The Children Are Hunted

[Fuyu]

Zoran

Theboy shrugged. "I have a Doom. I'm used to painful burns." it did hurt but Zoran would complain. Van needed to relax more and rest. He didn't have worry about Zoran. Not now. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then he kept working with Van. "I like you fluffy! And fire is supposed to burn." with those odd statements, he fell quiet. He wasn't angry but e was still sleepy. At some point, he curled up next to Van and went to sleep. Bryan laughed at this.

"Aw past his bedtime."

Brie

(False and hidden mean the same thing to Brie. He felt Thomas was hiding something. Yeah he's an Empath and Healer. The empathy can be used for other things but not much. He's not a fighter.)

Brie nodded silently. He didn't smile. Honestly the expression disturbed him. It made no sense, used for causing pain and to care, to cry and to be angry. And Melan never used it. He didn't know how but Alyss had smiled at him a couple times when she was here. The boy bowed his head. "Will... Do..." he rose to put Thomas' tray away. As he exited, Brie looked back. "Humans... Can be... Nice... Not hate...sorry..."

 

[Garet]

A Secret Decision

Leo had been glaring at Garet's Aura from the moment he'd started shouting, ignoring most of the other Auras he could sense at the moment. If he'd paid attention to that, though, then he would've seen that his Aura-sense was slowly coming back down towards his level of accepted tolerance.
Leo didn't even turn to look at the Aura of Hawkeyes or the Espeon, though he did hear them.

Legend (Torchic): "H-Hey, what's going on?"

Leo did turn his attention to the Aura of the new voice's owner, though; the Lucario calmed down a little. "Nothing much," he answered, "just a few disasters, natural and artificial, including the near-destruction of the city named Venice." Leo stalked over to the Torchic, whose Aura indicated that there was damage, and released a Heal Pulse over the Torchic and, upon seeing her, the unconscious Bulbasaur.

"What badges?" Garet asked, still releasing excess white-hot flames from his mouth. The AAPM portfolio, he did not really care about. Given the current circumstances, he even didn't care much for the Espeon that called himself Espore, though he smelled very much like Esper the Espeon. The Arcanine also ignored Trigger's demand. Momentarily. Black badges, though, that may be important. Garet hadn't forgotten about the Black Ones that Agatha had told him about.

"Never told you how I got here, did I?" Leo replied, moving on to the unconscious Gabite with his Heal Pulse. "Got that portfolio in the AAPM base I ended up in, which I suspected was part of the AAPM's version of our CM Project. I don't care who hears me right now, there are too many secrets, it seems to me." Leo glared at Garet as he waited for the Arcanine to say something, then went on.
"Someone helped the CT that Underoot had kidnapped escape, and I followed them. I found three black fox-looking badges by a tunnel. Looking in the tunnel led me to find human machines that I'm not even sure could be human, it was advanced. And that led me into some sort of machine that teleported me into another tunnel that was actually near the CTs' RV."

Garet was starting to get accustomed to the heat and amount of white-hot flames he'd suddenly gotten. Probably from that wave of color.
Underground tunnels that teleported Pokemon? Certainly didn't sound like the AAPM to Garet. "You want answers, Trigger Hawkeyes?" Garet said suddenly, turning to the Staraptor. He'd just made a decision. "Then I'll answer what I can, but not now. I do not want what I know to be spread around, period. I won't answer anything if you fly off in anger, though." Finally noticing the two small Pokemon and Winny, Garet added, "I'll decide who I can trust."

Turning to the Torchic [Legend], Garet asked, as calmly as he could with fire coming out his mouth, "Who are you?"

 

[Dawn]

Legend was slightly startled by the heal pulse. She had never had that move used on her before. She did notice that her injured leg suddenly started hurting less, and she put it down rather tenderly, cautiously. Phew. Standing on one foot had been tiring. She was /not/ a hoothoot. Then of course the others seemed to be talking about something important. She just sort of checked her balance. She was able to stand on both legs, but her hurt leg would still need a bit of time before it was back to full functionality. She testify paced back and fourth a couple of times and then shook said leg. It was mostly fine. Ah to be young and feel invincible. Her mood brightened. Meanwhile, Kai the bulbasaur was hit with a heal pulse herself, though she did not immediately waken. She had been hurt significantly worse over the core of events, though if one checked she was breathing.

The Arcane had turned to Legend. Legend observed the bigger pokemon as he spoke, flames coming out of his mouth. Perhaps other pokemon might've taken that as a threat but Legend was under the viewpoint that fire was just the /coolest thing ever/ and was not to be feared. Plus she sort of got the impression that they were RDM members, judging from the way they spoke of the AAPM and Child Trainers like that. She straightened her posture and held her head high. If she had had arms of any sort to speak of it wouldn't be hard to imagine her saluting. Yet, obviously she had none.

Legend (Torchic): "My name is Legend, RDM-- ... map maker."

Legend seemed to lose a bit of her morale when she said that last part. Though it was only a brief moment of weakness. Legend was happy where she was. She just wished she could have something even better. She promptly turned to look at Kai, whose eyes had cracked open. Kai was coming to.

Legend (Torchic): "And that's my team leader, Kai."

Notably, the word team as opposed to partner implied there were more. Where Shu, King, and Kimiko were was still a mystery. Mean while Kai had to blink several times to get her vision to focus. She had a headache, but put this aside for the moment being. Where was she? She needed to stop waking up like this. Was that Legend? Had her name just been mentioned? After her vision was focused she raised her head to look up. She remembered an awful burning feeling and then nothing. Yet, she had felt worse /before/ the supposed attack. What was that all about? It was then she noticed that there were several other pokemon around. One of them was Legend. Wait... That reminded her. Where was her team?! Frustration littered her expression.

She made a sort of exasperated groaning noise just before speaking.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "What...?"

 

[Nideous]

Trigger and Espore

Trigger looked at Legend and Kai. What were a pair of Map Makers doing out here? Where was the rest of their team? Espore was looking uncertainly at Winny.

"Uh, You, um... White Arcarnine. I don't know your name, sorry. But, whatever you're going to tell us she's just going to tell her friends. So maybe someone better take her back to the base. And be careful, the minute somen breaks through her shield she's going to teleport. Just wanted to let you know," Espore said to everyone but Winny, keeping her shut out of their conversation.

"Legend, Kai, I am RDM Deviser Trigger Hawkeyes. The rest of these people are fellow Devisers. Rest easy, you're among friends. Though I must ask you, what brought you out here? And where is the rest of your team?" Trigger said calmly. He had taken in what Espore said. He turned to Leo.

"And Skyhigh, I must say, the near destruction of Venice? It's gone. I flew over the rubble on my way here with Espore. I have to say, whatever teleported us out of harms way really saved my tail. Was that the power of the CTs maybe?" Trigger said. He couldn't think of anything esle strong enough to do that. He thought about the implications of what Leo had said a moment more. Underground tunnels? How could they defend against that? How far did they reach? Espore seemed unperturbed. At the moment he was keeping a careful eye on a fly that was buzzing around. Hm... What to do about him...

Thomas

Thomas smiled thankfully at Brie. He knew his pokemon would be in good hands with him. He just knew it.

"Thank you so much Brie! Really!" Thomas said. He tried to think what he could do here and now. He hated waiting, always had. He just wanted something to happen to take his mind off the fact that he was trapped here. But, nothing. He was too far away to reach Zaria through Esper. Even if he had, what good would it do to bring his friends running around into a trap? Because that would certainly be what it was. Or would turn into when they got here. Either way, he was bored now.

Van

Van was somewhat surprised when Zoran curled up around him and went to sleep. That actually sounded like a good idea to him, he thought as he gave off a yawn. He glared over at Bryan and Mickey.

"We don't need comments from the peanut gallery!" Van said with another yawn. He lay his head down and curled himself up into a littl ball of red fluff and was asleep within minutes.

 

[Fuyu]

Mickey

"Finally," he sighed to himself. The children were sleeping. Well, sort of. He knew Alyss was awake and watching him. Her eyes were on him. It was creepy, but then again, she was. "Whatcha staring for girly?" he drawled, acting as though it didn't concern him too much. Well, considering Bryan was leaning on his shoulder, it really wasn't too important.

She blinked and paused, trying to think of her answer. The girl was still timid, it seemed. "It's... nothing really...I'm just surprised..."

"About what?"

"Bryan took a liking to you."

"It's his charming personality," the other cracked. "Why's that of all things bothering you?"

"You're a bully," she pointed out blankly. He wined, clutching his chest. But inwardly, Bryan could see her point, her having been one of the only children to talk to him for like, ever, after Zeph took control of his life. She was well aware of what he did, hadn't stuck up for him like Zora had when Asha tried to kill him. Couldn't blame her though, it was Asha. No one stood up to her without a serious death wish.

"I'm probably the only one as obnoxious as he is," Mickey explained with a grin. Bryan howled and agreed, high-fiving him. Alyss shook her head. She would never understand humans.

Brie

That newcomer truly was strange. Gratitude? For doing as he was ordered to? He didn't understand that sort of behavior. Humans are unusual, he reminded himself as he walked down the hallways, pushing the cart forward as he did. Melan had stayed behind with Thomas. She said that humans got bored easily when stuck in places for too long. Brie didn't understand that but it was fine by him. Melan wasn't his. She could do whatever she pleased. They had their souls tied, he hadn't captured her.

"Ah, Brie, there you are." Brie paused, but didn't react with more than a glance up at the taller man. Theodore looked no less immaculate than he had when he had brought the newcomer inside. Inwardly there was a bundle of black emotions and odd thoughts but again, Brie said nothing. He knew the man couldn't sense his ability but always knew when he was using it. It was strange.

"Theo..."

"Is the patient awake?" he asked bluntly, not examining the tray. Because Brie worked in the hospital area, he could have been working anywhere in the place.

"Yes...going...feed...Pokemon..."

"Good boy," Theodore told the ten-year-old, who stared at him blankly. He didn't understand praise or criticism either. Poor lad was almost completely unaware of the meaning of just what he saw. Theodore found that a wonderful thing to study. "Don't forget to go out and feed the Pidgey."

"...Sir..." Brie trotted away with the cart. Theodore walked on toward Thomas' room. As he rounded the bend, Melan appeared. She must have sensed him.

"G'day to ya sir," she greeted with a salute of one of her arm-like appendages. "He's still awake if ya wanna talk to 'im."

"I'd appreciate it," he told her gratefully. She was one of his mroe useful soldiers. It was because of her Brie was still alive after all. And he needed a spy as good as he was, a ghost, if you will.

He entered the room and smiled at the bandaged boy in the bed. "Pardon my intrusion," he muttered before looking the boy up and down. "My, you had quite a nasty fall, didn't you?"

Meanwhile, Melan had floated up to Brie as he opened the door to where Thomas' Pokemon were. he pushed the cart in and shut the door behind the two of them. Brie examined the Pokemon. They were strong, but not a single one was the level of Melan. THey each seemed quirky as well. The Manectric was angry, near hysteria actually. The Shellgon was trying to be cool but it wasn't working. The Skarmory seemed calm and relaxed while the Wartortle was scared, just like the Leafeon. Analysis completed for the moment, he placed the food down silently.

Melan spoke for him. "You all can relax. Your trainer's injured but we're takin' good care of him. I'm Melan and this little guy here's Brie. If you've got some wounds, he's heal ya." Brie nodded silently.

 

[Roserade]

Aftershock Conclusion: Simon.

Simon looked upon his city in despair. He had been teleported away, but halfway through, he had felt another surge of energy. It shifted him here, back to the destroyed city. Would he cry? No. Would he blame himself? A little. His sister seemed to have vanished and that boy, Tony? He had maybe been his brother. He fell down. His life had spiraled out of control.

"You know, it's a shame this happened, boy." a voice behind him echoed. There was a loud crunch and he realized that the man was eating some kind of fruit.

"Leave me alone." he cursed under his breath. Simon looked over at the endless smoke and shattered glass.

"Where will you go, now?"

"I...I don't know. I've never had to deal with something this bad."

"Shame. A true shame. You know, those CT's are to blame."

"No way, they're the good guys. Who are you?"

"So, if they hadn't been in Venice, this couldn't have been avoided? I mean, if someone as strong as the great Simon was destroyed. there has to be a cause, right?" the voice began to enter the boy's thoughts. Maybe they were to blame. He gripped his right hand in his left.

"What do you want here, anyways?" Simon asked.

"Come with me. But, then again, it is your choice. You can stay here, with the miserable view of your city. Or, you can have another city. Power. A home." another crunch. Simon thought before finally nodding without another word. The man waved his arm out and a familiar Swellow fell onto it.​

 

[Garet]

The Beginnings of Secret Plans

Leo snorted. "Prob'ly was, Trigger," he replied, standing back up. Well, his Heal Pulses had been a start, but they wouldn't be enough. They'd need to get someone from the C-RDM who knew what to do. "After all, there's been a brief but violent storm, would 'squall' be the word?, then there was that tidal wave! And that wave of color that's made it so that I can only see through my Aura-sight, and that's been amplified." After a moment, the Lucario added telepathically as he turned back to look at the Aura of the Espeon, "Don't worry. TruthSeeker, the white Arcanine, will be careful about what he says. He better be, since I feel like he's kept a few secrets to himself. By the way, I'm SkyHigh." Leo kept his side of the telepathic channel open only to Espore.

Garet turned his head briefly to release a shot of fire through the air over his back, then lied down on the ground. That last shot had released enough of the white-hot flames that the Arcanine wasn't leaking any more of it. How long the fire inside him would stay that hot, he'd only know with time.
Turning his head at the sound of the Bulbasaur, Garet noticed the look of frustration on Kai's face. I guess everyone here is frustrated in some way, he thought to himself. "So, Legend here told us that you're his team leader, and that he's a Mapmaker." If things went a certain way, Garet would probably need the help of these two and their team.

"If I'm knocked out one more time today, someone will pay," Carrie groaned, her eyes still closed. The Gabite was conscious now, though she stayed in her current position.

"I'm glad that today won't last forever, then," Karib ShadowHider said, coming from seemingly nowhere and plopping down by QuickDigger. The Sableye had a radio in one hand.

From his spot, Garet glanced at each of the other Pokemon in turn. Leo, he knew he could trust. He'd practically promised Trigger that he'd give him answers, so Garet would have to trust him. Going by the Esper's words, he wouldn't be able to give those answers while the Wynaut could hear him. The Gabite and the Sableye would probably be trustworthy, but Garet would have to either bring them with or leave them behind, under certain circumstances that may or may not occur. The Mapmakers, though, he didn't know about.
"Turn that radio on," Garet said, turning his head to Karib, "and report that Garet TruthSeeker requests to personally meet Agatha as soon as is convenient." As the Sableye nodded and spoke the same words into the radio, Garet said to everyone in general, "I want you all to stay together, if possible. Leo, Trigger, I'll let you two see to that at any time that I'm not around."

 

[Nideous]

Espore and Trigger

Espore's ears twitched as Leo spoke to him, though he made no other sign he had heard him. He was to distracted by an odd scent. He began sniffing around and walked away from the group.

"Espore! Garet just said stay together!" Trigger called, though he was too tired to fly after him. Espore found what he was looking for. An Oran Berry. He picked it off the bush. It had been the only one to survive. He walked back to the group and lay down. He wasn't hungry, so he looked around at everyone else, wondering if they wanted it. He didn't know what CTs were, but he was aware that something very bad had happened. Everywhere he turned, the songs in his mind were full of terror and sadness and anger. And when Trigger had flown him over here he had seen the destruction from above. Trigger Hawkeyes... Now he was curious.

"Why do you and Trigger and Garet have two names? Do I have two names?" Espore asked Leo quietly, mildly confused. He still couldn't make any sense of the emotions that were in his mind, which usually manfested themselves as music. Right now it was so loud he was getting a headache from his own ability! He didn't like it either! Not when it was like this. Too many people with to strong emotions.

Thomas

Thomas looked up in mock surprise when Theo entered the room.

"Well, if it isn't the Master of Games himself! To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Thomas said with a small smile. Good, maybe he could get some answers while Theo was here. He doubted Theo would hurt him, at least not phsyically. So he wasn't that scared. But anything he was feeling other than curiousity and slight amusement he kept to himself under his mighty mental shields, which were powered up by the light he still hadn't quite mastered yet.

Volt, Amber, Razor, Deluge, and Draco

Volt growled and got to his feet, totally ignoring Amber now as an unknown human walked in the room, followed by a female Lampent. Her growled at her, smelling that he wouldn't get anything useful out of the boy.

"Master... Where is he!? Tell me now!" Volt roared angrily, blasting bolts of electricity everywhere, causing Amber to leap up and run to Razor, who shrieked angrily as one of the bolts hit her.

"Damn it Volt! I'm as worried about Thomas as you are! But you don't have to blast me!" she trilled angrily. She shook herself off and settled, keeping the two scared pokemon behind her. Amber soon got over her fear and came out, curious as always.

"Hi! Let's play!" Amber said, bouncing around the boy. Razor trilled again and looked at the Lampent.

"You, please tell us where our human is. He's terribly stupid and he needs us," Razor said. Volt growled and walked over to her now.

"Master is not stupid!" he said angrily. Razor looked down at him.

"He is a bloody fool and you know it. The difference is he has a knack for getting himself and others out of trouble. After all, look what he's gotten himself and us into this time," Volt had no answer to that, so he settled for blasting the crap out of her with Discharge. Razor screeched angrily, the noise sounding like shearing metal, causing Volt and Deluge to cover their ears and whince. She blasted Volt with Whirlwind, and as he flew into a wall, she streaked toward him and snacked him with Steel Wing.

"I just told you not to zap me like that! Or did you forget that I am more powerful than you! Keep your anger in cjeck or you'll end up worse than this!" Razor said. She settled back on the ground next to Volt, who was coughing and sputtering angrily. She turned to the visitors.

"I am sorry about that, but someone has to put him in his place, and Esper and Thomas aren't around to do it. So, please take us to Thomas. I know he's here," Razor said. Draco just looked at them all impassively.

 

[Fuyu]

Theodore smiled passively. "Well, you certainly are lively," he commented. His smile seemed to darken with amusement. "And just like a teenager to not say thank you, especially to the person who saved your life." He stepped fully into the room now, examining Thomas casually. "I must say, Gabriel really works wonders on his patients. If he lives long enough, he will likely rise high in the medical profession." He sat down in a nearby chair, looking amusedly over at Thomas. "I do wonder how you got yourself into such a terrible condition." He allowed sarcasm to lightly to tinge his words before falling silent a moment.

"Now then, I am only here to check on my patients, as there's only so much a child can do. And I also must congratulate you and your friends. You managed to cause pure chaos in the two organizations and destroy Venice in the process. You've done quite well."

Brie

Melan looked at them all watching the squabbles with disinterest as Brie reached down blankly to pet Amber. "Sorry," she said. "It's not allowed. He's injured and you being around will overstimulate him, make him reopen his wounds and all that.. When he's able to move on his own, you'll be allowed to see him. This is how it is with all of the patients. Don't think you're getting special treatment."

Brie looked at the injured Pokemon. "Heal...?"

"Yes will you let Brie near you or not? We're supposed to take care of you."

Brie glanced at Razor as he pet Amber. He believed she might understand. "Human... safe... worried... you... I... help... you... said..."

 

[Dawn]

Legend's feathers sort of bristled. She abruptly spoke up again without being asked, sounding a bit disappointed. Having someone mistake her sex was a bit depressing to her. Given, looks didn't exactly tell a whole lot from the front in this case. Her voice though. Her voice totally wasn't a boy's voice. Given, she was also pretty young. Perhaps she'd just been mistaken for a little boy. The mistake wasn't that hard to make.

Legend (Torchic): "I-I'm a girl, mister."

Kai glanced at Legend briefly. She would've casually slipped in the correction herself to avoid unnecessary storms of angst in the future, but it appeared to be a non-issue. She turned her attention back to Garet, making an effort to prop herself up into a sitting position. After she managed to stop being sprawled on the floor and get into said sitting position she spoke up. In Kai's case, it would be very clear from her voice that she was a woman.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "...That's right."

Kai took a moment to think. She should probably tell him what little important stuff she knew.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "There were more of us, but we got separated when the wave hit. They're... still missing out there, for all I know."

Kai seemed to become frustrated. She felt a bit like a failure of a leader. Lives were not something to be dealt with lightly, and she felt as if she'd lost two if not potentially three all in one mistake.

 

[Nideous]

Thomas

Thomas simply smiled and kept his thoughts to himself. Theo was digging at him, and he wasn't going to let it work. Instead, he relaxed and let the light swirl within him, calming him, distancing him from his present feelings of hopelessness and depression. Those feeling would not help him find a way out of this. Instead, he simply turned to Theo and smiled sadly. As if he knew something Theo didn't.

"So... Why am I here again? Not that I don't appreciate the help. It's just, how did you come to find me? I'm still a little confused after I tried to save everyone when that weird light appeared and sent everyone's powers out of control that didn't know how to properly control them. I'm sure you knew all about that, didn't you? Even if you didn't do it," Thomas said. He felt the same impending doom that he had gotten from Theo the first time he met, though it didn't really bother him with what he was allowing the light to do. It's as if the light warmed all the sadness, all the hurt he had been feeling on his heart to the point where he didn't care anymore.

"And as for sowing chaos among the AAPM and the RDM, it's what I live for," Thomas said. He turned his head back to his hands and just kind of stared. Word games like these were always tough for him. He almost wished he could control the light vision. That way he could turn it on and see what his words did to Theo. It would be an advantage for sure. But, he couldn't, so he'd have to live with it. He wondered what to do next, as he still couldn't feel his legs.

Razor, Deluge, Volt, Draco, and Amber.

Razor nodded, a human gesture she'd picked up along the way and stepped away from Volt.

"I'm sure most of us won't have a problem with, Brie was it? Yes, but do tell him to watch himself with Volt. That Manectric is terribly feisty. And be gentle with Deluge. I don't want to deal with the waterworks right now," Razor said as she went back to straightening her wings out. Deluge unexpectedly stepped forward.

"Uh... I'm not scared Razor. This human seems nice. Heh... Um, just don't try and take my soul or anything, will you?" Deluge said, causing Razor to chuckle. Amber was enjoying the attention, but soon grew bored and began to sniff around. She was looking for Thomas and Esper again. Volt growled menacingly at them all, daring them to come near him.

"Relax you silly little hatchling! Thomas asked him to come here! Or did you not understand wat he was saying! And if you don't trust him, trust the rest of us! Have we ever been wrong about a person yet?" Razor said, rather boredly. Volt thought about what she said and his fur become less ruffled. He sat down and looked at all of them curiously.

"So, when will you let us see Master?" he asked finally. Draco sighed. He was like a broken record. At least he wasn't as bad as Amber. But, Draco had been thinking the same thing. He'd just never say it. He put on the air that he didn't need Thomas.

 

[Fuyu]

"Finding you was pure coincidence I'm afraid," Theo stated calmly. The smile was almost amusing. "Enthusiastic walks lead to so much discovery. For once it was the physical kind. And you are here because you are a hunted CT with broken limbs. It would be very easy for your enemies to get you in this state. And like it or not Thomas I am not your enemy. I intend to keep you safe as long as I can. After you are better, you may escape if you so desire. I wouldn't recommend it now. The nurse staff are very strict when someone tries."

HE paused and looked away from Thomas. "That light that sent your powers spiraling Thomas, I will not lie and say it wasn't dangerous. A sudden burst like that does terrible things to the user in return. It's similar to steroids or to smoking weed."

~~

"...Okay..." Brie went closer to Amber first, gently letting his hands glow golden. He was going to check all of them. He did just that, running his hands over each injury, taking the longest on Razor, her wings badly injured. He went to Deluge and gently patted his head before healing him. After finishing the others he worked on Volt.

Melan spoke over the quiet hum. "You will see him when we trust him not to try and leap out of the wheelchair we will put him in. Your human broke his legs. He's lucky he didn't break all of his limbs. And little water dude," she added to Deluge. "Don't worry, you aren't nearly dead."

 

[Garet]

The Roots of Secret Plans

Leo started to run after the Espeon when he walked off, then remembered that he could keep track of the Espeon's Aura. The Lucario sat down as he waited for any definite decision or order or something.

"Why do you and Trigger and Garet have two names? Do I have two names?" Espore asked Leo quietly, mildly confused.

The Lucario looked up briefly. The way I understand it, the second name, like Hawkeyes or SkyHigh, are made up, or something like that, and they kinda...stick. Or is it another form of RDM identification? My second name, SkyHigh, comes from my...I recognize it's an obsession with being in a plane in the air, but I'm real good at it. Why Garet's second name is TruthSeeker, though, I've never really understood, personally. You could try asking him while we have time to kill."
Leo hesitated before adding, "As for you, I suppose so, but I wouldn't know it myself. If I remember right, this is the first time we've actually met." His telepathic words were guarded. Leo didn't want the Espeon to sense that he may have seen Espore before.

Garet winced at his mistake. He wasn't going to make an excuse to cover it up, though.
As for the rest of the Mapmakers' team, the more he could bring into this, the better. "They wouldn't be the only ones lost in the wave," the Arcanine replied quietly, looking away. "I don't know how many Pokemon lost their lives today." The words of the Charmeleon were a piece of evidence against Garet, in Garet's mind.

That was not going to happen again. Not if Garet could follow through with his plans.

 

[Nideous]

Thomas

Thomas was amused by this. Of course Theo didn't consider him an enemy yet. He wouldn't be an enemy unless he stopped being useful to Theo. That's how this worked. Thomas hadn't done anything to Theo except shout at him a bit when they first met. Theo probably didn't really care, as he had played Thomas like a fiddle at the time. However, this time was different.

"Eh, it's not like I can go anywhere now. So, I guess I'm stuck here. Funny how you said escape instead of leave or depart. Interesting choice of words from someone that claims to not be my enemy. After all, why would I have to escape from an ally?" Thomas said. Theo had either slipped, which he doubted, or had chosen that word specifically. Either way, it didn't bother Thomas that much. He wasn't intending to escape until he was done here.

Winny

Winny had had enough. Working quickly, she dropped her shields and began to Teleport, only to get knocked out again by a Shadow Ball... From Esper! What? Was he mad!? Still, she had been very weak, and hat was all it took. She dropped to the ground, unconcious again.

Trigger and Espore

"Too many," Trigger said. Espore's eyes twinkled a bit, and he abruptly fired a Shadow Ball at Winny, knocking her out before she could Teleport. Wow, that had been abrupt. Still, it would not be good for her to go running back to her friends right now. Not with what she knew. He shook himself off and stretched his wings, still unable to fully extend his left wing even despite being healed by the C-RDM. Espore turned to look at Leo again. It was pretty clear that the two of them were conversing telepathicly, but they seemed to be keeping Trigger out of the loop. He really didn't care right now. Let Leo play babysitter. He had better things to do.

"You know I can sense emotion, right? Well, it's a little tough right now, but I can tell that you aren't being honest. About what I don't know, but you aren't. Just thought I'd let you know, Leo Skyhigh," Espore said quietly to Leo. He could tell, even though everyone's emotions were tough to sort through. However, while his mind was connected to Leo, or anyone else with a bit of psychic power like that, he naturally got more from them than he intended. Even so, it was still a lot to bear. He lay his head down and put his paws over his eyes.

"Gah, what a headache! The city is rubble! Why are there so many emotions! There shouldn't be this many people with destruction like that!" Espore complained. He really didn't get why he was under so much strain. There shouldn't be that many people! Not after the city was blown up like that!

Volt, Razor, Draco, Deluge, and Amber

Volt looked up at the boy in shock as his wounds were healed. That was not expected. He hadn't thought that someone could do that! But, after seeing what Master and most of his friends could do, he really shouldn't have been surprised. Still, it was an odd sensation feeling all the cuts closing and the bruises fading.

"Heh, thanks. Sorry about all the growling earlier," Volt said quietly. He didn't like saying sorry, but sometimes it was the best thing to do. Razor trilled softly as her wings were healed.

"Yes, thank you. Now, do you know anything about the outside world. Thomas has many friends that are surely worried about him. Is there any way we could send them a message to let them know he's ok?" Razor said. The request was simple enough, but she had a plan. She tightened the little mental shielding her RDM training had given her and wished she had payed more attention when she was learning about that. As it was, Volt had better shields!

"If you're a healer, what's stopping you from healing Master?" Draco said quietly. Volt and Amber looked over at him.

"What? What are you talking about, Draco?" Deluge said, but Draco remained silent. He didn't want to repeat himself, and if the silly turtle hadn't been paying attention, then that was his problem. Amber leapt up onto his back and he ignored her. She wanted to play, and his idea of fun was a good battle. That's why he liked Volt. He could always provoke the little electric type into a fight, but he didn't feel like it now.

 

[Fuyu]

Theo merely smiled. "This place is a prison for many children. They do not like being confined to a hospital, as you likely will not after three days. Nor do they like being confined here at these bases but sadly, everyone, myself included, must be tested." The boy was still terrible with these games. Even with shields, his body language, his way of speaking, it all gave him away. The man learned those reading techniques at the cradle. "YOu are exempt of course... unless you believe you are due for some training. And judging by the way you arrived here, you definitely need it." He stood and left without a farewell.

Brie

The boy nodded at Volt. He figured the Pokemon was apologizing but he didn't know for sure. Melan did know and turned to answer Razor. "We don't know who your friends are I am afraid, so even if we were allowed to send a message, we would not know where to begin. Brie knows plenty of this world."

"Don't..."

"Knowing and liking are two different things Brie. Now for your question, dragon," She said his type name casually, almost like a rude slur. "Your master has broken bones. Brie can heal him but it is not a good idea to do that because the body doesn't react kindly to a sped up process that is meant to take time. Let me put it this way: it'd weaken the kid's bones if Brie did heal him. So that has to be repaired on his own."

"...Sorry..." Brie stated dully. Did he mean it? Who knew?

 

[Dawn]

Kai seemed to become depressed at what Garet had said, her gaze falling. The thought that most of her friends may have died was a lot to bear. Though, after a moment she looked back up, glancing over at Legend and smiling lightly as she spoke.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "Well, if Legend here could survive, I'm sure there's a chance the others did too."

Legend (Torchic): "Hey..!"

Legend seemed a bit insulted by the remark. She felt as if she were being looked down on, yet, she let it sit at that. Kai glanced apologetically at Legend. She was of course trying to be optimistic. Yet, it was also logical. Legend was the most likely of the group to have died, and here she was. On the other hand, surviving a huge wave like that was more an issue of luck than resistances and skill.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "There was a dratini named Kimiko, a buneary named King, and a yamask named Shu with us... The yamask somehow avoided the wave, so I had told him to go search for the others..."

Kai's voice just sort of drifted off on that last word as she seemed to go into thought. She was trying to think of how she could find her teammates. Perhaps they would've made their way towards the town as well. Had the been far enough away to avoid that blast, whatever it was? Had they even survived the wave? The thoughts frustrated her. She figured she might as well just get it out there instead of letting it bother her like this.

Kai (Bulbasaur): "Do you think there's anyway we can search them out? I feel like if I don't try, I'd be sealing their fates."

Kai of course was quick to consider them allies. She was not all that untrusting of a pokemon. Or rather, she simply saw no reason /not/ to trust them, and figured it wasn't worth considering unless she was given a reason not to. Besides! They were both RDM. That seemed like a pretty good reason to trust them by default to her!

 

[Garet]

Time to Search

Oops. Leo hadn't considered the part about the Espeon sensing emotions. He was also somewhat surprised that the Espeon had reacted quickly enough with his Shadow Ball. "Thank you, Espore," Leo said aloud, nodding at him. Now they wouldn't have to worry about the Wynaut teleporting away. For now.
"As for the emotions you're feeling," Leo relayed telepathically, "I suspect that whoever teleported TruthSeeker, the Gabite, Kai, and Legend here may have done the same with other people in the area. Not to mention that the wave of color from before could have affected you, too, for all I know. Or it might be that you don't remember how to deal with it. I seem to recall Hawkeyes saying that you've had amnesia."

"What's with you, Espe- Espore?" Garet asked, nearly slipping on the Espeon's name. He'd have to work on that.

"He has a headache," Leo answered briefly, looking back at Garet's Aura. He checked his Aura-sight sensitivity; it was almost back to normal for him. Leo still couldn't switch back to normal sight, though.

Garet inwardly shuddered. He still felt like he'd been taken apart, piece by piece, before being thrown over here and reassembled in the same manner.
Turning back to Kai, Garet answered, "Yes, there is a way to find them, as long as they're somewhere around Venice. If you can show me where...Shu, was after the wave, then I can follow his scent." The white Arcanine looked over at Leo and Trigger. "Are either of you able to go searching?"

"I, for one," Leo growled, "need to eat something, maybe get some rest. Don't try to push Hawkeyes, either, he probably has a bad wing right now, or needs rest, or something." The Lucario glanced over at the berry Espore had brought back. He knew he could keep going for a while longer, but Leo was not in the mood to obey orders at the moment.

 

[Nideous]

Thomas

Thomas sat and shrugged as Theo left. He was wrong. It wouldn't take three days for him to go stir crazy. He was already getting bored. Still, it's not like he could go anywhere. Thomas smiled. Theo had been reading his body language and tone of voice. And he had more than likely read him wrong. Thomas was a very good actor, and he had been acting as if he was trying to pretend he didn't care, but was worried and frightened under it, or more like he was a little upset too. But, that's not how Thomas really felt. He was a little happy about this. He had done enough to the AAPM and the RDM. Theo was the biggest danger, and Thomas was going to do something about him too. But he couldn't just recklessly rush in and blast everyone in sight. One, there were more innocent people here than enemies. And two, he was the most powerful person he knew, even more powerful than Zoran and Ash, though they had far better control and probably always would have more control. But that didn't mean he was invincible. He was as human as the rest of them and could be hurt just as easily. As evidenced by him sitting here in this hospital bed. So, he would have to be clever. He was alright at being clever, but he would need his wit and guile now more than ever. And he had always been good at inspiring confidence. His words had a certain power to them, and he had to figure out how to make them better. That would be more effective than anything he could do with the light.

Thomas's pokemon

(OOC: I got tired of typing all of their names out. :P)

Razor figured that would be the answer. Still, she had a plan. She wasn't the smartest pokemon in the room for nothing.

"Well, maybe we could send Amber out to go find them? After all, she's Thomas's weakest pokemon, and she doesn't take well to confinement. And she's driving us all mad with her whining," Razor asked. Volt caught on immediately, and just wanted Amber to leave so she could stop bugging him.

"No joke. All her crying gets on my nerves," Volt muttered to himself.

"Everything gets on your nerves Volt," Deluge said quietly. Volt glared at him and he cringed.

"What was that?!" Volt snapped. Draco snorted.

"You just proved him right," Draco said without acknowledging that Melan had spoken. He didn't believe the Lampent. He figured it was just a clever excuse to keep Master here, just like that load of crap about over stimulating him. He probably was more stimulated without them all than he would be with them there. But what could they do? They were prisoners here, and Razor knew it too. That's why she was trying so hard to get Amber out of here.

Espore and Trigger

"Hm... Don't worry about it. I sensed her preparing herself to go, and stopped her. If I was a bit better at this, I might be able to find your friends through their feelings, but I don't know their songs, and as Leo said, this is giving me a massive headache," Espore said to all of them, still keeping his head covered as though that would rown it all out. He ignored the berry he had brought back. He wasn't hungry anymore. Trigger turned a disgruntled look to Garet. Honestly, did he look ok to fly right now?

"As much as I would like to get back in the air, I'm going to have to agree with Skyhigh. I can barely move my wing right now. I'm not as young as I used to be, and getting your wing shot takes time to recover from, even after it gets healed," Trigger said, loath to admit to this group that he was simply unable to keep up at times like this. He hated not being able to move as fast or react as quickly. It was maddening. What was also maddening was how long it had been taking him to heal. A year ago he'd have been back in the air after being shot! Hell, two years ago he would have been able to dodge the bullet! How he had managed to fly Espore here he still didn't know. Maybe Espore had been helping him, who knew. He couldn't figure that cat out.

 

[Fuyu]

Ash twitched in her sleep. She awoke abruptly, wincing in pain. "Agh, seven-" She cut off the swear, trying not to laugh at the noise. Alyss peered over at her, blue violet eyes looking interested for a moment. But just then, she turned away, spreading her wings. Ash smiled to herself and glanced over. She whistled softly, abruptly.

"Wazzup coz," Mickey asked lazily.

"Nothin'" she replied. "Just feelin' kind of funny."

"You overused your Aura," Bryan commented. "Ya sure it's there?" Ash threw an Aura Sphere at him and Bryan swore, avoiding it. "Did not need a demonstration."

"Yea ya did," she replied impishly.

Brie

Melan shrugged. "It ain't none of our business about that. We can send a request to the boss above our heads but that don't mean it'll go through. We ain't exactly high on the food chain, if you understand expressions."

Brie looked at Draco. "Not...lie...bones...broken...have to... sorry..."

"Don't apologize to him Brie," Melan scolded. "He's an arrogant little sod with tunnel vision. Believe me, we wanna let you near the guy but the big guy in charge says no deal for at least a week. And for messages, we have to file a request. Unlikely it'll go through."

 

[Nideous]

Thomas's pokemon

"Humph. Whatever," Draco said, turning away from them all. He was bored. Amber jumped off his back.

"Draco! Be nice! Their just trying to help!" Amber said. He ignored her and she frowned. Her little mind was working fast. She had put up mental shielding, just like she had learned before she met Master and Esper. They stayed up, all the time. Despite her youth and innocence, she was very clever. Her usual tatic of incessent crying simply wasn't working. Nor was trying to get everyone so mad there would be no choice but to let them out for a while. Razor was too chill for that. She looked at Razor, wondering what the large silvery bird was thinking.

"Hm... That doesn't sound like someone who's worried about his health. Keeping him out of contact with us and the rest of his friends. Sounds more like a cage to me. Ah well. If we're going to be stuck here for a while, would you please at least try to see if there would be a place for me to fly around? I don't want my wings to weaken from disuse. That would be terrible. I don't care where. Just a very large area. Indoors or out. At least try, please," Razor said quietly. She knew there was no way for them to get out of this room, but she might be able to think of something if she could just see more of this place. Hmm...

"Grr... This is stupid. What kind of place is this exactly!? Who's the idiot in charge that thought that up?!" Volt said suddenly. He was getting pissy again. That was just great. Whatever help those two were trying to be would vanish because of his and Draco's stupid attitudes! Amber shook her head. How come at six weeks old she was smarter than both of them? They had to be years older than her! She decided to distract Volt by jumping on him.

"If I can't play with Esper or Master, then I want to play with you!" she cried out. Volt growled and shoved her off of him.

"Get off me you runt!" he said angrily, still glaring at Brie and Melan. Well, that hadn't worked. But she still wanted to play. When an opportunity to leave came, she'd take it if she could, but it wasn't now, so there wasn't much left to think about. Deluge, however, had fallen silent and was watching the whole scene warily.