Private/Closed Le Saut Trompe (Kalos Travels)

[Curtkid]

"Thanks you guy's", Curt said with a smile as he and Embertail hopped on Whips once again and followed them to the point where the Rocket's attacked them. It wasn't hard to find the exact location where they we ambushed, the place looked like a war zone. Several tree's were coated in frost due to Ice Beam attacks, the ground was torn up by their attacks (mostly due to Whips' Earthquake), and a few tree's had chunks or branches torn off them.

Seeing Nine attempt to sniff out Team Rockets sent gave Curt the incentive to see if Flare could do the same. Removing a Pokeball with a White Tail painted on it and snapping it open quickly revealed another Ninetails in a bright but quick flash of light.

"Alright Flare, do you think you could help Nine and Ryu pick up Team Rockets sent?", Curt asked the Fox Pokemon. to his surprise, Flare gave him a look that seemed like a mix of uncertainty and awkward guilt.

("I-I will try, to be honest, I haven't really used my more....primal senses as much as I should, even while living in the forest I mostly used my Psychic abilities to locate things"), Flare said as she began sniffing around for a clue as to where Jacob was. Flare wasn't kidding, Nine picked up trail far from where Flare was, though to her credit, Flare at least seemed to be heading in the right direction. Wasting no time; Curt, Embertail, Whips, and Flare took off after Nine, right on the heels of Cassie, Sai, and Ryu. While they followed their Pokemon to Jacobs location, Curt decided to take this free moment to ask Cassie something that had been on his mind since they were preparing to battle.

"Hey Cassie, I'm just curious, back when we where about to battle, and I mean no offense to Ace, but why didn't you chose Fang to battle us if you had such a grudge against Jacob?", Curt asked her, with Whips giving a noticeable growl in agreement with his trainer (the Dragonite was eager for a rematch against the Mach Pokemon), "I mean, at the time I was glad you didn't pick him, but even as a regular Garchomp, Fang was probably one of your strongest Pokemon, if you Mega Evolved him you could have made the battle Hell for us..I just hope this isn't a personal question." Maybe it was part of Curt love of Dragon Type Pokemon that motivated him to ask the question, who could say. Either way, they reached the outer area of Team Rockets makeshift camp.

Taking cover in the bushes a good distance away (thank goodness of the setting sun and shading of the tree's), they attempted to get a good look at the base. At the very center of it was a very large truck, with several computer stations and tents of various sized set up around it. Three particularly large tents stood out among the smaller camping venues, and next to the large tent near the truck was....

"Jacob", Curt said in a hushed breathe, "well, finding him was easy enough, but getting him out will be another story".Despite the relatively smallness of the outpost, the place was littered with grunts! Was Jacob such a high priority target that he warranted this much man power? They were even clever enough not to stuff him in the back of one of the larger tents (which would have made springing him a bit easier), instead opting to leave him in the open and have several grunts monitoring him constantly. Freeing him was going to be tough in addition to risky, but not impossible. Despite capturing Pokemon from "around the world" Team Rocket rarely kidnapped strong Pokemon, too much trouble to control and not enough buyers to warrant the expense of their capture, plus, stealing from a trainer who had raised such Pokemon was extremely difficult, even for Admins. No,rare but cute and weaker Pokemon was where the real money was at, but because of this focus, most Rocket Members didn't know what stronger Pokemon (outside the ones they rarely owned) were capable of, and that is where their advantage lied.

"Hey, everyone, I was thinking, I know the people guarding Jacob probably wouldn't abandon him if it just started raining...but, what if a lightning bolt struck a near bye tree that threatened to burn down their camp", Curt said with a small smirk while looking at Whips, who returned the gesture, "I know it's risky, but they kept Jacob alive this long for a reason, besides, a lot of that equipment looks valuable, I don't think they'd abandoned it unless they'd have to".

("Yes, but if Jacob is as valuable as we think he is, do you think they'd leave him unguarded, that Rocket Admin did looked young, but not stupid,"), Flare pointed out, ("she has no shortage of staff, so I'm positive she'd leave at least a few grunts around to keep an eye out if anything goes wrong").

"Yeah, you're right, but that's where you come in, Demon of the Woods", Curt said with a wide smile which made Flare look to the ground in a mix of anger and embarrassment, "I'm sure you could work you old hypnotic powers on any remaining grunts to knock them out so Cassie and Sai can sneak in and spring Jacob".

("Please, don't call me by my old tittle, but yes, I was thinking the same thing, once those guards look my way I'll have them out cold in a instant"), Flare said coolly, as though such as feat was child's play for her. Not long ago, Flare earned her tittle due to her terrorizing any humans and Pokemon accompanying humans that tried to take a shortcut through her forest to Lavender Town from Celedone or vice-versa. She had picked up many dark, powerful tricks during that time, a lot of those tricks Ninetales didn't learn till they were several centuries old.

"Rah runk rhine roughd roh reth reh" Embertail growled, a huge smile on his face while he pointed at Nine and, noticeably, causing Flare to strike the Charmander with a glare that would've made something that Embertail just tugged on all eight of Flare's tails at once .

"That's, actually not a bad idea Embertail, Cassie, Nine, if either of you don't mind maybe Nine could accompany Flare, you know, to back her up just in case she runs into anything unexpected", Curt suggested to Cassie and Nine,"besides, maybe he'd pick up some things from his seni-I mean more experienced Ninetales". Curt caught himself at the last second, he didn't think Flare would appreciate being called a senior.

("Hump, I have no objections if Nine wishes to accompany me, but you are aware as to why Embertail actually suggested this, right?"), Flare told Curt, not taking her scornful gaze off the still smiling Embertail.

"Yep", Curt replied flatly," you two be careful".

"Reahef rugn rohn your date" Embertail growled, while waving cheerfully at the two Ninetales, the huge smile still on his face. How Flare's glare didn't send Embertail sprinting in the other direction, was as impressive as his minor speaking capabilities. Despite what other's would believe, Embertail genuinely believed Flare and Nine looked cute together and wanted them to form some sort of relationship.

"Alright then, Cassie, Sai, Ryu, I'll leave sneaking in to you, if you have anything else to add to the plan or anything you want me to know, because if not, I think we're ready to set out", Curt said to his partners.

 

[Blonde]

( I'm pretty much typing this out slowly and constantly re-reading stuff, I'm rusted so.. sorry If i make many mistakes. Sai's back)

“Well, I’ve never told anyone what really happened. And that includes Martha,” said Jacob. Sai became slightly confused to who Martha was. It was probably one of Jacob's friends in the organization, but he watched as Jacob nodded slightly at Curt, and listened in closely, making sure Jacob didn't begin to lie through his teeth. “But I guess that if anyone deserves to know, it’s you two,” said Jacob. To be honest, Sai feelings were pretty mixed at this point, Cassie had calmed him down so he wasn't full of rage but still angry nonetheless. “Just, let me finish the story before you attack again.” He lowered his tone as he finished his sentence. At this point it seemed like he had thrown the sentence and tone at Sai, and boy did Sai's blood pressure rise slightly. Jacob sighed, and then begun his long explanation story. Sai clinched onto Cassie's hand slightly more.

(this is a recap for me, you don't need to read Jacob's story again. I learned this from a book I ready over my break)
‷I guess it really started just a few weeks after our meeting in that damn cave in Kalos. I had returned home to Hoenn, and was walking from Lavaridge to Mauville City. It had been a long time since I had made that trek, and although I had done it before, the mountain was foreign. I took a wrong step, and plummeted off a cliff. The fall must have been nearly thirty feet, and I would have broken every bone in my body if somebody hadn’t rescued me. That person was Gus Tully. While I hadn’t crashed directly into the ground, I had hurt my leg pretty bad in the fall, and Gus helped me into a small house he had along the side of the Mt. Chimney. He helped bandage me up, and let me stay the night. When he discovered I was a Pokemon trainer, and he had seen my Pokemon, he immediately asked me for a friendly battle. I obliged, and Nero here was thoroughly defeated by Gus’s Exeggutor. His style was very interesting, and I’ve never seen anyone fight like Gus had before. Anyway, afterwards he interrogated me as to who I was; I told him I was a student, taking a semester off from my studies. He asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I told him I wasn’t certain. He asked me if I had heard of Team Rocket: I told him I had. Finally, Gus asked me what I thought about Team Rocket. I told him probably what any of you would say today. I told him they were terrorists, murderers and thieves. I told him they corrupt the governments of the world, and have far too much political sway. I said it was scary the reach that they had. He asked me if I had ever met someone from Team Rocket, and I told him the truth: I had not. The interrogation was odd for certain, but I wasn’t averse to these sorts of conversations, and found voicing my opinion rather enjoyable. So, he asked to battle again, and we had another battle. Later that night was when he finally told me who he was. Gus had been part of Team Rocket for years, he said, ever since he was my age. I was understandably surprised, and afraid, but he asked me why I would treat him differently now. I had no good answer. He explained that Team Rocket had done terrible things, but it was not the people in the organization that had caused this, but rather its leaders. He claimed, and I agreed, that Team Rocket, with its vast resources and virtual army, could be a massive force for good in the world. So, he offered me a position, asking me to join him, and to help him transform Team Rocket into that vey ideal. I thought about it, but it didn’t take long for me to accept.‴

By this time Jacob had talked a lot and Sai began to tune it out slower and slower down the backstory. His eyes had traveled back and forth through the group consisting of Jacob, his Pokemon: Curt, his Pokemon: Cassie, her Pokemon and etc. His thoughts were more on the battle that was about to happen then the actually story. That is until Jacob uttered a sentence that slightly confused Sai even more. "I had begun to plan a new form of Team Rocket takeover; Gus’s peaceful mission had failed, so I was going to kill Giovanni and force the organization to either moralize or disappear." Sai cocked one eye, his ears had tuned back at the right time. His thoughts stirred in his mind. Were him and Cassie just causalities in Jacob's mission to destroy Team Rocket? Even though Sai and Jacob weren't friends or close. Jacob and Cassie had a connection from before, He would risk her life like that? This upset Sai even more, but Jacob wasn't finish with his story, but it was already to late, Sai was ready to fight even though his outer demeanor didn't show it. Only person who understood Sai well enough to tell was Cassie and even then she still would have trouble guessing how Sai was feeling. He was a complicated character, he surprises himself once and a while, but that's quite alright in his opinion because he didn't want a predictable life. His resolve for life will be questioned sooner down the road, when he loses himself in a almost fatal accident.

‷ In order to do this, I needed to be convincing. I took every mission the Boss handed down to me, and that’s where we met again,‴ Jacob said, pointing to him and Cassie.‷ You both trapped me, and exposed me as someone who had friends who were enemies of Team Rocket. But really, it wasn’t the two of you who ruined me; one of my friends in the organization had been caught and discovered as a spy. Honestly, I had no knowledge of this, but he was captured, and I was tied to him. Immediately, I lost the few downtrodden and hidden allies I had in the organization, and I was never allowed to see the Boss privately again. I slowly dropped to the grunt ranks, and it was then I decided I had had enough. I spoke with a few of my former friends, and they allowed me to receive my Pokemon in exchange for the one’s I had been gifted by the organization. With that, I left Team Rocket; the organization seemed to want to have as little to do with me as I wanted to do with them.‴

When Sai saw Jacob's finger had pointed dead center; between him and Cassie he almost bucked up towards Jacob but was stopped by the tight grip of Cassie's hand in his and then the cold release. He watched her, his soft laugh rang in his ear, it was almost sinister, unconvinced. She stepped in front of him. She knew Sai wanted to rip Jacob's head off, but she wanted to intervene and he let her. What kind of man would he be if he didn't let her talk. "You don't know anything about me Jacob" she said, lowering her voice to him, antagonizing him. "Enemies of Team Rocket, you don't think I'm some valiant goody-two-shoes trainer who makes it their business to foil any and every Rocket activity, do you?" she paused for a minute and looked back at Sai, then apologized. As if the sentence would phase him. If anything she was right Sai hated Team Rocket the most out of all of them. He had his reasons, he'll keep them secret for as long as he needed too, but he kept his attention on them. "Firstly, I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, while trying to keep this guy from recklessly getting himself killed." she said as she slightly shoved Sai, who in returned cocked a side smile and crossed his arms as he kept quiet the whole time. "Secondly, I would think that two people who trapped and ambushed you wouldn't be considered your friends, and last I checked, there were no other witnesses. Don't even bother mentioning your two accomplices. They left you the moment the door was welded shut, and all evidence of our 'friendly' conversations were destroyed by your so-called clean up crew." Sai felt the slightly cold poison that ran it's course through her words. Sai was in the same position as Cassie tone and feelings. He might be in more of position to be honest he honestly disliked Jacob and nothing was going to change that, not even the battle. Cassie soon after her words to Jacob, changed her expressions and attitude when looked at Curt. Who Sai didn't know much about to begin with, expect the time in the Cave, and from the way Cassie had acted to him he came to the conclusion that Curt and Cassie had a past, but it wasn't the time for jealousy in its acute form.

Curt, seemed like the Bashful, shy worry-wort kind of guy. He studied the body language of Curt during the slightly ambush a few moments ago. "Uh, no, w-we'll fight alongside Jacob and his Pokemon" said Curt, slightly stuttering threw his words. Sai knew that feeling, he'd get like that too when Cassie would talk to him, because of course he can be shy sometimes. Curt had asked for a moment to choose his partner for this match. Sai took in a deep breathe and patted his chest slightly as he turned his back towards them and walked over to his Luxray, which he ran his hand threw the lion's mane. He sat down next to the Pokemon and began to talk to him in silent, careful not to let the others over hear him. Sai's left eye; the eye that had faced away had slightly changed. Soon after, some commotion had stirred up over by Curt, but Sai took no interest in it.
"Alright, I'm going with Whips" Curt said towards Cassie.
"and I'll be using Blaziken, Nero" said Jacob.
Sai smiled and laid his head against his Luxray, then he stood up and brushed himself off. He didn't have plans to actually use Luxray in this battle, and that was the conversation he had with the young lion. Just as he was about to call back Luxray and pull out his other Pokemon, a cold chilling rush skimmed the battle field between Sai, Cassie, Curt and Jacob. Sai, with his quick reaction time, jumped backwards quickly with his Luxray carefully dodging oncoming Ice beams; that seem to come from every direction that a brush was located.

Sai was on guard now, the load boomed noises of ice beams hitting the environment, caused the area to become loud and he could only see the mouth movement of Jacob yelling at Curt. In an instant the young man was struck from the side hard, him and his Blaziken, Nero and soon after rolled over to the feet of Curt. Sai's head quickly turned to see a girl with a Dewgong by her side. Who was the female? She seemed slightly familiar to Sai, was it one of Jacob's "friends" he had spoken of? She smiled and kept mouthing off to Jacob who was slightly itching his way off the ground from that hard hit. She took hold of a Pokeball, she held it and let it open in her palm and out came a Hypno. He recognized that Hypno quickly; the same Pokemon that was with Jacob that day, and from the look on Jacob's face he realized it too.

Sai was still dodging and weaving between oncoming attacks during the reunion between Jacob, his old partner and his old mate. His eyes danced around, He saw Cassie and Ace; who had used Protect to shield him and his Trainer from harm. Sai's heart slowly stopped when he realized that she had be strucked by a bounced ice beam from the floor. He tried to make his way over to her, but was able to due to the oncoming beams once again. In the corner of his eye Sai caught the blue ball hurtling down towards the floor. It stroke the floor with such force it must of caught the Rocket member and Hypno off guard. Soon the sight was covered in a Dust field and the Ice beams had stopped for a moment. The place became slightly quieter, enough that Sai could heard Jacob tell them to make a break for it and run. He made his way over to Cassie, he was fairly close enough to her, but before he could ask anything of her she had grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him onto the back of her Swanna, Ace. Sai reacted quickly and called back Luxray before they got to far away off the ground.

Sai looked back as Curt, who had begun to try to fight, turned quickly and ran. he had jumped up on his Dragonite, Whips and Jacob followed right behind them. The flight was straining, Ace and Whips flew at great speed, something Sai was used to because of his Volcarona way back when, but has been so long since he was in flight. His eyes were tightly shut but when he heard Curt yelling at Whips to turn around he turned his head quickly to see Jacob had fallen from off the Dragon and into the forest once again. Sai didn't really care, at the moment the main priority was to get away safely and treat any wounds that anyone has gotten and not try to suicide into saving Jacob.

[Moments later]
As they landed, Ace looked exhausted, Sai understood. He was sure the Ace wasn't use to caring a man of his height and weight on his back along with Cassie and her items. He slide off quickly and sat down on the floor. Sai took a deep breathe and double checked his belt to make sure all of his Pokemon were on him. He looked back as Cassie and Curt, to make sure they were okay. He sighed when Ace begun to eat the sitrus berry Cassie had thrown to him. "Whoo, I'm starved. Sai, do you have the cooking supplies? I think I gathered enough berries for a confit." she asked. Sai let out a soft chuckle and nodded in return to her question. "Yea, I can cook up something nice if you're in the mood for it." Sai wasn't very hungry, he might have lost is appetite from the flight. With two white flashes, out came Cassie's Pokemon, Ryu and Nine. Sai slightly rolled his eyes when he felt the protective strain of Ryu meeting his gaze, Sai felt that he was constantly fighting for time with Cassie whenever Ryu was around and he didn't have the energy to deal with the father figure of a Pokemon she called a Partner.

Sai looked over at Curt, who had been in conversation with his Pokemon for a bit of time. He could only guess that he was planning a search and rescue mission to go get Jacob back. From what Sai saw earlier and how close he was with Jacob it was easily predictable. Sai felt as if the battle between them was no necessary anymore, but he would still like a one on one battle with Jacob, in order for him to do that he needs Jacob alive. So as Cassie, Ryu, Nine and Curt were all conversant about the rescue mission he already begun his walk towards Ace. He watched as Cassie hoped on the back of her Pokemon and he carefully straddled onto the back of Ace as well, he rubbed Ace's side and apologized in advance for his weight.
Soon after they took off, all three of them and landed back in the battle field of a forest they were just in. Sai jumped off Ace and watched as Curt and Cassie worked quickly. Ryu and Nine caught on quickly and Flare followed up behind them. At this point, Sai was just following behind them. He didn't seem to useful in this situation, none of his Pokemon were able to help at this time.

Moments later, Sai Cassie and Curt had found the small recon troop of team rocket members, it was densely crowded with Rocket grunts, but even so they managed to find Jacob tied up and defended. He was sure Jacob was paranoid at this point, thinking his friend abandoned him just like he did during him and Cassie's ambush. Sai sighed and listened in carefully to the plan by Curt. He would distract them with rain and lightning, also he could use flare as some sort of demonic presence to distract to grunts enough to lead them away for Sai and Cassie. Sai would just follow the lead of Cassie and shield her if need be. Since this was their mission, he had no objection to the plan.

"Alright then, Cassie, Sai, Ryu, I'll leave sneaking in to you, if you have anything else to add to the plan or anything you want me to know, because if not, I think we're ready to set out", Curt said. Sai shook his head. "No, I don't have any objections it's whatever you feel is right no? just don't get cold feet when your surrounded, just remember we are here." he said, then he glanced over at Cassie awaiting her response before he headed out. In the back of Sai's mind he had a backup plan, but it be best if he tried to put some trust in Curt. He wasn't a bad trainer plus when he comes to his friends he's willing to do what he needs to and he admired that a little, almost jealous of him in a way.

 

[PentheWonderful]

"Hey Cassie, I'm just curious, back when we where about to battle, and I mean no offense to Ace, but why didn't you chose Fang to battle us if you had such a grudge against Jacob? I mean, at the time I was glad you didn't pick him, but even as a regular Garchomp, Fang was probably one of your strongest Pokemon, if you Mega Evolved him you could have made the battle Hell for us..I just hope this isn't a personal question."

The trainer actually faltered in her step, her gloved hands curling into a fist. She quickly recovered, however, moving on just as quickly. But when her eyes met Curt, they were as hot as molten silver. "Curt. How many times do I have to say that it wasn't a grudge match?" Her voice was low, dangerous. It was a side of her few had ever seen. Her true, hostile side. "I challenged Jacob for a battle. Because hey, I happen to like battling, and he owes me that. Is that so fucking wrong? As for why I chose Ace? Fang's had his fair share of battling, while Ace had been sitting on the sidelines, being let out of his Pokeball to be used as a means of transportation at best." Cassie had furrowed her brows when she said this, looking guiltily to her feet. "It's not right."

And by the time she finished, they'd reached the recon camp and Ducked into the shrubbery.

For a while, there was a pause. A moment of silence. The three trainer's just sat there, hidden by a bush. Cassie personally, was shaking the previous conversation out of her system and instead focused on working out a small equation in her head for the camp's weak spots while observing the rotation of the grunts. Their numbers. The rotation of the Pokemon. Grey. She counted the number of cubbies and nooks she could find. They were all quite small, which was why she was grateful to be short for once. Ryu lingered in the tree line, looking closely at one of the trucks parked in the clearing. Nine stuck calmly by Cassie, from the look in his eyes, it was clear the fox was doing his own calculations.

Despite this, they also listened closely to Curt's idea, and Embertail seemed to want to join in on the explanation too, saying something Cassie can't quite understand, yet, seemed to upset Flare greatly. Nine shifted in his stance and lowered his head slightly.

"That's, actually not a bad idea Embertail, Cassie, Nine, if either of you don't mind maybe Nine could accompany Flare, you know, to back her up just in case she runs into anything unexpected." Immediately, Cassie's eyes turned to Nine, and she could hear the amused snicker coming from Ryu in the trees. The Ninetales had his ears flat to his head, fur once again puffed out as if he'd been electrocuted. That was, perhaps his way of blushing. "Sounds like a good idea to me." Cassie stated. "At the moment, our biggest concern is Grey. The two of you should overwhelm him."

'I too have no objections. But please keep the teasing minimal.' Nine swiveled his tails regally as he turned to approach Flare. It was obvious the male was trying to keep the little dignity he had left. He was leading the way, at the moment, skillfully ignoring Embertail's tease and jumping into the scarcer bushes close to the general area of Grey. He was careful not to get too close, or the psychic would detect them. The pause was something Cassie knew well. "He's waiting for the cue. In this case, it'll be the fire and ensuing chaos." Cassie stated, turning to face the men. Her face seemed a shade paler than it was a moment ago. Maybe it was the realization that she would be navigating through a wildfire dawning on her. But it was the only way.

"But Sai, you're so tall, it'll be hard to sneak you around. It'll be easier for me to get to Jacob on my own. There's way too many grunts out there, so, Sai, it'll be best if you stay hidden like Curt and watch my back." And perhaps she simply didn't want anyone to see her break down in the face of the raging fires. "Besides, I'll have Ryu." That's right, Cassie doesn't go anywhere with Ryu.

Especially... If it's facing her greatest fear.

As if on cue, the Lucario skillfully and silently hopped down from the branch, joining the group huddle. He looked at Curt with his intense gaze and nodded. 'Let's do this.'

 

[Trucro]

Jacob began to feel lonely. He had been tied up for some time now, and Hera had been using whatever communication machine Team Rocket currently employed for nearly half an hour. The Grunts weren't going to be coming anywhere near him, and his pokemon had been taken from him. Really, the only company he had was Grey, who sat several meters away, his back to Jacob. This lack of any meaningful communication was really getting to him; although he generally preferred to stay away from other people, he had always had his pokemon. Without them, he was bare, naked.

Suddenly, as if to save Jacob from his isolation, Grey turned around. The Hypno remained seated, his legs crossed, and simply stared across at Jacob. At first Jacob looked away; he wasn't sure what the pokemon was doing, and he didn't want to be put under any of Grey's spells. After a few minutes, however, Jacob looked back over at Grey. He was still staring directly at Jacob, and their gaze met. As it did, the Hypno nodded. Confused, Jacob furrowed his brow. What was Grey doing? He had known the pokemon to play mind games with people, but he hadn't seen something like this. Usually it was more blatant, at least to Jacob, with a clear objective, although it was rarely clear to the subject. Had Grey advanced beyond the time he belonged to Jacob so far that Jacob couldn't keep up?

No that wasn't it. As Jacob met Grey's gaze once more, it began again. The Hypno nodded his head slowly. This time, Jacob followed suit, raising and lowering his head slightly. Grey showed no signs of emotion, but Jacob understood that he had correctly understood; the Hypno moved on. This time, the pokemon turned his head slowly, left and then right, and then back to center. Again, Jacob followed the pokemon's instructions. This was no game; Grey was trying to tell him something. Once Jacob had completed this action, Grey continued. This time, he turned his head right, completely breaking their gaze, looking over towards the bushes a few dozen meters away. Jacob turned his head, mirroring Grey once more. He looked over at the bushes, before turning back to the pokemon again. But Grey did not look back at Jacob, he just continued staring towards the bushes. Jacob turned his head again to take another look. He squinted, trying to block out the brightness from the sun that was preventing him from seeing clearly. After a few seconds, he could just make out a small rustling in the brush. There was something out there.

"Okay," Jacob said allowed to Grey, and the pokemon looked back at him. There was something out in the bushes that Grey wanted him to know about. But why?

"What was that?" One of the Grunts had heard Jacob say something, and had begun to walk over to him. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing," Jacob replied, staring down this Rocket Grunt. The man merely sneered, muttering something inaudible, and turned around back to the other Grunts, who were having an intense conversation about twenty feet from Jacob. Jacob's thoughts turned back to Grey, and the bushes. What was in the bushes? Jacob's mind raced with possibilities. Perhaps it was some secret weapon that Team Rocket kept chained a distance out and Grey was making him aware to freak him out. No, that wasn't like Grey. Perhaps Grey was trying to help him escape? But then what was in the bushes? It couldn't have been Sai or Cassie; Jacob knew they pretty much hated his guts. Maybe Curt had made a dumb move, and actually thought he could save Jacob alone. If that was true, Jacob would need to work his position perfectly.

Jacob looked back over at Grey, meeting the psychic pokemon's stare. He held it for a few moments before looking over at the Grunts. His pokeballs remained on his belt far over by the Grunts, lying on the ground. He turned back to see Grey staring at him still. Jacob met his gaze once more, and then turned his head to look in the direction of the grunts. He glanced over at Grey to see that the Hypno had mirrored his movements, looking down at the Grunts just like Jacob.

"Hey!" The same Grunt from before stood, noticing that Jacob was staring at him. "What are you looking at?" The Grunt took several steps in Jacob's direction once again, menacingly. "I'll teach you to stare!"

 

[Curtkid]

"Alright then, we're all set, Whips will start bringing in a storm, while Flare and Nine take care of the guards and that Hypno, Cassie, move as soon as you feel you're able", Curt said in a hushed voice. The moment he finished talking Flare and Nine disappeared into the woods, stealthy not even making the faintest of rustles. Soon after, one could make out what appeared to be storm clouds moving in through the twilight skies, and soon after Cassie would begin her excursion into the Rocket Camp to save Jacob. Curt could only imagine the look on his face when it was Cassie who would be the one to come to his rescue.

Curt had to admit, a part of him was glad to have a moment away from Cassie so the could lighten the tension created after his comment about Fang. No matter what Cassie said as far as Curt was concerned, if you chased someone through a forest from continents away, you had a grudge against them. Maybe he touched a nerve on a completely different aspect he was unaware of? He was't sure, either way, he couldn't dwell on it, they needed to focus on the hear an now if they were going to pull this off.

Before long, the clouds were over head, and they entire party could feel rain drops falling from the sky, and soon after that, a mildly heavy rain was beating down on them from above. Embertail, despite his natural weakness to water, was attempting to catch raindrops on his lounge. Curt looked at Whips, and the two exchanged a nod, a second later, a massive boom could be heard as a bolt of lightning struck a tree a little too close to the Rocket's base for comfort. It didn't take long for the Rockets to start rushing out to deal with the rapidly building near by fire the lightning bolt had created, leaving just a handful guards and the Hypno to watch over the base. Now all they needed to do was to wait for Flare and Nine.

A short distance away, the two Ninetales were traversing the rainy woods, skillfully weaving through the foliage and shrubbery. They were approaching their vantage point, all they had to do was wait for the Thunderbolt from Whips and for the large majority of the Rockets to clear out. After that all they had to do is take care of the remaining Rockets to secure Cassie a clear path. While making their way through the forest, Flare decided to lighten the mood with some small talk.

(So, tell me Nine, have you ever hypnotized anyone before?)", Flare asked the younger Ninetales, "(I remember when I tried to teach myself how to do it, it was a bit tricky at first, but once I understood the mechanics behind it, it's was easy as spitting fire)". Flare threw threw the young Ninetales a small smile as they made their way through the woods, she wouldn't be surprised if Nine turned out to be fairly skilled at Hypnosis, especially considering who his trainer was.

"(And I do hope you'll forgive Embertails for his...unsubtle attempts at getting us to socialize, he's a very kind Charmander, but he doesn't alway's think his words through, I'm sure he didn't mean to embarrass you that much...besides, you do look rather adorable when your fur puffs out like that)", Flare said flashing Nine something that was between an endearing smile and a small smirk. Turns out she was no so above a little teasing herself. Eventually they made their way to a vantage point where they could easily take care of the Grunts without being detected by the Hypno. As soon as they heard the Thunderbolt and saw the Grunts leave in droves to deal with the fire it started, they made their move.

("If you would, I'll handle the Grunts and after we can work together to take care of the Hypno"), Flare said as locked her gaze with a rather board looking grunt that was sitting on what looked to be a fold up chair and the proceeded to break a stick rather loudly with her paw.

"Huh, wa?", the Grunt said, turning his head towards Flares direction. That was all she needed. Immediately her eye's glowed a bright red, bright enough that the Grunt could clearly make it out despite their distance away from each other. However, the Grunt never had a chance to alert his comrades of the danger, as he almost immediately dropped to the ground, out cold. After that, it was basically a chain reaction of hypnotizing Grunts. The first's Grunts friend went to check on his friend to see why he passed out, then his adrenaline filled mind's attention was drawn to Flare's glowing red eye's, and BAM! he went down to. Two other Grunt soon came by to see what all the commotion was about, and they went down too. Soon, all that was left was...

("Alright, I'll let you start on that Hypno "), Flare said to Nine, a touch of pride in her voice due to the easy success of her Hypnosis. She still stood by, ready to help Nine, after all, she knew that Hypnotizing a Hypno would be harder then knocking out a dozen guards.

 

[PentheWonderful]

The rain began to trickle, and with each drop that broke upon her skin, Cassie only felt her nerves bundle more and more. She found herself subconsciously clutching her hands into a fist. So tightly you could hear the strain of her gloves. The fire... It wasn't even burning yet, but she could already smell it. The smell of smoke. And yet, she kept herself occupied with the sight ahead. From where they hid, they could see Jacob easily. He wasn't very hard to spot in the first place, what with his orange hair. Once the guards were cleared, it was a straight shot to him. So she did something that was probably pretty stupid. "...Ryu. Return."

As a look of shock crossed the Lucario's face, and Cassie patted his Pokeball saying, "You'll still be with me, and besides, two's a crowd." Nine in the meanwhile traversed the foliage with Flare, in an attempt to circle around to Grey's approximate position. The male Ninetales was more on edge than necessary, and it was more than likely the cause of said tension was the female Ninetales he was with. At the moment, he was simply glad the silence that loomed over them wasn't awkward. Until, of course, she started speaking.

"So, tell me Nine, have you ever hypnotized anyone before?" She began. "I remember when I tried to teach myself how to do it, it was a bit tricky at first, but once I understood the mechanics behind it, it's was easy as spitting fire."

Ah, again with his fur-puffing. Nine quickly cast his gaze to the side. Anywhere but on Flare. "I've... Never used hypnosis before, actually. Cassie never taught me, even though it would've been beneficial in battles. More so if paired up with Dream Eater. But, I suppose she wants me to learn from the best. Who better else to learn from than a Ninetales who terrorized a whole woodland singlehandedly?" He managed to reply smoothly. He was infinitely lucky his intelligence saved him from acting like a complete fool.

That is, until his fur puffed up yet again upon Flare's comment about how simply darling he looked when he puffs up like a Mareep. Nine didn't dare a look at the rather cheeky female, from fear that his fur predicament would grow even worse, and instead he raised his head and cleared his throat. "Let's just focus at the task at hand." And thus, began their end of the plan.

Once the lightning struck and the grunts scattered to put out the fires, Flare set out to work by knocking out the remaining guards. Nine had to admit, he was thoroughly impressed by her competence. He almost forgot that he was supposed to learn how to do that too. How did she do it, he wondered. Did it have something to do with telepathy? Yes, yes that was possible... Connecting telepathically through eyesight created a direct line that would enable one to simply... Shut another's mind off.

However, his train of thoughts were interrupted once Flare spoke to him again. What? She wants him to handle the Hypno?! How was he supposed to out-hypnotise a Hypno?! Gulping slightly, Nine lowered himself slightly, as he looked up at Flare with an innocent puppy look. "I'd rather... We go at it together. I've dealt with that Hypno before and I'll tell you, he's no joke. Not to mention, my own hypnosis skills are, at the moment, questionable at best. I'll get his attention, and once we've locked gazes, you come in front of me catch him with your hypnosis. I'll back you up."

With a more determined look on his face, he peeped slightly from the shrubbery to watch the psychic type. Slowly, but surely, he emerged. Just as the fires spread through the camp, the milk white of his fur colored the dreary surroundings. With his ruby orbs, he locked on to the Hypno's gaze. Yet... He felt something was off. But, not necessarily in a bad way. Grey didn't seem very tense. Nor did he seem hostile, for a Pokemon who was supposed to be guarding a prisoner. And let's face it, the Psychic type's abilities would've allowed him to detect them long before they could even reach their current shrub. Something was indeed off, but perhaps, it was for the better.

Now, as chaos and panic spread through the camp as rapidly as the wildfire, Cassie felt the same emotion well in her chest. Yet, she pushed on. She kept her gaze on Jacob. Focused solely on his orange hair, rather than the orange flames devouring everything in its path. Following the route she'd planned out in her head, Cassie dashed ahead, hiding behind crates and trucks, and tucking behind nooks and crannies each time a grunt passed by. For once, she was glad to be as short as she was. However, stuck in a spot between two crates just five feet from Jacob's position, Cassie clutched the fedora atop her head. Her body shook uncontrollably as the heat became a bit too prominent. "No, no, no, Cassie, you're so close... He's right there, almost there." She took deep breaths, her eyes on her feet, and she could see the fiery glow glisten, reflected by the mud and puddles. "The things I do for favors..."

Adrenaline was rushing through her veins, keeping her on her feet and moving. As she turned her head to get another good look around, she noticed a familiar belt atop one of the crates. Jacob's belt. Complete with his Pokeballs. Cassie let out a long exhale as she quickly grabbed the belt and slipped it over her shoulder parallel to her messenger bag. Another deep breath, and she pushed off, in a mad dash towards the man tied in ropes. She jumped over the knocked out grunts and there she was, falling to her knees right beside Jacob to start on the ropes. It was hard to do with shaky fingers. But, she could just imagine the look on his face. So she told him, "Surprise."

A tug on the knot, and she found it to be loose already. Cassie gave it a swift yank, and the whole thing fell apart. Back on her feet, and she swayed as the adrenaline wore away. So to cover it all up, she leaned down and grabbed Jacob's hands, pulling him up urgently. At his full height, Jacob pretty much towered over her. As did most people. Boys and girls alike. She followed his eyes as he rose from the ground, and her gaze went to his striking orange hair. A dead giveaway if she'd ever seen one.

"Hey!" Yelled a rough, yet, panicked voice from twenty feet away. Cassie turned just in time to see several grunts charging right at them like a herd of Granbull.

With quick movements, Cassie took off her fedora, got on her toes, and slapped it on Jacob's head. "Alright, here's a hat," not missing a beat, she then slipped off his belt and shoved it into his hand. "And here's your belt."

To the open air, she yelled, "NINE, STAY WITH CURT AND SAI." And with her free hand, she pulled a Pokeball from her belt and flung it between them and the grunts. "FANG!"

The massive Garchomp exploded from his Pokeball with a roar, and upon hitting the ground, split the earth to create a chasm that halted the grunts movements temporarily. "Come on, Jacob!" She grabbed his hand yet again and towed him along as she climbed on top of Fang and held firmly onto his dorsal fin. Without a second thought, she wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hold on tight! Let's go, Fang!"

With another roar, the Mach Pokemon folded in his legs as he hovered off the ground, preparing for flight in sonic speed. They could regroup with Sai and Curt later. However, just as Fang had launched himself into flight, a rather sharp-eyed Weavile had taken into the woods and climbed up on a tree, spreading out as soon as the fire started. It watched the sky intently, and as Fang zipped above it, launched a deadly Ice Beam.

The attack hit the Garchomp square in the stomach, leaving him surprised, badly injured, and frozen.

"FANG!" Without a doubt, they began to plummet, yet the momentum of Fang's flight carried them in a bullet motion deeper into the woods. Cassie found herself grabbing on to Jacob's arms around her, while her other hand kept its death grip on Fang. They tore through the sky, and soon, the treeline, with stomach churning speeds. Luckily, Fang had positioned himself below them to act as a bumper, and he dragged along the forest ground upon their contact with the earth. Cassie shook uncontrollably. She could barely feel her limbs. And she was so tired from the stress. She just wanted to... Drift to sleep...

A quick shake of her head. No, not yet. "Fang... Return..." She wheezed as the Pokeball sucked him back in. Without Fang beneath them, the two would experience a short fall to the ground. Pale and disoriented, Cassie forced herself back up on her hands and knees. "Nine..." She then whispered. "I hope he's okay..."

 

[Trucro]

Everything happened so fast. Clouds formed rather quickly, and it began to rain. Jacob wasn't happy; he would be soaked if the rain were to get worse. But he didn't have much time to wallow in it. A flash of lightning set a fire ablaze a few meters away, and a group of Grunts ran to put it out. Before they could figure out what was going on, they had dropped to the ground. Grey was ever calm, even as Cassie emerged from the brush rushing over to him.

Jacob was surprised to say the least. Cassie hadn't been particularly fond of him, ever. He wasn't expecting a rescue attempt, but he was completely broadsided by this development. Cassie quickly made her way over to him and untied his not, releasing him from his constraints. She handed him his belt and placed her fedora upon his head as another group of Grunts began to rush towards them, their Weavile by their sides. Having been freed, Jacob stood rather quickly, accidentally knocking one of Cassie's gloves off. There was no time to worry about that, however, as Cassie released her Garchomp and together the two took off into the air.

Jacob really thought they were going to get away as well. But unsurprisingly, one of the Weavile got off an ice beam attack, freezing Fang solid, and the group dropped to the ground, not so far away from the Rocket campsite. Jacob was thrown to the side, crashing into a nearby tree trunk, and hurting his arm. He had been shot out of the sky twice now in one day; not a good record.

He slowly rose to his feet and stretched out his neck, which felt tight. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he let his situation sink in. Jacob was lost in thought for a few minuted before turning to Cassie. He felt like he should say something, but he was unsure of what to say. She had been his enemy just hours ago, and yet there she was, probably saving his life for seemingly no reason.

"Are you alright?" he asked. It was a fine opening question if Jacob did say so himself. Certainly it was relevant. As he looked Cassie over, he noticed the terrible scars on her hand. "Is that.... are you hurt?" He asked, trying to sound distant, but probably coming off just odd. As he asked this question he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. He jerked his head around to see Hera, in her black Team Rocket uniform, with a big red "R" stitched on the front. At her side was her Dewgong, which had somehow followed her through the woods.

"I'VE FOUND HIM!" Hera shouted, turning back to the woods.

Jacob immediately reached for his pokeballs, which here hanging from the belt he still held in his hands. But before he could release Nero, Hera and Dewgong rose into the air. There they remained, suspended for just a moment, glowing purple. A second later, they were flung backwards, into the brush, and they did not reemerge. Still processing what was going on, Jacob sighed in relief as he saw Grey step into the clearing.

"Thanks, I think," Jacob said to Grey. The Hypno nodded back at him, and took several steps forward, stopping several meters away from him. Suddenly, he remembered Cassie. "Oh, and thanks to you too! I... uh.... appreciate your help back there." As he said this, he could hear the grunts shouting, and twigs snapping. They were getting closer. "We have to get out of here!"

 

[PentheWonderful]

There were two fatal mistakes to be made in an escape. The first, was panicking and lowering your guard during the actual escape. The second, was not actually having an escape plan in the first place. Cassie made both mistakes. In addition, her strongest Pokemon was badly injured, and frozen solid. Pain was emerging, making itself known. Everything hurt. She could barely hear what Jacob had to say thanks to the ringing in her ears.

The young woman blinked. Once, twice. It became clear that something was... Missing. She couldn't place what it was, until she saw the hideous display that was her hand. Her bare, gloveless hand. Cassie choked on a gasp, and her limbs slipped beneath her. As her body collided with the forest floor, she could hear yelling and see Grey emerge from the bushes, conversing with Jacob. Oh sure, he thanked the Pokemon first and forgot she existed.

Her annoyance was short lived, however, as soon shouts and rustling were heard rampaging through the forest. There was no way... Absolutely no way that she was getting out of this one. The Ice Beam from the Weavile had frozen right through Fang, frosted her boots and pants, and now, jammed her Pokeballs. Ryu couldn't break free, and she couldn't move her body to help release him.

Undoubtedly, Jacob would run off without her. Hey, he did it once already. He'd do it again. "We have to get out of here!" Cassie heard him, but that wasn't her mission. It was to free him for his Pokemon's sake. For Curt's sake. The moment the grunts swarmed their crash area, she yelled hoarsely, "Run! Get away!" She then attempted a struggle, in order to keep the grunts occupied for a moment longer. A second later, three grunts were on her all at once. On her arms, back. Pinning her down. She could hardly breathe. She kept struggling.

More and more grunts simply flooded in. More Weavile with them. They hit her with Dark Claw, and finally, finally, she gave in. Cassie closed her eyes, allowing the darkness to swallow her whole. The grunts dragged her away. Smuggled her back to camp and onto a truck with merciless rope restraints. They took her belt, and they sealed her in. And that one truck drove away to a place only Arceus knows.

Soon, there were only two things that remained of the trainer; a lone glove in the burned down camp, and the white fedora on Jacob's head.