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 Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:03 am
The Three Relics Literate Roleplay Thread"A Pokemon Trainer is a person who devotes their time and life to their Pokemon. They have trust in their Pokemon, as their Pokemon have trust in them. They take care of each other, no matter what."
Blaine - Pokemon Special 35, PG 13
From left to right:
Row 1: Kasiya, Jaeshan, Mike, Sasha
Row 2: Kilik, Mazarin, Keegan, Miharu
Row 3: Mitsu, Robin, Crenu, Kenneth
Row 4: Riza, Katie, Ryka, Karrigan
Row 5: Train, Leon, Jett, Amy
Row 6: Scarlet, Jasper, Hayley, Mai
Row 7: Akane, Serenity, Isabelle, Nina
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:08 am
Keegan was in the process of finishing up a cigarette as Kilik, Sasha and Mitsu arrived on the scene, and even though he was glad to see they were all just fine, he frowned. Kasiya and that other gym leader, Winona, had yet to make their arrival, and though he too knew better than to underestimate the tiny blonde, he couldn't help but worry about her. His worry was short-lived, however, as no sooner had he'd taken a step forward to backtrack and find the girl, she and Winona entered the room. He groaned slightly as Sasha let out a shriek and proceeded to crush Kasiya with her ample bosom, raising an eyebrow as the two girls embraced fondly. Seriously, what is up with those two lately? he thought, feeling a slight twinge of envy, but he shrugged it off. "Glad you could join us," he murmured, now looking back at the heavy doors in front of them.
In truth, neither he nor Flannery had tried to open the doors yet, and again, as he stepped forward to do just that, he was interrupted by an overeager Kasiya. He hadn't expected the doors to be locked, as Mike had only gone through them a few minutes before, but when Kasiya yelped out in pain and staggered back, painful burns now covering her skin. Keegan motioned for everyone to back up, and he moved closer to the doors, inspecting the gap that should have been between them. "Looks like they've been melted closed," he observed. "Obviously from the other side. I guess he doesn't want us following him, after all. Too bad for him that I've never been very good at listening." His green eyes narrowed and he took Tierra's Great Ball from the strap around his waist and released his Golem. The normally docile Rock-type was uncharacteristically alert and awake, and when he pointed at the doors in front of him, Tierra charged. Sorry, Kilik, he thought, glancing back at the dark-haired boy, as he'd been eager to break into the room with his Aggron. But I'm tired of playing second fiddle to everyone else. It's time for me to show everyone what I'm capable of.
A few swings of the Golem's powerful arms and the doors were busted off their hinges, falling forward in one solid piece. Tierra stepped into the room first, followed by Keegan, both eying their surroundings warily. The room itself was surprisingly large, and looked naturally-formed as opposed to a lot of the man-made ones they'd seen along the way. It also looked as though it hadn't sustained much, if any damage at all, though by far the most notable thing about the room was the welcoming party opposite them: a group of Mike's Pokemon, and the strange, shadowy figure standing (sort of) just behind them. Keegan quickly studied each of them - the Steelix wore a stern expression as he glared down at the group; Proton hovered quietly nearby, its expression unreadable; the Crawdaunt (Keegan honestly couldn't remember its name) looked eager to rush forward and pummel the ever-loving crap out of all of them; and Portabello, eyes glowing with an eerie blue aura, just looked downright sad. The shadow behind them wore a large, half-moon and stalker-ific grin that matched its eyes, and Keegan quickly realized that the shadow (at least to him) somewhat resembled Mike. Save for the giant lobster, all of Mike's Pokemon seemed to be waiting for Keegan's group to make the first move. This is gonna suck, Keegan thought grimly.
=====
In the night, Miharu's dreams were dark, and somewhat terrifying. She kept dreaming that she was being chased by some unknown enemy, and she didn't know why. All she knew was that whatever it was, it wanted to hurt her, and that she had to get away as fast as she could. She spent the night thrashing and tossing about, and when she finally awoke the next morning, she felt even more tired than when she'd gone to bed. She didn't remember much of her nightmares, but if she had to guess, she'd wager that she'd done a lot of running in the night. She rolled over and hugged the blankets against her, feeling as though the warmth of the bedding would keep her safe. She closed her eyes again, trying to shake off the frightened feeling, and ended up lightly dozing for another half hour. When she opened her eyes once more, she felt a little more refreshed than before, and the very first thing she saw was the Pokeballs and Park Ball that held her Pokemon. It was a very welcome sight, and even though she was still trembling slightly, knowing that her Pokemon were right there seemed to make everything feel better. She didn't know what she'd do without them.
About twenty minutes after that, Miharu emerged from her room, dressed and ready for the day, or at least she would be after breakfast. Her unintentionally heart skipped a beat when she looked around the lobby for Lee, but when she didn't see him anywhere, her spirits sank. Well, it's not surprising, she thought sadly, not liking the painful feeling welling up in her chest and stomach. I guess I slept in too late and he left without me. Unsure of her next move now, Miharu took a few wary steps forward, nearly jumping a mile when the nurse touched her shoulder. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, just as surprised as Miharu was. "You're Miharu, right? I have a message for you, from Leroy. He said he'd be waiting for you over in the cafeteria."
Miharu calmed her breathing, taking in what the nurse had just said. "Oh," was all she could manage, suddenly feeling very stupid for thinking Lee had taken off without her. "Th-thank you," she finally managed, and she headed off in that direction, cheeks once again tinged with pink.
((Not time-skip))
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:02 am
An unlit cigarette was already dangling from Keegan's lips as he exited the Mauville City Pokemon Center, his green eyes twinkling in the morning sunlight. As he'd been setting the order of Pokeballs on the strap he wore around his waist, he'd decided that today was the day he'd put everything from yesterday behind him, and get on with his life. Things had been decidedly crappy lately, but there had been a small amount of good, and he took Helios' Pokeball from his belt and looked at it. We've come a long way, Pal, he thought, sometimes still in disbelief that the tiny runt of a Vulpix he'd taken in had become quite a handsome Ninetales. He was no pushover, either, and the redhead smirked, certain he could see the fox smirking back at him as he clipped the ball on his belt. "Time to head to Petalburg," he muttered, oddly deciding against lighting his cigarette right now and instead tucked it behind his ear as he carefully removed the folded contraption of a bicycle from his bag and set it up. He realized then he hadn't used it much since it had been repaired (a second time), as the red paint was still glossy and like-new. Of course, thinking about that made him think of how his and Kasiya's bikes had been ruined by the pranks of a pair of idiotic trainers - they'd set up a wire that spanned the bike trail so when unsuspecting riders passed by, their front tires were slashed and they'd be sent to the ground in a heap, only to be challenged to battle. Thinking about how they'd lost the battle only added insult to injury, and Keegan let out a continual string of curse words to himself as the memory played like a bad rerun in his mind.
It took a bit longer than he liked for the Acro Bike to fully click into place, and when it did, there was only one thing wrong now. The wicker basket that Helios always rode in as a Vulpix was still attached to the front, and Keegan grinned as he detached it, and placed it on a bench in front of the Pokemon Center. Helios was far too big for it now, and Keegan didn't have any other Pokemon that were small enough to ride around in it, at least for now, so he decided to leave it, not looking back as he swung his leg over the seat and started to pedal towards the entrance to Cycling Road. Normally, he would have just taken the scenic route below, but that place was always crawling with trainers and wild Pokemon and Keegan really didn't feel like being challenged to battle so early in the morning, even though he knew some of his Pokemon needed the practice. He hadn't gone more than ten meters before his phone began to ring noisily with the custom ring tone he'd set specifically for his mother. The redhead sighed loudly and resisted the urge to ignore it, as whenever his mother called, it often meant that she had some sort of errand for him to run. It became obvious she wasn't giving up any time soon so he finally stopped and answered it, somewhere around the twentieth ring. "Hey Mom," he said, now taking the opportunity to light the cigarette he'd previously tucked behind his ear. "What's up?
"Hello, honey!" Margaret Summers' ever cheerful voice rang out from the other end of the line. "Nothing's 'up', I just wanted to call my son and see how he is!"
=====
Her cheeks were still tingling with a light blush as Miharu entered the cafeteria, looking around almost eagerly for the blonde boy with a ponytail. She'd always used to think that guys with long hair looked stupid in general, but for some reason, she thought it suited Leroy's character. She resisted the urge to wave excitedly when she saw him sitting alone in a booth, with his Houndoom and Banette out of their respective Pokeballs and enjoying their food. Miharu was too focused on Lee to notice the smug looks the two Pokemon were giving her as she approached them.
"Good morning," she said brightly, her bad night quickly forgotten when Lee looked up at her and smiled. "I'm sorry about taking the room with the bed," she added.
"Don't worry about it," Lee said, dismissing the matter with a wave of his hand. "Besides, that couch was a lot more comfortable than it looked. Go get you and your Pokemon some breakfast; we've got a busy day ahead of us!"
His charming smile was hard to ignore, but Miharu nodded somewhat meekly and headed off to the buffet counter. Goldenrod's Pokemon Center was one of the biggest in all of Johto so naturally its cafeteria matched, and Miharu was easily able to choose a wide variety of food for all of her Pokemon's varying preferences. Once her group was settled and enjoying their meals, Miharu got herself a small stack of Belgian waffles topped with berries, whipped cream and strawberry sauce. It looked more like dessert than breakfast, but the green-haired girl didn't care. She also got herself a tall glass of milk before settling down in the seat across from Lee. He'd nearly finished his own breakfast, but he seemed to be feeding his Pokemon in pairs rather than all at once.
((Time-skip!))
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 1:20 pm
Kilik blinked as Kasiya and Winona arrived, Sasha wasting no time in shoving the blonde into her breasts. "Good to see you're alright," he nodded at her as she walked by him to try and open the door. She yelped and moved away from the door quickly. "H-hey!" He looked at the doors then back at Kasiya, examining her hands. That was going to leave some scarring, no doubt about it. He growled and turned, getting ready to throw Aggron into the fray and break the door down. That's when he noticed Keegan already knocking the door clean off it's hinges with help from his Golem. Sorry Aggron, he thought, looking at the small Great Ball in between his fingers, Maybe next time we raid a criminal organization's base. He clipped the ball back to his belt and followed the red head inside, a PokeBall on his belt shaking. Cable burst out next to his trainer, sensing immediate and absolute danger around him. He held up an arm against his Pokemon's chest. "Relax," he whispered to Cable, who nodded slowly.
As he stepped to Keegan's side, he could see all of Mike's (or most of them) Pokemon standing in front of them. Kilik raised his eyebrow as he looked to each of them. Something seemed...off. Then it hit him: "His Fire-types are missing," he said clearly. "Nitro, Felsic, and Napalm; he must've taken them ahead to fight Maxie." Kilik glanced up at the towering Steelix. Talk about fighting Fire with Fire. He then lowered his gaze to Crawdaunt, who was ready to spill blood. And even Breloom was here. Portabello, why are you...? he glanced at the Mushroom Pokemon and glanced up at Cable as he started to step forward. Again, Kilik had to hold his arm out to have his Pokemon stand down.
And that weird...shadow. It looks like Mike but... he felt a chill run up his spine. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable in that room. Cable readied himself. A battle was imminent, of that he was certain. And if anyone had tried to lay just a finger, magnet, claw, or pincer on his trainer, they'd get a face full of Thunderpunch and a gut loaded with Brick Break. Lightning sparked between the two red LEDs on the Electivire's 'tails'. Kilik gulped.
-*-
"Sir, passing over the Northern Ocean now." the pilot said clearly. Giovanni gazed out the window at the water below. It was crystal clear and blue as a Wailord. The continents were divided by large oceans; though certainly the largest of these was the Northern Ocean. It separated the Kanto/Johto continent from the Sinnoh Island to the far north. He glanced at the map, which showed a large image of the world and their exact location. Yes, the Northern Ocean was quiet large. The Sevii Sea, named thusly for the Sevii Islands, was directly south of Kanto. To reach Hoenn, one would have to sail or fly south-west from Johto across the Johtoenn Ocean.
And then there was the Eastern Ocean, which was finally opening its borders to the far far region of Unova; a region that had been long closed off from foreigners due to it's incredibly unique climate and absurdly rare Pokemon species. Giovanni had only recently been told of the region's new policy on foreign affairs, allowing trainers from all around the world to participate in their League, following an incredibly strict set of guidelines. His mind trailed off for a moment but was immediately snapped back to reality as the pilot told him Jubilife was a mere three hours away.
"Good," Giovanni said simply, leaning back in his chair as his Persian brushed up against his fingers. "We will be there by sunrise."
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:04 pm
Kilik hadn't really managed to fall asleep at all that night. Images of Milo and just the entire brutality of the Magma Assault kept flickering in his mind like a dying candle. Any time he did get to sleep for a moment, the laughter of a madman came echoing into his head and he'd shoot straight up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He opened an eye and noticed that it was daytime. "Mmm..." he stretched a little and clicked a button on his shiny new Poketch; "8:30? Ugh, I am so exhausted...!" he fell back into his pillow and groaned. Then he heard a scream, sitting up quickly and jumping out of the bed, grabbing his Pokeballs. He looked around the room, holding on to Cable's ball. If someone was in trouble, they'd scream again, right? He waited a solid two minutes...which felt more like an eternity after what he'd been through. "Must have been in my head..." he put his hand on his forehead and groaned. He flipped the light switch and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was messy, and not it's usual 'I look messy on purpose' messy. His face, somewhat flushed, and his eyes almost red. "Nothing a shower can't fix!"
- - -
The boy stepped out of the Pokemon Center and took a deep breath, then started coughing. Though he felt a lot better after his shower (and looked much better as well), he figured there was still some smoke in his lungs from the volcano. He had washed his clothes overnight, borrowing some clean pajamas from the Center, and they smelled fantastic. Nobody would be any the wiser that he was one of the kids involved in the Team Magma downfall, not that it was something to hide really. Jubilife was much more hustle and bustle in the morning with cars flying up and down the street with little regard for safety. There was a lot of colorful language being shared between some angry drivers.
"It's a good thing Grovyle isn't out," he laughed, "She'd be right near offended!" Kilik tossed Cable's ball up into the air, the Electivire appearing by his side. "Morning, Cable!" He patted the large Pokemon on the arm. "What do you say you and I start walking towards Oreburgh and get our first badge in the Sinnoh region?" He smiled.
The Electivire nodded, then noticed his trainer stumble a little. He knew his master was tired. But he was a hero, after all! Cable knelt down and let Kilik climb onto his large shoulders, a leg on either side of his head. As the Electivire stood up, he curved his tails to make something akin to the back of a chair for Kilik to lean against as he sat. As Kilik pointed the direction to go, Cable started walking. Along the sidewalk, of course, because safety first!
Kilik rested his head against the back of Cable's, yawning as he did so. "Cable, your head is quite soft. Could've fooled me," he laughed, "with how thick headed you could be!" The two shared a hearty laugh, ignoring the strange looks people were likely giving them. Kilik sighed a bit. "We'll be in this town a while," he lifted his head and put his chin on Cable's head to look ahead, "the exit to the next Route isn't for a while. But take your time, buddy. Take in the sights."
-*-
Giovanni arrived at 8:45 sharp, a little behind his predetermined schedule of 'before sunrise'. The man walked out of his helicopter, Persian walking slowly at his master's side. Rocket Grunts and Admins alike that had met him on the helipad graciously greeted him to the Sinnoh region. "Enough talk," the man said curtly as he entered the building and began walking down the stairs that led to the top floor of rooms. "Send Mai to my quarters, I wish to speak with her. And you," he pointed at a Grunt who dropped the pen and paper he was holding, "bring me a cup of coffee. Black. And a saucer of milk."
"Why a sauc--"
"You honestly expect my Persian to go hungry, hm?" The feline glanced up at the Grunt with narrowed eyes and began licking his jowls. The man nodded fearfully and dashed off ahead to make preparations. Giovanni snapped his fingers and held his arms out, someone taking his sleek orange blazer off of him. It was rare for Giovanni to not wear each piece of his expensive suit; however he felt for now it would be a more casual meeting. He entered his bedroom and the Admin hung the coat up as the Rocket Boss began to remove the green vest he wore as well. Persian hopped up on to the bed and curled up, awaiting his saucer. A desk had been provided that gazed out of the window across all of Jubilife City. He sat in the chair and turned to face the door. The Admin and two Grunts were still there.
"You are dismissed," he said plainly, making sure the buttons on his yellow shirt were tight and in place, looking proper was the key to success. As they left, the Grunt brought in the cup of coffee and the milk for Persian, nodding and apologizing profusely as he left. Giovanni took a sip and placed the mug on his desk, turning out to face the window as he awaited Mai's arrival. They had much to discuss. The Relics, the importance of this Region, and our organization's power here... he thought to himself, glancing down at the people below. Worthless chaff.
[[Time Skip!!]]
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:58 pm
Keegan rolled his eyes, puffing out a small cloud of bluish smoke. He didn't really believe her, but he decided to go along with her, for now. "I'm fine," he told her. It was pretty close to the truth, as he'd gotten through the Magma incident with little injuries (for once) and despite his fairly wrecked emotional state, he was 'fine'. After a moment, he decided to continue, hoping to keep the subject on him and away from whatever errand his mother had in store for him. "I'm actually heading to Petalburg to challenge the gym."
"Oh, that's wonderful, sweetie! I'm sure you'll win hands-down; your Pokemon are quite strong. Oh, that reminds me, I do have a reason for calling!"
As Maggie gave a sheepish little chuckle, Keegan sighed and rolled his eyes a second time. I knew it. He flicked a bit of ash to the ground, wishing she'd called him before he left Lavaridge last night, as it would have saved him a ton of time heading back there. "And just what might that reason be?" he asked, wondering if his voice sounded as dull and unimpressed as he felt.
"Oh, it's nothing too big," Maggie answered quickly. If she could sense her son's annoyance, she was ignoring it. "I see you changed around some of your Pokemon, but not Helios."
Keegan scoffed. "Yeah, because after the whole Sheridan fiasco, he's never leaving my party ever again," he retorted sharply. A small pang of guilt jabbed at his stomach over the tone he'd taken with his mother, but he was surprised to find that she agreed with him.
"Oh, I know, honey. You know how sorry I am about all that. But it did turn out for the better in the end, didn't it?" Keegan said nothing; letting his silence speak for him. "I'd never ask anything like that of you again. But, I would like to borrow him for a little while. You see, a trainer has requested a Vulpix egg, and he would like for the hatchling to be able to use the move Heat Wave."
"That's Helios' signature move," Keegan murmured, sticking the smoke between his lips. It was easy to see what his mother wanted. and took the Ninetales' Pokeball from his belt. "I see," he said, turning the sphere over in his hand a few times. His brow furrowed, and finally, he sighed in defeat. "All right. I'm not far from Mauville. I'll head back and send him over."
=====
After about half an hour, Miharu, Leroy and all the Pokemon between them had finished eating, and now they were in the midst of preparing to leave the Pokemon Center. Miharu had unpacked and repacked her bag a few times, each time making just a tiny bit more room than before. Lee had watched her with both curiosity and amazement, as he'd never been one for organization. In fact, his backpack only held a few choice items, and only one spare change of clothes - his Team Rocket uniform, which he rarely wore, save for 'special' occasions. As the trainer duo made their way outside, they were discussing the best plan of action for travel to Olivine City. Naturally they'd have to head north and either go through or around the National Park (Lee reckoned it'd be quicker to just go through) and make their way toward Ecruteak, which seemed like a logical first step. So, with a semblance of a plan, Miharu and Leroy set out, the rays of the sun brightly shining down on them and the rest of Goldenrod City.
"It's a nice day for traveling," Miharu commented, once again feeling quite elated. Even she could not recall a time when she'd felt this happy.
"It's also a nice day for training," Leroy added, holding his arm out for Miharu to take, which she did. "Should we look for some chumps - I mean, trainers to battle in the park? Or should we just head on through to Ecruteak?"
Miharu raised an eyebrow slightly, but quickly forgot what had intrigued her and instead started thinking. "I'd really rather not go looking for fights," she admitted. "But, of course, if anyone decides to challenge us-"
"-we'll stomp 'em flat," Leroy said, finishing Miharu's sentence. "I mean, I thought I was pretty good, but you're much better. We'd make a great team, I'd bet."
That comment made Miharu's cheeks flush once more. She wasn't used to being complimented, especially by doting young men, and she smiled happily. "You're pretty good too, but it's nothing more practice wouldn't hurt."
((Time-skip))
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thunderbolts_and_sunshine
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:39 pm
The flash of flames from her charging Quilava was enough to snap Riza back to reality and she blinked as she studied her two younger Pokemon. Eris seemed angry at something and Faustus was shrinking back, sections of his long, slender body covered in painful looking burns. Riza winced, glad they were right near the pokecenter as she didn't have any burn heal with her. She shot a glare at Eris, but the Quilava pretended not to see it and instead shot out a small ember and attempted to grab hold of it with her Extrasensory ability, like she'd done when they trained yesterday. The result was still the same, with the fire fading long before the Quilava's mysterious psychic power could reach it. Even though she was annoyed at her trainer for ignoring her, the Quilava remembered what she'd said before. She had to make her Extrasensory kick off faster, even if she had no real idea how to do that. So, instead of trying to grab the embers, Eris then proceeded to practice using her power to levitate small rocks and twigs that she found lying around. The strain on her mind was incredible, and it seemed to tire her out pretty quickly, but she wasn't going to give up so easily.
Faustus, meanwhile, didn't suffer from his burn for long, as no sooner had Riza knelt down beside him to assess his condition did the Dratini begin to glow. For a second Riza had no idea what was going on, until a thin outline of the Dratini's body seemed to melt away from him. When the glow dimmed, his burns had disappeared, and he cooed happily. "Oh, that's right, you have Shed Skin," Riza said, sighing with relief. "That is going to come in handy in the future," she added, reaching out to stroke Faustus on the head. At first the timid dragon recoiled, but it was more out of habit than actual fear. He shook it off and carefully bumped his head against Riza's hand, still cooing. Riza sighed again, quite happy that she was already starting to bond with the young dragon. 'Heh, I'll be a Dragon Master like Clair and a top Coordinator like Fantina,' she thought, standing up once more. "Okay, Faustus. Let's work on that Twister and Dragon Rage combination. I'm still not sure what it's missing, but we won't know unless we play around with it. Faustus nodded, quickly concentrating on a small crack in the ground nearby. Again, most people would have missed it but the Dratini was almost hyper aware of his surroundings. Soon, he had a raging Twister dancing just above that crack, and on Riza's command he unleashed the purplish flames into the vortex. Again, it crackled and roared and was very pretty, but Riza just couldn't figure out what could make it better. At least for now.
Meanwhile, Diemia and Yula had their own issues, as Yula's Double Team had done well in confusing the Crawdaunt as to her real location. Diemia knew she could just release Swift after Swift and pummel Yula from where she stood, but her Swift attack was far from being her strongest attack, and she longed to sink her pincers into something. Finally, the impatient Crawdaunt gave a loud roar and rushed forward, rearing back her claws and swinging at the first Gardevoir she saw with her Knock Off attack. The dark-type move destroyed the Gardevoir in one blow, revealing it to be nothing more than a simple clone. Diemia started to growl but wouldn't get to finish it as a split second later she was blasted from behind by a dark orb of energy. Yula had used Shadow Ball, which wasn't very effective, but Diemia knew that if the Gardevoir had used Thunderbolt, she wouldn't be fairing so well right now.
* * * * *
It was difficult for Katie to remain patient as she waited, and by 8:15 she was sure Mai had chosen to be late on purpose. She surely didn't plan on calling Mai on it though, as she was a high ranked admin and Katie was a sad, lowly little grunt. That word made Katie frown and she kicked at the carpet as she waited, wondering how difficult it would be to get some kind of promotion, if that sort of thing was even possible in this organization. There had to be, considering that Mai was ordering around everyone like she owned them. Then, after what felt like an eternity, Mai decided to grace Katie with her presence and the orange haired girl smiled, standing up as her new boss sat down. "Nope, not long at all," she replied cheerfully, prompting an odd look from Kord. The Elekid was stupidly bored at this point.
At first, hearing that the head Rocket himself would be arriving this morning had almost made Katie miss the fact that she was being given her first assignment, but luckily she snapped to attention, nodding along slowly. She had to steal an egg from the breeding center? That seemed...easy enough, if not a little bit lame. But her mission had a second part, and this information made her smile. She accepted the box that contained the Rocket flash drive, and she nodded. "Yes, I'm sure it won't be a problem." She put the device away, looking quickly to Kord as he'd started to dance around impatiently. "So, breeding center data, and an egg. Is there any egg in particular you want? Or does this not matter?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 1:55 pm
On Pier 6 in Canalave City, a stream of sailors with the help of an assortment of Machoke, Toxicroak and some oddly muscular Floatzel unloaded crate upon crate from ship to land. One crate had been profusely taped over with red lines of "FRAGILE" and "HANDLE WITH CARE"--the short sight being that none of the Pokemon could actually read either labels, and so the crate was unceremoniously dumped with the other crates and soon afterwards was buried under quite a bit of cargo.
A foreman would later see one of top crates falling and could have sworn that there was some minute motion in the cargo, but upon shining his flashlight in the area could see no living thing. He must've imagined it; must've been the wind. The wind was mighty fearsome in the port at night.
Later in the night, the loud sound of wood splintering croaked into the salty air, accompanied by an odd tumble of one crate or two, a yell, and a splash into the nearby water. A quiet curse and the red flicker of a Pokemon being released was was seen before silence returned to the cargo yard. The man on duty was sleeping on his job and did not see a moon-light illuminated silver cloud take off from the yard into the sky with two dripping wet figures sitting on top of it.
This was none other than Mary-Anne and her trustworthy Altaria, Ulani, of course; sitting in front of her was Diego, the Smeargle, who had painted the crowbar that Mary-Anne had used in their pursuit of freedom. Besides being drenched, M.A. may not have looked particularly recognizable to those who had seen her last. Her hair seemed almost carelessly cropped, with one side above her right ear shaved close; a tiny braid running in front of her other ear marked how long her hair once was. M.A. had always been somewhat fond of piercings, particularly about her ears, but a few more caused an illusion of an abundant glitter at the sides of her head; a stud marked her small nose. A black hoodie zip-up covered her frame--which seemed thinner than before, making her lanky constitution all the more willowy--under which she wore a gray ribbed tank-top, baggy now with sea water. Her denim jeans had been through some wear and negligence, but were still acceptable in coverage, so she couldn't care less; she didn't exactly have the cash flow to replace a perfectly functioning pair of jeans, anyways.
Mary-Anne, in these past two-three (?) months or so, had undergone this minor shift; her mother would dub it teenage rebellion, but she frowned upon that diagnosis. The whys were irrelevant and she didn't know them herself; furthermore, she didn't need anyone's diagnosis, disdain or pity for what she chose to do with herself. She had grown a general disregard for others--not malevolently, for M.A. was could never be and was not malicious--but simply out of a suspicious hoarding of her own independence.
If there were to be any cause of this revelation on M.A.'s part, they were innocuous enough. Saebum's fiance had eloped early recently with another man with little explanation save for a note; her once cheery and confident brother had been reduced to a sniveling shell of which M.A. found she could not stand. He had followed her around for a while, trying to act noble while every brave look and world screamed for sympathy. M.A., so inundated with happiness as a child, had never learned the empathy to deal with others' emotions, and thus had attempted consoling Saebum with a few awkward pats on the back before dumping him with their father, who wasn't really all that great in the department either. But she hadn't kept much contact with her family as of late, not from resentment, but just out of a lack of inclination.
It wasn't that she had closed herself off from everybody, that she was some wreck; in fact, she was more exuberant with this mode of living and still loved her Pokemon as dearly as before. They, too, had undergone some changes alongside their trainer. Daemyn the Houndoom was as gruff towards society as always, but for some odd reason--perhaps because he had noticed that M.A. had withdrew so much--he had become hyperbolically fond of Mary-Anne, much to her embarrassment and secret pleasure. Ulani had become very vain given M.A.'s perpetual flood of love towards the Altaria, and this manifested in near condescending airs, though she remained as faithful to M.A. as before. She and Diego still adored pranking other people, and Diego still adored Ulani, which the Altaria knew and manipulated. The painter had grown more fond of M.A. since her personality shift, finding her a bit more of a maverick (to borrow from some politicians) and thus a more interesting presence to be around, artistically. Tora the Donphan was the only one not to change at all. If anything, she was more belligerent, simply because M.A. didn't stop her anymore--if Tora wanted to express herself in that way, the girl didn't see why she shouldn't. Plus M.A. had mastered the craft of running away before she had to pay for damages.
First stop was the PokeCenter. M.A. wasn't necessarily fond of the basic charity food at PokeCenters, but she was out of cash and supplies, and her Pokemon were ravenous after that trip. Plus PokeCenters sometimes had essential grooming equipment, and as of late, she had funneled all her attentions on her Pokemon's well being. Afterwards perhaps they'd pick some fights and make some dough so she could get the ingredients together for that new recipe that she read about, that would make Ulani's wings positively glow with radiance, she thought.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:13 pm
The entire gym seemed at once stifling, too overcrowded with plants, too humid. The atmosphere weighed upon her, making everything in her body slow. The heat, she thought faintly, the heat and the flowers are making me drowsy. Was it on purpose? Amy chanced a glance away from the battle, glancing up at the trees, up at the environmentally friendly-looking lights overhead. Was it really just one big heating lamp, boiling any trainer that decided to come in? She began to grow unsteady, trying to stay focused on the battle but everything, everything about this place seemed to reject her, slow her, weaken her. Can't they all feel it?
To compensate for his trainer's sudden panic attack, Lee saw it fit to charge the Bulbasaur, aiming for a solid blow to the side. But Tina was accustomed to both the almost tropic environment and to battling itself, so she easily ordered for a dodge and a retaliating Vine Whip. Bulbasaur was a clever Pokemon, her opponent learned, because she had learned quite a few tricks. And when the Scuffle Pokemon aimed to slam his elbow into her ribcage, she rolled forward, tucking herself into a ball as neatly as possible. Tina beamed at her Pokemon, especially when this unexpected acrobatic move shifted into a perfect counter: Bulbasaur spun on her back legs and skidded to a halt, vines lashing out as she regained balance. And entangling and constricting around the little Fighting-type helped her steady even more, despite his violent thrashing.
"Oh, s-sorry!" Amy cried, snapped to attention by her Pokemon's cries of anger. She paused again, frozen in her own indecision. How does he get out? Pulling at the vines only make them tighten, and she thought of Marshall, in the contest, trampled by the Cacturne. She thought of Flora, beaten by that Shellder. I'll have disappointed them all. Her distress was visible in her expression, considering that Tina shot a look to Bulbasaur and Lee was dropped, not very gently, to the ground. Amy's nails found the flesh of her palms again and her breath hitched, watching that tiny form (he seemed so small now; had he really beat Marshall?) twitcch and claw at the dirt. When Lee managed to stand back up, his head hanging, fists clenching and unclenching, Amy had to resist the urge to recall him and forfeit. I can't do this. I can't lose again. But then the Scuffle Pokemon raised his eyes, finding her frightened blue ones, seeing her uncertainty. And one corner of his lips twitched upwards in a ragged smile, nod indicating the impatient Bulbasaur. The Tyrogue seemed to be waiting for the next command, their next move. He wasn't grievously injured nor ready to give up. In fact, he looked quite eager to fight on.
"R-right," she managed weakly, adjusting her glasses and clearing her head. The arena, the pressure of the battle, her own confidence, they all weighed upon her, dragging her down. But Lee knew what to do, and he trusted her. Maybe he picked her as much as she had picked him. Right. I can be strong, too, she told herself, nodding back to her Fighting-type. "Okay, let's go for a Tackle attack, and don't let them dodge it!" she commanded, willing her tone not to falter. Ignoring the painful throb of his Poison status taking effect, Lee steeled himself and charged right for the Grass/Poison-type, determined to bring that smug Bulbasaur down.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Hey, don't make fun of him," Jade snapped, arms folding over her chest. "We'll see how dangerous he is in a few weeks, huh? With me by his side, he'll be pretty fearsome, thanks very much." Restraining from making any comments about Jake's overgrown beaver, because she seemed quite capable and quite ferocious, Jade simply exchanged a glance with her Psyduck. She knew from a look that, if he could, he would be blushing up a storm right about now. Aw, now he's all embarassed. You jerk, she thought, scowling over at the blonde.
When Bibarel began her Growl, Aquarius seemed to shrink into himself even further, going as far to cover his eyes with his chubby little arms. He quacked uncertainly and peeked out, wondering if that was it. Would the shockwaves of that roar hit him in a second? He wasn't sure, but he didn't want to be harmed by any shockwaves from a Pokemon like that. The little yellow Pokemon took a few waddles back, looking up at his new trainer for a command.
"Ugh, all right. Water Gun, try to keep as much distance as possible." Don't be afraid to run, she wanted to add, but she figured it wouldn't be much help at all. The Duck Pokemon seemed very not afraid of running, considering how quickly he tried to advance to get in range for a Water Gun attack. Finally, he took a little leap forward as he sprayed a jet of water at his opponent, sure that it wouldn't do very much damage at all. She seemed like a Water-type, but maybe she'd get riled up and he could run around until she got tired. That's what he used to do with the Geodudes, after all. And now, running into a rock or a tree would be much more... effective.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Pleased with his purchases, Jett kept them gripped firmly in his hands, curious as to what Scarlet had gotten. He had noticed the angry man at the front, who still seemed upset about something, but he didn't seem to bother anyone else. Silently, he vowed that if this guy was going to accost any of them, he would intervene and introduce the jerk to River. That's what friends did, right? Even his older brothers wouldn't tolerate any of that crap. It's his problem, anyway, they would've told him. So that's what he told himself as they walked out of the store, unsure of where to go now.
"Sounds like tomorrow ought to be a busy day," Jett said lightly, remembering that he still had Flash and Aerial Ace, earned as winnings from his battle with Falkner. I bet Athena and Aerosmith will be especially pleased, with all of the stuff they're getting, he thought. "We can use the place in the back of the Pokecenter for training, I think. It'd be good to get some strategy in, anyways."
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:30 pm
Mike's heart began to pick up in speed as the light from the room washed over his eyes and he was transported into an all too familiar world from his past. The jagged stone walls from before were smoothed over, covered in wallpaper and clothed in a dark maroon paint; the Magma symbol proudly displayed on each wall. Even the floor was chiseled into a simple decorative pattern and leveled out. Judging by this room, you'd never believe that it was inside an active volcano. The room itself was expansive, but had little in it. Mike remembered how the lack of furniture always made him feel like he was the only thing in the room, and that everything echoed loudly, so even the slightest fidget felt like you were making a racket and being a huge bother to the very busy and important man behind that desk. But that was then, and Mike now had every intention of being a huge bother. Taking in a silent breath, Mike tightened his grip on the large door and slammed it shut. The metal crash rang in the air.
Maxie sat calmly in his chair, watching a set of monitors behind him and paying no attention to what was going on behind him. The slight creak as the door opened behind him caused him no visible alarm, and it was only until it had been closed so rudely that he slowly spun around to greet his guest. His blood-red hair was slicked back, and his angular face wrinkled in disappointment. “Mike. I know I taught you better manners than that.” he said simply, his narrow eyes studying the boy in front of him. “How good of you to stop by and visit.” His hands still gripped his cup of tea, and his posture was very relaxed despite the smoldering boy standing before him. “It's been what, four years?”
“To the day.” Mike replied, glaring at the man. His voice was just as he remembered. Soft, yet sharper than a dagger.
“Happy birthday, then.” he said before taking a sip. “Eighteen, isn't it? How the time does show on you. The scars you wear on your skin don't hold a candle to the pain I can see in your eyes. These past few years have been very unkind to you. That much is clear.” He placed his cup on the saucer and leaned forward, weaving his fingers together as he eyed the boy. “You've changed in ways I could have never thought possible. Not just in manner, but matter. Tell me. What happened that gave you this...” he gestured back to one of the screens on the wall behind him. The scene played where Mike had breathed fire on the female grunts face and proceeded to brutally incapacitate the rest of the grunts who thought they had him captive. Watching himself do those horrible things caused Mike's stomach to turn, but a dark thought in the back of his mind curled his lips slightly. “Now I know you've had a penchant for slight trickery,” he turned back to look at the boy. “But you standing here burning like a sickly Magcargo suggests something other than smoke and mirrors. Tell me.”
“Apparently Moltres found me worthy enough to keep around.” Mike said curtly. “Had a few unintended but convenient changes.”
“Quite.” Maxie said, his eyes narrowing further. “You've become quite the specimen. I'm sure every scientist and psychologist would love to take a scalpel to you and see what makes you tick.” A grin crept onto his face as he raised a small remote and clicked a button on it. “Sadly, they will never know you as well as I do.” One by one, the images of Mike's violence were replaced by clips of Flannery. Some showed her back home, in her gym, in the Magma base and one, that Mike couldn't help but fix his eyes on, was that of her after learning the truth in Slateport. Her expression showed more pain and anger than he had ever wanted to see on her.
“You are a sad, sick, selfish little boy and I never want to have anything to do with you ever again.”
Mike let the words crash over him, as they had non-stop since that day. It was everything he had feared, everything that kept him up at night. She was the reason he had done everything. The pain from those words lingered longer than any wound. He took in a deep breath and exhaled a thick plume of smoke from his nose. “No. Not anymore.” he said simply. “I won't let you use her to manipulate me ever again. I'm here to bring you down, to fix everything, to atone for what I've done”
Maxie let his frown show for a second. He'd expected a much more...feral response to that tactic. No matter, he had other methods. “You still spout the same heroic nonsense as always. The same deluded ideals.”
“No.” Mike replied. “I'm not doing this to be a hero. Not today. I'm doing what must be done, whatever it takes.”
“Oh, yes.” Maxie replied with a smile. “That's what it is.” The Magma leader stood up, his desk sinking into a compartment in the ground as he drew a Pokeball. “Come now, Mike. Let us see which one of us will be stopped today.”
Mike let out a low chuckle. “Oh yes.” he grinned. “Let's.” He drew a Pokeball of his own, clutching it tightly. His entire body began to radiate heat. His scars poured a thick black smoke.
"And when the madness takes over, you'll know that I was right all along."
Mike only smiled wider at the leader's words. “Ready set?”
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:48 pm
Winona winched as she saw Kasiya's hands sizzle against the door. "Well, Kas, that would make sense if we were dealing with someone who was of their right mind. Unfortunately, Mike's certainly proven to us that he is anything but that recently." She eyed the doors. Did he...weld them shut? she asked herself, then shook her head. Trying to make sense of Mike's logic was pretty pointless now. All it did was make her head hurt. Winona looked up, and took a step back at Keegan's warning as his Golem punched the doors off their hinges with little effort. "Not bad." she said, following him into the room.
Her slight smile from the display faded all but instantly when she saw what was waiting for them in the next room. "Oh. We're back to this, then." the Gym Leader said as she saw the four Pokemon staring at her. Wait a minute. A Breloom, a Steelix...are these...Mike's Pokemon? It was then that Winona noticed the strange shadow on the wall. Wait, it wasn't on the wall. Was it..standing? "What's going on?" she asked to anyone who could have any idea what it was that was going on in front of them.
------
"Ah!" Sasha yelped as Kasiya burned her hands on the door. She reached into her bag and drew the red hanker-chef she used to wear in her hair and Omelette's Pokeball. She tore it in half and had the mouse wet the cloth, then gently wrapped it around her friend's reddened hands. "Z'here." she said. "Z'hat should help a b'eet." Sasha put her arm around Kasiya for support. "You really are gung-ho for h'eem, non?" The pink haired girl smiled. "He's lucky to have a friend like you." Sasha's eyes went to Flannery, who was looking more anxious by the second. She pondered for a moment what she must be feeling right now. To know and love someone for so long, and to have all of that dropped on you in a moment. She was surprised that she wasn't a bit off the deep end herself. She's so strong. Sasha thought, feeling a mix of respect and sorrow for the Gym Leader.
Sasha recalled Omelette and helped Kasiya to the side as Keegan's Pokemon smashed down the door. As she watched, she wondered which one of them had the more powerful Golem. It was silly how they both had Ninetales and Golem. Sasha smiled, wondering if they had all of the same Pokemon.
However, like Winona before her, her smile too, dropped from her lips as she entered the next room. Sasha looked around, recognizing each of the Pokemon before her. "I, I do not know." Sasha said in reply to Winona's question.
------
Portabello raised his head slowly as he heard the door blast off its hinges and watched the group walk in. As they looked around in confusion, he felt a weight on his cap as Milo placed a hand on the Breloom's head.
Why hello there. the shadow said. It's a delight to finally meet all of you. Each of his words bounced with joy. Well now that's not true. I've met all of you at one point or another. Some more intimately than others. his head spun around, locking his flashlight-like eyes with Winona for a moment. To be exact, this is the first time you've all met me. At least outside of that shell. Milo looked around, letting out a low cackle as the kids tried to figure out what he meant. Heh heh heh. Very well then. He sank into the floor and appeared in the center of the room, raising his arms. His dagger like fingers twisted and swirled until they created two puppet like shapes to what seemed like Flannery and Mike. They both had similar faces as the shade.
“You are a sad, sick, selfish little boy and I never want to have anything to do with you ever again.” the Flannery puppet said, its voice a perfect replica of whom it was made after. The Mike puppets eyes began to shake and roll, twisting into a spiral.
I love this part. Milo said, leaning in closer. Watch as the palm tree's words just tear open his heart like a rotten fruit. Feel his pain, his sadness, his anger. It made him weak. It made him mine again. The Mike puppet began convulsing, grabbing its head. Face it boy. You got dumped. She doesn't love you anymore. Milo shook his hand, dissipating the Flannery puppet in a puff of black smoke. His now free hand cradled the little Mike.
"Oh god." the puppet said, his voice broken and filled with terror. "Not you...No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No, anyone but you!"
Miss me? Milo asked, his tone nearly that of song. The shadow was enjoying this reenactment immensely. I've missed you, kiddo. So much. Think of all the fun we're going to have together now that I'm back! he let out a loud, evil cackle as the puppet squirmed in his grasp. The blue light in the cave flickered as Portabello struggled to watch. When it did, Milo too faded in and out of existence. Not now, mushroom, we're getting to the best part! the shadow shouted. Watch this! The puppet had curled into a ball and began softly laughing.
Now...sing for me. he said, slowly fading, leaving only the puppet floating in the air. It began to laugh louder and louder until it burst into a fit of hysterical cackling. As it did, its features exploded into that of the shade's, and he continued to replay the sound of Mike's sorrowful laughter to echo into all of their minds. Allow me to introduce myself! he said excitedly, rearing back and placing a hooked hand on his chest. My name is Milo, and I owe my being here all to you! The shade lifted his hand and pointed a crooked finger to Flannery. Thank you so much for your help. I guess it's true what they say: love really DOES bring out the best in people! Ahh-hahahahha!
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:26 pm
Mai certainly did not miss the fact that Katie's eyes had gone wide when she mentioned that their boss was arriving some time this morning, and she smiled to herself. You probably won't meet him today, kiddo, but if you show diligence and loyalty to this organization, then one day you will. She also noticed the Elekid's impatience beginning to grow, and not wanting to risk getting zapped, she decided to speed up the briefing. "No, any egg will do," she answered. "Our members do not have many Sinnoh-native Pokemon, and the egg will be rewarded to a member that shows they have earned it. Who knows, that member could even be you."
At that point, her phone began to chirp, and she took it from her pocket. It was a text message from another admin, telling her that Giovanni would be arriving within fifteen minutes or so. That left little time for talking. "All right," she said, standing up, and motioning for Katie to do the same. "The only thing left is to is wish you luck, but I don't think you'll need it. Feel free to contact me if you really need to, and be sure to do so when you complete your mission. Our next meeting should be in Veilstone City." She nodded, and turned on a heel to leave, but stopped as another thing came to mind. "Oh yes, as for your uniform: you won't need it just yet. Consider this your initiation mission - succeed, and you'll become a full-fledged member of Team Rocket. Fail, and, well, just remember the talk we had about the balcony last evening. Goodbye for now." She gave a small wave and left the lobby, grabbing the collar of the first grunt she saw. "Status report," she barked.
=-=-=-=-=
Before Surge could even begin to think of a reason for Raichu's inability to use Thunderbolt, Carlos had recalled his Kricketune and called off the match. Normally, Surge would have hated something like that, but the fact that something was up with Raichu was undeniable, and he was grateful to the oddly-dressed stranger. "Much obliged, Pineapple-man," he said, giving a wave of his large hand. "Yer always welcome in the Vermilion Gym. Come back for a real match any time, we'll be glad to have ya!"
Once the front doors to the gym had closed, Surge called for someone to go and lock them. With his star Pokemon currently not up to par, there would be no way he was taking challengers right now. When he got back to the battlefield, Raichu was right where Surge left him, sitting on the ground and looking rather disappointed. "Cheer up, Raichu, we all have off days. Why don't you try your Thunderbolt out once again?" The Mouse Pokemon nodded, trying not to look as rattled as he felt. Aside from that, he felt completely wiped, but otherwise all right. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and summoned his energy. His cheeks began to flare with sparks, but they died out quite quickly and there was nothing. Enraged by his failure, Raichu tried once more, but this time he couldn't so much as cause the tiniest of sparks. His vision blurred and his head swam, and suddenly the ground was rushing to meet him as he collapsed. He didn't even hear Surge's voice calling out to him; all there was, was darkness.
=-=-=-=-=
Normally, Karrigan would have been easily able to call out to Ikouma, to have him weave and dodge and duck around Victreebel's long, dangerous tail as it lashed out, but she was still shell-shocked from Lennier's quick and painful defeat, so it was nearly impossible. Luckily enough, Ikouma was far from stupid and was able to come to that conclusion himself, though the Flycatcher Pokemon seemed to anticipate his movements much better than he thought. He took a solid Vine Whip to the chest, but that didn't slow his charge, despite the cry of pain that rang out from the Sneasel's throat. This was enough to bring Karrigan back to the present, at least for a moment or two, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Ice Punch," she called, never happier that her faithful partner had been born with such a useful technique.
Ikouma growled and ignored the sharp stinging sensation in his chest. His head feather twitched as he made a tight fist, already powering up with an icy aura. He closed in on his target with his impressive speed, waiting for an opportune moment to slam his icy fist into the annoying Victreebel.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:02 am
Jake involuntarily flinched as Jade snapped at him, and he shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry," he muttered, staring at the ground for a moment. He hadn't meant anything offensive by it, but he quickly realized he needed to start watching what he said around the dark-haired girl. Jake crossed his arms over his chest as Jade called for a Water Gun, wondering how he should have Bibarel counter. He could let her just take it, as he knew it probably wouldn't cause her anything more than annoyance at this point, but he decided against it, lest she choose to retaliate on her own.
"You use Water Gun, too," the blonde said quickly, his blue eyes seemingly cold for a moment or so. Bibarel obviously didn't like the command, but it was better than giving pitiful little Growls so she eagerly responded. Her cheeks ballooned out and she fired off a jet of water of her own. It met with the Water Gun Aquarius had sprayed, but since water wasn't exactly combustible or volatile in that state, the two colliding Water Guns simply made a big splash of water that seemed to drench the area around them. Bibarel narrowed her eyes as droplets of water rained down around and on top of her, still not impressed. Jake sighed to himself. Oh, Bibarel, he thought. Get over yourself already!
=-=-=-=-=
Erika had giving a bit of a cheer when her Victreebel's Vine Whip scored a hit on the speedy Sneasel, but her cheerfulness quickly evaporated as the Ice-type got in close and smashed an icy fist into her Pokemon's side. She knew it would have done quite a bit of damage to the Grass-type, and there was only one way for her Pokemon to recover from that. "Victreebel! Hang in there!" she called. "Fight back with your Giga Drain!"
Victreebel gave a weak-sounding screech in reply and attempted to shuffle forward, but it was increasingly difficult as his body was feeling chilled, and quite sluggish. Ice crystals had begun to form on his lower half and soon it had traversed upward, encasing the Flycatcher Pokemon in a tomb of ice. Oh no, he's frozen solid, Erika thought, pursing her lips. This is going to be difficult...
=-=-=-=-=
The orange-haired Katie was still lingering in the back of Mai's mind as she practically raced around her office, gathering papers and stuffing them into a briefcase. Giovanni had arrived approximately five minutes ago, and unsurprisingly he had already summoned her for a meeting. She wasn't sure what exactly was on the big boss' agenda just now, but she wanted to be prepared for just about everything. Happy with what she'd managed to find, and making a mental note to better organize her new office during the course of the day, she motioned for her Espeon to follow her before closing the office door.
The tech team had arrived quite promptly after Mai had chewed out a few grunts, and they were now going over the electrical and structural schematics of the elevator system. Mai didn't hear much of their conversation as she passed by, but she overheard enough to discover that the elevator system currently in place was far outdated and had been discontinued several years ago. That will not be a cheap replacement, the female admin thought as she headed for the stairs. I hope they don't take their time. I'm sick of climbing up and down all these stairs.
It was a good thing that all members of Team Rocket were required to keep in top physical form, otherwise Mai probably would have been out of breath by the time she reached the top floor of the old hotel. Serenity had followed along at her trainer's side, also showing strong stamina as they neared their destination. The Psychic-type seemed to be on guard even as they approached Giovanni's luxury suite, and Mai motioned for the Espeon to stand down as she rapped sharply on the large, double doors.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:59 am
Froslass continued to dance around as her copies moved left and right with the grace of the original, closing in on Swinub. As the ground ice type looked upon the copies he fired off several shards of hard ice into a few of them making them vanish. Mean while the real Froslass came in close and started to glow, a strange light erupting from her eyes that washed over Swinub. When ti passed Swinub looked a little dizzy, snout in the air as he tried to get his senses right, little legs wobbling back and fourth. Crenu watched them from the corner of his eye, smirking a bit. Confuse Ray? How useful....show me more. He thought to himself. Froslass was also a bit at a loss, not sure what had just happened there. But this was a good time to strike wasn't it? She looked at her teetering opponent and giggled a bit as she took a deep breath, spurred by her momentum as she let out an Icy Wind that froze the ground it touched and sent Swinub onto his back, it had a lot more punch to it than before. Froslass twirled around happily, hovering over to Swinub who was dizzily getting to his feet, wrapping her flowing ghostly arms around the fuzzy pig knocking him to the ground again, making them both laugh. Crenu shook his head as he watched, he was going to have to get her to drop such childish behaviors now that she was maturing more. For now though he had to watch his other pokemon practice. "Get back to work, I want that Icy Wind perfected. Your Ice Shard isn't fast enough either Swinub. Move it." Swinub quickly rolled back onto his feet, while Froslass retreated a bit from the sudden scolding. She nodded to Swinub who nodded as well, both getting back into position to keep going.
Pupitar was now feeling the effects of his confusion wearing down and was steady again. He watched the other pokemon training, then glanced over at Riza's side of the field. Her pokemon were going at it as well, though the only battle that looked like it was actually intense was the one between the lobster and the Gardevoir. It was a bit one sided however. Pupitar watched them a moment longer before peering over at the shaded spot that Akima had decided to plop down at. Why wasn't she training as well? While her companions were honing their skills and getting tougher she should have been doing so as well to let everyone know she was there to keep them in line. Maybe she wasn't really the team captain like he had thought...oh well. Pupitar turned back to his training pushing the odd Weavile from his mind, looking around at his team members before sand started to pour out from the holes in his body and started to whirl around violently covering the field. Frosslass Fearow and Ariados all flinched and turned their attention away from their training to Pupitar as the sand stung them and tore away at their bodies while Swinub, unaffected by it, also turned to look at him curiously. Crenu continued to stand there, just outside the sandstorm dome watching, looking at Pupitar a bit curiously as well. Pupitar just stared back at Crenu, and the blond trainer nodded. "Stop your staring and get back to your training everyone. Good work Pupitar. You all need to learn to fight under any condition, and being with Pupitar means you'll most likely be fighting in Sandstorms more often than not. Get use to it. On that note you should get use to battling under hail as well. Swinub you're lucky, you're immune to both of those effects. I guess the only weather you'd worry about is intense sunlight, but we'll work on covering that later. the rest of you don't complain about the stinging sand and get back to training. You too Pupitar...in fact...Use Rock Slide on Ariados and Fearow. You two, you're facing him now. Try and stop him." Ariados and Fearow both shot a glance at Crenu, then at Pupitar taken aback by the sudden change in their regimen. But Pupitar hadn't wasted any time and as soon as the command was out large rocks had been lifted from the ground and broken apart by the glowing Hard Shell Pokemon, raining down on both pokemon. Even Fearow who was up in the air had rocks flying up at him before they rained down over Ariados, both of them being struck by the heavy stones. Fearow fell to the ground and Ariados buried under several rocks as the attack passed, both pokemon taking serious damage from the super effective strike. Slowly Ariados climbed out of the rubble facing Pupitar with bruises and scrapes all over her body, and Fearow shot back into the air wobbly at first looking more or less the same. "Again." Crenu said as Pupitar sent more rocks up into the air.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:35 pm
The pair divided the food evenly between the two bags; Cathy’s was still virtually empty while Akane’s bag was nearing its capacity. She may need to look into getting a slightly bigger bag one day, obviously not one as big as Cathy’s, but something with a bit more room. Especially when she started getting more stuff for being a trainer, she did want to get together a good first aid kit and Pokemon medicine too, and that took space.
After a quick once over, checking the cabin over to make sure there wasn’t anything left out or turned on that shouldn’t be, Akane’s painter friend locked up the cabin. She then walked one lap around the cabin, checking it from the outside and when satisfied with what she saw walked to the path Akane had arrived upon.
“Let’s get going! We’ll have to keep up a good pace if we want to reach Pewter City before it gets dark.”
The pair started walking, Remmy and Mr. Mime were inside their Pokeballs for a change, as was Colandra. Twinkers, however, insisted on skipping along with Akane using it’s small wings to keep up with the longer strides of her trainer. The forest was rather picturesque, even with the dark clouds that were massing in the south, and Akane was floored again at how perspective can make such a difference. The wild Pokemon seemed to avoid the group too, they only managed to see a few Caterpie and Weedle on high branches during their trek, though the sounds of many others could be heard if not seen. The trio had made good time and Akane was breathing a little hard from the exertion before Cathy called for a rest at the foot of a large tree.
“This is one of the oldest trees in the forest” Cathy told Akane as they sat on one of the mighty trees roots. Looking up through the branches, Akane could believe it. The giant Oak tree was easily sixty feet tall, maybe more, and dominated the forest around it. She could also see a Hoothoot way up in the shady tree, it opened one red eye to see what was happening below and then went back to sleep. “I’ve painted this one a few times,” she said as she patted the trunk reverently, “and I always stop and say my thanks every time I come past here.”
The finished up one sandwich each and most of the juice, Akane sharing hers with Twinkers. The Hoothoot could be heard every now and then as it dozed up in the branches of the tree, otherwise the forest was relatively quiet.
“Alright. Back on the path if we want to make it to town before it gets dark.” Cathy got up and shouldered her virtually empty backpack. “Lets hope we don’t run into any trainers itching for a fight, or we might end up being a bit late. On the upside we might be able to hitch a ride if we are lucky.”
They continued on the thin trail, winding their way around the trees and using the natural slope of the land as they descended slowly towards Route 3 and the road that was there. Akane was feeling a little apprehensive; her parents were camped out not far from Mount Moon, even if it was on other side of the mountain. Akane couldn’t help but feel like she was going to be discovered, that when she set foot on Route 3 her parents would be waiting for her and she would get in lots of trouble. They would probably ground her until she was twenty! She had to keep making herself take step after step to keep up with Cathy even though she had convinced herself that it every step was one closer to getting in trouble. Twinkers was getting tired, perhaps sensing the young girls emotions, and started to slow down too. Eventually the young trainer hoisted her bestest friend up on her shoulders, which wasn’t as easy as it had been when Twinkers was still a Cleffa, so they could keep up with Cathy.
“Hurry up! We’re just about to get on to Route 3!” called the trailblazer.
Akane’s blood ran cold for a second, with the unwarranted and persistent feelings of impending doom.
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