Private/Closed The Secret of Meteor Falls

[Curtkid]

Five figures could be seen scaling the rocky mountain sides of the fabled Meteor Falls, while not the most treacherous of mountain sides, one certainly did not want to lose their footing here. The stone here was certainty a good deal paler then most mountain ranges, and on clear, bright day’s it would seem to gleam with all the intensity of the sun itself. A decent tourist spot to visit for the more, adventurous types, but exploration was not the only reason as to why these souls were here. Indeed, Meteor Falls was fabled to have a few treasure hidden deep within it's caverns, and those tales had attracted more then a few hopeful treasure seekers. Treasure Seekers much like the five souls who had walked off the beaten trail, and were now scaling the much less traveled mountain side.

The person who appeared to be leading the group was a young man, about six foot, in a blue and black jacket named Curt, and beside him was his trusted and oldest friend Embertail, a big eyed and goofy Charmander who had a perpetual smile in his face. Also following him was another old friend of his, a three foot tall blue and tan alligator like Pokemon with a slightly nervous expression on his face. Lockjaw was unfamiliar with these mounts and as such, the Croconaw was on alert. Despite the two vastly different personality types, Embertail and Lockjaw got along rather well.

Curt quickly looked behind him to make sure his partners where holding up alright, Embertail was apparently making small talk with Lockjaw in an attempt to lighten the guy up a little, with moderate success. Seeing that his first two companions were doing alright, he called out to the other half of his traveling squad.

“Alright Jacob, Nero, we’re almost there, just a little bit further”, Curt assured his two other traveling companions. Jacob was a fellow trainer that Curt had meet not too long ago, but recent trials and tribulations had resulted in them forming a rather strong bond in such a short period of time. The man was often calm and easy going, but he could become focused intense at a moments notice if the situation called for it. Walking right behind Jacob was easily the tallest figure there, a six and a half foot Blaziken with a focused expression on his face, unlike his trainer, Nero was a bit more serious and was often looking for a good fight if the situation presented itself. Nero's intense expression told Curt that, like Lockjaw, he didn’t trust these mountains and was keeping an eye out for any possible danger. That made Curt think the perhaps Lockjaw’s alertness of his surrounding was not just his typical paranoia, granted, he should’ve suspected that much though, Lockjaw had become significantly braver after he evolved from a Totodile a few months back, and was not quite as easily frightened. That said, they weren’t going to go back though, they were here on an important task, and they were going to see it through.

Curt and his team traveled to the falls due to a recently sent letter by his brother, Evan, who had recently started a Pokemon journey of his own. While training on Meteor Falls apparently, he and his team had come across some sort of large, mysterious artifact embedded in the mountains, however, the treasure (whatever it was) proved to be too heavy for even Tochie, his Combuskin, to lift out, and had requested Curt and his team to come help him with excavating the treasure. Curt, never one to deny his brother help, immediately set out to give his brother aid, besides, he was curious as to what kind of artifact his brother had come across. Jacob, who’s home was incidentally located in Hoenn, decided to take a detour to accompany Curt to help him out on his quest, to which Curt was happy to oblige. If nothing else, they extra muscle would be a big help in excavating...whatever Evan had run across.

After several hours of scaling the mountain from Fallarbor Town, they finally reached the entrance to the inner caverns that Evan had described in his letter. An oddly placed tree growing by the entrance, could hear the faint sound of rushing water coming from inside the cavern, yep this was it! Curt heard Jacob and Nero walk up beside them, no doubt also gazing into the dark abyss of the Falls. He heard Nero flare his wrists up to provide them an addition source of light along with Embertails….ember tail. At times like these, it payed to be a fire type.

“Well this is it guy’s, shall we continue?”, Curt asked the party. Despite previously taking the time to make sure they were well equipped for their journey, Meteor Falls were known for their dangers just as much as their beauty. Every precaution had to be taken if they intended to go exploring through these great caverns.

 

[Trucro]

“Let’s do it,” Jacob responded. He jerked his head back towards Nero, who nodded back at him. Jacob lived in the Hoenn Region, and while he had been to Fallarbor Town several times, he had never actually entered the Meteor Falls. The cave was supposedly huge, and was considered dangerous. Rare pokemon, travelers said, could be found in the cave, along with great wealth. Jacob had heard of Bagon living in the caves, and it immediately made him think of the fairy tales about knights marching through Meteor Falls to defeat the dragon and win the treasure. And now he and Curt were heading in to help Curt’s little brother. How times had changed.

Jacob had never met Curt’s brother, and was not particularly looking forward to meeting him. Still, he was rather excited to have been brought along. Ancient artifacts intrigued him, the remnants of wanting to be a relic scavenger as a child. He had never acted on that dream, however. In fact, he had developed a hatred for caves, after having been trapped in several, most notably in Kalos, where he had met Curt.

As the group entered, Jacob took a sigh of relief. The ceiling to the cave was high; almost unrealistically high. Jacob estimated it was 25 feet high at least, which helped him relax. He wouldn’t feel trapped in this cave. With Nero and Embertail providing light, the majority of the cave was visible. He could see the stalactites stretching downwards from the top of the cave, and the bumps in the cave’s walls and floors, nearly seven yards out. The dirt making up the cavern floor was an odd, almost orange color; it was something Jacob had not seen before in nature. He knelt to the ground, and picked up some of the dirt, allowing it to slide through his fingers before standing back up. Clapping his hands to remove the dirt, he spoke to Curt.

“So, do we know where your brother is hiding in here?” Jacob rubbed his nose, unknowingly pushing dirt up his nostril. He wiped his nose again, removing the dirt. Hoping Curt hadn’t noticed, he continued. “I’m guessing he’s pretty deep in the cave if he found some sort of artifact that no one else has.”

 

[Curtkid]

"Hmmm, you're probably right Jacob, Evan wasn't very descrpiptive of that in the letter, he just said he'd mark a path of me "The Old Fashion Way", uh, just give a second to look for anything that might jog my memory ", Curt said as he began looking around the immediate area for any sign of his brother. For awhile, the only sounds that filled the great cave where the noises made the near bye crashing of the Waterfall. Curt waled around the vicinity, looking for something, until...

KUWRRAT, Irfuoroahwa", Embertail roared as he excitedly bounced up and down while pointing at what looked like a scorch mark on near bye rock. On closer inspection, the scorch mark looked very much like a....

"FEATHER! And it looks like a Torchic feather too, great work Embertail, I'm sure Torchy and Evan left this", Curt said while giving his bro a high five, "when we were kids, and we were trekking through the woods at my friends house, we'd mark our path by having Torchie scratch out Torchic feathers on the tree's, we'ed even have them pointing in the direction we came for so we didn't get lost, sometimes he'ed even leave them on rocks as scorch marks, marks exactly like this one". This was good, this made things a whole lot easier, all they had to do was follow the scorch marks right to Evan. They looked pretty well made to, this mark was clearly pointing right towards.....the Waterfall.

"Oh, well...huh, I guess up a waterfall is certainly not a place the average person or Pokemon would go...," Curt said the group walked over to the near bye falling mass of water, "hehe, I guess my little bro got a pretty tough Water Pokemon during his journey to be able to scale that Waterfall, that or some climbing equipment to scale the walls, but this is going to be trouble, Lockjaw doesn't know Waterfall and I don't have a Pokemon who coul-wait, what am I thinking?", Curt said as he slapped himself on the top of his head. He reached towards his belt, threw out a Pokeball, and in a bright flash of light, their stood a bulky, eight foot, grumpy looking Dragonite.

"I can just have Whips fly us up the falls, this cave is more then spacious enough for him to fly around in, uh, that is, if you don't mind carrying us Whips", Curt said to the dragon with a sheepish smile. Whips responded with a loud snort, he didn't exactly enjoy being ridden around like a prized Ponyta or a toy horse for children at a fair. But still, the Dragonite turned around and pointed to his back, signaling that it was O.K for them to get on. Curt guessed that Whips was being sympathetic to Curt's desire to see his little brother, and it wasn't like Whips didn't like Evan, if anything, the Dragonite seemed to enjoy Evans sarcastic sense of humor.

"Alright, thanks Whips", Curt said as he, Embertail, and even Lockjaw managed to climb on the dragons back. Curt wasn't worried about the extra passenger, Whips was plenty strong enough to carry all three of them around the entire Hoenn region with nary an issue, a little trip up the falls would be less then nothing to him. Their path set, Curt turned to Jacob and Nero to discuss their plan of action to head deeper into the falls.

"Alright Jacob, Shakespeare's might be big enough to get you to the top of the falls, or ...", Curt trailed off as he turned to look at Nero with a slight smile, "if I remember correctly, Evan once told me that a Blaziken can easily leap over a thirty story build, if that's true, I''m sure Nero could clear the falls no problem, even with you on his back Jacob!" Curt heard Embertail give an excited roar, even Whips seemed to looking at Nero with an attentive gaze, no doubt, they too wanted to see if there was any truth behind the stories of a Blazikens legendary legs.

 

[dragonspit999]

Rick ran very quickly, leaping over rocks and around boulders with ease, Neon, his Umbreon, close behind. After a little while of this, however, he had to stop and catch his breath... and suddenly, from behind him, the boulders they dodged around went flying off the side of the mountain and a group of five Golems loudly clashed against each other as they ran towards Rick, seeing which got to him first. Rick quickly decided that was enough breath, and sprinted further forward. Neon followed closely behind, having the advantage of being smaller and more agile.

After a short run, however, Rick was beginning to think he was getting lucky. These Golems were tough. They were shoving boulders out of their way like it was nobody's business. Almost too lucky... Then he looked forward... And almost screamed. He was standing right on the edge of an outcropping. The Golems closed in. They were about 25 feet away, and Neon looked up to Rick for an idea. Rick simply glanced down, looked at Neon and said "Jump." As surprise crossed Neon's face, Rick leaped off the side. Neon was unsure about this, but glanced behind himself and seen the approaching Golems and decided to go with it.
As Neon hit the ledge 10-12 feet below the cliff, he heard "In here!" Rick was simply chilling on a stool-sized rock inside the cave, waiting on him.

However, as they both sat inside the cave entrance, they realized there was nowhere to go but further in the cave. They didn't have any climbing gear, and the cliff lead far down. Therefore, the only logical decision was to venture further in for a way out. Before going, however, Rick released Shade, his Greninja.

"Okay. So we've got ourselves in a pickle here... We have to go further IN to the cave to get OUT... who knows whats in there, though... Want to take a look from the shadows?" asked Rick, ever so politely.

She simply grunted and began to go forth into the cave. After about 3 minutes of waiting, Rick and Neon followed.

((OOC: Should I just have my character meet you guys at the waterfall?))

 

[Trucro]

“Yea, Shakespeare’s a bit small,” Jacob replied to Curt, smiling. “But I guess it’s time to introduce you.” He pulled a pokeball from his belt and released it into the air. In a flash of white, a large figure appeared, towering over Jacob, and Curt and his pokemon. The Golurk slowly rose to its full height of 9 foot three, looking down at the others. Jacob turned to Curt. “This is Stargazer. I’m sure he can bring me and Nero to the top.”

Stargazer reached forward, holding out his hand. Jacob climbed up onto the pokemon’s hand, and the Golurk slowly raised its hand to his shoulder. Jacob crawled onto Stargazer’s shoulder, and looked over at Nero. The Blaziken sighed before leaping into the air, landing on Stargazer’s other shoulder. After rearranging himself, Nero took a seat in a huff. The pokemon obviously didn’t like being carried.

“Well,” Jacob said, turning back towards Curt. “Shall we?” As he said this, Stargazer’s hands retracted into its forearms, and jets of fire burst from the resulting holes. Similarly, its legs retracted, and fired a much larger stream of fire, lifting the large pokemon into the air, with Jacob and Nero balancing on its shoulders.

 

[dragonspit999]

As Shade went further into the cave, she seen a waterfall and many figures, some human. She went back to Rick, who was a little behind to report. After hearing all this, Rick put Shade away. Rick and Neon continued forward, only to approach the others. Rick figured the best way to not scare these people was to come right out and tell them who he was. He was kinda menacing, especially with all of his Dark-type pokemon, but it came with the thug life territory. He got used to it.

"Hey!" Rick yelled, in a friendly manner. Rick figured that it would be easier to ask for directions out and explain his dilemma. If anything, they could use some help with whatever they were doing. Rick had nothing better to do.

"Do you guys or gals know if this way leads out of the cave by chance? I kind of have an issue with a small horde of very angry Golems back there. They didn't follow me in, but I can't leave that way."

 

[Curtkid]

"Holy crap, is that a...", Curt said moments before Whips began acceding to the top of the falls. Even the mighty Dragonite had to take a moment to take Stargazer in, Embertail was wide eyed and smiling at such an impressive Pokemon, where as Lockjaw just grabbed on to Whips back a little tighter. Lockjaw wasn't nearly as prone to freak outs as he was when he was a Totodile, but he still could be a bit jump at times. Thankfully, he wasn't so frightened as to start panicking and running about.

Double checking to make sure everyone was all set, Whips followed Automaton Pokemon to the top of the falls. The falls weren't very big and in just a few short seconds of accent aside the loud, roaring falls, they all touched down onto the up floor of the caverns. After making sure everyone made it to the top O.K, Curt went over to get a better look at Stargazer, with Embertail following closely behind him.

"Man, I've heard so much about these guy's, but this is my first time seeing one up close, uh, Stargazer's a Golurk right, the Pokemon that's been nicknamed "The Giant Robot Pokemon"?", Curt asked Jacob. He knew Jacob had some rare Pokemon, but man, a Golurk was an exceptionally rare find. Curt read about these Pokemon, they were the evolved forms of Golett, a Pokemon created in ancient times to guard and protect people and Pokemon alike, and would only evolve after it had trained enough to regulate the massive energy source that powered them. No one knew what this energy source was, though there were dark rumor's about saying that these Pokemon were actually powered by the souls of Human beings, or even other Pokemon! But still, those were just rumors, and ones that very few people took much stock in, still, they made for fun stories to tell around a campfire.

"So where did you find this guy, I've heard their only known location is- huh?", Curt was cut off by a noise from the other end of the cavern. Curt squinted his eye's at what appeared to be two figures walking towards them. As they walked closer, the two figures revealed themselves to be a black haired man around their age and about as tall as Curt, by his side was an Umbreon who seemed to be missing half his right ear. Curt thought that quiet the interesting coincidence, as his teams Jolteon, Raviel, was missing most of his right-ear as well. Curt briefly wondered if that he lost it in a similar manner as Raviel did, until he saw Embertail walking over to introduce himself. Sometimes that guy was too friendly, either way, he figured he'd go over a introduce himself as well.

"Um, h-h-hello, my names Curt, and this is Embertail", Curt said motioning towards Embertail, who was now eagerly waving at the two new arrivals," as you can see Embertail is very friendly, behind me are Whips, that's the Dragonite, and the Croconaw's name is Lockjaw". Curt said as he nodded his head towards the other two Pokemon. Lockjaw had walked out from behind Whips, but still eyed the new comers with a bit of suspicion, where as Whips just gave a passive glare at the two.

"Did you say you guy's got trapped here, hehe, hey Jacob, does that really sound familiar or what?", Curt called out to his friend, "Oh, Jacob got trapped with us in a Cave all the way over in Kalos a few months ago, it along sotry, hehe."

"Eeeerough", Embertail growled as he waved them towards the rest of the group.

"Oh, yeah, Embertails right, you should go introduce yourself to Jacob and his team, they're a bit more wary of new people, but plenty friendly when you get to know them", Curt smiled as he began to turn toward Jacob, "oh, by the way, what did you say your name was?"

 

[Trucro]

Curt’s reaction to Stargazer(Golurk) was priceless. The look of awe on his face was not only unexpected, but thoroughly enjoyable to Jacob, who rarely got those kind of stares. And Stargazer was a pretty impressive pokemon. Golurks were notoriously difficult to find, and even more difficult to control. Luckily for Jacob, Stargazer was a very peaceful pokemon. From what Jacob knew, Golurks rarely had strong personalities, being more robotic than anything. But Jacob could see that Stargazer was more than that.

After reaching the top of the waterfall, Nero quickly began acting up. He leaped from Stargazer’s shoulder, almost violently. His head jerked around until he found the source a young man and an Umbreon walking towards them. Curt realized before Jacob could react, and ran over to the man. Jacob dropped from Stargazer’s shoulder, landing beside Nero. He was wary of newcomers, not just because he had been an introvert all his life, but since he left Team Rocket, anyone could be an enemy. From people he had stolen from to members of Team Rocket looking to drag him back to the Boss, new people always brought danger.

Jacob waved to Stargazer and Nero to stand back as he took a few steps forward. Without saying anything, he walked up closer to Curt. He was still several meters away when Curt turned and pointed to him. Jacob put on an obviously false smile and nodded towards the new guy.

“Hi,” Jacob said rigidly. “Who did you say you were?” He tried not to sound rude, speaking in as light a tone as he could muster.

 

[dragonspit999]

"Oh, Kalos... I come from Kalos," Rick pronounced. Rick had a small laugh, then examined the cavern and all of the figures it contained. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Curt, and Curt's pokemon. To you, as well, ... Jacob, was it? I am Rick, and this is Neon, my loyal but apathetic Umbreon." Neon simply shrugged at being talked about. He wasn't just a little apathetic. He would do stuff when told, or when he thought he needed to, but it wasn't often that he thought about anything, really. At least, he never opened up to Rick about anything. Not in a long time, anyways, thought Rick.

"Also on my belt are Shade, my lovely Greninja, and Jace, my worrisome Absol. They like to stay in their ball when not needed, however. Don't look at me, I have no idea why," Rick explained. I wonder if the ultraballs they sit in are actually better than regular pokeballs.. They catch more, but do they look better on the inside? Heck, what does any pokeball look like on the inside? Do they even actually go inside? Slowly, Rick began to realize he didn't know the first thing about how pokeballs worked. Back on track! thought Rick. "But yes, I'm stuck by some Golems. Are you guys going out of the cave?" asked Rick, wondering if there was another exit.

 

[Curtkid]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, a single Golem is dangerous enough, but getting ambushed by several at once would send even the toughest trainers and their Pokemon running", Curt said, his voice showing a sense of sympathy for the man, "but I'm sorry to say, we're actually going further into the caves, you see, we're, um...". Curt stopped as he began to consider what he was about to say. They didn't know Rick from Adam, and perhaps telling him about the supposed treasure Evan had uncovered wasn't the best idea. Call him suspicious, but after his incident with Team Rocket Curt had become a little bit more wary of new people, and he wasn't completely sure he could trust this guy. For all he know, another group could have uncovered this treasure before Evan and were aiming to keep others away from it, an not through entirely legal ways. Plus, he had to say his choice in Pokemon were, interesting.

All of them were Dark Types, and rather powerful ones at that, not to mention the perfect Pokemon for an Ambush. Umbreon's were master's of darkness, not only could they blend into it as though becoming a the darkness itself, they had the power to wield it like a weapon. Greninja were equally stealthy, able to hide in the shadows so well they we're practically invisible and then launch powerful attacks from seemingly nowhere, they weren't "The Ninja Frog" Pokemon for nothing. As for the Absol, well, aside from being officially recognized as "The Disaster Pokemon", they were known to be extremely viscous if provoked.

(But then again, if Rick meant us harm, why tell us that he was carrying such strong Pokemon, if I was planning an ambush, I would either pretend to be carrying very weak Pokemon, or not any Pokemon at all), Curt thought. Curt looked at Embertail as though asking him for some advice on how to handle this, Embertail, as Curt expected, tilted his head towards Rick and Neon and let out a soft growl, making it clear the he though they should give him a chance. Curt looked back at Whips and Lockjaw, where as Lockjaw defiantly still looked at their newcomers with a clear look of suspicion on his face, Whips, outside of keeping an eye on them, seemed somewhat indifferent towards their new arrivals.No, Curt doubted Rick and his team meant them any ill will, at least not yet. Besides, even a fool wouldn't try to attack them, considering the Pokemon that currently accompanied Curt and Jacob.

"My brother's training in this cave and I'm looking to find him, haven't seen him in a while you know, and my friend Jacob here decided to tag along", Curt replied to Rick. It wasn't even a lie, Evan was training in the cave when he came across that artifact, and he HADN'T seen his little brother in a while and was looking forward to seeing him again, he just left out the parts about the treasure, for now.

"What about you, why are you guy's here?", Curt asked Rick, trying to redirect the topic back towards him.

 

[dragonspit999]

Rick say Curt eyeing him. He had seen it plenty before. It was suspicion. It came with the territory of his past. He expected as much, but it still hurt a tiny bit each time he had to see it. No matter, thought Rick. These people look like fine enough people... I'll just have to prove myself for once...

"I understand the mistrust... You have every right to. Again, the only reason I'm in the cave was due to the Golems, but I was initially just training on the mountain here," explained Rick. "But, since I've been distracted from that, mind if I tag along? I mean, I was training up there, and you said he's training. I'll understand if you do..." Rick sighed, realizing he'd still have to find an unblocked exit if they said no. Maybe I could make one somehow...

Neon glanced around at the other pokemon he could be walking beside. Normally, he didn't care about much, but if for some reason something happened and these two trainers turned on Rick, these pokemon were huge and looked significantly tougher than the other option, the Golems.

 

[Curtkid]

Curt mulled over Rick's words in his head. He almost immediately felt guilty at his initial mistrust towards the man, which he must have made obvious if Rick picked up on them so quick. Really, he gave no real reason for either of them to mistrust him outside of his sudden appearance from no where. Curt did notice what seemed to be Rick evaluating their Pokemon, and from what Curt could gather from the mans expression, he seemed to be more intimidated by their Pokemon then the horde of Golems that drove them in here.

Now that Curt thought about it, even IF Rick knew about the treasure and wanted to keep them from it, he would have high tailed it out of here to get some back up the moment he saw their traveling party. Stargazer was huge and intimidating just on appearances alone, and Curt was positive the Golurk's bite was just as nasty as it's "bark" so to speak. Nero just had the look of a Pokemon you didn't want to cross, plus having the power to kick a person (and most Pokemon) clear through the walls of the cave defiantly served as a deterrent to attacker. As for Curt's team, Embertail and Lockjaw may not seem like much but they were deceptively fierce battlers when the situation called for it, and then there was Whips. Curt had learned one thing about battling people with a Psuedo-Legendary, and that whenever he threw Whips out, both trainer and Pokemon got this expression on their face that could only be described as "Oh Crap".

Curt didn't doubt Ricks team was dangerous in their own right, but just about anyone would be a fool to try and attack them while they stayed together. Still, Curt had to admit it to himself, Rick had the face of a thug, a man who had been in a lot of trouble in his life and had been shaped by it, but his voice carried a tone that stuck with Curt. It seemed like he was used to being mistrusted, and that garnered sympathy for him. Besides, Rick sounded like a nice guy, and Neon seemed like a friendly Pokemon as well, and if there was one thing Curt learned on his journey; it was that you can tell a lot about a Person by their Pokemon. Curt looked at Embertail one more time for a form of support, to which the goofy Charmander happily supplied with a thumbs up, it was clear the Embertail's train of though was along the same line as Curt.

"Well, Embertail seems to like you (then again he likes just about everybody), so if Jacob and his team don't object, I don't see why you can't come along", Curt said trying to give Rick a warm smile, "but just to give you a heads up, we're going deeper into the caves, so it might be a bit before we find a way out". Curt turned to look at the deeper, a noticeably smaller, pathway that lead to the lower lever's of Meteor Falls. Embertail suppressed a shutter, he hated tight, enclosed spaces, it was one of the reasons he wasn't fond of Pokeballs. still the tunnel to the lower levels still looked just spacious enough for Stargazer to just barely be able to squeeze through if it wanted to, so he supposed it wouldn't bother him too much.

"Oh, another thing, we're looking for singe marks in the shape of feathers that maybe scattered around the caves, it's how my brother marked his path through here, so if you see any, please let us know", Curt told Rick before turning to address Jacob, "Well Jacob, any objections, or shall we keep moving?"

 

[dragonspit999]

Rick nodded, glad that Curt had decided to keep him around. He wasn't used to sticking in a group, but he liked it when it happened. Neon also seemed glad, probably wondering how flat the Golems could have made us if Curt said no. Rick didn't know what kind of danger was to be expected in these caves here. He didn't exactly PLAN on coming in here. However, the other two trainers looked like they could handle themselves.

"I'll keep an eye out, and so will Neon," Rick replied. Neon also nodded, looking to the left and right all around the cavern, as if in amazement. It actually was a lot larger than he was expecting. If only one part of this cavern was this large, who knows how large the other parts were. Rick may have been adventurous in the older days, but even then, his adventures was pretty limited to a more modern landscape. It was interesting, being out here in the wilds. For one, pokemon could be simple, annoying little Zubats or a deadly squad of territorial Golems. On the streets, it was straightforward. Very few stray pokemon. All belonged to somebody. Those that didn't wanted to. Rick was lucky he had gotten his hands on the pokemon that he did. His pokemon were part of what made his name.

Rick decided to release Jace. If any problems were to arise, Jace had his back covered. Not only that, but Jace was also very observant. Especially if the thing to be observing was danger. Absols' natural habitats is the mountains, so Rick was pretty sure that Jace would catch any natural dangers. As he released Jace, Jace was instantly in a state of alarm. Usually, when released with other trainers and pokemon around, a fight was expected. Rick assumed Jace was awaiting orders, and crouched beside him to calm him. His senses were no good if he was already worried. Neon looked a little jealous of the attention, but not very much due to his apathetic personality. Rick waited on the word to leave, petting Jace and telling him to be on the lookout for the small markings.

 

[Trucro]

“Uh….. yea sure, he can come.” Jacob wasn’t thrilled about their new member. Rick was new, and a dark pokemon trainer, which Jacob particularly mistrusted. Curt was far too trusting, Jacob thought. After all, he put his faith in Jacob without knowing who Jacob truly was at first. How could he be trusted to know if this guy was safe? Jacob hid a sneer at the man before turning back towards his Golurk. “Stargazer, come on back,” he said, recalling the pokemon. The large, robot-looking pokemon disappeared into Jacob’s small pokeball, which he promptly placed on his belt with his others. With a nod towards Nero, suggesting he keep an eye on Rick, Neon and Jasper, the group was off.

Nero continued to light up the cave with the flames on his arms, along with help from Embertail’s tail. It was enough light to be able to see the ceiling of the cave. The roof was much lower than the previous cavern, and the walls closed in as well. The growing group of them, now numbering 7, struggled to fit through the increasingly small corridors of the cave. Of course, there was plenty of light, as the tightening of the rooms meant that Nero and Embertail would have to light up less space. Still, there was no sign of Evan. Jacob was beginning to think they were heading in the wrong direction when something orange caught his eye. He walked over to the Torchic feather and held it up to show Curt.

“Looks like we’re heading the right way, eh?”

 

[Curtkid]

"Yep, let's just keep following down this path", Curt replied to Jacobs find. They continued their walk down the dark cave, Curt heard that Dragon Tamer's would venture deep into the falls hoping to find a rare Dragon Pokemon, but Curt had to wounder how they could hope to find anything in this darkness. Even with Embertail and Nero giving them a source of light, they could only see a few feet ahead of themselves before the cavern was once again consumed by the darkness. Thinking of the darkness impulsed Curt to check on his claustrophobic friend. Though Embertail still had that signature smile of his on his face, Curt thought it looked a bit strained, even through the darkness. Lockjaw was fine, traveling along side Whips had always helped keep the alligator Pokemon calm, and Curt had to admit, he wasn't the only one.

Just then, Curt heard Neon give a soft cry, for a second, Curt almost stopped to ask Rick if something was wrong, then Embertail gave a cry too and pointed forward. It was small, but there was the light that marked the tunnels exit. Within minutes, the party made it out of the cave, but what they entered into gave them pause, or at least, it caused Curt to stop and gawk.

They had entered into a cavern similar to the one they first entered into, except this one was, unexpectedly bigger, a lot bigger. The cavern walls stretched up to create a room at least thirty meter's tall, and seemed to be big enough to fit an a town almost the size of Pallet or Newbark in it. Small amounts of foliage littered several spaces in the cavern, growing in the small ray's of light that streamed in through the cracks in the sealing. In the distance Curt could just barely make out great ledges jutting out from the end of the cave, they had small streams of water trickling down them which seemed to come from a completely different area of the Falls. The near-bye stream emitted a faint rush of water that fed into a large lake, it mixed with the faint cries of wild animals and Pokemon alike, and made an almost music-like tone. But the most impressive thing of all, was a great pillar of stone that stood dead center in the caverns underground lake, a few rocks at it base, it seemed to stretch to the roof of the caverns.

"Woah, I heard that the underground cavern rooms of Meteor Falls were a sight to behold, but damn", Curt said to no one in particular. Embertail, Lockjaw, even Whip seemed to be taken in momentarily by the beauty of the underground bio. He and his party were silent for just a moment more, happy to take a minute and take every corner of the massive cavern, until a dreadful though crossed Curt's mind.

"Oh crap, how are we going to find a feather in this place?", Curt said, his words carrying traces of a groan in them. It wasn't unwarranted, given the size of the place, it could hours, maybe even day's to search even inch of this place. Curt racked his brain for a moment, trying to think of some sort of easy solution to locate a feather, but he could only come up with one, and it was one he was sure nobody would like very much.

"Alright guy's, I think we might have to split up here", Curt said, his voice carrying a hint of tiredness to it," I suggest we each search different area's of the cavern and meet back up here in about a hour or so to see if anyone has f-

"GGGGYYYRRROUGHHHHH"

A loud roar that seemed to echo from the roof of the cavern killed the rest of Curt's sentence in his mouth. Immediately everyone started darting around, looking for the source of the cry. For a moment, it seemed whatever caused the noise had passed them by. Curt was just about to say that maybe they should stick together instead, but his words died in his mouth as the sound of great, powerful wings beating against the air reached their ear's as a figure from a top that great pillar decent upon them, and it was a figure that Curt recognized.

Massive, red wings beat against the creatures blue scaly body as it flew down ever closer to them. They could now clearly see it's white underbelly, covered in thicker scales then the rest of it's body, so much thicker they almost looked like stone. But the most terrifying aspect about it, the thing that shook even the bravest of souls to their core and had them cowering in fear, was it's gaze. It's eye's were like death.

In little more then a second, the mighty beast was already almost upon them, apparently the legends of its speed were not exaggerations. In that moment, the monster opened it's might jaw as what appeared to be was a great, white energy concentrated in the center of it's mouth. Curt knew what this attack was, just as he was sure that Jacob and Rick knew what it was,

"Oh shit- EVERYONE MOVE!", Curt yelled, as though anyone needed to be told. They all dived out of the way as the Salamance let loose a mighty Hyper Beam, the attack vaporized everything in it's path as what seemed to be a string of explosions followed it, ensuring anything that was near-bye suffered as well.

Curt let out a cough as he tried to right himself as quickly as he could. He immediately began looking around for his friend, Embertail was almost right next to him, thank goodness, with Whips and Lockjaw just a bit farther off, also thankfully unharmed(though Lockjaw did look like he was about to have one of his panic attacks). His team picked themselves up fairly quick, Embertail let out a nervous laugh, probably trying to lighten the mood but instead he just sounded like he was about to crack. Whips, seeing that his teammates were O.K, began hovering a few feet above the ground, scouting for their attacker. Whips wasn't stupid, true he maybe the only Pokemon that could fight a Pokemon like a Salamance on an even playing field, but this area was the Salamances turf. To chase after it in it's home domain, would be extremely dangerous, even for the Dragonite. They all needed to regroup and come up with a plan, speaking of which...

"E-everyone alright?", Curt asked as he looked behind him. Thankfully Jacob, Nero, Rick, Neon, and Jace all seemed relatively unhurt. Seeing that everyone was alright, Curt immediately began looking around for the Salamance. To his good fortune(though it certainly didn't feel good), he spotted the Salamance fairly quickly. It appeared to be soaring high in the cave, weaving in and out of the Stalactites, no doubt trying to catch its breathe from using the Hyper Beam. This was good, this at least gave them a brief moment to think.

Curt knew a lot about Dragon-Type Pokemon, they were his favored kind of Pokemon and he always geeked out a bit when he saw one (he didn't calm down for a week after he caught Whips all those years ago), he would probably be freaking out over running into a Salamance if it wasn't trying to kill them. He saw the great dragon soar around the cavern, constantly keeping it's eye's on them, waiting for another chance to strike. It didn't take a genius to figure out the Salamance was keeping to the sky's, the Dragon Pokemon wasn't stupid, it saw how big their group was and how strong the Pokemon that were among them, to land would make it an easy target. No, he was either going to just stay on blasting them with long range attack forcing them into an aerial battle.

"Guy's, I'm not sure how much you know about Salamances, but it's pointless to weight for it to land", Curt told the group, his voice unusually somber," a Salamance will never tire itself out from flying, and it probably knows this area inside and out, so even if it does get tiered it can just hide and rest up, then hit us again".His face filled with worry, Curt looked at his own Dragon Pokemon, him and Whips stared at each other for a moment, before Whips gave out a loud roar before giving Curt a cock-sure grin.

"So we're going to have to bring the fight to it, it maybe trying to limit our fighter's by forcing us to an aerial battle, but he's about to learn who he just invited to the sky's", Curt said, his voice now full of confidence as he returned Whips grin, "even restricted to an aerial battle, we have it out numbered, it may know the terrain, but if we can box it in and prevent it from running away, that won't matter for much". This was going to be a tough fight, but they had been in tight situations before, some of them right alongside Jacob. As for Rick, well, he and his Pokemon seemed like the type of people who weren't strangers to trouble. The Salamance was getting ready to turn around for a second attack, they needed to hurry up if they hoped to box it in.

"Jacob, I don't think I have to tell you who you should choose, and Rick, I know you don't have a flying type, but.....", Curt said as he cast a quick glance at the sides of the caverns and the the great pillar, "how good is Shade at scaling walls?"

 

[Trucro]

Jacob nodded to Curt as he reached for a pokeball. He was right; it was an easy choice. As he released the pokeball, it opened revealing his Togekiss, Shakespeare. As a flying type, it would be able to play a role in the air, and as a fairy type it had the advantage against a dragon type like Salamence.

“Shakespeare,” he called out as the pokemon began to orient himself. “Over there’s a Salamence,” he said, pointing behind Shakespeare. The Togekiss spun around, and almost jumped backwards upon seeing the beast. Salamence was an impressive pokemon, more powerful than anything Jacob had at his disposal. But in a team with Curt and Whips, he had no doubt they would win. A Dragonite should be able to hold its own against any pokemon, even Salamence.

As Shakespeare and the others were preparing themselves for battle, the Salamence had turned back towards them. Now fully recharged, it was preparing for another attack. Despite their last dodge, the group was still too close together; any major attack that hit one of them would hit all of them. As the Salamence opened its mouth to fire an attack, Jacob gave orders.

“Shakespeare, use Aura Sphere now!” The pokemon quickly released an orb of energy sent flying towards the Salamence. The dragon pokemon flew out of the way with ease, avoiding the attack, but delaying his own. The Salamence was much faster than Jacob had hoped; any successful attack would require some positioning. But for that, he’d need Whips.

 

[Curtkid]

Curt couldn't help but express a small smile. Though they hadn't known each other very long, Jacob knew exactly what was on Curts mind, they'd probably make a solid tag team for double battles, if they made it out of this . Now, however, he had no time to think on that, the Salamance was closing in, and Jacob and Shakespeare had bought them a window.

"Alright Whips, intercept it with Dragon Rush", Curt commanded to the Dragonite. Whips was happy to oblige, a faint, light blue aura surrounded him as he rocketed to intercept the other dragon. Normally, Dragon Rush was a somewhat inaccurate move, the amount of raw physical strength required of the user often slowed them down a little. Thankfully, the Salamance wasn't currently focused on Whips, the sudden attack from the Fairy Pokemon demanding it's attention, and, by the time the Salamance saw what was coming, it was to late to dodge.

Or at least, that was what Curt thought. Turns out, that the Salamance was faster then he had anticipated and, despite the short time it had to react, managed to pull itself mostly away from Whips attack. It wasn't all for not though, Whips did manage to graze the other Dragon Pokemon, leaving it with a decent sized wound just under its wing. The Salamance spiraled for a bit before catching itself and righting itself in the air as Whips soared past it, the aura fading from the Dragonite as he steady himself.

"O.K, not as effective as we hoped, but still, it wounded, if we press out attack, maybe we can defeat it without suffering much damage", Curt thought, actually starting to feel somewhat hopeful at their chances of success, until.

"GYYYROOUGH", the mighty beast roared as great sphere's of energy materialized just above Whips, glowing in what appeared to be a sickly blue flame. Curt squinted his eye's, trying to get a better look at what the dragon summoned just about Whips. They almost looked like....

"Meteors! WHIPS MOVE NOW!", Curt yelled in a panic. Whips wasted no time as he attempted to weave in and out of the Draco Meteor attack, for a brief second, it looked like Whips was going to make it through the attack unscathed. Unfortunately, one of the last in the long barrage of meteor's struck the Dragonite, sending him plummeting to the ground and knocking up a huge amount of dust.

"Oh shi-, WHIPS!", Curt yelled, his voice full of concern for his Pokemon. He heard Embertail and Lockjaw let out cries of their own, equally concerned about the fate of their friend. As the dust clouds, they could just make out the image of Whips bringing himself to his feet, a fierce look plastered on the Dragonites face. It was clear the attack hurt him, but Whips was far from out of the fight yet. Their relief was short lived, however, as the Salamance let out another roar and, despite the previous inflicted wounds from Whips' Dragon Rush, launched a powerful Double-Edge attack. The target was not, to their unfortunate surprised, was not directed at the injured Whips, instead, the Salamance decided to go after the closer target.

"Jacob, the Salamance in aiming for Shakespeare!", Curt yelled to his friend, who was no doubt all ready aware of the situation. Though Whips was able to pick himself up, there was no way he could move fast enough to intercept the Salamance. It was up to Jacob and Shakespeare to make it through this one.

 

[Trucro]

“Shakespeare!” Jacob called out as the Salamence barreled towards the fairy-type. “Use Extreme Speed!” Shakespeare was already in motion fleeing from the Salamence, with the wild dragon gaining quickly. Shakespeare was just too small to cross the same space in the same time. As soon as he heard Jacob’s orders, he began to glow and pick up speed. Unfortunately, it was too late. The Salamence was already too close, and it smashed into the Togekiss, sending the pokemon crashing to the ground. Shakespeare smashed into a stalagmite, and rocks fell to the ground surrounding the pokemon.

“Shakespeare!” He called out again after his pokemon, who did not remerge from the pile of rocks. He didn’t move his feet however, only furrowing his brown as he looked at the pile. He saw movement beneath, and nodded to himself. Shakespeare poked his head out from beneath rocks, and shook it back and forth. Jacob sighed in relief. Nero stepped forwards, prepared for battle. The pokemon was not a fan of watching pokemon battles and not taking part, especially if they were fighting a powerful opponent. Jacob reached out his right arm, shooting it across the Blaziken’s torso. Curt had been right; flying pokemon were probably their best shot. Nero would be at a huge disadvantage, and he didn’t want to risk his Blaziken’s safety.

“Curt,” Jacob began, looking to his side. “I think we need-” He began but was interrupted by the roaring Salamence, who began to charge towards them. All the force of the dragon pokemon’s momentum was sent flying towards the group. Both Whips and Shakespeare were too far away to intercept. “NERO!” Jacob shouted as he dropped his arm, and the Blaziken leapt into action. Glowing red and blue, his agility increased as he began his Brave Bird attack. Crossing his arms, Nero pushed off the ground into the air. He slammed into the Salamence from the side, pushing its trajectory to the left.

The dragon pokemon crashed into the ground, sliding across the cavern floor just a few feet from the group. Nero himself had lost control, and dropped to the ground. He quickly rose to his feet, but there was no question that the attack hadn’t taken a lot out of him. Brave Bird attacks always drained his energy, and to summon enough strength quickly enough to move a pokemon like the Salamence put a particular strain on his body. Meanwhile, Shakespear had taken to the air, making his way over to the group rather slowly. It was clear his wings had been damaged in the attack, but Jacob knew that the Togekiss still had some fight left, and he was still the only pokemon on either team with a type advantage. As they regrouped, the Salamence had risen to its feet, and roared loudly once more.

“All together now,” Jacob said to Curt as well as his own pokemon, still keeping his eyes on the dragon pokemon. “If Nero, Shakespeare, and Whips all attack at once...”

 

[Softty]

A trickle of light streamed through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating the surrounding floor with a soft glow. Basking in this light, a silhouette stood in the middle, their arm raised towards the light.
Connection Failure
"That makes sense." They sighed, tucking their device into their black leather varsity. Adjusting their white baseball hat, a lock of platinum slipped past from their cap that shadowed their features. Nearby, a Gible sniffed at a bed of beautiful and rare flowers. It's beady black eyes stared at their white intricate petals, simply holding its gaze before chomping the plant whole without expression.
"Gibson?" The stranger called, searching for the little menace as he stared into the distance in a expressionless daze. He didn't react as a red light drew him back into his pokeball.
"GGGYROUGHHH."
The stranger startled, spinning on their heels at the distant cry of a Pokemon. In the following moment, they could feel the tremor and echoes of an explosion.

As the Salamence rose to its feet, it began to seethe, enraged by the many intruders that had crossed him. A crackle of fire began to blaze between its teeth, creating an inferno ready to incenerate everything in its path- the move Fire Blast.
However before it could launch its attack, an ice beam shot at the Salamence, catching it off guard and simmering down the flames in its mouth. From a nearby distance, a Blastoise stood by the side of his trainer, his cannons high and ready, positioned to aim at the dragon. A feminine voice called out to the three, her words carried by the echoe of the cave.
"Are you guys alright?!"

 

[Curtkid]

Yeah, Jacob, I think we should-", Curt was cut of by the loud roar of fire, the Salamance was preparing a mighty Fire Blast, and was aiming it right at them. A lot of things could be said about this Salamance, but it defiantly had a fast reaction time, Whips had picked himself up, he could get a shot in at the Dragon, but he wouldn't be able to move quick enough to intercept the attack. Immediatly, Embertail and Lockjaw jumped in front of them, Embertail began to prepare himself to charge at the attack while Lockjaw readied a Water Gun attack.

"Guy's wait, hold on a second", Curt yelled. He knew what they were thinking, they hoped that Lockjaws Water Gun would be enough to soften the blast for Embertail to be able to tank it. But before they could put their plan into action, or even before Curt could try and take them and run, a loud hiss echoed through the cavern, as what appeared to be an Ice Beam had preemptively cut of the Salamances Fire Blast attack. He didn't know where the attack came from, and right now, Curt didn't care, all that mattered was that they had a window of opportunity, and they weren't going to let that slip from there fingers!

"WHIPS, NOW!", Curt yelled to the Dragonite. Whips wasted no time as a faint blue aura encased him and he charged at Salamance, this time, Whip's Dragon Rush hit his mark. The Salamance let out a great roar as he buckled underneath the attack, finally, it went down. Curt let out a sigh of relief, and only now did it occur to him to see where the attack came from. Looking to his right, he saw a young girl, with an impressive looking Blastoise at her side, asking them if they were alright.

"Yeah, thanks for that, you saved out hides", Curt said, a smile of relief on all their faces, but it didn't last. Their eye's grew wide as the Salamance, despite it's injuries, managed to pick itself up, a look of pure hatred in it's eye's send shivers down their spins, even the normally unflinching Whips felt himself suppress a shiver from running down his spine. At first, Curt thought they were going to be O.K, the Salamance was very weak, and it was three on one, they could handle it.

Then another cry echoed from the top of the stone pillar.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me", Curt said as he saw another, larger shadow descend upon them. The Salamances mate had arrived, Curt assumed this one was the female due to being a bit bigger then the first one, and probably would be harder to bring down. Still ,the fact that they had a new ally with them kept their spirits up, if the girl and her team where their to help them, for whatever reason, they could make it through this. It didn't help though, that the den mother had decided to target the Blastoise as it began charging a Dragon Pulse at it, but that wasn't all.

From the corner of his eye's, Curt saw several Deino's approaching the battlefield from the shadows! Curt had heard of this, how a Salamances mere roar could impose their will on wild Pokemon and have them fight for them, especially Dragon types. It seemed like they weren't the only ones to receive reinforcements, the other Dragons desperately trying to even the scales. The Deino's, despite being small and blinds, approached them with malice in their cries, as though they had personally assaulted them and were looking for vengeance.

"Jacob, if you and your team could, help out our new arrivals with the matriarch, Whips can finish off the first one and be there to help you as soon as we can, we'll also take care of the Deino's, but if you feel you can send one of your teammates to help out, I will defiantly not complain, speaking of which...", Curt told his friends and then turned to Embertail and Lockjaw," alright, I've kept you guy's out of the action long enough, you two know what Dragon Pokemon don't like, I'll keep an eye out for any other surprises, just make sure Whips doesn't get overwhelemed by those Deino's, and give'm Hell".

Embertail gave an excited roar as he ran towards the Deino horde with a readied Dragon Claw, Lockjaw, noticeably much less eager then Embertail, took a quick breath, before intercepting the rampaging Deino's with an Ice Fang. Curt wasn't worried, he had seen several Deino's before, those blind dragons looked vicious, but Curt could tell even from here that they weren't that strong, Embertail and Lcokjaw working together could handle it and if Jacob sent help, all the better.

In spite of being horribly out numbered, the male Salamance, stood it's ground against Whips, the Dragons entangled in a brawl with each other, trying desperately to find an opening on the other. Things had gone from really dangerous to Cataclysmicly bad, but still, Curt believed in their chances of survival. Both he and Jacob were skilled trainers, and if their new arrival could command a Blastoise, then she had to be skilled herself. Curt was just worried that his Pokemon could make it out O.K, and about the fate of his brother. Considering all the danger's they already encountered in the cave, Curt, despite he and his friends being in mortal danger themselves, couldn't help but be worried about the state of his brother.

 

[Trucro]

Things were moving fast. A woman stood in a hole in the cavern wall with a Blastiose, another, larger Salamence had appeared, and a horde of Deino followed her into battle. Jacob was dumbfounded for a second, frozen in his spot as Curt shouted out the plans.


“Kehhhhhn!” Nero (Blaziken) shouted, and Jacob snapped out of his daze. He turned to Curt and nodded.


“Right, then. Nero, let’s help our new friend. Use flamethrower!” Nero unleashed a beam of fire and cut the female Salamence off from the newcomer as Jacob stepped forward, more or less back to back with Curt. “Shakespeare, let’s see what we can do.” The Togekiss nodded, and, despite being injured, lurched forward into the air, towards the matriarch who had turned her attention towards Jacob and Nero. “Use magical leaf!” Shakespeare waved his wings as glowing leaves appeared and were hurled towards the Salamence. The Salamence merely roared, flapping her wings and stopping the attack in its tracks. She then released a column of purple flames rushing towards Shakeaspeare; a dragonbreath attack.


“Go left!” Jacob shouted to his comrade, but again he was too slow. The Togekiss was hit, and sent tumbling back to the ground. Jacob rushed forwards, reaching out his arms as he caught his falling pokemon. Shakespeare was now severely injured, and entirely unconscious. Jacob gritted his teeth as he glared up at the Salamence. This was not a good position; with Shakespeare beaten, Jacob didn’t have any pokemon that could match the Salamence’s flight. Sure, he had Stargazer, but the pokemon wasn’t as mobil in an enclosed space like this. No, it made more sense now to keep launching attacks, preferably from far away so that it would be possible to dodge. As he recalled Shakespeare, he turned to Nero.


“Come on,” he said. “Flamethrower again!”

 

[Softty]

Her Ninetail like eyes widened, their peculiar colour glossing with admiration as the Dragonite engulfed itself in aura. The Salamence fell, heavy against the earth as its weight echoed throughout the caves. She had heard rumors of the great dragons harboring meteor falls, and in her excitement she had thought of capturing such monstrous powers. Seeing the Salamence now, she realized her foolishness. Some wild pokemon were to be left alone.

The girl looked up at the young man, relieved to see him and the others in one piece. However she couldn’t bring herself to return his smile, as her intuition carved a hollow pit in her stomach. As the fallen Salamence rustled, she and her Blastoise winced. Still, something was off, and it left her subconscious brimming with flashing lights. The girl’s large companion grew tense in unison, and waited for her next command.

Eyes widening, she realized with ice trickling into her veins- another source of the same cry.

“Otis, use protect!”

The Blastoise defensively stepped in front of the girl, its stance wide as he spread his limbs. Within less than a second from erecting his blue barrier, the mother Salamence had released its attack. Dust and debris kicked up from the impact of the Dragon Pulse bursting against the barrier. Salamence claimed its rightful title as the fastest flying type, and this one sitting at the top of its hierarchy. Eyes narrowing, she knew Otis (her Blastoise) was outmatched for speed.

“Crap,” she grumbled, her voice strained with fear and a pinch of thrill. As the Salamence readied for another attack, a burst of flame intercepted it. The girl whipped her head around at the Blaziken and his trainer, nodding in thanks. This would give her enough time and distance.

“Get ready.” Glancing around at their surroundings, she bit her lip. “Taz,” the girl called, and as if it had a mind of its own, her shadow rustled in response. From it, a Gengar emerged. The ghost that possessed her shadow would usually take everything as a joke, a jester in even the toughest situations. However it immediately sensed his trainer’s unusual excitement, and faced the scene with a serious gleam in its eyes. “Keep the Deinos at bay.” With a snicker, the ghost sunk into the floor and appeared above a small horde of Deinos. A purple sludge dripped from its hand as the liquid mass grew larger, the Gengar hurling a Sludge Wave attack.

The girl didn’t worry too much about Taz (her aloof Gengar), but felt anxious at the unfolding scene. She bit her lip in angst as the allied Togekiss fell from the severe blow. In her hand, she gripped an active pokeball, debating to release her third pokemon.

“Otis, accompany the flamethrower.”

Frosted air surrounded the Blastoise, as he collected another Ice Beam in his mouth. It was a dirty tactic, but she knew it had to be done. As the Flamethrower shot at the Salamence from the front, the Ice Beam aimed towards her back.

 

[Curtkid]

Their situation grew more and more intense with each passing second it seemed. The loud noise from the battle could be heard all through out the falls. If anyone else was visiting the outer area of Meteor Falls, they had certainly cleared out by now, frightened of by the sounds of battle and the roar's of dragons. Curt wouldn't have blamed them, a small part of him wanted to run too, but he couldn't abandon his friends here, and what kind of trainer would run from a battle just because it was a little dangerous?

"O.K, maybe more then a little", Curt muttered as he saw Shakespeare brought down by a powerful Flamethrower from the matriarch. Nero attempted a Flamethrower attack on the Salamance with the newcomer cleverly tried to hit it with a sneak attack Ice Beam. If the Ice-Type attack connected it would potentially cripple the female Salamance and victory would be all but assured. Unfortunately, the large female Dragon proved to be rather clever herself, she had kept her eye's on both her opponents and would not be caught of guard so easily. Unable to change her moment enough to dodge both attacks, she flew through Nero's significantly less effective Flamethrower to avoid being hit by the Blastoise's mega-effective Ice Beam.

Curt cursed their luck as he returned his attention to the Deino hoard, though Embertail and Lockjaw were capable of not being overwhelmed by the blind dragons, the Deino's were still proving to be quiet a handful. Curt was debating on sending out another Pokemon, when a massive and impressively accurate Sludge Wave struck three of the five Deino's, knocking two of them out and injuring the third. Curt looked in the attacks direction to see it's sender to be a oddly light-hearted Gengar, though Curt wasn't very fond of Ghost Pokemon, he could of hugged that Gengar for bailing them out. It took Curt a moment to remember there were still three Deino's to take care off, Embertail was momentarily distracted as well, and even with Curt's hasty warning ,was almost hit by a Headbutt from one of the more alert Deino's. Thankfully, his speed allowing him to evade the attack with just a scratch. Lockjaw, however was more paranoid, and there for more on guard and was able to finish of the weakened Deino with an Ice Fang.

"Guy's, now's your chance, quickly gang up on one, finish it quickly, and move on to the other", Curt yelled to his companions. They wasted no time, while the remaining Deino's were in a bit of a panic, having lost most of their party, Embertail and Lockjaw sprung into action, striking the leftwards Deino with a Brick Break and Aqua Tail. Their year's of working together in double battles gave them great symmetry, allowing them both to land their hits without knocking into each other. The final Deino, despite now standing alone, still attempted a Bite attack on Lockjaw, a Dragons Pride preventing him from fleeing the battle. Despite it's bravery, its attack on Lockjaw was quickly intercepted by another Brick Break from Embertail, finally bring it down. Seeing the Deino hoard was finished, Curt allowed himself a small grin, until a massive roar grabbed his attention.

Curt looked to the center of the cavern to see Whips lifting the male Salamance over his head, the Salamance still trying to bite and spit fire at the Dragonite. Finally, Whips let out a mighty roar of his own, lifted the Salamance as high as he could, and slammed him on the ground with a loud "BOOM"! The injured Salamance let out one last moan before finally succumbing to it's wounds at the other dragons feet. Whips let out a sigh and, despite his injuries, stood tall over the Salamance, he wasn't exceptionally proud of his victory, he had some assistance bringing down the Salamance, but it was a good battle, and he was satisfied.

"Haha, great job you guy's", Curt yelled as he ran to his team (while of course, keeping one eye on the remaining Salamance). Embertail and Lockjaw were as little roughed up, but all in all they were far from being in bad condition, Whips however, was a slightly different story. While the cuts and bites he suffered with skirmishing with male Salamance hardly penetrated his thick hide, the Draco Meteor attack left a particularly nasty wound on his back, but thankful avoided damaging his wings and ultimately, while tired and bruised, was in no immediate danger from him wounds.

What was still a danger was the female Salamance, still relatively unharmed and full of energy. Still, she now stood alone, her mate was down along with their backup and she now had to contend with six powerful Pokemon, most of them still in good condition. It looked like the battle was all but theirs, but as any Dragon Tamer will tell you, so long as a Dragon can still fight, NEVER count it out.

For a moment, everything went quiet, even the Matriarch stood still in the air, with a serene expression on her face. One could be forgiven for thinking that she was debating on fleeing the fight, or thinking of a way to even the odds. The calmness on her face seemed extremely out of place, considering her current situation, yet to Curt, it somehow looked...familiar. It took Curt a moment to recognize what the Salamance was doing, and his eye's grew wide with terror when realization struck him.

"Oh crap, JACOB, EVERYONE FINISH HER, QUICKLY, SHE'S GOING TO-"

"GYUUUAGGHHH", the Matriarch roared, a faint red aura glowing around her body as her face embodied an expression that could only be described as murderous fury. This, was Outrage, the most dangerous Dragon Type attack a Pokemon could learn. While Draco Meteor had more raw power overall, it was still relatively controlled and was so taxing on the user, that it quickly grew weaker after the first attack. Outrage however, embodied a Dragons pure rage, drastically increasing a Pokemon's destructive capabilities and caused them to just flat out go berserk and destroy everything in their path. If they didn't stop her now, she could potentially collapse Meteor Falls in it's entirety.

Despite it's blind fury, the matriarch was still able to recognize her biggest threat; Otis. With a terrifying roar, she once again blindly charged at the tortoise Pokemon, no concern was given to her own safety or well being, right now she only wanted everyone in this cavern dead. Curt's mind raced a mile a minute trying to think of something to do. Whips was too tired to do a proper Outrage of his own, and even if he could, two rampaging Dragons would only guaranty this caverns collapse. None of his Pokemon, not even Embertail, would be able to move fast enough to intercept the rampaging Matriarch, besides, he didn't want to risk Embertail or Lockjaw fighting that monster without some sort of strategy. One thing was certain though, they need to stop her now, if they didn't, they'd all whined up buried underneath a mass of stone.

 

[Trucro]

Jacob smiled as Nero's flamethrower attack hit the female Salamence dead on; she had appeared to even move into the attack. Unfortunately, fire type attacks were weak against dragons, but they were the only long-ranged moves that Nero could learn. Jacob thought about bringing another one of his pokemon in for backup, but Shakespeare had already been knocked out and he didn't want to risk another one of his pokemon. Only Nero had the skill to possibly put up a fight.

As Curt and his team defeated the rest of the Deino and the first Salamence, they came up behind Jacob. With them behind him, he felt much safer. After all, Curt had proven himself on more than one occasion, and Jacob trusted him and his team. Although Whips appeared to be worse for wear, Lockjaw and Embertail looked alright, and with their ground support fighting the Salamence could be easier. Of course, Jacob knew that he would have to use Nero to protect them, but hopefully the matriarch would focus on her stronger opponents. He was running through scenarios in his head when Curt spoke.

"Oh crap, JACOB, EVERYONE FINISH HER, QUICKLY, SHE'S GOING TO-" Jacob turned to Curt before quickly jerking his head back to the female Salamence. The pokemon was glowing red, and roared loudly. It was an Outrage attack; Jacob had seen this before only one time, and in a much smaller form. The massive dragon threw all of her weight and rage towards the Blastoise opposite Jacob and Curt. The pokemon was very fast, and Jacob doubted that the Blastoise, not to mention the new trainer who stood nearby, could escape.

"NERO!" He shouted, but Nero was already in action. Flashing red and blue, the pokemon was rushing towards the Salamence from the side in a Brave Bird attack. Jacob wasn't sure that Nero would be able to reach them in time, much less stop the dragon type's charge. It quickly became clear that Nero was too far away. "He's not going to make it," Jacob said to himself under his breath.

 

[Softty]

The flamethrower connected, a full front hit while the ice beam missed its target. To the naked eye, the ice beam had inaccurately aimed and fired; however the girl knew that wasn't right. The Salamence had purposely flown through the flamethrower in order to dodge the second attack. A shiver broke out through her skin as she realized she had interfered with the wrong Pokemon. However her fear wasn't the only source of her trembling, as a small smile cracked under the surface.

Taz backed away from the remaining Deinos, a frown intensifying the sinister look of the ghost Pokemon. In his small hand, a dark orb of a shadow ball began to collect energy. However before he could finish activating the attack, the Deino was swiftly taken care of with an ice fang. The Gengar grimaced, trying to decide if the Charmander and Croconaw were opponents as well; however he remembered his trainer only mentioning the Deinos. The shadow ball disintegrated in his hand as the two Pokemon efficiently took care of the remaining dragons. Close by, a Dragonite had won a battle with another Salamence. He observed the two unfamiliar trainers, scratching the corner of his mouth and slowly piecing together the situation. Having completed his trainers command, he was free of obligations. However he remembered her and Otis, considering their battle taking place.

The girl could see that the Dragonite had won, and she felt a sense of relief towards the well being of these strangers. One would usually feel regret and withdrawal after involving their self with a dire situation; however the girl felt none of that. It was her decision and hasty nature to jump in, reaping the losses.

At the defeat of the male dragon, she had expected a explosive attack. However she flew with a strange and calm demeanour that caught the girl and Otis by awkward surprise. Was she about to retreat from battle?
"Oh crap, JACOB, EVERYONE FINISH HER, QUICKLY, SHE'S GOING TO-"
In a flash of a moment, the Salamence accelerated towards them with death in her eyes. The girl was petrified, her words falling stiff in her mouth at the face of such rage. The Salamence flew out of range of the Blaziken's attack, and Otis knew he had no other choice. Surrounding himself in water, he propelled himself away from the girl with Aqua Jet. There wasn't enough time to counter the dragon with an attack. All he could do was make sure his trainer was safe. Rushing towards the dragon, a look of determination settled in his strong eyes as he took the mothers full rage. He plummeted to the ground with flinching impact
.
Standing at a distance from her companion, the girls breath stopped at her unresponsive Blastoise, laying crippled on the ground. However, consumed by her rage, the dragons attack wasn't over yet. Taking a turn in the air, she shot back towards Otis for another hit. Before she could, Taz intercepted with a shadow claw. Unfortunately he missed, but he was able to direct her away from Otis.
The situation was dire, an angry Salamence with most it's health rampaged in the caves, risking its destruction. Her wings were key to her speed, and if not stopped, everything within Meteor Falls was in trouble. Tightening her grip on the third pokeball in her hand, the girl shouted at her crippled companion.

"Otis, get up!"

The Blastoise laid still and unresponsive, until suddenly he stood. Although severely damaged, he reflected the determination of his trainer. Finally, the girl released her third Pokemon, her reluctance understood as a Steelix stood tall- massively tall.
"Oz (Steelix), harden and use smack down!"
The girl knew the danger of releasing such a large Pokemon. However she needed the Salamence out of the air to create the chance of a unified attack between her and the others remaining Pokemon. Taz, ready with a sludge bomb and Otis with its remaining energy, readying a blizzard attack for when the Salamence came down. If it came down.

 

[Curtkid]

Curt had to admit, whoever this girl was, she was an impressive trainer. Most people would have completely frozen up with fear if they saw a rampaging Salamance charging at them, even after her Blastoise's valiant efforts to keep her safe had resulted in him getting wounded, she pressed on and called forth a massive Steelix to help combat the dragon.

But the Matriarch was still not deterred, now having completely given into her rage, she blindly rammed into the Steelix, the sound of thick scales meeting metal sent shockwaves throughout the cavern. Despite a Steelix's hide being stronger the diamonds, despite Steel being resistant to Dragon attacks, Oz was still under the threat of buckling under the Outrage. He held fast however, even under the pressure, the Steelix refused to give in to the Dragon's fury. Curt knew the resilience of a Steelix well, but even he was impressed by the Iron Snake's determination, however, due to the Pokemon's size, it also prevented Otis and Taz from getting in a good hit. For a second, it looked like Oz's efforts would have been for naught.

Then Nero hit the Matriarch with a surprise Brave Bird attack.

Even a rampaging Pokemon can have the wind knocked out of them if caught of guard, and the Dragon was so focused on trying to overpower Oz (who was keeping her stationary as well) that she didn't even see Nero coming and was sent spiraling. Seeing that they might not get another chance like this , Otis and Taz both unleashed their strongest Blizzard and Sludge Bomb attacks respectively.

Though the Matriarch was able to right herself before hitting the ground, she wasn't able to gain enough momentum to avoid either attacks in their entirety, and was hit with a barrage of Ice and poison, sending her spiraling to the ground with a "BOOM"! Despite her wounds, the female Salamance still tried to pick herself up, but the Outrage had left ended, and left her exhausted. Though her will to fight was impressive, her injuries were to great, and she finally collapsed.

Curt felt his knee's grow slightly weak in relief, just like that, it was over. Behind him he could here Embertail jumping op and down, cheering for joy. Whips let out a soft sigh of relief, and even he was unable to completely suppress a small smile. And Lockjaw just collapsed to the ground painting, but with a huge grin on his face.

"HAHA, WE DID IT GUY'S, WE WON!", Curt yelled as he attempted to scoop his team up in one big group huge, even Whips didn't attempt to fight that. Curt mind was racing with several idea's of what to do next. Seeing as everyone seemed relatively O.K, he and his team quickly agreed on thanking their new arrivals as well as getting a chance to meet them. After quickly checking on Jacob, Nero. and the rest of his team to make sure they were O.K(and thanking them for that timely Brave Bird), they went to meet the new comer's.

"Hey miss, listen, we owe you all big time! If it wasn't for, um...Otis right, Otis's Ice attacks, we would have been royally screwed", Curt said in thanks to the girl and her tired Blastoise, "Oh, where are my manner's, my names Curt, from Cherrygrove, my friends and I came here searching for my little brother". Of course as soon as he was finished, it took all of three seconds for Embertail to walking right to the girl and the tortoise Pokemon and extend a hand in greetings.

"Errrro!"

"Heh, and this friendly little Charmander is Embertail, the shy Croconaw behind me is Lockjaw, they're the one's who that Gengar help out with those Dieno's", Curt said while also motioning to the blue alligator hiding behind his leg, "and the Dragonite who did the WWE slam on the other Salamance is Whips". On being mentioned, Whips gave a short, but polite nod to the girl, a mix between a greeting and a sign of respect towards her and her Pokemon's power.

"Really, we can't thank-you enough, if you hadn't come by, I'm not sure if we would have made it through this, we we're having enough trouble with one Salamance, if that impressive Steelix of yours hadn't given Nero that opening, I don't think we would have...Oh, yeah I suppose I should let Jacob introduce himself, huh?", Curt said, catching himself before he went on a tangent, he got so passionate after a good battle. Still, he decided to hold his enthusiasm until Jacob and Nero got a chance to introduce themselves to the girl and her team, and the girl and her team got a chance to introduce themselves.

 

[Trucro]

As the final Salamence collapsed, Jacob smiled. Nero turned around and, despite being exhausted, smiled back. Really, Nero was the one who saved the day. Without him, even with the newcomer's horde of powerful pokemon, the matriarch may have maintained herself and possibly even defeated them. Nero had spent a good portion of his energy on that last attack, and he was breathing heavy as they looked over at the girl and her pokemon.

"Oh great," Jacob thought to himself as Curt ran over. "A new person." Jacob sighed as he followed along, behind Embrtail, Lockjaw and Whips. Nero followed close behind him, still trying to catch his breath. Jacob forced a smile as he listened to Curt give his off-color introductions, and stepped forward upon being mentioned. "Hi, I'm Jacob," he began looking the girl over, and then her Blastoise, Gengar and Steelix in that order. He turned slightly and pointed back at his Blaziken. "That's my friend Nero." Turning back to the girl, he smiled again. "I really should thank you; that was a tough situation we were in."

As he was talking, Nero walked back over to the group. He was naturally wary o new people as well, and he looked over the girl and her pokemon before his gaze landed on the Blastoise. Nero tended to be competitive with some of the more powerful pokemon he had met; Nero and Whips had an unfinished competition of their own. But the Blaziken had found fresh meet. Otis would make a fine opponent, Jacob thought, but not right now. He reached over and patted Nero's shoulder, reminding him to remain calm. Evidently, Nero had injured his shoulder in his last attack, and he flinched as Jacob first rested his hand on Nero's shoulder.

 

[Softty]

The girl grit her teeth as the Salamence swept under Oz's attack, failing to get her out of the air. The dragon repeatedly rammed herself into the Steelix, and despite his sturdiness, he was taking damage. Oz growled with fury in his eyes, almost on par with the Salamence's rage. He didn't like getting slammed into, but had to contain himself. An attack of his risked the safety of meteor falls, and the last thing he wanted to do was bury his trainer under the rubble. Even without anyone to bury, the Salamence was too fast. The Steelix couldn't handle her himself. As Oz began to weaken, the girl knew she was running out of options while Taz and Otis stood on stand by.

Then they were given the chance. The Blaziken's Brave Bird took even the girl and her team by surprise; however they followed suite and made haste. Despite his state, Otis had mustered a powerful Blizzard, frosting even the area around him. Taz successfully unleashed a large sludge bomb and aimed it directly at the Salamence. The attacks connected, however the dragon still picked herself back up. The girl's lips formed into another chain of attacks, but she paused, and withdrew her commands as she saw the rage seep from the dragon. The Salamence collapsed under her weight, and finally it was over.

It was her chance to hurl a pokeball at the dragon, earning herself a mighty Salamence. Without hesitation or time for relief, the girl slid from the ledge she was on. Instead, she managed to rush over to her pokemon, despite the steep slope. Respecting the battle, all desire to catch the Salamence had left her. Throughout the duration, she was able to remain calm, even while her companions had suffered serious injuries. Many would think her detachment was careless, a burden to the well being of her team. However without any words to be said, they knew her well enough to understand. An apology would have damaged their pride as a team, and her admit to incompetence would have aggravated them. Instead they met eyes in a silent exchange, thanking her team and vowing to grow stronger together.

The girl's gaze shifted to the voice of the approaching stranger, her eyes lit like red opal. Expression darkened by her hat, she looked a little reluctant, giving off a cold and distant demeanor as Curt had introduced himself. However as he spoke, she began to thaw a little, a small smile curving her lips as Embertail extended a hand. Otis looked down at the Charmander, a stern look tightening his expression. He breathed a little heavy, however kept himself standing tall and straight on his feet. Despite his rather intimidating features, Otis seemed to like the little guy as he smirked at his greeting. Taz, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable with the situation and withdrew himself halfway into the girl's shadow. With sinister red eyes, he peered at Curt and his team in the respective order they were introduced. His gaze fell on the Dragonite, remembering his show of sheer power. Leaning his elbow on the ground, Taz propped his head with a hand and snickered. His trainer had met some formidable people.

As Jacob stepped forward to introduce himself and his Blaziken, Oz began to stir restlessly. Behind the girl and her two other pokemon, the iron snake lowered his head to meet their gazes. His blistering glare was directed at the Blaziken. It was supposedly frightening to have such a massive pokemon stare down at someone. On the surface, it looked as if Oz resented Nero. However with deeper judgement, the Steelix looked at the pokemon with gratitude. Oz felt a tinge of hurt pride, as he failed to ultimately assist his team. Instead, Nero was the one that had brought the Salamence down, creating a chance for Taz and Otis. With a slight nod of his head, Oz chuckled, attempting a friendly smile; however it made him look even more menacing.

"I didn't do it to earn your thanks.." The girl said, her unclouded eyes like the clear after a storm. "But I'm glad that you're all safe." With the thrill of battle escaping her, the girl seemed very misplaced standing at the center of a rather intimidating and sinister looking team. She smiled at Curt, Jacob and their pokemon, looking more like a young lady than a tenacious trainer. However, one could tell not to underestimate her. "My names Alice. I'm happy I could be of help. These three here are Otis, Taz and Oz."

Glancing over at Jacob, Alice approached him and his Blaziken. Otis followed, protectively at her side, prepared for any potential threat towards his trainer. Taz, despite being unsocial, flew over towards Embertail and Lockjaw. For a moment, he grimaced at them, before imitating an imaginary brick break and aqua tail in praise of their efficiency with the Deinos. Oz met eyes with Whips and looked as if he wanted to butt heads with him. The Steelix had the tendency to do so with anything that looked strong so he could improve his durability. Reaching into her white duffle bag, Alice pulled out a small yellow shard and handed it to Jacob. "For your Togekiss." She said, and looked to the Blaziken with a small smile. "Really, its thanks to Nero. He saved us- twice. I'm sorry I don't have any potions at hand, I just have this revive." Otis nodded at the two with thanks,and settled his eyes on Nero. He felt restless to know that he couldn't manage the battle himself, and needed the Blaziken's assistance. It urged Otis to get stronger, and the competitive nature in Nero reflected in the Blastoise. Drawing her attention to Curt, Alice took off her hat, letting her platinum hair settle above her shoulders. "You said you're here to find your brother? If the two of you don't mind, would I be able to accompany the both of you?" After their encounter with the Salamence, Alice felt it was safe to travel in a group, especially with her teams current state.

 

[Curtkid]

(OOC: Sorry this took so long, I had my brother personally write the dialogue for his character and what he came up with was....unique to say the least. Hope you guy's enjoy it.)

"Heh, this girls reminds me a bit of Cassie", Curt thought as Alice made her introduction, she seemed a bit sassy and a bit proud, but over all seemed like a nice girl, and her Pokemon seemed really powerful too, they'd have to be to bring down the Salamance like that, but kind enough as well. Curt saw Embertail return Otis's warm smile with a friendly hand wave, he was comfortable around the Shellfish Pokemon, their dad having a Wartortle of his own. Lockjaw, however, tried to put on a brave face, but still looked clearly intimidated by the massive Blastoise. Despite Taz's intimidating appearance, Embertail seemed oblivious to the Gengar's generally frightening appearance, and returned the gesture by sweeping his feet causing a wave of sand to kick up below him, imitating the Sludge Wave Taz produce. Lockjaw gave Taz a nervous smile, but the scardy-gator ultimately tried to keep his distance from the Ghost Pokemon as politely as he possibly could.

As Curt began to tend to Whip’s wounds, Curt noticed that Whips was eyeing Oz. The massive Steelix had clearly impressed him with his incredible defensive capabilities when he held of the rampaging Matriarch like that, something only a very few Pokemon were capable of doing. The Dragonite no doubt wanted to test his own physical capabilities against Oz, and where as the rest of Alice's team had impressed him, the idea of a battle against a Steel Pokemon (who would have a resistance to his Dragon attacks) got his blood rushing.

Curt took one more look at the unconscious Salamances, as much as his heart and mind BEGGED him to catch one, he knew he couldn't. Salamance were extremely powerful Pokemon, but not that violent unless you endanger them, their territory, or their children, and Curt had a gut feeling that a top the stone pillar were several Bagon eggs, and Curt couldn't call himself a lover of Pokemon if he ripped a parent away from it's children. The Curt remembered the Deino, but became a bit crestfallen when he saw all the blind dragons had already fled. Ah well, Whips was more then enough Dragon for him, that settled, he turned his attention back to Alice.

"Well, it appears we lost a member of our party, so I'm all good with you joining up with us", Curt said, as he began to look around the immediate area, "I'm just at a lost as to where we're going to find a-"

All of a sudden loud voice echoed from a near-bye cavern entrance,” HARK, WHO IS MAKING ALL THAT NOISE THERE!” Out from the shadows appeared a 5’6 teenager with brown hair and brown eyes wearing a Bedazzled Neon-Green Leotard. His arms are the size of pool noodles and can probably lift about the same amount. Where he lacks in bicep strength he makes up in leg strength, his leg muscles seemed well shaped and almost bulging. A Combusken who looks mentally and emotionally broken walks up next to his trainer, remembering better times when the abomination known as his trainer’s fashion sense never reached the eyes of other living creatures. The teen takes a moment to survey the scenery before looking down at the group.

“AH HA! YES INDEED IT WOULD SEEM MY BROTHERS HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED, TELL ME CURT, EMBERTAIL HAVE YOUR MUSCLES GROWN LIKE THE MOSS IN THESE CAVES SINCE I LEFT MOTHER’S NEST?”, Evan yelled in a mighty, bombastic voice.

“Bock BROCK!”, Torchie cried, which everyone could immediately tell was the Combusken telling Evan to “Stop acting like an idiot”.

“Hey Evan, Torchie good to see you! And, well, we’ve been travelling and battling a lot, so yeah, I guess we’ve gotten a bit stronger”, Curt replied to his younger brother with Embertail nodding eagerly by his side, both looking to get the boy’s approval. Embertail had known Evan as long as Curt had, and thought that the teenager was the definition of cool in addition to being like a brother as well.

“ONLY A BIT!?!? ALAS, TORCHIC, TAKE NOTE OF THESES PATHETIC DRIEL OF WASTE, I LEFT THEM BOY'S AND THEY RETURN TO ME BOY'S! TELL ME, WHO HAVE YOU DECIDE TO BRING WITH YOU? OH IS THIS THE JACOB YOU SPOKE OF? INDEED! I CAN TELL BY THE MORE EVOLVED VERSION OF MY TRUSTED TORCHIE BY HIS SIDE!”, Evan roared to the group. Torchie seemed visibly embarrassed, yet also seemed used to the interactions that were currently taking place.

“Yeah that’s Jacob and his Blaziken Nero, and the girl’s name is Alice, that’s her Blastoise, Gengar, and Steelix, named Otis, Taz, and Oz respectively, we met her about 5 minutes ago”, Curt told Evan, “So, you said you found a treasure of some kind?”

“AHHH YES, A FINE LASS WITH FINE POKEMON! NOW, AS FOR THE TREASURE. I FOUND IT WHILE TRAVERSING SOME RUINS OF THE DRACANOID PEOPLE”, Evan roared, puffing his chest out in pride while Torchie looked like he wanted to curl up and just stop existing, “ALAS, THE ROOM WHICH HOLDS THE TREASURE IS SEALED BEHIND A LARGE METEOR, AND MY POKEMON AND I LACK THE MUSCLE MASS TO MOVE SAID STONE, BUT I HAVE FAITH THAT, WITH THE MIGHT OF WHIPS, WE CAN MOVE SUCH A GREAT WEIGHT!”

“Well, Whips just took a bit of a beating, but maybe if we all work together I’m sure we could move the Meteor!”, Curt said, excitement clear in his voice. Behind them, Whips could be heard faintly chuckling, despite his serious and adamant personality, Whip always’s found Evan’s antic’s…amusing.

“EXCELLENT, COME FORTH CURT, EMBERTAIL, CURT’S POKEMON AND CURT’S FRIENDS AND THEIR POKEMON, THE TREASURE AWAITS”, Evan yelled as he began sprinting towards the other end of the cavern, not even bothering to tell them what the treasure was.

“Isn’t our brother the coolest!?”, Curt and Embertail said in unison. Torchie face palmed and part of him wished that Evan left him to die in that canyon when he was just a Torchic. Still, he followed his trainer down the cavern, as such was his burden.

 

[Trucro]

"Thanks," Jacob replied to Alice as she handed him the revive. He hoped Shakespeare had awoken already, but if not, the revive would be helpful. Hopefully they would get out of this cave and into a pokemon center soon; he wasn't prepared to fight another Salamence. Jacob reached behind him to grab Shakespeare's pokeball, but froze when he heard a loud voice.

Curt's brother Evan was certainly odd; Jacob couldn't quite tell what was up with him. He may have just been working to embarrass Curt, or he might have been dropped on his head as a child. Perhaps he actually had the weird personality he exhibited; there was no rule against it. But still, Jacob listened carefully to Evan, not what he was saying, but rather how he was saying it. He missed a large part of the rant, lost in this boy's flamboyancy. He heard Whips snicker, and turned to see the pokemon laugh into his hand. As he did, he heard another snicker from behind him. Was that Nero? Whips and Nero must have been more alike than he thought. He turned back to watch the rest of Evan.

"Well, your brother sure is... flamboyant, huh?" Jacob said to Curt, feeling that he needed to say something about it. It would be odd, he thought, if he didn't mention it. Jacob and Nero followed Curt, Embertail and the green leotard boy to the other cavern entrance. He wondered what the treasure could be? And how did Evan know there was treasure behind this meteorite if he couldn't move it? Anyway, he was certain his questions would be answered soon. Meteor Falls was unlike anywhere he had ever been before; it was bound to have some form of unique treasures hidden in its caverns.

 

[Softty]

Taz snickered behind his hands at Embertail's sludge wave imitation. It was good to meet a fellow Pokemon that recognized technique when they saw it. Glancing sideways, Taz blinked as he noticed Lockjaw's unease. With a viscous smirk, the Gengar sunk into the ground. The air around the gator chilled, as a creepy shadow emerged from behind him. Taz, in his rather nasty antics, had the tendency to please himself by scaring and pranking both people and Pokemon alike. His expression morphed into a ghastly smile- the infamous scary face. However, before Lockjaw could turn around and see the horror, the bully was sprayed by a water gun. Blinking, Taz's scary face wore off as he looked bewildered, shooting a glare at the source- Otis. The Blastoise gave him a deadpan look, warning the ghost to behave. Displeased, Gengar crossed his arms at the wet blanket and kicked at the sand.

Alice smiled, brightening in relief to have found herself some reliable company. Throughout her travels, she had developed a wariness for people; however she could tell Curt was an honest trainer. On the other hand, Alice could tell Jacob was reluctant of her, but she could already trust him as he had her back in battle.

Suddenly, a voice called out, echoing throughout the cavern. Alice looked up at the boy and found herself conflicted. She didn't know how to react to his flamboyancy, and simply smiled wide eyed and confused. Her Pokemon looked at him with deadpan expressions, combined with awkward puzzlement. She surmised the young lad to be Curt's brother, an unexpected character. However Alice was glad to know Curt's brother was safe, and couldn't help but take a liking to his form of speech. It wasn't so often she met someone so.. dazzling. It kind of blinded her as she squinted, as if looking at something extraordinarily bright. She could see why the Combusken of his looked so worn.
"How do you do?" She waved to him as Curt introduced her, a genuine smile adorning her expression. Alice looked more comfortable now, not so reluctant as before. Given, she was interested in the treasure; however it's connection to the ruins interested her more than its contents. Drawing out her pokeballs, Alice returned Taz and Oz. She looked to Otis, winking at his look of concern before returning him as well.
"Rest easy." She said quietly to her retired team.

As she began down the cavern, Alice chuckled as she passed Jacob and Curt. "I like that." She said in return to Jacob, and nodded at Curt while putting her cap back on. It was true she was caught off guard by Evan, and most would find him rather odd. However the pride Curt and Embertail had for him shone bright. "Yeah, he's cool."

 

[Curtkid]

(OOC: Sorry if the quality of this post seems a bit...bad. I had to change the encounter of the Treasure a lot after factoring how Evans "character" is like, plus I really wanted to get all the exposition out in this part. Don't worry, things are going to pick up in just a bit, but man, being the head of an RP is a little tiring.)

Hehe, I'm glad you think so Alice, and Embertail is too", Curt said as the party followed his energetic brother down the tight cavern, "and don't worry about being a little...surprised by him Jacob, heh, most people are!" Eventually they hit the light at the end of the cavern, and transversing it lead to a large room hidden in the falls. Though not nearly as large as the massive biom they just came from, the area they entered was certainly large, what's more, it seemed to have been reshaped by human and Pokemon design!

The giant, cavernous area had several of what appeared to be stony homes carved into the rocky walls. A small waterfall produced a pool of water for the area, with several very ancient stone mugs and other equipment scattered near it. Above them was a small crack in the "roof" of the cavern, that seemed to filter in light for the entire area. To put it plainly, this was one of the settlements of the ancient draconoid people.

"Woah Evan...Torchie, how did you guy's find this, it's amazing", Curt said, stunned at literal archaeologist treasure trove his brother seemed to have stumbled across. The Draconoids were an ancient and nearly lost people that had recently become a hot topic among historians and archaeologist's alike. No doubt this was the treasure he and his team had come across.

"What this!?! Yes I suppose the sight for my future fitness gym is rather impressive, but right now I'm more concerned about the treasure", Evan said in a robust voice while he went over to pick up his backpack.

Yeah I...wait what?", Curt said flatly.

"Yes, you see, during my exploration in the deeper reached of the falls, I found what cold only be described as a "large stone directory" carved into one of the walls, though part of it was corroded there was enough of it to lead me to several rooms very much similar to this one, and most of them had their fair share of traps", Evan said with a chuckle as he pulled out a large sheet of paper from his pack and began examining it, "of course I copied as much of the wall-map as I could to a sheet of paper before I left that part of the falls, good thing to as a cave in completely sealed that area off."

"Damn Evan, you may rarely get lucky, but when you do, damn do you luck out", Curt said in utter awe of his brothers luck, "but...a gym hear, are you sure, I mean, isn't that dangerous?" Curt knew it was always Evans dream to win the Pokemon league and then start a gym train where Pokemon and people alike could work out and grow strong using his refined exercise technique, but he doubted a gym in such a location would attract much business.

"OF COURSE IT IS, HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO KNOW IF SOMEONE IS SERIOUS ABOUT FITNESS IF THEY ARENT EVEN WILLING TO DIE FOR IT!?!?!?, Evan roared, passion in his voice. Curt and Embertail looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged and simply said:

"Fair enough."

"Indeed, now follow me, the true treasure awaits just ahead", Evan said as he began down yet another cavern. As they traveled deeper and the cavern grew darker, Curt couldn't help but feel a burning sense of dread tingling down his spine. Like, he was getting the impression that they weren't supposed to be here. and the Falls were going to swallow them up if they moved much deeper in, the constant sound of rushing water didn't help much either. They went down through winding paths, and traveled through countless forks, it was a good thing that Evan had that "map" of his or else they could have spent an eternity trying to find their way through these caverns. Eventually, they came to a stop at what appeared to be a dead end, a large meteor seemed to be blocking their path forward, but on closer inspection one could see that some of the stone appeared oddly smooth for mere rubble, like it had been shaped to serve as a doorway of some kind that the giant stone now obfuscated.

"NOW MY DEAR BROTHER, YOU, WHIPS, AND YOUR COMPANIONS SHALL MOVE THIS STONE AND LEAD ME TO THIS TREASURE", Evan said as he did a squat thrust forward and pointed dramatically towards the large rock.

"Uhh, hey, Evan, why don't you tell us what the treasure is first, I mean, we're all very curious", Curt asked his brother.

WHAT, HOW DARE YOU, I ASK YOU FOR JUST A TINTSEY A MOUNT OF TRUST, THE TINIEST FRACTION OF HELP, BUT YOU-". Evan stopped himself whe he saw Curt throw his a look that could only be described as "Come on man, seriously". To further emphasis this, Torchie slapped him on the back of the head and clucked at him, not exactly angrily, but their was defiantly annoyance in his voice.

With a defeated sigh, Evan turned towards that party and said, "Yes, I suppose you all have earned the right to know some of the truth, the SOURCE, behind me motivation". As he said this he began digging through his backpack one again, his bedazzled leotard shimmering in the light of Embertails flame. After but a moment, he produced a box, which he immediately opened to reveal an extremely old bracelet with a hole in the center that, oddly enough, seemed to be glowing. In fact, Curt, Embertail, Whips, and Lockjaw seemed to find the bracelet a bit familiar, it almost seemed like a....

"REGAAH RHEEE!", Embertail yelled, jumping up and down while pointing at it.

"EXACTLY EMBERTAIL", Evan roared before his voice became extremely hushed, "as the rumors go, the Draconoids were some of the very first to use Mega Evolution after learning it from the Mythical Rayquaza, who himself Mega Evolved to stop the destruction of the world at the hands of a colossal meteor". Evan looked at the ancient bracelet with a twinkle in his eye's, and Curt couldn't blame him. The bracelet faintly glowed with an ancient power, which was no doubt the mystic energy that helped trigger A Mega Evolution. Mega Key's were incredibly rare and absolutely priceless, in fact, what Evan had now might be one of the oldest Mega Key's in existence. Truly Curt's brother was one lucky son of a bitch.

"The...map, so to speak lead to several rooms, some laced with booby traps, others just plain settlement like the one we came from, thankfully, Dumbell, my Beldum, along with the physical results of my intense work out regimen, were able to help me detect and avoid the traps, but as you know, a Key Stone is enough to trigger a Mega Evolution, that's why I needed you", Evan said.

"You see, I actually managed to locate two treasures, the second of which lies in this room behind this meteorite and if I'm not mistaken, I do believe it is a Blazikenite", Evan said in a solemn tone before finally returning to his more bombastic actions, "BUT ALAS IT WAS LOCATED ATOP A GREAT PILLAR, ONE EVEN BIGGER IN THAT GREAT ROOM WHERE YOU FOUND THE DRAGONS, LACKING A FLYING POKEMON I WENT TO GET MY MOUNTAIN CLIMBING EQUIPMENT SO I COULD RETRIEVE IT, BUT MY LUCK HAD FINALLY RUN IT'S COURSE AND THE EARTHQUAKE WHICH CAUSED THE METEORTE TO COME LOSE AND BLOCK MY PASSAGE TO IT!" Evan finished while posing in a dramatic flare, hunching over the meteorite and giving it a single defiant punch, as though trying to punish it for denying him the treasure.

Embertail walked over to his human brother and gave him a sympathetic pat on the back, while Torchie just rolled his eye's at the over the top display, no doubt he had seen his trainer do this a million times. Curt however couldn't help but look over at Jacob and Nero, no doubt the find of a mega rare Blazikenite must have peaked his interest. A person who had the potential to Mega Evolve their Pokemon was very rare, and a person who possessed both the capability and the tools to do so was even rarer! Curt couldn't help but wonder what was going through Jacob's mind right now, perhaps the reason Evan was so adamant on keeping his find a secret was because he feared Jacob and Nero might take it for themselves? Of course, everyone in Curt''s party knew they'd never do that, but still, it made Curt wonder...

Finished with his display, Evan stood himself up right and returned to face the group, his flamboyant demeanor returning, "AND THAT'S WHY I NEED YOUR HELP, THESE CAVERNS HAVE MADE A FOOL OUT OF ME AND I NEED YOU TO HELP ME SHOW THEM WHAT FOR!....Also I would rather like to get my hands on that Mega Stone."

 

[Trucro]

Jacob looked around curiously. The ancient settlement was very interesting to Jacob; he had always enjoyed reading about history and other cultures. He remembered reading about the ancient dracanoid peoples in Hoenn. They weren't considered particularly influential, he remembered, and so little time was spent studying them. Still, the mention of them peaked Jacob's interest.

As if that weren't enough, Curt's younger brother was speaking about a Blazikenite stone hidden behind this giant meteor. He and Nero immediately became interested. Jacob could feel his pokemon, as if breathing down his neck, yearning for the stones. If Jacob and Nero could harness that sort of power, they would be neigh unstoppable. And if anyone could do it, it should be them, he thought.

"Uh, sure, I guess we can help you move this meteor," Jacob said as he rubbed the back of his head. He turned to Nero. The pokemon appeared to have recovered somewhat from the battle with the dragons, and stepped forwards as Jacob said this. "Alright, Nero, use superpower!" With a deep breath, the Blaziken began to glow a dark brownish color, as his muscles began to bulge. Grabbing the boulder from the side, he heaved with all of his might. However, the huge rock merely shook, before returning to its normal position.

"Well," Jacob said, turning to Alice. "Since Whips was hurt pretty bad in that fight, do you think you could help us out?" The new girl certainly had some powerful pokemon that shouldn't have a problem moving the rock, especially with Nero's help. The small cavern wasn't really large enough for a pokemon like her Steelix, but Otis might be a big help.

 

[Softty]

(You're doing great Curt! I agree, it's very hard and tiring to lead an rp, but I enjoy how you do it!)
As they entered the cavern, Alice found herself lost for words. The ancient relic of civilization was a beauty, and a rare sight to see. Hushed by her admiration, she silently looked around, trying to piece together the Draconoid way of life. Glancing over at Evan, she realized it couldn't be pure luck. Under all that bedazzle, he was undeniably clever.
"Too bad the government might come to claim this place." She said, staring up at the source of light. "Though a gym here wouldn't be a bad idea." She hummed in agreement. It wouldn't be a surprise if she would become a frequent visitor if the place should succeed. On the other hand, another part of her felt it was wrong and intrusive to profit off this area.

Following the small group down the cave, she felt uneasy. There was that feeling again, begging her to be cautious. At Evan's outburst for trust, she simply gave him a deadpan look from behind Curt and with a "calm down gesture" of her hands.
"Ah-" Alice tilted her head at the bracelet, looking confused as to what it was. However she had immediately recognized it. She unconsciously reached to the chain around her neck, it's empty pendant hidden in her shirt. Brows knitting, she looked up at Evan at his mention of another pillar and grumbled. She and her Pokemon would be thrilled for another battle; however she knew their battle lust would endanger their weakened state. Anyways, Curt's brother was funny. In the background of his dramatic scenes, Alice laughed without any hesitance.

"Sure." She said, nodding at Jacob with a small smirk. Reaching for her belt, she withdrew a pokeball that didn't seem to belong to Otis. Alice decided to leave him be, he deserved a rest. Releasing her Pokemon in a light of red, it was evident her fourth Pokemon suited the job better. Flexing his giant biceps, the tall and bulky Machoke stood with red glaring eyes. He emitted a dangerous aura that made his competitors forfeit and children cry. Patting his arm, Alice snickered behind her hand.
"Yama, relax. They're not bad people."
A bit of truth came to light as the Machoke seemed to sweat. His intimidation was just a front, as when shy he became tense. He looked around at the surrounding group of strangers and tensed further, glaring harder. Despite his urge to make friends, it was obviously hard for the shy Pokemon.

"Introductions come later," Alice told her bashful friend, "Yama will you please help Nero move the meteorite?" She gestured at the Blaziken with a smile, and received a small nod in return. Approaching the blockage, Yama looked to Nero and tensed, before giving him a polite bow. Facing the meteorite, he rubbed his hands before placing them against its surface. A white translucent energy layered him as he pushed with the move Strength.

 

[Curtkid]

"Oh great", Curt thought, "of all the Pokemon she could have thrown out, it had to be..."

"A MACHOKE!", Evan cried, his eye's growing big at the sight of the perfectly toned Pokemon as he instantly ran to inspect the prefect specimen of fitness. Anyone who had known Evan for more then ten minutes could probably figure out he'd probably have a love of fighting type Pokemon, but there was no Pokemon he desired to capture more then a the superpower Pokemon. Indeed, Evan had tried to catch a Machop several times, but had failed at ever attempt, and when ever he attempted to scour around the area to find it or maybe run into another one, he'd find that they all seemed to have disappeared. there was

"AND A TRULY MIGHTY LOOKING ONE AT THAT! LOOK AT THESE ARMS, THOSE FLAWLESSLY SHAPES LEGS, TORCHIE, COME OVER HERE RIGHT NOW AND INQUIRE YAMA ABOUT HIS WORKOUT ROUTINES", Evan roared, jubilance booming in his voice. Torchie didn't move from where he was, he just gave his trainer a tired look, sighed, then locked his gaze with the cavern floor. Torchie didn't bother telling Evan that HIS workout routine was the exact same on he followed, it would be like talking to a very loud, flamboyant, bedazzled wall. All that there was to do was to let him go through the motions and let him call down, unfortunately, that could take a while.

"Uhhhh, Ev', the meteorite?", Curt reminded his brother, though, he couldn't repress the smile that came to his face due to his brothers antics.

"YES ONE SECOND, THE STONE ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE!", Evan roared, not taking his eye's of the magnificence that was Yama. Curt quickly realized he would have to resort to a more clever tactic to get Evan's focus back on the Mega Stone. thankfully, Curt knew his little brother well, and knew exactly what to say to divert his attention.

"Yeah but....don;t you want to see Yama's awesome muscles in action", Curt replied, causing Evan to turn and glare at him. It wasn't a hate filled glare, but rather the glare of a man who knew he was about to be played. that his own desires of seeing the results of a well maintained physical fitness plan where going to force him to go along with his brother's desires.

"Fine, fine, I suppose I've kept Yama distracted long enough", Evan said, a bit of a pout on him. Finally getting freedom from the exercised crazed human, Yama made his way towards the massive space rock and began to push along with the Blaziken. The meteorite began to creak and shift as, inch by inch, the giant extraterrestrial stone began to give way.

As they watched the two fighting types work, Curt heard Whips grumble a bit next to him. Whips was a Pokemon who was indeed a bit proud of his power, and being forced to stand by the sidelines to watch other Pokemon do heavy lifting just didn't sit right with him. Curt saw Embertail try to raise his friends spirits, no doubt saying something about how he did the most fighting with the Salamances back there and deserved a break. they both knew that wouldn't do much to make him feel better, still, Embertail felt like he should try to do something to help his friend.

Finally, after a minute or so of grunting and groaning from the two mighty fighting types, the path way was clear and the meteor rolled safely to the side of the entrance. Wasting no more time, the party hasty entered the room, and it truly was a marvelous sight, every inch of the walls were covered with intricately carved designs, some seemed to depict ancient battles between legendary Pokemon, other's seemed to tell of great disasters that once plagued this world. A great light seemed to shine from above, despite the fact that the room seemed to have no opening to the outside, at least, it had no opening that they could see, it was extremely big. Indeed, it was an awe inspiring sight, and would have been even more inspiring still...!
If half the place wasn't buried in rubble.

"Uhhh, Evan, it think the quake you mention earlier that caused that meteor to seal you off from this room, also caused it to cave in...and the pillar you mentioned to collapse", Curt said to his brother.Indeed, despite the splendor that was the sight of the room, all that remained of the pillar where tiny bits of rubble and large, broken of pieces of the main body which now scattered the room. Of course, a Mega Stone was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmmmm, now that I think about it, I think that meteor that blocked us of was actually built INTO the pillar that held the Blazikenite...how it managed to stay in tact is beyond me though.....OH WELL, AT LEAST WE'LL GET A WORK OUT IN! LET'S GET DIGGING EVERYBODY", Evan said as he immediately began sifting through the rubble with his bare hand. Torchie, surprisingly, followed his trainers example and instantly followed Evan in helping him dig through the rocks and the massive remains the pillar. Apparently, the Combusken wanted the Mega Stone just as much as Evan did, probably even more.

"Uhhhh, yeah, I'm not going to spend the next couple of day's sifting through all this, hold on a sec, I think Flare might be able to help us with this!", Curt said as he reached for his belt and snapped open a Pokeball. One bright flash of light later revealed a tall, golden fur, eight tailed Ninetales. The Fire Fox gave herself a quick moment to stretch before turning before looking towards Curt with a bemused look on her face.

"(Really, of all times, now you decided to ask for my help?)", Flare said to her trainer through telepathy (a hard to learn, but useful ability for any psychic type of psychic orientated Pokemon to learn), "(so, fighting a hoard of dragons ready to tear you apart isn't enough to merit my assistance, but moving rocks is?)" She said this as she began to levitate a few rocks around near her head in a circle with her telepathy, a sarcastic smirk stretched across her muzzle. Curt had to admit, she did have a point, he probably should have called out more of his team to back them up, but Curt felt, at the time, keeping track of too many Pokemon at once could have proved difficult if things grew more chaotic. Still, Flare was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, heck, most of his team was, but that that was neither her nor there.

"Well, someone's feeling snarky today", Curt said to the Ninetales, not even bothering to try and argue with her, "Alice, this is Flare, she decide to accompany me after I helped her clan fend off an attack from a pack of Houndour. Just a heads up though, this can e a shock to so people, she's capable of telepathy, but if you ever traveled with a Psychic-type Pokemon before, it should be nothing new to you, and Flare, this is Alice, the one who help us defeat the Salamance".

"(Ah of course, very nice to meet the women who's team came to our rescue in such a dire situation"), Flare said to Alice, and sounding noticeably more polite when talking to her,"(Now Curt, did you want me to do something specific, or do you simply wish for me to help you move rocks?)"

"Oh right, I was wondering if you could possible be able to help us locate a Mega Stone that got buried here, if it wasn't crushed when the pillar collapsed", Curt replied to the Ninetales, causing her to widen her eye's a bit, as though in shock.

"(Hmmm, I suppose I could try, but what makes you think I'd possibly be able to detect a Mega Stone, I have never done anything like that before)?", Flare questioned her trainer.

"Well, you can detect people, kinda, and Mega Stones are....kinda like magic, and you're a magical Kitsune...fox...thing, so I...kinda figured....you know", Curt said, shrugging and giving Flare a sheepish smile. Making it blatantly clear that he was aware of the gaps in his logic for coming to this conclusion, and judging by the look Flare gave him, she found his reasoning just as foolish, if not even more so. Never the less, she decided to give it a shot, as she began to move from pile of rubble to pile of rubble, working her mysterious abilities trying to see if she could detect some sort of ancient power that just might be a Mega Stone.

"Well, she still might take a while, anyone got any idea's to help speed this up, at this point I'm just about game for anything", Curt asked the group, looking forward to hurrying this process along and finding the Mega Stone.

 

[Trucro]

"Well," Jacob began to reply. "I guess we could try and help," he said as he turned towards Nero. The pokemon, still out of breath from moving the meteorite, gave Jacob a sharp look; he obviously did not want to be rummaging through this rubble. Jacob shot his pokemon back a calming look, before reaching for his belt. "Or... I suppose now's a good time for Grey, now?" As he said this, he pulled a pokeball from his belt and released it into the air. In a flash, his Hypno, Grey appeared beside Flare. The pokemon said nothing, merely looked back at Jacob with his funky gaze. Jacob smiled and nodded back; this would be the first time he'd ever really called on Grey for help.

"So, Grey, we're looking for a Mega Stone in all this mess. Flare's already started, but I was hoping you could help us out as well." Grey titled his head while looking at Jacob, but the perpetual "Hypno" stare remained. Jacob suddenly realized that maybe Flare was right, and using psychic powers to find the rock wasn't a thing. Thus, Grey was confused, Jacob thought, and unable to follow his orders. But after a few moments the pokemon looked back towards the rocks, and closed his eyes.

"Hypno, Hypno, Hypno..." Jacob could hear the pokemon as say as he used his powers, but he wasn't certain that anyone else could. Perhaps it was this telepathy and people kept talking about. "Hypno, Hypno, Hypno..." He repeated the incantation again and again. "Hypno.... Hypno.... Hypno..." Then the pokemon stopped.

"Did you find something?" Jacob asked his pokemon. Grey opened his eyes, turned slowly to Jacob, and nodded. "Well, let's get it then!" Grey stared at his trainer, that same odd look on his face as always, before turning back to the pile. The Hypno reached out his arms, and the rubble began to shake. Out from the rubble emerged a single sphere; it was small, roughly the size of ping-pong ball. Both transparent and luminescent, rainbow colored figures marked the inside. Jacob had never seen a Mega Stone so close-up before, and felt odd as Grey dropped the stone into his hands.

 

[Softty]

A reverberating voice, bedazzled appeal, and strong calves- Yama was frightened. Covering his eyes in embarrassment, the seemingly stoic pokemon blushed behind his large hands. Despite his strength and build, Yama was a very docile soul, lacking in self confidence. Although his nervous tension would draw out a stern façade; Yama wasn’t too sure how to handle such a large presence. He felt intimidated by Evan, letting his true nature slip from his fortified image.

Come on Yama, have some courage.. Alice thought, urging her pokemon to flaunt his build and strength in confidence. She flashed the Machoke a reassuring smile, only for Yama to fluster further. She sighed in defeat, reflecting Torchie’s tired look as she and the fire pokemon hopelessly looked to their companions. Stuffing her hands in her pocket, Alice realized she wasn’t able to benefit Yama’s self esteem. Compared to her unspoken words of encouragement, Yama needed something like Evan’s boom and appeal.

As Evan continued to burn holes into Yama with his eyes, the Machoke was completely frozen. Thankfully, Curt had lent a hand for him to continue his task. As he pushed against the rock, Alice could tell Yama wasn’t utilizing his full strength, as he could feel Evan’s studying gaze. Alice’s lips pursed as she continued to worry for her extremely introverted friend.

With a huff, Yama and Nero successfully cleared the entrance, allowing the group the gain further access into the ruins. Despite the gut feeling that raised her caution, Alice slid into the room like a Seviper that had found its nest. Trudging in with expecting eyes, her pace slowed as her expression dimmed. “Oh, that blows,” she hushed under her breath, and kicked at the rubble with her boots.

“I agree with Curt... I don’t want to dig through this rubble... It shows no class.” Alice said the last bit under her breath, her rather posh conduct coming to light. Watching the others find their way around this predicament, she drew out a small device in her bag. With it, she began taking pictures of the designs and depictions that were now in shambles. Yama stood by her, tense and often fidgeting, wanting to help the others. He startled when Alice angrily cursed, irritated at the events of the quake.

While Yama mustered up the courage to help Evan and Torchie, Alice turned her attention to Curt’s fourth pokemon. “It’s a pleasure, Flare.” She said with a wink, and couldn’t help but admire the mythical grace and beauty of hers. It was rare to encounter a pokemon that spoke through telepathy, as they must be very adept and gifted. Therefore Alice had only run into a very few amount of pokemon she could verbally communicate with. Chuckling at Curt and Flare’s exchange, she noticed Jacob call forth another pokemon in his arsenal. “Oh, I wonder-“

Alice dropped her camera, startled by Grey’s appearance. Awkwardly bending to pick it back up, Alice couldn’t directly look at the Hypno as she tucked away her device. As a child, she was told stories about a pokemon that took away wandering children and ate their dreams. Compared to her fearlessness and rather nonchalance against poltergeists and other sinister pokemon, she had always feared Hypno. Her fear was a success to her caretakers, as she willingly refrained from slipping out the house. She subconsciously hovered her hand over her pokeball belt in defense.

“Oh, he found it.” Alice bluntly stated the obvious, though her caution still raised towards the helpful psychic.

 

[Curtkid]

"Grey? Uh, are you su-", Curt began to say, but Jacob had already released the Hypnosis Pokemon from it's Pokeball. Curt had to keep himself from pulling back a bit. He was still a bit, weary of the Hypno that had belonged to Team Rocket but a few short weeks ago. Maybe it wasn't just that, maybe it was because it reminded him of his screw up in letting their friend, Cassie, get captured by Team Rocket when they went to save Jacob, or maybe it was just because Hypno's were kinda...creepy. But he supposed it didn't matter now, if Grey was capable of helping them, then who was he to object.

"Alright then, we got over hear covered, let us know if you find anything", Curt said as the rest of his team followed Flare around as she began to try and locate the Mega Stone. The work was quiet, almost eerily so, with the only noise being from Alice's camera as she began talking pictures of the collapsed ruins. Curt had to admit, right now he was wishing he brought a camera himself, the things they had encountered so far could easily end up in an issue of National Geographic.

"Reeegh, rhouuk", Embertail growled, tugging at Curt's pants leg and pointing at Jacob, Nero, and Grey.

"Yeah, what is it Embe-Oh hey, you guy's found it!", Curt exclaimed as he and the rest of the team began to make their way over to their friends. However, Evan was a bit quicker then them, almost instantaneously he seemed to appear right in front of Jacob and plucked the Stone out of his hands. Evan wasted no time inspecting the stone, putting it up to his eye, bring it closer and farther away again as though he was some sort of jeweler examining a precious gem stone.

"Yes....yes, THIS IS IT, WE FINALLY HAVE IT, GAZE UPON IT TORCHIE, HAHA", Evan yelled, giving a sudden leap in the air. For the first time since they saw Torchie in the falls, he didn't seem burdened with the pain of being associated with a guy who ran around in a green leotard. His eye's were filled with wonder as he gazed at the Blazikenite in his trainers hand and, for that moment, you could actually see the bond the two shared with one another.

"Hehe, sorry about that, I'm sure you all figured this out by now, but my brother can get a little carried away", Curt said over Evans triumphant cries, "gotta say, I am envious of the luck punk, he been like that since we were kids, he rarely got lucky, but when he did, he lucks out, right Embertail?" The Charmander by Curt's side elicited a few quick nods before turning back to Jacob and Grey and let out a growl of thanks for finding the stone.

"Yeah, I'm sure Evan and Torchie will get around to saying this too...eventually, but thanks for your help, all of you, I don't think we could have made it this far with out you", Curt said to the group, an appreciative smile on his face. It looked like their journey was coming to an end. There were no doubt more relic's of the Draconoid people hidden in the great expanse of Meteor Falls, and maybe they'd come back to uncover those hidden domains one day, but for now they earned a rest. It was time for them to head home and tell the world of their find...

Then the cavern began to shake. It was small at first, almost unnoticeable except for the clatter of the vibrating pebbles, but the tremors began to grow quickly. Soon it became hard for one too keep their balance, and it only grew more server after that! A loud echo of stone meeting stone just barely registered above the rest of the noise in the cavern as the large meteorite that Nero and Yama had just finished moving had re-rolled back into it's former place due to the rumbling of the caves, sealing them in once again. The shock of the event had left Lockjaw completely frozen in fear, Whips was looking left and right in a angry panic in a attempt to find out, even Embertail was yelling something to his companions, perhapse trying to get his team together, but whatever it was he was so caught up in it he almost didn't notice the shadow looming above his head until....

"Embertail watch it!", Curt yelled as he grabbed his friend and pulled him out of the way of a falling stone, the large rock making a deafening "CRACK" as it broke against the hard cavern floor. Embertail gave his trainer a thankful smile amongest frantic pants, but Curt's eyes were focused on the meteorite that had just moved back into place, having just now noticed it. For once, his messed up perception had actually helped someone out, he made sure Embertail was unhurt and set him back down. It wouldn't be long before the entire cavern closed in around them, they needed a way out of here NOW!

 

[Trucro]

Jacob happily gave up the mega stone without thinking. He wasn't the type of person to take it for himself, especially when it was his friend's brother who had found it. With Curt having taken the Mega stone, Jacob reached for Grey's pokeball. He could tell the pokemon wasn't going over well with the group, and Jacob himself felt a bit embaressed by the connotation the former Team Rocket pokemon brought with him.

Before he could, however, the meteor that had been blocking the entrance when they arrived dropped, closing them in, as the cavern began to shake. Rocks from the ceiling tumbled to the ground, nearly crushing Curt's charmander. Jacob, caught entirely by surprise, and looking around at others, was entirely unaware as several large boulders dropped directly above him.

"Blaziiiiiiken!" Nero shouted after him. He looked up to see the rocks suspended in the air above him. They flew at a right angle, crashing into the far side of the wall. Jacob turned to Grey.

"Thanks," he said, and the Hypno nodded. Looking back at the group, he continued. "We need to get out of here now. Alice, maybe Oz can dig us out of here?"

 

[Softty]

Alice stared at the mega stone, its vast colours dancing in her ember lit eyes. She smirked up at Curt with a slight nod, agreeing to their well deserved rest. Although she had only just met them, she couldn't help but feel something like companionship. It was a short duration that she acquainted them through the ruins; however it felt longer than that. It was somehow satisfying, and she was ready to leave the falls.

Still, something ate away at the young lass. She repressed it with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and glared past the group. Was it her imagination? Or had the walls just shook?

It became apparent that she wasn't mistaken. Lips pressing firmly, Alice steadied herself, trying to keep her balance from the growing violence of the tremors. Above her, a great chunk of the ruins loomed over, threatening to crush her. Yama sprinted, his heavy arms curling around his trainer in a protective hold. It was all too sudden, and Alice felt her grip loosen on her duffle bag. He darted to the side, slipping past and blocking the debris with his other arm. Glancing over at the blocked entrance, Yama realized his wrong placement of the boulder and the danger the group was now under. The ruins were falling apart all around them, however they had no time to panic. Yama protectively hovered over Alice for any loose debris, and for the first time in the falls he was completely composed. He looked at his trainer with nothing but trust.

It took a moment for Alice to regain herself. The collapse happened all too sudden, and she felt a part of herself bitten by the unexpected event. However Yama's look of trust quickly gripped her back into the reality of the situation. She heard Jacob's distant voice over the destruction, and didn't need him to tell her twice. Fingers gripping two pokeballs at once, she released both Taz and Oz.

The steel snake didn't need an explanation at the transpiring scene, and dug away at the ground the moment of his release. Alice looked to Jacob, once again thankful. Though at first wary of Grey, she had forgotten her fear of the Hypno as he helped raise and avert the falling boulders. "Yama, Taz, follow his lead." The two Pokemon immediately acted to her command. Dark orbs (shadowball) countered various rocks as the ghost Pokemon hurled them from his claws. Meanwhile Yama collected himself, breathing steadily as he gathered his strength and energy. Oz continued to successfully burrow into the ground as Machoke thrusted his hands upwards. He released a powerful Focus Blast against a large chunk of falling ruins. It shattered at impact, splintering into smaller pieces. The Gengar used a psychic wave (psywave) to repel against the debris from coming into impact with the group. However there was no end to the madness, as the ruins were now almost completely collapsed within itself.