Heckno12

Dreams of the Old World (A post apocalyptic 'magical' Adventure)

It's pretty basic but this is the CS template. You don't have to stick strictly to it.

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Appearance:

Personality:

Dream:

Bio:

Dreams of the Old World (A post apocalyptic 'magical' Adventure)

Bump, we've got six people. Perfectly fine adding a couple more.

Dreams of the Old World (post-apocalyptic adventure with powers based on dreams)

Dreams of the Old World

Almost two centuries ago a mysterious meteor crashed down to earth. It wasn’t large enough to cause any panic, and most people considered it a rather mundane astronomical event. Well, that was before the vast majority of people on the planet vanished. The ensuing chaos destroyed the majority of what remained of society as survivors panicked, planes and other vehicles crashed, unattended appliances caught fire, etc. The apocalyptic event was thought by many to be the Rapture, but it seemed to pick its victims without any obvious criteria. Saints, sinners, and anything in between…Humanity was essentially wiped from the majority of the planet all at once. In reality the meteor, a massive crystalline structure, had absorbed those billions of lives and incorporated them into a permanent dream-like state. Once it hit the earth, much of it shattered and scattered to the winds along with the souls that had been sucked into it.

Centuries later, still slowly picking up the pieces in the new and terrifying world, many humans have stumbled upon shards of that strange meteor from forever ago. Those that make contact with the shards find them fusing to their flesh before eventually vanishing altogether. These humans go through a harrowing process as the souls, still in their unending dream, begin to use them as a host. This horrific process is not wholly without its benefits though, as the hosts gain abnormal powers tied to the specific shared dream of the souls they hold. Many of those unaffected by these shards call these hosts possessed, demons, monsters, or any other manner of insult. By themselves and the more open minded, however, they are called Dreamers.

These Dreamers, depending on the number of souls within them, often feel a pull towards somewhere distant. Rumor is, their shards are trying to drag them towards the master crystal. What would happen if they made it there is anyone’s guess, but it’s spawned quite a few stories. Promises of powers untold, maybe the ability to ask for a wish, or perhaps free the billions trapped within it. People talk, rumors are passed around as if they were fact or just passed up as baseless stories. The fact remains that every dreamer can occasionally feel that tug. Though, naturally the closer they venture to the Master Crystal the more dangerous things are. As a result many Dreamers have settled down as far as they feel comfortable venturing, creating settlements and camps.

Civilization

Of course, as usual with humanity, civilization has begun to re-emerge. The Nova Republic has founded multiple new cities and slowly expanded along the fringes. To maintain order they have fully disallowed all Dreamers, aside from those that are government sanctioned and trained to keep the peace. The Republic doesn’t hunt Dreamers down, but they do keep an open bounty system for Shards.

Naturally the Republic isn’t the only game in town, but they are certainly the largest and most recognized. Other settlements, especially due to the Republic’s intolerance of ‘unlicensed Dreamers’, crop up often. Of course, due to infighting and the instability of the powers of some Dreamers these settlements deal with their share of hard times.

Shards

Purplish objects of varying shape and size that house anywhere between one and a few million unconscious souls. Each shard contains a unique dream as it’s splintered from the whole. These days it’s quite rare to find one that hasn’t been claimed by a person or…something else. One can be traded at any Republic outpost for a pretty generous amount of supplies. So long as one doesn’t make direct skin contact, it cannot assimilate to their being. As a result, whole groups of Shardhunters have cropped up throughout the lands to support themselves.

Dreamers

Wielders of the souls found within the Old World Shards, Dreamers run the gauntlet between godlike power and perhaps being able to manifest a rubber duck. These abilities all depend on the souls within them as well as their own willpower and creativity. At minimum, each Dreamer has enhanced durability and strength, able to take blows that would kill normal humans and shake them off with some minor bruising. Of course this isn’t without its drawbacks as every Dreamer runs the risk of losing themselves to the Dream within and becoming a horrific abomination known as a Nightmare.

Each dream is unique and unending. One may contain a thousand souls dreaming about rubber ducks, or a hundred about nuclear armageddon. Each of them is essentially an entire realm that, with proper preparation, a Dreamer may explore while they sleep. Take caution though, if a Dreamer were to lose control of the collective unconscious they could very well become a Nightmare.

Each Host can take aspects of their Dream and manifest it into reality within their own predetermined range. Of course, it’s rather hard to steer a dream of that size to specifically give you exactly what you want. As a result, many Dreamers just kind of ask for something and try to make due with what they get…Though thankfully, Dreams can be a bit repetitive so they often get the same thing each time and eventually just learn to work with it. Of course one can go deeper and take the reigns to manifest something more specific or coherent, but if that’s done recklessly it will most certainly end in disaster.

Nightmares

Horrible abominations that are created once Dreamers lose control. The shared consciousness leaks into the world and transforms the host into a warped manifestation of their dream. They tend to be powerful chaotic beings with unpredictable powers and temperaments. More often than not they are hostile and are drawn to the Master Crystal as well as places that used to be densely populated.

These horrific monstrosities are why non dreamers are so afraid of Dreamers and typically oust them from society due to them almost constantly being at risk of transforming into these beasts. Depending on the original dream they can vary from being feral predators to sadistic monsters. Very, very few have been passive as most fight amongst themselves and anyone else for territory. And unfortunately they don’t seem to pass from age so unless they are actively killed the stronger ones will last for quite awhile and pose major threats.

There are very few cases of a Dreamer regaining control once they become a Nightmare and there is no known guaranteed method of doing so. And it is almost entirely unheard of for someone to gain control of this transformation since the very nature of becoming one breaks one’s sanity and individuality.

The Nova Republic

An entity which could only be described as a cobbled-together form of government, consisting of descendants of survivors of the calamity (the "old guard") and some new faces that emerged after other politicians disappeared to fill the power vacuum. The so-called old guard tends to harbor hostile attitudes toward dreamers, believing them to pose a threat to their power and legacy, while the newer members seek to use dreamers to their advantage. Neither party is particularly benevolent or trustworthy, and even the extremely anti-dreamer church considers them to be collectively fragile and unreliable, describing them as "iron mixed with clay" and other such derisive scriptural references. While Nova does allow some dreamers to live within their established territories, requirements for these dreamers are stringent, and those whose powers are not useful for any kind of labor or are "too dangerous" are unlikely to ever earn their stamp of approval, unless they are easily controlled or could manipulate the public perception in their favor. It's sadly not uncommon for dreamers to be granted citizenship as children only to be quietly ushered out of the country once they become a bit too capable for Nova's liking.

United Remnant Church of Nova

"The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter." Rev. 8:10-11
Believing themselves to be living in the end times, Nova's URC cites the above references as proof, claiming that a multitude of peoples and nations are often symbolically represented by "waters." Indeed, the process of absorbing crystals and attempting to become a dreamer often results in the death of many, when dreamers mutate into corrupt nightmares and slaughter innocents in their rampage. Those who survive are left in an altered mental state that the religious may describe as a "Great Delusion," which is also referenced in the increasingly popular Book of Revelation. Naturally, the church believes dreamers and their powers to be demonic in nature. Aside from those sanctified by the church of course. A few believe it is the church's duty to capture and attempt exorcisms on dreamers, but such activities are hidden from the public and most have given them up for damned. Different groups within the church debate about the great disappearing, some saying it was the Rapture, others saying it was the gathering of the wicked to be burned. Overall, however, the church is more united than in the past, as the name would suggest.

Citizens for Dreamer Integration

Government officials seeking to exploit the potential for cheap and effective enforcers of Nova's will are more than willing to exploit the sympathies of open-minded citizens to gain support for their agenda. As in every group, there are both true believers and grifters seeking undeserved trust and favors from dreamers simply trying to fit into "normal" society, making the organization as a whole unreliable. Experienced dreamers quickly learn to avoid this group if they really need help from a human within the Republic. True supporters are underground, unorganized, and unequipped to do much.

Warlords

Most of dreamer society remains scattered into various small settlements outside Nova's reach. Might makes right in many of these places, and the names of rulers and their factions are quickly forgotten as blood is spilled and heads roll one after another. The Nova Republic is known to do what they can behind the scenes to keep these conflicts going and maintain the disorganized status quo, as a united nation of dreamers could easily topple the outwardly impressive but equally fragile human government. Because of these efforts, many dreamers are wary of non-dreamers, and they even more commonly treat Nova's dreamers like traitors. While there are some moves toward unity among dreamers, they necessarily take place underground, as those who support it too loudly tend to disappear, dying even younger than most, or, as some rumors suggest, being quietly ‘recruited’ by Nova.

Dreamers for a New Age (DNA)

While there do exist dreamers who seek salvation from their current state, a new spiritual movement has emerged and gained some appeal outside the Nova Republic. They see the meteor event as part of a new Turning, and dreamers as the next stage in human evolution. To them, it is only logical that the living would one day reconnect with the dead, and from there, both will someday connect to the gods. While not all of dreamer society spiritualizes the concept to the same degree, the fact remains that their ideas have gained traction, and DNA's recruitment efforts are often responsible for the creation of new dreamers. Those unfortunate dreamers who become nightmares are seen as unprepared or unworthy to ascend toward enlightenment and treated as unclean, rejected by the gods—perhaps for coveting too much power, as the transformation is often a result of absorbing too many crystals, and failing to adjust to the psychological chaos created by conflicting dreams. DNA's ultimate stated goal is to locate the original master crystal and return the shards. They see non-dreamers not as enemies, but baggage to be left behind. However, dreamers who seek shards for Nova are treated as thieves and fools that need reeducation.

Oneirovátis:

A word that’s essentially lost its original meaning over the years, often shortened to Oneir, it is used to describe legendarily strong Dreamers. They aren’t unified, in fact plenty of them are naturally at odds with each other or have never crossed paths. Some of the most well known are the Nova Republic’s self proclaimed superhero Skeleton Man, and a woman codenamed Starweaver, her space Dream leaving destruction and misfortune in her wake.

Should mention for everyone's sake.

List of Dreams already in use:

Eldritch horror(pc), Giant robots(pc), Magical girl(pc), Bunnies(pc), Menagerie(pc), Skeletons(npc), Angels(npc), Void of space(npc).

This doesn't mean you can't use something related or close to another's, just not identical.

Dreams of the Old World (A post apocalyptic 'magical' Adventure)

Should mention for everyone's sake.

List of Dreams already in use:

Eldritch horror(pc), Giant robots(pc), Magical girl(pc), Bunnies(pc), Menagerie(pc), Skeletons(npc), Angels(npc), Void of space(npc).

This doesn't mean you can't use something related or close to another's, just not identical.

Dreams of the Old World (A post apocalyptic 'magical' Adventure)

Dreams of the Old World

Almost two centuries ago a mysterious meteor crashed down to earth. It wasn’t large enough to cause any panic, and most people considered it a rather mundane astronomical event. Well, that was before the vast majority of people on the planet vanished. The ensuing chaos destroyed the majority of what remained of society as survivors panicked, planes and other vehicles crashed, unattended appliances caught fire, etc. The apocalyptic event was thought by many to be the Rapture, but it seemed to pick its victims without any obvious criteria. Saints, sinners, and anything in between…Humanity was essentially wiped from the majority of the planet all at once. In reality the meteor, a massive crystalline structure, had absorbed those billions of lives and incorporated them into a permanent dream-like state. Once it hit the earth, much of it shattered and scattered to the winds along with the souls that had been sucked into it.

Centuries later, still slowly picking up the pieces in the new and terrifying world, many humans have stumbled upon shards of that strange meteor from forever ago. Those that make contact with the shards find them fusing to their flesh before eventually vanishing altogether. These humans go through a harrowing process as the souls, still in their unending dream, begin to use them as a host. This horrific process is not wholly without its benefits though, as the hosts gain abnormal powers tied to the specific shared dream of the souls they hold. Many of those unaffected by these shards call these hosts possessed, demons, monsters, or any other manner of insult. By themselves and the more open minded, however, they are called Dreamers.

These Dreamers, depending on the number of souls within them, often feel a pull towards somewhere distant. Rumor is, their shards are trying to drag them towards the master crystal. What would happen if they made it there is anyone’s guess, but it’s spawned quite a few stories. Promises of powers untold, maybe the ability to ask for a wish, or perhaps free the billions trapped within it. People talk, rumors are passed around as if they were fact or just passed up as baseless stories. The fact remains that every dreamer can occasionally feel that tug. Though, naturally the closer they venture to the Master Crystal the more dangerous things are. As a result many Dreamers have settled down as far as they feel comfortable venturing, creating settlements and camps.

Civilization

Of course, as usual with humanity, civilization has begun to re-emerge. The Nova Republic has founded multiple new cities and slowly expanded along the fringes. To maintain order they have fully disallowed all Dreamers, aside from those that are government sanctioned and trained to keep the peace. The Republic doesn’t hunt Dreamers down, but they do keep an open bounty system for Shards.

Naturally the Republic isn’t the only game in town, but they are certainly the largest and most recognized. Other settlements, especially due to the Republic’s intolerance of ‘unlicensed Dreamers’, crop up often. Of course, due to infighting and the instability of the powers of some Dreamers these settlements deal with their share of hard times.

Shards

Purplish objects of varying shape and size that house anywhere between one and a few million unconscious souls. Each shard contains a unique dream as it’s splintered from the whole. These days it’s quite rare to find one that hasn’t been claimed by a person or…something else. One can be traded at any Republic outpost for a pretty generous amount of supplies. So long as one doesn’t make direct skin contact, it cannot assimilate to their being. As a result, whole groups of Shardhunters have cropped up throughout the lands to support themselves.

Dreamers

Wielders of the souls found within the Old World Shards, Dreamers run the gauntlet between godlike power and perhaps being able to manifest a rubber duck. These abilities all depend on the souls within them as well as their own willpower and creativity. At minimum, each Dreamer has enhanced durability and strength, able to take blows that would kill normal humans and shake them off with some minor bruising. Of course this isn’t without its drawbacks as every Dreamer runs the risk of losing themselves to the Dream within and becoming a horrific abomination known as a Nightmare.

Each dream is unique and unending. One may contain a thousand souls dreaming about rubber ducks, or a hundred about nuclear armageddon. Each of them is essentially an entire realm that, with proper preparation, a Dreamer may explore while they sleep. Take caution though, if a Dreamer were to lose control of the collective unconscious they could very well become a Nightmare.

Each Host can take aspects of their Dream and manifest it into reality within their own predetermined range. Of course, it’s rather hard to steer a dream of that size to specifically give you exactly what you want. As a result, many Dreamers just kind of ask for something and try to make due with what they get…Though thankfully, Dreams can be a bit repetitive so they often get the same thing each time and eventually just learn to work with it. Of course one can go deeper and take the reigns to manifest something more specific or coherent, but if that’s done recklessly it will most certainly end in disaster.

Nightmares

Horrible abominations that are created once Dreamers lose control. The shared consciousness leaks into the world and transforms the host into a warped manifestation of their dream. They tend to be powerful chaotic beings with unpredictable powers and temperaments. More often than not they are hostile and are drawn to the Master Crystal as well as places that used to be densely populated.

These horrific monstrosities are why non dreamers are so afraid of Dreamers and typically oust them from society due to them almost constantly being at risk of transforming into these beasts. Depending on the original dream they can vary from being feral predators to sadistic monsters. Very, very few have been passive as most fight amongst themselves and anyone else for territory. And unfortunately they don’t seem to pass from age so unless they are actively killed the stronger ones will last for quite awhile and pose major threats.

There are very few cases of a Dreamer regaining control once they become a Nightmare and there is no known guaranteed method of doing so. And it is almost entirely unheard of for someone to gain control of this transformation since the very nature of becoming one breaks one’s sanity and individuality.

The Nova Republic

An entity which could only be described as a cobbled-together form of government, consisting of descendants of survivors of the calamity (the "old guard") and some new faces that emerged after other politicians disappeared to fill the power vacuum. The so-called old guard tends to harbor hostile attitudes toward dreamers, believing them to pose a threat to their power and legacy, while the newer members seek to use dreamers to their advantage. Neither party is particularly benevolent or trustworthy, and even the extremely anti-dreamer church considers them to be collectively fragile and unreliable, describing them as "iron mixed with clay" and other such derisive scriptural references. While Nova does allow some dreamers to live within their established territories, requirements for these dreamers are stringent, and those whose powers are not useful for any kind of labor or are "too dangerous" are unlikely to ever earn their stamp of approval, unless they are easily controlled or could manipulate the public perception in their favor. It's sadly not uncommon for dreamers to be granted citizenship as children only to be quietly ushered out of the country once they become a bit too capable for Nova's liking.

United Remnant Church of Nova

"The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter." Rev. 8:10-11
Believing themselves to be living in the end times, Nova's URC cites the above references as proof, claiming that a multitude of peoples and nations are often symbolically represented by "waters." Indeed, the process of absorbing crystals and attempting to become a dreamer often results in the death of many, when dreamers mutate into corrupt nightmares and slaughter innocents in their rampage. Those who survive are left in an altered mental state that the religious may describe as a "Great Delusion," which is also referenced in the increasingly popular Book of Revelation. Naturally, the church believes dreamers and their powers to be demonic in nature. Aside from those sanctified by the church of course. A few believe it is the church's duty to capture and attempt exorcisms on dreamers, but such activities are hidden from the public and most have given them up for damned. Different groups within the church debate about the great disappearing, some saying it was the Rapture, others saying it was the gathering of the wicked to be burned. Overall, however, the church is more united than in the past, as the name would suggest.

Citizens for Dreamer Integration

Government officials seeking to exploit the potential for cheap and effective enforcers of Nova's will are more than willing to exploit the sympathies of open-minded citizens to gain support for their agenda. As in every group, there are both true believers and grifters seeking undeserved trust and favors from dreamers simply trying to fit into "normal" society, making the organization as a whole unreliable. Experienced dreamers quickly learn to avoid this group if they really need help from a human within the Republic. True supporters are underground, unorganized, and unequipped to do much.

Warlords

Most of dreamer society remains scattered into various small settlements outside Nova's reach. Might makes right in many of these places, and the names of rulers and their factions are quickly forgotten as blood is spilled and heads roll one after another. The Nova Republic is known to do what they can behind the scenes to keep these conflicts going and maintain the disorganized status quo, as a united nation of dreamers could easily topple the outwardly impressive but equally fragile human government. Because of these efforts, many dreamers are wary of non-dreamers, and they even more commonly treat Nova's dreamers like traitors. While there are some moves toward unity among dreamers, they necessarily take place underground, as those who support it too loudly tend to disappear, dying even younger than most, or, as some rumors suggest, being quietly ‘recruited’ by Nova.

Dreamers for a New Age (DNA)

While there do exist dreamers who seek salvation from their current state, a new spiritual movement has emerged and gained some appeal outside the Nova Republic. They see the meteor event as part of a new Turning, and dreamers as the next stage in human evolution. To them, it is only logical that the living would one day reconnect with the dead, and from there, both will someday connect to the gods. While not all of dreamer society spiritualizes the concept to the same degree, the fact remains that their ideas have gained traction, and DNA's recruitment efforts are often responsible for the creation of new dreamers. Those unfortunate dreamers who become nightmares are seen as unprepared or unworthy to ascend toward enlightenment and treated as unclean, rejected by the gods—perhaps for coveting too much power, as the transformation is often a result of absorbing too many crystals, and failing to adjust to the psychological chaos created by conflicting dreams. DNA's ultimate stated goal is to locate the original master crystal and return the shards. They see non-dreamers not as enemies, but baggage to be left behind. However, dreamers who seek shards for Nova are treated as thieves and fools that need reeducation.

Oneirovátis:

A word that’s essentially lost its original meaning over the years, often shortened to Oneir, it is used to describe legendarily strong Dreamers. They aren’t unified, in fact plenty of them are naturally at odds with each other or have never crossed paths. Some of the most well known are the Nova Republic’s self proclaimed superhero Skeleton Man, and a woman codenamed Starweaver, her space Dream leaving destruction and misfortune in her wake.

Pokemon Spiral

Whirlipede

---

@Crimson Flame@LuckyBlackCat

---

Whirlipede side eyed the woman that had let him out as she ran, it felt an urge to chase her down too...but for now there were people in front of it so she'd have to wait. All it could feel was anger and a strange pain that simply felt as though something was missing, and how that void ached. Maybe the pokemon and trainers in front of it could he-no, maybe the catharsis from running them over could fill that hole.

The pokemon's spinning suddenly sped up before lashing out directly towards the group, barreling through the icy wind, slightly slowed perhaps but barely hurt. He missed this time, but now he could feel a shadowy energy billowing up and empowering his next charge. Whirlipede centered in on the Brionne and her trainer with unconcealed malice.

Rheese Laudat

Rheese saw the already hurt Drowsee go down to the Sewaddle's bug bite, that only left the grimer. "Alright then! Wooper, hit them with Water Gun!" The little blue pokemon burst from its pokeball, already blasting water at the poison types that were still trying to advance on the other trainer. The Grimer clearly weren't prepared for combat, and now without being directed by a trainer they were hardly threatening.

Suddenly he felt something clamp down on his foot again. Looking down, Rheese saw the same Slowpoke from before going at his shoe once more. He pulled it from the creature's mouth and stepped back a couple paces. The pink creature simply waddled right back to him and went at it all over again. Rheese wasn't exactly fond of his shoes getting covered in drool so he tried to push the critter back only for it to suddenly tense up, glare at him ominously and push his hands away with a burst of psychic power before the glazed look in its eyes returned and it got back to gnawing. Rheese looked down dumbfounded...Now that he had a moment he realized he'd this Slowpoke was different to the ones he'd known from Johto. Recognizing his own need for a psychic type and that this little dope was going to make it more difficult to focus on the task at hand, he dropped a pokeball on its head. Thankfully it didn't throw it back or anything, and moments later the red light on the ball cooled and his team had gotten a bit bigger.

Pokemon Spiral

Agent Actinium

---

@Crimson Flame@LuckyBlackCat

---

"This is ridiculous! There's an endless stream of you damn weaklings." Alicia said frustrated. There wasn't any choice now, she'd have to use it...this was embarrassing. "Okay then, if you think numbers'll help I'll just have to show you how outmatched you really are!"

She watched the Litleo that had started all of this escape with a bit of mild annoyance. This whole situation could have been avoided if it hadn't shown up. She held up the marked pokeball to her face, a grim look overtaking her as she whispered to it. "Okay, just don't kill anybody...and preferably don't go berserk before I'm gone." She let out a small breath to calm herself. "Next time learn to mind your own business! Go, Whirlipede!" She shouted as she simultaneously motioned for her Torracat to get closer to her. The grunt with her looked at her with pure terror as he returned his Cramorant and started sprinting in the opposite direction. Good. She thought to herself as the Whirlipede left its pokeball. Less risk of a friendly casualty...now I just gotta find a good window to escape as well.

The bug pokemon looked around coldly at everyone around it. Anybody around could tell that something was off about the thing, the soulless look even gave Alicia chills as her Torracat positioned itself to defend her if this thing got out of control. "Alright Whirlipede, show these trainers...make them regret nosing into the business of Te-I mean....damnit just take them the hell out!" Alicia said with wavering conviction. With these damn abominations it felt like she was signing a death warrant for these trainers, but they'd left her with no choice. It was their own fault really, who the hell did they think they were? Yeah, they signed their own death warrants...she had nothing to feel guilty about. As the purple pokemon began to spin up ominously while narrowing its eyes at the pokemon in front of it, Alicia ran off towards the woods where the other grunt had gone.

With any luck, Whirlipede would take out those trainers and prevent anybody from checking for the pokeballs she'd set up in the bushes. It was dark perhaps, but thinking about it now was pointless. No way it'd return to its pokeball now that it had been set free.

Team B

---

@OtomostheCrazy

---

"Seriously? You had back up?" The grunt asked dumbfounded before he noticed the Maractus trying to attack him. This kid and his pokemon were psychos. "Fine, Drowsee protect me!" The grunt shouted in fear as he threw his pokeball between himself and the attack. The poor psychic type took the blow directly, and clearly didn't fare all that well. This was bad.

This should have been an easy job, just place the damn grimer in the well and go, unfortunately his stupid partner had probably been eaten by slowpokes. Ironic since the damn slob had always loved slopoketai-His train of thought was interrupted as he was hit from the side. His partner along with several more grimer had been tossed out of the well. At least the idiot hadn't been devoured. The grunt scrambled to his feet and delivered a swift kick to his ally's side to rouse the unconscious fool. "Get the hell up, we've got a situation." He said urgently as the unconscious one slowly started to try and stand. "Drowsee, use hypnosis on that Maractus...Grimers, if he's gonna use all his pokemon at the same time we might as well too. Get them!"

The other grunt stood up and looked hopelessly at one of his pokeballs. "Uh, dude, those slowpoke already knocked my pokemon out." He said, stepping backwards in preparation to make a run for it. This whole assignment had gone tits up in no time flat. The grimer hadn't even managed to touch the water. "Good luck!" He shouted as he frantically sprinted away. He wasn't about to be captured by some runt and an army of dumb ass slowpokes. He was gonna be sure to eat a few extra slowpoketail as soon as he got back to base out of spite.

"You bastard! Damn it all!" The first grunt shouted as his only ally fled. As angry as he was that he had just been abandoned, he was angrier that he hadn't been swift enough to ditch the other guy instead. He only had one option now, he'd have to ditch his Drowsee and the grimers if he wanted to have any chance at escape. He turned to flee only to see the other grunt sprawled out in the field with the Minior from before flying around as though it was dancing. Right...there were two trainers. He sighed and started running, his Drowsee too focused on using its current attack to even notice it was being abandoned. The grunt threw out a pokeball as the minior took notice of his mad dash. An Electrike emerged and ran alongside him for a moment. "Electrike, thunder wave that damn rock!" He shouted, paralyzing Minior in its tracks as he returned the electric pokemon and kept running, passing his former pal as he did so...served him right.

Rheese Laudat

Rheese looked up to see his Minior hit the ground, he knew the pokemon wasn't hurt as its shell was still in tact, but he could hear the desperation in its cry as it tried to pick itself up in vain. He instinctively sprinted towards his downed pokemon, effortlessly getting his shoe out of the slowpoke's mouth as he ran. He managed to evade the grimer as they were approaching Deneb and his team, before long he was kneeling by the now seemingly helpless pokemon that had almost obliterated him many times. "Hey, it's alright little buddy."

Minior shot up into the air, making Rheese dodge him a single time before falling back down stunned by the paralysis. It immediately got back to letting out soft cries. "Yep, saw that coming. It's okay, I promise I'll get you to a pokemon center and get that taken care of asap." He cautiously patted the rock type, calming it down quite a bit. Now that those guys were dealt with he felt he could properly assess the situation and help out...and there were quite a few grimers backing up that Drowsee. He returned the calmed Minior to his ball and looked towards where the grunt that had escaped ran off too and cursed himself for being unable to chase after him. He turned towards Deneb and sent the rest of his own team out. "Hey, guy with the Maractus, I'll back you up!"

Pokemon Spiral

Agent Actinium

---

@Crimson Flame@Zanavy

---

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Alicia grunted in frustration as the trainers attacked. While it was likely she had the advantage in battle experience and pokemon strength, her accomplice certainly couldn't say the same as he just watched slackjawed as his Cramorant was clobbered by rocks. "Torracat, weaken that watergun with flamethrower!" Alicia shouted as the fire type's attack collided with the small torrent. It didn't completely stop the water type attack as the resulting steam and droplets of water still clearly hurt the feline, but it was better than taking it directly. "Now, hit that Brionne with Shadow Claw!"

Her ally's Cramorant managed to stand back up and unleash a water gun of its own back at the Rockruff that had just hit it. That type match up seemed to go both ways. Alicia idly touched a specific pokeball on her hip, an emergency measure that she was specifically ordered not to use frivolously...If this commotion got Saki's attention however, it would be their only way out. Of course, it was an option if they were cornered by these fledgling trainers too...just much harder to justify.

Of course, now that Litleo was making noise in the middle of the fray. That wasn't good, at this rate Alicia hoped that the gym leader was busy battling a challenger or something to keep her from hearing all the chaos.

Team B

---

@OtomostheCrazy

---

"Crap, what kind of kid just attacks out of the blue like this!?" The now revealed grunt shouted as he clumsily managed to pull out a pokeball and narrowly avoid getting roped up by a Sewaddle. "Pokemon battles are between pokemon ya little nutjob!"

Quickly noticing that one of the Grimer that had just been tossed out had been almost instantly subdued by a helioptile he cursed to himself. Not like those Grimer were prepared to battle regardless, but any help would have been nice since his partner was still AWOL in the well. "Fine, in that case..." The grunt retrieved a pokeball from his belt and let a voltorb out. "Voltorb jump towards the kid and use self destruct!" The grunt was well aware that the blast wouldn't do much in the way of damage as these voltorb were mostly meant to be used as distractions, but it would probably at least scare the young trainer a bit and give him a window to run...even if that meant abandoning his pal in the well.

"Minior, use tackle on that Voltorb!" A voice rang out as a small boulder-like pokemon collided with the electric type and sent it careening before it exploded. The fainted voltorb then harmlessly hit the grass a small distance away.

Rheese Laudat

Minutes ago in the woods nearby

Rheese sprinted back towards Vareena...Though admittedly not terribly quickly given how sore he was still feeling, so it was more of an enthusiastic power-limp. All the same it didn't take very long to make it to town, and before he could even start looking for what was going on, he saw something that immediately caused a rising pressure in his head. He looked away before it could erupt into another headsplitting episode, but he could tell that the older guy by the well was definitely bad news. He managed to keep himself from thinking about it too hard, until he heard that same man yell for his voltorb to use self destruct. He felt his Minior let itself out of its pokeball and fly towards the battle at full speed. Unable to stop his pokemon's charge, he shouted at it to direct its assault.

"Minior, use tackle on that Voltorb!" He shouted, before hearing the voltorb explode slightly further away. Welp, he was in the battle now. He felt something at his feet, looking down carefully he spotted a slowpoke with an odd yellow spot on its head lightly biting his shoe before it suddenly looked up at him intently, startling him slightly before its psychic power quelled the pressure in his head temporarily. The Slowpoke's incredibly serious look suddenly faded back to the usual dopey one as it got back to assaulting his footwear.

Rheese ignored the ultimately harmless psychic type and focused back on the bigger situation. While he couldn't bring himself to look at the culprit, his pokemon didn't have that same dilemma. "Minior, back that kid up!" He said, further away than he'd like to be if it weren't for his current handicap.

@OtomostheCrazy

Pokemon Spiral

Team A

---

@LuckyBlackCat@fer1323

---

As both of the grunts' pokemon fainted, the pair were visibly a bit less confident. "Y-you think we'd just tell you? What, ya think we're some Rocket Grunts that just signed on for a quick buck?" The younger grunt spluttered back, buying time as the older reached for something in his back pocket. "No, we're not gonna go down that easy and even if you manage to catch us..." The grunt trailed off as he looked back at his cohort to confirm that he'd stalled enough. The other responded by throwing a duo of pokeballs, two voltorbs emerged, one letting off a blinding flash as the other primed to use self destruct. The two grunts preemptively shielded their eyes as the two spheres went of and covered their retreat. The explosion likely wouldn't be enough to take anybody down, but it would have to do. They both had two more pokemon, but from that start it was clear the trainers would overpower them fairly easily if they just battled it out. Besides, they'd already done their job...if these two were to pursue them, the device would be safe.

Team B

---

@OtomostheCrazy

---

"Woah kid, let the adults do their jobs." The first grunt said, trying to just shoo the brat away. His partner was currently in the well releasing grimers to pollute the drinking supply. "Just working on the well, keeping the water quality where it belongs." The grunt then turned back to the well only to get a face full of Grimer as something launched the poison pokemon back out. After throwing the sludge pokemon off of him he peered in to only see the blue eyes of a slowpoke launching another grimer out, this time he managed to evade it. "You're kidding, now we've got a slowpoke infestation to deal with before we can get on with it...Of all the-" The grunt turned back to Deneb, realizing how all of this looked. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of this."

Savkin

"Another amnesiac in Vareena..." Savken's gruff voice muttered as he gave his Salamence a rough pat. He read the report that Saki had filed and the request for Ray's assistance, not that that layabout Ray was likely to lift a finger to do anything about it. No, he'd probably just keep playing his childish game of tag with his sister. There was little question, Team Noble had to have a base near Vareena...and with any luck there might even be somebody beyond the fodder grunts that didn't even know the basic details of Noble's plot.

Savkin would have to look into this personally, without relaying his intentions to the rest of the league. There was no time for bureaucratic process of demanding they authorize his investigation...and with any level of oversight he might be stopped from doing what he has to to bury Team Noble and whatever they're planning. No, this was something that needed a firm approach...a show of might.

Stranded: Blacksite (High casual Sci-fi/fantasy Horror)

Felix accepted Lea's explanation about the...odd Sapishte. It figured that there were at least a few experiments aboard. Stuff that would be best stored somewhere like the Alcatraz where they'd never be seen again. His expression towards the girl softened slightly and he fully holstered his weapon. This situation had gotten so bizarre in such a short period he almost thought that maybe he'd been knocked out trying to drag that prisoner out of the vent and this was just some weird dream.

"Very well." He said, not really intending to hide any of the information to begin with. "Though I'm sure you've already got your suspicions...and I'd wager you've got a few of them right. The Draught Sentries are secretly clearing prison blocks for some reason. There seems to be some sort of disease that either they're spreading...or they're trying to keep from spreading by purging entire blocks. Either way it seems to be out of control. With a bit of luck, we found out about this just before they managed to get to the block these prisoners were in." Felix gestured to the others before letting his arms fall to his sides. Much as he'd have liked to try for some witty retort, nothing really came to mind. Maybe part of him recognized this was no place for it.

"S'pose our conversations in the past have had an impact, because I decided not to just leave these folks to their fate." Felix said with a sigh. "Might've been a dumb move though. No clue how this plague or whatever's going around works, us just being here could have already damned everyone in this wing. Even so, these folks...mostly seem alright. I made the call to take that risk instead of guaranteeing they all got ashed. Besides, if it is some sort of illness I think bringing it to your attention is the only chance anybody aboard has."

Felix took a deep breath after that bit of exposition. He still hadn't shaken the feeling that they were in danger, nor the pit in his gut telling him they had no clue what they were dealing with. Both of those had been there for over a year now, but today's events had intensified them greatly. Normally the medical bay was a place that mostly put him at ease, but right now? He wasn't sure if anything could slow the creeping sense of dread this situation had exacerbated.