well.

[Dragon Maiden]

Ninja flicked her tail impatiently as she entered the field. Trotting over, the cat Pokémon flicked the pokeball with the strange green Pokémon inside with its paw. She batted it around for a moment before opening her mouth as if she was going to eat it. "Ninja!" Adele scolded.

Ninja growled deep in her chest but obeyed. Batting the pokeball with her paw, she sent it rolling to Adele's feet. Reaching down, Adele quickly picked it up and stowed it away in one of her pockets, right next to Rain's pokeball. Looking up Adele nodded at Ninja, and the little cat Pokémon tensed. Her back arched as she stared at the Miltank and let out a feral hiss. Everything was silent again for a moment before Adele said "Bite."

Ninja meowed an affirmative and then once again hissed at the Miltank before charging. Loping at the Miltank at a good pace, Meowth prepared to jump as she got closer to the Miltank. Ninja's muscles bunched and coiled as she squatted and then took a flying leap, but as she flew at the Miltank, teeth bared, Brianna laughed and screamed "Tackle!"

The Miltank replied to this command within a split second. As the Meowth leaped for her, the Miltank took off. Ninja could not dodge in the air. The two Pokémon collided with a solid thump. Ninja managed to sink her sharp teeth into one of the Miltank's ears as the two Pokémon rolled across the floor from the impact. The Miltank bellowed as it stood up and shook its head fiercely, attempting to dislodge the Meowth from her grip. Ninja held on for the first few shakes, but when it came to strength, the Miltank had the advantage. After the third violent shake of its head, Ninja went sprawling across the floor. Hissing, Ninja stood up again, awaiting a command. "Bite again, Ninja. Avoid jumping. Use your speed." Adele commanded smoothly.

Ninja immediately replied to Adele's command. Dashing at an unbelievable speed, the Meowth hurled herself at the Miltank. Brianna seemed surprised at the Meowth's speed but managed to mumble the command "Defense Curl."

In response, her Miltank curled up in ball just as Ninja pounced on it. Ninja's teeth sunk in, but it didn't do as much damage as Adele would have hoped. The defense curl had made sure of that. That had been a smart move on Brianna's part. Before she could react, Brianna smiled gleefully and shrieked "STOMP!"

Unrolling itself, the Miltank took one of its hooves and sunk it into Ninja, who was still holding on adamantly. Shrieking, Ninja quickly released her grip on the Miltank and growled, but it was no use. The Meowth struggled for a moment but then promptly fainted with a pitiful "Meowth."

Reaching down, Adele pulled out Ninja's pokeball and pressed the button. Her Meowth was enveloped in red light as it returned to its pokeball. Adele stared at the pokeball for a moment before returning it to her pocket and drawing out another. "Have you given up yet Adele?"

"No." said Adele.

Pressing the button n the next pokeball, she released Inferno. This was a desperate act on her part. She was risking her getaway by having Inferno battle, but the ponyta was the only viable choice she had left. Rain was as much use in a battle as a fainted Pokémon.

[knil1]

Jened took a step on the stairs. It creaked and echoed through the stairwell. Jened flinched and retracted his leg before he could make any sudden noises. Sol regained his calmness and proceeded with climbing the stairs. He walked lightly, lifting himself as much as possible via the railing.

Jened was approaching the second floor when the step below him broke in half, allowing gravity to do its work on Sol. He reached out and grabbed hold of the step above the one that bust. He held on and once he realized that he was only two feet off the first floor, he let go.

Suddenly a Magma Grunt slammed open the door. It was quiet as he inspected every square inch of the stairwell. Sol creeped back under the stairs, hiding himself behind a stack of crates. The grunt inched down the steps, each creek barely audible. When he realized the broken board, he looked down and glared intently on the drop. Light poured in from the sky through a renegade hole in the ceiling. The dust that was falling reflected the light, and caught the Magma Grunts eye. He hopped down the steps and grabbed his walkie-talkie.

Just as he was about to press the speak button, Sol crept up behind him with a splintered piece of wood. He swung, but the Grunt ducked in time and swung around to kick his opponent. Sol didn't like hand to hand combat, but his pokémon were incapacitated and getting caught wasn't an option. He threw another swing with the board and followed with a successful hit to the leg. Jened watched the Grunt hit the ground and pass out. He was dragged behind the crates where Sol checked his leg. He was glad to see it was fine. If he had broken it, he would feel guilt for the rest of his life and he didn't want that weight on his shoulders.

Sol continued with his climb up the stairs. He opened the door slowly and saw nothing but open sky and wood. He saw a few Magma agents clearing out wood. The main pathway from one spot of the building to the other was just walking over the ruins. He hugged the wall and dashed down the next hallway, lucky enough to not get caught. He walked down the hallway, making sure to stay near, but not too close, to the sound of Magma agents talking. He knew they would be near the rubble, and that's where he wanted to be as well.

Soon enough, Jened found room 150. He walked slowly, hugging the wall once again as tightly as he could. Once he reached room 153, he looked in and saw what he expected. A cell and two or three grunts sitting around a table, talking mindlessly about random junk that no one else really cared to hear about.

Sol retreated for now. After a few minutes of trying to come up with a plan, he heard the shuffling of feet in room 153. The Grunts left the room and went to the rubble. They had just been commissioned to do labor. Sol sneaked inside, but was disappointed to find that his uncle wasn't in the cell. He then heard from outside,

"Come on Harrison. Tough guys like you can't do manual labor." The Magma agents all laughed in unison to what Sol thought was the lamest provocation he had ever heard. The proud Harrison Gerrard, on the other hand, took being laughed at and disrespect to him very seriously.

He grabbed a piece of wood and chucked it at the laughing grunt that made the comment. The grunt turned at just the right moment to see the wood hit him in the face. Harrison laughed loudly. Tears fell down his cheeks as he rolled on the floor laughing. Sol chuckled, but tried to keep it down from being noticed.

The Agents walked over to Harrison and put handcuffs back on him. They escorted him back to his cell, with tearstains on his cheeks and a wide grin on his face. They made his landing in the cell as comfortable as possible and he sat quietly, completely naive of the pain his rear was feeling at the time.

Sol, by this time, was out in the hallway again, listening, waiting for an opportune moment to free his uncle.

This post has been edited by knil1: Nov 24 2009, 04:14 PM

[Dragon Maiden]

Inferno's ears swiveled on his head and he was prancing on his feet. Whenever he was released, his first instinct was that he and Adele were going to go for a ride. Inferno had boundless amounts of energy and he was ready to go. Standing still, he waited for Adele to climb into his saddle and send the signal to run as fast as his legs could carry him. Adele wished she could jump onto his saddle and bound away, but a getaway was not an option at the moment. There was nowhere to go. The grunts that had previously been in the next room had spread out and surrounded her, all expectantly holding a pokeball for the moment she either won or lost this battle. Her father's eyes were still digging into her like claws. Her only option was to fight and then get captured.

"Tackle Inferno." she said.

Inferno looked over his shoulder at her as if she was crazy. She hadn't used Inferno in a battle for a quite a while. Her main battling Pokémon was James and Ninja was her second option. By the time Adele usually got around to using Ninja the battle had already been won and so Inferno was far from used to fighting. He was bred and trained to run, not fight. As he looked at her with confused eyes, Adele opened her mouth to say something as the Miltank crashed into Inferno's side. The tackle sent both Inferno and the Miltank tumbling across the ground right towards Adele. Deftly jumping aside, Adele avoided becoming crushed by just a hair's breadth, but the grunt behind her wasn't so lucky.

The mass of large flying Pokémon smashed right into the unusually small grunt. Caught up in the momentum, he was flung against the back wall with a thud. The Miltank and Ponyta landed squarely on top of him. The Miltank and Inferno struggled to untangle themselves from the man's limbs. Inferno snorted his frustration as he tried to stand up. It took a moment of struggling, but eventually he managed to find his feet... hooves, but the Miltank wasn't far behind.

The other grunts were too surprised by the sudden flying Pokémon to immediately react. The gap behind Adele was still wide open. As Inferno struggled to his feet, Adele pounced. In a sudden burst of speed, she ran over and catapulted onto the back of Inferno. Inferno snorted as she thudded into the saddle. She kicked her legs into the Ponyta's sides and prayed for a miracle, but miracles don't happen in Noverus. Inferno leaped into life under her kick, but he only got a few feet before Adele felt him jolt from underneath her. For some reason, Adele looked over her shoulder at that moment. Brianna was smiling triumphantly as her Miltank had aimed a well placed stomp on Inferno's exposed leg.

Inferno whinnied and stopped his flight. Adele felt his jerky gait. Not wishing to injure her mount any more by staying on his back, Adele jumped down. The moment she did, all of the grunts surrounded her and pressed the button on their pokeballs. She was surrounded by a large number of Pokémon ranging from a Budew to a Torchic. Sighing, Adele held up her arms. She knew when she had lost a fight. It didn't take long. The Grunts jumped into action as soon as she held up her arms. One of them grabbed her arms and twisted them painfully behind her back. Another reached into her pockets and drew out her pokeballs. Inferno was getting extremely agitated at this point. His ears were swiveling every which direction and he looked as if he was prepared to run over the whole lot of grunts. He pranced on his feet, but Adele could easily see he was favoring his left back leg.

The grunt that had taken out her pokeballs quickly pressed the button on Inferno's pokeball. Inferno disappeared in a flash of red light. With Inferno went Adele's last hope. Looking up, she watched as her father stepped in front of her and scowled. They had another silent conversation with their eyes for a moment before he said "Truss her up and take her to a cell."

The grunts jumped to obey as quickly as they could. They grabbed her hair and pulled at her roughly as they tied her arms behind her back and then stuck a rag in her mouth. Next they tied together her legs and then finally they covered her eyes. Adele could see nothing in the blackness, but she recognized her own father's footsteps. He walked around her and started talking to one of the Grunts in hushed tones. This went on for a moment and then she heard a pokeball opening. The sound that reached her ears surprised her. "SWABLU!"

Adele suddenly started struggling violently. Not Rain. "You've gotten new toys since last we met." said a faceless voice Adele recognized as her father's.

After this, Adele heard the sound of a pokeball again and all sounds from Rain stopped. Her father had returned the little fluff ball back to her pokeball. Adele relaxed a bit at this. "Where's James Adele?" her father asked harshly.

Adele bit down on the rag in her mouth.

This post has been edited by Dragon Maiden: Nov 27 2009, 09:44 PM

[knil1]

Jened jumped into the empty room 152. There had been a static sound, some words, and most of the grunts ran down the hall past him. Sol grinned; he had the opportunity to free his uncle.

Sol found a large chunk of wood and looked out the door. Down the hall was the rubble, and a large mountain of it was piled up in the hallway, just on the part of the wall that had ended into the outside. He tossed the wood outside and after all of the crashing it had made, the Grunts in room 153 all ran out to see what it was. He swiftly ran to the pile in the "doorway" and knocked it over. Then some more wood from the ceiling came down and made the outside barely even visible.

Sol knew that Grunts would get in at any moment and ran into 153.

"Jened! I knew you would come! Was that you who did this to the building? You know Whitney's going to be upset."

Sol fumbled with the keys as he was jamming them into the lock.
"Nope. Some buff guy I had to take care of. Now come on, I brought someone with me and I can't find her. Not to mention, one they find out you're missing, they'll be looking for us too."

Sol handed his uncle his poke balls and ran out the door. Harrison followed.
"You left your partner behind?! You must be nuts! You can't do that! Who was it?"

"Adele."

"I've heard that name before somewhere. I think the Magma people said it a while ago."

Sol ran around corners, jumping behind something every time he heard footsteps.
"Well, we need to find her. I've got a feeling she's the reason all of the Grunts went running."

"I guess so. Hey, did you get my pokémon?"
Sol handed him the four poke balls and kept running.
He hadn't heard anybody come up the stairs, and there were very few Grunts upstairs, so Sol needed to find a way to get down.

He stopped and put his ear to the floor. He couldn't hear anything, so he scoured the hallway for a loose floorboard. Once he found one he pulled it up and saw the floor below. He pulled up the surrounding ones and slipped onto the floor below. His Uncle did the same, but wasn't very enthusiastic about it.
"They're going to see that you know."

Sol looked at his Uncle in a way that said, "Don’t give me sass."
He darted down the hall and watched as his uncle reluctantly followed.

Sol continued about the building until he saw a Sableye, sitting in the hallway, as if it was expecting him.

[Dragon Maiden]

James

Today stunk. Today stunk a lot. First James had gotten stuck with that annoying crazed green Cubone that thought she was a superhero. That Cubone had been stuck to her side like glue. She had tried every strategy she could think of to make the annoying Cubone go away, from pushing her to insulting her, but the Cubone seemed dead set on repaying her debt to James for attacking that Magma grunt. James had thought Rain was the most annoying Pokémon on earth for a little while, but now she realized she was dead wrong. The Cubone was the most annoying Pokémon in the world. If only Ninja would eat the Cubone just as she always tried to eat Rain.

Now she had been separated from Adele. That was a fate ten times worse then being annoyed by the crazed Pokémon. James had wandered the halls for a little bit trying to come up with a viable plan to get herself and Adele out of danger. An answer had evaded her for quite a while before she thought of that boy they had brought along with them into this whole mess. She would go to him. During her earlier wanderings she had located Room 153 and the missing man. Now with purpose in her mind, she set off in that general direction. She was certain she would run into the boy along the way.

Instead of looking around for him like a lost Growlithe, James had sat herself in a hallway, waiting for the boy to appear. It had taken a while, but eventually he came as she had expected. The man they had come to rescue was in tow. James scowled at the boy for a moment with accusing eyes. This boy had left Adele behind as if she was worth nothing. On most occasions, James would have been too furious to even consider looking at him again, but times called for drastic measures. If working with the boy who left her partner behind was what it took to free Adele then James would do it.

James stood up and walked to the boy's feet. Glaring, she tapped her foot impatiently and pointed in the direction of Adele. James knew that she would get her point across. Humans had a tendency to understand her even though they didn't speak her language and she did not speak theirs.

Adele

As her father asked her that question, Adele heard the approaching stamp of feet. It seemed as if the whole building of grunts was coming to witness her capture. The running feet got closer and closer until they were almost upon her. She heard gasping breath as the grunts stopped in their headlong dash. "Sir, we came as quickly as we could." said a male voice.

"Good. Take the injured one back to the infirmary and one of you take these pokeballs to a secure room. The others of you transport the prisoner to a cell. Keep an eye out for a Sableye. I fear one of the girl's Pokémon has gotten loose." said her father harshly.

Once again there was a rapid stamping of feet as the grunts jumped to obey her father's orders. The man that had been thrown into the wall by the two Pokémon’s battle groaned as if he were in deep pain. Adele assumed he was the man the grunts were taking to the infirmary. Once again there was a rushing of feet as someone grabbed her hair and jerked as hard as they could. Adele felt tears come to her eyes as she stumbled to her feet. The grunts kicked her and caused her to stumble. There was a bout of laughter as another grunt aimed a kick at her where she kneeled on the wooden floor.

"What do you think you are doing?" her father's voice asked harshly.

The grunts mumbled for a moment before one of the braver ones attempted to speak. "Umm... Sir... we were... umm..."

"Beating up on the prisoner? Were those my orders? Take her to a cell. No more games." Rex barked.

Adele's stomach fluttered. Her father still cared about her, that much she was sure of. He wasn't willing to let her be used as a punching bag by these miserable grunts. The grunts mumbled at the order, but obeyed. This time, the grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet roughly, but there was no hair pulling. They marched her away from her father at a steady pace. Every time she tripped, they merely grabbed her roughly again and pulled her to her feet. The stumbles were quite often because she could see nothing at all through the rag tied around her eyes. They had been walking for several minutes, when she was pushed harshly. She heard the slam of a door behind her and the sound of a key in a lock. She was trapped.

[knil1]

Jened watched as the Sableye walked closer to him and stopped. It pointed down the hall. It didn't take long until Sol realized it was Adele's Sableye James.

Harrison peeked over Sol's shoulder,
"Where'd that thing come from?"

James looked frustrated and understood why. The guilt he had from leaving Adele behind grew larger with each passing second, and he wished he hadn't left her alone. He thought she would be fine, but his planning had failed again.

Sol looked in the direction that James pointed to. He knew exactly what James was doing and so he walked down the hall until it came to an intersection with another hall. The Sableye walked in front of Sol and took a right. The three walked through the complex and eventually heard some footsteps. Harrison and Sol hid around some crates and James merely walked to the wall. The Grunts had walked right by the ghost pokémon and Sol's suspicion of the lack of observation amongst the Magma members in this facility was solved. Once they were out of earshot, they continued down the halls.

Soon they heard more footsteps and a muffled noise. They all hid once again and watched as four Magma Grunts walked by dragging a girl behind them. The girl was dressed entirely in black. Her face was almost entirely wrapped in rags. Her eyes were covered and she was gagged. Sol held onto James as he tried to attack the Grunts. The three stalked them with the most silence and delicacy they could muster.

Adele was soon thrown in a room with the door locked and the Grunts marched off. Sol ran up to the door and looked for ways to pick the lock. James had merely walked through the door. Sol couldn't find any way to open the door and his uncle did nothing but whine about being in such a "god-awful" place for so long.

Sol used his heel to break the dull doorknob and watched as it fell to the ground. He opened the door and found that Adele was already freed by her Sableye.

Sol spoke up, “Are you ready to go?”