[91/80] The Pineco raises an eyebrow, but doesn't seem to be all that keen on continuing its side of the conversation. At Gemella's sudden appearance it gives a surprised grunt, but nods in a halfway friendly manner as she draws closer, his quills drooping slightly from their defensive position, but not much.
A thin, white thread springs from the bushes, nearly invisible, and wraps itself tightly around Cave's snout. With a sudden whine of surprise and consternation, the [Muzzled] Growlithe shakes his head and tries to back up to rid himself of the foreign substance, but it might as well be braided steel wire for all that it gives under his straining.
"Hmm, well Snaffle over there has some fine hearing on her, might help if there's any pokemon still nearby. Might be able to find one who saw something even." As though to illustrate Holloway's point, the Marill's ears perk up at the mention of her name despite being a couple dozen meters away, and she turns and gives a happy wave across the burnt field. "Keep an ear out for anything moving around besides us and the Flying-type, Snaf," Holloway calls over to his companion Pokemon who gives a squeak of acknowledgement.
[28/60] Above, Scarhawk's predatory eyesight gives him an unrivaled view of the Indigo plateau, the rocky fields, dry shrubland, and small copses of hardy trees dominating the landscape that isn't taken up by the tiny League Village to the East. Though the Pokemon's sense of smell takes a back seat compared to his stellar vision, he can detect a slightly herbal scent in the air. Like pine needles, but sharper, and somewhat more acrid, giving the Staraptor the impression of hot, earthy soil stretched out below him and swelling thermals beneath his wings.
Abandoning the unbidden notion and turning his attention back to the task at hand, Scarhawk scours the ground below for signs of prey, living or otherwise. There is little to see, but much to intuit, like the ripples on a pond he can see the passage of something. A wide path laid across the landscape, the circle of burnt grass and scorched rock right in the middle. The line is drawn out in the presence of hiding or over-cautious Geodude and Raticate, their eyes on the sky, and Pidgey who have taken refuge in thick brush and are reluctant to venture out.
An airborne predator has passed through the area within the last hour or so, he's sure of it.
"Right now? Here," Peregrine replies to Dayton with almost rude abruptness, not bothering to cease his tip-tapping on the keyboard. "I take what I can get."
"Is Joy in?" Zee inquires in the sudden awkward lull in conversation to the much cooler Jack, his voice wavering only slightly.
"Yeah, this late she ought to b- oh damn! What happened to your finger?" he exclaims, gaping from under his arm at Zee's injury. " You try and punch someone with that flimsy-ass girl-slap again, I thought I taught you better, Zip."
"Something like that, yeah," Zee responds with a sniff, looking as ready as Dayton to get a move on.
"Never be a proper badass with an attitude like that," Jack calls over, prompting the put-upon Zee to mumble something under his breath.
Marshmallow on
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Tommy2Handswhat is this where am iRegistered Userregular
Presently, a thought occurred to Pyrrhus. Following a hunch, he pulled out his Pokedex once again to give the Pineco a scan. Specifically, to check and see if there was any Spinarak DNA in this particular Pineco, which could indicate a genetic relationship.
[Success]Sure enough, his Pokedex did indicate a nonzero percentage of Spinarak-line genes.
Pyrrhus facepalmed. This really should have been his first step. "Ugh... you're looking for your dad, aren't you?" he asked the Pineco. "I'm an idiot. Here, let me see if I can help you find him." He climbed up to a taller rock to look for the Ariados he had been previously avoiding.
Meanwhile, Cave was in his own mess. He didn't want to make noise, but the string wrapped around his nose was aggravating him. Unable to bark even if Pyrrhus hadn't asked him to keep quiet, he pawed at the muzzle a few times, trying to somehow push it off his nose and failing. Growing more and more annoyed, he began running a bit, trying to see if he could catch an end of the string on something and pull it off that way. Failing that, he walked over to a tree and rubbed his muzzle against the bark to try and dislodge the string.
...oh my, and just imagine Courtney without that frilly dress she- Clyde lightly slaps himself across the face and tunes back into the conversation around him.
"Zee's got a point, we all ought to go get you fixed up after all three of those bastards teamed up on ya." Clyde says, trying to make Zee sound as impressive as possible, "and then get all of us checked in case anything broke when all that water came crashing down on us. And then fell into a sewer. Double P, can you send a message over your computer to let Scott know where we are? Thanks, I owe ya."
"See ya around, Jack."
...
...
Wait, Coordinator Quarterly is like 85% pictures of pokemon! What could he be thin-you know what, I'm not gonna think about it.
Rawkking Goodguy on
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Tommy2Handswhat is this where am iRegistered Userregular
Ken Smithson
[Ranger 5%] [Force of Personality 15%] [Perceptive 10%] [Confrontational 10%] Scarhawk
[Staraptor 5%] [Serious] [Intimidate 5%]
Ken waves Scarhawk over, and the bird communicates its findings, giving him cause to frown. Let's hope it's just some hot-shot riding around on a Dragonite or somethin' - if only it were that easy...
In response, the Ranger clicks his radio. "HQ, come in, this is Smithson. Halloway handled the fire before I got to the scene, damage is minimal. We have no immediate signs of the perp, but there are signs of a large flying Pokemon having passed by recently. Are any Trainers known to have large, predatory Flying-types here for the League tourney? What about any warrants who have big fliers?"
Soul Silver FC: 1978 3200 2285
GT: HitoriLionheart or dailydro
Visigoth wonders who would blow up a penitentiary (as small as this one is), as he waits for his opponent to make himself patent. Then, the stiff's hand drifts past his face. The near-corpse is important, Visigoth feels. If not one of the perpetrators himself, at least a witness. His benefactor will probably want him breathing. Always some complications. The frog grabs the poor fuck and hauls him ashore. Guy isn't breathing, and Visigoth's instincts tell him that this isn't ideal. Working off of a half remembered public service announcement he saw one time, Vis punches the almost-stiff right in the chest. The sap hacks up a little water and starts pulling in air. Victory. The Lifebringer turns away from the drowned man, and saunters after a couple of jerks dragging another jerk (Who happens to be his boss) up the stairs.
Didn't even get to punch out an Arbok. What a disappointing night.
--
My hand hovers over a tarnished doorknob. I've got a headache, one of the bad ones. I've got rainwater in places one doesn't like thinking about. Last night's catastrophe keeps running through my head like a poorly shot newsreel. Who the hell was the little bastard in the mask? Why where a bunch of assholes torturing that kid? And why did the geologist run? Am I that personable? I catch my refection in the copper nameplate set in the door. I'd run from me, too. My hand wraps around the doorknob, and I steel myself for the meeting ahead. Rayquaza above, I hate dealing with the brass. Haven't had to deal with Commander Planck very much in my short stay at the IPPD, but if he's anything like my past COs, this wasn't going to be pleasant. I open the door and step inside.
Planck's office isn't all that distinctive, much like the man himself. Not too cluttered, but not exactly clean, it's exactly what you'd expect out of a backwoods police commander. Old wood desk, well used oak chair in front, squeaky, comfortable leather number behind. Planck himself is somewhere between 42 and 56, with salt and pepper hair in a businesslike cut. His uniform is rumpled, and the bags under his eyes mark him an uneasy sleeper. He sits at his desk, spinning a pen through his fingers, running his eyes over a report. A man full of nervous energy is Chester Planck, a creature driven by rubber-bands and ethanol fumes.
"Sir." I say, in a neutral tone.
"Sargent" He responds.
I stand behind the chair opposite the Commander, looking surly as a sober longshoreman. "Something you wanted to talk to me about." Not a question.
My surliness is met equally. I'm clearly dealing with a professional, here. "What can you tell me about the young man in our cells claiming to be an Urban Ranger, Bogwater?"
Ranger. Sucks to be right, sometimes. "Kid dragged out a prisoner I picked up yesterday, him and a couple of buddies where working the poor sap over when I found 'em." I shrug. "Don't know if he's a ranger or not. Does he have any ID on him?"
"No ID, no wallet, no keys, no pictures of his sweetheart. Nothing," Planck responds, brightly. "You know the Rangers claimed jurisdiction over him this morning?"
I heap a load of fake surprise into my voice. "Did they?"
"They did."
"I'd be happy to hand him over, as long as I can get ten private minutes with him."
"Would they get all of him, or just the bits that are hard to remove in less than 10 minutes?"
"He'd be in tact. Might be more amiable, though."
"What about the prisoner you brought in? I can't help but notice he's unaccounted for," Planck continues, ploddingly. Quickly changing the subject. Trying that police bullshit on me, of all people.
"Same thing that happened to yours. Got sprung."
Not a flicker of reaction there. Which is just as good as if he gasped, really. File that under 'stuff I'm not supposed to know or mention'. "The basement holding cells sustained a remarkable amount of damage, even for a 'prison break'. You were the first on scene, weren't you? Hang out in the basement often, Sargent?"
"When the mood strikes me." Hopefully I don't have to gab about the psychic shit. Freaks a lot of folks, especially COs.
The only sound as Planck thinks out his next move is the light 'ting' of a fingernail tapping on the glass in front of him. "Bogwater, you just got here and the Urbans want you sacked, the League Organizer wants you sacked, even the bloody Mayor wants you sacked. I want you sacked, the only thing that's stopping me is you've managed to piss off those other three bastards."
"Me? But I'm just a small town PI. Wrong place, wrong time. Can't imagine what beedrill everyone has in their bonnet."
"Oh, I intend to get to the bottom of the bee-bonnet problems quite quickly. I assure you. In the meantime, you are on notice. Since I have no spare officers, the person noticing you is going to have to be yourself. Layoffs, you know," the Commander says, waving a hand derisively. "I suggest you watch yourself carefully! Dismissed, Sargent. I'd tell you to stay out of trouble but I'd rather you just not track anymore mud into my office. Figuratively speaking."
"Yes, sir. But while I have your ear, I have a proposition for you. I can find those escapees pretty easy, Commander. Them, and whoever wanted them out. Or I can go back on my beat and keep my head down." Maybe I can finagle a visit with our ranger friend. But I'm cut off.
"You have any family, Sargaent?"
"No, sir. All dead."Only was ever mom, but still.
Planck flicks a few papers aside with his pen, avoiding my gaze. "Lance has taken an interest. You been in the region long enough to know what that means?"
"Let's just say that Lance doesn't really scare me." I could tear him apart. Him and his league. Rip them to raw data, turn them all into Bidoof. The thought scares me, especially how much I want to do it. Can't go power hungry now, though. Got justice to bring, people to save from whatever hijinks the Rockets wanna pull.
Planck seems to find my comment hilarious enough to warrant a chuckle. "I'll drink to your luck then, but I doubt there's enough alcohol in the world. Do what you want, Bogwater. That's what you'll do anyway, isn't it?"
"I'll try not to drag you with me, sir."
"Oh, and they say chivalry is dead."
"Stay comfortable, commander." I turn and get out of the office. Not as bad a Rawls, but still too concerned with keeping his ass on his legs. I stride down the PD's halls, coming to the staircase that leads down to the holding cells. Time to examine the scene of the crime.
[42/65] Cave quickly found the line he had been snared with had already been caught, or more accurately looped around a sturdy tree trunk. Whatever it was that snagged him left him chained up like some sort of... some sort of thing that gets chained up and left places! Infuriating, but worse is that his charges might very well be in danger while he's all tied up. Rubbing his muzzle vigorously against the rough tree bark, the line eventually, painfully comes loose.
[72/40] Pyrrhus didn't look long before spotting the suspected paternal bug-type, as the rather pissed looking pokemon sidles out of the brush at high speed, taking an aggressive posture between Gemella and the Pineco, badly [Startling] the put-upon Roselia terribly. Pyrrhus was aware of how bad things looked. He decided to instead attempt to placate the Ariados. "Calm down, everything's okay. We were just making sure your Pineco is unharmed." In his mind, he knew that Cave would be more than a match for the spider, and Clack Clack could also probably handle the job. Gemella though....
Just in time, Cave arrived on the scene, leaped from the brush having successfully extricated himself from the tangle. He had spotted the aggressive spider, and immediately took his place between Ariados and Pyrrhus, next to Gemella.
[72/75] The Ariados responded to the hasty explanation and arrival of the Growlithe by making a mock charge forward, front legs splayed outward, Gemella tumbling back out of the way as the protective bug slung a short flurry of white javelins. The glowing darts impacted close by Cave's legs and threw up small puffs of dust, but the Growlithe stood his ground despite the close miss.
Pyrrhus turned serious. "You've got what you came for. Leave now and I won't hurt you. If you attack again, I won't hesitate. Cave, standby to engage." He glowered at the Ariados, and Cave did a surprising job of imitating it, though he also growled menacingly at the spider.
[49/50] The uneasy standoff between the group and the Ariados ended after a few tense moments, the pokemon backing away to make sure its apparent offspring was alright, while still keeping an eye on the trainer and his pokemon. The pineco didn't seem to be all that perturbed at the close call of violence, giving a casual, cheery goodbye to the shaken Roselia as the two pokemon backed away.
"Cave, keep watching them." Pyrrhus walked over to Gemella to make sure she's okay. The Roselia still appeared jittery from the close and sudden appearance of the frightening foe, but if Pyrrhus was any judge, the [Carefree] young grass-type is quick to recover from getting spooked or scared. It was a direct contrast to that first encounter with the Carnivine; Pyrrhus concluded that he must be an encouraging influence on her. Relieved that his charge was unharmed, he let out a sigh with two meanings. On the one hand, it was good that everything worked out okay. But he'd missed yet another chance at catching a Pineco. Perhaps this entire pursuit was merely a pipe dream, and he should focus on a goal that was... more in his wheelhouse. All this touch-and-go friend-making wasn't so much his style, but Pineco were such fragile creatures, he couldn't risk his normal "catch and go" method.
He reached down and pressed the button on his robotic prosthesis to bring up the Pokegear. He pressed several buttons to save and clear the previous search for Pineco species. He was about to set it to look for large, dangerous Pokemon, when he received an alert. He paused for a second, thinking. It was a warning from the Rangers. Ranger beacons were primitive tech, so he couldn't get much information. Instead, he hooked into the Ranger radio frequencies to get some more information. It took a few seconds of searching through the channels, but finally he heard.
"HQ, this is Ranger Thornton, we got a situation. Looks like some sort of hunting pack, we have several dead psychic-types in the area." Pyrrhus mentally ran down his list of types before concluding that it was likely a dual. "I'm requesting backup here, my partner's an Espeon and I'm cautious to engage, over."
Several seconds later, he heard a response. Ranger Thornton, this is HQ. We've got a BOLO out for dark-type suspects, Ranger Peters is incoming from two clicks North of your position, hold tight, over."
Pyrrhus checked back at the beacon on his map. Hmm... the nearest Ranger was two kilometers away? He was less than five minutes out. His team wasn't Psychic, he could certainly help. Even if it's one of those city Rangers, there were dead Pokemon. Sometimes you gotta set aside grudges.
Pyrrhus looked down at Growlithe and Gemella. "Looks like we're helping the Rangers. Let's roll!"
Feels kinda weird posting in here. Show must go on though.
"You do realize its the League Championship this week, yeah? Fearow and Pidgeot are everywhere, we've had people flyin' in all day. Heck, I've seen at least two Charizards in the last hour. You're looking at a pretty hefty list of possible perps if that's all we have to go on, compadre."
"...We can check if anyone applied for a capture license for anything out there, maybe. Or see if anyone registered anything recently from that area. Gonna take a while to bring up the records though."
"Later... Bro," Jack replies, returning to his catnapping.
The P man scowls from behind his goggles at the suggestion. "Already did, he's probably asleep by now. I'm sure he'll want to 'catch up' with the three of you tomorrow though."
Dayton "Dates" Clark [Researcher 15%] [Geokinetic 15%] [Hardy 15%] [Temperamental 5%] The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"Wasn't this little escape planned for tonight? Seems odd he'd turn in before seeing it through" he muses. "What time is it anyway? Heck, what day is it?"
"Uh, June 23rd, maybe the 24th by now though," Zee answers, a bit unsure himself. He brightens up, suddenly. "Hey we should get you a watch, and some new clothes! You can't have a very good wardrobe in that pack of yours, and tomorrow the championship starts so the Village shouldn't be too crowded, we can check out the shops," he says, beaming.
Dayton "Dates" Clark [Researcher 15%] [Geokinetic 15%] [Hardy 15%] [Temperamental 5%] The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"W-wardrobe?" he blinks, looking himself up and down. Beneath the layers of mud and dirt, a careful eye might spot that his tattered field shirt was once some sort of mauve. "Something wrong with mine?"
"Yeah, got to get you at least a few changes of clothes," Zee answers, following closely behind Clyde. "My stuff's too small, Perry won't let anyone near anything of his, Clyde's is all tailored, and I don't think you'd want to be seen in public with anything of Jack's..." Zee pauses a moment in thought, before shaking his head and continuing. "You'd look pretty good in plaid I think, get that Sinnoh outdoorsman look going. Can't imagine where we'd find a proper vintage dud place here but I'm sure we can rustle up something."
Clyde indeed remembers the directions to the Nurse's office correctly, and if he recalls correctly she does the evening shift at the local PokeCenter so the chances of her being awake are pretty good. Woe to the poor trainer who tries to wake her up early in the morning for anything. The office itself is large in comparison to many of the other rooms in the hideout, due to the sometimes large size of the patients that need to be treated, and the cement block walls have been painted a clinical white in deference to its use. A few cabinets and tables hold the various accouterments of the veterinarian's trade and a several sets of curtains have been set up for privacy's sake when needed.
Joy herself has apparently had time to change from her Nurse's uniform into track pants and a loose, pajama-style t-shirt, sitting slouched in an office chair that's seen better days while watching some late night cartoons on a tiny television on her crowded desk. Hearing the trio walk in from the hall she leans further back into her seat, twisting to get a better look at them. "Wow, you guys look like shit," she notes in her cheery work-time voice.
Dayton "Dates" Clark [Researcher 15%] [Geokinetic 15%] [Hardy 15%] [Temperamental 5%] The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"I can see it, really embrace the whole lumberjack look, yeah?" he half-jokes, pulling at sooty hair growing off his face. He drags himself down the hall behind Clyde, fatigue apparent. "Well, at least only two out of three smell of it" he protest to her, entering the next room. "Clyde, take it you're acquainted?"
"Don't get the poor boy's hopes up," she says, co-opting Dayton's question while spinning the chair around to face the door. "Tsk tsk. Well then, what kind of trouble did you all get into this time, anyway, and who's the new guy?"
It took several minutes at a jogging pace for Faraday to locate the first traces that something was very wrong. He spotted a trail of red ending in the crumpled, mangled corpse of a Drowzee, partially eaten. Pyrrhus was horrified.
"Cave... take care of the poor thing." Without another word, the Growlithe exhaled a blast of blue flames that incinerated the body almost instantly, cremating it in a matter of seconds. The grass around the body also caught, but it wasn't dry and the fire died rather quickly. Pyrrhus signaled to the canine and the pair (Gemella having already been returned to her Pokeball) continued onward.
Another minute or so later, they heard a faint beeping noise, which Pyrrhus reasoned was likely the Ranger. He hurried over and spotted the man known as Ranger Thornton, sitting with his Espeon behind a tree. Pyrrhus was happy to see that he wore the dark green, meaning he was likely not of the new Rangers.
Pyrrhus walked over. "What's the situation?" Thornton, who had been looking around the tree for something, jumped.
"Oh, hey! You got here... wait, you're not Peters? What are you doing here?"
Pyrrhus flashed a smile. "I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd lend a hand. The name's Faraday."
Thornton sighed and gave an exasperated look. "Sir, you need to get out of here, this is for the Rangers to handle. Wait, how'd you even know about this?"
Pyrrhus shook his head. "Let's not worry about that right now."
Another sigh. This fellow must be desperate. "Okay, fine, listen up, Fara- oh! Faraday!" He pointed to his waist. "The Pokeball guy! Oh! Well... I've spotted the commotion, and I know I'm not able to handle it. It's a line of Pawniard, no clue how they got this far out. Been cutting up Psychic-types for sport. Even the Abra and such can't sense them to Teleport away."
Pyrrhus immediately brought up the species on his wrist. "Dark and Steel? No trouble there, I can handle these things." Cave Canem's fire should hold off all but the most powerful ones, and Clack Clack was beefy."
"That's not all," Thornton replied sadly. "They've got a Bisharp leading 'em, most Pawniard do, looks real tough. Last I saw, they were cornering a bunch of Ralts and Kirlia, not much those can do against 'em."
Pyrrhus's eyes opened wide. "Where are they?" He needed to be there right now.
Thornton pointed in the direction he'd been looking. "I saw them over there, tried to warn 'em off, but I don't think it worked too well." He reached to his waist and grabbed a Pokeball (Pyrrhus noticed it was Silph Co, an old model, probably 6 years) and returned the Espeon. He held up his styler. "I can grab one of the Pawniard and back you up, but that's about it. Haven't seen any Fighting types around."
Pyrrhus nodded. "Right. I'll take point. We'll cut off the Pawniard and set up a perimeter around the Psychics. If this is as big a group as you're saying, I hope Peters is bringing some big guns." Without waiting for another word, he bolted from the tree cover and ran first in the direction Thornton pointed, then towards the increasingly loud sound of knives being sharpened.
It didn't take long. As he passed through some rather thin brush, he spotted the group of Ralts and Kirlia. It looked as though they were mostly older specimens, the younger ones having already Teleported away. It was a shame they lost that defensive technique so rapidly. They had been trapped against the brush by a group of small, bipedal, black and red creatures with knife-like hands. Several Ralts and Kirlia appeared to be attempting to use their psychic attacks against them, but they were having no effect. Among the eldest were a few Kirlia using sharp, hovering leaves to keep the foes at bay. The Pawniard, for the most part, cut through the leaves with their hands, making the attacks mostly a nuisance. Pyrrhus's estimate put the Ralts group at nearly a dozen, and the group of Pawniard as twice that number. Worse, he spotted a dark shape sitting up in a tree. It must have been the leader; it looked much like the viciously sharp Pokemon, but it was much taller and looked more developed. He guessed it was a Bisharp, though he'd never seen one before.
He jumped between the two groups, startling both, and Cave did likewise. Pyrrhus reached to his belt and smiled a bit as he grabbed hold of the third ball on his belt. He pressed the button and, in the flash of cyan, a large and mighty Kingler appeared before him.
[Clack Clack] [Kingler 5%] [Impatient] [Sheer Force 5%]
Seeing the Kingler, Pyrrhus couldn't help but smile. He considered Clack Clack to be his "big guns" in many ways. The arthropod wasn't terribly fast out of water, but he was tough as nails, and when he was mad he hit like a truck. Pyrrhus fondly recalled the time it lifted a Snorlax that had fallen asleep on the road. Even Misty had been impressed with it, back when it was still a Krabby.
They were in Misty's gym. It hadn't been long since the Cerulean Incident. Because of the assistance he'd offered in capturing the Rockets, he'd been granted a battle with her. The League was mostly in shambles, so it was purely an exhibition match, however, she had promised him a Cascade Badge if he won. As if he'd let her win anyway.
The battle hadn't lasted long. Although the Seaking had put up a good fight, its attacks bounced off Clack Clack's tough hide. Clack Clack, meanwhile, had developed the habit of grabbing onto things and refusing to let go, which was infuriating during training or when they were bonding, but turned out quite well for battling.
Afterwards, Clack Clack and Pyrrhus had walked over to Misty. "Thanks for the battle," he said, smiling. It had been his first major victory since losing his arm, and he was pleased to find he hadn't lost his touch.
She smiled back. "Thank you, that was quite a fight!" She held out her right hand to shake, but winced and switched it for her left. "Your Krabby is quite strong."
Pyrrhus, who had noticed the error, decided not to embarrass her further. "I've been working with him a lot, and I'm quite proud of him." He took the proffered hand and shook it firmly. Clack Clack intervened, climbing up Pyrrhus's suit to sit on his head and clack happily as the crowd cheered for him.
Meanwhile, Thornton had darted behind Pyrrhus, snagging himself a Pawniard to command against the encroaching masses. Pyrrhus decided it was time to take charge.
"Cave, burn a line in between us and them with your flamethrower, and hold it steady so we get a controlled burn!"
[45/50] Cave proceeded to scorch the ground in such a way that the flame lingered after he stopped. Any Pawniard that passed through would be [Scorched] by the flames.
"Okay, team. We can do this. We just need to scare them away, or hold them off until backup arrives. We just need to buy a few minutes. You guys got this?" He looked to Clack Clack and Cave, who both turned around to nod before looking back toward the foes. "Good. Don't try and attack until they pass through the line of fire. We can't let them draw us out or we could get surrounded or cut off from the Ralts." He briefly turned his head to look back at the creatures cowering in fear behind him. "This is where we hold them. This is where we fight! This is where they faint!"
In a few more seconds, the first Pawniard began leaping through the flames. [55/70] It was immediately [Seared] by a furious blast of orange flame from Cave Canem's mouth, knocking it back through the flames. [43/60] A second charged through much more quickly and found itself face to claw with Clack Clack, who responded by winding back its giant pincer and slamming the small creature like a baseball up into the air, leaving it [Unconscious].
[59/50] Several more Pawniard charged all at once, several occupying Cave, Clack Clack, and the Ranger's Pawniard while another bolted straight for Pyrrhus. [18/35] Pyrrhus was ready, however, pressing a button on his prosthesis to project two electrified spikes which he shoved into the creature's belly, giving it a good shock and leaving it [Stunned]. Like so much refuse, Pyrrhus tossed it back behind the flames, daring the group to try again. [67/75] Cave managed to catch his foe with a brutal fiery charge, knocking the creature to the ground, where the canine began biting at it. The creature managed to extract himself from beneath the still-alight paw, but was left [Badly Burned].
[84/50] Another Pawn launched itself at Clack Clack, trying in vain to cut through his thick armor with his metallic appendage. [69/70] The giant crab responded with a chop of his own, this one far more vicious and looking much more like a martial art. The creature was left [Crumpled] by the powerful attack. Pyrrhus had taught the Kingler that move originally intending it to be used against Sabrina's Mr. Mime and the walls it made. Kingler never did get very good at breaking those barriers, but it still did a pretty good job of busting up anything that didn't like Fighting-type moves.
[63/50] Once more, a group of Pawniard all crashed through the flames at once, heading jointly for Cave Canem. [15/45] One of them slashed furiously with its honed claws, leaving a [Gash] on Cave's right shoulder. [1/45] A second attacker rammed Cave head-on, knocking the creature back and making him [Badly Winded]. [10/75] Cave stood right back up and launched himself at the two offending creatures in another flaming charge, [Burn]ing both of them and knocking them aside, while making himself a bit more [Agile]. [54/40] The third and final Pawniard attempted to widen Cave's injuries, but the speed boost let Cave jump nimbly aside, despite his injuries. [41/60] Pyrrhus caught that one with a kick to the chest, sending it flying away from Cave Canem, who looked the worse for wear. [68/55] Clack Clack attempted to swat at the Pawniard as it sailed past him through the air, but missed. Instead, the creature landed nearby Thornton, who commanded his own Pawniard to attack. [100/60] Sadly, the Pawniard appeared to break free of Thornton's Styler before it could even attack, and the two jointly turned against the Ranger. [90/75, 71/75] Thornton managed to duck away from one Pawniard's claw, but the second one caught him with a vicious [Laceration] down his side.
[20/70] By now, Clack Clack had wandered over and struck with one claw, sending one creature flailing away into the sky, [Addled]. [60/40] The second attempted to headbutt the new opponent, but found Clack Clack's armor sufficiently thick to repel such an attack. [14/65] Clack Clack brought his claw back again, and the Pawniard held its hands out in desperate panic, terrified of the oncoming attack. It was no use, as the claw swung forward unimpeded, slamming the Pawniard into another that had just stepped past the flames and leaving it [Unconscious].
With that action, it seemed as though there was a bit of a lull in the battle. Pyrrhus grabbed a Potion from his jacket and crouched down by Cave Canem to administer to the pooch. He managed to close up the [Gash] a bit, leaving him merely [Winded]. The puppy panted heavily while Pyrrhus tended to him, glad for the break. Clack Clack clacked his claws cheerfully, pleased that he remained mostly unharmed. These tiny, bothersome minnows were amusements, nothing more. Indeed, he seemed [Heartened].
Still, Pyrrhus knew there was a ways to go yet. They'd held out for several minutes, but they'd lost the Pawniard Thornton had. Thornton crouched behind Clack Clack, trying to keep the [Terrified] Ralts and Kirlia calm. Pyrrhus looked past the flames Cave had set, flames that were now [Dying Down]. Although a good portion of the Pawniard were injured in one way or another, it was clear that they were not about to give up.
On a whim, Pyrrhus twisted his prosthetic wrist, tilting down the hand and revealing a cannon of sorts. He pressed a few buttons to attune the projectile while he called back to Thornton to request an update on Peters. He aimed the arm cannon at one of the Pawniard, one that was [Badly Burned] by Cave's attacks. [39/45] Clenching the unhinged hand into a fist, the cannon fired, launching a Faraday Pokeball at the injured Pokemon. Had he not made the last-minute modifications that made the sphere into a [Dark Ball], specializing in capturing Pokemon of the Dark type, it wouldn't have held, but after several seconds the indicator light blinked, letting Pyrrhus know of the successful capture.
Pyrrhus had no real interest in keeping the creature, but he reasoned that it was one less that could attack when the brief lull ended. He'd offer it to the Ranger, or perhaps donate it to the Pokemon Center, or perhaps that other place. Unfortunately, it appeared as though the capture galvanized the Pawniard, who were now getting reorganized for another attack.
This was bad. Pyrrhus looked back over his team. Clack Clack was still raring to go, but against so many of the sharp creatures, Pyrrhus doubted he'd last. Cave was in worse shape. Thornton still had his styler, he could probably grab another one. He considered pulling out Gemella; her powder attacks would be handy, but... these were fierce little creatures. He wasn't sure she would be brave enough to fight them, or if he even wanted her to see them hurting other Pokemon.
As he was going over his tenuous position in his head, one of the Kirlia approached him. It was one of the eldest of the group he'd been protecting, trying to use Magical Leaf against the Pawniard. It reached out a tiny, underdeveloped hand to grab at Pyrrhus's coat, getting his attention.
Pyrrhus, still distracted, looked down. "What's the problem?" All of a sudden, his mind was assaulted by the psychic Pokemon. He bent over in agony as his head felt as though it were splitting open. He clutched at this forehead, trying to make sense of the static-filled image forcing its way into his prefrontal cortex. His shouts of pain had alerted Thornton, Cave, and Clack Clack to him, and they turned to spot the Kirlia attacking Pyrrhus's psyche.
Cave Canem bounded over and growled viciously at the Kirlia, while Thornton hurried over and tried to pull it away. The Ranger had successfully separated the two and was about to take the Kirlia back to its companions when Pyrrhus spoke.
"Wait, wait!" He shouted. "I think I know what it was trying to tell me." Despite his pounding [Headache], Pyrrhus stood back up and reached to his backpack. He opened it and withdrew a small box. Setting the backpack down, he slid the cover off the box to reveal a stone. It was no ordinary stone, however; it was an aquamarine crystal that shined with a brilliant white light.
Thornton, whose view was poor, walked over, and he understood. "A Dawn Stone! It must have sensed that you had one!"
Pyrrhus looked at him in confusion. "Yeah, I've been saving it for when my Roselia is ready for it. Why, what's so important about it?"
Thornton eyed the Pawniard nervously; they appeared to be sharpening their knifes. "Kirlia can evolve when you use one of those on them."
Pyrrhus faintly recalled an alternate evolution of the Kirlia line, so he opened his Pokegear and checked out the species.
"Right, Gallade. I remember seeing one of those. But if it's still Psychic, what good will..." he hit the part discussing typing and moves. "Huh." On the one hand, he had been saving the stone for Gemella. He'd taken it from a Rocket he had encountered and beaten to near death. But this was a matter of life and death.
"Sorry, Gemella," he muttered to nobody in particular. He turned to the Kirlia, who had walked back over to him. He lifted the stone from out of the box and held it out in his left hand. "You want this?" The Kirlia nodded in response.
"Then catch." He gave it a low, underhand throw, aiming it to pass right over the Kirlia's head. Instead, the Pokemon caught it with its telekinetic powers and held it in front of its head for several seconds. As both creature and stone began to glow white, Pyrrhus turned away so as not to be blinded. He heard the sound of a crystalline object shattering, however, and when he turned back the stone had lost its brilliant white luster, returned to an ordinary stone. The Kirlia was still glowing white, its body beginning to change.
"We're out of time!" Thornton shouted, drawing Pyrrhus back to the oncoming Pawniard. They had organized fully and were approaching en masse. With the fire between them out, there was no line of defense to stop them anymore. Worse, he watched a tree shake as the dark shape leaped out of it and into the midst of the Pawniard. Pyrrhus didn't need the Pokegear to confirm his fear that the creature was an evolved Pawniard, but he did anyway.
"Bisharp, huh?" he thought quickly. "Clack Clack, you're the toughest piece of armor we've got here, if anything is going to stop that thing, it'll be your claws!" Clack Clack clacked his pincers in response to the praise. "Cave, watch Clack Clack's back, make sure he doesn't get surrounded." Cave gave an affirmative bark. "And Thornton, I guess we'll have to make sure none of the Pawniard can break through to the psychics behind us." Cave whined in concern. "Don't worry, Thornton will control one of those Pawniard to defend him, and I can handle myself." He checked his watch. "Peters should be here any minute now. We just need to hold them off until he arrives, and we're in the clear."
He braced himself for the onslaught. His hand once again twisted to reveal the two sparking points of the taser he'd used once already. Just a few minutes.
The Pawniard charged.
[16/40] A pair of Pawniard leaped onto Clack Clack, one of them digging a sharp knife into a crack between his armor. [4/40] Yet another managed to punch a hole straight through his shell, the combined attacks leaving him [Badly Injured]. [36/50] Despite the pain Clack Clack was feeling, he tossed the small creatures aside with a vicious crabhammer, scuttling towards the Bisharp as Pyrrhus had asked.
[51/45] Several more Pawniard split off to go after Cave Canem, but despite his injuries the first was too slow to keep up with him. [96/45, 81/45]] A second and third both launched their metallic slices together, but Cave jumped backward [18/70] and [Cooked] them with a white-hot flamethrower. [99/45] A fourth joined in, but it was blinded by the flames and missed by quite a ways.
[50/50] One Pawniard broke through the line of Pokemon, heading straight for the Ralts. [93/35] Pyrrhus made a desperate leap to try and keep the creature away, but it slipped by him and made a beeline to the nearest Kirlia, a young female that cowered in fear. [11/65] Its claw sunk deep into the psychic creature's thin flesh, making her [Skewered]. [32/35] Pyrrhus tackled the Pawniard and shoved the taser into its torso, [Stun]ing it before he threw it into the path of one of Cave's fire attacks. He wanted to help the creature, but as he was about to withdraw a potion, another Kirlia walked over. It focused its psychic power on the downed Kirlia and the wounds began to close.
[7/70] While Pyrrhus had his back turned and attention away from the battle, a Pawniard jumped onto him and [Stabbed] him pretty badly in the back. He cried out in pain, when another Pawniard kicked the one on top of him to the ground. [60/65] Apparently Thornton had successfully ensnared another Pawniard and sent him to Pyrrhus's aid.
[46/65] Just as another Pawniard was about to leap towards the psychics, a white and green blur dashed up to it, knocking the creature [Senseless] with a slashing attack. Pyrrhus managed to get a solid glimpse of it after the attack, revealing itself to be a fully evolved Gallade before dashing off to the next nearest Pawniard. [73/55] The Pawniard he was after turned around and tried to get in a pre-emptive strike, but the knife was paried aside in a flash. [34/65] The Gallade gave another slash with its curiously bladed forearms, and the Pawniard fell to the ground, [Bruised].
[69/55] Pyrrhus whipped around to see the Bisharp clashing with Clack Clack, and smirked despite the pain in his back to see the steel creature's attacks getting knocked aside. [21/65] Clack Clack wound up another Brick Break, aiming right for the Bisharp's chest. Although the creature tried to deflect the attack with its arm, the claw would not be stopped. It sailed unimpeded through the Bisharp's left arm, colliding with its chest and knocking it backward. It tried to use its [Broken Arm] but instead the appendage merely flopped about unresponsively. [59/55] Angry now, the Bisharp returned to the offensive with but a single arm. It swung its deadly-sharp right arm in an overheard arc at the Kingler, hoping to slam right through the creature's head. It was astonished when the Kingler caught the arm in his claw. [50/65] Clack Clack gave him another crabhammer with his spare claw, throwing it for a loop. [32/55] Desperate to finish the crab, the Bisharp charged headfirst, digging the mitre on its head into the crack between Clack Clack's shell halves. It pried upwards like a terrible can opener, and just like that Kingler's shell was [Cracked].
Cave, who had been dealing with several of the Pawniard on his own, spotted his ally's dire straits. [36/55] Pyrrhus recognized the flaming headlong charge as a Flare Blitz, an attack they'd been practicing recently. The flames left bits of the Bisharp [Melted], dulling his blades significantly. Unfortunately, Pyrrhus knew that the attack, brutal as it was, punished the user as well, and Cave looked [Exhausted].
[2/65] It was the opening Clack Clack needed. He pulled way back with both claws, unleashing a double Brick Break that shattered through the Bisharp's armor and sent it flying into the tree from whence it had first entered the fray, [Dead].
Pyrrhus breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew it was far from over. There were still lots of... he looked around and noticed a large number of unconscious Pawniard around him. He looked around and realized that, while he was caught up in the battle with the Bisharp, a Gallade had been protecting the Kirlia and Ralts from the rest of the attackers. [24/55] It slashed one of its sword-like arms at one of the few that was still standing, knocking it to the ground. The rest seemed unsure of whether they wanted to stay or leave, but the decision was made for them.
[42/60] The ground beneath them (but oddly enough, not around Thornton, Pyrrhus, or his Pokemon) began to shake terribly, and large cracks split across the ground. The injured Pawniard were shaken so badly by the earthquake that they fell to the ground, and the half dozen or so beat a hasty retreat into the forest, getting away from the battle as quickly as they could.
Pyrrhus instantly began searching for the culprit, and was mildly amused when a trio of small moles poked their heads up from underground near the Ralts. He turned around and saw a female figure running towards them.
"Ranger Peters, here to assist!" she called breathlessly. "Sorry I took so long, Diggy's a little slow with that attack still." She came to a halt a few feet away from Pyrrhus, who had his left hand clamped tightly over his stab wound.
"Ranger Eveline Peters, who is this?" she addressed Thornton, but she pointed at Pyrrhus.
"The name's Faraday," he smiled and offered his right hand to shake. She took it without much thought.
"What happened here? This man and these Pokemon are all injured! Report, Thornton." Apparently she was a superior officer? Pyrrhus didn't know and didn't care. Thornton set about explaining the events that transpired while Pyrrhus sat down on a nearby fallen log.
He was starting to feel faint, but another Kirlia approached him and focused its energy, and Pyrrhus felt the stab wound close up. "Pretty helpful to have that around," he laughed weakly. "I don't suppose you can help out my other friends too?" Cave was licking several nasty-looking cuts, and Clack Clack's shell was damaged in several places, not to mention the place in the front where it had been pried apart. The Kirlia walked over to each one in turn, healing their injuries with the mysterious pulsing move.
Pyrrhus watched it heal their injuries, and the Gallade he'd evolved walked over to him. It had long since withdrawn the blade-like parts of its arms, and instead offered him a hand-like appendage. Pyrrhus stood up and gave it a shake.
"Nice working with you," he said. The creature stared at him intensely, then held up the worthless rock that had once been a Dawn Stone. "Oh, don't worry, it's not that big of a deal." He waved the stone away. "I'm sure I'll find another eventually."
The Gallade made a lightning-fast move towards Pyrrhus, grabbing a Pokeball from his belt and holding it in front of him. Pyrrhus smiled. "So that's what you're after? Well, I'd be honored to try and capture you!"
He thought for a moment. Cave and Clack Clack were freshly healed, but they both deserved a break. That left... "Gemella, let's show this Gallade what you can do!" He released her from her Pokeball and watched her give a cheerful hello to the Gallade.
The Gallade jumped back and took a battle position, looking briefly concerned about the tiny grass-type that appeared before him.
"Don't worry, she may look cute and harmless, but she'll crush you like an overripe Mourvèdre. Gemella! Toxic!"
[27/55] Gemella swung her roses at the Gallade with a surprising ferocity. Thorns in the roses pierced the Gallade's skin, leaving behind a virulent poison. [86/60] Gallade swung one of his blade arms at the Roselia, who spun around and dodged it without difficulty. Gallade shuddered as the [Poison] took effect.
"Now, Gemella, let's try a Leech Seed!" Pyrrhus laughed. By now, Thornton and Peters had finished their discussion and were watching the battle.
"Come on, Gallade! That cheeky punk deserves to go down!" Peters shouted encouragement. Thornton gave her a look of shock before turning to Pyrrhus and shrugging.
[65/55] Gemella launched a flurry of seeds from her roses, but the Gallade, now accustomed to her twirly combat style, ducked away from them. [51/60] He slashed out again, this time cutting a few of the leaves from her arms. Now slightly [Trimmed], the Roselia gave a huff of anger as Peters cheered. The Gallade winced again, taking more damage from the poison and looking [Weakened].
"Hey, come on, I'm the good guy here!" Pyrrhus shouted at the Ranger. "Now, Gemella, put it to sleep!"
[46/50] Gemella released a cloud of powder that enveloped the Gallade, making his eyes droop. [61/35] He was unable to keep its eyes open, nodding off while standing and taking a bit more damage from the poison.
"Gemella, let's end this with a Solarbeam!"
"Lia!" Gemella called back to him, gathering in sunlight for perhaps her most powerful attack. [20/45] Gallade snapped awake, shaking off the powder and sending a psychic shockwave at the little flower. [63/65] Distracted as she was by charging her attack, Gemella was unable to avoid the punishing wave, knocking her to the ground as she began [Crying].
A wave of guilt ran over Pyrrhus, but before he could take action, Gemella released her pent-up energy in a terrific blast. [43/55] Though the Gallade attempted to jump out of the way, the powerful beam caught him head on, knocking him to the ground.
For the second time that day, Pyrrhus twisted down his prosthetic hand to reveal the Pokeball cannon. Again he pressed several buttons; he wanted to make this one count, so he set the Pokeball to precise specifications. [??/45] He fired the freshly-assembled [Psychic Ball] at the prone Gallade, which enveloped the fierce warrior in cyan light before pulling it into the sphere.
Pyrrhus held both fists clenched (the real one and the unhinged fake one) as he waited to see if the lock would hold.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click. Pyrrhus held his breath.
[45/45]Ding!
Pyrrhus finally exhaled before walking over and picking up both Pokeballs: the [Psychic Ball] holding his new Gallade and the [Dark Ball] carrying the Pawniard he'd caught for the sake of keeping it out of the fight. He rehitched his right wrist and put both new balls on his belt. Then he picked up his backpack and walked over to Peters and Thornton.
"So, can I go now?" he asked cheerfully. He would have liked to see them stop him.
Peters frowned. "Faraday, huh? The guy who makes the Pokeballs? Odd to see you here. You never explained how you knew to come here."
Pyrrhus narrowed his eyes at her. "Maybe you shouldn't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth."
"Maybe I shouldn't," she sighed. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a little disappointed that you guys took most of the action."
Thornton looked at her sadly. "Believe me, miss, you should be glad. I'm sure it sounds all heroic, making a last stand like this, but it was terrifying."
Pyrrhus nodded in agreement. "Thornton's right. It could very easily have gone the other way. Fortunately he's a quick draw on that Styler."
Thornton nudged Pyrrhus with his elbow. "Not so awful yourself there, but then, I guess you can't be on Victory Road and be some backwoods trainer, huh?"
"And what about that one?" Peters pointed to the deceased Bisharp. Pyrrhus had forgotten about it in the heat of battle. It was admittedly a shame, but Pyrrhus had a difficult time pitying the creature that had nearly harvested his Kingler. Furthermore, Clack Clack was far from the creature's only victim today. He briefly recalled the Drowzee, the first indication he'd had of the line of Pawniard.
"It was unfortunate. It shouldn't have attacked these creatures." He masked his modest guilt.
Peters gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, you're free to go. Thornton and I can handle this." She waved her hand to indicate the remaining Ralts and Kirlia. "By the way, double check with the League before you use that Gallade in an official battle, you may need to get a license. The Pawniard should be fine."
"I will." He whistled for his Pokemon, calling Cave, Clack Clack, and Gemella over. He returned Gemella and Clack Clack to their balls, but left Cave Canem out. "Let's go, pal. Gotta be about time for something important to happen, right? Besides, I have one more errand to take care of."
Pyrrhus climbed down the ladder into the underground part of the Hideout later that evening. It wasn't a place he frequented; he saw the organization, if it could be called that, as a necessary evil. If Lance got too powerful, there needed to be someplace already established in order to keep him in check.
So he visited from time to time to chat, and occasionally do a few other things. Like today.
Standing in front of Peregrine, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a box. "Here," he handed him the approximately one cubic foot, corrugated cardboard box. It was marked with the Faraday Futuristics logo.
The professor raised his goggles and an eyebrow. "What's this?"
Pyrrhus looked back disdainfully. "Faraday Pokeballs. Took them from a shipment heading to Johto. I guess you could say they... fell off the back of a truck." He didn't much like the professor. They were both men of science, but Poplar had been far too quick to join the group. He neglected to understand that organization was vital, even if too much of it could be stifling. Poplar was too much of an idealist. The professor, in turn, thought Pyrrhus was a money-grubbing, egotistical, show-off businessman who'd rather make a buck than affect real change. None of them had any knowledge of the double life he had once led, and he preferred it that way. Better to be thought of as a greedy bastard than a violent vigilante. Better to be despised than feared. He turned and began to leave.
"Oh, one more thing," he stopped. His hand dropped to the rearmost Pokeball on his belt. "Caught this today, but I don't need it. Already got a Dark-type to bring out my bad side." He disdainfully dropped the Pokeball on top of the slumbering, red-haired man in the ridiculous jacket. "Careful though, little sucker is mean and sharp." He lifted his jacket in the back to reveal the stain of dried blood where he had been stabbed. Without waiting for a response, he departed.
Yeah, I think fast tracking Doug into the next scene might be the best option.
Unless you wanna pull a Terrendos and just write the remainder of the battle however you wish and I'll call it square. It's not like Tommy is currently around to complain if you knock his character around a bit, after all.
Extremely relieved that the nurse saved him from a real awkward question, Clyde gets down to business.
"Yeah, problem is some greys...well I can't be sure... so thugs, had the idea to sneak into a prison in the middle of the night. I mean who would do something like that?"
...
"Basically, you really ought to examine Zee first, they beat him up a lot more than the rest of us."
Doug takes a sip of water from his bottle as his Pokemon continue to eat. He could have always taken his meal inside the Pokemon Center, but Doug always preferred eating where he could see the sky.
Belmont flips his empty bowl over and rests his head on Doug's lap. Looking down at Belmont, Doug gives him a pat on the head,
"Sorry you had to go up against that Ninetails. I never did like fighting fire-types; getting burned hurts even if you aren't weak to that sort of thing."
Belmont just closes his eyes and enjoys the attention. It wasn't like he had fought Blaine again or anything.
Doug must have been thinking the same thing, as he opened open his Pokegear and pulled up the pictures that his parent's had attached to their latest e-mail.
Sighing, Doug leans against the Pokecenter wall and looks to the sky.
The girl pushes through the door to the diner, stumbling slightly as the bell above the door jingles. Her eyes dart around until she spots what she's looking for, a young man in a well-tailored suit and a somewhat grizzled, but casually dressed man seated in a corner stall. With a running start and a leap, she clears the back of the cushioned bench, landing next to the young man and stabbing a waffle from the table in one, smooth motion.
Her sudden appearance elicits nothing more than a light sigh from the young man who has hardly touched his breakfast, and an eye roll from the older man who already ate much, much earlier. "Well," the young man finally says, breaking the silence.
"He's a cop," is the girl's response, muffled by a second waffle. The young man waits a few moments.
"...And?"
"Fuckin' hate cops," she replies, spearing a third and fourth waffle. The young and old man share a rare glance of common-held sympathy, regret, and weariness. "Yo, you gonna eat that?" she asks, not waiting for an answer before dragging the young man's plate in front of her.
"Sly Bogwater, age 32, born Fortree, Hoenn," the man pauses momentarily in his recollection, before continuing. "Started Citizen Constable in Hoenn service, fast transfer to cold case where he earned several noted distinctions, promoted to Sergeant shortly after, transferred to Kanto service, disappeared a few months on personal business, reappeared a few months back and promoted to Detective, transferred to Indigo by special request. Further info has a Code Orange hold courtesy of the Pokemon League. Probably due to off-record services, possibly done during his personal absence."
"Thank you," the young man says, giving a small golf clap. "You were military, right? What do you think of him?"
"Police officers are civilians," the man responds a shade darkly. He shrugs, considering the question. "He's an odd one."
"Smelled like stuff," the girl pipes up, suddenly, smearing a knifeful of the young man's caviar onto a sausage. "And thingie types, Ghost," she continues, wrapping the caviar-sausage into a hashbrown. "Glitch, too," she adds thoughtfully, before messily devouring her creation. The two males share another glance, eyebrows raised.
"Well... how about that," the young man notes. "Check, please."
After carefully ignoring any comments about trouble with the police, or possible illegality that may have taken place earlier. Joy tends to the three wounded trainers. Beyond a few slight sprains, and what she describes as 'light contusions', Clyde and Dayton are proclaimed more-or-less fit, and told to take it easy a few days. Zee however has a nastily broken finger, and will have to wait around for a while she fixes up a cast for the unhealthily bent digit.
Despite the earliness, the stands of the main Pokemon Stadium are packed, those nearest the arena standing tall and holding small children or pokemon on their shoulders to get a better sight of the action below. Lance, himself, addresses the audience from a stage below, the League participants arrayed in lines in the front, one of them occasionally giving a wave, peace sign, or even a thumbs up when they spot a family member, friend, or fan seated above.
Lance's speech is quick and to the point, congratulating the participants for coming this far, exhorting them to give their best effort, follow the League rules to the letter, and to battle fairly and with the excellent sense of sportsmanship the with which the League has become synonymous. Despite the turbulence and chaos that dominated the last few months, the League Championship remains a shining symbol of the partnership of man and Pokemon. A partnership that existed long before the recent troubles and will remain long after they are forgotten.
With great fanfare, the runner of the League Torch enters the arena, pausing to hand off the lit torch, said to be the remnants of a Moltres' flame, to Lance. At that moment, the fire flares merrily, causing Lance to nearly jump back, before laughing and offering a lighthearted joke that it must mean good luck for the upcoming tournament. Climbing the stairs to the large, polished steel brazier that would hold the symbolic fire for the duration of the Indigo Conference, Lance lights it with a flourish and turns back to the crowd, the flame growing behind him.
"Let the games begin!"
If I haven't give your character +25% focus yet, uh, just take it. It's cool.
Also, if we got stuff to wrap up from day 1 lets do that soonish. Also Official Tournament battles, I guess.
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I should post stuff for this soonish
do people still hang out in the chat or am I just too scared to enter
Doug's feeling awfully pumped today. How couldn't he? It's the Pokemon League! This is the place were Doug is going to paint his legend across the entire region.
"See him guys?" Doug says while pointing at Lance, "He's our target. That's the man to beat."
With the morning event having come to a suitably climactic closing, the participants are quickly shuffled off the arena field, which will play party to various demonstrations and events for the next couple days while the actual League battles take place in one of the four, smaller type-themed fields arrayed around the town. More than 250 hopeful Trainers make their way out, a few rushing away to the first of the matches set to begin within the hour, while those slated for later matches try to figure out how best to master their nerves until their chance to battle arrives.
The crowd in the stands makes their own hasty retreat, eager to make it to their favored arena in time to get a good seat, or to partake in any of the other events around town designed to entertain the masses until their favored match comes up.
A tanned, Hawaiian-shirted individual with an uneven coat of sunblock strolls over to Doug and nudges him with an elbow. "Feelin' lucky today, brah?" he asks, snapping his gum loudly. "What's your arena?" By his sandaled feet a very pink, white-bellied pokemon covers in coral-like spikes meanders shyly.
Posts
[91/80] The Pineco raises an eyebrow, but doesn't seem to be all that keen on continuing its side of the conversation. At Gemella's sudden appearance it gives a surprised grunt, but nods in a halfway friendly manner as she draws closer, his quills drooping slightly from their defensive position, but not much.
A thin, white thread springs from the bushes, nearly invisible, and wraps itself tightly around Cave's snout. With a sudden whine of surprise and consternation, the [Muzzled] Growlithe shakes his head and tries to back up to rid himself of the foreign substance, but it might as well be braided steel wire for all that it gives under his straining.
"Hmm, well Snaffle over there has some fine hearing on her, might help if there's any pokemon still nearby. Might be able to find one who saw something even." As though to illustrate Holloway's point, the Marill's ears perk up at the mention of her name despite being a couple dozen meters away, and she turns and gives a happy wave across the burnt field. "Keep an ear out for anything moving around besides us and the Flying-type, Snaf," Holloway calls over to his companion Pokemon who gives a squeak of acknowledgement.
[28/60] Above, Scarhawk's predatory eyesight gives him an unrivaled view of the Indigo plateau, the rocky fields, dry shrubland, and small copses of hardy trees dominating the landscape that isn't taken up by the tiny League Village to the East. Though the Pokemon's sense of smell takes a back seat compared to his stellar vision, he can detect a slightly herbal scent in the air. Like pine needles, but sharper, and somewhat more acrid, giving the Staraptor the impression of hot, earthy soil stretched out below him and swelling thermals beneath his wings.
Abandoning the unbidden notion and turning his attention back to the task at hand, Scarhawk scours the ground below for signs of prey, living or otherwise. There is little to see, but much to intuit, like the ripples on a pond he can see the passage of something. A wide path laid across the landscape, the circle of burnt grass and scorched rock right in the middle. The line is drawn out in the presence of hiding or over-cautious Geodude and Raticate, their eyes on the sky, and Pidgey who have taken refuge in thick brush and are reluctant to venture out.
An airborne predator has passed through the area within the last hour or so, he's sure of it.
"Right now? Here," Peregrine replies to Dayton with almost rude abruptness, not bothering to cease his tip-tapping on the keyboard. "I take what I can get."
"Is Joy in?" Zee inquires in the sudden awkward lull in conversation to the much cooler Jack, his voice wavering only slightly.
"Yeah, this late she ought to b- oh damn! What happened to your finger?" he exclaims, gaping from under his arm at Zee's injury. " You try and punch someone with that flimsy-ass girl-slap again, I thought I taught you better, Zip."
"Something like that, yeah," Zee responds with a sniff, looking as ready as Dayton to get a move on.
"Never be a proper badass with an attitude like that," Jack calls over, prompting the put-upon Zee to mumble something under his breath.
[Tech Specialist 20%] [Willful 10%] [Intrepid 5%] [Domineering 5%]
Presently, a thought occurred to Pyrrhus. Following a hunch, he pulled out his Pokedex once again to give the Pineco a scan. Specifically, to check and see if there was any Spinarak DNA in this particular Pineco, which could indicate a genetic relationship.
[Success]Sure enough, his Pokedex did indicate a nonzero percentage of Spinarak-line genes.
Pyrrhus facepalmed. This really should have been his first step. "Ugh... you're looking for your dad, aren't you?" he asked the Pineco. "I'm an idiot. Here, let me see if I can help you find him." He climbed up to a taller rock to look for the Ariados he had been previously avoiding.
[Cave Canem] [Growlithe 20%] [Dependable 5%] [Intimidate 5%] [Muzzled]
Meanwhile, Cave was in his own mess. He didn't want to make noise, but the string wrapped around his nose was aggravating him. Unable to bark even if Pyrrhus hadn't asked him to keep quiet, he pawed at the muzzle a few times, trying to somehow push it off his nose and failing. Growing more and more annoyed, he began running a bit, trying to see if he could catch an end of the string on something and pull it off that way. Failing that, he walked over to a tree and rubbed his muzzle against the bark to try and dislodge the string.
[The Hideout] - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
...oh my, and just imagine Courtney without that frilly dress she- Clyde lightly slaps himself across the face and tunes back into the conversation around him.
"Zee's got a point, we all ought to go get you fixed up after all three of those bastards teamed up on ya." Clyde says, trying to make Zee sound as impressive as possible, "and then get all of us checked in case anything broke when all that water came crashing down on us. And then fell into a sewer. Double P, can you send a message over your computer to let Scott know where we are? Thanks, I owe ya."
"See ya around, Jack."
...
...
Wait, Coordinator Quarterly is like 85% pictures of pokemon! What could he be thin-you know what, I'm not gonna think about it.
nah, let's do this in the chat
[Ranger 5%] [Force of Personality 15%] [Perceptive 10%] [Confrontational 10%]
Scarhawk
[Staraptor 5%] [Serious] [Intimidate 5%]
Ken waves Scarhawk over, and the bird communicates its findings, giving him cause to frown. Let's hope it's just some hot-shot riding around on a Dragonite or somethin' - if only it were that easy...
In response, the Ranger clicks his radio. "HQ, come in, this is Smithson. Halloway handled the fire before I got to the scene, damage is minimal. We have no immediate signs of the perp, but there are signs of a large flying Pokemon having passed by recently. Are any Trainers known to have large, predatory Flying-types here for the League tourney? What about any warrants who have big fliers?"
GT: HitoriLionheart or dailydro
Visigoth wonders who would blow up a penitentiary (as small as this one is), as he waits for his opponent to make himself patent. Then, the stiff's hand drifts past his face. The near-corpse is important, Visigoth feels. If not one of the perpetrators himself, at least a witness. His benefactor will probably want him breathing. Always some complications. The frog grabs the poor fuck and hauls him ashore. Guy isn't breathing, and Visigoth's instincts tell him that this isn't ideal. Working off of a half remembered public service announcement he saw one time, Vis punches the almost-stiff right in the chest. The sap hacks up a little water and starts pulling in air. Victory. The Lifebringer turns away from the drowned man, and saunters after a couple of jerks dragging another jerk (Who happens to be his boss) up the stairs.
Didn't even get to punch out an Arbok. What a disappointing night.
My hand hovers over a tarnished doorknob. I've got a headache, one of the bad ones. I've got rainwater in places one doesn't like thinking about. Last night's catastrophe keeps running through my head like a poorly shot newsreel. Who the hell was the little bastard in the mask? Why where a bunch of assholes torturing that kid? And why did the geologist run? Am I that personable? I catch my refection in the copper nameplate set in the door. I'd run from me, too. My hand wraps around the doorknob, and I steel myself for the meeting ahead. Rayquaza above, I hate dealing with the brass. Haven't had to deal with Commander Planck very much in my short stay at the IPPD, but if he's anything like my past COs, this wasn't going to be pleasant. I open the door and step inside.
Planck's office isn't all that distinctive, much like the man himself. Not too cluttered, but not exactly clean, it's exactly what you'd expect out of a backwoods police commander. Old wood desk, well used oak chair in front, squeaky, comfortable leather number behind. Planck himself is somewhere between 42 and 56, with salt and pepper hair in a businesslike cut. His uniform is rumpled, and the bags under his eyes mark him an uneasy sleeper. He sits at his desk, spinning a pen through his fingers, running his eyes over a report. A man full of nervous energy is Chester Planck, a creature driven by rubber-bands and ethanol fumes.
"Sir." I say, in a neutral tone.
"Sargent" He responds.
I stand behind the chair opposite the Commander, looking surly as a sober longshoreman. "Something you wanted to talk to me about." Not a question.
My surliness is met equally. I'm clearly dealing with a professional, here. "What can you tell me about the young man in our cells claiming to be an Urban Ranger, Bogwater?"
Ranger. Sucks to be right, sometimes. "Kid dragged out a prisoner I picked up yesterday, him and a couple of buddies where working the poor sap over when I found 'em." I shrug. "Don't know if he's a ranger or not. Does he have any ID on him?"
"No ID, no wallet, no keys, no pictures of his sweetheart. Nothing," Planck responds, brightly. "You know the Rangers claimed jurisdiction over him this morning?"
I heap a load of fake surprise into my voice. "Did they?"
"They did."
"I'd be happy to hand him over, as long as I can get ten private minutes with him."
"Would they get all of him, or just the bits that are hard to remove in less than 10 minutes?"
"He'd be in tact. Might be more amiable, though."
"What about the prisoner you brought in? I can't help but notice he's unaccounted for," Planck continues, ploddingly. Quickly changing the subject. Trying that police bullshit on me, of all people.
"Same thing that happened to yours. Got sprung."
Not a flicker of reaction there. Which is just as good as if he gasped, really. File that under 'stuff I'm not supposed to know or mention'. "The basement holding cells sustained a remarkable amount of damage, even for a 'prison break'. You were the first on scene, weren't you? Hang out in the basement often, Sargent?"
"When the mood strikes me." Hopefully I don't have to gab about the psychic shit. Freaks a lot of folks, especially COs.
The only sound as Planck thinks out his next move is the light 'ting' of a fingernail tapping on the glass in front of him. "Bogwater, you just got here and the Urbans want you sacked, the League Organizer wants you sacked, even the bloody Mayor wants you sacked. I want you sacked, the only thing that's stopping me is you've managed to piss off those other three bastards."
"Me? But I'm just a small town PI. Wrong place, wrong time. Can't imagine what beedrill everyone has in their bonnet."
"Oh, I intend to get to the bottom of the bee-bonnet problems quite quickly. I assure you. In the meantime, you are on notice. Since I have no spare officers, the person noticing you is going to have to be yourself. Layoffs, you know," the Commander says, waving a hand derisively. "I suggest you watch yourself carefully! Dismissed, Sargent. I'd tell you to stay out of trouble but I'd rather you just not track anymore mud into my office. Figuratively speaking."
"Yes, sir. But while I have your ear, I have a proposition for you. I can find those escapees pretty easy, Commander. Them, and whoever wanted them out. Or I can go back on my beat and keep my head down." Maybe I can finagle a visit with our ranger friend. But I'm cut off.
"You have any family, Sargaent?"
"No, sir. All dead."Only was ever mom, but still.
Planck flicks a few papers aside with his pen, avoiding my gaze. "Lance has taken an interest. You been in the region long enough to know what that means?"
"Let's just say that Lance doesn't really scare me." I could tear him apart. Him and his league. Rip them to raw data, turn them all into Bidoof. The thought scares me, especially how much I want to do it. Can't go power hungry now, though. Got justice to bring, people to save from whatever hijinks the Rockets wanna pull.
Planck seems to find my comment hilarious enough to warrant a chuckle. "I'll drink to your luck then, but I doubt there's enough alcohol in the world. Do what you want, Bogwater. That's what you'll do anyway, isn't it?"
"I'll try not to drag you with me, sir."
"Oh, and they say chivalry is dead."
"Stay comfortable, commander." I turn and get out of the office. Not as bad a Rawls, but still too concerned with keeping his ass on his legs. I stride down the PD's halls, coming to the staircase that leads down to the holding cells. Time to examine the scene of the crime.
Steam
[Tech Specialist 20%] [Willful 10%] [Intrepid 5%] [Domineering 5%]
[42/65] Cave quickly found the line he had been snared with had already been caught, or more accurately looped around a sturdy tree trunk. Whatever it was that snagged him left him chained up like some sort of... some sort of thing that gets chained up and left places! Infuriating, but worse is that his charges might very well be in danger while he's all tied up. Rubbing his muzzle vigorously against the rough tree bark, the line eventually, painfully comes loose.
[72/40] Pyrrhus didn't look long before spotting the suspected paternal bug-type, as the rather pissed looking pokemon sidles out of the brush at high speed, taking an aggressive posture between Gemella and the Pineco, badly [Startling] the put-upon Roselia terribly. Pyrrhus was aware of how bad things looked. He decided to instead attempt to placate the Ariados. "Calm down, everything's okay. We were just making sure your Pineco is unharmed." In his mind, he knew that Cave would be more than a match for the spider, and Clack Clack could also probably handle the job. Gemella though....
Just in time, Cave arrived on the scene, leaped from the brush having successfully extricated himself from the tangle. He had spotted the aggressive spider, and immediately took his place between Ariados and Pyrrhus, next to Gemella.
[72/75] The Ariados responded to the hasty explanation and arrival of the Growlithe by making a mock charge forward, front legs splayed outward, Gemella tumbling back out of the way as the protective bug slung a short flurry of white javelins. The glowing darts impacted close by Cave's legs and threw up small puffs of dust, but the Growlithe stood his ground despite the close miss.
Pyrrhus turned serious. "You've got what you came for. Leave now and I won't hurt you. If you attack again, I won't hesitate. Cave, standby to engage." He glowered at the Ariados, and Cave did a surprising job of imitating it, though he also growled menacingly at the spider.
[49/50] The uneasy standoff between the group and the Ariados ended after a few tense moments, the pokemon backing away to make sure its apparent offspring was alright, while still keeping an eye on the trainer and his pokemon. The pineco didn't seem to be all that perturbed at the close call of violence, giving a casual, cheery goodbye to the shaken Roselia as the two pokemon backed away.
"Cave, keep watching them." Pyrrhus walked over to Gemella to make sure she's okay. The Roselia still appeared jittery from the close and sudden appearance of the frightening foe, but if Pyrrhus was any judge, the [Carefree] young grass-type is quick to recover from getting spooked or scared. It was a direct contrast to that first encounter with the Carnivine; Pyrrhus concluded that he must be an encouraging influence on her. Relieved that his charge was unharmed, he let out a sigh with two meanings. On the one hand, it was good that everything worked out okay. But he'd missed yet another chance at catching a Pineco. Perhaps this entire pursuit was merely a pipe dream, and he should focus on a goal that was... more in his wheelhouse. All this touch-and-go friend-making wasn't so much his style, but Pineco were such fragile creatures, he couldn't risk his normal "catch and go" method.
He reached down and pressed the button on his robotic prosthesis to bring up the Pokegear. He pressed several buttons to save and clear the previous search for Pineco species. He was about to set it to look for large, dangerous Pokemon, when he received an alert. He paused for a second, thinking. It was a warning from the Rangers. Ranger beacons were primitive tech, so he couldn't get much information. Instead, he hooked into the Ranger radio frequencies to get some more information. It took a few seconds of searching through the channels, but finally he heard.
"HQ, this is Ranger Thornton, we got a situation. Looks like some sort of hunting pack, we have several dead psychic-types in the area." Pyrrhus mentally ran down his list of types before concluding that it was likely a dual. "I'm requesting backup here, my partner's an Espeon and I'm cautious to engage, over."
Several seconds later, he heard a response. Ranger Thornton, this is HQ. We've got a BOLO out for dark-type suspects, Ranger Peters is incoming from two clicks North of your position, hold tight, over."
Pyrrhus checked back at the beacon on his map. Hmm... the nearest Ranger was two kilometers away? He was less than five minutes out. His team wasn't Psychic, he could certainly help. Even if it's one of those city Rangers, there were dead Pokemon. Sometimes you gotta set aside grudges.
Pyrrhus looked down at Growlithe and Gemella. "Looks like we're helping the Rangers. Let's roll!"
"You do realize its the League Championship this week, yeah? Fearow and Pidgeot are everywhere, we've had people flyin' in all day. Heck, I've seen at least two Charizards in the last hour. You're looking at a pretty hefty list of possible perps if that's all we have to go on, compadre."
"...We can check if anyone applied for a capture license for anything out there, maybe. Or see if anyone registered anything recently from that area. Gonna take a while to bring up the records though."
"Later... Bro," Jack replies, returning to his catnapping.
The P man scowls from behind his goggles at the suggestion. "Already did, he's probably asleep by now. I'm sure he'll want to 'catch up' with the three of you tomorrow though."
Dayton "Dates" Clark [Researcher 15%] [Geokinetic 15%] [Hardy 15%] [Temperamental 5%]
The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"Wasn't this little escape planned for tonight? Seems odd he'd turn in before seeing it through" he muses. "What time is it anyway? Heck, what day is it?"
Dayton "Dates" Clark [Researcher 15%] [Geokinetic 15%] [Hardy 15%] [Temperamental 5%]
The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"W-wardrobe?" he blinks, looking himself up and down. Beneath the layers of mud and dirt, a careful eye might spot that his tattered field shirt was once some sort of mauve. "Something wrong with mine?"
Clyde Hemmet - [Coordinator 15%][Dramatic Flair 20%][Audio Specialist 20%][Histrionic 5%] [Crushed]
[The Hideout] - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"Man, I haven't gotten new clothes in weeks! That sounds like an awesome time, count me in!
... Oh, there was something I wanted to try out beforehand. I'll catch up with you guys in town later on."
<Now the nurse's office was...down that hall, to the left and-alright, we're almost there.>
Clyde indeed remembers the directions to the Nurse's office correctly, and if he recalls correctly she does the evening shift at the local PokeCenter so the chances of her being awake are pretty good. Woe to the poor trainer who tries to wake her up early in the morning for anything. The office itself is large in comparison to many of the other rooms in the hideout, due to the sometimes large size of the patients that need to be treated, and the cement block walls have been painted a clinical white in deference to its use. A few cabinets and tables hold the various accouterments of the veterinarian's trade and a several sets of curtains have been set up for privacy's sake when needed.
Joy herself has apparently had time to change from her Nurse's uniform into track pants and a loose, pajama-style t-shirt, sitting slouched in an office chair that's seen better days while watching some late night cartoons on a tiny television on her crowded desk. Hearing the trio walk in from the hall she leans further back into her seat, twisting to get a better look at them. "Wow, you guys look like shit," she notes in her cheery work-time voice.
The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"I can see it, really embrace the whole lumberjack look, yeah?" he half-jokes, pulling at sooty hair growing off his face. He drags himself down the hall behind Clyde, fatigue apparent. "Well, at least only two out of three smell of it" he protest to her, entering the next room. "Clyde, take it you're acquainted?"
[Pyrrhus Faraday]
[Tech Specialist 20%] [Willful 10%] [Intrepid 5%] [Domineering 5%]
[Cave Canem] [Growlithe 20%] [Dependable 5%] [Intimidate 5%]
It took several minutes at a jogging pace for Faraday to locate the first traces that something was very wrong. He spotted a trail of red ending in the crumpled, mangled corpse of a Drowzee, partially eaten. Pyrrhus was horrified.
"Cave... take care of the poor thing." Without another word, the Growlithe exhaled a blast of blue flames that incinerated the body almost instantly, cremating it in a matter of seconds. The grass around the body also caught, but it wasn't dry and the fire died rather quickly. Pyrrhus signaled to the canine and the pair (Gemella having already been returned to her Pokeball) continued onward.
Another minute or so later, they heard a faint beeping noise, which Pyrrhus reasoned was likely the Ranger. He hurried over and spotted the man known as Ranger Thornton, sitting with his Espeon behind a tree. Pyrrhus was happy to see that he wore the dark green, meaning he was likely not of the new Rangers.
Pyrrhus walked over. "What's the situation?" Thornton, who had been looking around the tree for something, jumped.
"Oh, hey! You got here... wait, you're not Peters? What are you doing here?"
Pyrrhus flashed a smile. "I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd lend a hand. The name's Faraday."
Thornton sighed and gave an exasperated look. "Sir, you need to get out of here, this is for the Rangers to handle. Wait, how'd you even know about this?"
Pyrrhus shook his head. "Let's not worry about that right now."
Another sigh. This fellow must be desperate. "Okay, fine, listen up, Fara- oh! Faraday!" He pointed to his waist. "The Pokeball guy! Oh! Well... I've spotted the commotion, and I know I'm not able to handle it. It's a line of Pawniard, no clue how they got this far out. Been cutting up Psychic-types for sport. Even the Abra and such can't sense them to Teleport away."
Pyrrhus immediately brought up the species on his wrist. "Dark and Steel? No trouble there, I can handle these things." Cave Canem's fire should hold off all but the most powerful ones, and Clack Clack was beefy."
"That's not all," Thornton replied sadly. "They've got a Bisharp leading 'em, most Pawniard do, looks real tough. Last I saw, they were cornering a bunch of Ralts and Kirlia, not much those can do against 'em."
Pyrrhus's eyes opened wide. "Where are they?" He needed to be there right now.
Thornton pointed in the direction he'd been looking. "I saw them over there, tried to warn 'em off, but I don't think it worked too well." He reached to his waist and grabbed a Pokeball (Pyrrhus noticed it was Silph Co, an old model, probably 6 years) and returned the Espeon. He held up his styler. "I can grab one of the Pawniard and back you up, but that's about it. Haven't seen any Fighting types around."
Pyrrhus nodded. "Right. I'll take point. We'll cut off the Pawniard and set up a perimeter around the Psychics. If this is as big a group as you're saying, I hope Peters is bringing some big guns." Without waiting for another word, he bolted from the tree cover and ran first in the direction Thornton pointed, then towards the increasingly loud sound of knives being sharpened.
It didn't take long. As he passed through some rather thin brush, he spotted the group of Ralts and Kirlia. It looked as though they were mostly older specimens, the younger ones having already Teleported away. It was a shame they lost that defensive technique so rapidly. They had been trapped against the brush by a group of small, bipedal, black and red creatures with knife-like hands. Several Ralts and Kirlia appeared to be attempting to use their psychic attacks against them, but they were having no effect. Among the eldest were a few Kirlia using sharp, hovering leaves to keep the foes at bay. The Pawniard, for the most part, cut through the leaves with their hands, making the attacks mostly a nuisance. Pyrrhus's estimate put the Ralts group at nearly a dozen, and the group of Pawniard as twice that number. Worse, he spotted a dark shape sitting up in a tree. It must have been the leader; it looked much like the viciously sharp Pokemon, but it was much taller and looked more developed. He guessed it was a Bisharp, though he'd never seen one before.
He jumped between the two groups, startling both, and Cave did likewise. Pyrrhus reached to his belt and smiled a bit as he grabbed hold of the third ball on his belt. He pressed the button and, in the flash of cyan, a large and mighty Kingler appeared before him.
[Clack Clack] [Kingler 5%] [Impatient] [Sheer Force 5%]
Seeing the Kingler, Pyrrhus couldn't help but smile. He considered Clack Clack to be his "big guns" in many ways. The arthropod wasn't terribly fast out of water, but he was tough as nails, and when he was mad he hit like a truck. Pyrrhus fondly recalled the time it lifted a Snorlax that had fallen asleep on the road. Even Misty had been impressed with it, back when it was still a Krabby.
They were in Misty's gym. It hadn't been long since the Cerulean Incident. Because of the assistance he'd offered in capturing the Rockets, he'd been granted a battle with her. The League was mostly in shambles, so it was purely an exhibition match, however, she had promised him a Cascade Badge if he won. As if he'd let her win anyway.
The battle hadn't lasted long. Although the Seaking had put up a good fight, its attacks bounced off Clack Clack's tough hide. Clack Clack, meanwhile, had developed the habit of grabbing onto things and refusing to let go, which was infuriating during training or when they were bonding, but turned out quite well for battling.
Afterwards, Clack Clack and Pyrrhus had walked over to Misty. "Thanks for the battle," he said, smiling. It had been his first major victory since losing his arm, and he was pleased to find he hadn't lost his touch.
She smiled back. "Thank you, that was quite a fight!" She held out her right hand to shake, but winced and switched it for her left. "Your Krabby is quite strong."
Pyrrhus, who had noticed the error, decided not to embarrass her further. "I've been working with him a lot, and I'm quite proud of him." He took the proffered hand and shook it firmly. Clack Clack intervened, climbing up Pyrrhus's suit to sit on his head and clack happily as the crowd cheered for him.
Meanwhile, Thornton had darted behind Pyrrhus, snagging himself a Pawniard to command against the encroaching masses. Pyrrhus decided it was time to take charge.
"Cave, burn a line in between us and them with your flamethrower, and hold it steady so we get a controlled burn!"
[45/50] Cave proceeded to scorch the ground in such a way that the flame lingered after he stopped. Any Pawniard that passed through would be [Scorched] by the flames.
"Okay, team. We can do this. We just need to scare them away, or hold them off until backup arrives. We just need to buy a few minutes. You guys got this?" He looked to Clack Clack and Cave, who both turned around to nod before looking back toward the foes. "Good. Don't try and attack until they pass through the line of fire. We can't let them draw us out or we could get surrounded or cut off from the Ralts." He briefly turned his head to look back at the creatures cowering in fear behind him. "This is where we hold them. This is where we fight! This is where they faint!"
In a few more seconds, the first Pawniard began leaping through the flames. [55/70] It was immediately [Seared] by a furious blast of orange flame from Cave Canem's mouth, knocking it back through the flames. [43/60] A second charged through much more quickly and found itself face to claw with Clack Clack, who responded by winding back its giant pincer and slamming the small creature like a baseball up into the air, leaving it [Unconscious].
[59/50] Several more Pawniard charged all at once, several occupying Cave, Clack Clack, and the Ranger's Pawniard while another bolted straight for Pyrrhus. [18/35] Pyrrhus was ready, however, pressing a button on his prosthesis to project two electrified spikes which he shoved into the creature's belly, giving it a good shock and leaving it [Stunned]. Like so much refuse, Pyrrhus tossed it back behind the flames, daring the group to try again. [67/75] Cave managed to catch his foe with a brutal fiery charge, knocking the creature to the ground, where the canine began biting at it. The creature managed to extract himself from beneath the still-alight paw, but was left [Badly Burned].
[84/50] Another Pawn launched itself at Clack Clack, trying in vain to cut through his thick armor with his metallic appendage. [69/70] The giant crab responded with a chop of his own, this one far more vicious and looking much more like a martial art. The creature was left [Crumpled] by the powerful attack. Pyrrhus had taught the Kingler that move originally intending it to be used against Sabrina's Mr. Mime and the walls it made. Kingler never did get very good at breaking those barriers, but it still did a pretty good job of busting up anything that didn't like Fighting-type moves.
[63/50] Once more, a group of Pawniard all crashed through the flames at once, heading jointly for Cave Canem. [15/45] One of them slashed furiously with its honed claws, leaving a [Gash] on Cave's right shoulder. [1/45] A second attacker rammed Cave head-on, knocking the creature back and making him [Badly Winded]. [10/75] Cave stood right back up and launched himself at the two offending creatures in another flaming charge, [Burn]ing both of them and knocking them aside, while making himself a bit more [Agile]. [54/40] The third and final Pawniard attempted to widen Cave's injuries, but the speed boost let Cave jump nimbly aside, despite his injuries. [41/60] Pyrrhus caught that one with a kick to the chest, sending it flying away from Cave Canem, who looked the worse for wear. [68/55] Clack Clack attempted to swat at the Pawniard as it sailed past him through the air, but missed. Instead, the creature landed nearby Thornton, who commanded his own Pawniard to attack. [100/60] Sadly, the Pawniard appeared to break free of Thornton's Styler before it could even attack, and the two jointly turned against the Ranger. [90/75, 71/75] Thornton managed to duck away from one Pawniard's claw, but the second one caught him with a vicious [Laceration] down his side.
[20/70] By now, Clack Clack had wandered over and struck with one claw, sending one creature flailing away into the sky, [Addled]. [60/40] The second attempted to headbutt the new opponent, but found Clack Clack's armor sufficiently thick to repel such an attack. [14/65] Clack Clack brought his claw back again, and the Pawniard held its hands out in desperate panic, terrified of the oncoming attack. It was no use, as the claw swung forward unimpeded, slamming the Pawniard into another that had just stepped past the flames and leaving it [Unconscious].
With that action, it seemed as though there was a bit of a lull in the battle. Pyrrhus grabbed a Potion from his jacket and crouched down by Cave Canem to administer to the pooch. He managed to close up the [Gash] a bit, leaving him merely [Winded]. The puppy panted heavily while Pyrrhus tended to him, glad for the break. Clack Clack clacked his claws cheerfully, pleased that he remained mostly unharmed. These tiny, bothersome minnows were amusements, nothing more. Indeed, he seemed [Heartened].
Still, Pyrrhus knew there was a ways to go yet. They'd held out for several minutes, but they'd lost the Pawniard Thornton had. Thornton crouched behind Clack Clack, trying to keep the [Terrified] Ralts and Kirlia calm. Pyrrhus looked past the flames Cave had set, flames that were now [Dying Down]. Although a good portion of the Pawniard were injured in one way or another, it was clear that they were not about to give up.
On a whim, Pyrrhus twisted his prosthetic wrist, tilting down the hand and revealing a cannon of sorts. He pressed a few buttons to attune the projectile while he called back to Thornton to request an update on Peters. He aimed the arm cannon at one of the Pawniard, one that was [Badly Burned] by Cave's attacks. [39/45] Clenching the unhinged hand into a fist, the cannon fired, launching a Faraday Pokeball at the injured Pokemon. Had he not made the last-minute modifications that made the sphere into a [Dark Ball], specializing in capturing Pokemon of the Dark type, it wouldn't have held, but after several seconds the indicator light blinked, letting Pyrrhus know of the successful capture.
Pyrrhus had no real interest in keeping the creature, but he reasoned that it was one less that could attack when the brief lull ended. He'd offer it to the Ranger, or perhaps donate it to the Pokemon Center, or perhaps that other place. Unfortunately, it appeared as though the capture galvanized the Pawniard, who were now getting reorganized for another attack.
This was bad. Pyrrhus looked back over his team. Clack Clack was still raring to go, but against so many of the sharp creatures, Pyrrhus doubted he'd last. Cave was in worse shape. Thornton still had his styler, he could probably grab another one. He considered pulling out Gemella; her powder attacks would be handy, but... these were fierce little creatures. He wasn't sure she would be brave enough to fight them, or if he even wanted her to see them hurting other Pokemon.
As he was going over his tenuous position in his head, one of the Kirlia approached him. It was one of the eldest of the group he'd been protecting, trying to use Magical Leaf against the Pawniard. It reached out a tiny, underdeveloped hand to grab at Pyrrhus's coat, getting his attention.
Pyrrhus, still distracted, looked down. "What's the problem?" All of a sudden, his mind was assaulted by the psychic Pokemon. He bent over in agony as his head felt as though it were splitting open. He clutched at this forehead, trying to make sense of the static-filled image forcing its way into his prefrontal cortex. His shouts of pain had alerted Thornton, Cave, and Clack Clack to him, and they turned to spot the Kirlia attacking Pyrrhus's psyche.
Cave Canem bounded over and growled viciously at the Kirlia, while Thornton hurried over and tried to pull it away. The Ranger had successfully separated the two and was about to take the Kirlia back to its companions when Pyrrhus spoke.
"Wait, wait!" He shouted. "I think I know what it was trying to tell me." Despite his pounding [Headache], Pyrrhus stood back up and reached to his backpack. He opened it and withdrew a small box. Setting the backpack down, he slid the cover off the box to reveal a stone. It was no ordinary stone, however; it was an aquamarine crystal that shined with a brilliant white light.
Thornton, whose view was poor, walked over, and he understood. "A Dawn Stone! It must have sensed that you had one!"
Pyrrhus looked at him in confusion. "Yeah, I've been saving it for when my Roselia is ready for it. Why, what's so important about it?"
Thornton eyed the Pawniard nervously; they appeared to be sharpening their knifes. "Kirlia can evolve when you use one of those on them."
Pyrrhus faintly recalled an alternate evolution of the Kirlia line, so he opened his Pokegear and checked out the species.
"Right, Gallade. I remember seeing one of those. But if it's still Psychic, what good will..." he hit the part discussing typing and moves. "Huh." On the one hand, he had been saving the stone for Gemella. He'd taken it from a Rocket he had encountered and beaten to near death. But this was a matter of life and death.
"Sorry, Gemella," he muttered to nobody in particular. He turned to the Kirlia, who had walked back over to him. He lifted the stone from out of the box and held it out in his left hand. "You want this?" The Kirlia nodded in response.
"Then catch." He gave it a low, underhand throw, aiming it to pass right over the Kirlia's head. Instead, the Pokemon caught it with its telekinetic powers and held it in front of its head for several seconds. As both creature and stone began to glow white, Pyrrhus turned away so as not to be blinded. He heard the sound of a crystalline object shattering, however, and when he turned back the stone had lost its brilliant white luster, returned to an ordinary stone. The Kirlia was still glowing white, its body beginning to change.
[Pyrrhus Faraday]
[Tech Specialist 20%] [Willful 10%] [Intrepid 5%] [Domineering 5%]
[Clack Clack] [Kingler 5%] [Impatient] [Sheer Force 5%]
[Cave Canem] [Growlithe 20%] [Dependable 5%] [Intimidate 5%]
"We're out of time!" Thornton shouted, drawing Pyrrhus back to the oncoming Pawniard. They had organized fully and were approaching en masse. With the fire between them out, there was no line of defense to stop them anymore. Worse, he watched a tree shake as the dark shape leaped out of it and into the midst of the Pawniard. Pyrrhus didn't need the Pokegear to confirm his fear that the creature was an evolved Pawniard, but he did anyway.
"Bisharp, huh?" he thought quickly. "Clack Clack, you're the toughest piece of armor we've got here, if anything is going to stop that thing, it'll be your claws!" Clack Clack clacked his pincers in response to the praise. "Cave, watch Clack Clack's back, make sure he doesn't get surrounded." Cave gave an affirmative bark. "And Thornton, I guess we'll have to make sure none of the Pawniard can break through to the psychics behind us." Cave whined in concern. "Don't worry, Thornton will control one of those Pawniard to defend him, and I can handle myself." He checked his watch. "Peters should be here any minute now. We just need to hold them off until he arrives, and we're in the clear."
He braced himself for the onslaught. His hand once again twisted to reveal the two sparking points of the taser he'd used once already. Just a few minutes.
The Pawniard charged.
[16/40] A pair of Pawniard leaped onto Clack Clack, one of them digging a sharp knife into a crack between his armor. [4/40] Yet another managed to punch a hole straight through his shell, the combined attacks leaving him [Badly Injured]. [36/50] Despite the pain Clack Clack was feeling, he tossed the small creatures aside with a vicious crabhammer, scuttling towards the Bisharp as Pyrrhus had asked.
[51/45] Several more Pawniard split off to go after Cave Canem, but despite his injuries the first was too slow to keep up with him. [96/45, 81/45]] A second and third both launched their metallic slices together, but Cave jumped backward [18/70] and [Cooked] them with a white-hot flamethrower. [99/45] A fourth joined in, but it was blinded by the flames and missed by quite a ways.
[50/50] One Pawniard broke through the line of Pokemon, heading straight for the Ralts. [93/35] Pyrrhus made a desperate leap to try and keep the creature away, but it slipped by him and made a beeline to the nearest Kirlia, a young female that cowered in fear. [11/65] Its claw sunk deep into the psychic creature's thin flesh, making her [Skewered]. [32/35] Pyrrhus tackled the Pawniard and shoved the taser into its torso, [Stun]ing it before he threw it into the path of one of Cave's fire attacks. He wanted to help the creature, but as he was about to withdraw a potion, another Kirlia walked over. It focused its psychic power on the downed Kirlia and the wounds began to close.
[7/70] While Pyrrhus had his back turned and attention away from the battle, a Pawniard jumped onto him and [Stabbed] him pretty badly in the back. He cried out in pain, when another Pawniard kicked the one on top of him to the ground. [60/65] Apparently Thornton had successfully ensnared another Pawniard and sent him to Pyrrhus's aid.
[46/65] Just as another Pawniard was about to leap towards the psychics, a white and green blur dashed up to it, knocking the creature [Senseless] with a slashing attack. Pyrrhus managed to get a solid glimpse of it after the attack, revealing itself to be a fully evolved Gallade before dashing off to the next nearest Pawniard. [73/55] The Pawniard he was after turned around and tried to get in a pre-emptive strike, but the knife was paried aside in a flash. [34/65] The Gallade gave another slash with its curiously bladed forearms, and the Pawniard fell to the ground, [Bruised].
[69/55] Pyrrhus whipped around to see the Bisharp clashing with Clack Clack, and smirked despite the pain in his back to see the steel creature's attacks getting knocked aside. [21/65] Clack Clack wound up another Brick Break, aiming right for the Bisharp's chest. Although the creature tried to deflect the attack with its arm, the claw would not be stopped. It sailed unimpeded through the Bisharp's left arm, colliding with its chest and knocking it backward. It tried to use its [Broken Arm] but instead the appendage merely flopped about unresponsively. [59/55] Angry now, the Bisharp returned to the offensive with but a single arm. It swung its deadly-sharp right arm in an overheard arc at the Kingler, hoping to slam right through the creature's head. It was astonished when the Kingler caught the arm in his claw. [50/65] Clack Clack gave him another crabhammer with his spare claw, throwing it for a loop. [32/55] Desperate to finish the crab, the Bisharp charged headfirst, digging the mitre on its head into the crack between Clack Clack's shell halves. It pried upwards like a terrible can opener, and just like that Kingler's shell was [Cracked].
Cave, who had been dealing with several of the Pawniard on his own, spotted his ally's dire straits. [36/55] Pyrrhus recognized the flaming headlong charge as a Flare Blitz, an attack they'd been practicing recently. The flames left bits of the Bisharp [Melted], dulling his blades significantly. Unfortunately, Pyrrhus knew that the attack, brutal as it was, punished the user as well, and Cave looked [Exhausted].
[2/65] It was the opening Clack Clack needed. He pulled way back with both claws, unleashing a double Brick Break that shattered through the Bisharp's armor and sent it flying into the tree from whence it had first entered the fray, [Dead].
Pyrrhus breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew it was far from over. There were still lots of... he looked around and noticed a large number of unconscious Pawniard around him. He looked around and realized that, while he was caught up in the battle with the Bisharp, a Gallade had been protecting the Kirlia and Ralts from the rest of the attackers. [24/55] It slashed one of its sword-like arms at one of the few that was still standing, knocking it to the ground. The rest seemed unsure of whether they wanted to stay or leave, but the decision was made for them.
[42/60] The ground beneath them (but oddly enough, not around Thornton, Pyrrhus, or his Pokemon) began to shake terribly, and large cracks split across the ground. The injured Pawniard were shaken so badly by the earthquake that they fell to the ground, and the half dozen or so beat a hasty retreat into the forest, getting away from the battle as quickly as they could.
Pyrrhus instantly began searching for the culprit, and was mildly amused when a trio of small moles poked their heads up from underground near the Ralts. He turned around and saw a female figure running towards them.
"Ranger Peters, here to assist!" she called breathlessly. "Sorry I took so long, Diggy's a little slow with that attack still." She came to a halt a few feet away from Pyrrhus, who had his left hand clamped tightly over his stab wound.
"Ranger Eveline Peters, who is this?" she addressed Thornton, but she pointed at Pyrrhus.
"The name's Faraday," he smiled and offered his right hand to shake. She took it without much thought.
"What happened here? This man and these Pokemon are all injured! Report, Thornton." Apparently she was a superior officer? Pyrrhus didn't know and didn't care. Thornton set about explaining the events that transpired while Pyrrhus sat down on a nearby fallen log.
He was starting to feel faint, but another Kirlia approached him and focused its energy, and Pyrrhus felt the stab wound close up. "Pretty helpful to have that around," he laughed weakly. "I don't suppose you can help out my other friends too?" Cave was licking several nasty-looking cuts, and Clack Clack's shell was damaged in several places, not to mention the place in the front where it had been pried apart. The Kirlia walked over to each one in turn, healing their injuries with the mysterious pulsing move.
Pyrrhus watched it heal their injuries, and the Gallade he'd evolved walked over to him. It had long since withdrawn the blade-like parts of its arms, and instead offered him a hand-like appendage. Pyrrhus stood up and gave it a shake.
"Nice working with you," he said. The creature stared at him intensely, then held up the worthless rock that had once been a Dawn Stone. "Oh, don't worry, it's not that big of a deal." He waved the stone away. "I'm sure I'll find another eventually."
The Gallade made a lightning-fast move towards Pyrrhus, grabbing a Pokeball from his belt and holding it in front of him. Pyrrhus smiled. "So that's what you're after? Well, I'd be honored to try and capture you!"
He thought for a moment. Cave and Clack Clack were freshly healed, but they both deserved a break. That left... "Gemella, let's show this Gallade what you can do!" He released her from her Pokeball and watched her give a cheerful hello to the Gallade.
[Gemella] [Roselia 15%] [Carefree 5%] [Natural Cure]
The Gallade jumped back and took a battle position, looking briefly concerned about the tiny grass-type that appeared before him.
"Don't worry, she may look cute and harmless, but she'll crush you like an overripe Mourvèdre. Gemella! Toxic!"
[27/55] Gemella swung her roses at the Gallade with a surprising ferocity. Thorns in the roses pierced the Gallade's skin, leaving behind a virulent poison. [86/60] Gallade swung one of his blade arms at the Roselia, who spun around and dodged it without difficulty. Gallade shuddered as the [Poison] took effect.
"Now, Gemella, let's try a Leech Seed!" Pyrrhus laughed. By now, Thornton and Peters had finished their discussion and were watching the battle.
"Come on, Gallade! That cheeky punk deserves to go down!" Peters shouted encouragement. Thornton gave her a look of shock before turning to Pyrrhus and shrugging.
[65/55] Gemella launched a flurry of seeds from her roses, but the Gallade, now accustomed to her twirly combat style, ducked away from them. [51/60] He slashed out again, this time cutting a few of the leaves from her arms. Now slightly [Trimmed], the Roselia gave a huff of anger as Peters cheered. The Gallade winced again, taking more damage from the poison and looking [Weakened].
"Hey, come on, I'm the good guy here!" Pyrrhus shouted at the Ranger. "Now, Gemella, put it to sleep!"
[46/50] Gemella released a cloud of powder that enveloped the Gallade, making his eyes droop. [61/35] He was unable to keep its eyes open, nodding off while standing and taking a bit more damage from the poison.
"Gemella, let's end this with a Solarbeam!"
"Lia!" Gemella called back to him, gathering in sunlight for perhaps her most powerful attack. [20/45] Gallade snapped awake, shaking off the powder and sending a psychic shockwave at the little flower. [63/65] Distracted as she was by charging her attack, Gemella was unable to avoid the punishing wave, knocking her to the ground as she began [Crying].
A wave of guilt ran over Pyrrhus, but before he could take action, Gemella released her pent-up energy in a terrific blast. [43/55] Though the Gallade attempted to jump out of the way, the powerful beam caught him head on, knocking him to the ground.
For the second time that day, Pyrrhus twisted down his prosthetic hand to reveal the Pokeball cannon. Again he pressed several buttons; he wanted to make this one count, so he set the Pokeball to precise specifications. [??/45] He fired the freshly-assembled [Psychic Ball] at the prone Gallade, which enveloped the fierce warrior in cyan light before pulling it into the sphere.
Pyrrhus held both fists clenched (the real one and the unhinged fake one) as he waited to see if the lock would hold.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click. Pyrrhus held his breath.
[45/45]Ding!
Pyrrhus finally exhaled before walking over and picking up both Pokeballs: the [Psychic Ball] holding his new Gallade and the [Dark Ball] carrying the Pawniard he'd caught for the sake of keeping it out of the fight. He rehitched his right wrist and put both new balls on his belt. Then he picked up his backpack and walked over to Peters and Thornton.
[Pawniard 10%][Ruthless][Defiant]
[Gallade 5%][Chivalrous][Justified][Untrained 5%]
"So, can I go now?" he asked cheerfully. He would have liked to see them stop him.
Peters frowned. "Faraday, huh? The guy who makes the Pokeballs? Odd to see you here. You never explained how you knew to come here."
Pyrrhus narrowed his eyes at her. "Maybe you shouldn't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth."
"Maybe I shouldn't," she sighed. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a little disappointed that you guys took most of the action."
Thornton looked at her sadly. "Believe me, miss, you should be glad. I'm sure it sounds all heroic, making a last stand like this, but it was terrifying."
Pyrrhus nodded in agreement. "Thornton's right. It could very easily have gone the other way. Fortunately he's a quick draw on that Styler."
Thornton nudged Pyrrhus with his elbow. "Not so awful yourself there, but then, I guess you can't be on Victory Road and be some backwoods trainer, huh?"
"And what about that one?" Peters pointed to the deceased Bisharp. Pyrrhus had forgotten about it in the heat of battle. It was admittedly a shame, but Pyrrhus had a difficult time pitying the creature that had nearly harvested his Kingler. Furthermore, Clack Clack was far from the creature's only victim today. He briefly recalled the Drowzee, the first indication he'd had of the line of Pawniard.
"It was unfortunate. It shouldn't have attacked these creatures." He masked his modest guilt.
Peters gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, you're free to go. Thornton and I can handle this." She waved her hand to indicate the remaining Ralts and Kirlia. "By the way, double check with the League before you use that Gallade in an official battle, you may need to get a license. The Pawniard should be fine."
"I will." He whistled for his Pokemon, calling Cave, Clack Clack, and Gemella over. He returned Gemella and Clack Clack to their balls, but left Cave Canem out. "Let's go, pal. Gotta be about time for something important to happen, right? Besides, I have one more errand to take care of."
[The Hideout] - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
Pyrrhus climbed down the ladder into the underground part of the Hideout later that evening. It wasn't a place he frequented; he saw the organization, if it could be called that, as a necessary evil. If Lance got too powerful, there needed to be someplace already established in order to keep him in check.
So he visited from time to time to chat, and occasionally do a few other things. Like today.
Standing in front of Peregrine, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a box. "Here," he handed him the approximately one cubic foot, corrugated cardboard box. It was marked with the Faraday Futuristics logo.
The professor raised his goggles and an eyebrow. "What's this?"
Pyrrhus looked back disdainfully. "Faraday Pokeballs. Took them from a shipment heading to Johto. I guess you could say they... fell off the back of a truck." He didn't much like the professor. They were both men of science, but Poplar had been far too quick to join the group. He neglected to understand that organization was vital, even if too much of it could be stifling. Poplar was too much of an idealist. The professor, in turn, thought Pyrrhus was a money-grubbing, egotistical, show-off businessman who'd rather make a buck than affect real change. None of them had any knowledge of the double life he had once led, and he preferred it that way. Better to be thought of as a greedy bastard than a violent vigilante. Better to be despised than feared. He turned and began to leave.
"Oh, one more thing," he stopped. His hand dropped to the rearmost Pokeball on his belt. "Caught this today, but I don't need it. Already got a Dark-type to bring out my bad side." He disdainfully dropped the Pokeball on top of the slumbering, red-haired man in the ridiculous jacket. "Careful though, little sucker is mean and sharp." He lifted his jacket in the back to reveal the stain of dried blood where he had been stabbed. Without waiting for a response, he departed.
Dayton "Dates" Clark [Researcher 15%] [Geokinetic 15%] [Hardy 15%] [Temperamental 5%]
The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"Had a scuffle with the law" he says, idly running his fingers along the painted concrete. "I'm a regular jailbird thanks to these two"
"Dayton, by the way. Though folks seem enthralled with just 'The Geologist'. Your name, ma'am?"
headin up north for the weekend, limited net access
Unless you wanna pull a Terrendos and just write the remainder of the battle however you wish and I'll call it square. It's not like Tommy is currently around to complain if you knock his character around a bit, after all.
[The Hideout] - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
Extremely relieved that the nurse saved him from a real awkward question, Clyde gets down to business.
"Yeah, problem is some greys...well I can't be sure... so thugs, had the idea to sneak into a prison in the middle of the night. I mean who would do something like that?"
...
"Basically, you really ought to examine Zee first, they beat him up a lot more than the rest of us."
Belmont [Ivysaur 15%] [Audacious 5%] [Overgrow]
Spike [Beedrill 5%] [Attentive 5%] [Shed Skin]
Camilla [Cacnea 10%] [Vivacious 10%] [Sand Veil 10%]
Doug takes a sip of water from his bottle as his Pokemon continue to eat. He could have always taken his meal inside the Pokemon Center, but Doug always preferred eating where he could see the sky.
Belmont flips his empty bowl over and rests his head on Doug's lap. Looking down at Belmont, Doug gives him a pat on the head,
"Sorry you had to go up against that Ninetails. I never did like fighting fire-types; getting burned hurts even if you aren't weak to that sort of thing."
Belmont just closes his eyes and enjoys the attention. It wasn't like he had fought Blaine again or anything.
Doug must have been thinking the same thing, as he opened open his Pokegear and pulled up the pictures that his parent's had attached to their latest e-mail.
Sighing, Doug leans against the Pokecenter wall and looks to the sky.
The Hideout - [Hidden 15%] [Well-staffed 20%] [Cluttered 5%]
"Hey, I did manage to stub my toe pretty badly on the way here" he jests, rubbing his forearm.
I just found this thread again
apparently I lost my bookmark at some point
Her sudden appearance elicits nothing more than a light sigh from the young man who has hardly touched his breakfast, and an eye roll from the older man who already ate much, much earlier. "Well," the young man finally says, breaking the silence.
"He's a cop," is the girl's response, muffled by a second waffle. The young man waits a few moments.
"...And?"
"Fuckin' hate cops," she replies, spearing a third and fourth waffle. The young and old man share a rare glance of common-held sympathy, regret, and weariness. "Yo, you gonna eat that?" she asks, not waiting for an answer before dragging the young man's plate in front of her.
"Sly Bogwater, age 32, born Fortree, Hoenn," the man pauses momentarily in his recollection, before continuing. "Started Citizen Constable in Hoenn service, fast transfer to cold case where he earned several noted distinctions, promoted to Sergeant shortly after, transferred to Kanto service, disappeared a few months on personal business, reappeared a few months back and promoted to Detective, transferred to Indigo by special request. Further info has a Code Orange hold courtesy of the Pokemon League. Probably due to off-record services, possibly done during his personal absence."
"Thank you," the young man says, giving a small golf clap. "You were military, right? What do you think of him?"
"Police officers are civilians," the man responds a shade darkly. He shrugs, considering the question. "He's an odd one."
"Smelled like stuff," the girl pipes up, suddenly, smearing a knifeful of the young man's caviar onto a sausage. "And thingie types, Ghost," she continues, wrapping the caviar-sausage into a hashbrown. "Glitch, too," she adds thoughtfully, before messily devouring her creation. The two males share another glance, eyebrows raised.
"Well... how about that," the young man notes. "Check, please."
After carefully ignoring any comments about trouble with the police, or possible illegality that may have taken place earlier. Joy tends to the three wounded trainers. Beyond a few slight sprains, and what she describes as 'light contusions', Clyde and Dayton are proclaimed more-or-less fit, and told to take it easy a few days. Zee however has a nastily broken finger, and will have to wait around for a while she fixes up a cast for the unhealthily bent digit.
Despite the earliness, the stands of the main Pokemon Stadium are packed, those nearest the arena standing tall and holding small children or pokemon on their shoulders to get a better sight of the action below. Lance, himself, addresses the audience from a stage below, the League participants arrayed in lines in the front, one of them occasionally giving a wave, peace sign, or even a thumbs up when they spot a family member, friend, or fan seated above.
Lance's speech is quick and to the point, congratulating the participants for coming this far, exhorting them to give their best effort, follow the League rules to the letter, and to battle fairly and with the excellent sense of sportsmanship the with which the League has become synonymous. Despite the turbulence and chaos that dominated the last few months, the League Championship remains a shining symbol of the partnership of man and Pokemon. A partnership that existed long before the recent troubles and will remain long after they are forgotten.
With great fanfare, the runner of the League Torch enters the arena, pausing to hand off the lit torch, said to be the remnants of a Moltres' flame, to Lance. At that moment, the fire flares merrily, causing Lance to nearly jump back, before laughing and offering a lighthearted joke that it must mean good luck for the upcoming tournament. Climbing the stairs to the large, polished steel brazier that would hold the symbolic fire for the duration of the Indigo Conference, Lance lights it with a flourish and turns back to the crowd, the flame growing behind him.
"Let the games begin!"
If I haven't give your character +25% focus yet, uh, just take it. It's cool.
Also, if we got stuff to wrap up from day 1 lets do that soonish. Also Official Tournament battles, I guess.
do people still hang out in the chat or am I just too scared to enter
Sometimes there are ponies.
Belmont [Ivysaur 15%] [Audacious 5%] [Overgrow]
Spike [Beedrill 5%] [Attentive 5%] [Shed Skin]
Camilla [Cacnea 10%] [Vivacious 10%] [Sand Veil 10%]
Doug's feeling awfully pumped today. How couldn't he? It's the Pokemon League! This is the place were Doug is going to paint his legend across the entire region.
"See him guys?" Doug says while pointing at Lance, "He's our target. That's the man to beat."
With the morning event having come to a suitably climactic closing, the participants are quickly shuffled off the arena field, which will play party to various demonstrations and events for the next couple days while the actual League battles take place in one of the four, smaller type-themed fields arrayed around the town. More than 250 hopeful Trainers make their way out, a few rushing away to the first of the matches set to begin within the hour, while those slated for later matches try to figure out how best to master their nerves until their chance to battle arrives.
The crowd in the stands makes their own hasty retreat, eager to make it to their favored arena in time to get a good seat, or to partake in any of the other events around town designed to entertain the masses until their favored match comes up.
A tanned, Hawaiian-shirted individual with an uneven coat of sunblock strolls over to Doug and nudges him with an elbow. "Feelin' lucky today, brah?" he asks, snapping his gum loudly. "What's your arena?" By his sandaled feet a very pink, white-bellied pokemon covers in coral-like spikes meanders shyly.