[PKMN FULL] Crossroads; Retribution ACT II (ic)

moon · Oct 4, 2015

[PokeCommunity.com] Crossroads; Retribution ACT II (ic)

Crossroads;RETRIBUTION - ACT II​

< Oh look, battle rules! >​

Aberdeen Montany - played by Pikachu

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Christina Langley - played by Sir Bastian

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Melody Hughes - played by Himika

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Blaine Debour - played by Greiger

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Vincent Baker - played by Legend

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Morgan Wilson - played by Dragon

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Rio Blanco - played by Foxrally

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Omi Keregende - played by drunk ¬_¬

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Janice Carter - played by Himika

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Hepualaha'ole Kahoalani - played by {Swan}

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Finley Baxter - played by Shak

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Cordelia Davies - played by Geras32

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This is the IC thread. [S-HIGHLIGHT]Click here to go to the OOC/SU thread.[/S-HIGHLIGHT]​

 chapters so far

- chapter 1 : ROUTE 30
- chapter 2 : ROUTE 31
- chapter 3 : VIOLET CITY
- chapter 4 : RUINS OF ALPH
- chapter 5 : ROUTE 32
- chapter 6 : UNION CAVE
- chapter 7 : AZALEA TOWN part 1
- chapter 8 : SLOWPOKE WELL
- chapter 9 : AZALEA TOWN part 2
- chapter 10: ILEX FOREST

moon · Oct 6, 2015

 chapter 10 ; ILEX FOREST

Spoiler:

Ilex forest lies to the west of Azalea and is, much like the Ruins of Alph, one of the oldest and most mysterious places in Johto. Part of the reason why Azalea isn't well visited by Goldenrod citizens and not always a stop on the way for travelers who don't care about its gym, is because Ilex isn't the most comfortable place to travel through. While there is a main path, even lit in daytime much like the path through Union Cave, the forest's trees are so close together that all light is blocked out, and the forest seems to be in a perpetual night. It also seems to become overgrown unnaturally fast. Azalea's citizens believe that there is a spirit of the forest who makes it happen in order to keep humans away. Goldenrod citizens mostly just think its wilderness is bothersome.

Weather - CLOUDY, not that you'd see it anyways through the thick foliage

Remember that you have to end a capture post ambiguously and let the GM decide if the capture is successful or not!
Wild pokémon:

Special pokémon:

These rascals are making the forest wilder than usual. There are only one of each.

"What, you thought you could capture this? Think again. It's level is off the charts, okay? Off. The. Charts. It's probably used its time travel powers to go back and back again to farm levels until even the most nerdiest teenage gaming geek would drop their jaw. You stand no chance. If you happen to meet this pokémon, there's no point in trying to capture it. Maybe strike up a conversation with it instead? You never know, some pokémon can talk these days. Stranger things have happened. Also, it's totally not up to you when or even if you meet this little cute legend. It's controlled by someone or something else. Not by you. Sorry! :)"

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Events will change a bit compared to how they were in Act I.
* There are no longer multiple events going on that needs a certain task done in order to yield a certain reward. Instead, each chapter will feature a situation or two that you either MAY or MUST react to.

*Rewards (like items or special permits, pokémon quirks or new moves) will be given afterwards, in a slightly more meta/OOC fashion.

*You are still expected to JP (joint post) with at least 1 other player in every chapter, unless the chapter states otherwise.

*If all events in a chapter are set to MAY, you are also free to ignore them and go about your own business. Still with at least one JP, unless otherwise stated ;)
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situation #1 MAY
Thought the Smeargle gang war in Ruins of Alph was bad? You haven't seen anything yet. Three monkey brothers have moved in and riled up groups of wild pokémon to support them, against each other. It is as if each of the monkeys believes that it has the right to be a "trainer" and send pokémon out into battle against each other... Or by playing pranks on traveling humans. You may find yourself victim of one of these pranks, or perhaps you are suddenly in the midst of an ongoing "pokémon battle" between the brothers and their "teams" of wild pokémon supporters. It is all very weird. Some speculate that the monkey trio was raised in captivity and doesn't know how to be truly wild; being a trainer or pokémon is all they know.

Anyone can meet any of the brothers (Pansage, Panpour, Pansear) but there is only one of each... If you're attempting a capture, your post better show me you deserve to be the one to get a monkey!

situation #2 MAY
There is a pink fairy flying around in the forest, rumored to be the legendary guardian pokémon of Ilex, although the visual descriptions don't seem to match the legends. Some local trainers are arranging casual (or deeply serious and ridiculously well prepared) expeditions to head out and find it...

It's quite alright to invite the GM to your JPs for situation #2 when you've written a bit. You know. Somewhere deep inside the forest. If you get there. It might help, you know. If you like pink.

(rehash: in this chapter you MUST produce at least one JP with at least one other player.
You don't need to react to any situation, but you MAY to either or both.
The OOC is a good place to discuss who gets what pokémon... Got it?)

Legend · Oct 8, 2015

[URL=https://lunapic.com] [PokeCommunity.com] Crossroads; Retribution ACT II (ic)

[/URL]

Vincent Baker
Chapter 10: The Prince vs. The Pauper

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Inventory:

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Pokemon

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A big yawn and a stretch followed as Vincent stumbled out of his bed, nearly tripping over Tank the Beldum as he did. The young man grunted, but did not chastise the small steel type. It was too early in the morning for that. I'll just remind him to sleep away from my bed next time, he internally mumbled to himself. His right hand still stung from the number of cuts and gashes that the mirror inflicted upon him and the distinct memory of the previous night flashed before his eyes as he stepped into the bathroom and saw the wreckage of his punch. Glass littered the ground and the mirror was barely usable as long cracks echoed from the epicenter, a small crater in the middle of the mirror. Vincent glanced down towards his hand and remembered why he did it, as seeing yourself become your loathsome father before your eyes can do terrible things to a man such as Vincent. But he then remembered the tender care that went into wrapping the hand. Vincent still owed Melody, even if it was a small gesture. He found himself owing a lot of people really, and it bothered Vincent more than he cared to admit. Gingerly, Vincent washed himself up and got changed, throwing on a pair of dark jeans, a black and red jacket and his favorite red skull cap. His black hair sprouted out of the hat in every which direction. Perhaps I should get a haircut at one point.

As he returned to his room, Vincent clapped his hands loudly. "Alright, wake up! Let's go!" In a stir, all of his Pokemon leapt to attention. Hanzo was the first, and seemingly teleported to Vincent's side. Brian was quick to follow, perching himself on the open window as he began to peck at himself, cleaning out his feathers. It was sluggish, however, suggesting the bird Pokemon was a hardly a morning type. Exaclibur, feeling sheepish in the early hours, poked at Tank, until the Beldum fumbled around as it rose to a waking levitation. Bane was in his Pokeball, so there was no need to force the Magikarp awake. Vincent wasn't sure what to do with the other water type in general, seeing how as eager as the Magikarp was, it was hardly useful in many ways. Vincent pondered chucking him in the PC downstairs, but he mused that seeing what Illex had in store was probably the more sound approach. "Good, good. We got a forest to conquer so back in the balls, okay?" A number of his Pokemon sighed, enjoying the time free but one by one they conceded.

Vincent left the room, returned his keys to the front desk and bolted out of the Pokemon Center. There was little time to waste as he needed to bail town fairly quickly. The mirror issue was a set of fees waiting to happen and it perhaps best to lose that tail in Goldenrod if he could. He had a home there, so he barely would need to check to the Pokemon Center in the city. Realizing that, Vincent decided to pick up some food and supplies at the PokeMart and immediately head for Illex. He was sure that forest would a rough journey, if probably a short one. Like most Goldenroders, Vincent didn't think much of the forest. It was dark, and hardly traveled. For the most part, the urban street urchin forgot it was a concept. So it was a mystery. Vincent didn't like those too much and wanted to be prepared. He had to be. The last few days taught him that much. This whole journey is not even close to what I thought I was getting myself into. All the more reason to take this seriously. No more Mr. Nice Vincent. At least that is what he tried to tell himself. Grabbing a few snacks, Vincent, like before, fleed the PokeMart with a pace that mirroed that of a robber leaving the scene of the crime and made his way to the forest, hoping that nothing else would creep into his mind to distract him from his intended course of action.

As if on cue, right before Vincent reached the small building leading into the forest itself, he felt himself pulled back by the arm and spun around, confronted with a camera, held by one guy, a boom mic dangling above him held by another, a woman with short hair holding a microphone standing besides the camera, and finally, besides him, a blonde guy, a few inches taller than Vincent, clearly several years older, with a very nice physique, that would clearly make most girls give him a second or third look.

"Whoa there, buddy!" The guy called out with a small laugh, letting go of Vincent's arm and planting his hand on his shoulder, offering him a broad grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Take a moment before you head out. You sure you've got everything you need to go through Ilex Forest?"

Vincent was completely caught off guard, and his face grimaced at the camera and microphone in his face and a small pack of people crowding around. The arm dangling on his shoulder made him all the more uncomfortable as the older gentleman parrotted clearly rehearsed lines at both Vincent and the camera. For a moment, Vincent thought he recognized the man, but shook his head. It's clearly no one that important,he thought to himself.

"Yeah, I got everything," Vincent said, removing the hand from his shoulder with his subuded rage. "Thanks for asking," he added sarcastically.

The blonde guy seemed unphased as Vincent removed his hand from his shoulder, simply sending the camera a smirk before turning back to the younger trainer. "Wrong again, amigo! Because thanks to the NTC, we're bringing you a -very- special donation."

Before even waiting for Vincent, the man brought up his right hand, revealing a Pokéball that looked slightly... different. It was completely white, save for the middle line that seperated the top and bottom, which was red. He held it up in front of the camera before grabbing Vincent's arm to plant the ball in the palm, sending a winning smile to the camera. The reporter-lady quickly moved in front of it and launched into a quick-spoken speech about what had just happened, and from the vague things Vincent heard, this blonde guy's name was Marcus.

Then something clicked. Marcus was the name of the talking head that his little brother and sister would watch. Marcus was the name, if he recalled correctly, of Christina's brother. Heh, small world, Vincent thought to himself with a weak smile, which was appropriately timed for the camera. While he wouldn't mind robbing from the rich to benefit the poor (being himself), Vincent loathed charity and hated false charity even more. This "donation" was little more than some gesture to get more fans. Seeing through that act was the easiest thing he had done all week. With a scoff, Vincent shoved the ball back into Marcus' chest. "Thanks, but no thanks. I mean, really? Do I look that helpless to you?"

Marcus blinked in surprise as the ball was pushed back into his hands, but he quickly recovered, bouncing it from his hand. "Well pal, let's just say there's a reason we went up to you of all people, eh?" He sent a 'charming' grin at the camera, the lady choking down a mild laugh. Marcus then, somewhat harshly, planted the ball back in Vincent's hand, sending the teen another smile, though this one was clearly strained. "Either way, you don't look like the type of kid who can -afford- saying no to gifts."

If Vincent was a stronger man, the Pokeball in his hand would have nearly cracked under the intense pressure as his entire body clenched tightly. He went there. This was definitely the man he heard about. The man he saw that people worshipped on television. "Oh, so I don't look like I can afford crap, eh? Well, you look like you couldn't crawl yourself out of a plastic bag because your head is so far up your ass that people are placing your ugly mug on milk cartons! So listen you pathetic waste of space. How about you take your camera crew and your dumbass show and find some other poor sap that buys into your crap? Huh? How's that sound? Or do you want to interview the poor little helpless trainer too? Well, here's your answer to every question: Screw off! Okay!?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment, staring between Vincent and Marcus, before the latter broke off into a chuckle, raising his hands up in an upgiving fashion, shrugging his shoulders. "Ah well, you know, I just figured, since the Pokémon in that ball was offered up for adoption several times and no one wanted it, it'd just be fitting to give it to an equally snot-nosed, unliked little punk on the street, who doesn't-"

The reporter lady made a 'Cut, CUT' motion at the cameraman, who quickly turned away. The lady quickly tapped Marcus' arm, clearing her throat loudly, which halted the older trainer's rant and his increasingly harsh words and flaring attitude. He gave Vincent a final look before shaking his head, his carefree attitude quickly making a comeback as he sent Vincent a lazy smile. "Eh. Not worth the effort. Good luck on your 'journey', friend. Seems to me like you'll need it."

And with that, they were gone.

"I just need a restraining order to keep me from clocking you," Vincent mumbled, hopefully loud enough for Marcus to hear as his parade walked away. Sighing, Vincent looked at the ball in his hand. An unwanted Pokemon? That's a new one. Well, if its unwanted as me, I am certainly curious as to see what it is. Popping the ball open, a small fox-like creature emerged from the light. It's brown fur shook as the Pokemon barked softly, recieving Vincent nervously but curiously. Vincent crouched down and looked at it with a cocked head. "An Eevee? Fancy that," he commented. "Wait till my brother and sister get a kick out of you. Well not a real kick. Come here," Vincent ordered with a surprisely gentle voice. The Eevee came over and sniffed Vincent cautiously, before Vincent carried the small pup gently onto his shoulder. "Hang out here for now. We got a forest to check out."

Foxrally · Oct 9, 2015

Rio Blanco

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Pokémon

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"Oddish! Od-Oddish!"

"Mmhm."

"Oddish!"

"Good to know, Bret."

"Odd-" Bret paused for a second as he hopped from Rio's desk to his nightstand, barely managing the feat and almost tripping over. "Oddish!"

"Get down from there, Bret." Rio mumbled monotonously, his eyes fixed on his newest contraption as his hands fiddled with the minute wires and gears inside. "Mothim, hand me the screwdriver over there. Bret, don't swallow that nail." The Oddish sighed melancholically and kicked away the nail in front of it. Mothim handed Rio the screwdriver, sighing and jumping onto Rio's bed. Rio raised his hand and motioned at him.

"Almost done, just give me a sec..." he said. The cover of the device he had been working on slid back in place with a satisfying click. "...done." Rio held up the machine in front of him. It was a backpack-like invention, about the size of a textbook, and was made almost entirely of metal, except for the straps. Two antennae were sticking out of the sides, humming gently. Rio stood up and faced the two Pokemon. He raised the invention in the air triumphantly. "Behold, my newest invention, the Voltige XII!"

"Oddish! Oddish!" Bret cheered, jumping down from the nightstand and bouncing around Rio's ankles. Rio grinned at Mothim.

"I've learned from the mistakes of the past 11 versions, and I think this might be the one!" he exclaimed. "Whaddaya say, boy? Wanna give it a - no, Bret, not you - wanna give it a go?" he asked the bored Bug Pokemon. The latter vehemently shook his head, backing away from the bag. "Come on, you have to at least give it one try!" Rio pleaded. "I promise this one won't burst into flames." Reluctantly, the Mothim agreed. Rio grinned and placed the backpack between Mothim's wings. "You'll see, with this thing on, you'll soon be flying in no time!"

"Oddish!" Bret exclaimed in encouragement. He had leaped onto the bed with Mothim, and was now curiously examining his new gadget.

"Bret, don't lick that." Rio scolded as the Oddish leaned in towards the bag. "Right, now all I should do is press this little button aaand-" Upon pressing the small red button on the side of the bag, the entire backpack suddenly began whirring and trembling loudly. "Don't worry, that's normal!" Rio reassured. "...at least I think it is." The bag was shaking more violently now, almost throwing Mothim off the bed. The Pokemon shook its wings in panic. Rio held the bag in place. "I've got this under control control, don't panic!" Oh dear... I don't think that gear is supposed to pop out... Suddenly, the bag's lower side erupted, ripping the straps right off Mothim and launching through the ceiling. "Dammit!" Rio yelled out, before rushing out of the room, followed by a delighted Oddish and an equally traumatized Mothim.

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"Right... the Voltige XII... failed." Rio noted down on a sheet of paper. Uncontrollable, too powerful for safe use. "It's probably still going now." he said, glancing at the hole in the ceiling. Bret hopped around in glee, delighted by the new source of light the hole was providing. Mothim sat on Rio's desk, shaking his wings angrily. Rio closed his notebook. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I actually thought that one was going to fly - and in a sense, it did - and properly work..." he sighed. "Can't even get it back now. It's bound to land somewhere though, so we might have a chance to salvage some parts! Let's vote on it. Bret?"

He glanced at the Oddish who was kicking around the nail from earlier. "...abstaining. Mothim?" Mothim glared back at Rio. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's get going, then!" He exclaimed, grabbing his two partners' Pokeballs. He returned Mothim to his Pokeball.

"Oddish!" Bret squeaked and pouted, dodging the beam of light as Rio tried to return him to his ball.

"Fine, if you really want to stay, you can hang around. Just don't go running off like you did last time, okay?" Rio said, grabbing his bag and walking towards the front door of the house. "Pa, I'm going out for a bit!" he called out.

Stinging Bea · Oct 14, 2015

[URL=https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx177/Alby4t5/trainer5_lr_by_akaruiko-d8de1vs_zpssbatfumt.png] [PokeCommunity.com] Crossroads; Retribution ACT II (ic)

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Melody Hughes & Christina Langley
Chapter 10: Haste

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Inventory:

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Pokemon

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The battle against Bugsy had come and gone. After the incident with Team Rocket the previous night, it felt good to Melody to finally resume her journey as a normal trainer. Of course, things would never be quite the same as they were before. It would take Melody some time to get used to the fact that she could actually have a conversation with Blossom, her Bayleef. She would also always have that reminder of Team Rocket from the wound left on Napoleon's eye as well. Still, her team was all together, and that was more than enough to satisfy her for the time being.

At the moment, Melody was sitting on one of the benches in the lobby of the Pokémon Center, waiting for her team to be treated. It had been a rather interesting battle to say the least. The last thing she had expected was to do a double battle against Bugsy with Christina as her partner. Then again, there were probably few trainers she'd rather have by her side, and the two managed to pull of teamwork with their Pokémon quite well. Both of the girls had to battle against two of Bugsy's own Pokémon. For Melody, this involved her battling against his Scyther. The battle was quite difficult in itself, even if she did have her Taillow, Hawk, to lead the battle with. That little bird had guts to take on such a dangerous opponent. Even with the typing advantage that Hawk had, there were several close calls in the battle. In the end, Melody knew that she would have ended up losing if Hawk had not evolved into a Swellow at the last moment. She really considered herself lucky to have such a strong team of friends on her side.

Gazing around the lobby in boredom, Melody sighed as she leaned back on the bench. "Sure is taking them a long time to fix Hawk up. I guess now that Rocket's been taken out of here, everything is starting to pick up with business."

Melody shifted a bit in her seat. Her eyes fell to an old magazine that she had already flipped through twice while waiting for Hawk's injuries to be treated. The articles might have been a bit more interesting if they had not been printed about two years ago... then again, she figured that the center's main purpose was probably not to entertain her as much as it was to treat sick and injured Pokémon. Deciding against reading the magazine again, Melody instead shifted her focus to a television that was hanging on the wall.

"The excitemet here in Goldenrod is really starting to peak, Tom!" a female news anchor said. A large, somewhat cheesey grin was plastered on her lips as she spoke. "Trainers and fans of the sport in general are gathering here in anticipation for this weekend's big attraction! One of the best trainers of this region, none other than Cliff Hughes is going to be here and showing his skills in a special exhibition match!"

Melody's eyes widened as her attention focused completely on the television. She slid off the bench and walked straight over towards the screen, possibly getting close enough to get scolded by her mother if she happened to see her this close.

"As many of you may know, Cliff is a veteran trainer from Cherrygrove City. He has taken first place in several local competitions and tournaments, and even participated in our very own Johto League tournament. Unfortunately he was stopped just short of taking on the champion, but that has done little to stop his career! Again, Cliff Hughes is going to be here by this weekend. If you don't wanna miss the excitement, then I don't think I need to tell you twice to get here by then!"

As the news woman spoke, images of Cliff flashed up on the screen. Melody clenched her fists as she looked at his image. That same smug grin was worn on his lips. She could never forget those cold and uncaring eyes he seemed to have. Just hearing his name was enough to make her blood boil.

"You mean to tell me we've been struggling all this time to make ends meet while you get your ego stroked and live high on the hog like you're some sort of god?" A small lapse in her judgement occurred as Melody rather violently kicked the wall under the television. "Makes me sick!"

"Hey Mel, check it out, the kitchen made us a big, packed lunch to get us through-"

The red-haired trainer stopped in her tracks over towards her friend at the sight of the seething girl, as did the oddly brown-ish Quilava following besides her. Christina, after handing in her injured Pokémon from the gym battle, had gone to get the two provisions that would last them their trip through Ilex. However, upon seeing (and hearing) Melody, a small, concerned frown slipped over her lips. She glanced briefly down at Sindy, who blinked up at her trainer, before quickly shuffling over to gently nudge her head against Melody's leg.

"Uhm... Melody, is everything alright? I thought you'd be really happy after how well the gym battle went?"

Melody looked up, a rather spaced out expression taking hold over her face. "Huh...? Um..." she paused, looking back at the television just in time to see a commercial for Snover Frozen Peas ending. "It's... this commercial. I hate peas, they totally make me sick, you know?"

Christina's brow quirked, peering oddly at the shorter girl. From the expression, it was clear that she wasn't entirely convinced, but rather than pursuing the subject, she shrugged her shoulders, offering her friend a faint smile, raising up the two double-sandwich sized bundles in her hands. "Well, you don't have to worry about any of that. I made sure we got the -best- of the leftovers."

A wry grin spread on her lips as she stepped closer, offering one of them to Melody, all the while Sindy seemed content with laying down besides them, resting her head on her front legs. "Man, that was some fight, huh? You and Hawk did really well together. I think I'm pretty happy with choosing to fight with Shade instead of Sindy, myself."

Despite the obvious type advantage of her Quilava, versus a bug-type gym, Christina had opted to go with her Haunter, instead. It made sense, in a way. The Pinsir and Scyther they fought both had normal-type attacks, which didn't at all touch Haunter. That, and she had also only -just- gotten back her beloved companion from Team Rocket. She wanted to enjoy her company a bit more before throwing her head-first into a battle again.

Melody accepted her share of the provisions before taking a seat beside Christina. "It was still pretty close, even with Hawk's advantage. I'm glad he evolved like he did, or you might have been the only one to get a badge from that one." She glanced down at the floor for a moment, before looking back up at her taller friend. "Hey, Chrissie. How about how far is Goldenrod from here? Got any idea?"

"Uhm..." Christina's brow furrowed as she sat down besides Melody, reaching down to pick up Sindy, at which point, she planted the Quilava in her lap and began nuzzling her behind her ears. "We have to go through Ilex first off, which might take a day... and then there's a short road that should lead straight to it. So... two-ish days? Depends what happens on the way, I guess."

She paused briefly to look down at Sindy, who was quietly murring happily from the attention, a soft smile spreading on Christina's lips, looking back up to Melody. "Why do you ask?"

"Um... Well..." Melody began pulling her legs up to her chest for a moment. "There's... this super cool event-thingy going on there this weekend. I was kinda hoping we could get there before it was over, you know? I totally wanna see some of it before it ends."

"An event? Cool! Like a sort of competition? Or is it more like a festival?" She took a moment to glance down at the pokégear resting in her pocket, muttering quietly to herself. "I really should get that map addition to it..."

"Um... I don't think it's anything quite like those... I just know this really famous trainer is supposed to be there, I wanna see him before he leaves," Melody answered quickly. "Lemme go grab Hawk, he should be ready now. Then we can get moving, yeah?"

Not waiting for a response, Melody hopped off the bench and quickly made her way to the counter to reclaim her Swellow. It only took her a moment or two before she returned, not even going out of her way to thank the nurse as she usually did.

As Melody took off, Christina frowned softly, looking after her. She glanced down at Sindy, who, by now, was too occupied with the scritches she was receiving to be worried about her trainer's friend. Once she returned however, Christina eased Sindy onto the ground and smiled at Melody. "Okay, uhm, let me just pick up Shade, and we can take off. Have you got everything you need? Pokéballs, dex, gear...?"

"Yeah, yeah! I got everything!" Melody insisted. "Go get Shade so we can get moving! I feel like we've been sitting around here for months already!"

"Alright, alright! Sheesh!" Christina laughed as she stood up, stretching her arms out over her head with a soft sigh. "I'll admit, I'm looking forward to getting moving again, myself."

Stepping over to the counter, Christina quickly received the ball containing her Haunter, which she stored in the pouch by her hip. Adjusting her vest, she stepped out into the town proper, taking in a deep breath of air. Despite the sky being mostly cloudy, she had the usual, bubbly feeling inside of her, which she felt whenever she was about to head off on the next step of her journey. "Aaaalright, let's get going! The sooner we get moving, the sooner we'll be out of the forest. Apparently it's pretty dense and full of... blergh, bugs."

Melody glanced over at Christina. "You just put down a bug that's over half your size, and you're still all weirded out by 'em? I would've thought that after the gym you'd be a bit better by 'em, Chrissie."

Christina huffed, wafting a gloved hand in the air with a small pout. "Just because I know how to take one out, doesn't magically make them more likeable. Bugs are horrible, and should be set on fire whenever possible, end of story."

"That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Melody replied. The sights of Azaela Town were starting to go behind them as they approached Ilex forest. "Besides, I think we got a few more things to worry about here than just bugs. I hear Ilex is pretty big... it's all dark, and there are lots of turns and twists in there, like a maze."

The red-haired trainer wafted her hand again, her smile returning to her lips, Sindy trotting along happily besides her. "We'll worry about that when we get there. There should just be a path through that we can follow too, right?"

"I dunno. I've never been through it," Melody replied simply. "I've never been past Violet City until recently, you know."

"Yeah, but, like, people travel through here all the time, right? So there -has- to be some sort of path to follow to make it easier on the travellers."

After a few minutes of walking and talking, the two young trainers reached the 'checkpoint' between Azaela and Ilex Forest. It was a little hut with a sliding door. More like a guard station than an actual house. As the three entered, they were greeted by the sight of a middle-aged, short, brown-haired man sitting behind a desk with a radio, a crosswords and a mug of coffee in front of him.

He raised his head at the quiet chime the sliding door gave off and offered the two a smile, raising his mug in greetings. "Hey there youngsters! Off to Ilex, eh? You got everything you need to be alright in there?"

"Of course!" Melody replied. She smiled rather proudly, putting her hands on her hips as she spoke. "We've been around the block more than once by this point! It's gonna take more than a wild Weedle or something to get the jump on us!"

"Really now?" He asked, smiling with raised brows. He went quiet for a moment before pointing at the two, something dawning on him. "Wait, you're not locals... travelling trainers? You must be Pine's kids. So you're on your way to Goldenrod, then?"

Christina nodded her head with a smile, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, all the while Sindy was sniffing a plant in the corner, the flames on her back and head 'turned off' at the moment. "Yeah, that's us! And we are, yeah. Can you tell us the fastest way to get there?"

The man's brow furrowed, nodding his head slowly as he sipped from his coffee, leaning back in the chair. "You're gonna wanna follow the path. It's not lit up, but it's pretty clear where it is. You know the spiel by now, wild Pokémon off the path, be careful, etcetera." He wafted a hand dismissively in the air. "You're gonna have to be extra careful, though. There's some... things been going on in the forest the past week."

"Some...things...?" Melody questioned. It was part of her natural curiosity to want to find out what, but at the same time the girl was in a hurry. She was wanting to get on the road to Goldenrod as soon as possible. Shaking her head at the thought, the shorter of the two girls shrugged and began to walk past Christina. "Whatever, we'll be fine. Come on, let's go Chrissie."

The red-haired trainer blinked as Melody just strode past both her and the 'lookout'. She sent the man an apologetic smile and followed after her friend, calling out to her companion behind them. "Come on, Sindy, let's go!"

Scratching his head at the girl's apparent hurry, the man shrugged his shoulders and called out after the two as they exited the hut on the opposite side. "If you see any monkey-Pokémon, just don't engage them! Keep safe!" He finished with a brief wave of his crossword, before slumping back into his chair, shaking his head lightly. "Such a hurry."

Dragon · Oct 15, 2015

Morgan Wilson

Azalea Town => Ilex Forest

ACQUIRED BADGES

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POKéMON PARTY

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css by Nebula

Morgan, a flower how's frequency is ever evolving, was ready to depart on her adventure once more First, however, there was some business. At the wake of her travels, she stopped by Azalea town, where she challenged Bugsy to earn herself a Hive Badge. It was then that she learned more about the mysterious group, Team Rocket, and pursued them into their hideout. There, she encountered a dangerous foe - one who had powerful pokemon, and thus, barley managed to escape alongside her companion. The mission was complete, however.. the price was too high.

The next day after what has transpired, Morgan could only feel herself getting stronger. She was only focused on one thing: her need for power. The power to grown even stronger. She can be seen in the outskirts of town, battling another young trainer who had recently challenged her as well. Of course, Morgan had her partnered Combusken ready to battle, while the trainer had a Zigzagoon. Even though the fight was going to start, Morgan didn't really seem that interested. She had her arms crossed out, while having her usual annoyed look of hers.

"Ziggy! Tackle attack now!" the opposing trainer commanded, with his pokemon responding in a timely manner, charging headfirst towards it's foe, the radiant Combusken. The Combusken criss-crossed it's arms, preparing a defense position, as the small, brown and furry pokemon connected it's attack, pushing Combusken back a few feet. However, it recovered fine. "Darn, it's tough..." the boy noticed. He then looked upon Morgan, still uninterested than anything else. "What's with you? Bored already?"

"I suppose you could say that," Morgan responded in a calm demeanor. "My pokemon could of honestly felt more damage if they were bitten by a mosquito."

"Oh yeah?!" responded the more determined trainer. "Ziggy! Use your Headbutt, now!" The Zigzagoon leaped back from it's opponent, charging back with it's head, ready for a bash. "Hah! the Headbutt attack is Ziggy's most powerful move! No kid in my class could beat it before!"

"Combusken - counter with your Double Kick!" Morgan then called out, with her Combusken rushing in forward, as it used the base of her left foot to strike against the enemy's Headbutt attack, resulting in the Zigzagoon being pushed up, unable to stand the force of Combusken's superior attack.

"N-No way!" the trainer could only shout in shock. "B-But how...?"

"A headbutt attack is definitely more powerful than a normal tackle attack," Morgan explained. "But it also leaves your pokemon more vulnerable at the time it takes for it to lower it's head, unable to look directly ahead. So, my Combusken was able to maneuver around and catch it at before moment of impact. But there's more: when a pokemon uses Double Kick, it can let the pokemon do a dual attack! Now go!" Combusken obeyed, as she used it's other foot, the right, to deliver one final strike to it's opponent. This time it attacked clean on the body, making the Zigzagoon collapse on the ground with a force of impact. It had fainted on the spot, unable to continue battling.

"Ziggy! No!!" The young trainer rushed over to his fallen pokemon. It must of been a shock to him, losing a battle in a mismatch, as he started to shed tears. Morgan looked upon the younger boy. It was then at that moment, memories started to flash.

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

No! Please...

Don't! Don't... leave me... no...

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

The boy's tears went on. Morgan then went over to him. "Knock it off, quit your blubbering," she then said. "You're a man, aren't you!? Act like one!"

"But...!"

"What are you, stupid? Like it or not, you are a pokemon trainer," she then said. "They depend on you, and you have to be strong for them as well! Crying over a loss is only going to make them think you're pitiful." She then kneeled over towards his hurt pokemon, and reached in her dress pocket, taking a blue berry out, showing it to the boy. "Here. Take it; I brought loads of these back from home. Give this to your pokemon. It fought hard, so, it should be awarded, I guess."

"That's an Oran Berry!" the young boy said, observing the berry. It can make a pokemon a whole lot better!"

"Yes, very good. And when you grow up, you'll be a professor and everyone will refer you as 'Captain Obvious," Morgan said sternly. "Now do you want this berry or not?"

"T-Thanks!" the young man thanked, taking the berry from Morgan, and letting his Zigzagoon chew and swallow it. The young brown pokemon let out a cry, as it felt much better from the battle. "Ziggy! You're okay!" he then said, hugging his partner pokemon. Morgan then went back on her feet, walking away from the young lad, with her Combusken following behind.

"W-Wait!" the boy called out. "Thanks a bunch! You're actually really nice! I hope we can battle again soon when we get stronger!"

Morgan only continued walking away. Of course, she did realize that pokemon could only be as strong as their trainer. That was something that she learned the hard way long ago, and was only reminded of that while in Azalea. Her quest to become stronger would continue towards the Ilex forest, indicated by the sign up ahead.

I will become an even stronger pokemon trainer... to defeat Team Rocket and to one day... find and defeat her, she thought to herself. When she says 'her', she meant a person from her life long ago whom she could only promise to her one thing. Revenge against her. She remembered her clearly. Her sinister look. She could never forget the cocky grin on her face. Because from that, there was tragedy. A tragedy that made Morgan's mind up on having her vengeance. Morgan looked up to the sky.

You're out there somewhere. And I will never forget or forgive you for what you've done. Ever.

Greiger · Oct 22, 2015

The whole gig at the rocket's base had done a very significant thing to Blaine… it had made him really tired. By the time he had made it out, he had just wanted to collapse into his room at the center and sleep for a few hours. It had been a chaotic mess at the few remaining grunts had run about and a few captured pokemon ran into the nearby wilderness. At the same time the trainer had spied a familiar face in the crowd. He hadn't exactly MISSED the unown he had captured some time back. The pokemon had been far different from the others he had caught in that all it consisted of was an eye. An eye that really hadn't been that expressive.

It sure was expressive now.

All the way back to the center the unown had been hopping about and seeming pretty cheerful for what it had supposedly undergone while with the rockets. Blaine was pretty sure that at this point it had been driven insane by whatever had happened. On the one hand, it hadn't been entirely helpful before… yet he couldn't just box it away. It was that inner coiling of guilt that caused him to hesitate on thinking of what to do. The best he did at that moment was to just draw it back into its pokeball and sleep on the decision.

Well, it was morning now and he still didn't know what to do. He decided that he needed to talk to someone about it.

"And that's the thing. If I just put him in the box I mean… sure, he's not particularly helpful… but at the same time it's that guilty feeling. You know?" Blaine let out a sigh and looked at the ball in his hand, "I mean, the guy was pretty much tortured. It's like saying 'yeah, thanks for holding on for me, now away you go'. What do you think?"

On the chair before the trainer sat Derpy. The Croconaw tapped a hand against his chin as the water type squeezed his eyes tightly together in concentration. He looked at the ball, then over at the door, then let out a jabber as he pointed at the ball.

Blaine stared at him with a blank face, "You know you need to use gestures."

Derpy hopped off of his chair and pointed at the ball again, jabbering as he threw a mock ball in the air.

"So… keep it?"

Derpy thought for a moment longer, tapping his chin yet again, before he gave a firm nod.

"If you say so." He put the ball back on his waist, "Okay… we need to figure out a route to go for our next trip." He pulled out his phone, "Let's see… next up is Ilex Forest. Just some bug pokemon there. Unown won't help that much, but the others can. And… no offense, but you've been hogging the spotlight a bit. Mind if the others get a more… er, leading role?"

Derpy stared silently at Blaine, slowly opening his mouth and taking in deep, almost animalistic, breaths of air. The oddness of it all confused Blaine as he squirmed a bit, "Er… how about you train alongside them? Sort of show them the ropes?"

Derpy's mouth snapped shut again as he gave a firm nod to that.

"Well, glad we could reach an understanding there." Blaine stood on up, "Might as well head out now before the morning passes. Hopefully we can get through the forest before it gets too dark."

When Blaine had exited the center with Derpy he was just a tad bit surprised at the sight of a few people running about. At first the trainer assumed that the sight of these groups, along with some camera people, was no doubt related to the rocket bust up that had just happened. Sure, it had been quiet before, but surely someone had spilled the beans to some reporters and now they were here to interview a few people about it. As he got closer he quickly realized that wasn't the reason why these groups were here.

"... In fact, they say that it lies very deep in the forest, at the heart of it all." One man was saying to a reporter, "Others say that it's the reason the forest grew here in the first place. I'm not sure if I believe such tales."

"Then why head out on this expedition?" The reporter asked. "Surely if you don't believe the stories then there's no reason to head out?"

"These stories got started for some reason." The man further explained. "Something is out there that's inspiring them. I don't think it's a legendary, but we'll find the reason for why these stories are spreading." He gave a firm nod, "Trust me on that. Or we could end up finding nothing at all. That's how it can go with these urban legends."

Blaine walked on past, a bit interested by the conversation sure, but not so interested that he would butt on in and ask what was going on. His main goal was to just get through the forest and keep on making his way to the next town. As he made his way to the perimeter of the trees he reached to his belt and threw out two balls. Out came his Smeargle, Brutus, and a nameless Psyduck.

"Alright guys, we're getting through this forest." He explained to the two. "There's probably going to be some insect types, maybe some grass types too. From what I read up on though, it's mostly insects. Derpy's going to help train you two up and get you into fighting force."

"Croc!" The Croconaw cried out as he proudly put his hands on his hips.

"We'll be heading in there and we'll be getting out in the same day. The less time we spend there, the better."

"Croc!" With that, Derphy marched on in the forest, glancing back at his two comrades and gesturing for them to catch up. The forest itself was rather dark inside, so much so that Blaine found himself having to stay on the path itself. There were a few lights that dotted the way they were meant to go, but apart from these stray beacons of illumination the rest of the forest was shrouded in complete mystery. Every so often the sounds of twigs snapping, or of the sounds of wilds that would scamper amid the tall trees.

"Just stay on the path…" Blaine murmured to himself. "On the path."

Off in the distance Blaine could hear some noises. It sounded like a whole bunch of pokemon were just shouting at the top of their lungs. Blaine stopped in his tracks, but Derpy perked up and jabbered excitedly. With a single motion his hands reached back to grab onto Brutus and Psyduck and ran forward with them, a dust cloud being kicked up due to the sheer speed he used. Blaine groaned to himself and ran after them, having to use his phone to emit some light to help him see.

There was a small clearing up ahead where there were two groups of mon gathered. The large groups each gathered behind some sort of monkey, and both monkeys were busy shouting at each other. "What the…" Blaine looked on in confusion and pulled out his dex, "... Panpour and a Pansear?"

The two monkeys stepped away from each other, then pointed out and called out loudly. From the Panpour's side a Goldbat flew out and let out a terrifying screech. From the Pansear's, a Pichu waddled out stood ready. Both mon called out again. The Pichu tensed up as a bolt of lightning flew out from his form at the Goldbat. The bat let out a hiss as it was struck, but flew on down and stuck at the smaller mon with one of its wings.

The Pichu squeaked and staggered back. The attack looked like it had done quite some damage, but the Pichu was still going strong. He sent out another thunder attack that staggered the Goldbat badly. However, the bat flew back on down at the Panpour's request and bit into the Pichu's side. The small mouse squeaked out and instinctively sent out another bolt of energy. The lightning struck both as the two mon fell down unconscious.

Blaine looked over to see a mischievous gleam in Derpy's eyes. "Derpy…"

The Croconaw grabbed hold of Psyduck's and Brutus' hands and dragged them along with him, right toward the group, "Croco croc!" He cried out.

The battle stopped as they stared on at the new arrivals. Without further delay Derpy walked on up and shoved the Panpour to the side. He turned to the Peansear and held out a finger as his eyes burned with passion, "CROC CROC ROC, CROC!"

The Pansear just smirked and snapped his fingers and pointed out. A Beedrill flew on out that tapped it's sharp claws together. Derpy jabbered a bit and grabbed Psyduck, throwing him out to the battle, "Croc!" He commanded.

Psyduck gulped and looked at the Beedrill warily. And then… both began to command. The Beedrill flew on down as Derpy shouted out some orders. Psyduck took in a deep breath and sprayed out a Water Gun that caused the Beedrill's wings to fail. It fell to the ground and still struck out with one sharp point, but Psyduck dodged it. Derpy jabbered again and one more Water Gun shot out. The Beedill sputtered a bit, this time readying for a Twineedle attack. Again, Derpy was on top of things. His next command caused Psyduck to hold out his hands as his eyes glowed blue. A blue glow likewise appeared around the Beedrill as its attack stopped. The Beedrill blinked in surprise, not ready for the next torrent of water to wash against him and leaving twitching on the ground.

With a huff the Pansear snapped his fingers again and another mon stepped forward, this time a Ralts. Derpy jabbered and Psyduck turned about, shaking his tail back and forth. The maneuver caused Pansear's gang to burst into laughter. Ralts sent out a Confusion at the duck, but Psyduck persisted. He kept on wagging his tail while psychic blows shot again and again at the duck. Just as it looked that Psyduck would be out for the count Derpy called him back and tossed Brutus out. "CROOOO, CRO!"

Brutus' body was covered with a light layer of water as he shot out at the Ralts and performed a one hit KO. The psychic didn't stand a chance with its weakened defense as the Panpour stared on in shock. Derpy puffed out his chest as the Panpour's side murmured among themselves. The Pansear let out a tsk and walked away with its gang while Derpy just chuckled. He turned to the other mon remaining and jabbered out some orders. He snapped his fingers as he headed into the forest. The wild mon looked among each other and quickly began to follow the Croconaw while Blaine stood up from his spot. "Well… that's new."

Shak · Oct 30, 2015

Finley Baxter

Spoiler: Pokemon

Spoiler: Inventory

Redrafting

Finley tilted her head as she stared blankly at the page filled with a concoction of green and blue mush, which she held out in front of her. Attempting was pointless. Words here, another green blodge there. As if read the confusing mess wasn't enough, there was barely enough light to even see the thing. It wasn't like she had to do much navigating in Goldenrod, she knew that place like the back of her hand. With a sigh, she lowered the page, which revealed a pristine blue river.

"I don't remember crossing a river on our way here." She murmured, followed by a second sigh. Brooke was no reassurance either. The water Pokémon simply shrugged in response to her trainer's statement. "Thanks for being helpful." Finley groaned, throwing the map aside in a strop and sliding down a large rock be the water. While her trainer sulked in defeat, Brooke decided to dive into the water and tussle with the wild Pokémon that occupied it. "I guess there's no stopping you from having your fun, huh?" She chuckled lazily.

The sounds of bustling leaves jolted Finley up from her fatigued state. Despite scanning the area, a stray leaf was the only draw for her intrigue. It was a strange leaf, unlike any she'd seen before; and with rumblings of a legendary grass type wandering around, she had no intentions of ignoring the sign. Whatever it was had clearly been in water recently, unless of course it had been raining while she was in azalea. Either that or whatever it was had peed on the leaf, she hoped for the sake of her own sanity that it was one of the first two. She grabbed her bag and called over to Brooke, before running off in the direction that the sound had come from.

As she ran, she followed a trail of sorted piles of leaves that were neatly set out along the trail. Almost as if the damn thing wants me to follow. She frowned at the thought. Brooke paused, prompting her trainer to do the same.

"What's up Brooke?" She inferred with an air of concern. The Pokémon looked up at the masses of trees that spiralled above them. The strange foliage seemed to pour from the trees. The figure that occupied them laughed as a wet leaf splattered across Finley's face. "What do you want?" She groaned, resting her hand on her hip and tilting her head in frustration. The green creature leapt to the ground and stood triumphantly in front of the young woman. Finley rustled through her bag and unveiled the Pokédex she'd been given by Professor Elm.

"Pansage. The Grass Monkey Pokémon. This Pokémon dwells deep in the forest. Eating a leaf from its head whisks weariness away as if by magic." The device explained. Finley glanced at Pansage. The Pokémon pulled a funny pose, before again darting away from the trainer. This time however, he was stopped in his tracks by Brooke. Brooke stood firm, staring down the monkey. Pansage was quick to brake the stare down, as he turned his attention back to Finley. He called out, and was quickly accompanied by legions of other wild Pokémon.

"What the?" Finley began. She'd been confronted by a Joltik and a Purrloin, both of whom could attack at any second. Brook regrouped with Finley, but the duo were still outnumbered two to three. Finley grinned. "Alright Carbon, Gristle, I need you guys!" She announced as she threw her other two pokeballs. The first of the duo, her young and loyal Phanphy, jumped at the chance to aid his trainer; the latter however, her hyperactive and abrasive Gible, stared intently at the on looking Pansage.

"Carbon, attack Joltik with Rollout!" The Phanphy quickly responded to the order by curling into a ball and charging at the electric bug. Joltik launched itself in the air, successfully evading the attack. Meanwhile, Gristle had taken is own initiative, and dove full throttle towards the Purloin, whose attempt at dodging wasn't as successful as his partner. Brooke stood opposing the Pansage, who was already getting fed up with the predicament his subordinates had gotten themselves into. He watched in envy as Finley celebrated her teams situation.

Realising he'd lost the number advantage, Pansage called upon more of his readied reinforcements and opted to overwhelm his new opponents instead of battling them. Gristle fought valiantly, but was no match for the masses of troops Pansage had ordered upon him; Brooke tried her best to protect Carbon, but even she couldn't handle Pansage's army. It wasn't long before Finley was left alone. The Pokémon that weren't carrying her teammates behind Pansage, were restraining her, stopping her from forging any sort of resistance.

Stinging Bea · Oct 30, 2015

Janice Carter

Spoiler: Pokemon

Spoiler: Inventory

Chapter 10: Freedom At Last - Azalea Town => Ilex Forest

Janice Carter squinted her eyes as she stepped out of her aunt and uncle's house, the fresh, smokey scents of Azalea Town filling her nose in the process. A rather powerful yawn escaped her lips as she stretched before taking a look at the town around her. All about, people were going about their usual routines. Kids were playing. Old men were chatting it up about "their days" on park benches. Visiting Pokémon trainers were both coming into the town and leaving, many having either come in hopes of battling Bugsy for a gym badge or leaving after either winning or losing. A frown stretched across her lips as she placed a hand on her hip and sighed.

"It's way too early for this," Janice muttered. "Why couldn't Bugsy have let me set off at a more reasonable time... You know, like after noon or something... I mean, sure it was my choice to even do this, but... well, whatever." Glancing down to her side, she gave a quick smirk to her Charmeleon, Ashe and nodded. "I guess we better get going though. I mean, we finally got a chance to get outta this backwater loser-ville. And as far as I'm concerned? The sooner the better."

The Charmeleon let out a small grunt of agreement, crossing her arms over her chest as the duo began to make their way towards the town exit. It had been far too long for Janice since she had come to live in Azalea Town with her aunt and uncle. She had been shipped out to this town, against her will one might add. Her parents had told her it was for her own good, that a change of scenery and environment would do her a world of good and that one day she would thank them when she became a well-adjusted, proper member of society. So far for Janice, all of it has been nothing more than a waste of time. There was often nothing to do here, and do to certain... restrictions, the teenager was not really allowed to leave anywhere. In fact, the only reason that Janice had been allowed to finally leave and go on a journey of her own at this point was because of Bugsy.

A part of her conditions for living in Azalea Town as opposed to spending most of her free time in a juvinille corrections facility of sorts involved having a job to show that she was making a mend towards the honest, goody-life. For Janice, that job happened to be working some over at Bugsy's gym. Most of that work involved her doing menial tasks, such as cleaning up after closing hours, making sure that the gym had proper supplies like bottles of Fresh Water. Occasionally, she would get to battle some trainers who actually came to the gym just for training. The problem with that was that most of them were there just to get practice at dealing with Bug-types, something that her current team was lacking of entirely. The whole routine was boring and downright irritating. So when Bugsy came to his trainers with the prospect of going on a journey, it was only natural for Janice to jump at the chance and get a hold of this opportunity to finally get out of her personally dubbed "Hell Hole." Of course, part of the deal was that she was supposed to keep an eye out for some Team Rocket thugs or whatever they were called... but she honestly had very little interest in that.

Janice really could not care less what harm any trainers were doing. She had one, and only one, true goal in this journey. She would be damned if she would let this opportunity slip through her fingers.

Reaching into her pocket, Janice pulled out a small, red and white box. "It'll feel good to finally not have to sneak around to enjoy one of these," she mused, pulling out a white, thin cylinder and holding it down to Ashe. "Giimme a light, yeah?"

The Charmeleon nodded her head in agreement, moving the flame on the tip of her tail close to Janice's cigarette. The teen smiled as it lit up perfectly, before taking that first, long and enjoyable inhale of the tobacco her body was craving. All the while, she and her Charmeleon walked into the guard station that led into Ilex Forest. The guard had been busy looking over some papers as Janice and her Pokémon entered. However, once the smell of Janice's cigarette reached his nose, he quickly looked up and spotted the girl. His eyes narrowed as he bolted up out of his seat and blocked Janice's path into the forest.

"Where do you think you're going, Carter? You know you're not allowed to leave the town," he snorted, practically glaring daggers at the girl.

Janice seemed rather unfazed as she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Calm down, Chief Wiggums. I got permission from Bugsy to be here. I'm one of those trainers he recruited to go out and look for Team Space or whatever they're called..."

The secruity guard ignored Janice's insult, but the fact that she claimed to be one of Bugsy's trainers caused him to raise an eyebrow and give her a look of disbelief. "You? You expect me to believe that Bugsy gave you one of those positions? Just how big of a moron do you take me for, Carter? There's no way he'd let someone like you do this sort of work."

"Well, I wasn't gonna call you a moron, but if you insist..." Janice muttered under her breath, an insult that did not escape the guard's ears. Sighing, the girl reached into her backpack and pulled out some rather official-looking papers. "Read it yourself, doughnut-boy. It's signed and stamped officially by Bugsy. If you got a problem with it, then take it up with him after I leave. Otherwise? I suggest you go back to stuffing your face like you usually do."

Ashe grunted and nodded in agreement as the guard snatched the papers out of Janice's hands. He glanced over the documents briefly, before handing them back to the teenager with a sigh.

"I don't know what Bugsy's thinking, but it looks like this is for real," the guard muttered. "Looks like everything is in order then. Listen, do me a favor and get lost while your out there. It'll be nice to not have to deal with your crap anymore, Carter."

Janice stuffed the papers back into her backpack before taking another drag on her cigarette. She and her Charmeleon began to brush past the guard, but not before the teenager gave him a particular, one-fingered gesture as she exited out into the forest.

"Oh, trust me. Coming back here is one of the last ideas on my mind."

Geras · Nov 14, 2015

Cordelia Davies
Azalea Town ⇨ Ilex Forest

"There," Cordelia said as she pushed down on the folded clothes filling her travel bag. She took one last look through the rest of bag's contents, mentally checking off each item she saw just to be sure she had everything she needed. She then turned to the little blue pokemon floating at her side. "Are you ready, Ring-Ring?" She asked, to which the wind chime pokemon jingled cheerily. Cordelia smiled at him. It was hard not to smile with such a happy little guy around. She looked around at her room to make sure everything was just as clean as it was when she arrived, then turned off the lights and left with her travel bag rolling behind her.

Stepping into the living room, she saw her grandparents sitting in front of the TV which was playing a movie she was unfamiliar with. "Morning Grandma, Grandpa," she greeted despite the fact that it was almost noon already. Her morning workout and packing for her journey had consumed her entire morning. The couple answered in kind while Cordelia made her way to the small house's kitchen off in the corner. She pulled out some eggs, a bag of spinach, and a small salmon filet from the fridge while Ring-Ring, already familiar with Cordelia's routine, grabbed some oil, various spices, and some cookware. Once Cordelia had everything she needed ready, she got straight to work.

"So you're both sure you're okay with this?" asked Cordelia while she rinsed the salmon. "My journey, I mean."

Cordelia's grandfather laughed. "Delia, how many times are you going to ask that?" Cordelia wasn't too sure what he meant considering this was only the second time she had asked, but she didn't say anything about it. "You're a big girl, it wouldn't be right for us to butt in on everything you do. Doing things yourself is how you grow up."

Now it was Cordelia's grandmother's who spoke, saying, "Hell, once she was your age your mom practically raised herself. And look where she is now, married to some rich corporate big-shot! 'Sides, we're not scared of your daddy. He can yell all he wants, it won't change anything." Cordelia didn't feel like she could comment on their parenting style, but her grandmother wasn't lying about that last part. Every time Cordelia's dad called them about her whereabouts in the event that she couldn't answer her own phone, they always told him they had no idea where she was, even though Cordelia always made sure to let them know beforehand. Although it was also possible that they never listened to her when she told them and they really had no idea where she was. Either way, they cared little for her dad's wrath.

Cordelia changed the subject and continued the conversation with her grandparents as she worked on her breakfast. She asked about the movie they were watching and they seemed to light up. Their conversation was mostly one-sided as usual, with Cordelia occasionally chiming in with simple questions to show she was listening. She knew how much they loved sharing their opinions.

After about an hour, her breakfast was done and eaten. Cordelia's grandparents had turned to debating with each other over a certain character in the movie so she and Ring-Ring focused on cleanup. She wondered how much she'd miss all this once she was on her journey, knowing she probably wouldn't be back for at least a few months. Johto was a big region after all, and from what Bugsy had told her Team Rocket had a presence in just about all of it.

She thought about the fact that someone like her was getting involved in something as dangerous as fighting a crime syndicate. It was possible she wouldn't make it through this. She still wasn't sure how this whole thing made her feel, or rather, she couldn't put it into words. While she sifted through her thoughts in another attempt to define it, she was startled by a loud voice.

"Hey Delia! Don't waste so much water, okay?" Cordelia snapped back to reality at the sound of her grandpa's voice. Looking down, she noticed the pan she was washing had filled with water while she was lost in thought and was overflowing. She apologized to her grandpa and hurried through the remaining dishes. It crossed her mind that she still hadn't received a call from her mom today which was strange since her mom was set on calling her every morning, but Cordelia figured her mom was probably just busy and pushed the thought aside.

***

After a little while, Cordelia left home with a rather unceremonious goodbye. She hadn't really been expecting much, though. Her grandparents were never ones for tearful goodbyes, sometimes even leaving without a word when they would visit her family in Saffron. Cordelia didn't mind it much, though. If anything, a goodbye like that would have made leaving a bit harder, though she doubted it could have stopped her.

Bags in hand, Cordelia took a few steps away from the house before she suddenly found her face sinking into a wall of unbelievably soft floof. "Good morning, Fluffles." Cordelia said to the Altaria blocking her path. Fluffles usually stayed on the roof of the house so she could keep watch and make sure Cordelia never ran off anywhere on her own, probably on her dad's orders. At first, Cordelia wasn't exactly in love with the idea of a bodyguard, considering that a big reason for her leaving Saffron was that she wanted to be alone for a while, but now she is very grateful for Fluffles. It is thanks to her that Cordelia hasn't had any fall-induced broken bones for a while now. Cordelia reached into her pocket to give Fluffles a treat, which the Altaria delightedly accepted.

Fluffles and Ring-Ring greeted each other and then the trio went on their way to Ilex Forest. The town was quiet as ever as they passed through. Sure, the streets had all kinds of people walking around and going about their business, but it was nothing compared to Saffron City, the way its streets and sidewalks were clogged with honking cars and talking people. She was able to cover the distance from her grandparents' house to the city gate station far more quickly than it would have taken her to cover the same distance back home since there were almost no obstacles.

Inside the station she was greeted by the guard who addressed her as "Delia" the same way her grandparents did. Actually, most of the town did, something that was probably her grandparents' fault. "What's all the luggage for?" the guard asked, gesturing to the travel bag rolling behind the girl. "Are you going home already?"

"Not exactly," Cordelia answered with a smile. "I decided I wanted to see a bit more of the region while I was here, starting with Goldenrod City. I mean, I'm not sure I could convince my parents to let me travel alone like this again after how difficult my grandparents have been with them."

"True, those two have always been the types to just do whatever they wanted." He fell silent and furrowed his brow. "But are you sure you should be going alone with your condition? You've heard the rumors of thieves and thugs running around Johto, right? There've also been a bunch of troublesome pokemon running around the forest lately."

"Please don't worry so much, I'll be fine. I have Fluffles to keep me safe and Ring-Ring to make me better if something does happen. And if I'm ever in serious trouble, I can always call dad for help. Being in a position like that gives him plenty of connections. So please don't worry about me."

After some hesitation, the guard finally gave in. "Well alright then, just be extra careful."

"Thank you for understanding," Cordelia said, sounding relieved. She motioned to her companions and the trio took their first step together into the forest.

Shak · Nov 29, 2015

Finley Baxter

Spoiler: Pokemon

Spoiler: Inventory

Squad Goals

With her team gone and her map washed up in a river somewhere, Finley rested her head helplessly on the side of a tree. She'd been searching for hours and fatigue was starting to kick in. The only stopping her from drifting of was the persistent droning that appeared to be coming from the tree above her.

"I guess I'm gonna have to fix that, huh?" She sighed. She found a stick, and swiped it in the collection of leaves that the buzzing was coming from. Immediately, the buzzing became louder and more violent. "Probably a bad idea." Her voice croaked as a mixture of fear and exhaustion overwhelmed her state of mind.

The tree's occupants nose dived out of tree, barely giving Finley enough time to dodge. She managed to however, and reacted by reaching for the pokeballs at her waist. Despite the instinctive move, the balls were still empty after the Pansage inccident, so she had no choice but to run.

It wasnt long before her ever growing fatigue kicked in, and the trainer collapsed to the floor. The Beedrill seized their oppourtunity. Sweeping in for what may have been the kill, two streaks of incredible speed struck the wild Beedrill. The bee Pokemon look bewildered for a moment, glancing at each other before facing the sudden opposition.

"Hanzo! Aerial Ace! Brian! Whirlwind!" A voice called out from the bushes. The Frogadier leapt up first and struck down the one Beedrill down with a slash, taking the Beedrill out of the fight in sound defeat. The Pidgeotto soon followed, blasting the other Beedrill with a sharp gust of wind. The attack seemed to launch the Beedrill into the sea of trees.

Finley blinked in awe, She was still dazed, and completely oblivious to the events that had just saved her life. She managed to orientate herself, noticing the two pokemon that had just knocked out the Beedrills.

"D-did you guys..." She began, trying to peice the situation together. "Thanks." She sighed, this time with a clear appreciation for the luck she'd been gifted. "Are...are you guys wild pokemon, do you have a trainer? It's pretty rare to see two pokemon wondering around in pair like this, much less a Frogadier and a Pidgeotto." She spoke softly to the duo, knowing that they wouldnt be able to give her any sort of in depth details about their situation. The two Pokemon looked at each other and seemed to shrug their shoulders. The Frogadier bowed to the young girl, while the Pidgeotto fluttered to a nearby branch, seeming to peck off any dirt from the Whirlwind.

"Now that is how you battle, got it Robin? Well, that example wasn't very good seeing how they won already...maybe next time?" The voice said again, stepping forward. A young man in dark clothes stepped forward with a small Eevee in tow and looked at what seemed to be the battleground. He raised an eyebrow as he came closer, looking at Finley. "Oh, there was a person too. Well, that's...not really surprising. You better get home lady if you don't got a Pokemon. The forest isn't the nicest of places."

Finley squinted. By this point she'd worked out that the guy in front of her mustve been the trainer of the two pokemon that saved her.

"Well," She hesitated, before shifting her body into a more comfortable position, now seated with her legs across the floor either side of her body. She slouched as she spoke. "I do, or did have pokemon." She became visibly red as she admitted to her failure to protect her pokemon. "They were captured by a Pansage army." She spoke quick, as it to not give any time for the absurdity of her situation to sink in.

Vincent held in a laugh behind a cough. "Right...but no offense. I'm not in the mood for jokes. I already had one guy try to tell me one. Anyway, can't say I didn't do my good duty for the day. So good luck getting out of here," Vincent said, motioning his other Pokemon to follow him as he walked forwards.

"Wait!" She called out, before withdrawing back with her bubble. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me get my pokemon back." She twiddled her thumbs as she spoke.

Vincent sighed and rolled his eyes. "And why would I want to do that?"

Finley's eyes widened. She hadn't considered the possiblity of the trainer refusing. She paused for a moment of though, before looking down at her pokeballs.

"You're a trainer right? If we do this, you'd be able to catch yourself a powerful Pansage." She announced confidently. "Heck, we could even battle when we're done. I have some pretty powerful pokemon y'know. It'd be a great way to test your skills."

"A lot of good your powerful Pokemon are doing you," Vincent sheepishly said. "And a shame that I don't buy the idea of a powerful Pansage. It's a grass type and I've only seen one decent one on my entire journey." By this point, he already turned around and looked at the smaller girl as she remained on the ground, looming over her with each of his Pokemon at his side and Robin the Eevee propped on his shoulder. "So you haven't quite nailed a reason why I would want to help you."

The younger trainer began to rub her arm anxiously. The false confidence she'd shown ghearlier hadn't payed off, and her situation hadnt improved even a little.

"Well...I-" She responded gingerly. She even considered offering one of her own pokemon as a reward. Not that his comments about them helped that consideration any. She really wasnt in any position to be angry at him. In a way, he was right. "I guess I really dont have any reason for you to help me." She sighed in defeat. Her body fell limp as she slumped on the spot, almost resembling a shroomish.

"Get up," he seemed to order.

After raising her hand slightly, she quickly drew it back after she realised he wasnt going to help her to her feet. She pushed herself up, and brushed any visible dirt from her leggings.

"Good," Vincent said without any real tone to his voice. "Let's go get your Pokemon back." He turned away from her and recalled all his Pokemon except his Eevee, patting the Pokemon on the head as he clicked the Pokeballs to his belt. "Now, where were you attacked?"

"Ummmm..." The young girl tilted her head, and looked out into the trees that surrounded them. She pointed in the direction she'd come from. "That way I guess." She was still visibly shaken up by the events and it could be heard in her voice. A frown grew on her face as she spoke. "But that was by the Beedrill." She muttered under her breath, hoping to hide her doubt from her new, and seemingly apathetic companion.

"Then we start there," he simply said. "You got a name by the way?"

"Finley. Most people just call my Fin." She responded, clearly growing in confindence. "You?"

"Vincent. And please only call me that. I have enough nicknames that I want to forget," he replied. "Let's go get your Pokemon back, Fin."

Finley chuckled in response. "I get quite a few nicknames myself. They've never really bothered me to be honest." She began to ramble as she caught up to Vincent, now walking alongside the elder trainer.

After a few moments, Finley gathered that she was rambling a bit and stopped. It was quiet for a while before the girl broke the silence.

"Thanks." She gathered no response, and so tried again. "Thank you." She presisted. "Y'know, for helping me save Brooke, Carbon and Gristle." She mumbled, expressing her full gratitude.

Vincent looked over to her for a moment: "You can thank me when the job is done. Till then, I haven't done anything, so there isn't to be grateful for." It was this moment that the young man was questioning what he was getting into. For whatever reason, he found himself as of late doing more "good" that he ever intended. But why? This girl really didn't deserve his help. After all, she got herself into this mess. She should, like he did so many times, have to dig herself out of the mess. Yet here he was; inevitably going to do all the legwork since she literally had no Pokemon. Was it pity? Had Vincent became that soft. Must of been Melody's fault. That was the only logical response. Well, perhaps it wasn't, but Vincent needed to blame someone.

Legend · Nov 29, 2015

[URL=https://lunapic.com] [PokeCommunity.com] Crossroads; Retribution ACT II (ic)

[/URL]

Vincent Baker
Chapter 10: The Search Continues…

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Inventory:

Spoiler:

Pokemon

Spoiler:

Fin paused as she noticed a pile of leaves on the ground, similar to the ones that had led her to the Pansage in the first place. Only, this pile was much more scattered and uncontrolled than the ones she'd followed before.

She ran over to the pile and examined it. She searched for any signs of water of sand, but there were no signs of her pokemon. She sighed, and bowed her head. The exhaustion she'd felt before her encounter with the Beedrill was catching up to her, but with help, there was hope she'd find her team.

"I'm not sure what, but it looks like something happened here, and Pansage was involved!" She called out to Vincent.

"At least we are in the right area then," he commented. "But it barely helps. I am not exactly a tracker, and I'm not exactly packing a Growlithe or anything with me to find a scent or something." Vincent scratched his head and tried to think logically. "I guess if we keep our eyes open, maybe you or I will find a similar pattern or something that will narrow down the search."

Finley nodded. "When I had my first run in with him, he left neat piles of leaves for me to follow behind. This one seems alot more frantically placed, almost as if he either didn't mean it, or didn't have time to neaten up the pile." As she searched deeper into mess of leaves, she noticed multiple blackened ones that were also mishapened. She glanced up at Vincent, presenting her discovery to him.

"Why would they blackened?" He asked.

She glanced up at him blankly before responding. "They're...burnt."

Vincent smirked a little, if only because things suddenly got interesting: "So we have a fire type running around throwing the little guys into a panic. Well, lead the way and we keep tracking. See what happens."

Finley noticed Vincent's smirk and responded with one of her own. "Y'know, if you cant recognise a burned leaf, tracking this thing may be pretty difficult." She grinned cheesily. It was difficult for her to resist showing how proud she was of the jibe.

"You do realize I can leave you right?" Vincent snapped back to match her remark. After all, he had the Pokemon and she didn't. Regardless, that would be crude and for whatever reason, he wanted to be the stronger person. "Anyway, I want you to find your team yourself. I'll merely....help when needed. If you can't find your Pokemon yourself, I guess I am saying you don't deserve to lead them."

Finley let out a light sigh, before picking up the leaf and placing it in her pocket. "You're right. I've already let them down once, and I won't let it happen again." She took to her feet, and began heading off in the direction that the trail of Pansage leaves began to narrow. "Thanks again by the way, I appreciate you helping me here." She continued without turning to face Vincent. Her voice trailed off as she continued onward and spoke.

Vincent aimlessly followed, not really paying attention to anything Finley was saying. He got his message across and she seemed to take in most of it. That's what mattered to him. Much like he did with Melody, or at least tried to, his goal, for whatever reason, was to...well, he would probably use the word independent. Vincent was forced to learn that and it worked. Though, being forced and being taught are two vastly different concepts. "If you are lucky, you won't really need much of it," he added.

Fin glanced back, but offered no verbal response to Vincent's notion. She continued on the trail, facing out into the distant forest. Despite the onlooking mouse pokemon, her thoughts focused on her elder sister. What would she do in this situation? She thought to herself.

"Is that a Pokemon over there...?" Vincent asked blankly, pointing at the mouse-like creature. "It's not one of yours is it?"

The sudden instant in which Finley noticed the small yellow mouse caused her to jump back in a panic."No. I never had a Pichu." She groaned. The Pichu prepared to dart off, but the enclosure of trees trapped it into a corner. Fin took a moment to think. She sighed. The Pichu backed up into a corner, prompting Finley to grab a pokeball from a bag.

The panicked pokemon glanced around frantically. It watched the two large figures that stood before it, full of fear. Out of nowhere, a pokeball came flying at the pichu, sealing her inside.

The ball shook once, but the Pichu managed to escape, and again tried to dart away from Finley. "Dammit!" The trainer groaned. She grabbed a rock off of the ground, aiming it in the direction the Pichu had ran.

Snatching Finley's wrist in a tight grasp, Vincent glared in the direction and tossed out a Pokeball with his free hand, unleashing Brian the Pidgeotto into the fray. "My turn," Vincent said flatly to Finley, squeezing her wrist tight enough to make her loosen her girp on the rock. "Plus, last I checked we don't chuck rocks at Pokemon." As the rock tumbled to the ground, joining its companions, Vincent looked at Brian: "Follow the Pichu. We're fetching ourselves a new team member. I'll be right behind you." Orders given, Brian took the canopy and followed the small mouse Pokemon, chirping every few seconds to keep Vincent alert and focused. "Well, you coming for this little diversion or am I leaving you to find your team on your own?"

Finley hung her head in shame. Her hair cast a shadow as it hung over her face. "I guess I'll...follow behind." She mumbled with a sigh. "Not like I can do much beyond rock throwing to that damn Pansage anyway." She continued to mumble, this time under her breath.

"Alright," Vincent replied with little emotion. He knew he essentially won the debate, but it was a hollow victory. Regardless, he would hate to lose something so pointless. Turning away, he trudged into the sea of trees, following Brian's chirps. They were distant at first, as the meaningless debate with Finley had delayed Vincent from making a quick advancement. Two near falls over fallen branches, thick bushes and ancient roots that broke the surface generations ago. His progress sunk into a meandering crawl, but Brian's chirps seemed closer in distance. "Slow down," Vincent whispered to Finley, to which the girl simply responded with a nod. "Brian stopped moving, meaning the little Pichu probably did too." Vincent looked around, and barely peered through the canopy well enough to figure out where Brian perched. He began to make his approach, crouching down to minimize the sound of each step. Brian's chirps, while infrequent, echoed in Vincent's ears more and more until, he felt the sound coming from directly above him.

Vincent placed a finger on his mouth, indicating to Finley his intent of completing this task quietly.

Fin nodded. Opting to wait it out and let Vincent handle the situation, she withdrew back into the bushes.

Brian hopped down to Vincent, balancing on a branch a half meter or so away from the trainer. Using a mix of body language and calls, Brian tried to comunicate where the Pichu burrowed away. "Right," Vincent recalled Brian, latching the Pokeball onto his belt. "Electric types tend to do well against flying types. So," Vincent paused, before turning to his Eevee. "You will handle this one. You shouldn't have too much difficulty," he continued, kneeling down to speak with it. "Alright, let's sneak up on this little guy," Vincent offer a hand for a shake and Eevee obliged with a little bark to indicate her willigness to try.

Pichu was burrowing in a small clearing, seeming to mid his own business. Vincent and Eevee creeped in the bushes, rustling the environment. Pichu seemed to detect them, turning his head violently to find the source of the noise. Pichu failed, and Vincent leapt on the opportunity: "Now, Eevee! Quick Attack!" Eevee darted out of the bushes and pounced on the hapless Pichu. The electric mouse fell back, rolling in the dirt as Vincent crawled out of the foilage to obtain a better view of the small battleground. Engineered by instinct, Pichu fired a wave of lightning, of which Eevee, despite some agility, couldn't dodge completely. Vincent quickly caught on, knowing all too well that Pichu landed a Thunder Wave, paralyzing Eevee for the moment. Pichu fired off a Thundershock soon after and Eevee, unable to effectively move, took the attack, yelping in pain as the surge of electricity coursed through the frail body.

"Damn it," Vincent spat. Maybe I should recall Eevee and send in Tank or Exaclibur, he considered mentally. It would certainly solve everything, as they are more than capable. But, no. Eevee needs to learn to fight if she wants to be a part of this team. "Eevee, use bite!" Eevee fought through the pain and charged forward, latching onto the smaller Pokemon. With a sharp shake, the Eevee tossed the Pichu to the side. Eevee wanted to follow up with a tackle, but as she approached, Pichu batted away Vincent's newest Pokemon with a Tail Whip. Eevee remained persistent and tackled through the mild distraction, and the small Pokemon rolled away bruised and battered. Seizing the opportunity, Vincent tossed forward a Pokeball and the small mouse Pokemon was swallowed up in a flash of light. The ball crumpled to the ground and shook.

moon · Nov 29, 2015

Congratulations, Vincent caught a Pichu! What gender was it? Reply in the OOC or on Skype, please.

moon · Dec 6, 2015

MORTY
route 34

"So that's how it is."

A rough wind tugged his scarf as he gazed out over the fields and brought a hand up to scratch his own chin.

"The ones from my vision, I see them here as well." he continued, as if he was talking to someone.

From thin air, a shade appeared at his words. Its huge face smiled gleefully and the hands, detached from its body, wriggled in excitement. Morty's hand went to gently pat the Haunter instead. The pokémon solidified, allowing the physical contact with ease.

"They were here... Or they. Will be. Um."

"Hauuuunt?"

"There's no point for us to enter the forest. I can't see behind its veil. But..."

He let out an exasperated sigh and suddenly crouched, holding his head in his hands.

"If only I could tell future from past in these visions... I'm useless."

Haunter's smile fell and his eerie hands started wriggling in a more unsettled way. Morty didn't get up, instead he crossed his legs and tried to breath calmly.

"I guess we'll wait? Either they'll come, or..."

The clouds were really dark today, it was almost as if something bad was simply meant to happen. But signs like that was just superstition. Morty wasn't superstitious. He only believed in what he could see.

"Or we've already missed them."

It just so happened that he could see more than most.

Geras · Dec 8, 2015

Cordelia Davies
Ilex Forest

"Hi daddy," Cordelia said as she answered her phone.

"Hi Princess," answered her father. "I finally managed to sneak away from work. Is everything okay over there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied as she wrung out her soaking wet shirt. She sat down and unraveled it, looking at the hole that had been burned into the back. It wasn't too big, but it bothered her that she could fit her whole hand through it. It was unfortunate since she rather liked this shirt. Fortunately she had packed plenty of other clothes, so it wasn't like she was stuck with it.

Cordelia looked over at Fluffles, who was also drying herself off. She shook the water off her feathers fairly easily, which surprised Cordelia. Sometimes she forgot that the fluff on an Altaria wasn't actually cotton, no matter how much it resembled it.

The girl thought briefly on what had just happened, the way her shirt suddenly caught fire and the way Fluffles immediately dragged her into the small lake beside them. It was a startling turn of events, but as usual, Fluffles kept her from any real harm. Cordelia had to wonder where her dad found the Altaria. She also had to wonder what could have set her on fire. She'd been to the forest plenty of times, and she'd never seen a Fire-type anywhere. Well, whatever it was, it didn't seem to be trying again. She started to consider keeping her clothes wet in case it did.

"What about you?" Cordelia asked, continuing the conversation. "Everything okay at the office?"

"Busy, as usual. Did you eat? Do your exercise routine? Have your mom's parents given you any trouble?" Her father spoke in a rushed tone that made it clear he didn't have much time to talk. She considered trying to hurry and end the conversation early to not cause any trouble for him, but she knew how much he valued talking with her and decided against it.

"Lots of Calcium and Vitamin D, you know I always do, and no. You don't have to worry so much, dad. I'm fine on my own. But speaking of mom, I'm surprised she hasn't called yet. Do you know if she was busy today?"

Her father fell silent, a rare thing in these calls. After a few seconds, her father spoke again. "Your mother is going to be taking a trip, sweetie. I probably won't be the best person to ask about her for the next couple weeks." Cordelia was rather surprised. Her mother hadn't mentioned anything and she usually wasn't the type for spontaneity. But she supposed that neither of her parents had exactly been themselves lately.

"I see. No problem then, I'll just call her later if she still hasn't called by then."

Her father started to say something, but Cordelia could hear talking in the background. Nothing she could make out though. But given that this wasn't the first time this had happened, she figured it was probably his co-workers who needed him for something. "Sorry honey, I've got to go. I'll try to call you tomorrow. Love you."

"Hey dad?" Cordelia blurted, almost interrupting him. He stayed on the line. "Thanks for always calling."

"No problem, precious." With that, he finally hung up.

Cordelia stared at the phone in her hands fondly with a wide smile on her face for almost a full minute after the call ended. Then her smile began to fade. She turned her gaze upwards, now watching the thick canopy of trees denying the forest underneath anything but the smallest rays of sunshine. "What's wrong with me…" she muttered, eliciting a low, worried ringing from Ring-Ring who was floating nearby.

Deciding that was enough sitting around, Cordelia moved to stand only to find herself pulled right back to the ground by her hand. The next moment her partner's ringing became frantic. Cordelia didn't have time to react to Ring-Ring's warning before she felt whatever had grabbed her hand tighten. Hard. Cordelia cried out in pain as she felt the bones in her wrist begin to crack.

Fluffles reacted immediately, rushing over to jab at the root holding Cordelia down with her beak and freeing her. Cordelia stood up and looked back to see what turned out to be a little Phantump who had snuck up behind her and begun expanding its roots. Phantump usually preferred to stay deeper in the forest, so why was this one here? Well regardless of the answer to that, it seemed it would be getting a battle. Fluffles and Ring-Ring stood between it and Cordelia, and they didn't look happy. After thinking about it, she decided it would probably be a good idea to catch it. For all their enthusiasm, Fluffles and Ring-Ring weren't exactly fighters, whereas Phantump evolved into the fearsome Trevenant.

"Ring-Ring, Astonish! Fluffles, Pluck!" Her team rushed forward, but the Phantump was ready. Its eyes began to glow as it formed a ball of bright orange energy above it, launching it at Fluffles. Ring-Ring was quickly at its side, making a loud noise and what he probably thought was a scary face. Energy waves from the shout battered harshly at the Phantump. Cordelia may not have ever gone to trainer school, but she'd played enough trainer sim games to get the basics of type-matchups at least.

Fluffles' attack never hit its mark though. Instead, the Altaria was thrashing around wildly, ramming itself into nearby trees. Cordelia was really thankful for Fluffles' protective fluff. Looking back at Ring-Ring, she saw the Phantump fighting back with it's own Astonish attack. The Phantump's attack clearly dealt far more damage than Ring-Ring's, sending him reeling back. The Phantump's ingrained roots then began glowing as it absorbed healing nutrients from the ground. She was facing this pokemon two-on-one and it still wasn't looking good for her.

It was clear to her that Ring-Ring wasn't going to be able to beat it alone. "Ring Ring, keep it busy!" Ordered Cordelia. "No fighting though, just run around!" It seemed that Astonish hit wiped away some of his bravado, because Ring-Ring immediately began fleeing with a panicked expression. The Phantump tried to chase him for a bit, but it couldn't exactly move very quickly while it was ingrained into the ground. It then decided on launching another Confuse Ray at him instead.

In the meantime, Cordelia returned Fluffles to her pokeball for a few moments before re-releasing her. Maybe it was something about the way pokeballs worked, what with turning pokemon into energy or however it worked, but it tended to cure certain status effects. Well, at least it did in her games. She was glad to find that this translated over to reality when Fluffles emerged from the ball healthy, but quite unhappy as well. She turned her gaze to the Phantump who had managed to inch its way over to the confused Ring-Ring and was now attacking it mercilessly. Cordelia returned Ring-Ring to the safety of its pokeball.

Fluffles seemed ready to jump back into the battle, but Cordelia stopped her. "Hold on Fluffles, use safeguard first." Fluffles made what sounded almost like a sigh before spreading her wings and beginning to glow white. It was good timing, since the Phantump now seemed to be preparing another confuse ray. The orange energy ball flew at Fluffles, but this time it simply dispersed the moment it hit her. "Nice. Now Pluck it!" Suddenly, the Phantump's ingrain turned its position from a fortress to a prison, the grass type unable to flee from the flying type's approaching beak.

Cordelia let Fluffles have her fun with the Phantump for a little while before she pulled a pokeball out of her purse. It wouldn't do for Fluffles to have any leftover resentment for the little ghost if she managed to get it to join them. She let Fluffles get a few more jabs in before tossing the ball at the poor little stump. The Phantump was enveloped in a red light and absorbed into the ball, which fell to the ground and began shaking.

Greiger · Dec 12, 2015

Code Blue : Prevention

"Croc croc, croc!" The Croconaw shouted to the last few Venonants that quickly hurried away as fast as their tiny legs would allow them. Derpy gleefully put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the damage around him. This new group was good… but still a bit weak. At least, in his eyes. He turned back to the others who had started to learn more about staying in line. The only one who was giving him trouble was the Panpour. Ever since he stepped in to help this ragtag group out how was he repaid? With angry glares and soft mutterings whispered under breath.

Well, that was going to change.

He snapped his fingers as every mon quickly straightened their backs, trembling a bit as the intimidating croc slowly walked by them, eyeing them all, and even smirking as he looked over the bruises and cuts that he had personally imparted on the more rebellious ones. He stopped right in front of the Panpour and crossed his arms, "Croc cro, croco, cro!" He snapped out.

The other man gathered all winced at the harsh tone he used. The Panpour narrowed his eyes, his fists starting to shake as Derpy jabbered on and pointed down at the ground, finishing with a simple cross of his arms and a tapping of his foot against the grass. The other water type was silent for a moment, then slowly lowered his head. He was lowering himself down onto a knee as Derpy's smirk widened.

What came next was a flash of brown. Derpy blinked in surprise as he realized two things. The first was that the Panpour had raked his fingers along his snout. The second was that he was bleeding. A few seconds passed in silence with the other mon watching in horror. Brutus knew what was going to happen and the Smeargle was quick to take shelter behind a tree trunk.

Derpy just stood still as a tree. A light breeze passed through the area as the first droplet of blood fell from his snout and down onto the vibrant green grass. Then, the Croconaw cracked a small smirk. He turned his head slowly to face the Panpour, the corners of his mouth slooooowly rising up as his smile grew. The Panpour stepped back as he saw the sadistic smile, but he held up his fists and shouted at the Croconaw. He turned and pointed to the mon gathered, shouting at them as well. Derpy wasn't an honorable mon, and so he tackled the Panpour the moment he turned his back. The monkey fell to the ground as the Croconaw widened his jaws, having the full intention to chomp down on his head.

He hadn't expected a powerful shock of electricity to ring through his body. Derpy's head slowly turned as one eye settled on the small Joltik that had shocked him. The smaller mon slowly crawled back just a bit as Derpy turned, but before the Croconaw could advance his whole body froze up. The water type trembled a bit while he struggled to move so much as a finger. Yet, he couldn't.

Realization dawned on the other mon as all them slowly began to advance on the Croconaw. Derpy jabbered out angrily, but they weren't stopping. Brutus peeked out from behind his tree and winced as he saw the action take place. He had seen Derpy mistreating the other mon, sure, but to see them actually get the upper hand on the water type? He had seen that Thunder Wave…

Brutus quickly waved his tail about in the air as the other mon grabbed hold of Derpy and lifted him up toward a low hanging branch. The Joltik climbed up and shot down some webbing that grabbed hold of Derpy. The strong webbing helped to lift him up and hang him upside down in the air as the other gathered mon let out cheers. The Panpour proudly puffed out his chest and gestured for the rest of his group to follow after him.

Psyduck had just been standing to the side, looking at the whole scene with confusion. Brutus made his way out from his hiding place and walked up to the tied up Derpy, gently poking at his snout with a finger and causing him to swing back and forth. The webbing was indeed strong with Derpy growling out, much to Brutus' amusement. He pushed him and watched him swing as the Smeargle laughed.

Derpy was clearly enraged as he jerked and trashed as much as he could in the webbing, but only further entangled himself. Brutus sat down next to the swinging Croconaw. This… was a good day.

~~~

"This should be the way." Blaine observed. He had seen several trampled plants and pawprints in the grass as he moved through the forest with Legious. "See them anywhere?"

The Nincada that had been scampering along the tree just shook his head. Well, they had to be somewhere around here. It had been a large group and a few hours had passed, so they had to stop somewhere for food or such. At least, he hoped that they would.

"Smea! Smea!"

Blaine turned to the sound and gestured to Legious, "They might be this way!" Sure enough as he walked through some bushes he saw a giddy Smeargle, a confused Psyduck, and an enraged Derpy swinging from a tree. "At least we found you all."

Brutus let out another chuckle and wiped a tear from his eye. Derpy's eyes snapped over to Blaine as he hollowed out. Blaine looked over the webbing and tugged at it, grunting as he tried to pull it off the scaly mon. "Okay… this webbing is really tough." It was ultimately Legious who used his teeth to chew through the webbing. Derpy fell to the ground with a loud thud and a low groan of pain. He struggled to get up, but the webbing kept him stuck to the grass and dirt. As he flailed about Blaine pulled out his pokeball and drew him back in. "You should probably stay in there until we get to the next city. Just so we can clean you off."

He recalled Legious and looked over at Brutus, "You know he's going to get you back for that."

Brutus just snickered as he too was recalled.

"Now, let's get out of this forest." He looked down at Psyduck, "And I guess along the way I can think of a name for you." And make sure that an enraged Derpy doesn't murder half the forest.

[PKMN FULL] Crossroads; Retribution ACT II (ic)

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