The Cryptex ( A Pokemon Adventure) PG-17

[Ethan Gold]

Susanowo watched Indigo News from his laptop with Amaterasu. He then folded his laptop and got off his chair to leave his office with his sister following him.

"I want you to infiltrate the excavation team." He ordered. As a high ranking commander, he had authority over a number of grunts including his sister. "Take two more grunts with you and I already prepared a fake ID for you."

"Yes Sus." She answered dully. "Why can't we be more in the frontline like other members?" She asked. "It's boring to infiltrate all the time."

Susanowo gives a quick glance. "We only infiltrate for now as I have a plan." He replied. "It will put us in an advantage when the time is right. You should head off now."

The commander then saw his sister leave the Vermillion base with two other grunts. The only person who cared for in his life is his sister and he viewed other grunts as expendable.

 

[Tristan16]

[In case anyones interested, below is a picture of the main Team Arcelago base. Its an airship. There is a small operations base in Vermillion city under the control of Commander Susanowo. A large island base is the planning stages and will become the main base when its complete]

Spoiler:

[Now to begin]

Scarlet lay across a luxurious armchair behind a large expensive desk. Behind her was a large glass window where one could the see the clouds rushing past. There came a knock at the door.

"Enter" Scarlet spoke in a bored tone

The door opened and an atrociously ugly woman stepped into the room. This was Olga, Scarlets Personal Assistant. Scarlet chose her because she knew this way there would be no chance of anyone being more beutiful than her.

"Your looking especially amazing today Lady Scarlet" Olga complimented as she approached the desk with a stack of papers.

"Aren't I just" Scarlet responded with her usual inflated sense of self-worth "What have you got for me today?" she asked

"Well I thought you would first like to know that there has just been an announcement about the Cryptex" Olga responded

Scarlet sat bolt upright upon mention of the Cryptex.

"Yes, what about it?" she asked with a newly awoken sense of interest and excitement

"It seems that Professor Oak has made a breakthrough in the Crytptexes
location" came Olga's response "He is leading an expedition into the Ruins of Alph, just south of Violet City"

Scarlet was becoming more excited

"Well what are we waiting for, send out the grunts, blow up the ruins, kill anyone that gets in the way., I dont care just find the Cryptex"

"Well it appears that Commander Susanoo has already made plans to infiltrate the ruins"

Scarlets excitement was replaced by annoyance

"Has he now, and i wonder when he planned to inform me of this?"

"We have received no correspondance from him my Lady" replied Olga

"I think its time I made a new rule, Olga take notes"

Olga pulled out a pen and notepad and Scarlet began thinking of a rule

"I've got it" she burst out making Olga jump "Send this as a message to ALL Commanders" and she recited her thinkings.

After she finished she she spoke to Olga

"Olga read that back to me"

Olga read out the message she had written from Scarlets thinkings

"ALL COMMANDERS ARE NOW REQUIRED TO SEND TWO DAILY PROGRESS REPORTS TO MAIN BASE AND INFORM LADY SCARLET OF ANY NEW PLANS THEY HAVE. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION OF EMPLOYEMENT OR LIFE"

"Very good" responded Scarlet "Now send that directly to their Xtrancievers to ensure immediate delivery" she then gave Olga a dismissive wave

"As you wish Lady Scarlet" and she left the room

"Now to deal with Susanoo personally" Scarlet spoke to Cherry Blossom her Ninetails who was asleep on the floor.

She pressed a button under the desk and a Holographic screen rose from within it. She clicked on the video chat icon and dialled Susanowo's Xtranciever number and waited for a repsonse....

 

[FlyingHatTrick]

[Route 44, Johto]

Reed lightly bounded down the easy path to Blackthorn City. He carried a large bulky backpack, with things that rattled around inside it. It was nearly mid-afternoon, and Reed had been jogging the way between Ecruteak City and Blackthorn for most of the day. A Poochyena trotted beside him, easily keeping pace.

Thinking it was a good time to take a break, the jogger stopped next to a pond, its surface calm and clear, and sat down. He glanced at his Pokemon, and grinned. "C'mon over, Lupe. It's a nice day for a run, innit?" Lupe, his Poochyena, yapped happily in answer. He crawled onto Reed's lap, and rested there. "Heh. Hold on a minute..."

Reed slipped off his pack, and set down on the ground next to him. He pulled out a radio, and tuned it to the news. Relaxing, Reed spaced out for a bit until he heard a newsflash.

A Indigo News Update

"Jenna Fraser reporting live from the Ruins of Alph, where a search for the Cryptex, led by Professor Oak, will be commencing. The Ruins have been closed
and so has A section of Route 36 between Violet City and the Route 37 turnoff. We will hand the mic over to Sandra Belle, who is at the Ruins with Prof. Oak, Sandra, over to you."

" Thanks Jenna. We are here with Professor Oak, leader of the dig at the Ruins of Alph, what do you have to say, Professor?"
" We have substantial evidence that the Cryptex is somewhere in the Ruins of Alph."
" Is that all you have to say Professor,"
" Yes, it is."

" Thanks Sandra, after the break, we will talk to Falkner, the Gym Leader of Violet City and how this Dig affects him and the rest of Violet City,"

Indigo News, the source for News that affects you!

Turning off the radio, Reed sat up straighter and thought about it. "Now that they say it... Maybe I can go check out those ruins when I'm done with this run... But they're pretty faraway..." He sighed, calculating the distance. "Eh. Maybe I should just finish delivering these packages first..." He popped up back on his feet, startling Lupe. The Poochyena snarled in surprise, and then rolled over, pushing itself up on its paws.

The jogger pulled on the backpack, caving in a little under the weight, then started jogging towards Blackthorn City again, with the Pokemon in tow.

 

[Ethan Gold]

Vermillion Arcelago Base

Susanowo looked outside of the window to observe the Astro Land, a theme park secretly operated by his branch of Team Arcelago. Because of the theme park, the team got a stable income and it was his own suggestion to purchase the park. He then heard a call from Madame Scarlet. He knew that she is always throwing a tantrum on something at least once a few days. He returned to his desk to answer the call.

"Yes Madam?" Susanowo answered. "I am aware that you found out that I already took action by sending some grunts to the Ruins of Alph to infiltrate and steal some information and possibly the Cryptex."

The commander then recieves a note from a grunt under his command. The note was from Madam as usual and she now wanted all commanders, regardless of rank to send two daily reports each day. He swiftly placed the note on his desk and continued his conversation with his superior.

 

[FlyingHatTrick]

[End of Route 44]

The sun slowly crawled across the sky as Reed hiked up the steep mountain path to Blackthorn. It was of medium length, but dangerous, since rock slides have been known to happen in the area. A bead of sweat dripped down his face as he navigated the narrow path. Lupe was safely back in his Pokeball, so Reed didn't have to worry about the Poochyena. Not that he needed more stuff to worry about.

"Dang... this is hard enough now..." Reed grunted, inching up the path. He clenched the straps on his pack as he walked. Stray pebbles skittered on the trail, creating a kind of noise that grated on Reed. The top came into view and Reed picked up the pace. Finally, after a long hike up, he was at the top of the trail, and pretty much near Blackthorn City.

"Finally! Wait, I have to climb back down that..." Saying that, the trainer bounded off to the city, anxious to unload his packages and get something to eat before going back to Ecruteak City.

 

[Rokusasu]

{Olivine City, Johto Region}

The room was silent, save for the distant sound of Wingull circling a haul of fish, freshly caught by Olivine's best and most dedicated. In the bed adorned with a lemon yellow blanket sat a woman with light coloured hair and her tongue just protruding from between her lips, in concentration. The needle seemed to sparkle in the sunlight streaming in through the window as it danced over and under the fabric in her other hand; a sullen face observed from the corner.

"You look bored, honey," the sewer smiled. "Don't you have things to be getting on with rather than sitting here with a face like that?"

She did not receive a verbal response, merely her visitor stood up and moved to close the window.

"Oh don't, there's a nice breeze blowing in."

"But it stinks of fish. How can you stand it?"

"I like the smell, it reminds me of home."

The visitor pulled a face, which did not go unmissed by the watchful eyes of his mother.

"Jackson..."

"I just remembered. The Pokémon Centre will have finished healing my Pokémon. I have to go."

Ruefully, she watched as her male doppelganger (for he did take after her in almost every way) turned his back and walked to the door. She wanted nothing else than to get out of bed, to hold him tightly and kiss him before he left, but it would take too long to get her on her crutches and she did not wish to hold him up. Therefore, she settled on a simple: "Goodbye, I love you," as he wordlessly closed the door behind him.

On the other side, Jackson's face lost all emotion and he promptly left the retreat. It had been a lie about the Pokémon of course, but he needed to get out of that place lest he get all emotional. There was no need for tears, not unless they were worth enough for him to achieve his dream.

Despite his lie, the Pokémon Centre was the first place he headed to, if only to check to see if he had any new e-mails (he was unlike most his age and possessed an older version of the PokéGear). Then he hurried to his comfort zone, a small little café tucked away towards the residential area of the city, rather than the commercial and industrial zones nearer the seafront. Still, he could see a clear view of the lighthouse as he sipped at his latté and picked at the slice of cake that seemed all the more bigger now he was eating it.

Just as Jackson was picking off the remainder of the strawberries, he heard the familiar sound of the café owner flicking through the channels on the small, black and white television hanging on the wall opposite the counters. Looking up, he saw a pretty woman onscreen, and resumed eating his strawberry while secretly listening to the announcement. He had heard of the Cryptex before, but believed it to be a ruse created to generate more tourism in the Johto region. Now they were digging up near Violet City? He was actually planning on going there next, regardless of this Cryptex thing.

"You finished, kid?" Asked the establishment's sole waitress, offering him one of her best "Leave me a tip" smiles. Jackson scowled and placed his fork on the plate, pushing it across the table to her and collecting his disposable cup of coffee before, once again, leaving without a word (and without tipping her). His detour to buy some MooMoo Milk would have to wait; Jackson decided he had to get to Violet City before the vultures descended and his peaceful trip was ruined.

"C'mon, Ditto." Standing outside the café, Jackson summoned the pink, amorphic creature which greeted him with a high-pitched squeal not all that higher than his own voice (puberty seemed to be evading him, not that Jackson minded all too much). "Yeah yeah, spare me."

"Dih-toh!"

"Just... Transform into Doduo. You saw one on the way in here, so you can remember, right? Two heads, no wings, just a long pair of--"

Ditto began to glow white before its form took on a new shape; when the light cleared, it was an exact replica of the running dual-type.

"--Legs."

Without hesitating, Jackson managed to scramble aboard Ditto and guide him out of the seaside city's streets and towards the place where everything would change for them.

 

[Silhouette]

Gray walked slightly ahead of his unit, when he heard a commotion behind him. Gray turned to his unit, looking at the girl who had almost tripped. It was weird, but he hadn't noticed the odd dress style compared to the grunt uniform. Gray tried to remember her name, but it just wouldn't come to him. Gray opened his mouth, ready to give an order when, as his usual timing would permit, his X transceiver began to go off. He held up a finger while digging through his pocket to find the X transceiver.

"ALL COMMANDERS ARE NOW REQUIRED TO SEND TWO DAILY PROGRESS REPORTS TO MAIN BASE AND INFORM LADY SCARLET OF ANY NEW PLANS THEY HAVE. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION OF EMPLOYEMENT OR LIFE." Gray sighed. This just so happened to lower his already-dampened spirit. He looked up to his unit.

"Okay, we need to... Um... Do any of you have a flash light?" Gray asked, forgetting what he was going to command. The two male grunts looked at each other uneasily, as if doubting Gray's potential. They both shrugged. Gray turned to the female grunt. It was then that her name returned to his mind - Flo. He quickly looked to his feet, then turned to the darkness of the tunnel.

"Right then..." Gray muttered, then began to the cave hastily. The unit made their way noiselessly, except for the crunching dirt underneath their feet. Eventually, they came to a hole in the wall that was never there before. Gray remembered that Marren mentioned something about creating a hole in the wall to get deeper into the cave. Gray looked at his grunts, whom he noticed seemed desperately bored.

"Sir, if I may, this silence is killing me," one of the grunts spoke up after a while of walking.

"We could talk about our lives," Gray answered sarcastically.

"Actually, I was thinking of something more along the lines of music," the grunt replied, clearly not understanding Gray's sarcasm. He looked to Gray and the other grunt, who were looking stupidly at him. "What?" he asked. Gray shook his head, ignoring the male grunt's stupidity.

"Your not going to get reception on your Pokegear, and I refuse to listen to your country music," Gray replied.

Eventually they came across a spanning reservoir of still water. Gray knelt down to the water, observing it. It was so serene, so unmoving, that it seemed like glass or crystal. He dipped his finger into the water, watching the gentle ripple travel into the darkness, beyond their vision.

"GRROOOAR!" a booming roar echoed from the darkness. The serene water soon became a violent, swirling vortex as an enormous, blue dinosaur-like Pokemon emerged from the darkness. It stopped near the edge of the water, and stared Gray down. Slowly, he reached for his X transceiver as the giant Pokemon, a Lapras, growled heavily.

"Marren, we're all clear down here. Come down as soon as possible," Gray said calmly as he backed up toward the grunts.

"Are yo sure your clear? What's that growling sound?" Marren asked.

"It's my stomach," Gray lied. "You could bring down some food if you're feeling generous."

 

[Spanner226]

Route 36(Northwest section, near Violet City.)

Approximately 12:00 P.M.

A hole, then a gible appeared not too far east of where that sudowoodo once stood before a boy got it out of the way some time ago. Then the female from route 37 also appeared, probably from the hole. It may seem like she was overworking the gible, but as long as it was properly fed, the little guy could go on for hours. The red beam from the pokeball once again recalled the sand shark pokemon inside. The bright sun shined brightly in the sky illuminating the once dark blue sky of the night into the bright blue of broad daylight. Her next destination for the day would be Violet City. Not too far from her current location. She figured that simply walking would get her there before nightfall. Or she could also head South to the Ruins of Alph. Either way, it would be evening by the time she had arrived in either of the locations. She let her pokemon decide. Both her gastly and the gible insisted on heading to Violet City for the night. The Eevee, wanted to head for the ruins. Perhaps it was out of curiosity? The evolution pokemon never visited the ruins before, and probably had wanted to explore. But, that can wait for tomorrow. She and her pokemon headed to Violet City for now.

 

[Tristan16]

Tean Arcelago Main Base
Somewhere above the Johto region

Commander Susanowo appeared on screen and began speaking immediately

"Yes Madam?" Susanowo answered. "I am aware that you found out that I already took action by sending some grunts to the Ruins of Alph to infiltrate and steal some information and possibly the Cryptex."

"Susanowo darling" Scarlet began "You simply must tell me when you makes plans like this, I dont like to be left behind in the affairs of MY team" she continued "I must compliment you however on your quick thinking and you should know my first reaction to the report was to send an infilitraion team to"

A compliment from Scarlet was a very rare thing indeed

"You know they say great minds think alike and this gives me more faith in your abilities to know you react to situations the same way I would, you should be proud to be near as smart as your leader" she said thoughtfully

"I trust you recieved my note, yes?" she asked "As much of a nuisence as this new rule may be you must understand that I need to do things like this to ensure that nobody dares to try and overthrow me" "although I like to think this isn't the case with you but you give me doubts when you jump ahead like this and to have your leader doubt you is not a good position to be in Susanowo" scarlet spoke seriously "But in the end I could think of no one better to have as a 2nd in Command I suppose, now on to business"

"Tell me about your plans then" she finished and gave Susanowo a chance to speak

 

[Ethan Gold]

Being asked about the plans, Susanowo began:

"Well my plan." began the commander. "I already sent some grunts to infiltrate the excavation team from Pewter City. I supplied them with fake uniforms and IDs as well."

"When my squad successfully infiltrates the excavation team." He continued. "They will attempt to steal the Cryptex as soon as it is uncovered. If difficulties are faced, the sergeant is given the right from me to contact Lieutenant Hawke of the Violet branch of Team Arcelago to made a diversion suitable enough to steal the Cryptex."

An anonymous grunt came into the room to serve Susanowo with Ecruteak green tea. The commander sipped the tea as he finished his explanation.

"And if you are unsatisfied with a portion of the plan, feel free to tell me as it is YOUR team in the first place." Susanowo concluded.

 

[FlyingHatTrick]

[Blackthorn City]

"Thank you very much, Reed." The shop owner counted out a couple of bills and handed them to Reed. "Glad you could make it in time... you're pretty much the most reliable delivery guy I got here. Well, basically, the only one. Shame you're closing up for this... Cryptex search." He spat out the word 'Cryptex' with a hint of distaste. Reed looked up at the owner who towered above him.

"Well, I promised my... friend. I can't go back on it. Especially now of all times. He's not there to kill me if I break it, and that makes it all it's worth to both of us." Reed looked down, and zipped the pack shut as he prepared to go and deliver the rest of the goods around the city. There were just a few more stops to go and then he would be heading back to Ecruteak to prepare for the search. "Anyways, I might stop by someday to deliver some goods when I've got the time. But until then... I'm going." He pulled on the backpack, lighter than before, and waved to the owner.

"Wait... take this, Reed." The owner pulled out a bag of something. "It's just a bag of some Potions, and a couple of Full Heals in case you need it. G'luck with the search. Even though it may be a fools' errand." He muttered the last part under his breath, waving bye to Reed.

Outside the PokeMart, Reed glanced around and tried to find the next stop. He walked down the street a little, and saw the doorstep to one of his regular stops. It was a little cafe tucked away, and Reed made a decision here. He trotted in and ordered a cup of hot chocolate with some of the money the shop owner paid him.

He walked back out of the cafe, and pulled out a sheaf of paper out of his pocket to check where the next drop off was. Remembering the address, he jogged down there with the cup of hot chocolate steaming in his hand.

 

[Tristan16]

Susanowo finished explaining his plan and scarlet considered it,

"Blunt and to the point, I like it" she began "As for obtaining the Cryptex make sure its the forefront of the plan and if difficulties are faced" she paused and gave a little giggle "just kill anyone that gets in the way regardless of any factors, lets try not to bother the Lieutenant i've given him better things to do" she finished with an evil smile

"oh and one more thing" she started "destroy the ruins when your done, regardless of whether the cryptex is there or not. I dont care how just do it, a bit of fun aye" she giggled again "remember, there is no room for failure in this team and dont make me doubt you Susanowo, cheerio darling" and she ended the connection

No sooner had Scarlet ended the call when Olgas voice rose from the intercom

"My Lady" Olga began "The architect in charge of our Island Base is here to discuss plans and costs with you" she reported

Scarlet pressed down a button and spoke back into the intercom

"Ah yes I was wondering when he would get here" she spoke back "Well send him in then" she finished and released the button

"As you wish My Lady" responded Olgas voice

A few seconds later the door opened and Olga appeared closely followed by a smartly dressed man who was struggling with and armfull of papers and cardboard canister.

"The architect as you wished My Lady" spoke Olga

"Thankyou Olga, that will be all" came Scarlets response and Olga left the room leaving the man standing there by himself

"Well sit down" Scarlet ordered the man as she jestured to the chair across from her desk

"Y yes of course" stuttered the man and he hurried forward nearly dropping the contents of his arms

He placed all the papers on the desk and sat down nervously

"So what have you got for me?" Scarlet asked somewhat amused by the man

"W well" began the man "I have found numerous Islands for sale within" but before he could finish Scarlet cut him off

"For sale?" she asked confused "Who said I was buying the bloody Island im going to take it by any means necessary but im certainly not paying for it you idiot" she finished disgusted

"N no of course not how s silly of me" responded the man now scared as well as nervous "L let me rephrase that, I have found numerous Islands for you taking within the regions of Johto and Kanto, now all thats left is for you to choose one" he finished sweating profusely

"Well lets see them" Scarlet demanded

"Y yes of course" responded the man and he began shuffling through the numerous papers he had placed on the table

He eventually had three papers in his hand and he pushed the others aside and layed the three in his hand out before scarlet. Each peice of paper had a photo of a different island pinned onto it and various things were written on the papers such as the price, location, surroundings, island inhabitants.

Scarlet examined each peice of paper closely, she saw Cinnabar Island was among the three but it wasn't big enough for what she wanted, perhaps she would give it to Susanowo as an extra incentive, after awhile she decided on the biggest island among the three, it was called Valencia Island.

"I want this one" Scarlet said as she pointed to the peice of paper conataining the info on Valencia Island

"Ah yes very good choice" began the man "Valencia Island is the biggest island of the Fururi Isles which are located along the ocean route between Kanto and Johto" he continued, "Its inhabitated by a few tribes of people who have yet to come to terms with todays modernisms, the islands pokemon are the usual Kanto-Johto mix but there have been reports of flying pokemon from various regions coming to nest there due to its seclusion" he finished

"Well I think it will do quite well for an Island Base" decided Scarlet "Now show me some plans" she demanded

"As you wish" said the man and he picked up one of the cardboard canisters he brought in and poped open the lid, a large rolled up blue print slid gently from within to land of the desk. The man unrolled it and placed and book on each end to keep it flat

"So this one we see here" he began "Is the simplist of the plans and would cost the least to build, it contains all the necessities that you would need and only uses up a small portion of the islands space" he finished

"Hmmm" Scarlet considered it "No, that wont do" she concluded "Its to small and I want to maximise the Islands space, show me what else you've got"

"Well" said the man "I can see we are throwing cost out the window here so I'll skip the medium and go straight to the state-of-the-art" and he picked up another canister and pulled out another blueprint "This one, i think you'll like" he began "So to begin with, we have the main base which will contain the usual amenitites, conference rooms, libraries, computer labs, sleeping facilities, private offices etc" he continued, "Then we have the option of digging into the islands core and here I thought you could place all the secret research labs, capture cells and any other things you want hidden from view" still he went on "Now for the good part, if we plan it well we can extend a tube elevator right through the island and down into the ocean where we could place your office and things with glass walls and the whole shebang, as well as that we can place a landing pad for this airship on the island and housing for all the other vehicles, we'll also have a harbour on the islands edge and a missile silo in the mountains" he finished "Sounds good?"

"Exceptionally good" said Scarlet practically bursting with excitement "Begin stripping the island immediately I want a blank canvas within the next few months"

"As you wish" replied the man "But what about funding?" he asked "This project is going to cost easily a billion pokedollars" he explained

"Just leave that part to me" Scarlet said with an evil giggle "You may leave now" she said with a dismissive wave

"Of course, i'll have the construction started tomorrow" replied the man and left the room

Scarlet was left alone to think aloud to Cherry Blossom her Ninetails

"So what do you think Cherry Blossom, how are we gonna get that kind of money, i think I know" she giggled "But I cant be bothered with that task, i'll get one of my Commanders to do it, but Susanowo is busy and so are Marren and Gary, what a to-do"

"ninetailss" came Cherry Blossoms reply

"Well I suppose I dont need Marren and Gray on the same task, i'll ring Gray tomorrow, it will be his final chance to prove his worth to me"

 

[Renege]

[Union Cave]

Flo looked up as Gray caught the sight of her tripping. She dusted herself off and acted like nothing had happened. Thankfully he didn't notice that she wasn't wearing that tacky grunts uniforms. There wasn't any chance in hell that Flo wanted to dress the same as everyone else. This would probably stir up some commotion sometime in the future with another commander. Flo looked at Gray as his X-transceiver started ringing and it was a god-awful sound.

"Okay, we need to... Um... Do any of you have a flash light?" Gray asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be the commander? Looks like you aren't ready for job. Maybe Marren should know!" Flo said this out-loud like she was talking to herself but she meant for Gray to hear her. The grunts near here just look at Gray as if that was the stupidest question that they had ever heard.

Flo noticed a hole in the wall, "Great, a giant hole that might be filled with dangerous monsters!" Her attitude wasn't getting any better as she went farther in this cave. Then the silence crept in and no one was talking. That was until as grunt started talking. Flo quickly tuned all over them out because they obviously weren't worth her time. "Music? Seriously?" She needed to gain something that would help her steal The Cryptex maybe a team. She could trick the other two grunts into joining her and slowly they would build an army. The only problem was Flo didn't know if she could trust them they weren't exactly trustworthy people. After all they wanted to steal The Cryptex as well.

Finally they stopped Gray was bent over touching the water. "Isn't that always a bad idea?" Flo looked around the cave waiting for something to pop out of no where. It was way too eerie in this place for it to be this silent without any happening. Then the water surface burst into a vortex of water which turned out to be a Lapras. It's growl was beyond frightening to Flo because it looked like it wanted to eat them! She ran and hid beyond a big boulder that concealed her. She grasped one of her Pokeballs just in case she needed to escape from this horrid place.

"Marren, we're all clear down here. Come down as soon as possible,"

"Are you sure your clear? What's that growling sound?"

"It's my stomach. You could bring down some food if you're feeling generous."

Oh no. He just lied to that evil, blood lady. Maybe Gray wasn't going to be as easy to manipulate as Flo thought. Or perhaps she could turn this situation all on Gray. She could sneak off and tell her what Gray was doing and that would earn her brownie points. Or she could push Gray into the beast's home and get him killed. Flo had her usually smirk on, "No there will be better opportunities"

 

[Ethan Gold]

After Madame Scarlet ended the connection, Susanowo let out a big breath. Since he joined Arcelago, he knew Scarlet had an obsession with blowing things up. He simply described her as a "sledge hammer".

Now needing explosives for the mission, he had to find a way to devilver them to Amaterasu. Remembering that Sergeant McTavish, a sergeant under his command was returning from Sinnoh had some explosive for use in his mission. The commander got his phone and phoned his subordinate.

"Sergeant McTavish?" Susanowo started.
"Yes sir?" came as a reply from the other side.
"Do you still have some explosives left from the mission I sent you?" The commander asked.
"Yes sir. I still have a crate-load of C4s from Sinnoh." The sergeant answered.
"Where abouts are you now?" The commander asked again.
"We're currently above Cerulean City sir." McTavish answered. "May I have permission to ask why you need the explosives all of a sudden sir?"
"Permission granted." Was the answer from Suanowo. "Madam Scarlet wants the Ruins of Alph destroyed. Therefore, I will have you drop off the explosives to Sergeant Amaterasu around the outskirts of Cherrygrove City."
"Well, I knew it was Madam Scarlet that wanted to destroy ruins." The sergeant spoke. "I will be on my way then sir."

The Arcelago van disguised as a van from the Pewter City Museum now went through New Bark Town. Amaterasu and two other grunts were already in the archaeologist disguises provided. The female grunt then suddenly got a call and she immediately responded.

"Hello?" She started.
"This is Sergeant McTavish." Came the answer. "New orders from Madam Scarlet came: After completing the infiltration, the Ruins of Alph is to be destroyed. Because of that, I was ordered by Commander Susanowo to deliver the explosives to you because of that."
"Right so where do I pick them up?" She questioned.
"My airship will be stop outside of Cherrygrove." Stated McTavish. "You will pick up the explosives there. That is all."

Amaterasu turned off the phone. She then ordered the van to stop outside Cherrygrove City to wait for the explosives to arrive.

 

[Tristan16]

Scarlet was tapping away at her computer slowly hacking into the databases of all the banks in Kanto and Johto. This next mission would be huge and failure was just not an option. The banks in the smaller towns were like a walk in the park, it was the city banks that were proving to be slighlty difficult and Scarlet was starting to get frustrated, and she hadnt even bothered to look at the Saffron City Bank Systems. Being the biggest Bank in in the Kanto and Johto regions it would be the most difficult to infiltrate and rob. There came a knock at the door:

"Come in" commanded Scarlet

The door opened and Olga walked in

"My Lady, I have reprots that Gray is tied up with the business in the Union cave at the moment, it could be sometime before he is available for another mission, perhaps a grunt could be utilised" Olga ventured caustiously

"A grunt?" scoffed Scarlet "They are mindless underlings who serve no other purpose than to make our lives easier, totally expendable" she continued, "However I do need this mission to commence sometime in the near future so I suppose I can check the Grunt Files for a candidate, thankyou Olga" and she waved her away

Olga left the room and Scarlet opened a program on her computer named TGF (The Grunt Files). This program contained all the information on every grunt currently in service to Team Arcelago.
To make her job easier Scarlet filtered the files down by clicking on the five star rank button which brought up a list of the most capable and established grunts available.
At the top of the list was a female grunt by the name of Flo, she had only been in service for a number of weeks and although Scarlet had received numerous reports about her attitude she knew that Flo had also been successfull in any job she was given.

"She'll have to do" Scarlet thought out loud to Rose her Gardevoir who was staring out the window. She held down the intercom button and spoke into it "Olga send an Xtranceiver message to Gray and tell him that I am releiving him of one of his grunts, she goes by Flo"

"Immediately My Lady" came Olgas response

"Oh and tell him to direct her to our Azelea Town Operations Base, we'll send a drop ship down to collect her tonight" Scarlet added

"Of course My Lady" Olga responded and the conversation ended

"Perhaps its time Team Arcelago had another Commander" Scarlet thought to herself

 

[Silhouette]

From out of the corner of the gigantic room burst a group of people. Light poured through the hole that was created, illuminating three silhouettes that entered the room. As they approached, Gray knew it was Marren and two of her grunts. Suddenly, the Lapras sprayed a wave of icicles at the group, threatening with razor sharpness; it was Ice Shard. Quickly, Gray sent out Sepia, his Sableye.

"Sepia, use Detect!" Gray commanded. Instantly, a Sableye appeared from the shroud of darkness in the room, quickly teleporting around and intercepting each shard of ice and reflecting them away with a solid wall of shadow.

"Toxicroak, get in there!" Marren yelled, sending out her Pokemon. In a flash of light stood her Pokemon, the Toxicroak. It stood quite a bit overhead of Sableye, glaring down onto Sableye with a belittling look. "Use Sucker Punch!" she commanded. At her words, Toxicroak jumped on top of Sableye and launched itself off of Sableye, flying toward the Lapras. The Lapras quickly dove under water, causing Toxicroak to fly overhead and land in the water as well. In a matter of seconds, Toxicroak launched out of the water and landed next to Sableye.

"Why did you do that to Sepia!?" Gray shouted. Marren just smiled pompously at him.

"Because you lied about it being clear down here," she retorted. She turned to him, raising a fist. "If we weren't on the same team, I'd give you a good beating!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Gray shouted back. Before long, their Pokemon were between them, ready to do battle. Suddenly, the Lapras emerged from underwater, spraying the Ice Shard once again. Then, as if planned, Gray and Marren acted in an instant.

"Sepia, Detect!" Gray shouted.

"Toxicroak, Revenge!" Marren commanded. Swiftly the Pokemon acted, Sableye intercepting the Ice Shard as Toxicroak slammed its hooked fist into Lapras dead-on. The Lapras recoiled, only seeming enraged.

"Toxicroak, use Toxic on the water!" Marren commanded again.

"Are you crazy!?" Gray shouted. "You're going to poison all the Pokemon in the cave! And then us humans are drawing from this spring as a natural resource!"

But it was too late. Marren smirked as Toxicroak jumped into the water, jabbing furiously at it with its hooked fists. Slowly, the water turned a purple hue, causing the Lapras to retreat back into the cave, far beyond their sight and into the darkness. One of Marren's grunts shined Gray with a flash light.

"Here, take your food," the grunt shouted, tossing a wrapped fast-food burger at Gray as if he were a Pokemon.

"Good to see you care about me," Gray replied sarcastically, picking the wrapped burger up off of the ground. Suddenly, his X-Transceiver went off again.

"Gray, please send Arcelago grunt 'Flo' back to the Azalea operations base. She is relieved of your command," the message read, echoing through the cave. Gray looked at Flo. He heard the message when he was previously under Marren's command. Flo was going to be a commander.

Gray looked at Flo, approaching her.

"Good luck. I hope to see you in the field someday," he said.

 

[Yagerbomb]

Espire
Ecruteak City​

Espire turned the TV off. He got out of his chair and walked into his kitchen. Espire's apartment was small, but it served its needs. Espire opened the fridge, only to find nothing to snack on. Espire let out a long sigh, then procceded ot look in his pantry. Espire spied a half-empty bag of chips. He grabbed the chips, and walked out of his apartment. Once Espire opened the door and walked into the hallway, he was greeted by two suspicious looking men dressed in suits. " You know what we want," One of the men said. " What is it," Espire questioned.
" The cryptex," the other man retorted. " We know you have it." Espire darted down the hallway, bursting out the balcony door. The men chased him. Espire jumped off the balcony and grabbed on a Chinese-Temple like roof. Espire pulled himself up on to the roof, then proceeded to hop over onto another building. Espire jumped down into the alleyway, then resumed to eat his potato chips.

 

[Renege]

[Union Cave/Azalea Town]

Still behind the boulder Flo saw ice shards flew overhead which meant this Lapras was aggressive. It had a reason to be after all they had unknowingly entered its home. Flo saw more TA members enter the cave or just hoped they were she couldn't see with her eyes squinted. She heard Gray and Marren bicker as they fought the angered Pokemon. Flo ducked down to the ground a bit angry because she had ruin her blouse. She took a peek around the boulder to see an intense battle going on right in front of her. Marren used Gray's Pokemon as a launch pad, how rude. Flo instantly liked how this Marren girl did business and she'd have to watch out for her in the future when Flo was the leader of TA.

"Toxicroak, use Toxic on the water!" Gray's objections to the attack did nothing and the water became poisoned. Flo smirked this was excellent and a brilliant way of battle techniques if only she could have joined in. Too bad she was just a grunt and had low-leveled Pokemon. Perhaps she could just throw them into the poisoned water that'd surely get rid of them. Flo decided against doing that as she still needed them... for now. The battle had ended and now Flo could come and join them.

"You made me ruin my-" Flo started to complain but Gray's X-transceiver interrupted her oncoming rant.

"Gray, please send Arcelago grunt 'Flo' back to the Azalea operations base. She is relieved of your command," The message echoed again and again in Flo's head. What could this possibly mean? Had Gray told on her for not wearing that tacky grunt's uniform? She would sooo repay him if that happened to be the case. Flo dusted herself off and nodded to Gray and Marren. Looks like she would have to get through the cave by herself and onto Azalea Town.

"Good luck. I hope to see you in the field someday," Gray speaking had broken the trance that Flo had been in.

"Yeah, and maybe you'll have developed leadership skills then..." Flo smiled as if she hadn't just insulted him. "I don't want him underestimating me!" She turned around to get out of the cave but the thing was Flo wasn't good in caves and that would be a problem. As she rounded the corner Flo took out her Pokeball that was marked with an "A". The beam of light revealed a female Nidoran who was quite small even for a Nidoran.

"Lead the way and we don't have time!" Flo nagged at the runt Pokemon as the made their way out of the cave. Though they almost got into a battle with a Geodude on their way out. Luckily there was a puddle and Flo told Nidoran to Double Kick which sprayed the Geodude with water and allowed them to escape. Flo walked into Azalea Town and looked around... where exactly was the Azalea Town Operation Base?

 

[FlyingHatTrick]

[Ecruteak City]

It had taken Reed quite a while to climb down the mountain pass and get back on his way to his hometown, Ecruteak City. He had let out both of his Pokemons, Lupe and Marrazo out for the jog back. In his pocket was a wad of money from the deliveries and Reed was happy, at least, happy for today. He grinned and picked up the pace.

"Well, looks like today... is our last day before we set off, eh?" The trainer said to his Pokemon, wistfully. "At least we'll have a nice meal before then..."

A couple of minutes later, Reed saw the roofs of Ecruteak City loom into view and sighed. They were finally back. A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he saw a man jump from roof to roof and then down to the street level. Reed picked up the pace faster, and barely caught a glimpse of someone vanishing around the corner.

"What was that?" The question nagged at him as he headed home.

 

[Ethan Gold]

A team of Arcelago grunts have started loading a crate of explosives into the disguised Arcelago van and were supervised by Amaterasu and McTavish. McTavish looked at his watch constantly to show his frustration to the grunts that are under his command but the grunts were too busy with the crate.

"What are going to do after this?" Amaterasu asked McTavish curiously. She thought that asking a meaning question can help her kill time.
"I will be returning to Vermillion as ordered." The male sergeant replied. "I'm not sure if your brother has another mission for me when I return."
"Hmm." She reacted just to show that she was paying attention.

A grunt under McTavish's command approached the two sergeants and gave a short salute before speaking. "The loading is complete sir." The grunt explained.
"Right then." The sergeant replied. "Tell our squad to depart for Vermillion."
"Very good sir." The grunt said as he returned to inform the next order to the grunts.

When Amaterasu returned to the van, her disguised grunts were already inside. She gave to order to depart for the Ruins of Alph and saw the Arcelago airship no longer touching Cherrygrove soil.