[X] My Assistant

[Master Houndoom]

Team Kuonji- Mascot Card: Houndoom- Scavenger Pokemon: Caterpie, Nidorino, Grovyle

"Jaima Kuonji"-Master Houndoom- Johto- 16
"Doukan Sota"- Doukan Sota- Furoh- 16
"Malcolm Smith"- Xal- Kanto- 16
Sora Hikari?
Daniel Worthington- Amissa- Furoh- 15

Jaima nodded to Douken, looking toward the door in floor. In truth, he really wanted to go down that path. It seemed more exciting, somehow, than the four doors. Looking toward the other teams, one of which was already leaving through the West door. That left East, South, North, and Center. Jaima knelt at the trap door and pulled.

Below them was a rope ladder leading down to near darkness. In a pool of light from the room they were currently in, the group could dimly see the floor, made of stones.

Jaima looked at Douken, Daniel, and Malcolm. "Well, I guess this is our route." Without waiting, he started down the ladder, Mercury floating down with him. Ember, unfortunately, had to be returned, but was re-released when Jaima got to the bottom.

As the other boys joined him, Jaima turned in the hallway. Now that he was out of the brighter light of the main room, he could see that the hall, almost entirely done in stone so that it looked like the interior of a castle (which was, after all, fitting, since that were in one). There were a myriad of doors on either side.

"Well, guys, let's look around. If there's a greenhouse, it's either outside, or it's somewhere where it's going to get a lot of light..." He started down the hall, then slowed. "It... could be like Gigarte, though... they have mirrors to bring light down... maybe he's got a similar setup..."

Thinking for a little while, Jaima finally shrugged. "Any suggestions?"

[Douken Sota]

Once the path was decided, he watched Jaima go down first. Seel, with no way of being able to grip, was returned to her ball so they could safely decend. Croagunk sat on Douken's shoulders as he went after Jaima.

Reaching the bottom, he waited for the others to get down. As he did, he examined the walls with his hands, thinking how long this kind of thing would of taken. That is, until Jaima brought up Gigarte. "Sounds like an interesting system, but they may also be using artificial sunlight with special light bulbs. Either way, we only seem to have two ways," he said, looking down both halls. "But maybe we should drop some things off in a room." With that said, he opened one of the doors and noticed how much it looked like a Feudal Japan bedroom. "And here I was hoping for a bigger bed," he chuckled as he entered to drop off his things.

Sure, it looked like Feudal Japan, but it had something out of the era, like the computer next to a suit of samurai armor and a big bathroom.

He scurried through his bag and looked for things that would best be things on hand. Really, there wasn't much to leave behind besides the food that wasn't berries. Once he was settled with his items, he threw thr lighter bag onto his back and left the room, ready to go.

[Amissa]

Daniel waited for the Douken and Jaima to safely reach the bottom of the ladder before climbing down himself with Geb clinging securely to his hoodie. He then listened to the conversation between the other two, picking up on the last bit about his hometown. "Yes, we are!" Daniel contributed brightly as he touched ground, finding himself in the lit stone hallway. "We use both the mirrors and the artificial sun lamps. You might not believe it, but we can grow better veggies than anything anyone's got above ground."

Of course, his opinion was not only biased but ill-informed. Since Gigarte didn't import produce from any other place, Daniel had never actually tasted vegetables that had above-ground origins. His family also refused to endorse the local Poke King, the only place in Gigarte that did import meat and produce. Of course, if he'd had food from Poke King, it would probably only reinforce his prejudice.

He followed Douken when he explored one of the rooms, taking in the Feudal era decor. "Hmm...kinda cool. I wonder if all of the bedrooms are themed like this." He hoped not. He didn't really dig that sort of look. He left Douken to organize his things and wandered over to check out the door directly opposite of Douken's across the hallway.

Upon opening this door, he found a bedroom similar in layout to the one that Douken had chosen. The difference was the theme of decoration. This room was decorated to imitate a tropical rainforest, complete with large indoor plants and a recording of wild pokemon cries playing on a tape recorder on the bedstand. There was a computer in his room as well, which was displaying a rainforest screensaver. "Whoa! I pick this room! This is the room I want!" Daniel called out his dibs, and then began wandering excitedly about the place, delighted by each special touch that the designer had given the room.

He then remembered that he was supposed to be doing something with his team and settled down enough to sit on his bed and remove his backpack. The only thing that he decided to leave behind was his sleeping bag. He clearly wouldn't be needing that while he was here. He patted Geb thoughtfully as he pondered whether or not there was anything else he'd forgotten. The Nincada then scuttled down Daniel's torso and tapped one claw on a pokeball resting on his trainer's belt. "Oh yeah, I'm sure Hercules can come out now. Hercules, come on out!"

A beam of red light shot out of the pokeball and soon took the form of a Machop. Hercules examined his surroundings critically, but then nodded as if in approval or simply acceptance. He preferred a more Spartan living than Daniel did, but the extra decor wouldn't hurt him any. He did glare at the tape recorder though, and Daniel obligingly shut it off. "Kay guys, time to rejoin the group." The young trainer then reentered the lit hallway, followed closely by his Machop and with his Nincada scaling his hoodie once again to cling near his shoulder. From there he waited eagerly for the other trainers to claim their bedrooms and drop of unnecessary supplies.

[Xal]

Pichu bounced down the walls as Malcolm climbed down the ladder, closely followed by Pidgey dropping down and fluttering onto his shoulder. Malcolm listened to the others talking about the greenhouse's location, and suddenly had a thought.

"It was practically a small blizzard when we arrived, and that can't be the worst it gets. If the greenhouse does use natural light then it'll still need some kind of artificial light source for when snow covers it. Well, it might have some kind of system for cleaning it off..." Malcolm didn't know anything about plants, architecture or whatever set up they were speaking about in Gigarte, so he wasn't sure if what he said had made much sense. Well, if he gave them the impression he was completely clueless then at least they had the right idea.

As two of the others made their way into their rooms Malcolm chose a room of his own. The walls had trees painted on them, and the furniture had a forest theme. There was a tree stump coffee table, a lamp that looked like a sapling and the bed had dark green sheets with leaf patterns on them.

"Pi!" Pichu shouted happily, crawling onto a branch of one of the small trees that were dotted around the room.

"I guess this room has a woods theme then?" Malcolm asked. Pidgey cooed in response, and then joined Pichu in climbing onto a branch.

"It seems nice enough, I think we'll like it here. You two already do anyway." He said, walking into the bathroom. That had a similar theme, with nearly everything made of wood (or looking like it was, anyway). He looked at his hands and realised that somehow they'd become dusty, most likely from running his hand along the stone walls or climbing down the rope ladder. His hands weren't dirty exactly, but being in a bathroom he didn't have anything to lose by washing them. He turned the tap of the washbasin on, and could have sworn the water sparkled like spring water. It was almost magical, and since he entered his room he'd slowly started to notice a subtle scent of pine. The room was certainly realistic, that was for sure.

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima listened to everyone's advice, all of which was sound. More and more, it was looking like an inside greenhouse, simply because of Logistics. Still, they should make their way to the outer edges of the castle and work their way to the middle.

As everyone briefly split up to look for rooms, Jaima did the same, browsing at the room numbers in an attempt to find one that was right for him. It was going to be an odd night, sleeping in a room alone. Of course, he'd have his pokemon out, if they could fit. That was getting to be a problem now, since they were all getting so big!

He came to a room with a large golden eight on the door. He smiled, shaking his head. His family had moved to Johto early on, but many Japanese families had, and there was a strong asian community in New Bark. This meant many of the children in this community were raised with a mix of their homeland cultures as well as Johto cultures. And in Japanese culture, eight was a lucky number. Mostly because the kanji symbol, hachi, was two strokes downward, looking a bit like a mountain. The wider bottom symbolized both stability and hope for more opportunities in the future. It also looks like Mt. Fujiyama, which is a symbol of luck on it's own.

When you are 11 years old, and your homework's done, and the sisters you're taking care of are napping, and your mom's not home, you have a looot of time to look up things like "why is eight a lucky number in Japan?"

Jaima opened the door and blinked. There were hammocks inside, too small for anything but small children and pokemon. There were also round beds on the floor, a small pond, and a large square planter filled with soil that looked to be about six foot square. The room was big enough that the planter did not overwhelm it, and the bed was on the other side across from the planter, in the same dimensions. Paper screens were aligned on the walls, currently showing scenes of epic pokemon battles of lore; Ho-oh and Lugia on the left panel, Kyogre and Groudon on the right panel, with Rayquaza wrapped loosely around them, and Dialga and Palkia in the middle pannel, with Giratina above and between them. The lines were crisp, but the colors slightly motion blurred past the black lines, giving a feeling of motion faster than the eye could follow.

Jaima turned and counted. Two hammocks, one above the other, hanging across the northwest corner, to the right of the head of the bed. Mercury, who was peering around the room in wonder, and Shadow could sleep in those. Two round cushion beds to the left of the bed. Fang and Ember would likely be able to curl up there. The planter he knew was for a grass type, though it was much bigger than Grondir needed currently. And the corner pond with the waterfall would be where Tsunami would sleep.

Jaima's eyes slowly narrowed. It was almost as if this room were made with him in mind.

No, Trainer Jaima, came Mercury's worried voice. There is no malice in any of the servants or the man in the castle.

They're called Team Deception for a reason, Merc, Jaima thought back, confident that the psychic type would 'hear' him.

Yes, you're right, Mercury agreed, cautiously polite, knowing that the team was a sore spot for... well, everyone of his traveling companions, in some form or fashion. But even when they were trying to fool us, there was malice.

Jaima sighed. "I really want to believe you..."

But..?

Jaima looked at her, then smiled softly. "No buts. I do believe you. And I have to trust that not everyone's out to get us." Jaima pulled the pokeballs from his bandolir and released the pokemon one by one.

Fang came from a ball painted blue on top and black on the bottom, with a gold four point star adorning the top half in the front. He looked at the beds, walked to them, and sniffed before nodding his approval and trotting back to Jaima's feet.

From a green ball wrapped in what seemed like vines came Grondir, who took one look at the planter and made for it, climbing in and sinking his toes in with a prolonged "saaaauuuur..."

Tsunami appeared out of a blue ball, lighter on the bottom than on the top, with orange spots on the side, from which sprouted three orange whisker like protrusions, like the gills of a mudkip. She went to the little pond and, like Grondir, sank in, closing her eyes.

"I take it you guys want a rest, then," Jaima said, smirking. Fang looked at him incredulously, but the other two were already asleep. Ember looked at them, then up at Jaima, and Mercury giggled. Jaima removed his bag and set it on the bed.

"Mercury, tell Shadow where this room is. And call your hammock, since you came with," he said with a wink. "Grondir, Tsunami, guard the room. Fang, you're with me."

As they left, Jaima replaced the pokeballs on his bandolier, fingering the three he didn't use: A blue and black ball with steel grey mounds on the top, like a riolu's wrist guard growths; a white ball with a blue crest like a ralts, complete with the red horn, and the newest, a charcoal grey topped ball with a tan bottom and a resin flame shape on the back top; Shadow, Mercury, and Ember's pokeballs.

Jaima stepped out of the room and saw Douken waiting. Just as he began to walk, he heard a scrape behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw a caterpie, holding a blue tag and looking surprised that he'd been spotted. With a shrieked "PIE!" he dashed away, so quickly that Jaima couldn't react. Jaima was amazed at his speed; the caterpie was almost as fast as Darryn's India had been when she was a caterpie.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Jaima said aloud, turning to tell Douken and the rest that he'd seen the first target, when Mercury gave a giggle.

Maybe not, she laughed, pointing at Ember.

Ember was sitting on her haunches where the caterpie had been, sniffing. She rose up to look at Jaima, holding a blue tag gently between her teeth. Jaima laughed, and turned to go back to where Douken was waiting.

[Douken Sota]

Douken blinked at the small event in front of him. A Caterpie was shocked so bad, it dropped a blue tag and fled. Giving a small chuckle, he said, "Well, he did say the Blue Tag was the easiest, right?" he said, kneeling in front of Ember to see the tag up close. Being where he was when the challenge was issued, he didn't have a good view of what they looked like. "Well done, Ember," he said, complimenting the Quilava, holding out an Oran Berry, as if to award her. It was a habit of his.

After he got up, he awaited the others to arrive. "So where to now? We either go down one way or the other," he said looking at both sides of the hallway. "Without a map, we might as well be walking blind. Who knows how big this place is..."

[Amissa]

"What?" Daniel said as he rejoined Douken and Jaima. His expression was puzzled and innocently curious like a child who didn't get a joke. This was because he'd missed the whole thing, looking in another direction. "Oh, you got the blue tag already? Rock on." He said, his own phrase for congradulations.

Next, he considered Douken's words, looking down one end of the corridor and then the other end. "If one one way is as good as another, why not follow the Caterpie? Maybe it will run back to its buddies." He immediately decided that he'd made a bad suggestion after he'd said it. He thought harder, trying to remember any detective movies he'd seen. "Or maybe we could try to track down our targets a different way. Does anyont have a pokemon that knows odor sleuth? I saw this show on T.V. once where the detective used his Poochyena's odor sleuth to hunt down a criminal."

He looked around at the faces of the other trainers, hoping he hadn't said something stupid. Neither of his pokemon had the move, and he'd never even seen it used in real life. He just hoped that he wasn't betraying his ignorance by talking too much.

[Xal]

Malcolm stepped out of the bathroom, through the bedroom and back into the corridor. The dark castle seemed gloomy compared to the forest-like room, almost like a dank dungeon. That was understandable after all, they had just climbed down a trapdoor into the depths of a castle. It made Malcolm wonder just how old the castle was. The castle must be old but up to this point nearly everything had been modernised. Malcolm wondered just how many other places there were like this in the castle, which were seemingly unaltered for centuries. It was an exciting thought, castles often had secret passages and rooms of some kind, and it was perfectly possible that some of these had just been forgotten years ago. There were probably rooms and passages that just went unused, and had been ignored and blocked off. It sounded great, all these rooms and passages hidden around, just waiting to be explored. But Malcolm was getting ahead of himself, if there were rooms that even Lonnie didn't know about after all these years (not that he meant he was old, or anything like that...) then he had no chance of finding them. Then again there could be rooms Lonnie had hidden, or maybe he'd just decided to leave some of the old hidden ones alone. There might have just been no use in renovating them, or perhaps he just liked them hidden. It would make sense that he'd have hidden rooms to explore for a big event like this.

Malcolm was thinking a mile a minute, hoping that all this stuff could be true. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted though. dragging him back to reality.

"Oh, you got the blue tag already? Rock on." Daniel was saying as he left. He listened as Daniel suggested the way forward, and when he was done he chipped in with his approval.

"I don't think following the Caterpie is a bad idea. It must be going somewhere and there must be other pokemon there. He can't live on his own here, so I guess we may as well go with him. Well, unless anyone knows that odor sleuth thing..."

"Pi!" Pichu shouted up at Malcolm with a frown on her face, Pidgey at her side.

"Heh, sorry you two." He said, realising he'd left them on their own.

They'd probably dozed off (Malcolm was sure anyone else would find falling asleep so quickly impossible, but for pokemon like them it was a struggle not to) and woken up to find him gone.

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima nodded. Both suggestions were good, except for one thing; They didn't have anything to track except for the caterpie. Oder Sleuth was good, but it would only work if the pokemon in question knew what the scent of the pokemon they were following was.

The second problem was that none of the pokemon around seemed to know Odor Sleuth. At least, none of Jaima's did, and no one else was volunteering that their pokemon knew it.

"I think following the caterpie is a good idea. For one thing, he's not likely to go anywhere were it's going to be really cold. Not if he's scared that easily. For another, Daniel's right. He might just run back to his buddies." He nodded, gesturing for Ember, Mercury, and Fang to gather around.

"So, who's leading this shin-dig?"

[Douken Sota]

When the mention of Oder Sleuth came up, Douken searched his belt and took a Pokeball form it and gazed at it thinking. It didn't long for him to say, "Well, i have a Growlithe, and they can learn Oder Sleuth, but i don't think mine can and even if he did, he has a hard time trying to pay attention." he placed it back on his belt before adding, "Well, he did come from a police station, so they could of tried to teach him, but that is just a guess." They did, however, have some places where one with that skill could sniff. The walls where it crawled and the tag, pretty much, but they were still tracks.

When an offer on who to lead came up, Douken stated, "Its hard to tell who the leader of this group would be. We don't know each others skills or high points. If we choose someone wrong for the job, we may not complete this challenge." He then turned to the path the Caterpie ran down and added, "Maybe we should think about it along the way. And as we go along, we could discuss what kind of experience we each have to work with."

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima nodded at Douken. A feeling that time was wasting began to seep into him, into his bones, and he was feeling antsy. While Douken's suggestion, that they get to know one another and see if a leader presents themselves was sound, it wasn't getting anything done. However, he didn't necessarily want to be recognized as the leader.

"Let's walk as we talk," he said, motioning for Malcolm, Daniel, and Douken to walk in the same direction as the caterpie. As he did, he mentally asked Mercury to scan for other pokemon. After a moment, she shook her head.

There's a lot of pokemon here, hiding or other wise. There's also a lot of interference from the Trainers looking, and from the staff. This she supplied to everyone, but, privately, for Jaima's mind only, she confided, I could possibly pinpoint it out given time, but after everything we've been through...

It's OK, Mercury, Jaima soothed her, trusting that she was used to his trying to communicate with her enough that she'd hear his thoughts. It'll be more fun to find them on our own. If you can tell when one is close, though, I'll take that advantage.

As you wish, Trainer Jaima, the kirlia said fondly.

The group eventually noticed that there was a light trailing of silk that demarcated the path the caterpie must have taken. Jaima smirked. "Must have scared him worse that we thought." They came to a wall, through which there was a small hole, which the caterpie seemed to go through. A door next to the hole was large, oak, and forboding. Jaima reached forward and pushed it, and it opened with a snap.

On the other side was another hallway, also with doors. None were numbered, but all were ornate. One had a red circle on it, rimmed in black, with the silhouette of a therapodal (a classification of tailed pokemon that more or less meant they walked on their hind legs) pokemon on it. His back was sloping, and his maw was open. It's massive arms were held as if beginning to reach forward to grasp. It wa,s in short, an awesome sight, and only a silhuoette at that.

Jaima opened the door and was greeted with a roar, played through high quality speakers so effectively that he nearly ran Daniel over jumping back. A deep, resonant voice boomed out, "Welcome... to the Hall... of LEGENDS!!"

[Amissa]

Daniel was delighted that everyone thought his ideas were good, and he momentarily donned the "praised puppy" look that a trainer might otherwise only witness when training a canine pokemon. As soon as Jaima suggested choosing a leader, however, Daniel placed his index finger on his nose and declared, "Not it."

Daniel became increasingly nervous as Douken suggested sharing experiences. Sure, he would be delighted to hear about the adventures of the other trainers, but as of yet, Daniel had nothing to contribute with. It looked like he would soon have to confess, and he was worried about what the others would think of him when they learned that he actually had no idea what he was doing.

That is, if his inexperience wasn't already as evident as his shock when Jaima's psychic type, Mercury, spoke to the trainers telepathically. She was the first psychic type that he'd ever encountered, and he never knew that they were capable of that level of communication. Daniel edged away, trying to look covert about his avoidance of the kirlia even though his imagination was racing with frightening implications. If she could do that, what else could she do? Could she tell what he was thinking right now? Maybe she could teleport, explode his brain and turn it to goo, or maybe she had heat vision (Though, if he thought about it rationally, heat vision didn't make much sense for a psychic type move).

He was still unsettled by the time the group encountered the silhouette of the awesome pokemon and the booming speakers. When Jaima suddenly and swifly retreated back towards him, Daniel took it as a signal to be properly alarmed. However, when he tried to back up, he toppled over his Machop who had been following shyly behind him. He would have tumbled to the ground completely if one of his arms hadn't been grabbed by a the strong hand of his fighting-type pokemon.

"Machop Machop!" Hercules said, glaring at the silhouette. He blamed the pokemon, whatever it was, for frightening his trainer. What the other pokemon would make of Hercules's short statements would be, "You're all right, Daniel. I will protect you."

While Hercules was shy around people that he didn't know, he could still become quite fierce around pokemon that presented a potential challenge. Geb, the Nincada, remained ever indifferent on Daniel's hoodie. He was only slightly jostled by Daniel's near-complete-fall.

[Xal]

Hearing the pokemon's voice inside his head unsettled Malcolm slightly. He'd heard of some pokemon being able to do things like that but had never experienced it first hand. It made him wonder what else it could do, like if it knew what he was thinking right at that moment. He suddenly forgot all about it when the group arrived at a large door, right by the hole the Caterpie went through. That was just as well, he didn't really have any idea what to suggest about finding out who the leader should be. He didn't have a great deal of leadership experience either, between leaving home and arriving at Furoh Malcolm had spent almost all his time with only Pichu and Pidgey by his side. He looked down at his loyal pokemon, both of whom were walking besides him.

Malcolm followed Jaima and his pokemon as he pushed the titan door open and stepped into the next room, which was filled with even more doors. The group walked towards one with a shadowy figure of a pokemon on, and even though it was nothing but a picture Malcolm couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by it. Pichu didn't seem entirely comfortable about going through it either, nervously grabbing his trouser leg. He smiled at her and patted her head, and she seemed to feel a little safer.

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima's heart was pounding, and he swore in Japanese as he allowed himself to calm. "Sorry 'bout that," he said, quietly, to the group, especially Douken, "I'm a little jumpy lately."

This is ridiculous, he chided himself. Stop reacting like everyone is out to get you. It makes you seem paranoid.

Is it paranoia if they really *are* out to get you, Trainer Jaima?

Jaima had no answer for this, so he moved on.

The Hall of Legendary Pokemon was a gigantic room with a vaulted ceiling, and as he passed through the doorway, he couldn't help but gawk at the sheer immensity of it. Within the hall were what appeared to be statues of the great legendary pokemon: Groudon, with his crimson flesh and large headridges, towered over their heads. Across from it was it's mortal enemy, Kyogre, it's body angled as if it were just cresting the waves in a mighty leap. As Jaima's eyes followed the white underbelly of the water Legend, he could see, suspended above and between them, the coiling form of Rayquaza.

It was moving.

Jaima's eyes darted to the other two, and noticed that they all were moving. Kyogre's maw opened wide and let loose a deep, thrumming cry, which could have been part of it's name, or just a roar. It was chilling, and exciting, and Jaima actually found himself standing still to watch as Groudon opened his own mouth, bending forward as if in challenge, and roared out a "GROOOOOOOOOOOOO" of it's own.

The last, Rayquaza, was also the most graceful and articulate. While Kyogre's mouth and fins moved, and Groudon's body and mouth moved, Rayquaza actually seemed to be flying, twisting in the air currents. It, too, opened it's mouth and let out a higher pitched, fluting cry.

A voice boomed from hidden speakers. "In Hoenn, it is believed that Groudon created the land, causing a drought to evaporate the waters and give places for land pokemon to live. Kyogre, in opposition, caused great rainstorms to create and expand the sea. When they met, they came into conflict, a battle that raged for years, until it disturbed the resting place of Rayquaza, the Lord of the skies. He came down, and the wind, rain, and earthquakes are said to have formed the rocky outcroppings, islands, and cliffs of the southeastern Hoenn region, from Lilycove City to Slateport."

Jaima grinned, and, competition briefly forgotten, stepped further into the room, searching. When he found what looked like a statue of three canids, standing regally on a platform modeled to look like a grassy hilltop, he stopped, staring in wonder.

The Legendary Beasts of Johto.

Jaima admired the crafstmanship of the three. The lines were smooth and sleek. They seemed to be alive.

A voice came from another speaker, not as loud as the one for the Hoenn legendaries, as if this were a lesser display. "The Legendary Beasts of Johto are analogous to the Legendary Birds of Kanto. Indeed, two other legendaries, Ho-oh and Lugia, are said to control each trio, tying the legends of the two regions together. It is speculated that the six pokemon are actually strong, long lived forms of actual, well known pokemon that have somehow evolved further past their kin. Even if this is not so, they are extraodinary and powerful pokemon. Please use the computer to the left to access information on the individual beast, if you so desire."

Jaima grinned, turning, briefly, to see what his companions were doing.

[Douken Sota]

Douken was in the section that was dedicated to the Guardians of Time and Space, Dialga and Palkia. It also fowed two other Pokemon he never saw, Giritina which made the entrance and Arceus who stood in the back of the room. In the center of the room was an odd contraption[!]. Touching the blue sphere, a spotlight came on Dialga and a speaker came to life, giving details upon his legacy."I see... so this is connected to each statue to give data..."

In that note, he touched the center sphere which, in turn, brought to life the lights and speakers of Arceus, which explained this deity and massive power dealing with multiple plates, aiding him in his power and defense. However, when the light shown on him, an additional shadow was cast on the back that stirred. Then in a quick moment, before anyone could react, it ran away. Trying to keep his eyes on it, Douken looked at the direction it ran as it left the Hall of Legends and thought out loud, "Was that a Grovyle?"

((He barely saw it, which means he couldn't tell if it was holding a tag or not.))

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Jan 7 2010, 12:29 PM

[Amissa]

Daniel managed to right himself after a short struggle. He dusted himself off and cautiously entered the Hall of Legendary Pokemon. He tended to keep a great amount of distance between himself and the displays, their moving and roaring making them a little too realistic for his tastes. Daniel could see that he wasn't the only one who felt intimidated. Hercules had grown irritated and angry from the time he'd seen the silhouette. Now he was behaving as though he wanted to fight the displays.

"Machop!!!" Hercules shouted, bounding between Daniel and the display, glaring at the Rayquaza. "Bring it on!" Being a fighting type, Hercules clearly saw the flying pokemon as the most threatening of the three Hoenn legendaries. Daniel's lips curled up in a smile once again, and he felt touched by his pokemon's loyalty. Sure, Hercules had no idea how powerful legendary pokemon really were, but the thought that he would so easily place himself between his trainer and danger spoke mountains about the pokemon's love and courage.

Now if this had been The Hall of Legendary Trainers, I bet Herc would have been too shy to even walk around the room. So long as it's just a few really really big pokemon that he doesn't have to have a conversation with, he's good. Daniel thought with amusement as he stroked Geb's back idly with a finger. "Good job, Herc! You showed them! None of these pansies will be coming after us any time soon! Come on now, we have other displays to scare witless."

"Machop! Machop?" Hercules backed away from the Hoenn display to follow his trainer to another display. "You better believe they won't! Wait, displays?"

Daniel walked over to the Kanto display. High above were the imitations of the legendary bird trio. Moltres was silhouetted against a background that suggested fire, for Zapdos the background imitated lightning during a thunder storm while occasionally blasts of thunder could be heard over the speakers. The image of Articuno was shrouded in an icy mist. Closer to the ground was a pink figure, which was made to look as if it were bouncing around happily. This was Mew, and opposite of him, standing behind Daniel was the glaring purple figure of Mewtwo. The voice over the speaker told about Mew in an even tone, similar to the one Daniel could hear in his Pokedex when he used it. However, the voice became much louder and more foreboding when it spoke of Mewtwo.

"Mew is a pokemon that is seen so rarely that it is believed by many to be only a mirage. It is said that it can only by found by the pure of heart and only by those who badly want to see it. Mew is said to possess the genetic composition of all pokemon and is thought to be the possible ancestor of all pokemon species. It is expected that this pokemon can make itself invisible at will, which explains why it might be so difficult to encounter."

"Mewtwo was the result of splicing the legendary Mew's DNA. Because it was created by humans for the sole purpose of battling, it is quite aggressive and dangerous. It's first act upon gaining conciousness was to destroy its creators and escape. It is believed to be hiding in an unexplored cave in the Kanto region."

Daniel was so entranced by the displays, that he completely forgot that his team was supposed to be searching for something. That is until he heard Douken say something near the Arceus display. Daniel wasn't listening well enough to make out all of the words, but he did hear something that sounded an awful lot like "Grovyle".

"Huh?" He swung his head around, looking about for any pokemon that did not seem to belong but could find nothing but displays and the pokemon belonging to his companions in the room.

[Xal]

Malcolm started walking round the room, trying to retain a mental image of everything he saw. He'd always been fascinated by legendaries but had never expected to find a massive display of them in the depths of the castle. Pichu didn't seem to share his fascination, to her the massive animatronic monsters were almost as scary as the real thing. Malcolm smiled down at her, walking over to the Celebi display. Hopefully the small forest pokemon would be a comfort. They listened intently to the speakers as it explained how Celebi could travel through time, and how that was different from Dialga controlling time. Malcolm cast a glance at the giant blue monster and smiled at the thought of anyone ever confusing the two. Celebi was tiny and sweet, it was impossible to imagine it doing any damage. Dialga, on the other hand, was some kind of monstrous armoured creature. Then again he thought, Mew and Mewtwo were similarly different, but they were obviously connected.

Whilst Malcolm and Pichu were looking at Celebi Pidgey had wandered off to find something a bit more interesting. Ahh, the legendary birds. Much better. He fluttered up onto a barrier near the display, which was near to the display for Johto's legendary dogs. A voice came from the speaker giving a brief account of each one. There was Articuno, the large and powerful ice bird. Then there was Moltres, who filled the sky with fire. Last, but certainly not least, was Zapdos, the electric bird who'd probably look like a bolt of lightning from afar. Zapdos was Pidgey's favourite, but the others were great too. Then Pidgey noticed another pokemon, and the speaker spoke of their master - Lugia. Pidgey wasn't even slightly happy with this thing having power of the majestic birds, and decided that its command over them must be greatly exaggerated. It may have been a flying type, but it looked more like a dinosaur with giant hands than a bird. Well, it did seem a bit like a bird, he thought.

[Master Houndoom]

Trainer Jaima, it seems that two of our party are startled by the presence of a grovyle.

Jaima's brows raised, but, used to such communications, he didn't turn away from the display. Do you sense a grovyle? he asked, bringing a mental giggle from the kirlia.

Trainer Jaima, despite the way we vocalize, most pokemon don't go around thinking about what species they are. Except for slowbro. They have to keep reminding themselves.

Jaima nearly laughed out loud, then turned to another display, this one showing Ho-oh and Lugia together, spinning in opposition. To some, it would look like they were battling, but to Jaima, it looked like yin and yang; two opposites, forever in conflict, forever in balance.

Mercury paused, regaining her composure, though there was still a hint of amusement in her mental tone. I can confirm that there was a pokemon here, and he was startled to have been seen, and he is very fast, so I can't track him anymore.

Let the others know. We should try to find him and see if he has a tag. Jaima took one last look at the legendary beasts, sighing. He'd have to come back later. Maybe he and Meiko could explore more carefully, after dinner.

Er... Trainer Jaima, I think I'd better not.

Jaima looked at her with a quizzical expression, and saw that Mercury was blushing. It seems that I... made at least two of them nervous when I mind spoke to everyone before. I haven't tried to find out why, but I think they're not used to communicating with me... I think I should save it for emergencies.

Jaima stepped to the kirlia and put a hand on the top of her crest, giving it a rub as he nodded. "Hey, guys," he said, catching everyone's attention. "Mercury tells me she's sensed the presence of another pokemon. We should try to find it and see if it has a tag. I think there's another door this way, or we can go out into the hall. What do you think?"

[Douken Sota]

"There was," Douken said, pointing to the Arceus Statue. "He was sleeping on the back of Arceus, I believe, but when I triggered the lights and speakers around it, it must have started him and ran off. He was definitely fast. Looked like a Grovyle," he told them.

He then knelt down in front of the Kirlia and said, "Thanks for helping me confirm there was someone there. i wasn't sure if I was just seeing things." Douken was partially used to Lucario and powerful Psychic Pokemon talking through thought. There were times where at his family day care he helped take care of some, but his first reaction was just the same as the two reacted. Sure, he feels a little odd about it, but not really startled by it.

[Xal]

Malcolm carried on walking around the hall, and a Mew figure caught his eye. He walked over to it, and found himself standing by Pidgey.

"You're looking at the legendary birds then Pidgey?" He asked, with Pidgey cooing in response.

"You never know, someday you might meet them. Maybe once you've evolved a couple of times you can take me with you." He smiled.

Just then the others started talking and Malcolm heard them mention a grovyle, possibly with a tag.

"Hmm? A grovyle? I didn't see it." Malcolm said as he and Pichu walked back towards the group.

Pidgey turned his head towards the growing group of trainers and pokemon, and decided he'd best go and join them. He glanced back towards the birds and big handed thing before flying back to Malcolm and nestling onto his shoulder.

"Did anyone see where it got to?" He asked. "If we can find it it might even lead us to the last tag. We found the caterpie and that lead us here to the grovyle and its tag, assuming that it has one. I don't see why it would be here unless it was for the event, though... Maybe when we find a tag the pokemon heads towards the next tag?"