Welcome to Gaia! ::

It wasn't long till the sounds of boots were now echoing in the hallways on this floor as well, followed by the barks of Growlithe which were steadily getting louder. That seemed to be headed right for the trio as well, in almost every direction. It was as if the police were actually familiar with the layout of the outpost.

Suddenly, a couple cops came from around the corner and spotted the Rockets. One leveling a gun on them while another released a snarling Growlithe.

"FREEZE!" said the female officer with the weapon.

"Hand over Lance and we'll let you go!" This said by the other officer, a man, whose Growlithe growled threateningly.

There were then shouts of alarm and howls of puppy Pokemon as another group of officers managed to find the icy floor and went sliding.

"Firetruck!" Izaya exclaimed gleefully in response to Frost. "Who's this 'Lance', now? I think I might have missed something." Much to his delight, the music of chaotic yelps, cries, and howls brought a smile back to his face as he realized the plan involving the ice-types had worked. At least now they might have stood a chance.

"Running is definitely one of my favorite pastimes in situations like these," the brunette grunt replied as he followed after Frost and Claire. He made sure to keep checking back behind him, running at a partial angle to make sure he could watch the ongoing activity with the police and their pokemon.

Celty was amazed at the other pokemon and their passion to fight off the invading humans and enemy growlithe. True to her word, she did her best to keep the attackers at bay with distractions of Shadow Sneak, mesmerizing opponents with her intimidating form before striking them from behind. Hyponsis came in handy as well, provided she could maintain eye-contact long enough. Soon, though, even the Rocket humans were in retreat and Celty realized the other Spiritomb and Glaceon were doing the same. Trusting their decisions, she turned to follow suite.

The one officer was hit with the hypnosis, and almost immediately the gun fell from her hands before she slumped onto the ground in a deep slumber. While the other gave a shout as he was bombarded with ice shards and ended up on the floor. His Growlithe though, retaliated with a Fire Wheel that was directed at the Glaceon.

"Stoooooop!" shouted one of the fallen officers on the ice, who was trying to get back up, only to get zapped by a Pikachu and fall down again with his partner. The pair's Growlithes though, joined up with the previous one, the three of them going in pursuit of the Rockets with barking and blasts of flame.

There were the sounds of other officers down other corridors as they engaged other Rockets as well. The sounds of battle and gunfire filling the air.

Hot, hot, hot! Grunt Nakura was not looking to get burned today. Nor was he willing to get his favorite, fur-trimmed jacket singed. Heat was simmering the air, making everything hazy. Luckily, not too many things seemed to have caught on fire yet, which meant a lack of harmful smoke in the air for now.

Celty paused as Persephone changed her tactics. Impressed by the other Spiritomb's move, Celty hoped to help by making use of the same technique. She closed her eyes and concentrated, but instead of emitting Confuse Ray, a rather badly-concentrated Ominous Wind filled the room. Embarrassed by her failure, the normal-colored Spiritomb shrunk back toward her rock. A red beam caught her from behind, returning her to her pokeball.

Izaya closed the ball and put it back in his coat pocket. He had felt some minor effects of Ominous Wind, and he hadn't liked it. No, that was enough out of his pokemon for now. His knife was still his best offensive weapon. With the switchblade still drawn and at the ready, he hurried to catch up to Claire and Frost. It may have been his imagination, but the latter seemed to be slowing. "Frost!" he called. "A Slowpoke could move faster than you. Give me the keys!"

One of the Growlithes was hit with a Confuse Ray, which sent him veering to the side and running straight into a wall. Another was zapped with a thunderbolt, eliciting a yelp and causing it to fall and get left behind. The last one continued its pursuit, opening its maw to send a Fire Blast at the fleeing trio and their Pokemon.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Shouted another police officer who had seen them run past and fired a shot.

"You know, now is really not the time to be stubborn, Frosty-chan," Izaya argued seriously. Having finally caught up to his fellow grunt, he was panting, but had no need to use the wall for support as Frost appeared to. "If you're going to be that way, then I'm just going to have to carry you. Would you prefer that?" There was no humor in his voice this time; in fact, it was spoken more as a threat.

The officer's cry penetrated the air, shortly followed by a gunshot, reminding them of the direness of the situation. Glancing down, he caught sight of the blood and muttered what sounded like a curse in another language.

"I'm very sorry about this, but you're going to have to forgive me."

Not taking any more chances, the Orihara reached out to grab Frost's arm to sling across his shoulders, attempting to help support him while he got them up the stairs. While it wasn't exactly a piggy-back ride, the crimson-eyed man was somewhat winded himself and he didn't want to risk being strangled by Frost as he tried to carry the blonde toward the exit.

"AGH!" Shouted the police officer as he was hit and downed by the Shadow Ball, but not before another stray bullet was fired before he hit the floor. There were more shouts of men as they were iced and electrocuted. However, the still pursuing Growlithe wouldn't be fooled by the ice on the floor this time.

With a breath of fire, the ice was melted, while it was joined by yet more Growlithe and an Arcanine who belonged to the chief. "Aroo!" it howled, using its Extremespeed to dash ahead and attempt to plow through the Rockets in his effort to stop them.

"-!" Clutching his stomach, Izaya doubled over as he was elbowed aside, nearly falling back down a few steps as Frost pushed passed him. So much for that. At least the man was moving faster, in any case. As he watched Frost move up the stairs faster than he could have thought possible, something struck the area below his left shoulder blade. He frowned, touching the spot and bringing up his hand to his face to see it covered in thick, red liquid. The shock was enough to block out the pain, and he chose not to dwell on it, but he knew the adrenaline his body was currently running on would only last so long.

Alerted by the sound of the howling pokemon, Grunt Nakura flattened himself against the wall as he was nearly trampled by the move Extremespeed. The enormous, fiery canine managed to cut off their escape, however, and Izaya heard Frost call out to his pokemon. He didn't dare try to bring out his own again; not until he knew exactly what she was capable of. He didn't want to risk causing as much harm to himself as to his enemies with her wild attacks.

Skip, hop, leap - Izaya scaled the stairs without using the actual steps, utilizing the railing and decrepit walls to get past Frost and the other obstacles crowding the stairway. Luckily the parkour he had picked up from his years in the city were paying off. He glanced over his shoulder to keep an eye on the proximity of the officers to them, his knife still at the ready. He didn't really trust pokemon - they had no real benefit to winning certain situations such as these other than their loyalties to their trainers, and Izaya didn't consider that a strong enough motivation at all.

"If you're going to drive, get ahead of me," he hollered at Frost, ready to give the other grunt a helpful shove if needed. He wanted to get out of the narrow, crowded space and he wanted to do it soon. If Persephone succeeded, then they could try to get over the sleeping fire-type. If she failed, though, Izaya positioned himself to duck and run low under the tall pokemon. If it continued to come after them, he wouldn't hesitate to stab it in order to slow it down.