Pokemon: Black Infection [IC]

[Nideous]

"You too. Out of all of the peons I've met, you were the toughest. We'll be seeing each other again!" Scott said as the three peons left. He reached down and picked up Celes. He pet her happily with a rather large smile on his face.
"Thank you Celes! You were amazing in that fight!" Scott said, hugging her happily to him.
"Vee!" she said as she started squirming. She was still hurting from that fight. Elm clapped his hand down on Scott's shoulder and steered him into the lab.

"Here, use this healing machine to heal your two pokemon," Elm said. Scott returned Celes to her ball.
"Wait, Gible is your pokemon," Scott said quietly.
"I recieved Gible as an egg from Professor Rowan in Sinnoh before this all started. I was training him up to be one of the new starter choices for the Orre Region. But then Cipher began their takeover, and I haven't been able to return this little guy to Rowan. He's bonded to you now, like a normal starter pokemon. I'm afraid there's no getting rid of him now. He's rather clingy," Elm said as Scott's new Gible released himself from his pokeball after being healed and was now hugging Scott's leg.
"Gible!" he said happily. Scott could see Elm's point. Even so, he needed another pokemon, and the little guy was very tough. So, why not?
"Ok, I think I'll call you Cadas! Celes and Cadas! We'll take those Cipher guys out for sure!" Scott said, starting to get excited again. He turned to Elm.
"Professor, is there anywhere you can go? They will be back for you you know," Scott said seriously.
"When you called me, I decided I would go to Mr. Pokemon's house for a few days until I could get transportation to Oak's lab in Kanto," Elm said. Scott nodded gravely.
"Who's Mr. Pokemon?" Scott asked.
"He's a very old friend of mine. He often calls me with crackpot theories and raves about his alleged discoveries. Very rarely is it real. He lives just north of Cherrygrove City," Elm said. Scott nodded. That wasn't too far.
"Ok, I'll take you there, in case any grunts attack on the way. Whenever you're ready, we can go," Scott said.
"Well, I would like to take a little more time to get some things out of the lab in case they come back. There's a lot of sensitive equipment that needs to be destroyed," Elm said sadly. Scott nodded and helped him gather his things he was taking while destroying everything else.

 

[TornZero]

Geoff stood there watching from behind the tree. The Gible and Houndour were brought down first, and by the Trapinch, too. At least the playing field got evened up a bit with those two out. The grunts definitely liked to play dirty it seemed. So they're a-holes in all respects, I see. Geoff started thinking to himself again, but Absol would hear it. Ranger was on a relatively even ground with the kid's Eevee, so this was an interesting fight at least. Eevee, "Celes", looked like a fighter. It was bleeding a bit after all of the bites, but it still looked ready to fight some more. Ranger looked like it was about to keel over any moment.

And it did, right after pointlessly charging up a Signal Beam as the Eevee pulled out a Detect. The fight was over, and the grunts were about to speed off with the knocked-out Trapinch and Houndour, and a beat up grunt thanks to Elm. Geoffrey barely made it far enough behind the trees to keep from getting seen before the van sped by. The kid seriously beat the crud clean out of them. "Out of all of the peons I've met, you were the toughest. We'll be seeing each other again!" he said a little bit ago. He must have had some experience dealing with Cipher, then. It was a good idea to stay out of that fight, apparently.

The kid was led into Elm's lab, and some equipment was getting destroyed. Geoff and Absol could hear the smashing and breaking from where they stood. Elm must have been intending to get out of New Bark ASAP if he was making so much noise. Good plan, since Cipher would go for him again eventually. Absol, Geoff started. Maybe it's a good time for someone in Cipher to show some dignity. Absol nodded, and the young man spun around a second time. Instead of returning to his Peon uniform, however, he changed his wardrobe entirely. Now he was in a skirt and crew-length socks, loose baby-tee and cardigan, and his entire face was exposed unlike usual because of a solid-red headband holding his hair back. "Ready, Absol?" His voice sounded almost exactly like a teenage girl's, and he definitely looked convincing for the part.

Anytime, Jess. Absol was good to go, so the two walked into New Bark and up to Elm's laboratory to knock on the door. With all of the destruction, they should be expecting someone to come up and ask what's going on.

"Hello?" Jess spoke. "Is everything okay in there?" No one outside Fortree has seen Jess yet, so there's no way people would recognize him.

 

[Nideous]

"Eevee!" Celes cried when she heard the girlish voice at the door. She was angry. She knew when someone was trying to trick her. That person didn't smell like a girl. Celes glared at him. Scott, however, didn't have Celes's finely tuned nose. He turned and looked curiously at Celes, wondering why she was so agitated before turning to the girl. Behind him, Cadas happily rammed his head into Elm's computer. The files had already been wiped, but the little Gible was just having fun now. He thought it was a game.
"Cadas, buddy, you got it already! Celes, chill a little. I don't think she's one of those Cipher fools, and even if she was, she wouldn't get past you!" Scott said as Celes continued glaring at the girl and growling. Cadas ambled over and clung to Scott's leg, peering around from behind him at her. Elm came back with a rather large bag.
"Hey, Professor, I hope you know you're the one carrying that bag!" Scott said before turning his attention to the girl. There was something decidedly odd about her, and it wasn't just the fact that her eyes were two different colors. Well, he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He bent down and picked up Celes before smiling at her.
"Yeah, everything is just fine! You ready to go Elm?" Scott said. Elm nodded.
"We should make good time," Elm said.
"Assuming we don't have to stop every ten minutes to fight or something. I'd love to stay and chat, but we've got to get moving now," Scott said. He and Elm exited the lab. Celes looked happily up at Scott. He smiled and pet her head as he and Elm made for the exit of New Bark Town.

 

[TornZero]

Celes started crying at Jess the moment she started talking. It knew something was up, but Celes could have probably sniffed Geoff out while he was watching the fight. Though it could have just been Absol. It is known as the Disaster Pokémon. It must be a cautious Pokémon. "Celes, chill a little. I don't think she's one of those Cipher fools, and even if she was, she wouldn't get past you!" Scott told the little Eevee. And he was probably right. Absol wasn't exactly the most trained Pokémon despite obedience, and the Eevee took a good beating from Aston's Trapinch and still stood. In the back, the Gible from earlier was as hyper as before, headbutting a computer. The kid was trying to study Jess after calming Celes down, but it doesn't look like he noticed anything out of the blue that didn't involve her heterochromia. "Yeah, everything is just fine! You ready to go Elm?" The professor nodded and replied.

"We should make good time."

"Assuming we don't have to stop every ten minutes to fight or something. I'd love to stay and chat, but we've got to get moving now," the trainer continued before he and Elm started to leave New Bark. Jess and Absol had to walk quickly to keep up.

"Sorry to bother you, but could I come with you?" Jess tried to ask them. She may have had a map, but she really didn't know her way around Johto yet. Plus, Elm could use an extra bodyguard as long as Geoff is off-duty. "I'm new to Johto," she was talking truthfully, so Celes should grow a little more trusting at least, "and I need some help getting around. A man in Violet City told me to come here and ask the professor about the region." She should introduce herself, too, she decided; break the ice, despite the agitation Celes had about her at the start. "I-I'm Jess, from the Hoenn region, and this is my partner, Absol." Absol barked kindly towards Scott and Elm at the sound of his name, keeping up with the group.

 

[Nideous]

"I'm Professor Elm. It's a pleasure to meet you Jess. Welcome to Johto. I'd love to fill you in on everything you meet need to know, but I've run into a rather large amount of trouble," Elm said good naturedly. Scott smiled at her as he walked.
"I'm Scott! I know what you mean about being new here. I've only been here for three weeks, and most of that time was spent in a hospital bed," Scott said as he pushed his bangs back, running his fingers over the large scar above his right eye.
"Vee!" Celes shouted. He wasn't sure she was shouting at him or if she was shouting at Jess.
"And this is my parnter Celes! And this little guy is Cadas!" Scott said as he bent down to pick up the Gible, who squeeled happily at him. He and Elm continued on their way to Cherrygrove City, and Scott wondered if those three peons had left yet. He didn't really care. He would beat them down again if they were there. so he wasn't too worried.

 

[TornZero]

"I'm Professor Elm. It's a pleasure to meet you Jess. Welcome to Johto. I'd love to fill you in on everything you meet need to know, but I've run into a rather large amount of trouble." Elm responded first.

"The pleasure's all mine," Jess answered.

"I've only been here for three weeks, and most of that time was spent in a hospital bed," Scott introduced himself to show a scar just above his eye. Celes started to yell, but was it because of the scar or Jess? She almost jumped at seeing the scar, so she wouldn't be surprised if Celes yelled about it. "And this is my partner Celes! And this little guy is Cadas!" Scott introduced the Eevee and Gible, too. Maybe that's why Celes was shouting. Cadas was squealing cheerfully, and it was heartwarming to see the three getting along well, especially since the Gible's new to Scott's roster. Maybe Celes would be able to sniff a feeling like that out of someone. The Cipher grunts were out of the way now and had their just desserts, so Geoff would be in the clear until he returned to work, but until then, Jess can help Scott and the professor to their destination.

"So," Jess started up again, "can you tell me what happened?"

 

[Who's Kiyo?]

Chronicle One: Between Rugged Mountains
Section II
*image removed*
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Nique surveyed the area while she walked. What to catch, what to catch.... she could snag one of the Hoppip that danced in the air. Nah. They were Flying-Type, not really well adjusted for rock-type battles even with its Grass-Typing. Were there any other Grass-Types here? There might be an Oddish walking around, but, weren't they nocturnal or something? Sigh....​

Nique placed her hand on her cheek in defeat. "Oh, I just don't know what to catch! Hm.... what do you think, Mailko?"​

"Larvi, Larvitar." He said, strained.​

"What do you mean you don't want to have me another Pokémon?" Nique asked in confusion.​

Mailko cringed and clenched his teeth, crying a little. Upon further reading of his thoughts, Nique saw that the little guy was a little worried about having to share his mommy. What if the new Pokémon was evil and wanted to kill them in their sleep?!​

"Wow Mailko. Paranoid much, buddy?"​

The dinosaur whined a little at his mommy. Sigh. Again.​

Continuing along the path, Nique suddenly tripped over something. Landing on the ground softly, thankfully, Nique collected herself and sat up as Mailko went berserk in his cries. ​

"Was she hurt?! Don't be hurt! Gaah! Mommy!"​

"Shut up dude, I'm fine. Sheesh. Don't give yourself a hernia." Nique said as she examined the area where she tripped. A small pothole was to found, like a tiny ditch but had grass grown over it. The grass was flattened and looked as if someone went and picked the grass else ware and then sprinkled what they gathered over a soft patch of dirt. Like as if to hide something.... a hole under the dirt, perhaps.​

Well that was too good of an observation not to investigate.​

Nique crawled over to the pothole and pushed her hand on it. The dirt was soft and moist, and morphed to the pressure of her hand like one of those fancy memory foam beds. Not soon after, the dirt gave up the fight and finally snitched- it was hiding a secret hole!​

Whatever was in the hole that got hit by the dirt made a noise. Not a loud noise, mind, but one of those kinds of noises that's so soft that you maybe think you're going insane. It was like a high-pitched squeal, flustered and confused by the dirt hitting it. After a few moments passed without the noise again, Nique put her ear closer the hole.​

Thankfully, this was not one of those bad decisions like where an Ekans pops out of the hole and engulfs her head. No, all Nique got in return was the sound of small snoring. A Pokémon was napping down here!​

Nique stood up on her knees and placed her hands on her hips. What could it be? It sounded small and adorable. But this could be one of those moments where it's all ironic and it's actually a Carnivine or something.​

"Time for discovery!" She whispered to Mailko who was, like, a yard away. Wuss. Nique reached her hand into the hole and slowly went deeper. She started to feel... fur? Oh! So it is an adorable woodland Pokémon! She quickly found the body of the creature and took a hold of it. Before the creature could react, it was pulled out faster then you could say "I-Just-Murdered-A-Goldeen-In-The-Name-Of-Science!"​

Nique easily identified the furry Pokémon. Round ears, cute little nose, a tail that ended with a spiral, a buck tooth.... a Rattata!​

"Hi there, you crafty little bugger! So you know dig, hm?"​

The Rattata screamed its little lungs out and squirmed in her grasp frantically. It wasn't doing a good job, though. It was failing pretty badly- Nique was only holding it in one hand. Not even that tightly, either. But she was still winning the struggle war. Huh. Well, this went on for a good five minutes until the creature ran out of breath and energy. During that time, even Mailko got used to the sound and walked over, taking a seat next to Nique. The rat gasped for air as it slightly twitched.​

"....So, are you a male or female? By the look of your whisker length, you're probably a girl. But maybe that's not the case?"​

The rat screamed again and started flailing again, but this time with considerably less power. Nique overlapped her bottom lip with her top. This was.... well, this wasn't a dull moment, that was for sure. It stopped after a minute, choking almost from the lack of air in its lungs. It was drearily fluttering its eyes, as if about to faint. Hm.... Nique wondered something. Letting go of it, the rat plopped to the ground and lay on it side, not making an effort to run. ​

"Huh," Nique said. "No wonder you guys are eaten all the time as prey."​

Now that it wasn't screaming, Nique noticed something... it didn't have the usual purple fur! It had golden! Score! It was a shiny Pokémon!​

"Would you mind if I caught you, girly?"​

The Rattata screamed as much as it could before trying to wobble away on the ground. Nique looked at Mailko, eyebrows raised. Mailko blushed and shook its head inprotest to battling the creature. Wimp! Sighing, she looked around as the Rattata inched away slowly. There was this very nice log-like thing on the ground. Walking over and picking it up; it was not too light, but not too heavy. Perfect.​

The Rattata stopped when the girl towered over it. Its eyes dilated and it screamed as the girl raised a long, powerful-looking log.​

Whack.​

Gaah!​

Whack.​

Gah-ha-ha!​

Whack.​

Ahh-ha! Ah huh... Gah!​

Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack.​

Ah... Ga-ah....​

Whack.​

"That should be unconscious enough!" Nique proudly said as her Larvitar sit still with eyes frozen in fear. Taking out and dropping out a Pokéball from her pocket, Nique watched as the rat was trapped and locked into the ball.​

----​

Nique reached Viridian City, still examining her ball.​

"I wonder what to call her.... maybe.... Diana? Nah... um... Unala? Er... oh! Ukele! I like that. Say hello to Ukele, Mailko."​

"Lar- Larvitar."​

"I'm sure you two will get along great!" she said, beaming at the tiny dinosaur.​

​

 

[Nideous]

What to do... Scott was an open person, and not one to keep secrets. But on the other hand, if word got out that the son of the man that took down Cipher last time was wandering around Johto got out, his problems would only increase. Scott decided to take a middle of the road approach.
"What, my face? Oh, just crashed my grandpa's hovercycle. It was really bad. I'm from Orre, you see. My family was really involved with setting up a pokemon league for Orre and rehabitating wild pokemon there. That's how I met Elm. Anyways, when Cipher took over Orre, it was decided that I would move to a different region. So, I came here on my grandpa's hovercycle, and crashed it into a tree. Elm found me and brought me to his lab so I could recover. What about you? You said you were from Hoenn. That's as remote as Orre. What are you doing way out here?" Scott said. He glossed over just who his family was, as well as the full details of his escape, but that was about it. Celes purred softly in his arms as she fell asleep. He pet her happily and smiled at Cadas, who was now up on his shoulder clinging to his head.

 

[TornZero]

"Oh, just crashed my grandpa's hovercycle. It was really bad. I'm from Orre, you see." Though Jess mostly wanted a situation report on why Elm is moving out, it was probably a good thing to listen to Scott's story before anything. Maybe she could get to know the guy who gave Geoff's grunt 'buddies' what they deserved. Scott continued on about meeting Elm through what could have been much better circumstances, and Cipher taking over Orre. "What about you? You said you were from Hoenn. That's as remote as Orre. What are you doing way out here?" Jess looked at the sleeping Celes; so cute, and Cadas, who was lovingly clinging to his new trainer's head.

"I came here for the Indigo League, and for work since Hoenn's getting overrun by those weird Pokémon. I wouldn't be able to get around too much, and I'm not exactly a 'stay put' girl." Jess giggled a bit under her breath, then looked at her partner. "Absol isn't strong enough to take care of them on his own, sadly, so getting strong enough to fight those things and help keep my hometown safe is another reason. Oh, right. I used to live in Fortree City before coming out here. The overgrown trees make a good barricade, but they don't last forever, and a lot of the residents aren't much for battling." Jess wasn't a closed-off person herself, but she only had to scratch the surface of her situation to explain things to Scott and Elm as they passed through Cherrygrove City. Then Absol wanted to ask something.

Jess, where do you think Scott is staying if he's been hospitalized since he arrived? And what about the professor since he's destroyed everything in his lab? It was a pretty good question, actually, since Jess herself only took up residence in a hut in Violet City, and it didn't seem like there were many available places left.

"Hey, Scott, if Professor Elm's been taking care of you, where do you plan to stay now?"

 

[Dawn]

Elizabeth walked along. She was rather lost, as usual. Ever since 'the incident' she had been lost most of the time. Her stomach was painfully empty. She was aware of it, but she was trying to hold off on eating. She didn't have a job. She couldn't just pay for everything she needed. She had no idea what a homeless shelter was. She felt weak, and then her stomach made a growling noise. She took a deep breath and caved in. All she knew was she didn't want to feel an empty stomach anymore. She headed on over to an ice cream stand. She didn't feel comfortable entering actual restaurants. People... She didn't like dealing with people. They were strangers. She wanted her parents to comfort her but she couldn't have them. Everyone was a stranger. She also was rather prone to pleasing her sweet tooth. The man at the stand peered over his stand at her, a bit concerned as she dug around in one of her coat pockets.

Stand Owner: "Miss..?"

Her averted eyes. Her rather forlorn face. He had instantly become suspicious that perhaps she needed help of some sort. Elizabeth pulled out some coins. It was money, money she had earned. Or rather, her pokemon had earned said money. She wasn't sure if Meowth knew how much it meant to her, but it basically meant life. She had figured out that by winning a battle or two she could make money. People talked of rules, of standards. All she knew was that money gave her what she needed, food, and that if she did this, she could have it. The worst part however, was the look in people's eyes when she lost and often didn't have much to give. There were times where people had flat out refused to take her money. Were they like her? Did they depend on that money? She felt a headache coming on. Yet, she couldn't stop thinking. The first time she had ever battled like that, she had lost. A boy had to explain to her how it worked afterwards. At the time, she had been scared of him. He was a stranger that wanted something from her. She still recalled it clear as day. He had explained the concept. She had remained silent. She wouldn't look him in the eyes. She didn't know why, but she just didn't want to. He had asked her if she had any money. She had shaken her head no. What did one give if they had no money? She never got to find out. The boy had approached her, and by the time the time she had looked up he was already within arms reach. His hand had been held out, a small sum of coins there. He had given them to her, patted her on the shoulder, and walked away. She honestly didn't understand. She couldn't relate to anyone here. Everyone seemed like aliens to her. She understood what they said, but did she understand /them/? She couldn't tell. She was far too young to have to deal with being thrown into another era, and yet here she was. Her situation still overwhelmed her every time she tried to think about it. It was like drowning in a sea of questions she couldn't guarantee answers to. She was so used to being able to ask someone questions and have them answered. Yet.. strangers. Strangers everywhere. How was she supposed to talk to them? The only thing she wanted she couldn't have, familiarity.

Meanwhile, the stand owner scratched his head. Well she had money, enough for him to give her ice cream. Perhaps the best help he could give was to do his job? After all, she wasn't answering him, that was for sure. She seemed kind of raggedy though. He got the feeling she was a bit desperate. He sighed and moved towards the area he stored aforementioned ice cream.

Stand Owner: "What flavor?"

Elizabeth had been slightly frustrated the first time she had heard that question. They spoke her language but... half the time she didn't recognize words and terms or phrases people said just didn't make sense. Grammar was different. Vocab was different. She didn't even know /those/ words, yet understood the concept. All she knew was people spoke oddly, differently than she remembered. Of course, she had come to learn what this particular saying meant.

Elizabeth: "Chocolate..."

Her voice was just above a whisper. She preferred not to talk to strangers, yet sometimes it was just necessary. The man got out his ice scream scoop and scooped her up a single scoop of ice cream, placing it in a waffle cone and handing it back to her. She took the ice cream and pulled down her scarf a bit so that she wouldn't get any on her as she licked it. Before she could turn though, the man reached back over, handing her a generic bottled water. She stopped and looked up at him. What was he doing? Why was he giving her that? The concept that people took pity on her was hard for her to grasp. Lots of concepts were hard for her to grasp regarding social interaction. She had no one to help her and she wasn't exactly adapting all that well to the sudden time shift. She wasn't even aware that she had been sent forward in time. All she knew was she was lost in a place isolated from her own.

Stand Owner: "You can have this... It's free."

Elizabeth stared at him for a moment before tentatively reaching out and taking the water bottle. She still found herself confused by just about everything everyone did. Objectivity was lost. Sure, people looked like her and talked sorta like her, but the concept that they /were/ her people was a bit beyond her grasp as a ten year old. Everything everyone did evoked the question 'why'? Nobody had ever told her they cared. Not here anyway.

Elizabeth: "T-Thank you..."

With that, Elizabeth turned and walked off. A while back she might've ran, wanting to be alone, but now she knew what real exhaustion felt like. She would not make the mistake of running unnecessarily.

Later, as she finished eating her ice cream, her thoughts drifting off her now pleased stomach to the task at hand. She had become aware of some rather frightening pokemon. Shadow pokemon, they were called. Apparently 'Cipher' was causing those, and some guy called Red could help stop it. Being a rather kind-hearted person, in all honestly, Elizabeth wanted to help. She didn't like what Cipher was doing more than anyone else. Yet, she wasn't sure where to start as far as finding Red and making him help. How was she even going to manage that? She had done way too much thinking, and had a full blown headache now. She rubbed at her temples sorely, deciding to come back to that thought after a moment of trying to relax her brain a bit.

 

[Nideous]

"I'm not staying anywhere. The time has come for me to hit the road, get out and see the sights. I've got great things planned for my future you know," Scott said. He decided to leave it at that. He tickled the gible that was hanging on to his hair and laughed at his surprised expression. Pokemon were such wonderful creatures. They were amazingly fantastic. It made him get angry at the thought of what Cipher has done to them. All the Shadow Pokemon that were over running Hoenn. He clenched his fist at the thought. He was going to set things right. His father had done a great job, but he had left things unfinished. He had been too forgiving. And now they were all paying for that. So, Scott was going to be the one to fix it. Because his father couldn't. He was most likely dead now. The injustices burned inside him, but he showed no hint of it, except for a clenched fist and sorrow in his eyes.

 

[Who's Kiyo?]

Chronicle One: Between Rugged Mountains
Section III
*image removed*

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Komoko smiled charmingly as they walked down the grassy pathway. "And you've just captured a shiny Rattata? That sure sounds lucky!"

"It's so strange, right? Here," Nique said, talking off Ukele's Pokéball off her belt. "Wanna hold her?"

"Really?! Sure!" Komoko said in excitement. A red burst of light came from the ball onto Komoko crossed arms, manifesting a golden-furred Rattata. Regaining her consciousness for the first time after being assaulted, Ukele opened her eyes and frantically looked around, tensing up every muscle in her small rat body. Komoko felt this tension and started petting the rat's back.

"It's okay Ukele," she whispered. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The rat hesitantly looked up at the girl and stared at her with huge, dilated eyes, just drenched in fear. Ukele screamed loudly and quickly swiped at the girl's face, making Komoko hastily drop the creature. The rat sped off further into the route.

Komoko gasped and put her hands on her mouth before turning to Nique, who was a bit stunned. "I'm so sorry, she just-"

"Never mind that dear," Nique said kindly. "She just not adjusted being a trainer's Pokémon. Rattatas are such timid creatures; shiny or otherwise." Nique started to walk away in the direction of the Rattata. "Stay right there, okay? I'll be right back."

"Just return her safe and sound, alright?!" Komoko shouted back. "Oh, me and my butter fingers."

----

Nique started to pick up on the thoughts of the Rattata escapee. Ha! It had gone exactly where she thought it would- back in the hidey hole. Rattatas weren't known for their innovativeness, mind you. The thoughts were faint though.... she needed to get closer. Quietly, Nique kneeled down and quietly listened.

"....That was so close..."

Okay.

"....I thought they were going to eat me...."

Understandable.

"....I wouldn't never seen my...."

Hm? Oh, are we getting interesting now?

"....My siblings. I love you. I returned for you...."

Ukele's family lived down there, too?

"....Hopefully the human will never suspect me to come here again...."

Hehe.

"....I couldn't just leave you four here. I have to provide for you..."

Aw, what a good big sister!

"....Even if she does find me again, I will escape again and again without fail to protect you...."

Hm.... that may be a problem for me.

"....But, may we never see that human or any other human ever again...."

Nique quickly reached down into the hole and picked up the first lump of fur she felt. Luckily, it was Ukele.

"Surprise!" Nique exclaimed.

The Rattata could've have screamed any louder as she helplessly tried to squirm away, swiping her paws like she believed she could claw at Nique's face from a foot and a half away. Nique tossed the Rattata nonchalantly a bush right next to them. Ukele wasn't the one she was interested in right now.

"So you got four more of you golden rat bastards down there, eh?"

Ukele stared in petrifaction as Nique dipped her arm into the hole once again. The girl felt a lump of fur off to the side and pulled it out once she had a good grip on it. What she got was revealed to be a smaller, yet heavier, and longer whiskered version of Ukele, equipped with that awesome golden fur.

"Your younger bro, Ukele?"

The rat in the bush whimpered, not knowing what to do or say. The rat in Nique's hand slowly opened its tiny eyes to see a huge human. It screamed, much like Ukele had both times Nique pulled her out of that hole, and tried to squirm away. Unsuccessfully, of course.

"Woah! You two are definitely siblings!"

"....Stop! Please!" Ukele squealed. Nique looked over to her in cute curiosity. "I will have nothing to live for if my family is taken from me!"

Nique thought about this statement for a moment before answering something back. "So, to say, if your siblings are killed or something, you won't be bent on escaping from me?"

Ukele looked at cynically. "Uh-uh, yea-yes?" she confirmed with confusion.

Nique shrugged her shoulders and placed the screaming rat in her hand back into the hole. Nique stood up and brushed her hands together and looked at Ukele. "Cool."

"Oh thank you for your mercy! Than-"

Nique jumped up and landed forcefully on the patch of ground where the hole was located. Nique pushed her hands in both directions to keep her balance as the ground beneath her collapsed into the hole, accompanied by a choir of tiny screams.

"My family!" Ukele cried.

"Oh spare me the melodrama, Ukele. They're not dead." Nique said as she bent down to the ground once more.

"They're-they're not?!"

"No! You think that a little bit of dirt and the pressure of my feet under the cushion of said dirt is going to kill them? Please, sister. This was only to keep them stunned."

"....stunned?"

Nique reached down into the dirt and shifted her hand to look for one of the rats. She found one and held it up by its back in her palm. It was barely conscious, but still very much alive and pretty lucid at that. It was shrieking fainting, like it lost it voice. It was the same once from before.

"Do you all have names?" Nique asked Ukele suddenly.

"Yes, we do. What do you plan for my-"

Nique looked back at the Rattata in her hand. Name, name....

"Ah, so this one is Warlni, hm?"

"How did you know that?" Ukele asked, no, begged. What was she planning for Warlni?! How could she possibly get the correct name by just looking at him? ...in fact, how could the human understand every word she was saying?!

Nique looked at the dazed Warlni. As she tapped her fingers on her pants pocket. Warlni.... heh. The glutton of the five, usually being tackled and clawed for eating all the food. He was a bit lax and lazy, and had to be asked to move or play. But despite the stress and headaches he gave, he was still very much loved. That's so sweet.

Nique quickly pulled out her switchblade from her pocket and stabbed Warlni right in his tiny little heart with the blade extension. The rat screeched in pain, finally being thrust into full consciousness. He squirmed trying to escape the stinging torment, but that only made it worse as the blade ripped open his flesh more. Nique took the knife out and plopped the dying Rattata on the ground near the bush where Ukele resided.

Ukele ran over top Warlni, freaking out sobbing. "Warlni? Warlni! Speak to me, please!" her brother only gave a couple of gargles in response and finally stopped moving. He was dead.

"You- you killed Warl-" Ukele began, only to find Nique with another sibling.

"Ah, so you're Vivina, hm?" Nique inquired. Ah, Vivina. Thought she was all that and a bag of chips. Such a loudmouth, and being outspoken was almost her trademark behavior. Just so classic. Who could ever forget Vivina once you met her? Possibly loved the most out of the five collectively by her siblings. Vivina looked up at Nique with a fiery glare, but notheless, she was frightened out of mind. She tried to bite the hand she was positioned on.

Nique decided to slit the rat's throat this time. The stabbing-of-the-heart method was too messy. It was like a Jackson Polluck painting on their fur. And her hands.

Once again, she tossed the rat to her side and shifted through the dirt. Ukele stared in horror as her sister looked back at her, spewing blood from her neck.

Nique grabbed another brother apparently, this one named....

"Qualo! How are you buddy?" Qualo was the coolest one out of the bunch; he had all sorts of stories with lessons and morals that the other siblings could relate more to, since Ukele always acted more like a mother then a big sister and thus told silly kid stories. He was always chill and vibrant in personality down to his very core. What an awesome dude. Qualo dizzily waved his arms and legs around, looking desperately at Nique.

"No- no! Don't-!" Ukele pleaded.
Snap! Qualo's neck was broken into a thousand tiny pieces. There, no blood! Wasn't Nique clever and efficient?

Nique sighed and examined her work after placing Qualo with the other two victims. They made a pretty nice pile of golden rats, she thought. Now....

"You've killed them all...." Ukele said quietly, as if to herself. She felt helpless and useless, having just stood there as her family was murdered one-by-one.

Nique thought for a moment. "Weren't there five of you? I've only killed one, two, three.... and then there's you, and that makes four siblings...."

"No, there's none of us left," lied Ukele.

"Oh? Then what's that, my dear?" Nique said, pointing to a tail buried in the dirt. Ukele's eyes flooded with tears as Nique pulled out an itty-bitty bite-sized Rattata. Obviously it was the youngest, and most likely the youngest. Hm....

This cutie-pie was Jalion, the most adorable Rattata in all the land. His quirky and funny little antics made everyone laugh- and scold him, if he made trouble. But this tiny guy was always forgiven and given love and care.... he was meant for big things one day!

Nique stood up as she cradled the tiny rat in her hands. He coughed slightly, getting the dust out of his mouth. And for once, one of the members of golden Rattata family didn't scream, try to claw her, or attempt to run away, Instead, Jalion smiled at Nique. Smiled! How freaking cute!

"Please, spare him. He's a child. It's me you want. Take me and leave him. Please."

Nique prodded the Rattata's nose with her one. He cried out in happiness, feeling loved and playful towards the seemingly gentle giant.

"Don't try and fool me or yourself, Ukele. We all know that if I left this cutie behind, you would get so worried that you try to leave during the night- the guilt of leaving your defenseless baby brother alone in the wilderness would eat you up inside."

"I- I-"

Nique tickled the rat's belly. He giggled in high-pitched squeals and took her index finger, and lightly nibbled on it in affection.

"Aww!" Nique cried out in joy. "He likes me!"

"You monster! Let him go!" Ukele protested angrily.

"I'm starting to think of a compromise here, Ukele. Why don't I go back to Komoko, the girl whose arms you woke up in, and giver her this guy as her first Pokémon? She'd love him and you could still be with him."

Ukele shifted her eyes a bit as she looked towards the ground in thought. She raised her head, and barred her teeth. "I would rather death then seeing my brother be a human's slave!"

A moment of silence passed and Nique looked at her battle-ready Rattata curiously. Wasn't expecting that answer. Meh, whatever.

"As you wish," Nique said, dropping the tiny Rattata to the ground.

"What- No! I meant-!" Ukele cried.

The rat landed hard on the dirt, squealing in pain. But, the impact wasn't of any comparison to the pain from Nique's boot smashing his entire skull under its tremendous force as her foot was brought down on top of it.

----

Nique was happily walking along, Ukele shivering in her arms, eyes permanently frozen wide open.

"There, you see? Now you have no reason to escape from me! There's nothing to go back to!"

The Rattata simply shivered some more.

"It was really a shame about that last one, um, oh right, little Jalion. He was the cutest and sweetest critter I've ever seen. And you just had to say 'I'd prefer death to slavery blah, blah!' Komoko would've loved him. Tch. You're so selfish."

No response, yet again. Only more shivering.

"Buuuuuttttt.... I guess that's alright. To be honest, I'm a bit self-centered myself. Ha! Oh, us."

The two approached Komoko, who was quietly and politely sitting on a nearby rock.

"Oh, you found her!" The kimono-wearing girl joyfully exclaimed as she got up.

"Yep! Found her hiding in the same hole I originally found her in."

Komoko looked at the shaking rodent. "She's scared to the bone! Poor girl," Komoko said, wrapping the creature up in her arms as Nique passed her over.

"She'll be fine. Come on, let's get to Pallet Town already," Nique said as she slowly turned around. Komoko nodded and trotted behind as she petted the rat. A frown was cast on her face when it wouldn't calm down.

"It's like she's sent the face of death itself!"​

 

[TornZero]

Scott left the conversation at telling Jess about planning great things for his future and getting out to see the world. He tickled Cadas, then clenched his fist. The talk about Shadow Pokémon must have gotten to him; Absol could see it clearly. Does he have some connection to Cipher? If he does, that might be some good knowledge to exploit... but that's not really how Jess likes to play her games. It would still be good to know, just to see how cautious Cipher should be about Scott. The grunts didn't seem to know who he was, Absol... yet who tells grunts anything?

We should still find out if he has any connection, Absol replied. We shouldn't be intrusive, though, to keep from arousing suspicion. They were heading towards Violet City for the most part, but a feature from there to Cherrygrove caught the white-furred Pokémon's attention. There was a house around here when we passed by last time. Wasn't there? Maybe that was their destination, and Jess' curiosity just couldn't be helped. And maybe Celes would loosen up on the girl, since the smell of Geoff's clothing was finally wearing off and the cute little Eevee was getting a well-deserved rest. Jess didn't really pay much attention to it earlier, but taking a closer look at the Eevee, she noticed it was a shiny Pokémon, with beautiful silver fur.

"Professor, we -- Absol and I -- noticed a house around here on our way to your lab. Is that where you're headed?" There wasn't much point in being indirect about it. No one would want to walk too far carrying a bag like Elm had.

 

[Nideous]

"Why yes. I am going to visit a very old friend. I've decided that I need to move to a better location, so I'll only be there a little while," Elm said. Scott rolled his eyes. He had calmed down now, but Cipher was still bugging him. He shook his head and they continued down the road. Soon, the small house came into veiw. It reminded him of Dr. Kaminko's manor, but it was much smaller. Scott sighed. Professors and their crackpot friends. Go figure. There were machine parts strewn about in the long uncut grass. Scott bravely led the other two up to the house. Elm knocked on the door, and it opened, revealing a man in his mid seventies. He smiled grandly at the younger Professor (Who was in his late forties to early fifties.) and the two exchanged a greeting.

"Elm! It's been too long! My newest find finally got you curious?" the old man said.
"Sorry, but that's not why I'm here. You've heard what Cipher is doing right? Well, they just came after me. Would it be fine if I stayed here until I can get transportation to Kanto?" Elm asked. Scott swore he was acting like he didn't want to. And he could see why. Mr. Pokemon was weird. He kept looking at them all with wild eyes. The man was a lunatic. That was Scott's personal thought on the matter.
"Of course you can! What about these two?" Mr. Pokemon asked.
"I'm not going to stay. I got some badges to win!" Scott said. Elm nodded approvingly.
"Good luck Scott! You take care of yourself! I'll see you again! And thanks for everything," Elm said. Scott waved to him and began to walk toward Violet City. He vaguely wondered what Jess was going to do. She was welcome to come with him if she wanted too. Either way, he wasn't going to let it slow him down. He was going to take out Cipher, no matter what.

 

[Fuyu]

Naren let Elisha down after healing her. She shook her head quietly, clutching her small Purification Stone. "Got lucky," she mumbled to herself. The girl sighed wearily. What good was it if pity earned her her first badge? Elisha had worked really hard though... The girl shook her head and went through the gate. She had to try and get stronger and help Elisha get stronger.

Naren entered Ilex Forest a moment later, Elisha happily sniffing around. The girl shivered quietly, swearing she heard the sound of those old Scyther. They had already killed Papa. What was stopping them from getting her? Oh, yeah, Elisha. That would have been comforting if she was that naive. Her Pokemon was a tiny thing against the world. Not for the first time, she wondered what insanity possessed her to do this. Oh well.

Elisha suddenly yelped and growled. She bolted off. Naren blinked in startled fear before hurrying after her odd Pokemon. Then she froze. Her ears were ringing oddly. Coming... we're here... come here...

Help... we're trapped here... She was hearing things again... but from where? She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hear. That was when golden light danced behind her eyelids. She opened her eyes to see multicolored sparks akin to fireflies all over her body. Naren wanted to cry but settled for covering her ears. She was crazy, bonkers, belonged in the nuthouse. The voices were louder and wilder in her ears now, trickling between her fingers. Elisha's yelping and yowling drew her attention but the lights kept dancing. One, a large blob of energy, was black and lashing around wildly, like a savage. Wait... savage?

She rolled out of the way, trying to blink the lights away. But they didn't fade in the slightest, blinding and burning. She rolled away again, dodging another attack. Then a small body slammed into hers, knocking her over. She squinted before letting out a soft cry. It didn't hurt that badly until she yelped in pain. Her hands recognized Elisha's fur before her ears heard the squeals.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. There was a Shadow Pokemon nearby. Oh god. No, not again, please… oh why was she panicking? She slapped her cheeks and closed her eyes. She and Elisha were still alive so they had to do something. Right? But the voices… She clenched her fists, hearing Elisha crying. No choice… Naren rose to her feet, keeping her eyes to the ground, avoiding the lights. "Elisha," she bit out. "'S gonna attack. Move an' fire, mkay?"

"Cyn!" Elisha at least understood her trainer's odd way of speaking. Naren was blind and deaf to the battle at the moment. She had to find the source of the voices. Then she could help Elisha. The sound always made the lights go away. It happened the last time she was here, the last time, when Papa died… when she… The voices suddenly screeched furiously. Naren felt her eyes look toward the shrine. She caught a glimpse of Elisha getting hit by a Budew. The black aura lashed and snarled around it, and it was a darker shade of green. When the screeching burned her ears again, she ignored it. Elisha needed her right now.

"Extrasensory!" The shout caused Budew to charge toward her, its aura violet and black. The extra lights had faded thank Celebi. Shadow Rush… She leapt out of the way and it hit the tree behind her. The tree shook, badly cracked. As Budew reoriented itself, Elisha released a rainbow blast of energy, knocking it back into the tree. Budew growled and charged at Narend. Naren moved again. Elisha yelped and was about to hurry over and fire when she paused. If she used Ember from that close range, she would hit her trainer too! No way!

Naren scrambled backwards, avoiding again. She looked around desperately and then shook her head. That was definitely not going to help calm this thing down. She stared straight at Budew and then ran right past it toward her Cyndaquil. The Pokemon released an Ember and Budew charged right through it, burned as she knocked Elisha down. Elisha got up again, panting. Naren forced her eyes fully open. "I ain't lettin you be knocked down again!" she declared in a surprising burst of bravery. She reached into a pocket and enlarged a Pokeball. The girl steadied her arm and threw, hitting the Budew in the chest. It let out a cry of alarm as it was sucked inside. It shook and shook until falling still.

Before Naren could go pick it up, she hit the ground. The cries were louder, calling, calling… from the shrine. Something was in there. IT was shouting now. The sunflower girl rose to her feet and walked over to it. She rested a hand on one of the shrine door handles, staring blankly ahead. Elisha watched in tired confusion before waddling over to pick up the Pokeball and butting it against her human's leg.

 

[TornZero]

A very old friend? With the professor's increasing age, just how old is this guy? Scott led Elm and Jess up to the house, and the man that answered the door looked like he was in his seventies. "Old" was definitely the right way to describe him. Jess took a look around for herself while Elm and Mr. Pokémon exchanged their friendly greetings. There were parts of machines literally spilled everwhere, and who knows which parts go to what.

"My newest find finally got you curious?" With how old he is, he may be forgetting everything as quickly as he 'found' it.

"Sorry, but that's not why I'm here. You've heard what Cipher is doing right? Well, they just came after me." At least Jess got the explanation she wanted this time. Elm needed a place to crash while he waits for a way to get to the Kanto region.

"Of course you can! What about these two?"

Scott took the chance to reply pretty confidently. "I'm not going to stay. I got some badges to win!" Frankly, Jess had her own badges to get.

"Good luck, Scott! You take care of yourself!" Elm was confident in the kid, too. He DID protect the professor from Cipher before, so there's no reason not to put some trust in him.

As Scott started to head off, Jess finally spoke. "I have to get the badges, too. Scott seems to know the area well, so I'll try going with him for a little while. It was nice meeting you, Professor." The girl folded her hands over her skirt, took a short bow to Elm and his senile friend, and jogged off with Absol to catch up to Scott. "H-hey, Scott!" Getting up to him finally got rid of all of the Geoff-smell, and she told him what she told Elm. Absol, it would probably be best to stick with him for a bit. We probably won't get too far on our own right now. Absol just nodded as if he was agreeing to what his trainer was telling the kid next to them.

Elm chuckled as the two headed to Violet City, turning to Mr. Pokémon and entering his messy home. "You can't really keep kids still, can you?"

 

[zapdos926]

The truck drove all the way back to Johto HQ, and Aston jumped out as soon as it stopped, carrying the still sleeping Ranger to his room. The grunt he had battled with had kept going on and on about how Aston shouldn't have used that last earthquake and he was glad to be away from him. Aston set the trapinch on his bed, and lay down next to him, kicking his shoes off. "Well, that didn't go as well as expected," Ranger grunted when he woke up. "We back at base?" He looked around. "Nah, we're in a black hole. Alternate universe and crap like that," Aston said with a sarcastic grin. "We'll get him next time we see him. You'll probably at least be a vibrava by that time," Aston rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling fan. "You do know that vibrava have really low stats, right?" Ranger glanced at Aston. "Yea, but unless he evolves his eevee into a vaporeon, you should be fine. He'll still be faster than you until you evolve into Flygon, but vibrava is one step closer to Flygon than you are now. We'll go out and catch a new partner tomorrow, good night." Aston yawned and fell asleep.

(we need some more Cipher members in the general area)

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

"Welcome to the Pallet Town Pokémon Center, how can we help you?" A cheery nurse smiled as Felix entered through the automatic door, a bell ringing as he entered.

"Yeah. Hi." Felix approached the counter, looking around the building like a kid in a candy shop. He had rarely been in one of these places before, only a few times tagging along when his father's Swampert needed a visit. Felix stood there, a smile on his face as he gazed around the room, occasionally peaking back behind the counter, the nurse in from of him getting more impatient by the second.

"Sir? How can I help you…?"

Felix snapped back into reality. "Oh. Uh." With a grin on his face, he held Rayne's Pokeball out in front of him, placing his other hand behind his head. "This Pokémon I caught… Um… Can you, I dunno… heal it for me?"

The nurse gave him a somewhat quizzical look, before taking the Pokeball and placing it in the scanner behind her, all the while, Felix peaked around her, eying the scanner.

"You know, you can sit down and wait. I can call you when we finish treatment." The nurse finally said in a disgruntled tone.

"Yeah, I know." Felix continued to peer over her shoulder, just watching as she resentfully continued her work.

This continued for several minutes, the nurse occasionally shifting to block Felix's view of her work, Felix moving to see. When it was all said and done, she basically shoved the ball back into Felix's hands.

"There you go. All healed up." She grimaced, fake enthusiasm filling her voice.

Felix just smiled, taking the Pokeball from the nurse. "Oh. And I just have one other question." Felix placed the ball down on the desk, grabbing his shirt and beginning to take it off.

"S- Sir." The nurse stammered, blushing. "What are-"

"Just wondering…" Felix finished taking off his shirt, causing the nurse to cover her mouth as she gasped. Stretched across his chest was a huge cut resembling a claw slash, and while not deep, still oozed with blood.

"Do you heal people as well?"

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

Although the Pokémon Center did not, in fact, heal people as Felix had hoped (The woman had suggested he visit a hospital) she did bandage his chest up enough to stop the bleeding. At least he didn't get his favorite shirt bloody.

Felix walked along Route 1; Viridian City was supposed to have a gym (and a hospital), which made it seem like a good place to start his journey. Felix's hand drifted to his belt, grabbing the Pokeball and holding it in his hand. His chest ached as he stopped in the middle of the route, just staring at the ball.

"I suppose I can give it another shot. Come on out, Rayne!" He threw the ball up into the air, and in a brilliant show of light, a Totodile stood in front of him, eyes narrowed as if the Pokémon had just been woken up.

With a grin on his face, Felix knelt down next to the Pokémon.

"Hey buddy. I know we got off to the wrong start last time…and the time before that… and in Mauville…" Felix's grin started to fade as the Totodile groggily turned away from him, muttering spouts of "Totodile" under its breath. "…But anyways, I wanted to give it another shot. I'm Felix, and I'm your-"

At this point, Rayne made it clear he had heard enough. The Pokémon leaped up, took a deep breath, and fired a Water Gun right at his trainer's face. Felix tumbled back as the Totodile landed gracefully on the ground.

"…Trainer." Felix coughed out along with about a gallon of water. He sighed, laying on the grass and closing his eyes. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be a trainer after all. Yeah, he wanted revenge on Cipher, but going on this huge quest to beat all the gyms, it seemed a little too much. If he wanted to fight so badly, he should've just joined the army. Then again, don't they use Pokemon as well?

"Pika?"

Felix immediately shot up, opening his eyes. In front of him stood a Pikachu. It's tail notched and heart shaped and head cocked quizzically to the side with one ear up and the other down.

He couldn't believe his luck! A Pikachu! Felix stood up, reaching into his pack and fumbling around for a Pokeball; all the while the Pikachu stood, still looking at him quizzically. Finally, at the bottom of his bag, he found what he was looking for, an empty Pokeball.

"Right! Now Rayne! Use Water Gun." He shouted, waiting for a moment for the Pikachu to be blasted away with water, only for nothing to happen. He looked around for his Pokemon left and right, only to spot him lying down on the grass a little ways away.

"Rayne!" Felix ran over to the Pokemon, squatting down next to him. "Comon. Please. Just this once."

The Totodile groggily turned, momentarily filling Felix with a small sense of hope, before turning back over and falling asleep. As Felix let out a sigh, the Pikachu calmly walked up next to Felix, stared at the Totodile, and let loose a Thundershock on the sleeping Pokemon.

The Totodile shook from the attack, lying still for a moment, before it's eyes shot open. Felix could only stand there in shock (no pun intended) as Rayne, although rattled from the surprise attack, jumped up, fire in his eyes. Felix could swear the Pikachu smiled as it took a fighting stance.

"Toto…" The Pokemon growled as it faced the Pikachu.

"So you want to fight… Alright… then… Rayne, use Scratch!" Rayne's claws glowed an eerie red and blue as he rushed the Pikachu. Now, Felix was by no means an expert at Pokemon, but even he could tell it wasn't a normal scratch attack. He had seen the attack once during a Pokemon battle at the Fortree Gym. Rayne was using a Dragon Claw attack.

The Totodile fiercely swiped at the Pikachu, who, impressively dodged each attack with expertise, and after a few seconds, launched another bolt of electricity at Rayne. Luckily for the Totodile, the attack shocked the ground in front of him, but it cut his frenzy short.

"Water Gun, let's go!" Rayne let loose a torrent of water at the Pikachu, the water sending the rodent tumbling across the field. Felix couldn't believe it. Rayne (although looking slightly irked about it), was actually listening to him!

"One more time! Dragon Claw." The Totodile again launched into battle, swiping at the recovering Pikachu, but this time, hitting it. The Pikachu fell to the ground as Rayne stood over it, letting out a fierce roar.

"Ok." Felix grinned, holding the Pokeball in his hand. "Let's hope this works." With all of his might, Felix threw the Pokeball at the unconscious Pikachu, the Pokemon immediately being sucked into the ball. It shook once, twice, and then, stood still.

"Did… Did it work?" Felix cautiously approached the ball, slowly picking it up in his hands. " I think so. I mean, it looks like it."

As Felix surveyed the ball, Rayne let out a sigh, going back to his spot and soon falling asleep.

 

[Nideous]

Scott grinned at Jess as she ran up to join him.
"Sure you can come aong! I rather enjoy having someone to talk to. But you need to know that I've got people after me. I may not be the safest traveling buddy you'll ever meet," Scott said with a large smile on his face.
"Eevee! Vee!" Celes said as she slowly woke up. Scott set her on the ground. Cadas hopped down too and dove on her. She shoved him off of her and gave him a tired grimace.
"Gible!" Cadas said as he grabbed Scott's leg.
"Anyways, the closest gym from here would be... Violet City. So, that's where we'll go," Scott said. He set out to get to Violet City. He hoped he wouldn't run into any trouble. He'd had enough trouble for today.

 

[Dawn]

Meanwhile, Elizabeth nursed the free water she had been given. She needed to find somewhere to battle though so that she would have something for next time she wanted to eat. This lifestyle was too demanding of her. She sighed and took out Meowth's pokeball, which had been hidden in her coat as per usual. Like all the pokeballs she carried on her person it was from her time, an ancient pokeball that predated the technology used to make the modern ones. In her time, they couldn't afford to waste balls as they weren't easy to mass produce. Thus, they were made to be very efficient. She twisted a knob on the top of the ball until she felt a mechanism click inside. she then pressed the button on it's center, which emitted a second click. She proceeded to hold out the ball. A brilliant white light flooded out as she allowed it to open, Meowth emerging.

Meowth stretched his arms, legs, and tail before looking up at Elizabeth. She looked back down at him thoughtfully. Meowth was a pretty good thief, but Elizabeth really didn't want to steal. Stealing was bad. She heard the crack of an impact somewhere nearby. Hmm? Sounded like a fight. Maybe it was a trainer battle. She honestly didn't have a whole lot of interest in beating others in battles. She just needed the prize money. She walked off, prompting Meowth to follow closely behind.

Yet, when she reached the source of the fighting sound, she did not find two trainers battling. Rather, wild pokemon. Not just any wild pokemon, though. One of them was clearly a shadow pokemon! A cubone was fighting a Carnivine that had a black aura about it. Elizabeth withdrew a bit, slightly intimidated by the presence of that vicious shadow pokemon. It seemed to be attacking Cubone, who was having a hard time hitting Carnivine with what looked to be a thick bone club. Elizabeth found it weird that Cubone wore a skull on it's head, but the implications were lost on her.

Cubone became pretty annoyed by being unable to hit it's opponent and suddenly began to smack itself in the abdomen with it's own bone. Elizabeth was somewhat confused b y this. Why was it hurting itself? It was like it was playing it's abdomen like a drum with that bone... She could even see bruises forming! Abruptly the Cubone stopped and lunged at Carnivine, only to be dodged yet again. This time however, it's bone went on to strike the ground, shattering it with sheer force. Elizabeth winced. Ouch. That looked like it would hurt to get hit with, like, a lot. Yet, Cubone still couldn't hit Carnivine. Elizabeth decided to try to help the Cubone, who was clearly just exhausting itself so that Carnivine could do goodness only knows what to it.

Elizabeth: "Meowth, use fake out, then bite it!"

She lifted her arm to point at Carnivine. Cubone became startled by her voice and looked at her in a rather distrusting manner, though she was not paying attention to it at the moment. Meowth quickly charged Carnivine, stopping just out of reach before rapidly reaching in to swipe Carnivine, successfully getting a flinch out of the bug trap pokemon. Carnivine just sort of got really, really mad and turned on Meowth, only to have Meowth latch onto one of it's vines and bite down hard. Carnivine cried out, promptly whipping it's vine around to try and shake Meowth off Seeing as this was not working, it promptly lowered itself lower to the ground and slammed Meowth down with it. Dust flew up, though Cubone didn't seem to mind. When it cleared, Meowth was stumbling away from Carnivine with a dazed look in his eyes. Elizabeth just sort of watched, concerned. After a moment Meowth seemed to come to his senses though, as he turned just in time to see a very angry Carnivine flying at him with intent to ram. Meowth nimbly dodged out of the way, simultaneously swiping at Carnivine's side with his claws. He was trying to find an item to steal. Unfortunately Carnivine had nothing on it's person, but the raking claws seemed to hurt plenty. Carnivine spun around, it's ferociousness set on Meowth...only for a bone club to come down on it's head. Carnivine had neglected to float higher up into the air so that Cubone could not reach him. A loud crack was heard, and Carnivine just /collapsed/. Elizabeth winced again. Those blows looked powerful enough to take out pokemon far more powerful than a random Carnivine out of it's element.

Meowth seemed to relax a bit. Elizabeth jogged up to Cubone, neglecting to take caution around wild pokemon. Whatever part of her brain knew pokemon could very well attack humans was just sort of turned off. She reached out a hand, holding it out towards Cubone as if to offer it to him...only to have said hand promptly smacked with a bone club.

There was nothing Elizabeth could compare to how much it had hurt. How could something so small hit like such a truck? Her piercing scream filled the air as she withdrew her hand, clutching it and just sort of stumbling back a bit before collapsing into something akin to a fetal position.

Meowth's reaction was immediate. He jumped between Elizabeth and Cubone, making a hissing noise at Cubone, flashing his fangs and baring his claws, his eyes narrowed. Cubone just sort of stopped, hesitated for a moment, and promptly swung it's bone club at Meowth.... only to have it stolen via thief. Cubone felt claws rake it's hand, just before yanking the club away. Cubone just sort of stared at Meowth, dumbfounded, who was carrying the club with some effort.

Meowth seemed to believe he had this in the bag. That is until Cubone promptly used Face Punch!...Wait that isn't an attack. Didn't stop Cubone though. Cubone promptly struck a startled Meowth in the face, knocking the cat pokemon out in one hit and leaving a bruise.

Cubone promptly took it's bone back and walked on over to a lightly sobbing Elizabeth. It then lifted it's bone club and... poked her leg. Elizabeth flinched, trying her best to play dead in hopes it would go away. This of course was failing horribly, as she was shaking and sobbing. She couldn't be any worse at playing dead if she was tap dancing under a spotlight!

Cubone just sort of poked her several times before moving and prodding her arm in a similar fashion. Cubone was rather bored with the display. I mean honestly, who did Elizabeth think she was kidding? It wasn't here to /eat/ her, though it mused itself by noting that there were plenty of pokemon around that might try. Cubone had been somewhat moved, namely by Meowth's reaction to Cubone attacking Elizabeth. She obviously wasn't a bad person if her pokemon were that loyal to her. A meowth never stood a chance against a cubone. Either that Meowth had been really stupid, or it had been willing to put his life on the line for her.

Elizabeth refused to stop playing dead however. She was too terrified after being struck earlier. Cubone stopped poking her and leaned down near her head, staring. After a bit, Elizabeth looked up to check if Cubone was gone, only to find Cubone staring right back at her. She just sort of squeaked and went back to playing dead. Cubone become mildly irritated. This human acted as if she had been struck on the head.

After a moment though, Elizabeth peeked back out at Cubone. Cubone just sort of stared at her for several moments, and she stared back. Cubone then patted her on the head, invoking several flinches from Elizabeth. She ignored this. Silly human was very silly. She then moved over and pushed at Elizabeth a bit, trying to get her to open up. Elizabeth just sort of whined, but after a bit of prodding uncurled and sat up. She was clutching her arm with her good arm. The hand that had taken the hit was all red and had a rather painful looking abrasion on it. Cubone seemed to sigh at this. There wasn't a whole lot she could do. Elizabeth just sort of stared down at Cubone. Like just about everything else, Cubone confused her. Yet...

Elizabeth let go of her hurt hand, and tenderly stuffed it in one of her coat pockets, wincing as she did so. She then used her good hand to take out one of her ancient pokeballs. Cubone noticed this and just sort of narrowed her eyes, staring. Elizabeth hesitated a moment, fearing another whack from that club. After said moment Cubone relented a bit though. Cubone was a rather lonely pokemon. She didn't have qualms with being taken by a kind trainer. Yet, Elizabeth soon found herself struggling to operate the pokeball with one hand, and her other hand hurt to move. She raised the ball to her mouth and gripped the knob with her teeth, twisting it that way. Success! She then pressed the button in the middle and aimed it at Cubone. Cubone disappeared in a flash of white light into the ball, which didn't even wiggle once as Cubone wasn't even resisting the capture. Elizabeth was kind of impressed. How exactly had she managed to pull this off again? She had no idea. She stared at the pokeball before getting up and walking along, moving further into the forest. It was of course Ilex forest. She somehow hoped in vein that she would be able to find her way back to her own time by going there. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice a pair of suspicious looking vines hanging from a tree in her path. She bumped into the vines, only then stopping to notice what she had done. It wasn't quick enough however, as they promptly wrapped around her. She screamed, even pulling out her hurt hand to try and grip the vines with, struggling as a Weepinbell pulled her into the air. Cubone promptly let herself out of Elizabeth's pokeball and latched onto her leg. Seeing as she was wearing a dress-coat hybrid it would take Cubone a bit to climb her way up, namely because she needed to catch the rim of said coat in order to avoid unfortunate implications.

Meanwhile, Weepinbell brought Elizabeth up to it's level and just sort of stared at her, slightly confused. This was not a bug, or even a plant pokemon. This was a human! It had never caught a human before. Were they edible? Didn't look all that tasty. Before Weepinbell could make a decision, it was struck in the face by a bone club. It emitted a pained noise and dropped Elizabeth after a moment, who fell on her rear. The ground was unusually soft though! An annoyed Cubone growl explained that though. Cubone had had to jump off her to strike Weepinbell and had thus fallen slightly before her. Luckily it wasn't like Elizabeth was all that heavy or anything. In fact, she was actually only around fifty pounds. The fact that she didn't eat as much as she should probably had something to do with that though. She promptly got off Cubone and leaned over to pat the pokemon on the skull helmet with her good hand. Cubone responded with a cheery sounding cry as she got up. Despite all the fighting, she was kind of elated to have someone around that she felt like she could trust. The fact that she kind of thought she was smarter than Elizabeth probably played a role in that, though, sadly.

Meowth ♂ Lv. 13 (Thief, Hypnosis, Bite, Fake Out)

Cubone ♀ Lv. 11 (Headbutt, Bone Club, Belly Drum, Sandstorm)
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