01x. requiem of the FALLEN [PG16]

[parallelzero]

art by gn​

Ugh, sorry to all who joined the last one. I met some snags and couldn't start. However, not I have free time so. I'm going to start signups over again too, aside from the first three (Mika, Britney Spears, and myself) \o/

PLOT
"The pursuit of knowledge can only be achieved through great sacrifice."

A famous line known to almost all Pokémon researchers always ran through the brilliant mind of Dr. Edward Caimbridge , head researcher for the premiere PRI, Pokémon Research Institute, located deep within the depths of Mount Coronet. The PRI was a secret organization that received commissions from various groups around the world to further both positive and negative testing on Pokémon. Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Galactic are all groups that have deals with the PRI, all unaware of the others involvement. However, the PRI was also conducting experiments of its own, experiments much more inhumane and menacing than anything they were ever commissioned by their benefactors.

Dr. Caimbridge, head of this project, was a man whom had seen many things throughout his life. First as a trainer, and then as a researcher, his youth had ignited a ferocious curiosity towards the unknown, even more so than most people, so he began to dedicate his time to uncovering the truth. One such truth was how Pokémon came to be on our planet. There was a rumor that one such Pokémon, Arceus, was the creator and thus God of all Pokémon. However, this creature was one not yet documented by modern scientists, its appearances few with no substantial proof to back up its existence. But that was okay, since Caimbridge had a plan, and using the PRI he found a means to make this plan a realization. He would create an Arceus of his own – a fake Arceus.

The events up to the awakening went off without a hitch. The essential components were gathered – or at least those he thought were needed – such as the Lustrous, Adamant, and Griseous Orbs that represented the lives of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina respectively, and the materials needed to give the Pokémon a living shape. Soon after, the deed was done, although it manifested itself in a way nobody would imagine. It was true, it was an Arceus in shape that was formed, but it's black body and red eyes suggested to Caimbridge that he had made a terribly error.

Those thought were the last thoughts that passed through the researchers head before the black Arceus let out a cry, only to disappear temporarily with some of the PRI's other experiments, while taking almost the entirety of Mount Coronet with it in a massive explosion that not only destroyed the PRI, but buried most of the area – including towns – around the mountain in rubble that produced very few survivors. The only part of the mountain that still stood was the Spear Pillar, which floated in the air like a ghost, casting a shadow over the destruction below. The world bore many losses that day, and only three days after when people and Pokémon of the world were still mourning, another disaster struck. In Kanto, Saffron City had been reported to have been completely wiped off the map in a bizarre explosion similar to the one in Mount Coronet only days before. Caimbridge's creation clearly had something against people.

The problem in Caimbridge's formula, what he had overlooked when he created the Arceus was something very simple: the Plates. The sixteen elemental plates were necessary, along with the Heaven's Pipe in order to summon the God Pokémon atop the Spear Pillar, although the scientist had not paid enough attention to what he considered to be a trivial legend to realize this. However, a couple of people did. Two Champions, Cynthia and Lance, whom had been studying the origins of the world and Legendary Pokémon were the first to learn of the fake Arceus and the first to propose a possible solution. All they'd have to do is find the sixteen plates and the pipe, and then summon the real Arceus in order to stop this seemingly unstoppable menace to both humans and Pokémon alike. Upon further investigation, though, they found something strange. All sixteen plates had literally found themselves owners. As if bound by a will, the plates really wouldn't disappear from the people's lives, no matter how hard they tried to be rid of them. These select people had been chosen by fate, the Champions decided, and all those in possession of plates were to be gathered and brought to the Spear Pillar.

And that, my friends, is where our tale of hope and suffering begins, a tale wrought with misfortune and unpleasantries, but also possesses the warmth and light of hope we are all familiar with. Let the tale begin!


APPLYING
I'd like to just be like "Whoever wants to can join!", but as of right now I'm rather unfamiliar with the member base in this forum after being away for so long. So, before anyone applies, I'd like you to PM me with a sample of your RPing, along with a vague description of the type of character you wish to play at which I'll give you a yay or nay. Please, don't apply if you can't stay active, however. If you get a yay, I'll be going over some more details with you regarding the plot, and you'll need to fill out the character sheet below and post it in this thread. I'm only going to be accepting 6 people, since 2 characters are mine which means 4 plates are gone from the get-go. Also, sign up here:


Name:
Age:
Gender:
Profession: (Trainer, Coordinator, Scientist, etc.)
Appearance:
Personality:
History:
Plates: (Each character gets 2 plates of the list below. The type you choose will play a role later. First come first serve.)

Pokemon: (A party of 6 maximum. Make sure you describe their personalities and any physical traits that may be different from the norm)


PLATES
Each character gets two of your choosing, but it's a first come, first serve basis.

Insect Plate [Bug] takes by parallelines
Dread Plate [Dark] taken by Mika
Draco Plate [Dragon] taken by Mika
Zap Plate [Electric] taken by YoshiRiRu
Fist Plate [Fighting]
Flame Plate [Fire] taken by Lana.
Sky Plate [Flying]taken by YoshiRiRu
Spooky Plate [Ghost] taken by parallelines
Meadow Plate [Grass] taken by Lana.
Earth Plate [Ground]
Icicle Plate [Ice] taken by parallelines
Toxic Plate [Poison] taken by Britney Spears
Mind Plate [Psychic] taken by parallelines
Stone Plate [Rock]
Iron Plate [Steel]
Splash Plate [Water] taken by Britney Spears


CAST
parallelines
Mika
Britney Spears
YoshiRiRu

 

[parallelzero]

"This is... quite the set of trees. Don't you think so, Furret?" The young Avery Greene stood in awe at the massive entirety of the trees composing the city of Fortree. Hoenn had some pretty amazing cities, she had found, but this one was pretty close to taking the cake and eating it too. She took a moment to flatten her skirt which had become ruffled during their long hike through Route 119. Not to mention it had been raining, so she was thoroughly soaked. Her Furret, on the other hand, seemed none-too-concerned with the dampness of it's fur as it danced around in the grass, excited to be in the sunlight for the first time in hours. When Avery had straightened up and dried out her outfit as best as possible without the proper supplies, she departed inwards in order to find a Pokemon Center where she could rest. The long hike was tiring, even more so for her Pokemon who had fought many battles along the way.

Fortunately, the nearest Pokemon Center was right near the entrance to the city. And, better yet, it was on the ground as opposed to in the trees. She had a fear of heights, so Avery definitely wouldn't be going up there unless she absolutely needed to. After grabbing something to eat and tending to her own Pokemon with her own signature Pokechow formula, she decided to check out the gym. As a trainer, she was going to challenge it at some point during her stay, so she might as well figure out where it was. Unfortunately, her journey brought her upwards into the trees and she quickly became lost and flustered due to her fears acting up. She also was ignorant to the solemn mood of the citizens walking by, for Avery had yet to learn of the destruction of Mount Coronet that everyone was talking about, having been on the road the whole time. She quickly became reliant on following Furret, who seemed to be following it's nose towards something. But, while Avery had asked it to lead her to a ladder down, the Furret had caught the scent of something more interesting.

Avery sensed something was off when they followed a wooden walkway off of the main road of the city. She asked her Furret if they were going the right way, but received no answer. However, out of trust for her Pokemon, she continued until they met with the largest tree in the forest by far. The walkway just sort of ended at the gigantic tree, which lead her to believe that it was some sort of tourist attraction. There were ladder steps engraved into the trunk of the tree which indicated people climbed for some reason, but Avery had no intention of doing so... until her Furret started climbing. With a sigh, the girl followed suit, hoping nobody decided to come up behind her as she was wearing a skirt. "Furret! Come back!" She cried after her pocket monster and accidentally getting a look down at the height she was at. She let out a scream as she almost let go and fell. However, she regained her composure and continued her pursuit, which eventually took her to a platform branching out from the massive trunk.

The young girl moment took a moment to catch her breath, and then quickly found her Furret dancing around a strange, rectangular stone embedded in the tree trunk. It wasn't very big - maybe the size of her hand, and it was a yellowish green in colour. It looked kind of like another stone she had, and ice-blue charm she always carried around. But she had left that in her bag back at the Pokemon Center, so she had no way of comparing. Another look at her Furret, however, proved otherwise. The ice blue stone was embedded in the underside of the Furret's fur, as if it had brought it along on purpose. The two stones began to resonate light together, and as Avery went to move her Furret away from any possible danger, a light engulfed them and blasted them away.

The last thing she could remember was falling, before she landed on something and the light turned to darkness.

---

2 DAYS LATER

"Scizor! Get in there with Metal Claw!" The young man known as Rene White ordered his Pokemon as the steel insect rammed its large claws into the face of a Neo-Rocket Golbat. This was their third attack in like two weeks, and there had to be at least fifteen Rocket members, which was way more than usual. He had already been pushed back to the beach of Olivine City in Johto, which was an issue since that means the homes between the entrance and the shore were at risk of being plundered by the evil beings provided the other members of the resistance weren't there to defend them. Even more troublesome was that he had left Jasmine's side in order to deal with the initial group of Rocket members, and the rumbling coming from the Olivine Gym was notification enough that she was dealing with them in her own way.

Distracted by the affairs of the Olivine gym leader, his employer, the blue haired youth was knocked hard by another Rocket's Golbat, knocking him into the salty shore water of the beach, his Scizor backing off after him to protect his trainer from any further damage. The boy, soaking wet, got back onto his feet slowly as the Neo-Rocket member taunted him. Luckily, he had set up precautions in the case that these idiots wanted to play dirty. After all, as an ex-Rocket member himself, he had a pretty good idea as to how they thought. Of course, he wasn't going to play dirty until they had done so themselves. Rene snapped his fingers on his right hand, and for a moment nothing happened. But, seconds later a ball of dark energy seemingly erupted from the darkness, the Shadow Ball knocking one of the attacking Rocket members right out. A Haunter finally revealed itself, laughing at its victory and firing another round at the other Rocket. Seemingly, his comrades were beginning to gain the upper hand as well as the flares the alliance had decided on to indicate victory were going up one after the other. The boy let out a sigh of relief before recalling his Pokemon. He was about to head back when he noticed something sticking out of the sand below his soaking wet feet.

It was a stone of some sort, shaped like a rectangular plate. It was purple in colour, about the size of the palm of his hand, and similar in appearance to an artifact he found in the Pokemon Tower of Lavendar Town. He kept it on him at all times as instructed by Jasmine. Why she wanted him to keep it on him at all times was a mystery, but he did as he was told. Curiously, this stone on the ground and the one in his pocket began to glow, and that was the last he could remember before blacking out.

OOC: Find two plates, black out. Thus is the jist of our first posts!

 

[YoshiRiRu]

OOC: I wasn't sure if we were supposed to already have a plate, but I decided to find both simultaneously. Hope that's okay?

Ruins of Alph

South of Violet City lies the mysterious ruins of Alph. The Unown, an ancient pokemon that generations long lost used to convey stories and legends about legendary Pokemon, built their final sanctuary here. Scientists and Archaeologists made their way to and from the caves and top paleontologists bustled to and fro, trying to put pieces of what they were finding together to make a big picture. Meanwhile, Axel LeRoux crouched quietly behind a large group of bushes.

<How long are we going to be here?> whined Stella, floating glumly aside Axel.

"Get down. We don't want anybody to see us." he whispered sharply, his eyes still fixed on the ruins of Alph that stretched before him. "You know I wouldn't make you come unless I was sure of something.. and this is going to be big." Stella rolled her eyes, hearing the same familiar story that she heard EVERY time they were at a site. Still, once they actually got into the mix, Stella's adventurous spirit kicked in and she ended up having a lot of fun.

<Okay then, so what are we waiting for?> she asked, peeking out of the leaves beside her friend.

"See that cave right there?" he pointed and Stella nodded. "That's one of the entrances to the ruins. That's where we're going. Now. See him?" he pointed again, this time at the pair of security guards guarding the cave entrance. "That's where we're stopped. This site is under the supervision of Kyle Fishman, who-" Stella cut him off with a sigh, knowing very well who Kyle Fishman was. Axel sighed in return. "Yeah. I know. Me and Fishman don't have the best history, so he set out security guards to try and keep me off the premises." Stella sighed again, more furious than the last.

<Why do you insist on following Fishman everywhere? You know he hates your guts! Nothing from Fishman's sites ever leads to anything, so why..?> She left her question open ended, hoping Axel would finish it for her. He did not, only offering a blank stare of pity.

"Poor girl." He said, bringing his hands to the side of his head and cranking the fake waterworks. Stella huffed and looked away. Axel smiled. "We follow Fishman because he has access to the most current digging and analysis equipment. Fishman isn't very bright though, so he usually leaves plenty behind for me to work with after he's done."

<Well, why not just wait until he leaves before getting back on the site?> asked Stella, with another huff. Axel grinned.

"Yeah, like that's as much fun."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About 45 minutes later, Axel decided that it was dark enough to try to get in. "I'm sure they've been told about you, Stell." he whispered apologetically. "You've been with me on every break-in, so let's try and give someone else a chance. Let's go, Scrubs." he tossed the pokeball and out popped Scrubs, as weird as ever. Scrubs stared at Axel with his head cocked to the side, his beady black eyes like a doll's carefully but also unseeingly observing him. It creeped Axel out. He shook it off and turned Scrubs to face the two guards, pointing again. "I know you've got a mean Spore, so go ahead and knock those two out." Scrubs nodded and hopped out into the open.

Axel watched as the Breloom bounced up in front of the guards. Assuming he was wild, one of the guards reached for a pokeball. Come on, man, get him already! thought Axel desperately. Seeming to hear him, Scrubs reared back, his face still a statue of nonemotion, and with his stretchy arms cracked both guards in the jaw, knocking them both into a scrambled heap on the ground. Axel winced, but dashed out of the bushes, grabbing Scrubs as he ran over the two unconscious guards. "Spore, I said! Spore!"

<Oops.> he said simply, and they rushed into the cavern.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The excavation team had turned in for the day, so the site itself was empty. Eerily silent, the only thing that made any noise was the plodding of Axel's shoes on the dirt floor. Looking around brielfly, he casually ducked into the excavation pit and began looking around. He carefully put on gloves and began to examine a piece of rock that was oddly jutting out of the ground. Axel picked up the stone and tapped it twice, examining it carefully. As he held it in his hand, something strange began to happen. The rock began to glow, shake, and finally crumble, and left was a large slab engraved with a single message. Axel stared at it with wide eyes as he quickly scanned the text. It read:

"The sky, the storm?" he mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. As he twirled the slab around in his hands, a compartment in the back opened up, and two small plates fell from it. A clear one which was cool to the touch and a yellow one which gave off a pleasing current that made Axel's hand tingle when he held it. As he marvelled at the two artifacts, he quickly turned to hear a voice yelling from the cave entrance. Kyle Fishman, along with the two previously unconscious guards, were dashing into the cave.

"LeRoux! I'll have you arrested for this, I swear it! I sw-" Fishman began, but he was cut off by a gut-wrenching lightning crash that sent Axel into an unconscious stupor, and he spiralled into a deep darkness.

 

[Lana.]

"Try it again." The command was terse with growing impatience.

Karen glared in exasperation at her trainer, but the look was lost on Rori's indifferent but expectant face. With an annoyed sound, Karen turned back around and started to absorb the sunlight for what had to be the 20th time that day. Currently, in preparation for a contest in Celestic Town, Rori was trying to get Karen to better control her Solarbeam attack - it had the power, it just lacked the finesse really necessary for a contest. It was all too much, and Rori was anything but over-the-top.

It certainly didn't help Karen's concentration that her teammates (well, some) were stifling chuckles at her expense. Though both Caleb and Jason had stayed at camp with Rori and Karen, Terrence and Charlie had decided to go exploring. And seeing as Rori didn't trust them to be alone, she sent Evelyn along to make sure they didn't do anything less than intelligent.

Speaking of which.

Just as Rori was about to have Karen stop her latest attempt at the move, the Rapidash did it for her. She suddenly froze, the energy fading from her horn as she turned to look at the trees, her ears pricked forward as she inhaled. Looking around, Rori saw that Caleb and Jason had also tensed. She sighed; it was moments like these she wished she had the senses of a Pokemon. But just as she was about to ask what was wrong (not that they coudl answer, but still), they all relaxed. It took only a second for Rori to see why.

Evelyn and Charlie made their way through the bushes, both without facial expressions of any sort. Rori, though, immediately found reason to frown. "Where's Terrence?" she asked, her hands finding her hips.

Quite frankly, the thought of her Aerodactyl flapping around the woods was not a fantasy Rori hoped for often, if at all. With something of a senstive temper, Terrence could wreak havoc if he was in the mood. The fact that Rori had so painstakingly taught him Flamethrower insured that much. So the fact that Evelyn had let him leave her sight for even a moment was something Rori had no patience for. But then, if the Aerodactyl had decided to just take off, there wasn't much Evelyn could have done to stop him.

And with that in mind, Rori tried to be fair as Evelyn looked up at her, her eyes holding somewhat of a defensive wall. And that was really all Rori needed - if Evelyn had indeed been able to stop Terrence and hadn't, she would be properly abashed. So she sighed and ran a hand through her hair before turning to look at Jason. "Think you can find him?" I asked. Jason not only had both the speed and the nose to find Terrence, he also had that sense of do-what-I-say-or-you're-toast around him. No one on Rori's team could wtihstand Jason's expectant and unyielding look that told them that if they decided to do something they knew was stupid, he'd flay them himself.

But just as Jason was about to take off, Evelyn gave Rori's arm a tug. Looking down, she saw that the Froslass was holding something out to her, looking eager to be rid of it. As she took it, she understood why. The small slab of stone was a fiery red-orange, and seemed to give off a heat of its own. Flipping it over, she noticed that Karen had crossed over to her, seeming to be drawn by the rectangular slab. She gave the Rapidash a few strokes on the snout to make sure she was calm before looking back down to the strange object in her hands.

"Something's written here," she said quietly, squinting to try and make it out. "'The powers of Plates are shared among Pokemon.'" She frowned now, wondering what that could mean. "So is this a Plate?" she asked herself quietly. She stowed it away in her pocket for the time being, in deep thought for a moment or two. Finally, she shook herself out of her reverie and turned back to jason, who also seemed taken aback by the interesting turn of events. Just as she was about to send him off to look for Terrence, a loud flapping made her look up.

Lo and behold, it was Terrence. He landed right next to Rori, stirring up quite a bit of dirt as he did so. As Rori brushed herself off, she glared at the Aerodactyl. "Where have you been?" she asked.

The Aerodactyl was not embarrassed nor ashamed. He didn't waste time with attempting to explain himself, rather, he dropped something at Rori's feet. Her face cleared when she saw what it was, her expression of frustration replaced with one of curiosity once more. It was another Plate, only this one was a rich, deep green. As she took it into her hands, she noticed that this slab gave off a pleasant vibe that relaxed Rori almost immediately. Ignoring Karen nudging her pocket where the red plate was, she flipped over the newly-found green plate and read the inscription. "'The power of defeated giants infuses this Plate,'" she read aloud quietly. Just as she was about to ask Terrence where he had found the plate, Karen whinnied.

"What, Karen?" Rori finally asked, growing tired of the Rapidash's antics. But then she saw why Karen had raised an alarm. The pocket of her jeans was glowing. Trying to ignore the sudden wave of dizziness that washed over her, she pulled the plate out to see it was indeed giving off a brilliant light. And then she saw the green plate doing the same. And that was the last she remembered, because then the dizziness overtook her. She fell to the ground, the last she heard the worried sounds of her Pokemon before she blacked out.

 

[luke]

Why do I always let my mother drag me into these things, Brianne moaned to herself. She had been away for over a year and she decided to drop home for a visit. Brianne had promised her mom while was she home she would accompany her into the city for a day at the contest hall. Unfortunately, upon their arrival, the hall officials were frantically searching for several coordinators to fill in for several participants who had been mysteriously poisoned the night before, thus making incapable of participating. It seemed like the contest would have to be canceled. Luckily for them, Brianne's mother quickly spoke up: both Brianne and her possessed contest passes and they could fill in for the missing contestants.

"Perfect!" the frantic official had spurted, quickly escorting the two of them into the room reserved for contestants.

---

At this point, both Brianne and her mother had both made it past the appeal rounds. They were both sitting in the back room waiting for the match ups for the battle rounds to be announced. Brianne sat watching her mother polish her Blastoise's shell in nearly a daze. Since she had returned home, she hadn't been able to surf once. Her parents had kept her so busy helping their research and day trips to Fortree and Mossdeep she hadn't had any time. She wanted to get this contest done as quickly as possible in hopes of getting some time to surf tonight.

"Wake up Brianne. Their posting the matchups!" Brianne excitedly said, rushing towards the contest attendant as she tacked the piece of paper on the wall. "WELL LOOK AT THAT SWEETIE! We're facing each other in the first round! Ohhhh and look! It's going to be a double battle with two Pokemon were participant! Isn't that awesome sweetie!"

"Fantastic," Brianne quipped. Deep down, her competitive nature was getting aroused. However, her body was longing for the beach and the waves...

---

"Well, wasn't that something spectacular!? Yang and his Venomoth have scraped out quite the comeback over Tulabelle and her dynamic duo of Vileplume and Camerupt! Let's give it up for our contestants!" the MC announced as the crowd erupted into applause.

Brianne and her mother stood right off stage. Their battle was next in the lineup.

"I hate crowds..." Brianne muttered.

Her mother placed her hand on shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry sweetie. I'll beat you as quickly as possible to get you off the stage." Brianne smirked. Her mother never acted like the fifty-seven year old she was. She was always climbing mountains, battling everyone who crossed her path and swimming underwater like she was still thirteen years old.

Brianne was then interrupted by the announcer whose bellowing voice began to echo through the building, "Welcome all to what promises to be an exciting firs--"

Suddenly, a young female police officer burst onto the battlefield and rushed to the judges table where Mr. Contesta was sitting. Her face was bright purple and her whole body was shaking. "Mr... Contesta... we think that this plate... may be the reason for the poisonings..." Her eyes then glazed over and she collapsed to the ground. A necklace slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. Everyone began to murmur in horror and someone yelled 'CALL AN AMBULANCE!' Nurse Joy rushed to her side and began to tend to her.

Brianne felt strange. The plate that fell to the ground... it felt familiar. She walked to it and bent over to grab it. Suddenly, the necklace she had worn since she was a little girl began to burn brightly. So did the plate in her hand. Her vision blurred, then disappeared. She the collapsed to the ground...

 

[parallelzero]

"Ugh... where the hell am I?" Rene moaned as he finally awoke from his slumber, pushing his face up and out of a pillow while using a free hand to wipe his face off. He smelled horribly of sea water - and for a good reason, he collapsed right near the shore. At the very least, he was lucky he didn't drown. Sounds suddenly disrupted his train of thought: the sounds of Pokemon eating? He shot a glance towards the source of the sound on the opposite side of the room, where he found his Pokemon, along with some other Pokemon chowing down on some Pokemon food, a girl knelt down beside his Xatu, petting it cheerfully. All he could muster was an "Oi!" as he slowly got to his feet. Just what had happened while he was asleep? Come to think of it, what was this place? It was clearly a ridiculously large bedroom, with steel walls and decorated only with two metal beds, two metal desks, a closet, and two metal bookshelves. And why... did it feel like he was moving?

Avery was startled by the boy's sudden sound, and she turned to face him with a jolt, completely taken off-guard. She looked Rene over for a moment as she got to her feet, before starting the conversation off on a relatively bad note. "You don't feed your Pokemon properly, you know. Your Xatu's feathers are nowhere near as silky as they should be, and don't get me started on your Scizor's luster. She noticed the boy's eye twitch suddenly, either in irritation, or surprise, or both, but didn't bother caring and continued. "If you're wondering why you're Pokemon are out, it's because I wanted to make sure you were worthy of taking care of them, and clearly you aren't."

Rene sweatdropped. This girl was certainly cute, almost reminding him of Jasmine in a way, but what was with all of this high and mighty talk? "What I do with my Pokemon really isn't any of your business, y'know. Besides, what's going on? Where are we?"

"Read the note on the nightside table." She answered coldly, clearly still not very impressed with the young man. Rene found the note no problem, but what it said was a little harder to digest. It mentioned something about how they were on an airship destined for the top of the ruined Mount Coronet, where they were to... summon Arceus using the plates that chose them? It was at that point that he remembered the purple artifacts he had and wondered if those were what the letter was referring to. He quickly dug through his pockets, and found the two items mentioned. They were glowing in sync, and as the girl quickly lifted hers in the air, he could see that all four were doing the same thing. "Badly fed Pokemon or not, I guess we're in this together, huh?" Rene nodded hesitantly before continuing to read. Apparently all they had to do was get off the airship at the Spear Pillar and the plates would do the rest. The most shocking part was the signature at the bottom, which read 'Lance'. Was it that Lance?

"So, Princess, my name is Rene, what's yours?" He smirked as he returned his Pokemon.

Avery's cheeks puffed up. "I'm not acting like a Princess! I'm just concerned is all! I'm Avery, and I'm actually a sweet, cute, pretty-"

"Egotistical-"

"Charming, wonderful-"

"Princess."

"Shut up." She sighed as she returned all of her Pokemon but her Furret, her head hung low.

Suddenly, an announcement erupted over the intercom. "Would all of the trainers head to the main lobby in preparation for landing?" Rene didn't say anything to Avery as he left the room and followed the signs to the main lobby, which was really just a bunch of black couches amidst more silver metal. He was going to meet the others here, huh? Avery plopped down on a separate couch, not really wanting to deal with the man who mistreats his Pokemon much longer. She wondered if the others were like that...

---

"You understand what we have to do when they get here, right Amai?"

"Kill them, right? If that's his will, then I guess we'll do it. Only for him though. He did save us after all, right, onii-chan?"

OOC: To the lobby!

 

[YoshiRiRu]

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The combination of a brisk wind and the sound (and feeling) of dripping water splashing down on Axel's pillow was just aggravating enough to rouse him from his stupor. Lifting his pillow with one hand, his eyes still defiantly shut, he pulled it taut over his head and moaned into the less than first class mattress. In his drowsy state he wasn't sure where he was, but this uncomfortable mattress and drafty, soggy room brought the memories of the Pewter City Academy dormitormitories flooding back to him and he pulled the pillow tighter and groaned louder. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened.

As his memories swam back to him, Axel sat bolt upright in bed, but was shot down quickly by a crushing pain in his head. He clutched it with both hands, finding himself drawing his legs in towards him in the fetal position. After wallowing in misery at the lump that felt like it was the size of an Electrode on the back of his head he managed to stand up and observe his surroundings.

The defining feature of the room was metal. Stainless steel was the walls, it was the floor, it was the ceiling. In fact the only break from the metal was a small pair of portholes along the far wall. He walked over to the windows expecting to see some sort of landscape, instead he found only sky. MOVING sky. He stepped back from the window, his heartrate only slightly elevated. Axel had a way of dealing with bad situations.. they just weren't happening. He also talked to himself.

"Okay, cool." he said, cracking his neck. "I'm somewhere in the sky. I have what may be a concussion." he sighed. "Now that I have all the bad stuff out of the way, I can focus on the good! I still have all of my-" he reached for his belt which was not around his waist. This drove him into a panic. He searched the bedsheets and under the pillow, underneath the lumpy mattress, underneath the lame black coffee table..

Wait, coffee table?

Axel stopped and looked at the coffee table he had somehow overlooked before. He breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting on the table were two things. His belt, with all of his pokeballs in tact, and a small envelope, unmarked but unsealed. Inside it was a letter. It was not personally addressed to him but within the first two sentences he could tell it concerned him. The plates that he had found.. The Sky the Storm.. That must be what he's talking about. He? She? Axel skipped down to the bottom of the letter and read the signature. Lance. Huh. Axel knew a bunch of Lances. At least his abductor now had a name and a gender, if not a face. He went back up to the letter itself and continued to read. Spear Pillar.. Axel's eyes focused and he nodded. That's where Arceus was reported to dwell. It had always been a dream of his to make it to the legendary Spear Pillar, even if he didn't find anything there. There was so much history to be beheld there that even if he didn't come face to face with Arceus (he didn't really expect to, despite the letters insurance) that the simple fact of being in a spot where so much of man's god worship had taken place... Despite his circumstances, Axel couldn't help but smile.

*KRSH* "Would all of the trainers head to the main lobby in preparation for landing?" *KRSH*

An intercom which Axel had ALSO overlooked (he mentally kicked himself for missing as many things as he did.) was now silent. A door that Axel HAD seen now opened, and he walked out the door, into more metal. While not admittedly the cheeriest place on Earth, it did have it's charm. Or maybe this was another of his rationalizations. The place probably sucked.. but he would find out what was up when he got to the Lobby, the correct path illuminated by helpful signs that pointed him in the correct direction. The lobby was another, you guessed it, metal chamber with a few sofas that looked about as comfortable as the bed he had been unconscious on.

 

[luke]

Brianne jolted awake. She expected to see her mother standing above her, but instead found herself in a cold, sterile room.

"...the hell," she muttered to herself as she sat up. The room was definitely not one of the ones found in the contest hall. There was no one else in there with her. The walls weren't decorated and the only other thing in the room was a coffee table with an envelope on it. ENVELOPE! Brianne stood up and walked over to the table. She grabbed the envelope and opened it. There was a letter inside. It wasn't addressed to her but she figured it couldn't be for anyone else. She skimmed over and sighed.

"Plates... Mt. Coronet... what the hell is going on? Ugh Marill, come on out," she said, grabbing a Pokeball off her belt. The tiny blue mouse popped out and signaled its appearance by calling out its name. "Marill, I have no idea where we are. Let's do a little reconnaissance and see if there's anyone else on the ship. This lettered implied there were other people with these... plates. Let's see what they think." Marill nodded and the two of them opened to the door to their cabin. They stepped into a hallway very similar to their room: sterile and generic. Brianne looked both ways: there was no one else in sight. Several doorways lined the hallway though and there had to be at least one person on the ship. She turned left and tried walking into the first door. It was sealed shut though. If there's anyone in there, I might not want to disturb them anyway. She moved onto the next door and it too was locked.

"Alright Marill. Instead of playing this guessing game, I want you to work your magic and see if you can find anyone else." Marill cheered and jumped up and down. Its ears started to wiggle and its tail began to sway back and forth. Marill was a special Pokemon: it had the ability to act as sonar of sorts. Its ears were incredibly sensitive and it could pick up on any noise made within at least three hundred feet. It rotated around, attempting to sense anything. Suddenly, its ears perked up and it bolted further down the hallway.

"WAIT UP!" Brianne called as she sprinted after the energetic Pokemon. Marill turned a corner, bounding down the hallway on its tiny legs.

"Goddammit..." Brianne turned the corner and found Marill bouncing up and down in front of a door. Brianne could hear two voices coming from one of the room. She wondered who it could be: the people who brought her there or possibly the other people who were kidnapped. "As I always say, you've got to risk it to get the biscuit. Isn't that right Marill?"

Marill jumped up and down in agreement. Before Brianne could step forward, it took it upon itself to open the door. It ran forward and began to spin rapidly, performing its Rollout attack. It slammed its body hard into the door, which caused what Brianne presumed to be reinforced metal to dent. Not discouraged, it turned around and struck the door harder this time. This time it came unhinged, rending it impossible to open. Never one to give up, Marill came around for one more strike, this time sending the door flying into the far wall.

Inside two people stood: one male and one female. Slightly embarrassed, Brianne stepped inside and said "Uhhhh, hi there. My name's Brianne and this is my Marill. He's relatively young and when he gets excited, I can't really control him yet. Sooooo.... why are you here?"

 

[Mika]

Day in, Day out. This is what his life had become. Sitting on top of the Pokemon Center in the dead of the night again, quietly watching the city of Slateport at rest, his hand idly stroking his Flygon's dozing forehead while his ratatta remained curled up in his lap, sound asleep. There was a cup of coffee to his left. Keisuke had drunk half of it. It was so dreadfully boring. He'd been observing this area for some time now, as per his orders, and all he saw were the overly fat sailors on leave with the less than pretty hookers coming out of the pub and doing what hookers and fat slobs do in these situations. That's all he'd seen and he was getting rather sick of it. It was nauseating to watch, especially for long periods of time. Then again, the alternative wasn't too appealing. He could be in a worse situation. He could be at home. His sister could be in his shoes. Keisuke rubbed at his forehead, pushing the thought as far down as he could and went back to looking through his night goggles, scanning over the city once more for signs of illicit naughty activity.

A whisp of a blonde ponytail flickered into an alley, a girl in white dress with white shoes. He blinked, staring after her for a moment. He pulled the goggles down, rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and put the goggles back up once more. What? No, it couldn't be. There was no way she could've survived that fall. Then again, it could be someone he knew, someone trying to lure him into a trap. Returning the ratatta to its pokeball, he slipped down from the roof, his flygon hot on his heels, confused as to why he'd had to get up so suddenly but followed obediently none the less. Stopping at the alley, the boy looked side to side before turning.

A fluke. That's all that was. Just my mind playin-

A shrill familiar laughter behind him.

Keisuke turned, the blonde hair once again peeking around a corner further down in the alley.

A voice, a sweet innocent voice.

"Nii-nii? Nii-nii let's play!"

His eyes widened, his feet falling out from under him as he tried to step forward towards that voice. No. She couldn't have survived. She couldn't have. There was no way. And yet, it was possible. He stepped forward, forward, forward, trying to get to her, his hand outstretched even as the world around him began to get fuzzier and fuzzier. Her ponytail disappeared around another corner and before the boy could catch up, he slipped on something, nothing too important in particular, and fell forward. Keisuke's eyes twitched as that shrill little laughter trickled off into nothing. Two small plates twinkled under his hand. A purple…and a steel blue. It was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

- - - - - - - -

…oh what the hell. Joy lied to me and said all the beds were crap but this is comfy…. No. No. No you stupid body. I hereby tell you to shove it. I don't want to get up. Gugh… Darn you…darn youuuuu.

Keisuke groaned, rolling over, pulling a pillow up over his head. No it was warm and he didn't want to get up. The more he layed there, the more he knew he needed to get up and find out where he was because this place had actual ventilation and pillows with stuffing in them as opposed to blankets with a layer of plywood and was therefore not the slateport pokecenter. Sitting up, he ruffled his hair and looked over at his things neatly placed on the chair. Grabbing the black sling bag and throwing it over his shoulder, he read over the note neatly left on his nightstand. After two lines, he shoved it into his pack and looked out into the hall, quirking an eyebrow and wandering towards the first people he saw, leaning against the wall behind them, two girls and a boy, and simply listened to them talk, hoping to gain some information.

 

[Lana.]

Okay. She certainly had not been at a Pokemon Center when she passed out.

... Come to think of it, Pokemon Center beds were never this comfortable. Rori sat up, rubbing her eyes groggily. She squinted for a moment, trying to take in her surroundings. She blinked a few times before she realized she was in a basic room. White walls. White sheets. The only thing that stuck out was a coffee table (guess what color) with an envelope on top, with her jacket also sprawled on the surface. Before sliding out of bed, Rori gave the room another scan before locating her plain canvas backpack in the corner of the room. She yawned once before rolling her feet around and sliding out of the bed.

She crossed the room, wondering quietly where she could be. Maybe someone had found her passed out in the woods and brought her here? Well, whatever the case was, at least they had a good taste in mattresses. Rori hadn't slept that well in quite sometime. She yawned again as she found Caleb's Poke Ball with her others in the front pocket of her bag. Without looking at the waiting Persian, she smoothed down her clothes and ran her fingers through her hair. When she looked up, he was looking up at her plainly, his eyes holding no question nor expecting anything. He seemed almost bored.

Picking up her bag by it's top handle, she gave it a toss so it fell in front of the coffee table. Her barefeet made a padding sound on the bare floor as she walked backed over and scooped the envelope off the table. Her eyes saw the words and her brain registered them, but she still didn't quite understand. What significance did the Plates have? And how did they relate to the disastrous Mt. Coronet and Saffron City explosions? Frowning, ROri pocketed the letter and looked back down at the table, about to reach down for her jacket.

But she puased. The Plates had escaped her attention, and sat there next to her jacket on the plain white tabletop. Fiery red and deep green. The contrast was remarkable. As she took one into each hand, the difference was most certainly noticeable. One with a clean, pure aura and the other with an intense, scorching feel to it. Shaking her head, she slipped them into her pockets with the letter. Finally, after putting her jacket on before throwing one strap of her bag onto her shoulder, she walked out the door, Caleb at her heels.

When they entered the hallway, filled with the multiple doorways, Rori only had to look at Caleb for him to know her question. He took the lead, hopefully figuring out her question. He finally stopped at a doorway, but this one was lacking a door. But, regardless, he had understood. As Rori peered over the threshold, she saw that there were indeed human inhabitants. She stepped in, trying to be inconspicuous and lean against the wall without attracting much notice. She noted the dented, large rectangle of what looked like reinforced steel in the corner of the room. Without saying anything, she figured it must have been a Pokemon to do it.

She turned her attention to the people in the room: three male, two female, not including herself. So they had other Plates? And they had all been called here? Interesting... she could only wonder what this entailed.

 

[parallelzero]

OOC: Sorry this post is so long. I'm just trying to skip to the good stuff, really. XD I know the quality starts to die, but that's because I started the post at 6pm and finished at 11:40pm, so... Btw I kind of need you all to PM me about the whole changing-into-a-Pokemon thing with the Pokemon you've decided on. You can also add me to msn with [email protected], then we can talk freely.


Rene became more and more indifferent as the room began to fill with various people of various ages. He didn't need to bother with them right now. He just wanted to finish what he had been brought here to do and go back to Olivine. Jasmine at the very least was probably worried sick, and if Neo-Rocket attacked the town again then they'd be in some serious trouble. He overheard the Avery girl explaining to her Furret about the obliteration of Mount Coronet in Sinnoh and Saffron City in Kanto. Was this related? It must have been, seeing as they were headed for the peak of Mount Coronet - the only remaining portion of it. How it stayed afloat was a mystery, but it was probably a result of the divine Pokemon influences up there. It was a symbolic place regarding Pokemon such as Dialga and Palkia after all.

While Rene didn't even so much as wince at the gesture, Avery nearly had a full-out heart attack as a steel door clattered across the floor and a girl with her Marril emerged from the used-to-be entrance. Rene just gave a bored glance and returned to staring at nothing as Avery ran over to the girl, about to yell at her before getting distracted by the Marill and having her eyes light up. "Oh wow! It looks so happy! You must take really good care of it! What do you feed it? What does it do for exercise? How is it strong enough to remove a steel door from its hinges!?" Her Furret danced around the Marill happily as if it had been a long time since it made a new friend. Amidst all this, the rest of the group appeared one by one, as if on parade, all seemingly as confused as the next.

Shortly after the arrival of everyone else, the vessel they were in began to shake as it was most likely descending. How high would they have to be to land at the Spear Pillar? Pretty damn high. The light of the radiating plates beside him suddenly caught Rene's attention. They were flashing awfully fast now. Avery noticed hers as well, and stopped her Pokemon ramblings to take them out and look at them. She wouldn't say anything, but as they had drawn closer to their destination, she had felt more and more uneasy. Just what exactly were these things? What good would taking them to the Spear Pillar do?

"You're going to awaken Arceus." A voice suddenly echoed in the room as the far wall seemed to lift up like a door, two figure standing on the other side before a staircase that seemingly lead to the exit. One of the figures was a man with spiky red hair with cool eyes, dressed in a black bodysuit with a black and brown cape fluttering behind him, while the other was a woman with long blond hair and a black outfit that Rene couldn't make heads or tails of because it was formed out of so many things. Pants, jackets, fur... those weird hair ornaments. There was no way that was normal fashion!

Silence. Everyone was probably in shock that the wall opened just as much as the fact that Lance and Cynthia, former Champions of Johto and Sinnoh were telling them they had to awaken the God of all Pokemon. Well at least it solved the mystery of who wrote the letter. "Those plates you all hold, those plates that chose you, are necessary to summoning Arceus, and we need Arceus in order to put a stop to the demon causing all of chaos and death of both humans and Pokemon alike. Since we're short on time, we can't tell you all of the details. All you need to do is approach the Spear Pillar though, so it's not particularly hard..." The vessel shook as it assumingly landed, and the two Champions stepped aside as the staircase lowered and light shone through the exit, the sound of a dangerous wind blowing through. "We're sorry to put you all on the spot, especially since you're just civilians, but we have no other choice at this point. You all need to go and go now-"

Lance was suddenly interrupted as a ridiculously large, orange beam shot straight at the staircase, blowing it away completely. Both Avery and Rene were instantly on guard, the attack having been a Solar Beam. But as they were about to make a move of their own, a loud ringing suddenly echoed in their ears as well as the others with plates, muting everything and drawing their hands to their ears. They could see Lance calling out to them but couldn't hear what he was saying as he released an Abra that promptly teleported them to their destination. Seemingly, they intended on fighting the attackers.


---


Atop one of the pillars on the Spear pillar sat a girl, widely uninterested with the burning airship in front of her as she kicked her feet up and down. Her hair as green as healthy grass, Gracidea flowers decorated both sides. Her white skirt swayed in the wind along with the Gracidea flower in the center of her white blouse, although she almost seemed orange with the way the setting sun was catching her. She dropped down from the pillar suddenly as a Hyper Beam erupted from the airship in her direction, a Dragonite shooting out after it. The girl wagged her finger, indicating a no as she held her hands up to her chest and another Solar Beam erupted from it. "I won't let you interrupt his work!"


---


What Avery saw next was the center platform of the Spear Pillar, a stong wind swirling amidst the firey landscape, and a majestic, large, white Pokemon standing before them with the plates floating around it, their light having stopped blinking, now radiating in full power. The others were around her, including Rene who seemed distracted by the two people on the other side of Arceus. They must have been plate holders as well, and from this distance he couldn't be sure, but was one of them familiar? Either way, Arceus had been summoned, so that meant they could leave, right?

As Rene went to turn around in hopes that Lance and Cynthia had dealt with whatever it was that had attacked them, his body suddenly felt heavy and he collapsed to his knees as some sort of unknown pressure was pushing him down. He was overtaken by cold as his body refused to move, and the setting sun transmogrified into a deranged night. Around the same time, Arceus became panicked as if spooked, before a pillar of grey light erupted from below it, the God of all Pokemon crying in pain as it disintegrated into dust. Rene and Avery were too shocked to say a word that the great Arceus had been defeated so simply, and what was worse was that it seemed to reappear. However, the Arceus that appeared in it's place was not the same. It was void of colour, except for it's glowing red eyes. It let out a mutilated version of the cry they had heard from the true Arceus only moments before as the plates floating around it suddenly scattered, flying directly into the people they had chosen and becoming absorbed by their bodies before the "Arceus" released a greyish beam of light that expanded and consumed everything, blacking out any lifeforms on the platform and completely desolating the Spear Pillar, it's remains crumbling and falling towards the remains of Mount Coronet below.

All that could be heard at that moment anywhere in the world was the cry of the "Arceus", the cry of a new God.


---


When Rene awoke once more, he found it extremely difficult to move. His whole body ached, and his vision was blurry. Not to mention the pounding of his head... What he did notice, however, was the smell of dust mixed with the smell of a campfire. He instantly shot up, and realized it had become night time, and the smell of the fire was coming from Lance who seemed to have pitched a camp next to the ruins of Mount Coronet. How exactly did they survive that fall? Dust was in the air everywhere, most likely from the Spear Pillar's collapse, and the sky was coated with a thick smog of residue. The boy shakily rose from the sleeping bag he had been provided with, and found the others scattered in sleeping bags around him.

"Ah, you guys are starting to wake up, huh?" Lance asked, a very serious look on his face as he poked around at the fire nervously. Even the great Lance was nervous? What exactly had they witnessed. "This isn't exactly the best place to set up a camp considering the dust and debris, but moving anywhere else right now would be too dangerous."

"Huh?" The blue haired boy coughed, not exactly sure what the man meant. How could anywhere else be less dangerous than where they were now. He started shaking. Just what the hell was going on? And why did he feel so sick...? The plates? Hadn't they gone inside him? How? Where they doing this?

"In the past four hours, six cities have been completely destroyed, along with any people or Pokemon living there."

 

[YoshiRiRu]

Axel was nearly drowning in the sterility of the room. Everything was so… antibacterial. As he sat down and more and more people walked in, he began to wonder what such a motley crew of people were doing crammed together on an airship flying over precisely nowhere.

The silence was deafening. Nobody said a single word. Axel's lips were opening when he heard a faint tap on one of the doors to the room. It was thick reinforced steel; whatever was tapping wasn't going to get through. But then came another smack, this one substantially more powerful. The thick metal dented like paper, and with one more tremendous thud, the door toppled happily down. Behind the debris was no behemoth; it was just a little Marill, leaping with glee at it's latest victory. A woman walked in behind him meekly, her shoulders slightly shrugged as she stepped over the debris. She introduced herself as Brianne, and before Axel could find his way over to introduce himself, one of the other girls, maybe almost as many as 10 years younger than the woman by the looks of her, was head over heels in love with the barbarian Marill who had singlehanded wrecked what was probably going to cost a pretty penny to repair.

The ship had begun to shudder, and after a few minutes of awkward silence and nobody else arriving, Axel decided that this must be the lot of them; three guys and three girls, so one of the other two guys must be Lance, yes? It was simple deduction. Axel cleared his throat to speak and finally settle some things out, but then he noticed something peculiar. The small plates that he had forgotten he had even had with him were glowing suddenly, and he again realized where he was going and an unexpected and perhaps inappropriate wave of happiness washed over him, leaving him grinning broadly.

The Spear Pillar. The ultimate dwelling place for god Pokemon, big and small. His dream of being a man on the surface of the Spear Pillar had driven him through trials and tribulations massive and minor, but now he was here. He was going to see it all. He was going to -

"- wake up Arceus." interrupted a voice, and Axel turned to look. He hadn't seen them before, but now they were here. Two people, dressed very strangely. One was a man, with red spiky hair. Axel smirked. He looks like a vampire. He has a cape and everything. I vant to suck your blood! Mwa ha ha! The other was a girl, who was tall and dressed in black, and seemed just as odd as the other man. Suddenly he realized who they were. Or at least, one of them.

The man was Lance, and he was the champion of the Johto Elite Four. Axel only knew this because he knew Lance had an Aerodactyl on his team, and Axel knew a precious few trainers who used Aerodactyls. Aerodactyl was one of Axel's favorites, so he kept tabs on which famous trainers used them. It was sort of a habit of his. Lance spoke again.

"Those plates you all hold, those plates that chose you, are necessary to summoning Arceus, and we need Arceus in order to put a stop to the demon causing all of chaos and death of both humans and Pokemon alike. Since we're short on time, we can't tell you all of the details. All you need to do is approach the Spear Pillar though, so it's not particularly hard..." The vessel came to a quiet rumble as it settled to the ground, and a door behind Lance and the other woman opened, letting natural light shine in. "We're sorry to put you all on the spot, especially since you're just civilians, but we have no other choice at this point. You all need to go and go now-" but Axel couldn't hear him over the roar of the Solarbeam that blasted into the ship, knocking Axel from the bench to the floor, landing square on his tailbone. He howled with pain, but stood up quickly, searching for the assailant. Before he knew what was happening however, he felt himself become light…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the teleport was completed, Axel found himself face to face with the legendary god of all Pokemon. With a shudder, his mouth dropped open and he nearly fell to his knees, having turned to rubber a second ago. Its majesty was undeniable, and in a split second, Axel knew exactly why Arceus was worshipped for millions of years. It was magnificent. When it let out its cry, a tear nearly crossed Axel's eyes. It was the greatest moment of his life. Finally the answers he had been searching for all these years were right in front of him. Surely, he'd be able to speak to it… he helped summon it, did he not?

Suddenly, his knees gave way, and Axel fell, pushed down by some bizarre pressure. He managed to lift his head up to see the greatest pokemon that ever lived, the prime example of pokemon perfection, the pinnacle of archaeological and scientific knowledge and wonder… vaporized before his eyes. Axel let out a shriek and craned his neck forward, trying to get closer, but he could not. Instead, the plates that were previously orbiting Arceus were now flying about this way and that, and Axel grunted as he was struck by two, where they seemed to melt into his body. This shocked him, but not nearly as much as what was appearing where Arceus' remains were.

Initially, Axel was overjoyed to see the shape of Arceus returning. How could he have been so foolish as to think that something could so easily destroy the lord of all lords? But as Axel watched, he knew something was wrong. This was the shape and look of Arceus, but the aura, the… feeling was different. It was a mockery, a shadow of Arceus.

…and those eyes. There was nothing majestic, nothing magnificent in those eyes. They were evil eyes.

Axel was only looking at the eyes. He didn't even notice the destruction of the Spear Pillar around him. Those eyes captivated and horrified him. He fell unconscious, those eyes burned into his memory forever.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he awoke once more, he sat up, unknowing and uncaring about where he was. All the memories of what had just happened flowed into his mind. He put his head into his hands and felt the tears begin to flow. All his dreams and ideas of what was right in the world had been skewed. He sat and listened to Lance, who had made a fire and a makeshift camp.

"In the past four hours, six cities have been completely destroyed, along with any people or Pokemon living there."

Yeah. That sounds about right.