[PKMN OPEN] The Pokémon Trainer Academy (T) [Best Veteran 4Q '11]

Valorie's Haxorus stalked the muk, eyes peeled for oncoming attackers. As expected the golbat foolhardily rushed in, finding itself blocked with a protect attack and struck down with a swing of Haxorus' mighty axe head. Muk was quick to follow up with a body slam, but Haxorus' counter quickly put the deadly poison pokemon out of comission. Valorie wrinkled her nose. Who trained pokemon like that?! She wouldn't be able to tolerate a muk in her presence if it weren't for the gravity of the situation. Valorie started to step back when she felt another body brush against her. Turning her head, she realized Kale was covering her. In her head, she'd always thought this would feel so much more satisfying; and it was satisfying, but she had underestimated how much more concerned she was about all the pokemon attacks flying through the air.

Rex, Valorie's tyrunt, faced off against a venipede nearby. The bug pokemon curled up and launched itself at Rex, a steamroller attack by the looks of the spikes threatening to jab her tyrunt. With a quick command she ordered Rex to brace himself and retaliated with a stomp attack. The pokemon did as told, taking the hit with a certain amount of grace before leaping up and smashing his foot down atop the bug! That was one bug squashed, but Valorie could see her pokemon were getting pretty tired. It didn't matter how strong you were, even weak pokemon could wear yours down over time.

It was time to put a dent in these Rockets.

"Haxorus! Launch Goomy, right into the middle of them! Goomy, use bide!" Valorie commanded. Haxorus would literally head butt Goomy straight into the crowd of rockets, where the poor pokemon was immediately swarmed. ...Just as Valorie'd planned. Most of the rockets seemed oblivious to her plan. As Goomy was rapidly overwhelmed Valorie expertly called upon Shu to use Night Shade. She needed to buy Goomy just enough time to... As the Rockets and their pokemon suddenly found themselves faced with an eldrich abomination in the form of an illusion effected Haxorus they suddenly forgot about the goomy near fainting amidst them just long enough for the small pokemon to glow a blinding white before abruptly exploding, slime fyling everywhere and at least a dozen rockets and their pokemon being blown off their feet. Of course, the slime was just a byproduct. Goomy laid in the midst of the groaning fallen, looking thoroughly exhausted but otherwise okay. Shu took a moment to shield Valorie and her clothes from the slime using protect.

...Valorie quietly thought to herself that she should nickname Goomy 'Grossy.'

The rocket grunts began to cower in fear as they were vastly outskilled, some retreating back towards the administrative section. Suddenly a very familiar charizard and flygon shot out of the administrative ward, indiscriminately spewing two fire blasts at the group of students before immediately circling around for another go. They then both proceeded to fire off two more as they retreated back into the administrative wards, using their own attacks as protection to meet any heroes hoping to attempt to take them down. A cocky young male's voice rang out over the intercom.

"Step forward if you dare. Especially -you-, Valorie..." the boy's voice said. The rocket grunts seemed to have started retreating en-masse by this point.

Valorie's eyes widened as fire blasts swept over the immediate area. Someone was going to get seriously hurt! Her pokemon did their best to use protect on everyone they could, but flames exploded all over the place. At the very least she and Kane by extension of being behind her would be safe.

Valorie grimaced. That voice... It was Jacob! He was taunting her, and boy was it working. Perhaps he was trying to intimidate her, but all she could feel was righteous fury. As terrified as she was ultimately anger was a stronger emotion, and boy did she have a lot of reasons to be angry. As the rockets gave chase Valorie was running after them without heed for things like traps.

"This way!" she called out mostly for Kale's sake.

She passed several rooms full of computers and other such useful living accomodations, intent on catching up to Charizard and Flygon. She had a score to settle, and no ammount of strain was going to set her back. She could already see something at the end of the hall... Valorie emerged into what appeared to be a cafeteria of sorts, though it lacked any sort of character one might expect from a place you eat. Before her stood Jacob, ...directly beside Dragonite.

The gigantic dragon pokemon stood at a massive twelve feet tall, barely fitting inside the mountain base at all. Charizard and Flygon were in the air. Mamoswine and Jellicent were similarly posed nearby. It was as if they were waiting for them...

"Haxorus, use your dragon cl--auugh!" Valorie began calling out passionately as she slammed into something entirely invisible to the human eye. It was as if she'd hit a brick wall. The tiny girl just sort of fell on her butt, entirely less than thrilled. Smug... jerk... standing there staring at her--At THEM. Valorie had to remind herself that she wasn't alone.

Haxorus however wasn't as easily disuaded. She slammed into the invisible wall, which began to glow a transluscent lavender color as she penetrated it. Valorie recognized it as Dragonite's barrier attack, which pressed a great deal of force onto anything trying to enter the immediate area against her will. Haxorus seemed to struggle in spite of her strength, slowed to a walk by the crippling barrier.

"Haxorus, no!" Valorie called out, but it was too late. Dragonite opened her mouth and fired out an ice beam. The blast nearly froze Haxorus solid, dropping her to the floor where she laid unable to battle. Valorie growled. What a wrotten turn of events. That entire room was a massive trap of deadly proportions, but... but why?

Any others that tried to rush in would meet a similar fate.

Janine looked around. "Where's Lance..? We're going to need him if we're going to break through this." she remarked grimly.

Jacob scoffed. "Hah! What's the matter, shorty? Don't got time to talk? Y'know that's a pretty nifty ability you taught your Dragonite. I didn't think you had the guts to show up here after you managed escaping in the first place." he remarked, feigning good natured conversaion in a mocking manner. "Y'see, there's something I've been itching to show you, all of you, since the moment you burst into my home uninvited... and the guess who just got the green from his higher ups. ...Do you know what pokemon this is?!" the boy went on, raising both arms and dropping two pokeballs. Two Beheeyem burst fourth, the lights on their bodies flashing seemingly erratically.

Jacob's gaze turned on Valorie again, seeing the resilience of her anger. "...Of course a little -sprout- like you wouldn't, but perhaps some of your peers have heard of them." Jacob added, seemingly intent on making fun of Valorie's short stature. "They're called Beheeyem, and they're going to help Team Rocket take over the /world/..." Jacob remarked in a very dark tone full of malice. He certainly wasn't lacking for confidence.

Regardless of any amazing one liners the students might throw back, Jacob seemed unfazed.

"You're just stalling!" Valorie called out in particular, absolutely furious with the delay. Two of Lance's dragonite and his Aerodactyl arrived on the scene. They all seemed to recognize what was wrong and simultaneously opened their mouthes, charging and firing a devistating triple hyper beam directly into the powerful barrier. The very foundation of the base seemed to shake violently as the powerful barrier took the incredibly devistating attack, the beams melting away at it and weakening it. Valorie's dragonite's barrier wouldn't last more than a handful of seconds at this rate.

"...Don't take my word for it! I'm not /all/ talk. Beheeyem, /scramble/ them!" he commanded.

The beheeyem began glowing with a powerful psychic aura and the world would seem to warp around all those present in the immediate area, a powerful force gripping their minds... washing over them and briefly numbing them to the outside world. Pokemon and human alike would be affected all the same, regardless of type or other influence. When the psychic haze cleared... everyone would find that their bodies weren't quite their own anymore.

They'd seemingly been body swapped with one of the others nearby, indiscriminate of whether a human swapped with a pokemon or if a human swapped with someone of the opposite sex, though the chances of swapping with someone within a two foot proximity seemed heavily increased. Humans that wound up in the body of pokemon would retain the ability to speak English and Pokemon in the body of humans would retain the inability to speak it, for reasons unclear.

Jacob took a moment to laugh at the severe disorientation that likely resulted. After all, who exactly had seen this coming?! This was unheard of! "Now, take them out!" Jacob called out to Valorie's stolen pokemon in an effort to capitalize on the chaos he'd most likely caused. A bunch of rocket grunts burst into the room on cue, tossing weaker pokemon into the fray and generally being a nuisance magnified by the apparent body switching as Dragonite's barrier fell. They had only a few moments to get comfortable with whomever's body they'd wound up with before attacks started flying.

Valorie shook her head as if to clear it of the interfering powers squeezing her mind, only to realize that... something didn't... feel right. She looked down, only to find she was only half a foot from the floor! Her gaze trailed further... to observe that this was not her body at all.

She was a goomy.

No, she was HER goomy! Valorie emitted a terrified whimper as suddenly it was her anger drowning in fear. Everything had gone bloody crazy! Valorie closed her eyes, as if to keep this sorcery out of them, shaking her head in denial. It's only magic... It's only magic! She opened her eyes to find that not only was she still a goomy but someone else was in HER body. Oh arceus! The magic was in her /head/! It was too much! The insanity was all around her!

Valorie promptly wigged right out, screaming at the top of her lungs and fleeing right back the way she had come in an effort to escape this madness. For once, her pokemon did not follow her. They were paying attention to the person in her body.

Valorie stopped as... she jumped in front of herself. Rather, someone in her body was blocking her way. ...Was her skirt really that short?? Valorie felt tiny even compared to normal, her goomy standing at a mere foot tall, half a foot eye level. Who was this peering down at her though? It was her vocal cords, and yet... Valorie's eyes widened as she recognized that look she was getting. The traumatized 'goomy' seemed to deflate a little under Kale's gaze, shaking in fear with this dejected look on her gooey face.

"I...--" she started. It was clear just by her tone of voice that she was absolutely crushed, and yet... Kale's words had sunk into her like a fishing hook. She couldn't back away from that. No... "I... don't know what to do." Valorie lamented, choosing instead to seek Kale's guidance.

Kale noticed Valorie momentarily gaze at what he supposed was her own skirt on her own body and, through some sort of bodily reflex, sharpened his gaze as his hands moved to push the skirt downwards. He found himself left standing there momentarily, pushing down the skirt and looking insulted... until he thought about exactly what he had been doing... "Ahem... right." He released the skirt and stood up straight. He snapped his feminine fingers and gestured for Aria to come closer. She did so and Kale gently pulled the scarf from her... er his neck and wrapped it around the lower half of his... er... Valorie's face. He wore it in the same way he did when within his own body.

He knelt down beside Valorite and placed a hand on her gooey head. His gaze was serious. "This is a question that may make you panic slightly... but I need you to answer honestly if you want me out of your body." He seemed to be showing a lot more emotion than usual, not even attempting to hold a cold and empty tone of voice... this probably had something to do with the fact that he was now residing in the body of a probably hormonal teenage girl... but he tried not to think about that. "I need you to tell me... what moves does your goomy know?"

Goomy-Valorie seemed to hesitate for a moment. Oh... Oh... This was taking loyalty to an entire new dimension. A shudder ran through her body as she considered the implications. Kale wanted her to be his pokemon, wanted her to fight for him--Her? ...Valorie's brain began aching as she tried to grasp how to address Kale in his body swapped state. At least Goomy was still a girl--Sort of? She couldn't help but puzzle over Kale's reaction to inhabiting her body. If she hadn't been so upset, she probably would've been just a tiny bit amused. ...Just a tiny bit, and only long enough for the shame to take over.

"...Bubble, Absorb, Protect, Bide, Dragon Breath... I think I---er... she learned flail just recently." Valorie replied, totally seeking comfort from the hand placed upon her gooey head. A part of her really, really wanted a hug right about now, and could anyone really blame her? ...Really? Valorie did her best to summon what little courage she had, shakily stammering out one last sentence. "I'll... I'll do whatever you ask me to." she offered, placing her full trust in Kale. She seemed to know what he had in mind, judging by the fact that she felt the need to surrender her will to him to begin with.

Kale's gaze furrowed as he noticed how quick Valorie was to trust him. He had expected more of an argument... so either she trusted him a little bit too much... Or she realized the severity of the situation at hand... for some reason the former option was appealing to him more. The idea of being trusted was a nice one to him for some reason. Probably the damned girls hormones acting up again. He stood up and looked down at Goomy Valorie... she was... a pokémon... and despite being in her original body, Kale was still Kale. He still had the link he had always had with the beasts that inhabited his World. That was something native to mind not body, if Valorie was a pokémon then... could he still establish a bond with her in battle? Could they still turn their dire situation around?

"There that's her! Valorie Ryder!" Kale turned his/her head to face the voice that had interrupted his train of thought. It was a pair of rocket grunts, alongside their pokémon... a zubat and a haunter. They obviously weren't very high ranked. Still, with no pokémon other than Valorie they could potentially pose a threat. Kale wouldn't have time to further think about how he and Valorie would work in battle. It was now or never.

"Valorie listen to me." He spoke quickly. "I need you to do exactly as I say and focus on the words I speak as intently as you can. If you follow my orders to an exact point we can win but if you can't then this is the end for both of us understand? If you act on instinct then that body should do the work for you." The grunt pointed towards them and ordered his haunter. "Now Haunter, shadow ball!" Without any more time to speak, Kale grabbed his Aria... er... himself and fell down behind Valorie's small gooey form.

"Valorie! Protect, now!"

Valorie's response was immediate. She was by all rights one heck of a coward, but that only caused her to cringe hard as adrenaline--Did she have adrenaline? It kind of felt like she did. An unknown force had filled her body, giving her strength where she herself had none and she could explain nothing of it. Something in the back of her head told her though. This was the mysterious bond between humans and pokemon all those old people had been talking about... only she wasn't a pokemon--Was she? The idea of sharing this bond with Kale would've made her blush... if she was physically capable of it. Oh well.

Any which way, she tensed and focused ever so hard on something she wasn't entirely sure existed. At the last possible moment a powerful shield formed itself to intercept the bullet-like projectile headed their way. Realizing what she'd done, Goomy Valorie looked up and furrowed her non-existant brow. She was a deity, and these two were about to become an example. (Clearly)

Kale smirked darkly, his eyes filled with the solid determination of battle. He felt the familiar feeling of the bond between pokémon and trainer... but with Valorie? It felt weird, different somehow. It was a bond yes, but her being human made it feel different in his mind, he couldn't describe it. Standing up and swiping his arm through the air triumphantly, he gloriously flicked Valories hair out of his face and pointed forward, seemingly not caring much about how "different" the bond felt. "Alright Valorie, now's our chance! Take out the haunter with dragon breath!"

Goomy Valorie seemed to hesitate for a moment. ...Dragon Breath? She felt a pressure build up inside her and she opened her 'mouth', spewing a draconic flame all over that haunter in an erratic manner. The haunter flailed as it was fried before succumbing and fainting. Goomy Valorie then proceeded to emit a tiny burp, a bit of flame coming out of her mouth. How... did she do that? Was that stuff -always- inside her or just on command? It felt so weird, surreal and yet satisfying to have all of this power behind her! It made it very easy to tolerate the whole being dehumanized and belonging to someone thing. She snickered.

The haunter fell to the ground before being hastily returned to its pokéball. The low ranked grunt recoiled slightly. "W... what? I thought Jacob was going to weaken them somehow... and who names a pokémon after themselves anyway!" The other grunt with zubat still intact audibly gulped. He was clearly not even as strong as the weakling whom had just lost and he knew that perfectly well. "Z... zubat... use... ehm..." Kale sighed audibly and clicked his fingers. "Alright Valorie, let's see how the bat likes bubbles!"

Goomy Valorie totally began to foam at the mouth in response, slime-bubbles bursting fourth moments later and flying at the zubat at high speeds. The bubbles wold rapidly pop, coating the zubat in a thick layer of goo. It struggled and failed to fly any further, collapsing in a mound of the icky goo where it presumably fainted. Valorie was slightly uncomfortable at the sight. She didn't much want to be associated with being gross like that, but she had promised Kale... and she did have more important things to worry about. She swallowed her pride, content to play the loyal pokemon for now. That... that was what was right, right? It was what she had to do! ...Right?

Realizing that they were both utterly defeated... the two rockets attacking Valorie and Kale quickly decide to flee the scene. As the first runs off, the second is left behind momentarily, frantically pointing his pokéball at the pile of goop. "Damnit you stupid useless little nuisance! Where are you?!" Kale, takes a step forward, gesturing for Valorie to stick close by him. Seeing the trainer and pokémon who crushed him in battle, the rocket panics. "Oh... screw you anyway... I'll get something worthwhile!" To Kale's disgust and surprise, the rocket drops the pokéball, which smashes on the cold hard floor.

"Disgusting... Alright Valorie lets-" Before Kale can finish his sentence, he's suddenly cut off by a frantic squealing noise coming from the ground. "...ba... Zu... at..." A feeling of incredible pity washed over Kale as he looked towards the pile of goop created from Valorie's bubbles. A single small winged form had crawled it's now goo covered body free... it used it's sonar and echo location abilities to locate the broken shards of pokéball on the ground and once found... it began to lament over them. This pokémon had trusted the rocket... considered him a friend. But his friend had left him all alone. Kale could relate to that.

Wasting no time and feeling no guilt for doing so, Kale began to rummage through the satchel that Valorie carried. It seemed normal enough... afew edibles, understandable, medicine, good idea and... wait... what was this? Kale slowly and carefully removed a small black case from the satchel, it flipped open when he pried it to reveal what looked like various forms of makeup and a mirror. Peering hesitantly into the mirror, Kale was still slightly surprised to see Valorie looking back at him. He then realized something that should have been fairly obvious at that point. Was he... or more was Valorie... wearing makeup? Kale suddenly frowned deeply and rose a single thumb, nail lovingly polished and proceeded to drag it roughly across his lips... as expected a large portion of lipstick was smudged onto Valories face.

Kale closes the case and sighs deeply. Glaring at Valorie for some unknown reason. He seemed annoyed. "I swear I will never understand you women... covering your faces in that muck... you look perfectly fine without it." Shoving the case back into the bag, Kale continued to root around in its other contents. Completely oblivious to the fact that he had accidentally complimented Valorie.

Goomy Valorie peered at the rocket as her an away, half tempted to give chase and show him a thing or two. It wasn't because she felt--Wait, what was that? Was she feeling -sorry- for the zubat..? It was eerie, feeling Kale's emotions blending slightly with her own. More importantly, she could -feel- how Kale felt for once, at least to a limited degree. That was certainly a refreshing change of pace in it's own right.

She watched him shuffle through her belongings, keeping her thoughts to herself on the matter against her instinct, just sort of double taking when he pulled out her portable makeup kit. What was he--Did he--Valorie cringed as he messed with her makeup. She seemed saddened, as if she'd lost something personally.

Now wasn't that silly??

"I think it looks nice..." she replied to Kale half-heartedly and meekly, inspecting him. She chuckled nervously rather off-handedly. "You should see how much time I spent choosing the materials for my clothes and how much time I dedicate to my hair each morning." she offered only half-jokingly. Noteworthily, her clothes were of the expensive variety. They had an unusual balance between comfort and the feminine style she had been going for, with some added practicality where possibly such as her rain boots. Apparently Valorie spent a lot of time thinking about how she looked.

As lovely as the conversation was however, it could not last. "You are so -asinine-!" Charizard's voice rang out over the yelling of combat. It seemed that Kale had accidentally provoked her with his discussion, as she was now swooping down to meet Valorie and him in combat. Kale would want to deal with the zubat quickly if he wantd to have a chance before he was confronted by the fire pseudo-dragon.

As Valorie spoke about things such as hair and clothing, Kale finally found what he was looking for, a single normal pokéball. His pity for the zubat on the ground before him was strong, so, with a decision to explain the situation to the bat pokémon at a later date. Kale tossed the pokéball onto the extremely weakened zubat without warning, capturing it easily. As a result he can't say he was paying much attention to Valorie's talk on her obsessing over appearances but oh well.

It was at that moment that Kale could feel the fiery presence of the Charizard charging towards him. Had she... Had she just called him asinine? He would have little time to find out as he dived to the side, avoiding the swooping Charizard and grabbing his newly filled pokéball in the process. He furrowed his brow and called out to Valorie, pointing towards the charizard. "This is what we 've been waiting for! Now, Valorie, another bubble!"

Goomy Valorie turned her head to acknowledge Charizard as she swooped down between the two, swiveling to face the pseudo-dragon and frothing up a stream of slime bubbles at the much larger pokemon. Charizard was covered in the slme as the bubbles popped, doubling back slightly and then... just sort of staring at Goomy Valorie as if to ask 'Really?' She then proceeded to snatch Valorie up in her jaws and bite down hard, shaking her around as if she were a chew toy. Valorie emitted a scream as her body just sort of... squishified like the blob she was. "D-Don't let her eat me!" Valorie called out in a panicked tone.

Kale flared his scarf behind him and charged towards the charizard. Maybe Valorie was a pokémon, maybe she wasn't... maybe they were "bonding", maybe they weren't. But Kale was NOT about to let any stealth rock crippled wannabe dragon damage HIS assets. As he ran, he saw a stray beam type move burst through the ceiling to his far right, various beams of metal and chunks of rock fell from the now damaged roof. Kale, began to move his feet in a strange way, before almost instantly redirecting his momentum and charging towards the rubble, he saw a specific piece that he needed. Aware of the danger Valorie was in, he quickly grabbed what he wanted and immediately hid it in the satchel. Without wasting anymore time, he charged back towards Valorie and her charizard.

Within moments Kale was upon them, using the extuinguished length of the charizards blazing tail, Kale kicked off and jumped towards the crunching jaws of the firey Kanto starter. His arms wrapped around its neck and his legs kicked into its stomach hard in an attempt to loosen its jaws. His movements were incredibly fluid, even in another body... it was almost as if he had triggered some sort of adrenaline. Using the beasts belly to kick himself off again, he managed to raise himself high enough to drive his feminine fist as hard as he possibly could into the Charizards snout. The look in his eyes was primal, feral. He showed no sort of remorse for his actions.

Finally the charizard loosened her grip slightly with a moan and Kale quickly drove his hand into the satchel, resurfacing with a small metallic bar. He quickly forced it between the Charizards jaws, holding it open long enough for him to begin attempting to pull Valorie free.

Charizard let go of Valorie, albeit not willingly. Her body just sort of... molded it's way out of Charizard's mouth and into Kale's arms where Valorie promptly burried herself against him, shivering in terror. Charizard bit down, crushing the metal bar in her mouth and just sort of spitting it out like a total macho.

Charizard scoffed. "Exhausting human..." she remarked in a mildly annoyed manner. Of course, Kale was the only one that understood her. As Valorie attempted to hide in Kale's arms for fear of being eaten or something equally awful she suddenly began to glow a bright white color. Her body began radiating an extreme warmth as a great deal of energy was unleashed. She was... evolving!

Kale held Valorie close to him as she hid. She was terrified by what had just happened and he realized that. It wasn't something he would of normally condoned but... this time he made an exception for her sake and held her close to him. He listened to the charizard comment. Such arrogance for something so easily manipulated. He opened his mouth to speak back to the fire type when he was suddenly blinded by a bright white light in his arms. "W... what's happening now?... Valorie... you're... evolving?!" His tone was filled with immense surprise as he released Valorie, allowing her to gently drop to the ground.

Congratulations! Your Valorie evolved into... Sliggoo! Sliggoo Valorie looked around, the horns on her gooey head twitching slightly. She then proceeded to abruptly spew a heavy blast of slime at Charizard, only this time the effect was far more severe. This was no bubble attack, but muddy water! ...Or muddy something. Judging by the anguished cry, it burned like nothing else. Charizard stumbled backwards, attempting to ward off the burning before abruptly collapsing onto her side. With a low groan she collapsed, unable or unwilling to continue fighting. Valorie turned her head to Kale, acknowledging him. She was thoroughly blind and Kale could most likely see that through her... complete lack of actual eyes. Yet, she seemed to face him just fine despite this.

Off in the distance through the fighting Dragonite narrowed her eyes, becoming suspicious from her perch beside Jacob.

Kale's eyes furrowed in confusion. The debate as to wether or not he should be treating Valorie as a pokémon or as herself was only becoming more complicated now that she had evolved... however... he couldn't say that he wasn't glad for it, especially now that Charizard was out of action. With that he approached Valorie with a small smirk, covered entirely by the scarf, before gently patting her gooey head. "Not bad Val, not bad at all."

Valorie could get used to this~ ...The wielding incredible amounts of power part, anyway.

Jacob was pleased. Struggling against mere grunts, what could the students hope to achieve as his more powerful monsters descended upon them?! Without warning Valorie's pokemon attacked, a variety of attacks sweeping through the utterly disorientated group that, for the most part, had failed to respond quick enough to the threat. The chances of someone getting hurt were seriously high. Valorie at least had been prepared, doing what little she could and protecting Kale and Aria with her protect. She was thoroughly glad she'd taught Goomy--Er...herself... something... that move.

Jacob quickly noticed her strategy and concentrated fire on the one pokemon limiting the destruction. Blasts, beams and bombs erupted against the shield and... it held. In spite of the massive onslaught the powerful barrier held, albeit with great strain on Valorie's part. How long could she hold up, though? Valorie struggled to angle the shield to the right with little-to-no success.

"Watch out!" she called out to Kale, her voice heavily strained. It wasn't her shield failing she was warning him about though. Charizard had gotten back up. The pseudo-dragon wasn't displaying aggressive body language however. She had simply walked over as if to say hello. Stopping, Charizard stared into Kale's eyes. They had a knowing look in them.

"Command me..." Charizard said almost demandingly. Whether she realized Kale could understand her was unknown, but if that wasn't enough the pseudo dragon proceeded to turn around and face Jacob, turning her head back to Kale invitingly. It would seem she'd broken the mind control and thought Kale was her trainer!

"What--What are you..?" Valorie asked, earning her a glance from Charizard. She was understandably a bit too distracted to figure out what was going on.

"...That's not the trainer I remember. He has become a hypocrite the likes of which I no longer wish to know." Charizard replied, presuming Valorie could understand her because of her pokemon body. "Maybe his other pokemon are unwilling to admit it, but there's no way they haven't noticed it either. I'd like to knock some sense into them myself, but I need help..." she explained, earning no response from a Valorie that definitely couldn't understand pokespeak. It did however provide a curious bit of insight for certain individuals listening in.

The magical shield holding most of Jacob's stolen pokemon back abruptly cracked up the middle. It was going to shatter at any moment.

Kale acknowledged Valorie's warning, he felt worried for her... the attacks she was being forced to endure would not be so easily shrugged off and her portect would not last forever... that being the case, he had to focus on the more pressing threat to his own self, the newly awakened Charizard. Turning quickly and holding a ready stance, he prepared himself to combat the fire type in whatever small way he could... however, within moments he realized there was no need. His eyes met those of the flaming beast as it spoke.

"Command me..."

Kale straightened his pose and met the beasts gaze... did she see him as Valorie? Had she come to her senses at last? Perhaps... but Kale sensed something more there. The look in the Charizards eyes as their gazes locked... he somehow believed that the pseudo dragon knew that he wasn't Valorie. He couldn't describe it, but one could say it was attributed to the mental and emotional link between trainer and pokémon... though their bodies were swapped, Kale was still a different person to Valorie and the aura that fueled his passion as a trainer was as such, different aswell. In the same way that Aria knew Kale for who he was so quickly... could Charizard also tell that Kale was not the trainer she had served so long? More importantly... did she even care? Now was not the time for such questions, he thought.

Kale noted Valorie's confusion at the situation, she could not understand pokéspeak after all. However Kale did... and he listened intently to Charizards reply. "...That's not the trainer I remember. He has become a hypocrite the likes of which I no longer wish to know."

Kale scoffed audibly at this. "Only now you realize what a fool he is? I thought you'd be sharper... unless that famous fiery passion has clouded your sense of judgment." He sighed gently and flipped his hair as Charizard continued. "Maybe his other pokemon are unwilling to admit it, but there's no way they haven't noticed it either. I'd like to knock some sense into them myself, but I need help..."

Kale didn't say any more to the beast. He knew what had to be done. He eyes Valorie momentarily. "Valorie, I need Charizards moveset. Quickly." He could have, of course, asked Charizard for her moveset directly... however he was hoping that by the method of him asking her, Valorie would be able to put two and two together as to their current situation.

Charizard looked vaguely in the direction of Roberto and Samuel. The nerve..! Strangers, commanding her? She hadn't given an open invitation! When did she start offering free rides to strangers anyway?! ...With a dismissive snort Charizard crouched down, preparing herself to fly.

"Dragon Pulse, Fire Blast, Crunch--!" Valorie blurted out almost without pause before her protect shattered, sending her flying explosively into the nearest wall where flew everywhere on impact. She fell over, seeming to deflate a bit. Just by the looks of it one could tell she wasn't getting back up. ...Not without help, anyway. "Rock Slide, Mimic, Belly Drum..." Valorie groaned out before just sort of going quiet as her remaining strength failed her.

Charizard didn't seem to react to Valorie's fate. Perhaps she simply didn't recognize the name being used, which meant she likely didn't recognize the body Kale was using either. Rather, she turned her head back to Kale. By this point she'd recognized that Kale understood her. It didn't seem to bother or particularly surprise her. "The rest either don't know Valorie well enough or are in denial. I can handle Mamoswine and Flygon. Jellicent is too stupid to be saved." Charizard explained quickly yet curtly. She had declined to mention Dragonite...

Kale's eyes widened as he saw Valorie being crushed into the wall... he should have been paying more attention to ther condition! "Valorie..." He muttered as she fell quiet. It didn't take any greater intelligence to notice that she wasn't getting up any time soon. He took a step towards her... and then another... and then another... when his legs froze in place. What was he doing?! Were the girls hormones causing this again?... Or was it because of the bond he had felt for Valorie just moments ago? A mix of both? He couldn't tell... but he couldn't do anything for her immediately. With the battles going on all around he had to focus on fighting... but could he really just leave her there? Would she be alright with all these grunts around?

He had been in this situation before... the question of his own importance over Valorie's. In any other situation he would have left her like before... she was a liability if she was so weakened as she currently was. But something... was different this time. He felt a sense of morality. His dillema was quickly broken however, as Charizard spoke up once again. The way she spoke of the other pokémon... her supposed allies... it was cold and mechanical. Uncaring for the most part. He looked at the pokémon with shock and awe... but he couldn't judge. Was this not how he himself acted?

His legs moved without question, towards Valorie. She was... an asset for later. This was just future investment... but at the same time it was almost like a temporarily awakened part of Kale's dormant soul was denying his uncaring existence and forcing him to save the only human/pokémon who had attempted to side with him in a long time. As he ran, it was Mamoswine that noticed him, the ancient beast charged towards Kale at full speed from across the room. Did it recognize him?! Or Valorie?! There was no time to think about that, waiting for the last moment, Kale barely manages to lunge out of the raging swine's path.

"Charizard! Fire Blast now!" As the mamoswine desperately tried to stop its incredible momentum and turn, Kale hoped Charizard would intercept. Though he wasn't looking long enough to see the counter attacks result. Within moment, Kale found himself kneeling beside Valorie's bruised and beaten gooey form. Aria was beside him in a few moments with a look of concern on her face. Kale suddenly felt quite panicked, looking at the fainted pokégirl in front of him. He had no idea what he could actually do to help her in this situation so he quickly and frantically began to dig in Valorie's satchel, surely there was something in there he could use.

Charizard, recognizing the intensity of the situation. "Later!" she roared as she turned her head and spewed a powerful fireblast into the path of Mamoswine, charging off towards the mammoth pokemon. "I have a plan." she assured the blaziken.

Meanwhile, Kale would discover several super potions within her--er... his satchel. Valorie's satchel? ..Kale's temporary satchel. Producing them and applying them to the fainted sliggoo didn't yield immediate results. Her wounds were severe after taking such a humongous attack, but that was only after a moment of spraying and there was plenty more medicine to go around. As he continued using the potion Charizard followed up with the fireblast that singed Mamoswine's fur and crashed into the mammoth, knocking the wounded pokemon against the wall.

"Get off!" Mamoswine protested, suddenly in a very uncomfortable position. "Not a chance. Is this what you want, attacking children at the command of a trainer that doesn't even care?!" Charizard demanded, shoving at the much larger pokemon. It didn't really work, and Mamoswine shoved her back after a long moment only to turn and stare at her.

"So you're just a traitor then?" Mamoswine asked. "A traitor to what?!" Charizard responded, staring Mamoswine down. "-That's- not the person that raised me. That's not the person I watched...--That's... not even a girl!" Charizard remarked, raising one clawed hand and scratching at her head in confusion. "...What?" Mamoswine replied baffled by the remark.

"I remember thinking to myself all the time how good of a mother my trainer would've been while I watched her taking care of her pokemon." Charizard remarked. "You're crazy." Mamoswine dismissed immediately. "Shut up. That's not the point. I didn't fight for the love and attention of some creep who didn't care about us and just asked us to do what he said. Our trainer is -nothing- like he was before that attack, and y'know what? I don't care why anymore! If you want to blindly serve your trainer instead of helping me to take him down so I can find out what's going on, /fine/. ...But don't expect me to show any mercy." Charizard warned, overtly hostile.

There was nothing like a good threat to add weight to one's word. Mamoswine seemed to stop.and think. "...Why did he spend all that time teaching me to be gentle with people if he was just going to ask me to do this?" the mammoth pokemon finally asked, frustration evident in his tone. "Because he's a fraud!" Charizard retorted dismissively, her tone demanding Mamoswine hurry right the heck up instead of sitting there in the middle of a battle debating the subject.

"...So what, you believe her?" Flygon asked, drawing both pokemon's attention above them. Flygon hovered there. She seemed dissonantly cheery. "...I have really good ears." Flygon added after a moment, acknowledging the elephant in the room. "...When's the last time he ever told you good job, Flygon? When's the last time we trained all night? Admit it, he's an entirely different person whether you like it or not." Charizard growled out. "...I'm glad /someone/ said something." Flygon replied light-heartedly. "I just thought I was going crazy!" she quickly added. Charizard declined to comment, pointing a clawed hand at Kale.

"I don't know why, but this one... /feels/ right. Maybe it's not Jacob, but she... /reminds/ me of the trainer I liked so much in a way I can't explain." Charizard said, confusion wracking her voice as she tried to get ahold of her seemingly irrational thoughts. "Do 'our' trainer's memory proud by standing by my side and protecting 'the world' from everything he has become." Charizard finished demandingly, a sort of malice in her tone. She was pissed and wanted nothing more than revenge. She resented everything Jacob had made her become and it was evident in her tone.

"Also one of you go deal with Jellicent because I don't think that thing even understands what it's being told most of the time." Charizard added after a moment, almost comically dismissive in tone. She wasn't touching that thing. Nope.

After emptying several super potions onto Sliggoo!Valorie Kale would notice her finally stirring. Her body seemed to have bloated with the medicine, turning an odd orange'ish hue. Valorie opened her eyes and seemed to become aware of Kale. She almost hugged him on the spot, almost! ...But then she remembered she was a gross slimeball and that Kale looked so much prettier without that all over him!

...Had she just thought that? Valorie silently questioned if this was a sign of bad mental health or--or was she becoming detached from her own body? That was a terrifying thought. Was her mind so easily adapting to this new reality? ... "...Thank you..." Valorie said, just loud enough to be heard. Her tone was oozing gratitude. "I feel weird, but--" she started when Charizard abruptly interrupted her.

"We're ready." Charizard informed Valorie!Kale. Mamoswine and Flygon stood behind her.

Valorie took in what was happeing and just sort of gawked for a moment with her debatably existant mouth. "You--...You freed them all..." she remarked, utterly baffled at how Kale had accomplished this clearly alone and without help. "That's... amazing!" she uttered, breathless.

"...Why does she speak like a human?" Flygon innocently asked. Valorie's other pokemon ignored her. There was a time and place for everything, but not now. "If you want to give commands while we fight you should proably hop on someone." Charizard remarked non-chalantly.

Kale stood up to look at the myriad of powerful pokémon that now stood before him. It had been a long time since he had commanded more than even one pokémon... a very long time... He closed his eyes for a moment and remembered something painful.

***
"It's our way! You cannot hope to fully embrace our ideals unless you release your old partners! Fight alongside those we give you so that your pokémon may be free!" The older voice shouted at a younger Kale who held Aria's pokéball tightly in his hands... it was his only remaining pokémon. The rest were long gone.

"I can't my Lord! She's my oldest friend! My first friend!" The man winced and pushed his long white hair out of his eyes. "The others eant less to you then?! Why is she so special! If she is worth so much to you then why do you force her to fight!" A fist was suddenly buried into Kales gut and he fell to the ground. In his weakened state the mawile's pokéball was knocked violently from his hands, smashing on the ground. A confused Aria was suddenly released into the World.

"Aria..." Kale whimpered. The older man merely patted Kale's shoulder to comfort him. "It's alright my boy... she's safe now. Like the others."
***

Kale shook his... er... Valorie's head and looked back at the girl now turned Sligoo. "Valorie... you've done much more than you should have had to." His tone had reverted once again, to its mechanical and cold state. It seemed that whatever influence Valorie's body was having on him... it was now gone. Kale was in full essence... himself, the disconnection between him and his body suddenly completely overpowered by the strength of his mind. It was almost as if a reversal of Valorie's condition... rather than Kale's mind adapting to Valorie's body... Valorie's body suddenly seemed to be adapting to Kale's mind... what triggered such a reversal would be anybodies guess.

He continued. "Allow me and your pokémon to do the rest, if you please." As he finished, Aria suddenly grabbed Kale's arm, tugging on it gently.

"Kale... are you sure you can do this? I know that you're..." He shrugged her off and gave her a glare. "Don't doubt me. I wouldn't do the same to you." With a slightly guilty look. The humanized pokémon released Kale's arm and went to sit beside Valorie, petting her head as if to make sure she was alright.

"If you want to give commands while we fight you should proably hop on someone." The Charizard had said. Kale had already decided on his mount... with the pokémon now available to him he had already devised his startegy. He stood beside the Mamoswine and patted its side gently as a sign of friendship and respect, once done he used the large beasts tusk as a leg up to jump onto its head. He sat in a riders pose, legs folded back, upper body pointed and poised forward. He looked around until he spotted Jacob, the beeheyem and the dragonite protecting all three. There was still an the remains of Dragonite's reflect holding, but that was nothing Kale couldn't deal with.

He called out to the two flying pokémon that now sided with him. "Charizard, Flygon! I need one of you on either side of me and Mamoswine... immediately!" His voice was firm and demanding, but it bore the mark of a seasoned and caring trainer aswell. Once the two were in position he tapped Mamoswine's head and continued talking. "Those Beeheyem and Dragonite need to be taken care of above all else! Dragonite's reflect is still holding but if we focus on a specific spot then I'm sure we can break through!" He paused furrowed his brow in determination. "Mamoswine... I need you to use your most powerful physical attack and charge through that wall with everything you have! Charizard, Flygon! Cover our sides and rear with whatever offensive or defensive moves you know... nothing can be allowed to interfere with this attack!" Kale kicked his legs hard on mamoswines sides and the ancient beast reared its front legs high in the air before charging forward at a speed. "Now! Lets do this!"

"I just got the weirdest sense of deja vu!" Mamowine off-handedly remarked as he began charging with Valorie!Kale on his back. Charizard and Flygon rose above and Jacob turned his head skeptically. Meanwhile, a suddenly lonely and angsty Valorie contemplated how useless she was as Aria pet her. Her head was extremely maleable, as if she didn't have a solid part in her entire body. She looked up at Aria with her unseeing eyes, declining to speak. Why did this feel so... wrong?

The grunts and their numbers had begun to thin out, but Charizard and Flygon immediately put a dent in them by unleashing a series of surprise attacks as they flew along, scattering and decimating at leat a dozen or so teams in the process. It was an effortless motion, hardly even qualifying as training beyond the physical exertion. Mamoswine, taking Kale's words entirely seriously, began to use curse. A dark aura surrounded his body, flying up over Kale's thighs without any noticable effect relating to it's proximity.

To everyone else, Mamoswine began to slow down. To Kale and Mamoswine, something even weirder was happening. Their perception was being dilated and expanded, allowing them to to continue percieving things in real time even as they slowed down to a jog. Jacob, now fully aware of what was going on, made the quick and immediate order. "Dragonite, stop stop them with a Superpower attack!" he commanded. Dragonite seemed to hesitate, rather torn as she was abruptly told to turn on her ally.

Flygon took notice of the situation and looked around searchingly. Spotting one of the beheeyem left momentarily unprotected as Mamoswine easily broke through Dragonite's barrier. Now was her chance to make everyone proud! She swooped down, opening her mouth wide and chomping down on the alien pokemon. Crunch! The beheeyem just sort of flailed as it was nommed on and attempted to run away before being bitten hard again and fainting. As this happened, approximately half of the students would find themselves suddenly and violently returned to their normal bodies. Noteworhily neither Valorie!Kale or Sliggoo!Valorie were among those freed. Those that were freed would likely have a mild headache for a little bit.

Dragonite raised a hand and Mamoswine abruptly sped up, taking the giant pokemon entirely by surprise as he lunged out and slammed into Dragonite's gut with icy tusks, a devistating blow by any standard and one you could expect to drop even the strongest pokemon... Except it didn't. Though Dragonite doubled over, grasping at Mamoswine's tusks in a futile manner, it was not the end for her. Her body began to glow with an awesome blue power and she responded by yanking Mamoswine clear off his feet by the tusks with terrifying strength. All the pain she was in didn't help her disposition at all, and she probably would've smashed the pokemon and trainer against the ground with a blow that would've left little room for recover if a certain pseudo-dragon hadn't interfered.

Charizard had been at the ready. The flame on her tail had turned a bright blue color, but this was not merely the color of an intense fire. It had an unnatural hue.. that of aura tainting the flame. Charizard's eyes similarly filled with a saturated, brilliant blue hue as she opened her mouth and roared out a visible bluish-lavenderish shockwave. The dragon pulse attack seemed to cut through Dragonite, causing her to wither under it's effects. Kale and Mamoswine would both be able to -feel- the strength rapidly leaving the gigantic pokemon's body. With a cry of anguish, Dragonite half-heartedly attempted to throw the two at Charizard instead. Sensing an imminent danger to a fragile human life as Mamoswine began to rotate uncontrollably, Charizard swooped in and snatched Valorie!Kale up, wordlessly holding him--her--in her arms.

Mamoswine crashed nearby, and while it definitely looked like it hurt he was able to get back up slowly yet surely. Charizard began circling around for another go, revealing that Dragonite looked utterly exhausted. The giant pokemon appeared dispirited, and it was apparent she did not want to fight anymore. Yet as Jacob looked around frantically, realizing that one of his beheeyem had been taken out while he and Dragonite were distracted and that his entire plan was in imminent danger of being for naught he did the only thing left he could think of.

"Dragonite, you know what to do! Use extremespeed and RUN!" Jacob called out. Dragonite looked at Jacob dejectedly but recieved only a harsh look in response. Her wings abruptly seemed to expand many times their normal size and she took off of the ground, grabbing the Beheeyem that was still functional and launching herself straight through the crowd. As she flew past she made an effort to grab several of the trainers pokemon, snatching them up and simply flying off with them at speeds nobody could possibly hope to catch. In fact, it was as if she'd simply vanished along with their pokemon Noteworthily, Sliggoo!Valorie, Commodre!Lucia and Snype!Robert were among the ones snatched. Valorie and Lucia immediately begin slapping at eachother pettily.

Jacob remained standing there, grimly acknowledging his lack of Pokemon with a smile. Seeing this, most of the grunts immediately began to retreat in a mild panick.

Kale watched in anger as the Dragonite fled. His eyes opened wide and he pushed his way out of Charizards grasp, gently falling to the floor. He watched with a withering gaze as the rockets desperately tried to escape, fleeing with their weakling pokémon as best they could as Jacob watched on with a smug smile. Kale had had just about enough... plus with no other liabilities around to watch him (well none that he cared about)... he would no longer have to try and keep up the guise that he was a regular student. Rockets were such a pathetic team... he didn't like his old employers, but at least they knew what they were doing.

Kale turned to Jacob and... smiled back. But it wasn't friendly, smug, or even fake. It was the kind of smile one might give to a child who makes a silly mistake. To someone who was clearly many times more stupid than you... someone who was innocent... someone whom you almost pitied because there was always a chance that they might never learn. It was that kind of smile... that is genuine in a way that would make alot of people hate you for it and in the current situation it was surely unsettling. Especially when one considered that Kale very rarely ever gave a genuine smile.

He completely ignored the fact that he had pokémon willing to fight... he didn't need them right now. He didn't even give them any sort of notice as he slowly walked towards Jacob. That same smile becoming infused with more and more darkness with every step.

He picked up a metal bar from the floor.

The smile was fading quickly... returning to an emotionless mask.

He pulled his scarf down from his face.

The iron bar in his hands was broken and inneficient, but it would do.

Within moments he was face to face with Jacob. His expression was empty and he knew Jacob wouldn't dare to touch him, lest he was burnt, frozen and ground to dust all at once.

"You shouldn't have done that. I needed those." Without another word Kale's arms moved like lightning, he asked no questions, made no threats, the iron bar did his talking for him as it smashed brutally into Jacobs left knee cap.

Jacob's eyebrows rose as Valorie!Kale approached him, only to narrow his eyes as he... she... -something- picked up the metal debris. Jacob seemed to be somewhat aware of what Kale was thinking, his body tensing up and the smile vanishing from his face. He didn't however expect the sheer speed with which Kale lashed out without further provokation. He pulled the struck leg out from underneath him as he was struck, sucking in a sharp breath and immediately reaching out to shove Kale back. He found himself unable to follow up however as he immediatel fell over onto his rear.

"...You witch!" Jacob said rather coyly, gritting as he grabbed at his knee.

Kale didn't respond to the coy and in his opinion completely pointless taunts. Rather he quickly spun around and hammered the iron bar directly into the fallen mans back.

"You speak when spoken to, tool. I swear in my old organization we trained low ranks like you with better manners for those who are clearly in charge." His voice was completely empty as always. He spoke what he knew to be true, nothing more. Wasting no time, Kale efficiently and brutally cracked the bar off the side of Jacobs head and then once again against his lower abdomen. He was... scarily precise... he hit him just hard enough to daze him... but keep him awake enough that he would feel every tiny morsel of pain that was delivered to him. Kale spoke an order to the man at his feet.

"Where did you send those you stole weakling. Tell me and I won't kill you. Don't tell me? Then I'll take my leisure in beating you to death, before taking slightly longer to track them down myself." Kale's tone was tainted with a slight and bitter undertone of darkness. Though aside from this, the tone was mechanical, empty, devoid of emotion and life.

Jacob raised a hand to ward away Kale's blows, attempting to drag himself backwards with little success. "Gah! What is /wrong/ with you??" he demanded, taking the beating pretty well considering...

"No--Keep hitting me. I /love/ this!" Jacob quickly added rather defiantly, almost snarling through the blows. He was mocking Kale.

"Ok." Kale said blankly before driving the blunt end of the bar hard into Jacobs stomach. As the rocket tried to drag himself away, Kale stomped down and grinded his boot hard on Jacobs hand.

"I'll be frank, this for me? Fifty percent to avoid wasting time, fifty percent personal enjoyment." He idly beat the bar across Jacobs head again. "I'm finding them regardless. I can do that easily. It'll just be quicker if you tell me beforehand. Plus, you get to live a little longer... your point of hiding information seems highly illogical to me."

"Say please..." Jacob remarked coldly as his arm rose to take the blow meant for his head--The other arm that is. One could hear the strain in his voice, but pain seemed to have very little bargaining power with this one. "I can't /resist/ a girl with nice manners." he then added, once again openly mocking Kale. At the very least, he was no longer attempting to flee. What did he see in prolonging this that Kale didn't? Surely there was some reason...

He was stalling.

Charizard would interrupt. "...There's only two places she could've gone." she remarked. "My bet's on the only way you haven't been yet." she quickly added in a matter-o-fact tone. It must've been hard on Valorie's pokemon, watching Kale beat who they thought was their trainer.

Kale frowned and knelt down to Jacob's level. He drew close to the mans ear and spoke in a hushed tone. "The triad doesn't appreciate games, low rank, you're stepping on the toes of someone your entire organization could fear." Standing up Kale quickly lashes out violently at Jacobs legs, making sure that he most definitely, would not have the ability to leave his current location.

Kale spoke again, in a more audible manner. "A plasma never makes an unwarranted kill... especially in the presence of Pokémon. With that Kale would brutally smash Jacob across the face, this blow would show that all of the others up to that point were held back in terms of power, as the blow was at least twice as powerful when compared to all he had delivered before that. It was very unlikely that Jacob would still be awake after it, the man would not be killed. But Kale would be damned if he would let him have any semblence of a possible escape.

He hastily climbed onto Charizards back. He swivelled his head around and didn't see Aria anywhere... had she perhaps been swept up along with Valorie? It was possible... He tapped the fire types head gently and spoke. "If you have any idea where they are... then take me to them."

Charizard leapt off the ground and Valorie's other pokemon followed, leading Kale and any others who weren't ready to retreat back to the main area... and the giant sealed door. Before it was a puzzle, a bunch of heavy looking geometric shapes arranged seemingly without pattern in the center of the room. I seemed to be a puzzle; how classy was this?!

...But what did it meaaan? It was apparently a mechanism for opening the door.