Ask to Join Chilled to the Bone (15+) [RP]

[Foxy_Boxes]

"Mmhmm," Gers hummed, nodding in agreeance. "I can respect that."

Gers finished off his cigarette as the duo rounded the corner to the back of Touko's place. Gers pulled out his pack of cigarettes and looked inside to find an empty box. Tossing it aside with a sigh, Gers shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the gray sky, the rain falling gently on his face.

"Arceus dammit," Gers cursed, "That was my last pack."

 

[waluigipinball]

Tou's cigarette was nothing more as well, and she flicked it onto the ground, snuffing it out with her foot. "Thanks for bringing me here, by the way," the brunette murmured, offering him gratitude with a bit of humour in her voice at his annoyance. "You know... I don't smoke nearly as much as you do, but the packs are easy to swipe. In fact..." she reached into her bag, producing from it a small pack of cigarettes. "Take 'em. I don't need them." Saying this, she reached the pack toward him, raising her eyebrows.

 

[Ninian]

The blonde teen watched as the small lizard crawled from his ankle to Dahlia's shoulder. He was impressed she had that much control over the small Pokémon; from his experience they could be a handful if not properly trained.

Gladion seemed surprised by the grunt's explanation. Perhaps it wasn't written down, sometimes Guzma either forgot or couldn't be bothered. Clenching his jaw, he spoke, "Yeah, it might just be best to leave it..." Taking his hands from his pockets he continued, "If we see Plumeria around, we could ask her. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. We're here after all."

At the mention of Diglett's Tunnel, he cringed, "I don't like going there either. I'd rather swim, honestly." With her prompting, he followed after, gesturing to his Umbreon.

⟶ Route 6

 

[Foxy_Boxes]

"Thanks," Gers said, monotonously, turning around and taking the pack from Touko. He pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it, taking a drag and shoving the rest of the cigarettes in his back pocket. "It's a bad habit."

Gers took a long drag of the cigarette. It seemed like a nicer brand than usual. At least, nicer than the brand they sold at the Pokemon Center in town. Gers went silent for a few seconds, his original perception of this girl changing. For the better? Possibly. Gers didn't know.

"You're alright, Touko," Gers finally said, taking another drag, "You're not as bad as some of these other degenerates." The compliment was the best Gers could muster, his disdain for the people of Po Town evident in his voice.

"Degenerates, huh?" a familiar voice called out from down the alleyway. Gers' brother, Sam, was walking towards him, his Seviper already out of its Pokeball. "A loser like you thinks he's better than me?"

Sam bodychecked Gers into the wall and pinned him there, Seviper coiling around his feet. "Careful, Gertrude," Sam began. Gers winced at his older brother's nickname for him. "We all know that you're the weakest person here. Hell, this bitch probably battles better than you!" Sam pointed his thumb back at Touko.

"Shut the fuck up, Sam," Gers retorted, trying hard to push his brother off of him, but to no avail. "Get off of me!"

"I'm sorry," Sam yelled, forcefully. Sam pushed Gers more into the wall. "I didn't quite catch that? Did you say, 'Sevi, give me a new, matching scar?" Sam's Seviper, Sevi, began moving the blade on his tail slowly towards Gers.

 

[waluigipinball]

"It's fine. I can't talk about bad habits," she said, smiling slightly. She had noticed the habit- but she supposed, everyone had their flaws- Tou herself was unreliable and a kleptomaniac, so she wasn't going to go ahead and tell herself she was any better. At his next statement, her smile grew a bit, and she replied, "Hey, right back at'cha. You can call me Tou, by the way. S'easier." she murmured- before jumping at the sudden voice that had cleaved the air.

She jumped back as Sam pushed Gers into the wall, Serpentine narrowing her eyes at the other. She recognised this guy, having seen him around town quite often- but had never had the so-called 'pleasure' of meeting him face to face. Part of her wanted to flee, but after being called a 'bitch' by this guy, Tou decided she wasn't having it.

"Well, I can certainly battle better than you." spat the girl, signalling her Snivy to jump from her shoulder. She made a flicking motion with her hands, and- without needing words- Serpentine aimed a Leaf Blade at the attacking Seviper. Sure, it wouldn't do much- but it may be enough to distract the Seviper for a decent amount of time, or at least draw it away from Gers.

 

[Foxy_Boxes]

The Leaf Blade cut into Seviper's face, drawing a bit of blood from the serpent. Seviper turned its attention to the small grass snake that dared to attack it. Sam turned his head to face Touko.

"Oh, so you really think so?" Sam replied, dealing a powerful punch to Gers' stomach. Gers doubled over in pain, his brother's brick of a fist knocking the wind out of him. Sam dropped Gers to the ground and slowly turned to face Touko. "Alright, then, little girl," Sam chided, his voice turning into a yell, "Let's see if you're right! Sevi, use Poison Fang!"

Sam's Seviper's fangs glowed purple as he launched himself at Serpentine, mouth gaping.

 

[vaultie]

With the redhead grunt still too stunned after realizing Nina had an owner, presumably the boy that had just run up to them, she was unable to call out for her Shellder to dodge or counter. The Pokemon was once again knocked around, tipping backwards and landing on it's upper side. It gave another weak cry, running out of health and stamina after one too many hits.

"Shit!" The girl shouted, returning her Shellder once she had finally come to her senses. "Hey, gimmie a bit of a hand here!"

"Fine, fine, I'm workin' on it, jeeze!" Still trying to keep Kale at bay, the blonde male sent out his own Pokemon, a Gastly. "Since that Pokemon's yours, I guess we're gonna have to take it by force! You stepped into the wrong territory!" He grinned behind his bandanna, continuing the battle with Nina now that her trainer had arrived. "Night Shade!"

"Gast-" The Gastly's body began to fade in an out, charging up an attack and then sending shots of supernatural energy towards Nina. "-Ly!"

--

Dahlia led the way to Paniola Town, cutting through the various ranches and pastures that surrounded the area. She grunted as she hopped over one of the fences and crossed over into town, nose scrunching up behind her bandanna. "God, I hate this place. Smells like shit," Giving another quick groan, she waited until Gladion had made his way over as well, once again picking up her feet and heading in closer. She slowed her pace as they turned the corner of one of the buildings, raising her hand up. "Hold on, I think I hear something," She peered over into the clearing, only to be met with familiar black and white uniforms. "Alright, we're good, it's just some more of us. C'mon," She gestured the boy over, approaching the group.

They were currently huddled around a ball of white fluff on the ground, Dahlia cocking her head and crossing her arms. "What the hell are you guys doing?"

One of the three grunts looked up, his eyes meeting hers and giving Gladion a glance as well. "Yo, isn't it obvious? We're tryin' to mug this stupid Vulpix. It's got a bottlecap, and I know that sounds pretty lame, but that shit sells for a lot if you can find the right person!" He stepped over to give the others room to look as the two other grunts had their Pokemon out, a Yungoos and an Alolan Rattata, both nipping and scratching at the Vulpix.

--

Atty shoveled the flapjacks onto two separate plates, forming rather impressive stacks for what it was worth. She gave her hands a quick wipe, picking up the plates and walking over to set them on the table. "Alright fams- I want everyone here to share, okay? No fighting over the last pancake like last time." She doted, watching as the grunts that were present clamored for the food.

They gave their thanks and mumbled promises of not to start any arguments, Atty keeping a close eye on them. She was able to recognize nearly everyone here, something that she had picked up over time- All aside from one grunt. It could be entirely possible that she was new, but... She didn't exactly recall Guzma giving anyone the standard initiation recently. She'd have to pull this one aside before she left the kitchen for a little chat...

 

[waluigipinball]

Serpentine’s quickness was a virtue, and she leapt out of the way of the oncoming poison fang- though, not quite cleanly. The fangs tore a rip in her tail, and she hissed in pain, landing clumsily on two feet behind the Seviper.

Tou looked on as Gers doubled over in pain, and furiously she motioned to Serpentine. Rather than a flick, she made a slashing motion with her arm, and Serpentine used Double Team, making copies of herself in order to confuse Sevi. Each copy got a Vine Whip ready, and upon an imminent attack to any one of the copies, the real Serpentine would furiously whip her attacker.

 

[Ninian]

Hopping over one of the fences after Dahlia, he proceeded into town behind her. Frowning at her comment, he added onto it, "Not just any shit, either..." It was a rather sizable ranch, with all of the accompanying smells. The formerly rich kid wasn't used to it, and it was repulsive. When he was told to hold on, the teen remained quiet, though he took a look around before proceeding after her. Though more grunts was the best case scenario, he hated being around them, mostly because they all loathed him for one reason or another. It was more than likely his former connection to Aether Foundation.

Making his way over towards them, he placed his hands in his pockets, trying to act as casual as possible, though his brows furrowed as he watched the group allegedly try to mug a Vulpix. What were they thinking? The poor Ice-type was terrified on top of it. Pulling a hand out of his jacket to face palm, he stepped up to the group, muttering under his breath, "I can't believe this..." Closing his eyes he inhaled before speaking at a volume loud enough for the group to hear, "You don't have to pointlessly terrorize it like that. Just pin it down and take the bottlecap, it's not rocket science."

⟶ Paniola Town

 

[rubyrowlet]

Cyrin was slightly irritated by all the noice coming from below, so she decided to check it out. She leaped from the roof to the ground, luckily without sustaining any injuries other than a bruise on her knee. Her Luxray, Kovu, watched the battle curiously, his tail lashing around. She silently prayed neither one of them would notice her, she enjoyed watching battles to see who was weak and who was strong. Having been in many battles herself, she loved spectating too. Her Mimikyu peeked out from behind her legs, and saw the battle. She saw her eyes sparkle with excitement, but she quickly picked her up. "No, Ami. You can't battle them right now, they're busy." Cyrin mumbled, pushing her long, wavy blonde and blue ponytails out of Ami's little face. Though the guy not fighting rather intrigued her, she stayed hidden. She got a vibe from him that reminded him a little of herself. Cyrin was rooting for the girl with the Snivy, she liked the way she spoke and the way she battled so fiercely.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Darcy peeked over at the amazing stacks of flapjacks. Oh, man! They looked amazing! Too bad she lost a bit of her appetite when she saw Atty look at all the grunts, and then looking at her. The look she gave made her feel like Atty was on to her. She quietly sighed, pulling down her bandanna since it was expected for that to happen. Since she was feeling very hungry, but her partner was practically hissing with delight, she took a two pancakes, and doused them in syrup. Once that was done, she let her Ekans eat the pancakes, to which Nathair hissed in delight and licked her trainer on the face before devouring her meal with a bit of table manners not common in her species.

Darcy slowly got up, acting like nothing was actually wrong. She looked over at Atty, signifying in her eyes that she wanted to talk while nodding over to a secluded part of the room. She then walked, her legs feeling like lead. What would Atty do? She didn't want to get into trouble, but it was amazing that she had gotten in. She finally made it to the opposite wall, leaning against it, waiting for Atty to see her.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Take my Pokemon?" Kale said, confused. The Night Shade attack slammed into Nina, knocking her back with a squeal. Kale backed up from the two teens, looking at them carefully. Dark clothes... Bandanas over faces... Skull necklaces and hats... Also, right outside Po Town...

"You guys are Team Skull?!" Kale exclaimed. They were so young, around Kale's age! How could they be part of a villainous organization? Kale shook his head, stepping back from the grunt. He could easily beat the tar out of these guys with a few well placed strikes, but... Kale didn't much like using his martial arts on untrained people. He'd settle this with a Pokemon Battle.

Nina got to her feet, albeit a little slower than when she was knocked back by the Icicle Spear attack. Kale held out his Pokeball.
"Nina, return." Kale commanded, as a red light shot out from the Pokeball and grabbed Nina. Shine poked her head up from around Kale's shoulder, and Kale looked back at his Emolga,
"No way am I gonna let you take my Pokemon." Kale said. Shine jumped off from Kale's shoulder, sparks forming on her cheeks. Kale pointed at the Grunt's Gastly.
"Shine! Aerial Ace!" Kale commanded. Shine nodded, then jumped up at the Gastly, doing a few midair acrobatics before slashing at at the ghost Pokemon with her wings.

 

[vaultie]

"That's right!" The red-haired girl piped up in confirmation, stepping over to the male grunt's side. "Team Skull- The biggest, baddest gang in Alola! And you just so happen to be right on our turf," She sneered, looking over to her companion and back to Kale. "We're gonna beat you so hard you're gonna have to fork over your Pokemon. It's only fair for coming on our territory like that, right?"

"Right! Team Skull, you're either with us or you're against us!" The blonde shifted his legs, raising his arms up and curving them to meet his sides. He posed, throwing up a couple gang signs towards Kale afterwards. "Gastly, counter with a Lick!"

The Gastly took the Aerial Ace hit, being sent backwards but recovering afterwards. It vanished into thin air, reappearing in front of Shine. It's mouth opened wide, giant tongue lolling out, heading straight toward's Shine's face.

--

As the grunt stepped aside, Scarlet jumped from Dahlia's shoulder, wanting in on the action. She joined the Rattata and the Yungoos as they circled the cowering Vulpix, her trainer making no move to interfere.

The grunt from before spoke up as Gladion criticized their methods, giving him a glare. "Tch, of course you'd be the one wanting to show it any kind of empathy. Don't you get that teasing it and making things painfully slow is the fun part of things?"

At the mention of the slow pain and supposed "torture", Scarlet opened her mouth, sending a small spurt of flame at the Vulpix. It jumped out of the way in time, producing a loud whine, but the Salandit wasn't ready to stop just yet. She continued to spew small embers at the ice-type's feet, causing the poor Pokemon to dance around and embarrass itself further. The grunts watching began to laugh, even their Pokemon seeming to be humored as they let out squeaky little laughs. Dahlia simply stood in silence, arms crossed, watching.

--

Ah, good. It seemed this newbie wasn't willing to put up a fight today. Their eyes met, and the other girl seemed to understand the position she was in, given that she meekly stood against the wall after she was finished with her food. As the other grunts filtered in and out of the kitchen, until there was only a handful left, Atty walked over to Darcy, a knowing smile on her face. "Y'know, I don't think I've seen you around here before," She began, arms crossed as she leaned her side against the wall. "You wanna tell me what you're doing in that uniform, huh?" Although her first intuition was to assume the girl was simply wanting to join up in the first place, the little voice in her head was keeping a reminder in case she could be a narc, or spy, or something similar.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

So they were Team Skull. They wanted to take Kale's Pokemon, and yet... Kale got the feeling these guys were different from Team Rocket. It might have been the posing that tipped him off. But that didn't matter. They still wanted to steal his Pokemon and Kale was not going to let that happen.

The Gastly licked Shine, and the Emolga sat there for a moment, a disgusted look on her face. Wiping off some saliva, Shine glared at the Gastly angrily.
"Stealing my Pokemon doesn't seem fair at all!" Kale exclaimed. The gloves were off, and Kale struck a pose similar to a certain Lightning American. The boy mentally thanked Lt. Surge for the TM. "I'll show you the power of Kanto gyms! Shine, use Thunderbolt!"
"Emolga!" Shine cried, an aura of electricity surrounding her. A large bolt of electricity shot from Shine, straight towards the Gastly.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Darcy sighed and took off the skull cap, eyes on the floor. She will have to confess, or else she'll never join. It wasn't like her to be like this, but if she wanted to join, she couldn't lie. She talked in a low whisper, not wanting the others in the room to know her situation.

"Well... Y'see.... Your intuition is right... From what I could see in your eyes. Yes, I am not a grunt. I wanted to be a member, but I wasn't so sure on how to even approach that subject, let alone when you and your boy were... Quite intimidating to even go up and talk to in the first place. I didn't know how to even.... Well, join. So I did the best that I could to show my skills on sneaking in here and getting this far. Not so sure if stealth is needed, but I know when I'm caught and, if it is a group I want to join, it'd be best if I didn't fight that, now would it?" Darcy asked with a hint of a playful grin, but her face became stone cold again. She then remembered something to probably tell the girl and shifted a bit, her eyes darting to the floor before slowly going up to Atty's face, her face becoming quite depressed looking. "I-... I've been left here by my parents. I live in Kanto, but my parents brought me here for some kind of vacation. They hadn't liked me, so they tried to change me into something I wasn't. When they brought me here, they saw I had interest in this team, so they ditched me, leaving me and my partner Nathair stranded on Alola with no knowledge of the area or the Pokemon who inhabit this place.... Fucking sucks... But enough of my sob story. I was wondering if you have some room for one more on the team. And also... Uh... How would my initiation process go?"

She finally had the little determined twinkle in her eye, the same look she had when she had first saw the team. How close they were. How much of a family they were. Something she never had and always wanted. If she could get in, it would mean the world to her.

 

[Ninian]

Clenching his jaw at one of the Grunt's statements, he hissed back, "Why not just capture the damn thing and take its bottle cap then!? This whole show is absolutely pointless." The boys green eyes narrowed as Dahlia's own Pokémon joined in on the 'fun'. Gladion's Umbreon took a step forward making its own move to stop the encounter, but the boy held out a hand for a moment, stopping him. After a few moments of contemplation, the teen decided to take action. With the flames now at the Vulpix's feet, Gladion spoke cooly, "Sand Attack."

Understanding its Trainer's intentions the Umbreon walked up to the small opening, and turned around, beginning to kick sand at both the flames and really everything in range, Vulpix included. Once his 'attack' was finished, the Umbreon took a few steps towards the embarrassed Ice-type, giving it an apologetic glance before shooting daggers at everyone else. However the gaze he shot little Scarlet was one of disappointment, not anger.

⟶ Paniola Town

 

[rubyrowlet]

Cyrin decided she'd leave the scene of the battle and go explore outside like usual. She picked up Ami and decided to fly to Paniola Town. She spotted a boy with an Umbreon. He piqued her interest a little. She noticed other members of Team Skull there as well, and decided she'd walk over and see what all the commotion was about. She let her Mimikyu down and spectated the battle. Cyrin raked her fingers through her blonde and blue tipped ponytails, and her green eyes narrowed at the sight of her own team mates abusing the Vulpix for no reason. Though she didn't approve of it entirely, there wasn't much she could do to stop them. Her Mimikyu looked up at her eagerly. "Ami, you can't battle these people either. We're all on the same side, really." Ami let out a frustrated squeak, and jumped back in her arms. The blonde boy had style she quite liked, and wore a lot of black much like herself. He's with us, isn't he? She wondered, and decided to ignore it.

 

[vaultie]

((@rubyrowlet Dahlia + Gladion are in Paniola Town on Akala, not anywhere near Po Town. just a heads up, so make sure to fix your post, thanks!))

The Gastly was struck down with electricity, unable to avoid such a precise and powerful attack. It was on it's last bit of health, weakly floating as the blonde grunt winced. The redhead gripped his collar, pulling him in with a firey look in her eyes. "Do something, damn it! We're not gonna lose to some stupid kid!" She hissed her whisper, pushing back the boy and crossing her arms.

He stumbled, nearly falling back but catching and uprighting himself in time. He jabbed a finger towards Kale, doing what he could to further intimidate the boy. "Listen here, pal," He growled, but considering he was losing the fight in the first place, there wasn't much to be afraid of. "We'll let you off easy with a warning, you hear? You leave now, and we WON'T take your Pokemon, ya dig? Keep battling, though, and there's gonna be massive trouble for you, pipsqueak!" He hoped the threat would be enough for Kale to scram. Even though the mention of one of the admins, or even Guzma, could be enough to scare someone off, neither of the grunts wanted to actually have to inform them of losing to a random trainer.

--

As sand was kicked into the little fighting ring the grunts had formed, their Pokemon began to cough and hack, Scarlet included. They paused their torment of the Vulpix, shaking off the dirt and sand as the grunts groaned in displeasure. One of the girls spoke up, shooting daggers at Gladion. "What was that for, huh? You trying to be some kind of white knight?"

"Duh," The male grunt from before retorted. "Of course Aether-Boy is gonna be a martyr for some random, dumbass Pokemon." He looked up to the girl accompanying him. "And what about you, D? You seriously gonna let this kid ruin the fun for the rest of us?"

She kept her arms crossed, firmly stating her views. "I don't give a shit, honestly. I'm only here on Akala because I have to. I don't care what happens or who's who, I'm just doing my job." Her Salandit once again made her way back to her spot on Dahlia's shoulder, now overlooking the others.

"Jeeze, someone's being a bitch today..." He mumbled, standing. "Fine, whatever. You two play good guys, but when we sell this shit, neither of you are getting a cut." He leaned over, pinning the Vulpix down as Gladion had mentioned before, ripping the bottlecap from it's mouth. The Pokemon produced a loud whine as it was forcefully held, rolling over in pain as the grunt let go. "C'mon, we got some business to do," He jerked his head over to the north exit of Paniola, the other grunts getting up and following.

--

"Mhm..." Atty tongued the inside of her mouth, eyes grazing over Darcy as she told her story. She paused for a minute, taking into consideration everything she had been told. It seemed pretty reasonable at least. It was pretty common for grunts to be the "disappointment" of their families, only finding a home with Team Skull.

"Alright," She breathed out, watching as the last of the grunts left. "Here's how it's gonna work. You're gonna follow me upstairs, okay? I'm gonna talk to the Boss, put in a good word for you, and see what he wants to do about this. Hopefully he's actually awake now..." Mumbling that last part, she began to walk, letting Darcy follow. "I don't wanna spoil anything, but just make sure your Pokemon is healthy."

The Admin led her up to the second floor, bypassing any grunts on guard, until they had come to a large, open window. "Careful here, it can get kinda slippery," She hoisted herself up onto the windowsill, ducking through and making her way out onto the roof and the wooden plank path. Dreading the rain and wind, she was quick to get to the other side, avoiding the broken glass of the other window and waiting for Darcy to do the same.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Darcy was waiting for some kind of retort, but heard that Atty accepted her, her body relaxing from its tensed position, even if she had looked relaxed. Smiling with unbridled joy, she bounded after Atty, whistling for Nathair to come follow her. Finishing off the last of her pancakes, the snake slithered to her trainer and wrapped herself around her waist again, holding on for dear life while Darcy walked with Atty.

While Darcy walked, she could feel the guards looking at her. It certainly felt... Strange and alien. She looked at Nathair, happy to see that she was on a full stomach and completely healthy. She expected a Pokemon battle, she just didn't know who it was going to be against. When they made it to the windowsill with the plank, Darcy froze. What? Were they supposed to basically tightrope on that? Well, it couldn't be as bad as fighting the leader, right? She carefully hopped on the windowsill and kept her arms out a bit to help her balance until she made it to the other side, her snake helping to counterbalance if she ever needed it.

After getting past that, she adrenaline from walking over a great height caused Darcy's hands to shake a bit, but she finally made it to the other side, slipping inside without cutting herself on the glass around her. She looked to Atty, as if to ask "Now what?"

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

"Either way, you won't be laying a finger on that kid's Pokemon." A voice could be heard quite a distance away by Kale and the two Team Skull Grunts. Suddenly, Dylan emerged from the nearby tall grass and walked toward them, a Pokeball in his hand. He stepped in front of the boy and pushed the Grunt who had gotten in the boy's face back before tossing the Pokeball into the air, revealing Casimiro in a silhouette of bright blue light. "If I were you, I'd run," Dylan said to the Grunts, glowering quite fiercely. "Thugs like you don't scare me. Neither do your admins or Guzma." I'm gonna wipe out every single one of those thieves. The Ampharos let out a loud cry as he braced himself for battle, if there even was one.

 

[rubyrowlet]

Cyrin took notice of Dylan and scoffed. Just who the hell does he think he is? Ami growled and got in a battling position. She withdrew Ami, since she was starting to bother her. Instead, she sent out Cinder, her Typhlosion. She looked at the boy eagerly, quite honestly he was good looking. She wasn't sure where he had come from though, since she wasn't paying much attention before he showed up. She ran her fingers through her long, hip length blonde and blue tipped ponytails and eyed his Pokemon curiously. She knew better than to get in a meaningless fight with a random passerby, so she stood by and just watched him, with an eager Typhlosion by her side.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Kale was taken aback by the Grunt's offer/threat. Actually, he was kinda confused. The Kanto teen hadn't been expecting that. But before Kale could asked what sort of trouble, a tan teen with black hair emerged from the tall grass. How long had he been there? It didn't really matter. Kale was getting some pretty scary vibes from the dude. The teen had sent out an Ampharos, and a tough-looking one at that, even though the Grunt's Gastly was clearly on it's last legs.
"Who are you?" Kale asked the trainer.

 

[Ninian]

As they accused him of being a white knight, the blonde simply retorted, "Hmph." He wasn't going to humor them, or explain himself. It should have been obvious. Looking for a quick buck was one thing, but tormenting an innocent Pokémon wasn't something he could stand for. It wasn't even capable of fighting back.

Rolling his eyes at the obvious Aether insult, the teen responded curtly, "I'm not going to explain myself to you."

Remaining silent as they complained, mostly to Dahlia, he averted his gaze, saying nothing. He didn't want whatever came from that 'sale', he'd find his own way to make money. His green eyes followed the group as they took their leave, feeling some relief. His gaze then returned to the Ice-type. The poor Vulpix was on the ground, now freed from its aggressors. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, the blonde spoke to it bluntly, "Get up."

⟶ Paniola Town

 

[vaultie]

[Route 17 - Po Town Gate]

Both grunts watched as another trainer emerged from the grass, equally surprised as Kale. The blonde interjected, pausing the battle between Shine and his Gastly. "Yeah, who the hell do you think you are, huh? You got no business in our business, yo!"

The girl was next, stepping up in her partner's defense. "You're all just talk, y'know that?" She spat. "You say you're not afraid of our big sisters and Boss, but you will be when they end up kicking your ass!"

"Yeah, no one beats the Boss!" Blondie sneered, his attention more on Dylan now instead of Kale. Even though this was a battle mere grunts like them were unable to win, they weren't about to chicken out and run back into town without slinging more threats around. "You should be thankful we're showing you mercy, 'cause the Boss sure as hell won't! Last chance to high tail it outta here, that goes for the both of you!" He looked between both Dylan and Kale this time, wishing both would just leave at this point.

--
[Paniola Town]

The Vulpix's wintery eyes looked up to Gladion as the boy stood over the fox Pokemon. It slowly rose after his words, letting out a couple soft cries as it got to it's feet. With it's possession stolen and it's personal space violated, it began to limp away, not wanting to further provoke anyone else in the area. It was lucky for Dahlia and Gladion, however, that no pedestrians happened to be nearby. God knows they and the other grunts would've gotten an earful, and the others would have far more to complain about than just Gladion stepping in.

Dahlia blinked, watching as the Pokemon slowly limped away from them, turning to the blonde at her side. She watched him for a moment, pulling down her bandanna after a moment of silence. "Was that really worth it?" She questioned. "I mean, like, sacrificing whatever little reputation you have in the Team just to play hero for a random Pokemon. Not saying I agree with some of the shit the others pull, but it's kinda different in your case. Most everyone already considers you on thin ice here. Why not just play along?"

--
[Po Town - Shady House]

Atty gave a small sigh of relief as Darcy came through the window unharmed, thankful that she already hadn't gotten herself hurt or in trouble. "I hope you honestly don't think that was all you had to do," She teased the younger girl, motioning her to follow down the hallway. They stopped at the end, in front of a door and another grunt guarding it. He easily stepped out of the way for Atty, but stared at Darcy for a bit.

"You-" She pointed a finger at the new recruit. "Are going to stay out here while I see if the Boss is up and ready yet." Giving the idle grunt a nod and silent instructions to keep an eye on the other, she slipped in, the door closing with a click behind her.

After minutes of silence, the grunt finally spoke up, looking at Darcy. "Yo," He nodded at her, a quick hello and making no actual moves to further the conversation.

 

[Ninian]

Though Gladion felt awful for the Ice-type, he had already done enough. Maybe it had a trainer somewhere that would help it, or friends. At least he hoped so. His green eyes continued to watch as it limped off dejected.

Clenching his jaw at Dahlia's words, Gladion averted his gaze, remaining silent for a few moments. "There's nothing left for me to lose." After a moment he glanced up at her, "Normally, I would play along, but that was too much. But it's not like their opinion of me can get any worse." Shoving his hands in his pockets, he let out a groan, "They're right about me, though."

Gesturing to his Umbreon to return to his side, he frowned for a moment before letting out a sigh, "I hope no one saw that."

⟶ Paniola Town

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Dylan turned to glance at Kale from the corner of his eye Kale before responding, "No one of consequence. However," He continued, turning back to glare at the two Grunts, this time with more intensity. "I'm going to make sure thugs like you aren't contaminating these streets any more. Let's do this, Casimiro." The Ampharos nodded as his body began to crackle with bright yellow electricity. "You know what, I'll even give you the first move. I think we already know the outcome of this battle anyway." It wasn't difficult to see that the Grunt's Gastly was in quite the weakened state, so the remark was said in a straight-forward manner, rather than an arrogant one.

 

[rubyrowlet]

After flying back to outside of Po Town, Cyrin decided she might step in since her teammate's Gastly was weakened. She knew this wasn't a fair fight. Though there were other capable Grunts, she just wanted them to know that she's not always as shy as she looks. She wanted to start helping and bring out her real personality. "Let me take it from here." She said to the other Grunt, and her Typhlosion nodded in agreement. She adjusted her Skull Tank, and eagerly awaited the grunt's permission to help him out. She glared at Dylan, she hated trainers like him.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Whoa, hey man." Kale said to Dylan, holding up his hand. He started to walk in between the Ampharos and the Gastly. "These guys have already lost. There's no need to fry their Pokemon."
Kale glanced nervously at the Ampharos. It was intense, a second evolution electric Pokemon. There weren't many of those native to Kanto. Shine looked a little concerned as well, glancing nervously between the trainers. Yeah, they were Team Skull. But their Pokemon didn't deserve this.

As Kale was talking, another trainer emerged from the tall grass. A girl, with a large Typhlosion. The girl talked to the Skull Grunt as well, offering to take the battle.
"And who are you?" Kale asked. Where were all these people coming from?

 

[rubyrowlet]

"I'm a Grunt, like you." She referred to the skull tank. "Name's Cyrin." She smiled at the Grunt. "This is Cinder." She referred to the Typhlosion who was very ready to leap into battle. She focused again on the trainer, who still irked her a whole lot. She waited and waited.

 

[vaultie]

[Route 17 - Po Town Gate]

Seeing Cyrin step up, Blondie stepped back, returning his weakened Gastly. His eyes darted around the scene in front of him, not expecting so many people to show up. This is not what they signed up for when put on gate duty...

"Yeah, sure, whatever!" He nodded to Cyrin, giving the higher grunt permission to take over the battle, stumbling back. He grabbed onto the redhead, whispering something to her while the others were seemingly distracted.

The red-haired girl procured a silent nod, suddenly darting to the doors. The heavy gate opened with a not-so-silent creak, and she ran in, making sure to close it behind her, especially with two Non-Skulls right outside.

--
[Paniola Town]

Dahlia peered around at the quaint western town, looking for any nearby signs of life. Around where they were, it was luckily quiet. Up near the north, however, she could make out groups of people by the exit and the Pokemon Center. Said "people" including the grunts from before. They appeared to be leaving, but not before throwing gang signs and yelling unintangible words at innocent passerbys.

She drained the noise out, turning to Gladion. "Nope, I don't see anyone around," Her feet picked up again, walking backwards as she kept her view on the younger boy. "What's that supposed to mean, though? That they were right about you being some kind of white knight?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

A grunt like him? Kale looked down at his clothes. He wasn't even wearing anything skull related! Maybe she thought one of the Grunts had asked her that? Anyways, it didn't matter much. What did matter was that she was a part of Team Skull, and she looked actually strong. A second evolution Fire type, and a kinda rare one as well. Kale had only seen it while watching televised battles of Johto Tournaments.
"Um, ah, look. I think there's a bit of a mix-up, I'm not a part of Team Skull." Kale said. He looked nervously at the trainer with the Ampharos. Kale was getting the feeling that the Ampharos trainer didn't exactly like Team Skull.

When the doors to Po Town slammed shut, Shine turned and looked at them. The walls were pretty high, and there didn't seem to be any clear way to get in. But the focus wasn't on Po Town right now. The slightly weakened Emolga went over to her trainer, standing next to him and waiting.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Dylan smirked and looked at the new trainer, who was supposedly a Team Skull Grunt as well. "A Typhlosion, huh? Now this has gotten... quite interesting. Casimiro, return." He beamed back his Ampharos and took out another Pokeball, chuckling to himself. "Ignis, I choose you." The mass of bright light that emerged from the Pokeball conformed into the silhouette of a familiar looking Pokemon (To Cyrin, at least) before dispersing into the air, revealing Dylan's own Typhlosion, roaring loudly as the flames lining his neck burned hotly.

 

[rubyrowlet]

"Heh. Don't expect to win." She retorted, a huge smile on her face. Cinder's flames shot up in excitement. Cyrin had been given her chance, and she wasn't about to lose it. She pushed her blonde and blue tipped ponytails out of her face, and popped her hip. She tended to show off her curvy body quite often, really for no apparent reason at all. She crossed her arms and smiled. "I'll make the first move, since it doesn't look like you will."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Kale took a step back from the two trainers. Two Typhlosions? That wasn't something you saw everyday. Part of Kale wanted to run away, to get out of there. After all, he was still stuck in front of Po Town, home of Team Skull. But it looked like these guys were about to start battling, and Kale didn't want to risk running through a literal firefight. Kale sat down, leaning against the walls of Po Town. He'd watch the fight, partially because he was interested, and partially because he was nervous one of the trainers might end up trying something underhanded. The girl seemed quite pretty, but Kale just tried to focus on the Pokemon. Shine crawled over to her trainer, sitting down next to him.

 

[Ninian]

Like Dahlia, the blonde teen was taking a look around to make sure they were in the clear. It was possible someone saw through a window and alerted the authorities, but there wasn't much they could do about that. Still, perhaps they should leave the area as soon as possible. Gaze narrowing as he caught sight of the Grunts unnecessarily harassing bystanders, the youth let out an aggravated sigh.

Looking back to the elder grunt, the teen gave a nod of affirmation, "Nor do I." Following after the backpedaling woman, he averted his gaze when she continued on the previous topic, "I... wouldn't put it that way, but... I do empathize more with Pokémon than I do people." Frowning, he'd add on, "If they were picking on some kid I probably wouldn't have done anything."

Pushing the hair from his eyes he glanced at Dahlia, "Maybe we should clear out of here, or... if you want to stay, we should keep an eye out. Someone could still have seen us."

⟶ Paniola Town

 

[Merciless Medic]

Darcy looked around at the place, and tried not to smirk when Atty began to tease her, but she couldn't help it. The small girl smiled wryly and shook her head, chuckling a little. She hoped she shouldn't have to do more, but something told her that she would have to prove her worth a little more. She watched as Atty told her to stay. With the way she said it, it sounded like she was making sure the grunt guard knew that she was a recruit, or new recruits had actually tried to enter the room when Atty told them not to. She nodded and stretched and yawned, feeling a little tired.

After a few minutes of silence, she heard the grunt greet her, she returned it, saying "yo" and nodding her head at the grunt with a quick flick of the chin. Getting the body movements of the Team down felt so easy and... Natural to her. She didn't know why, but she felt like she was going to like it here. Oh, yea, and if she wouldn't get too beat at the initiation. Maybe she was supposed to fight someone? She hoped to Arceus it wasn't Guzma or Atty. Maybe not Plumeria, either, or whatever that other girl was called. She leaned against the wall, waiting while Nathair slithered up to her shoulder and licked her face, to which Darcy responded with a kind smile towards her Pokemon and began to scratch the tip of her snout. Nathair hissed happily at the gesture and watched the grunt to make sure they don't do anything to her trainer.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Dylan's smirk began to fade as he got serious, gesturing towards her. "By all means, go ahead." I won't rest until Team Skull is off the streets. I can't. Not after what they did. It may have been a personal vendetta that caused Dylan to hate Team Skull so much, but it was also clear that if these thugs weren't stopped, a real problem could plague the Alola region. "Let's do this, Ignis." A taunting grin seemed to appear on the Typhlosion's face as he got into a battle stance, bracing himself.

 

[Foxy_Boxes]

Sam smirked, staring down the Double Team. This was child's play to him.

"Sevi," he commanded, nonchalantly, "Use Haze."

At the utterance of the word, Sevi released a black smog that covered the entire alleyway, rising up and obstructing everyone's view. Sevi coiled up in anticipation for the next move of the combo.

"Poison Fang!" Sam yelled, Sevi pouncing towards Touko instead of her Snivy.

"No!" a voice yelled out. Gers threw himself in front of Sevi, whose Poison Fang sunk deep into Gers' shoulder blade. Gers fell to the ground in immense pain, the poison flowing through his veins like a toxic river. Gers' body began to convulse as foam came out of his mouth, the poison causing a seizure.

"Sevi, return!" Sam yelled in a panic, pulling the serpent back into its ball. Sam then took off running down the alleyway, away from his seizing brother.

 

[vaultie]

[Po Town - Shady House]

It had taken at least a solid 10 minutes, but the door finally clicked back open. And with that, out stepped an absolute tower of a man, his necklace glinting as it caught the low light of the hallway. He raked a hand through his white hair, making sure to avoid knocking his glasses off, and stared at Darcy. His eyes were a metallic grey, dark and heavy. Right beside him was Atty, looking as sweet as ever as she clung onto his arm. Something she enjoyed to do around newcomers, just to give them a sense of what to expect if they wronged her. He kicked the door behind him shut with his foot, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweats. "So, you the fresh meat?"

The grunt that had greeted Darcy before instantly stepped off to the side, clearly not wanting to get involved with any initiation affairs. He had already been through his fair share, and even so, Guzma's presence alone was intimidating enough.

It was then, however, hurried footsteps suddenly made their way down the hall, running to the group. It was the red-haired girl, who was supposed to currently be on guard duty. "Lil' big sis! Lil' big sis-" She called out, suddenly stopping to an abrupt halt when she realize it wasn't just Atty there. The Boss was standing right next to her, as well as another grunt she hadn't seen before. "I- Uh- Th-There's...-" She stuttered, frantically motioning and pointing behind her, towards the general direction of the gate outside.

Guzma suddenly interjected, letting out a long, dramatic groan. "Jesus fuckin' Christ. I can't catch a break, can I?" Both grunts flinched as he expressed his annoyance, neither speaking further, as they feared saying anything else would upset him even more. Luckily, Atty was there.

She gently rubbed his arm, doing her part to calm down the large man. "Easy now, G. I can handle this. She was calling for me anyways, right?" Taking to her tip toes, she gave Guzma a quick peck on the cheek, much to his growing embarrassment. She just always had to make a scene in front of the newbies. She began to follow the frantic redhead, mouthing "good luck" to Darcy as she passed.

With his admin now gone to deal with whatever had the grunt so worked up, his attention went back to Darcy. He looked less than entertained, eyeing the girl down. "Follow me," He took no time waiting for her to catch up, already taking the way out through the broken window, where she had previously just came from.

--

[Route 17 - Po Town Gate]

The heavy doors opened once more, the female grunt powerwalking right back out. This time, however, she had Atty to accompany her. The admin looked on at the scene in front of her, both at all 3 grunts and the other 2 trainers. She folded her arms, giving a sigh. "Someone wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Both grunts that had been guarding the gate hurriedly spoke up, tripping over each others words and causing a bit of audible ruckus until Atty could take no more. "Okay- Okay! Jesus, you guys gotta slow down..." She held her hands up, stepping over and setting the nerve-wracked grunts aside. Instead, her focus went to Cyrin and Dylan, both looking like they were about to throw down in a Typhlosion Mirror Match. "You two-" She called to them. "What's with the battle, huh? And what's this kid doing?" Her gaze fixated on Kale, who seemed to now just be spectating the whole ordeal. "Someone wanna tell me- one at a time- what's going on?"

--

[Paniola Town]

"Nah," Dahlia shook her head. "No way I wanna stay around here. Like I said, the place smells like actual shit." She turned back around, continuing to walk beside Gladion. Scarlet snaked her way back down Dahlia, now walking between her trainer and the blonde's Umbreon. Her lavender eyes looked over at the other's ruby ones, a low sound escaping her throat. Something, as if to say, she was sorry. The Pokemon had to admit, she had gotten pretty caught up in the moment, especially when her trainer never gave her orders to fool around in the first place.

Dahlia, meanwhile, continued to speak. "I think I get your issue now, though. Not to get all philosophical or that kinda thing, but I think what you just said is part of the problem of why so many of the others are on edge around you," Her head turned towards him. "A lot of us come from bad places, right? We're already at a disadvantage, so the whole thing of staying loyal to each other is pretty important here. And from what I can tell, I think they're offended by the fact you'd prefer Pokemon over your own "family"," She gave a nonchalant shrug. "That's just my take on it, anyways. I could care less, personally."

 

[rubyrowlet]

"Alright." Cyrin smirked, morning her hand off her hip and into the air towards Dylan's Typhlosion. "Cinder, use Earthquake!" Cinder obeyed, and slammed her foot down on the ground, causing a large crack and viscious shaking to occur around the two Typhlosion. This was going to be a fun battle, she could sense it. She hadn't let loose like this in a long time. Her blonde and blue tipped ponytails swayed in the breeze, and her green eyes narrowed a little. She turned to Atty. "This trainer just showed up and I'm about to show him why no one messes with Team Skull." She smirked, and turned back to the battle