Pokémon III

[Legend]

"F...o...r...g...i...v...e...y...o...u...r...f...r ...i...e...n...d"

Those were the words that ended waking Malic up from his dream. The words were peculiar at best. "Forgive who? Forgive What?" was the only thing Malic could get out the damn dream. Malic arose to a sitting position. He had noticed the grass was a very deep green and glanced at the shining lake in front of him. The partly sunny skies caused the lake to shimmer and Malic, a man who isn't normally stunned by nature, was in trance. "Wow, maybe Sinnoh isn't that bad. Except for the part where I get lost."

Then Malic realized something. How did I get here? Last thing I remember was falling asleep during the foxgirl's song. Malic attempted to remember anything he could. I do remember hearing some noises, like there was a fight of some sort. After some deep not painful thought, he established a theory that he was in fact kidnapped by voodoo wizards. Malic rose to his feet and dramatically walked forward. "You wizards! I wil..Aaaah!" Malic fell to the ground, performing a face-plant on the way. "That didn't go according to plan." He turned to see his belongings were the thing he fell over. Everything was there: his pokeballs, his bag and his sweaty towel which still smelled like crap. Malic took a quick moment to change his clothes, since his other clothes were dirty and sweaty. He donned a pair of new stonewashed jeans, a black shirt with a dark blue casual shirt over it, and the same old muddy sneakers only this time he washed them in the serene waters of Lake Verity. "Much better. I wonder if anyone will notice." He chuckled.

Upon leaving the lake, he noticed a corpse of a young child. Malic rushed over and turned the body over. "No way. Bobby?" He checked the body to see if Bobby was breathing and Malic was able to confirm the fact he wasn't so dead. A sigh of relief overcame Malic, only problem was waking up the teenager. Why couldn't one of the girls be here? Even the strange foxgirl would be an upgrade. Oh well, better than no one. "If he is anything like me, this won't be easy." Malic first surveyed the area for any real supplies and by supplies he ment tools to smack Bobby with in order to wake the kid. Malic tried poking him in the face with sticks and that didn't work; hitting him in the head with pebbles and that failed miserably. Wait a minute. Lake + Milotic= Idea! Malic called up his Charizard and Milotic. Whispering in their ears, Malic devised a grand scheme. Mounting Charizard, he rose into the air. While up there, calm winds brushed against his face. Milotic dove into the beautiful lake and began swimming around, building energy to be released. "NOW!" Malic hollered and the calm Milotic obeyed, unleashing a massive surf as if a hurricane had been in the area to shore that Bobby chose to rest on.

Malic came to the shore to greet the now awake Bobby. He had to wait a few moments in order for Bobby to clear his body of any unwanted water through the painful process of choking. "Sorry kid, but you were way past out. Come on, gather your stuff and we are going to head to the nearest city. Maybe the rest of the group is there." Bobby listened but only because Malic assumed command, he was clearly angry at the fact Malic used something as powerful as a surf to actually wake someone up.

The dynamic duo entered Sandgem Town. "Lovely. Another place with nothing in it." Malic was more or less right. With the exception of a Pokemon Center, a shop and a few houses, the town was bare and empty. "Alright, lets start at the Center and see what we can find out." Malic delivered the statement with a commanding tone as if Bobby was a pokemon while pointing at their goal.

Where the hell is everyone? Surely they can't be here.

OOC: Phew, first long post. Off to school, don't get too far ahead.

 

[LaurenLOVESTONED]

"F...o...r...g...i...v...e...y...o...u...r...f...r ...i...e...n...d"

The words still rang in her ears when Charlie stirred, warm sunlight was streaming through the window. She looked around and saw that Jay was sitting across from her, his face anxious, Vulpix in his lap.
There were two things wrong about this image, the worry in Jay's face and Vulpix's position.

"Wha-What's going on?" Charlie murmured, a great pain seering through her ribs. She cried out in pain, and Jay immediately leapt to his feet. Vulpix didn't seem bothered by being knocked to the ground, her only concern was her trainer's pain.

"You hurt yourself, when we arrived at the lake. The doctor said you'd br-bruised your ribs," Jay explained, his voice anxious. Charlie took in the information whilst Jay looked over her, Vulpix jumped onto the bed and licked her trainers hands. One word struck a nerve in Charlie's mind.

"Lake?" she asked, trying to look out the window without experiencing too much pain.

"Lake Valour, we're in the Resorts medical clinic. You were pretty lucky it was so close," he told her, his voice implying that he felt pretty lucky it was close too.

"How did we get here?" Charlie demanded, her voice panicky. Where was Arlene? and the others?

"I don't know," Jay replied, his face so open and honest she believed him.

"But where are the others?" Charlie asked softly, her voice growing weaker.

"I don't know," Jay repeated, his face somber. Charlie choked back a sob, it wasn't fair or just. She'd just lost the first person she'd been close to since Art, she first female she'd been close to since her mother. It wasn't just Arlene she was sad for, she was worried about the others too. But mostly, she was worried about Russel. Worried about him dying she added in her mind.

She couldn't help it, Charlie looked up at Jay and began to cry. But not the angry, hot tears she'd cried yesterday; but sad, lonely tears. Vulpix cuddled up next to her, trying to comfort her and Jay looked back at her, not knowing what to do.

 

[Stantler]

Jay stood there and watched Charlie cry, he then tried to comfort her but she wouldn't hear it. He lowered his head behind his scarf and closed his eyes in pain, he hated himself because there was nothing he can do. He put his hands in his pockets and turned away, he looked back, glanced at her jacket and then left the room. However, her cries continued to haunt him. Jay then lifted up his head and clutched a fist,

"Trainers only fight, right? Yet her Vulpix still loves her even after that battle. Would my pokemon feel the same for me? Even if I use them for battles?" Jay asked himself this and he came to a conclusion of his thoughts as the image of Charlie's jacket still lingered in his mind.

Jay left the resort, now that is was day, there were many people around the resort. All of them were in some sort of swim wear, Jay however still wore his casual attire with his winter accessories making him stick out like a sore thumb. As he passed by, guys looked at him as if he were a freak and girls stared at him and simply laughed, and when ever he gave a glance back they run off laughing away. It was Snowpoint all over again except this time it's warmer outside. The once empty beach from last night is now packed and full of people swimming with some lifeguards with their water-type pokemon on the look out.

Route 222 is pretty short, or maybe long, it's hard to tell since its such a gorgeous route with a cool sea breeze, a warm sun and a beautiful sight of the ocean that anyone would enjoy the view and take no notice of the actual trip itself. Soon enough, Jay made it to Sunnyshore City.

***

The city itself seemed to be on a peninsula, one side facing the entire ocean while the other faced the southern point of the Sinnoh mountain range. The city is one giant port with boats from all over coming in and out and selling various goods that one could never find anywhere else in Sinnoh, but Jay isn't here for that, nevertheless, the city is still an amazing sight to behold. The very ground illuminated as everything was solar-powered. Jay made his way through the crowds of people and journeyed across town. There were many sights to behold, Pokemon Rock as well as Vista Lighthouse. Neon signs and electric machines littered the streets and building adding to the already dazzling city. Soon enough, a large building could be seen,

"SUNNYSHORE CITY POKEMON GYM"​

That's what the sign above the doors read as Jay entered. The gym is rather large yet empty and all the machines that looked like were once active were now dead and collected dust. Usually there are many trainers in a gym, yet this one held none. For such a spectacular city, it's gym did not match. All the way on the other side, one could see a tall man with blond hair that was stylized and spikey, he was dressed like any average young man yet his blue jacket is what struck out the most. However, he didn't look like he was awaiting a challenge, in fact he looked like he was about to leave as he had luggage and just got up from bagging some camping equipment. He stood up and turned to see Jay walking up to him,

"Huh? Oh, are you a trainer? Hmm, listen kid, this place is dead and I'm disowning the Gym. I haven't had any real challengers in a very long time and I'm not going to have my chances of entering the Elite Four slip away again." The young man said.

Jay stood there, he seemed nervous at first, yet he thought back to what happened in the hospital, "Come with me." Jay simply said.

"What? Come? With you? Where? Listen kid, the only place I'm going to is The Pokemon League. So unless you have a ferry waiting to take me there I'm not going anywhere with you." The young man replied to Jay's absurd question.

"....If I defeat you in battle, will you come with me?" Jay asked, "What? Are you deaf kid? I DISOWNED the Gym, no more badges!" Jay shook his head, "I-I don't care about the stupid badges, I'll beat all your Pokemon if I must... I'm not leaving here without you." Jay spoke back at what appears to be the Ex-Gym leader.

"Hmph, you talk big. So you're not here for a badge huh? Just for a battle? Ha! You're one crazy kid. But I'll tell you what. I'll battle you using ONE Pokemon! If you can defeat Luxray here then I'll do whatever you want. Hahaha, I'll even make you dinner, what you say?" The former gym leader laughed,

"Fine, whatever, just get ready to lose." Jay told him, he seemed serious. Jay hasn't felt this way in years, in fact he wasn't sure if he ever felt this way and was surprised at himself for acting this way but he just couldn't take her crying anymore and felt like this was all his fault.

"Haha, I Volkner, leader of the Sunnyshore City Gym accept your challenge!" Volkner declared, "Luxray, GO!" Volkner shouted as he threw a Pokeball. A vicious lion-like Pokemon emerged from the pokeball's lasers, "RAY!" Luxray roared.

***

Jay placed his hand over his hat and dragged it down further his face and made a smirk, "Hmph, I guess I have no other choice..." He said to himself and unclipped a pokeball from his belt. He held it in his hand for a while and then tossed it over revealing a Glaceon,

"Eoooo!" Glaceon chanted.

The two pokemon stared at each other and circled the room not leaving one eye off each other. Hisses and growls could be heard and Glaceon's fur started to point up like needles. The atmosphere became tense and electrifying.

"Luxray, get her with a Thunder Fang!" Volkner said, "Glaceon, confuse him! Whip up Hail!" Jay told Glaceon. The Glaceon stood tall and growled, the moisture in the air became cold and soon froze creating a mini-hail storm in the gym itself. Luxray became overwhelmed by the attack and missed Glaceon completely.

"Impressive, so you think you can hide in your little hail storm huh? Luxray, Thunder Wave!" Volkner took action. Impulses came forth from the Luxray and shocked the floor with waves of electricity, Glaceon could be seen flying out of her hail storm landing on her side with steam rising from her fur, the storm ended.

"It's not often trainers come to challenge me, this is why." Volkner told Jay, however, Jay was occupied with Glaceon, "GLACEON!" Jay yelled. he was about to run over but the Ice-Type Pokemon rose back up on her small fox feet. "How interesting, Luxray hit Glaceon again with a Crunch!" Luxray roared and charged forth towards the barely standing Glaceon, " Glaceon Double-team!" Jay shouted. Glaceon began to move fast and circled the Luxray creating copies of herself. Luxray missed and tried again, yet he only seemed to hit after-images, growing frustrated, Luxray began to use Crunch on every image he saw.

"Glaceon, good! Now Ice-Fang!" Suddenly the after-images faded as a Glaceon moved forward and bit into the Luxray's flesh with fangs covered in ice. Soon enough, crystals began to form and Luxray's fur was covered in ice, he then froze in place. Glaceon hopped off him and landed in front of Jay.

"Luxray? Luxray! Shake it off!" Volkner shouted out.

The now frozen Luxray just stood there in place when suddenly he began to rock back and forth. Cracks in the ice could be seen and in an instant he burst out of his frozen state. "LUXRAY!" Luxray roared, however he seemed dazed and tried to collect himself to what just happened.

"Luxray! Pull yourself together!" Volkner told his Pokemon. Luxray shook his head and faced the Glaceon, "Good, now Charge Beam attack now!" Luxray opened his mouth and particles began to form and then waves of electricity could be seen collecting around his body. "This is not good, Glaceon, Mirror Coat!" However the command was too late as a beam of electricity shot out on a direct hit towards the Glaceon, the beam moved in faster than light speed. However when hit, Glaceon was covered in a yellow glow and suddenly the beam bounced off her and headed right back towards the Luxray, an explosion could be seen, followed by static of the electricity flowing through the room, the machines around the room began to turn on and gears started to revolve. Glaceon could be seen covered in smooth ice, so light and clear that she almost looked like water. However, the Luxray still stood in place.

"Luxray? Luxray! Use another one!" Volkner shouted. However, Luxray just stood there and suddenly he fell down to the ground on his side with his feet still in position of standing and his expression frozen on his face. He is completely paralyzed and completely out of commission.

"What-the......hehehe. Hahahah!" Volkner began to laugh he started to crack up,"...That was the most fun I've had in a battle since...I don't know when! It's also made me excited to know you and your team will keep battling to greater heights! This is your eighth badge. You've earned this - oh wait, I don't do that anymore do I? Hahahaha!"

Volkner returned Luxray yet he still seemed to be laughing, it looks like he had a lot of fun in the battle. After he calmed down he approached Jay, "Okay so exactly what is this all about?" He asked. Jay explained the situation to the Ex- Gym Leader. "Hey, why didn't you say so earlier? I would of been more than happy to see your friend!" this was followed by Jay slapping himself in the face and sighing.

***

It was mid-noon, Jay made it back to the resort. It seems visiting hours are still on way. Jay saw Charlie with her Vulpix staring off in window. "I'm sorry that I left you alone." Jay told her, however there was no response. "But I brought someone who wants to see you." With that, Jay turned and walked out of the room as Volkner placed a hand on Jay's shoulder and entered the room Charlie was in, Jay figured it would be best to leave them be and went back outside to enjoy a nice cool breeze...

 

[LaurenLOVESTONED]

Jay had left Charlie in the morning, but assured her he would be back later that day. Charlie was indifferent towards this, she was feeling moody and down and she had Vulpix. But as soon as he had left the room she missed his presence, what she really needed was someone to talk to. She wanted to reach for her phone and let her dad know she'd received the package, but how would she explain her current location, how would she explain her broken ribs?

Charlie missed Arlene and now she missed Jay, they were the only two people in their group she was closed to. The panic in Jay's eyes last night showed how much he cared for her, and she was touched by it. The anger she had about the Salamence and his inability to battle seeped away. She forgave him.

And that brought her thoughts to the dream, but for some reason this dream didn't disturb her so much as the first one. It wasn't absurd or confusing, it made sense and she wondered which friend her subconscious wanter her to forgive. Sure, she'd been upset with Jay but she wasn't that upset with him. Charlie vaguely wondered who this friend could be, and also thought about Arlene, and the others in the group, whilst she played with Vulpix on her bed.

Around lunchtime they bought food in for her, but not hospital food, because it wasn't a hospital per se, so she was given a delicious meal from the restaurant. Charlie decided to discuss some form of payment for their services with the receptionist when she delivered the meal, but she would not hear of it.

The day wore on and she wondered where Jay was, she stared out the window hoping to see him, whilst stroking Vulpix's lush brown fur. Jay entered, and told her he had bought someone to see her, he slowly turned to look, trying to cause herself as little pain as possible. Jay had gone, but someone else was in the doorway.

She could've fainted, it was her hero, Volkner, in all his blonde, gorgeous glory, standing, looking at her. If she hadn't of been in an immense amount of pain she would've squealed, and if she hadn't of been a sixteen year old girl she would've fainted. Instead Charlie looked at him, taking in every detail, when she reached his face she realised he was doing the same to her, making her blush deeply.

"Hello," Volkner smiled, still staring at Charlie's pretty face.

"Hi," she said softly, still blushing "It's an honour to meet you"

"And I could say the same to you," Volkner told her "Jay informed me of your battle against a Salamence and your only two Pokemon were a Vulpix and a Drifloon."

"Yeah, but they were amazing," Charlie breathed, defending her beloved Pokemon. Still in awe that Volkner was in her room. He crossed over the room and sat down on the chair beside the bed, still looking at her face. When Jay had bought him here he'd been expecting something different, he wasn't sure what, but something very different to Charlie. But she was beautiful.

They chatted for a while, about his gym and its popularity decline and now his desire to challenge the Elite Four. And Charlie told him about Vulpix and Drifloon and Arlene, and growing up in Snowpoint City. At one stage, Volkner reached forward and took Charlie's hand in his. He was smitten, and so was she.

"You know, I'll probably have to leave here soon. I'm sort of wrapped up in this journey, and I need to find my friend," Charlie stated, it was dark and Volkner was still holding her hand.

"Will you come back to Sunnyshore?" He asked bluntly, and Charlie blushed at the thought of this.

"Of course, but I really want you to still go on to the Elite Four. It's what you need to do, you need to learn to love battling again," Charlie told him, looking into his beautiful blue eyes. Volkner nodded and then leant over and kissed Charlie, very softly on her lips. She kissed him back, trembling with excitement and love. It was hard to explain, for both of them, they'd only just met four hours ago but here they were, kissing. Sure, Charlie had had a crush on Volkner for as long as she could remember, but she'd never felt this strongly about anyone.

Charlie pulled away and whispered, "I need you to enjoy battling again, because you inspired me to become a trainer. You will always inspire me." Volkner kissed her again, softly stroking her golden hair.

"I have to go, my ferry will leave at midnight tonight, and I'll need at least three hours to get there on time," he told her, sadly. They exchanged each other's numbers in their phones, at his insistence and then he kissed her again.

"I'd like you to have a few things before I go," Volkner said kindly. He handed her a Pokeball "It contains a Lapras, I caught her a few weeks ago. She's the kindest soul you will ever meet, I want you to have her" Charlie nodded, too grateful to speak. He then reached into his pocket and handed her two gym badges "Give one to Jay, because he truly earned it in that battle. And keep the other for yourself, as you've won more than just a battle, you've won me," It was cheesy, but still sweet. Charlie blushed and took the badges "And finally, take this," Volkner said, removing his jacket and placing it on the bed. "I know you already have one," he teased, "but this is the real deal."

"But won't you get cold?" Charlie asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Relax, I have a million of these in my closet," he told her and they both laughed. He looked at his watch and said sadly "I really have to go."

"I understand," she murmured and he kissed her again, longer than the first two kisses and full of more passion.

"I'll miss you. Goodbye Charlie," Volkner whispered upon breaking the kiss.

"And I'll miss you. Goodbye Volkner," Charlie replied. And with that, he turned on his heel and was gone. Vulpix ran to her chest and Charlie cuddled her. She started to cry, but not out of sadness, she was simply too full of emotion, she had to get rid of it some way. She was so happy and full of love for Volkner and full of gratitude for Jay and full of worry for Arlene, Russel and the others. She just cried and cried, until Jay returned, later that night.

 

[Zimvee]

The little boy ran down the cave floor, running from the on coming Steelix. The Steelix used a Rock Slide to trap the boy and the Steelix beared down upon him when suddenly, a dark figure appeared in front of him.

Just as the figure was about to reveal his face a weak voice broke into the dream and said "F...o...r...g...i...v...e...y...o...u...r...f ...r ...i...e...n...d" "What?" Bobby asked.

Suddenly a flood of water hit Bobby and snapped him awake. "What the...?!" He saw a Milotic finishing getting him wet. "Say... You look like..." Bobby looked up and saw Malic riding his Charizard to the ground. "You jer...!" Bobby started to say, but went into a coffing fit as his body purged him of the water. "...Jerk..." Bobby finished weakly.

Malic was wondering if the others were here, but Bobby was too mad to take anything in. His head hurt on the side, and he had bumps on the top like he had been hit with rocks. "Was it really necessary to use Surf?" Bobby muttered.

Soon they left the lake and wandered into Sandgem Town. Malic said something about being in nothing town, but Bobby was worried about the others. 'If I recall I saw two headed north and two headed south east...' Bobby thought worried about the others. Malic told Bobby to come to the Pokemon Center like he was giving an order to a Pokemon. 'Well better him than me as leader! God knows what I would do...'

 

[Legend]

"Wait!" He paused and shifted to face the young Bobby. "You know where they went!?!" The question was more than a question. Anger rose in Malic's eyes and a color change was close to happening. The normally icy blue eyes turned to fire red (ooc: haha fire-red. Get it?) "Screw the Center!" He rushed for Bobby's head and the child jolted back but it was too late. Malic was almost angry at Bobby as he grabbed him by the collar and shaking the child violently, but regained his cool demeanor and immediately apologized for his impulsive behavior. "Alright then, directions are an improvement, but where exactly are they? Do you know that too? I refuse to wander aimlessly here in Sinnoh."

Malic pulled out the map from his bag while Bobby took time to think and dry off from the water that was still present from the tidal wave. Water was dripping from all ends of Bobby's clothes. Heh heh. He's soaked. Malic didn't see much on the map, but looked both east and north. The map was old and weathered, full of holes and wrinkles as if someone poured hot coffee all over it and started stabbing it with a knife after it dried. He even shocked himself considering he could understand and read the map but not the hieroglyphics from earlier.

This old map has its uses. He thought. Upon close investigation, Malic noticed two lakes, much like the one Bobby and himself were. The lakes appeared to be similar in size and shape named Lake Valor and Lake Acuity. One in the far north and the east. Interesting. Maybe the group was spilt and teleported somehow. Probably due to voodoo wizards! Malic stood dramatically with a fist raised high at his discovery only to see Bobby stare at him with a sweat-drop. "Oh that looked alot cooler in my head." Malic went back to studying his map, attempting to establish other theories. Other than the lakes, there is nothing to tie the group together based on our teleportation. That's the only pattern I can see. Damn, I wish I was smarter.

 

[Darkhaven3]

Arlene had quickly fallen asleep only moments later. Her fatigue was immense and her mind was heavy with so many different thoughts at once... Where had all of the rest of the group gone? Was there some connection between all of them and some higher force involved?

Maybe she was tired, or maybe it was the pain speaking - she and it were best buddies at times - but in her sleep, something had invaded her mind. She could feel angry, invisible tentacles borne of shadows and dust probing her dreams, stabbing harshly through her solitary wonderland and spreading it's darkness like wildfire. The black flames licked away all of the surreal imagery, leaving behind a barren wasteland devoid of all life and peaked by unforgiving mountains. Their dagger-shaped surfaces shot out of the ground and flowered outward, forming a clearing where she stood in her mind, and the sky bled away, revealing a ceiling made of sharp crystal. Trees sprung from the cold landscape, already lifeless and jagged, and seemed to arch into a gateway; in the distance, helped by the concentrated light from the refracting crystal sheet above her, she gazed upon a single entrance into the darkness of the unknown, deep within the mountains before her, where one singular blood-red eye peered back at her.

"F...o...r...g...i...v...e...y...o...u...r...f...r...i...e...n...d..."

The eye - where it's mouth was escaped Arlene entirely - spoke in broken, rough prose, difficult for the vixen to register in her illucid state. When it finally came to her what the eye was trying to tell her, it was far too late. The beholding scene faded away into darkness, and a blaring, unyielding flame melted away the dreams, taking with it Arlene's revalation that could reveal the mystery behind the strange, vivid dreams.

The vixen woke early in the morning, at about five AM she guessed. It was still dark out; perfect. She looked over to Jake, who appeared to be awake. It was time to get moving, and she would need to get herself into a mobile state. "Hey, Jake, isn't it?" she called, not moving just yet. She was full of pain still, hardly able to inch any part of her body in any direction without some kind of hurt attacking her.

"Yes. What is it?" he asked, acknowledging her calm voice. At that, Arlene poked at her ribcage a bit, searching for the injury... Just a mild touch was enough to spike pain through her nerves. It was near her breasts, just under, and to the right. Shrugging it off, she took into account that it was likely nobody in the group found her attractive enough to gawk at what she was about to do. And it's not like she would care much anyway. Shrugging it off mentally, she spoke again. "I need your help."

With that, very carefully, she peeled off her tanktop - carefully enough not to hurt herself - leaving her upper body entirely bare. It was noted that where her ribs were bruised was not entirely apparent at first, but careful concentration revealed the blue and greenish coloration of her skin beneath her soft fur. "I can't reach my back without hurting. Can you wrap a roll of bandages around my ribs, right under my chest?"

 

[Stantler]

Jay waited for awhile and started to walk around and began to daydream as he took in the cool ocean breeze. He thought about Jake and the what happened in Eterna City. He thought about the tablet and what he read. He thought about the people he met and pictured everyone's faces he then tried to remember how this all started but he always drew a blank.

He found himself lost at the beach. By the time he back tracked where he went he found the resort and went to see Charlie. It's night time, he didn't see Volkner leave. The room was empty and contained no one else but Charlie. She turned around from the window once more, she seemed more happy. Jay slowly walked up to her bed and stood there, he then looked out the window as well,

"Remember when I showed you and Malic my pokemon?" Jay asked, Charlie listened, "I only shown you two. I have a third one." Jay then looked down at his belt and unclipped a pokeball. "It was with me when I was found..." An aura of mystery began to develop and somehow, Jay seemed distant, as if he wasn't distant enough. He lightly threw his pokeball down to the ground and out came a Unown. It did not make a sound, it simply floated in the air and slowly came to Jay's side. It was shaped like the letter C.

"This is Unown, Unown always been with me, I.. well, he's very personal to me and I don't show him to many people." Jay admitted, he blushed slightly, however he shook it off in fear of what it could represent, "I went on this journey to find out about my past, I didn't mean for this to happen... seeing you get hurt like this." Jay's voice trailed off, he took a step back and turned around towards the door,

"Get well soon, good-night." Jay told her, he returned Unown and placed it back in the Pokeball. Something seemed misplaced, it felt as if Jay was not going to come back.

Jay didn't have anything to pack so he left right away, his destination is clear though - Mt. Coronet...

 

[LaurenLOVESTONED]

Charlie was alone, she was clutching Volkner's jacket tenderly to her chest. She loved the way it smelt of him, that musky, sexy smell. Jay had left not long ago, and Charlie did not feel comfortable with his absence. It felt, permanent. She'd met his mysterious Pokemon Unown today, a Pokemon she had read extensively about in history at school due to it's link with the Ruins just outside of Violet City. She'd been intrigued by it, even though it bordered on being mythical. Charlie felt touched that he had shown this Pokemon to her, she liked the fact that Jay trusted her and she felt like she could trust him.

Volkner had texted her, before he got on the ferry.

I'm leaving now. I miss you already -V

It was so sweet, and nice, she wished he was still here. Charlie refrained from texting him though, he was probably alseep as it was so late. She drifted off, worrying still about Arlene, and Jay and his peculiar behaviour.

When she woke, expecting to see Jay, kindly looking over her, she was disappointed. The receptionist bustled in with a tray of food from the buffet.

"I thought I'd give you your breakfast early. Before it was slim pickings at the buffet, y'know?" she smiled, her voice cheerful as usual.

"Thank you so much," Charlie cooed and then looked around, hoping to see Jay at the doorway "Excuse me miss, but do you know where my friend got to?" she asked when he was still absent.

"He left this morning, he thanked us for our hospitality and left. I thought you'd know," the receptionist explained, her voice almost worried. Charlie shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes and the receptionist grabbed her hand and squeezed it supportively. She then left, leaving Charlie with Vulpix.

That bastard she thought How could he leave me here alone?

 

[Stantler]

After a walk Jay made his way back to Valor Lake. It seemed he just stayed here during the night, he looked back and lowered his head,

"I don't want to see anyone else get hurt because of me. She... She'll thank me later." Jay thought he then thought about his actions but if he wanted to know about his past, his only lead is Mt. Coronet. He has a way to go before he could make it to the mountain and without help from another trainer it will be only twice as hard.

Jay looked into the crystal clear waters of the lake and saw through his own reflection. The image broke by swimming Psyduck. He would have to go through two towns if he would make it to Mt. Coronet, one being Pastoria City and the next Hearthome City. With a heavy heart and the longing to discover his past, he traveled south to the swamps of route 213....

 

[Zimvee]

As Bobby dried off and Malic looked at a map, Bobby thought about ways to find the others. "Hm, they all should have woken up by now, so there's no guarente that their still at the same place..."

When he was done, the two boys apologized. Malic for getting so angry, and Bobby for not voicing his thoughts.

As Bobby looked at the map he said "If were going to find the others, I think the best place to look would be around here." His finger traced the entire are of Lake Valor and the three towns near it. "It's the closest, and is only a good 2 day flight. On the other hand while Lake Acuity is farther, there is only one town near there, narrowing our search. Where do you think we should go?"

 

[LaurenLOVESTONED]

Charlie was outraged by Jay's actions, he hadn't even left a note. He'd left her in an unfamiliar city all by herself, no, he'd abandoned her. Just like her mother had, just like Russel had. Charlie stroked Vulpix's fur tenderly, and then cuddled her close. That's it she decided We're leaving.

She whipped out her phone and began messaging Volkner, she'd go to him. Afterall, he was all Charlie had right now and she hoped that together they could search for Arlene and Charlie could kick Jay's butt.

To Volkner: I'll meet you at the Pokemon League tomorrow, Jay has left suddenly. Miss you
Slowly, and gingerly she climbed out of bed, Vulpix at her heels. She took as much cash as she had on her and left it on the bedside table, leaving a note thanking them for their hospitality. Charlie crept out of the building and made her way down to the beach, it hurt so much to walk but she pushed on. As soon as she reached the waves she grabbed the Pokeball and released the Pokemon onto the water. Lapras was beautiful, she was blue with four elegant flippers and a hard, shell encased back. She arched her neck and called her name out in a low, graceful tone.

"Hey Lapras, your daddy gave you to me and now we're going to be friends," Charlie told the Lapras, wincing in pain from her ribs. The Lapras looked at her and again cried her name.

"Nice to meet you to," she joked "Now I need a favour from her," her voice suddenly serious "I need you to take me to Sunnyshore City, and I need you to be gentle about it." The Lapras cried out happily, and gestured to her to climb aboard. Charlie crossed to the waves and waded until she could climb on, Vulpix safely in her arms.

It was early in the morning as they set off for Sunnyshore, Charlie's face set in a look of grim determination.

 

[Legend]

Malic stared at the map, practically placing his face in the filthy, decrepit map before a lightbulb went off. "How do you feel about splitting up?" He grinned a bit when he said, "Both of us have pokemon that can fly. My Charizard and your Flygon. Each of us would take one location and fly to it. Its a bit risky since this map is unreliable, but we could the general idea of the location. And we can meet in the mountain if we don't find anyone, since its roughly in the middle. Here take my number, I know you have a Pokegear like me, everyone from Johto has them. Even the losers. " Malic let out a big toothy smile when he explained it and laughed when he uttered the last part of his master scheme.

The only problem was speed as far the flight was considered. Malic was going to suggest using the faster one to get the northern lake while the slower goes to the lake with all the towns. He couldn't be too sure, of course he assumed based on the appearance that Charizard and his slightly bigger wings would be the faster of the two lifts. However, Flygon is a powerful dragon pokemon capable of flight. Malic was stumped on that part of the plan. He had hoped that Bobby may have a solution to the predicament.

Hopefully we'll find someone with my amazing plan. I am a little concerned. The fight sounded nasty, I am willing to bet someone is hurt.

 

[HoundoomOfTheDarkness]

Jake stood and yawned momentarily as he was awakened. "Yeah, right... sure... wha...?!" Though he wasn't the type to gape, he was definitely caught off-guard, especially this early in the morning. Composing himself, he walked over to help. "Well, I'm pretty sure I told you last night that I wasn't a doctor, but I suppose I'll see what I can do..."

Jake took the roll of tape from Arlene and began to gingerly wrap it around her waist, being careful not to injure the vixen any further than she already was. He could feel her cringe in pain each time he crossed her bruised ribs. "Alright. Is that enough?" he asked after the fourth layer he wrapped around. "I'm... pretty sure that I did that right. Like I said- not a doctor," he repeated as he cut the tape off from the roll. "If you're okay to walk, we can get to Snowpoint City and get help there," he said with a long yawn. It seems the sun is coming out, he thought, reading a sign that now obviously read "Lake Acuity."

 

[Darkhaven3]

"Excellent," Arlene agreed, giving Jake a satisfied smile. Where she'd told him to bandage her had successfully been suppressed enough by the fabric to prevent her bones from displacing as she walked. In the process of stretching left and right slightly, she felt that she had a much wider range of movement before she started feeling any serious pain. "Thanks," she said quite simply, collecting her tanktop and sliding it back over her lithe body. As for her leg, that would be quite a different story.

Mustering strength from god-knows-where, she lifted her broken leg a bit - wincing and writhing all the way - and began to roll up her pant-leg, revealing the break much more readily. She looked at Jake, concerned, and spoke calmly, "Cover your ears." Thankfully he simply did as she asked, no more or less; as soon as he did, Arlene looked down at her leg... And with both hands, she began to move the fragments of the broken bone back into place, sliding them back ontop of each other and ensuring they were at the proper angle relative to her shinbone. At several instances she looked as if she would faint, and finally, when the last bone fragment had been accounted for, she released what could only have been described as the wail of a banshee. The pain had nowhere else to go but up and out, which Arlene was happy to oblige for.

Then came bandaging it. As she had no splint, she would instead rely on the sheer force of the bandages pressing on her muscles, and subsequently, gripping her broken bone in it's place. With the roll Jake had used to wrap her ribs, she began to tape down her leg, as tight as she could manage without constricting blood flow. The wrapping was a good ten inches in height, and around five layers deep - perfect. Sweating and clenching her teeth, the vixen cut the tape and secured the remainder to her fur, and rolled down her jean leg. Moving around her leg a bit revealed that movement, regardless of how well she had wrapped herself, would still cause some form of pain. Sighing with discontent, she stood carefully, still putting most of her weight onto her good leg. Shaking off the mild discomfort, she then limped to retrieve her belongings. "I'm ready when you are," she said, her face emotionless and her voice quite plain.

They had resumed the journey fairly quickly. Though Arlene could not walk properly, she still kept pace with her human co-operative and since they had eaten while still moving (thanks to Charlie passing her a sandwich the previous day), they were able to travel a good three miles into Snowpoint City before the sun had risen completely. They reached the city at the final waning patches of darkness, cast over the mountaintops and bearing down already against the snow-covered village. The sun was red that morning... Not blood red, but a slightly pinkish red. As Arlene looked into the traces of light it left, she could not help but feel... Accomplished. She and Jake were already making a pretty good team. If he hadn't helped her with her injuries, she probably would not have survived long enough to make it here with him, just out of sheer blinding pain.

But... As she looked towards the mountains... Something was wrong. Fatigue... She had only just realized how tired she was. Her vision began to blur and bob weakly, and she could feel her heartbeat in her throat. A feeling of emptiness overtook her, and before she could register that she was getting dizzy, she was out cold again - still breathing, yes, but definitely out of action. She fell into the snow with a dull, soft 'fwosh'.

Voices invaded every corner of thought, though she could not connect sound with spoken word. The lapse in her mind left the rest of her entirely immobile, and unfeeling; though she knew she was being carried, she could not feel it. The thoughts quickly faded away again, replaced by a different voice. What he was saying - a grown man she guessed - entirely escaped her, but she could feel him trying to wake her. Arlene could feel a hand pressed against her forehead, as if to check her temperature... The warmth of a hand against her fur was a welcome feeling, but before she could enjoy it, it pulled away. It was like the hand had taken the illusion of disembodiment from her slumber as it pulled away, waking her up. Her big, pretty green eyes shot open quickly, scanning for answers before she could even move. She could see that she was looking upward at a man, possibly in his thirties or forties, with a strangely familiar set of eyes. Feeling rushed back into her nervous system, and she felt that she was lying in a bed.

"Whoa," the mystery man said, looking right back down at her, "you took quite a spill out there. You alright?"

Raspily, Arlene replied, "I'm... I'm fine. Who are you?"

With a strongly polite and easy-going overtone in his voice, the towering man above her declared, "I'm Rhys Maddox. And you are?" Her name had actually escaped her momentarily, as she tried to place the last name, Maddox. She rushed to find herself, and responded hastily, "Arlene. Arlene Sanders." Scanning her brain for a second, finally, the last name occurred to her. She attempted to sit up, but was immediately stopped by another face she had not noticed was there. The nurse Joy who was present held her down with one hand tentatively, and shook her head. "Don't be moving around too much, now. You've got some minor muscle tearing in your leg. You can walk, just don't force it around."

Arlene nodded, and continued with a question for Rhys, "Maddox... Hm... By chance, would you know Charlotte Maddox?"

"That's my daughter. How do you know her?" Rhys questioned, gently probing the idea. Maybe this is the same Arlene Charlie's gone on about, he mused mentally.

"I'm just a friend. I'm trying to get in contact with her. Would you know if she has something like a PokeGear on her - a mobile phone, or anything similar?"

"Hmm... I didn't realize Charlie's friends were so... Furry," he said jokingly, offering a smile. There was some silence for a moment, and Rhys tumbled his memories for a moment, searching. A few seconds passed, and he added, "Do you have a PokeGear with you, miss?"

"Hold on," Arlene answered. She reached for her PokeGear in her butt pocket, and presented it to Rhys. He flipped the top and typed in a few keys, and closed the device again, tossing it back into Arlene's paw. Grateful, she gave a thank you and immediately got to work on her PokeGear. She was not concerned so much with Jake at the moment - though, it did worry her mildly to wonder where he'd wandered off to. Shrugging it off for the time being, she fingered a few buttons and typed in a message, to be sent to her distant friend.

I'm not dead yet. -Arlene

 

[Stantler]

Jay made his way through the swamps of route 213 and made a quick break in Pastoria City where there he continued onwards, to route 212. The route was taken in by a heavy rainstorm, leaving Jay drenched and only made him want to move faster. Other trainers can be seen running past him trying to take cover from the rain but he still moved on until finally he hit Hearthome City,

It was still early in the day. The city is luxurious and every building looked important and sophisticated. There were plenty of people making it a bustling city. Most of the people though looked like they were parents and a lot of families walked around. The city has much to offer like contests, gym challenges and even just exploration of the city itself, but Jay was too concerned about Mt. Coronet to appreciate the city. As he was about to exit the city for route 208 he was put to a halt by a woman dressed in a very very elaborate purple dress,

"Bonjour." She greeted Jay as he walked by her, "You are a trainer, are you not?" She asked, Jay nodded, "I see, well the road to Mt. Coronet is blocked by a mud-slide. I've been hearing reports that most of the entrances for the mountain has been blocked off, strange no? Anyway, the road won't be open until tomorrow. I'm very sorry to inform you about this, Au revoir." The lady said and then trailed off back into the city towards the Gym. Her accent is heavy as she spoke, it looks like she is not from around here.

Out of any other options, Jay decided to stay at the city for the day and look around for a bit. Soon enough he discovered an odd looking building, one that is not seen in many towns, a church. Jay walked inside.

The church is small but very beautiful, containing many icons in the windows of the formation of Sinnoh and the legendary Pokemon that inhabit the land. The floor is covered by colors the windows gave as the light filtered through it. There were some people sitting on the benches praying and some discussing the dreams that everyone's been having. The room is quiet when suddenly a man dressed in a black suit came in, he must be the priest. He went up in front and took out a book and began to speak,

"I am aware that many people are experiencing... visions in their dreams." The priest said having a hard time how to explain them any other way, "Do not fear, for Arceus shall protect us all. Now if everyone may, please turn to page 237."

Jay sat down and found a book similar to what the priest is holding and followed alonh with everyone else out of curiosity,

"Page 237, line 6, "-and behold thy shall receive the warnings by rest. All shall dream of a past that were once forgotten, when thou remembers all, thou shall give birth to the one. One with the mark, beware, for thy shall destroy all matters in which Arceus has created. Thy servant, thy sun, in which man has created to aid Arceus against the mark will be destroyed by those unaware of its true intentions.

Nothing can stop the mark, for it is the destiny of thy world to be purged for their foolish acts. Beware the mark known as Chiisai-u, for that is what we shall call it and that is what is shall be named. Chiisai-u, the destructor of all.

But do not despair, for Arceus loves all his children. Once Chiisai-u has come to purge the land of all life, pray for forgiveness, and thou shall be saved from Chiisai-u's carnage." The priest read grimly, "Now, let us pray for Arceus, his love and forgiveness for our sins."

The entire room began to pray, Jay took note of this and began to pray as well...

 

[Zimvee]

OOC: Got-a-Plan-B will not be here for a while, so he has given me permission to temporaly play his char.

IC: Ignoring the fact that Malic may have just called him a loser, Bobby agreed. "Splitting up is probally the best idea for now. The only problam is who will go where?"
Both of the boys sent out their flying pokemon.

"How bout I go north?" Malic suggested, "Charizard seems faster than Flygon with his big wings."

"That's true, but Charizard is more of a short distance flyer. They're not none for long periods of flight through the sky's." Bobby explained. "It has a bulky body from all that muscle. Flygon would get their faster because she's leaner."

"Ok... then I'll go east from here and you'll go north?" Malic asked.

"Yeah, here's my Pokegear number." Bobby said, and Malic gave him his. "So if we can't find anybody, we'll meet up at Mt. Coronet, agreed?"

"Agreed." Malic jumped on Charizard, rose into the air, gave a small wave, and was gone.

"Allright Flygon, let's go!" Bobby jumped on Flygon's neck and they sped northward.

 

[WaffleGod]

FWOOSH. WHUMP.

The white comet, barely visible in the landscape, slammed into the snow and disappeared beneath the surface. The small indentation left in the snow quickly caved in on itself, removing all traces of its brief existence.

"...."

Snowpoint City. A bitter, cold region at the northern edge of Sinnoh. An eternal blanket of ice and snow covered the land year-round. Yet it was a lively place in its own right.

The woman, clad in a heavy Zangoose-fur coat wrapped tightly around her slim frame, had her eyes fixed to the spot. "Just what is he doing..?" she muttered to herself. Her long, dark green hair clung neatly to the back of her coat, bangs trimmed above her eyebrows. Violet wool mittens adorned her hands, while her feet are wrapped in what appear to be....plain black leather shoes.

"I really don't understand him some--ack!"

She squealed, as a snowball lodged itself on her cheek. "L-Luther, what are you doing!?"

The Espeon by her side purred, amused by the event.

The comet had risen. Only, it wasn't a comet at all. It was a young man, wearing a white trenchcoat with a League symbol in its back. His name is Luther Ashnard, and many people believe him to be mad. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Who's to judge?

"I'm just having some fun," he called in a mocking tone. "You should try it sometime, Sabby!"

"...Sabby? Sabby!? What kind of nickname is that!?"

Sabrina had a great deal more to say, but she chose to silence herself, recalling who she was speaking to. He was reckless, simple-minded. "Say, we should be heading to the ruins. Didn't we come at the edge of the city?"

Luther yawned, and walked towards his partner whilst stretching his arms above his head. "You mean the Snowpoint Temple? We can do that later, Sabrina." He yawned again. Luther wasn't really interested in the old, decaying temple and would much rather play in the snow. Asgard, his Dragonite, lay in the snow face-up a few yards away, and stared at the sky. "We're on vacation, anyway."

Sabrina winced. Was it because of what Luther said? Or was it that her Espeon had decided to use her leg as a scratchpost? "..Vacation? I thought we were here on League business?"

The man in the trenchcoat laughed. "Haha, nah. That was just an excuse to get the bigwigs to lend me some money. I just wanted to spend a few days up in Snowpoint without spending my own money on food."

At the mention of food, Asgard perked its head up, and looked in Luther's direction.

"Speaking of which," he said, rubbing his stomach. "I'm getting kind of hungry. Let's head back to the hotel, Sabby."

"...Please stop calling me Sabby," she called. And begrudgingly began to follow him. Asgard trailed behind them, excited.

 

[Legend]

OOC: Thanks Zimvee. Anyways Im back. Also, I have edited this post due to a complete misunderstanding on my part. Thanks Stantler for bringing that fact to my attention. I must of indeed misread. Thanks again.

Back to character:

Malic rode Charizard to the east. Mid-flight, Malic began to realize Bobby's facts were right. Charizard, while fast, was beginning to tire out. It's normally proud face was transforming into one of fatigue and frustration. "Come on, push it Charizard. We are almost there. You can do it." Malic gave a pose complete with a tremendous thumbs up. His flying dragon seem to feed off Malic's encouragement and pushed its flight before reaching the eastern lake.

Malic finally reached Lake Valor after a long flight. "That wasn't two days. Maybe Bobby can't tell time. Then again, Charizard did sprint here. Good Boy," Malic said, gently stroking his dramatic pokemon. The lake's appearance was similar to Lake Verity with only real exception was the air was warmer and more humid. "Man, this place is kind of hot." Malic began to sweat though not severely. "Return Charizard, get some rest." The red light forced the tired dragon into his pokeball and Malic left the lakefront, seeing how the area was empty. With the exception of pale grass, warm water, terriable humidity and wild pokemon, Lake Valor was empty. Malic pulled out his map and attempted to read it for any hints of possible locations the group members were. "There is a resort, south of here." Malic hiked to the resort only taking him a few minutes due to superior conditioning.

Malic stared at the impressive site of the resort. The sun was beginning to die down and powerful and bright lights illuminated the vacation site. Malic gave a mighty laugh "Finally! Civilization!" Malic gave all his energy into rushing to the Resort, enjoying the sites, the girls, and the food. He enjoyed every moment of the fun and society, until he had a epiphany. "Wait a minute...argh! I didn't come here for the fun." Malic slapped himself before sulking in a corner. Giving away the fruits of his effort at the activities to attractive women, Malic in complete depression dediced to leave the resort. Yeah, but where do I go?. Finding, a coin on the ground. Ok heads is east, tails is west. The coin rose high and Malic couldn't follow it to the bright lights, so he ended up losing the coin as the lights obstructed his view of the coin's travel. "Screw it, I'll head back to the mountain as I agreed with Bobby. Maybe I'll give him a call when I get there. He probably had better luck. Thats west I believe."

Malic was tempted to bring out Charizard, but dediced to give him a day's rest and hike west towards the mountain. It was in view but barely, "Lovely. This is going to be a terrible day."

Eventually, Malic reached the outskirts of Pastoria City. It wasn't too far but by the time he had finally arrived it was the middle of the night. Malic was exhausted and put his bag down near a tree. Pulling out his pokegear, he wanted to report to Bobby, but Malic did not want to admit defeat quite yet. Scrolling down his phonebook, he realized he picked up alot more girls that he thought: Hot girl, Hot girl, Hot girl oh there he is Bobby. I guess I'll leave him a message: Mission Failed so far. Still looking.

I guess I'll get some rest. Malic reclined back, using his bag as a pillow and slowly drifting to sleep. The airs was cool and refreshing making it perfect conditions for Malic to rest comfortably without any issues. If I get lucky, I will find a clue tomorrow.

 

[LaurenLOVESTONED]

Charlie could feel the wind coming off the ocean on her sweaty face. They were not far from Sunnyshore now and she could see it in the near distance. Vulpix was in her lap, snuggled close with her eyes closed, obviously distressed. But this didn't overly concern Charlie, as most fire Pokemon were uncomfortable around water. The journey had not been exactly comfortable for Charlie either, her ribs hurt a lot and she was very tired.

As they drew closer to the city Charlie could make out the impressive architecture of Sunnyshore City, which she had read about in geography. It was large but still elegant and ornate, she could easily see herself living there.

When she reached the shore she thanked her Lapras and returned her to her Pokeball. She then made her way up the beach to the wharf, to look at getting a ferry to the Pokemon League. It was at this time she received two text messages:

Hey, what happened? I'll see you soon then, I'm holding off on my first battle so you can watch me. Miss you. Can't wait to see you –V

I'm not dead yet –Arlene

Charlie had been expecting the first message but not the second. Her heart instantly began to pound with excitement and she called Arlene's number right away.
Her friend sounded tired and like she was in a great deal of pain.

"Hey," Charlie breathed, realising it still hurt to talk.

"Hey," Arlene whispered hoarsely, with obvious relief at her friend's voice.

"Where are you? Are you okay?" Charlie asked.

"Snowpoint. Your house. Your dad found us. I'm injured, but I'll live. You?" Arlene responded, trying to use as little syllables as possible.

"Us?" she asked, it made sense though. She'd been with Jay after all.

"Jake," Arlene explained.

"I'm in Sunnyshore. I was with Jay, but he abandoned me," Charlie spat.

"What? How dare he!" Arlene growled and Charlie was surprisingly touched at the ferocity in her voice.

"I'll explain it when I get there. I'm coming to Snowpoint. I should be there early tomorrow. Have my dad pick me up from the docks," Charlie instructed. The two said their goodbyes and hung up. She'd reached the wharf by now and saw that the ferry for Snowpoint would leave in twelve minutes. She sent a quick text to Volkner letting him know where she was going and apologizing for not going to him. She then boarded the ferry with the help of a friendly sailor; with her Vulpix, always at her side the ferry set off for Snowpoint, Charlie eager to see her friend and father.