Eos [PG-14]

[Underoos]

Once the first team had been called, Shelby suddenly realized something. She hadn't really checked her information or what team she was on. Though she had stayed standing, it was really more of a guess than anything. She poked her crystal and watched as an image appeared as well as data. Shelby skimmed through the data fast, and found that she was slightly nervous that these people knew so much about her yet she knew virtually nothing about them.

"…Age: 15. Occupation: Student and artist, slight writer mixed in. Intelligence: Slightly above average. Strength: Slightly below average. Nationality: Johto. Team: Black." Once the machine had finished Shelby noticed something else. "Position on team: Captain." Eh? Are they sure they have the right person? She wondered to herself, eyebrow's shot up in a baffled expression.

Moments later the black team was called, and Shelby watched as her group assembled. She silently found herself in front, closest to the robots. Oh joy, she thought, dryly assessing them as they explained the layout of the place. I can't believe I'm stuck here like this, she thought dismally. She sighed softly, wanting to be home and in her bed. She shook her head, ignoring this. It wasn't time for that now; she could wallow on her on time. For now, she had to be a leader.

Shelby listened closely to the tour, though she was still half lost in her own thoughts. That was one benefit of her mind—she could do various tasks at once. That included listening and zoning out. It seemed odd, but it worked rather well. She frowned when she noticed the language was different, thus handicapping her ability to read it and comprehend it as well. That could be a problem if I ever need to find anything…my memory isn't the greatest, she thought.

She made sure that she took note of every room and floor very carefully. Shelby had to admit, she honestly wanted to try out the training room. I need to get some experience in with Poochyena…Shelby thought. Suddenly she thought of something else, and I need to give him a nickname. Shelby looked behind her and noticed everyone had started to drift off in opposite directions. Her stomach growled, so she thought about it for a moment and then headed to the Mess Hall.

Once inside, she saw a few people seated. One boy was eating something that looked like grey slop. Shelby's stomach turned at the thought, but she thought she'd give it a try anyway. When she walked up there she was asked to scan her bracelet, so she did so. Afterwards, a robot handed her a compressed bag of…something. Shelby blinked and walked to one of the benches, sitting down by herself and prying the bag open with her fingers. Her head cocked to the side when she saw that there were tan crispy things in there. Are they chips or what? She wondered, popping one into her mouth.

The snack was crunchy, yet fairly filling. The crispy things were really salty, however, so Shelby looked around for a drink. There was a machine with a giant water symbol on it, so she walked over and observed it for a moment. Then she pressed a button. Nothing happened. Probably have to scan my bracelet again, she figured, putting her wrist up next to something that she assumed was a scanner. A red light came on, checked her bracelet, and then moments later the machine made a noise and a bottle of water plopped down. At least they have something moderately alright to drink, she thought, sitting back down and taking a sip.

[FONT=&quot]I think I'll head down to the Common Room[/FONT][FONT=&quot], she finally decided. She wanted to get to know Poochyena better, but she figured it would be impolite to bring her Pokémon out whilst people were trying to eat. With that thought in mind, she stood up and, taking her water bottle with her, headed towards the Common Room.[/FONT]

 

[processr]

"Green team," a robot called out harshly. "Follow me." Around the room people with similar green-tinted crystals on their bracelets stepped forward and began to gather around the robot that had given the order. The young boy Nicholas had been talking with had immediately turned to greet his new teammates, his Treecko happily echoing the sentiments. Nicholas simply sighed, gave a shrug and followed the members of the green team out of the Battlefield and into a clean, brightly-lit corridor. The robot up ahead led them to another room and pointed at three doors in turn, apparently naming them. Nicholas, however, was unable to understand the terminology, and suddenly ran to the front of his group to confront the robot.

"What do those words mean?" he asked. He would have attempted to rough the mechanoid up had it had any sort of external appendage other than it arms, but the Scandinavian had to make do with demanding to be heard. The robot began to move away, but Nicholas ran in front of it and held his bracelet in front of what he assumed was its face.

"Nigul Pärn, aged—"

"What do the words you used to describe those rooms mean?" he interrupted.

"Infirmary, noun. Plural: infirmaries. A place where sick or inju—"

"No, no," Nicholas lamented, once again interjecting. "What do they mean in Swedish? Tala mig i svenska!"

"Infirmary – sjukhusavdelning. Common room – samlingsrum. Mess hall – cafeteria."

"Tack," Nicholas replied. "I mean 'thank you.'" The robot continued on its way, the next team approaching their group already despite the staggered times of departure. The robot explained about the training rooms, the barracks and the bathrooms, and led the team to the mess hall. Nicholas spied Zack, the boy he has talked to before, receiving some sort of package from another robot, one at the service door. Whatever was contained within it didn't look particularly appetising.

'I wasn't hungry anyway,' Nicholas thought. He sat at the green-coloured table, all the members of his team bar Zack assembled there. Presently the boy joined them, and all but Nicholas were engaged in conversation. He gave a loud sigh and got up, causing a few to give him untoward looks, but nevertheless he walked out of the mess hall, intending to head for the green barrack.

 

[Legend]

OOC: Okay, so Pokecommunity was totally messing up on me, so this post was written of a memory of what I thought was happening. I am sorry it is short and late, but I figured it was enough to catch up.

The processing of the seemingly prisoners stirred the assembly of people locked in a room being examined by the robots. For the most part, Lance kept quiet and observed his scenario. He was captured by Alien robots in order to participate in some contest of skill, wits and ability in order to be a chosen defender of their people. At least this was he absorbed by the conversation. The constant activity of people talking to one another about their lives, their so called team assignments or simply asking the fairly retarded question of: "Where are we?" had actually distracted Lance, a man who under war conditions could somehow tone out his environment and still come up with a plan in order to accomplish some sort of goal. However, he managed to focus in on the robots long enough to hear the basic instructions on the device placed on his arm: The sliver bracelet. This is quite unmanly,, he thought to himself. Well, if this is my best weapon here other than my various utilities on my belt, I may as well learn how to use it now. I wish it was a glove at least though. At least with something of that nature, I can feel like a solider and not some rejected model. But for all I know, those robots have laser cannons like in Star Wars. I will go along with their plans for the time being, at least until I figure out their true intentions. Now where is that button. I have to look like I care. At least a little bit.

After shuffling around the device placed on his left wrist, Lance managed to activate it, a fact that almost shocked him into a Coma. The device was totally foreign, so to him it was like shifting from a complicated PC to a Mac without an introductory crash course. With a single press of some button, a Pokemon was released. A Larvitar. Now despite being a military man, Lance is no stranger to Pokemon, having worked with some Special Operatives who used Pokemon for strategic purposes, including demolition and environment manipulation. Interesting, he plotted to himself. Challenging us by using a valuable and powerful tool as a means of comparison. This became a little more interesting. But what team am I on? Everyone seems to be grouping together right here, right now. By the looks of it, the Black team is assembling first. I guess Black is the new Pink. I am willing to bet I am on a team full of nonchalant pansies. Lovely...then I am going to suffer whatever punish the military brings on me if I am sent back to Earth. Lance began fiddling with his bracelet again and through sheer luck, he found the correct button that displayed his desires:

Name: Lance Ackart
Age: 28
Area of excellence: Military
Chosen Team: Orange

Orange eh? Strange color. Works for me. At least that annoying girl from Black team is my opponent. I may have to kill her when I get the chance and credit to collateral damage. Before Lance had time to actually think about liable ways to eradicate his opponents before the competition, robots began escorting teams one by one out of the cell. As he waited for Orange team to be removed from the dismal, bright room, he removed a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, removed a single one lit with his military designed zippo and enjoyed the few moments of relaxation he earned after having to deal in a crowded room with no one to talk to you. His mind drifted off thinking about the camp and how he won't hear the end of it from his superiors. Especially the Colonel. The mere thought of his punishment caused chills to run down his spine. Maybe I better win this so I don't have to suffer the potential court marshall for being AWOL. The Lieutenant will hate me though.....Crap!

Soon enough, his team was called. Lance disposed the stress reliever from his mouth, stomped it out and followed the robot. The robot appeared to be giving a tour of the station, in which Lance absorbed most of the information quite quickly and easily, establishing a basic plan for the rest of his days which involved intense training, sufficient eating and some rest in between. Lance desired perfect synergy between him and his newfound partner, as with that synergy, their teamwork would be unstoppable. In due time, the tour ended and he ascended to the barracks, unaware if anyone followed him. At this point, Lance desired some peace in order to establish a plan. He never did anything without a plan.

OOC: I didn't know how to end the post lol.

 

[Cirrus]

Aesir slowly walked out of the room that the robots were indicating he should vacate, calmly, steadily. Thoughts spun around in his mind, and were briefly interrupted by one of the metallic robots clamping a bracelet around his wrist. Glancing at it, wincing from the momentary discomfort and slight pain, Aesir was mildly surprised to see that the silvery bracelet was embedded with a crystal.

Then, he heard the mysterious voice boom again, across the hollow room.

-So, a game. Just what I'm good at, although I can't imagine what the 'ultimate honor' is, or how it's important. I don't appreciate being snatched away while revisiting Ovid's Metamorphosis, though, even if it is to protect the planet. My personal thoughts do not concern the project at hand, however. I am captured, and they are captor. So, I had better play by their rules. Time to carry on. Let's test this bracelet out, shall we?-

Aesir went through a mental monologue after hearing the news that he was to be playing a game. Some hidden part of him seethed, and demanded not to be made fun of as a subject; but the games-loving part of him took over. Exhibiting curiosity, Aesir touched the crystal on the bracelet. It lit and pulsed with a constant light.

One second, two… and then three. The silver band flickered, and an audio-emission device came to life.

"Name: Aesir Sedgewick. Country of Origin: United Kingdom. Key Skill: Tactics. Assigned Team: Green." An electronic voice flatly stated the obvious facts. It was supposed to be feminine, but at this point it could be either.

Aesir frowned.

"So you're taking down information about our lives. Makes enough sense. I just wonder..."

He pressed the gem again, and this time it flashed in coordination with his team color; a glittering olive, similar to peridot. Then, a blast of light radiated out from the gem. A steel eyeball enclosed in a claw floated before him, silent.

"A Pokeball bracelet. Convenient." Aesir took a closer look at the Pokemon before him. A Beldum. Excellent. This suited him just fine... after all, the elite must have elite Pokemon. And even though he did hate the organizers of Eos a little, he was proud that they had chosen to give him this rare specimen.

But after his brief tests of his bracelet, a robot took him onto a tour of the entire ship, and there was not much opportunity to talk; neither did Aesir want to, he felt; until these people had his respect, he would not talk to them obsessively unless necessary.

Thinking this, he resumed his slightly awkward but quick walk towards the stairs, not being particularly hungry though introduced already to the mess hall. The robots had already informed everyone of the placement of the rooms, and they began to disperse. Aesir, still not in a good mood, kept frowning as he shuffled up the stairs into his new dormitory. He had already seen some of his teammates in a glance into the mess hall- their bracelets glowed a distinctive green as well. A well-built man; well, he'll have to be more careful around him; and a kid. He was under control. He could adapt. But for now, he restricted himself to only one comment.

"Much worse from my Smogon colleagues, I'll bet."

 

[Miz en Scène]

2nd Version

Okay I think I fixed it now.
Yeah it's the protagonist from my fic but with a different history. He's just the protagonist by face only so yeah he's human. The experiments in this profile refer to something else.

Name: Raphael 'Phaiel' Hasendra Finitio
Age: 22 years old
Gender: Male
Normal Appearance: Light colored skin, red and black hair which is slightly spiky but doesn't stand up like most spiky hair. His eyes are a dark emerald green color. His body is of normal healthy build not muscular but has an impressive stamina. Some people consider him handsome but not that handsome as too cause girls too swoon. He is moderately tall and usually wears black slacks with a black belt and silver buckle with a thin silver chain extending to his pocket from the belt. He wears a usually unbuttoned red overcoat not made for withstanding the cold but for appearances sake that slightly resembles a jacket of sorts with yellow trimming on the collar and sleeve collar. He wears a black long sleeved shirt on the inside of his overcoat/jacket. He also wears black boots with silver clasps on them. When casually strolling around he discards the overcoat and only wears the black long sleeved shirt. He is far sighted so he wears reading glasses sometimes.
Battle Appearance: He wears black no fingered gloves when transforming and his hair is now combed backwards but still spiky. He also attains a monocle of sorts for reading things on the battlefield. This monocle is electronic, can zoom in, and has a thermal, infrared, Night Vision camera installed.
Personality: Phaiel is calm and collected usually cool under pressure. He is actually very caring or the sakes of other people but doesn't show this side often . He becomes extremely violent if his friends are in danger and becomes completely sadistic towards the enemy at the time. He is a strategist by nature compiling strategies as soon as he is exposed to a certain condition. He usually doesn't attack civilians or the injured and weak. He usually keeps to himself figuring out puzzles in his head if left alone for a long time. His personality gives out an air of indifference to the people around him and some people think he is arrogant at first glance. Most people would either say that he's cool or otherwise arrogant. He tends to talk only when necessary or otherwise to break the ice. He talks openly with people he knows or are comfortable with. He can also maintain a stoic poker face at most times even though he doesn't gamble. Despite all this, most people deem him as intelligent even without knowing him that well as he looks the part.

History: Phaiel was born in Saffron City to his mother. At the time, his father had already passed away because of a certain accident he can't remember. His mother soon remarried and he was forced to live with his abusive stepfather. Due to this fact, he often frequented the Saffron city gym and became a close friend of Sabrina even though their Pokémon preferences were somewhat different (This was after Sabrina became happy again). At the age of 10, he was forced to move to Johto where he stayed in Goldenrod. Due to his stepfather's abusive nature, Phaiel became more sullen and withdrawn but still shows his good side from time to time. Again, at the age of 11 his whole family moved to what he would hope to be their last place to stay. That place was slateport. At the age of fourteen, Phaiel entered the Hoenn chess Tournament and tied with the Hoenn Grandmaster. This proved his strategic capabilities. During this time, he met a friend at Rustboro after the finals. This girl was Kana, one of his closest friends. He graduated from The University of Johto with a master in computer science, Pokémon studies and Pokémon biology when he was 16 along with his sister and friend. This was what earned them the nickname the prodigy trio. Now he stays in Sandgem Town working as a Senior Aide to Professor Rowan.

Team: Black

Pokémon Partner:

Spoiler:

Name: Houndour
Nickname: Shino (Full name Shinrin Honoo that means Forest Flame)
Gender: Male
Personality: Rash, he prefers to be outside any containment o sorts and will prefer to follow his trainer around. He is naturally untrusting of people and will attack anyone on sight if deemed a threat to himself and his trainer.
Appearance: His skull appendage on the top of his head is slightly cracked due to a fight from long ago.

Other Things To Know: Phaiel is good at chess a chess master and is Japanese with a French-Spanish heritage or ancestry. He is also a speed-reader. He hates onions but likes spicy foods such as chilies. He is partial towards either fire or dark type Pokémon.
Writing Sample: From my fanfic 'The Chronicles of Neo Groudon' with Phaiel as the main character.

Spoiler:

It's cold…so cold…

The freezing bitterness surrounds my body, it pierces through my very soul leaving me immobile. All of my memories are a chaotic mess. It's as if they're floating around in my mind just waiting to be caught and examined. I can remember bits and pieces of my memories and of someone's memories that I'm not familiar with.

I can remember parts of my life. Being taken from my bed in the dark of night. Being born from the depths of a volcano. My memories make no sense, there's no point trying to figure them out. Best to just stand here and forget, no, discard everything…

Time passes by slowly. I remember some parts of my life. Machinery, humans, Pokémon, but one thing stands out in my mind. One thing that fills me with hatred and disgust. It's a symbol, the symbol, the sideways eight symbol. I don't know why, but it just doesn't feel right.

It's been a few days since I first gained consciousness. I start to examine my body. It's human and possibly an older teenager. It's odd, one part of my mind feels disgust at looking at my body while the other part is more indifferent. I lift my hands and take a closer look at them. My nails are slightly pointed and are a shiny metallic color. I smile as a part of me thinks of human girls and their nail polish. I don't feel right, I'm referring to people as humans. I'm human, aren't I? One part of my consciousness doesn't feel like it belongs. My skin is normal, albeit paler than usual. I think I remember how I used to look like, snippets of memories detailing my appearance. I open my mouth and examine my teeth with my tongue. They're sharp. I can feel that my teeth are more cone shaped like animal fangs. I realize that I'm not being held by anything. I'm just standing here. I don't think of escape and everywhere I look I see a white mist. I don't see much and soon I feel incredibly lightheaded and slump down to the floor. I fall into a deep sleep.

Once again, after a few days I open my eyes and once more. Out of nowhere, a mechanical arm descends from above me. It's shining and metallic. Hydraulic tubes move the arm with fluid precision. The arm looks menacing. It finally stops somewhere near my torso. I can hear mechanical gears whirring inside it. One part of the arm opens up. I expect gunfire but instead, a beam of light shoots from it aiming for my chest. I'm perplexed, surely, this isn't what's going to happen after such a dramatic entrance. Sure enough, as I'm mulling it over inside my mind, a long needle attached to a few wires swiftly extends from the mechanical arm, plunging itself into my torso where my heart is!

Pain and agony ensue. I can feel the needle pumping some liquid into my body. It's hot and viscous, my body feels like it's on fire! Every centimeter of my body is in pain. The mechanical arm makes an electronic crackling sound and suddenly, electricity flows into my body. I howl in agony. The needle pumping fluid into my heart and the electricity surging through my veins and arteries make me feel like I'm going to die. I try to escape but I can't, specialized shackles are holding me to the wall. They don't break no matter how hard I struggle. I can hear the sound of hydraulics straining on the shackles. They move slightly but the hydraulics is too strong. I feel the electricity reacting with the fluid and my blood. My head is pounding, blood surges through my body and my heart rate increases. My body convulses and shakes in unbearable pain.

 

[The Purple Dow]

OOC: I'm a couple posts behind, but I'll try my best to catch up soon.


Alex was standing in a field. The field seemed to stretch out forever, knee high grass swaying in an imaginary breeze. In the distance a huge mountain rose, stretching into the sky. On the mountain's slopes, trees of every discernable type grew, a solid wall of green. Behind the mountain, a yellow sun hung, as if going down, and yet no matter how long he watched, it didn't move. Slowly, Alex started forward, striding purposefully towards the horizon. Suddenly, the sun started spinning, spinning, spinning, and then the rest of the world followed suit. First the mountain, then the ground, until Alex was standing alone, staring at a spinning kaleidoscope. Then, the colors faded into a uniform white, flashing hot for a single second, and slowly Alex became aware of the outside world, and carefully opened his eyes.

What he saw was, to put it mildly, bizarre. A large group of metallic, chrome beings, mostly likely robots, Alex thought with disbelief. I mean come on, robots don't exist he thought angrily to himself. But, his eyes did not appear to be lying to him. The beings in front of him seemed to be both real, and robots. As if to prove it, one of the robots extended a tentacle and prodded Alex's leg. Alex lay where he was, not reacting to the rather pushy robot. The robot insistently kept on prodding him. Disgruntled, Alex slowly stood up. The robot, happy at being obeyed, grabbed his hand in a vice grip, and with another claw, started attaching a bracelet to it. Alex's gut instinct was to attempt to fight the robot. Luckily, he was able to suppress his rage for enough time to realize the foolishness of attacking something made of metal with his bare hands. So, the robot was able to attach the bracelet with no trouble, and making a content buzzing noise, it floated away, to perform other tasks.

Only then did Alex get a chance to look around. He saw a rather disparate group of people, all being similarly "braceleted". The majority of them seemed to have no idea what was going on, instead looking at the robots with bleary eyed suspicion and disbelief. But, Alex was unable to get a good look at most of them, because his eyes swept the room, a loud voice boomed out.

 

[processr]

(OOC: How do we access anything useful in the training rooms? I read over the first post, but I was confused by the use of the word 'regimen', as it's the only mention I see in the whole topic. =S Also a little sketchy as to what actually happens in there, so I guess I'll leave it to you, Jax, to fill in the gaps once I'm done with this post.)

Nicholas exited the mess hall, a few people ahead of him already heading into the common room or upstairs to the dormitories. He took no note of them, except for one man who couldn't have been much younger than himself. Despite being somewhat wiry he was nigh-on six feet tall, in stark contrast to Zach. This man certainly wasn't androgynous like the small boy; he'd held a sort of grandeur that one might take for arrogance when Nicholas had spotted him in the mess hall, but he now shuffled up the stairs to the dormitories.

"On second thought, I wonder what the training rooms are like?" he asked out loud to himself. He hesitated at the bottom of the stairs heading upwards and turned, heading down to what he assumed was the first floor. No one else had come down here yet, Nicholas reckoned. All the better, as it meant he could train alone for some time. He made his way around the entrances to the rooms, each door having next to it an interface with some sort of scanner that was predominantly painted in each of the different team colours. Presently he found the green training room, and inspected the door. There was no handle on the outside, at least – just the odd device beside it. He studied it more closely, but found only the scanner-like tool and a speaker just below it. He placed his eye up against the scanner, recalling something he'd seen in a low-budget science fiction movie, but a sharp voice emanating from the speaker made him jump.

"Please provide identification with your bracelet only." Nicholas allowed himself a small, uncharacteristic chuckle.

"At least something on this ship has a sense of humour," he mused, holding his bracelet up to the scanner, the crystal pointing directly towards it.

"Nigul Pärn. Green team. Access granted," the same, monotonous voice said, and the door began to open. The whole door first moved inwards slightly, and it then slid cleanly to the left.

"What is this, Star Trek?" Nicholas asked no one in particular as he walked in. To his immediate right he saw a robot identical to the ones that had led them to the mess hall, apart from the monitor on its front. "Huh," he said out loud. He held his bracelet up to the robot's… face? The topmost sphere seemed to be equivalent to a head, what with the scanner located approximately where one's eyes would be. The crystal was recognised, and the robot quickly spoke.

"Training Room. Do you require information about this facility?"

"Tell me everything," Nicholas replied.

 

[Lana.]

Sara finished the headcount, making sure everyone was accounted for. She heard a few people whispering. "There's supposed to be a team captain," she heard one girl whisper to another. "So where's ours?"

The other girl shrugged, a Magnemite floating behind her. "I think I've seen a few people with two bracelets..." of course, they both began searching the wrists of their teammates. Sara rolled her eyes, watching more robots file into the room. They called out each team, and Sara began to pick out a pattern in the Pokemon; most were grouped by type. She took a quick scan of her own team, and saw her fellows had either an electric or dragon type. Not too many common weaknesses there…

But then the Orange team was called up, and their types were easy to pick out; ground and rock (though the Omanyte had momentarily thrown her off track). Both weaknesses in one team; perfect.

"Yellow Team," one of the robots finally called her team up. With a few murmurs, the group moved forwards. Trying to be subtle, Sara moved up to the front, leading the procession with a confident stride. Truth be told, she was having some misgivings about this whole situation, not to mention her stomach was doing flip-flops, but she decided the captain shouldn't be showing such traits.

The robot went through the space station; Sara really only took interest in the bathrooms. She needed to shower… and she really had to go. But from the way the robots headed towards the mess hall, she assumed they were supposed to head in there. Sara slid in, and saw food being distributed near a group of the robots. She walked up, and scanned her bracelet as requested.

She frowned at the sealed bag, but headed towards an empty table anyways. She managed to break the seal and took a sniff, looking down at the contents. It looked like potato chips, actually… she dug in gratefully, allowing the food to fill her belly. She occasionally handed one to Leira, who had woken up at the scent. "Wonder when they'll feed you…" she trailed off, giving the Dratini a scratch before turning back to her food. She was tempted to get a bottle of water to slake her thirst, but decided her bladder wouldn't forgive her.

She finally looked around, trying to figure out what to do next.

OoC: I had no idea how to end the post, so...

 

[BUG♥CATCHER★BREEZE]

((OCC: Oh, God, I'm so behind! My fault for not logging on!))

Majella hadn't spoken a word since she had entered the ship. Space ship. Majella wasn't one to really suffer from culture shock, as she had travelled so much. But, this wasn't a different country, this was a different... different... It was different full stop. At least she still had her lucky beret. She pulled it over her forehead and glanced at the ground. After blinking twice and pinching herself, she finally gave in and followed the robots. They weren't particularly interested in her, so her attentionms fell in her bracelet.

Using her right hand, she slapped the device. It bleeped into life. Somehow it knew her name, nationality and whole a synopsis of her life.

"Pink Team," said a robotic voice. She wandered over to an empty table, and tucked into some, what she presumed was cheese and onion crisps. It wasn't nouvelle cuisine. In fact she hated the taste, but shoved the sour taste down her throat. Wasn't she supposed to be eating something healthier? Her parents wouldn't... her parents.
She glanced at her wrist and hit it again.

"Team: Pink," it bleeped "Pokémon: Nidoran Male"

With a quick flash of light, her Nidoran escaped from her wrist. He sat beside her, shivering faintly in its pink skin, as is it was caught in headlights. It snarled and pointed its tiny horn at her.

Sniggering, she picked him up, "Hiya. You go with my outfit, Pocky."

Petting the startled creature, she ambled into the corridor.

"POCKY!" she stomped down the corridor, trying to not appear like she was chasing the poison point Pokémon.

 

[Down with the darkness]

Zach decided to see what was in his safe in the barracks. He walked out of the mess hall and up the stairway. He walked down the third floor hallway, examining the signs next to the doors.

I'll have to learn this language, it seems facinating... But until then, I guess I'll go by then colors painted on the signs.

Zach walked up to the green sign and touched the foreign symbols. They were made of metal, and intricutly cut. The sybols almost looked like artwork.

Zach shook his head. He had to focus. He pressed his bracelet on the presspad next to the door, and it slid open. He walked into the barrack. It was pretty spartan, just beds, desks, and safes. Several of his teammates were already there, making pleasant coversation. Zach ignored them and walked up to his bed and placed a hand on it.

Perfect, almost as firm as the floor!

Zach loved firm beds, he found them easier to sleep on. Zach pressed his bracelet on the safe to open it.

Good, they have my backpack.

Zach grabbed a blue backpack, the laptop, and some black sunglasses. he threw the laptop in the bag, slung th bag over his shoulder, and placed the glasses in the pocket of his uniform. Zach walked back out of the barracks and down two flights of stairs. He walked into a training room that was empty.

When the door slid shut, Zach could feel the artificial gravity dissapear. He tapped the gem on his bracelet twice to send out Blade.

Zach took out some sort of metal helmet out of his backpack, and put it on the Treecko, "Ok Blade, this is that helmet I was making for you. It'll silently send you commands, so I don't need to shout." Zach slipped on his sunglasses, gelled up his hair, and colored his tips. He needed to get the feel of battle to train.

Zach picked up some bricks from the corner of the room, "Ok, first exersise, training you reflexes. I want you to use pound on these bricks as I toss them," He said, "get ready..."

Zack tossed five bricks all around Blade. Blade kicked two puched one, and pounded one with his tail in rapid succession. The final brick, he threw a punch and missed the brick.

Zach sighed, "Ok, we'll try it again..."

OOC: And so on and so forth

 

[JX Valentine]

OOC:

Hey, guys. I really fail at life. At the moment, I'm getting ready to head out for a week-long vacation starting tomorrow, so the first round won't begin until next Friday.

Never fear, however. You've all pretty much figured out the basics of the living quarters, and you're more than welcome to explore. I'll also do a small tutorial with the training room so you're free to keep doing something in my absence, such as rack up levels to get your Pokémon to evolve, make alliances within your teams, hack the system, try to break into the off-limits areas, put weird things in the ventilation ducts, or try to dissemble one of the robots (not that the latter would be particularly recommended at this point, as funny as that would be).

In the meantime, the OOC thread should appear eventually. When it does, please ignore the fact that the first post contains a team listing that's heavily out-of-date. I wrote that pretty much when we were still on the first page of this thread. But feel free to use it to chat it up with the other people in the RPG or to submit character apps up the wazoo. I'll go over all apps as soon as I'm back.

Edit: Also, feel free to PM, VM, or e-mail me at any point during the week with any questions you have or whatnot. I'll reply as soon as I get back.

Speaking of apps...

Neo Groudon: History's still a bit of a problem with a few nitpicks:

1. Sabrina was around fifteen when Ash Ketchum snapped her out of her homicidal daze. This was also roughly five years ago (because as far as the characters are concerned, Ash Ketchum is in Sinnoh right now, going through the Sinnoh League for the first time), and before then, she canonically didn't have friends.

2. I'm a bit wary about the idea of an abusive stepfather. While I think it might depend on the level of abuse we're talking about, abuse usually has a pretty heavy effect on the character. Granted, a loss of emotion might help them to adapt to it, but it's unlikely he'd be stable or otherwise normal.

3. He graduated from a university with a triple major at the age of sixteen, and he's still mentally stable? Seriously, though, he seems over-the-top when it comes to intelligence. While there's people like that in the Pokémon universe, even kids who are intelligent and twenty have difficulties handling just a double-major in computer science and anything else. (The chess whiz thing, I know is possible for a kid, but even then, it's rather rare.) Of course, it also depends on the school (i.e., In some cases, this is actually impossible.), but in general, triple majors are incredibly difficult to do, particularly if hard sciences are involved. Hence, even for a Pokémon character, his achievements are difficult to believe and would probably drive him insane.

So, still pending until we work something out about that. Sorry, but yeah.

---

IC:

Some of the players were in the mess hall. Some, in the common room. A few had found the barracks.

Nigul Parn, meanwhile, was the lucky one who was having a staring contest with the robot in the training room. At first, it fell silent, analyzing what he meant by "everything." If he was unlucky enough to have asked this to one of the caretaker robots, he might have spent the next several hours listening to a smart-alack piece of scrap metal tell him the history of the universe.

Luckily, this one was only programmed for the training room.

"Welcome, Nigul Parn, to Training Room A," it stated in its mechanical voice. "This room was constructed by the Benefactors to serve as a miniature version of the Battlefield. As you can see, it lacks any features whatsoever, much like the Battlefield before pre-programmed scenarios are run through the room's computer -- which, in this case, would be me. Upon entering the room, it is possible to change the room settings in order to customize your training experience. Here, you're free to perform anything from an ordinary exercise routine with typical equipment to an abbreviated version of one of the games. Once your request has been made to the room computer, the ship's holographic and gravitational censors will work together to provide you with the exact setting you require while the ship supplies you with exactly what you need."

Suddenly, around them, the blue tiles flashed with multicolored light. Seconds later, they resolved to form the white, dusty surface of the moon, with Earth rising majestically to the south. The gravity dropped dramatically, and the robot rose slightly from the moon's floor. A red flag appeared several meters away on a small mound, but if Nicholas attempted to take one step, he might see several large, white orbs fly past, shooting red lasers across the moon's surface between him and the flag.

"Perhaps," the robot said, "you wish to experience one of the Battlefield's possible games, such as Capture the Flag."

The scenery vanished just as quickly as it appeared, only to be replaced by the blue tiles once again. A complex series of pipes burst from the floor and laced together to form a towering jungle gym several meters high. Only when the pipes stopped moving did the gravity switch, but this time, it went in the opposite direction: nearly crushingly high.

However, the robot floated calmly nearby. "Perhaps you would prefer a climbing exercise under gravity levels nearing that of Jupiter."

Finally, the pipes vanished, and the room was empty (and blue-tiled) once more. The gravity eased back to normalcy as the robot floated back to its corner.

"The choice is yours," the robot said. "You may do what you wish in this room, but the Benefactors are watching you. The doors will not open again for another five minutes."

Then, it fell silent, waiting for the player's instructions.


Meanwhile, upstairs, robots beeped and began handing out bags of food for the Pokémon to the players in the mess hall and common room. Overhead, the intercom buzzed.

"Players, how are you settling in?" the Benefactors asked. "Lights out is at 22:00, or an hour and a half from now. If you need to be reminded of the time or need guidance to the barracks, please ask one of the robots. Have a good evening."

 

[King!]

Chapter 1: Darkness


Darkness. Everywhere. Neo rubbed his head, which hurt from the fall, and then his eyes saw them. Tiny lights shone, and Neo pin-pointed that they were outside…. Of wherever he was. He kept trying to get it right, went through all of the familiar places in his head, but none came up. Whispering. Neo heard whispering coming from the left of him, so he turned to face that direction. He heard movements, and suddenly, he got it, or, some of it. People, Lots of people, and that was why it was so hot. Waking up, just like he had. "Hey. You know where we are?" Neo asked the person on his left.

"No freakin' clue dude!" the guy answered. "One moment, I'm gardening, the next, WHOOSH!, I'm in this here dark…."

"You gar!?-", but then Neo stopped himself. Better to make friends than enemies, he thought.
And then, a noise was heard. A hiss. Then a whir. And then, a loud CLUNK! Light poured in througha rectangular opening at one end of the room, but not enough to see the surroundings. A strange shape was silhouetted in the doorway, a figure that looked a lot like a sphere on a cube with tubes ending in claws jutting out its sides. At the bottom of the box was another sphere, and beneath that, thin air.

"Weird", Neo muttered, noticing it wasn't touching the ground.It swiftly moved into the room, followed by two others similar to it. Then, with another whir and a clunk, the door closed, and the room, went dark again, besides the white spots and the blinking, red lights on the strangers' bodies.

"Lights, ON!", a voice boomed out of nowhere. The room instantly lit up. Neo noticed first the three "robots" in three corners in the room. It was a square room, and the floor and walls were made of blue tile. Many other people, of all different kinds, were here too.

"What….the…..hell…..", Neo muttered silently, gazing at the sight around him.

 

[Miz en Scène]

*Sigh* this is the last time I'm going to try because after this I'm to tired to keep remaking my resume. No, I'm not angry or anything.

Name: Raphael 'Phaiel' Hasendra Finitio
Age: 22 years old
Gender: Male
Normal Appearance: Light colored skin, red and black hair which is slightly spiky but doesn't stand up like most spiky hair. His eyes are a dark emerald green color. His body is of normal healthy build not muscular but has an impressive stamina. Some people consider him handsome but not that handsome as too cause girls too swoon. He is moderately tall and usually wears black slacks with a black belt and silver buckle with a thin silver chain extending to his pocket from the belt. He wears a usually unbuttoned red overcoat not made for withstanding the cold but for appearances sake that slightly resembles a jacket of sorts with yellow trimming on the collar and sleeve collar. He wears a black long sleeved shirt on the inside of his overcoat/jacket. He also wears black boots with silver clasps on them. When casually strolling around he discards the overcoat and only wears the black long sleeved shirt. He is far sighted so he wears reading glasses sometimes.
Battle Appearance: He wears black no fingered gloves when transforming and his hair is now combed backwards but still spiky. He also attains a monocle of sorts for reading things on the battlefield. This monocle is electronic, can zoom in, and has a thermal, infrared, Night Vision camera installed.
Personality: Phaiel is calm and collected usually cool under pressure. He is actually very caring or the sakes of other people but doesn't show this side often. He becomes extremely violent if his friends are in danger and becomes completely sadistic towards the enemy at the time. He is a strategist by nature compiling strategies as soon as he is exposed to a certain condition. He usually doesn't attack civilians or the injured and weak. He usually keeps to himself figuring out puzzles in his head if left alone for a long time. His personality gives out an air of indifference to the people around him and some people think he is arrogant at first glance. Most people would either say that he's cool or otherwise arrogant. He tends to talk only when necessary or otherwise to break the ice. He talks openly with people he knows or are comfortable with. He can also maintain a stoic poker face at most times even though he doesn't gamble. Despite all this, most people deem him as intelligent even without knowing him that well as he looks the part.

History: Phaiel was born in Saffron City to his mother along with his twin sister. At the time, his father had already passed away because of a certain accident he can't remember. His mother soon remarried and he was forced to live with his stepfather. Due to this fact, he often stayed out of the house just because he wasn't easy with his father for some reason. Even though his father never abused him, he felt like something was wrong or missing from his life. It was this that led him to come back late at night after much time alone thinking about the world. In short, he was the complete opposite of his sister who was always cheerful and obedient. At the age of 13, his family moved to Johto where he stayed in Goldenrod and attended a regular non-trainer school with his sister. Again, at the age of 14 his whole family moved to what he would hope to be their last place to stay. That place was slateport. At the age of fourteen, Phaiel entered the Japan National Chess Tournament under 16's and got 2nd place proving his capabilities at strategy. At the age of 17 however, Phaiel and his sister were accepted into Johto University –its possible-, so they moved back to Johto to further their studies. It was here that Phaiel met Kana. Even though he had no specific feelings for Kana, he became close friends with her sparking a close friendship which was soon joined by his sister. At the age of 21, Phaiel, his sister and Kana graduated from Johto University with a double bachelors in General Pokémon studies and Computer science –yes this is possible too. Now, at the age of 22 Phaiel lives in Sandgem, working as one of Professor Rowan's more distinguished new Aides.
Team: Black

Pokémon Partner:

Spoiler:

Name: Houndour
Nickname: Shino (Full name Shinrin Honoo that means Forest Flame)
Gender: Male
Personality: Rash, he prefers to be outside any containment o sorts and will prefer to follow his trainer around. He is naturally untrusting of people and will attack anyone on sight if deemed a threat to himself and his trainer.
Appearance: His skull appendage on the top of his head is slightly cracked due to a fight from long ago.

Other Things To Know: Phaiel is good at chess a chess master and is Japanese with a French-Spanish heritage or ancestry. He is also a speed-reader. He hates onions but likes spicy foods such as chilies. He is partial towards either fire or dark type Pokémon.
Writing Sample: From my fanfic 'The Chronicles of Neo Groudon' with Phaiel as the main character.

Spoiler:

It's cold…so cold…

The freezing bitterness surrounds my body, it pierces through my very soul leaving me immobile. All of my memories are a chaotic mess. It's as if they're floating around in my mind just waiting to be caught and examined. I can remember bits and pieces of my memories and of someone's memories that I'm not familiar with.

I can remember parts of my life. Being taken from my bed in the dark of night. Being born from the depths of a volcano. My memories make no sense, there's no point trying to figure them out. Best to just stand here and forget, no, discard everything…

Time passes by slowly. I remember some parts of my life. Machinery, humans, Pokémon, but one thing stands out in my mind. One thing that fills me with hatred and disgust. It's a symbol, the symbol, the sideways eight symbol. I don't know why, but it just doesn't feel right.

It's been a few days since I first gained consciousness. I start to examine my body. It's human and possibly an older teenager. It's odd, one part of my mind feels disgust at looking at my body while the other part is more indifferent. I lift my hands and take a closer look at them. My nails are slightly pointed and are a shiny metallic color. I smile as a part of me thinks of human girls and their nail polish. I don't feel right, I'm referring to people as humans. I'm human, aren't I? One part of my consciousness doesn't feel like it belongs. My skin is normal, albeit paler than usual. I think I remember how I used to look like, snippets of memories detailing my appearance. I open my mouth and examine my teeth with my tongue. They're sharp. I can feel that my teeth are more cone shaped like animal fangs. I realize that I'm not being held by anything. I'm just standing here. I don't think of escape and everywhere I look I see a white mist. I don't see much and soon I feel incredibly lightheaded and slump down to the floor. I fall into a deep sleep.

Once again, after a few days I open my eyes and once more. Out of nowhere, a mechanical arm descends from above me. It's shining and metallic. Hydraulic tubes move the arm with fluid precision. The arm looks menacing. It finally stops somewhere near my torso. I can hear mechanical gears whirring inside it. One part of the arm opens up. I expect gunfire but instead, a beam of light shoots from it aiming for my chest. I'm perplexed, surely, this isn't what's going to happen after such a dramatic entrance. Sure enough, as I'm mulling it over inside my mind, a long needle attached to a few wires swiftly extends from the mechanical arm, plunging itself into my torso where my heart is!

Pain and agony ensue. I can feel the needle pumping some liquid into my body. It's hot and viscous, my body feels like it's on fire! Every centimeter of my body is in pain. The mechanical arm makes an electronic crackling sound and suddenly, electricity flows into my body. I howl in agony. The needle pumping fluid into my heart and the electricity surging through my veins and arteries make me feel like I'm going to die. I try to escape but I can't, specialized shackles are holding me to the wall. They don't break no matter how hard I struggle. I can hear the sound of hydraulics straining on the shackles. They move slightly but the hydraulics is too strong. I feel the electricity reacting with the fluid and my blood. My head is pounding, blood surges through my body and my heart rate increases. My body convulses and shakes in unbearable pain.

 

[Lana.]

An hour and a half left. Sara immediately dashed for the bathrooms, slipping up the stairs before finding the Yellow Team's designated lavatories. The restrooms were simple; the blue tile on the wall was calming. The floor was lined with larger white tiles. The stalls for the toilets were along the left wall; the showers were curved along the back wall, going around the corner and halfway down the right wall. From there, the sinks stretched back to the door; each one had a medicine cabinet to the left. To her direct was a closet that probably held extra towels.

She withdrew Leira before doing her business. After washing her hands, she checked the medicine cabinets to examine the contents. Toothbrush, toothpaste, feminine items... the list went on. Taking a peek in the showers, she saw they were also well-equipped. Sara slipped into the shower and gratefully turned the water on to take a long shower. It relaxed her tense body, allowing her muscles to loosen up. The water was scalding hot, just as she liked it. In the Pokemon Centers, the warm water went fast, but here it never stopped coming.

Reluctantly, Sara stopped the water and slipped out, taking the towel hanging from a hook placed on the wall between two showers. After grabbing an extra towel from the closet for her hair, she examined her reflection in the still-foggy mirrors. She took a long look at her face, wondering if this experience would change it at all; she took every competition seriously, after all. And being team captain didn't help with the pressure anyways.

And what was this for? To determine who was fit to defend Earth? Sara scowled. Defend it from what? These "Benefactors" must enjoy leaving their players in the dark.

"Well," she spoke aloud, "whatever; they can be mysterious. I'm still going to play this game of theirs."

She stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later. Leira in her arms, she walked up to a robot. "What time is it?" she asked.

"20:57," it told her.

"That gives us about an hour..." Sara looked around, finding the yellow door. "What do you say, Leira?" she asked the Dratini. "Wanna save training for tomorrow?" Leira nodded. "Alright then, let's go see our living conditions."

It was dark when Sara first opened the door, but the lights switched on as soon as she took a step in. There were ten beds, each adorned with plain white and yellow sheets. Deciding not to be in the center, she took the bed in the right corner. At the top of the headboard was a message: Please press bracelet to the headboard to claim it. Sara did as directed, and soon the message disappeared to be replaced with another. This bed has been claimed by Sara Miriani. The headboard slid open, revealing a few items of interest. The first thing Sara scooped up was the notebook. It came with an attached pencil, and she opened it. They were plain, lined pages. She dated the top of the first page and wrote. She had a journal down on Earth, so she might as well continue the tradition.

After finishing the entry, she took a look at the small computer. She looked around the room, finding displays of the time above the two beds in the center. 21:22. She sighed, deciding to leave the computer for tomorrow night. She slipped off of the bed, and the headboard closed as she stepped out of the room. She headed down the stairs, heading for the common room for a bottle of water for the night; she'd need it, seeing as the air in Eos was drier than she was used to...

In the mess hall, the water clunked down, and Sara broke the seal without any difficulty. She swept the mess hall's remaining inhabitants before stepping out. It seemed people were heading for the stairs now; Sara followed their example and went straight to her bed, sitting up against the headboard to examine the team members already sitting down. Leira eventually fell asleep in her arms a few minutes before lights out was called. Sighing, Sara returned the Dratini and settled in for a long night.

OoC: Sorry for not trying to interact with anyone, but I decided to wait. We've got plenty of time, after all. ^^

 

[JX Valentine]

OOC:

Neo Groudon: As a random side note, I do my own research alongside reading apps, so you don't actually need to tell me something's possible unless you're refuting something I actually said. As in, yeah, I know double-majors are possible and that one can enter college at seventeen. It's master's degrees in three different fields of hard science that tend to be shady. =/ Not bringing up the past or anything. Just explaining how I usually approve things.

Other than that, I'd like to point out that your writing sample's of better quality than the rest of your application. I don't mean this in an offensive way. I just mean to remind you to proofread before submitting because I'd love to see the kind of stuff you wrote for your sample more often in the game.

Which is to say, sure, the history works, and I never really had a problem with the rest of the app. So, I'll approve. Feel free to join the group.

 

[Down with the darkness]

OOC: Can I make a quick note:

Please stop jumping in back in the battlefield unless your going to get back on top by the end if of your post. If your not, jump in as if your character has been acting inconspicuously up until then and jump in at a current time.

IC: Zach wiped his brow and walked out of the training room. registering two points to his bracelet as he left. He went back up to the barracks and walked into the bathrooms to brush his teeth and shower. As he walked in two girls walked out of the showers and threw on towels. Zach blushed.

I forgot this bathrooms are co-ed... Crap! these uniforms are skin tight!

Zach immediatly ran into a stall and slammed the door shut. He waited until the girls left to go out and brush his teeth. He hung up his uniform and jumped in the showers. Still embarassed, he made the shower quick and got back in his uniform.

He ran out the door.

It's almost curfew, better get back to the barracks.

Zach pressed his bracelet on the presspad to open the door and strolled in. As he did some girls started giggling.

Damnit!

He ignored the and walked to the bed, and got in.

I hope this is all a nightmare, and I'll wake up tommarow in my bed.

 

[Murder]

Q

Marina spaced out during the whole tour, only really paying attention when they suddenly appeared on the moon. "Woah..." she said in awe. How did this happen? Looking around she saw no one of her team, where was she? Who was this other person? Then it suddenly reverted back to a blue-tiled room. She quickly bolted for it and down the hall. Blindly, she turned a corner, crashing into a room. It was full of people, people and food. A cafeteria? Food would be nice she thought. "Wait.. where is my team?" she sobbed. It is not good to get lost on a space ship. The smell of a godly aroma made her forget about everything as she followed it, followed it to a robot who handed her a ... a.. well, she didn't really know what it was, but it smelt heavenly. She poked, only releasing more of the odor. It was irresistible, she took a bite. The smell was a lot better than the food, but she was hungry so she forced it down.

"Um.. do you have anything to wash it down with?" she asked the robot. The robot handed her a bottle of water which she quickly took as if she hadn't had a drink in ages. Tossing her head back, she nearly drank half the bottle. The water was cold, ice cold, refreshing. With her stomach somewhat full, she scanned the room for anyone on her team, and then she found her. She had pushed her way out the doors. "Oh great, I'll never find her.." Marina sighed walking slowly to the door, feeling defeated. She pushed open the door to meet the stone gold gaze of a robot. "Ack!" she screamed jumping back as it entered the room. "Its just a robot, its just a robot.." Taking in a deep breath she went down the hall. No way she would find the girl now. Marina walked up to a robot, "Um.. how would I locate someone on my team?"

The robot stared blankly before grabbing her wrist. It pressed the crystal a few times and a small map popped up with a blip pointing to all her teammates. Their names were displayed by it, so she went after one of the few girls on her team, Shelby. Tracking her down led her to a room. The room looked home, looked like she could relax. She took a sigh and sunk into one of the many seats. Literally the material went down a few inches when she sat down—like a bean bag. She took a sip of her water and waited for the girl to notice her. Without much else to do, she called out her partner, the Eevee. IT appeared in front of her, and looked at her curiously. It cocked its head to left and blinked.

"Hey little guy, you are so cute," Marina commented, ruffling his fur, "what should I call you?" she asked in a baby-like voice. It blinked again, confused. "Hm.. I know, Fox.. no.. to cliche... hm.. how about...,uh, no." Why was this so hard, things like this didn't usually take long for her to think of. With a sigh, she propped her feet up and reclined. "Hm.. I know, you shall be called Mister. How do you like that name?"

"Ee..Eevee?" it questioned, hopping on to it's new masters lap.

"So, Mister, what do you think will be in store for us?" she asked him, hoping he had some answers. No reply but a soft little 'Eevee' and cute lick.

 

[Miz en Scène]

OOC: I'm finally able to start my story. It's a bit long because I had to make up fr everyone else starting much earlier so here goes....

IC:
Raphael Hasendra Finitio, otherwise known as Phaiel to his friends, if he had any, woke up that morning with the salty smell of the sea in his nostrils. He got up and proceeded to the shower. That time, it was five a.m. The smell of the sea was awfully strong, five months and he still hadn't gotten used to the sea.

"Maybe I should have lived in Twinleaf Town at least it didn't smell this salty." Said Phaiel as he scrubbed his body thoroughly.

Stepping out of the shower, he wiped his body clean with a towel. Phaiel, unlike most people in Sinnoh, actually bothered to have a bathroom installed in their house. Other people presumably went to a public bath. He wasn't expected at the office until 8.30 a.m. so that left a lot of time to get ready for work. He walked over to the closet and picked out his favorite outfit, a dark red overcoat with yellow trimming, a black long sleeved shirt, a pair of black slacks that went well with his shirt and the chain connected to his belt reaching to his trousers pocket that was his signature. Even though most Aides wore the standard white lab coat, today was casual Friday so he could come to work naked for all he cared. Next, he went to the mirror and looked at his face, his messy red and black spiky hair was all over the place, yet it didn't stand up like most peoples did. He didn't bother to comb it, it was no use, the hair just wouldn't stay put.

He wasn't hungry that morning so he didn't bother to have breakfast. He crept slowly out of the house to buy a light snack before Shino woke up. Shino was his Houndour. He got Shino a few years back while studying for his bachelors in Johto. Over the years, Shino and Phaiel grew to have a somewhat mutual understanding of each other so both of them almost always knew what the other was thinking just by looking at their faces.

Dawn was just breaking when he stepped out of the house, there wasn't anyone in sight, it was too early for walking around. Even the Pokémon trainers were still asleep at the Pokécenter. He looked up at the starry purple sky and saw the first orangey glimpses coming from the east that foretold the rising sun. Today would be a good day, after all Kana was coming to visit all the way from Hoenn. Kana was, as always, the only person he would ever trust apart from Shino who wasn't a person and Eve who was his sister. He smiled, at the prospect of her visit, she was after all his friend from university.

"Today is going to be a good day." he said aloud.

That's when it happened.

A long tube attached to a needle was fired from somewhere in the surroundings and it hit Phaiel right in the arm. It was filled with anesthesia and it pumped the drug into Phaiel causing him to faint. The last words that ran through his mind were.

"Oh crap, I'm gonna be late for work."

*************************************************************************
When Phaiel woke up, he was no longer in Sandgem. Instead, he could see that his surroundings were dark and gloomy, the only light that he could see came from a single window that curiously resembled a porthole.
"Dark? Must be night. Crap! Professor Rowan's going to be sooo pissed." He thought. "Double crap! Kana was supposed to come tonight! I hope she's not mad I'm not there, speaking of which where am I?" He thought.
He got up and walked over to the porthole that was his only light. The porthole, was curiously bolted shut. Phaiel stared out of the window trying to find out where he was and fell over out of shock instantly after looking out of the window. There, all he could see was the deep dark emptiness of space. He got up for another look, his heart still pounding like mad.

"I'm… I'm in space?! How could this have happened?!" Phaiel wondered in shock. Phaiel, you see, being a Pokémon researcher, had always liked books, but one thing that he would never dream of touching would be science fiction. For you see, whenever anyone had brought up the subject 'science-fiction' or 'aliens' he would simply scoff and say
"Kids stuff." Then walk away. In fact, the only science fiction that he had ever seen or considered worth watching was the Doctor Who series but that, he kept a secret.

The stars out here all the way in space looked more beautiful than back on Earth. When Phaiel looked down, outside the window, he saw a barren desert planet closely resembling the desert near Mauville.

"Must be another planet, whoever kidnapped me planned well, now I can't even try to escape." He muttered to himself.

Suddenly, Phaiel heard a hissing sound and a whirr of gears. He looked back at the dark room and saw a rectangular door open. Three things were silhouetted in the doorway. They all had the same body structure. Spheres on both sides of a box shape and metal claws jutting out from the box. They looked menacing but Phaiel wasn't going to show his fear. He knew full well that if you looked scared you would get shunned, so, he put on his most stoic poker face and walked forward to get a better look. From this, Phaiel deduced that they were in fact robots.

A loud metallic voice abruptly boomed through the room

"Lights On!" and the whole room flooded with light.

Phaiel shielded his eyes and looked around. There were a few other people in this room, all of them with the same confused and bewildered look on his face. The room was square with the walls and floor all covered with alternating blue and white tiles.

The robots, were now shepherding all the people into the middle of the room in one line. They were all a mixed bunch each with different clothes, some people looking like they've just woken up. They start clamping some sort of silver bracelet on the people. A few people resisted but the bracelets go on anyway and those people are treated slightly rougher. One of the three robots hover close by to Phaiel. It extends a clawed arm to clamp a bracelet on Phaiel. He doesn't resist, he's not stupid and knows what happens to people who resist.

The bracelet goes on without much fuss.

"Ugh, a bracelet, how much more manly can you get. Huh, there's a crystal attached. Wow this really promotes my masculinity." Phaiel thought sarcastically.

Another voice boomed abruptly overhead, it started rambling about some kind of space station Eos, Benefactors, Battlefield and some kind of tournament, protecting Earth? From what? Phaiel was completely unphased by this announcement,

"Tournament? I guess my life has been pretty dull for the last few months. This seems like the right kind of 'pick me up' after being inactive for so long." said Phaiel.

He saw everyone around him pressing their bracelets to reveal Pokémon. They were all different but Phaiel could categorize most of them by type alone.

"Hmm, that girl over there seems to have a poochyena," he said to no one in particular, "I wonder what mine is?"
Phaiel looked at the silver bracelet on his arm with a tinge of disgust. One crystal suddenly started glowing a dark color.

"Guess this means I'm supposed to press it" he said simply then lightly touched the crystal as if it was a touch screen interface. The crystal started glowing lighter than before and suddenly, a hologram of sorts appeared to rise from the crystal detailing his picture in 3d and some information.

Name: Raphael Hasendra Finitio

Age:22 years 7 months

Ethnicity: Japanese, French-Italian descent.

"That's French-Spanish idiot."

Gender:………Male

"What can't you tell! This thing must be defective."

Strength: Intermediate strength, High Stamina

Intelligence: IQ- 220, percentile-99 above. Good at strategizing.

"At least it got that part right."

The hologram faded. Phaiel continued to explored the bracelet and found nothing else save a silver button that read, only for battle. Phaiel decided to press the crystal again as the benefactors had ordered.

"This must be where they keep my Pokémon. I wonder what it's going to be?"

A red light –not unlike a Poké Balls light- shot out into the space in front of Phaiel. There standing proud and thoroughly confused was

"Shino?" said Phaiel, confused.

Shino just stood there utterly confused. Shino had always been the type of Pokémon that preferred to stay out of the Poke Ball so he was utterly bewildered at the insides of the crystal that doubled as a Poké Ball of sorts. It turned out, Shino had, after much consideration, been chosen as the Pokémon for Phaiel considering his already close relationship to him. That was what Phaiel thought anyway.

He still had the telltale crack on the skull shaped bone that adorned his head. That was how Phaiel recognized Shino for who he was. He ran towards the legs of Phaiel slightly disorientated and confused. Phaiel stared at Shino with a glare that most people would have seen as pure indifference but in between Phaiel and Shino, that was the mark of true affection. Shino looked back at his master with a look that would have plainly said to most people 'I'm gonna rip your throat out' but clearly meant 'Hi Master' to Phaiel. Suddenly a shrill voice cried out through the arena.

"IF YOU ARE NOT ON THE BLACK TEAM SIT DOWN!"

Phaiel noticed that most people had turned to stare at the girl who looked somewhat beautiful to most yet Phaiel could care less. She wore her blue hair in two long pigtails and her bangs fell over her face. Her clothes however were even more shocking. Pink everywhere, full pink, pink trimmings, pink shirt everything pink. It hurt his eyes just to look at the girl.

"I guess she's in the black team. She doesn't look the part though." Thought Phaiel.

Phaiel walked over to the girl, Shino trotting along happily by his side wearing his most vicious guard-dog face. Then he stopped.

"Maybe I should wait first and see" he said to himself.

Shino looked up at Phaiel expectantly as though waiting for his next commands. Meanwhile, the robots started out by calling the team names to presumably give them L'excursion Grande, which literally meant The Grand Tour in his mother's language (literally his mother's language).

The black team was called next. Phaiel walked alongside seven other members of the black team. Two people stood out in his mind. The first one he remembered as the shouting girl from before. He didn't really bother to talk to her, she had a clouded look on her face as though she wasn't really listening to anything. One other person, also a girl, walked at the very front of the group right behind the robots. She looked quite tomboy-ish as she wore a hoodie and a pair of blue jeans.


"The pair look interesting. Like two opposites in one team. Yin and Yang." thought Phaiel.

Phaiel looked around once more, the rest of the people were the same albeit wearing different clothes. There was no point trying to strike up a conversation, not that he wanted to. That way, if anyone was eliminated, he didn't have to feel sorry for them. Just a passing teammate. Soon they reached the mess hall. Phaiel was hungry, he hadn't eaten since he was abducted.

"I wonder how Professor Rowan is doing? *Gasp* What about Kana! I totally forgot about her!

Soon however, it was clear things were about to get more interesting.

 

[BUG♥CATCHER★BREEZE]

Majella realised the corridor was empty, except from passing robots. Being alone like this was eerie. All she could see was the grey corridor, expanding out of her sight in glossy grey. This was the first time she noticed that she wasn't her normal, clothes, but instead grey and pink. Wasn't grey susposed to warm your skin tone? Well, it would better than the chill down her spine.

"Nida, nida."

Looking up from the reflective floor, she spotted Pocky. He was three metres from her, and was blatantly ignoring her. With a soft rasping sound, he licked his right paw and dragged it across his right ear. Casually, as if she, too was disinterested, she gave a tiny step. Pocky twisted his ears, so green inner ear could be seen.

"Nidaaa!" it barked, and ran down the winding stairs, followed by its owner.

She followed, it and gazed in awe at room apon room, all in rainbow rues. There was no body in this corridor either, not even robots (that she could see, maybe they were everywhere!?). Pocky, whining, scratched at the Pink Team door. Majella sulked, ignoring him right back.

"You're stuck with me... I think, okay, Pocky."

"'Ran." he whined.

"Yes, that is your name." She reached down, and scooped up the creature. Angirly, he chewed at her necklace. The thing bleeped into life.

"Intelligence: Below average...Lights out at 22:00... Current Time: 21:48... Please enter the Pink Team Barracks."

It was almost ten o' clock already? Majella thought that was odd. It was moring... only a few minutes ago. Or had she already lost one whole day?
Feeling her heart thumping under her uniform, she wondered what could of happened to her in a few short hours. If only she had another way to check the time. She mused over this, as the bracelet urgently bleeped of the time passing.

Finally, she realised her most important procession. Lifting it from her hat, she turned on her mobile phone. The tiny, pixelated screen flickered into life. According to the phone, she had lost less than an hour. It also advised her that she had no new messages.
She stuffed it back into her hat with a sign. How could she be "OUT OF AREA!"?

 

[processr]

"Well, that was certainly a comprehensive explanation," Nicholas spluttered, taken aback by what this room could do. "Would it be possible to simulate a simple Pokémon battle?"

"Eos can generate hard light holograms of various Pokémon species, with a number of different difficulty settings available – Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. Please specify which sort of Pokémon you would like to battle."

"Uh, I guess a mix of Pokémon wouldn't hurt—"

"Which difficulty setting?" enquired the robot, cutting Nicholas off.

"I guess I'll go for Hard. I think I'm up to it," he responded, reading himself for battle.

"Warning: Our computers detect that your Pokémon is of a very low level. It is advised that you choose a lower difficulty setting."

"I like a challenge," Nicholas grunted in reply. "Continue with Hard difficulty setting." The robot might have given an indifferent shrug at this point had it been human, as if to say 'it's your funeral, buddy.' Instead, the robot said nothing, and the blue tiles around the room flashed with an array of colours. The image of a stadium appeared in front of Nicholas, who pressed the crystal set into his chunky, metal bracelet. A sharp, white light shot out of it and pooled into a disc-like shape before him. Pronks the Bronzor gave a metallic sound with an unmistakable chirpiness, its eyes lighting up when it saw its trainer. The robot began to speak again.

"Press your crystal a second time to activate the battle sequence." Nicholas pushed it again, and he suddenly found himself covered in light. Or, rather, his head was, as a helmet with a high-tech visor began to form in front of his very eyes. He stepped forward, taking his place on one side of the modest-looking battleground against an invisible, computerised opponent. Pronks floated gleefully in front of Nicholas, looking forward to his first battle.

"Battle commence." A flash of light, and in front of Nicholas and Pronks appeared an angry-looking Magcargo, a hard light hologram that looked and sounded completely real, totally capable of physical contact with other objects. Its body was composed primarily of magma, but the illusory battleground the Pokémon rested upon seemed structurally capable, at least for now.

"A Fire-type? Fan," Nicholas swore. "Oh well, let's go, Pronks." The Bronzor gave a metallic cry of acknowledgement and awaited its orders. "Begin with Safeguard, and continue with Extrasensory." The Bronzor shut its eyes to commence its move, but the Fire-type opposite it was ever so slightly faster. He gave a heavy cry and the ground in front of him began to erupt out in front of him, heading straight for Pronks. Just as the Bronzor was about to set the Safeguard up it was hit by what seemed like a geyser of lava and magma, and it gave a harsh, metallic yell as it was thrown with huge force straight against a wall. Nicholas shouted, and the Steel-type tried to dislodge itself from the Bronzor-shaped indent that had appeared in the wall. The Magcargo showed no mercy, however, and inhaled a great deal of air in preparation for his next attack. Nicholas remained calm on the exterior, though truthfully he was beginning to panic. The Fire-type exhaled a superheated airstream that seemed to melt all in its path.

"Stop!" Nicholas shouted, and instantly all was bathed in light. He shut his eyes and covered them with an arm, afraid of being blinded by the radiance. He sensed that all was back to normal, and his pupils widened as he opened his eyes. The room had reverted to its usual state, the robot in the corner the only thing in the training facility other than himself and his Pokémon.

"You may heal your Pokémon by recalling it and scanning your crystal," the robot said in response to the reverted environment. Nicholas did exactly that; Pronks was concealed in a dark red light as its trainer fired a recall beam from the bracelet, and its was form dissolved into light and returned to the crystal. The young man then scanned the bracelet in front of the robot, upon which Nicholas addressed it.

"Load same environment, this time with Pokémon of Easy difficulty." The room again morphed before his very eyes, and Nicholas returned to his place at the edge of the battlefield. He released the newly-healed Pronks, and the battle began. Instead of an intimidating Magcargo a stoic-looking Croagunk appeared. "Enkel," Nicholas said in his first language; this would be a simple battle. "Pronks, take this chance to set up a Safeguard." Strangely, the Croagunk didn't immediately move, and Pronks was allowed to perform its move uninterrupted. It shut its eyes for a moment, and all of a sudden a green orb of light erupted from the centre of its body. The sphere did not linger, however, and faded away. The only evidence of its presence that remained was a slight sheen around the Bronzor. Now the Croagunk moved, running at Pronks at some speed and jumping into the air to strike it with his right fist. He slammed his lower arm on top of the floating Bronzor, who winced as the pain spread through him, but otherwise unfazed.

"Now, Pronks! Extrasensory!" Nicholas shouted with some vigour, beginning to get into the battle. The Bronzor shut its eyes once again, but this time its body took on an eerie, blue aura. It remained still for a moment as the Croagunk approached for another attack, until its eyes shot open and the aura faded. Nothing appeared to have happened, but the Croagunk was suddenly knocked off its feet and thrown into a wall with huge force. He slammed into the metal with a dull thud and fell to the ground, unable to battle. His form faded into nothing, and instantly another Pokémon appeared: a Swinub. The Pig Pokémon leapt into immediate action, opening her mouth and forming shards of icicles in front of herself. With a determined exclamation she propelled her body forward a little, and the shards were fired towards Pronks at high speed. They struck their target, but to minimal effect.

"Use Gyro Ball, Pronks!" The Bronzor gave a nod in agreement, its whole body tilting forward to accomplish this, and suddenly its whole body began to spin around its vertical axis at a wholly uncharacteristic speed. Like a spinning top out of control the Steel-type whizzed to and fro around the room, baffling its opponent before striking it from behind. The Swinub cried out in pain and her body went limp. Some fight still remained in her, though, and she got up once again. "Finish her with Faint Attack," Nicholas called out to his Pokémon, who suddenly faded out of sight. The Ice-type looked round and panicked, seeing nothing. Suddenly she felt something slash across her body, Pronks appearing from nowhere, and she fell to the ground with a soft thump. Once again, Nicholas's foe faded and was replaced. This time the enemy was a Poochyena, thereby invalidating all of Pronk's Psychic-type moves.

"No matter," Nicholas said calmly. "Use AncientPower." Pronks obeyed, using its psychic abilities to form a small, shining sphere that was a metallic colour. The Dark-type Pokémon it faced, however, began by howling sharply, raising its spirit and morale. The Bite Pokémon gave one final cry and levelled its gaze towards his foe. The Bronzor suddenly fired the sphere towards the Poochyena, which presently struck it with some considerable force, the fluid-looking orb turning out to be as hard as rock. The Dark-type growled menacingly, and suddenly leapt towards his foe. Pronks braced itself for an impact as the small Pokémon latched himself onto his metal body. Or, rather, attempted to, as the Poochyena's teeth simply scraped against the surface. He dropped to the ground limply and whimpered, and scampered back to its position on the other side of the field.

"Use Signal Beam, Pronks," Nicholas articulated with an air of finality. His Bronzor began to glow an odd, green colour, and all of a sudden an intense beam that nearly blinded Nicholwas was fired wildly in the Poochyena's general direction. It seemed to be red hot, as the Dark-type yelped as if being branded as it hit. He fell to the ground, exhausted, and faded away into nothingness. Expecting another opponent, however, Nicholas was a little disappointed when the battlefield faded also, replaced by the drab surroundings of the unprogrammed training facility. He recalled Pronks and healed his Pokémon once again. He began to head out the door, but stopped and gave an odd look at the robot.

"Thank… you?" he said uncertainly. He shrugged and walked through the door, the low hum of static his only reply.