The Edge of Glory

[Sem]

OOC: Name will probably end up making no sense but who cares? Lady Gaga |D Anyway, this is a private RP between Katie, El, and myself. Make your own darn PRPs.

BIC:
A plane cut through the clouds over Nuvema Town. It had come from Hoenn, Slateport to be exact. The midday sun shone off of the glossy white shell of the plane, which was soon wet as the plane landed in the water, slowly pulling up to a dock.

It was a small plane, so only a few people stepped out, among them being a young man and his parents. The young man looked around twenty - pale skin with a bronzed olive undertone and standing at 5'6". He had dark hair with just a few lighter strands that caught the sunlight as it beat down on the region.

Sem wore a teal, short sleeved, button down shirt. On his legs were a pair of dark capris that went to his calves. Over his shirt was a white, sleeveless jacket left open and he had flip flops on his feet. A streak of white in the fringe that swept just above his eye was an identifying feature, as well as the raindrop pendant he wore around his neck. And if that wasn't enough to recognize him there was also a Sableye on his right shoulder.

His cerulean eyes eyed the small town for a moment as his parents stepped off behind him. His mother, Valencia, stepped onto the dock, her maroon-colored heels clacking against the concrete. She wore a simple, black pencil skirt along with a dark purple blouse. The long sleeves of her lab coat were rolled up, showing more of her bronzed skin tone. Her auburn hair was long and wavy and bordered on red even. Her facial features were a bit sharp, almost fierce. The Ekans around her neck didn't help.

Toby Aquais stepped out in beige slacks and a blue button down worn under his white lab coat, whose sleeves were also rolled up due to the heat. His hair was lighter than his wife and son's, a light brown, and his face was kinder than his wife, with welcoming blue eyes.

A female figure in a similar lab coat was waving at them not far away and Sem's parents immediately walked towards her, their suitcases rolling along behind them. Sem's bag was slung over his shoulders and he followed his parents to meet up with the infamous professor of the Unova region.

"I trust that you had a pleasant flight," Professor Juniper said, shaking hands with Toby and Valencia, and then Sem. "Is this your son?"

"Pleasure," Sem replied grinning.

"Yes, well we didn't crash, so I count that as pleasant," Valencia said with a wry crack of her smile. It was obvious were Sem got his tendency to the grim.

Juniper chuckled and turned her attention to Lilim, the Ekans around Valencia's neck and Sem's Sableye. Her fascination was to be expected - quite a large number of Pokemon species were a very rare sight in the Unova region. After petting Lilim Juniper led the trio to her car. The ride to her laboratory wasn't very long and they were stepping inside after only a few moments into the air conditioned building.

"Now, I understand the reason you're here is in order to study the Klink that inhabit Chargestone Cave, correct?" Juniper asked. "I have done some study on them myself, but haven't had the chance to do so extensively."

"Well, we just wanna see them in their natural habitat and see if we can capture a few specimens," Toby explained. "There's no evidence of them existing until recently, so, being that we study similar Pokemon to Klink, are rather curious as to their origin."

The Aquaises were well known in the scientific community as some of the few researchers who study seemingly artificially created Pokemon, such as Magnemite, Porygon, and Castform. They were also well known to be ex-Rocket scientists, and so gaining a good reputation has been a struggle for the couple. Thankfully Juniper doesn't seem to mind their past.

"Yes, I understand that feeling," Juniper said. "You're also here to pick up something right?"

"Yes," Valencia responded, walking over to where Juniper was now. The professor produced a single plain PokeBall and handed it to Valencia. She opened the ball and within moments there was a large green serpent before them. The Serperior glanced around the room with an imperious gaze for a moment before seeming to settle her gaze on Valencia, recognizing her.

Sem had never seen a Serperior before, but he could not deny how majestic they were. This one, named Lilith, had belonged to one of his mother's good friends who had passed away recently. The friend left Lilith in Valencia's care, since she seemed to love serpents so much.

"There, there, I know..." Valencia whispered as she caressed the side of the large serpent's head. Lilim perked up, seeming to sense the larger snake's pain. "Come on." With that Lilith was returned to the Pokeball and Valencia stashed it away within her coat.

"It's been hard on her," Juniper said. "She's hardly eaten anything lately, so I try to coax her into having something."

"Thank you," Valencia said with a grim smile. The Klink were only half the reason they were there. Lilith needed to be with someone and Valencia wanted to visit the grave of her friend. It would also be nice to see the region for the first time. Sem had never been to Unova before, so hopefully it would be an experience he ended up enjoying.

After a moment Juniper spoke again, veering the topic away from death. "You can take a boat from here to Castelia, and then from there to Driftveil City, which is the closest city to the cave."

"We'll be doing that tomorrow," Toby explained. "We'll take the rest of the day to relax and check into an inn."

"The inn down by the docks isn't half bad," Juniper says. "I'm eager to see what you two find. Have a safe trip."

"Thank you," Sem's parents said in unison as they walked out.

"Thank you," Sem repeated, waving before closing the door behind him.

The trio eventually made their way back to the docks, though it took quite a bit longer without a car. Still, the walk had been pleasant and there were a lot of welcoming faces. Sem himself was itching for a battle, though he wasn't sure if he would find many powerful trainers in such a small town. They stopped for ice cream at a small stand, which claimed to be the infamous Castelia ice cream. Whether it was or not Sem couldn't tell, but it was pretty darn good.

The young man sat on the edge of the pier with his ice cream cone and focused on the waves, seeing a wide variety of Pokemon he knew the names of but had never seen before until now. He thought he saw a Frillish for a moment, but when he looked again there was nothing there.

"Let's find that inn," Toby said.

Sem got up and followed after his parents, but not before doing a double-take of the sky. He was sure he had just seen a blimp.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Kirabi Yaka, Bad Romance

"Unova sure is peaceful, isn't it, Marill-chan?"

Kirabi Yaka was running. He was a normal teenager in a lot of aspects. He went out with friends, he trained pokemon, he was keen on fashion and he valued his family. An outsider might even say he had the ideal life. He was generally well-liked and he was polite to everyone. He very rarely got angry and even when he did, he was still quite calm about it. He very rarely made bad decisions and when he did, he apologised and tried to rectify them. It didn't stop him from running.

It wasn't even that he was unattractive. He was fairly tall, standing at five foot ten. His hair was messy, in a manner that looked like he had fallen out of bed perfectly styled. He wore a modest outfit of a white turtleneck pullover, with some skinny-fit jeans, with white pumps to round off the outfit. His best bore two pokeballs, one of them belonging to the Marill beside him and one belonging to the Meditite had also had. He was thin, but his physique hinted at toned muscles underneath the clothes.

He wasn't running from anything dangerous. No serial killer after him, there was no disease following him. He was running from his life. While he came from Four Island, he was more recently in Johto. As soon as he arrived, he had met a wonderful boy. A boy who knew more about Pokemon than anyone he had met, a boy who had a sense of adventure and a love for everything around him, a boy who had shown him sights he had never dreamed of. He needed to be free of this boy and his memory, and so he had set his sights elsewhere.

And so, he found himself leaning on the railings of a blimp. It wasn't his first experience on a blimp, so the height didn't scare him. Marill stood by his right leg, one paw clinging to his jeans. She wasn't scared either, but the railings were a bit too wide to effectively stop her from falling. The blimp was circling Nuvema town now, where it was stopping to refuel, so to speak. Kirabi intended to exit as soon as it landed, and make a new start in a new land.

Marill sighed her name.

"I know, Marill-chan," Kirabi replied, almost a sigh of his own. "I know."

Marill had liked Kaon, but recognised that he was not the man for Kirabi. Kirabi hadn't admitted it, but he knew it too. It was why he escaped. Why he came to a new world. A new land to explore and find new people to talk to.

Kirabi was interrupted when someone bumped into him. He turned, ready to apologise.

"Sorry man, didn't see you there!" A voice came. Kirabi's eyes fell on a boy around his age, though a shade shorter. He was taken aback slightly by the amount of blue that hit him. Blue hair, blue t-shirt, blue laces in shoes. The boy in front of him was looking at him with some slight concern. Probably because he was feeling apologetic, Kirabi reasoned, as he looked at the sapphire eyes.

"No, no, don't be sorry," Kirabi found himself saying.

"Going to Unova, right?" The boy asked.

"I am," Kirabi replied, nodding. His eyes kept on switching between the boy's hair and his eyes. "Are you?"

"Yup!" The boy responded brightly. "Heard about some stuff going down, knew I just had to go. Anyway, I'll catch you later, gotta track down my Gardevoir before she gets into trouble again."

"Yeah," Kirabi said, feeling somewhat lackluster with his own response. He looked back out at the land around him to see that they were touching down, trying not to dwell on the conversation. Marill tugged at his jeans, so he picked her up and held her close as they watched the descent.

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: See, see! I got it done! It only took 2-3 hours, but I finished it! :'D

Don't judge me. :x (And why does nothing look as long on the forums as it does in the text file? XP)

BiC:

It was a beautiful day to take a stroll through the peaceful town of Nuvema. Two female travelers in particular, who'd recently arrived from the Johto region the day before, couldn't have asked for nicer weather. And yet one of the companions seemed a bit more chipper than the other. She was dressed in navy colored jeans, a black windbreaker jacket made of a soft, light material; and a white t-shirt with a design in the center that resembled a blue and green planet-like PokeBall with various rings surrounding it. Her hair was straight, cut slightly below her shoulders with subtle layers, and a darkish brown.

Kate Ramsay, 19 years old, was crouched low to the ground as she “walked” and entertained a small blue and white Pokemon. The female Oshawott, now nicknamed Keid, was walking backwards and giggling at the silly faces her new trainer was making. The first time Kate had ever seen or even heard of an Oshawott was approximately 24 hours ago, and no more than five minutes past had she claimed that same Pokemon as her own.

Well, “given” would be more exact, but “claimed” fit well all things considered.

“I still can’t believe you did that,” said the other young female, age 18 and a half. Kate looked over her shoulder at the red-haired girl, who was staring down at her with a flat expression. Such judgmental blue eyes she had. “No, I lie,” the girl continued. “It’s exactly the sort of thing you’d do, but I still can’t believe you did it.”

“Ssh, Ceilidh. You’re just jealous that I got a new Pokemon and you didn’t.” Kate smirked, turning her own brown eyes back to Keid and smiling brightly. “And you’re one of the cutest Pokemon I’ve ever seen.”

Keid smiled happily in return. She appeared to be warming up to Kate quite quickly.

Ceilidh scoffed and rolled her eyes. Her naturally wavy, reddish hair was layered around her face and hung slightly above her shoulders. She was dressed in a pair of khaki-colored shorts and a brown, sleeveless leather jacket which was currently unzipped to reveal a forest green shirt beneath. The shirt had a subtle leaf pattern running down one side. “Some of us have tact. I’d personally never have the gall to walk up to a random person and say ’gimme that Pokemon’.”

“She wasn’t random; she was Unova’s resident Pokemon Professor. And it’s her job to give trainers Pokemon.”

“New trainers, not people who already have full teams! I bet some poor, innocent kid is crying their eyes out now thanks to not receiving their first Pokemon.”

“Details, details,” Kate replied with a blasé smile, taking Keid’s small paws into her hands and swaying them side to side.

Ceilidh simply laughed and let the subject drop. She wasn’t nearly as annoyed as she pretended to be, but she couldn‘t help but poke fun at Kate as much as possible. The two friends, who’d originated from completely different regions, had been traveling together for over a year and a half now. It was safe to say that they were incredibly comfortable together - more than enough to play along with the other at times like these.

“Who did you transfer back home in order to keep Keid? I never did ask.”

“Eridanus,” Kate replied, pausing a moment to gaze back at Ceilidh again. “I figured he could use the rest. We’ve been traveling non-stop for the past two weeks, and he seemed like he was getting kinda tired. Sometimes I wonder how old he actually is, y‘know?”

“Yeah… Toby will miss not having his father around, but Eridanus deserves the rest. Besides, it’ll give you a nice chance raise a new Water-type. You barely ever rotate your Pokemon as is,” said Ceilidh. Toby, her Jolteon, was the son of Kate’s Vaporeon, Eridanus. When Kate first met Eridanus he’d already been fully evolved and fully grown, so she’d never quite been able to gauge his age.

Unlike Ceilidh, who’d caught and raised several Pokemon by this point, Kate had only trained 9 Pokemon until receiving Keid. She wasn’t the type to be without any of her Pokemon if she could help it, but some captures and friendships were just meant to be. With Keid now in the mix, bringing her total up to 10, it'd be even tougher deciding who to travel with and who to send to her family’s ranch back home, but she’d manage somehow.

“I guess we might as well head back to the inn now,” Kate began then, taking Keid into her arms and standing up to her full height. She was approximately 5’7“, while Ceilidh stood slightly taller at 5’8”. “Keid’s probably getting hungry now. Isn’t that right, Keid?”

“Osha!” Keid replied cheerfully.

Ceilidh laughed with bemusement. “I’d swear your maternal instincts are coming out. How long has it been since you’ve raised a new Pokemon?”

Kate pondered the question as they began their walk towards town‘s inn. “Hmm… Maybe 6 months now? It hasn’t been that long since I got Victor.”

“If you call 6 months a short time… That’s like eternity to most trainers!”

“I guess I’m not like most trainers then.”

“Clearly. Few of them are as deranged as you.” Ceilidh smiled smugly.

Kate looked down to the Oshawott in her arms. “Can you believe this is the person I’ve dubbed my best friend?” Keid giggled in response.

Ceilidh gave a sharp laugh at that. “Girl, be grateful. You‘d be lost without me.” She reached over and flicked Kate on the side of the head, then immediately jumped out of range to avoid a counter attack.

Kate mock-glared at her. “I’d get you back if I wasn’t holding Keid!”

“Like to see you catch me, slowpoke!”

Without warning, Keid scrambled up onto Kate’s shoulder and let-rip a perfectly aimed Water Gun attack - directly in Ceilidh’s face. The girl threw her arms up to protect herself, but the damage had been done.

Kate burst out laughing, but quickly yelped “Ohshit!”, grabbed Keid off her shoulder, and broke into a run towards her destination down the road.

“I’ll kill you both!” she heard Ceilidh cry from behind, but she didn't slow down to look back.

 

[Sem]

The Aquaises had successfully checked in and they were now out exploring the docks and seeing what all there was for them to do until tomorrow. There wasn't much, as Nuvema was indeed a small town. After a while Toby and Valencia decided to return to their room for a nap while Sem opted to remain out. Everyone he passed gave him some sort of curious look because of Sableye. A few of them asked about him, asked if they could touch him, and Sem was rather surprised that Sableye let them without doing anything nasty in return - aside from grin that unsettling grin of his like he always did.

Sem did oblige on kid's request for a quick battle, which was rather easily won by Sem as the kid was just a beginner and hadn't had his Tepig for very long. The battle did have a lot of onlookers though, all of them eager to see the foreign Pokemon in action. Sem also got a free lemonade because of Sableye.

"Free lemonade aside, I'm not sure I like all this attention," the young man muttered to himself and his ghostly companion. "Thank gods it's only you they know about and not everybody else." Sem sighed and leaned against the rail, looking over his shoulder down at the water, which was surprisingly clear. Looking over he saw that a blimp had indeed landed, letting out its passengers. Sem swore he saw a blue person, but he lost them in the crowd.

A trainer with a Marill caught Sem's attention, knowing that soon they too would be showered with various questions and comments regarding his aquatic mouse. "That man over there will give you a free lemonade if he sees that Marill of yours," Sem told the young man as he passed by, followed by a snicker from Sableye.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Kirabi followed the orderly line off the blimp, descending the ramp at a nice, casual pace along with the rest of the passengers. There weren't many passengers on the blimp anyway so, even if everyone had been pushing, orderly was the best way to describe the line, Kirabi mused. Marill tugged his ear, then muttered something to him.

"No, Marill-chan, I don't think so," Kirabi replied softly. "I don't want to deprive any trainers of new pokemon, and I didn't have any plans to visit the lab."

Marill nodded in response, then turned her eyes to the docks. Without a word exchanged between the two, they had their destination. It wasn't that Kirabi was telepathic, or that Marill could speak English. The pair had been together for a very long time. Neither of them sought out battles or tried to train to be a better trainer or pokemon. They were content as they were. Between them, they had a bond that was so very strong, it looked to outsiders as though they were communicating freely. It was deeper than that. They had rarely spent more than an hour out of each other's company that they had formed such a strong empathetic connection, they were almost the same person.

Kirabi stepped softly on to the hard concrete of the docks, his pumps making no sound as he mingled among the people there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large crowd gathered in a circle, presumably to watch an ongoing battle. While curious, he didn't fancy trying to fight through the crowd to see the combatants. Instead, he turned and wandered over to the edge and looked at the ocean. The salt in the air and the spray on his face, the place felt different and new. The air tasted different and the wind felt strange. A faint smile played at his lips as he turned and wandered around the docks.

A voice pulled him out of his reverie. He turned to see another boy, younger than him, with a Sableye on his shoulder talking to him. It took him a moment to register what had been said.

"Oh, thanks," Kirabi responded, slightly unsure. "Are... Marill not common around here?"

 

[Chadwyck]

Rein Vanguarde stood on the deck of a small ship, though small would be a matter of perspective. He had once ridden from Kanto to Johto on the SS Anne, a great ship that was world renowned. Still, the ship he was on wasn't exactly small, it carried about four hundred passengers; and each passenger had their own room. Rein had packed up his things early, once he could see the Unova region on the horizon.

He was heading to Nuvema Town, the place where new trainers from the region would usually start their adventures, the home town of the region's head Pokemon professor and the place where Rein would continue his search for his sister. The fifteen year old had spent the past five years searching for his sister, and his search had brought him to Unova.

The sea breeze ruffled through Rein's messy black hair, revealing all of the green streaks spread throughout it; the color in his hair matched his piercing green eyes. He peered out at the crystal blue waves, Nuvema town was quickly approaching. "Attention passengers, we will be arriving at the Nuvema Town docks in fifteen minutes, please prepare to disembark."

Rein leaned against the railing and cracked his neck, looking down to his right. Lunara, his Umbreon and best friend, was sitting beside him. They had been together through many trials and hardships, and they were that much closer for it; Rein felt like Lunara knew him better than he knew himself sometimes. "Let's go to the ramp, I want to avoid the crowd and get to the inn."

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

Rein spotted a blimp and a few other ships, and despite being one of the first people off of the ship, he couldn't avoid the crowds. For such a small town, there were quite a few people spread out. Rein saw a group of spectators gathered around for what was probably a battle, and the boy opted to avoid the area.

"It looks like the inn is over there," he pointed toward a building relatively close to the dock, and figured that it was a good bet. The Umbreon wasn't entirely paying attention, she kept noticing people glancing her way, she moved closer to Rein. Someone was shouting about free lemonade to see Lunara and people were beginning to stop him on the street.

"What's the big deal? Haven't these people seen an Umbreon before?"

"Actually, it's really rare for us to see anything that's not native to Unova." Someone, a young man, said as Rein walked by. "You must be a really good trainer to evolve an Eevee to Umbreon, though." He said, as he knelt down. Lunara started growling, not exactly trusting of strangers. A reassuring pat from Rein made her calm down.

"Well, thanks, but we're kinda in a hurry."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Thanks for letting me get a look at such a neat Pokemon." The man smiled as Rein walked away. Many similar encounters made walking the short distance to the inn a tedious effort, but eventually the pair made it.

"Thankfully you're the only one I let walk along with me, otherwise we may have been mobbed." Rein sighed as he reached for the front door. Two girls were running toward the inn, and one of them was carrying a Pokemon that Rein had never seen before; he understood how the people of Nuvema must have felt, seeing a Pokemon from another region. He reached into his coat pocket and produced a "PokeDex" only with the Team Rocket R emblazoned in red on the black front. Rein referred to it as the RocketDex.

"Oshawott, huh? That's a cool Pokemon," he smiled, putting the RocketDex away before the girls could see it. He wasn't sure what made him even talk to the girls, usually he kept to himself. But, over the past few months, he'd met a lot of people who turned out to be good friends, plus Oshawott looked too adorable not to get a closer look at.

 

[Sem]

"The only Pokemon common around here are ones you're likely never to have seen before. The Pokemon of Unova aren't very common in other regions, and the same is true for Pokemon of other regions not being very common here," Sem explained to the young man.

"I'm Sem," he introduced himself, outstretching his hand. "And this is obviously Sableye. Don't get too close - he bites," he said half-jokingly. Sometimes Sableye did bite. "What brings you here?"

 

[Linkachu]

Almost there! Kate’s thoughts cheered as the inn appeared in her vision. She could feel her lungs tightening from the mad sprint and the heaviness of her legs threatening to forsake her, but she pushed forward. And yet to her dismay, she was forced to skid to a stop before crashing into a boy standing outside the entrance.

The black and green haired boy spoke to her then, and for a moment Kate calmed and replied, “I know right? Unova Pokemon are pretty cool.” But she quickly followed up by placing Keid gently on the ground and whirling around just in time for Ceilidh to slam into her. Within seconds she was struggling to get out of a headlock.

Kate futilely fought to break loose, but Ceilidh, who’s upper body was noticeably wet, paid her friend little mind and examined the boy and Pokemon accompanying him. “Heya. Nice Umbreon. Looks like you’re not a local either.”

She was cut off by the grumbling yelp of Kate. “Ceilidh… Enough already!”

Ceilidh simply smiled with her trademark smugness and released her grip. “There you go."

Kate jumped back several steps and glared at the red-haired demon. Sleep with one eye open tonight the daggers in her eyes relayed. “Ahem,” she audibly 'cleared her throat', running a hand over her hair a few times to straighten it out. Finally she turned back to face the male. “Don’t mind my traveling companion. I‘m secretly plotting her untimely death.”

“What are friends for?” Ceilidh chuckled. She could only imagine what this stranger was thinking by now. “Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name’s Ceilidh, and we’re both actually quite sane. Mostly.”

“Mostly,” Kate parroted with a smirk. She held out her hand to the boy and said, “I’m Kate, and this Oshawott is my newest Pokemon, Keid. Did you just arrive in Unova, too?”

Keid was currently observing the Umbreon and trying to communicate with it. It looked like even Unova Pokemon found the non-native species intriguing.

OoC: Just for the record, the name "Ceilidh" is pronounced "KAY-lee". I'm forever obsessed with this spelling of the name. ;p

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Oh, I see," Kirabi responded, nodding. It made sense. Unova was hardly close to places like Kanto or Johto. Even Hoenn and Sinnoh were a stretch, and the Sevii Island had no chance. Kirabi was lucky to have found the blimp at all, he mused silently with an amused smile playing at his lips. "Did you hear that, Marill-chan? You're like a celebrity here."

Marill responded by playfully hitting Kirabi's ear, causing the pair to laugh. They stopped just in time to hear the helpful boy introduce himself.

"I'm Kirabi," he replied, shaking the boy's hand briefly. "And this is my nakama, Marill-chan. We're just exploring, really, and getting a feel for new continents."

"And escaping old memories," he thought, though he chose not to share that with the boy in front of him.

"What about you?"

 

[Sem]

"Oh, a mixture of things really," Sem said while trying to get a good reading on the pair before him. "A friend of my mother died and left her Pokemon in her care. So, we just picked that Pokemon up actually. We're also here because my parents want to study one of the Unovan species - they're researchers. And we're also here to explore and get a feel for new continents," he finished with a grin.

Sableye hadn't removed his diamond-gaze from the Marill, waiting for her to take notice, hopefully in an effort to startle or at least unnerve her.

Sem shot Sableye a look but had long ago learned to simply allow his partner to do what ever dark thing he pleased. "There's not a whole lot to see around here though. After a couple hours it's pretty dull. The rest of the region is what I'm ready for."

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Kirabi said apologetically upon hearing about the death, and immediately regretted bringing it up. The boy in front of him didn't seem too cut up about the ordeal, though, so Kirabi figured he was safe. He went on to explain his presense in the region, Kirabi nodding at the polite moments.

Marill was, however, still paying the Sableye no mind. She knew Sableye were tricksters by nature, and was giving the gremlin no opportunity to shock her. She looked between Sem and Kirabi as they spoke, pointedly not looking at Sableye. Hopefully he would get the message.

"It's peaceful, which is nice," Kirabi commented, looking around briefly. "It reminds me of home. I come from Four Island."

 

[Sem]

"Oh? I've never been to that island specifically, but I have been to the Sevii Islands. We went to Six and Seven island a few years ago - also for research," Sem explained. He had quite liked the islands and would be perfectly willing to go back to see the rest of them.

Sableye figured that Marill was onto his little scheme, and so decided to back off a bit for the time being. If he was anything it was persistent, so that wouldn't be the last attempt.

"I'm technically from Snowpoint in Sinnoh, but I might as well also be from Pacifidlog in Hoenn. I've spent about an equal amount of time living in either location over the years since we have a home in both places. Nuvema isn't much like Pacifidlog or Snowpoint, but it is similar to other places I've been." Sem was just rambling now, and getting a little tired of small talk, even if he had been the one to initiate the conversation. Still, at least he hadn't made a comment about the weather yet.

Sem looked down at Kirabi's white footwear. "I like your shoes."

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Four Island is quiet," Kirabi explained, fiddling with a segment of his fringe absentmindly. "There's not a lot there, though Lorelei visits every so often to let her Lapras have some fun in the Icefall Cave. She's very nice, but she keeps on trying to convince me to train pokemon to battle."

Kirabi scrunched his nose up briefly.

"It's not that we don't battle," he continued, his face returning to relaxed quickly as Marill tugged at his ear affectionately. "We just don't go looking for battles. It's just not us. We'd rather live life slowly and relax."

Kirabi nodded when Sem complimented his shoes, a faint smile on his face. Truth be told, the shoes probably cost more than most people would realise. He approached the edge of the dock and looked out to the water. The sound of the waves was different, but still had that soothing quality to it. It was the same ocean, he knew, but the surroundings made it seem foreign and strange. Again absentmindly, he raised his hand. Silver sparkles jumped around his fingers, twinkling in the bright sunlight. He dropped his hand and turned back to Sem.

"Do you know where the nearest place to stay is?" He asked politely. "The blimp ride over didn't have any cabins for passengers, and me and Marill-chan are exhausted."

 

[Sem]

Sem just sort of stood there blinking for a moment. What was that? Surely Sem just saw Kirabi's hand light up like Edward Cullen. But as soon as Sem could register what he had seen it had gone away. Sableye also seemed to have caught a glimpse of whatever it was, but either didn't seem to think much of it or decided not to seem too surprised, which was what Sem was trying to do but he wasn't sure how successful he was being at it.

"Uh..." Sem managed at Kirabi's question about a place to stay. The young man could be psychic or something. There were lots of strange phenomena in the world, it was just that most people, including Sem, were used to seeing said phenomena from Pokemon, not people. He couldn't tell whether or not Kirabi had intended for him to notice whatever it was.

"Err, yeah. There's a motel down that way," Sem said, nodding his head in the direction of the place where his parents currently were. "Just follow me, I was going to head back there anyway." He was trying his best not to think too hard over what he had seen, but that was pretty impossible. Sem was so distracted that he didn't even notice the teen with green streaks in his hair when he entered the inn with Kirabi in tow.

 

[Chadwyck]

Rein jumped a good foot in the air when another red-haired girl flew in out of no where and placed the girl with the Oshawott in a headlock. Luckily they were both too preoccupied to notice his little lack of self control - he'd seen a lot of things and been through a lot, he rolled his eyes at the fact that he was still easily startled by things as simple as someone jumping out at him. It made horror movies more fun, though.

"Um, thanks," Rein said when the girl complimented his Umbreon. "I'm actually originally from the Kanto region, just outside of Celadon city, actually. Most recently I was in Johto though." He decided to stop his explanation short, though, as the pair were still dealing with the whole headlock issue. Briefly, Rein reflected on when he had had a traveling companion too; they had separated when Rein decided to leave Johto, and Amy had opted to stay in Johto after their episode with Team Rocket. Rein quickly blocked the memory from rising any further and forced himself to return to the present.

Under normal circumstances, the pair of girls before him would have made him feel a little uncomfortable; despite their assurances that they were sane. Rein was really reserved for someone as young as he was, and drawing attention to himself was something that he avoided whenever possible. The last thing he needed to do was invite more problems into his life. But these two seemed nice enough, and it was obviously just the way their friendship worked. Life traveling with Amy had a tendency to get a bit out of hand too, so Rein smiled and took Kate's hand.

"Rein Vanguarde, and this is Lunara," he indicated the Umbreon, who was currently eyeing the Oshawott and trying to determine whether it was friendly or not. Lunara was overprotective of her trainer, and she had learned to be wary of strangers. But after a moment she lowered her guard and happily greeted the girls and the Oshawott.

Rein sighed in relief, he was worried Lunara may overreact to the strangers. "Nice to meet you, Ceilidh, Kate. I actually just got off a ship and was heading in to get a room. It was a pretty long trip from Johto, and I was hoping to get a room before the rush came. I take it you aren't from around here, either?" He asked, scratching his head.

 

[Linkachu]

Kate glanced at the Umbreon and smiled. For a moment the dark-type had seemed slightly unnerved by their presence, but she seemed to have calmed now. Kate assumed it was a "she" at least, with a name like Lunara. She crouched down to sit at eye level with the Umbreon and admired the elegant creature. Bending her elbows to rest them on her knees, she lay her chin upon her interlocked hands and murmured, "Lunara... That's a beautiful name for a beautiful Pokemon..."

Ceilidh picked up the conversation in Kate's place. "We just arrived here from Hoenn yesterday, but I'm actually from Kanto as well. I'm sure you've heard of Viridian City," Ceilidh replied. Even though the Kanto region was huge, it was always nice randomly meeting others who hailed from there too.

"Compared to Hoenn my home region isn't too far from Unova, but this is my first time here," Kate pipped up, yet continued gazing at Lunara and Keid's interactions. "My sister's currently traveling through Unova, and apparently this region has some pretty incredible sights. We came here to see them for ourselves."

Ceilidh nodded in response, causing several drops of water to run down her face. "Oh. Right," she began with a frown. "My hair is soaked. Thanks again for that, Keid."

The Oshawott turned to stare up at Ceilidh with a sheepish expression. It was strikingly similar to Kate's bashful smile. Such a realization made Ceilidh frown even more.

"Yeah..." Ceilidh continued, looking away from Keid and back to Rein. "I think I'm going to head inside and dry off, and I'm sure we've held you up long enough. I'd feel guilty if you didn't get your room."

Kate finally pushed off the ground and took a step closer to the door. "Agreed. We might as well go inside now, but it's been very nice meeting you, Rein. And you as well, Lunara." She smiled warmly at the Pokemon again, then returned her eyes to the boy. Between him and Lunara, Kate had gotten good vibes off the pair. Someone who cared for their Pokemon as much as he appeared to couldn't be a bad person. "Maybe we'll see you both again later this evening?"

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Thank you very much, Sem-kun," Kirabi said, bowing his head to the boy briefly. He would have lingered but, at this point, he just wanted a place to sit down for a while so he could recover from the journey to Unova. As impractical for the vehicle as it might have been, one or two cabins wouldn't have been too much to ask for. Sighing silently, the boy approached the front desk.

"Room for one, is it?" The lady asked, tapping away at the keyboard. She glanced up at Kirabi, then back to the computer. After a moment, she looked back up at Kirabi, then at Marill. Marill glanced uneasily at Kirabi.

"Yes, for one would be lovely," Kirabi said uncertainly. The woman seemed to come to her senses once Kirabi spoke.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just not used to seeing pokemon from other regions," she explained. She typed a few more keys, then pressed enter. "You get a discount, so the room for one night will come to fifty dollars."

Kirabi fished his wallet out of his pocket and checked how much money he had on him. Before leaving, his parents had forced a rather substantial amount of money and several credits cards on him. Not that he minded. He probably had enough to pay for his entire trip around the region. Counting out the exact amount, and then some extra. Leaving a tip was always nice, whether the situation called for it or not. Once the room key was in his hand, he set out to locate the room itself.

It was nicer than he was expecting, with a double bed, table, television, armchair and wardrobe, the carpet felt fluffy underfoot and the whole room had a generally pleasing feel to it. He hadn't brought much stuff with him, or in fact anything. Just the clothes on his back and the pokeballs at his waist. Without hesitation, he walked over to the bed and collapsed on to it.

Barely two minutes later, the door was flung open.

"Oh hey sorry! I can't find my room," a familiar voice said. Kirabi pushed himself up to see the same blue-haired boy from the blimp stood in his doorway, looking sheepish. "Hey, you're, you know, the guy from the blimp!"

"Hey again," Kirabi greeted, since apparently fate wanted him to see this boy all the time.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were in here, I mean, not that this is my room, but you know," the boy said again. He shook his head, as if to clear it, then started again. "I'm Yoshimitsu."

"Kirabi Yaka," Kirabi replied, sitting back on the bed. "And this is Marill-chan." He gestured to Marill, who was sat looking at Yoshimitsu patiently.

"I don't mean to keep running into you like this," the blue haired boy said. "I mean, not that I mind running into you but I mean..."

"It's okay," Kirabi cut through the rambling before it could go on for too long.

"Anyway, I'll just shoot off, see if I can finally find my room," Yoshimitsu concluded. "See you later, maybe, Kirabi!"

He vanished, leaving Kirabi staring, confused, at the door.

 

[Sem]

"No problem," Sem said to Kirabi, who went off to get a room. Sem kept his eye on Kirabi until he vanished, off to locate his room. "Unlikely I'll ever see him again," Sem thought to himself. "Guess I'll always be curious about what exactly I saw but there are a lot stranger things in this world I could focus on." Sem wished Kirabi would have a good trip and then wandered out of the lobby.

There was nothing to do now, but Sem didn't like the idea of simply going to his room and waiting for whenever his parents were ready to grab something to eat. Instead Sem wandered back into the lobby and took a seat on one of the couches. He pulled out Sableye's Pokeball and returned it so that he could be left in peace for the time being. Sableye wouldn't like it, but then the wretched thing would get back at his trainer later.

Shifting through a pile of magazines, Sem chose one that seemed the most interesting, which was a popular trainer magazine. Taking a seat, he opened the issue and flipped through it, reading articles that caught his eye.

 

[Chadwyck]

Lunara smiled at Kate's comment about her name and appearance. Not that it was easy to read the Umbreon's facial features, but it was fairly obvious that she had already taken a liking to the girl and her companions.

"Viridian, I've heard of it. Never been there though, I was raised just outside of Celadon City." Rein responded with a smile when Ceilidh mentioned being from Kanto. It was interesting meeting another native so far from home. It made him feel a little better about his constant wandering.

Kate explained that it was her first time in the Unova region, and Rein nodded, "yeah. It's my first time in the region too. I left home five years ago, but most of my time has been spent in Johto; it's probably a good thing that I decided to leave or I may have gotten stuck there, it was starting to feel like home." He chuckled lightly.

The girls explained that they were heading inside and Rein was slightly relieved. Not because he wanted the conversation to end, or that he felt he needed to go, but because he wasn't quite sure how normal conversation tended to work, and he needed to get a room before the inn filled up. He wasn't too fond of staying at the Poke Center in town, it would probably be filled up with three trainers to a room or something equally as abysmal.

"It was nice meeting you as well," he bowed slightly, "I'm sure that I'll see you around." He was hoping that he'd be able to see the girls again, he wasn't fond of making acquaintances he'd never meet again, and he had gotten a really strong sense that the pair was capable of being trusted. They didn't seem like 'bad' people by any stretch of the imagination.

Rein headed inside and glanced about the lobby, taking in a general layout of the building. It was a habit that he'd acquired years prior when he'd been part of Team Rocket. He'd left the organization and the nightmares that they had caused long behind him, but several of their teachings stuck with him. There were a few people littered about, a boy reading a magazine, two women chatting away at the small cafe in the lobby, and a man waiting for the elevator impatiently. Content that he had a decent mental image of the exits and layout, Rein walked up to the main counter.

"Hello, I'd like a room for one, please."

The woman didn't seem to hear him at first, her gaze was fixed on Lunara at Rein's side. Lunara raised an eyebrow and stared back.

"Excuse me?" Rein asked, mimicking his Pokemon unintentionally and raising an eyebrow as well; they'd picked up a lot of each others' quirks over the years.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'm just not used to seeing Pokemon that aren't native to Unova." She smiled, and Rein laughed quietly to himself. He had suspected that to be the reason for her strange expression, everyone in Unova seemed to be interested in non-native Pokemon species. Rein was a bit out of luck in the fact that Umbreon were some of the rarer Pokemon even outside of Unova.

"It's no problem, I understand that it is quite a sight in Unova. I was stopped several times on my way here."

"Yes, and it is a lovely Umbreon, sir, if you don't mind me saying. Now, a room for one, you said?"

"Please, assuming you have any space left." He smiled.

"Of course, that'll be fifty dollars, please." Rein handed her a couple of bills that added up to a bit more than fifty dollars, but not by much. "Thank you, here is your room key."

Rein thanked the woman and opted to head over to the elevator rather than taking the stairs. He didn't mind waiting a few extra seconds now that he had a room for sure.

 

[Linkachu]

Kate, Keid, and Ceilidh followed Rein and Lunara inside the building, pausing by the entrance as he left their company. “I like him,” Kate said as she watched him step up to the front desk.

“Me too,” Ceilidh replied. “He seems like a nice guy. A little shy, but friendly.”

The woman working behind the counter appeared to be staring at the Umbreon, which made Kate giggle. These Unovian’s really weren’t familiar with their Pokémon. “I wonder how they’d react if we released our entire teams. Ken probably wouldn’t enjoy all the staring and I can only imagine how you know who would react.”

“Lord, don’t tell me you brought him with you. You’re going to make the whole region hate his species.”

“He’s not that bad! He’s just… curious.”

Ceilidh groaned at the mere thought of classifying that creature as ‘curious’. “You keep telling yourself that, Kate. I’m heading back to the room to dry my hair. Or maybe I’ll have a proper shower. Don’t wait up.”

Kate gave a wave as Ceilidh left for the elevator. “See ya then! Don’t drown yourself.”

“That may be difficult in a shower!” Ceilidh called back over her shoulder and kept on walking.

When the red-haired female had vanished from sight, Kate looked down to Keid and asked, “So, are you hungry, Keid?”

Keid replied with a cheerful, “Osha!” and smiled brightly. The answer was obvious.

“Alrighty then. Let’s go see what that little café has to offer.”

Kate made her way over to the small, yet welcoming, café counter with Keid in tow. Upon arrival the Oshawott motioned to be picked up, so Kate bent down to scoop her up into her arms. Together they greeted the worker and looked over the menu.

“See anything you’d like?” the young male asked, reaching out to scratch Keid on the head. The Oshawott seemed very comfortable with the extra attention.

“I noticed ‘fresh fruit’ on the list. If you have a couple of apples handy that’d be just fine, thanks,” said Kate.

“We sure do, and I’ll pick out the best two we’ve got. That’ll be $1.50.”

Kate dug around in her jeans pocket and pulled out a couple of coins. She handed the money to the male, who passed her some change and one of the apples in return. The other he held out to Keid. “There you go, little guy. Enjoy it!”

Keid happily accepted the fruit and hugged it tightly in her arms. Kate smirked at her little ham of a Pokémon. “Something tells me it won’t be hard to spoil you.”

Thanking the worker for his kindness, Kate left the café to find somewhere to rest. There were some empty seats across the room, including a few couches. One couch was currently occupied by a male about her age reading a magazine, but another adjacent to it was empty. The couch looked a lot more comfy than the chairs, so Kate headed towards it and took a seat.

Keid immediately wiggled out of the girl’s arms to sit on the opposite cushion, taking an excited first bite into her apple and munching away contently. Kate shook her head slightly and chuckled at the Water-type, debating whether to eat her own apple now or save it for later. She leaned back against the soft cushions and thought about her other Pokemon locked away in their PokeBalls. When Ceilidh finished her shower, it'd probably be a good idea to let them all out for some supper.

OOC: Feels so uneventful. |D

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Kirabi lay on his back, on the bed, and closed his eyes. On some level, he hadn't really thought this journey through properly. If he'd had the slightest bit of sense he would have brought at least a couple of sets of clothes, and some essentials. No, instead he'd just run off, exactly like he wanted to. To escape. His home, his friends, his life. A brand new place and a brand new start. He sighed, causing Marill to nudge his nose playfully. He opened his eyes and smiled at his friend, sitting up again.

Suddenly, from nowhere, there was a loud explosion sound, followed by the room shaking lightly. Kirabi jumped to his feet, Marill on his shoulder in an instant. She was agitated, he could tell. She kept on pulling at his ear, trying to get him to move. Taking the hint, Kirabi ran from his room and down the corridor, into the lobby and out the door. Marill nudged him and pointed, her large ears twitching as she listened her way to the source of the blast. Kirabi rounded a corner, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. If he was right, and he really hoped he wasn't, the explosion was...

"No... no way..."

The blimp was completely ablaze, with the fire spreading to the surrounding ground as chunks dropped off and continued to burn. The police had already set up a perimeter around the blimp, stopping any passers by from straying too close. Without warning, Marill shot from his shoulder, towards the blaze. Kirabi glanced at the nearest police officer, looking in the wrong direction, and ducked under the barrier to chase Marill. Already, the aquatic mouse was sucking in air, preparing to help douse the flame.

"Meditite-kun, we need your help," Kirabi stated urgently, throwing the second pokeball on his belt and releasing his second pokemon. Meditite, already aware of the situation, stood at the ready.

"Marill-chan, Water Gun and aim for the middle of the blimp," Kirabi ordered quickly. "Meditite, Hidden Power in the same place, and use Confusion to try to stop any more parts of the blimp falling and exploding!"

Both of his pokemon nodded and set to work. Marill blasted out a steady stream of water, right into the heart of the blaze. Medicham clapped his hands together, then fired a stream of blue orbs, a water-typed Hidden Power, constantly alert of the structure of the vehicle.

"Charizard! Into the blimp, look for anyone trapped!" A voice from behind yelled, right before an orange blur shot past Kirabi and right into the fire.

Yoshimitsu was running towards the blimp, too, stopping near Kirabi. He threw another two pokeballs, each one releasing a pokemon. A Staryu and a blue Gardevoir.

"Staryu, help that Marill with a Hydro Pump," Yoshimitsu ordered, his expression serious but his tone even. Staryu joined Marill, a strong surge of water jet coming from its top point.

"Gardevoir, help Meditite with the falling chunks," Yoshimitsu continued. Gardevoir nodded, then began to float. She glided easily around the scene, scanning for debris.

"Nice to see you again, Kirabi," Yoshimitsu greeted, waving casually.

"Yeah, you too," Kirabi replied, his eyes on the blaze. This was his parent's blimp, why had someone attacked it?

 

[Sem]

Sem tentatively flipped through the remaining pages of the magazine, no longer seeing anything that caught his interest. He thought he heard someone mention something about an Umbreon, but it could have been when he was reading the trainer fashion section. Umbreon-colors were popular this season, and all the Ace Trainers were wearing black and yellow. Sem briefly considered picking up some sort of Umbreon-themed clothing as well the next time he was in a shop. Probably Castelia City. He would have a look around and see.

A young woman plopped down on the sofa adjacent to the one he was sitting on. She had an Oshawott with her and Sem was now quite glad that he had put Sableye away. Sableye liked to target the "cute ones" the most, hence his trying to intimidate Kirabi's Marill. Sem watched it out of the corner of his eye, observing its mannerisms and behavior. He was fairly certain that the Oshawott hadn't been in this young woman's possession for very long. It didn't say anything about her own ability as a trainer, but older trainers tended to be skilled. Perhaps a new capture while exploring a new region? Either way, Sem was a bit chatted out for the moment, still he smiled at her when he caught her eye and said hello, so as to not be rude.

Picking up another magazine at random, Sem flipped through it but quickly found nothing of interest. Tossing it back onto the coffee table Sem decided that he would go back outside. Right as he stepped outside there was a bright flash quickly followed by an explosion.

“Well, that’s not good,” Sem muttered to himself, hardly noticing that he had already started running towards the source of the explosion while everyone else seemed to be running away. He could see the scene long before he reached it – the blimp. Something had gone terribly wrong and the thing was now in flames. Pieces of the aircraft were scattered around the landing field and burning as well. The fire could easily spread.

Valencia and Toby were already rushing down the hallway back at the inn, rushing past a boy with green-streaks in his hair as they opted to take the stairs. “We need more exercise,” Valencia said as they got outside. By the time they arrived on scene there was already a perimeter that had been set up holding people back, but not very many people were wanting to get too close anyway.

They looked around briefly. They could see a boy with a Marill and a Meditite trying to put out the flames, but he would have quite an uphill battle trying to do it by himself. The Aquaises both knew that Sem would helping if he wasn’t already.

“Right,” they both muttered to themselves, both making their way to the perimeter at the same time.

“Please stay back!” an officer told them, but one look in the woman’s eyes and the Ekans around her neck gave him the feeling that he should let them pass.

“We’re here to help,” Toby said as they ducked under the yellow tape. The couple already had Pokéballs in their hands. They both released the Pokémon at the same time, one was a blue serpentine creature that was Valencia’s, the other was a small floating creature that resembled a sentient cloud that belonged to Toby. The blue serpent was already generating a soothing aura from its body, calming anyone in the immediate area.

“Fly up and make it rain,” Valencia told the Dragonair and Castform, which were flying up into the sky within seconds after seeing the situation. The woman wiped a bead from sweat from her brow as her husband shielded his eyes from the light of blaze. The rain would support any water-type attacks being used in the area, making them more powerful. The two of them together would also create a powerful rainstorm.

Within moments the sweet coolness of rain was felt on their skin, showering the area and beginning to come down much harder. It helped only slightly with the intensity of the fire though. Dragonair and Castform flew back down to join their trainers, ready for new orders.

“Wyvin, let’s use Water Pulse to get these flames under control,” Valencia said.

“We’ll use Hydro Pump,” Toby said to his Castform, which had now taken the form of a giant raindrop and become a Water-type. He also took out a Pokéball and released his Persian. “You’ll use Water Pulse.” The Persian yawned in spite of the situation, twitching in agitation at the rain.

The three Pokémon begun their assault on the flames, working to put them out. Sem wasn’t far off, standing on the other side. He had seen Wyvin and Castform up in the sky, and was glad that his parents were also helping with the flames now. The rain was helpful and Sem would use it to his advantage.

Cradily was on the ground next to the boy, summoning up orbs of water and flinging them at the flames. Sem’s entire team could use at least one Water-type attack, and even though Cradily were known to learn one naturally, his Cradily’s Hidden Power had turned out to be of the Water-type as well. The orbs became significantly larger in the rain, becoming more potent. Sableye was also using Water Pulse against the fire, Water Pulse actually being one of the creature’s specialty moves. The pendant around Sem’s neck shimmered slightly as his Pokémon used their Water-type attacks on the fire.

Jadis, Sem’s Froslass, was also out, and while it could also use Water Pulse quite effectively, it was more useful using Psychic and stopping debris from falling and spreading the fire. Isis, Sem’s Porygon2, was also helping in that regard.

Starmie, was nowhere to be seen, but that was because it was in the sea. It stood in the shallows, the gemstone core glowing with more and more intensity as the moments passed and rain dripped off of its purple body. It was using Calm Mind, focusing its powers for the great feat that it was about to perform. Starmie was Sem’s most powerful Pokémon in terms of raw strength and had been with him since he was five.

Finally the core was blazing brilliantly, allowing Starmie to get on with the directions Sem had given it. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but as the moments passed water began to accumulate around Starmie before it suddenly shot off through the air. The water followed behind it in the form of a massive wave, spilling over onto the docks and rushing towards the burning blimp. Using a combination of Psychic and Surf, Starmie was able to harness a huge amount of water as well as direct it away from people and structures. It was like seeing a tsunami, and definitely terrified everyone who saw it as the sheer amount of sea water flowed through their small town.

Starmie reached the blimp after a few moments and hovered in front of Sem and his Pokémon. The mass of water split, going around Sem and then reuniting into a concentrated stream of water that began to effectively douse the flames of the blimp, at least, on the side of the blimp that Sem was on. Either way it would help tremendously.

As the flames went out Sem now began to allow himself to focus on what in the world had gone wrong. It seemed like a terrible accident, but one could never be so sure…

OOC: Mary Sue powers go!~

 

[Chadwyck]

The elevator doors dinged cheerfully and slid open, Rein lifted his foot to take the single step into the elevator, and he heard an explosion. It was massive, somewhere nearby, and already three people were rushing past him and toward the door; he stood facing the elevator, Lunara staring up at him and waiting for his decision.

"Just walk away from it. It isn't your problem." He was muttering to himself, trying to convince himself to go up to his room and let someone else deal with whatever it was. He wasn't a firefighter. He was a fifteen year old boy who wanted to find his sister and didn't really care to be dragged into some new horrible situation. Heavens know he'd been caught in enough of them. He rolled his eyes as the elevator doors closed, without him inside, and he turned on his heel and sprinted toward the source of the explosion, Lunara right on his heels.

He surveyed the situation as best he could through the pulsating crowd fleeing the scene. "Exactly what I should be doing," he sighed to himself as he got a better view of the area. Apparently a blimp, the one he'd seen earlier at the docks, had exploded and burst into flames. The flames were being dealt with by all manner of Pokemon and trainers, but there were too many people for him to see them clearly.

"I'm too late to do anything exceedingly useful," he explained to the Umbreon as he reached the perimeter, his response was a look that he knew only too well. He ground his teeth and grabbed several Pokeballs off of his belt, rushing passed the objecting police officer. The first Pokemon released was a Lapras, "Tethys, Hydro Pump, try to get those flames out!" He commanded as another Pokeball burst open, revealing a Charizard. He'd seen another trainer send his in to search for survivors, he figured it would need help. "Napalm, get in there and help that other Charizard search for survivors." Napalm had only recently evolved from Charmeleon, but it was already a huge help to have something with wings around.

The last Pokeball released a Kirlia, another recent evolution that he'd been training for a few years. This time he spoke to Kirlia and Lunara, "use Psychic and help out those others, get rid of that debris!"

With his team working rather efficiently, the rain increasing his Lapras' water attacks significantly, he let his mind wander while he ran through the situation. An accident? Seems too convenient for an accident. It was docked, what could have went wrong? Maybe it was just his past experiences with Team Rocket, the fire bringing back bad memories, but he felt like there was more going on here than a simple accident. Luckily, with the number of people and Pokemon working on the fire, it would hopefully be contained soon. Then Rein could put the whole thing behind him and get back to his search.

 

[Linkachu]

OoC: Go go parallel post that probably doesn’t match up 100%, but who cares! :’D

BiC:

It all happened so quickly. One minute Kate been resting on the couch with Keid at her side finishing off the remains of her apple. The next a dreadfully alarming noise rumbled outside and the entire structure of the inn shook. It felt like a small earthquake, but from the accompanying sound Kate was sure that wasn’t the case. People around her were beginning to panic and question the source, but the girl wasted no time grabbing Keid off the couch and rushing for the door. She’d learned long ago in situations like these that wasting time to think would only bring misery.

Outside she noticed the male who’d been sat on the couch across from her rushing towards the chaos. He seemed to have the same idea as her, but it wasn’t hard to guess why. The situation was obvious. A large blimp had utterly burst into flames and was creating a mess of burning debris raining down upon the town. Thankfully the blimp hadn’t been situated in the heart of Nuvema, but if left unchecked the fires would surely spread. Worse still, there was always the chance life had been onboard when it exploded. Kate felt sick at the thought.

The girl noticed a Charizard take flight then, flying straight towards the blazing blimp, and immediately grabbed for a Pokeball on her belt. She kept running as the sphere was thrown into the air and an identical creature materialized mid-flight. The draconic Pokemon flew alongside his trainer and waited eagerly for instructions. “Kasai, get up there and follow that other Charizard’s lead! It must be searching for survivors!” Kasai roared in response and zoomed off to help, Kate adding to herself, “And if there are people on board, I can only hope to God they’re still alive.”

Keid was beginning to squirm in her arms as they neared the flames, most likely unnerved by the intensity of it all, but Kate simply tightened her grip around the Pokemon and pushed on. There wasn’t time for doubts. A police barricade came into view, but the girl gave it little thought as she slipped past and rounded the corner of a building in the opposite direction the other trainers had gone. They seemed to be handling things on their end, so she’d do everything she could to contain things in this area.

Finally she skidded to a stop, the blimp now in full view. The sight of so many different Pokemon doing their part to help was incredible, but extra help would certainly be useful. To her left Kate noticed a small boat house, several crates, and the wooden dock itself were ablaze. The flames appeared to have spread to her right as well, licking the siding of another larger wooden building; most likely a warehouse. The building wasn’t in too much trouble yet, but if anything flammable was inside things could turn bad.

Without further hesitation she plopped Keid onto the ground and pulled two more Pokeballs off her belt. The balls were tossed and burst open simultaneously, but the size differences between what appeared was staggering. Before her materialized a small Raichu and a huge, but sturdy, Snorlax, neither of which that seemed particularly put off by the situation like Keid was. The Raichu whipped his bolt-tipped tail about and smiled deviously at the sight, while the Snorlax turned to the girl and urged her to give him some orders. She acknowledged his willingness and quickly responded.

“Teddy, get in there and use Water Pulse to try and contain the flames that spread to that building. We don’t want them reaching deeper inside. Keid,” Kate turned to look down at the nervous Oshawott, “be brave. Your friends are here, and we‘re not going to let anything harm you. Go with Teddy and use your Water Gun to help put out the flames. You can do this!” She nodded reassuringly at the Oshawott.

“Osh…” Keid murmured timidly, revolving her eyes up to gaze at the bulky beast towering above her. Teddy smiled warmly and reached down to pick up the water-type, who yelped and went limp in his arms. However, when Keid caught sight of the focused look on her trainer’s face, she repeated the words she’d just heard in her mind and breathed deeply to relax. The words rang with truth. She was with friends now, and they all had to work together to overcome this.

Kate smiled as she watched Teddy and Keid turn away. It seemed Keid had finally settled enough to focus. They’d be just fine together. “Now then,” she said and turned her eyes forward to where the Raichu stood waiting. Suddenly Kate felt a few drops of water on her head and looked up to see storm clouds forming. Within moments the rain had intensified and turned into a full-out downpour. It was a welcoming sight. “Looks like someone beat us to the punch, but we won’t let this go to waste. You ready, Semmy?”

The Raichu stared back at her silently, a single crackle emitting from his cheeks. His facial expression was somber, but the cool, malevolent gaze in his eyes sent a slight chill down Kate’s spine. Even though she was fully aware of the nature of his powers, she couldn’t control the unconscious reactions of her body. It was as if the murky aura that now enveloped his form was reaching out for her, wrapping its black coils around her throat and-

She shook her head to expel the thoughts. It was merely the effects of Nasty Plot and nothing more. “Okay then…” her voice wavered ever so slightly, the corner of Semmy’s mouth curling into a grin, “if you’ve already used Nasty Plot, follow up with Surf. Bring a wave up and douse the entire dock.”

Semmy turned away from her without a word and walked towards the flames, his tail continuing to whip side to side. It was soon evident that the movement of his tail had become rhythmic, an illuminating blue aura collecting around him. Kate could see the distant waters beginning to churn in an unnatural motion, forming a single wave that reached higher and higher into the sky. Soon it was towering above the dock countless meters, an incredible amount of water even for Semmy. The amplifying effects of Nasty Plot, matched with the boosting effects of Rain Dance, was nothing less than astounding.

The Raichu’s tail finally broke its rhythm, a sharp twitch commanding the monstrous wave forward. It complied with a roaring release and crashed down upon the dock, engulfing the burning boat house and crates in an instant as it rushed towards Semmy himself. The electric rodent reacted immediately and zipped away to safety.

Kate’s mouth fell open. She blinked at the spot the Raichu had stood seconds before, her eyes jumping back to the turbulent waters racing towards her. “Err… Semmy?“ A sinking realization fell upon her, but all she could do was stare dumbfounded.

In an instant she found herself suspended in the air, the ground below rushing past as the waters swallowed it up. It took a moment for Kate’s mind to register what had just happened. She felt two powerful clawed hands gripping her upper arms and looked up to see the face of yet another Charizard, this one not her own. Ceilidh, who rode upon the Pokemon's back, stared down at the girl with a patronizing smile stretched across her face. “Yes. Semmy’s not evil, he’s just ‘curious’.”

Kate simply laughed.

Once the waters had receded Ceilidh commanded Seraphina, her Charizard, to let them down. The female fire-type came in for a graceful landing beside Teddy and Keid, who’d emerged from inside the warehouse moments before. They both appeared to be just fine and were happy to see the girls. Semmy walked out from his hiding place to join them shortly afterwards with a gleefully obnoxious smile. Ceilidh groaned at the sight, but Kate didn’t mind. Regardless of the means, Semmy had done his job well.

“Good job, all of you,” she said to her Pokemon. She eyed Keid in particular, who was standing beside Teddy, and bent down to scratch her on her head. The Oshawott beamed proudly. Standing tall once more, Kate continued to say, “I hope that took care of everything. Let’s see how the others are doing.”

“Agreed,“ Ceilidh replied, returning Seraphina to her Pokeball. She started towards the other trainers with Kate, Semmy, Keid, and Teddy following shortly behind.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"That's a lot of Charizards," Yoshimitsu commented, as the fourth Charizard on the scene flew past them.

The combined forces of the pokemon present was incredible. The water attacks, when used together, were dousing the flames faster than any fire fighter could, and the efforts of the psychic pokemon to stop the falling chunks of burning metal and other materials to prevent any harm coming to bystanders. Each of the Charizards was returning from inside the blimp, carrying one or two people at a time before flying back into the wreckage.

"Staryu," Yoshimitsu said quickly. "Can we end the blaze now? Can you get to the heart if Gardevoir covers you?"

Staryu's core flashed in confirmation. The pair shot into the crumbling structure, shining a bright blue within the burning orange. A moment passed, then the flames started to subside permanently. Inside the vehicle, water was spewing from all of Staryu's points as it spun faster and faster, while Gardevoir utilized her psychic powers to suppress the fire and keep it contained within the blimp itself.

Marill ceased her stream of water, panting. Kirabi picked her up as Meditite ambled over, also visibly exhausted. The teenager scooped Meditite up too, and held them both close as the last of the flames were doused. The blimp was destroyed beyond repair, the structure finally giving out and collapsing in on itself. As far as Kirabi could tell, there were no casualties. Gardevoir and Staryu returned to their trainer, closely followed by one of the Charizards. Yoshimitsu was smiling as they returned.

"You guys were great," he said, rubbing Charizard's neck and massaging Staryu's points as he nodded to Gardevoir. "Come on, let's head back to the hotel so you guys can rest."

He returned all of his pokemon, then turned to Kirabi.

"Your Marill and Meditite are really strong," he commented. "They're only at the start of their evolution lines but they were keeping up with mine, no problem. How long have you guys been together?"

"I've been with Marill for nine years now," Kirabi replied, uncertainly. Where was Yoshimitsu going with this? "And Meditite for about three. We don't tend to battle much, it's not really how we like to live."

"Oh yeah I know what you mean," Yoshimitsu agreed, nodding, an honest smile on his face. "A few of my friends aren't trainers, I know a couple of breeders, contest stars and up-and-coming researchers. It's just amazing that your pokemon could keep up with mine, it's been a while since I've seen any that can."

"Thanks," Kirabi said, smiling back.

For a moment, it looked like Yoshimitsu was going to speak again, but something else had clearly caught his attention. He closed his mouth and looked towards the nearest police officers, both of them listening to their walkie-talkies. Kirabi looked too, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He looked back at Yoshimitsu, who visibly paled. Another moment passed, Yoshimitsu still apparently listening to the conversation.

"What's wrong?" Kirabi asked.

"If I heard that right..." Yoshimitsu started slowly. He frowned, then glanced towards the north. "They just said... Someone ran a raid on Professor Juniper's lab. This fire must have been a distraction..."

"Someone burned my parent's blimp to the ground... as a distraction?" Kirabi asked, shocked. Marill hopped out of his arms and up to his shoulder, stroking his face lightly. Meditite dropped to the ground too, and held on to Kirabi's leg. "Oh... my God..."

Yoshimitsu turned his attention back to Kirabi, his full attention this time. His expression was sympathetic, but Kirabi couldn't see it. He was just too shocked to register it.

"Listen, Kirabi," Yoshimitsu said to him. Kirabi forced his eyes to meet Yoshimitsu's. "I'm gonna find who did this to the blimp, and who's raiding the lab, and I'm gonna put them behind bars. Mark my words."

The blue haired boy pulled a scrap of paper and a pen from his pocket and scribbled something down before giving it to Kirabi.

"Here's my number, call me if you need any help or just to talk to someone or something," he said, before pulling Kirabi into a brief hug. Kirabi nodded vaguely, then Yoshimitsu released him. "I'm gonna head over to the lab and see what I can find out, I'll catch up with you later."

 

[Linkachu]

By the time Ceilidh and crew reached the other trainers, the fire was officially out. Kate caught sight of Kasai circling overhead and hung back a moment to meet him, but the red-haired female continued walking towards a couple of young males.

Both appeared around her age: one with brown hair and a Marill on his shoulder, while the other had very striking blue hair. They seemed engaged in a heated discussion, but before Ceilidh had the chance to call out to them the blue haired boy turned away and hurried off.

The other young man hadn't moved. He looked rather torn up over the whole situation, his Marill attempting to comfort him. Ceilidh pondered how to address him and decided to be as casual as possible. "Hey there. Are you alright?" she asked as she stepped up to him. "I only caught the tail end of the fire, but it looks like you guys just averted quite a mess. Any idea what caused it?"

She took another scan of the scene. Several other unknown faces were present, but to her surprise she noticed Rein standing a short ways off. If this boy didn't know the full story, maybe Rein would.

 

[Sem]

OOC: Starmie could've done what Staryu did >=o

BIC:
"Well..." Toby sighed as the fires were all doused and put out, leaving only the skeleton of the blimp and the smell of smoke.

"Guess that's it then," Valencia said, returning Wyvin, the Dragonair.

Toby did the same with his Pokemon and then put an arm around his wife. As soon as Wyvin and Castform had been returned the rain began to stop, and within moments was gone entirely. They walked around the remains of the aircraft and joined a group of trainers who seemed to have also been helping. It was nice seeing people working together. They had just saved a town - that didn't happen everyday.

However, relief wasn't the dominating emotion amongst the faces of the trainers. "Is something still going on?" Valencia asked them, petting Lilim, the Ekans hanging on her neck.

Sem was on the other side of the blimp still, the one closest to the sea. He was busy returning all his Pokemon who had been such a great help. It was then that he overheard a nearby policeman's conversation with his radio. Something had happened at the lab. Was Juniper safe? Instead of meeting up with his parents Sem decided to rush to the lab.

Starmie, who was still powered up from Calm Mind for the moment, was still by his side, silently gauging the emotions in the air, core still dazzling. "Right, Starmie, use Telekinesis," Sem directed as Sableye climbed up onto Sem's shoulder. The young man took hold of the Mysterious Pokemon and within moments they were levitating in the air and shooting off towards the lab. Starmie would only be able to manage this "flight" deal for a short while, but it would be enough to get them to the lab, or at least close to it. They were lucky that Nuvema was small.

Starmie was able to make the trip and dropped them off in front of the lab, which was convenient. Police would be there within moments and the sirens of their vehicles could be heard loud and clear. "Rest a bit, I may need you again," Sem told his companing as he returned it to its Dive Ball. After only a few steps Sem took notice of a blue person also making their way towards the lab. No, they weren't blue - they simply wore a lot of it, and had blue hair. Sem paused as soon as he saw the young man - Sableye was already brandishing toothy grin and some claws, with a dark glint in its eyes. Thinking for a moment, Sem knew that it was unlikely that this person was the source of whatever was going on at the lab, and was probably there to help as well.

Instead of introduce himself or say anything at all Sem simply fell in step with the young man as they entered the lab.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Kirabi didn't immediately respond to the girl addressing him. He wiped his eyes before too many tears could form, and cleared his throat before he looked at her. She had very vivid red hair. Was Unova a magnet for people with random hair colours?

"Sorry... I mean, that guy, Yoshimitsu-kun," Kirabi started, before stopping and collecting his thoughts. Something clicked together in his head. If the blimp was a distraction for the raid, then the culprits might still be at the lab! "The blimp was meant to get the police here, so whoever it was can run a raid on the lab! Marill-chan, Meditite-kun we have to stop them!"

Marill chirped her name in agreement, and Meditite nodded calmly. Kirabi nodded to both of his pokemon, then broke into a run. Marill's expression was determined and Meditite's controlled, but Kirabi knew they both understood him and his own determination. If someone had damaged his parents' blimp, then it was his job to bring them to justice. With that thought in mind, he quickened his pace to a sprint.

At the lab, Yoshimitsu glanced sideways at the boy who had just joined him. Already, he could tell that they were on the same side. The automatic doors slid open for them, despite their high speed. They cleared the lobby quickly, too fast for any police officers to stop them, and made their way further into the lab itself.

"Can you find Juniper and make sure she's okay? I'll check around to see if the culprits left anything behind," Yoshimitsu requested. He didn't wait for confirmation, he just turned a corner and ran down a different corridor. Once inside, the lab itself was quiet. Few people were moving around, probably checking on Juniper and explaining what happened to the police. Even the aides were mysteriously absent. The boy ducked around another corner.

"Gardevoir, let's do this," Yoshimitsu said, opening the pokeball as he ran. Gardevoir appeared immediately, gliding alongside him. "Scan the area, see if anyone's here who shouldn't be."

Gardevoir closed her eyes, her eyes glowing behind their lids. At the same time, a map of the lab appeared in Yoshimitsu's mind. As he ran, blue dots appeared on the map, signifying the people who were meant to be in the lab. A few more steps, and several red ones appeared too, all headed in the same direction from different points of the map. One of them was stationary, and brighter than the others. Yoshimitsu set his course for that dot. It was a corridor away, by his reckoning, and through one door.

Yoshimitsu burst through the door loudly, quickly examining what the room was. It was one of the storage rooms for old equipment, including some of the equipment for monitoring the growth of pokemon and assessing a pokemon's individual strengths. Inside was one individual. A man, based on the physique, wearing a black suit, the jacket of which had a hood that was pulled up. The man turned to see who was interrupting him, revealing a white shirt with a red tie, and an expressionless mask hiding his face.

"Alright, why don't we make this easy and you surrender now?" Yoshimitsu offered, though he knew that it was unlikely for this man to give in so quickly.

"I'm afraid not, my dear child," the man replied calmly, his voice silky. He had recovered his composure quickly, one hand now holding a pokeball, with the other in the pocket of his trousers. "You see, this equipment is essential. I wont be leaving without it."

"If you insist," Yoshimitsu sighed. "Gardevoir, Shadow Ball!"

Gardevoir's eyes flashed purple, a sudden blast of ghostly power surging from her. The ball was obvious, glowing and powerful, but failed to meet its mark. Somehow, the Shadow Ball had impacted on something invisible and exploded. The man in the room chuckled, and placed something Yoshimitsu couldn't see on one of the machines in the room. He placed something else on another, then turned to the teenager again.

"You have a lot to learn, child," the man mocked in that same soft tone.

"Who are you?" Yoshimitsu demanded, stepping forward. He reached out a hand, placing it on the invisible barrier between the men. Just touching it gave him an indication of how strong it was. The other man pulled a small device from his pocket.

"I am the Puzzle Master," he answered, before pushing the button. Immediately, he, and the two devices he had placed something on, vanished completely.

 

[Chadwyck]

Rein was relieved that the fire had been doused, Lunara and Kirlia were starting to get tired from the Psychic exertion. Using them for as long as they did on a task so daunting had left them breathing heavily. Now that the fire was out, there was nothing remaining of the blimp but an eerie, scorched skeleton and the smell of smoke.

"Return, Kirlia, you deserve some rest." He pulled out a Pokeball and his Kirlia disappeared in a beam of light. "Lunara, I know you don't like to be inside of your Pokeball, but I think you should rest for a bit," he said softly as he pulled out a white Pokeball with a black middle. The pair disliked being away from each other's side, but Lunara nodded, knowing that she'd only slow Rein down as she was.

The boy walked over to his Lapras and rubbed the back of her neck, it was quite a sight as she was much larger than he was, so much so that she had to lower her head so that Rein could reach her neck. Tethys wasn't tired, the Rain Dance had increased the Lapras' power, and she was easily one of the strongest Pokemon on Rein's team. Of course, he hadn't been the one who trained her. "Thank you for your help, Tethys." The Lapras nodded and nudged him lovingly, before he returned her as well.

Everything was starting to calm down now, and the other trainers were gathering; for the most part. A boy that was shockingly blue took off toward the town, and a Pokemon flew by too fast for Rein to see who was on it, but he could tell what Pokemon it was. Napalm came and landed beside him, and Rein stared blankly at the Charizard. "Did a Starmie just fly past, overhead?"

Napalm needed to stop and think it over for a moment, and then finally nodded.

"I thought so." Despite the fact that this claim was completely outrageous, Rein made no further comment on the matter, and resolved instead to join the other trainers. Before he could join the small group that was forming, another boy took off.

"Where's everyone off to in such a hurry? Shouldn't we be getting medals or something?" Rein asked sarcastically to no one in particular. He walked up beside Ceilidh and made sure that this question was heard and actually directed at her. "I notice that everyone is rushing off in the same direction, any idea what's happening now?"

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: I’m assuming from Sem’s post that Toby and his wife approached Ceilidh and Rein, but if I’m assuming too much let me know and I’ll edit my post.

BiC:

Ceilidh was glad for the opportunity to speak with Rein again, but she didn't like the circumstances at all. "Hey Rein. I didn't catch much from that guy before he ran off, but I think this whole incident with the blimp may have been a diversion." Her expression grew grave, but she spoke with an even tone. "He said the blimp was meant to draw the attention of the police while someone raided Professor Juniper's lab. For what reason I've no clue, but it doesn't sound good."

"It's not good. Not at all," Kate's voice suddenly came from behind.

Ceilidh turned to face her companion, who looked quite upset. None of her Pokemon appeared to be with her anymore either. “What did you learn?”

Kate’s gaze moved between Ceilidh, Rein, and the remains of the blimp. A middle-aged couple had joined the group as well, but the girl didn’t recognize them. "According to the police, whoever attacked the blimp and the lab vanished without a trace. They're still not sure what the motive was, nor the extent of what was stolen from the lab, and they're questioning everyone they can find. But it's all pointless.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Ceilidh.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kate stared hard at her friend. “We failed. Even the police are utterly lost. Whoever caused this mess made us all look like idiots.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ceilidh replied, jerking her head towards the group of survivors. They were currently being tended to by the police, but none of them appeared to have sustained serious injuries. “If it hadn’t been for you and the others jumping into action, those people might’ve died. The fire most surely would’ve spread beyond police control, too. I doubt they could’ve handled a situation of that magnitude by themselves. You guys did good. All of you.” She gave a reassuring smile to everyone in the group but eyed Rein in particular. Without warning she gave him a friendly punch on the arm. “But you. I knew you seemed nice, but you’re a pretty great trainer too, Rein. Those are some good looking Pokemon you’ve got.”

Kate found herself at a loss for words and heaved a sigh. Leave it to Ceilidh to lighten the mood in a situation like this. But she was right after all, just as she usually was.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been rude,” Kate finally turned to say to the older couple. They appeared to be together at least, and a very beautiful Ekans was wrapped around the woman’s neck like a scarf. “My name’s Kate, and this is Ceilidh and Rein.” She nodded to both of them respectively. It was somewhat odd introducing Rein to strangers when she barely knew him herself, but it seemed proper to do so.

“You both seem to be very talented trainers, and it’s very nice to meet you,” Ceilidh chimed in, reaching out to shake their hands. She did her best to avoid the snake by chance that it didn’t like strangers.

OOC: Minor-autoing. Again, let me know if anyone minds.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Kirabi slowed his sprint when he saw the lab, finally reaching a quick walking speed by the time he reached the automatic doors. Already, the lab was covered in police officers questioning everyone in sight for any eye-witness reports. Professor Juniper was surrounded by three officers, looking rather flustered as she repeated her testimony for the fourth time. Kirabi tried to slip through to investigate the back, but another officer caught him before he could go too far.

"Sorry, kid, the area's off limits until we've finished the investigation," he said gruffly, not even looking at the teenager and his Marill.

"It was my parents' blimp that was blown up so whoever could raid the lab," Kirabi retorted indignantly. The officer looked at him sympathetically.

"Sorry, kid, orders are orders," he declined, though he at least looked sorry about it.

Before Kirabi could argue further, he caught a glimpse of a familiar person over by Professor Juniper. It was Yoshimitsu, his face set with determination. Kirabi wandered over to listen in on the conversation.

"Sorry, Professor, I was maybe a minute too late," Yoshimitsu was saying. "This guy, calls himself the Puzzle Master, suit and mask guy. He made away with your Development and Strength Observers."

"Only those?" Juniper queried. "Those were outdated models, we have handheld versions now. What on earth would anyone want with them?"

"I don't know, Professor, but I'm gonna keep on their tail to see if I can find out what's going on," Yoshimitsu continued. "With any luck, I can stop them, but I'll keep you posted."

"Thank you, Yoshimitsu," Juniper said, hugging the boy. "It's a boon having you here right now. Give my regards to Professor Oak the next time you're by Pallet Town."

"Of course, Professor," Yoshimitsu promised.

The blue haired boy ducked away from Juniper, his eyes scanning around the crowd. He looked like he was about to leave the lab, but Kirabi stepped in front of the entrance and blocked the way. Yoshimitsu knew something, and Kirabi wanted to know what it was. As soon as the other teenager's eyes fell on Kirabi, an expression of relief flooded his face and he jogged over.

"Kirabi, you're okay, thank Christ," Yoshimitsu said, hugging Kirabi, though it took Kirabi a moment to return the hug.

"What happened? And why does Juniper-sama know you by name?" Kirabi asked, though there was something demanding in his tone.

"I got here too late, and the guys that raided the lab got what they wanted," Yoshimitsu explained, rubbing the back of his head. "They got this strength checker and development checker thing, they're complicated and ancient. I dunno why they want them. And Juniper knows me by name because I'm sort of famous outside of Unova. I won third place in a big tournament a few years back, and the publicity sort of stuck."

"I haven't heard of you," Kirabi stated, almost critically.

"Yeah, it didn't really hit the Sevii Islands either," Yoshimitsu explained, rubbing the back of his head again. "Fact of the matter is, I'm a good trainer and Juniper recognises that. Answer your question?"

"I guess," Kirabi said, unimpressed. He was too caught up over his parents' blimp being destroyed and the raid on the lab, wanting to punish those responsible. A small part of his mind knew he wasn't even remotely strong enough, and that he was acting very much out of character, but he ignored that little voice. He was allowed to be angry and worried.

"Listen, Kirabi," Yoshimitsu said, grabbing Kirabi's shoulders. "I'm working on it. I'm gonna find whoever's responsible and stop them, I promise. The best thing you can do right now is carry on travelling and toughen up. I can read your expression, you want to stop them too don't you?"

Kirabi nodded reluctantly.

"I'm only a phone call away if you need to talk, and I can call you if anything comes up," Yoshimitsu continued. "You'll be the first person I tell, I promise. You just have to trust me, okay?"

With that, Yoshimitsu hugged Kirabi again, kissed his cheek, and ran out of the lab. Kirabi turned to watch Yoshimitsu run, Marill stroking his cheek affectionately.

 

[Sem]

OOC: Post feels a bit weak but here it is~ Also, El's turning this into a yaoi RP

Sem was going to located Juniper first anyway, regardless of what the blue person had told him, the blue person which the more Sem looked at him the more he seemed awfully familiar. Sem quickly located the professor already chatting with some officers about what had happened. Seeing that Juniper was safe and in good hands Sem went to catch up with the blue guy.

"Find him," Sem said to his Sableye, who immediately dove into the wall, phasing through it. Sem waited for a few moments, standing quite casually in the face of everything. Within a minute or so Sableye returned and led Sem to the back of the lab.

"Who are you?" Sem heard a voice say, the voice of the blue teen.

Sem quickened his pace just in time to catch a glimpse of a strange man. "I am the Puzzle Master," the man said before vanishing.

The young man's brow knitted in confusion at what had just happened. That was no common thief, that much was obvious. Sem had the feeling that something big was going on. The blue teen simply left and joined up with Juniper, chatting with her while Sem looked around a bit more before deducing that nothing else seemed out of place.

"Thank you, Yoshimitsu," Sem heard Juniper say. Yoshimitsu. The name was familiar too. Well, at least Sem knew the guy's name now. It could take him a while more to figure out why he was familiar, but for now Sem needed to focus on other things. After Yoshimitsu left Sem approached Juniper, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Glad you're safe, Professor," Sem said.

"Oh, Sem, I didn't expect to see you here," she replied. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Thank goodness all of the Pokemon are safe as well. What a day this has turned out to be..."

"Tell me about it..." Sem muttered, glancing around and spotting Kirabi not far off. He was chatting with Yoshimitsu. They hugged and Yoshimitsu kissed Kirabi and then ran off. Did they know each other? Sem wondered as he watched Kirabi stare out the door like a lost puppy.

"My parents will probably be by shortly," Sem told the professor. "They'll want to make sure you're ok. I'll see you later," the young man said, waving and walking away.

"Right, thank you, Sem," Juniper replied before turning her attention to other matters.

Sem prodded Kirabi in the shoulder. "You doing ok? You look like you need some fresh air," he said, attempting to lead the boy outside, ignoring the fact that the air was filled with the smell of smoke and ash and not very fresh at all.

Over by the wreckage of the blimp the Aquaises were in a group of much younger people, discussing the recent events.

"If saving a town from burning down constitutes failure then I'll take that any day," Toby said in response to one of the girl's rather downcast comment.

"Mm, definitely," Valencia said. "Still, that's a bit disturbing to hear about the lab. We should probably go check on Juniper and see how she's doing."

They quickly introduced themselves to everyone in the group, both of them slightly smiling at the comment on how they were talented trainers. "We're not really trainers - we've just been around for a while," Valencia said, shaking Ceilidh's hand as Toby shaked Rein's.

"We're researchers actually," Toby added. "But we best get on our way. Good job everyone - thanks for helping out."

With that the couple broke away from the group, Toby pulling out another Pokeball and summoning a larger airborne creature with purple, rocky skin and a ferocious maw of razor-sharp teeth. The Aerodactyl swooped down, picking up the couple in its talons before flying off towards Juniper's lab.

 

[Chadwyck]

OoC: Not the strongest of posts either, but enjoy regardless :>

Rein heard only one thing: a diversion while someone stole from the professor's lab. After that moment, he was hardly a part of the conversation; he was half listening to what was being said, but his mind wandered and raced and churned along. He turned his thoughts over in his head. Team Rocket. It made sense to him that they would do something so bold just to steal something. He'd been apart of it himself in the past, he knew what they were capable of and what they would do to accomplish their mission.

Someone shook his hand and introduced himself. The name sounded familiar, but Rein's mind didn't process it at all. The boy barely managed a nod in response to the man's introduction; let alone actually hear what the couple were saying. Something about researchers and helping out. It didn't matter.

Not again. Rein told himself repeatedly, the two words replaying in his mind. He had no proof that it was Team Rocket at all, but it didn't matter. The possibility remained that it could have been them. It could have been her.

Rein instantly felt terrified of his untimely death at the hands of Team Rocket, or the worse possibility of being forced to join them again. Simultaneously, he felt obligated to help, if it was the organization that he had once been forced into; then he felt like he should stop them. It was an odd feeling, fear and guilt rolled into determination and obligation. He didn't like it.

When the older couple took off on the back of an Aerodactyl, Rein seemed to wake from a trance. "I'm going too. Sorry." He smiled half-heartedly at Ceilidh and Kate and then climbed onto Napalm's back. "Okay, follow that Aerodactyl." His faithful companion launched into the sky, flying directly after the couple on the Aerodactyl toward the lab.

So much for not getting involved. Rein sighed inwardly. Please, let me be wrong. Let it be someone else's problem.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

OOC- so short D:

Kirabi allowed himself to be directed outside, though his mind was elsewhere entirely. Yoshimitsu had told him to toughen up so he was ready for any battles in the future, so he could help out more if something like this happened again. He had told Kirabi that the brown haired boy would be the first to know as soon as something happened. The problem was, Kirabi was not a battler. He and Marill had never tried to get stronger through battling, and neither had Meditite. Meditite knew that sometimes battles were inevitable, and was ready at a moment's notice. Kirabi and Marill didn't have that. He sniffed the air, the scent of smoke assailing his nostrils.

"There weren't any injuries, were there?" Kirabi asked vaguely, in a soft voice, thankful that the fire pokemon on hand had been able to successfully rescue anyone trapped in the blimp. Marill stroked his face again, concerned. The teenager looked at his friend, trying to say with his face what he was thinking.

Was that what they needed to do? Get stronger, learn to battle and become a proper trainer? Yoshimitsu had said Marill and Meditite could keep up with the blue haired boy's much stronger pokemon, did that mean they could do it? Kirabi didn't know the answer. He wanted to find whoever was behind all of this, and put a stop to it, that was for sure.

"What do we do, Marill-chan?" Kirabi asked, looking at his aquatic friend. Marill gave him a look that simply said that she would follow him no matter what. Kirabi nodded back.

"Sem-kun," Kirabi said, turning to the male next to him. "I want to go straight to the next town. Will you come with me?"

 

[Sem]

Sem blinked, but his expression remained calm despite the abrupt request. Sem didn't know what was going on, but he knew it was something, and Kirabi seemed to be part of it as well. The young man didn't seem so sure of himself right now, he seemed like he needed some support. Sem was able to do that much, and he did want to find out exactly what had happened just a short while ago.

"Sure," Sem answered with a reassuring grin. "I wanna know what's happening just as badly as you do." He would have to tell his parents that he was going. He wasn't sure what they would do, but it was a bit obvious that their previous plans had just been thrown out the window.

As if on cue his parents arrived on his father's Aerodactyl, which dropped them in front of Sem before being returned to its Pokeball.

"Is Juniper ok?" his mother asked, glancing at Kirabi as she spoke.

Sem nodded. "Yes, she's fine."

"That's good to hear," Toby said, looking at the lab.

"Something definitely happened here, so I'm going to try and figure out what. I'll start by accompanying Kirabi to the next town," Sem explained, putting a hand on Kirabi's shoulder. "It's better than staying here."

"Mm," Toby nodded. "The next town is Accumula I believe. Good luck then, I'm not sure what we'll end up doing now, but if something is happening then I'm sure something will come up," Toby said.

"Careful," Valencia said. "You too," she said to Kirabi. "Keep in touch," she added, using her hand to symbolize a telephone. With that the couple went inside to check on the professor.

Once they had gone Sem turned back to Kirabi. Sableye was being polite, thankfully, and leaving the boy and his Marill alone. Not that the Marill was easily intimidated anyway, much to Sableye's amusement. "Shall we go then?" he asked, pulling out a phone and bringing up a map of the region. Glancing at the sky it was clear that it was late afteroon. "I think we can make it by midnight if we leave now." That was also if they kept a good pace - either way, they would be exhausted once they arrived. Sem also didn't have any food with him, and he hadn't had dinner yet. Hopefully Kirabi would have something or Sem would have a hard time choosing between food and sleep once they arrived in Accumula.

Speaking of not having food, Sem also didn't have his stuff with him - stuff being his bag. He produced a Pokeball and let out Jadis, his Froslass. "I need a huge favor from you, my dear," Sem said to the icy spectre, who eyed him with her typical cold gaze. Jadis was a Pokemon that only followed him out of respect. He was never sure how much she cared for the rest of his team, though she did enjoy dueling with his mother's Seviper. "I need you to return to the inn for my stuff. You'll find us on the road out of town."

Jadis nodded and was off in a rush of freezing cold air, using her species' natural speed to her advantage to race towards the inn.

"C'mon," Sem said to Kirabi once he could no longer see Jadis, leading the both of them out of Nuvema.

 

[Linkachu]

Kate stared after Rein as he took to the sky on his Charizard. Ceilidh noticed her perplexed expression and gave the girl a light nudge with her elbow. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I'm not sure if he is," Kate replied quietly, her eyes continuing to follow the orange dragon as it disappeared into the distance. "I felt something while standing next to him... I can't really describe the emotions in words, but it worries me. I think I'm going to go after him."

Ceilidh fell silent and pondered her friend's words. The older girl's ability was never wrong, and if she'd felt something from Rein without even making direct contact then it certainly was a source of concern. At times like these she wasn't sure whether to feel jealous of Kate's power or to pity it.

"If that's the case, you should go catch up," Ceilidh finally said. "I'm going to chat with the police officers a bit more around here, then I'll be heading back to the inn. Something tells me we might be leaving town sooner than expected." She plucked a single Pokeball off her belt and handed it to Kate. "Just do me a favour and take Whicker with you. She can come find me once you've figured everything out."

"Sure," Kate replied, stowing the object safely in her pocket. She proceeded to retrieve a Pokeball of her own and tossed it into the air, Kasai emerging from within. Even though he hadn't been physically present during the girls' conversation, the Charizard appeared to be well aware of what was going on.

Kasai gave a quiet grunt and lumbered over to stand next to his trainer; his friend. He gently placed a claw on her shoulder and let a low growl escape from his throat. In return Kate placed her hand upon his and gripped it tightly. She revolved her gaze to stare up into the Pokemon's inhuman blue eyes. Looking into them made her feel at ease.

“Thanks, Kasai," she said with a smile, retracting her hand and spinning around to face him. "Let’s not waste another moment.” Kasai nodded and bent down to allow the girl to climb onto his back. Once securely seated she pointed off in the direction Rein and the others had gone. “We’re heading straight for the Professor’s laboratory. Go!”

The Charizard growled in reply and beat his mighty wings. Within moments he was zooming through the sky after the rest, leaving Ceilidh to stand alone by the wreckage.

The young woman waved after her friends, but she let her arm drop the moment they had vanished from sight. Her mind was buzzing as she took a few minutes to go over every detail of all that had happened. Contrary to what she‘d said, something about this situation wasn’t sitting right with her. What Kate had mentioned about Rein only furthered to tug at her mind. She looked to the shell of the blimp and thought of the raid upon the Pokemon lab. Just what was beginning in this faraway region?


It wasn’t long after that Kasai landed in front of the busy laboratory and Kate hopped down from his back. Police and other officials were still milling about, but it appeared that their investigation was wrapping up. She patted her Charizard on the shoulder and held up his Pokeball. “Thanks again, Kasai. I’ll take it from here.”

In an instant the creature was returned inside the sphere, and the young woman set out to find Rein or anyone else she recognized for further information.

OOC: I don't really know where Rein is right now, so I'm leaving this open.

 

[Chadwyck]

OoC: I was kinda vague because I wasn't sure if Toby and Valencia would see him behind them, or speak with him when he landed or whatever, but Sem completely ignored me D': ah well, onward and upward.

BiC:

Rein came in for a landing a bit faster than he would've liked, though he couldn't really blame the newly evolved Charizard; he hadn't had his wings for very long and it was probably tiring him out flying all over the place today. Rein patted him on the neck and thanked him, returning Napalm to the Pokeball and clicking it onto his belt.

"Looks like those two already went on into the lab; that Aerodactyl was faster than I gave it credit for." He muttered to himself, stepping up toward the lab. He looked around for anything out of the ordinary, but there were so many police officers and general onlookers present that everything seemed out of place in front of the Professor's beautiful building.

"What is going on with all these trainers showing up?" Rein heard a police officer ask another while glancing his way, "these kids think they're signing up for the police force? I dunno why the captain even let them into the lab; they should stay behind the line like everyone else." It was actually the first time Rein noticed that he was inside the taped off area; Napalm had landed inside it to begin with. That didn't matter at the moment: he needed answers.

"You." Rein demanded more than asked as he stepped up to the cynical police officer. "Who is responsible for this?" Something was definitely different about the boy now, his eyes were cold and his temper was short; if Lunara were out of her Pokeball it would have worried her to see it.

"What are you, a private eye?" He grinned at his partner; Rein didn't give him the pleasure of answering. The boy just stared at him, causing no small discomfort, and finally the man answered. "We aren't really sure. The only account we have to go on is some teenager with blue hair."

"Was it Team Rocket?"

"Team who?" He glanced sideways at his partner, who only shrugged.

"Did they wear black uniforms with red 'R's on the shirts?"

"No, nothing like that. Kid said something about callin' himself the Puzzle Master or something."

Rein breathed deeply, sighing rather than exhaling normally. He'd overreacted: Team Rocket wasn't behind the attack on the blimp or the break in at the lab. At least, it didn't look that way. There'd have been more than one person if Team Rocket pulled off the heist; and Rein had never heard of anyone called the Puzzle Master before.

There was a noticeable change in the boy's demeanor once again, he was relaxed, and he was himself again; but something about the robbery was still bugging him. He didn't feel obligated to look into it any farther, but maybe he should speak with the professor, just to be safe.

He stepped away from the police officer, who was looking much less smug than before, and caught glimpse of another Charizard coming in for a landing. Kate hopped off of the fire-type's back, something must have been bothering her about the heist too. Rein walked over and smiled. "Sorry I ran off back there." He scratched his head, feeling slightly embarrassed by his reaction to his own imagination. "I just had to be sure of something. Are you here to speak with the professor?"

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: Long and some auto-ing included (with Sem's help :'D), but I wanted to get past this situation and get ready to leave the town.

BiC:

“Hey Rein!” Kate replied cheerfully. She hadn’t been expecting to find him this easily and, even more importantly, she was glad that the turbulent aura surrounding him earlier had vanished. Just his nonverbal expressions alone were enough to tell her that. “I actually came to find you. You seemed really tense when you left, and I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she answered his question with a sheepish grin. She didn‘t want to lie, lying just wasn’t her thing, but she choose to withhold information nonetheless. It’d probably just weird him out anyways. “But now that you mention it, speaking with Juniper probably would be good. She might be able to fill in some of the missing details.”

She began her walk towards the laboratory entrance and gestured for Rein to follow. A couple of police officers eyed them as they went, but they merely grunted displeasingly and turned away without a word. I wonder what’s up with them?

A few more officers were standing around inside the lab but they appeared to be chatting and not actively engaged in an investigation. Professor Juniper’s aids on the other hand looked rather frazzled, but none of them appeared to have been injured. At least that much was reassuring. The professor herself was standing in the center of the space conversing with two more familiar faces: Toby and Valencia.

“So we meet again!” Kate called to the man and women as she approached them.

Professor Juniper couldn’t help but laugh when she noticed her. “Kate! Don’t tell me you and Ceilidh were involved in this situation too? It seems that every one of you who battled the explosion weren't natives of the region. What does that say for Unova’s own trainers?”

“That they’re not as crazy as us foreigners?” Kate chuckled. “But really, I’m just happy I could help. Rein helped, too, and just as you‘d guess - he‘s not from around here either.” The young woman stepped aside to allow the Professor to properly greet him.

“Thank you, both of you. We do appreciate everything you’ve all done,” Juniper replied with a smile. A thought struck her then. “By the way, did you happen to meet Yoshimitsu? He was here earlier. I’m amazed that a trainer of such calibre was happening by when all this madness struck.”

“Yoshimistu…?” Kate repeated the name to herself. It sounded like someone important, but she couldn’t recall who. “I’m not sure, Professor. I did notice a few guys around my age battling the blimp fire, but they all left before I could get their names.”

“One of them was our son, Sem, and another, the boy with the Marill, was a young man named Kirabi,” said Toby.

Kate nodded and repeated the names in her mind. It would’ve been nice to speak with the both of them more before they’d all parted ways.

“They’re currently headed for Accumula Town. You just missed them, but they shouldn‘t have gotten too far yet,” said Valencia then as if she’d read the girl’s mind.

“Really? Huh. Might see if I can catch up with them then,” Kate replied. She wasn’t typically the sort who chased after strangers, but this wasn’t exactly a typical start to new journey. No doubt Ceilidh would feel the same way, but she wondered what Rein would decide to do.

“Just be sure to watch out for this ‘Puzzle Master’ fellow Yoshimitsu encountered. He seems to be responsible for this entire mess, and something tells me it won‘t be the last we see of him. I wouldn‘t underestimate him,” said Professor Juniper. For a moment her expression was quite serious, but it softened short afterwards. “Please be careful. And Kate, remember to take good care of that Oshawott. I trust she‘s in good hands.”

“Of course! And thanks again, Professor. You all be sure to take care of yourselves, too.” The young woman paused a moment and thought again of Rein. There was a good chance he was ready to put this entire situation behind him, but maybe he felt exactly the same way about it all as she did.
“Rein,” she started and turned to face him, “I think I’m going to go after Sem and Kirabi. I’ve got a gut feeling that we’ll learn more about this Puzzle Master guy if we meet with them. If you’d like, you’re free to join me and Ceilidh for the trip to Accumula. I’m going to go wait outside the lab for now. Let me know what you decide.”

With a wave, Kate turned and parted from the group. As she exited the building, she pondered everything they had just discussed. The Puzzle Master, eh? She’d remember that name. Something told her the professor’s suspicions were bang on, too.

Kate decided to walk a short distance away from the laboratory before retrieving Ceilidh’s Pokeball from her pocket. The girl didn’t feel like causing another ruckus regarding non-native Pokemon right now, and sometimes it was difficult to judge what this particular creature would do - especially when she herself was involved. Tossing the ball into the sky, it burst open to reveal a ghostly purple Pokemon with disembodied hands.

The Haunter’s slanted eyes scanned the area briefly before coming to rest upon the young woman standing below. A cheerful grin stretched across Whicker’s face, and she floated down silently to hover in front of the girl. Kate stared into the ghost-type’s large eyes and chuckled. There was far more expression locked within those eyes than any other Pokemon or person she knew.

“Hi Whicker. I’m sure you have a good idea of what’s going on?” Kate asked.

The Haunter ‘nodded’ in reply and reached out with one hand for the girl’s head, but Kate quickly jumped back to avoid it.

“Not now. We don’t have time for that,” Kate scolded. Whicker’s face faulted with grave sadness, but it was simply a put-on. The girl eyed the Haunter warily as she continued, “Ceilidh wanted you to go find her when I was ready, and I’d say we’re as ready as we’re going to be. Make sure she brings my backpack, because I don‘t plan to return to the inn myself. I’ll meet her at the edge of town, possibly with an extra traveling companion.”

Whicker saluted sharply, but she couldn’t hide her silly grin. Without another word the Haunter’s body diffused and vanished from sight.

“At least she’s not as bad as Semmy. Just equally crazy," Kate laughed quietly to herself and waited for Rein.

OOC: Just a note guys. Considering that I'm leaving on vacation July 8th at 6 AM, there's a good chance that this post here will be my final reply before I return home late night on July 17th. If anyone replies soon-ish I might be able to get another couple of replies in, but otherwise it can't really be helped. Sorry. D':

 

[Yoshimitsu]

It took several minutes of silent walking before Kirabi finally calmed himself. The moment he did was the same moment he realised something about his surroundings. It was very, very different to his home, Four Island. It was even different from Hoenn, though he had only been to Hoenn briefly. The grass was a different shade of green, the bark of the trees making different textures and patterns, even the waves at the shore looked a different blue. It was also at that moment that Kirabi found the resolve to continue, even as the sun dipped in the sky and the chill started to set in.

As they walked, Kirabi and Sem made small talk. Nothing ground-breaking, just some details about who they were, where they lived, why they were here. Kirabi told Sem about his life on Four Island, about how his parents never had much time and he raised himself, about how his parents dedicated themselves to their next moneymaking venture, about how he and Marill first met. It was easy to talk, he found quickly. After fighting together, and saving the blimp, Kirabi felt a kind of friendship forming with Sem.

It was during this walk that something caught Kirabi's eye, just as the sun was about to set. The grass near them started to rustle, as though something was deliberately shaking it. Kirabi stopped and stared at it, tilting his head slightly. It was shaking from the base of the stems, rustling the foliage. Kirabi took another step forward, hesitantly, as Marill clung to his ear warily. One more step, and the grass parted as something leapt out.

It was probably as big as Marill, if Kirabi had wanted to compare, walking on all fours and barking furiously. Its face was covered in a paler fur than the rest of its body, and its head was almost bigger than the rest of its body. It barked, while eying the trainers warningly. Kirabi would have just carried on, but as he was about to look away he noticed a fairly deep wound on its hind leg. At a guess, he thought it looked like a bite mark.

"What is that..?" Kirabi asked Sem.

"Looks like a Lillipup to me," Sem replied, fingering one of his Pokeballs. "Probably got into a fight. Should I..?"

"No, I will, thanks," Kirabi said with a kind smile. Marill hopped off his shoulder and stood ready in front of him, determination on her face. The Lillipup growled, ready for a fight.

"Marill-chan, we need to help the Lillipup, so try not to hurt him too much," Kirabi warned. "Maybe a Bubblebeam?"

Marill noded, but immediately dived to the side and rolled to he feet as the Lillipup opened the fight with a well-aimed charge. As Marill stood up again, she breathed in deeply. The Lillipup charged again, but was met with a faceful of bubbles that exploded like firecrackers on impact. As the Lillipup flinched, Marill jumped back and sucked in air again, preparing for her next attack.

"Marill-chan, an Aqua Tail if you can?" Kirabi requested.

Marill grabbed her springy tail, the ball glowing a bright blue as she swung it round and round in a circle to increase momentum. Just as the Lillipup recovered, Marill's tail impacted and threw it back. This time, it didn't wait long enough to recover. The Lillipup charged again, feinting left, then right, then left again. Marill watched carefully, trying to figure out when it would attack. However, a quick feint then strike sent Marill sliding backwards. As the Lillipup tried to attack again, Marill jumped out of the way.

"Marill-chan, can you Sing?"

Marill jumped out of the way again, her ears twitching as she drew breath quickly. She was just out of range, which gave her the extra room she needed. The tune that flowed from her mouth was melodious, gentle and soothing. Each note was perfect, each carrying into the next seamlessly. The Lillipup tried to charge again, but each step was slower than the last and its eyelids were drooping. Just as it reached Marill, its body succumbed and fell into slumber.

"And now..." Kirabi murmured to himself, producing an empty pokeball. He gently threw it, the capsule sucking the sleeping Lillipup easily. It shook several times, before finally flashing to confirm the capture. Kirabi walked up to it and lifted it from the ground, shrinking it to fit it to his magnetic belt.

 

[Sem]

Sem watched as Kirabi battled with the Lillipup. Kirabi's Marill was a good battler, and she listened to Kirabi's every word. It was a good relationship, that much was obvious. They both trusted each other immensely. Sem felt his eyes go a bit droopy as heard Marill's song. It wasn't directed at him, thankfully, but it still had a dulling effect on the senses.

Kirabi managed to capture the Lillipup after that, which was good, as it may not have survived the night. Of course, now the journey to Accumula was more urgent due to the Lillipup's wound. It was fine for now in the Pokéball, but medical attention would be needed.

Jerking his head in the direction they needed to go, it was a silent cue for them to continue on their way.

-------

Toby and Valencia didn't say much more after Kate left. They were currently figuring out what they would do next, whether it be to follow after Sem or to continue on to Driftveil as planned. There was no reason that they shouldn't. The situation was quickly being wrapped up. However, they couldn't shake the sinking feeling that this was only the start of things.

"Didn't we know someone who went by 'Puzzle Master'?" Valencia asked her husband in a quiet voice, though not quiet enough for anyone not to hear.

"It does ring a bell or two," Toby nodded. The couple quickly went through the people they knew. The Aquaises were mostly acquainted with researchers, none of which seemed to fit the bill. "Maybe we know him from our Rocket days," Toby said even lower, making a reference to a time when the couple didn't work for the best people.

Valencia thought for a moment. "I think you're right. Wasn't he a scientist?" It would have made sense. The Aquaises knew mostly scientists in Team Rocket. Aside from scientists they only had to report to the occasional executive, and so the possibilities were slim on who the Puzzle Master could be if they did indeed know him.

"I honestly don't remember much, but maybe we can get a hold of someone who would. Could be a completely different guy," Toby said. "Or,"

"It could be the same guy," Valencia finished her husband's sentence. "And I don't remember much either but what I do remember I don't like..." she trailed. Lilim tensed and coiled herself in a more protective manner on her trainer's neck.

"We should get a hold of Rodney," Toby suggested. "I'm pretty sure we have his email saved on the laptop."

"Sounds good, better check with him and see if he knows anything. Better safe than sorry," Valencia said with a nod before turning to Professor Juniper and the young man named Rein. "We'll be leaving now, Professor, I trust you're in good hands with the police here."

"Yes, I believe so," Juniper chuckled lightly. "Still planning on going to Driftveil?"

"We'll see how things go," Valencia sighed. "Eventually hopefully, but probably not as soon as we expected." The women embraced for a moment and then Valencia began to walk out.

Toby said his goodbyes to the professor and then turned to Rein. "If you end up meeting up with our son tell him we'll see him when we see him."

The couple walked out of the lab together, arms linked in a casual stroll back towards town. Valencia waved at Kate. "Pleasure meeting you," she said with a smile as the sky turned a dark and brilliant orange.