The Uprising: Fighting the Pokémon Extermination

[Sweet Dreams]

He started at her question and glanced around for the source. So she was right; he had been too absorbed to even notice her sitting there, watching the entire spectacle. "I didn't... see you there. An Aneurysm is a dilation of a blood vessel, usually caused by extreme stress... uh, how long have-" he abruptly cut himself off. Sar fought not to grin at the sight of that cool, distant and cold guy from before becoming flustered. It was funny. The urge died down as she saw him looking at her speculatively. She wasn't sure what he was thinking but she couldn't believe it was anything good.

His body was rigid, though. Almost in fear - but, again, she somehow couldn't believe that the cocky guy from before was afraid. Besides, he had seemed so infuriatingly calm just moments before. Ikiji let out a sigh and spoke up again.

"Matsu's going to try to find something to eat. I suppose you can have some of whatever she brings back, if you prefer." There was a pause in which Sar just shrugged to say that either way was fine with her. Unfortunately, he hadn't been looking at her at the time so he probably missed the action. Looking up at her again, he asked the one question that seemed to be on everybody's mind. "So, how did you end up here?"

Sar snorted and considered staying silent, but decided to tell him just to pass the time. Silence was comfortable for her but it seemed to be awkward for others sometimes. Of course, she gave him the condensed version.

"My father was an arrogant bastard. He illegally traded guns before, so I dunno why, but he jumped through hoops to obey those stupid signs when they went up. Probably because he always hated Pokemon. He shot at me when I ran away instead of giving him Tock and Burr. The flaming idiot missed; he was a worse shot than I am and he's an arms dealer. Goes to show, doesn't it?" She said distantly, not quite knowing what it went to show but knew that whatever it was, it was shown through this.

Her mouth twisted into a sneer as he thought of the uptight, dominating and alien-chasing man that had driven away everybody in his family. He probably didn't even care. Sar tugged on her left earring in irritation. Whenever she thought of that sniveling coward, she had a strange urge to punch something and do everything he had ordered her not to. She let out a weak chuckle as she thought about her situation. She was in the middle of a war with a government funded army, her leg had been shot right through and she was thinking about some guy miles away. He still ran her life. And at this stage, he would probably run it until the day she died which, considering the way this war was likely to go, was pretty soon.

Sar looked up. There were muffled sounds coming through the gym's doors. People were outside; nothing else was ever accompanied by that much shouting and stomping. Except, perhaps, a Primeape. Somehow, she doubted that there was a Primeape running wild in the iciness of Frosty Gorge.

 

[The warden]

Paul held the Rhyhorn's Pokeball in his hands in front of him, he began to lose all awareness of what was going on around him as he thought about the man who had owned this Pokemon, the man that Slash had killed. As he stood there he began to decide if he should keep the Rhyhorn or let it go, maybe his best choice was to see what the Rhyhorn wanted to do. But it might be angry at him because it's master died. Why were things never simple.


"....worse shot than I am and he's an arms dealer. Goes to show, doesn't it?" The sound of Sar's voice brought him back to the real world, he tucked the ball back in to his belt. Paul looked round to see who she was talking to and was surprised to find someone laying on the floor of the gym, when had they got there? A mighty commotion from outside disturbed his train of though for the second time in only a few minutes.


"Hi down there I'm Paul." Paul said with rather more excitement than he had hoped because he was starting to go slightly hyperactive.


He turned to Sar "Sorry Sar did you say something?" he asked with a giddy chuckle.

 

[Mira]

(OOC: whatever you do, don't have PXS people come into the gym, mmkay?)

"We promise," Chris said from behind Isabel.

Isabel closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. If she were the same as she had been just over a year ago, she would be crying. Mourning for the members of the Uprising that had all been lost along the way, for the Pokémon that had been destroyed and displaced, for the people whose lives had been likewise changed forever. But there was too much at stake for her to be anything less than who she was now, and even who the Extermination had created failed everyone.

"Beo, Greg." Chris said. "Do you still have Blaze and your Honchcrow?"

"Don't release your Pokémon," Brad said. "I will show your team a way to escape and then you all must leave. The nurse will show you the way through the passages and you will make your way to the south. PXS's treachery will be known to law enforcement, and they will come to realize their error and the exportation of the Pokémon and will assist you."

"No," Isabel said, her eyes snapping open. "We don't know for sure how the government will react to PXS's takeover. They may still attempt to drain the Katsu region of all Pokémon and throw the Uprising in jail. Where will we be then? They have no Pokémon, and much of their funding had been funneled straight into PXS itself for the past year. PXS is too powerful for them now."

"If the government can't stop them, then how on earth will the Uprising do it?"

"We'll go to the other regions," Isabel said. "Tell the Trainers that had fled the region that they are no longer being hunted even in the other regions and that they don't need to hide any longer. We will gain the support of every Trainer who will join our cause and we will return to take down PXS and the law."

Isabel could sense that Brad wasn't too sure about what she had suggested, but before he could speak out against it a huge explosion erupted from behind them.

"Go!" Brad yelled, throwing open the gym doors and propelling them inside.

Isabel dared a glance back and instantly regretted it. The explosion had blasted through the walls of Frosty Gorge and swarms of PXS members swarmed through, easily overtaking the resistance from the Guardians inside.

PXS was taking Frosty Gorge.

 

[dream's-epilogue]

"Uh, I actually meant what were you doing here, now, but, okay. Gee, he seems like a swell and upstanding guy. I'm shocked he wasn't out there shooting at us with the rest of PSX; by the sound of it, he'd've fit in pretty well with those drugged-up speciesists on government salaries." He couldn't help an empty chuckle at this last thought. "There's our tax dollars at work for you." He sighed. "Me, I'm here following a lead. I'm in a suicidal battle on a one-in-a-million chance that I'll find something that'll lead me to what I'm looking for, which might not even still exist. Apparently, the cold must've killed a few of my brain cells, because I'm still here."

Suddenly, a voice called to him, but it wasn't the girl. It was a boy nearby.

"Hi down there I'm Paul."

He jumped for the third time, and looked at the boy. Another one? Good Arceus, if he were PXS I'd be dead already! Where the hell did my sense of awareness go?

"Don't tell me YOU'VE been there the who-nevermind, I don't really care. What are YOU doing here?"

The sounds outside were picking up. He didn't know what was happening, but something told him the Uprising wasn't winning. He let out another long sigh. He was next to useless right now, anyway. He turned back to the girl.

"So, erm, I never did catch your name? What next? I'm in a pretty sorry state right now, and I'm guessing you're not exactly in the best shape of your life, either. Going back out there now would be the equivalent of painting big, fat, pulsating bull's-eyes on our chests. So. I'm open to suggestions."

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

"Don't release your Pokémon," Brad said.

<Now you tell us.> Chris rolled his eyes as he took back out Silver's Pokeball. "Thanks anyways, Silver." Chris said taking out his ball and retuning him. As he did, he could swear he saw Silver let out a sigh of relief. Who could blame him? If they flew, they would probably get shot at and maybe even get hit. Chris placed both the ball and the pistol onto his belt as Brad continued on.

"I will show your team a way to escape and then you all must leave. The nurse will show you the way through the passages and you will make your way to the south. PXS's treachery will be known to law enforcement, and they will come to realize their error and the exportation of the Pokémon and will assist you."

"No," Isabel said, snapping her eyes open. "We don't know for sure how the government will react to PXS's takeover. They may still attempt to drain the Katsu region of all Pokémon and throw the Uprising in jail. Where will we be then? They have no Pokémon, and much of their funding had been funneled straight into PXS itself for the past year. PXS is too powerful for them now."

"If the government can't stop them, then how on earth will the Uprising do it?"

"We'll go to the other regions," Isabel said. "Tell the Trainers that had fled the region that they are no longer being hunted even in the other regions and that they don't need to hide any longer. We will gain the support of every Trainer who will join our cause and we will return to take down PXS and the law."

It looked as though Brad was against it, but before anyone could say anything else, a huge explosion erupted from behind them.

"Go!" Brad yelled, throwing open the gym doors and ushering them inside.

As soon as everyone was in, Chris, not even daring to look at the scene outside, slammed the door behind them shut. As soon as they were, Chris took a step back and yelled, "Dile! Use Ice Beam on the doors!" Dile complied, jumping off of Chris' shoulder and firing his attack. Within moments, the door was completely covered in ice. "That should hold them off for a bit. Good Job, Dile." Chris bent down to let Dile back up onto his shoulder, only then noticing how much Dile was panting. Then again, he had been through a lot in the last few hours, and hadn't even taken a break.

"Here, take a quick rest." Chris said, pulling Dile's Pokeball off of his belt. However, before he could return the Pokémon, Dile swiped away the ball, almost knocking it out of Chris' hand. "What? Do you want to stay out?" Dile slowly nodded before using his remaining strength to clamber onto Chris shoulder, still panting. "Alright then, your choice." Chris reached up and gave him a quick scratch on the head before turning to the rest of the group.

"Didn't Brad say something about a nurse or passageway or something?" He asked, placing Dile's empty ball back onto his belt.

(OOC: Door's closed. I hope everyone was in. :D)

 

[§acred†Beo!]

"Don't release your Pokémon," Brad said.

Beo looked down to Blaze's and Wags pokeball, both of them had fought hard so far, and Blaze may have been running low on energy.. But still Beo had the urge to keep fighting, something inside of him just couldn't stop like this but he knew fighting may just cause more harm to his pokemon.

"I will show your team a way to escape and then you all must leave. The nurse will show you the way through the passages and you will make your way to the south. PXS's treachery will be known to law enforcement, and they will come to realize their error and the exportation of the Pokémon and will assist you."

"No," Isabel said, snapping her eyes open. "We don't know for sure how the government will react to PXS's takeover. They may still attempt to drain the Katsu region of all Pokémon and throw the Uprising in jail. Where will we be then? They have no Pokémon, and much of their funding had been funneled straight into PXS itself for the past year. PXS is too powerful for them now."

"If the government can't stop them, then how on earth will the Uprising do it?"

"We'll go to the other regions," Isabel said. "Tell the Trainers that had fled the region that they are no longer being hunted even in the other regions and that they don't need to hide any longer. We will gain the support of every Trainer who will join our cause and we will return to take down PXS and the law."

It looked as though Brad was against it, but before anyone could say anything else, a huge explosion erupted from behind them.

"Go!" Brad yelled, throwing open the gym doors and ushering them inside.

Beo and the others quickly hurled themselves into the gym and Chris quickly closed them. His Totodile used ice beam on the doors to seal them tight at least for a short while anyways. There was supposed to be a nurse or something to lead them down a passageway? Beo then looked down to his two pokeballs and smiled.

"Good job today guys" he said softly.

 

[The warden]

"Don't tell me YOU'VE been there the who-never mind, I don't really care. What are YOU doing here?" The guy on the floor said and let out a sigh he turned back to Sar and continued to talk. "So, erm, I never did catch your name? What next? I'm in a pretty sorry state right now, and I'm guessing you're not exactly in the best shape of your life, either. Going back out there now would be the equivalent of painting big, fat, pulsating bull's-eyes on our chests. So. I'm open to suggestions."


The noise out side continued to grow louder, then a wave of sound hit the gym, the sound of an explosion. As far as Paul could tell all of the Uprising rushed inside the gym. Chris was one of the last ones in and as soon as every one had gotten inside he slammed the door shut.


"Dile! Use Ice Beam on the doors!" He commanded, his Totodile following his orders. How am I supposed to get back outside now Paul thought to himself, his hands clenched into fists. C7@p, his bag, all his Pokemon and his Dad were all still in Frosty George and he couldn't get to them.


"That should hold them off for a bit. Good Job, Dile." Chris said letting climb Dile on to his shoulder."Here, take a quick rest."


Chris pulled a Pokeball off of his belt but Dile knocked it away. "What? Do you want to stay out? Alright then, your choice." Chris turned towards the other members of the Uprising "Didn't Brad say something about a nurse or passageway or something?"


Paul walked straight towards Chris.


"You absolute moron! What the hell do you think you are doing? Freezing the doors closed without even checking it's OK with every one else first!" Paul yelled at Chris, he continued to walk towards him and despite being considerably shorter than him grabbed his shirt with both hands. "Do you think your smart freezing the PXS outside, and trapping the rest of us in here. My Pokemon are outside, my bag and every thing I own is out side and..." Paul was about to mention his dad but instead changed his mind. "...You decide to freeze the door closed with out a single thought to anyone else."

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

Chris knocked Paul's hands away  and shoved him back a bit. 
 
"How the hell was I supposed to know that you would be an idiot and leave your stuff outside?!" Chris shouted, getting in his face "And how could you even think about leaving your Pokemon alone in the first place?! This is a god-damn war, if you haven't noticed!" Chris grabbed Paul by the shirt just as he had done a moment before. 
 
"You're calling me a moron for keeping the PXS out so they won't kill us? Don't make me laugh." Chris growled, releasing his grip on Paul before turning and stepping away. 
 
He said nothing for a moment before taking a deep breath. <Alright, Calm down...> he thought. <You would feel the same way if someone had shut your Pokemon out there.> He took a glance at Paul. <Although, I probably wouldn't have left them all alone in their Pokeballs in the first place.> Chris looked away from Paul, again looking around the gym.

"That can't be the only exit... It would be a fire hazard." Chris mumbled, thinking aloud. "So somewhere, besides the passageway, there's got to be another way out... Maybe in the back or something... But I suppose we could always break a window. No, they're probably out there fighting right now. We can't draw any more attention to ourselves. "
 
Chris sighed before turning back to Paul and the rest of the group. "Look, it may just be the fatigue settling in, but the last thing we need is everyone turning on each other. Let's just get your Pokemon and get out of here."
 
Chris walked right past Paul and to the Gym Pokemn Battle field. It was a tad icy, but not impassible. Strangely, he thought that he should be battling here rather then hiding.
 
"There should be another door somewhere." He said as he walked across the field. He was almost to the other side when he heard a muffled 'click'. All of a sudden, a hatch opened up in the floor, and soon, the Nurse Joy from the Pokecenter climbed out.

Panting, she looked around before talking. "Brad said you might be here."

"Yeah... He said you would be here too..." Chris slowly said, wondering if she had been hiding in there the whole. "So is that a tunnel or...?"

"This? It leads to the Pokecenter. There's also one that leads outside." She replied in a voice a litttle too cheery for the siduation.

"Perfect." Chris said, peering past Joy and looking down into the tunnel to the Pokecenter. It looked pretty dark, and it was a wonder how she even got through it. He turned to Paul, grinning. "And you thought we were trapped."

(OOC: Yay! Crappy iTouch post where spelll check blows! Oh well.)

 

[Sweet Dreams]

The Raichu had joined the group heading back towards the gym, drained and weary. Paying no heed to the flow of conversations and arguments around him, he followed the crowd with an almost zombie-like vapidity. As he entered the gym, however, a sight caused him to brighten up like a lightbulb and pounce cheerfully in front of the crowd which had yet to notice or acknowledge the presence of the duo sitting inside the gym. Sar and Ikiji; so far, his favourite people in the world, were idly lounging around. At a closer inspection, they were both quite bloody.

*

She smirked at Ikiji's comment about her father. "Too much of a coward. Probably supplies them with some arms, though," she stated thoughtfully. She stayed silent, listening as Ikiji gave her a just-as-brief and even more vague run-down on his reasons for being there. Sar's smirk grew more pronounced. "Well, seems like we're both idiots," she announced when he finished.

She practically jumped out of her skin when the urban-name guy whom she had almost forgotten about yelled out; "Hi down there, I'm Paul!" She made a note of his name. At least Patrick had been rather close. She closed her eyes and lay her head against the wall, feeling a wave of disorientation wash over her. She opened her eyes when she heard somebody address her again.

"Sorry Sar did you say something?" Paul asked, laughing weakly. Sar gave him a look and shook her head mutely, starting to doubt the sanity of everyone participating in the war, including her own.

"So, erm, I never did catch your name?" Sar frowned again at that. She was sure that in their first meeting down at the cellar of the Pokemon center - was that really just this morning? - they had formally introduced themselves to each other and taken a slight dislike to the other. She could be wrong. Even if they hadn't, though, he should have been able to deduce that her name was Sar from Paul's call. "What next? I'm in a pretty sorry state right now, and I'm guessing you're not exactly in the best shape of your life, either. Going back out there now would be the equivalent of painting big, fat, pulsating bulls eye on our chests. So, I'm open to suggestions."

Sar gathered her scattering wits back together and looked up at him. The whole situation was crazy. The best thing they could do was to leg it to a safe distance and watch the show. Or hobble and hop, in their case. She tried to think through the fog rising up in her mind again when the doors were dramatically thrown open and a bedraggled group made mainly of teenagers rushed in. The door was then shut and hurriedly iced over. That was pointless, in Sar's opinion. The people they were facing had tanks, and probably a few explosives. They could blast through an iron vault; a mere wall of ice wasn't going to deter them for all that long.

The group, once inside, began mainly to congratulate their Pokemon on a job well done, and to inquire about some nurse and passageway. Paul marched up to the guy who instigated the freezing of the doors and started to yell at him about leaving them trapped and having his Pokemon and supplies still outside. Conveniently, a Nurse Joy popped her head through a trapdoor and greeted them jovially.

At that moment, Sar was assaulted with an orange and brown furball. She relaxed somewhat when she figured out that what she was seeing was a Raichu, hugging her. She took it, awkwardly, before raising her arms to remove the Pokemon. Wondering why the Electric Pokemon was so attached to her, she looked back at the tunnel with a feeling of dread. The walk would be very painful, but she could handle it. She had to.

Fervently, she hoped Tock and Burr could find her again and that they were alright, before shaking her head slightly to help clear the thoughts and fog away. "Name's Sar," she murmured to Ikiji.

 

[dream's-epilogue]

"Well, seems like we're both idiots," she'd said.

"'Idiots'? Perhaps a more accurate term is 'devoid of common sense.'"
--------------------
She almost dropped the plate; through some miracle, she managed to catch herself and set the plate down gently. Blowing on her paws, she jumped up and snatched an oven mitt off of a hook. With the mitt in place to prevent any more unpleasant burns, she started to trudge her way out and down the hall...
--------------------
Moments after he'd spoken, the door burst open, and a horde of Uprising in various conditions clambered inside. Someone iced the door shut; Kij felt a spark of irritation at this.

Nice one. Now, instead of shooting us directly, they'll just drop the roof on our heads. I wonder if death by collapsing building is any less painful than death by bullet?

His throbbing head helpfully tuned out the following conversion, but by the volume, he judged that at least one of the Uprising members wasn't happy about something. Shortly thereafter, he saw a nurse pop out of a trapdoor that he'd somehow missed. He fought the urge to punch himself. At this rate, he'd impale himself on a protruding nail at some point.
---------------------
She managed to get all the way to where Kij was sitting before she noticed the large group of people in the room. Admittedly, the yelling helped.

She stared at the group for a moment, but the oven mitt on the plate slipped, exposing her paw to the hot glass. She let out a soft yelp and dropped the plate. Somehow, it didn't shatter. Not only that, it managed to land upright. Anotehr miracle.

Still holding her paws under her armpits, she spoke.

<Did I miss something?>
----------------------
<Did I miss something?>

He looked down, and saw Matsu looking at the others. A glass plate with some sort of meat sat next to her.

"Not really. Uprising's here, door's iced shut...and I think we're about to go through some sort of hidden tunnel. Or something."

<Oh, great...I just lugged this thing here for nothing?>

"Who said that?" he replied, snatching up a piece of the meat and stuffing it in his mouth. It was hot and dry, but still pretty good.

"Name's Sar," said the girl.

Sar....wait, I remember...vaguely...damn, I think I DID lose a few brain cells....

He shook his head and, when he'd swallowed, indicated the plate of food.

"If you want anything to eat, do it now. No telling where we're going, so you might not get another chance for a while. Or ever, depending."

 

[Zeph.]

Greg, now feeling the tiredness, was slouched against the wall among the rest of the Uprising. Krow was now safely in it's ball along with the other two. He found a bottle of water in his pack and took a big gulp.

He noticed Chris and the other guy having an argument about the door. He didn't see why. Better in here than out there at this moment in time.

Greg took this time to think to himself. There was a lot to think about for him, after all, Frosty Gorge is his home. And his family. What would happen to them? Had they escaped? Or will they be taken by the PXS? At this point he started to feel a mixture of fear and emotion. He couldn't bear the thought of his parents... his little sisters...

The fighting had calmed down, and Greg noticed he was still holding the mostly full bottle of water, "Anyone want some?" he asked out. Someone was bound to need it.

Greg could hear the arena floor shifting a few feet from where he was. He would have got up to see what it was, but he was too fatigued to care. Soon after the head of one of the Pokemon Centre nurses emerged.

This tunnel leads to the Pokecenter. There's also one that leads outside." she told Chris. Her voice seemed quite relaxed and jittery for the situation in hand. But who cared?

Greg stood up at this point, "What about these other entrances to the tunnel?" he asked the nurse, "Are they hidden from the PXS? Or have we just given them a way to enter the Pokemon Centre and this Gym?" This probably wasn't the best question to ask at this point, but he was just feeling causious.

(OOC: Not much, but I'm just helping to prevent this thing from dying :P)

 

[Skymin]

(I'm just gonna post and say that we're alone or something. If there's something wrong with this, just tell me. I think Burr's with us but let's just say there was some more PXS members and they fought and stuff and won but everyone was wounded okaaay? Someone needs to come rescueeeee or we can just wait until we recuperate.)

Ashi jumped off Invisi several meters off the ground just in time to see Josh collapse to the ground, panting heavily. She looked around to see Alex, Bon, Stone, Knight, a Leafeon and that friend of Josh's Raticate all bloody and completely exhausted. Ashi acted quickly, releasing her other Pokémon to help the fallen and ran over to Josh. His shoulder was badly torn up by what looked like a Scyther blade and he was quietly crying into the snow. It was obvious what happened, several PXS members, now dead over to her left, attacked them violently.

"Josh, Josh, wake up, Josh, just wake up," Ashi put a hand to his heart. It was beating, faintly, but it was still steady. So he was going to be okay, as long as she could stop this blood. Ashi snatched up Josh's bag which lay next to him and pulled out some material he carried around for times like these. She quickly wrapped his shoulder up tightly, the blood already oozing through the sheets. After several layers, the blood seemed to stop flowing and Ashi cut it off and tied it up. She turned around to see Twili and Sola had helped themselves to potions out of Josh's bag and were helping the others.

"It's going to be okay. It really is," Ashi said to him softly. Josh opened his eyes slightly and smiled before passing out. "Now all we have to do... is wait."

 

[Sweet Dreams]

"If you want anything to eat, do it now. No telling where we're going, so you might not get another chance for a while. Or ever, depending," Ikiji replied, his Pikachu back at his side. Raichu gave them a weak wave before collapsing fully onto Sar, sapped of energy. She was uncomfortable about the Pokemon but grudgingly accepted the contact. Looking up at the food in question, Sar found to her vague surprise that she didn't have an appetite. Usually she ate like a demon, and it should have been worse considering she hadn't had anything solid since breakfast, but she mentally shrugged it off and shook her head at the offer.

She raised an arm to feel her forehead with the back of her hand. It was burning, and somewhat moist from perspiration. Grimacing, she let her hand drop back down. If she ever made it out of the battle alive, her top priority would be to get a shower. Sar shook her head again in an attempt to clear it of completely insignificant thoughts considering the present circumstances. Sighing, she watched them mill about, pondering the existence of the tunnel. She wished they would hurry it up a bit and decide whether or not they were going through; she wouldn't be able to keep herself together mentally for much longer.

She shifted into a more comfortable position with the Raichu resting atop of her when a sharp bolt of pain flashed up her leg. Caught unawares, she hissed in pain and instinctively bit on her knuckle to keep from crying out. The skin of her hand, already torn open by earlier attempts to stifle any sounds, reopened and fresh blood bloomed through the dark but threadbare fabric of a shirt she had hastily torn into a bandage. After the pain dulled to a constant throbbing sensation, she relaxed slightly. The Raichu was looking up at her, concern written across his features. She flashed him a brief, reassuring smile before leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes once more. Her smile turned into a bitter smirk as she wondered if all people were so blind to the presence of the injured. She didn't need their help, of course, but that Ikiji guy looked to be in a pretty bad shape.

She wondered again where Tock and Burr was now, and fleetingly, where that Josh-kid could be.

*

Tock was not getting impatient. Certainly, she had been flying around for a while, her small, stubby wings starting to ache and a feeling of certainty that she had already swept the entire area, but she was still calm and attentive and patiently flapping in circles. After all; with so much to look at, from the snow to the trucks to all the soldiers of PXS and how they were storming the walls of the city, who could ever get bored?

She made another sweep and felt slight satisfaction when she spied the ragged browny-sickening-red of a Raticate covered in blood and unnameable crap. Around him was that boy and Pokemon from earlier, as well as a girl, an Umbreon and an Espeon. She gave a hoot to warn them that she was there and touched down next to Burr. She had seen the crowd outside of the gym and deduced that the members of the troupe were going to enter the building before she started her search, so she knew where to go back to. The problem was leading the haggard group back without getting them killed by PXS members along the way.

She gave another bleary hoot. <You know, I know where everybody's at the Gym. Do you think they're having a party? Ooh, red on white is an interesting combination,> she said conversationally, watching a smear of blood on the snow. This was turning out to be a mildly interesting day. Perhaps afterward she could paint. That would make it perfect.

 

[Skymin]

Ashi quickly spun around as the Hoothoot approached but calmed as it landed next to the Raticate. More of Josh's friend's Pokemon? How many did she have and what was protecting her now? It wasn't really Ashi's problem, she was an annoying, stubborn girl but Josh seemed to have taken a shine to her (well, he wanted to be friends with any girl as far as Ashi could remember) so she respected that. Barely. She turned around again as the Hoothoot hooted at her again, a few times longer than the last and looked at Ashi with slightly questioning eyes. Was it... trying to tell her something?

"I don't know what you're saying, so you might as well give up," Ashi snapped when it hooted again. "If you're telling me crap, I don't really care. But if it's important, get Twili to try and explain to me."

Twili, who had heard the whole conversation, shot Ashi a look which kinda meant 'I'm no messenger, he said go back to the gym' and added some body language and a few cries to help. Ashi stared at him for moment and shrugged, getting to her feet. She returned all of Josh's Pokemon and put the balls on the bracelette on his wrist. She placed Josh over Invisi and went over and picked up the Raticate, who had recovered a little after being showered in potions, and put him on Invisi too.

"Take them both back to Iz and Josh's friend, I'll walk. I'll be fine, I've got these two," Ashi quickly added as Invisi nudged at her. "Hurry!"

With a few beats of the Staraptor's wings, they became airbourne and Ashi watched as they flew away, Invisi's eyes still on her. Ashi sighed and started walking. It would indeed take a while to get back to the Uprising side of the field and avoiding the PXS was going to be hard. Ashi's stomach formed a lump as her confidence shifted to hoping of Invisi's swift return.

 

[The warden]

Paul looked at the hole in the floor of the gym, a few minutes ago you wouldn't have known it was there. That meant that he could carry out his plan with out causing any trouble to the others.


"Isabel you take the others down the tunnel and freeze the lid shut after you. I've got stuff to sort, this tunnel must have an entrance near the Pokemon center, so wait ten minutes inside and then go without me. I think you know what I'm going to do and I don't want you to stop me." Paul shouted to Isabel as he backed towards the doors to the gym and pulled the only full Pokeball from his belt.


"Go Rhyhorn! Smash the ice off the doors but don't..." The Rhyhorn stopped listening at the word smash and charged straight at the doors sending them flying, struggled to stop but some how managed to come to a stand still out side the doors. Paul ran out to join in pausing only momentary to pick up his bag and pull it on to his back. He struggled to climb the scales of the Rhyhorn and mount it, some how he managed to wedge himself between the two spine on it's back.


"To the Pokemon center as fast as you can." He commanded, once he was sat comfortably on top of the Rhyhorn, it started running in a kind of leaping motion that almost threw Paul off, he gripped tightly on to the spine in front of him to stay on it's back, is glasses slipped several times and he had to keep pushing them back up.


"Paul!" A voice shouted from behind him after a couple of minutes of riding, although it felt like years.
Paul turned to see how had shouted his voice and saw Sue looking at him a puzzled look on her face.


"Paul you shouldn't be here the PXS are in the town!" Sue said to him, he noticed that she had a hand gun in her right hand and wondered if she had used it on anything.


"I know but I need to get to the Pokemon center." Paul shouted to her slipping off Rhyhorn and landing on the ground with a thud. Sue ran over to help him but a sudden burst of gun fire stopped her, the PXS were near and they were coming their way. Paul pulled a ball from his belt and withdrew the Rhyhorn, without making a sound. The two of them crept slowly away from the source of the gunfire.


(OOC: good bye I will return on the 17th)

 

[Skymin]

Josh woke up suddenly holding on for dear life as Invisi dipped down, avoiding a blast of fire from a Charmeleon and barrel rolled to dodge a bolt of electricity shot from the other direction. Josh looked from side to side trying to remember what happened and why he was on Ashi's Pokemon. One of his arms was clamped around Sar's Raticate and Tock was hooting cheerfully on his shoulder, as if she was on some kind of rollercoaster.

"What are you doing, you stupid bird?!" Josh shouted over the wind. "We're going to di-" Josh stopped mid-sentance. He had said this before, not so long ago! But, when? The PXS! The fight! Ashi! Where was she? Josh felt his stomach lurch as Invisi flew up to avoid being hit. So, Ashi must still be out there since Josh was on Invisi. His stomach lurched again, but this not because of the G-force. Hopefully, Ashi would be okay. Josh's own Pokémon were too worn out to help.

Josh flicked his head around as another shot of fire whizzed past his ear and turned around to see the gym closing in, the doors encased with ice. Suddenly, the ice smashed from the inside and one of the Uprising members (was it Paul?) ran out on a Rhydon. Joshua saw his chance and pointed at the gym.

"Invisi! In there!" Invisi flapped so fast, her wings were a blur. They both zipped past Paul who was riding his Rhydon away from the gym and skidded into the gym, Invisi's claws on the cold floor like fingers on a chalkboard. Josh grabbed Burr and slid off Invisi, sliding across the floor into the back wall with a loud thump. Tock had clamped herself onto Josh and had now flown off, hooting cheerfully, over to another's shoulders.

"Sar!" Josh wheezed. "Isabel! I'm back." He muttered the last part before his body could take no more and collapsed, but still conscience, Burr still tight in his arms. "What'd I miss?"

 

[Sweet Dreams]

((OOC: Sorry for anybody and everybody this post might insult. Just saying...))

Sar did nothing but smile grimly when Paul smashed back through the doors on his Rhyhorn. By now, she should have expected that there would be somebody who would do something stupid and somebody else who would just undo it by doing something even more stupid. Any moment now, somebody would suggest lighting up fireworks and organizing a tea for the PXS officers. She glanced at the still-smiling Nurse Joy with a sinking feeling. The pink-haired lady was the number one suspect for harbouring such insane desires, and she was really getting an urge to go over to her and punch that cheerful expression off that face.

She closed her eyes and laid her forehead against her knee, trying her best to ignore the pain and not get sucked into the pink fog threatening to envelope her mind. Why didn't they just hurry it up a little? They've got next to no choice but enter the trapdoor after the huge sound of splintering wood and breaking ice. Sar refused to try to beat some sense into a bunch of lunatics, though, so she prayed to any deity that would listen that there was somebody who didn't have scrambled eggs for brains...

"Sar! Isabel! I'm back," Josh's voice reached her ears. Her eyes opened to see Josh collapse for the second time that day. "What'd I miss?" He asked weakly from his position down on the floor. Instinctively, Sar's body rose before she fell back again heavily, panting and biting down hard on the bandaged hand and berating herself. Hoping that nobody noticed and refusing to look around to see if they did, she stood up gingerly, in a more calculating manner. Her hand was throbbing and bleeding afresh once again, helping to distract her from the searing flame in her leg as she walked determinedly to where Josh lay. She only limped slightly, not wanting much attention drawn to her injuries or for that Josh-guy to start worrying about anybody apart from himself again.

When she saw the bloodied mass of brown fur that he was cradling, however, she let out a slight gasp and fell to her knees beside him. She bit the side of her cheek and winced a little at the flare of pain this caused but pushed it aside. Hesitantly, she nudged Josh until he was in a more comfortable position on his back and took the weary, grimy and foul-smelling Raticate off his hands and drew him - Burr, not Josh - into a painfully hard hug. She had tried not being worried. She'd failed. Burr was her first, and for a long time, only friend or acquaintance.

She muttered a "Thank gods" into his fur that nobody else could hear or understand before loosening enough to let him drop down. Then she looked at the human and infinitely more difficult being that had flown in. Uncomfortable, she did as she usually did back home when faced with a potentially mushy situation and drew on the first words that could make the journey from the mind to the mouth.

"Idiot," she stated. Running a hand through her tangled hair and sighing, she gave him a worried look. Was he injured? Without conscious thought, she started checking his body for any serious injuries, vaguely wondering if she could hit hit him for making her worry when she didn't even really know him. That is, if he wasn't too injured.

*

Tock had decided not to go straight over to Sar because of her wounded state. Instead, she flew over to the closest random shoulder. It belonged to a guy holding a water bottle and slumping tiredly against a wall. She gave him a cheerful hoot, not even miffed that the people she had gone out to save had shouted at her and called her names. Some people didn't appreciate her artist's soul. She spotted the Raichu which had been left behind by Sar and the longing expression on his face.

His other master wouldn't have cared if he'd just dug a hole and disappeared into it, never to be seen again. If he'd died, his existence would have been shrugged off and replaced in an uncaring instant. He wanted an owner that cared about his life. He hoped he would find it in Sar, but he was beginning to be less sure. After all, why would anybody want him? He wasn't as strong as Matsu or particularly bright or interesting. He was just "the Raichu". He knew in his electric pouches that once he had a proper name, everything would be better. He wanted one more than anything else in the whole world. With a name, he could matter, he could be somebody.

With a proper name, he would be invincible...

 

[Zeph.]

He was confused... why did that guy pummell the Gym doors down when they were, to an extent, hidden from the PXS? No point in wondering now...

Then, soon after, a Staraptor came booming through the new gap in the wall, and from it slid Josh! Good to know he was safe... but what about Ashi?

Greg felt something land on his shoulder, and got a small fright when he saw the big red eyes of a Hoothoot gretting him. He smiled a little, "Hey there..." he said, patting it's head. The little pokemon didn't seem to really care much about what was going on right now - Greg had to admire it's optamism...

Remembering that the doors had been broken through, Greg got up slowly - due to how tired he was and the fact that the Hoothot was still on his shoulder. He walked to the Nurse at the trapdoor and began to descend. He turned to the rest of the Uprising members,

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not hanging around here all day!"

(OOC: It's not much, but we should probably get moving :P)

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

Chris could only watch as Paul's Ryhorn slammed through the gym doors. <Damnit.> He thought as he grinded his teeth. <He might as well have put a sign up telling the PXS that we're in here...>

No sooner had Paul done so, A Staraptor swooped into the building. Riding it was the kid he saw earlier on the wall.

Sar!" Josh wheezed. "Isabel! I'm back." He muttered the last part before his body could take no more and collapsed, but still conscience, Burr still tight in his arms. "What'd I miss?"

Before Chris could respond, Dile cut him off. "Toto…" It said wearily, swaying back and forth on Chris' shoulder. Suddenly, the crocodile-like Pokémon lost his balance and fell forwards, right into Chris' arms. Chris looked at his Pokémon with concern. Dile looked like he was still breathing, but the fatigue seemed to have settle in.

Slowly, Greg got up and walked over to the trap door. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not hanging around here all day!" Greg said, climbing down the hole.

"Good idea." Chris said, glancing at Dile again. "We don't want the PXS to find us." He walked over to the trap door and began his descent down behind Greg, carefully cradling Dile in his right arm. Right now only one thing was on his mind, to get out of there with his Pokémon.

 

[Skymin]

"You're welcome... And sorry," Josh sighed to Sar and sat up straighter, wincing a little as he saw and felt raw skin on his leg, probably where he had slid across the ground. He tried to stand up but his leg burned and he slid back down again. Invisi hopped over to Josh, inspecting his wounds and chirping a quick apology.

"You better get back to Ashi," Josh said to the Staraptor. Invisi gave a worried look but turned around and started flapping, only to face an ice wall now sealing the way out. A guardian with his Glalie finished the gaps with an Ice Beam and followed other Uprising members heading down a trapdoor in the floor. Invisi began to flap her wings harder, panicing.

"Calm down!" Josh shouted weakly. "She'll be fine, don't worry!" Invisi obeyed and walked back towards Josh, her eyes still on the icy wall. "I guess we better get going too."

Josh pulled a PokéBall off his wrist and released Stone. Being the most defensive of the lot, the Lairon had the most stamina and recovered quickly. Josh grabbed one of his steel spines and slowly got to his feet, pulling one over Stone.

"I guess we better follow those guys. We're pretty much sitting ducks if a lunatic of ours breaks through again or the PXS do," Josh said to Sar. "Tock's over there. And we've already sprayed Burr's wounds, I have more in my bag if you think he needs it." Josh sighed as he looked at the bloody-brown lump in Sar's arms. He swallowed a lump of guilt, it was pretty much his fault that Burr was hurt. "So are you coming?"