The Uprising: Liberating the Katsu Region

[Sweet Dreams]

Sar wasn't sure whether she wanted to back away or not. On the one hand, his warmth was sapping the anger away, as it always did. On the other hand, it was sapping her anger away. "You are a healer, not a fighter. I just... I dunno," she shook her head, retreating a few steps. She was confused - with anybody else she would merely have labelled them a complete imbecile and left it at that, but with Josh it was different. It was always different, and she didn't know why.

A small part of her was happy to see him, which didn't make any sense whatsoever. A much larger part was furious that he'd willingly come into danger, as though he didn't have any regard for his life. She felt lost, was mad that she felt lost and everything was complicated. Sar retreated back into herself, locking everything in a box where she always kept her unwanted emotions. Josh was here now, there seemed to be nothing she could do about it, and getting out of the region would be a heck of a lot harder than getting in. And she was under orders.

She sighed. "The Uprising supposedly landed somewhere nearby, which is why I'm here. Not of my free will," she stressed and looked at the Totodile. "And yes it would be a good idea, because we're back in Katsu. Sorry Macbeth," she added in softer tones. She hadn't let any of her Pokemon out since she'd set foot here. She'd be damned if she'd let them in danger when they didn't need to be, or bring danger to the townspeople here.

"They'll probably show up in the middle of town soon in a completely obvious way," she muttered, looking down at her partially gloved hands.

Another thing that had confused her was that she'd sent a letter to him that he would have received in a few days to inform him that she'd left, and apologised about not telling him sooner. She wasn't sure why she'd sent the letter, only she wasn't comfortable with the thought of him fretting as she knew he would. She should've known that he'd find a way to follow her despite all her efforts to the contrary. Oh god, she thought, his parents are back there. If he dies, then I'll have to tell them...

She fidgeted again, hoping for something that would get her out of this conversation so that she could think clearly, which was hard to do when a tiny portion of her mind was hyperventilating because he was looking at her and when he was around she started thinking in italics. He was a disease. A disease which rotted her mind and turned her into some kind of demented monster or something. She took another step back, not looking at him. actually, she was looking anywhere but at him.

 

[Skymin]

"Well, me being a medic will help. I thought you'd be coming to Katsu for Uprising, I knew it. Knowing these guys, they've recruited a new bunch of thirteen year olds who like guns and fighting so they need someone to bandage their cuts," Josh looked out into the crowd. They looked a lot more content than other parts of Katsu he had seen, but not completely at peace. Something was bothering them too. "And if the Uprising is here, that means Ashi's here. Family reunion. Great." Josh coughed a little. He tried to keep the sarcasm at a minimum.

He looked back at Sar. She was shaking, only a little. Josh felt his heart drop a little. She was worried, Josh could tell. Josh was taller, had more Pokémon, was supposed to be a man with more courage and strength and she was worrying about him. Although Josh was a little annoyed that she didn't give him enough credit, he smiled. It made Josh feel all funny inside.

"Hey," Josh held her arm, trying his best to calm her. Heck, it took a bit out of him to even touch her. "Don't worry." And smiled.

 

[Sweet Dreams]

Her eyes snapped up to his when he touched her, and she felt herself calming a little. He could see that she was worrying about him and she just realised how damaging that could be to a grown man's pride. Because he was a grown man although she forgot that sometimes. She leaned against a wall, trying to get her head back on straight. Normally she wouldn't have cared if she'd shattered somebody else's ego, but she really didn't want to hurt Josh. Dammit, why were there so many conflicting feelings whirling about?

"You're too damn nice," she muttered, taking her sunglasses off. Now that he was there, she knew what she had to do to keep them both from being driven to the brink of sanity and damn if it wasn't one of the hardest things that she'd had to do in her life. She faced Josh again, feeling unguarded, and took a deep breath.

"I'll trust you," she said. "I'll trust you to do what's right, I'll trust you to not be a complete moron, and I'll trust you... not to leave," she finished in a whisper. Trust was always an issue for her, because she'd never found a human deserving of it before. They always left, in the end, one way or another. But she would trust Josh with her life and now she would try to trust him with his. She wasn't sure she could handle it if somebody else took her trust and stomped it to the ground. It might be impossible to ever come back from that.

Uncomfortable, Sar looked for a new topic. "Look, they might not even be here. If they are, they're not our problem yet. Let's forget about them for a while," she announced abruptly. After all, it could be the last chance in a while to truly wind down. "Let's eat." Perhaps they could find an ice cream stall? She'd quickly found an addiction to the sweet over the past three years which seemed to amaze all her Pokemon.

 

[Legend]

"Yeah, we're friends!"

Isaac was pretty sure the girl was oblivious to the question he posed. Or maybe she was trying to be cute. Either way the charm worked on Isaac and his body grew slightly limp at the innocence the girl displayed in those few seconds. Regaining his composure, his mind drifted into thought.

Wow, didn't expect Chris to be such a ladies man, Isaac thought to himself. I guess he would be considered good looking, but not as good looking as me, Isaac gloated to himself with a sinister shine in his eyes with a evil smirk stretched across his face. Shaking off his dark nature, Isaac turned to his attention to the clearly distracted Chris: "Hey Chris! Nice catch on this one. She's a keeper!" Isaac winked amongst the shouting. He didn't really expect Chris to notice him, seeing as how the larger man was speaking with some other guy Isaac didn't really know or recognize. Must be some guy from the old Uprising…but they don't look to be great friends. Maybe I'll bother them later. Can't let the tension build already.

"I don't think I've met you guys before. I'm Audrey, but you can call me by a nickname if you want; I really don't care. I'm used to it, 'cause my brother always calls me Aud or Auds or something like that. It's nice to meet you. What are your names?"

Sheila interjected and responded before Isaac even had the chance, more likely because he wasn't quite paying attention and was in his whole little world for far too long. He didn't even notice Sheila catching up to him, despite running in heels. "You may wanna switch normal shoes," Isaac whispered to his newfound friend. Though he had to get on his toes in order to reach her ear. Damn heels.

"Well Audrey, my name's Isaac. Pleased to meet ya," he introduced himself with his typical upbeat demeanor, as if there was any other way. "Do you mind if I ask you a question, Audrey? I'll probably sound really stupid….but…err…can you explain this whole Uprising thing to me?" Isaac chuckled with a sweat-drop coming from his forehead, embarrassed at the whole prospect of joining an organization he knew next to nothing about.

 

[Swolligator]

Iago quickly came forth from the recesses of his mind the minute Isabel's tone sharpened:

"This isn't social hour. Obviously you may do as you please while we head to Chipper City, but if you somehow don't possess the ability to walk and speak at the same time, kindly save your useless jabbering for a later date."

He watched her as the crowd nearly completely fell silent to listen to her and then watched as they began to follow her eastwards, no doubt to their rendezvous, Chipper City. The way she walked, it was like she was in a hurry of some sort, obviously she was intent on making it to Chipper City as fast as possible.

'I don't think I like walking with her now,' Iago thought to himself, 'she seems somewhat agitated, I would hate to get on her bad side.'

He looked around, the other group had gone ahead of them and he watched as they slowly disappeared into the distance, no doubt heading towards the rendezvous too. He looked back and the fairly large group that had formed around Isabel, 'a good trait for a leader to have.' He took another glance back at the stragglers of the other group; they were talking happily and would still have the others in their sights. It was now or never, to join the other group or to stay with this one?

There was a chance to talk to people in this group but he was not too sure if he would get his head bitten off by Isabel, then again, he was afraid of talking not because he disliked talking to people, on the contrary he welcomed it, but more of a fear of that awkward silence that follows and not knowing what to say. Up till now he had gotten along finely without associating with other people but maybe now was a chance to do that. He had come on this trip, he heeded the call of the Uprising because he thought it was his calling to do so, so why not try and change a little bit?

Within a split second he made up his mind and split from the outskirts of the group that was leaving and swivelled in the direction of the group whom had left; their silhouettes barely visible. He turned his back to this group and started off on a quick pace to the other group. He laughed to himself a little as he walked at roughly the same pace that Isabel had.

When he was distanced between both the groups he realised the reason why he had wanted to change group so quickly: if they were to be found by these PXS people, then a larger group would stand out more and therefore be picked on. The smaller the group, the smaller the chance of being disrupted.

Iago followed quickly behind the new group he had switched to, full figures now visible as he rushed to catch up. The two that had been lagging behind before quickly caught up to the others, and it was then that Ichiro recognised who they were following. The one Isabel called Chris, the second in charge seemed much nicer than Isabel, and he was even talking to one of the two who had been lagging behind. Iago quickened his pace and soon he was only a few steps behind them. He continued after them like this, not drawing much attention to himself, waiting for someone to take notice.

I don't think I've met you guys before. I'm Audrey, but you can call me by a nickname if you want; I really don't care. I'm used to it, 'cause my brother always calls me Aud or Auds or something like that. It's nice to meet you. What are your names?"

He heard the voice above the others and just realised that there was a younger kid following them, and not just any kid, the one he had 'sensed' that was full of vibrant energy. He specifically remembered seeing her on the boat, albeit only a glimpse and then later on the pier. She seemed a little too young to be part of the resistance, 'appearances can deceive the reality' he thought to himself.

"I am not what I am", he quoted under his breath, unconsciously placing his hand over the tattoo that rested beneath his shirt.

 

[Skymin]

"Thank you," Josh smiled. It felt good to be trusted. Other people had usually not respected him, let alone trust. His parents even rather relied in his older sister than him, even after she had left. Josh himself had next to no problems in confidence, although it made it hard for him to keep it up when people constantly put him down like that. He looked back at the crowd again, across into the city. True, they might not be around, but it wouldn't hurt to look. Although, to pass down an opportunity to have some kind of dessert with Sar, that was just too ha-- Josh's thoughts were caught off when he saw someone he didn't exactly want to see yet, not just yet.

"Speak of the devil," he hissed under his breath and cleared his throat. "I mean, sure! Let's go find some ice cream. I'm starving."

He wasn't going to let Ashi ruin another good moment of his life. Besides, she was the one who left him in Johto to find "herself", whoever that was. He could see the difference in her posture and clothing, but that didn't mean he wanted to see her again. He remembered the fight they had when he woke up, stitches and scars bleeding from him pushing Ashi. She had called him a large array of names but he wasn't gonna let that get to him. Not now anyway.

 

[RavenStar]

"You may wanna switch normal shoes,"

Sheila chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head, seeming to have a little sweat drop of her own. "Yeah. Been thinkin' that. Hate to change out of these bad boys, but it just might not be practical..." She replied, embarrassed. It was a good thing that she had remembered to shove a pair of sneakers into her backpack at the last minute.

Sheila watched Issac as he nervously asked to have the Uprising explained. She looked at the ground for a moment, thinking about to the town where she personally had battled the PXS once before.
It was a good thing there was an Uprising.
Without it, she wasn't sure that everyone would stand a chance. Flying solo looked cool and all, but it wasn't very effective.

Sheila smiled slightly, looking back up at her newfound companions. With any luck, this would be a lot more effective.

She blinked, however, at the sound of an extra pair of footsteps: she looked behind her, spotting Iago following their group, trying to catch up.
"Yo," she called, waving at him exaggeratedly. No need to make him feel excluded, right?

 

[imevil]

Name: lUcas Stevens
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Appearance: I look very ragged with messy hair and torn jeans. My Jacket in which I keep my pokemon is also somewhat torn. I Where a black Hat thats turned backwards. I always have a lollypop stick in my mouth wheather or not it has a lollypop on it or not.
Personality: A rough personality which doesnt care for others outside of my self and my Pokemon. But on the inside I really care for all but am scared to let my guard down
Background: I live alone and am very lonely as my family abbanded my at a young age. My only friends my Charizard, Blazer, who i've had since i was 4. I live on the street and am scared to make friends as they all betray me.
Additional Information: None really
Pokemon:

Species: Charizard
Nickname: Blazer
Nature: Sassy
Moves:
Flare Blitz
Dragon Rage
Fly
Flamethrower

 

[Swolligator]

Iago caught himself at the end of his sentence; he had sworn to himself that he would never say that sentence ever again. He got the tattoo as a reminder not of the sentence and the evnts surrounding it, but as a caution against doing anything like that again. He immediately sumg his left arm round and into his bag, shuffling around until he found the switchblade resting in the bottom.

He glanced up as he heard someone in front direct their speech to him, dropping the switchblade back into the depths of his bag. Cursing, he recognised who was talking to him.

"Yo," the one called Shelia spoke. The wave she gave him seemed slightly exagerated, but he smiled at the attempt to include him; it was nice to be noticed. In a split second he decided to go talk to her, she seemed nice enough, and jogged quickly up to meet her.

Walking beside her, Iago began the conversation: "Hello, I am Iago. You're Shelia, right?"

 

[Liacri]

"Auds? That sounds fun. I think I'll stick with calling you that. Name's Sheila," the girl said with a nod. "Not Worry-Wooper." What's "Worry-Wooper?" Audrey wondered idly. She thought she'd heard someone saying that earlier, but she couldn't quite remember who. Hm. It was someone she knew; she remembered that much. It wasn't Sabey… wasn't anyone on the boat… wasn't this new person Sheila-not-Worry-Wooper was with… oh, yes, it was Chris! That's what he'd said when he'd been dividing them up into groups! But she still didn't know what it was… Realizing the other newcomer was introducing himself, Audrey's thoughts climbed back into reality from the tangent on which they'd wandered off.

"Well, Audrey, my name's Isaac. Pleased to meet ya. Do you mind if I ask you a question, Audrey?" He went on before even Audrey could stick in a quick "sure thing, what is it?" or something to that effect. "I'll probably sound really stupid…but…err…can you explain this whole Uprising thing to me?" Isaac attached a little laugh to the tail end of the question. Explain the Uprising? Audrey giggled, the perky sound contrasting with his nervous chuckle.

"It's an uprising, silly!" she answered cheerfully, obviously meaning no offense and not entirely aware of Isaac's embarrassment. "What all d'you wanna know?"

 

[Legend]

"It's an uprising, silly!" she answered with such glee that Isaac at first became even more embarrassed. Was she not taking me seriously. Well that's not cool…. But then she actually finished her thought: "What all d'you wanna know?"

Oh, thank god. She is the first nice person I met…well other than Sheila, Isaac remembered at the last second. "Well let's see…no asking to know everything is too much…" Isaac mumbled scratching his almost nonexistent beard like an ancient medieval wizard. "Oh that's it!" Isaac snapped his fingers. "What exactly are you guys fighting against? I tried asking Chris, but I think he suspects as some spy or something. But quite frankly, I am too stupid to be a spy. Oh, what is the leader like? I barely caught her and never introduced myself. Then again, she seems scarier than my old math teacher," Isaac shook at the last statement. "Hate math….so much…..thinking…"

He forced himself out of his comatose state, in order to hear any of Audrey's responses. He wasn't expecting too much. After all, she was young. Still some information is better than none. Isaac had one another question, but he decided to wait until Audrey's rant was complete. Seeing how Isaac asked way too many questions, a mouthful of facts, statistics and anecdotes were to be expected. All of which would be prove vital to Isaac playing a notable role in the events to follow.

Following the responses, Isaac blurted: "By the way, anyone know where the rendezvous point is? Feels like we've been walking for days, if not weeks. Or maybe I am just lazy."

 

[Liacri]

((OOC: You will now be treated to The Uprising, A Condensed History, Audrey-style. I didn't drag it out pointlessly (too much) this time because it'd be annoying to read. Anyway, enjoy. xD))

"Well…" Audrey started, drawing the word out longer than necessary, "I guess it all started back when the government passed that dumb law to get rid of all the Pokémon. There was this group called PXS that was in charge of taking them all away, so the Uprising started to stop it. That woulda been four, no, almost five years ago now? Anyway, the old Uprising got captured by PXS back in Shadow Valley, and then 'bout three years ago we met up with the new Uprising that Sabey started in Frosty Gorge. Then-" Audrey's voice caught itself up. She did not want to think, let alone talk, about that. She'd just managed not to sound like anything so bad had happened when she'd mentioned Shadow Valley, but... Shutting out the memories, she continued. "-we had to leave 'cause PXS took over Frosty Gorge. That was all three years ago or so. They've been taking over more places since, 'cause they're really trying to take over the whole region, not just help the government take all the Pokémon away like people thought before."

Pausing for a moment to consider Isaac's next question, Audrey looked up toward where Isabel was walking, a fair distance ahead of them. It didn't really seem right to talk about Isabel in front of her, or maybe it was an unconscious reaction. Whatever the reason, Audrey's voice dropped to a quieter level. "Sabey really is a nice person when you get to know her. She's always calm and she's very smart. She loves Pokémon, and she's really, really dedicated to the Uprising. She's pretty quiet, too." Audrey's bright smile faded slightly into an expression reminiscent of the one that had crossed her face when the end of the old Uprising had been mentioned. "Sabey's changed a lot. But it'll be okay." Saying the words aloud was reassuring, for now, at least. Audrey wanted to think that it was going to all be all right, but... she wasn't sure any more. Quickly pushing the thoughts away, Audrey smiled again as Isaac took advantage of her silence.

"By the way, anyone know where the rendezvous point it? Feels like we've been walking for days, if not weeks. Or maybe I am just lazy."

"It's in Chipper City!" Audrey answered cheerfully. "That's where Sabey and I grew up. Actually, my parents still live there, but my brother's in Hoenn on an internship right now. We're meeting by the big fountain in the morning. I can probably show you where it is if you want. It's so pretty! There's all these different statues on it, and the water's always flowing around them...."

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

(OOC: And now... for a joint post by Wolf and Warden. Please hold all applause and cookies until then end. and then there will be cake.)

One of the new members greeted Paul with a slight wave, a woman with green hair, numerous tattoos and several piercings. Paul raised a hand in reply, before looking back to Chris, who glanced briefly past Paul. Paul was about to turn around, however Chis stopped him as he spoke.

"Yeah. Sure." Chris said, with a slight friendly grin and the two of them slowed their pace so that they dropped behind the others. Paul waited for Chris to continue, which he did once they were out of earshot of the others, picking up his pace so they wouldn't be left behind.

"So what's up?" Chris asked.

Paul considered the best way to reply to this question for a several seconds, leaving something of an awkward silence, well Paul felt it was any way. He reached into his pocket and held Slash's Pokeball in his hand, for so long Slash had been his best friend and Paul felt the need to have his support at this time. He fought the instinct to release Slash, it wasn't the best idea to release him in Katsu and he had to become more independent, so he dropped the ball back into his Pocket.

"Look, I know that we didn't part on the best of terms, we both acted stupidly at the time but I don't really care about it any more. Now I just want to be sure that we can at least work together, for the sake of the Uprising." Paul replied, without looking at the floor as he continued to walk.

"For the sake of the Uprising..." Chris echoed, hands in his pockets, looking straight at the path ahead of them. "Let's just do it for ourselves." Chris grinned, taking his hands out of his pocket and placing them behind his head. Arceus, looking back, that sounded cheesy. Chris could swear he heard Dile sigh through his Pokeball. Even so, he kept a smile on his face, just glad Paul wasn't going to try to attack him or something. Then again, three years was a long time to hold a grudge.

"Oh well, that was easier than I it could of been, I guess." Paul laughed, which if Slash had been able to see he would have looked at in shock, as Paul very rarely laughed. "Well, I'm a little unsure of what to say now, I had been thinking of ways to try to persuade you just in case you were still, I don't know, mad at me but I guess that's one thing I don't have to worry about any more. So how you been then?"

Chris let out a laugh; partly because Paul thought he was going to beat him up, and partly because Chris thought the opposite. His eyes caught a glimpse of Ryuu, still stalking the group, speeding from roof to roof. He felt a bit better knowing his Pokemon would be close by.

"Things have been good. Can't complain at least." Chris grinned. "I did compete in the Hoenn League, and beat the Battle Frontier. But what have you been up to?"

"Me, I've not been doing anything nearly as exciting, just training myself and my Pokemon in preparation for this. I wasn't much use before but I intend to do a lot more to help the Uprising now." Paul glanced ahead for a second to see how far they were behind the rest of the group. "Were getting left behind here we should catch up to the others soon."

"Yeah." Chris sighed, putting his hands behind his head before picking up his walking speed to catch up to rest of the Uprising. "We're getting close anyways."

 

[Mira]

(OOC: Sorry about the sloppy transition into the city. I thought we could use a change of scenery x3 Make sure that everyone puts away their Pokemon... >.>)

Isabel's head started to throb in response to the constant chatter and shouting behind her. Though there were no nearby families with young children around when she was growing up, Isabel realized that this must have been how it felt like to babysit.

Almost there… Isabel reassured herself.

The surrounding area began to grow steadily more familiar to her, as if she were walking through the years of her childhood. She discovered a faint smile on her lips as she continued on, though this time it felt natural, like it had always been there.

Having been lost to the current task in nostalgic thoughts, Isabel soon found herself standing a little ways away from one of the main entrances of Chipper City, which, with the exception of a few bleary-eyed passerby's, was eerily empty. She turned to face the people following her with a critical eye, resting her gaze on the girl named Sheila.

"Be sure to keep your more incriminating tattoos covered," she said in a low voice, then quietly addressed the rest of the group. "Make sure to safely put away whatever might arouse suspicion. I think you know what I'm referring to," Isabel said, pointing at her empty belt. "If you get caught in possession of a you-know-what, you will have to face the consequences yourself."

Isabel turned sharply and continued on into the city, immediately realizing just how much the area had changed since she left… How many years ago was it now? Four or five? In any case, there was very little that had remained unchanged in that relatively short amount of time. The majority of the buildings that lay there she recognized with ease, though their identification had to be primarily based upon their location and structure, as many had long since been driven out of business by the law.

The members continued to walk through the less inhabited sections of the city, receiving the occasional curious glance from the natives. Luckily, each one quickly moved on, finding a small group passing through to be perfectly normal. This was understandable, as Chipper City had basically been transformed into a giant refugee camp for all people displaced by PXS, assuming that they managed to make their way this far south through the chaos. Many of the original occupants still remained there, though many more had moved on in hopes of finding better conditions elsewhere, which wasn't very likely to be discovered anywhere in the Katsu region. There were two people in particular she wanted to see if they happened to remain here, though she first had to find a place for the Uprising to spend the night.

The temporary housing is supposed to be set up in the eastern section of the city… Isabel thought to herself, sorting through the bits of information she had accumulated from various sources.

Sure enough, hundreds of large white tents were pitched along the eastern outskirts. People hurriedly moved about, each seeming to have plenty to do and thus making the area the most busy in the city. One woman noticed the group and approached, not appearing to be thrilled by the additional work we would be placing on her.

"Refugees?" she asked when she reached me, looking back at the cluster of members who followed.

Isabel nodded. "Most of us are from the Wellspring Foothills, though we picked up a few others on the way down here."

The woman's expression softened slightly, obviously having heard of the recent invasion of that area, though maintained her official air.

"Well… Our sleeping arrangements are getting a little cramped. There's an empty tent you may use, however, if you don't mind both genders sharing it."

"That would be wonderful, thank you," Isabel said with a tired smile.

"I'll lead you there."

Isabel turned around and walked back to the group, pausing in front of Chris.

"We're a group of refugees from the Wellspring Foothills with a person or two from Oran Valley. She's bringing us to a tent for the night. There's something I have to do, so if I'm not back before morning, bring the group to the fountain in the center of the city. Make sure nobody does anything stupid," Isabel whispered in his ear.

She turned toward her childhood friend and crossed her arms, giving her a slight grin.

"Ready for a little field trip, Audrey?"

 

[§acred†Beo!]

(OOC: Just a post to get Beo and Greg to Chipper City.. Since were all alone :(....)

Beo looked around as the other group had all but banished from his sights. Actually it seemed as though the other group contained everyone but Greg and himself. The two of them waited behind for awhile just incase any late arrivals happened to wonder about in there direction but that never happened.

"I'm a little confused were more of a duo then a group" Beo said jokingly to Greg who didn't seem to laugh.

<Psht, I thought it was funny... We could be like batman and robin, turner and hooch.. wait hooch was a dog..> Beo thought to himself before turning his attention back to greg.

"Uh yeah so anyway I guess we should start heading towards Chipper City, especially if we want to make it there before the sun sets"

And with that he began leading the way to Chipper City wondering if he actually knew the way.

 

[Zeph.]

Greg laughed faintly on the inside. It was quite odd. Everyone else had seemed to follow the others.

He looked up and noticed Beo already making his way to Chipper City. He jogged and caught up.

"I think I know the way," he said to Beo, "If we just follow the main footpath then we should be fine. Oh, and we should proabably make haste," he looked at the sky, which was now getting quite dull, "We wasted some time waiting for people."

 

[Liacri]

Audrey's words drifted off into silence as Isabel turned to face the group, the cityscape her backdrop. Chipper City. The nostalgic feeling was simultaneously strangely foreign. Audrey's eyes roamed from city to memory and back again. The streets are so lonely now. It used to be so busy. At the same time, it was good to be home, even if she would only be there for a little while.

"Make sure to safely put away whatever might arouse suspicion. I think you know what I'm referring to. If you get caught in a possession a you-know-what, you will have to face the consequences yourself."

Audrey's hand slid into her tote bag, her fingertips counting each of the round objects in an inside pocket. Rhee, Tik, and Luce are all present and accounted for, she thought cheerfully. No worries there. Withdrawing her hand, she adjusted the bag's resting place on her shoulder. She smiled up at familiar buildings despite their emptiness. Chipper City made her happy, and yet... she was sad, too. Her memories brought up the hustle and bustle of how it had all been before. That was what she wanted to see. Audrey lost herself in bright memories until she caught sight of the tents.

From where they were standing, it looked like a sea of white waves. There were people here, all right. It's like a huge campout! Audrey thought, determinedly ignoring any sinking feelings. She'd never been on a real campout with her family before. I wonder what it's like. Who's that lady talking to Sabey? She looks like she's in charge of something. Hey, then they both are!

Isabel stopped in front of Chris for a moment and said something to him before turning her attention to her daydreaming friend. "Ready for a little field trip, Audrey?"

"You got it!" Audrey said, grinning in response. Maybe this would be more fun.

 

[§acred†Beo!]

(A little joint post by me and Zeph, enjoy!)

As Beo and Greg continued on there way to Chipper City, it finally hit him that he was back in the Katsu region. And even though the sites around them were pretty calm and peaceful looking it just felt plain. It was missing something.

"You know, after traveling through Johto... I kind of became used to seeing wild pokemon every where" Beo said to Greg who was walking directly next to him.

"You know," Greg began, taking a quick glance at the landscape, "Me too. Sinnoh was bustling with trainers aswell. It'll take a while to get used to this - three years is a long time".

Beo took a deep breath before looking up to the sky.

"It actually makes me think a little, about why exactly any of us came here. I mean everyone of us could have easily just stayed away and forgot about this place. We just as easily could have became regular trainers like the mass populations of people elsewhere." Beo said for the first time putting thought into it.

"I had to come back, Beo." Greg said, looking to the ground, "I wish to hell I could have forgotten about this place, believe me, I do. But this is my home, and..." Greg cut off, contemplating whether or not he could share his troubles with someone else.

Beo glanced at the ground then back to Greg, he realized the two of them had some simliarities after all. "Trust me I understand completly, I never really had a home. I lost my parents when I was young and from that point I became a loner just traveling. Eventually me and Blaze found frosty gorge and we lived there in secrecy for several years..." Beo sighed before continuing. "Maybe that's why I came back, because deep down I knew that this place is broken, just like me... Maybe if I can fix this place, i'll be fixed as well"

Parents. Greg still felt strange when he heard the word. Three years since he'd seen them, or the rest of his family. He was still only a teenager,

"I get you," Greg eventually said, "I miss my family too. Heh, my little sister will be nearly four now. I've missed all that..."

"So she wouldn't even recognize you if she saw you? Thats rough man."

"Yea... my other sister will remember me, but she's still young. It's not fair on either of them."

"At least you have a family to go back to..." Beo looked around he realized that Greg was still a young kid and had a lot to live for... That was if he made it out of this whole thing alive. "I'm going to make you a promise right now that I won't let anything happen to you, and once all of this is over and we come out victorious you'll get to go home and see your little sisters."

Greg stopped, and turned to face Beo. He found it remarkable how someone with a situation like his could still put others before himself,

"It's a deal!" He said with a grin as he held out his hand, "Likewise, I'll watch your back."

"Thanks man I appreciate it" Beo said reaching out and shaking Greg's hand. And finally out of the corner of his eye he noticed Chipper City coming up. "Well looks like were almost there, I'd say we made pretty good time, wouldn't you?"

"Wow... that was quicker than I thought. Okay, let's go and meet up with the rest."

 

[Sweet Dreams]

Josh smiled, so she had to have done something right. Sometimes she worried that she would screw something up between them before she reminded herself that she had no reason to care. But she did, and that was something that she couldn't seem to change. Although she tried her best to ignore it - and mostly succeeded - she was deathly afraid that she would lose him one way or another. Pushing all that aside, she donned her sunglasses once more.

"Speak of the devil," he said under his breath with surprising venom. She glanced up at him sharply and scanned the crowd, catching sight of a face that had, at one point, tried to strangle her. It wasn't the most welcoming memory, but it was certainly a vivid one that created a lasting impression. When he turned away with slightly forced cheerfulness, she shrugged and left it at that. He didn't seem to want to talk about it and she wasn't curious enough to push.

While they walked through the streets, Sar noticed that the entire atmosphere of the city was dramatically different from that of Johto's. Back in Johto, anywhere in Johto, there was always the aura of helpfulness and joviality and the bustle of upbeat, lively people going about their daily duties. Here, people were haggard, discontent, and fearful. They walked by hurriedly, with minimal interaction to each other and were constantly watching for the shadows of the PXS members. Crime would probably escalate soon as people who've lost their livelihoods turn desperate. And then PXS would be called in and no doubt someone would have bathed in blood by the finish.

"Ah, ice cream," she announced, breaking out of her trance. Even in a situation as this, there would be someone selling ice cream in the hopes of making a profit. All thoughts of PXS flew out of her mind as she stood there and deliberated on which flavour of ice cream she should get, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

 

[The warden]

By the time Paul had caught up to the rest of the group, they had stopped, at one of the entrances to Chipper city.

"Be sure to keep your more incriminating tattoos covered," Isabel said to one of the new members of the Uprising, the woman Paul had seen earlier with the Pokemon tattoos. "Make sure to safely put away whatever might arouse suspicion. I think you know what I'm referring to," Isabel said, pointing at her empty belt. "If you get caught in possession of a you-know-what, you will have to face the consequences yourself."


They continued on into the city, Paul glanced at the buildings he passed, a large percentage of the shops had been closed down. The windows were boarded up and the sings that once advertised Pokemon related goods were covered or painted over. Quick glances into the shop windows confirmed that these were empty shells, once they driving the thriving economy of this small city, they were forgotten leftovers from an entirely different era. It unsettled Paul to see the state of the town, it meant that things were worse than he had initially expected. His thoughts turned to his parents, what would their situation be like, he hadn't really though too much about what life would be like back home without the Pokemart, as he trudged though the city he fell into a dull silence as he contemplated the state in he had found his homeland.

They headed east through the city until they were met with a wall of white tents, Paul was unsure of just how many there were but a few hundred wouldn't have been a bad guess.


One woman who seemed to have some authority, approached Isabel "Refugees?" she asked. So it was true, Katsu really was in a state of civil war.

"Most of us are from the Wellspring Foothills, though we picked up a few others on the way down here." Isabel replied with a nod.

"Well… Our sleeping arrangements are getting a little cramped. There's an empty tent you may use, however, if you don't mind both genders sharing it." The woman continued.

"That would be wonderful, thank you," Was Isabel's answer.

"I'll lead you there." The woman finished.

Isabel walked over to Chris where she whispered something into his ear, then crossed to another member, who Paul didn't know and began a short conversation.

Paul glanced round to see the new members of the Uprising, he had better go introduce himself before he put it off any longer. He walked over towards the woman with the Pokemon tattoos and a young man with sun glasses.


"Hi" he said lifting his right hand in a sort of wave.