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Fandom Pokemon | δ | Team Delta

OverconfidentMagi

Laugh Like You've Won Always
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Episode 1 | δ | Sparks in the Night
First Page

Episode 2 | δ | An Unfair War
Pages 1 - Ongoing​
 
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Episode 1 : Sparks in the Night

The man shielded his eyes to look up. There was something dark falling from the sky, but the sun was too bright to tell what it was. It grew as it got closer, until he could almost make out its shape. Was that a- A blinding flash of toxic orange light filled the stadium.

Blue's heart was racing as his eyes flew open. It was the same dream, the same one from every night. He got out of bed and walked to the window for some fresh air. It was the middle of the night, so there weren't many lights on down below. The stars up in the sky were shining brightly. He shivered from the cool night air of the desert.

Is everything alright?

"It was just a dream. You should really get some sleep yourself."

I will remain awake.

He returned to the bed. "Suit yourself," he muttered into the dark room as he lay back down. If tonight was like the other nights, he doubted he'd get much sleep.


Jay lay on his back on his bed, notebook in one hand pencil in the other, fingers moving with precise motions as he sketched. He was careful not to move too much lest he disturb the Vaporeon sleeping on his stomach.

On the other side of the room a young woman with bright pink hair was sitting on a couch next to a Gardevoir. The two each had a controller for a fighting game on their laps, and the young woman was furiously spinning the stick and slapping buttons. The screen flashed with the letters KO. Jay closed his eyes and listened to the sound of yet another game controller flying across the room and hitting the wall. No shattering or cracking sounds this time? It had been worth asking Celena for a reinforced controller. There was a sound like chimes ringing as the Gardevoir laughed.

"Jay, tell Sol she can't play games using psychic!"

He looked to see what Ava wanted now. The woman was pointing at the Gardevoir. Behind her, a remarkably-undamaged controller floated back across the room and set itself down on the couch.

"Sol, let Ava win one of these days so she'll stop whining at me," he said apathetically. The woman growled in frustration and called for a rematch. The Gardevoir prepared to add another game to her winning streak. Jay closed his notebook with a sigh. "Sol, could you..."

Before he'd finished asking, the Vaporeon was lifted from his stomach and set down on the bed beside him. The Gardevoir didn't even look away from the TV. Jay stood up and walked to the door, mentioning something about going out that the psychic pokemon would pass on to Ava whenever she finally gave up on the game.

He took the elevator up to the top floor and walked out onto the roof. The radio tower rose even higher yet above the top of the building. The light from the city made it impossible to see the stars from here. Red lights blinked on and off on the tower, but one light lit as Jay walked onto the roof and didn't dim. He stood still for a few minutes and then sprinted for the edge of the roof. The patch of red moved as well.

Jay threw himself off and into open air, but instead of falling he just continued moving away from the building. The red glow, in reality a red-orange and gray bird, had caught him. The Talonflame screeched, which Jay assumed was his daily reminder that one day the Talonflame wouldn't feel like moving to catch him. He smiled, knowing that that was a lie. Acedia loved being reckless, he could hardly berate his trainer for acting likewise.

The Team Delta admin streaked across the night sky on his flaming bird pokemon. It was hard to know where he was going. Maybe he'd just make a loop around the city, or maybe he'd take off for somewhere far away and have Solitaire bring him back in the morning.
 
Randy
Late nights were never really Randy's thing. He'd been a goody-two-shoes for all his childhood, and it was only really after he lost Geoff did he ever bother staying up past his "bed time". Nine o'clock. Even this far away from his parents, the time still held him in its feathery embrace. Though, that might've just been the bathrobe he wore around himself as he stood on the balcony of his apartment overlooking the city below. Unova, it seemed, was filled with cities. He wasn't sure which one this was, but he knew it was nearby Mistralton, where his parents lived. Without a flying Pokemon, he had to rely on his instincts, maps, and good luck, which wasn't abundant anymore than solid chunks of gold.

"Nuggets. I could go for some chicken nuggets right about now." He muttered, feeling the cool summer breeze blow through him and his dark hair. It was a comforting chill that carried the familiar scent of ragweed and asphalt, the same smells as Lilycove. Well, excepting the sea. Here, all he could smell that would remind him of the sea was the gritty sand that somehow still got in his nose from the Desert Resort to the south. "Night hungers, though, aren't what's getting me up, is it?" He asked to himself, as he peered over his shoulder into his room. It was a friends, really, not his. Said friend was sleeping in his bed, quiet as a Snorlax, and almost as large as one. They'd known each other almost as long as Randy'd been in service to the Elite Four, which wasn't long, but Jeremy was a nice enough guy. Nice enough to let him stay here, for the night. Returning his gaze to the hazy city skyline, he lamneted over the familiar darkness of the sky. Few stars blinked in the night, Polaris one of few.

Polaris. The Northern Star. Panhandle, and part of Ursa Major. The guiding light. If he were farther out from the city, he could name quite a few more-- if not all of them-- in the sky. Though part of his training, he thought of it as more of a... hobby, than anything that could ever help in the future. Maybe that'd lay his nerves to rest. As-was, he was wired, like he'd down a hundred frappucinos. A long sigh escaped his nose, as he brought a finger up to trace the few constellations he could see in the night sky.

Tomorrow, he'd go see Mom and Dad. And the day after that, he'd head back to the Pokemon League. After that? Who knew. Anything could be next. He could be sent straight to the heart of Delta itself, and he'd not know it until he got his Folder.

It was then he knew exactly what was keeping him up.
 
Jesse

In the dark quiet of the forest, two figures sat together against a tree trunk. Jesse was comfortably held in a hug by his partner pokemon, carefully avoiding the sharp tip of it's chest spike as he pointed out constellations they could see filtering through the leaves above them. So far, they had managed to stay under the radar of any delta members, keeping to forests and small towns. Most of the time they stayed in the safety of nature, where few ventured anymore without a pokemon. Occasionally Jesse would venture into one of these towns to get supplies or earn some money by helping out distant family members with errands. Currently, they were running a bit low on food, and while they could forage, it would be a tad dangerous if they accidentally took from a wild pokemon's food source.. Focusing his thoughts back into the present, Jesse pointed out another star to his companion. The light of said star filtered through the leaves in a calming glow, specks of it lighting the ground around them here and there.

"Look, there's polaris.. The guide star. People used to follow it north when they didn't have navigational technology yet.."

He spoke in a quiet voice, stifling a yawn. He didn't want to leave Ryzu awake. They hadn't found a secure place to camp and if he slept then the fighting-type would be relentlessly keeping watch over him. He didn't want to deprive his partner of rest.
Ryzu patted the teen's head, wordlessly encouraging him to rest. After a brief staring match in the dim light of the forest, Jesse finally relented with a sigh.

"Just try and sleep too ok? Or at the very least meditate and relax.."

After a small noise of affirmation from the fighting type, he allowed himself to drift into a light sleep, the pokemon securing it's trainer in a protective hug. Tomorrow they'd need to get moving again. But for now, they could at least rest..

 
Night time. Her favorite time of the day. Catrina enjoyed the solidarity of the night more than anyone. She could work 100% independently and uninterrupted on whatever caught her fancy. Tonight's project was a continuation of the same project that had plagued her for the past several days now, which was the successful encoding of a Porygon. She couldn't understand how something so seemingly simple could be giving her so many problems. Porygon was a man made Pokemon, so in theory she should be able to program and encrypt one of her own. Sure she had the data to simply copy and paste an army of the electric soldier Pokemon, but where was the fun in that? No, she would only be satisfied when she had written the program herself. Catrina had even gone so far as to dissect one, digitally of course, to try and better understand how the program worked. It screamed at first, what wouldn't when you were taking apart one piece at a time, but after a few minutes it had stopped. Whether it was dead or simply a malfunction she didn't care. She had learned valuable information from the process, but yet for some reason she couldn't figure out what made it tick.

The room she occupied was spacious and comfortable, the only light in the room either coming from the moon peering in through the window or the computer monitors she was currently using. The only noises that filled the room were those of her fingers gliding across her keyboard, her chair squeaking occasionally whenever she would shift, or the sound of her cup gently tapping against the table of her computer desk. These sounds were only tolerated because she was the one making them. Otherwise, she would have kicked out the person making them so she could finally get some piece and quiet. Leaning back in her chair, Catrina would stretch her arms upwards and tense her muscles to pop her back, then scratching the back of her head. “01010000?.....no, no that's not it. 01001111?....that's not right either. Maybe...” she would whisper as she got back to work, eyes occasionally scanning from one computer monitor to the other. How long had she been at this now? 2 hours? 3? She wasn't sure. All she was sure of right now was that it was getting on her nerves that she couldn't figure it out, and that she was starting to get hungry.
 
Gwendolyn Reiner - Outskirts of Goldenrod City, parked on the side of the road.

A sound that resembled a child’s cry echoed in the night, high pitched and eerie in a way that was meant to draw fear from its listeners. It didn’t draw any from Gwen though. She was used to it. Letting out weary sigh, the former coordinator tossed the map she held into the front passenger seat and closed her eyes, leaning back against the driver’s chair.

“Stop it, Misdreavus. You’re drawing too much attention.”


The legless, armless, ghost pokemon appeared out of thin air in front of Gwen, its large eyes twinkling with mischief and desire to play. A nocturnal pokemon, Misdreavous drew its energy when the sun goes down. The same couldn’t be said of its trainer. Gwen was tired. She’d spent the entire day driving. Didn’t help that she was stopped by two Delta checks. Two of them. Arceus. She knew that there was a war going on, but it wasn’t like anyone was going to up and attack a Delta Admin or anything like that…

“Miiiiiiiiiisssssdreavus. Miiiiiisdreavussssss.” And now the little ghost was nudging her.

“Tomorrow,”
Gwen promised. Returning Magician into its pokeball, the orb miniaturized into the palm of her hand. Wrapping her fingers around the object that contained the newest addition to her team, Gwen wondered if she would be able to protect it. From Team Delta. From the war that was going on against Pokemon Trainers. If she could give up on everything, life would be so much easier for herself.

But that wasn’t how her parents raised her.

Slipping the tiny pokeball into her pocket, Gwen’s forearms rested against the wheel as she looked up at the night sky from within her caravan. Would she be able to see him again? Her father who joined the resistance. Even if she did, what then? Would she join him and send Gummy to attack other humans? Barney who liked hugs and felt easily lonely? She didn’t have an answer to those questions. The only thing she knew was that she wanted her dad to be alive. Hearing about what happened to Kalos, Gwen could only hope her father wasn’t sent to that region.

“Don’t you dare make me an orphan, Dad.”


Letting those words hang in the air for a bit, Gwen then climbed to the back of the caravan where a bed waited for her. The vehicle was locked. It wasn’t her turn to keep watch. And she had a long day ahead of her tomorrow. She would decide whether to take the risk and drive through Goldenrod City , or take the scenic route around it tomorrow…when her mind wasn’t so fogged up with irrelevant thoughts. Right now, she wasn’t sure if she could read a map right.
 
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Elena Westwood
The Handoff

Off the coast of Cianwood City...
In the distance a thin yellow beam cut through the cold sea air, as Glitter Lighthouse kept its lonely vigil over the ocean. TO most sailors it was a reassuring presence, guiding them away from the deadly rocks around Olivine but Elena was used to sailing in the dark and in fact preferred. Anything that shed light on her activities was a potential liability.

"Gre..."

Elena felt a cold, webbed hand on her knee and realizing her foot was tapping thoughtlessly against the deck of her boat. "I'm fine," she said tersely, without turning around. Elena forced her foot to be still and kept her focus on the dark waters ahead of them, steering at night required all of her attention. Her nerves were understandable though, most smugglers refused to operate in Johto at all, seeing as it was the home region of Team Delta. The resistance didn't exactly look kindly upon smugglers running amok in their territory but the worst you could expect from them was jail time or maybe conscription. Team Delta? nobody really knew what they did to the people they caught.

It was true Cianwood was right on the outskirts of the region, far from the makeshift Delta capital of Goldenrod. The sleepy little island town was a convenient detour on the way to the bustling Olivine port, one where you could meet people without too much scrutiny and conduct business in private. Elena had operated here before, she even had a few loose contact among the local fishermen who were happy to corroborate her cover story as a fishing guide scouting locations for high paying clients. Even operating with Team Delta in the area, this kind of run wouldn't normally make Elena so nervous, it was the cargo she was picking up that had her jittery.

Pokemon. A few short years ago smuggling pokemon was extremely rare, the purview of scum such as team rocket trafficking in slowpoke tails and the like. However since Team Delta had taken power and their heavy handed stance on pokemon had been made clear many trainers had taken to trying to smuggle their pokemon out to resistance territory in the hopes they would be safe there until Team Delta were dealt with. Some were being sent to distant friends or family, a number of non profits had also sprung up to care for others and a few trainers had even specified that their pokemon be given to the resistance, to help in logistical or other non combat roles. About the only thing these pokemon had in common was that they needed to be transported across the border by Elena or someone like her. A broker in Delta territory would discreetly contact enough interested trainers, until they had enough pokemon to make for a full trip, then they'd gather them together and hand them off to Elena along with her payment and she'd take them the rest of the way. It wasn't a bad gig as long everything went smoothly.

Abruptly Elena cut her engines and the already surprisngly quiet hum faded out, leacing only the lapping of waves against The Fickle Froakie's hull. This was the place, a seemingly random set of coordinates, Elena's broker would turn up soon on his own vessel to make the hand off. In the mean time all Elena had to do was wait, with her engine and lights off the Froakie was practically invisible. That didn't mean Elena was going to be complacent though.

"Scout," The one word command was directed at Saizo, Elena's greninja who had been waiting patiently by her side during the trip here. With that one word the frog like pokemon padded to the side of the boat and slipped silently into the ocean, disappearing from view. Saizo would circle around the boat underneath the waves, keeping an eye and an ear out for anything approaching, Elena could give him some basic instructions by tapping on the deck so that the sound carried to him through the water. It was a routine Elena and Saizo had practiced and put into play many times before and it had always served them well. For her part Elena slipped a flashbang into one of the large pockets of her coat and tucked her pistol into the waistband of her pants. Leave nothing to chance, that was how she and her pokemon had survived this long.
 
Magician(Gwen's Misdreavus)

The small pokeball rolled out of Gwen's pocket as the seventeen year old remained fast asleep, exhausted from her day's journey. Landing on the ground, a click was heard, and the pokeball expanded to its regular size. Once it shook. Then twice. Upon the third shake, the spherical pokemon container opened, releasing the pokemon inside with a brief flash of red.

Misdreavus floated above, looking its trainer. It knew Gwen needed to sleep. But still, Misdreavous wanted play! Reasoning that it could return before Gwen knew it was gone, Magician(Misdreavous) phased through the roof of the caravan and vanished into the night.

Some time later...
"Ditto! Ditto!"

Gwen's eyes fluttered as she slowly woke, roused by the incessant shaking of her shoulders. The first thing she saw was the sight of herself looking quite panicked. A normal person might be surprised at being awoken by themselves, but for the former Coordinator Jester, it was a fairly common occurrence. Getting into an upright position, Gwen rubbed her eyes. "What's wrong, Gummy?"

"Ditto-dit!"

Looking to where the copy of herself pointed, Gwen stared uncomprehendingly open pokeball on the floor of the car. She didn't realize what it meant at first, her mind still groggy from sleep. However, the moment she did, Gwen's eyes widened. She said nothing for moment. Then an unbidden sigh escaped her lips. "Did you see where Magician went?"

Gwen's look alike pointed upward.

The pokemon trainer stared up at the ceiling of the caravan. This was the case with newly caught pokemon. Midreavous didn't understand the danger it was in. It didn't understand what StarBurst did to pokemon. Gwen had tried explaining it to the small ghost pokemon with little avail. Perhaps, if she could understand what it thought, she could be a better trainer for Magician. Closing her hand into a fist, Gwen took a deep breath to calm her shaking heart. Magician would be fine. It wasn't weak.

Getting to her feet, Gwen grabbed her yellow backpack. "Rev up the engine, Gummy. We're going to bring back Magician."

Meanwhile...
Misdreavus was following after it. The big bird pokemon that was giving a human a ride. It was bored. There was nothing to do. No one to play with at night since Gwen was asleep. Then it saw it. A large, bird streaking across the night sky. Misdreavus had followed it out of curiosity at first. However, now it decided that it wanted to play. Give the human a little scare. Melding into the night, so that it was invisible to the naked eye, Magician let out eerie, high pitched wails that sounded like a baby's cry.

That one always worked on the children.

OverconfidentMagi OverconfidentMagi
 
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Delta HQ

"Keith? Keith you in here?" A woman with odd golden eyes and even more odd bright green hair waltzed right into the lab currently being used by... oh it was just Catrina. Normally she wouldn't care to remember the name of some random science loser that wasn't Keith, but when a person insists on using a fake name that tends to stick in the mind. Keith probably knew the why behind the name, hell the guy could probably list off the ingredients of every Delta employees' breakfast if given reason to. Keith always knew too much about too much. And for once she had to use his brain for something and he wasn't fucking there! "Shit, looks like he's already gone to bed," Celena was clearly speaking to herself, her gaze barely acknowledging the person working in the room.

Rather than pay any attention to the person, she instead scanned the contents of their screen. Oh wondrous beautiful code! Well, not specifically this code. In fact what she could see on screen was rather crude. But that it was code alone made it wondrous and beautiful. And what was more, Celena recognized this code. "I assume you've taken the appropriate steps to quarantine your outputs so they don't contaminate the network? A defective Porygon wouldn't cause much trouble, but the difference in code between that and a self-learning Porygon2 isn't much, and I do not want to have to clean up one of those having its way with our secure data." She continued to stare at the code on screen. "Speaking of, you need to change gravity from a float to a boolean. Unlike Porygon2 and Z, the original version of Porygon didn't account for variable gravity. That might be why it's having problems rendering." Though if there was an issue so glaring in just these few lines of code she could see it was almost guaranteed there were even worse mistakes throughout the rest. And that was why Celena didn't trust grunts with programming her machines.

"If I'm not mistaken, I thought your field was supposed to be bio... something or another. Why are you in here programming Porygon in the middle of the night?"
Theo713 Theo713


Jay's thoughts had wandered to somewhere far away, a distant place and a different time, trusting Acedia to fly him where he would, when a shrill sound ripped him back into the present. Without hesitation, instincts hones from countless battles and attempts on his life, he flung himself away from his bird pokemon. The Delta admin plummeted towards the ground far below as Ace rose sharply to lead whatever the threat was away from its trainer. The Talonflame's sharp eyes scanned the night sky for the source of the sound but saw nothing. It let out a screech and ignited its plumage even brighter, as if daring someone to attack it.

Jay waited until he could almost feel himself touching the tops of the trees below before reaching to touch something inside his jacket. There was a red flash of light as a black and yellow serpentine pokemon emerged from its pokeball and wrapped itself around its trainer as he fell dangerously towards the ground. "Invidia, Ion Deluge and Magnet Rise," he spoke clearly over the air rushing by. The Eelektross blasted charged energy towards the ground ahead of them and then gripped Jay tightly. Just before slamming into the ground they hit the charged space and slowed. The Delta admin flipped himself around and stepped down onto the ground. The Eelektross slipped off of is body to float through the charged air. It gathered electricity in front of it to fire a blast at the enemy as soon as they were revealed by the two up above.

Acedia wasn't able to locate whatever had made the sound, but there was something else that had. It's senses didn't miss anything that happened in the dark. A dark patch of the night sky seemed to move. Before it had time to notice that the many stars filling the night sky had disappeared from view, the Misdreavus found itself surrounded by the dark wings of something much bigger than itself. The creature's wings came together and the Misdreavus would be blown towards the ground by the resulting Whirlwind, and towards the ready-to-fire electric eel below.

"Invidia hold!" At its trainer's command the Eelektross didn't fire at the pokemon as it was blown into range. "I may be wrong, and you're free to electrocute me if it turns out I am, but I don't think we're under attack."
QuirkyAngel QuirkyAngel
 
Magician (Gwen's Misdreavus) - Unknown forest (?)

Ghostly hair fluttering, Magician struggled against the harsh winds, pushing with all its might, to little avail. It was too light! And so the ghost pokemon descended towards the ground where another pokemon was waiting to fire its electric move. Down, down, down it went, then...nothing. Peaking an eye open, Magician regained its footing in the air (not that it has feet) and looked around confusedly. It counted one, two, three pokemon.

Therefore, when the pokemon trainer(?) said they weren't under attack, Magician nodded its large head rapidly in nonverbal agreement. It wasn't trying to attack anyone. Not that it would get into a pokemon battle without Gwen there anyway. It just wanted to play. And scares were fun!

"Misdreavus. Misdreavus." Blinking once, in an innocent manner, the ghost pokemon floated towards Delta Admin Jay. It happily circled his head. Once. Twice. Truly, it was delighted that it had managed to scare the human. Magician had never managed to scare Gwen and it wondered if it had been losing its touch. On the third circle, the ghost pokemon backed off, phasing through a tree. And another tree. It didn't know where it was. Just that there were a lot of trees.

"Miiiiiiiiiiisdrevus," Magician called out to its trainer.

OverconfidentMagi OverconfidentMagi
 
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When the other woman first came in to the room, Catrina did not pay her any mind. She had no reason to. It sounded as if the other woman was looking for someone who wasn't her, so there was no need. She recognized the voice as belonging to Celena, one of the Delta Admins, but was too absorbed in her work right now to really care who it was unless she was specifically being addressed. It wasn't until Celena was standing behind her looking over Catrina's shoulder did she finally acknowledge the other woman's presence, answering her final question first. “If I told you it was to impress another woman, would you believe me?” She turned her eyes towards the woman without turning her face away from the computer monitors just long enough to see how, if, she would react, before looking back to the monitors.

The same reason we continue to advance our technology. Progression.” As a demonstration Catrina would snap her fingers. From the far corner an Umbreon who, until that moment in time appeared to be asleep, would open its eyes and stand before walking towards the two women, taking a seat in front of Celena and looking to her as if he was awaiting orders to be given. Just as before, Catrina continued to talk without looking away from the monitor, fingers gliding across the keyboard as she spoke. “Biomolecular reconstruction. With just a few drops of blood I can make an exact copy of any Pokemon. But that's all they are. Copies. Clones. They'll never grow any weaker, but they'll never grow any stronger either. They're not capable it. That's where Porygon comes in to play.” The screens both suddenly came to life with digitized information about Porygon. Its strengths, its weaknesses. Celena would also recognize a fully completed Porygon code that would, upon initiation, bring a new Porygon in to existence.

“Porygon is different in that it doesn't have blood. Its a completely digital life form. Its limitations should be built in. And yet somehow it is able to grow stronger and even evolve like a living, breathing Pokemon. If I can incorporate that in to my cloning program, the end result of that could be....super clones. Super weapons. Call them whatever you want.” Or it could all be a super waste of time and energy. She knew it all sounded crazy, but that's what everyone told Thomas Eddison when he was trying to invent the light bulb. But if it worked, she would go down in history. Well, even more so than she already would be. At some point during her discussion Catrina had sat back in her chair away from the keyboard and monitors, crossing her left arm under her cleavage while her right elbow rested on the back of her hand, her head coming to rest on the back side of her raised right hand. “The problem I have right now isn't the framework. It's the inner workings. I have the code. I see how it works. I don't understand how its working. Because as you said. I specialize in bio something or another.” Her attention had since moved to the green haired woman, Catrina wondering if it was natural or not. At this point, nothing would surprise her. Looking back to the monitors, Catrina would lift her hand and rub the back of her head. “And as for the networks, they're perfectly safe. I may not be able to program a digital life, but I can prepare a dummy server. Even if, by some strange miracle this incomplete program gains any form of sentience, when it looks around all it'll see is its own reflection. Its file is saved in a cage of digital mirrors. One way in. One way out. Different triple layer passcodes going both ways.” Hopefully that would be enough information to sate the Admin's curiosity.
 
Randy
Tomorrow was too long a wait, it seemed, as Randy felt dead weeds crunch under his feet as he approached Charizard Bridge. Shapes flickered in the night: wild Pokemon, watching him from the underbrush, but he was careful to keep to the center of the road. He was always surprised by the lack of freeways going in and out of Unova's cities, but he guessed that must've been some kind of green initiative put in place a while ago. That, or he was leaving some kind of commercial, tourist-trap-y town like Lilycove was often called. That always irked him, but it wasn't his place to really judge what people who didn't know what it was like living life in a place like that thought of it. He didn't know their lives anymore than they knew his.

By the time he'd reached the Charizard Bridge, he was already craning his head up to Unova's sky, as dark as it was. The lights from overhead, thanks to the bridge's lighting didn't make it easy to see the stars, but certainly reminded him of looking over the inky, black ocean at the towering Space Center in Mossdeep. The way it would blot out a hundred million stars with its oppressive glow... it was a feeling the bridge could almost replicate. An annoyingly homely feeling.

The chattering of teeth that weren't his snapped Randy back into reality. Of course, where there was light this strong, Gengar would absolutely love to hide in the trainer's shadow. It was most at home there, after all. Even all-encompassing darkness wasn't as homely as a simple, living being's shadow. The mischievous, light hearted crimson eyes winked in agreement with his trainer's thoughts.

"You sure you're not an Alakazam, pal?" Randy perked up an eyebrow, walking ahead with his hands settled deep into his khaki short's pockets. In a movement that defied physics, his shadow shrugged, a pale yellow grin stretching across his squashed face. "Hmph. Well if you are, keep your mind outta mine. I'm still coming up with a name for ya, and the best kinds of gifts are surprises." Though, his parents might disagree. That thought worried him. He hadn't mentioned visiting to them, not out of any malicious nature, but simply because he forgot. He was hoping his forgetfulness wasn't going to get the most of him, but he didn't have much time to worry. He was reaching another city's license check.

Plus, he still hadn't gotten those Nuggets yet.
 
Delta HQ

Celena folded her arms behind her head. "Ah a woman, I see. There's always another woman. But no, I would not." There was a dull flash of light from behind the Delta admin, and when she brought her hands back into view there was a black pokeball held in one. She let it roll out of her palm and onto the floor. The resulting flash of orange-tinged light revealed a pink amorphous shape. "Transform," she commanded the Ditto. It instantly changed shape into an Umbreon identical in every way to the scientist's cloned pet.

"Hmm, it seems I may have put you out of a job, no?" She called the Ditto back and with a few taps of her communicator the pokeball vanished from her hand. One of her prototype inventions, teleportation that didn't require pokemon. It was still in its early stages, so its effective range was limited to in and around the base, and it occasionally lost what it was delivering to the anti-teleportation field, resulting in some messy backlash, but hey that's why she was still waiting to throw a person in. Not like there was any way to tell if a Ditto's atoms got a bit scrambled going through. She typed a short memo to herself to have Keith compare that Ditto to a different sample to check for discrepancies.

The Delta admin smiled. "Just kidding. You're a valuable member of the team, and because you are I'll grace you with a hint: you won't find what you're looking for in that source code. It's a dead end." She could have told the woman why, but to make things easy on someone else wasn't in her nature. And besides, what was the point in looking for what made a pokemon able to think and learn when you were just going to take that away with StarBurst anyway? Keith supposedly worked his team ragged, but this one seemed to have a bit too much free time. She'd add trying to get the woman extra work to the list of things she planned on bothering Keith about once she tracked him down. Celena walked back to the door, lazily throwing a wave back over her shoulder in the general direction of the bio-whatever scientist. "And if I happen to wake up to find the network in ruins, expect a visit." The metal door slid shut.
Theo713 Theo713


Jay watched the little ghost pokemon until it had phased through another tree and out of view. "Well, that was certainly something," he chuckled. Scared by a ghost, he was like a little kid himself. He laughed aloud at the absurdity of it. Here he was, one of the most feared people in the world, scared out of the sky by a lone ghost going boo at him. Invidia twisted around itself in the charged air, the Eelektross' unreadable stare watching its trainer. The Talonflame and Noivern dropped down to join Jay on the ground. Acedia was much faster, extinguishing its fiery plumage so as not to point out its trainer's exact position below, and dropping like an arrow straight down towards the ground. Jay tossed a pokeball to intercept the bird pokemon. "I think I'll take a walk before heading back," he spoke to the pokeball. Superbia, the large Noivern that had knocked the Misdreavus out of the sky with one flap of its powerful wings, landed a few seconds later. Even on the ground she looked just as much a dangerous predator on the prowl. How luck for her prey that the bat-dragon preferred fruit to fresh meat. If not for that fact Superbia's size indicated that very few pokemon calling this forest home would be off her menu.

"Stay close enough to hear me if I call," Jay told the Noivern. The air vibrated in acknowledgement as Superbia took off through the trees, not flying but instead in an odd kind of leaping gliding motion, her scythe-like tail cutting deep gashes in the trunks of each tree she dashed by. The Noivern looked like she was enjoying herself, but seeing what she was doing only darkened her trainer's mood. He turned to walk in the opposite direction, Invidia dropping down to join him, making itself comfortable wrapped around Jay. At the very least it gathered a ball of electricity in front of its mouth to light up a bit of the dark forest around them in exchange for being carried.


The S.S. Aqua cut through the waves off the coast of Cianwood on its way towards its destination in the Olivine Port. It was unusual for the ship to pass through at such a late hour, but it was actually arriving ahead of schedule. It wasn't supposed to arrive in port until the midafternoon tomorrow, but the many whirlpools this area of sea was infamous for hadn't been active recently. That cut a lot of time off the last bit of the journey. Though even if they whirlpools had been active the captain would have found some excuse to anchor the ship so that it would arrive in Olivine City at an odd hour. That was what the lady Berlitz had paid him extra to do, and he wasn't going to pass up a chance to make friends with those with money.

"Go check to see if the VIP is awake, and if she is tell her we'll be arriving in port in a few hours," the captain told one of the crew. They left to head below deck, but returned barely a minute later. "I take that to mean she wasn't up?"

The crewman shook his head. "I doubt she would be, but no I didn't get to check. Happened across May going up while I was on my way down, so I passed the message along to her. She said not to bother the lady, so I headed right back here."

The captain shrugged. "Well if that's what she says then I ain't about to say otherwise." He still wasn't sure what sort of relationship May had with the lady Berlitz - possibly a bodyguard or escort was his current thinking - but it had only taken a few days aboard his ship for that woman to thoroughly convince his entire crew that she was the one in charge. There was just no arguing against that woman's fiery will. You either did what she said or you got out of her way so she could do it herself. And then there was lady Berlitz. He'd seen the way his sea-worn crew stood just a little bit taller when she passed by, made sure to censor their tongues and articulate their words so as not to offend her. You could practically feel the gap in status whenever she spoke to you. The captain couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever had the kind of presence these women exuded. He doubted it.

"There's May now," the crewman pointed out the woman walking towards the bow. "But who're the people with her?"

The captain looked. Sure enough on either side of the woman was a person he didn't recognize at all. He didn't particularly care for who they were, he just wanted to know how they'd gotten aboard his ship. The one on the right had bright red hair in a ponytail with spikes on either side, and the one on the left had the same spiked look but shorter blue hair. He'd gotten much worse at this in recent years, but the captain guessed that the redhead was a woman and the blue one a man. If he found out he'd had two stowaways on his ship even lady Berlitz would have to answer to him. Maybe she'd agree to double what she was paying him or something. If he was getting paid that well he could live with a couple of stowaways, hell they could invite their friends.
 
Randy
Driftveil. Quite the city, and if he were a business or tourist-type, maybe he'd be able to enjoy the industry or Hotel, respectfully. That is, if this was half a decade ago, anyways. Rolling Gengar's Pokeball around his palm, he couldn't help but feel increasingly nervous as he passed by Driftveil's Pokemon World Tournament. The whole place had practically been abandoned after the events of Kanto's own PWT, or so he'd heard. It was eerie to look at, and he still had memories of hearing his parent's horrified cries at the news. The look on his parents' faces had been burned into his memory ever since, and he couldn't look at them without that mask of unadulterated terror settling on them...

Shaking his head, Randy kept walking, but increased his speed. After all, he heard footsteps other than his own nearby. He'd walk, then stop. Then they'd stop. Walk, then they'd start, and stop, then they'd stop. He was being followed, it seemed. Keeping pace for a while, until he rounded the corner around the Pokemon Center, Randy took off towards the former Gym, feet practically flying as he shot across the asphalt as quick as they could carry him.

Reaching it, he shot around the building's side, where he'd be between it and the large cliff face that had little housing on top. Nestling in there, Randy reached behind him, and slowly removed his pistol from his waistband, gripping its hilt tightly. He was always surprised by its weight whenever he had to use it, but he'd been trained with it for a reason. "Don't gotta worry about a gun turning on you unless you drop it..." He mutters, but quickly silences himself as the figure that'd been following him runs into the square, and looks around confused.

As they turn their back to him, Randy jets out from the cover of the cliff face, feet barely making a tapping noise as he covers the ground between them in a moment under the cover of black. Bringing the bottom of his pistol down, hard, he finds no surface to smash with the butt. Instead, his arm and gun fly through the person's neck and body, swinging him forward, up, and down onto his back, hard. Groaning, Randy rolls onto his side, gripping the back of his head. "Arceus dangit Gengar, what'd I tell you 'bout doing me like that!?" All that angry outburst earned him was a whispering cackle from the shadow Pokemon, as its shape returned to the amorphous, Clefable-esque blob of darkness it normally was. Giggling to itself, it made sure to hop back into Randy's shadow before he could return it. "Nngh..." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head, as he started off towards the path west of Driftveil. "Stupid friggin'..."
 
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Catrina would shrug her shoulders just slightly when told that Celena didn't believe her about wanting to impress another woman. There was no surprise there. People rarely took her seriously when she mentioned that fact, which was why she rarely did so nowadays. As calmly and as dully as she had before Catrina would speak up, telling the Admin “It seems my sarcasm is wasted here then. Even I know I'm too messed up in the head to attract the opposite sex, let alone my own.” Catrina's attention did shift somewhat to the Ditto when it was summoned. The clone Pokemon. A Pokemon some believe to be the failed attempts of Dr. Fuji's works. The sight of it angered her, not that she let it show.

Turning her attention back to the screens that once again showed Porygon Source Codes, Catrina would work in the silence between the two women until it was suggested she might soon be put out of a job. She actually stopped what she was working on mid type and pulled her hands away from the keyboard. She didn't face the woman. She couldn't. Because she was right. One word from her and Catrina would be once again unemployed. At least now however she didn't need the job. She didn't. It was just much easier, and in her own twisted way more fun, to advance her cloning research on someone else dime. Components were hard to come by now that Team Delta had its thumb on the world. Better to be part of the hand smashing an ant than the ant getting smashed.

Catrina didn't feel any relief when the Admin said she was kidding about taking her job from her. That didn't make it any better. She had been threatened. Nearly forced in to a corner she wasn't fully prepared to be in just yet. She needed to work harder, redouble her efforts to make her clones more perfect than they already were, to secure her spot on Team Delta's hierarchy so such threats, be they real or jibes, could never be made in any seriousness. Or not at all. Not at all sounded even better. When the advice was given Catrina would give a light nod, blinking a few times to bring herself out of her well guarded stupor before looking again between the two screens. Just because Celena said she was looking in all the wrong places made her want to look even harder and hopefully find what she was looking for just to prove the other woman wrong. Maybe that's how she just was. Or maybe the work load was starting to get to her. Maybe she was starting to crack. Catrina would have scoffed if she had been alone. She couldn't crack. She was already broken.

When the metal doors slid shut Catrina would keep her attention on the screens for a few seconds to make it appear as if she were still looking for something, then looking in the direction of the closed door. She sighed lightly, rubbing her forehead with both hands. “And Giovanni wondered why I hate people.” She would mutter, the Umbreon standing and returning to its darkened corner. With no one to give it orders, it knew to return to its stand by area. Sighing lightly, Catrina would tap a few keys on her keyboard. A blank email would open, Catrina typing Keith's handle in to the recipient column. She would send him a two sentence email. Whether he took it as an informative email, an unnecessary one, or a warning was up to him. It would read “Your girlfriend is looking for you. The green haired one.
 
Randy
It might've been dark outside this late in Unova, but that was nothing to the near-blackness of the Chargestone Cave connecting Driftveil and Mitsralton. "Geh. Hate that stupid cave. Wish'n I had a Flying Pokemon right about now..." Randy muttered, ducking out of the low exit to the Mistralton side of Chargestone Cave. It'd been an uneventful journey from Driftveil and the Cave, with only a few minor shocks from Tynamo and the like as they took nips out of his arm to get a little electric energy to keep going. Not that he minded. Randy wasn't a huge fan of most non-Bug or Ghost Pokemon, but he could appreciate the alien-ness of the Tynamo family. Plus, they reminded him of slugs, in a way, and he loved those little critters most. Though, he knew full well what a menace they were to his parent's little plot of land south of the Mistralton Runway.

Speaking of his parents, as Randy approached the runway, walking through the mostly silent farming neighborhood, he heard the familiar cries of a female Machamp, and the low rumble of his father's voice. And, sure enough, up ahead there Randy's father, Joe, and his Pokemon Machamp walked. He could tell by the beads of sweat running down their faces, the dirt on their hands, and the alcohol in his father's hand that they'd been dealing with those same slugs he'd just been thinking of in the cave. Smiling, naturally, Randy practically sprinted into his father, tackling the man, in a tight hug.

"Woah-ho there, son! I need them ribs to live, so squeeze a little lighter won'tcha?" he teased, ruffling his son's hair. Though, the task had grown a little tougher given the nearly head of difference between the two men of the Corle household.

"Fine, fine, Dad." Randy rolled his eyes as he let his father hold him out at arm's length, examining him. After a short bit, that wide Corle family grin decorated both their faces, as they returned to their embrace. "Is Ma up too? Was hopin' she could cook me up some Nuggets for the road."

"'course she is! You know how that woman is-- harder worker than I've ever seen outta any man or 'mon!" Joe laughed, before a hand clasped tightly on the back of his neck. "You know I mean 'cepting you, girl! Now leggo'ah me, you're embarassin' me in front of my kid!" With a huff, the Machamp released Joe, who was pink with embarrassment, while Randy couldn't help but cackle at the display. It felt good to be home.

Well,
he thought, kind of home. It's no Lilycove, but it's nice enough here, I guess. But Dad's changed so much it's hard to see him like he used to be. A mortician. Rubbing the back of his neck, Randy offered his mother a smile when he and Joe returned to their ranch-style home, a soft off-white with large windows to the living room. And, after another warm reception from his mother, he and the rest of the Corle's (Pokemon included) dug into a warm chicken-pot-pie while some Nuggets were cooking in the oven.

"Mmh! Sho, shon," Joe began, swallowing a rather large bite of pie, "what brings ya to visit your family tonight? An' at this time of it, too!" Randy, growing a slight bit sheepish, picked at his pie.

"Well... I guess I just, uh... Needed to see you again. I finished training a few days ago--"

"I know! We got your letter, kid! Your old man's proud o'yah!" Joe smiles, clapping his broad hand on Randy's shoulder.

"Honey, honestly. Let the boy finish." Randy's mother, Audrey, sighed, shaking her head and taking a bite of pie. "Anyways dear, I'm guessing you're going into service soon, then?"

"Tomorrow." Randy sighs, to the surprise of both of his parents, who look up from their plates.

"...Oh." Joe replies, settling into his seat.

"Oh indeed..." Audrey manages, eyes tinging red.

"Look, Ma, Dad, it's not a big deal!" Randy splayed his hand, like he was surrendering, "Really. I'm probably going to get a pretty safe assignment running papers across the region! I might even get the chance to get a Flying Pokemon, so I can visit more!"

"But that won't last forever, kid," Joe sighed, resting his forehead against his palm, "and soon enough they'll be sendin' you overseas. To Johto. Maybe even Goldenrod." A pervasive silence settled over the table. However, after a minute, the table cloth jerked, causing Audrey and Randy to jump, and Joe's face to splat into his pie. "Graargh! Gengar!" he roared, leaping to his feat, blinded by chicken and pie crust. "I'd lash you if you weren't already dead, you psychotic little gremlin!" That familiar cackling could be heard from Randy's direction, as his Pokemon attempted to slip back into his shadow.

"Ohohohno you don't," Randy says, whipping his Pokeball out. "In the ball, Gengar. I told you: no more pranking Dad, so this is your punishment." Calling the Shadow Pokemon back, Randy sighs, a small grin decorating his face. "I think that's a good cue to leave, Ma. I love ya both, you know?" Audrey simply nods, a smile on her face as she wipes Joe's face with a wet rag.

"Just make totally sure you come back to us, understand young man?" she demands, a stern smile on her face. Randy returns it with a carefree one of his own, plastic bin of Nuggets being slipped into his over-the-shoulder pack.

"'course! What kinda son would I be to leave ya with three Ghost types to deal with!" Waving goodbye, Randy stepped out into the chilly midnight once more, leaving the orange warm light of home behind.

As he began walking east, then north, and out of Mistralton, though, Randy couldn't bring himself to touch his Nuggets. He knew they wouldn't remain warm forever... but he just couldn't. "Maybe when I reach the Pokemon League..." he mutters to himself, slipping off in the night.
 
Magician (Gwen's Misdreavus)

Magician could hear sounds of rustling as Noivern dashed through the trees. Was it being followed? Did the big pokemon want a battle? Did it want to play? Magician wasn't quite sure. Stopping in its dance through the trees, Gwen's misdreavus cocked its head. It heard laughter from the human...who was walking away. Laughter meant friendly, yes? Perhaps the trainer liked being scared. It had made someone smile. Gwen would be proud.

"Miiiisdreeeavus. Misdreavus?"
This time Magican called to the Noivern, asking it if it liked its trainer in a language only fellow pokemon would understand. Magician liked Gwen. Despite the fact that Gwen occasionally stopped the young misdreavus from having fun. Gwen introduced to him a new type of fun.

Wanting to show off, Misdreavus gathered purple energy in front of it. Bigger and bigger the darkish violet orb grew until it was bigger than Misdreavus's body--which wasn't particularly hard, since Magician wasn't very big. ShadowBall. It normally used that for offense. It still could. However, rather than firing the move straight ahead, or towards its opponent, to which it had none, Magician lifted his head towards the night sky. The shadowball was fired sailing fast and straight past the top of the trees and into high into sky where it exploded into an array of purple fireworks. Gwen had taught it that for the appeal round.

"Miiiiiiiisssssssdreavus," Magician cheered at its own success...since no one was there to compliment it. Except maybe the Noivern. And possibly the other trainer. Magician prepared to fire another one.


Gwen


Gwen had no doubt when she saw the bright violet sparks in the night. It was Magician. She was certain. She had to find Magician before a Delta member did. Hand clenched around Jester's mask, the Coordinator gave instructions to her driving pokemon. "Veer left, Gummy. Into the those trees. If worse comes to worse, prepare for battle."

"Ditto."

Her ditto had seen it too. Magician's beacon. Gwen's other hand held on the back seat, to keep herself from falling as Gummy made a sharp turn and pushed into woods going 90mph. Gwen didn't chide her pokemon for breaking speed limits. In fact, Gwen wished Gummy drove faster.

"Be safe Magician."

OverconfidentMagi OverconfidentMagi
JustifiedRoles JustifiedRoles (maybe?)
 
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Jesse

The two had been sitting peacefully for some time when it happened. The approaching rumble of something. Tilting it's head confusedly, Ryzu decide it was better safe than sorry to wake up Jesse. With a firm nudge, the pokemon woke it's trainer.

"Hmm?"
Sitting up, Jesse shook off the foggy remnants of sleep and confusion. He'd been about to question his Lucario's act before his mind finally registered the noise. A vehicle...and it sounded close. Was someone looking for trained pokemon? Maybe, but then again Jesse wouldn't know. He didn't exactly keep up with the daily routines of Delta. They just tried to keep their heads low until they could find somewhere to be helpful.

Feeling the bubbling of paranoia fueled panic, the teen shot to his feet as his partner did the same. His mind whirled in thought. Did they investigate? Or should they run? But there was a chance it was someone who was against Delta, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend after all. In his moment of thought, he was delayed in his reaction of the quickly approaching vehicle. In a panic, he opted for the strategy of getting out of dodge as fast as possible.

"Ryzu! Aura Sphere the ground and get us out of sight!"

With a grunt, the pokemon send the sphere of energy towards the ground, tossing up a cloud of dirt. With Ryzu's help, they quickly scrambled to get out of sight.
QuirkyAngel QuirkyAngel
 
"What the hell..." Gwen muttered when something that seemed like an attack exploded on the ground in front of their vehicle, causing a dust cloud to form and obscure their vision. "Stop the car, Gummy!"

Screeeeeeeeech!


Gwen jolted forward from the sudden stop, but managed to keep her balance. Had to be done. Breaking speed limits was one thing. However driving while blind was asking for an accident. She had seen it for just one moment, thanks to the headlights. A boy and a...pokemon? Had to be a pokemon. A regular human couldn't create an explosion like that. Once the cloud settled, Gwen climbed onto the second passenger seat and rolled down the window, leaning out a little to get a better view. She saw...no one. Just a small crater where the cause of the dust cloud landed.

"Is anyone there?"
Gwen called. Arceus. What if their reckless driving had gotten someone hurt? Even if they were in a hurry, that was no excuse for accidentally hitting a pedestrian...in the woods. Gwen scanned the apparently empty surroundings. She'd wait a minute. If there were no cries of pain, or any sort of response, she would assume the ones who created the dust cloud had already left and continue forward in the direction of the beacon. Magician was waiting for them.

JustifiedRoles JustifiedRoles
 
Jesse

Jesse and Ryzu had quickly dashed behind a tree. Hearing the car stop, he tensed. A voice soon followed the screech of rubber, and he couldnt help but try and get a better look. Adjusting his position he attempted to be quiet in the approach until-

SNAP.

A twig. It wasn't going to be an injury or a mistake that did him in. It would be a twig. This is it. He was going to be spotted and Ryzu would be taken. Then he'd likely be in more trouble with Delta, except he wouldn't have his partner/best friend anymore and he'd be alone. It was just like what happened before-

A heavy paw gripped his shoulder, anchoring him back to the moment. His breathing had picked up in his panic, and he had to focus in order to quiet the sound. If the twig hadn't given them away, panicking and losing himself to what-ifs would. Thankfully, Ryzu had stepped in before he'd managed to spiral. Meeting his Pokemon's gaze, he nodded. They'd probably be spotted anyway so...

"Uh...Yeah actually. Sorry.."

God he sounded pathetic didn't he.
QuirkyAngel QuirkyAngel
 
Superbia's run through the forest came to an abrupt end before she'd even gotten going full speed when the annoying stalker ghost pokemon jumped out in front of her way. Her tail lashed out to the side, sharp edge catching deep into a tree, and the large Noivern came to a sudden stop. There was the sound of cracking wood as she ripped her tail from the tree. She wanted to just eat this little ghost and be done with it. But she knew Jay wouldn't approve of that, and more than that she knew from experience that there was no point in eating ghosts. They always just floated back out after a while.

The tiny ghost asked if how she liked her trainer. Superbia glared at the Misdreavus. When she finally gave an answer it was in the form of a deep growl and a threat: the next time the ghost saw Superbia or her trainer it should flee as fast and far as it could. Or else.

The Noivern turned it head to listen to something far off in the distance. It was pushing the distance Jay would be comfortable with her straying away from his side, but she was curious about the sound she'd heard. Superbia's claws dug into the bark of the tree she launched off from as she leaped from the ground into the air. Her leathery winds snapped open, the only sound they made as she shot off flying inches above the treetops towards the source of whatever that screech she'd heard was.

QuirkyAngel QuirkyAngel JustifiedRoles JustifiedRoles
 
Randy
Kerthunk! The door to the shipping truck shut, hard, as Randy leapt from it, and stood to the side of the road north of Opelucid. Waving the driver off as he headed back towards the city, and off to somewhere in East Unova, Randy felt a sense of finality seeing that truck rumble on. That was his ride home, if he'd wanted to stay with the rider for long enough. That was his ride... anywhere but here. Not that he didn't want to work for the League-- just the opposite, it was his dream-- but he'd be a fool to think any of his missions wouldn't have his life risked, at least a little bit. Rubbing his hands together, he breathed into them to warm them, and turned to face Victory Road. Years ago it'd been closed due to a rockslide, but this used to be the main way to get there. Now, for non-League challengers, this was the fast-pass to the World Pokemon League headquarters.

Which, of course, meant those badge check gates had changed to bag check gates. Which might've been even more annoying. Might've, Randy believed, because he'd never gotten the chance to take a League Challenge here, or much of anywhere. That disturbed him, the thought that some kids just old enough to get their first Pokemon might think of them as little more than dangerous wild animals elsewhere, or here in Unova, might never get the chance to be The Champion if they wanted to.

Those thoughts and more were put aside as he joined the rather thin line trickling up the well-protected path to the Pokemon League, which was watched 24/7 by some of their most elite trainers; they served both as a deterrent for any wild Pokemon that might actually attack one of the travelers here, or as the first line of defense for the League if any of Team Delta had made it here. If I'd gone into the Army, I might've been lucky enough to be stationed here, he thought, scratching his chin. Thank God I didn't. I'd be bored out of my mind.

- - - - -

It'd taken about thirty minutes, but finally, Randy crested the last stair from within the hollowed-out belly of Victory Road, and rounded the curve to the Pokemon League. Unsurprisingly, it was just as extravagant now as it was years ago. Unova was one of few places nigh untouched by the influence of Delta, be it the global war, or their message about Pokemon. The people in Unova had learned the lesson other regions were soon learning being separated from their Pokemon by the daily: Pokemon and Humans didn't need each other, but both parties lives were heavily dependent on the other at this point, and said lives couldn't be better with them at their sides. Picking his Shedinja's Pokeball from his side, Randy stared at it, before offering it a kiss. "We're here. Now, before we report to Blue, or whoever he got to speak with us," Randy directed his gaze to the Pokemon Center, which was serving as a barracks of sorts for members of the Pokemon League, but who weren't the higher ups, "let's get some shut-eye."

With that, and a short check-in with a Nurse Joy, Randy finally laid his head to rest for a few hours. Light was already beginning to just barely peak over the tops of the trees far below in Opelucid, and was drawing long shadows across the mountain up to the Pokemon League like hidden strings were pulling back the veil of night's darkness. Randy, though, wouldn't be awake for the dawn. His tired eyes were too busy dreaming of days long past to be bothered.
 
Episode 1 : Sparks in the Night

END


Episode 2 : An Unfair War

3 Weeks Ago

"Sir, the target has just moved outside of the city. What are your orders?" The Delta soldier continued watching the target's movement away from the city as he waited for an update. The voice on the other end of the communicator was silent. It was hard to tell if he was even still there. But he did receive an answer eventually.

"Your men are not to engage the target themselves. I'm sending an Admin to deal with this. You are to observe from a distance and surround the target once he's distracted. Should the one I send fail, have your men open fire on the target."

"Yes sir."


When he was far enough from the city that it was unlikely anyone would be watching him he let Rara out of her pokeball. He kept the Gardevoir out whenever he could. It was just good practice. If he was attacked she would sense it coming first and teleport him away. "Sorry for keeping you in your pokeball for so long Rara, I was stuck in that city longer than I'd hoped. Delta grunts everywhere. I must be something impressive to have not been spotted." He stopped when he realized Rara wasn't walking beside him. "Rara?" He turned to see her still standing exactly where she'd materialized out of her pokeball. But something was wrong. She was looking towards him with a pained look on her face but otherwise she was completely motionless.

"Brendan of the Pokemon League?"

The person who'd addressed him walked out from between the trees. So this was why Rara looked so scared. The person was wearing the telltale white Team Delta uniform, but it was the three triangle symbols that really mattered. An Admin. Two others were with him. One was a Gardevoir, eyes glowing red as it kept Rara from moving. Disable? No, Imprison was the most likely bet. So long as that Gardevoir was around he wouldn't be able to make a clean escape. The other one was a person, a woman with bright pink hair. If that was what he thought it was, then he was definitely in trouble. This could be very bad.

"Hehe, Rayne ole buddy ole pal! I don't suppose you'll let me off with just a warning this time? What if I told you it was my birthday? Oh I know, I'll give you this great coupon I happened to get. It'll get you an insane 100% discount on a Miracle Cycle bicycle. Free! It's the truth I swear!"

Jay stared coldly at the person before him. "Send out the rest of your pokemon. Good battles are so hard to find nowadays. I don't want this opportunity to go to waste."


Present

Blue sat at his desk sipping his morning tea while reading over the latest wave of reports. He really wished he was drinking coffee, but according to some people around him he'd started to develop an addiction. Now that he'd forced himself to stop drinking coffee he had to agree with them. He really wanted that mug to magically fill with coffee between sips.

His communicator rang. Never a moment of rest. Wait, this was coming in on his personal communicator. Only a handful of people were able to contact him directly without being checked by the League's own communication monitoring, and the only one of those people that would do so without a good reason was Green. But the number displaying didn't belong to her. It was coming from house Berlitz. Platinum. He answered the call.

"What's the situation Plats?"

The voice on the other end did not belong to Platinum. Apologies Sir Oak, I am not Lady Platinum. I am merely her butler.

"Sebastian, right?"

Yes sir. I apologize for contacting you like this. The Lady had told me how to contact you directly should something ever happen to her.

Blue grew cold. "Sebastian. What. Happened. To Platinum." At some instant since he'd last blinked Mewtwo had teleported into the room, likely in response to Blue's sudden shift in mood.

Nothing yet I don't think, but I fear she's put herself in too much danger this time. Tell me truthfully, did you approve a mission for Lady Birch to infiltrate Goldenrod City?

Everything clicked together. "No. I did not." May had begged him to rescue Brendan, but he simply couldn't put that many people in danger for one person, even if it was a friend. He'd been forced to tell her to stand down. So she'd gone to Platinum. The two were good friends, it made sense. Platinum was strong, probably as strong as him or Green at least, but she was also reckless enough to risk everything to help a friend. Why hadn't he considered any of this before? May loved Brendan, of course she would do anything to get him back from Delta. Arceus, he'd been so stupid. "Sebastian, do you know where they are right now?"

The butler hesitated. Lady Platinum is in Olivine City at the moment.

Blue took a mental note that Platinum's butler had his own way of tracking her whereabouts. "Do you have any other information that could help me help them?"

Only that when they left there were two others with them. I didn't recognize either though and they never gave their names.

So it wasn't just May and Platinum then. Blue wasn't sure if he should be relieved that they weren't taking on Delta as just the two of them, or angry that they'd involved others in what was likely to be the same as handing themselves over to Delta. "Thank you for telling me about this, Sebastian. Platinum needs others to keep herself in check. You've done your part, now I'll do everything in my power to get her back to you in one piece. If you think of anything else, anything at all, don't hesitate to contact me."

The butler's voice sounded muffled, like the receiver was further from his mouth. Thank you. Thank you sir.

When the call ended the room suddenly felt much emptier than it had a minute ago. Never a moment of rest. He dialed Green's number.

Hey big boss, what's up? You finally man up enough to confess your undying love for me? I will warn you, I've had to shoot down three, no five, guys already today, so your odds aren't good. If I were you I'd consider waiting until I'm in a better mood.

"Green," he ignored all of her usual banter.

What is it? Green's voice had suddenly grown completely serious. She could tell from his tone that this wasn't the time for jokes.

"May and Plat are in Johto right now."

Why would Plat be in...

"They intend to start a fight with Delta to get Brendan back."

... Arceus, I told her to let me know before she did anything stupid.

"You knew this would happen?"

No shit Blue, what did you think would happen? You told May you couldn't help save him. Of course she was going to go behind your back and do whatever she could to get him back. We both know that Delta's using Brendan as bait, they do too, but if you seriously expected her to not try and save him despite that, then you're an idiot Blue Oak. He heard her take a breath and reset. Okay, so May and Platinum are storming Delta HQ. What do you want to do about that?

Blue wasted no time in responding. Green's words, as usual, had put the answer already in his mind. "I'm putting your current assignment on pause. Get to the Unova League and gather as many people as you can that are willing to fight. Make it clear that this mission is voluntary and highly dangerous. Bring all who are willing to go to the Mistralton Airstrip. I'll meet up with you there with a jet ready to take off. As for the attack itself I'll go over the details on the way. Our primary goal will be to locate and protect Platinum and May. If we are able, locating and recovering Brendan is also a secondary goal. I want to see him safe as much as anyone else, but I stand by that I won't throw away others to maybe save one person."

Green clicked her tongue. Now that's more like it. You should get bossy more often, it suits you. I'll be waiting on the runway before the hour's up. Do not make me wait, or I will leave without you whether I know how to fly the plane or not.

His next call was to Yellow. While he was gone someone needed to watch over the heart of the resistance. The tower was important sure, but it was the city built up by League supporters around it that really needed protecting. If it was left unprotected he had no doubt in his mind that Delta would not hesitate to wipe it all off the map. No survivors and no evidence, the way Delta liked dealing with its problems.

Blue would have liked to not put such a responsibility on Yellow's shoulders, but no one else capable was around right now. Besides, she was the only person that Mewtwo completely trusted aside from Red and himself. She could keep everyone safe even if Delta tried something.

I can do that, no problem-o. Yellow didn't hesitate to accept the duty he was placing on her. Would it be a good idea to have Zinnia keep watch as well?

Blue hadn't even realized Zinnia was back. He was receiving so much information every single day but the things he thought important to know he was neglecting. "Yes, have her watching for any movement from Delta. If they try anything let me know immediately, but if there isn't time I trust your judgement to keep everyone safe."

I won't let anything happen while you're gone, so you just worry about yourself and get him back.

The call ended. "I never said why I was leaving."

Blue spoke to the room, but of course it was Mewtwo who answered. She isn't someone who needs to be told something in order to know it.

"Sorry about not consulting you first, I assume leaving Yellow in charge is acceptable with you?"

I do not like you fighting Team Delta directly without me there, but I also agree that without my presence this location would be vulnerable to attack. The dragon and the blessed child would not be strong enough a defense if that monster used you attacking their base as an opening to strike our own. However, I have sworn to protect you. If you are in peril I will come to drag you away whether you like it or not, regardless of what happens to this place because I leave.

"You do what you need to." Blue finished the last of his tea in one gulp. "Unova, Mistralton." Mewtwo's eyes glowed for an instant and Blue disappeared from the room. Then it too disappeared, teleporting off to wherever Yellow was to be found. It wasn't often it got to spend an entire day with its favorite human.
 
Last Night

Gwendolyn Reiner

Gwen blinked when the boy stepped out from behind a tree, his pokemon following close behind. She could see the pokemon more clearly now. A lucario. She hadn't seen one since Delta took over, so her eye were naturally drawn to the canine-like fighting pokemon. Then again, it had been a while since she'd seen a pokemon trainer as well...especially not in the Johto region where Delta HQ was. Tilting her head, she observed the boy curiously, looking for any sign of injuries.

"Are you hurt? I apologize if we startled you two. We were in a bit of a rush."

Still, no excuse. Biting her lip, Gwen glanced towards her doppelganger in the driver's seat. Gummy shrugged, indicating that it was her call.


"I'm Gwen and this my twin, Gummy."
Gwen looked back at the boy and this pokemon. He appeared nervous, so she adopted a softer tone when speaking to him, a habit that she'd developed while working at the orphanage her father's gym had become. Now that she thought about it again, a trainer hiding in the woods wasn't so uncommon. Trying to avoid war and conflict would've been her preference as well...if she herself wasn't a trainer and her father not part of the League. Most trainers were part of the League, and Gwen suspected the boy, with his Lucario, might be so as well. Or, at the very least, a League supporter. "We're looking for a friend of ours...who is most likely lost somewhere in this forest..."

What the boy was doing alone out in the woods with a Lucario wasn't really her business. However, if he or his pokemon was injured by their reckless driving, that was a different matter all together. Her gaze flickered briefly towards the general direction of Magician's beacon before it settled on the Lucario and its trainer. "But, if either of you are hurt, we have a first aid kit in the car you can use."

Strange that the boy didn't keep his pokemon in a pokeball...which would be a much better place to hide Lucario if he were trying to protect it. Perhaps he wasn't a trainer after all. Not that becoming non-titled changed the situation any. Delta agent or pokemon trainer, people were still people, and pokemon were still pokemon. War couldn't change that. And, since she nearly ran over both person and pokemon with a car, it would be wrong of her to ignore them. Though, Gwen would be lying if she said they hadn’t caught her interest as well—the boy and his Lucario.

JustifiedRoles JustifiedRoles


Current Time.

Night had given away to day and Gwen still hadn't managed to Magician. She and Gummy had taken turns driving through the night while the other rested, each continuing the search for their missing friend after the encounter with the boy and his Lucario. Whether the boy accompanied them in the search, took them up on the offer, or not, Gwen wouldn’t just abandon the hunt for her ghost pokemon. The thin light of dawn showing between the trees severed to remind her that time moved on, whether she wanted it to or not. An entire night's search and yet the elusive ghost was nowhere to be found. Gwen began to suspect that the worst had happened. That she’d failed as a trainer. Failed to protect a friend.

Standing within the general area of Magician’s beacon, the Caravan parked nearby, Gwen scanned the empty woods. Nothing. She called out to Magician. No response. Perhaps she was too late. Perhaps she’d taken too long and Magician was already long gone. Shoulder’s sagging, Gwen turned around…and came face to face with Misdreavus. Eyes widening, the former coordinator backpedaled, landing on her bottom.

Misdreavus cheered, circling the Gwen happily. For the first time, since Gwen had caught it, it had succeeded in scaring its trainer.

Gwen should have been infuriated. Upset at Magician for leaving his pokeball to wander on its own. For playing such a horrid prank. But the only emotion spreading throughout the short-haired pokemon trainer at the moment was a profound relief. Arms catching the floating head, Gwen pulled Magician into a tight embrace, her face buried in the ghostly hair so none could see the bit of tears she’d shed underneath the light of the sun.

“Don’t do that again, Magician.”


“Miiiiiisdreavus. Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisdreavus.”


For some reason, Gwen had a feeling her words went through one ear and out the other when it came to Magician. Hopefully the mischievous ghost pokemon had enough adventure for one day.
 
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Three weeks. Three weeks of late night work and Catrina didn't feel as if she was any closer to cracking the super clone formula she was trying so hard to develop. She wasn't deterred from her project by any means however. Failure was all part and parcel of the scientist gig. The situation did leave her very flustered though. She had even admitted defeat and given up on the programming of the Delta Porygon for the time being, but decided to leave its program undeleted for the time being. It was still locked away in its digital glass mirror prison, but otherwise left to its own, if any, devices. Maybe it would make some sort of natural progress that she couldn't predict or program. The program was under heavy surveillance, so much so that if it so much as flinched it would be recorded for future observation.

Her focus for the past few weeks had been instead been her own cloning program, Catrina wondering if maybe she had been overthinking the entire process. She didn't want to admit she might have been wrong, but even moreso she didn't want to admit that Admin Celena had been right. She hated for something to beat her, especially when it came to her own projects. At the moment Catrina was behind closed doors, a cloning experiment currently in its middle stages of development. Like with the Porygon experiment she had run Catrina's attention was divided between two monitors, eyes staying on one for only a few seconds before darting back to the other. “Those are good....these are all positive....Hmmm slight variation, but well within tolerated limits. Now what happens if I...” she would mutter to herself, deviating from what would otherwise be a successful cloning experiment to sate her own personal curiosity.

Catrina noted that the fluctuations began to increase, stopping herself from changing anything else to see if they stabilized out or not. When they neither stabilized nor grew any more erratic Catrina would shrug and make a mental note before pushing the envelope even further, to see just how many changes could be made. It wasn't until after the third change had been completed did the fluctuations begin to get out of control, Catrina sighing lightly and reverting her last change back to its original state. “So two changes is the limit. That's good to...” she stopped when she realized that though the change had been reverted, the fluctuations were still growing. “I take it back. That's not good at all.” So one change was the limit. Maybe. That was a question for another experiment. Catrina began working to get the still unborn clone's data back under control, but to no avail. In just a few moment's the clone's data was corrupt beyond repair, leaving Catrina no choice but to send in a few of her digital soldier Porygon to clean up the mess. She sighed lightly, leaning back in her chair. “And it was going so well too. Aah well. Progress demands sacrifice.” Leaning forward again, Catrina wiped what remaining data she needed to from her screen before beginning to ready another sample. That's when she realized “....aaaand that was the last of my Raichu samples. That's what I get for trying to save on our power bill” she stretched before opening her email account and putting Keith's email address in the recipient's address bar. She didn't title the email. She never did. Instead she spent a moment thinking on how to word her situation before finally deciding on “I'm out of Raichu DNA samples. Are there any Raichu in house, or do I have to go catch one myself?” She wouldn't mind getting out of the lab if she absolutely had to, but if there was an electric rat in Delta HQ she could get back to her experiments a lot sooner.
 

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