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[Emil, Rosie, Sera]

No water, right. Never mind that the pokemon in question had tried to kill the kid once before. Crisis averted, though, so whatever, he supposed...

The mayor's speech was decidedly less interesting than that of the first man on the stage, filled with all the little political niceties one could expect from an official announcement. It was the sort of speech that didn't tell anyone anything but somehow managed to make the general population feel better anyway. It was unsatisfying and empty, and Luke tuned it out before too long - not a terribly difficult feat given that Emil addressed him with a question.

"Ahh, well..." Tenebrae, huh. Probably had something to do with being shoved aside by his trainer for a trinket. "Different personalities and stuff... I'd be kind of weirded out if Tenebrae was that nice, actually." The image of the aloof Umbreon nuzzling and cuddling with a stranger - or with anyone, for that matter - was simply unsettling.

[Tambrey]

Cards, hm? This was a bit odd, but then everything about this gathering was a bit on the unusual side for Kratos."A short announcement, indeed," Kratos murmured softly, taking a sip of his water thoughtfully.He pondered the happenings for a moment, thinking about all that had - and hadn't been - said by both of the officials. "I don't find it very reassuring that they addressed the subject so blithely," he observed after a moment.

While a casual listener would think he mean that they hadn't done enough to reassure the audience in the face of the threat of Team Rocket, what Kratos actually meant was that they either were underestimating the capabilities of the organization... or they were planning something that they genuinely believed would be an effective counter to Team Rocket's encroachment upon 'their' territory. Whether or not Tambrey would pick up on his double meaning wasn't Kratos' problem, really - he had stated his point.

"As for the cards, I don't see how much help a simple piece of parchment with information on it could be." Unless they weren't simple pieces of parchment, but Kratos was no tech specialist cand this he had no idea of whether that would even be possible. "That said, I'll reserve judgment until I've seen the cards." There might be useful information on one, something that was escaping him. Yes, Kratos was intelligent and well-versed in security procedures, but he didn't claim to be all-knowing.

There was very likely something he had missed. Probably several somethings. But it wasn't his place to try and puzzle everything out. Grunts didn't have to do that kind of work, after all. Still - it did at least keep this party... if not interesting, then at least tolerable. Maybe it would be worth missing an evening of training after all. Kratos supposed that getting to know some of his teammates a bit better was an acceptable reason for deviating from his usual routine.

(Seto)

Glancing back at him once, the girl nodded eagerly and began to run as fast as her legs would carry her back to the event. She didn't look back, not wanting to rush the CEO. He probably was in no hurry to get back to the party himself and needed some time to think on his own. Anyway, if he wanted, he could have probably caught up to her in minutes. He was so much taller and his legs so long that his strides must have been quite lengthy.

(Opal, Pinkie Pie, Mariko, Kratos, Tambrey)

Delic was both astonished and flattered to receive such a spectacular greeting from the pink Ponyta. He nodded happily at her conclusion before turning to the Eevee and Spinarak to see if they were interested too.

Mariko was busy with Opal's tail, clearly working very hard to make it look even more stunning. She seemed to know just what she was doing and worked with a determined air. Delic decided that Mariko-chan must have been an expert on pokemon appearances and grooming. So when she looked up and complimented his own looks, the Chingling found her complement all the more valuable.

He told her this and his reasoning behind it, as well as how they could most certainly use her skills to help the shy humans realize their love for each other. With Mariko-chan and Pinkie-chan having agreed, that just left Opal, who seemed to have been pondering how to answer Delic's question about her being shiny.

While Delic wasn't sure that the answer he got was the sort of answer his trainer had hoped for, he committed it to memory just in case. However, as if to make up for a proper answer, the snow white Eevee began to glow with a magical light. The Chingling wasn't sure what was happening, but it was pretty. Was Opal-chan evolving? He'd heard that Eevees had many various forms they could take on.

Before he could think of what they were, though, he was staring face to face with a Chingling like him, white as the Eevee named Opal. What had happened? Where was Opal? He looked into the other Chingling's red eyes and suddenly realized - that was Opal. Even Mariko was on her tail still - er, tassels now - and seemed as surprised as Delic had been.

"CHING?!" But how could that be? Delic stumbled back, loosing his balance and rolling a bit on his round bottom, causing him to resound with the chimes and tinkling that was his signature jingle. Eevees had many possible evolutions, yes, but Delic was quite certain they didn't evolve into Chinglings. He thought he would have remembered being an Eevee.

And yet, she seemed even more beautiful to Delic than before! Why, she was like a blank canvas and could be colored whatever she wanted! Not to mention evolve in whatever way she wanted. How lucky Opal was to be so remarkable! "Chingling LING ching!" he told her, waving his arms and tassels in excitement.

Oh, and when she spoke, she spoke like him! It was amazing! Delic wasn't so sure he was ready to go back to his trainer just yet. This fair lady was more intriguing than he'd imagined. But more than that, they had work to do! "Ling ling ching!" he cried, pointing the way as he hopped back towards where he had last seen Tambrey and Kratos. It would be best to get them on the dance floor first since they were closer and already had each other as dance partners.

(Faleen, Hayes (sort of))

"Hm...?" Hearing someone nearby addressing him, Izaya looked up. Upon seeing the speaker and the look on his dopey face, however, the informant realized that the...word had been for Faleen and not himself. He nudged her playfully with an elbow, subtly nodding toward her admirer with a sly tilt of his head.

Still...what kind of greeting was that? An anti-social tech-loving greeting, maybe? Perhaps Faleen would get more out of it than her partner did. What the grunt did enjoy was savoring the look on Hayes' face. Though Izaya loved to get reactions out of people to see their expressions, that was one expression Izaya wasn't used to seeing. Well, at least on guys.

"Careful, lover boy," the informant cautioned with a smug grin. He eyed the elite agent's charcoal gray suit and wine-red tie. "Don't want to drool on that nice, fancy suit, now, do you? I'm assuming it's a rental, considering how often you seem to go out."

Something moved on the edge of his peripheral vision. What was it? Had Delic come back already? Forgetting Hayes for a minute, he frowned and glanced about. Now was not the time for Delic's games...

(Anyone near the beverage tables)

Not bothering to look back as he left the Growlithe and his human, the blue-haired boy kept walking toward the distracted man, faster and faster...right into him, in fact. There was a sound of consternation as the young-looking teen made impact. At that moment, the youth's quick fingers reached into Izaya's pocket and closed around a tiny pokeball. Then he suddenly feel down as if the man had shoved him away. The blue-clad boy looked up at the black-haired informant with an injured expression.

"Ah! You really should be more careful where you're going," the man said, though he did not offer to help the boy up. Instead he stared at him while he remained on the ground, regarding him closely as if he could read the kid's intentions. "Nevermind. You don't look hurt. Off with you."

The child nodded and hastily got to his feet when he felt a tight grip on his arm. His mouth opened in a silent yelp and his eyes shut at the brief pain as he was wrenched backward. When he managed to steady himself, the black-haired man was looking him straight in the eye. He did not look amused, though his voice was disturbingly cheerful as he asked, "Hm...it seems one of my pokeballs are missing. You wouldn't have happened to see it fall on the ground, would you...?"

The boy knew he was caught. But he wasn't about to give up so easily. His innocent countenance melting away to reveal a face of genuine loathing. Izaya was caught off guard by the look in the kid's eyes before a sharp pain in the shin caused him to buckle in agony. It was his turn to fall to the ground. The blue-haired boy had kicked him.

As soon as he was free from the man's grip, the child pressed the button on the pokeball in his hand. It had to be one of the twins; it just had to be. He had come all this way for them, tracking that horrid man down after so many weeks of searching the city. If it was either twin, he could flee with them now and they could come back for her sister later. Hopefully it would be Kururi.

Unfortunately the kid had grabbed the wrong ball. No longer feeling the need to maintain his illusion, the young one gave a little leap and transformed back into his true form - a multi-hued, blue Zorua. He paused just long enough to see his mistake - and run for it. He didn't like the way the new pokemon he'd released was scanning his surroundings.

(Anyone paying attention)

Kid had been sleeping like a baby in his ball, pleased to get some rest after so much stress of keeping everything right and in its place. Symmetry...perfect symmetry. That was all he aspired to - a world of cleanliness, organization, and perfect symmetry. Was that really so much to ask?

In Kid's dream, he had just seen that roommate of his trainer's, that - Jerome fellow enter the room. It was as if he had purposely shaved half his head and put tattoos on one side especially to spite the Absol! He was an atrocity, as were most of his pokemon. That ridiculous Gengar, that bothersome Tepig, the annoying Beldum...why, the only true beauty of Jerome's lot was Hirss, and Kid barely even got to saw her. It just wasn't fair!

But in this dream, everything was perfect. Jerome had been fixed in his sleep so now he was bald and his tattoos mirrored each other on both sides of his body straight down the middle. Bro had been attacked with luminescent paint - who knew where that came from? - and, like Jerome, fixed so he was the same from left to right and vice-versa. Turrent had just need a few...adjustments, and Hirss...well, now that Jerome was asleep, Kid could let her out of her ball, and then -!

The Absol blinked his yellow eyes in the dim light. This wasn't symmetrical. Hell, this wasn't even Izaya's room. And he'd been having such a nice dream?! Who had disturbed him from it?! He'd make them pay, he would - and his trainer! Izaya was on the ground, holding his shin. Someone had stooped so low as to make his trainer hurt just one leg, so that he wasn't symmetrically balanced and had fallen over! What a monster this fiend was!

But who was the culprit? Who could it have been? A lover of chaos, destruction, and asymmetry, no doubt. Kid resolved to find them and make them repent for their actions. But...what if it wasn't just one culprit? Could it have been...more?!

There were so many humans. So many pokemon. So much...disorganization! His head was spinning; he couldn't think straight. Soon he was sure he would develop a headache! Left, right, up, down - no, no, NO! Nothing was right! He had to make things right.

Finally willing himself to move, Kid urged himself to work as fast as he could to bring the offender to justice. That way he could get to fixing this mess of a park more quickly. He made for the nearest asymmetrical target.

[POKEYMANZ, ASSEMBLE!!!!!]

It wasn't the first time that Opal had managed to catch people by surprise with her abilities. Yet, she didn't dwell on them by any means, seemingly already focused on the idea of approaching the proposed couple. Of course, she couldn't really see them so much as she could just try to listen from their current distance. Her tassels bobbled beneath the Spinarak's attention, and she managed to spy a dark colored Pokemon making its way towards them, but soon enough a sharp sounding bark had gotten her attention.

Repede-friend returned and told of how Ivory-friend was concerned.

Opal wanted to help her new friends with the plan for bringing couples to the dance floor, but Ivory-friend was very important to her too. For a moment or two, the pure white Chingling patted her face with her stubby arms, seeming to think over the situation.

"Chingling ling ling chingling ching... ling chingling ching ching!" The false chingling proposed that she bring Ivory-friend to the dance floor. Then she could play more!

With that, she momentarily had to shake her tassels to get them free of Maiko-friend's affections. "Ling ching ching!" She'd be back! With that, the little white Chingling seemed to hop towards Repede's tail before rolling on into the mass of fluff.

In a sweet manner, she cooed out "Ling chingling?" asking if she could hitch a ride.

[Yuri + Repede]

The false chingling giggled as she was easily tossed up in the air and landed quite cozily upon Repede-friend's back. It was like she was riding a Ponyta like how the humans were, except the Ponyta was a Repede-friend-Growlithe.

The girl put another piece of food in her mouth before chewing it up and nodding her head in silence. She had been told that parties usually were for having a good time. Though, it wasn't like she really did much partying as a child, nor even as a young adult.

The mention of the return of the two Pokemon caused her to perk up a bit.

Once the Pokemon pair were close enough to the girl, the white Pokemon hopped up and onto Ivory-friend's lap, landing in the soft dress. The chingling waved her arms about a bit in an excited manner.

"Chingling ling ling ching chingling!"

With a small giggle, the girl uttered "Oh goodness... something got you excited, huh Opal?" She knew her own Pokemon well enough and soon enough asked "Did you meet any new friends?"

The Pokemon bobbed up and down, jingling lightly with her confirmation.

"Ling ling chingling ching ching!"

With a smile, the girl replied "Well, I at least know one of them was a chingling!" With a finger, she ran it over the top of the Pokemon's smooth surface. "Did you want a snack, Opal?"

The Pokemon waved her arms about wildly before looking towards Repede-friend again. She was probably going to need some help with this if Ivory-friend kept playing difficult!

(Asch)

A small blush appeared when Asch took Natalia's hand but she turned to listen to the people on the stage. When the one guy mentioned that their could be Rocket's here she didn't look at Asch right away but stepped closer. She did make it seem like she was worried someone from the organization was there rather then he fiance's cover being blown.

~*~*~

(Kunai, Cathrine)

Shizuo had only half listened to the speakers when they had talked. His attention was more on the chocolate covered strawberry he had swiped from the table. Probably a good thing because if he had heard the comment about Rockets being at the party he might have gone hunting to see if the Flea had shown up. He had finished his treat by the time the two ladies came over thankfully.

The faux blond looked over with a surprised look when one mentioned the other thought he was cute. "Ah, thank you?" He asked more then said, caught off guard. When the girl looked shy about it though he gave a small awkward smile. "It's alright."


~*~*~

(Frost)

Hmm, seemed like they would definitely have to keep their eyes on the League if they were already talking about how there was probably Rockets here, rightly so of course. Xander looked back at Frost with a raised eyebrow after the mayor said his part. "Is it just me or did the mayor seem a bit... frazzled thanks to the previous speaker?" He asked with an amused tone. It was at least a safer topic to have after the speeches then any other observation he wanted to say.

~*~*~

(POKEPALS, FRIENDSHIP FOR LIFE! Or until the Rockets go home...
And a bit of Kid <3)

Maiko gave a pleased sound when Delic complemented her skills and said she could help the humans with it. Of course she could, that's what she had been trying for a long while now after all. To some success...mostly. Some people didn't count because they couldn't tell style if she gave them a bug bite though!

Delic then pointed out the first people they should help and Repede came back over asking for Opal to go back to her trainer. But she wasn't finished with Opal yet! She pouted when the current Chingling shook her off gently but cheered up when she said she would be coming back. Now on the ground, the spider waved her two front legs a bit. "Narak spi!" She cheered for them to get started. The music was back so it was the perfect time!

She spotted another pokemon out an about but he looked to be busy with the humans. Maybe he could help them later though.

[Catherine + Shizuo]

"Emily" seemed to have no shame, finishing off the glass quite quickly and setting it along the table where the snacks were. Someone else would come by and pick it up, that was how things worked in Emily's mind at this sort of fancy gathering.

Sharply, she turned away after setting the glass down, as if she was trying to give herself a bit of distance between those she was talking to and the false phone conversation she was having with the false boyfriend.

"Robbie... ROBBIE... Robbie, damn it, slow down! First you can't even be bothered to show up, now you are acting like my mom about all of this! Grow yourself a sack and be a man!"

With a groan, she eventually returned to facing the duo within her company. Judging off of his initial responses, it seemed as if their new companion was buying into this act of theirs.

"...Sorry... my boyfriend is being a d**k! Anyways... I'm Emily, and this is Angie!" She gestured to herself when she mentioned her false identification, and gestured to Catherine upon the second name being mentioned. "What's a handsome dude like yourself doing out here by yourself?" The corner of her mouth twitched as if she heard something hilarious out of her earbud upon the use of the word "handsome."

[The Fellowship of the POKEMON]

Pinkie was slightly sad when Opal ran off but she understood why. If your trainer is worried, you go back to them. Playing can come later. She'd do the same for her Rory. When Delic pointed to the first pair that he had targetted, she got excited. She knew that girl and told him as such. "Po,po, nnnnnny ta ta!!!" She had been nice to her and let her play with her pokemon. Now Pinkie could do something nice for her! She followed the Chingling closely.

Meanwhile the small lizard pokemon got closer to them. Why were they going towards the humans? Did they have trainers? He decided to follow them to find out and maybe see if he could join in on what they were doing.

[Ally]

After the first speaker's speech, Rory looked up bemused when the major finished his speech. The poor guy didn't seem to be too comfortable with the other man's words either. It was kind of a let down in a way; he'd been hoping for something better. He briefly thought about seeing about getting one of those cards for himself.

He turned his attention back down at Ally. "So do you want to get something to eat or anything?" he asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Or do you want to see if there's anyone else you know around?"

If there was, he didn't want to take up all of her time. It's not like they wouldn't hang out later without the formal wear and the weird nerves. At least he hoped anyway.