fragments of alarayne

[sprink7]

Neru packed up his computer and left the room. Hmm... wonder what I should bring... Neru went through his checklist quickly. Laptop, charger, six Pokemon, pass codes for nearly every computer system known by man, a lighter, about thirty computer chips and customized equipment. Three small rocks of various gem types simply because I think they're pretty. Explosive materials for the destruction of rock. Explosive materials for the destruction of vegetation. Explosive materials for destruction of buildings. Explosive materials for the destruction of nothing. Explosive materials for the destruction of people and Pokemon. Hmmm... I think I am going to leave the stuff for destroying people. It's not nearly as entertaining as watching the pretty fire of vegetation burn.

Now what do I want for clothes...I guess I will go casual. Rocket stuff is a little over the top for covert ops. Neru packed his knapsack. It all fit quite nicely. Of course the laptop went in its case, and the explosives would not mix. The clothes would remain unspoiled. He also grabbed a first aid kit. He couldn't use anything in it to save his life, but he might be near someone who could. Good enough reason for him. He glanced at the clock. 8:45. Neru dashed to the door, only to realize he had forgotton to change out his lining. He would be going everywhere and he needed his liner that kept hot things hot and cold things cold. It took him another five minutes to switch clothes and an additional ten to get re-packed. He ran out of the room.

On the way he realized he had no clue where Falyn had gone. As he was realizing this a door on his left opened and a small furry bear emerged. Neru was just comprehending this when he tripped on her. He fell flat on his face, leaving him with a nose bleed. He stood up and found the mischievous teddiursa on the ground. She stood up and screamed. He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and began running again, one hand on his nose, the other holding Falyn. She screamed the whole way, making a ruckus. Damned teddy bear, he thought, holding onto her even tighter. It's a good thing you can steal things or you wouldn't be here.

Neru arrived at the ground tram with a few minutes to spare, it was 9:23. He went over to the other gems and sat down to take a rest, letting Falyn loose. She found him a kleenex, then slapped him and chewed on his fingers. He grinned at her. "At least I didn't leave you here. Now we get to travel. And you get to steal almost anything you want, as long as you get the things I need you to get," he told her, picking up the demon and setting her on his shoulder. She leaned on his head and smelled him, then promptly fell asleep, using his hair as a pillow. Neru chuckled.

 

[Kogenta]

[OOC: I apologize for the late post.]

Aidan leaned back in his seat and listened to Kain's rather dramatic response to the questions that had been asked, raising an eyebrow each time the doctor cringed. Well now, what's this? At Dr. Romano's final exclamation of pain, Aidan half-stood, leaning forward on the table as he adopted an expression of concerned confusion. Meanwhile, his mind worked quickly, searching the man's face as well as Mika's as she approached him. Though the Emerald seemed to be attending to the suffering Kain with the utmost compassion, Aidan was no stranger to acting. After all, he had made a career of it--and something, though he knew not what precisely, was bothering the team's soon-to-be leader.

For a few more seconds, Aidan studied Mika's facial and body expressions, searching for clues as to her true state. The curious concern was still on the youth's face as he sat back to process what he had seen and heard from the meeting--both what had been given and what the azure-eyed boy had taken for himself. Upon the dismissal of the group, Aidan nonchalantly stood and began flipping his juice bottle in one hand. With his free hand, he made a brushing motion that might be considered a goodbye wave, then strolled out of the room without a word.

During the elevator ride to the floor on which his room was located, Aidan finished his drink, dropping the bottle into the nearest garbage can as he made his way down the hall to his living quarters. Four months, huh? Long job . . . long time to keep my guard up. But so is a lifetime. He unlocked his door and entered his room.

One of the disadvantages of insomnia is that it lets you become familiar with your surroundings to the point of being disgusted with them--a sentiment Aidan often felt toward his room now. One if the advantages of insomnia is the extra time it provides. And with that extra time the past few nights, Aidan had finished packing. Before he had been a member of Team Rocket, he had been a lone trainer with no form of home base. Consequently, he knew how to travel efficiently. As he made a last glance around his room, Aidan's fingers brushed over the tops of the Pokeballs on his belt, and he made a quick count. One, two, three, four . . . All there. He sighed. Too much counting today. The Garnet slung his prepared backpack over one shoulder and was almost out the door when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. For some reason he found himself pausing, and after a moment he turned to more fully view himself. It seems so funny . . . All of us running around playing this little power game like we're so important. He hefted his bag and exited the room, locking the door behind him. And I'm playing, too.

As the elevator traveled to the train platform floor, Aidan leaned back and closed his eyes, losing himself in his thoughts and the blaring music. Then, on a sudden whim, he hit a new button to send the elevator to a different floor. Speaking of sanity-killing sounds, I think one of my Pokemon might want a chance to get out of the box for a bit.

---------------
Several minutes later . . .

Looking at his watch, Aidan walked briskly toward the station platform at which the Gems had been directed to meet. While he was fairly certain he would not be late, he was already later than he had planned to be. As he drew near his destination, the trainer slowed to a more casual pace and allowed himself to look around and note who had arrived before him. "Hey," he greeted everyone. "Fancy meeting you here." Aidan found an empty bench, shrugged his backpack to the floor, seated himself, and settled back to wait.

 

[luke]

"Dear God sir! What happened to this guy? I've never--" one Grunt said, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Is he alive!? And since when does bruising turn that color?" The other Grunt said, her hand covering her mouth. Mr. Psychic was laying unconscious on the floor, his hands bound by handcuffs and his mouth gagged. He was surrounded by numerous melted candles, a broken chair leg, and acid burns in the carpet. Mr. Psychic was still conscious. He wasn't moving, but he was slightly groaning in agony.

Bristol looked up from his newspaper at the two grunts and said, "You two need not worry about what happened. Let's just leave it at the fact I told you to come and bring him back to HQ. Dr. Romano wishes to have a very personal 'discussion' with this man and he'd like to have it immediately. Mr. Psychic is definitely a G-Men operative, so don't treat him like precious cargo. Now go. I have other places to be." The two grunts nodded and walked into the room. They grabbed him by his arms roughly and lifted him in the air. He groaned in pain as they dragged him out of the house. The door slammed behind them, leaving Bristol alone for a second.

He sighed and stood from his chair, placing the coffee mug on the table. This house seems so eeriely familiar. I've never been here before, but... Bristol looked at his watch, which said 9:03 AM.

"I still have a little time," Bristol said as he made his way into the living room. Besides the obvious damage, Mr. Psychic did a pretty good job keeping this place up. Bristol felt a little guilty now though. His emotions had gotten the best of him and he let his Pokemon wreak some major havoc. Several paintings on the wall were damaged by Victreebel's acid and the grand piano in the corner was missing two of its legs.

Bristol ran his hand along the mantle over the fireplace. Pictures were scattered everywhere, each featuring Mr. Psychic standing next to numerous prominent figures in the Pokemon world. Ranging from the president of the Kanto Pokemon League to Bill, the man who created the Pokemon storage unit to Gio, the Viri...

"What?" Bristol murmured, quickly grabbing the photo from the mantle. "What's going on in this picture...?" In the picture, Mr. Psychic was standing next to Giovanni, who was holding a small baby. They were in a forest of some sort, next to a small pool of water. Bristol quickly ripped apart the frame and took out of the picture. On the back in chicken scratch-like handwriting it said "Giovanni and I with our child."

Their... child? That doesn't make sense... He flipped the picture back around and looked at it again. The child looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't put a name to it. It wasn't Giovanni's red maned son Silver as the picture looked too recent to be of the boy as a child. I'll have to ask Giovanni about this the next time I see him. Folding the picture up gently, he opened his brief case and slid it into one of the pockets. Glancing at his watch, he noticed the time now said 9:16.

"Time to head to the station. That Parse woman... I don't feel like dealing with her shenanigans again," Bristol said as he stood up. He walked to the door of the house and opened it. He walked outside and looked to the west, where the train station was situated. "Luckily, it's only a few minutes walk from here."

Bristol quickly arrived at the station and rushed inside. He took a seat on the only empty bench left and looked around. He didn't really know any of the other Gems. They were all so foreign to him. The only thing he had were there thoughts. They were flooding him right now. Bristol felt no need to try to make sense of them though. They were merely background music to the main show: breaking the seals and unleashing the power held within them. While he hoped to save the planet, he hoped to harness the power released and amplify his psychic powers significantly. He could care less about controlling the Legendary Pokemon or whatever they were.

All that mattered now was his Pokemon, his powers, and fulfilling his duties as a Gem.

 

[Mika]

She was about to reply to Khael when her phone went off. Annoyed, she waved him off for a moment, sitting down, the pokegear around her neck still ringing painfully loud. Noticing the number, she let out a sigh and pulled it up to here, "Yeah? .... I guessed as much, seeing as she's not here." Rubbing her forehead, she leaned back in the chair, resting her head in an upside down position on the back of the chair itself, her hand reaching up towards the electric lights above her head, "Yeah yeah... she'll be at the saffron station? I guess it can't be helped. Thanks." Sighing, she ended the call with a click and as she bent down and picked up her bag, she motioned for Khael to follow her as she wandered over to the rest of the group, standing firmly infront of parse, slamming her bag down on the ground by her feet, "Sapphire decided to go to Celadon City to buy a few items without getting clearence. She's meeting us at Saffron." There was a hint of annoyance in her voice, "Feel free to hurt her as much as you like, mmkay?" Groaning thanks to the light headache her idiotic team member had just given her, she looked across the dark tracks for something to hurt badly and let out a sigh of relief, her mood improving slightly when the train screeched down the track and pulled in before the Gems, "About freakin' time..." she mumbled, pushing a lock of hair form her eyes, "Let's go, all of you!" Crossing her arms across her chest once she'd picked up her bag for the third time, she slipped through the glass doors, sitting by the window, crossing her legs appropriately as she watched the others get on.

Pulling her pokegear out into her line of sight, she pressed a few buttons, scrolling around before she pressed a number and lifted it to her ear, "...Yeah, I'd like to order a pizza?" Smirking, she held the phone slightly away from her ear so as not to hear the stifflingly loud complaints of the male on the other end. Once the level had died down, she returned the phone to its proper phone usage point, "Heh heh... Sorry Ge-no-chan~ I just needed a pick me up....yes, yes I do use your angry rantings to make my mood improve... yeah, you're meeting us at the station with the Silph Co Products, right? ...good. We'll be there in about 30. Go ahead and wait at the train station, if you see Sapphire, Gale is her street name, go ahead and scare the living crap out of her. Yeah... I thought you'd like that. Anywho, I'll lose my reception in about a minute so I'll let you go. We'll be there in about 15, 20 mins, alright?"

Yawning, she stretched out across her chair and the one to its left before settling down. It was a short train ride and once they exited the hidden passage it'd be full of sunshine. Glorious sunshine.

---

Mess with the girl? Oh Mika was giving him a chance to be entertained. The mid back length black haired male couldn't help a smile as he gazed at himself in the mirror while washing his hands in an ivory sink. It was just too enjoyable to torment little Rockets. Mika had mentioned something about an obnoxious second in command, bloody pizza code, so he was certain he wouldn't be the last to dig into her but it was still enjoyable. He sighed, looking across his hotel room at the uniform laying on the bed. It was a shame he couldn't wear it but when the leader of one's organization tells a peon, even if the peon is a gem-level executive, to go and work at the company in Saffron, that peon does as he or she is told. And he didn't mind the suit. Black dress pants, tailored to fit perfectly thus rendering the purple belt and the four pokeballs attached to it rather for show, and a form fitting black t-shirt with the Silph Logo on the left hand side all under an ankle length purple trenchcoat… it was just enjoyable to wear. As he slipped a black key-shaped necklace around his neck, he couldn't help a self satisfying smirk. People knew, especially with his hair tied in a low ponytail, him to be an executive of the Silph Corporation but a select few knew him as Raven Zion, a Gem of the Rockets when he wasn't playing business with the big boys. With four rings, two black, two silver on either hand, he leaned down, tying his black shoes tightly and picking up his silver briefcase, and left, his golden eyes blinking as he turned off the lights only to discover that, in doing so, he'd blown a fuse. Bloody idiotic electricians…

Grumbling, he wandered to the glass elevator and rode it to the bottom floor, ignoring the maids as they bowed, an echoed proper Good Morning Mr Zion escaping their lips as he was escorted out of the magnificent 5 Star hotel in the middle of Saffron. Stepping onto the streets that, when the sun was this horrifically bright, shimmered as though they were made of gold, he walked briskly towards the Magnet Train Station, ignoring the gossip of school girls as they toddled to class, their pokemon skittering behind him. Schoolgirls, fanboys and fangirls…. The three most diabolical forms of humankind. He couldn't stand their giggles and their begging for his autograph…these weren't humans, they were animals. Grunting at them and glaring as dastardly as he could, they screamed lightly and ran away, giggling happily to themselves. Snorting, he continued towards the station, ignoring the pathetic excuse for humanity that had just crossed his path. Stepping into the station however, it soon became clear who this Sapphire was. The little nervous looking girl sitting somewhat by herself and looking supiciously supicious…. Argh, young gems annoyed him. However, that would not break his chance at fun. Crossing over, he stood directly infront of her, his cool gaze on the other for several minutes. It was a cross between a suppressive stare and a death glare, either of which from him would make a grunt wet themselves, but she was experienced enough to not have that problem. Or so he hoped. Continuing to stare for a few more minutes, he finally spoke, his voice cold and collected, "You've been a bad, bad dog, running away from your master without permission."

 

[Eucliffe]

Sitting around, staring into the air above, Gale pondered what she was to do next. She could've sworn she had heard someone talking to her, but thought it could've been something else. After all, a "dog"? There was no way she'd ever be a dog. I mean, sure, what I did was hopelessly absent-minded, but they don't have to be mean about it... she angrily thought.

Looking down from the sky, she noticed the man with the four rings. Gale could've sworn she might had seen this black-haired man before, but wasn't exactly sure. It could've just been a different person that she passed on her small trip. She noticed his cold glare boring into her skin, but she sighed. Any Rocket "peon" of any age would piss all over their outfit. Thankfully, I'm not one of those kinds of people... She glanced at the man some more, and wondered why he looked at her with such an expression. It seemed kind of...sad, like he wanted to be somewhere else instead. Perhaps her earlier idiocy was what made the others decide to get him to go after her. Probably that darn Emerald. Stupid "senpais", I may be young, and what I did may have been immature, but that doesn't mean I should be treated like a child all the time. Looking angrily at the man with an equal cold stare, Gale decided there was no more time.

"So, come to fetch me, eh? I'm surprised they remembered my existence," she said in a stern voice. "They'll probably punish me later, not that it concerns me. But I bet you're annoyed that you had to pick up a 'puppy' like myself, no? All I wished to do was run a simple errand, even though that will probably never fly." She extended her arm out and made an up-and-down motion. "Now, now, go away, you should probably continue with what you're doing. After all, I don't need to be bothered by a panther like yourself, no matter how much older you are than me." Her shyness was overwhelmed by her stubbornness, as it seemed to be on most occasions. She figured she was probably making the man more angry, especially since he had most likely come to all the trouble just to track her down. She took out a silver washer, attached to a piece of thread. "Well, if they have come to pick me up, they'll probably call me an annoyance for leaving them, and for talking to you like this. But that's my thing. My sometimes annoying demeanor bothers the heck out of most people older than myself, but that's my strategy. Amethyst may be the Tactician in the Gems, but I myself have a couple skills a successful tactician needs, though Amethyst outdoes me in most cases. So, while I'm probably supposed to wait (and forgive me for talking so much, you seem to be a bit more furious; try and lay a hand on me and I could shout 'molester'), I shall be swinging this pendulum back and forth." One of her favorite methods of psychology and fortune telling, hypnotism didn't work like you'd see in the movies, but it moved in certain formations, based on the questions you asked, and based on what your self-conscious answered. Gale could ask herself if she hated the color pink, and the pendulum would move left-to-right, indicating "no". Up-and-down was "yes"; a clockwise motion meant "I don't know" and a counterclockwise motion meant "I can't answer this". An interesting thing, hypnotism...

(Honestly trying not to bash the other characters; Gale's stubbornness just makes her say these things sometime O.o I read the whole post, and even looked back to it while typing this up. So I hope I got everything this time...)

 

[Alter Ego]

"I shall aspire to motivate." Parse replied neutrally, resisting the urge to give a 'told you so' as she jotted down a highly disapproving note next to 'Sapphire' on her list, calmly rising up from her seat, luggage in tow. She had expected as much from her experiences of the meeting. Groups of people were very much like little packs of Poochyena, banding together out of weakness and cowardice but still insisting that they had the fundamental and irremovable right to do as they pleased. This was particularly true for people who thought they were something very special indeed like the gems did. The only way to control them and keep their little snouts pointed towards the same goal was firm and constant discipline, an understanding that there was only one will to be heeded in the group and that it was most certainly not theirs. Mika had slacked right from the get-go, and her pack had reacted immediately. And now...the Amethyst suppressed a tired sigh as she took her seat, immersing herself in her note block, now she would have to clear the mess her juvenile 'superior' had made of it. But then, she conceded, that was what she had been to this organization in the first place; a big bad biatch to keep their little mutts in check. And she was good at what she did.

"What of Opal and Diamond?" she inquired casually, eyes not leaving the note block, "They also failed to arrive at the rendezvous point and I don't recall any excuse for their absence. Are they to be considered AWOL or has there been a change of plans?"

At the back of her mind, she couldn't help hoping for the latter. In this team of theirs, there were plenty she couldn't think of as anything but needless distractions and dead weight, and the pint-sized little bundle of joy and her hapless keeper were certainly at the top of that list. Children...whoever thought of letting little children into a mission like this in the first place? She had long marveled at the results the G-men had managed to produce, in spite of all the incompetence and needless sentimentality within their system, but the more she discovered about the Rocket organization, the less reason she found to be impressed by either of her current employers.

'Idiots...' she couldn't help thinking, softly shaking her head in thought, '...I'm surrounded by idiots.'

 

[Kogenta]

The eyebrows on Aidan's face faintly lifted as the Emerald announced that Sapphire had decided to embark on a personal excursion and would not be joining the team until the group arrived at Saffron. So much trouble early on . . . I didn't exactly expect everything to be smooth sailing, and I know the Gems are probably used to operating independently. But I sort of thought we'd be a little more professional--or at least not so close to open rebellion. With a resigned sigh and a shrug of his shoulders, Aidan commented, "Nothing to do about it now, I guess. At least we're not in a tight spot right now or something." As the too long-awaited train rumbled down the tracks toward the platform, one of the boy's eyebrows furrowed in either interest, amusement, or some combination of the two as he noted the tension with which Parse was writing. This must be driving Amethyst crazy . . . Heh. I guess even this little radar blip wasn't all bad.

The train ground to a stop. Adopting an appropriately uninterested expression, Aidan raised his arms and stretched a little. Then in a single movement he stood, picked up his backpack, and brought one of its straps to rest on his shoulder. Following Mysterica's lead, Aidan boarded the train. The Garnet found an empty seat near the front of the car and slid into it while simultaneously re-shedding his pack. Following an inquiry by the Amethyst and a relatively interesting call made by the Emerald, Aidan turned in his seat and rested one arm on its back.

"By the way, all," the Garnet addressed those present. "I figure that this is as good a time as any to introduce myself as Aidan. A formality, I'm sure, since everyone probably knows that by now. All things considered, though, it might not be too early to start getting used to the name, if you get my meaning."

 

[Marsy]

Sapphire had gone out on her own? Khael felt like face palming at the news. The mission had just been announced and already someone was going against orders. It was true they had nver really had to work as a team before...but had some of them already forgotten all the procedures and rules taught to them as Grunts in basic and field training? Who here is actually serious about this mission and who is just here because we have to? Khael wondered to himself. It seems like this is just something getting in the way of their previous freedom to do whatever they pleased. Not something their rank obligates them to do. I mean, if you weren't willing to do the work you shouldn't have accepted the promotion. He was obviously a little annoyed, but he still managed to realize just how stupid what he thought was. Many of the people in Rocket weren't in it for the honor or recognition. They wanted power and money and access to all of the forbidden toys and rare Pokemon. It was a pay check for doing something that couldn't be done anywhere else. Take Seras, who would pay her as much as she gets for selling Pokemon on the black market besides Team Rocket?

Deciding not to about it any more for now, Khael boarded the train just as Aiden was giving his mini speech. "Aiden has a good point, we don't exactly want to go around all the world calling each other by our Gems. You never know who's listening." Sitting in a seat across from Mysterica, as he knew Kisa might try and go over there to play, Khael set the sling bag on the seat next to him and stuffed his luggage up top and out of the way. "And for all of you who don't know, my name is Khael." He bowed his head slightly before taking his seat again where Kisa promptly crawled into his lap where the sun was shining and now warming her. She gurgled happily. "Sleep tight my sleepy Skitty." Khael mused quietly to her. She was in a phase where she enjoyed mimicking people and other Pokemon and if he had to guess, she was a Skitty laying in the sun right now.

Khael looked out towards the aisle again as if expecting someone else to say something. He noted Parse's fervored notes in her note block, getting a slight kick from the fact she was so disgruntled over Sapphire's absence. Oh Lugia would she be fun to mess with on this trip...

 

[Mika]

Mika payed no attention to what was going on in the room for as long as she could but when Parse directly addressed her, for what it was worth anyways, she couldn't sit by any longer and pretend that the rest of the little gamble of squabbling toddlers didn't exist. Tilting her head back, she rubbed her eyes slowly before letting her hands fall with a flop to the chair. Inwardly grimacing, she turned towards the gamble, cleared her throat as she stood up and lifted a finger towards Aidan, "He's right. From now on, address everyone with their proper english name. People know who the gems are, that's thanks to propoganda put out by the Pokemon GMen, and we don't want the public to panic at the sheer site of us or at least the mission requires such." Shaking her head, she placed the back of her right hand on her hip and poked at her forehead, "I know some of you enjoy people being afraid of us but the point is to blend. You're all gems which means if you get captured you go directly to the hidden base under the Pokemon League Stadium and you do not want to go there." Her hand dropped, swinging weakly, her gaze stronger than before, "Trust me on that one. Now, you can call me Mika or Mysterica if you feel you must be proper but to be honest, I don't see myself as some sort of all powerful leader. I can't do these on my own and neither could any of you." An eerily cheery grin spread across her face, "As for Opie and Dia, Sonee's grandfather has fallen rather ill and she is the only one who can tend to him not to mention Opie is packaged together with Sonee. She may be young but that little girl is a former Elite Pokemon Ranger. She's more powerful than you'd think. Regardless, if he recovers, they'l join us later." Sitting back down, she crossed her legs and went back to her book, looking over at the sleeping Togepi for a moment before she let out a heavy sigh and fished out her pokegear, staring at it for a moment before she let it fall and flicked a page, Might as well get this chapter done before we hit station.

---

Raven couldn't help a smirk. Oh he loved little stubborn children. They were so much fun to play with. She thought he was furious. Oh quite the opposite. He was amused. And amusement was much more entertaining than anything else for him. Turning his back, he placed the briefcase in his hands onto the chair for a moment, all but ignoring her little rant about a pendelum as he fished around for the item that would make this game oh so much more amusing. Mika had asked him to equip the girl with a similar item but after hearing her declare such boisterous independance, well, he couldn't help but want to have a little bit of harmless innocent fun until it was snuffed out. Such independance had its place in society but in the world of the Rockets or any organized system for that matter, it could get people killed. His smirk dissolving, he pulled the small and thin black bracelet and matching choker, which he had to admit wasn't bad looking with the blue pendelum shaped crystal hanging from it and he had Sonee to thank for that because he knew that men in his line of work had no sense of what looks good on a woman and yet holds the electronic capabilities he needed, and, hiding them in his arm, he turned towards Gale with a giddy slightly over the top smile, the items completely hidden from her line of sight whatsoever, "Well you seem to have me pegged and you certainly seem to be rather full of yourself but I'm afraid, you silly little girl, you forgot one very important thing." He leaned foward, his hand grasping her right wrist tightly, his lips settling just to the side of her ear, his breath close but there was no actual physical lips to ear contact, "You're dealing with the Rockets." In a quick unavoidable movement, he snapped the choker around her neck, pressing his finger against the fastening device, a small seal glowing under the pad of his hand as he pulled away, slipping the braclet onto her wrist as he did so, his gaze dark and any sign of happiness gone from his entire body.

"Only Mika or myself can remove those bands from you and until we do, every Rocket member alive will know you pissed me off." He tilted his head to the side, smirking softly, "Don't worry, they won't inhibit your abilities or anything but they do contain a locator device, incase you think it would be fun to run off on your own again, and the sapphire pendant is pure gemstone quality so it won't be unattractive to the public eye. Be a good little pet and stay with your team and the collar and bracelet will come off before your first little segment in this little mission is complete, okay? Hopefully this little lesson won't be too painful for you but I hope you're realized, little girl, that you are no longer the sole person responsible for your wellbeing. You had Mysterica quite worried and that is something I will not tolerate under any circumstances." Waving, he turned, exiting the building before his temper boiled over. Slamming his fist against the wall and leaving a rather nice sized dent, he couldn't help a low growl. Such absolute insubordination and defiance... this was turning into a sick version of that place and he knew, he knew she couldn't handle a repeat of that. His gaze yellow and blazing, he couldn't help one last glance from the window before walking forcefully towards the Silph Co building, mumbling to himself, "If any of them turn out that that witch I'll kill them myself. I'll kill them myself."

[:3 sorry for the delay, I had limited internat at my gma's]

 

[Eucliffe]

Gale winced when the man had whispered in her ear with his warm, moist breath. By the time she had stopped wincing, it was too late. The choker was around her neck and the bracelet on her left wrist. Though it didn't seem like a bad thing. Both were very fashionable, and Gale could use the jewel from the choker to pick at plastic with its sharp points if she couldn't do it with her teeth. Gale then stopped fantasizing about the possibilities when she heard the man speak again.

He spoke to her in what seemed to be a gruff voice. He told her that every Rocket would know she had pissed him off, and that a tracking device was embedded within the jewelry. He also mentioned something about him or Mika being able to take both off. Not wanting to say she actually liked the accessories (she wanted them, just without the tracking device), Gale kept her mouth shut and continued listening to the man. He said something about her being a "little girl" which annoyed her, but she knew if she said even one word about it, the man would probably lecture her some more, and she wasn't in the mood for that. She continued listening; he said something about a "Mysterica" being very worried and that he didn't tolerate it. Finally, he got up and walked away, leaving Gale on her own.

"So, the thing's in Viridian, I believe? Now, what should I do?" Gale pondered out loud. She tried to recall if the man had given her any specific instructions on what to do. She didn't know if his waving at her (or so she thought) meant for her to follow him, or if he were just saying "goodbye". Gale was never one to judge seemingly strict people, especially a big man like him.

"Heh, they're all mad at me, I bet. This'll probably go down in the records, if there are any," Gale muttered looking towards the floor. It had been a while since she had done something like this. At some point she had joined a pharmacy in Goldenrod's underground-like area just to gain some money, but once she had gone off on her own, and it had cost her. No one could ever really trust her, so Gale thought she would've been used to it by now. But being in such a high rank of the Rockets, though not the best, you wouldn't have expected it from her now. Sighing, she began nodding off to sleep. She would every minute flick herself to stay awake, but didn't know how much longer she could do so.

(Yeah... I didn't know if by waving he wanted Gale to follow or what, and if she was to stay in Saffron or report to Viridian (it was Viridian, right?). It wasn't exactly clear to me ><')

 

[Phanima]

Ignoring the tactician's subdued notion, Seras proceeded to await the arrival of their transport, only to see Emerald then relieving herself from the platform seat and into the confines of the arrived train's, the tactician, illusionist and hot shot soon following after. Praising the overdue arrival, the hunter secured her belongings and stepped off the platform before taking a seat of her own in the opposing end of the carriage. Despite the brief relief, her mood had not changed. They were all still kids and she wanted nothing to do with them. Diamond and Opal's absence only supported her conclusion. Besides, their mission was simple enough to accomplish even for a lone gem, so she felt no need to cooperate with the others in any way. That was the case until Emerald's announcement.

If she couldn't handle the burden herself, relating to the rest of them as of equal calibre was a serious mistake. Sure, she acknowledged them for their specialties' prowess but she still deemed the lot of them incompetent, especially in behaviour, although admittedly, her cold indifference could also be seen in the same light. However, there was now some reasoning behind Diamond and Opal's current absence, whatever excuse Seras had been expecting having otherwise been chewed up and served alongside their respective pokemon.

That said, another matter came to light.

It appeared their current aliases were to expose their identity, especially those on the lookout for and in pursuit of the collected jewels. In all her years of Rocket-ing and having ascended to the pinnacle of hired status, not once had she addressed another by their given and inherited names. Not even the big man himself, although much more flattering titles had been employed instead. Regardless, it appeared she had little choice in the matter but she'd be damned to a ghastly's grave before she acknowledged another's true name. Fortunately, talking wasn't one of her favoured pastimes and she resolved to get through the mission with as little conversation as possible.

As the transport dove into light from the facilities' underground railway, the pokemon hunter simply remained sitting in silence, feeling the warmth of the morning wash over.

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: 'Kay, Mika told me to go ahead and have the train arrive so that is what I have done. All technical details confirmed from the official source. :3

IC:

"I never implied otherwise." Parse replied in her most carefully neutral tone as their leader - for reasons she could only imagine, though it was probably misguided maternal drive - went out of her way to defend the weakest links in their little gem chain. Seeing no reason to take the conversation further than that, she simply added a note on the matter next to both the gems' names, joining into the introductions once she was satisfied with her effort, "My street name is Parse, in case some of you failed to catch it during the meeting. Five letters, no complicated syllables, you've been managing 'Amethyst' so I am sure you will have no trouble remembering or using this one."

And with that, she considered her part in the conversation done, immersing herself in her notes once more.

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​

The remainder of the journey was thankfully uneventful, no small feat given their little ensemble, and so the Amethyst was in a slightly better mood when the train eventually came to a halt at Saffron City station. This improvement in her mood did not make its presence made in her tone, however.

"Alright, listen up." the tactician, first person on her feet at the arrival, announced, "We are disembarking and switching trains to the Goldenrod express, platform G2. All of you scatter and make your way there independently. The time is now," she glanced at her watch, "10:30. The Goldenrod express will be departing at 11:00, so I will be expecting to see you all on site at 10:45, latest. Until departure, you are not to act as if you were a group under any circumstances. Do not interact, do not huddle together, and do not socialize. To anyone outside of our happy little family you must appear as complete strangers to each other." she hoisted her packing onto her back, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little runaway rocket to deal with. But remember," she cast a last, sweeping glance across the assembled gems, "10.45."

And with that, Parse strode off, disappearing into the crowd, notes still in front of her as she navigated the quickest possible path for herself to the platform, cycling through various potential punishments in her mind, including ones for the eventuality that the Sapphire wouldn't be there. The sight that met her at said platform was one that left her wondering whether she should have been pleased or pissed. Gale was there as ordered, but the way she had been accessorized made Parse want to inflict physical pain on someone. A collar with a blue crystal on it, was there any more obvious way of spelling out 'hey, Sapphire of the Rocket Gems here!' to the world? She knew well who in the organization favored this particular brand of punishment, and it did little to improve her mood. Their juvenile leader was reckless enough on her own without her ridiculously obsessive manslave drawing even more unwanted attention to the group.

Pushing the thought of this particular idiot out of her mind for the time being, the Amethyst snuck up on the idiot at hand instead, the latter apparently immersed in talking to herself.

"Gale, is it?" the tactician's tone betrayed nothing but glacial politeness as she clamped a rough hand on her junior gem's shoulder and forced the other's gaze to meet hers, "Did you have fun shopping?"

 

[Eucliffe]

It seemed like an eternity since that man had left Gale sitting, waiting patiently in her spot as she possibly awaited certain doom. In her mind, she was thinking up ways of apologizing. She knew apologizing like a cute girly-girl would probably get herself killed, as with rudely apologizing. Gale never was one to apologize; she was too stubborn to do such a thing. She even LIKED the accessories given to her. Even if it meant that everyone would still think she was in trouble, she didn't care. But, she wanted the tracking device out so she could have freedom. And the only way to do that was to apologize in a certain manner that she'd be given that privilege.

Her thoughts abruptly came to a halt when she heard someone say her name. The next second, she felt a strong hand touch her shoulder. She didn't want to turn, in fear the person might punch her. She heard the person, a girl, Gale assumed, ask how her shopping went. A fearful gaze spread on her face, and she slowly turned to look into the eyes of the Amethyst.

Those eyes, how they pierced right through her skin! Whether the Amethyst spoke to her in a polite tone, Gale knew her senior was annoyed with her, and continued to stay still as stone for a few moments. At last, she built up the courage to smile casually.

"Yes, my name is Gale. And... What was your name again? I forgot," she said, an awkward smile replacing the one she had on a couple seconds ago. She turned around, and continued. "Forgive me, but I'm not too good with names other than my own. And you've probably noticed the collar by now, have you not?" She paused a moment to sigh. "My shopping did go well; I only wanted a couple Fire Stones and was able to get them, so now my Vulpix and Growlithe are evolved. Their marks still remain, unfortunately, but at least I can distinguish them from others." Gently letting the Amethyst's hand drop as she got up slowly, Gale looked yonder into the sunlight.

"By the way," she continued on, "do we have another meeting coming up? If so, where do we have it? I really don't want to get lost again." It felt as though she was being watched by an omniscient force, though it was most likely the rest of the Rockets, if there was a hidden camera embedded in her accessories as well. Or maybe they put a microphone in it so they can hear everything she said out loud. Gale was somewhat known for talking to herself, especially when it came to fortune telling. That usually annoyed others, but Gale was able to block out their annoyed feelings for her. She sighed, took one look at her senior gem, then turned back, staring at the sunlight as if she were waiting for it to end.

 

[Alter Ego]

"Well, isn't that nice." it would have taken a true fool not to notice the killing intent behind Parse's continuously friendly manner as the Sapphire elaborated on her little excursion, clearly attempting to sweet-talk her way out of the mess. As if countless grunts hadn't tried the very same strategy before her, "The name is Parse, if you would be so kind as to remember it, and we don't have any formal meetings scheduled right now, but I do have a little special assignment for you."

At this point, the tactician opened up one of the many pockets at the side of her backpack, procurring one of the rocks she used to keep her knives sharp from within. It was fairly smooth and pleasant-looking, but the shape was rather uncomfortable, just a little bit too large and wrongly formed to fit the palm of one hand, yet awkwardly small for two, "For the purpose of this assignment, this is your fire stone." she informed the girl, duly pressing the rock into her hand, "You have disobeyed orders of the highest level and disrupted an important assignment to obtain it, so it is obviously of outmost importance and must be protected at all costs. Because of this, I am hereby assigning you the task to look after the fire stone. You must personally carry it with you at all times and never entrust it to the care of anybody else. At 11.00 and every half-hour thereafter until further notice, I will expect you to come to me, in person, to report that you still have the fire stone in your possession. Furthermore, I may ask you to show me the fire stone at any time and expect to see it within five seconds of asking when I do. And now, just to make sure that you are absolutely clear about how important this is," she leant in closer, lowering her voice a little, "If you mess any of this up. If you miss a single report even by a second, then Arceus help you you will find out precisely why they call this," she raised her noteblock demonstratively, "my 'deathnote'." pulling back from the junior gem, Parse reverted to back to her casual voice, "Oh, and you are on latrine duty for this month, by the way." she added off-handedly, "And despite the extremely important assignment you have just been given, I expect you to give your all with this task. Do I make myself clear?"

 

[Kogenta]

As the other Gems gave their input to the conversation, Aidan listened attentively, occasionally nodding in apparent understanding and interest. Once everyone had fallen quiet, the trainer faced back forward and made a mental review of everyone's names before realizing that Amber had not given her name. Come to think of it, I've never heard her use anyone else's real name either . . . Not that I've really interacted with her that much. Still, it's interesting. Even Parse found a nice, abrupt way to give her name. The Garnet considered glancing back at Seras, but decided not to give any indication he was giving the issue any further thought.

Aidan closed his eyes, settled back, and spent the rest of the trip mulling over the circumstances of Diamond and Opal's withdrawal from the mission as well as whatever personality traits he had been able to observe from his teammates. Once it began to stream through the windows, the sunlight was a comfortable change from the cold darkness of the train tunnel, but the male was careful to prevent himself from relaxing too much. He could act casual and unguarded if he wanted to, but he could not afford to let a moment of carelessness be taken advantage of by a foe . . . or ally.

After the train reached its destination, Aidan opened first one eye, then the other. Well that wasn't so bad. Reaching for his bag, he glanced back toward Parse as she began to speak. Once the Amethyst finished giving her directions, Aidan gave a half-nod--deciding he might as well start the "no talking to other Gems" policy now--donned his backpack, and vanished into the crowd that had started to assemble by the nearest exit.

Upon emerging onto the platform, Aidan swept his gaze briefly over the area before making his way to a nearby board upon which was printed a station map. His azure eyes--almost glowing in the sunlight--ticked from point to point on the image, flicked toward an electronic display of train departures and arrivals, and made a quick pass over the people nearby. Aidan tapped the shoulder of an elderly woman beside him. "Excuse me, ma'am. Do you know how to get to the platform for the next train to Celadon?"

The woman looked up. "Celadon?" She mused for awhile, peered at the board, and resumed pondering. After about half a minute her expression grew less intent, and eventually all signs of thought vanished from her face entirely.

"Ma'am?" Aidan gently prompted. Don't tell me she . . .

The lady turned back toward the boy. "Yes, young man? How may I help you?"

With a gentle laugh, Aidan asked, "Do you know how I can reach the platform for the next train to Celadon?"

"Why of course," the woman replied promptly. "Once you round that corner . . ." She pointed. "You should see a set of escalators. Go up one floor, take a left, and keep going. When you see the sign with the big blue "G" on it, you're there. Celadon trains always leave from the G platform."

"Thank you, ma'am." Aidan smiled. "Have a nice day." He turned and made his way toward the area the woman had indicated. As he walked, the boy avoided the brightest patches of sunlight, mostly favoring the partially shaded areas of the station. His shadow was not exactly a sun-loving creature. During the escalator ride to the next floor, the Garnet checked his watch. 10:36. I should be fine.

Since, at least for the moment, he supposedly had no form of association with the other Gems, Aidan did not bother to look for them on his way to the set of G platforms. As practiced as he was with controlling himself, he did not want to risk unconsciously betraying anything. Only once he arrived at G2 did the boy look around at the other people present. His manner was that of a lone traveler curious about the strangers about him. Looking up at the station clock, Aidan almost smiled. 10:41. Let's hope Parse's watch isn't five minutes fast.

 

[sprink7]

ooc: Forgot to get on train post, so I'm going to say I was bunnied, dropping my thought here now. If that isn't alright, by all means I will change and try not to do it again.



Rhinestone thought carefully throughout the trip over what Mika had said. Surely the others knew their names right? And of course the gems were feared widely. So where was the problem? We had better get smarter if we are not good enough by ourselves. Who knows what may happen. Any of us could get captured or killed, Rhinestone thought sourly. We need to work together, but we also need to be able to be independent. He was brought back to reality by Falyn waking up groggily. She fell off his shoulder and landed in his lap, looking up at him. She cocked her head at him lazily, winking, then looked out the window. Neru rolled his eyes and shifted his weight a bit in his chair.

Upon arrival at their destination, Neru put Falyn in his pack gently so she could sleep for a while longer. Lazy creature, he thought fondly. Neru took a few moments to get his bearings off the train. Why did I even bother memorizing the locations of everything interesting around Saffron? There isn't much here anyway, and the whole place is kinda lame. At least there is a computer store though. Neru walked out of the station and traveled to the computer store. He examined their most recent discoveries, laughing silently at their weak new technology that was really only a minor tweak in the chips. Pathetic. I was building better when I was seven. And that was with inferior materials. They should really get some people who don't suck at this.

Neru toyed with the idea of installing his new virus, but decided not to. I should probably ask Mika. She will know how to use it best. Rhinestone instead opened a drawing program on one of the computers in the area. He drew a quick picture of a Flareon fighting a Jolteon. The Flareon was in the background using Flamethrower on the Jolteon. The Jolteon, in the foreground, only partially dodged, getting hit by the attack on it's back two legs. The Jolteon was yelping, but also attempting a Thundershock on the stationary Flareon. When Neru finished, he made it the background on the computer. A second later a kid of around seven walked up to the computer. The kid stared at the background for a minute before saying, "Nice picture. I wonder where they got it." Neru laughed under his breath and left the computer to go look at software, the child left examining the violent picture. Again, there was nothing of importance. How long would it take them to find smart technicians? Any one of the Rocket technicians could best this programming in usability, or hacking it.

Neru silently stalked out of the "technology" store and went back to the train station. He arrived early enough that he had time to let Pig out for a while. He held his furry friend and fed him some special snacks. They're supposed to be bad for him... but Pig deserves the good food. He's so smart and cute! Neru continued thinking to himself without allowing his facial features to show anything of the like. Neru put Pig on the ground and had him run around for a little while, bothering some people and entertaining others.He returned Pig to his Pokeball and waited patiently to see if anything would happen, as things often did around the gems, before they all got on the train.

 

[Mika]

Every little word, every little cocky arrogant little word, a perfect textbook example of earned flawless confidence, that came out of Parse's mouth; it was starting to grate on Mika's nerves and she wasn't entirely sure while for awhile. Normally this sort of thing didn't bother her. She didn't mind sharing control, it created a check and balance system or in theory it did anyways, and it gave her more freedom to be herself instead of being some sort of leader constantly but something, something about Parse was just starting to bother her. It was hitting something deep, something she couldn't quite put a finger on, until Parse explained just how simplistic her name was. Her eyes snapping open, the girl stared straight ahead, the light fog over her memory lifting for just a moment.

"My street name is Parse, in case some of you failed to catch it during the meeting-"

"My name's Maxie, incase you missed it earlier. Real simple, you won't be able to forget it.

A smile.

A hand shake.

The happy coos of a happy crobat

A purple hand, a black hand

One hand.

Quietly, she inhaled a groan before it could leave her lips by raising a hand to cover her right eye for just a moment, her left eye, hidden from view thanks to the placement of the hand, wincing for a moment. Looking up at the blasted ticker that said over and over that they would soon be arriving at Saffron City, please make sure you have all your bags scrolled across in a marquee moving just a little too fast, she dropped her hand, grasping her back in it tightly. She needed air. She didn't pay one second of attention when Parse went into her spiel about not talking to eachother, (What were they, four year olds? That was common sense. If the group was dumb enough to talk to eachother, then maybe they trully did need help) but keyed herself in long enough to hear the 'check-in' time. Checking her pokegear, she knew she only had ten minutes or so but then again, she was the leader of this little bundle of disaster, she could be late. Parse could take any complaints and shove it, she needed to get out of this for just a moment before she boiled over. Breaking into a dash, something people in this station often saw as there was often a two minute pause between trains, she shoved through the crowd, giving not a word or glance to anyone on her team, until she reached the women's restroom, taking the stall in the back and slumped against the wall, her head clunking lightly against the tile of the wall, her shoulders relaxing at the coolness of the tiles. Her left knee bent, her right leg extended, her foot flopping to the right as her body calmed down, her breathing evening out. Rolling her head once, she let out a heavy sigh as her gaze caught her palms, upturned in her hands. Why, why do I feel like this? Anger pooling over into her balled up fists, she slammed her left hand into the cool white tiles, a little trickle of blood dripping as she pulled her hand, and herself up. Shaking it off, she slipped off her glove and, ripping a section of her shirt, tied a makeshift bandage around it before sliding her glove back on. Just calm down. Closing her eyes, she quickly changed her outfit, dropping the previous outfit into the trash on the way to the sink. Pulling a black handled hairbrush from her backpack, she pulled her hair out of its ponytail and brushed it rather quickly before throwing it up into medium high pigtails, the blue bangles on her wrist jingling as she secured the thick hair with an elastic band.

The attire change was rather drastic but it drew attention away from her hand. She didn't need anyone asking unwanted questions. She'd gone from simplicity to a pair of black somewhat low rise jeans and a blue form fitting t-shirt with an elegant dragonair pattern coiling in its design from the small of her back around to her front. She still wore her black boots but she'd changed to blue knee-high socks and added a set of blue gradient bangles to each wrist, over the black gloves. It was cute and it made her appear a tad bit more like her actual age. It wasn't really becoming of a rocket team leader but this was her intention, she wasn't supposed to look like someone suspicious, right? Might as well look cute. Slinging her backpack back over her shoulder, she made sure she still had everything she needed before exiting the restroom, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. She wasn't thinking about what had happened anymore. No more time for memories.

Mika stepped up to the platform at 10:56 noting that everyone aside from her had already arrived obviously on time from the startled expressions, [thank Lugia], and looked down towards where the train would be coming from, tapping her foot rather impatiently, inwardly smirking at Parse's probable distaste that she wouldn't dare show. There was no way Parse would call her out on her lateness right now, not without breaking her little rule on the no speaky to the teamy [but from the look on Gale's face, Parse had already broken that rule.] and it was oddly amusing to think if Parse would bring it up at all. ...I guess I'm still in a mood. Heh... Let's see how the princess reacts to someone she can't touch breaking her little rules.

 

[Phanima]

It seemed Ivanhov wasn't bluffing when he designated the role of leader amongst Emerald, Amethyst and Jade, the tactician dutifully stepping up to direct the team on their way upon arriving in Saffron. Feeling the warmth of the morning flicker through the filtered station cover, the pokemon hunter rocked in place to brace the forced stop. Then slinging her backpack over her shoulder, Seras heeded the other girl's command before stepping onto the first available platform of the multi-tiered station. Holding a spread hand over her face to deflect the invading light, Seras peered through squinted eyes to survey the capacity of her current location. And in all honesty, she was quite impressed. Saffron station was much grander than she had expected, although it being her first time in the city contributed to her initial awe.

Staying aloof however, took priority over sightseeing, so mustering a casual stride, she made her way into the crowd, eyeing the platforms lining the station, a blue "2G" marking her next destination. Spotting the azure lined pillars across the tracks and a floor above, the hunter narrowed her eyes into the closest map-marker for reference. At that point, she was abruptly shouldered by a suit wielding square-framed glasses, a leather-tanned briefcase and a comb over worthy of making baldness attractive, even more so than usual. Apologising apathetically, the middle-aged man sauntered away but not without a second glance. Eyeing his curiosity, she watched on through dangerously sharp eyes as he politely mustered the courage to approach her feigned interest in the station floor plan.

"A-Are you lost, Miss?"

Recoiling in mental disgust, Seras simply pursed her lips as her eyes flattened over the stranger, before then striking the board in one quick flex of her index finger, a random platform struck just under her fingertip. Glancing up at the marked location, the man proceeded to sweat bullets as he stammered in addressing the female. "I-I could take you there, perhaps? M-Miss?"

The pokemon hunter merely paused to feign interest in the offer before simply turning away and moving onto her actual destination. Striding through the massing crowds, her shoulders striking those stubborn enough to not move out of her way, Seras finally arrived on the next floor, her jacket strewn and backpack hanging off her raised elbow. Glancing across the sea of passengers, she spotted a shaded pillar and took temporary refuge underneath its cover, the time it took her well within Amethyst's set schedule.

 

[Alter Ego]

Content that she had gotten her point across, Parse didn't press her junior gem further, though more out of a desire to avoid additional attention than out of any particular notion of kindness, settling down on the bench and immersing herself in the note block once more. She made a show of sketching out the station scenery, jotting down inane little remarks here and there around the sketch for the benefit of potential onlookers while discreetly scanning the crowd for further arrivals.

Fortunately, her orders seemed to have been taken seriously at least. Starting with the ever-slick Garnet, one gem after the other made their entry, all well on time. Except...the Amethyst took considerable care to erase out a good portion of her sketch as the dark look briefly crossed her countenance. All except for Emerald, and judging by the overdone lack of worry in the manner of their alleged "leader", this was quite clearly a purposeful ploy. The tactician contained the urge to roll her eyes at such childish antics, merely jotting down a quick note on the matter on her note block. She had good reasons to dislike impudent little children, and the more of Mika's behavior she witnessed, the more she was reminded of them.

 

[Mika]

The train arrived shortly after and without any sort of commentary, slipped an ear bud from her music player into her ear and squeezed through the crowd mobbing the entrance to the train. Sitting in the far back corner, she leaned against the window, her hand cradling her chin, her eyes half shut. It was only a twenty minute ride, with stops, and honestly, it was the part of all this she hated the most. The constant motion on something that wasn't a pokemon…it didn't sit well with her. Slipping the sweatshirt off her waist, she slid her arms into it, wrapping them around herself for the briefest of moments before she reluctantly broke the warm self hug to fish around in her pocket. She had to send out the message, so she wouldn't have to talk on this stupid train ride. Her fingers adequately running of the keys of her PokeGear, she set out a basic message to the rest of her group, to whatever device they carried on them. Underground, Goldenrod when train arrives. Letting the phone fall back against her sweatshirt, she tucked her arms around herself and tried to somewhat doze the remaining duration of the trip, ignoring the growing ache in her head. When the train finally stopped, she nearly fell flat onto her face when she tried to stand up. Stumbling, rather pathetically, she pulled herself somewhat together and by the time she got to the train platform in Goldenrod, was looking like a normal person. Stretching out, she rocked back and forth on her heels a few times and walked in the general direction of the Underground, the southern entrance by the Casino.


Someone was following her. Opening an eye, she sighed, ignoring it for a little while until it became obvious, somewhere between the Casino and the Underground Entrance, that the person wasn't going to stop. Digging in her heels, she stopped, her right eye opening lightly, "…Want to explain why you're following me? Ghgn…" Scratching the back of her head, she scoffed, opening one eye in annoyance, "Seriously. If you've got something to say, say it."


"…Don't go on this mission. You'll find more than you think you will."


"…Oh really now? " Her hand planted on her hip, annoyance starting to flood her attitude, "And just what, your highness, would I find that I don't think I'll find, mmm?"


"A broken cave, the littered remains, the look of that day and the reunification of the Three. All the things you want so desperately forget… All of the pieces of the stained glass window will fall into place and the power the moon child tried to grasp will come to this world. Your eyes betray your soul, your heart betrays your mind. You will bring calamity to your team, to the very ones you so desperately want to stay with. Heed my warning, foolish Chosen."

Mikafloof! W-wait for me!
You're not half bad, for a loli brat.
…there is something within you, something I can't ignore.
​

​

Images of that place flashed through her mind like a ticker on crack. Wincing lightly, a hand reached to her forehead, the pain in her head increasing momentarily. Something, something he'd said, that idiotic voice, had made her remember. A shuddered dripped over her body but when she turned, as she'd expected, there was nothing. Rubbing her forehead, she shook off the eerie feeling and the creepy male voice as some sort of a bad cosplayer with some mental need to freak people out, and slipped into the Underground, waiting in the corner across from the Poke Massage booths, sitting on the floor, cross legged, with some sort of map infront of her. Nibbling on her thumb, she skimmed through the pages of what seemed to be a floor plan of some sort and waited for others to showing up. As much as I hate to admit it, I can't do this whole tactician thing. Guess I'll have to actually let Parse order me around…within certain boundries. Squawking lightly, she messed up her hair before prodding the map with a finger, her voice just above a whisper but the tone still slightly frightening, "You…sir, are mean and nasty and difficult to work with."