The Uprising: Liberating the Katsu Region

Audrey's elaborate inner spy game came to a very abrupt halt as she suddenly realized that Isabel was leaving, and that meant it was time to get up and go and really be super spies on whatever mission it was they were going to do. Audrey hopped up onto her feet, setting the flashing lights on her sneakers off again and nearly losing her arm to the sudden weight of her messenger bag, its strap caught tightly around her elbow after she'd tripped over the bush. Awkwardly half-bent with the bag still on the ground, Audrey wriggled her arm free, at the same time realizing that something didn't seem right. She held the position for a moment, head cocked to one side in thought, before recognizing the taste of dirt in her mouth and diving down to fish through the large assortment of random objects she carried with her.

After a long moment, she found the water bottle for which she was searching. She gave the cap a twist and poured some of the liquid into her mouth, washing the dirt down her throat and leaving a gritty aftertaste on her tongue. How did that get there? she wondered idly as she ran the tongue over her teeth to catch any remaining bits of dust. Oh well, it wasn't that big of a deal. She'd eaten mud pies when she was little, a bit more dirt wouldn't hurt her.

Water bottle capped and tossed rather carelessly back into the jumble of items in the bag, Audrey pulled the strap over her head to rest on her shoulder, the bag finally resting at the opposite hip and its owner wondering what exactly it was she'd been about to do. Fingers running idly over an embroidered flower, she glanced around, thinking, and was suddenly startled to realize that they'd been joined by other people. There was Chris, and Isaac, and someone she didn't know, and someone else she didn't know, and another someone else she didn't know. And Sabey, where was Sabey? Oh, that's right, I was going to catch up with Sabey! She said we were leaving.

Without a second thought, Audrey started off at a run after her friend. But, Audrey being Audrey, she didn't get far. She'd hardly taken two steps when she ran right into someone else who she hadn't realized had been standing right there. When had all these people gotten here, anyway? They must not have noticed her because she was being a spy. Or was it the other way around...?

"Oops, sorry!" she added as an afterthought along with a bright, if apologetic, smile to whoever it was she'd run into. Whatever had gone on between all these other people, she'd missed it. Her mind was already well on its way into another world of ninjas and butterflies or something of the sort. One never really could tell with Audrey.

(OOC: short, bad, short, bad, short, bad... *hits self over head in irritation*)

Isabel walked along the path briskly, ignoring how much energy carrying a duffel bag of spare supplies along with her own things had already drained from her. The feeling that she was simply babysitting a group of newbie trainers was again creeping up in the back of her mind. She pushed it aside with a sigh, knowing that she needed them no matter how much or little skill they had.

"I'm sorry," a sheepish voice offered from beside her.

She glanced over to find Charlie walking herby, looking extremely downcast and ashamed. Biting back a remark concerning how he wouldn't need to be sorry if he just used common sense, she rolled her eyes.

Relax… You need him to be cooperative for this mission to be a success.

The fact that much of the responsibility for ensuring everything worked out rested on his shoulders, however, was not especially comforting to her. She contemplated how to respond to his apology in a proper manner when a voice disturbed her thoughts.

"Where we off to?" the characteristically easygoing voice of Greg called over the small Uprising group.

"This way, I guess," the voice of Chris replied.

Isabel stopped short, shooting Charlie a look that told him to keep going as she walked to the back of the group.

"Can I trust you to lead the Uprising?" she asked Chris abruptly, staring him directly in the eye with a serious expression.

(OCC: Short Short Short Shorts.)

"Can I trust you to lead the Uprising?" Isabel's eyes glaring at him like an Arbok.

It took a moment for the question to grasp Chris's mind. Whatever it was, the abruptness of the question, or the weight that was being thrown on his shoulders; it momentarily stunned him, stopping him in his tracks. Lead? What was Isabel planning to do that would require him to lead instead of her? Granted, he was already (basically) second in command, but... He looked from face to face, from the previous members to the new recruits. ...Would they follow him like they would follow her?

Turning back, Chris looked deep into her eyes, past the paralyzing glare, trying to figure out just what exactly she was planning. Here was a person who he had followed for a year of his life, met by chance and gained her trust, and he could still not even imagine what she could be thinking.

Breaking eye contact, he sighed; he had kept her waiting long enough.

"Of course." Chris grinned. "I'm surprised you even had to ask."

Any doubt in Isaac's mind that he was indeed out of place was confirmed. No one really noticed him, but that was understandable simply based on the fact that Isabel commanded their attention. From what he could tell as he slithered his way into the middle of the group that was they were headed in a given direction to what appeared to be an undisclosed location.

As he walked in the general direction of the rest of the group, his mind wandered. This was the first time he was really alone since he landed in Katsu. Earlier, he was either hanging with the veteran members or his fellow newcomers. That feeling he had was more comforting. He felt welcome and active. Now, he felt passive, alone and above all, unnecessary. He was aware he was the unproven rookie compared to the veterans of the Uprising who have been through what he could assume was some intense moments. But it didn't shake the feeling of despair that rippled through Isaac liked a stone tossed into a lake. It was if he had been demoted to the 12th man on a basketball team. Guess I better make those few minutes count then, eh?

It was following that self-pep talk, he felt something bump into him. It was a rather small person based on the shape. But something was familiar to it. Looking down, it was indeed someone familiar. Audrey? Looks like her.

"Oops, sorry!" she added in an apologetic. It wasn't the greatest apology, but it was better than nothing.

"It's alright," he replied. "It was my fault, really, if anything. I was zoning out." He chuckled. "Any idea where we are headed by the way? I have been out of the loop."

(OOC: Just adding myself to the short post contingent, here. ^^')

"It's alright."

Audrey's ninjas and butterflies (and perhaps ninja butterflies?) were quickly dispelled back into the realms of her subconscious from whence they had come, but not in time for her to catch the next sentence. "Huh?"

"...f anything. I was zoning out." The words were accompanied by a somewhat familiar nervous laugh. "Any idea where we are headed, by the way? I have been out of the loop."

"Ohhh, hi Isaac! It's good to see you," she greeted cheerfully, her mind finally having caught up with her ears. If Isaac thought he had been zoning out, he had nothing on Audrey. She scrambled upright again, dusting herself off. With this as her second stumble already that morning, though, the rest of the day didn't look promising for her outfit. "Where are we going? Um, um, um, um..." She paused in her idle repetition of the syllable beneath her breath as she thought. How was she supposed to answer that? Sabey was the one who made all the plans.

All of a sudden, Audrey brightened. She'd just have to say what she did know. "We're going that way!" One arm thrust out to point at the group's receding backs. "C'mon, let's catch up!" Reaching out, she grabbed ahold of Isaac's wrist and started running toward the group, half-dragging him along behind her.

Late.
Hopefully it would be fashionable so, but Sheila doubted it.

She had done a good job following orders; as instructed, she had shopped for part of the morning. Sheila drifted between the few marts and food shops, stocking up mostly on food-- little bags of dried berries, and some nuts, easy stuff to eat on the road-- and bottled water. Sheila made one silly purchase, a small mirror to help her put on her makeup in the morning whenever she would have the time. She was aware that in a time of war like this, makeup wasn't really important, but it was part of her every day routine. She wasn't used to seeing herself without a good coat of some obnoxious color around her eyelids, and felt like someone with bright hair like her would look unpolished and suspicious if she didn't always go full-out with her eyeliner.
Well, that was her excuse, anyway. Mostly makeup was like drawing, which kept her calm, which kept her sane. She wasn't going to have any paper to draw Pokemon-- and if she drew Pokemon, that would be near suicidal-- so the eye shadow would have to stay.

Sheila also changed into her tennis shoes, by now tired of walking around in heels already. She'd already made her first impression with the group, so now she could relax. While she was at it, she purchased a light-weight zip up black coat made out of t-shirt material to keep her tattoos covered.
This was a lot less itchy that Chris's coat had been.

The problem was that she got caught up in a check-out line at one of the more populated stores, the one where she bought the dried fruit and water. They only had one checker that wasn't new, and there was a line of old people in front of her.
It felt like she was standing in line, tapping her toe forever. She almost left the checkout without her stuff several times, but knew she needed it for the road, and for emergencies. While she waited her mind wandered; Sheila's Pokemon were still restless, and she longed to see them; to let them roam, and stretch, and eat their favorite foods. But she couldn't right now; she was stuck in line behind five people all of whom had a huge boatload of items to buy.
Why couldn't people who were buying three bags of dried fruit, a can of nuts, and a few bottles of water just jump in front of people in line who were buying out half the store?!

She blew a frustrated puff of air out of the corner of her lips, adjusting her gloves while she waited. At least she had already been to the other stores to buy the mirror and coat, so this was her last stop...
Sheila tapped her foot, watching the elderly woman in front of her in line stop. The old lady glanced over the little racks of products on either side of the check out line, and start grabbing some packs of gum and breath mints by the handful.

Great.
_______________________

'Go, go, go...'

Sheila was sprinting, her long green ponytail whipping around behind her, her backpack now bulging with fruit and water bottles strapped securely to her back. Now that she was rid of those heels, it was apparent that she was quite the speed demon; though by now she was pretty winded, having been running around Chipper City for about five minutes to try to get to the group meeting place in time.
Finally, she saw the backs of a few people she recognized to be in the group walking away, disappearing from where she could get to them.

Taking a deep breath, Sheila sped up-- nearly bumping into a passerby, much to their frustration, for they yelled a swear after her-- and less than gracefully skidded to a stop right near Issac and Audrey, as they were at the back of the group.
"M-Made it..." She gasped to herself, panting slightly. Her green hair was all a mess, a few random strands frizzed out and hanging in her face. Her ponytail holder had come loose and would need fixed.

Sheila had a sinking feeling like her Pokemon were laughing at her from in their Pokeballs, if they could do such a thing.
She smirked uneasily.
At least she had been lucky enough to find the people she already knew right away.

Casually, as if she hadn't just booked it over to the group like a madwoman, she straightened up and just started walking beside them. No problem. Nothing to see here, just walking...

ooc: Woo. I hope that works. xD
I hate getting stuck in Walmart. @_@;

"Good," Isabel said with a curt nod to Chris, turning to resume leading the group as if nothing had happened. She began to run through all that needed to be accomplished in order for the mission to be a success. Everything seemed as though it would run smoothly. Chris had always been reliable, and she knew that he would never let her down when it came to something as important as this.

She sighed and reached into her pocket, extracting a carefully-folded envelope and weighing it in her hand. The thought of not handing it over was tempting, but she knew that such an action would be nothing but foolish. He would understand her actions when the time came.

Isabel slowed her pace a bit until she was walking alongside Chris.

"You will be leading the group to a PXS base about two hours north of here," she announced. "Meanwhile, Charlie and I will be located at a home of a major contributor to the organization. Charlie has connections in PXS, which will make accessing this man much easier. He's the one responsible for relaying most of the information to bases farther north, so taking him out means that we can slow the speed with which the remaining forces hear about what we are doing. This is crucial, as there is another undercover base a short distance away from where you will be and we need to make sure that they don't send reinforcements before the task is accomplished."

Isabel offered the envelope to him and met his eyes intently.

"This base contains a stash of weapons as well as a Pokemon who could seriously hinder our efforts in freeing the region if it remains in PXS's hands. You are to open this envelope at exactly noon regardless of where you are in your mission. It will tell you what it is you need to do in order to destroy the base once you either succeed or fail to secure it. While it is preferable that we get these resources for ourselves, it's most important that they do not have it. You need to follow the remaining instructions in order to know where to meet up with me next, assuming I don't message you if the plan changes."

"Any questions?" she asked, though her expression clearly conveyed that she had little patience for those.

{{Sorry about interrupting everything! Just a little introduction, here. :3}}

Sign Up: Trainer
Name: Leila McCoy.
Age: Nineteen.
Gender: Female.

Appearance: Her hair is a long sheet of black, down to her waist. She usually lets this hang loose, her bangs swept back out of her face. She frequently wears a white baseball cap that used to be embroidered with a Pokeball in the front, but has long since gotten that stitching removed due to the current circumstances. She wears a white tank-top with a black hoodie over it, as well as either jeans or black shorts depending on the weather. No matter what, though, she wears her black converse shoes.

Her eyes are a mint green, and her face is quite pleasant, revealing her optimistic personality. Her skin is pale, but fairly so, and her body is slender and a little on the shorter side at a 5'4".

Personality: A little shy upon a first meeting, she eventually will open up to a person once she gets to know them. And, when that happens, she can be very talkative and inquisitive. Being a caring and gentle person, she can't resist the urge to help someone - be it a human or a pokemon - when they need aid. So, having this built into her system, her determination to join the rebellion has never been so severe.

Leila is very adventurous, and can sometimes be a bit careless, which only adds to her sense of admiration toward the Uprising. Her fascination and passion toward Pokemon is also what makes her crave to join the Uprising, no matter how hard it will be to find them.

She is a bit on the reckless side, but never has she lost her temper... she is a quite level-headed person when it comes to that.

Background: Leila grew up in a flow of formality and silence. As the world took a turn and demanded the condemnation of Pokemon, her father continued his food mart as he always had... just without the added flair of pokeballs and potions. He silently acknowledged the fact that the world would keep turning, and he had to continue the best he could with what life threw at him. He tried to teach his daughter the same thing, eventually putting her to work in the food mart when she was old enough.

Leila had nothing against her father. She loved him dearly, as he had always been a level-headed man who returned her love and affection. But as she continued her life in the mart and the banning of Pokemon became a reality, she couldn't help but feel like she needed to help in some way. The prohibition of Pokemon was not a good thing, she had known from the start. For three years she kept as silent as her father, abiding by his wishes to continue working in his mart, never uttering a word against the government or the organization known as PXS, "Pokemon Exporting Services". But one rainy day, the routine ended.

She had been working, as always, when a government policeman entered the store. He was searching for Uprising refugees, interrogating her father with harsh words. Her father had no knowledge of the refugees, denying the questions and, as the policeman became more agitated, apologized fervently for his ignorance.

The policeman, however, was unconvinced. With a swift movement of his hand, the man hit Leila's father on the head with the hilt of his gun. Leila's father was in his fifties, and a hit to the head like that would never have killed a man of his physical condition, but Leila saw him fall and knew, as much as she wanted to deny it, that she would never speak to her father again.

The policeman left the store after that, giving a glare in her direction and slamming the door behind him. Rushing frantically to her father and placing a shaking hand on his neck to feel his pulse, Leila waited for several minutes... sitting there on the floor, waiting for a heartbeat that would never come. Tears now streaming down her cheeks, she at last pulled her hand away and placed it on her face as she sobbed. However, as she placed her free hand down onto her father's chest, she blinked her wet eyes and looked down at her father's buttoned vest in surprise. Swallowing down another hiccup of a sob, she unbuttoned his vest and reached into a concealed pocket inside, drawing out an object that she had felt through the material.

It was red and white, in its portable form. Hardly able to believe what she was seeing, after three years of them being supposedly extinct, she realized in amazement that this was a real pokeball and, from the weight of it, there was definitely a pokemon inside it.

All these years, her father had quietly been planning on acting. He had kept one pokemon concealed, training her when no one was looking. He had at last gotten the little creature to a reasonable strength, and Leila now knew why he had reached to his chest just before the policeman had slammed his head with the gun... he had been about to use his pokemon as a last resort.

Now, with the store to collapse without an owner, Leila fled. She has no home, little money, and one pokemon whom she now holds as dear to her as her father once was. Her only point in living is now for the Uprising, the organization she has dreamed of joining for the last three years.

RP Sample: This is from a different roleplay that I own. It's one about pirates, and I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing, since it's just a snippet of a confrontation between two of my characters, and someone else's.



Hackett felt the girl's hand slip from his grip, the wetness between their skin making it even easier for her to escape his clutches. And then, distracted by trying to grab for her hand again, he didn't notice her foot that was flying straight for his gut... a razor blade sticking out of her boot toe.

"Hugh!" Hackett grunted as she thrust the blade into his torso, and then whipping it back out with a painful jolt of her leg. The commodore staggered backward, his hand going to the place where the small bootknife had punctured his skin. It felt like someone had rammed their knee into his gut, and then was now prodding the bruise with a sharp toothpick. It wasn't a bad wound, but it was enough to cripple him for at least a minute.

James blinked in surprise when this rapid flow of action occurred. He thought with slight amusement as he watched Hackett stumble back, his hand clutching his stomach, Well, I must admit... I wasn't expecting that.

And then, like a wild mustang that had just been freed from a stable, the thief girl dashed past him without another word, her hair flying and sending sprinkles of water that joined in with the rain. James' eyes followed her, looking over his shoulder as she whipped around a corner and out of sight. He turned back to the commodore, who was still slightly hunched over.

"I take it that that little blade is worse than it looks?" James asked, and he couldn't resist the smirk that slid onto his face. He knew that, as enraged as Hackett already was, that little sentence would probably tip him over the edge.

It did.

Hackett straightened, and from the look on his face, he seemed to be restraining himself from doubling over again. The look he gave James was one that could kill, his face contorted into this ugly scowl of absolute fury. He gripped the hilt of his rapier, whipped it out of its sheath, and started to walk slowly toward James, the rapier's blade glinting in the light.

James took a step back, holding up both his clawed hand and his sword hand in a "peaceful" gesture. "Now, now, now... calm down, Commodore," he said with comical politeness in this dismal situation. "No need for drastic measures, right?"

Hackett kept coming toward him, the rapier aimed straight at him. He didn't answer, he only glared with hostility, his breath coming out in a seething whisper.

James' polite demeanor faded, his posture going limp as he sighed. He sheathed his sword, and at first it looked as if he was going to simply turn around and leave, but suddenly he ran at Hackett with his clawed hand, bringing it down to grab the rapier out of Hackett's hand.

But the commodore parried, and for a slightly injured man, he moved quickly. He whipped his rapier out, aiming for James' neck, but the claw blocked the blade with a metallic Clang! of steel. And then, after a series of parries and attacks and near-death assaults, James brought back his clawed hand, and with a shout, he simply curled it into a fist and hit Hackett straight in the forehead with such force that it knocked the commodore backward. His back landed on the hard cobblestone, and his breath came out in a whoosh of air... and he lay still.

James held out his fist for several more seconds, hung in mid-air where he had struck Hackett, when he finally lowered his arm and stood panting there for a minute, his brown hair flattened against his head from the rain. Eventually, he went over to Hackett's unconscious form and picked up his fancy rapier. It glinted sadistically at him, shining even though the weather was dark and overcast. James brought his finger up to touch the very end of the blade where it had given him a slice on the arm. His own blood lingered on the steel, droplets of red.

His lip twitched and, with disgust on his face, he let the sword fall to the cobblestone. It let out a loud clang as it hit, wobbling on the pavement and sending rays of light into James' eyes. The young pirate turned away, walking down the alley and turning at the same corner that he had seen the thief girl turn to, his left hand slipping into his coat pocket.

So many men and women on that blade's steel, James thought as he walked, head tilted down and casting his face in shadow. And now my own blood as well. He had originally been planning on stealing the rapier when he had picked it up, but upon seeing the drops of his own blood on its blade, he knew he couldn't risk ever using it. James, like all pirates, was a superstitious man. He believed that if a sword had tasted a man's blood, it would never serve that man. And besides, even if the rapier had never given him that scratch, it had killed much too many people for James to ever use it for himself.

He let his intuition lead him through the alleys, hoping that he would somehow run across the girl again. She owed him a thank you... and he wasn't going to leave this island until he received it. He was a pirate. He liked rewards.





Sign Up: Pokémon
Nickname: Bree.
Breed: Umbreon.
Gender: Female.
Moves: Tackle, Moonlight, Bite, and Sand Attack.
Appearance: Same as any other, although she does have a scar on her left foreleg that must have been a deep gash at one point. Leila does not know what it came from.
Personality: Quiet and isn't very sociable with other pokemon. The only person that she allows to hold and pet her is Leila, and usually shies away from any other person. She is very protective, and sometimes attacks without any order from Leila. ...She's reckless, just like her trainer.
History: Already mentioned. It is unknown how long Leila's father had this pokemon.

Beo began following the rest of the group, however he walked by himself for the time being. He felt around his belt to feel for his pokeballs, it'd be so long since his three partners had been out of there balls but he had explained to them earlier why they couldn't always be outside here.

"Can I trust you to lead the uprising?" Isabel had asked Chris.

It was an interesting thought, since he met the uprising Isabel had been the leader, however Beo also knew how strong Chris was, and how well he led his pokemon in battle.. They'd battled twice before after all... So Beo had no problem with following Chris, he'd make sure to have his back the whole time as well. Beo then noticed Greg and decided to get out of his own head for awhile.

"How ya holding up buddy?" He asked Greg patting him on the shoulder.

(OOC: sorry for the shortness, I'm typing this on my droid phone while at work ha)

(OOC: Wolf, Beo, and anyone else who has ever typed a post on an iPod/phone, I now know your pain. You have my deepest sympathies. Anyways, this is a (partially typed via iPod) joint post from Raikiri and myself.)

It is not very often in life one finds oneself being dragged around by a young girl into unknown territory. Normally, Isaac would be worried, but then again, he was not exactly drugged or anything. And she wasn't an ex-girlfriend. Last time, he had been dragged around by an ex-girlfriend, and... well, let's just say it ended poorly.

Audrey did not exactly answer his question, however. All she did was grab him by the wrist and drag him along. "Hey... Audrey," he began innocently, trying to appease her in a way to prevent any more dragging, "Do you have any idea where Isabel is leading us?"

Audrey slowed from her run but continued to absently pull Isaac along as she turned his question over in her mind. "Well, not really. But she's always got a plan. Probably..." She paused, considering any possible missions, mostly involving sneaking and spies. "We'll be doing something against PXS," she finished brightly. The empty answer didn't feel like it would help much. But Sabey had a plan. Sabey always had a plan.

PXS... everyone always seemed to bring up PXS. From Isaac's point of view, PXS seemed to be just a more successful edition of all the other terrorist organizations that popped up over the years. But their goals and methods were significantly different, and that's probably why Isaac couldn't completely grasp the meaning behind their actions. "What is PXS, by the way? What's their purpose for basically outlawing Pokémon? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"They didn't actually outlaw the Pokémon," Audrey answered cheerfully by way of correction. "The government did that. PXS started up to help them get all the Pokémon out of the region. It stands for Pokémon- Pokémon..." She paused, looking off into the sky for a brief moment, then shrugged. "Pokémon something. Anyway, instead of sending them all away like they said they would, they secretly kept the strong ones, 'cause they were gonna try and take over the whole region or something. After a while, I guess they got sick of being secret, so they- they took over Frosty Gorge." Her hand, which she had forgotten was still around Isaac's wrist, tightened its grip slightly.

The break at the end of Audrey's sentence was a little bit of deju vu. That isn't the first time she's mentioned Frosty Gorge with that tension. Isaac looked at her with a more solemn face. It was clear that Frosty Gorge brought up some bad memories, but he had to ask. He had to. There was no way around it. Not only was curiosity stabbing him with a knife, but it probably was the only way for him to better understand the Uprising and its members as well. Isaac swallowed nervously, unsure of how Audrey was going to react to him forcing the issue. "What... what happened at Frosty Gorge?"

Her fingers abruptly clenched even more firmly about his wrist. Audrey's mind hit a roadblock. She had successfully kept Frosty Gorge out of her mind for a while, but... it would be wrong to just forget them. "There used to be an old Uprising, before this," she said suddenly, her normally upbeat demeanor oddly serious. "Way back when Sabey and I first started. She and our friend David were the leaders.

"There were more of us back then, 'til we got to Sh-Shadow Valley. There- there were bounty hunters waiting there, a- a lot of them. And, well... most of us who weren't- who weren't killed were- captured." Audrey swallowed away the lump in her throat. What was making her say this? It was like she couldn't control her own words. "S-Sabey and Chris were two of the ones who got away, and they started the Uprising again. The rest of us were locked up. We broke out a while later, when PXS started heading north, and stole uniforms so we could pretend to be in PXS. We met up with the new Uprising in the gym in Frosty Gorge, and we were all g-gonna escape together, b-but..." She was shaking. Her throat felt like it was constricting around her strained voice. "P-PXS came, and..." Her eyes closed tightly, causing the tears that had welled up in them to spill over. "...they...this...this is what's left. Everyone else...they...they're all...they're all g-gone!"

What little strength there had been in whatever it was that had held her emotions back vanished as Audrey dissolved into tears. Isaac, for a moment, simply looked at her with his head down, doing his best to understand. He couldn't imagine what was going through her head.

Isaac grabbed the crying girl and embraced her gently, offering a shoulder to cry on. He paused to gather some words in attempt to offer support. "I promise you... I'll make them pay for what they've done. It's the least I can do." Isaac tried his best to sound like a hero. In hindsight, it probably sounded better in his head, but he hoped it had helped.

Unable to hold back the sobs, Audrey buried her face in Isaac's shoulder, not realizing that, while she had returned the circulation to his wrist, she was now thoroughly dampening his jacket. She had hardly even mourned for them before. Instead, she'd been so busy trying to push the memories away, and now she couldn't help but feel horrible for trying not think about them and their names and faces were tearing through her head and then there was Sabey, too, and she had changed so much....

It took a minute for her exploded emotions to rein themselves in again. Finally, she raised her head, sniffling, and rubbed a hand across her eyes to wipe away the tears. "Th- Thanks, Isaac. I- I'm sorry."

"It's all right." The words were calm and reassuring in their own way. "Now smile like you normally do before I start crying," he ordered in joking fashion. Isaac couldn't stand the sight of anyone's tears unless they were shed in happiness. "The next time I want to your cute little face cry is when we win, okay?" Isaac tugged on her cheeks like she was small child, teasing her like a big brother would do to a little sister. He did all this with a slight smile on his face. It was all a cover up for him. Inside, he was angry at PXS. For their crimes. For murdering good people. For the pain they caused. Any doubt in his mind in what he was doing was erased. He had found a cause he believed in. Now he just had to act.

Isaac's big-brother-knight-in-shining-armor attitude worked. Audrey's sniffles gave way to giggles until she was laughing outright. "Okay!" she answered, her determination marked with her characteristic grin. By now, the main group was a good distance ahead of them. "Ooh, we should probably catch u- oh, hi Sheila!" she interrupted herself cheerfully as the girl in question skidded to a breathless halt next to them. "Where have you been?"

Greg was met with a sudden pat on his left shoulder,

"How ya holding up buddy?" the unmistakable voice of Beo asked.

"Fine, fine..." Greg replied, neither lying, nor telling the complete truth. There was much going through his head, but in terms of the actual moment, he supposed he couldn't complain.

The two walked by Audrey and Isaac (who's name Greg remembered now), just on time to hear a segment of their conversation.

"They took over Frosty Gorge."

Greg could feel his face stiffen with resent towards the enemy. Beo already knew about his main motives, so there was no point in spilling his feelings out,

"Just... just itching to take the fight back to them."

[OOC: Short post is short. But you already knew that, right? :3]

Leila's backpack had never been so full. Knowing that the government would either confiscate all of the merchandise of her father's store, or they would simply demolish it once the bills were no longer being paid, Leila had snatched up as much supplies as would fit in her red and white backpack. She knew that it was technically labelled as stealing, but she also knew that where she was planning on going would be equally as illegal. And if that wasn't already a high risk, she had something even more forbidden residing in the side pocket that frequently brushed her left elbow as though it was attempting to comfort her...

A Pokémon. She didn't even know what kind it was, but she could almost feel it goading her on as she pedaled her bicycle furiously, narrowly missing a crash-impact with a passerby as she tore through Chipper City.

"Sorry!" she called out, her conscience forcing her to. But no sooner had the near-victim raised a fist in frustration when Leila disappeared around a corner out of sight. She just kept pushing the bike forward, not knowing where she was going. I don't even know where the Uprising will be, she thought to herself as she rode, feeling her eyes sting. She didn't know if it was because of the wind on her face, or the loss that she now felt in her gut like an empty chasm of space that would never be filled. Soon, she was riding through the dark confines of trees between Chipper City and the next town, the path worn smooth after many feet and other bicycle tires. But apparently, the smooth dirt didn't last as long as Leila would have guessed.

A stray rock seemed to have popped into existence, too late for Leila to avoid it. Her eyes widened in the last second of her surprise, the front tire of her bike making impact, coming to an abrupt halt and sending its back end, as well as Leila, up and over in a dramatic flip like a bucking horse. Leila let out a scream, choked off at the end as she fell hard into the dirt of the path, the bike now collapsed on top of her in a mangled heap.

(OOC: The Katsu region... No idea what cities or towns there are in it, as I know it's not in any of the games. So is it okay if I just sort of invent one or take one from a different region as the town where Leila's store was? And second question, you guys are all in the forest somewhere, right? -cocks head- 'Cause in that case, maybe Leila's lovely scream of helplessness shall bring some attention to herself... :P)

Isabel looked at Paul and their eyes met for a moment, she seemed to be analysing him, he wondered what she was thinking but he just couldn't work it out. There was a rustling and a loud thud, on edge Paul turned to the source of the sound, a crumpled mess lay on the floor in front of him, he guessed that it was Chris, under was that a Munchlax. How on earth did a Munchlax manage to fall out of the sky and land on someone, never mind that how did no one notice it sneaking up on them was it some kind of ninja Munchlax. The falling Munchlax seemed to make Isabel snap, she moved to a guy nearby, someone Paul though that he had met before. Then she slapped him and began to shout.



"You worthless idiot! Put away your Pokemon. This isn't a game. If you do something stupid like this again, it could ruin everything!" she turned and began to walk away, Paul looked at the guy's face his cheek had began to swell and that reminded Paul who he was. The kid that ate the berries and his face swelled up... Charlie, that was it.


"Were heading out." Isabel shouted, Paul didn't need telling twice he readied himself to follow where ever Isabel led. Around him people began to chatter but Paul wasn't in a social mood right now. Instead he thought about his home, as they were heading north it is possible that he may be able to visit it on the journey, though he was not sure that he wanted to go back as he was worried about what he would find. They walked for quite a while and Paul just kind of went into a little world of his own thinking about his home life. A near by yell forced Paul back to the real world, it came from somewhere in the woods nearby and though Paul wasn't exactly sure where it had come form he did have enough of an idea to start running in the right direction. If you asked Paul why he had starting running towards the scream he would probably reply that he had wanted to help but that wasn't exactly true he had no idea why he chose to start running but it was likely fuelled by the hope that he would find a PXS member to attack. As he ran his hand went for a pocket knife hidden in the pocket of his combats but he didn't draw it, it wasn't much of a weapon but it was all that he had. Paul was a little unsure if any of the others were following him but hi didn't look back to check. After a minute or so Paul emerged on another path. There lay a young woman, with dark black hair she was a few years older than Paul and she was struggling to lift up a bike.


"Do you need some help there?" Paul asked, as he moved closer he let the knife drop deeper into his pocket, so he could help.

Leila, having pushed the bike off of her, had now been hoisting herself back to her feet with a huff of breath when a voice made her jump. She spun around on her heel, her other foot accidentally making impact with one of the bike's handlebars.

"Ow!" she yelped, her face scrunched in a grimace of pain, teetering on one leg for a second while she tried to keep her throbbing foot from touching the ground. "Oh jeez..." She looked up apologetically at the boy who had shown up as if out of nowhere, trying to give him a little smile through her embarrassment. "Um, I... yes, I look as though I do need help, don't I?" She gave a nervous chuckle, shaking her head as she returned to standing on both of her feet now, the pain now subsiding.

Heaving a sigh, she bent down and picked up the bike, placing it upright next to her. However, it looked completely demented. The front tire had a horrible bend in its steel frame as a result of the rock's impact. "Oh..." Leila murmured, her face darkening with discouragement. Knowing that it was useless to her now, she looked at the boy who had kindly offered to help her, and who had somehow shown up... out of the woods.

"I think I'll be... fine," Leila said with a bit of uncertainty. After a pause, in which she peered over the young man's shoulder at the trees behind him, she asked, "Where did you come from, exactly? You weren't on the road before, were you?"

The girl seemed a little clumsy to say the least, as she accidentally kicked the bike as she turned to face Paul. The biked looked completely wrecked but she hadn't noticed yet.


Ow!" she yelled in pain and danced about on one foot in pain."Oh jeez..." Once she had recovered she turned back to Paul, she seemed a little embarrassed and smiled weakly. "Um, I... yes, I look as though I do need help, don't I?" She chuckled slightly and shook her head and began to pick up her bike.


"Well that's OK, I just heard your shout and came too see if you needed help." Paul said as he looked over the bike, it was most definitely in no condition to go anywhere quickly, the young woman lifted it back upright.


"Oh..." She said looking at the bike herself, the dismay showed it's self in her face. "I think I'll be... fine," Her words were uncertain Paul thought that she was just a bit shook up by the bike crash, she paused for a second, and then she dropped a bomb on the conversation, glancing over Paul's shoulder she asked "Where did you come from, exactly? You weren't on the road before, were you?"


That was bad, she had noticed that Paul had suddenly come running out of the woods and that put him on the spot. He would need to invent a convincing lie and quickly. "Well, I was hiking, I'm on a camping trip with some friends and..." he began "...we got a little lost. When I heard you shout I though that you were in trouble and ran to see if you needed help." He hoped that it would be enough to convince her. "I need to be off now, I kind of left my friends very suddenly and they will be worried about where I have gone."


(OOC: We need to find a way to get you into the Uprising but Paul wouldn't just ask you to join as he doesn't know you and you don't know he is with the Uprising so were in a bit of a pickle:P. If you have an idea just go with it but my best idea at the moment is that one of us accidentally reveals one of their Pokeballs for a second and the other spots it. Well anyway it is up to you how one of us finds out.)

{OOC: Sounds good to me. I like the Pokeball idea -- it seems the only obvious way to get her in.}

Leila listened to his response, finding it easy to believe him. After all, there was a campground near here, and maybe there was a hiking trail near it that he had been using. She gave a nod of understanding, although dampened by her disappointment of her ruined bike. She sighed, adjusting her hoodie a little, when she realized something... her backpack. It wasn't on her shoulders.

She took a sharp intake of breath, suddenly turning on the spot to look at the ground around the area where she had fallen. There it was! It was lying on its front, and one of its pockets was open, and there was...

Oh no, Leila thought with dread, seeing the lovely little white and red pokeball lying immobile on the ground next to the open pocket of the backpack. She rushed to it, quickly snatching it up and stuffing it back into the side pocket of the backpack, and then glancing at the boy uncertainly, praying that he hadn't noticed it. She didn't know what to say, and the silence made her even more nervous.

"Fine, fine" Greg replied to his question, however Beo could tell that that was exactly the complete truth, but he wasn't about to be presistent.

"They took frosty gorge" Beo over heard from Issac as the two of them walked by...

"Frosty Gorge.. damn them" Beo thought to himself, up until he met the uprising he had made Frosty Gorge his home. He sometimes still found himself wondering if he's house was still there, but now with Frosty Gorge taken it probably was destroyed.

"Just... just itching to take the fight back to them" Greg said as Beo knew exactly how he felt.

"Don't worry man, we will.. were going to free this land" At least he hoped they could, there were so few members of the uprising, and so many of them. It was an overwhelming thought.

"So if your hungry I've got a granola bar from back at the last city, I'm not to sure if its old or not though haha" he said to Greg trying to change the mood to a lighter tone.

(OOC: I love typing posts on my droid.... not :P)

(OOC: Uprising post: take 3, Computer 2. Action!)

"You will be leading the group to a PXS base about two hours north of here," Is announced, Chris walking alongside her, gazing at the road ahead as he listened. "Meanwhile, Charlie and I will be located at a home of a major contributor to the organization. Charlie has connections in PXS, which will make accessing this man much easier. He's the one responsible for relaying most of the information to bases farther north, so taking him out means that we can slow the speed with which the remaining forces hear about what we are doing."

Chris let out a yawn as Isabel continued on, not even bothering to cover his mouth, before gazing at Is.

"This is crucial, as there is another undercover base a short distance away from where you will be and we need to make sure that they don't send reinforcements before the task is accomplished."

Their eyes locked for a moment, sharing with them the intensity of a thousand battles, of a thousand fights, of a thousand words, before Chris looked away.

"This base contains a stash of weapons as well as a Pokemon who could seriously hinder our efforts in freeing the region if it remains in PXS's hands." Chris interest suddenly spiked. A Pokemon, as in one? What Pokemon could be that strong. It couldn't be a legendary, could it? With a sigh, Chris back at Isabel, he was reading too much into this. It was probably just a Castform or Metagross or something.

"You are to open this envelope at exactly noon regardless of where you are in your mission. It will tell you what it is you need to do in order to destroy the base once you either succeed or fail to secure it. While it is preferable that we get these resources for ourselves, it's most important that they do not have it. You need to follow the remaining instructions in order to know where to meet up with me next, assuming I don't message you if the plan changes."

"Any questions?" she asked, though her expression clearly conveyed that she had little patience for those.

A slight smile emerged on Chris's face as he swiftly snatched the envelope from Is's hand. "Of course not." He grinned, briefly holding the envelope up before sliding in into his pack, next to his Pokemon.

"Just try not to have too much fun without me."

Sheila glanced up at Audrey, realizing who all she was nearby and what was going on now that she was done running like a lunatic.
She took a deep breath, then brushed off the arms of her coat.

"Hi-- Audrey, wasn't it?" Sheila asked. She smiled in a sunny, friendly sort of way to greet her, though when answering Audrey's question her face wasn't so cheerful.
"I got stuck behind a huge line of people at one of the stores," Sheila mumbled. "It was ridiculous. All I had was some beef jerky and water, and everyone else had a cartload of junk. I think the cashier might have been in training, too."
She sighed. Looking at Audrey's face, she noticed a bit of redness to it, as if the girl had been crying.
She decided not to ask.

"Have I missed any of the fun?" Sheila asked, jokingly, to bring a light hearted mood to the conversation.

(OOC: Fail post... Socially awkward emo people for the win x3)

Isabel looked over at Chris and found that she couldn't help but smile. She shook her head and turned her gaze north, though she couldn't see very far through the trees that lined their winding path. Her destination was probably about an hour and a half's walk from here, though that was assuming that Charlie would have the stamina to keep up with her. If things went as they should, Isabel would complete her task in time to meet back up with the group at about 11:30. If not… Well, she trusted Chris' judgment.

"Oh!" Isabel said, suddenly remembering something. "And make sure that everyone is properly armed. If there's anyone who you think will have a hard time with what they have, let them use Eve. She'll know what to do and doesn't need to have instruction from a trainer."

She handed Chris the PokeBall containing her Eevee. Isabel wasn't actually sure how much help she would be to one of the members, but the Pokemon would be safer with them regardless.

"And remember," she said in a firm voice, meeting his eyes sharply. "Open this at twelve and only at twelve."

Isabel turned her head back and picked out Charlie, who was still moping from her actions toward him earlier, from the group.

"Charlie," she yelled back at him, obviously impatient. "It's time to move out!"

Isabel returned her attention to Chris.

"Good luck. I… believe in you. Er, your judgment," she said, words tumbling out of her mouth as if of their own will.

She frowned. Concentrate… Keep your head and this will all be over soon enough.