Ask to Join The Dark Tournament

[BurbleBurble]

Huh.

This girl was odd.

Her answer wasn't clear. She came here a year ago? For what reason? Further questions were only turned down by a hush motion. It reminded him of something, awhile back.

When she finally seemed sure they had lost the Eevee, Gerald breathed a sigh of relief. "You really saved our skins back th-" The woman swiftly grabbed him by his collar. "There?"

Smashed up against a tree, a knife drawn to his neck: This person was likely not a friend. And was also demanding answers. Name, The reason he was here, and why the Pokemon were going off the slope. "I-I-Ahem, I'm Gerald. Gerald Aster. And my Delphox is June." He tried not being nervous. Well, it's kind of hard to do that when your throat is being threatened. "The reason we are here, is because I was invited to a tournament. It was going great, but then it lead into my third answer." The boy glimpsed at the blade resting near his neck nevously. "It was a scam. When I woke up, I was in these stupid clothes, and some hologram...thing told me, and presumably everyone else who was here for the tourney as well. The Pokemon are infected with a virus that makes them more aggressive and powerful, and they plan on releasing troops on us as well. If a trainer survives a week, we get to live. And some trinkets. It's all prepared by a subsidery of Team Rocket of sorts...bastards. Can you put the knife down now?"

While June was definitely upset at the brutish ways of this woman, her Sceptile was blocking the way. Stubborn bugger was staring at her stick, shaking it's head. The fox would be no match for it in her mentally exhausted state. With a defeated snarl, she stocked away the limb in the recedes of fur on her arms.

She still had one trick up her sleeve though. If this girl slit the mans throat, the Delphox would give her an equally painful death: by burning. Mystical Fire required using magic to take aim. But, remove the Mystical, and your left with Fire, which she could produce on her own.

At the back of the fox's mouth, flames were burning. She could get around the unsuspecting Sceptile, and show the woman why you don't mess with a Delphox's trainer, but perhaps it wouldn't be necessary. Gerald was cooperating, answering her questions. Now, it was time to see the woman's move.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Lin stared hard into Gerald's eye for a moment and then sniffed the air. She nodded and then relaxed her hold making the knife disappear as quickly as it had appeared in the first place. She let him go and stepped back, "you are telling the truth." Arrow relaxed his guard as well and nodded to the Delphox reassuringly. Lin turned back toward Gerlad, "your body language and your scent say so. She shrugged, "I don't like trainers one bit, but your crimes don't deserve death." She narrowed her eyes and gave a chilling predatory grin like a cat viewing a mouse it had cornered. "This Team rocket on the other hand, for them it will not be quick and it will be excruciatingly painful. Their crimes against pokemon and nature have no equal for what they have done." She clenched her hands into fist so tight that a drop of blood fell to the ground, "they sounds like Team Luna. I hate Team Luna." She finally glanced back at Gerald as if she was surprised he was still there. "Try not to hurt any of the wild pokemon here trainer." Her voice was like an icy whisper, "I know you desire survival just find a better way." She nodded to June, "your partner cares about you a great deal. I will take her word that you are not a bad person."

Just then Arrow cried out and clutched his head in his hands. Lin's face took on a panicked look and she rushed over to the Sceptile. She ripped off a pouch she had and quickly opened the it dumping the contents out. Several different berries, some roots, and a few odd shaped leaves fell out. She grabbed a small earthenware bowl out and she began to grind up the different elements forming them into to little balls. As she worked she looked up at June, with pleading eyes completely ignoring Gerald. "Please I need a fire quickly, it must be drank. I was not prepared for this the fits are coming on more frequently and I do not have time to make one."

 

[Mega Gallade X]

Damian smiled again when the girl embraced him. He was sure the girl could handle herself with this Gardevoir, it seemed powerful, but he didn't want to think about what would happen if she was left out here alone.

As the girl ate he thought about the island, the resort was located on the east side of the island. Damian couldn't even tell where they were and there were no identifiable landmarks, so he had nothing to base direction off of, however, he knew the sun set north or south of due east. He shook his head almost to the others as much as it was to himself. Damian wouldn't be able to see where the sun set with all these damn trees, and waiting to move until dark didn't seem like an appealing option to him.

Pausing his escape plan for a moment he looked up seemingly noticing his surroundings clearer for the first time as he stomped out the fire.

The trees. Every other tree had five distinct claw marks slashed in the trunk. Branching his mind into a different thought process he figured out why the noises the Gardevoir noticed hadn't approached them yet. They were already in claimed ground. Why else had it been so quiet? Those Pachirisu stuck to the trees and could avoid a large predator. What was it? Racking the far reaches of his mind and travels he struggled to remember what creature marked trees.

"Ursaring." Damian said aloud.

"Mina finish up, we need to move now." he continued as he stood and brushed himself off. This was a mistake, how long had they been here? Thirty? Forty minutes? This clearing was ideal for a home, it must be out hunting.

"Orion, are you good to move?" he asked as the Lucario stood with him and it gave a confident nod looking to Mina and then to Acarte.

The plan would be to head away from the noises Acarte pointed out, from that direction they could travel to the coast, move along that to the resort. This seemed as stable an escape as any on such short notice, and the variables of the wild pokemon didn't help Damian's thought process. However the stress was definitely causing him to be productive.

 

[Loziana]

Aidinia pressed herself against Salem's newly healed back. She was suddenly worried about what ever it was that he and Ajax were seeing or hearing. "What is it?" She whispered next to his ear. He could feel the warmth of her breath on his skin. She shook slightly from the nervousness of the situation. She couldn't help but notice he had a slightly salty man smell about him. It was comforting in a way. Not the time, act now process later! She told her self again. But, damn did he smell good! This day just seemed to keep getting better and better, NOT! She was so tired. All she wanted was to find a way to keep her and Alex safe. Right now you couldn't pry her from Salem's side.

She strained to see what was making the noise in the underbrush, but she couldn't see a thing. She hoped whatever it was that it wasn't to dangerous. She didn't know how much more excitement she could take for one day. She really needed to find a safe place and Salem was right. He had left a long trail of blood into the clearing The coconut water would take care of the hydration, but the scent of fresh blood would draw all types of dangerous, blood thirsty pokemon straight to them. They would have to move to yet another location. She hoped there would be daylight enough left to create a sturdy shelter from nocturnal pokemon. There was no telling what kind of meanies were hiding here in the night.

 

[Nygenn]

Location: Jinko Island, Jungle
Time: 1st Day, Early afternoon
Tagging: Salem, Ajax, Aidinia, Alex

----------------​

“What is it?” the doctor whispered in his ear. She was pressed so closely to him he could feel her breast squeezing against his back and her hot breath on his neck. He felt another wave of warmth flush his body, only this one was of an entirely different nature than the healing wave from before. It was distracting, but Salem managed to keep his eyes trained on the jungle before them.

His right hand reached back unconsciously and came to rest on her thigh, keeping her behind him. She had come to his aid and now he would shield her from harm in return. Ideally he would have liked some space to move easier should the situation require it, but when he felt the woman shiver he decided to let her keep close. She may not show it, but he was sure this Dark Tournament ordeal frightened her, and if not for her own wellbeing then surely for that of others.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered at her and shot her a sideways reassuring smile.

 

[Loziana]

At Salem's smile Aidinia's breath came a little easier. She blushed at is hand on her thigh, although the gesture was comforting and put her even more at ease. What am I doing, Like he can defend us with me all up on him like this. She moved back a bit, being sure to stay behind him. She still strained to see what was causing the noises. Nothing had come into view. She was certain what ever it was, Salem and Ajax could handle it. If they needed her, it would be after the fact.

Aidinia stayed close waiting for Salem to give her the all clear. She was began to tick off in her head what was still needed for safety for the night. Food, some form of shelter, clean water (aside from the coconut water), a safer clearing (one not contaminated by blood), and then I can focus on finding the other trainers out here.

"what do you think it is, Salem?" She whispered at the man. She really took in his appearance for the first time. His lean athletic body was tan and seemed to remind her of something long forgotten. His body seemed fluid like he spent a lot of time on or near the water. The quick glimpse of his face showed off his beautiful green eyes. Those eyes set against his tan skin were model perfect. She wondered a bit what she looked like to him. He was a treat to look at. He was just slightly taller than her, so when he looked over his shoulder at her it made her heart melt just a little. He seemed like such a sweet guy. He didn't deserve to be stuck out here like this. She felt annoyed at the bastards causing this mess. She hoped they ended up victims of their own trouble.

 

[PentheWonderful]

Silence. The Nidoqueen chased silence.

Like a fury of cobalt, she barrelled through countless undergrowth, snapping young trees as if they were mere blades of grass with a swing of her massive arms. Each of her steps slammed onto the moist ground with the force of a sledgehammer, propelling her further to her target; an elegant, violet flash running effortlessly between the massive trees. Banyan, baobao, angsana, teak, rubber, strangler fig, mangrove. Further and further ahead, and yet, never coming closer.

Lady's claws dug into the root and dirt, preventing slipping, but also displacing dirt and debris and kicking it all into the Nidoqueen's face. With each grunt and squeal, Cassie knew one of them had gotten into her eyes. Good. It would reduce accuracy like a Sand Attack. She was massive. Perhaps twice the size of an average Nidoqueen and twice as fast. No regular Nidoqueen would be able to keep up with a Liepard. But this one was vengeful, furious, starving, pumped to the brim with adrenaline and Cassie could swear she saw her mouth frothing.

Other Pokemon backed away. Fled or flew.

But that was a good thing.

Perfect, even.

Click.

Cassie hit the pebbles together and Lady swerved, sharply, almost making a u-turn around a thin rubber tree. The Nidoqueen screeched, unable to turn fast enough and slammed right into a thick baobao tree. Yet, just as quickly as she'd halted, she recovered, and barrelled on all fours towards them once again.

Click, click, click, click.

The Liepard zigzagged around several younger trees, while the Nidoqueen powered right through them, bulldozing them and shooing whatever Pokemon had called it home.

Nidoqueen weren't built for dense jungles, no, not even close. They thrived in plains and savannas where their movements are never limited. They could swing their arms and turn about as much as they pleased, but here in the jungle? Things were different. The increased humidity meant the Nidoqueen's lungs were not functioning optimally. She lacked oxygen and all the additional water vapors collected at her throat and formed phlegm, thus, froth at the mouth. In addition, all that bursting through plant life was taking a toll on her, regardless of how thick her hide was because it simply wasn't made for that.

Lady, in the meanwhile, was miles away from her behavior at the resort. A willful, driven expression had taken over her face, a focus filling her eyes. And Cassie realized the Liepard was exactly like her. All business. She'd try when she needed to, and work her ass off when it counted. 100% on the right time. Never 110% all the time.

Never squandering.

And yet, in the Nidoqueen's adrenaline charged rampage, she still managed to realize this. That she was not catching a Liepard at what it did best any time soon and instead slammed her arms into the ground before her. The ground shattered in an instant as protruding roots were reduced to splinters. A wave swept beneath Lady and both she and Cassie were hurled into the air.

Instead, all Cassie saw were glitches. Her mind worked in segments and parts were skipped, lost or misplaced. 'No, no, no, no not now!' She shrieked and yet her ears could not pick it up.

Glitch again. Her vision switched from reality to fantasy in her mind. The void. Darkness. Fading in and out, there to catch her, so comforting, swirling with colorful numbers and lines and words and calculations. Her thoughts in Morse. And then abruptly, her eyes would function again and the sky was all she could see. 'Please, please. please...' Her hands instantaneously snatched the lone pokeball from her belt, recalling her Liepard in the nanoseconds that ticked by in slow motion before her eyes. Before she could hit the ground and gain damage.

And yet she slammed back-first into wild undergrowth and the barrier between reality and fantasy broke.

Shattered to pieces.

The undergrowth swallowed her whole and all she could hear was the victorious howl of the Nidoqueen. Her eyes were hazy, but adrenaline pushed away the pain her body refused to acknowledge. She could see... She could see... Her thoughts. Her thoughts floating in mid air. Directions, arrows, notes, numbers and letters.

An exclamation mark.

Cassie rolled over right before the Nidoqueen's foot squashed her. "Arceus!" She gasped, arms and legs already scrambling, crawling with the undergrowth as shelter.

And then something horrific occurred.

The Nidoqueen roared and along with her roar, the ground beneath her burst with the force of a geyser. Earth Power. Left and right, Cassie cussed and cursed as loud and much as she could while attempting to dodge the eruptions. She had surprising luck with that thanks to the beast's lowered accuracy from all the debris in her eye and blind fury clouding her thoughts. And she could feel it. The light tremor of the ground before it erupted without mercy. Her hallucinogenic thoughts counted down the seconds. One, two, three, get the fuck away.

Except that one that erupted right behind her and flung her right out of cover.

Her leg was burning but she didn't realize that yet.

Tucking in her arms and legs, she landed with a bit more protection that time, rolling in resemblance to a tumbleweed from the force exerted from the explosion. She uncurled and pushed herself off the ground. Her breathing was heavy, she could hear her heartbeat hammering with the speed of a jackhammer in her chest, and everything moved slowly.

'Parkour.' Her thoughts whispered the words written in red before her very eyes. An arrow, pointing left, and the girl shifted her head just in time to see the Nidoqueen rampaging towards her. On her feet, counting, one, two, three. She ran towards the Nidoqueen and snatched her pokeball. And she remembered. As she flung the pokeball through between the Nidoqueen's legs, she remembered how she relished working in nanoseconds. When Lady formed behind their opponent, she remembered how near death experiences fueled her soul, replenished her vigor. "Night Slash!"

In mid air, Lady spun, slashing the claws of her hind paws on the Nidoqueen and then doing the same when her momentum rotated her body to allow her fore paws to have their turn. The force and surprise toppled the Nidoqueen over, but she managed to hold herself up by planting her arms firmly into the ground.

And Cassie jumped on top of the Nidoqueen, using her body as leverage to propel herself onto a low tree branch. Banyan. With its hanging roots and all. Now it was Lady and the Nidoqueen.

Cassie stood still, and she saw how her shoulders rose and fell along with Lady's. The silence. And then, the attack. Nidoqueen hurled her body, four times heavier and larger than the Liepard before her and using all of her weight and bulk in a Take Down.

Low accuracy. Lowered further by blind fury and debris.

And depleted stamina, the Nidoqueen was slowing down.

Lady, with her incredible speed, simply seemed to vanish before the Nidoqueen could touch her, allowing her to slam into a boulder and gain damage. "Encore!"

From behind, the Nidoqueen heard Lady. Her chirping, mewls, and purrs hypnotizing it to once again repeat the move. Turning around, it was exactly what it did.

'Liepard has well-developed muscles that allows it to run silently and strike opponents from behind. It has also been known to vanish and reappear without warning.' She remembered her father telling her one time.

Leaving Lady to distract the Nidoqueen, allowing her frustration to build with having to simply chase the mischievous feline around, Cassie cut down handfuls of banyan root with Maverik's rib, tying them together to form long ropes and then cutting a shorter one for herself. And then she looked down, and waited. 'You only live once, right?'

Once the Nidoqueen was right beneath her, Cassie dropped down. Precise. Controlled. Collected. Right on the Nidoqueen's shoulders, and with the shorter banyan root, she gagged the beast and pulled as hard as she could, hanging on for dear life as it reared back and shrieked. Moving one of her holds on the other root to her teeth, she used her free hand to loosely loop the longer banyan root rope on one of its arms, which were luckily buff enough to be too stiff to be able to reach back and grab her.

Cassie tossed the other end of the long rope to Lady, which she caught. Hand back on the reigns of the thrashing Nidoqueen, she yelled. "Run around her and tie it-"

Incomplete, as the Nidoqueen decided to continue its rampage in an attempt to throw Cassie off, but Lady got the gist. The Liepard ran circles around the thrashing beast as it burst through trees and undergrowth and hit Cassie with as many branches and basically anything and everything she could find. Cassie could feel scratches on her face, until...

They came through a clearing.

Cassie felt no branch or leaf or root. There was fading sunlight and from the corner of her eyes, she saw two figures. Everything was in slow motion as she turned her head to see humans. One behind the other. One with tan skin, the other fair. Fiery red hair. Ghostly white. Violet.

And evergreen.

That is, before everything turned back into undergrowth and branches and Arceus damned leaves. The feelings came and went.

A few meters further into their rampage, Lady completed the tie and managed to trip the Nidoqueen into falling forward. Cassie braced for impact and was flung from her thrashing ride as soon as she hit the ground. Landing on her hands and knees, Cassie watched with similar tensions to Lady as the beast struggle, roaring and screeching. Before it simply stared at them, her eyes red and wild. And she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Instead, energy built in it, glowing brighter and brighter and Cassie knew exactly what it was.

Dragon Pulse.

Cassie instinctively moved in front of Lady and bent down, picking up a rock and hurling it at the Nidoqueen's building ball of energy, disrupting its stability. Rupturing.

It burst right before it could be fired and blew the Nidoqueen's head to smithereens.

Bone and flesh flew and was quickly devoured by the undergrowth, and one of its horns rolled to Cassie's bare feet. As if communicating a surrender.

And just like that, her energy supply was cut and her legs were jelly as she fell back.

But Lady was there to catch her.

And she was purring.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Salem and Aidiana​

As the pair both kept their eyes warily on the brush they could hear crude movement coming toward them from the underbrush. The sound of tearing leaves and sticks echoed in the still air of the makeshift camp. They could hear something tumble to the ground just outside their visual range. The sound stopped. Before either of the two of them could react though a much louder noise came from a whole different direction, and it was coming fast, to fast. A Nidoqueen burst through the trees splintering them like toothpicks. It barreled right through their camp at breakneck speed, with the small figure of Cassie riding it for dear life like some bizarre western rodeo. The giant crazed pokemon just kept up it's mad dash and blew a whole in the other side. For such a large creature it's speed put it out of sight in a very short time as the pair hit larger a groove of much larger trees. The sound the two had been hearing originally started back up again closer than before. Finally a hand broke through the thick jungle foliage. The hand looked like it may have been dainty and manicured at one time. Now it weeped blood from small thorn cuts and the nails were torn and caked with dirt. The hand grasped with a strength born of desperation onto the bark of a tree and then a face emerged after it. The face was that of a young Kanto woman although, it also had seen better days. Her makeup was smeared in several places, she had a nasty gash on her forehead, and one of her eyes was blackened. To round it out her lip was split and she had claw marks caked with dried blood just below her left ear and trailing down her shoulder. Megan looked at Salem and Aidinia with a pleading look of barest hope and desperation. Her other hand slowly reached out to the pair as if seeking salvation itself. Just then two large green vines rapidly snaked their way out of the trees on either side of the girl and wrapped around her waste with a vice like grip. Her look of hope turned to one of horror that lasted a split second before the girl was yanked backward with such force that she seemed to vanish back into the jungle itself. The only signs that she had even been there was the bloody hand print left on the tree and a rapidly receding scream.

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Damien and Mina​

Mina looked up at Damien with a mouthful of Pachirisu between her cheeks, when the nervous trainer said that they had to move. She quickly gulped it down and made a pouty face, "but big brother I am still eating." She took a hard look at the trainers expression and then swallowed slowly. On top of this Ecarte quickly and silently moved over to the young girl and nodded. Mina blinked and nodded as well clutching the fried pachirisu tight to her chest. "Ok big brother Ecarte agrees with you where do we move to then." She stood up still clutching the meal to her chest tightly so that she didn't drop it. She looked around the clearing then and noticed the dead silence that permeated everything like the silence of a grave. All the pokemon and animals were silent as if they were romans in a collesium about to witness the emperors verdict on an execution.

 

[Loziana]

She was moving, her brain hadn't really thought about what she was going to do. Her legs were moving before her brain had really thought about what she would do if she was in time. Please please let me be in time. In time to do what? She had no idea. Aidinia just hoped she could save the injured girl.

Her mind was rushing. What kind of Pokemon grabbed her? How do I free her? Many other things rushed through her mind. She knew she couldn't watch someone else die. She had to get there in time. She still didn't know what she would do.

What the hell, was that girl doing on the back of that nidoqueen? She seemed to have things somewhat under control. She also seemed less injured than the young woman who had been dragged away.

God let me make it in time.

 

[TepigTurtwig]

Efret decided these two lovebirds were not the ideal team up. Hence, he hopped on Blaze, and they sped at the Nidoqueen. Wow, this one day is already exhausting, how will we survive 7? He kept barreling through the trees on Charizard, neatly avoiding trees. As they hovered a little in front of the Nidoqueen, Blaze came to a complete stop, and lowered himself to the floor cleanly right beside it. "Alright boy, we have to be careful here, use solarbeam!" As Blaze began charging up energy, the Nidoqueen began charging away.

Dang it, the more energy Blaze spends, the longer it will take for solarbeam to charge. Oh well, I guess that girl won't mind ten more seconds of rodeo. And so, the two of them sped after the girl and the Nidoqueen, keeping a little to the side, in case solarbeam should complete charging. He hoped this girl had some way of keeping this Nidoqueen in place.

 

[Chrocey]

As Apollo yelled out at the Talonflame, Beedrill couldn’t help but shoot a glance at Pyroar. He was in no position to judge her trainer. Delilah had her fair share of ‘glorious moments’ where her words spoke louder than her actions.

Beedrill looked back at the stranger and nodded his head in agreement. He showed no apprehension as he knew that this was going to be the best option for getting his trainer out of this situation alive. A flying fire type didn’t exactly work in his favor, but he wasn’t going to abandon this fight. Aside from running being a death wish, he trusted that the trainer and the Pyroar knew what they were doing.

For the time being he would obey Apollo’s every command.

 

[Nygenn]

Location: Jinko Island, Jungle
Time: 1st Day, Early afternoon
Tagging: Salem, Ajax, Aidinia, Alex, Cassie, Lady, Megan

----------------​

Salem felt the pressure on his back let up as Aidinia pushed off and stepped away from him. The action left him a little conflicted. He could now better deal with whatever was coming their way, but the feeling of her against him had been very pleasant and he missed it. Not just the physical aspect of it, but more so the feeling of being relied upon by someone. Being needed.

Whatever was coming their way was getting close now. Then there was a sound of something falling to the ground.

“What do you think it is, Salem? Aidinia whispered from behind him.

Before he could think to answer that question there was another sound, this one from the opposite direction. Something very large was approaching at a quick pace. Trees groaned and cracked and then he saw it. An enormous Nidoqueen burst from the tree line and barreled straight past, plowing thought plants and small trees as it went. Salem’s eyes were wide with surprise. Not only had the Nidoqueen been the largest he’d ever seen, comparable even with Ajax, but riding it, locked in mortal combat, had been a girl with silver eyes. The same silver eyes he had found himself thinking about only moment before. For a split second their eyes met, their gazes locked, and Salem could see recognition. There was something else too but he couldn’t place it. And then they were gone. The Nidoqueen and its rider disappeared before Salem could think to say something.

Another sound bade him to turn around again. Whatever had been approaching them earlier was upon them now. A hand appeared first, followed by an arm and a face. It was a human girl, bloodied and bruised from the looks of her. She looked about ready to collapse, but before she could even say anything, two thick vines wrapped around her. The next moment she was roughly yanked back into the shadows she had just crawled out from.

Aidinia rushed passed Salem. He tried to grab her but couldn’t react quickly enough, with all that had just happened in rapid succession. She ran after the wounded girl and was soon swallowed up by the darkness of the jungle as well.

Salem ruffled his hair irritably and made a snap decision. He jerked a finger in the direction the Nidoqueen had just disappeared.

“Go!” he commanded the Blastoise. Then he grabbed the Scyther blade from whence it lay on the rocks and dashed after Aidinia.

Ajax understood, he needed no further instructions. He and Salem had been together for many years now and had come to understand each other very well. His trainer’s intentions were clear to him, they needn’t be voiced. He got down on all fours and ran after the monstrous Nidoqueen. She had left a path of destruction in her wake so the trail was easy to follow.

It took only a minute for Ajax to catch up to Cassie and her quarry, they hadn’t gone far. The girl was on the ground and panting. Her Liepard protectively at her side. A little way ahead he saw the corpse of the Nidoqueen, its head completely blow apart. Bloody pieces were scattered all over the place and made for a grim scene, but the Pokemon was dead and that meant that Ajax was no help here. He should be at his trainer’s side then. He made to turn around but hesitated and eyed the small human on the ground. ‘Should he leave her here?’ he wondered. He knew what Salem would do, and would want him to do. So he walked closer to the girl until he towered over her. Then he turned back on all hours and presented her his back.

-

Salem was sprinting through the underbrush, hopping over big stones and ducking under low branches, some of which were already broken. He quickly caught up to Aidinia and burst into the small clearing besides her. From the moment Cassie had burst into the scene Salem had stopped smiling and he certainly wouldn’t start again now. In front of the two trainers stood a particularly nasty looking Venusaur, and judging from the sweet smell it was emanating, it had soaked up plenty of sunlight already. It held the girl captive overhead and from his vantage point Salem couldn't quite see if she was still alive.

​

‘This could be bad,’ was Salem’s only thought.

 

[AesgirFenrir]

As the Nidoqueen bellowed and took off after Cassie and Lady, Shade quickly weighed his options. He had come to this island to investigate, he had prepared for a few simple matches to sell his cover, but not for a real fight. Especially not against a wild monster the size of a truck.

"Anubis, tactical retreat!" he yelled as the Nidoking came barreling toward them. The Mightyena stayed on his heel as he dove for the hole Cassie had used. As he ran full-tilt into the thick jungle, he could hear a second part of his wall explode under the massive beast's bulk.

Anubis pulled just ahead of him and Shade could see his snout moving this way and that, sniffing for something. The Pokemon had been his partner for several years now and had saved his life more than once, he trusted the Mightyena and followed his lead.

Anubis wove his way swiftly through the trees and underbrush, with Shade close behind. Unfortunately, they could hear the Nidoking crashing a swath through the jungle behind them, splintering trees and crushing brush beneath it. It was gaining on them, and fast. Suddenly, they broke out of the trees, and came to a swift halt. They had come out on a rocky outcropping. Several hundred feet below was a rushing river. Shade's hopes for a quick end to the chase with the Nidoking's plunge to its death were shattered as the beast slowed to a halt as it broke through the tree line.

As the Nidoking stared hungrily at Shade, Anubis spun and dove at the huge Pokemon in an attempt to protect his partner and friend. The Nidoking casually batted him aside with a massive claw, illiciting a pained yelp as the Mightyena smashed into a tree, a nasty gash in his side. "Anubis, no!" screamed Shade, and he grabbed up a heavy tree limb and rushed the monster to defend his partner. The huge Nidoking swung his massive head toward Shade, goring him through his shoulder and sending him flying to land roughly at the edge of the outcropping. He grunted as he felt the poison immediately begin to course into his bloodstream. He watched through a growing fog as Anubis, fangs gleaming with ice, bit deep into the Nidoking's leg with his Ice Fang attack, freezing the beast temporarily in place. Realizing the futility of this fight, the Mightyena then ran for his partner, barreling into him and over the edge. The blackness finally engulfed him as he watched the water rushing toward him.

 

[Mega Gallade X]

"Ok big brother Ecarte agrees with you where do we move to then." the girl said, holding onto her food.

Suddenly they heard it, the crashing of trees and a somewhat sizable ruckus deep in the jungle.

"Well. One thing is for sure, we aren't going that way." Damian said as he started walking adjacent to the way Ecarte had forewarned about and immediately upon moving a large stray leaf he was looking into two large black eyes. The heat from its breath hit his face first, then the smell of the beast, it was horrid, worse then five Trubbish stacked on top of a Garbodor. The chunks of meat that still clung to the dripping maw may have been the source of the smell, well, probably that and the combined scents of the beast itself. One thing was for sure, the smell was death, and if he didn't do something quickly, Damian would be acquainted with the fragrance first hand.

The Ursaring was on all fours but still looked Damian at eye level despite his 5'8 stature, he would argue 5'9 whenever the topic was brought up, however that wasn't important. This one was obviously older, and much larger than others of its kind, if not for the dire circumstances, a pokemon like this would make a formidable ally and he would have considered catching it.

It stood up. On it's hind legs, looming over the group as they looked up toward it before sniffing the air for a moment and then releasing a bone chilling roar.

"Orion! Aura Sphere then follow!" Damian said as he picked up Mina in his arms, he wasn't exactly a body builder but the girl wasn't much weight, he figured he could keep this up for at maximum fifteen minutes of sustained running before she would have to run on her own. That was if they weren't dead by then. Damian bolted opposite of the Ecarte predicted death way, looking the Gardevoir in the eyes as if to signal they needed to run.

Orion was still as the large pokemon sized up it's trainer and then it stood, it's size enough to make a Tyranitar think twice about engaging it. However Orion had his friend to protect, and now two others. The Ursaring roared and his trainer took off giving the command. Orion charged for a moment blasting the Aura Sphere at the wild pokemons legs, the stubby legs of the Usaring were by far the only weak thing about it, and that was when it was standing. The wild pokemon buckled on impact and a small explosion emanated a thin cloud of smoke as Orion darted the direction the others took.

Damian maintained his pace, jumping over small outgrowing roots and vines as to not trip, he didn't hear anything behind him, however he glanced back to ensure Acarte and Orion were following.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Delilah and Apollo​

Apollo observed the Talonflame and did not like the odds, sure it was two on one, but the TalonFlame was a bug pokemon's worst nightmare. Too boot it was going to be resistant to most of Vulcana's attacks. He inched slightly closer to the pair so BeeDrill could hear him. "Ok Vulcana Flame thrower distraction go." Vulcana jumped forward and breathed a huge gout of fire in front in front of the TalonFlame temporarily obscuring BeeDrill. "Now BeeDrill use Agility and speed alongside the flame then straight up and over using the sun to blind her. Then come down from above and take out her wings don't use a bug attack if you can." Apollo was taking a gamble that this particular BeeDrill had agility as he did not know it's move set. Luckliy his gamble paid off as BeeDrill shimmered and then sped up alongside the flame at high speed before shooting straight up into the sky. He then flipped around and dive bombed the TalonFlame with his arms outstretched . He hit both wings several times in rapid succession with fury attack. The TalonFlame let out a cry of pain before her wings shimmered with a metallic hue. Then the bird spun and slapped BeeDrill with a wing knocking him back into a tree hard. Apollo grimaced and then took another step forward thrusting out his fist, "Vulcana take down that tree now!" The Pyroar charged forward picking up high speed and slammed hard into the tree, that the bird pokemon was perched in. Their was a loud crack and then the tree toppled over with the angry TalonFlame in it and unable to fly just then from the BeeDrill's attack. The TalonFalme did indeed get tangled in the branches when the tree fell, but it was far from done. The bird opened it's beak and Apollo realized the target. He yelled out "Vulcana intercept!" just as the TalonFlame(using me first) unleashed a hellaciously powered overheat that Vulcana had been prepared to unleash on the tree and bird. The Birds target was the poor BeeDrill, but Vulcana quickly shook her head and at high speed leaped into the path of the fireball taking it square on. Even with her resistance, the fire power behind that enhanced overheat hurt Vulcana bad as she slammed into the ground hard. The TalonFlame then used it's steel wings to slash the branches imprisoning it to shreds and proved that it's wings had recovered further, by taking flight. The bird let out a fierce cry as it began to fly in a rapid figure eight building up attack power through a sword dance, in order to finish them all off. Apollo held out his hand to towards the BeeDrill as it began to fly upward, "wait." Then he and Vulcana both looked at each other and nodded silently. "Now Vulcana use Endeavor!!" Vulcana leaped to her feet and and bolted over to the tallest tree using her powerfull claws she ran straight up it, and launched her body from the top like an arrow straight into the TalonFlame with a mighty impact. The two pokemon both fell from the sky and landed on the ground below. As the TalonFlame struggled to it's feet Apollo yelled out, "Now BeeDrill while it is incredibly weakened use Pin Missle. The BeeDrill nodded and took quick aim before firing two small drills into the TalonFlames neck. The bird let out a death cry and then collapsed like a rock.Apollo gave a thumbs up to the two pokemon before slumping down beside the sleeping Delilah with his back to a tree. He just shook his head and muttered, "and she missed the whole thing."

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Cassie​

As Ajax came upon the wounded exhausted girl he went down to all fours preparing to give her a lift. The sound of three rapid thunks hitting a tree to the side would draw almost anyone attention. Then a large screen of smoke popped up surrounding both Cassie and Lady. At the same time Ajax was surrounded by flames on all sides. A powerful hypnosis effect was enough to take down the already wounded and exhausted pair trapped in the smoke, and if that wasn't enough a swift well placed blow would suffice as well. Two blurs moving at high speeds dashed into the fog and then rapidly dashed out. As the Blastoitse was further distracted by a hit from a confusion ray. Just as quickly as the sprang up the flames were gone and so were Cassie and Lady.

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Salem and Aidinia
​

As Salem and the good Dr. Moon arrive upon the clearing the massive venosuar is by far the most noticeable thing. However further inspection shows the slashed up remains of some unkown male trainer absent any noticeable pokemon bodies. The Venosaur has it's vines held up over its head and dangling from them is the body of the young Kanto receptionist Megan. To note she is also dressed in the same black clothes as the others. The girl hands limp from her legs and tiny droplets of blood fall onto the grass below, as the slide down her body propelled by the inescapable force of gravity. A large seed seems to be attached to the girls chest were it has sprouted vines that wrap around her, in what looks like some kind of harness. As the trainers watch the seed takes on a quiet luminescent glow and a pulse of glowing energy travels along from it back down the vines and into the monster. The Venosaur growls out a challange, "Venosaur!!" It then proceed to stomp the ground into a cloud of petals, that floated in the air The petals then began flying around the kids like a string of colored confetti thrown into a fan. The leaves are very sharp and one touch will result in an injury.

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Damien and Mina​

Ecarte wasted no time running very lightly in the same direction as Damien. She only spun for a brief moment to launch a pink ball of energy back at the Ursaring. As Mina was physically picked up by Damien she giggled, "are we going to play piggy-back then big brother." She looked back at the giant bear pokemon as Orion felled him, and then ran towards them. "That will not hold him long big brother, and we will not be able to outrun him." The Ursaring let out a terrifying roar and bounded to all fours immediately, setting out in hot pursuit of the trainers and their pokemon. The Ursaring was not quickly gaining ground at first and then the raw stench of rotting meat dissipated. It was replaced with a very sweet oddly floral scent that just seemed out of place, with the large monster at their heels. Their footsteps began to slow slightly and the Ursaring started to noticeably gain ground. Mina looked at damien again and shrugged," I told you we couldn't outrun him big brother. He has the sweet scent ability. You better think of something big brother or he may get us."

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Shade​

As shade washed up on shore much further down stream, his unconscious body was pulled out of the river and into a nearby cave. Dr. Nevashi stared at the young man laying on the stone before him. He sighed, "Well when you say out loud you would give anything for a hot young, half naked man right now, I certainly never expected to be answered." The Dr. Immediately began to examine the young man making note of each injury and what to treat first. Again he spoke outloud, "Severe laceration of the supra-left trapezius muscle. Just who did you insult my young friend.?" He continued, "Hmm adema around the site, discolored epidermis, bradycardia, shallow respiration, muscular deterioration. You my friend have been poisoned by a Nidoking." He pulled a single pokeball off his belt, "ok Kiwi come out this young man needs our help." A red light flashed and a Togepi materialized. "Togepriii" Dr. Nevashi smiled, "ok Kiwi first use heal bell so we can fix that nasty venom, and then follow it up with wish." Kiwi nodded, "Togepriii.." it said in a cute voice and then it's shell vibrated and a clear bell like tone rang out. Shade's skin pallor immediately began to strengthen and his breathing quickly stabilized. "Togeprii..." Togepi wadeld over and kissed Shade on the cheek as it shell began to glow and reflect a rainbow light off the walls. Shade's shoulder wound knitted itself up and closed. Dr. Nevashi smiled and picked up Kiwi in a hug, "great job Kiwi."

 

[PentheWonderful]

More noises. Thumping, to be exact. Unmistakably heavy footsteps.

But Cassie was done. She was done for the day and her throat was dry. Painfully so. The aches and bruises were beginning to dawn on her and she was baffled how she managed to move at all before. Her joints had locked and the impact of the Earth Power ate at her right leg, where a part of her pants had been incinerated clean off. Cassie was easy prey.

However, it was Lady's turn to play defender.

The Liepard stepped over her trainer's body and hovered above it, shielding her protectively as she cast a focused glare to the rustling in the plant life. She was beginning to pull back the corners of her mouth to show off her razor sharp fangs, lowering herself into optimal lunging position while the furs on her back stood on end.

A Blastoise came through. Just as large and intimidating as the Nidoqueen before it. But instead of lunging, Lady lowered herself more and more onto Cassie's body with each step it took. She was initiating a full defense position to protect her trainer with, shielding her with her own body and ready to fight tooth and nail when necessary.

And yet, both trainer and Pokemon could sense a familiarity in the Blastoise' size and heavy gait. Their eyes locked to his when he towered over them, Lady's muscles slowly relaxed while her mouth twitched, as if unsure whether her fangs need to be bared at all, and a memory played right before Cassie's eyes. A winking Blastoise.

"A....jax...?"

As if responding to her, the Blastoise dropped down to all fours, and presented his shell to her. Was he offering her a ride? But one thing was for sure in Cassie's mind, and that was the fact this Pokemon was tame, trained, and Salem's. Otherwise, he would've surely torn through both her and Lady moments after he found them.

So the evergreen eyes she saw a mere few minutes ago were real. They were real this time because his Pokemon was here, and Lady could see him too. This was reality. Her fantasies and hallucinations had receded back into the depths of her mind after realizing they had no reason to pester her anymore.

So he was really here, and maybe nearby.

And yet, all she saw was Ajax and nothing ever followed behind him.

'Of course not.'

Lady looked back to Cassie, as if questioning whether the coast was clear, and Cassie nodded stiffly. Lady climbed off of her and the petite young woman forced herself to sit up. However, just as she was beginning to reach for Ajax's shell, a succession of 'thunks' followed. She and Lady proceeded to look around frantically, but found themselves only able to see smoke.

White.

Nothing.

Lady soon began to lay down, and Cassie found her heart rate rapidly decreasing. Her breathing slowed, and her eyes were heavy when gravity forced her back on the ground within its shackles. Everything simply went away. The aches and pains, on her body and in her heart. The fear. Regret. Everything simply melted away as white transitioned to black.

'Mom, I-... I did my best... I swear I did, and that's... That's what counts, right?'

A small voice, and a flurry of warmth in vintage colors. Cassie found herself watching a memory, somewhere deep in her mind. She watched a woman, as they stood together in the empty halls of a Pokemon Stadium. Cassie recalled it was the venue of one of the battle tournaments she'd attended in her younger years. She remembered a loss, and that sinking feeling in her stomach, the dread, upon watching the Hydreigon her mother graciously lent her collapse at a Dragon Rage from the opponents Dragonite. She couldn't breathe, and the sensation was as close as her young self came to experiencing death. Perhaps at age ten. Or nine. At the time, the woman looked so tall. So proud and beautiful. Her hair, the color of midnight, draping like wet satin down her back and shoulders. But her frozen blue eyes simply refused to gaze upon her.

'I tried my best, mom!'

She yelled and remembered her voice cracking, but in return, she felt her mother's hand smacking her across the face. And she remembered the sound reverberated, and she remembered her cheek was burning as hot as the tears that spilled down her eyes.

'If that was your best, then you're not my daughter! And keep your Arceus damned voice down! Grow up, Cassandra! You need to realize that I wasted energy, time, Pokemon, and money to get you here to compete and how did you repay me?! By losing and then yelling at me, and then you had the gall to laugh about this embarrassing loss to the public!' She raised her hand once more, and Cassie recoiled by putting her small hands up. But the hit never came. Instead she heard the sound of heels clicking against the floor when her mother walked away.

'Ingrat.'

French. Her mother only spoke in French when she was severely upset, or terribly happy. But Cassie has yet to see the latter. Instead, she remembered blaming herself for being so weak. And hating herself, and feeling vengeful for what her mother had done to her. So she severed her heart strings, detaching herself from emotion and lined her heart with steel. Because that was the only thing that helped. 'I'll be stronger than you and leave you behind.' She said to herself. 'And then you'll miss me.'

But now that it's come to it, Cassie realized she never did.

She never did.

And all because later in the memory, her mother had her arms wrapped tightly around her on their way home, telling her that no harm would befall her as long as she they were together. And Cassie remembered smiling and feeling more happiness than any victory could bring her. And yet, each smile was always dimmer than the one before. Because her heart was turning to steel, and the happiness could never truly reach it anymore.

And in the end, it was her mother who left her behind instead.

Still looming there, like the light around a corner, and yet so far from her reach.

And Cassie realized that her mind had returned and her eyes were functioning again. She was awake, and part of the reason she refused to sleep was because she always awoke with tears down her face. Now was no different. As the girl moved to sit up, she found all the aches and pains previously ravaging her body were gone. All that was left is the dull weight of her heart. A glance at her leg showed her wound had been treated, and the stiffness on her face indicated some sort of medication had been applied to it as well.

Her eyes then traveled to the red and white blot on the corner of her eyes. It was Lady's pokeball. Picking it up, she could see the Liepard sleeping peacefully inside, her wounds also treated. Cassie turned to look ahead and noticed the light was still there, followed by the permanating smell of a meal being cooked. Her stomach immediately began to stir, and she noticed her throat was still dry. Clearly it wasn't a Pokemon on the other side. She would've had her guts scattered by the time she woke up.

Thus, clipping her pokeball securely to her belt, Cassie pushed herself up on her bare feet and walked quietly down the cave. Her feet tentatively tread the the cold stone ground below, stepping in puddles from water that dripped from the ceiling, but she found herself more interested in the smell of food.

Rounding the corner, she noticed a blond man sitting by the fire. 'Curt?' Was the first thought her mind jumped to, but then she remembered there was no way he could be there. He was somewhere else. Somewhere safer, she hoped. So then, who else could it be? A brief glance at the man's attire clicked his identity into place. "...Mathew."

And so Cassie simply stood in place, just away from the man with her hand hovering above Lady's pokeball. The heat and crackling emanating from the fire was beginning to increase her heart rate again, and her blood rushed everywhere but her head. Her vision blurred, and the ringing in her ears became overwhelming when she detected the smell the smoke above the sweet scent of food. There was a weight on her chest. She couldn't breathe.

Sucking in a sharp breath, however, Cassie pulled herself together and instead focused on the amber eyed man before her. "I told you to stop following me. Weirdo."

 

[BurbleBurble]

The boy wasn't definitely sure, but was this woman...sniffing him? Odd. Very odd.

"You are telling the truth." She determined.

He exhaled a sigh of relief as the blade disappeared, away from his throat. "Your body language and your scent say so." So she was sniffing him...this woman just got stranger and stranger. "I don't like trainers one bit, but your crimes don't deserve death."

"Well, that's good to hear..." He sputtered out, with a grin that spoke nervous. She was one of those people, huh? Like the Plasma people a couple months before. Tournaments had a way of going leeway whenever he joined them...like some bad luck or whatever. But this woman just got scarier every passing moment it seemed. She had a look on her face, one that looked like she was about to hunt him down, like Gerald was her prey.

"This Team rocket on the other hand, for them it will not be quick and it will be excruciatingly painful. Their crimes against Pokemon and nature have no equal for what they have done. They sounds like Team Luna. I hate Team Luna."

Her hand was clenched tightly, to the point of bleeding. This woman was scary. But...Team Luna? Maybe she suffered from some mental illness, or perhaps human contact with the virus caused mild psychopathic tendencies. Or maybe he was overthinking it, and he just never heard of these Team Luna freaks before.

"Team who?" He asked curiously. But he didn't receive an answer to his question, but rather another line, delivered chillingly.

"Try not to hurt any of the wild Pokemon here trainer. I know you desire survival just find a better way."

He thought for a minute. Hmm. Hmm. But just as he was going to make a argument...

"Your partner cares about you a great deal. I will take her word that you are not a bad person." June felt that way? And she was taking June's word? That...was pretty flattering actually. June sticking up for him...wow. If they ever got out of this mess, he'd treat her to a steak dinner. And now he lost his train of thought.

But what was up with her Sceptile?

-----

Well, the woman released her grip on Gerald. Good. June was satisfied with this development.

The Sceptile seemed pleased too, with an approving nod. The Pokemon oddly seemed more down to earth than the girl interrogating her trainer...

But he quickly surprised her with a cry, and the reptile grabbing his head. The woman seemed panicked at this development, but June started putting together pieces. The bow wielding person had no Pokeballs. Hated trainers. And the Sceptile was acting this way...was this Pokemon a wild? And if they were a wild...

Were they succumbing to the virus?

Wait, did she miss something while in thought? The woman was smashing something in a bowl, and was asking something of June...

"...a fire quickly, it must be drank. I was not prepared for this the fits are coming on more frequently and I do not have time to make one."

She wanted to cook it over something. Whatever..."It" was. June pondered for a moment, considering the fact if the Sceptile went feral, this girl would lose her cool, and likely get both Gerald and herself killed. And they did save the two from the rabid Eevee pack...Lending a hand would benefit them all. Plus, those desperate eyes were hard to resist.

Her wand was reclaimed in her hand. Lucky for June, she never let the fire settle too much down. Just in the case Gerald did something dumb and got himself stabbed. With a light ember, the tip of the stick was ignited. With her clawed feet, she dragged foliage to the side to form a very unsafe site to place the flame. Quickly, yet carefully, she placed the stick burning end up. 'It's the best I could provide at the moment.' The fox was simply reassuring herself. However, she wasn't aware of the girl's "Abilities"...Right now the fox was searching her sleeves for something. If she was lucky, the Rockets didn't pinch her old magazines or books...they would make good kindling if they were still left.

 

[Chrocey]

After delivering the final blow, Beedrill looked more than a little exhausted. So far he’d been in two fights in the past couple of hours, and in both he’d been thrown back against a tree. The bee pokemon was beginning to get a little old for all of this action. With his experience and thick skin, however, he decided to just live with the pain in his wings for the time being. At least until he knew his trainer was safe.

Delilah’s finger twitched a little bit. She heard muffled words saying ‘she missed the whole thing’, but out of context they meant nothing to her. Everything was dark, but each of her senses brought a little more memory back about where she was. At the moment, she didn’t know if the whole Dark Tournament was just a bad dream or not.

Beedrill had kept his eyes on her enough to notice the small signs of her awakening. He buzzed over to her quickly and hovered over her so that she would see him upon waking and know that he was still with her. The groggy trainer barely opened her eyes before sitting up and yawning.

“Ugh...my head hurts.” Delilah stood from her sitting position and trudged her way through the area that Beedrill and Pyroar taken down the Talonflame. The way she walked without looking around suggested that she was borderline sleepwalking. “I really hope Greg brought the chips home this evening. I’m craving some…” Her sleepy eyes caught a glimpse of the Pyroar, and she lackadaisically waved her hand. “Oh...hey, Pyroar.”

Delilah turned around and slowly started to walk back to where she was initially laying. Before reaching that spot, however, her eyes widened and she snapped out of her trance-like state. Inch by inch she turned to face the fire pokemon. When she finally saw it first-hand a chill went up her spine and she began backing away slowly. “P-P-Pyroar! Uh...um…”

Beedrill knew what would happen next if he didn’t comfort his trainer. He flew next to her and put one of his drills on her shoulder to get her attention. Delilah looked at him and she raised her eyebrow, “Beedrill? What the heck is going on here? Wait a minute, weren’t we fighting a pinsir?”

He nodded.

“Then what on earth…” All of a sudden she stamped her foot in boiling rage. Her face reddened as she yelled, “are you kidding me?! I was knocked out twice?! How in the world did we make it outta there?” She almost looked at Pyroar, but didn’t and just pointed at her. “And what’s this doing here? Were you two in the middle of a battle?”

Beedrill shook his head. He certainly had his work cut out for him to explain what happened while she was asleep, but he was sure going to try. The bee pokemon pointed to the dead Talonflame, then to Pyroar, and finally to the one person she hadn’t noticed was with them.

Delilah squinted as she tried to piece it all together. Her expression lightened as she soon realized what must have occurred while she was unconscious. The impulsive trainer slowly approached Apollo with a small smile. Her eyes locked with his. For a moment, her body language suggested gratitude for saving her. There were small things about her features that seemed a bit softer than they were before. “I think a proper ‘thank you’ is in order…”

There was a pause. First a minute, then two minutes. At the three minute mark, Delilah’s eyes shifted from soft to expectant. Her smile melted into a grimace and her words were laced with a childish anger, “...well? Where’s our ‘thank you’? Clearly you and your Pyroar would be royally done for if Beedrill hadn’t shown up to save you all.”

She cleared her throat as though collecting herself. Delilah put her hands on her hips in a triumphant pose, “no matter! I can count many an occasion where our fans have been left speechless by our heroics, or in this case, Beedrill’s heroics!” The trainer waved to her Beedrill and gave him a wink. Meanwhile, Beedrill looked at Apollo with widened eyes and waved frantically, trying to telegraph to him that that is not what he told her.

Delilah’s gaze once again fell on Apollo. “Since it’s always nice to meet someone who’s so clearly in our debt, what’s your name?”

 

[Mega Gallade X]

Damian let out an audible sigh, he couldn't think with her pointing out they were going to die. By all accounts she was definitely correct, however it didn't help at all. "Hey Mina? We're going to play a really fun game called the quiet game, and the first person to talk loses.. Unless you have anything to say to Ecarte that can help our situation I mean." he said as he rounded a tree and looked back at the running Ursaring.

What was that? The faint glow emanating from it was subtle but noticeable in the shade of the trees. The glow got brighter as the pokemon grew closer. That was a damn Hyper Beam.

"Orion! Redirect!" Damian said making a head gesture toward the charging pokemon.

Orion looked at Damian for a moment and then the Ursaring before it clearly understood what he wanted. Standing in the stretch between the trainers and the charging creature Orion stopped, inhaling deeply and then sprinting toward the charging behemoth. In moments the two were less than five feet from one another, and the Ursaring had charged its Hyper Beam enough to fire, in what can only be described as a blur of movement Orion used Extreme speed, sliding under the charging beast and using a well placed Force Palm directly at the Ursarings jaw, shooting its head upward.

The Hyper Beam shot toward the sky, scorching leaves and creating a diagonal pillar of light.

The Ursaring however, did not stop running, lowering its own head to recollect, swerving momentarily and then straightening its approach back at the trainers.

Orion began running and attempted to use Extreme speed to get ahead of the Ursaring but the moment he started he buckled and fell to one knee, wincing in pain. Orion was tired. The overuse of his abilities were draining him physically and he could hardly keep himself up at this point let alone run. He was failing. Failing his friend. Failing the child and her Pokemon. Failure was what cast him out of his home in Sinnoh for not being able to protect his brothers and sisters when poachers attacked. Tears were rolling down his face.

Failure was something Orion knew too well. Failure was... suddenly a face flashed into his memory.

"What are you doing down here, little guy?" Damian's voice rang in his mind. Damian. Failure lead Orion to Damian. Damian had cared for Orion since he found him in the streets of Jubilife City. Looking upward at the charging Ursaring who was all but upon them, Orion knew he couldn't just give up now. The aura sphere was made swiftly, in one hand, and in one motion it was launched with all the force the Lucario could muster before he collapsed.

The aura sphere whizzed through the air passing by the Ursaring and into a tree beside it, as the Ursaring stood on its hind legs ready to attack with its full weight on the trainers, the tree fell into the side of the pokemon knocking it off balance and pinning it to the ground. Primal noises of rage from the Ursaring as it clawed and twisted its massive form trying to get out from under the tree seemed to snap Damian back into reality.

"Oh my god.. Orion you genius!" Damian said as he jumped with Mina on his back. Carefully setting her down. "That was incredible! What is this? Is this real life? Did that just happen!? Take that you over sized teddy!" Damian said yelling and pointing at the pinned Ursaring who focused on him more than the tree the moment he got close and snapped at him. The tree shifted and Ursaring continued struggling slowly making progress. "Okay Mina, Ecarte time to go. Lets make like a tree and leaf." he said and then smiled to himself. Normally Orion was there to punch his arm when he made a bad pun. What was taking him so long back there? As Damian looked down the trail of destruction the Ursaring had caused he saw Orion unconscious lying in the dirt.

Going around the tree he swiftly made his way over with Mina's hand in his, the last thing he wanted was for her to stay back there and get the idea she needed a new 'teddy'.

"Oh.. boy." Damian said as his face showed a grim expression and he knelt beside Orion for a moment. Everything was still. Then Orion let out a stifled "Luc.." before weakly opening his eyes. "Buddy... you're okay. We're okay. Rest." Damian said as a single tear rolled down his own face and onto the Lucario. Grateful his closest friend was still alive, albeit extremely drained.

The Ursaring was a short distance away and was making more progress on the tree. It's roars and grunts becoming more frequent.

"Are you two okay? We should be going. Like, literally anywhere other than this exact spot." Damian said seriously at first and then upon returning to his casual language he offered a smile toward Mina, there was no need to be stern and grim and cause her to alarm. He held out one hand to Mina with his assuring smile and with the other he returned Orion to his Luxury Ball which he placed back into his pocket.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Gerald and Lin​

Lin looked directly at June and bowed her head, "Thank you, I assure you it will be enough." She gathered some rocks and quickly made a small cairn around the newly forming flame. She kept a sharp eye on Arrow as she did this constantly watching for a change in his condition. The Sceptile meanwhile was curled up in a ball with hands over his ears shivering, every once in awhile he would throw back his head and hiss sharply. Lin quickly uncorked a handmade water skin and poured some water in the earthenware pot. Then she placed the pot over top of the flame on two larger rocks so that it would not smother the fire. She placed the balls of berries and herbs into the earthenware pot and then took a few small sticks placing them over the berries to hold down the balls. She let the home made tea steep for a bit and quickly moved over to the Sceptile. She moved her hands close slowly and the Sceptile snapped its teeth together sharply. Lin fearlessly didn't move her hand an inch, "easy partner the tea is almost ready we can beat this. We still have to save all the other pokemon on this Island and make those Team Rocket bastards pay." The Sceptiles shook his head and his eyes focused back to recognition. Lin smiled and rubbed his head before running lightly back over to the tea. She quickly pulled the earthenware pot off the fire and hurried quickly but carefully over to Arrow. Here budy, drink this, watch out it's hot." The Sceptile grabbed the pot and quickly chugged the contents of the Tea down. The Sceptile shuddered and convulsed for a moment before lying still. then suddenly he leaped up into the air on his feet and gave a toothy grin. The relief on Lin's face was palpable and she breathed a long held sigh of relief relaxing her body.

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Cassie and Mathew​

Mathew looked up from the fire and smiled, "well good to see you again too darlin'. Have a seat and lets talk, he looked over at a spot across the fire." Now I am sure you are thinking about walking right out of here. He gave her a sideways look over his glasses and shrugged. If you do I will not stop you, however I think you might want to stick around for a bit." He added almost as an afterthought, "That is if you really want to know about your heritage." He pulled the stick of poki out of his mouth and rapidly twirled it in his between his fingers. "Here is how it works Darlin' you are free to walk out here right now no strings attacked." A rat went scurrying along the cave floor, and Mathew calmly flicked the poki stick with deadly accuracy right between the rats eyes. The rodent convulsed and died. He fixed those cold amber eyes back on her, "or you battle me in a pokemon fight Darlin.'" I'll use just one pokemon against yours and I'll even limit myself to four moves. You win, I tell you what I know. I win, you join Team Rocket and then I will tell you what I know."

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Damien and Mina
​

Mina watched the Urasing behind them start to charge a hyper-beam and prepared to tell Ecarte to use Light Screen. Then before she could Damien shouted for Orion to redirect. She watched the brave Lucario assault the Urasing and she realized that he was using to much energy to fast. The desperate ploy worked however, although the giant bear was not deterred for long. As the aura sphere dropped the tree on the feral pokemon she smiled. The poor Lucario looked really worn out, and she shook her head and gave Orion a hug before he was recalled. She turned toward Damien, "that was really brave mister, but we shouldn't wait around to long as the tree will probably only hold for another three minutes tops." She giggled as Damien took her hand and began leading her further into the jungle. Ecarte's eyes glowed purple and then she quickly closed in on Damien and grabbed his other hand pulling him off to the right gently but insistently. Mina cocked her head, "Ecarte says not that way big brother."

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

Delilah and Apollo
​

Apollo blinked and gave a slightly goofy smirk at Delilah's seeming to thank him before she flipped the tables and got up in his face demanding gratitude for her BeeDrill saving them. He held out his hands and laughed, at her antics appreciative of her energy and enthusiasm. After he let out the laugh he smiled at her and mussed her hair a bit, "Your BeeDrill really did save the day Miss. Vulcana and I couldn't have done it without him right." He looked over at Vulcana and smiled." The Fire pokemon just nodded her head and looked toward the BeeDrill giving him a wink. At being asked his name, Vulcana just looked at BeeDrill again and cringed as she knew what was coming. Apollo smiled and arched an eyebrow, "my name?" Apollo jumped back and held out his fist towards the sky. "Born under the noonday soon on the hottest day of the year in a small desert town, I embraced the heat of my passion that would forever be my destiny." He pulled his fist down, and punched it into the air as Vulcana hung her head and sighed. Then she looked at BeeDrill one last time before faithfully leaping beside her trainer with her head held high. "I am the master of fire pokemon and child of the sun Apollo Soulis! No fire can burn me and no amount of water can quench the flame of my soul!" With this last statement Vulcana breathed a gout of fire skyward. Apollo smiled satisfied that he would blow the girl away with his awesome entrance. Then he looked toward Delilah, "So I will need to know your name miss if I am to be a fan."

 

[Loziana]

"Oh dear god! What do we do, Salem!?" Aidinia looked completely sickened at the sight of the young woman in front of her. She wasn't even sure if Alex's Wish could heal this kind of wounding. She called Alex from her ball. "Alex, we have to free that young woman, and quickly. You have to do this without getting harmed. I know you can do it!" She directed her Pokemon to distract the Venusaur long enough for her to cut the vines and free the girl. She knew that the Sylveon was fast, but she wasn't really a fighter but her moon blast would at least get the Venusaur's attention.

Alex's moon blast weakened from the daylight was still strong against the Venusaur, but he was super aggressive. The effect was had though. It turned and began chasing her. Alex banked and ran up a tree and across its branches. The Venusaur was angered. If it dropped the girl to go after the Sylveon it would lose its meal. So it stood, still leeching the girl's life away.

Aidinia ran forward and began cutting away the leech seed from the chest of the girl hoping she wasn't too late.

 

[Nygenn]

Location: Jinko Island, Jungle
Time: 1st Day, Afternoon
Tagging: Salem, Aidinia, Alex, Megan, Cassie, Lady, Ajax

----------------​

One moment the human girl was about to climb onto his back and the next they were under attack. Ajax reared up on his hind legs when a ring of fire spread around him. Before he could react he was hit by a mental pressure pounding the inside of his skull. Painfully disorientated he stumbled but caught himself before he accidentally stepped into the flames. The girl momentarily forgotten, Ajax released a torrent of water aimed at his feet. The water washed over the flames and doused the ring of fire in no time at all, but this smoke now billowed up all around him. Holding onto his still pounding head he stumbled blindly through the smoke until he reached a nearby tree. He didn’t even think twice about his next move when he grabbed hold of the trunk, reared back, and slammed his head against the tree. It hurt, but it also cleared his mind.

Ajax spun around as quickly as he could then, ready to face their assailants, but there was nobody there. Even the girl and her Liepard had vanished, leaving just him and the headless Nidoqueen. Ajax was glad his trainer didn’t have to see this. Salem would give no outward sign but the big Blastoise knew that he would be reminded of Hinako and the others, and it would hurt him inside.

Frustrated by the thought of having been unable to comply with his trainer’s wishes, Ajax crouched down on all fours and started running back the way he’d come. There were other battles to be fought.
-

The situation was about as dire as it could be. Salem and Aidinia were facing off against a jacked up Venusaur, with a hostage it seemed to be sucking the life out of, while they had no real fighting Pokemon at hand to battle it. ‘Not that I would willingly put Ajax in a match like this,’ Salem thought bitterly. ‘The guy is the toughest Pokemon I know, but this fight would be rigged against him.’

Aidinia had released her Sylveon and the gentle Pokemon was doing whatever it could to draw the Venusaur’s attention. It even released a surprisingly devastating Moon Beam at the monster, but it wasn’t enough to stop it.

Meanwhile, the doctor had recklessly sprinted over to the trapped girl, now discarded on the ground, and began working on the bonds.

“Watch out!” Salem shouted at her. He dashed the short distance towards her and tacked her to the ground just in time. Dozens of razor sharp petals tore through the spot their heads had just occupied.

“Don’t be so reckless!” Salem rebuked the fiery red head sprawled out beneath him. Then his scowl softened as he saw the desperation in the woman’s eyes. “You can’t help anyone if you’re dead,” he told her more calmly.

Salem untangled himself from Aidinia and helped her up, then bend down again to hoist the wrapped up girl over onto his shoulder.

“We need to get this girl away from here first,” he instructed the doctor. “I don’t think your Sylveon can keep that behemoth occupied for much longer.”

As if on que the Venusaur noticed the humans messing with its quarry and bellowed its disapproval. The area almost seemed to shake from the force behind that roar, and Salem had to shout to be heard over it.

“Run!”
-

Ajax heard the roar as soon as he reached the spot he’d separated from the others. It was an angry challenge that promised a painful death for whatever, of whomever, had elected it. The Blastoise thought he had a pretty good idea of who that would be. He needed to hurry and meet up with Salem again, but the forest he’d seen the red woman and his trainer disappear into, was too tightly packed from him to go through. He had to find another way around and he had to do it quick. His trainer was quite capable for a human, but a human nonetheless.

Ajax set of at a run.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Salem and Aidinia
​

The Venosaur roared in rage at the loss of it's food source. It quickly shot out two strong vines at two different targets. The first vine wrapped around Megans leg and yanked her out of Salem's grasp. Although the grip was to weak and it lost hold, so the Kanto receptionist hit the ground hard and rolled over beside the dead trainers body. The other vine snaked out with rapid speed and encircled the Dr.'s waist before yanking her off the ground and back towards it with ease. As the Doctor was pulled into range a single seed shot off the pokemon's back and landed on backside of Aidinia. The seed stuck and rapidly sprouted vines that tore through her shirt and rested against her skin. Aidinia let out a scream that echoed in the night air.

Megan stumbled through halls of darkness with endless doors lost in a void. She ran to each door but it was always a dead end that put her right back in the path. Suddenly their was a light in the darkness that was followed by a woman's scream. She reached for the door with light behind it and stepped through. The Kanto girl cracked open one blood matted eye and saw the horrible monster standing before her straight out of her worst nightmares. Her eyes grew wide and she moved backward with her hands and legs weakly until her hands hit something, and she slipped back onto her backside. She blindly reached back behind her feeling for a rock or anything to throw at the monster in a useless act of desperation and fear. Her hand rested on a small metallic object, and following pure instinct she grabbed the object and threw it at the creature. A single pokeball flew through the air and bounced off the Venosaurs head. The impact didn't even register to the grass demon as it was fixated on it's new red headed prey. As the ball bounced into the air a red light shot out of it and a Hitmonlee stood there.

The Hitmonlee blinked for a moment in confusion and looked around the clearing. As it's eye fell upon the body of the trainer they narrowed in anger. "Hitmonlee!!!!" The Hitmonlee cry was pure rage and as it yelled it's body radiated a red ring as it's aura flared up. The Venosaur turned toward the cry, finally having it's attention diverted for the moment. The Hitmonlee then dashed straight into the venosaur and swung it's leg in a powerful kick that burst into flames sheathing it's leg.
The Blaze Kick landed hard on the Grass monster and caused it to fly upward several feet. The Hitmonlee then leaped high into the air and pulled a perfect flip before driving both of it's feet into the Venosaur's back on the way back to the ground.

 

[PentheWonderful]

"Well good to see you again too darlin'. Have a seat and lets talk,"

One glance at the ferocious ball of plasma devouring wood and Cassie simply crossed her arms and leaned against the cave wall. "I'd prefer to stay over here. Plus, I'm sort of busy today." The sight and smell of food was really beginning to cloud her thoughts however, as all focus shifted to her stomach and its violent growling. In addition, her mouth was uncomfortably dry, but she wouldn't admit it to this Rocket lackey.

"Now I am sure you are thinking about walking right out of here."

He peers at her from behind those shades of his and Cassie didn't like it one bit. The feeling of eyes, his eyes, on her body made her feel violated. As if he was physically touching her. And it was repulsive and she felt dirty.

"If you do I will not stop you, however I think you might want to stick around for a bit."

"Why? That sounded like a great plan." Cautiously, she brought her feet one step in front of the other, tentatively circling around Mathew's proximity to get to the exit. She had no doubt on her mind that he wanted something from her. Displacing her from danger, giving her shelter and then healing her and Lady. But what else did she have left for her to give? They took everything from her already, what else could they possibly want?

And she thought of Ajax the Blastoise. How if she'd only been quicker to get on his back, she wouldn't be facing Mathew at all. How she probably would've... No. No, she was still so stupid. It was all part of Team Rocket's game. But she was dne playing it. She would much rather prefer be outside and die from a crazed wild Pokemon.

"That is if you really want to know about your heritage."

She paused at this, even though the exit was right there, only a few meters away. She could see the sky, peeping through the holes within the jungle's thick canopies. It was orange. Not dark yet. That meant she'd only been out for an hour at the most. Now what was Mathew's question again? "Cool. Do you do fortunes and palm reading too?"

Cassie watched him twirl his pocky stick quickly in his hands, and she hated herself for being impressed. "Here is how it works Darlin' you are free to walk out here right now no strings attacked."

But then he used it to kill a rat that had the misfortune of skittering passed them. Right between the eyes. 'He's psycho.' She thought, but then she was one to talk. Earlier that morning, she'd just ate someone's Pidgeot and let Lady eat that someone. But then they were already dead when she did that.

"Or you battle me in a pokemon fight Darlin. I'll use just one pokemon against yours and I'll even limit myself to four moves. You win, I tell you what I know. I win, you join Team Rocket and then I will tell you what I know."

But Cassie already knew what her answer was, even before Mathew could finish his offer. Her hands balled into fists, the trainer simply... Left.

She left and never looked back. She simply kept walking. Sometimes it was just better to not know, and live in oblivious bliss. But walking with no real direction, with no rhyme or reason, Cassie realized that nothing looked familiar. She must've been taken quite some ways away from where she once was. Then again, nothing ever did in jungles unless you've lived in it your whole life. She should just focus on not dying. Opportunities would present themselves eventually. To a lesser extent, she realized her new fedora was missing.

Oh well, it wasn't as good as her old one anyway.

And so she kept walking, simply to get away from the cave and Mathew and everything. Leaving the fedora laying by the headless Nidoqueen's carcass further away along with it. She simply kept moving. Her feet picked up the feeling of grass and mud between her toes. And it was a liberating feeling lost to time. She remembered running barefoot through the yard her family once owned in Sinnoh, and she found herself slowly moving faster and faster, running as if she'd forgotten the suffering her body endured from its dehydration and hunger.

It's nothing new. She'd been hungry and dehydrated many times before and it made her stronger.

Within the thick, lush trees and undergrowth however, light was scarce. Cassie was beginning to experience it more and more the lower the sun sank in the sky. It was becoming harder to see, and her vision could only adjust so much before it reach its humanely possible limit. Although she did see something. Something that would either save her, or kill her.

A light.

An ember-like glow flickering in the distance.

And she stopped.

This could only be two things; fire Pokemon, or a human carrying a torch.

Well, what else did she have to lose? If she got roasted, at least Lady would be safe, transferred to a PC Box, and maybe she'd even be a nice meal for something else that was hungry. And if it was a person, then she'd have the pleasure of living one day more. Either way, she was staying in her pokeball where it was safe so she would be ready when she was truly needed.

Cassie drew closer and kept her ears and eyes trained on the ember, pushing away what fear she felt from it and listened as best as she could above the lively chatter occurring in the jungle.

"This Team ... other hand, for them it will ... excruciatingly painful. Their crimes against Pokemon ... done. They sounds ... I hate ..."

She could barely make out words. Her heart hammered. It was a person! Immediately, her legs found energy to run once again. Faster, faster. As if her very life depended on it and it did.

"Team Who?"

That voice was familiar, she knew that voice! Her breathing tempo increased to supply her heart that relentlessly pumped adrenaline through her body. She felt light, as if she was walking on air.

And just like that, she burst through the underbush, into a clearing, and her eyes took sight of what was before her. There was a fire Pokemon, and people. A Sceptile and a woman with dark hair. The two shared a wild look in their eyes that unsettled her. And then there was a Delphox, well kept and stable, along with a red headed man who had a divot in his upper arm. Both of whom she would not be able to forget even in her deepest nightmares. Because they'd been there together.

"G... Gerald..." Her voice came in disbelief. "June..."

Her exhaustion caught up with her when she carefully stepped towards them, and she wavered, almost falling down if she hadn't bucked her knees together. Her hands on her thighs, head hung, hiding her face with her hair as relief and sweet familiarity welled her with warmth, and for the first time since her arrival on the island, light. She smiled, though the smile was pained yet relieved at the same time. And she simply breathed as sweat trailed down her face and dropped from her nose.

"You're really here... Right...?"

 

[AesgirFenrir]

Shade slowly came to, grunting at the stiffness of his sore body. He instinctively reached to his right hip for the sidearm that wasn't there as he scanned his surroundings. Seeing the man sitting near him, he slowly sat up.

"Who are you, and where am I?" he asked the man sitting across from him.

 

[Mega Gallade X]

Damian ran his unoccupied hand through his hair. They'd been walking for a while, twenty minutes at the least, the furious pleas of the Ursaring were distant as it roared and traversed the area. It shouldn't go too far from that clearing if it wasn't consistently chasing prey.

Seconds of walking later Ecarte grabbed Damian's other hand and guided him more to the right.

"Ecarte says not that way big brother." she told him with a tilt of her head and a smile.

"Ecarte sure knows a lot about which way we should be going." Damian said as he looked at the pokemon. Gardevoir was a psychic type right? Maybe she was using some precognitive move on her own. But if that was the case why hadn't she warned about the Ursaring. Damian sighed, this Gardevoir seemed to act a lot like the child's mother.

"Hey Mina, where are your parents? They let you go off on your own at this age?" he said as he looked upward. There were rocks in the distance visible above the treeline. Not rocks, the only rock formations tall enough to be seen over the trees had to be the mountains in the center of the island. They weren't going toward the coast. This was problematic for a moment or two while Damian figured they could stay the night in a cave for shelter or something of that manner.

 

[Nygenn]

Location: Jinko Island, Jungle
Time: 1st Day, Afternoon
Tagging: Salem, Aidinia, Megan, Ajax, Alex, Savior

----------------​

Salem stumbled to his knees when the girl he’d been carrying was suddenly yanked off his shoulder. He managed to catch himself just in time or he would have been forced to taste dirt. A little ahead of him he heard the distinctive thud of a body hitting the floor, followed by a soft moan. The girl was still alive! ‘Good,’ Salem thought, ‘At least we didn’t attempt to rescue a corpse.’

Aidinia’s scream snapped his attention up towards where she was suspended above the ground, held up by the Venusaur and wrapped in vicious looking vines that had torn right through her clothes. Under different circumstances Salem probably would have enjoyed the sight, but right now she was in pain and he needed to do something. He looked for the Scyther blade he’d dropped when he fell, it hadn’t skidded very far fortunately. He rolled towards it, grabbed it in passing and quickly sprang to his feet.

A new Pokemon had entered the melee and was looking around, taking in the scene. Salem recognized it as a Hitmonlee and he briefly wondered where it’d had come from. Movement in the corner of his eyes drew his attention to the side. The girl they were here to save was awake now. She had managed to untangle herself from the vines and was skittering backwards, throwing pebbles, leaves, and twigs as she went. Anything she could get her hands on, she threw at the monster before her in blind panic. Next to her on the ground he noticed the broken body of another trainer, this one clearly dead. 'Could it be her Pokemon?' he wondered. 'More likely that she unintentionally threw the other trainer's Pokeball.'

The Hitmonlee roared in anger, its volume matching Aidinia’s who was still screaming. The vines constricting her were tearing into her pale skin now, and Salem was moving before he even realize it. He passed by the girl on the ground and spun around the Hitmonlee, which charged straight at the Venusaur, legs ablaze with untamed fury. Its kick connected solidly and audibly. The force of the impact sent a shock wave out through the area and actually lifted the massive Venusaur somewhat off the ground.

Salem stumbled from the backlash of Hitmonlee's attack, but regained his balance and took the opportunity presented. He swung his makeshift sword at the vines holding the helpless doctor in the air, and cleaved right through them, spraying thick green sap all over the place. Aidinia came tumbling down while the Hitmonlee, not finished with its punishment of his trainer’s killer, jumped up high into the canopy above. Salem slid beneath the tangled up redhead and securely caught her in his lap. He immediately began cutting away the vines as quickly as he could. Her Sylveon appeared at their side and wasted no time tearing into the vines with her small teeth.

Meanwhile, the raging Hitmonlee had reached the crest of its jump, flipped gracefully and plummeted straight down onto the back of the grassy monster, where it struck with a reverberating double heeled kick. The earth trembled when the Venusaur was slammed heavily into the ground.

The fighter Pokemon rolled away from the felled behemoth and landed besides the wounded girl. She had ran out of things to throw, and was instead watching the awesome display of power from the Hitmonlee in stunned amazement.

“Miss Moon, hang in there!” Salem’s voice cut through the momentary silence, but was immediately drowned out by a massive bellow the Venusaur unleashed then. To the shocked onlooker's, utter amazement the monster got back to its feet and looked possibly even angrier than it had before.

“No way!” Salem heard the trembling girl mutter. “There is just no way, How is this fair!?”

‘It really isn’t fair,’ Salem thought somberly, ‘but that was probably the whole point of this tournament.’

Most of the vines were now removed from the brave doctor and she had stopped screaming. She lay in his arms, her torso completely exposed and streaked with red marks. He gentle lowered her to the ground next to her Pokemon, then turned around to rejoin the fight against their impossible opponent.

The enormous Venusaur eyed all the combatants one by one, and for a moment nobody moved. ‘Maybe it will just leave,’ Salem dared hope. ‘Maybe it will decide that we are not worth the effort and just turn around and go.’ But he knew he was only fooling himself. He could clearly see it in the Pokemon’s bloodshot eyes. There was no conscience there directing its actions. The mad scientist’s heinous virus had made it into a mindless killing machine. ‘An overpowered, mindless killing machine,’ he corrected himself, ‘and we are the Guinea pigs chosen to test its destructive power.’

Salem suppressed his uncertainties, he willed his heart to calm down and he steeled his resolve. His back straightened, his stance lowered and he let out a deep breath. ‘There are lives depending on you now, keep your head in the game Salem,’ he berated himself. ‘You are an 'Archon', you will not die here in a place like this. You still have regions to explore, and Pokemon to discover, and people to meet.’ At that, his mind briefly flashed to the girl with the silver eyes, riding a crazed Nidoqueen. He frowned, then blinked once, forced a grin onto his face and refocused his attention on the thread before him.

“We are not going to die today, nor the day after, or the day after that” he spoke out loud for all to hear. “We are going to survive this death game together and stop it from happening ever again.”

His speech caused the Venusaur to turn in his direction, and as soon as it had, the flower on its back began to gather light particles.

‘Well, shit,’ Salem thought, but his grin didn’t falter. “Okay, bring it on then.” He challenged the wild Pokemon instead, a slight tremble in his legs the only hint of fear visible.

Venusaur crouched low and raised its hind legs to tilt its glowing flower forwards, but before it could fire, a huge armored body came charging out of the undergrowth and rammed itself into the grass Pokemon just as the Solar Beam went off. Unbalanced, the powerful blast missed its intended target and instead tore through the canopy above, bringing several trees tops down around the combatants.

​

Hitmonlee made a deft somersault and kicked a pair of thick branches out of the way before they could squash the terrified girl next to him.

Ajax popped his head out the top of his shell and waddled backwards to stand beside his trainer.

“What took you so long?” Salem asked with a sly smile.

Ajex huffed, rolled his eyes and didn’t respond beyond that. His attention fully on their adversary.

“Alright, let's end this!” Salem proclaimed loudly to everyone gathered. “It’s about time I got to relax a little,” he added softly under his breath, and initiated the charge.

Ajax loosed a heavy salvo of thick water bullets that slammed into the Venusaur’s side. It wasn’t very effective but it distracted the monster long enough for Salem and Hitmonlee to close the distance. The fighter Pokemon went high and whipped it’s flexible leg across the target’s face, while Salem made a low pass, raking the Scyther blade along it’s underbelly in a crude imitation of the agile mantis he’s gotten the blade from.

Venusaur roared in anger and frustration and shook itself wildly. Instantly the area filled with a dusty, yellow mist that clung to the humans and their Pokemon allies.

Salem could feel the effects of the spores almost immediately. His stomach churned painfully and he felt nauseous. But almost as soon as the Poison Powder took root, were they all encased in a feint glow and spared the poisons more lethal effects.

When Salem looked over he saw the Sylveon’s eyes glow a bright blue.

“Don’t let up now!” he spurred the others on and made for a second pass.

Hitmonlee had retreated a little ways and was radiating a red aura as it gathered energy once more.

“Let’s buy some time Ajax, Surf!” Salem instructed.

The big blastoise fell to all fours and released a massive torrent of water that washed bodily against the Venusaur. It, in turn, fought to maintain stationary and after a moment it regained sure footing, but the stall had been enough.

Hitmonlee was sprinting towards the monster in a wide arch to gather speed. He started tumbling at the end of his charge, then converted all the build up momentum into raw power and unleashed it in a devastating, bone shattering kick across the Venusaurs face. The massive plant behemoth could not stand up to such raw power and its head caved in as it was pushed back into its body.

​

The sound of Hitmonlee’s final assault reverberated through the area and echoed a ways off into the jungle, silencing all nearby wildlife momentarily. The nimble fighter Pokemon withdrew, limping slightly. Apparently it had injured itself in the all-out attack.

Venusaur’s fat body slumped to the ground and Salem let out a sigh of relief as he too let himself slump to the floor.

“Finally over,” he muttered then raised his head to look around. “Is everybody alright?”

 

[Chrocey]

Beedrill couldn’t believe it. Looking at Volcana’s expression, it seemed he and Delilah had managed to meet two others that were practically a mirror image of themselves. It was somewhat of a relief knowing that he finally met a pokemon with whom he could relate with. Delilah’s demeanor didn’t exactly grant him a lot of friendships.

Apollo exploded into his introduction, and for a moment, Delilah was caught off guard. His speech was impressive, perhaps a bit more poetic than Delilah’s own. However, nothing could have prepared her for what was to come next.

Beedrill was alerted when the Pyroar lept over to her master. Before she shot flames into the air, the bug pokemon tried to make it over to Delilah as fast as possible. He wasn’t quick enough, however. Once Apollo and Volcana’s presentation was done, she stood horribly still. Her body seemingly locked up with fear.

The fire had shot upwards. She tried to close her eyes but she could still feel the heat. In her mind it was lapping at her like waves on a shore. Stinging her flesh.

Thoughts of still images flashed into her mind. Polaroid pictures of family and friends, of a life without worry. In each of these images were two strangers and a boy that looked like Delilah’s older brother. Loud crackling and popping echoed in her ears as though they were tuned to its specific frequency. In an instant the images she thought of were slowly burned to a blackened crisp

Beedrill wanted so badly to comfort her, but he knew it would be fruitless. Whenever she was in a state of panic it was near impossible to get her out of it. All he could do was hope that she wouldn’t act too hastily.

Of course, hoping Delilah didn’t act hastily was like hoping a Houndoom never barked once in its life. The bee trainer shot a glance over to her Beedrill and nodded at him. Assuming an aggressive stance, she glared at Apollo and Volcana as though they were her worst enemies.

“My name?” Delilah clarified, “only those who are true friends will ever know my real name! Enemies like yourself can only call me one thing…”

Striking a pose, she exclaimed “I am the great Bumble Bee! Bug-pokemon trainer extraordinaire! If you haven’t heard of me yet, then prepare to be amazed. Your defeat will sting worse than the Beedrill at my side!”

Instead of waiting for her Beedrill to join in on her routine, she instead pointed sternly at Apollo. “I see now that you are no fan of mine, Apollo. The fire you’ve brought before my eyes might as well be a declaration of war. Beedrill, let’s show these two what all the buzz is about! We’ll teach them a lesson they’ll never forget!” Beedrill reluctantly complied and got into a fighting stance. He didn’t want to fight the two that had just saved them, but he also wasn’t going to abandon Delilah. He trusted her judgement whole-heartedly.

Assuming that Apollo and Volcana were going to even participate, this would be quite the short battle. Beedrill, and possibly even Volcana, was tired from the recent battle with Talonflame.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Dr. Nevashi
​

Dr. Nevashi, clapped his hands together once and held them up towards his shoulder. "Look Kiwi hes awake." He held out his hands, "easy there sweetness your body suffered quite a lot of damage. Don't move to fast and regain some of your energy." He held out a a crude rock that had a hollow divet that he was using as a bowl. Inside the bowl was a mix of greens and berries artfully arranged as a salad. "Now eat this." He waggled a finger, "Dr.'s order after all you will need to replenish your strength." He reached over suddenly to a small sack on the cave floor, "oh mustn't forget the nuts. You will need protein after all." He set the bowl down, "oh where are my manners." He held out a dainty that was not so well manicured anymore, "Dr. Nevashi at your service."

 

[Astralkitsune]

Damien and Mina​

""Hey Mina, where are your parents? They let you go off on your own at this age?"" Mina stopped dead in her tracks and looked down for a long moment. Ecarte moved up behind her and held her arms to the side protectively. After a moment Mina looked up again and smiled as if nothing had happened. "They are away on a trip." The little girl smiled and rapidly changed the subject, "hey big brother where did you get your Lucario. He is strong but you can tell he hasn't been evolved too long. He is expending too much energy on his attacks." She looked up at Ecarte. "Ecarte here can train with him later and help him be more efficient, isn't that right Ecarte?" Ecarte just nodded in response.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Delilah and Apollo
​

Apollo stepped back at the vehemence in the strange woman's eyes, and her rapid demeanor shift. He held up his hands, "Whoa whoa... um." He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at both Vulcana and the BeeDrill. He came to the quick realization that neither had much gas left in the tank. This girl was crazy, and Apollo liked that about her however this was a really bad idea. "Hey this fight is between us right. So.. why don't we leave our pokemon out of this. He smiled cockely again, I mean why after all have them fight our battles right." He took a defensive stance and thrust his fist out in the air. "Come on lets do this like Pokemon Bee lady, mono ee mono, you and me take your best shot." He smiled confidently, "come on Bee show me what you got." He stuck out his chin, "I will even give you the first shot."

 

[Loziana]

Aidinia moaned a bit and she wondered at her torn clothes for a second. "Alex please heal everyone that you can, then you can rest love." She said. She looked at the Hitmonlee. "Sweetheart, I am so sorry about your trainer. Do you want to come with us and stay with me and Alex? We promise to take as good care of you as we can. Thank you for saving us." She walked cautiously over to him. She slowly approached until she could touch him. She hugged him close and told him in soft words how much she knew the pain of loss he was feeling. She comforted the pokemon as best she could. He would not move from the side of his fallen trainer.

Aidinia decided to call the Hitmonlee Savior because with out him they'd probably all have died. She wanted to give him a wonderful life. However, first they had to escape this death trap of a damned island. All she wanted was to enjoy a nice Mai Tai or a sex on the beach, a nice luau, maybe watch Salem's hot body surf on the island's beautiful ocean tide and having a wonderful vacation exploring the island of her birth. Well, I got the exploration part of that day dream down. She thought as she stripped off the tatters of her top. The sun glinted off her milk pale skin, and just above her curve of her ass was a brand in the silhouetted image of a bird similar to the tournament logo. The Dr.'s form was silken smooth and slick. She moved like grace was her natural state. Those who saw her would think she was a dancer not a doctor.

The Dr. tied pieces of her tattered top together forming a makeshift string bikini top. As she moved to don the newly made piece just the side of her ample and beautifully sculpted breast were turned toward Salem for the briefest of moments. Truthfully the bikini top looked better than the flat black t-shirt she started with that day. Fully dressed, a bit of the playful nature of the Dr. returned.

Aidinia blushed as she turned to Salem. "Thank you for freeing me, I'm quite embarrassed that my clothes were ruined. I hope that I didn't embarrass you." She looked down in a bit of humiliation, But she batted her luscious mahogany red eyelashes flirtatiously at Salem. Using a piece of the torn top, she pulled her hair into a pony tail and bounced away from Salem to the young girl.

"Are you ok? I'm Dr. Aidinia Moon, this is Alex my Sylveon." Alex came trotting over after healing the Hitmonlee's injuries in a flurry of ribbons and sparkles. "She is going to heal your injuries dear heart. Just relax now. You're safe." She looked to Salem and Ajax. "I don't think those two will let anyone hurt us."

Aidinia was sure in that thought and breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the fluid form of Salem and the tank like body of Ajax. Today would be a day she would never forget. She would never stop loving the three of them. They saved her life and she would never let harm come to them if she could help it.

Once Alex had finished with healing the young woman she turned her attention to Ajax and Salem. The pokemon looked closely over her companions friends, they seemed healthy and unharmed so she lay at the feet of Salem and waited for Aidinia to be ready to move on.


Aidinia reached down and retrieved the hitmonlee's ball. She hated what she was going to do. It was going to kill this pokemon to be removed from his trainer. Aidinia knew if she left him here he would die. She did the only thing she could. She recalled him to his ball.

Aidinia turned again to Salem regaining her confidence in front of him. "We need to leave the body in the open as distasteful as it sounds. It will draw wild pokemon here for an easy feast and we can get far away to a safe place for shelter."

She turned and scanned the sky hoping there was time left to find shelter before the night fell on them.

 

[BurbleBurble]

"Thank you, I assure you it will be enough."

June was a bit surprised. Did this woman? No, that was ridiculous...She likely just guessed. Either way, she was glad to be of help.

She walked over to Gerald, who was watching out of some type of morbid curiosity. There were times he swore the Sceptile was going to jump the poor woman and rip her to shreds, but she remained calm and fearless, almost foolishly so. But thanks to her attitude, it seemed in the end the bipedal lizard did end up recovering. The man was a little more than surprised. "Wait, you've made a cure? That's...pretty big, y'know."

June went to recollect her stick. It was a Delphox's main weapon, after all. Without her wand, she was fairly vulnerable. Picking it up, the fox was about to snuff the flame, when something came busting through the foliage. Expecting the worst, she rose her arms in defense.

Gerald similarly rose his arms, but also thought of the worst possible scenario. Like a Yanmega! Or a Scyther...What if the Eevee pack found them again? Or...

"G...Gerald...June..." Last time they checked, none of the above could talk. Or saw them as anything but food. The man and fox dropped their guards, and jaws while at it.

"You're really here... Right...?"

It was Cassie, someone the two knew they could trust. Someone who didn't save them before threatening to slit ones throat.

"Cassie? Is that really you?" Gerald quickly realized she asked him a question to the same chagrin. "I, mean, yeah! We are living, breathing, surviving! Most definitely here!"

A grin of nervousness and a nervous laugh found its way on his face. The last time they met...well, he wasn't forgetting that anytime soon thanks to the scar sustained from that encounter, but there were some good things to come out of that fiasco, like Cassie, or hitting some asshole up the head with a brick!

June was also coming in to greet the new arrival, almost forgetting to snuff out her still burning stick. However, she couldn't help but consider the wild folk not taking well to Cassie...oh well, it would likely go as it did before. Threaten, information, and so forth.

But that really didn't matter, it was a friendly face and that's what mattered! Gerald was already going for a handshake, or a friendly back pat, or maybe even support (She wasn't looking in tip top shape...But he really wasn't one to talk).

 

[Astralkitsune]

Gerald and Lin​

Lin hugged arrow and for a moment her smile was pure and genuine happiness. The Sceptile in return hugged her back and rubbed his head against hers. In that brief moment to onlookers Lin would have looked like a happy young girl and not a hardened killer. She blinked and responded to Gerald's words, "not a cure just a......." Lin stopped and her mouth snapped shut. She cocked her head slight and sniffed, then she gave a slight growl and drew her knife and rolled into a crouch. At the same time Arrow jumped up and crossed his blades together. Shortly after Cassie burst through the undergrowth. Lin eyed the newcomer warily, but seeing the instant body language of recognition between the two she held her guard and did not attack. Instead she just watched the exchange between the two friends, and waited for the new girls reaction to her presence. She sniffed the air trying to determine if they were mates and if she would be viewed as a rival challenger. Lin was in no mood to fight off a jealous mate especially when she had no interest in the boy.

 

[PentheWonderful]

"Cassie? Is that really you?" She slowly lifted her head, gray eyes easily shining from behind her dark hair. She straightened her back, though her shoulders still rose and fell in an attempt to redeem cadence in her breathing. Her face glistened with sweat and jungle moisture, and her cheeks flushed from the physical exertion from running. She realized that everything felt sticky and uncomfortable and she desperately longed for a rush of cold water. But that was a distant thought in the back of her mind. Right now, she was just focusing on Gerald and June, looking back and forth between them to make sure they were real.

This is real.

And she wasn't alone.

"I, mean, yeah! We are living, breathing, surviving! Most definitely here!" Yeah, that was Gerald. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips and the two shared a laugh together. Awkward and nervous. Perhaps unsure. But when the two came in closer, taking one step at a time, Cassie counted their steps and she could see them nearing her bubble, and pass harmlessly through it. That was how she knew for sure it was real.

She could see him, stiffly extending a hand, and Cassie accepted his gesture. She grabbed it, firmly shook it, and she burned it into her memory that this was what a real living human felt like. She had to remember, so she could recall when the hallucinations return. And then she smiled a bit wider, and tugged on his hand, allowing his body to move closer and she hugged him. Arms around him, head against his chest. She took relief in the fact that she'd found a friend, a brother in arms whom she knew for sure she could trust.

And Cassie could finally relax. If not only for a moment. Before reaching out and pulling June into the hug as well. The warmth of the Delphox's fur echoed in her mind as it retrieved a memory of Nine. The warmth of his fur. She wondered how he was, how Peridot was as well. Oh, how she'd taken safety for granted, she always did. She took many things for granted.

A nice bed.

A roof over her head.

A filling meal.

Pleasant dinners.

Dinners...

If she'd known what would happen today, what would she do differently the day before? Would she have gotten a gift for Nine and Peridot before leaving? Would she have tried to contact her parents? Her sister? Or even... Would she have said something to Salem? The man whose energy and gaze still seemed to haunt her, tease her for being so close, and yet far enough away to always be beyond her reach. Would she have gone with him when he left, or visit him in his room instead of walking around the gardens that night? And what would he have said if she'd appeared at his door in the middle of the night?

Maybe she'd have one less thought in her tangled mess of a mind. Or maybe she'd have a thousand more.

Slowly, her arms loosened their hold. Hesitant. As if fearing Gerald and June would simply disappear once she did. Smiling, yet, her eyes were miles away. Not that they wouldn't be used to that by now. And with a single blink, she'd returned. A small chuckle left her while her hand punched Gerald's shoulder playfully. "I never thought I'd be this happy to see that face of yours. Happy, sure, just not this happy."

Cassie observed his dark brown eyes for a moment. They radiated with warmth and a heat that rivaled the jungle's own. Yet, she found herself missing the light and breezy evergreen of someone else's. Maybe because a light breeze would serve such great relief at the moment.

A sudden shift from behind them reminded Cassie that Gerald and June weren't the only ones inhibiting the clearing, however, and she soon moved her gaze to observe the woman with the wild eyes, and her very alert Sceptile. And quirked an eyebrow. Deep down Cassie had to wonder if she looked that bad right now.

"Hi." Came her voice, floating more flat and dry than when addressing Gerald. "I'm Cassie. I like your clothes. They're much better than the stupid garb we have to wear."

Her trained eyes quickly picked apart the details of the woman; what she had on her, how she stood, how she breathed, how strained the muscles on her neck were. And she came to a conclusion. "You're not a trainer, are you? You don't have any pokeballs on you. Not even one. Yet you have a Sceptile there that isn't mangling you." An aristocratic attention for detail. She picked that up during her days as an elite. "A ranger then perhaps."

And then, as her brows furrowed in thought and the gears of her head began turning, a more urgent question occurred to her, daring a step closer at Lin. "How did you... Get in?"

'And how soon can we get out from there?'

 

[Nygenn]

Location: Jinko Island, Jungle
Time: 1st Day, Afternoon
Tagging: Salem, Aidinia, Megan, Ajax, Alex, Savior

----------------
​

Salem was coming down from the adrenaline rush that always accompanied battle, especially the life or death kind. He’d gotten out of this one a whole lot better than the previous one, and that was in no small part thanks to the incredible combat prowess of the Hitmonlee.

He glanced over at the Pokemon and saw that Aidinia was embracing it. She must have felt similarly grateful to the fighter.

As he looked on, his eye was drawn to a print of sorts on the small of her back. ‘Could be a tattoo,’ he thought idly. It looked similar to what he’d seen flying on the banners in the harbor when he arrived yesterday. Studying the image he took notice of how slim her waist was, and how pale her skin. His eyes traced her slender form upwards and that’s when he realize she was naked from the waist up. He swallowed and looked on as the pale red head pressed herself onto the Hitmonlee. Salem remembered when she had pressed herself against him in a similar manner not so long before and he swallowed involuntarily. His eyes were glued to her bare back, the sun glittering off the tiny drops of sweat left over from the ordeal they just went through.

The exotic doctor eventually let go of the Hitmonlee and started working on twisting the remains of her shirt into something wearable. While she worked Salem got a good eyeful of her side profile and knew he wouldn’t be forgetting that sight any time soon.

Aidinia turned around and came over to where he was daydreaming. “Thank you for freeing me. I am quite embarrassed that my clothes were ruined, I hope that didn’t embarrass you?” she asked him and Salem realized that, until the moment she had spoken up he had been following the slight bounce of her chest when she walked over to him. He met her eyes now, considered what she’d said and looked back down into the cleavage she had so proudly on display. He smiled and gave her a silent thumbs up.

When the model doctor turned to check on the girl, Salem could have sworn he’d seen a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. He watched her go with a sway of the hips.

Ajax nudged his trainer and Salem almost fell over, torn from his reverie. “What?” he asked the big Blastoise, but Ajex kept quiet.

Alex, the doctor’s Sylveon tippled over to him then at sat at his feet. Salem kneeled and petted the fairy type Pokemon. “You did a good job earlier, girl,” he told her. If you hadn’t intervened we would all be on the ground right now and not likely to get back up again. The Sylveon mewed in response.

Salem then turned to take a good look at the new girl. She looked familiar to him and woefully out of place here in this jungle without a Pokemon to call her own. Then it clicked suddenly. She was the overworked staff girl he’d met at the Kanto reception deck yesterday. ‘But if she was staff, then what is she doing here dressed like the rest of us?’ he wondered. ‘Does this mean the resort was hijacked?’

He went over to where she was still seated and looked the girl over carefully, taking note of all the cuts and bruises not hidden from sight by her clothes.

“You did remarkably well surviving this long without a Pokemon miss,” he told her and knelt down so he could look her in the eyes. “It must have been very frightening for you,” he continued in a soothing voice. “We’ll do our very best to try and get you out of here safe and sound alright?”

The girl looked in shock initially, but when Salem forced her attention on him and reassured her she was safe for now, she seemed to snap out of it. Her stiff posture relaxed somewhat and her eyes rolled back into her head. Salem quickly reached out and grab hold of her shoulders to keep her from falling over.

“This one is utterly exhausted,” he said to Aidinia. She was looking over at the body of Hitmonlee’s former trainer. She must have recalled the fighter already because Salem didn’t see him around anymore.

“We need to leave the body in the open as distasteful as it sounds,” she said. “It will draw wild Pokemon here for an easy feast and can get far away to a safe place for shelter.”

Salem hated to admit it, but the doctor was right. He motioned Ajax over and hoisted the unconscious girl onto his broad back. Then he went over to the trainer’s corpse and pulled the laces from his shoes. “I am sorry brother,” he whispered softly. “Your sacrifice may well have saved lives today, be at peace.”

He stuffed the laces into his pocket and collected the Scyther blade.

Salem looked at his Pokemon, down on all fours and with an unconscious girl sprawled onto his back, and asked: “Where is miss Cassie?”

Ajax held his gaze for a brief moment and then turned away. Salem’s eyes widened slowly, then narrowed sharply.

“Let’s go.” He said with an uncharacteristic air of authority.

 

[Loziana]

"Yes the stress of all this was to much for the girl." Aidinia said as her stomach growled loudly over the sounds of the jungle. She ignored it. "Let's find Cassie" she said. Clearly intending to ignore her stomach. She followed The surfer and his Pokemon back the way they had come.

 

[Astralkitsune]

Cassie Gerald Lin
​

Lin sniffed the air and studied the woman as she conversed with her friend. No smell of fear, her eyes stay on alert even when she appears to drop her guard. She smells of blood. Pokemon blood. Dressed the same way as the other, another trainer it seems.

Just then Cassie addressed her. At the part of a ranger then perhaps Lin looked away and Arrow winced slightly. Lin immediately fixed her gaze back on the woman and whispered. "Not anymore."

As Cassie took a step forward Lin crouched although she didn't bring the knife in her hand any higher. "I was already here."

Lin narrowed her eyes slowly slightly, "You stink of Pokemon blood." She looked between the two, "Maybe you know more about what is going on here. You are clearly the dominant one." She nodded toward Gerald with her head," his stance, demeanor, and smell all changed when you came in." He recognizes his alpha."

 

[SUPERRNOVAA]

"HSSSSARRRGH!"

A terrifying screech rung in Floyd's ears as he lay on the ground, paralyzed and drained of energy. Swift's core rapidly flashed red and yellow as it turned around to see where the noise was coming from, but before he even finished his turn, an extremely menacing Ariados landed on them both. One of Swift's many... 'arms' was suddenly stabbed by the Pokemon, the leg that punctured Starmie lit up in a purple haze and it sent Swift flying into the air.

'... I guess this is... it... e-'
Floyd's thoughts were violently cut off when a laser-like beam of pure energy tore directly through the Ariados, leaving a massive, gaping hole in it's abdomen. The creatures lifeless body fell on to Floyd, causing it to get much heavier all of a sudden. After a while, a purple, gooey liquid began to ooze from the hole in it's body, it began to coat his legs and torso before a burning sensation slowly ran through his body. It kind of felt nice, like sliding into a hot spa or jumping in to a pool of warm slime, this fantasy was short lived however.

Adrenaline and energy furiously pumped itself into his veins when Floyd realized what was happening.
'POISON!'
He shot up and threw the Ariados into a tree with all of his might, where it slid onto the ground, leaving a purple skid mark on the bark. Floyd scurried and rushed to take his shirt off, it was already too late. He coughed blood all over the grass in front of him as his breathing got heavier and heavier with each breath he took. Floyd's glasses fell off and into the pool of blood in front of him when he bent to his knees. This was not good, the Ariados leaked all of it's deadly toxin on to him, in a normal case this would have been no harm but since his skin was full of injuries, this would kill him if he didn't act fast.

"I-Ice. AGH... Beam! Now!"
Floyd screamed in agony to Swift who came rolling out of the forest as fast as he could. The Ariados must have thrown him far, far away for it to take this long to get here. Floyd tried to stay as calm as he could, the first thing he knew about treating Pokemon poisons kept repeating itself in his head. He paid absolutely no attention to Amara and Crystal as his mind went blank.

'Get ice to the wounds, get ice to the wounds. GET ICE TO THE WOUNDS, GET ICE TO THE WOUNDS!.'

Swift precisely began to go over his various cuts and gashes with a delicate ice beam, he was concerned about his trainer, Floyd obviously had the knowledge to get him through this, right?

The flaring pain in Floyd's torso slightly subsided with each cool beam of frozen energy, this caused the blood trickling down his wounds to dry up and freeze.

The sweet relief that the freeze provided was invaluable. Floyd calmed down a little bit, his thoughts had come back to him.
Just what did he do to deserve this?

 

[Nygenn]

Location: Jinko Island, Jungle
Time: 1st Day, Afternoon
Tagging: Salem, Ajax, Aidinia, Megan

----------------
​

They had to take the same detour Ajax had used to get to them. The path was easily found and followed, the giant turtle hadn’t been subtle in his haste.

Salem led the way, keeping a sharp eye out on the jungle surrounding them. He couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched. Ajax was right behind him with the Kanto receptionist on his back, and Aidinia walked close by. She presumably wanted to keep an eye her patient.

It didn’t take the group long before they came across a spot in the jungle that looked like a fight had gone down there. Plants had been trampled, the ground was wet and the grass scorched. However, the biggest clue had to be the headless corpse of the enormous Nidoqueen.

Salem flinched involuntarily at the sight, thoughts going to Hinako, his own trusted Nidoqueen. ‘Soon,’ he promised himself silently. He glanced back at Ajax and the loyal Pokemon looked away embarrassed.

When Cassie had not come back with Ajax and he’d seen the look on his friend’s face when he asked about her, he had feared the worst. During their walk over just now he had to keep restraining himself. He had wanted to run off, but he knew he couldn’t leave the other women behind, especially when Cassie might already be dead. So in order to keep his mind occupied he had started listing things they would need to survive the night later. ‘Reliable source of water, shelter against the elements, food, a sentry system, and most important of all, hope.’

When they got to the clearing he had looked around for Cassie’s body, or maybe that of her Liepard, but had found nothing. Breathing easier now Salem surveyed the area, taking note of the damage done to the surrounding.

Tracking wasn’t one of his strong suits, in fact he had always been the worst at it between him and his brothers. However, he was apt enough to recognize obvious marks for what they were. The water here would have been Ajax, probably to counter the fire, going by the scorch marks. ‘No matter how crazy the Pokemon have been made here, there is no way a Nidoqueen would naturally learn a fire based attack,’ Salem thought. ‘I also think it unlikely that Lady would have one, which means there was another party involved.’

He walked over to the Blastoise and put a comforting hand on his head. ‘There is no way Ajax would have left if a second wild Pokemon had attacked, and going by the lack of additional corpses, and battle marks on him, I wager that’s not what happened.’

Salem ran a few more possible scenarios through his head, not least of which the one where Cassie had simply ran away. He knew that she could disappear in a moment if she wanted, but something inside him told him that she wouldn’t have done that. ‘How do you know?’ he asked himself. ‘She doesn’t know you, and she certainly doesn’t owe you anything.’ But no matter how compelling the arguments he made against himself, he refused to believe she would have run away.

“She was kidnapped,” Salem muttered. “It’s the only logical explanation.” He looked at Ajax, who nodded his affirmation. ‘But why, and by who?’

Salem petted the gentle giant reassuringly. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, I know you did everything you could to prevent it from happening. The fact that you couldn’t just means the kidnappers were that good.”

‘But this is a troublesome development,’ Salem thought to himself while glancing sideways at Aidinia, curious if she had overheard him. ‘I do not want these ladies to have to worry about even more threats.’

Salem knelt down and dipped his hands in the shallow water where he kept them for a few short minutes.

“It is time we started looking for a place we can settle for the night,” he called over to Aidinia. “Let’s first get a lay for the land and see if there are any obvious water sources nearby shall we?”

He scanned the area for a nice and tall palm tree. There were a surprising number to choose from. He checked his hands and saw they had pruned nicely by now. Going over to the tree he’d just selected, he kicked off his shoes and socks, ‘not a fan of those things anyway,’ clenched his blade between his teeth, and clambered up the tree with a casual easy that comes to those growing up on tropical islands.

When he reached the top he locked his legs around the trunk and hung back. He had a pretty good view of the area from up here. He noted hills and mountains on the horizon in most directions. There were a few large open areas here and there as well. He couldn’t see the ocean at all, and figured it would probably be on the other side of the mountains. ‘Would have been too easy an escape route otherwise,’ he thought grimly. There was a decent sized river running down one of the larger mountainsides that opened out into a lake on the other side of their little valley, for that is what it was. They were in luck, the river wasn’t actually too far from where they were, and there was a spot nearby where the jungle seemed less dense. ‘Perhaps half an hour to forty-five minutes due west from here at our current land speed.’ He estimated.

Satisfied with his observations Salem turned his attention to the coconuts hanging only slightly above him. These were fresh green ones which would contain a lot of milk compared to the brown ones on the ground, and certainly be easier to open. Brandishing his Scyther blade he quickly got to work cutting the lot of them free. He threw each one down, carefully aimed in the area he knew to be wet. His work would be for naught if the fruits burst open on impact with the hard ground.

When he was done he slid down the tree but stopped halfway. His eye had picked up something peculiar in the tall grass a little further ahead. He quickly slid the rest of the way down to the ground and put his shoes back on while he told Aidinia what he had learned of the island’s layout, then made his way over to the spot he had just singled out.

Once there he found it immediately. It was a black fedora twisted inside out. His mind flashed back to that brief moment where Cassie had come barreling past on the Nidoqueen and he realized she had been wearing the fedora. His first thought was a pleasant one. Cassie had seemed very much attached to her hat so she wouldn’t have just left it behind. That means he now he proof she was kidnapped rather than had run away. His second thought made him pause however. ‘How strange,’ he mused. ‘Why would she have additional, none essential, pieces of clothing?’ he turned the hat over in his hands several time and then unfolded it into its proper state. There on the front of the hat was a big, bright, red letter R. ‘The exact same R on the uniforms of the men that barged into my room last night.’ His eyes went cold at the implication, and a scowl fell over his face.

For a moment Salem just stood there unmoving, with his back turned towards the rest of the party. Then he carefully scrapped his blade past the stiches holding the emblem to the hat, until it came off. He stomped the hateful R into the mud and took a moment to get his facial muscles back under control. He plastered a wide smile on his face and turned to face the others. “Look what I found,” he said cheerfully, placing the fedora on his head. “Good things happen to those who wait for it.”