"That damn Illusion Pokemon, it's still around. We don't have any chance of getting to those kids now..." "Just a bit more time, we just need a bit more time to get those kids, else _He'll_ have our heads." A five cloaked men and a single Alakazam clung to one another, bruised and scratched from the overbearing illusions that had plagued them for so many days now. This group had one mission, collect the children that had been kidnapped by the Skarmory and bring them back to the Island, but it seemed as though it would have been tougher then any of them had expected. The forest had a protector, the battle-scarred Zoroark, and no matter what they attempted they just couldn't get her out of their hair. "Let's try one more time, maybe luck will be-" The man was silenced as a hand rose, owned by the oldest of the five, and as the rest gave him odd looks he chuckled darkly, pointing towards Skarmory's hill. A flash of green fell from the sky suddenly, followed by a large explosion, and then dust. Rayquaza, the Pokemon of the Liastine household. The single Alakzam viewed this with intense, glowing eyes, and then lowered his head in shame. A sign of defeat. "The mission is over, looks like we've been foiled. Let's head back home." The old man spoke, lips bared in an angry snarl. The rest whispered among themselves, eyebrows upturned, and then with silent defeat they retreated into the plains of Aeyro and vanished in a flash of light. The final blow from the Legendary Pokemon had done the job. The armor plating on the Skarmory's back cracked with the impact, and his wings curled away from the hit, becoming much too bent to fly anymore. There was a short scream that had exited it's throat, but it was lost as the Steel-Flying type fainted right then and there. Even if it had managed to stay conscious, it's wings were much too tangled to work, and it's beak and head were much too dented and mangled to even allow it to see or screech. It was, in other words, horribly broken. As the dust cloud began to settle, those who were to expect the Skarmory closer would notice something very peculiar in his now cracked back. An arrow head, different from the ones used by Seth and Sebastian, gleamed from within the steel, dyed magenta by an unknown poison. This was the reason for the Skarmory's madness. Tidal continued to dodge and circle around the battle, throwing his own barrage of Aurora Beams to continue his usefulness. Sadly, most of them missed, but it helped to keep the already-confused Skarmory from landing any direct blows on his... Eh, teammates. When the wind started to pick up, though, he was caught off guard, and Tidal felt his light body slowly drift upwards as the hurricane-type attack started to pull at the air around them. The human named Seth barked out the Pidgeot's name, and though Tidal could barely see through the swirling whirl-wind he had a hunch that Belle and the Luxray (Morph? Smelt like a Morph) were within the eye of the storm. A sudden blast of wind caught him in his time of thought, and Tidal tumbled back, hitting the stone wall with enough force to stun him. A cry of pain left his throat, and he slid to the dusty earth slowly, one eye closed as he attempted to gaze at the battle once more. The human named Sebastian, who was currently taking shelter behind a nearby rock, shouted something to the serpent high above them, and as Tidal allowed his head to lift slowly Rayquaza shot down from the heavens he braced himself for another heavy gust. As the serpent collided with the earth dust filled the air, and another blast of wind simply blew over Tidal's back, saving him from another injury. Silence filled the clearing then, a good chance for the Vaporeon to clear his mind and relax, just for a moment. 'Wait... Where is she?' The thought was brief but chilling to him, and as the dust began to settle he rose slowly, limping towards the group with wide eyes. Where was Aleida? She wasn't... Here... He turned towards Seth, crying out loudly as he glanced around sporadically, almost as if he were commanding him to find his friend. 'Can't let the kids leave, too dangerous... Stay up, stay up, it doesn't hurt.' Aleida hummed a song loudly, hoping to drown out the sounds of the battle and keep the children calm, and as they gathered around her with upturned eyebrows and red, puffy eyes she smiled weakly. Blood continued to spill from her relatively deep wounds, though she had managed to slow the process by tightening the already firm bandages around her arms. She had already assured the children that she was perfectly fine. Many of the kids had begun to settle down around her, sniffling quietly as what sounded like a war waged on outside, and the one child who clung to an unfamiliar black furball stepped forward suddenly, tears still thick and present in his brown eyes. He held the Pokemon forward, and Aleida cocked her head then gasped as she realized what it was. A Zoroua, a young one at that. Matted fur, closed eyes, and heavy breathing quickly made her realize that it was very sick, and the child who cradled it gently whispered, "Zoroua is sick, it was the second one to come in, me first. No food, bad water from upside-down rocks, so no get better. Please help him, please." The boy cried, more tears swelling with each word. Aleida nodded slowly, ignoring the sudden dizziness that struck her as she reached to her side and closed her hand around the waterskin within her side bag. The slosh of liquid gave her a sudden feeling of relief, and as she took the small Pokemon hesitantly with her bloodied arms she smiled and nodded to the other children kindly, "You're gonna be okay now, right? I'll take you home once my friends make sure everything is safe outside." She pulled the cork fro the waterskin and opened Zoroua's mouth, allowing it to drink first before handing it to the other children, explaining that they should only take a mouthful so that everyone can get some. She then placed the Zoroua onto her lap, wincing as she saw that some of her own blood had become tangled in the Pokemon's thick fur, and dug into her bag once more. Aleida had recently restocked her food and medicine supply thanks to her shopping spree in Ladyl, meaning she had just the thing for the sick Pokemon and the kids. A rather small but thick root was dragged from the leather, an Energy Root, even the smallest amount could help one's recovery from almost any aliment. She first attempted to give the whole slice to the Zoroua, but it was unable to chew it fully, so in the end she had to chew it herself and then force it down the poor thing's throat with a second dose of water. Once the Zoroua's breathing slowed significantly she turned her attention to the children, piling the dried fruits and meats on the cave floor in front of them hesitantly. They gorged quietly, some looking at the swaying Aleida with worry, and as they ate and ate she smiled and turned to gaze out of the cave. From where she sat all she could focus in on was the edge of the clearing, but she could easily hear the shrieks and blasts from the battle that was just out of her sight. Worry made her head feel heavy, or maybe that was the blood loss... A sudden gust of wind sent the group into a flurry of shrieks, and Aleida attempted to raise her arms but found they were much too heavy to move. Worry turned to panic, and she glanced behind her quickly... Just as a another blast of air filled the cave with dust. Everyone hacked and coughed as they breathed in the cloud, and with growing anxiety she yelled, "Take the Zoroua and go outside, please! I'll be right behind you!" The weight on her lap vanished as soon as she barked those orders and with a bit of a struggle she stood, limping towards the light that she could barely see through the smoke cloud. She had managed to lift her arm somewhat up to her mouth, where she would then use her teeth to tightly fasten the bandages around her arm, but it seemed they wounds would require a bit more care. She let her arms drop, letting out a choked cough, and just as she managed to escape the cave and suck up a deep breath of fresh air she was struck with a wave of dizziness, forcing her onto her knees. The children had successfully exited the dust-filled cave, just as the smoke cloud outside settled, and they all gathered together at the sight of a whole new bunch of strangers. The one child holding the Zoroua turned expectantly, awaiting Aleida to appear from the darkness, but all he caught was the slight shadow of her falling to her knees. "Miss!" He cried out, tears swelling up once more.

Sindri ~Ayero Countryside, Road to Hiden (~Interacting with Zavier,Corivana, Claire, John and their pokemon~) Sindri didn't exactly say anything after the discussion about the morphs came to a close. There really wasn't much to say on the matter. Still as the group got ready to move out the desert man would join them on their journey.

**Sebastian and Quazar, Ayero, Ladyl Woods** Sebastian coughed a little as the dust from Quazar's attacked blew over the area, but when it settled he took a look at the Skarmory, a satisfied smile coming over his face. Yeah, that thing wasn't coming to anytime soon. He was going to walk over and put the thing out it's misery, when he heard one of the kids they had saved sscream out. Looking in that direction, he saw that Aleida seemed to be a bit worse for wear at the moment. Seeing her in that state brought to mind very unpleasant memories of the day House Liastine had been attacked, or to be more to the point, how his sister had been cut down in cold blood by one of the invading soldiers. It was at this moment that Quazar, watching from on high, decided to add his two cents on the situation. You should help her 'Why the hell should I do that, she's was a means to an end, and it's her own fault she got injured' And yet, you seem to want to help her 'No, I don't' Yes, you do Sebastian growled at Quazar's annoying insistence, before finally giving in to the legendary dragon. 'Fine, but remember that I'm only doing this to get you to shut up.' Whatever makes you happy Quazar said in an annoyingly victorious tone Ignoring the dragon, Sebastian approached Aleida, kneeling down beside her to inspect her wounds. They were pretty ugly ones, but not beyond his ability. Since he was a wanderer, he usually had to rely on him self for medical attention, thus he had made sure to study it to the best of his ability. While he was no professional, he could patch people up rather well, and had a great amount of knowledge of medicinal plants and substances. Reaching into his belt pouch, he pulled out some bandages, made from Galvantula silk. The slight electrical charge natural present in the fabric would help numb the pain of the wound. He slathered the underside of it with a salve carrying a mixture of Oran and Sitrus berries, more effective on Pokemon, but it would help the wounds heal faster and keep them from getting infected. He then applied them, tying them nice and tight to help staunch the bleeding. Once he had finished, he brought out his canteen, and held it up for her to take a drink. "Here, take a drink so you don't faint." he didn't look at her staring at the small Pokemon in her lap, a Zorua a rare pokemon indeed, that would fetch a high price. But that thought didn't cross his mind, as when he saw this little creature, he saw himself, all alone wondering what had happened to his family, why this had happened to him. "I assume this is the reason the Pokemon you were talking about has been acting out, so lets hurry up and get it to her. Poor thing is probably scared to death at the moment." His voice was soft and gentle as he spoke, his eyes losing their hardness and rigidity.

The situation got really hectic after that. Milly and Mel became passive observers as Neva nearly killed a simple peasant, who appeared out of place in one of the wealthiest communities in Nouvelle. The poor guard and his accompanying Machoke were forced aside from the great bird. Yvetal, or Shade as he was introduced, telepathically relayed his displeasure of Neva. Telepathy was a considerably rare trait in Pokemon and only those who had natural Psychic type usually had that trait. Mel hardly ever used telepathy to relay information with strangers as she had always believed that telepathy was only considered with those close to you, at least that's what Mel explained it to Milly. She wouldn't even consider opening up with other humans outside of Milly at this point, but maybe to other worthy Pokemon. Regardless, that happened and both Milly and Mel watched it all unfold with an absent mind, not really caring too much. They both gave each other a look as if saying "Do you know what's going on?" "Not one bit." Before watching the rest of it unfold. During all this, Milly's house guard and some of the plaza's guard had mobilized and formed a phalanx that blocked access to the stage. At this point, Milly had to intervene. "Alright that's enough!" She commanded in a booming voice. Her guard eased up a bit and turned around to face their future Countess or Earl, which ever suited them. "Who cares if Neva is aggressively protective. Who cares if Shade disapproves. Who cares if you can pet Neva freely. Let's just take a walk up to the Manor and have a nice, late breakfast." Milly strutted with a manner of authority as she stepped down the stairs of the stage, her guard parted and allowed her passage, but slowed her step to a gentle caution as she approached Sophia, not wanting to alarm Neva again. Milly turned to face Cheviot Hill and offered her arm for Sophia to cling to, just like Milly had wanted to formally escort her superior before all this nonsense. "Come on, Sophia. We can get those scraps looked at once we are inside." She said empathetically to the dainty blonde before turning to the other man, Korrigan. "You're welcome to come along." She said sternly.

Korrigan nodded, moving to be right next to the girl, or at least as close as her guards would allow. He scanned her face intensely for a second, trying to remember if he's met her before. He thinks he might have seen her when he was taken to all of the noble families(the important ones anyway) to announce him being the new master of Yveltal. It was a pretentious way for them to remind everyone that they still had a giant death bird at their command and that they weren't afraid to use it. That had been when he was around 10 years old, if he remembered correctly. "Hello, um, Madame Cheviot right? My name is Korrigan Umbraisis, but my since that' a mouth full please due as Sophia does and call me Korrey, or don't if you feel the need to be super proper about it. Oh, and I don't know if your guards had told you about this yet, but I have taken care of your bandit problem and returned any hostages or kidnap victims that they had. And this is my partner Shade," With that he made a flourish to the large Dark-Flying type, who gave a small bow. "Anyway, have we met before? If so, then I apologize for asking but what is your first name, unless you want me to call you Madame Cheviot for the duration of my visit."

Corivana had to stop herself from rubber-necking to look at the small army of armored men who now clambered on the road behind herself, Kyo, and the rest of their merry band of adventurers. Her eye flicked back subtly to check their numbers, and she had been wrong: they numbered more than just a mere forty. Near two hundred strong, and all marching in perfect synchronization with the well oiled discipline that proper military training enforced on it's troops. She could faintly make out pokemon running along side each of them, mere silhouettes. She tugged on Kyo's harness to get her pokemon to speed up, and bit her lip. She really couldn't afford to be found out here. Her identity was top secret. Even talking to the Lady Claire was going to be frowned upon when she wrote it in her report upon arriving at the capital. "It do be on this path comin' up, mateys." Corivana said suddenly, pointing to a well worn road that forked off from the main one, and wound it's way through the forest on their right. A high canopy of trees and vines made a whimsical arched ceiling over the road, giving the path a pleasant shade. She didn't look back to see if any of her companions followed her to the path. She would leave even the Lady Claire in the dust if it meant retreating away from the overwhelming anxiety she felt about any one of the pawns in that army even suspecting who she was. Nona Nursery had once been the home of the legendary nurse, Nona, who was known for her abundant generosity and kindness, as well as for her immeasurable skills at healing people and pokemon alike. Now, however, it is known for producing many young medics who go to aid the King's Guard with their skills to heal. The village sits next to the great river that the Espada barges travel down to deliver produce to the capital. Because of this, the Nursery gets fresh produce without having to grow their own, but they have rare berries being maintained by the local pokemon to help supplement their economy. The entire village sits beneath the welcoming shade of the forest it's located in, and only streams of sunlight pierce the foliage high overhead. The Nursery is a paradise for fairy, water, bug, and normal type pokemon. 'And it wont be much longer before we arrive.' Corivana gripped the harness tightly, causing her knuckles to go white. The current Elder Nurse, Adelheit, was an old waraxe. The lady was the black sheep of the rest of the village, atleast personality-wise, yet they looked up to her and welcomed the difference. "She also do be an infuriating old coot!" Corivana said outloud, and mostly to herself. Adelheit could prove to be a challenge to deal with, she was sharp and witty, even at such an old age - and she had always given Corivana a hard time. Corivana wasn't sure if it was because Adelheit enjoyed torturing her, or if the old lady was just senile, but coming here had been something she was intending to avoid. Meanwhile, Kyo spoke with Zavier. "It seems like she named you, little one. She calls me Kyo, so let's play sometime since you're our friend now, Fate!" The Kyogre practically beamed with happiness, but it wasn't just because Zavier was part of their duo-now-trio. She knew this road, and what lay on the other end. "You'll like the Nursery, Fate. All of the houses have plants growing out of their roof, and they feed you good food. Maybe you can try to break your collar here? Adelheit has a sharp claw that might work!" As Kyo followed the bend of the path, Nona Nursery came to life before them, unfurling in an array of plant life, pokemon, and people all scurrying about their tasks. Children laughed as they played games with eachother and their pokemon, while teenagers flocked together on the wood and stone porches of houses, or ran across the village square with a bundle of plants in their arms, obviously on a chore. No guards stood at the entrances, but instead about two dozen archers archers with their pokemon settled atop the roof of their homes and kept casual watch over the town. Not much crime happened here, so the archers took their job about as seriously as the children playing in the square below. "We do be here, mateys. Nona Nursery. Ye should find the Elder Nurse Adelheit if ye do be wantin' yer haxxorus treated, John." Corivana announced as she swung down off of Kyo. A feeling of nostalgia bubbled in her belly as she glanced over the small town. She had flirted with many women here, back when she and they were teenagers, but they had almost all left to go to aid the King's Guard with their skills. Nostalgia went quickly to something more bittersweet, but she shrugged it away with a casual shrug of her shoulders. "I do be off to find meself some grub, good luck with Adelheit. If ye do wish to accompany Kyo and meself further to the capital, we do be leavin' before the hour chimes." She gestured to a clock sitting in the middle of the town, just next to the pokemon center. Just barely ten minutes into the hour. Corivana swaggered into the village, Kyo floating serenely behind her. Sophia could feel Neva shaking with rage from where her hand lay on him, but he remained oddly silent through Shade's criticism - which was very unlike her articuno to do. But even Sophia was taken aback when Korrigan pushed his luck and came to pet Neva. Sophia turned her eyes to Neva and gave him a look that spoke volumes. Don't do it. The articuno ruffled his feathers out and began to vigorously clean himself where Korrigan had touched them. Neva didn't dislike Korrigan, but it would be safe to say that the legendary pokemon has his feathers in a bunch. Sophia managed to renew her smile when Milly spoke. A tinge of jealousy crept into her as she watched her old-now-new friend diffuse the situation as if it were as simple as breathing. 'I could never do that.' She had learned from books, but practical, hands-on... that was beyond her. 'For now... I'll learn to get better. Coming here was the right choice. I'll learn a lot from Milly.' She waited until Korrigan finished asking who Milly was before looping a dainty arm through Milly's own. "Thank you Milly, I would enjoy that. I'm sure she can answer your questions on the walk there, Korrey, I'd love to get out of this chill and have a delicious Nouvelle-style breakfast. Come Neva, and behave!" Sophia's leg and arm were throbbing indeed, and she'd kill to be sitting in front of a fire and eating whatever delicacies this wondrous town has to offer. The articuno pranced closely behind her and Milly, a protective force of nature. "I apologize for my behavior in your territory, Lady Mel." Neva said to Mel, his imperious sounding voice taking on a slightly humble cadence. "That Morph basically begged to have his throat ripped out for offending us with it's presence, and for trying to hurt my Sophia." There was nothing humble about his voice as he finished. His eyes gleamed with a predatory light as he glanced back at where the Morph was.

Zaeger had remained impassive as the Articuno's peak stopped a hairsbreath from his throat. He hadn't been concerend, a little impressed with how fast the evil bird could move but concerened? No. And then even more to his great offense one of the pigheaded nobles there decided he would pet the dang bird and didn't even get his head bitten off. "Hey, hey, hey!" he said pushing through the two gaurds in front of him. "So let me get this straight." he began angrily, "In nearly die because I accidently toss a rock somewhere in the bird's vicinity, but this red hedgehog gets to hug him without even a look in his direction." He knew that nobles were arragent swine but even this was taking it a bit far. Zaeger glared back at tge Articuno returning every ounce of his predatoral look with an air of offened superiority and a look of total disdian, now he was praticlly begging the stupid bird to come and fight him. Zaegar wasn't worried about his own safety and the more trouble he could cause these stupid nobles the better.

Korrigan eye twitched as the man that Neva had attacked called him a 'red hedgehog'. That's it, fuck being civil, fuck manners, that fucker was going down. Korrigan, please remain calm. He's a Morph and you fighting him carries a real chance of danger. Shade was speaking to Korrey directly, and would have sounded more convincing if he wasn't chuckling while he talked. "Oi, blonde, who the fuck are you calling a red hedgehog. I hope you can back that talk up, cause I'm going to beat your ass all over this damn town. What'll it be,swords, fists, you name and I'm willing to play it. And if anyone else interferes than you'll have to deal with Shade." Korrigan walked right over to the Morph, grabbing him by the collar and staring him right in the eye, his eyes glowing red and shadowy apparitions forming around him "After I'm done with you, your going to wish that Neva tore your sorry throat out."