-Samuel-
I listen to Bonnie, and say "Alright..." as I stand up. The red burn on my stomach was settling down, and it felt tingly. I see that the Scrafty has stopped struggling, and I use Thunder Shock, but it doesn't paralyze him, so I continue using it until he is paralyzed, and quite weak-looking. He looked like he was trying to say something, but he couldn't move his jaw. I use Absorb, effectively stealing his health and I start punching his legs, and continue attacking him until I'm too tired to continue hitting him. He was staring at Bonnie with googly eyes, and the Kirlia looks as if she was about to kick the crap out of both Bonnie and I, but she grumbles and I see tears slowly go down her face. I feel a little sorry for her, but I just got jumped by her boyfriend. I pop my neck and ask "Hey, got any oran berries or maybe something else so that I could help with this burn?" as I point towards my stomach which was very red and occasionally oozing a tiny bit of blood and pus.

Tini

Tini's face contorted into a horrified one when he saw the Treeko's wounds "No!!!!!!" quickly slithering over to the grass type, he continued with "you need to hang in there, don't you dare die on me! Whatever you do; stay away from the light! I know it looks warm, and pretty, and so very very shiny...but it's a lie! The light is a lie! It's noting but cold emptiness...so very cold. You can't let it take you, it's a trap!" Tears were starting to pour out of his eyes "you have to live. Do you hear me; you have to live! Don't go away to a place where your loved one's can't reach...don't leave them behind."

As Celes was looking down at the dojo, waiting for Spruce, she saw a paper on the ground that awfully seemed like a mission statement. Something that seemed... strange.... She jumped down at a rapid speed before grabbing the piece of paper and then jumping back onto a building, before opening and looking at it. As she reads, she started to understand. This was the mission Spruce was given. A hostage situation.... That is why he needed to go alone in case. She shook her head. Might as well go find that team Skull and wait for Spruce to come.... if he ever gets there. Or else she will have to act on her own.... She breath deeply. She just hoped that everything would be alright. She studied it carefully, looking. Well, that was annoying. Looking for someone that you don't even know where they are. She growl a bit, before thinking. They would probably stay in a dark place in town, somewhere hidden... Somewhere where people would not bother them. That or outside town in a mystery dungeon, but there a problem there. How would they get their rewards if they expect someone rather weak to come for the reward money. She closed the paper, before heading off, going to search for that team, listening, watching everywhere, jumping from building to building.

Well. Now I definitely know something.

As I read the paper, a breeze or two lifted the dust around the dojo, formed by the training of two Pokemon furiously battling it out. One I knew as our team leader, and he owning those two weak Pokemon. Spruce dumped us for a lone mission assignment. Now, I could think of... everyone else being better for the job. I mean, he was a leader, not a negotiator of hostages. I thought to myself, looking at the crumpled paper in between my magnets before tossing the paper onto the floor. I didn't realise that hero would swipe it off the same floor until later. I did know he was here through the glass ceiling of the dojo, just by looking up and getting blinded by the sunlight. I snorted, again, something I shouldn't do as a Magnemite. Increasingly, I was worried I would lose my mind over the stress of everything. Then, I realised I was just being a drama queen, smiling weakly as I began moving.

I hate thieves. I passed a pillar of red wood and a few bundles of reed stuck in sand, hovering in the air as usual and actually quite unsure of my current objective. I would have to follow Spruce's lead and convince him we (or rather I) have more urgent matters to attend to. I'll repeat myself: Davis is dead. And by the looks of things, only we're capable of stopping Dementia. Assuming everyone else who's better than us is as ignorant as Geodudes. So, instead of training, I just left the dojo and awaited outdoors by two more red pillars, ignoring the passage of busy dragon Pokemon talking among themselves in groups.

-Samuel-
"What in Arceus' name are you talking about?!" I yell, pushing the Dratini away. "I'm going to be fine, I've had worse," I say. I get a glance of the Kirlia grabbing the Scrafty and using teleport. "Damn it!" I yell, slamming the ground with my fists. "Now they're gone." I say, looking at the spot where they use to be. I sit down on the wall and groan as I begin to rest again. I breathe deeply a few times before feeling a bit refreshed, but I still had bruises and burns. "I just have to stop by the healer for a minute. I'll be back soon." I say, walking down the dirt road.

I get to the healer and show him my back and my front. "500 Poke, and I can treat those. At least, for now," he says, and I take out all the money I had, separate 150 from it, and hand him the 500 Poke. "Ugh... so what's going to happen?" I ask as I walk into his tent. Inside, there was two other Pokemon, one Lucario with half of his snout missing, and a Quilava who looked fine, but he had a wrap around his forehead. I sit down on a piece of cloth suspended by metal supports and the healer looks at all my injuries. He says "Hm. Well, the bruises will go away on their own, you just need a lot of wrapping for that stomach of yours," as he looks in a box and pulls out bandaging, and some pasty looking stuff. He coats the burn with the paste, and it felt numb, and stung. He then takes the bandaging and wraps it all around my burn. It almost looked like some kind of weird shirt without any sleeves. I stand up and he puts more bandaging around my neck and the back of my head, both of which were bleeding a bit.

I shake his hand and I walk back to the group, and grab Will's arm and pull him away from the Kecleon Shop, since he was now in a very heated argument with the shopkeeper. I bring him over to Bonnie and Will says "Bonnie and I were looking for you. We have a mission... like... an easy one, I think." I look at Bonnie and ask "So, what is the mission?"

[Spruce]

After making sure both his student and I were healed, Gabe then nodded towards the axew, my last opponent, who stepped forwards. After that, he shouted "Final battle... BEGIN!" the axew caught me off guard with how quickly he pulled off his attack, and worse, to my surprise, it wasn't an ordinary scratch or bite attack, instead, some sort of light energy was put into his attack, which made it hurt that much more. "Gah!" I shouted from the pain. I then jumped back, hoping that he wouldn't attack again before I could at least hit him. I tried my old reliable, my usual form of attack against these dragons, my void whip on the thing, and, unfortunately, it didn't seem to really do all that much to him. Great, now I'm a part of a hidden type disadvantage or something... I'm going to have to be lucky to get out of this one. I think as I look around for literally anything that could help me and wasn't in my bag... no matter how tough this fight gets, it would be downright stupid to waste my items here instead of in the actual fight where I probably won't just get healed afterwards if I lose. I then notice the axew rushing towards me again, and thankfully, I had enough time to get away from the attack, mainly by jumping off to my left. I then do something I've never done before, I used tackle. It was my only decent attacking option, and it did seem to hurt the axew more than void whip did at this point, however, that put me close to him, which was bad if I needed to continue avoiding his light slashes. I take another one, this time to my left cheek, and even though that wasn't much of a sensitive area, it still burned, and still hurt quite a bit. I manage to get away from the thing again and hit the thing with vine whip, as there seemed to be no need for me to use void whip, which, as expected, didn't do much, but at least didn't leave me close enough for him to attack. If I was going to continue using tackle, I'd have to use it sparingly... and unfortunately, that's the only way I could really damage him.

---

[Bonnie]

"Er... right! Some mother pyroar lost her son somewhere in the sunswept plains! Oh, um, fun fact, that's actually my old home." I say to the group, sounding somewhat cheerier than I usually do. Of course, this was shaping up to be... well, it wasn't really much of a BAD day, yet. Yeah, that scrafty attacked us earlier, but he was handled easily enough, and without anyone even fainting. That's always a plus. The fact that the sky didn't have a cloud in it, and the fact that it was warm, but not too warm only seemed to reassure the fact that today was a good day. Hm... I wonder if I'll be able to keep this attitude... I kinda like it! I think as I wait for the others to do something, after all, it probably still wouldn't really be wise to leave and do this mission on my own, as there were still many more of them than there were of us. Heck, it might have even been safe to say that I think nothing could possibly go wrong with today, it was that good of a day to me for some reason. I looked over to where that other keckleon went, and saw his shop, which appeared to be filled with pretty much the same items that were sold over at Bob and Ed's stall... yet... nobody was using the keckleon's stall for some odd reason. This might have been the reason for the keckleon's bored face, and might have also been the reason why he was just standing there, flipping a coin constantly, and not even a high-valued coin either, this one was only worth a single poke... a small detail that led me to believe that his stall was almost never filled with customers, as unfortunate as that was, I didn't really have any money to buy things, else, I might have actually supported his small stall... heck, it would certainly make this a better day for that keckleon.

-William-
I rub my forehead and say "Alright. Ugh... hey, maybe after this we could use some training so something like that doesn't happen again. I think Scale City has a gym." I notice how nice the weather was. "Hm. Nice day," I say as I smile for the first time in probably a month. "Also nice to finally be free of working for the Allure News Station. My boss was mean. Right before I quit, he threw a bunch of stuff at me, and swore quite a bit, just for asking him to not yell at me in the office. Strangely, he got lost somewhere in Beach Cave and I went to save him. I'm sure he might have died if it wasn't for me," I say, walking towards the northern exit. Once I get there, Samuel pops his neck again and looks like he might use Self Destruct or something. "What's wro-"

"DON'T ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG YOU LITTLE COLOR-SHIFTING RAT! YOU'RE ALMOST AS BAD AS A FREAKING... ZOROARK OR SOMETHING! GO BACK TO YOUR OWN BUSINESS, FREAK, AND I HOPE YOU STEP ON AN IRON SPIKE, TOO! AGH..." he says, punching the stone wall. I look at him shocked. "I HOPE THAT THAT PYROAR DIE-..." he yells. His face was bright red, probably from anger and embarrassment. He looks at Bonnie and I awkwardly and gulps.

-Samuel-
"S-sorry," I say to the group, after my outburst. I take a few deep breaths, and grope my hand. "Ow..." I say, and William just walks. He looked kinda scared and freaked out. That would make sense... I scratch the back of my head and cover my face in embarrassment.

As we get to Sunswept Plains, I look around the... well, the plains. A Caterpie squirms past us and I look back at it. "Huh. Maybe it's from Allure Town or something..." I say as I see a Mareep walking and grazing, and it turns its head to look at us. As soon as it sees Bonnie its face seemed to light up. It bolts towards us and squeals happily, facing Bonnie. I use Pound on it, making it fall to the ground and then Absorb and it donkey-kicks me in the chest, knocking the air out of me and making me fall to the ground. It gets up, scoffs at Samuel, and turns back towards Bonnie. "HI!" It says, obviously very excited to see Bonnie. "Wow... it's only been a few days, but Leo and I missed you SO MUCH!" the Mareep says.

"Ah, 'morning Anthony." Hex said, staring over at Anthony. He seemed especially viscous today, lacking his usually, congealed white slime. Hex noticed the tiles and the walls of the hotel once again. They seemed to be.. different, from yesterday. Before, they shined like pearls, with a beautiful golden luster. Now they seemed more drab and dry, and more like a simple hotel. It must've been an effect of her insatiable fatigue, or the darkness. Maybe she was losing it. Whatever.

Hex greeted Terra g'morning upon her short arrival, and she appeared to be toting around a small pokemon peeking his head out of her bag. She couldn't quite make out what pokemon it was, however. Looked small, but she couldn't quite see the head shape of it, or if it even did have a head. Hex ignored it, and began to follow Terra out of the hotel, alongside Anthony and Josh and Matt. Those two seemed particularly quiet, surprisingly. Usually the always had some short comments.

Eventually, they arrived at Amanda's Threads, which was a short hop away from them. Pokemon clustered around the shop like it was an oasis in a drought. They seemed to be lining up in order to get the best clothes or best stat-inducing items. Clearly something must've bolstered up their business by a massive amount, because usually pokemon didn't just randomly decide to start going to a store. Might've been the fact some explorers bought some clothes from there.

At Terra's command, the pokemon parted immediately, surprisingly. Most of the other dragon types were major beasts, with tough scales and shining, sharp teeth. They easily outnumbered Terra, and could eat her rather easily, if they were wild. Terra walked through them easily, and some even regarded her with fear. One poor Dragonite who's tail accidentally stood in Terra's path seemed to pass out, flopping down onto the ground after pulling his tail outta the way.

Josh and Matt weren't waiting for too long before Hex and Anthony came down to the lobby. Terra showed up almost immediately after Anthony, and he seemed startled when she came up behind him. She had a small Pokemon in her backpack, which seemed to be what was in the egg earlier.
"Now, I'm assuming you guys are wondering what happened yesterday." Josh said to the group as they left the hotel. "I'll tell you in a moment. Just wait until we're out of Scale City and I'll explain everything. I need to lay low until then. I don't want Zane or his goons spotting me."
He let himself sink to the bottom of the bucket, trying to hide himself. He could hear Terra shouting at a bunch of people to get out of the way. He wondered what was going on, but didn't want to risk poking his head out of the bucket. He just kept lying at the bottom of the bucket, hoping they'd get out of Scale City soon.

As Celes was moving around town, looking, she was thinking a bit. Every dark corners was either empty, or had some scum criminals that were not those that she was looking for, dealing with shady things, Unfortunately for those criminals, Shadowlight was there, watching, listening, before acting when the criminal actions were done or about to be done. This happened 3 times until she finally ended up hearing something in another part of town.
"Eh, that guy sure taking time with the money for this hostage here..." one of the voices said.
"Ya... well, whoever the weakling coming with the money, he better come fast... or else little kecky here gonna have one hell of a stench." the other voice says. Shadowlight then looked around, before pinpointing the place that the criminals were in a werehouse. She jumped at the window, and looked bellow. She then saw a zubat, a koffin and a skuntank, all around a keckleon. Bingo... that is were... but Spruce might have trouble finding them... She though a bit before jumping away, going back towards the dojo. She waited, thinking, before jumping down, grabbing rocks, and then jumping up on the building, waiting. She knew how she will make Spruce fallow.

Bright and sunny. Enough to blind me and force me back inside the dojo where my eye began thanking me. I really should've trained to fight off more of Dementia's minions, but of course both Spruce and the dojo seemed rather busy. While I would include defending myself against that Porygon, that would just indicate my paranoia. Surely it was a one-time event, and not related to Davis or so...

That out of my head, I was left rather saddened when it became apparent that Spruce was getting defeated by an Axew. No, not because of the Pokemon itself, but the fact that his moves easily harmed Spruce. This was pretty odd, considering how well he handled the last Pokemon. I simply sighed (which shouldn't be possible), taking a seat on a red bench which was probably used to hold things such as vases. I wished for a Sitrus berry at the moment for myself, although by the looks of it, Spruce would need that more than me. Encouraging a team mate could work, but I'd find that... embarrassing. That and in this world, miracles didn't happen.

Damn sunlight blinding me again. Ah hell. If only Davis supplied me with some sunglasses before he left, even if they were all chipped and broken from the days of the old. Just as I grimaced away from another sudden flash, I had quickly observed the Axew's attacks before turning away once more. It was like... having a torch being pointed at your face for a brief second. Looks like life's given a curse already, about time as miracles didn't exist.

Speaking of curses, I was particularly hurt when a Pokemon of some sorts began dragging me around. "What the-" I wasn't physically hurt. I was emotionally hurt.

How did a kid do that? He didn't. His mother did. "Sweetheart, come on. Stay away from the... oh my Arceus, you need some help." As the dragon Pokemon left while pretending he was still flying, I was struck by reality. I wasn't exactly considered 'normal' anymore, beginning to possess features only present in living things, such as breathing, eating, and sleeping. Great. I had to stare at the mother taking her child away gently, while she turned her head from him to her as if I was an alien. I felt so offended.

I had a feeling this would be all connected somehow; my bloody dream, Davis and Dementia, Spruce, my team mates... yet, I had already lost myself.

[Spruce]

After a few more risky tackles, and a couple more attacks from that axew, all of which seemed to hit like a rampaging rhydon, Gabe seemed like he was about to say something. "EN-" I hear him start to say before I shout "NO! I'm not done yet!" I then start gathering that weird energy that seemed to coat my void whip whenever I used it, and formed it into a giant orb above my head. The orb then slams itself into the unsuspecting axew, and explodes into an obscuring grey fog. For some odd reason, I feel more powerful after unleashing that move, or, at the very least, more confident. After locating the still not quite fainted Axew, I slam into him with seemingly redoubled force. The axew was sent flying into the opposite wall, and once the smoke cleared, I saw the axew... just a little too beat up... whoops. Gabe glared at me for a moment, and said "Agh! This was supposed to be training, as in, DON'T faint your opponent! Nonetheless... you did finally learn how to utilize your secret fifth move." I then look at him, confused, and he continues "You see... every pokemon is born with the ability to use these 'fifth moves' of course, they can be used even if you have less than four moves, normally. These moves vary depending on the individual who uses it. In your case, it was destructive, and special-based... but for someone else, it might be a support move, a healing move, or a physical move." I then ask "So... if they're powerful, like mine was, why doesn't everyone use these all the time?" He laughs, and answers "They can't be used like that. They can only be used under certain circumstances, such as being pushed to one's limit... the actual condition won't be the same for everyone, of course." I nod, and he hands me a white belt, and sort of shoos me out of his dojo, leaving me with only one question... How the heck did he even know that I'd end up using that? I think, knowing that Gabe's already left, and headed off into his dojo... waiting for the next pokemon to come in and find out about their fifth move. Before I took off, I noticed M. "Hey, M, how'd you get here?" I ask him. He seemed weird, for some reason, but I decided to stay out of it. I then wander around, admittedly calmer than I was when I went in. I take a deep breath, and start thinking about possible hideouts for these criminals, no longer really caring to ask the general populace, as they've already pretty much proven their uselessness.

---

[Anthony]

I hold back my laughter as I see a dragonite pass out just from the sight of Terra, and follow Terra towards Amanda, who didn't seem afraid one bit. "Oh! I, uh, didn't see ya there. Hello, Hex and Matt." I say to my team. I make sure to not include Josh, and it was apparent that he was hiding from someone, and was even retreated into his bucket at this time. That was just about the time when Terra said to Amanda "Look... I have no choice but to trust you. Would you please help me with something important?" Amanda seems to sing, and says "Of course I'd help~! Anything for a customer," the two then head into the back room on Terra's request, leaving me with the rest of my team, and the giant line of dragons wanting to buy random things for a little while. They generally didn't seem to mess with me, or even really say anything to us, and eventually, Terra and Amanda come back out. Terra quickly points to the back of her bag, and I notice Blaze... but, he's wearing a clefairy costume, and doesn't seem to happy about it, either. His face was hidden, as well, just to add to the costume's believability, and she asks "Well? Will it work, or not, Anthony?" I snapped out of my daze, and stuttered "I, um, well, er, uh, maybe?" She sighs, and walks over to the other teammates, thankful that the dragons went back to buying things and back to ignoring us. She then makes sure to show Blaze, even taking him out of the bag, and asked "So, do you think this will work?" She then waited for everyone, while I just stand there, useless.

---

[Bonnie]

Samuel just completely lost it... and for absolutely no reason, too. He calmed down after nearly saying that he'd like the pyroar we're helping to die, and only after calling William a 'color-shifting rat'. I was stunned for a while, and almost didn't hear Mike shouting for me. "Wow... it's only been a few days, but Leo and I missed you SO MUCH!" I then walk, or rather, hop towards him, and say "Mike! Wow, um, has anything changed around here? I mean, other than the fact that you're obviously healed from our last run-in," Mike then smiles as he says "Well, nothing much, really, and that suits me just fine. I think I kinda like the calm, worry-free life here," I then remember the mission, and ask "Oh, wait, um, have you seen Leo anywhere, lately?" I then add "We've got some sort of mission involving a lost litleo, and he knows almost every litleo in these plains," Mike then shakes his head, and says "Nah... he's went off to explore early today. You know that kid, always ready to run around this place," Mike then follows me back to the group, and I introduce "Mike, meet Samuel and William... um, Samuel's the treecko, and William's the keckleon. Oh, and Samuel and William, this is Mike, one of my friends from before I joined the guild," today really was looking up for me. I mean, the perfect weather, the fact that I get to see my old friends again... even if I was only gone for a few days, and a mission in a place I already know isn't too dangerous for us to handle. I guess not every day's going to be torture and pain, huh? I gotta admit, that's a pretty good thing to know. I think as I smile and wait for the team to get acquainted with Mike.

As Shadowlight looked down at the dojo, she saw Spruce having trouble with a axew, that seemed to use a strange type of attack. She looked at the Axew, and his energy seemed... strangely familiar. Why.. she had no idea. She breath deeply, before suddenly sensing something farther away. She turned around quickly and saw a strange silouette at a distance that disappeared quickly... so weird... What and why was that.. strange thing there. She breath deeply. She then looked down only to see Spruces final attack striking the Axew. It looked so weird... Then the fight was over, with the axew fainted. Shadowlight smiled under her mask, before seeing Spruce go to leave the building. just then she used her front paws and then started to throw some of the rocks she had near Spruce, faking a attack on him, before jumping away, going to go to the werehouse. It would be better to bring him there as quick as she could. She just hoped that Spruce would not go and strike her while she was moving

-William-
I hear something about a 'last run-in', but they probably just got in a fight with a strong wild, so I shrug it off for now. I then hear that a litleo was exploring or something.... I sigh, and think I probably shouldn't be eavesdropping... and I don't pay attention for a while, until I hear my name. "Oh, and Samuel and William, this is Mike, one of my friends before I joined the guild," Bonnie says to Samuel and I. I smile, wave, and say "Hi. Nice to meet you," and Samuel just groans on the floor, just barely being able to breathe again. I look at him a little worriedly, and ask "You alright?" and he shakes his head 'no'. "Well, Samuel has been having some troubles with a Scrafty..." I say. "Aaand he also cries blood." I rub my back and pop my neck, then I walk around the plains, searching for a possible missing litleo. I call out "LEO!" a few times, but there isn't any response. I walk back to the group and say "He may be deeper in Sunswept Plains. Everybody ready?" as I re-adjust my backpack. I head off in sunswept plains, and a Skitty tackles me. Samuel gets up, and uses Thunder Shock, slightly damaging both of us, and I push the skitty off for it to use Tackle again. Must be some low level, or just really dumb... I think, and I use... confusion? Huh... well, I certainly confused it. It was stumbling around and swiping at the grass. I laugh at the site, since it kinda made the Skitty look a bit drunk, and I see Samuel use Pound on it. It fell to the ground and I high five Samuel, feeling a little bit stronger than I did before. "Heh... wow..." I say, and look at Samuel. "I feel kinda tingly. That was my first fight that I actually was able to fight in in years," I say, smiling. I felt like a giant compared to Samuel, though. "Hey, Bonnie," I say, "How tall am I compared to Samuel?"

"I dunno." I responded rather weakly, hovering away from the dojo after witnessing a fireworks display. "I think someone familiar came around." I continued, looking around to make sure my Pokes wouldn't drop anytime soon.

Thankfully, my third magnet didn't seem to be changing further, otherwise I'd be freaking out over what I'd be getting myself into. That, and I was beginning to fear a change in personality because of just one reaction. Which would unfortunately be true, depending on further circumstances.

As usual, I ended up following Spruce, trailing behind him as quite a few Pokes orbited around me. Though I'd say 'magnets', I don't think they'd be sufficient in terms of explaining the unusual phenomenon. "So. Now, you found inner peace." I chuckled a bit, scaring away a Pokemon attempting to nab my Pokes. Returning to my previous voice while I scratched my underside: "Well, more like inner power. However, we've got a hostage situation, and I think the kidnappers have waited long enough."

Ouch. My face - this rock damage hurts. "Oh, you little bastard!" I initially thought the attack was perpetrated by that damn kid. It turned out a cast shadow had thrown some rocks at me. "Wait, he's already gone. Who had the balls to do that?" Oh. Spruce was probably lost again, as he continued forwards while I leered at an warehouse... either that, or a rock thrown hit his head so hard that he was concussed.

Wait, an old warehouse in this city? Something's off.

"I'm sure it'll work." Matt said. "There's a very slim chance that someone who's just walking by would realize that it's a costume. If they do end up noticing, they won't be able to tell who's in the costume."
He looked around the store, to make sure nobody was looking their way. "Josh, I don't think any of Zane's minions are here." He whispered, making sure nobody overheard him.
"You don't know that." Josh said. "I'm not coming out. Not until we're out of Scale City."
"Just tell us what you think about Blaze's costume. It should only take a few seconds."
Josh peeked over the edge of the bucket. "It's beautiful. See ya!" He said, sinking back down immediately afterwards. It was obvious that he wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around him.
Matt sighed. "He's a little on edge because of something that happened yesterday. Once we're out of Scale City he might calm down."

[Spruce]

"Yeah, I guess so, huh?" I respond to M, who then shouted at someone who apparently attacked him. Curious, and a little miffed, I followed him to the source... an old warehouse of some sort. I look inside and see a skuntank, a koffing, and a zubat all grouped around a bound and gagged keckleon, whom I suspected might be the captive. I look over to M, and look back towards the warehouse. I would have sneaked in if I didn't remember what I was supposed to do. I open the rather large door, and walk inside, surprising the trio of crooks. I then pull out the fake bag of pokecoins and say "I have the money, so untie Rosebud," I tried to keep my tone as normal as possible, though, I obviously failed, as they didn't seem to want to take the money, with the skuntank asking "Do I look like a moron to you? This bag's full of counterfeits, or fakes, if you didn't understand that word with your tiny, reptile brain," he sounded calm, but obviously he wasn't. The three of them then laughed, and the koffing said "Hey, maybe we'll get more if we nab this dorky kid, too!" The zubat chimed in with "Hey, that's not a half-bad idea, Kevin. What do you think about that idea, boss?" The skuntank simply added "The idea's good, let's do it," I wouldn't let them attack first, however, their boss was too fast, and already hit me with an acid attack... something I really wish he hadn't done, as I really didn't want to think about where THAT junk's been. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to dodge the attack, and worse, I felt a little weaker after it... sure, the attack didn't do much, at least, considering a few factors (it actually hurt like heck, but coming from someone like the 'boss'... well, I expected more). After rubbing my eyes for a bit, I attacked the skuntank, or 'boss', with a void whip, which didn't do as much as I had hoped. The koffing and zubat then attacked with leech life and sludge respectively, though, I managed to hold my ground.

I then decided to attack the zubat with a void whip, somehow knocking the thing out with one hit... no, wait, I actually just hit a weak point, that's all. However... that seemed to be just what they wanted. After the zubat was knocked out, Kevin and 'boss' looked at each other with a look that told me they were cooking up some sort of plan. I didn't have much time to react, and before I knew it, the two were unleashing some sort of combo move against me, combining both of their horrible gasses to make one gas that was just too much for me. The smell alone was enough to hurt... with the damage that I took in that admittedly short fight, I couldn't take the attack for very long, and passed out... my mission was a failure, and now I was a hostage, just, perfect. The last thing I heard was some weird guffawing laughter, and a "Hey, boss, did I do good this time?" It was obvious that the second thing was from Kevin, and I could tell that they were going to tie me up... and there was little to nothing I could do about it. I think Charlie sent the wrong guy... I'm sure that if M was sent here, he'd do just fine against the poisonous or bug-based attacks that these thugs employ... heck, even Celes would have a decent chance, type-wise anyways. I think as I lay there, helpless from the noxious fumes.

---

[Bonnie]

For some reason, William, after knocking out the horror that was the skitty, asked how tall he seemed in comparison to Samuel. "Uh... you're kinda huge. I mean, Sam's about my height, but you tower over both of us," I respond, though, I had no idea why he asked us that, I mean, didn't he already know? Either way, I joined in with the others calling out for my friend, though, I'd occasionally shout out "LEONARDO!" he hated it when someone called him by that name, and it was actually more likely to draw him out of whatever cover he was using than the name he went by. Mike just sort of followed along humming something until a natu got the idea to try to attack me with peck. He got in the way of that attack, and countered with thundershock. He then said "You REALLY have nothing better to do with those psychic powers of yours than to pick on random pokemon? What the heck's wrong with you, Nate?" The natu, apparently called 'Nate' just stood there as if he didn't have the intelligence that usually came with psychic powers, and blinked his eyes a couple times, as if he couldn't understand us at all... that struck both myself and Mike as odd, as a couple days ago, that kid used to gaze up at the starts, always talking about the constellations, what they meant, and how he was going to be the first Xatu to stare at the stars at night, not the sun, and yet here he was, apparently devoid of those thoughts, or really any thoughts other than the most basic of thoughts, and a possible 'kill all intruders' thought in there for good measure. "Nate?" I shakily ask Nate, who chirped, and then attacked me with peck, this time actually hitting me, though, not doing all that much. Something was wrong, very wrong.

...and my Arceus. That was NOT how you handle a hostage situation.

If Payday taught me anything, I'd have to force one of the four people into bleedout, maybe Dallas since he seems to be the leader. Bleeding out would allow me to take him into custody, then force a hostage trade. And then I'd have to get... preferably Chains to make sure he doesn't point a Bronco or Reinback at me. If I didn't take Dallas out first his Brenner would definitely put a hole (wrong; several holes) in me. I'd have to move quickly to avoid gunfire from Wolf's sentry and Hoxton's rifle, yet carefully to avoid his trip mines. Bain would obviously inform them that a Magnemite just entered the area, capable of tasering one of them... which would lead to the same result as forcing one of them into bleedout. Hm... they'll attempt to rush out soon with some loot they may have found. I'd have to act quickly.

I need to get the Bulldozer to keep them busy, a Shield to block the Taser (me), and then a few Snipers positioned outside. I'd get some officers and SWATs to rush in, letting the Cloakers and Heavy SWATs to come in from behind... that'll screw with them. Badly. Heck, I'll be able to rescue everyone and shoot all the bad guys. This, is how you handle a hostage situation. Or at least a general idea of how to handle one. Cue the Panic Room theme song...

1. Enter the premises slowly, alerting the kidnappers as suddenly entering the area can lead to casualties: "Hello? My idiot of a friend decided to rush in."

"Huh? Who're you? Come on out and we won't have to twist your arm around." So, complying with his instructions, I simply followed the same path as "Urgh! What the Hell's wrong with you? You've got like this... weird... and these two slashes on you." At that point, I shuddered slightly. I had to keep my head cool.

"Those are scars no bloody crime gave to me in one day. You scared of a little wound? I got three of 'em, and so far I'm actually looking for more working for the big man."

"That ain't a scar... and it shouldn't be one anyway." One of the weaker thugs (Zubat) responded, visibly shaken and trying to back away. The Skuntank just stared at me, unfazed and being rather... unsettling. Thanking, looking over at the Koffing provided relief, since he too was frightened.

"Jerry, shut it!" The Skuntank was trying to put them all in line. Presumably to scare me into being a hostage... well, I wouldn't back down lightly, if at all.

"Yeah, yeah. Speak for yourself." I responded to 'Jerry's' comment, putting my magnets... actually, lowering my magnets downwards. I wasn't considered a threat at this point. I appreciated the lack of sunlight, and even thought about joining the life of crime just so I wouldn't be blinded everyday.

...

WHAT?! NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS?! DAMN IT!

2. Broker a deal. See if you can let out your team mate first. Team mates help in freeing hostages later, depending on the deadline before their death. Both the hostage and your team mates. Try to intimidate them or anything, but you're not supposed to be hostile... yet. "You know, I didn't actually expect my colleague to just go in and say 'here's a few Pokes, now release my hostage!' Ironically, I was- no, I AM going to do the same thing, albeit with REAL Pokes." I raised the ring of Pokes, letting it hover above me like a halo. I could see the glitter in the Skuntank's eye, but he let that go immediately. "You understand that, Pine? Can't always follow protocol." I said, glaring at 'Pine' (Spruce) in an attempt to hide his identity. That, and I was going to point out using a withered bag to show signs of Pokes wasn't a good idea. But, I just realised he was asleep.

"Oh you can't be serious. You think that little ring of real Pokes gonna cover your friend? No. So here's what I'm gonna do... I'm gonna let her go, but I'm gonna keep this one. Just because I'll get more money out of a..." And then, the Skuntank - still talking - crept up to Spruce, and pulled his badge from underneath him. "...guild member." He whispered loudly, pronouncing the word guild as 'gold'. The Skuntank turned his disturbing face towards me, his showing his teeth at me through smiling. I didn't give a response, just lowering my eyelid. "You gonna trade, or do I have to take you hostage too?" He said, with the face of a sadist... this wouldn't end well.

3. ...

Let's go Payday on those sons-of- "I have a counter-offer. Let both of them go, but I stay here. I've got a lifetime of experience that outlasts the three of you. And we Magnemites live for quite a long time."

The Skuntank lost his moment, looking at his enforcer Koffing and his thief Zubat. He stared me down. "Very well. You've got a deal, Magnet. Quickly skip over here, and... we'll let them go."

Damn it. I knew there was a trap going on. Spruce was knocked out cold, and the hostage was trying to scream through her blocked mouth. No one could back me up. Interesting fact: did you know if you knocked someone out cold by the head, and they didn't respond to outside stimuli for more than five minutes, they're more than likely to have a brain hemorrhage? I couldn't back down, otherwise they'd realise my 'weakness' and exploit it. Meaning, they'd try to kill me either way. "Ah. I'm afraid I can't do that. You'll do the same to me as you did to my colleague, and you'll just continue your crime spree... the risk will only get bigger." I had to act.

This, is step 3. And you better take this to heart: PRESS [F] TO START THE HEIST

"So will the stakes. We only care about the stakes. Are you going to come over yet?" The Skuntank started to walk towards me, with the others in tow. "C'mon, don't be shy..."

"I'm not shy. I'm gonna fry your ass." Immediately, the Skuntank pointed it's rear at me. As promised, I whipped my magnet at the Skuntank, shocking him right in there as I chuckled at the sudden appearance of a blue lightning bolt. Oh man, those volts will really give him a scar like mine... and no one will even notice it unless they happened to be behind him. I knew I had gave him the fright of his life, striking him quicker than a monorail train while his thugs avoided the resulting electricity in the air.

And I set his ass on fire. Whether I lit his flatulence or I burnt his fur, I didn't want to know either way. I dived behind a crate quickly through my Agility move, although I let some Pokes rattle against the boxes and floor. I was as if eager to await an explosion that would follow from burning more gas. Eh, I knew it wouldn't, but I was definitely using this for cover against the shocked Zubat and angry Koffing. God knows what they'd do next.

I smile as I'm portrayed as 'towering over them'. "Alrighty then..." I say as we continue walking deeper, and deeper in. "LEEEEOOO?" I yell, cupping my hands around my mouth. "COME HERE LEO!" I shout into the sky. Suddenly, a Natu tries to attack Bonnie, but hits Mike instead, and he scolds it. It stares blankly at him, and then uses Peck on Bonnie. To this, I jump up, and luckily since I was a psychic type from using Confusion, I use Synchronoise. "Dont!" I say as I use Confusion next... from what I've seen, I've done quite a bit to hurt it... "Hurt..." I grunt, taking two pecks to the nose and shoulder, "Bonnie!" I say as I go invisible, run around it, and put it in a headlock as Samuel begins joining in, eventually accidentally slamming him out of my hands with his tail when he tried using Pound. It hops away quickly, and I breathe deeply as I go back to normal.

I ask "Hey, does everyone have a name in this place? Is anyone even truly a wild pokemon?" as I start to feel thirsty. I part some grass, and shout "LEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOO?!" into the sky. I walk around and see two different litleos. "Two? The mission never said two... are they wilds?" I whisper to Samuel, and he shrugs. "Which one of you is Leo?" he asks sternly. Both of them look at each other and say "I am! No, I am! NO, I AM!" and repeat it over and over. One of them had to be lying... I rub my forehead, and say "Stop, stop stop stop!" as I calm them down as they began to bite and tackle each other. I close my eyes and mutter something about how crappy my life was... I groan, and shake my head.

As Shadowlight looked down from the top of the old warehouse, she saw how Spruce had been beaten down after beating one of the zubats up. Seriously, what was Archie's idea to send him in a solo job, when he knows full well that grass type are weak against poison... She shook her head, as she then saw M go forwards, moving towards the crooks.... and trying to negotiate? Seriously.... she though he was crazy to do this... until she saw him move forwards, going to put himself as the hostage... but she understood what he was doing. Steel type are unaffected by poison, so he would have a advantage against them. And naturally, this is what happen as M goes and unleash a powerful blue lightning at the ass of the skuntank. She smiles under her mask, as the angry zubat and koffing were left in this. It was her time to go and attack them. She suddenly jumped down from her position, before using the werehouse wall and jumping forwards using her claws, and letting out a swift attack towards the unexpected zubat, that soon faint from the earlier damage he had gotten, and what seemed to be a strong hit on it. The koffing looked as his team mate faints from the attack.
"What in the world!" the koffing then says, before Shadowlight turns around, eyes in anger right now.
'Hurting innocents... I always hated when pokemon's did that...." he then says. The koffing looked angry at her.
"Who are you!" he asks. Shadowlight growls at it.
"Shadowlight, your worst nightmare!" she yells in her deep tone voice. The koffing suddenly used poison gas, trying to poison her, but only to receive a swift attack in the face, being sent back from the attack. In Shadowlight side, she was breathing slowly, her mask actually filtering the gas and making it inaffective. The koffing then yelled in rage before using his sludge attack, striking Shadowlight hard, but not poisoning her. She then rushes forwards before using confuse ray, and making the thing move around aimlessly, and then striking a wall. Shadowlight then push the boss away using a basic attack. Shadowlight shaked quickly, getting the sludge off of her... So gross...
"Ugh... dang poison types...." she says annoyed. She then moves to Spruce, and makes sure he was alright. She looked towards M.
"Take care of the hostage and that boss i am gonna try to wake him up." she then says, opening her bag and going to search for some soup, and slowly giving it to Spruce, hoping it would wake him up.