Maelstrom

[Psycho Monkey]

(Much apologies guys! My computer has been slow as fuck these past few days. So where was I?)

"Of course I'll challenge you!" The man with the Salamence said confidently. By the way he dodged Metagross's attack causing it to leave a large dent in the airbase, it was obvious to Arthias this man could back up his tough talk. "This is my domain, and you're obviously capable in the skies as well. So, bring it on." he said taking to the skies on his dragon.

"The weaker they are, the louder they bark." sneered Arthias mounting his Iron Leg Pokemon to join this trainer. "Do you have a name so I know what to write on your grave?"

"It's Aiden, and I won't die here. Not by your hand anyway." replied Aiden, who then ordered his Salamence to use a Dragon Pulse. The azure wave of energy blew past the commander's head and knocked off a couple of pathetic grunts down below. His aim was pretty pitiful. Unless of course those pawns had been his intended target. It didn't matter anyway, in the art of war pawns must be sacrificed to ensure their superior's survival.

"If you think you can intimidate me by flaunting your power, then you will die like the dog you are." Arthias mocked. "Bullet Punch Metagross!" At a blinding speed, the Iron Leg Pokemon charged at the Salamence. The only two things that allowed Arthias to retain his position without falling to his death at this speed was Metagross's own psychic abilities and the use of Magnet Rise to magnetize the commander's armor to his Pokemon.
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(skipping ahead a few minutes)
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Metagross rose higher in the sky narrowly avoiding a Dragonbreath. It was obvious to Arthias this trainer called Aiden had some bite to go with his bark.

"You're actually not half bad." Arthias complemented pushing his red lensed glasses up the bridge of his nose back in position. A sudden explosion rocked the skies pushing heat and debris into the aerial battle. Arthias hastily turned his head to see the air ship falling from the sky in a blazing inferno.

Arthias had known Lord Reyson had planned the destruction of the base when he ordered the grunts to return to their stations. Since then he had just been buying time and having some fun. Had the battle progressed longer, he would have finished off this fool. No, Aiden was no fool. He had held his own against Arthias long enough to warrent at least some respect.

"I bid you farewell trainer. If you wish to continue this, meet me in Viridian City." said Arthias redirecting Metagross to the ground. He needed to check in anyway from his previous mission, but he was also curious as to why Lord Reyson was willing to sacrifice the airbase.

A bright glimmer to Arthias's left alerted him to a white escape pod bursting from the fallen ship on a course for Viridian Forest. That must be them the commander thought. He followed the pod through the air (slight auto?) until it landed neatly on the forest floor. Arthias jump from his ride as Metagross slammed noisily to the ground. He then waited for the pod doors to open.

(I could have gone into the battle more, but meh. And dude Shocari! I was not expecting that from Reyson! )

 

[Aura]

(I'm a bit late... but I don't think that will matter that much...)

Aura sniffed the corspe, wrinkling her nose at the smell of something long dead. The Pidgey probably had been dead for weeks and the rotting flesh repulsed the Riolu. She was about to walk away and search for some fresher meat when her stomach gave the order to eat. So Aura dug in.

So absorbed in the food, she didn't notice the shadow that crept over the ground. Only when her ears detected a faint whirring, which grew steadily louder, did Aura look up. She felt a moments shock, then threw herself out of the way as the white sphere crashed into the ground, crushing the corspe into the earth.

"What the hell?" Aura whispered, backing away from the object.

There was another large thud, as something huge and metalic landing on the ground. Aura, keeping one eye on the strange object, looked around for the sound. It appeared to have come from the giant Metagross, who seemed to be under the command of a sinster looking man dressed completely in black, aside from his red glasses. He seemed to enjoy whatever he did, reveling in destrution, but there was a hint of curiousity as well.

He hadn't noticed Aura, for he was watching the strange object as well, looking at the sliding doors that the Riolu had failed to notice. Aura let out a small hiss, soft enough to go unoticed, or so she thought. The Metagross swept it's deep red eyes over Aura's battle stance, but didn't attack. It probably thought she wasn't worth it, and was quite right. Aura was sure one attack from it would probably kill her.

There wasn't any sound, save for the wind and the occasinal cry from a Pokemon. The man and his Metagross continued to watch the white sphere, not moving. Aura didn't move out of her battle position either. She remained where she was, half hidden in the shadow of a tree, watching with her blood red eyes. The riolu could have easily fled, but she was a bit curious as well.

"May as well stay and see what this is." She said under her breath. "If I'm discovered, and they attack, I can quickly talk them into not attacking."

(Ok, for those who don't know, Aura has a gift. She can speak in her own language, which is Riolu, and be heard by everyone around in their own language.)

 

[Chibi]

(Finally, I'll try to post something. *grumbles about getting Sho back for this*)

It was unexpected. It was shocking. And Chibi had no idea what to do. Elysia actually gasped and stood up, as if she were about to punch Reyson. Vyala growled more out of surprise than malice, the only one who seemed not affected was Discharge, who truly didn't give a damn about what humans did as long as they didn't hurt Elysia or step on his paws. Chibi was utterly taken by surprise, then she did the only thing she thought she could do: Listen to Reyson and search her feelings. If her mouth was free, she would have let out a gasp of surprise.

As if on cue, there was a huge jolt that rocked the entire ship, sending everyone flying. Chibi landed on her back, rubbing the back of her head and looking around. She realized promptly that the escape pod must have landed. They must have been going pretty fast to hit the ground that hard. Vyala scrambled to her feet and hopped in Chibi's lap, rubbing Chibi's neck with her head. A hand entered Chibi's view.

"You okay Chibi?" Elysia asked, pulling Chibi to her feet. She noticed Chibi's eyes seemed rather glazed.

Chibi nodded, then looked around for Reyson. Upon seeing him, she looked him in the eyes and, impossibly, smiled. Elysia's own sapphire eyes widened until they were almost comical in size. She exchanged a glance with Vyala, then lightly tapped Chibi's arm. "Hey Chibi. You okay?" She asked quietly.

"Mm?" Chibi replied, turning to look at Elysia, still smiling slightly, her eyes glassed as if staring into space. Elysia blinked, minutes ago, she would have given the world to see Chibi smile again. Not those victorious smirks she wore in Cobalt Storm, but an actual, true smile straight from the heart. Like the old Chibi. Now she wished Chibi wasn't smiling like that.

Elysia sighed. Next to her, Discharge got up and growled, plainly expressing his irritation at being locked in this prison. He went over to the control panel and angrily short circuited it with a tiny spark leaping from his fur. The door opened with a whirr and Discharge leaped out before they were even fully open, landing in the soft grass below. "We should get going." Elysia said carefully, "The rebels are going to mount a full assualt soon you know. After all, our flagship has been blown to hell now." Yet on second thought, maybe they should just take cover before they were squashed like bugs from a piece of the debris.

"Yeah, good thought," Chibi murmured, as if faraway and not paying attention. Her eyes cleared the tiniest bit, and she scratched Vyala's head absently.

(Yeah, I know it sucks. Deal with it.)

 

[Shocari]

Hmmmm....maybe Chibi was a little startled by this. It just might take a little bit for her to understand the motive behind this. As the pod landed with a jolt that threw everyone off balance, Reyson was sent flying from one side to the other...painfully.

Elysia's Manectric shocked the escape pod so it would open, and promptly jumped out. It apparently didn't care about what was going on at the moment. Reyson got to his feet and made his way out into the forest. Viridian wasn't too far away, so it wouldn't take that long to get here.

Reyson motioned for Chibi and Elysia to follow, and he started walking towards the forest's exit. "What should I do about that rebel?" he asked himself quietly. "More importantly, who do I use against him? He must be good if he managed to even get on the ship in the first place, but leading the assault means he's tougher than I give him credit for. Arthias should have noticed our escape by now. But just in case..."

"Arthias, are you there?" Reyson called over his comm device. "Me, Chibi, and Elysia have crash-landed in Viridian Forest, making our way to Viridian. I need you there. Reyson out."
As Reyson cut off communications, he got a sudden jolt of inspiration of who he'd use against that Trainer. And the thought brought a wicked smile to his lips.

 

[Cody]

"God, I love our group." Cody said, admiring the quickly moving work. A large batch of reinforcements, 100 strong, had just arrived and were landing with a large assortment of Pokemon. Fearow, Tropius, Pidgeot, Noctowl, all of the birds, really, and a dragon or two.

The command at Mt. Silver had really pulled through, as the group was setting up an impressive base camp. There was a medical tent, large enough to hold around fifty emergency patients underneath, and about 100 minor injury patients could be fitted around it. There were outhouses being pulled up, a large, sealed tent, from which communications and the such would be handled, there was even a hibachi-style grill being set up. This might end up being the final stand of the war, the camp needed to be good.

For the first time since landing, Cody paused, caught his breath, and looked up. The sky was literally filled with the fireworks of the exploding airship. Jolts of electricity shot every couple of seconds, a swirling inferno of orange, yellow, and a deep red fire engulfed the airship. There was a loud CRACK, that momentarily shattered Cody's ears as the airship split in half by a massive electrical explosion. In all the nearby trees, the tiny bird Pokemon took off in flight. All of the other trainers looked up, paused for a moment, and simply looked on in awe.

Shards of colored glass started landing around the clearing, the remains from the beautiful stained glass artwork. Cody bent down to pick up a piece. It was beautifully crafted, the three legendary beasts of Johto, facing each other in a triangle, with Ho-Oh in the center. Cody held it lightly in his hands, it was warm from the explosion and the velocity it fell. It was rather surprising how large it was, considering the impact it must have suffered. He took one more glance up, and began walking through the clearing to the Commander's Center, where the three commanders that would be heading this battle would have their own private tents set up.

He entered his own, the dark green one with the single sky blue streak, and found it set up exactly to his liking. The cot next to the right wall, and a small folding table next to it. On the table, was a small radio, and a Bible, as he had always specified. On the right was a simple table, for meetings, or anything else that struck the man's fancy. And of course, at the foot of the bed, was his worn out backpack, from all the years back when he started his trainer journey.

When he unzipped the main pocket, he was suddenly blinded. A tiny purple monkey had decided it would be fit to occupy his face. Silver was back.

Cody pulled the Aipom off of his face, and tossed him onto the bed. The Everstone Necklace, from seemingly forever ago, was back around his neck. The tiny gold chain glimmered in the faint light, and the polished stone seemed to shine brighter than ever. Before he forgot, he quickly tossed the stained glass fragment onto the cot.

Trainer and Pokemon walked out of the tent, with Silver occupying Cody's shoulder. It appeared that the escape pod had landed on the south side of Viridian, and there was no doubt in Cody's mind that Reyson, Chibi, and Elysia were in it. And following them would no doubt be an invasion. Cody climbed a very conviently placed tree stump located at the North end of the camp, near the infirmary tent.

(monologue tiem)

"Okay, this is great. Stupendous." Cody said, referring to the nearly complete camp. Silver leaped off his shoulder, and stood by his feet, instead. "But we're by no means done. We've got to make this a crucial turning point, we have to win at Viridian City." Cody paused, and there was a resounding applause and rip-roaring.

Cody smiled, and nodded. "It will be by no means easy. Cobalt Storm has proven to be a difficult force, but, as of now, they're one airship poorer!" Cody looked up at the still continuing inferno. There was a nervous laugh, as nobody wanted it to come crashing down on their heads. But, by the looks of it, it was going far South, hopefully to fall in the South Pallet Sea.

"They're going to occupy Viridian. No doubt. That's why we've got such a large infirmary. I've not met all of you, but I'm amazed at the work we've accomplished. I've been placed in charge of this battle, with the other two commanders serving as equal second in commands."

Cody's speech continued for a bit longer, covering the importance of working together, hope, courage, positive thinking, and a bit of luck. There was much applause, occasional laughter, and at the end, silence. Cody climbed down from the stump, and walked to the edge of the clearing, near the forest, sat down, and prayed.

"Until the dawn." He thought. "Until the dawn."

 

[Chibi]

Elysia quickly scrambled out of the escape pod, then turned to help the smaller Chibi out. It relieved her to see how fast Chibi had recovered, her green eyes were sharp and clear again, her commanding presence had returned and so had the confident hold of her head. She placed Vyala lightly on the ground, and jogged off after Reyson, who was already thirty yards away. Discharge almost lazily followed them, his long bounds easy keeping pace with the running humans. Always from people observing him, they thought that Discharge was lazy and just a pampered pet of sorts of Elysia's. They never would have guessed that Discharge would have ripped their faces off with his teeth if anyone hurt Elysia.

"I wonder if Cody from the ship in time..." Chibi murmured, almost seeming to voice her thoughts aloud with the quietness of her voice.

Elysia grinned humorlessly. "Oh come on, lighten up." She said; sometimes she felt like such a hypocrite. "We got off the ship didn't we? And Cody had a good headstart, I would be surprised if that Skarmory had landed him in his base long before the ship finally exploded." As if to put emphasis on her words, Vyala yipped reassuringly.

Chibi grinned slightly, not saying anything, but give Elysia a glance that told her enough. Her eyes traveled to Elysia's belt and rested on an Ultra Ball with quite a few scratches marring its once flawless paint. One scratch in particular was right above the button, and outlined a lightning bolt, then was painted gold, Elysia's handiwork. Her eyes were a question, and Elysia answered with a shake of her head. 'Not now,' she mouthed. As soon as she said that, they came to a halt behind Reyson. Chibi skidded to a stop and stood erect, standing smartly at hand fr orders. It had become a habit of hers to be prepared for anything Reyson did, he was quite unpredictable.

(I just couldn't resist the pokeball thing.)

 

[Psycho Monkey]

(Oh you kids you.)

"Arthias, are you there?" Arthias's comm device rang out. "Me, Chibi, and Elysia have crash-landed in Viridian Forest, making our way to Viridian. I need you there. Reyson out."

"Arthias speaking. I followed the escape pod to its current location. I will be landing shortly." the commander responded into the device. No sooner did Metagross touchdown on the forest floor were it and its passenger greeted by Lord Reyson.

"I have arrived my lord." Arthias said leeping off the Iron Leg Pokemon and getting to one knee bowing. He rose when the blond girl came running up with her Manetric followed closely by the red haired midgit with her Vulpix. Though they had authority and were Lord Reyson's personal knights, Arthias was still their superior and would bow to the likes of them.

He then asked the one question that was burning in his mind. "What is our next plan of action, sir? I surmise that allowing the airbase to be eliminated was to give the rebels a false sense of victory in order to boost their moral, thereby drawing more out so that it would be easier to crush them like the insects they are."

All the while Metagross had been giving a stray Riolu a warning look that said it best not interfere with the situation if it knew what was good for it.

(Kinda short but I can only type what I have to work with.)

 

[Shocari]

Arthias and his ever-so-famous Metagross touched down in the forest. Good, for he was welcome company. Not saying that Chibi and Elysia weren't its just that Reyson needed a fellow guy to talk to.

"Arthias, it is good to see you. And, yes, destroying the air base was key in giving them the false sense of security they may very well have this instant. I'm sure that they are probably celebrating what they think is a victory. But that is a different matter. I am going to Viridian to do battle with one of the Trainers. He is skilled, and I have no doubt that he will lighten my mood with a small battle. Would you like to come?"

No sooner had the words left Reyson's mouth had a Riolu popped out of a small bush. It looked...familliar. That sudden revival of memory hit Reyson, and he knew who it was.

"Everyone, this is not a normal Riolu. This is a hybrid between Pokemon and human, one of the first ever genetically engineered. This is Aura and she will be of valuable service to us."

 

[Aura]

Aura blinked, staring at the man. She noted all the eyes in the clearing, both Pokemon and Human had turned their eyes on her. Crap. Aura pretended to look confused, but everyone seemed to see through it. She gave up and paused for a second, wondering what would happen if she did. Oh what the hell.

"Don't ask why I bothered pretending, because I really don't know." she said, shutting her blood red eyes, trying to block out various memories.

She stood alone, ignoring the pains in her limbs. They ment little, compared to the pain that she couldn't get rid of. She heard footsteps, strange footsteps that sounded like metal. Curious, she had clawed her way over the rubbish, with no concern for her safety. It was a human, probably here to kill her. She generated a huge ball of aura, much stronger and different to what she used to be able to generate. She hurled it with deadly accuracy at her target, the man's head. There was a flash of white which blinded her eyes. It took the form of an Onix which collasped, dead. She sighed. What was the point? Just let this eternal agorny end! The man removed th long cloak, which stopped her thought's instantly. His skin was ruby red, his hands clawed, his head horned, his eyes reptilian. He smiled at her gently...

The strange underwater world was something she would never get used to. But she did love it down here. Markl taught her down here, how to change forms, how to use both human and Pokemon ablities. How much joy she had when she learnt new things...

How terrible her rage was when she found out that Markl had killed her trainer! She had screamed and attacked him with her claws and aura. The two had fought, but although Markl was more experienced and stronger, he couldn't match her speed. She killed him, and then his Salamence. She swum to the surface and took riolu form. She vowed to never use that hybrid form again, then let the pain overtake her...

All this rushed though Aura's head in a matter of seconds. But what she really wanted to know was how this man knew what she was. Aura opened her eyes to look at the man.

"How do you know I'm a Hybrid?" She demanded, trying to keep her high pitched voice steady. "What do you know about me at all?!"

She tried to ignore the part of her mind that she knew she could open that contained her more destructive hybrid form. Just ignore it! Bury it! Declare it dead! It doesn't exist! Aura screamed at herself while waiting for the man's answer.

 

[Shocari]

"How do I know?" he asked, repeating the Riolu's own question. "HOW DO I KNOW?! It was I that ordered Markl to find you, to teach you, to show you what you could do! Everything you are is a result of my orders! Markl was...a failed experiment, I'll admit that. But there was some blessing hidden within the failure: he could teach others how to transform, but only a select few.

"I wanted a Riolu hybrid because of the potential as a Lucario. Lucario would be way to hard to corner on its own, so a Riolu would be an excellent start. Markl sent me daily reports of your progress, but suddenly stopped after a little while. Didn't take me too long to piece together the only explanation: you killed him."

Reyson's sudden surge of memory overwhelmed him slightly. These events occured a few years ago, right before he began slowly gathering strength for Cobalt Storm. It was very clear to Reyson that he was getting strange looks from all around, but who cared? Preparations for war are often forgotten during it.

The only thing Reyson could now focus on was getting to Viridian and finding that Trainer...as well as eliminating these disturbances. No, not kill them, just...stop them for the time being, until the battle was over and they were safely back in Cinnabar.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

"I would love to come. I too have a score to settle." Arthias said darkly. That rebel Aiden certainly had skill worth bragging about, but everyone had a weakness somewhere.

As Arthias thought this, a Riolu that had been hidding in the bushes all this time stumbled out. Immediately Reyson recognized it as a special Riolu, verified by the fact that this Riolu called Aura was capable of human speech. Lord Reyson proceeded to explain who the little creature was the result of a project he had organized even before forming Cobalt Storm so that he would have a secret weapon when the war started.

Arthias let out a quite but sinister sounding chuckle. "You amaze me sir. Even to this day I am still surprised by how much planning you put into all of this." The commander turned his gaze to Aura. Such a small creature yet it was capable of such power. He crouched down and grabbed Aura by the scruff of her neck.

"You're coming with us to Viridian." said Arthias holding the Emanation Pokemon to his face. Arthias put Aura under his arm like a package holding her firmly so she couldn't escape his grip, but not so tight as to injure their precious find.

"Metagross and I are heading out first Lord Reyson. I have a unit near the settlement, the rebels will be completely surrounded within the hour." confirmed Arthias as he once again boarded his Metagross with Aura.

 

[Shocari]

"All right, Arthias, you can come." Reyson said with a smile. He glanced at his watch and took a mental note of the time. "Let's go."

The Cobalt members made their way out of Viridian Forest, and came upon the edge of the opposition's encampment. Everyone seemed to be in a tent, of which many were set up. Reyson recalled the Trainer seeming high in rank, so he led his group inside one of the few larger tents.

And by a good chance, the Trainer was there. "I believe we scheduled a battle," Reyson said quietly. "so meet me at Route Twenty-two. You can bring along a few friends, if you wish."
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(wii post #2, baby!)