The Enchantment of a Thousand Castform

[Blastoise]

The Enchantment of a Thousand Castform

OOC: Well, here’s my attempt to spray some life in what is left in this forum. I am pulling out all of the stops with a twisting plot line – but it still is the usual ‘safe-the-world’ ordeal. I know I will be sticking with this to the very end, I hope you guys will too.

BIC:
- Some where in Goldenrod -
“Hehe…” A boy chuckled as he watched the scenes displayed in front of him. Upon his monitor, windows of windows popped up continuously, cluttering up the entire screen within seconds. His tired hands left the greasy mouse as his fixed his glasses, and leaned back to his chair and closed his eyes for a well-deserved second.

The boy brushed away his short bangs lazily as he turned to the eastern wall of his home, carefully honing into a map, fixing his eyes on one particular route. A red dot fixed upon Route 119, with a large pin pressing into it. An Alakazam hovered behind the boy, meditating with its two kitchen-utensils, all the while observing its trainer’s behaviors with its Psychic abilities.

The boy returned to his desk and back to the bright screen, his lips curled into a smile as he read the message displayed on the screen. All of the previous cluttering windows are now inexistence, while Route 119 appeared on a simulated map. “Virus Sent, to Weather Institute of Route 119.”

- Fortree City -
“So here’s where Katie lives, nice city.” Rainer began as he climbed another set of ladder, and reached up to a hut craved into the tree. Rainer had to bend over so he can pass through the low entrance, while Houndour just lazily marched right in. Rainer was in the largest shop of the city, home of numerous Items and Accessories for Pokemon.

Rainer found a Poke-Ball he specially took interest in, while Houndour went to the other side of the store to sniff at the Pokemon food. A purple Poke-Ball with a large letter ‘M’ stood behind a thick layer of glass, and it was encased in an extravagant class case. The Master Ball seemed to be the most expensive Item in this shop, as it was granted the protection of one of the latest locks around.

“How much for the Master Ball?” Rainer asked even though that he knew he could not afford such rare and luxurious item, but he could not hide his curiosity. An old clerk took notice of Rainer’s interest and question, as he walked up to Rainer by the counter.

“Ah, an excellent choice, a Poke-Ball that guarantees a capture no matter how strong the wild Pokemon is – the Master Ball goes for 1,000,000,000,000,000 yens here, but it is much more expensive anywhere else.” Rainer gulped and did not even want to guess how much a Master Ball will be worth outside of this little hut, as he nervously moved away from the high-priced Poke-Ball.

As Rainer walked by a television set behind the Potions section, an interesting piece of news caught his curiosity. Houndour also sense the difference in the air as she moved next to Rainer, jumping into his arms as she glanced at the television screen.

“An eruption of Castform storms Route 119’s Weather Institute by surprise, as these little Pokemon can hamper with human weathers. The Weather Institute claims an outbreak of Castform earlier in the afternoon, and officials are having difficulties to contain these Pokemon, once gentle and quite, not became barbaric and ‘inhumane’. Let’s go to the experts, Professor Nagasaki and Professor Hiroshima.” The reporter handed the microphone to a middle-aged woman, dressed in a clean lab coat, along with a pair of assistances stood stiffly before the camera.

“Thank you,” The Professor turned to the television screen and faced the viewers. “Castform is a rare breed of Pokemon and it has the ability to induce weather in the shape of Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Hail, and Sand Storm. These Pokemon are extremely gentle outside of battles, and are very loyal to trainers. However, if large numbers of Castform are present in the same place, the Castform will confuse one and another by creating different weather affects. Sudden changes of the weather are quite alright, however, the back-and-forth of all four weather for a long duration can easily create catastrophic effects.”

The beautiful professor handed microphone to a man next to her, also dressed in a lab coat, however dirtied and very much worn-out. Professor Hiroshima cleared his throat and began, “The Castform-Clone-Case has always been a success, cloning these small Pokemon with absolute zero deficiency; however, the Weather Institute claims an exotic virus have attacked the CCC and took over the machine. CCC began to crank out Castform, one after another. Personae at the Weather Institute had already evacuated the building, while the CCC can not be shut off, and all contact became non-existence with the interior of the Weather Institute.”

The once busy and bustling shop died down as everyone glued their eyes to the television screen, their mouth dropped in awe as live scenes of tornado and thunder roamed freely on Route 119, hundreds of Castform scattered freely throughout. The scene shifted back to the reporter, and she delivered the message of doom. “Experts have calculated the movement of these catastrophic weather patterns, and it seems to be heading towards Foretree!”

Several gasps are heard from the shop, as distant yelling began to erupt from all over Fortree. “Everyone evacuate!” The clerk barked at everyone as they quickly filed out the shop, shouting and screaming all along. The clerk instinctively took his prized Master Ball, still in the case, and headed for the door. Then he noticed that Rainer and Houndour still had their eyes glued to the television. “Come on boy, aren’t you getting out?!”

“Yea, let’s go.” Rainer told the clerk as all three ducked through the low door, and took a glance at the looming sky. Dark clouds hung on the sky, as thunder and lightning ruled the heavens. Rainer looked towards Route 119, a large twister slowly swirled and twirled, closer and closer.

“You go, get some help.” Rainer helped the clerk down as rain began to lash down from the heavens above, while the rest of the city evacuated towards Route 120. The clerk gave Rainer a questioning glance. “I’ll be fine.” With that, the clerk quickly took off after everyone else, living Rainer and Houndour all alone.

“Whatever this is, I am not letting Fortree getting destroyed – I like it here.” Rainer and Houndour quickly jumped on a newly released Aerotactyl. “Aero, into the Belly of the Beast! Route 119!”

OOC: This is some what an epic battle thing, but it doesn’t end just with the Castforms, as you well see later on. Jump in guys.

[PKS Dragon Lord]

OOC-I'm going to jump back in to this RP forum because, personally, I don't want to see it die. I'm going to use the same character as before, just with a dress change. Val returns.

BIC-Through the empty treetop streets, a pair walked slowly towards route 119. The human figure wore a pair of long jean shorts, a pair of white shoes, and a white dress shirt that was buttoned up part way with the cuffs rolled up. The pokemon figure was a teal wood gecko with red leaves coming from it's wrists, head, and back. It was Val Armada and his shiny Grovyle, Ecko.

The two quietly walked over the wooden bridges as they judged the size of the storm. It was quite massive, but seems to not be natural. No one was in Fortree City, so it was clear to see that people were quite afraid of it. Storms really didn't bother Val anymore. He had been through hundreds before so he really didn't care how powerful they were, he could protect himself.

Once Val and Ecko got to the edge of a housing platform they stopped and looked down at the ground below. Ecko grinned, knowing that it could jump down to safety easily. It was getting ready to jump when Val stopped him with a slight glance.

"Ecko, you're not getting ahead of me today. That storm seems to be getting more powerful. We're going to check it out." Val said as he looked out into the sky.

In the distance Val noticed a large flying pokemon that could only be an Aerotactyl. Val ran through whom could be flying into the storm and only can up with Rainer. It had been a while since he had seen him, but knew that something big must be going on if Rainer was going into the storm.

"Cruz, lets go! Take us into the storm." Val said as he pulled out a pokeball, revealing his mighty Blaziken.

Val climbed onto Cruz's back and Ecko go onto Val's back. The group leapt from the platform and down onto the route. Blaziken speeded into the distance and got underneath Rainer. With a mighty leap, Val was over Rainer and withdrew Cruz. With a thump, Val and Ecko landed behind Rainer.

"Rainer, long time no see. What's up with this storm?"

[Linkachu]

“What do you think you’re doing?!” a woman screamed hysterically as her daughter tore out of the living room.

“What do you think I’m doing? You think I can just sit back and let our home be destroyed - again?!” Katie yelled back as she threw on her black wind-breaker jacket and stuffed her feet into her gray and blue boats. Grabbing hold of the front doorknob, she was about to throw it open when the middle aged mother stomped into the hallway. Katie hadn’t seen her face that shad of red since her childhood, and her short, curly brown hair seemed wilder than usual. “Jeez, Mom, don’t give yourself a heart-attack,” the girl joked.

“Save it! I’m not letting you go out there alone!” The woman’s arms trembled at her sides. “We have to evacuate like everyone else and meet up with your father. Maybe then we can-”

“No. It’ll be too late then. I’m going now.”At that the teen threw the door open and raced outside, stopping dead in her tracks the second her eyes fell upon the sky. The deep blackness of the clouds were far worse than the TV had portrayed. She cringed as a thunder clap ripped through the sky and literally shook the tree her Fortree home was supported by.

“You're going to stop that? How can you possibly do anything?!”

Katie turned to find her mother once more, now bound tightly in a long brown over-coat. Her hair was blowing madly in the wind, much like Katie’s own.

“I don’t know what I can do, but I gotta try. Besides, compared to what I’ve been through over the past year, this looks easy,” Katie replied with a weak grin. Her mother opened her mouth to retort but let out a scream instead when rain suddenly began to hammer down. Katie simply ripped a PokeBall off her belt and tossed it into the air, the red energy from within splitting the rain around it.

“Troooop!” bellowed the newly materialized creature, his broad, leaf-like wings cutting through the rain water like a knife as he came in for a landing before his trainer.

“We’ve got another mess on our hands, Midori. Let’s not let it end in tragedy,” Katie said as she climbed onto the Pokemon’s back. Looking back to her mother, who seemed to be lost for words, the girl grinned brightly. “Go find Dad. Tell him I’m off on another reckless endeavor and probably won’t be back in time for dinner. I’m sure he’ll be as thrilled by the news as you. Well, see ya!”

Tapping the Pokemon lightly with her heels he gave another cry and opened his wings, giving a powerful pump to shoot into the air. It was hard to catch over the pelting rain but Katie was sure she heard her mother shout, “Good luck!”

As the duo flew onward they soon noticed something soaring a short distance ahead, Katie squinting her eyes to get a better look. “Is that… It couldn’t be. No, it is. Rainer! And Val? Haven’t seen him in ages! Midori, catch up to them!”

The Tropius motored his wings with everything he had to pick up speed, slowly but surely closing in on the Aerodactyl and its riders. Even when they were little more than a few meters apart, the rushing wind and rain was so loud that Katie had to yell at the top of her lungs to get their attention. “Hey, guys! Need a hand?”

[Blastoise]

OOC: This is some what an epic battle thing, but it doesn’t end just with the Castforms, as you well see later on. ^^ Anyways, feel free to jump in, and I hope you do.

“Val!” Rainer had to scream above the roaring thunder, while his hand held tightly onto Houndour, and tried his best to protect the small Pokemon from the horrific thunder. As soon as he stumbled towards the recent arrival, a large shadow of a Pokemon cast upon him, as Rainer saw an old friend joined the party. “And Katie!”

The three humans took cover under the looming, yet comforting, forms of their own Pokemon, and took temporary shelters the weather. “Boy, it’s great to see you guys.” The others nod with same notion, as they had to rely on each other to even have hopes of stopping this disastrous twister.

“The Castform are pulling out all of the weather attacks at the same time, and the sheer number of the Castform are causing a temporal disorder, which seems to be cause of that tornado over there.” Rainer pointed to the large gale and the numerous forms of Castform all around the winds. Rainer looked at the looming heavens, and the sky roared as if it disapproved at the mortals below. “It is raining hard right now… but it might change any sec-”

Before Rainer had the chance to finish his sentence, the storm clouds retreated as fast as it once appeared, and was replaced by the mighty sun. However, the sun was abnormal, under the influenced of Sunny Day. “It seems the might of weather have changed,” Rainer said to the other two as it walked into the open air, and all of them instantly felt the drying hotness around them.

Although the storm has passed, there were no signs of a reassuring rainbow in the sky. The only thing lingered was the almighty twister, all the same traveling closer and closer to the trio. “We should really stop this.” Houndour leaped from Rainer’s comforting arms and onto the ground, and felt much of her vitality returning thanks to the prophesized sun. Houndour dashed forward and sent hot waves of heat forward, downing several of the many nearby Castform.

Although the effect was little, Rainer picked up the sudden change in the environment. The twister slightly held its own gravitational vortex, and stopped dead in its track. However, before Rainer have time to rejoice, the tornado picked up once again and started to head steadily towards the trio, and more importantly – Fortree City.

“Looks like we have to take down as many of these little guys as we can… and maybe, just maybe that’ll be enough to buy us some time.” Rainer received nods from the other two, as he started to take forth his Pokemon, ready for the climatic battle laid patiently before him…

OOC:
Just battle the Castforms in any way you wish, there are about 1000 or so, so try not to take all of them out… ^^
Oh, you can catch the Castform if you wish, yea… don’t worry about the plot-less story as of now… it will kick up.

[PKS Dragon Lord]

"Alright, some action. Let's go Cruz, Ecko, and Slim!" Val called out as he tossed out two pokeballs and his shiny Grovyle lept from his back.

From the first pokeball came his massive Blaziken, Cruz. It opened it's peak and let out a stream of fire in the air to show off it's power. The second pokemon to appear was Ecko, coming from Val's back. It wiped its head leaf around and took up a fighting stance. From the second pokeball came Slim, Val's Spoink. Slim bounced up and down for a few moments and then let it's pearl shine slightly.

"Alright, let's do this hardcore. Cruz, wash over them with your Flamethrower. Ecko, use your Leaf Blade to cut come of them down. Slim, use your Psybeam to start thinning out the numbers." Val said calmly as his pokemon began attacking.

Cruz threw it's arms back and called out loudly as a massive stream of flame across the field of Castform. Some of the small pokemon fainted straight away and others got massive burns and fainted soon after. Ecko dove out into the groups of pokemon and slashed at them with it's glowing green leaves. Slim charged up it's pearl and fired a rainbow beam out into the groups of Castform, confusing some and knocking out the weaker ones.

"Keep it up guys. We've got this taken care of if we keep going...But this will take along time. Conserve your energy some." Val said to his pokemon as they continued attacking.

OOC-I look forward to seeing the storyline on this.

[Linkachu]

OOC: You guys aren't paying attention to type-resistance, eh? ^_~

BIC:

“Let’s get in there and help ‘em out,” Katie yelled up to where Midori hovered in the sky. “Use Solarbeam!”

With the hot sunlight blazing above the Tropius was able to absorb a rapid amount of energy in a split second, opening his mouth wide to fire a condensed beam of solar energy into the cloud of Castform. Even with the type resistance several of the tiny flame Pokemon dropped out of the sky. Others who’d been on the edge of the strike managed to stay airborne but were obviously injured.

The shaken Castform glared darkly at the group of humans and Pokemon, clumping in closely together and letting rip multiple blasts of Flamethrower. As the flames raced towards the earth they spiraled inwards to create one massive stream.

“Holy sh-” Katie cried wide-eyed. All she could do was stare as the blast tore through the air threatening to roast them all alive. When the heat began to prickle her skin she was sure they were done for, but then the weather violently shifted again, rain pouring down and utterly extinguishing the flames. It was a miracle.
“Woah…” the girl blinked in disbelief as the water ran down her face. “That was way - WAY - too close for comfort. Another gang up attack like that and we’re gonna be in serious trouble.”

As she gazed back up at the Castform though, now in a form that resembled large water droplets, an idea struck her. “Heh. Let’s try combing some attacks of our own,” she grinned, pulling two PokeBalls off her belt and tossing forward. “Logan, Chuchino, c’mon out!”

In a flash the Zangoose and Pikachu appeared before her, Chuchino startled by the sudden water while Logan simply extended his claws and waited for commands.

“Alright. Combine your powers to give ‘em a real jolt with Thunder!”

Logan grinned as electricity began to crackle around his claws. Chuchino quickly regained his composure and powered up as well, his red cheek patches crackling viciously. Together they released their charges of energy into the sky where they converged to become a single large beam of lightning. The rapid strike enveloped the nearest mass of Castform, zapping them harshly due to the blatant type weakness and sending dozens tumbling to the earth.

“Bulls-eye!” Katie cheered, giving a thumbs up to her Pokemon. "If we keep on our toes and play on their weaknesses we might actually beat this."

[Blastoise]

“Yea! Great job guys, keep it up!” Rainer shouted to encourage his them of Pokemon, all of them continuously unleashed barrages of barrages of attacks, and the combined efforts thinned the numbers of Castform greatly. Val’s Pokemon bravely fought in the center of Castform mob, and drove all of the Storm-Clouded Pokemon far back away. Katie’s Pokemon cleaned off everything else with far range attacks, all the while, the tornado stopped and grew steadily smaller.

It was almost like an irony, but the increasingly strong storm only brought about more strength for the trio and their Pokemon, and with their efforts combined, the once numerous Castform quickly became dwindled down to a few scores. Just as victory seemed in hand, a loud explosion sounded in the far off distance, and sent alert to the three humans.

Rainer, Val, and Katie, with the help of their Pokemon, fought their way through the diminishing crowd of Castform, and quickly closed into the origin of the sound. Rainer and the others found themselves outside of the Weather Institute, and they stood right at the front entrance of the double doors. The glass doors burst to pieces as another explosion occurred, and the trio found hundreds of Castform pouring out madly.

All of the Pokemon worked together and fought their way to the side of the Weather Institute, as Rainer observed the size of tornado, which quickly grew back to the original form, if not even larger and more horrific. “This isn’t working! There are just simply too many of them!” Rainer looked upon the heavens, as the rain stopped abruptly. Quickly replacing the lashing rain were thousand shards of ice, all striking down at the earth below.

The humans and their Pokemon took cover under the tall tree next to the Weather Institute, and the Pokemon got their first chance to sit down and rest. “The CCC is still on, and it is keep cloning all of the Castform. If this keeps up, our Pokemon will be tired out, and we would never reach the machine; on top of that, we can’t do anything about that twister.” Rainer said gravely to the others, staring at the snow storm outside.

“Right now, we have to destroy the cloning machine inside of the institute, or we’ll have no chance of stopping the tornado.” Rainer told his plan to the others, as he thought this was their best bet. “I can’t go in, because I am not great with mazes, and I doubt I can find the machine in sufficient time… So, whichever one goes takes this,” Rainer pulled out a rectangular device, and held it out to let the other two see. “It’s a communication box, just speak to it, and I’ll be able to hear you from outside.”

OOC: Anyone of you can go in the building and destroy the machine. Make the post as creative as you want, at any length (in one post, or more) you prefer. Anyone going into the Weather Institute can pick up one the following:
A Castform
A Magneton (Used for powering up the Weather Institute)
An Electrode (Used for powering up the Weather Institute)

[PKS Dragon Lord]

"I'll go. I've got the Cruz and Slim. Cruz will be able to at least take out some doors and burn up the computer systems and Slim will be able to move anything out of the way. Plus, I have the least pokemon with me, so you guys can fight off the Castform out here and I'll take the inside. Thanks for the comm box, I think I'll need this. See ya when I get out." Val said as he recalled Slim and climbed onto Cruz's back along with Ecko.

Without being commanded, Cruz leapt high in the air and landed on top of the building. It let down Val and Ecko and moved over to a locked door that lead into the building. With a powerful Blaze Kick the door slid down the stairs and into the building. Val recalled Cruz and began down into the building. Val and Ecko moved down the stairwell, across a hallway, and into a security monitoring room.

"Ecko, watch the door while I try to figure out which way we need to go to get to the CCC. Rainer, I'm in a security room. There are camera's in every hallway and room...but I still can't see the CCC. I've found the generator room and I'm thinking that since the CCC must have to use alot of power, it has to be nearby. I'm going to make my way to the generator and I'll radio back in when I get there." Val stated as he looked over the monitors and figured up a path into to the generator.

Val called for Ecko and they began down a winding set of hallways. There were very few Castform in the halls, and they were weak at that. Ecko easily knocked out the little blob like pokemon, for they had no weather advantage inside at the moment in the dark, windowless hall. After a few minutes of walking and a few more of fighting, Val and Ecko entered a large room with a massive generator. On either side of the generator were a Magneton and an Electrode in chambers connected to the generator.

"Rainer, I've found it and I know where the CCC is. Somehow I have to break down a steel blast door into the CCC from here and then find some way to get through a fire proof shield around it. I think I know what I can do, but it's going to me a bit tricky. I'll radio in once I see if it'll work." Val said into the comm box and pulled out his two pokeballs.

Val let out Slim and told it to create an illusion in front of the two electric types. Slim let out a bit of a glow from it's pearl and the electric types kept at work as if nothing had ever happened. Then Val let out Blaziken and ordered it to begin using Blaze Kick on the door. The flaming kicks began to dent the door in and soon fell into a half melted mess on the floor.

"Alright! Slim, pick up that Electrode and bring it in here without making it explode." Val called out as Slim began to act.

Slim opened the door and lifted the round, electric pokemon with it's psychic powers. Without hesitation, Slim began to hop towards the door and brought Electrode into the chamber. With a steady mind, the black pig known as Slim put the pokemon down and backed away. Val recalled Cruz and Slim and called Ecko into the room.

"Use your Bullet Seed on Electrode and then we run." Val stated as Ecko followed orders.

With a burst of seeds from Ecko's mouth, the plan was set into action. The Electrode began to shine as Val and Ecko sprinted from the room and into the hallway. Upon hearing a massive explosion, Val and Ecko walked back into the room. The shield around the CCC was gone and it sat helplessly in the center of the room.

"Alright Ecko, let's destroy this thing with your Leaf Blade!" Val said as he was taken from his usually calm mood and thrown into a happy to be alive mood. Ecko's shining red blades split through the machine as if it were butter. With a small explosion, the CCC was gone once and for all.

"Alright, now we get out of here the same way we came in." Val said as he slipped back into his calm mood.

Val and Ecko made it back to the roof, where Cruz took them back down to the ground. Val withdrew Cruz and sat down behind Rainer and Katie. He let out a sigh and rested for a moment.

"The CCC is gone. What's been going on back here?" Val asked

[Linkachu]

Rainer's Pokemon along with Katie's Growlithe, Sirius, and her Combusken were in the process of blazing through the currently ice elemental Castform when Val regoined them. Midori, Logan, and Chuchino had been returned to their PokeBalls to conserve energy.

"Val! Good to see you," she said as another dozen Castform fell out of the sky. "For awhile things looked bleak, but we've managed to hang on. Their numbers don't seem to be replenishing as quickly anymore either. Guess that's all thanks to you, eh?"

And she was right. The ominous twister had begun to lose steam again as the number of Castform slowly decreased. Ice still pelted from the heavens but it was much less vicious than it had been before. Once again the trainer's were gaining ground, and this time it seemed like it'd stay that way.

"Just a bit more, guys, and Fortree City will be safe..."

OOC: Kinda vague and short, but I figured I better leave the main plot to Blastoise.

[Blastoise]

“Thanks Val, much appreciated.” Rainer spoke into the communication box calmly, while he took a look at the ruined battle field. The weather had been shifted once again, to the much-welcomed Sunny Day, and it was not nearly as scorching as the last time. The sun dried the human and Pokemon, and revitalized their battle spirits.

The once humongous Castform army had been quickly dwindled down to a few scores as Katie’s Zangoose surged through every one of them. The tornado had already become inexistent, and that meant Fortree city is safe… for now. Rainer’s Houndour eventually took care of the rest, and all of the fainted Castform littered the ground. The battlefield was burnt with elemental marks, while the numerous Castform made the field look like a city of necropolis.

Rainer, Val and Katie recalled most of their Pokemon, and stared on the field of desertion for a while. Their eyes grew larger as all of the Castform glowed brightly, and suddenly scattered bits of star-like particles, showering the entire field with a cleansing spell. The battle marks soon left the scorched land, while this unexplainable phenomenon left the humans and Pokemon in awe.

“Alakazam, TELEPORT!” A young boy’s voice ranged through the empty field, as the three humans felt a surge of psychic energy following through their body. Only a second later, they appeared in the room of a normal household, while the city escaped the trio’s guesses. A young boy with classes appeared before the three, and his trusting Alakazam levitated behind the boy.

“Sorry for the unexplained Teleport,” the boy’s soft voice soothed down Rainer’s burning anger inside, as Rainer gave the time the boy needs to explain himself. “I am sorry to tell you that what you three have been through is all a fake. Fortree was in NO danger of the tornado, and all of the Castform was fake, safe for only a few handful…”

All of these information slammed hard onto Rainer, who clearly did not believe what the boy was saying. “But we saw them with our own eye! The tornado and the Castform…” The young boy cut Rainer’s trance of speech, and quickly filled in the answers. “All an illusion, every last bit of it.”

The boy continued to explain, “Yes, there was a virus sent to the CCC, a virus that I personally created. It was to clone fake Castform instead of real ones, so no one would have been in real danger.”

Rainer spoke to himself, “So that’s why all of the Castform were so frail… but that still is hard to believe that all of it was a clever illusion…” Rainer looked to his two companions in this, and saw disbelieving facial expressions cling about them. The young boy calmly walked to his desk and pulled out files upon his computer.

“I have staged this a few months ago, here’s all the proofs.” The young urged the trio to take a glance at the computer screen, though none of them actually moved. Rainer raised an eyebrow as he was not sure to believe this young boy or not. Rainer approached the boy intimidating, “Let’s say we believe you, tell us why you went through this great deal of trouble to create illusions, to put a whole village in danger, at least ‘illusionly’?”

The boy nodded as he began his tale. “In this city, the city of Goldenrod, I am sure that you know it is the home of many thriving businesses, as well as notorious gangs and organizations. Well, only six months ago, a band of psychic trainers joined together to form a clan, and it was not the average group. This group used their psychic Pokemon, with a psychic’s special ability that they’ve developed, to read and control a human mind.” The young boy continued, “Although the clan had not started to control human minds, the operations will be launched quite soon, and who knows what will happen to the world if they controls influential and strong individuals?”

Rainer, Val and Katie all are not sure of what to believe, as the young boy’s tale seemed farfetched. Rainer questioned the boy once again, “Ok, who are you? And how do you know all this?” The young boy nodded to Rainer and pulled out his Pokedex, showing to the trio. It clearly read Alex Psychoson, while he extracts a piece of storage disk from his computer, and ‘A.P.’ was engraved into it.

“My other two friends and I were once part of this organization. We were once newbies, however, we started to gather more and more information about this ‘group’, and we found out the normal psychic clan was more then it appears – a lot more. We quickly realized the plan behind whole group, and knew what they are doing is not right. We started to stage a resistance, but we cannot find anyone that is strong enough to deal with these guys. So I was in charge of pulling off of the clever illusion to attract brave and strong Pokemon Trainers as yourself, and maybe convince you guys to join our resistance…” The young boy lost his trail of speech, but quickly picked right back up, “I do not know how to convince you any better, so you just have to take my word for it on this…”

Rainer, and he was quite sure that Val and Katie were too, was extremely intrigued by the Alex’s call for help. Rainer held a hand up for the boy to stop speaking, while he gently pulled Val and Katie to the far end of the room. “The boy’s story is a bit… out there, but my instincts say it’s okay. What about you guys?”

[Linkachu]

"Personally, I'm still stuck at the part where all of that before was just an illusion. The intensity of the storm... The rain and wind... We all felt it, right?" Katie murmured. That Alex guy had said a few of the Castform were real, though, but would that have been enough? The fear of losing her home all over again had been indescribable. To think it had been nothing more than an illusion... She felt more like slapping this guy across the face than helping him.
"I have my doubts on this, but the only way to prove them right or wrong is to stick around and see for myself. Guess that means I'm staying, for now." She turned to Val to hear his response, though she had a hunch he'd be staying aswell.

[PKS Dragon Lord]

"I don't know. He is responsible for an entire city being evacuated and causing a big emergency, even if it wasn't even real. My doubts lie in the fact that the CCC in the building was destroyed. I did it myself. If it was all an illusion, how do you explane that?" Val asked as he crossed his arms and looked over his two partners in this whole thing.

"I still have my doubts but I will back you two up in whatever you decide. It's not we really have a choice, right?"

[Blastoise]

OOC: I am sorry guys, it seems that my ‘transition’ was not too smooth, I will try to clear things up a bit on this post.

BIC:
Alex Psychoson was a boy of ingenious ideas, however, he now began to doubt if creating a massive illusion and scaring an entire city to evacuate is a good idea to ‘recruit’ Pokemon Trainers to protect the fate of Goldenrod. “I am sorry for putting your village in danger,” Alex turned to the girl, who he believed was Katie, “You’re right, I have dispatched several dozens of Castform to create the weather effects, however, all of them were instructed to hide from your views. All of the Castform were illusions, so were the tornado; but the immense heat and the clashing storms were the real Castform’s doings.”

Then, the young boy turned to an older teenager, who he thought the name was Val. “Come here and take a look,” Alex pulled up a computerized image of a mechanic cylinder, it seemed very high-tech and expensive. “Was this the machine you destroyed?” Alex asked Val, who slowly nodded his head. “Good. The real CCC is hidden underground, and yes, I did infect that machine with a virus. That virus had shut down the machine temporarily, while my machine created the fake Castform.”

“I know it seems that you do not have a choice in this, but you may quit right now. I do not want to push you into great peril, yet I greatly appreciate the help, since my two friends and I have no chance dealing against the psychic clan.” Alex Psychoson sighed as his Alakazam teleported to a different position in the room, and resumed his conversation with the trio.

“You may browse through Goldenrod if you like, but please come back here before sun fall. The Goldenrod gym is accepting challengers if a badge interests you, and the Pokemon Daycare is always open, so is the Goldenrod Mall. My two friends and I will lead you to our first mission after sun set…” Alex Psychoson concluded his speech, leaving the three trainers quite speechless.

“Well…” Rainer broke the awkward silence, “I am going to walk around a bit, I’ll see you guys later then.” Thoughts clouded his mind as Rainer climbed up a ladder, followed by his Houndour, through a trapdoor, and finally into the bustling city of Goldenrod…

OOC: Sorry Dragon Lord and Katie for the slightly autoing. I hope that post clerified what I meant to say in the previous post, sorry about the lack of good explainations. ^^

[PKS Dragon Lord]

OOC-Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. Now things are clearer. Thanks.

BIC-Val knodded to Alex and followed suit with Rainer. Val and Ecko climbed up the ladder and into Goldenrod. After a few moments of looking around to find exactly where he was, it became clear where exactly he needed to go. After about thirty minutes of fighting though the crowded streets, he and Ecko arrived at the pokemon center.

Val walked through the door and over to a phone with a pokeball transporter next to it. He sat down with Ecko and dialed a number on the phone. After a breif conversation, the transporter clicked to life and a pokeball appeared. Val grabbed it and opened it with a white flash, letting out it's pokemon inhabitant.

The pokemon formed on the floor in the shape of a large, fox like creature. As the light faded, it's black fur became visible. It's black body was accented by yellow rings of fur that seemed to put off a slight glow. The pokemon let out a small cry and then rubbed it's head against Val's leg. It was Val's Umbreon, Aco.

"Aco, it's been a long time buddy. Ecko this is my first pokemon ever, Aco. It's going to be joining us on this journey." Val said as he petted Aco head.

Val returned Aco and began out the door when he was stopped by a girl. She couldn't have been over eleven years old and had tears running down her eyes. Val waited for her to say what she wanted to say, but she didn't speak. The girl grabbed Val by the arm and pulled him over to a seating area. Ecko watched with a puzzled look on it's face as it followed it's master.

"What do you want?" Val asked with is calm face never changing.

"I saw that you had pokemon and I wanted to know if you would help me." the girl said through her tears.

"I'll help...if you can just tell me what the problem is. Stop crying and we'll see what we can do." Val said to the girl as she rubbed her eyes.

"Well, I had my Eevee, Matu, since I was very little. We were raised together. So when I turned ten I set of on a journey with Matu. Then, about a week ago, Matu evolved into an Espeon. I was so happy, but it stopped following my orders after that. It's been really mean to me since then and I don't know what to do with it anymore. I was wondering if you had a psychic pokemon to trade for my Matu." The little girl said as she began to calm down.

"Well, actually I have a Spoink right now named Slim that is really fun loving and I'm sure it would love you. Would you like to trade your Matu for Slim?" Val asked as he got out the pokeball containing Slim.

The girl was overjoyed and Val seemed quite happy that he could help out a young trainer. After going through a process on a trading machine, Val's Slim and the girls Matu had switched owners. Once Val was done in the pokemon center he began towards his next destination, the Name Raters.

Val found the building and entered to be greeted by an old man. Without even asking why Val had come, he rushed the trainer in and sat him down in a comfy chair and brought him a hot cup of tea. Val gladly took in and drank the liquid down. The old man sat across from Val and rubbed his hands together.

"What is your pokemon's name and what do you want to change it to?" the older man asked.

"Well, I was wanting to changed my Umbreon's name from Aco to Agro. Is that possible?" Val asked as he pulled out his freshly reclaimed pokeball.

"Of course you can." the old man said as he tapped the pokeball with a small tool and then knodded that the process was done.

Val thanked the old man and re-entered the streets. He couldn't think of much more that he needed to do but go and wait for the others to arrive. Ecko began to grow tired of walking and lept up onto Val's back for the rest of the walk. Soon they arrived back at the area of the trap door and sat down near it to wait for Katie and Rainer.

OOC-Had to bring back one of the old crew for this topic.

[Linkachu]

OOC: Yeah, no worries Blastoise. I was always just going with the story anyways. Sorry if it seemed like I was upset with you directly ^^

Btw - I hope it's okay if I auto Alex slightly. I'll edit anything if it goes against your aim for the character.

BIC:

After the other two filed out Katie was left alone in the room with Alex. Neither said anything at first, Katie leaning against the wall and staring blankly at the boy while he was turned away staring at his computer screen. Finally she spoke, "You just read my mind back there, didn't you? About Fortree and such."

The boy gave a slow nod and replied without turning, "Yeah... I hope it wasn't offensive. I thought it'd help me understand you better. All I want is for you to trust me."

Katie paused to think about what he'd said, eyeing his Alakazam out of the corner of her eye. "I understand why you did what you did, but I'm sure you can also understand why I'm skeptic. How do I know you're not one of these mind-controlling psychics just looking for strong trainer's to control?" Alex whirled around in his seat with a hurt expression on his face. Before he could reply, though, Katie continued, "I'm sorry... That was probably going too far. I have to question everyone in situations like these, though. It's the reason I'm still standing."

Alex's expression softened a bit, "We're not so different then. Yes, I understand that all too well. I put you all through a test to prove if you could be trusted with this task, so now it's my turn to prove myself to you."

"After sunset, eh? I'll be here. But now I've got some business to take care of," Katie said with a smile. Slipping her backpack off her shoulder's she swung it around and zipped it open, pulling out her blue and red cap. Alex stared with intrigued as she re-zipped her pack and shouldered it once more. "Heh. There we go," the girl grinned brightly as she positioned the hat securely on her head. "Time to take on a Gym Leader."

OOC: I'll write the battle next post if that's okay. Don't really have the inspiration right now and I don't want to hold things up. I'll try to write it soon after Blastoise's next reply.

[Blastoise]

OOC: The auto-ing is no problem at all. Alex is not just my character, you guys can shape him at will, just make it logical.

BIC:
- Some where in Goldenrod -

In the vast city of Goldenrod, innocent little children run around in the park, along with the small and cute Pokemon, shared a great time in the afternoon under the waning rays of the majestic sun. A flock of Pidgey shot overhead, as they are ready to return back to the nest for the evening, and prepared for the next day. However, at one corner of Goldenrod was not so picturesque, as a man whispered in a communication box.

“Go, watch for any strong trainers, and take control of them. Only try in the dark, and don’t blow your cover.” A man in regular t-shirt and jeans stuffed the device into his backpack, and began his way into a darkening alley, thanks to the setting sun. The plan is launch tonight, but I guess the boss figured that a few strong trainers on our side would make it a lot easier… With a silent Xatu flying overhead, the psychic trainer began his hunt…

- Goldenrod Park -

“Quilava, back it up and Flame Thrower!” Rainer shouted over the murmur of a gathering crowd, all were watching the intense battle between a Quilava and a Manectric. Quilava doubled-back to evade a well charged Thunder Bolt, and let the electricity burn a small hole on the cement ground. The fire dog retaliated with a stream of flame, which the Electric type easily dodged as well.

“Mushi, Crunch!” Rainer’s opponent, a beautiful girl in her late teens, pointed at the fiery Pokemon as light and shadow played on her face, adding the effects of chiaroscuro. The lightning hound dashed at Quilava at such speed that only few of the crowd was able to track the whereabouts of the hasty Pokemon, as it was ready to chump down at Quilava. Rainer’s smart Pokemon quickly leaped back to avoid a devastating bite on her neck, and beat back with a Headbutt.

Rainer narrowed his eyes as he watched the effects of Quilava’s attack. Manectric had not been fazed much by the weak attack; however, Rainer’s Quilava suffered more then she had gained, as she seemed extremely dazed, and found herself immobilized. “Mushi, catch it while it’s off guard, Thunder!”

Rainer realized a bit too late – Manectric’s ability Static had paralyzed Quilava when they made contact, and now Quilava was in deep trouble. The night began to set in, but not before one last attempt by the girl’s Mushi to light the day. A streak of lightning flashed down from the heavens, ready to engulf the fiery Pokemon in one single blast. Fortunately, Rainer quickly withdrew the paralyzed Pokemon, and watched the Thunder cracked the cement ground even more.

The crowd erupted into a loud cheering as the girl claimed her victory over Rainer, while the streetlights celebrated by flickering on to meet the impending darkness. The two trainers met in the center of the battlefield, and Rainer was quite dazed by the dazzling figure in front of him. “Uh… the name’s Rainer. That was a nice battle.”

“Likewise,” The girl took Rainer’s hand and shook it, “My name is Ame, nice to meet you.” Several loud and consecutive ringing from a distant clock tower made Ame aware of the time, as she gave Rainer a quick smile. “I am sorry, but I have to go. I’ll see you around someday…” Just like that, Rainer watched the beautiful girl turn around and dashed away, disappearing into the dissonant crowd.

“What are you snickering at?” Rainer sneered down at his Houndour, “Come on, let’s go back before we’re too late…” With that, Rainer and Houndour both made their way back to central Goldenrod, and later back into Alex Psychoson’s secret hideout.

However, no one was aware that a Psychic Trainer had his eyes set upon the girl. The trainer and his Xatu had finally found their prey…

OOC:
I think the story is going quite well… Linkachu is gonna put her battle post after this. If Dragon Lord would like to put in something else, that’s cool too. Mission starts on the next post.

[PKS Dragon Lord]

OOC-Just so you guys know, I'm good to go. I'm just waiting for Linkachu to post and then we can get on with the events of this topic. I'm liking it Blastoise...Good work.

[Linkachu]

OOC: Hate to post one of these, but might as well explain why I'm holding things up.

Work has been hectic lately, over 9 hours a day, and I haven't really had the mind power to properly RP (especially not a battle >.>). If I can't get my thoughts straight to write it by tomorrow night I'll probably just scrap the idea and do something else.

Sorry for this. I should've known since this was my first "real" week of work that this kinda thing would happen. I'm still very interested in this story, tho, so don't worry about that.

[PKS Dragon Lord]

OOC-Hey, don't worry about it. I know how it goes. Just take your time and take care of things when you can. I was just wondering what was going on.

Don't stress yourself

By the way, I just got post 555 on this post count

[Linkachu]

"It's just beyond the next corner... My first Gym battle," Katie whispered to herself as she strode through the Goldenrod streets. They seemed much less crowded than the last time she'd been there, probably due to the late hour. The sun had already begun to set on the horizon.
"I hope this battle doesn't take too long. Wouldn't want to be late for Alex's plan..."

As she finally rounded the final bend the Gym stood proudly in the distance, a bright grin stretching across her face. "This is it! Time to show what I'm made of. And since this is a Normal-type Gym I know just who to use..."

Reaching down to her belt, she plucked off a single PokeBall and tossed it forward. Combusken emerged in a flash, throwing a few quick jabs and a kick at the air before falling silent to stare up at his trainer.
"I'm not sure if you and Jamison ever fought in any Gym battles, Combusken," Katie started to say, "but you can bet this'll be a tough fight."
The Pokemon nodded in response, his attention then being stolen skyward. The intense look on his face puzzled the girl a bit.

"What could be that interesting after I just announced a Gym Battle?" she murmured, following his gaze. She almost choked as her eyes went wide. The Pokemon was only insight for a few seconds but she was able to identify it clearly enough: a Xatu.
"Normally I'd shrug something like that off, but after what Alex told us... A fully evolved psychic Pokemon flying around seems more intriguing than usual. You sensed it too, didn't you?" she said, looking down to Combusken. "That Xatu wasn't just out to stretch its wings. It was searching for something."

"Ken..." the Combusken replied with a nod as he gazed back up into her eyes. She could almost read his expression.

"Hmm..." Katie pondered, staring off at the Gym and then back into the sky where the bird had disappeared. "You think we should go after it, eh?"

"Combuskennn!"

"Yeah... Me too." The trainer couldn't hide her disappointment as she turned away from the gym, but there'd always be another time challenge it. With Combusken at her side she set off into the direction the Xatu had flown.

***

"We've been all over this city and haven't seen a single sign of that Xatu..." Katie grumbled as she approached Alex's hideout. Combusken didn't say a word, but she could tell that he was annoyed as well. Something about the psychic-type had really gotten under his skin.
"I don't like this... Something's going down. I can feel it. I just wish we knew what, and where... Maybe Alex's plan will shed some light."

Taking a quick look around be sure they weren't being watched, Katie opened the hatch to Alex's trapdoor and let Combusken climb down before doing so herself. Making her way around the room to stand by the backwall she looked around at her companions who'd already gathered.

"Hope we're not late."

OOC: Yeah... Sucks if you were expecting to read an interesting battle post, especially after the wait, but at the moment I really just can't get my head around planning out a stand-alone match. Maybe another time. Until then, let's get this show on the road ^^

[Blastoise]

OOC: Okay, sorry for the wait guys. Writers block certainly isnt friendly when you're trying to move the plot forward.
It's definitely not my best post... but I hope it is fine.

BIC:
- Somewhere in Goldenrod -
“Mushi, wait for me!” The girl ran through the alley of Goldenrod at top speed, eager to get back to her hotel room for an important meeting; however, it was Mushi the Manectric that was faster, and it led the way for the teen, turning into a blind alley.

“I got you now!”

A voice echoed through the darkened alley, and the almighty sun was not there to comfort the cold and scared girl. A Xatu dived down towards Ame while easily evading blasts of lightning coming from the lighting hound. An earsplitting scream filled the alleyway, but it ended as quickly as it began.

Ame was captured…

- Hideout -
“I hope I am not late.” Rainer blushed as he entered through the trapped door, and saw Katie and Val already there, both seemed inpatient for Rainer to arrive. Rainer shut the secret entrance as Houndour waltzed her way in, lazily finding her way towards Alakazam.

Alex replied for the two, “No you’re not, we’re still waiting for my friends to come over. At the mean time, Val and Katie were just telling me what they have been doing in Goldenrod earlier. Katie seemed to run into a suspicious situation.” Rainer dropped his backpacked down to the ground, and sat down cross-legged. He listened half-minded at Alex, while his mind was still at the battle with the beautiful girl. Alex, however did not notice, continued on with his informing. “A Xatu flying across Goldenrod, searching for something… or someone.”

That brought Rainer out of his trance, as he quickly saw the connection between the Psychic Clan and their ambitious motives. A knocking at the trapdoor broke Rainer’s trail of thoughts, at he looked at the entrance, revealing two girls, twins actually, dressed identically. Both had similar attire, however, one had a pair of sunglasses on.

Alex welcomed his two friends by introducing them to the trio. “These two are my closest friends, Alyssa and Alison.” Alison greeted the trio with a warm ‘hello’, while Alyssa, her eyes hidden behind her pair of sunglasses, merely nodded at the three. “I’ve already told them about you guys,” Alex spoke directly towards Katie, Val and Rainer, and tried his best to rid of the awkwardness in the room. “What’s which the sunglasses after the sun set?”

Alyssa replied by releasing two Pokemon, a Sneasle and a Mightyena. The two Pokemon seemed normal, other then the fact that they faced Alex, Alison and the trio. Her twin quickly grew afraid, yet her hands never reached for her Poke-Balls. “What’s wrong Alyssa? Why are you doing this?”

Alex Psychoson was probably the smartest of them all, being a computer genius and all, picked the situation instantly. “Alakazam, Hypnosis on her!” Alex pointed at Alyssa, while Rainer nodded at Houndour, also giving her a command. Houndour leaped passed the hostile Pokemon and towards the girl, who easily moved to the left to avoid the fiery Pokemon. Alyssa swirled again to avoid the blast of the psychic energy, however, at the price of her balance.

As the girl fell the floor, her sunglasses fell lose, and her pair of blood-red eyes tore through everyone’s heart. “She’s been mind-controlled!” Alex pointed out the obvious, as the girl let her Pokemon charge forward, each ready to attack. “Do not harm her, just knock her unconscious!” Alex yelled over the frenzy, as the trio and Alison readied their Poke-Balls.

It’s time to battle against a comrade.

OOC: Feel free to beat her one-on-one.

[Linkachu]

OOC: By one on one I assume you meant take on one of the two Pokemon, right?

BIC:

"Combuskenn!" the anthro bird cawed as the two enemy Pokemon approached. He brought his fists up in a fighting stance and stared down the Mightyena, looking to Katie for the "ok".

"Yeah! We'll take care of the Mightyena," Katie said to the others, clenching a first and gazing back to Combusken.

The bird nodded, and with a cry he flew forward to throw two vicious kicks at the dark wolf’s face. Mightyena staggered back a few steps but quickly recovered, snarling angrily and darting forward with its teeth bared. Seconds before the hound’s bite could connect, though, Combusken opened his mouth wide to blast it dead-on with his Flamethrower.

“Yeaa!” the wolf cried as it leaped out of the line of fire, leaving the stream to fly onward to the opposite wall and pummel one of Alex’s shelves. Books and other flammable objects upon it burst into flames, Alex’s voice ringing out shrilly.

“Alakazam, suffocate those flames with Psychic!”

Katie only managed to catch a glimpse of the psychic energy warping space to create a “box” around the flames, yelling as she spun back around to watch her Pokemon, "It’s too dangerous to fight like that in here. Don‘t use your- woah!”

Mightyena was back on its feet, dark energy generating widely inside its open mouth. With a sharp bark the pulsating Shadow Ball was released to race across the room and slam Combusken harshly in the gut. The Fighter doubled over in pain, Mightyena taking the opportunity to dart in close again. As the wolf snarled and opened its mouth wide in preparation of a Crunch attack though, Combusken came alive, his right fist shooting up to strike the foe in the jaw. The blow stunned the wolf, giving the Fire-type the chance to regain his composure and thrust forward his other fist. This time the Pokemon was struck so powerfully it was thrown back through the air and into the far wall, smashing against the now smoldering bookshelf and knocking various objects onto the floor. One a which, a statue, shattered on contact, Alex groaning from the other side of the room.

“Heh… Oops,” Katie murmured sheepishly, staring across at the downed Pokemon. She wasn’t sure if that blow had been the clincher but Mightyena had gone silent. “Combusken, don’t let your guard down. That Mightyena may only be faking. While you watch it, though, I‘ll see if I can help out with its trainer…”

For the first time since the battle had begun Katie turned her focus back onto Alyssa, ready to act if the others still hadn’t gotten her under control.

OOC: Sorry if that battle seemed too quick/one-sided. I give either of you permission to auto Combusken or Katie if their help is still needed.

[Blastoise]

OOC: I am not sure where Dragon Lord is… but I think we’re the only ones left in this topic, unless others want to join…

BIC:
Alex Psychoson gave Katie an awkward look, staring down at the girl who just destroyed half of the room – he does not want to know how would Rainer ‘contribute’ to this matter. The red eyed Alyssa mechanically lifted up her hand and pointed at Rainer, while Sneasle dived towards the Water Pokemon trainer. Houndour gave the attacker a detour with a well-placed Heatbutt, sending Sneasle away from her trainer. Rainer smiled at Houndour, while Alex’s face dropped even more as he looked at his charred books. “Not another Fire Type!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to do minimal damage to your room,” Rainer reassured the scared boy, who was ready to command Alakazam to suffocate anymore flames. Rainer turned his gaze towards the charging Ice Dark duo type, and said, “But I am not sure about that Sneasle…” The opponent darted towards Rainer once again, this time, its duo claws lifted high, ready to Slash down at the human. “Houndour, Faint Attack!” The Dark type attack laid its mark easily, taking the Ice Type by surprise.

Twice had Houndour hit the opponent, and she had finally gained the attention of the attacker. Sneasle reared up for a Slash attack, while Houndour charged forward, spurting small loads of flames towards the Ice Type. The two Pokemon danced their way around the basement, while Houndour bit by bit lured the aggressive Pokemon away from its trainer. Rainer nodded towards Alex and his Alakazam. The psychic Pokemon blasted a beam of hypnotic waves at the unguarded girl, as she quickly fell to the ground, unconscious.

The once attacking Pokemon quickly stopped its movements, before the duo typed Pokemon scurried back to its unconscious master, checking for her well being. “Looks like it is over,” Alex said as he began to arrange his messy room, Alakazam teleported back and forth, helping its trainer. Alison, the other twin, quickly went to her sister, while Val, Katie and Rainer followed her.

“She seems to be coming around,” The worried twin told the others as Katie helped Alison to carry the weak girl onto Alex’s soft bed. Alyssa slowly woke up from the brain-control, as she glanced briefly at everyone, before she clasped onto her twin for emotional support. Alex Psychoson made his way over to the girl, and began introducing the new faces in the room.

“You don’t have to,” Her voice was crisp and sharp, and she seemed extremely alert when she stopped Alex’s trail of words, “They brain-controlled me, yet I still know what I am doing, it’s just that I can’t stop myself from doing it…” The room grew silent, as all of the trainers slowly intake what the girl just said. Rainer grew sick from the disgusting idea of fighting his own friends, against his own wills. Alyssa smiled as her two faithful Pokemon moved closer to her, “You guys fought for me, even though I wasn’t myself…” She grew teary as she hugged her Pokemon.

“Who attacked you?”

“I don’t know…” Alyssa began as she shifted her gaze from her Pokemon, and unto the undecorated ceiling the secret hideout. “I remembered that I felt like I was being followed, and then I saw a shadow… it looked like a Gardevoir… and then nothing…” Alyssa looked away from the ceiling and placed her stare onto her twin sister, “The next thing I remember was coming here with you…”

“Mind control,” Alex spat with disgust, while the trainers in the room grew unwell, perhaps from the skirmish before hand, perhaps from what’s happening, perhaps the emotional state of Alyssa. “Still, this doesn’t matter; we’re going straight for the head quarters. My old friend is still there… Scott is the leader of the Psychic Clan, and he was the one who discovered the ability to mind control…” Alex rose up from his seat and went to gather his resources, ready for the journey ahead. For a short moment, no one said anything, as they sometimes heard Alex going through a box of tiny devices and him returning. Alex gave everyone a solemn look, “You can still back out of this, although I would appreciate your help greatly.” Rainer and Katie nodded towards the young boy, showing that Alex would have their help.

“Great,” Alex said as everyone rose up and prepared to exit their safe and comforting hiding spot, and into the chaos of Goldenrod, “Their hideout is in Goldenrod Underground, under the Goldenrod Tracks, let’s go…”

OOC:
Someone could lead. Dragon Lord if he comes back, Linkachu if she wants to, or anyone that would want to join. Anyone can auto Alex, Alyssa, and Alison, but try to make it fit their personality and Pokemon selection (Darks and Psychics). The journey to the underground hideout can be as smooth as a walk under the moon, or a heated battle all the way. Not just my RP, you guys could decide if you guys want to… ^^

[Linkachu]

OOC: I guess it's safe to say that we really are on our own for now, eh? I'm not really sure of the layout of Goldenrod City anymore - namely where exactly the Underground is (I think the department store but it's all pretty fuzzy) - so I won't lead. I'll do something else ^^

BIC:

As the trainers filed out of Alex's trapdoor they were greeted by the blackness of the night. It wasn’t all dark, though. Lights shining through building windows and lamp posts that spotted the streets gave the group enough visibility to get by. Although, there was still many deep shadows down alleyways that put Katie’s senses on high alert. Maybe it was the paranoia talking, but she couldn’t help but feel like they were being watched.

It’d been by chance that Katie had climbed out of the hideout after Alyssa, and now as they trekked on she found herself staring at the girl’s back. Combusken had been returned to his PokeBall a few moments earlier to conserve his energy, thus aside from the usual paranoia Katie had nothing to focus on, leaving her thoughts to wander again.
She couldn’t shake the guilty feeling she’d had ever since the battle before. All it’d taken was a nicely timed psychic attack to take Alyssa down and the entire situation was corrected. Had she gone too hard on Mightyena? The wolf had only been following its trainer’s orders after all but she’d treated it like an enemy. Had she let Combusken over do it?

As Katie shook her head and sighed she didn’t notice Alyssa slow her walk until the she was walking almost directly beside the Fortree trainer. “You did the right thing,” the psychic murmured just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

Katie’s head snapped towards her, confused for a moment but then getting a slap of reality. “That mind reading ability is a bit unnerving, you know?” she replied with a smirk.

“It’s a curse,” Alyssa laughed quietly. Alyssa was still shaken from the situation herself but the warm smile on her face helped but put Katie a little more at ease. “And I can relate to what you’re feeling. Don’t blame yourself for fighting. It wasn’t your fault. You did what you had to do so nobody else would get hurt, and I can tell by the way you told your Combusken to backed off of Mightyena that you had its best interests in mind.”

“Yeah, but…” Katie averted her gaze to stare at the road, “I still feel like I could’ve done things differently… For the most part of the battle I let Combusken have its own way. I trust him, but he‘s had a rough history. What if something worse had happened…?”

“What if…” Alyssa started, this time sighing herself. Katie looked back up to find a pained and angry look in the psychic’s eyes. “What if things had gone down differently and someone had been hurt - by me? I know it wasn’t me back there but it was still my body. I watched it all happen and couldn’t do a thing to stop it… Am I that weak?” Katie began to open her mouth to reply but quickly shut it, not sure exactly what to say. Now aside from feeling guilty from the battle she felt stupid for feeling sorry for herself when Alyssa had been through so much more.
“But no… I know the truth. It had nothing to do with how strong or weak I am,” Alyssa suddenly spoke up again, stealing Katie’s attention once more. “Their mind control is a perfected technique, and not even I could hope to break it… Blaming myself isn’t going to solve anything. If I’m really guilty taking action is the only thing I can do. I have to help stop this so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else. And we will. Somehow, we will.”

“Heh…” the Fortree trainer cracked a smile as she stared with admiration to Alyssa. “Yeah, you’re right. If we waste time feeling like this we’ll lose focus on what’s most important.” Alyssa smiled back and gave a nod. Katie reached up to flick the rim of her cap, her spirits re-energized and more focused than before. Alyssa was a strong girl indeed, and if she herself hoped to make any difference in this matter she had to be just as strong. “When the time comes I’ll be ready. We won’t let them have their way. We’ll stop it!”

OOC: I hope I managed to keep Alyssa somewhat like you planned. There wasn't really much to go on ^^;

[PKS Dragon Lord]

OOC-Sorry...I kinda forgot about this topic. I'll post tonight later on. I'll edit this so it won't be a double post. Again...Sorry.

[Linkachu]

OOC: Heh... I'd say not to edit the post at this point. Just make a new post. If you don't I'll never know if you actually updated ^^;

We should probably bug a mod to delete all of these OOC's, though. Think the newbie would? ;) j/k