[RP] Tides of Freelance ~ Nigh Ruin

[R.I. Saraibre]

Spoiler: Plot Detail and Rules

Tides of Freelance ~ Nigh Ruin

[PG 13 possibly with some suggestive themes and violence]​

Every being on the planet dreads the possibility of the world they know and love coming to an end. There has been everything throughout millennia, from prophecies to predictions, based on lore, myth or some form of hypotheses. The end of the world apparently is coming, but like tomorrow, it never actually comes. There have been times however, where fate would like to try to prove this wrong, where circumstance tempts the horrible happenings to come out into reality. All have been crushed by the efforts of humans, assisted by the Pokémon they share close bonds with. Time and again they have prevailed, however, throughout history, one thing remained odd.

Humans were always involved in the prevention of world collapse. It never was Pokémon alone to stop the issue in more recent events, and it seemed there was some Pokémon at the cause of this destruction. Many were ignorant to the fact some human was also involved with the cause, but at this point, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Paranoia took over.

This paranoia grew into a global, unnatural entity that shook the very foundation of nature itself. They could sense it, the Legendary Pokémon who were left the responsibility of maintaining certain aspects of nature. They felt this, and could only respond in certain ways to try and correct this anomaly. Unfortunately, the infectious anomaly that was taking over the globe, reacted in a way that would change the known world forever.

Soon governments across the world began to form pacts, something that looked as good as world peace did. People heralded such news, supporting it entirely, unaware of the future at hand. They started to pool resources and support military groups and research and technology in order to form a global military division, known as Environmental Neutralization Division of Government, or ENDoG. No one was entirely sure what these people were to do at first, but after months of unpleasant weather, some natural disasters and Pokémon acting out oddly towards certain people, anything to set the environment back to a safer place was welcome. As technology developed further, the ENDoG core developed a special machine that helped neutralize the abilities of Pokémon, making them as harmless as a house pet. Pokémon of the wild that came within city limits, or attacked people, became zoo exhibits, heavily drained of their abilities so they could do nothing more but eat, sleep and move around while humans stared at them. As time went on, the machines grew more efficient and much easier to get out into the public. However, during this time, it was where Pokémon and Trainers alike protested these machines, knowing it was wrong to treat Pokémon as such, though the majority of the public was getting used to the idea. The riots grew more and more fierce with each protest, soon many ending up in destructive Pokémon battles, and many trainers, and even coordinators, arrested, and put into prison.

Thus, the ban of Pokémon training and battles had its seeding. Owning a Pokémon came with a hefty license, and schools reverted to more economical studies, that of science, mathematics, anything to improve human life or life style. Pokémon and human interaction was decaying into nothing more than pet and master, with the nullifying machines becoming as common as collars. People attempted to still Pokémon train underground despite this, some getting caught and arrested, despite the fact the very core against Pokémon use was still using them to capture the very criminals they were chasing.

Soon ENDoG forces grew great, reaching all of the regions, slowly making its way into Unova, where Pokémon there are in shaking ground. It was time for the true purpose of ENDoG to take flight. They built a much more powerful version of the power sapping and nullifying machines, code named NEEM. They had been researching the increase in natural disasters, pin pointing a specific area of Johto near the Whirl Islands where a source of incredible storms causing mass flooding all over the region had been occurring. They went far into the deep sea caverns, locating the legendary Pokémon Lugia, who was both surprised and angered by the presence of the humans. However, the legendary did not attack first, knowing that the great anomaly was greatly within his abode. The humans saw the opportunity to take this moment of caution, and activate the NEEM. It was then after that, Lugia attempted to attack, however, missed his chance as the bird of legend felt all of his power waning out of his body. The ENDoG group then brought an assault on Lugia, capturing the beast and bringing it to a facility, where a special quarantine resided. The storms ceased, but only for a couple weeks, returning in slow, but climbing ferocity. ENDoG, at the same time, had captured Kyogre, Ho-ho, Articuno, Tornadus, and Thundurus, holding them in other quarantines across the globe.

This is where everything fell apart.

The capture of those Legends wasn’t enough. As nature grew to worse conditions, complete with erratic weather changes, more frequented natural disasters, though in smaller scale, and this prompted the continued capture of more of the Legendary Pokémon. Nature became sickly with the imbalance, with more and more common Pokémon attempting to rebel against the humans they knew to be responsible. The Legendary Pokémon who had less of an impact on the natural world, attempted to either free or assist the role of their other brethren, either becoming captured during the rescue, or becoming weak enough for simple capture by a by passing Hunter or Mercenary, paid by the government to help capture these Pokémon.

Arceus awakened to the disturbance, and seeing what was going on, knew that he could not assist with a direct assault, knowing he may fall victim to the technology the humans had invented, and therefore, leaving the world to destroy itself. Instead, he called out to all of the Pokémon, captured or fleeing, telling them that there was hope still somewhere in the grim dark. He allowed each legend, the most powerful of them all in some cases such as Shaymin or Latias and Latios where there were more than one, telling them to give their abilities and their powers to a soul of a human they knew to be the most compatible. He would allow this, knowing the humans infected with fear would not expect such things, however, the humans that were aware of such powers, may be corrupted by evil or the power itself, causing even a faster coming of disaster.

It was a gamble the world was going to have to take. Arceus knew that the entire power of one Legend could not be contained within one human being, and thus, looked to the Items of Lore to hold onto the rest of this power, masking their existence from humans and other Pokémon until the time was right. The god then looked to Darkrai, asking his powers of giving these humans a message through their sleep, of what was going on. Darkrai knew what had to be done, knew that his ability would provide the truth to these chosen human beings.

Who are these humans of which Arceus speaks?

Humans, more specifically, trainers that have hidden underground for years, training in secret, maybe not even existing in forms of paper work or computer files. Some invested their time to developing personal and portable PC systems in order to store Pokémon captured and trained as in the days of a decade ago. Even Pokeball technology had changed, allowing Pokémon caught in these modified balls to be immune to the effects of the nullifying machines effects. These trainers, and their Pokémon, know the world is not how it should be, and that something is terribly wrong. They never knew how wrong however…

Taking the name of Freelancer, the international group of underground Pokémon trainers escaped notice from ENDoG eyes, operating carefully and cautiously. The Pokémon League may no longer exist, but these people train, as if it was for their lives. Everything within the Freelancer communities operated smoothly, however their lack of knowledge on the true situation was their only disadvantage. One night, a large raid was planned on one of the facilities where reprimanded Pokémon were being held in Kanto. This raid, was planned out top to bottom, for all possible circumstances, good and bad. When the group of renegades entered, they didn’t plan to be ambushed by the last thing they had expected to see.

Genesect.

The insect turned war machine from overseas completely obliterated the operation, with few to escape with their lives. This was the night that suspicions of the Freelancer community began to arise, as did loyalties within the group itself, and most importantly, the one thing that would separate the normal Freelancers from the rest.

The Nightmares.

Nightmares of a single Pokémon, it’s agony, it’s cries, it’s strife and it’s time left before it would expire. Only few Freelancers at first stared having these dreams…no one knew why, but rumors started to stir within the underground that one Freelancer knew…wherever this person was, they had the answers. These humans, then started noticing strange happenings around them…almost as if they had something else inside of them. Their intuition grew, knowing that they would need to find the truth, and where Pokémon of myth and legend had disappeared to…

Before the world dies…

Only impossibility standing in their way.




The Role of the Marked Freelancer:
A rebel trainer hiding underground, you have nightmares of one of the Pokemon of Lore. You start feeling different, as if a change in your very life force has come upon you. Soon you start noticing that you are not normal from other people. You know that something is severely wrong, and look to finding out the truth about the disappearances of the Legends. Come high or hell water, you need to find them, break them out some way. Fight against the ENDoG forces and rebalance nature.


The Role of the ENDoG Forces:
As a trained member of an international government body, maintaining public calm and peace is your top priority. Finding the remaining Legendary Pokemon that are left, untamed, unwatched and free to cause chaos is even more priority. Everything is on a need to know basis, and the public is not on the knowing basis. Most of all, any and all rebelion must be surpressed in order to ensure these things happen.


You may play as either or roles, or another role other than a Marked Freelancer or ENDoG operative. Just run it by me first.



RP Rules:
Typical RP Rules apply, no god modding, spamming, flamming, bunnying without permossion, and so on.
Only one Legendary Pokemon Mark per person if playing a Marked Freelancer. Once it's claimed, it's claimed. You may reserve a Mark, but only for 48 hours.
Marked Freelancers are harder to kill than normal people and have more survivability with things such as stab wounds or gunshot wounds. However, clearly some wounds are fatal no matter what...
Marked Freelancers slowly gain awareness and more control over their power, and are not able to use their signature move until they gain control over their special ability. This won't happen until some time into the RP itself.
ENDoG's do carry fire arms yes, but please don't go shooting everyone...
I like post headers...


Info about the RP:


Freelancers ask if another person is a Freelancer by asking ‘What do you dream of?’ at some point in a first meeting. The other must reply with the legendary Pokémon they have been having nightmares about, knowing what the true intent of the question is. ENDoG’s have no information regarding this special greeting and wouldn’t give the answer said Freelancer would know about.


The dying legendaries are passing their power into the humans that call themselves Freelancers, once they know of why they are receiving dreams and or discover their powers, becoming Marked Freelancers. These Freelancers have nightmares about a particular legendary Pokémon, knowing their cries of pain and roughly how long they can hold out before their soul diminishes from this earth. Arceus grants the legendary to do this, hiding in his own plane of existence away from humans to give the world one last hope.



All legendary Pokémon, unless listed below with the exception of Arceus, are within quarantine facilities somewhere throughout the world. These facilities house the Legendary Pokémon somewhere out of their natural element, for example, keeping Kyogre in a desert facility or Ho-oh in an underwater one. Underwater facilities like to move as giant submarine vessels where as some even remain in the sky as massive air crafts.

List of still free roaming Legendary Pokémon:

• Giratina: Held up in the Reverse world, it attempts to repair our world through the Reverse world, though very much in vain.
• Deoxys: Hiding within the depths of space, Deoxys remains nearby the moon in attempts to help repair the imbalance of nature.
• Jirachi: In the Millennium Comment, almost ready to circle once again past the planet.
• Kyurem: Frozen itself within its cavern, a solid glacier blocking ENDoG forces from capturing it.
• Rayquaza: Dodging ENDoG forces within the Ozone layer, however risks its own life by attacking small operations alone from high above.
• Mew: Using its ability of transformation to avoid ENDoG detection though has only so much time before they catch on.
• Regirock, Regice, Registeel: Rumor has it these Pokémon, previously owned by a famous trainer, lay hidden in the ruins of the old Battle Frontier. Which one, is an entire mystery.
• Darkrai: Hiding within the realm of nightmares in order to communicate the dreams to the Marked Freelancers.
• Suicune, Entei, and Raikou: All still free running around the globe, however are being tracked by the government in some form.
• Uxie: Abusing his ability to make anyone forget his location, while proceeding to move to another one.

Legendary Pokémon in multiple numbers:

• Shaymin: Not all of the Shaymin have been quarantined; some run around in hiding in small groups.
• Latias/Latios: Use their light bending abilities to remain hidden, though few remain outside ENDoG reach.
• Phione: Many reside in inconspicuous water bodies with their ability to melt into water.

Other Legendary Pokémon:

• Genesect: Currently ENDoG’s big gun, while the free will of Genesect is being surpressed, what is left of it is transferring power to his Mark Freelancer.
  
• Mewtwo: The genetic’s lab are reconfiguring Mewtwo to have his memories and personality of that to what the ENDoG want it to be. What remains of it, like Genesect, is being used to transfer power.

What is Illegal within the current time throughout all of the Pokémon world:

• Pokémon Training
• Owning a Pokémon without a license and or permit
• Bringing Pokémon into public areas without the NP collars on
• Harboring those who train Pokémon or a wild Pokémon
• ENDoG forces have political freedom from these laws unless suspected of treason

All accounts of law breaking will result in jail time varying on the severity of the crime.

The Powers of the Marked Freelancer
As a Marked Freelancer, these people have special abilities that are slowly being transferred to them by their legendary counterpart. Either to prevent the world from ending, or to assist those who are attempting to put the world back in balance. Aside from the typing of certain legendaries giving the human attributes such as being able to resist cold if they are an ice type, or making one more agile if a flying type, or having more endurance for the rest of a steel type, each legendary gives a special unique ability. Though some lesser legendaries still roam free from the escape of imprisonment, they still transfer some of their power to assist the dying ones who are trying to keep the world from reaching a critical state.
When Marked Freelancers reach a certain potential in their abilities, they are able to use a signature move of that specific Legendary.

Shay Miru
Giratina Freelancer
Outside of Anville Town, Unova

The wonders of the forest, nature being impaired now or not, always made me feel safer than being in a town full of people. The trees hung over me like some protective umbrella, and even if the wild Pokémon was scarce, I felt more at home away from people than I did with them. Walking through the long grass on a path never taken with a slight breeze was always something I enjoyed. That, and no one was able to travel on foot to or from Anville town. The terrain was thick with forest, rugged with hills and cliffs and the Pokémon in here were tough ones. I rolled one of my Pokeballs around in my pocket between my fingers, just in case I ran into something hostile that didn’t get my vibe that I wasn’t a threat.

It wasn’t their fault, it was ENDoG’s. They had no idea what they were doing in my opinion, and nature was out of balance because of them. I just knew it was and I would never let that belief go. Never mind my nightmares I’ve been having. Everything was distorted so badly it made me ill feeling, and everything was breaking and there was crying…something crying and I hated hearing it so. I could feel the agony within those cries and I wanted to do something to stop it. It was a dream though, but I still couldn’t help but feel it meant something. No, I knew it meant something.

I had been walking for hours, at least I assumed hours. This was complete wilderness that I knew even ENDoG hadn’t dared to look into yet. The only way was to get there by helicopter since the Battle Subway was shut down. No doubt that was going to be converted into something else by the government at some point. Anyone supporting them for any reason other than trying to survive this plague was either insane or a complete coward in my views and it-

I stopped and turned behind me. I heard something…and it was loud and getting louder.

‘The hell…wait…’

That wasn’t just one sound, that was a lot of sounds…and it was getting louder. I broke out into a run, knowing that I only had so much time to find some sort of way out of the direct path of what I knew was coming. I ran as humanly fast as I could, and even with that the sounds behind me were getting louder. Thundering and whining of hooves and what owned those hooves. I only turned my head back once to find a huge herd of Sawsbuck soon closing the gap between them and my heels. Something spooked them very badly or made them extremely agitated, or both. All I knew is that they weren’t going to stop for one human and that if I didn’t move. Unfortunately for me, where I was right now didn’t allow me time or space to bring out any of my Pokémon. I ran, ignoring whatever my legs had to tell my brain in protest.

I didn’t look back again, I kept running until something from behind shot a white blast of energy, creating a sleek and shiny icy pillar farther off in the distance, followed by an angry roar. I only stopped for a moment, turning around again to find the herd of Sawsbuck part either side of the pillars, leaving me with the view of a very large, and very angry Beartic. As it became more apparent I was around, it seemed to change targets from one of the Sawsbuck onto me.

Wonderful…no doubt this thing had a bad time with a certain other group of people I hated as much as this thing did. Sending out a Pokémon in response right now seemed like a bad idea so the only thing I could think of right now was trying to calm it down myself.

Yes, I was going to try and calm down a huge, angry bear capable of freezing me in an ice block if not crushing my ribcage and, at the moment, was probably wanting to do both.

I backed away slowly with both my hands raised, trying to talk to this guy. I ducked round whatever icy attack it threw at me, knowing well that it was creating a nice slippery plane of ice to walk on. I could feel my feet losing traction every now and then, but I tried to persist in try to talk to this Pokémon into a sense of…not wanting to tear me in half. The next thing I knew, I felt such a force on my side it threw me backwards a bit, making me slide across the ice like some sort of puck. All I could think of was how much that damn hurt at the moment, but I had other things to think about when that white bear was looming over me with another paw waiting to try and crush my rib cage. I rolled over as best I could, trying to use my hands to get up off the ice, when I felt myself fall through the ice as if it just, fell out from underneath me. My eyes were shut, as I braced myself for an impact but nothing.

I felt nothing, and in fact, I felt like I was…floating…?

I opened my eyes and turned, finding the Beartic looking right at me, roaring…but for some reason, he acted as if he couldn’t see me…in fact from where I was looking, I could see some of the forest from a ground perspective, as if I was laying down…I saw the Beartic go to take another swipe at me, and I braced myself again, feeling as if I didn’t have the ability to move for the moment. All I received was the sound of smashing, and when I looked, the immediate view of the Beartic looked as if I was looking at him through a broken bit of glass, while the surrounding area seemed fine. I sat there, watching this Beartic try and find me, and I wondered where in the hell I was as well. Finally the white bear Pokémon left, seemingly in vain, and when he was out of sight and sound, I tried moving. I went to touch the shattered image of reality, and for some reason, it felt solid…I tried going for somewhere not as broken, and it felt like water…was I underwater? No, I didn’t feel wet and I could breathe-

Suddenly, I was back on the ground again, getting cold and damp from the ice, and extremely exhausted all of a sudden…I wavered getting up, slowly making my way to a tree to lean against. My heart was still racing and I was confused as a Spinda.

“What the hell…just happened…?”

I dug around in my pocket, pulling out a Pokeball and releasing it and letting out my Hydriegon. She looked at me with her three heads with some concern, noticing the ice around and the fact I was ready to fall over. She growled quietly nd I just shook my head.

“I don’t know Vio…but something weird is going on…lets try to stay under the cover of the forest and at least get to Dragonspiral…”

Dragonspiral Tower had been blocked off from any human capabilities of getting to because of all the rampaging Pokémon at the start of ENDoG’s reign. They aren’t as vicious now because of previous intervention, but the place was completely deserted and it was a very small Freelancer underground ‘hunters cabin’ of sorts. It was basically a place for people to rest in safety for a day, then, you were to leave the next day in the same condition you arrived to. After what just happened, I was going to need it.

 

[storymasterb]

Benedict Smith
Dialga Freelancer
Near Celestic Town, Sinnoh

Heaving himself onto the ledge, Ben slumped back against the mountainside and gasped for breath. As he did so, he gazed out across the majesty of Sinnoh's mountains, the range crowned by the most majestic peak of all, the vast expanse which was Mount Coronet. The odd dot swooped through the sky here and there, a flying Pokemon, or a human aircraft? Rising to his feet, he took in one last look at the glory before him, and then turned back to the task at hand. He had heard of a small Freelancer community nestled in the foothills of the great mountains, hiding from ENDoG amidst soaring peaks and craggy valleys. Reaching out with one gloved hand, he grabbed for a handhold on the slope above him. If he could reach the top of this peak, he could probably see some indication of the small community somewhere. Freelancers left signs for one another, so that they could find their way back home, but also to guide those who still believed to a safe haven.

Suited agents burst into the room just as he was gone through the window. Shouts echoed loudly behind him, full of anger.

Snarling at the memory, he heaved himself up. He had escaped their grasp, luckily. And while his freedom was uncomfortable and hard, he still vastly preferred it to the nightmare living in ENDoG's world would be.

Nightmare...

A harrowing roar echoed through the world as intense pain surged through him. He was bleeding he was screaming he was dying

Heaving himself up the slope once more, Ben growled. Where was the dragon of time? Where could ENDoG have concealed the powerless being? He had asked several fellow Freelancers with insight into ENDoG's dealings, but none of them could answer his question. The prisons of the Legendary Pokemon were a secret clearly confined to higher echelons of the enemy. But still, someone, somewhere, could get him what he needed.

He finally reached the top of the small mountain and stood at the peak, gasping in air as he gazed out. He scanned for a likely hiding place, a small nook or cranny in the valleys and peaks where a small group could conceal itself from ENDoG's eyes, both organic and synthetic. It wasn't just ENDoG's Pokemon and humans which were the problem. The organization had immense influence, and thus they had access to many technologies. Helicopters, unmanned drones, perhaps even satellites. No-one was entirely sure just what ENDoG had in its arsenal any more. Once you left civilization, you left the loop, and information became hard to get. Ben had been out of touch with society for years, he no longer knew the latest great actor, or the newest top model. He didn't even care. Celebrities were just figureheads to a society which was steeped in corruption. A society which had gleefully embraced ENDoG's dream, and had abandoned their precious Pokemon to captivity and enslavement. Robbed of their power, reduced to pets. Anger burned in his heart and eyes at the mere thought of it.

He retrieved a Poke Ball from one of his concealed inner coat pockets, and with the press of a button, released the Pokemon sleeping within. In a flash of crimson, she appeared, his closest companion. Elaine emerged from the light, gazing around with deep, sad eyes.

"Where are we?" she asked telepathically. It wasn't so much that she spoke as the mental processes of the question became known to him through her abilities.

"Close to the settlement, I think," he replied. He didn't technically need to speak, Elaine could read the answer from his thoughts. However, after the years of isolation, keeping up this illusion of normal conversation let him remain assured he had friends and allies even when not staying with other Freelancers.

Have they left any signs?"

"If they have, they're well-hidden," Ben mused. It was a tricky issue for most Freelancers, of course. Avoiding capture was their foremost aim, because capture led to imprisonment, and to losing their precious Pokemon. But at the same time, most wanted to provide a refuge to others in need, and so the question became how to maintain a hidden home while allowing those in need to find you? Some had scouts on watch outside their camp's borders, both to raise the alarm if ENDoG came prowling, and to help newcomers find their way to a safe haven. "I think I'll walk on and see if they have scouts waiting."

She nodded. "Be careful on the way down."

"I will be," he replied. She gently embraced him, before letting go and allowing him to return her to her Poke Ball. "Sleep well," he murmured, pocketing the sphere before beginning his descent down the other side of the mountain. Hopefully, he would find the Freelancer camp before the weather worsened, or before a wild Pokemon threatened him.

 

[Slipomatic]

Mithal Tales – Codenamed Crescent the Magician
Mew Freelancer
Route 25

Mithal stood in front of what used to be the famous Bill’s cottage. The house and the things inside it were long destroyed when ENDoG came into power. It was one of the first things that were targeted. No one went up route 24 to route 25. There just isn’t anything of interest here anymore so it made a good place to hide out from prying eyes. It was also due to this inattentiveness to route 25 that trees now shrouded the cape from view and the water unclean. Mithal looked around before releasing all of her pokemon, each of them looking a bit sad. She quickly spoke softly, “Sorry guys and girls, it has been a while since I released any of you. You can stay out for a bit, but we’ll have to move on shortly.”

This got a few groans from her group, but she didn’t want to risk getting caught by ENDoG forces. Her pokemon made themselves comfortable, with Tika, her zoroark, using an illusion to make herself look like a glaceon. She played with Snowy, her glaceon, playing a game of tag. Mithal looked up in the skies, thinking to her nightmares of Mew. She hadn’t had one in a while, which was a relief and worrying for her. On one hand, she got her rest, but it could have been that Mew had been caught. She shook her head and thought about how she started feeling like something was wrong. She couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, but she knew that something definitely felt wrong. She briefly wondered how her disguise worked so well, a bit too well. Although she was a freelancer, she had virtually free reign to come and go as she pleased in most towns. It meant that she could use some luxuries of a hotel, but it also meant making sure that her stuff wasn’t stolen or checked.

Despite all of this, she felt at home with her pokemon. Even though some of them gave her a headache, she wouldn’t have it any other way, aside from being able to walk with them out in broad daylight. Even though she had fake NP collars, she didn’t want to test them in public for fear of it not working. She looked at her group, smiling softly as she loved them more than the world. Flame slowly padded to her pushed his head into her hand, whining softly. She chuckled softly at his needy wants and rubbed his head, eliciting a murr of approval from him. Despite him not too worried about his appearance, she knew secretly that he loved being clean kept groomed. Still, that nagging feeling of something wrong couldn’t leave her and she couldn’t stop worrying about it.

 

[LokiTheGengar]

Andrew Tenant
ENDoG Head of Cyber-intelligence
ENDoG Headquarters, CI division

Taptaptaptap-click-taptaptaptap.

Andrew paused, stretching and wiggling his sore fingers and briefly listening to the soft sound of tapping keyboards coming from outside his office. He stared at the computer screen, a window open and displaying a large block of code. A computer virus, to be precise, and a really nasty one at that. That is to say, the program would be a very nasty computer virus if it actually worked. With a sigh Andy went back to his work, scanning the code for any errors to no avail. Shaking his head, he tapped the smartphone on his desk. A Porygon-2 appeared on the screen for a moment before phasing into the real world.

"Inquiry: Am I needed, master?" Asked Boolean in its monotone, prerecorded voice as it floated by Tenant's shoulder, scanning the virus's code.

Andrew smiled wryly. The new speech program was working so far. "I don't need help with the code, Boolean. No, I need you to retrieve the records from that last storage network bust."

"Clarification: Do you mean the operation last month, master?"

"Of course. Now hurry Boolean, I need that information to work on this."

"Confirmation: As you wish, master."

Boolean phased into Tenant's computer before fading from the screen. Andrew smiled at the usefulness of Porygons. He leaned back for a moment, closed his eyes, and counted down. "Five...four...three..."

"Update: I have brought you the information, master."

Tenant opened his eyes. "You were faster than expected, Boolean. good job." The file was neatly opened up in a document on the screen.

"Gratitude: Thank you, master. Report: A attempt was made to access the files from an external source."

Andrew simply rolled his eyes and reached into his suit pocket, producing a pokeball. "They never learn, do they, Boolean?" Tenant pushed the button and a crimson flash produced another Porygon, this one similar to Boolean but at the same time very different.

Boolean shied away from its corrupted sibling. The Porygon-Z simply stared at its master inquisitively.

"Octal, have Boolean help you locate whoever tried to hack into my system. Find them, blast them, retrieve what information you can find, come back to this computer. Understood?"

Octal produced a sharp beep-a mark of confirmation-before phasing into the computer with Boolean.

Andrew returned to work, reading-and re-reading the report on the busted storage network. The network was only a small-time operation (for all his uncanny skills, the main freelancer network still evaded Andrew), but any encryptions, firewalls, or whatever applied there could very well be applied elsewhere. And Octal was only good for busting up individual computers.

CI needed to figure something out.

 

[Avenger Angel]

Jonathan Bishop
Leader of ENDoG
Saffron City, Kanto

Peace today. Prosperity tomorrow.

At long last, the wait was over. The age of violence, obscurity, and blinded aggressive ignorance was coming to a close with the end of Pokémon battling, and the incarceration of the wayward, irresponsible legendary Pokémon. As time and history had shown, those who were irresponsible with their power and influence deserved to lose those privileges.

Children all over the world were learning and appreciating a more focused education without the distraction of Pokémon robbing them of years of precious studies. They would accomplish things they never thought they could achieve as children. Instead of being trainers lost in daft wanderlust, they would tomorrow's engineers, architects, scientists, and leaders. There was no doubt in my mind, this was the quantum leap that mankind needed a take, a vital, critical step long overdue in human society.

At first, many people were opposed to the ENDoG campaign that forbid Pokémon battling and enforced the law that NEEM and other Pokémon power-reducing collars or badges be worn and secured at all times, or face severe legal punishment for not doing so. That was old norm and culture stubbornly refusing to be pushed aside. But while safety and security were high priorities, I didn't ask for people to give up their Pokémon entirely. As many of the campaign messages stated, Pokémon were outstanding companions and made good pets in many cases. But the battling, the violence, the destruction, the ignorance... all that would have to come to an end. And I knew it would put an end to the Elite Four, to the Gym Leaders, and would ensure only those with the appropriate license would be allowed to own Pokémon. Only those with the demonstrated responsibility and understanding would be given the privilege. I made it clear, Pokémon could be great friends and companions, but they could be extremely dangerous also.

The rain came down as the limousine I was riding in carried through the streets of Saffron City. There had been several straight days of rain in Saffron City, and I was aware of the concerns regarding irregular weather patterns due to the legendary Pokémon being captured. ENDoG research and development teams were busy around the clock attempting to create the technological means to neutralize and balance the irregular weather effects. The general public, mostly those that opposed the capture of the legendary Pokémon, demanded answers, but they would have them. Almost every day, I was updating them on the progress of the developing technology, communicating with them and the media at all times. But I made one thing clear. The legendaries would still be captured and incarcerated. Creatures that were powerful enough and known to have or had the potential to cause massive destruction with their abilities simply couldn't be trusted to retain them, and had to be neutralized with the NEEM collars and badges as well after being put into containment. This was for the greater good of us all.

Not everyone saw this, however. There were still plenty of trainers out there, willing to defend their "right" to train and battle with Pokémon. Willing to defend it with violence of their own, and disrupt the safety and security of the general public by refusing to adhere to ENDoG policies and laws. As a result, I had to commission a police and military force to find them and neutralize them. In many cases, it resulted in imprisonment of these trainers, but in many others, violent trainers and their unsecured Pokémon had to be eliminated with deadly force after all other options were no longer possible. It was a shame, and I was hoping these matters could have been resolved peacefully without the violence. However, these "trainers" simply didn't understand the vision and the reason as to why this had to be done. They didn't understand the value of education over wanderlust, or the benefit of prosperity over competitive violence. Many who supported us were willing to believe here and now, but there was the stubborn minority that were simply too blind, too attached to the ways of old, regardless of how wrong and degenerative they truly were.

It was a horrible shame.

And while many legendaries had been incarcerated, there were still at least ten that were not accounted for, ones that had proven challenging to obtain and insisted on holding onto their positions of power. Regardless, we had made significant progress, and I knew as long as we were diligent and determined, we could contain them all, and allow technology to replace their roles, if and however necessary. Many of the technologies were in beta-testing and in prototype phases, another sign of significant and dependable progress. In my heart, I knew it could be done. And it would, but in the meantime, there were those that were mad enough to try and rescue the captured legendaries, as trainers have attempted before... resorting to violence and anger instead of communication and negotiation. All the times I've tried to negotiate with them, they had yet to come up with viable reasons as to why this shouldn't be done.

I had often heard that it wasn't the "natural order" of things, but yet it was clear that to legendary Pokémon, "natural order" was aggressive anarchy and violence, a setting of power struggles and displays of power that left the world in tattered ruins, a setting that no level of human civilization could endure and tolerate in the scope of longevity. Since the legendary Pokémon refused to become civilized, we were forced to suppress them for the safety and welfare of all, not just humans, but other Pokémon as well. Pokémon and humans could live together, but it had to be in peace.

As soon as I entered the ENDoG governmental building, I was greeted by the receptionist, who I returned the favor to. I had read the newspaper on the elevator up to my office to see that the end of the Johto League had been finalized with the Ecruteak City gym building being reopened as library after weeks of renovation. The other gym buildings had been used for other purposes as well, including museums, recreational centers for sports, theaters, science centers, and the like, putting them to much better use. Many small businesses that depended on Pokémon battling were going out of business, but in their place, new businesses would emerge, and a situation that many thought would cause severe economic stress had been resolved with very minor changes in the stock market and in financial securities.

In other headlines, months after both Silph Co and Devon Corporation had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the wake of ENDoG ordinances, the companies were beginning complete restructuring into other industries that could accompany their research and development. CEO Andrew Parker of Silph announced that Silph would be taking a medical science approach, using their facilities to research and develop medical devices and surgical tools for both humans and Pokémon. Devon, on the other hand, decided to direct the company more into computer technology and hardware manufacturing. Even though they had initially resented ENDoG's decisions, I resolved the situation by providing them both a significant amount of funding for their conversion of their businesses. Because of it, they were able to retain most of their employees, and were able to carry over into new industries seamlessly, industries that would resemble and pave the path for mankind's prosperity to come. All of this in exchange for the understanding of why this had to be done. They couldn't have asked for a fairer deal.

As I set the newspaper down, I could envision what would be the headlines would be ten years from now. Progress. Optimism. It was a new, glorious age that had been suppressed for far too long...

 

[Sluggy]

Dexter Bones
ENDoG Sargent
Route 25

The sun felt pretty nice on Dexter's skin. He hadn't been out much lately, and when the sun hit his eyes when he walked out of, what once was Bill's Abode, and he took a big gulp of air, puffing out his chest, before letting out a hard, heavy, mildly aggravated sigh. He tilted his hat so the sun didn't hit his eyes as hard as they were, though the scenery still somewhat stung his eyes. Even though the ENDoG occupations made the locations significantly less idyllic, Dexter still thought the scenery was beautiful, and if not, at least very bright. He always liked the outdoors, and would see the beauty in a park in Pittsburg if you asked him. That's just the kind of guy he was. He was a man who could appreciate the beauty in life.

He looked to his left, then he looked to his right like he was crossing the road, before he tossed out his three pokeballs, letting his own pokemon out. They all stood at attention, with the exception of Simon, who was missing a leg to stand on. "At rest, comrades." He would say as he gave a yawn and a stretch. Funny, his pokemon were the only ones who he'd really relax around nowadays. Those under him looked up to him, and those above him? Well, he wasn't quite sure, but no news is good news, right? He'd adjust his hat and look down to his pokemon. "C'mon guys, s'time t'go on patrol. S'our beat." He said, letting his hands drop from his hat. Simon took the front, Grif took the back, and Lochjor was smack in the middle with Dex at the front, and they'd walk in a tired, relaxed little line. Why did they walk in a line? Oh, no reason. Just a little order in their group. An exercise. That's mostly what these patrols are. Dexter never really found anyone on Route 25. It's not his usual beat, but it was an easy one at least.

That is, until Simon picked up on something, and in its own weird little pokemon language that Dexter didn't quite understand, told that he had in fact, heard something. Dexter didn't exactly jump on it, no. He didn't really like his job much, and this would surface up to the top of his skull as he put his hand on his tranquilizer pistol and followed his pokemon compatriot, Grif and Lochjor trailing on behind, trying to be as quiet as they possibly can. Dexter walked right up behind Mithal and coughed a bit. He'd been recovering from a bit of a cold for a while now, and he gave a little sniff before he started talking. "Hey Miss. S'not safe out here." He'd say as his mind fully registered what he was looking at. His hand let go of his holster like it was hot, as a relaxed, pleasant smile crept up on his face as he stood up straight. "C'mon, Cerulean City's just a few ticks away." He'd say, thumbing his way behind him, somewhat idly. "This place'n't any sort for a civilian. Y'could get seriously hurt out here." Simon, who had been circling the group, had decided to move back to Dexter's side, and Dexter would pat his head. "D'n be scared'a ol' Simon here, he's a grumpy sort." He'd say as Grif and Lochjor moved on into view, appearently in a heated debate over something, before their voices soon came to a quick, screeching halt and running up to Dexter's side as well. They'd pose as a team if you asked politely, but so far, nothing's particularly "real" about this scenario. Just a guy who's lookin' out for the local populace. Just trying to make sure nobody gets hurt with his ragtag group of wayward little pocket monsters.

 

[Slipomatic]

OOC: You dirty cheater, my posts would be longer, but I'm sick so sorry.

Mithal Tales
Mew Freelancer
Route 25

Mithal grew nervous as she was basically caught red handed with pokemon out around her so it was time for lying time. She hummed to herself as she looked over the ENDoG officer and noted that he was at least sergeant rank so it will be hard to get out of the predicament. She smiled sweetly and said, “Oh don’t worry, these are my pokemon. I have their NP collars with me so if I do go back into town, I can just put these on.” She brought out her fake NP collars and waved them in front of her. She added, “I know what you’re about to say and I know that there is no law concerning about NP collars outside of towns, only that NP collars must be on at all times when nearing towns and inside towns. Besides, I’m the wandering magician Crescent here. I look to my pokemon for inspirations on new magic tricks. I only took the collars off because I would need their powers to defend myself out here in the wild. It’s not like I can go around carrying a gun like you so this is my only option. Sides, these pokemon with me are too sweet to harm me.” She resumed petting Flame who had started growling and his growling stopped as he murred with the scratching on his head.

She clapped her hands and beckoned all of her pokemon around her and started petting them all to prove they were harmless even without their collars on. She looked up and said, “See now officer, I’ll be fine out here, but if you really want me to go to town, I can go to town. Sides, I don’t view these beautiful pokemon as little monsters, just mischievous from time to time, especially those two.” She pointed at her glaceons who only giggled at her accusation. She sighed and looked at the officer and said, “Why do all the cute ones have to be in the ENDoG forces, what I’d give for a cute looking boy who wasn’t in the ENDoG forces. We could spend so much time with our pokemon, making them feel happy and safe in the cities while living a life of luxury.” She sighed as she looked dreamily in the sky, pretending to be daydreaming about her dream boyfriend. She pretended to blush as she realized what she said was heard by the officer, looking away shyly.

 

[gmoyes]

Alex Morgan
Registeel Freelancer
Mt. Silver

Alex pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, rubbed his eyes and resumed staring at the computer screen in front of him. He we supposed to be an expert at this type of stuff but his brain was fried from lack of sleep and so would anyone else's brain if they stayed awake as long as he had. And it was only his knowledge that could solve the problem staring him in the face. The ENDoG forces had the habit of putting tiny changes in the machines' programing that would render his anti-machine pokeball useless. He had to fix the gaps before any Freelancer pokeballs got captured along with the pokemon inside it. At least their stolen pokeball management system allowed the changes Alex made to the pokeball programming to be updated automatically.

After scrolling through the lines of programing yet again looking for that one last flaw, Alex closed his eyes and rested his head on his palms. "Come on, these guys are counting on me," he mumbled into his hands. "I've got to do this." Looking back up ai
t the computer he saw a message pop up.

HEY MASTER. ARE YOU AWAKE?

Alex quickly typed a responce. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN GLITCH? Another line appeared on the screen. TESTING ENDOG DEFENCES. CHASED OFF BY A PORYGON 2 AND Z.

Alex grimaced. The ENDoG forces have been fans of the Porygon line simply because it was easy to program them to not have powers. DID YOU LEAVE A TRACE? YOU KNOW YOU ARE HALF OUR ELECTRONIC SECURITY. The responce was instant. THIS HAS NOT BEEN THE FIRST TIME I HAVE DONE THIS MASTER. I AM WELL AWARE OF MY DUTIES.

Alex rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time they had this talk and it sure won't be the last. While Alex might have been an expert with computers, he wasn't a living entity of it like Glitch was. If the virtual pokemon said it didn't leave a trace, it didn't leave a trace. It even explained that leaving a message for him to say that it was going to scout the security was leaving a trace. FINE JUST GET BACK TO GUARDING THE SYSTEM AND LEAVE ME ALONE TO FIGURE THIS OUT. His pokemon replied with a OK followed by a pause then: LINE 183 - O NOT 0

Alex immeadiatly scrolled down to that line and saw the error. "You clever assholes," he muttered under his breath as he added a line of code to his own programming to counter it. He saved it and shut down the computer, content that he saved his teammates' pokemon, at least until the enemy's next update. Now he could get some rest. He exited his lab and became aware of where he was again. He was deep in the tunnels of Mt. Silver, far from the prying eyes of ENDoG forces. He was sure that the forces knew that the Freelancers has some sort of base in the mountain, but was insignificant enough to risk troops getting lost and losing their lives in the cave system. It helped that the strongest pokemon in Kanto and Johto gathered there and were on good terms with the Freelancers. They would slaughter any soldiers coming into the cave.

Alex entered his quarters, a small cavern close to his lab. While it looked like a standard bachelor pad, though it was in good shape thanks to his personal maid flitting around doing stuff. She was currently dusting his bookshelf but rushed over as soon as she spotted him. He laughed and rubbed her head. "How are you doing Wind? I got the newest round done." The Masquerain type flew laps around her trainer with her perpetual joy that could never be surpressed. He chuckled and looked around his room. There was his bookcase stuffed full of many different types of book, his bed that was calling for him and a few other pieces of furniture vital to any house. He had a few posters hung around the room displaying old anti- ENDoG slogans, ranging from 'Pokemon are People too' to his personal favourite 'ENDoG or END GoD?'. These people where a menace to the world and had to be stopped. He just had to play his part and hope that some day things will change.

After changing out of his work clothes and grabbing a bite to eat, he crawled into his bed and hoped that the next time the alarm that called for his skills would be slow reaching him. Saying goodnight to Wind, not really know if it was in fact night, patted the pokeball on his bedside table and promtly fell asleep.

 

[DVB]

Diego Vendrix
Darkrai Freelancer
Outskirts of Ecruteak City

In the outskirts of one of the oldest and more traditional towns of Jotho, a lone cloaked figure watched from the trees the event unfolding. He saw the former Ecruteak City gym being reopened as a library, thus ending the Pokemon League here in Jotho. He had a look of anger and melancholy. His home was no longer what it was. He saw the changes, and he didn't like it. No one complained regarding Pokemon Battles. Strife was a natural part of life and it happened between Pokemon regardless of people.

But Diego saw the truth. Humanity, for all of its technological advancements and achievements and pride, were afraid. Born with the capability of sin, they were the only beings who had the choice of good or evil and what lied between. In the course of humanity's evolution, they forgot to learn modesty. Did they think they could try and manipulate nature to their whims? Did they expect the lack of consequences? No, they didn't. They feared and envied the powers of Pokemon. They were here longer before humanity. What right did humans have to judge what they did? There was an order of things.

Diego had been on the move ever since the nightmares have been occurring. He hadn't seen his brother or his friends in a while. However, he was more than certain they were capable of staying in the shadows as well as continue their development of the anti-NEEM devices. Diego had smiled. He had seen the newcasts regarding on how the children would be able to live more fulfilled lives. Ha. Who were they to say the kids would be happy this way? Sure, some could stay at school and become top engineers, scientists and doctors and so on. Others would drop out, make gangs and begin wreaking havoc. Anyone of the rebels who was smart would rebel against the establishment and they would use Pokemon to do it. Did they believe that this would bring the advancement of humanity? Possibly.

However, Diego remembered the stories. He knows of Team Rocket, Team Aqua, Team Magma, Team Galaxy and Team Plasma. While not much could be said for Plasma, if every one of those gangs had relied solely on technology instead of Pokemon, the general populace would be screwed. Plenty of scientists were part of those villain organization. So this could result in even worse organizations.

Diego's train of thought took a turn when he heard soft snores coming under his hat. His Pikachu. He hated being in his Pokeball so he hid in his hat. Diego's face became softer. He began thinking of his moms. What were they doing? Were they now librarians at the place, or did they serve as tour guides for Bell Tower? Diego wasn't sure, and he couldn't know. He was a wanted fugitive and a pretty high ranked one at that. Diego smiled. While rebellious trainers irked the organization, it was the Vendrix brothers that were among the most mysterious. The ENDoG had labeled them intelligent, calculating, reckless, innovative ad insane. Diego had to agree.

He had saw that school had ended for the kids. No doubt they were complaining about the homework they had. Some were happily chatting. Others had rather sullen faces as they looked at their town. It was the youth that would decide the future. Diego had scribbled a note onto a sheet of paper from his pack and made it into a plane. He tossed it and it landed in the middle of the courtyard. The children gathered as they read and their eyes widened. They looked around their town in question. Diego smiled before he put away his binoculars and left, having proudly planted more seeds of truth into the leaders of tomorrow.

As he went through the paths, he realized his location, the crossroads between Ecruteak, Goldenrod and Violet. Diego faced the direction to Goldenrod. The Park remained mostly unchanged, but the contests were gone. Diego's mind also shifted to the former Safari Zones, now zoos. The only thing good about them was they had strict policies on visitors interacting with the Pokemon. While the Pokemon weren't mistreated, they were rarely seen smiling. Diego then faced the direction of Violet. He though of Bellsprout Tower. It remained unchanged, but the monks were less than pleased with ENDoG. Further on was the Ruins of Alph. While people would occasionally visit, very few people visit now. The scientists were disappointed in their trips. Diego took it the Unown were none too happy about what was going on. However, that place always had more than meets the eye, which is why few now enter nowadays. They seem to be afraid of the place. Diego had went through Violet Town unnoticed and ended up at the Ruins of Alph. What luck. No body was there. He entered the Ruins and went to a secluded corner. He tapped his hat, which woke Pikachu up. Look-out duty. Pikachu peaked under to be aware while Diego slept.

And he dreamed...

He heard sounds of anguish. He saw rainbow flames being swallowed by a thick smog. He saw towering spires of a dystopian world. He heard the sounds of agony... What nightmares...

((Enjoy this, I doubt all of my posts will be this long )

 

[Avenger Angel]

Jonathan Bishop
Leader of ENDoG
ENDoG Headquarters, Saffron City, Kanto

I had scheduled for a conference meeting with several ENDoG Enforcement Directors, trying to get an idea of what remnants of Pokémon trainers there were left. I knew they were still out there, but the whole purpose of this operation was to flush them out and use them as an example to discourage others from doing the same thing.

In time, I expected us to have even fewer of these meetings.

Andrew Harper, one of the directors of security, was the first to present the latest report. He seemed intrigued by the situation, but nonetheless, the middle-aged, black haired main with the fair complexion seemed confident and relaxed.

"Statistics show an overall 15% drop in trainer-related crimes since last month," Harper told us, showing us a line graph as a part of his conference presentation. "We also noticed out of that percentage, there were 42% fewer cases in urban areas. It seems illegal Pokémon-related activity is moving out of the cities and more into rural districts."

"Their influence is fading," I concluded, seeing the operation was becoming a satisfying success. "It matches what Pablo Rodriguez concluded earlier. Trainers are fleeing the cities and are wandering out in nature to avoid detection."

"Heh heh," Tactics Advisor John Larkin snickered, always seeming to get satisfaction out of every winning situation. "Hella lotta good that's gonna do 'em. Let 'em suckers run. Guess they finally realized things sure ain't eva gonna go back to the way things used to be."

Larkin was vastly more on the casual side, enjoying sarcasm and mocking the failure of his enemies. His wild, brown hair and casual attitude, along with his usually casual clothing made it clear he was more about function than presentation, refusing to be modest. He, however, was reliable and trustworthy. He had proven his loyal plenty of times previously.

"What's the situation with the incarcerated legendary Pokémon?" I asked Warden Patrick Hills, who was an older man in charge of overseeing the entire containment operation.

"Well," Patrick replied, rubbing his white beard. "Their conditions have been worsening despite the fact we've been trying to keep the facilities clean and feed them a balanced diet. Most of them refuse to eat, others have insomnia, while the others that actually do sleep seem to be experiencing nightmares. And a few of them have been inflicting injuries on themselves. Articuno broke both wings yesterday intentionally, and Heatran is currently in a medical ward after inflicting a concussion on itself. To be brutally honest, it's clear the legendary Pokémon absolutely loathe captivity."

"That's their own damn fault," Larkin replied, caring nothing about the welfare of the creatures. "Bastards do nothin' but wreck crap and get self-conceited. Yeah, look who's in charge now, huh?"

I wasn't worried about it. I shared Larkin's regards in light that legendary Pokémon could not be trusted outside of a cage or secured containment facility. In the meantime, the facilities were greatly secure, using electronic, physical, and biometric locks to ensure they couldn't get out, and anyone trying to free them would find it impossible. Not to mention guards were given equipment that monitored their health and location status.

"At the current moment, we're trying to obtain Kyurem," Derek Lancer, the adamant overseer of the operation to capture the legendary Pokémon, said to the rest of the conference. "He's frozen himself in a cavern, meaning he's pretty much trapped like a rat. However, the heated drills we've been using to tear away at the ice have been more effective than standard fire Pokémon attacks. The issue is more on that we don't want to hurt Kyurem in the process. We can only go so far with the drills before we get too close to Kyurem's body. Getting too close means those drills could rip him apart like a chainsaw against a two-year-old."

I figured that was probably the main complication. The other legendaries that were proving difficult all had their various means of escape, but I knew these tricks would not last forever. And as technology was growing stronger, they were growing weaker.

Still, these were the consequences they were meant to experience for the many years they put countless people at risk. As time would show, we wouldn't need them. Technology was superior to nature, a force that only knew chaotic creation and destruction.

It was about time human society had control over its own goals and destiny. That power was in our hands now.

 

[Sluggy]

OoC: (I don't mind how little you post, more the quality of the post. I'm sorry to hear you're sick, though. :O)
Dexter Bones
ENDoG Sargent
Route 25

And then ol' Dexter was greeted by lots of words. He'd attribute it to being nervous about the laws in place. Then he was shown a bunch of collars., not on the pokemon. Hmm, she's gotta be rich to have all'a these things and all'a these pocket monsters. Or maybe she was part of some sort of rebellion? Either way, Dexter wasn't too interested in these little details. He'd stand quietly and listen, but his end goal was to see her off to Cerulean City without a scratch. He'd remind himself of this, the whole way through.

"Look, Miss-er..." He trailed off for a bit, as he realized he hadn't introduced himself yet, and realized he probably wasn't going to for some while. Truth be told, he was still digesting all of what was said to him. Usually, people didn't try to talk to him so much when found outside of town with pokemon. Fortunately for Mithal, Dexter never checks for a license. "There's really nothing up here. Just wild pokemon and..." He motioned with one hand to the scenery, which perhaps wasn't as lush as it may have once been. "What once was Bill's Cottage." He looked over at it for just a moment, before looking back. "Used t'be such a lovely spot t' run off to." He'd smile a thin smile, remembering the old days before he was a Sargent of anything. Then, he got smashed in the face by the remark of "cute guys in the ENDoG". Sure wasn't him, no. He was too pale to be considered "cute". Hell, to him? He thought he was close enough to albino. "Right, right. Let's just get you into town, shall we?" He said, his thin smile broken into a small frown.

It's funny, the only one with a collar on 'em is Lochjor, to prevent 'em from doing something he might regret. Bite off more than he can chew. He wasn't doing much of anything now, just chillin' by Grif, pointing a claw to indicate "this argument isn't over" in gestural pokemon speak. Really, the one that should have a collar, is Simon. He was Dexter's first pokemon, and he was /not/ a happy camper, and with all he's been through, Dex couldn't blame him one bit. Right now, the one eyed, one legged Beedrill was staring down Flame for even growling /near/ Dexter, who was now trying to console his slightly irrational, very irritable, and not particularly sane childhood friend by patting him on the head. Why? To let Simon know that Dex is there. So then, what was Grif up to? Ah, he would be folding his arms and puffing out his chest, pretending to look like he was bigger than he really was, all dressed up like a street urchin, complete with a rasta wig under his hat. Rest assured, Grif didn't look menacing one bit, but you've gotta give 'em points for trying.

 

[Slipomatic]

Mithal Tales
Mew Freelancer
Route 25

Mithal sighed as he remained adamant in escorting her to town and slumped her shoulders in defeat. She said, “Alright, you win… I’ll come along with my pokemon to the town, but I won’t be staying in town long as I’m a travelling magician. I can never stay in a town for too long before I feel the urge to move to a new place.” She took her fake collars and beckoned to her pokemon, most of them wincing at the fact they would have to wear this. She smiled softly and comforted her pokemon as she put the collars on each of them although it was a little tricky on her porygon-z. She sighed and said, “Now I’m ready to go, lead the way to town.” Her pokemon gave disgruntled calls and she shook her head and gestured for the officer to escort her. She smiled inwardly, pitying the pokemon with him, mostly his kingler. He had a collar to restrain him and she saw the look in the eyes that it wanted to prove itself to the officer that he was capable of battling although he had a lot of disabilities. It was a shame he didn’t follow the ideals that pokemon were more than just pets. She looked down at her pokemon and gave a look that sent a silent message to not use any attacks at all and to behave themselves.

She hoped that this little walk would go quickly as she didn’t find what she was looking for anyways. She didn’t think that Mew would stay so close to a route so she probably would have to look elsewhere. Her last nightmare had lush forests in the surrounding background so she had looked around here, seeing that it was a bit lush. Perhaps Mew was hiding at what used to be the Safari Zone, which remained the same, except that it was now a preservation park.

 

[Sluggy]

Dexter Bones
ENDoG Sargent
Route 25

The thing about Dexter is, he didn't really much like the collars more than his pokemon. After all, they were like family to him. They've been through with him in thick and thin, fought all manners of things, and managed to somehow not end up dead. No, the collars were more put in place to prevent them from doing anything hasty or brash and lose an arm, or worse. Dexter was a man who genuinely cared for his monster-pals, and really just didn't want to see them hurt. Maybe one could see that in him? That he liked them not as pets, but as a small, wild little family of sorts? He only wanted to make sure they were safe, while also keeping them out of their little pokeball prisons as much as possible. Heck, that's what he was doing right now, wasn't it?

Ah, but that wasn't the task at hand. Dexter gave a short nod to Mithal. "Right then. Sorry for the inconvenience Ma'am, but I've been tasked with upholding the safety of all citizens." He tilted his head to the side and added on "Well, technically it's "Maintaining the peace and calm", but what better way to do that than to watch over the safety of everyone?" He gave a thin smile again as he started to walk, very well expecting for Mithal to follow him. "It's a hard job, but serving and protecting is what I'm good at! Haha, couldn't imagine anything else!" Simon stayed behind and made gesturing motions, as if making sure that Mithal did as she said, and Grif waddled on after Lochjor hobbled after Dexter, resuming their argument, but being much more quiet about it. Whatever they were going on about seemed to be fairly important to them.

Meanwhile, Dexter was rather absorbed in being called "cute". He wasn't sure if that was a proper word for him, and as flattering as it was and as nice as it felt to be complimented as such, he couldn't help but grimace. True, he wasn't as bad as he thought he looked, but he had a pretty rough job. One that kept him moving a lot. In fact, he was really only resting here for a while. He was on his way to Saffron City to report in and spend a week writing forms and papers, which he wasn't really looking forward to at all. His small, thin smile bent back into a frown when he remembered the last time he paid a visit to the ENDoG headquarters. He looked to his side and gave a whistle, and soon Simon was back to the right of him. Dexter gave him a smile again and gave the rather angry Beedrill a rub on the head. "Ah, there there." He told his comrade of (drill) arms, his face twisting back up into a smile. A real one. His whole face lit up in joy, just happy to have 'em by his side. "S'just a civy. She ain't out t'get ya'. No need t'get yer antennae in a twist."

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

Marleena Feyr
ENDoG Assassin
Saffron City Outskirts

With the rain rushing and clattering against my helmet, I was more than glad to finally tell Skibi that it was time to land. The rough winds and rain were distressful for most flying type pokemon. Then again, both of us had been together often enough to set apart from the rest of the trainers that were still littered across the region. We were the very best. Like no one every was. We had been through more, and we knew it. We were simply elite at what we did. And that was enforcing the law. Wind kept screaming around my thoughts, even through the micro-filters that were supposed to soundproof against all but the loudest and most intense of noises. Probably a leak somewhere... With the thought of sending the suit and helmet in for repairs, I thought about the mission that I had just finished. It was probably time to call into Bishop by now. I whispered down to her helmet's mike, "Call Jonathan Bishop." The transmitter beeped to start my recorded message, "Hey Bishop, Feyr here. Just finished the job down in Fuschia City, just a badly organized group of 12 year olds who thought they could take out the big scary ENDoG." I chuckled after this phrase, realizing how routine I was making this sound. Hi honey, on my way back from school with the kids, just had to kill some pokemon and scare some other kids on the way back, I'll be late for dinner! Continuing, "All pokemon were exterminated, and the children were turned over to local ENDoG for conviction. Call me if anything comes up." I whispered a small end call to disconnect the transmission.

My thoughts were jumbled by the soft jolt as Skibi finally hit the steel rooftop of the ENDoG building which I was currently calling home. I took my helmet off for the first time in weeks, inhaling the fresher air even through the rainstorm of Saffron City. Even though the rain was starting to trickle all over my face and hair, I stayed out for a few moments, pondering the chaotic weather. Chaos was always the precedent to change. Always has been. Always will be. Cutting off her philosophical moments, I motioned for Skibi to follow me, and she followed me with her careful crow's hop, rain glistening down her jagged beak. I opened the doorway which led down the stairs. Turning the rounded stairway into the small room that was my own, I motioned for Skibi to go relax in the opposing room, which had been outfitted for my pokemon to relax as well. She hopped up to the perch that ran the length of the high ceiling room, and nibbled at some food which was left over from the last time we were here.

Satisfied with her comfort, I threw myself onto the cot that was in my small room. It had been a long and difficult mission. Never knowing what could possibly come up next was always throwing me out of house and home to leave for the cold rainy world outside. So for the moment, I completely relaxed, just staring out the window at the cold world outside.

 

[Avenger Angel]

Jonathan Bishop
Leader of ENDoG
ENDoG Headquarters, Saffron City, Kanto

My greatest critics seemed to blame us entirely for the rather chaotic weather. That, and a culture that seemed to be currently in an identity crisis. For many, Pokémon battling and training was their entirely livelihood. Former gym leaders struggled to find new employment, and often blamed their shortcomings on ENDoG, simply because they lacked the skills in other fields. However, I knew that after a few generations and after a good solid decade of this new motion, there would be none of this.

Gym leaders and Elite Four members were the most troublesome. As several of my ENDoG law enforcement captains had reported, it was exceptionally rare to see any gym leader praise or even be simply indifferent to ENDoG's ideology. Almost all of them were adamantly against it, taking refuge away from the cities and joining the rest of the "Resistance." Some of them, like Lieutenant Surge, the former Vermillion City gym leader, were using previously-acquired tactics and knowledge to try and resist against ENDoG operatives. They saw themselves as freedom fighters, but the truth was, exactly what kind of freedom were they fighting for? The right to put Pokémon into violent cage matches, and fight until one trainer had to rush to the nearest Pokémon Center to try and save their lives in time? It was truly a savage and barbaric "freedom" they were trying to instill again into a society that had matured enough to reject such atrocities. As long as I lived and ENDoG had the potential and power to stop it, I would do everything I could to make sure it never returned.

Several research and development firms had confirmed that in order to handle the weather problems, they needed to invent a device that literally had to bring Mother Nature to her knees and surrender. The device would have to be powerful, and in essence, would leave nature fully in our hands. We would decide when it snowed, rained, shined, and so on, scheduling the weather accordingly so it only rained on certain days. Surprisingly, most people did not approve of this truth, but there was no other means. From what these researchers told me, there was no way to stop the storms or quell hurricanes without taking full command of the weather. However, I figured in time, these aspects may have seemed foreign at first, but that could change until they were accepted. All it took was a transition period.

Adults seemed to be more understanding of the new laws and development than children. Children were envious of the ways of old, skipping out on school to travel with their pet Pokémon and win "battles," but I knew in their later years, they would appreciate this and recognize its importance. But while there were many children that ran away from home and skipped out on school to partake in these illegal activities. They saw it as "unfair" that everyone had to be at least eighteen years old before they could take the POE (Pokémon Owner's Examination) and prove they were able to handle Pokémon and ensure they knew how crucial it was to ensure NEEM collars and badges were kept on at all times. Because to ENDoG and myself, a Pokémon without a NEEM collar or badge among other people was like waving a gun around in public.

I had gotten a call from Peter Hamlin, the main Controlling Director of ENDoG Scientific Research and Development. I was glad to hear from him, knowing his was the main executive that monitored the development of the GODHAND Satellite, the very device that would control nature. Not only would it allow us full control of the weather, but ensure that its violence and destruction wouldn't happen near human societies. Never again would we need to worry about hurricanes, tornadoes, or severe thunderstorms. We could schedule rain to only come down on days when the public knew it was coming, and would not prepare any outside activities on those dates.

"Jonathan Bishop, good to talk to you again," Peter Hamlin greeted me on the phone as I stood by my office window, looking outside. "The GODHAND's prototype was successful in demonstrating its capabilities in a small, controlled environment. While this was only a testing phase, it did provide valuable insight on how to achieve these effects with the main project."

"That's good," I replied, pleased to hear development was going well.

"What we did discover was that the GODHAND, while capable of controlling weather in a small environment, will have to be a network to ensure global coverage," Hamlin confessed. "We expect... at least five hundred of these satellites will need to be produced to ensure stability. It's also so we could allow some areas to receive certain weather conditions different than others."

I knew a network of five hundred such satellites would be an extremely expensive and time-consuming undertaking. Truthfully, it could very well take years, and the outside weather conditions didn't favor such a delay.

"That might be a problem," I told him, given the current scenario. "Is it possible a partial network could operational, and allow for additional satellites to be added to the network in time?"

"We looked into that," Hamlin replied. "We haven't tested it, but we could simply go ahead with the plan to cover major urban areas first, and then work our way down until we have achieved global coverage."

"Let's do that," I told Hamlin. "Well, I need to go. Good luck with the operation."

I then ended the call, and received a message from Marleena Feyr, one of the ENDoG specialists given the task of neutralizing vandals and trainers that refused to follow ENDoG law. In truth, she was one of the reasons why law enforcement was working well in the current state.

"Hey Bishop, Feyr here," The message played out. "Just finished the job down in Fuschia City, just a badly organized group of 12 year olds who thought they could take out the big scary ENDoG. All pokemon were exterminated, and the children were turned over to local ENDoG for conviction. Call me if anything comes up."

I nodded at the message, knowing this was often the case for minors attempting to train Pokémon. Being a minor with Pokémon was already in violation of the Official Pokémon Ownership Regulation, and without NEEM collars or badges, they demonstrated a disrespect for authority that truthfully, I regarded as a sickness. Not to mention attacking ENDoG officers and not complying with regulation was a severe offense. As a result, I warranted the use of lethal force against Pokémon handled in such conditions. I had no doubt that with even the slightest evidence, those children would have to serve time in a juvenile penitentiary, and would never be allowed to legally own Pokémon.

In the meantime, I had ENDoG enforcers continuously on the lookout for possible trainer activity, not just in urban sectors, but along the roads as well. More and more, rebellious trainers were becoming more and more like homeless, uncivilized hermits and tribal savages. But I knew, in time, they simply wouldn't have the weapons, resources, and technology to continue existing. If they refused to be a part of society, they would lose the ability to communicate with others, receive proper medical care, receive education, and many other necessary aspects.

And like them, the remaining, fleeing legendaries would be next. Even to this day, they refused to admit to their mistakes and understand humanity was to be respected and acknowledged. They refused to grasp the importance that the individual members of society needed to work together in cooperation, and not with humans blindly praising and worshiping legendary Pokémon that simply didn't respect them in return with their chaotic destruction. As a result, it was due time for them to be removed from power.

There was no other acceptable choice.

I decided to contact Feyr again, knowing with her expertise, she would be able to take on a task others had difficulty with.

"Hello, Agent Feyr, I have a new assignment for you," I told her, knowing she might enjoy this operation. "One of the legendaries we've been trying to get a hold of, Uxie, has proven to be difficult in obtaining, due to the fact that ENDoG operatives that have come across him have been stupefied after coming across him, and then made ignorant of his past position through his powers. You, however, possess superior skills in espionage and covert operations, along with technology and equipment that Uxie will not be prepared for. If there's anyone that can neutralize Uxie without detection, it's you."

In truth, the shorter the list of remaining legendaries narrowed down, the more any trainer resistance would realize it was hopeless to try and oppose us. Feyr, one of my best operatives, would definitely ensure the control needed to instill peace, security, and process would come to pass.

And in time, legendary Pokémon would realize they were born to respect people and benefit humanity... not the other way around.

 

[R.I. Saraibre]

Shay Miru
Giratina Freelancer
Dragonspiral Tower, Unova

Dragonspiral Tower.

It was said to be the place where the White Hero and the Black Hero first came to be. Nowadays those stories were diminished. I was happy the place wasn’t too torn apart, but torn apart enough to keep everyone and anyone away. I sat on the cold floor, looking at the engravings and staring at the reflections in the silent pool of water that went completely undisturbed. Vio-Nai was looking in three directions keeping a listen out for anything that would disturb us as I tried to get rid of this sudden sense of tired I had from earlier. Whatever happened was freaky as a Haunter and I wanted to know more about it. I looked over at Asharas, my best friend as she warmed us with her tail flame. She didn’t really believe my story, but then again what living being would? I fell through ice into some sort of…I wasn’t even sure. Maybe I was hit a bit too hard and lost my mind.

I managed to stand up and take a walk around the edge of the pool, staring at my reflection, wondering countless questions and one of them being why the world sucked. It wasn’t always like this but for some reason paranoia set in and it was royally screwing everything over. Everything came from nature, even things that were made by people, rooted to nature in some way. Now everything was out of whack but ENDoG was making it worse. Breaking he bonds between People and Pokémon was breaking the ties we had to nature, Pokémon were living bits of nature in another form and suppressing the Legendaries by capturing them was cruelty towards the very thing that gave us life. At the rate things were going, I was even worried about the other entities that held everything together. Without their embodiments to guide them, things were going to fall apart on a grand scale. This was something I’d always believed and somehow knew within myself. They had to be stopped and somehow, things needed to be set the way they were. Nothing was wrong with the way things were before, but now things were just turned around.

I stared at my reflection for a while, feeling entranced by it. I didn’t know why but I subconsciously sat down with my feet hanging from the edge of the pool. I could tell Vio had one of her heads looking at me and Asharas was looking at me from another direction. I hung from the edge, concentrating on my reflection for some time. For some reason I felt there was something there but at the same time, there was nothing. I took my show off and put my toes in, feeling the chilling cold wetness of the water that made me jump a bit. I wasn’t expecting to feel anything because of my previous experience today. Perhaps I was expecting too much or really was losing my mind.

I put my shoe back on my foot, standing up and looking at the water again, expecting some answer from it. Yeah I was probably losing my mind.

‘I have one random event and I’m glaring at a pool of water…now I’m…’

As I stared at the reflection, I could of sworn I saw something look back at me, but as I stared, I didn’t see anything at first, but as I continued staring at the bottom of the pool, or rather, on the side of the stone wall. I moved myself around to be able to read it, but the water had worn away at the note. It was a note that had been laminated, stuck in a clear case and sealed away. Whoever was here last must have left it here for whoever would have come next.

“The whale was taking the last of straggling prey to the north.”

Now to anyone else, that was a simple sentence to a story, however Freelancers had far too many different codes to keep track of, but out of boredom I had remembered most of them. Simple story-like sentences like this often meant the message was in every other word. So the message really was this:

Whale taking last straggling to north.

To me, that said there was someone transporting people with a whale to wherever north was. I assumed it was one of the northern regions. That meant I had somewhere to go and people were being ferried. I didn’t have anywhere to go, so, my best bet was to find the nearest news broadcast and find out where the best place was to go, if there was nothing here that needed to be dealt with.

 

[DVB]

Diego Vendrix
Darkrai Freelancer
Ruins of Alph

Diego had woken from his slumber by his Pikachu. There was no one here besides them, so why did he wake him? He saw something near his feet. It was a tape recorder. One of those basic handheld kinds. This one was modified so only Diego and the others would know how to listen. Even if other individuals could figure out how listen, they wouldn't understand what they were saying. Diego always wondered how his brother and his group were able to do this. Then again, they invented the OND, the Oscillation NEEM Distorter. Using vibrations near NEEM devices would distort the electronic waves and eventually cause the collars, badges and any other NEEM device to become unable to function. Diego had taken the tape player and done the necessary procedures to listen to the tape.

What he heard did not please him. At all. From what he was hearing, ENDoG was actually planning to create satellites that will allow to control the weather. Now, normally information like this would be confidential, but that was out the window thanks to Enigmas. A group of hackers, activists, trainers and people for Pokemon rights, they were one of the larger and yet unknown threats to ENDoG. Having some of the best experts in computing and technology, they could send a virus that could shut down an entire ENDoG network in several cities. They oppressed the violent procedures of ENDoG, calling them hypocrites and the like. Besides GODHAND, he also heard that the Kyurem was a target.

Diego began wondering whether he should go to one of them. Then there was static. Diego waited and then more info came back. This time, it was on what the resistance was doing. Stronger anti-NEEM devices were being built. However, they had decided to go with a plan they were trying to avoid. Weaponry designing. With Jonathan's assassins around, they needed to create something to defend themselves. Fortunately, they were design to hurt people and not Pokemon. There were also recent notes of sabotage, especially with the heat drills used to get Kyurem suddenly malfunctions and started to melt on itself. Diego smirked. What computer engineers can't do, mechanical engineers can.

Then, the news he dreaded most. Diego had begun listening onto the list of projects ranked Ultimatum. The first one was actually a relief as it was the simplest, but at the same time, somewhat risky to perform and could lead to suspicion. The next one was not as good. It was new and had come out when GODHAND was found out by the resistance. Diego did appreciate the subtle irony. Then, the last one, which Diego paled hearing. This one was the most dangerous. It was also the most direct. It would require tedious planning to hit the magic bullseye. The risk was not in getting caught, but innocent people getting hurt. A lot of them. Having listened to the tape recorder, Diego has Pikachu perform a small Thunderbolt on it, turning it into scrap and ash.

Diego had stepped out. Kyurem was safe for the moment. He decided he should head to another region for the moment. He decided on Sinnoh. Diego then went outside and looked up. It was getting stormy. It was not a surprise. Storms were happening frequently so not many people flew anymore. They were trying to find ways to go from region to region. The clouds darkened as Diego fled Violet City and ended up in New Bark Town. Diego looked at it. While it was a growing town, he looked to an abandoned building. Oak... Elm... Birch... Rowan... Juniper... Diego said as he thought of all the Pokemon professors. He let out a sigh in exasperation. No one was around as they had locked themselves in because of the storm. Diego had walked over to the nearby NEEM machine of New Bark Town. Having done this plenty of times, he opened a panel and had pretty much made the thing useless.

With no witnesses, he let out his Togekiss, Angel. She had not been smiling for a while now. Then again, there was little reason to smile nowadays. Diego had got on her as they rocketed toward the sky. They kept going higher and higher until they were above the storm and anyone who could detect them. Angel didn't like doing this. While Diego was growing more hardy everyday, she worried the high altitudes might be bad for him.

"Sinnoh," Diego had said as he began controlling his breathing. Angel had began flying in great speed toward the island. It didn't take very long. However, Diego had saw there a flash of green high above him. Rayquaza was still out thank goodness. Diego then thought of something. It was almost time for that invent. If they could just proceed with more mayhem, it would serve as a good distraction. There was a risk of course. Diego ended up falling asleep on Angel.

Diego was in the darkness. He didn't know what was happening. He then heard the sound of rushing water. Lots of it. He looked below. There were whirlpools. So many whirlpools. Diego then looked as mechanical spires rose around him. He looked and saw a rainbow-colored pokemon held in a massive whirlpool, in agony. Diego's eyes widened. His brain made the connection.

Diego awoke sweating. Pikachu looked surprised. Diego had to relay this to the Freemancers, so Angel began going faster.

 

[bronislav84]

Zebastian/Zelasandra Hawkins
Latios/Latias Freelancers
Castelia Sewer maze of tunnels, Unova

The smell. It actually wasn't too bad. Either we were in a place where the pipes didn't leak much, or my nose had gone numb. One of the two. The four of us had been walking for what seemed like hours in almost pitch blackness, the occasional sewer light making shadows dance on the walls. Even with a sonar that gave us a temporary map every time it pinged, this wasn't much help. Zela and I were following along the light emitted by Thunderheart the Pikachu and Zela's Galvantula was behind us. "Sis, what the heck are you going to name this thing anyway?" I asked, pointing to the Galvantula who piped up her antenna at the mention.

"I dunno. I was thinking Shocky, but I'm not sure. I'm gonna play with names over time, see what sounds good and what she likes. She was such a cute Joltik. Scary at first, but so small it was simply adorable." Answered Zela somewhere to my right. I sighed.

"At least it's a mutant of some sort, so she can still be semi adorable I guess." I answered, saying the word "adorable" in a way that made it obvious I didn't think the word described the Galvantula anymore. She hadn't grown very much after evolving last week and unlike the average, only became about as tall as Thunderheart and about as heavy. A very odd bug, that one.

"So what are we looking for down here again?" Asked Zela in the darkness somewhere. Her voice sounded ahead of me this time.

"The professor said that somewhere in these tunnels a peculiar kind of crystal formation exists that could strengthen the effect of the Pokeballs that create the anti-NEEM effect. The longer a Pokemon spends in one of these Pokeballs the more resistant they become, and the longer they stay out of the Pokeballs the more the effect wears off until they are completely vulnerable to NEEM again. This crystal, when fitted inside the machinery could make the effect permanent." I explained to the darkness, watching the ping of the sonar screen for SOMETHING that wasn't ordinary. "Well that's the theory anyway. She only had such a small amount of the substance that she wasn't sure."

"Oh? That's great news I guess. But are we really doing the right thing following this organization?" Oh great, she was having doubts again.

"Look, we aren't breaking the law. Yet. Our Pokemon wear those inhumane collars and badge things in towns and pretend to be affected. We also passed the Examinations and each have a license to Pokemon. The NEEM technology has no effect on them, but that's beside the point." I checked the sonar again for some sign of the opening to the natural cavern we were supposed to find then continued. "If we find this crystal she needs and refine it enough it could allow the ANEEM radiation to not need to be replenished by resting in an ANEEM Pokeball. It could exist forever in the organism, adapting to any new forms of the NEEM technology."

"You're talking about a 'cure' to the NEEM rays and collars." Came the reply in the darkness.

"Yes, IF it works, and it still wouldn't be able to undo the effects on Pokemon already affected, if their power had been neutralized completely by being in an area effect NEEM field. All I know is that she claims this substance suppresses the effects of NEEM rays permanently and wants another sample for further study, possibly to make synthetic molecules of it. This could just be a load of bull and it could turn out to be just ordinary pretty stone. She could just be making this up, still." The sonar beeped, indicating a large cavern coming up. "Finally. We're physically fit and all, but that was such a long hike....." We entered the cavern and started scraping the green crystal dust into the plastic bags we brought.

 

[Agent Tectonic]

My posts won't normally need to be this long nor in third person all the time. Also, as a key for future posts. <___> is Pokemon language and italics for anything where I emphasize sign language talking between Ranaras and Selene.

Selene Dysis and Nightshade the Zoroark
Freelancer: Marked by Reshiram
Relocated Resistance HQ: Fortree

“We been over this enough. Gist of it all is find Reshiram. Stay 'idden from ENDoG.”

“It's not just that Nightshade. You are going to be on your own without any way to protect yourself without giving yourself away. You need to always be watchful. No matter how much you try, the one thing that will always give you away is that contraption around your neck. You can't hide it. If ENDoG discovers that your actually a Pokemon in Mareep's clothing, they'll easily deduce that the necklace is your power supplier on their turf. You may be able to speak human language mildly enough, but you won't be able to hide from them if they take nor defend yourself with any abilities if captured or again taken.”

Ranaras is right Night. signed Selene, the actual Trainer who owned both Nightshade and Ranaras. You need to be cautious at all times. Also, you're going to need money, places to live that are not in the wilds, stuff like that. However, we obviously can't predict how your journey is going to go, but at least try and stay in the shadows has long as possible. We'll do what we can to interfere with ENDoG from here. Also, I don't think they track personal calls, but I'm giving you my cell phone to take with you as I can't use it anymore, so we can keep in contact on occasion.

Ranaras was still translating for Selene as other members of the group, codenamed HTL (Hoenn Trainer Liberators). A silence broke out after that as Nightshade calmed her impatience. She understood the danger, but there was little time to act. ENDoG was on the verge of performing one of the most, no, the most successful global insurrection with near minimal effort only by playing off the fears of the common man. Legendaries were disappearing and now reappearing only in tormented nightmares to specific people in hopes of saving them. Only a few were left running for their lives and evading capture, but even that hope was slowly going away. Reports were coming in that Unova's Kyurem was close to be captured. Nightshade turned to where Patrick Baker was sitting across at a computer gazing at the three of them in their discussion with a necklace dangling from the tips of his digits. Supposedly, this device was to protect her from losing her abilities when near ENDoG equipment, but the downside was that she was unable to cloak it through illusions. Her identity rested in the fate of that inanimate object. Juuust great.

Just before Patrick got up thinking that the conversation was over, one of the computer techs/hackers rushed into the room with a look of terror on his face. Selene and Patrick were quick to get on their feet, but Selene regretted it as a spasm of pain went down her legs: she hadn't fully recovered from her crash yet.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we just intercepted two calls from ENDoG president and one of their operatives. The agent reported a successful mission in Kanto's Fuschia City. Right after that, Jonathan called the agent back and ordered for the agent to find a deal with Uxie. That leaves Kyurem being melted out of his personal prison and Uxie now being hunted by one of their best agents. She said her name was Feyr, the Feyr.”

Selene quickly signed her response back before Patrick could even open his mouth, to which Ranaras translated:

“Damn, alright. We can't do anything with Uxie as I bet any contact with a human would prove disastrous even if we showed up to help it. However, get in contact with with any known Johto and Kanto rebels and inform them of the situation.” Turning her attention to Nightshade, Selene continued. “Now, I think you have understood everything you'll need to know, so here,” Selene fished through her jacket finding her phone, “here is my phone. I've registered any numbers you may need in the future including ours; however, keep conversation on it to a minimal. We don't know if ENDoG monitors how calls when able as much as we monitor theirs. You try and start helping Kyurem as he may know where Reshiram may be located within ENDoG's facilities. We can also bet that even if we get knowledge of Reshiram's prison that he is going to be locked up tightly with many devices to insure it stays there. Creativity is going to be required.”

“Any questions.” Selene actually spoke that, a shock to everyone there. While she relied on sign language to communicate, any time she actually spoke, rare has it was, signaled her seriousness. When no one spoke, she nodded, but she also had something else on her mind as she turned to Nightshade again, this time on the verge of tears and gestured be careful, good luck, and please don't get captured .

The Zoroark nodded, trying not to get emotional as well, though it was a failed feat. Everyone knew it was a suicide mission, but a mission that needed to be completed and she was the best candidate to accomplish it. Nightshade made over to hug her trainer, a human habit she found comforting. Selene welcomed it with open arms and started sobbing. After their exchange, Nightshade walked over to Patrick and accepted and slid the chain over her head. Finally, she made her way over to Ranaras, who surprisingly, offered to walk her to the exit. Selene waited before their backs were turned before she broke into a smile; she long suspected that Ranaras secretly loved Nightshade, but his serious personality never broke though he did let down his guard down slightly when days were quieter, and they were together. Patrick gave Selene a curious look, but Selene feigned bewilderment and merely shrugged as the couple walked out.

Nightshade: Zoroark

I was intrigued when Ranaras wanted to walk me out. Playing along, I acquiesced. We made our way through the treetop base, until we got to the end: a short walk with only silence between the two. I had noticed that Ranaras had been figiting something with his paws what I assumed to be nervousness. A theory began forming in my head which sounded ridiculous, but the signs were there. Sure enough, once we did reach the door, Ranaras turned to me.

<Are you sure about this Night?>

<Come on Friend Ranaras, we've gone through this enough. Somebody needs to do it, and it's better if you're here helping Trainer Selene.>

<I know, but I've, uh. . . I'm not good with this.>

I smiled, it was a long time coming. After all, I thought the same. I went over embraced him in a hug, and gave him an affection nudge on the cheek. <Don't worry Good Friend Ranaras, I'll be back. If you think me the same when all is well with the world, we'll retire to quiet spot somewhere.>

<Alright, but promise me you'll return.>

<I will.> I embraced him one last time before I walked off into the wilderness and melded into the scenery.

Selene Dysis

I was still in my anxious state even after Ranaras returned, looking about as distraught as I was. It was a look that didn't suit him; he wasn't hiding it. I didn't question him on it nor did I bother him for the rest of the day. I resorted to email messages with the rest of the operatives inside the base. We were discussing on where to go from here. Time was against, and any more inactivity would leave us crippled.

Solution: we send our own message back, but how to make it effectively. Ronnie, our muscle trainer, suggested having a Pokemon do it, or most specifically, Ranaras. As much as I didn't want to bring Ranaras into this, it was a good idea. I sat typing away the outline of it. I took a brake from it around noon, where I met Ranaras in the cafe for dinner. Another oddity of his: he eats fish. Right now, he was chowing down on a steamed Magikarp. I took up seat next to him and began eating a salad. He was silent for the majority dinner. Right at the end, a rather blunt question escaped his mouth as he signed it to me at the same time:

Do you think she can do it? Beat ENDoG on her own and rescue Reshiram?

No, not alone. I'm sure she knows that. And quite frankly, while I do worry she'll get captured, I actually fear she'll get put into a leadership role where other trainers follow her lead without knowing she is actually a Zoroark.

The Lucario seemed to have lightened up over my inadvertent joke. You and I both know that at some point, that'll be the case. In all seriousness, I would kill to see the expression on those humans' faces if they ever find out.

A sense of humor! Wow, you sick. Too far. He retreated back to his serious self again much to my chagrin. There was one last thing on my mind though. Ranaras, you guys will do nice together. Don't hide it. It's cool to know that you have a vested interest in someone. It'll give you a sense of duty to make sure this conflict finishes with little tragedy.

That seemed to hit the mark I was going for. The look of depression left as a more determined one set in. He got up and left while I sat there puzzled. No matter how much I wanted to think that I just struck the right nerve nerve, there was a sense of something else-- something that I couldn't explain that slipped into my explanation-- just a slight amount of. . . something. Whatever. Other problems needed to be looked over. I went back to my computer and started browsing around ENDoG's information, the stuff that was easy to find without giving our snooping away.

But it wasn't me that would cause this. The same tech rushed back in, again with the terror look and said, “We need to move. That info that I picked up was rigged to look easy. They're getting smarter Selene.”

“Or your getting dumber Andrew,” responded the not to pleased Lucario who had just entered the room behind him after explaining to me what was just said. I grunted my approval to Ranaras. Patrick activated the alarm and our little group of eight packs up as quickly as possible and begin to set off for Mt. Pyre, our next planned spot.

 

[Avenger Angel]

Jonathan Bishop
Leader of ENDoG
ENDoG Headquarters, Saffron City, Kanto

"What!? Are you nuts!? You expect me to help you!? After what you've done?"

"Don't be difficult," I spoke to the disgruntled Professor Birch after arriving in the interrogation room. "Professor, surely you didn't become a researcher because you stayed as a trainer and never educated yourself, am I right?"

"I became one out of a passion for understanding Pokémon, something you obviously don't!" He shouted, growing aggravated as he stood up in his chair. "This is not how they're supposed to live!"

Supposed to live was a bad choice of words. If that were really true, Pokémon would have destroyed and devoured primitive man millennia ago. We raised cities from the ground because we were able to control nature. But it had evolved into something vulgar. Something violent. Something that, quite frankly, it was surprising culture and conscious allowed it to exist for as long as it did. It was profoundly appalling, and it bothered me that such a lack of ethics and consideration thrived and was glorified for so long.

"Professor, we need your assistance with tracking down the remaining legendary Pokémon," I told him, figuring I would at least discern how his rage and anger was positioned before attempting to work against it. "We are narrowing down the list, and there are a select few that have been difficult, as of late. Perhaps your insight might make the operation smoother?"

"NEVER!" He outright screamed as his hands turned into fists. "This is an atrocity! I... I don't even want to imagine what ungodly fate the others have fallen into! By Arceus's hand, I hope you worms never find the others."

"We'll find 'em with or without ya, punk," Larkin spat at Birch, pushing him back into his seat. "Psh, you really trust a bunch of crackhead legendaries to rule the world? Ha, look at Groudon and Kyogre. Perfect example of two idiot legendaries that would stomp the world flat because they had to settle things mono a mono. And Lugia. One flap of that overgrown seagull's wings and next thing ya know, houses are fallin' apart and we've got rain for the next forty days. Get real, douchebag. They're livin', breathin' apocalypses!"

And truthfully, those were just a few of the legendaries that risked posing a global threat to humanity. But as I looked into the professor's eyes, I could see that he was realizing what exactly we were talking about. In truth, in the past, humans simply trusted legendaries to be responsible, although they were not in many cases. Many humans simply didn't know about them either. The truth was, they were unacceptably dangerous, and had no reason or motive to respect or even allow humanity to live. As they had far more physical power than a normal unarmed human, there was serious threat by allowing them to be free.

"Professor, ask yourself this," I told him, taking a non-aggressive approach compared to Larkin's intrusive methods. "Why would any legendary Pokémon choose to protect humans? Why would they come to our aid if we were on the verge of destruction, when they would have nothing to gain from it?"

"They're... they're not all about destruction!" Birch insisted. "Some of them have helped humans in the past! And... I admit there are others we don't fully understand, but this is not the method we should use to build an understanding! You're doing exactly the opposite!"

"Professor, understand me," I told him, seeing where he might think that. "The legendaries are simply unpredictable. The power they hold, the risk they pose, it cannot be disregarded and ignored when it is a very real threat to human society. Professor, there have been instances of legendary Pokémon confronting humans, often on unpleasant terms. We do not understand them, and in turn, they do not understand us. I shudder to think what they might do to an unsuspecting human child if they were to come across one... possibly carelessly stomping on them, or attacking them for entering their territory. And some legendary Pokémon, as we both know quite well, believe the entire world is their territory."

Birch was silent, still gritting his teeth, but I could tell he could not make an argument against that.

"They're... dying because of what's being done to them..." Birch replied in dismay, struggling to counter me. "How can you really... ugh... just... stand there and watch them suffer?"

"We have tried to provide adequate care for them, although they have rejected it on many attempts," I told the Professor. "Many of them are starving themselves despite being fed a balanced diet and given an enclosed environment they should be comfortable in. Others are self-inflicting injuries on themselves and experience severe mental trauma. Professor, work with me, not against me. Help us to provide a better environment for them. As I have proven before, Pokémon are capable of living a happy and healthy life even if they never battle, the way it should be. I want that to be the same for the legendaries. I'm not out to kill them, but simply 'retire' them from their positions of power for the sake of human society... for the safety of our children, our cities, and our people. That is all. It would be my pleasure to see they are well taken care of and can live peacefully in captivity."

Birch was silent. He could not disagree with me, as disagreeing with me would imply he was against the safety of children, against humanity, and did something most trainers had difficulty doing...

...valuing Pokémon over mankind.

"I... Arceus... if only we could understand why..." He moaned, unable to fathom why it had to be this way.

"I too, wish we were able to communicate to them," I told Birch, looking into his distressed eyes. "But we cannot. But in your own sight, what do you think they would say? Professor Birch, legendary Pokémon have never been capable of raising families, raising children, teaching them how to grow, how to love, and how to understand. They live indefinitely, and do not understand the loss we bear when we lose a loved one, or see the storm they caused destroy the one place we called home. Ask yourself... what do you go home to?"

And at that moment, I knew he had children of his own. A home he could not bear to lose. A wife he would be heartbroken from if something happened to her. The truth was very real to him now. It was the reality humans had, and one legendary Pokémon could never understand. One they could never appreciate. To fall in love, to build a home, and raise a family. For them, humans were temporary, their homes replaceable, their losses and emotions simple electrical signals interpreted by our brains. Because if they truly did understand, they would help us build it, cherish it, and do everything they could to protect it. There would be no violence and no anger because they would understand the pain of loss, of anguish and the anger we feel when such atrocities happen.

"Promise me... you'll take care of them," Birch told me, feeling desperate. "That's... that's all I want."

"We have already tried to do our best," I told him, knowing we showed them the compassion they never would have given us in return. "Which is why we need you... in hopes our best may become better. In hopes that people like you hold the answers we need to make things right."

And at that one moment, if we could make a professor of Pokémon, once so feverishly against us, understand the value of what we were working for... maybe the others would too.