[X] My Assistant

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

"Pass," Abraham said in response to both Ramirez's snack and to his request that he spin a tale. As far as he could tell, both Ramirez and Raine were his enemies, however cute the latter may have been, and he needed to maintain some level of distance. Instead, he sat back down against the wall.

As far as Ramirez's supposition that he was a gambler, he wanted so hard to chalk that up to luck. This kind of knowledge could not be obtained simply by mannerisms or speech. That either meant the kid was very lucky, which was possible given his apparent luck with the guard who searched him and decided it would be okay to leave him a charmeleon, or it meant he knew someone on the inside: Someone who could purposely leave him a powerful pokemon, a useful tool and some convenient information about his cellmate and guard.

The problem here was that if Ramirez was telling the truth, this "man" on the inside was probably a member of the rebellion, an organization with which Abrahm did not want to become involved. He began to wonder to himself if, if it came down to it, he would accept their help in order to escape his cell. This seemed to be the direction things were going, at least. Ramirez seemed far too confident that he was going to be A-Okay which, paired with his "luck" streak, meant someone was planning on busting this kid out. Would they offer to help Abraham too? Would he accept it?

It was clear that, of the two other people in the room, Raine was the closest to his friend. Ramirez should have been, but the kid was plotting something and not letting Abraham in on it. It was always smart to assume you're on the bad end of any sort of plot, and so he was going to go ahead and do that. If Ramirez was planning some sort of prison break, he wasn't doing it with Abraham's help, and that meant he was more in the way than anything else. Raine, at least, seemed relatively trustworthy. Maybe she wasn't on his side, and maybe she kept a few truths from him, but at least she was smart and wanted to keep things peaceful. In that regard, their ideals were the same. In any case, Abraham didn't trust Ramirez at all.

"We should all just chill until something interesting happens," he said. "Like our lovely guard suggested." Hopefully nothing interesting would happen.

[Protoman]

Ramirez is in his early twenties. Good thing no one is calling him a kid out loud. :P

Ramirez simply shrugged, walking over to Abraham picking up the candy bar, extending his arm.

"You sure," Ramirez asked kindly, "it's filled with nougat and chocolatey goodness." He had the white part of the candy wrapper showing to Abraham and only Abraham. On it read the following:

"In fifteen minutes, we're busting out."

Ramirez maintained his sincere smile, hiding the mastermind he truly was inside. Knowing that Abraham didn't trust him, he was entirely okay with this. The only mission he had was escaping. He didn't come here to make new friends, nor to make new enemies. All he wanted was out. Even if it meant partnering up with someone who was less than cooperative with his methods.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Abraham read Ramirez's note and looked up at his cellmate. He sighed, and then looked back over at his guard, Raine. He wasn't leaving without Gaia, his swinub. In Noverus, at least, she was all he had. She was one of the only two women he ever trusted in his life, the other being his mother, and he was not about to betray that trust by bailing the second he got the opportunity.

He figured, though, that he had a better chance of seeing her again if he was free and got a chance to look around. Of course, that was assuming Ramirez actually had some sort of way to get out. Even if there was another member of the rebellion planning on busting them out, whoever it was still had to get past Omicron and Lucien, both of whom clearly had the resourcefulness and intelligence of their trainer.

Assuming all that, however, Abraham figured his best bet was, indeed, to get the hell out before some brutal low ranked officer decided to have his way with him, or whatever happened to be their likely ill conceived plan. This whole operation seemed really sketchy in the first place.

At last, he nodded to Ramirez, signifying his compliance with whatever he was scheming. He figured it was more along the lines of brute force than a well orchestrated jail break, given Ramirez's lack of grace, which wasn't exactly what Abraham would have preferred, but if it works, it works.

[Protoman]

With a kind of aggravated look, Ramirez finally pulled out a hairpin from his teeth, having obtained it through the candy bars he had received. He looked at Raine, hoping she wouldn't direct any questions or more statements to him. He simply drew on the floor, drawing up a map of the building they were being held in. He then drew a circle over a certain room and made an arrow pointing to it.

"Here's where you're gonna have to go," Ramirez hissed, almost to the point where he wasn't heard, "your Pokemon are in there so we'll stop there first. They feed us in about fifteen minutes, so we'll leave then."

[Tymid]

Okay, just so it's very clear how I made this post possible, and to prove that I'm not god-modding or mind-reading, if it's not clear in the post itself, I'll give you a few of the reasons why it was legitimately possible.

Raine, as we know, is very smart. Her suspicion got piqued with the whole showing of the candy-bar in Abraham's face, considering that for someone to read that small of font, it would have to be close to his face. Being the silent monitor that she was, and the fact that Ramirez made no attempt to hide the map from Raine, she was able to see that there was a map being drawn, though of what, she was unable to see until she got up.

Since the context of Protoman's post read something like: "to where it almost couldn't be heard", I chose a couple of the vaguest words, that when pronounced, are naturally louder than the others, namely, those with vowel sounds (such as ee) and harsh consonants. You'll find that even whispered, the 'ee' and harsh 'P' of the word poke'mon stick out. (I researched that m'self.) Now, I described how the words she heard were deciphered in her mind, which led to her calling Thomas inside. Recalling the suspicion she had about the candy bars, she made him go inside and pick up the trash, as well as giving him a slight incentive with candy. Being the curious ferret she is, she examined the wrappers, to find the note.

I hope this makes things a little more clear, if it wasn't already. I just didn't want you guys to think that I was unjustifiably PPing or GMing.

Raine observed the entire scenario of events like a hawk. Something like a gutteral snarl emitted from her mouth, and her lip curled back aggressively. Ramirez had done it. He had gotten her mad. As she watched him draw something on the dust on the ground, and faintly heard the words "Poke'mon...feed...minutes..." and finally "...Leave". She rose slowly out of her chair, and seeing that Ramirez was deep in his diagram, slowly calmed her aggression and turned it into a cool smile. Out of her periphery, she saw the crude diagram, and her heart sank. They were planning to escape. It was painfully obvious, considering that Raine was an expert at reading non-verbal communication, due to years of studying psycological books, which was only part of her lengthy resume'. Although she couldn't tell exactly the game plan they were devising, she used the distraction of pulling out a long strand of black hair and stroking it, while she attempted to decipher exactly what was going on.

Judging by the way Ramirez had drawn the circle around an area when he had said "Poke'mon", it either meant that he knew where the poke'mon were being kept, or where another group of poke'mon were located...possibly in the aid of his assisted break out? In either case, Raine's lips curled in a smirk; the room that Ramirez had circled was indeed where his own poke'mon were, but not the other's. The other man's poke'mon were locked safely in the desk behind her. However, if it was the latter, and Raine had deciphered the map right, (which she assumed she had, the building wasn't too complex) and there were some poke'mon preparing to breach the building, she would need to warn Thomas, something she was planning on doing already.

The next word, 'feed', was something that was a little easier to decipher, due to the following word, 'minutes'. Since Ramirez had just eaten, he knew that they weren't talking in excitement about their next meal. However, according to her schedule, it was time to feed them within 15 or so minutes. Thus, her main conclusion was that something was going to happen within 15 minutes, which caused her a bit of distress. She didn't have much time.

The last word she heard, 'leave', was pretty self-explanatory. In 15 minutes, they were going to attempt to break out. Raine couldn't help but look at Abraham out of the corner of her eye, a flicker of sadness residing in her crystal orbs. She should have known he was all talk to begin with; he was nothing but a smooth-talking criminal, who just wanted her to believe that he was somewhat honorable. Raine quickly decided that she would not fall for any more tricks, and turned her gaze away from the man.

In conclusion, Raine had deciphered that in 15 minutes, something involving poke'mon was about to happen that somehow revolved around their feeding time. A masterful case of deduction on her part, but being the person she was, she was apt to believe that she was fallible, and that she could be completely wrong.

The chances were unlikely, though.

Raine slowly moved to the door, and in a syrupy sweet tone, called "Thomas! Thomas, dear! I need your assistance."

The man, who was about as graceful as a giraffe with elephantitis, came thudding down the hall, wheezing and puffing. "Yes? What is it?" he said between gasps, looking over to the two men in the cell, and then back to her. Raine, putting her best acting skills at work, slowly walked towards the man, a cute smirk on her lips. "Thomas, I just wanted you to know that there will be no need to feed our two inmates. As you can see..." she said softly, motioning over to the cell with a graceful wave of her arm, "...they have already gorged themselves on some, no doubt, illicitly gotten candy-bars. I daresay, they'll be full and fit for at least a few more hours, hm?"

Thomas looked into the cell, and seeing Ramirez' empty candy wrapper, the candy bar by the bars of the cell, as well as the one in Ramirez' hand, he got a rather consternated look on his face. "Oy! You had candy and you didn't share with me? What gives?" he hollered, lifting his arms in indignation. "Yeah, I'd say they're nice and full by now." he added, and Raine faintly heard him mumble something of the like of "...Since they didn't share..."

Raine's smirk grew, and she calmly looked over to Ramirez, then back at the large man in front of her. "Oh, Thomas, don't feel down. There's still one inside. I'll let you have it if you go ahead and pick up the trash. You're a big man, and I'm afraid those mean ol' prisoners will hurt me." she said with a whimper, pouting her lower lip and batting her eyelashes. The large man perked instantly, and puffed out his chest, tugging at his uniform proudly. "Well, you are pretty tiny, and I am a big guy." he said aloud, seeming to delight in the fact that she had noticed. He fingered at his keyring, and went over to the cell. "Back, you." he said gruffly, and opened the cell door, leaving no room for escape, and stepping inside. He knelt and picked up the candy by the bars, and then proceeded to pick up Ramirez' trash, and on a last thought, picked up the candy bar which had been laid down by the map, the one that had been partially unwrapped. The map, no doubt, had been erased by this point, and as Thomas exit the cell and locked it, already using his big fingers to unwrap the candy bar, Raine lifted a hand.

"You know, you can just leave that trash with me. I'll take it with me when I go on my break. Recycling, you know." she stated, smiling and batting her eyelashes at the big man once again.

The man, his mouth full of chocolate and nougat, nodded at her odd request, and handed her the wrappings, licking his fingers of any residual chocolate. As he was exiting the room, Raine was examining the wrappings, and as her eyes fell upon one, the smirk she bore turned into a wide grin. "Hey, Thomas." she said quietly, the big man turning around, his cheeks puffy with the entirety of the candy bar. "Have you ever heard of those candies with the fortunes inside the wrapper? I think this is one of them."

Thomas, his eyes bright like a small child, came plodding over. His eyes squinted at the wrapper, and he read aloud, very slowly, "We're...busting...out...in...15...my-noots. What the hell is a my-noot?"

Raine rolled her eyes, all of the fake affection fleeting from her face, showing a face that looked more like she was about to throw up than anything else. "It's minutes, you loon...minutes! They're planning on making an escape!" she said patiently, a harsh edge to their voice.

Even after the clarity of her statement, it took a while for the words to sink in. However, when they did, his face went pale. "E-escape? But how?!" he spluttered, sending a bit of chocolate onto Raine's face. Patiently wiping it off, Raine shrugged. "Dunno. But I'd advise you call in a few more recruits and grunts and station a guard around this location. I'll die before I let my poke'mon get hurt." she stated calmly, looking once again to the other man whose name she did not know, allowing that phrase to sink in. They had more in common than he had thought...or she thought he had thought.

Thomas ran out of the room, leaving Raine alone with the two men, as well as Lucien and Omicron, who both seemed on edge due to their master's demeanor. "You really think I'm stupid, don't you." she murmured quietly, mainly looking at the other man, and not Ramirez. She was kicking herself internally. To think, she had been stupid enough to think that...well, it didn't matter now.

Shit was about to hit the fan.

This post has been edited by Tymid: Dec 30 2010, 07:54 PM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Abraham sat back, relatively calm during Raine's and Thomas' intervention of Ramirez's plan. He was hardly invested anyway, and wasn't prepared to actually do much to break free. He was more just going along with his cell mate's plan. When the whole thing was quickly foiled, it didn't really bother him too much. Truth be told, he didn't expect to bust out in the first place.

She looked at him once Thomas left, with the most penetrating disappointment he'd seen since his mother. He didn't feel guilty, though. He thought it was cute that she wanted him to, but he didn't care about her and she didn't care about him. As long as they were on opposite sides of bars, they were enemies, and she was foolish to think otherwise. Things seemed hopeless, and she spoke to him. "You really think I'm stupid, don't you."

"No," he said, still seated against the wall. "Truth be told, the whole thing was this guy's plan. Trust me, if it was my plan, you'd probably be walking us out of here yourself. My plan, by the way, wouldn't involve anything bad happening to Lucien and Omicron." But he didn't have a plan. Well, he did at first, but she seemed completely immune to his seduction during their conversation. Beyond that, he had made himself fairly content just sitting in the cell until somebody decided to move him. "I still haven't gotten to eat, by the way, seeing as how Big Poppa ate my candy bar. I'm willing to wait until the big boys get here, though."

[Protoman]

"I'm guessing I'm getting moved to solitary," Ramirez joked, chuckling to himself. In all honesty, this was exactly what he was hoping for. If he was moved into solitary, then his plan can go on without a hitch. This, however, was a slim to none chance of happening anytime soon. He got up, stretching and cracking his neck, finally sitting down on his bed. Within a few moments, Ramirez had inspected his bed thoroughly before reaching underneath it. He apparently had a whole stash of candy bars underneath his bed. He kept reaching and feeling around for them, before not being able to find them. He crawled underneath the bed, soon continuing his search for his secret stash of candy.

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

The following was a collaborative post done by rt117 and myself.

After everyone's Pokemon were healed, the trio left from the Pokemon center, walking through the suburb district. Richie simply looked at Violet, hoping things were better now than they were before. Katt, also simply observing, was hoping for the same thing. Violet remained quiet for the most part during the trip. While all had been forgiven from the previous combat practice, it had brought back those memories. It was bad enough to always think of them during rest, but the waking hours she needed her concentration. Richie breathed deeply, already knowing things were tense. There was a local shop where they were headed, so Richie looked at the ladies, smiling.

"How about a drink," Richie asked, trying his hardest to break the ice. As Richie's voice cut through the silence, Violet's head rose to look at him. Trying to push all her negativity to the pit of her stomach, she nodded. "That sounds like a good idea.". A small cheer from Sparx made her smile brighter. "I think he agrees." With Richie smiling wider now, he knew that things were going to be okay. He walked inside the store, coming back outside swiftly with four drinks in his hand. The smallest one he gave to Sparx, to make him feel better. Sparx gave a slight nod in thanks, resting against Violet's head as he held the drink with both paws.

"Thanks." Violet smiled, taking a small sip while trying to be mindful of the Pokemon on her shoulder. Richie removed the top from his bottle, taking a large gulp from it. Katt took a sip, trying not to guzzle the liquid down like some sort of glutton. Taking another drink, she soon screwed the cap back on, deciding to save some for later. Her eyes glanced to the side to monitor Sparx, noticing that he was almost done his. "Don't drink too much, you dont wan't to get sick." she warned, though still wore a smile. Richie, after taking one more gulp, also put his drink away. He then looked at his watch. According to his time, they had another two hours before they could go to the briefing.

"Damn," Richie said, rather aggravated at how time seemed to be slowing down instead of speeding up. Glancing over his shoulder to check the time, Violet soon realized why he was upset.

"Well... We just have to find something fun to do." she suggested. With a raising of his eyebrow, Richie simply looked at Violet.

"Like," he asked, rather intrigued as to what they could possibly do to entertain themselves. In response, Violet simply shrugged.


"I don't know," she began, pondering this as well, "but apparently if you're having fun, time feels like its going by quicker. Or you can sleep."

"Can't sleep," Richie explained, "with the lack of sleep I've had, the minute I go to sleep, I'm gonna miss out on the briefing." Richie ruffled his hair in aggravation, which made him even more aggravated, "Arrrgh! What does a guy gotta do around here to relieve some boredom?" Violet simply smiled.

"Well I dont need sleep," she said calmly, "and I know just who would make an excellent alarm clock." she smiled, glancing over to Sparx, who laid back lazily, having drank the entire container.

"I think all I need is..." Richie began before having a wave of euphoria rush over him. "time to calm down." He mellowed out immediately, smiling and not showing any signs of caring about the boring day. Violet cocked her head at his bizzare behavior.

"Are you alright there?" she questioned, wondering if she was just having some strange dream again. Richie was perfectly fine, since Katt began to tug on his ears, which happen to be a rather...sensitive area for him. Violet struggled to hold a laugh in, Sparx, on the other hand, burst out into laughter. In the process though he shocked Violet, who immediately jumped. Katt, stifling back a laugh, simply looked at Sparx as he zapped his owner. Blinking a few times as she was released from the shock, Violet glanced at her Pokemon, which stopped laughing. As his ears fell, Violet smiled lightly. "Dont worry about it," she cooed to the Pichu.

This post has been edited by Protoman: Jan 1 2011, 10:04 AM

[Tymid]

Raine responded to neither response, merely watched through the bars with a tired, contemplative expression. The minutes felt like they were passing by slower than cold molasses through a strainer; all she wanted was for the reinforcements to get here, to aid her in containing two, desperate and deliberate men from doing something stupid. Even now, for the life of her, she couldn't understand why such a seemingly articulate prison cell had dirt floors, but that was something she had been anticipating from the time she first laid eyes on the cell: a dig-out. She would spare no expense at keeping these two in their cell, even if it meant putting them completely out of capacity, if only for a while.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw Ramirez start digging under his bed. "Not again..." she thought to herself, and as she saw his two feet wriggling out from underneath the cot, she didn't even bother to stand. "Omicron." she called, and the happy looking Mareep came trotting over in his typical fashion. "Do me a favor, and prepare to paralyze this guy. This is getting to be ridiculous." she said in a low tone, pointing over to the wiggling feet. Omicron followed her finger with his gaze, and it's woolen coat practically crackled with an affirmative response. Omicron had the Static ability, which meant that any creature that it came into contact with had the chance to be paralyzed, including Raine. However, after some trial and error testing, Raine found that the amount of electricity that was crackling about in the lamb's wool had some connection to his mood or excitement level. Therefore, Raine typically didn't pet the Mareep unless it was extremely calm. Fortunately, Raine had read that as evolution occured, the amount of paralyzing static was controlled better by the higher evolution, thereby being less apt to paralyze it's own trainer.

"Ramirez, for the love of God, will you quit acting like a moron and wait until it's time for you to get moved?" she asked in a plaintive tone; instead of becoming more fearful, Raine was becoming increasingly annoyed. "Since it's in protocol to warn you before I do so, if you do not remove yourself from under that bed in 1.25 seconds and plant yourself into a corner, I'm going to send Omicron, my Mareep here, inside that cell to paralyze you."

She then directed her gaze over to the other man, who was calmly resting where he had been last. "Which means, if I've got to do that, you might want to move. No need for you to get the shock of your life." she said shortly. She didn't even know why she was warning him, he was a scoundrel, to put it lightly. However, her sense of duty was foremost, and her grudge would be set aside, until the chance occurred that they ever got into an unprofessional scenario, that is.

[Protoman]

"What the," Ramirez stated, lifting his head up too quickly, knocking himself senseless. He fell through the hole he dug since he had been held there, and landed on his back, all according to plan. In a mole like fashion, he started moving through the hole, trying to find the nearest way out. Backwards would be a good start, he thought to himself, heading in the opposite direction he was facing. After about five minutes of dirt digging, Ramirez started to go upward. He kept digging and digging until he finally saw it; light. He clambered out of the hole, only to be met by a Magma guard.

"What are you doing," The guard asked him.

"Sightseeing," Ramirez answered, just as cocky as usual. With a fist smacking him in his temple, Ramirez was rendered unconscious, which was the only time he was quiet. A rather large man walked over to them both, picking up Ramirez and throwing him onto his shoulder.

"He has to just make this easier for himself and wait," the smaller guard stated, grabbing his hand in pain. "Him trying to escape was convincing, but it's still uncalled for."

"True," the larger guard responded, "but he wants no suspicions as to where his loyalty lies. He wants everyone to believe he's an enemy so he can prove them wrong." The smaller guard scoffed, almost not believing the larger man, but knowing it was true, he simply nodded. Escorting both Ramirez and the smaller guard, the larger guard made it to the prison cell holding Abraham. He looked at Raine, rather upset, dropping Ramirez onto the floor.

"This belongs to you, right," the smaller guard asked, pulling out a pad and a pencil, scribbling something on the pad.

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

Finally, it was briefing time. Richie, Katt, and Violet, standing in a row, prepared themselves to hear of this dangerous mission that awaited them within the hour.

This post has been edited by Protoman: Jan 1 2011, 10:03 AM

[Tymid]

Raine watched Ramirez' feet disappear under the bed, but instead of getting upset, she merely watched his feet disappear, and turned her attention towards watching the door. As the Magma guards brought the unconscious Ramirez back inside, Raine smiled towards the two. "Good work, guys. I'm glad you got here in time." she stated coolly. As she looked at the limp Ramirez on the ground, she stopped the larger man before he closed the door. "One moment, please." she said, escorting both Lucien and Omicron into the cell.

"Lucien, make that hole hot, and sniff for any other holes. Omicron, paralyze that bastard while he's unconscious." she directed, getting a confirming "'Dour!" and "Ma-REEP!". As Lucien began to scout, Omicron became focused. By the way his wool was crackling, he had been preparing his Static ability, ever since Raine had instructed him to do so. As though seeking out the perfect place to strike, Omicron's nose neared different areas, before a small flash caught her eye. A series of sparkling cracks met her ears, and it seemed that Omicron had efficiently paralyzed the man, though she would have no way to tell until he woke up.

Lucien had finished his scouting, and was now puffing flames through the hole. Flames licked the outside wall where Ramirez had emerged, and the smoke blew away harmlessly outside, not flowing back inside the cell. The Houndour continued puffing, until Raine whistled over to him. Raine peered inside; the heat inside was shimmering, and rocks and spare roots were smoldering and glowing with the heat, as well as what looked like a large pile of candy bars. "Fill it up, please." she asked her two poke'mon, and they both began the tedious task of filling up the hole and packing it, Lucien making sure every level was secure as possible by blasting it with a burst of flame.

Raine unlocked the door from the inside, reaching through the bars, noticing that the smaller guard was still writing on his little pad. Her brow furrowed. "Say, that isn't anything against me, is it? You can ask Thomas, I've been working my...butt off to keep this guy in line." she said warily, putting her shoulders back defensively. The smaller guard looked up at her and smiled, shaking his head. "Nah, it's just one more thing to add to his report. I'm surprised you kept him quiet this long; the last guard was only able to keep him from trying something when he was asleep." he stated calmly, offering a reassuring smile to Raine, who still had a look of doubt upon her features.

"Here, see?" he said, showing her the pad and what he had written. It coincided with what he had said, and she smiled sheepishly, her actual shyness coming to light again. These two guards actually seemed to have a modicum of intelligence, and that made her lips seal shut like they were born that way. "Don't worry, hon. You're doing fine. Just keep up what you're doing, and we'll keep up like we're doing, alright?" he said with a reassuring smile, patting her on the shoulder.

Raine nodded, and looked inside the door of the cell to see Omicron and Lucien staring up at her expectantly. Opening the door slightly, she let them out so they could be by her side once again, and she smiled as Omicron immediately began grooming the dirt out of his wool, Lucien looking completely fine with being covered with mud and dirt. She locked the cell door once again, turning her head to the limp Ramirez, shaking her head sadly. Something was up with this fellow; all she could fathom was that he was really as stupid as she had first decided, or he was hiding something. At this point, she could safely figure that it was a little bit of both.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Abraham went with his better judgment as he watched Ramirez crawling under his suspiciously deep bed. It almost seemed pathetic how hard this guy was trying, but Abraham was done with all these escape attempts. He was willing to accept whatever beating was coming his way and just hope it didn't kill him.

This kid, though, Ramirez, was something else. When Raine, as expected, yelled at him to get out from under his bed, he disappeared altogether. "I didn't do it," Abraham put his hands in the air, a look of boredom on his face. He watched as Raine's face exhibited frustration rather than anger or confusion. She turned her head to the door and, as she expected, some men walked in with Ramirez's body. Abraham just rolled his eyes. He was a little relieved, in fact, when Raine decided to paralyze the guy with Omicron. Even though that mareep shocked him a little bit earlier, he really liked its spunk.

The two guards seemed a little more capable than Thomas, and that left Abraham wondering if these were the fabled reinforcements. When they left, however, he began to wonder if reinforcements were even coming at all. "You think we're worth it?" he decided to ask Raine now that his cell mate was physically paralyzed and silenced. "They're gonna send reinforcements to help you guard a cell?" He looked to his left, over at Ramirez's body and shook his head. "We're a loser and a dumbass," talking about himself and Ramirez respectively, "Probably a reason they only assigned one guard on us at a time."

"Look, for whatever it's worth," he began, not moving from his seated position against the wall, "I'm sorry." He knew she wouldn't believe him, but maybe it would eventually come to mean something.

[Protoman]

The following was a collaborative post between rt117 and myself.

As the Expert stood in front of the trio, Richie, rather sheepishly, raised his hand.

"Yes," the Expert said calmly, hoping Richie had something important to say.

"Well sir," Richie stuttered as he looked at the brawny man before him, "what are we supposed to call you? I mean surely it matters."

"Don't call me Shirley," he responded. "The name's Captian Wilson." Violet stayed fairly quiet as she awaited for the important information they were to recieve. Unfortunately Richie's pointless question was holding them up. She said nothing about the matter however, deciding that she didn't need to worsen his mood. Katt, however, was not so lenient.

"Richie, you bonehead," Katt blurted, "what was the point of that question?!" Wilson simply put his hand up, signalling Katt to stop. He then looked back towards the group, reading over the mission briefing.

"This mission is a real doozie," he said with a calm voice, "and it's gonna be tricky getting in there undetected." He looked at all three of them, "the main problem will be getting to Ramirez. He's going to be heavily guarded and most likely, he'll be incapacitated."

"How well known is the area?" Violet questioned, wondering if they would be given any sort of useful information in terms of schematics. Of course it wouldn't help to walk blindly into enemy territory, and so a strategy was ideal. Without a second to waste, Wilson pulled out the blueprints and layout of the building. He showed them to Violet, letting her get a glimpse of the map. Violet spread them out on a table to allow the others to get a look at them as well. After all it did no good if she was the only one who knew where to go. "So what do you guys think would be a good entrance way?" Katt simply shrugged, while Richie pointed out the entrance to the east of the holding cells.

"Here," Richie stated, already fully understanding the situation. "This should be the perfect spot." With a nod, she then thought about other conditions with their entrance.

"We also need to consider the threat of security. If we could somehow get in without alarming them then it would be much easier. However if we get caught, it wont be easy to get out..."

"If we could get our hands on some of their outfits," Richie stated, knowing this was a slim chance, "we might be able to get slip in unnoticed. And avoid any conflicts."

"That would probably be the best way in," Violet chirped. "If we can find patrols farther from the facility, we could jump them and knock them out, taking their uniforms." Violet looked at the large map, feeling Sparx begin to move as he jumped from her shoulder and onto the table, glancing at the map in some awe.

"Yeah," Richie said, simply gazing at the map. He already knew that they didn't have a lot of time, but they had the right amount to save Ramirez.

"Well we should get going soon." Violet replied, rolling up the map. She knew that Richie was anxious, especially with his earlier outbursts. She hoped that there would be no snags this time, as she did not want to return with yet another scar.

"We're waiting on Ramirez's signal," Wilson said, "it should be coming in any minute." With a nod, Violet picked Sparx back up, and sat herself down on a chair, waiting patiently. Richie simply stood up, placing his hands in his pockets. Katt grabbed a seat and crossed her legs.

"So what exaclty is the signal?" Violet question, wondering if it was a phone call or something. Of course the idea of him still having his phone seemed rather bizarre.

"He has a morse code attatchment within his watch," Wilson said, hoping Ramirez still had it.

"I see." Violet replied quietly, wondering whether or not Magma would have taken everything from him, including the watch. Richie simply looked at Violet, hoping everything would be okay. Violet glanced over to Richie as she noticed he was watching her. "Is everything alright?"

"Huh," Richie said, almost unconsciously, "oh yeah, it's cool."

"Alright..." Violet replied with an almost solemn nod, before closing her eyes and awaiting some sign. Sparx glanced down to her and frowned, tugging on her sleeve to try and cheer her up.

---------

Meanwhile, Ramirez was completely paralyzed, unable to move much, except for his mouth. With his teeth chattering, he looked as if he was cold.

"C-c-can I b-b-be healed-d-d," Ramirez asked, his muscles jumping extremely. He couldn't stand the pain he was being put through. While his teeth were chattering, he was sending a signal through them to his watch. In the process, sending it to his calvary.

---------

Pretty soon, several beeps could be heard coming from a small black box. Violet jumped awake at the erratic beeping, almost flinging Sparx off of her.

"I'm guessing that's the signal?" she questioned, certain of the answer. With a nod, Wilson threw his coat across his shoulders.

"Load up," he yelled, rushing out the door. Rubbing her head, Violet turned to Richie as she stood up.

"Geeze," she chuckled before running out after him, "and I thought you were the anxious one."

"Rescue time," Richie exclaimed, almost bolting like a streak of lightning towards the vehicle they were taking.

"I take that back," Violet laughed, scrambling into the back seat of the vehicle, "you are the anxious one!" She had to double check to make sure her Pichu was still with her, and not left behind in all the confusion. Katt simply sat in the back next to Violet, smiling nervously.

"You know how to drive this thing," she asked, totally unsure of Wilson's capabilities.

"Of course," Wilson said, slamming hard on the gas. Grabbing onto whatever she could, Violet only barely managed to keep herself from flying out of her seat, one arm wrapped protectively around Sparx for his own safety. However her grip strengthened with the acceleration, the Pokemon struggling a bit in her grasp. With the wind whipping in their hair, Katt simply looked to the side of her. Richie, on the other hand, was more focused on what was in front of them.

"So, Palmer," Wislon began as he kept his eyes on the road, "what made you wanna join in on this mission?"

"Ramirez is my friend," Richie answered confidently, "I wanna make a major difference in this mission. It was my fault he's in this predicament now." As he explained his situation to Wislon, Violet could not help but think: "I hope it will be a positive change." Of course she could see no reason that he would be to blame for Ramirez's current situation, but there were times that things didn't necessarily go as planned. Violet could only wish that this would not be one of those times. Wilson simply chuckled, slamming o the brakes and skidding in admirable fashion about a mile away from their destination, according to their GPS. Richie looked at the GPS, looking back at Wilson.

"Not to call you a liar," Richie began, "but we're a mile away from our destination." Violet quietly peered over Richie's shoulder to get a better look, never before having really paid attention to street names. On a map she would have no idea where they were, though the device seemed to be complaining too, that they were not near their destination.

"Never heard of the element of surprise," Wilson asked, looking at Richie with a smile. "we've gotta be far enough away so we can sneak in."

"So then where are you planning to sneak in from," Violet questioned, a little unsure of his thinking. From the looks of it, they were going to try and sneak in from a mile away. Surely it made sense to be a little closer. Soon after she asked this, four Magmas walked towards their location. Apparently, they were holding a conversation. Violet's first reaction was simply to hide behind her seat, always having remembered to do things the 'sneaky' way. However seeing nobody else do this, she decided that he did know what was going on.

"Hey, Carter," Wilson said, making Richie jump in surprise. He wanted to know just wat the hell was going on here. Violet too was a little baffled by the man's knowledge of the Magma Grunt. Beginning to feel uneasy again, Violet slumped in her seat a bit, still keeping a vice grip hold on Sparx, who was threatening to give her a bit of a shock again.

"Wilson," the middle most Magma said, shaking Wilson's hand. "Long time no see. How's the wife and kids?"

"Pretty good," Wilson said, grinning widely. Richie, who was at first gritting his teeth, seemed to relax more as he noticed how Wilson and this 'Carter' character were just holding a regular conversation. Rubbing the back of her head a bit, Violet decided to ask.

"Um," she started, glancing between the two, "...how exactly do you two know each other?" Wilson looked at his small team, and looked back at Carter.

"Sorry, they don't know the full situation." He looked at Richie, Violet, and Katt. "Gang, this is Liutenant Carter. He's been working under cover for two years." Richie, Katt and Violet were all taken aback.

"Two years," Violet asked, almost shocked by this. When she heard of people working undercover, she always assumed it would be an in and out job. But the fact that he had been able to keep a low profile was astounding. Carter saluted the group, making Richie admire him even more.

"Wow," Richie said, with nothing else being able to form from his mouth. Wilson nodded, acknowledging the skill that it took to be an Infiltration Expert.

"Well, I guess you guys need in," Carter asked, looking at all of them, "don't worry, we've got some extra uniforms for you to wear. Oh, this is my crew of agents." He pointed to the trio, who removed their hoods, winking at the two initiates and the agent.

"Well that solves one problem." Violet smiled as the group learned of the ease of obtaining the uniforms. At least it meant she didn't have to put herself up against danger again.

"Well, that's the good news," Wilson said. He looked at the trio, with a more serious look on his face. "The bad news is that security is tight inside, so everyone leave your Pokemon inside their Poke Balls unless a battle's about to break out, understand?" Richie and Katt nodded. That would be a problem for Violet, especially since it was always a struggle to get Sparx to go in. Glancing down to the Pichu, she frowned.

"Sorry." she told him, before pulling out his Pokeball. At once, he escaped her grasp, racing up her arm and sitting on her head in disobedience.

"Sparx," Richie said, slightly aggravated, "please get in your Poke Ball."

"Pi!" he growled unhappily, crossing his stubby arms as his cheeks sparked. However with that, Violet rose her Pokeball from behind him, and pressed the button. Trying to get away desperately, he was swallowed in the red light, and vanished inside. Richie sighed in relief, glad that a catastrophe was prevented. Wilson looked at Violet and smiled.

"Don't worry," he said soothingly, "after the mission, you can let him back out, okay?"

"Alright." Violet said with a weak smile, "...though I dont think you can promise him not shocking me."

"I'll take the shock for it," Wilson said, reassuringly. "Hopefully, we can get in, grab Ramirez, and leave."

"Yeah," she said, snapping back to reality. "Anyways, where are these uniforms you were talking about?" The four Rebels, who were now changed into their original attire, handed the uniforms to Richie and co. "Thanks." Violet smiled, the whole series of events still feeling a little strange for her. Hopefully the uniform she recieved would fit, as she didnt really feel like being uncomfortable the whole time. The girl walked towards Violet, handing her the uniform.

"This looks about right," she stated, before saluting Violet, "Natalie Williams, alias: Hawk Eye."

"Thanks," Violet grinned, putting her Pokeball away before returning the salue. From the looks of the girl, she had a good feeling that it would fit. Richie and Katt also got the same treatment. Wilson threw the Magma uniform on, looking at the others.

"Suit up," he said, "we're headed to the mission location." Trying to figure out the uniform, she took a look at Wilson to get an idea on how to wear it. Soon enough, she sat back in her seat, her arms behind her head.

"Okay, so this goes like this," Richie said, with Katt also struggling to put hers on. Finally, Richie managed to put on the uniform, walking over to help Katt with hers. He tried helping her, but her thrashing made things more difficult for him. She managed to get her head through the hole, kissing Richie on the lips by accident. Richie, in shock, simply stood there.

"Here, let me help," she started, about to get out of her seat to help Katt. However she paused, half shocked and half amused as she saw the 'accident' between them. Feeling a little awkward, she went back to sitting in her seat. Richie and Katt finally broke the kiss, with the latter of the two blushing heavily. Richie, still astonished with the events happening, simply shook it out of his head, focusing more on his change of character. With the two now separated, Violet made her way over to Katt, pretending that nothing had happened. Instead, she began to help Katt with her uniform, though found the image stuck in her head. Richie finally got his uniform on correctly, looking just like a Magma, which was scary to him. He had to portray the one thing he despised more than anything else.

"Thanks," Katt said, also getting her uniform on correctly. She then noticed that Violet had hers on way before she did. "How did you...never mind."

"No problem," Violet smiled, before standing and moving back to her seat. "I had to model off of someone else." she added in explination. Somehow, wearing the uniform did not bother her as much as she had thought.

"Well, it's an amazing job," Katt said to her, adding a warm smile. Richie punched the palm of his hand, looking at the two ladies.

"Alright you guys," Richie said, his anxiety building to tremendous proportions, "it's mission time." Turning to Riche, Violet laughed.

"Agreed," she replied with a smile, buckling herself in. She didn't want to get thrown around again, especially now that she had finally gotten her uniform on properly. Richie jumped in the car, throwing his hood over his head. Wilson, got in the vehicle as well, taking his ring off and starting the car. Katt jumped in the back seat, landing next to Richie. The other four Rebels waved to their comrades, wishing them the best. The car jumped forward, leaving a trail of dust behind them. Feeling herself get thrown into the back of her seat again, Violet laughed a bit and gripped the back of the seat in front of her, knowing that Riche was more excited than any of them really were. Though his facial expression showed a manner rarely seen by anyone, Richie was extremely anxious, ready to see his friend. With the same parking style from earlier, Wilson stopped in front of the gate, looking at the warehouse ahead of them. As they got out of the car, a Grunt stopped them all before walking in.

"Password," the Grunt said, looking at them all. Wilson looked at him, not concerned at all. With a quick few words, the Grunt nodded, letting them all pass.

"Too close..." Violet though, almost stepping on Richie's heels as she quickly followed the group inside. They got lucky this time, but their odds all depended on Wilson's knowledge of the mission, and Magma itself.

This post has been edited by Protoman: Jan 7 2011, 06:40 PM

[Tymid]

Raine looked at the other man in the cell, namely, the one who was not in convulsions. As he spoke, she merely blinked and nodded, like any patient, polite person would do. As he mentioned the whole 'loser' and 'dumbass' part, she couldn't stifle the smirk upon her lips. She quickly interrupted him to say "By the way you're behaving, you'd have to be extremely talented actors to make me think otherwise."

However, when he said that he was sorry, Raine didn't say anything for a moment. The voice sounded tired, but sincere...and yet, it had sounded much the same when they had been talking during Ramirez' slumber. She paused to ponder this conundrum, darting her eyes away from him for a moment. Finally, they rose back to his gaze, and with a sour look on her face, she muttered "I wish I could believe you." It may have sounded sarcastic to the man, but in truth, she had meant it the way that it had come out. Talking with the nameless man had been the first real conversation she had ever really gotten a response out of, considering that Lucien and Omicron never really had much to say, and when they did, they always said the same thing.

It was at this point that the trembling Ramirez stuttered out something that was hardly intelligible. She managed to make out the word "healed" through his chattering teeth, and no smirk showed on Raven's face as she said "No. I warned you." The sight of anyone in pain greatly disturbed Raine, but it was a measure that had to be taken. Raine was far too small to stop the larger man, so the only choice was to incapacitate him, and there was no way that she was going to put her own life at risk to try and handcuff the fellow to the plumbing. He literally could have thrown her.

Finding herself unable to look at Ramirez anymore, Raine sat back down in her chair, exhaling a large sigh. For a first day, this had been quite the doozy. First, she got oggled by a guard whom she suspected had gotten the majority of his knowledge from a gnat, another guard who was more interested in playing with one-eyed willy than actually doing his job, having her first real conversation with one of the men she was guarding, only to find herself regretting the conversation, 2 foiled escape attempts that were made through candy bars, and now, the said escapee was convulsing on the floor in a manner that Raine could not bear to observe.

Instead, she took out her ID card, fingering over the various bumps and studying different aspects of the card which proved that it was legitimate, some of which couldn't easily be created. Some of which only Magma higher-ups could instill, such as the signature, which held at a certain angle in the light, turned from black, to a metallic blue. Only the Magma executives owned such pens, and their signatures were not easily replicated. It was a very sophistacted system, really.

Putting her ID back into her pocket, she looked into the cell. Not much had changed. Even Lucien and Omicron, while still awake, were laying protectively at her feet. Murmuring soft words of encouragement to them, she looked upwards, towards the crude light that was installed in the ceiling, and listening to the hypnotizing ticking of a nearby clock.

Time could not move fast enough. Raine was ready for this to be over.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Because the others apparently went AWOL, and I'm not ready for all the work I put into this RP to be for nothing, Tymid and I have agreed to take over. We'll be bunnying the crap out of some player characters, and even godmodding to some extent. Still, I think (hope) that it'll turn out okay.

Once the quadruo or Rebels made it safely inside, it didn't take long for Thomas to notice something was a little off. He approached them, a concerned look on his face. "Hey guys," he nodded to them. He wondered, because he didn't call for backup as Raine suggested, if she went behind his back and did so. Just to be sure, though, he thought he'd ask. "What can I do for you?"

Wilson took the lead, naturally, and spoke. "We're here about a man by the name of Ramirez?"

Thomas just sighed when his name was brought up. In his mind, this meant Raine did go around him, which is exactly what you're not supposed to do. See, from what he gathered, even if the kid was planning some sort of epic escape attempt, there wasn't really a plan to be had. He was behind bars. What was he gonna do? There was really no need to call for backup. "So, Raine called you in?"

"Who?" Wilson asked.

"R-Hold on," Thomas shook his head a little confused. "What, exactly, are your orders regarding Ramirez?"

"We're here to relocate him."

Red flag. "Right," Thomas nodded suspiciously. "Under whose orders?"

"That information was classified," Wilson replied slowly, as if he were making up an excuse on the spot.

"Right," Thomas nodded. "No, of course it was. Tell you what, let me get your ID cards and run them in the back right quick, confirm your orders and I'll have Ramirez out to you in a jiff," Thomas winked at Wilson. In all honesty, Thomas was very aware that these four were not Magma. This was too soon after Ramirez' escape attempt and he was aware of no directive to relocate the young man. He was on his way to the back to call in reinforcements, but as he walked, he heard the unfortunately familiar sound of pokemon being summoned. "Red Alert!" he called out, whipping around and pulling out a pokeball of his own. "We're under attack!"

Magma grunts ran over from nearby rooms, but Wilson put his hand on Richie's shoulder. "Richie, you and Violet go find Ramirez. Kat and I'll take care of these guys."

Richie and Violet both nodded to him and then to Kat. "Yes sir!" They shouted simultaneously, running past Thomas and a few other guards, whose pokemon were occupied with with Wilson's and Kat's remarkably strong pokemon. It didn't take them long to get to the jail room where they saw Raine, Omicron, Lucien, Abraham and Ramirez, barely conscious. At the sight of Raine and her pokemon, each summoned one.

Richie summoned Ryu his Riolu and Violet summoned Storm, her Rhyhorn. As what was sure to be a battle commenced, Abraham finally decided to stand up to watch the outcome, as it would surely affect him greatly. "Interesting," he said to himself, though it was loud enough for the others to hear. "Well, I'm rooting for you, Miss Raine."

[Tymid]

Raine had barely heard Thomas' call, before she found herself rising from her seat upon the entrance of two people dressed in Magma gear. Clearly, though, by the way they withdrew their poke'mon and prepared to attack, they were not the friendly sort. An angry look fell on her face, and with a soft stomp of her foot, she murmured "...Oooh, that does it. Lucien, Omicron! Alert!"

Both were already on edge with the recent events, so when she called out the command, they both stood on edge, snarling and sparkling respectively. As she surveyed the situation, she vaguely heard Abraham wish her luck. She wasn't sure if she heard sarcasm in his voice, but at the moment, she didn't care. The two "Magma" had procured a Riolu and a Rhyhorn, two very strong poke'mon, indeed. Though the Rhyhorn didn't seem to be as big as she had read about, and exorted a sort of youthful spunk, she knew not to take the rocky poke'mon for granted. It's sheer size alone could do serious damage to either of her poke'mon. As for the Riolu, Raine was simply surprised to see one of those in real life. They were really rare. However, Raine had to formulate a game plan, and soon.

"Omicron! Growl!" she commanded towards the Rhydon, and as the big beast seemed to succumb to the sheepish...well, sheep, Raine turned her direction towards Lucien, who was eager to go. "Lucien! Smog!" she directed, covering her face as the little Poke'mon belched forth a cloud of poisonous gasses towards the Riolu. The predicted wheezing and coughing was heard, and Raven smirked. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Ryu! Quick Attack the Mareep!" she heard through the cloud, and out of the cloud came a perfectly healthy Riolu, a little shaken, but not stirred. As the Riolu slammed into the little sheep, Raine winced as she heard the panicky bleat. However, the Riolu did not make the same quick retreat as Raine had expected. That's when Raine remembered: Static. The Riolu, shaking and shivering on the floor, was Paralyzed. Raine looked over to Omicron, who was still reeling from the attack, slightly, and she called "You okay?" over to the shaky sheep. A "Reep! Mareep!" was the affirmative response. However, in her focus upon the Mareep, Raine had forgotten one thing.

"Storm! Horn Attack the Houndour!" she heard a female voice call, and through the waning cloud, Raine saw the rocky beast headed straight towards Lucien. "Lucien! Dodge it!" she attempted to call out, but it was too late. The Rhyhorn slammed into the puppy, and he was pummelled into the wall with a terrible yelp. Raine's face blanched. As the Rhyhorn returned to it's owner, Raine scampered over to her friend. "Lucien...? Lucien!!" she called, but the Houndour was severely weakened by the blow. Tears filled her blue eyes, and she looked up at Abraham, as though he was supposed to do something.

...That's when she realized. She had to do something. Or at least try it. It could lose her her position as a Magma...but she couldn't let her Poke'mon get pummelled, -and- let Ramirez get away. "...Abraham." she said quaveringly. "...Please. Please help me."

She rose to her feet, knowing she didn't have much time. She grabbed his poke'balls out of the drawer, and with shaky hands, plucked out the key that also resided in the door. She slid the key inside, to where it was at his feet, and she pushed his Poke'balls through the bars. "...Please." she plead again, before turning back to Omicron and shouting "Omicron! Thundershock that Riolu!" at a feverish pitch, her face flush with the thrill of battle.

They had done far worse than annoying the shy girl. They had pissed her off.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Abraham watched intently as Raine made some odd combative decisions. He, himself, had very little battle experience but he tended to focus on offensive attacks rather than tricky status moves. He shrugged, though, as it seemed to be working out for her. That was, at least, until Storm the Rhyhorn decided to land a pretty strong hit on Lucien. Despite the Growl it took earlier, Lucien was hit hard.

Abraham winced as he saw the poor puppy fly across the room. Probably the last thing he expected, though, was that Raine, in desperation, decided to give him both his pokemon and the key to his release. He accepted the pokeballs and nodded, a confused look on his face as she turned back to the battle where her pokemon would probably get tossed around without his help. What was she doing? She was risking so much by allowing this. More importantly, what would he do? This was the perfect opportunity to escape. Magmas everywhere were preoccupied with some sort of battle, as evidenced by Thomas' loud yell minutes earlier. Raine had even given him the key to get out and his pokemon. He could. He very well could.

He reached down and picked up the key, looking at it for just a few more seconds. Sighing, he put it in his pocket and summoned Gaia, his swinub, outside of the bars. She immediately saw the battling around her and looked back up at her trainer, still behind bars. "I'm okay, girl," he nodded. "I need you to help out that tiny girl behind you." Gaia shuffled around to see Raine battling desperately 2 on 1. "Use Powder Snow on Rhyhorn!"

She nodded a cute little sneezy smile and blew out a tiny little stream of snow. While Storm was charging Lucien, it took the hit, and not very well either. "Raine, get Lucien out of here," Abraham suggested. "He could get really hurt." It was pretty unfortunate that Lucien had to be the one hit hard because its fire attacks sure would come in handy against Riolu. Oh well, though.

It was pretty clear that Omicron would take care of Ryu and Gaia would fight Storm. Well, it was clear to Abraham and Raine. Maybe not so much to Richie and violet, though. As Gaia blew another Powder Snow at Storm, Violet had her charge Omicron for another Horn Attack and Richie had Ryu charge Gaia from across the room with a Bullet Punch. Ryu's attack hit first and it hit hard, but it wasn't enough to finish off the little swinub. Rhyhorn's attack would do a lot of damage to Omicron, but it still took the hit from Gaia's Powder Snow. As the snow engulfed the rocky rhino it tripped all over its own feet, falling to and sliding on the ground. Its charge was cut short by its own lack of consciousness.

Violet cursed and summoned her next pokemon, Cinder the Charmander. "Go Cinder!" It seemed they wanted to focus on getting rid of Gaia first. Ryu was really weak by that point, but he had it in him for another Bullet Punch. That, on top of a fire move from Cinder, would easily finish him off. Well, Abraham was not about to have that.

"Good work, Gaia," he said, summoning her back into her pokeball. He sent out Double A, an Elekid, in her place. Now that Ryu's attacks weren't nearly as lethal, Abraham decided it would be a good idea to focus on Cinder, who was very healthy and not paralyzed like Ryu. "I think it would be a good idea to focus on the charmander," Abraham said. "Double A, Thundershock it!"

[Tymid]

Raine looked down at Lucien. "You gonna' be okay?" she murmured, and to her great surprise, the Houndour shakily rose to his feet. As he was attempting to wag his tail, Raven looked at him curiously. She showed his poke'ball to him, and he barked a defiant "Dour!" and growled at it. Though he was weakened...it was obvious that he wanted to prove himself.

So she would let him.

"Lucien, Ember that Riolu, now!" she cried, and with the very last bit of energy it could muster, the Houndour sent a few blazing balls of flame towards the paralyzed creature. Oddly enough, it was paralyzed, and could not move! The Ember attack hit the twitching Riolu square in the face, and as it screeched in pain and fell to the floor, Lucien did as well. Two simultaneous flashes of light summoned the downed poke'mon back into safety, and as Richie swore violently, Raine gave Lucien's poke'ball a quick kiss, before clipping it back to her belt. Omicron stood at the ready, hopping violently in place. Raine smiled at his enthusiasm.

Richie summoned forth a Growlithe, and now, there were two fire-types on the field of battle. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, considering that Raine didn't doubt the skill of Omicron, and that Elekid, apparently named Double-A, was handling himself quite well. However, Omicron had been hit once, meaning he wasn't at full capacity. Raine could only hope that Abraham's poke'mon were up to the challenge.

When Double-A's attack hit the charmander, Raine smiled. "Good work!" she yelled, to both the poke'mon and the man who's name she didn't know. In fact, that sounded like a good idea. "Omicron, Thundershock the Growlithe!" The attack hit, and the Growlithe got thrown back a bit, but quickly hopped forward again, a little stunned, but still in the game. However, by the look on Richie's face, he was getting desperate.

Raine was not ready for the move that came next.

"Spunky, Flamethrower it!"

As the little Growlithe began to glow, Raine shouted "Omicron, take cover!" The Mareep looked around swiftly, and chose the desk to hide under. Raine dove out of the way as the hot stream of flame engulfed the wooden desk, lighting it aflame. Raine looked at the desk in horror. "No..." she whispered, and all she could think of was how many good memories she had had with the little sheep. However, as the desk began to crumble, the little Mareep sprinted out, it's wool coated with soot, ash, and charred, minimally. "Omicron!" she cried, and the little Mareep bounded into her arms, warm to the touch, shaking, but generally unharmed. As she held the sheep close, she didn't mind the little shocks of energy that the nervous creature gave her, she was simply glad that Omicron was okay. From what Raven could tell, Omicron had hidden, instead of in the little cove where the chair usually sat, inside of the open part behind where the drawers slid in, allowing the flame to miss him completely. The time it took to burn through the wood around the drawer gave the little fellow an added time to escape. This was the only explanation as to why the Mareep wasn't severely burned...or alive at all.

As Raine looked toward the Growlithe, she saw that it was about ready to collapse. The strain on the young poke'mon had been great, but this allowed a very angry Omicron to exact his revenge. Raine released Omicron onto the ground, and still seated against the wall, trying to catch her breath, she cried "Omicron! Finish it with Thundershock!"

So, he did. The sheep was singed and...as any OCD clean-freak would be, he was pissed off beyond all belief. A loud bleat filled the room as a very powerful Thundershock hit the weakened Growlithe. The puppy fell to the ground in a heap, it's paws smouldering from where it had been grounded. Richie swore once again, and called the poke'mon back, fingering at his last poke'ball warily, a look of concern on his face.

Meanwhile, the Charmander seemed to enjoy the heat that resonated from the burning desk, and launched an Ember attack towards Double-A. Raine hoped that the little Elekid was as quick as he was powerful; it was already too damn hot in the room.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Abraham was relieved to see Omicron escape from the burning desk relatively unscathed. In his brief experiences with the electric sheep (who shocked him earlier, I might add), he thought it was a pretty adorable pokemon. In fact, he went ahead and smiled when it finished off Spunky.

Richie's final pokemon was a Totodile, which was particularly unfortunate for him considering he was up against two electric pokemon. While Double A and Cinder were previously battling it out, Abraham saw that it was time they teamed up to finish this Totodile before it did any real damage. From there, they could just focus on Violet's pokemon.

"Raine!" he shouted. "Double Thundershock on the Totodile?"

She nodded and commanded Omicron to Thundershock just as Double A did. Though their target was initially Totodile, their electric charges had some scatter effect. Though their electric shocks were fairly precise, each of them was glowing with a powerful electric charge. As they stood next to each other, these electric charges were feeding each other and strengthening the power of both Thundershocks. The room lit up and became too bright to see clearly. Totodile was pretty immediately out of commission, but the Thundershock continued, almost uncontrollably. Both Double A and Omicron were surging with an incredible amount of power.

The power was so much, in fact, that the lightning independently sought out a new target to absorb the energy. It jumped straight from Totodile to Cinder, who was effectively blinded by the light previously. Once the lightning hit him, he screamed out in pain. Abraham winced at the poor little charmander. It wasn't out immediately, and was able to spew out a few embers at Double A, but its power paled in comparison to what seemed like quadruple power from a Thundershock. It took a notably short amount of time for poor little Cinder to finally fall over.

"Guys!" Abraham yelled to the pokemon, staying a fair distance away from the bars so he didn't get killed. "Guys, that's enough! He's down!" They seemed incapable of controlling this power. They were too weak to handle it. They were going to tire themselves out, or worse, get someone killed. He made a judgment call and called back Double A. In doing so, he cut off the continuous chain of electricity which was feeding into Omicron, causing a shock of reduced power to the little sheep. As the lightning disappeared almost instantaneously, Violet sent out Tikal, her final pokemon, a Dratini.

Abraham feared sending out either of his pokemon against it. For starters, Double A was probably falling apart after that episode and he didn't want to risk it happening again since Omicron was still out. Gaia, on the other hand, had taken a few pretty strong and effective hits. She was not in any position to take any more hits. As he decided which pokemon to send out, the battle continued.

[Tymid]

As Raine watched the ensuing events, her petite, little shy voice uttered a "Shit!", to which a small hand instantly went up to her lips and a red flush to rise to her cheeks. She instantly reprimanded herself, however, because a battle was not the time to be watching one's language. In fact, as Omicron stumbled back from the unexpected and violent Thundershock attack, Raine was still seeing spots from the blinding light. Abraham had recalled Double-A, which left Omicron and a very healthy looking Dratini left on the field. A soft "Oh..." escaped Raine's lips. She didn't want to attack a Dratini. Dratini were beautiful and intelligent. Then again, as logic often did with the intelligent girl, a small voice in her mind told her: "You have to, or Omicron's going to get hurt, and all of this will have been for nothing. You have to do this."

However, Violet was not happy with how things were turning out. The slight moment that Raine had given her was an opportunity for the opposing trainer to send forth a directive. "Tikal! Use Wrap on that Mareep!"

With the cutest little sound you've ever heard, the little Dratini threw itself at Mareep and wrapped itself around the sheep, it's eyes squinting shut as it Wrapped Omicron. However, even though Omicron was wincing a bit with the constriction, it seemed to be more uncomfortable and annoyed than in pain. Just as Raine was about to issue a Thundershock attack, the little Dratini's eyes opened wide, and uttered a soft squeak of pain. As it's muscles began to tremble around Omicron, Raine placed her hand over her mouth.

The Mareep's Static had paralyzed the Dratini, while it was wrapped around it. Raine looked up to Violet apologetically, but Violet was looking incredulously at the situation. Raine turned her gaze to Omicron, who was looking back at his trainer like: "...So...what now? I've got this...thing on me."

Raine then looked to Abraham, and blinked once again. This confounded logic. This was just...weird. The whole damn day had been weird.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

When Abraham saw the awkward sight of Omicron constricted by a paralyzed Dratini, he became even more lost as to what to do. Neither of the two, let's say hugging, pokemon were really able to do anything. Abraham shrugged and sent out Gaia, whose ice attack could put a solid hurtin' on Tikal. The only problem was, and Gaia seemed to noticed this too once she was out, Powder Snow is not a very precise attack. She would be incapable of just hitting Tikal without hurting Omicron, who she was able to recognize as an ally.

Abraham shrugged at Raine. "What, uh," he began, but she cut him off.

"Dratini has Shed Skin!" she remembered out loud. "Wait for it to shed its paralysis and then hit it."

Abraham nodded. It was a sound plan. Once Tikal's paralysis wore off, as Shed Skin allowed it to do, it would be able to move again and pull away from Omicron. They waited a few turns, Richie and Violet awkwardly standing by. Finally, they saw the little dragon shed off its paralyzed skin. It was fresh again. The only problem was, it was still in the middle of Wrap. Thanks to the extra static from Double A, Omicron's ability was almost a certainty. Tikal was, once again, paralyzed. Everyone in the room sighed.

"Screw it," Abraham said. "Omicron will be fine. Do you mind if I just-"

"It's fine," she nodded.

"Gaia, go ahead and Powder Snow. Try to just hit the Dratini."

She tried. She tried so hard, I wanted to give her a little medal for how hard she tried. But I didn't have one. Also, I'm a narrator who doesn't actually exist in the context of the story. It wouldn't make any sense for me to give her a medal. But mostly, it's the "I didn't have one" thing. Anyway, the point is, even though she tried, Omicron still took a little bit of snowy damage. Nothing, however, compared to Tikal, who was also weak to ice. The wind which accompanied the snow was enough to blow the little dratini off Omicron. The wind, also, was enough to freeze the little sheep solid.

Tikal was down and Omicron was basically out too. That left a very weak Lucien and both of Abraham's pokemon, both of whom had taken a fair amount of damage. Abraham went ahead and cleared his throat when there was silence. "Uhh, sorry about that, Raine."