Eos [PG-14]

[Underoos]

When Shelby had sat down in one of the chairs, she immediately felt some of the tension that had been stored in her shoulders ease out. She relaxed completely; setting her feet up on one of the stools that was conveniently located there. She saw Marina walk in, and she stared down at her water bottle as she thought about the girl's name. It sounded so close to one of her friend's old name. She stared into the depths of the water bottle, completely lost in the water. Shelby hoped Marina wouldn't feel she was ignoring her, but a tiny part of her didn't care.

Finally after so much thought, she pressed her crystal and watched as Poochyena appeared from it. A small grin eased its way onto her face as she looked at the little dog-like Pokémon. She reached out and stroked his head, grinning wider when the little tuft on top stuck back up immediately after she petted it down. Poochyena stayed still for a moment, then immediately hopped onto Shelby's lap. Shelby laughed softly and set her chin on his head.

"You need a name, don't you?" Shelby questioned softly. "Well…" she trailed off, debating on what to call him. Suddenly, out of the blue, Shelby knew just what she was going to call him. "Karma. I think it fits rather well, huh?" Shelby questioned, poking him in his stomach. Poochyena barked in agreement. A small sigh escaped her lips, and then Shelby knew that she had begun to think about him again. She scowled, and suddenly had to go train. She looked at Marina. Marina seemed distracted with her own Pokémon.

Hope you don't think I'm eluding you or something…wouldn't want a teammate to hate me like…Shelby cut her thoughts off there, setting Poochyena on the ground and quickly getting up. She walked out briskly, Poochyena at her heals. Shelby walked until she reached the training area, and then she glanced around for a robot. One was in the corner, so she asked the current time. It replied that it was 21:00 exactly. Shelby figured she'd train with Karma for a little, and then go off to sleep. I'd rather not sleep. Dreams aren't pleasant, she thought, selecting a "game".

"Alright Poo—I mean, Karma, we're going to practice our skills. I need to get closer to you, and you need to get closer to me. Especially if we're going to be doing games like this. We're going to play capture the flag, and the object is to…well…find the flag, I'm guessing," Shelby said, finishing her speech in a slightly worse way than she had first intended. "This'll be a good way to get closer, and it'll be a great way to see your skills, huh?"

"Poochyena!" Karma said happily.

"Well, now how does this thing start…" Shelby grumbled. She pressed a button, and then suddenly the field changed. There were many obstacles, robots from the "other team" as well as a flag of their own. Shelby looked down at Karma. "Ready to go?" she asked him. He nodded, and looked determinedly at the flag. At least he already knows the objective, Shelby thought.

About half an hour later, the game had ended. Neither team had succeeded in capturing the other's flag, but the game had to end because of the time growing short. Shelby let out a breath, wiping her forehead on the back of her hand. Karma was panting, looking fairly tired out. Shelby picked him up. She said he did a good job, and then pressed the crystal which recalled him. I don't think that was terrible for the first try. There were some times where the game got very close, however, Shelby thought with a small frown.

Karma had trusted her and listened to her through and through, so Shelby knew that most of the error had been her fault. They had almost gotten a flag, but luckily Karma was fast enough to catch the robot. They had some error in their form, because they had almost fell over each other a few times. Shelby carefully thought about the different areas they could improve, and then decided to save it for a later day.

[FONT=&quot]By the time she reached the barracks for the Black Team, Shelby was tired and her feet had grown slightly sore. In all truth she wasn't one for exercise, which meant that she had to hone her skills more. She yawned and saw the bunk beds sitting against the wall. Shelby climbed into one of the top ones and closed her eyes, ready to sleep and wait to see what the next day would bring.[/FONT]

 

[JX Valentine]

OOC:

All of you who went through the Training Room: Very nice. You each get two points and one level each.

In General: We now have our OOC thread, so all sign-ups will now be submitted there.

Also, slowly catching up. Sorry for the short IC post as well.

---

IC:

When it was said that lights out would be at a certain time, it was meant that the lights would be out. The entirety of the station – all rooms on all floors – suddenly plunged into darkness at exactly the designated hour. A second later, a faint glow illuminated Eos's insides. Small light strips on either side of the corridor lit up, followed by lights along the edges of every floor. The robots, however, were nowhere in sight, and it seemed that the strips were the only form of guidance anywhere in the station.

Overhead, the Benefactors' voice boomed. "22:00. Lights out. Please make your way to your barracks if you haven't already done so. Wake up will be at 6:00, so be sure to get some rest. Sweet dreams, players."

Then, there was nothing. There would be nothing until the following morning, when the lights would blast on again and the robots would enter each room to play a cheerful alarm. Until then, the station was still, quiet, and most importantly, open.

 

[Down with the darkness]

Zach woke himself up in the middle of the night.

Time to get some information.

He got up and slipped out of the green barracks. He walked as silently as possible down the hallway to the stairs. He eye'd the door to "The Room" as he passed it.

I need to get more information before trying to tackle that.

The voice of the monitor robot repeated in his head. He focused on one word: "Players".

This is some sort of game to them. Maybe we're the outer space equivelant of baseball, and they've been lying to us.

He stopped at the library. He walked through the door, supprised it wasn't locked.

I don't understand their lack of security. Everywhere but that one door.

Zach walked up to a laptop and paused.

If I log in to that computer using my bracelet, they may be able to find out I've been up.

He reluctantly decided if the door wasn't locked their computer security can't be too much better. He pressed his bracelet on the pressure pad on the lap top and it sparked to life. He skipped through all the general knowledge, he'd read most of it already. He rapped his fingers on the keys as he searched. Finaly Zach found two files of intrest: Bracelet Information, and player profiles. He tried to open both, but they were blocked.

Well let's try some classics.

Zach ground his teeth and closed his eyes for at least twenty minutes before doing something. After that his fingers flew across the keys. He tried one method after another for more than an hour.

Finally aften hundreds of attemps, Zach found his back door into the files.

Who is the greatest computer hacker ever? Me of course!

Zach could almost shout with joy. He opened up the player profiles. There was some interesting data on his competition.

Zach took his shades out of his pockets and took a tiny chip out of them. He inserted it into the side of the laptop and downloaded all of the profiles to them.

Good now my shades will work like a playerdex.

He took the chip out after about ten minutes and put it and the glasses away. Zach was now going for the file he was most interested in. He clicked open the Bracelet file, and there was a description on what made the crystals idividually identifiable, and how pressure pads identified them.

OOC: So how DOES it work Valentine?

 

[Underoos]

While Shelby thought previously she was going to sleep the whole night, she was wrong. Suddenly her eyes snapped open as she heard someone moving outside. She sat up, quickly slipping on her glasses seeing as she took her contacts out earlier. What the crap? She thought with a frown. Shelby walked into the bathroom and quickly put her contacts in. She glanced at her team and then slipped out into the darkened hallway. Times like these I wish I had night vision, she thought.

Suddenly her bracelet made a noise and lit up. Shelby vaguely wondered if it could read her thoughts, but then she noticed where her feet had taken her. She was standing directly outside of "The Room". Shelby glanced around, wondering if there was a way she could get in. Figuring there was none (at least without making a crap-load of noise) Shelby moved on. As she walked, something caught her eye. It was a vent, located innocently at the top of the ceiling. Shelby's eyes lit up as she suddenly had a good idea. Well, it seemed good at the moment anyway.

I'll just use that to get into the room. Vents are easy to kick out anyway, Shelby thought. She frowned as she soon realized that she really had no way of getting up. Shelby then walked down to the second level, and found something that might be helpful. She slipped into the library, pleased to find it was unlocked. Her ears pricked when she thought she heard someone in the far corner, but she dismissed it and grabbed a chair. Shelby slipped out in a virtually silent way. She walked up the stairs once more and set the chair right under the vent.

She was still just a bit too short to reach it, so a frown marred her face. Then she thought of something. She pressed the crystal and Karma appeared in a flash of light. He yawned, looking rather sleepy. Shelby quickly apologized to her Pokémon and then explained the situation. "Can you do me a favor? I'm going to put you up in the vent, and can you see if you can find something up there I can grab onto to pull me up?" Shelby asked.

[FONT=&quot]Poochyena nodded. Shelby picked him up and held him up to the vent. He pushed it in with his nose and slipped in. Then he pushed the vent guard thingy down. Shelby caught it, and realized that this could possibly get her up there. Letting out a breath, Shelby decided it was worth a try. [/FONT]

 

[BUG♥CATCHER★BREEZE]

Just when it seemed like a good idea to get a look around, the whole floor was plunged into darkness. Majella muffled a scram, by quickly putting her right hand over her mouth. After what felt like a long time, (put was less than thirty seconds), she opened her eyes, and gasped her air. Stripes of light illuminated the floor, setting the room in an eerie glow. She could bear see a metre away from her face. But then was a she short-sighted when it came to this sort of thing?

Brushing her hair from her face, she turned to her Nidoran. He licked her ankle with his raspy tongue. He looked around self-consciously in the dark, and then suddenly twitched his ears. He began chattering under his breath, before looking up at the ceiling.

"What's in the ceiling?" Majella ponder. "Secret stores or weapons, hidden players? Air ducts? Vents! ". It was an obvious assumption, maybe Pocky could hair the faint whir of the circulating air. She remembered back to her childhood, and how her mother had owned a Caterpie that was terrified of houses or buildings with too many floors.

They can hear even the slightest rustle, Pokémon.

But this one was much more noticeable, because Majella had heard it too. She couldn't pinpoint the sound. She thought at first with was on this floor, but then she thought she heard a soft breathing above her. Just air. It was just air…

"Well they're one way to find out!". Nodding to her Nidoran, the pink creature turned to her confidently.

"Poison sting at the ceiling!"

He obeyed, but the spikes of glittering toxins only flew a metre or so. Quietly, she took a few steps, feeling hotter, dizzier. She swallowed, and took a deep breath, feeling her lungs fill with oxygen…

"Again, Poison sting! Up!"

With a sharp "Niiidaa!" he the creature aimed up at the air vent!

 

[Underoos]

After a few tries, Shelby finally managed to leap up and catch the grate on the wall, successfully pulling herself up. She let out a breath, and glanced at Karma. He wagged his tail happily. Shelby grinned and rubbed his head. "Alright, let's get going," she whispered softly. Little did she know she had gotten turned around, so she began to head the wrong way. After she headed the wrong way, she realized that Karma wasn't following her. Shelby peered behind her and saw he had firmly stayed put.

"Poochyena!" Karma said turning and walking in the opposite direction.

Shelby blinked slowly, and realized that she was going in the wrong direction. Oh god dang it, she thought in annoyance. Poochyena trotted up to her and then she slowly turned around (somehow) and began to go the other way. Below them, she heard a voice. Shelby paused and peered down, seeing a girl with a Nidoran. Eh? She thought. Shelby shrugged and went to keep going, when suddenly the girl issued an attack.

[FONT=&quot]"Go!" Shelby cried, pushing Karma forward. She rolled forward and out of the way just as a bunch of little points made a hole in the vent. The Pokemon then leaped up, smashing into the vent and creating a bigger hole. Seconds later the Pokémon fell, seemingly landing in the girl's arms. Shelby stayed put and didn't move. [/FONT]

 

[JX Valentine]

It may not have been unusual to Zach, but the computer system opened like a flower for him. Or an unlocked door. Or a Starbucks on an unoccupied street corner in New York.

In other words, it opened easily. Almost too easily -- as if the Benefactors wanted someone to get that far.

Regardless of whether or not it was suspicious, as soon as Zach looked for more information, he received the following information in response:

Identification Bracelets

Subsection: Personalized Beads

Each identification bracelet on the wrist of each player contains one crystal bead capable of storing massive amounts of information. It is best compared to—

The screen suddenly flickered. When the writing reappeared, the same line continued:

It didn't even seem to matter what Zach did to it beyond that point. The entire page had become nothing but incomprehensible squiggles, and it just seemed to be that page.

---

Meanwhile, somewhere in the ship, screens flickered to life. Most of them showed people in the bunks of the barracks, but one showed the image of someone in the library while another displayed the image of a girl attacking one of the vents, only to have a poochyena fall out of it like candy out of a pinata.

"Some of the players seem to be well-developed already," one voice murmured. "It seems three of them have figured out this ship has secrets."

A second replied, "Interesting. Now, let's see how quickly they can decode them."

"The library. Was that...?"

"My doing, yes. If he is indeed as brilliant as he claims, he should surely begin to realize a few obvious truths."

"One may assume you're making the game too easy."

"No, my dear friend. Just more complicated. Now, what to do about those two in the air flow vents...?"

"Why, what else but to give them an important hint?"

"You'll kill the one in the vent, you know."

"Kill them. Train them. The same principle."

---

In the vent systems, something roared to life. It was only a hum in the distance as the air began to flow towards the noise. The stream wasn't powerful, but it was enough to ruffle Shelby's hair if she remained in the vent.

 

[Underoos]

When Karma fell out, Shelby cursed and peered down. The girl was looking up at her, Nidoran at her side. Shelby debated whether or not on continuing, but she sighed. I'm not going to go on…without…her thoughts cut off as she felt a slight tickle of a breeze. Shelby's eyes snapped wide open and scrambled around in the vent, crashing to the floor in a heavy heap. She groaned and rubbed her head, looking up at the vents. I have a funny feeling, she thought dryly, had I stayed up there…Shelby shuddered and cut her thoughts off, focusing on Karma.

"'Cheyna…" Karma grumbled, hopping onto her lap and looking up. Shelby had a feeling he understood as well as she. If I'd have stayed in there…Shelby clenched her teeth and glared upwards.

"What the hell are they trying to do?" she growled to herself. She stood up, Karma hopping away and looking at her with his head cocked to the side. "This is going to end up with someone dead, isn't it?!" she shouted more to the ceiling than anyone else. Obviously not expecting a reply, she glanced at the girl. Her face showed that of slight surprise. Shelby cleared her throat. "Right…well…uh…" she trailed off, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm going to just go now."

Without waiting for a reply, Shelby ran off. Karma was hot on her heels. She skidded to a stop outside of her team's barrack and smacked the door shut. Once inside, she leaned her head against the door and slid down to the floor. Karma whimpered and curled up on her lap. I don't think, Shelby thought, I should use the vents anymore. Maybe if I want to find more information, it would be best to look for a way they can't kill me…well, as easily as that. She cursed herself for making a bonehead move and smacked her head against the door.

[FONT=&quot]One of her teammates stirred. Shelby looked into the darkness of the bunk beds. When no one moved again, Shelby stood up, feeling slightly weak, and walked to the bathroom to take out her contacts. Karma followed her, tail half tucked between his legs. Shelby picked him up and slipped into her bed, settling him against her side. She decided that she'd had enough adventure for tonight—but there was still plenty of time for more. Damn Benefactors…end up killing us all, Shelby thought dully as her mind began to grow groggy with sleep. Her eyes began to slowly drift shut. As she slept, she was silently cursing them; having nightmares about being sucked into vents were not fun, in her opinion.[/FONT]

 

[Down with the darkness]

Zach read the file as quickly as possible:

Identification Bracelets

Subsection: Personalized Beads

Each identification bracelet on the wrist of each player contains one crystal bead capable of storing massive amounts of information. It is best compared to—

Suddenly the computer screen flashed and the file was instantly encrypted.

What! They think someone who can hack their server can't solve a cryptogram? I was expecting something a little more challenging.

Zach pulled a pencil and notebook out of his backpack.

Never leave home- err sleeping quarters -without 'em!

Zach started writing down codes and symbols on the paper. Counting letters, finding common phrase; it was all too familiar to him. Puzzles were his passtime, he did harder ones for fun. After about a half hour of hard work Zach came out with a semi-readable message:

TTERRAN DEVICES SUCH AS PESOR_POKEBALLS _IN THAT THE BEADS HAVE BEEN ADAPTED TO SCAN AND BREAK DOWN POKEMON TO CONVERT THEM TO STORABIE DATA VIA NANO COMPUTERS THAT ARE EQUALLY CAPABALE OF READING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DATA THEN UGHOUR OWN INFORMATION NETWORK MAINTAIN EDON THECOIO DYGGDRASIL BY THE FIEET_

Apparently some of the message got scrambled durring incription. He'd have to fix that later, the clock on the laptop was showing it was almost morning.

Zach folded up the paper and logged off the computer. He got up and noticed a security camera in the corner. It was following him.

What the hell? They were watching me?

Zach was paranoid, but he had an odd feeling these "Benefactors" wanted to test them. It almost seemed like they were encouraging the rule breaking.

Zach wrote that thought to memory and headed back to the barracks to pretend to sleep.

 

[JX Valentine]

The darkness was near total. Even the light strips dimmed slightly after a few hours. The most noise that might have been heard in any of the barracks were the light sounds of anyone who did manage to sleep and the occasional toilet flushing in the adjacent bathrooms.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity of this (or perhaps no time at all, depending on whether or not the person happened to fall asleep at some point), the door opened once again, only this time, what entered wasn't one of the players wandering back in from the bathrooms. It hovered in the room for a moment before clicking.

Suddenly, the room flooded with light.

Robots -- one for each of the barracks -- hovered in place, staring at the players while blaring a loud, beeping alarm. A few nameless souls literally fell out of their bunks, but the robots barely seemed to pay attention. Instead, they remained there for five minutes, waiting for each one to wake up.

When it was clear the players were awake, the alarm stopped, only to be replaced by the voice of the Benefactors.

"Good morning, players," it quipped. "Today, we have decided to introduce you to the games you will be playing. We're so excited to get things started we're running on an unusual schedule today. Normally, we would give you plenty of time for breakfast and socializing, but today..."

The robots started forward, pulling nutritional bars and bottles of water from hollow chambers in their chests to hand to each player. There seemed to be enough for all of the players and their pokémon -- which, considering the size of some of the teams, might be rather impressive.

"Today," the Benefactors continued, "you're to report to the Battlefield in fifteen minutes. Follow the robots if you don't remember where it is."

With that, the robots finished handing out breakfast before turning and making their way down the rows of bunks to the door. They didn't check to see if anyone was following them. Instead, they simply waited for a few minutes before hovering out the door. Outside, the robots formed a cluster that led the players down the halls and stairs at a slow but steady pace to the floor below. Once there, they didn't check to see if the players were there. Instead, they glided to the doors of the Battlefield at the end of the long hall, where one of them pressed its claw on the pad beside the door to open it. Then, it entered as its brethren lined up in neat rows on the sides of the hall.

Inside the Battlefield, the floors and walls were solid, blue tiles. There were no windows anymore. Just smooth, uninterrupted wall. Furthermore, the floor was two stories down, and the ceiling -- one up. However, it didn't seem to matter because there, gravity was off.

Looking around, one might notice colored orbs budding out of the walls like strange, spherical mushrooms. There were ten of these, one for every color. On the surface of them, white boxes of light flickered in erratic patterns.

The voice, naturally, would be quick to explain once the players entered the field.

"Welcome to Round One. Today, you will be competing for the Knowledge Fragment and the ability to remain on the ship. Only one of you will get this award, and today, it goes to the team that succeeds in finishing the puzzle first. The team that finishes it last or fails to complete it at all, however, will be the one to be escorted off Eos.

"This game will be Capture the Flag, but it's not the kind you may be used to. Each of the ten orbs in this room contain one flag. Ten orbs. Ten teams. It's your goal to capture the flag of the team you're assigned to.

"However, notice the flashing lights across the orb's surface? Of course, it would be far too easy to simply let you get the flag inside, so we've devised a special lock. Touch the orb in order to access a puzzle you might call a magic square. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, a magic square is a diagram of nine boxes -- three in each row and three in each column -- with the numbers one to nine in each box. These boxes can add up to fifteen if one takes the sum of the numbers going across, going down, or going diagonally. The first number -- the number one -- has been inserted into each lock for you. Notice that no two orbs have the one placed in the same box. It's up to your team to solve the rest. Simply tap the boxes in numerical sequence. To get the number two, for example, it must be the first box you touch. The number three, the second box, and so forth.

"Of course, it gets a bit more complicated than that. First of all, a player cannot insert more than one number in a row. Thus, Aesir of the Green Team cannot insert two and three. However, he may insert two and have his teammate insert three. The two of them can take turns completing the puzzle. In this way, no one person can solve the puzzle by themselves.

"Second, you may attack any opposing player to defend your orb. Thus, those solving each puzzle must be wary of any pokémon or fellow players who may be floating nearby.

"Third, if a sequence is incorrect, the lock resets and forces you to do it all over again. Be careful if you don't wish to fall behind.

"With that in mind, White Team will be after Red Team's flag, Pink will be after Blue's, Red will be after Green's, Orange after Black's, Yellow after Indigo's, Green after Yellow's, Blue after Orange's, Indigo after Violet's, Violet after White's, and finally, Black after Pink's. If all of that is clear, don your battle suits by grasping your bracelets and let the game begin."

The voice died away, leaving the players in the Battlefield as the robot drifted ceilingward to watch the proceedings. A few seconds later, a number of nameless souls grasped their bracelets.

 

[Underoos]

The next day Shelby had a rather unpleasant awakening. She grumbled and got dressed, watching as they all filed out and followed the robots. Soon she followed after, half slouching. Karma bad disappeared back into his crystal sometime during the night, so Shelby wasn't very concerned about him. No, she was more concerned about the "game" that was coming up.

Once all of the players had arrived, the robots quickly explained to them the game they would be playing. A small smile broke out on Shelby's face as she crossed her arms and listened carefully. They explained the rules, and she frowned when the puzzle part was introduced. I can think…but I think I'd rather stay here and guard, she decided, glancing at her teammates. She kept her expression blank, not wanting her features to give anything away.

The voices soon died away. Shelby grasped her bracelet after a moment, surprised when a tight black suit formed around her body. She made a slight face, did I mention I'm not one for tight things? She then turned to her teammates and glanced around, watching as other players split apart. Shelby thought best to be quick about this, so she wasted no time.

[FONT=&quot]"Alright, I'm going to stay here and guard. I think it would be a good idea if we split in half. Half of our people go and try to get the flag, the other half stay here to guard. That way, the people who are off to grab the orb can be guarded as well as have a good number of people to crack the code. Also, we will have a good defense back here. Don't worry about the half of the team that you're not with, focus on your objective. Does this sound good to everyone?" Shelby questioned, waiting for a response.[/FONT]

 

[Legend]

The entire night was one of thought and concentration in terms of Lance's behaviors. Inside his dorm, he noticed that only a select few of his team members would actually be capable and comparable to his own abilities, at least physically. Lance sighed, knowing that the chances he would have to carry the team would be great. But the sigh had an underlying meaning to it as well: deciding on a leader. In most circumstances, Lance would instantly volunteer. Being a Captain in the military leads to experience as a leader, however, this was a different battlefield. Lance grew accustomed to his surrounding environment at his post. He knew his men and their skills. He knew his environment and its behavior. He knew everything he needed to know to succeed and claim victory. But here, he knew nothing. Lance did not know his men. Lance did not know his environment. Hell, he didn't he even know his partner. Choosing to ignore his device for the time being as he did not understand its capabilities, he analyzed the members of his team and as well as his Pokemon partner, hoping that prior experience working with Pokemon Assault teams and as well any new knowledge he could pick up from his surrounding area could help him establish the advantages and disadvantages of his newfound ally. With some thinking and effort, Lance came up with a basic analysis:

This Larvitar must be a basic rock or ground type, something along those lines. I cannot be certain of its abilities, at least not yet, but it is safe to say that the ship itself will be a hinderance. I cannot make use of all his attacks, at least if we are doing battle on the ship itself. I have to play it safe and get creative. Argh, with this obstacle, I am wondering how the hell we can win. This team has a major handicap, I have to hope the rest of the teams have some disadvantages of their own.

With this sober yet hopeful thought being the last of many thoughts to enter his mind, Lance forced himself to go to sleep. He didn't sleep well, having many nightmares that stirred him into awakening several times. On top of that, the bed was not exactly comforting. It was a step up from his beds on the front lines, but then again so was the ground itself. However, his determination to collapse and slumber turned into fatigue, and in due time, Lance feel asleep soundly.

What woke up Lance next was not a surprise. A flood of light fused together with a horrendous sound worse than any alarm constructed and entered the room. The next five minutes were long and evil, as the robots that forced themselves into the barracks and had captured him and made him a POW stared with terrible intent. Lance rose from his bed and checked on his Larvitar whom he decided to let him remain outside and free. Eventually, the rest followed and robot began to speak:

"Good morning, players. Today, we have decided to introduce you to the games you will be playing. We're so excited to get things started we're running on an unusual schedule today. Normally, we would give you plenty of time for breakfast and socializing, but today..."

The robot paused, stepping forward to every player, handing out rations. The fact that the robots seemed to be giving the individuals in the room only a bare minimum for several disturbed Lance. Suddenly the good intentions the Benefactors had transformed into malevolent desire, at least in Lance's eyes. He chose to keep a stern look on his face and watched carefully.

"You're to report to the Battlefield in fifteen minutes. Follow the robots if you don't remember where it is."

The stern look Lance kept on his face was broken and reflected the shock he felt. "Eat up, buddy," Lance ordered to his Larvitar. "I have a bad feeling about this." Lance and Larvitar chomped down their food quickly and swallowed their water faster than a drunk man at a bar. Before leaving, Lance motioned to his fellow teammates to follow and said a cliche yet much needed phrase: "Good luck. We'll need it...." The final words were greatly reduced in volume as if he did not want to strike fear in their hearts and reduce their morale. Lance followed the robot before losing it to the maze created by the ship.

The battlefield was designed in a manner that Lance was not exactly expecting. He was expecting, well, a battlefield. Destroyed structures, ruins, places to ambush the opponent. Instead he was a solid blue room that was smooth, open, and large but contained a blank field. No defensive spots at all. Great. Already the more organized teams have a strength on us. We don't even have a leader and at this point I am leading a bunch of people more clueless than me. Refocusing, Lance turned his attention to the robots that began to speak:

"Welcome to Round One. Today, you will be competing for the Knowledge Fragment and the ability to remain on the ship. Only one of you will get this award, and today, it goes to the team that succeeds in finishing the puzzle first. The team that finishes it last or fails to complete it at all, however, will be the one to be escorted off Eos."

Lance's thoughts rambled: Knowledge? Great. Puzzles are not my strong suit. At all. I can't even solve sudoku in the kid's section of my local paper. Why can't be a test of strength or marksmanship?

"This game will be Capture the Flag, but it's not the kind you may be used to. Each of the ten orbs in this room contain one flag. Ten orbs. Ten teams. It's your goal to capture the flag of the team you're assigned to."

Okay. I can do that. I was pretty good at Capture the Flag. Better at Team death-match though.

"However, notice the flashing lights across the orb's surface? Of course, it would be far too easy to simply let you get the flag inside, so we've devised a special lock. Touch the orb in order to access a puzzle you might call a magic square. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, a magic square is a diagram of nine boxes -- three in each row and three in each column -- with the numbers one to nine in each box. These boxes can add up to fifteen if one takes the sum of the numbers going across, going down, or going diagonally. The first number -- the number one -- has been inserted into each lock for you. Notice that no two orbs have the one placed in the same box. It's up to your team to solve the rest. Simply tap the boxes in numerical sequence. To get the number two, for example, it must be the first box you touch. The number three, the second box, and so forth."

Ah, crap.

"Of course, it gets a bit more complicated than that. First of all, a player cannot insert more than one number in a row. Thus, Aesir of the Green Team cannot insert two and three. However, he may insert two and have his teammate insert three. The two of them can take turns completing the puzzle. In this way, no one person can solve the puzzle by themselves."

WTF?

"Second, you may attack any opposing player to defend your orb. Thus, those solving each puzzle must be wary of any pokémon or fellow players who may be floating nearby."

Maybe that should be my job. Nah, the nameless goons should that. But no, what if they are smart? Damn it! I wish I had a team roster or something!

"Third, if a sequence is incorrect, the lock resets and forces you to do it all over again. Be careful if you don't wish to fall behind."

Stupid gimmicks.

"With that in mind, White Team will be after Red Team's flag, Pink will be after Blue's, Red will be after Green's, Orange after Black's, Yellow after Indigo's, Green after Yellow's, Blue after Orange's, Indigo after Violet's, Violet after White's, and finally, Black after Pink's. If all of that is clear, don your battle suits by grasping your bracelets and let the game begin."

Black team eh? Maybe I'll make it team death-match instead. I hated that one screaming girl in the prison room earlier.

Lance grasped his bracelet as ordered. A sliver uniform wrapped around his body with orange decals and flight helmet. "Nice," Lance stated placing the helmet on his and deciphering the images on his visor. Combat data. This could be useful, he thought before realizing his disorganized team needed a plan.

"Anyone here on Orange team incredibly intelligent and can think of a decent plan off the top of their head? If not, I'd say we make this Capture the Flag mission, a fight to the death." Lance stated, half jokingly.

 

[{Swan}]

This had just generally not been a good week. First Cornelia had to cross the bloody mountain in the freezing cold. And then she woke up in a pitch black spaceship where a robot clams a weird bracelet on her wrist. And to top it of, the bracelet was green! What an ugly colour. She was just hated by the world wasn't she?
And then these f-ing lunatics go around telling them to go safe the f-ing world. Hallelujah!
Why did the world even need saving anyway? The last time she saw it, it was still bloody cold and marvelous! Why would she even want to save the world?! And then they go on and give her a Bulbasaur! She hated those good for nothing grass Pokemon. F-ing fantastic.
The one good thing was that even though the bracelet was an ugly green (And she meant ugly, not even a nice teal or turquoise or something, plain grass-green), it was quite useful with it's whole voice-reacting fanciness.

There was just one thing that had been bugging her. Okay that just sounded nice, the actuality was there were a hell of a lot of things bugging her. One was that if they wanted her to save the whole damned world, why did they put her in a team against others. That's just strange. And were there, like, eliminations or something? And the robots were just strange, why didn't the Benifactors or whatever greet them in person? And why did she have the creepy feeling that she was being lied to, and nothing was all that it seemed?
And then there were her teammates. one was a scrawny little nerd that barely looked strong enough to walk. The other was weird and foreign and.. well.. weird. And the last one was stuck-up who seemed to see himself as a genius. Great..
And she wasn't even talking about the bad hairday they were making her suffer. Those bastards. And she wasn't even talking about the food! This place was hell on earth. Scratch that, hell on wherever the hell they were.

She spent half of her day sulking and playing with the piece of technology around her arm. She found out it might know a little more about her than she wanted it to.
Name: Cornelia Daws
Age: 18
Occupation: traveler
Intelligence: Above Average
Strength: Average
Nationality: Hoenn
Team: Green
Occupation on team: Captain]
Well it was flattering enough, and the captain part was a nice tidbit. She didn't worry much about the strength feat, she's a lady and not supposed to be very strong. That green was still bugging her though. She did find out there were actually four floors, the map said so, but she couldn't get the bracelet to talk about it though, which made her quite curious.
But, instead of checking it, she went to the training ground to test her Bulbasaur. She hadn't quite decided what to name her yet, but she wanted to see her limits and abilities first. The training rooms were very spiffy too, you could adjust anything, from gravity to biome. At least there was something she liked about the ship.
So Cornelia settled for a day of fiddling with her bracelet and fighting in a lava biome with ordinary gravity. Fun. But, you never knew when any training would come in handy, right?

---

The alarms were definitely not pleasant.
"F-ing hell! Would you shut the noise, please!
The next message wasn't too welcome either. A challenge. Should be a f-ing party.
Now, didn't they say something about a uniform, or whatever? IT took her less than a minute to find a little button that covered her body with a silvery substance. Now, she would be pretty pissed if it hadn't completely evaporated, and left her with a silver and green suit. It wasn't very pretty, but it hugged her body nicely and she could deal with it. Wat she couldn't deal with, though, was the helmet.
"Okay, lose the helmet please, and leave the visor."
She was pretty pleased to see that it obeyed and the helmet disappeared. Nice.

At the training ground she tried to find her team, but was interrupted by the explanation of the game. Great, get the flag. She had always hated that game. Now her teammates.
She found some people with green uniforms.
"Okay, I am not going to lose this challenge you hear me? We need to have a plan and stick to it. No individuals and no stupidity," she demanded. Even though she didn't want to be here, that didn't mean that she had to lose. No way in hell. Plus she was the captain and she was going to make this happen.
"I need the smartest people of the group to think of possible ways to solve the puzzle. The one trying to get our flag is the red team with fire and fighting types, so I want the four with the smallest weakness to those to defend our orb while the others try and solve the puzzle. Do not be afraid to take others out while your at it, only an added bonus. Anyone have ideas of how to crack these boxes?"

 

[JX Valentine]

Alexis Löwe was not the tallest among Orange Team, but she stood tall as she grasped her bracelet and suited up. Her blue eyes cast a final glance at her team before her helmet snaked up her short, blonde hair. There was no surprise in the way she ran her glance over the others. She was, after all, the captain of their team, the one on whom Orange Team's victory depended.

Just as the game was just beginning and the teams were easing out into the zero-gravity playing field, one of her teammates had the balls to pipe up.

"Anyone here on Orange team incredibly intelligent and can think of a decent plan off the top of their head? If not, I'd say we make this Capture the Flag mission, a fight to the death."

From inside her helmet, Alexis smirked and stood on the edge of the hall. Then, she pressed the crystal on her bracelet to summon, with a flash of light, her sandshrew partner. As it flailed beside her, she straightened.

"All right, Orange Team, listen up!" she snapped. "I'm your captain, and I expect perfection out of all of you. We're going to win this and stay on the ship or so help me, you're sleeping in the hall tonight, you hear that?"

Narrowing her eyes, she scanned her team again. Then, she pointed to the two smallest.

"You two. Come with me. You're going to help me solve the puzzle. You--" Her finger drifted to a few more members, including Peter. "--go to our orb and defend it. And you--" She pointed to the last two, one of which was Lance. "--go first and raid the Black Team's orb and then cover us while we work on the puzzle. Got that? Good."

Before any of her teammates could say a word, Alexis grabbed her sandshrew and shoved off the floor to head towards the Black Team's orb.

In the meantime, White Team had the same idea. Half of the troops lingered around their orb while the other half -- side-by-side with a porygon, rattata, munchlax, and buneary -- sailed towards Red Team's orb. Meanwhile, the entirety of Blue Team except three members seemed to linger around their own orb, but as those three members worked their way towards Orange Team's, a cloud of bubbles produced by their poliwag, corphish, and piplup seemed to orbit them.

Already, the players were eager to make this an interesting fight.

 

[Miz en Scène]

Raphael entered the mess hall with the rest of the Black team and being shepherded by the robots of the benefactors. Almost immediately, the team split and went their separate ways.

A long line of semi-confused people, were forming near a food-serving counter stall staffed by –what else- Benefactor Robots. Phaiel walked over to the counter and grabbed a chrome tray. Shino meanwhile, left to explore the mess hall and bark at a few strangers. Examining it to make sure there were no surprises, Phaiel proceeded to shuffle down the line along with the other confused people. He noticed one person –too far to see who- asking for seconds –probably. Phaiel assumed a stoic face and proceeded to watch whether the person would be killed or something for asking such an outlandish question in such a strange place.

Phaiel walked closer and noticed that it was a scrawny sort of boy barely past his teens.

"Could be interesting if the robot killed him or something." Thought Phaiel sadistically, because –as Kana always reminded him- he could be a real a** when someone was getting hurt or, on the verge of getting hurt.

It was somewhat disappointing, really, when the Robot just rejected him and the boy walked of -dejected. Phaiel moved along the line slowly as other people proceeded to obtain their packets of food. Finally, Phaiel arrived in front of the robot. It had the same basic design as the others but had an extra attachment –presumably to serve food with.

"Please input user identification via bracelet," said the robot in a steely mechanical voice.

Phaiel brought his arm to eye-level and examined it thoroughly.

"There's more to this than meets the eye, huh." Muttered Phaiel, intrigued.

Phaiel lightly tapped or rather pushed his bracelet against a shiny, black plastic-ish pad that vaguely reminded him of a computer touchpad. The pad suddenly shined a bright green color as if scanning his bracelet. Phaiel moved his chrome tray along the line and under the robot's arm, which was hovering above the air holding a packet of some sort. The robot then dropped the packet into Phaiel's tray along with a small cup filled with a deep red viscous liquid.

He walked over cautiously to a table with Shino trotting awkwardly at his side. He looked around and saw that many people had already begun to scarf down their food –which looked rather odd-, each one different. He sat down and picked up his packet and started to read the cover, it was in an unreadable language of which the symbols vaguely reminded Phaiel of the Bookshelf Symbol 7 ™ font on his computer at home. Phaiel opened the wrapper, emptied the contents of the bag –dry pieces of chip things- onto the tray, and stowed the wrapper into his coat pocket. There would be time to learn the language later.

Hours later, after exploring the ship, Phaiel found himself at the entrance to the black team barracks or bunkers, whatever it was called. He pushed his bracelet to the pad at the side and the door slid open with a whooshing sound. There was one person in there, the headboard of the person displayed her name 'Marina', the girl in pink from before. Phaiel walked over to one other bed and, as if on impulse, swiped his bracelet onto one of the beds headboard located near one of the windows. With Shino at his side, Phaiel sat on the bed and Shino jumped on his lap.

"Looks like we're going to be here for a while," sighed Phaiel, "sorry Kana, couldn't make it for the reunion."

Phaiel slumped down onto the bed, exhausted. Shino, taking this as a sign that his master was tired, curled up into a ball and fell to sleep on the floor. Sighing, Phaiel took of his overcoat, threw it onto the footboard and proceeded to get some sleep. Halfway through, the door to the barracks slid open. Raphael, being a light sleeper, snapped awake –slightly rustled the quilt- but pretended to be asleep. He turned in the bed and noticed that it was their team leader –Shelby, whose name flashed on her bed's headboard. She came in and slid the door shut roughly, not even waiting for it to close by itself. She slumped down against the door and stared into space. Her poochyena curled on her lap as she lightly began to stroke it and talk to it. It was too far to hear what she was saying however.

Finally, after a few minutes, Shelby stood up and walked to the bathroom. Phaiel checked the time. It was relatively 3.00 p.m.

"The hell?" muttered Phaiel sleepily, "Oh, Sinnoh time…"

Phaiel turned over on his side and tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, night, or whatever –it's hard to tell in space, Phaiel awoke abruptly as a group of robots entered the room. As if waiting for orders, the robots stood/floated there. Phaiel continued to pretend to sleep.

At last, when it seemed likely that the robots were there to stay, a loud alarm sounded and some members of the black team, fell out of their beds.

A while later in Battlefield, the teams assembled. Most, but not all were wide-awake as Phaiel noted. While some were shaking in their boots, others were standing tall. Shelby, the Black Teams leader and coincidentally the team Phaiel was in, was one of the people giving off a confident aura as the rest of the people under her stood their ground.

Phaiel himself, who didn't enjoy being under a 17-year-old but, was resigned to the fact that she was his team leader, merely stared around in indifference as the rest of the team watched the robots. This time, there was one robot to every team and suddenly, a booming voice sounded through the entire arena explaining the situation.

"Magic squares? That's for me." Said Phaiel quietly.

A loud voice boomed again, "Let the game begin"

Most of the black team, grasped their bracelets and black tight suits formed around their bodies. Phaiel did likewise and found that a tight suit had formed around their bodies.

Instinctively, as with the rest of the team, Phaiel turned to Shelby as she tried to cope with the burden of leadership.

"Alright, I'm going to stay here and guard. I think it would be a good idea if we split in half. Half of our people go and try to get the flag, the other half stay here to guard. That way, the people who are off to grab the orb can be guarded as well as have a good number of people to crack the code. In addition, we will have a good defense back here. Don't worry about the half of the team that you're not with, focus on your objective. Does this sound good to everyone?" she said.

Phaiel looked at her surprised, maybe the benefactors did pick a good team leader after all. Finally, after much staring and muttering Phaiel decided to be straightforward for once in his life.

"You heard her!" he shouted over the mutterings of his fellow teammates, "Let's get moving! You three, the ones with the Sableye, Sneasel and Eeevee, follow me! We're going to capture the Pink Team's orb and we'll be back to defend the base after this so the rest of you can punch in your numbers too. I'll commandeer the capture operation, Shelby or captain, stay here and guard against the orange team. We're going to be heavily outnumbered but let's give it our all.

As half the black team prepared for the journey, Phaiel went up close to Shelby and said this to her rather roughly,
"Listen you, I've yet to trust you but you're going to pull us through this and we're going to survive. I'm going to take these guys to the Pink team's base and punch in our numbers, then, we're going to come back here and the rest of you go instead. If we make it through this, or if we win, I might accept you as our team captain." Phaiel concluded and waited for an answer.

 

[Underoos]

After a brief silence, Shelby's eyebrows shot up by the one boy's outburst. She recognized him from before. His name's…She frowned, ah, Phaiel, right. She decided that she liked him, he seemed to be rather helpful. When he stated who was going to go where, Shelby nodded to herself, silently agreeing with the match up. It was even and would still provide the team with a good wall of defense.

Then all of the sudden Phaiel turned to her in a rather rough way. Shelby rose her eyebrow. "Listen you, I've yet to trust you but you're going to pull us through this and we're going to survive. I'm going to take these guys to the Pink team's base and punch in our numbers, then, we're going to come back here and the rest of you go instead. If we make it through this, or if we win, I might accept you as our team captain." Phaiel concluded and waited for an answer. Shelby didn't say anything for a moment, and then she let out a bark of a laugh.

She touched her crystal, and Karma materialized by her side. "You know, I don't trust you either. Then again, I don't trust anyone. Maybe Karma, but I mean people wise," Shelby explained. "I've had enough of this pointless chatter, the game has begun. So you know what? You can go ahead and command that half of the team. I'll worry about this half's ass. If we're damn good enough, then we can make it." A small smirk appeared on her face. "And if we make it, or if we win, I might accept you even just a teeny bit. Trust can be valuable but just a heads up…" Shelby glanced up towards the ceiling briefly. "I don't think you should trust anyone, not even me." She turned away, but still felt his presence behind her.

"'Chenya!" Poochyena barked.

"Well, what're you waiting for? We can hold things down here, you go get ready or just go on ahead," Shelby snapped. She didn't wait to see if they left, but instead crouched towards Karma. Karma looked up at her. "Alright, this is just like our capture the flag game. Remember how I had you hold back and attack the robots that came near the flag?" Karma barked and wagged his tail. Shelby glanced up. "Well, this time it's not a game. You need to be alert for Pokémon, and battle them if they get near."

Shelby stood and turned to her group. "Let's get a few things straight. We have a total of four members here. First, Pokémon out and ready. I swear if this is the first time you've met your Pokémon, I'm gonna strangle you," Shelby added the last bit as an afterthought. "Anyway, we each get a corner fairly close to the box. Do not stray far, as you won't be much help if we get cornered. If someone is engaged in battle, only one other person may run off to help. I want at least two people guarding this thing at all times, unless the situation demands for it…well…not to be." The words spilled out and Shelby found that being leader might be easier than she thought. She watched as they got into place, and once they had she turned. "Now let the games begin," she murmured under her breath, keeping careful watch.


(OOC: I'm going to be gone for from Thursday to Sunday, so today to Sunday. I don't know if I will be able to post or not. I suppose members of my team can bunny me (only slightly, not full out moving and stuff) as well as Valentine, obviously)

 

[BUG♥CATCHER★BREEZE]

Majella was awaken by the boom of the announcement from the robots. It was heard all over the spaceship, echoing around the corridors. She knew this because she didn't make it back to the Pink dorm. It was far safer to spend the night in the dimly lit corridors. After all, what kind of fool slept in a strange spaceship with strangers? Who knew what they could do in the night… However, that gave her the opportunity to get down the Battlefield earlier than the rest of her team.

Like I'd sleep with those robots around. What could they do to me in the night? Kidnapping was bad enough, but I don't want to go in there. With total strangers!
Strangers is the right word! What were they up to, sneaking around at night…!" she thought. "I'm not even that tired!"

Stifling a yawn, Majella stood with her group, the Pink Team. Most had a fearsome poison type, and a handful had hypnotic psychic types. This was just the team's luck. The Black team were against them, who all had Dark type Pokémon. They had a crucial disadvantage against the blacks!

Nonetheless, she had to make the most of the this. Sitting around confused was just dangerous. She tucked a strand of black hair around her right ear, and ran into the fray.

Pocky's eyes wandered to some other members of the team, who were guarding the glowing fuchsia pink orb. He didn't seem particularly keen to fight whatsoever, instead, she hid behind her. He nestled his head into the legs of her overalls.

"Stop whining!" she hissed, glaring at the pink Pokémon. "I'll tell ya something, Pocky, I can't do logic puzzles. Leave the rest of the team, and their smart psychic types to that."

Confused, the poison point Pokémon followed her shyly. Her eyes strayed now the Blue Team and their electric blue orb. Only three people were guarding it. Perhaps this was an opportunity to claim their orb.

As she readied her sunglasses and microphone, Pocky began barking. Sharply turning her head like a readied Persian, she saw a stray bubble (obviously from a Pokémon in the Blue Team) hit him. He wailed as it popped on his spiked head. He frantically searched for the attacker.

Majella tip-toed over to the Blue Team. Her 'counter-attack' began with kicking Pocky. With his attention now on her, she commanded him to: "Jump, and then Poison Sting."

Pocky tensed his leg muscles, and stored power. With a second command from Mayella, he leaped into the air. The tiny Pokémon could even hear wind in his ears. Exhaling deeply, the Pokémon rained toxic barbs onto the three Blue Team members and their Pokémon.

 

[Legend]

Instead of someone answering his question, Lance received a totally different reaction. A woman, or possibly a man with a very feminine voice spoke out, proclaiming his/her domination of the Orange Team as Captain all the while threatening everyone with small yet believable statements. At this point, Lance knew she was a woman. Physically, her figure was female despite the covering of her form by the battle suit. But more obviously was the female desire of control. Many women when they claim a position of power feel the need to shake it in people's faces. This was such an example. Of course, Lance didn't mind, as it gave him something to do outside training and fighting: Trying to overtake her position if she fails to perform. Being a careerist, holding positions of power was everything to him. Up until now, Lance did not care for these games. Suddenly, he does. Saves me the trouble, I guess. Maybe I'll become the team's second in command then and before long I'll be its Captain. But first let's see how she does as Captain. Motivating a bunch of fools like this should be prove to be a challenge, Lance pondered to himself as she dished out orders for everyone to follow.

Her orders were simple. The small individuals were to solve the puzzle. The captain assumed they were smart. It was a decent deduction but if wrong, it could prove fatal. A small was to defend the orb. Good back up plan. And Lance along with some red-shirt was to charge forward and assault the Black Team orb. Good idea, Captain. Sending me to fight. Before battle, Lance placed his helmet upon his head. A visor revealed tons of battle data. "Damn this helmet is tight. Hey bracelet thing, transform this bondage helmet into some Scouter thing like in that overly-epic anime show...Dragonball Z I think it was called. My older brother watched it when he was younger (OOC: That is the only change I wanted to make to the Battle suit)."

In a matter of few moments, the suit change. The helmet became a device that rested comfortably on his right ear and a green screen covered his right eye. "Nice." After battle preparations were done, Lance charged forward overtaking the Captain's lead due to his amazing physical conditioning due to combat training in the military. Battles were taking place all around Lance with he and Larvitar dodging stray fire with their unified agility. Lance's "scouter" detected several types of attacks and with this new combat data, Lance deduced an excellent plan of attack. With the Black team orb in range, Lance turned to Larvitar: "Larvitar, launch a Hyper Beam directly at the Black Team orb. Take out the defenders!" Larvitar stood his ground and energy gathered in its small mouth. Then a sudden rush of pure energy was launched like a missile to the Black Team's orb. Any individual not paying attention at the moment was likely dead, defeated or at the very least in a state of pure shock.

"Well Captain. How was that for attacking the base?" Lance asked like any military man would addressing his superior office with an arrogant chuckle praising Larvitar's work.

 

[altaria221]

Name: Sean "Fifer" Pfiffer (prefers his last name nickname over his first name)

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Normal Appearance: Has somewhat long dark brown hair, about halfway down the neck in the back and the bangs sway to the left in the front, and his ears are always covered by his hair. He has ice blue eyes, and an impressive physique as well. He is 5'11" and quite thin and weighs 178. He is very reserved and normally walks looking straight ahead or with his head angled towards the ground with his hands in his large, slightly baggy, dark blue jeans. He normally sports a dark gray muscle shirt/tank top while walking around. Pfeif also possesses a decent tan, as he is generally outside. He does have a smile, but it is rarely seen.

Battle Appearance: Pfeif really doesn't change that much. Although he does wear his glasses, that are vital to matches providing him with vital info and provides a meaning of communication to teamates. And his posture as he stands in a slight crouch position as to be ready to act quickly. With his partner being a shellos, he generally runs with shellos on his shoulder or slides along side shellos after a mud bomb attack is used to coat the floor in mud.

Personality: He is generally very quiet, and not the most trusting person. He is very complacent and follows orders with little or no problems. Despite this he is a very competent leader, thinking every idea and strategy through to the best of his ability. Combined with being quiet, he is self-sufficient and unknowingly pushes people away that offer help, making him more isolated. Pfeif feels that before others accept him he has to prove himself to them by doing something completely stunning or amazing. However, in the heat of battle, his personality seemingly is completely opposite if just for a short time, he becomes rash and rushes into things before thinking them through, thus causing major problems.

History: Back on Earth, Pfeif was a decent sports player, but his real talent was in pokemon battling. In his small town located near the town of Azalea, he was one of the top battlers and highly esteemed people of his town at age 12. He made several trips to Azalea for tournaments, and was always in the semifinals despite his age at the time. He encountered his first pokemon at age nine in the woods surrounding his pasteur. One day one of his family's ponyta's wandered off, and he was in charge of finding it. His father gave him a great ball as to catch any threatening wild pokemon, and shortly after finding the ponyta saw an injured shellos and caught it to nurse it back to health then raise it. Later, for no reason his family was required to move to Vermillion, where he quickly became the person he is. The big city made him feel so powerless and insignificant that he began becoming more and more quiet and self dependent.

Team: Blue

Pokémon Partner: Shellos, Quiet, male

Other Things To Know: Has a terrible fear of the dark

 

[JX Valentine]

OOC:

altaria221: As a note, we're now taking SUs over in the OOC thread. I didn't really note it on the first post, so it's more my bad.

Still, before I can approve this, just a few things:

1. Nitpick: He found a Shellos near Azalea? O_o

2. Either way, I'll have to get an RP sample. Just a short bit of writing so I can see how you'll fare as one of the players around here.

General public: Really awesome game playing, guys. You really get the idea that this part is heavily player-on-player contact (only, uh, not in the dirty sense), so all I have to do is RP the occasional NPC. In the meantime, there's a few interactions needed around here, so I won't be replying to everyone. However, when you guys get closer to solving the puzzles/beating the crap out of each other, I'll duck in and help the plot along. Keep up the good work!

---

IC:

The bubbles around the Blue Team popped as soon as they were struck, and the Pokémon within the shield struggled to reproduce it. However, even then, they knew they were far too slow to keep up with Pocky's rain of pins. When the entire shield was depleted and the three members were left vulnerable, it was the corphish who floated in the way of the rest of the hit to protect its team. However, as soon as it did, the strike propelled it backwards, past the three humans and towards the far wall at an angle. It wasn't exactly out of commission, but it certainly wasn't going to be a help anytime soon. The corphish's trainer gasped and hovered where she was, unable to decide whether to dive after her pokémon or keep going.

In the meantime, the poliwag turned towards Pocky. It inhaled a deep breath, and in the next moment, it exhaled a storm of bubbles headed the nidoran's way. The piplup and its trainer continued onward, only to be met by half the Pink Team. It was, therefore, down to Poliwag, its trainer, Pocky, and Majella now.

The poliwag trainer grinned. "Keep it up, Poliwag! Stall them as long as you can!"

At the same time, Black Team readied themselves with two of its members taking up posts as guards of the box just as Orange Team made their move. Literally. The Hyper Beam shot by the larvitar hit its mark dead on, in part because not many people were exactly willing to get in the way of a Hyper Beam and certainly not the two nameless guards who just took up posts beside their base. Shock waves rippled off the surface of the black orb, pushing the Black Team's guard backwards a short distance. One of them sent out a stunky and quickly flicked through battle strategies.

Lance had turned to his captain and asked a question. Alexis couldn't help but smile in response.

"Mein gott!" she said. "Now, fire at these flies around this orb while I get it unlocked."

One of the Black Team guards frowned. "You're not getting any closer! Stunky, use Night Slash!"

In response, Alexis shrugged. "Sandshrew, use Swift." Then, looking towards Lance, she added, "And you keep an eye out."

With that, she pointed herself downward, just as her partner curled into a ball and began to spin. Stars of white energy rained out of his body in every direction, and Alexis pointed her feet towards the mouse to use the force of the stream to propel her to the orb while the rest of the attack struck the skunk. As she reached out to brush the orb's smooth surface with a hand, the second guard released a murkrow.