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Post by minun4 on Sept 19, 2019 23:31:08 GMT -8
IC: James Arthur (Lancelot [%70]/Percival [%100]/Amanda Zarth (Magnezone [%86]/Isabella Fontaine (Sylph [%80])
In the moment that Lancelot’s gauntlet struck. The immense gratification from steel meeting flesh flowed through him. This moment didn’t last. Neither Lancelot nor James had foreseen what Sylph could unleash from her truncated arm. In this moment, time felt dilated for the two. James forced himself to recall all the times Lancelot had saved him in that moment.
Lancelot felt his body writhe. Pain from the burst of power that came before him. And pleasure from the change that came from inside his body. Rainbow light briefly blinded him as his body deformed and reformed. When the light dimmed, he was in the soot stained armor he had been in on One Island. But he still felt pain mixed with the pleasure that form gave him. The Scizor took a look at his abdomen. Despite his Psychic resistance and the added protection this armor gave him, there was a nasty dent in his armor now.
James having to focus on Lancelot, meant that Percy was left to fend for himself. He didn’t want to sacrifice the power he had just built in his main flame before James’s appointed time. He span the flames in his legs all around his body, hoping the flames would slow the lightning at least somewhat. Somewhat is a relative term when Fire Spin is measured up against one of the strongest electric type moves. The powerful electromagnetic blast would’ve felled lesser opponents. Percy screeched in pain from the powerful current running through his body. His body began to slow down from the shocks. But through the pain, the flame in the middle of his body built up further, casting an even deeper shadow. One could be forgiven for not noticing the outer ring of the shadow slightly widening.
Amanda’s Magnezone no longer had Analytic as its Ability, but its instinct was still to watch and wait. The auxiliary cores swirled erratically, scanning the enemy for weak points and Locking On for another attack.
“Lancelot, Bullet Punch!” James yelled, snapping Lancelot to action.
Lancelot’s sword grew to the size of a claymore. The added strength and speed of his current form allowing him the flexibility of movement with the reach. His wings buzzed with life, as he rushed at Sylph. He led with his off-hand, smacking Sylph right in her face with his gauntlet. He spun on his foot and stabbed forward with the large sword. Forcing himself to blunt the attack to avoid serious injury was torture, but feeling the tip of the sword make contact with Sylph chest was a minor comfort.
Sylph cried out, stumbling back from the dual attacks. As she was recovering her footing, the Scizor came at her again. A moment of panic surged through her --
And she was surrounded by rainbow energy, the process of transforming acting as a shield to deflect the attack.
This was the moment James had been waiting for.
“Percival, unleash everything!” he called to the ghost.
The Chandelure’s flame exploded. A massive stream of fire radiated out from Percival towards all three pieces of the Magenozone’s body. But underneath the Chandelure, on the ground, the true plan commenced. The shadow cage on the ground morphed, wriggled and grew, junctions forming and splitting to create a web. The web’s direction was not random, three spokes went towards the Magnezone pieces. That was Percy’s own addition. But one faster spoke shot towards the true target of the Shadow Tag web. Moving along the ground when the blinding would hopefully distract her from it.
The rainbow light burst, and Sylph stood there in the voluminous dress, her eyes glowing violet, the spike on her chest split in two. From nearby, Isa cheered, and Sylph smiled.
Yes, quite the success Miss Fontaine. However, we still have a battle to try and win.
“Right!” Isa called. “Retaliate with Moonblast!” Sylph inclined her head in acknowledgement. In terms of type resistances and weaknesses, Moonblast would be equally as powerful against the Steel type as Psychic was. In terms of their experimentation, this would determine whether her new form strengthened her Fairy type attacks.
A ball of pink energy formed in her singular hand and she shifted, throwing it at Lancelot.
Amanda’s own analytical nature kicked in.
Fact: the Chandelure, Percival, was letting forth an enormous attack, the Type of which was a significant weakness to her Magnezone.
Fact: the Chandelure, a Ghost-type, was exerting an unnatural manipulation of its own shadow, the consequences of which would be unknown.
Fact: Sylph had just Mega Evolved with the aid of Agent Fontaine, thus successfully fulfilling the primary purpose of the exercise.
Fact: The secondary purpose of the exercise, testing Type interactions, had only been demonstrated thus far by Sylph and Lancelot.
Fact: given the specific set of Type combinations present, outright victory would be unlikely. The experimental objectives, therefore, presented the higher priority.
Fact: Sylph was taking advantage of her Mega Evolved state with an attack. The logical course of action would be for Executive Arthur to respond to this particular threat.
Amanda and her Magnezone braced themselves, bringing their auxiliary cores in to reunite with the main body to ensure maximum concentration. They were prepared to weather the painful attack; they were not prepared for Amanda’s simultaneous experience of said painful attack. The Plasma Knight cried out and staggered sideways, barely able to differentiate arm from core enough for Amanda to break her fall. The Synchronization severed, Amanda’s Magnezone dropped from the sky, but the Steel-type still managed to shoot off its prepared Flash Cannon at Percival. By sheer coincidence, the blinding flash cast the Magnezone’s shadow into the path of the shadow aimed at Sylph, and it felt something dark tug at it, somehow anchoring its movements. With the mental link disrupted, however, the Magnezone had no means by which to communicate this new knowledge to their Trainer.
Lancelot was flapping his wings, looking for which way to dodge when James yelled, “Lancelot, Counter!”
The Scizor turned to look at James, confused what he meant, when he saw the falling Magnezone.
Oh that’s good.
He ran forward, towards the falling Magnezone and in the path of the Moonblast. He stopped on a dime when he was directly beneath the falling Magnezone. He braced for the impact of steel against steel. The weight that came down on him was heavy, but when Lancelot was properly prepared for it, it may as well have been foam. Lancelot grabbed a hold of Magnezone and slammed it in front of him, using him as a shield to block the Moonblast.
Dodging wasn’t exactly in the cards for Percival to begin with, the Lock-On was just overkill in that regard. But Flash Cannon was Steel, and he was Fire-Type. It wasn’t pleasant, but he could take the Flash Cannon thanks to the times Lancelot intercepted attacks for him. The attack broke on him, blinding him for a brief moment. It hurt about as bad as he expected, but he maintained his position. Attacking Magnezone now would only serve to hurt Lancelot. With the Magnezone out of the sky, Percival had an angle on Sylph. He gathered a Shadow Ball and flinged it at her, over both Lancelot and Magnezone. Overheat meant that this subsequent attack wouldn’t be that strong. But they needed to keep the pressure up.
Sylph winced as her own attack hit her partner. That had not gone at all the way she wanted it to. They were likely to lose this battle, but she still wished to make a good showing of it. She saw a Shadow Ball lobbed over Lancelot and the Magnezone, went to teleport, and found herself unable to do so. Thinking quickly, she launched another Moonblast at the offending attack. Too close. She winced as the resulting shockwave ripped past her.
Amanda was still on the ground.
“Hold!” Isa called. “Hold the fight!” She hurried over to Amanda and knelt, putting a hand on the Plasma Knight’s back. “Miss Zarth, are you alright?”
Amanda rose shakily to her knees, the contact helping ground her back in her human body. “I… believe so. That was an… unexpected interaction.” She frowned at the sight of her Magnezone, still technically conscious but effectively already beaten. Still, something in her rebelled against the idea of a silent surrender. “Are we prepared to continue?”
The idea of ‘hold’ was something that James and Lancelot had heard of before, but they were generally not active subscribers to it. That being said, seeing Amanda get hurt in such a way was something that neither of them were particularly happy to see. They did not press the attack, but they held their positions. Percy for his part was preparing his body to move. He needed to remain limber, lest the paralysis catch up with him.
“We are prepared, if Miss Zarth is ready. However, we are prepared to call for help should she need it,” James said.
Amanda nodded. “Discharge!”
Amanda’s Magnezone knew then that their battle was over. It charged up as much strength as it could muster, pouring its energy into the wide-reaching array of electrical energy. The bolts of lightning lanced out again and again and again, uncaring of their targets, until finally the Magnezone was spent, its form reverting to its original appearance. The Steel-type closed its eyes and let exhaustion claim it, awaiting the recall beam from its Trainer.
Lancelot, being right next to Magnezone had to make split second decision. Tank or run? Considering the wide area of attack, running was as risky as staying put. So he decided to sheathe his wings and brace himself. The Swanna song attack was something to be proud of in and of itself. The damage outpaced his healing, but not by enough. When the Magnezone fell into unconsciousness, Lancelot allowed it to fall over.
Being given a second to breathe helped Percy out, but not by much. He had resorted to using Fire Spin as a last ditch defense as he tried to move out of the way. Still arcs of lightning hit him, despite his best efforts. He didn’t faint, not quite. But his only contribution to the rest of this battle would be focusing on keeping Shadow Tag active. His limbs couldn’t move enough to do much otherwise.
James saw this and decided it was time to use the new item they had acquired in Alola. He just needed to see how Sylph would react to the lightning to prepare.
As the Magnezone attacked, Sylph stepped back, the electricity grazing her. She winced in pain and glared at her two opponents. Percival looked like he was flagging, while Lance still looked fairly fresh. Sylph gave a resigned sigh. She wouldn’t win this one, but she could keep it from being a complete wash.
She turned to face the Chandelure and, with a great shout, released another blast of Psychic energy from her left arm stump.
James began to move his arms. He stuck his arms out before swinging his arms in an arc, bringing them over his head. And finally, he made a scooping motion with his right arm. As he brought to mind the similar feelings that had allowed him to evolve Lancelot further, energy flowed from him to the Scizor once more. Lancelot’s aura was blasting at this point. Lancelot would compare how the two powers felt again to a joyous harmony. Web began to form in Lancelot’s off-hand. Percival for his part didn’t try to avoid the Psychic attack, just survive long enough for Shadow Tag to do its job. The attack hit, but a brilliant web came out in that moment ensnaring Sylph. When he was sure that Sylph was fully unable to escape, he pulled at the web, lifting Sylph into the air in an arc.
Lancelot closed his eyes for a moment as Sylph came flying in closer to him. He poured the aura into his sword, the joyous hymn of power turning the sword a bright green in honor of the bug type Z-Move he was using. He indulged in the feeling, holding the sword still as Sylph fell. When Sylph finally fell into range of the blade’s bite, Lancelot moved. He sliced into the web and the Gardevoir underneath, just barely able to dull the blade enough to not severely injure his foe.
Sylph cried out as the attack struck. Even with Lancelot’s mercy in dulling his blade, she felt blood flow from the wound. Not deep, that cut, but long and compounded with her other injuries. She fell to her knees, and the rainbow light burst from her again as she reverted to her normal form.
Nearby, Isa was gasping for breath, clutching at her own chest. The Technician raised a shaky hand. “We concede the fight!”
James for his part, didn’t look too much better. He was gasping for breath, as well. Was it the Z-Move? Percy fell unconscious during the final attack at some point. In general, Lancelot was the only one who looked remotely okay in the entire room. Lancelot’s power dissipated as he looked around the room. James just needed a moment to catch his breath, he had retreated Percival. So Lancelot decided to walk over to his opponent to see if she needed any help.
Sylph looked up at the Scizor and gave a shaky smile. “I do hope… that I… met your expectations,” she managed through pained gasps for air. “If not… I will have to… dedicate myself.” Slowly, she rose to her feet, staggering slightly.
Lancelot just stood there silently watching to see if she would need help standing. It had been a wonderful fight, but he couldn’t help but notice a couple of points he would critique the Gardevoir on. Still, if it hadn’t been for Percival and his type advantages, he wondered whether he would have won.
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flipz
Technician
Posts: 56
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Post by flipz on Sept 19, 2019 23:32:10 GMT -8
IC Isabela Fontaine/James Arthur/Amanda Zarth
Isa carefully stepped out into the arena. “I think we should get everyone healed before we continue any conversations,” the Technician interjected.
“Agreed,” James said. He had seen Amanda’s Magnezone in action before, but he was still surprised by how intense the fight had been.
“I would be more than happy to oversee the process.” Amanda was, admittedly, not in the best shape of the three, but Agent Fontaine had only experienced the phenomenon once, and Executive Arthur appeared to be even worse off than she herself felt. She held out a hand in offer to accept the balls of the Pokémon to be healed.
Isabella nodded and returned Sylph to her ball in a flash of light. “I think Sylph has something to say to you afterwards, as well. Just a feeling.”
James handed Percival’s Ultra Ball to Amanda, but decided to go with her just in case. He was just tired, surely. Amanda had been hurt, it was best to have someone make sure she was alright. Lancelot politely declined. He had to Roost to take care of his own wounds.
Isa turned to make her way to the spectator’s sitting area and frowned as she saw Vixen holding a device. The Braixen had a smug look on her face as the Technician walked over. “Where’d you get that?” Isa hissed.
Vixen gestured with her staff at the bench nearby. Isa scowled. “You can’t just take things, Vixen,” she whispered, glancing nervously at where Amanda and James had gone to the healing machine. “Put it back, right--” she paused as she saw the display that Vixen held towards her. A video file. The thumbnail showed an image of… Xander? It didn’t look quite exactly like him. Maybe Xander after a few nights of not sleeping, or after a few years of experience had worn down the remains of his childish features.
“Is it… relevant to us?” Vixen nodded. Isa cursed quietly and took the device. Quickly, she turned the audio down to just barely over silent and hit the play button.
------------------------------ “Al-- no. I’m sorry. Amanda,” the voice on the recording said. “I apologize for our earlier manner of meeting. In truth, I would prefer to have arranged this meeting in person, but my master requires my assistance on a vital matter which leaves me unable to remain at the Alamo. The technicians here have assured me of the confidentiality of this recording, so despite my discomfort I will trust that this message will reach you and you alone.”
“Firstly, the matter of names. Though you seem to lack recollection, we have met before. At that time, we knew each other by different names; I have long since discarded the identity that was foisted upon me, but yours was stripped away from you. Prior to that, however, I knew you by the name I unintentionally called you: Alana Alderson, my younger sister.”
“This will, no doubt, come as a shock to you. You clearly possess no recollection of me, and have spent far too many of your years without my care and support. I am sorry for that, sister. It was my defiance that led to your disposal, and only mere chance that you somehow survived. In truth, I had believed you dead, and thus I failed to locate and rescue you. There is no action I can take to remedy this grievous negligence, and I can only hope that you can one day come to forgive my abandoning you.”
“Loathe as I am to further discuss our origins, it is vital that you understand them. So long as either of us live, the survivors of Team Flare present a dangerous threat to our continued existence. To… to be more specific, hesitant though I may be to speak these words aloud, we are… products of their engineering. Neither of us were naturally born, but rather we are the altered genetic reproductions of one Alain Alderson, the deceased son of Flare scientist Dr. Ezekiel Alderson. We were specifically engineered as prototypes for a perfected Flare operative, ones who could be specifically engineered for maximum utility for our creators. Unfortunately for them, I rebelled and escaped upon my discovery of the mechanisms they were preparing for our control, though to my eternal shame I was unable to take you with me. Several months later, they discovered my location and contacted me, using you as a hostage in an attempt to compel my return. When I attempted to call their bluff, they instead injected you with some kind of drug that rendered you unconscious, and threw you into the sea. Devastated, I discarded my identity entirely and went deeper into hiding.”
“It was at that time that I realized the dangers of power, and more specifically the control it granted over others. I became wary of such things… perhaps too wary, at times, but nevertheless it was a valuable lesson. Those with power will use it to accomplish whatever they wish, no matter the cost to others. Those with too little will accomplish nothing, while those with too much become unopposable. The latter is unacceptable…”
The man on the recording shook his head. “But I’m afraid that lapses into confidential matters. On that note, I must ask for your own silence on this matter. Not so much for my sake, but rather for your own. As I said, there are some who survived the fall of Team Flare. If they were to become aware of us, they would no doubt attempt to reclaim their ‘property’ by any means possible. It would be to both our interests to avoid such attention.” Adam looked at his Pokétch. “I’m afraid that time runs short. I hope to return from Kalos quickly, but I have little guarantee of such. Please, if you are compelled to move on from your current assignment, leave word with Team Liberty of your next destination. I have lost you once. Please do not force me to experience that again. Farewell, sister.” ----------------------------
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Post by unknownmercury on Sept 19, 2019 23:39:09 GMT -8
IC: Lancelot/Isabella Fontaine/Vixen/James Arthur/Amanda Zarth
Lancelot stood close by. He had a vague curiosity to what it was they were doing. But it wasn’t until the recording mentioned that Amanda and the author of the recording were ‘products’ of engineering. He understood to some degree what that could mean. And he knew James would know much more than he did. But the mention of Kalos also caught his attention. Jamie was in Kalos. Whoever the author of this recording was was in Kalos. And these ‘Team Flare survivors’ were in Kalos.
The Scizor at that point decided that this was his business and stomped over to Isa and Vixen. That video needed to be shown to James.
Isa looked up as Lancelot approached, a troubled expression on her face. “Sir Lancelot?”
Vixen scowled a bit at the Scizor who had beaten Sylph. She crossed her arms, staff twirling in one hand. <”What do you want?”>
The Scizor stuck out his gauntlet at the Xtransciever. <”James needs to hear that.”>
<”What makes you think that? I didn’t hear his name mentioned.”> The Braixen huffed softly. <”You don’t get to be bossy just because you have powers.”>
Lancelot, still slightly on a high from the battle, considered the fact that he could correct that misapprehension. He could, but his actions reflected on James. He would rather avoid creating unnecessary trouble for James if he could avoid it.
<”No,”> Lancelot said. <”The fact that my trainer outranks yours means I can tell him he needs to hear it and he will order you and yours to hand it over. That is why I get to order you.”>
Vixen started to bare her teeth, but Isa stepped between the two Pokémon. “I shouldn’t have looked. I’ll ask Miss Zarth when she gets back, and she can determine whether the Executive should know about it. It’s her property, after all, and she’s not affiliated with Team Liberty directly.”
Lancelot looked into Isa’s eyes. He wasn’t going to be the one to spill any of James’s secrets. So persuading the others was probably out of the question. Now that he had heard what was on that recording, he wasn’t going to forget it. James needed to hear the stuff about Team Flare at the very least.
They didn’t have to wait very long however. Amanda and James were already on their way back. James was making another apology about how certain details of the fight played out. Percival was merrily floating above the pair, flickering in and out of visibility along with his flames. Sylph walked along quietly, a thoughtful look on her face as she looked between Amanda and Magnezone. The Steel-type was floating much lower to the ground than usual, and seemed to be keeping particularly close to its Trainer.
“Miss Zarth,” Sylph said finally, “I think I have an idea how to progress your psionics training.”
“Indeed?”
Lancelot, while facing James, bent forward slightly. He began to wiggle, just a little bit. When his sword came into being, facing behind him, no one could be faulted for being surprised. With one motion, he knocked the Xtransceiver out of Vixen’s and flipped it into the air. Lancelot jumped up, caught it and landed right in front of James. When he landed, he shoved the claw that held the device into James’s chest.
“Lancelot?” James said in surprise. “What is going on? What is this?” he asked taking the device from Lancelot.
Isa winced, reaching a hand out instinctively. “Hold on, that’s--”
Amanda cocked her head. “Is there some irregularity with my Xtransceiver?”
Lancelot was looking directly into James’s eyes and nodded. On a conscious level, James didn’t mean to pry into Amanda’s privacy, but between Lancelot and old habits, he looked down into the screen.
“There is a video,” James said, “that has just finished playing.” He looked over to Isa and Vixen. He might be the type to dig through someone’s personal information, but Lancelot wasn’t generally the type. “Would you two know anything about this?”
Isa sighed. “Xander’s Braixen was being a snoop and I caught her. She showed me the still image, and it looks like Xander. My curiosity won out.” She looked to Amanda. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry into anything private.”
Amanda’s brow furrowed. “The only relevant file would be the message Communications left me from that man I encountered a few days ago. I… do not recall his name, but I believe it was recorded on the file.”
Lancelot was still staring into James’s eyes.
“I believe Lancelot found your message relevant to me,” James said. “It is not prudent to go through a foreign operative’s belongings without authorization,” he added, silently noting the irony of him saying that. “Miss Zarth, may I have permission to view said video file?”
Amanda held out a hand, waiting for the Xtransceiver to be returned. After reclaiming the device, she tapped out a few commands, with a corresponding chime sounding from James’ phone a few seconds later. “It is curious. I experienced apprehension toward this man when I encountered him, and for whatever reason I seem to have found myself distracted by other matters whenever I considered accessing this message.” She paused, considering this statement. “In retrospect, the previous occasion I experienced such apprehension was the encounter I had with your sister prior to the mission on One Island.”
“I recall you mentioning something about that before,” James said. “I can imagine a number of... reactions to her, but apprehension is still not one of them. Exhaustion, maybe, but not apprehension.”
Isa chuckled slightly. “Exhaustion is right,” she muttered.
Lancelot heard that. He didn’t disagree per se, but he felt obligated to toss a small glare in Isa’s general direction.
James ignored whatever it was that Lancelot was acting mad at. He tapped play on the video. Whatever discomfort the man’s early words gave James he was able to hide. That is, up until he said ‘products of their engineering’. Lancelot had made the same jump in logic. He would’ve considered other avenues that phrase could mean, if it wasn’t for the ‘apprehension’ linking this man to Jamie, and what Isa said about Xander. At that phrase, his eyes tensed up. They remained tense throughout the rest of the video, tensing up only slightly further when he mentioned that there were Team Flare survivors.
Amanda (who had, once again, become distracted by other matters) paused her typing as the Executive tensed. “Is something amiss?”
James turned to the Plasma Agent. He was somewhat surprised by that reaction. He didn’t know her exact circumstances, but if he had gotten a message like this, he would probably have been rather perturbed. “..For the record, you did watch this video, correct?”
Amanda froze. “I… it appears I have not.” The Knight frowned. That such a subtle emotion was having such a substantial effect on her was… troubling, to say the least. “It seems that my aversion to the man extends to his message. In fairness, the impression our meeting left upon me was… less than positive.”
James looked between the video and her for a moment. “That is possibly fair,” James said. The contents of the video weren’t pleasant; James could certainly imagine whatever meeting the two had had gone south. “But I cannot understand the full context of this video without hearing your opinion on its context.” James’s face grew darker for a moment. “I will warn you however that the content was not pleasant. I will not force you if you are truly unwilling.”
Amanda frowned, but forced her focus back to her Xtransceiver. She moved a hand to rest atop her Magnezone and pressed play.
Amanda’s eyebrows told a story entirely of themselves. After the first paragraph, one eyebrow raised; the second prompted the other to join its twin. Both dropped in a frown for the third before migrating steadily upward in time with the Plasma agent’s progressive paling. As the video ended, she looked back up to James. “I… see,” she lied.
It took Amanda many long seconds to process the information she’d been given. “There are certain details that appear consistent with the circumstances of my discovery,” she admitted. “However, for obvious reasons I am unable to verify the rest of the account.”
Sylph nodded softly. “Miss Zarth, may I ask if you’ve… noticed the uncanny resemblance between that man and Xander, as well as between Xander and yourself?”
Amanda shook her head. “Perhaps if I had experienced the same instinctive revulsion, but my interactions with your Trainer were unremarkable in that sense. In either event, I am not ordinarily particularly acquainted with my own appearance.”
James coughed into his hand, looking away. If her bedroom and overworking habits were any indication, Amanda did not check a mirror very often. He was far too polite to make such a comment however. Clearly.
Isa, however, held no such compunctions. “You mean to tell me you never use a mirror? Those are for more than just admiring your own beauty, you know -- though, that is a remarkably good use for them. However, you should also use one when doing your hair, brushing your teeth, washing your face. Do you mean to tell me that you don’t?”
Amanda tilted her head and removed her hand from her Pokémon. “The actions exist within muscle memory. Conscious awareness of the activity would be a waste of valuable planning and analysis time that could be put to the benefit of Team Plasma.”
Isa scowled, her mouth twisting like she’d just eaten something incredibly sour. “You. Should. Still. Check. A mirror. All told, brushing your hair and teeth and washing your face because you don’t know what smudges you might have picked up in the past day, shouldn’t take more than ten minutes out of your day. Next you’ll tell me you only sleep the minimum required to function--”
“She does,” Sylph said. “Late to bed and early to rise, worse than even Xander usually is.”
James and Lancelot nodded in confirmation.
“Completely unacceptable.” Isa crossed her arms. “Utterly unacceptable.”
Amanda frowned lightly. “I fail to understand. My conscious state is a useful resource for my Team. Why would I allow myself to spend it inefficiently?”
“Making a conscious effort to take care of one’s own personal appearance is to equip oneself with the social armor and weaponry in which it is capable to further the goals of oneself and your allies,” James said, adjusting his suit. “And without getting proper rest, your work will suffer. And you miss meetings.”
Isa’s arm snapped out to point at James, her eyes still locked on Amanda. “That. All of that and still more. You were on global news a matter of weeks ago, without having properly taken care of yourself. It’s lucky you were in a power suit, or people might have seen a Plasma Knight looking shabby and your organization would have been embarrassed.”
Amanda had been looking back and forth between the two in confusion, before Fontaine’s final comment clarified the situation. “Ah, I believe I recognize the point of misconception. You may rest assured that I have been specially tutored to present an identical appearance, regardless of any interfering conditions. Anything less would, indeed, have been a disgrace upon the family and the Team.”
Isa stared. “That is not okay for reasons not even having to do with your self-care problems.”
James and Lancelot looked between each other. They could piece together vague ideas of what that meant, but hardly knew what to say if that was correct. Lancelot lacked the full scope of knowledge of human social norms to make the connections necessary. James, on the other hand, appreciated on an intellectual level what he guessed the situation to be, but his own situation was different than that to say the least.
“Can we bring the conversation back to the video for a moment?” James said. “The man in the video said you were… a product of Team Flare’s engineering. Were you raised by Team Flare?” James said, dodging the more obvious question.
Amanda shook her head. “My earliest memories are of Undella Town in Unova. As I recall, I was discovered by a civilian and placed into governmental care. I was selected by the Zarth family not long afterward. From that point onward, my future with Team Plasma was assured, and I began training to assume the ideal roles.”
Isa was seething, fists clenched at her sides, teeth grinding together. “You were groomed to be a Plasma agent,” she spat. “Did they ever even ask if that was what you wanted to do?”
Amanda cocked her head curiously. “Why would that be an expected occurrence?”
“Because that’s what you do with people! You ask if they want to be part of a government agency, or if they want to be a baker, or have no job at all! You let them choose what they do with their life instead of forcing it on them! Good Trainers do that with their Pokémon, who are, legally speaking, property!” Isa’s voice had risen to a shout, echoing in the nearly-empty arena. “You simply do not raise a child into adulthood and choose their job for them without ever asking them if that’s what they want to do!”
James froze for a brief moment. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “She is right. Good people do not do that.”
Amanda opened her mouth to object, but decided against continuing the argument. “We have strayed from the subject at hand.”
James agreed with the sentiment. And the topic was not the most comfortable one for him either, so he welcomed the change. “You mentioned that you met the man in the video before. What do you know about him?”
“I possess an insufficient quantity of data on the individual. The recording contains substantially more information than I acquired in our brief encounter by a significant margin.” The Knight furrowed her brow in concentration. “If I recall correctly, we encountered each other shortly after Knight Tierra informed me that Agent Arthur had left the Alamo to participate in an operation in Kalos.”
“Vacation. She left for a vacation in Kalos,” James corrected.
“Oh, uh,” Isa said. “She’s actually traveling with a mission group investigating rumors of Team Flare’s survival.”
Nothing happened for a moment. Then both James and Lancelot’s eyes went very wide, glaring at Isa. It took all of James’s restraint to not grab and shake Isa for not telling him this earlier.
“She is doing… WHAT?!” James yelled at her.
“She’s traveling through Kalos with a group of people. Not all Liberty agents-- mostly not, actually-- looking for signs that Flare is still active. Um, there’s evidence that they are, by the way…”
Percival turned around. When he saw someone about to enter the room, he vanished once more.
“This is… Jamie went to Kalos to get away from danger and take a vacation,” James said, not even looking at Amanda or Isa at that point. He had even made sure the paperwork had gone through to Team Rocket. Somewhat illegally, so he didn’t make that part known. And checked it while he was in Alola. Very illegally. He was beside myself, sputtering, trying to figure out what to do, when he turned around saying, “I need to go speak with-” but he cut himself off.
The arena doors had opened, allowing access to the group of five figures behind it. They entered in a staggered formation--Executive Josiah Lorn at the front, followed closely by Executive Danielle Ladon, and Agents Jordan Robins, Rachael Camilla, and Nathan Jameson behind her. As a whole, the group’s demeanor tensed somewhat as they counted the number of individuals present within the chamber, but they continued forward nonetheless. All eyes seemed primarily focused on James.
“Executive Arthur,” Lorn called. “A word, if you don’t mind?”
Amanda quietly reached up and grasped the pendant at her neck.
James looked confusedly at the group of five. One Executive coming to speak with him wasn’t completely out of the ordinary. Two accompanied by several other agents was strange however. Lancelot sensed tension in the air. He started to position himself closer to James. Ready to stand in front of him in case…
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Post by minun4 on Sept 19, 2019 23:44:02 GMT -8
IC: James Arthur/Executive Josiah Lorne/Executive Danielle Ladon/Agent Jordan Robins/Agent Rachael Camilla/Agent Nathan Jameson/Isabella Fontaine/Sylph/Amanda Zarth
“Executive Lorn,” James responded. “What is the matter? I have just been informed of something important.”
The Scizor’s movement did not go unnoticed. Lorn slowed to a halt, raising a cautious hand to the others behind him. Even with the motion, Executive Ladon still dropped a hand to the Poké Balls clipped to her belt.
“That would make two of us,” Lorn said, carefully. He glanced behind James to the others in the room. “If you come with us peacefully, then we can explain the situation and hopefully stop it from escalating any further.”
“Come with you ‘peacefully’?” James said, repeating the words as the meaning sank in. “Are you saying that I am under arrest?”
“I’m afraid so,” Lorn said.
“On what charge?” James asked, his eyes narrowing.
Agents Camilla and Robins moved to secure a pair of restraining cuffs around James’s wrists, both eyeing Lancelot as they approached. “Executive James Arthur, by order of Blackskull, you are under arrest on suspicion of espionage, sabotage, and conspiracy against Team Liberty, and conspiracy to commit murder of members of Team Liberty Leadership. You are to be detained within the Alamo’s holding facilities until further notice, pending an investigation into your involvement with the deaths of Goldhawk and Bluefalcon.”
Those last two words caught James more off-guard than anything that occurred before. He nearly missed Lancelot changing his stance. Nearly.
“Lancelot, stand down,” James ordered. Lancelot shifted his stance back. He had been ready to use Swords Dance and break past the group of trainers, but James had decided against it.
Isabella frowned softly. She didn’t believe a word of it. For one thing, she didn’t think James Arthur would do that without a seriously good reason. For another, well...
“Treason seems to be a favorite of theirs,” she murmured to Sylph, who nodded agreement.
Amanda, for her part, also frowned. “I cannot help but note an oddity in the timing of this accusation,” she observed. “This now marks the second occasion upon which my opponent in a battle testing the Mega Evolution phenomenon has been arrested shortly after concluding the exercise. If my investigation is distasteful to Team Liberty, I would request that such a grievance be addressed to me directly.”
James had to immediately cover his mouth to hide his laughter. He knew that she was being 100% serious. That was what made it so dang funny.
The group of Liberty Agents gave Amanda what could only generously be considered a combined look of confusion and amusement. “I can assure you that this has nothing to do with your training exercises, ma’am,” Lorn said.
Amanda nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. She turned to James. “If your Pokémon require care during your incarceration, I would be willing to provide it. I believe my record of care speaks for itself.”
James shook his head. “I think you will find them quite self-sufficient and rather… unwilling to be caged to the schedule of anyone but myself.”
Lancelot was giving everyone in the room but James some very heated looks.
“That being said, I could use another favor from you. If you could meet me at the detention center, I would like to speak to you about something,” James said.
Amanda spared the arresting officers a glance. “Should your Team’s leadership be amenable to such a scenario, I will make myself available.”
James nodded. “In that case, I am ready to leave,” he said, sticking out his hands for the cuffs to be applied.
Robins nodded and did so. He and Camilla flanked James, leading him back toward Lorn, Ladon, and Jameson. With a curt nod from Lorn to Isabelle and Amanda, the group turned and departed, disappearing through the doors just as swiftly as they had arrived. Behind the group, completely invisible to the detainer and his detainees a single miniscule unnoticeable green spark flickered into existence before disappearing forever.
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Post by Konuju on Sept 21, 2019 17:12:59 GMT -8
IC: Alex Lockwood - Kalos Pokémon League The gunshot echoed across the Elite Four chamber. The bottle of iodine clattered to the floor and began to roll away. Emily's body pitched forward seemingly in slow motion. She hit the ground with a thud and suddenly Alex no longer cared that she had tried to kill him. His eyes darted to where his Espeon lay motionless. To where Swampert was carrying Absol's limp body away from the fight. To where Emily lay in a growing pool of blood.
Clenching his teeth against the pain throbbing through his arm, Alex grabbed the wad of bandages and pressed it against Emily's blood-stained shirt. It was all he could think to do. His mind raced and as he spotted the Flare Agent wielding the gun, a great fury welled up within him. "You'll pay for that," he hissed.
Braviary felt his Trainer's rage and rocketed toward the admin with a war-like screech, heedless of the smoking gun. Seeing the Braviary's reckless flight, Swampert paused long enough to throw an Ice Ball at the admin to distract him.
OOC: Braviary: Reckless Attack -> Gun Guy Mega Swampert: Fireman Carry -> Alex's Absol; Ice Ball -> Gun Guy
OOC: Slight bunnying of Lucina
IC: Ryan Sanders/Zoe Llyan/Lucina - Anistar Gym, Anistar City Ryan tilted his head to the side. He'd heard a lot of crazy claims from a lot of enemies in his time with Team Liberty. But immortality? That was a new one. "As curious as I am to test your theory, attempted murder isn't really how we roll." He motioned to the rest of the group. "After all, we like to think of ourselves as the good guys. Lucina, would you mind?"
The Lucario walked up to the stasised pair and grabbed the Flare girl's Pokéball. In a red beam of light the Medicham was recalled. Ryan pulled some rope out of his backpack and tied the girl's hands behind her back. "Alright. Colleen, Moira, Yvette, can one of you show us the way to the police station?"
Zoe pointed a finger at the girl. "We hereby place you under arrest for violation of the law and doing other bad guy stuff! It looks like your Flare just . . ." She struck a dynamic pose. "Sizzled out! Ba dum, tsh!"
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Post by Magical Girl Mimi on Sept 21, 2019 19:34:10 GMT -8
-==NPC: Ambrette City==-
The man gave Lachina a flat look. "Look, I don't know what kind of fairy tales you've been thinking up in your imagination, kid, but Flare? Have been dead for twelve years now. I'm supposed to believe a kid in..." He looked Lachina up and down, a look of confusion on his face. "What even is that costume even supposed to be? Some weird form of Ranger gear? Look, it's nearly midnight, just go home. If, and that's a big if, there's really the ~return of Flare~, then it can wait until morning. The sooner everyone gets out of here, the sooner I can sleep, and I was nearly ready when you walked in."
The lab technician did his best not to outright glare at the Ranger, but was quickly failing. It didn't matter, however, as a sudden red hole appeared in his head moments before he collapsed to the ground.
"Guess he was wrong." A voice said from behind Lachina, as two sets of footsteps could be heard from behind her.
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Post by unknownmercury on Sept 21, 2019 20:41:34 GMT -8
---League---
Emily gasped, writhing in pain as Alex pressed the bandages to her shoulder. Her left arm was limp, hand resting on the floor. She reached up, grabbing his hand. She gasped for air and squeezed down on his wrist. "You... First," she said between gulps of air. "Fix... Yourself."
The man with the gun cried out as the Ice Ball hit him. He staggered to the side, and raised his hand to defend himself -- and promptly lost that hand to the Braviary's savage talons. Blood poured from the stump of his wrist, and he cried out as he clutched at it.
The last two Administrators took hesitant steps back as they saw the team arrayed against them. The one with the Charizard snarled. "Charizard, use Smoke Screen!"
The great lizard roared and kicked out to clear away his opponents before belching forth thick black smoke to cover the room. The Gallade, seeing its teammate's shroud of smoke, swiped one last time at Spitfire before jumping back towards his trainer.
"Don't let them--" Calem began to say, but was interrupted by a barked order of "Teleport!"
When the smoke cleared, the three living administrators were gone, leaving behind the bloody corpses of five of their number, as well as Malva.
James turned, hurrying over to Alex and Emily. "Dammit. What the hell happened?"
IC: Lachina Adaon - Ambrette Fossil Lab
Lachina spun as the man fell, and cursed as she saw the two Flare agents blocking the exit. "Hey, now, I don't think there's any need for all that," she said, raising her hands in front of her. "I'm sure if we just talked things out we could come to an-- Aolani, get them!"
The cloud-bird swooped down, scrreching as she tried to knock the two agents off balance, while Lachina ducked back behind the reception counter of the lab.
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Post by Magical Girl Mimi on Sept 22, 2019 10:07:06 GMT -8
-==IC: Ray Hakuda -- Lumiose Hospital==-
Ray was stunned by the power on display here. He watched as Meyer and Chloe took the initiative to attack. The Rocket Separatist was about to give orders to force the rest of the scientists' Pokémon outdoors as well, but was cut off by the speed at which Sharla and the Blaziken worked. Ray opted to keep quiet instead, as he simply took the opportunity to recall his fallen Pokémon, at least glad that he could achieve that weird form of evolution once again.
When everyone got outside, Ray followed, a smug smile on his face at the fallen scientists. It faded, however, when the scientists began to stand up and the rainbow light appeared.
-==IC: Chloe Hikari(Mega Typhlosion/Luxray/Gallade/Dartrix/Trumbeak), Ray Hakuda(Mega Zangoose/Bisharp), Meyer(Mega Blaziken/Combusken), Bryony(Mawile/Liepard/Bisharp), Celosia(Mega Manectric/Drapion/Aegislash) -- Outside Lumiose Hospital==-
"That's..." Chloe stood, frozen in shock at the appearance of another Pokémon with a mysterious evolution. If this was any indication of the rest of the Pokémon, like Ally and Sharla, then this Manectric would also have its powers back. Sure enough, with a roar, the Manectric let out a charge of electricity. Chloe braced for an impact, but none came - the air felt electrically charged, however, as she realized that the Manectric had used Electric Terrain. This felt too similar to what she had heard about the situation with her brother, but she gulped back her fears and held her hand forward. Before she could let out a command, Zangetsu dashed forward with his overgrown claws at the ready.
"Take the Manectric down quickly, Hone Claws then Crush Claw!" Ray called out, taking the initiative with a fearful look in his eyes. He too recalled what had been said the day before about what happened in Ecruteak. He wasn't about to have this be a repeat of that. The Zangoose roared out as he grinded his claws together and approached the Manectric with a much faster speed than any other Zangoose had ever even dreamed of achieving. However, the Manectric jumped back out of the way, as the Crush Claw broke part of the parking lot open. Zangetsu looked up, not having expected the Manectric to move as fast as she had, but chased the electric-type with a growl, slicing forward rapidly in an attempt to land any hit.
"Ray, she's trying to tire Zangetsu out, you need to switch to a different strategy!" Chloe called out to her friend with an urgent tone in her voice, as Sharla tried to catch the Manectric in a fiery blast. However, her attempts to line up an attack without hitting Zangetsu as well were failing due to how quickly both were moving. Thinking quickly, she reached out to Meyer's mind. "Meyer, we need Blaziken's help, can you have him use Blaze Kick on the Manectric while it's distracted?" She glanced over at the older man, who simply nodded in response and motioned to his Blaziken. While the plan was being put into motion, she glanced over at the rest of the fight. Bree was currently helping out with keeping the Mawile under control, Ally had taken to distracting the Liepard while Sharla was preoccupied, Ren and Melia were working on attacking the Drapion, and Simone was keeping the Aegislash distracted by dodging out of the way while Ally was fighting the Liepard.
"Celosia, there is a 65% chance that this won't be enough power." Bryony warned her comrade, but the other woman simply growled and shook her head. The green-haired woman frowned in uncertainty as she tapped a couple buttons on her headgear. "We must have more than one powered Pokémon, or our team is very likely to be overpowered quickly, even the Mawile isn't helping here."
"And that's my fault how?" Celosia grumbled as she clenched her fist and punched forward. "We have to make them pay even if it means fighting until the end of time!!!" With a roar, the Manectric turned around and crashed into Zangetsu with a Wild Charge. The powerful electric attack sent the Normal/Fighting-type spiralling into the ground hard. Zangetsu skidded to a halt, as Manectric paused for a moment to give a smug look to her opponent. However, as she turned her head, the Manectric took a fiery foot to the face. The electric type hit the wall of a nearby building -- her momentum didn't quite send her through the wall, but instead sent her skidding across the bricks. The force broke the outer layer as bits of brick were sprayed across the ground. The electric-type laid on the ground for a few moments, flesh slowly knitting itself back together as the Manectric very slowly limped back to her feet.
Ray growled - he liked the power granted by these new evolutions, but wasn't too certain how much he liked his opponents having them. "Zangetsu, can you still fight?" He asked his faithful Pokémon quickly. The Zangoose nodded and slowly but shakily stood up. With a sigh of relief, Ray turned his attention back to the fight. "Alright, let's play a little more defensively this time, keep fighting the Manectric, but help Meyer and his Blaziken more, Chloe was right about what that Manectric was trying to do."
The fight continued to heat up, as Sharla was able to help against the Liepard once more, dousing her in flames that washed over only the area that the dark-type was in. Seeing that the situation was under control again, Ally headed back to where the Aegislash was. She quickly stepped in between the Aegislash and Dartrix as the ghostly sword attempted to strike Simone down. However, due to that, Ally was pushed to the back foot as the Aegislash struck out again and again before the Gallade could regain her footing. The Drapion wasn't fairing much better, as the poison-type continued to get damaged heavily by Ren and Melia's combined attacks.
The Mawile continued to attempt to smash Bree away with her flail-like mouth, however, the Combusken managed to dodge around the attacks. It appeared that the time with Meyer had improved her battling capabilities a lot more than expected. She didn't manage to land any hits of her own, but Bree was managing to fight a lot better than she had even a week prior. Bryony watched with a desperate look on her face.
"Disengage, attack the Gallade, there's an 80% chance that there's more danger there!" Bryony commanded as she directed her gaze over to Celosia, her face betraying how frustrated she was at the other woman's unwillingness to do anything more than fight, fight, and fight some more. The Mawile heard the command, but elected to ignore it until the Combusken dodged once again. Deciding to trust in her Trainer's judgement for once, the Mawile made a mad dash to where Ally was. The Gallade turned at the last second as the Mawile spun around and hit Ally square in the chest. The sword summoned from the earlier Swords Dance went flying, before it clattered onto the asphalt, spinning as it skidded to a halt near Chloe's feet.
"Ally!" Chloe called out in surprise at the sudden change in opponents. Thinking quickly, she reached down and picked up the whipsword, coating her hand in psychic energy so that she could grab the otherwise ethereal sword. For a moment, she thought about just throwing it back to her Pokémon. However, when she saw the scientists were otherwise unguarded, she decided to take matters into her own hands. If she took out the trainers even temporarily... then maybe, just maybe, they might be able to turn the tides from a seemingly infinite fight. Chloe ran toward Bryony and Celosia quickly, gripping the sword with a second hand. Noticing her plan, her Pokémon shifted to keeping the scientists' forces occupied. As she approached the two, she jumped up and raised her sword in the process. Bryony noticed with a gasp and raised her arms despite how ineffective that would be against the sword.
And ineffective it was.
Bryony let out a scream of pain as she clutched at the remaining portion of her lower left arm. Despite grimacing at the scene, Chloe steeled herself as she moved to slash at Bryony again. However, for better or worse, she again had to stop as a jolt of pain was sent through her body once again. "Why...?!" Chloe managed to gasp out as she struggled to stay standing. For all Vertrag had talked about whatever the aura thing was and how it seemed harmless, it was most certainly not seeming that way at the moment. The psychic woman barely registered as the green-haired scientist reared her leg back. Chloe threw up a weak barrier around herself, but the force behind the woman's kick was much stronger than she expected. The auburn-haired trainer gasped out as she was sent flying back to where Ray was, then tumbled across the very hard and painful asphalt herself. She rolled to a stop finally as she decided to just lay there for a moment.
"Chloe?! Are you okay?" Ray asked as he ran over to his fallen friend. He glared up at Bryony and Celosia as Chloe shakily pushed herself to a kneeling position.
"That... really hurts..." The woman groaned with a hint of a whine in her voice. Chloe glanced over at Bryony, wincing as she moved more. "But I'm doing better than her... I hope, at least." The two of them watched as the scientist picked up the fallen arm shakily. Chloe could only imagine the wide-eyed look behind Bryony's visor.
"My arm..." The scientist babbled as she held her arm up to the location it had been removed from. Before their eyes, the two parts of the arm began to reconnect -- however, when the scientist attempted to move her hand afterward, nothing happened. Bryony went silent, before she stared up toward Chloe in particular. "You... how could you..." The woman clench her right fist, as her Mawile walked up toward her, an uncharacteristic sadness in the steel-type's eyes. "I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"
A rainbow light shone out, as the Mawile was engulfed in the light. When it finally faded, the Pokémon was taller and looked like her kimono-like body had gotten red pants and wrist-cuffs. The mouth attached to the back of her head had split in two and looked like twin ponytails now, with long hair-like ribbons of something trailing down each side of her head. Chloe, Ray and Meyer watched in stunned silence, but Bryony simply held her hand forward, a sign for the Mawile to attack.
Celosia watched with a grin as her fellow scientist embraced her hatred. "Isn't this so freeing?" The purple-haired woman cackled. "And the only price is the temporary loss of your arm! Now we can win."
"There is an 85% chance that if you don't shut up in the next thirty seconds, you will lose your tongue." Bryony coldly stated as she gave Celosia a piercing glare. She turned her attention back to the Mawile. She seemed... different now, in some fashion that the scientist could not discern. Bryony did not care at all, however, instead watching with rage building inside as the Mawile slammed into the pesky powerless Pokémon who kept interfering with Iron Head. One by one, Chloe's three Pokémon in particular fell from the damage they had taken over the course of the fight; first Melia the Trumbeak, then Simone the Dartrix, and finally Bree. As Meyer saw the Combusken fall, he quickly called the fire-type back to her Poké Ball before the Mawile could do anything else to her.
Chloe managed to call her Pokémon back to their balls as she pushed herself back to her feet. She wasn't sure what she looked like at the moment, but her whole body felt like it stung from some cut or another, and her clothes seemed to have gotten torn slightly after the tumble across the ground. At the least, the pain from whatever had happened beforehand had faded again. Her green eyes glowed with a mixture of determination and her psychic powers as Ally stood up and summoned another sword with a second Swords Dance. The Gallade vanished briefly before reappearing next to her trainer, staring down the transformed Mawile and the other opponents.
"Zangetsu, use Close Combat on that Mawile!" Ray yelled out, as he swiped his arm to the side. Chloe gave him a look, but never elabourated on why, instead opting to watch as the Zangoose shot forward at the Mawile. The steel-type glanced up in shock as the equally transformed opponent appeared next to her, claw arm raised. The next moment, the Mawile was sent flying -- Ray grinned for a moment, until he realized that his opponent hadn't taken anywhere near as much damage as she should have. "What...?" Ray mumbled, a look of confusion on his face. "That should have torn through a Mawile..."
Chloe frowned as she heard the man's mumbling, but focused on her own troubles as the Gallade went back to fighting off the Aegislash. A roar of pain signaled the Drapion's defeat as Ren rushed over to help out Sharla against the Liepard, who was being nimble enough to force Sharla to remain defensive in order to not tire herself out. Chloe's eyes traveled to where Meyer's Blaziken and the Manectric were still dueling -- there was a crunch as the sound of bricks shattering under an impact indicated that the Blaziken had landed another meaty hit on the Manectric that wouldn't give up.
"Ray," Chloe said suddenly as she turned her head to her friend. "Switch targets with Sharla; let's see if her fire attacks can help out here better than Close Combat." When her orange-haired friend nodded, she reached out with her mind to relay the plan to Sharla. It only took a moment for the Typhlosion to break away from the fight against the Liepard; which Zangetsu joined shortly thereafter. The fire-type grinned wickedly as she approached the flammable-looking Mawile, but the steel-type gave a challenging look to her opponent and dashed forward with her two jaws glowing with a dark energy. Sharla tried to dodge the two jaws as best as she could, but as she leaped to the right, the jaw on her right clamped down on her left leg. The Typhlosion struggled for a few seconds before getting flung across the battlefield. A plume of erupted fire shot back across the battlefield and caught the Mawile off guard as Sharla shot back toward the fight with a roar.
"Celosia, use that. I don't care if you were saving it for Xerosic, this needs it." Bryony growled as she watched the fight turn from bad to worse despite the second powered Pokémon on their side. Celosia shot Bryony a glare, but unslung a small metal backpack she wore, searching around in it for an unspecified something even as the Liepard was overpowered by Ren and Zangetsu. As her hand brushed what she was looking for, the woman gave a wicked smile.
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Post by Konuju on Sept 22, 2019 10:46:23 GMT -8
IC: Alex Lockwood - Kalos Pokémon League"Emily . . ." Alex couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from his cousin and look up at her father. "She . . . She's been shot." That much was obvious, but he couldn't bring himself to explain anything more. "She's been shot . . ." Ignoring Emily's orders, he continued to try and bandage the wound on her shoulder even as blood pulsed out of it at an alarming rate. "We . . . we have to do something!" Swampert set the unconscious Absol next to Alex and Emily, then went over to check on Espeon. The psychic type was still breathing, but had lost a lot of blood. By now Empoleon had wandered over to the group as well, wondering just how things could have gone so wrong. OOC: Jam time. IC: Dahlia Seaton/Klim Prizak/Olivia Seaton - Abandoned Alley, Lumiose CityDahlia looked up and down the quiet street. "So what now?" she asked. "That detective woman clearly wasn't home -- not that she has much of a home to go to anymore, but--" She was cut off by a loud crash that came from several blocks away. "I think that might answer your question," Klim said, exchanging a glance with Moriarty. "Those two scientists weren't the only ones Flare sent out tonight. What do you say we give our old pal Aliana some company?" “Yeah, we should def . . .” Olivia trailed off as she looked around. Dahlia’s portal had dropped them off in a completely different part of town compared to where the Detective Agency had been located, but even in the dark, she recognized the street. “Weren’t we here the other day? We came through here on the way to the . . .” She looked in the direction of the crash. “To the hospital,” she finished. “Shit, that was another one of their targets, wasn’t it? And we didn’t send anyone there.” "Terrific," Dahlia muttered. "An abandoned detective agency is one thing, but we have to be careful if we're going to be fighting in a hospital." “Well, we’ll have to figure out our strategy when we get there,” Olivia said, already headed in that direction. “Come on.” * * * When the group arrived on the scene, they noticed something they probably hadn't expected to see. To begin with, the five mysterious evolutions had very likely caught them off guard, not to mention who was fighting the Flare scientists. The scientists in particular looked like they had gone through the ringer once or twice -- as did Chloe -- but one of them seemed to be distracted looking for something. “Chloe!?” Olivia said. Without thinking, she motioned for Am to follow her and ran forward, scouting out the crowd for Chloe and Ray’s opponents. She pointed at the purple-haired one. “Am, Psychic!” Celosia let out a screech of surprise as she was thrown back from her fellow scientist. The object she had been pulling out of her bag when the group showed up spun across the ground as she hit the ground hard. " More powered Pokémon?!" The scientist screeched in indignation as she glared up at Olivia and Amethyst. "Manectric, distract them!!!" The electric-type roared as she ran toward the evolved Gardevoir as fast as she could. "Celosia, there is a 90% chance that this is going downhill extremely quickly." Bryony stated coldly as she glared at Celosia, still cradling her damaged arm. "If you would, now?" Klim let out a sigh. "Great, more of you clowns? You might want to rethink your odds. Moriarty!" As the former hero snapped his fingers, his Dusknoir swooped forward and snatched the visor off Bryony's face. Letting out Archangel to defend her, Dahlia turned her focus back on her powers. She didn't trust herself to successfully make another portal to the Distortion World, not in the middle of a chaotic fight. Instead she tried to disorient the Manectric long enough for Amethyst to attack. Chloe winced slightly as Olivia ran up to her and gave her a tight hug. "Hiya Liv! Was gonna text you if we needed help, though we managed to do better than expected. We came here to find you, actually, so this is a pleasant surprise." The woman grinned, though still looked like she was sore from whatever had given her all the cuts and scrapes across her body. When her girlfriend let go, Chloe glanced over to Amethyst with a gasp. "Oh, wow, she got that evolution too? So did Ally!" "Ally?" Olivia asked with a slightly confused look on her face. Her gaze traveled over to the dark-grey and green Gallade who was currently fighting with an ethereal sword. Her eyebrow arched as her face showed that she had many questions about what had even happened since they left Goldenrod. "We'll have to talk later. Right now, ya look like ya could use some help." She looked over at Amethyst, who was currently distracted by the disorientated undying Manectric. "Especially if these jerks are just as undying as the other two we fought." Bryony let out a yelp as the ghost yanked the visor off of her face. With a growl, she glared at the ever-growing group. "Mawile, Iron Head that Gardevoir. Liepard, just slam into something, especially that girl." She hadn't gotten a good look before her visor was taken away, but something didn't feel right with how the Manectric wasn't attacking the Gardevoir properly. The two Pokémon leaped into action, as the still-smoking Mawile made its way over to Amethyst. The Gardevoir managed to teleport out of the way, but with Liepard trying to slam into Dahlia and the Manectric trying to take advantage of that to Crunch Amethyst. Archangel lowered his head and rammed into the Liepard, knocking it away from Dahlia. With a roar, the Absol slashed at the leopard Pokémon with his scythe. As the Liepard got knocked away, the Manectric charged up a Discharge. Thinking quickly, Chloe threw up a psychic barrier around the people closest to her, though the attack still hurt even at the strongest point of the barrier. Chloe watched as Celosia pushed herself to her knees, an object in her hands. "You lot are starting to piss me off." Celosia hissed as she directed a glare to all of those gathered. She staggered to her feet as she held up a gun, eyes darting between each of her opponents. "Funny," Dahlia said, moving her focus from the Manectric to Celosia. "We could say the same to you." As she tried to disorient the Flare scientist, Absol turned to pounce at the Manectric. As Dahlia dropped down into a pose to disorientate Celosia, a loud whistle could be heard. And then came the infestation. First there was one. Then they seemed to multiply. If anyone cared, they would probably be extremely confused about where all of the Alolan Rattata were coming from. A cackling voice would very likely give at least a partial answer to that. "GO, MY PRETTIES!" A voice called out from a nearby balcony. The Flare agent it belonged to grinned wildly as a good sixteen or more rats swarmed the combatants who weren't already distracted by Bryony and Celosia's Pokémon. In particular, some of them dodged around Dahlia's Pokémon to leap onto her. Dahlia shrieked as the rats swarmed over her. Taking several steps backward she tried to pull them off, but for every rat she grabbed two more took its place. She stumbled into a wall and shuddered as hundreds of tiny paws scampered over her skin. "H-help me!" she cried out. Klim and Olivia looked at each other. Neither was sure what they could do to attack the rats without also harming Dahlia. Bryony and Celosia seemed to be caught off guard by the scene that unfolded, as Ray sent out his Alakazam to help Dahlia get the rats off. However, Celosia was motivated by the struggle, a cruel smile on her face. "Well, well, which should I pick, then…" The purple-haired woman mused as she pointed her gun around the alley's inhabitants, encouraged to do this by the fact that Dahlia was preoccupied. Amethyst attempted to blast Celosia away again, but was pounced on by the Manectric before she could get the attack off. "How about… you." Celosia settled on Chloe, a cruel laugh sounding out as she grinned. "You've been a pain in our asses since you showed up, and, honestly, you're one of the most dangerous here." "Moriarty!" Klim cried. The Dusknoir flew over toward Celosia to try and snatch her gun away, but was intercepted by a jaw snapping shut around his ghostly arm. As Moriarty looked down, the Mawile grinned devilishly up at him before striking with a Play Rough. Ally saw all that was happening, but got cornered by the Aegislash, who had been rallied by the changing of the tides. As she glanced around, she saw that the other Pokémon were slowly getting pushed back by their opponents for similar reasons, or otherwise distracted and overwhelmed by the swarm of rats. She mentally cursed the horrible timing of the Flare agent who had unleashed the swarm, but trusted in Chloe to handle this. Chloe, for her part, saw a gun to add to her growing collection. Despite the threats and rambling of Celosia, she held up her hand to try and grab the gun again like she had earlier. However, a pain shot through her body as the woman let out a yelp of pain. "Not… again…" Chloe managed to gasp. Olivia noticed this with a horrified look on her face. "That's not going to help you, now is it? I don't know what's happening," Celosia paused her monologue to let out a chuckle. "But whatever it is, I'm glad it could contribute to Flare's cause like this." Time felt like it slowed down as Flare's scientist squeezed the trigger. Chloe felt a shove at the same time as the bang, and hit the ground hard. She didn't feel as much pain as she expected, however -- had she gotten used to it after everything that had happened that night? As she pushed herself up, however, she both realized that it didn't feel like she had gotten hit at all, then realized why she felt that way. She saw Olivia laying on the ground. Chloe's mind raced with different possibilities. She felt mute, as she kept opening her mouth to try and say anything, but no words came out.
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Post by Magical Girl Mimi on Sept 22, 2019 12:28:59 GMT -8
-==NPC: Flare Agents @ Ambrette City Fossil Lab==-
The agent on the left grunted as the cloud dragon slammed into him, while the agent on the right dove out of the way. The right agent quickly sent out a Scrafty who went after Aolani, while the one on the left struggled to get back to a standing position.
"You just had to make it hard on yourself, girl." The agent on the left growled as he fished for something that could take down Aolani and fast. "This lab isn't even worth it, but here we are; apparently you decided this had to be the hill you die on."
-==IC: Ray Hakuda/Chloe Hikari/Dahlia Seaton/Olivia Seaton/Klim Prizak/Bryony/Celosia/Meyer -- Outside Hospital==-
Ray saw everything happen as if it were in slow motion, his breath caught in his chest. He turned to Celosia with a growl as Zangetsu slashed the Rattata away from himself, headed to fight the Liepard next.
Ally knew that she needed to act and that the Aegislash was just beginning to be a hindrance to that now. She charged up her sword with nightly energy even as flames burst into existence around it. The Aegislash faltered as she saw the fiery sword, but got no time to contemplate anything as the Gallade swung her sword quickly. There was a loud sound as the ghostly sword was cleaved in two, falling to the ground afterward. Her job done, Ally backed up as she felt sick from what she had done.
Chloe scrambled over to where Olivia was. The redhead gasped in pain as she clutched at her left shoulder. The psychic woman let out a slight breath as her brain caught up to what she was seeing and realized that Olivia was still alive, albeit in bad shape from the gunshot to her left shoulder.
A scream pierced the air. Suddenly everything around Dahlia was thrust backward with surprising force. The rats were flung from her body, as was the Alakazam trying to help. Even Klim and Ray found themselves pushed back by the sudden power. "Olivia!" Dahlia cried as she ran to her sister's side. "Liv, I'm so sorry! I should have tried harder . . ."
"Hmph. I missed." Celosia scowled, but shrugged anyway. "Oh well, still got one of you. Now let's just fix this…" As the scientist raised the gun again to fire off another shot, a wave of psionic energy shot out from Chloe. It didn't affect the dark types or her allies, but Celosia quickly found herself thrown back for the second time since the fight had been taken outside. She reached for her gun as she sat up, but found that it specifically had been torn to shreds by the force of the energy.
Ray ran up to the ever-growing group. "Oh gods…" The trainer said as he both was relieved and horrified by the sight. "Ally!! You need to get Olivia out of here, teleport her back!" The Gallade gave Ray a brief look, but nodded as she knew this was an extremely serious situation. Ally quickly appeared in front of the four of them, even as Chloe slowly stood up and walked forward. Ray paid no mind to her for the moment. "Dahlia, are you going too?" He asked, then quickly pressed a finger to his ear. "I don't know if you're seeing this, Sonja, but we need you to be prepared for at least two people, one badly injured, ASAP. Ally's going to teleport in shortly."
Dahlia looked up at Chloe, then down at her sister. She wanted to help. She wanted to fight. She wanted to make the Flare scientist suffer for the pain she had inflicted on her family. But as Olivia's blood pooled on the ground, she realized that she wasn't a warrior. She had never enjoyed fighting as much as the others. No, her heroism came from somewhere else.
Jamie's approach to being a hero was to protect others, to be a knight in shining armor to those who couldn't protect themselves. Evan took a slightly different approach by inspiring others, to lift them up and give them the confidence to be able to fight for themselves. But Dahlia was at her best when she was nurturing others. She was a gardener at heart, after all. And if her greatest strength was the kindness in her heart and the compassion she extended to others, did that make her any less of a hero?
She nodded in answer to Ray's question. "I . . . I couldn't save Kamina," she muttered, keeping her eyes on Olivia. "I won't lose my sister. I'm sorry, but do you think you can finish this fight without me?"
"Yeah." Ray said with a nod. "You help her out, we can handle this." The orange haired trainer nodded to Ally as he got an OK from Sonja. The Gallade stepped forward, enveloped Dahlia and Olivia in a glowing light, and all three vanished from the scene.
Chloe stopped as she glared up at Bryony and Celosia, both still recovering from the psychic burst. This is just going the way it had for Ryan… I… I can't let that happen. I have to… I have to protect everyone. We have to protect everyone, all of us, together, but how? She clenched her fists, as she felt an odd sensation. It was… familiar, but unlike the sensations of pain that had overwhelmed her before. She felt a presence that she hadn't felt before, and reached out to it with her mind.
Will you accept me this time?
That voice was one Chloe had heard before, a long time ago now. She hadn't thought she would ever hear it again, but… it made sense now. Or at least, some of it did. She nodded and held her hand forward.
"What are you doing this time?" Celosia growled, as she staggered to her feet again.
"Protecting everyone." Chloe answered with a cold tone to her voice. A light began to glow in front of Chloe's hand -- if there were an aura wielder around, they would notice an icy-blue aura mixed in with her normal green aura. It was now flaring up into a flame of power, pooling into the glowing light. It took only a couple seconds to form into a grey stone with raised edges, but for Chloe it felt like forever as she watched the process. When the light faded, the psychic looked at the stone in her hand grimly, memories from eight months prior flooding through her mind. Despite that, she felt… different this time. She held her hand forward.
The summoning happened differently this time. Unlike in Black City, the stone didn't directly transform into the giant grey dragon she had grown to fear. Instead, an aura flowed outward, then grew as it gathered up. As the shape of Kyurem formed, the aura solidified and the icy dragon roared as Kyurem landed on the ground and shook the earth with a loud roar.
Chloe looked forward in determination, as she clenched the grey stone in her hand, unsure why it remained this time. There would be time to question everything later. Right now, the scientists were the biggest threat. "Let's do this, Kyurem."
Bryony and Celosia, for what felt like the thousandth time that night alone, were stunned. "How…?" Bryony stammered as she saw the great ice dragon looming in front of them. The Flare agent with the rats instinctively pressed himself against the wall of the building he was on. Celosia, however, sneered as the shock wore off.
"This thing doesn't have powers still." She said with a long laugh. "This is just intimidation! There's nothing that can be done here."
Chloe coldly stared down her new nemesis, as if she had pierced right to the scientist's non-existent soul. "I can fix that." She bluffed. She knew that unless Kyurem was hiding something, they were just as powerless as any other normal Pokémon. She knew that Sharla, Ren, and Ally were more useful at this point because of that. But she wanted to protect everyone. She was determined to not have this be a repeat of all the death and devastation that had happened before. And Kyurem was too.
A brilliant rainbow light filled the alleyway as white light mixed in to shine, filling up the night sky as it did.
When the light faded, Kyurem stood there, white parts resembling Reshiram covering parts of their body.
Kyurem had undergone the mysterious evolution, but instead of some previously unseen form, the dragon had transformed into White Kyurem.
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Post by unknownmercury on Sept 22, 2019 18:52:59 GMT -8
IC: James Cruize/Emily Lockwood/Calem/Serena
"I can see that," James growled. "What happened to you?" He pulled more bandages from the kit, scowling. "Take care of yourself, I'll patch Emily up."
"My fault..." Emily mumbled. "Alex... My fault. Sent Spitfire to attack him..." She winced as James gingerly moved her so her head rested in his lap.
"Hush," he said quietly. His knife came out, cutting the shoulder of her shirt away from the wound. "You're delirious."
"Truth... I hurt him. I'm sorry." Her head rolled, bleary eyes looking at her cousin. "Dunno why... head hurts."
Calem, meanwwhile, was checking the bodies in the room, a deep frown etched on his face. "Wikstrom and Drasna. They must have been way outmatched, but they still took down five of these guys. Malva might have been pretending to help them until they were worn out."
Serena swallowed as she went to inspect the last person. "Elaine..." she murmured, kneeling next to the burnt scientist and gently putting a finger to the woman's neck, just for posterity. She paused, then pressed the finger harder. "She's alive. Elaine's still alive!"
James Cruize looked over, his face twisted in agony. "We can't move her or she'll die."
"She'll die if we don't," Calem said gravely. "Dammit. Dammit!" He kicked Malva's body in anger.
"Undo..." Emily said, her voice groggy. "Dahlia can... undo it..."
James Cruize paused, clenching his fist. "Dammit. I can't leave you like this--"
"Go," Serena cut in. "We can look after a bullet wound while you use your Gallade to teleport over to Kalos and get her. Go, we don't have time to argue!"
James spat, then he and Inigo vanished, leaving Emily and Alex to be patched up by the champions of Kalos.
IC: Lachina Adaon (Aolani/Samson) - Ambrette Fossil Lab
"I'm not going to let you kill anyone else!" Lachina called. "Aolani, get the one with the gun!"
The Altaria screeched at the Scrafty, but wheeled around to follow her partner's orders. Meanwhile, a small blue and black shape shot from behind the counter and rushed at the Scrafty with a high-pitched roar.
OOC: Aolani: Claws -> Gun Grunt Samson: Improvised Tackle -> Scrafty
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Post by Parugi on Sept 22, 2019 20:42:47 GMT -8
IC - Kyle Eston (Jaeda)/Colleen Llyan (Kammy, Lucina)/Moira (Talonflame) - Gym, Anistar City:
Colleen sighed as she released the stasis field. It had been a gamble to try and target two opponents at once; she was lucky that, for one, it had paid off, even if it had been difficult, and two, that Ryan had managed to scare off the rest of the group. Two opponents was difficult enough--she was certain she couldn't have actually held four or five in place.
"I'll lead the way," Colleen said. She looked squarely at Carrie. "It's a bit of a walk. Maybe you'd like to tell us a little bit more about what Flare's up to on the way? Attacking a Gym doesn't seem like a very lofty goal. Is it world domination, or are you all attempting genocide again? How can you all be so confident that you're able to lead this kind of attack out of nowhere?"
"And don't try to lie to her," Kyle added. "She's an Aura wielder; she'll be able to tell if you're lying. And Jaeda here doesn't like liars." The Charizard snapped her jaws just in front of the Flare member's face to emphasize the point.
IC - Sonja Baron/Olivia Seaton - Alley, Dendemille Town:
In a blink, Ally had arrived back in the familiar alleyway in the now-darkened Dendemille Town. The place was much quieter than it had been previously; it seemed the police had finally managed to drive off the rest of the Signs that had been left behind by Shift. The only significant movement around was that of healthy citizens continuing to search for any that had been affected by Shift's toxin, though none appeared to be present in the alleyway right now.
As Olivia groaned, leaning on Dahlia for support, Ally appeared to be focused on a wall, where a rune was etched. In a moment, they saw why: First the rune, and then lines across the bricks lit up in a soft, white light, and from within, a set of elevator doors emerged. Sonja stepped out, spotting the group immediately and hurrying forward to take Dahlia's place supporting Olivia.
"Shit; that looks bad," she muttered. Sonja turned to Ally. "I've got it from here. Get back and help out Chloe and Ray."
"Where . . . are we?" Olivia managed through gritted teeth. She looked around as Sonja led the way into the elevator, which glowed with the same, soft white light, despite the ebony interior. It was almost soothing; already Olivia could feel the pain ebbing away as the surrounding lights distracted her. Dahlia looked equally confused, though not necessarily uneasy. For the most part, she seemed more focused on her sister.
"It's . . . hard to explain," Sonja said. "Look at the wall real quick, please."
Olivia and Dahlia both did so. Two rings appeared each, exactly centered where their sight rested. After a moment, the rings settled and flashed, expanding into a brief identification notice--a rounded rectangle headed with each trainer's name, followed by a scrolling fact sheet displaying their age, their faction, hometown, family information, last known Pokémon team configuration. They flashed white, and then blinked out of sight. Finally, the elevator seemed to come to a stop, and the doors opened out into a long hallway. Sonja led Dahlia and Olivia forth. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, their vision blinked again, and they found themselves in a medical bay.
"Thanks, Vertrag!" Sonja called up to the ceiling. She set Olivia down on a table. A mechanical arm spun around as the Rocket Agent leaned back; it began to do . . . something, apparently evaluating the bullet wound for treatment. Sonja looked at Dahlia while this occurred. "Seems like Gold Team ran into some trouble."
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Post by Konuju on Sept 23, 2019 16:00:10 GMT -8
IC: Alex Lockwood - Kalos Pokémon League Alex numbly obeyed. After hastily wrapping his wounded arm in a crude bandage, he moved over to where his Espeon lay. Empoleon, Braviary, and Swampert (who had since reverted back to his original form) gathered around the fallen psychic-type. Absol lay a little ways off, the tip of his horn missing.
Alex grabbed the Super Potion Emily had given him and began to spray Espeon. The medicine did not seem to do much to help the unconscious Pokémon. With a sigh, he grabbed a Pokéball and retreated the Espeon to relative safety. There was little he could do for him now, but the capsule would keep him from further harm until a Pokémon Center could give him proper attention. Once Absol was also retreated, Alex emptied the rest of the Super Potion on Empoleon, Swampert, and Braviary. "You all fought well," he murmured. "Our enemies were just tougher than we imagined."
With his Pokémon patched up as well as they could be, Alex glanced down to his own arm before looking over at Elaine and Emily. The pain in his face said everything his mouth couldn't.
IC: Dahlia Seaton - Medical Bay, Vertrag Dahlia nodded distractedly. "Team Flare launched an attack on the whole region," she said, sparing a glance at Sonja. "They've somehow made themselves immortal, they had some cloning facility in Geosenge, some of them have powered Pokémon like what happened on--"
She abruptly cut herself off as she looked back at the machine that was treating Olivia.
"I'm sorry, should I be doing something to help?" she asked, a hint of impatience in her voice. "I was planning to use my Reverse powers to try and heal Liv's wound, but I wasn't expecting you to have a whole--" She motioned to the entire room. "--whatever this is. Um . . . where are we, exactly?"
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Post by Parugi on Sept 24, 2019 20:04:59 GMT -8
IC - Sonja Baron/Olivia Seaton - Medical Bay, Vertrag:
". . . It's hard to explain," Sonja repeated. "I'd rather let the base explain itself when there are less pressing matters to attend to. Frankly, I don't think I could do it justice." She moved over to the machine. The mechanical arm clamped closed, moving away from Olivia's wound. "My understanding is that this works to stabilize the injury. If you have a faster way of healing it, you might as well give it a try now. And then maybe you can give me a little more information about these Flare people being immortal."
"Not much else to say," Olivia muttered. She still looked to be in pain, but the wound didn't seem as bad as it had been moments ago. "They can't be killed. Who knows how they did it?"
"Well . . . Great." Sonja sighed, shaking her head. "Guess we'll add that to our list of impossible problems to solve . . ."
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Post by Konuju on Sept 26, 2019 14:48:13 GMT -8
IC: Dahlia Seaton - Medical Bay, Vertrag The battles against the Flare scientists had clearly exhausted Dahlia more than she'd realized. She thought she heard Sonja say she'd let the base explain itself. Pushing her confusion aside, Dahlia moved toward her sister. "It's more like rapid healing abilities," she said, staring at Olivia's wound. "Team Flare, that is. They can be hurt, injured far worse than Liv here, and in a few seconds they walk it off like it was nothing."
She took a deep breath. The wound wasn't nearly as bad as Kamina's injuries, but she still felt anxiety about placing someone's life in her hands. Steeling herself, Dahlia placed both hands on her sister's shoulder. She let out a long breath as she willed the tissue damage to reverse itself.
The battles had certainly taken a lot of her stamina. Dahlia found herself leaning against Olivia as a wave of dizziness and nausea came over her. She pushed through it, and slowly but surely Olivia's wound began to close.
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Post by Magical Girl Mimi on Oct 2, 2019 9:24:11 GMT -8
-==IC: Chloe Hikari(Mega Typhlosion/Luxray/Gallade/commanding Amethyst/Mega Kyurem - White Kyurem Forme), Ray Hakuda(Mega Zangoose/Bisharp/Alakazam/commanding Asriel), Meyer(Mega Blaziken), Bryony(Mega Mawile/Liepard/Bisharp), Celosia(Mega Manectric) -- Outside Lumiose Hospital==-
Kyurem hovered in the air menacingly as Meyer, Ray, Celosia and Bryony all stood speechless at the dragon's appearance and subsequent transformation. Flames blazed around the white and grey dragon as both Kyurem and Chloe glared in the direction of the two scientists. Chloe and Kyurem's eyes glowed a brilliant green as the two synchronized their minds. Chloe and Kyurem clenched their fists together.
"How..." Celosia's bravado and anger faded briefly as she stared up at the tall dragon that hovered before them. She wanted to make some kind of comment about how she wasn't afraid, but the flames that blazed off of the dragon's body seemed much more potent than the Typhlosion's ever had. To cover her fear, she snarled and glared at Chloe. "Who?! Who are you?! How can you control the power of a legend like that?!"
Kyurem landed as Chloe's attention was moved to Celosia. The two took a step forward, the streets shaking subtly as Chloe's eyes glowed with determination.
"I am the heroine of Will," Chloe said simply, as she pointed toward Celosia, Kyurem mimicking the movement. "and I refuse to let you get away with your evils any longer."
"How?" Celosia laughed nervously as she slashed her hand to the side. "I'm immortal, haven't we already proved that?! Not even that Blaziken could do lasting damage! You cut off Bryony's arm and she stuck it back on! And that overgrown lizard is supposed to stop us? What are you going to do, freeze us and stick us in a freezer?"
Everyone present simply looked at Celosia after that.
"Celosia," Bryony started, very visibly restraining herself as she clenched her working fist. "It is 99% likely that if you do not shut up, you will only make things worse."
"Well, it is tempting." Chloe cut in, but shook her head. "I don't believe you two are that immortal, though. All I need to do, is make sure you can't recover." She clenched her fists as she drew to mind images of the battle at Dragonspiral Tower, and the resulting fight against Palkia. "Kyurem... FUSION FLARE!"
Briefly deactivating Synchronization to dramatically throw her arm in front of her, Chloe reactivated it when Kyurem began to charge up the fiery attack. Celosia stepped back slowly, visibly unnerved by the growing ball of fire that illuminated the alleyway as if it were a miniature sun.
"Manectric, dodge the attack!!" Celosia cried out, unable to hide her fear any longer. The electric-type dove to the side, but it was unnecessary. As the Fusion Flare was launched off, it would soon be discovered that there was only one foe who was being targeted by the attack; Celosia herself. The breath caught in her throat as the attack drew closer and closer. When the fire struck, it burned as if it were using the force of a thousand suns, never mind just one. Bryony shielded herself from the heat as she tried her best to get as much distance from the flames as she could. When the pillar of fire ended, Bryony looked up.
"... Celosia?" Bryony asked as she saw the other scientist standing stock still. It looked as if the woman had been covered in charcoal. Bryony reached up to Celosia's arms, but recoiled her hand as the arm both stung as if she had touched the hottest stove and existence, and as Celosia's arm broke off and turned to dust under her touch. The now untransformed and wild Manectric tentatively pawed over to the scene, seeming just as stunned as Bryony was. The green-haired woman stood speechless at the turn of events and made no move as Chloe shoved the charcoal Celosia with her psychic powers, breaking what was left of the woman and scattering her to ashes in the wind. The remaining scientist didn't even noticed Chloe's approach, as the auburn-haired woman picked Bryony up by the collar of her uniform.
"You should give up, now." Chloe didn't notice when Allie showed back up, but was grateful for her assistance anyway. She glanced around as she saw the results of how the others had been faring. The Liepard had been knocked unconscious with the help of Asriel, Moriarty and Zangetsu; the Mawile was laying on the ground after being badly burned by combo attacks from Amethyst and Sharla; the Manectric was being punched ineffectively by Ray's Alakazam; and the other Pokémon were rounding up and defeating all the rats that had been summoned by the rat trainer.
"Where is your leader?" Chloe asked as she kept a hold of Bryony's collar. The woman said nothing and kept her eyes trained on the ground. Chloe decided to help things out and grabbed the woman's Poké Balls off her belt and recalled the Pokémon that were still around. Ray's Bisharp limped out with Bryony's Bisharp on his back, before collapsing. She recalled the scientist's Bisharp, while Ray recalled his own. The psychic then glanced back to the still-unresponsive Bryony, before she stepped back and let the green-haired woman fall to the ground.
"Chloe, if I may..." Amethyst cut in, though she looked hesitant. Chloe noticed that she was back to her normal state, but wasn't sure what exactly that meant. "When we fought the other scientists, one of them turned against the other and gave me information. I think I know where one of their biggest targets is."
"Good work, Amethyst." Chloe said as she gave her first smile since things had gone south during the fight. "Alright, let's head wherever that is..." She paused, as she looked to Bryony. "We shouldn't just leave her free, though... so let's take the advice that Celosia kindly gave us." The woman gave a signal for everyone to stand back as she gave the scientist's Poké Balls to Allie. With the snap of her fingers, Kyurem sent out a wave of cold air that flash-froze the scientist.
"Sonja, sending a prisoner your way, Allie has her Poké Balls. Maybe we can find out later, one way or another, where the person behind this attack is hiding." Chloe said over her comm link as the Gallade walked over to the now-frozen Bryony and teleported back to Dendemille Town. Once Allie was gone again, Chloe turned to the rest of the group present, a grim look on her face.
"Everyone ready to continue the fight?"
-==NPC: Flare Agents -- Ambrette Town==-
The Flare agent who had the gun screeched out in pain as his arm was clawed. The man staggered back and gripped his arm for a few seconds, before he sent out a Druddigon with hate in his eyes. The gargoyle-like dragon roared as he clawed out at Aolani. Meanwhile, the Scrafty grunted from the improvised tackle, but immediately lunged for the Shinx with a scowl on his face.
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Post by unknownmercury on Oct 2, 2019 13:01:54 GMT -8
IC: Lachina Adaon - Ambrette Fossil Lab
Aolani cried out as she was struck by the Druddigon's claws. With a fierce look in her eye, the Altaria lashed out with her own claws, aiming for the opposing dragon's face.
Samson, seeing his opponent coming towards him, turned and ran back towards Lachina, mewling in fear. The Ranger winced a bit as she saw that. She needed time to think of a plan, and having her Shinx lead a Scrafty to her wouldn't help with that. "Samson, it's okay, it's just a Scrafty! Tackle it again!"
As her new friend turned to obey -- taking a blow from the opponent while he did -- she began crawling towards the back rooms, keeping her profile low in case the goon with the gun decided to start taking potshots.
---Gym---
Carrie growled as these scum interrogated her. She glared directly at Colleen. "I was told that if I helped, I would be the new Anistar Gym Leader. I just had to bring a few guys and kill her." She nodded at Olympia, who seemed unfazed by this news. "Other than that, I don't know what the full plan is. I was told to strike, and I did."
"A foolish bird flies, headlong into a great storm, never knowing why," Olympia said, sighing. "Only a fool would act without knowing the full ramifications."
"Can you all take me to jail so I don't have to listen to her preach at me with stupid poetry anymore?"
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Post by Konuju on Oct 2, 2019 14:42:45 GMT -8
IC: Ryan Sanders/Zoe Llyan/Yvette - Streets, Anistar City Ryan recalled Entei and Typhlosion before following the group out of the gym. As they walked toward the police station, he mulled over their captive's story. Colleen had confirmed the girl was telling the truth, but something didn't sit right with Ryan. It wasn't until they had walked a few blocked that he realized what it was.
"I thought Flare was a supposed to be a bunch of old coots from ten years ago." He looked over at the girl. "You look way too young to have been a part of their first rodeo. So how does someone like you get caught up with those prime timers in pompadours? Did you seriously believe they could make you a Gym Leader? Or do you mean to tell me your so-called immortality is actually the fountain of youth and you've been with Flare from the beginning?"
Zoe crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. She regarded the Flare girl with a self-righteous attitude. "You should remember what they taught you in school," she said. "The next time someone promises power and glory for joining a bunch of criminals, just say no."
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Post by Parugi on Oct 5, 2019 18:55:56 GMT -8
IC - Sonja Baron/Olivia Seaton - Medical Bay, Vertrag:
Sonja was about to respond when Chloe's message came through. She frowned, raising her Pokétch to respond. "Alright," she said. "I'll send a message for Emmerich to meet Allie." She switched lines, contacting the Rocket General. "Got another one on the way. Mind taking care of it?"
"Roger that," he responded. "I'll head outside now."
She looked back at Dahlia and Olivia, watching the Reverse process as it undid the damage to Olivia's shoulder. At length, she sighed and looked up to the ceiling. "Vertrag, you know anything about this immortality thing?"
Initial processing suggests that such a phenomenon could result from exposure to the Legendary Pokémon Xerneas, the disembodied voice of Vertrag replied, echoing throughout the room. At present, however, my knowledge of this matter is limited. We have not encountered humans possessing an immortality factor in our work.
"Great," Sonja repeated, paying no attention to the looks of alarm and confusion from Dahlia and Olivia. "Alright, well, you want to give these two the run-down?"
Certainly. The holographic form of Vertrag materialized in the room, next to Sonja. Vertrag gave a slight bow to the Seaton sisters. Greetings. I am Vertrag.
And proceeded to give a condensed (for Vertrag) explanation of the facility.
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flipz
Technician
Posts: 56
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Post by flipz on Oct 7, 2019 21:32:31 GMT -8
---[Sycamore]---
“He…” Amelia paused. “Th’ guy. He was… I got th’ same response ah did with Alex, th’ first time we met.”
Sycamore blinked. “Alex? As in Alex Cruize?”
Alma chuckled, shaking her head. “No, but a relative of his, if what we’ve been told is true.”
Amelia’s eyes narrowed. “Y’all know Cruize?”
Despite his injuries and exhaustion, Sycamore managed to raise an eyebrow and tilt his head pointedly toward Amelia. “I know you, don’t I?”
Amelia pursed her lips, crossing her arms defensively. “Point.”
Alma chuckled. “It seems to be a small world, doesn’t it?”
Belle nudged her. “Shush. That’s family business, Sycamore don’t need to know about it if Amelia don’t want him to.”
“Family…?” Sycamore turned to look at Amelia, raising an eyebrow. “You’re related to Xander?”
Belle facepalmed. “Sorry, Pond, my bad.”
Amelia sighed. “Ah am, as it turns out.” She shot a glare out the shattered window. “If ah ain’t mistaken, ’m pretty sure he was, too.” She scowled. “Augustine. Y’all ever heard of some kid named Alain Alderson?”
The Professor visibly winced and turned away. “Yes, I do. What happened to him was a tragedy.”
Belle frowned. “What happened?”
“He… was my student, like Xander was. He breezed through his studies and got his trainer’s license at a young age. His starter was a Charmander.”
Belle’s eyebrows knit together. “How young is ‘young’?”
“He was about seven--”
“You gave a seven-year-old a Charmander as his starter?” Belle spat. “Did you at least monitor him?!”
“There… were a lot of candidates to be trainers that year, and I had taken over from a truly awful professor whose remaining staff had to be entirely let go. I didn’t have the time or resources…” He sighed, putting a hand to his face. “I regret not taking things at a slower pace. I would have resigned after his death, but his mother wouldn’t hear of it. She didn’t blame me, and she said that nobody else was qualified who would want to take the position.”
He picked up a photo from his desk. “He was eight when his Charmeleon killed him. It forced us to raise the age that a trainer could get their first Pokémon to ten, and the government built a hospital in Laverre to honor him.”
Amelia’s mouth dropped open. “You… have to be fucking kidding me.”
“Pardon?”
The mercenary massaged her temples. “When Alex -- Alex Zyther, that is -- when their Ralts teleported us to Kalos after we got knocked into a coma, we woke up at that hospital. I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection.”
“Why do you ask about Alain, though?” Sycamore frowned. “That was over twenty years ago, and his only relatives who would be your age are Xander.”
“And Xander’s half-sister, but that is a story for another time,” Alma chimed in. Sycamore gave her a surprised look and shrugged.
“I don’t know anything about that. It still doesn’t answer how you’re related.”
“Guessin’ Xerosic never told y’all ‘bout Flare’s secret clonin’ program, then.”
The Professor took a moment to process, then gaped. “You’re a… clone of Elaine’s dead son?”
Belle nodded. “Which makes her -- and Alex Zyther -- this Cruize kid’s cousins.”
“Zyther… Zyther…” It took Sycamore some time to recall the name, but when he did, his head shot up in surprise. “As in Lionel Zyther? The--?”
“The Holo Caster guy, yeah,” Amelia confirmed. “Trust me, it’s weird fer me, too.”
Sycamore nodded. He took a few moments to process the information, but then suddenly frowned. “Wait. You called it a program… does that mean…?”
Amelia bit her lip. “Possibly. There… there were two more of us, but their files listed them as ‘abandoned’ or somethin’ of th’ sort. Ah’m… not sure whether ah want that t’ be th’ truth or a lie, t’ be honest.”
“There’s also the cloned Pokémon,” Belle said. “Going offa coloration, that Allen guy had himself a cloned Charizard.”
“The shiny Pokémon from the lab?” Sycamore asked. “They’re clones, too?”
Amelia exchanged a glance with Belle. “There were shiny Pokémon in the lab?”
The Professor nodded. “The Champions -- Calem and Serena -- found them during their first exploration and brought them back here for care. They seemed to be struggling to live in the wild, so we’ve been hoping to find them proper Trainers -- ideally, a group who knows each other, so as not to split them up. They seem quite attached to each other.”
Belle softly cleared her throat. “Well, I can think of a few trainers who fit that description. If yer struggling to find trainers for ‘em and all…”
Sycamore chuckled softly. “I see. Well, you did save my life, and you two are still traveling together after so many years....”
Belle saw no reason to correct him.
Amelia nodded slowly. “If they’re from the lab…” She paused, a thought striking her. “Sina?” The Weavile stopped rifling through Sycamore’s scattered papers and came to her Trainer. “Were you… are you from the Flare lab, too?”
After a few moments’ hesitation, Sina nodded.
Amelia swallowed. “Harvey?”
The Rock-type had lost his limbs in the evolution, but still somehow gave off the impression of a shrug. Sina nodded for him.
“…that Ralts, the kid’s Ralts…”
Sina nodded once again.
Belle frowned, crossing her arms. “You don’t have the same coloration as Alex, or Allen, or the two kids in that picture.”
Alma giggled. “You’ve been shiny this whole time, it would seem.”
Sycamore cocked his head, his scientifically investigative impulses showing through. “I wonder… are all of your Pokémon shiny?”
Amelia’s brow furrowed in thought. “…Yeah, actually. Van, Qrow, Harvey, Sina…”
The Professor nodded. “I’d figured. Pokémon with unusual coloration tend to be rejected by others of their kind, so it would make sense that they would gravitate towards someone else who’s--”
Sina let out a warning hiss at the direction of the Professor’s implication. Fortunately for Sycamore, Amelia’s mind had latched on to something else.
“Belle,” she said. “In the cave, that other world. The other me had some kinda frog Pokémon, an’ that Flare admin guy, his Pokémon were weird-lookin’ too. You don’t think he was…?”
Belle frowned. “He looked just like Alex, though. I think maybe Flare found a way to mark their special clones and handed them out to their favorite psychopaths.”
“Other world…?” Sycamore said quietly.
Belle waved a hand. “Unimportant. Sorry, Professor.”
Amelia thought a few moments in silence. “Ah think ah’d like t’ see th’ Pokémon y’all mentioned.”
Sycamore nodded. “They’re in the observation ward -- we’ve been keeping them there at night, just in case, since they’re such unusual specimens. I can take--” As soon as the Professor stood, he stumbled, barely catching himself between Harvey and Cyanide. Sycamore chuckled, though the paleness of his face betrayed his true feelings. “I think I’m starting to understand how Elaine feels,” he said, his joking tone not quite hiding his moment of panic.
Belle took his arm, carefully helping him to his feet again. “Careful, that’s Amelia’s mom yer talkin’ about.”
Sycamore froze, going even paler if that were possible. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “That… is going to take some getting used to,” he muttered.
Amelia’s thoughts drifted back to Elaine, Alex, and the rest of her apparent blood family. Could there be more of them? Were they all still alive? And what kind of people would they be…?
---[Lumiose International Airport]---
Earlier
At the Lumiose International Airport, a black-haired man peered out from behind his sunglasses, mirrored lenses and the brim of his trilby shielding his azure eyes from external scrutiny. He scanned the lobby, hoping his quarry hadn’t managed to leave the region without his notice. The ex-Ranger shook his head. It will not do to be so pessimistic, he chastised himself. I will accomplish the mission Master Cyrus gave to me. I will find these so-called ‘Heroes’ of Creation… and I will end the threat they pose to humanity.
His dark thoughts were interrupted as a woman with a Helioptile and the blonde teenager following behind her stepped into his path. He managed to dodge the former two, but stumbled straight into the latter, sending him and her to the ground.
The girl scowled at the man. “Hey!” she snapped, “Watch where you’re going!”
The man’s eyes narrowed, though all that could be seen of the expression was the eyebrows lowering behind his mirrored lenses and his pursed lips. “The same could be said of you,” he replied acidly.
The girl scoffed, scrambling to her feet. The woman she’d been traveling with offered him a hand up, which he reluctantly accepted. “We’re very sorry, Mr.…?”
The man shook his head. “It’s no concern of yours.” Tugging at his vest to straighten it, he spun on his heel and marched over to lean against column.
“Hmpf,” he heard the girl say. “Who does that guy think he is, anyhow?”
Adam Zynthic, you insignificant cretin, the man mentally replied, a man of much greater import than you.
The other woman sighed. “I hope you’ll be more polite towards Miss Arthur, Bonnie.”
Adam froze.
“I will, Alexa!” the girl promised. She paused. “Or, well. At least, I’ll try.”
As the two walked away, Adam turned, silently keeping them in his sights. If these two were also after his quarry, then…
He shook his head. Best not to speculate. He had a mission, after all, and tailing these two seemed to be the best chance he had at completing it.
---[President]--- (President’s Office, Lumiose City, Kalos, August 13th, 2017, 12:08 A.M.)
With one forearm, Tristan slammed the Dragalge into the ground. With his other forearm, Tristan heaved the Flare Admin into the air and brought him down upon the Dragalge, with the intention of doing this repeatedly. With both of his arms full, he needed -something- to hit the Dragalge with. The Flare Admin had proved resilient to damage so far, so Tristan was unconcerned with the damage he would cause the Flare Admin, as much as he was concerned with doing as much damage to the Dragalge.
Pelleas kept himself in between Claraga and the Braviary. While he didn’t have his powers, he was still knew to tussle against an opponent in a physical brawl. Megara getting dragged along was a problem though. He waited for the Braviary to come just close enough, before leaping into the air to try and smash the Braviary’s neck with his horn from above.
Lucan left face took a scratch across his left eye. But they managed to dodge the second slash. When the Salazzle charged at him looking to bite, Lucan internally began screaming “HOLY MOTHER ICE CREAM TRUCK”. But just before the Salazzle could bite him, he span out of the way of the head, with his right head free to try and take a bite of the Salazzle’s neck.
As the floorboards creaked beneath Megara, and seeing the interrupted trajectory of Claraga, Lucia whipped both Pokémon’s containers forward, recalling each in a beam of formless, red light. The Braviary felt itself suddenly devoid of the heavy Grass-Type’s weight, causing the extra pressure from its wingbeats to send it further off-course than it had intended. With the commotion from Tristan’s attacks, there wasn’t much she could do at the moment to get a read on the situation, and so held back, continuing to cover for Audinaga.
The Salazzle moved with a fluid grace unique to the reptile. Though its bite had missed, it quickly turned itself, presenting a shoulder rather than a neck to its enemy’s icy fangs. It screeched its displeasure and whirled, spinning in circles and rolling in midair until the Ice-Type detached with a chunk of flesh still attached. The Fire-type howled in pain, but even as it bled it kept its focus on the target it had been ordered to kill.
Megara’s withdrawal would have, for an ordinary Pokémon, saved the Braviary’s life. Instead of a decapitating strike, the Heracross’ horn instead clipped the Flying-type’s beak, the impact added to its flapping sending the Braviary well outside the window. The slightly stunned Pokémon fell more, more, more, before finally regaining its bearing and banking out of sight. Pelleas flew over to the window to try and find where the Braviary had gotten off to and whether it was still able to battle.
The Dragalge, unlike the Braviary, was very much showing its mortality. The Poison-Type shrieked and cried as it was beaten, though it was far from risking unconsciousness. Still, it keenly felt its disadvantage against the Steel- and Psychic-Type, and so it was with some relief that with one particularly savage blow its streamer tore and it was sent flying to land next to a slumped figure lying in the shadows.
The shell-shocked Alex was helpless before the Salazzle. Under ordinary circumstances, they could have easily put up an adrenaline-fueled defense, their metal crutches the perfect tools to keep the Fire-type at arm’s length. As unresponsive as they were, however, there was nothing that could avert their doom.
At Alex’s waist, a ball sparked, and for a brief moment seemed to glow… but it was the Love Ball next to it that burst open in a wash of light, the Eevee within launching itself forward to slam its head into the bottom of the Salazzle’s jaw. The Toxic Lizard Pokémon backpedaled furiously… just in time for Lucan to land on its leg. Point-first.
Sylph (no, wait… Sylvia?) exchanged a glance with the Ice-type as he freaked out, trying to drag himself out of the Salazzle, but the panicked movement made him dig his way further in. It was more used to working with a different Pokémon from Jamie’s team, but the Eevee would not complain. The Normal-Type snapped fiercely at the Salazzle, firmly forcing the Poison-Type back while remaining defiantly in between it and Alex. It would not be allowed to harm Sylvia’s Trainer, no matter what cost had to be paid!
From behind the Salazzle, a ball of light erupted as Claraga shot through the air again, repeating the attack she had attempted on the Dragalge earlier. As the momentum of her release sent her forward, she swung her claw before her, aiming to clamp it down on the Toxic Lizard’s neck from behind.
Sylvia saw the flash of light, and quickly worked out what it meant. The Eevee didn’t have much time to consider a plan, but it was enough for something simple. The Normal-Type hunched and growled, darting in toward the Salazzle’s pinned leg. The Poison-Type reared, preparing for a piercing slash of sharpened claw, but it instead found itself half-strangled by Claraga’s clamping claw. The Salazzle’s initial impulse was to whip its tail around to lash at the Clawitzer, but Sylvia was able to leverage the dash into a leap, pinning and biting at the offending appendage. With three Pokémon inflicting active injury upon it, the powerless Poison-Type succumbed quickly to unconsciousness.
Sylvia instantly dropped the downed reptile to rush to Alex’s side. The Eevee cooed comfortingly to the Trainer, and was heartened to get a mindless head-scratch for the effort. It wasn’t ideal, of course, and there would be a reckoning ahead, but for now at least Sylvia’s Trainer was starting to recover from their stress-induced nigh-on catatonic state.
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Post by unknownmercury on Oct 13, 2019 19:29:39 GMT -8
---[Lumiose Streets]---
Nosferatu passed above Mercury. That was one of the weirdos, but there was another one too. He had seen the other weirdo tear down that streetlight and go round the corner. He opened his mouth and made a loud melodious chirp as he made to chase after the other one.
Ruthven hated cities. They were always so loud. The relative lack of people made it tolerable, barely. But then Nosferatu had to make a screech. Yes, Ruthven knew that Nosferatu had to signal him in some way, and yes Nosferatu’s particular screeching made it easy for Lohe and Ruthven to know where he was. But that screech was the audible equivalent of getting sand kicked in one’s eyes.
Nosferatu rounded the corner and spotted the fleeing figure. Humans running always looked a little funny to the Crobat. When he was a Zubat, they could keep up a bit. But when he became a Golbat and he saw them for the first time, how comically slow they seemed. He made a flip to cut off the fleeting man for a moment. He hoped not to fight the man, but to just waste his time for Lohe to speak with the third man and catch up.
Ruthven silently stopped behind Mercury. He beat his wings to make a noise to attract Mercury’s attention.
Mercury saw something fly overhead after his target, just before a noise came from behind him. Loathe as he was to let the man out of sight, Mercury figured the flying Pokemon had eyes on him and Mercury would be able to find him again. He turned to face the Noivern. ”You have my attention.”
Lohe was by the Noivern’s foot. His coffee was still in one hand, and his staff was in the other. His other things had been stored in his backpack, in case things got messy. Lohe, now able to see Mercury clearly, recognized the face. The voice however, felt alien to him.
“I believe we have met,” Lohe said with a slight inflection of uncertainty. “I saw the stunt breaking out of the lab. My Crobat is stalling your quarry. Ruthven here,” Lohe said, gesturing to the Noivern, “could make catching up to him a simple task, but I will need the gist of who it is you are hunting.”
Mercury scowled as he saw the tall, haggard-looking man from Four Island. ”Lohe, was it? Why would you want to help me, exactly?”
Maybe he’s just being helpful, Jared said inside their head. Trying to mitigate the damage you’re causing?
Unlikely. This is not his home region, he wouldn’t care what happens to a few buildings. I bet he’s working with this Allen person and this is a trap.
Anyone ever tell you you’re really paranoid?
Lohe stretched his neck slightly. At least he had gotten the right guy, but he still wasn’t sure why his voice sounded so different. “I don’t, it’s a hassle,” Lohe said. “But you said something interesting when you passed by after the two of you did that whole ‘violently jump out a second story window. I thought I’d at least ask.”
And I’d be dead if it came out I let a vampire not affiliated with us out of my sight without looking into it, Lohe added silently.
“And I’ve got time to kill until a business meeting with Mr. Zyther.”
Mercury tried to think back to what he’d said, but he hadn’t been paying much attention at the time. He frowned and shrugged. “Do you remember that kid with the Gardevoir in the Alamo’s cafeteria?”
“Vaguely,” Lohe said. The kid had come to his defense when the easily outraged father started yelling at him. “His name was Xander, correct?”
Mercury nodded. “That’s right. The guy I was chasing looks like a slightly older version of him. Don’t ask, it’s a long story. Fair warning, he has some sort of life-draining ability, so don’t let him touch you.”
Hence the vampire comment. Lohe’s face didn’t show much reaction. “Summary on why?”
“He attacked the local Professor as part of a move by Team Flare to take over the region. My... friends and I busted in on him before he could drain all of Sycamore’s energy.” Mercury shrugged again.
Lohe narrowed his eyes, just slightly. This was… bothersome. He turned to the Noivern.
“Get him where he needs to go,” Lohe said. “I will catch up,” he said. The Noivern spread his wings, obscuring Mercury’s view of Lohe. When the wings dropped again, Lohe was gone.
”Flashy,” Mercury said as he moved to mount the dragon-bat’s back. ”Let’s go, then.”
The Noivern let out a loud chirp. He was disgusted with the sound, but he was ordered to chase after the annoying one. In the distance, a screech came in reply. It was barely audible to Mercury, but to Ruthven it was loud and clear. With the added passenger, his movements were not blissfully silent, but it was still elegant and quiet.
---[Sycamore]---
The observation room was quiet as the trainers and professor entered. The lights flicked on, and Sycamore led Belle, Alma, and Amelia over to the offset quarantine area and smiled. The three shiny starters perked up as they approached.
A small grey fox-like creature put one paw to the observation window and tilted its head inquisitively. A pale blue flog sat back with its forelegs crossed, observing the trainers quietly. The third creature, a small red hedgehog creature, jumped up excitedly, both paws going to the window. Belle chuckled. “They’re kinda cute.”
“These are the Kalos starters, what we give to new trainers these days,” Sycamore said with a smile.
“Awright, but what are they? They ain’t Hoenn native,” Amelia said.
“Well, we have Fennekin.” Sycamore pointed at the fox. “Fire type, it eventually evolves into the Fire-and-Psychic-Type Delphox, which uses a wand to perform its attacks.”
“A wand, hmm?” Alma said quietly.
“Then this one here is a Chespin,” Sycamore said with a gesture to the excitable creature. “It evolves into the Grass-and-Fighting-Type Chesnaught. And then the one in the back is a Froakie. It evolves into the Water-Dark-Type Greninja.”
Amelia immediately pointed at the Froakie. “That one. His name is Ren.” The Froakie nodded in agreement and stepped forward. Sycamore picked up its ball and returned the frog-like creature and handed it to Amelia with a small smile.
Belle hummed. “Well, I’m not much for psychic types. I like my Pokémon a bit more tanky than that.” Without looking, she raised a finger at Amelia, cutting off the other woman’s remark before she could verbalize it. “Up. Shut,” she warned. She pointed at the Chespin. “Mind if I just take his ball? I like to get to know new teammates a bit.”
Sycamore nodded. “Of course. Here.” He handed her the ball, then set the Chespin down on the ground, and it immediately leapt forward, half-tackling Belle as it greeted its trainer. Belle let out a yelp and staggered back, her hip bumping into a table as she did. The instruments on the table toppled and hit the ground with a crash of steel and glass.
“Dammit,” Belle muttered. “Sorry, Professor, I--”
“I think I can fix it,” Alma said brightly. Belle gave her a curious look, and the girl hummed as she approached the shattered glass. “Yes, this would fit in with some basic elementalism, I think…”
She knelt and pulled a knife from her apron -- earning a surprised look from Sycamore -- then pricked her thumb -- earning a shout of alarm from the adults in the room. With a smile, she used the blood to draw a sigil amidst the glass. “Spirits! Hear me! Fix what is broken! With the power of my blood, I will this shattered glass to be whole again!”
There was a moment of pause. Then, the blood slowly vanished as the glass shifted and reformed itself back into the shape it once had.
There was a soft bark from behind them, and Alma turned to look at the Fennekin. “Oh? Do you want to come with me, then?” The Fennekin nodded, and Sycamore just stared as Alma picked up its ball and recalled it. “Thank you, Professor!”
“While I’m handing out Pokémon,” Sycamore said with a smile, “could you perhaps do a favor for me, Amelia?”
“Pretty sure she told ya ‘no’ the last time you asked her that question,” Belle said with a grin.
Amelia shrugged. “Not without listenin’ first,” she countered. “Go on then.”
“I have an albino Ralts egg upstairs. I was hoping to give it to someone to take to Xander, but hadn’t had anyone stop in yet. Xander has a Gardevoir and, last I heard, was capable of communicating with her via telepathy, which a Ralts desperately needs while in the egg. Could I ask you to deliver it to him, or to someone who might know him? I would have asked that Jared fellow, but he jumped out a window.”
“As one does,” Amelia noted. Belle and Alma both nodded in agreement. Before Sycamore could reconsider, Amelia nodded her assent. “Ah reckon I can manage that. Was plannin’ on makin’ a point of seein’ what kinda fella this Xander is anyway.” She held out a hand for Sycamore to shake.
Sycamore shook the hand with a small, sad smile. “He’s a good kid, and I’m sure he’ll be excited to meet you. Here, let me go get the egg from my desk.”
The Professor had only been gone a few minutes when the group heard a shout, followed by two sets of footsteps thundering up the stairs. They got out just in time to see two pale women in lab coats enter the hallway, with Sycamore returning from the other direction. “Professor!” they exclaimed.
“Sophie! Cosette!” He glanced to Belle, Amelia, and Alma, all three tensed for another attack. “My assistants,” he explained.
The blue-haired woman reached out a hand, only to draw it back as she registered the unfamiliar trio standing between her and her employer. “Professor, your hair--”
“It’s all right, Sophie,” Sycamore said soothingly. “These three and their friend fended off my attacker they’re…” He paused, glancing at Amelia. “They’re friends of Xander.”
“Friends is a bit strong,” Belle muttered to Amelia. “Considering we haven’t even met the kid yet…”
“If he’s anything like Alex, I’m sure he’s a lovely person,” Alma said.
The plum-haired assistant gave Sycamore a worried look. “Professor, outside -- in the city, I mean. There’s--”
Amelia glanced at the clock on the wall -- already past midnight. “Flare,” she guessed.
Cosette nodded. “They were headed for the tower.”
Sycamore inhaled sharply. “The gala.”
Amelia nodded. “We were supposed to join up with the others there, once we got y’all safe.”
The Professor nodded. “Go,” he said, handing over the incubator. “My assistants will look after me. Flare must be stopped.”
Belle nodded. “Can you keep an eye on--”
“I’m coming with you,” Alma said coldly. “You couldn’t keep me here if you tried. Let’s hurry along, before we miss out on the rest of the excitement.”
IC Shannon Willows/Yamamoto Aori
Two figures walked quietly down the streets of Olivine City. Evan had stayed behind with Jenny at the hospital. Marie and Corey had gone to find a place to stay that (hopefully) was not the back rooms of a Pokémon Center. This left just Shannon and Aori to continue the search for the young girl’s parents. Aori currently held Yuri in her arms, the Eevee half-asleep in the comforting embrace. Donguri was carefully sat upon Aori’s head, his eyes looking around as he tried not to shift and fall from his perch. Hana ambled along beside, vines curled protectively around Aroi’s and Shannon’s respective arms.
Shannon held Salix in her own arms, the younger Eevee having fallen into a deep sleep. Selena curled up around Shannon's shoulders, occasionally nuzzling against the girl. Sousa hovered alongside Shannon and Aori, the rapid beating of his wings creating a dull sound around the otherwise silent group. There was nothing to be said that hadn't already been said. About Ecruteak. About Ryan. About Evan and Jenny.
As they passed by a shop, Aori stopped walking, her eyes glued to the display window. She gasped, squeezing Yuri until the Eevee squeaked out a protest. “G-gommen,” she said quietly, though she was clearly distracted.
It wasn't until she felt Hana's vine tugging on her arm that Shannon noticed her companion had stopped. "What is it, Aori?" she asked, peering through the glass.
In the shop’s window was displayed a katana. The sheathe was a dark polished wood, inlaid with golden script and the image of what appeared to be a shrine at the base of some hill or mountain. Aori’s eyes watered as she looked at it. “It is Papa’s sword,” she said, voice thick in her throat. “He was here. C-can we go inside and ask…?”
Shannon looked from the sword to the tears welling up in Aori's eyes. She found it hard to believe the sword was really her father's, but she couldn't bring herself to voice her doubts. "We'll ask them about it," she said, fetching a handkerchief out of her bag and offering it to Aori. "Do you need a minute before we go in?"
The girl took the handkerchief and wiped quickly at her eyes with it. After a few seconds of long, shuddering breaths, Aori nodded. “I am ready,” she said, her voice hardened like steel.
Inside the shop were a multitude of items that would not have been naturally chosen for display. Clothing was on racks throughout the store, giving the air a faintly musty smell. Electronics were displayed prominently behind a counter, and the glass display held jewelry inside. The young man behind the counter looked to be only a few years older than Aori, and he wore a plain and simple yukata over a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans. As they entered, he said, “Welcome to Reijiro Relics. Is there something I can help you to find?”
Shannon had expected to be dealing with a middle-aged shopkeeper, not some kid. When she got over her initial shock, she motioned over to the display window. "That katana you have in the window there -- I was wondering how you got it."
The boy smiled brightly. “Oh, that? We just got it in this week. A swordsman came in and offered to sell it to us. My grandfather appraised it right then and there, the man seemed so urgent. It cost us quite a bit, but the man had such a good story that we just couldn’t try to haggle him down.”
Aori spoke up. “He was tall? With a lot of hair this color?” She held a lock of her own hair to demonstrate.
“Pretty tall, with long hair that color, yeah. Do you know him or something?”
Aori clutched tightly onto Shannon’s hand. “That was my Papa! He-- We’re looking for him.”
The boy’s eyes widened and darted between Aori and the sword. “He did say he was looking for his daughter, who he’d gotten separated from…”
"Do you have his contact info?" Shannon asked quickly. "A phone number, an email, we'll take anything."
The clerk shook his head sadly. “No, sorry. He sold the sword to us outright, so we didn’t need any contact information. He did say he would be in town for a few days, though. There’s a hotel not too far from here, I can get you the address.”
“Please,” Aori said. “Yes, please.” The boy disappeared into the back for a few moments before reappearing with a slip of paper. “Here, the [Lighthouse Lodge]. I’m not sure if he’ll still be there, he came in four days ago. I really hope you find him. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Aori bit her lip, eyes going to the sword. She knew how much a decent katana sold for, and Papa’s was far better than those. There was no way she could ask Shannon to buy it, to return it to her Papa. Instead… “Can you call us if somebody buys the sword? So that we can find it afterwards?”
The boy looked to Shannon, raising an eyebrow. “I think I can do that. Would that be alright with you, miss?”
"Sure." Shannon was in a daze as she gave the boy her contact information. The surge of hope that they might find Aori's father scared her. She wanted -- no, needed -- that hope; and yet she still clung to the fear that the man might remain just out of reach. Ryan would have chided her for such a foolish worry. But of course, Ryan was similarly out of reach.
A lump formed in her throat as she pocketed her Pokégear. "You ready to head to that hotel, Aori?"
Aori nodded, a bit too quickly, and took Shannon’s hand again.
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flipz
Technician
Posts: 56
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Post by flipz on Oct 13, 2019 19:30:55 GMT -8
---[Lumiose Streets]---
As they took off, Mercury closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the wind whipping through his hair, his coat billowing out behind him, the sensation of not being attached to the ground, a feeling of elation welling up from Jared and through their shared body.
Yeah, he got it. A Flying-type would definitely be their next capture.
The Flare asset’s trail was not difficult to distinguish. A bent street sign here, a shattered glass storefront there -- it was clear that the Crobat’s distractions had led to more than a little collateral damage. It was the withered husk of a body that clued them in that they were getting close.
The next thing the group heard was a CLANG of metal on concrete, followed by Nosferatu let out two cries in row. In that same aggressively chipper tone that really got on Ruthven’s nerves. Still, Ruthven hastened to reach Nosferatu. The sooner they rushed to save him, the sooner he would shut up.
They came around the corner in time to see their target running for the base of an official-looking office building, pausing in his flight to swing a stop sign at the Crobat harassing him. Mercury formed a blood-red aura sphere and threw it after the man, snarling.
The Flare agent failed to spot the incoming projectile, but to his fortune he overbalanced after one of his retaliatory swings at the Flying-type, the makeshift axe intercepting the sphere and shattering in a shower of shrapnel. Allen whipped his head around, scowling as he spotted Mercury resuming his pursuit. He ducked automatically to avoid a swoop from the Crobat, before darting across the street into an alley opposite the offices.
”Slippery, isn’t he?” Mercury shifted, guiding the Noivern towards the alley. Another aura sphere flared to life in his palm, and he held the bloody light up to light the alley way.
Allen’s eyes flicked from building to building, searching for a specific sign. Eventually he spotted it -- a simplistic rendering of a Cheri Berry on a hand-painted wooden sign. He grinned. Ignoring the bat, he crashed through the window shoulder-first and began searching for a specific offering.
The intrusion did not go unnoticed. A muffled voice above gave a shout of alarm, followed by the thundering of footsteps down a set of stairs. A door in the back burst open, kicked by a boxer-clad man wielding a baseball bat. “What do you think you’re--?”
Allen’s head whipped around, his cyan eyes gleaming as the red juice of Chople berries dripped down his face, a truly macabre apparition. “Ah. Excellent.” In the blink of an eye the man shot across the room, one hand on his victim’s throat and the other on his chest. The man screamed in agony, hair whitening and skin wrinkling, the man’s struggles becoming weaker and weaker by the second. A few moments later, the deed was finished -- Allen had learned his lesson about theatrics, at least for tonight -- and the man casually discarded the corpse as he stood. He rolled his shoulders, tilting his head back and forth to pop his neck just in time for Mercury to appear. “You’re persistent,” he observed, not bothering to turn and look at his enemy. “Good. Let’s try this again.” The Flare agent whirled and raced at Mercury, swinging his victim’s bat at the Aura-wielder with murderous intent.
Seeing the bat swinging up, Mercury shifted to the side and brought his arm up to block on instinct. The bat collided, and Mercury’s coat and the swirling aura around him dampened the impact somewhat. Somewhat. He still felt the blow deep in the bone of his forearm, and a tingling shot up through his hand. With a roar of anger, he lashed out with another blade of bloody aura.
The blade speared the Flare agent in the shoulder, but something was wrong. Allen clenched his teeth in pain, but still smiled through it, the Aura-infused attack no longer nearly as devastating as it had been. “My turn.”
The other remaining window shattered outward as the two men tackled through it, locked in a bloody brawl of bat and blade. Mercury managed to lock a blade around the bat, wrenching it from the Allen’s grasp, but the Flare agent merely tore out a piece of window frame as replacement and began bludgeoning his opponent.
High above, the armored figure bit back a curse. She’d heard the scream, heard it die away into the unmistakable gurgle of death, knew the situation had irreversibly escalated. Even so, something held her back, some instinct telling her to wait for the opportune moment before interfering. She mentally warred with herself, wondering what could possibly be worse than--
Ruthven began to scream bloody murder at the display. All of this noise was intolerable. He flapped his wings in disgust. In between two of the beats of the wings, Lohe appeared as quickly as he had vanished. And with another beat of Ruthven’s wings, light from the moon began to pool at the top of Lohe’s staff. Nosferatu swooped in and perched himself on Lohe’s shoulder. Ruthven raised himself out of the way at the last moment, as Lohe silently unleashed a beam of ghostly energy towards Allen.
---[President]--- (President’s Office, Lumiose City, Kalos, August 13th, 2017, 12:11 A.M.)
Akamaro Chalmers, from his current position as Tristan’s new favorite blunt weapon, surveyed his situation. His Salazzle was fainted, his Dragalge effectively so, and his Braviary fled. The enemies had five Pokémon between them, one of them powered. The Metagross had switched his grip from leg to arm, leaving him just one hand with which to fumblingly act. The balance had dramatically shifted against him.
He grinned. Perfect.
Three things happened in rapid succession. First, two fainted figures vanished to the red glow of recall beams, their balls held awkwardly in one hand. Second, a bone-shattering *snap* could be heard, heralding the Flare admin’s sudden release from the Steel-type’s grasp. Third, the Braviary repeated its earlier stunt, the window in the president’s office proper shattering into a million shards as it crashed through and then flew away.
The badly-bruised man dragged himself to his feet. “Well, I suppose that’s that,” he said, clutching his mangled arm to his chest as he awkwardly fumbled with the other to secure his Pokéballs. “It’s been fun. Enjoy the arrest.” The man stepped backward towards the newly-shattered window, his Braviary circling around for one final pass.
The Flying-type was not given that pass. The very darkness that had proven its ally now proved its downfall, as a Heracross horn backed by more than a hundred pounds of momentum emerged from the gloom to spear the Flying-type through its wing. The Braviary shrieked and fell; its Trainer, one leg already extended into space, stumbled and did the same.
As high up as they were, it took a few seconds to hear the crunch. The majority of Jamie’s team made their way over to the window. With Pelleas, Tristan and Lucan all crowding the window to see what had occurred.
There should have been a pair of corpses. Instead, there was a man, injured but alive, and no Braviary in sight. The man waved mockingly up to his observers with his one good arm before limping off into the night.
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Post by minun4 on Oct 13, 2019 19:34:34 GMT -8
---[President]--- (President’s Office, Lumiose City, Kalos, August 13th, 2017, 12:12 A.M.)
Alex slumped, the tension in their frame vanishing like a puppet with its strings severed. The Trainer tried and failed to hold back a sob, and only the reassuring touch of their Eevee kept them on their feet. They moved slowly to Lionel’s side, where Audinaga was continuing her attempts at healing.
For as much as the man still seemed at death’s doorstep, the Audino’s aid had indeed helped. Lionel stirred, finally managing to barely open his eyes. “…Alex?”
Alex gulped in a breath, barely able to speak. “I’m here, Dad.”
Lionel slowly dragged his gaze over to Lucia, locking eyes with her. “You all… need… to leave.”
“You’re right, we do,” Lucia said, forcing herself to remain calm. “That includes you.” She stooped down, slipping an arm under his shoulder and trying to pull him to his feet with Audinaga’s assistance. “Come on--there’s no way that scuffle didn’t attract attention. We need to tell someone what happened.”
“They already… know. We’ve…” Lionel heaved an enormous cough, blood splattering across the floor. “…It’s… set-up…”
“We’re not leaving you,” Alex declared, something uncharacteristically dark flickering behind their eyes, “I won’t allow it.”
Lionel managed to force a strained smile. “That’s my…” He caught himself and restarted the sentence. “That’s my Alex.” The businessman reached for his Pokéballs, pressing them into his children’s hands. “Here…” he wheezed, “use them.”
Alex paled. “…Just for now,” they said after a pause.
Lionel nodded. “For now,” he lied. He held up the third to Lucia as well. “For… for the girl,” he said in explanation.
On the other side of the room, Jamie was crawling. There was still someone else she had to save. She had to save the president. If she could only save him. The Buizel ran ahead, stressing his wounds, to check on the president. The Buizel’s eyes widened when he took a better look at the body. Jamie made it over to the president.
“C-Come on, sir,” Jamie said, shaking the still man. “We have to get you out of here.”
The body did not respond to Jamie’s shaking. She shook it harder. No response. The Buizel pushed her arm away from the body.
“I-is he unconscious? Yeah, we, we can’t just keep shaking him then. We’ll get Tristan to carry-”
The Buizel turned the body over. The massive hole through his forehead was impossible to miss. The body had managed to obscure what Jamie had missed in her present state. But with the reveal of the wound, it became very apparent to Jamie how much blood was on the ground beside the body. If the hole wasn’t an obvious enough clue of the truth, then the pool of blood certainly was.
“No,” Jamie said. She shook the body more violently now. “Wake up. Wake up! You have to wake up!” Jamie began to yell.
She turned to Audinaga. “Help him! Please!” she begged, tears freely flowing down her face.
Lucia had hardly enough time to take the Poké Ball from her father when Jamie started yelling. She gave him a shocked look before running after her, pulling Jamie away while Audinaga took a quick look at the body before shaking her head.
“Jamie!” Lucia yelled. “Don’t touch him anymore than you have--this was a set-up from the beginning and you’re putting your fingerprints all over the body! If we--look at me! If we had arrived even five minutes earlier, we might have been able to help him, but the moment Chalmers got here before us, it was over. We need to leave, now, and get this information higher--there’s nothing else we can do.”
When she was certain that Jamie would stay put, Lucia let her go. Her entire body shook with a combination of misery and rage, but someone needed to focus right now. She turned to the body of the president and pulled out the now-blood-smeared Poké Gear from her pocket. Switching it from the recording app to its camera, she raised it, unsteadily, and began snapping pictures of their surroundings--the president’s corpse, the wound that had caused his death, the damage dealt by Chalmers to the room, anything she could find to help document what had occurred here. When she was finished, she gave the corpse another furtive glance and returned to Lionel’s side.
“Okay,” she said, taking a breath to steady herself. “You’re still in rough shape, but can you at least walk? How do we get out of here without running into security?”
Alex sauntered over behind their sister. Despite the crutches, despite the clothing, despite the lack of blood relation, just then they could have easily passed for their father. “I don’t know,” they snarled in a distinctly Lionel-esque tone, “why don’t we ask the hero who shot him.”
The words hit Jamie like a truck. The moment she pulled the trigger replayed in her head. The pointlessness of her actions was laid bare before her. Shooting Lucia’s father, all for nothing. She grabbed her arms and just shook in place. She opened her mouth to say something. She didn’t know what though. No words came out of her mouth. The world felt like a blur to her..
In the corner of the room, a clock skipped a beat.
Tristan stepped forward and placed Jamie and the Buizel on his head, without looking directly at her. Jamie seemed unaware that she had been moved. The Metagross motioned for the others to come to him. He lowered his head as low as possible, so if they wanted to place Lionel on his head, it would be as easy as possible. Pelleas stepped forward to help move him if needed. Grummore jumped back into his ball, feeling totally useless. Lucan remained near the window for a moment, trying to see where Chalmers had gone, before returning to where Tristan was. All he could hope to offer as being an ice pack. It wasn’t much, but he’d do it if he needed. One of his heads looked up at the Buizel. The Buizel was trying, without much success to bring Jamie back to her senses.
“I guess there’s not much we can do at this point except for go out the same way Chalmers did,” Lucia said. She looked at Jamie, and then at Tristan and Pelleas, addressing the Metagross and Heracross. With Audinaga’s help, she was able to move Lionel on top of the Iron Leg Pokémon. “Bring them down first and then come back for us--there’s not enough room for us all to go down at once.”
Tristan followed Lucia’s instructions. The Metagross descended outside the window, slowly so as to not harm Lionel any further. Pelleas hovered by him as they descended to make sure no one fell off. He too, was unable to look Jamie in the eyes. When Tristan had landed, Pelleas gently moved Lionel off first. Then he moved to pick up Jamie, and placed her on the ground beside him. And lastly he picked up the Buizel, who was still not in a good enough shape to get down himself. Lucan began to keep a lookout with one head, but used the other to keep two eyes on his friends. Tristan and Pelleas returned to pick up the others.
Lucia helped Alex up before climbing on top of Tristan herself. She returned Audinaga to her Poké Ball and then, with a final look around the destroyed room and a deep sigh, she gave Tristan the go-ahead to bring them down to the street.. As they descended, Lucia could already hear the telltale sounds of shouts and alarms as the president’s security team finally took notice that something was amiss and hurried to secure the area.
Which meant that they need to go.
She hopped off of Tristan and then gestured for Pelleas to help get Lionel back on top of the Metagross. With Jamie still borderline catatonic, she ushered her up, as well. Lucia could travel on foot, no problem. But they were running out of time to leave.
“We’ll get through this,” she said, in what she felt was a hopeless attempt to comfort the rest of her group. “Come on.”
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flipz
Technician
Posts: 56
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Post by flipz on Oct 13, 2019 21:49:03 GMT -8
---[Lumiose Streets]---
Adam cursed as he spotted his quarry’s destination. Lumiose Tower. Home of the Lumiose Gym. And that annoyingly chipper Gym Leader. The man had been elated to see him again, had happily surrendered his information on his challengers at ‘Jupiter’s’ request. Adam scowled at the memory. If he sees me now, following these two…
It took Adam some time to realize he was not the only one shadowing the pair. In fact, there were quite a few individuals moving towards the Tower, many of them wearing hideous orange suits and matching sunglasses. (Adam was tempted to judge them for the stupidity of wearing sunglasses at night, but considering he was concealing his appearance with a pair of his own he begrudgingly recognized he was in no position to judge.)
A few moments later, Adam registered the significance of that statement.
The man froze in horror, recognizing the uniform of Team Flare -- the very people he’d feared would come for him. He made a dash for the shadows, melting away into the darkness beneath an overhang with practiced skill as he watched the women turn a corner and vanish from sight. Another time, he promised himself, releasing his three Pokémon and gesturing them into silence. Avoiding them takes priority.
Still, he lamented losing the lead. It was one of the few he’d gotten, since few others in the city had been willing to speak to him. He’d even attempted to hire a detective, though her assistant had hung up on him with some excuse about “prior commitments”. As if she could have had a client more important case than Master Cyrus, he groused to himself. It’s not like my target will fall out of the sky in front of me.
“Jamie!” a voice shouted from overhead.
Adam edged his way around the corner of the building -- in retrospect, a rather important-looking building at that. There were bloodstains on the ground, fresh ones, but strangely no accompanying body. The bizarre sight was only rendered stranger as a Metagross and Heracross lowered several humans to the ground: a well-dressed but bleeding man, a shell-shocked girl, another girl who seemed to be their leader, and--
Adam nearly gasped as a shiver ran down his spine. He knew that face… he’d seen it in the mirror for more than fifteen years.
“We’ll get through this,” the leader said. ‘Jamie’, perhaps? The idiot inventor had been light on details. “Come on.”
Adam found himself focusing once more on the boy following behind them, his crutches doing little to hinder his mobility. The group was about to leave, and Adam wouldn’t -- couldn’t -- let another member of his family wander straight into Flare’s hands. He saw the boy’s eyes widen as he stepped into the light. “Brother.”
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flipz
Technician
Posts: 56
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Post by flipz on Oct 27, 2019 19:10:20 GMT -8
---[Lumiose Streets]---
Before Allen could do more than raise a hand in opposition, a Pokéball burst open in a shower of light, a Persian appearing to interpose herself in front of the attack. A moment later, the Persian’s Trainer landed behind her, arms extended to both sides in a halting gesture. Thin lines glowed across the armored bodysuit’s black surface, complementing the orange visor bearing a luminescent capital ‘E’ on its digital display. Said visor glanced back and forth between the three men. “This party’s over,” a modulated voice announced.
Lohe sloughed his backpack and dropped it next to him. That was annoying, a Normal type. “You are?” he asked, taking note of how hot the coffee still was.
“Essentia,” the figure answered. “Protector of this city. You will cease this violence and come with me.”
Mercury shot an Aura Sphere at her. What?! Jared thought. The fight could have been over!
She was going to arrest us.
You’re a damned lunatic!
Essentia backflipped away, her Persian doing the same in the opposite direction. The Aura Sphere bent to follow, but the dodge was close enough that a flowerpot was its only victim.
Behind the mask, Essentia’s eyes narrowed. “As you wish, then.” With an ultrasonic signal, she directed the Persian to detain the taller man while she herself lunged for the Aura-wielder fist-first. With her other hand, she released her own Crobat to keep an eye on the third combatant, the one with the strange teal eyes.
Allen groaned. This is getting out of hand, he grumbled to himself. Now there are TWO of them!
The Persian paced warily in front of Lohe, not wanting to approach the man, but unwilling to defy orders either. She contented herself with keeping in his path, hoping she wouldn’t be forced to do any more than that.
Nosferatu leaped off of Lohe’s shoulder. He was overjoyed to see another of his kind. Ruthven was fun, but he never liked to race. Maybe this one would. If Lohe but gave the command. Lohe on the other hand, was less excited. This fight was about to get complicated. He could deal with one opponent at a time. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about all the people who he would have to wipe the memories of tonight. But he could sort this out later.
[“Have fun”] Lohe said in his native tongue.
Nosferatu flew up with an ecstatic expression on his face. He flew directly at the other Crobat, before banking towards Allen at the last moment. If the other Crobat accepted his game of “Ring-a-round-the-human” he could distract both the opponent and see who was faster.
Mercury was surprised to see the masked heroine lunging towards him. He brought his own arm up to deflect her blow, but there was still the matter of her momentum crashing into him. With a snarl of rage, he brought his knee up towards her gut and -- in what Jared would later point out was sheer idiocy -- brought his head forward to crash into the front of her visor.
Ruthven was holding back his rage. Poorly. Lohe could faintly feel the sound in his ears, but the audio was out of his hearing range. But Ruthven could hear it. The Noivern was looking right at Essentia. That told Lohe what he needed to know. He patted the Noivern for a moment, bringing Ruthven’s anger down to mere aggravation.
[“Let’s go,”] he said. Ruthven spread his wings, Lohe using the blocked view to vanish from sight. The Noivern took off, and rushed at Essentia. He was going to rip that blasted helmet off of her head. If not him, then Lohe would.
Essentia’s Crobat backpedaled in response to the charge, only to be left hovering confusedly as the other Crobat resumed its assault of irritation. Before he could puzzle out his counterpart’s intentions, however, his target made his move.
Allen was not about to sit back and wait for this do-gooder vigilante to turn on him. Forcing down his urge to murder the Poison-Type plaguing him, he backed up against the building behind him before darting through the shadows back the way he came. With both Crobat immediately assuming pursuit, he paused, gathering his energy -- and leaped.
Mercury’s ill-planned headbutt did little to Essentia’s hardened helmet, though it did give her an idea. She reared her head back to return the favor, only to spot an enraged Dragon-Type sweeping towards her. She hastily abandoned her attempted grip on her silver-haired opponent, instead holding up an arm to defend against the incoming attack. She felt talons digging harshly into her, but the suit still held -- at least for now. She brought up her other arm to fend off the follow-up blow, struggling against the Pokémon’s immense strength as it tried to destroy her helmet.
As he staggered back from the momentum of Essentia’s aborted attack, Mercury spotted Allen moving -- incredibly quickly -- away from the fight. ”No you don’t, fucker!” he roared as he took off after the man, using his aura to launch himself down the alley. Another bloody blade of aura -- large enough to take up the entire alley -- launched from his hand, and he let out a soft gasp. Overexerting a bit, it would seem.
Ruthven let go of Essentia for a moment. His spread his wings and flapped in place. He let out a harsh high pitched screech. It was such a gauche movement, and Ruthven disliked even his own voice. But the wings blocked what little light there was, casting a shadow over Essentia. And his screech served to block what little noise Lohe made as he stepped out of the shadow behind Essentia. His staff was wreathed in shadow, and he made to strike Essentia’s leg, looking to break it.
Lohe’s staff landed on Essentia’s leg with a resounding CRACK that drew the attention of all within the vicinity. As a result, none of the three saw the Aura blade strike Allen, sending the energy vampire cartwheeling comedically through the air like a ragdoll, flung out the end of the alley to land next to a small group of people with a sickening crunch…
---[Lumiose Streets, near President’s Office]---
“Brother,” the stranger repeated, an odd mixture of triumph and concern in his eyes. “What are you doing here? It’s not safe!”
Alex forced themself to swallow, their throat suddenly dry. “I… you’re…”
“Adam Zynthic,” the man said. “And given you aren’t wearing orange, I’m guessing your friends here helped you escape. Well done, that, I might add, you certainly…” Adam trailed off, a flinch of distaste holding him back from continuing his thought. “Well. I suppose opposing Flare is something of a low bar. Still. I’m beyond pleased to see my brother free of their clutches.” He then scowled. “Though less than pleased to see he exists in the first place. I had hoped my rebellion would have ended their project, but it seems I was, unfortunately, mistaken.”
Alex couldn’t decide whether to curl their hands into fists or to simply curl in on themself in shame. They contented themself with clutching the incubator to their chest instead.
Lucia stepped between Adam and the rest of the group. The appearance of another clone was alarming, but it wasn't the most pressing issue at hand. "If you're against Flare, then we're on the same side," she said. "They're acting in full force right now and already killed the president, and we need to catch up with his killer before they hurt anyone else."
“Miss Arthur, I presume,” Adam said, giving Lucia a disdainfully appraising look. “Well. The enemy of my enemy is my ally, I suppose. Team Flare is, unfortunately, the greater foe. But make no mistake, Miss Arthur. My master sent me to deal with you, and the other two meddlers in mortal affairs. I will not shirk the duty appointed to me by the leader of--”
Adam didn’t get to finish the sentence. Pelleas lifted the man off the ground and slammed him to the ground. Jamie had had enough tonight, by the Heracross’s account. He was not going to let this man, whoever he was, to hurt his daughter.
Adam’s Grotle bellowed, immediately jumping to its Trainer’s aid… but, tellingly, the Chimchar and Piplup did not. Neither Pokémon seemed thrilled with the Heracross’ assault on their Trainer, but neither were they willing to intervene -- not given his worsening behavior since his encounter in the Chateau. Whatever positive traits he had once had, they had been long since buried, and harshness and neglect were not traits they would reward with loyalty. They’d rejected Trainers before, and now, it seemed, they were doing so once again.
The tense scene was interrupted by a sickening crunch as another black-haired man flew forth from an alleyway across the street and crashed to the ground next to them. Alex and Adam simultaneously stilled at the sight of the seeming corpse -- only for said “corpse” to suddenly jerk its head up, revealing unnatural eyes with cyan sclera. “Ah,” the man said, “failed weapons. Good. I will put you to a proper purpose.”
Before anyone could react, the man lunged at Adam, one hand fastening tight around his neck while the other slammed into his ribcage. The arrogant Trainer screamed, the sound of unmatched pain dying quickly into a dying gurgle before finally fading away to nothing at all. The intruder shoved the dead body aside and stood, fixing his inhuman gaze upon Alex. “One down. Three to go.”
The man’s advance was halted as a figure appeared in the opposite alleyway with a shout. Cursing, the man whirled and fled, launching himself into the air in the direction of Lumiose Tower before the other newcomers could catch him.
With a snarl, the figure in the long brown coat unleashed another sphere of bloody aura, this one not shining as brightly as it normally would have. Mercury skidded to a stop next to the group that had gone to try and rescue the president. One look at their auras was enough to tell him what he needed to know. ”No time for a full report. That man attacked Sycamore. We drove him off, and now I’m trying to pin him down. Lohe Mahina is here, trying to help, and we’re also trying to avoid some vigilante in a mask. If you see him, point him my way.”
"O-Oh. Okay." Lucia was too stunned to really process Mercury's words or respond. One moment, they had seemed to gain another ally, albeit one with an edge problem; yet just as swiftly as he had been introduced, he had been rendered irrelevant. The whole thing confused her more than anything.
Finally she shook herself out of it. "A-alright, well . . ." She gave a brief rundown of their own mission, pointing in the direction that the evil life-draining vampire had gone. "I think Chalmers ran that way, too. I don't know what they're doing next, but we should probably catch them." Mercury shook his head. “You get your father to safety. I can handle the likes of that vampire and Chalmers.” He paused, then pointed at Jamie. ”If you want to come along though, that’d be a big help. Maybe we can find Dahlia while we’re at it.”
Mercury wasn’t the only one watching Jamie. That feeling… they realized. Once, what felt like a lifetime ago now, they’d seen Jamie and gotten a feeling of wrongness. At the time, they’d written it off as nerves -- a natural reaction, for someone so isolated. Now, though, with two more examples fresh on their mind… Is… could she…? Alex shook their head. It couldn’t be. She looked nothing like them -- or Amy, for that matter. But… if she was, then…
“Jamie?” Alex asked in a small voice, suddenly as fearful now as they had been (still were?) angry. “I… those men. I… it felt like… like back in Celadon… Jamie, are you…?”
The Trainer’s halting question was interrupted by a small but bright flash from something at their side. Alex instinctively pulled Didi’s ball from their belt, but it was not the Antenna Pokémon that had caused it. The flash appeared again, and with widening eyes Alex held up the incubator they’d been given as lights appeared and a soft chime sounded. The Trainer pressed the button to open the device, exposing the egg within; sparks traveled across the egg’s surface, the energy gathering before--
*Crash!*
The more aware amongst the group instinctively ducked as shards of eggshell flew everywhere, revealing a small yellow rodent with a spiky black-tipped ear and a heart-shaped tail amidst the egg’s remains. As Alex watched, the Pichu opened her eyes, a look of fierce determination meeting them rather than the expected fear or confusion. The Electric-type leaped into the air and came down hard on Alex’s shoulder, flicking her ears forward with a commanding squeak; when Alex failed to move forward fast enough for her liking, she retaliated with a miniscule electric shock.
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Post by minun4 on Oct 27, 2019 19:15:06 GMT -8
---[Lumiose Streets]---
Time slowed down as Jamie heard Alex began to ask their question. Alex wasn’t able to finish the sentence, but Jamie was able to fill in the words. The reaction that Alex and the others had when they find out what they were filled Jamie’s mind. The tone of horror in Alex’s voice here matched how they all reacted back then. She was already a murderer, she couldn’t bear to hear what she actually was. Mercury had offered a reason to escape the conversation. Alex was still distracted by the egg hatching. She had to go, now. She clutched onto the hope that Mercury had offered.
“I am going to find Dahlia,” she said quietly as she stood up. Her words were spoken quickly. “I am going to find Dahlia and we can fix Lionel.”
She ran before anyone could stop her. She just had to find Dahlia. Dahlia was a genius hero. She could make Lionel better. And then she wouldn’t be a murderer.
You are already a killer, even if he lives.
Pelleas was surprised by the speed at which Jamie ran away. So much so, that he it took him a moment to realize he needed to run after her. The Buizel had realized first. He was already struggling to move. He collapsed almost immediately though. Pelleas hopped over to the fallen Buizel and picked him up. He needed to chase after Jamie, now, but he also couldn’t abandon the others. He looked towards Tristan and Lucan.
Tristan nodded. Pelleas supported the Buizel as best he could across his arms. He had to get Jamie to retreat the Buizel. He spread his wings and took off after Jamie. Tristan and Lucan then looked to each other. Between the two of them, only Tristan could really be of use trying to get Lionel to safety. As frightening as the thought was, if Lucan could be any use in the fight ahead, then he had to try. The Vanilluxe floated up to Mercury. The best way to catch up to Jamie, would be to follow his directions to the battle.
The two Pokémon who had abandoned their Trainer froze in shock. True, he’d lost their loyalty, but neither of them had anticipated him meeting such a brutal end. The Piplup in particular seemed hardest hit, shaken from her stupor only as a plastic orb rolled against her foot. She glanced down, registering the object as a Pokéball -- hers, in fact. She glanced back up at the humans her former Trainer had approached. Adam had not allowed her out of her ball enough to completely comprehend the speech of humans, but she could at least tell that the girl was going to help the man with the silver hair to chase after the thing that had attacked them. Even as time itself began to slow, she scooped up her ball with a flipper and leaped, snagging the Heracross’ leg with her beak as it passed. She hoped the powerful Bug-type wouldn’t mind her hitching a ride, but she was determined to help, if only a little.
Back with the others, the Chimchar was having similar thoughts. He looked to Adam’s corpse, still guarded by Wiggy, and zeroed in on the two balls still at his belt. He took a step forward, but then hesitated, feeling the large Grass-type’s eyes boring into him. After another moment’s pause, he took another, more defiant step forward, silently daring his mentor to stop him.
The Grotle closed its eyes and sagged. Turning its back on the defiant Fire-type, he nosed at his Trainer’s belt, releasing the balls to bounce on the hard pavement. He rolled one to the Chimchar, whose defiance reverted to nervousness as he clutched the orb protectively to his chest, and then, after several long seconds of consideration, stomped down on the other, crushing the plastic into unrecognizable shards. He let out a snort, and then settled to the ground, waiting for the other humans to hurry up and leave.
Alex looked back and forth between Jamie -- or, more accurately, where Jamie had been -- and Mercury. “I… I’m not even sure what’s happening anymore,” they admitted. “There’s just… it’s been… I can’t…”
The Pichu on their shoulder squeaked in their ear (they winced), and again pointed in the direction it had before -- as it so happened, the same direction Jamie had just gone. She sparked her cheeks, flinching at the unexpected power they’d produced, and let out a string of demands that clearly boiled down to wanting them to go after the… thing that had attacked their… brother? Alex shook their head. The other clone, they told themself. They looked to Mercury. “Mr. Winters,” they said. “I… may not be very strong. I’m still a novice Trainer. And… and I’m not only a product of Team Flare, but a defective one. But even so…” Alex stiffened, firming up their posture into the closest approximation of military bearing they could manage on their crutches. “I still want to help. Let me… let me prove I’m better than what they made me. That I’m not just their weapon to just throw away.” They looked over to Tristan and Audinaga, toward their father’s body, hoping against hope the gentle up-and-down of his chest wasn’t just their imagination. “…Let me take my revenge for what happened to my father.”
Mercury opened his mouth to begin speaking -- and stopped as he felt a tug on the edge of his coat. He looked down and frowned as he saw the Chimchar sitting there, holding its ball up to him. Slowly, he knelt. ”You’re sure about this?” The question was directed at Alex as much as the Chimchar. ”It won’t be easy. I’m strong on my own and even I’m having trouble handling things. You might just die.”
He looked up to lock eyes with Alex as he lifted the Chimchar onto his shoulder. ”You’d be much better off taking care of your father, but…” He thought back to Xander. Maybe the drive, the passion, ran in the family. ”Alright then. It’s not my fault if you get hurt.”
“Before you go,” a voice said, calling out from behind Mercury. Ruthven had landed a short distance away with his wings spread. Lohe Mahina stepped out from behind the Noivern. His face was full of concern. “Do you mind telling me what happened to him?” he asked as he walked closer to Lionel.
Alex opened their mouth to speak, but abruptly snapped it shut, glancing instead down the street in the direction Jamie had fled.
“Chalmers shot him,” Lucia said. “Audinaga was able to close the wound, but he isn’t getting better--I think there’s debris from his Holo Caster in his bloodstream. He’s going to need proper medical help.”
Lohe bent down closer to Lionel. He chose to ignore the slight hesitation in Lucia’s voice when she said that the vice president of the country they were in had shot Lionel. He took a look at the wound himself. It was still bleeding badly. Even with Heal Pulse, it was going to need much more to stop all of the bleeding. If there was one thing Lohe knew, it was how much blood somebody could lose and not die. He didn’t know how long Lionel had been bleeding like this, but he could guess.
“Proper medical help is probably not going to cut it,” Lohe said, his voice was even though his face started to scowl. “How did you let this happen, Lionel?”
Lionel, having passed out from the blood loss, was unable to answer. Alex was forced to speak up. “It… it was because of us.” The Trainer’s tone of voice made the unspoken “really only my fault” obvious. “If… if I hadn’t… if we hadn’t been there…” They shook their head. “He just wanted to keep us safe. There’s nothing more important to Dad than his children.”
Lohe’s face softened from a scowl to a frown born of pity. The tone in Alex’s voice was plain for anyone to hear. But to Lohe it spoke volumes louder than the words themselves did. Even Ruthven, with his hatred of all noise, made a sympathetic whimper to Alex. Lohe thought about what he could do. He did know a way to make something resembling a happy ending to this story. For them at least. If it ever got back to his superiors that he was even considering this, the ensuing punishment for himself let alone...
He took another look at Lionel, still on the verge of death, surrounded by his children. His children whose wish right now was that their father wasn’t dying. He had the punishment at all costs, and yet…
Lohe sighed. He really wished he was the sort of person who could just let someone die.
“There is…” Lohe started, hesitating for a moment. “There is something I could do to guarantee that he’ll live.”
Alex’s head jerked up. “There is…?” They paused, then: “Do it.”
Lohe knew that would cause an immediate reaction, but he wasn’t done yet. “Hold up. If I do this, he will have to endure pain for the rest of his life. It is not easy to live with it. Are you willing to accept if he grows to despise being alive?”
“I honestly don’t think he’s the type to feel that way,” Lucia said. “Whatever it is . . . do it. Please.”
Alex nodded their assent. “If…” They hesitated, remembering something Alma had said to them. They rearranged their words in their head, meeting Lohe’s gaze with their own as they made their promise. “If it’s within my power to ease his pain, I will do what I can to do so.”
Lohe listened to both Lucia’s and Alex’s words. The tone of their voices was clear. “Alright. My first condition is that you are all to leave so I can do this alone, without witnesses. My second condition is that no one tells anyone that I did anything to save him,” he said and turned towards Mercury. “And you’re included in that too.”
Alex hesitated a moment, but nodded. “I’ll just… go, then.” With one last look at Lionel, the Trainer clambered off on their crutches, the little Pichu chirruping excitedly as they finally acquiesced to the little rodent’s demands.
Admittedly Lucia didn’t like the idea of leaving her father with a relative stranger, but Lohe seemed to know Lionel, and if he could save him . . . She nodded.
Mercury gave Lohe a hard look, and nodded. ”Your secret is safe with me, Mahina.”
“Very well,” Lohe said, nodding. “Then all of you, get out of here.”
As they were about to take off after Allen once more, Mercury paused. The dead guy -- the one whose monkey was on his shoulder -- had a Capture Styler on his belt. With a frown, Mercury knelt and took the device, stowing it in his own coat pocket to give to Lachina later.
And then they were off.
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Post by Magical Girl Mimi on Oct 28, 2019 13:59:17 GMT -8
[NPC: Flare Agents - Ambrette Town]
"Just a Scrafty?" One of the Flare goons said in an incredulous tone. "I'll have you know this isn't 'just a Scrafty'. Besides, I'm pretty sure that in the case of Scrafty vs. Shinx, Scrafty would win."
"Are we really doing this?" The other grunt looked at his companion with a blank look. "She doesn't care, it was likely either to rally, or to distract us. Which, if you haven't noticed, you are falling for."
As the silly argument happened, the Druddigon and Scrafty struck out at their respective opponents, more power behind their attacks than a normal Pokémon of their species would have. With it, the first who spoke gave a very arrogant-looking smirk.
"I told you, this isn't 'just a Scrafty'! We've made sure that the claw attacks of these two are top notch, originally for fighting dirty, but--"
"Would you stop chatting with our foe?" The second grunt snapped as he glared at the arrogant man. "If you're so confident, then stop her escape."
The cocky man rolled his eyes and took a step through the lab-turned-battlefield as he approached Lachina, gun in hand.
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Post by minun4 on Oct 28, 2019 14:37:59 GMT -8
IC: Claus Diamond/Richard Apollo/Zack Furler/Taylor Beryl - Sunyshore City
A run down motel was not the backdrop that Claus expected for a conversation with someone who once ran an organization that spanned the Sinnoh region. Claus didn’t know where he had expected to meet Cyrus, but a motel was not it. Richard almost looked disappointed for a moment that the meeting was gonna be in a motel lobby. He’d have to get creative to make this worth writing about. But at least he’d have the conversation on record.
Ostensibly, the meeting was between Claus and Cyrus. If one was spying on the meeting, they could be forgiven for thinking that this was a confrontation between Zack and his uncle. The two had their eyes firmly locked on each other. Both mens’ faces seemed hardly capable of expressing intense emotion. But a vague feeling of frustration emanated from both of them.
Richard, if he was even aware of the tension in the room, seemed completely oblivious to it as he set up the recording device. He hummed a song to himself, occasionally adding in impromptu lyrics describing the process of working the device.
“Alright, we’re set,” Richard said, giving Claus a thumbs-up.
Claus coughed for a moment to grab Cyrus’s attention. By the lack of movement from Cyrus’s head, he guessed that didn’t work.
“Um, excuse, Mr. Cyrus, sir?” Claus stammered out awkwardly. “Do you know where my d- I mean, the location of Liberty Agent Lucas Diamond.”
Taylor cleared her throat as she attempted to draw attention to herself in order to help Claus out. "Or Barry Pearl. The two were inseparable when they were kids - until you and your goons wreaked havoc around the region - so since Barry is missing now… perhaps you might know where he is?"
Cyrus looked from Claus to the impudent Taylor. "I do not know where Pearl is," The older man started, keeping his eyes trained on the golden-haired woman as if expecting an attack. "Nor do I know where Diamond is currently. I have not seen Pearl since that day on Mount Coronet. However, Diamond left but a few days ago. I do not know where to." Cyrus glanced back to Claus as he finished his sentence, an unspoken question about whether they could leave hung in his glance.
That close. If Claus had summoned the courage sooner, he would’ve met his father. “I see,” Claus said, deflated. Claus was about to open his mouth to ask another question, when Richard began to interject.
“Real quick, what about Dawn Platinum Berlitz? What about Champion Cynthia? Oh and Charon! I heard Jupiter opened up a Gym in Sinnoh recently, but we really haven’t been able to keep up with where any other members of Team Galactic have ended up, and we really need multiple accounts for this sort of thing,” Richard said before he paused for a breath.
Claus sighed before smiling. Here he was terrified of the man, and Richard just asks the question he wanted to ask without breaking a sweat.
Cyrus shook his head at the mention of all of the people that Richard brought up. "No, I do not know where any of them are." He paused for a moment. "Hold on… Dawn you say…" The blue-haired man seemed lost in thought. "I heard that she went to the abandoned headquarters in Veilstone City."
"What?" Taylor asked with a frown as she looked up. "Why would she do that?"
"There was someone that she said she needed to meet. But more importantly…" Cyrus appeared to hesitate for a second. "She went to look up information on the Red Chain."
Richard looked puzzled by the term. “Red Chain? Could you elaborate on what that is?” he asked.
Cyrus looked at Richard for a moment, before realizing that he was genuinely confused. "The Red Chain is a device I invented to summon and control Dialga and Palkia without the use of Poké Balls. It did not work thanks to the intervention of Giratina." He seemed lost in thought. "I do not know why she would go to investigate it, but I would hope it would be to destroy any of the research remaining."
Zack opened his mouth, the first time since the meeting started. “If I may chime in. The first time I spoke with Dawn was before the destruction of Nova. She seemed concerned that someone was trying to use the Creation Trio, somehow. She wasn’t clear on who at the time. I thought she meant Team Galactic remnants at the time.”
"You could've mentioned that a little earlier, you know." Taylor said as she glanced over to Zack and crossed her arms. "Wouldn't that be a little bit of important information?"
Zack nodded. “My apologies. After the events of Nova, I thought the problem... took care of itself. But if she is still looking into it, then possibly she is afraid someone else is still looking into using the Creation Trio’s power. Perhaps-” Zack cut himself off and shook his head. “No, nevermind.”
Claus’s eyes were lit up. Even if the information turned out to be out of date, it was still a lead. And that was more than what Claus had expected from this trip. “You wouldn’t still happen to have any of the keys to that place, would you?” Claus asked. “I’d like to go search there for clues.”
"I do not. I have been in another world for the past twenty years at the least, I presume that Saturn would have the intellect to change the locks at least once, considering that we had intruders a number of times immediately before I went to Mount Coronet."
Zack managed to say, “It wasn’t immediately abandoned, so I would think that’s-” before Richard cut him off.
“Wait, before we change topics. This ‘another world,’ what was it like?” Richard said, his eyes shining with the light of an excitable child.
"It is a distorted realm, where Giratina resides. I cannot describe it well, for it is hard to even comprehend. Picture walking on walls, or waterfalls that flow upward, and you will only begin to comprehend a fraction of the way the realm is." Cyrus fell quiet as he closed his eyes. "It is what I consider a perfect realm."
Richard began to tap a soft beat as Cyrus spoke. The images conjured by Cyrus’s description arranged themselves into lyrics. Claus could see the gears turning through Richard’s head.
“A per-fect realm,” Richard said, subconsciously keeping each syllable on a beat. “If it’s perfect, why did you leave?”
"I was removed from the world and sent back here shortly before all Pokémon lost their powers." Cyrus said after a moment of deliberation. "I do not know why, though I have a theory the two things are related."
“Oh?” Richard said. “Please explain.”
"I cannot be certain, but it almost seemed like Giratina sensed something could go wrong around that time. They could have decided that it was safer for me here." Cyrus closed his eyes. "Which is why I enlisted the aid of a former Team Galactic member to try and track down at least Giratina's chosen hero, in an attempt for me to return to the Distortion World."
Zack turned away as Cyrus said his piece. He said nothing, but it was clear to Claus that what Cyrus had said did not make Zack happy. On the other hand, Richard seemed elated by what Cyrus had said. At least, if the smile and the hand that was unconsciously conducting were any indication. For his part, Claus was satisfied with the lead he had gotten. He didn’t need to drag this out any longer.
“Well, Mr. Cyrus. Thank you for answering our questions. We have what we need, so I think we are good to wrap this up,” Claus said.
Richard stopped conducting and turned towards Claus. “Wait, I’m not done. I need a bit more time for a few more questions.”
“How many more questions do you have?” Claus asked.
Richard started counting on his fingers. When he ran out of fingers and was still counting, Claus had the answer he needed. “I am going to take Zack and Taylor and pick up Hades, if that’s alright with you.”
“Kaaay,” Richard said, and with a grin turned back towards Cyrus.
Claus signaled Taylor and Zack to follow him. Zack stood up. Before moving to leave with Claus he said, “It was good to see you again,” to Cyrus.
Cyrus stayed quiet as if trying to figure out how best to react to that. "I concur." He said after a long moment. He seemed to be honestly meaning that, although not knowing what the words to say were.
Silence hung in the air for only a moment. The moment ended when Richard began to launch into his many questions for Cyrus. With that, the others took it as their cue to leave.
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Post by unknownmercury on Oct 28, 2019 17:06:20 GMT -8
-==Carrie==-
Carrie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I've been immortal since the whole ordeal in Geosenge. Does wonders for the aging process. I was always planning to take over the gym here, it was always just a matter of when."
She grinned wickedly. "You think you've done something pretty outstanding here, right? You think you've stopped me and that's it? Children, you have no clue. Tonight there's a gala being held in Prism Tower. Most of the gym leaders will be there, and a bunch of political types, too. And our secret weapon has already been unleashed. I bet they're all dying as we speak."
IC: Mercury - Prism Tower, Lumiose City, Kalos
Mercury rounded the corner after his quarry and paused. Allen was standing in front of the tower that could be seen from almost anywhere in town. Judging from the lights, some event was going on up top. Oh well, not his concern. The aura wielder swept towards Allen, who was no longer running. The... clone, or whatever, was standing there, staring Mercury down.
The hunter stopped a fair distance away -- the distance one might normally keep if there were a Pokémon battle taking place, and planted his feet. His brown coat billowed behind him as he reached for Styx's ball. Before he could grab it, however, a different ball opened. The Froakie that Jared had named Raiden appeared and rushed towards the clone with a fierce croak.
Not one to be left out of the action, the Chimchar jumped from Mercury's shoulder and joined the Froakie in advancing on Allen. Mercury scowled. These two were too weak, too young and inexperienced to pose a threat--
His thoughts were cut short as both began to glow with a white energy. Mercury chuckled softly as the two evolving Pokémon quickly approached the life draining clone.
-==James Cruize==-
Inigo shook his head and James cursed. Wherever Dahlia was, it wasn't anywhere Inigo could find her. They had checked the Looker Bureau, as well as the hospital, the two targets Dahlia and her team were supposed to handle, only to find that the group had been and gone long before.
Dahlia was nowhere to be found. "Dammit. Dammit!" He slammed a fist against the wall of the hospital. His sister and his daughter were hurt, maybe dying, Alex Lockwood was injured, and only Dahlia stood a chance of undoing any of it. "Can you find anyone who might know where she is? Her sister, or that Klim guy? Hell, even--"
Winters is nearby, as are the Zythers. Inigo's voice was reassuring after so long without his telepathy.
"Take me to them," James orderd. Inigo nodded and took off. Shere Khan, bearing his master's weight on his back, followed closely.
IC: Lachina Adaon - Ambrette Fossil Lab
Samson cried out as the claws tore through fur and skin. Lachina winced. "You have to be pretty twisted in the head to do something like that!" As the gun-wielding agent approached around the desk, Lachina scrabbled for something, anything, to use as a weapon. Her hand came down on a heavy stone paperweight. With a sigh of resignation, she jumped to her feet, using the momentum to power a throw, aiming the paper weight for the goon's torso.
Rule one of a fight, Jared's words echoed in her mind. Never go for the head. In melee, the head is too bony, too protected, and you can hurt yourself just as badly as you hurt them. If ranged, the head is a small target and easy to miss. Go for the chest and stomach first, or the arms and legs if you have a good shot.
As the paperweight soared through the air, rule two came into mind. Obstruct their path, trip them, do whatever you can to slow them down. She hooked her leg around the rolling chair behind the desk and kicked it towards the agent as well.
Okay, rule three. Be aggressive and unpredictable. She started to pull the pin on her capture styler to send the top-like device out.
Samson had retreated from the Scrafty again, leading it away from Lachina this time. With a soft growl, it lunged at the Scrafty with its own claws extended. Aolani, likewise, was fighting back against the Druddigon with beak and claw, letting out a fierce battlecry as she did.
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Post by Konuju on Oct 29, 2019 15:19:25 GMT -8
IC: Ryan Sanders/Zoe Llyan - Streets, Anistar CityZoe laughed at the Flare woman. "The joke's on you, mademoiselle. We've got friends taking down your buddies in Lumiose as we speak, just like we took you down. Flare's rule ends tonight!" Ryan fell back a few paces behind the rest of the group and dialed Sonja's number. "Hey, the situation in Anistar's under control. Some of the Flare goons escaped, but we captured the one leading the attack and are bringing her to the police now. She gave us some intel about a gala in Prism Tower being part of Flare's plan. Could you relay that information to Chloe and Ray?" IC: Shannon Willows/Yamamoto Aori - Hotel, Olivine City“I’m sorry,” the clerk said, shaking her head sadly. “He left just yesterday, and he didn’t leave any forwarding information. I would give you his contact information, but he said he didn’t have a phone with him.” Aori nodded softly. “We left so fast, he only had time to grab his Pokémon and his sword,” she said to Shannon. To the clerk, she said, “Thank you, anyways…” “There is one more thing, though. He stayed for a few days, but he always went out in the morning before breakfast. When I asked him, he said he was going to pay respects to family. I know it’s not much, but maybe you can find out something at the cemetery?” Shannon thanked the clerk, and waited until they had left the hotel before addressing Aori. "Do you know of any family you had in Olivine?" she asked. "Aunts, uncles, or grandparents?" She hadn't considered the possibility that Aori might have extended family. If any of them were still alive, perhaps it would be best to leave Aori in their care. The thought was hopeful, to say the least. But along with it crept a question Shannon didn't want to ask: what would she do after helping Aori? When she had first agreed to help Ryan find this girl, she had entertained thoughts of starting a family. Ryan as the strong and passionate father, herself as the doting and caring mother, and Aori as their sweet, adoptive child. It was a foolish fantasy, one that could never come to pass. Where would she go, now that she had awoken from her dream? Her home in Celadon was destroyed. Stacy was dead. And she wouldn't dare go back to Four Island with her mother. She turned her eyes toward Aori. The girl had lost both her mother and father, but perhaps it was Shannon who was truly lost. “Papa used to say that our family was from Johto, before Grandpa moved to One Island. When Grandpa died, Papa sent him back here on a boat.” The girl blinked. “Oh. I probably should have remembered that sooner. I am sorry, Shannon.” She felt silly for forgetting, and doing so meant that she had missed finding her parents again. She squeezed Shannon’s hand. "No, that's fine. You don't have to apologize for that." Shannon fell quiet as she mulled over this new information. "We can still look around the cemetery. It's not much to go on, but it's all we've got right now. Do you know your grandfather's name? Is he a Yamamoto?" Aori nodded softly. “Yamamoto Hayato was Papa’s father, yes.” She looked around. “Which way is the cemetery?” Shannon pulled up the map on her Pokégear. "Looks like it's . . ." She took a moment to orient herself on the map. "That way." *** The Yamamoto family, as it turned out, had a rather sizable section of the cemetery devoted to it. The middle of the plot was a small shrine-like building in which one could light incense and offer prayers and respects to ancestors. Smaller stone shrines surrounded the building, each bearing a name or two. Aori looked around with wide eyes as she tried to count all the stone shrines and failed to get the same number for the third time. “I did not know there were so many,” she said quietly. "Your family's much bigger than I thought," Shannon agreed. "And much wealthier," she added under her breath. There was something impressive about seeing all of Aori's ancestors honored and remembered in such a way. For her part, Shannon couldn't plot the Willows family tree past her grandfather. Not that she wanted anything to do with her parents, anyway. But she couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Aori had such a rich family history. It was almost as if the stone shrines were there to comfort Aori, to show her that even without her father, she was not alone. A sudden thought forced its way into Shannon's mind. "Say, Aori." She knelt down next to the girl. "Have you or your papa ever prayed to your ancestors for guidance?" Shannon had never really believed in communing with the deceased. The dead had left this world, as far as she was concerned. But having grown up in Ecruteak, she was at least familiar with the tradition of praying to one's ancestors. Aori shook her head. “We prayed for their peace in death, and Papa sometimes visited the shrine alone when bad things happened, but he never took me with him then.” She smiled a bit, eyes watering. “Do you think they would help us if we asked them for guidance finding Papa and Mama?” "I don't know," Shannon admitted. "But I think it's worth a try." If she was being perfectly honest, she didn't think anything would come of it. But at the moment they didn't have any other leads. If the Yamamoto ancestors couldn't point them in the right direction, she honestly didn't know what they would do. Shannon forced herself to smile. "I've never really done this before. Praying to ancestors, that is. Do you think you could show me how it's done?" Aori nodded, stepping up into the larger shrine. “We’re supposed to burn incense for it, but it should be okay…” Quietly, she knelt in front of the shrine’s small altar, sitting back on her heels. Once Shannon moved to sit in the same position by her, Aori put her hands together and closed her eyes. “Honored ancestors…” She paused, clearly weighing her words. “Please grant us guidance as we look for my parents. I miss them, and want to find them soon, so please help us to do so.” She opened her eyes and glanced at Shannon. The older girl hesitated for a moment before clearing her throat. "Honored ancestors of Yamamoto Aori. I have no right to be making requests, but most humbly I implore thee . . . Please guide us in our search for Aori's parents. We don't know where else to look. Please, give us a sign . . ." Shannon peeked her eyes open and glanced at Aori. "Was that alright?" she whispered. Aori nodded. “I think so…” As she was starting to rise to her feet, something flew between the pair, narrowly missing. As Aori yelped and fell back onto her heels, the object spun to the left and flew back past them. From her shoulder, Donguri made a noise like a growl and hopped down to the floor of the Shrine. Aori scrambled to her hands and knees and turned to see what had attacked them. Standing in the entrance to the shrine was a small stout creature, wielding a bone in one hand and wearing a cracked skull as a helmet. The Cubone shifted its stance, holding the bone club out in front of it with both hands. Shannon crouched low to the ground, eyes trained on the Cubone's weapon. "It's acting very territorial," she said quietly. "Maybe it lives here?" She slowly rose to her feet, careful not to startle the creature. "We don't mean you any trouble," she told the Cubone in a calm voice. "In fact, we were just about to leave." The Pokémon growled softly at Shannon, its grip tightening on the club. Aoir frowned. “Do you live here, Kenshi-san?” The Cubone shifted its glare to the girl and nodded once, firmly. Aori looked around, taking in the cemetery with its rows and rows of shrines and markers. “Are there others like you who live here?” A shake of the head, and Aori bit her lip. “What about your Mama and…” She trailed off as the creature shook its head again. “You live alone… without a family?” Another nod, and Aori nodded as well. “We’re looking for my family right now. This is my ancestors’ shrine. We were asking them for help finding my Mama and Papa…” The tears came again to her eyes, and she tried to wipe them away. The Cubone’s stance softened a little, its bone club lowering a fraction. It cast a look at Shannon, not as heated as it had been a second ago, but it still seemed guarded. Shannon offered a smile at the Cubone. "If you want to come with us, you're more than welcome to. Of course if you'd rather stay here, I completely understand. You don't get too many people around here, so it's not a bad place to . . ." her voice trailed off as her eyes grew wide. "Did you happen to see a man here earlier?" she asked, trying not to startle the Cubone with her excitement. "He would have been praying at this exact shrine." The Cubone tilted its head in thought, then nodded. Aori chewed her lip. “That was my Papa,” she said to the creature. “He is very strong and very brave and kind…” The Cubone nodded again, patting its stomach with one hand. “Would you like to come with us, Kenshi-san?” There was a pause, and then the creature nodded again. As Aori smiled and took a step forward, it shifted back into its fighting stance, a fierce determination in its eyes. Aori stopped short, blinking. “I… You want to battle before you come with us?” Yet another nod. Aori cast a look at Shannon. “I’m not a strong fighter,” she said quietly. “Shannon, can I try to battle with him?” "You shouldn't have to battle if you want to come with us," Shannon told the Cubone. The lonely Pokémon gave no sign of relenting. With a defeated sigh, Shannon nodded to Aori. "Yeah, you can battle. Just be careful. Your ancestors wouldn't like it if I let something bad happen to you on their turf." She stepped back to monitor the fight, clutching Selena's Pokéball in her hand.
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