Every Journey Begins with the First Step

[daxx0r]

[OOC- YAY!!!!! Crack open the Champagne! This is the 200th post and the ninth page of our RP!!!!!! I almost can't believe we've made it this far, but I am as happy as a drenched Golduck that we have, and confident that we'll keep it up... for eternity!!!*celebrates like never before!!!*
Congratualtions, my friend on a great RPing job! Keep it up! And thank you to all our loyal fans!!! (if we have any :) YATTA!!!!!!]

Brock was looking attentively to Mike, waiting for an explanation. Mike, who was hunched over, breathing heavily, raised his hand, indicating that he would have to catch his breath before he could explain anything. He straightened himself out and looked at Brock, the anger and worry seeping through his eyes, telling part of the story before he had even opened his mouth.
"Grey's Doctor..." panted Mike, "He wouldn't let us leave. He tried to stop us with his pokémon... I can't even believe I saw that thing."
"Woah woah... slow down!" said Brock, "What do you mean, he wouldn't let you leave? Did Grey get released already? And why wouldn't he let you go?"

"All right, I'll take it from the beginning..." said Mike, calming himself down a bit, "Basically, no he didn't get released, but we were getting pretty freaked out. This nurse was looking at Grey like he was some kind of monster! So we decided to go..."
"So you snook out of the hospital?" demanded Brock, "That's not very smart; what if Grey is still sick?!"
"Well, we took some meds too..." Mike shook his head, "That's not the point! They tried to seal us in, and when we got out, Grey's doctor tried to stop us with... with a..." Brock looked at Mike expectedly, waiting for him to continue.
"A what?" asked the gym-leader, not really knowing what to think about the situation. It seemed pretty weird for a doctor to use a Pokémon to stop runaway patients in such a manner...
"An... Aerodactyl," managed Mike.

Brock's eyes widened in pure amazement.
"A what?" he asked, completely taken aback. How could they have seen an Aerodactyl? It was almost unbelievable, but then again... Brock had seen one too, though it was long ago.
"...and he ordered it to attack. I don't know if he was trying to catch us or kill us!" continued Mike desperately.
"I still don't understand... Are you sure you saw an Aerodactyl?" replied Brock.
"Positive." came the short reply.

"It's a good thing I sent that ember atta..." Mike trailed off, turning to Grey for the first time since they had entered the gym, "Oh wow, are you alright, Grey?! I mean, I attacked that Aerodactyl so I guess you..." His voice trailed off again. Grey looked at Mike and nodded, taking his eyes momentarily off the blue flames trickling across his arms.
"Yeah.. It's nothing," replied Grey. Mike was actually relieved to see the flames. Perhaps now Grey really wouldn't need any more of that anti-venom - he'd probably be able to take care of it himself.

"Erhm..." came Brock's voice, drawing Mike's attention again, "Maybe you should stay here for a few hours.. You know, just in case he's still looking for you." Mike nodded in agreement.
"And then?" he asked, though he pretty much knew what should be done later.
"Then, I'd say around nightfall, I would recommend you head out of town. That is to say, if Grey is strong enough to go back on the road" continued Brock. Mike looked back at his friend. He looked healthy enough. Mike hoped that Grey really was feeling god enough, for even if Brock had treated them nicely during their time in Pewter, it was time for them to get back on the road.

Mike crouched down and winked at Charmeleon, who was now at eye-level. It approached the brown haired trainer and smiled.
"Gonna be nice to go out on the road again, huh buddy?" he said, petting the lizard's rubbery skin warmly. Mike looked up at Brock, towering above his crouched stance.
"All right, that works for me..." He then turned back to Grey, "What do you say? Wait till tonight and then get going again?"

[OOC- Yay!!!!!! Again!!!!!!! In other news, I liked this post - dunno why Anywho, in case you don't know and ish wondering, the Brock seeing an Aerodactyl thing is from the anime episode "Attack of the prehistoric pokémon"]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - I want to do this now (during homeroom) so that I might be able to finish Bock's picture today! Sorry for likely low-quality, daxx! Gotta do it on the sly when grouchy-homeroom-teacher isn't looking!]

BIC-

Rubbing his arms in residual pain, Grey turned to face his two friends; not only had his fears resurfaced, but their warrant had already been proven - he couldn't face up to Pokémon battles unless he figures out why he was reacting so violently to them.

"I...yeah, it sounds great! I'm fine!" he said with deceptive enthusiasm, matching Mike's grin.

Reiu wasn't fooled for a second, casting a doubtful, blue-eyed look up at his stressed trainer. The boy looked paler than his usual unnatural shade, nearly paper-white, and his expression was a disguised haggard look. All in all, Grey held the appearance of someone doing their best to work with some sort of lethal disease. The white Charmeleon conveyed its feelings with Mike's Charmeleon, who tried to look unsatisfied with getting back on the road but failed. All in all, the entire group wanted to be gone; there were innumerable places to adventure, Pokémon to catch, and goals to achieve, which couldn't be done here.

Grey clawed his jagged bangs out from in front of his weary, misty-grey eyes, reminding himself that he had nowhere else to go besides back to Pallet town; the one place he had vowed not to grace his presence with until he was welcomed. The silver-haired boy withheld a sigh, changing it instead into a question.

"...So Brock, don't you have any ideas about why a doctor has a supposedly-extinct Pokémon - or why he's so set on catching me?" A pause. "Even if he does know about my abilities, he didn't seem like a very...prying guy..."

Grey bent down to scoop a quiet Pika into his arms, where the electrical rodent looked a little more at ease. The lightningbolt-tailed Pokémon snuggled fondly into the crook of the trainer's arm, intent with being scratched behind the ears. So long as it didn't have to see Grey's false smile, trying to convince everyone of something not true - the Pikachu didn't want a replay of Taylor's Sandshrew battle to happen again. Not to the one person it had consented to submit to. The electric-type let out a soft churring sound, ears flicked up at a ninety-degree angle as Grey scratched them.

Brock furrowed his brow in genuine thought, scouring his memories for any similar incidents he knew of. Other than if the doctor wasn't actually a doctor at all, the brunette had no ideas.

"Sorry Grey, but all I can tell you is that it's best for you to keep away from anyone in touch with that doctor; he seemed nice enough, but now everything about him is suspicious."

The young adult rested a tanned hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to offer some sort of reassurance amidst all of the pressure. At least the innocent-minded Grey hadn't started up the series of thoughts that might make him believe that he was a mere burden to them.

[OOC - would continue a bit longer, but I have about 30 seconds till the bell!]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Sorry for the lack of postyness yesterday... I came back quite late from a seminar where I met Sweden's first astronaut (Christer Fuglesang), who just came back from the ISS. By the time I logged in, I had about one hour to post in MD and here before heading to bed so I thought I'd wait and do a good post now instead ]

BIC-

As night fell on Pewter city, the events of the day had started to fade in Mike's mind, and they had lost their alarming edge. Mike, no longer particularly worried about the doctor finding them, calmly followed Brock out and around the gym, to the tanned teenager's house on the backside of the stone structure.

No sooner than they had entered the door, all of Brock's brothers and sisters ran up to their big brother and started asking him for different things (though most of those things were food). Brock excused himself temporarily to take care for his siblings' needs. As he disappeared into the house, leaving Mike and Grey alone, he called back, promising dinner to be ready within the hour. Mike chuckled to himself, amazed at Brock's ability to handle so much work at once.

He turned to Grey, and was just about to open his mouth and say something profound about the gym-leader's life "outside the gym", but was interrupted by a frantic knocking at the front door. Mike's thoughts suddenly drifted back to Dr. Leon, thinking that he might have resorted to looking for them by going door to door. Something about the knock however, told him that it wasn't Leon. He imagined Dr. Raven would resort to a more forceful, but less hectic knock.

After a few seconds of reluctance, he flung the door open, coming face to face with none other than a worry-faced Taylor and a Sandshrew.
"Taylor?" asked Mike, taken aback by the odd and rather untimely visit. Then he remembered that they had bailed from the hospital without Taylor finding out. Mike rushed Taylor in and closed the door behind him.
"Where did you go?!" exclaimed Taylor with an exhausted desperation in his voice, "I've been looking all over for you!"
"I'm sorry, Taylor," replied Mike with an awkward grin, "We had to... well... escape from the hospital and we were kinda chased here, so there wasn't really any way we could have informed you."

"What do you mean you ran away? Why?" asked Taylor, now more curious than anything else.
"Well, Dr. Leon really wasn't such a nice guy it turns out. I don't know what he wants with Grey... probably experiments or something. He might still be searching for us, actually." explained Mike briefly. Taylor fell quiet, reflecting on the newfound information.
"So what are you going to do?" inquired Taylor eventually.
"Well, we're planning on heading out... Tonight." The expression on Taylor's face turned gloomy as he heard Mike and Grey's plan.

"What?!" yelped the young boy, "But what am I going to do? I can't take care of Zuru by myself! And what about Aevin? You can't go!" Mike felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He didn't like leaving Taylor behind, but they did have to leave. Besides, even if they didn't go tonight, they couldn't stay there forever.
"You'll be fine!" exclaimed Mike reassuringly, "And don't you worry about Aevin or Zuru - you can handle both of them! I believe in you." The trainer winked at the boy, who looked back trying to decide if Mike really knew what he was talking about.

After a few minutes, Brock reappeared in the hallway, surprised to see Taylor (for he hadn't heard the youngster's arrival) and rather intrigued that they were still standing by the door.
"You know... you are welcome to come into the house as well," he laughed, "and now would be a good time, seeing as I just finished dinner, and I usually don't eat at my front door!"

[...]

After a hearty meal, Brock suddenly got up from the table.
"Stay there, guys. I got something for you." he said as he ran off to get whatever he was planning to give the two trainers. At this, Taylor turned to Mike and Grey and looked the both of them straight in the eye.
"Mike, Grey... Why can't I go with you on your journey?" asked the boy in one last attempt to make sure that they'd be there to lend him a helping hand when he needed it in the future.
"Oh..." replied Mike and looked over to Grey, looking for assistance to deal with such a question, "Well, I don't know... We really can't decide that for you, Taylor... I mean, you're not really the age at which you should be traveling around the world yet..."
"But I'd be with you guys!" pleaded the boy.
"What I mean is," continued Mike, "that this is really something Aevin has to decide. He is your 'guardian', right? So he decides what he thinks you should be allowed to do." Taylor looked back at his empty plate, sulking over the depressing answer. How was he supposed to convince Aevin to let him go traveling with Mike and Grey? It was an impossible task.

Brock now returned, carrying two large plastic bags. Taylor immediately strapped on a false smile, trying not to show his sadness to Brock as well.
"Here! I made you food for a few days!" said Brock, offering the bags to the two trainers. Mike peeked inside and was thrilled to see all kinds of foods, and in plentiful amounts. There was even Pokémon food, which Mike instantly recognized as the same type Brock had in his kitchen cupboard. Mike lifted his gaze from the bag again, looking at Brock with a beaming smile.
"Wow, this stuff looks great Brock! Thanks!" he said cheerfully.

Mike stood up and brushed some non-existent dust off of his pants before stretching his arms a bit.
"We should probably get going now, though..." he said, moving his gaze between the people in the room. They all nodded in agreement (excluding Taylor, who remained still and rather quiet) and moved into the hallway. Brock went ahead of the others and stepped outside, taking in some of the fresh air outside after the dinner. The others followed and prepared themselves to say goodbye.

In a tree not too far away, a certain Aevin was spying on the four friends as they conjugated on Brock's lawn. He had followed his brother here, wanting to see if the boy, yet again, was acting against his will and hanging out with those weird trainers. Even if he expected it, getting the confirmation made him enraged, unable to believe that his own brother showed such little respect for him. However now, as it seemed the two trainers were finally preparing to leave, he felt he could relax a bit. He was back in control now.

Aevin couldn't wait to see Mike and Grey go, but before they did... he wanted to give them a little good-bye of his own. He returned to spying on them, waiting until they had left to confront them.

[OOC- WOW! Friggin mega post! I would have actually written more, but I thought you might enjoy posting a bit too ]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - Rawr, hittin' t3h road soon~]

BIC-

Grey shoved his own gift of food supplies inside the inner compartment of his pack with thanks. Pika took a second to sniff out its own baggy of bright cherry-shaded food before the trainer closed the flap, securing the supplies. As Taylor's face fell at Mike's news, the light-haired boy felt his own thoughts drifting idly around the topic of his battling capabilities - or lack thereof.

What was he to do when they arrived at Mt.Moon, an inevitable cavern they'd need to pass through in order to make it to the next town, Cerulean. What's more, what was the point in Grey venturing to the city if he had no hopes of challenging the Gym leader of water, Misty? At best he'd be dead weight to the fully competant Mike. Grey sighed.

"My cooking's not that bad, is it Grey?" Brock joshed, patting the forlorn boy heartily on the back before directing the group to his kitchen.

Several spiky-topped head peered out at them from various regions of the well-kept house, and varying shades of brown eyes watched as Grey, Taylor, and Mike followed after the oldest boy, each with their own thoughts.

Taylor, for one, was beyond perplexed at how he was to deal with Aevin. His father had been gone for an innumerable accumulation of days on some business trip, his mother only pretended to be the caring role model, but Aevin - his brother - was the one that truly kept tabs on Taylor's doings. And Aevin had been acting so mean lately - ever since Taylor had asked the older boy if he'd take him to get his own Pokémon; sure it was right after Aevin's Nidorino evolved, but that just meant the older boy should've been in a good mood to do so. Right?

The trio sat themselves at the small oak table, in the same places that they had taken for lunch several days ago - almost like a habit. Grey rested his chin on the palm of one hand and gazed aimlessly around the homely kitchen, and Taylor fiddled with the tablecloth, frowning in concentration. Reiu was quick to curl up on the yellow-and-white tiled linoleum, flame-tipped tail wrapped loosely around its body, and Pika slipped into Grey's lap to peer cutely over the table's edge with its fiesty amber eyes.

Brock busied himself at the stove, stirring some vegetables here, adding spices to a frying selection of meat there. As he slid a tray of thick bread into the oven, Brock had his own thoughts to tend to. If the silver-haired Grey still reacted to a Pokémon's attacks, it would be a genuine miracle for the duo to make it through Mt. Moon unscathed. Along with a wide range of tough Pokémon, there were plenty of battle-ready trainers lurking in the winding caverns. Lost in thought, the Gym leader accidentally let the oven door snap up on his arm, still holding the pan although it was sitting on its rack. He withdrew the burnt limb with a yelp.

"If---Wha! What happened, Brock!?" asked a distracted Taylor, swiping a drooping strand of spiked hair from his face and shooting exaggeratedly to his feet.

"Nothing Taylor - just burnt myself a bit, that's all." Brock said with a dismissive wave of his tanned hand.

As the flurescent bulb burned overhead, the collection of trainers - for Taylor had taken out his singular shiny Pokéball and was observing it studiously - fell into a lazy stupor; Brock had to suppress a yawn as he flipped over a particularly delicious specimen of Goldeen. The cut of fish sizzled as the oily, tantalizing fragrance filled the kitchen. Reiu lifted its head eagerly, hoping that it'd manage to get a piece of the cooking Goldeen during the course of the meal.

{...}

Aevin watched the goings-on from his previous perch outside Brock's kitchen window, a glazed look on his face as he let one arm sway to and fro in the gentle breeze. The black-clad trainer was slumped dismally on one of the tree's upper boughs, occasionally tossing his Nidorino's ball up and catching the metallic sphere with a loud clack-ing sound. His tawny gold eyes fixed on Taylor, the kid that he was drawn to for the most annoying of reasons. Not only did the boy not show the slightest interest in Aevin's affairs, but he expected his brother to do everything for him - then, when Aevin showed sincere aggravation, the young boy went and pestered a couple of trainers into catching a Sandshrew.

And he had wanted to be the one that showed Taylor how to do it. How to fight a Pokémon, how to efficiently use attacks, how to throw a Pokéball to catch a wild one. Aevin glared jealously at the two of them, wanting Taylor to give him the same adoring look the jet-black haired boy frequently used on Mike, Grey, and Brock.

With a mixture of pent-up feelings Aevin sighed, halfheartedly straightening up on the tree branch before returning his gaze to Taylor's distraught but determined frown.

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Good job filling out that section - I left it pretty... shallow and empty Anyway- let's get back on the road!! YEEHAW!]

BIC-

As the four friends exchanged awkward glances, knowing that it was time to say goodbye, but not sure of how to do it, it was ultimately Brock who stepped up. He shook hands with Mike and Grey, his hand gripping theirs firmly.
"Well... goodbye Grey, Mike." he said with a warm encouraging smile, "Say hello to Misty for me!"
"Sure thing! Goodbye Brock," replied Mike in a mixed state of happiness and sadness, glad to get on the road, but sad that they had to leave their new-found friends, "and thanks for everything."

Mike turned to Taylor and offered his hand. Taylor took it with uncertainty and was met by a handshake as strong as Brock's.
"Keep training hard buddy!" grinned Mike, "You'll do just fine!"
"Yeah." answered Taylor in a thoughtful voice. Now Mike turned to Grey and jabbed his thumb in the direction of the road heading out of town and turned to leave. The goodbye was quick and simple. To Mike, this was really the best goodbye; no room for emotions that would make leaving difficult. Fact of the matter was that the last thing Mike wanted right now was a reason to stick around Pewter City. He didn't dislike the city, quite the contrary; it was just that he wanted to start traveling again.

As the gym and the two figures remaining there slowly shrunk into obscurity among the other buildings behind them, Mike turned to Grey.
"It feels weird leaving, doesn't it?" asked Mike, "I mean, it's almost like we've been here for... a long time, you know?" Mike chuckled. It felt liberating to be on the move again, letting the old fall behind and welcoming the new as it slowly rolled towards them from the horizon. Mike was almost taken aback by his own, for lack of a better word, relief, at leaving - especially since they weren't even at the edge of town yet.

Eventually, they did reach the edge of town. In front of them, the mountains and forests welcomed them back, stretching into the distance - all the way to Cerulean, Lavender, and beyond that - the sea... Sadly, they wouldn't enter the great wilderness just yet, for out of the shadows stepped a black-haired, golden eyed trainer, holding a scratched Pokéball in his hand, playfully tossing it up and down.
"How are you doing, guys?" he asked coldly, not with any sincere concern in his voice whatsoever.
"What's it to you, Aevin?" asked Mike, his happiness beginning to fade into anger and frustration. Why did that guy have to keep bugging them?!

Aevin patted Mike's back - hard, and with malice.
"Nothing at all - couldn't care less. I see you're leaving though," he said, before shoving an accusing finger in Mike's face, "Don't come back. You aren't welcome in Pewter."
"Oh get over yourself!" exclaimed Mike angrily, pushing back Aevin's finger. Charmeleon, who had been watching the argument closely, saw this as a perfect opportunity to let out a threatening growl and take it's trainer's side. Aevin glanced nervously at the red lizard, but chose to stand his ground.

"Hey! Mike! Grey!" hollered a voice from behind them. At this, Aevin did take a step back, masking his intentions, not wanting to look aggressive in the presence of others. Both him, Mike and Grey, as well as the Pokémon, turned to the voice, and found Taylor and his Sandshrew, both running excitedly towards them. Then, once Taylor spotted Aevin, he slowed down and his grin faded away. He approached the trainers uncertainly.
"Um... hi Aevin." said Grey shyly. Aevin glared at his brother in response, "Um... Grey, Mike... I just wanted to give you this..." Taylor handed over a small package.
"I.. uh.." said Taylor and then turned to leave, but Mike put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place.
"Thanks Taylor. That was very thoughtful of you!" said Mike, with as much cheerfulness as he could muster up.

Aevin felt his spirit sink even lower. Now those two were getting gifts?! Enough was enough - why was Taylor never like this with him? He almost felt like leaving Taylor there, with them. Taylor was more like their brother now, anyway - the boy didn't care for his real brother at all. Aevin remained still, looking determinedly at the ground, thinking hard. Maybe he was simply being too harsh? Maybe he should have given his brother a few more breaks? But he had to be this tough - their parents, the ones who were supposed to raise him, didn't do the job, so he had to do it for them - and that meant being harsh. Maybe... he thought.

Aevin looked Mike and Grey in the eyes and nodded, mostly to himself.
"I'll see you around then..." he said in a low voice before turning back towards the city, dragging Taylor with him. The golden-eyed trainer looked down at his brother's Sandshrew.
"You know - you should really keep that thing in it's Pokéball. Otherwise you'll wear it out" he said, in a surprisingly calm and friendly (though still not quite friendly) voice. Taylor looked up at his brother, wondering why Aevin had simply backed down from the confrontation - and why he had said that comment.

Mike, who had overheard Aevin, smiled to himself. I don't know what just happened, he thought, But I think he just gave up on being mean.... Once they had gotten some distance between them and the city, Mike opened up the package they had received. Inside was a beautifully drawn sketch of Mike, Grey, Reiu and Charmeleon, in front of the gym. Mike turned to Grey with a beaming smile on his face and showed his friend the magnificent piece of artwork.

[OOC- And we're off! ]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - L13k ttly!!11!!1! ;D]

BIC-

For the first in a long while, Grey felt the weight of all his fears lifted from him; Taylor's portrait wasn't just meaningful - the boy had a true talent for art. The graphite values were lifelike incarnations of the group, from the leaping flames sparking from the Charmeleons' tails, to the realistic glint in boys' and Pokémon's eyes. Grey was breathless.

"He's...it's...amazing..." he struggled for the right words. "I wonder why he never told us." he added thoughtfully.

Nobody likes to sound arrogant, he reminded himself, thinking how it'd come across if Taylor waltzed around thrusting his pictures in everyone's face. But this...it was worthy of such gloating.

"...and he's only...eight or nine?" Grey remarked in a tone of admiration.

As they left an awkward Aevin and Taylor on the dusty brown road behind them, the duo - along with their entourage of Pokémon - fell into a thoughtful silence. Just as they had said a firm goodbye to Brock, Taylor, and Pewter City as a whole, more mysteries and information lingered tantalizingly in front of them.

But ahead...ahead there was so much more than just mysteries. There was an entire world of adventures, knowledge, and lessons to be had. Just for starters, Grey had only seen pictures of caves in books as a kid; the catacombs filled with rock-type and Pokémon that only dwelled in the darkness, the shadow-flooded areas that were best left avoided and left a mystery, and the sheer excitement of exploring crumbling, unfound hideaways.

With a self-disgusted sigh, Grey realized that he wasn't in any hurry to go exploring Pokémon populated areas - particularly ones where the circumstances would call for battles. Was he really going to drag down Mike because of his own problems? Try to take as many detours as possible, avoid all trainers that could be potentially looking for a fight, and sulk the whole way? Feeling a lead weight drop in the pit of his stomach, holding his guilt, he couldn't say that he wouldn't.

"Hey, you hurry up and get on the road, Mike - I'm gonna go get us some more Pokéballs. There're bound to be lotsa Pokémon in between here and Cerulean!" Grey said without warning, wheeling around and heading down the road.

The sound of claws on the rugged dirt road made him pause. "Reiu, - and you too Pika, - stick with Mike for a second. I'll only be a second or two!"

The snow-white Charmeleon gaze him an appraising stare, black tiger-striped face fixated upon his own. Then the fire-type turned its back on its trainer, jaunty, impetuous tail-flame swaying as it tromped back over to Mike. With a slight moment of increased pressure on the cotton fabric of his jacket, Pika slipped quietly from his shoulder, its zigzag lightning-bolt of a tail dropping ever-so-slightly.

"Pii pika pii..." it said in a 'please get better' voice, following hesitantly after Mike.

The silver-haired trainer fled back towards the PokéMart before Mike could fully register what he was doing, navy-blue jacket flapping out behind him in pace with his boots as they crunched against the road winding out of - or into, depending on the direction of travel - Pewter City.

As the air-conditioning blasted in his face, Grey stepped falteringly into the Mart. He tugged several neatly-folded bills from his pack, not paying attention to the color so long as they weren't singles. The cool air provoked an involuntary shiver out of him as he trekked firmly to the furthest freezers, and with a regretful sigh, Grey piled three good-sized glass bottles from the chilled depths in his mostly-bare arms. The cold glass froze his arm as he carried the purchases up to the counter, nonplussed about the store's complete lack of customers.

"Could I get...ten Pokéballs, too?" he asked dismally, fiddling with his money while holding out his trainer's card.

The cashier offered him the routine smile, plucking the shiny-new Pokéballs out of the glass case and setting them on the counter one after the other. He swiped Grey's newly-obtained card through the machine, punching several buttons with one hand as he handed back the rectangle of plastic.

Grey quickly handed the balding man a couple of new bills (ones that had come from that very cashier several days ago) to pay the difference, adding a few coins to avoid getting any more change to stow in his pack. After receiving his change back, along with a bag for his items, Grey struck out the door.

The trainer truly wanted to bask in the flooding sunlight as the glass door shut timidly behind him, but the warmth didn't seem to soak in all the way; a moment of thoughtful gazing in the direction of his not-hometown, and Grey set off at a steady pace to catch up with his friend.



Dropping his mandatory cheery-face as the particularly dotty boy left the Mart's doorstep, the cashier fumbled for his phone. After several painstaking moments as the phone rang on the receiving end, the elderly man's breath caught as someone picked up.

"Yes, yes...yes, this is Robert! He was just here....what? Oh, um he bought some Full Heals and a hoard of Pokéballs then left......you think so?.....it makes plenty of sense....yes sir....glad I could help, doctor!"

Looking immensely satisfied with himself, the aging man set the phone back on its receiver, and polished the glass countertop distractedly.

[OOC - I just now thought about how Mike'd be smart enough to worry about such things - but you can assume that Grey was gone before there was any chance of stopping him...sowwwy! ;_____________;]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Sorry for not posting yesterday!!!1!! *hits self with large piece of concrete*]

BIC -

Grey had rushed off before Mike had a chance to stop him - and Mike was getting quite worried, standing there by himself. What is he thinking?! he thought to himself, We're leaving now - specifically now - because we're afraid Dr. Raven will find him, and he's running off? Mike sighed and looked down at the Pokémon. Reiu seemed to give him a look filled with as much worry as his own, and Pika didn't look any better. Mike shook his head slightly, trying to figure out what to do.

He wanted to go after his friend, but Grey obviously wanted to go to the Pokémart by himself, so Mike stayed put - forcing himself not to turn around and follow the silver-haired trainer. However, after a few minutes, the guilt of letting Grey wander the streets alone, without anyone to back him up, became overwhelming.
"All right," he said suddenly, drawing anticipated looks from the Pokémon, "Let's go and get Grey - It's not smart for him to run around on his own like this..." Then, he abruptly started marching down the road, back into Pewter City, still unaware of just how close danger was of reaching his friend.

As Mike marched back past the city limits, he felt almost uneasy. With all the dangers that he thought might be lurking in the alleyways, there wasn't much to stop him from feeling so. Of course, his worries were probably needless, and most certainly exaggerated. They had left at night to avoid trouble - what problems could there possibly be to run into at this hour, anyway?

The street lights and warm glows from the windows of people's homes cast a comforting glow over the lone trainer as he and the ensemble of Pokémon headed toward the mart. The lights played an important part in keeping Mike's cool. He wasn't afraid of the dark, but there was a certain something that raised the suspense when there was no light to turn to for protection. With Mike already tense, darkness might have made him unreasonably much more tenser.

Finally, Mike reached the Pokémart and casually stepped in, hoping to find Grey sorting through containers of Pokéblock, but he had no such luck. He wandered through the store, hoping to find Grey amidst the shelves of supplies, but found no sign of him. Thus, he approached the clerk by the cash register.

"Yes?" asked the man in a friendly tone. Mike scratched the back of his head, distractedly looking around, as if not yet convinced that Grey wasn't hiding in a corner of the store.
"Er..." he started, "You wouldn't happen to have seen my friend would you? He's about this tall - and he's got silvery grey hair. He was wearing a blue jacket and I believe he was heading here when we parted."
"Oh?" said the man in a rather surprised fashion, "Actually, we haven't had a lot of customers today... At least no one matching that description." Mike sighed and turned to leave.
"When did you say he was supposed to have come by?" asked the clerk in a curious manner as Mike reached for the door.
"Well, I guess he didn't..." responded Mike and left.
As soon as the trainer was out of sight, the clerk reached for the phone again.
"Hello?" he said hurridely, "Yes, it's me again. The other one was here - his friend. Yes. Just now. Yes sir. Thank you, sir."

Where could he be? thought Mike to himself, I can't have beat him to it - He left several minutes before me, and I probably would have taken the same road as he and met him on the way if I did. Mike didn't know whether to get annoyed or worried. He chose the latter though and decided to make a quick sweep of the area.
"Pidgeotto!" he shouted as he tossed up his pokéball into the dark sky, "Come on out!" The large bird materialized and spread it's wings above him, flapping them vigorously to stay in place.
"All right buddy, do a sweep of the area and see if you can find Grey, alright?" he commanded and watched as the bird flew off.

Pidgeotto had better find something - or else, I don't know what to do... thought Mike silently to himself.

[OOC - Couldn't really write more here without knowing where you wanted to take the plot, so I guess I'll have to wait my turn again ]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - Nice stopping place, daxx0r~ And if I beat myself with large concrete materials every time I missed a day of posting, I think my health would be in question now! :]

BIC-

Dr. Raven's eyes narrowed instantly as a large, falcon-like bird swooped over him, casting a darker shadow in the already-dim light. The white-coated scientist gazed appraisingly at his communicator, convinced that the Pidgeotto - holding all the presence of one on a mission - belonged to Grey's friend. One dexterous hand reached down to his waist, where a worn leather belt hung lazily from a pair of loose-fitting jeans. They were, if nothing else, easier to maneuver in, particularly when coupled with the trainers he had exchanged for his polished black work shoes.

Extracting one of the pockmarked Pokéballs attached to the accessory, Leon released the Pokémon inside, catching the sphere as it rebounded with the expert timing of a skilled trainer. Geniuses could be good battlers too, when it came to Pokémon training.

"I want you to follow that Pidgeotto, and report back to me when it returns to its trainer." Raven ordered the malicious-eyed Houndoom standing warily on the dirt road. "Don't be seen!" he added to the dark- and fire-type hybrid as it sprang away.

Satsified as he returned the unoccupied Pokéball to its proper position at his waist, Leon turned around, studied the worthless appearance of the run-down old shack he was using, then stepped back inside. Almost ominously, his figure was devoured by the shadows.

Inside, several broken, splintered, and dust-ridden wooden appliances littered the floor. Various failed inventions hung limply from crooked shelves mounted halfheartedly on the wall, which was failing to hold under the weight any longer. A thick carpet of collective dirt and dust caked the floor, although the young man could imagine a chipped stone surface below it all. Narrow shafts of moonlight lit up small circles of the room, highlighting individual particles of floating dust in its silvery path; Leon rubbed one hazel eye in exhaustion, then looked down at his portable phone one more.

After a moment of hesitation, the stubble-faced scientist tapped a series of number-adorned buttons, and held the small, sleek device up to his ear.

"....Yes, this is Raven....yes, I'm waiting for the team you sent....of course, I wouldn't hurt him - but I wanted to know if you wanted me to secure the friend as well; he may have information on the subject, plus the boy would be something to threaten him with......I thought so....alright....of course."

As soon as the person on the recieving end hung up, an expression of utmost annoyance spread on the scientist's face. Of course he'd need to secure Mike, but there'd be hell to pay if he did so much as sneeze without the boss's O.K. Trying not to yawn but failing miserably, Raven checked on Grey.

The shaggy-haired and innocent-faced boy was reacting to Leon's sedatives as planned, and the haughty Victreebel's vines weren't a necessity so much as a precaution. The empath (and developing telekinetic as well) had a slumped look to him, hunched slightly to one side against the shoddy wood wall. Contrary to the rest of his body's direction, Grey's head was tilting upwards, almost directly at the glowing silver moon, visible through one of the broken-in windows; Leon studied the window frame, noting that the murky-brown panes of glass had been shattered at some point in time. Only a few jagged pieces of not-as-transparent-as-they-should-have-been glass clung to the frame's edge.

Realizing that he'd gotten distracted, Leon returned his gaze to Grey, whose unkempt bangs were taking advantage of his inability to brush them away. The boy's eyes were almost entirely hidden behind locks of silver hair. Crouching down, Raven did it for him, holding the unruly strands back long enough to confirm that the kid's eyes still had the involuntarily-glazed opacity to them that indicated the sedatives were still in control. Feeling a powerful upsurge of guilt and pity (not for the first time), the overworked man checked his ward's pulse, and then reminded the overly-silent man-sized grass-type to keep its vines wrapped tightly, but not tight enough to cut off circulation.

The Victreebel gave him a derisive, piercing stare in return.

Checking his watch for the umpteenth time, Raven felt impatience gathering to get Grey back to the organization's headquarters. So long as he could catch Mike before the transport-group arrived...

Massaging his own neck, the scientist headed back outside, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the synthetic lights pouring from the street's lightposts, the white-coated man cast his eyes to the heavens; the stars couldn't even be seen from here. A small, skeptical chuckle rose within him as he thought about the way the world tended to work, waiting for his Houndoom to return to him.

 

[daxx0r]

Mike leaped to his feet as he saw the large bird swoop in from behind some buildings. He aproached it with anticipation, as it came in for landing.
"Pigeotto, did you find him anywhere?" asked Mike, his voice trembling slightly at the thought of the answer he might be getting.
"Pigeooo..." cried the bird in reply. Mike recalled the Pokémon and reattached the pokéball to his belt.
"Damn it." said Mike, closing his eyes to think everything over. He turned to the Pokémon, "Ok, here's what we do. We'll go and get Brock, and he'll help us look. There might not be a reason to call the police yet, but there's definitely a reason to call for help."
As Mike started back towards the gym, he was unaware of the Houndoom following him in the shadows. It listened intently to the trainer, however as soon as it got confirmation that Mike was heading to the gym, it turned around and headed back the way it had come.

Mike hurried along the dark road, his worries growing by the second. Grey couldn't just disappear like this... There had to be some explanation. Maybe that store owner had seen him, after all? Mike had to stop himself - he was getting paranoid. He had to keep cool and rational. He felt it was a good idea to go to Brock, if not for anything else, then simply because he felt the gym leader knew how to keep it cool when he had to. Ordinarily, Mike liked to think of himself as being the same way, but these were ...extraordinary conditions.

Leon's gaze returned from the sky when he heard the claws of his faithful Houndoom making their way across the pavement, heading back home to it's master.
"You found something then?" he said, as his eyes made contact with the lurking figure. The dark figure nodded in reply. "Alright then. Show me." Leon opened the door to his shack, checking on the boy one last time, before closing it and pulling a key from his pocket. He carefully locked the door and jiggled the handle, just to make sure, before heading off.

Mike suddenly stopped. He felt as if he was being followed... He didn't like the feeling and whenever he got it, he usually ended up being right about it. This was pretty much the main reason why he hated the feeling, actually. Mike veered around, searching the dark for whatever was on his tail.
"Charmeleon, shine your tail-flame there" he said and pointed to a particularly dark spot along the side of a building. The darkness was washed away by Charmeleon's gentle flickering light, revealing absolutely nothing.

Mike sighed in relief and turned back around, coming face to face with a large and particularly angry Houndoom. The trainer yelped in surprise and jumped back.
"Erhm... nice Houndoom..." said Mike and started to back away slowly; very slowly. He didn't want any trouble he could avoid, but the Houndoom obviously didn't feel the same way and started advancing on the brown haired boy. Mike backed further and further, and the Houndoom kept advancing, gaining on him little by little.

Mike looked down towards Reiu, Pika and Charmeleon for support. They seemed ready to battle and so was Mike, for there seemed to be no way to avoid it. Hopefully though, the battle wouldn't be lengthy and he could continue his search for Grey in only a few minutes - he had the feeling time was of the essence.

Before Mike had a chance to act though, the Houndoom suddenly stopped and sat down on the ground.
"Huh?" asked Mike in bewilderment, but he soon got his answer.
"AIIIIIIIIII!!!" cried a voice from immediately behind him. Mike recognized it to be the horrid shriek of a Victreebel. He didn't have time to do more than turn around before he was immersed in a cloud of sparkling little silvery particles - sleep powder.
"AH!" he yelled, "Guys... hold your... brea..." The stuff was powerful. Within seconds he felt himself involuntarily falling into unconsciousness. As his vision faded, he saw himself fall down on the ground next to the Pokémon. He could see a man slowly approaching, emerging from the shadows.
"You..." managed Mike before he was completely gone.

"Good job guys," said Raven as he grabbed Mike. Careful not to be seen by anyone, he dragged the lifeless body into the back of a van which he had parked behind a corner. He opened the front door of the van and got in.
"Come on! Hurry up!!" he yelled back at his Pokémon. Hesitantly, they approached the van, looking back at Mike and Grey's pokémon back on the main road.
"Don't worry about them," said Leon, "We don't need the Pokémon for anything. Just leave 'em and get in." As the Pokémon got in the back to guard Mike, Leon rushed back to close the doors to the van and then returned to the driver's seat, where he turned the ignition and headed back to his shack.

[OOC- Uh-oh! Mike got caught! If you feel like it, we could have the Pokémon try to find Mike and Grey themselves, alongside our main storyline. Alternatively, they could just wind up back at the Pokémon center You decide!]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - Sorry 'bout being offline for awhile - my computer's internal fan melted, and thus the motherboard melted. :-\ So I gotta re-download a LOT of stuff to this new computer my mum (she's t3h awesome - got me a new computer 3 days after the other one died) bought. ;D But I'll take my time with that!

Oh, and I think it'd be cool if we impersonated the Pokemon for this bit - kinda give a deeper look at their personalities~~ =3]

BIC-

As the no-color van pulled brusquely around the street corner and out of sight, Reiu's sharp blue eyes widened. The white Charmeleon let out a snarl of pure shock, then turned to face the remaining two Pokémon. An almost-forsaken pool of yellow light flickered from a street lamp overhead. They had been left.

Without wasting his breath with words, Reiu launched itself after the retreating van, powerful hind legs propelling it forwards at a loping pace. Pika's ear flicked backwards in worry.

"Piipika!" the tiny electrical-rodent exclaimed unnecessarily, sprinting off after the rash striped Charmeleon.

The van seemed to be mocking them, for as soon as they turned a corner, the dusty off-white vehicle would be whipping around another. Towering buildings cast irregularly dark shadows before them, but each of the pursuing Pokémon had their light sources. In its panic, violent sparks of electricity were dancing from Pika's cheeks, and the two-fire types illuminated the inky blackness with red and blue flaming tails.

Just when the small Pikachu's breath started catching in its chest, making breathing a burden, Reiu flung out an unproportionate arm to stop it.

"Char-armeleon, charChar," it growled quietly, gesturing with a large claw for the other two Pokémon to come closer.

At the street's corner, the three peered silently around the edge of a crumbling brick building. The streetlights around these parts were faded and dying, only one or two giving off feeble glows, while the rest had resigned from their posts. In fact, one of the metal poles had been bent in half, perhaps from an incident long ago; the street looked forgotten and barren.

Parked about three-fourths of the way down the derelict road, the same not-white van was parked, doors flung wide open - they revealed nothing inside but cold metal interiors. Pika clambered on top of Reiu's horned-head, sharp eyes narrowed to mere slits in an effort to make out any figures. The mouse's senses were a-quiver, but nothing seemed to move besides the Charmeleons' crackling tail-flames.

"Ar?" Reiu asked in a muted growl, piercing blue eyes staring up at the lightning-bolt tailed electric-type.

"Pi! Piipika!" Pika squeaked, amber eyes scouting out the environment around them instead.

Pika's senses were warning of danger - but from where? The Pikachu pointed out that a Pokémon could be guarding the place, in a position to ambush them from anywhere.

A slightly more threatening snarl rose in the tiger-striped Charmeleon's throat, and the trio of Pokémon stared into the darkness, trying to detect the first hint of movement.


Leon's vigorously-trained Houndoom felt sets of eyes sweep past it, aware yet unaware of its intimidating presence. The fire- and dark-type felt its muscles tense beneath it as it crouched low to the filth-coated ground, devil-like tail lashing noiselessly in the air above it. Eagerness to fight the three Pokémon in front of it pounded like a beast along with its heartbeat, but the duel-type waited for the right moment. If one of the powerful Charmeleons would just expose a jugular of other point of vulnerability...

[OOC - Got to go to bed - x.X - but the Houndoom is WERY-full strong (imagine around level 35-50)!~ G'night, daxx0r!]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- That's fast for getting a new computer! My parents would probably just give me something old and worn down pc we have in the basement ]

BIC-

"There we go..." said Leon to himself as he put Mike to rest next to Grey's lifeless body. The doctor sighed. He wished it didn't have to be this way, but what could he do. He needed Grey and this was the only way he could get him. He crouched down and parted Grey's hair again, checking to see if the boy had started to awaken yet, but it seems he hadn't. After all, the silver haired trainer had received quite a dose of sleep powder.

The doctor backed away and pulled out a chair from a dusty corner behind him. He put the chair behind him and sat down, stretching out his legs in front of him, while eying the boys. He sighed again and checked his watch. The transport would arrive at any minute and then he'd finally be able to relax. He was a doctor, after all, and he'd never really get used to this type of stuff, even if he found that he was immersing himself in it more and more.

Outside, Charmeleon, Reiu and Pika were trying to spot the Pokémon none of them could see, but all of them knew was there.
"Char charmeleon char..." hissed Charmeleon. It knew that the mysterious Pokémon had to be the Houndoom from before - the air, it felt... the same as before; the tension was the same.

Charmeleon was not about to wait any longer. It was perfectly obvious that the Houndoom wasn't going to reveal itself, and if they just stayed put, there was no way they'd be able to help their trainers. They simply didn't have a choice.
"Charmeleon." said the red lizard in a determined voice and then made a break for it. If it could dash across the street, then maybe it would lure the Houndoom out of hiding and let the others attack it - besides, how tough could a Houndoom be?

A crimson shadow dashed across the street. The Houndoom didn't hesitate, but dashed out into the street barking like mad. It knew very well that there were other Pokémon hiding behind that ominous corner from which the Charmeleon had emerged, but it's orders were to alert it's trainer and stop whatever threats he saw - whatever threats he saw. It would be disobeying if it didn't act when it saw something, even if it gave up it's own cover by doing so.

"What the?" exclaimed Leon as he almost toppled over on his chair from hearing the angry growls of his guard, "Oh geez, what now?" The doctor ripped open his front door and exited, partly wanting to put a stop to whatever problems had arisen, and partly to shut up the Houndoom, who by now probably had gotten the attention of half the city.
"What is it?" he demanded as he made eye-contact with the canine, before drawing his eyes to the Charmeleon, half-way across the street. "Is that the same one?"

As soon as they all heard Ravens voice, the remaining two Pokémon emerged from their hiding spot, confirming their identities.
"Heh." chuckled Leon, "Ha ha ha! You followed us here? Boy, maybe I should have drugged you more. Anyway, scram!" The three Pokémon did no such thing. They stood their ground and eyed him menacingly.
"Look," continued Leon, "I had no choice, alright. I needed Grey." The Pokémon now advanced on him, trying to appear as threatening as possible. It wasn't merely an act though - they loved their trainer's deeply, and they wouldn't let anyone betray Mike and Grey and do such a thing as Leon had done. It was unforgivable.

"Hey! Don't make me battle you!" threatened Leon as he reached behind him and pulled out a Pokéball. He'd need two for this one - Houndoom wasn't enough. He tossed the ball into the air, letting out the menacing Aerodactyl once more. It was dangerous to use it in the middle of town, but it was powerful, and he needed it right now - maybe then he could just scare them off without having to battle at all.

Inside, Mike slowly felt himself coming back to life. He opened his eyes a bit and saw that the room was empty... well, almost - there was that Victreebel from before, but it was sleeping in a corner. Then he noticed that he was leaning against Grey. He gently shook his friend, trying to bring him back to life again.
"Grey? Hey Grey?" he tried.

[OOC - Well, this is getting interesting! Will Mike and Grey make it out alive? Will the transport arrive? Will Leon be able to stop the Pokémon? Will the Pokémon be able to stop Leon? You'll find out answers to these questions, and many more, next time on Every Journey Begins With the First Step! ;D]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - Busy, busy...sorry for my unsteady post-replies lately, daxx0r! :-\]

BIC-

Grey shot furiously after the ignorant boy, enveloped so entirely in violent fury that the kid in question was lucky that he had a head start. The silver-haired teenager's eyes held a cold, icy-blue fury within them, as several of the children grouped around him saw. They stepped back, but the single boy that Grey was pursuing made no signs of stopping. Instead, he tried to feint sideways before lunging to the opposite side, but Grey seized him unforgivingly by the ankles.

"Wha-? Omph!" the straw-haired kid winced as he went down face-first, releasing his grip on what appeared to be a Squirtle-shell.

In an instant, Grey had snatched up the oak-brown object, treading purposefully on the bully's fingers as he did so. He wheeled around, temper still spiking, and several timid girls sprang obediently to either side of him as he marched past.

Mutters and murmurs began to circulate as soon as the scrawny boy stormed across the creaky, rickety wooden bridge that led to the beach, girls giggling coyly at their own snide mockeries and the boys guffawing as they shot Grey down in their own minds.

With an apologetic, gentle hand, Grey lowered the motionless shell into the river, laying flat on his stomach to secure a safe balance while stretching out his arms to release the Squirtle. The Pokémon's shell tapped the bottom of the river softly, much like gentle rapping on a door. After several quiet moments, a small blue head poked tentatively out of one of the openings and ----

"..ey...rey?"

Grey's eyes squeezed more tightly shut, then sprang open as suddenly as if he'd been electrocuted. The shaggy-haired trainer stared blindly into his friend's eyes for an endless moment, no recognition in them - only a lonely, overwhelming misery, then...

"M-Mike?" He squinted as if to get a better look at the older boy. "Where're...the Pokémon...nevermind."

He finished with a resolute briskness, clawing to his feet and lunging for the dust-coated wooden door.

"Charmeleon, Pika, and Reiu are outnumbered outside, c'mon!" he said in a knowing voice as he shouldered the door with all his strength.

The door, in no condition for being beaten upon, collapsed weakly, bellowing plumes of dust and collected dirt. As Grey marched outside, he froze stiffly.

"Ah - Grey...should've known Mike'd wake up quicker and get you up. No matter, you're coming with us." stated a well-educated voice, belonging to none other than the mysterious doctor.

His threat didn't come without backup - a collage of Pokémon (mostly ground- and rock-type, Grey noticed darkly) surrounded the two trainers' small trio of Pokémon, who looked courageous but helplessly outnumbered. More than a dozen trainers clothed in concealing cloaks surrounded the building, although several interested murmurs emerged as Grey looked around.

"...told ya'." He said bitterly to Mike, knowing that sending out Sora wouldn't help this situation.

[OOC - Possibly one of my worst posts, but I realized I have a shower to take, as well as homework to do. :'( Supah-sowwy dax! ;_________;]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Ack. I gotta shape up with my post-frequency... I've had a really tough week in school, but still. So I'm sowwy too! :'(]

BIC-

Mike was frozen in place, his eyes dodging from one trainer to the next and then down to the Pokémon. Who were these people?! And what was Leon Raven's connection to them? They didn't exactly seem like the type of people doctors, however malicious and dark, usually associated with. Mike's mind filled with speculations and questions, but he suppressed them as best he could. This was no time for speculation. They had to act if they wanted to make it through this.

Mike tried to get a grip on the situation. They were clearly out numbered and they were surrounded. Maybe there was still some way they could escape. Mike's eyes searched for anything that could help them, but the darkness offered nothing. Then his eyes fell on his belt. That idiot didn't remove our belts! he thought to himself. Perhaps fighting wouldn't actually get them out of trouble, but if it was their last shot, he'd definitely try it. He had six Pokémon, and now was a good a time as ever to battle.

"Charmeleon! Get ready!" he called out to his partner before turning to Grey, "Grey, release your Pokémon. All of them. We may be outnumbered, but I'm not going to give up just yet." He had his hand on his Pokéballs, when suddenly, he stopped. Grey... thought Mike, We can't battle anymore - he'll get hurt again.

Leon smiled.
"By all means, battle all you like. I doubt however, that Grey is as keen on battling as you are." he said, his voice void of any worry. It was almost as if they were holding Grey hostage without actually doing it. Mike hand slipped away from his belt. He glared at the doctor, as did Reiu, Charmeleon and Pika.

"All right, round them up, and put them in the truck." commanded Leon. Within seconds, the cloaked men closed in on the two trainers, and grabbed them. Mike soon felt his arm being jerked up behind him, restraining him similarly to how a police officer would restrain a suspect before cuffing them. Mike tried to turn around, but the man holding him jerked his arm further up, inflicting quite a bit of pain. All Mike caught a glimpse of was Charmeleon being carried away in a net.

The trainers were led to a alleyway, darker (if possible) than the street they had just been on. A van, similar to the vans used by banks to transport money, was parked a little ways in. Two of the cloaked men ran ahead and opened the back doors of the truck, revealing a steel gray interior. Next, Mike and Grey were thrown in, along with the Pokémon before the doors were, once more, closed and locked.

Mike sighed heavily. He looked around the make-shift holding cell and waited for his eyes to get adjusted to the dark, the only light coming from a small window in the rear doors. Soon, he spotted the net containing Charmeleon, and next to it, nets containing Pika and Reiu. He quickly rushed over to try to free them. Happy to be able to move freely again, Charmeleon jumped out of the bag as soon as it was free and gave Mike a big hug.

Mike returned it, before turning to Grey.
"Sorry, but I don't think it was a good idea to battle them, what with you taking their damage and all..." he said awkwardly. Suddenly, Mike felt the truck start up. The rumbling shook the room as the heavy diesel engine started to back up. Mike rushed back to the doors and tried the handles. They didn't budge.

[OOC - Well, at least they're on the road again ]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - Sooooorry for the long, long wait! :'(I went and got myself hooked on Black Cat, and feel depressed-like now that I've watched all of it. *hates it when she finishes anything - books, games, anime series, etc* Now there's no more of it! :-\]

BIC-

Grey chose not to respond, staring dismally at his hands in abject silence. Reiu and Pika, one of which he couldn't return, and the other that he didn't have the energy to, grouped around him. Reiu seemed rather bristled, as if protecting the boy, while the Pikachu looked uneasily around the van. Tightening his gloved fists for a fraction of a second, the silver-haired boy let out a strangled sigh and gazed over to Mike. As he had known from the start, he was going to be nothing but a burden to the capable trainer - if Grey hadn't been there back at the abandoned warehouse, the older boy would've been entirely capable of fending off the attacking Pokémon. In fact, if he hadn't been with Mike from the start, the older trainer wouldn't have been caught up in this at all.

A strong wave of self-disgust washed over the mute boy, who ran his trembling fingers through his spiked silver bangs in frustration. Reiu growled low in his throat, sitting back on its haunches and turning its piercing blue gaze on everything. Pika flicked its long ears back, scampering nearer to Mike, who wasn't radiating self-doubt.

Even now! Grey realized with another jolt, Mike could break out of here if wasn't always worrying about me... The trainer clenched his teeth and stood up without warning, eyes downcast and closed as if he was blocking out any doubt that might be trying to overcome his decision.

"Reiu, use your strongest fire attack on that door - Pika, I want you to give it a Thunderbolt at the same time. We're going to get out of here." he said stolidly, bracing himself.

"Chaar? Char-" Reiu's ice-blue eyes reflected its worry for the trainer.

"Do it!" he said forcefully, concentrating on trying to distance himself somehow.

If he could just separate his empathic powers from his physical body..then...

The resulting feeling was that the he felt as if he was floating behind himself, watching from behind his own body - extremely disorienting. At least it wasn't a question of how to command his Pokémon; he felt more intact with them than ever, although he wasn't sure if he would be able to move physically while in this trance.

Still looking uncertain, the white Charmeleon turned his striped face towards the van door, taking in a deep, powerful breath. Pika braced itself on the cold metallic floor, electricity leaping from its yellow body already. At the same time, the two unleashed their attacks, Reiu's in a powerful volley of swirling flames, and Pika in a crackling jolt of unyielding electrical energy.

The two high-powered attacks impacted violently against the strong doors and knocked them open easily, leaving them dangling weakly by their hinges, but the two Pokémon had already turned to look at their trainer - he sported no new burns, nor any signs of electrical damage. For a few seconds Grey stood as unmoving as ever, eyes closed and head lowered, then he stumbled forwards a bit.

"Haha! I did it - come on, Mike!" he said with positively overflowing enthusiasm, basking in his triumph.

The van was, luckily, still within the town limits, and therefore moving along at a lazy pace - If they waited for the right time, then they could all jump off without being noticed.

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Again, SORRY!!! I should have posted eons ago!!! I'll pick up the pace from now on!]

BIC-

Mike smiled broadly at Grey and then took a step closer to the edge of the van. He leaned out with his upper body and took a look around. What remained of the doors flapped next to him in the wind. The Pokémon had done a good job with opening them, to say the least. They passed a four way intersection. They could loose their captors very quickly if they jumped out and headed down one of the other roads. With three options to chose from, and the possibility that the caped men wouldn't even notice they were gone, it would be quite hard for them to track down Mike and Grey, once they had disappeared from view.

"Grey, here's our chance! Come on!" Mike whispered. He looked over to Charmeleon, who nodded in agreement, "Ok... now!" Mike leaped out of the van and rolled to a stop on the street. He quickly scrambled to his feet to check that everyone was accounted for. Charmeleon, Grey, Reiu, Pika... they were all there.
"Come on, hurry!" commanded Mike, not wanting to miss their chance. The group dashed away and hid behind the corner of a building at the intersection.

Mike stuck his head back out past the edge of the building to see if they had been spotted. As he peeked out from their hiding place, he was relieved to see the truck heading off into the distance, it's driver and passengers completely oblivious that it wasn't carrying it's load of kidnapped trainers and pokémon anymore.

"Haha!" exclaimed Mike ecstatically as he turned back to the others, "We did it!" He embraced his friend in a big friendly hug, and then crouched down to offer the same to his Pokémon. When he stood back up, however, he forced away his smile and turned to Grey.
"I don't want to be mean or anything, but... what were you thinking back there?" he demanded, "I mean, it ended well, but you shouldn't have left for the market alone, Grey. I'm o blame for not stopping you, as well... but still. The entire reason for leaving was that the city wasn't safe for us anymore."

He looked deeply into Grey's eyes. He hoped he hadn't been to harsh with the younger trainer. He didn't like lecturing others - it made him feel like a pompous jerk, but he felt he had to speak. Hopefully, Grey wouldn't take it to hard.

[OOC- Sorry for the terribly short post, but I thought I'd stop and let Grey respond. Also, sorry cause I think the quality sucks...
Oh and happy commercialism- ...I mean valentine's day ]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - Heya Dax, sorry that I was gone for awhile!(really I am, and I'm even more sorry to have been stalling since I returned) Here's meh post, although it'll likely be all jumbled and confusing. :-\]

BIC-

"I'm to blame for not stopping you, as well..." Grey whispered in his mind, faux smile wavering and promptly dropping from his face.

A vague breeze whipped his maverick hair into the trainer's eyes, which were, coincidentally, titling towards a stormy-blue shade of gray. The night sky seemed unusually dark all of a sudden, void of its usual navy-blue luster. The two friends, bathed in moonlight and florescent light, remained stoically silent for the majority of the next minute; Grey felt his own hands tightening into fists, which in turn shook with a confused form of rage. Why? Why did Mike have to feign this sort of unconditional friendship with him, especially at a time like this? It was entirely Grey's fault that the older trainer was being hunted by a organization of unexplained trainers, and it was because of Grey that they even associated Mike with anything extraordinary. Expounding upon that theory, Mike would likely be well on his way to achieving his dreams if the brunette hadn't been burdened with his novice weight. Constantly creating or complicating problems, that was what Grey did. So...so..

"Why do you always play the good guy, Mike?" he muttered bitterly, withholding any tears that were threatening to well up in his eyes, clouding his vision. "All the time...you pretend not to care about my abilities...you save me every time I get into trouble...you try to seem like you...care what happens to me."

The small boy grit his teeth hard enough to spark an ache in his head, absolutely loathing everything Mike had represented to him. How could one single person offer a solid companionship to him?

"Nobody cares! Some can pretend all they like, and the kids back at Pallet can be told to act friendly towards me, but I saw through it. I've always been on a different plane from them; they made sure I figured that out, and the adults...they felt it too. I popped out of nowhere, with no memories, no family, no home, and expected to be taken in. Pokémon accepted me, but that didn't help at all! What kind of person replaces normal relationships with Pokémon ones? They cared about me though! I could understand them, and they actually accepted that; nobody else did. Even now--"

He gestured violently in the direction the van had sped off, likely believing to be carrying him towards a preset destination.

"Even now, all anyone is interested in is how to utilize my powers. Not me, but how I can manipulate everything; how I can be used to reach others goals! Why should you want to be anywhere near me knowing that? You could've just kept walking down that trail, and nothing would've changed...you should've..."

His voice, struggling and ragged to begin with, caught in his throat. The empathetic trainer turned around with no hesitation, evading or ignoring Reiu's and Pika's looks of sympathy, and tore his Pokéball belt from its accustomed position at his waist. Dropping it emotionlessly on the ground, the silver-haired boy broke into a headlong sprint, away from the situation that had rapidly gotten out of hand. His cheeks became chilled as air rushed by the damp streaks trails leading to his chin, but Grey lowered his head against the unwelcoming wind and ran faster.

[OOC - Umm. Grey pulled a Shiden? X.x;;;;;;;;;;]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Yay! We're back in action! And don't worry about it, FireFox ]

BIC-
As Grey's belt hit the ground, Mike froze in place. He couldn't believe what he was seeing! How could his friend just throw in the towel like that? How could Grey abandon his Pokémon, let alone his dreams? As Mike's shocked eyes locked onto Grey, he tried to speak, but couldn't form the words. He realized he hadn't taken a breath in about a minute. He closed his eyes.

"Grey stop!" managed Mike as the silver haired boy disappeared into the darkness. Mike quickly turned to the Pokémon, beckoning them to follow. Then, after grabbing hold of the discarded belt, he too dashed into the darkness. He could see Grey up ahead, illuminated momentarily every time he passed a street light - if he could just get a little bit closer.

As he ran, Mike was flooded with emotions and thoughts. Through his concern, Mike grew very angry. How could he even dare to suggest that I don't care? thought Mike, I know people care more about his powers than him, but I don't. I care about him - why can't he see that? Mike felt tears running down his cheeks. Why can't he see that? Mike pushed himself to catch up to Grey and then tackled him to the ground.

He turned Grey around and pinned him to the ground, keeping a tight grip around Grey's shoulders.
"How dare you?!" he yelled in mixed anger and despair, "How dare you accuse me of that?! I care, Grey, I do care about you!" Mike's vision became clouded as the tears built up in his eyes.
"When are you going to grow up? I'm not some little kid in Pallet town! I'm maybe the only friend you have right now, but you keep pushing me away! You need to be miserable! You can't accept the fact that you're not alone and hated by everyone!"

Mike suddenly realized what he had said and fell silent, wishing he hadn't been forced to utter such things. He let go of Grey and collapsed next to him, tears trickling down his cheeks.
"Grey, I'm sorry..." he said, trying to make up for his hurtful accusations, "Grey, what I said before... when you were in the ambulance... about you being like a brother to me? I meant it, I really did. I don't think I've ever had a friend like you before. I don't think I've ever met anyone I trust like I trust you. You're unlike other people... you're... more real. You let me see you, the whole you, and you don't hide behind some false facade..."

Mike turned to Grey, looking deep into his eyes.
"And because of that - you can't just give up. I won't let you," he said, "You aren't the only one who has bad memories, and you can't let the past destroy your future. You can't let those kids in Pallet town, or those people in the van... you can't let them win - And if you give up, they will have won." Mike offered the trainer's belt to Grey. "Show them that you won't give in. Show them that you are worth more than that. And I'll be there with you, through thick or thin - together forever. I promise."

[OOC- Phew... Emotional. XD]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - As to the picture for this RP that I'm doing, I'm gonna apologize in advance for how horribly-off Mike's hair is liable to become. x.X;]

BIC-

"I can't accept it." Grey agreed quietly, casting his eyes in any direction that wasn't staring at Mike's face. "Why is that?"

The trainer gave no effort into moving from his position in the middle of the street, somewhere amidst the Pewter City slums. His bangs, unkempt as ever, draped across his eyes, obscuring his vision more than his initial tears had already. Sprawled roughly on the concrete road, Grey's senses seemed heightened tenfold, cleared away by his lack of colliding opinions. Just for the moment. His fogged blue azure eyes sought out the midnight sky, focused listlessly on the infinitely royal-blue heavens; the occasional star leaped and winked at him, and a singular fleck of white light arched briefly across the sky. The scent of dust and dirt and decaying objects ridiculed his nose, layered behind the defiant breath of fresh air, carried upon a breeze. He could feel the rough, cold road beneath his immobile fingers, and several loose pebbles pressed sharply against the pads of his fingertips.

And he could hear his own breath, ragged and heaving, catching in his chest. Was Mike experiencing the same difficulty with managing an unhitching inhale of air? Probably. Grey turned his head confusedly to one side, dismissing the uncomfortable scratching as his ear scraped the rocky path.

"You know, I told myself that I'd show everyone - everyone - that I was the best when I was younger." Grey commented pointlessly. "I didn't intend to trust anybody, because there was nobody to trust. But you seemed different when I noticed you back in Viridian. Like you wouldn't judge anyone based on trivial matters alone. I wish I was like that, but I don't think I am."

He sat up slowly, several jiblets of broken stone falling from his messed clothing. A distracted hand, glove and all, wiped at his face, where the dried saline on his cheeks had begun to itch. His figure was hunched over and solemn; and then a small, yellow ball of fur traipsed into his lap.

"Piipika..Chaaa..." The electrical Pokémon's fiery amber eyes centered onto his own, reassuring and affectionate.

Grey felt his mouth shift upwards marginally, and rested one hand on Pika's head, burying his fingers in the undersized Pikachu's soft fur. A second later, a set of awkwardly-proportioned arms flung themselves around his slender neck, and a pair of sharp claws cautiously dug into his jacket with determination.

"Chaaar!" a throaty voice growled in his ear, and Grey could almost visualize Reiu's large, intelligent eyes shining with their own light.

"And now I don't even know if I can survive on my own...I want to, though. I still want to beat everybody without help; I want to have the satisfaction of knowing that I can, but how can I if I'm always doubting myself? You always seem confident in yourself...and me...why?" he asked, eyes still burdened with a residual despair, even as he accepted his Pokémon's signs of unwavering love. "How can you believe in me when all I've done is stir up trouble?"

Finally, unable to respond correctly based off the swarm of emotions bombarding his mind alone, Grey caught Mike's eyes. He felt like a toddler asking for a form of reassuring affection from his mother, but suspected that the older trainer wasn't about to ridicule him, so didn't retract the inquiry.

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Sorry for not replying sooner - I just got my hands on the copy of Ranger which I forced a friend of mine to import from the states (despite the fact that it's released here in little over two weeks ^^ so I was unable to tear my hands off the game, heheh]

BIC-
Mike smiled at Grey and wiped some remaining tears away from his eyes.
"Grey, there's no reason for why you can't survive on your own," he said softly, "All you have to do is tell yourself that you can. I'm not confidant in myself because I think I'm a better trainer than you - and I'm not. The reason I survive; the reason I'm confident; is that I believe; no, I know that I can do anything I set my mind to. That might sound like a cliché, but it's true."

Mike looked out into the darkness, not really focusing on anything.
"A few years ago..." he said, before taking a slight pause, "...I had gotten myself into a bit of trouble. I was more or less dangling off of a cliff." He paused again to collect his thoughts, before turning back to Grey.
"I won't go into it in detail, but anyway, I was hanging there, and there really wasn't anyone around to help me. It was quite a drop too; I might have died if I had fallen, but I didn't. But anyway, there was nobody there to help me, human or Pokémon - so I knew that unless I helped myself, I wouldn't make it. Now this cliff had nothing to hold on to. It was very smooth, except for a vine that was clinging to it a few feet away. It was the only thing climbable within reach, and I had no choice but to jump for it. I almost didn't reach to grab it, but when I did, I slid down several feet before getting a good grip, which tore up my hands... And when I did get a grip, my body slammed into the wall, crushing my hands against the cliff."

Mike removed his half-fingered gloves and showed his hands to Grey. They didn't look all that bad, but if one looked closely it was possible to see some scars from jumping to the vine.
"See?" said Mike, "Now this hurt unbelievably much, and I almost couldn't hold on, but I knew that if I wanted to survive, I had to push myself to the limit - and I did. I survived. That day, I realized that I could overcome any obstacle as long as I tried hard enough. Survival of the fittest."

Mike put his gloves back on and then turned to look deep into Grey's eyes.
"Grey, I truly believe that this strength to survive, to beat everyone else, to know that you can, exists in all of us. You've survived a lot worse things than that cliff I was on, so I'm confidant you have that strength too - more so than me." said Mike reassuringly, "Screwing up from time to time is no big deal. We can't be perfect all the time - and that's exactly what we have friends for, both humans and Pokémon - to help us through tough times. It doesn't mean you're less of a person or a worse person."

Mike stood up, and brushed some gravel out of his jacket. He coughed slightly as dust from the road accompanied the gravel back to the ground.
"Grey, all you have to do is realize that you can. Know that you can. Once you've stopped hoping and believing and what not, and started knowing, then the rest will follow by itself," said Mike. He offered his hand to Grey, in order to help him back to his feet. Mike then retracted his hand for a second, wanting to add one more sentance, "I don't ever want to see you abandon your pokémon or your dreams ever again, alright?"

 

[LaenVulpix]

"Yeah..." Grey replied distractedly, standing up of his own accord despite Mike's proffered hand.

Pika, oversized ears twitching instinctively, clawed into his dusty jacket for purchase. Requiring no help from Grey, the electrical rodent scrambled atop his narrow shoulder and latched habitually onto his head with its small, sharp claws. The Pikachu's tail bobbed intimately in the coaxing breeze that riffled through this barren section of Pewter City, reminding the younger trainer how intelligent it would be to abandon this place. As soon as possible.

"Aarr, meleeon." Reiu's solemn voice sounded from around his midriff, one bleach-white arm hooked protectively around his jeans' leg.

Grey sighed inwardly, a fogging mist of stormy clouds hazing his thoughts. He didn't know whether to shove away his depression and create a facade of good cheer for Mike's benefit, or act as he felt until the mood lifted. An idle strand of hair drooped into his eyes.

"Which way to the main road?" he inquired, abandoning all hope against his warring conflicts of interest. "I don't remember anything, so..."

He shrugged aimlessly, the impression of his own irritating, unforgiving irrelevance increasing with each action. He had a looming suspicion that if he'd been the character dangling impossibly from a cliff his reaction would have made Mike's bold actions seem thrice as impressive. With nobody he genuinely felt needed his company or support, there would have been no point in risking his life to survive; the blue-eyed teenager could visualize himself clinging listlessly to the cliff edge until his muscles gave out - the end. No stories of bravery and stupefying determination there.

The one vicious scar he sported, arching intimidatingly from shoulder to abdomen in a deep gash, was supported my nothing more than a short explanation. Perhaps the wound was the cause of his amnesia, but the same could just as likely be true vise versa. His scatterings of menial scars were expected of a Pokémon-rescuing toddler with no comprehension of what was dangerous or not, not moral-based tales.

Grey caught himself chewing on his his bottom lip with vengeance, and accepted his belt dismally from his traveling companion. He reattached the article to his jeans, tugging Sora's tiny, marble-sized Pokéball from its clasp as he buckled it. With a tap of the small white button, positioned in the middle of the black line separating the device's white half from the red hemisphere, and the mechanism expanded with a muted noise.

In a burst of white light, the small, recently-hatched Pidgey materialized into the air. Wings already beating frantically to remain airborne, the emerald-eyed bird glanced around the dark, shadow-invoked street. It cooed hesitantly and perched quickly on Grey's left shoulder, ruffling its feathers timidly as it reevaluated its surroundings; whatever the cause, the tiny flying-type showed every sign of happiness at being released from its sphere of red and white.

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC - I'm so glad we're finally getting this thing rolling again ^^]

BIC-
Mike smiled at Grey and the Pidgey, happy to see his friend back on his feet again. He spun around, looking for any signs of the main road.
"Hehe, I'm not sure where the road is, actually." he said. Mike looked down towards Charmeleon, "Did you happen to remember the way?"
"Char.. charmeleon char!" replied the red lizard, extending it's arm to point the way.
"Great! Good job buddy - I can always count on you to point us in the right direction." said Mike and winked, before turning back to Grey, "We should get going. Generally, I'd say we should spend one more night in Pewter, but those guys are going to notice we're missing sooner or later, and I don't think it's a good idea for us to stick around."

With the mixed blue and orange glows of the Charmeleon's tails flickering across the road and reaching up along the houses, Charmeleon (and Reiu too) led the way back to the main road. Mike was glancing nervously back and forth between the road and Grey. He didn't want Grey to know that he was looking, but he couldn't help himself. He was quite concerned about his friend and felt like if he looked away for too long, Grey might try to run away again. He sighed to himself. I hope he'll be alright...

Mike shifted his gaze to the night sky, which was mostly clear, although slightly obscured by clouds. Despite being in the middle of a city the stars were shining brightly - most of the lights in the neighborhood they were walking through were turned off, even the streetlights. He started tracing lines between the stars in order to occupy his mind with something other than Grey. There's a Pikachu... and an Onix... he thought silently to himself.

Before he could find any more, A claw tugged at his pants. He looked down at Charmeleon who apparently had led them to an intersection. The main road was crossing the one they were on, and there was even a street sign to tell them which direction to go on it. Mike gave Charmeleon a nice pet on the head.
"Good job, little buddy!" said Mike as he checked his watch, "Well Grey, it's almost ten o'clock. We should probably stop and get some rest fairly soon, but let's get out of the city first, ok?"

Mike beckoned for Grey to follow and set out along the main road, which unlike the previous one, was well lit and inviting. He felt relief to be out of the darkness, but at the same time, it made Mike feel more exposed. If those thugs returned, Grey and Mike would be spotted instantly. He really didn't know how to react though - if he revealed his concerns, it might add unnecessary stress to Grey. On the other hand, if he acted tough and confident, he might make Grey feel worse about himself, plus they might actually get caught again. He decided to keep as neutral as possible - to be on the guard, but not show it.

Truth be told, acting neutral wasn't all that easy. Mike was starting to feel really miserable. Grey was stressing him out. He wasn't blaming Grey for this, but the circumstances just made the whole situation a bit too troublesome for his preference. They were in a potentially dangerous situation - By itself, Mike felt he probably could have dealt with the thugs. Now however, despite the stress those thugs brought to Mike, he had to try to make things as nice as possible for Grey, who Mike feared could have another breakdown. Mike was more or less overwhelmed with problems he didn't really know how to deal with - and for someone as confident in himself as Mike, that was a big issue.
Ugh... Why couldn't he have had a breakdown some other time? he thought to himself, feeling his gut wrench as he tried to refrain from looking over his shoulder for the big black vans from before.

 

[LaenVulpix]

Grey sighed whimsically, feeling the piercing chill spurred by Mike's fretful eyes venturing over him for the umpteenth time within ten minutes. The older trainer was trying with such valiance - rivaling but not likely outstripping - to pretend no awkward tension resided between them that speech, an explanation, something, was needed.

"I'd rather you not worry about me, ya' know. I can take care of myself; I thought you saw that I wasn't going to be a pest when it comes time to fight back in the van. Either assume that I'm going to be a liability and ignore me, or believe that I'm going to do more than jump into the enemy's hands..." Grey stated simply, tired, weary, and disgusted at how many complications were sprouting from him merely expressing himself.

As he had suspected, no being with a sane mind was interested in his laments, as they did nothing but draw out a suspicion and doubt of him. If the thoughts swimming infinitely in his mind were his issues alone, that was fine. But if he explained the cause for his frustration and uncertain, faulty demeanor, was everyone going to wonder whether he was a emotionally-defective child?

"I'll be fine, and even if I wasn't, the entire point is that I don't want you to get hurt or injured just because you're looking out for me. If I can't protect myself then what use am I, Mike?" he asked, blue eyes firing up with an indignant pride.

[OOC- probably my shortest post EVAR(Sorry!) but I've got a genuine migraine of a headache. x.X I'll make it up though, promise. xP]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Don't worry about it! As you can see, my post didn't turn out to be much longer. I have a huge chemistry test on Wednesday and I've been studying the entire day... I just couldn't muster up the concentration needed to write anything - But I'll make up for it too ]

BIC-

Mike turned to Grey with a rather embarrassed look strapped to his face.
"I'm sorry" he said in a low voice, "I'm sure that you can protect yourself... it's just... actually, I don't know what it is..." Mike's voice trailed off. It was stupid of him to keep staring at Grey like that. He'd just held a big speech about how Grey could handle anything if he just believed in himself, and now Mike was proving that he didn't believe in Grey.

Now Mike did almost the opposite of before - he was desperately trying not to look at Grey. At the same time though, he became worried that Grey might notice this as well. He decided the best thing to do was simply to find something besides Grey to keep focused on. He settled for Charmeleon's tail, which, once he began to follow it with his eyes, seemed almost mesmerizing.

Before he knew it, they were passing the city limits. Mike actually stopped from the surprise of being back out on the countryside. He looked over his shoulder at the brightly lit city behind them. Finally, they were going to leave town and get back to training!
"Hey Grey," he said as he caught up to Grey, who was slightly ahead of him, "Do you have that pokégear with the electronic map? I'd like to see how far we should go before stopping for the night."

 

[LaenVulpix]

Grey peered distractedly around and Mike, trying not to let the surprise of the older trainer's question show through his features. Sora, chirruping and cooing mutely ever since being released, was now soaring overhead; the Pidgey was as good as a private reporter, supplying the silver-haired trainer with various mental images of Pokémon, landscapes, and other menial pictures a young flying-type found especially interesting. Entirely absorbed in his contact with the dust brown bird, the younger boy had forgotten Mike shared no such link with his surroundings.

"Oh, sure - you should hold onto it, Mike...Sora can let me know what's coming up directly ahead, and you could plot out overall course," he commented in a margnially less safeguarded, uncertain voice, " so that we're ready for anything."

With a quick exchanging of near-conversation-like images with Sora, the stubby-winged Pokémon relayed a more helpful picture, and Grey expounded upon his theory. Squinting in the thickening darkness, aware of the pools of shadow smudging the trail ahead and thankful for the more experienced trainer's company (there was nothing to fear of the dark, he knew that, but someone to converse with was a very nice commodity), he tapped several buttons on his PokéNav. A highlighted screen illuminated their faces, spreading a digital map of the region and the routes close to them. A blipping dot of red indicated the two boys' current position, directly outside Pewter City - the two dots were nearly overlapping.

"See, this map shows us which way to go, but what if we need to make detours and such? Sora can already see a nest of Beedrill, almost a mile ahead, and that'd be troublesome to deal with in the dark."

Pushing the small device, his only by luck and/or fate, into Mike's gloved hands, Grey shrugged.

"I never think enough to use it, after all. I'm too used to just following my feet and the Pokémon."

Pika's small, plush body shifted on his shoulder, as the lightning-bolt tailed character peered curiously over its trainer to get a better glimpse of the electronic gadget. A muted "chu" emanated from its throat as the yellow Pokémon blinked its large amber eyes, intrigued by the flickering and flashing lights projected in front of the group.

Reiu lingered around the two boys as well, crackling blue tail flame swishing as its pace slowed to a lazy waddle. It's analytical blue eyes of ice observed Grey's face - his expression - momentarily, then it offered Charmeleon a cautious nod. He seemed genuinely fine for now, but he'd likely be easy to set off down some depressed trail. The fire-type lizard grumbled solemnly, wondering whether Mike, an intelligent trainer, friend, and companion, would understand; Grey wasn't as mature as him yet, in more than just his unadulterated innocence and unmasked emotions. The white Charmeleon inclined his elongated skull, watching the patterns of lit dirt path falter and transform by the swaying firelight it and its red counterpart supplied.

"Pii Pika!" the Pikachu perched on Grey's shoulder finally declared, rapidly bored by the spectacle of the PokéNav's advanced map.

The long-eared electrical rodent readjusted itself, claws scrabbling then setting carefully into his jacket and hair for more riding until the collage of trainers and Pokémon, led by the PokéNav and Sora's relayed images, detected a suitable camping site.

[OOC - Rawr post?]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Gawd... sorry for the long delay. My internet connection has been fracking with me for the past few days, and I'm only getting a stable connection now...]

BIC -
Mike played around with the PokéNav for a while, zooming in and out on the map, and panning around to see the surrounding area. As much as Mike liked the wilderness and loved to be out traveling far from civilization, he was always captivated when when he got his hands on gadgets and electronics; maybe because always being on the road left him quite separated from a high-tech lifestyle.

He stopped fooling around with it and did some serious searching, trying to find a good place to spend the night.
"Hmm..." he uttered to himself as he took a closer look at a place not too far from their current location. It was a large clearing in the woods, not more than half a mile ahead. The forest itself was only a matter of yards away now, as they steadily approached it.
"How about here, Grey?" asked Mike, pointing at the screen, "It's open and nice so we can sleep under the stars, but it's also kind of tucked away from the road and surrounded by trees. That way, no one will disturb us, and the trees will protect us from the wind!"

Mike shut off the PokéNav, yet again causing the darkness to reach their faces, which had been illuminated by the eerie white glow from the screen. He put it into his pocket, carefully zipping it shut to keep the PokéNav from falling out. He didn't know whether to thank Grey for the device or not - he wasn't sure if he was holding onto it permanently or just for the time being.
"Thanks," he said anyway as he patted the device through the fabric of the pocket and nodded to his friend in appreciation.

Soon, the forest enveloped them. Mike had almost forgotten how spooky the forest looked at night, especially while traveling with a fire Pokémon like Charmeleon. The flames lit up the trees and cast long, scary shadows on the trees behind them. The only thing that could make it more unnerving to be in the forest now was a ghost Pokémon to stir things up even more, but thankfully, Mike doubted there were any around. Charmeleon seemed to be experiencing the same as it's trainer, although it's fear was probably more centered around Mike's angst, rather than the spooky shadows. Mike didn't actually know why the shadows spooked him so. He had gotten used to traveling at night with Charmeleon - maybe the hold up in Pewter redid the damage.

The forest parted itself, revealing a large circular field. Mike kept going until he was at the center, and then promptly threw his backpack on the ground and collapsed next to it. Charmeleon seemed just as tired and laid down next to Mike, lazily resting it's head on his lap. Mike looked over to Grey.
"Hey... What do you say we skip the tent and just sleep in our sleeping bags?" he suggested sleepily, "We've had a really long day, and I'd just like to get some shut-eye... Pitching a tent would take forever, don't you think?"

Sleep was already setting into Mike. If he didn't get up and move around, he'd just fall asleep then and there, and he wouldn't have to bother with the sleeping bag even. He imagined Grey, having just broken out of the hospital, was feeling even worse. He forced himself to his feet, carefully moving Charmeleon's head and placing it in the grass. The red lizard looked up at him, but made no real effort to get up to join it's trainer.
"You just stay there buddy," said Mike, "I'll be right back. I'm just going to go and get some firewood." Mike then turned to Grey before heading back out into the forest, "Be right back, ok?"

 

[LaenVulpix]

Grey's response bordered between a mumble and a grunt, and the platinum-haired trainer raised one hand in a halfhearted sort of wave. The short, bedraggled boy remained stationary and silent for several moments after Mike's figure had mingled into the groping shadows cast by the forest's spindly trees, head tilted upwards and eyes locked vaguely upon the sheepish moon. Silver washed across the campsite, warping the clearing and betraying its casual colors. The grass's emerald hue had developed a queer blueish tint, the darkness-wrapped trees seemed eerily bright in certain places, but other nooks looked infinitely darker in contrast.

After awhile, in which his flooded blue eyes faded towards a more stationary grey shade, the trainer allowed his legs to buckle and fold in upon themselves, leaving him slumped wearily on the timidly-damp blue-green blades. His fingers intertwined themselves in the varying lengths of grass, fingertips digging distractedly into the damp, rich soil. A moment of increased pressure and scrambling on his shoulder and Pika had dismounted, landing gracefully in the lush grass before padding off to scrutinize the surrounding area.

Reiu opened its elongated snout in a sharp-toothed yawn, tail flame guttering in similar weariness. The clashingly white-coated Charmeleon sought momentary entertainment in the form of plucking strands of grass and carefully setting the tips ablaze; occasionally it'd misjudge, incinerating the entire discolored blade. It's head angled towards the bemusing sound of Pikachu colliding with a Metapod, presumably attempting to sleep. The bright yellow Pokémon grumbled in embarrassment, quickly darting closer to the congregation of familiar figures.

"Chuuu..." it complained sleepily, rubbing one fiery-amber eye with the back of its short paw.

An air of lethargy had drooped over the site, and eventually even Reiu found its dancing blue eyes drifting about without purpose, content with watching as Grey floundered in his pack, attempting to extricate his sleeping bag successfully without disturbing the resting places of anything else. Somewhere in the depths of his mind he was grateful for the warm summer night that permitted a certain sense of carelessness when covering up. Winter months were harsher by far, requiring an iron will just to force his body to stop shivering and fall asleep.

A dismal yawn stretched his mouth, as he tugged the tightly-bound object from its confines, tossing it almost vengefully on the ground next to him. Shrugging out of his shoulder pack, Grey found his eyes panning across the calm circular resting place, and the fringe of forestland highlighting it. The sooner Mike returned with a healthy supply of firewood to protect them through the night, the sooner the party could submit to the gnawing exhaustion plaguing them.

Or not. Without warning, Reiu's horned skull whipped upright, a newfound flare of alertness looming in its eyes.

"...What is it, Re---Ow!" Grey toppled painfully backwards, a small, plush creature glued to his face.

The Charmeleons were at attention in the flick of a tail, claws ready to battle, but the attacking creature seemed confused. Grey wrapped one hand around the small Pokémon, rubbing his head (which had consequentially ricocheted off the ground when he pitched backward) as he squinted to identify the thing.

Little more than a foot long, with two long, thick, leathery wings. It's color, also distorted by the silver light of the moon, was almost blue, almost purple; and the Pokémon held a screech that arched across the night, shattering the glazed mood.

"A Zubat?" he asked his partners, bewildered by the Pokémon's existence so far from the calm, dark confines of Mt. Moon.

The winged Pokémon answered with a relieved, but earsplitting, shriek, its oversized ears twisting and moving, and...Grey's harried expression softened as he realized that a small, carefully tied bandanna clung to the Zubat's right ear. The black cloth was nearly lost in the darkness, but there it was.

Is it lost too...like that Ekans? the trainer wondered instinctively, altering his grip from a restraining one to a comforting one. The bat-like Pokémon fluttered its wings frantically, determined to ensure the human it had found was not leaving it behind, and it issued another echo-locating cry, albeit shorter than the last two.

"Chaaaar!" Reiu snorted, backing unhelpfully away from the noisy flying- and poison-type Pokémon, covering its ears.

Pika arched its ears downwards but remained close, curious as to why the Zubat had yet to flee into the comfort of sheltered darkness. Grey cupped the undersized navy-blue bat, impatient now for Mike to return and shed some light on the idea of what to do with the affectionate Pokémon.

 

[daxx0r]

Mike was having trouble carrying the wood back to the campsite. Charmeleon was giving him a helping hand, but still - he was too tired to keep a firm grip on everything and so the branches and sticks were falling all over the place. He had to stop every five seconds and pick up a new branch that had fallen out of his grip. Mike was growing quite annoyed at the whole situation. Suddenly, he tripped on a root that was sticking out of the ground, causing the entire bundle of wood to scatter over the forest bed, at the same time as he himself smashed into the ground.
"Oh for crying out loud!" he hissed and stood back up. He started gathering the firewood again, and slowly made his way back to the camp.

This kept happening, every minute or so for the remainder of the hike back to the camp site. Mike hadn't gone very far, but it seemed to be taking forever for him to get back. Finally, he saw that the trees up ahead were parting, opening up to the large field they had arrived at a few minutes earlier. He parted some bushes in front of him and stepped back into the clearing. No sooner had he done this, then he suddenly heard a screech, which made him cover his ears and yet again drop the branches. It seemed to be coming from Grey's general direction. Mike had more or less forgotten about the firewood now, and simply let it remain at rest on the grass, before making his way over to the trainer to see what was going on.

"Is that... a Zubat?" asked Mike as he approached his friend. It seemed awfully friendly for a wild Zubat.... but then again, Grey did have a rather extraordinary connection with pokémon - maybe this was normal for him. There was still something that disturbed him, however. It was too dark for Mike to notice the scarf around it's ear, at least from the distance he was at - but he the fact that it was way out in the open, despite being a cave-dweller, made him question whether it belonged to someone.
"Where did you ever find a Zubat, Grey?" asked Mike, wondering if perhaps there was some small cave nearby, perhaps hidden in the field somehow.

Suddenly, Mike felt one of his Pokéballs shaking. He quickly removed it and held it as far away from him as possible, as if he was afraid it might explode. He identified it as Ekans' ball. None of Mike's pokémon had ever tried to escape from it's ball before, so he was unsure of what exactly was happening, but he imagined it must have been an attempt to leave. Mike decided it was best to let it come out before it broke out - that way, it would still appear as if he was in control over it's release.

As it materialized in front of him, Mike looked at the purple snake in confusion.
"Ekans? What're you doing?" he asked, but the poison type didn't even acknowledge him. Instead, it slithered straight for Grey, and called out to the Zubat. Mike thought it might try attacking the Zubat, but just before recalling it, he noticed that the Zubat didn't seem the least bit frightened. In fact, it seemed almost friendly to the Ekans. It dislodged from Grey and immediately flew over to the serpent. It wrapped it's wings around the Ekans, almost as if it was embracing it.

Mike turned to Grey, hoping his friend had some answers.
"Err..." he started, while still glancing at the two poison types, "Do you think they know each other?" Mike didn't really need Grey to answer this though; it was fairly apparent that the two pokémon did. Did that mean that they both belonged to the missing trainer they were looking for? And was the trainer still alive? Back in the forest were they had first stumbled upon the Ekans, it seemed as if the trainer most likely had died. But if that was the case, why was their Zubat out here? Maybe the trainer was still alive, and had passed through these parts?

A lot of questions bubbled up in Mike's mind. If that was the case, why wasn't this pokémon with the trainer? And if it had been abandoned, why hadn't it been abandoned with the Ekans? Although perhaps it had been - maybe it had gone off on it's own to look for it's trainer? And maybe that's why it found Grey... because it recognized Ekans' smell on him...

[OOC- The plot thickens ^^]

 

[LaenVulpix]

Grey nodded his head vaguely in Mike's direction in response to his question, sensing a deep bond between the reunited Pokémon without even finding the necessity to expound upon th depth of his powers. The aura of emotional affection was genuine enough that even a normal trainer, Mike for example, could likely feel the sense of belonging the two poison-types emanated together. The Zubat and Ekans radiated a placidity as they clung to each other, the smaller, winged Pokémon squished tightly in the snake's powerful embrace.

The silver-haired trainer felt a wrenching relief in his chest, as if it was him that had just found a long-lost friend after wandering in such a solitary manner. A grin flicked across his face, and the thick, suffocating pressure of the darkness seemed to lighten and change into something almost comical to consider depressing. The acquainted duo separated, and the Zubat fluttered into the air before attaching itself to Grey once more, releasing a skull-splitting screech as the trainer held out his hands more than obligingly.

Eyes glowing in a shade of blue nearing the color of his healing-flames, he held the small bat underneath its wings although he was unable to resist the instinct to flinch away from its penetrating cry.

"They are acquainted...and from the same trainer, too," he rushed to get in a word between the affectionate poison-type's delighted shrieks. "The strange thing is, its memories are very similar to Ekans's, but the location that it was released is different. The trainer seems to always be in some sort of desperate hurry whenever he releases them, always with the large Pokémon's shadow coming after them."

Grey hesitated, uncertain himself of what to do. Unfortunately for the group huddled around this lucky phenomenon, Zubat was giving no opportunities to delve into a deep enough frame of concentration to think more than immediately into the future.

"Anyways-"

"EEEEEeeeEE!"

"-we should take the-"

"EEEeeEEEEEEE!"

"-Zubat with us in case we run into-"

"EEEe!EEEEeee!EE!"

"-it's trainer!" Grey finished frantically, unclasping a shiny new Pokéball from his belt.

The Zubat's large mouth stopped in its constant screaming, interested in what this curious new trainer it had found was going to do. No words were conveyed between Grey and the mottled purple-and-blue bat, but by the calming way the scrawny trainer rested his hands on the Pokémon, and the sudden silence that stretched thinly through the night after a minute or so, it was implied that the young trainer was explaining their cause, and what they were going to do to help it.

Another minute slicked by, interrupted casually by Pika yawning sleepily and sprawling on the soft grass; Sora alighted soon after, fluffing its plumage against the cool night breeze. Then the Zubat offered the group a polite, enthusiastic screech, clued in about the ordeal. Grey touched the unoccupied Pokéball's metallic surface to the winged Pokémon's head, enveloping it in glowing red energy before absorbing it, along with the basic red data, into the sphere once more. The device shook not at all, instead skipping quickly to the confirmatory ching as the lock clasped into place.

Yawning himself now, fully exhausted and feeling drained from the short walk they had performed, Grey threw himself back in the spongy green grass, at a loss for any intellectual words to say. Sleep. Sleep sounded very, very good...

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Sorry if the post is cruddy - I should have done this earlier in the day... ]

BIC-
Mike couldn't sleep. Not anymore- not after what Grey had just told him. He could believe that this Zubat really belonged to the same trainer who abandoned the Ekans back in the woods. It changed everything. Up until now, Mike had assumed the trainer had died or simply managed to escape, never to turn back again, but it seemed that reality wasn't as simple as that.

Grey had made it sound as if the trainer had been forced to release their pokémon on several, completely different occasions - that would account for why the Zubat and the Ekans were so far from each other. However, this simple fact posed a whole new set of questions and made the entire situation even more strange: It meant that the strange shadow-pokémon was stalking (or perhaps hunting) the trainer.

Mike shuddered as a cool breeze drifted through the meadow, rustling the leaves on the surrounding trees. The sounds of the forest, something that usually calmed Mike as he drifted off to sleep, was now keeping him awake. This whole thing with the shadow-pokémon had him spooked. He almost felt as if he was being watched again, although he was sure that he was simply imagining it - they were completely alone.

Even if it probably was going to end up making him more sleepless, Mike tried to distract himself from his paranoia by concentrating on the Zubat's trainer again. Mike suddenly realized that it was going to be a whole lot more difficult finding him now. The reason they were heading to Cerulean (apart from getting another badge for Grey, of course) was to meet Scott, the pokémon expert who lived in the area. They're only clue to the whereabouts of the missing trainer had been that the shadow-pokémon was indigenous to the area around Indigo Plateau. With this, Chuck might have been able to figure out what Pokémon it was, and based on that they could have gotten an idea of where to start looking, but now...

Now there was no telling where the pokémon had come from. If it pursued the trainer all the way out here, chances were it might not have met the trainer for the first time back in the woods either. It could have followed that person for a very long time. And if they didn't know where it lived, there was no way they could identify it.

Mike decided to try to get some sleep. He lay with his eyes closed, still fully aware of the sounds emanating from the forest, and equally aware and also thankful for Charmeleon's presence, as it curled up in front of him. Even through his daunting thoughts, Mike couldn't help but feel awfully curious... He needed to find out more about it - in the morning, he'd ask Grey to tell him as much as possible. And with that thought, Mike, about thirty minutes after Grey, finally began drifting off into sleep.

[OOC- I couldn't stop playing detective there I have no idea how this subplot is going to develop, but I can't wait to see what happens! ;D]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[[OOC - It took an absurdly long amount of time, but looku! A post! Egad!11!! Really, sorry for the delay, daxx.]]

BIC-

It was nearly after sunrise when Grey realized that his mind had crossed the near-imperceptible line gapping sleep from awareness. The sleeping bag's folds wrapped him in a lethargic sort of daze, soft and manipulative to his groggy body. He could vaguely feel his wayward silver hair brushing against his cheek, turned sideways into the creases of the fabric, and remained in his position. He could see and feel the sunlight on his closed eyelids, where shafts of light had filtered through the thin locks of hair, highlighting his vision in red.

One of the prone trainer's legs had maneuvered away from the dryness of his mostly-unzipped sleeping bag, as he noted from the feel of damp grass blades scritching against his bare skin, transferring beads of cool dew to his unclothed foot in the process. A stillness cloaked the air, leaving a disquieting lack of breeze and bringing to light the equal lack of Pokémon wildlife stirring.

The obscurity of early morning receded further, leaving a more competent thinking pattern in its wake as the shaggy-haired trainer rolled loosely into a semi-sitting position, arms still clinging unconsciously to the warmth he had forsaken. Faint lines, where the emerald-green fabric had left behind an impression in his fair skin, hatched his arms without pattern, but his eyes were draining of the fogged grey tint he had awoken with. With an observable, uncanny speed, the hue of his eyes altered towards blue, like the salty brine of a stormy sea; heavy and mixed with shades of grey, silver, and thick blue.

The calm dawn mist still hung low in the sky, cool and wet to the sensitive skin. Not a sound broke the eerie silence other than the low-slung crackling of two Charmeleons' tails, and the content breathing of his array of sleeping companions.

Most positively unnatural.

The scrawny boy shifted in his sleeping bag, void of the signs of lethargy he had displayed mere moments ago. The grogginess had been replaced with a cold knot of apprehension, calm and cold and frightened.

"Mike."

His voice was a cautious hiss in the muted wilderness, accompanied by a none-too-delicate mental shaking. He needed his friend awake and able to consult with - now.

As he spoke, the trainer was slipping on his discarded clothes, grateful for the lack of dampness - the lack of dew - that would make for a great discomfort until the suns rays had supple time to evaporate it. His wild silver hair fell indignantly in his eyes, refusing to be forgotten, as he wriggled to force his feet into their corresponding boots, and it was with an impatient twitch that he tucked the soft, unmanageable strands behind one ear.

Hoping that a wary, similarly-dressed Mike was waiting for him to provide explanation (or better yet, one that needed no explanation, but had realized the queer delicacy of the situation), Grey slung his Pokéball belt low around his waist, not bothering to fit the thick leather through the individual belt loops surrounding his waistline.

As he had initially suspected, Pika's eyes that greeted him were alert and terse. The electrical rodent had awoken with a vibe of fear - the peaceful clearing was devoid of natural sounds; early birds conducting a morning serenade, insects providing an unbroken thrum in the background, critters scuttling through the unkempt grass. Nothing. Something - someone - someones - had sent everything into hiding.

"Char..." Reiu growled low in his throat, shuffling powerfully over to Grey's side and watching with vibrant, steel blue eyes as the empathic trainer returned an innocently slumbering Sora to its shiny red Pokéball.

"Morning guys..." Grey allowed himself, feeling sick to his stomach with worry.

[[OOC - Feel free to MSN me to ask who's upsetting teh balance o' nature if it's relevant to your next post, Daxx! Hope this one was adequate for taking such an obscenely long time to respond. Gomen nasai!!]]

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC - Don't worry about it! I need to apologize as well - I've been really inactive in the RP department as of late... but here we go!]

BIC-

"Morning guys..." The voice, which seemed almost smothered in the thick damp air, caught Mike's ears and eventually dragged him out of sleep. He slowly sat up in his sleeping bag, yawned and groggily scratched himself on the chest. He opened his mouth to say good morning, but something stopped him- something was not right about this.

Mike opened his eyes, only to find Grey and the rest of the pokémon standing there with a look of anxiousness spread across their faces. Mike stood up and looked around. The air was heavy and wet, and the surrounding area looked almost foggy, though it really wasn't. It reminded him somehow of an early October or November morning. And there was something else - something even stranger about it all.

Mike walked silently over to the others, trying to size up the situation as he felt a feeling of foreboding creep up on him. His bare feet made contact with the damp grass, making a soft ruffling noise as he walked. That's when it hit him - there were no sounds. No birds, no nothing. As soon as he realized this, the worry gripped his heart and wouldn't let go. He swiveled around, trying to spot some kind of explanation for it all, but of course, it was of no use. The clearing was completely empty.
"Grey..." he said finally, as he returned his gaze to his companion, "Wha... what's going on here?"

Mike spun around again, this time looking for Charmeleon. He found his partner where it had been all night, sleeping quietly next to his sleeping bag. He cautiously approached the red Pokémon and carefully nudged it back to a wakened state.
"Char?" it asked as it looked into Mike's eyes. It saw instantly that something wasn't right and jumped back to it's feet, eying the surroundings for danger.

"Grey, I think we should leave," said Mike to his friend, "I don't know what's going on, but I do know that Pokémon tend to be more in tune with nature than we are, and I think they sense something. I don't know if they're hiding or have fled from here, but whatever they did, I think the message is pretty clear that this place is about to become very dangerous."

Without saying another word, Mike hurried over to his sleeping bag and started rolling it up. He tried to do it as calmly as possible, to make it easier to fit on top of his back pack, but it wasn't easy. He started rushing as disturbing thoughts were flooding his head, trying to figure out just what had scared off every single shred of life in the area. For a moment, the large pokémon which had attacked Ekans' and Zubat's trainer came to mind. But could a pokémon really be responsible for this?

[OOC- Hehe I have no idea what's going on, but it's getting exciting! I don't know what you had in mind for the cause of this, but am I on the right track with the monster-pokémon (don't know what else to call it XD)?]

 

[LaenVulpix]

[OOC - Yet another "OMG long" delay, t'would seem. But you guessed wrognlyly, daxx~. For one, I'm still uncertain as to what the Mystery RAHR Pokémon is. xDDD]

BIC-

Grey's attention alighted on Mike with an overwhelming sense of relief. The older boy's voice shattered the ominous disquiet of the morning, despite the uneasy words the brunette laid down. He gave his silver hair another shake to banish it from his eyesight and settled for waiting until Mike had finished fumbling his own belongings into a transportable pack.

"I know - I think the place is already dangerous, Mike..." Grey started, his own youthful voice cloaked with a morose bitterness.

How could he have slept through this? He, who was as in sync with the Pokémon world as the very Pokémon who had fled, had felt no disturbance during the night.

"...can't you feel it? It's no Pokémon that did this...it's like....like..." he fumbled for an example.

"When I was young and I walked around the prairies, it felt similar to this whenever any of the other kids came around. It's when all the Pokémon go into hiding...I think someone is here."

A vague, condemning breeze ruffled his unkempt hair and shifted his clothes as he gave their surroundings a pointless looking-over. The fringe of trees marking the beginnings of forestland that surrounded them shed no secrets, only offering an opaque shadow where the branches fended themselves from the impeding sunlight.

"But who could intimidate so many Pokémon to flee or hide...I can't sense any carefree emotions...anywhere, right now. Either someone with a terrible aura, or a lot...a whole lot...of people." He muttered half to himself and half to his traveling companion.

Reiu's tail flickered with its sapphire glow, but even its light was compressed by the heavy quality of the air, and the lizard's own face was solemn. Instead of scrambling to scale Grey's body in order to perch on his shoulder, Pika sat silently by his foot, amber-golden eyes watching its trainer. Neither of them had any idea what had happened to their placid camping grounds as they slept, either, a realization that only helped to further Grey's worries.

With the empty shell of a threat that was the mysterious stalking Pokémon, the blue-eyed trainer could only consider one other possibility that could cause immediate concern.

"Mike." his voice had inevitably risen in pitch. "What if their - that organization - what if the place they were taking us to wasn't really far away? If they stopped early on, then they might've sent out people to look for us, wouldn't they?"


A rustling in the outskirts of their clearing made his heart freeze for a several heartbeats, then pound in his ears as he comprehended why the noise had been so unexpected. The sound had come from all around them, as if...well...as if a line of people had all taken a simultaneous step forward - towards them.

A voice from behind them made him startle, and he wheeled around as the speaker continued.

"Good morning, boys! For a couple of escapees you decided to take a break pretty early in, didn't you?...although my higher-up is curious as to how Grey here survived whatever destroyed the back of our van."

The familiar white-coated doctor greeted them. His appearance was more haggard than ever, as if he hadn't slept since the last time the two trainer's had seen him, yet a weary smirk adorned his face.

"But-" the unwelcome arrival made a curt hand gesture. "-We'll be able to figure that out soon enough, right?"

In every way he could think about it, they were surrounded. The same black-cloaked characters from before had hidden themselves rather adeptly in the foliage, advancing only at Raven's command.

Surrounded and outnumbered...way outnumbered. Now what? Grey questioned himself, restraining himself from turning to Mike for suggestions.

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Yahoo! Another post!!!11!1!!!one]

BIC-
Mike's gaze narrowed into the eyes of the young, but worn out doctor. We should have kept going. Mike stood his ground, not releasing his stare for even a second.
"Raven." he said with a dark ring to his voice, so unfamiliar that it surprised him a little. He guessed it was part of a defense instinct he had 'built in'. The doctor didn't seem like a villain at heart, but nevertheless he had kidnapped them and was going to use Grey for some weird experiments and that removed any sympathy Mike might have had for him.

"Haha, why the long face?", laughed the doctor and stepped closer.
"Don't come any closer Raven. Stay away!" barked Mike, trying to keep some sense of control in the hopeless situation.
"Oh yeah? Or you'll do what?" replied Leon calmly, obviously not threatened by Mike at all, "Did you happen to miss the dozens of subordinates that are surrounding you? You can't very well hope to put up any sort of fight." Mike scanned the area to see just how many they were, and there were a lot of people surrounding them.
"I might not win, but I won't just give up either." replied Mike as he unhooked several of his pokéballs from the belt, "Charmeleon, Pidgeotto, Ekans, Bulbasaur, Caterpie, Squirtle! I choose all of you!"

All of the pokémon appeared before Mike, and at his command, formed a tight circle around himself and Grey. Mike knew, without much doubt that they'd loose this battle, but if he surrendered just like that, he'd probably never forgive himself. If a person doesn't fight for himself and for those he cares about, he is doomed. The quote, one that his father always used to tell him, filled his mind. He hadn't truly believed in those words as much as he did now, ever before.

The situation grew tense, and it seemed as if the silence that had filled the meadow a while back returned, as everyone held their breath, waiting for either the two kids, or the doctor, to do something. Mike was clenching and un-clenching his fists unconsciously while trying to stay on top of the increasingly difficult situation.

Mike looked over to Grey, waiting for him to release some of his Pokémon. He didn't want to exclude Grey from the fight. If he did, he feared Grey would become less confident of himself; the last thing they needed now was Grey starting to doubt himself again.

[OOC- I know it's sort of a short post, but I'm guessing you want to be in the battle too ]

 

[LaenVulpix]

Grey's eyes narrowed visibly, but reflected no other outward signs of anger; his attention was caught up in the overwhelming - impossible - odds that they were up against. Whatever form of organization Mike and himself were caught up in, it was serious. In a cold kind of stupor, he realized that compared to this, Team Rocket's attempts were...well...comical.

The cloak-wearing underlings closed in on Mike's tight-knit circle of protective Pokémon, clothes rustling faintly in the overgrown grass, and a Pokéball was held in each person's gloved hand. Grey could conciously feel the adrenaline flooding his senses, a kind of steely clarity masking his own trembling fear. His blue eyes drained of any grey, and adopted a luminous azure quality that reflected the very heavens, had the morning air not been laden with fog and the heavy, tense emotion circulating throughout the clearing. The trees, a world away, separated by a solid wall of Pokémon trainers intent on apprehending them, swayed halfheartedly in a faux breeze.

Grey raised his left arm slowly, and let his fingers touch delicately on Sora's Pokéball. The metallic red surface seemed alive with static electricity, and a tingling sensation lingered on his fingertips as he pried the minimized sphere from its clip.

"You're right Mike, surrendering now would mean that we would be willingly going with them." he found himself speaking calmly. "And I'm not going to let them get the wrong idea of who we are."

In a fluid motion, we tapped the single Pokéball's white button and threw it in a high arc into the air, releasing the flying-type Pokémon inside. The Pidgey exploded out of its container in a powerful white light, taking to the air naturally as Grey caught the returning Pokéball. The ball impacted on his palm with a defiant tack!

"Pii!"

Sora arched through the air, it's emerald-green eyes sharp and serious, settling firmly on its trainer's shoulder with sharp talons. Its wings were poised, ready for a swift takeoff at a single word from Grey.

Grey, however, seemed to almost slacken, his eyelids lowering to cover his crystal-blue eyes, and his hands slipping into his jeans' pockets as if of their own regard. His silvery hair ruffled lightly in a wind generated by near-invisible lines of gentle blue fire, which were highlighting the prone character's figure, projecting the appearance that he was glowing.

Raven's hazel-green eyes widened in a conflict of similar emotions even he was unsure of. His curiosity - was it a natural doctor's interest in a singularly-unique patient, or the skewered, analytic questioning that had plagued him and resulted in his participation in such an organization to begin with. No matter what it was, the feeling that accompanied by a vague sense of awe, as the young child's clothing and hair fluttered lightly, moved by his energy. The last emotion was a forced one, a realization that he was giving the children a plethora of time to make a resistance.

"Apprehend them, but don't hurt the children!" he heard himself say, eyes refusing to look at either of the surrounded trainers' faces.

He pushed his small professor's glasses higher upon his nose with one finger, and stepped back to let the grunts perform the dirty work. But he was careful to keep his eyes focused on Grey's form, seeing how he commanded his Pokémon while in such an oblivious state. White lab coat damp from nonstop searching in order to locate the escaped trainers, Raven pulled his single Ultra Ball from his pocket's confines, rotating it idly in his hands. Anything to keep himself aware; and awake.

Grey took a deep breath, opening his mind's eyes as he felt himself developing the same type of spirit-like presence as he had in the back of a van the previous night. It felt like it had been eons ago, in a separate lifetime, but the knowledge, like some sort of chemical residue, had left its imprint on his mind.

Battle left no more time for contemplation - in a haphazard display of flashing white, the organization lackeys were pitching out their own Pokéballs, revealing a white array of Pokémon.

"Sora - to the skies and use Whirlwind where there are the most enemies; Pika - Agility, Double Team, and then take out any enemies prone to your electricity while they try to figure out where the real copy is; Reiu - Smokescreen the group in front of you, use Fire Spin to catch as many of them as you can, and use melee attacks on any others close enough."

Grey was dimly aware that he was speaking the words aloud, but his voice was hardly a whisper to be caught up and carried away in the heat of battle. Yet there was no doubt that his Pokémon had heard every word.

With a screech, Sora launched itself into the sky, feathered wings pounding the air powerfully as it pinpointed a prime area to clear away with its devastating Whirlwinds. The scraggly Pikachu flickered out of sight in a jolt of speed, splitting into multiple copies as it neared its foes with static leaping from its red cheeks, small fangs bared. Reiu paused only long enough to cast its trainer an unfalteringly proud glance, then turned itself on a crowd of incoming Pokémon, flying, crawling, running, or otherwise. Smoke issued from its snout, until it inhaled powerfully, breathing thick black smoke on the exhale.

Grey prepared his next set of commands, all while waiting for them to be overpowered. He was determined, and he had discovered the way to block his weakness, but that didn't mean he wouldn't recall his Pokémon before they were seriously injured. He was merely going to give the arrogant organization members something to remember when they thought about Grey of Viridian Forest. He knew Mike was doing the same, back to back with him.

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC - Alright, let's get down to some action, shall we? *maniacal laugh*]

BIC-
Mike pressed his back hard against Grey's, trying to keep safe and close to his friend. He needed to think of the best strategy to defend themselves. Every so often the truth, that is to say that fighting was utterly useless, crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. He had learned long ago that if you don't believe you stand a chance, you won't. Thus, if there was one moment he needed to believe in victory, it was now. Strategy - that's what was important. That's what he had to concentrate on.

He looked around at the people surrounding him and finally rested his eyes on Raven. He was their leader. Maybe if they could take him out...
"Grey," whispered Mike, "We should try dueling with Raven... That way, first of all, everyone will be watching. And if we manage to defeat him, there's bound to be some confusion. Maybe then we'll be given a chance to slip away..." Not really giving Grey a chance to respond, Mike called out to the doctor.
"If you want us so badly, why don't you personally come and get us?" shouted Mike with a cocky expression, "We challenge you to a duel, if you think you're man enough to handle it!" Leon looked on with a surprised expression.
"Well, I can't say I expected that... then again, I'm not really surprised either" he replied calmly, "But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint. Even if you could defeat me, you wouldn't stand a chance against the others here, all coming at you at once. There's really no point." Leon was feeling quite bad about the whole situation. He was feeling like somewhat of a coward, backing out of such a challenge. This was strengthened by the fact that it was quite clear that the challenge was a desperate attempt by the boys to get out of the situation in one piece. There was however, nothing he could do about it. His superiors had given him orders to take the two kids, and that was the end of it.

"Alright, enough of this. Get them!" shouted Leon. Suddenly, the meadow sparked back into life as the circle of henchmen tightened around Mike and Grey, like a noose. Mike and Grey frantically cried out for their pokémon to attack, but there was barely any time to react. By the time the pokémon had started moving, the henchmen, some of them with pokémon, some without, were on top of them. Within seconds Reiu, Charmeleon, Pika, Sora and all the others were wrestled to the ground and stuffed into bags. At this point Mike put up his fists in a vain attempt to fight the attackers himself, but he too was wrestled to the ground and subsequently handcuffed. As he lay on the ground, he saw that the same fate had befallen Grey.

Leon seemed to stay in the background, but he called out to Mike and Grey,
"It seems we were slightly foolish to put you and your pokémon in the same truck before... We'll make sure that won't happen again."
Mike cursed to himself as the cloaked men grabbed a hold of him. He could feel the wet grass soak his pants as he was dragged across the meadow and back to the road. He could hear trucks starting up behind him and soon he was loaded into one of them. Soon after, Grey too was lifted into the truck.

"Well well, that wasn't too hard? Don't worry my friends, it won't be long now." said a familiar voice as Leon Raven climbed into the truck. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe, "Still, we want to make sure there are no complications this time around." He moved up to Mike an Grey and injected them both with a clear liquid.
"What was that?" demanded Mike, glaring at the doctor.
"You'll notice soon enough" replied Raven. As Leon climbed back out of the van, Mike began to feel groggy. He felt himself drifting off to sleep. With his last strength, he leaned over to Grey and said "Grey... We'll ge....". As he collapsed in the back of the van, he could hear the dull far away echo of the doors to the truck being closed and locked before he totally lost consciousness.

[OOC- I hope you don't mind the slight autoing in this post, and if you prefer a battle over just being overwhelmed, we can redo it. I just thought considering how long we've been at this scene, having a battle would drag it out for eons, and we might as well continue with the storyline. Or what do you think?]

 

[LaenVulpix]

{{ -pretends she most definitely did NOT put this off for WAY too long- }}

BIC-

Grey's initial thoughts, before his mind attempted to latch onto the panic his situation made inevitable, was how uncomfortable his position was. A pleasant hum droned foremost in his head, filling his ears with the monotone sound, and canceled out any deep contemplation. Goosebumps ridged his skin where it was bare, derived from a whistling draft that snaked its way past him every few odd seconds.

Wait....why...where...I.. the silver-haired boy struggled valiantly to center on one particular thought for several moments, before giving in once more to the haughty buzzing that had numbed his mind.

His arms were raised above his head, bent slightly at the elbows, and his hands were angled awkwardly down at the wrists. Not a posture common for drowsing youths, if not for the fact that his wrists were pinned closely to a substantially jagged surface. His back rested against this same surface, uneven and unhindered by man, but his neck ached from the slumped position his head had been in prior to his awakening. One of his legs was bent at the knee, his boot heel resting halfheartedly on a similarly-rough floor, and the other had likely been in the same stance before it had overbalanced and fallen lazily to one side.

The air was wet and chilled, accompanied by near-constant drafts of humid air that echoed dismally throughout the cell he found himself locked in.

This really didn't seem too important though, not in the face of the hum that accented his every thought. It was as if anything that would cause him distress was being wiped from his mind...

He leaned into the wall, only to flinch instinctively away when a jutting rock dug painfully into the back of his head, flattening his roguish hair against the back of his skull. The ache slowly subsided, washed away by the incessant, droning hum.

The cell he was imprisoned in, he realized in some faraway voice, was carved out of natural rocky caverns, probably deep beneath the land. Water dripped occasionally from the high ceiling, creating mineral-laced pools. Beyond his view, five other cells lined the wall, with the same number opposing them on the other side of the eerie hallway.

"Dooom...."

Blinking sluggishly, thankfully unaware of the blank, dull quality of his eyes, Grey squinted past the thick metallic - iron maybe - bars enclosing him. Overhead, some sort of Pokémon were lighting the room, although the heavy atmosphere squeezed the life out of it, and if he could convince his eyes to focus, it shouldn't be hard to tell -

The Pokémon that had been watching him silently for several hours snorted again, let out a low growl, and turned on its paws. In two bounding strides, the Houndoom had left Grey's range of vision, muted echoes resounding against the cavern walls as it padded towards some unknown destination - presumably to inform its master that the boy had awoken.

Failing to shift his wrists into a more compromising position, the grey-eyed character fought his way into a semi-crouch, back pressed against the jagged wall in support. For a moment the soreness faded in his arms, but his legs simply weren't interested in holding his weight, and the next second found him sprawled on the ground again, held up even worse by his wrists. The metal that was pinning them to the wall was biting into his skin, and it took several minutes of maneuvering to convince his body to support itself.

Grey sighed lethargically, and glanced around himself, unperplexed.

{{Grey's "humming noise" is supposed to be some sort o' medicine to keep him from attempting to use his powers befor ethey can observe him, so it's all your choice at to whether Mike has the same condition or not. -nods-}}

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC - After an insanely long break, I'm back at the driver's seat of my computer and I'm ready to rock and roll!!! translation: here's my next post ^^]

BIC -

Mike slowly opened his eyes, blinked once or twice, and then tried to focus his vision. He was in a real mess this time, and it wasn't going to be easy to get out of. He tried to get a grip of exactly what had happened up to this point (it was still slightly fuzzy). Mike's hands were pinned down behind him, just like Greys', and he squirmed and twisted around to get a better look at his wrists. He attempted to stand up, but he was unstable on his legs; as he tried to get on his feet, he toppled forward and was met by the searing pain of having his fall stopped by metal cutting into his wrists.

Mike tried using force, pulling himself away from the wall, but his hands were firmly held in place. He stopped for a while, collapsed back onto the ground and looked around. There were stone walls all around him, and in front of him were thick metal bars. Suddenly, he realized that something was approaching him. The hallow clicking noise of paws echoed in the chamber and soon a Houndoom was standing in front of his cell. It looked at him intensely and Mike was surprised to see it just standing there, but his thoughts soon drifted to his own pokémon. He looked down to see that his trainer's belt was missing.
Where are my Pokémon?! thought Mike to himself in panic. He desperately tried pulling himself loose again, but to no avail. He quickly raised his glance to find that the Houndoom had disappeared from view.
"Hey! Come back here! Let me out of here!" yelled Mike. He collapsed back to the ground again and tried to think.

There had to be some kind of way out of there. No situation was totally hopeless. If only he'd had his pokémon; then he could have surely broken free from his restraints and gotten out of the cage somehow... if only. Mike began to realize how much he really depended on his pokémon on a daily basis. Life was a whole lot more difficult without them around. He was virtually helpless.

He sighed heavily and squirmed a bit more, trying to get into a comfortable position. Hopefully, he'd be taken out of this dungeon eventually, be it for interrogation or torture or whatever. At least it was better than just being locked up. Maybe he'd even be able to escape.

Grey! thought Mike suddenly, Is Grey alright?! He looked around a bit more, as if to make sure he hadn't just missed Grey in some corner of his cell.
"Grey?" shouted Mike into the dark room. He needed a reply desperately; if Grey was there, they might be able to come up with some plan, and if so, they could escape!

[OOC - Yay, another post has entered the interwebs! Tag, you're it!]

 

[LaenVulpix]

Grey flinched slightly as a bolt of sound lanced across what he had thought was a desolate, hollowed cavern, dimmed only by the profound humming that engaged his mind. His numb wrists twisted sharply as he swiveled his head to the left, the right, and back to dead center, slumped slightly in weariness.

The voice was tantalizingly familiar, and after some deep consideration he recognized the word that had echoed around the underground cell moments before. Despite this, his mouth refused to shape itself into a reply, kind of like how his fogged grey eyes were reluctant to focus on any one subject.

"Why bother," the thrum in his mind asked silkily, "when it might just bring misfortune to this tranquility?"

"I'm cold." he muttered in rebuttal of this soothing voice, but there was no real conviction in his words.

The buzzing now ebbed back enough for him to sense the pain pulsing through his skull in waves, accompanied by aches that made him ponder if he head been in some sort of scuffle or fight.

Why... he wondered with disorientation, why...why...why...

But he forgot what he had been asking himself about, and lapsed into a mental silence. He gnawed vaguely on his lower lip.

Maybe that voice - the one that knew his name and had used it - knew something. About something.

"Who are you?" he cried as a starter, but found himself unable to resist adding a few more inquisitive phrases to the end of the first. "Where are we? What happened to me? Why can't I...I...remember..."

The buzzing refused to leave entirely, latching onto his thoughts and jumbling them even as he spoke...were those footsteps he heard, tapping sharply on the carved stone floor in contrast to the heavy clicks of paws? If that other voice hadn't an answer,then would whoever the fire-type Pokémon had fetched help him...?

And why was his mind humming? The insistent, persistent drone provoked a spike of irritation from the drugged character, who tugged at his bonds pointlessly in reaction.

"Huh...about time you got it right, stupid mutt...honestly. Go fetch Leon - he's actually awake this time."

The harsh female voice would've startled the hell out of Grey, but the humming turned the volume of her thoughtless blathering down a few notches. His unfocused eyes could make out no more than the hooded cloak the figure wore - not that he cared. Before he managed to remember to ask her about his curious situation, she was tap-tap-tapping away, whisked away down the hollow corridor to investigate the owner of the other voice - of the other captive, she would have said.

Sleep. That sounded like a positive suggestion, prompted out of nowhere by his aching, aching head, but he reisisted the temptation. After he got everything sorted out, perhaps...

"You - are you awake too? You'd better be! You didn't get that nasty-lookin' medicine Leon prepared for the other, I don't think."

 

[daxx0r]

[OOC- Mah god Firefox, sorry for the increadible delay. I've been totally swamped with stuff to do preparing college and all and this was the first time I got to write... It's not much, I know, but it moves the story forward at least]

BIC-
"I'm cold" The voice echoed back through the dark chamber in response to Mike's call. For a moment, he felt nothing but relief, but this was soon replaced with worry, when Grey continued his response. The words carved themselves deep into Mike's mind and he felt the tears building up inside. He usually managed to remain calm, even in situations like this, but this time he just couldn't.

Ever since they had first arrived in Pewter city; heck, even before that, bad things had just piled up on him. Mike always reasoned that people have some form of dormant energy reserve for dealing with hard situations, but when problem after problem hit him square in the face like this, his reserve was becoming drained very quickly. It was as if some unseen force was trying to break him.

Trying not to appear as troubled as he was, he remained silent, but inside, he was arguing with himself.
It never ends! Why can't things end well even once?! Now Grey doesn't even know who... His inner voice fell silent. He sobbed quietly to himself for a few minutes while he collected his thoughts and tried to calm down.

He had to think straight if he wanted to get out of this in one piece. He hoisted himself up as much as he possibly could and attempted to get close enough to his hands to wipe the tears from his eyes, but he didn't quite manage. He just grazed his eyes with his sleeve, but it would have to do the job.

He yanked on the chains one more time before settling down in surrender. Suddenly, a voice spoke somewhere in the darkness.
"Huh...about time you got it right, stupid mutt...honestly. Go fetch Leon - he's actually awake this time." Soon after, the woman to whom the voice belonged approached and stood in the darkness surrounding his cage. The person's face was hidden concealed in the darkness but he could make out the faint outlines of the eyes, nose and mouth.

"You - are you awake too? You'd better be! You didn't get that nasty-lookin' medicine Leon prepared for the other, I don't think." She said.
"Who are you? What do you want with us?!" demanded Mike. The woman chuckled slightly and then walked away.
"Oh you'll see soon enough" she said as she continued towards Grey's cage.

"Hey!" called Mike into the darkness, but it was to no avail - the woman was completely ignoring him as she eyed the shackled Grey from within the darkness.