Pokemon Mystery Dungeon- The New Age [Pg 13]

[Megaman765]

Everything seemed to be going alright so far. The fire didn't seem to get out of control so Len really wasn't needed much for making the chain. Good on him, He was really tired. A better idea for him would be to make sure kara didn't wake up. If he catches her, Then Len could at least try to use hypnosis again to make her fall alseep again... Kara was rolling around in her sleep so it wouldn't be long before she woke up. It seemed Haley had the same idea as well.

Len was bored so he decided to have a conversation with Haley since she wasn't doing anything either. "I really hope they speed up the process with the chain. If Kara wakes up in our condition we won't do as well as we did last time..." He said, Sitting down to keep watch on Kara. "So Haley... Do you got a motive at all? You know... Something to fight for? A reason for going after darkari? I know this is an odd time to ask something like this but I'm just curious if the pokemon here are fighting for something or someone.."

It really WAS an odd time, But He still hoped for an answer at least.

 

[TJgamer]

"Not to be rude, but a leaf probably would tear up from the jagged stones' texture and weight. Let's think logically, we need something that is large and secure enough to hold in the iron's force. A bag probably would work, but it's just like you've mentioned. Where could we obtain one with such size and strength? Sorry, I visit the building very infrequently, so I have little knowledge of what can be found here."
Mack felt a little feeble minded at this point. It was only occasional if he couldn't figure out what to do.
"I'm in a bit of a loss so, I suppose we will just have to look for something and-wait!"
Mack just remembered something about their problem.
"What gives us the need to move all these stones at once? Wouldn't it be more reasonable if we just took them over load by load; taking a few trips?"

 

[The Jewel of Life]

"So Haley... Do you got a motive at all? You know... Something to fight for? A reason for going after darkrai? I know this is an odd time to ask something like this but I'm just curious if the pokemon here are fighting for something or someone.."

"Yeah... it is an odd time isn't it? Oh well, you can have my answer. First and foremost, I find everything Darkrai is doing to be appaling, horrible, and unimaginably cruel. But not insane, no, because he succeded once didn't he... the old stories say that the brave exploration team that faced him so long ago once traveled into the future where the world was uhhh... paralyzed... yeah that wast the word for it!.. and envoloped in darkness. That means that all the dispicable(sp?) things that Darkrai is doing are possible, and that alone frustrates me, I will stop at nothing to see him go down!"

Haley stared at nothing in particular, but with a proud and determined face that showed her true dedication to the cause. And then her gaze softened and she turned to look at Len again.

(time for a little bit of interesting history...)

"But there is another reason too. When I was very little... I went on a vacation to Shaymiopolis... where I met a new friend, her name was Claire, and she was a sandshrew. So naturally, I wanted to know more about my friend, so I asked her where she lived and what her friends back home were like..." Haley took a deep breath before continuing. "Sh-she said that she grew up in Volcania City... and t-that sh-sh-sh.." Haley gulped. "She ha-had a friend nam-med K-Kara. C-Claire said that K..a..r..a was a g-g-glig-gar and somewha--at on the cc-crayzee side... so I ju-just ass-ssum-m-me that the K-Ka-Kara we have here is the s-sa-a-ame one.....
..................
........................
.................................."

Haley Closed her eyes and her head sunk a little lower. Ever since she had heard about the evil Gliscor called Kara, Haley had thought that her friend's best friend was the same one... but how? How could it be that the best friend of someone so nice could be so evil and corrupted? Haley hung her head a little bit lower. She hated to think about things like this...

(([intense music] Mwa ha ha ha ha! [/music]))

 

[ArcanineOod]

"Welf, I amsh prethy shtronght," the bellsprout boasted.

Had Rani expected anything less? She hardly knew the Bellsprout, but she really should have seen something like that coming. Nevertheless, Kreep subsequently accepted her apology.
Of course, it only made sense. To turn down an apology from a Growlithe would be-
NO! She was going to stop thinking like that.
Besides, this wasn't pride that soared through her veins. No, this was different. Happiness, perhaps? Relief?
Rani wanted to thank him, but she found she could only beam in joy.

Then, of course, Kreep went and said that he could beat her even if she did have Fire Type moves, and went off to take some sticks to Shierk.
Now, that sounded like a challenge to her. As it was, she still needed to prove herself against him. The way he had beaten her before had been humiliating, and she wasn't going to leave it like that. No, she would prove that she could beat him.

"Oh, but I do have Fire Type moves now," she muttered triumphantly. She didn't know whether Kreep would be able to hear her or not, but it didn't matter either way. What did matter was that when they had a rematch, she would win. She would be prepared for attack. She would prove that she wasn't just an arrogant girl whose bark was worse than her bite.
At once, she felt a stab of pride, followed by a sudden kick of homesickness. She hung her head.
She had promised herself she wouldn't miss her family, that it was their loss, not hers, and they needed to have a more open mind... But she suddenly felt very lonely.

Perhaps the others thought she didn't notice how cold they were to her. Now she really thought about it, Rokan's body language when she'd spoken to her and Kreep hadn't been encouraging, and even now, though it was probably nothing, Rani could have sworn she saw Rokan's ears perk up when she started speaking – had she been eavesdropping? Then there was Kreep. The way he had approached her before her apology and then how he excused himself from her presence... Rani was certain it was because he really didn't want to be around her.

Rani looked around sorrowfully. Len and Haley were now chatting animatedly; Max and Mack were laughing about something, and Shierk and Rokan were sitting near each other, Rokan chatting to him in a friendly way.
It seemed everyone was having a good time together. Only Rani was on her own.
She longed for her home cave, where the pride of Growlithe and Arcanine surrounded her and comforted her. She thought that joining this team would be a good idea, but now it seemed like she had only caused trouble. She hadn't been able to protect herself or her teammates, which was her job on the team. She did nothing but hinder them, and no one liked her.

Was this the true legacy of the Arcanine evolution chain? A proud species that lay untarnished and unspoiled, that considered itself pure... But whose selfish pride blinded them to the hatred with which it was seen by other Pokemon?
Her parents had always made her proud to be a Growlithe, but was this it? Was it really something to be proud of? What had Arcanine done for the other pokemon? Just secluded themselves and lorded over other Pokemon but done nothing of note?

Rani looked around again at the happy Pokemon around her and dug her nails into the earth. This loneliness was nothing to be proud of.
So she would make them proud. She would give her family a real reason to be proud of what they were.
Starting now.

Ignoring the tears that had somehow managed to start rolling down her face without her noticing, she slowly padded over to the pile of sticks that Rokan had pulled from the tree. Kreep had already taken most of them, but the remaining bunch she carefully placed her jaws around, being careful not to bite too hard and break them.
Her parents would call this act shameful and undignified – and they were right – but that made no difference now. It was time to swallow her pride. Rani picked up the sticks in her mouth, being careful not to drop them, and made her way over to where Shierk, Rokan and Kreep were standing.

((OOC: Me super sorry for stupidly long post D= ))

 

[Megaman765]

Len really didn't expect that kind of back story. Kara was the best friend of Haley's friend? Maybe it was the same kara... but Haley looked like she was shaking in fear just thinking about that. Len went up a little closer to Haley to cheer her up a bit. "Gee.. Sorry for asking. It must be pretty scary just thinking of something like that..." Kara probably had some sort of backstory herself. She must have had some sort of reason for joining Darkari...

Len sat down again and continued.. "Well, I guess it's fair if I tell you my motive." Len explained to Haley everything. His home, Him being native, Sneaking out of the house, The sneasel that visited him everyday and taught him the techniques of the police force, Him transfering to poketraz, Len faking his death to escape his home, Along with the sneasel's apparent "death" As believed. Though he only heard of his death from one pokemon. Maybe he was still alive... He just wanted to see for himself.

"You remember when I mentioned going to poketraz awhile ago right? The whole reason I wanted to go there was to see if my friend was dead or alive, If he's dead, I'd at least like to see where he's buried... A trace of him at least..." Len closed his eyes for a minute... He felt a little better explaining everything to somebody.

"I want Darkari captured... I don't care what they do to him.. Just as long as he pays..." He said in a slightly evil tone. "*sigh*... I didn't even get to know that sneasel's name... That's the worst part. It was classified, He couldn't tell his name to a native as much as he wanted to... If he's buried somewhere, I could probably find out what it is..." He continued in a sad tone..

Len continued on saying... "Ya know treasure city really isn't as bad as everyone said back home... They probably wouldn't listen. I always felt like an outcast back there since I was the only one that was interested in the changes of the new age. But.. I still feel like sort of an outcast here." He said still sort of depressed. "I don't know why, But I feel out of place for some reason. It's probably just me though..."

Len sat and wondered what his parents were doing... How they might be feeling knowing their son apparently died. Len could never tell them he was going to join the police force... They would just look down on him even more then the whole town already did... After getting all his thoughts out Len cheered up a little and awaited Haley's response to the story.

((ooc: If you need a better explaination about Len's backstory, Check my character's history in the OOC thread on page 2))

 

[ShadowYashi]

[FONT=&quot]"Yes, it would..." Max said blushing slightly out of embarrassment "It's just, I didn't really wanna walk back and forth by myself, plus it was going to take too long and I hate when stuff takes too long and I don't want to burden anyone with the trouble. . ." she admitted rubbing at her bicep "but if you really wanna help, then I guess we can make a few trips" [/FONT]

 

[TJgamer]

Mack thought it was best to help her with the rocks. It would be impolite to leave the chore to herself.
"Alright, I can assist. It would be fastest for me to take the smaller fragments, and you take the larger ones."
Mack took a glance away and noticed that Kara was slowly moving in her sleep.
"And we may need to commence immediately, Kara will wake up soon."
Without another word, Mack search around the pile of rocks and saw a small pile of fragments (about the size of a human fist each). "My magnetic arms should quicken the process." Mack proclaimed, and it powered its magnetic arms like before and started to pick up as many stones as possible.
It couldn't do full force however, for it was still slightly tired from before.
Holding as much as Mack could handle, it quickly took them away towards the fire hole.
Upon reaching it, Mack relieved itself of the strain and dropped the stones, but this was just beginning, Mack still had many other trips to take.

 

[The Jewel of Life]

Haley listened intently to Len's reasoning nodding or making other small gestures throughout the story. After he was finished summarizing his past, Len went on to say a few other things before stopping and finally allowing Haley to speak fully. "Oh... that does sound troubling. I sure do hope that you can find out more about your friend. There is even the possibility that he is still alive, which makes it all the more important that we head out to Poketraz Isle soon and investigate. I wonder how they are coming with the chains..." Haley turned around and watched a few seconds to see what the other officers were doing, and it seemed like they were making fair progress. Satisfied, Haley looked back at Len. "But you feel outcast here? I don't see it that way- you seem to fit right in. Hey, if it wasn't for your quick thinking back there to taunt Kara and use hypnosis, she would have gotten away! That alone should make you feel a part of the group." Haley smiled at the poliwag to see how he reacted to her arguement.

 

[Megaman765]

"Well... I guess your right." Len replied cheerfully to Haley. "Though I don't expect to get so lucky as that later on. If I didn't learn hypnosis, Kara would have sliced me in half. And I know she isn't going to forget me anytime soon after embarrassing her like that."

Len continued... "But hey! Your not a bad shot yourself Haley! You've gotten really good with water gun." He complemented to her. Haley actually had a better shot then Len... Though he would never admit to that out loud. Len's bubble beam still spread more then usually should have... He was probably better off using it at close range if it was going to stay like that.

"You know I bet we could make a really good team. I mean... Look what we did with kara! If we stick together, We could keep an eye on each other..., Heal each other if we get hurt... All sorts of things!.... I mean if your alright with it..... Wanna be partners?" This seemed like a good start for Len in the police force. Making friends with somebody made Len feel a bit less lonely. "We'll shake on it if your fine with that... er.." Len remembered he didn't have arms to "Shake hands with" in the first place. Instead he offered his foot for a... "footshake" as weird as that seems.

 

[ShadowYashi]

"Uh-Huh" Max nodded at Mack's suggestion and watched briefly as the Magnemite generated a pair of magnetic arms using its electrical abilities, to pick up as many small stones as he could. Max then turned around and picked up a few of the larger stones, about an arms full worth, which she carried over briskly to Shierk, dropping them in the pile that Mack had started before she turned and walked back to the pile and piled some more rocks in her arms, repeating the process. Max eyed Mack briefly, even though he was doing a good job at hiding it, the Machop could tell he was feeling a bit fatigued, this made her feel bad for roping him in to help her out, so she spoke up "Thanks so much for your help Mack. . . but if you're feeling tired or something, you can take a little break and I'll handle the rest of it. I don't wanna overwork you or anything, I'll feel really bad if you drop from exhaustion, due to my laziness" she said while grabbing another armful for the pile.

 

[TJgamer]

At first, Mack wasn't so sure if it should take a rest. After all, the sooner they put Kara in bondage the better.
Then Mack heard her say that she would hate to see it collapse in utter exhaustion, due to her laziness. Mack didn't know what feeling it had. The way she offered to do the rest for it was a new thing to Mack. "Is this what how it feels to... like somebody?" Mack thought. It has known about how other people react to others that they really like, which Mack believed was called love.
"What am I thinking? This is out of the question!" It reminded itself to answer Max's question. Mack did feel a bit more tired than it thought, so a quick rest would be reasonable.
"...I suppose your right, after all, the iron extracting was far more than I have ever done in my life."
Without waiting, Mack backed away from the route and slowly settled on the ground to relax itself. Mack didn't need to worry too much about the time it would take to finish the chains; Max seemed that she would finish transporting the iron in no time.

 

[ShadowYashi]

"Good!" Max grinned when Mack lowered itself to the ground for a rest "Now, you just sit tight and relax and I'll finish up!" With this determinded statement, plus she was no longer feeling lazy, Max flexed her arms and began to work slightly faster than before picking up the slowly diminishing pile and karting it over to Shierk, after a few minutes of moving back and forth, from one spot to the other Max was finally finished her job "And I'm done!" She exclaimed after dropping the last bit of rocks onto the pile where Shierk was "I'll be over there with Mack if you guys need anything else" she told the Elekid before jogging over to where Mack was and plopping down, sprawled out onto her back with her arms crossed behind her, pillowing her head, she stared up at the blank white ceiling of the training room.

Max glanced over at the Magnemite and a sudden thought came to her, it was and odd ting to ask someone, but now she was curious "Hey Mack, I don't mean to pry or anything and not to be rude and I hope you aren't offended but. . ." Max trailed off blushing out of embarassment "What's it like. . . being genderless?" she blinked at how retarded that sounded, what's it like being genderless, its probably just like being male or female "I... I mean even though you don't have a gender, is there one you prefer more than the other, like being a guy or a girl? Or do you get mad when people mistake you for a guy? Oh wait, that's me haha! I mean... oh nevermind, just forget I asked, it was a stupid question" she huffed and closed her eyes irritated for making herself look like a fool "Way to go Max, you've probably gone and hurt its feelings."

 

[TJgamer]

Mack was right about Max finishing the job in a short time. After only a few trips, she was already done. Now all they had to do was wait for Shierk to prepare the iron to make it into chains.
After Max finished, she walked over to were Mack was resting and laid down on her back. Within a few minutes of rest, Max started to ask it a question. "Hey Mack, I don't mean to pry or anything and not to be rude and I hope you aren't offended but.....what's it like...being genderless?"
Wow...Mack never expected a question like that to come up so sudden. It was true, others usually called it a he. But Mack was used to that fact, for it's a common mistake. But what it is like to be genderless, Mack never really put much thought about it. To Mack, being genderless was just normal, it never did hang around the dudes or the girls in any manner. What Mack was really wondering was what it is like to be a male or female; what it's like to have an attraction with another.
Before Mack could think of a response, Max continued, "I... I mean even though you don't have a gender, is there one you prefer more than the other, like being a guy or a girl? Or do you get mad when people mistake you for a guy? Oh wait, that's me, haha! I mean... oh nevermind, just forget I asked, it was a stupid question."
Mack never really cared about which gender is better, but from what others think a mistaken it for, a male would possibly be reasonable... to the others that is. Perhaps it'll tell her about it later.

 

[The Jewel of Life]

Haley didn't hesitate. "Partners? Sure thing! Since we both have the water absorba ability it would be really easy to heal eachother and stuff, so... yeah! Of course. I know we can do a good job." Wow, I've already made an awesome friend, fought a somewhat crazy criminal, and learned water gun... this whole assignment has been very eventful, and we haven't even gotten to Poketraz yet! Haley helt up her foot and preformed a (fairly weird) 'footshake' with Len. With the ability to heal so easily, they could never lose!

((This post was SOOOOO much more epic when I was writing it while listening to the song on PMD2's sky jukebox that is played when you fight Dialga. Oh the sweet epicness.))

 

[Strikit]

Rokan's attempts for light conversation with Shierk, mostly to disguise the fact that she had indeed been listening, fell through when he abstained from replying. He was probably simply focused on the chains. After all, they needed to be finished soon. There was no telling when Kara would awaken, and when she did the repercussions could be devastating. In order to ward off the lethargy creeping up on her she shook her entire body, starting at her nose and ending with the tips of her tails. It left her fur standing up slightly, but she felt a bit better. The shake had also made her chain make a delightful delicate metallic sound. She loved it.

It was then she realized Rani was joining them. Her initial reaction was sniffing the air to figure out where Max and Mack were, in case they needed help. But she realized that the conceited little Growlithe actually had carried a bundle of sticks to them, in her jaws at that.

It took her a moment to decide whether she had actually fallen asleep, as she would never expect her to be so humble. But everything felt real enough. She watched her out of the corner of her eye, attempting to decide what to think of the situation.

 

[ArcanineOod]

As Rani was approaching, Max and Mack gave a great pile of iron to Shierk. Rani dropped the sticks she was holding within his reach.
She cleared her throat, preparing to tell Shierk to hurry, but decided against it after all. She was sure Shierk was trying his best. They all knew what was at stake here.
Shaking her head, Rani took a few steps back and turned to face Kara, who was moving in her sleep.
Sure, there were more sticks to gather, but now that Kara was dangerously close to waking, Rani thought it better to focus on keeping an eye on her. Besides, with all the fuel Shierk had, she was sure he'd be able to keep the fire going long enough to make the chains. For now, as the bodyguard of the team, she needed to keep an eye on the most prominent threat to the team.

 

[Megaman765]

"Well then it's settled!" Len exclaimed cheerfully, Putting his foot down after performing the footshake. It didn't seem like anybody else was watching the two of them talk.. Which made it less embarrassing doing their footshake anyways. "Guess all we can do right now is wait for shierk to finish up.." It really was taking a long time but what would Len know? He didn't even have the hands to craft anything, It seemed really hard to do ANYTHING without hands...

Len, Getting a bit impatient called out to shierk. "Hey! Shierk! Hate to sound rude but hows the chain going? Kara's just about to take a detour from Dreamland to reality pretty soon!" Len sat down again hoping that would speed up the process of the chain.

 

[pikakip]

Shierk nodded, making sure he had everything he needed. "wood, check...Iron, check...fire, check...Crap.." Shierk shook his head, he still needed something to hold the melted iron in. He looked around a few times before he saw it, a hallowed out rock. Shierk eagerly grabbed it in his right claw. He picked up a piece of iron in his right, and he sat down to work. first he held one of the pieces of iron over he fire, with the 'cup' underneath. he slowly melted the iron, keeping it safely in the cup. next, he brought it over to the mold.

The mold wasn't really a professional mold, but it would work, the iron was not abe to melt the rock. He made each link carefully, trying not to spill it on his fur. he yelled over to haley and Len(who was yelling at him already), Haley, Len! I need you two to come and cool these links before I can pour more!"

 

[Megaman765]

Shierk later called out to the two water pokemon to cool down some links. "Well thats our cue. Comon haley, Let's help him out." Len walked over to shierk and aimed for the links and used water sport to spray water and cool down the links. Len really never found a use for water spout back at home, But when it came to cooling stuff down, or unearthing iron, It was more useful then he thought.

((sorry for such a short post. Can't really think of anything but gotta advance the plot somehow eh?))

 

[ArcanineOod]

Rani winced as Shierk and Len shouted to each other over the lawn. Len himself had said that Kara was about to wake up, but he shouted it! What did he think was going to happen if he shouted? Did he have to put them all in such a dangerous position?
When she'd accepted the job, she hadn't considered how foolish the other members of the team might be.
Once Len had finished spraying the first link with water to cool it down, Rani quickly but lightly padded over to where he and Shierk were and leaned in close to them. Her head and chest were right over the fire pit, but being a Growlithe- Even just being a Fire Type, it didn't bother her at all. The fact that she was a Growlithe and had the Flash Fire ability made it pleasant, even.
"Listen up," she hissed quietly. "It's my job to protect you lot, and it's a job I'm happy to do, but could you please stop shouting so much? I know you need to communicate, but all this extra noise isn't going to help keep Kara in the land of nod, okay?" Realising she herself was wasting time, Rani quickly stepped back out of their way. "Er.. Sorry for the interruption," she said quickly. "Carry on." She flashed her teammates a quick smile then turned around to continue her vigil on Kara.