[IC] Pokemon Colosseum: What Remains

[AeronFarron]

Tinder gave a snort of indifference then gathered the cups to wash them. Garchomp tended to the garden and gave a rather sympathic look to the Ryhorn and Machoke. He definitely understood the gross taste, then again...bitter wasn't his thing. He preferred spicy.

Metang stared at Jasper in curiosity and hovered his way over to her. He gave her a few rapid "Clangs" in greeting. For her part, Tinder looked over to the others briefly, "Far as I know, Eagun spent a lot of time near the falls. He could be hiding out there?" she frowned a little bit then shrugged.

[Chev]

"Far as I know, Eagun spent a lot of time near the falls. He could be hiding out there?"

Ross could feel his strength returning and was able to stand on his own. "Only one way to find out." He said with a smile as he looked over at Ryhorn and Machoke. "C'mon guys. It's time to get going. We're going to help these nice folks out."

Machoke eagerly jumped to it's feet while the Ryhorn looked up at him, yawned and then slowly stood up and followed Ross and Machoke as they headed for the door. Velis turned to look at the others with a bemused look on her face. "He's certainly eager isn't he?" She said with a laugh.

Agate Village

Two of the Cipher peons who had been attacked by Tinder and Garchomp ran up a hill before stopping behind a figure who was sitting cross legged and had his eyes closed and bowing respectfully and a bit nervously. "Master Hiri, We have intruders in the village."

The figure didn't open his eyes but he uncrossed his legs as he listened.

"We were dealing with that trainer who appeared in the village a few days ago when a woman with a Garchomp came out of nowhere and attacked us. There is also a woman with a Croconaw and a Quilava here as well along with possibly a few others. We couldn't get an exact count of how many they're are. Sir, do you think they could be going after Eagun's wife and Pokemon?"

The Figure got up and stepped out of the shadows for to reveal an old man wearing red and black robes with a hood covering his face. His eyes, when they could be seen were cutting and cold. "Be silent and use what little brains you have. If they had come here to rescue the old man's wife and Pokemon they wouldn't have given themselves away so soon. They must be here for something else."

Hiri approached the two Peons and stared down at them. He smiled a cold smile as he saw them cower in fear. "I will be heading for whats left of the Agate Forest. You will find these trainers and deal with them. And just in case I'm wrong which I highly doubt, post a couple extra guards in the Cave near the back of the village. No one is allowed in. If anyone tries to get in, deal with them and bring them to me."

The two Peons gulped and bowed before turning and running away. They knew better then to question Hiri. He cruel nature was legendary with Cipher and was known to torture people who questioned his methods, even members of Cipher.

[AeronFarron]

Tinder cleaned up her workspace then left the secret room. Once everyone was out, she closed and sealed the door. "Alright. I'll go check Eagun's house to see if there are any old notes of his. Just...in case we can't find him." she didn't want to say it, but she was skeptical that they'd find the man alive. "If you guys can't find him, don't waste time. Get to the Relic Cave and do whatever you do with the Time Flute. I should be there before you guys hit the cave." she looked at the others, "Anyone wish to join me? We can split into two teams of two if you want."

[Chev]

"If you guys can't find him, don't waste time. Get to the Relic Cave and do whatever you do with the Time Flute. I should be there before you guys hit the cave."

Ross was about to speak but thought better of it until Tinder suggested that they split into teams. A big grin appeared on his face. "I'll stick with you." He said. "After all, I'd like another crack at those Peons if we run into them. Not that I'm saying I don't want to help you out...I...Uh..." Ross tried to keep his words straight as his Machoke slyly elbowed him with a knowing expression on his face. Ross turned to him and tried to look angry but failed miserably. "You be quiet." He muttered as the Machoke made a face that embarrassed Ross to no end. "Behave or you go back in the Pokeball." He muttered.

"I'm going to check out the waterfall and see if Eagun isn't there. If we can find him maybe he can help us."

Agate Village

Eagun sat behind the waterfall in his cavern and simply about what he had lost. He had seen Cipher fall twice at the hands of trainers who believed in justice and fairness to all. But those days were gone. Cipher had come back with renewed determination and new tactics. They had taken his wife and Pokemon in the dead of night and had left him badly wounded as a message: Cross Cipher again and have everything and everyone you love taken from you. Cipher had already taken his granddaughter away with the hero of the first Cipher crisis. And now they had taken everything else.

He sighed heavily. He didn't know what to do now. His Pokemon, His wife and his Granddaughter were all gone and Cipher had free reign over the village.

[AeronFarron]

Tinder looked at Ross with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, "Alright then. Take Justine with you though, Velis. I wouldn't be surprised if Cipher was guarding him or something. You two stay safe." she nodded to them both then motioned for her Pokemon to walk with her. "C'mon Ross, we've got work to do. Eagun's house is the big tree in the center of town. And I am sure Cipher won't like us walking through the front door."

Garchomp gave a terrifying smirk at her words. Even her fun-loving Metang's eyes dimmed in dark excitement as they followed their trainer. She couldn't help her own twitch of the lips at the thought of ruining a peon's week...or life.

[XxFellsingxX]

Justine listened to the rest of the group with a mixture of interest and impatience. Sure, she knew this was important, but the longer they took, the longer it would take her to find her dad. Eventually, they agreed to split into teams. Tinder and Ross seemed to want to head out together and both of them were already readying themselves to head out. Justine glanced over at Velis, a little nervously. "Guess it's you and me now, partner," she said with a slight grin. Jasper gave a little bark at this. "Yes, yes, Jasper, and you and Coral too."

[Chev]

"Guess it's you and me now, partner,"

Velis returned the grin with one of her own. "Sounds good Justine. I hope we get to bust some Cipher heads on our way." The mental image of Cipher Peons running away from her and her Pokemon caused her to laugh a little bit for a moment and smile a rather odd smile. Quilava looked up at her along with her Croconaw. They knew what she was thinking and how she could get when she was like this. The two Pokemon had seen it before and they knew that they had to get her attention back to the task at hand. Quilava accomplished that by letting out a sharp yelp that snapped Velis out of the odd state she was in.

"Hm?" She said aloud as she looked down at the two Pokemon. "Oh! Sorry," She muttered. She looked sheepishly at Justine. "Sorry, I get a little weird when I think about that." She headed towards the door. "Well, shall we get going? The sooner we find out what happened to Eagun, the sooner we can get to where the relic stone was."

"C'mon Ross, we've got work to do. Eagun's house is the big tree in the center of town. And I am sure Cipher won't like us walking through the front door."

Ross grinned as he followed Tinder outside as Machoke and Ryhorn followed. "They may not like it but I doubt they can stop two of us." He said as he looked back at his Machoke and noticed that the Pokemon suddenly looked innocent. Too innocent.

"What were you doing?" he asked the Shadow Pokemon suspiciously. The Pokemon waited until Tinder wasn't looking and made a face that could only be described as a "kissy face" and pointed at Ross and then at Tinder. Ross narrowed his eyes and grabbed the Pokeball off his belt and held it in his hand in a mock threatening manner as he lowered his voice. "Will you knock it off?!" He whispered. "You are not a matchmaker! And I don't want to freak her out!" He whispered again as he put the Pokeball back on his belt and gave the Machoke a warning look who responded by grinning slyly. Ross shook his head and turned back to look at Tinder who hopefully hadn't seen any of that.

"So." He said casually "Cool Pokemon you have there." He said trying to start a conversation.

[AeronFarron]

Tinder didn't see or hear the exchange, as she was too busy in her own mind. Her Garchomp however, eyed both the Machoke and Ross. The Pokemon looked to the young man with narrowed eyes, then stepped closer to his trainer protectively.

"Hm? Oh thank you. I met Garchomp as a Gible. He saved me. As for Metang, I raised it from a newly hatched Beldum." she laughed softly when the metallic Pokemon nudged her as it floated. "They are my pride and joys. I am from Sinnoh, you know." she said then looked at Ross. "What's your story?"

[XxFellsingxX]

Justine gave a slight chuckle as she followed after Velis. "Nah, it's fine," she said. "I'd give anything to show those Cipher peons a thing or two." Jasper and Coral, who had gotten out of his meditation and stood, both followed after Justine and Velis, both seeming alert for danger now. "I've often wondered how many peons I'd have to beat up in order to find out where my dad is." She suddenly paused, a little surprised she'd let that last bit slip out, but she supposed it wasn't too unusual, considering everyone had lost something after Cipher's take over. "My dad's a police officer, you see," Justine added, deciding to elaborate. Besides, maybe if she told Velis, the woman might be eager to help her find her dad and the other officers. "Cipher took a lot of them hostage a while back so the police would know not to mess with 'em. I've been looking for leads for a bit now, trying to find out where they might be being held, but no luck. I'm not even sure if they're alive..." She went quiet after that, feeling she may be talking top much. She just felt it was appropriate to tell the people she was working with what her motive for doing this was. After all, they all had their own reasons for wanting to take down Cipher. There was no point in acting like it was big secret or anything. "Anyway, yeah, let's get going," she added quickly.

[Chev]

"What's your story?"

Ross turned to look at his Machoke who was acting innocent once again which made Ross think he had been making...'the face' behind his back. He gave it a warning look before turning to look back at Tinder and he smiled at her while nervously looking at Garchomp then back at Tinder again. "Well, Like I said I'm from Kanto originally." He said as he thought back to his childhood and the smile faded after a moment.

"I left my family around the age of seventeen to become a traveling trainer. Didn't have the best relationship with my family mind you." He said quietly as he thought back. "But even though we didn't have a good relationship I wouldn't have wished what happened on them to anyone. You see, back in Kanto we have our own criminal problems. The biggest and most feared crime organization was called Team Rocket. They were almost as bad as Cipher before someone managed to take them down but before they were taken down they caused their fair share of problems."

Ross looked down at the ground for a moment as his Machoke patted him on the back and his Ryhorn nudged his leg slightly. They knew this was difficult for him to talk about. "I came back about two weeks later to try and talk to my family only to find the house pretty much destroyed and a couple of police officers carrying body bags out of the wreckage. By this time I was kind of in shock and didn't notice that my brother's Ryhorn had barely survived the attack. I eventually snapped out of it at the Police station and after thinking for awhile I decided to leave Kanto with Ryhorn here. We eventually made our way to Orre and we've been here ever since."

"What about you? How did you end up in Orre?" He asked.

"Cipher took a lot of them hostage a while back so the police would know not to mess with 'em. I've been looking for leads for a bit now, trying to find out where they might be being held, but no luck. I'm not even sure if they're alive..."

"We've all lost someone to Cipher." Velis said quietly. "I lost my entire family to them in one night including my sister. They killed my parents and abducted most of the Pokemon at the house. My sister was a fighter. She and her Pokemon put up a great fight before Cipher managed to knock out her Pokemon and then took her along with the Pokemon from the house. The only two Pokemon left at the house were these two and they were badly wounded. After running around for a bit I managed to smuggle both myself and these two into the Under and hid out there."

Velis patted Justine on the back and smiled. "I'm sure that eventually you'll find out what happened to your Dad. And I really hope that he's okay." She said quietly. "You ever need to talk though, I'm here."

[XxFellsingxX]

Justine looked surprised when Velis told her story. Justine had guessed that some people may have lost entire families to Cipher but this is the first time she had heard it and she suddenly felt a little guilty for whining about her problems. However, she managed to smile back at Velis. "Thanks," she said. "And now that we're all together on this, Cipher won't stand a chance."

As if in agreement, Jasper gave a loud and triumphant bark of "Aaaark!"

[Chev]

"And now that we're all together on this, Cipher won't stand a chance."

Velis smiled. "Agreed." She said simply as her Quilava rubbed against her leg while her Croconaw suddenly stared at a specific spot at the waterfall and growled. Quilava stared over at Croconaw and let out a questioning growl. Croconaw snarled at the waterfall and Quilava ran over next to him and flames began to sprout from his back. "What's wrong guys? She asked carefully as she looked up at the waterfall.

"Quil! Quilava!" The Pokemon growled as it ran up towards the waterfall and ran up to the side of the waterfall. The Fire Pokemon sniffed for a moment before seemingly vanishing behind a boulder.

"Quilava! Come back!" She called anxiously as she and Croconaw took off after the Pokemon. She paused and look back at Justine. "I'm sorry! I'll be right back!" She called as she took off after her Pokemon.

Waterfall Cave

Eagun looked up sadly as he heard the sound of running feet coming towards him. Cipher had apparently found him and were coming to finish the job. He didn't even turn around before. "Come to kill an old man when he has nothing left?" He simply asked as he prepared to die.

"Quilava!"

That didn't sound like a Cipher battle cry.

He turned around and saw a small Pokemon looking up at him. Flames were erupting from the Pokemon's back. It's ears were twitching slightly as it looked him over. Considering the fact that it hadn't attacked him or even growled at him yet it didn't seem to be a Shadow Pokemon. He reached down and scratched the Pokemon behind it's ears.

"What brings you to an Old man's hiding spot little one?" He wondered aloud. "Did you manage to get away from Cipher and found my little hideaway?"

[AeronFarron]

The young woman listened quietly then looked up when Ross finished. "I uh...I am adopted. As my parents tell me, they found me near a shrine to an ancient Pokemon. My mother says that my father was the one that found me. They raised mw with their two older boys. We lived a quiet enough life, but I was bullied a lot. Gabite, he was a Gible then, was just as protective of me as he is now. We ended up moving to Orre when he hospitalized a boy that...well...let's just say it wasn't going to be pretty." she paused and sighed deeply.

"I was a burden to them. A responsibility that I felt they didn't need. I ran away from here for a few months, Gible followed me. When I returned, my brothers gave me this one." she patted her Metang happily. "Shortly after that...Cipher tortured and killed my eldest brother. He was an outspoken man, and he made sure Cipher knew that he hated everything they stood for." her voice grew quiet.

"He was never violent, never raised a hand against them. They captured him, tortured him, then dismembered him...then left a box with his body at my home. As a message."

[Chev]

"He was never violent, never raised a hand against them. They captured him, tortured him, then dismembered him...then left a box with his body at my home. As a message."

Ross's eyes flashed with genuine rage. He could feel himself getting extremely pissed when he heard what had happened to her brother and even more angry as he thought of what she must have felt to have seen such a horrible spectacle. Cipher was a horrible organization, he knew that much but to think that they had done something like...that. It really made his blood boil.

He hesitantly placed his hand on her shoulder and looked down at the Garchomp to make sure it knew he didn't have any hostile intent towards her. "I'm...I'm so sorry for your loss." He said quietly as he turned back to look at her. "If...I...I mean if you ever need to talk to someone...I'm here to talk whenever you need it."

He shook his head slightly as he removed his hand. "Cipher...I knew they were bad...but to do something like that...I give you my word Tinder, if you ever find the one who did that to your brother I'll gladly help you take him down."

[XxFellsingxX]

"Huh?" Justine watched as Velis ran after her Pokemon, who had started acting unusual and just ran off. She considered going after them, but before she could come to her own decision, Coral had darted after the group. Justine sighed and looked down at Jasper. "I have no idea what's going on..." she said.

Jasper gave a sympathetic whimper.

Justine sighed again. "Come on, let's go after 'em," she said before she and Jasper began chasing after Coral, Velis and her Pokemon.

[Chev]

Eagun heard the sound of running footsteps outside his little hideout and looked at the Pokemon as it turned towards the source of the sound and twitched it's ears. "Perhaps another refugee from Cipher? Or maybe someone is looking for you." He said as he looked down at the Fire Pokemon.

Velis looked closely at the boulder and noticed the small opening Quilava had apparently climbed through and began to crawl through herself. She was able to fit through but it was a bit tight. She could feel Croconaw following closely behind her. "Quilava!" She called. "Come back here!"

She finally managed to get through the opening and dusted herself off as she got to her feet and looked up to see a wizened old man with a long ragged beard looking down at her. He was wearing what appeared to be purple robes and her Quilava was standing next to him. As soon as it saw her though it ran over to her and nuzzled against her leg.

"Uh...Hi." Velis said awkwardly as she looked at the old man.

"Hello there young one." The man replied. "I take it the Quilava is yours?"

"Uh...Yeah." Velis said. "I'm sorry if he disturbed you. He just seemed to sense something behind the waterfall and bolted. Maybe he smelled you or something. Again, I apologize if he disturbed you."

"Nonsense." Eagun said as he sat down against the wall of the cavern and smiled sadly. "He's the most company I've had since Cipher took my wife and my own Pokemon. Come in if you wish to, As I said, I don't have often have company and I can't exactly show myself in Agate anymore."

Velis carefully sat down but before she did, she stuck her head in the hole and called out to Justine. "There's someone in here Justine! He seems nice enough." She called as she turned back to look at the Old Man.

"You've had problems with Cipher as well?" She asked.

[XxFellsingxX]

Justine followed Velis' voice and found herself behind the waterfall where Velis, her Pokemon and a strange man were. "Err, hey," Justine said to the old man. Coral had stopped beside Quilava and was looking - more like staring - at the old man with incredible interest. Jasper, of course, gave her usual snarl of a greeting at the stranger, keeper herself protectively in front of Justine.

[Remram]

Keiten had finally arrived at the village, his own home town. He had to make a quick detour on the way there but he made it back. A rush of emotions went through him as he stared at what was once where he lived. It's been so long, oh so long since he had last seen the beautiful village though he knew that he wouldn't be hear for too long. Keiten had begun to wander into the town so he could find Eagun's old house. If he remembered correctly it was in the giant tree on the top of the biggest hill in Agate. He walked around and saw a familiar face and a not so familiar face. "Yo Tinder, who's the guy in the hat?" He said as he approached them.

[AeronFarron]

Tinder turned to reply to Ross when Keiten out to her. She looked between both young men and introduced them to each other, ?Keiten, this is Ross. Ross, this is Keiten." she sighed quietly and took comfort in the small contact from Ross. "Garchomp?" The Pokemon looked at her, "Can you sense Cipher?" the Pokemon nodded once then growled.

[Chev]

"Err, hey,"

Eagun smiled at the woman sadly as Velis asked if he had problems with Cipher.

"Yes...It's my fault that they managed to take over Agate and destroy the Relic Stone." He said quietly as he recalled the events of that horrible day. "They marched into the village led by a man wearing a black and red robe. He called himself Hiri and his eyes were filled with cruelty and rage. His Shadow Pokemon badly wounded my Pikachu in the first battle and then attacked me one he knocked out Pikachu. I was badly wounded. Hiri...he took great delight in having his Pokemon beat me. When I was helpless and couldn't move..."

Eagun's eyes teared up but he wiped them away. "His Pokemon destroyed the Relic Stone. It...It was horrible. A flash of green light appeared in the forest and Celebi appeared. They tried to capture it but it managed to flee through time. It was then that Hiri decided, if he couldn't posses Celebi, he would destroy my life and everything that I vowed to protect. The Cipher peons with him used their Pokemon to set fire to the forest, to this day, only ash remains."

He looked up at the two women. "I was once Eagun. The mythical trainer. But now I am nothing. I failed everyone and I failed the Pokemon of Orre. I failed my wife and my Pokemon when I allowed them to be captured."

"Can you sense Cipher?

Ross looked up and saw two Cipher Peons looking down at them from a tree. They jumped out and landed in front of the trio. Ross looked at them and saw that one of them was the blue Cipher peon who had attacked him earlier. Ross narrowed his eyes. "The one in blue is mine." He said quietly as the Blue Peon released two Pokemon that appeared in blazes of red light. A Larvitar and a Bayleaf.

The Cipher Peon dressed in red grinned behind his mask as he looked at Tinder and released an Alakazam and a Marshtomp. Ross looked at the Marshtomp uneasily. Something seemed...off about it.

"Hello little girl. I heard you scared my friends off earlier. I think it's time you learned a lesson in manners."