RPG Pokemon: Warzone

[GuyYouMetOnline]

"We definitely want several of these," Kiera said.

What are they?" Kathrene asked.

The two women and two others, Brandon and Seth, had just taken packs off the shelves, and were going around the store packing supplies and equipment. They didn't have anywhere to run to yet, but Kiera wanted to be ready in case they had to make a quick escape. Others had already packed their own bags; groups of thre or four were splitting off one at a time. There was generally one person in each group who took charge of packing for everyone. Kiera made sure that each group had at least one person with outdoor experiance; fortunately, there were enough trainers that this wasn't difficult. Kiera's groups had just started; they were still in the outdoor department, which was where they'd set up what everyone had taken to calling 'the campsite'.

"These are chemical analyzers," Kiera told Kathrine.

"And we need something like that why?"

"Because if we're out in the wilderness, we may need to know what is and isn't safe. What if we need water? Maybe we find some, but we don't know if it's safe. So you just take one of these and fill up the little container here, then turn it on, and it'll tell you. Same goes for food. You wouldn't want to eat something poisonous. That's what this end is for. Stick it in the fruit or whatever it is, and you'll know if it's safe to eat."

"Don't we have enough food and water already?"

"Probably," Kiera said, "but I don't want to take chances. If we have to leave, who knows when we'll be able to stock up next?"

"I don't want to leave," Kathrine said. "As soon as this settles down, I'm going home."

Kiera sighed. [i]You're going to be a problem, aren't you?[/i] "Well, I don't think that'll happen anytime soon," she said, "but that's something we can talk about later. Here, take one."

Kathrine did so, and the group continued through the store. [i]It's only been a few hours since we got here,[/i] Kiera thought, [i]and we may already be having a problem. Damn.[/i]

***********

It was Seth who noticed first. "Hey, where's Kathrine?"

[i]Oh, ****.[/i] "Okay, not good," Kiera said. "Damn. All right, what happened? Not an attack; we'd have noticed.

"Did she get left behind?"

"I doubt it. We've been careful about that."

"Obviously not careful enough. Damn, we must have lost her while moving."

"Not likely," Kiera said. "I admit that I haven't been paying much attention to any one of you. but I have been paying attention to the group as a whole. It can't have happened too long ago; she's probably just been gone for a minute or so."

"But where is she?"

Brandon finally spoke up. "I think she's using the bathroom."

"She was saying she needed to go," Seth noted.

"And we said we'd do a bathroom stop while in the grocery department, since they're located just off from it." Kiera said. "And that's where we are now."

"But that doesn't explain why she's missing, does it?"

"It does," Kiera said. "Damn it, I knew she'd cause trouble. She snuck away because she wanted her damn privacy. You heard her protest my insistance on staying in at least pairs. I told her we'd make a bathroom stop, but the idiot kept saying she didn't want someone else in there with her. And she knew I'd never change my mind, so she snuck away. Damn it! All right, come on. We need to go retrieve her."

*********

The three of them came to a halt in front of the bathrooms. "Okay," Kiera said, "I think this stupid lady needs a lesson."

"Um, what are you planning to do?" Seth asked.

"Scare the **** out of her." Kiera grabbed one of her pokeballs, releasing Arcanine. "Okay, Arcanine, we've got a lady inside there who needs a lesson. Run in and make like you're attacking her. you'll need to make it look real, but don't hurt her. I want you to chase her out to us. got it?" Arcanine nodded. "Good. Okay, then. Go!"

Arcanine charged into the ladies' room. A few seconds later, there was a loud scream, which was followed by other loud noises and then Kathrine running out of the restroom, terrified, with Arcanine right behind her. Kathrine ran straight into Brandon, sending both of them to the ground. Kathrine lept back to her feet and spun around to face Arcanine. Arcanine, however, wasn't paying attention to her anymore. He'd gone back over to Kiera.

"Good job," Kiera said as the returned Arcanine to its ball. She went over to Brandon and helped him to his feet, then turned to face a now very angry Kathrine. "Okay, Kathrine, just what the hell were you thinking?"

"What was [i]I[/i] thinking?" Kathrine yelled back. "What were [i]you[/i] thinking? Were you trying to kill me?"

"If you had died, it would've been your own fault. You're the one who snuck away from us."

"I had to use the bathroom!"

"And I told you we'd do a bathroom stop."

"And you also told me you wouldn't give me privacy! What did you expect me to do?"

"I expected you to put up with it," Kiera said.

"Absolutely not!"

[i]Okay, I've had enough of this *****.[/i] "Okay, want to know why I did that? Because if that had been an enemy Pokemon, you'd have been dead. Beacuse I felt that you needed the **** scared out of you. Because you clearly do not understand the situation you're in."

"Just because you're scared of some wild Pokeomn doesn't mean I am."

"They are not wild," Kiera said. "They're clearly organized, and based on the fragments coming in before the power went down, other cities have been attacked, as well. They're not just cooperating, they're coordinating. Are there still 'wild' Pokemon? Undoubtedly. There's no way every Pokemon out there is participating in this. There are most certainly still substantial numbers of wild Pokemon. But the ones in this city aren't among them. they've got organization, and they seem to have an objective as well: killing humans. get that through your head: if they find you, they will move to kill you. As I said, if that had been an enemy Pokemon instead of one of mine, you'd be dead."

"And you think that means you can order everyone around? What the hell gives you the right to tell us what to do?"

"If we hadn't listened to her, we'd probably be dead," Brandon said. "You were just as panicked as the rest of us. Kiera's in charge because she's the only one who kept her head straight throughout all this ****. Because she's prooven she can stay calm when the **** hits the fan. I'm sure she doesn't want the responsibility of being our group's 'leader', but she's the only one who's prooven she can handle it. That's why."

"Here's how it's going to be, Kathrine," Kiera said. "If you want to stay with the group, fine. But if you're with the group, you have to follow the rules. if you can't do that, you're not coming with us."

"So now you're going to abandon me?"

"That one's up to you. If we do leave you on your own, it will be of your own choosing. So, are you going to follow the rules?"

there was a silence. "Fine," Kathrine said eventually.

"Good. Then come on, let's get back to work." And they did. And although Kathrine was clearly still angry, she didn't cause any more trouble, and before long, the four of them had finished and returned to the campsite.

"We're back," Kiera said. "Dusa, you take your group next."

"Sure," Dusa said.

[i]I think she's a good one to have around,[/i] Kiera thought as Dusa and three others walked off. [i]She certainly seems to have kept her cool better than any of the others. And that's good.[/i]

Kiera looked around at the others, then sat down. [i]A lot of them think we're done running, don't they? They think we can stay here. But no. This is only temporary. We'll have to leave eventually. The only question is where to go. We don't know how many cities in total have been hit, or which ones. We could easily walk into a situation just as bad as this.

Damn it, how the hell are we going to survive this?[/i]

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

Well, here we go.

[chibi-master]

Skippy and Valor were soaring above the clouds of the Johto region. Skippy kept an eye out for violent Pokemon through her flying goggles. "Ahem... Valor, we need to discuss something...," Skippy started. Valor turned his head a little and eyed Skippy suspiciously. He groaned slightly, as if aware that he would not like the discussion. "Things are bad, Valor. Really bad. We can't just keep knocking out Pokemon that attack us. We need to step it up. I think it's about time we started... actually killing attackers." Valor reared his head around and glared. "Valor! It's not like we have much of a choice! I don't want to go against what I believe in either, but things are different now... I will not force you to kill, and in fact I hope we don't have to. However, if we get into a bad situation, just know that those Pokemon that attacked us killed other Pokemon and the will not hesitate to do so to you. Be careful." Valor sighed and turned his head to stare at the clouds. "I'm sorry, buddy... I hope we can use the radio station in Goldenrod to establish communication with Violet City."

"Come on, Valor, let's try for a smooth landing!" Valor glided over Ecruteak's city gate and landed in front of Bell Tower. "Good job! You've done enough for me today, my friend," Skippy sighed, calling the Charizard back into his pokeball. "Let's go, Gladys, you could use some outside time." The Ivysaur blinked her eyes and looked around the city. "Do your best to keep up! No gawking! Besides, we're only here for one night. Let's go find some food and some people to get some info from!" The young grass type smiled and trotted along next to Skippy.

[Sakura]

[size="1"][b]OOC:[/b] Decided to name my Blaziken 'Blayze'[/size]

[color="#800080"]Evangeline was currently taking rest, sitting and leaning behind the edge of a damaged building, close enough that she could peek her head out to look at the area in front when she wanted to. She had been stealthily making her way around Goldenrod, keeping watch of the sentry Pokémon, prowling the streets. Since she had had to get out of the Radio Tower so quickly, she hadn't had time to grab her pack, so one of her priority stops was to go to the Mart and pick up some much needed supplies or there was no chance that she would survive. She turned to her three Pokémon which were currently out of their balls; Blayze, Glaceon and Mightyena, she had made a strategic decision to recall Donphan, due to his size, and Ampharos, due to his tail light, which would make her group more obvious to outsiders. They had so far done a good job of being silent and unseen, but from her current position, she would have to cross open ground to head further in the right direction of the stores.

[b]"Keep watch for enemy attacks. Try to move swiftly and silently, but if we're caught, be prepared to engage."[/b] she whispered softly.

Eva took a deep breath and raised herself into a crouched position, she was looking toward the direction they would be headed, but held up three fingers in a silent countdown. After one, she used her index finger to indicate movement as she got up and started to sprint the open path, knowing her Pokémon were right behind her. She was close to making the distance when there was a loud growl followed by barking, Eva turned her head in the direction and saw a large Houndoom, flanked by a Houndour and an Arcanine. She skidded to a stop, knowing that she would have to fight or risk being chased and get hurt while running.

[b]"You wanna fight? Bring it on!"[/b] she yelled, clenching her fists. [b]"Blayze, Glaceon, Mightyena, GO!"[/b]

The two groups of Pokémon started their stampede towards each other. Glaceon let off a few blasts of ice directed at the Arcanine, the fire Pokémon was able to dodge the first two barrages, firing back with blasts of flame, before Glaceon was able to make contact with its left side. The large fire dog went down, and Glaceon made no hesitations in closing the distance and encapturing the enemy in a solid outer coat of ice. He yipped with his battle's success before heading forward to help the other two.

Mightyena chose to engage the leader Houndoom, the two of them circling warily before randomly jumping in to take bites and scratches at one another. Houndoom was distracted by a flurry of ice sent forth from Glaceon, and Mightyena chose that opening to rush forward and take down the other dog. Houndoom roared and squirmed under the weight of Mightyena but was unable to get free. He bit the other on the neck, hard enough to damage and constrict its windpipe, after about a minute the Houndoom stopped fighting as it passed out from lack of air. Mightyena rose off the other Pokémon and watched as Blaziken just finished off the Houndour.

Blayze jumped in the air to avoid an immediate charge from Houndour, diving back down to earth with his leg aflame and outstretched, catching the small dog unprepared. It rolled from the impact before getting back to its feet, teeth bared and snarling in anger. It fainted toward Blaziken before released a funnel of fire in his direction. He swiftly dodged the attack before moving in close and sending the smaller Pokémon flying with an uppercut, with a strong jump Blayze launched himself into the sky to catch up with the Houndoor, and sending it crashing back down to earth with a punch. He landed on his feet gracefully and turned to face Eva and her other Pokémon, heading toward them quickly.

[b]"Great work guys, now let's get out of here before any more come."[/b] Eva smiled brightly, continuing their journey.[/color]

[Humaru]

"I sure hope those guys back there will be okay...we got enough food to last for a little while. I hope I can make it to Goldenrod before anything bad happens....Oh Claire, where are you?"

Hiro got to a high point on the mountains near the cave entrance. He scanned the landscape and watched as the rabid pokemon continued to laid waste to Blackthorn City. He looked at the paths outta Blackthorn, trying to decide which to take. He could have gone south towards New Bark Town and got to Goldenrod after traveling through a couple of other towns or he could have gone through the Ice Cave where the trip would be more strenuous on the body.

"Gosh I wish I could decide which path to take. Both routes are going take some time. Lets see, going towards Mahogany Town would mean less chances to get more supplies in the run down towns which could prove bad for my pokemon. But going towards New Bark Town would mean more pokemon to attempt to get past. Wait a sec...maybe Professor Elm is still safe and has something I could use and I can heal my pokemon in his lab. That's it...I've made up my mind, Im going towards New Bark Town. Hopefully I can find some lost trainers or something on my way.....hopefully."

Hiro ensured his pack was secured and set off towards New Bark Town. He had to get through the town again and this time it wouldn't be so easy. There were more pokemon and they seemed to have gotten worse with their attitudes. It was gonna take a huge effort to get through the town but Hiro was up to the challenge. He released his Hitmontop and Electivire and began moving towards the southern part of the town. This time the city was filled with some Rhydons which made things a bit more dangerous due to the Hyper beam attack they possessed. Hiro began sneaking from building to building, looking from side to side before moving again. Hiro got back to the Pokemon Center and hid inside. The Rhydon were stalking every part of the city. Hiro peered out of the window and noticed that the Rhydon were attacking everything that moved. Some Spearow were picking at something and the Rhydon gathered around and destroyed the small bird pokemon. Hiro's face took a look of shock as he saw the Rhydon ripping apart the Spearow. He ducked behind the front desk with his two pokemon following him and began thinking.

"Look out for me, you guys...okay" Hitmontop and Electivire nodded in agreement.

[b]*Hiro thinking to himself*[/b]
"It seems that all the pokemon are going crazy but the stronger ones are definitely preying on the weaker ones. I guess no matter what goes on, bigger pokemon are gonna terrorize smaller ones. I hate to think like this but maybe I can use that to my advantage. Maybe I can attract some more of those Spearow and the Rhydon will go after them. Ugh...Im a disgrace of a pokemon trainer. Well I guess you gotta do what you gotta do."

Hiro stood up and took some bread he had in his pack and started making his way out of the backdoor of the Pokemon Center. He opened the door and threw the bread in the middle of the street. He was hoping some Spearow would come and hid behind some trashcans waiting for them. After a short time, a small flock of Spearow swooped down towards the bread. They began to pick at the bread and a nearby Rhydon noticed them. The pokemon let out a huge growl attracting some other Rhydon. They rushed the Spearow and quickly surrounded them. Hiro made his way to the front of the pokemon center and continued south of Blackthorn. It seemed as if the Rhydon liked to feed together. Hiro looked away in disgust as the Rhydon attacked the Spearow, trying to avoid the disgusting image in his mind. Hiro seemed to almost make it out of the city but a huge obstacle stood in his way on the other side of the bridge...[b][size="3"]A Rhyperior!!!!!! [/size][/b]

Hiro stood in shock in the sight of this massive pokemon. It immediately noticed Hiro and began to attack him. Hitmontop and Electivire stood in front of Hiro prepared for battle. Hiro looked at his pokemon and nodded. He wanted to try to end this kinda quick before all the Rhydon got done with their "meal". He began to move in towards the Rhyperior.
"Electivire use Zap Cannon and Hitmontop use Triple Kick" Hitmontop began spinning towards the Rhyperior and Electivire shot out a beam of energy. The Rhyperior blocked the beam and braced for impact from the Triple Kick. Hitmontop hit Rhyperior as hard as it could only knocking the pokemon back a few feet. Then the Rhyperior began using a series of Hyper Beams. Hiro did his best to avoid all the blasts, his pokemon did the same. But due to its lack of speed, Hiro's Electivire got nailed with one of the beams. Hiro looked back at his Electivire and saw the Rhyperior charging towards it. "Go Flygon, use Light Screen and then use Reflect on top of that." Hiro's Flygon came out and protected Electivire successfully. "Hitmontop, Mega Kick." Hitmontop nailed Rhyperior and took him off course. Hiro recalled his Electivire and started to run to get behind the Rhyperior. The massive pokemon got up and began to attack again. It launched another Hyper Beam but this time Hiro had an answer...."Flygon use Hyper Beam....Hitmontop when the two beams meet and cause a smokescreen, hit Rhyperior with another Mega Kick." Flygon shot the beam directly at the other Hyper beam and they collided. Hitmontop began moving. The beams caused a smokescreen just as Hiro thought and Hitmontop emerged from the smoke with a huge kick. The kick knocked the Rhyperior back onto the bridge. It arose and started to let out this huge roar. Hiro looked at his pokemon foe strangely but that look changed when he saw a wave of Rhydon coming towards the bridge. "I dont know how Im gonna stop all these pokemon by myself but they certainly wont let me leave very easily. Wait, I got it....they cant chase me if the bridge is out. Charizard, come on out." Hiro threw the ball in the air and released his strongest pokemon. "Charizard, use Dragon Rage." Hiro pokemon took to the skies and launched a huge Dragon Rage blast. The blast engulfed the bridge and sent the Rhyperior into the water below.

Hiro quickly didnt wasted anytime getting away from his pursuers. "I hope the rest of my trip isn't as "adventurous" as that was just now...i dont think my heart can take it. He recalled all of his pokemon and continued running towards New Bark Town. Edited August 1, 2010 by Humaru

[Cat]

[size="2"]Satu and Umbreon arrived on the ground floor. "Umbreon, make sure to keep an eye out for attackers. We cannot afford injury." Satu stated plainly. They manage to leave the building without notice from the rogue Pokemon. Once outside, however was a different story. The place looked worst than when she had gone into the Shop. Buildings where being destroyed by various Pokemon, it was safe to say the Pokemon wanted nothing to be left of Goldenrod City.

What really got to Satu was how the larger Pokemon had started to feed off of the smaller weaker ones. It had become literally Pokemon eat Pokemon world. Satu noticed she wasn't the only one to be affected by the horrors around her. Umbreon, stood next to her shacking with bother fear and determination. 'We need to get out of this city,' she thought to herself, 'the sooner the better.' To not alert the Pokemon around her, she grabbed Umbreon and hid in the alley way between the shop and another building. Luckily, the alley way went straight through to the other street.

Carrying Umbreon, Satu glanced around the conner at the other end of the alley. She was relief to find the street was empty, at least for now it was. They quickly made there way to entrance leading to route 35. 'From there they would go through the woody area, to avoid having to go through the park.' she thought to herself. As they were leaving, Umbreon jumped from Satu's arms. She growled at the entrance as a large group of Pidgey being lead by a Pidgeotto. From what Satu could see, she could only guess the Pidgeotto was newly evolved. Why else would it stay with the Pidgey and not start eating them.

"Oh, s**t!" said Satu. She grabbed a pokeball off her belt and through it. Out came her Jolteon. "Jolteon, use thunder!" shouted Satu. Jolteon's eyes began to glow as the sky grew darker. Electricity sparked off of Jolteon's spikes. Lighting fell from the sky, striking whatever it came across. Most of the Pidgey were knocked out by the Thunder attack, however thePidgeotto had manage to escape. Pidgeotto countered with a Quick Attack, however Jolteon was to quick. "Now, Thunderbolt!" Satu instructed. Jolteon's spikes sparked as his eyes began to glow again. He released the collected energy and was able to hit Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto fell to ground paralyzed, barely moving. Satu, Jolteon, and Umbreon step towards the falling Pidgeotto. It was still enraged and tried to free itself from the paralyzing affect of Jolteon's attack. "Jolteon, use thunder shock." said Satu sadly. Jolteon released a smaller electric blast, knocking out the Pidgeotto.

"Lets go you two." said Satu. Jolteon, Umbreon, and Satu left the bird Pokemon where they fell. They proceed into the woody area leading to Route 36. "We can't knock out no more attackers. The next time we fight, we will kill if possible." Satu said, to her Pokemon. [/size] Edited July 22, 2010 by Cat

[chibi-master]

Skippy wandered around the seemingly deserted town with Gladys at her side. When they turned a corner of the dance studio, they heard a low growl. Skippy flinched and turned around quickly. Two feet from her and Gladys was a Vaporeon crouched in a defensive stance. "Gladys, use -! Wait a minute... Why didn't it attack us? It just growled... Uhm, hey, Vaporeon... Are you maybe one of those Eeveelutions of the dancers here?" The Vaporeon fluidly moved out of its defensive stance and smiled. It chattered at Gladys, then went inside the dance studio. "Uhhh... What does that mean?" Skippy asked. Gladys grabbed Skippy's wrist with one of her vines and pulled her toward the entrance of the dance studio. "Oh, she wants us to follow! Well, let's see what's become of Ecruteak..."

Inside the dance studio were many ragged people and Pokemon huddled near small candles. The Vaporeon sat next to a dancer in a scruffy kimono, her make-up gone and her hair in shambles. "Excuse me... My name is Skippy Grinner. I'm from the Violet City Air Force. What happened here? Did the Pokemon attack?" Skippy inquired in a calm voice. The kimono lady looked up with sad eyes that had deep, dark circles under them.
"Welcome, Skippy...," the kimono lady sighed, "No, the Pokemon have yet to attack us as they did other cities. We don't know much, but the few cities we knew of that were attacked... Well, the people with family there left Ecruteak. Eventually, owners of shops and whatnot left. We have been foraging and hiding in here since. We stay in this studio with only candles so that we do not attract any of those rogue Pokemon. We are all slowly starving to death, but we're too afraid to go outside. We send our Pokemon out to gather food and to guard this place. Every now and then the scouting Pokemon will bring back an injured Pokemon that has not gone rogue. We nurse them back to health and the stay here with us. Tell us, what is the outside like now?"
".....It's not pretty. The Pokemon have gone insane. I saw an Aerodactyl eat a Ponyta back in Olivine City, where I was originally grounded. Things are bad. I don't know why all this is happening, but I need to get in contact with my superiors at Vilot City Air Base. May I stay for the night? I would just leave in the morning."
"You may. However, you must leave in the morning. We can barely sustain ourselves, so we can't take anyone in."
"Thank you very much."

After sleeping lightly the entire night with her Swampert, Edvard, guarding her backpack, Skippy awoke with a sore back. She stretched and called Edvard back into his ball. She grabbed her backpack and let Gladys out. "Let's try to walk to Goldenrod a bit." Skippy left the dance studio without a word, passing a Flareon as she walked down the stairs and headed to the next city, Goldenrod. Skippy was walking carefully through Route 37 with Gladys. Gladys was trotting along with a grin. Then everything went to ****. A large Venusaur stomped out from some trees. It stopped when it caught sight of Skippy and Gladys. Before Skippy could so much as blink, the Venusaur roared and slammed vines as thick as logs into Skippy and Gladys. Skippy rolled and Gladys crumpled when she hit a tree. Skippy was in the most excruciating pain she had ever experienced. She was pretty sure at least one of her ribs were cracked, if not broken. Skippy did not think about that, though. She was more concerned for Gladys, the young Ivysaur. [i]What was I thinking?! I should have been walking around with a much higher level Pokemon! I'm sorry, Gladys![/i] Skippy screamed in her head. She scrambled to the tree where Gladys was. "Gladys! Gladys, are you oka- AUGH!!!" Skippy shrieked as another vine pounded her into the tree. She fumbled for her pokeballs, then sent out Valor. "VALOR! KILL IT! KILL IT! PLEASE!" Skippy cried out. The Charizard rushed into the Venusaur. He spewed flames into its face and clawed at its eyes. Eventually, the assault took its tole and the Venusaur fell over, a mangled carcass. Skippy was breathing roughly, her sight leaving her slowly. She grabbed Gladys and pulled her closer. "Valor... Ecruteak... Make sure...no Pokemon...follow...," Skippy gasped. Then all went black.

Skippy blinked her eyes in confusion. She was in a dimly lit place that smelled of disinfectant. She tried to get up, then fell back down on the mat due to the extreme pain. "Don't try to get up on your own," a voice said. "You have two broken ribs and a sprained lower back. You were lucky." Skippy was silent, going over what she had just been told. She slowly began to remember things.
"Where's Gladys?" she asked quietly. There was no reply. Skippy sat up and saw a man in a ragged labcoat, presumably a doctor. "Tell me where my Ivysaur is." Still no reply. "TELL ME!" Skippy roared, her ribs aching with the effort. The doctor looked away.
"She's over there," he muttered, pointing to a place a few feet away. Skippy struggled to get up, eventually standing. She forced herself to hobble over to the place. A white sheet covered something. Skippy could see leaves poking out from under. She reached down and lifted the sheet. Gladys was still. She was bruised and beaten. "Is she...?" Skippy whispered.
"She's not dead, if that's what you want to know," said the kimono lady, suddenly at Skippy's side.
"She's not?! Oh, thank goodness!" Skippy sobbed, dropping down next to Gladys. The Ivysaur stirred and opened her eyes, glancing at Skippy and smiling. Skippy was silent.
"You're debating, aren't you?" the kimono lady asked. Skippy nodded silently.
"I desperately need to get to Goldenrod and then Violet City. It's just that I can't...I can't..."
"You don't want to leave with Gladys like this. You also don't want to leave her here."
"Yeah..."
"Hold on, let me go talk to someone...," the kimono lady mumbled, walking away. She returned with an old lady.

"Hello there, dearie!" the old lady greeted Skippy with a smile. "I have a proposition for you!"
"What is it?" Skippy asked.
"I am a florist. I need an assistant. I'll get right down to it, how would you like to trade Pokemon?"
"T-trade?!" Skippy stuttered. She sighed. "Gladys, you really aren't suited for the military, are you?" Gladys' grin widened.
"Is that a yes?"
"Trade for what? I don't need any Weedles on my team, I'll tell you that much!"
"A Ralts. He small, and I'm afraid he won't ever grow unless he's with someone like you."
".....Gladys?" The Ivysaur looked Skippy in the eyes, then nodded slightly. "I'll do it then."
"Very well. I'll take care of Gladys, and you can come back and see her whenever you like."
"I'll take care of the Ralts as well," Skippy stated. The old lady handed Skippy the pokeball. Skippy let out the Ralts and looked at him. "May I give him a nickname?"
"Certainly."
"Ralts, from this moment forth, you will hereby be known as Ramsey."

Skippy climbed on Valor's back, preparing to take flight to Goldenrod. "Hey, Valor... Thanks. I know you really didn't want to kill other Pokemon, but you still did. I owe you my life," Skippy sniffled. Valor turned and pressed his nose to her shoulder. "You're right! No moping around! Let's go!" Edited March 13, 2011 by chibi-master

[The_letter_L]

Archer kept his eyes on the small group. They scattered like a flock of birds, all except the one in the center. She stood frozen looking at the sky, at least she looked frozen. She moved with a liquid grace as she threw a pokeball out, a Geodude flew out and moved into postion to intercept Raps. Archer smiled, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. A large pack of Houndoom's almost twenty strong howled as one as they charged the small group. Archer smiled wide as he met eyes with Chazz.

He threw his last remaining ball out, he laughed slightly.

"Time for the big guns. Go Gyarados!" Archer kept his eyes on the approaching pokemon, who started to slow as they caught sight of the giagantic Gyarados. He roared stopping them in their tracks.

"Git rid of them!" Gyarados spewed flames from his mouth as Max moved faster than eyes could follow. Chazz stepped in front of Archer and held up its spoon grasping fists. A barrier formed in front of them as Max took cover waiting for the flames to still. The pack of Houndoom's shook off the flames and charged.

[i]They do not seem to seek a plan Master. How strange.[/i] Archer frowned, but he kept his mind on the task.

"Max! Take the rear." Max moved, slashing two at once off the backside of the pack, three turned to him, but were tore nearly in two by Raps as she drilled straight through them. The leader of the pack turned its head to look at what remained of his pack, it was his last mistake.

"Gyarados, cut a swath!" Gyarados roared again, this time its body cackled. Its eyes shined as a large beam flew from its body, disintigrating the leader, as well as half his pack in the blink of an eye. It also carved a trench through the street. The Houndoom's that were left stood stock still as they processed the death of that many of their comrade's. They split, half ran away, and half charged.

"Raps, Max, nothin' leaves. Gyarados. See what you can do." The Houndoom's tried to continue on as a cohesive unit, but panic was starting to take its toll. Gyarados whipped his tail, throwing one into a building, it tore another's head off as it tried to pass. Flames shot from one mouth, running straight into Chazz's barrier. It didnt last long. It was flattened into the ground by Gyarados' large tail. Only two stood, defieant in their anger.

"Kieko go!" The female trainer threw out another of her pokemon, this time a Marill. It spun in a circle as it pulled filthy water out of a nearby fountain. The force of the water slammed one of the last Houndoom's through the wall of a nearby building. Archer smiled, [i]deadly force?[/i]

[i]Master, its...[/i]

"I know Chazz. Gyarados finish him." Gyarados took what remained of the water and used it as a blade to cut the remaining Houndoom in half. Archer smiled as he met the amber eyes of the female trainer. She didn't smile back, her form was ragged, but she still had her dancers form. Though she had dyed her blond hair black and she was covered in dust and other things, he could still tell his old partner.

"Been a long time, Anna." Edited July 30, 2010 by The_letter_L

[Lawliet]

Sabin was below deck, propping his head up with his hand, staring at the battle raging around the ship from the port hole. He had managed to make it from Veilstone down to the coast just east of Pastoria. A resistance group had been preparing a ship to depart for safer lands, if such a thing existed at this point, and were broadcasting a radio signal calling survivors to their location. Sabinâ??s handheld radio had picked up the signal just before it died. The trip down had been a dangerous one, and Sabin instantly appreciated his decision to keep Steelix. Steelix naturally possessed great fighting strength which was beneficial to have on such a dangerous trip. Also, Sabin decided that if he were to ever join up with people searching for the cause of the attacks Steelix would prove to be a valuable test subject, whether the cause was physical, behavior, or psychic in nature. His original concern of feeding the massive pokemon was also simple to solve, the snake had been living in the wild all its life, so releasing it for feeding sessions was the only upkeep Sabin had to deal with. Tricking the pokemon to listen to him was actually harder than he had though. After he had caught it, it obeyed out of fear of drowning, and then while burrowing it had Cynthia riding on its back, whos strength was remarkable. But without a champion to keep the aggressive pokemon in line Sabin had to come up with a new plan. While journeying down the route to the Resort Area in Sinnoh he stopped at the famous Valor Lake to rest, but was ambush by a group of pokemon that cut off his escape route. Upon releasing Steelix, who was again forced to obey or suffer the fate of drowning,the pokemon was outmatched by a Lucario. Sabin was stuck, Steelix needed extra attack to penetrate the steel hybridâ??s defense, defense to withstand the super effective fighting attacks being utilized against him, and speed in order to contend with the significantly faster opponent, but to his knowledge there was no such attack that Steelix had in its repertoire to raise all three, so in the heat of battle Sabin coached him on a new technique by using the curse attack simultaneously with rock polish he was able to raise the desired stats all at once. Curse raised attack and defense but lowers speed, but to counteract the downside of the attack he used rock polish, which raises speed higher than curse lowers it. Sabin wasnâ??t sure if this new technique was created and pulled of due to his skills as a trainer (something that he never considered himself) or the pokemonâ??s own prowess, he decided a little of both probably played a part in it. After defeating the advancing aggressors with his newly powered up Steelix and causing a retreat he confronted the captive pokemon, explain that he understood that Steelix didnâ??t like him, but admitted that he also didnâ??t like it, but in the current situation they could help each other out. He would help the Steelix gain power in exchange for Steelixâ??s cooperation. The pokemon agreed, mostly due to the fact that it not agreeing would put it back in a state of constant fearâ?¦ or so Sabin though.

After that Steelix became Sabinâ??s muscle tearing through all the enemy pokemon that got in the way, but now, on board this ship the iron snake was useless. Not only where the other trainers on board fighting water pokemon, but Steelix simply weighed too much to be released on the deck, doing so would most defiantly collapse that part of the ship and cause it to sink. So Sabin waited in his room staring out at the pokemon in the sea desperately trying to wreck the ship. He heard from one of the men in navigation that their first stop would be Olivine City. Sabin got excited by this, Olivine was only a short distance away from Goldenrod, where the worldâ??s largest radio tower was, if he got off there and traveled to it, he could not only help look for survivors but also become even more famous that he already was. Also the was some railroad that connected Goldenrod to Saffron, which was close to the radio tower in Lavender Town. If he played his cards right, he could us that radio system to increase his own fame as well, and after this hostile pokemon invasion was finished heâ??d be set for life, who doesnâ??t support a celebrity figure that helped the common people in the time of greatest need. He began packing his things, excited by his new plan. He passed his bed where his egg was being held steady by Phione both wrapped in a blanket looking rather cute.
â??I believe that we are getting off in Olivine City.â?

[Humaru]

Hiro continued on his path towards New Bark hoping he didn't get into any more serious trouble. His Electivire, Hitmontop, and Flygon are tired from battling from that Rhyperior. Hiro kept running, ducking and dodging any fiends he might have come across. He finally got to the rest area before you get to New Bark Town.

[color="#0000FF"]"Ahh, good. When I get through this rest area all there should be are some Pidgey or Sentret. I can easily get past them. But I still better be careful because I sure have come across my fair share of surprises. And it seems that all the surprises I see aren't good ones. I wonder how Jun and Ryu are doing...I hope they can hold on or that Claire returns."[/color]
Hiro took a quick break from running in the rest area. He was looking around before settling down behind one of the desks. He took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes. He was still resting until a noise startled him. Something was rustling the discarded papers behind the other desk. Hiro thought it was a rouge pokemon and called out his Floatzel. The rustling stpped from the sound of the pokemon coming from its ball. A set of ears popped out from behind the desk. [color="#0000FF"]"Hey those look like Raichu ears."[/color] The ears twitched as they heard Hiro's voice and a Raichu jumped onto the desk. [color="#0000FF"]"Looks like we gotta another one Floatzel....alright lets...wait a minute. This Raichu doesn't look belligerent at all. And it has a scarf around its neck. Must belong to someone." [/color]Just as Hiro spoke, another trainer walked in from a back room in the rest area. The trainer was shocked to see Hiro and his Floatzel standing there.

[color="#FF00FF"]"It looks like you found a lot more then some supplies Raichu." The trainer began to smile. "Hi I'm Aiko and this is my Raichu. Who are you, stranger?" [/color]she said with another smile. Hiro began to blush slightly as he began to speak. [color="#0000FF"]"Uhh....I'm Hiro. This is my Floatzel." [/color]The two trainer shook hands and began to explain to each other their situations.

Hiro: [color="#0000FF"]"I'm coming from Blackthorn and Im trying to get to Goldenrod to see if their are any communications I can use to contact Claire. Im sure she's at the Pokemon League, I just have to let her know that the people from her town are barely surviving and they need her. Right now Im going to New Bark to see if I can get any kind of help from Professor Elm and to heal my pokemon. After that Im on to Goldenrod. So tell me whats your situation?"
[/color]
Aiko: [color="#FF00FF"]Well I live in Cherrygrove or I guess you can say I used to live there before the attacks. Since its such a small place,it was overrun quite quickly. Me and my family got together with the rest of the surviving members of the town and got to a safe place in the Pokemon Center. The nurses there had a room we all could hide in. Being a trainer, I volunteered to help defend the center whenever some pokemon would come to attack us. Me and a couple of other trainers tried our best to defend the center but we weren't successful all the time. We had to check out the areas around the center before we try to feed all the people. We dont want to attract some unwanted guests. That's why I'm out here now. Good thing I found you because you could have been attacked.[/color]

Hiro: [color="#0000FF"]Hey I can hold my own against just about anything. I've been a trainer for quite some time now.
[/color]
Aiko: [color="#FF00FF"]Hey since you're going to New Bark Town, how about I accompany you? You don't need to go anywhere alone. Im sure you can handle yourself but a partner is never anything to shy away from. Well,its settled then, we're off to New Bark Town.
[/color]
Hiro nodded and the two set off towards Professor's Elm's lab. After a quick trip, they arrived in New Bark Town. When they looked at the town, a look of sorrow came across their faces, not just because of the carnage there but because they knew that this is how it would once they got there. They quickly shook off the grief and ran towards Professor Elm's lab. They peered inside the lab to check for rogues but they didn't see any. Hiro and Aiko went inside and began looking for any people that may be there.

Hiro: [color="#0000FF"]"There doesn't seem to be anyone here. AHHHH!!! I can't believe we came this way for nothing."
[/color]
Then a object came flying across the room and struck Hiro in his head. [color="#0000FF"]"Ahh, why did you throw that at me Aiko?"[/color] Hiro shouted. [color="#FF00FF"]"But I didn't...it came from over there?"[/color] Aiko answered. A figure began walking out of the shadows....it was PROFESSOR ELM!!!

Elm: [color="#FF8C00"]Who...who are you people? And why are you here?[/color]
Hiro: [color="#0000FF"]Professor elm, Im Hiro and this is Aiko. We came this way to see if you could help us in any kind of way. Also if you can heal my pokemon.[/color]
Elm: [color="#FF8C00"]Well, Im still trying to gather enough information but I have no way of gathering it because of my lack of pokemon. My daughter is out there somewhere and I sure hope shes alright. I can't help you with why the pokemon began to act like this but I can help with your pokemon. My healing machine is still working. Hand me your pokeballs and I will heal your pokemon right away.
[/color]
Hiro and Aiko recalled their pokemon and handed all their pokeballs to the professor. He placed them on the machine and quickly healed them up. He handed the two trainers their pokemon back. Elm began walking over to his desk and pulled out something. [color="#FF8C00"]"Maybe you can use this."[/color] He handed Aiko a small device that was beeping. [color="#FF8C00"]"That device allows you check if food is safe to eat or not." Elm began to look out his window."What has happened to our loving world, why would this happen, and what is responsible? No matter what it is, Im sure it has to be stopped. I don't think people are able to take this for too much longer but Im afraid they will have to. Forgive me for not being able to help you anymore than I can. Where will you go now?"[/color]

Hiro:[color="#0000FF"]"I'm going to Goldenrod now since you can't help me. Thanks anyway professor for everything. I will try to find out anything I can but please don't hold me to anything." Hiro answered. Aiko poked his side. He looked at her. [/color]
Aiko: [color="#FF00FF"]"You mean WE are going to Goldenrod. Did you think you were just gonna leave me. That isn't very much like a gentleman. Im coming with you wherever you go. You need me and I need you too."[/color]
Hiro: [color="#0000FF"]"We just met a little while ago and now you're saying you need me....thats weird." Hiro looked into her eyes and noticed something he didn't see before. He saw a sense of need in her like she was looking for help from someone. Hiro then smiled and agreed with her statement. "Professor, we'll be leaving now....my "partner" and I need to get to Goldenrod so I can find Claire to get her to go back to Blackthorn."[/color]
Elm: "[color="#FF8C00"]Well I will do what I can. I don't have any communications here but hopefully something god will happen. Gook luck you two."[/color]

Hiro and Aiko nodded and head towards the exit. They left the lab and began making their way towards Goldenrod. They started running....they were hoping something good could finally happen but you could never tell in this new dark world. [color="#0000FF"]"We need to hurry before its too late...theres no telling if this is just the tip of the iceberg or what. I surely dont want anything more to happen."[/color] Hiro wondered.

[Lawliet]

Sabin had never been to any city in the Johto region before, Olivine City looked similar enough to any city from Sinnoh, based on the ruins anyway. The cruise liner that had brought them to the city had been severely damaged after several ambushes on the open sea and was forced to remain in Olivineâ??s port until the repairs to the hull were complete. Many of the trainers (including Sabin) had left the ship to search for supplies, mostly food, which had become dangerously scarce. Luckily there was a fish market right on the dock that still had plenty of fresh seafood and another group had discovered the cities super market where they were able to salvage some cans of food. Medicine was also running low, so low in fact that Phione was being politely forced to create as much of itâ??s special dew as possible so it could be bottled. Sabin was not happy about this, the dew Phione created was suppose to be for him alone, he drank a glass of it every day to ward off the sickness that would otherwise overcome him, but now Phione was so tired from producing all the extra that it struggled to make Sabinâ??s dose today.

None of that was important to Sabinâ??s current problems though. While exploring the ruined city Sabin and his â??buddyâ? that he was forced to partner with before departing the dock had been ambushed by a Machamp . The buddy system didnâ??t help them from the sudden attack and the other trainer was punched through the wall of the nearby building. Uninterested in seeing whether or not the unfortunate individual was alive or not (though he doubted it) Sabin released his Steelix and began to do battle with the super power pokemon. The match was mostly even, thanks to the new stat boosting abilities of Steelix even the super effective fighting attacks where little trouble.

[i] â??The real trouble is its counter, every time Steelix goes to use finish it off it gets man handledâ? [/i] Sabin was having problems coming up with a solution for this problem. Machamp had caused Steelix to become its own worst enemy. But how was Sabin suppose to use his pokemon to beat an adversary that turned all of his attacks against himself? [i] If only it had known at least one special attack, then I could catch it off guard.â? [/i] Machamp had launched a flurry of punches at his giant metal pokemon.

â??Use Earthquake.â? Steelix obeyed and slammed the ground with its tail, causing the ground to crake , the shockwave knocking Machamp off balance â??Iron Tail, hit the building behind him.â? Steelix obeyed again, its tail started to glow and it swung it in a wide arch at the fighting pokemon. Machamp, was no longer off balance at this point and began to take the stance that told Sabin and Steelix that it would be using counter to reflect the attack. Machamp was probably surprised (it was impossible to Sabin to tell what the pokemon was thinking or feeling based on facial expressions, this particular Machamp had its face permanently contorted into a scowl) and the iron tail went right over its head and smashed into the building behind him, taking out a huge chunk of it as it sliced through the cement blocks and windows that made up the walls.

â??Distract it, Iron tail again, this time straight down. Crush itâ??s head.â? Ordered Sabin and down came the iron tail. Right before it made contact with the pokemon it used its four arms to brace itself of the impacted and then with blinding speed got a good grip on the Iron Snake and threw it across the street. It collided with two more buildings causing the smaller of them to collapse on the spot. A second building began to fall forward was well, the one right behind the attacker. Machamp looked up just in time to see the building falling.

[i] â??It is good that it got to see what would be the death of it. Dying and not knowing the reason or cause is probably a very unsettling thing.â? [/i] Sabin recalled Steelix never taking his eyes off the scowling pokemon was it was crushed under building. The crashing of all the building was pretty loud and Sabin was knocked to the ground by tremors that rocked ground zero of the building collapse. He was sure that the enemy was dead, he was also sure that all the commotion from the falling buildings would probably attract attention, and Sabin couldnâ??t think of anyone or anything that need to know his exact location nowâ?¦ except more hostile pokemon that were ready to rip him to pieces.

He began to walk away from the wreckage when he heard a moan from a hole in the wall. He had almost completely forgot about his buddy, which seemed silly since the whole time he was mentally complaining about the buddy system the survivors from the ship were using to coordinate their ventures into the city. [i] â??If I go get him, Iâ??ll have to drag him the whole way to the boat, which is in the opposite direction from the exit of the city, plus anything with a powerful noise will be able to smell him out, and could possibly be drawn to him. He was kinda on the heavier side too, Iâ??m not sure if I could carry him the whole way back before sunset without taking all kinds of breaks. So, if I go and get him and take him to the ship for medical attention , which may or may not save his life, I would be a slowing moving target for any pokemon in the area. Easy pickings too, considering the shape Steelix is in.â? [/i] Sabin stopped, how inhuman was he, completely unconcerned about the value of this poor guyâ??s life. Still at this point he was closer to the exit of the city than the boat and there was no guarantee that this guy (who he couldnâ??t remember the name of) that dragging him all the way back would save him.

Sabin continued down the now ruined road to the outskirts of the city, deciding against helping the other trainer. [i] â??No need to endanger myself or delay my own plans because he wasnâ??t paying enough attention to dodge that scowly Machampâ?¦ I wonder how the egg is doingâ? [/i] Sabin stopped to open the back pack he got from one of the other passengers. It wasnâ??t one of the fancy ones that could hold almost an endless supply of stuff just a plain old bag that he was using to carry his egg with. After it hatched he would probably toss the bag out. The egg hadnâ??t changed, still tightly wrapped in the blanket from the ship. [i] â??I wonder if itâ??s warm enough in there, or how close it is to hatching, or what species it is. Oh, I should remember to take a pokeball from the next wrecked Poke Mart I see, Iâ??ll need to carry it in something- or maybe a different kind of ball a Net ball and a Premier ball, what kind of ball would go well with those two astatically?â? [/i] Sabin rewrapped the egg and put it back in his bag, zipped it up, and began to walk down the middle of the deserted street again, wondering about what kind of ball he should choice for his soon to be (hopefully sooner than later) mystery companion.

[Lilt]

[color="#9932CC"]Dusa walked off with three of the other survivors. She was both upset and glad to have them with her. Upset because she wanted to be alone to leave messages for her sister, but glad because traveling alone was extremely dangerous at the moment.

Still, she would have to try to sneak away somehow. She had a bottle of spray paint ready in her bag for when she got the chance. Dusa however, relaxed and helped the other three search for supplies. She was appointed as group leader so she wouldn't let them down. Usually she was always a follower in her sister's group, so this was a good new experience for her. She sighed and continued forward, leading the way for the others.

Thankfully, the search for supplies was an uneventful one. Dusa snuck off just a little bit away from the group and managed to spray paint her sister's special symbol on a wall. It was then that she heard a strange noise, so she ran back to the group before she noticed her missing. Grabbing some supplies, she met up with the others and they headed back to let Kiera know their supply run had gone well.
Dusa had a bad feeling about this, but some of the girls didn't find much when it came to supplies, so she decided to share some of hers with them. She just hoped she didn't regret it later on.

Dusa quickly looked over her shoulder, wondering what that strange noise was. She would have to remember to tell Kiera about it when they got back.[/color]

[b]OOC: Okay, I finally posted. Guy, if you want, have Dusa tell you about the noise she heard and we can check it out. If not, have her keep it to herself and it will just be a wild Pokémon.[/b] Edited August 5, 2010 by Lilt

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Kiera got to her feet as Dusa's group returned. "Any problems?"

"No," Dusa said, "although I did hear a noise as we were finishing up."

That got Kiera's attention. "Where?"

"Pharmacy area. We were getting basic first-aid supplies."

"Okay," Kiera said. "Let's see here... okay, Daniel and Terrence, you're with us." Daniel was another trainer, but Terrence was not. That didn't mean he didn't have any experiance with Pokemon battles, though; he may not have been an actual trainer, and may have had only the one Pokemon, but his Metagross was pretty tough, at least according to him. Kiera would've preferred to take another trainer, but she didn't want to leave the main group with too few, and Terrence would most likely suffice. "Dusa," she said, "take us to where you heard it."

"And now you're freaking out because of some noise," Kathrine remarked. "What is the deal with all this paranoia?"

"It keeps us alive," Kiera said. "If you don't like it, you can leave. Brandon, keep an eye on her, will you?" Brandon nodded, and Kiera turned back to Dusa and the other two. "Okay, Dusa, let's go."

****************

"You know," Daniel said as Dusa lead the group over to where she'd heard the noise, "she may actually be at least somewhat close to having a point. I understand checking on a noise, but don't you think four of us is overkill? It's probably just a random wild Pokemon, anyways."

"Not here it's not," Kiera said. "These Pokemon are not wild. You need to accept that right now. I have no doubt that there are still wild Pokemon, but the ones in this city are not among them. I know it may look like they've gone completely irrational and savage, but they haven't. This was planed, and judging by the fact that other cities were also attacked, coordinated. These Pokemon are most certainly not 'wild'."

"Still, is checking out a noise with four people really necessary?"

"I doubt it, but I'd rather be overprepared than underprepared. Although the main reason at the moment is that this way we have enough people to split up if we need to and still be in pairs."

"We're here," Dusa said.

"All right, then," Kiera said. "Let's sweep the area. And be careful. I'd expect that whatever made the noise is no longer here, but there's no garuntee of that. All right, let's get to work."

Kiera led the group carefully through the isles. There wasn't any sign of anything at first, but then Kiera saw something that caught her attention. "What the hell is that?"

Kiera led the group over to the wall and examined the odd design on it. "Any of you seen anything like this before? Daniel?"

"No."

"Dusa?

"Um, no."

"Terrence?"

"Not something I've seen before."

"And it wasn't here when we got here," Kiera said.

"How do you know?" Dusa asked.

"Because we did a full sweep of the place when we arrived," Kiera explained. "It was before you got here."

"And you're sure it wasn't here then?"

Kiera nodded. "I'm sure. Which means it was put here since then. Odds are that the noise you heard came from the one who made this mark."

"So what, you think another person came in here and did this? Another human?"

"No," Kiera said. "Not a human. Daniel, Terrence, get back to the campsite. Let them know there may be at least one unknown Pokemon in the building, and tell them to be on guard. Then do a sweep of the building. You two should be fine, but if you're not confident, take... Cain and Alicia with you. And don't just look for Pokemon. I want to know if there are any more symbols like this."

"Do you think it means something?" Dusa asked.

"Yes, I do. Why bother to put it here if it doesn't? And since it's most likely a Pokemon that did it, I think it's fair to say that it may very well have some connection to all of this. All right then. Dusa, you and I are going to do a sweep around the outside of the building. There may be more marks outside, and if there are, I want to know."

******************

"I don't know about this," Dusa said as she and Kiera headed for the entrance. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"I don't think there's anywhere safe in this city any more, but you're right that it's more dangerous that the inside sweep. That's why it's the two of us going outside."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I'm not really very experienced; I've only been a trainer for a short time."

"I could tell that when I asked for everyone's teams," Kiera said. "Yours definitely indicates you're a fairly new trainer. But I think you'll do just fine. In addition, you made it here by yourself, and that tells me you can stay calm and rational even when the **** really hits the fan hard. Which is very important. I don't think any of the others could do that; some were mild, but they were all panicking to at least a minor extent when I found them. Which is understandable, given the situation, but it's still a hinderance. In fact, we should probably keep one of us with the main group at all times. i'll have to remember that in the future."

"Wait, are you saying I'm like a second-in-command or something?"

"Not really. You're just my backup. If need be, you can lead the group in my place. I'll tell you what to do, though; you'll just have to do it. I can't be in two places at once, so it may be necessary."

"I don't know."

"Well, think about it, then. As for now," she said as the two of them reached the entrance, "we've got some work to do." The two of them walked outside, and Kiera quickly noticed another symbol on the outside wall by the door. "So there is more than one. And this one wasn't here when we arrived, either. Dusa, was this there when you came in?"

"Um, no."

"So it's new, too, then. But what the hell does it mean?" She pause briefly, then continued. "Well, come on. We've got a job to do."

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

Note: Sakura, if you want Eva to meet up with Kiera, here's a good opportunity to do so.

[Lawliet]

Sabin checked the map he had pilfered from one of the destroyed houses on the outskirts of Olivine.

[i] â??Route 39 connects to route 38 and then Iâ??ll be in Ecruteak City, from there itâ??s southwest to Goldenrod.â? [/i] He had gone over his path to the famed radio tower over and over but his horrible sense of direction demanded that he refer to the map multiple times a day to ensure he wasnâ??t off the path heâ??d set. His focus was also split, the egg he had received a few weeks back was approaching its â??Hatch Dayâ?. Ever now and again the mystery pokemon inside would move a little. He had only actually felt the movement once while he was rewrapping it in the blanket but Phione, who had decided to hold the egg as much as possible (which was rather humorous to watch considering the egg was about the same size as it was), had felt the movement many times.

The journey to Ecruteak had been uneventful at the best times and unbearably boring at the worst. Even the few battles he and Steelix fought along the way where simple wins. Interestingly enough, they had encountered wild pokemon as well as raging violent pokemon. The hostile pokemon seemed to be treating the regular wild ones as bad as they were treating the humans. This information, while Sabin found it fascinating didnâ??t help him come up with an explanation for what was going on with the pokemon. Just thinking about thinking about a solution gave him a headache.

[i] â??To fix a problem you must first know the cause, and in this case, the cause is unknown. For all we know this could be the work of thousands of trainers trying to wipe out human kindâ? [/i] He hoped that wasnâ??t the case, he rather liked the humans, even if he couldnâ??t relate with them. He hardly even considered himself one, since he wasnâ??t troubled by that thing called a conscience.

He would be arriving in Ecruteak by the end of the next day, which suited him fine. The city provided cover and an abundance of supplies that were scattered all around during the attacks, much better than the barren fields that made up the route between the port city and his â??halfway markâ? city. Although with all this open land it was impossible to sneak around so he had yet to be ambushed, instead the pokemon here preferred to charge right into battle. Too bad for of them, Steelix proved to be a very good charge stopper. Edited August 11, 2010 by Lawliet

[Cat]

Satu called back her Pokemon. They were tired from the battles they had been going through. Thankfully, none of them had been badly injured. She might have some healing supplies with her, but not enough for a huge wound. Satu was able to make it to route 36 without incident. 'Good thing we didn't go through the park.' she thought to herself, 'we would not have made it out there alive.'

Satu stopped when she realized she had no idea where she was going. 'I could go to Violet City from here.' She thought, 'Or I could towards route 37 and Ecruteak City.' Even though Ecruteak was farther away, the more distance she put in-between her and Goldenrod the better.

Route 37 was mostly quite. It seemed to have very few Pokemon, no matter if they were wild or not. 'Once I get to Ecruteak, what do I do?' Satu thought to herself. Being so close to Goldenrod, she doubted it had not been attacked. 'My best bet would be to take Route 42.' This way they wouldn't have to go near the cost. There was a whole mess of Pokemon on land. Satu didn't like the idea of being caught at a port. More then likely tons of Pokemon would start coming from the sea, at least the ones that could.

Satu knew some would think of her as cowardly for running away. She, on the other hand, just wanted to keep her self and her Pokemon safe. If this meant moving from city to city, Satu gladly would do so. In this new messed up world, this is what you had to do to survive. 'I will not team up with anyone.' Satu thought, 'You can't trust anyone.'

The closer Satu got to Ecruteak, the more anxious she felt. Even though the city was farther from Goldenrod, Satu had no doubt it was attacked. It began to get dark as day turned to night. 'I must be some place I can rest till the morning.' Sadly, in the area she was in, no such place existed. The trees provided the only shelter. After checking for any sort of Pokemon, Satu settled in for the night under a large pine tree. She didn't really sleep, but it felt good to rest after a long day. Edited August 14, 2010 by Cat

[Sakura]

[color="#800080"]Eva let out a soft sigh as the large store finally came into view, but they were coming toward it from the rear. She snuck up to the building with Blayze, Glaceon and Mightyena by her side, keeping watch in case there were any more pokémon or other humans around. Her eyes scanned the building and viewed a locked fire exit. She signalled toward it and hugged the shadows of the building to reach the doorway.

[b]"I don't know if there are other people her so I'd prefer to get through here instead of getting through the main entrance..."[/b] she surmised aloud.

With a few quick orders she super heated the door with a strong fire blast from Blayze, followed by a sudden cooling with Glaceon, making the metal of the door brittle. She quickly glanced around at her immediate surroundings before kicking at the weakened spot of the door, shattering a sizable hole in it which could be used as an entrance.

Glaceon and Mightyena jumped through first, calling out when the way looked clear. Eva slowly climbed through and looked around to see exactly which section they were in. It just so happened that they were in the pharmaceutical department, so Eva grabbed a pack from under the counter and started filling it with bandages, various types of potions, status healing solutions, as well as other first aid items that were likely to come in handy on their future journey. She also grabbed a band-aid, sticking it over the gash on her cheek that she had gained from falling down the stairs in the Radio Tower.

As she was packing she suddenly heard the scuffing sound of footsteps. She dived and rolled to get behind a solid display, trusting her pokémon to take care of their own hiding places for the mean time. As the steps got closer she could hear the voices of two people talking casually. Eva didn't want to make herself known since she had no way to deduce whether they were good or bad. Luckily for her the two people didn't do any intense searching of the area and just continued walking into a different department. She stuck her head to ensure that the coast was clear before standing and stealthily moving toward the door that the two had exited through. Her pokémon reappeared at her side, and she decided to retreat Blaziken and Mightyena since they were the big and would be seen, especially with the new development that there were other people in the building.

Evangeline stood on opposite sides of the door from Glaceon, she made eye contact with him and tapped her ear, pointed to the doorway and held her hands out in question. His ears pricked and was motionless for a few moments before nodding and entering the new department. They made their way into the food department, while grabbing anything useful she could see on the way, and she swiftly stocked her pack in the area. At the moment it was empty but she had no idea if someone would enter at any moment. Once she was done cautiously moving around the store she saw that the main entrance was right in front of her. It seemed to be clear so she hurriedly went for it, making it to outside air and thinking she was in the clear. She started to make her way toward the streets again but it so happened that two girls walked around the corner of the building and spotted her.

Glaceon jumped in front of Eva protectively and growled. Each of the girls instinctively grabbed a pokéball and released an Espeon and an Umbreon.

[b]"Who are you?"[/b] she asked them, her guard up in case they weren't friendly.

[b]"We could be asking you the exact same thing."[/b] one of them answered with a glare, she seemed to be the more confident of the two.

Eva narrowed her eyes carefully before deciding to answer. [b]"My name's Evangeline Drake."[/b]

The one who had replied looked thoughtful for a moment. [b]"Evangeline Drake? As in Eva from Pokétalk 92.9?"[/b]

[b]"That's right"[/b] she lifted her chin. [b]"And you are?"[/b]

[b]"I'm Kiera, and this is Dusa."[/b]

[b]"What are you doing here?"[/b]

[b]"There's a group of us who have gathered together, we met after the pokémon attacked the city."[/b]

[b]"Hmm, not just this city either."[/b] After a slight questioning look Eva elaborated. [b]"When the pokémon attacked us I was reading out a headline about Vermillion City in Kanto being hit by a similar strike."[/b]

[b]"I think you seem to be trustworthy seeing as you were caught in the attack too."[/b] Kiera spoke, recalling her Espeon as Dusa recalled Umbreon.

Eva waved her hand at Glaceon, who immediately stopped bristling and trotted back to her side. [b]"Well I'm glad you think so."[/b] she replied dryly.

[b]"So, what's your pokémon team then, apart from the obvious."[/b] Kiera's gaze falling to Glaceon.

[b]"Glaceon, clearly, Blaziken, Mightyena, Donphan, and Ampharos."[/b] she answered easily.

[b]"Hmm, only five? I thought you would have a full team."[/b] was the suspicious reply.

[b]"....Yeah, guess not..."[/b] she answered quietly, hand going up to the pokéball around her neck.

Kiera nodded but it was obvious that she wasn't going to let it go. [b]"Come on, let's go meet up with the rest of the group."[/b]

The three of them, four including Glaceon, headed back toward the entrance of the store that Eva had just left.[/color]

[size="1"][b]OOC:[/b] Takuya, Lilt, hope the post is ok. Let me know if you want me to change anything.
[b]OOC2:[/b] Alright Takuya, made the edits as requested.[/size] Edited August 15, 2010 by Sakura

[Humaru]

Hiro and Aiko had begun walking the short trip to Cherrygrove. They were both scanning the area around them but not with too much worry. Since this was such a calm area, only small pokemon like Sentret or Pidgey would actually be here...hopefully. As they continued the path, they decided to stay near all the open areas they could. If anything were to attack them, they could see it and be able to defend themselves properly. They began climbing up a small area. "I'll go first Aiko, that way I can scan the area for any rogue pokemon." Hiro said. Hiro climbed the area quickly and looked around for anything strange. After not noticing anything immediately he turned to help Aiko but noticed a shadow out of the corner of his eye. This shadow didn't look like a pokemon though, it looked like a person had just ran by. Hiro began looking towards the woods to see if the shadow would come out again. "HEY HIRO, HELP ME!!!!" Aiko screamed waiting for Hiro to help her. He took one last glance at the woods and then turned to help Aiko. After helping her, he began to become more weary of himself and his surroundings.

Soon after a short walk they arrived in Cherrygrove. Aiko led Hiro in a back entrance of the Pokemon Center.

"Hey I'm back you guys. And I brought someone back with me." Aiko said as she and Hiro walked into a room with an elderly man, 2 teenage guys, a middle aged woman, another teenage girl, and some nurses.

All the people in the house began looking at Hiro. "Hello, everyone...I'm Hiro...from Sunnyshore City...its a pleasure to meet you all." he uttered shyly.

"WHAT, Aiko why are you bringing more people here. We barely have enough food and water for those of us already here. You knew we can't take in any more wanderers. He has to leave right!!!",one of the boys yelled.
The elderly man stood up and put his hand on the boy's shoulder to calm him down. The man started walking towards Hiro and calmly showed him the small amount of supplies they had.
"I'm sorry for his rudeness young man but he is right...I'm afraid we cannot take in anymore wanderers. Please forgive me." As the man continued speaking, Hiro interrupted him politely. "I have no intention of staying here at all sir. For you see, I plan to go to Goldenrod to try to get in contact with someone. I understand your situation and I will leave the first chance I get."

Hiro and the elderly man shook hands and they both sat down. "Now that thats all over, let me introduce you to everyone Hiro. This is my grandfather Fao and my sister Himiko. Those two guys are Walton and Sam. Thats their mother Heather and those are the center nurse Lee, Abigail,and May." Aiko said. All the people who wanted to, waved and said hello. The two guys just looked at Hiro without saying anything. "Where are the others, grandpa?" Aiko asked with a puzzled look on her face. Fao's face took a grim turn and he looked away. Aiko noticed and began looking at everyone else. They all had the face and she knew something was wrong. Fao walked up to Aiko and patted her back as he quietly spoke of the fate of those formerly with them. Aiko immediately began to cry and she ran over to her sister. There was alot of sorrow in the room. Fao took this chance to ask Hiro to come into another room.

Both of them went into a small room down the hall of the Pokemon Center. They sat down and Fao began asking Hiro some questions such as "Who is he going to contact and why?" Hiro began explaining everything he could to Fao and they had a long discussion on the situation plaguing their homes. After explaining all he could, Hiro asked Fao a question that he seemed to be waiting on.

"Look Fao, I have a long journey ahead me and as much as I would appreciate Aiko's help....I need to travel on my own. It's nothing against her or anything but I can't protect her. I can barely protect my pokemon from harm. I don't want her to get hurt on my expense. Besides I think she needs to stay here. She seems to be the bonding point that connects all of you. Plus she can protect you from any more attacks. So I guess what I'm asking you is if you can help me leave without her noticing?" Hiro explained. Fao simple nodded to Hiro's request and he helped Hiro plan an escape.

*It was dark now and everyone was preparing for bed.*

"I'll stand the first watch tonight," Fao quickly said to everyone. Everyone agreed as they all got together in the middle of the room and prepared their sleeping mats. Hiro glanced over to Fao and Fao nodded at him. After a while, everyone was asleep...except for Hiro. He was writing on a piece of paper and began gathering his things. "Thank you Fao....for everything. I'll make sure to come back and help you guys in any way I can. I promise you that." Hiro whispered. Fao shook Hiro's hand and found the note Hiro wrote to Aiko. "Could you give that to her when you get a chance....again thank you." Hiro added as he snuck out the back of the pokemon center.

Hiro continued on his path towards Violet City. As he walked, a tear began to fall from his eye. "I just have to add her to the list of those I promised to help. Whoever or whatever is causing this is in for a world of hurt once I get my hands of them. BUt thats not important now....I have to get to Goldenrod soon. No more stopping until I get there. Hopefully I can find what I'm looking for. Hmm....hope seems to be the only thing I have left."

[Lawliet]

Perhaps if this was the first time witnessing the destruction brought on by the sudden sacking of the human cities one would be horrified. More than likely normal people, even those who had already experienced the sad sight of toppled buildings, corpses , fires, and countless other things that replaced the once grand cites, would be horrified. Sabin wasnâ??t even a little bit bothered by the scene. The ruins of Eruteak looked like the ruins of Olivine which looked like the ruins of Veilstone. Sabin had given up on trying to traverse the ruined walkways choosing to ride on his Steelixâ??s head as the giant metal snake slithered towards route route 37. In his lap sat his companion, Phione, who was clutching the egg that Cynthia had bestowed upon Sabin because she deemed him a safe place. Unfortunatlly for whatever pokemon was growing inside the egg, Sabin was headed for conflict and adventure. His constantly evolving plan to attain power, fame, and fortune would no doubt meet resistance from all kinds of things, some that can be planned for, some that Sabin would have to deal with then they presented themselves. First things first, he needed companions- human ones. What kind of fame could he acquire if no one knew of him?

[i] â??Well people do â??knowâ? of me, but the fame that I want will make thisâ?¦ popularity that I have work so hard for look like nothing. After all I have been blessed, Iâ??m handsome, and I can fake friendship better than anyone I knowâ?¦Unless they are better at it than me, then I assume I wouldnâ??t be able to tell. I can be charismatic when I have to be, charming too. I might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but Iâ??m pretty darn close. And most importantly I am a genius trainer.â? [/i]
That last thing might not be totally true, but there was no denying Sabinâ??s skills. He has taught his Steelix a number of complicated tricks and techniques, including a combination attack/defense/speed raising ability, many powerful attacks including flash cannon, aqua tail, iron head, and dark pulse. Such variety in attacks was required, though moves where quickly phased out depending on usefulness (Sabin was still searching for the perfect combination of abilities for maximum effectiveness) because Steelix was the only pokemon that Sabin could rely on to defeat any opponent that got in his way- and it was important to be able to hit enemies with an attack that they were weak too, it helped end battles quickly.

Even though Steelix and Sabin where originally at odds with one another they quickly settled their issues when they realized that they needed each other. Steelix personal quest for power was greatly aided by the humanâ??s natural ability to teach and Sabin needed him for fighting. Steelix, while always showing slight hostility towards the human, began to feel a bond to its trainer. The bond was not mutual, and Sabin wasnâ??t trying to hide it. Phione was the only pokemon that he cared to befriend, and if not for Phioneâ??s constant producing of the dew that kept him healthy Steelix could only assume that the small blue pokemon would be subjected to the same hostility. Although this thought was entirely wrong, though Steelix didnâ??t know, Sabin was saved from drowning by Phioneâ??s parent, Manaphy, and he could never bring himself to be cruel to the family of pokemon that he owed his life too. Regardless Steelix was growing use to his trainers cold demeanor and understood that staying and obeying would lead to strength. The pokemon was also certain that this human had big plans in store for the world and he, despite the nagging urge to kill him, would be the weapon this human used to carry out said plans. There was no other paths that Steelix wanted to travel, gaining power and being significant, those where its only desires that the pokemon had ever felt, and Sabin would fulfill them both.

[i] â??Gaining human allies is defiantly something that I canâ??t avoid. I need to befriend people, so that later they can become subordinates, and subjects after that to carry out my orders while I live the life of luxury.â? [/i] Sabinâ??s concentration was broken by Phione, apparently the egg was moving again. Soon he would have another tool to work withâ?¦ however, if Phione continued to show interest in the soon to be hatched baby he would have to treat it with the same kindness that he treated Phione or it might grow to resent him.
[i] â??Maybe thatâ??s Phioneâ??s plan. It knows my true nature, but also knows that I can be gentle and kind with a little effort.â? [/i] And that was fine, it was not like Sabin purposely acted like a jerk, it was just his nature. He faked kindness during all of his human interactions due to the promise he made to Manaphy the day it saved his life, there was no reason that he couldnâ??t show the same kindness to this unborn pokemon that he showed to Phione. Having two companions might not be a terrible thing and in time the pokemon would learn to accept that he was the way he was, just as Phione had. Itâ??d lean that he simply treated it better because it was deserving of such treatment(Which hopefully it would). Luckily Steelix was easier to figure out and pleases such niceties where not necessary to have the behemoth cooperate.

â??Phione, we need to look for survivors, Iâ??m sure there are some lurking around and it seems like most if not all the enemy pokemon have moved on to wreck the smaller towns that are nearby, so there should be little interference with any rescue operations. Finding friends. That is what weâ??ll do here. Hopefully we can get to Goldenrod with at least one â??friendâ?.â? Sabin looked down at the pokemon in his lap, who was looking up at him with its big eyes and smiled in approval.

[i] â??Friends, if only such a thing existed for meâ? [/i]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

The sweep was uneventful until Kiera and Dusa came back around the front to finish the sweep. As the main entrance came into view, they saw someone walking out of the building.

"That's not one of ours," Kiera said. "Don't' attack, but be ready just in case." She released Espeon, and Dusa released an Umbreon.

As they closed in on the unknown woman, Kiera saw that she had a Glaceon out. [i]Well, there's a funny little coincidence.[/i]

"Who are you?" the girl asked as Kiera and Dusa came to a stop in front of her.

"We could ask you the same thing," Kiera said.

The girl thought for a moment before replying. "My name is Evangeline Drake."

[i]Hmm... I've heard that name before. Wait.[/i] "Eva? PokeTalk 92.9?" She supposed that she usually wouldn't have known the name, but she'd been in Goldenrod for a couple weeks now, and had heard Eva on the radio several times.

"That's right," Eva said. "And you are?"

"I'm Kiera, and this is Dusa."

"What are you doing here?" Eva asked

"There's several of us hiding out here. We met during the attack, and I ended up leading the group."

"Hmm, not just this city either. When the pokémon attacked us I was reading out a headline about Vermillion City in Kanto being hit by a similar strike."

[i]And not just Vermillion, either,[/i] Kiera thought. "Well," she said as she and Dusa recalled their Pokemon, "I think you can be trusted, especially since you were caught in the attack, too."

"Well I'm glad you think so," Eva said as Glaceon returned to her side.

"If you're joining the group, then I'd appreciate it if you would tell me your Pokemon team. Aside from the obvious, of course."

"Glaceon, clearly," Eva said, "Blaziken, Mightyena, Donphan, and Ampharos."

[i]Odd.[/i] "Only five? Not a full team?"

"....Yeah, guess not..." Eva replied hesitantly, placing her hand on the Pokeball hanging from her necklace.

[i]Not that simple, then,[/i] Kiera thought. [i]Did her sixth die? Maybe not; she doesn't look like she's thinking about a loss. Could be wrong, though. Well, I'll have to ask her about it. In private, I think.[/i] "Come on," she said, "let's go meet up with the rest of the group."

The three of them, plus Glaceon, stepped inside.

"Kiera!"

Kiera turned towards the voice to see Daniel and Terrence approaching. "Who's this?" Daniel asked, indicating Eva.

"This is Eva," Kiera said. "Eva, this is Daniel and Terrence, two others from the group. Did you two find anything?"

"No," Terrence said. "Well, nothing you haven't found. We thought we had something, but lost it as it moved this way."

"Yeah, that was me," Eva said.

"As I thought."

"Well, this works well," Kiera said. "Dusa, you go with Daniel and Terrence. Finish the sweep, then return to the group. I'm going to take Eva on a supply run."

"All right," Dusa said. She headed off with the pair.

Kiera took her bag off-[i]And I should make sure to tell people to keep their packs with them[/i]-and opened it up. She reached in and pulled out another bag, an empty one.

"Wait," Eva said, "you keep a spare bag in your bag?"

"Yeah," Kiera replied. "What if my bag fails? I don't want to be in the wilderness and end up having to leave almost all of my supplies behind. And it's easy to fit an empty bag through into this one. Although it needs to stay off, of course, since stacked compression can have... interesting results." Which was why most bags made a lot of noise if anything with active compression, such as an occupied Pokeball, came near an open pouch. "Anyways, here. We're set up in the outdoor department, so I'll get another spare when we get back there. Anyways, come on."

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

"Okay," Kiera said as Eva loaded food into her bag, "if you're going to stay with our group, then you need to know the rules. If you don't follow them, you're out of the group. First of all, I'm in charge. I didn't ask for that position, but when we all ran into each other, I was the only one who'd managed to stay calm enough to think clearly, so I ended up in charge. If you have thoughts on something I say, feel free to say so, but in the end, I'll expect you to go with whatever I end up deciding. Especially if we're actively in danger; I can't have anyone second-guessing me when we're in the middle of a fight."

"All right," Eva said. "What else?"

"The only other set rule I've made so far is that nobody goes anywhere alone. I don't care what you're doing; have at least one other human with you-and within sight-at all times. Yes, even if you're using the bathroom. I've already had one person slip away to do that in private," she explained after a questioning look. "Privacy takes a backseat to safety."

"Makes sense. Anything else I need to know?"

"Keep an eye out for symbols like that one by the entrance, or the one we'll see when we reach the pharmacy section. I think they may be related to whatever's going on."

"All right. Is that all?"

"Pretty much," Kiera said, "although I do have something to ask you."

"What is it?" Eva replied, but Kiera could tell that she knew what was coming.

[i]She was ready for me to press this. Definitely a sign that she's hiding something.[/i] "I''m fairly certain you've figured out what this is about," Kiera said. "You only named five pokemon when I asked for your team earlier."

"I only have a team of five."

"And yet you've got a sixth Pokeball on a necklace."

'It's... it means something to me."

[i]Let's see about that.[/i] "Did your sixth die?"

Eva's surprise at that qoestion briefly showed on her face, but she quickly hid it, although not quickly enough to keep Kiera from seeing it. "Um-"

[i]As expected[/i] "No need to answer," Kiera said. "It never occurred to you that someone might think that, did it? I can tell you weren't expecting the question. You do have a sixth, don't you? You just don't want to say what it is."

"I-"

"If you want it kept secret, I won't tell anyone."

"And yet you're asking me to tell you."

"The difference," Kiera said, "is that I'm in charge of this group. Nobody else needs to know, but I won't accept having something like that kept from me. So out with it. What is your sixth Pokemon?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Then you're not going to come with us. It's your choice. I don't want to be a ***** here, but I need the group to do what I say. If you have objections, then by all means, voice them, but in the end, I can't have people going against me, not if we're going to get out of this alive. So I'll ask again: what is your sixth Pokemon?"

"I don't want people to know I have it," Eva said after a pause.

"Then I won't say anything."

There was another pause. "All right," Eva said eventually. "My sixth is a Latias."

[i]Latias? How the hell did she pull that off?[/i] "Well. All right, then. Thank you for telling me. And don't worry; I won't say a thing about it. And again, sorry about the rigid ***** routine. I don't like having to be like that, but, well..."

"It's all right," Eva said.

"Okay, then. Now that that's over with, let's get this supply run over with, shall we?"

[chibi-master]

Valor was gradually spiraling downward for a landing at the top of the radio tower. As Skippy and Valor got closer to the tower, they saw the city in ruins. "****... Valor, be careful not to attract attention when you land," Skippy muttered. Valor landed on top of the tower, behind some large structures filled with wires. Skippy called him back into his pokeball and walked toward the big metal hatch on the floor of the roof. She tried to open the hatch, but it was stuck tight. "Come out, Borislav!" The Empoleon materialized in front of Skippy and glared at the destroyed city below. "Borislav, please help me get this hatch opened!" Borislav lifted his wing-fin-thing into the air and brought it down on the hatch with great force, smashing in the hatch. "Thanks, Borislav! Return!" The Empoleon was taken back into his pokeball. "Let's go, Runa." Skippy brought out the female Raichu who seemed happy to be able to stretch. "Runa, hop on my back. We're climbing down there and I'll need your glow-in-the-dark abilities to see where I'm going. If a rogue appears, kill it before it kills the both of us." Runa nodded her head and climbed onto Skippy's back. The two of them began down the long ladder in the vertical tunnel.

Skippy and Runa finally reached the recording floor after an exhausting climb. More than once they had almost fallen. The ladder was metal and had thin rods for steps. The metal was slick and cold, making it hard to hold on to. Skippy began to search for a working piece of radio equipment when her sense of smell was suddenly assaulted. "What-! What is this?!" The smell of blood was everywhere. "Runa, can you try to glow just a bit more?" Skippy could hear crackling and knew Runa was using her stored electricity to create light. The method worked, but Skippy was not happy. Before her was a grim sight. The radio tower employees were strewn across the station, all dead. The looked like they had been rotting for a bit. Skippy saw he remains of a door and decided that the staff had barricaded themselves, but the Pokemon broke through. Skippy was feeling dizzy from the scent, but she pushed onward and looked for equipment. She fiddled with the machines until she found one that looked completely undamaged. "Runa! Do you know what this means?! We can contact the Violet City Air Force!" Skippy whispered excitedly. Runa nodded her head sharply and smiled. "Runa, can you try to power this for me with your electricity?"
"Rai!" Runa replied, electrocuting the plug. Skippy jumped forward and tuned into the Air Force's frequency and began to transmit.
"Airman to Base! Airman to Base! This is Skippy Grinner, calling from Goldenrod! Do you copy?" Skippy waited nervously for an answer. She was getting very anxious when the reciever snapped to life.

"Skippy Grinner, this is Violet City Air Force. Are you injured?"
"Only slightly."
"What is the situation on Goldenrod?"
"I haven't been here long enough to know. But it looks bad. All of the radio tower staff has been killed."
"What happened in Olivine City?"
"We were overpowered by the Pokemon. As far as I know, I am the only survivor."
"There are other survivors. Some are back here at the Base."
"Oh, good!" Skippy shook with relief. "What's the situation in Violet City?"
"We're holding out. The town has been divided into three parts. Sprout Tower, the Gym, and the Air Base. We have managed to keep a low profile and we're trying to gather information on other cities."
"I'm glad!"
"Grinner. We need you to do something."
"What is it?"
"We need you to stay in Goldenrod and help the residents. Try to give us weekly reports. This is very important. Can you do it?"
"Of course, I can!" Suddenly, Skippy heard a feral growl outside in the hallway. She froze with fear, and Runa stiffened. "I need to go. A rogue is here. Do not worry, I can defeat it." Skippy carefully took the small radio transmitter/reciever and put it in her backpack.

Skippy and Runa inched toward the hallway. Skippy peeked around the corner and saw a group of Growlithe advancing. Skippy silently called Runa back into her pokeball and sent out her monstrous Swampert, Edvard. Without a word, she climbed on to Edvard's back. "Fire Types. Let's go. We need to get out of here," she whispered almost inaudibly. Edvard tore out of the room and into the hallway. He blasted some of the Growlithe with water, and slammed himself into others. The Swampert soared down stairways and crushed anything in his way. The two finally made it to the lobby. There was a large Arcanine, but he was quickly taken down with Muddy Water. Skippy quickly swung herself off Edvard and called him back. She brought out her Jigglypuff, Charm. "Charm, we're in Goldenrod. We're leaving this building, and once we do, we are in danger. Tell me if you see anything. Put any threats to sleep." Skippy scooped up the Jigglypuff and carefully left the building. She needed to find the residents of the city and help them out. Edited March 13, 2011 by chibi-master

[Lawliet]

OOC: Wow college eats up all my time. I kinda threw this together in between classes, I'll go back and read it later and make sure it makes sense.

In his attempt to find human survivors Sabin was having little luck. Finding humans wasnâ??t a problem, but he was looking for ones that were still breathing, not casualties of the pokemon raid. He had entered the city from its west entrance, while getting to Goldenrod was his top priority, he had decided to travel north east first to visit the towers that Eruteak was so famous for. He had been sure that if any people where hiding out somewhere that would be the place but all he found there was a group of Magmar protecting their eggs. After being driven out of the tower but the over protective fire pokemon Sabin decided that he need to capture more pokemon for himself so that, if need be, he could rely on more than just his Steelix.

After a few hours of searching he was able to find the remains of the pokemart. Using Phioneâ??s water pulse to smash the glass display he looted some potions and pokeballs. After leaving the ravaged shop he went towards the east part of the town, the last place he hadnâ??t look for potential allies. Upon coming towards the east entrance he was surprised to find a group of Exploud fighting with a lone Zigzagoon. Unconcerned why this battle broken out in the first place Sabin watched. The Zigzagoon was doing quite well for its self. It was frequently throwing up clouds of sand with its sand attack, blinding the fully evolved Explouds, and running through the ruins using itâ??s a fling attack to hurl anything and everything it could get its hands on at them. The Explouds were responding by using what Sabin could only imagine was hyper voice. Shockwaves of sound exploded towards the Zigzagoon who expertly dodged using double team.

[i] â??Thank god for double team, or that pokemon would be finished. Itâ??s managing to dodge all of their attacks. â?? [/i] As Sabin continued to watch he noticed that the Tiny Raccoon was also using the terrain to its advantage, ducking in and out of cover to launch more rocks with Fling.

â??Thatâ??s enough, Zigzagoon. Iâ??ve seen enough. Steelixâ? Sabin released the iron snake form its ball. â??Aqua Tail.â? Steelixâ??s tail turned a deep blue as it moved it in a long sweeping motion towards the group of normal pokemon. Zigzagoon managed to use Dig to avoid getting hit with the massive tidal wave that had formed around Steelixâ??s tail, but the Explouds were caught in it. They were pushed backwards with great force, smashing into the sides of the buildings and walls which were most likely part of buildings at some point. Irritated most of the Exploud (the ones that could still move) rose to their feet and unleashed a Hyper Voice again. Maybe if it had been one or two Steelix would have been able to shrug off the attack, but getting hit with fifteen was more that the pokemon could handle. It buckled and collapsed to the ground, unable to withstand the high pitched noise.

Sabin was also having problems with the noise, immediately after the pokemon had begun their attack he had the worst headache of his life, shortly after that his vision began to go blurry and darkness filled his field of vision. He was losing conciseness.

[i] â??What a stupid idea, helping this stupid pokemon- who cares if it was going to get killed. You shouldnâ??t have decided that you were going to catch it. How frustrating, to be killed for being kindâ? [/i] Sabin had no doubt in his mind that after he was knocked out the Exploud would kill him, and even if they didnâ??t all the noise would surly attract something that would .

Just as he was about to go under, the ground beneath the Explouds collapsed. The cries didnâ??t stop, but they were muffled by the dirt and stones that where pouring in on the group. Phione (who had also been knocked out from the unison Hyper Voice) flung itself into the air above the sinkhole where the Explouds were trapped and used Whirlpool, trapping most of them in a swirling ball of water, further muffling the sound. By this point Steelix was charging towards the captured pokemon with Thunder Fang. As soon as he clamped down on one of the trapped Explouds the lightning rippled through the entire sphere hitting every pokemon trapped inside, cutting the unfortunate Exploud that was initially bite in half and fainting the rest.

Sabin managed to get to a seated position before sighing a sigh of relief. He had trained his pokemon well, even Phione, who was not usually used for battle was able to coordinate with Steelix and turn the situation around the moment they had an openingâ?¦ but what caused the opening? Sabinâ??s head hurt too much to think, so he let the problem go. Phione returned to Sabinâ??s side as Steelix began to curl up around them, to protect them from the Spearow that were coming to investigate the commotion and anything else might attack them including the group of Magmar from earlier that had just appeared.

In its coiled position around its trainer Steelix couldnâ??t use any of its physical attacks. Uncoiling would expose its trainer and his companion to the flock of Spearow that were now trying to rip him to pieces. But if Steelix didnâ??t take out the Magmar that were blasting him with flame thrower heâ??d not only faint but his trainer would be cooked. Launching Dark Pulse even now and then to try and get a lucky shot in on the fire pokemon was the best thing he could do at this point. This dilemma was solved by the Zigzagoon that started this whole mess. It burst from underneath one of the Magmar, distracting it long enough for Steelix to land a Dark Pulse, knocking it out. Zigzagoon then used another attack, Pin Missile to shower the Spearow with damaging hairs, scaring them away. Now that Sabinâ??s biggest danger was being cooked while trapped in the hollow part of Steelixâ??s coiled up body, Steelix uncoiled and used Aqua Tail to scare off the rest of the Magmar, afterward collapsing from exhaustion.

Sabin was completely oblivious to the danger that he was just in, and the danger of more enemies appearing, drawn to the loud cries of the currently fainted Exploud. He had however come to a conclusion about the sinkhole that lead to the Explouds defeat. He was sure that it was the Zigzagoonâ??s doing, but there was not enough time for it to hollow out that entire hole during the battle. So Sabin decided that the hole was mostly dug out before the battle between the group of Whismer evolutions and the tiny raccoon even began. If that were so then it also explained why the Zigzagoon had such an ample supply of things to Fling at the enemies and his ability to dodge their attacks so well using the rubble. This little Zigzagoon had set a trap and learned the terrain prior to engaging the Exploud. Worthy of capturing.

Sabin suddenly became aware of what was going on around him. His main weapon to use in battle was on the ground barely breathing. The Zigzagoon that he decided to capture for himself was also exhausted, panting heavily and hardly able to stand. Phione was also in bad shape from the Exploudâ??s attack was wouldnâ??t be able to defend him either. Cover. Sabin needed to find cover. He recalled Steelix, tossed a great ball at Zigzagoon which it was powerless to resist, and scooped up Phione in his arms and ran. Running right after almost losing conciseness was harder than he thought and he stopped after a few yards and slipped inside a the building that acted as the eastern entrance to the city. While most of the roof and walls were missing, he was able to find something of a closet and decided that was a good place to hide. He gently placed Phione on the ground and curled into a ball next to it. He needed to rest, his body was worn out and his mind wasnâ??t working. Rest, at least of a few hours, and hopefully nothing would find him here. Edited August 30, 2010 by Lawliet

[Humaru]

Hiro had been moving for quite awhile towards Violet City. He had luckily been unseen by any assailants. Finally after along walk Hiro had arrived in Violet City.

"Hmmm, Im almost to Goldenrod. I better just go straight there and avoid going to Azalea Town. So that means I need to go straight ahead toward route 36. I hope the rest of my trip isn't filled with run in with those dirty pokemon."

Hiro continued into the city. He wanted to check some things out so he headed towards the gym but before he could really make it there, Hiro saw an unsightly sight.....more vicious pokemon just roaming around. He quickly ducked behind a building hoping not to be seen. He looked around to find a way to get to the gym. He saw an opening near some trees and took off towards them. He gripped to the trees and used them to cover his location so that he wouldn't be attacked again. It seemed to be working well until Hiro was attacked by an Ariados climbing down from the trees. The pokemon shot out a String Shot attack to try and trap Hiro but he did all he could to get out the way. Hiro managed to escape and sent out his Electivire. "Thunderbolt, Electivire" Hiro yelled out. The strong electric pokemon released a huge bolt of electricity directly at the bug pokemon. The attacked landed and seemed to paralyze it. Hiro though the was safe but this outburst only attracted more Ariados and even some Forestress. Hiro looked around to see how many pokemon were actually there. He was terrified to find the number in the high 30s. There was no way that he and his 6 pokemon were gonna fight against that army. So he did what any smart person would do........he booked it towards the nearest building. The pokemon gave chase to Hiro and his Electivire and seemed to be making ground. Hiro called back his pokemon and kept running. He saw a half broken window and leaped through into a broken down building. The building wasn't gonna hold back the pokemon and Hiro knew that. Hiro quickly made his way upstairs to the second floor of the building. He quickly paced back and forth thinking what he could do. The Ariados had made their way into the building chasing after Hiro.

"I gotta move quickly but I dont want to be seen by alot of pokemon.....but that seems to be the only way to get outta this. Hmmm....Im gonna hate myself for this. I guess I can't check out the gym like I wanted to. Oh well. Lets fly....Charizard! Charizard......use flamethrower and set the building on fire."
Hiro's pokemon looked at him confusingly but obliged. Charizard blasted a huge flame towards some torn furniture and the walls. Flames quickly started and the building began to catch fire. Hiro jumped on Charizard's back and they jumped out a window and took flight towards the woods on route 36. Hiro released his Scizor and Flygon as well. They all flew as fast as they could out of Violet City. Some Fearow spotted them and attacked. "Flygon use Hyper Beam and Scizor use Metal Claw." Hiro's Flygon ceased flying and turned to fire a beam. The beam hit a couple of the Fearow. Hiro's Scizor started striking the birds with its attack. Hiro saw a spot to land and commanded his Charizard to head towards the spot. Flygon and Scizor followed them there. He recalled Charizard and Flygon. He then began to hide with his Scizor in a nearby bush. That turned out to be a smart move because Hiro attracted alot of attention on his flight. A group of pokemon seemed set out to find him.

"Ahh crap, I knew I shouldn't have done that but I really had no choice....I would have been bug food is I hadn't. Now what to do....I cant sit here forever and surely no one is coming to help me." Hiro glanced around to gain some bearings and found that he was on route 35 as he saw the top of a rest area building from his location. "At least Im close to where I need to go. Now I just have to figure out h---" Hiro was cut off by the sight of a pokemon that had spotted him.....it was a Nidoking!!!! Without hesitation the Nidoking attacked and Hiro responded with his Scizor. "Scizor use Bullet Punch and then send it flying with X-Scissor." he attack sent the Nidoking into a nearby tree. The Nidoking quickly rose and let out a loud cry. It launched a Hyperbeam directly at Hiro and his pokemon. The attacked landed short and created a small explosion. The shockwave sent Hiro into a tree right on his arm. A huge crack was heard and Hiro grabbed his arm tightly. He stood slowly and his Scizor gained a second wind. Before Hiro could let out an attack though the group of pokemon looking for him had spotted him. Pokemon ranging from Nidoking to Rhyhorn to Stantler to Vileplume had surrounded Hiro and his Scizor. "This is not good at all. and I dont have any way to get outta this without any harm. But this cant end here.....I WONT ALLOW IT END!!!! GO.....Charizard, Electivire, Hitmontop, Flygon, Floatzel." Hiro's pokemon came rushing out. They got around Hiro to protect him. Hiro grabbed a nearby stick and readied himself for the oncoming assault.

"Well lets get them before they get us............Charizard Fire Blast, Electivire Zap Cannon, Hitmontop Mega Kick, Flygon Hyper Beam, Floatzel Hydro Pump, Scizor Flash Cannon!!!!!" Hiro's pokemon prepared to launch they attacks. Hiro gazed at his attackers and let ut his own yell. The renegade pokemon began to attack. It was showdown but only one side could come out on top.