¤Game¤ Dragon Tamers Battle Range v.23 {MA Pidgeot}

[The Blue Avenger]

Destai will fight a Gastly.

[Everoy]

Patrick, do you want your stories archived too (provided you don't use the word 'clamp')?

Sure, that's fine with me!

Patrick: A gang war, eh? Caledor (I'm assuming that's where your story is set; I don't believe I've seen the Eevee House in any other stories) certainly has its fair share of gangs and delinquents... Nonetheless, it was neat to see everyone reunited, and the scene with the egg at the end was touching. I've never heard of a Mantine actually flying, though. I think 8 stamps is appropriate. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Thanks About my Mantine flying, my previous method of having her travel around was a bit out of the ordinary (in a hamster ball filled with water... wtf was I thinking :p) so I realized she was part-Flying. I realize having her fly up in the sky rather than float near the groud was a bit farfetch'd (whee, puns) but I decided there should be a reaspon why her, Zen, and Latte got TMs along with everyone else. My personal favorite part of my story was my Koffing looking like a Tangela made of ropes

[Lady Vulpix]

Your story has been added to the archive.

[Everoy]

Sweetness... And I just posted at Tsuyoi's Lair. This is a good day for my adopted pokemon.

[Lady Vulpix]

It seems to have started out for a good day for the Dragon Tamers in general. I've replied to your post on TL. Let's finish this conversation now to avoid derailing the topic. You can reach me on AIM or via PM if you'd like to talk.

[classy_cat18]

I didn't want to get into the action quite yet, so I just wrote a little introduction to the new scenario. Note: I bought the Faint Attack and Body Slam TMs from the Reward Center.

Moriko's POV

"Everyone scatter!" Brutus cried as the Pokemon attacked us.

I flew up into the sky with the swarm, knowing that the Houndoom on the ground would not be able to reach us soon. They still managed to take down some of the slower Heracross but the rest of us got away...and flew right into the path of the airborne attackers.

"Charizard!" some of the swarm screamed as they flew off in all directions. Two more Charizard appeared and surrounded us. There was no escape.

Brutus hovered beside me with a scowl on his face. "Damn! They got us!" he cursed.

"What do we do now?" I asked him nervously.

He leered at the Charizard and took my hand. "We try to survive. Dive, everyone!" The remaining airborne Heracross took a nose dive, narrowly missing a group Flamethrower. Brutus, still holding my hand, flew as fast and as far away from the fight as he could. He landed just outside it by a hollow tree. "Moriko, I want you to hide."

"But..." I started to protest.

"No! You have no hope of surviving if you fight with us. Get in there and be quiet." He roughly shoved me in the tree and stood with his back to it, hiding me from view. Then he pushed a stone in front of the tree and blocked out all light.

I refrained from scratching the wood with my claws, a tactic that I used when I was feeling nervous or panicky. But I froze when I heard some heavy breathing. I felt around and found a Pokemon at the other side. It was the Abra that hung around my swarm's tree. He flinched as I continued to feel him. "Don't do that," he said quietly. "It hurts."

"What happened?" I asked him, but there was no time for him to answer. Someone had come to our hiding place and was now arguing with Brutus.

"What are you hiding?" It sounded like one of the Houndoom.

"I'm not hiding anything. I'm protecting our home and food," Brutus said proudly.

"Well, it looks like you're being relocated." I heard some scuffling and then silence.

I waited a minute before deciding that Brutus needed my help. I pushed the stone away from the opening and peeked out. Unfortunately, the enemy was counting on that and was waiting for me. "Well, well, well. It looks like our new friend was hiding something after all," the Houndoom from earlier sneered.

I took a step back and lowered my horn at the Houndoom. "I will defend myself if I have to," I told them as bravely as I could. "Don't give me a reason to fight."

The Houndoom laughed at me like I said the funniest joke. "Oh man! If everyone could hear you! You actually think you can fight me and win? Your friend couldn't even win against me!"

I gasped. Brutus was gone, defeated or maybe even worse. I took another step back. Maybe if I could distract him I could fly away. But what about the Abra? If the Houndoom finds him he might do to him what he did to Brutus!

"Okay, my dear, I'm feeling like target practice. Feel free to try to escape," the Houndoom said with a smirk.

"I won't run away," I told him. He was going to pay for hurting Brutus.

The Abra stepped out and stood with me. "Neither will I," he said.

The Houndoom snickered at our determination. "You guys are funny! It's a shame that we had orders to only take the strong Heracross. And now that we have the strongest, we don't really need you."

"So why do you want to hurt us?" I asked him.

"Why?" He snickered again. "No reason. I just want to have a little fun." He took a deep breath and blew out red-hot flames at us. The Abra teleported while I took to the air. I could feel the heat on my underside as I tried to escape. I looked around for the Abra and found him hiding in a patch of tall grass nearby. He must've been too weak to fight.

The Houndoom looked up at me and let loose a loud howl. It was then that I found out that he wanted me to fly. That way his Charizard friends would see where I was. I hovered in the center of the ring of three Charizard, feeling doomed. "It won't matter what you do to me. I'll get right back up!" I shouted at them. As they opened their mouths and unleashed their fire attacks, I closed my eyes and hoped that I would one day be reunited with my friends.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Moriko? Are you alright?"

My eyes shot open at the sound of someone's voice. Was I still in the forest? No, I was at my new home. I looked at Ali who was looking at me sleepily. "Did I wake you up?" I asked her.

"Yes, but it's alright. Were you dreaming about that day again?"

I nodded. "It was so much more vivid this time. I could feel the heat of the fire and was surprised that I didn't have burns when I woke up."

Ali sat next to me. "You mentioned someone named Brutus. Who is he?"

"He was the leader of the swarm and one of my closest friends. The others said that he really liked me." I blushed a little at the thought. "I guess that was why he tried his best to protect me on that day. He hid me in a hollow tree along with Maza and tried to keep those evil Pokemon from getting to me."

"Are you sure it was Maza that used to hang around your swarm?"

"Yes! It had to be! I bet my life on it!" I said a little too loudly.

"Keep it down!" Trinity snapped at us from her corner of the room. "Some of us are trying to get a little beauty sleep here!"

We stayed quiet until we knew she was asleep again. "She should learn that beauty doesn't count on the battlefield," Ali whispered to me.

"I agree," I whispered back with a yawn. "I should get back to sleep so I'll be wide awake for training."

"Okay. We'll talk more in the morning." She walked back to her pillow and plopped on it. I leaned back against the wall, beckoning for sleep to come back to me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Please don't let them find me," I whimpered as I lay slumped inside the hollow tree. I was alone and scared. Not even the Abra was with me now.

To my horror, the rock in front of the opening was pushed aside, revealing a crouching male human. "I found one! He's here in the tree!" he called out to someone else. He shined a flashlight at me and blinked, finding out that I was female. "Hurry up! She looks half-dead!"

Two more male humans showed up with concerned looks on their faces. "Oh man, look at those burns," another one of them said. "No wonder she's looking at us like that." He reached a hand in the tree with an intent to touch me. I flattened myself against the wood and swiped a claw at him.

"Jake, you're scaring her. We'll have to go to Plan B," the third human said. He sat down a bowl of sweet smelling tree sap and stood away from the entrance/exit. "If you can understand us, we want to help you. We work for the Dragon Tamers Adoption Center. We came here to look for survivors in the attack. We're sorry that it took us so long to find you. I guess we should've listened when our boss told us to 'leave no stone unturned'."

I almost laughed at his little joke but it took me a while to decide that it was alright to come out. I stumbled out and looked in the face of each human. They watched me pick up the bowl and slurp up the liquid meal that they gave me. "When was the last time you ate?" Human #1 asked me in amazement. I finished the bowl and held it up to him. "You want more? No problem!"

Human #2, a.k.a. Jake, came up from behind and started spraying my burns with something that made my exoskeleton tingle. "This should help them heal," he told me kindly.

Human #3 watched as Human #1 refilled the bowl and handed it back to me. "Do you have a name?" Human #3 asked me. "My name's Phil."

"I'm Bill," Human #1 chimed in.

"Jake," Jake said as he held out a hand. I didn't know what to do with it so I waited until I was done with my second helping of sap and put the empty bowl in his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Moriko," I said softly before I knew what I was doing.

The three humans didn't seem to be surprised that I had let them understand me. "Cool name," Bill commented. "Doesn't it mean 'child of the forest'?"

I nodded. "What are you going to do to me?" I asked them nervously.

"Not anything bad. Like I said, we're from the adoption center. We want to get you better and find someone that will take care of you," Jake explained.

I backed up a little toward the tree that I had called home for the past few weeks. "I don't want to go. My home is here."

Phil put a hand on my horn as a sign of comfort. "Moriko, we couldn't find anyone from your swarm. Not anyone alive, that is. It looks like everyone was either captured or killed."

I gasped. It wasn't true. Someone had to be alive! I put my claws over my mouth to keep myself from sobbing out loud. "Everyone's gone?" I whimpered.

"I'm afraid so," Phil told me. "If you stay, I doubt anyone will look after you. At least stay at the adoption center until you get well enough to leave and find a new swarm."

I sniffled and nodded. "Okay, I'll go. But just long enough for me to get better."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up again, this time in an empty room. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was up. "What time is it?" I asked myself as I got to my feet. I glanced at the doorway as Lily walked past it. "Lily, where is everyone?"

"They're waiting for you in the living room. Did you have a good night's rest?" she asked me.

"Not really. I was visited by my memories. That day was already horrible all fuzzy. Why do I need to relive it in HDTV?"

"Maybe you should take a vacation," she said with concern. "All the stress is going to eat you from the inside."

I closed my eyes. "No, I'm needed here." I walked to the living room where the whole team was waiting for me. Destai cocked his head to the side at the sight of me and gave a slight whimper. "I'm alright, Destai."

"Are you sure, Moriko? I mean, your mouth says you're okay but your aura says that you're a little freaked out," Circe told me.

"I'm fine." I leaned against the wall and looked at all the strange looks. "What's wrong?"

"No offense, but...for a few seconds there you reminded me of Katana on one of her bad days," Bandit said carefully.

I blinked at him. It was true that I was getting a little moody sometimes but I didn't believe that I would remind someone of Katana. I smiled as best as I could. "Don't worry about me. I just had a rough night, is all."

"If you say so," Shonta said. "I've gathered you all here to tell you that a meeting has been called to discuss the matter about the Happy-Happyists. We're going to move out. Katana, did you get that e-mail from Triton?"

"Yes. He says he and Volt are going to be here today and they have the crystal with them," Katana informed her.

"Good. Katana and Moriko will come with me to the meeting. Bo, take care of Ken for me, okay?"

"Yes, sir!" Bo said happily.

"Okay, let's move out!" She stood up and walked out of the house with the three of us following her.

We got to the meeting just as everyone was settling down. I felt a little out of place there as I was more Dragon Tamer than Dragon's Guild. I looked at Shonta and Katana for confidence. Katana was facing the front, fidgeting a little and looking tough as Lord Absol entered the room. Shonta was also fidgeting but she looked worried. So much for confidence.

A projector displayed images of news articles from Eagleland so shocking that they even seemed to have affected Katana. Her fur bristled and she let out a quiet growl. "This is getting out of control," she grumbled.

When the meeting ended, I was in tears. The same thing that happened to my home was now happening to Twoson. I clenched my claws and glared at the spot the projection once occupied. I will help stop it! I wouldn't hide in fear this time!

Lord Absol glanced at me and then looked at Shonta. "Is there something wrong with your Heracross?" he asked her.

"I think the attack has her rattled. Something similar happened to her home two years ago," Shonta explained.

"Ah, I remember. In Southern Caledor, right?" I nodded. "That should give you an incentive to help us then." He walked away and spoke to someone else, leaving me confused and maybe just a little angry.

We left and stopped by the Reward Center for anything we might need. Shonta picked up a Faint Attack TM for Destai and turned to me. "You can get something if you want," she said to me.

"I suggest you get this," Katana said, tossing a Body Slam TM to me. I smiled and handed it to Shonta. She paid for the two TMs with a smile and gave the Body Slam to me. I wasted no time in using it on myself.

I yawned as we started to walk home. Shonta noticed this and put me in my pokeball. There I dreamed again, this time of a good day.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ready to get adopted today, Moriko?" Bill asked me as I stood in the back of the adoption center, where the adoptees slept. I nodded. "Remember to be fired up. No one can resist a fired up fighting type!"

"I am fired up!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Yeah! Now go out there and show them what you can do!" He pushed me out of the door and urged me to keep walking.

I boldly walked up in the observation room and swung my horn in anticipation. One trainer noticed me, a short black girl with an Oddish. She smiled as I continued swinging my horn. "You sure are tough," she commented.

I grinned widely. "I do my best. My name's Moriko and I'll do my best to keep your Pokemon in high spirits if you adopt me!"

"She's peppy. I like her!" the Oddish said happily, bouncing energetically. "Pleeeease adopt her!"

"Okay, okay! Welcome to the team, Moriko!" Shonta told me.

I shook her hand and smiled. I had a new home.

[Ace64]

So, the story of Moriko's origin. Interesting read- did the business in Twoson inspire this, or do you plan to do a similiar thing with your other Pokemon? And I wonder who gave the Houndoom orders to take the strongest Heracross? What could they be being used for? Take 8 stamps.[/color] ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[classy_cat18]

I've been planning this for quite a while but it took the Twoson attack to bring it all together. I'm not sure if I'll do the same thing with the other Pokemon.

[Lady Vulpix]

Yes, it was interesting. And you didn't write it in Word! Thank you! ^_^

[Ace64]

Deo's RBG, and the last writing I do for a while...College orientation is soon.

EDIT: Sorry for the indents- I indented it in Word, some of it is showing, the rest I had to do myself.How annoying.

“…58% of the poll suggests that the population is currently dissatisfied with events in Eagleland,” droned a blond reporter, tapping a pointer against the red slice in a pie chart. “Here, 23% express contentment with the growth of the Happy-Happy religion. 17% believe that Ulthuan should stay out of Eaglelandian affairs. And 2% of the respondents expressed interest in pie,” the reporter concluded, his expression unflinching as a stone.
“Thank you, Mark, for that enlightening insight into the minds of the people. We’ll be back in a few minutes after these…”
Trey snorted and turned off the TV with a click of the remote. Blessed silence filled the space, as rare a visitor as snow in August. It seemed that news of the Twoson rebellion, or the “Twoson Takeover” as it was dubbed, was everywhere. Innocuous blurbs in the news had suddenly leaped and bounded into exclusives and unflattering photographs and amateur videotapes. In a short week, a wave of fear and paranoia had swept over the land.
Last night, the Channel Six Nightly News featured a ‘chilling’ videotape captured by one of the victims of a raiding Happy-Happyist party. Nobody had asked why this numbskull was standing around filming an attack instead of fleeing or fighting back, instead, he was “to be commemorated for his quick thinking.”
The video showed masked men dressed in blue sending Pokemon into an orphanage. All of the Pokemon were blue in color, and their eyes seemed strangely blank, their faces slack and emotionless. All of the Pokemon were small, quick creatures- Persian were the most common, but one could also glimpse a Linoone and even a few Zangoose. The cult Pokemon entered the orphanage swiftly, like malign phantoms, and the cries of children arose from the building for a long, haunting moment. A moment later, the Pokemon exited the building- each one holding a small child in their paws or mouth. Add kidnapping to the list of murder, rampage, reckless endangerment, and rebellion.
Even the media could see what the cultists were after. It was the same thing that every major religion was in short supply.
Converts. The younger, the better.
Trey got up restlessly, and headed for the backyard. If the cultists are being brainwashed or forced to act against their will, that’s one thing. But if every child in Eagleland has to listen to the same propaganda that the cultists do- then they’re not just taking children, they’re recruiting soldiers. Fighting a man in a mask was one thing. Ordering an attack against a kid half your age was quite another.
The backyard was empty, save for Fisticuffs, Silk, and Deo. The three appeared to be deep in conversation- which was rare. Deo and Fisticuffs didn’t really talk all that much; their personalities were opposites of each other. Trey wondered whether the Sneasel was the reason for their meeting.
No one had learned much more about Silk since his arrival a few days ago. He came and went as he pleased, and refused to sleep in the house. For a while, the atmosphere was tense whenever he came by- half-expecting an enraged team of Pokemon to come charging out of nowhere, everyone would glance nervously into the trees. But that feeling soon faded with time. If Yssera was aware of Silk’s defection, it was a strange way to show it.
Trey looked around. The rest of the team wasn’t inside, and they weren’t in the back yard… “Where is everybody?”
“Cooler and Prophecy had an argument over who was the best tree climber,” Fisticuffs replied without looking at him. “They went into the forest- Charmene and Troit are acting as judges. I don’t really think either of them can climb trees, though.”
Prophecy’s hands were pretty stubby, and Cooler was a turtle- neither were good attributes suited to climbing trees. So, it made perfect sense that it would be a subject they would fight over. “Typical. So what are you three up to?”
Deo rolled forward, a proud grin plastered on his face. “Guess what I jus’ figgered out? ‘Member dat Secret Power TM you gave me th’other day?” When Trey nodded, Deo closed his eyes and concentrated hard. Nothing happened for a long moment, then, the air around the Voltorb seemed to quiver. A small circular bright blue orb the size of a marble appeared in front of Deo. As they watched, the orb grew in size to roughly the shape of a large bowling ball. With a grunt, Deo opened his eyes, allowing the orb to fall to the ground with a THUNK.
Fisticuffs tapped the sphere experimentally. It was cool to the touch and hard as stone. “Looks good.”
“Hidden Power Ice: success!” Deo cried with a great grin on his face. “Impressed?”
“Of course!” Trey replied, and he was. Hidden Power was a strange TM- it worked differently for every Pokemon. Deo had discovered how to utilize it extremely quickly- and the Ice type was perfect for countering his weaknesses to grass, rock, ground, and flying types. It seemed only natural that it was ice, since Deo constantly boasted to be unbeatable. “But…what were Fisticuffs and Silk here for? Helping you?”
“Oh, it’s great!” Deo said excitedly, his eyes lighting up. In his excitement, the surface of his skin was beginning to spark and crackle with electricity. “Silk was showin’ us his Double Team, and…”
“Wait a second,” Fisticuffs interrupted, earning a glare from the Voltorb. “Why don’t you just show him?”
Deo’s expression immediately shifted to one of malice. “Good idea, glad I thought of it. Let’s find some sap ta test this out on…”
Without another word, the Voltorb rolled away at high speed, away from the house and into the forest. Fisticuffs and Silk exchanged a world-weary look (Look what I have to deal with…) and took off after him. Trey followed in the rear, wondering why he hadn’t invested in a good fence.
Deo charged through the underbrush without stopping, flattening shrubs and catapulting over tree roots. Finally, he came to rest in the middle of a clearing, where he turned to glaring into the undergrowth.
“First, to scare up some prey…Come on out!” the Voltorb cried. His golden surface glowed even brighter as an electric current was generated, before he discharged a powerful Thunderbolt in all directions. The electric blast seared tree leaves and roots as it followed its course- if the group had been closer, they would have been caught in the attack. Something in the trees to Deo’s right squealed in surprise. Then, a pulse of lightning came flying out of the bushes, pushing the Voltorb back.
Deo rolled forward again, eyes narrowed as a young Electrike barreled out of the bushes. His snout was covered in berry juice and he looked quite annoyed. “Hey, what’s the big idea, shocking me for?”
“Aw, shaddup squirt,” Deo snarled, ignoring the Electrike and pretending to be concerned with the underbrush around him. “I’m lookin’ fer a real challenge. Go play in traffic or somethin.”
“Okay, that’s it! If you’re looking for a fight, you just found it cueball!” the Electrike spat, his teeth bared. He lunged forward, his fur beginning to crackle.
“Was hoping you’d feel dat way,” Deo said slyly.
"I can’t believe it,” Silk said in disbelief, watching from the bushes. Further behind, Trey huffed and puffed through the foliage. “Five minutes in the forest, and he’s already picked a fight.”
“Well, Deo’s good at what he does,” Fisticuffs answered, shrugging his shoulders. “He knows how to annoy people. I feel bad for his opponent, but this will be a good way to test his skills…”
BATTLE!
L 13 Voltorb vs. L13 Electrike

“Take this!” Electrike cried, his green fur charging with electricity. He let loose a small charge of blue lighting, which struck Deo hard, forcing him back a few paces. The Voltorb only grinned, sitting in one spot, beginning to glow.
“Is dat it?” Deo said with a yawn. Trey knew that the Voltorb was only pretending; in reality he was charging his power for the next attack. A battle for Deo involved mind games just as much as powerful attacks.
Electrike, getting furious now, lunged towards Deo with a lowered head. With a wide grin, the Voltorb released the energy he had stored in a powerful Thunderbolt. Even as an electric type, the shock was powerful enough to push Electrike backwards.
“And now dat I’ve got a little room…” Deo closed his eyes and concentrated. This time, the air shivered, not in front of Deo, but around his enemy. The orbs of ice formed again, but with a subtle difference this time.
Trey blinked twice, taking a closer look. Was it possible? “Is that what I think it is?” The ice orbs plopped onto the ground, but the construction was different. Halfway up the sphere, the ice was indented strangely- two holes were carved out, and a thin line was cut along the middle.
“Deo clones,” Silk explained. “Of a kind...” The ice spheres looked like Voltorb sculptures, but even a child could tell the difference between them and the true Deo. After all, one was a light gold and the others were a bright blue. That was, until Trey noticed that he couldn’t tell the difference. Now, all three of the Voltorbs were blue.
“What the…” the Electrike began, sounding as confused as Trey felt. He looked at all three Voltorbs warily. The trio glared back at him, motionless. “Uhm…”
“What’s wrong, scared?” Deo’s voice rang out mockingly. Without his mouth moving, it was hard to tell from which Voltorb the words were coming from. “Still time ta give up…”
“Deo covered himself with a thin layer of ice, huh?” Trey whispered to Fisticuffs. “That’s the technique he was excited about? It’s pretty interesting… I didn’t think Hidden Power would give that kind of strength…”
“It’s a new type of Double Team,” Silk said. “That’s why he wanted to watch how I used my own technique. These aren’t exactly clones…and yet they are. Solid instead of visual, and Deo seems to be able to control them. Of course, it helps that all he really is to create is a sphere…”
“Hmph,” Fisticuffs grumbled. It was rather unlike him. “Just try to get me a Hidden Power TM too, huh?”
“Ok, then,” the Deo grunted. “Lessee how ya handle dis!” The ice Voltorb on Electrike’s right suddenly rocketed forward. The dog-like Pokemon whined in pain as the orb slammed into him, knocking him over. Deo cackled wickedly as Electrike shook the frost out of his fur and got to his feet. When the second Voltorb clone rolled forward, Electrike lowered his head and struck first, lunging forward. The ball exploded, showering Electrike in a rain of ice chips.
“One down!” Electrike barked triumphantly, before quickly wheeled around to face another Voltorb. He lowered his head, his fur beginning to glow with charging lightning, and released a bolt of lightning at the ice ball, blowing it into pieces. “Two down!”
“Oh dear, ya found me,” Deo cried in a falsetto tone. Electrike turned menacingly towards the frost-covered Pokemon. “Whatever shall I do?”
The dog Pokemon leapt forward, his mouth wide. His teeth snapped down on the Voltorb’s skin, but weren’t able to penetrate through the layer of ice surrounding Deo. The Electrike whined in pain, trying to pull his jaws free. It was no good.
“Not too smart, are ya?” Deo chuckled, before he unleashed a full power Thunderbolt into the Electrike’s mouth at point-blank range. The burst of lightning was enough to shake the dog free and fling him across the clearing, minus a few teeth. “You were good fer exercise, anywho.”
BATTLE END!
Deo grew to L 14!
Trey stepped out of the bushes and into the clearing, eyeing the unconscious Electrike warily. It was definitely down for the count- his fur was blackened, with bits of ice sticking here and there from his snout. “I have to say Deo- I’m impressed.”
“Well, I am pretty impressive,” Deo said proudly.
“Don’t forget modest,” Fisticuffs mumbled. “Don’t forget- Silk and I helped you with that technique.”
“Of course,” Deo replied, his tone matter-of-fact. “Can’t forget da little people, right?”
“Actually, you’re the little one here,” Silk pointed out. “Even the Electrike was taller than you. And it was a quadruped.”
“If I could do dat to a ‘quadropod,’ imagine what I could do ta you,” Deo growled. Trey smiled, before he noticed a vibrating sensation in his pocket. It was his cell phone, on silent ringer. His expression turned serious, as he pulled out the phone and opened it. The Pokemon forgot their discussion, watching the human’s face.
“Yes, it’s Trey. Uh-huh….Now? Right this second?...Okay. Okay. I’ll be right there.” He turned the cell phone off and put it in his pocket, his face grim. “Silk, could you go find Cooler and the others for me?”
“Sure, no problem,” the Sneasel replied, before dashing off into the bushes.
“Something wrong?” Fisticuffs asked.
“The MTU is ready to send trainers over to Twoson for some sort of military operation. They’re holding a meeting now, so we need to head over there. Looks like we get to travel again- this time, overseas.”
Deo groaned, rolling his eyes. “Great. As long as we get a free ride this time.”

[Lady Vulpix]

Nice introduction to the current scenario. Take 12 stamps, Trey. Deo really has a superiority complex, doesn't he? ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Oh, you said Secret Power at one moment instead of Hidden Power. I liked the new technique, by the way. When do you think we can finish the Expedia-related conversation? And why am I the only one who's been posting at the tagboard lately?

[*Murkrow]

Can I have an extension for the current scenario, please? I was intending to have everything done by the end of the summer, but I never felt in the right mood to do any writing whatsoever. So I'm waiting until DP are released which will help me sort out things here (sounds odd, I know, but it will).

[The Blue Avenger]

Extension granted.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ok, here's a small intro. I'll try to write the next bit within the next 2 weeks. I hope I can.

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸, ø¤º°`°º¤ø ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

<Gabi's POV>

We returned to Sector Alpha with a feeling of incompletion. We had acquired some knowledge, but it was mostly the knowledge that we were in deeper trouble than we had thought. We left two 'agents' to continue the research in White Mountain while we were away, namely Glyph and Orknye; but the situation there still worried me, and it was just one of many things that did. I had too many things on my mind. That didn't help me get started with the report for the Dragon's Guild, and nor did the news.

The continuous attacks by members of the "blue cult" (which had become an informal nickname for the Happy-happyists) were on everybody's mouths. As usual, there were people who said we shouldn't get involved, as it was out of our jurisdiction. Technically, the Dragon Tamers weren't authorized to operate outside Ulthuan, except on specific occasions when we were granted that permission by the local authorities. But I wasn't just a Dragon Tamer: I was also a member of the Dragon's Guild (a duplicity which had caused me trouble way too many times), and apparently the Guild was organizing an expedition to Twoson, the place where most of the attacks had been registered. I had no idea what the Guild's legal and physical limitations were, and that scared me, but at least we all seemed to be on the same side this time.

I attended 3 different meetings on the subject. The first one was with Lady Ninetales, when she told me about the plans for the Twoson mission and approved my decision to send a detective to investigate the happenings in Happy-Happy Village, not without scolding me for not discussing it with her first, nor without reminding me that my Ponyta report was due in less than a week. The second meeting was with other Guild members from both our division and the MTU, and there we all shared what we knew and outlined some plans. By then there were already rumors of a Happy-happyist church opening in Caledor, so it was decided that some of us would have to look into it, and I hoped I could be one of them: I didn't want to be out of the country when Lagi returned home, and I was tired of travelling. They were personal reasons, but sometimes you have to take yourself into account; otherwise no one else will. And the third meeting... That was with the Dragon Tamers. I couldn't officially tell anyone to go to Twoson, nor provide means of transportation, but I did mention what was going on there and imply that I wouldn't stop anyone from making a trip, and when Amy told me she was going I was greatly relieved. I did set myself to coordinate a mission in Caledor to investigate the new church and make sure the "blue cult" would do no harm at home. And when a new member joined the Dragon's Guild and requested to become a field agent, I encouraged him to join the Dragon Tamers. After all, the DT did his kind of 'field work' a lot more often than our section of the Guild did. And we needed all the help we could get, with all the crises that currently affected Ulthuan, especially now that Ade was apparently MIA.

So, when I finally managed to get done with the paperwork, and upon opening the door found that there still was a world outside, I decided it was time to start getting real things done. I gathered the members of my team who had joined me for breakfast and we agreed to go looking for the new Happy-Happyist church and find out what we were dealing with before calling in the cavalry. It was a minor setback that the newspaper article that mentioned it didn't include its exact address. The major setback was the fact that I didn't know who to ask... nor how to formulate the question for that matter. I was arguing with myself and finding lots of excuses not to ask strangers on the street and not to phone any of my friends, all of which boiled down to me ending up red with embarrassment, when embarrassment came to me anyway, in the form of Hero being more sensible than myself.

"I know you're all going to say I'm looking for any excuse to see Tracker," he began. "But won't she know where this church is? She works for the police, she knows these things. She's probably on their track already. We should ask her."
"I would have thought that by now you wouldn't need excuses anymore," Tsunami told him. "You like her, she likes you, what's wrong with that? You don't have to go looking for excuses to be together. But you're right, she must know at least their location, and probably more too. We could work together."
"Hero's being sensible and Tsunami's agreeing with him?," I remarked, stunned. "Where am I, and what happened to the world I came from?"
"You couldn't settle for the normal option and assume Hero and I had been replaced, right? It has to be the whole world with you," Tsunami laughed. This made me feel a bit calmer. "We're not linear, you know. Pokemon are complex individuals. Well, most of us anyway. I've met a few who were so predictable it wasn't funny."
"But not in this house," Hero seemed to look for a confirmation.
"Not in this house. Why, do you know anyone here who matches the description?"
Since Hero didn't reply, Tsunami continued.
"Now, if we were facing an immediate threat, things would be different. I'd know you'd run into it at top speed. But when we're still at home planning our next move you sometimes do come up with unexpected ideas."
"I'm having an idea right now. It involves roasted Vaporeon steak."
"You hurt me. Do you really think I'm so weak I could be roasted by your fire?"
"Not my fire. I was thinking about cooking you in the kitchen after I sliced you with my claws."
"Guys, this is the scariest and grossest argument you've ever had!," I felt myself change colors, not sure of which color it was I was turning into.
"Relax, it was all in fun," Hero told me, as if he hadn't suggested murdering and eating his best friend. "We were trying to help you shake off the feeling that your world had changed or whatever it was."
"Well, you overdid it. Seriously."
"It's not as if he meant it," Tsunami sided with Hero. "You should learn not to be so literal."
"I'm edgy from all that's going on, it's not a good time to teach me to take black humor lightly."
"I guess I'm not doing a good job as Lagi's replacement after all," Tsunami sighed. "I hope she returns soon. We really need her."
"No, we don't," Hero contradicted him. "Things feel better when she's around for the most part, yes. But we don't really need her. We managed to survive without her before she joined the team, and we're stronger and more experienced now. We can trust ourselves to stay alive on our on."
"We're also facing greater and more dangerous challenges now. I don't think we'll die at the church, but her presence would be comforting. It's like there's a big empty space without her in here. And I'm not referring to physical space, before any of you decide to make any witty remark."
I turned to look away from Tsunami, and my gaze ended up landing on Sylvan.
"Yes, we all know I'm the one who takes up the most physical space," said the Venusaur.
"I wasn't thinking of that, I assure you," I told her.
"It's alright," she smiled. "At least I'm not a Steelix or a Wailord. I can still fit inside a room if it's not too furnished. And I don't need to spend my time confined to a pool or a pokeball like poor Water Angel."
"I think Water Angel's like the prisoner from the story," Amber commented. "Her body's confined, but her mind can fly."
"At least the part of her mind that's dedicated to Pidgeot," Tsunami joked. "And you can't blame me for saying this because I'm not teasing them."
"Maybe things would be easier for her if she could talk from inside her pokeball," Sylvan shared her thoughts. "How do you do it, Amber?"
Amber thought for a few moments.
"I just... push, or something. And think loudly, like you do when you talk. I don't think I can explain it, it feels like I'm putting a soft pressure on the wall and trying to speak, and the sound comes out, but that's more a mental image than anything."
"I can't say I really understand," Tsunami confessed. "It must be one of those unexplainable things. Everyone seems to have a hidden talent."
"Or a Hidden Power," Ventura pointed out. "We do know that pokeballs are electronic and mechanical devices. And a Steel type Hidden power seems to grant an ability to handle machines to a higher or lower degree. Marius is an extreme example, but Amber's ability may also be an expression of that."
"Is Water Angel talking through you, or were the lessons she gave you THAT good?," Tsunami half praised, half mocked Ventura's speech.
"Water Angel has no psychic abilities that we know of," Ventura said without flinching (or without apparently flinching, it was hard for anyone but Lagi to read her emotions at any time).
"Then she's an amazing teacher," Tsunami concluded.
"The teacher only does half the job," Ventura said. "I'm not looking for praise, I just want you to know that... There's a lot about... Nevermind, just don't take me for granted. No one likes that."
"I didn't mean to, sorry. What was that all about?"
"You don't want to know. You were right, we need Lagi. Without her we'll all be jumping at each other's throats in no time."
"You just stay away from my throat, you know how much I hate being drained," Tsunami warned her.
"Now who's being literal?," I laughed.
"Well, at least I made you laugh. Speaking of which, where's Caledor?"
"He must be out there having fun while we sort out the 'boring and gloomy stuff'," Hero hazarded a guess.
"Oh, he would do that alright," Tsunami conceded. "If only to avoid getting gloomy himself."
"What? Caledor? I don't think the desert would go into much trouble to avoid getting wet," retorted Hero.
"The desert does get flooded sometimes," I informed him.
"And so does Caledor," Tsunami added. "I've seen him. He likes to bottle up, he's just so good at it that few ever notice. But those types are the ones who hurt themselves the most. Then when it all becomes too much for him, he bursts out and no one knows what's going on. It took me a while to understand. Remember when Marius was born? And he nearly did it again back at the lab, but Kiara helped him stay level-headed. And I think Thunderblast did something to help him too, but he won't say what it was and I doubt that even she knows."
"You're very observant," I commended my Vaporeon friend. "Lagi was right about you. I was worried that Caledor might be bottling up a few times, but I thought it was over after he talked to Beckham about Marius."
"He just got better at it after that," Tsunami revealed. "I'm not sure he'll ever get over what they did to him at the lab. The way they played Gods with his life... I can't blame him. I don't know if he'd want children or not, given the choice, but the fact that he was denied that choice will always weigh on him."
"Oh, but he got a lot of shiny powers in exchange for it," Hero pointed out. "I think that's a fair trade. It's not like many trained pokemon get to see their children much. Even Lagi who's a mother by nature rarely sees her own; I'm not talking about Edie, that's a special case we all hate to think about, but where are the others? You need to go into the wild to raise your own family, and I don't see Caledor having that kind of life."
"Wow. Now that's a surprisingly deep reflection!," exclaimed Tsunami. "How much thought have you been giving this?"
"A question asked after that statement does not merit an answer," Hero stuck out his tongue.
"No, I'm serious. Have you been thinking of going back to the forest and starting your own family?"
"Everyone must have thought about that a few times. Especially after seeing the kids again, I did get a bit nostalgic. But Scorch and Flame are idiots and I'd never go back to taking orders from them. And Solitude gives me the creeps. I guess I could start my own pack if I wanted to. That's teach the old leaders alright. But Tracker's a police pokemon and I'm a Dragon Tamer. Those things come first. So maybe when we're older, if we live long enough to retire, and if I can be sure the rest of you will survive without me. For now I'm happy with the life I have here."
"Being happy is good," a voice came from the shadow below a chair, startling everyone. "Talking about others behind their backs is bad."

A figure emerged from the shadow, slowly assuming a rather feline form, with a forked tail and big ears. I couldn't help looking at the ears as I replayed the recent conversation in my mind.
"We didn't mean to talk about you behind your back," I apologized. "At least I know I didn't. We were just worried."
"Yes, we're in a general state of worry," Tsunami nodded.
"Thanks for your concern, but I wasn't bottling up. I was just training. Am I the only one who thinks we're going to have to battle pretty soon? I know my psychic powers stink... or would if they were strong enough to have a smell, but my common sense doesn't. The blue cult is not our friend."
"You're just using that as an excuse to sneak up on us," Hero dismissed him. "A really stealthy pokemon doesn't need special moves to catch others by surprise. You shouldn't rely so heavily on your moves, there's always the chance that you'll end up in a situation where you can't use them. Like... the desert, at noon, with no trees, no big rocks, no shadows... and no floods." He eyed me and Tsunami as he said this.
"Does the desert really get flooded?," Tsunami asked me.
"Yes, when it rains... Which I think is about twice a year. And it was just my luck that it happened on the day I went to one."
"When was this?," he wanted to know.
"It was before I came to Ulthuan... About 10 years ago. Wow, 10 years! And so much has happened since then!"
"Feeling old?," Hero chuckled.
"Not really... Just weird."
"Ah, what else is new?," Tsunami winked.
"I remember where I was 10 years ago," Hero commented. "I was in the forest, with the pack. I think that was around the time when Kid was born... I mean Ray. Ah, no, he was born a year later. And Firestar came just a few months after him. 10 years ago, there was only 10 of us. It was when we found the twins. Sunrise and Sunset... funny little brats."
"Now you're sounding old," Tsunami said. "Did you count the years in the forest?"
"I'll ignore your comment for your own good. Yes, we counted the years. We didn't have birthdays and stuff, but we knew when the spring started and that marked the beginning of the year for us."
"Us too," Iael joined in. "The Stantlers, I mean. Then again, it was the same forest. Only later."
"Yes. A looooooooooooooong time later," Caledor giggled.
"Do you even know how old you are, little pest?," Hero snapped back.
"Ah. So that's how long your patience lasts. Good to know," Caledor grinned. "And to answer your question, no. But it doesn't matter. They say we're as old as we feel, so I'm eternally young."
"Eternally immature is more like it."
"You're only jealous because I'm brigher than you."
"You? Brighter than me?," Hero snorted. "In your dreams, puppy!"
"No, really. Look."

Caledor became engulfed by a golden light, which increased its intensity until it almost hurt to look at him.
"Of course, that's Caledor logic; I should have known," Hero groaned. "You do believe silliness wins all arguments, do you?"
"At least the ones not worth following," Caledor replied, letting the light fade. "Are we going to look for Tracker or what?"
"I guess we are," I said. "I'll fetch Pidgeot and Water Angel and we'll go to the police station. We must get this sorted out. And Caledor..."
"Yes?"
"Thanks for brightening the mood."
"Anytime," he beamed. "It's my job and my pleasure. Just call and I'll be there to lighten up the mood. Literally if I have to. I'm the official mood enhancer. I..."
I let his voice trail off as I walked to the garden. He was good at cheering us up, but that didn't mean all his nonsense was worth listening to.

[Everoy]

I, as well, would like an extension. I've been swamped with homework and theater.

[Lady Vulpix]

You have it, but don't worry, all the workers are so busy that I'd be surprised if we had a new scenario in less than 2 months' time. *Sighs.*

[The Blue Avenger]

Aheh, sorry it took so long. Gabi, I'm going with ¢¢¢¢¢ 5 stamps for your introduction. It was an intriguing read, albeit short, and I'm definitely interested to see how this scenario pans out for you and your team. Incidentally, I think my favorite point was Caledor appearing from behind the chair; I just liked how it played out.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, Jeff! I'll see if I can write some more in the weekend. That would be very good for me in many ways.

[Lady Vulpix]

Oh, my latest story got lost in the switch, but it can still be seen here.

[The Blue Avenger]

Right, I'm here! *isn't slow at all...* Anyway, Gabi, an entertaining read. It was good to see Tracker, and I liked the point you brought up about the Jennys. It makes a lot more sense for it to be a cultural thing. Good character development for Ventura as well. I enjoyed watching the battle from Hero's eyes, particularly with his comments about Caledor's strategy. I think that 11 stamps ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢ is good.

[Lady Vulpix]

11 for a battle against 2 opponents? Hmm... ok. I admit they weren't the brightest of opponents. I'm glad you liked Tracker.

[The Blue Avenger]

Well, I did it that way since they *technically* counted as one opponent - as the scenario says, you cannot fight them apart.

[Lady Vulpix]

They counted as one? Does that mean I could have had another battle?

[The Blue Avenger]

Yes. That's why I put the "must be fought together" thing in the scenario; I intended for them to be the equivalent of one opponent.

My apologies. ^^;

[The Blue Avenger]

Very quickly, here's my scenario story, called 'Retrieval.' Cheers!

---

“So let’s say we start in Twoson,” Mercandos said, pointing a marker at a diagram drawn on a whiteboard. He gazed around at the faces surrounding him: every member of Jeff’s team was in the living room, from Groviglio, Mona and Cambiamente sitting on the couch to Bobbery at the counter between the living room and the kitchen, quietly eating a sandwich. “Onett, near Twoson, is where we’re being escorted by the Guild. However, we probably want to avoid the latter city for now – I’d lay a strong bet that Jeff is actually in Happy-Happy Village.”

“Wait, hold on,” Kiva said, frowning. “Why would Jeff be there? Wouldn’t Bartholomew or whatever he’s calling himself now want to send him to Twoson? I’d think that the higher-up would send his subordinates to do his dirty work.”

“That’s what I would have thought as well,” Mercandos replied, shaking his head. “But most of the recent footage from the area, with the exception of that one newspaper article, has distinctly shown Bartholomew, while Jeff is nowhere to be seen. This makes me think that he stayed behind in Happy-Happy Village.”

99 grimaced as best he could. “Something about this mission seems suspicious,” he whirred. “We can assume that Bartholomew is of above average intelligence. Query: why would he risk himself in Twoson when he has an underling to do it for him?”

“Maybe he knows people are going to be looking for Jeff,” replied Bobbery in between bites. “So he left Jeff in a place that’s harder to get to.”

99 shook his head. “My conclusion remains: it is a trap.”

“It might be a trap,” Mercandos said somberly, “but it’s the best shot we have at saving Jeff.” He returned his attention to the whiteboard. “So. We start in Twoson. If we skirt along the outskirts of the town and make our way to the Peaceful Rest Valley, we should be in the clear. Since the valley has been all but deserted, we shouldn’t have any problems there. Next, we make our way to the meeting hall…” Mercandos gestured to a crudely drawn building, “…and we get inside. Some of us are going to have to peel away from the group to take on Maza, but for the most part, if we stay together, we can avoid what happened last time we were there.”

A silence fell over the group as they reflected on their colossal failure – one that culminated with actually moving backwards in terms of progress.

Suddenly, a lone voice pierced the quiet. “None of us need to take on Maza except for me,” Trezzatura said hesitantly. “I’m the closest to his power level and I can take most of the attacks he has.”

A series of confused looks swept across the room at the Metang. Groviglio was the first one to speak. “Wait a second. You, the wimp, want to take on the brainwashed Alakazam who apparently has some kinda superpowers?” He raised an eyebrow. “You sure you’re not the one who’s brainwashed here?”

Trezzatura sighed plaintively. “For the last time, Groviglio, I’m not a wimp; I just don’t like battling. But… in all honestly, I really do think I’m the best suited here to take down Maza.”

“That’s all well and good,” Kurtzwick replied, “but aren’t you forgetting that Maza has mostly fire attacks? He’ll slaughter you.”

“A couple of months ago, Jeff gave me a Fire Shield. It should help to reduce that damage of those attacks,” said Trezzatura.

“But still,” Groviglio butted in again, “saying that you want to go it alone just because you can deal with Maza’s attacks is, ah, idiotic. Although that is fitting, considering you…”

“Were you going to say something constructive, Groviglio, or is it just abuse this time?” Trezzatura said flatly.

Groviglio paused for a second, thinking. “Hmmm… oh yeah! My point was that you just shouldn’t go alone. I mean, Maza knows Teleport, and he could beat you just by dodging your attacks and wearing you out.” He jumped off of the couch. “I’ll help you. I think I’ve sparred with Maza the most out of anyone here, so I think I’d be good for the job.”

Mercandos nodded. “Okay, so we have Groviglio and Trezzatura for going after Maza.” He stopped for a second to write their names on the whiteboard. “I think we should be in two more groups: one for going after Jeff and one for clearing the way. It should probably be about equal. Volunteers for sabotage and infiltration duty?” He looked around the room. “None? Well then… Kurtzwick, you should definitely be in this group, as should 99 so that we can deal with any computer-controlled locks or anything like that. Previsiona, you’d be useful for Future Sight, and I’m assuming Raini is going with you. Mona, I think you’d be more useful here as opposed to the other group, just because… well, to put it nicely, you’re not the most subtle Pokemon, and we don’t want to broadcast to Jeff that we’re coming for him.”

Mona stuck out her tongue, but Mercandos failed to notice.

“Finally, let’s have… say… Groove Guy. We’ll need someone to be able to distract people, and, let’s face it, you’re good at that.” Mercandos took a moment to write the group on the board. “Any objections to that?”

“You know none of us are going to object,” Previsiona interjected. “You’re the best strategist among us.”

“If not an idiot,” Groviglio added under his breath.

“What was that, Groviglio?” Previsiona replied, glowering.

“Nothing,” he answered, rolling his eyes quite obviously. Previsiona frowned, but said nothing.

“Anyway,” interrupted Mercandos, “the rest of us will try and neutralize Jeff. That’s cool with everyone, I assume?”

The group simultaneously nodded.

“Good. Now, we’ve got no time to lose – let’s get to the Guild. Our ride will be leaving soon.” Mercandos capped his marker and swept quickly out the door, leaving the rest of the team to follow him.

***

An uneventful brief debriefing led to an even more uneventful plane ride, which culminated in Cam standing in the airport’s lobby, having Transformed into a mix of several people he observed on the plane: he had created a man of average build and size with wide blue eyes and wavy tan hair. A belt of Pokeballs hung around his waist, the red-and-white spheres containing his teammates. He left the lobby and looked around. A nearby sign proclaimed one direction of the lone street to lead to Onett and the other to Twoson. The aforementioned street was fairly deserted; Cam guessed (quite correctly) that that was because people weren’t trying to get to Twoson.

Cam closed his eyes and focused. “Mercandos said that we make like we’re headed towards Twoson, but once we reach the city limits, we take a right instead. We should then follow the town’s boundaries until we reach the cave leading to the Peaceful Rest Valley. Okay.” The sun shone down heavily as he set off down the neatly paved street, careful to stay in the shade of the trees lining the road.

Cam didn’t have to walk long; the road went for only a few miles before reaching a sign labeled ‘Twoson City Limits.’ Even if the sign weren’t there, however, it would have been painfully obvious that Twoson was close: the sound of chaos rang through the air. People screamed, glass broke, cars crashed…

“Okay… Merc had a point when he said to avoid the city,” Cam mumbled quietly. He took a sharp right at the sign, making sure to stay as much out of sight as possible. As he walked, Cam noticed that the outskirts of town were a lot quieter than the main part: here, there was no chaos. The houses were boarded up and the area seemed deserted, but it seemed that the cultists were focusing their attacks on the center of town. Cam shrugged. If Mercandos were out of his Pokeball, he thought, he’d probably be able to analyze specifically their actions and tell me what their strategy is. I guess that’s not our problem, though; if Jeff is in Happy-Happy Village, we don’t need to deal with Twoson.

The walk to the cave was a short one, during which Cam encountered quite literally nobody. Anyone still living in the outskirts of Twoson had obviously locked themselves indoors, as no human residents were outdoors, and any wild Pokemon (and other creatures) had fled some time ago – the entire area was silent, save some background noise from the main part of Twoson. Cam took a look over the eerily quiet landscape, shuddered, and hurriedly entered the cave.

The cave was not much better – as with the last time he had been there, the cave was deserted. The lamps were still there, but someone had modified them to cast a sickly blue light over the interior of the cave. Additionally, there was blue spray-paint on the rocky walls. Cam glanced at it, noting with a little dismay that it read “Blue blue forever!” He shook his head and kept walking.

“Well, this place looks the same as always,” Cam said, frowning, as he stepped out into the sunlight and gazed over Happy-Happy Village, which was, predictably, still entirely blue. He pulled off his trainer belt, dropping the Pokeballs to the ground and releasing his teammates. As the team looked around, Cam reverted back to his Ditto form.

“Okay guys,” Mercandos said quickly, immediately taking charge, “the meeting hall is the big building in the center of the village. Jeff’s office is in there, if he hasn’t moved. ‘Infiltration’ team, you go in first to clear the way. Then, the rest of us will go in and get to Jeff and Maza as fast as possible. Is that clear?” A murmur of consent rippled through the group, and Mercandos nodded. “Succeed or fail, we will reconvene near that red house a block or so away from the meeting hall. Let’s go.”

They made their way to the meeting hall quickly. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked. Kurtzwick slithered up to it, stared at it for a moment, and began to fiddle with the knob. Less than fifteen seconds later, the door stood wide open.

Mercandos gestured inside and hissed, “Team alpha, go!”

A tense moment passed as nobody moved. Mercandos slapped his forehead. “That’s your cue, infiltration.”

“Ohh…” Kurtzwick and Mona said simultaneously, and then flew inside as quietly as possible. Groove Guy rolled his eyes and went after them, followed by 99, Previsiona, and Raini.

Mercandos flattened himself against the side of the building, looking towards Groviglio and Trezzatura. “Okay, guys, you’ll follow us until we find Maza, then you’ll split off and take him down. Got it?” The pair nodded. “Okay. Good. Now, we’ll go inside in 3… 2… 1…” He jumped in the door. “Let’s go!”

No sooner had Mercandos and the rest of his team passed through the doorway did they run straight into a squad of blue-clad men, each one holding a member of the infiltration team. Well, almost all of them. One of the men in the back was trying as hard as he could to hold onto Raini, but the fact that she was gnawing on his arm made that task rather difficult.

The cultist in front tossed Kurtzwick at Mercandos’ feet. “Erk… sorry, boss…” Kurtzwick mumbled, his eyes only half focused. “They completely overwhelmed us. Again.”

Mercandos groaned as the cultists ushered him and the rest of the team out. Well, most of the team. Once again, the guy in the back had problems getting Raini to relinquish her grip, but after some gentle coaxing from Previsiona, the group found themselves in front of the building. The door slammed shut, accompanied by a yell of “And stay out, ya freaks!”

“Well…” Mercandos started, addressing the crowd of Pokemon. Groviglio tapped a vine on the ground impatiently. “At least we can look on the bright side of this.”

A pause followed.

“Like what?” Groviglio replied, scowling.

“I’m working on it!” growled Mercandos irritably. “…Okay, there’s not really a bright side. Let’s just head over to the house a few blocks down and reconsider our strategy. We can’t just stay out in front of the meeting hall.”

A few blocks away from the meeting house, a bizarre house stood, isolated from the rest of the town – for more than one reason. It was the only house on its block, and it was colored a bright red, a sharp contrast to the dull blue of the entire town. The curtains were closed, but every so often, they would blow open slightly, revealing a pair of small, black, beady eyes and a bright pink ribbon on a single strand of hair. Its isolation combined with the fact that the cultists seemed to avoid anything not blue anyway made it the perfect spot to work without being attacked.

At least, that’s what Mercandos thought. Although the area had been deserted the last time they had been in Happy-Happy Village, a man stood outside the door of the building, along with a Zangoose. The man seemed to radiate a very strong aura of bizarreness even from a distance, and, even stranger, the Zangoose seemed infinitely more together than his trainer. Unusual for the town, neither the man nor the Zangoose had any mark of blue on them. As the group approached, he put up a single hand and said, very simply, “Hi.”

Previsiona floated out front and shot him a confused look. “Who are you?”

“I was wondering the same,” the man replied stoically.

“Well,” Previsiona replied just as coolly, “I’m sorry, but I won’t reveal our identities until we know who you are.”

The man stuck out his tongue in concentration. “Well, mmm… Can you tell me what you were doing trying to enter that building?”

Mercandos stepped out beside Previsiona. “Let’s just say ‘daring rescue’ and leave it at that” he said, shooting a look of obvious distrust at the man.

“Rescue?” The man replied, his eyebrows rising. “Of who?”

Mercandos pointed at him suspiciously. “Before I say that, answer me this: how can you understand us?”

“Er, you’re right, well…” the man stuttered, “it’s kinda odd, but sometimes I just can. I’m still trying to figure that out.”

Mercandos relented. “Oh… okay. Fair enough. Our trainer can do that too.”

“Really?” the man asked, looking interested. “What are you doing here without him? This isn’t exactly the safest place, you know?” He frowned. “But then again, if you were entering that building, you must know something…”

“Our trainer is who we’re trying to rescue -” Mona started before getting slapped very hard by one of Groviglio’s vines.

“Hush!” Groviglio muttered. “We don’t know if we can trust this idiot!”

The man, however, overheard his comment. “Hey, you know, calling a person an idiot is not a good way to make friends.”

Previsiona floated in front of Groviglio. “Don’t worry about him,” she said smiling, intentionally ignoring the death glare he was sending her.

The man shook his head. “Well, you told me something, so I guess I should tell you something too. But… I still don’t know much about you.”

For the first time, the Zangoose spoke up. In perfect English, he said, “I know there are many Pokemon who would try to rescue their trainer. But maybe they… hm. The bad thing is, even if they were them, I don’t know of anything only they would know.” He tapped a claw on his forehead. “Do you have any way to identify yourselves?” Then, he caught a glimpse of what looked like the vague outline of a Dratini shuffling though a wallet. “What are you doing with that?” the Zangoose hissed at what he (correctly) figured actually was a Dratini.

“Looking up your identity, of course,” Kurtzwick replied, sticking out his tongue.

“Then try the third one,” the man offered.

Kurtzwick pulled out the third card. “Okay, so… you’re Kerel… a Dragon’s Guild investigator, eh?”

The man nodded. “Yes.”

Kurtzwick looked to Mercandos. “I think we can trust him.”

Previsiona nodded. “Okay, then. We’re Pokemon belonging to a rogue Dragon Tamer named Jeff Azure. We were trying to get him back to Caledor.”

Kerel raised an eyebrow. “Wait, like in Mr. Azure?”

Groviglio shook his head. “Wait wait wait, you actually know him?”

Kerel ignored him. “This is odd. Then you are Jeff’s Pokemon!”

The Zangoose nodded. “They seem to match the description.”

“But how do you know Jeff?” Trezzatura asked, his arms crossed.

“I’ve come here to try and rescue him as well,” Kerel admitted. “I mean, I’ve actually come here as a scout, but…”

“You did?!” Previsiona cried, swooping over to him and trying her best to hug him.

“Yeah,” Kerel said, seemingly oblivious, “a reporter named Gabi sent us.”

Trezzatura’s eyes widened. “Hold on, you know Gabi too?”

“She wasn’t a reporter, but…” the Zangoose interjected, trailing his sentence off.

Kerel nodded. “Yes. We met her at White Mountain, and she told us of Jeff’s disappearance, and about you coming here to look for him.”

“Oh…” Bobbery said thoughtfully, “so that makes you the guy with the lampshade on his head.”

“Hey!” Kerel glowered. “It was a mythical, unpredictable object! And, if you must know, the lamp attacked me!”

The Zangoose rolled his eyes. “He can’t admit he just tripped…”

Groviglio shot a loaded look at the rest of the team. “Yep, this definitely sounds like the guy.”

“It did attack me…” Kerel said, almost sadly, but trailed off as the Zangoose whispered something in his ear. “Never mind. So you know about me. Can I have my wallet back now?”

Kurtzwick stuck his tongue out again. “It’s mine now.”

“Give it back, Kurtzwick…” Previsiona said, exasperated. Kurtzwick paused, then reluctantly handed the wallet back, sulking.

“Thanks,” Kerel replied, rolling his eyes. Kurtzwick scowled at him, but he continued unabated. “Well, I guess we should go somewhere and exchange notes, maybe make a plan.”

Previsiona nodded. “Right.” Without a single word more, Kerel took off walking at a brisk pace. Before long, the group stood inside a large empty building. It looked like an old abandoned warehouse of some sort – boxes littered the floor, and rust threatened to consume parts of the walls and ceiling.

“Well, basically,” Kerel began, taking a seat on the floor, “Jeff seems to be the second in command here.”

“Right, we knew that one,” Previsiona confirmed.

Kerel looked up. “Really? What else do you know?”

“For one, that the guy in charge might be a… um…” Previsiona paused, “dead serial killer?”

Kerel frowned. “He’s dead? Or he kills dead people.”

“He’s supposed to be dead,” Previsiona clarified, “but he’s apparently not.”

“That’s odd,” Kerel remarked idly.

“Yeah, go figure,” Groviglio said, shrugging.

“Just fill me in.” Kerel scanned the group. “It’s not normal for people to revive, right? Maybe he faked his death.”

Trezzatura nodded. “That’s the theory we’re working under.”

Kerel frowned and drummed his fingers on the ground. “But I really can’t understand the plan here. What’s the meaning of painting everything? And all this blue… And why do the people here talk like they were in some video game? I swear the guy on the other corner just keeps saying the same phrases over and over…”

“According to our research,” Previsiona interrupted, “Balthazar did not create the cult. He just revived it.”

“We figure they’re drugged or something,” Trezzatura remarked.

“I don’t know how Jeff acts,” Kerel continued, “but it probably wasn’t him back there. The plan seems so… planless.”

Kurtzwick frowned. “Hold on there. You’re not in Twoson. About half of the cult is over there laying siege to it.”

“Jeff seemed to be doing paperwork…” Kerel said, his face screwed up in thought, “and he had no mask.”

“He’s probably filling in for Balthazar, who in turn is probably in Twoson,” replied Kurtzwick.

Groviglio chuckled. “And would you be able to get a mask over those glasses?”

Kerel shrugged. “He could use contacts… Any good acolyte would.”

“You obviously don’t know Jeff,” Groviglio said, smirking, “he hates contacts.”

“Well, at least he’s still him at that part,” Kerel said quietly. He thought for a moment. “Is he normally obsessed with blue?”

“Not so much,” Previsiona said thoughtfully. “His last name’s Azure, but that’s about it. His nickname is Blue, but that was more his parent’s doing than his.”

Kerel nodded. “I see.”

“Now, what’s going on in Twoson?” the Zangoose asked, breaking his silence.

Kurtzwick turned to him. “The better part of the cult is attacking it.”

Kerel scowled. “Better, huh? So much effort in painting and I still didn’t get appreciated. They didn’t send us to raid a city…”

Kurtzwick stared at him, raising an eyebrow. “’Better’ as in ‘larger,’ as in ‘less than half the cult is here right now.’”

“Ah, I see…” Kerel nodded. “Then it would be a good time for the rescue.”

“That’s what we thought. And we still got kicked out,” Groviglio replied, shaking his head sullenly.

Kerel put his hand on his chin, thinking. “I can access there. I’m a member. Well, a low rank one, but I guess I have an idea to call Jeff’s attention… if I can optimize painting. Bruce?”

The Zangoose scratched his head. “We could just say that we have found someone willing to give us a lot of paint for a low price?”

“Do you think that’ll work?” Previsiona asked worriedly. “I mean, Jeff may be out of his head, but he’s not stupid. No offense.”

Bruce shrugged. “Well, you know him better than we do.”

Kerel turned to the rest of the group. “Any other ideas?”

The silence was deafening.

“Well then,” Kerel said with the air of someone reaching the conclusion of their argument, “it’s Cheap Painting then.”

Previsiona blushed slightly. “Truthfully, we were out of ideas. I guess yours is the best one we have.”

“So,” Kerel continued, “after I call his attention, then what? Take him out of there?”

“We need to deal with his Alakazam,” Previsiona said. “We can’t help you too much with Jeff.”

“His Alakazam?” Kerel asked. “Why?”

Previsiona shook her head. “Because he’s Jeff’s strongest Pokemon… and he’s probably acting as Jeff’s bodyguard.”

“But can you beat him?” Kerel replied immediately.

“I stand the best shot. Probably,” Trezzatura said, raising his hand.

Kerel closed his eyes. “I guess we could make the rescue and deal with him ourselves, if he goes out.”

“If we take Maza and you take Jeff,” Previsiona started, “I think we stand the best chance.”

“But…” Kerel continued, “if you get in there, it would also be good to grab some papers and read about the cult’s plans.”

Trezzatura saluted. “Understood.”

“Then it’s settled!” Kerel said, standing up. “After we finish, let’s meet somewhere. …Oh yeah, and you should enter after we have Jeff out.”

“After we complete our goals,” Previsiona said, her tongue out in concentration, “let’s meet by the cave leading into the valley.”

“Okay. And if Kurtzwick has stolen any cell phones lately, we could call each other if something happens,” Kerel said idly.

Kurtzwick’s eye’s lit up and he rushed over to the detective faster than his serpentesque form would suggest. “How many phones do you need?” he asked, grinning widely. “Ten? Twenty?”

Bruce held up a phone as well. “Mmmm… do you have the cable adapter for this one?” Kurtzwick eagerly pulled out a cord, but Kerel stepped in between them.

“Guys, it’s not the time,” he said authoritatively. Kurtzwick’s face dropped faster than a bowling ball as he slithered off. Kerel ignored him and handed a sheet of paper to Trezzatura. “You can call us at this number. …Well then, now we have a plan. Good luck.”

Previsiona smiled. “Got it. You too.”

Kerel looked out the window. “Hmmm… I’d say tomorrow evening, but before it gets dark.” Previsiona nodded in consent. “Okay then. Well, I guess we should be going back. Later, guys.”

Previsiona smiled even more widely. “Thank you,” she said happily as Kerel and Bruce filed out the door.

Groviglio waited until they had walked a good distance away before leaning to Previsiona. “Is it just me, or did he not seem altogether… there to you?”

Previsiona rolled her eyes. “Hey Mercandos,” she called, ignoring Groviglio, “it’s your show.”

Mercandos turned away from the door and faced the team. “Okay guys, so we have a day to prepare. That’s not a lot, so I think we’d be better served by starting to plan now.” He put his hand to his chin. “Well, we know that going straight in won’t work…”

“Yeah, that didn’t go too well,” Bobbery intoned. He was leaning on the nearest wall, seemingly oblivious to the groaning and creaking coming from the metal. “For more than half of the cult not even being in the town, there sure are a lot of them here.”

“I suppose,” Lady Bow said quietly, “that that only speaks for how many people Bartholomew has recruited into the cult. This does not bode well.”

A hush fell over the team as they contemplated this, until a lone voice broke the silence. “Umm…” started Anzu, grinning self-consciously, “couldn’t we just go in the back way?”

Mercandos turned immediately to her. “What back way?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well… when we went there last, we stayed on the first floor at all times. That means that Jeff’s office is on ground level,” Anzu explained. “There was sunlight coming through the window in the office, so it faces outward, and we went straight back, meaning the office is on the back wall of the building. Since the building is in the middle of town, it doesn’t side up against any rock walls, and there aren’t any buildings contiguous to it, so we have easy access to the back wall. Couldn’t we, y’know, just go though the window?”

Mercandos’ jaw dropped. “That’s… brilliant!” He grabbed a marker from inside a nearby crate, uncapped it, and began to scribble on the wall.

Behind his back, Kiva high-fived Anzu. “Way to go,” Kiva murmured out of the side of her mouth, “I always enjoy seeing him knocked down a peg.” Anzu grinned in response.

Completely oblivious to their comments, Mercandos stepped back from the wall, revealing what looked like a big box with a triangle inside and a circle outside. “Right, so here we are,” he said triumphantly.

The team stared at it for a few seconds. Groviglio looked strangely at Mercandos. “What, exactly,” he said slowly, “is that supposed to be?”

“You can’t tell?” Mercandos responded weakly, looking a little deflated.

“Well, I can tell that, for one, you have absolutely no artistic skill,” Groviglio said, smirking, “as well as the fact that -”

“Why don’t you just tell us, Merc?” Previsiona said, interrupting Groviglio before he could get started on his tirade.

“Okay. Right,” Mercandos said, facing the wall again. “The box is the meeting hall. We – that’s us, the circle – will go in through the window of the office in the back. If Maza – that’s the triangle – isn’t in there, we will stealthily make our way through the building. This should be easier than going in through the front since most of the cultists are situated in the main room. Since we won’t need a distraction team – Kerel is doing that for us – we can just all go in in one group. However, since we don’t want to attract attention to ourselves, we should go in small groups. How about… Trezzatura, Groviglio, and Bobbery… Kiva, Anzu, and Kurtzwick… Lady Bow, Groove Guy, and Cam… myself, Previsiona, and Raini… and 99 and Mona. Sound good?”

Aside from some grumbling from Groviglio about being grouped with the fatso, followed swiftly by Bobbery smacking Groviglio on the back of the head, the rest of the team agreed.

“Well then,” Merc said, looking out the window, “it’s getting late. We should rest up for tomorrow.”

***

The night passed uneventfully, and soon the group found themselves hugging the wall of the meeting hall. From the front of the building, they could hear a very familiar voice: “Hey Maza, keep an eye on things here, okay? …Right, I’m good.”

“All right,” they heard Kerel’s voice say, followed by footsteps walking away from the building.

Mercandos pointed to the back of the building. “Okay, guys, now is our chance! Trezz, Grove, and Bobbery, you head in first. Group two will follow in a few seconds.

Trezzatura nodded and flew around back, followed by Bobbery and Groviglio. He scanned the building, looking closely in each window until… “Yes!” the Metang said quietly, looking into a window that led into a blue (naturally) room, decorated in the exact same way as the one he had entered a little while earlier. Luckily enough, the window was open, and he floated through. Groviglio hoisted himself inside with his vines as Bobbery looked at the window frame carefully.

“Sorry guys,” Bobbery said apologetically, “but I can’t go with you…”

“What?” exclaimed Trezzatura, “why not?”

Groviglio snickered. “Just take a look! Old Lardbutt here is too fat to get through the window!”

Bobbery rolled his eyes. “As crass as he is, Groviglio has cut straight to the point. The window’s not big enough.” He shook his head. “Go on ahead. The second group will be along shortly.”

“Okay,” Trezzatura said, looking slightly less confident. “Let’s get going, Grove.” Groviglio nodded, and the pair exited the room through the blue door on the wall opposite the window.

Trezzatura looked with apprehension around at the cavernous room they stood in. He recognized it as the one in which he had been forced to fight Mercandos, and the memory caused him to shudder involuntarily. Groviglio remembered the room as well – he had been defeated here, leaving only Trezzatura to keep on fighting. He stared at the wall, looking at nothing in particular.

“Hey Trezz?” Groviglio asked, quietly. “I’m not trying to be mean here, but are you actually ready to take on Maza? I know you have the type and level advantage, but we don’t know what’s happened to him since Bartholomew got him.”

His question was answered with silence.

“Trezzatura?” Groviglio asked again, turning around. He was greeted with a totally empty room, as well as a totally empty series of other rooms down the hallway. Groviglio’s eyes widened more than he thought possible. “Oh snap,” he said quietly, backing up.

Trezzatura had been about to answer Groviglio’s question, but before he could, something grabbed him from behind. Before he could register what was happening, Trezzatura felt the familiar mind-bending effects of Teleportation, and momentarily he found himself standing in the abandoned warehouse, Mercandos’ drawings still showing up on the rusty walls. He turned around and found himself face to face with Maza.

Oh crap, Trezzatura thought. Grove was right. I’m not ready for this… He took several deep breaths. It’ll be okay. I just have to remember to block with my Fire Shield… Trezzatura gasped. My Fire Shield! Where is it?! He thought back to the house, where he vividly remembered putting the Fire Shield on the dresser so he wouldn’t forget it… and then promptly forgot it. Oh no… he thought, gritting his teeth.

Battle time! Trezzatura versus Maza!
Trezzatura – “If I must…”
~
Maza – “Henshin a-blue-blue, baby!”

A silence fell over the warehouse where the two Pokemon stood. Maza took a step forward, and Trezzatura instinctively floated back a few feet, bumping up against some of the numerous crates that lined the walls and accidentally knocking one to the ground. It burst open, spilling its contents all over the floor – Pokeballs, vitamins, and an odd-looking drum. Trezzatura barely had a moment to regard the valuables, though, before a flash of motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Before he had any time to process it, a blast of fire and a powerful punch caught him on the side of the face. Trezzatura reeled and shook his head, returning his gaze to the oddly vacant face of Maza.

“Maza! Snap out of it!” Trezzatura called, eyes wide. “I don’t want to fight you!”

Maza’s façade did not change; indeed, he looked just as blank as ever, showing no recognition that he had even heard Trezzatura. Instead, he just put his fists up again, fire crackling around them, the sound echoing throughout the room. Maza thrust his fist towards Trezzatura, but Trezzatura floated quickly out of the way, narrowly avoiding the Fire Punch.

Dodging a lightning-fast Blaze Kick, Trezzatura turned to Maza again. “Maza, please…” he pleaded. But his cry once more fell upon deaf ears: Maza merely narrowed his eyes and launched another flaming fist in the Metang’s direction. This one connected, and Trezzatura recoiled, smoking slightly.

Trezzatura grimaced. “Okay, I didn’t want to, but it looks like I have no choice…” He narrowed his eyes, and his claws glowed with a metallic gleam. Arms outstretched, he dove at Maza, but suddenly, Maza flashed white and disappeared into thin air. Trezzatura gasped, but was unable to stop himself: he flew into a crate, lodging his claw in the brittle wood.

As he pulled free, he heard Maza’s voice behind him. Apparently the blankness in his face was applicable to other parts of the Alakazam as well, because his voice was completely monotone. “You stand no chance,” Maza droned. “My psychic powers have never been stronger since our leader trained me. I can see every attack you launch coming, and with Teleport, I can dodge it all.”

Trezzatura scowled. “Can you foresee… this?!” With speed belying his bulky frame, Trezzatura hurled the empty crate at Maza. Maza simply shook his head.

“Yes,” he replied simply, then winked out of sight. Trezzatura quickly looked around, then hovered towards the ceiling, reasoning that he would be relatively safe up there. Unfortunately, that proved to be untrue: no sooner than Trezzatura had stopped moving, a blazing foot struck him in the head. Maza repelled off of Trezzatura and used his psychic powers to float gently back to the ground.

“Do you see now?” Maza asked. “I know where you will go, and I know what will happen.”

As Trezzatura descended from the ceiling, he scowled… but then the collection of items from the busted crate caught his attention. He knew what all the items in the pile did except for the drum, and, he reasoned, since it was in a pile with a bunch of other combat supplies, it must do something. His eyes lit up. Since he didn’t know what would happen, neither would Maza! Trezzatura picked up the drum and began to strike blow after rhythmic blow on it.

“What… what are you doing?!” Maza cried, but Trezzatura did not respond. Instead, he merely held the drum in front of him like a shield.

To both Pokemon’s surprise, a deep voice resonated from within the drum. “Dark Pulse!” it howled as a shadowy beam emanated from the drum’s leather. It shot across the room as Maza’s eyes opened wide. Before he could teleport, though, the beam struck him solidly and he flew back, flinching. Trezzatura grinned slightly in spite of himself and blasted at Maza, barreling into him with a barrage of Metal Claws and Take Downs, not leaving Maza any room to focus. Finally, Trezzatura flew back. Maza wearily stood back up, but was greeted with an ethereal orb to his face. He fell back once more, totally unconscious.

Trezzatura sighed. “I didn’t want to do that, old friend…”

Battle over! Trezzatura grows two levels! Trezzatura is now level 22!

Trezzatura turned his gaze from the unconscious form of his friend and glanced around the warehouse. His eyes fell on a large burlap sack, and he carefully deposited Maza into it. After tying it shut and ensuring that Maza would stay unconscious for a while, he floated back to the meeting house, Maza in tow.

When he got there, Groviglio and Bobbery had rejoined the group, and Kurtzwick was putting away a cell phone. “That was Bruce,” Kurtzwick said. “They have Jeff.” He turned to Trezzatura. “Can I assume that that,” he nodded to the burlap sack, “is Maza?”

Trezzatura nodded. “Yeah, it is. I hated having to fight him, but…”

“Yeah, yeah, we all did what had to be done, whatever,” Kurtzwick said hurriedly. “Let’s just go and meet these guys so we can leave this freaky place.” Trezzatura scowled but said nothing as the group traveled the short distance to the cave’s entrance.

As promised, the bizarre detective and his Zangoose companion stood at the mouth of the cave, but they were flanked by a large wheeled container and a Gastly.

Previsiona flew over to them. “Hey guys!” she called, a smile on her face.

Kerel gave a friendly wave. “Hey!” The Gastly beside him simply stuck out his tongue and said his name. That in itself wasn’t so odd – most Pokemon communicated by saying their own name – but the Gastly wasn’t even saying anything in his own language, just his own name. Kurtzwick shot the Gastly an odd look, and Kerel chuckled. “Don’t stare at him; he might lick you,” Kerel cautioned. The Gastly smiled widely, causing Kurtzwick to shudder.

Trezzatura looked away from the Gastly. “Aaaanyway,” he started, gesturing to the sack, “we have Maza.”

Bruce smiled slightly. “Good. We have Jeff.”

“Then we should leave sooner rather than later,” Previsiona said thoughtfully.

Kerel turned to her. “Yeah, what are you planning to do now? It’s not safe to stay here.”

“We’re going to head back to Caledor and set these guys up in a medical ward,” Previsiona replied as Trezzatura gently placed Maza in the tank with Jeff.

“Do you think they can undo the brainwashing?” Kerel asked.

“Honestly?” Previsiona shot back. “I don’t know. We can just try and hope for the best.”

“A friend of ours back in Caledor has a gem which she says can reverse brainwashing,” Trezzatura interjected.

“I hope it works,” Kerel replied. “Now that I think about it, I wonder why I didn’t get brainwashed.”

Bobbery shrugged. “Maybe they only brainwash people after a specific time?”

“Was it, like, I wasn’t important enough?” Kerel continued. “I did paint as much as I could.”

Anzu grinned. “Heh, maybe all their brainwashing staff was in Twoson.”

“Don’t worry,” Bruce said, placing a comforting arm around Kerel’s shoulders, “it’s their loss.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Kerel sighed. “I don’t like being rejected, though.”

Kiva raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure you would want to be accepted by these guys.”

Kerel chuckled. “I guess not. I’ll choose a better cult next time. Although painting everything with blue was kinda fun.”

Bruce gave him an odd glance. “Are you sure you didn’t get brainwashed?”

“I’m sure,” Kerel said, “except maybe by Coke commercials. All those pandas drinking Coke. It’s just odd.”

A look of disbelief crossed Kurtzwick’s face. “What?”

“They were polar bears,” Bruce corrected.

“Either way, we better get going,” Kerel said. “We’ll escort you to safety and then head back to White Mountain, I guess.”

“What do you need to do there?” Bobbery asked.

“I dunno,” Kerel replied, shrugging. “It’s either that or back to Sector Alpha. I guess either we finish our vacation or get a new mission. Or figure out that lamp dimension thing.”

Previsiona looked confused. “Lamp… dimension?”

“Right,” Trezzatura said quietly. “I think Tsunami told us about that.”

“Really?” Kerel asked, suddenly looking interested, “All including the old guy? How would he know?”

Bruce shook his head. “Kerel, just stop joking about that, okay? It’s just a lamp.”

“Well, all right,” Kerel said, relenting. He pulled out a map of the continent and pointed to Threed, a city south of Twoson and Happy-Happy Village. “There’s an airport here, and if we head there, we can avoid Twoson.”

“Sounds good to me,” Mercandos replied. With that, the group (with Bobbery pulling the tank) set off through the cave.

***

Jeff’s team stood in the airport parking lot after saying their goodbyes to Kerel and Bruce. The pair walked off into the airport, but the group stayed in the parking lot, a new crisis having reared its ugly head.

“So, uh, guys,” Groove Guy asked, rocking on the balls of his feet, “how are we gonna get Jeff and Maza onto the plane?”

Trezzatura dove into the tank. “Maza’ll be easy,” he said, pulling a Pokeball off of Jeff’s belt. He tapped it on Maza’s chest, and the Alakazam disappeared inside. “But you’re right; Jeff will be… problematic.” Trezzatura flew out of the tank.

“How am I going to be problematic?” a voice from inside the tank said. Trezzatura looked inside and gasped; Jeff was inside, sitting up and holding his head, looking dazed.

“Jeff…!” Trezzatura said, as cautiously as possible. “Are… you okay?”

“Ugh…” Jeff groaned. “I think so. Hey, why are we at the Threed airport? I haven’t been here since I was, what, 8 or 9. And why am I in a tank?”

“Uhm…” Mercandos mumbled, “we’ll explain that later. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Well, I remember moving into our new house… and then the moving Pokemon went psycho and I sent out Maza to battle them. Then Maza evolved, and… everything after that is a blank. A blank shaped like a headache. Do any of you guys have some aspirin?”

“No, sorry,” Previsiona interrupted. “Okay, here’s what’s going on. Cooper Bartholomew has taken over the Happy Happyist cult and launched an attack on Twoson. We were fighting their forces with the Guild, but you must have gotten hit or something, if you don’t remember that…”

“No, no,” Groviglio said. “Don’t lie to him. He may not be happy with it, but it’ll be better in the long run. Jeff, Bartholomew kidnapped you. Somehow, he brainwashed you, and you acted for a while as his second-in-command.” Groviglio held up a newspaper article, the same one that had a photo of Jeff torching a building. “This is what you’ve been doing. And when we get back, the Guild is going to have some serious issues with you.”

Jeff’s face paled. “Oh… oh dear,” he said quietly. “I did all that?”

“Indeed,” 99 said flatly. “With the assistance of a Guild detective, we took you and Maza from the Happy-Happy Village meeting facility. You appear to be free of brainwashing, but you will submit to testing back in Sector Alpha. The condition of Maza’s mind remains to be seen.”

“Erm…” Jeff thought for a moment. “Okay. Since I’m most likely on the most wanted list, I can’t just walk in there. Cam, you can Transform into people, correct?” Cam nodded. “How about Transforming into just a face?”

Minutes later, a suave, dashing young Pokemon trainer with deep blue eyes and slick blonde hair walked into the airport lobby. He purchased a ticket with ease, registering his name as ‘Guy Incognito,’ a fact nobody at the counter seemed to find suspicious. With no luggage to check, he was on the plane quickly. Jeff kicked back and relaxed in the first class department’s luxurious, body-hugging chairs and flipped on his chair’s TV. The first channel was a news station, and the announcer sat in front of a stilled frame of Twoson.

“I’m here with you now with a special news bulletin,” the anchor droned. “As of five minutes ago, the Happy-Happyist forces occupying Twoson have backed off, retreating to Happy-Happy Village. The cause of the retreat is unknown, but the rumor floating around town is that Koop Balthazar called the retreat himself after his second-in-command went missing.”

Jeff flipped the TV off, a small smile on his face. “At least that’s over,” he muttered to himself.

“Hold it right there!” a voice from the back of the plane cried. “I won’t let you leave!”

“Or not,” Jeff mumbled, grimacing, as he turned around in his seat to see a man clad in the traditional Happy-Happyist garb tearing up the aisle.

“I don’t know what’s happened to you, sir, but I can recognize you through that stupid disguise! You cannot leave,” the man scowled.

“Oh?” Jeff replied. “What if I don’t want to return?”

“Sorry, sir, but Mr. Balthazar gave me the specific task of preventing you from leaving the village.”

Jeff frowned. “Then where were you when I, well, left the village?”

The man tugged at the collar on his suit. “Aheh, that’s not important… What is important is that if you don’t come back with me when this plane lands, I’ll make you do so.”

Jeff stood up in the aisle. “I’d like to see you try,” he said confidently with a Pokeball in his outstretched hand.

“Oh-ho!” the man replied. “A battle? Well then. Let us dance.” He too pulled out a Pokeball and threw it to the ground, letting loose a pale blue gas that coalesced into the vague shape of a blue (naturally) Gastly.

Likewise, Jeff tossed out his Pokeball, revealing the (possibly) smirking form of Groviglio.

Battle time! Groviglio versus the blue Gastly!
Groviglio – “Go away, or I shall have to taunt you a second time!”
~
Gastly – “Blue blue!”

“Here, Groviglio,” Jeff said quietly, bending down to the Tangela and holding out a TM, “try this.” He broke open the small metallic box and watched as the dust settled on Groviglio.

Groviglio learned Ancientpower!

Groviglio shrugged noncommittally. “Whatever,” he said, returning his attention to the battle at hand. The Gastly smirked at him and dove faster than its form would lead one to believe, flying straight at Groviglio with its tongue extended.

“Oh no you don’t!” Groviglio howled as he nimbly stepped back to evade the Lick. Focusing for a mere moment, Groviglio gestured with a vine at the Gastly as two jets of water, generating from seemingly nowhere, blasted into the Ghost Pokemon. The Gastly moaned as it was sent flying back.

It shook a few water droplets off of its semi-corporeal form and floated ominously towards Groviglio. With a shrill cry of “Blue blue!” the Gastly summoned a massive yellow ring of psychic energy, sending it barreling down the aisle at Groviglio.

Groviglio took the blow as stoically as he could. “Hey gas-boy!” Groviglio called, catching the Gastly’s attention, “you don’t stand a ghost of a chance!” Groviglio winked, prompting a low growl from the Gastly. As if to add insult to injury, Groviglio began laughing uproariously, an act that obviously broke his foe. The Gastly’s large eyes twitched and it gave a loud howl, swooping at Groviglio once more.

Grinning, Groviglio made no move to dodge the attack. As the Gastly neared, he closed his eyes and focused new energy swelling within him. What the Gastly saw were a series of rocks spontaneously generating around Groviglio. The Tangela opened his eyes and smirked; one gesture from a vine sent the rocks smashing into the Gastly. The Gastly responded in turn by gently floating to the floor, moaning, accompanied by a smattering of applause from the other occupants of the plane.

Battle over! Groviglio grew to level 14!

The man in blue sadly recalled his Gastly. “You win,” he sighed. “I guess… you’re free to go.” He shook his head slowly. “When the plane lands, I’ll head back to Happy-Happy Village.” With that, he shuffled to the back of the plane, where he took his seat.

“Well, Groviglio, good job,” Jeff said triumphantly, crossing his arms. When he didn’t get an answer, he turned to the Tangela… who was glowing a brilliant white. Jeff took a step back as Groviglio’s form bulked out severely. Several vines merged together to form rudimentary arms, and his compact three-foot-tall form swelled out to become over six feet in height. The luster faded, and Groviglio stood in the aisle, looking skeptically at his new form.

Groviglio evolved into a Mojanbo!

“Wow, Groviglio,” Jeff remarked, “I didn’t know Tangela could evolve.”

“You’re not alone,” Groviglio said sullenly. “I wish I had known. Whatever kind of Pokemon this is looks really goofy.”

“I’m sure you’ll get used to it,” replied Jeff nonchalantly. Groviglio scowled as his trainer recalled him to his Pokeball.

***

A few hours later found Jeff standing in the lobby of the Sector Alpha airport. He stretched his arms out as he walked out of the door. “Ah man…” he sighed contentedly, “it feels so good to be back. It’s been so long.” Jeff looked both ways down the street before walking in the direction of Guild headquarters, taking in the sights once more. However, he stopped abruptly as something glinting mysteriously in the sun caught his eye. He bent down to the sidewalk and picked it up: it was a piece of shiny black fabric about the size of a Pokeball, covered in arcane designs. Jeff frowned at it before pulling a Pokeball off of his belt and releasing 99.

“Hey 99,” Jeff started, “I remember you saying you had downloaded the Guild’s database on items into your brain at one point.”

“Affirmative,” 99 replied as stoically as ever.

“Mind scanning this for me?” Jeff asked, holding up the fabric. He held it close to the Porygon2, but before Jeff could react, the patch began glowing, giving off a dazzling light. Jeff covered his eyes to avoid being blinded, but 99 failed to move, instead clicking quietly as he sorted through the database in his mind.

Jeff put his arm down as the light faded. The fabric was entirely gone, and 99 had changed drastically. His two ‘legs’ had moved up his body, now looking more like wings, and his neck had entirely disappeared, leaving his head floating eerily in the air. 99’s eyes were colored a dull yellow, black pupils flicking back and forth as he processed his thoughts.

“Analysis complete,” 99 stated, seemingly oblivious to his change. “Item is Eerie Patch, used in evolution for Porygon2…” He blinked. “Oh.”

99 evolved into a PorygonZ!

“Man, what is it today?” Jeff said thoughtfully. “You’re the second species today that I’ve never heard of.”

99 blinked. “Who was the first?”

In response to his question, Groviglio popped out of his Pokeball. “Welcome to the dork squad,” he said flatly. “Glad to see you’re as goony-looking as I am.”

Jeff quietly recalled Groviglio to his Pokeball. “He was,” he replied, rather redundantly. “Thank you for your help,” Jeff added, also recalling 99. He looked up the street, where the Guild’s imposing headquarters stood. He sighed. “Let’s get this over with…”

[Lady Vulpix]

Jeff, that was hilarious!... In spite of the inprobably plot-convenient items lying around, I did laugh a lot. Now, what was that drum? And what does Henshin mean?

The people at the airport must not care much about who they let into the planes. Did Jeff know that with enough certainty to use that name? And isn't it risky to throw rocks inside a plane?

Take 26 stamps. And congratulations on both sudden evolutions! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[The Blue Avenger]

The drum was the Chaos Drum I bought a while ago when it was introduced.

Also, Kurtzwick managed to have a fake ID with exactly that name and picture. Yup. That's exactly what happened.

And Groviglio's kinda an impulsive guy.

Henshin, incidentally, is a word used in a lot of older anime to signify a transformation; I had Maza use it because his I realized recently that his battle style resembles the title character of the game Viewtiful Joe, who also uses that phrase.

[classy_cat18]

I'm warning you in advance that this story is a little lame. I got Destai's Bite TM in a trade, Poison Fang from the EMT, and Faint Attack from the Reward Center.

Shonta's POV

"Thanks for coming, Triton."

"It's no problem, Shonta. This was the perfect excuse for me to come back to Sector Alpha and see something familiar," the Golduck told me as he entered the house.

"Excuse? What was keeping you from coming back?" Katana asked him with a puzzled look.

"I was not keeping him from doing anything," Volt said loudly as she stepped through the doorway. "I just thought that we shouldn't rush on the way back."

Katana cocked an eyebrow at the couple. "Uh...huh. Well, you two caught us at a good time. Shonta thinks that we should move to the Dragon's Guild barracks for a while, seeing as our team's final entry will need a little more space when he evolves."

"There's also the matter of tending to Circe, Nama, Destai and Ali. We're already having trouble fitting fifteen Pokemon in this little hut as it is. What's going to happen when they evolve?" I started to complain.

"Here she goes again," Katana grumbled. "We'll have no problem finding a new place when the time comes so don't worry. Now, do you have it?"

Triton nodded and pulled out the gorgeous mirror. "I should leave it in your care until the two who need it are back to normal." His look became one of curiosity as he looked around the room. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"Most of them are in the backyard, waiting for the new TMs. We found a couple of weird ones. Ever heard of Ambush or Power Gem?"

"I think so. A lot of news about new discoveries have been coming in from other countries. I'll tell you if I find anything interesting."

The back door opened as Triton was handing me the Aurora Mirror. Beacon hurried in the living room and embraced her mother. "Mom! I missed you so much!" she exclaimed.

Volt stroked her head gently. "I've missed you too. I assume that Rose has been keeping an eye on you?"

Beacon gave a nervous laugh. "Lately I've been keeping an eye on her. She's out back making sure that Destai doesn't get into any trouble."

I scratched my head in confusion. "Destai? Why Destai?" I asked her.

"I don't know, but she said that she had a feeling that he was going to get himself in trouble. Something about her thorns itching."

Volt sighed and let go of her daughter. "That's Rose for you. I'm sure it's nothing major."

"You might want to get him his new TMs before something happens, just in case," I told Beacon. She nodded and pulled out a few TMs.

Bo's POV

"Destai, let it go," I groaned as the Houndour continued barking at the unexpected visitor. A Gastly was resting in a tree, shielded by its branches.

Destai just growled at me and went back to barking at the Gastly. This was one of the days when he didn't talk to anyone. I just sighed and sat next to Uncle Bandit. "Uncle Bandit, he's not listening to anyone. What should we do?"

"What Katana would do, of course. Let him learn his lesson."

"When will that be?"

"Pretty soon."

Rose shook her head furiously and pushed Destai's side. "That's bad, Destai! Stop that or you'll get in trouble!"

Too late. The Gastly finally got tired of Destai's barking, floated down and yelled in Destai's face. That only made Destai angrier. They were about to start something when Miss Beacon called out to us. "Hey! New TMs for Destai!" she yelled.

Destai's ears perked. He rushed over and let Miss Beacon activate the new attacks for him. "Bite, Faint Attack and Poison Fang. Use them well!"

"Do you have to encourage him, Miss Beacon?" I whimpered.

Miss Beacon said nothing in response and stepped back from Destai while he turned and faced the Gastly with a wicked grin.

L7 Male Houndour (Destai) vs. L7 Male Gastly

"Okay, Bo. Give me your theory of the outcome of this battle," Uncle Bandit muttered to me. It was something that Aunt Katana would say to me to test my knowledge on battle strategy.

I took a deep breath and gave it my best guess. "Well, Gastly is at a big disadvantage. Destai is a Dark type and is immune to his Psychic and Ghost type attacks. Unless he has Hypnosis and a few non-Ghost type tricks up his sleeve, Destai has this battle in the bag."

Bandit smiled and nodded. "Well predicted, kid."

Destai started off with an Ember that heated up the gaseous Pokemon. Gastly winced and floated back. His eyes glowed an icy blue. Destai locked eyes with him until his eyelids started to droop.

"He has Hypnosis," Bandit said casually.

Destai realized his mistake and turned his head away but he was already too drowsy to do anything about Gastly's next attack. A bolt of lightning shot by him struck Destai's side and made him howl in pain. He fell on his side and twitched.

Instinct nearly drove me to run to his side but Uncle Bandit held me back before I could take a step. "Not so fast. Destai's not out yet."

I watched in curiosity as Destai slowly sat up and scratched himself with a hind leg. He disappeared and then reappeared as he pounced on the Gastly. He jumped off, turned around, and fired another Ember at his opponent. Gastly moaned as he slowly sunk to the ground and vanished.

Destai won and grew to level 8!

"Did Destai learn a lesson?" I asked Uncle Bandit as he approached the tree where the Gastly was resting earlier.

"I honestly have no idea. In a woman's point of view, men can be pretty hardheaded." He started to climb the trunk as if something up there interested him.

I cocked my head. "Do women think we're hardheaded?"

"I know I am to Katana. You may be the same way to Trinity." He reached in a hole in the trunk and pulled out something. "Good, it's still here." He jumped off and showed me what he found.

I stared in wonder at the jewel-like stone. "Where did you find it?"

He winked at me. "It's a secret. Sometimes I get an urge to stash any interesting shiny things that I find. I don't know what it's for, though."

Destai walked over and sniffed the stone, giving me and Uncle Bandit a blank look. Then Rose came for a look. Her attention was diverted as Aunt Katana called out for us. "Take care of this, Rose," he said hastily as he shoved the stone in her flowery arms.

I almost didn't notice the glow that came from her.

Shonta's POV

"They'll be here in a minute," I reassured Triton and Volt. "Destai's a little hard to handle."

"MISS SHONTA!" Bo hollered from the backyard.

"A little?" Katana questioned with a raised brow. Bo and Bandit bolted in the living room, both with scared looks on their faces. "What did you two do now?"

"Not me! It was all Uncle Bandit's fault!" Bo accused.

Katana rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"Gee, thanks for having my back," Bandit grumbled to Bo.

"Uncle Bandit had this stone-jewel-thingy, and we were all looking at it, and you called for us, so Uncle Bandit told Miss Rose to take care of it, and gave it to her, and she started to glow, and now...now..." He started to fidget.

Katana and I looked at each other with worry before running to the back door. A dazed new Pokemon was leaning against the door frame, mumbling to itself. It bore a slight resemblance to Rose, with arms ending in flowery bouquets. But the legs were longer and stronger looking, and a white rose topped its head. "R-Rose?" I asked nervously. The Pokemon merely nodded.

Bandit cleared his throat to get my attention. "I'm sure that someone on the Internet knows what she is. I'll, uh, google it or something." He ran to my room before Katana or I could do anything to him.

Rose evolved to a Rozureido and learned Weather Ball, Mega Drain and Sweet Scent!

[Kirei]

Hi this is soo can ade have extension

[Lady Vulpix]

Yes, he can. And he can also have his worker spot back. It's great to see you here again!

[Kirei]

*is Ade* Forgive me for hijacking Soo's account but, as Gabi knows, my own account really doesn't seem to like me atm. Thanks for the welcome back and tho I totally wasn't expecting to be made a worker again I ain't complaining! Anyways... enjoy my (admittedly rather odd) reintroduction.

---

The realm of magic, I had decided very quickly, was incredibly boring. Being trapped in a translucent crystal cage of sorts, no view in any direction aside from strange, multicoloured mists in all directions. Every now and then something barely visible seemed to shift in the fog, large and powerful presences that were probably as old as time itself. For a while this bizarre and dangerously wonderful backdrop had enthralled me, wasted my hours in the same blissful way as watching clouds. Every twist, every turn in the swirling miasma kept my attention. For a while, at least.

Then it was material distractions. The cell had been filled with gadgets and gizmos, food and drink, everything one could possibly dream of to keep oneself occupied. The latest consoles and games lined the walls. A stupendously expensive art set lay upon the desk, sat next to a powerful computer filled with software, games and mp3s. Enough DVDs to provide a lifetime of viewing were scattered throughout the area. And in the corner sat a mini-bar that never seemed to empty no matter how heavily its contents were abused. It would have been heaven had we not been essentially prisoners. And right now I would have traded all of this in for the chance to roam as I pleased once more.
“Gah! How long have we been trapped in here?” Me losing patience with the situation was almost a daily ritual these days. I scowled darkly into the miasma. “Days? Weeks? Years, even?”
“I dunno, but I’ve racked up about fifty hours on Final Fantasy 7,” one of my cellmates, the goofy, fun-loving Wartortle known as Beckham, piped up. “And I still haven’t managed to get a golden Chocobo yet.”
“I keep telling you, you need Carob nuts! Carob!” the sunglasses-sporting Raichu beside him yelled, smacking him over the head with a spare controller with every syllable she uttered. “And you never listen! You fail at life!” This was Thunderblast, a psychic Raichu whose only predictable trait was her unpredictability.
“Why am I not surprised neither of you would take this seriously?” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “We’re being held prisoner, pretty much, and all you can do is bicker about video games? And it’s Zeio nuts you need to breed a golden Chocobo, by the way.”
“Oh… go sit on a cabbage for the rest of your life.” Thunderblast stuck her tongue out at me. “I’m going to go play with Sumi seeing as you’re being so boring.” Sumi, or Kasumi to give her proper name, was a spunky, tomboyish klutz of a Growlithe whose nymphomania was only rivalled by her appetite for adventure. She also happened to be Thunderblast’s lover and was currently curled up asleep on a very comfortable king-sized bed. That probably wasn’t going to last very long.
“Seriously, though, am I the only one bothered by this at all?” I continued to complain.
“Bothered by what?” my Marill asked, an innocent and absent-minded little creature by the name of Megan. “The fact that Thunderblast’s going off to play with Sumi? Personally I don’t see anything wrong with it, they can do what they like as long as it’s not too freaky. Come to think of it they do like to do stuff like that in full view of everybody, don’t they? Maybe you ought to have a word with them or something, Ade? Or maybe we could, like, stick age ratings to their bellies so nobody underage could look at them or something, or…”
“Thanks for that, Megan. I think Ryo-Ohki’s looking for somebody to play tag with him, want to go find him?” My Marill nodden eagerly and went off to locate her Pichu friend, a hyperactive little bundle of adventurousness who really had yet to show his full potential. Hardly thinking about my actions I reached over and put some background music on, an odd little instrumental band named – aptly enough considering how this conversation had started out – Sephiroth.
“Oh. You’re after the input of somebody with an actual brain are you?” a half-asleep voice groaned from a basket in the corner as it became apparent that I was going to open my mouth again. “How’s about ‘for ^*%&’s sake stop going on and on and on about it, we got the fact you weren’t happy about this the first time?” The head of an unnaturally cute-looking Houndour poked out of the basket. This was Pandora, a turbulent, manic-depressive mixture of emotions who could be astoundingly maternal one moment and a furious bundle of vitriol the next. Right now it seemed as if the cantankerous side of her personality was winning the day.
“Be reasonable now, mother,” her foster son, the intellectual and hopelessly idealistic Dratini named Marius sighed from beside her. “It’s hardly surprising that Ade would be reacting like this. It is, after all, in our nature to desire freedom.”
“What, no lecture on the beauty of being free? Astounding.” Scratchy the Paras was possibly the only creature in the world who could manage to be grouchier than Pandora in a bad mood. For the most part he was just cantankerous for the sake of it and hence nobody really paid him much attention.
“Don’t start, we don’t need any pointless arguments thanks all the same.” Sindel, my Alakazam bopped Scratchy smartly over the head with one of the spoons she was in the habit of carrying. Sighing she sat down on a nearby chair, legs crossed. “I do wonder how long we’ve been here as well. There’s no clocks, no sun, no real way of knowing. If you don’t count measuring time in terms of how many awful B-movies Bolovayr’s watched.” This was a reference to the Gastly of the team, a creature with two main loves in live; cheesy horror films and being as obscenely theatrical as he could manage. Right now he was busy watching the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series back to back for what seemed like the millionth time. “I do know it feels like it’s been ages, though. I wonder when we’ll be let back out again?”
“Soon, I’d hope.” This was from Pearl, my Ninetales and quite possibly one of my closest friends as well. Currently she was lounging, bored, on top of my coiled-up Onix, Brandy. “It worries me that we were pulled out of Ulthuan so abruptly. Not to mention at such an unstable time! I know there are others who can keep an eye on things but still…”
“…but still it’d be nice ta be out there in the action, yeah?” interrupted her mate, the large, scruffy Katnip, a Raticate whose appetite for battle was matched only by his appetite for actual food. “I know what ya mean, Pearl. Hell, even sparrin’ with Milly is startin’ ta get borin’.”
“Aww, poor Katnip. Are your constant losses to me finally starting to get to you?” To be honest it was remarkable that the world’s most garrulous Umbreon had managed to keep silent for more than ten seconds. Milliardo was comprised of a few basic components. Wit, attitude, ego, an underlying sense of justice and, most irritatingly of all, enough talent to make the vast majority of his boasts fact. “Okay. This is the situation according to Milliardo. We’re prisoners right now, sure, but at least we’re prisoners being kept in luxury. There’s really not much we can do about our situation so we might as well all stop being so goddamned emo and make the most of what we’ve got.”
“That’s the trouble, Milliardo. We’ve done that and it’s started to get boring.”
“Boring? Ha! That’s the trouble with you youngsters today, no idea how to occupy yourselves. Why, back in my day we could keep ourselves amused for days with a stick and a piece of string!”
“Really?” Megan asked, totally not getting the fact that Milliardo wasn’t being serious.
“Yes. Becks, a comprehensive list of games involving a stick and a piece of string for your girlfriend, pronto.” The Umbreon rolled his eyes. “Seriously, though, we can deal with the lack of a change of scenery, right? It’s hardly the biggest trial we’ve ever faced.”
“True. And we will face far bigger challenges in the future.” A cool, calm voice sounded from one end of the room. A voice that very rarely made itself heard these days.

“So what have you been doing these days, Rhiannon?” I asked coolly. The final member of my team, a Jolteon with a severe case of multiple personalities, had always been a law unto herself. The fact that she had been magically enhanced by cruel demon-worshippers in her past just made that all the more apparent now. Thanks to her sorcerous powers she was the only one of us who could come and go from this strange place as she pleased.
“For one, although we can’t blame you for the envious tone in your voice there’s no need to be like that with us, Ade.” Rhiannon sighed. There was always something unbelievably haunted about her demeanour when she was like this, as if she were constantly dragging along ghosts in her wake. She had another ‘mode’, of course, a happy-go-lucky playful creature, although even that had taken on a slight air of melancholy as of late. “As it happens we were just checking up on the current situation in Ulthuan.”
“And?”
“The usual trials and tribulations are going on. Groups rise to power and then they fall again. People and pokémon endure in spite of the hardships they face. And yet… there is a subtle undercurrent that we can’t quite determine.” The Jolteon looked rather pained, as if it hurt to admit she didn’t have any precise ideas as to what was troubling her.
“Cheer up, Rhi… oh, wait, that’d be totally out of character for you, wouldn’t it?” Milliardo snickered. “It’s probably just that good old Ulthuanian feeling of ‘some huge monster might erupt from the bowels of the earth at any given second’. I doubt that it’s not been there since the moment humans colonised this place.”
“You may well be right,” Rhiannon acknowledged. “But still…”
“But still nothing. Chill out for once in your life.” The Umbreon went over and bopped his sister smartly on the nose, causing her to flinch.
“Hey! What did you do that for?” she whined, her mood inexplicably shifting.
“Well what do you know?” Milliardo chuckled, bemused. “She comes with a button to change channels after all! Right, the big question here, Rhi, is do you at all remember sensing any hint of whatever it is that Tsuyoi said we had to hide from out there?”
“Er…” The Jolteon frowned, deep in concentration. Each of her personalities seemed to have its own distinct memory and it was always a trial – although not totally impossible – for one to recall what the other had experienced. “Nope. Don’t think so. Normally I feel I’m being watched when I go out there but this time… I think whatever it is has given up on us at last, you know?”
“Does that mean we can actually go home now?” I asked hopefully. The situation was stupid. We had been in the middle of a mission, a random investigative assignment set by the Dragons Guild. And it had been going very well. What had started out as a casual check about unusual Paras migration turned into an assignment revolving around illegal scientific research. In fact I had been convinced that I had finally stumbled upon a promising lead that could well have wrapped up the assignment when… well, this happened. We had been effectively taken out of time and space by Tsuyoi, an almost omnipresent being who took the form of a monstrous Ninetales, and had only been told “You’ll have to stay here for now, you’re attracting too much attention lately. Don’t worry, I’ll look after you.” Far less information than I would have liked, of course, and likely a contributory factor to my bad mood.
“I hope so,” Rhiannon nodded. “It’s boring not being able to do stuff with you guys.”
“If you wanted to do stuff with us you could… oh, I don’t know… stay here instead of running off all the time?” For the most part Pandora had the utmost respect for Rhiannon but sometimes the Jolteon’s childlike persona could be very trying. “So what, we have to wait here for Tsuyoi to say all’s well with the world again?”
“Pretty much.”
“Great.” Pandora rolled her eyes. “He’s so busy finding new pies to put his claws in that he’s probably forgotten all about us.” The Houndour paused, as if half expecting our less than saintly benefactor to make his presence known at this point. But, alas, this wasn’t to be. “We might as well get used to being stuck here for eternity.”
“I seriously doubt that,” Pearl interjected. “There’s many things about Tsuyoi that I wouldn’t exactly call likeable, true. But he does have a twisted sense of honour in there somewhere. He’s not the type to just leave us, especially not after all the time and effort he’s put in already.” As ever, the Ninetales proved to not only be the voice of reason but also a remarkably good judge of character. She was right; whatever you may have thought about the monstrous creature there was no denying that Tsuyoi wasn’t the sort to just totally abandon his allies. It was one of the few traits of his that indicated that he wasn’t wholly evil. “Come on. Let’s just stick it out a bit longer, eh?”
“I suppose…” I reluctantly agreed. “I hope he lets us out soon, though. I’m not sure how much more of this waiting I can take.”

I was brought up to believe
That to avoid disaster
In life as in your dreams
You’ve got to be the monster

Funny how all of a sudden I couldn’t quite keep my mind from wondering what Tsuyoi was up to. Even the music collection was starting to spew lines that could have been taken directly from his philosophy!
“It is a good point, Ade. To achieve your goals you sometimes have to take the occasional course of action that does seem to some as… well, monstrous.”
“Is that an apology?” I didn’t turn round to look at the owner of this smooth, almost devilish voice. I knew already who it was. And to be honest I was still mad at him.
“Me? Apologise? For what? For protecting you from a situation that not only would have compromised us all but also most likely proved to be your ultimate destruction? Very well, Ade, I’m dreadfully sorry I wasn’t willing to sit back and watch you get dragged in over your head. Next time I’ll let you court disaster without interference, would that suit you better?”
“You know, I’d be more willing to go along with all this if you’d just level with me and tell me what you’ve been protecting me from!” I whirled round vehemently, momentarily forgetting that I was dealing with a creature who had happily grappled with powerful demons in the past and had come away with only a few minor scratches. “And…” My words trailed off. Tsuyoi, it had to be said, wasn’t looking his usual self. If anything he was more a greyish wolf with porcupine-like spines down his back than the blue-white, six-limbed creature I knew who could be best summed up as a Ninetales gone horribly wrong.
“What?” Tsuyoi finally realised why everyone had fallen silent around him. He closed his sinister eyes for a moment and his body shifted form, taking that which we all normally associated with him. “Do excuse me, everyone. The trouble with being a trans-dimensional entity is that it gets very difficult to remember which version of reality you’re actually in after a few too many journeys.”
“Trans-dimensional..? Oh, forget it. I don’t want to know.” I quickly reminded myself that it was probably for the best that Tsuyoi’s affairs away from Ulthuan remained private. Somehow I suspected I wouldn’t like what I heard if I asked too many questions. “So what was this all in aid of, anyway?”
“As I implied, the preservation of our way of life. You all made quite a name for yourselves during the fiasco with the Crimson Blades, especially when dealing with things beyond most people’s comprehension. It was starting to attract a little… unwanted attention.”
“I don’t suppose you could be more specific, could you?”
“If that pleases you. The Order of the Dragon were making moves to try and recruit you into their little cult.” The way Tsuyoi mentioned the name indicated his feelings for the group, a branch of the Dragons Guild devoted to keeping Ulthuan safe from supernatural threats and led by one of the last survivors of the elven races who inhabited the realm long before mankind arrived. It was the same tone he used when speaking about Gabi, an odd combination that resulted from a contempt for her methods and a begrudging respect for her ideology. Evidently he held similar views on the department headed by Lord Absol. “Needless to say I couldn’t allow that. Their lifestyle would destroy what you are now. Not to mention they’re a bunch of tiresome busybodies that I’d rather keep my distance from. The solution was obvious – make you disappear for as long as it took for them to tire of waiting for you.”
“And in the meantime cut us off from everybody else as well? And there was me under the impression you were good at planning. All I’m hearing is ‘I didn’t want them to know I was around so I buried all evidence until they went away’. Fair?”
“Well I do have to put myself first, you know. If I don’t how am I supposed to be in any fit shape to take care of the rest of you?” All of a sudden Tsuyoi’s demeanour soured. “I’d take care if I were you, Ade. You would be dead by now if it weren’t for some of my past interventions and I’d like you to bear that in mind when speaking to me. That complacency over my unwillingness to part with you will leave you without any help at all one day. Just because your team is the closest thing to a pack I have in this reality doesn’t mean I’ll shed too many tears if you finally drive me away.”
“…” Was that a threat? A warning? A plea? Whatever it was, it had the desired effect of forcing me to remember just what I was talking to. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted,” Tsuyoi smirked. “Before you complain about my methods just take a few moments to remember exactly whom I was hiding you from. If I could have left you in your own world I would have done, it would have been far less hassle. But a group who specialise in hunting down those with the capacity to magically hide themselves away would have found you, a mere mortal, in seconds.”
“Unfortunately he does have a point, Ade,” Pearl commented from the sidelines. “I do wonder why you couldn’t have just said all this from the outset, though.”
“What, and missed out on the looks of confusion on your faces?” Tsuyoi sneered. “No chance! Besides, I had other business to attend to, I didn’t have the time to sit down and brief you all fully.”
“Nice to know we’re so high on your list of priorities,” I snapped, still feeling too irritable to really care how the pseudo-Ninetales would react.
“Be bitter all you like. You’ll understand my reasons eventually.” It was amazing, really, how much patience Tsuyoi had learned since the days we had first met. Where he was just a bored creature with a half-hearted cause and way too much time and power to know what to do with. Back then he had been trying to instigate a pokémon rebellion. Now he exercised his power in ways so subtle that not even I could grasp them. “Anyway, I didn’t come here to argue. I came here to let you all out at last.”
“About time!” I exclaimed, relieved. “How long have we been here, anyways?”
“Hmm… over half a year I’d say.”
“Half a YEAR????”
“Thinking about it I can’t really say I blame you for getting restless given that length of time. I was rather hoping it would have only taken a few months at most but… well, you’ve had to deal with Lord Absol before. You know how stubborn that exasperating elf can be.”
“You mean that guy who was chasing me for absolutely years until he decided Reaper was his biggest priority?” Rhiannon asked. “Yeah I know how stubborn he is. You still ought to have just levelled with us from the start though.”
“What can I say? I never claimed to be perfect.”
“No, but you implied it,” I commented.
“It isn’t my fault that you drew the wrong conclusions from the way I acted, is it, Ade?”
“Sorry, guys, can you just go through those last few sentences again?” Milliardo interrupted. “Only I’d like to make a note of that exchange in case I want to use it in the future. Shame on you, Tsuyoi, you know I have dibs on winning arguments through sheer cheek!”
“I’m dreadfully sorry for that, it won’t happen again,” Tsuyoi remarked dryly. “Now have we all finished bickering so I can put you back where you all ought to be? And before you ask, Beckham, yes you can keep the games consoles. And Ade was right about the Zeio nuts.”
“I didn’t know you were an avid gamer, Tsuyoi,” I chuckled.
“I’m not. But when you can absorb information from people’s minds just by looking at them it’s amazing the amount of useless trivia you can pick up alongside the things you’re actually looking for. Now, are you all ready to go back home?”
“You bet!” Rhiannon beamed, oblivious to the fact that she could have, and had, left on her own accord at any time.
“Yes! I hope Soo has been looking after Celeste…” Pearl fretted.
“Of course! You provided this place with everything apart from a decent kitchen, you jerk,” Sindel moaned.
“Eh… Ulthuan’s stressful but at least the scenery’s nice,” Scratchy conceded.
“Oh! Y…yes, if t…that’s okay with y…you!” Brandy managed to stutter.
“Home? Cool!” Ryo-Ohki grinned. “I was missing hide and seek, not many places to hide here!”
“Of course, we have no Net access here and I need to double check you were right about those Chocobos!” Beckham shouted excitedly.
“And he needs to mix us all a large glass of pink stuff as well,” Milliardo commented. “We need it after all this crap.”
“I’d love to go home. Duh. This place is giving me a headache.” Pandora scowled.
“Although the possibilities for research on this plane of existence are endless there really isn’t much point without decent facilities,” Marius sighed. “Therefore it would be better to return home and actually be able to work on something rather than to sit here in frustration.”
“I do miss havin’ space… and opponents who aren’t Milly…” Katnip began.
“Because I’m just too much for you to handle, old timer?”
“You wish!” Evidently the boredom of fighting the same opponent all the time only affected Katnip, for his sparring partner still seemed up for a fight! Then again, Milliardo needed conflict as much as his team-mates needed oxygen. “Everyone else ready?”
“Sure am!” Kasumi grinned. “I mean, we’d only got about halfway through all the positions we could think of but hey, don’t need this specific bed to finish that, right?”
“Actually we don’t need a bed at all,” Thunderblast commented. “In fact I can think of a few where all we’d need are…”
“Oh my God, quick, emergency, someone drown out the scary Raichu before she AGAIN tells us more than we need to hear!”
“Drown her?” Megan asked. “Isn’t that a bit much? I mean, we don’t even have any water here… I suppose I could try using Surf or something or Becks could use his Water Gun but wouldn’t that drown everybody else as well? Anyway, yes, I’d love to go home… where’s home again? I forgot.”
“Home is where the heart is,” Beckham nodded sagely. “I heard that from somewhere.”
“Really?” Megan looked surprised. “You mean my home’s in…”
“Can I just interrupt here, as I think everybody has heard the punchline coming up at least twenty times?” I groaned. “So that’s almost everybody ready. You coming, Bolovayr?” My Gastly was the only one who hadn’t voiced his opinion. But that was because he was glued to the television and watching a remake of Night of the Living Dead. It was a wonder his eyes hadn’t become totally square yet.
“Eh?” he finally gasped. “Oh! Can’t we just wait until…”
“NO!” everybody else shouted. We had wasted enough time as it was. Finally it was time to go.

Needless to say it was really an odd sensation to be back in the real world again. Funny how a period of being deprived of little things like being able to feel the wind blowing against your skin leaves you feeling quite strange when those things are finally returned to you. In fact the first thing I found myself having to do once we had been roughly dragged back to reality was take a few minutes just to stand still and remind myself what it felt like to be outside in a truly living world once again.
“Hello? Earth to Ade? Can we… I don’t know, maybe get back home again instead of standing in the middle of the street like zombies?” Milliardo backed up his words with a push to the back of my legs. Which, seeing as he was undoubtedly one of the stronger members of my team, saw me almost fall over as a result.
“MILLIARDO!!!”
“What?” The Umbreon looked defiant. “You weren’t exactly moving on your own accord you know.”
“Still… man, you really don’t know your own strength, do you?”
“Actually I do and it’s classed as ‘beyond comprehension’. Trust me, Ade, I was deliberately holding back; I reckon I could have floored you if I’d actually wanted to.”
“Please, guys…” Pearl rolled her eyes as she trotted calmly past, heading in the general direction of the front door to our (rather extravagant) house; this was only about thirty seconds away from our current location so I could kind of understand the frustration building around me, “…can we save the bickering until we’ve settled down? I don’t know about the rest of you but I just want to return to a nice, familiar setting again.”
“Yeah. You’re right. Let’s get inside and settle down a bit. Then we can work out what to do next.” It felt like we had been away for far too long. What had changed since Tsuyoi had hidden us away? So many questions and none of them I could find an immediate answer for. Not without a warm shower and a decent cup of coffee at any rate. And those both lay inside the home I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I sighed happily as I made my way up the gravel path, my pokémon hot on my heels. For all the troubles Ulthuan had given me in the past it really did feel good to be back.

That shower really gave me the time I needed to grow increasingly paranoid, however. When we first stormed in there wasn’t really much of a chance to worry; there was a huge shopping list to compile, devices to turn back on and leave to warm up… the usual things one has to do when returning home after a long time away, really. But once I had the chance to stop and relax a little – and ‘relax’ is a term I use loosely – the worries about the practicalities of the situation really began to hit home. Exactly what was I supposed to tell everyone? Was it even going to be possible to return to the life I had once known? If I did wouldn’t that just alert Lord Absol to the fact that I was back and then wouldn’t that just mean we’d have to hide away again? Finishing my shower, I shuddered through a combination of cold and fear and rather roughly grabbed a thick white towel to dry myself down with. Why couldn’t things just be simple for once?
“Calm down, Ade,” I told myself rather forcefully. “No point in becoming a nervous wreck now. It’d be bloody stupid to break at this point after all we’ve successfully overcome.” Throwing on a light black shirt, underwear far too old for its own good and a comfortable fair of black trousers (I had long since given up on black jeans seeing as they invariably faded after a few washes) I took a moment to stare at myself through the fog of the bathroom mirror. All things considered I wasn’t in too bad shape really. A young man of twenty four, grey-blue eyes, long, unruly hair that was too blonde to be ginger and too ginger to be blonde, a very small mark under one eye due to an accident as a child. A few years spent not really caring for myself and a few years after that spent stressed out showing themselves in the form of my looking a touch older than I ought to have done. Glasses and pierced ears completing the image. When I could be bothered to make the effort I could look like quite the stereotypical rock god, but right now the image in the mirror just looked too weary to be rebellious. “Come on, Ade, time to shape up.” A cup of coffee, a few laps of the overly large gardens that came with our current property and it’d be fine. I just needed to remind myself that I was alive again. That was all. Then… well, then maybe I’d actually be able to face the world again.

[Lady Vulpix]

Alright, review time.

Shonta: some ransom comments. Bandit would probably be good at the seeking game. Isn't Trinity a lot more hard-headed than Bo? Dark pokemon are not immune to Ghost-type attacks, just resistant... but maybe that was what Bo meant? I liked how the evolution was handled, especially the reactions. Congratulations to Rose! Take 10 stamps. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Ade: first of all, know that I'm persistently trying to get some admin to help you, but I'm getting no response. At this rate you may have to register a new account. Now about your story...

It does look like a reintroduction. What a detailed description of each of your characters! Why such long paragraphs, though?

The beginning was intriguing. Being trapped for 6 months with no communication with the outside world(s) must have been awful! I think Pandora may have been spending too much time with Milliardo, she's beginning to sound like him. And the coment about Rhiannon seeming to be "constantly dragging along ghosts in her wake" caught my attention: isn't she?

When you said "whatever you may have thought about the monstrous creature" made me feel you were talking to me. I still don't like him, even if he does have a nice lair. And comparing me with Lord Absol? That was low. But it's ok, the feeling is mutual. Nice trans-dimensional reference, by the way! Guille has brought to my attention the fact that there seem to be several trans-dimentional entities in Ulthuan. I hope that doesn't disturb whatever's still undisturbed in our lives.

I liked the implied bad joke. They're much better than explicit ones!

Now I, too, wonder where it'll all go from here. Why did Lord Absol decide to go after you again after he had accepted Rhiannon's presence? And why would he change his mind now?

Take 15 stamps. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[Kirei]

Yeah I know the paragraphs were a wee bit long, I was having more difficulty in forcing myself not to dwell on the random bickering than usual. XD As for Tsuyoi - hehe, I'd be worried if anyone did like him, not even I'm especially fond of the bugger (although he can be fun to write about!). And Lord Absol doesn't want to hunt us down and kill us or anything, more he had an eye to steal me for his section of the Guild. Which would have probably resulted in him finding out about Tsuyoi so... meh, as a result I lost six months. :O

Anyways, because the first half of the week had been dead at work here's some more story.

-----

“You’re never going to find anything decent to watch if you don’t give anything more than two seconds attention at a time, you know.” A few hours down the line and any thoughts of facing the world had disappeared in the face of the far more palatable concept of slobbing out in front of the television and getting reacquainted with the local media. At least that had been the theory until Beckham had somehow managed to force control of the remote.
“Face it, Ade, he’s never going to find anything decent to watch full stop,” Milliardo sneered from his position flopped on the back of our black leather sofa. “Modern television – the fine art of spreading out the few shows worth watching over so many channels that the average amount of good stuff on any one of them is nil.”
“Surprisingly eloquent for you, isn’t it?” I chuckled.
“Oh I’m sorry, I must have been hanging around Marius too much,” the Umbreon snorted. “Let me rephrase – modern television is crap. It’s all reality shows, home improvement shows, soaps, US imports or fly-on-the-wall documentaries about the lives of a fly-on-the-wall documentary team filming a wall with some flies on it.”
“That’s hardly fair, I mean what about…” There was a pause as I struggled to think of a piece of truly entertaining programming made in the past year or so. “Nope, you’re right. Becks, just switch on the news or something, might be an idea to see what’s been going on since we were taken out of the picture.”
“But I wanted to watch Bid TV!” my Wartortle complained. “In half an hour the really camp guy with the plastic face and the hole in his chin is going to be selling hand-woven Egyptian cotton sheets at bargain prices!” Ignoring his protests I got up, snatched the remote back from him and turned over to a local news channel. The pictures on the screen really ought to have surprised me, but all things considered I had seen far more disturbing in the past.
“…still no discernable progress on the situation in Twoson, where these strange, blue-obsessed cultists are still laying siege to the town. Police and a force from the infamous Dragon Tamers are so far managing to keep them from completely dominating the area but who can say how long they can hold out for?” The reporter, a smartly dressed Asian woman with black hair in ringlets and a beige suit, looked nervously at the street behind her. It looked as if a herd of stampeding Rhyhorn had recently charged past. Cars were overturned, windows were smashed… everything that could be vandalised or ruined seemed to have been. And, in a rather bizarre detail, half of the street seemed to have been defaced, if not totally re-coloured, with blue paint. “As you can see the area has been devastated by the Happy-Happyist attacks over the past few days, and there is talk of calling in the military if this carries on much longer…”
“Interesting…” I mused.
“What’s… oh no. I know that look in your eye.” Sindel had just entered the room with a trayful of freshly baked cookies. She fixed me with an odd look. “Ade, we’ve only just got back and you’re already thinking of making us dive headfirst into trouble again. Just for once would it be so hard to leave things well alone and let somebody else handle this?”
“Yeah but where would be the fun in… ooh, cookies!” For a second it seemed as if Thunderblast might have been ready to stick up for me but the Raichu was distracted at the last second.
“I repeat, where’s the sense in jumping headfirst back into battle after so long being out of the loop?” my Alakazam pressed, trying very hard to stop Thunderblast from eating the entire batch of cookies.
“There’s no sense at all,” Katnip nodded sagely, before breaking out his largest grin. “Might be fun, tho. If anyone wants ta run off an’ bash some cultist heads together count me in.”
“Man, you’re a sucker for punishment,” Milliardo observed. “We haven’t properly trained in months. We’ve probably lost a bit of our edge in situations like this, so it’d be harder and we’d probably be totally outnumbered from the sounds of it.”
“I know,” Katnip grinned. “Those odds sound fun!”
“Don’t they just?” his sparring partner replied, returning the grin.
“Good grief!” Sindel rolled her eyes, now totally surrounded by team-mates clamouring for a cookie. “Ade, don’t listen to them. You know Katnip will jump at any chance to fight and Milliardo… well, we all know never to listen to him.”
“Your lack of support has been duly noted and filed away for future vengeance, Thingy,” Milliardo snorted before turning his attention to me. “Do what you think best, Ade, to be honest I don’t give a %&^* whether we go help out or not.”
“I wouldn’t mind checking it out,” I mused. “Especially if the Dragon Tamers are getting involved. We could kill a few birds with one stone here – let the others know we’re back, lend a hand just like we used to and use this as a chance to get back in shape again.”
“Wait… you’re seeing a city-wide riot as a training opportunity???” Sindel rolled her eyes. “I give up with you, I really do. Go if you must, but not all of us are going to be happy about being dragged into the chaos this soon after returning to reality.”
“Fine, not all of you have to go anyway.” I stood up, a mischievous gleam in my blue-grey eyes. “So then. Who’s for a spot of saving the day again?”

As it happened the turnout for some instant action was a lot lower than I would have liked and I ended up sporting a rather small, albeit rather powerful, team. Katnip had been first to offer his services, of course, and where there was a chance for the Raticate to play the hero Milliardo would always be there to try and upstage him. Marius had been happy to tag along as well, explaining that “the timing may be less than optimal but it would be foolish to turn a blind eye to this.” Last but not least we also had Rhiannon, whose official reason was that she had nothing better to do. However it was quite obvious that she was simply trying to smooth things over with everyone; her ability to create portals had allowed her to leave the supernatural prison we had called home for a short while whenever she liked, and there was still a little resentment over that fact from some quarters. In short, not many of us were up for an immediate adventure and to be honest I really couldn’t blame those who stayed behind.
“So. A plan, oh illustrious leader. And it better be something better than ‘storm in there and see what happens’.”
“Not entirely sure yet,” I confessed. We had hired the usual motorbike and sped straight to the source of the action(via a rather uncomfortable boat ride over to the mainland)… or rather, sped straight to a short distance away from it. Close enough that we could see what was going on, yet far enough away to avoid getting dragged into it before we had a plan of action. Right now I was watching Twoson – a quite bustling town that would have probably counted as a city had it been a few inches bigger – and once more getting that familiar feeling that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Even from this distance it was clear that something was amiss with the place; utilising a pair of powerful binoculars only confirmed my fears. The population seemed engaged in a war against rather strange cultists, people dressed in what could only be described as an indigo blue version of the traditional Ku Klux Klan robes. Even from here I could see them going about their wanton acts of vandalism and violence that were quite literally turning the entire town blue. “I mean… I can see that there’s a great effort to hold these goons off but you know what these insane cultist types are like – they don’t seem to have quite our numbers but probably have at least quadruple our zeal. Who the hell are they anyway?”
“The news report referred to them as ‘Happy-Happyists’,” Marius replied. “Initially one of the more deranged concepts for a cult, the basic premise is that the colour blue will lead them to eternal happiness. Historically they’ve been nothing more than a rather perplexing nuisance whose only real threat was though vandalism in a misguided attempt to transform their surroundings into their colour of choice.”
“So what’s changed to make them so violent, then?” I wondered out loud.
“We rather suspect that the only way to find that out will be to walk amongst them,” Rhiannon noted, having (possibly quite deliberately) reverted to the steely-hearted general for the purposes of the mission. “Excuse us for one moment.” The Jolteon concentrated hard, the skin and fur on her forehead peeling back to reveal a shimmering emerald embedded in her skull.
“Rhi, where are you going?” The slit in the fabric of space that was forming directly above her told me enough to know she was planning something. “We know you’re strong, but we need to do this as a team!”
“Relax, Ade,” she smiled gently. “We’re only going to scout around. If we haven’t returned in ten minutes come and look for us, okay?” And with this Rhiannon hopped into the vortex she had created. Into the unknown.

Ten minutes passed. And still no sign of a certain magical Jolteon.
“That does it. We’re going in.” I growled, my legendary impatience finally getting the better of me. “Remind me to throttle Rhi when we manage to find her.”
“There’s really going to be no need for that, Ade,” a calm telepathic voice sounded within my head. “We said ten minutes, correct? It has been precisely nine minutes and fifty eight seconds.” Rhiannon’s portal reopened in almost precisely the same spot as before and the Jolteon plopped out, neatly landing on all four paws with surprising grace.
“Pedant,” I chuckled mirthlessly. “So how does it look down on the front lines?”
“It actually looks far messier than it actually is,” Rhiannon explained. “These cultists do seem to be acting very strangely, even when you consider what Marius had to say on the cult’s previous eccentric behaviour. A lot of it seems to be comparative bluster, however.”
“Forgive me for saying, but ‘bluster’ is something of a subjective term, don’t you think? What may be just bluster for you, who seems to deal with the occult on a nearly daily basis, could well be highly dangerous behaviour for another individual.”
“True enough, Marius,” the Jolteon acknowledged. “Let us rephrase, then – comparatively these cultists seem to be of little real threat.”
“Tell that to Twoson,” Milliardo scoffed. “Just because they don’t have the power to crush the universe like Reaper probably did or are trying to enslave the planet like your old friends the Dark Cloak doesn’t mean they’re no threat. Good God, Rhi, you’re really showing your general’s attitude here. Let’s just look at the big picture and conveniently turn a blind eye to any personal suffering being caused, eh?”
“Let’s stop squabbling, okay? It isn’t the time or place to start picking holes with each others’ choice of words.” I rolled my eyes. Time certainly hadn’t made this lot any easier to manage! “Carry on, Rhi.”
“Thank you. As we were saying, these cultists seem to be more intent on making a statement than anything. So we can assume that they’re not even close to being in the same league as the likes of previous adversaries. In fact on observing several of them it appears to us that quite a few of their number appear to be under some form of short-term brainwashing.”
“And you think that because..?”
“Really.” Rhiannon looked almost affronted. “We were a part of the Dark Cloak cult once. They were the masters of the craft. You spend enough time around people like that and you get a feeling for those who are there of their own accord and those who have been conditioned into their actions. To be honest it doesn’t even appear as if whoever has been doing the brainwashing has done a particularly good job of it – we’d be willing to bet quite a lot that half of their number would regain their original personalities within days without regular maintenance. Which leads us to the main problem we face here.”
“Go on.” It was never a good sign when Rhiannon acknowledged something as a problem.
“This cult has been swelling its numbers quickly and in effect temporarily. If we are to deal with them we have to face the unpleasant fact that we will more than likely face off against an opponent who isn’t actually in control of their actions. And the possibility, however remote, that we may even know some of these cultists. Bearing that in mind we recommend discretion for the most part.” This was said with a rather pointed glance in the direction of Milliardo.
“Sis, when have I ever been anything less than tactful?” he smirked.
“Ya’ve been less than tactful pretty much the entire time we’ve known ya, dude,” Katnip chipped in unhelpfully. “So what’s the plan, sneak in an’ take a few out quietly?”
“Sounds like that could work,” I nodded. “If Rhi’s right we’re going to have to be very careful about what we do to these ‘Happy-Happyists’ though, so let’s try and be as humane as we can while we’re helping to sort this mess out. Don’t want to overly hurt someone if they’re going to be a normal person again the following day, after all.”
“Easier said than done when your adversary is after your death,” Marius noted.
“Oh come off it, it sounds like the worst they’re going to do is threaten us with a paintbrush!” Milliardo scoffed. “Come on, let’s get on with it. Last one to grab one of their hoods as a trophy is a loser!” I doubted very much that my Umbreon was going to treat this little adventure as flippantly as he appeared. He wasn’t stupid. However, in one respect he was right. We really needed to press on. Standing beyond the edge of the action wasn’t going to do anybody any good, and some small part of me was seriously aching to be back in the thick of things again. It was about time I actually let it have its fun.

Actually running through the streets of Twoson soon made it clear that the damage was a lot worse than it had appeared. The vandalism and destruction was widespread, some unfortunate properties still smouldering from arson attempts. It was chaos, plain and simple. And no doubt if it were left unchecked it would spread like wildfire.
“How the hell did things get this bad?” I exclaimed as we passed what seemed like it had once been a convenience store but now was a crumbling and charred structure that had clearly seen the ravages of some intense blaze. “I thought you said this cult was traditionally just a nuisance, Marius?”
“All it takes is one person with enough charisma and leadership skills to turn a nuisance into something far more sinister,” my Dratini offered by way of explanation. “It certainly sounds as if the cult shouldn’t really involve this level of mayhem, so I’m going to have to conclude that somebody in its higher echelons may be pushing their own agenda here.”
“You’re probably right,” I concurred. “Here’s hoping that somebody else will be able to get to the bottom of this. Doing a bit of holding them up before the military arrives is one thing, but even I’m not ready for a full-blown investigation just yet. Besides… yow!” Whatever I was about to say was cut short by a large – and blue - rock whizzing past inches away from my nose. Angrily I whirled around to view my assailant, although it was very hard to know what to make of the vision that confronted me. The person was dressed from head to toe in blue robes, their face obscured entirely by a matching hood. All I could make out were a pair of rather crazed eyes.
“Blue, blue, blue!” the cultist raved, waving a large tin of paint at me menacingly.
“…come again?”
“Blue, blue, blue!” he replied, advancing.
“Oh boy. This guy’s a total nutball,” I groaned, backing away slowly.
“Ade. Allow us.” Rhiannon stepped forward and almost nonchalantly let a weak spark of electricity arc from her body to the metallic tin of paint our foe was carrying. He gave a loud cry of surprise and dropped the entire thing on his foot.
“Damnit!” the cultist winced, evidently having been jolted back to sanity by the pain. “How dare you make a mockery of me!”
“Thanks, Rhi,” I smiled as my Jolteon withdrew back to the rest of the group, nodding her silent appreciation of my gratitude. My attention returned to the cultist. “Okay you. How about explaining why you just threw a rock at me?”
“You…” the man seethed, “…you are one of the heretics! One of those who refuse to follow the Blue Church! Just look at yourself dressed in all that… black!” He said the colour as if it was total anathema to him.
“I know,” Milliardo chuckled, well aware that the cultist wouldn’t understand him but speaking up anyway. “It’s like he’s some kind of stubborn one-time goth kid who refuses to accept the fact that he’s now in his mid-twenties. Oh, hang on a second. He is.”
“This isn’t the time, Milly,” I muttered under my breath, deliberately choosing to call the Umbreon by a shortening of his name that he couldn’t stand. It was my childish way of getting back at him for his mockery. Honour satisfied, I addressed the cultist once more. “So I dress in black. Why should that matter?”
“Only the colour blue shall win you eternal paradise!”
“Supposing I don’t want eternal paradise?”
“You’ll… you’ll…” I could just imagine the man’s mouth opening and closing ineffectively underneath his hood. Clearly his indoctrination hadn’t equipped him to deal with that one! “Shut up, you heathen! I shall teach you a lesson!” A pokéball slipped out of his sleeve and into his hand. Pure blue, of course, rather than the traditional red and white. “We have been trained in the ways of using pokémon to achieve our aims and we have been supplied with the holiest and bluest of them! So cower, fool, at the power of my awesome… Blue Dratini!!!” He opened the Pokéball with a flourish and out came… well, a perfectly ordinary Dratini. Perhaps the act would have been more impressive if he hadn’t used a pokémon that wasn’t naturally blue.
“Oh my God! It’s a disaster!!!” Milliardo exclaimed, his tone positively dripping with sarcasm. “Not a blue Dratini! We are truly doomed in the face of such mind-destroying warping of space, time and logic!”
“Give the guy a break, huh?” the Dratini grumbled. “He usually uses a blue Jolteon. He just doesn’t realise the ‘blue’ factor doesn’t make quite as much of an impact when the pokémon’s supposed to be that colour anyway.”
“Wow. I totally wasn’t expecting a pokémon of that guy’s to be sane.” Milliardo blinked in surprise. “So you’re the brains of the outfit, right?”
“Yes, as embarrassing as it is to admit it,” the Dratini agreed before its master cut it off.
“Now go! Teach these heathens a lesson, Blueson!”
“…Blueson?” This was truly surreal. Here we were, in the middle of complete chaos, acting out what felt like a trendily hard to follow comedy sketch. “Forget it. I’m not even going to ask. I’ve got a blue Dratini of my own to counter that, however.”
“That was hardly the most subtle of hints, Ade,” Marius tutted. “Still, I’m perfectly happy to keep my fellow dragon occupied while the rest of you neutralise his master.” Marius wormed his way to the front of the group and stared directly at his opponent. “My apologies, friend. You won’t be teaching anybody a lesson today.”

FIGHT!!! L10 Dratini v L8 Blue(!) Dratini

The two pokémon looked each other over for a few brief seconds. There really wasn’t much to distinguish the two. Roughly same hue, roughly similar sizes… if it weren’t for the large black handkerchief Marius always wore around his neck then this battle would have been especially hard to follow. Although not, it seemed, as hard to follow as Marius could make himself. After the initial sizing up was over he all but disappeared, putting all of his energy into his speed so that he became an almost impossible to see blur. One that struck his opponent so hard that it knocked the Dratini several feet in the air. Attempting to capitalise on this, he prepared himself to launch into another Extremespeed attack. Unfortunately this simply wasn’t to happen. Somehow his opponent managed to twist itself in midair and manoeuvre so that it landed straight on top of him. It began to coil itself around its hapless fellow dragon.
“You’re fast,” it glowered. “I’d better try my best to keep you in one place.”
“Not a bad stratagem,” Marius admitted. “Although perhaps attempting to use Wrap on another pokémon lengthy enough to utilise that move isn’t as wonderful an idea as it may first appear.” Somehow Marius managed to coil himself upwards and around his opponent, resulting in the two Dratinis wound up in a worryingly complicated mass of twists, their two faces stuck glaring at each other at the top of this huge knot.
“What the hell did you do?” Marius’ opponent shouted, evidently pleased that it could still headbutt him in frustration.
“I…er…ow!” Said headbutt landed rather harshly on Marius’ nose. “So it was one of those foolish acts that seemed like a good idea at the time, okay?” he shouted angrily, using his Steel Hidden Power to lift up a nearby can and throw it hard at his opponent’s head in retaliation.
“Knock that off!” the other Dratini shouted, unleashing a full Flamethrower right into his face. Of course Marius’ resistances meant that it hardly did any serious damage, but it served its purpose in annoying him further.
“I’ll be perfectly happy to if you just release me!” Marius responded in kind with a Flamethrower of his own.
“I would, but you have to let go first!” This time the other Dratini upped the stakes, firing an Ice Bolt in Marius’ face. The sheer impact of the freezing bolt of energy was more than enough to stun Marius and cause him to relax his grip slightly. At least enough for his opponent to somehow worm free. “Stubborn idiot,” it snorted, lining up another shot whilst Marius was reeling from its last blow. Fortunately for my pokémon he managed to come to his senses just in time to duck a second Ice Beam that would have almost certainly finished him.
“That… was decidedly too close for comfort,” Marius puffed. “Do excuse me while I slow you down a touch until I regain my breath.” A sudden pulse of electrical energy shot forward and struck the opposing Dratini hard. Thunder Wave. Clearly Marius was buying some time until he regained some energy, for almost immediately after he closed his eyes and began some sort of meditation. Clearly he was hoping that the paralysis he had caused would buy him enough time to use Rest effectively, a risky move on his part as even at full strength a couple of Ice Beams would have finished him off. For quite some time it appeared as if his gamble was going to pay off. His opponent didn’t seem quite able to fight the effects of the Thunder Wave. And then disaster struck. The Dratini finally managed to lurch forward, energies starting to form around its mouth as it prepared one more Ice Beam.
“I’m sick of you! Time to finish this!” it yelled, firing the beam directly at Marius. Who rather lazily opened one eye and twisted around it with (quite possibly Detect-aided) ease.
“At least we agree on the need to end this,” he said flatly, firing a deadly burst of blue flame from his mouth and catching his opponent in its reach with ease. Dragonbreath. Yet another rather dangerous tool in the young Dratini’s worryingly powerful arsenal. And just what he needed to finish the battle. His opponent’s body simply couldn’t take any more punishment, and slumped to the floor, finally unconscious.

Marius wins! Marius grew to L11!

[Lady Vulpix]

More story? Where? I can't see it.

[Edit: naughty Ade, editing your post after I've sent my own. I'm working now but I'll archive it and read it when I can.]

I've already archived the latest stories, by the way. And there are some new posts on TL.

[Wolfsong]

I would like an extension please

[The Blue Avenger]

Extension granted.

[The Blue Avenger]

So, hey, I'd like an RBG from the universal adoption center for Cambiamente. Thanks. *hands over 7 stamps*

[Wolfsong]

Cambiamente will be battling a Slowpoke

[classy_cat18]

I would like an RBG for my L6 Umbreon from the Universal Adoption Center. *pays seven stamps*

[The Blue Avenger]

Bo will fight a Fuwante.