The Children Are Hunted

[Fuyu]

Bryan waved him off. "THe canvas sucks," he told him. "And the only color I had was black. Give me some charcoal, I'll give him a makeover." Mickey rolled his eyes asZoran shifted away from Ash a bit. The small dark pulses hadn't stopped and ZOran didn't seem to attempt to want them to.

Otto grinned a bit. "Osha!" Hi! The otter greeted. I'm just gonna tell you that we are sorry. Day didn't mean to get you guys involved.

Ash didn't glance up as Draco returned, having let Zoran sitting next to her instead. He was leaning on her, looking sleepy. She smiled affectionately before releasing Riley. At the sight of Draco, the mouse growled a little before waving at Kilita and curling up next to her trainer.

~~

Melan floated over to Sabrina, who stared back at Thomas. She felt his lack of emotions rather strongly but didn't worry too much. She could hear the quiet sobbing of a little girl and forced that from her mind as well. There was nothing she could do for Caitlin. She had to control herself.

"Take my hand," she said softly. "We are going and then we are waiting."

 

[Garet]

Leo stopped Garet with an arm in the way - he was staring at Espore. Something wasn't right. The Lucario tried to make a telepathic connection with the Espeon, but found that Espore was busy with something else. Can't tell what it is when I'm not part of it, Leo thought. That was one thing he didn't have down - he couldn't cut into someone else's telepathic channel.
Once the Espeon was done with...whatever it was, Leo couldn't tell, Leo relayed, "Is this something I can help with?"

Carrie, who wasn't interested in what Leo and Espore were doing, turned her attention back to Legend. "What's with him?" the Gabite asked Kai, indicating the Torchic again. "He looks like he's expecting somethin' to jump him."

Garet growled. "Never gonna get going at this rate," he muttered.

The aerial fight between the dragons didn't go unnoticed by Garet. They were making enough noise that he could have been another half-mile away and still heard them. And they'd flown up from where he'd left Van and the humans. Well, whatever it was, Garet wasn't going to make himself get involved. Besides, he was still waiting for Leo and Espore to finish so that they could get going.
The wind shifted again, this time bringing a new scent to Garet. It had the odd, somewhat chilling taste to it that all Ghost Pokemon carried. Maybe it was the Yamask that Kai had mentioned. If not...well, they could deal with it if it wasn't. Leo was still waiting for a response from Espore.

"I don't know for sure, but I may have picked up on your Yamask," Garet said to Kai.

 

[Nideous]

Draco, Van, and Winny

Draco grinned and looked around.

"Ok, unless everyone only wants to eat fruit, we need to skin, gut and cook these deer," Draco said cheerfully, ignoring Ash and her pokemon as best he could. Kilita crooned happily at Riley and set the fruit down in a small pile before sticking her big head right at Zoran and Ash, with a worried look on her face. Zeal huffed and dragged one of the deer to him and began eating it. Draco shook his head.

"Ok, so we only have one deer," Draco said quietly. He shook his head and looked over at the others as Van stood up.

"Eh, whatever. I'm going hunting..." Van said with a yawn.

"Why? Draco brought some deer! I'm sure you can eat that," Winny said. Van shook his head.

"I hate deer. I'll be back soon," Van said as he walked away. Winny shook her head and picked up an apple and began munching on it.

Thomas

Thomas wordlessly slid his hand into Sabrina's. After all, why not? He stood there, silently waiting for them to get going. He didn't need to say anything right now. There was nothing to say. Granted, he could have gotten himself there on his own, but he didn't know where he was going. So he just waited for her.

Espore and Trigger

"Pardon? Oh, I'm done. So, when were we going to go? I sense someone weird over that way!" Espore said after he turned his attention back to Leo. He flicked his tail in their general direction and stared at Kai and Legend. What was wrong with the Torchic? He wasn't scared of the dark or something, was he? At that moment, Trigger came in and landed on a tree.

"Well, I wasn't expecting al of you to still be here. What is everyone waiting on?" Trigger asked, well aware of the incroaching darkness of night. He wasn't exactly that good at flying at night. And he was tired. He would like nothing more than to tuck his head under his wing and go to sleep, but he had other things on his mind. Alyss's words were still bounding around in his head.

"As far as I can tell, we were waiting for you," Espore said as he chased his tail. He stopped and extended his senses again, making sure that the person he sensed was still there.

 

[Fuyu]

Zoran laughed a little at Kilita before reaching out to stroke her head. Ash shook her head as Riley waved a large paw. Zaria flew around Kilita curiously, having never seen a Flygon before. She rested a hand over her heart. Something felt wrong, she wasn't quite sure what was wrong but something was. She looked at Day, who clutched Poly's Pokeball between her fingers. It actually wasn't coming from her, though een she could tell the girl was not right in the head. Neither was that zoned out boy actually.

~~

Sabrina closed her eyes and teleported them away from Paris. They landed in Italy, one of the few destruction-free areas of the country. They were actually rather close to where Van was.

 

[Nideous]

(OOC: Funny how Zaria thinks of Quin as a boy when he's 18 years old. That's not a boy, he's a man now. And something tells me that Kilita would get along well with Mickey's Dratini. :D)

Winny and Draco

Kilita gave a happy squeal and ducked her head back playfully from Zoran's hand. Draco smiled and continued working on making the deer ready for human comsumption. Quin may eat a lot of weird stuff, but not him. Kilita watched Zaria float around her happily and prodded Zoran gently with her nose.

"Hm... I wonder what's going to happen now. But that can wait until tomorrow. We need to rest and recover our strength before we worry about it," Winny said as she snatched another apple and chowed down hungrily on it. Quin was still sitting there staring wide eyed at the air. He blinked a few times, but that was about all he did.

Van

Van was walked back to the others. Actually, that term was incorrect. He was struggling back, dragging a bird that was nearly twice his size. The bird was dead, of course, and had several black scorches on it's back. Stupid thing had tried to fly away, and Van was too hungry to worry about burning it. He stopped as two new scents appeared out of no where. One of them he didn't recognise. The other... He knew that scent well. He swore to himself and dragged the bird over to a small sapling. Looks like dinner would have to wait. He took off toward the new scents as fast as he could run.

Thomas

Thomas stepped away from Sabrina when they arrived. He didn't recognise this area, but he could feel the pull that told him a CT was nearby. One he was very familiar with. He could sense Zoran's darkness. It was very powerful, and not exactly that far away. Now he understood why Sabrina had teleported him, and not the other way around. Zoran would have been able to sense it if he teleported nearby. The only reason he could think of why he could sense Zoran right now was that Zoran had just used or still was using his own powers. Hm... He walked around, stretching his legs. He was waiting for the signal to do something. He would most definately not use his powers until they made their move, as it would surely tip Zoran and the others off.

"Well, I sense Zoran. Figures, considering what we're doing. And that means Ash and the others are likely still there. Did you have a plan on how to keep out of her Aura Senses? And they also have been traveling with a Vulpix. He has a very good nose, so he might have caught our scent if he is in the forest as opposed to with them," Thomas said after a moment.

"Might?" Van asked as he walked into view. Thomas looked down at him, recognising who he was, but not caring at all.

"Well, looks like the little doggy got hungry. Van, you are a moron. But, I can't let you go back and warn the others. Volt, use Discharge!" Thomas said. Van gave him a curious look, as did Volt when he came out. Volt recovered first and blasted Van with a powerful bolt of his blue electricity. Van yipped quietly and hit the dirt. When he got up he was growling.

"It's going to take more than that to take me out! I don't know what's gotten into you Thomas. But I will not let anyone attack me!" Van growled. He fired a Flamethrower and was moderately disappointed when it was just normal, not his incredibly awesome Flamethrowers that were so hot they burned white. He really wasn't doing to well. Volt leapt out of the way and growled fiercely, his fur strating to bristle.

 

[Fuyu]

Zoran chuckled again, lightly. Before he could chase after Kilita though, Adler chirped happily, flying around the dragon's head. "Don't play with him, play with me!" Adler being young was probably the only reason he wasn't pecking at Draco's head right now.

Sparx abruptly left her Pokeball. She sniffed the air and growled. She could smell something. But it smelled off, well, more off than normal. She nudged Zoran, who frowned a little and climbed on. "Adler stay," he mumbled. Day stood up and followed the Pokemon as she dashed off. Day's gaze was dazed again. Otto squealed and waddled after her.

Sparx kept running, hurrying toward the familiar scent. She recognized Van... but Volt's smell was stronger. What were they doing?

Meanwhile, Alyss sat quietly in a tree. She could vaguely feel something was wrong. However, she had to be patient. She didn't want to run out of energy now. Yet... was Brie nearby?

 

[Garet]

"This time, we were waiting on Leo and Espore," Garet growled. "Whatever just happened, I don't know." Looking at Trigger for a few moments, he finally said, "Trigger, my main concern at the moment is finding the rest of these Mapmakers' team. Unless you have something you want to say to me right now, that's what I'm going to do, and you...do what you want." Ignoring the stares he got from Karib and Leo, Garet added, "You need the rest, and it's probably gonna be a while before I'm done here."

"If you're gonna let him rest," Carrie growled, "then what about th' rest of us? He ain't the only one who's run into trouble." Higher-ups, she thought with another growl. Why do they get all these privileges?

"Then your job will be to find food," the Arcanine answered sternly, turning to QuickDigger. "You and ShadowHider both. We'll rendezvous at the western edge of Venice at moon-high." To him, moon-high meant the time when the moon had reached its peak in its journey across the sky. In his experience, hunting could take up to a few hours at times. And this search for the Mapmakers may take just as long.

"If it isn't important, then we're going with TruthSeeker," Leo relayed to Espore. Did this Espeon truly forget what had occurred just earlier that evening? "If this weird someone is in the direction that we came from just earlier, then we're avoiding whoever it is," he added. At least, that was the general idea the Lucario had picked up on.

"Now, if there's nothing else," Garet growled, "we're going." Karib and Carrie turned to leave on their food-gathering expedition, though the Gabite was grumbling to herself. The Arcanine turned to follow the Ghost Pokemon's scent he'd picked up on, not knowing if it was Shu or another. Leo moved to follow him. The wind hadn't shifted or blown enough for Garet to know that there were two more scents in the area, and Leo didn't bother to check for new Auras.

((Should I make up the direction Shu is in, or will you do that, Yellow?))

 

[Nideous]

Trigger and Espore

"No, but you are young enough to recover quickly. Not that you have any leave to question Garet," Trigger said acidly to Carrie, glaring harshly at her. Then he tucked his head under his wing and tried to let himself fall asleep. Espore ignored them both and followed Garet.

"You're probably smelling the same person I'm sensing," Espore said to Leo and Garet. He hadn't forgotten what had happened, but it was over now. No use dwelling on it. He could sense the emotions of most of the people had quieted. A lot of the life in this area was asleep. But not everyone. He himself was a cat, true enough, but he wasn't nocturnal like most cats. Espeons were mainly diurnal. So he was a little sleepy, but he wasn't going to let them down.

Van and Thomas

"Man!" Volt said angrily as the Flamethrower hit him in the side. He went rolling on the ground, and got to his feet, glaring at Van, who was glaring back.

"Hah! Without Esper, you stand no chance against me!" Van snarled. Volt roared menacingly at him and charged in. Van stepped to the side and blasted a Flamethrower at Volt, who leapt to the side and used Discharge, zapping the Vulpix. Van groaned and shook his head. His fur was poofing out from the static.

"Double Kick," Thomas ordered flatly. Volt glanced at him, a little uneasy at how heartless Thomas sounded, allowing him to get blasted half to death by Van. Volt went rolling on the ground and didn't move.

"Hm... Useless... Well, Deluge! Water Pulse!" Thomas said as he returned Volt. He sent out his Wartortle. Deluge looked at Van.

"Tortle?" he asked. Van barked menacingly at him.

"What's wrong!? You scared of me? I'm just a fire type! Hah, but I'll still take you out!" Van said, firing a Flamethrower at Deluge, knocking him back a few feet. Deluge got up and looked at Van. He opened his mouth and fired a large sphere of water at Van, hitting him in the head. Van backed up a few steps and groaned weakly, his eyes dazed and unfocused. Thomas smirked and pulled out a pokeball.

"Well, without Esper, I guess I need someone to replace him," Thomas said. Van was very strong. That strength could be put to good use for him. That was all Thomas cared about right now. He hurled the pokeball at Van, who followed it's path with his eyes. They were wide with fear.

"What's wrong with you?" Van asked, terrified. The ball hit him on the head and he disappeared in a flashe of red light. The pokeball hit the ground and began rocking.

 

[Fuyu]

"Well, that was mean." Zoran's comment was soft, mocking. "Aren't you supposed to check if they're claustarophobic first?" Sparx growled and Zoran giggled. "Relax. He can't hurt me."

"But Master," Dora protested. "His heart..."

"Is gone right? He ran away from it," Zoran hummed. "So sad, so hurtful, so pathetic." He slid off of Sparx and walked calmly toward Thomas. "So..." he began. "Who are you here for? You've got the brainwashed look about you. I bet Theo wants you to hurt someone right or kidnap them? Typical of him really, he believes you're as smart as every other muscle-bound brute in the business." He scoffed. "The man knows where to pool his resources I'll give him that."

 

[Nideous]

"Well, still pretending to be an uppity little brat? Oh wait, you aren't pretending, are you Zor? And why exactly should I care whether he's claustrophobic?" Thomas asked as Zoran came into view. Deluge gave him a hopeful look, and Vulpix's pokeball shook in his hand. Thomas ignored both of them and returned Deluge. He wouldn't last long in a fight with Sparx anyways. He shot a glance at Brie, then back to Zoran.

"And I can only assume you were talking about my heart being gone. It is, and I never would have guessed that not feeling anything would feel so good. You should try it sometime Zor, you'd probably like it. Anyways, I'm not here for you. Not yet at any rate. Try using that brain you claim you have, and you might figure it out," Thomas said with a sneer. Vulpix's pokeball shook again. Man, he was fighting it bad. Thomas had never seen a pokemon that wanted to be free quite so much.

"Relax, you. I'll take care of you once we get back," Thomas said to Vulpix's ball. He turned back to Zoran again, with a mocking sneer on his face.

"And you... You think you can take me with Ash or Mickey or anyone else to play nurse-maid? If not then buzz off. I don't have time to play games with little pests," Thomas said. He set Vulpix's and Deluge's pokeballs on his belt and tried to decide on a name for his new pokemon. Hm... But even so, he was keeping an eye an Zoran in case he did anything stupid.

 

[Fuyu]

"Ooh," Zoran sang out. "Bullying children now? My, you haven't changed after all." Sparx couldn't help glaring at he human. He sounded so damn chipper. Zoran couldn't help his giggle. "Of course I know. Everybody knows already because they are smarter than you. Besides," He spun casually. "What's wrong with playing games? Lucian's playing with you, like a pawn on a chessboard. Theo is playing with you. That guy who killed your family... ooh, what was his name, Carlson, he's still alive too you know?"

He stopped and paused mid-spin, smiling sweetly. "So what are you doing here big bro? Shouldn't you be killing that guy? Mister Theo would be so proud of you ya know? He'd be so so happy knowing another bad guy has gone away. But... I don't think you're interested anymore. I mean, Esper's gone and all, you replaced him with my buddy, you've still got that little ring of yours, and you've got these shiny lights! Why do you need to kill that guy anymore? You're letting Mister Theo pet your head like a good little doggy!" He stopped and grinned at his Luxray. "Hey Sparx, Thomas is just like Doom now, only with less brains." Sparx purred.

Zoran looked back at Thomas. "So can I kill him? Oh wait!" He ran over and grabbed THomas' shirt eagerly. "Can I kill you?" Then he let go. "Nah, that wouldn't be fun. I know!" He spun. "This is perfect Thomas you'll love it! How about I go with you instead of Alyss? No offense but Alyss is no good if she's all locked up again. And, and, and I need to tell Mister Theo something. It's super important!"

 

[Nideous]

Thomas

Thomas cocked his eyebrow and watch Zoran spaz out with little interest.

"Sure, people are playing with me. Like I care. And are you done? I have better things to do than play games with you. And as for Carlson, I haven't forgotten about him... I'm going to hunt him down and kill him when Theo is done with me. And you keep trying to insult me. You have no clue do you? I don't care about your petty insults. They don't have any effect on me. So by all means, keep it up. No heart means no emotions at all," Thomas said. He glared at Zoran when he grabbed him until he let go. He straightened ut his shirt and looked at Brie again as Zoran spazzed out some more. If Thomas didn't already know better, he might think Zoran really had regressed along with his body.

"I suppose so... Humph, you do know this will only delay me a little bit. Or are you too stupid to understand something as simple as that?" Thomas said. He held out his hand, seeing as how he was perfectly capable of teleporting them both back to the base/hospital/place he was staying for the moment.

Winny and Draco

Draco hummed merrily as he cooked the deer. Kilita was flying around, crooning happily at Adler. Winny frowned. Where was Van? He had been gone for a long time. Winny wished her psychic senses were stronger.

"Van! Somethings happened to him!" Winny said abruptly. Draco looked over at her and even Kilita paused misflight to glance down at her, crashing into a tree in the proccess.

"What? How would you know?" Draco asked. Winny frowned.

"Duh? I'm a stalker... Hehehehe!" Winny said as she ambled off into the forest. Draco shook his head.

"Ugh... Nicest damn stalker I've ever met..." Quin mumbled as he set his head in his hands. Draco looked at him. Quin ignored him. His head was still very foggy, and everything was oddly quiet. He still felt like mush. He couldn't even stand right now.

"Um... What happened to Zoran?" Quin said, still not realising what had been done to his face.

Marcus and Robby

Robby looked around Paris. It had been years since he had last been here. He looked at Marcus, who was walking around with Clefairy sitting on his shoulder.

"Clefairy!" she said happily. Marcus grinned and rubbed her head. He muttered something in French to her that Robby didn't quite catch.

"What was that?" Robby asked with a frown on his face. Marcus turned to him and grinned.

"I said that we would get there soon. What happened, you forget how to speak French?" Marcus said. Robby nodded a little and Marcus laughed. Then Swellow flew down and landed on Robby's shoulder. She nipped affectionately at Robby's ear, causing him to whince. For a pokemon that belonged to Marcus, he sure did like Robby a lot. Swellow held out his talon and Robby removed the note.

"I can't read this. It's written in French!" Robby complained. Marcus sighed and pulled it to him. It was directions. To he place he didn't remember and Robby would rather forget. It was directions back home. Marcus led them both through the streets until he reached a large building. It was an abandoned mansion. Marcus walk through the gate that had been rusted open and right up to the front door. He opened it and walked in the dusty, cobweb filled house and found his way to the living room. A man was sitting in an old and dusty armchair, smoking a cigar.

"Hello son. I see you found your cousin... Maggy will be so pleased..." the man said, not getting up from his seat.Clefairy looked at the man with a hint of recognition, and Sweelow squaked angrily. Marcus resisted the urge to strangle the man. The man that had hidden from him for years. The man that had let him believe he had died along with his mother.

"Hello father... Weren't you supposed to be dead?" Marcus said with a snarl. Robby put his arm around Marcus and glared at the man.

"Uncle George, I can honestly say I am not glad to see you. And put that thing away, do you want Marcus to get sick?" Robby said angrily. He waved his hand and the cigar flew over to the fireplace and snuffed it out.

"Why did you come?" George asked. Marcus looked at him.

"You should know that already, father. We share the same gift, remember?" Marcus said. George nodded and stood up. He was a tall heavy-set man, with blonde hair that had started turning grey from age. His soft blue eyes held a shifty glint to them. George nodded and took a step towards his son.

"I know..." George said quietly.

"I need your clarity. My last vision was more powerful and terrifying than any before it, but I can't make sense of it. I need help," Marcus said. Clefairy hopped to the ground and walked over to Robby as Marcus began to walk towards his father.

 

[Dawn]

Kai looked up at Carrie when she spoke to her. From her experience with dragons, they had a slight tendency to have a lot of pride. Though, this wasn't of concern to her. She was normally rather respectful towards other RDM members, if not a bit short on words. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Legend herself spoke up in this very nervous, anxious sounding voice that completely fit how she was acting. She also seemed a bit frustrated. Kai figured that anxiety must have been stressing her out.

Legend (Torchic): "I-I'm a /girl/..!"

Kai glanced in Legend's general direction before turning her attention back to Carrie, choosing to ignore her teammate's outburst. She figured it would probably do a lot more to explain why she was acting the way she was. She couldn't help but soberly muse that if Kimiko were here she'd probably mock Legend for 'being afraid of the dark'. Kai of course knew that it was a bit more reasonable than that, and was in no mood to get Legend upset at her by teasing the torchic. She was the group leader, and she had to be in good standing with /everyone/ through some method or another. ...That is, if she ever had a group to lead again.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "She's blind in the dark... Like, completely."

Legend was silent at this, as she knew it was true, and could be proved very easily. Sure, she had her ears and she could feel around if she needed to, but not being able to see /scared/ her! It was mildly comforting to be able to hear others talk though, as it helped her to better define where she was or where she was going. Regardless, Garet mentioned having picked up a scent and Kai's attention was his almost immediately. They couldn't dawdle forever. Any one of her three teammates could be severely hurt for all she knew!

Kai (Bulbasaur): "We're ready."

 

[Fuyu]

"He went for a walk," Zaria said truthfully. She wondered why Day had followed him. Ash said nothing. She could sense people not far away. However she wasn't going to get invlved. Too many cooks spoiled the soup after all. Besides... Zoran seemed to have an idea. She would let him handle it for now.

~~

Zoran giggled again. "If it doesn't matter," he singsonged. "then why are you glaring? Why are you being so rude? Emotionless doesn't mean lawless silly human. I'm not insulting you either, I'm stating facts now." Zoran knew perfectly well what was going on. But it didn't bother him in the slightest. And Thomas' threats and words weren't particularly threatening. "And, um... I guess you must be really not get it. Theo has a useful tool now; he won't let you go so easily."

He stepped forward toward Thomas again. "Your face could freeze that way," he said suddenly. "Into that glare I mean. Then what will you do? You need to have a calmer expression. Like that you just look constipated." Reaching Thomas again, he clasped the boy's hand. Instantly, the Dark Pulses that had been running through the smaller body entered Thomas' own. Zoran smiled a bit as his eyes glowed coldly. "Oops," he uttered softly, sweetly. "Mean Look and Dark Pulse," he stated cheerfully, stepping back. Brie instantly moved, knowing only beating the boy would get rid of that.

Bang!

Sabrina hit the ground, writhing in pain. Her arm was bleeding and the wound was releasing grey wisps.

Day chuckled as she walked out, bleeding left arm clutching an odd handgun. "My, this gathering looks fun," she mused, red eyes unusually clear and a cold grin in her face. Her voice was slightly more sultry than before, and held no childish timbre. "Mind if I join in?"

Zoran grinned a little. He had been right.

~~

"Ah you're here Lucian," Theo greeted, looking up from his files. "Have you seen the news for tonight?"

"You mean that break-in at that Italian science lab sir?" the lilac-haired male asked. "That is an AAPM lab isn't it?"

"It was yes," Theo agreed. "With this publicity, it won't be for much longer. There was a Pokemon stolen from there, a Porygon 2."

"What would the AAPM want with a Pokemon," Lucian muttered.

"Simply put," Theo stated. "They were creating it to steal the powers of people like us. But it is incomplete. However, the main piece of data is not what was stolen, but who stole it and escaped. They caught an image of it, a young woman."

"What would that have to do with it sir?" Morty inquired coolly, entering behind Lucian and scowling at the Psychic. THe other returned the favor with a smirk.

Theo would have smiled normally, would have pretended but he did not and that sobered both males. It was rare he did not make a mockery of these things. "The woman who stole it is the younger sibling of Xavier Shay, the young weapons designer and creator of the Null Gun."

"Those were a fraud," Lucian protested. "A year ago some college student announced them as the new weapon for the AAPM and they were no better than an ordinary bullet."

"Not true," Theodore countered calmly. "It had no effect on an ordinary human. However, powered ones..."

"Straight to high-level meltdown?" Morty inquired, dreading the nod that he received. "That kid is insane!"

"Yes and his sister has the guns." Theo's statement

"The bastard made more," Lucian couldn't help groan, losing his composure. "Dear lord."

"Wait Lucian-" Morty realized. "We sent Brie and Thomas there!"

"I hoped you would catch on," Theo hummed casually. "You two know what to do?"

"Yes sir!" THe two hurried to leave and rectify the mistake and hopefully survive.

 

[Garet]

Carrie snorted as she and Karib left. It was likely that TruthSeeker, at least, would prefer meat of some sort. Good thing I know my way around here, she thought.


Bang!

Out of instinct and trained reflexes, Garet dropped into a crouch, staring in the direction he'd heard the shot come from. His eyes didn't pick out anyone, but that shot could have come from anywhere in the shadows and trees. The wind wasn't in the right direction for Garet to pick up any new scents. Then again...it had been distant enough that it couldn't have been aimed at any of them.

Leo had dropped to the ground, too. He extended his Aura-sense in that direction, pausing to take note of the two new Auras in the area they'd left, until he found what was probably the source of the shot. The shadow-Aura, the light-Aura (which seemed different), and two more new Auras, one of which was holding an object that was shaped like a gun. The non-Aura objects weren't in clear view when Leo viewed them with his Aura-sight.
Coming back to himself, Leo relayed to Garet, "Four new humans in the area, two in the place we left and two further on with two CTs. One of the new humans is on the ground."

"Keep an eye on the situation, but don't intervene without my permission," Garet thought back, returning to a standing position. "Tell me if it looks like either CT is gonna...die..." That brought another stare from Leo.
Where was he?... The Ghost-Pokemon scent was coming from a direction away from the humans. I hope that didn't scare off any potential food, Garet thought, following the scent. He walked at a pace that he felt the two Mapmakers could keep up with easily.

Leo stayed behind Kai and Legend as they moved on, keeping part of his attention on the Auras he'd discovered. He'd have to think about Garet's actions and words at another time.

 

[Dawn]

Legend practically jumped, looking around for an alleged attacker though she couldn't really see anyone anyway. Kai just sort of flinched and glanced in the general direction she thought the sound had come from. What the heck was up with that? She really, really did not like the thought that someone was using explosives nearby. The worst part was that it sounded distinctly like a human-made explosion. Most explosions generated by pokemon were bigger and more powerful and just sort of /sounded/ different. This one sounded especially different, as there seemed to be a very unique sound. Where had she heard that before? It sounded like... something breaking the sound barrier. It occurred to her that that probably meant it was a gun. Well that was just dandy. She could never feel safe with humans carrying guns around. They fired undodgable, unblockable projectiles that would end any fight rather quickly with the extreme harm they caused. A lot of the times she felt like they were a testament to the world hating pokemon. That thought however was quickly dismissed as overly dramatic, though.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "..."

Meanwhile, a ghostly wind blew past the group. It felt similar to an Ominous Wind attack, only it was far weaker, to the point that it would be hard pressed to hurt even weak pokemon. It might seem to be coming from the same direction as the scent. It might seem that whoever was generating the wind might be nearby.

 

[Nideous]

Thomas

Thomas said nothing as he used his light to destroy the shadows Zoran had released into his arm. He didn't know whether he had done it on purpose or not, nor did he care. Then Sabrina got shot. Thomas reacted instantly. He teleported the gun to his hand. At least, that's what he tried to do. However, matery over the light doesn't equal light speed reactions, which his teleporting requires to be perfect. The gun appeared in the air a few feet from his outstretched hand and dropped to the ground. Thomas then blasted Day into a tree.

"I don't know who you are, but you are dead," Thomas said as he advanced toward her, stopping to pick up the gun. He pointed it at Day and glanced at Sabrina, who was still releasing little gray wisps.

"What did you shoot her with?" Thomas asked, also keeping an eye on Zoran. He was very sneaky. Who knows what he had planned.

Espore

Bang!

"What the heck was that?" Espore said as he jumped from the noise. Espore extended his senses and his face darkened. He sensed Zoran, Thomas, and two others he didn't know. He had thought Thomas would be a quivering mess after the blast he had given him. He wanted to do go finish the job, but he never wanted to see that boy again. He decided to stay right here.

"My old trainer is near," Espore said darkly, ignoring the ghostly wind that was blowing through the area.

 

[Fuyu]

Day hit the tree but she didn't cough or scream. She got back up as though it had never happened, still grinning. "Dead huh?" she repeated with a laugh. "I'm not going to die." Those words were layered with something unusual. "You should put down my gun," she told Thomas now. "It's not a toy lad. Well, not for you to play with. You can't use it; it doesn't identify you." She picked herself up and walked forward, unafraid. "And you should go to that little girl or she's going to die. That bullet's going to give her a little meltdown if you don't hurry. And you'll be caught up in it. Isn't that amazing?"

Zora watched before speaking. "You should leave her alone Thomas. Just because you took one gun doesn't mean you took them all."

"For once I agree with you brat," Lucian sneered as he appeared, Morty just behind him. The blonde ran to Sabrina, taking a small knife from his pocket.

Zoran grinned. "Missed you too Lucian." Lucian growled at him, looking slightly incensed and glared up at Day now, who was smiling.

"So... you're his sister," he sneered. "What do you think you're doing, using such a dangerous weapon in our presence?"

"I didn't know you were royalty," she mocked. "I thought you were all just uppity little fools with sparkles." She glanced at Zoran, who gave her an impish smile.

Lucian scowled and turned to Thomas. "We've been ordered to retreat. Now. Leave Alyss for another time. Theo's command."

 

[Garet]

Garet stopped in his tracks, as much from noticing the wind as from what Espore had said. Old trainer? He turned to look at the Espeon, about to ask a question, when Leo relayed, "Don't say anything. He thinks that those humans hurt him. I don't know how he got those memories, but that's what he thinks. I don't want another outburst from him." Leo kept the channel closed to anyone but Garet. "By the way, two more Auras."

Garet frowned. Turning his attention to the ghostly wind, it had roughly the same scent as what he'd been following. "Espore," the Arcanine started, "would you mind if I asked something about you?" He began following the scent again as he waited for a response.


Karib was edging closer to the source of the bang he and Carrie had heard, hiding in the shadows as always. The Gabite was following some deer that had been frightened by the sound until she could catch one or two of them.
The Sableye paused when he came to the place that Garet and Leo had left. There was a cooking deer; the one who was cooking it was a stranger to Karib. Seeing nothing to suggest that the shot had come from here, he started edging around the site, not really knowing that there was an Aura-user.

 

[Nideous]

(OOC: How can a gun know who is trying to use it? Keep in mind this is still based in the real world, and technology hasn't improved that much. XO)

Thomas

"Yes. I don't need a gun to kill you. And Zor, She'd have to pull the gun out, aim it, and fire. All I have to do is think, and she doesn't have it anymore. Do you honestly think I'm in any danger? Hah!" Thomas said. But he lowered the gun, seeing as how it was useless to him. He was in a bad situation, surrounded by enemies. What to do next... Well, that question was answered by Lucien's arrival. He was going to retreat.

"Humph. It's not like the weapon knows who's firing it anyways. This isn't over," Thomas said quietly as he walked back towards Lucien and Morty, waiting on them to teleport the group back to the base. Suddenly, a pokeball on his belt opened. It wasn't Vulpix's, which was a shock. It was Amber! She ran over to Zoran and looked up at Thomas with big brown eyes.

"Amber! Return!" Thomas said simply as he pulled out her pokeball and tried to return her. She leapt back from the red beam and meowed at Thomas. Then she turned tail and fled into the woods. Thomas sighed and put her pokeball back on his belt. He'd deal with it later. Right now, he had to get back to the base.

(OOC: You do the honors and teleport them back.:P)

Espore

Espore turned and looked up at Garet as they walked. He was surprised at how fast his memories were coming back. Still, he would rather not remember these things. It was hard.

"Yes? What is it?" Espore said in response to Garet's question. He didn't get it. If the Arcanine had something to ask, then why not come out and ask? Why ask permission to ask first? He didn't quite get it.

Amber

Amber was crying as she ran. What had happened to Master? He was... He was acting the those people he had rescued her from! That was not good. It had troubled her deeply. How come he had been so mean!? To Van and Zoran and that other girl. She stopped, tears still rolling down her face. She smelled someone. Someone she didn't know. She hid beehind a tree and cautiously approached the scent. It was a Sableye, trying to stay hidden from someone else. Of course, she could see him plain as day. She silently crept over to him.

"What are we hiding from?" she whispered to him in the pokemon language. She couldn't speak human, but she knew he would understand her. Hm... But she had given herself away as having a trainer. Still, she wanted to know.