Divine (PG-13)

[OkikuMew]

Alana Bryant
Black City -> White Forest - Camp



So we ended up leaving the cafe in a hurry, giving to the waiter the excuse of worrying about some of our friends that were in the storm. In a way, we didn't lie... Last thing I saw on the tv was the tornado, static, then just before we left, there was Ghetsis standing there with this strange sword in his hand, and Zander and that sassy chick on the ground in front of him. I wondered of why she was in there too, but I didn't have time to really think about it, getting out of there and all. ...I just wish I could've done something about it, even though I know nothing of Xander and hate that girl's guts.

Near the gate we met up with Kestrel and Cynthia. Sweet, they're fine! Too bad guards are walking around, nervous but all eyes and ears open for more "rebels". Everyone was getting soaken wet with the rain, and everytime lighting struck, I felt a "snap" of fear from Raine. Poor girl, probably getting bad flashbacks from her previous trainer... But then while Kestrel was checking something out on his cellphone, something else other than thunder was heard: an extremely loud, bone-chilling, unhuman scream, followed with explosions. I saw something purple passing by, but it was all a blur. Although I would've like to check that thing out, the scream was enough to distract the guards, so we took that chance and sneaked out to finally get to our camp safely.

As we get together there, the rain and wind finally calms down a little. While everyone packs up their stuff (at least what's still around after the tornado did his own cleanup), I quickly grab my trusty backpack that moved only a few inches (I guess having it heavy have its perks sometimes), then I take a log, bring it next to what's left of the campfire, and sit on it, finally taking a break from all that crazyness. I hold my pendant up and whisper:

"Hey guys, come up here with me as fast as you can. Raine, everthing's gonna be ok... The tornado's gone now."

I rest my head against the palm of my hands, elbows against my knees, looking down at my feet. I hear the muffled sound of my pokédex vibrate, but I don't care about it right now. I sigh loudly. ...So, what's next?

"We have lost some of our allies, including the chosen of my sister, Terrakion," Virizion, still in her woman guise, lies down on her side beside me in a way natural for a four-legged pokémon, but strange for a human. She's probably enjoying herself being on dirt after being on a chair made of dead trees and synthetic fabrics for so long. "There's the option of rescuing them, but not only their location is uncertain, y..."

"I don't have the power to face the dangers there," I say aloud, without really thinking about the others who didn't hear what Virizion said. "Speedzy and Raine aren't that powerful, either. Not to mention my back's still hurting... You saw those two knocked out cold. They were worthless against him. Right now I'm worthless too, probably more than those two combined. There was, and is, nothing I could do..."

I turn my head in her direction. Her eyes are wide open for a moment, surprised I cut her off, and probably that I completed what she was about to say.

"...Your strength is currently as blunt as a stick. In time though, you can whet it to one of the swiftest blade there is." She got back up on her legs, her back against me but her eyes still glancing at me with her head turned. "The question is, do you desire to sharpen your skills?"

...I could've very well run up to Zander and miss Dontcare and stop their foolish act, or at least save them from it. Or even better, helped them out defeating Ghetsis right there and then. But I didn't; I couldn't. All I could do was literally sit there and watch. And run. It is all and well to hide ourselves from them, but... eventually, we'll have to face them. We have to, one day; if we want to get things done, to protect the things we cherish, to have Ghetsis done for good... I need more strength, more power... I want to be able to guard those in need and punish those taking advantage of them.

In a swift movement, she turns her body towards me, and stares at me in a pleasant, reassuring way; transmitting in a feeling I last had whenever we were lost getting out of Pinwheel Forest. But for the first time since I met her, she also displays a smile. A small one, but still, a never before seen, pleased-looking expression.

"For an interim, I believed I made a grave mistake, and that you no longer wanted to follow the destiny you pledged to take. Nevertheless, you have just proven the opposite." She walks up to me then lift my head up with her finger under my chin. "You have nothing to worry about; nothing to fear. I will teach you how to walk on your newfound track, show your close friends how to help you, and point you to the right way. All you need to do is follow me, and all will be clear. You will be able, with the others akin to you, to clear the land's path towards what is just. I am confident that you will do better than my sister's blessed one."

"...I will, Virizion. I won't dissapoint you."

I stare directly back into her gaze, believing more than ever that I will follow those words I have just said. Just right and then, more than ever, I understand her. I feel myself and her, as one.

 

[mattman324]

LOCATION: Route 15

----------------

"Alright, you guys. Good job. Let's be done for now."

"EMAAAAA!" "No dei!"

Matt sighed. In his prime, these pokemon would be twice as good as they currently were in this time. But then, he wasn't exactly in his prime. And he still had no idea if that Tranquill followed him out or went after its trainer, which was annoying, as a third pokemon would have made training much easier than it was. Still, he was moving at a decent pace.

"Matt, I understand that our last mission was a failure, but you can't blame yourself or your pokemon. You held no fault." Meloetta looked at her partner. "If anyone, it was those stupid people in the square, and the legendaries that let them do that. LET THEM. I can understand Tornadus, as he never had self control, but Terrakion should have known better, really."

"I'm not blaming anyone else. Meloetta, I'm simply training because we need to do it sometime, and now we have time. Even if only a little."

And, as Matt reflected, it wasn't all bad. He finally got the time to transfer a few older TMs over, and now his Deino knew Dark Pulse. He wanted to teach Meloetta Teleport, but he was unsure about how much power she was able to use.

The whole point in his direction choice, actually.

"Ok, we're going to need to get moving again. If we want to reach Nacrene City and it's overmassive library sometime, we're gonna need it to be soon."

"Speaking of which, Matt. I realise you want to help me, and that's certainly good, but I get the feeling that you have some other desire to go there. Why is that?"

"Simple. You saw that sword Ghetsis had, correct?"

"That legendary sword? Yes, I did."

"Do you know who it belonged too?"

"...No."

Matt smiled. "Well, I think I do. In my time in this region, I served the purpose of a travelling musician. This you know. What you may not know is that, in my time here, I also served a part time purpose as a bard - you know, those people who sing ancient legends."

"Yes, I do. What's your point?"

"My point is that the main reason I was any good at that job is that I always listened to legends when I was a kid. And when I got older, and started travelling, I began hearing more. That sword - and I'm sure of it - was in an old legend about Darkrai."

"So... Ghetsis is either partnered with Darkrai, he captured him, stole his sword, or is taking him hostage somehow?"

"Possible. However, something tells me there's more. We need to brush up on our facts. For that, we need a large library. For that... well, Nacrene." Matt smiled again. "But, of course, there's also the matter of the Relic Song."

"Of course. I'd hope that's your PRIMARY purpose, though."

"It is. Obviously."

"One other question. Why not take one of the other Chosen along with you? Maybe that Alice girl we were with before?"

"Well, as for the first question - because that was two - I am NOT taking another one of those... PEOPLE with me. They obviously have no sense of skill or... well, sense. That Kestral boy, the one who told everyone where to go? He FROZE when I joined. He had no idea where I should go, and he never told me. And then he stuck three people who couldn't keep themselves from fighting directly with Ghetsis together. As for Alice..." He paused, but then continued. "I... don't mind her, actually. But she has one major problem. I can't trust her in a fight, not because her pokemon aren't good - they are - but because Kyurem could take her over again."

"So, we stick it out on our own."

The two walked, with Ema Skye and Revenge trailing them.

Suddenly, Matt spoke up again. "You know, we have to warn the other regions. I heard Ghetsis's speech. They have some way to get past the pokeballs, he said. They also are ready for an invasion, he said. I had friends in Johto, and I'm sure they'd help if I could just contact them-"

Meloetta turned. Matt had stopped, all at once. He seemed to be realizing something.

"Matt?"

"contact them... THAT'S IT!" Matt tore through his bag, until he pulled out his Pokedex, holding the note given to him by Tao. "CONNECTION WITH THE GLOBAL POKEDEX NETWORK. I have a method of contact!" He deflated for a second. "But... would they recognize me? I hope so..."

Matt then pulled something else out of his bag. It was the odd, rectangular device from his base. And then he reached in again, but it took him minutes before he pulled out this odd red object.

"Matt? What is that?"

"This, Meloetta, is my main link to the past. This... is my old pokedex. I haven't had much use of it in the last ten years, and Ghetsis had an age old GPS region lock out. But these new ones, they CAN connect. All I need is a simple data transfer, and we're good."

Matt opened the rectangular device, and stuck his pokedex inside. After a second, a small cord popped out one side. Matt grabbed the cord and connected it to his pokedex. In a second, the screen changed. A loading bar displayed, with the words "Old Data Reupload Activating. Please Wait..."

And soon, it was done. With great trepidation, Matt looked at the dex data. National mode was there, with all of his old Seen/Caught data mixed in with the two. Even a few old programs he had from his pokedex migrated over with it.

"Now I have my old GPS data stuck with a new proxy... let's get to work."

-------------------------

OOC: This may or may not work. I'll allow Ysavryll to decide.

 

[Aura Wolfe]

Percy Wilfred, Sarasota Forest

He leant heavily against a tree, wheezing slightly. The walk had taken more out of him that Percy had expected. Beside him, Landorus was as serene as ever in her guise, but when she thought he wasn’t looking, her expression would change into a mask of pain and fury. Something was clearly bothering her, but Percy didn’t really have to energy to ask her what. Just as soon as he stopped panting…

After a few minutes, he decided he wasn’t panting as much. “Dora… “ Percy puffed, using the name he’d decided to refer to her as while she was in her guise, just in case there were other humans around, “What the hell happened?”

It had to have been related to the sudden winds and thunder that had appeared out of nowhere on this sunny day. A gut feeling told him that something had gone very, very wrong at the anniversary, and it probably involved the other two of the weather trio.

She faked a smile. “Just my two children having a little argument, that’s all. They often disagree on things.”

Even with that fake smile, Percy found himself believing her. She just seemed to honest to lie like that. “They must be rowdy kids then…” He said, remembering all the children he’d raised.

“Yes. It is painful to deal with those two troublemakers.” The Luxray, Glen, growled low at her as she listened, then added, “And Glen says that all teenagers cannot be trusted at all, and that they are weak and scared.”

“I don’t recall teenagers ever being like that…” He mused, just as he pulled out his Pokedex, sending another message to Ken, and then putting the same information out for the others to see (after a few minutes of fiddling around with it, trying to figure out which button would copy what he’d written).

Ken, I am in Sarasota Forest, and ran into a Luxray that knew where there was heavy Plasma activity. It’s a fair walk in, but it shouldn’t be a problem for someone with your youth.

It seems to be centred around a cliff face with a man-made entrance along with other holes. A single Plasma currently guards it, and he has a radio. In the cave, there are stairs that lead down, which may mean that the prison is underground, or perhaps the path that leads to the prison is. There’s also a sign with the logo of the Subway on it here, which seems odd. Landorus claims that if you go up over the cliff, you can see the Plasma Palace in the distance.

How far away are you from Sarasota? I can ask Landorus or this Luxray to guide you in to where I am if you are nearby. Just be careful coming in – the deeper you get, the more Plasma patrols there are (two humans, one Pokemon).

- Percy

Having done that, he closed his ‘dex without looking at the other messages that were swirling around because he’d suddenly noticed a patrol that was heading in their general direction. A Stoutland walked alongside the two, its huge nose twitching.

“She can smell us.” Landorus said quietly to Percy, who was hardly daring to breathe. “I shall ensure that they will not find us.” She raised her arms, eyes flashing. Percy quickly reached up and held one arm out in front of her, causing her to look at him, puzzled.

“You wish to be found?” She inquired, and he shook his head, indicating that she should be still.

Heart pounding, Percy whispered something quickly to both Bobby and Glen, hoping that the talking of the two Plasma grunts would prevent him from being heard. The two of them glanced at each other, before Bobby let out a scream of terror and charged out of the bushes as Glen snapped at his heels, and let out a roar. The grunts turned around in shock, and the sound distracted the Stoutland.

“Move!” Percy urgently whispered to Landorus, and the two of them darted away from their hiding place.

When they were an acceptable distance away, Percy spoke to his pendant. “Bobby, meet up with us in a few hours, or longer if that’s what it takes to remove any potential followers that you might gain. Bring Glen with you if he wants to come.” He turned to Landorus, who was watching him silently. “We should try and scout around this area as much as possible… I want to see how close to the entrance we can get.”

The only indication of alarm that the Fertility Pokemon gave was her eyes widening slightly. “I think it would be a far wiser idea to look for any other entrances around here.”

Percy shrugged, not feeling like talking and arguing. He turned and went left, following the clifface.

Cynthia Lawson, White Forest

After the events of Black City, and returning to White Forest, Cynthia hadn’t really felt like speaking to anyone. The lack of power she had was digging its icy claws into her, making her say nothing to everyone around her. In such an irritated mood, she wasn’t really thinking clearly, and felt that if anybody asked her anything, she’d probably yell at them. But she probably wasn’t the only one whose mood had turned foul.

Leaving Zekrom to fill Nekao in with the details of what had happened, Cynthia walked over to a dead tree and studied it, seeing scratch marks were some Liepard had sharpened its claws. She shut out everyone around her and allowed her thoughts to flow. The idea of overthrowing Ghetsis had never seemed so impossible, when comparing his power to hers. What on earth could she do to defeat… that thing?! Was it even possible to defeat it? She found herself wishing for the company of Glen, the Luxray she’d had before the Plasma Takeover. He could make her feel better…

But he’s not here now is he? A little voice whispered in Cynthia’s head. You have Nekao, and Zekrom, and the other chosen. But you don’t really want to deal with any of them right now, especially the Chosen. Yes, that was true. She didn’t want a thing to do with the right now, as her anger was aimed at them in general. But was there anyone in specific? … Of course there was.

Kestrel… That little voice laughed, like a demon whispering lies in her ear. It didn’t seem right, but then, it was technically true. As he’d tried to take command, he could be blamed for the failure that the anniversary had been. Dislike for him welled up inside her, and with that combined with anger and frustration, she felt a spark of electricity appear between her hands. Not really thinking about what she was doing, Cynthia coaxed it into existence, feeling the static building up, and tasting the electricity in the air. The feeling as it ran over her skin was like nothing else, and she loved feeling that power in her hands.

Her electricity was the same shade of blue as her eyes, and only a little brighter than Zekrom’s own energy. She looked at in her hands for a moment, then with a roar she drew back her fist and punched the dead tree, making sparks on contact. The strength of the blow pleased her, as if her anger was somehow making it stronger, but that didn’t satisfy her for long. Cynthia turned to look at the other Chosen for a moment, letting her eyes, filled with a muddle of emotions, fall on Kestrel for just a moment, before she spun on her heels and walked away into the dense forest, moving as swiftly as she could, with lightning still sparking around her fists.

Within moments of her leaving, Nekao had appeared next to her, looking like a Zorua. His big blue eyes scanned her silently, asking what on earth was wrong.

“Just a little frustrated at the way the anniversary turned out. I just need a bit of peace and quiet to calm down I guess…”

Cynthia found a tree, and climbed up it, sitting in the higher branches. Nekao joined her seconds later, taking the appearance of a Pidove to fly up to reach her. The simple act of loyalty made her smile, and she hugged the Zoura tight, looking up at the sky above them. High above, a flock of Swanna flew through the air, seeming unconcerned about what was going on below them.

As a sweet, relaxing scent filled the air, Cynthia found herself calming down, and enjoying the cool air, and the softness of Nekao’s fur. Neither Pokemon nor human made any indication that they wished to move for a while, just enjoying the moment.

“Li?” A gentle voice asked.

A grass type Pokemon leapt gently onto the branch next to them. It was a little over a metre tall, with a skirt made of leaves, gentle red eyes and a large flower atop its head. Cynthia realised that the soothing smell was coming from this Pokemon, a Lilligant. With a flap of black wings, Zekrom landed on the Lilligant’s head, studying Cynthia with blood red eyes.

“I’ve asked the other Chosen to leave you for a while, until you calm done. Hopefully Lilligant will speed up your recovery, and allow you to focus on the task at hand, rather than letting your emotions take over.”

Realising that Zekrom had organised for this Lilligant to appear, Cynthia mumbled a quiet thank you. He shrugged his shoulders, before speaking again. “However, once you are calm, I must insist I train you to be as strong as you possibly can in such as short period of time. Now that Ghetsis knows of our presence, he will try and seek us out, and capture us. I cannot let that happen to you.”

He flew away, his words echoing in Cynthia’s head. He was right really – she needed to get as strong as she could as quickly as she could. But, but not until she was focused. With a small sigh, Cynthia raised her head to look at the stars that were staring to appear in the sky, and just relaxed her body.

 

[Ysavvryl]

To everyone:

I feel I must apologize for what happened over at Black City three days ago. All I wanted to do was to get more information and know more about what the public felt. It's been a long time where I've been moving around Unova constantly on my research so I felt out of touch with the public opinion. Somebody had to take charge and organize things; nobody else was at the time, but I didn't do that well, not knowing anyone there or how to deal with everything that came up. I did speak with Leo and Zander the night before, and they both seemed like reasonable people at the time. The former at least seemed like he could balance out the other two and be a voice of reason, but apparently not as much as I thought. So again, I'm sorry.

They've killed Zander already, but although they're making statements about having the other two captive, the only thing really being said is that the two are captive and awaiting judgment. By the reports I'm seeing, they know there are other Chosen, but they're only certain of one they know of as Trainer V who is so far eluding them. I haven't had much contact with him either, so if anyone else knows that person, please let me know. I did find an old report concerning Latios and Latias; I'll send that along to you Marec as well as explain that jargon. They have Tornadus and are tracking down Thundurus and Terrakion. If you've been watching the weather reports, I'm sure you'd know that Thundurus is rather ticked off.

As for the rest of our group, from what I know, a lot of you are training. Percy and Ken have been narrowing down where the prison facility is located and may have a lead into the alternate entrance into the castle; I'd like to hear from you two if you get any new information. I considered joining you two up there or trying to talk to Thundurus. At the moment though, I'm staying with Tao; I would have joined you sooner, but he's fallen ill and I'm helping him out. I remember seeing a subway map in Plasma's database, so I've been looking for that again. Searching for information on the prison doesn't work well, as I'm sure you know.

Also, some of you might recall Garnet, who was linked to the legend we didn't know anything about. It seems that he did meet with Genesect and tried to control that power, only it backfired and killed him messily. It was quite a disturbing scene, but I was able to dislodge the pendant from a tree. From checking in on things, it seems that Plasma was involved in fossil research for a time and Genesect is related to that. I can't access any information further than that, though.

Current enforcer reports indicate that security has risen greatly in Iccirus and moderately along the coast north of Undella, while staying the same in Black City. They also indicate that the coastal patrols have been strengthened on the east side. However, new recruits to their forces are being trained at two camps near Driftveil and Lacunosa. The last camp has been reporting unusual fog and low temperatures. So that's part of the picture.

I've got a good view into what happened previously, but that would make this message even more extensive. I would like to know specifically what more of you are doing and what your plans are, as I am very worried about seeing one of you come up in the security reports. And I know the others acted rashly, but it's not right to leave them be when they're in trouble. I don't think any one of us would be able to do much alone, but we do have a chance if we work together.

I hope for the best for all of you,
Kestrel


Cynthia:

N's getting better; he had a bad head cold and it wasn't related to transferring power to you.

I'm sorry if I disappointed you. I wanted to be a reporter, not a leader. I hope you're doing well in your training. Not sure what else to say


Marec:

Here's the reports from the coast guard. Basically, what this all means is that they've spotted Latias flying around the southwest coast of Unova fairly frequently in the past two months, but she moves too fast or goes invisible before they can react. This would be over Routes 17 and 18, which connect to Route 1 near Nuvema. The first report states that they also spotted Latios and attempted to use some kind of weapon to capture him; it's not clear to me what they used, but it's either a Pokemon with a long ranged move or a harpoon, although the latter's a rare scenario. It's one of those old weapons that was used by a navy to put a hole in another ship or strike a large Pokemon. They haven't seen Latios since that incident, even when they've searched the islands along those two routes. It does not seem like a high priority to them, but still, be careful if you try the head that way.


Alice:

I'm worried that I haven't heard a response from you. Is there a problem? It's like I said: the presence of the training camp near Lacunosa and the Great Crater seems like trouble, as that doesn't seem like a mistake Ghetsis would make. Kyurem won't like them there and Plasma may be counting on that. Please at least tell me that you're still around.

Error: Pokedex unit this message has been sent to has been destroyed.


(OoC: Matt receives this message three days after the Black City incidents)

to whom it may concern:

i have noticed this pokedex attempting to contact the global network from unova all messages from unova are being blocked off due to unovas current policies but this intrigues me as some of the data comes from a pokedex i would like to affirm who this is i cannot reveal who i am now but if i know you are one to trust i may do so i would like especially to ascertain the condition of the citizens of unova and the general state of things from anicebird

 

[mattman324]

OOC: I actually include some historical blurbs about Matt in this one, though well shielded. And I also make reference to a real world theory, one that got tested and awesomely proven wrong.

---------------

Location: Route 16

Matt had been extremely lucky recently.

The first part was that he managed to get through Marvelous Bridge without arousing Team Plasma suspicion. He had an unnerving sense that this was caused by Meloetta, who had reverted to Guize now that they were on the more well used roads, and even though it could be hard to place the Emolga flying far above him, conversing with Ducklett and laughing at Tranquill comments, it shouldn't be hard to realize that his - open, no less - backpack was rasping and snoring.

However, some of that luck was bad. After about a minute of trying, he realised that his dex - message simply wasn't working. At this, he started ranting. And really, he never stopped. He only quieted when people were around, but when they weren't? Meloetta learned his opinion on things that shouldn't have formed opinions, from the Thundurus-induced winds and rain, to the fact that people in Unova were far more obedient than others, and should be tested for that. And on things that, in a lighter mood, Matt would never have revealed.

"...And that stupid oaf beat me again! That guy was SO OBVIOUSLY cheating, him and his stupidly powerful pokemon and his bending of rules... Flying a pokemon next to a crowd so I can't hit it isn't "good battling", it's dishonorable and just makes hostages. It's what I'd expect out of Ghetsis or someone like that. Fortunately, the year afterwards a group of trainers ended up beating him, and one of those claimed championship that year. By that point, I wasn't even in the race. I was off screwing around stopping the..." Matt's eye's narrowed, as if realizing what he was doing. "Well, maybe not reveal that one. Still, made me glad to watch that man go down on TV over and over again, and considering he was champ the ten years before that, it was played OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. Almost got to annoying levels, really, and with anyone else, I would have stopped watching... but to him, I owe a SPECIAL amount of sadism."

After about 5 seconds, when it was clear he wasn't continuing, Meloetta finally responded. "Oh, your done? Good, I almost fell asleep there for a second."

"Isn't that a little harsh for a legendary?"

"You talked for HOURS, Matt. That, and, well, being bonded to something... let's just say it's a two way link."

"Wait, so I'm going to acquire some of your traits?"

"I'd hope so. I certainly didn't do any of this to acquire your traits."

"Gee, that makes me feel really good inside. Maybe I'll rethink this whole 'Help Out The Legendary' job now."

For a second, Matt felt an odd psychic compulsion to bash his head off of a wall. Then, Meloetta fell over and it stopped.

"...Um, Meloetta? What's up?" She attempted to get back up, but fell down again. "Sereously, what's the problem?"

"...The problem? We've walked for three days straight. Sure I get that you dislike those people. But we should be with them. And... I'm obviously not like you, I can't live off Chesto Berries."

Matt paused for a second, then laughed. "That's to be expected. You're a pokemon, and you're built to have a lesser effect on you by those berries. For a human, it's like drinking ten or so expressos followed up with a few energy drinks. For you... well, your systems are stronger, so it's just enough to get you up and moving." He frowned. "You should know this, though. You're a legendary. Don't you all know everything about humans and suchlike?"

She shook her head. "Maybe Reshiram and Zekrom, who are always bonded with humans. Maybe Arceus, who created them, or Mew, who can actually transform into them. But I'm only in the presence of humans if they surprise me, or if I feel they should be inspired. In which case I still don't contact them."

"Wait, so what did you do before you met me?"

"I... cannot remember everything. This I know, because something blocks a few years of my memory after which I woke up without a voice. So I do not know what led up to my incident, and if I changed the cycle. However, normally, I honestly don't do much. I know some legendaries in other regions like to talk to other legendaries, but me... Well, Reshiram and Zekrom don't usually talk to others, Victini does her own thing pretty much, Thundurus and Tornadus are to chaotic, Landorus is never up, Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion usually keep to themselves, Keldeo also rarely talks to others... And aside from that, Kyurem would probably eat me, and that other one - Genesect, it was called? - WOULD eat me."

Matt cringed at Genesect's name. He recently recieved a mail from Kestral, where he basically apologizes for how he screwed up - and then talks about how everyone is dead. Great, uplifting stuff, you know? From this, Matt basically only gleaned that Tornadus was captured - which he knew - and that a "Genesect" had killed it's partner.

The worst part was that Matt HAD heard of Genesect, albeit in an indirect manner. In his large pieces-o-paper-full-o-info, he had one dedicated to the mysterious machine that sometimes showed up in the background of pictures. The first time he saw it in a newspaper - which he still collected, because for every few lies there was one truth - he chalked it up to poor photography equipment. But he saw it again, and again, and now had a nice collage of the thing. He knew it was slim, sharp limbed, had some sort of... tube on its back, and had large, red eyes. And it usually showed up in shots of things like "Gas leak causes explosion in Driftveil house", when he knew that that person had been outspoken against Ghetsis. Plus, there was the time he overheard those drunk Plasma people talking about "Geneschect" making things go kablooey, but that was another story.

Suddenly, Matt heard a beep coming from his Pokedex. He looked at the message.

i have noticed this pokedex attempting to contact the global network from unova all messages from unova are being blocked off due to unovas current policies but this intrigues me as some of the data comes from a pokedex i would like to affirm who this is i cannot reveal who i am now but if i know you are one to trust i may do so i would like especially to ascertain the condition of the citizens of unova and the general state of things

Matt glanced at this letter. Most of him started blaring the red lights, yelling about the TRAPishness of it all. But then, he got thinking. If it was REALLY someone in Unova, some higher up in Team Plasma, then they could trace his dex and have captured him already. Certainly, even if it was logical, he would never reveal sensitive info to this person, and if it was real... well, he had a frigging legendary on his side, it couldn't be that unlikely. A look at Meloetta showed that she agreed, although his calling her a "frigging legendary" annoyed her. He typed a response, making sure nothing Plasma didn't know went in it.

Region is in chains. People are all oppressed. This you should know. However, there's more pressing issues you'll need to worry about. Plasma is attempting to go to war with outside nations, apparently they have some method to stop pokeballs. I am in a group getting help from legendaries to take down Plasma, but work is hard, and Ghetsis... has proven impossible to take down so far. If you need to ascertain my identity - though I doubt that - look at the largest buisness near Cherrygrove. Or at least, it WAS the largest buisness ten years ago, when I left. I was in charge.

If you turn out to be false, when I'm done with you, you'll not only wish you were dead, you'll wish you never existed.

 

[OkikuMew]

Alana Bryant
Abundant Shrine



Three days has been passed since the infamous failed ceremony. Now that I think about it, I wasn't the only one going a little crazy after everything went wrong. Actually, I believe I was one of the most sane of them. Serious Ken, although not with us in the mess, was all serious and furious as usual in his last message. Cynthia took it hard, or at least showed her emotions a bit too much: her powers kicked in and took control her in a... shocking rage. The lightning coming from her was so powerful, even electric-typed Speedzy, back with Raine from scouting, freaked out when seeing those jolts. Obviously Raine didn't like that "show" either, who held me from behind for dear life, shivering, until Cynthia ran away from here. I would've liked to speak, at least say something to someone, but everyone looked in such in a lousy mood, nobody seemed to want to say something, not even a single word... So I didn't speak either. Soon or later, everyone left our base and went away in different directions, including myself. Me, I simply followed Virizion. She brought me here, to Abundant Shrine.

"This forest was untouched by humans for quite awhile, protected by the Guardian of the Fields. Although she left her resting place since our rise against the dark king, her touch is still imprinted, the surroundings ever-growing and the inhabitants embracing their fortune. For the time you and your friends shall train, you shall share its blessings, while in turn we shall also respect and help to protect it."

It's a good thing we're staying here too, especially since I remember Matt mentioning the Marvelous Bridge being problematic, and a few minutes ago, Kestrel said in his message (along being disturbingly apologetic for something he didn't do...) that security's higher in Undella, Black City's still bursting with guards and patrol is up on the east coast. So, going out of BC to the west can be dangerous, while it's the same for going to Undella, so all's left to go is on Route 14, or here. I just hope they don't corner us...

"...But we will be ready for them."

Right. But so far, my training's been based more on surviving than fighting. I knew already some basic camping skills, but Virizion and I both knew that I wouldn't last long here if I lived out on only the dried and canned food I brought. Not to mention my body isn't quite recovered enough for major workouts. Even then, actual training was slowly going underway. Some of the wild Pokémon challenged us (for fun or for trying to banish us, I can't tell) so Speedzy gets some experience (Raine was against fighting though, that could be a problem later...), and Virizion had me use my rapier as an unusual tool for different tasks, including spearfishing, clearing areas and cut for foraging some needed materials.

Right now though, I'm finally taking a lunch break, fiddling with the only thing left to link me with the human world, my pokédex, while waiting for my fresh catch-of-the day Basculin cook over a fire. I quickly send a reply to Kestrel, hoping I can give him at least some comfort:

Kestrel,

You don't need to put all the blame to you for what it happened. You did what you could, and nobody could've stopped those clowns ruining everything. Plus, you're not the only one feeling powerless.

This is why I'm one of those who's undergoing training, along with my Pokémon, so something like this doesn't happen again. For your information, I will be staying in Abundant Shrine. As far as I can understand from Virizion's cryptic talk, Landorus won't mind staying at her "crib" as long as we follow nature's rules, and we'll be ok here. If ever you need me or running out of luck with whatever you're doing though, feel free to ring up another message, or even knock, er, on one of the trees there or something. Don't forget, we're a team in this!

Alana

 

[Ysavvryl]

from anicebird

then you could be matt very interesting though you may wish to be careful of your threats please excuse the ill formatting of these notes it is part of how they get through a war is worrisome and current conditions are what we feared there have always been some weapons that did not depend on pokemon, but modern defense forces rely on pokemon ever since the introduction of a reliable pokeball it seems that you do not know how they mean to counter that but if you can find out that would be good to pass along

you have the help of legendary pokemon and that is not enough i see it may not be much unless there has been a revival of the blood pacts of older years though that may be how he is so powerful it has been a very long time since they were used but there are still records of it that state the bond works two ways

i will try to alert others to this danger direct intervention at this time is unwise for us unfortunately thank you for your time

-+-

Alana

Thank you for your kind words. I've been training as well, at least mentally, and that has been very stressful on me. Truth can be quite merciless; I hope I don't end up that way. Plus with what all happened before... anyhow, I don't want to complain too much.

I hope to get back to investigating things soon. A little nervous about mixing library research with the ability to produce fire, but I've been working on control so that I don't go incinerating an entire library. Reshiram wants me to find some things on my own before he'll tell me more specifics.

Also, Tao wants me to ask if the phone feature on your Pokedex is working, so he can speak with you on something. If not, he'll probably contact you by email in a little while.

Kestrel

Entralink Village

In the small house that Tao was living in, Kestrel put away his Pokedex and got up. It was fairly old, but it seemed some neighbors had helped him get it wheelchair accessible, lowering tables and counters. Probably removing carpeting too, given differences in coloration on the floor. Over at the dining room table, Tao and Reshiram were searching out information in a way that Kestrel wouldn't have trusted. Tao was sitting there with one hand supporting his head and the other writing on a computer notepad. From the look of his eyes, he seemed to be in some trance. As she was a Pidove, Reshiram was able to sit on the table and observe him doing that. It was only her presence that convinced Kestrel that this could actually work, even after Tao told him that this was how he had located everyone in the first place.

The green-haired man managed to break out of his trance not long after Kestrel sat at the table too. “You can see what can be, but you can't control the will of others,” he said. “Did you get a hold of Alana?”

“I just wrote her back,” Kestrel said. “You weren't out for long this time.”

“Mmm...” he looked back over the paper. “Yet I seem to have drawn a sword. I do have some places and people written down. Which ones?”

Reshiram hopped over and tapped the paper. “That one would be where to start.”

“Right.” He made a quick copy of the locations, then handed that over. “Hopefully it's just her Pokedex, but check that one first. And thanks for your help.”

“No problem,” he said, checking the paper. “Don't work yourself too hard.”

Tao smiled at that. “I'm better but still lethargic. Take care yourself.”

“Right. See you later.” He left the house and headed out towards the edge of town with Reshiram keeping above and ahead of him. At the edge of town, Kestrel released Puffy as well. “All right, we've got to fly to several places. You up for it?”

Puffy made a happy reply and wound herself up with Flying energy. Moments later, she flew by Kestrel, apparently making him vanish. But the trick behind Fly was that the person traveling with the Pokemon was shifted to another level of space, sort of like a small pocket bag that was carried by the Pokemon. Also, the move sped up Puffy's flight, allowing her to get to and fro quickly. Kestrel viewed it as if he were much smaller, riding on his Swoobat's head. This allowed him to direct her to their next location.

Hopefully where Alice was.

 

[Aura Wolfe]

Cynthia Lawson, Route 5
She didn’t really know where she was going, but some instinct told her that she should keep walking. In the darkness of the cloudy night, Cynthia held the only light in the form of a small ball of electricity floating over her hand. She could see the glowing eyes of Liepards in the gloom, but they kept their distance from the party of four.

Her party had grown, as the Lilligant, which she had named Tigerlily, had decided to team up with Cynthia after they had cross Marvelous Bridge. She was a rather optimistic Pokemon, and seemed happy to let that relaxing scent from her petals waft on the wind at all times. Cynthia personally had no idea why she’d joined their party after all, considering that events that had occurred just minutes before Tigerlily accepted the bond.

Muttering to herself, she crouched by the water of a small pond, and started rubbing her skin around her mouth. To the untrained eye, her skin had been rubbed raw, and were as clean as you could possibly get them, but to Cynthia they were still covered in gore.

“Stop that.” Zekrom commanded. “The past cannot be changed, no matter how hard you try. You just need to learn to live with it.”

Cynthia ignored the words of the Legendary Pokemon for a moment, continuing to splash her face with water. “Out, damn spot!” She snarled.

“CYNTHIA!” A furious roar filled the minds of everyone around, making all creatures stop. “Stop that, right now. Just forget about it.” Zekrom commanded.

“… I crossed the line of no return Zekrom…” She murmured. “It’s a bit hard to forget something like that…”

Cynthia’s mind drifted backwards, remembering the events that had occurred over the last couple of days, and more importantly, those that had occurred at Marvelous Bridge. She remembered that at sunrise, after the anniversary, she’d gotten out of the tree, and started walking. Everything had been going fine until that damn bridge…

Nekao blinked, and took the form of a human child again, although he did seem to have aged a little. Cynthia turned her head to the sky, and could just see the black speck that was Zekrom, who was watching from ahigh as the had to cross the bridge. There was a Plasma checkpoint up ahead – probably for searching people who were leaving Black City, just incase they came across someone who might have something to do with the attempt on Ghetsis’s life.

Feeling a little nervous, by trying not to show it, Cynthia walked up to the Plasma’s and greeted them with a cheerful wave.

“We need to search your bag miss.” One of them said, ignoring her hello completely.

Cynthia silently thanked Arceus that she’d had the foresight to give Zekrom her Pokedex to carry, before saying, “Sure thing Miss.” And she handed over her bag.

While some of the grunts went through all her belongs, another started asking questions.

“Name?”

“Cindy Orton.”

“Destination and reason for it?”

“Nimbasa – After all the craziness of Black City, I thought we should go and spend a day at the amusement park.”

“What were you doing in Black City?”

The list of questions went on and on, and once they had finished with that. At last, they brought out an Audino. The blonde stared confused at the hearing Pokemon, wondering what its purpose was.

“Simple Beam.” The owner of the Audino commanded, and the fairy like Pokemon was happy to comply, aiming a psychic pulse at Nekao. He let out a cry of shock as all of a sudden, his ability was changed from Illision to Simple. His appearance of a young boy melted away, leaving nothing but a rather hostile looking Zorua in its place.

The Plasma’s looked a little surprised, but quickly their expression hardened. “Ms Cindy Orton, you are under arrest for not declaring that you had a Pokemon with you, and for not showing the necessary papers for owning one. Please come with us.”

Nekao moved instantly towards the Audino, drawing shadows around one paw and slapping the hearing Pokemon across the face. It cried out in shock, before lunging at the Zoura, throwing him backwards.

“Counter Nekao!” Cynthia called to her Pokemon, feeling her heart beating at a thousand times a second.

For a split second, a hazy brown aura appeared around him, before he charged back at the Audino, throwing it further back, and dealing more damage. In the moment when this happened, the two other Plasma’s released their own Pokemon: a Ducklett, and two Vullabys. The Ducklett took to the sky, while the Vullabys waddled around.

“Ducklett 325! Go and find reinforcements, tell them we have a person who is resisting arrest.”

The Ducklett quacked in response, and turned to fly towards Black City. However, just as it turned, a large group of sharpened leaves flew through the air, and slashed at the Duckletts wings. It fell to the ground with a thud, looking dazed.

“What the hell?!”

“There’s gotta be a grass type around her somewhere…” A grunt murmured…

“Probably another one of her Pokemon! That’s another thing we can arrest her for! And for attacking a Pokemon belonging to Team Plasma!”

While she was confused about where the leaves had come from, Cynthia kept herself focused on the Audino. “Use Scary Face, then follow up with Fury Swipes.” She commanded to Nekao.

He happily complied, snarling at the Hearing Pokemon, who froze fearfully for a moment, before getting scratched in the face. But as he was doing this, the two Vullabys attacked, pecking him with their beaks. He yelped in pain, and darted away from them, watching them with growing suspicion and fear.

A small whirlwind whipped up from behind the group of them, and Cynthia spun around to find herself looking in the sad eyes of the Lilligant from earlier. The wind dragged all the leaves and sticks from around them into it, before she hurled it straight at the Vullabys. Cynthia could hear their screeches of distress as they were hit and torn at by the projectiles within the small tempest the Lilligant had created. As the Leaf Storm faded away, the two Pokemon slowly got to their feet, looking a little shaken, but not out for the count. The Lilligant put her hand to her forehead and staggered a little, looking worn out from the attack.

One of the Plasmas strode up to her, and kicked her in the stomach, making her drop to the ground with a gasp. “Look at this pathetic thing… She can use Leaf Storm, but even still she can’t knock anything out…”

Cynthia didn’t even realise she’d moved, but all of a sudden she was next to the Plasma, her hands sparking. “Don’t call her pathetic!” She roared, punched the Plasma in the face with her electrified fist. He staggered backwards, gasping as the electric current ran though his body, and dropped to the ground.

“What the hell?!” Another Plasma screamed, before trying to run away. Cynthia ran at her, moving quickly enough to catch up easily. The Plasma launched a fist at the blonde’s face, catching Cynthia in the jaw, before trying to get in her in a headlock. However, the movement caused the two of them to fall over, as Cynthia had hooked her legs around the Plasma’s, sending them both tumbling.

The two of them rolled over the ground, trying to get the upper hand over the other person. The Plasma was far stronger, and soon had Cynthia pinned to the ground. She snarled with frustration, but couldn’t work up the energy to create a spark.

“I don’t know what the hell you are,” The Plasma hissed, “But I’m sure my Lord Ghetsis will be delighted to meet you. And then take your damn head off.”

Instinctively, Cynthia moved her head forward and...

No. She didn't want to think about what had happened next, how she'd killed that Plasma woman with her teeth. And Zekrom had dealt with the other two, so that no one would know of her appearance, which was a relief really. It meant that she wouldn't be on wanted posters everywhere for now...

She turned her eyes to the stars above her, and watched their cold indifference. Okay. She was a murderer. She, Cynthia Lawson, was a murderer. Now the question was, could she live with that? Really, she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t back out from this insane quest now. With a sigh, Cynthia pulled out her Pokedex. She’d been putting this off for a little while, but it needed to be done.

Dear Kestrel,

Glad to hear that N is okay.

I apologise for my actions during the anniversary… I guess I can get a bit frustrated when things go slowly, or we do not achieve the level of success I wanted… I was being selfish I guess…

I will be heading to the Dragonspiral Tower via the Entralink, to try and see if I can find anything there. As Plasma has sealed it (the tower) off, I think there would be a larger reason to why they did that than just safety.

- Cynthia

She left out the bit regarding the Plasmas, simply because she didn’t know how to say it.

“Zekrom, Nekao, Tigerlily… We should head to the Dragonspiral Tower, probably by travelling bush, seeing as I think that the two Plasma’s that survived wouldn’t have remained quiet about what happened.”

“Tigerlily says ‘Well, why are we standing still? Lets get moving!’” Zekrom said as Cynthia got up.

“… Right.” She turned, and walked into the darkness of the trees surrounding them.

Percy Wilfred, Sarasota Forest
He was starting to get a bit fed up with Landorus. Percy hadn’t noticed it at first, but she was preventing him from doing anything remotely dangerous by pressing that they should do different things. And now, he’d found out that she’d lied to him.

“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on with Tornados!?” He yelled, not caring if he was heard.

“Because I did not want you to panic.” She said, as serene as ever.

“Oh what, do you think I’m some child that needs his hand held everywhere? I’m a grown man for Arceus’s sake!”

“Don’t use Arceus’s name in vain… And it is for your own good. You must be powerful before you go storming places that have Plasma’s in them!”

“It’s a damn Subway for gods sake… How heavily guarded could it be?”

“I just think we should wait for Ken to get here before we do anything rash.”

“You can’t get anywhere in life if you don’t take any risks Landorus.” Percy said, then turned away from her and sat down next to a tree. He wanted to wait for Ken to appear too, but as time passed without any word from him, it became less likely that he’d be able to work with Ken.

“One day.” He said, without looking at Landorus.

“I beg your pardon?” She asked.

“If Ken isn’t here in a day, we go in alone. That is an order.”

“I’m not your solider here though Percy… But I agree.” She finished bitterly, before flying away to go scout out the area.

Percy sat in silence for a few minutes, before turning his head and looking at the Luxray, Glen, as he lounged in the sunlight. For some reason, the Pokemon had stuck with him, even when it was clear he could leave if he wished. Making his decision, Percy walked over to Glen, and roused the Luxray.

“Glen, you have been loyal to us for far longer than you have ever needed to be. So I want to know if you want to join our ranks permanently.” Percy said, holding out his pendant to him.

The Luxray looked at him with his golden eyes for a moment, before reaching out with one huge paw and putting it over the pendant. The rock glowed for a moment, before fading as they bonded.

“Thank you Glen…” Percy said. “It is an honour to have you fighting next to me.”

The Luxray nodded at his, then rolled over and went back to sleep. With a small smile and a shake of his head, Percy raised his eyes to look up at the sun, high in the sky. One day, just one day left of this pointless waiting. And then, finally, there would be action.

 

[OkikuMew]

((Wanted to wait until I received Tao's message through pm, but oh well, at least I posted for now.))


Alana Bryant
Abundant Shrine



It's been about a week now since the Black City incident. I wouldn't be able to tell that though if my Pokédex didn't show the time and date on, because right now, being away from any person and just living for the day, time goes by without realizing it.

Anyhow, now that I got the hang of living off from the shrine's forest (and in time too, since I'm now all out of food I brought with me) and my back is now fully recovered (you have no idea how relieved I am for that), Virizion has started training us. Surprisingly, instead of going all out and put us through grusome tests and whatnot like I thought she would, she took it slow and started with just the basics, though the training last all day with no breaks other when eating, sleeping, and unexpected events. I'm getting the hang of getting my rapier and armor at will, and I'm very slowly catching up some sword-fighting and dodging moves. I'm also doing some workouts too, althought it's somewhat second nature for me already. To be honest, I kinda wish there was more to that...

"You are not prepared yet. You must first defeat the stronghold of nature before claiming victory against the enemies of nature."

...And what she means by that, she means I have to "defeat"... a rock. Yeah... I have no idea what she means by that, but hey, the end justify the means, I guess. Anyways, as for my Pokémon, they're going through some training too of course. Not only they tag along with me through most of mine, but they also have their own personalised schedule. Speedzy's mostly working on her attacks, since she never really had the chance to use them properly in her low-battle life. As for Raine... That's complicated, as I predicted. although she loyally follows me around and does her normal exercises, she never want to use any of her moves. Sheesh, she doesn't even want to scratch a falling leaf, no matter who ask her to do it. Although I understand her with what she probably went through, she'll need to learn one day how to defend herself so she doesn't get into a similar mess again...

That aside, right now we are getting ourselves ready to sleep in our makeshift cabin after one crazy day. A Pokémon stronger than we ever encountered yet, a... Honchkrow, I think they're called, pursuited us endlessly. Maybe he was mad at us of beating up some Murkrows that once attacked us while we were sleeping a few days ago. We (barely) pulled through with precise slashes at its wings and a well-timed Wild Charge. As I sat on my bed made out of wood and weaved leaves, Raine walks up to my backpack and pokes at it with a stick.

"What's up Raine, is there something you want in it?"

"Pour," she repetitively slams my bag with the twig vigorusly.

"Okay, okay, I get it!"

I open up my backback, and I discover that my Pokédex is rumbling away, meaning a new message came up! When did I get this? I hope it was only after supper while we were gone... I open it up and read it:

Alana,

Thank you for your kind words. I've been training as well, at least mentally, and that has been very stressful on me. Truth can be quite merciless; I hope I don't end up that way. Plus with what all happened before... anyhow, I don't want to complain too much.

I hope to get back to investigating things soon. A little nervous about mixing library research with the ability to produce fire, but I've been working on control so that I don't go incinerating an entire library. Reshiram wants me to find some things on my own before he'll tell me more specifics.

Also, Tao wants me to ask if the phone feature on your Pokedex is working, so he can speak with you on something. If not, he'll probably contact you by email in a little while.

Kestrel

Well, glad I could cheer him up! And it's sweet to hear about others also training. Practicing fire in a library? Not much of a good idea, but at least he's working on that. ...And Mister 'E' himself, Tao, of all people!? Well that's a surprise!

"The Awaker desires to call you."

Yeah, so it seems. So there's a phone app on this thing? But before I look, I turn on the dreadful sound of the Pokédex when receiving new messages. As much as I hate it, I don't want to miss another message, or worse, Tao's call... Anyway, I look through the list of programs of it, and lo and behold, there it is! Didn't know those things could do that, didn't help that it was at the end of the bazilions of features on it... So I open it up, enable it, and voila: the Pokédex's now a phone, or at least a communicator. I return back on the message then reply to it:

Hey Kestrel,

Happy to hear things are fine on your side. Although we're starting to have a few difficulties with the wild pokémon living here and one of my Pokémon is having a hard time wanting to gain fighting experience (it's the young one who previously belonged to a Plasma Grunt, which somewhat explains her problem), we're holding up very well and as far as I can tell my training's going lowly but surely.

Also, I was able to find and turn on the phone feature on my Pokédex. Tao's should be able to contact me by it. Note that I usually leave my Pokédex behind at my house (of sorts) when going training all day. So if he wants to get me on the phone, he should try to ring whenever the sun goes down or up.

Alana


p.s. CC'ing Tao so he also knows about my pokédex.

I send it off as soon as I'm done writing. I lay down on my bed, on my back and my hands under my head.

"I wonder what he wants from me?" I think to myself aloud.

"I do not have any knowledge related to his request, but what The Awaker wants to share with you must be of great importance."

I nod in response, then I think aloud again: "Hmm, last time I heard of Tao, it was in Kestrel's message he sent after our big flop..." I fiddle with the Pokédex to find the particular message. "Ah yeah, he's with Tao, and it seems he was sick. Guess it's an errand he can't do right now, or he needs some kind of information? ...But why would he turn to me?"

"Indeed, it is perplexing."

"Well, we'll know soon enough."

 

[Jason-Kun]

Marec Golen
Black City -> White Forest Campsite

"Well, I rather do something than sitting my butt here and watch," Alana murmured softly, "But... got any ideas how to get outta here now without... looking suspicious?" Subtly she grabbed her wallet, removing the money needed for her meal.

Taking that as a yes, Marec slid out of his chair whilst pulling Meg with him. After paying for his and Meg's food, he slid the waiter some extra money. "That's for the food and the booth." Not pausing to elaborate, he followed to others to the gate. Cold and soaking from the rain, he nodded as Kestrel and Cynthia approached them.

As the rain poured, various sounds both human and nonhuman could be heard. Lightning also seemed to flash continuously. Wrapping his arms around Meg at the sound of a loud scream, Marec led her towards camp, hoping and trying to console her as they went.

Arriving at the campsite, he knelt down before her. "I've got a few things I need to take care of. You wouldn't mind making sure we have everything packed up would you?" With a smile that said everything it needed to, she nodded as she ran off. With a sigh, Marec walked a few feet away from the rest of the group, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he went.

"I need you to set up the spare bed. I'll be there in three days." he remarked as soon as his boss answered.

"Woah there kid, slow down and tell me what is going on."

"I'll fill you in once I get there. Take care."

Shutting the phone with a clatter, he slipped it into his pocket as he went to find Meg.



Marec Golen
Striaton City

Three days had passed since the events that went down in Black City. The stone stairs leading up to Marec's work place could be felt underneath their feet, the wind blowing at the pairs faces. Without waiting, Marec led Meg into the building.

Nodding at a few common customers of the cafe, Marec led Meg over to the boss. "Tim this is Meg. She'll be staying with us for awhile."

A nod before a pause in reply. "I aint going to bother you about this. Just make sure ya keep her out of trouble, you hear?"

With a wave, Marec led Meg to the stairwell. "This is my place. I plan on staying here for a few days and then moving out to take care of our business, okay?" he asked as the two made their way upstairs. Once there he set there luggage on the floor. Taking a look around, Marec surveyed the room.

Tim had done a bit of remodeling since Marec had left. The window now had emerald colored curtains, the floor inlaid with carpet. A few of Marec's things had been taken out of storage: his bed, the sofa bed that used to belong to his sisters, the television set, etc. In the far corner of the room sat the boxes Marec'sstuff had been in.

Moving to the bed, Marec checked his pokedex for mail. Two letters from Kestrel. Skipping the first, he moved on to the second:

Here's the reports from the coast guard. Basically, what this all means is that they've spotted Latias flying around the southwest coast of Unova fairly frequently in the past two months, but she moves too fast or goes invisible before they can react. This would be over Routes 17 and 18, which connect to Route 1 near Nuvema. The first report states that they also spotted Latios and attempted to use some kind of weapon to capture him; it's not clear to me what they used, but it's either a Pokemon with a long ranged move or a harpoon, although the latter's a rare scenario. It's one of those old weapons that was used by a navy to put a hole in another ship or strike a large Pokemon. They haven't seen Latios since that incident, even when they've searched the islands along those two routes. It does not seem like a high priority to them, but still, be careful if you try the head that way.

Nodding, he pocketed the pokedex then motioned to Meg. "Want to help me unpack a few things?" Not waiting for too much of a response, Marec set to unpack. Maybe he would not move out after all.

 

[Monster Guy]

Leonardo 'Leo' Silverstone
Dreamyard

It was a bright, sunny afternoon. Leo returned to his usual hangout, the Dreamyard. He was wearing his lab coat, and was on his way to meet Professor Fennel. Apparently, she had discovered something important, and he just had to be there. The Professor may seem a bit eccentric, but her work on Dream Mist was fascinating for Leo. In addition to using it as a reliable energy source, Fennel claimed it may be the key to accessing a whole world made from the dreams of Pokemon; of course, she hadn't gotten anything concrete yet. Most people found that last part to be ridiculous, and that's probably why she could never get paperwork from Team Plasma to keep Pokemon, or proper funding. Still, that didn't stop her from continuing her work, and Leo had to respect her for that.

As Leo entered the abandoned ruins, several pink, dream eating friends of his who were used to seeing him there came out to say hello. "Munna!" they all shouted happily, with huge smiles on their faces.

Leo smiled when he saw them rushing up to him. "Hey guys." he said as he patted the head of the one in front of the swarm. It was always in the front and was always the first to greet him whenever he came out. Leo had called him Shawn. "We should be careful guys. Plasma grunts have been everywhere lately."

As he made his way to the staircase that would to the basement, he saw a Swoobat flying in his general direction. This was strange, because Swoobats are not usually seen in this area. They mostly just stay in caves. The bat Pokemon stopped right in front of him, and hovered a few inches above the ground. Then, a human figure carrying some kind of package in his arm. The Swoobat sat on his shoulder when he fully materialized. The sudden appearance startled Leo, and caused him to jump a little.

The young man with messy red hair who had just appeared seemed to notice this. "Do not be alarmed. I don't mean you any harm. He then looked at the box he was holding. You're Leonardo Silverstone correct?"

Leo tilted his head. "Right, I'm Leo. How did you know who I am?" A few of the Munnas that were around decided to charge at the stranger.

"That's not important." He then handed Leo the box he was carrying. This is very important, I suggest you take some time to think about what is being asked of you." then, he was tackled to the ground by a whole bunch of Munnas. They seem to want whatever he was carrying in his backpack, as they were sniffing it intently.

Leo giggled. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." while shooing some Munnas off of him, he got up, and pulled his backpack off, and took out some Pokemon food, and fed it to them. The Pokemon then proceeded to fight over who gets what. While a few of them were fighting, one of the sneakier ones to nibble on the food while the rest were distracted. This caused the others to get upset, and soon, a fight over who would get the last piece broke out.

The guy also pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to the boy. "This is my E-mail address. My name is Kestrel. Contact me if you have any questions. I have to be going now, but please consider your decision carefully." With that, he patted his Swoobat on the head, and he vanished again before it flew off.

Leo simply stared at the box for a moment. Not really knowing what he should do, or what the guy meant. After a few seconds, he decided to open the box. Inside, it contained a V-shaped piece of jewelry attached to an orange clip, an apple core, some sort of electronic device that Leo wasn't at all familiar with, and a letter. Confused by what this meant, he read through the letter. Some parts of it intrigued him, but others made him nervous. After taking a few minutes to read the paper several times, and absobing all the information contained within it, he clipped the pendant to his belt, put the letter and apple core in his pocket, and went to the basement of the Dreamyard. He wanted to talk to someone about this first, and Fennel was the closest person. Shawn the Munna followed behind him, while the rest of the wild Munnas continued their argument for the food. Shawn saw this, and came back to snatch up the last piece, smiled, then went back to follow the boy. The wild ones then went back to their business.

 

[Ysavvryl]

Meg, Striaton

“I'll be good,” Meg said to the man in the cafe. He must have been the boss of the place, but at least he was nice enough to let them stay here.

The past few days had been a little scary. There had been lots of Plasma knights to avoid or deal with. She didn't want them taking her away from Marec too; he was nice and they had to work together, so getting separated would be a bad thing. Although getting separated form anyone good was bad.

A little while later, they were in Marec's apartment, unpacking things and putting them in place. “Are we gonna stay here?” Meg asked. “There needs to be more orange things, cause orange is a nice color. My Mom thinks there should be lots of color in a home.” She paused and looked up at him. “Are your parents nice people? Where are they?”


Cheren, Plasma prison

That was two of the three killed now. He had been made to watch the execution of a person named Leo; they'd even given back his glasses, although they weren't much help being broken as they were. The whole time, the guards kept an eye on him. He knew why but he couldn't let them know. The black haired man tried not to react, but watching someone die was never pleasant. Plus, who knew what the legendary Pokemon connected to them would do now. He'd wonder why they'd be so daring, but they had no respect for the legends unless the stories could be warped into tools.

After the execution, he'd been led back along the halls, with his hands still bound in cuffs. But as he thought that they might just leave him to stew over this, the senior guard of the group grabbed him and threw him against the wall. “What do you know of them?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, although he knew what it was about.

“You know what I mean,” the guard said, holding him against the wall. Maybe when he'd arrived, he could have fought back, but after six months of this prison, he wasn't in any shape to try anything against three guards. “You were working with the Pokemon League. They have something to do with this, don't they?”

He decided to not say anything more. It didn't matter how many times he played ignorance; they'd keep asking him. And they weren't going to kill him yet; they might see the chosen ones are dangerous enough to get rid of, but they were going to go public with his trial and execution. If they thought he was just waiting for that time, they wouldn't suspect that he was still considering how to get out of here. He just needed a break to make any attempt. Not to mention, he needed to find out what they had done with his wife too.

“We could take you over to Lauren,” the senior guard said, uncomfortably close to him.

Cheren looked at the guard, waiting. And hoping this guy wasn't a mind reader.

“That is, if you cooperate.”

“You killed them, didn't you?” he asked, although he didn't know. He certainly hadn't seen any children, so he didn't think his daughter was here But making the guards think he'd given up was necessary.

“We haven't said anything like that,” the guard taunted. “We'll take you in for an interview, right? And you'll tell us about the League and these upstart rebels.”

He wasn't going to tell them anything. But he did wish that Lauren and Meg were okay.

 

[mattman324]

LOCATION: Route 4 (recently caught a Shiny Sandile here! And it's ADAMANT!)

----------

"Ok, say it, get it out of the way."

"Fine. Why can't we just have cut through the city? It worked last time..."

"Because LAST TIME, we got jumped by Team Plasma grunts soon afterwards. If that counts as 'worked' to you, then fine. And anyway, we will be cutting through Castelia, like it or not."

The scene: Matt and Meloetta, walking through the desert. Meloetta was back in her normal form, as she needed to preserve energy in the sandstorm, the likelyhood of her being seen was small, and even if they passed someone, the sandstorm was bad enough to make a nice shield.

Of course, that sandstorm wasn't helping her mood in the slightest.

"I swear, it's rare that I see someone as angered as you are right now. And you're a LEGENDARY. Shouldn't you be able to hold your temper?"

"I'm kind of being battered by this sandstorm right now. It doesn't seem to be effecting YOU that much, but to me, this storm is killing me. Is that some other special benefit of being human that we Pokemon don't get?"

"No, actually, that one's just me. I get around, so I'm used to this stuff. And if it's really THAT bad, you could take the third option and do what the other two are doing-"

"I am a LEGENDARY. I do not hide in backpacks."

The two continued for a bit, before they continued their conversation.

"So I can assume we're going to stop at your Secret Base?"

"Nope."

"...why not?"

"Two reasons. One: It's a SECRET base. For all we know, Team Plasma is on every side of us. I doubt it, as even as weakened as you are, your powers should sense that many people, and besides, I'd probably get some advance warning. But doubting trouble is not reason to be willy-nilly. Two: I don't NEED too. I got out much more than I needed last time."

Another pause in conversation. Then:

"You said we had to cut through Castelia. Why is that?"

"Simple geography. None of our pokemon can Surf past the massive river on the other side of Castelia, and you aren't powerful enough to teleport us past it. And using Fly is also out of the question, as I'm fairly certain Ema can't learn it. That leaves very few ways over the river. The main one is Skyarrow bridge, but there are also ferries that do the task."

"And which are we taking? The bridge may be a bad idea, considering what happened on Marvelous Bridge."

"True. But the ferries are much easier traps, because Ghetsis is not nearly stupid enough to leave them unguarded. We'll have to think of that one when we get there. Gauge the situation and suchlike."

"I dislike this waiting, but anything that will get us out of the desert is nice." She paused, but this time responded after about a second. "By the way, did that anicebird person text back?"

Matt frowned. "Yes, but he - she? I don't know - clearly ended communications. I assume... it will return calls later if it has need."

The two continued. Matt began feeding Meloetta the occasional berries, to keep her going. And he felt his backpack rustle, which was a sure sign that Ema Skye and Revenge were both up and restless.

But at this point, it meant nothing. He took the two out, gave them simple instructions, and after a quick hug (Not quick as in the recovery time... that took a few minutes), Ema Skye grabbed Revenge and shot into the sky.

For they had reached Castelia.

 

[Monster Guy]

Leonardo "Leo" Silverstone
Dreamyard - Basement

"Once I input the last line of calculations, my plans will finally be complete! Muwhahaha!" Laughed a scientist who was typing away on a laptop.

"And our plans will finally come to fruition?" Said another mysterious figure standing behind the scientist.

The scientist turned to the other person. "Our plans?! When did I make you my assistant?"

The conversation was interupted by a loud "ahem!" The two people turned around, and saw Leo Silverstone standing there. Shawn the Munna floating next to him.

"Hey Professor Fennel, hey Animata. You two still doing your mad scientist routine again?"

Fennel got up from her computer. "Not all." Fennel said as she rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Anyway, why'd you call me here?"

Animata, the girl with short brown pigtails, and wearing a pair of oversized purple glasses responded. "Well, as you know, we've been picking up large amounts of Dream Energy here every Friday. We think we may have found something that could lead to the breakthrough we've been looking for."

"But, today is Wednesday though..." Leo blurted out.

The two females exchanged glances for a minute before changing the subject. It was Fennel who noticed the box Leo was carrying. "What's that you've got there?"

Leo opened the box, and pulled out the letter he had received and showed it to them. "I got this today, and I'm not sure if I should accept."

After taking a moment to read the letter, the two answered at the exact same time, and without hesitation, "Do it!"

"But...this sounds dangerous. And, I'm not sure I'm the right person for the job."

"Are you kidding me?!" Animata yelled. "You're the perfect person for the job. You're one of the nicest guys I know. You and Victini will get along great! Do you know how badly I wanted to kick that bastard Ghetis' ass after his Team Plasma grunts destroyed the PC Storage System I worked so hard to modify?! That's years of work I'll never get back."

Fennel gasped at her younger sister's choice of words, before turning to the boy. "It's up to you whether you take this or not. I think you should. It would be better than just doing nothing while a dictator sits on his throne and ruins our lives."

Leo took a minute to think about it. He was scared of the dangers this undertaking would present. Still, all his life it was his dream to be a Pokemon Ranger. With Ghetis in power, there was no way that dream could come true. Which meant he had to be taken down. Not to mention, this task could be the ultimate Ranger mission ever. Think of all the people that would be thrilled that they could finally be with Pokemon again. Though, he didn't want to have to kill the guy. He didn't like that sort of thing, no matter how bad he may, now one deserves to be murdered in cold blood. He looked over at the Munna who had followed him in. "What do you think Shawn?"

"Mun." The Dream Eater Pokemon said with a smile.

After thinking about it long and hard, he finally came to a conclusion. "All right I'll do it!" He then reread the note, and pulled out the pendant. "It says I have to use a drop of my blood to activate this, and connect with Victini." That part made him nervous, as the sight of blood made him squeamish, and he wasn't comfortable with purposely cutting himself."

"Here, give me that letter, and stick out your hand." Fennel said.

Leo did as he was told. Fennel that slashed the sharp edges of the paper across his finger, leaving a small gash. Leo winced in pain. "Ow! Paper cut!" Before spilling the blood on the ruby in the center of the pendant, he had to ask for Victini's help. He put his cut finger on top of the ruby. "Well Victini, do you mind helping me out?" as a small droplet of blood fell on to the gem. It glowed for a moment before returning to normal. Leo was amazed at how simple that turned out to be. He then clipped the V-shaped pendant to his belt, put the apple core in his pocket for the time being, then took out the Pokedex that was included with everything, and followed the instructions on how to activate it. After everything was finished, he took off his lab coat, revealing the red tank top he wore underneath it. "Well, I must be off. Thanks guys, wish me luck!" and with that, the boy dashed up the stairs to begin his journey. Shawn followed closely behind.

Fennel and Aminata waved, "Good-bye!" they said in unison before looking at each other.

Fennel returned to the laptop. "Wait that's strange. If it's Wednesday, then why is this thing reading such high levels of Dream Energy? This is more than we usually get on Fridays."

 

[GoldenHouou]

Sigi – Stin’s Tranquill
Route 4

Sigi was down. No, that was an understatement; depressed sounded more like it. He had been at a loss when his trainer had been captured three days ago, and it had been only through much effort and convincing himself she’d be alright and that they’d come back for her that he had agreed to part ways and not attempt to fight her free then and there. He cared for Stin, he truly did, but he was a sensible bird through and through, unlike his hot-headed, idiotic, childish trainer, and so he knew the best course of action was to retreat back there. He knew that, so why did it bother him so much? Why did he feel like he had betrayed his friend?

The Pokémon heaved a sigh but quickly closed his beak lest the sands of Route four’s desert got inside his mouth. Ever since the incident he had been following around Meloetta and her chosen – Matt was it, hoping and waiting for him to fulfill his promise of saving his trainer, his friend. But from what he had seen, saving her was anything but the group’s top priority. Granted, Meloetta and her human had argued so much he hadn’t really listened to many of their conversations, but still. He was anxious and starting to get impatient. He had heard they had already killed one of the prisoners – what if Stin was next? Knowing her she had already gotten herself in trouble.

The desert ended before the bird realized it and immediately he blinked the sand from his eyes, stopping in his tracks. Castelia. He kept a good distance between him and the human, taking up to the sky after the man’s two Pokémon, albeit hesitantly. He would have wanted to ask him if they were going to save her soon. He wanted to talk to him, as he hadn’t done so yet; he had been too absorbed in self-pity. But the more time passed and the more worried he got, the more he started to snap out of such a state. He needed to think straight and objectively if he wanted to be of help. And for now that probably meant he needed to stay out of sight again… So, he flew high above the skies of Castelia and kept his sharp eyes on the road ahead, as if he was hoping to see his trainer standing there with a mocking grin, beckoning him to fly down to her so she could insult him for worrying too much. The idiot.

Stin Nieves – Chosen of Thundurus
Plasma Prison Facility

Stin was, not surprisingly, pretty sure she’d die of boredom any minute now. Not only had they had the guts to imprison her, they had actually tried to make her do boring, menial labor for them. Hah, as if! She was supposed to work on the assembly line and mass produce something or the other, but no longer than five seconds into the job, she had decided this was tiresome as fuck and she wasn’t going to do it. Currently, she was leaning against one of the machines, absentmindedly pressing buttons and pulling switches in an order she definitely wasn’t supposed to in order to mess with the system. Button first, switch next they had told her. Well, too bad she had a very selective memory.

Her face fell into a scowl and her fingers started to abuse the button considerable speeds. Who were they anyway, trying to tell her what to do? And what went on in that old fart’s head for imprisoning her in the first place? She was offering her help. Any evil overlord worth their dirty undies knew you did not turn down an alley, especially someone as pretty and capable as she was. Well, she’d how him. It was their loss, they’d realize that once she got out and kicked his ass personally. She’d need to go and find Thundurus first, though. From the sounds of it, he was pretty pissed somewhere out there too; thunder roared and lightings could be caught from the ceiling windows up above every now and then. Stin couldn’t help but wonder – was the legendary angry over her capture, or over the capture of his brother? They had Tornadus, that much she had gathered, and it was like they had stolen the other kid’s soul along with it; he was a pathetic sight, resembling a walking vegetable more than a chosen of a proud legendary. Looking at him made Stin sick. Luckily, she didn’t really have to look at him all that much; he had pretty much free reign to go wherever he wanted, and he didn’t stick around too long most of the time. They had even left his cell open! Pfft, went to show even they knew he wouldn’t be a threat to them.

The machine parts started to pile up in front of one of the machines due to Stin’s actions, and she knew it wouldn’t take long for a guard to come and reprimand her. That was okay, long as she got a little change of atmosphere. She gave a glance at the wristband she had, or rather, more specifically, the pendant embedded in it. They had tried to take it from her various times, but always it returned. If she had been one of those easy to discourage idiots, she would have said it brought her hope. Since she wasn’t, she would just say it was nice having it warming her wrist. Sigi… Sigi would have smacked her over the head for that. Probably.

Time and time again Stin wondered if she should try and call for Sigi through the pendant. She recalled the instructions mentioning she should be able to do that, but for some reason, she didn’t want to. That would be like asking for help. She didn’t need help, she was perfectly capable of getting out through her own means, thank you very much.

“Hey, you, quit jamming the line!” Came the angry voice of one of the guards patrolling the machines. He was wide as a fridge and, in Stin’s opinion, equally dull-looking as well. Must’ve not gotten many ladies with a face like that. Sir Blueballs, she had named him. Evidently, he didn’t like the name.

Stin stopped her leaning and stood up straight, a wide grin decorating her face. Finally some action. She hadn’t really formed an escape plan nor thought this through, but who the heck cared! She’d have something to do and for now, that’d be more than plenty. She took a step backwards, giving an amused glance at the Watchog standing next to the man.

“Make me,” she finally dared with a laugh, jumping on top of the line and the various parts that had piled up on it, easily making her way upwards. If she was good at something, it was climbing. And pissing people off, but that was another matter entirely.

The guard roared and extended a hand to command the Watchog after her, and as if he hadn’t had confidence in his own Pokémon’s abilities, he sent out a Swoobat as well. Heh, suited Stin just fine, a challenge was what she wanted anyway. She hopped on top of one of the largest machines and looked around. A huge room with only a handful of doors scattered about, each being guarded by a fridge or a stove or some other household furniture she hadn’t yet nicknamed. The only windows were high up in the ceiling, and even the highest machines didn’t reach quite that high. The situation looked hopeless.

Too bad Stin didn’t know what hopeless meant.

She took a quick sidestep when the Swoobat swept at her from the air, striving to push her off the machine and onto the ground below. The Watchog climbed after the two and Stin grinned. Aww, weren’t they cute, doing their master’s job for him. Sir Blueballs must’ve feared heights or something. Stin nimbly started to ascend towards the ceiling, her eyes fixed on the windows. Somehow, she needed to make her way to them. She could see the rain beating against the glass, and she longed to feel that rain on her face. She wasn’t suited for indoors. She wanted out. She wanted air. She wanted the rain itself. She just needed to make the Swoobat accidentally break the window or something, and then she’d-

Stin’s eyes widened when suddenly she realized there wasn’t anything under her feet but air. She instantly looked down, seeing nothing but the cold ground waiting for her way too many feet below. It took her a while to realize what had happened, to feel the wind of the Swoobat’s attack on her skin. That… bastard!

She quickly reached to grab whatever she could, but her hand was slammed on by the Watchog, and she was forced to let go with a yelp. An annoying feeling filled her stomach when she was forced into a free fall, but damn it she would die if she fell from here and she wasn’t ready to die yet.

Her hands hurt and they were useless right now anyway; they were too short to reach anything on time. But she had something better. Something stronger she had better control over anyway; her legs. Everything flashed by her eyes, and whatever she tried to touch was too slippery or too far away, but she didn’t panick. Sshe turned in the air as much as she was able (which wasn’t all that much) and wrapped her legs around one of the pipes protruding from the huge machines, keeping her calm quite well, yet acting shockingly fast. Her fall was cut off, but the pipe was slippery and her grip loosened very soon. Didn’t matter though. Long as she didn’t fall all the way to the ground.

She swung herself off of the pipe and hit herself against one of the machines quite painfully, but at least she was on solid ground now. Sorta. Shaking a little she tried to get on all fours only to have a Watchog smash against her side and push her off once more. She hit a few levels of machines on her way down, some purposefully in order to break her fall. Yeah, it hurt, but each stop shortened her falling distance, so that when she finally hit the ground it wasn’t but a three feet’s height or so.

Trouble was she hurt like hell right now.

Coughing, she forced herself on all fours again just as sir Blueballs found her and approached with arms crossed across his chest. He was about to say something, something mocking or all high and mighty probably, but he was cut off by… laughter. Loud, excited laughter that didn’t seem like it quite belonged into the mouth of prisoner, whose attempt at escape had just been cut short in a rather painful way.

“Hahaha, phew, that was somethin’ else!” The girl cheered as she pushed herself to sit, an impish grin plastered on her face. She wiped dust from herself and brushed her fingers against a bruise she had gotten on her cheek, her limbs numb and pain coursing throughout her body. Sweet pain, proof that she was still alive and actually doing something.

“Good game,” she mused as she got up to stand shakily, her left hand immobile for the moment due to the immense pain. Her clothes were slightly ripped and her hair a mess but hey, that’s the way she liked it. She looked up at the slightly taken aback guard with a challenging smirk and shook her head to get some lost strands from her face. God all this was almost worth it just to see the dumbass’ face right now. Ah, felt good.

She tapped a finger against her temple and cocked her head, laughing slightly. “Thanks, I needed that to clear my mind.” And it was true; the pain, the still linger adrenaline in her body felt like it had opened her eyes again, cleared away the fog that being trapped and bored to death had formed inside her mind. Now she could think straight again, she could see clearly. Now, these idiots would have nothing on her.

That’s what she sang to herself in her head when the agitated guard practically dragged her back to her working spot, grumbling to himself something about crazy chicks and their risky stunts.

Oh, if only he knew…

---

OOC: My next post will happen around the time Leo was executed, assume this happened some time prior to that.

 

[OkikuMew]

Alana Bryant
Abundant Shrine


So morning came with no problems whatsoever through the night before it. It was actually one of the best nights we had all week, since we're aching less and less as we're getting used to working out like this, plus the fact yesterday we showed that Honchkrow who's boss, so the weaker Pokémon stayed quiet and left us alone. Not sure how long it's gonna last though... As we get up at the same time as the sun, we quickly grab a bunch of fresh fruit, berries and nuts we kept aside yesterday from our supper and start eating up. While I had my mouth full of a huge bit out of an apple... the Pokédex starts ringing!

"Mmumh! 'Gat mush he Mhao!"

As Virizion keeps a watchful (and probably curious) eye on me, I swipe up the Pokédex, and while I sit down on my bed I open it up and lean my mouth in front of the microphone:


"Mphell..." I finally swallow down my food. "Sorry. Miello?"

"Good morning," a wise-sounding but surprisingly young (well, I expected him to "sound older") and tired voice speaks at the other end of the line. "Alana, correct? This is Tao."

"Yeah! Tao, heard from Kestrel you've been sick. How's it holding up, man?"

"I am feeling exhausted, but I'm slowly recovering."

"Aw, sorry to hear that. Hope you get even better later. Sooooo, whatcha got in store for me?"

"You see, in the depths of Undella Bay, there is a large and ancient ruins of a holy site. Down in the deepest chambers, there is a place where spiritual energy is very strong, enough so that even an untrained person can listen to the spirits of the land."

"Aaaand lemme guess: you want me to go there or something? ...Whoa whoa whoa WAIT A MINUTE," I exclaim loudly, "when you said 'depths of Undella Bay', did ya mean goin'... UNDERWATER!?"

"You are correct. A Pokemon that knows Dive is capable of reaching it, but you may need one with Surf to get..."

"OhnononononoNONO!" I loudly cut him off in a panic. "There is, NO WAY, I'M gettin' into water, whatsoever! I won't- I'm sorry, but I am NOT goin' in there!"

Tao becomes silent for a little moment. While waiting for his response, I look towards my Pokémon: they are all staring at me; Speedzy have a curious but concerned look, Raine appears very surprised about my outburst, while Virizion is shooting daggers with her eyes. I nervously and cheaply grin to them, hopefully sending the message that I'm ok... and hope Virizion doesn't kill me.

"...It is fine," he finally answers, to my surprise calmly and positively. "There is other locations which you could go to do the same task. ...It's possible this could be done in Virizion's forest, but she mentioned to me previously that it would take prior training in such talents."

I look up to Virizion again, and she nods in confirmation.

"There is also at the very bottom of Relic Castle, at the end of Desert Resort which branches from Route 4, where such energy can be heard."

"Ah, I sure know about Route 4! As for Relic Castle... I've heard of that place before, but can't remember where... but for sure, this beats Undella Bay by a longshot! Definitely no water there! So, what do you want me to do there?"

"I want you to get down to that location, put yourself in a trance, and attempt to listen to this energy. It can be overwhelming, especially the first time you try this, but it will be easier at this time. The reason I ask this of you is I want to know if there are any anomalies in the the region's aura patterns. If nothing stands out to you, simply notice what is there and tell me later. I would do this myself, but I would have greater difficulty getting out there. I can hear the spirits in my trances, but the nature of my power gives me contradictory visions and mere possibility instead of certain knowledge. That is also why I can find potential Chosens, but I cannot predict what any of you will do with your power."

"...I didn't quite understood everythin', especially with the trance thing, how's the job related too us and all, but I think I got the general idea of whatcha meant. At worse, I'll ask Virizion to fill the blanks or send ya a lil' something with some questions. consider your challenge... er... quest? Accepted! I'll give ya news about this whole thing as soon as I get 'em. Sounds good?"

"Okay then. Thank you doing this favour."

"It's all good, as long as we get our freedom at the end, right? See ya T!"

"...Goodbye, Alana."


I hang up the "phone" and put it down right beside me. Seems I got myself and everyone else into an adventure inside our big one. ...Ah but dammit, what about our training?

"Although it is needed to do this task as soon as possible, I estimate it is appropriate to take our time to continue our training for a few days to prepare ourselves for our task at hand."

Ah, I think get your point: I'll probably need a bit of practice in that whole "trance" thing, while Speedzy and Raine... continue to practice fighting, I guess. And we'll have to stock up, especially on water and dried food, if we all want to get through this extra-large sandbox alive and well. I don't want Raine to be dried up again... And who knows how long we'll be there, and what we'll encounter on the way?

"Time is running out, Aramis chosen."

...Aramis? ...What are you talking about? Aren't I 'your' chosen, Virizion?

"...Let us haste to your training," Virizion continued without answering my question. "Although our plans have slightly changed, we must continue to follow our schedule until you are prepared to follow what The Path brought us."

...Alrighty, you're the boss. Let's go then!

 

[wιɴтerвreezeѕrυle]

OoC: I'm not very good at bunnying characters, even if it is for a short time... I feel as if Kestrel is out of character. Meh.

Daniella "Dan" Wilson
Icirrus City Dojo


I sighed as I sat in the office that had once belonged to Brycen and now was mine. It was fairly empty, minus the huge desk that I sat behind, and the Togekiss slepping in the corner. The desk was made out of oak and was really more of a table, as the only place to hold space in the desk was on the very top, where resgristration forms and photos and such were scattered everywhere. I sighed, and closed my eyes, leaning back in the swivel chair. Sometimes I just wished I could get away from it all. Or, better yet, be able to fight all of the crap that Ghetis had. Seeing his entire empire crumble would be great.

Then again, there were people out there who were fighting! Ghetis had almost been assassinated only a few days ago! If only I could join them...

Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door of the office. "Come in," I said with little emotion.

A young man walked in. He held a package under his arm. He looked like he ment real serious business. He looked me straighe in the eye and asked, "Are you Daniella Wilson?"

"Um...yeah.," I said cautiously.

The man walked up and put the package on the desk. He said briskly, "I don't have a lot of time. First off, I would recommend that you accept what is being asked of you. And second off, if you need any help, contact me using this." He placed a slip of paper on the desk. I picked it up and read it. It was an email address.

The man then left.

"Well...that was odd," I muttered. I wondered why he had seemed to be in such a hurry. I put the email address aside and opened the package. There was an Expert Belt in there, as long as a blue pendant with an red pearl in the center. It was made out of stone, and was blue in color. There was also a letter, but the thing that made me gasp was the Pokedex inside.

"What the...?" I mutteed. I ripped the letter open and read it.

Appearantly, I had been chosen by Keldeo to fight against Ghetis with a bunch of other chosen of other legendaries. I was excited. Really, really excited. The only thing that worried me was the test mentioned in the letter. What if i failed, and Keldeo rejected me? Then I wouldn't be able to fight!

But i can't think like that. I pulled the Expert Belt out and tied my hair into a ponytail with it. I then grabbed the pendant, and grabbed the letter opened that was on my desk.

I cut my finger gently. It hurt for about a millisecond and started to bleed. I managed to get some of the blood on the pendant. I then said, "Hey, Keldeo? Can you help me?"

The pendant glowed for a moment, then stopped. The blood was gone. I grabbed it and hooked it onto my golden necklace. I then looked down at Kirby, who had maganed to sleep through the entire thing.

I was ready to go and find Keldeo.

 

[Zalck]

Nathanel Coyier
Black City
The city was already back into a hustle and bustle.

People crowded the streets and made their way everywhere. Many business men, rich families, and Team Plasma members. All together in a sick, twisted harmony. No one talked much to one another, just on cellphones or to those immediately travelling with. Strangers didn’t converse. People cared for themselves first, which seemed to bring a dark cloud of despair over the place. The buildings, the suits, the streets. All Black.

Before Nathanel lived here, he wondered why they called it Black City. Maybe it was a reference to the mightly Zekrom, the defender of truth. But that didn’t make sense to a high profile city corrupt with greed and power. Now, Nathan understood. Black City was named just for itself; black, everywhere. He felt dirty just thinking about it. He wondered if anyone else who lived here felt the same, or if it was just him. They continued along their day, no matter what, so maybe they didn’t.
From his high apartment complex, he could still see the town square where the attack had occurred. Already, Team Plasma had it fixed up as though nothing had happened, as did the people traveling through the area. Nathan had watched the whole event, from the strange people, to the legendaries that had appeared as well. The people seemed to have powers. This was not something he deemed possible.

Nathan was lucky he wasn’t actually in the crowd, or had Golem with him. If he and his Golurk had been prepared, they would have definitely joined the attack. Maybe just distracting the grunts, but they would have helped, none the less.

In the last few months since Nathan had moved to Black City, his fiery hatred of Team Plasma had seemed to begin to dwindle, and his passion to fight as well. The depression of Black City had begun to choke him, he was losing what he had set out to do. His Golurk had felt it, too. He has been hiding in dark alley-ways and sewers, and had barely even seen Nathan as much as he had wished. But it was so. Nathan wasn’t sure what to do, where to go. He had seen all his plans fall to ashes around him, and was losing hope.
The attack on Ghetis had inspired him, as though to wake him up. He opened his eyes, seeing the light of his passion again, but he was still at a lost for how he could help.
That all changed a few days ago. He received the package in the mail, when he read the letter. He had to read it four or five times before it actually sunk into him. He had a chance, another way to fight for what he believed in! But the cost… He had never even considered rejecting the package. Any cost was worth defeating Ghetis. But he couldn’t do this alone. He had to meet with Golem, first.

They had met in a sewer, where Nate explained the situation. The Golem did give it some thought, and then nodded his head in response. Nate decided this was it. He picked up a sliver of stone, and sliced at his wrist, hard. It hurt like hell, but it definitely produced what he wanted: blood. He let it fall over the pendent, and realized he needed to say a few words. They seemed to come out of his mouth on their own accord.

“Genesect! You have chosen me as the one to defeat Ghetis and Team Plasma! I will join forces with you, no matter the cost! Be prepared for me, for I will find you, and together, we will defeat Ghetis!”

His words rang loud and echoed down the halls of the sewers. Fear that he would be discovered didn’t even cross his mind. Immediately, the fossil soaked in the blood, and the LED lights that surrounded it grew bright, so bright that Golem and Nathan couldn’t see. After the bright flash, he looked down, and the pendant was there. In his mind. He could feel its presence, as though he was connected to it. He felt another emotion attached to the pendent. It seemed hesitant, perhaps a bit scared. Whatever the feeling was, it had immense force behind it. It made no sound, made no movement, but the feeling just sat there, as though watching. Nathan sat it in the back of his head, wondering what it was.

Nathan looked at Golem. “I suppose we better seal this deal, buddy.” The Golurk agreed, and knelt down, bowing his head. Nathan lightly sad the pendant on the Pokemon’s head, and watched as the LEDs shone again, but not as bright this time. The Golurk stood up. He could feel, sense, where Nathan was at all times. It felt good to the instinctual guardian that he was to know this. Nathan sat next to him, and discussed strategy. He needed to know more about this Genesect, as well as whom those other people were who attacked Ghetis. He knew they had to be involved in this plot as well.

While he discussed, he filled out his Pokedex form, as he was instructed. A little indicator saying ‘activation sent, acceptance pending’ appeared on the screen, and he sat the device down.
He had to get out of this place. He wasn’t sure which way would be best. North would take him to a bad part of Unova, where Team Plasma was even stronger. He decided to head south, although he was unsure which town he would head too. It depended on if he could get in contact with anyone.

That was two days ago. As previously decided, Nathan was packed and headed out of Black City going south, into Route 15. There were Pokemon there, and Nate decided that it would be ideal to at least have a second Pokemon. If he had to get into a fight, by Arceus, he was going to win it.

He sat and awaited his Golurk to get closer. He was out in the forest, alone. Then, he felt that presence grow in the back of his head, as though it was communicating. He didn’t get words, but he did get feelings and sounds. The gnashing of mechanical teeth, the scraping of metal against metal. The sound of hunting, of wild animals running away. Weird feelings and thoughts, that made Nathan want to get up and find an animal right now. His muscles tensed, adrenaline rushing through his system. He could smell prey, he could feel it close. His head seemed to burst with these thoughts and feelings, to the point that Nathan fought to distinguish his own thoughts.

Nathan focused hard on his own thoughts, of leaving Black City, of his new pendant, and of finding Genesect. Eventually the feelings subsided, leaving in the wake a massive headache. Nathan wasn’t sure if this was connected to Genesect or the pendant, but there was one thing he was sure of; that whatever was sending him these feelings hadn’t even begun to use its full power yet.