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Amaterasu watched the small fortress from the trees. The miniature castle stood in the centre of a large clearing, the trees around it having been cut for well over a hundred-mile radius. She knew it was there. She could feel it.

"Furball, I don't think this is such a good idea." Issun told the large Absol he was riding, hopping up and down on her head. She whined in response, pawing at the ground, staring straight at the fortress.

Issun looked back to its heavily fortified walls and its guard towers -the place almost looked like a high security prison- and then back down to Ammy. She crouched like a hunting cat, still hidden safely within the shadows of the trees as she considered her approach.

Finally, after what felt like hours to the small Kricketot, Amaterasu got to her feet and buried her head into the bag Issun had managed to get for her. Out came the Dark Pendant, and she carefully slipped it around her neck. She felt its pull immediately but pushed it away with sheer willpower. She would only use it if she must, and this was the safest way for her to carry the pendant. It was be disastrous to lose it.

Then she began her sprint across the grass. Her typing allowed her to get through the psychic wards that were set up around the castle, but other, more modern detection systems picked up her presence. Seconds later a loud alarm sounded within the castle, and within minutes there was sounds of battle.

"Are... Are you sure this will be alright?" William floated along, his expression denoting a deep-seated hesitation. The idea of going on a group for "experienced only" was not exactly something that seemed safe OR smart to him.

Puer stepped into the main hall with William just behind him. "It'll be fine. Solaris always over exaggerates things." Solaris would teleport five miles away if someone said "boo" right in his face. He was the most panicky little man you could ever meet, so it was hardly surprising that he would get terrified of anything he knew remotely anything about.

William's expression froze. "That... That was Pluto Eclipse speaking over the intercom, not Solaris. Doesn't he tend to take things quite seriously...?"

Puer looked over at him. He had nothing to say to that.



Marcus looked up at the box that, as one of many, was shouting orders throughout the guild. He quickly got to his feet only to have Zephyr scuttle nervously. "Maybe... it's best if we sit this one out? He did say not to come if you were inexperienced..." Events that brought the guild together were becoming increasingly and increasingly dangerous.

Macus cocked his head slightly and put his hand against his face in what could be best described a "thoughtful position", although it was purely instinctive. "Well..." He started, and then paused for a moment as he shifted his head around in thought. "I guess you're right. Hey, do you wanna head to mom's house?"

Zephyr nodded. "Yes, that would be nice."



Desmond spontaneously appeared near Pluto. In spite of having literally just teleported in, he was laying on his side looking content if mildly bored. "I'm just here in case something actually happens. Don't expect much." His debt to Tolin was one of blood. And Tolin had asked him "help me kill Arceus". So that's what he was doing. Tolin did not ask him to babysit an entire guild, so that wasn't what he was doing.

Funny how that works, isn't it?

A rainbow colored Vulpix walked nervously, she seemed to be alone. Odd since she usually isn't alone. Her ears then twitched when a voice echoed through the intercom. What is this? Usually the voice that come out of the intercom is Solaris' voice. Upon hearing the word inexperienced, Roxana's mind went into a debate. Something around 'I'm probably not strong enough. I shouldn't go.' Then 'But maybe this is my chance. I should go.' And maybe something in between.
Trotting back and forth was an odd colored Eevee with an eyepatch. She seemed so energetic today. Wait, she's always energetic every day, what makes this different from the other days? Though when the Eevee didn't look where she was going, she bumped into an unlucky Vulpix who was debating over something. Thus making her topple down to the floor. "Oh sorry!" Zorora apologized. "N-No its okay." The Vulpix said. "What were you doing anyway?" The Eevee asked curiously.
"I-I was j-just debating over s-something. W-Whether or n-not I s-should go a-along with what the i-intercom s-said...." She explained.
"Oh well you should totally go~!"
"W-What? But t-to be honest I'm--"
"Don't say that!"
"D-Did she know what I was going to s-say?"
"Come on~ We could go together!"
"O-Okay.."
After convincing the Vulpix, Zorora grabbed her paw gently and went to the Main Hall to gather with the other teams.
"W-What is your name, b-by the w-way? So t-that I can k-know y-you properly." Roxana asked. "Its Zorora, leader of Team Electro Thundersong!" The odd colored Eevee exclaimed rather proudly. "What's yours?" She asked back. "R-R-Roxana, from T-Team Darkstar." The Vulpix answered. "Oh I know your leader! Her name is Nadia, right?" Zorora said. "R-Right." Then the conversation keep going until they both reached the main hall.

Atra was more than a little surprised to hear his father's words on the intercom system. While Pluto was technically the leader of the guild he rarely was the one who called for the guild. It must be serious. After the usual argument to Melissa about staying behind and her still adamant about going, the three battle-ready members of Team Azalea went to answer the call. Spade doesn't count.



Pluto twitched at the arrival of the Lugia, but kept his composure. He knew about the Legendaries that had seemed to gather at the guild recently, and he might as well get used to them. It was good for the Lugia to be around just in case that idiot of a Honchkrow managed to use the Pendant somehow. Neither the Flying nor the Dark could be in his possession, but you never knew what would happen.

"That is fine." He responded to the large legendary, not that he had much of a choice for answers.

A certain Suicune slipped into the hall at some point, hiding behind a section of the wall that had not been completely repaired from the Dragonite's assault yet.

He nodded appreciatively at Lucy when the weavile arrived, but waited until all had gathered before speaking. He saw Thanatos at the edge of his vision, and had expected it. The Leafeon himself was planning to go after all- he was their best bet of reasoning with Albertson and avoiding a fight altogether.

"Many of you now know that there are these Pendants that have been causing much havoc. The Mightyena, the Pidgeot, the Dragonite...all of their power came from these Pendants and the power of the pendants drove them mad. When the Dragonite last attacked we lost one of the ones in our possession- we have found the one who had stolen it, an absol known as the Mother Goddess." He began with a quick explanation. Too often the guild members were left completely in the dark, not knowing what it was that they fought for. He knew that if he explained the gravity of the situation they would fighter harder, with all their heart.

"My theory is that she has been trying to gather these Pendants. Her current location is very near the home of a Honchkrow known as Ferdinand Albertson. I know him to be an avid collector of ancient artifacts and relics; I believe that the Mother Goddess is at his home because he possesses one of these pendants. We must do all we can to retrieve it safely before it falls into the wrong hands. Even if Albertson does not have a Pendant, we may be able to retrieve the one from The Mother Goddess. I am hoping for the peaceful cooperation of both, but we must be prepared for the worst. Albertson is notoriously paranoid and has some of the most elite bodyguards in the land. If it comes to a fight it will be difficult."

With a loud crack! Pluto's servants appeared, having gathered themselves together.

"My staff will teleport us there, now. They will remain with us to transport back any who is injured, so please remember who they are." Pluto explained, motioning to the Metang, Roserade and Chimecho.

"I will not participate in the fighting, but I must try and reason with him first." He reassured his staff as the three of them with their combined efforts transported the guild.

---

"There goes your 'reasoning with him.'" Nova noted as they arrived on the large grassy plains surrounding the small fortress. It looks like they were too late to have arrived before The Mother Goddess did. A loud alarm was blaring, and what looked like an explosion set off in a section of the wall. There was a rather large gaping hole there when the dust settled.

There was sounds of shouting, screaming, unorganized chaos as the security staff no doubt were wondering what the hell just happened. They didn't seem to have noticed the guild yet, probably because they were too occupied with the demi-god that had just blown her way into their fortress.

((One more posting round before things pick up))

Puer listened to the explanation quietly. He had already gathered most of that. Tolin stayed very much quite about what it was that he was doing whenever he left, or who exactly the strange visitors were, but Puer overheard things. Chatter made it's way through the guild. Pluto's explanation simply confirmed most of what he already knew. The pendants were dangerous, and Tolin wouldn't leave them alone.

For some reason or another.

Not that that particularly stopped either of them from going along for the ride. Both were ready for a fight and both were cautious. Perhaps even intimidated. But the fear that should have existed readily within them was absent; neither of them had been present at any of the conflicts involving the pendants. None of them had. It was always Tolin. Tolin and Serrin. The two that spoke in a hushed tone and would disappear for entire days to go "just somewhere" and do "ah, it's nothing".

William hadn't realized it. By the time he joined, Tolin was already disappearing with an alarming frequency. Puer, however, saw it build. And build slowly. That incredibly private wall that Tolin had erected. That he allowed no one to get past.

All that flew from his head when he saw the fortress. This wasn't going to be simple. It never was. "Why can we never just negotiate...?"



"No chance we're reasoning with him, then." Thanatos floated nearby Pluto, not looking particularly concerned. They hadn't noticed the guild yet and if need be the few important people could be evacuated in a fraction of the time it would take for Alberston's goons to attack them.

Desmond used his own teleport as a courtesy to whatever poor soul would have otherwise attempted to teleport the massive, psychic beast. Desmond teleported where and when he wanted. He wasn't fond of the idea of other people manipulating his body (in any way) through their own psychic and he had more than enough power to resist any efforts to do so.

He righted himself as soon as he teleported. His neck craned forward in the direction of the fortress. He was staring straight at it for a minute before he finally commented. "...I'm having a hard time getting an accurate read. Someone's using a pendant and it's obfuscating the area." He settled his body into something of a meditative pose and shut his eyes tightly.

Thanatos quickly went in front of Pluto, his hands in a position to attack the moment something came into view. "Pluto. Are we staying?" He asked the question with a slight edge on his voice. If it was just a collection mission, that was fine, but he knew well enough the danger of those bearing the pendants. He had watched the battle with the Mightyena from afar. And the damage the Dragonite caused had been obvious. If it was anything like that, then Pluto was leaving whether or not he wanted to.

It was hard to tell, though. The Mother Goddess was supposed to be benevolent. If she was using the pendant, there may be a reason. If she wasn't, then she was likely an ally. If it had been any other situation, the Leafeon would have already been whisked away to the safety of the guild.

"Whoa Furball! Are you OK!?" Issun asked, hopping over to where the Absol emerged from the remains of the wall, shaking her head. He had managed to get off just before she had crash-bombed the wall.

She had not expected them to detect her. She was not a creature of modern day technology; her dark typing had always gotten her through such things before, a few hundred years back. How was she to know that surveillance had gone from psychic wards to electronic signals? The noise had startled her, made her panic. Someone shot down at her from the wall, but she could not see them to retaliate.

She saw them coming then and quickly got to her feet, barking at Issun. The annoying little bug might be a constant nuisance, but she still could not allow him to simply get trampled here. In some way he was a friend, of sorts.

So much for climbing the wall and sneaking in. Looks like she has to fight her way through. She felt the appearance of the guild -the two legendaries were hard to miss- and she knew that she had to hurry.



Pluto turned on Desmond at his words, frowning. Someone was using the pendant? It wasn't likely to be Albertson. It must be that Absol. Is that perhaps why she was seeking the pendants? Had the power of the one she stole corrupted her? The Tribe worshipped her as a goddess but Pluto wasn't not sure how mortal she was.

"I will stay for now. Whoever is wearing the pendant must be occupied at the moment." Nothing stopping him from staying far back behind his staff who were behind the guild though.

By now some of the Security saw the guild and pointed out the crowd to the others. While they were more concerned about the intruder who was already inside their place, they were more than wary about the group of Pokemon that showed up at around the same time. A distraction?

Though unheard by the Guild, they received a message from their boss. The hysterical Honchkrow was terrified and clearly not rational. Still, he was paying their rather large salary so a group of them broke off to deal with the 'threat' of the guilds.

There's a large group of highly-trained, mostly fully evolved Pokemon coming for us! As a bit of an experiment to avoid the usual "everyone pile on top of the boss" or simply taking out little mooks, each of these Pokemon is a mini-boss.

Each player will have one or two of these mini-bosses to fight, which I will decide based on the experience and number of Pokemon that player controls.You're free to determine their species, moves, equipment, and you have full control of them.

You can attack another player's mini-boss, but only the person I assigned the boss to can control their actions.

I'm mostly hoping that these will lead to some more fun combat posts.

Cherry
(Mostly as an example. I'll try to make a quick post to show you what I mean.)
Boss 1 : 10 HP

Luna
Boss 1 : 15HP
Boss 2 : 5 HP

Tommy
Boss 1 : 10HP
Boss 2 : 10HP

Conners
Boss 1 : 10 HP

Cysic
Boss 1 : 15 HP
Boss 2: 5 HP

Rich
Boss 1: 15 HP
Boss 1: 5 HP

Cat
Boss 1: 5 HP
Boss 2: 5 HP