@Heckno12 @OtomostheCrazy @Zanavy @fer1323 @Crimson Flame @c3p-0h

Leaning against the door frame, Sophia turned and scowled. Glad as she was that Oscar was alright, she'd expected nothing less than this kind of overconfidence from him. She couldn't look after herself? Seriously? For Arceus' sake, she wasn't THAT exhausted... She stood up straight, only to stagger as the room lurched.

"Ugh... How very typical of you," she muttered. Glancing from the unconscious girl to Rheese, she sighed. It was a bad time to let this develop into a full blown argument. "But fine. Deal." With not just an Arcanine, but a Leafeon, it seemed Oscar would have a good chance. Which, while envy-inducing, was oddly admirable. She watched the newly-evolved Nomia nuzzle Skoll, and her expression softened. For all his faults, Oscar knew how to raise happy, friendly Pokemon.

With another look at the girl on the floor, Sophia bit her lip. "She's going to be ok, right?" she asked the group surrounding the girl. She wished she could help, but at least Amber, Ty, Medic and the others seemed to know what they were doing. Staggering back inside, she approached Oscar. "There's also something I've got to talk to you and Saki about," she told him, voice lowered. "Some information I found out." Out of concern for Rheese, she projected the last part into Oscar's mind. "About Team Noble."

She winced, closing her eyes against surroundings that shifted in and out of focus as if she might faint. A squeak cut through the dizziness. "Ita!"

"Lacey..." Holding out an arm to keep her balance as she swayed, Sophia looked down at those fearful blue eyes. "It's nothing. It'll pass." Dammit, she needed to stop worrying her Pokemon like this.



@Heckno12 @OtomostheCrazy @Zanavy @fer1323 @Crimson Flame @c3p-0h

Amber turned and sighed. As much as she wanted to reassure Sophia, she couldn't be sure how serious the girl's condition was. "Medic here's doing a good job," she replied. It was all she could say for certain.

That was when she noticed something else was wrong. Amongst the gathering of trainers, two people were nowhere to be seen. Alexis and Deneb.

"Just a moment..." Stomach sinking, Amber stood up and hauled her backpack onto her shoulders. For all she knew, whatever had hurt this girl was still out there, and Team Noble couldn't be far. While Alexis and Deneb were capable trainers, nobody could be too careful. "I'll be back as quickly as possible. It's just, Alexis, Deneb, I've gotta find them."

She hurried along the path, Tacita, Aeshna and Kyra all speeding alongside her. It didn't take long for her to spot Alexis, standing out amidst the passers-by in that elaborate outfit. Yet instead of her confident stride, she moved with a slow shuffle, seemingly lost in thought. Amber exhaled with relief. "Alexis!" She approached her, Tacita and Aeshna following...

But not Kyra, who instead bounded along the streetside flowerbed, crushing the plants. "Kyra! No, no come on, come along..." Ignoring Amber's pleas, the Rockruff gave a cheerful bark and jumped at a flock of Combees. They flitted out of the way, right into Alexis' path. "Ah! Sorry about that!"

While they didn't attack, the Combees went on the defensive, gathering around one with a red dot on its forehead. A female. A future queen. "It's ok, she was just playing," Amber explained, gesturing for Kyra to stay back. The bees, however, remained just as agitated, buzzing fiercely as they glared.

Rheese had moved to help the girl that collapsed, but several others were already on top of it. At this point he'd be extra baggage. A burden once again. He clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Rheese cut a glare at Oscar's comment about him looking worse for wear...As though he didn't already know that. He sighed and looked away after a moment, Oscar clearly didn't mean anything by it...but It still kind of felt like he was reaching his limit with all of this. As he saw Sophia wince with a clear usage of her abilities, likely avoiding saying something that would trigger whatever was going on with him that was all he could take. He stood up and walked away from the group with a sigh. Bounsweet bounded after him with Wooper close behind as the water type knew where this was going.

"I'm going to get back to training." He said, trying to hide his irritation at the whole situation from the others. He felt tears of frustration begin to form as he stormed off back towards the forest. He didn't want to argue or confront anybody about this, it was his own damn fault anyway.

Ty hustled down the road, hands jittering within the pockets of his leather jacket. He needed to get away from...that.

She's gonna be okay, Ty mentally told himself over and over. He noticed a tightness in his chest and tried to calm down his shallow gulps of breaths. We did everything we could. We did a good job. Now more experienced people are taking care of her. It's okay to leave. She's gonna be okay...

The Igglybuff riding his shoulder squished against his chin in a gentle hug. Ty noticed the gesture after a few seconds. With a light frown, he moved Medic's embracing arms away and patted her once on the head. Ty was no wuss. He wasn't breaking down that much.

The punk trainer stopped in a flat meadow, just within eyesight of the gym. He sat on the rich earth, finally succeeding in getting some deep breaths in. Sunbeams peeked through fluffy clouds; the grass grew green and vibrant; the occasional tune of a wild flying-type could be heard in the distance. And Ty was about to introduce himself to his awesome new Pokemon. He had to put his best foot forward, like the trainer had it all under control and everything was fine. In reality, apparently, everything was really not fine with this new group of companions. But... he could pretend for a few minutes.

Ty opened his brown eyes to find Medic sitting beside him, imitating his meditative pose. He could see her entire soft body inflate and deflate as she breathed deeply. Ty couldn't help but chuckle. Cute wasn't his typical aesthetic, but he couldn't deny talent when he saw it.

"We're gonna meet our new friend," Ty announced. "You know the drill?

Medic opened her eyes and nodded. She stayed put while Ty backed away several meters. The trainer pulled out his Litleo's pokeball, but then he paused.

"Just be careful when you send out that Litleo. You seem to have a rather aggressive one."

Amber's advice was sound - better safe than sorry. Ty sent out Hunk first.

"Hey, bud. You're the big bro now! Can you just stand by me in case the Litleo tries to attack?"

The Timburr crossed his arms and raised an unamused brow. Oh, he certainly would not hesitate to do his duty if that Litleo showed the slightest sign of aggression.

"Ooh, good security guard face," Ty praised with the best smile he could muster.

Ty raised his new Pokemon's ball up high. With a beam of light, a Litleo appeared near the waiting Igglybuff. The feline Pokemon looked around and sniffed at the new surroundings. Her fur stood on end when she noticed the human. But the squishy ball of pink next to her spoke up and drew her attention. Medic talked to the Litleo for a couple minutes, sounding calm but serious about whatever she was saying. The Litleo relaxed some as she paid good attention to Medic's speech, and she gave Ty some inquisitive glances toward the end. At the end of Medic's introduction, the fire-type gave a short nod. Medic smiled and gestured her teammates over.

"Hey," Ty began as he knelt near the feline. "Nice to meet you for real. I'm Ty Westgrove, and I'm a Stunt Pokemon Trainer." Well, aspiring, but close enough. "We battle sometimes, but our team is more about learning sick tricks to use in movies. I guess you probably don't know what those are yet... we should watch a movie tonight!"

The Litleo sniffed at Ty's outstretched hand, then his jacket sleeve. She ducked away when he attempted to pet her. However, she responded with considerably more enthusiasm to a bag of chips dumped out in front of her.

"You're not supposed to inhale it," Ty laughed as the Litleo practically swallowed the snack whole. "So, you like people food?"

@fer1323 @Heckno12

"Ok, so here's what happened," Sophia began, walking alongside Oscar down the hallway. Well, more like swaying and staggering. Her legs still ached from the long journey, and with her dizziness, every step felt likely to send her off balance. "Rheese, he... He was being taken somewhere, by two Team Noble thugs. They ran away and thankfully left him here, but something's been done to his mind."

She shuddered. "He's missing some memories, and if anyone mentions Team Noble around him... He reacts badly, to say the least. When I tried to get rid of the effect just now, it turned out too strong to do much about." She clenched her fists at her own helplessness. "But there are a few things I saw and heard. I'll explain to both you and Saki."

Oscar follows Sophia and listens to what she says. He doesn't make a comment, reserving his anger for team noble for a later date. He waits until he meets and battles Saki to get more infomation as all he can do now is get stronger and by defeating the gym leaders is the clearest path to do so. Hopefully this will also make the other worry about him less and show that he is capable to fight back.

Sophia staggered into the arena, a spacious room lined with flowers. As Lacey tottered around, staring in fascination at the blooms, Fantoccino grumbled and searched for a dark corner. Beckoning her Pokemon over, Sophia made her way towards the bleachers. "Don't act high and mighty if you win," she told Oscar, with a pointed look over her shoulder. "But... Good luck."

With that, she took a seat, eager curious to see him and his newly evolved Pokemon take on the challenge.

At the other end of the room, a concerned Saki asked one of her assistants to check on Remi. As the assistant nodded and hurried out, Saki approached Oscar, greeting him with a bow and a soft smile. "Welcome," she said, leading her newest challenger to the chalk-lined arena. "If you please, may I ask your name?"

"The name is Oscar Berg. This will be my second gym battle and I will win it. I assume i can choose two pokemon as I have a full party of 6 pokemon?" Oscar sounds determined and resolute as he takes the pokemon balls containing Skoll and Roadrunner. may not be best play but hopefully can over run the gym leader to get enough of a lead to make the rest of the gym battle easier.

Saki nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you Oscar, my name's Saki Matsusuki. And yes, we certainly can make this a six-on-six double battle if you'd prefer." Taking her place at the other end of the arena, she took two of her own Pokeballs as the referee announced the rules. "Let me know when you're ready."

"I am ready right now! and don't hold back, I am going to bring my full stregth!" Oscar sends out Skoll and Roadrunner as my front line fighters for this gym battle. Oscar looks resolute in winning and looks like to figh tooth and nail for it.

"Nuzleaf, Foongus, go!" In a burst of holographic flower effects, Saki's first two battlers appeared. They recoiled at the sight of the huge Arcanine, but quickly composed themselves, Nuzleaf snickering and advancing as Foongus hopped by his side.

Oscar ordered Skoll to fire fang the foongus, which went down in an intant but made Skoll come into contact ith spores that made skoll fall asleep. Roadrunner flame charged the nuzleaf which made it look really beat up but still on two legs.

Nuzleaf swayed, but laughed as if to say the Combusken would have to do better than that. "Grassy Terrain!" Saki called, withdrawing Foongus. At her command, Nuzleaf spread his hands out and unleashed a green ring of energy that spread over the battlefield, taking on the shape of grass and wildflowers. As the glowing 'grass' brushed against his legs, some of his burns faded.

Sending out her Bulbasaur to take Foongus' place, Saki issued more commands. "Now, Nuzleaf, use Quick Attack on Roadrunner! Bulbasaur, Reflect!" Nuzleaf moved first, charging through the energy vegetation in a blur and striking Roadrunner with a swift punch.

Roadrunner had gained some speed but was hit by the quick attack. while connecting, Roadrunner faired well and Oscar has roadrunner retaliate with a double kick taiking down the nuzleaf. Skoll seems to be alseep much to Oscar's fustrition

Bulbasaur put up a shimmering barrier, but wasn't fast enough to dampen the kicks that sent Nuzleaf toppling. "Flapple, your turn!" Recalling Nuzleaf, Saki sent out a small green dragon, fluttering on wings that resembled apple skin.

Oscar makes Roadrunner attack flapple with flame charge. "Time to make some baked apple pie! if this succeeds!" Despite the set back with arcanine, Oscar is happy with lead he has currantly.

The blow, even with the Reflect weakening it, sent the tiny dragon careening through the air. She steadied herself and fluttered back over, flapping away smoke, far from defeated just yet. When Saki called for her to hit Roadrunner with Wing Attack, Flapple rose up and dived at the Combusken, her peel-like wing striking with surprising force.

"Bulbasaur, use Giga Drain on Skoll!" On command, Bulbasaur aimed a green beam from his bulb at the still-sleeping Arcanine, draining his energy.

The wing attack hits and hits hard against roadrunner. making the combuken faint while bulbasaur hits the sleeping arcanine, not doing much damage. Flaaple and Arcanine heal cos of grassy terrian as Oscar withdraws Roadrunner and sends out Kushala. One down but Oscar knows he can still win this. Skoll wakes up and oscar sends him to attack the bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur yelped as the Fire Fang hit home. He staggered, but remained standing, and used his vines to pull a berry from a pouch around his neck. As he gobbled it down, the burn marks on his skin began to fade, yet the effect appeared offset by an adverse one; he stared around as if unsure what to do.

"Flapple, Wing Attack the Jangmo-o," Saki commanded. Once again, Flapple sped forward and lashed out with a wing. "Bulbasaur, focus and aim Giga Drain at Skoll!" The confused Bulbasaur glanced around, before briefly snapping to his senses and repeating his attack.

The giga drain landed while not effective typing wise, was a critical hit. Skoll is still standing resolute like a champion while Kushala whimpers from the attack. Oscar tells kuskala to use dragon tail on the flapple which lands a solid hit before following up with protect.

Flapple spun back, off of the battlefield, and disappeared into her Pokeball. "Rest up for now, Flapple. Lilligant, go!" Saki sent out an unusual-looking Lilligant; yellow-green, with blue leaves, and a pink flower on her head. "Pollen Puff at Kushala!" Lilligant aimed a sphere of pollen at Kushala, but the Protect went up in time to block it, yellow powder exploding outwards and scattering harmlessly on the floor.

Oscar followed up with fire fang on the troublesome bulbasaur from Skoll, which was super effective and enough to down. Oscar is pleased as it is three pokemon down for the gym leader and only one for himself. just need to maintain this lead.

As Bulbasaur collapsed, Saki returned him and sent out a Lombre. The grassy effect faded from the battlefield, but Lilligant and Lombre stared down their opponents, still able to hold their own. "Lombre, Fake Out at Skoll!" Saki called. Lombre ran up to the Arcanine and clapped his hands, sending out shockwaves that made his opponent flinch. "Lilligant, hit Kushala with Giga Drain." Stretching out her leafy arms, Lilligant shot a brilliant green beam from between them, which hit Kushala full force.

This makes Oscar grit his teeth. He should have expected relation at full force eventually but he composes himself as he might be down a big but not out as Skoll is in the game. Oscar withdraws Kushala, priasing the young dragon as he sends out Nomia the leafeon and has her give a helping hand to Skoll.

On Saki's command to repeat the attack, Lilligant aimed another Giga Drain, the beam slamming into the Leafeon.

they were both solid hits but leafeon is still standing but whimpering making Oscar angry as he sends skoll to thunder fang the lombre, landing a solid hit.

Lombre stumbled, sparks flying around him, and glared from under his lily pad. "Lombre, Mud Shot, Lilligant, Giga Drain, both at Nomia!" Saki called. Raising his head, Lombre fired a blob of mud from his mouth at the Leafeon, and Lilligant followed up with another draining beam.

The mud shot did little to hurt Nomia but the giga drain finish off Nomia. Oscar grits his teeth as things are turning from good to bad and maybe to worse if they continue like this. Skoll goes in for another thunder fang at the lombre and landing with minamal effect. Oscar sends out Aurora the riolu.

"Lombre, Water Gun at Skoll!" Lombre spat forth a torrent of water, dousing the Fire type.

The water gun seemed to hurt the arcanine but not as much as expected. Oscar had Skoll reliate with extreme speed at the lombre. Right away, the Lombre flopped to the ground, unconscious.

"Lilligant, use Pollen Puff on the Riolu!" Saki called, returning the fainted water type. Lilligant flung a clump of pollen, which hit its mark this time, exploding on contact.

This did lots of damage to Aurora but Oscar had Aorura attack lilligant with a metal claw and ready an quick attack at the last pokemon that the gym leader is going to release. Sure enough, as soon as Saki sent out her final Pokemon - Flapple - the Quick Attack struck. With Flapple already weakened, and only two Pokemon left on Saki's side, Oscar was catching up.

"Lilligant, hit Aurora with Sleep Powder." A flurry of spores flew from the flower on Lilligant's head, scattering all over the Riolu and sending her to sleep.

Oscar sees an opening with Skoll to go in for the kill with the more problematic one by using fire fang on Flapple which seems to be the nail in the coffin for the dragon grass type.

Flapple struggled to remain airborne, but the last of the strength left her body and she fell to the floor. "Lilligant, take out Aurora with Giga Drain!" Saki commanded as she withdrew Flapple. One beam was all it took for the Riolu to pass out.

Well, the mistake for the gym leader was that Aurora still asleep and was not the threat while the hurt but very fiesty Skoll unleashed one final fire fang on the lilligant which downed her and finished out the battle. This made Oscar sigh in relief as he goes to skoll and giving him lots of praise.

Recalling Lilligant, Saki bowed and approached Oscar. "That was a good battle there. As a token, please take this Bloom Badge." She held out a small, cherry blossom shaped badge. "And if you wish, you may take one of these TMs." Reaching into a cloth bag strapped over her shoulder, she presented Oscar with four labelled discs. Energy Ball, Giga Drain, Bullet Seed, Grassy Terrain.

On shaky legs, Sophia stood up from the bleachers and strode over. Through the pang of envy coursed an odd sense of relief. She shouldn't have been glad to watch her rival pull the battle back around to his favour, especially considering the deal he'd struck earlier, but somehow she had. Even though she hadn't expected to be. What she'd expected even less was that strained look on his face, that lapse in confidence just before he'd managed to regain the upper hand.

"Well, looks like that's the deal settled," she muttered. "But will you listen to me too?" Taking a deep breath, she gave him a pointed look. "Nobody's doubting you. You can be every level of annoying sometimes, but I've gotta admit, you're a capable trainer. And we all acknowledge that. What I meant, and what Amber was saying, was everyone's gotta be careful. No matter how strong they are."

She huffed. "What was that lecture of yours the other day? If you want to go far, go together? How about you practice what you preach?" Her glare softened. "You don't have to go it alone. Because you're not alone."

Turning her gaze from Oscar to Saki, she continued, "Speaking of... recent events. I was able to find something out."

Oscar sighs as he goes over to praise Skoll. Skoll wags his tail and barks happily as Oscar rubs and scratches in all the right places. After the praise and get the gym badge and bullet seed tm, he says"thanks for the battle, Ma'am. you had me sweaty toward the end there."

Oscar goes to heal his other pokemon before turning to Sophia "well, i was'nt alone. I had my pokemon. You and your friend also seem worse off. and yes, I agree we all have to be careful but as much as i have to listen to my own advice, can you take a second to look at yourself and see that you are as much an enemy to yourself than team noble is. with my advice, it works if we can set aside our differences and not bicker and have in fighting." Oscar doesn't seem mad or angry, just very disappointed and fustrated that the deeper meanings are glossed over but he sigh and seems to relent. "Fine, i will stay with you. i have the contest in a few days so not like i can go to next town just yet. Now, what news do you have? likely nothing good."

@LuckyBlackCat@Zanavy@Heckno12

Alicia pulled her hood up a bit more to hide her face as she and the grunts she was with entered Vareena again. Ozzy returned to the base to handle the debrief while she was reassigned to what was being described as a vanguard mission. Their failure escorting that trainer was completely overshadowed by Shaymin running into the flowery town, which would've been great...but there was no way those trainers wouldn't recognize her. On the plus side, one of the grunts that had intercepted her and Ozzy brought the rest of her pokeballs. Maybe this could just be an opportunity for revenge? No, the mission came first. Still, she had just been here...this wasn't exactly an ideal time.

"Team A, proceed to the back of the contest hall and place the devices. Team B, those Grimer won't get into the well on their own. She said as she waved both teams of two off toward their own missions. That contest needed to be stopped and the townspeople evacuated. That was the easy part, the real issue was doing it all without being caught. The townspeople wouldn't notice them, Mesprit's power assured that...but all of the tourists that had been flocking there for the contest would be a problem. Not to mention those trainers and Saki, it seemed the gym leader was able to resist the psychic pokemon's influence with ease. If it weren't for her, the whole town would have likely been converted into an undercover Noble hideout by now.

Alicia shook off her thoughts, all of that was irrelevant right now. Team A and team B had their assignments, so now she and the remaining grunt needed to do their part. She took a pokeball marked with a 'V' and hid it in a bush outside of the gym. Her accomplice did the same nearby. The Voltorb in these balls would be instrumental in flushing Shaymin out when the time came, their strength was curated to ensure that the explosions would be mostly noise and smoke.

"Agent Actinium reporting in, the plan is proceeding as expected." She said into the microphone she was provided.



Saki bowed lightly towards Oscar before turning to Sophia. "Hm? Something to do with your friend's predicament?" She asked as she hands her pokeballs to a nearby attendant. "Unfortunately, I must remind you that there isn't much that I can do for him here."

Saki was curious as to what the young psychic hadn't said about the situation earlier, but felt the need to keep expectations low. A second attendant showed up and handed Saki a few completely different pokeballs that each had their own markings. She thanked the young woman and shooed her off to leave only her and the two trainers in the room. Saki motioned Sophia to continue.



Rheese sat in the forest with the back of his head resting against a tree. He had triggered that mental block three times since he had gotten out there and made no progress trying to figure it out. He had hoped that he could just willpower through it and come out alright but...it seemed like with everything else he couldn't deal with it on his own. Bounsweet and Wooper had snapped him out of it both times, but both of them just kept looking at him as though worried he would do it again.

"I'm fine, not about to test it a fourth time." He said, much to their relief. He already felt like he had been put through a wringer, so putting a stop to it for now made sense. "Guess I'll just accept that I need Ray's help...again." Rheese slumped down a bit more against the tree, resigned to his fate of asking the guy that had only days prior told him that he'd die if he didn't get stronger.

Rheese pushed himself up suddenly and brought Cottonee and Minior out as well, the latter not even bothering to assault him as it saw his face. "Okay guys, basic drills, time to bring Bounsweet into the fold." Rheese said as he tried to psyche himself and his pokemon up.

@fer1323@LuckyBlackCat

@Heckno12 @fer1323

As Oscar pet Skoll, the corners of Sophia's mouth twitched upwards. At his retort, however, she rolled her eyes. Typical. Of course he'd take any opportunity to go and lecture her.

"Can you take a second to look at yourself and see that you are as much an enemy to yourself than team noble is."

Lacey looked up at Sophia, face solemn, and nodded to back up Oscar's words. Sophia's eyes widened. "Look, both of you, please understand," she urged. "One, I truly am ok, and two, how does anyone even get anywhere without pushing themselves? Especially someone like me." She crouched to pet Lacey, only to groan and fall to her knees, eyes scrunched shut. Her head pounded like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. Through the haze of pain, she heard Lacey squeal, felt the little Gothita hug her.

She gave Lacey a reassuring cuddle before looking up at Oscar. "And about having your Pokemon, I know. I know you look out for each other. But what about other trainers and their teams? All of us, our Pokemon working together..." Staggering to her feet, she folded her arms. "Not that I'm here to make friends, of course! Just talking about the practicalities."

Even as she said that, something stirred in her at the thought of camaraderie. No, she reminded herself, she was here to outdo the others, not get close to them... wasn't she?

"Anyway." She turned her attention to Saki. "I wasn't able to do much for him either..." Her shoulders slumped. Not only had she failed as a psychic, she'd failed Rheese, which was much worse. "That effect's really a force to be reckoned with. But I did get a few glimpses. There was a woman with some kind of insignia on her coat, I didn't clearly see her face, but I think she mentioned Mew? And there was a Pokemon, a yellow and grey one with a red gem on its forehead... Seemed pretty desperate, as if begging for help. Do you know of a Pokemon who fits that description?"

After the Litleo finished her chips, Ty looked at her thoughtfully.

"What should we name you?" the punk trainer thought aloud. "Maybe Pepper? Do you like that?"

The Litleo glanced up at Ty indifferently.

"Hm, so not a no, but not a heck yeah. What abooout Scarlet? ..... Hello? You listening?

The fire-type was not listening. Her eyes dilated in intense focus on something in the distance. Ty turned and looked just in time to see a couple people in hooded uniforms mess with the bushes around the gym and then slink away... but not very far, it seemed.

"Huh, I wonder what they're do-" Ty began before a chilling thought stopped his breath mid-sentence. The others had JUST run into Team Noble... could that be them? And did they see him out in the distant field? Even if they weren't Team Noble, they looked to be up to some kind of no good. Panicking, Ty slowly backed away to hide in the nearest patch of bushes, his Pokemon quietly following suit.

"I know you're strong, son, but... you have to let someone else be the hero, okay?"

Medic noted her trainer's fast breathing and puffed her body in and out, a cue for him to take slower breaths. Sometimes Ty ignored the overly concerned gesture, but this time he followed the Igglybuff's lead. His mind cleared a bit, and he flushed in embarrassment from hiding like that. But he also had a thought: Saki. Saki could be the hero. People like Sophia and Alexis, they could help. They just needed somebody to tell them something was fishy.

Ty frowned at the three small Pokemon around him. Usually Reaper was the messenger, but a giant bug would not be great for a stealth mission. His best choice was obvious - but should he trust the brand new team member?

"Medic, translate as needed," Ty began, barely above a whisper. "Litleo, I hope you're stealthy, 'cause you're for sure a better bet than anyone else here. I want you to go into that big building where you saw the hooded people, but don't let them see you. Once you're inside, find any humans and get their attention and lead them outside. Try not to get caught, but if you do, I'll come help you out."

The Litleo listened intently as Medic clarified some details that a newly caught Pokemon might not understand of human language. Then the feline slipped into the brush and disappeared from sight. She was, in fact, stealthy... perhaps too much. Now came several minutes of helpless waiting. Wondering if the Litleo would succeed, or get caught, or might just decide this was a convenient way to run away...

Meanwhile, the Litleo prowled through the brush, crawling low to the ground in gaps between cover, taking a winding course to maximize the terrain. She never caught a glimpse of any hooded humans, but she kept her eyes and ears alert to any that could be sneaking around like her. The Litleo froze still yards away from the door for over a minute, prepping for the final lap. Then she silently sneaked up to the door, carefully nudged it, and... it didn't open. A firmer nudge and... still not opening. It was too heavy.

The Litleo heard something shift in the near distance and her fur stood on end. Now or never, time's up for stealth. The Litleo backed up and ran forward to Tackle the door with all her might. That force was enough to swing the door open, and she tumbled inside.

Now in the gym, the Litleo gazed around in confusion. The predator was well trained in stealth... the 'getting attention' part was foreign to her. When she noticed the first human, she let out a mumbling roar, almost like a nervous laugh. Then she roared a little louder but still awkwardly and stomped on a nearby flower.

@Crimson Flame@fer1323@Heckno12@LuckyBlackCat@OtomostheCrazy

Tim hung about wondering what he should do next. The other people had gone their separate ways, and he didn’t feel comfortable tagging along with strangers. The Gym was nearby, but Tim wasn’t quite ready for that yet. He was about to leave, and wander around a little when he caught sight of a Litleo, attempting to roar, and his face lit up.“Hey buddy! What are you doing here? Are you lost?” He quietly approached the Pokémon, and tried to pat it on the head.

Meanwhile, Rocky, sniffed it curiously, and started panting happily.

Liam was disappointed no one had paid him any attention. The one other guy still there decided to notice some random Litleo before noticing the cute boy with the fairies. Well, that was gonna have to change. “Oh good, you do talk!” Liam gave Tim a hug. “It’s so nice to meet someone I can talk to on eye level for once!”

Tim blushed and immediately backed away from the hug. “Um… I-I-I’m Tim… Um…” He immediately turned his attention back to the lion cub.

@Zanavy

The Litleo's fur stood up a little as the cheerful Rockruff greeted her. She sniffed back, cautious but interested.

That wasn't the purpose of her mission, though. The feline gazed pointedly at both short male humans and then walked back toward the door, yowling to make sure they were paying attention. She knocked the door open with another Tackle, panting after the exertion. She looked back to make sure the humans were following. Then she... just wandered around a bit around the perimeter of the gym. The Litleo had completed her orders and wasn't really sure what to do next. She remembered something happened with the bushes, so she went up to them and sniffed at them.

@Crimson Flame@Heckno12

"You and your friends still rescued him from their grasp, that was more than anybody could ask." Saki said gently before putting a finger to her chin in thought. "I'm afraid I don't know much about the pokemon you described, but given the how the message was delivered...It's a safe guess that it's a powerful psychic type. As I mentioned before, more of Ray's expertise. I've sent his sister a message, hopefully she will be able to help locate him." Sake sighed, there truly wasn't much else for her to say. "For now, you and your friends are free to stay in town and wait for a response. I'll provide any amenity I can in the meantime." She promised, the gym's lights flickered slightly...Windshire's new gym leader's doing of course.

One of Saki's attendants walked up and whispered something to her as she began to look slightly concerned. "It seems your friend got angry and stormed off. I'm not sure he's in any state to do that right now...but I suppose that's his prerogative."

Saki sighed and turned to walk away. "Even so, I imagine as friends of his that you would probably like to make sure he's not doing anything reckless." She said without looking back towards the pair. Without another sound she was gone, back to helping her attendants keep the gym's flora maintained.



As Alicia waited for the grunts under her command to report back on their missions, she noticed a Litleo sniffing around one of the bushes she had planted a voltorb in. With a sneer she walked over and attempted to shoo the small pokemon away. The last thing she wanted was for the 'fireworks' to go off prematurely. "Get out of here, before I have to force you out." She said, her Torracat hopping out of the ball and getting between the smaller feline and the bush.

"Team A, Team B, report. We need to hurry this up." Alicia said with a huff as her much larger pokemon stared down the Litleo. This problem was already under control. This time, even if those people from before showed up she was much more equipped for a battle. Even so, it would be best to keep this operation as quiet as possible.

The other grunt with her returned, clearly done planting the pokeballs. Yet the others still hadn't reported in. That was odd, if not slightly worrying.

@LuckyBlackCat

Simply put, Alexis was just not having a good moment. It didn’t help that she ended up getting told by a child to go back into town. She found her mind was in such a state that it was practically blank in her attempt to process or even ignore all that’s happened. It was made obvious when she found herself just standing in place, staring at the ground.

Yuki took the chance to come up into Alexis’ line of sight. A small sound of concern came from the Snorunt, with a look in her eyes that showed the same. The girl picked her Pokémon up, and began to pet her. It felt good. A proper distraction that brought a bit more happiness.

“Thanks, Yuki”, said Alexis.

She would continue on her way, holding Yuki in her embrace and petting her along the way. Her attracted the attention of others in town, what with the ears and the frills. Though that was the point, Alexis couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed in her current emotional state. Still, she continued on down the path…and found herself in a peculiar scene.

Amber Pine, a trainer she had recently become acquainted with, was facing down a swarm of flying bugs. Judging by Apologetic tone of voice and her Rockruff attempting to get past its trainer’s arm, it was somewhat simple to figure out what happened. Alexis observed the swarm for a moment. It looked as if they were being organized and led by the center one, looking from the back, she couldn’t see their expressions, but she could tell that they were definitely angry.

Deciding to help with the situation that was clearly going to turn into a battle, Alexis adjusted her arms so that she held Snorunt up while having another arm free. If they were going to take on wild Pokémon, she might as well try to get a new Pokémon out of it. She aimed Yuki towards the swarm, and said,

“Powder Snow.”





Deneb’s strategy for preparing for both the contest and the gym battle was straightforward. Observe the traits of Pokémon that appeal to the majority’s favor, and simply continue to have the team hone their skills. The former is for the use of contests. Appealing to the audience’s expectations is the simplest way to gain their approval in a contest that judge’s the Pokémon by how much attention they attract. The former was for generally any Pokémon battle. Mere fighting instinct would not help without practice and control. If that were all that was needed, then everyone would be using the equivalent of wild beasts.

In preparation for the coming gym challenge, Deneb also elected to gain an additional Pokémon. This was necessary as he only had two Pokémon to work with, and one of them had a detox abilities that would do little against the gym’s preferred pokemon type. Grass does not do much against grass, so in the process of training and observation, the boy would also need to keep a lookout for bug type Pokémon. Not that it would be difficult. Often times, bug and grass Pokémon inhabit the same area. The only real problem is that it does not see that this particular area of the forest follows the norm. There were plenty of grass types to be found, but few bug types were to be seen. The ones that Deneb had found fled as soon as he noticed them.

A swift victory, showing one’s competence in understanding the basics of Pokémon battles requires a trainer to have on their team a Pokémon that acts as a counter to the gym leader’s, so acquiring one was a necessity. In addition, Deneb’s current Pokémon lacked any significant counter to the grass types to begin with. In other circumstances, Edea would be able to cover any lack of effective attacks with a combination of defensive and healing abilities.

Eventually, Deneb would find what he was searching for. It was a Sewaddle. A small Pokémon with a lot of growing to do, and the benefit of being both a Grass and a Bug type. He had to act quickly in order to catch it. He didn’t want it to flee. He sent out his Helioptile. No major type weaknesses on either side would ensure the best probability of success.

Deneb’s orders were short, brief, and easy to follow.

“Pound.” To catch it off-guard and daze it.

“Charge.” To boost the next attack while it’s dazed.

“Thundershock.” to weaken it even more, and paralyze it, keeping it from escaping.

Then it was simply a matter of catching the Sewaddle. A soft toss of a pokeball, and the creature would be sealed within.

Despite his lack of expression, Deneb was satisfied with this sequence of events. Perhaps they may need to continue training to be any sort of properly broken in, and it would surely make it so that the battle would be much easier…Hm. Resupply first, then decide on the proper training session. No sense in attempting one now, when the new member is still weakened…

@OtomostheCrazy

Amber tried to return Kyra, but the Rockruff leapt aside from the Pokeball's red beam. "Kyra, please, come back," Amber urged, stepping forward and picking up the playful puppy. Kyra's wagging tail indicated she meant no harm, but it was obvious she didn't know her own strength as she struggled, the rocks on her neck scratching up Amber's arms.

The Combees didn't back down, furious buzzes filling the air as they rose higher. It looked like a battle was inevitable. Setting Kyra down with a sigh, Amber was just about to give her a command when Alexis and Yuki intervened, a mini snowstorm striking the bugs in midair.

"Beeeeee!" The weakened bees swayed, buzzing to shake off the snow and warm themselves up as they turned towards Alexis. The one in the middle, the female, snickered down at her. This girl, unlike that annoying and incompetent trainer with the Rockruff, looked like a feisty one. She could almost respect humans like that. And although the ice type had an advantage, the Combee had plenty of backup from the rest of the swarm. Time to test whether this kid really was a worthy opponent.

Flapping her wings faster, the Combee whipped up a mini tornado, which spun towards Alexis and Yuki. The air churned as the males followed suit, preparing their own Gust attacks.

Amber acted at once. Recalling Aeshna and Tacita, she sent out Larimar and Almandine. "Alma, quick, Fake Out! Larimar, use Smack Down! Kyra, Rock Throw!"

With a chuckle, Almandine jumped at a Combee and clapped a shockwave in his direction, startling him before he could unleash his attack. While Larimar formed an orange, rock shaped energy chunk in front of her that flew at another Combee, instantly knocking him out, Kyra leapt in front of Alexis and took the Gust. She howled as the tornado flung her against a wall.

"Kyra!" Amber called, but the Rockruff easily shook off the flying type attack, jumping back up. The rocks on her neck glowed, orbs forming around them and turning into chunks of stone, which shot at the swarm. Another male fell unconscious.

The female Combee gave a triple scowl at the scene. Well, this wasn't fair - the other trainer had more fighting spirit and respect from her Pokemon than she'd assumed. Nonetheless, her focus remained on the one with the Snorunt. She dived, all three mouths open and glowing white as she aimed a Bug Bite at Yuki.

@Heckno12

"One, I truly am ok, and two, how does anyone even get anywhere without pushing themselves? Especially someone like me." Oscar looks at Sophia with narrow eyes before sighing and decide not to waste any more breathe trying to get through to Sophia advice for the time being and idly listen to them talk about Rheese and recent event among other things.

"What?!" Sophia's eyes widened. Now her failure to help Rheese weighed twice as heavily on her conscience. She gave a tense nod. "Yeah. Oscar, c'mon, we've gotta go find him!" Hoping against hope that Team Noble were long gone from Vareena, she hurried towards the arena's exit, only to stumble. "Ugh..." Gripping the door frame, she closed her eyes against her lurching surroundings.

Oscar follows Sophia with Skoll by his side. ”I have a fast ride to find and get to Rheese quickly. Skoll might not be at full speed yet but faster and less taxing for us.” Oscar doesn’t know Rheese well but any life in danger is never good, especially if it makes Sophia exert herself in her current condition. ”Let me help anyways as I am proven to be capable”

This time, Sophia didn't argue. They really did need to stick together, especially right now. Opening her eyes, she nodded and returned all her Pokemon except Lacey. She crouched and let Lacey climb onto her shoulders, then with difficulty, climbed on to Skoll's back. Travelling fast with a migraine wouldn't do her any good, but with Rheese in possible danger, it didn't matter.

"He's probably fine, I mean we drove away those thugs," she tried to reassure Oscar, and herself. "It's just, when stuff like this happens, we can't be too careful."

Oscar says nothing as he climbs on and goes outside with Skoll. Oscar gets Skoll to go into a trot before a gallop, trying to ease Sophia into riding on a large canine and getting used to the motions of one. They go through town looking for Rheese.

Sophia wasn't going to admit it, but there was something comforting about being on the back of a huge fluffy Arcanine - and being this close to Oscar made her blush. However, as Skoll's pace sped up, she winced and gripped the dog's fur, trying not to pull too hard. The sunlight and jostling movements weren't easy on her headache or dizziness, but she kept a look out nonetheless, eyes narrowed.

"Ita!" At Lacey's alarmed squeak, Sophia glanced around and gasped.

"What the...?" Near the contest hall, some shady-looking figures crouched by the bushes, seemingly hiding something in there. Sophia's stomach plummeted. "Oh geez, they don't know when to give up."

Oscar slows Skoll down as he glance back at Sophia and Lacey. He looks at where they were pointing and looking to see the same shady figures. Sensing that Sophia knows them and they are up to no good, Oscar has Skoll trot up to them. ”I hope you are being good Samaritans and helping out with a poor sense of fashion sense.” Skoll towers over the crouching figures and looks intimidating.

@Heckno12@Zanavy

Tim and Liam followed the Litleo, and found her sniffing for something in the bushes. Tim tilted his head. ”What is it? What’s in the bushes.

Liam could not care less about any of this, untill a woman came out and started shooing the Litleo away. She even sent out a Torracat “What difference does it make to you? They aren’t hurting anyone. You wouldn’t happen to have anything to hide there would you?”

Tim had the feeling that something bad was going to happen, and wanted to run away as fast possible. [deepskyblue]“Um… m-m-maybe we should just get out of here…”[/color]

Liam either did not notice Tim’s apprehension, or ignored it. ”Frankly, you look a liiiitle bit sus right now, and I’m not just talking about your outfit.” Liam sent out Primadonna, who clapped her fins and blew some bubbles.

Tim sighed, and gave Liam the side eye. Of course he went ignored.

The Litleo shirked and backed off a few paces as the Torracat stared down at her. The appearance of a Brionne further startled her for a moment, but then she got the picture that this water-type might be her ally. That could help turn the tide against these enemy humans.

The nervous Litleo sucked in a deep breath, trying to steel herself. Then she yowled and puffed out a burst of flame toward the Torracat. As the Ember flew toward the enemy, the Litleo slinked toward the side, trying to get the enemy feline surrounded.

@Heckno12@Crimson Flame

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@Zanavy@Crimson Flame

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Alicia grimaced, this situation just got much more annoying. The grunt that accompanied her was quick to step towards the two newcomers and send out his Cramorant to back up Torracat. "Mind your own business, or this'll get messier than it needs to." the grunt said, her irritation bleeding through in his voice. This had to be sorted before Saki noticed, if the gym leader got involved this would go downhill fast.

The trainer that questioned their motives received the lion's share of Alicia's current glare, but she put her hand in front of the grunt. If this became a battle, their chances of getting caught would go up exponentially. "Just trying to keep that little kitten from starting a wildfire in town." She said, trying to make her ire sound justified. "It doesn't concern you, unless you're the trainer letting this young fire type roam around freely in a town covered in plants."

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@LuckyBlackCat@fer1323

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Both grunts charged with planting the device behind the contest hall balked at the Arcanine briefly as the trainers atop it attempted to intimidate them. The more senior of the two came to his senses first, stepping away and pulling out a pokeball. There didn't appear to be any way around a battle here. At least they had already done as they were told and completed their objective, this was just a sudden loose end that needed to be tied up.

A Haunter and an Impidimp were sent out by their respective grunts as the stage was set for a two on two.



Rheese sat against a tree again, this time panting for breath out of physical exhaustion as his team rested around him. He pulled out a sleeve of crackers and split it among the other members of his party before snacking on a few himself. Bounsweet had kept up, often looking to its senior grass type for assurance that the Cottonee happily provided.

The scene in front of him put Rheese at ease as he closed his eyes and listened to the gentle rustle of leaves and his pokemon obliterating the snacks they were provided. For a few seconds he even managed a grin as everything that had plagued him seemed to be far enough away. His team was filling out nicely, and all of them seemed to get along and enjoy their time. Maybe most of their captures and training hadn't been traditional or ideal, but that was all behind them now. These pokemon were his partners that he'd face the rest of Kosei with, win or loss.

He was snapped out of his sappy thoughts by a feeling in his gut that told him to return to town. Something was up, and he wasn't about to just sit out here and wait for it to blow over.

@Heckno12 @fer1323

The duo's reactions confirmed they were up to no good. Sophia clambered down from Skoll, yelping as she fell to her knees. She gritted her teeth and brought herself to one knee, glaring at the two and their Pokemon. One she recognised as a Haunter, a well known ghost type, but she couldn't say she'd seen the pink goblin before. In any case, the Haunter would pose a major problem for her team.

Her hands clenched, but her face remained a mask of defiance. "Oh, please. Like you'll be any match for us." She forced a smirk, trying not to think how terribly this match-up could turn out. At least, if she remembered correctly, Haunter was also a poison type, giving psychic types a much-needed edge against it.

"Lacey, start with Reflect!" The Gothita hopped down and spread her arms, forming a shimmering energy field to dampen opponents' attacks and offset the type weakness. The barrier stretched wide enough to cover not just herself, but whichever one of Oscar's Pokemon would accompany her.

Oscar also comes down from Skoll as skoll gets in a battle stance and growls deeply, which intimidates the opposing pokemon. Oscar examines both pokemon. He hasn't seen or heard of either pokemon but by the looks of things, the gaseous one looks to be a ghost or poison or both and the other one looks to be a dark type. "Skoll, use Bite on the ghost type."

Skoll lunges forward and bites into the gaseous form of the ghastly. It seems to work quickly and Oscar celebrates the small Victory. "Good Going, Skoll." Skoll bark proudly and wags his tail.

@LuckyBlackCat@Heckno12

@Heckno12@Zanavy

Tim was getting nervous. It looked like things were going to get ugly. The person accompanying the female trainer sent out a Cramorant, and scary people were glaring at them. It was like being in school all over again. Tim tugged on Liam’s arm. ”L-l-liam… c-c-can we just go… please? I really don’t want a battle to break out…”

Liam on the other hand wasn’t having any of it. He ignored Tim’s plea.”Oh, that’s rich coming from somebody with a fire type out right now. What wildfire? This little guy hasn’t done anything. You guys just look more sus”