Light_Azumarill said:
Heh, poor Valen, he just can't catch a break, can he? One strange encounter after another. I'm sure they'll only get worse from now on too. ^^ And was that Laure and Chiktika, or perhaps Kindle? Eh, just my guesses. ^^ Dunno about the others though, I'm bad.
Actually, you guessed right straight away, Melissa. ^-^ Yup, that's Laure and Chiktika right there. And good on you too, Plushie, for noticing him even though you couldn't recall the spelling of his name. ^^
Anyways, there's still another one out there, one which was exceptional for me because it was my first try at a new territory. Ahh...it's probably all too easy for you with this hint, but can you guess who?
And BB, posting in the same threads as me...you copycat! XDDD But do remember, Mika's char is called Kyoko. *Pokes* Also, whatever became of the Tailow, hmm?
Oh, but now I think that I shall try to make an...
IC:
Valen briefly looked up as he heard Avery's voice, keeping his gaze away from the pavement for long enough to spot a couple of familiar faces in the crowd; there was Avery of course, pretty obvious seeing as how it was her voice that had alerted him in the first place, she seemed to have managed to somehow dislodge Cona from her arm, although how she had managed that was beyond Valen, and was now quite busy with trying to make the crowd understand that she, unlike the person who had chosen to latch onto her like a Remoraid feeding of a Mantine, was not a crazy person by attempting to seem like she was adressing her general comments to her pok?mon. Soon after, Valen caught sight of Reina, although to his displeasure JJ wasn't far behind, and it didn't look like he had grown any smarter during the time either. There were others he had met around too, surely, and considering the luck he had had in his meetings this far Valen was quite certain that he was bound to run into Rosairie at one point, or maybe that annoying little girl, whatever her name was again, although she held a distinct advantage over Rosairie that was the skill of knowing when to shut up and vanish quietly, still, he sincerely hoped he would run into neither.
Before the boy had any chance of contemplating the matter further however, he, and more or less everyone else in the crowd, noticed that there suddenly seemed to be something happening on stage, and sure enough, a small group of figures had begun walking up in front of the audience; first of all came of course Slythe, looking as villainous as ever with his viper-like front teeth and red eyes, well, there was only one to be seen really as the other one was concealed beneath his hair as always, he approached the podium at the center of the stage with the proud posture of a man in charge, closely followed, of course, by Lori who was obviously enjoying the attention, beaming and winking at the crowd as she was, Valen was quite positive that no efficient method of movement involved that much motion in the hip either. Behind Lori came the far more composed figure of Vincent, the security chief and Valen's mentor, his black hair carefully cut and ordered as always (Valen had often pondered if his dear mentor didn't resort to using a ruler or some more complicated device when it came to keeping every single hair on his head exactly the right length and every single strand of beard or sideburn carefully away.), his suit was equally well ordered, looking as if it had just come from the treatment of a proffessional. For Vincent, unlike his pupil, appearing presentable had always been a habit so important that it almost bordered on obsession, still, although Valen had never particularly cared for this quirk in his mentor, he knew that the security chief, when it really came down to it, was an adversary like few others and could fight with skill and, on rare occassions, fury that could easily not only match but actually tranceede his own, although Vincent had always stressed that efficiency should always be the priority in a battle and that rage was anything but efficient. Following the three came a group of five, obviously carefully chosen security guards, cipher-like with their simple black suits, their black shades, blank expressions, and carefully trimmed bodies, which only seemed to add to their intimidation power, each of them bearing a set of pok?balls on their belts which, unlike ordinary pok?balls, were pitch-black with a symbol consisting of two green 'W's over the hatch and between two of these stern protectors, looking very much like a criminal being brought for trial, came a rather round, somewhat fidgety looking man who seemed to be around his early fifties, wearing a light brown suit which seemed a tad stretched around his stomach, a white shirt and a dark blue tie showing just a bit. He was definitely a pathetic sight, boxed in between the fittest that Team Viper could provide, and seemed painfully aware of this himself, continuously fiddling with his short, faded brown hair and adjusting his clothes here and there. As the procession moved on, Slythe assumed a position a good bit behind the podium while Lori took up a place on his left-hand side and Vincent on his right, the five security guards gathering up in a fairly wide semi-circle behind them, all of them assuming alert poses and beginning to discreetly scan the crowd in front of them for any possible treaths while the brown-haired man made his way to the podium, adjusting his tie a bit and coughing nervously a few times before he spoke up, his magnified voice booming over the bustle of the crowd, yet still managing to sound rather shaky at first until he braced himself.
"Testing..." he said, experimentally tapping one of the microphones in front of him with his finger, "Testing...can you hear me? Good." he fumbled with his pockets a bit, procuring a piece of paper and unfolding it before placing it in front of him on the podium.
"Ladies, gentlemen, trainers..." the man said, his voice sounding far more steady now that he had the magical veil of the paper to ward off the crowd's stares with "As mayor of Twilight City it gives me great pleasure to begin this year's Memorial Tournament. Now I'm sure you are all eager to begin..." there was a murmur of assent among the crowd, "..but first, there are a few issues I would like to adress." the man concluded, "First of all, I would like to thank the man who made the arrangement of this year's tournament possible."
More like you want to show your master what a good little puppy you are.. Valen thought sourly, glaring at the man, for he knew all too well that the mayor would never have won the election were it not for a certain tragic accident that occured with the Undercity voting machines, "Our generous benefactor, the CEO of Waiwai Inc., Slythe D'Argent." the mayor continued, the crowd dutifully providing a round of applause for Slythe as he rose up and gave them a curt bow, not to mention a triumphant smirk, before taking a step back again "Now there is one more issue which I wish to adress before we proceed with the tournament rules." he adjusted his tie and collar a bit before speaking up again, "It has come to my attention that there are...rumours travelling amongst the populace, fancifull tales of wild pok?mon behaving in an unusal manner, not to mention downright slanderous accusations towards several successfull companies..."
All of them belonging to Team Viper... Valen added in his mind, the way he saw it; there were few things as pathetic as political puppets and the boy wished that that fool on the stage would just get on with it, "...and I would like to take this opportunity to remind you, that loose talk such as this should not be heeded. Granted, there have been some isolated incidens of peculiar behaviour, but let me assure you, all possible safety precautions have been taken to ensure that this tournament will not be disrputed, and we have already hired a competent private company..."
Waiwai Inc.'s daughter company on the security branch Valen added in his mind "...to aid our police force in getting to the bottom of these accusations, and as of yet, no evidence has been found to link Waiwai Inc. to Team Viper, and likewise, no proof of peculiar pok?mon activity has been discovered. But, without further ado, it is time to introduce those of you who are new to this event to the rules of the tournament. Lori, if you would be so kind?" he cast a glance at the woman on Slythe's left.
"It would be my pleasure mister mayor." she replied in a silky voice, sauntering over to the podium and assuming charge of the microphones, beaming at the crowd as she began to speak;
"Very well, lovehs, if I may have your attention for a moment?" what little bustling had ensued among the crowd quieted down again, "As I am sure you have all heard many times by now, this tournament is a re-enactment of the legendary battle of Zhara-dun which occured back when the God Kings, or Beast Kings as they used to call themselves, still ruled. Today, you will all get to experience much the same circumstances as they did, and one of you, will earn the title of 'Beast King' for yourself, and the considerable perks that come with it. In this tournament, your prowess as trainers and your skill in handling pok?mon and unexpected situations will be put to trial as we will release an assortment of wild pok?mon throughout the whole of undercity, much like what happened during the real battle. Now allow me to stress this lovehs, these battles are real, and so is the danger associated with them, so should you find yourself overwhelmed at any time, you may call on the assistance of any of our handlers or security guards who will be stationed all around the areas, however, keep in mind that once you resort to this help, your challenge is over, and you will not gain any more points for the whole duration of the game, so think it over carefully. Now, as for how you gather points..." she continued, "It is all very simple. You see, lovehs, the pok?mon we have assembled obviously vary in both type and power, and as such, each species has a set number of points associated with it, the stronger the species, the higher the reward. Now if you would please to turn your eyes to the scoreboard over yonder..." she gestured towards the wall opposite of the stage, a good bit of motion ensuing in the crowd as the various crowd members turned to watch, "You will see that there are ten places there, all of them empty at the moment. Once the tournament starts, the names of the ten leading participants will be displayed there, along with their current scores. Now in case you are wondering how you will know how much points you get for what, let me ease your mind. There is a small device attached to each of the pok?mon for that specific reason, and once the pok?mon is knocked out, it will announce who's pok?mon dealt the finishing blow and how many points were earned. Yes, the finishing blow determines who gets the points, and although attacking another trainer's pok?mon will lead to immediate disqualification, all wild pok?mon are fair game, so don't waste your breath complaining that someone else stole your KO. Finally, lovehs, do remember that you are only allowed to use two pok?mon at once, and let me assure you, we will know if you're using more, and if you are caught breaking this rule you will be disqualified. In order to make this a bit more...interesting this year, we have also prepared a special pok?mon who will be released later on in the tournament." she took a pause, allowing all that she had just said to sink in, "Now then, lovehs, I have only one more thing to say..." Lori concluded, smiling at the crowd, "Good hunting."
At the same moment, the unmistakable sound of metal doors being opened became audible from all around Undercity, a myriad of wild pok?mon lunging out from their newly opened cages and into the deserted streets, filling them with sound and motion as Lori, Slythe, the mayor, and the rest of their little party retreated to the safety of the VIP spectators' box. The tournament had begun.
