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PMD: Exploration and Corruption of the New Frontier (IC)(PG-13)

Before Retus could get an answer fom Cruor, He immediately heard a familiar voice. "Crap why now..." He muttered to himself. Behind him was Bruno and his lackeys, Osha and Anthony. Retus turned around and glared into Bruno's eyes. After giving off a loud yawn, Retus began to speak.

"Aw comon, We take down a guy who nearly tried to kill us and now your calling me an outlaw? Comon Bruno, cut me some slack buddy." He spoke with his usual large grin and sarcastic tone. "What did I do that was so bad anyways? Kehehehe..." Retus continued as his eyes glowed with a dark color for a second. "For one, He started this fight. I just did the favor of ending it... With some help of course. Kehehe..."

Leigh didn't know what to say. Did Retus go off and admit he was an outlaw? A wanted criminal? He knew something was fishy but he acted to caring to be heartless. Shade blended in well with the group though. While she was wanted for her petty crimes, Bruno didn't seem to notice her. She grew jelious of Retus and Cruor for being more well known criminals, But just what was it that Retus did? Felecia was just as curious as she was stupefied. Retus didn't do anything bad while escorting them. Was he in league with Cruor? That was impossible...

At the blink of an eye Retus was suddenly sitting on Bruno's shoulder, relaxing as if it were nothing. He glared down at both Anthony and Osha, this time his eyes were glowing green.

"Hey kiddos, any of you know how much money I'm worth compared to cuddles over there?" He asked pointing at the trapped Zangoose.
 
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"Her name is Autumn," Layne said, "and she means the world to me."

Oh great. His 'princess'. His 'damsel in distress'. Chunk could barely handle thinking about such things upon remembering all of the fiancées his father somehow found to arrange a marriage so that one day - when the time of ruling the tribe came - he would be securely married and have no way of contesting his right to the leadership.

When Chunk landed on Earth again, he saw Layne was already drifting to the deeper parts of the spring; he wouldn't tempt fate by going over there as well.

"If she's in trouble, I am gonna make sure she gets out of there............or die trying."

The Shinx remained silent for some moments, trying to think of what he should say. Everything he could think of either sounded odd or completely wrong.
Only one thing to say.

"I see..."

Way to reply, Vis.

((OOC: I think I'm going to develop a little more on that tribe thing of Chunk's. Suddenly got interested xD))
 
OOC: lul...princess. I'm new at roleplaying in love areas, can you tell?

IC:
Layne opened his eyes with some confusion to Chunk's reply, but shook the thought away. From the tone and perhaps look on Chunk, he wasn't that interested. Not that it mattered. Layne might have been right. Chunk just probably didn't understand how he felt about Autumn. Perhaps he was still too young. His time would come.

Layne almost chuckled at that thought, but held it down.

He took in a breath, and submerged himself. The hot water against his face stung in some areas due to unhealed areas of bruising and cuts, but Layne ignored the pain. He forced himself down to the bottom area, and sat there, eyes closed. If he wanted to swim leisurely, his goggles would be on, but right now, they just sat on his forehead as they normally did when not in use. He let out some stale air, and the bubbles escaped his nostrils, he opened his eyes, which struggled to adjust to the hot water, but adjusted after a few seconds. Layne stretched out, and let his frontside touch the warm ground. It felt very comfortable, but he pushed himself up, as he had not taken a very good breath, and needed more air.

Upon breaking the surface, his collar inflated, once again keeping him afloat. He shook his head, and excess water came off. His head and face welcomed the cool air as the water evaporated and cooled off his face. He inhaled and let himself drift again.

Layne turned his body in Chunk's direction as he drifted, and asked, "Feeling any better?"

((OOC: I'd like to wait for Michael to post before I post as Bruno and his students))
 
((OOC: Ahah, but the story behind this is solid, methinks xD))

Chunk watched as Layne submerged disappearing from sight shortly after for several moments. This gave Chunk enough time to sigh and relieve his frown to a more relaxed face, staring down at the water with his eyes closed.

"I shouldn't be here..." He muttered to himself, opening his eyes to meet his own reflection's piercing stare. "If it weren't for this leg, I would be miles away from this place..."

He noticed Layne's body was approaching the surface, so Chunk shook his head and submerged for a moment to drive away those thoughts. After all, he was here to rest.

"Feeling any better?" Layne's voice was suddenly heard, and Chunk turned to the Buizel as he came closer.

"Surprisingly so." The Shinx replied, stretching his leg; he could feel it now, and it didn't hurt when it was completely stretched. Bearing that in mind, he suddenly lost the interest on the spring, so he started swimming towards the edge, shaking his body to throw the droplets of water into the air. "I'm going to look for some Orans. You going to stay there much longer?"
 
Layne shrugged. He once again massaged under the water, his left arm. "I'm comfortable." Layne didn't need to mention his love of water. "I'll linger here until we're needed or something, because all I know is that from here, we'd proceed north, at least that's from that one poster back in Lakeside."

Chunk was going to look for Oran Berries. Layne wasn't exactly sure what he meant there. Did he mean outside the guild? The land outside the guild, though it was summer, looked a bit barren. Though that could have easily been corruption's effects. Or perhaps there was a storehouse in the guild. Layne didn't know.

"I'll be around." Layne said.
 
Cruor hadn't been able to move, but he also refused to talk to Retus. He refused to admit defeat, oh no. Instead, he glared at him. Before he kenw what was going on, however, some new competition showed up.

He smirked as Retus basicall admitted he wasn't exactly on the side of good either. He chuckled and shook his head. "A bounty?" he asked. "And rom the looks of it...I like the idea of things getting...ugly, personally...'
 
Alaska looked at a Hariyama that approached. She would've assumed it was another corrupted Pokémon, but the Hariyama was too sane looking to be one. He threatened the outlaws, taunting them to run away. Alaska looked at Retus, disappointed, yet not at all surprised. She knew he was up to no good. Retus tried to smooth talk his way out of the problem, addressing the Hariyama as "Bruno". Hopefully his persistence wouldn't get them into a bigger mess.

Cruor remained silent in the Shadow Hold, but then spoke up in response to Bruno's threats. "A bounty?" he asked. "And from the looks of it...I like the idea of things getting...ugly, personally…" Alaska's eyes widened slightly as she looked up at the Zangoose, and then back at Bruno. She had many questions to ask, but remained speechless. This Bruno guy looked like he had somewhat of a temper, and Alaska wouldn't try to test him the way Retus seemed to be.
 
((OOC: Pneumonia got the best of me, and I was hospitalized. Sorry, but there isn't a hell of a lot you can do when you are in a hospital. Moral of this story? Medical insurance FTW.

tl;dr? Fine. Xell separates himself in search of berries/apples and succumbs to his gluttony. He fails to tell anyone he leaves, and as he travels and collects berries, he notices a Wanted poster for Retus. Xell realizes how bad this could get, and zooms off to the clearing where y'all used to be. You guys aren't there anymore, and Xell zooms off to the clearing, where he finds and alerts you that Retus isn't who we thought he was.))

IC:

Xell had kept silent the entire way there, and when the group decided to rest, he went off to get some berries, apples, or whatever else he may have found. He didn't bother to tell anyone because he, at the time, thought it was going to be quick, and that he would be back before anyone noticed him. This foolhardy decision was the product of the idea of adventuring, and his various thoughts over his new teammates plus the other group he had met. This was out of character for Xell: he was normally much calmer, and wasn't for making rash decisions. This would be a decision he would come to regret.

Xell's decision caused him to wander and stray from the group. Just before he left, Retus the Sableye had darted near the Lakeside for an unknown reason. Xell went the other way, trusting his always horrible sense of direction. I'll only be gone a minute, at most. As it would turn out, everyone else would be completely gone when Xell returned to the clearing.

Xell propelled himself for about a minute aimlessly before his eyes picked up a small patch of Oran berries. These could be useful for anything. Xell removed the berries from their tiny patch and inserted them into the pocket of air within his body. One advantage to evolving that Xell had disregarded was how useful extra space inside you could be. Although the pocket of air was meant for building up gases to propel Pupitars, he found that he could propel himself just fine without the fruit inside him interfering in any way.

After gathering the Oran berries, he turned his attention to the tree from which the patch of berries had seemed to come from. There was nothing in that tree, but the one next to it happened to be an apple tree. Xell thought at that point that he must have been extremely lucky to come across both a patch of Oran berries and an apple tree, both in the same area. Xell dug underneath the ground, trying to unearth the roots of the tree and knock it down. It was a success, and the tree toppled over like a domino. Xell wouldn't have done this if it was a large tree, but this one was small, and wouldn't have caused any commotion. Xell removed the apples from the tree, and decided to go back the way he came. As he turned around, something caught his eye. Something that hadn't caught his eye before.

A Wanted poster for a Sableye.

The glimpse, followed by the double-take and closer inspection, sent Xell into panic mode. His mind raced faster then a Ninjask. Surely that couldn't be the Sableye that is escorting us! Xell looked at the paper again, looking for the cracked eye that Retus had. There it is. He observed, cocking his head slightly to get a better look. All he could think about was his team, and how stupid he was to have left them there. Xell took a moment and performed a Rock Polish, diving underneath the ground and repeatedly churning himself against the soil to make his hide shine. He exploded out of the ground, did his best to point himself in the direction in which he believed them to be, and zoomed off to the clearing.

He darted around large trees, avoiding every single one. He had been lucky: he was right this time, and this had been the clearing that they had been in, only there was a problem. There was no sign of any Pokemon at all. He zipped off again, having no sense of direction, but trying his best to locate them. Time was a blur, and Xell had no idea where they are. The rational, calm, level-headed Xell was replaced with a hasty, wilder Xell. He hadn't noticed this, though.

With a Wanted poster in his mouth, hours seemed to pass before he made it to the corrupted clearing. There, the first thing he looked for were his friends. He paid no attention to the Purrloin, nor the Sableye. He propelled toward his friends, joining their congregation. He hadn't even noticed Bruno, nor his guild-mates. He laid the poster on the ground. "Guys!" he called out, to get their attention. Even if he didn't have their attention, he still ranted. "The Sableye... our escort... he's Wanted! He's corrupted!" Xell said, suddenly out of breath. Only then did he notice the Sableye, performing a move Xell had never seen before on a Zangoose. Dammit. Xell thought, suddenly realizing his stupidity. Xell backed away, and took a look at the clearing, as well as the Pokemon in the clearing. Xell stood in awkward silence as he thought about how loudly he had ranted.
 
Bruno barely paid attention to the Sabeleye on his shoulder now. Retus was known for such...childish and sometimes silly behavior. Bruno's patience was of course being tested, but his biggest worry was the Zangoose. Bruno did not fear Zangoose, and was probably more than capable of defending himself against him, but he wasn't so sure about the straglers, or his students. Bruno would give his life for his students if he had to, but he didn't want it coming to that.

Osha looked up at the annoying Sabeleye. One of his scalchops was in his hand. Anthony also took a defensive position.

Bruno shoved the Sabeleye off his shoulder to the ground, and once again stood in front of his students. What he was worried about looked like it was going to happen. Cruor wasn't gonna bug off. He looked behind to his students. "Get the explorers to the guild. I will buy time if I have to."
Osha looked at Bruno. "But Master Bruno-"
"Go!" Bruno said a bit more sharply, not just at Osha, but at the pokemon he could only assume were explorers. "This outlaw is beyond your experience!" Bruno had been saying his, keeping an eye on the outlaw pokemon. "Take the fast route. Avoid the deeper grass."
"Y-yes master." Osha said. Anthony felt his partner's pain almost but said to the others, "Come on!"
Bruno got into a full defensive stance, ready to take any attack directed at either his students or the newcomers.
 
"Oof..." Retus muttered as he was shoved off of Bruno's shoulder. "Ya could have asked me politely." Bruno had just instructed his students to take both of the exploration teams to the guild. He could either follow them there, Or take care of Bruno first. He looked back at Cruor, and then at Bruno. Seeing the two of them gave Retus a devilish idea. His train of thought was interrupted when the pupitar that had been with Alaska's team came along with a wanted poster that Retus most likely missed. His face became plain after he heard the word "Corrupted". He slowly walked over to the Pupitar, completely ignoring Bruno. Stopping in front of Xell, he laughed maniacally for a good five seconds.

"Corrupt? You all act like you know what your fighting against. Tell me, what exactly do you all think corruption is anyway?" He said, his tone of voice becoming angrier. "I'll tell you all what it isn't...from my point of view anyway. It certainly didn't spawn from some demon magic or crap like that... No... I believe it was caused by something else. And I've witnessed it with my own two eyes, back when I still had two of them."

Retus quickly turned to the Explorers. "I can be a nice guy you know. I had no intention of hurting any of you. I felt you all would play a role in my plot..." He continued explaining, with his eyes on Alaska for the most part. He shifted his sight to Cruor who was still trapped.

"...This world is a bear trap of injustice and sin. You just get trapped into its problems with no escape, nor solutions..." Retus continued, As his hands and working eye began to glow with a dark aura. "...Except by losing a piece of yourself out of others conflict and greed!" Immediately Retus warped right behind Bruno with a Pseudo Faint Attack. "Worst of all, You just walk into it blindly." He finished as he stood in a fighting pose.

"The move I used on Cruor isn't a normal move. Shadow hold can only be learned by being a part of the corruption yourself. Fortunately, I've learned how to control the corrupt bit inside of me without losing my mind." Retus continued, Pointing at his black wristbands. These cuffs, as I like to call them, Protect me from being taken by the corruption, but also keep the real power of it in check."

Retus began to look at his hand, still glowing with a dark aura. "I believe the Corruption was spawned as a means of separation. To separate the good and the bad... the right and the wrong. The physical substance itself judges you and then takes you over. Perfect candidates are leaders who abuse their power, Criminals, And even followers. The only thing? It spreads easily. Even the good can fall to the lies of corruption... Like I almost did..."

Quickly, Retus cocked his head and continued his speech. "Keheh... I've seen some pretty messed up pokemon get corrupt before. Once their mind was taken over, I ended up seeing no difference in their attitude."

The right and wrong. Elimination by separation. That was Retus' plot. To use the Corruption to separate the good and bad and see which side would be left standing. But he had much more to his plan. The way he told his story, It almost made him into a villain of some sort. Though he felt that if the Corrupt and greedy were separated by this substance, and were destroyed, Then nothing bad would happen again. No more criminals, No more abuse, Everything would be peaceful after the war he hoped to spark... considering the Corruption doesn't win, a risk Retus was willing to take. He didn't have much else to live for anyway...

"Excuse me for being so over poetic. As much as I'd love to give you my life story and explain just how I plan to make use of the corruption, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Make your move big guy. I'm feeling lucky!" He yelled out with an uptight attitude.

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

Leigh listened to the entire speech. Separation... That was his plan? Leigh thought he was crazy at first but soon after, a flood of thoughts flowed through Leigh's mind. Separating the good and bad... Was that a bad thing? The way it was being done and how much lives would be taken in the process would certainly be absolute evil but after wards... what if everything did become peaceful in the end? It was a scary thought that caused Leigh to freeze up. As far as Leigh knew, He never did anything bad in his life before... just innocent pranks. Though a corrupt substance lingered around him, which was spread from another pokemon. Leigh wanted to state his opinion but decided to stay silent, following Osha and Anthony. "You think Bruno can handle the two of them? They aren't exactly amateurs." He asked the two escorts while looking back at his own group, worried.

(Hope you like Retus' take on the corruption. Took awhile to think up of the post.)
 
((OOC: @New2: Welcome back, and I'm glad you feel better! :3 @Megaman765: Yeah, I think his view of the corruption is interesting.))

Suddenly, a Pupitar propelled himself over to the group of Pokémon. It was Xell. Alaska's serious expression lit up when she noticed Xell's return. He spread out a poster on the ground and explained loudly that Retus was corrupted. He looked at Retus and backed up, seemingly embarrassed by the fact that he had talked very loudly during the commotion. Alaska didn't say anything, and then looked at the Dewott accompanying Bruno. He glared up at Retus with one of his scalchops in his hand. A Tyrogue also with them took a defensive position. Bruno shoved Retus off his shoulder and commanded the Dewott and Tyrogue to take the explorers to the guild. They initially protested, but then finally agreed. "Come on!" the Tyrogue called. Alaska looked at him sternly and didn't follow. She quickly turned her head toward Retus, who walked over to Xell slowly and threateningly. Alaska glared at Retus and extended her claws. Retus didn't strike Xell.

He started to give a speech about corruption. Alaska's expression softened and she retracted her claws. Retus wanted to separate good and evil. He seemed to believe that the corruption wasn't a demonic affliction, but more like nature's way of separating the good and the bad. "Excuse me for being so over poetic. As much as I'd love to give you my life story and explain just how I plan to make use of the corruption, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Make your move big guy. I'm feeling lucky!" He yelled out with an uptight attitude. Alaska finally decided to speak up.

"Separation is what causes war in the first place," she started. "It seems everybody wants to be the same. They don't approve of differences. Maybe if Pokémon would stop dividing themselves, they'd get along." Alaska stepped closer to Retus and Bruno. "If you pit good against bad, one of them gets squashed, or they both die trying. Maybe to stop the corruption, we should destroy the cause itself, instead of exterminating the corrupted Pokémon. That won't help." Alaska silenced and turned to Xell for no reason other than to assure herself that he was fine. Of course, he was.
 
Retus kept his eyes on Bruno while also listening to Alaska's attempts to prove Retus wrong. "Thats exactly what I plan to do." He replied to Alaska's comment of finding the source. The cause of the corruption are the greedy and wrong. Their twisted minds created this physical substance. It spread over the land, and soon the world. It was created to punish them and their followers!" Retus continued to Glare at Bruno. If he looked away, He was bound to know just how he got the name "Black hammer".

"If the corrupt and greedy aren't destroyed, there will be more wars, More corruption. It'll all just repeat. Everything will keep spreading... and I don't just mean the physical substance itself. Progress requires sacrifice." He became distracted finally and looked over to Alaska. His eyes were glowing white just incase Bruno tried something. He put his hand under Alaska's chin and leaned close. "I don't expect you to take what I said for granted. At least give it some thought. My plan hasn't been finalized. There's still much more to be done." He traced his finger along Alaska's chin and turned back to Bruno. "You'd best go with your friends. I don't want you or any of them involved in this battle. It's for your own good." He finished with a smirk.
 
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As the Sableye cackled maniacally and walked toward him, Xell backed up slowly and steadily, and although the Sableye was smaller then he was, Xell began to sweat. He knew he had made a mistake by showing the group the poster without noticing his surroundings. How could he be so hasty? Either way, Xell listened closely to what the Sableye had to say. What he had said settled and stayed with Xell, and his own stance on the corruption was quite different from what Xell had thought it was. Xell's opinion of the corruption was changing as well. It was developing, like a Toxic from a Muk, but Xell had yet to notice.

"Progress requires sacrifice."

Xell remained silent and continued to watch as the Hariyama (who he didn't notice before) was looking at the Sableye. The Sableye was taunting him, but Xell knew the Sableye wasn't to be underestimated. Xell noticed Alaska turn to him, perhaps to make sure he was OK? He couldn't tell: he was bad at those sorts of things. He gave her a reassuring nod, and resumed his attention to the field.

((OOC: Thanks! :3))
 
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OOC: Apologies. My internet is currently down, and I have a hard time getting to a place to post.

Bruno frowned. Retus's attack didn't bother him much, but it was enough to make him growl in impatience. "Your plan sounds like a gamble for a Utopia. Something that doesn't exist."

Bruno straightened up. "Do you honestly think we're just walking around this dying land exterminating corrupt pokemon one by one hoping this will all just go away? We're a bit smarter than that. The point of us even being here is to find the cause. Sad thing is, the only thing we have as a lead so far...is the mountains. And almost every team we've sent up there...comes back defeated."

Bruno's opinion of Retus had changed more when Retus had said he was slightly corrupt himself. "None of us knows anything about corruption. You may see it as a power, or a separation, but I have witnessed corruption myself, Retus. And those memories are enough to make me sick. Whatever this corruption is, it can't be good. And the world has yet to see anything good come from it."

Bruno cracked his knuckles. "And the very fact that you are now partly corrupt, will make you even more wanted than you are. However, I did not come here to collect bounty. I came to investigate your commotion. And now I am here to ensure that they," he motioned to the explorers reach the guild safe."
 
Leigh looked back at both Alaska and Xell. "Guys comon! Lets get moving. I'm getting sick of listening to this guy." He said, retorting to Retus' comments. Bruno seemed to had experience with the corruption himself, causing him to completely disagree with Retus. But what would anyone know? Like Bruno said, Nobody knows much about the corruption. And Retus seemed to have been very close to it.

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

Retus wasn't convinced by Bruno's words. Not one bit. "The mountains eh? Keheh... so tell me... Whats the death count currently on your brilliant idea of sending exploration teams to a mountain that could possibly be swarming with corrupt pokemon? Better yet, Whats the total death count hmm?" Retus' eyes were glowing red this time.

"Sending several teams up there, All have failed, Some have lost their lives. If your so curious about the corrupt then how about YOU check it out yourself?" He continued, Pointing at Bruno with a much angrier tone of voice. "Getting close to the corruption cost me this eye. But I've learned from my experience. I've learned to use the corruption as my own, To use it as something more then what people make it out to be." Retus clenched his fist. "Do you plan to send those exploration teams to investigate the mountains? To their imminent doom? With what little experience they have? They could barely survive an uncorrupted beedrill swarm! Sending them to the mountains is as stupid as walking through this passage alone. Whatever lazy idiot thought of this "idea" would be better off corrupt theirself!" He rushed in to attack with Shadow claw, aiming to stick his claws right into Bruno's chest.
 
Xell nodded at Alaska reassuringly. She turned back to Retus. Retus seemed to half agree and half disagree with Alaska. He put his hand under her chin and leaned close. "I don't expect you to take what I said for granted. At least give it some thought. My plan hasn't been finalized. There's still much more to be done." He traced his finger along Alaska's chin and turned back to Bruno.

Alaska grunted in annoyance at Retus' gesture and smacked his hand off. Retus walked over to Bruno, who said that he was trying to find the cause, by sending exploration teams. However, they at once returned defeated. Leigh looked back at Alaska and Xell. "Guys comon! Lets get moving. I'm getting sick of listening to this guy," he said about Retus' speech.

Alaska immediately remembered the prank they were going to pull on Retus at the guild. It would probably shut his loud mouth for a good while, even though Alaska had no idea what it was. Then she realized her reaction to Retus' gesture. Nuts. She was supposed to pretend to be into him. But it wasn't easy. The guy was so hard to stand sometimes. And about getting to the guild, Leigh had a good point. It must've been late by now, as they had taken at least a few hours to get this far.

Retus became enraged with Bruno's response. He rushed over to him, aiming a Shadow Claw right at Bruno's chest. Alaska sprinted over and leaped in front of Bruno, getting struck right in the stomach by Retus' powerful attack. She bore the pain as best as she could and countered by kicking Retus at full force with both feet. She landed on her feet and knelt down, gritting her teeth.

"We can't be fighting right now! Aren't we supposed to be getting to the guild?" Alaska exclaimed, looking at the darkening sky. She got up again. "It's getting late." She realized that what she just did wouldn't stop anything. Knowing Retus, he would probably try to attack Bruno again. She just had to try anyway, as she half expected to see the bound up Carnivine escape their trap. Fighting them would take up way too much time; time Alaska wasn't too sure they had.
 
"Ah! Alaska!" Retus yelled out, immediately turning around and watching the scene about to unfold. Leigh's prank may end up having to be delayed at this rate. It wasn't time for fun and games saddly. Sometime, He hoped he could pull it off but for now, He was prepared for whatever might happen next.
---------------

Retus' eyes widened when he struck alaska, who jumped in the way of his attack. She struck at Retus with both of her feet, sliding him back a bit. "I told you not to get involved." She said calmly to Alaska. "Your the last one that I'd want to hurt." He once again observed Alaska. "...You remind me of somebody I once knew... keh. Just how interested are you?" He asked her with a frown. Retus quickly looked over to Bruno, gritting his teeth. "Yeah Bruno. It IS getting late. Hows about we call it a day eh? Kehehehe..." He said with a sarcastic tone, preparing to strike at him once more.
 
Bruno had braced for the attack, but was a bit surprised at one explorer's intervening. Bruno couldn't disagree much with Retus' comment. At times, it was very sad how some explorers lost their lives, or came back in complete failure.

Bruno crossed his arms. "I won't deny the imminent danger that shadows over this land, but at least those that did go, died doing what they were called to do. Am I saying their deaths were justified? Not at all. But if no one had ever acted to this, the whole world for all we know could have been much darker. Open your eyes, Retus. The land around us is literally dying. What could this corruption have in store for us?"

Bruno closed his eyes and sighed. "Every time I think of the teams we've lost, I can't help but wonder what is in those mountains, and I won't lie. I've been tempted to investigate myself. But I have other obligations. Thirty years. I have never seen anything like this in all my years of being an explorer. All I can do right now, is do my best to prepare exploration teams for what they could face. Unfortunately, I am not the finger of God. Whatever lies in those mountains, or whatever lies beyond them, is more than I could prepare anyone for."

Upon the one pokemon's observation of getting late, and Retus' tone at Bruno again, Bruno went into a stance.

"I do not fear you, I do not fear the corruption, and I do not fear the night. But I will say, that the night has become merciless in the area. Soon corrupt pokemon will become much more enraged. I have fought my way out of corrupt pokemon before. You are no different."

Osha and Anthony were still wondering why the other explorers weren't budging, but they weren't going to wait forever...

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

Hirotaro looked up at the oncoming night. He sighed. Corruption was getting worse. This strange aura around it bothered him. The whole land would be afflicted with it, if they didn't find some clue to stop it soon. He could only ponder the possible causes. He had related through history.

About ten years back, when a giant meteor threatened the world, a human and his partner managed to calm Groundon, and ask Rayquaza's assistance in destroying the meteor. And three years back, time and space became distorted, but again, a human arrived and he and his partner were able to restore both.

Now this.

No human had arrived. None that he knew of anyway. Explorers were getting killed, and explorers were getting hurt. THey all had strong spirit to investigate this, and Hirotato yearned to get a taste of what was being explored.

Things were getting heavy now. He sighed and sat back in meditation. Trying to find something....anything that could give them another lead.

That was when he saw Layne walking by the room. "A moment, please, Layne?"
Layne looked in and approached him. "How is your friend?"
"Last I heard, he was going to collect Oran Berries."
"Where, did he say?"
Layne shrugged. "I don't know exactly. Perhaps the fields around here."
"I would maybe check in. The night can be dangerous around here when it comes to corruption."
Layne nodded. Hirotaro however continued, "Do you know what you'll face?"
Layne turned to look at Hirotaro. "What do you mean?"
Hirotaro closed his eyes, "Many pokemon have died, Layne. Explorers have been killed where we have sent them."
Layne knew where this was going, "Shut up." he simply said.
Hirotaro opened his eyes, "I am not saying what you think I imply. But-"
Layne's fists clenched. "I said, shut up."
Hirotaro exhaled. "Then let me say, please be careful whenever you should leave."
Layne turned to Hirotaro, "She's alive, and I'm going to find her. I don't care if I lose both arms trying."

Hirotaro sighed. He wasn't at all referring to Autumn, but was warning Layne of the mountains. He didn't know what could be found there, but if it was powerful enough to defeat some explorers, then who knew what was the cause of the entire thing. It seemed out of place.

"Go find your friend..."
 
Calling Retus no different from other pokemon struck a nerve in him. "I don't know if you were paying attention, But I still have a mind and soul unlike the other victims. Maybe I should explore the mountains myself then. Form an... exploration team eh? I'm sure to have a few supporters." He told Bruno with his usual large Grin. Retus still remembered his mission. Take out travelers walking the path alone and succumb them to the corruption. Bruno was all by himself, So he was the prime target. He circled around Bruno so that Cruor would be behind the Hariyama "If you knew anything about the corruption, You wouldn't be here in the first place..." He said slowly clenching his fist and slowly opening it. He secretly released Cruor from Shadow hold and signaled him to stay perfectly still until ready.

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

Leigh moved over to Alaska and made a futile attempt to shove her toward Osha and Anthony. "Comon... Your not going to convince him at this rate. We don't stand a chance against him, not like this. The last thing we need are for Osha and anthony to force us to the guild. And right now we're making a bad first impression by not listening to Bruno." Leigh didn't want to admit he was scared. Cruor was trapped in Shadow hold so he was out of the picture but if he got out then they would be dealing with two very skilled outlaws. It wouldn't end well and Leigh knew how to pick his fights.
 
Retus slid back a bit upon impact. "I told you not to get involved." He said calmly to Alaska. "Your the last one that I'd want to hurt." He once again observed Alaska. "...You remind me of somebody I once knew... keh. Just how interested are you?" He asked her with a frown. Alaska looked at him and raised an eyebrow slightly, not wanting to answer truthfully. She felt almost like a prisoner, not being able to do anything to change the two arguing Pokémon's minds.

Alaska wondered who it was she reminded Retus of. As she thought this, Retus quickly looked over to Bruno, gritting his teeth. "Yeah Bruno. It IS getting late. Hows about we call it a day eh? Kehehehe..." He said with a sarcastic tone, preparing to strike at him once more. Alaska ignored his teasing remark and stared up at the sky. She was beginning to WANT corrupt Pokémon to show up. "I do not fear you, I do not fear the corruption, and I do not fear the night. But I will say, that the night has become merciless in the area. Soon corrupt pokemon will become much more enraged. I have fought my way out of corrupt pokemon before. You are no different," Bruno replied, somewhat defensively.

Alaska had meant that since it was almost night, they might've been very late to meet up at the guild. But since Bruno himself was here, it probably didn't matter. Retus began to smooth talk in his usual annoying but effective way, and suddenly, Alaska was shoved forward a few steps. "Hey!" she yelled out. "Comon... Your not going to convince him at this rate. We don't stand a chance against him, not like this. The last thing we need are for Osha and anthony to force us to the guild. And right now we're making a bad first impression by not listening to Bruno," said Leigh, who had been the one that shoved Alaska.

Alaska was about to ignore his advice and do what she wanted, but Leigh got her when he mentioned their first impressions. Alaska always wanted to make the best first impressions, whether with potential friends or potential rivals. Alaska watched Retus and Bruno with a bothered expression, but quickly ran over to Osha and Anthony. She paused while standing by them, and without turning around, said, "…You too, Xell."
 
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