Rockets Rising (T)

Gym leader Chinika
Route 37, south of Ecruteak City

The moon was almost unnaturally bright. Chinika could see her own shadow on the ground beside her, walking at the same pace as she did. Her long gray coat whispered to itself in the stream of air Chinika made around her when walking. In reality, the night was completely without a breeze. She was alone, like she often was when she needed to think. She hadn't wanted to think for several years, but now it was time. She wouldn't sit idly by and just to her thing anymore. She wanted things to happen. So she had to use her brains... and think about things.

A rustling noise was heard in a tree beside the road, and the young woman froze for a moment. But the creature that jumped down from the tree didn't want to harm her or spy on her. It was her Monferno.

"Jim," she said. "Don't scare me like that."

Jim the Monferno giggled and walked up to his trainer, grabbing her coat and holding it as they began walking again. Good thing she usually only kept him and Sandra out of their pokéballs, as Alex and Luke wouldn't really be subtle if they were out.

She had been taking a walk to the south of the city, as she sometimes did. Normally she didn't do it at night, but lately she had been feeling more daring. It was almost as if she wanted something to happen... yeah, right. She did. But she knew it was stupid to walk off alone. Being in the position she was. Not that she couldn't handle herself... but if she for some reason would get lost or kidnapped... or anything, the city wouldn't manage it all without her. No.

She sighed as she saw the lights of the city in the valley. Peacefully, the towers of Ecruteak stood there above it all. She loved this city... and people were saying letting Team Rocket into it was a shame. But they didn't destroy the city. The were merely making it work more efficiently.

The Indigo Association still didn't know what she had done with the city. Some of its inhabitants knew and were working for her. Others were suspicious of some shady characters and activities going around but nobody expected her to be involved with it. It was tiring sometimes, to keep up the happy attitude, but she had managed so far. And it was worth it... right? The rest of the population didn't have a clue, however. So she was safe from the rest of the Gym Leaders for now. Unless the IA had noticed something and sent someone after her to investigate... in which case it was a really stupid idea to walk around strangely after sundown. But then again, she could just have been taking a walk. Which... she actually had.

And she had a plan.

When she got home to the gym, in which she had her quarters and office, she was greeted by her most trusted helper. And her advisor in TR.

"Where have you been, Chinika?" he said, worriedly and a bit angrily as she handed him her coat and walked straight past him through the now empty gym's cliffs and rocks. It was made for fire type pokémon.

"I've been out on a walk, Frederic," she said happily. "You should have seen the moonlight! It's beautiful!"

Frederic looked even more serious than usual. His bald head and black goatee added to that, along with his always so formal clothing. "You should be careful."

"I am. I had Jim and the others with me."

"That's not what I mean-"

"Frederic!" Chinika interrupted him, suddenly angry and turning around. She could immediately tell that his demeanor changed. He didn't like it when he made her angry, even though he liked getting what he wanted. Like any TR member.

She sighed. "Please type up an e-mail for me. Please?"

"A mail? At this time in the evening?" he asked as he followed her out of the great hall and into her office. The computer was started within seconds after she had pressed the button.

"Yes. I'm tired... but I need to get this over with."

Frederic nodded and sat down in front of the screen, hands ready over the keyboard and looking at his leader, a bit worriedly again. Chinika smiled and became herself for a moment, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Thank you."

"Always, Chinika. Now, to whom is this mail?"

"Let's see... To the leader of Mahogany Town. He's undercover TR and acts like he's IA still, just like me, but I think we cant trust him. Nevertheless, he's quite close to Ecruteak so I'd like him to be in on it. And to the leader of Azalea Town. It's quite well known that Azalea is a Rocket place. As for Cherrygrove, I think it would be nice if we contacted the leader there as well, even if he's new. And contact the Violet City leader as well. She's gonna be valuable for this mission."

Frederic typed in the recipents but looked puzzled. "Chinika... what are you planning?"

She smiled tiredly. "Just write what I say. And encrypt it so that only the ones who know that password can open the mail," she said. And so he did. It said:


Dear colleagues,

I am Chinika, Gym Leader of Ecruteak City. As you should be aware of, I am a member of the fine organization Team Rocket, as are you. We should trust each other. Be wary of the other leaders, though. They might believe that you are on their team still, but they are very suspicious, even of each other. Let's use that to our advantage.

I believe it's time we make a move. I am planning to take over Goldenrod City. But I can't do it alone. The key to taking over the place is to take control over the leader, Kris. If you want to help me, send an e-mail back. If you have plans of your own, please tell me as well.

All hail Giovanni, father of Team Rocket.



((OOC: I know Ray and Miharu are undercover just like Chinika but since Gym Leaders are pretty important in Johto I thought they should know about each other if they are all on TR, don't you think? The IA Gym Leaders, of course, think that Ray, Miharu and Chinika are good still though... well at least Chinika and Miharu. Ray could have changed the city around so much that the IA leaders are getting suspicious xD As for Aryll... well it seems like it should be pretty clear that it's not an all good IA leader who's ruling the place there xD

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I can change this post. ))


Now it's your turn to write an intro somewhat like mine. Then you can start bringing your plans together... The IA may have noticed more than the TR leaders think and are maybe planning something of their own? Let's play this game.

And remember to be fair. Don't have your character know things it wouldn't make sense for them to know. I'm letting the "good" players see this mail too, but their characters know nothing about it.

Gym Leader Kelvin
Olivine City Gym

"Now, Opal!" Jerry shouted in the heat of battle. "Finish it with a Fury Swipes!"

The Sneasel was closing in. After a fierce training match against the gym leader, Jerry had managed to pin down Kelvin's Dewgong onto the snow covered battlefield. His mix of Faint Attack and Quick Attack caused enough of a disturbance to land a perfectly executed Screech. Combined with a hefty boost from Hone Claws, this was pretty much guaranteed to win the match. Sneasel was now within seconds of landing the killer blow.

"Now Dewey!" Kelvin's voice resounded throughout the gym and it was just as cocky as ever.

The Dewgong flipped its half-buried tail up, catching the Sneasel by surprise. "Finish it with an Aqua Tail!" A vortex of water circled around and Dewey smashed his tail into the opponent. It was Kelvin's win this time.

Jerry took a deep sigh as he glanced over at his injured Pokemon. "Well it looks like my loss again."

Kelvin chuckled a little while walking over to him. On his way, he slipped on a piece of ice that had stayed on the gym floor after Dewey's hail ended. His laughter grew. Jerry merely put a palm to his face. "How do I keep losing to you?"

"It's because you're not chill enough!" Kelvin laughed even harder at his terrible pun. "Seriously, dude. You just need to lighten up." He got himself off of the floor and continued walking over to him.

"You were so caught up in making sure that everything went right, that you missed the little details. If you had seen that tail coming, then you wouldn't have lost." Kelvin put a hand on Jerry's shoulder and then laughed. "But, what do I know?"

Jerry sighed deeply while returning his Pokemon. "Alright. Then take care. I'll be back tomorrow for more practice." With that said, he walked out. Now it was time for Kelvin to focus on the more serious matters, much to his dismay.

Kelvin locked up the gym early and swept across the glass floors of the gym. On the other side was a room. This was where all of the maintenance was done. The Olivine City gym was set up so that during a match, the floors of the gym were set to freezing temperatures so that ice would not melt. The floors would then produce a liquid layer that would freeze upon surfacing. In addition to the freezing mechanisms, there were also artificial rocks and pillars that Pokemon could cling to. From the room that he was in, the heating could be adjusted, the quick-freeze could be managed, and the rocks could be retracted. In addition this room served as Kelvin's office after he closed the gym.

From a desk that sat in the very middle of the room, he produced a piece of paper and a phone. The paper was a recruiting ad for Team Rocket that he received. Scribbled on the side there was a number. He kept it there as it was this very ad that prompted him to make a call to Cianwood's Gym Leader. He dialed the number.

"Hey Jack, this is Kelvin. I've got a bit of a problem on my hand." He crumpled the paper ever so nervously. The threat was encroaching.

OOC: I hope this doesn't cause any problems for you jackblaze. If it does I can edit my post. The timing of my post is also kept ambigious for the sake of convience. I quite frankly don't care at what time in the RP it occured at.

Gym Leader Jack
Cianwood City Gym

"Good morning Jack" said a local resident of Cianwood to the passing gym leader who responded with a nod and smile.

"Morning" said another resident who received the same response as the citizen before him. This was a rather regular occurrence for the gym leader anytime he took his daily walk around town. The citizens were very friendly especially to the man who is entrusted to run the Cities gym. Out of all the citizens there was one who stood out "Jack hey taking your walk without me" Max a vibrant young trainer who lived in the city and was always around Jack hoping to catch a bit of his knowledge.

"Oh hey Max" Jack replied to the youngster who ran towards him. " I was just heading back to the gym if you want to come"

"Yeah!" Max shouted enthusiastically. It was the spirit that Max had which made Jack respect him as a young trainer and he was the sort of person who would here a story a million times but hang onto every word each time it's told.

The gym had changed a lot since Chuck's departure in both ascetics and ethics. It changed from a dojo looking setting to a more battle oriented gym with many different terrain battle fields that can be switched around. Jack has also tried to make it a place for young trainers to learn and get better instead of old men playing around with fighting types.

"So what today Max, wanna train that quilava of yours?" As Jack said this he released his Druddigon ,Warrior, from out of his pokeball. Warrior was the only pokemon Jack ensured to carry around with him as his others were around the gym at the moment.

"No thank you, can you tell me about your semi-final match of the silver conference again please" Jack must have told Max this story everyday since he returned from his travels but Max loves the story.

"Sure lets go to the top of the gym" Jacks travels had left him with many stories to tell and he was always willing to tell them and started telling the story the moment the had sat atop of the roof of the gym.

"So there we were Max, me and Warrior facing a Blastoise and I'm telling you he was strong" the young trainer listened intently to the story hanging on every word coming from Jacks mouth. "The Blastoise was coming hard with ice beam and it hit head on Warrior had to" But midway through the story Jack was interrupted by the ringing of his pokegear. "Hold on" Jack looked down on his pokegear and saw the name Kelvin appear on the caller id. Jack sighed he always though that Kelvin the Olivine City Gym Leader was a bit childish but knew that since he was apart of the Indigo Association he had to at least tolerate him.

"Hello" Jack said hoping it wasn't a waste of time.

"Hey Jack, this is Kelvin. I've got a bit of a problem on my hand." Jack heard crumbling of paper in the background and waited for Kelvin to tell him the problem he was facing. Jack was a bit worried especially since this was the most serious he had ever heard Kelvin.

Block, block, block, fall down, trip.

Miharu and Bishamon were sparring as always. They sparred two times a day, usually in the morning and in the night. They changed up the fights a bit; sometimes swords, bo, knives, or just hand to hand combat. Today, it was hand to hand combat and as of right now, the score was tied in between fights.

Bishamon fell on his back, due to the sweep Miharu gave. She completed her turn and locked one of her legs in the inside of his knee. She then used the other leg to go underneath the end of his leg and bended it to her leg in the inside of his knee. Bishamon tapped on the floor to signal he gave up. Automatically, Miharu let go and helped Bishamon up. They, then, both bowed to each other.

It was 44,001-44,000 in Miharu's favor it seemed. They skipped the morning battle due to the fact of a challenger, who lost, but put up a good fight.

"Miharu-san!" cried out a voice that was coming in through the trees. Suddenly, the person whose voice just cried out came into the clearing in the forest. She was one of the gym trainers.

"What is Hikari-san?" asked Miharu.

"You have an email from Chinika-san."

Miharu nodded. "Thanks for letting me know."

All three of them teleported to the gym.

"Please take the night off, Hikari-san. I am sure that there will not be any trainers tonight."

Hikari bowed. "Thank you." She left the gym.

Miharu read the email and smirked. Well, this would be fun indeed. However, she would have to change first before meeting with Chinika; Miharu was wearing her training outfit, a black t-shirt that showed off her abs and black shorts. Not only that, she was still sweaty from the workout.

She deleted the email and walked upstairs in order to take a shower, recalling Bishamon as she walked up.

Twenty minutes later, she was in Chinika's gym, sitting down in a corner, meditating.

Gym Leader Aryll
Azelea Town's Slowpoke Well

A small breeze could be felt following Azelea Town right towards the Team Rocket base where the Slowpoke's Well was. The rocket grunts over the time had communicating technology at their disposal; from computers to the highly advanced ear communicators. The spacious slowpoke well was perfect for smuggling in those technology and placing them accordingly.

"...This is Rocket #4478," one of the grunts said as he had his ear communicator while he was taping on a computer. "Had word got out from the others? ....Yes... Okay, understood."

Then, there arose a bell-um.

"Hey! We got company!" another said as the rocket grunts stopped what they were doing.

Then, they saw a familiar pokemon -- it was gliscor, who seemed to have had a small walky-talky, tied and carried around the base of its neck. One of the rocket grunts appeared right before it as the gliscor landed, then, when the walky-talky was retrieved, it soared away.

"This is Rocket # 637903 reporting --"

"...You better tell me in five seconds why it is taking so long to get those reports."

There arose a familiar voice; it was Aryll, the gym leader of Azalea Town, also a worker for Team Rocket. The Rocket Grunt got out a small handkerchief from its pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Y-yes ma'am!" he replied staggeringly. "We...we are printing out the details as we speak--"

"WELL, DO IT FASTER!" Aryll ordered. "I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

"Y-yes ma'am! Of course ma'am--" but as the rocket grunt tried to cut off the communication, another would interrupt.

"We got a e-mail! its from...Miss Chinika?"

Aryll overheard the name from the communicator. Chinika...a name she had know of, but, she also knew...she does not like the person.

"...What are the contents of the message?" Aryll asked in haste.

"I'll read it out loud!" the grunt replied as he stared at the message. But before he began, he was interrupted.

"No...on second thought," Aryll interrupted. "Stay there. I shall read it myself."

"Y-yes Miss Aryll!" the grunt said as he turned off the communicator.

A few minutes later, Aryll arrived at the slowpoke well. Her Gliscor greeted her by flying in circles just above her. As Aryll arrived, the grunts stood for attention.

"...Let me see the message," Aryll ordered. "I don't have all day."

"Miss, its right here!" one of the grunts said standing by a computer. Aryll went over towards the computer and leaned over towards the screen. She started to read it in her mind.

"Chinika, huh?" she steadily said when she was finished. Then she gave a devilish smirk.

"Finally...our moment will rise..." she smirked as she stepped away. "I shall be heading for Ecrurick."

"Miss, if I may, I believe its pronounced Ecruteak." a grunt corrected.

"...You dare question my English skills?!" Aryll yelled.

"N-no! Of course not!" the grunt replied as he sweated.

Aryll then closed her eyes in annoyance. "...Send a e-mail replying to Chinika," she ordered. "Tell her...I will meet you soon. That Indigo Association fool won't stand a chance."

"Yes miss!" they replied as they started typing.

Aryll then sighed and proceeded to head out. Her Gliscor lowered down on altitude and proceeded with Aryll, steadily following her. She then returned Gliscor back into her pokeball, then released another pokemon.

"C.C!" she stared, as she sent out Cotton Candy, her Altaria. "Come. Take me to Ecruteak."

Her Altaria nodded, as it lowered down to towards the ground, and Aryll climbed on top of its back. Aryll wasn't heavy (thank god) and C.C rose above the ground and started to soar for their destination.

Ray looks out at the Lake of Rage, holding a Magikarp in his hand. "You fool! What kind of fish swims toward a water wheel? This power plant is essential for the city's power! Go and tell your friends that the next breakdown will be on your head!" He tosses the fish back into the lake, then heads over to a plain-clothes Rocket Grunt. "Minion 43, report."

"Sir, we've gathered the charged batteries, and replaced them with empty cells. Operation Waterwheel is going smoothly." "Good! Hold a celebratory fish fry tonight. It will increase morale and teach those Magikarp a lesson at the same time!" A loud chirping ring cuts through the air. Ray checks his phone, seeing an email. "Do as I command! I have business to attend to!"

He heads back to the Gym, two of his minions hauling a cart of large power cells behind him. "Ah, Chinika. My subtle neighbor. Hmm. An operation in Goldenrod, eh? I remember the place. Three years ago they left me hanging in that place. I'll definitely be there!" He quickly writes a response, stating he'll meet her at her Gym. "I'll just need to get ready. Iron my coat, set up a suitable excuse, tell Jewel to run the Gym while I'm gone..."

After completing his project, Ray sets out for Ecruteak, bringing two disguised grunts and a bagged lunch.

Gym Leader Chinika
Ecruteak City

The next morning, the sun was glaring down on the gym in Ecruteak City. It's rather traditional looking exterior made you think the inside was similar, but it wasn't. The place had been built to feature a large arena where pokémon fire could go loose without burning up anything. In daytime, people trained there, under Chinika's tutoring, unless a challenger came. They didn't often beat Chinika's fiery pokémon, but on occasions really strong trainers had passed. Chinika had studied them with happy awe... thinking they would do great as members of Team Rocket.

This particular morning, when Chinika stepped down from her quarters on the second floor of the gym building, Frederic came walking towards her, passing by a Typhlosion and his trainer who were sparring.

"Chinika," he said, bowing slightly.

"Good morning, Frederic!" Chinika said, stretching her arms up into the air. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

Frederic smiled a little. "Indeed. You have some mails to read."

Chinika understood, and moved alone to the office. She sat down and logged in on the computer. Unlocking some security measures, she got into her mail and saw the responses from several of the TR gym leaders.

From Aryll of Azalea, it said: "I will meet you soon. That Indigo Association fool won't stand a chance." Chinika smiled at that. She knew she could stir up something from that woman. She guessed Aryll was already on her way. She had probably left Azalea in the care of her etablished band of Rocket members.

From Kellyn of the Cherrygrove gym came a message saying he would take 7 of his best grunts with him and come to Ecruteak. Nice. He might be a bit creepy as a person... but he was strong. His followers were probably strong too.

There wasn't a message from Mahogany's Ray yet, and nothing from Violet's Miharu... but Chinika guessed they wanted to think things over. It wasn't a small thing she asked of them. Helping to go against another gym leader... when most people weren't even open with being in TR. Like Chinika. If Kris would realize that she and the others were behind it... their cover would be blown and full war would more or less break out. But they couldn't sit idly by, waiting any longer. Sure they might do as they had done with her and Kellyn and others, wait until the old leaders left their posts and make sure to put good potential TR members in the spot of gym leader instead. Or people who already were part of TR... but that would take so much time, since many leaders were young.

They should act now. It was time. Either, they would convince the existing leaders to join their cause... but it wasn't likely that would succeed. And there would be a risk that they turned back to Indigo Association later, becoming traitors in TR.

The other way was to eliminate the leaders, simply. Chinika sighed. It sounded so violent... but in war, everything could and should happen.

She locked and closed the mail account and computer again, and left the office, of course locking it as well. It was so securely watched over that it was almost ridiculous.

The trainer sparring with Typhlosion was quite talented. But a bit too rash. Just like Chinika used to be. The orange headed woman put on her bubbly smile and was just about to walk up to them and teach them a thing or two... when she spotted someone in a corner that didn't really belong in her gym.

Miharu.

She was here already? Ah... of course. She had her psychic pokémon. They had abilities similar to Chinika's Lampent, Sandra, only more... magical. Like teleportation. She still put on her bubbly face, thinking it might annoy Miharu a little but also might cheer the dark looking woman up a bit. And... no need to act all serious in broad daylight inside her gym, where Chinika really wasn't acting serious very often at all. At least not in front of her trainers and challengers.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said, stopping just a meter away from the meditating Miharu on the floor.

She looked out on the arena. Only about three trainers were there, training different things with their pokémon. A Combusken was practicing its double kick on some rocks with its trainer girl and a Slugma was actually there. They weren't common among usual trainers, since they were quite difficult to handle. Being made out of lava and all. But this gym could take their heat, and its boy trainer was making it practice its flamethrower's aim.

"I asked for an e-mail back, but I guess... Thank you for coming so quickly," she added a bit lower, still smiling but not as energetically. "I've received replies from others as well, and they are probably on their way as we speak. We should await them and have a meeting in a closed room."

Frederic saw the two women in the corner, realizing Miharu herself had come to Ecruteak. Chinika nodded to him when she saw him, and he nodded back, leaving them alone.

"It will look suspicious if all of us gather here visibly at the same time," she said, still looking strangely perky. "Didn't the others think of that? I hope they haven't let their towns know that they will be gone, and that they will disguise themselves when they travel here."

She looked down on the black watch on her wrist. "I should get you all one of these. It's a phone that can store a few numbers for quick dial. You just press one of the buttons here..." she showed Miharu, poking a pointy fingernail into a button on the side of the clock that probably was difficult to press without meaning to do so, "and the number set for that button will be called up."

A small disc above the 12 and another thing below the 6 suddenly flapped out, making the clock look like a strange phone with mic and speakers. "Frederic can get them for you if you like," Chinika said, still with her perky smile on, and laughed a little. "Unless you've got a thing like this for yourself that works better, of course!"

"Anything else you've got on your mind that can be said outside of closed doors?" she then added and looked Miharu in the eyes as well as she could.


((OOC: Sorry for putting so much dialogue in xD You can write a sort of POV post if you like and then answer the last question... is that alright?))

((OOC: Used copy and paste, added in Miharu's stuff in between (not talking though), then answered/stated some questions. :P))

"Fancy seeing you here," stated Chinika, using her bubbly persona.

Miharu smirked lightly, but didn't comment.

"I asked for an e-mail back, but I guess... Thank you for coming so quickly," Chinika added a bit lower, still smiling but not as energetically. "I've received replies from others as well, and they are probably on their way as we speak. We should await them and have a meeting in a closed room."

Miharu opened her eyes, knowing it was morning. She did not go to sleep; although meditating was as good as resting.

"It will look suspicious if all of us gather here visibly at the same time," she said, still looking strangely perky. "Didn't the others think of that? I hope they haven't let their towns know that they will be gone, and that they will disguise themselves when they travel here."

Miharu tilted her head slightly. She could feel all of the other Team Rocket Gym Leaders moving to the city. Whether or not they were disguised, she could not tell.

Chinika looked at the watch on her wrist. "I should get you all one of these. It's a phone that can store a few numbers for quick dial. You just press one of the buttons here..." she showed Miharu, poking a pointy fingernail into a button on the side of the clock that probably was difficult to press without meaning to do so, "and the number set for that button will be called up."

A small disc above the 12 and another thing below the 6 suddenly flapped out, making the clock look like a strange phone with mic and speakers. "Frederic can get them for you if you like," Chinika said, still with her perky smile on, and laughed a little. "Unless you've got a thing like this for yourself that works better, of course!"

"Anything else you've got on your mind that can be said outside of closed doors?" she then added and looked Miharu in the eyes as well as she could.

"I could always use telepathy," Miharu stated, amused. "Although, one of those watches would work as well. As for me being here randomly, it could easily be explained away. I always drop by the other gym leaders' gym. For everyone else, I am not so sure." The whole thing was stated with telepathy. "And yes, they are coming here. Disguised, I am not sure."

Miharu glanced at the trainer that was sparring against the Typhlosion. "Trainer-san against Typhlosion is being a bit too rash. Hold back and assess the situation before charging in. Otherwise, Trainer-san is quite good."

((Flashback!))

Ray finishes his preparations, looking over the woman before him. "You know the plan, Jewel. Keep up the pace, and nothing goes on in Mahogany without my permission." The woman is around his height, with hair cut and dyed similar to his own. She wears his iconic outfit, right down to the single glove and large sunglasses. Ray himself wears blue jeans, a white shirt, black blazer and red tie. A fake beard and small glasses further disguise his face.

Jewel nods, perfectly mimicking Ray's voice. "Of course, sir! This isn't the first vacation you've taken! Send me a postcard!" Ray smiles as he leaves. The girl was a master of disguise, and his most trusted lieutenant. Ray and his two plain-clothes minions head towards Ecruteak, with ten field agents silently dispatched to hide out near Goldenrod, waiting for orders.

((Now...))

Ray wakes early, headed towards the Gym. Their ruse as a group of trainers heading through required a stay at the Pokemon Center. Ray leaves the grunts behind, heading inside the gym when he thinks no one is watching. Good. And I should be the first one he- what?!

Ray sees Miharu speaking with Chinika. Curse her and her magical psycho powers! How does she do it? He quickly composes himself, strolling over. "Well, aren't you just a RAY of sunshine? Maybe I could have a word?"

Miharu glanced, amused, at Ray.

"There is a move called Teleport," stated Miharu. "How I get here so fast is not really an exact science. And does Ray-san really want to 'curse her and her magical psycho powers'? And sorry for taking Ray-san's first one here spot. I mean, I have only been here since last night...

"Now, as for the RAY of sunshine bit...really? Because that is not strange, at all. Now, shall we take this someplace else, or no?"

(Miharu blinked.) "Ah, wait a moment, there is a challenger at the gym. Be back in a flash, no pun intended as everyone will see what I mean shortly."

(Miharu disappeared in a flash of light. She upgraded the light a bit, if only to make the "be back in a flash" more of a pun. She hoped that using her sarcastic nature would creep the rest of the people out; revenge for Chinika's happy persona. Having Ray there was just a bonus; plus, he did call her powers psycho.)

(Means that there is not supposed to be italics, but my pokecommunity is being a meanie and won't take it off. D=)

OOC: My joint post with jackblaze. I hope crashing the party wasn't that bad of a thing to do >.< It just sort of happened. And as you can see, our characters know nothing :D

"It's this ad, man!" He straighten the ad slightly with his free hand. Emblazoned on it were the words "Why Not Join Today."

"They're coming here!" Kelvin jolted out of his seat. "Just last week I got a note about coming under their watch. They wanted me to join!" In his restlessness, he began searching the drawers frantically for a block of ice to calm him down.

"Relax before you get a heart attack," Jack was trying to stay calm but he knew how big this was. If team rocket were advertising in Olivine maybe they would try to come to Cianwood Jack was thinking. "But this is serious have you contacted any other gym leader?"

Kelvin had finally found his stash of ice blocks. He immediately strapped one on. His pace dramatically cooled.

"Not yet. You're the first. I figured that since you were the second closest to me that I should call you first." He scanned through his phonebook.

"I seemed to have misplaced Chinika's number so I'll be heading out to Ecruteak later."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Jack who was concerned about the situation. "If team rocket are around then maybe they are waiting on one of us to leave our gym before trying anything." Jack jumped off the roof of his gym and headed towards the ocean with Max beside him.

"Maybe I should go. Especially since I haven't heard anything about the rockets around Cianwood. I would just stop by and get the flyer from you if you wanted me too."

"Well what am I to do?" Kelvin pulled a map out of his drawer. "Stay in my gym all day?" He then pulled out a knapsack from under the desk and stuffed the map inside it.

"And yeah, that'd probably be best. The more the merrier, right? I'll wait right outside of my gym for you. Mitch, my Delibird will be waiting with me for safe measures."
Kelvin exited the maintenance room and headed for the exit.

"Ok see you there." Jack hung up the pokegear. "Strength in numbers," he thought to himself before calling Garchomp put of the gym. "Max watch over the place. If anything happens, Shelgon and Dragonair are here to help." Jack climbed aboard Garchomp who set off quickly towards Olivine with a sense of urgency knowing how much the information Kelvin had could effect Johto.

Kelvin put away his phone and exited the gym. Immediately upon exiting, he locked the doors and released his Delibird. The gym was rigged to be set at freezing temperatures upon lock-in so it should be safe. In the event that someone does try to break-in, Kelvin's Cubchoo and Dewgong were left behind.
"Alright, Mitch." He nodded off to his Delibird of whom gave a polite salute in return.
The pair waited for Jack to arrive.

Sandstorm was fast for such a big Pokemon and Jack was making good time from Cianwood to Olivine, passing Route 41 and 40 quicker than expected. Jack began to think about how Johto has changed since team rocket had disbanded and not even for the better at some places. "We're here," Jack said as he directed Sandstorm to the ground. As Sandstorm landed Jack jumped off and walked over to Kelvin.

"So let me see that poster you were talking about," Jack asked this hoping that Kelvin was joking, but it would be an awful joke to make.

Kelvin frowned and then reluctantly handed him the poster. At the top the words "Team Rocket" were printed boldly in their traditional colors. Beneath the letters was a picture of a man with a crown overlooking the city from the top of a skyscraper. Bulleted to the sides were three points: Money, Fame, and Power. Ending the poster were the words that he had read out loud to Jack on the phone.

"It's frightening. I found these stapled to a bulletin board at the docks. I hope the other cities are alright."

He shook nervously while holding onto Mitch's hand. The Delibird just stared at him, completely unaware of the situation.

Jack took the poster and quickly read through it "No." Jack clenched his fist in anger. He noticed that Kelvin was shaking and who could blame him. Jack let out a loud sigh and looked into the skies in disbelief. "Why can they just stay beaten," Jack asked with obvious anger.

"Well I guess we should get going" Jack said calmly after regaining his composure. "Hop on," he said as he invited Kelvin onto Sandstorm so the pair could make their way to Ecruteak as quickly as possible.

Kelvin hesitated to "hop on." Instead he simply stared at the thing while gripping Mitch's hand tighter.

"I-I-Is it safe?" He stuttered as he spoke.

"Maybe. You won't know until you get on." Jack was a bit surprised by how Kelvin was acting ,especially since he knew the magnitude of the situation and even Sandstorm was looking on him curiously. Jack couldn't help but laugh though as he saw a Kelvin looking very nervous. "It's harmless. Don't worry. But I can't believe you're afraid of little ol' Sandstorm here," he said while patting his Garchomp's back.

Kelvin slowly, very slowly got on. Mitch then flew up and took a seat in Kelvin's lap. The little Delibird stared around quizzically. Mitch was obviously fascinated with this height.

"And by the way, Delibirds are 'little.' Not Garchomps." He trembled a little as he took a glance down at the ground. This beast was really going to fly them?

Jack chuckled after hearing Kelvin's comment and tapped Sandstorm on the back twice signaling him to fly and fast, hoping to scare Kelvin a bit. Sandstorm jumped into the air and set off towards Ecruteak like a jet plane at top speed.

Kelvin gripped the Garchomp tightly with his legs. "Oh my, oh my, oh my!" It felt like the group had just entered a perilous tunnel where death met them at every corner. If he fell down, it would be over.

"Slower, slower, slower!" he kept shouting with tears streaming out. Jack had succeeded in scaring him.

Meanwhile Mitch had taken the opportunity to practice his balancing and was walking back and forth along Garchomp's back. There was an obvious difference between the trainer and his Pokemon.

"No need to go slower we're here," responded Jack to the obviously frightened Kelvin. Jack looked behind him to see Kelvin's Delibird, Mitch, looking happy and then looked on its trainer. "Calm down, Kelvin. We weren't going that fast," chuckled Jack again as he jumped off Sandstorms back and waited on Kelvin to do the same as Sandstorm hovered a few feet off the ground.

Kelvin's head was spinning. "What? Already?" He looked at the ground. "Oh, yes!" Kelvin eagerly jumped off and Mitch followed.

Now on the ground, he pulled out the map. "So we need to go to the gym, right?"

"Yeah," replied Jack. The situation was back to the serious nature that it had started with. Jack was a bit hesitant about going to the gym leader in this town especially since he knew nothing about him or her, not even their name. "Thanks." Jack returned Sandstorm to its pokeball and looked back on Kelvin with the map waiting for his directions.

Kelvin stared intensely at the map. "Uh, huh," he piped in at one point. "Oh, yeah," he chimed at a later one. At last he pointed to the big dot labeled gym and then turned to Jack. "I have no idea how to get there."

Mitch meanwhile had managed to wander off while Kelvin and Jack sorted things out.

"This isn't the first time I've been here so if it hasn't moved, I know where it is. Come on." Jack started leading Kelvin to the location of the gym, not even realizing that Mitch had wandered off. "Kelvin I have some memories here," said Jack as he reminisced about his gym battle against the last gym leader, Morty. "So do you know anything about the new gym leader, cause I don't?" asked Jack as he navigated them towards the gym.

"Nope. Nothing, but his name." The two continued walking for a bit. "Chinika. What kind of man do you think he is?" An image formed in Kelvin's head. "Do you think he's strong and courageous?"

Meanwhile Mitch was inadvertently plotting his re-entrance. He flew to the top of a tall tower, the bell tower, and spied out from it. The little Delibird could make out a few shapes in the distance that seemed familiar. "Gym."

"Are you sure the gym leader is even a man," asked Jack as the two continued talking about the gym leader. "Well it doesn't really matter. Whoever the gym leader is, they're going to want to know about this."

Jack walked up to a building. "This is where it was." Jack looked on the sign and it showed that this place was actually the gym "Well it doesn't look like it, but here we are."

"Deli!" Mitch came swooping down from the bell tower and perched on Kelvin's head. The trainer just simply laughed.

"Ah good to see you're not missing, man!" He returned the Delibird. Now that the two were right in front of the gym, there was no need for protection. They were in the safest possible place that they could be. Kelvin opened the doors of the gym and the two entered.

Gym Leader Chinika
Ecruteak City Gym

Miharu glanced at the trainer that was sparring against the Typhlosion. "Trainer-san against Typhlosion is being a bit too rash. Hold back and assess the situation before charging in. Otherwise, Trainer-san is quite good."

The trainer stopped to look at Miharu and seemed to recognize her. But Chinika gave him a nod and a smile, and he seemed to take his mind off that and instead be happy that she liked what he was doing. Typhlosion growled and they went for a break, having some water to drink in another corner of the hall.

"Well, aren't you just a RAY of sunshine? Maybe I could have a word?"

Chinika stirred. Somebody else came up and talked to them. A man in a beard and glasses... wait a minute.

"Ray?" Chinika blinked. So he had thought of disguising himself. Nice! "Welcome," she added.

"Now, as for the RAY of sunshine bit...really? Because that is not strange, at all," Violet's Gym leader sighed through a mental message to them. "Now, shall we take this someplace else, or no?"

But before Chinika or Ray could react, Miharu sent another mental message to them. "Ah, wait a moment, there is a challenger at the gym. Be back in a flash, no pun intended as everyone will see what I mean shortly." And the quiet woman disappeared in a flash of light.

Chinika giggled. "No can do. I guess it must be nice to be able to go anywhere at any time. Now..." she turned to Ray.

"Doesn't seem like this friendly town can harbor a secret base, does it? But there is one. I will lead you to it this afternoon. Be sure to go there at different times and disguised. Let's just say... if you happen to meet a Kimono dancer with a Flareon, you should bow to her and touch her nose gently with your index finger."

She giggled almost uncontrollably, but made sure to keep quiet enough to not attract attention from any trainers inside the gym. "That's what you need to know."

Then the big doors of the gym opened, and Chinika looked up from behind the rocks they were sitting next too to see if more gym leaders were coming. What she saw made her freeze inside and gulp. She shot down behind the rocks again and dragged Ray with her so that the newcomers wouldn't see them. She wasn't sure they recognized her, of course... she had never met them before since they weren't Team Rocket executives. But she knew who they were. Very well. She had studied them. She had had to.

Kelvin, the ice leader of Olivine, and Jack the dragon leader of Cianwood. Why on earth were they here? Somewhat desperate, Chinika thought of plans... but then realized it would be better if she just was herself. Well, her bubbly self.

"Stay out of sight. They probably won't recognize you in this outfit if you don't speak to them," she told Ray. "When the coast is clear, walk upstairs and find Frederic. I don't think we should make them spot you here in Ecruteak."

She cursed herself slightly for not having given Miharu a watch-phone already and walked out casually from behind the rocks and pretended to spot the two leaders.

With a curious smile, she made sure her violet colored tunika and black belt looked nice and walked up to them at the doors just as she would have done with any new trainers.

"What do we have here, new trainers?" she asked them, flashing a wide smile. "Welcome to Ecruteak gym, sirs! I believe... I believe I recognize you from somewhere, though I might be wrong."


((OOC: Really though, in the future, make sure to have a pokémon teleport Miharu away. I don't want her to be able to teleport on her own, that would be too unfair.))

Ray silently scowls as Miharu teleports away. Annoying girl. Stay out of my head or I'll have you electr- hmm? Chinika giggles, breaking Ray's train of thought."Doesn't seem like this friendly town can harbor a secret base, does it? But there is one..." Chinika giggles almost uncontrollably, irritating Ray. "Would you stop that- whoa!" Chinika grabs him as she dives behind a rock, looking at the door.

Ray glances around the rock, seeing Kelvin and Jack. "What? What are they-" "Stay out of sight. They probably won't recognize you ... if you don't speak to them... find Frederic..." Chinika composes herself and goes to meet with the two.

Ray keeps out of sight of the door, casually approaching a trainer and asking where the stairs are. He quietly, but still casually, heads to them, keeping his face away from the other Leaders. Let's hope this disguise works. They've never seen my face anyway, but we can't take that chance... He quickly heads upstairs, looking for Frederic.

"Frederic? Fred? Hey Freddie, where are you?"

((I kinda chopped up Chinika's dialogue so it didn't get repetitive, but still flowed and got a point across. Hence the ellipses.))

((OOC: Her pokemon did teleport her; this is just something weird I do that pokemon can use something like teleport inside the pokeballs. If needed, I can edit it, say that Miharu sent Bishamon out, and then have him teleport them. :P))

Miharu Mizushima, Violet City Gym

Miharu teleported inside the gym and smirked when she saw Kellyn. Plus, the last mental message Ray sent her was hilarious.

"Uh...hello, Miharu. You just came from Ecruteak, didn't you?"

"Perhaps," stated Miharu. "Need a ride? Just, hold on for a second."

She turned around and saw the challenger standing there waiting. The challenger looked shocked with the way Miharu made her entrance.

"Misaki-san, right?" questioned Miharu.

Misaki nodded hesitantly. "Yes...How did you know that...?"

Miharu shrugged, before moving briefly to her place. "Good guess. Three-on-three, singles, no substitutions for the challenger."

Misaki blinked and glanced around. "Isn't there a referee?"

"If one cannot tell when their pokemon is unable to battle, they do not deserve this badge," stated Miharu.

Misaki looked fairly confused, but nodded all the same. "Alright..." She stood at her spot.

One of Miharu's pokeballs sent out light as her Alakazam, Satoshi, came out. Misaski blinked, wondering why Miharu didn't call her Alakazam out, but brushed it to the side. She sent out her Haunter.

"Misaki-san may have the first move," said Miharu.

Misaki nodded. "Haunter, Shadow Punch!"

Haunter nodded, disappearing and reappearing in front of Satoshi to land a punch. Miharu's face was blank; although Misaki used a nice tactic, using a move that could not miss, there was still deflection.

"Satoshi, Psychic," Miharu stated out loud. She would see where the battle would take her to see whether or not she would need to actually give out orders telepathically.

Satoshi's eyes turned blue and Psychic appeared around Haunter, stopping him in its tracks.

"Haunter! Return!" Misaki returned her Haunter.

Miharu nodded. "Good choice. Although Haunter's ghost and dark type moves are super effective against Psychic types, due to his Poison sub-typing, he is also weak to Psychic types as well."

Misaki nodded before taking out another pokeball. "Umbreon, go!"

Umbreon came out and growled at Satoshi. Miharu chuckled slightly. "Dark types..."

"Umbreon, use Faint Attack!"

Umbreon ran towards Satoshi, body glowing black. He reached Satoshi and hit him, who winced at the super effective move.

"Focus Blast at close range."

Misaki's eyes widened. "Umbreon, get away as fast as you can!"

Umbreon tried to obey the order, but was too slow. Satoshi built up the Focus Blast too quickly and hit Umbreon in close range with the Focus Blast. There was a small explosion as Umbreon was thrown off his feet and slammed into a wall. Satoshi was held in place by his psychic powers.

"Umbreon!" Misaki ran towards Umbreon, who fainted from the Focus Blast and slamming into the wall. "He can't battle anymore..."

Miharu nodded. "Send out Misaki-san's next pokemon."

Misaki nodded, holding out Umbreon's pokeball. "Return. You did great." Misaki went back to her space on the trainer's area. She sent out the Haunter again.

"Haunter, use Shadow Ball!"

"Satoshi, use Shadow Ball to counter."

Haunter built up and launched quite a few Shadow Balls and Satoshi met them each. When they all slammed into each other, they canceled out. Once, Satoshi was a little faster at sending out Shadow Balls and about two or three hit Haunter, who cried out in pain. He, however, didn't faint with his trainer's encouragements.

"That's the way to go Haunter! Now, use Hypnosis!"

"Satoshi knows what to do." Miharu sounded bored.

Satoshi closed his eyes to counter the effect of Hypnosis before launching a Psybeam in Haunter's direction. With both Misaki and Haunter being shocked that Satoshi could launch a Psybeam directly at Haunter with his eyes closed, the Psybeam hit Haunter without any problem and it fainted.

Misaki sighed and recalled Haunter. "You did good." Misaki hesitated with calling out her third, and last pokemon, before calling him out in the end.

It was a Blastiose that roared seeing Satoshi. Without any prompt from his trainer, Blastoise shot a powerful Hydro Pump at Satoshi.

Both Miharu and Satoshi reacted. "Teleport," she stated as Satoshi disappeared before reappearing near the roof above Blastoise, waving his spoons.

"What was that?" Miharu questioned, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Blastoise, who was looking around to see where Satoshi went.

"Uh...he doesn't really listen to me that much," stated Misaki sheepishly. Miharu narrowed her eyes as she walked towards Blastoise who pointed his cannons at her when she got too close.

Misaki blinked in shock. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Figuring out the problem," Miharu said simply before putting a palm out to Blastoise and closing her eyes, a dark purple aura appearing on her hands. Both Blastoise and Misaki stared at it in shock.

"You really are psychic as the rumors say..." whispered Misaki.

However, Miharu didn't hear her. She focused on the Blastoise's pains, his memories. He saved her from some Team Rocket while he was a Wartortle, nearly risking his own life. But, when he evolved, Misaki started using him less and less until she stopped using him completely. This was the first time he was outside for a battle for a couple of months now.

Miharu's eyes opened as she glared at Misaki. "This gym badge battle is over."

Misaki eyes' widened in shock. "Why? Are you giving me the badge?"

"No," was her simple answer. "Satoshi, return."

Satoshi nodded before returning himself in his pokeball.

"Why not? Why, what is wrong?"

"Did Misaki-san even explain why she stopped using Blastoise, after he risked his life to save Misaki-san's? Misaki-san has completely disregarded her own pokemon's feelings and hurt them deeply. Misaki-san is even lucky that Blastoise has not abandoned her yet, although that may be due his loyalty to her in the past. Did she not even think that, maybe, by not letting him battle and not explaining why, would hurt him? Does she even care about her pokemon's feelings at all? If she tries to lie and tell me she does, she needs to train and better herself before challenging this gym again," stated Miharu coldly. "Please exit the gym."

Misaki stared at Miharu in slight shock. "Blastoise return," she said, still reveling at Miharu's harsh words before leaving.

Miharu huffed slightly. "People are such idiots."

Gym Leader Jack
Ecruteak City Gym

Jack looked into the Gym as Kelvin opened the door and watched as a woman walked over to greet them. "What do we have here, new trainers?" she asked the pair leading Jack to believe that she didn't know that they are gym leaders. The woman started smiling and continued "Welcome to Ecruteak gym, sirs! I believe... I believe I recognize you from somewhere, though I might be wrong."

"Sorry but I don't recognize you, but I'm sure I would remember your pretty face if I ever saw you. Jack was being friendly but knew that there was no time to waste. "I'm Jack and this is Kelvin we're looking for Chinika the gym leader"

As Ray looks around the upper floor, Frederic walks over to him. "I'm Frederic. Stop speaking so loudly." Ray glances behind himself at the stairs, hoping he wasn't seen. "Excellent. Now, you're supposed to show me-" "I know what I'm supposed to do. Follow me. Quickly."

Fred heads towards the back, Ray following. "Why won't anyone let me finish a sentence around here?" They arrive at a ladder, which leads down to a small room. Fred leads Ray to a back door, explaining the plan. "Head outside, and follow the road to the Dance Theater. Try to blend in. It's a bar, so have a drink, watch the show, and try not to talk to too many people. Remember who to wait for, and what to do when they arrive." As soon as Ray is outside, Fred shuts and locks the door behind him. "Well. That was helpful."

Ray sends a message to his grunts at the Pokemon Center. hey guys meet me at dance theater in five He straightens his tie as he heads out, almost laughing at the sheer quantity of things that have happened in such a short time. Almost laughing. He follows the road until he finds the theater, nestled in the shadow of the towers that made Ecruteak famous. He goes inside, finding a suitable table to sit at. He looks around at the room, waiting. "The hell kind of bar opens before noon?"

((To be continued...))

((Frederic played with Red's permission.))