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Post by GX1997 on Nov 29, 2015 19:57:07 GMT -6
"I don't know what's next. All I know is that I just want this whole thing to be over. I want the world to be a decent place to live again."
She's trying to hide something by acting as normal as possible, but I can't what it is she's hiding. She's not going to just come out and say what it is, so I may have to do a little digging on my own to find out.
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Post by empireoffire on Nov 29, 2015 23:09:17 GMT -6
Grinn lobbed the Pokeball holding Ditto into her giant mouth (apparently, it's easier to carry that way) and dove into the ground. Out of sight from Nova officials, Joshua planned for Grinn to phase through the ground and find his way into a safe enough area within the underground facility to allow Ditto to analyze the surroundings and be able to successfully teleport the rest of the team to the area without fear of the usual teleportation accidents that could kill them all. Seeing as the earthquake literally ripped at least the upper building apart and much of Mauville's power grid was knocked out, they figured that any defenses Nova would have put up would be disabled; at most, backup power sources would keep lights, a few important appliances, and/or emergency features on.
"Ready, Rotom?" asked Joshua, his mask in hand. "I'm trusting you on transferring data and turning on anything else that needs it."
"Ready!"
Rotom entered Joshua's mask, which he put on. About a minute later, Ditto -- now transformed as Yancy's Gallade -- teleported to his side. John Doe nodded as Ditto put a hand on his shoulder before they vanished.
We should pick up treats for Zygarde later. There's got to be someplace that still sells.
Shortly after the Earthquake destroyed the upper building, Emma and her team emerged from right beneath the underground facility's flooring, thanks to Zygarde's power. Even despite only being at 10% (Xerosic reasoned that Zygarde's prolonged absence would mean that no one at Nova would be actively looking for it anymore, so he wanted Zygarde to remain in his weaker forms whenever possible to avoid creating a blip in Nova's radars and having them notice his resurrection), the demonstration of the legendary Order Pokemon's power was nothing short of amazing; a great fissure ripping apart such a large complex that's otherwise heavily guarded to prevent espionage or assault. Emma could scarcely imagine what Zygarde's power would be like at 50 or even 100 percent power.
Of course, right now was business. After she and the others infiltrated the facility, the others were to disperse around the facility and incapacitate the remaining Nova workers left as non-lethally as circumstances would allow; signs of violence would tip Nova off that something was afoot, and the idea is that no one would know they were here until at least well after the operation. Meanwhile, she would advance to the designated rooms with a certain Pokeball and extract certain computers and other important equipment that either held lots of important data, or could be re-purposed to suit their needs. If half of what Xerosic claims he can do with that data has merit, then they could find themselves able to control a Nova satellite for surveillance purposes.
We might even be able to get any data Nova might have about Galactic or Yveltal, or even where the missing 50% is being held.
Emma kicked down a metal door to enter a room where rows of servers were lined up. She held up her Ultra ball and sent out Zygarde from within. He was on the floor when he materialized, and looked up at Emma.
"Work time?" he asked.
Emma nodded.
"Kewl."
Rotom hacked open another electronic lock before zipping back into John Doe's mask. With Grinn hiding in his shadow, he opened the door and pointed his handgun at both ends of the hallway it led to before walked down it. Given that this was an unplanned opportunity, he had to basically guess his way through the facility to reach where he wanted to be. He figured the inconvenience of getting lost would be worth the potential payoff.
Suddenly, another rumble forced him to duck to keep his balance. He stayed for about another minute after the trembling ceased.
"More earthquakes?" asked Rotom.
There aren't supposed to be earthquakes in this area in the first place, answered John Doe telepathically. Someone's doing it on purpose. Let's hurry and...
He paused as someone turned a corner in front of him. John Doe stood up and raised his gun at them just as they raised their rifle at him. Doe would have shot him, had it not been for the man's clothes. He wore a bandanna over his hair and a cloth over his mouth, but what was most peculiar was that he wore what appeared to be a combat uniform somewhat similar in design to Nova's, only colored with green and black as primary colors, with the green in particular taking a somewhat hexagonal motif.
The man also appeared to have been caught off guard by seeing him, as his eyes widened and he lowered his rifle briefly before regaining his stance. "Gun down," he ordered. "Hands in the air."
John Doe could think of a few ways to dispatch him, but decided to play along for the moment. He slowly placed his gun on the floor and held his hands up.
"...Are you Joshua Vega?" asked the man.
"You've watched the news, right?" replied Doe. "Now, who are you?"
"I'm not saying s***." said the man. He paused for a bit, before lowering his gun and nodding his head down the hall Joshua just came from. "Go. Leave. I'll pretend I didn't see you."
John Doe lowered his arms slowly. "Any friends of yours about?"
"Yeah," said the man, "but they're not near this place in particular. We'll cave this place soon, so leave ASAP."
"Are you Nova?" continued Doe.
The man sighed in annoyance. "No. Enough talk, will you get out of here already?"
"Sure."
Grinn sprang out from the ground in front of Doe as he turned around to look away. He turned back after hearing a thud as the man succumbed to Hypnosis.
"You gonna get the disguise?" asked Grinn.
Too much time. I don't know who these guys are or what they're up to, but if they're planning on collapsing this place, then we have less time to act that we thought. We have no time to waste.
Grinn slunk back into John Doe's shadow as he jogged down the hallway where the man came from.
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Post by HHDeception on Dec 8, 2015 12:55:41 GMT -6
Molly gave a small nod in agreement, wiping her hands on a napkin.
"Some part of me still feels like the world is in a nightmare. You um...ever feel that way? I woke up one morning and I'm in the middle of something that just doesn't seem real...sorry if that seems strange. I haven't been through an ounce of what you have."
Eusine groaned. He was awake for some reason. There was a breathing mask on his face pumping who-knows-what kind of drugs into him. Like Nitrogen for instance. Eugh.
The worst thing about self-loathing is that it's self-sufficient. When it's too painful to think about anything else, you just fall back on what's comfortable. And in Eusine's case, it's a hospital bed and a state of utter uselessness.
He scratched at the injection site on his arm. Only a few more doses to go before he was discharged...and then what? Find Suicune, go raid another Nov- never mind. The thought vanished before he could even finish it. He didn't know where the other beasts were. And thinking about it too hard made his head hurt. Trying to remember brought on a migraine, and so did any thoughts of leaving or fighting or...
Hang on.
He scratched at the site some more. In general he didn't trust his senses anymore, but he swore there's no reason for his arm to be numb. In one localized are- nope he was forgetting about that too.
But a few more deep breaths and then he wasn't. And he was digging his nails into the skin around his injection site, finding the edge of some sort of artificial tissue and peeling it back.
Arms whipped up and legs followed suit. Feet on the floor, he stood up out of bed, whipping the breathing mask off, and immediately fell over into a prat fall. Walking, remember walking? Not too hard, right? How about standing? His head spun violently, but that's ok since if there's anything that can motivate someone through pain, it's anger. He stumbled through the curtains around his bed and basically fell onto the nearest person who looked like a nurse, grabbing at the front of her outfit for support.
"Molly. That girl who's always with me. Where is she!?"
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Post by GX1997 on Dec 8, 2015 17:19:34 GMT -6
Well, that settles it. It looks like I'll be getting a little more practice with these psychic powers today.[/I
"What did you do before all of this, Molly? Were you a trainer?" As Meridia moved to another subject, which was a calculated move she used to help lower someone's guard, she attempted to read Molly's thoughts, but met an unidentifiable resistance that wasn't of Molly's own consciousness.
Well... things just became much more interesting. I knew there was something unusual about her, but now I think I've just grazed the surface of it. How mysterious...
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Post by empireoffire on Dec 8, 2015 19:41:04 GMT -6
About half a second after Eusine asked that question, he would have felt someone grab him firmly by the neck (provided he wasn't too numb or fuzzy-headed to process it), force him up as she stood back up with surprising strength given her thin physique, and deliver a vicious jab to his liver to send him reeling backward.
"If you have to know, she's on a date with someone", growled the receptionist. Glaring daggers at the patient that's been a pain in the ass almost the entire time he's been admitted into the ward, the receptionist grabbed a syringe from a nearby tray filled with a transparent liquid and held it up. "Now, is Mr. Crazy going to go back to bed quietly, or are we going to have to take drastic measures?"
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Dec 8, 2015 21:47:52 GMT -6
"That's no excuse to turn the Sky Emperor into that, thing!" Zinnia shouted as she pointed at Roboquaza.
Neal signaled for Roboquaza to back off as Katherine unleashed Tyranitar from a Pokeball she had.
"I see now that the circumstances of our meeting are not to our liking." Neal stood tall and loomed over the tiny dragon-girl. "I repeat, reveal to me the secrets of Rayquaza's Mega Evolution and then we can restore the natural order."
"I do wish to return Rayquaza to his seat of deification, but you have gone too far!" The wild child rushed Neal with her Noivern blasting pieces of the cave above them before her Tyrantrum joined the charge as Salamence began the process of Mega Evolving.
Zinnia quickly leapt around Neal but the Tyranitar quickly aimed a flurry of Focus Blasts at her to keep her pressured as Neal grabbed Katherine and hurled her across the room at Noivern. Katherine adjusted herself mid-flight, and using her new cybernetics, thrust her arm towards the bat-like drake, making a piston explode out of her palm to crush the Noivern into the stone floor. She then sprung towards the Altaria, embracing its fluffy feathers as she pinned its wings together with metal wire. In the same instant, Neal caught the Tyrantrum head-on, but despite his own enormous strength, was pushed back until he leapt upwards, using the Tyrantrum's momentum to piledrive it into the ground. Only the Salamence and the Goodra remained, but the winged beast had completed its transformation, gaining a sharpened set of wings.
Useless. Neal thought to himself as the Salamence had no room to begin its high-speed flight.
The giant flung himself towards the struggling dragon before Zinnia managed to latch onto his back, altering his trajectory enough to impale his abdomen on Salamence's bladed wing. Katherine looked on in mild shock before rushing Goodra and attempting a high-speed kick, but the slug-like wyrm merely caught her foot inside of its body, trapping her.
Zinnia gasped as she released herself from her grip on Neal's back, laughing a bit as she thudded against the floor. "Ha... Looks like you've been beat."
The Salamence tilted itself and let Neal slide away from its blade, his body slumping on the rocky ground. There was a short pause as the Salamence stepped over Neal's body, but the brief respite from battle was interrupted as Neal grappled the Salamence and swung it backwards, using its sharpened wings to impale it into the ground before knocking it out with a blow to the head. The Tyranitar, with the greater threats dealt with, fired an Ice Beam at the Goodra, stiffening its mucous flesh. Katherine swung her other leg at the now-hardened dragon, freeing the first and smacking the Goodra against the wall with the second.
Zinnia was the last one standing. No final hurrah, no light at the end.
Neal's wounded flesh finished repairing itself as he walked over to the now very-still Zinnia.
"Now tell me how to Mega Evolve Rayquaza." He loomed over her, making her feel like a Ratata against a Pyroar. "I desired no ill-will towards you and your friends, but you gave me no choice."
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Post by HHDeception on Dec 9, 2015 1:20:53 GMT -6
Eusine didn't know how he ended up on the floor, but he didn't seem to notice either way. He just wriggled on the ground and kept picking at a site on the side of his arm. Eventually he exposed some sort of spongy pad, kind of like an Asborb Bulb, but flattened out to match the shape of his deltoid.
He started to giggle. It wasn't a very nice giggle either. "Hehe. Hahaha! What the hell is this?" He wobbled up to his feet, making a sort of whining noise, "She's been taking my-my..."
And with that he wobbled a bit too far forward, falling unconscious face-first into the receptionist.
Molly sensed that something was trying to pull at her mind. Moreso than usual anyways. She often sense the traces of Mewtwo scanning while at Realgam, but this was much more direct. She didn't know where it was coming from, but resisted the temptation to look around. She didn't want to look too suspicious, but if someone was onto her then...
"Um...I wasn't much of a trainer. I did have some pokemon but they were household pets...I have no idea what's become of them...now...ah, excuse me but..."
She sniffed a bit and raised her napkin to her face.
"Ah-CHOO!"
And as she forced a sneeze, she bent over, hiding her face and hands as her skin very briefly flashed with the symbols of a hundred Unown. In that instant, she gave slack to the psychic rope, allowing a flash into the mental image of a ferocious Entei's ground-shaking roar.
"Sorry, ah..." She said, wiping her nose, "Where were we...?"
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Post by GX1997 on Dec 14, 2015 20:26:29 GMT -6
"So, you're aware of my actions, are you?"
Meridia did her bests to hold her face in a calm, neutral expression, and continued chewing a bite of food as an excuse for why she wasn't talking, though she couldn't be sure how well she was keeping up her façade. The voice she was projecting with her powers was ambiguous, unable to be identified as belonging to a specific person, and also not clearly male or female. As long as her actions hadn't betrayed her, she would be able to have at least a little more time to investigate before Molly tracked down the source of the psychic intrusion on her thoughts.
"You're quite an interesting person... although it is possible that you're actually fairly normal, and it's just whatever created that illusion that's so interesting. If you were a psychic of some kind you would have been able to track down where this is coming from, but you resorted to that little trick instead, which tells me that the power behind it is something different. I don't suppose you would just tell me what the source of your illusions are, would you?"
As another precaution made under the assumption that Molly might try another trick like that, and that she hadn't already given herself away, Meridia did her best to establish a discrete connection with the mind of a customer at a nearby table, so she could easily relay whatever might be used and startle that person, creating a red herring.
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Post by HHDeception on Dec 19, 2015 21:23:06 GMT -6
Molly didn't hear or see anyone jump, so she could only assume whoever was trying to read her was either outside the restaurant or good at what they do. But why her of all people?Someone would have to have seen her to target her. She couldn't remember if anyone had entered the restaurant recently either. In any case, she figured she'd do the sensible thing. She leaned in just a bit closer, speaking quietly to Meridia as she ate.
"Don't look around, but I think someone is trying to read my mind. Like not Mewtwo, someone else. I think it's because I'm a new face around here. I've heard Mewtwo has had issues with Nova moles before, so excuse me for not trusting everyone around me. Is there protocol or something for this? What do we do?"
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Post by GX1997 on Dec 20, 2015 11:47:06 GMT -6
"The first thing to do is make sure you've narrowed down the reasons you're being targetted as much as you possibly can. The line of reasoning suggesting that it's because you're new here is a fairly good one, but you may have to narrow it down further. Is there anything that could have made you seem different than any other newcomer? I'd think all the way back to Realgam. That's where most people would have seen you for the first time and had the largest chance for something about you to set off alarm bells for someone. Other than that, stay calm. Any attempt to ward off the psychic may just make them more suspicious. They'll probably move on if they don't find anything they deem alarming about you."
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Post by HHDeception on Dec 20, 2015 16:59:18 GMT -6
"Too late for that. And I don't care why, it's the what do we do..." Molly said softly as she shuffled, "How do we find him? Nobody should even notice me anyways, unless I've let...my guard down..."
Molly paused.
"See if anyone looks my way."
She got up with her food waste, and headed towards a garbage can, with the air about her that she was wholly unremarkable. What she didn't mention was how the psychic seemed to be awfully patient as Merida was talking to her.
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Post by GX1997 on Dec 20, 2015 18:31:49 GMT -6
A few moments after Molly put her plan into action the bell that signalled the door had been opened rang, and the psychic presence faded from her mind until it was gone altogether. Meridia shook her head to indicate that no one had shown a reaction, but subtly gestured towards the door.
"Why don't we continue our conversation outside where it's quieter?"
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Post by HHDeception on Dec 26, 2015 23:08:18 GMT -6
Molly returned, trying to figure out exactly what kind of position she had gotten herself into, for better or worse.
"Sounds good," she said quickly, "Where did you have in mind?"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 18:53:17 GMT -6
They met in an alley a couple blocks off the radio tower, near the flower shop. The two crouched around a corner to stay as undetected as possible.
Jacquelyn, stopped and focused, the drying blood on her from what one could assume was a horrendous massacre.
"I can feel Diancie using the Proto-Drive, it's locked underground. We should assume heavily guarded, but not by an admin. I doubt it's protection is a high enough priority for such a thing. We can get in through the department store basement or go in through the underground warehouse."
Austin nodded understanding. The department store could get ugly fast if any civilians were around. "Warehouse."
Jacquelyn nodded and grabbed Austin by the wrist.
They headed towards the entrance to the underground.
They were an alley away. It was just across the street. "I'll go. Cover me with Hydro Pump. Then you can follow."
Jacquelyn sprinted forward, Austin, quick-dialed Hydro Pump, and held the Cosmic Drive hand steady. He opened hisbleft palm, and searched for guards.
Two on the left. He took two shots of pure pounding water, knocking out the approaching police.
Jacquelyn was halfway across when an officer riding a Starbursted Magnezone flew into view. It was readying a charge beam, the officer aiming his Starburst.
Austin pressed a small black button on the glistening black device, and the next shot was an Incinerate via Victini.
Although Fennel had worked on the device, it had only been for part of it's development, whilst the young Jacquelyn had been aware of more of its features because of her experience with the Proto-Drive.
The Magnezone wonked. It's eye going crazy as it used Lock-on to locate Austin.
The Officer spotted him, and ordered Magnezone to persue him.
Austin thought it, using his Drive's communication ability, Victini heard his command and flew out of it's ball, and soared towards thr Magnezone eith a V-Create.
The Magnezone fired the Charge beam and the two clashed.
Austin ran forward, the officer reaching for a gun. Austin aimed his palm at the officer's leg, better lose a leg than a head, and shot forth a stream of Incinerate.
The man howled in pain and surprise and fell backwards off the Magnezone.
Victini had pushed throught the streaming electricity and smashed it's flame-engulded forhead into the steel monstrosity.
The Magnezone fainted.
Austin jerked back to find an officer grabbing him by the arm, pulling him forward.
"I'll let you have some fun before turning you in if you quit now kid!" The man yelled.
Not quite sure what the officer was saying, he didn't care as the man was pushed backward by the momentum of a bullet to the face.
Austin jerked away, and sprinted towards Jacquelyn, Vic along him in the air. It would only get worse from there.
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Post by empireoffire on Jan 13, 2016 4:43:20 GMT -6
A few minutes after Eusine collapsed on her, the receptionist tossed the fifth roll of duct tape into the nearby trash bin. Standing by Eusine's bed, she looked over her handiwork. Eusine was currently taped shoulder to ankle directly to the cot with layers upon layers of thick, gray duct tape. One arm was crossed over his chest, under the restrictive tape, while the other was extended downward. Although it was free of tape, the arm was still handcuffed by the wrist to the side of the bed. The only reason the arm didn't join the other arm was that the man's dosage still needed to be applied. Otherwise, Eusine was lying faceup with his breathing mask re-applied, currently sleeping like a babe.
"...Soon as the last dose's done, I'm personally tossing his ass out into the desert if no one's around to stop me."
The receptionist about-faced and headed toward the restroom once again to wash her hands.
With Zoroark recently sent out by his side, the currently invisible Joshua slipped through the complex in search for the data he's searching for.
"Should I go scoutin'?" asked Grinn.
No, answered Joshua. We might need to teleport out on short notice, and I don't want you so far from us that we'd have to leave you behind.
"Yeeeeaaaaah that'd be bad."
Joshua slipped through another door to find himself in what looked appeared like a spacious recreational area. There were a pair of overturned pool tables on the left and ride sides of the room, a pair of vending machines in the corner closest to him, an arcade machine for Sheriff, mounted (and some fallen) TVs, and a long table down the middle with someone's (now dusty) half-eaten sandwich on one corner with a half-full bottle of water on the ground nearby, among some other assorted overturned, smaller tables.
Joshua would've immediately dismissed the area as a wrong turn and left quickly to make up for lost time when he noted the torn floor in the middle of the room, around the middle of the long table at the center of the room, and the out-of-place holes in the ground and faint silhouettes of dirty footprints that led away from it.
Those guys causing the quakes... Did they emerge from here?
Footsteps alerted Joshua that someone was approaching behind him. He silently re-entered the room and stepped to the side to allow the unaware individuals to pass right by him. He stood and listened as they conversed among themselves. As they passed by, Joshua initially counted three of them, though others soon joined in; some strolling leisurely, others sprinting and breathing harder than the rest.
"You know... That was kind of..."
"Easy? Not bad for a first assignment."
"You'd think Emm-- I mean, Essentia would tone the quakes down a notch? They're making me nervous."
"Yo, has anyone seen Linus?"
"Last I checked he went Southwest."
"Should I get Dodrio to fetch him?"
"Wait 'til Essentia gets back, at least."
"I knew I should've done more cardio."
"Hey, anyone got an electric type to power that vending machine? I'm thirsty."
In total, Joshua counted eleven of them in the room, with the guy he knocked out being number twelve and whoever this Essentia person is bringing the total to thirteen. He waited for a few minutes to see if anyone else would come.
As much as I'd like to stick around and see if I can hear more info, I came here for something.
Joshua was about to move when he here another pair of footsteps down the hallway. He bemoaned his bad luck and/or timing as he waited for whoever it was to pass through, hoping to slip in through the crack.
"How long until Nova sends people over?" asked Emma.
Through the small window in her HUD, Emma saw Hugh leaning back on his chair and looking off to the side."If I had to guess, five to ten minutes minimum. They're probably back on their feet by now and trying to mobilize. Question is whether they rush straight to here or at least try to stop to check on civilians, though they should've only scrapped their knees compared to this facility. Whatever the case, get out fast."
"Roger."
Emma dashed through the facility, having recalled Zygarde after they got everything they came for. After reaching the rendezvous point and seeing at least most of the soldiers there, Emma was about to send out Zygarde to extract them.
However, right as she dashed through the door frame, something out of the corner of her eye gave her pause.
The first thing Joshua noticed about the person that ran through was their different choice of clothing. As opposed to the black-and-green combat uniforms the others wore, she wore a form-fitting suit colored back with a hint of brown. The second was the helmet she wore. By the time she paused, Joshua could piece together what was going on before she turned to look directly at him with an uzi drawn at him.
"I see you, you know," she coldly, said. "Reveal yourself."
The soldiers read their cue and pointed their weapons at Joshua's general direction.
Crap. Guess we're doing this the hard way.
Emma pointed her gun at what appeared to be the empty space the target reticules in her HUD hovered over until someone and their Pokemon materialized, the target directly over their head.
"...Hugh," Emma whispered into her helmet, the speaker off so she wouldn't be publicly heard.
"Dammit," growled Hugh. "Of all the-- what's he doing here?"
Emma and Hugh both watched as Joshua raised his hands in the air. The other soldiers pointing their weapons directly at him or his Zoroark instead of at his general direction.
"What should I do?" Emma asked.
"Can't let him go back to Mewtwo," said Hugh. "Just... Switch to Dark type. Now!"
Without questioning, Emma reached for her wrist and pushed a button as a Gengar suddenly popped out of the shadows (whose subtle movement only Hugh noticed) in front of Joshua and his Zoroark and waved his arms to perform Hypnosis. Emma felt her suit growing slightly warmer as she did so. She didn't need to look to know her soldiers fell for it and were now asleep, so Emma instead raised her gun once more and fired off suppressing fire over Joshua's head, who responded with throwing some smoke bombs to the floor to cover himself as he dove to the side. A target on her HUD followed him briefly until the smoke got too thick to follow.
"Non-lethal takedowns!" shouted Hugh. "We want him alive! Don't reveal who we are yet!"
"I can already tell this guy's not going to make that easy," grumbled Emma. "How should I do that when I can break him in half by punching him...?"
Joshua ducked behind an overturned table as he pulled out his gun. Grinn went back into his shadow and Zoroark dashed to his side. Ditto continued to be wrapped around Joshua's wrist, under his sleeve. Joshua threw another smoke ball to where he last stood.
"It HAD to be a chick with a computer on her head!" complained an exasperated Zoroark.
"Time to teleport?" asked Grinn.
"Joshua Vega!" announced Essentia. "My helmet allows me to locate and shoot you as soon as you reveal yourself. Surrender peacefully now, and no harm will come to you."
Joshua looked at the table he was hiding behind as he lobbed another smoke bomb overhead.
Table's too short. Transforming into Gallade would stick some joints out and punch holes into Ditto.
Joshua looked around his immediate surroundings. He then tapped the side of his mask to turn on thermal vision.
...I got an idea.
Emma kept her gun pointed toward the smoke cloud, hoping that her gun is pointing to wherever Joshua was hiding to keep up the bluff. She also hoped he was hiding behind a solid object and not sitting there with nothing but the smokescreen as cover.
"What should I expect?" asked Emma.
Hugh rattled his memory. "He has a Rotom with trick, so watch it if he tries to steal something. Probably with a Soothe Bell or something. There's the Gengar, the Zoroark... He has a Manaphy, so keep Dark type mode handy for Heart Swap. What else..."
"Alright, you win!" exclaimed Joshua. "I'm going to stand up now, so don't shoot!"
Emma kept her gun raised and spoke publicly. "Step forward!"
A few seconds passed as Emma heard slow footsteps.
"Easier than I thought," whispered Emma. "...I don't--"
Emma heard the sound of a Pokeball opening, signalling a Pokemon being released. Emma flinched and braced herself for a frontal assault. An Ice Beam shot out and spread out over her feet, encasing them in a block of ice.
Emma was about to bend down and punch the ice apart when she heard a rapid series of footsteps, as well as something dragging across the floor briefly. Suddenly, Joshua burst through the smokescreen, charging at her and bringing a foot upward. Emma noticed the lack of targeting on her HUD, but her instincts took over as she quickly crossed her hands downward to block the kick aimed between the legs.
Then when the kick passed right through her hands and Joshua dissipated, she knew she was just had. She had only a brief second to process this information as the real Joshua burst out of the flames and smashed the metal folding chair he picked up across her face.
"Aargh!"
Emma looked back at Joshua through her newly cracked visor and saw him attempting to take advantage of his upper hand by raising the folding chair he was using as a weapon and bringing it down in an overhead swing. Emma raised her fist upward to block the blow, swatting the chair away and bending it into a useless near-right angle. As Joshua recovered from the surprising show of strength, Emma bent down to punch the ice and free her legs. She raised a gun to Joshua, who weaved downward and performed an upward backhand with knife in hand to throw her aim off. Emma's arm barely budged.
*jingle*
Emma dropped the Soothe Bell that had replaced her gun and reached for her hip. She activated her laser blade and swung it vertically as she stepped backward, cleaving her own gun that Joshua tried to raise against her. The meddlesome Mewtwo agent stepped backward as the Gengar re-materialized between them and fired a quick Shadow Ball at her. Emma cleaved through the Shadow Ball before it hit her, but Joshua had already thrown more smoke balls down to cloud Emma's vision.
Emma backflipped to create more space between herself and him. She ran a pair of fingers over her visor; heavily cracked across the left side, where the chair directly hit her. It sure as heck hurt, and clouded her vision from her left side, but what she hated more was the disabled HUD. Advice from Hugh would be useful right about now, and the auto-targetting would at least be useful in determining what was real and what was an illusion.
He should realize by now he can't beat me in a fair fight... I shouldn't be giving him the chance to strategize.
There were a couple of things Joshua learned from the attack as he retreated. First was that her auto-targetting system couldn't appear to tell where he was in the smoke (when he "surrendered, he moved to the side and she didn't adjust her aim, nor did she seem to notice Manaphy gliding over the table to shoot Ice Beam). Second was that she must have enhanced strength to be able to block and destroy the folding chair like nothing. Third was that her sword can cut through most likely anything he's carrying, since it sliced her gun like a hot knife through butter. The fourth was that she somehow has some kind of immunity to psychic interference; she didn't seem to be affected by Hypnosis, and Manaphy's Heart Swap had no effect when she tried to do so before going with Ice Beam plan B.
Rotom, status.
"I couldn't!" he said. "Something blocked me from possessing that suit!"
That was fifth. That's one high-tec suit.
"Time to split, now that we won't get shot?" insisted Grinn.
Joshua was about to declare the affirmative when a noise behind him caused him to turn his attention back to his enemy. Using his mask's thermal vision, he saw Essentia with an arm raised before she brought it downward. The cry of pain from the lucky shot hitting Zoroark in the back and a pool table crashing beside Joshua clued him in on what she was doing. He watched as she ran to the side, knelt down to grab something else, and threw a chair overhead. Joshua dropped to the ground to avoid anything else that would be thrown at his general direction. Seeing Zoroark struggling to stand back up, he decided to just reached for his Pokeball and recall him. In a fight like this, he needs everyone on their toes and capable of reacting to anything.
Essentia then grabbed another uzi from her back and began firing over at Joshua's general direction. Cursing under his breath, Joshua reached for the Protect generator to block the gunfire; a terrified Manaphy ducking behind him.
The gunfire ceased, but Joshua saw her sprint right at him. This was followed by her fist smashing through the barrier and shattering it like glass.
I made a mistake.
Joshua tossed the broken device aside and performed a leg sweep that hit the mysterious woman at the back of her heel, knocking her slightly off balance and forcing her to one knee. Joshua held his knife in reverse-grip and tried to bring it down to her head, but she was able to grab him by the wrist before it reached her.
"You're wanted alive," she said.
A certain idea ran through Joshua's mind as he was disarmed, flipped, and tossed to the ground. Before Emma could follow this up, Manaphy hit her in the back with a Water Pulse, followed by Grinn materializing and striking with a Thunderbolt while she was wet. Not looking to get electrocuted, she let go of Joshua and rolled away, letting the electric attack hit the empty ground.
"Sir!" exclaimed the Ditto wrapped around Joshua's wrist as he scrambled back up. "If she continues this aggression..."
"Then we wouldn't be able to safely teleport away... At the same time, though... If they want me alive... I have an idea, albeit a risky one.
Rotom, do me a favor: send a message to Nelson, and then self-destruct the comms device! Ditto, I want you to..."
Emma dodged another Thunderbolt and kicked away a pillar of ice attempting to hamper her movement. She heard another pair of smoke bombs detonate.
No you don't!
Emma charged forward toward the direction of the detonations. She let go of her blade and grabbed Joshua's suit as soon as he came into view and hurled him against the wall. As he gasped from the wind being knocked out of him, Emma brought him against the wall and pressed her elbow over his neck, painfully pinning him down.
"Call them off!"
Joshua tried taking some painful breaths of air before quickly signalling for his Pokemon to stand down. Emma raised her gun at his head and stepped back, letting him rub his neck and breathe.
"...I'm need to move," he panted.
"...Why?" demanded Emma.
"My comms device is on fire."
Joshua moved a hand to open his suit wide and put his inner pockets in full view of her as he frantically dug out an electronic device and flung it over to the side. The device appeared to be destroyed, and sure enough, there was a small flame flickering in the exposed interior.
He used Rotom to destroy it... He's good.
"...Recall your Pokemon, except for the Gengar." Emma commanded. "Cooperate quickly. Nova is already on the way."
Joshua appeared to acknowledge their mutual desire to leave before then and did as commanded. He slowly stood up as his Pokemon lined up; his Rotom popping out of his apparently electronic mask. He have a reassuring nod to the nervous Manaphy and Rotom before recalling them. He then held up a fourth Pokeball from his belt and handed them all to Emma one at a time.
"Zoroark is in this one," he explained.
Emma clipped them to her hip. "Now give me Gengar's pokeball. Order him--"
"Her."
"...Her, to use Hypnosis on you. I'll recall her myself."
Joshua nodded at Grinn to do as told. She hesitated before performing as instructed. Joshua relayed a single telepathic message through his Drive before nodding off.
So far, so good.
Elsewhere, back in Realgam Tower, Nelson's communications device vibrated on his desk for him to see the next time he returns to it.
If Yancy asks, tell her I'm going to be a little bit late.
- Joshua
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Post by empireoffire on Jan 18, 2016 6:23:53 GMT -6
Somewhere Underneath Hoenn
Hugh pondered all the ways the supposedly simple operation had gone wrong as he personally teleported into the underground base Zygarde temporarily created for them -- far enough away from the chaos of Mauville where Nova wouldn't think to check for psychic teleportation signatures. Most of the team were already preparing the stolen Nova property for transportation, but Hugh insisted on being the one to decide on what to do with the additional baggage they picked up along the way.
It was simple enough that Emma could've done it on her own, but the soldiers needed actual field experience and Zygarde wanted practice with the sort of ground manipulation we're going to use. Fair enough. But of course, Mewtwo had an operation going on at the same time for whatever reason, and of course mister John Doe was involved. Naturally, he and Emma get into a fight that leaves a hell of a lot of evidence of intruders going inside the facility, and naturally he's lucky enough to hit Emma just right so that her communications were disabled and I couldn't try to talk to him myself. We almost left Linus behind because of him, even.
...Oh well. At least we got what we wanted. Best case scenario, we can locate Galactic's current base of operations and/or where the other 50% of Zygarde is.
Hugh spotted Emma sitting a ways outside the "room" where Joshua was being held. She stared at her broken helmet, annoyance plain on her face.
"This helmet has been broken more times in the past month or so than it has in years," murmured Emma. "First Jay, then Duncan, and now even one of the Sevii Seven."
"Maybe now you'll be able to convince your dad to give you some upgrades," suggested Hugh.
"Sturdier glass would be nice," agreed Emma. "Anyway, I cuffed him to a table we borrowed from the facility. He still knows nothing."
"Okay. I'll have a chat with him," said Hugh.
Emma nodded as Hugh walked past her and brushed aside the cloth that was hung up in place of a door.
All things considered, Joshua expected a more uncomfortable method of restraint awaiting him. He woke up seated on a chair stolen from the station, handcuffed with the chain bolted into a similarly stolen table in front of him. Besides his wrists quickly becoming sore and the place being hot (though that's a given, seeing as they were obviously underground), Joshua didn't have any immediate complaints.
Of course, anything seems welcoming compared to Nova prisons.
Joshua spent a few moments twiddling his thumbs and looking around his person to identify as much as possible what were confiscated from him. His Pokemon, gun, and knives were a given. His communicator and Protect-generator were already broken, so they were likely discarded. He didn't see his Cosmic Drive, so they probably took that as a pre-caution. He had used up most of his smoke bombs during the fight, but seeing as he didn't feel the bumps he usually did when he carried them in his pockets, they probably took those too. He leaned forward to wipe off some sweat on his head with his arm, confirming that he was currently unmasked.
If this was before two weeks ago, that would've been a problem.
"...Not yet," he seemingly whispered to himself.
He heard distant murmuring past the curtain to the room's only entrance, and sat up in anticipation for whoever was coming to see him. On the list of people he expected to see then, Hugh was among the lowest. He didn't even try to hide his surprise.
"Hugh?!" Joshua exclaimed. "What the hell is...?!"
"Yes, I'm still alive... Somehow," answered Hugh. "We have a lot to talk about, so I'll give the short version: I got caught up in something that has the potential to be as big or bigger than Nova, so I joined up with these people. I'm sorry for not letting you or Yancy or anyone else know, but as you can probably guess, we're kind of being covert here."
Joshua had several questions, but decided that was probably the best he was going to get on that particular subject.
At least that explains why that lady didn't want to kill me.
"Bigger than Nova?" echoed Joshua. "You're going to have to be more specific, because something like that is a bit hard to believe."
Hugh took a brief moment to take a deep breath. This was going to be a lengthy conversation. "Okay, so, do you know exactly how you were broken out of prison?"
"...Not really," said Joshua. "Just something about Dream Mist or something coming through the vents and some Abras taking us to a hospital... How did you get out?"
"Some random Golurk came down, accidentally fainted the Abra that I guess was supposed to teleport me, and then picked me up and flew me to Realgam, no-questions-asked."
Yeah, s*** hit the fan after we left with those Golurk. Was Yancy's Golurk really responsible for all that? I still find that hard to believe.
"Anyway, back on topic," said Hugh. He began pacing back and forth, partly due to anxiousness, mostly because of the lack of additional seating for him. "I didn't quite follow exactly how they spread the Dream Mist, but the point is that Galactic used AZ's Ultimate Weapon to do it."
"W-What?" stuttered Joshua. "Wait, back up, you mean the thing AZ used to commit genocide on the enemy in Kalos?!"
"The very same," stated a grim Hugh. "Between the euphoria and distractions of the prison break, the crap that happened in Lilycove, the many rumors of what happened with the King family..."
Joshua didn't need Celeste's monocle to notice Hugh tensing up on that last one. He figured the fact that he may have had something to do with that was all that he was going to learn on the subject whether or not he pried for details, and remained silent.
"...Kyurem escaping Nova confinement, and all the defections and protests and riots happening all over the place after that," continued Hugh, "well... I guess no one really had time to analyze and notice the weapon's use. With something like that at their disposal, Galactic has the single thing they would need to establish an iron grip over the world once Nova's out of the picture. Think about it; with something like that, they would be able to even destroy Realgam Tower on a whim. This new team I'm leading? We oppose Nova, sure, but we're specifically dedicating ourselves to going against Galactic when no one else will; to keep that weapon out of Galactics or anyone else's hands. It's something that should be destroyed or buried or whatever else to prevent it from being used ever again."
I guess that makes sense... Although I'm well aware revenge also plays a big part in his motivation.
"Why not approach Mewtwo or Xerneas with this information?" asked Joshua.
Hugh clenched his fists and glared back at Joshua. Even he was taken aback by his expression; not even in Vermilion did he appear to seethe such pure venom and hatred. "Mewtwo?! I don't know what Xerneas is doing, granted, but Mewtwo?! He turned a blind eye to old Yveltal being slaughtered by Galactic, and even wanted me to tell the remnants to suck up to them! They all deserve to bathe in the fires of a Houndoom, and he's willing to bend over backwards because they're valuable allies or some s***! I'd almost let Galactic stab him in the back if it wouldn't harm the halfway decent people in his team, or the innocent people affiliated with him!"
Hugh brought a fist against the wall. He panted for a while before standing upright again and taking some breaths to calm down. Joshua noticed his scraped knuckles. After a few moments, he cleared his throat and continued.
"...It's one of those duties where the less people know about it, the better."
Joshua couldn't get his mind off Hugh's outburst, but forced himself to think of a way to continue the conversation. "So... I've been thinking ever since you showed up in front of me. I recall a certain something being stolen from Realgam before you vanished with the thief. With the large Earthquake conveniently going right down the middle of an important Nova facility in a region mostly devoid of Earthquakes, and all these underground passageways you all seem to have around here..."
"Zygarde, yeah." said Hugh. "He's our trump card against Yveltal. We know how bad of an idea trying to kill that damn bird would be, so we're going to use Zygarde to weaken it so we would incapacitate or capture it."
"You're telling me an awful lot about all this," observed Joshua. "Let me guess: you want me to join you."
"Well, we can't exactly let you go back to Mewtwo with all of this information," said Hugh matter-of-factly. "So I'd rather offer you a chance to help us out instead of locking you in a room and waste good rations feeding you; at least until the weapon is history."
How considerate of you to not suggest killing me.
"And if you want, I can extend the offer to Yancy," said Hugh. "What do you say?"
"...I need a moment to consider my options," said Joshua. "...Can I at least talk to my Pokemon about this?"
"Sorry, but no," said Hugh.
"Fair enough, I suppose," said Joshua. "Let me think about it."
"I don't know what's there to consider, but okay."
Hugh nodded and left the room. Two seconds after the curtain fell, Joshua looked down to the side and nodded.
"...Hey, Emma," Hugh said to the girl as a thought occurred to him. "Where did you guys put his stuff?"
Emma stood up and began walking beside him as he passed by. "We have it in that other tent over there, for now. If you're thinking about looking through his communicator, don't bother; he fried it."
"Oh," said Hugh.
Contacting and possibly recruiting Yancy suddenly became less easy than I thought it would be.
"...Well, what else did he have?"
"Nothing worth looking over, I think," replied Emma. "Just some weapons, about six smoke balls, some suspicious accessory dangling from his waist that no one could identify, his John Doe mask, and his four Pokemon."
Hugh stopped in his tracks. "...Four?!"
Ditto spat out his Pokeball that he held in his mouth as Grinn and transformed into Zoroark to Night Slash between Joshua's handcuffs. The cuffs themselves still held tightly over Joshua's wrists, but the chain was shattered and he regained his freedom of movement. He grabbed Ditto's slimy Pokeball.
"You know where the others are?"
Ditto transformed into Golurk and nodded. Joshua allowed himself to be grabbed as Hugh and Essentia (helmet still broken) dashed into the room.
"Sorry."
Joshua shut his eyes as Ditto dashed through a Phantom Force rift right before the sprinting Essentia could reach them. After a few seconds, Joshua heard another rift opening and opened his eyes as he and Ditto touched down. He quickly scanned the tent he was in and found what he was looking for on the table: his four other Pokeballs (all locked, unfortunately), his Drive, and his mask. He dashed and grabbed the priority items, abandoning the weapons as he heard people approaching.
"The office!"
Ditto, now transformed into Gallade, grabbed him by the shoulder and teleported out before the Zygarde soldiers could catch up to him.
Hugh dashed into the tent right as Joshua teleported away.
Dammit!
Hugh turned to address Emma. "Bury where this tent was and tell everyone to double-time it! We don't want anyone tracking the psychic signature to catch us still here!"
Realgam Tower - In Front of Mewtwo's Office
After they've arrived back home, Joshua reactivated his Drive as Ditto transformed into Rotom to break the electronic locks holding each of the Pokemon in their Pokeballs. Rotom and Manaphy instantly dove in for a hug from Joshua.
"See? Nothing to worry about!" declared Joshua.
"You're the best, daddy!" cried Manaphy.
"I wasn't worried for a second!" exclaimed Rotom.
"I think the better plan would've been to not get caught in the first place," grumbled Zoroark.
"It worked out better this way, actually," said Joshua, releasing the embrace. "We learned some things."
"What kinda things?" asked Grinn.
"A lot. Ditto, would you mind explaining? I gotta pay a visit to the heads."
"It would be my pleasure," said the pink blob.
Joshua left his Pokemon outside the door. The guard on the right nodded in immediate understanding and sent a notification to Mewtwo and/or Benga.
Meanwhile, the guard on the left said nothing. Joshua looked at him expectantly.
"...What?" the guard asked quizzically.
"Nothing," answered Joshua.
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Post by The Big Cheese on Jan 24, 2016 10:09:03 GMT -6
Joshua walks into Mewtwo's office in a quiet state, with the head of his organisation silently flipping through a stack of dossiers. Benga sits cross legged and folded armed in the corner, meditating (or at least pretending to -- who knows.) Mewtwo nods to acknowledge Joshua's presence, communicating with him psychically so as to avoid disturbing his... "contemplative" partner.
"Well met, Joshua. I see that you return empty handed, but your... prompt arrival, confident gait and irritated wrist tell me that you have more to share than just some smuggled eggs. Don't wait for me to intrude unwanted -- reports of bizarre seismic activity, unexpected ordeals and a love interest kept waiting... I trust you'll tell us all about it?"
Mewtwo flashes Joshua a subtle grin, barely turning away from the documents before him. Benga winks one eye from behind, not even twitching an arm or destabilising his breaths -- it would still be hard to say if he was paying attention at all.
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Post by empireoffire on Jan 24, 2016 14:52:00 GMT -6
Joshua briefly wondered if Nelson blabbed a little too much again. He decided to play along with the telepathic method of conversation.
"The eggs were retrieved successfully and should be in the middle of transportation," he said. "Back to the point, do you know exactly how Team Galactic orchestrated the Sevii rescue? A little fish told me that it involved a certain Kalosian superweapon, and, well, there's evidence suggesting they were confident and completely serious about their information. I'm wondering if you know anything about that."
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Post by The Big Cheese on Jan 24, 2016 19:20:52 GMT -6
"Oh? I confess to an unbecoming degree of ignorance with regards to Team Galactic's intentions and capabilities." Mewtwo admits, still seeming rather nonplussed. "As far as what I did know, a shipment of dream mist fit to knock out a football stadium of Donphan is quite difficult to not find tabs on. If what you say is true, however, the dispersal method was even more ambitious than I imagined. Truthfully, I'm less interested in weapons of ultimate power and moreso in your 'fishy' source on this one. Though for information you give, I can tell you what I know about AZ's weapon. Precisely what sort of interest group leads you to the conclusion that this is what Saturn holds...?"
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Post by empireoffire on Jan 24, 2016 19:42:44 GMT -6
"The same interest group that infiltrated this tower, stole Zygarde, made off with Hugh, convinced him to join with them, were behind the mysterious Hoenn Earthquake with what is obviously Zygarde in their side, while trying to hide their existence from the general public" answered Joshua. "I'm aware that they didn't provide conclusive evidence about this dirt of Galactic, and that Hugh has every reason to want them dead no matter what, but I don't think they would go through the trouble of doing everything they've done so far without what they perceive as a good reason."
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