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Post by Konuju on Jan 19, 2020 18:30:02 GMT -8
IC: Ryan Sanders - Pale Horse Manor, Terminus Mountain Ryan glanced at the other members of Vorhut. He didn't want to say it out loud, but he had a feeling that if Vertrag could locate Pale Horse Manor, the AI should be able to locate the Symbol of Pestilence as well.
Of course, that still left the issue of retrieving the Symbol of Famine from Liberty custody. Would Liberty's remaining leaders really just hand over the artifact to Ford's mentor? If not, they would have to steal it. Forming Vorhut had already been an act of rebellion against both Liberty and Rocket leadership, but outright stealing Ford's cane from custody would be seen as undeniable treason. There would be no going back from that.
But at the same time, they needed the Signs to take down the Missing Zero. Would their newfound allies not be more powerful with their own artifacts in their possession?
Either way, Ryan didn't want to make the decision for everyone else. "I have no objections," he told Vorhut. "But we're in this together. What do you all think?"
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Post by Parugi on Jan 21, 2020 16:08:42 GMT -8
IC - Sonja Baron/Kyle Eston/Emmerich Coleman/Clue/Gethin Pollux - Pale Horse Manor, Terminus Mountain:
There were a few brief moments of consultation between the other five members of Vorhut. Finally, despite a clear look of silent uncertainty in her eyes, Sonja looked back at Ryan and Clue and nodded.
The Signs Leader smiled, leaning back in her seat. "I believe our deal is made, then," she said. "Pollux will take the Grimoire and get to work immediately. How long it will take to procure a solution is, of course, unknown, but rest assured that if there is one to be found, we will find it."
With a snap of her fingers, the High Mage moved forward again, descending the steps. He approached Sonja. With a steeled gaze, she held out the Grimoire, allowing him to take it. Pollux took hold of it, giving what could only be described as a reverent bow to the Liberty Agent before turning and moving back to stand beside Clue. Another of Clue's guards approached Kyle, accepting the Symbol of War from him and then moving back into place.
Clue glanced again at both items. She rested her chin on her palm, peering down at the group. Despite her generally-intense demeanor, there was an amused, almost playful spark in her eye. "All else being said, I do sincerely commend you for this exchange. It is rare that I hear good news around here," Clue said to her visitors. "If there is nothing else that you wish to discuss, then I suppose we will be in touch once we have something for you--and hopefully soon you will have more for me, as well. You may provide the best means of communication to Renarde on your way out."
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Post by minun4 on Jan 22, 2020 12:03:26 GMT -8
IC: James Arthur - Alamo
“I would like to give my report on my last mission if you would not mind delivering it to Silvermind for me,” James said. “I secured the cooperation of the Aether Foundation, as well as that of a renowned scientist named Colress. Both of them would be major boons to the further development of the power suits.”
“I would also suggest not making any information public that would jeopardize these relationships before they are finalized.”
“There was also an incident involving an assault on Tapu Bulu by people with strange abilities. It is not exceptionally relevant to our current predicament. But my report would be incomplete without at least mentioning it.”
IC: Claus Diamond/Taylor Beryl - Veilstone Galactic HQ
“I’ll stick with you. It’s not like I have any better ideas on what to look for,” Taylor replied.
Claus nodded. “I think we should catch up to Richard, then. He’s at least motivated to look for something in particular at least. We’d probably stand a better chance of finding what we’re looking for while he’s looking for what he’s looking for. Did you see which way he went?”
Taylor pointed towards the hall to the right, “Yeah, he went that way.”
“Alright.”
The pair hurried to turn the corner to catch up with Richard. They turned the corner only to find a dead end.
“Richard definitely went this way, right?” Claus said, confused.
“Yes, I know I saw him go this way.”
There was a large circular tile on the ground, but no doors or any other exit to the hall they were in.
IC: Richard Apollo/Hades - Veilstone Galactic HQ
Richard and Hades appeared in a glow of light, and promptly landed faced face first on the ground. Richard took that in better stride than Hades did. The floor panel beneath them slowly dimmed as the pair picked themselves up.
“That was fun,” Richard said. Teleporting was fun. He needed a teleporter. “Can we do that again?”
Hades tapped the floor panel again. That’s what triggered it last time. It stayed silent and dark.
“Hmm, that’s weird. It worked one way but not the other. Straaange.” Richard scratched his chin for a moment. “Well, no point in wasting time here,” he said and began walking forward.
Hades took one more look at the floor panel before leaving with Richard.
“It’s not like anyone else is here,” he said, a statement which only left Hades more worried.
Richard’s statement was quickly disproven when they turned a corner and appeared upon a quite unfriendly looking Mawile. The Mawile ripped a door of its hinges with its massive mouth, and tossing it at Richard. Hades leaped into the way of the door, taking the blow for Richard.
“...Okay, this is a problem.”
IC: Zack Furler - Galactic Warehouse
The first thing that Zack noticed was wrong was the door. The giant tear in it was not something one could easily overlook. It was something he planned to do if he couldn’t find an entrance.
Did Platinum do this? he thought as he entered through the opening.
The place looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time. Most things of value had probably been taken already. If not by Galactic or Platinum, then by opportunistic looters. Even so, there were plenty of large steel crates about the place. It was probably a waste of time to search them, but he couldn’t be sure.
He popped Predator’s Poke Ball onto the ground. The Staraptor came out of the ball and looked towards Zack for instruction.
“Search for anything that has been disturbed recently. I am gonna look for the back entrance to the base.”
Predator took wing and began to fly around the warehouse, while Zack turned to look for an exit. Splitting up the group had seemed like a good idea a few minutes ago, but he was getting a sinking feeling. He decided he wanted to find a way to reunite with the others quickly if it came to that.
It didn’t take long for him to find the back exit. A second smashed door. But this door was different. It was far thicker than what the door to the warehouse had been. Remnants of it lay strewn about. There were tears in it, like a single powerful claw had dug into it.
Did a Pokemon do this, without powers? Zack thought, becoming a bit more puzzled and a lot more worried.
He grabbed onto Rager’s Poke Ball as he stepped through the broken door. There was just enough room for the Gyarados to fit in hallway. Powers or not, no one wanted to be on the business end of those fangs. Zack had made it a brief way in when he heard something. The slight movement of gears. When he registered what it was, he turned around to run back the way he came, but it was too late.
A gate nearly slammed down on him. He had to leap back to avoid being crushed. When he turned around, a second gate closed, blocking the path forward.
“Predator!” he yelled banging on the gate that blocked his path back.
There was no response. The Staraptor couldn’t hear him. He was trapped. But there was still one thing he could do. He pulled out another Poke Ball. A Duskull popped out of this one.
“Dusty, I need you to find Ectoplasma. He’s in the base somewhere,” he said pointing towards the other gate. “I need Ectoplasma to lift these gates for me.”
The Duskull nodded and drifted back towards the other gate. In a few moments he was gone.
“What’s going on up there?” Zack said.
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Post by Konuju on Jan 25, 2020 7:58:09 GMT -8
IC: Ryan Sanders/Dahlia Seaton - Vertrag "Alright, let's try this again." Ryan sat on the edge of his bed, looking between his two newest Pokémon. "Simba, this is Howler. Howler, Simba. Now, this is just a thought, but I was hoping the two of you could be frie--" The Litleo let loose a hiss and pounced on Howler, causing the Poochyena to yelp and back away in fear of his own life. "Okay, maybe that was just wishful thinking." Ryan sighed as he stared at the ragged Litleo. Thanks to the Dendemille Pokémon Center the once-stray lion cub no longer looked like it was on the edge of death, but it still looked dangerously frail.
Howler hopped up onto the bed, barking defensively at Simba, which only served to egg the lion on. Ryan found himself inwardly grateful that these Pokémon hadn't regained their power yet, or else his room would probably be in shambles. And on fire.
"Okay, tell you what." Ryan stood up and walked over to the door, deftly dodging the Litleo's swipe at his legs. "Let's go get some food, alright? I think we're all hungry, and that's just making everyone a bit more irritable than normal."
The moment they stepped into the kitchen, Ryan froze. Dahlia Seaton was standing at the counter, placing something into what looked like a plastic box of dirt. Upon Howler's bark, Dahlia looked up and squeaked in surprise. Simba started charging toward her, and Ryan desperately tackled the Litleo before it could pounce on Dahlia. In all the commotion, the box Dahlia had been working with fell, scattering its contents all over the floor.
"Sorry about that!" Ryan cried as he tried to hold the Litleo still. "Simba's just a little hungry, that's all."
"A little?" Dahlia took a cautious step backward, eyeing the feisty lion cub. "It looks like you haven't fed that poor thing in a month!"
Even though he knew he wasn't at fault, her accusation still stung. "I've only . . . had him for . . . a few days!" Ryan hastily clamped a hand around one of Simba's paws before he could dig his claws into his arm. "A little . . . help here?" he cried. "Grab some food, anything!"
A few minutes later, Simba was ravenously devouring a slab of meat in the corner while Howler warily nibbled on some puppy chow in the opposite corner. With that crisis taken care of, Ryan and Dahlia worked together to clean up the dirt that had spilled. "I'm um, sorry about that," Dahlia said, keeping her eyes trained on the floor. "You all just kind of came charging in at once, and I--"
"No, it's my fault." Ryan paused from cleaning to look over at his two Pokémon. "I shouldn't have let that Litleo run loose when I knew I couldn't control him. Poor guy was part of the same poaching ring we encountered in Keturi. He's a handful, but I couldn't just leave him there."
"That's sweet of you." Dahlia kept her head down, but Ryan though he saw a smile on her face. "But you're right, it's probably not a good idea to let him run loose in your super secret base when he's not used to people yet."
"Yeah . . ." An awkward silence fell between them. Ryan chewed his lip. "So um . . . what were you doing with all this dirt, anyway?"
"O-oh, I was just making a kitchen garden." Dahlia scooped up a handful of dirt and held it out for Ryan to see. Amidst the soil, several tiny seeds rested in her hand. "Just some basic herbs and small vegetables. I thought it'd make the place look more homey."
Ryan stifled a laugh. "I can't wait to see the look on Ford's face when we tell him we made his base more homey."
Dahlia pursed her lips. "Hey, it's practical, too! Home-grown vegetables are actually healthier that store-bought ones. Or than Vertrag-made ones, I'm guessing."
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Ryan sighed. "That's very thoughtful of you. And sorry again about Simba. I can, um, help you plant these again if you'd like."
"O-oh, you don't have to do that," Dahlia said hastily.
The two lapsed into another silence. Finally, Ryan took a deep breath. "Look, Dahlia. We need to talk."
The gardener slowly looked at him. ". . . We are talking."
Ryan grimaced. "No, I mean . . . We need to talk about us."
Dahlia dropped her eyes back to the floor. "What is there to talk about?"
"This." Ryan motioned to the space between them. "This . . . awkwardness between us." He sighed. "Gluttony showed up again. And he forced me to take another hard look at myself. I know I already apologized to you once, but . . . will you just hear me out?"
Dahlia closed her eyes in a moment of contemplation. "Tell you what. Help me replant these seeds, and we can talk. But only if you'll hear me out, too."
Ryan allowed himself a smile. "Sounds like a deal."
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Post by minun4 on Jan 25, 2020 22:07:47 GMT -8
IC: Claus Diamond/Taylor Beryl - Veilstone Galactic Base
Claus and Taylor were moving with purpose. They don’t know how Richard disappeared when he went into a dead end, but they knew it couldn’t have been good. Claus already had Flint out, just in case. The Monferno ran ahead of them to check that was nothing dangerous.
Which meant that it was the Monferno who was caught by the giant tongue, and dragged down a hall.
“Flint!” Claus yelled, already pulling another Poke Ball and running at full speed after him.
“Wait!” Taylor yelled as Claus pulled away. She ran to follow but it was too late. A gate slammed down separating Claus from Taylor. She looked towards the Rotom that had been following them.
“Ectoplasma, I need you to raise this door,” Taylor told the Rotom.
The Rotom buzzed his affirmation and phased into the wall. Unlike the door at the entrance, this door was actively trying to stay shut. It would take a bit of time for him to raise the door. Time it turned out that Taylor didn’t have. A Tangrowth stepped out from behind a corner, its eyes glaring at Taylor. Without any better options, Taylor pulled out her Poke Balls, ready for a fight.
On the other side of the wall, Claus paused briefly when the door came down. But as the Lickilicky kept moving away, Claus chased after him. Flint was struggling in his tongue, trying to free himself. He maneuvered his tail, the one source of fire he had, to singe the Lickilicky’s tongue. The burn was enough to loosen the Lickilicky’s tongue just enough for Flint to free himself.
Claus allowed himself a sigh of relief as Flint hurried back to him. He threw Lucas’s Poke Ball onto the ground. The Cubone and Monferno lined up to face the Lickilicky, who was not looking happy about the tongue burn.
“Okay, let’s get him guys.”
IC: Richard Apollo - Veilstone Galactic Base
Richard was having some issues. Physically, Hades probably wasn’t the best match for the Mawile on a one on one confrontation. It seemed strong, and without power, the best the Sableye could do. Unfortunately, the halls were not large enough to have multiple of his heavier hitters out at once. So he chose Dionysus to face the Mawile on his own.
That wasn’t going well.
Dionysus was trying to squash the Mawile under his weight. But the Mawile was not having it. With her massive maw, she was doing quite at pushing Dionysus back when he was trying to throw his weight onto her.
Richard rubbed his violin case. He was trying to think of a strategy. He had few notes to work with. There wasn’t any room to escape. Oceanus couldn’t fit in the hall when Dionysus was out. Something small could though. Something small.
Richard opened the violin case. He thought of a song for the occasion. He couldn’t start playing yet though.
“Hades,” Richard said. “Could you go look for Claus while we’re tied up here? I’d like to try something. Don’t worry about the Mawile, you can go right past her.”
The Sableye looked slightly concerned for Richard, but if he could find Claus, they’d have numbers on their side. He nodded to Richard and ran out to try and get past the Mawile.
When the Mawile saw the Sableye try to slip on by, she threw all of her might into trying to lift the Snorlax. She intended to use him as a giant fat filled rock to toss at Hades. But right as she managed to lift him, a small red ball rolled right up to her foot. By the time she realized what it was, the contents spilled themselves into the open.
Oceanus made a mad dash to move as quickly as possible. As soon as he formed out of the Poke Ball, the Mawile was going to lose her balance. And he wanted to be clear of the falling giant before that happened. Dionysus’s face went from scared shock to happy shock as his weight came crashing down on the Mawile.
By the look of the Mawile lifting the Snorlax from beneath him, the fight was not anywhere near done yet. But they had gotten a good hit in. And that was something Richard decided, as he put his bow to the string of his violin.
IC: Dusty - Galactic Veilstone Base
Even when you could phase through walls, this building was built like a labyrinth. Dusty phased through walls and floor, looking for anyone. Preferably Claus, but any of the others would do.
As he phased through a wall, he came into contact with a shape. It was not one of the others. Dusty looked up at the figure he had bumped into. It had noticed him, turning to face him. The Duskull greatly began to regret his situation when he stared into the fangs of the Garchomp right before him.
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Post by Konuju on Jan 26, 2020 6:13:09 GMT -8
IC: Ryan Sanders/Alex Lockwood - Hospital, Dendemille Town Ryan took a deep breath and stepped through the door, announcing his presence with a small knock. Alex Lockwood smiled at him from the hospital bed. His arm was wrapped up in a bandage, and he had a second bandage wrapped around his forehead, but other than that he appeared fine.
"Hey," Alex said with a surprised smile. "Long time no see, Sanders. What are you doing here?"
"I could say the same to you, buddy." Ryan took a seat by the bed, doing his best to hide his concern. "I was looking for help against the Missing Zero, when I heard you guys were having trouble with Flare. Of course, I didn't know you were part of the group at the time."
"Trouble?" Alex gave a hearty laugh, which quickly turned into a wince. "They gave us no trouble at all. We had it handled."
"Yes, I can see that." Ryan nodded at his friend's bandaged arm.
"A minor mishap." Alex shrugged. "I guess Flare had some sort of mind control device or something. Used it on my cousin, made her attack us. I keep telling her it wasn't her fault, but . . ." For the first time, Alex dropped his cheerful facade and let worry spread across his face. He shook his head. "So were you able to find it?"
Ryan tilted his head in confusion.
"Help against that Missing Whatever," Alex said. "Did you find it?"
"Oh. Yeah, I think so." Ryan bit his lip. Alex was a friend, but he wasn't sure how much he wanted to share about the nature of their help. After all, Alex had been with him when they saw the Shadowed Man taunting Blackskull over Bluefalcon's death. The Shadowed Man's mentors weren't exactly the most ideal source of help. "Time will tell how much they'll be able to help. Anyway, what have you been up to? I haven't seen you since . . . Unova, I think."
If the obvious change of subject bothered Alex, he chose not to show it. "I needed a break," he said with a sigh. "I went back to Sunyshore before visiting my cousin in Laverre. I mean, to be honest, I joined Team Liberty because Team Rocket destroyed my life. I guess with the ceasefire, I needed some time to reevaluate. Especially after hearing what happened to Jake, and seeing everything that happened in southeast Unova. I just wish things could go back to the way they were, you know?"
"I get what you mean." Ryan thought back to how Rocket had arrested his parents on the pretense that they had been aiding Team Liberty. For the briefest of moments he considered telling Alex about Vorhut. But he knew he should consult with Sonja and the others before just inviting random people into their splinter group. "So how's the arm? It looks like you got banged up pretty bad."
"Oh, I'll be fine," Alex assured him. "It looks worse than it is. Don't think I'll be throwing Pokéballs with this arm anytime soon, but hey, I'll take what I can get. Besides, it's not all bad. During the battle, my Swampert got his powers back and got one of those nifty temporary evolution thingies. So once my arm's healed up, I'll be back in the game."
Ryan smiled. "That's awesome. Same thing happened with my Typhlosion. It's almost like a ray of hope. Like our Pokémon are telling us we shouldn't give up just yet."
"Just the kind of thing we need right now," Alex agreed. "You know, you've changed a lot from the scared little kid we picked up in Cerulean."
"Little?" Ryan laughed. "I'm less than a year younger than you!"
Alex rolled his eyes. "Sure, but you've matured a lot since we first met."
"War will do that to you." Ryan stared at the wall past Alex. It was hard to believe how much had happened in the eight months since he had last seen his friend. The battle with Gluttony. Ellen's disappearance. The assault on Two Island. It really was hard to believe that he had once been just a kid with a Cyndaquil and a Togepi, searching for his place in the world. "Listen, I don't know how long we're going to stay in Dendemille, but stay in touch, alright?"
Alex cracked a smile. "Don't you go saving the world without me, Sanders."
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Post by Magical Girl Mimi on Jan 28, 2020 17:39:38 GMT -8
-==IC: Lucia Zyther - Dendemille Town==-
Lucia stayed quiet for a moment as she let Jamie talk, then smiled sadly.
"Hey, it's alright. I... It probably wasn't the best outcome that it could be, but it's what was needed there." She glanced to the side for the moment. "None of us could have predicted what would happen with Chalmers. We did our best, you know?"
Lucia placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder, and gave her a reassuring look. "Lionel's alright, and we can figure out a way to deal with Chalmers in the future, right? We're still here, despite everything that happened that night, which is more than we could have asked for with how dangerous the situation was."
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Post by minun4 on Feb 10, 2020 11:12:36 GMT -8
IC: Jamie Arthur - Dendemille Town
Lucia. She was always so accepting of Jamie. Even when she could not accept herself.
“It is not alright,” Jamie said, shaking her head. “I hurt your dad. I should never have let that happen. I fell for his taunts.”
If the conversation had occurred earlier in the night, she would have been bawling her eyes out. At this point she didn’t have the tears to cry. She barely had the energy to continue speaking.
“If I am the sort of person who can be goaded into hurting my loved ones over a -chance- that it might save the day, what sort of person does that make me?”
Jamie didn’t allow Lucia the chance to speak before continuing on.
“That wasn’t all I wanted to say however. I wanted to let you know that I am going to ask General Coleman to have me transferred to Mt. Silver. With Pelleas and Tristan back in action and our ability to stop time, we belong on the front lines. I wanted to say goodbye before I did.”
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Post by minun4 on Feb 29, 2020 19:59:24 GMT -8
IC: ?? ?? ?? ?? ??
The soldier was walking through a dark hall. His team had failed its duties. His subordinate followed behind him, carrying a child in her arms. His ears instinctively tried searching for movement in the shadows. Three for him, three for her.
She was the only one who volunteered to go with him. It was the only chance she had gotten recently to see her son. Her son was blissfully unaware of those following them. Unaware of what his mother suffered that night, and unaware of that which was still to come. He fell asleep, feeling safe in his mother’s arms.
He should’ve realized that the boy would’ve been trouble. He had recognized his necklace, somehow. They should’ve hidden away while the group following them would’ve been forced to leave. Powers still hadn’t come back for their teams. One day hiding in the desert wouldn’t have jeopardized the mission.
They came to a door guarded by two individuals.
“You will enter alone,” the one on the right said.
He nodded to his subordinate. She took her son to one side, and he entered through the door. He was brought into a median room where he was given a sanitary change of clothes, along with gloves and a hygiene mask. When he had changed, he was brought into another room.
The room was painfully bright. The only room in this whole complex that was lit as much as it was. There wasn’t a single shadow to hide in, and absorbing the light would be… difficult. Three figures stepped into the light as the shadows beneath him disappeared. He wasn’t worried about them. He was far more concerned with what lay on the table.
The mess of boils, misshapen limbs, pus and tumors that had once been human lay on the table. He would have felt more comfortable if the pile had been dead. But it leaned up to the sound of him entering. It stretched its misshapen mouth, filled with extra teeth of the deepest yellow, in what might be called a smile.
He stood behind a white line. Any closer, and he’d risk contaminating the mess.
[Come in, soldier. I’m just getting my weekly massage therapy,] the mess said in their native tongue.
The ‘massage therapist’ came over dressed in a surgeon’s smock. His first therapy session of the day, the soldier guessed. He looked her over for a moment. He recognized her. Not personally, but he knew of her fame as a neurosurgeon. Despite the subtle glow in her eyes betraying the hypnotic spell she was under, she seemed fully aware of her situation. Hopefully it would not affect her ability.
Actually, hopefully it would.
[Should I come back at a better time?] he asked.
[No, no. I want to hear what you have to say,] the mess said, shaking his head. With his hand, he beckoned the surgeon over. She began to mark places on his head, to match the models a computer screen showed. Several nurses approached. As they got to work, the mess spoke again, [Go on, speak.]
[There were complications,] the soldier began to say. [Trainers wielding both legendaries, these ‘Mega Evolutions’, and multiple powers. There was a psychic, and something I’m not quite sure of.]
The mess resisted the urge to nod thoughtfully as a cut was made into his head. Best to keep one’s head as still as possible as someone was digging around in there. Especially not when using heated implements. [Do you know why these trainers were there?]
He thought back to what that child told him to do. To cast the blame on him. There was some merit to that accusation. It was that child’s fault that those trainers were in Alola to begin with. He opened his mouth to speak.
[No.]
The mess took a deep long breath. Whether that was a sigh of disappointment or a grunt of pain as a tumor was pulled out of his head, Lohe couldn’t quite discern. Perhaps it was both.
[Well, everyone fails occasionally. But I must say, I am disappointed in you. I had the highest confidence that you would succeed.]
The tumor and blood were disposed of by one of their agents acting as a nurse. The surgeon made another cut around the burn hole, allowing the regeneration to take effect and close the gap. One down.
[Was your identity compromised?]
The soldier thought for a while, recalling how Kris had searched his mind.
[But?]
[She searched for my name. Of that I am certain.]
The mess was silent, as a new hole was dug into his head, much like the first. He seemed to be considering the consequences. Right as another tumor was plucked from his brain, he smiled slightly. [Well, at least it’s not a unique name,] he remarked.
Lohe Mahina tightened his fists at that remark.
[Speaking of. My daughter got a message recently. Do you know what that little rascal did? What am I saying, he probably told you first.] Lohe was silent. [As much as I’d like to reprimand him for insubordination, the world being in danger is a problem for us. And if we don’t make at least token efforts to follow through with what he promised, it will be harder if we want to work with them later.]
[You and a few others will be sent over along with enough Z-Crystals to outfit their soldiers. Ah, but you will need a makeover before you can go. Please attend to it yourself.]
Another person in a doctor’s smock came up to him with a tray. On the tray were several scalpels. More than one had been heated. Lohe took the tray. He knew what he was supposed to do with it.
[Make sure you still look good when you’re done. My daughter deserves a good looking consort. Oh and be sure to tell your subordinates to do the same when you’re done.]
[...Yes sir.]
Lohe was brought beyond a partition in the room, with those who had been shadowing him following behind him. Beyond the partition was another ensorcelled figure. A renowned plastic surgeon. His “makeup assistant” for the day. There was a chair in front of a desk with a mirror. He sat the tray of scalpels on the desk and took a seat. He took one of the heated scalpels and placed the blade up to his cheek.
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Post by minun4 on Mar 12, 2020 19:23:14 GMT -8
IC: Amanda Zarth - Detention Center
Amanda sat in waiting in the detention center. She was finishing a report while she was waiting. When James was led into the room that was separated from her by a glass pane, she closed her laptop. She greeted James as he entered the room. “Executive Arthur. You requested my presence.”
James took a seat and started talking. “Greetings Miss Zarth. I hope you were not waiting long. Despite the circumstances, it is good to see you again.”
“What did you wish to discuss?”
“I can assume you recall the charges against me? Espionage, sabotage, treason, and most pressing, involvement with the deaths of Goldhawk and Bluefalcon.”
Amanda nodded. “I recall the charges that were levied against you.”
“From what I can gather, the story is that I exploited a vulnerability in the Power Suits software to deactivate Goldhawk’s Power Suit, or provided an outside force with the opportunity to do so. Specifically, they are looking into the possibility that I have been acting on behalf of Déoza, the organization that Ford led. They were more tight-lipped on the accusation of Bluefalcon.”
“What was the reason for your incarceration?”
“I had the means to accomplish such a crime. I possessed difficult to obtain information on the true identity of Ford’s agent known as ‘James Pierce’. As for Bluefalcon, I was one of the last people to interact with her before her death.”
“And? Are these accusations true?”
James waited for a moment to answer. “...I suppose that depends on your point of view.”
“....And what point of view would change the objective nature of the question?”
“Confidential.”
Amanda frowned. “If you are not going to tell me that much, then why did you ask to meet with me?”
“I said I had a favor to ask of you,” James said. “Would you be willing to investigate this matter on my behalf?”
It was Amanda’s turn to be silent for a moment as her brain analyzed the question. “...I am neither a lawyer nor a licensed investigator. I have confirmed that Team Liberty has lawyers in its employ. Why are you asking me to do this? Would it not be better for you to use one of them?”
“That we do,” James said nodding. “However, I would still prefer it if you looked into this matter for me. Someone… neutral to Team Liberty would be preferable.”
“You are aware that you are asking me to investigate on your behalf while refusing to confirm or deny your own innocence. If you are unwilling to inform me of what role you did or did not play in the events that transpired, why are you asking me to investigate for you?”
James stayed silent for a while, considering the question. “Consider it a whim,” James said finally. “I am curious about the evidence I suppose.”
Amanda mulled the question over. Cross-referencing her own pre-established opinions on the Liberty Executive compared to his actions now, and trying to deduce his motives. She weighed the truth of this mystery versus anything her time could be better spent doing to stop M0 from destroying them. And then she spoke. “Very well, I accept your request.”
Despite his circumstances, James allowed himself to smile. “Excellent.”
“Will you provide any assistance into how I can start my investigation?”
James leaned back into his chair for a moment, as he pondered how much to say. “If I were you,” he began to say, as he stopped leaning the chair, “I would look into the power suits and my involvement with them. At least the T-04 and the T-13. The Power Suits piloted by Goldhawk and myself specifically. Team Liberty may not be willing to share any details on the creation of the Power Suits. I will leave how you deal with that to your discretion.”
Amanda typed the information into her device. Along with additional notes to check the T-15 and T-17 suits thoroughly, and to review her own record of events.“Is that all?” James nodded. “That covers the murder of Liberty Leader Goldhawk. What assistance can you provide concerning Liberty Leader Bluefalcon.”
“To start, I would check for witnesses who saw the explosion that took the life of Bluefalcon. In addition, I would look into my actions prior to joining Team Liberty, as well as the day of my defection. Shadow Admin Joker may be a character witness worth looking into. I do not think it could hurt to ask Ford a few questions while you are at it. Though, his testimony may not be considered trustworthy,” James said. There was a sad smile on his face, as he appreciated the irony of him implying someone was untrustworthy. “Did you have any more questions, Miss Zarth?”
Amanda typed in a few final notes into her machine before sending it into sleep mode. “No, I don’t have any further questions at this time. However, there is something I will state.”
James raised a curious eyebrow, “And what is that?”
“You are being unnecessarily evasive concerning a matter of great import at a time where the world can ill-afford it. While I do not yet understand your intentions, I have every intention of hearing the reason for this by the time my investigation is over. When I have enough information to deduce the truth, I will return to hear it from you.”
James continued to smile at Amanda, but his smile did not reach his eyes. “I am looking forward to it.”
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Post by minun4 on Mar 15, 2020 11:12:13 GMT -8
IC: A Fog Rolling In - Research and Development Department
A cold ball of mist rolled through the halls of the Alamo. Humans and Pokemon scurried around the halls, oblivious to it. The wisp reflected back to them only what they expected to see. Only when the mist was forced to interact with someone to take directions from them did that mean anything else than an empty space.
The mist moved down into the bowels of the Research and Development Department. It was following the weak traces of an aura. Due to the faintness of the traces, sifting through the rooms of the R&D department took time. But in due time, the mist came to a room with humans standing around a sword.
Humans were analyzing the sword. For what purpose, the wisp did not care. It had its own reason to investigate the sword. The mist came to a standstill in front of each human in the room. The mist cast a small wisp as each one of them, dulling their senses. The mist only needed them to not notice anything more for a few more minutes.
The mist condensed over the sword. A shape much like a blue hand extended from the mist. It waved over the sword.
The sensation of the terrible aura the sword emanated flowed into the hand. The mist recoiled from it immediately. It burned of anger and hatred. From what the mist had gathered from the child, it was not unique to it. There were others like it. It was worth investigating.
The hand traced the shape of the sword’s tip a couple inches away from the tip, the hand becoming an unbearable bitter cold to match the sword’s searing aura, leaving a line of brittle metal. With one clean strike, the tip severed, leaving a near identical tip on a slightly shorter blade.
Dense mist condensed around the severed piece, the pressure increasing until the mist turned straight to ice. The mist gathered the ball of ice into itself. The humans could have the rest of it. If it provided them a better chance against the monster that created it, all the better. It was time to take another visit to the child.
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Post by minun4 on Mar 17, 2020 12:13:52 GMT -8
IC: James Arthur - VIP Cell
James was sitting on a couch, holding open a book he wasn’t quite interested in. He’d seen a VIP Cell before, but this was his first time being incarcerated in one. He was contemplating his next move. Passing the time uselessly was an excruciating boredom to him. The only actively useful he could do in the meantime was test the security in the cell. But as getting caught doing so or even getting caught acting too suspiciously would be troublesome for him, he had to be patient. That meant periods of waiting uselessly. It was antithetical to who he was.
Percy had it worse. Remaining undetected as long as he did took work. It was good training at least. James had had to get creative to earn him a blindspot. The wardrobe wasn’t quite thick enough for him.The first thing James had done once he had a free moment to himself was search the cell for each and every camera. It had taken a while, mainly because he had to pretend that he wasn’t explicitly doing that exact thing. He made a mental map of the room and made a projection of the sight line of each of the cameras. To be on the safe side, he had to assume the largest field of view possible for each camera to make his mental map. There was a space between the bed and the wardrobe and between the bed and the other corner that was only covered by two cameras. One that checked beneath the bed and one that was above the desk in the opposite corner. The bed one was simplicity itself to deal with. It was so easy, that James had specifically made sure several times that there wasn’t an extra one down there or in the bed itself because of how simple it was to deal with. All he had needed to do was remove the top sheet and let it fall over the side. It was easy to even make it look like an accident, just toss and turn on the bed a few times and let the sheet fall half off the bed. The trick would be being careful with how he moved the sheet from here on out. The other one was a bit trickier.
It was above the desk. Fairly high up too. Hard to cover up without a decent excuse. He had opened the door to the wardrobe. He had to assume that the camera could record beneath the open door. He needed to hang something from the doorknob. And he needed to make it look natural. For this purpose, James had decided to remove his suit jacket and had grabbed for a hanger to hang it on. When he had touched the bar the hangers had been sitting on, he had feigned surprise.
“Oh my, this bar feels like it is going to fall off,” James said, altering his inflection to sound concerned.
Percy understood what to do. Only a small part of him phased into visibility in the wardrobe, hidden from the cameras by the wardrobe doors and James’s body. With ghostly power, he tore at the edge of the bar while James rocked it slightly, pretended to check its sturdiness. When the bar fell, a row of hangers fell with the bar, many of them falling out of the wardrobe before James.
James faked a sigh, picking up a hanger and resting it on the wardrobe door, before placing his suit jacket on the hanger, effectively creating a curtain for the gap between the wardrobe and the bed. He then moved to the computer on the desk. It was a simple thing, meant for filling out work orders. The hacker’s mind did drift to other ideas. Fact of the matter was that Vert had managed to keep working in secret in her cell. He wondered if it would be possible for him to do it as well. But she had had a benefactor, something he lacked. Trying to do anything on that machine would be tricky. He had begun to fill out a work order for the repair of the bar, when he had gotten ‘distracted’. He walked over to the bookcase and browsed it briefly. He picked a book from it and walked over to the couch.
Percival phased into visibility behind the curtains James had made for him. He could finally get some rest. James didn’t see him turn visible from where he was, that had been the point, but he could tell that he did.
Hang in there, Percy he thought, feeling pity for the Chandelure who was trying so hard for him.
That is how James ended up sitting on his couch, pretending to read a book on political theory. Not that he didn’t enjoy such a topic, but today he couldn’t get into it. His eyes drifted towards a camera that was above him. Something about it looked off. James leaned closer to take a better look. There was a layer of mist on it, that grew denser by the moment. Percy turned invisible and moved into position. They heard footsteps from out in the hall.
A figure stepped into the doorway. What appeared before him was an old woman, wearing an outfit the color of the sky and hair as white as snow. It was something that James knew that she was not. It was just a convenient illusion for her. James froze for a moment when he saw the apparition.
“Get up, I need to speak with you,” she said in a raspy voice that grated on James’s ears.
James stood up and close to the door. Her illusions, her Hypnosis, could probably prevent whoever was watching from seeing anything unusual. Even still, he didn’t want to risk doing anything to break that illusion. He lowered his voice just in case, and he had to trust that Percy would remain silent. “That was rather rude what you did in Alola. You could have asked what you wanted to know. I would have told you.”
The ‘old woman’ shook her head, “That would have taken too long.”
“What are you even doing here?” James asked. “If I recall you hate dealing with humanity.”
She produced a sphere of clear ice. Inside the block of ice was a piece of metal. It looked like a piece of a blade.
“What is that?” James said, his eyes looking intently at it. He had seen it before.
“A piece of a sword,” she said.
“I can see that much. Are you getting into theft now?” James asked.
“I am looking for these ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ I learned from your memories. Tell me where I can find them,” she said, growing impatient.
James’s eyes narrowed, as he realized what the piece of metal was. A piece of Wrath’s sword. “Should I ask why?”
“That does not concern you,” she said, narrowing her false eyes in turn. “If you don’t want me to take what I need, I suggest making good on what you just said about telling me.”
James spent a moment in thought. He couldn’t fathom what exactly she wanted with the Sins. They were not to be taken lightly. At the same time, neither was she. Eventually he spoke, saying “Apparently there has been increased Instance activity at Mt. Silver on the Kanto-Johto border. Not that I would know.”
She turned to leave immediately, without as much as a ‘thank you’ or a ‘goodbye.’ James wasn’t the least bit surprised. He opened his mouth to speak again.
“Take Lancelot with you,” James said.
That caught her attention. She turned back, with the apparition's eyes widened, and came to a stop right in front of the door.
“Why would you want me to do that?” she said, a curious tone on her lips.
“He belongs in combat. He should not languish here while I am indisposed. And besides that… even with your power, you will need help.”
She raised and eyebrow. “Is that concern? For me?” she said, her mouth making an amused grin.
James crossed his arms and sighed. “The enemy has a tendency to transform their enemies into assets for them. I merely wish for the enemy to not gain a useful asset.”
She still seemed quite amused by the situation, shaking her head. “...Very well, I’ll take him with me. I’ll correct his form while I am at it. He’s surely gotten sloppy under your care.”
As she turned once more to walk away, James uttered “You can apologize to him for me. For inflicting you on him,” before returning to his seat.
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Post by minun4 on Mar 18, 2020 10:33:59 GMT -8
IC: Lancelot - Alamo Practice Fields
Lancelot sat alone in one of the practice battlegrounds. He was using Roost to rest off the aching pains he had received from his continuous battles.
It started with wild Pokémon. He challenged them for food. He could’ve gotten food from the day care, like Gareth or Agravain did. But he needed the motivation from risking his ability to eat. He fought without powers to preserve some semblance of challenge. But most of the wild Pokemon were either unwilling to fight and risk their hard earned food, or the ones dumb enough to do so were not exceptionally strong opponents. There was a strange fighting ring he came across one night. Apparently they were from Melemele Island. But he outclassed the majority of them by far. And beyond that, he got the feeling that he wasn’t welcome there. Pokémon with trainers were not especially welcome among them anymore. Apparently, someone important had gone missing. Not sure what that was about.
So he moved on to challenging trainers (and just getting his food from non-violent sources, which admittedly took the fun out of it). Communicating was a problem. It’s why he didn’t go after them in the first place. Unlike somebody who will remain nameless, he neither had telepathy nor hands that wouldn’t slice through writing utensils. Most humans couldn’t figure out what he meant by his challenges. So he began to look for battles that were about to start. Right when the two Pokemon were about to strike each other, he inserted himself into the fight.
It was rude, but it got the point across.
Eventually he gathered a small reputation. Trainers looking to see how they stacked up to an Executive’s Scizor. That was fine in Lancelot’s book. The more opponent’s he got the better.
It was around then that his choices started to catch up with him. Unlike his previous opponents, there was a much more varied mix of experienced Pokemon. A number of them had their powers back by now. Which was fine by him, not having to hold back at all fit him perfectly. But they had something he lacked. Guidance.
He wasn’t some newly hatched starter Pokemon that didn’t know how to fight without hand holding from his trainer. In general, James had given him a large degree of autonomy in how he chose to fight. But he kept weighing each choice he made against what James would have ordered if he were here. The hesitation was enough to give his opponent’s openings. Attacks he should have landed were deftly evaded, and attacks he should have avoided were landing. Fire types gave him the most trouble. It was natural, but that didn’t make losing not sting. He could salvage his pride when it was against a Fire type with enough strength to match him. But there were those he lost to where the type disadvantage was a gap he should have been able to bridge. When he lost a fight he felt that he should have won, it was a sign of how poorly he was doing.
Why? He had fought without James’s guidance before. Why was he failing now?
Mist trailed into the room.
“Are you actually in this terrible shape?” a familiar voice called out from behind him.
He stood up immediately upon hearing the voice. Turning around confirmed what his hearing had told him. The illusion that his former mentor often used stood before him. Her actual body was hidden in the mist. The illusion’s face was that of minor displeasure. Given that, her actual feelings could be varying from “I’m feeling itchy” to “I’m in the process of murdering you.”
She was that sort of person.
The illusion pulled out a dagger. Despite the illusory nature of both dagger and wielder, it could still hurt. Lancelot knew that from experience.
“I need to see this for myself. I will be your next opponent.”
Past experience made Lancelot’s first instinct to run. Her teaching style could not be described better than by the word ‘punishing.’ But his second instinct reminded him that he was no longer the weakling he had been when he had first learned under her. In addition, when he was first under her wing, he was a Flying type. But he was a Steel type now. The thought of perhaps finally having an advantage over her excited him.
He produced a sword made from aura. If he had her permission, he wasn’t going to pass it up. And he wasn’t going to wait for her to prepare. He knew better than to let her have that chance.
The Scizor’s wings buzzed as he built up speed. The illusion was standing at the fore of the mist. Her real body was in the mist somewhere. With a large sword like his however, he could slice through both the illusion and the main body in one fell swoop. He brought back his arms to prepare a giant slice. He began to follow through with the slice, bringing the sword forward. The illusion’s hands briefly glowed with a black light. When Lancelot was just about to slice through it, the illusion made a sidestep to dodge. As Lancelot stepped past it, the illusion grabbed Lancelot’s wrists and held them as a fulcrum. She let Lancelot’s forward momentum do the rest.
Lancelot’s surprise at how he was now on a crash course with the ground did not last long. He ripped his arms out of her grasp, before flapping his wings and grabbing onto the illusion. If he Countered just right, he could stop himself from falling to the ground and attack all at once. The illusion disintegrated into mist. Lancelot realized his mistake in that brief instant. Right. Of course it did. Being thrown by something you just had a conversation with made one forget that it was still just an illusion. With nothing to stabilize himself, he continued his crash course down to earth. He spun over to get back up, when a bright light appeared before him. It radiated cold that made Mt. Lanakila feel like a hot tub.
Oh F-
The light enveloped him before he could prepare a defense. Ice appeared in every joint, spreading outward. In a moment, the light solidified into a block of ice. He couldn’t move. His metal exoskeleton felt so brittle. All he could think of was the cold that felt like it was burning him.
The face in the mist waited for a moment to see what Lancelot would do. When it was apparent that he was well and truly stuck, a mist enveloped limb reached for the block of ice. The ice broke apart, freeing the Scizor. The ice in his joints began to slowly melt. Lancelot still shivering, sheathed his wings and began to Roost. It took awhile for him to recover well enough to stand.
More mist appeared in the room. The illusion reformed with a frown on her face. It sighed as Lancelot picked himself up off the ground. “You really have gotten sloppy. Has his imprisonment affected you that much?”
Lancelot turned away in shame. That cut to the heart of it. It had. It had taken every fiber in his body not to break those trainers when he had the chance. It still took an active effort to not go there and immediately break him out. He knew not to, it would irreparably damage James’s relationship with Team Liberty at best. And it could get James killed if Lancelot failed. But oh how much it hurt to leave him in there.
“He told me to take you with me. We’re going hunting.”
Lancelot’s eyes widened at that statement.
“You can lay about here, picking fights without purpose. Or you can come with me, and I can correct your sloppiness. Your choice.”
Lancelot considered the situation. Leaving James to the mercy of whoever had framed him rang loud alarm bells in Lancelot’s mind. But if James had told her to take him, his next plan must not need him. If he truly believed that Lancelot was not required to protect him, then the best way he could serve would be gaining strength. He had learned from her before, maybe it could serve as a way to get back to the basics. Eventually he nodded.
“Very well. Then let’s get moving."
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Post by Magical Girl Mimi on Apr 12, 2020 17:11:57 GMT -8
-==IC: Lucia Zyther==-
Lucia stayed absolutely silent for so long that she lost track of what time it even was. Her face was a perfect poker face as she processed what was said - when she finally got the ability to speak again, it was simple, to the point, and without any hints of what she felt at that percise moment.
"Alright."
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Post by minun4 on Apr 12, 2020 17:39:40 GMT -8
IC: Jamie Arthur
Jamie nodded slightly. Her eyes lit up with remembrance of something else that she had to take care of. "If you could do one thing for me. About the egg I got, the clone of Tristan. Would you give the egg to Xander for me? And apologize to him for me. I... was in the wrong, the way I treated him. From what I know, he is a good trainer. And I should not bring an egg to the front lines. I would feel better if he was taking care of him for me."
She had already discussed it with Tristan. Tristan put his faith in her. And she thought it was for the best. For what her judgement was worth.
IC: Guinevere/Natalie Dexter - Saffron City
Messages had been exchanged. It took some back and forth and some patience, but Guinevere persisted. And after some time, her patience was rewarded. Guinevere and Natalie were eventually able to convince Cassie (or whoever currently held her phone; it never hurt to be at least a little paranoid about these sorts of things) that they believed that someone else was behind the crimes and to give them her current location, which was in Saffron City as well.
The building looked like a small rundown garage for what looked like cars based on different types of Pokémon, but the look of a more typical modern car outfront told a different story. When the two got inside, they saw a still old-looking interior, but otherwise well-kept for its age. Once they got further in, they found Cassie, who looked up at them upon their entrance.
Guin, for her part, was really hoping that she was right about this. Everything in her own investigation pointed to Cassie being innocent, but there was never a way to be sure. If she was wrong, then she was either in very bad danger or about to help a murderer. But she was not here because of absolutes; she was here to get Cassie’s side of the story.
The silence hung in the air for a while. Guinevere was deciding who was needed here. Sweet and supportive? Confrontational? No, being direct was what was needed here.
[“I have been following the trail of clues.”]
[“Please tell me what happened that night.”]
With a deep breath, Cassie nodded. "It happened like this…" The red-haired woman began, as she went into detail about what happened. She started with how she had been discussing the case with Stacy before hand, then explained how Patrick had slipped in unnoticed and stabbed Stacy after a brief argument. Finally, she mentioned how some of the files she had been gathering up had been stolen by the orange-haired man.
Guinevere listened, questioned, and considered. What Cassie told her lined up with everything else she had uncovered during her investigation. They could probably take what had been said as the truth. But if they could, that still left them with the single biggest question. It was almost insulting to ask this, but she had to for the sake of being thorough.
[“So that brings us to the question of Patrick.”]
[“Just to be sure, you do not know Where Patrick is, yes?]
"That is correct, I haven't been able to track him since I went on the run."
[“What have you Been doing in the meantime?”]
"I've been staying here while Mac has been investigating to try and see if Patrick left any clues to what his next target might be. We haven't been having any luck, though…" Cassie sighed, as she rested her head on her arm with a glum look on her face. She didn't look to have gotten any sleep in the last few days at the least. "I at least sent Lucia off to her stepfather in Kalos, so even if Patrick followed her there, it's more likely that Lionel would protect her. But I also don't get the feeling he would, which makes me uncertain what he even wants now."
Guinevere thought back to her conversation with Jamie. That would explain why they were there now.
[“For what it’s worth. I know that Lucia is with Lionel.”]
"That's good, I'm sure that he would…" Cassie trailed off for a moment. "That Lucia would keep Lionel in check. Because let's be real, I don't think Lionel would have to worry about Lucia too much."
Guinevere wouldn’t know, she only knew Lionel Zyther by reputation. Lucia seemed responsible during the time that she knew her. It was out of her power. She had to focus on the case at hand.
[Something has Been bothering Me.]
[Patrick is a spy, Sure.]
[But how exactly, Did he infiltrate A secure prison?]
[Could he have Allies who helped Him infiltrate?]
"I don't know, it's possible that he was - that might be how he managed to infiltrate too."
Guinevere turned her head to one side. It wasn’t a train of thought she’d been able to entertain until now. She’d been focused on who had
[Going by that logic.]
[Who else might have benefited from Gerald, Stacy,
[or even your death?]
"I don't know who exactly would benefit from Gerald or my deaths - that might have been purely Patrick. But Gerald was formerly a top scientist, and Stacy is- was the head of Leavanny Strauss. It's possible someone might have hired Patrick to clear competition there..."
Leavanny Strauss. Would someone actually have her assassinated for a position of power? Did that even make sense? Natalie was appointed as Stacy’s successor before her death. Presuming that Natalie was innocent (and Guin desperately hoped she was, otherwise Guin was in deep trouble), then whoever wanted that position did a poor job. Unless, whoever wanted her gone was on the board of directors. It’d be easier to try and oust someone new and unproven like Natalie, then someone established like Stacy.
Guinevere pulled the brakes on her train of thought. All of this was assuming that either of the murders were on the agenda of this hypothetical accomplice, instead of just what Patrick was getting out of the deal. Emphasis on hypothetical until evidence establishes otherwise.
She turned towards Natalie. Leavanny Strauss was worth investigating. Even if it turned out to be a dead end, it was worth clearing them off the suspect list while they could.
[I do not have access to Leavanny Strauss]
[But you do.]
[Perhaps if you took the role. Stacy gave you]
Natalie gave it a moment’s thought. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
Guin looked a bit unsure. It was her idea, but there was the matter of the previous occupant of this position being dead.
[If we’re right About this.]
[This may be Dangerous]
Natalie shook her head, “I can handle it.”
Guin was silent for a moment, but then wrote:
[Then we have our next step.]
IC: Taylor Beryl - Veilstone Galactic Base
Taylor was having some problems. The fact that she was using a Prinplup versus a Tangrowth wasn’t a huge issue. Without powers, the type disadvantage hardly mattered. And she also had a Quilladin to help, so she had numbers too. The issue lay in that none of her attacks seemed to be doing any significant damage to the Tangrowth. The vines seemed to blunt any of the Quilladin’s attacks. The Prinplup wasn’t doing much better. The pecks the Prinplup gave were able to tear at the vines. But the vines were seemingly never ending.
By contrast, its attacks were much more effective. One swipe from its vines slammed Prinplup into a wall. Prinplup wasn’t out of the fight yet, but she was being pinned down by the vines. She pushed back against them. But the force the Tangrowth was applying was greater than what the Prinplup could muster. The Quilladin tried to grab at the vines holding the Prinplup down, but the Tangrowth whipped her with another outgrowth of vines. Taylor was about to reach for another Poke Ball, when she spotted a figure step out from behind a corner.
The Garchomp that turned the corner was old and scarred, but it moved like a being half her age. The power in its figure had not been diminished by the many battles it had lived through.
The Tangrowth’s eyes widened at the sight of the Garchomp. It leaned its free arm back to prepare to throw vines at the Garchomp. But in the time it took the Tangrowth to raise its arm, the Garchomp had already closed the gap. One swipe from her claw slammed the Tangrowth through the wall, freeing Prinplup. More accurately, the Tangrowth was sent straight through the wall the Rotom was trying to open, and straight into another wall, leaving an imprint on the second wall. Before the Tangrowth could even get up, the Garchomp had bounded over to it. With her great jaw, the Garchomp tore through the vines and into the main body of the Tangrowth.
The ‘fight’ didn’t last much longer after that. The Garchomp gripped her fallen opponent in her jaws, and sauntered back towards Taylor. When the Garchomp deposited the Tangrowth right before her feet, Taylor had to actively hold her jaw to keep it from dropping.
Well the wall was much easier to keep open now, Ectoplasma reasoned as he popped out of the electronics.
“Are you alright?” a voice called out from behind Taylor.
IC: Claus Diamond - Veilstone Galactic Base
Lickilicky’s manuervability was greater than what its physique would suggest. Even with Flint’s nimble movements, Lickilicky kept just out of the range Monferno’s fists and of Lucas’s bone. By contrast, Lickilicky’s tongue was more than long enough to strike at either Flint or Lucas. Flint’s acrobatic ability made him a tough target to actually hit. Lucas on the other hand was a much easier target. Lucas held the large bone in a defensive stance to try and block the attacks the Lickilicky’s was focusing on him. But this shortened his reach, further putting the Lickilicky out of his range.
Claus was trying to find something to use to their advantage. He wasn’t having much luck. Flint made to punch the Lickilicky’s belly, but it spun out of the way. Flint vaulted over the tongue that whipped around to strike him. The Monferno went for the face this time. With the Monferno right in his face, the Lickilicky took a backwards leap to dodge the fire monkey fists. It stopped on its back foot, nearly losing its balance on the landing.
A Sableye phased into visibility, right at the foot of the precariously balanced Lickilicky.
[Boo,] Hades said as he dug his claws into the Lickilicky’s foot.
The cry that the Lickilicky let out was muffled by the giant tongue that was still out. It leapt off of that foot and dropped right onto its tail.
“Hades!” Claus called in surprise. He shook off the surprise. It was their chance. “Flint, Lucas, attack now!”
Flint with a mischievous grin on his face landed on the Lickilicky’s head with his tail in his hand. He took his on fire tail and stuffed it into the Lickilicky’s mouth, much to his opponent’s horror. As the fire burned the Lickilicky’s tongue, the Lickilicky began to roll. Flint hopped off of the Lickilicky, and hopped over Lucas. Lucas was winding up his Thick Club. When the Cubone swung the massive club, the recoil sent the rolling Lickilicky on a collision course with the wall. Its tongue slammed into the wall first, and with the massive organ’s force, kept the body from colliding with it. The groan that followed, though muffled by the tongue, was loud enough to inform Claus how much pain it suffered in even moving its massive tongue, let alone exert force.
“Thanks Hades,” Claus said to the Sableye. “Don’t suppose Richard is with you?” The Sableye shook his head. “Figures. Let’s finish this fight first, then meet up-”
The tongue wrapped around Claus. The Lickilicky pulled Claus off the ground, the sudden constriction around his chest knocking the breath from Claus’s lungs. It bounded past the three other Pokemon. Flint was the first one to respond. He leapt on the Lickilicky’s tail before it could get away. Lucas and Hades joined the chase immediately after. A door opened without prompting. The Lickilicky, whilst trying to shake Flint off of his tail, ducked into the now open room. Right as it ducked in, it slammed its tail on the wall, forcing Flint to jump off. Lucas and Hades caught up, and the three Pokemon ran in to chase after Claus.
When the trio walked in, they saw the Lickilicky standing in the far end of the room. It was standing near a TV. It held Claus in front of them, putting force into his tongue despite the pain. The slow constriction was a clear threat to the Pokemon to stay still. Claus was trying to pry himself out of the tongue, but it was hard to struggle when he could barely breathe. He tried to pick at the burn on the tongue, but all that got him was a tighter grip by the angry Lickilicky.
*Thunk*
A knock on the wall behind Lickilicky caught its attention. A moment of silence followed. The Lickilicky was about to take a step to investigate the noise when a claw struck down a large section of the wall, sending pieces of the wall flying down onto the Lickilicky. Both Lickilicy and Claus flinched as debris hit them. The figure that broke down the wall leaped onto the Lickilicy. With two claws, the Garchomp tore into the body of the Lickilicky, while her jaw went for the tongue. Flint’s fire was nothing compared to the pain that tongue was going through now. It instinctively loosened its grip on Claus, just enough for him to slip out. Flint, Lucas and Hades all saw the state the Lickilicky was in and promptly joined in on hitting the Pokemon while it was down.
Claus sucked down air now that he could finally breathe properly again. When he caught his breath, he was able to look at the Garchomp properly. His eyes widened when recognition set in.
“Garchomp? But if you’re here, then…”
As if on cue, two other people burst in the room. First in was Taylor, who Claus was relieved to see was okay after Claus had run off. The second was a woman Claus would have recognized anywhere. Anyone else might have recognized her as the former Champion of the Sinnoh region. Claus knew her for a different reason though.
“Mom?!” Claus yelled in surprise.
“Mom?!” Taylor yelled in surprise for a completely different reason.
“Claus?” Cynthia said, her eyes widening in surprise. She turned towards her Garchomp. “Knock him out, Garchomp.”
Garchomp growled as she raised back her claw. The TV turned on revealing a man on the other side of the TV.
“That’s enough,” said the man on the TV.
The Pokemon did come to a halt to see what was going on. Claus picked himself up off the ground, and looked at the screen. “Who are you? Why are you attacking us?” he asked.
“My name is Algar Keller. I work for Deoza,” Keller answered. He looked from Claus to Cynthia and back again. “What a touching family reunion I think I’ll add to it.”
He tapped a button on a device which split the screen into two halves. On the left was Keller. On the right, sitting trapped in a chair, bound and blindfolded was Claus’s father. And not just his, Taylor’s father too.
“Dad!” Claus and Taylor shouted in unison.
Cynthia glared at Keller, “You monster, what have you done to them?”
Keller waved a dismissive hand. “They’re fine. Well, they’re alive at least. For now at least.”
“Let them go!” Taylor shouted.
Keller waited a moment savoring the desperation in Taylor’s voice before continuing. He enjoyed the feeling of power he had over them. “Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. But I’m holding them as long as I have a use for them. Team Liberty has something I want. Something they do not deserve.”
He pressed another button. The recordings of Lucas and Barry were replaced by recordings of Mesprit and Azelf, restrained by strange machines.
“Bring me Uxie from the Lake of Acuity. Only then can we discuss allowing them to go.”
Cynthia’s eyes widened. Without prompting, Garchomp bit down onto the Lickilicky’s neck. The faintest trail of blood flowed from where her mouth was.
“Release them. The power of the Lake Trio is not to be trifled with. If you don’t, we will kill your Lickilicky.”
Claus swallowed. This was not a side of his mother he had ever seen before.
Keller frowned. “You’re not very familiar with our methods, are you Champion? If it means saving the world from M0 and the likes of Liberty and Rocket. All of my Pokemon would gladly sacrifice themselves.”
The Lickilicky closed its eyes. It was ready.
“That being said,” Keller said pulling out a gun. He pressed a button changing the camera again. This time showing a wider shot of the room he was in, showing both Barry and Lucas again. “I have two hostages, I can expend one. If you do not allow my Dusclops to retrieve my Pokemon, I will dispose of one of them. Who shall it be? Your husband, your son’s father?”
Claus reached out, “Stop!”
“Or how about the girl’s father. Would it make it easier to sleep at night if it wasn’t your loved one whose death you caused?”
Keller grinned as he pointed the gun at Pearl. Hostage or not, it was clear he relished having Pearl in his power. But then an idea popped into his head, and his grin widened further.
At this, Taylor yelled “Don’t you dare!”
“Or…” he said pulling out a Poke Ball with a locking restraint on it. “I could start with their Pokemon if that would make you feel better. Yes, Pokemon for Pokemon. That sounds fair to me. Your choice.”
He pressed a button focusing the camera back on him. He pulled out a Poke Ball that was restricted by some locking mechanism. The transparency mode was activated, revealing an Infernape inside.
Flint cried out in horror.
Both Cynthia and Garchomp snarled at Keller. “You bastard,” Cynthia said.
The insult only made Keller’s smile grow wider. “If you inform your superiors at Team Liberty or Team Rocket, this deal is off. I will know if you go against me. I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if you do that.”
Nobody needed him to tell them what would happen. No one had anything to say at that.
“When you have Uxie, I will be in contact again.”
Cynthia, still glaring, made a quiet declaration. “You will not be forgiven. I will hunt you down. You will be captured and punished.”
Keller just smirked and hung up.
Cynthia turned towards her Garchomp. It was infuriating, but pointless death helped no one. “Release him.”
The Lickilicky breathed a momentary sigh of relief as the Garchomp’s jaw let him go. The Garchomp then promptly slammed her tail onto the Lickilicky, sending it straight from shock to unconsciousness. It was only brought her minor satisfaction, but it did ensure that it wouldn’t try anything stupid.
A short time passed when a Dusclops phased through the floor. It moved at a leisurely pace. It passed by the trainers, paying them no heed. It revealed a Poke Ball and tapped it, retreating the Lickilicky. It turned to the group of trainers, made a simple wave, and phased back through the floor again.
The anger Cynthia felt was boiling. But she forced herself to calm down. It served no purpose here. She turned towards Claus, with the best smile she could manage on her face. “Claus, are you alright?”
“Mom…” Claus said, tears starting to well up in his eyes.
He ran straight to her, and threw his arms around her. The embrace was tight, as if she would disappear again if he let go. Cynthia looked down towards the boy hugging her. She had a sad smile on her face as she realized how much he had grown. The Garchomp walked up behind him and nuzzled Claus’s side.
After several moments of the embrace, Cynthia loosened her grip on Claus. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she began to speak. “I understand you must have a lot of questions. But we should reunite with your friends first.”
“Right,” Claus said. He looked to the Duskull and Sableye. “Hades, can you take us to Richard?”
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Post by minun4 on Nov 4, 2020 15:17:11 GMT -8
IC: Claus Diamond/Richard Apollo/Taylor Beryl/Zack Furler/Cynthia Diamond - Snowpoint City
Richard had been found no less for wear along with Dionysus and Oceanus. He’d been stuck in a battle with a Mawile. Despite having both a Snorlax and a Gyarados on his side, he’d been unable to overpower the smaller Mawile. It eventually left, on its own.
“For such a small thing, it was strong,” Richard said. “Heh, reminds me of someone,” he said as he noogied Hades. Hades acted annoyed at the affection, but he was glad that Richard was okay.
The journey from Veilstone to Snowpoint had taken time. They took the land route, which gave them time together. Richard pestered Cynthia with questions for the entire trip. Her involvement fighting Team Galactic. How it felt to become Sinnoh’s Champion? How she met Claus’s father? Everything necessary for a verse on Claus’s mother. Cynthia for her part, took the questions in stride. Years of dealing with the press gave her experience dealing with the exact questions Richard asked.
He only stopped each of his interviews when Taylor intervened. Taylor reminding Richard each time that Claus would probably like to spend time with the mother he hadn’t seen in years. With each time, Richard would Mareepishly walk off to go work on lyrical verse, slightly embarrassed that he caused Claus some trouble by getting carried away. Again.
Claus for his part had mixed feelings every time he got the opportunity to spend time with his mom. He had been waiting for this moment for years, and he now he didn’t know what to say. Cynthia seemed to be having the same problem. She hadn’t expected to reunite with Claus the way she did. The awkward atmosphere was not shared by Flint and Garchomp. Flint rode on Garchomp’s back for the majority of the journey. Garchomp indulged the Monferno’s desire to fly at mach speeds, much as she did when Flint was a young Chimchar. The display of Flint doing backflips off of Garchomp’s back in mid-air, with Garchomp safely catching him gave Cynthia and Claus something to talk about at least. Conversations between Cynthia and Claus inevitably turned back to Pokemon, mostly Flint. She was curious to learn how well he was developing.
“He’s’ developing fine,” Claus said at one point. It’s me who’s holding him back, he left unsaid. Cynthia could hear the self-criticism in his words. She sat down beside her son. They continued just watching Flint do daring mid-air stunts.
“Flint trusts you, you know?” Cynthia said. “He’d let you know if you were letting him down.”
“He trusts easily,” Claus responded as Flint did another backflip off of Garchomp into freefall.
“Only when he knows his trust is well placed,” Cynthia said as Garchomp caught Flint again. “You’ve come this far. You don’t need to be so hard on yourself.”
“I only got this far because of Flint and the others,” Claus said as Flint did a dive off of Garchomp’s head.
Flint held a finger up to Garchomp who was falling beside him. He wanted to be in free-fall for just a bit longer.
“Claus,” Cynthia said, “that’s how we all get as far as we do. Finding those we can believe in.”
Garchomp spiraled around Flint in their descent. She waited patiently for her moment as they continued to fall at terminal velocity. When her moment arrived, she grabbed Flint and extended her wings. Garchomp flew in a spiral pattern, slowly decelerating their vertical velocity. When they finally reached the ground, Garchomp came to a perfect halt with the momentum of a falling feather. At the exact moment of landing, Flint did a front flip off of the Garchomp. Richard, Taylor and Hades cheered, and Flint took a bow.
Claus and Cynthia were smiling. “You’ll see,” she said.
One evening over dinner, Cynthia shared what she knew about Keller with the rest of the group. He had been after Cynthia, Lucas Diamond, Barry Pearl, and Dawn Platinum-Berlitz for a while now. Keller was after the Red Chain, there was no doubt about it. And he already had Azelf and Mesprit. They absolutely could not let him have Uxie. But they also couldn’t refuse him without consequence. They didn’t have a clear plan yet to draw out Keller, but whatever plan they would come up with needed Uxie’s help. Which would put Uxie at risk.
The lack of a clear plan instilled a sense of dread among the group. It killed their respective appetites for a time. Except for Dionysus. Being a Snorlax meant he always had an appetite. But Richard, knowing how much his cooking meant to Claus, forced the dread away and started chowing down. Claus had worked hard on the food, Richard wasn’t going to let that go to waste. Slowly but surely, watching the pair eat, the rest of the group found their stomachs again.
“You’ve gotten better,” Cynthia commented. “It reminds me of your father’s cooking.”
That was about the best compliment Claus could’ve received. Claus tried to hide his smile. Richard was glad for him, and decided to provide musical accompaniment to their meal. Hades handed him his violin and he fiddled and sang until the meal was done.
The next day the group finally arrived in Snowpoint City. It was a sight for sore eyes and sorer feet. Snow fell to the ground in a slow pattern, covering the town in a thin blanket of snow.
“Welcome to Snowpoint, everyone,” Cynthia said, as Garchomp landed beside her.
Claus took a moment to sit on a bench. Despite the cold weather, they’d been walking long enough that he needed to sit for a moment. Flint hopped off of Garchomp to provide some much needed heat to Claus.
“Come on, let’s get to the Pokemon Center,” Richard said to Claus. “They’ve got much warmer places to sit there.”
“Easy for you to say,” Claus said looking at Richard. “You’ve been riding Dionysus the whole day.”
Richard was clinging to Dionysus’s belly and Hades was with him. They were snuggled right on his belly. “He’s soooo warm though….” Richard said, rubbing the soft warm belly. Dionysus scratched his head for a moment before picking up Claus with one arm.
“I can walk, I can walk,” Claus said and the Snorlax put him down. “Being manhandled isn’t like riding on a belly.”
Richard hopped off, “Sorry, do you wanna switch places?” Hades didn’t jump off, he was quite comfortable where he was, thank you.
“No, I’ll manage,” Claus said. “Let’s get to the Pokemon Center. Does anyone know the way?”
Zack raised his hand. “I’ve been here before. Before the avalanche though,” Zack said. “According to my Poketch it should still be in the same general location.” He took a look around. “I’m glad this place is starting to look back to normal.”
Cynthia paused to look around for a while. “I suppose I should be too.” She picked up a handful of snow and let it fall from hand. “Sometimes it feels as if all the deaths are being papered over.”
Claus looked at where the snow fell from Cynthia’s hands. “What happened here? I heard that Snowpoint was destroyed, but I never heard what happened.”
Cynthia stopped and pointed towards the top of the mountain. “It was an avalanche that Team Liberty caused when trying to recruit Regigigas,” Cynthia said.
Claus regretted asking. He knew what war meant. Horrible stuff happened during war, but it still hurt to learn what had happened to innocent people. It hurt even more that people on his side were responsible. “Team Liberty did?” Claus asked, just to make sure.
“Not alone,” Zack said, turning from Claus to Cynthia. “But your propaganda department at Team Rocket made sure to leave out that fact when they presented it to the public.”
Zack didn’t know what he had just said. Cynthia knew, and braced herself for the fallout, averting her gaze from Claus. Claus was frozen.
Snapping from his frozen state, “Team Rocket?!” Claus shouted.
It was Zack’s turn to freeze. He looked at Cynthia for a moment, and then back to Claus. “You didn’t know?” Zack said, looking at Claus, before jerking back to look at Cynthia. “You didn’t tell him?”
Cynthia couldn’t look either Zack or Claus in the eye.
“Tell me?” Claus said, looking at Zack with complete disbelief. “She hasn’t contacted me since she left Unova!”
Zack facepalmed at his own stupidity. He knew that Claus didn’t know, he’d been the one to tell Claus that Lucas worked for Team Liberty. Zack had assumed that Cynthia and Claus had talked about it over the journey. He should have known otherwise. If she had told him during the journey, they’d have had this conversation long before now.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you,” Zack said, removing his palm from his face.
“No,” Claus said, shaking his head. He pointed at his mother, “You should have told me.”
Cynthia still couldn’t look Claus in the face. He was right. For all her strength as a trainer, she hadn’t the ability to tell Claus what he deserved to know. “You’re right. I should have told you. I just never wanted you to know.”
“Never wanted me to know?” Claus said in disbelief. “I joined Liberty because of you two, to live up to you.”
Cynthia’s eyes widened and she finally met Claus’s eyes. “I didn’t want you to join Team Liberty.”
“But... but...” Claus said, shaking his head. “Dad joined Team Liberty. He-”
Cynthia cut Claus off, “He wanted you to stay in Unova!”
“HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?!” Claus erupted.
Richard chose to intervene at that moment. As delicious as mother-son conflict was, watching his friend suffer was not okay. “Okay, okay, why don’t we split up for a bit? We’ll go get Uxie, and you guys look for Keller?”
Zack responded before anyone else had a chance to. “Yes, let’s do that. Come on,” he said to Cynthia.
Neither Claus or Cynthia appreciated being cut off, but both conceded that were not in the right state of mind to discuss this rationally.
Claus was the first one to storm off. “Yeah, I need some space.” Flint hurried after him, with Richard and Hades following soon afterwards.
Cynthia looked after Claus for a while, before turning around and heading off into the city, with Zack following behind.
IC: Claus Diamond/Taylor Beryl/Richard Apollo - Lake Acuity
The hike to Lake Acuity was done in absolute silence, save the crunch of snow beneath their feet. Richard would’ve played the fiddle on the way to bolster their spirits, but Hades had prevented him. Claus needed some time to think. Taylor and Richard gave him the space to do that.
“Hey Richard,” Taylor said, catching the bard’s attention. “Is it just me, or are there barely any Pokémon around?”
Richard put a hand to his ear to listen around him. Flint, who was riding on Richard’s other shoulder to give Claus space, copied Richard’s action. “I don’t think it’s just you. Sounds quieter than most forests I’ve been to.” Even Hades seemed a bit perturbed when that was brought to his attention. They decided not to tell Claus, who was still quite deep in thought. But they were both on guard for the rest of the hike.
They did find Pokémon when they reached the lakefront. Two Golducks stood by the lake shore, where a group of Goldeen and Seaking were peeking out from the surface. The Pokemon eyed the trio of humans as they got closer to the lakeside.
“Um.. Were you waiting for us?” Claus asked, stopping in front of the group of Pokémon.
One of the Golduck nodded. It pointed at the Seaking, while the other one dove into the water, swimming away from the lakeshore.
“Do you... want us to follow the Seaking?” Taylor asked, trying to figure out what the Golduck wanted.
The Golduck nodded before diving into the water to follow its counterpart. The Goldeen began to line up behind the Seaking who waited for the humans.
“Uxie is a being of knowledge. It must have foreseen our visit,” Richard said with barely contained glee. “It must be destiny,” he said in a chanting tone.
Richard pulled out a PokeBall, and called out Erebus. The Tentacruel sluggishly made his way into the water. When his body was immersed in the water, his mood improved and he began to move his body with greater speed.
“Everyone, hop on the Tentacruel!” Richard said as he hopped on top of Erebus.
Claus and Taylor followed suit. But when Richard sat on one orb and Taylor sat on the other, Claus became confused as to where he should sit. Richard scooted aside and made room for Claus. “Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times,” Richard said.
Erebus moved gently across the waters. The travel was calm and uneventful. Goldeen streamed beneath them. And Richard, with Hades’s permission, was playing the violin. The silence had already been broken, he may as well try to improve the mood at this point. He was playing a melancholic melody. Something too happy or too sad would come across as mocking.
After a couple minutes of listening, Claus sighed. The melody matched his mood well. Almost too well. Claus watched the Goldeen swimming beneath them. Their swimming seemed to almost line up to the slow tempo of the song. “They’re pretty,” Claus said at one point.
When they disembarked at an island, Claus was the first one off Erebus, followed by Richard. “So was the music by the way. Being pretty that is,” Claus said with an awkward expression. He didn’t know how to properly compliment music.
Richard smiled. “Glad you liked it. You looked like you needed it.”
Claus rubbed his head for a moment. “Can’t argue with that.” He shook his head and began walking towards where the Golduck were waiting. “Let’s go talk to Uxie,” he said. “I’ll sort out my family issues when they’re safe and sound.”
“That’s a plan,” Taylor said as Richard and her hurried to catch up. “But we’re here if you need to talk it out with someone.” She put her hand on Claus’s shoulder when she caught up. “It’s nothing like this, but I know what it’s like to be mad at your parents. Maybe I can help.”
Claus didn’t know Taylor’s circumstances. He couldn’t judge how much she’d be able to help. But it was still nice to know he wasn’t alone. “Yeah I know,” Claus said, before removing Taylor’s hand from his shoulder. “But I just need to focus right now.”
The group followed the Golducks into a cave. A noise came from further inside the cave. Cries of Pokemon came from inside. The Golducks hurried at hearing the cries, and the trio of humans rushed to follow them. They found Uxie, who was communicating with a Solrock and a Lunatone. Uxie was agitated about something. When Uxie saw the group enter, it signaled for the Solrock and Lunatone to part. Uxie came to a halt in front of the trio.
There was silence for a bit. Communication was still an issue. Claus had to eventually just hope they could solve this with questions with just ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers.
“Uxie,” Claus said, “do you know why we’re here?”
Uxie nodded.
Claus kept speaking. “Do you know about Keller? About my dad? Her dad?”
Uxie nodded three times. Each time a bit more impatiently.
Alright, this was the big one. Claus swallowed and took a deep breath. “I know we can’t let him have the Red Chain. But will you come with us to try and stop Keller?”
Uxie was motionless for a while. But eventually it shook its head.
The trio all erupted into shouts. Even Hades and Flint voiced their displeasure.
“What?!” Claus shouted the loudest. “But why?!”
Uxie held up one arm. Moving past the group, it motioned for them to follow. Not knowing what else to do, the group obliged. When they emerged from the cave, they were blinded for a moment by a light that hadn’t been there before. Uxie raised a shaking hand to the bright light in the sky...
IC: Cynthia Diamond/Zach Furler - Snowpoint City
Zack and Cynthia trudged through the city, the sound of boots on snow breaking the silence between them. The earlier tension left a lingering atmosphere between them, that they had to clear up if they were to work together.
“For what it’s worth,” Zack said, deciding to break the tension. “I didn’t mean to cause a fight between you and your son. I’m sorry.”
Cynthia sighed and stopped. “I know you didn’t,” she responded. “It’s not your fault. This was going to happen sooner or later. When my husband and I left Unova, we didn’t tell Claus the true reason.”
“Lucas Diamond joined Team Liberty, while you ended up joining Team Rocket,” Zack said, realizing how weird that was. “What was the reason?”
A sad smile crept onto Cynthia’s face. “Same as everyone really, to end the war.” Cynthia said. “We decided we were willing to go quite far for that goal. And that we didn’t want Claus involved in what we were willing to do.”
“And then…” Zack gestured all around them, “absolutely everything happened.”
“Yes,” Cynthia said. “That about sums it up. Would’ve been better had we never left.”
The pair were silent for a while after that. Zack tried to imagine what that must have felt like. His imagination came up short. “My apologies,” was all he could say.
Cynthia shook her head. “It’s not your fault. Not anyone’s but ours.”
They continued through the town. The tension of the earlier conversation had lessened. It was replaced by the dread of trying to find someone who had hostages. Zack was looking from side to side, trying to see if anyone was following them. The further they went in silence, the more uncomfortable Zack began to feel. “I know I didn’t object to this plan earlier, but are you sure we should be doing this? We know he’s watching us,-”
“We assume he’s watching us,” Cynthia said, before signaling Zack to keep his voice down.
Zack was getting mixed messages here, but he followed suit. They kept walking until Cynthia stopped in front of a store window. Garchomp landed on the roof of the store to keep a lookout. She raised her arm to check her Poketch for any messages from Claus. Zack stopped close to her, peeking at her wrist.
“Do you think he’s bluffing?” Zack asked in a hushed tone, before looking over his shoulder.
Cynthia shook her head and responded in a similarly hushed tone. “No. But I want to know what he’s actually capable of, so we can figure out how to act.”
They waited for a moment in silence before Cynthia abruptly started moving to the north, while Zack again followed. Zack could see pretty quickly where Cynthia was taking them. The temple that once housed Regigigas was the pretty obvious landmark. It had a pretty solid vantage point over the city, Zack thought as he tried to figure what Cynthia’s plan was. The steps up to the temple were iced over. The icy steps did not seem to impede Cynthia’s march. Zack hustled to catch up. His breath was slightly quickened when they had reached the top.
“Look,” Zack said. “If you have a plan, I need to know what it is in order to help.”
Cynthia was about to respond when something in the sky caught her eye. Zack turned to face what Cynthia was looking at.
A light arced across the sky and descended.
A hissing and cracking accompanied it, drawing the attention of anyone who was not already looking. The noise was akin to thunder or a falling meteor, but sent an ominous chill among those who observed it.
The light fell to Earth in the northwest of their current location. The faintest sounds of an impact could still be heard even where they were. Silence followed the moments after the sound of the impact died off.
“What was that?” Zack asked. He turned towards Cynthia whose eyes were widened. Garchomp was growling in the direction that Cynthia was staring. “What’s wrong?”
Cynthia swallowed, snapping out of her stunned state. “That landed in Lake Acuity.”
The redness that had built up in Zack’s cheeks from the cold weather drained out of his now horrified face.
“...####.”
The trio immediately broke into a run.
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Post by Parugi on Nov 6, 2020 17:00:51 GMT -8
IC - Lake Acuity, Sinnoh:The light descended, and descended, and descended, a crystalline meteor on a crash-course with the world below. It shone brightly as if on fire, yet everything about it was cold, the very image of its approach inspiring chills of dread down the spines of its observers. As Uxie and its guests watched, the object streaked lower, slamming into the middle of the lake before them in a plume of water that sent waves crashing along all of its shores and torrents of rain through the chilly wind. Dozens of of the lake's occupying Pokémon found themselves washed ashore, many of them too stunned to move. The surface of the lake grew still once more, cold mist curling up from the waters like phantom hands grasping at the sky, as a soft, purplish glow emanated from the depths below. For a few moments, nothing happened. They saw the flash before they felt the effects: The light below the lake blinked brightly for a fraction of an instant. As soon as they had registered the sight, a strange sensation swept through the surrounding area. For some, the sensation manifested only as a strange tingling sensation down their spine, perhaps nearing the edge of nausea before the feeling passed. Others were not so fortunate. As the group watched and listened, several of the Pokémon around the lake gave out screams and cries of distress. Their bodies began to glow as if undergoing evolution; yet instead of the bright, powerful white light that would normally envelop them, these Pokémon became enshrouded by a sick, purplish glow. Their bodies began to twist and bend and grow in ways that were disturbing to observe. Some of them appeared to split apart, the second piece of them twisting and transforming into wholly different shapes. Areas of snow and rock and the trees surrounding Lake Acuity were affected as well, each bending and molding into something new. As the purple hues faded one by one, they revealed monsters in the place of the Pokémon they had originally concealed--Instances that slowly roused themselves, twisted from one body to another. Something bubbled beneath the surface of the lake. Tearing their eyes away from the agony of the transformed Pokémon nearby, the group stared in continued horror as a figure began to rise from the water. It was a tall, thin creature, strangely limp in posture. A floating bar above its head connected to its arms and neck by loose strings, like some sort of marionette. Its body was an odd parody of a person's, its white arms thin and lanky and ending in distorted, blackened hands that looked more like fabric than skin and muscle. Its body gave it the appearance of wearing a collared shirt with a button-up vest, flowing down into limp, tubular legs. Most disturbing of all was its head, a bizarre, porcelain-like construct that hung limply against its shoulder, pure white in coloration save for its face, where purple markings emphasized its cheek bones, eyes, and mouth. It stared forward with dull, beady purple eyes, its mouth permanently affixed into a wide smile like a void. The figure hung just a few inches above the lake, facing away from the group. Around the lake, they could see dozens of other Instances turning toward them as well, blank faces all focused upon them. Then, in the blink of an eye, the marionette was turned toward them. Its eyes did not seem to be fixed on any one point among them, but the intent behind its gaze was clear: It was staring at Uxie. Wordlessly, it raised a limp hand in their direction, and the Instances began to march. Driprown rose from the lake, swimming steadily through its water as others of its kind slunk through the snow along the shores. Maulice trudged along behind them, as did one or two Cerebeuron. And beyond these, they could see other shapes, indistinct through the snowfall, moving in their direction as well. All the while, the marionette simply stared and smiled.
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Post by minun4 on Nov 10, 2020 13:26:13 GMT -8
IC: Claus Diamond/Richard Apollo/Taylor Beryl - Lake Acuity
The first moments after the Instances appeared were spent in sheer horror. Claus was the first to snap out of it, when he noticed that Uxie was far more scared than he was. Uxie was shaking, their breath was quickened, and they began to cry out in terror.
“Uxie, we have to run!” Claus called to it.
Uxie’s only response was more cries of fear, as they tried to back away from Pride, towards the cave entrance. Claus grabbed Uxie. He didn’t need to guess the cause of Uxie’s terror. Frankly, he was scared too. They needed to run. But Uxie wasn’t responding. He needed to calm Uxie down. But how do you calm something as old and powerful as Uxie? Uxie thrashed in his grasp, as Claus tried to think what to do.
Richard turned to the Tentacruel who was waiting at the edge of the island. “Erebus, grab them and go!” Richard yelled as he pulled out another Poke Ball.
Tentacles wrapped around Claus and Taylor as Erebus yoinked them to himself. Holding them above water, Erebus swam as fast as he could, to book it as far away from the horde of monsters as possible. Claus shut his eyes and focused completely on keeping the terrified legend safe in his grasp.
Flint and Hades hopped aboard Oceanus with Richard following just behind. The Gyarados needed little instruction. Oceanus followed Erebus from above. The Solrock and Lunatone, as well as whatever Water Types remained of the group that had assembled, followed behind the fleeing Oceanus and Erebus.
IC: Cynthia Diamond/Zack Furler - Snowpoint City
Zack and Cynthia ran through the streets of Snowpoint with Garchomp following close above them.
“Wait!” Zack called as they neared the edges of the city. Cynthia stopped, but impatience was plainly visible on her face. “We have to let Bounty know. Otherwise a lot of people are going to die.”
Zack was right and Cynthia knew it. As much as she wanted to make sure her son was alright, this wasn’t the time to argue. “Damn it, you’re right,” she said. She signaled to Garchomp who landed beside her. “Ride Garchomp. She can easily carry you, and she can find them before you can. I’ll call Bounty and do what I can for the people of Snowpoint.”
Zack nodded. He had flying types himself, but nothing at the level of the Garchomp’s speed. Garchomp leaned down to let Zack climb aboard. Zack positioned himself on Garchomp’s back. Garchomp was about to take off, when Cynthia began to speak.
“And Zack? Take care of them,” she said before adding what she really meant. “Take care of Claus.”
Zack didn’t need to be asked. “I will.”
Garchomp took that as her signal and took off to find Claus.
IC: Algar Keller - Undisclosed Location
Algar Keller was sitting in his temporary hideout in front of the rudimentary display system he set up to check the monitoring cameras he had access to. He had eyes all over Snowpoint City, and several angles on Lake Acuity. Getting this all setup was quite a task, but it had to be done if it meant saving the world. Uxie had evaded him thus far, but he knew that it would reveal themselves to Team Liberty members.
He had a smug expression as he watched CCTV footage of Cynthia and Zack. Their fruitless efforts to find him were amusing to him. An expression that lasted up until the point he saw them look up to the sky, and he realized what they were looking at.
“Oh come on,” Keller said as he stood up. “What are the chances?”
Instances began to appear on his monitors. “They’re here already,” Keller said as the images confirmed what he already knew.
He switched the camera feed between several different angles of Lake Acuity. He finally found what he was looking for. He could just make out Claus holding Uxie.
“They have Uxie,” he said smiling. “Things are still working out.” He turned towards his Mawile and Dusclops. “It’s time to leave,” Keller said. “Go get my hostages.”
He’d only brought the human hostages with him to the Snowpoint location. The Pokemon he left in a different location. Leaving all his eggs in one basket would’ve just been asking for one dramatic rescue to foil all of his plans. Mawile and Dusclops left to go fetch the two hostages. Dusclops came back sooner than expected, without the hostages. It grabbed Keller by the arm and dragged him to the other room where the hostages were held.
“What’s going…” Keller began to ask before he saw what Dusclops was taking him to see. “Oh.”
Keller took a look at the snarling mess that was once one of his hostages. He recoiled slightly at the sight. His former thrashed against its binds as venom poured out of its mouth.
“That’s a problem,” Keller said.
It seemed to calm down for a moment. However, it soon tried to spit a poison at Keller. Mawile stepped in between them, the poison falling uselessly off of her.
“Well, one hostage will have to do,” Keller said, unholstering a gun. “Them’s the breaks I guess.”
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Post by Parugi on Nov 12, 2020 20:52:04 GMT -8
IC - Lucionette/Instances - Lake Acuity, Sinnoh:
The moment that the group of trainers began to flee, the Instances around them seemed to stir from whatever stupor they were in. A number of Driprown picked up speed, barreling through the waters of the lake with astounding agility. As three of them neared, their head crests began to glow. Whirlpools appeared in the water ahead of the group, as the Driprown attempted to trap them.
"Leaving?" The voice emanated from somewhere behind them, but it manifested everywhere around them. It was a cold, high voice, alight with amusement that barely concealed a depth of rage. "That won't do. Not with my prize."
Behind them, the puppet's hand drifted to the side. Its cloth-like wrist split open, revealing the cold shadow within. A dark, purplish energy poured out, dripping into the water like blood and rushing along the surface like a strange, distorted horde of piranhas that attempted to latch onto the Tentacruel ferrying Uxie.
Driprown x3: Whirlpool > Area around Oceanus, Erebus, Uxie and trainers Lucionette: Curse > Erebus
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Post by minun4 on Nov 23, 2020 11:56:31 GMT -8
IC: Claus Diamond/Taylor Beryl/Richard Apollo - Lake Acuity
Despite Erebus’s speed, the Curse caught up to him. The Curse tore into Erebus, sapping his very life. Fight or flight instinct kept Erebus going. If he stopped, they were dead.
From his vantage point atop the flying Oceanus, Richard surveyed what was happening below. With the whirlpools ahead, Erebus would have to make a perpendicular turn. They Driprown would catch up to them if nothing was done. Claus couldn’t do anything else to help right now. And Taylor was similarly tied up at the moment. Which meant it was down to him.
Richard wracked his brain for his next line, “Come on, come on, think of something...”
There weren't any other Pokémon he could send out right now. He was regretting not finding another flying member of his troupe. Everyone he had with him would drop like a rock.
Richard blinked. Wait a second.
He pulled out a PokeBall. He pushed the PokeBall into Flint’s arms.
“Flint, you two rock guys,” he said, turning to the Lunatone and the Solrock, ”take this Poke Ball, get it as high as you can!”
Lunatone and the Solrock began to ascend as fast as they could. The Solrock pulled ahead, and the Lunatone came to a halt. With all the strength in his legs, Flint jumped onto the Lunatone. Using it as a platform, he jumped to the Solrock. Once more he jumped up into the air and threw the PokeBall. Richard stood up on the Gyarados. He had to be ready to catch. The PokeBall opened in mid-air, releasing its cargo.
“Gravity don’t let me down!” Richard said.
Dionysus appeared in a flash of light. Gravity took hold of Dionysus, sending him plummeting towards the lake. Flint landed on Oceanus’s back, now glad to have spent the time traveling training to do mid-air stunts. Richard caught the PokeBall as Dionysus fell by, the Snorlax narrowly missing Oceanus and his passengers. By the time Dionysus hit the water, he had the momentum of a car in motion. The Driprown that was leading the pack was directly beneath Dionysus when he hit the water. The resulting shockwave of the impact was like a bomb hitting the water. Erebus rode the waves to push himself even faster. He had to get around the whirlpools and get to shore before the Curse took him out of commission.
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Post by Parugi on Nov 27, 2020 15:32:44 GMT -8
IC - Lucionette/Instances - Lake Acuity, Sinnoh:
The impact was like a bomb in water.
The Driprown beneath Dionysus did not survive the impact; it vanished beneath the surface, the only remnants of its form floating to the surface in chunks. The massive shock wave expanded outward, sending the two on either side spiraling outward into the surrounding water. Ahead of the group, one of the whirlpools subsided, granting a pathway toward the shore. The other Driprown, though struggling to right themselves, twisted toward their prey. One thrashed its long tail, shooting forward like a bullet through the water. The other steadied itself and unleashed a massive burst of water at the Snorlax that had just dropped in from above.
As the wave swept across the lake, bearing down on the puppet, its eyes suddenly flashed with a bright purple light. The wave froze in front of it, disintegrating into snow harmlessly into the water underneath it. The puppet began to hover forward in the direction of the trainers. Shadows coalesced around the wound in its wrist, sinking into its form and stitching the opening back together.
Driprown 1: Deceased Driprown 2: Aqua Jet > Erebus Driprown 3: Hydro Pump > Dionysus Lucionette: Recover
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Post by minun4 on Dec 25, 2020 16:36:46 GMT -8
IC: Claus Diamond/Richard Apollo/Taylor Beryl - Lake Acuity
The Hydro Pump landed on its target. Dionysus barely registered what was happening when the torrent hit him. He tried to right himself, but he was completely disoriented. Richard pointed the PokéBall at Dionysus. There wasn’t much Dionysus could do to fight back. The Driprown was a much faster swimmer, and could fight at range. That was fine. The plan was never to win, just to buy time. With one Driprown down and another pausing to attack Dionysus, that left only one chasing after the others. Dionysus had done his job. Richard retreated him and turned back towards Erebus.
Something still had to be done about the final Driprown. Erebus was riding fast on the waves to get away from the pursuing Driprown. But the Curse was eating away at him. He wouldn’t last much longer. And the Driprown was closing in on Erebus via the power of Aqua Jet.
However, both of them were blindsided by the Garchomp that descended upon them. Garchomp bit down on the Driprown before pulling it from the water. She dragged it through the air and tossed it far away.
“That’ll work,” Richard said. “Get us to land, Oceanus.”
Oceanus wasted no time in following the Tentacruel as they made it to shore. The Tentacruel deposited Taylor and Claus on the shore. As soon as his task was complete, agony he’d been able to endure consumed him. Richard pulled out Erebus’s Poké Ball to retreat him. His job was done now too. All that was left was to run. Oceanus along with the Solrock and the Lunatone descended towards Claus and Taylor. Richard recalled Erebus as they approached. He’d need medical attention but he’d live as long as he was disconnected from the Curse immediately.
They were quickly followed by Garchomp, who landed on the shore by Claus and Taylor. Zack got off her back. Despite Garchomp having done the work, Zack seemed winded by simply trying to hold on to Garchomp during the flight.
“Are you all alright?” Zack asked.
Taylor nodded. “We’re fine, but Uxie is freaking out.”
Claus was still struggling with Uxie. He knew what was causing its distress. But they weren’t far enough away from it yet. “We have to keep moving. Get away from that thing,” he said, while gesturing toward Pride in the distance, without the use of his arms.
Zack turned to see Pride. He turned back and nodded.“Your mom is trying to contact Bounty to get help for the people of Snowpoint. For now let’s meet up with her.”
Claus wanted to ask about Keller. But with him barely containing a legendary in his arms, he knew it had to wait. He didn’t respond to Zack, but simply got moving. The rest of the group followed after.
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Post by Parugi on Jan 14, 2021 18:24:25 GMT -8
IC - Lucionette/Instances - Lake Acuity, Sinnoh:
'Getting away from that thing' was no simple task.
Despite its lifeless motions, the puppet moved with surprising speed. Even in the time that they had spent on land, moving away from it and back toward the city, the Instance had cleared a large portion of the lake, all the while its eyes fixed on the terrified form of Uxie. And then there were the other Instances in the area surrounding Lake Acuity--more Driprown rising from the depths in jets of water, Maniakoll and Maulice that trudged through the thick blankets of snow, and the flying forms of Harpreak darting through the sky above. It was a grim circumstance, particularly as they focused wordlessly on the Knowledge Pokémon escaping along the shores.
Yet their quarry was also their greatest obstacle. True though it was that Uxie did not currently possess its own power, and true that it cowered now in the face of the menacing puppet-like creature pursuing it, it had chosen this lake as its home with intention. It had made its home here for a long, long time, and in that time it had become well-acquainted with those Pokémon that lived alongside it. Uxie had defended them against many a threat, and they had protected it in turn.
The Pokémon of Lake Acuity could fight.
The puppet was not far from the shore when the water below it rippled. Its eyes dropped down, just in time to witness an explosion of water around its form as the massive form of a Gyarados erupted from beneath. With a roar that shook the earth, the Atrocious Pokémon slammed its jaws down around the intruder's midsection, whipping its head back as it hurled the Instance back toward the center of the lake. The puppet slammed into the surface of the water, skipping for several yards before coming to a stop and righting itself. The Gyarados roared, charging forward. Another flash of the eyes caused a wall of ice to materialize in front of the puppet; the Atrocious Pokémon smashed through it without issue, though the pause in its momentum was enough to allow the puppet to maneuver to the side.
It turned its head. All around it, Water-Type Pokémon were emerging to meet the monsters that had invaded their home; outside of the lake, numerous Abomasnow and Snover, Weavile and Sneasel, and countless others emerged from the woods, a veritable army that slammed into the scattered forces of Missing Zero, quickly throwing the shore into chaos as they fought to clear a way for Uxie and its protectors to escape.
The Pokémon of Lake Acuity could fight. And for Uxie, their guardian and friend, they would gladly lay down their lives.
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Post by minun4 on Jul 18, 2021 13:10:14 GMT -8
IC: Claus Diamond/Richard Apollo/Taylor Beryl/Zack Furler - Snowpoint City
No one addressed what had happened when they ran. No one wanted to guess how many lives were being lost just so that they could get away. No one looked back even for a moment. The group made it back to Snowpoint in one piece, and they had Uxie in tow. It was time to find Keller.
Claus’s Pokétch began ringing. No caller ID. That told him all he needed to know.
“Could one of you take my Pokétch?” Claus asked. The thrashing legendary in his arms made it hard to answer the call.
Richard took the device from Claus’s arm. He pressed the green button on the screen and Keller’s voice came out of the phone. “Head south towards the docks.” A pause. “I’ll give you directions to-” A brief pause interrupted him again. “To the exchange point. Try not to die until then.” A text message came through immediately afterwards. True to his word, it gave them directions.
Claus was scowling. They had neither a plan nor a choice. But time was the greatest deficit. They had to dance right in Keller’s hands.
Richard was looking around at street signs. After a moment he showed the screen to Taylor . “Where is he asking us to start?” Richard asked Taylor, he said pointing to the first street named. “In the directions, I don’t see around here.”
Taylor took a look at the Pokétch. “That’s about a street south of here. He did say to head south.”
Richard scratched his chin for a moment. “It’s just that he sounded…” Richard scratched his chin for a moment more. He smiled and then immediately began running. “Well come on everyone, we’ve got an appointment to keep!” he yelled while holding up Claus’s Pokétch.
Claus glared at Richard as the inscrutable bard ran from them. Claus generally found it pretty easy to keep up with whatever went on in Richard’s head. It was a bit more aggravating when he had to contend with not only a legendary thrashing in his arms, not only was a monster way out of their league chasing after them, but the life of his dad was in the balance. But if Claus was being honest with himself, he appreciated being able to think of anything but what was about to happen now. Even if it was just being pissed at Richard.
“Wait for us!” Taylor said before adding “asshole.” Taylor, Zack and all their Pokémon, plus Cynthia’s Garchomp and Solrock and Lunatone began chasing after Richard.
Claus watched Taylor as she ran after Richard. He knew that Taylor had to be feeling the same thing deep down. Her dad was also in danger. True monsters were near. And no one had a plan. And Richard was still acting as he always did. She was mad at Richard, but she wasn’t afraid. Claus readjusted his grip on Uxie and ran after the group, choosing to only focus on being angry at Richard for the moment.
Feeling annoyed and angry was still better than feeling fear and despair.
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