Choice, a Pokemon Shifters RP

TehUltimateMage · April 13, 2017

The reveal was met by a stunned silence. Sine needed a moment to process the information and the sheer probability of crossing paths and getting toyed with by members of the E4. Her face flushed red, and she was trying to stop herself from falling over onto the bed.

"L-Leotard is a dumb name anyway," she ended up retorting, flustered. If she had known that punchable redhead was capable of thoroughly destroying all of them with just a look, she might not have accused him of shady business.

He was still punchable, though, even without glasses. At least Jeff -- no, Soimar -- would be famous enough that there would exist ample fan merchandise of his chiselled physique.

"The Elite Four are the strongest trainers in any particular region," Sine explained for the benefit of Chompers, once she started regaining her composure. "When they're not training or facing league challengers, they're tasked with policing the region." A pause. "Hey! Why didn't you step in when that Tauros was ready to gut us? Aren't you supposed to be the heroic type?" She shook her head from side to side. "Anyway, we were on our way to Lifferoad to find some leads, but I guess the leads found us in the form of you guys. Next destination, Tresma?"

Moonlight_Eevee · April 14, 2017

Anhew looked up at Cass in slight surprise. “Oh,” she said as she processed the information about Audinos. “Well, I'll call him….Berry, I guess.”

Jack gave Cedric a sheepish look as the Seviper told them to never wink at him while they were human. “Sorry,” they said before they listened to Cass before the Seviper said what he had to say before leaving.

“Well of course I'm in on it,” Jack said. “There was a reason why I was riled back in the Poke Center when we were first discussing the ghost types. I'm a Doublade, part steel, part…” he trailed off a bit to sneak a peek at Anhew. “Ghost.”

“Ah, Jack,” Anhew spoke up. “I keep hearing you mention a name, Sark, was it?”

Jack sighed and nodded as Sark started to freak out. “Doublades usually have two different minds because we are two different swords,” they explained. “In our case, we have to share this human body. When at the gym, Sark passed out because apparently he has a fear of fire, that's why I was walking funny. But yes Cass, you were pretty awesome.”

They had let out Regina, who immediately went off and scolded Jack about the gym battle, and Claws, who mostly stayed quiet before shifting into their Doublade form as they walked.

"Hi," Sark said quietly as he hid behind Jack. "I'm...Sark."

Jack wanted to squeal at his adorableness as they wrapped their ribbon to soothe Sark a bit as they floated along. Sark looked over at Anhew, who also transformed after letting Berry out. If the Audino was surprised by Anhew’s shifting, he hid it really well.

Jack and Sark floated out in front, keeping their eyes peeled just in case they crossed paths with any other ghost types before they noticed two humans were running toward them with...trees? Yeah, trees were following the two, not to mention the candles on them. But the trees…

“Claws! Quick! Push the humans away!” Jack ordered their Zangoose.

Claws looked almost startled before lurching forward to push the two humans out of the way for him to take the attacks, but they went right through him. Anhew hung back with Gogurt and Berry a bit since she was getting nervous.

“How dare you,” Jack said in a dangerous tone as both them and Sark started to unsheath themselves. “How DARE you! You call yourselves ghost type Pokémon? All of you are a disgrace to ghost types everywhere, attacking an innocent child like that! I'm down with a good prank but I draw the line when someone's life is in danger!” Sark tried his best to glare at the other ghost types but since his eye only had one expression, he just ended up staring.

Anhew stiffened at his words. These Pokémon were bullies! Gogurt noticed how Anhew was trembling. Was it from fright? Or was it from anger? He wanted to believe that she was shaking from fear. Berry started to walk up to the two humans just in case someone needed medical assistant.

Before Jack could continue their rant, something loud started playing. They froze, Sark turning slightly to stare at Allison. He also noticed some of the others staring at her.

~~~~~~~

All she wanted to do was leave. This was no longer fun to her. She had to be careful this time. The one in charge almost killed her last time she tried to escape. Her parents were right, she shouldn't have come here to begin with.

At first, it was fun, making humans lost before releasing them a few hours later. Now, now it seemed too dangerous. Her only friend that she confide in was a small Pumpkaboo. It couldn't seem to talk, but rather flash its lights as a way of communicating.

She looked over and peered out in shock and horror as she noticed two humans trying to run. She wanted to help, she really did, but...She watched as a Zangoose intercepted the Shadow Balls before…

Her breath got caught in her throat. Who was that was speaking? Their words were sincere. She watched in awe at the they pointed themselves fearlessly at the other ghosts. They were defying this? Was this the end? Would they notice a Mimikyu like herself? Would they yell at her because she was in on this? She watched to see what would happen next. She jumped as something started screaming. She instantly became confused as she listened to it before tilting her head slightly. I kissed a girl and I liked it?

Edited April 14, 2017 by Raptor of Dragons

PureDark006 · April 14, 2017

The shopping trip at the Gym building didn't take long, and was made easier by the fact that Z was the one handling the money. They had something called 'TM rentals' where one could taught a move but had to give back the disk after it was done, but Pooch clarified that it'd cost less than having to buy the things, so Rhapsody went for that.

At fist, he was just going to grab the first three offensive moves Tusk could learn and call it a day. But while looking through the disks (making Z read all the names aloud to him so he could know what the hell they contained), he made the other stop at the one for Sunny Day.

He knew that one. And he knew the most common use for it. "Oi, can you learn Solar Beam?" he asked Pooch.

"I'm not sure? Its not a move we learn naturally," the Houndoom replied, looking thoughtful.

It was worth a try. "Z, hand me those two."

---

All in all, Pooch had gotten Roar and Howl replaced by Sunny Day and Solar Beam; Bugface had gotten Protect to replace Sandstorm (she insisted on a defensive move); and after being told he was running out of money, he had decided to teach Tusk dragon-type moves himself and gotten only Poison Jab for the Axew. 8000P out of the 9700P Lambert had given him.

After asking the way to a training ground where he could throw Tusk at Zoey in peace (going all the way out of the city to train would waste too much time), Z and their flyer led the way to a floor where the battle areas were divided by walls. It wasn't as big as the Gym battlegrounds, but it was spacious enough for three or four of them to do their own thing without getting in each other's way. Pooch was already out, and Bugface and Tusk soon joined her outside their Poké Balls.

"Pooch, Bugface, get a corner. Shoot Solar Beam and defend with Protect until you get the hang of it," he ordered. The floor had a healing machine, so he wasn't worried about having to walk all the way back to the Center if one of them got knocked out. "Zoey, wanna fight Tusk?"

Edited April 14, 2017 by Puredark006

ValidEmotions · April 17, 2017

Emil

Ignoring Sine's mocking tone, Emil watched the exchange. Unlike her, he wasn't fazed by the identity reveal. He knew there wasn't something he could trust about Leonard and Jeff. Soimar's question, Emil shook his head. "No. At least, I don't think so. There are more of us. The others went to Taismog to check out an abandoned building. All of us crossed paths in Vertia where Laren, the Rock-type Gym Leader, gave us some information. A few went to Fastfall to catch a flight to Taismog while the others took another route. The three of us don't have any means of contacting the others.

"Since our memories were wiped, we don't have any forms of identity, let alone access to things like a PC or Pokédex. I'm assuming that whoever's behind doing this to us was able to cover up the trail. After all, people don't just vanish without a trace all on their own," Emil explained.

Remembering the topic about clothes, Emil glanced down at his own. Though he liked the flashy style, he had to admit it would be a good idea to remain inconspicuous. However... "I can't afford new clothes," he murmured.

Kim

Watching Vaila fiddle with her devices, Kim hovered near her arm. "Oh, sure!" he replied, excited that the woman was offering the Absol to him. After having so much trouble just trying to beat it and catch it, Kim thought it would be a good idea to have one in his team. Taking the Ultra Ball from Vaila, he stuffed it into his bag. "Should we head back to Taismog then?"

Gaes

"...Was that an actual compliment?"

At Rhapsody's suspicious tone, Gaes gave him a wink and blew a small kiss in his direction. "Only flattery for the best, sweetheart," she cooed. The woman left the rest of the discussion to Lambchop, Zoey, and Z as they flung around information that she could catch up on later. Right now, the contest was more important to her.

As they headed for the Contest Hall, Gaes found a little hide-away she could shift in once more before rejoining the group as a love-able Mawile. The fact that Rhapsody did his best to keep Lambert between them did not go unnoticed and she smirked, practically skipping in the child-like innocence she put forward.

The Contest Hall came into sight as the speaker boomed with a voice announcing 10 minutes left to sign up. Picking up her pace, she glanced back at Lambert and waved, excited. "Hurry up! We don't have much time left!" she called. Scurrying through the doors, she paused long enough to let the man catch up. In the time it took, she looked around, grinning. The halls were filled with people and pokémon, pictures of previous contest winners lining the walls.

Hurrying to the sign-in booth, Gaes waited impatiently as they progressed up the line. Finally, Lambert was able to fill out the paperwork, selecting the Cuteness category (at Gaes' insistent prodding). With their paperwork completed, they got a number (17) and, as first-time contestants, they were gifted a Contest Pass and Contest Case. The Case, understandably, was empty. But it reminded Gaes that she could buy accessories.

Pulling Lambert towards the shop just as the Announcer began to introduce the judges (Nurse Joyce, Chairman Mark, and Pritell Gym Leader Clarion), Gaes's nerves were tingling. Something began to bubble up in her chest but she stuffed it down, reminding herself that she knew exactly what she was doing.

The shop had several people, lots of Coordinators trying to find last-minute accessories for their Pokémon. Gaes immediately when towards the smaller-sized items, browsing for anything that would look extremely cute on her. As she tried on a few different items, Lambert remained off to the side, simply nodding any time she asked for his opinion. "Not helpful, Lambchop!" Gaes pouted, a flash of frustration welling up.

Something glittery caught her attention and she allowed for the distraction to take her curiosity. "Oh! Look!" She pointed at the glittering pants a human could rent. "You need a contest outfit. Put these on!" Gaes urged.

In the time it took for her to be happy with an ensemble of black-colored items (a cane, top hat, cloak, and bowtie) and for Lambert to pay for everything (he used her money for her items), the Announcer was calling up contestant number 14. That left enough time for them to get backstage and figure out what four moves she'd use for the contest.

She was set on using Play Rough, Fairy Wind, and Iron Head. Lambert could pick the fourth one. Of course, moments before they were about to get out on stage, their phone rang. Fortunately, Lambert made the smart decision to ignore it.

"What a lovely display from contestant number 16! Now, please welcome contestant number 17!"

Choosing the cane over the cloak, Gaes set the latter aside and hurried out onto stage with Lambert. Confident in her talent, she strutted out into the limelight, marching like a conductor in a street band and twisting the cane in her grip. She twirled it, tossed it above her head, and caught it before sweeping her hat out and bowed.

Standing straight to place the hat back on her head, she glanced back at Lambert to make sure he wasn't doing anything stupid. She'd told him what order to call her moves. Hopefully, he remembered to get the timing right.

The audience before her was large, practically filling the Hall to the rim. In front sat the three judges, each one watching her intently. In her excitement, she thought her heart was racing out of anticipation.

But when the lights started to feel hot on her skin and her jaws began to sway, the anticipation showed itself as agitation. Her throat began to feel tight as her chest began to ache. Gaes attempted to push everything down and out of her thoughts, spinning her cane before starting to twirl herself.

Except, the Fairy Wind didn't come gusting forward. There was no pink, wispy breeze. And there certainly weren't any 'ooo's or 'aaahh's. Instead, all there was, was panic in Gaes' thoughts.

She couldn't, if you asked her, explain what came over her. One moment, she was thrilled to be on the stage. The next? Gaes ran, fleeing from the stage, from the crowd of watching humans. She sprinted past Lambert, arms out forward like a child running for a parent with grabbing hands. Her cane had clattered to the stage, left behind in the Mawile's haste.

"Uh-oh! Looks like a case of stage fright! No worries folks, we'll move on to the next contestant!"

Something about the stage, about the situation, triggered something. Whatever it was, Gaes didn't like it. Tears stung her eyes until she managed to blink them back. Coming to a halt next to a potted plant, she ignored the curious looks as she pulled the contest number off her arm, ripping the paper apart in forced anger.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Narvix

hazeh · April 17, 2017

Cass smiled down at the Seviper as the snake Pokemon made his farewells. She would have reached over to pat his head, except he'd already gone past her to say goodbye to Anhew, and then he was departing. She opted for a wave and a big smile, crowing out a, "Bye Cedric! We'll see you later!" in his wake. Allison, on the other hand, paused a moment to look back at the Seviper, lips parted as if she was considering chiming in on the goodbyes. But after the brief hesitation, she merely nodded after him and continued forward on the path, careful to make sure the phone in her pocket was far out of Cassandra's reach.

"Oh, Doublade? I know those Pokemon," Cass said, striding beside Jack easily, "Or, at least I think I do. Sounds familiar." She squinted slightly, trying to recall why the name conjured such familiarity in her. It wasn't until Jack actually transformed that she blinked and added, "Yeah! I do know Doublade. I bet having two minds in one skull is quite an experience though. Hi, Sark. Nice to meet you. Sorry about the...fire. I can see why it's scary."

Allison kept a few paces ahead of the entire group, though she kept tuned to their conversation. When the others transformed, she did not turn or react, but she kept her eye on the surrounding trees and shadows with mistrust. It occurred to her briefly that since the first few days with Cassandra in the forest they woke up in, she hadn't transformed at all. She wondered if it would come as easily to her as it seemed to for Cass and the others. Battling certainly did not sound appealing, much unlike Cassandra. But what else would she use such a form for? The only mildly interesting development of her transforming into a Zebstrika was the Joltik that latched onto her shortly thereafter, and for some reason still hadn't left. (She glanced at him now, perched on her shoulder gazing out at the forest. This wasn't the first time she'd considered asking him to stay, but she'd decided a while ago that she'd leave that choice to him, whenever he'd think to make it. Sometimes she wasn't sure he'd ever actually get the thought in his head.)

They were walking together for some time when something burst onto the path several yards ahead of them. Allison halted immediately, hand flying to Arrow's pokeball in her jacket pocket. Cassandra pushed forward to stand beside Allison and watched as the stranger ahead--carrying a bundled child in her arms-- rushed toward them, shouting as a large group of trees emerged from the shadows with pairs of Litwicks attached to them. Both women released their Pokeballs at the same time: the Aerodactyl bellowed and stretched out his wings as he materialized from the light before settling down on a thick bough above their heads, and the silver Fennekin bounced forward a few steps before cautiously glancing back at Cass for encouragement. By this time, Jack's Zangoose had shoved the pair of humans out of the line of fire. Cass tensed as the Shadow Ball shot directly through the Pokemon's chest, but then relaxed faintly when she recalled his type immunity.

Both Cassandra and Allison paused when the Doublade moved forward and began to angrily lecture the group of Trevenant and Litwicks. Arrow growled low in his throat from his position in the trees, and Dagaz's tail was stiff as he stared down one of the Litwicks with the best intimidating stare he could manage-- which, sadly, only made the ghost candle snicker. Cass was on the defensive; she felt like a coiled spring, ready to jump into the fray at half-second's notice. So when something loud and rhythmic began to blare loudly from Allison's hip, Cass considered it a miracle she didn't transform then and there.

Allison froze as several pairs of eyes swiveled toward her and trained on the music that buzzed from her pocket. Her mouth went dry as she snatched it from her pocket, but it fumbled from her fingers as the words, "I kissed a girl and I liked it..." sang out in a throaty and distinctly feminine voice. The phone fell to the ground and Allison stared at it, unable to look up at anyone else, much less the two new strangers or, Mew forbid, Cassandra. "The taste of her cherry chapstick..." continued on and Allison's cheeks flushed red as the memory of her dream blazed behind her eyelids. Oh dear Mew, now was definitely not the time for any of that. The mortification of Lambert's bizarre song choice was enough to strike Allison dead with embarrassment, but combined with the only memory she'd been graced with over the past several days... Well, needless to say, this would be one of those rare occasions that her emotions did not remain checked behind a curtain of impassive disinterest.

Allison grabbed the phone off the ground, wrenched it open, and screeched, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Cassandra would have given anything in the world to have a camera of her own for that moment. Tears welled in her eyes, and she had to bite down on her own knuckles to keep the laughter from pouring out of her chest. Instead, it was stifled in several snorts and she twisted away from Allison, whose red cheeks seemed even more bright in contrast to the stark white hair framing her face. It was by some stroke of luck that she did so then, for when she looked over at Jack and Sark, she startled at the sight of a Trevenant breaking the wall of stunned silence toward the Doublade. The humor and elation drained immediately from Cass's face as anger flared within her. Without a moment's hesitation, she dove for Jack and Sark, the white light flashing out from her figure as the transformation molded her into a Pyroar.

The Trevenant rushed for the Doublade, but the Pyroar intercepted the attack at the last second. It's Astonish fell flat as the furious lioness glared up at the tree and its violet-flamed candle Pokemon.

Meanwhile, Allison stuttered into the phone as soon as she saw Cass disappear in a blink of white light. "Are you-- SERIOUSLY?" she hollered, staring in disbelief at the Pyroar, who had apparently thrown all caution to the wind despite their new audience. She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled with irritation, nearly forgetting that the phone line was still live. "This is just--- I can't believe-- Arrow, cover those two until this is dealt with!-- Excuse me, Lambert, now really isn't the time." With a determined huff of breath, she ended the call and shoved the phone back into her pocket. Joltik buzzed on her shoulder, excited by the commotion. Arrow dropped from his branch and landed with a heavy thud onto the pathway in front of the pink-haired girl and the child she carried. With his scarred wings, he barred access from the ghosts, though he looked quite displeased with his given position as body guard.

Cassandra bared her teeth at the trio of ghost Pokemon. A deep, guttural growl built low in her chest and rumbled out from her jaws until the Snarl roared out from her teeth and slammed into the three Pokemon in purple-tinged sonic waves. One of the candles petered out and the Litwick unstuck from the Trevenant's shoulder to plop onto the ground. The other had used a move just a moment prior that encased it in a soft white shine that barely held on after the impact of the Snarl. The Trevenant, on the other hand, was still standing, and its gleaming red eye narrowed on Cassandra with intensity.

"Dagaz!" the Pyroar commanded, "Flamethrower!" Just as the silver fox bound forward, flames licking at the edges of its open mouth, Cassandra braced herself in front of Jack and Sark in hope that the shield of her body would prevent some of the heat from reaching them. She'd forgotten Sark's inherent fear of fire until right before the inferno streamed out from the Fennekin and engulfed the Trevenant. By some misfortune, it remained upright, and Cassandra growled low with frustration.

The Noivern had long since tuned out the blabber from everyone else in the group as she intently watched the humans passing by. She had to make a wise selection, both for practicality of clothing choice-- which, given her experience with the outfit she'd woken up in, would definitely have to be something much less... well, just less-- and to make sure that whomever she chose wasn't going to be able to set the gym leader on her. Not that Valda would particularly mind another go at the gym leader, but that damn balloon was pretty good at reminding her that she had a schedule to keep. Pissing off the gym leader just hours before they were set to depart in her flying contraption was probably not in Valda's best interests. For now, anyway.

The dragon's pupils were fine slits as her gaze darted from one potential prey to the next. It wasn't until she spotted a young woman, roughly the same size as she was in human form, strutting down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street that her pupils blew large and wide. Valda became still, muscles tense. The woman had blonde hair pulled back in a high ponytail and earrings that glittered like jewels on her lobes. She was wearing a white crop-top tee shirt with some sort of image printed over the chest. Valda couldn't see it from this angle, but she didn't care. What got her interest was the pair of blue pants-- jeans, were they?-- that cut off just above the calves and the white shoes laced over the girl's feet.

Valda barely acknowledged the rest of them as the group began to split. Some of them went toward the contest hall (gag), and some waddled off for TMs and other goodies. Without a word, Valda launched herself into the sky and caught a gust under her wings to bring her high over the city like a kite. The young woman continued down the street, oblivious as she chatted on her phone. It was several blocks before Valda found her opening. The girl was headed toward a more residential area, and the particular path she took was far less populated than the ones she'd turned down earlier. The Noivern was a silent shadow above her.

As the girl stepped out in front of an empty alleyway, she hung up her phone and placed it into her purse. In that moment, the Noivern dropped her altitude sharply and sent out a gust of raging winds before disappearing over the top of the nearby building unseen. The girl staggered back into the alley, nearly tripping over a piece of trash that got stuck beneath her sneaker. Bewildered, she gathered her things and gave herself a slightly dazed shake. But before she took another step, another burst of wind threw her back and she gave a yelp of surprise as she was forced deeper into the shadows. Without warning, a pair of claws suddenly gripped her shoulders and yanked her back among the dumpsters. She fell back onto the ground as light momentarily illuminated the back corner.

Valda stepped out toward the girl, now human and dressed in her overly formal attire. She gazed down at the girl on the ground with annoyance. Beside her, the Drifloon floated quietly, its thread-like arms waving softly in the faint breeze that remained. "Your clothes," Valda said simply, though the demand in her tone was unmistakable. She held out a hand.

"My--what?" the girl asked, confused. The traces of trepidation began to grow stronger the longer she looked up at the bizarrely dressed woman standing over her and the ghost that accompanied her.

"Your clothing," Valda reiterated slowly through clenched teeth, clearly irritated. "Give them to me. Now."

The Drifloon was very reluctant to help with the convincing. But, Valda quickly discovered that showing her more...draconic nature to a cornered human was a very efficient way to get what she wanted. Not twenty minutes later did Valda stride out from the alley way wearing the jeans, crop top, sneakers, and a pair of large, rounded sunglasses that the stunned human had nearly thrown at Valda when interrogated what they were for. The poor girl was left in the alley in a strange dress and with a cell phone that had been crushed under Valda's heel for good measure.

Flooey was able to direct them back to the gym to where Rhapsody and a few others had headed for shopping. Valda debated on whether she truly wanted to go back inside or spend more of her time causing havoc in the city, but the Drifloon was somehow able to convince her to enter the building. After all, the others had mentioned something about TMs, and Valda knew exactly what those were. She wasn't about to ask the other humans for help on how to find them, though, and so the Drifloon had taken to phasing through the walls and floors in search of the TM shop while Valda stalked through groups of trainers who turned to gawk at the "My Slurpuffs bring all the boys to the yard" branded across her new shirt. Instead of finding the TM shop, though, Flooey found herself floating through a floor with several walls until she happened to bob directly in front of a young human with short pink hair that looked familiar.

"Oops, pardon," the balloon chirped, before fading back into the ground in search of Valda. As soon as she found the wandering woman, the Drifloon coaxed her to join the others on the training field for the time being. Or, at least until she got bored, which was likely to happen within the first fifteen minutes.

Valda stepped onto the training floor and peered around, unimpressed. She placed the sunglasses on the top of her head like she'd seen the glasses' previous owner do and brushed her dark curls over her shoulder. "A Pokemon training another Pokemon," she commented dryly, lip curled at the sight of it all. "What a sight."

Edited April 17, 2017 by Shiny Hazard Sign

PureDark006 · April 18, 2017

One of the Pokémon accompanying the trainers, a white mammal with red markings, suddenly ran up to Daniella and pushed her aside. She was lucky it had been fast, because not a second later a Shadow Ball went sailing through the space where she and the kid has been half a second before - and right through the Pokémon that had helped them. Normal-type?

She quickly looked back. The trainers were standing their ground, one of their Pokémon angrily yelling at the ghosts as it unsheathed the two swords that formed its body. The yell seemed to affect one of the sentient trees, who took a step back, making the candle on its left shoulder whisper something in an angry tone, too low to hear.

Which got interrupted by a shrill music coming from one of the trainers. It seemed time stopped for a few seconds as every single ghost, plus Daniella and the kid, stared at the source.

She could have sworn at that moment she had hit her head while running and all of this was just a surreal hallucination made up by her concussed brain.

---

The trainer's screech at whoever was on the other side of the phone finally broke one of the Trevenants from its shocked state. It attacked the Doublade with Astonish, Litwicks on both its shoulders holding on as it lunged. But that made the second trainer react, a white light enveloping her body as she turned into a lioness and lunged at the tree with Snarl. One of the Litwicks managed to use Endure just in time, surviving the onslaught of dark noise, but the other couldn't stand the power of the move and was knocked down from its perch, unconscious. Trevenant didn't have time to recover from the move before the silver Fennekin joined the fray, the Flamethrower making the grass on the tree's wrists catch fire temporarily as the heat forced it to take several steps back.

"Get behind me!" Trevenant growled, not having time to do anything about the transformation except react on instinct, the sole Litwick left jumping up and holding onto one of the horns as the Grass-type used Astonish again to target the Fennekin.

The second Trevenant that reacted melted into shadows, the dark form disappearing into the ground and leaving behind the two Litwicks. One of them made its fire flicker strongly before releasing the floating flame of Will-O-Wisp, making it zigzag its way towards the Doublade. The other Litwick looked unsettled as it quickly took a look at the two swords and seemed to shrink into itself, reducing his size with Minimize.

The last trio of enemies stepped forward, the Trevenant's steps unsure as it regarded the Deino and Skiddo. One of the Litwicks smirked, poking the Trevenant to point in the direction of the Aerodactyl. "Ignore the weaklings. I bet fluffy-neck is too scared to do anything but cry for its mama."

The Trevenant seemed to hesitate but complied, eyes glowing green as it cast Forest's Curse against the Aerodactyl. The Litwick that had spoken joined in with Flame Burst, the last candle conjuring the multicolored orbs of Confuse Ray.

---

Daniella reacted as soon as she saw the fire heading in their direction, hand reaching for her two Poké Balls and touching them. As the Flame Burst reached its target, Khan and Maura materialized in front of her, the Kangaskhan's big body taking most of the flames that dispersed from the impact point.

Okay, new plan. Trainers decided "run" meant "fight" and she wasn't desperate enough to run off by herself, leaving them to deal with a problem she brought. Situation around her... the kid seemed too shocked by one of the trainer's transformation into a Pokémon, her Gastly in a state of amazed shock too. The Aerodactyl had flown off. The white and red Pokémon was still nearby, though, along a pink one with curly ears that looked very concerned about something. Maura's Snow Warning was activating, making clouds quickly materialize over the whole battle zone, hail starting to rain down on everything below. Oops.

Arg, whatever, it'd go away after Maura stops feeling threatened by the battle.

"Khan, defense. Maura, offense," she commanded between heavy breaths, standing up to be back-to-back with her Kangaskhan to lower the risk of any surprise attacks hitting the child she was carrying. Maura ran off, summoning Ancient Power to attack the Trevenant that had targeted the Aerodactyl. "We'll be fine, you two go help your trainers," she told the white and pink Pokémon with a confident nod.

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

"Yes. We have to heal our Pokémon too," Vaila commented. She just hoped that Leslar hadn't magically managed to get himself into trouble before her return.

---

"Oh! You're back!" Leslar exclaimed as soon as Vaila and Kim came into view, sprinting from the doors of the Pokémon Center to join them. "Did you get the Absols?"

"We got one of them," Vaila shrugged, like there hadn't been a very real chance the Absol would have escaped and fled back into its habitat.

"Oh great, this means I can get the other myself!" the man exclaimed.

Vaila made a non-committal sound and entered the Center, keen on healing Lopunny in preparation for the second part of their mission. Something was telling her she was really going to need it.

"Hey, where is the white-haired lady?"

"Hm?" Leslar perked up, looking at Kim. "Oh, the one that was here before? She went to the forest with the other three," he answered, pointing at the way the entrance to the tree-maze was. "Wanted to check an old building over there Helix used to own. She even asked me to lead the way, because I'm so dependable," he added with a grin, but then deflated a bit as he remember why he couldn't go. "But the Leader has forbidden everyone from entering the forest, so I had to say no. They had special permission, I think?"

Edited April 18, 2017 by Puredark006

TehUltimateMage · April 18, 2017

"Psst," whispered Qrow.

Now that the group was all healed up and ready to split off again, Lambert had let his Honchkrow back out. Reluctantly, he let his pokemon hang out with the rest of the Dark-type gang since the bird didn't really have much of an interest in contests either, and the less people and/or pokemon knew about him on the glittering contest stage, the better. Lambert did pause for a bit, wondering if he might indeed want some of that Super Luck, but in the end he made the choice to let Qrow go with Rhapsody and Zoey.

"Psst," Qrow prompted again, once out of Lambert's earshot. He landed on Zoey's shoulder before flicking his tail and searching through his neck feathers. He produced a black CD, with TM46 etched on its surface. "I think Boss was thinking of selling this thing so, I'd think you'd put it to better use."

~~

Lambert gave a final glance backwards. Suspicion crawled along his neck, but it was probably nothing. He'd rather think of what's next, and he had to jog to keep up with the eager Mawile. He didn't really have any time to breathe in the architecture of the lavishly decorated contest hall before he was rushed forth to the sign-in table and, thankfully, there were still spots left for the show that was about to start.

He made up a last name and left the trainer ID blank. The receptionist didn't seem to mind.

The contest case in his hand seemed familiar but still very foreign. It was evident that Gaes had much more experience with these things than he did, and all he could do was be dragged around, trying his best not to lose sight of the small yellow and grey pokemon within the crowd or the sea of pokemon-sized clothes as she dug around to look for an outfit. Lambert nodded absently, thinking more about the wisps of thoughts that the setting evoked rather than focusing on helping Gaes make her choice between two different shades of black.

Promise fulfilled, quest accomplished. Kusba seemed like forever ago, and maybe it was.

It was then an annoyed Mawile tugged at his pants with a heap of glittering fabric in hand. Lambert laughed sheepishly at first, until he realized she was serious. He didn't have a choice, did he?

~

His phone buzzed in his pocket no less than six times when they were backstage. Was Allison trying to reach them? He reached for it, then changed his mind. No. He had to keep his focus, at least until they were done. For her, right? But he was sure that she could dazzle the crowd. She informed him of her choice in moves: Fairy Wind, Play Rough, Iron head, Iron Defense (that last one being his choice), in that order. Fairy Wind, Play Rough, Iron Head, Iron Defense.

He was nervous, but on the surface he was calm and ready. He was more anxious than Gaes, mostly because he had no idea what he was doing, and he could only trust her judgement as they stepped into the light with the cheering of the crowd surrounding them.

He finally understood why some people loved doing this. Never in a battle, unless it was an exhibition match or an official championship challenge, would there be so many eyes on you and your pokemon at once, nor would the lights be so bright as to plunge the audience in shadow. The sequins in his pants reflected the floodlights and scattered it, making him shine like diamond dust with every movement. He was suddenly self conscious of every dirt patch and grass stain on his jacket, which he thought would be appropriate for the occasion, but onstage he just felt underdressed. Hopefully no one judged his wardrobe choice too hard.

He made brief eye contact with Gaes and nodded. She looked dashing in that top hat and bowtie. He gave a silent cheer before calling out the first attack.

"Fairy Wind!"

Seconds passed. She didn't move, save for a slight trembling of the jaws. And then suddenly she was off, fleeing out of the ring.

The MC announced the next contestant. Picking up the tiny cane, Lambert closed his eyes and breathed in the heavy air, forcing himself to keep his head high while walking back through the curtains.

~

"Gaes? Gaes!"

He called her name through the hallways, looking for any trace of her. At the same time, he tried to figure out what to say when he did find her. That it happens to everybody? That there was always a next time, as long as you made the choice to try again? Counterarguments grew in his mind. He shoved his hands into his pockets to stop them from fidgeting. His fingers brushed against the phone and Lambert remembered that Allison was trying to reach him earlier. Might as well take a look.

He flipped the device open, and was greeted by that redhead, Cass. Several photos of her, with various people in the background -- including Allison who was ready to blow her top. It would have been almost hilarious, if the timing wasn't wildly inappropriate. They looked like they were saved into the phone already, so he replied to the messages with a call to see what they were up to, and maybe ask for advice. (At least they looked like they were having fun, even though the background looked pitch black?)

The dial tone rang a couple times, and he nearly dropped the phone when an indignant scream came through the speaker. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

It took Lambert a few heartbeats to try and form some coherent words, but the girl on the other end of the line seemed to be preoccupied by something else since all he heard was yelling in the background, followed by a curt apology and a snap indicating that Allison ended the call. He snapped his own phone shut. Hopefully they were going to be alright and in one piece once his group caught up with them in the next few hours.

Around the next corner, Lambert finally saw Gaes hiding among the leaves of a potted plant. He approached cautiously and knelt down when he was close enough. "Gaes? Gaes, it's going to be okay."

ValidEmotions · April 18, 2017

Gaes

She wasn't going to cry, refused to cry. Why she even felt like crying, she wasn't sure. But it left a heavy knot in her chest and Gaes really didn't like it. Hiding where she had stopped running, she sat on the ground and tucked her knees in against her body. A small part of her felt awful for running off and leaving Lambert behind to deal with whatever consequences came from her flight. Mostly, however, she didn't care.

There was something... Any time she tried to put a name to it, it slipped from her thoughts and only her frustration grew. Her eyes stung again and she rubbed at them with an arm, sniffling. She knew, without hesitation, that she loved contests, loved being in the center of attention. So why did she freeze? She should have had the Cuteness competition in the palm of her hand.

"Gaes? Gaes, it's going to be okay."

Looking up, she noticed Lambert was kneeling on the ground as close as he seemed willing to get. For a second, annoyance flickered across her face at the thought of him dirtying up the glittery pants he'd rented. Pants he'd paid to wear for something she wanted to do.

A pang of guilt hit her chest, disappearing as she focused on his face. Strangely, anger flared and her red eyes narrowed for a few heartbeats, hatred poisoning her thoughts. Words laced her tongue and she opened her mouth to speak. Then promptly shut it, biting her tongue as she realized the mistake she almost made. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head, a shaky breath leaving her lungs. "I don't get stage fright..." she mumbled, certain of it.

Whatever happened to her, it wasn't Lambert's fault. So whatever ill feelings she had... They weren't directed at him, that she knew. Frowning, she shifted her gaze away from him. Inhaling deeply, she quickly picked herself up, pretended to dust off dirt, and forced out a bright smile. "Well, let's do something else. There's still some time before the flight to Taismog, right?" Without waiting for Lambert's response, she started walking.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Narvix

Moonlight_Eevee · April 18, 2017

Zoey nodded as Z said that maybe right, making a mental note not to hold eye contact with Z next time. They seemed nervous about the whole eye contact thing. She then sighed slightly.

“It's fine,” she said, waving the Shadow Incident off. “I was reading a book on it and it seemed all too familiar.”

She paused, now torn between battling and entering a contest. While entering Tama into a contest sounded fun, she had never battled in her Purrloin form before.

“Sure,” she said, taking Rhapsody's offer. “I can use the practice.”

She followed the group to the contest hall and looked around slightly before following Qrow landed on her shoulder. It looked like he was trying to tell her something before he fished out the TM Thief out of his feathers. She took the technical move from him and quickly hid it behind her back as Lambert took a glance back at them.

She gave him a smile, feigning ignorance before he stopped staring. “You get the shiny stuff, I get everything else, deal?” she whispered back to Qrow.

She cleared her throat as she followed Rhapsody and Z into the gym, having to wait patiently as Rhapsody let his Pokemon learn some new moves, Tama coming out of his Poke in the process.

She smiled and bent down to pat his head, which made him look at up at her and smiled. The phrase 'Love is weakness’ running through her mind once again, making her shake her head.

Finally, it was time to get some private training done. She released Globbers out so he and Tama could train separately before she shifted into her Purrloin form.

“Yeah, I'll train with Tusk,” she said, flexing her claws as she picked up the move Thief and walked over to Rhapsody. “But first I need you to teach me this move if you wouldn't mind.”

She then turned her attention as Valda came back. “What's a Slurpuff?” she asked, reading Valda’s new t-shirt.

“DARLING!” Globbers, with his loud and snobbish accent spoke, making Zoey jump a bit. “You don't know what a Slurpuff is darling?”

“Globbers,” Zoey hissed as she held her paw over her heart. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

~~~~~~~

Chompers looked confused at Sine as she looked like she was about to die. Elite four? His mind drew a blank, he never heard of the elite four. Luckily for him, Sine was quick to respond and tell him about it.

“Tauros?” he asked almost confused. “Is that the name of the species Food was called? Feathers, are you okay?”

“You really don't know anything besides your prehistoric mind, do you?” she asked carefully as she rubbed her face. She was prepared to handle some of his questions, but she didn't know how bad it was for him.

“Ah, no,” he grumbled, before turning to the two elite four members. “And just to clarify, she just asked if I don't really know much past my prehistoric mind. And besides, I handled that Tauros just fine!”

“I don't think flinging that Tauros around on the ground like that is called handling fine,” Feathers stated.

“I would have l have flung it in the air if I gotten a proper hold of it with my jaws,” Chompers muttered as Feathers gave him a weird glance

"She thinks I shouldn't have been flinging that Tauros around," he explained to the elite four members.

TehUltimateMage · April 18, 2017

"Right, right, there are others," Sine reminded herself. A tough choice: to go on or to regroup? While she and Chompers barely missed the others in Vertia, Emil seemed to be on top of the information. "I wonder if this game will only have one rightful winner, if 'what you asked for' directly contradicts what someone else asked for. If that was true, then it would be every shifter for themself. But... it's more likely a co-op game if whoever behind it really wants their goal to be achieved."

Finally, she answered, "Wouldn't hurt to let them know about our findings. Taismog first, then Tresma. Maybe they'd have some clues for us, too."

~~~

Qrow gave a wink. The next part was figuring out where to store all the shinies. "It's a deal."

As Lambert's only official pokemon, the Honchkrow thought it would be a better idea to skip the contest hall in favor of seeing what the others were up to on the training grounds. Maybe his trainer would buy him some moves when he got back? Maybe Taunt, or Torment, or maybe even Dark Pulse? Hygre had a ton of TMs, usually, and it was a shame he never got to ask a Zorua to 'borrow' one. (Though, they were usually well guarded anyway.)

"I want to fight too!" the bird proclaimed, hovering several feet above the training field, barely out of the way of Pooch who was shooting lasers of light from her jaws.

~~~

"Are you sure you don't--" The Mawile was already starting to walk away, and the words 'want to try again' never made it to his lips. Lambert thought that maybe it was for the best, at least for now. She needed time for herself but, he didn't want her to think he was abandoning her. Too stubborn, forcing herself to be jolly while her eyes showed the depth of her pain.

"We don't need to meet up with the rest at the gym right away, so why don't we just take a walk?" He slowly got up and caught up with her. "After we return these pants." A pause. "They're pretty nice."

PureDark006 · April 19, 2017

Manic laughter rang all throughout the room. The Pokémon closed her eyes, counting until 20 before opening them again to prevent herself from doing anything she might regret. Words, though, were always permitted. "Are you quite done yet?"

The human shook his head, arms wrapped around his stomach as he took a big gulp of air. "You saw," he started, an ugly snort escaping at the end of the sentence. "This region is home to millions. Only a very small fraction of them know anything about the Game. And, of all of those? Only three aren't hostile. And they go and find one of those three by complete accident."

He lost it again, dissolving into another fit of laughter that seemed to last minutes. The Pokémon looked on, unamused and, frankly, very bored.

The man finally breathed again, gloved hands wiping off some tears from the corners of his unseeing white eyes. He rose to his full height, tapped his cheek, and commented, in a complete neutral tone, "Say. Were they supposed to learn this much right now."

She decided to not comment.

"Oh well, doesn't matter, doesn't matter," he answered his own question, waving a hand. "Only one thing here matters, and it's going as smoothly as possible."

"Why did you even call me here?" She questioned, eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"It'd be sad to laugh this much by myself, but if a friend's here, it's justified, isn't it?"

She stared. And then turned to leave.

"You're no fun," the man complained with a shrug. "But I do have a job for you."

"This better be important."

"Oh, it is," he drawled, shoulders shaking with mirth as he smiled like a child about to open a very anticipated present. "Those three have done a very good job, don't you think? Tyrantrum, Sigilyph, and Meganium..."

"They're your Players and you can't even call them by name?"

"Listen, the entire reason we went out of our way to pick different Pokémon was so I didn't have to memorize a bunch of names, now don't interrupt me," he shot with an offended look.

Good. She didn't want to be the only one suffering.

He recovered quickly though, smile coming back on his face as he opened his arms wide. "I do like to watch them struggle, so we're throwing them a bone. Unlock the seal, break the dam, let their past and selves be known."

"......That rhyme sounds very forced."

"Don't throw off my groove."

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

[[From this point on, Chompers, Emil, and Sine will start getting their memories back. How many and when will be left to you guys' discretion, but follow these rules:

-They cannot remember anything that happened on the month leading up to their participation in the Game.

-This is supposed to be a slow process. Don't have them recover their whole memory before a week.

The rest of the shifters will now be able to start remembering too, but at an even slower pace. Keep it to one or two memories each IC day for now]]

Moonlight_Eevee · April 19, 2017

Jack and Sark lost focus, but luckily, Cass came to the rescue, focusing on the middle group as she unleashed a powerful Snarl before Dagaz came up with a Flamethrower.

Jack had to wrap their ribbon around Sark's eye. 'Do you trust me?’ Jack asked him as they did. ’How can I trust you when you have your ribbon around me?’ Sark asked.

'So you don't see the flames,’ Jack responded as they focused on the first group, Regina and Claws coming up beside them. “Regina, use Air Cutter on the Litwicks,” they ordered.

Regina didn't say anything but used the attack she was ordered to do. Her trainer was mad at these Pokemon and she didn't feel like having them turn on her. Jack and Sark hissed as they felt the Will-o-wisp hit them, Sark whimpering in fear and pain as Jack prepared them to launch an Iron Head at the Litwick.

Anhew looked up from Gogurt's leg, her jaw dropping as she shook with fury. Before she could stop herself, she ran forward, letting loose a Dark Pulse at the one who was bullying her, Gogurt right beside her.

“How dare you,” she tried growling threateningly at them. Even though she was trying to act brave, she was utterly terrified inside. Gogurt frowned as the Litwick stayed upright.

“You want someone to fight, well, fight us!” Gogurt said, standing tall as he glared at the ghosts before something attacked the tree ghost.

Berry paused as the human told him to go help the others. He looked back at his trainer who was engaged in battle before looking around. It looked like Jack and Sark needed his assistance first with their burn. He looked around, hopefully no one would mind if he used a healing move without anyone's permission.

The Doublade felt a difference as a bell chimed out and the burn they did have went away. Good thing Anhew caught that Audino not a moment too soon. However, they were now being pelted with Hail.

~~~~~~~~

The Mimikyu watched in surprise as one of the humans became a Pokémon! She almost gasped in surprise, but luckily, she caught herself. She had to focus on escaping, but the Doublade was fearlessly launching themselves at one of the Litwicks. She looked over to see the little black and blue Pokémon was joining in on the fray, launching a Dark Pulse out from her. If there was a dark type with them, the odds got better and better for them.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Raptor of Dragons

ValidEmotions · April 19, 2017

He was right about the pants. Both times. The glitter hadn't been tacky and it was partially why Gaes had picked them out. She just didn't expect Lambert to like them. The thought made her smile faintly and she didn't hide it. "Right. We don't want you getting into trouble for theft," she replied. A walk sounded good to her but her body itched to do something more distracting. However, she needed to be forward about something.

Heading back towards the shop, Gaes took her hat and bowtie off along the way, placing them into the Contest Case when Lambert passed it over. She hadn't noticed that he'd retrieved her cane nor put the cloak away until she saw them, stored safely. Small details... For a moment, it felt like her heart was twisted or squeezed. An ugly thought crawled its way in, corroding the pleasant feeling that had surged up.

Pushing the feeling down as she snapped the Case shut, the Mawile tucked it into her jaws. "I'll meet you outside. I need to change," she stated. Walking away to find a good spot to hide, it took awhile to discover something suitable. At the end of the hallway, she found the restrooms. Since the competition was still going on, there weren't many people milling about. However, there were a couple women in the bathroom when Gaes entered.

She slipped back out before she could be spotted, waiting to the side of the doorway until the occupants had vacated. When it was clear, she hurried inside and into a stall to shift. Human again, Case in her hands, she felt tired. Too much in one day, let alone in such a short period of time. Stepping out of the stall, she moved to the sink, setting the Case on the counter and turning on the faucet. She splashed cold water against her face, gasping slightly at the bite as the liquid hit her skin. It was refreshing, at least, and she felt a little better.

Cleaned up and dry, she left the bathroom, walking towards the entrance where she found Lambert waiting. "Ready?" she asked him, smiling. She didn't really have anywhere to store her Case but, after watching Rhapsody continuously shove his items onto Lambert, she was okay with just holding it in her hand.

A walk was still a nice thought but, Gaes didn't really know where to walk. There was a park in Fastfall, wasn't there? She recalled passing something that might have been one so she tried to remember which way it was and started walking. For a long time, she was silent, focusing her gaze forward. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was avoiding looking at Lambert, hoping to keep things private.

She knew he had seen her changing emotions back at the Hall, had witnessed the hatred. It was a wonder he was still here.

"You don't have to be kind to me," she murmured finally. She fell silent again for several moments more. Gaes wasn't going to think about what she wanted to say as she would only end up making herself stressed, she was sure. Inhaling deeply, she started to continue, "I don't think any of us shared what happened when that Dream Lady came and I don't know if anyone intended to. I mean, I didn't...."

But she owed him.

Frowning, she finally risked a glance at the man, having to look up a little to find his face. "I don't think I'm a good Pokémon, and others know this about me," she stated, looking forward again. "So, you don't need to be kind anymore." Might as well keep talking, prevent Lambert from trying to cut in or make up some excuse.

A crooked smile crossed her face, an expression of self-contempt. "I got a memory after that dream. It was short but it was enough, I suppose. I had a trainer before all of this and I know because, well... the rest of his team hated me." Gaes shrugged. "At least, that's what I can piece together from the glimpse of tension I had seen."

They had surrounded her, faces full of anger and hate. She'd been the smallest out of the team so it was no difficult thing for the others to loom over her. But, if it required five to corner her, then she had to have been strong enough to take them on. Right? She hoped so.

Because she remembered starting to feel powerless when she had gone off on her own before Vertia.

Swallowing back the flare of emotion that rose, the woman shook her head, black hair falling across her left shoulder after. Glancing down at the dark strands, she lifted a hand to touch them, idly playing with the ends. After a moment, she tossed the hair back behind her shoulder. "I'm sorry you wasted money on me. I know I don't get stage fright. I just don't know what happened beyond the feeling of... something bad happening."

Falling silent once more, she paused at the edge of the park.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Narvix

TehUltimateMage · April 19, 2017

The walk was silent despite the background noise of the city. He fell into step beside her, though Gaes seemed to have some idea of where to go.

At first he thought it was just the overwhelming power of the stage but, from the look in her eye for that split second, it went much deeper than that. Denying stage fright wasn't a lie born from being stubborn; it was true.

With the patience he'd had from the beginning, he waited for her to come forward on her own. He wasn't sure what to say to break the ice. He had run the scenario several times in his mind and none of those options seemed right, so the best option was to just say nothing at all, hoping that she didn't read it as insensitivity. His presence alone would have communicated the opposite.

"You don't have to be kind to me."

An aching feeling passed through his bones as he was certain he had heard those exact words once before, in another place and another time, yet it was impossible to place where it came from. He struggled instead to focus on the rest of her story.

Even though Gaes had began their meeting with a lie (which led to the Ash Cannon nickname he would never live down) and that she got a fair share of pleasure from figuratively pulling Rhapsody's hair by feeding him false facts, he never thought any of it was borne out of malice. They even got some laughs out of her antics. She was a trickster, not a criminal.

And if he were to be betrayed like the naive bastiodon that he was, that would be alright. He wouldn't regret a single moment, even if there was a tiny doubt that all this would turn out to be another act in the end. Lambert was sure it wasn't. If he could redo any of this, he would have made the same choices all over again.

He waited until she sounded like she was done, and waited some more before speaking in turn.

"The person you are today isn't the same person you were back then. It's your actions in the present that count. From here on out, the choice is yours whether you go down that same path. The people you meet, the places we go -- they're all new now, right?"

The game had been a literal reset for all of them. In the end, would he be able to make that choice to go back to who he once was? It had erased the progress before this journey, but would he be willing to erase the progress he made here in Lamorak and start over a second -- no, a third time?

He stepped forth onto the path among the grass and trees of Fastfall's city park, then looked back at Gaes. "As for me being kind... You can't teach an old pooch new tricks, like they say." He pursed his lips into a slight smile, which then morphed into a sheepish grin. "Seems like it's just in my nature. I'll be kind until the day I die."

It was only fair that he share his dream memory as well, now that Gaes had talked about hers. His was not nearly as pivotal or as interesting, but manifested in a deep longing for the gentle sway of the ocean. He closed his eyes for a second, struggling to hold onto the image of the stars and the salted breeze. He repeated those words he recalled saying, another lifetime ago. "Do you believe in fate?"

"...Nevermind," he added after a few heartbeats. "That's kind of a stupid question."

ValidEmotions · April 20, 2017

"Problem is," Gaes began. "I don't know who I was. I don't even really know who I am 'today'. It's just kind of been... improvisation," she finished. "I can't avoid a path I can't see. What if I'm walking it right now? What if I'm taking the exact same steps and I won't know it until that memory repeats itself?" She hesitated, swallowing around the lump in her throat uncomfortably.

His 'old pooch' remark made her snort, the sound partially strangled as it bubbled from her lips. "Really? I thought it was 'you can teach an old pooch'. Maybe I just heard the optimistic version," she commented. Still, the words had done their job and she was smiling faintly.

When he stilled, she watched him for the moment he was silent. "I suppose I do..." Shaking her head, she stepped forward to catch up with him. "It's not a stupid question. Why do you ask?"

PureDark006 · April 20, 2017

"This is the Thief one, right?" Rhapsody confirmed, picking up the TM from Zoey's mouth. He had seen Lambert and the clerks use them, so he was pretty confident he wouldn't mess it up.

He pressed the disk against Zoey's forehead and said, "Teach Thief." It was then that he remembered he didn't know which move she wanted to overwrite; but, as he opened his mouth again to ask, the disk suddenly glowed and made a whirring sound.

He stared at it. "Wait, do you have seven moves now?" he questioned, glancing from the disk to Zoey. True, he had assumed shifters could have 'only' six, but... thinking about it, he didn't remember seeing anyone try to learn a new one. Maybe they could learn even more?

As he was considering asking Lambert for all the disks in his possession to see how many moves he could cram on himself, Valda returned from wherever she had gone off to, sporting a brand new look that looked worlds more comfortable that the disaster she had been wearing before. True, he guesses some human clothes looked nicer than others, but they had to put those on and off every single day. Definitely not worth it.

He handed the Thief disk to Z to get it out of the way, shrugging at Valda's comment. "Don't packs do it all the time? Only difference is I look like this," he commented with an annoyed look at his hands. No fangs, no claws, no extra eyes or tail or the ability to fly; humans truly were pretty useless. At least the girls sometimes had longer nails that could be used to scratch others, but guy nails sucked.

The addition of Qrow to their training group gave him an idea that improved his mood though. "Say," he began, shifting into his Hydreigon form. He took off, floating a few centimeters above the ground as he regarded the others with an expectant and challenging smile on his three heads. "How about a team fight? Like the Gym Battles, but everyone at the same time."

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

Sine's reaction was the only acceptable one. Chompers he could get, since Pokémon didn't know what human titles implied, but couldn't Emil be a little more surprised? Really, it put a damper on the whole situation.

"I did try to intervene, but someone thought it'd be a better idea to only step in if you were getting your asses handed to you," Soimar scoffed at the teen's Tauros comment.

"I don't know why it should matter if no one got hurt," Dailus waved off.

Emil mentioned Laren and, right, the Leader did join Team Helix for a while some time ago. If he remembered correctly, the man had thought the Helix in the name was a reference to the fossil and no one had bothered to understand his reasoning and correct him for months. Dailus looked at Chompers, wondering if he had met the fossil maniac. The Tyrantrum seemed to be having a mountain of trouble adapting to the modern world - understandable, really, if he had come from an age where internet would most definitely not have been a thing yet -, and meeting someone as... passionate about everything prehistoric might have left a lasting impression.

Or outright traumatized the Rock-type.

Soimar at least seemed to be in a calmer mood, probably thanks to Chompers taking his suggestion seriously and translating everything the Archen was saying. "Taismog... That's Driemen's town," the scarred man mused. He grimaced a bit. "I don't like that guy. He pretends to be decent but he's even more of an evil ass than Dailus."

"Wow. I'm touched," said redhead deadpanned. "But Emil's comment reminded me, I didn't give you your winnings, did I? Even if we only use Tropicana and Bead for their HM moves, a win is still a win," he praised, rummaging through his bag.

He let out a small 'aha!' as he took out a case and set it next to him, turning it so it was facing the group of three as he opened it. "This is our collection. We've spent years on it and I'm proud to say it's as complete as it can be," he boasted, showing off the dozens of disks comprising the TMs and HMs inside. "I can't gift any to you, but you can borrow as many as you like before you have to set off."

"I'll go get the Pokémon," Soimar added, standing up to leave the room.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Puredark006

TehUltimateMage · April 20, 2017

"It's part of the memory I got back. I made the choice to start over, unrelated to this game. My memory from that night was the decision to start over again. Like this, minus the memory wipe. I can't remember the reason, or what happened after, but it seemed like the world to me at the time."

Lambert could hear the rushing water of a fountain nearby. "It was at sea. I was with... I was with someone important to me, and we were talking about our futures."

He looked down and shook his head. "That's all people seem to worry about now, the future."

Seeing that she had caught up, he made genuine eye contact with Gaes. Her red eyes stared back, unreadable. "I won't let you fall down the same path. I trust you, and even though you and Rap and Z and I have only known each other for a week, we've gotten along well so far. So don't worry about what you might end up becoming. Life's just improvisation anyway, as we try to survive what fate throws at us."

hazeh · April 20, 2017

The Trevenant darted forward with Astonish again, only this time its aim was true. It startled Dagaz and the fox stumbled back in surprise, nearly losing his footing. Cassandra was pleased to see that although the Fennekin was a little shaken, Dagaz popped right back up onto his little paws, puffed out his tail, and bristled at the tree with an indignant huff of air through his nostrils. The Pyroar turned to face the ghosts again after making sure the Fennekin had not been rendered immobile by a flinch. Baring her fangs, Cass exhaled a tide of flickering fire across the earth. It scorched the tree, knocking out both it and the barely lit candle Pokemon on its shoulder. She moved away from the vanquished ghosts with triumph, but stopped immediately when she saw the burn inflicted on Jack and Sark. Her heart dropped-- Poor Sark!-- and Dagaz stepped up, glancing back at Cass for reassurance.

"Come on, let's help them out," she said, just as Anhew's Audino healed the Doublade of its burn. The Combee's Air Cutter made a nice hit on both candles, but neither of them were down for the count just yet, even after a solid Iron Head from Jack and Sark. "Try a Psyshock on that Litwick there!"

Dagaz's eyes began to shimmer an iridescent violet. Shining orbs of psychic energy formed around his head, spinning until the Fennekin jumped forward and sent the orbs arcing toward the smaller Litwick. To his dismay, the candle was small enough to avoid collision with every orb, which disappeared into the grass as soon as they made contact. "I missed..." he said in a small voice, ears drooping.

"Keep at it! We all miss sometimes!" Cass said, bounding over his head and past the Doublade. Anhew and Gogurt were standing their ground against the third trio of ghosts, who also had the stranger's Pokemon squaring off against them. Cass cautiously approached Anhew, but did not shield the Deino or get in her way; the Pyroar watched carefully, having seen the small dragon fire off a Dark Pulse. Even though Cass wanted to keep Anhew safe and out of danger, she wasn't about interfere if Anhew wanted a chance to defend herself. But Cass would stay near by, just in case.

Arrow hissed when Forest's Curse hit. Somehow, his body felt different, though he had no idea how. But before he could fully react, a barrage of lights and flame struck him near simultaneously. He barely had time to even lift a wing to shield his face from the incoming fire before it splashed against the tattered membrane of his wing. He would have been shocked at how much it actually hurt-- fire hadn't hurt him like that in the past, he knew-- except the lights were suddenly in his eyes and swimming through his head, preventing him from forming a proper thought. The Aerodactyl wobbled on his feet, and then with a bellow of fury, the old fossil launched himself into the sky where he hoped the crisp air above would help clear his head.

"I can't believe this," Allison said, mostly to herself as she saw Arrow take flight and leave his post. Not only his post; the damn Aerodactyl had disappeared into the trees, and part of her wasn't sure he was even going to come back. Did Pokemon just run away like that? She pressed down on her eyelids with her finger tips. This wasn't happening, was it? With those two strangers near by, Allison wasn't about to sacrifice what precious little secrecy they had left as shifters. Cass was clearly a lost cause, but Allison wasn't about to just abandon all rationale. Besides, she didn't even know how to battle. She winced as the first few pebble-sized pieces of hail thudded down on her head. Without much avail, Allison shielded the top of her head with her hand and scowled over at the new girl and her ice-type that had brought the hailstorm with it. "Really?"

"Let me at 'em, let me at 'em," the Joltik pipped in a shrill voice, bouncing on Allison's jacket shoulder. The fur across his backside sparked in his eagerness, despite the pieces of ice getting caught in his fur. "I can help!"

Allison sighed. It seemed like everyone else had it under control, for the most part. Already half of the ghosts had been eliminated. And the sooner this battle was over, the sooner this damn hail would go away."Sure, why not," she said, gently lifting the bug off her shoulder and placing him on the ground. "Have at it."

The Joltik gave a squeaky battle-cry and raced forward, charging a pin point of energy between its four eyes before loosing the Signal Beam at the Trevenant.

--

In the shadow, a small, round Pumpkaboo floated quietly behind a dense bush. Its Mimikyu friend was hiding there from the other ghosts; Pumpkaboo, too, hoped the others wouldn't find them there, but shadows were a ghost's best friend and in this forest, there was no hiding if the other ghosts thought to look for them. But the Pumpkaboo wouldn't share that thought with his friend. Not like he could really articulate it, anyway.

While the other ghosts were preoccupied, the Pumpkaboo lowered himself to the ground and gave his dim lights a series of rapid flashes to the Mimikyu. A signal of his encouragement, that she should likely understand after having him around for so long. He hadn't really had the flashing lights thing down in a real language yet, but she seemed pretty good at guessing what he meant most of the time. It was one of the reasons he stuck around with her in the first place (besides the fact that she wasn't a big jerk like a good chunk of the other ghosts he'd bumped into so far).

Pumpkaboo frowned at Mimikyu and then stared out at the battle on the path. He flashed pointedly at the group fighting the other ghosts, as if to say, I hope they win!

--

Valda looked down at Zoey as if she'd smelled something unpleasant. "A Slurpuff is a waste of air," she said, though she glanced down at her shirt once she realized where Zoey's question came from. Ah, so that's what the image on the shirt was. Valda made a face, annoyed at the revelation, but then turned her attention away from the shirt when Rhapsody placed the TM against the Purrloin's face. She watched for a moment, noting the same thing he did as he questioned the existence of a seventh move. Something akin to excitement-- though perhaps slightly more bloodthirsty--sparked in Valda's yellow eyes at the thought. She could have seven moves? Now her interest in the TM shop increased tenfold. She would track that place down and find the perfect move to add to her repertoire, even if it meant beating up a couple humans to do it since she had no currency to exchange. Or maybe she would just do that anyway.

Valda rolled her eyes at Rhapsody. "Being trained to live on your own by your pack and being trained to be a human's little trophy are two very different things," she sneered at him. "Though you seem to like to play human so much, you might as well be one."

She was not expecting him to shift shortly after, and raised an eyebrow at the Hydreigon as he lifted in the air. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of TMs, but as soon as he mentioned a fight, a wicked smile blossomed over Valda's face. She clicked her teeth together and seconds later the light enveloped her as she shifted back into a Noivern. The dragon stretched her wings and then sprang into the air, veering sharply up higher than Rhapsody and then around him in a graceful loop. "Or, you can try to fight like you're actually capable of it and we can all go at it together, all at once," the Noivern said, swooping low and nearly whacking the tip of her tail into Zoey's face. "No teams. No allies. Every Pokemon-- oh, sorry, I forgot you prefer to be a human-- for themselves."

The balloon was drifting aimlessly around the room as Valda spoke with the others. As soon as the woman shifted into a Noivern and circled around the other dragon, Flooey righted herself and purposefully made for the sidelines by the wall, where a few others were gathered.

"Nope, count me out," the Drifloon said, bobbing around the pink-haired child's head. "Battle Royal style isn't my thing." She paused, staring at Z as she slowly twisted upside down, string-limbs waving without purpose above her. "What about you, though? Aren't you one of those funny humans that turns into Pokemon? Or vice versa, I suppose." She circled around them once, unblinking. "Are you not going to battle, too?"

Edited April 22, 2017 by Shiny Hazard Sign

PureDark006 · April 20, 2017

The Pyroar let out a tide of flames, the fire catching both Trevenant and the Litwick that had been trying to hide behind it. Neither of them resisted the flames, and they both fell down, defeated before Litwick could use Memento.

At the other side of the field, the Litwick that had use Flame Burst cheered as the Aerodactyl took flight. Even as an Amaura joined the fray, Trevenant resisted the Ancient Power just fine, and its boost didn't activate. "See?" the Fire-type sneered. "Nothing to be afraid of. These are just a bunch of lowly, weak, cowardly-"

And then it got interrupted by a Dark Pulse to the face.

Trevenant and the other candle gulped as the first Litwick slowly turned to glare at the one responsible. The Deino was growling, a Skiddo standing protectively at her side. Litwick narrowed its eyes before coldly smiling. "We'll take you up on that suggestion," it snarled, flame burning higher even as Hail started to rain down. "Get her!"

The same three moves as before - Forest's Curse, Flame Burst, and Confuse Ray - went sailing towards the dragon. A Signal Beam came from seemingly nowhere and hit Trevenant, and while it didn't come in time to stop its attack, it made the tree look around to try to see who had used the move. "Watch out, dark sis! Try using that move from before again!" Maura yelled, her sails starting to shine as she called the winds of Blizzard.

The Air Cutter hit both Litwicks, growing in intensity as it became a critical hit and cut their wax. The Litwick that had use Minimize panicked and started flailing, its reduced size managing to allow it to evade a Psyshock that came from the Fennekin.

"Don't stop don't stop don't stop don't stop," the other Litwick was muttering, launching a Confuse Ray towards the fox. "Come on, you too!"

The other candle stopped its flailing, but then the Hail came down to buffet them both. It screeched and started to run in circles, using Minimize again.

"Why are you so useless."

A dark shape materialized from the ground, coming up from the shadows. "A disgrace, you called us? When you all are the traitors siding with humans!? Don't make me laugh!" it growled, eye glowing menacingly as Phantom Force struck Doublade.

---

"I don't see the Haunter from before," Khan said, eyes following the various battles as she made sure to have as many enemies as she could within her sight. At least the kid had finally reacted after seeing the transformation, taking out a Poké Ball and returning Gastly before it could be affected by the ice.

Dan looked around, eyes landing on the only other human around. “We might need to finish this as fast as possible.”

“On it,” Khan nodded, hitting the ground with her tail and heading towards the area where the Fennekin and Combee were to join the fight against the Litwicks.

That taken care of, she adjusted her grip on the kid and looked around until she saw the white-haired trainer. “There was a Haunter before, too!” Dan exclaimed, trying to be heard over the cacophony of the battles around. “It might have gone to call reinforcements!”

ValidEmotions · April 20, 2017

Gaes

His words sounded like honey and Gaes wanted to completely trust the sincerity behind them, wanted to fully believe that Lambert spoke the truth. But the future seemed like a fickle thing. It's why people worried so much about it. Wasn't it? Shaking her head, she clasped her hands behind her back and stared out at the park.

A grin flashed across her face. There was really only so much mushy stuff she could handle without needing to indulge her itch for a distraction. "Say, Q's your only Pokémon, isn't he?" she asked, reaching a hand to touch the spheres attached to her belt. "As far as I know, you haven't shifted at all nor done any training. What do you say to a battle?" Gaes challenged mildly. "If we're to set out and destroy Helix's research, we might need all of the firepower we can get. Which may require you to fight as a Pokémon."

Glancing at him, she gave Lambert a warm smile. "I promise not to tell Rhapsody."

Emil

Nodding once at the information supplied when he had mentioned Laren and Taismog, Emil sat a little straighter when Dailus pulled out a case filled to the brim with TMs and HMs. Curious, he leaned forward a bit to look over Sine's shoulder. "Oh... Thank you," he murmured, thinking about which decision to make. It could be beneficial to make use of the free offer on TMs, update the moves of his team.

Glancing down at the little blue Nidoran dozing in his lap, Emil looked back up at the Elite members just as Soimar stepped out. "Though, this one isn't in my team. I don't think she'd appreciate having her move-set tweaked without permission," he mused.

Dailus hummed, regarding the Nidoran. "Any reason why she's following you around, then?"

"I don't know. She just showed up when the Tauros did and distracted it with a Take Down so we could try escaping. Except, she got knocked out in the process."

"Well, I'm not the one here that'd be able to understand her reasons. But if she wants to stay, I have some Poké Balls here I'm not using."

Emil nodded, uttering another 'thank you' before gently poking the Nidoran behind her ear. "Uh... Can you wa-"

"I've been awake, just listening," she piped up suddenly, an eye blinking open to peer at him. Closing it again, she shifted herself into a better resting position before continuing. "Go ahead. You're an interesting lot. I want to see what kind of trouble you'll get yourselves into."

Caught off guard, Emil hesitated a moment before looking back at Dailus. "She said she's okay with staying," he paraphrased. The redhead fished a Poké Ball out and tossed it over at Emil. Catching it, he pressed the button, a red beam of light drawing the Nidoran into the ball. Holding it on his palm, he watched it tremble before growing still. Satisfied, he released her again as he spoke, "I'm glad you're joining us, Tackler."

On the ground, her ears twitched. "At least it's not something like 'Blue'," she commented.

As he started rummaging through the TM case, Emil took his time with releasing Nix and Rook from their Poké Balls. Nix shook out their fur while Rook stretched out his limbs. "I see everyone's in one piece after that Tauros," Rook grumbled, clearly not pleased about something.

"Yes. I'm sorry you got dragged into that mess. Dailus has offered us all the chance to use any TM or HM we please. I plan on updating our move-sets," Emil informed. "Are you three okay with that?"

One by one, his team nodded. (Rook's mood seemed to perk up a little bit.) Finding the TMs that he wanted, Emil looked over at Nix first. "Okay..." Holding a disk out to the Luxio, he said "Volt Switch over Leer," and the disk activated. It only took a moment and he was able to move on to the next, setting the first back into the case. "Wild Charge over Spark."

He repeated the process for Rook. The Croagunk got Shadow Ball and Sludge Wave to replace Feint Attack and Poison Jab. Emil looked at Tackler, pausing. "Poison Sting, Bite, Take Down, and Double Kick," the Nidoran sighed. Bite, Poison Sting, and Double Kick were soon replaced with Ice Beam, Poison Jab, and Shadow Claw once Emil pulled out the proper TMs.

Finally for himself, he took out TM 11, Sunny Day. All of his Pokémon were returned to their balls, each of them placed gently into his bag. "I might need some help with this. I want to replace Body Slam."

[[Nidoran (Tackler), [Poké Ball], Female, Bold (+Def, -Atk), Poison Point, Poison Jab/Ice Beam/Take Down/Shadow Claw]]

Edited April 21, 2017 by Narvix

TehUltimateMage · April 21, 2017

Sine's eyes shone at the treasure trove of technical machines, but Emil butt in from behind her to take a closer look. She moved aside to give him access, taking a moment to recall what TMs might be useful in their upcoming journey.

While the green-clad man officially caught his Nidoran and brought out the rest of his pokemon, Sine spoke up. "Wait a minute, you weren't even in the battle! I thought these were our winnings! You just chose to walk away and get your grass kicked by a rampaging pokemon."

Huffing, she continued, "Speaking of winnings, I appreciate the help with the TMs -- and I'll definitely be putting some to good use outside when I let Onix out -- but isn't cash the traditional reward for a battle?" She gave a coy smile. "Surely, as a league official, you'd follow league regulations?"

Even though it was entirely obvious that the E4 member didn't follow league regulations at all, she added to herself. Kind of still a shady character, even if he was famous.

"Anyway, Chompers, these things teach pokemon moves. I figure you want all out offense? Since you're a big Rock and Dragon type, there's Earthquake, Dragon Tail, Dragon Claw, Stone Edge, and Rock Slide, from the top of my head," she mused while flipping through the collection. "And then there's Giga Impact, which is powerful but needs recharging. For Feathers... A flying pokemon, so U-Turn or Roost? And Dunsparce can learn Thief, but also Thunderbolt, Ice beam, and Flamethrower, surprisingly. Nido's got the choice between most of the purple disk poison type ones, like Sludge Bomb or Poison Jab, but you could also try Smart Strike, with that horn?

"Toxic, Protect, Rest, and Substitute are all pretty useful and can be learned by most pokemon."

Dunsparces had a pretty wide movepool. Kind of annoying, those little digger worms, when they were trained right.

"Did you get all that?" She wanted to confirm. "Each disk has the move's description etched on it, so you can clarify with any of us if you want more information. They're also color coded by type, and you can experiment to see which ones are compatible with which pokemon. You might be surprised."

~~~

The suggestion was entirely out of the blue, and Lambert furrowed his brow. His expression tensed and he looked as if he was about to start a couple sentences but never did, before finally turning away on his heels when he felt his cheeks burn up. It had been more than a week since the first and last time he shifted. It was a reality that he didn't want to face, but Gaes did have a point -- in the situation that he would be forced into the other form, it would be better to at least know how to hover.

Unable to reach a proper decision, he dunked his head into the fountain to buy time and try and freshen up a bit. The water around him began to freeze in response.

He surfaced with a gasp after a few seconds and tried to shake the water off, but most of it had already turned to frost in his hair. Maybe it was time to come clean, if it wasn't obvious enough.

"Easy to tell because of my clothing, but my pokemon form is a Glalie. Not a bad pokemon, but because it's--" Lambert made a circle with his hands, "--Pomaceous..." he took a moment, realizing that she might not know the term, "...that is to say, spherical, it's really hard for a human to get it to work. Which is why-- which is why I prefer to stay in the sidelines as a trainer. Someone has to play the human part, yes?"

Edited April 21, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

ValidEmotions · April 21, 2017

Gaes

For a moment, Gaes worried about having said the wrong thing as Lambert seemed to storm off towards the fountain. "Lambert, wait. I'm sorry, I didn't -" Stopping short as the man dunk his head into the fountain water, she paused. "... mean to make you angry?" Frowning, she watched him curiously, catching a glimpse of the water as it started to freeze over.

When he lifted his head up and turned back to face her, she let him speak without interruption. Oh. Was that the problem? Smiling in reassurance, Gaes pointed to her hair. "It's okay. I had a balance issue when I first woke up to all of this. Fell on my face and butt a few good times," she admitted. "If it helps, I can go away and let you practice in private until you're ready," she offered.

"And, don't worry. If you don't want to battle my team, I won't make you. But the offer will remain open if you ever change your mind."

Moonlight_Eevee · April 21, 2017

Zoey blinked in shock as the Thief was taught to her. “It seems like I do have all my moves,” she purred happily. “Well this is an interesting turn of events.”

She looked over at Valda and resisted on rolling her eyes. Valda was going to definitely going to be a huge problem being here. Still, it wasn't going to put a damper on her good mood. She listened to Valda as she talked to Rhapsody.

“Well, why are you human then?” she asked coolly as she stared at Valda.

Zoey looked up at the two dragon types before she had to step out of the way as Valda's tail nearly hit her as Valda swooped down low. She knew her chances of actually winning were impossible, but by golly, she had to try.

Tama stepped into the battlefield happily. “I'll fight too!” he exclaimed happily before winking at Zoey who held a confused look.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chompers was confused. “What are TMs and HMs?” he asked. He looked over at Feathers who shrugged, but luckily for him, Sine was already on the case as she started to explain what they were after asking for money.

He scratched his chin in thought. “Giga Impact is one of my moves already,” he explained thoughtfully. “But what does Dragon Tail do?”

He listened when Sine continued talking about his other Pokémon before telling him about how words were etched in and watched as Emil overridden some of his Pokemon moves. He casually grabbed a random TM from the case and stared at it. It had the stupid strange symbols he came to recognise to know as words.

“Um…” he said turning back to Sine. “I don't know how to read, remember?”

~~~~~~

Anhew nodded at the being who spoke about using Dark Pulse again. Before she could let loose another one, she bit her lip from crying out in pain as something happened and the Flame Burst hurt more than it should have.

She then staggered, feeling like there was pressure squeezing her brain. This was not a good feeling! She could barely concentrate on what Gogurt always saying. What was he saying?

Focus? She could do that….could she? She took a deep breath and steadied herself a bit before letting loose another Dark Pulse at the bully Litwick.

“Whoa! You made it faint!” Gogurt said impressed before he felt a change in him as he started glowing. “Right, my turn!”

With that Gogurt launched himself at the other Litwick with a Leaf Blade. Anhew knew there was something wrong. It might be because of the pressure in her head, but Gogurt was no longer here. His voice somewhat high pitch that was next to her was replaced with that of a much deeper one. However, there was the clomping. He was the only one to have a clomping noise as he walked. So what had happened? She then focused on a more pressing matter as she was extremely proud that she managed to hit the Litwick.

“Cass, did you see that?” she asked, trying to listen for the Pyroar shifter. She stumbled as she tried to move and thought better about it.

~~~~~~~

Regina was irked. She was hoping her Air Cutter would actually make one of the Litwicks faint. But to her utter amusement, the one that had used Minimize was flailing about in a panic. She looked over at Dagaz who was confused and managed to hit the panicking Litwick.

She then let loose another Air Cutter and noticed Claws was attack with X-Scissor at the non panicking Litwick. She then looked back at her trainer who was engaged with the Trevenant.

“Us? Traitors?” Jack wheezed as they got hit by the Trevenant. They turned and glared at the tree Pokemon. “We are not traitors. We are honourable ghosts writing a wrong.”

'Jack, we're going in for a Shadow Sneak,’ Sark said taking charge as he extended his shadow while Jack removed their ribbon from his eye.

~~~~~~~~~

The Mimikyu looked at her friend and gave a happy smile. “I hope they win too,” she said quietly as she drew her attention back to the battle with the Doublade. “Especially the Doublade.” She turned her attention to the dark type as it knocked one of the much meaner Litwicks out after one last Dark Pulse triggering the evolution of the one standing next to it as it launched itself to the other Litwick.

There wasn't much going on with the other two Litwicks so she focused her attention back on the Doublade as they launched themselves to do a Shadow Sneak. She was silently cheering for them.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Raptor of Dragons

PureDark006 · April 22, 2017

Rhapsody's eyes narrowed at Valda's words, keeping her in his sight as she circled him. By now, Pooch and Bugface had stopped their beam shooting and deflecting and were looking at the group with a mix of curiosity and, in the Houndoom's case, resignation.

"Big words for someone who got frozen solid not an hour ago," Rhapsody commented, a low threat in his tone as his secondary heads bared their fangs. "Fine by me. We'll see who's the last one standing," he growled as he took flight.

"This kind of battle does seem interesting," Bugface commented.

"...Count me out. I'm not dealing with this," Pooch muttered in response as she padded towards the Drifloon, going around Tusk who was now yelling "Fight!" in an overly excited tone.

octopi · April 22, 2017

Once the group made it to the training room, Z had nestled themself into a corner, hoping to have some time to organize their thoughts as the others trained. Apparently, it wasn't to be; they were immediately interrupted by a familiar-looking Drifloon almost floating into their face, and then Rhapsody practically throwing a TM at them. Sighing, they tucked the TM into a pocket and pulled themself to their feet again, resigned to having to stay alert.

The Drifloon returned, bringing Valda with her this time, and floated up to them again to ask why they weren't participating in the free-for-all battle. Z wasn't one for superstitions, but they were starting to wonder if this particular balloon was a bad omen after all.

They stared down at the floor. Flooey was right, though; aside from that (frankly pathetic) display back in Kusba, they hadn't even used any of their moves during the course of this game, let alone battled anyone. Perhaps it was just that no one had ever asked, but - that bothered them too, for reasons they couldn't quite articulate. And now that they'd had that thought, it wouldn't go away, and neither would the strange gnawing feeling that came with it.

They tugged at their hat with both hands, bringing it down over their eyes. What was this? Something to do with their memories? After two days of relatively uneventful travel, they had almost forgotten how frustrating it was to feel things and have no idea why, and now on top of that they didn't even know what emotion this was supposed to be.

Well, whatever it was, they didn't want to think about it, and - their head jerked upward slightly, although not enough to meet Flooey's gaze - battling seemed like a rather distracting stimulus.

Wordlessly, they shifted, and floated toward Rhapsody. "I - y-you - youâ€™re right. I'll... I'll give it a try."

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