The Star in the Sky (Revival)

[Gamekrazy]

WHAT? Yuuki thought to himself, witnessing some very strange things going on. The first would be the girl that he believed to be the boys sister disintegrating into pieces of pink dust, and the second would be dirt-forms of pokemon appearing, and attacking the group that had invaded the chamber. Yuuki was relieved to see that the pokemon were all relatively small, and that they only were using normal attacks against them, making them relatively harmless, until he felt a presence behind him with he was sure was his own pokemon. Something was keeping him from turning to face it. He was afraid of what he would face, because whatever was behind him gave off the feeling of being very large.

"Kahn." a gruff voice behind him went, making him spin around almost immedately out of disbelief. Behind him stood a dirt replica of a Kangaskahn, wich was glaring down at him with an angry look in its eyes. Yuuki was glued to the ground. He couldn't believe what was actually attacking him. Kengaskahn? What were the chances! Before he had the chance to say anything, the pokemon brought its claw down upon him in a mighty scratch attack to his side, which sent him flying across the room, tumbling to the floor. He attempted to get up once again, only to have pain go through his body, too injured from his side to move. Now he was forced to watch as the Kengaskahn slowly approached him, inspecting her defeated opponent. The mighty beast towered over Yuuki's immobile body as he lied on the floor. He couldn't help but notice that its pouch was empty. Was that why it was attacking him? Did it think he did something to its child? It felt like new years all over again. Goodie.

"Kengaskahn." It stated plainly, before raising one of its giant feet over the boy. Yuuki closed his eyes as she brought it down, expecting to be crushed under the weight of the massive pokemon in seconds, but the moment never came. As the foot decended, the pokemon crumbled back to dirt, falling harmlessly on the boy.

Slowly opening his eyes, Yuuki was relieved that the pokemon had not been able to finish its attack, until he heard the boy they had chased down there yell "Run!" and suddenly realized that they could be stuck down there forever. With a sudden burst of strength, he got painfully up, and sprinted twords the caves exit. His body hurt, but he had no intention of being trapped under there forever.

 

[Crimson Arcanine]

Lee Hallows - Inside A mysterious cavern

Suddenly the dirt Houndour, stopped trying to hurt me, it turned around and ran for another of the people in the cave. It never made it. Before it got even halfway, a blast of light engulfed the chamber and every one of the dirt creatures suddenly disintergrated, leaving little trace of thier existance but the piles of thier remains. The mysterious light lighting the cavern had began to dull.

"Run!" I heard from one of the others

As I heard that, sand and dirt began the flood the chamber. Obviously whatever sort of demon or spirit that existed here wanted us dead and buried. I wasted no time in starting to backtrack as fast as possible back up the tunnel towards the surface. Althought I was near exhausted, the thought of being buried alive strove me on, as it seemed the others who were also trying to escape.

 

[charizard_maa]

Mike threw more rocks at the two pokemon that was attacking London and Mike. The dirt made eevee and absol seem to have been frozen by this barrage of rocks. Still it wasn't stopping them completely since they began to get closer to London and Mike. At least it was keeping them from pouncing which was good for the moment. Still with a stream of water, the pokemon were hit by it and soon began to melt to a pile of mud. Mike just stood there with a rock in hand preparing to throw it incase it did decide to reform but it never did.

Mike looked at where London was and saw that she was putting the water bottle back inside his bag. London then said, "Thank you..." and gave Mike one of her smiles but it didn't last long because soon that smile was replace by a look of fear.

"What is wrong?" asked Mike. He was wondering what was going on inside her head.

Still before he was able to get a response from her, London just said, "We have to get out of here," She then grabbed Mike's hand and at once began to lead Mike out of the cave.

Mike then notice that the cave was about to come down on them. He was positive that the walls around them was sinking to the ground and could see what was worrying London. Mike had to say that it wasn't the first time he has seen this but knew that unlike the last time, there was no coming out of it with being cover in sand. Mike then remember the escape rope that he had tied to him.

Mike then held tightly to London's hand and said, "Just hold on tightly. I am going to use the escape rope to get us out of here." Mike could guess that if the walls were coming down on them then so must the entrance but if they could get out of here faster then he was not oppose to using the escape rope to get out of here.

Mike began to run a bit faster so he was almost directly behind London but not to be hit by her running legs and then place one hand around her and with that hand he pulled on the escape rope. At once the escape rope just began to get tighten as it began to pull Mike who was holding on to London forward to make them run faster thus making them coming closer and closer to the entrance that they came in from originally.

 

[Trainer Kat]

"Just hold on tightly. I am going to use the escape rope to get us out of here." Recalling the escape rope made London calm down a bit. She felt Mike's arm encircle her waist and, with one swift tug, the rope that was tied around him begin to tighten. She felt her legs begin to speed up, aided by the gentle pull of the rope. As the cavern began to collapse around them, they headed quickly for the exit. London clutched tightly to Mike's arm as they ran, more for support than anything else. Eventually, she felt fresh air hit her face. Her knees buckled underneath her as she collapsed to the ground. She would never take solid land for granted again.

"You alright?" she turned to Mike. Her face was splattered with dirt, as were her clothes, and her fishnets were ripped in multiple places. Still, she was simply thankful to have made it safely out of the tunnel. "You saved me again. I don't know how I'm going to thank you." At that, she flashed him another smile as she struggled to catch her breath.

 

[XunknownX]

Aryn stayed somewhat near the tunnel, but had moved to a slightly further location, allowing the foliage around to hide her presence. The tunnel was still in clear view, but it never had stopped sinking for even one moment. However, when she was only a few feet from that ominous tunnel, she could have sworn it sounded like a struggle or two, or more, were taking place. Even for her, it was somewhat difficult for her to not worry; even though they were strangers. That's strange in itself. Something could have been down there, and if there wasn't, they're lives would still be at risk if they did not escape soon. Buried alive... a horrible fate it would be indeed.

Aryn held back a yawn as she leaned her back against a trunk of a sturdy tree. It was probably extremely late now. Her mom was probably worried, since Aryn left right after that strange happening earlier... she'd be in for it. Just thinking about it made Aryn a bit uneasy.

Thankfully, Aryn was brought out of her thoughts as she thought she heard footsteps coming from the direction of the tunnel. A few moments later, the two she saw enter last had escaped from the Escape Rope the boy had set up. Turned out to be very useful, but that's easy to predict. It's still odd, that she might have been worried for these people, but a human life is still something not to be taken lightly. Though, Aryn was sure that the others would return momentarily. If there was any more trouble, they would help each other out. She did not think of it any further, maybe also just hoping they'll be making it out alright.

It was probably very late now, though she still does not want to say she is exhausted per se. The others have probably been through much more. Regardless, she still stayed as silent as possible and began walking in the opposite direction to go deeper into the forest. She was slightly unfamiliar of the area, but she comes into the forest plenty of times, so she'd make it out one way or another.



((OOC: Lame and pretty pointless, but I'm trying to post kind of... faster, I guess. I didn't have to use a lot of time-span, so that made me a little content.))

 

[charizard_maa]

The escape rope then began to pull both Mike and London out of the cave. Mike legs were being being pulled while Mike had his arms around London to make sure that she was being pulled out of the cave. Mike was kind of worry that the exit will close up on them thus making the escape rope useless but their luck held on and soon the fresh air was in Mike's face and they were out of the cave.

London just fell to the ground and looked pretty much relief to be out of the cave. Mike was kind of glad to be out of there too. He knew that he had fought against an absol before but never like that. Still that cave was the first time Mike had ever seen anything like that before.

"You alright? You saved me again. I don't know how I'm going to thank you." London had a smile on her face and was covered in dirt. London didn't looked nothing like she was before with her torn up fishnet stockings. Mike guess he faired better since his clothes were pratically made to get dirty but still he was worry about the jacket kind of but that could be taken care later.

Mike nodded and said, "Yeah. I am doing ok. Have to admit that I didn't see that coming. We went in to help some kid and then we get attack. Nice." Mike then smile back to London and said, "Still no need to thank you. Heck if it wasn't for you then we will still be in that cave and trapped in it." MIke then wonder how the other kids were doing.

 

[Random_Fan]

OOC: I was actually hoping that you all would RP yourselves dramatically escaping the tunnel (I was gone a full twenty-four hours; enough time, I'd think >_>; ) so I'm just going to pretend you all made it out alive to advance to the next chapter.

IC:

The exit was in clear view. All was crumbling around them, but it did not matter. The end was within reach, and he believed he'd fit in a tight squeeze. Tom was practically crawling out of the tunnel now, a fear of claustrophobia taking over. He never believed he had such a fear, and certainly did not after what he had done to try to rescue his sister, but it hit him like a bullseye target. He struggled out, and after halfway, he felt the weight of the cave touch his backside. It furthered him into a panic as he slipperily made his way out.

He managed in a sweat. Looking back at the entrance, he saw the last of it disappear on solid ground. The only source of light was the moonlight, much like it had been within the cave. Only now, he was not so sure if it were a good thing. He knew something that hurt him. It stung hard, and though all had made it safely out alive, he couldn't help but cry out.

"Amanda!"

Her name drifted away in the darkest night.

End of Chapter​

OOC: Be aware that though this is the end of the chapter, I don't want everyone to wait until I post the next chapter to RP. I will post the next one tommorrow (in this thread of course), but for the time being, let's RP ourselves back to the Center or comfort each other or have Aryn show her face for once. xD

 

[Trainer Kat]

OOC: Alrighty then, I'm going to have London prepare to take off. She'll be around for the next chapter, don't worry.

IC:

"Heh, I didn't do anything...it was your escape rope that saved us." At that, she flashed him a cute smile, tongue lightly poking out through her lips as she rubbed the back of her head. She stood, lightly brushing off her skirt. Dirt fell to the ground, scattering across the ground. The ripped fishnets didn't really bother her in the slightest...after all, torn clothing was in, and it would only add to her rockstar image...not like it was only an image. After brushing herself off for a few seconds, she offered her hand to Mike.

"Hey," she began, looking up. "My gig's about to start. I know we said we were going to get some peace and quiet once this excursion was over, but...I really need to go to this." She laughed slightly. "Um...if you want, you can come. Afterwards, we can go outside and just...relax after this whole ordeal." Granted, London hadn't told Mike that her 'thing' was a concert, but she was under the assumption that he recognized her. Inwardly, she hoped he would accept her offer and come. After all, it wasn't everyday you got to hang out with Antimony's lead singer.

 

[charizard_maa]

Mike looked over to the kid that had yelled really loud. MIke guess that the kid took the lost of that girl pretty hard. He wondered if that was his girlfriend or something. Still it wasn't like Mike hated the kid for dragging him out here or anything like that but really Mike didn't know how to comfort somebody that had some sort of problem like that nor did he want to put himself in that kind of situation. Mike was kind of just worry that he may make the situation worse since really Mike had no experience with girlfriends or anything like that before. Traveling always did made things like keeping track of friends hard to do and really Mike never tried to have done something like that with a close friend.

Soon London had spoke, "Heh, I didn't do anything...it was your escape rope that saved us." She then just gave Mike a smile where she stuck out her tongue a bit. Mike just couldn't help to laugh a little from the smile. It was surely something new for him to see such a smile but also it was interesting to see that somebody actually gave him a smile like that. London then cleaned herself up a bit and MIke guess he should do a bit of that himself. Mike then took London's hand and got up. Still Mike knew that London wasn't giving herself enough credit since living though something like this isn't something that not even a pokemon trainer does on an everyday basis.

It was then that London offered Mike something that he was unsure of. "Hey, my gig's about to start. I know we said we were going to get some peace and quiet once this excursion was over, but...I really need to go to this. Um...if you want, you can come. Afterwards, we can go outside and just...relax after this whole ordeal." She then gave Mike a small laugh.

Mike was a bit unsure about this. Mike wasn't sure what kind of gig this was since really he wasn't sure what London actually does. He knew that she was a singer but really guess that she was a singer of a small band or really assumes she sings but really for all Mike knew London does guitar or something. If this was anything that Mike thought it was then it should be no different then like what he been to in a few pokemon centers in the Sinnoh Region where the pokemon centers would host small bands to play in the relaxation area. Except Mike guess this would be in some sort of night club in Virdian. Also Mike knew that he had nothing better to do. Well Mike knew he had to get down and record what happen tonight in his journal but really he was sure he could do that soon.

Also Mike felt like he should really go since it seems like London really wanted him to go. Mike didn't mind since really it was him who originally asked London to go out for some peace and quiet and really he kind of find it funny that it was now her. Still Mike appreciated it that she wants to still go for some quiet time.

Mike nodded and said, "Why not. I guess I don't have anything better to do. Also I guess it sure beats the Pokemon Center right now. Also it sounds good that we may finally get that quiet time." Mike then smiled and said, "Just lead the way."

 

[Trainer Kat]

"Why not. I guess I don't have anything better to do. Also I guess it sure beats the Pokemon Center right now. Also it sounds good that we may finally get that quiet time." Mike then smiled and said, "Just lead the way." London grinned and nodded.

"Alright, just follow me." With that she began to walk. Her destination was not too far away, and she would stop periodically to make sure that Mike was still with her. She slowly lead him to the back door. "Ok, just head down the hall on the left, you'll come out near the middle of the stage." She grinned. "I'd take you in the front door, but it's too crowded, plus, you don't have a ticket." With that, she turned, looking back at him to add, "see you in a few!"

"Ugh, London, where were you? You look a mess!" Reggie exclaimed upon her arrival into the dressing room, examining London's dirty, ripped clothes. She laughed slightly.

"Don't worry, Reg! I still look like a rockstar, yeah?" London wrapped her hands around her guitar and gave the boys a thumbs up. "You boys ready to rock?" She grinned and approached the entrance leading onto the stage. With a deep breath, she took a step out onto stage, flanked by her male band members.

"Presenting...Antimony!" A voice filled the arena, eliciting scattered screams from the audience. London swung the guitar strap over her head and began to sing, all whilst strumming her guitar.

 

[Scales]

OOC: I think I am going to have Ash ask Tom's name. I dislike always calling him "The recorder"

Rayna was standing outside the tunnel. She had gotten scared inside and ran out. She was waiting for all of them to come out.

A loud rumbling occurred outside. Ash was sprinting up the tunnel. The warm entrance was his only way out. Ash knew the recorder was behind him. But he needed to think about himself in times such as this. Ash felt sweat run down his forehead as he kept sprinting.

At last when Ash made it to the entrance he dived out just as it collapsed. Ash looked behind him and saw the recorder just squeezed out.

"Amanda!" he cried out into the darkness. Rayna ran to Ash.

"Oh Ash. Are you alright?" She asked him. Ash nodded as he got up and dusted himself off. He had dark patches of dirt on his pants. Nothing that a simple stain remover wouldn't get rid of. Ash was still pretty shook up after he saw the girl turn to sand and he saw the Riolu fight him. It was all to supernatural for his tastes. Ash preferred fiction and not when it showed its face in reality. Rayna was glad that Ash was alright. She had taken a liking to him. Rayna put her arms around Ash and hugged him.

Ash slowly got out of her grasp and walked over to the recorder. He seemed pretty shook up as well. From what Ash assumed, the girl who turned to dust must have been a close relative or a girl friend. "Hey you alright?" He asked him slowly. "Come on. Lets go back to the pokemon center." Ash said to him. "By the way. What's your name?"

 

[Gamekrazy]

Light. Light! It was there! The end of the tunnel was in sight! spurred on by his will to not be buried alive, Yuuki found himself running at speeds he didn't think possible of himself in his current condition. Miraculously, he made it to the end of the passageway, feeling the open night air on him once again. Once he was out in the open though, he collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily. That Kengaskahn had really taken it out of him, and his body was now starting to feel the effects of running that far while already under a fair amount of pain.

((Short. Sorry, not that creative at the moment))

 

[charizard_maa]

OOC:

Hope this is what you meant.

IC:

"Alright, just follow me." said London as she began to walk to where ever she was planning to take Mike. Mike just nodded and decided to follow her. He notice that every so often she would look back and as London saw, Mike was still following. He was kind of interested to see what London does anyways. Soon they had reach a building but it was the back door. It was too dark for Mike to see how big the building and the black paint that was on the building was kind of hard to see since it was dark outside.

They were at the back door and London then said, "Ok, just head down the hall on the left, you'll come out near the middle of the stage. I'd take you in the front door, but it's too crowded, plus, you don't have a ticket." London then went in the opposite direction and gave Mike a smile, "see you in a few!"

Mike was kind of wondering what she had planned but still Mike guessed that this was proving to be an interesting night. Mike then yawn but it was very small. Mike knew it was kind of late but really he isn't as tired as he thought he would be. Also Mike knew that he had nothing really that big to do tomorrow.

Mike then stood in the hallway and remembered his journal entry. Mike took a few minutes to write down a few things that had happen so far including some of tonight events at the cave. Still Mike guess that was enough for now so he would finish and elaborate later.

MIke then followed the directions that London had given him. Mike was kind of confuse and said, "Ok. She did say this way. Well I hope so." Mike then walked on until he found himself on the stage, or on the side of the stage from the backstage. It was then that Mike had a good look at the crowd. It was huge and took up a good amount of the floor. Mike then saw London and a few other guys beginning to walk on the stage.

"Presenting...Antimony!" said a loud voice and with that the crowd went wild while London began to sing to some rock.

Mike was amazed, he didn't realize that London was such a famous person if she and this band was able to gather such a large crowd. Mike really didn't expect something like this really and just stood there. Mike guess that he might as well enjoy the show. The music wasn't exactly to what he listen to regularly but he did find it to enjoyable. Mike began to rock his head back and forth while being out of beat of everybody else.

 

[M@XWeru]

((OOC: It's Tom he's talking to, naturally. If you absolutely abhor my frivolous use of Brick Break on the fourth wall, think of it as Gastly's Hypnosis.))

Maxwell came skidding out on his heels through the sinking entrance. He'd been running for all he was worth, not thinking to stop to crouch before the entrance, so he'd been forced to use a more unorthodox method of transportation to avoid knocking his head off. Straightening his back with a painful crack, he gritted his teeth and put the handgun back inside his suit. Heaving a sigh, he wiped the sweat off his brow and looked back at the cave. It was still sinking. What on earth had happened in there, and what the hell were those golem-things they'd encountered? Oh, and why'd his own golem gone stunned when it was bit? Even more important - how was Maxwell going to turn this into profit?

Hmm, he thought, scratching his chin with a thoughtful expression. Step one was to gather information. Step two... Well, step three was profit. With a mental 'ka-chiiing', his eyes turned to pokédollar signs and he gave a thumbs-up to the empty air before him. Suddenly realizing how stupid he must have looked, Maxwell violently shook his head and turned around. It was doubtful, but maybe, just maybe the kid who had brought the group there from the beginning had some answers. Folding his arms and assuming a serious expression, the junior mogul stepped towards their impromptu leader's back.

"Hey...", he said in a threatening voice, firmly grasping the kid's shoulder. As he stared down at the kid, the shadows around Maxwell's face rearranged themselves in a frightening fashion, as though light was coming from below. His mouth suddenly seemed much wider than before, and his pupil's shrank in an angry fashion. With a background of purple, gently swaying flames the sudden - and very stereotypically animé - scary scene was complete, and Maxwell continued his line, speaking in that same calm, yet threatening tone of voice. "...What the hell was that down there?"

 

[XunknownX]

((OOC: Aw, that's no fun(kidding). I just couldn't think of a reason for her to since I'm trying to stay in character... but I'll see what I can get before the next chapter. It turned out unnecessarily long again though. -_-))



Surprisingly, it didn't take Aryn too long to find her way out of the forest, and arrived in Pewter, already on her way home. The only thing that stopped her for a brief moment, was hearing something being shouted from the way she had came. It was not clear from here though, so she brushed it off... for now. Though it was definitely a good thing she arrived quickly. It seems she made a discovery that her vision can randomly, and gradually, worsen. Aryn took long blinks once in a while in an attempt to keep her vision clearer, and it worked for the most part. It was all she needed to do until she made it home. But, as expected, this place was in a mess too. It did not seem as bad from her brief trip to Viridian however, save for the shattered glass shards scattered on the ground from every broken window in the city. If it was any worse than that, she did not care, or paid it no mind.

Momentarily, she was at the front door of her home. Of course the windows were broken, and it sounded like her mother was sweeping the glass that had gotten in. Maybe she didn't see Aryn. She sighed, basically preparing for the worst, before opening the door--that was surprisingly still somewhat sturdy-- and walking inside. She left the door open, and did not walk any further as she stared at the figure in the far corner in the room, sweeping up the glass. At the sound of the door opening, she stared right back. Her mom walked towards her calmly. The room would be awkwardly quiet if it wasn't for her mother's footsteps on the wooden flooring. She must have swept up the glass around here already.

Even Aryn could not handle this awkward silence as it began to worry her. "I--" Whatever she could say was cut off quickly, as her mother's hand rose up and she smacked Aryn on the face. Once Aryn could face her mother's direction, her expression seemed angry, but also sad, obviously mixed with worry as well. Aryn placed a hand on her cheek, where she had been hit; that woke her up. She was about to apologize, but was interrupted again. "Why did you run off like that?! I couldn't find you anywhere after that strange shock wave happened!! Everyone was affected by it, or getting hurt from the glass or... or something! I didn't see you anywhere!! I thought you... I thought you were..." Her mother trailed off for a moment. It seemed like she couldn't continue with whatever dreaded word she was going to say, which was probably obvious, but she continued with differently. "I thought you were severely wounded!"
"I, uh... I'm sorry. That wasn't the best time, you're right." Her mother just turned around, and started walking away to continue cleaning, but stopped a moment. "I imagine something happened to your glasses, so the spare pair is in a drawer in the kitchen. You need to put them in better places so you won't misplace them..."

Aryn thought her mother was done lecturing, but continued with something different, her back still to her. "Oh, yes. Since you were not here after 'that' happened, the museum manager said you'll be helping clean up the museum and the artwork. The other assistants were wounded badly back at Viridian, so they won't be able to help out. The manager claims her was contacted. He is still unsure if he should 'let' you do it all night, or wait until tomorrow. The manager also wants you to give them their new schedules they'll have for after they have recovered, though..."

Despite Aryn's irritation for having to do this favor for the other annoying museum employees, she walked to the somewhat messy kitchen, avoiding any scattered sharp objects, and opened the drawer her glasses were in, and put them on quickly. It helped quite a bit, but before grabbing the schedules that were wrapped in cloth on the counter, she took out her wrecked glasses and threw them away. She also took a couple of soft tissues and put them in her pocket so her other pair of glasses would not be scratched when put away. "Why do I even have to do this--"
"Well, it's either you do that, or you stay here and help out with me..." Her mom was glaring at her from the doorway leading to the kitchen. Her tone of voice creeped her out for some reason. Aryn looked over a bit to where she was, and a shiver ran down her spine. She was probably her exaggerating what she saw, but her mom was obviously still upset. She glared in Aryn's direction, holding the broom in a manner as if she would use that as a weapon, and it was very dark in the room. It was like she could feel an ominous aura from her.

"Uh...um..." Aryn found it hard to respond a moment, but she quickly took the schedules in her hands, and walked out hurriedly. "I'm leaving then." Aryn said quickly as she walked past her, and left the house. Now to go all the way back to Viridian, but that seemed better than staying now.
Scary...

 

[Random_Fan]

OOC: Chapter 2 is here, and it's going to really kick off the story. Remember, you decide how much you've changed. Excuse the suck, it was done in an hour (not good for writing, especially for me writing >_>; )

IC:

The first day of a new world went by much different than anyone could have expected. Tom in particular had to deal with losing a sibbling to something he does not understand.

The day had begun as a craze of jumble and led to mass chaos as the darkness arrived. Tom had been in the Pokémon Center for the entire day with hardly any breaks, and understood how the world could fair now. His own sister left for home without him, and he was forced to work longer hours. But when the deed was done and he was home, the night did not end. Instead, he was thrown into a small adventure to find his sister, and later found her to be hidden beneath a tunnel sinking into the planet. In fear, he realized he would need help, and gathered the assistance of many trainers at the Center to help.

But this was not enough, as when he and the others entered, they were in a sense ambushed by recreated creatures that no longer exist. They were all forced in a fray, and Tom's sister vanished from sight. When they had won the battle, they had to escape before they would all be trapped together for eternity, and made it out in a sprint. But the loss of his sister was far greater than the great escape he had made.

And then life goes on...

Chapter 2

ENTRY TO AREA 34
CODENAME "OTSUKIMI"
FORMERLY KNOWN AS MT. MOON
ARCHIVE COMMUNICATIONS
DENIED

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RE-ENTER

RE-SCAN
CLEARED TO ENTER
PROCEED

UNKNOWN HIKER
COMMUNICATIONS LINK SALVAGED
BY POKEMON CENTER COMMUNICATION LINKS
COMMUNICATIONS RECORDED
TWO DAYS AFTER
THE SHROUD

COMMUNICATIONS ENGAGED

HIKER: "As suspected, there appears to be no life of them here either."
PC TECHNICIAN: "What can you tell us about the place?"
HIKER: "Not much. It's darker than usual, and definately quieter."
PC TECH: "So you've found nothing?"
HIKER: "Unfortunately, that is the case. Wait, I think I got something."
PC TECH: "What do you see?"
HIKER: "It's..." (STATIC PAUSE)
PC TECH: "Hello? Do you read?"
HIKER: (STATIC PULSE) (MAJOR BACKGROUND DISTURBANCES) (STATIC)
PC TECH: "What's going on over there?"
HIKER: (RUMBLE SOUND) "Ahhhhh!" (CUT STATIC)

Better Than Being the Only One

"My name's Tom..."

Though he had answered the trainer who had offered help, he could not stand there much longer. His thoughts ran wild. His sister was gone, and the thought went round and round his head, spinning at wild and uncontrollable speeds. It was neuseating. Then he was forced to turn back to answer to the teen with the weapon. Even without the weapon, the way he looked now, so straight forward and creepy in his anger; it could have scared Tom, but he was not.

Staying would mean they would have to comfort him. He did not want to be comforted at the time. In fact, more than anything in the world, he wanted his sister by his side. He'd do anything for that. So, with his very own straight bluff, he spat words right back to the teen.

"I don't know what it was. I don't care what it was. If you want to know so badly, look for yourself."

He had no anger in the words. There was no emotion whatsoever. He turned and walked the snowy night, disappearing in the distance.

--

The night had driven by fast. The morning was new, and for a few blissful seconds, Tom forgot what had happened the night before. He thought he'd go to the kitchen and find his family eating there, waiting for him to get his own fair share of pancakes. Heck, he even figured that the whole disappearances of Pokémon life could have been a dream. But it wasn't, and this morning was very awkward for him.

Tom knew he felt slightly different, but brushed it off as he went straight for the bathroom to have his morning shower. It was there that he got a good look at his feet. "Huh?" His toes were webbed, stuck together in thin sheets of his skin. He didn't notice it right away, but so were his hands. The rest of his body remained the same.

He had to be halucinating. Clearly this wasn't possible. But as he felt the webbed sections, they indeed felt very real. For a long time, Tom did not do anything. He was stuck in the bathroom looking down at his feet. This, he knew for sure, was not normal, nor was it a good sign of any kind. He took a quick shower, noticing how much wonderful it felt. He actually did not want to get out, but forced himself to. He proceeded to pull on a shirt and his sweater and jeans, tying his shoes in the finale. Then he called out through the house.

"Mom? Dad? Anyone home?"

He looked about, but there was no one. Then he found something on the kitchen counter. He grasped it and read the note left behind.

Gone to file report. Amanda will be found, don't you worry Tom.

Mom and Dad

He put the note in his pocket. Normally, having the house to himself was a big deal. It meant he got to do whatever he wanted. Now, it seemed more like a punishment. The last thing he wanted to do while his sister disappeared forever was to be alone. That, to him, was the worse punishment he could have. He pushed himself out the door and onto the streets.

There was gossip in the streets of Viridian. People were talking to each other crazily, angrily, scared, maybe even excitedly. But as he eavesdropped, he realized it was not because of the night before. It was because of what they had now, in appearance. Many of the citizens had noticable differences. Tom was pretty sure he saw someone with vines on their head instead of hair, which was the most obvious and freaky change he had seen, while others had some he did not recognize right away. Anyone could die their hair yellow, right?

He entered the Pokémon Center. He wasn't sure why he had, but did not exit quickly. He made it to the waiting room and sat alone. Trainers he remembered from the day before as well as ones he did not were all there, chattering quietly for those taking a nap. There were bedrooms in the back area, but he figured they were all taken.

Then he spotted his uncle, and ran to catch up to him as he entered the cafeteria.

"Uncle Gregory!" he called out.

His uncle turned. Tom was startled for a moment. His uncles skin had turned to a light green color. It had to be make-up; Tom did not want to accept anything other than that, but knew not to be surprised. It was strange how he easily pushed it aside to ask his simple question.

"What's happened here?"

And his uncle shrugged. "Don't know. You...you got your sister yet?"

Tom looked with averted eyes.

"I guess not. Please...don't ask about all this stuff on me."

"Someone has to have the answers, right?" Tom asked.

"Hmm?"

"To all of this. I mean, shouldn't we turn on the TVs and see if there's anything happening...to us?"

"So you've changed a little too?"

Tom showed him his hands, flexing his fingernails through the webbed.

"So the initial shock to you is over, like most of us."

"I guess...I mean, if I didn't see this when I woke up, I probably would be freaking out by now."

Gregory nodded. "Would you like to help out?"

"I guess, but how would I help?"

And so, after thirty minutes, he was given the cleaning duty on the main floor. Before starting, he turned on the TV for the few trainers awake. Then he got his mop and swept. But he still listened to the news.

"—many changes we see going on here. A lot of our people are scared and don't know what to do!"

"I hope the situation gets better in your location." the anchor smiled to the camera, showing a sharp row of teeth before him. "It appears that things are surely going to only get spiced up with these changes we've recorded this morning. No one has been able to come up with an exact reason of why this is happening just yet, but we are getting there. Just stick around for more International News Broadcast for more information."

 

[Fallen Angel_Messiah Of Black Roses]

AJ started to wake up off the couch, he rubbed his eyes as he sat up. Where am I? He groggily asked himself. He could hear the news on the TV, he shifted his head around, trying to find out where the TV was. Looking up a little, AJ could see where it was, satisfied he got off the couch and took a look around, It's the pokecenter... He thought silently. AJ looked around, people he somewhat recognized from yesterday were talking to each other in rather quiet voices.

AJ looked down at himself, he was wearing PJ's he didn't even know he had, strange. Dry his mind reminded him happily, but AJ didn't have time for such small matters, he looked around the room some more. AJ finally spotted his bag, he got up and walked over to it, picking it up. He slung the bag over his back and started to walk to a bathroom to change.

Several minutes later he came out, it wasn't like he had problems dressing himself regulary, but he felt so dizzy today. His shirt was backwards, his jeans were unzipped and his jacket was unbuttoned, his shoe. Untied.

Shaking off the fact that he looked partially rediculous, he walked around a little, regaining his balance. AJ looked around some more and recognized someone he knew a little bit better. " Hi Tommy." AJ said grinning, he thought just Tom was a boring name, but Tommy was much more intresting.

 

[Gummy]

Cato awoke in his tent to the eerie silence of the forest. He still wasn't used to the quiet, and last night's adventure didn't help that at all. He had been woken up many times in the middle of the night due to various nightmares containing those odd dirt formations. One seemed to take a part in every one of his nightmares, and it was the one that bore a striking resemblance to an Abra.

"I wonder if Oak had any weird experiences last night," Cato pondered as he crawled out of his tent and into the bright sunlight. The night had been particularly cold because he had lost his lab coat, so the sunlight was a nice way to start the morning. Bathing in the luminosity, Cato decided to check his body for any scars he may have gotten during the adventure. To his surprise, the only thing he could tell was different was the color of his skin, which had turned a brownish-yellow, almost as if his pale skin had gotten a tan.

"And the oddities continue," he whispered, making his way toward Viridian. He wasn't too surprised to see the people of the town still in a commotion, but little did he know that it was about something completely different. The closer he got to the town, the more the situation unveiled. By the time he reached the Center, which was his destination, he had a complete understanding of what was going on.

According to the townspeople, his sudden tan was nothing compared to some of the changes they faced. Cato had witnessed transformations from simple skin-tone changes to people walking around with stubs on their lower backs, which might as well one day grow into tails. Both hungry for food and knowledge of the current situation, Cato rushed straight into the Pokemon Center.

Unlike yesterday, when the place was filled with people confused as to why Pokemon had disappeared, now the place was packed with people who wanted to know what was happening to themselves. Cato just happened to recognize a few faces from the previous night, but was sure no one could ever notice him and his bleak features. With a sigh, he inspected the lobby and noticed that someone had turned on the TV. Expecting that no one else was actually watching it, the teen stepped up rather close and took a seat on the floor and watched, not even minding the other boy who was sweeping around him.

"Some tells me this is going to be a long day…"

 

[Random_Fan]

He swept like the good volunteer he was. If it were up to him, Tom would think that he was the only one cleaning the floors. There were no other volunteers he could see, and others that worked there were either late or not coming. The ones that were already on duty were somewhere else, away from the main lobby. It was only him and the mass of trainers and their gossip. But as he swept near the seats, he saw someone familiar. Though not strikingly recognizable, he got a good view of his face and knew it was him.

He had only met him the night before, and even then, he had not really spoken to him completely. The teen had been kind enough to help him. Tom did not remember thanking any one who had risked their lives to help him find his sister, and the thought brought a terrible memory to rise. He was afraid for a second, but held it all back. He needed to get it off his chest and say a thank-you for once. But before he had the chance, right as he was about to let the words escape from his mouth from behind the teen, someone else familiar called to his attention.

"Tommy!"

It was AJ, the seven year old child he would baby-sit. Once again, they meet in this place. The memory of how he really did not care if he came to help or not scared Tom though. He realized that very easily, he had put this kid in harms way. For that, he cannot forgive himself.

"AJ," said Tom cheerfully. "What's going on little man!"

He knew that ruffling his hair was not a good idea, but he was so used to doing it. Now though, it felt strange to have that stretchy pull feeling between his fingers. He pulled back and paused, long enough for AJ to get a good view at the webbed hand.

 

[Naito]

OOC: Sorry for not posting until now, and this post probably will suck a bit. But I just wanted to get it in so I didn't fall too far behind.

---

Maria woke in her room. It had been a tiresome night yesterday, having gone into a cave and fought what appeared to be dirt-Pokemon. Hell, what happened that day, she didn't even comprehend fully, such as that girl turning into dust or something. All the girl knew was that she was safe and sound, having not been entombed within that sinking cavern, most likely swallowed by the earth right now unless whatever magic from before saved it. But it wasn't her problem right now.

Getting up and out of bed, the girl proceeded into the bathroom to wash up and take a shower. Once done, she took a good long stare at herself in the mirror. Maria had known something was different, and she observed it more carefully. Her eye color had changed from blue to red overnight, and the hair color became green. Maria recalled no such event she bothered putting on contacts or dying her hair. It was strange, but anyone could do this with enough time.

Done with the surprise of the hair color and eye color changing, the girl went and headed outside. The changes she had were nothing. People had fur all over their bodies, others even had vines all over. Limbs started to change form, and one person had cream fur, a stub which could become a tail, and Meowth-like ears. Feeling a bit better over she not being the only one with changes, the girl headed toward the Pokemon Center. If anything, she could get the most information from there, that place being the natural source of knowledge for any trainer, no matter who they were.

Arriving, the girl heard mixed emotions all over, and was pleased a bit. There wasn't much commotion inside, despite all the noise inside that would surely wake up most of the trainers. If they were awake, most likely she would assume it would go like outside, gossip and such about these new changes. It was as if they were turning into Pokemon or even human/pokemon hybrids. It was strange, but seemed kind of possible given what has been happening to the city.

Maria found herself watching the television turned on by the time she had entered the center. Currently it was displaying the news, and were reporting the changes. Most of it was interviewing people and such, although there was a bit about the shock wave from yesterday and other things. Maria sat at a couch at the back, alone for the most part. Few trainers were awake, so she didn't expect many people to be at the lobby of the center right now. So tuning out everyone, the girl focused in to the anchor reporting the news.