Shades of Lavender (Full!)

[Snapdragon]

((Snapdragon never learns. XD I'm back again with another roleplay, and it's once again Pokemon-centric because I said so. It takes place at the same time as the GSC/DP games, which is to say three years after FR/LG and RSE.
Pretty much the same deal as Trial By Fire, as far as rules go. I'm going to limit this to 3-4 roleplayers again, but this time I'm being picky. People who choose a less common Pokemon to play are more likely to be counted in. Rattata will beat out an Eevee, Wigglytuff is likely to trump Charmander, etc. I like creativity. :B))

Rules are simple:
1. Use common sense. If your Bulbasaur hatches in one post and evolves two posts later, I'll be mighty suspicious. If Mewtwo (or so help me, Mewthree) descends from on high to mingle with the Sentrets, I'll kick him right back where he came from. If you're a wild shiny Charizard with Blast Burn and Belly Drum... wtf, man.
2. Movesets aren't limited to four. Go wild, but use some discretion. How's a wild Ponyta going to learn Solarbeam?
3. Ghost Pokemon are not, for all purposes, really ghosts. They're just Pokemon capable of going through walls and turning invisible. Ghosts assume the shape they had while alive, like the Marowak spirit in FR/LG. Everyone can see ghost Pokemon, but the ghosts of Pokemon, not so much. You'd need a Silph Scope or a keen sixth sense. However, ghost, psychic, and dark Pokemon can see them. Normal, poison, and fighting types are also likely to be able to see them, but it's not guaranteed. Vulpixes, Ninetales, and Pokemon with Keen Eye as an ability are also likely to have a sharp sixth sense.
If your character can see spirits, fine and dandy by me.

With that out of the way, a handy list of characters, then onto the intro post.

Kivali the Calamity - Cubone, female. One of several Cubone orphans that moved to the Rock Tunnel after the destruction of Lavender Tower. Not very talkative, and incredibly superstitious. Adorns her skull with warpaint in honor of her mother. Her title is self-given, but not an exaggeration; Kivali fights with the fury of a demon.

Adreya, Son of Fenwild (AKA Sprite) - Clefable, male. Deceased. Adreya was the name given to him by his father, Fenwild, but Sprite was the name his trainer gave him. Was once a Kanto Pokemon League champion. Accidentally run over by a wild Onix while passing through Mt. Moon, died as a result. Used to be buried in the Lavender Tower. A sensible, knowledgeable warrior, but very sensitive about his feminine-sounding name and pink, fluffy appearance.

Matsika Stormsight - Spearow, male. Supposedly hails from a long line of Fearow shamans, though it's not for certain; there are rumours that he's a mutt. Got separated from his flock when a trainer captured him, but little came of it. He sat in the kid's PC for a while, then was released when said trainer needed to make room for Eevee eggs. Has a very strong sixth sense. Not only is he able to see ghosts, but he seems to have the gift of precognition. The name Stormsight came from his ability to warn his flock of coming storms. Very spiritual, but also hotheaded and brash.

Mariel Edwards - Beedrill, female. Shiny. Radio Tower's informal mascot and guardian. Something of a small-time celebrity in Lavender Town. Always wears a pink ribbon around her neck. Almost irritatingly modest and meek, but defends the radio tower fiercely. In spite of her type disadvantage and supposedly weak species, she has a reputation as a ghost Pokemon destroyer. Named Edwards after the producer's last name -- it was his daughter that raised Mariel from a Weedle and gave her a name.

Bonnie Backstab - Sentret, female. Bonnie is a expert theif, whose mind is sharper than any Scyther's blade. Given the name 'Backstab' from the local Pokes of Johto, her real name was abandoned. She made her way to Kanto after sneaking on train from Goldenrod to Saffron. The name 'Bonnie' came around when she teamed up with Doublecross. Her favorite targets are young trainers, aiming for their TM and Poke'block Cases. She wears a human fanny pack around her midriff like a backpack. Also goes by "BB".
(Played by Pixelchu)

Clyde Doublecross - Zigzagoon, male. Doublecross found his way into Kanto after stumbling on a cruise ship from Hoenn. He isn't the brightest crayon in the box. Speed is his thing. Called 'Doublecross' long ago, his true name is forgotten. He met Backstab in Vermillion City. He took up 'Clyde' as a first name after meeting Backstab. He also wears a fanny pack on his back. His favorite targets are Gyms, only for the shiny badges. Also goes by "CD".
(Played by Pixelchu)

Halito "Hali" Chibang - Natu, male. Aggressive. Very aggressive. He doesn't take second chances easily. Seems kinda mean at first, until you get to know him better. In reality, he's scared of something. He's scared of dying like his father did when he fought against some ghost Pokemon.
(Played by Shiny_Eevee)

Kodent- Absol, male. Visiting Kanto with his trainer to, originally, spend time with her parents in Viridian, the girl made the bold decision to release her entire team with the intention of reuniting with them some time later after they had the chance to explore the region in their own time. Rash, cunning, but respectively loyal, Kodent has taken advantage of the opportunity presented to him.
The single oddity about him (other than being an absol in Kanto) is the Soothe Bell the trainer's pikachu left with him as a promise of finding each other. He keeps it tied around his rear left leg, and as such usually steps gingerly for fear of losing it.
(Played by Belle)

Ace Brushfire - Growlithe, male. Ace was a Growlithe training under the local Lavender Police Force in hopes of making his father proud of him. During the Construction of the Tower an Accident killed his Father. Feeling distraught he ran away and became a wild Growlithe.
Now he's a washed up old Pokemon trying to keep his apprentice, Grould out of Trouble.
(Played by Rocket X)

Grould Silverfang - Poochyena, male. An eager, young Poochyena training under Ace. His Father was a mysterious stray Ninetales and his mother was a purebred, contest-winning Mightyena. Because he had Vulpix genes in him, he was abandoned for not being purebred and was raised by Ace. He has supernatural abilities which may have come form his Father.
(Played by Rocket X)



----


They tore down the tower years ago.

They uprooted the graves, leveled the tombstones, scattered the monuments. Gastlies, Haunters, Cubones were evicted unceremoniously -- even the Rattatas in the foundations and Zubats tucked away in the tower's peak were outed without so much as a "by your leave." It didn't sit right with everyone in Lavender Town at first, knocking down a sacred burial ground and making something as frivolous as a radio tower in its place. Nevertheless, radio broadcasts were more exciting than hushed prayers, and it brought in tourists. The grumbles quieted down, and people adjusted to living in the shadow of antennas and steel skeletons, not dusty stone and a constant chill.

It wasn't so easy for the wild Pokemon. Rock Tunnel has become overcrowded as the tower dwellers flocked to the nearest cool, dark place. The ghosts have been able to stake out their own territory with relative ease; they resist Zubat's venom, and neither fighting nor ground-types can harm them. Cubones, on the other hand, compete fiercely with Machops for space and food. The tower refugees know nothing of radio shows or economic growth; all they know is their home was taken away and replaced with a strange metal spire.

And so it went for years. The tower had fallen, there was no going back; adjusting was the only option. Then strange things began to happen. Every day after sundown, there would be dead air on the radio for exactly 11 minutes. Every hour, on the hour, until the sun rose again, nothing but static. Rumours started springing up. If you listened closely, you could hear whispers in the static. If you managed to record it and played it backwards, they'd sound like threats. Radio Tower employees began having terrible luck. A popular host's beloved Meowth drowned at the docks south of town, the janitor fell down the stairs and broke his collar bone... given the location's past, it didn't take much for people to start calling the radio tower haunted.

Then it got worse. Pokemon began vanishing. None of the Lavender Town citizens lost Pokemon, only the tourists and outsiders. Anyone who set foot into town would wake up the next day with empty pokeballs. People would come near Lavender if you paid them, for fear of vengeful spirits taking away their beloved Pokemon. Lavender Town, once known as the ghost tower town, was at risk of becoming no more than a ghost town with a tower.

And then Matsika Stormeye came to town. The Spearow perched on a tree on the edge of town, the gaping entrance of the Rock Tunnel at his back. He didn't know the name of the place he'd found, and he didn't see any signs of his flock, but nevertheless... he lingered. Waited. For... something important, he was sure, he just had yet to figure out precisely what that important thing was.

 

[Sami]

Two small brown figures could be seen running into Lavender town, one zigging like a drunken Stantler, the other hopping like a frantic Kanghaskan. Not to far behind them, a trainer, who came to a screeching stop before entering Lavender Townline. Hands on knees, the boy panted looking at the town. "Screw that...those TM's aren't worth losing my Poke'mon over." Huffing, he frowned at the two figures that had stop to look back at him, one figure catching its breath, the other giving a fanged grin. Standing upright on it's tail, the critter held a case in it's hands, looking back at the departing trainer triumphantly.

Chuckling, the Sentret lowered itself down to it's feet, plodding over to the panting Zigzagoon. Patting him on the head, Bonnie Backstab was happily grinning as the two headed for a tree that looked rather sickly. Moving a pile of leaves and twigs out of the way, the hole at the base by the roots of the tree was revealed as the duo entered their home. "Hah, I tell ya' Clyde, ever since we set up camp here in Lavender, stealing on Route 8 has been easier than ever! Little panseys won't even come into town. Haha!" The tree was quite hollow inside, allow them space to put their stolen loot and sleep. They had used their little claws to hollow out even more here and there, creating little 'shelves' in the tree for their bounty. No wonder the tree was so sickly looking.

The Zigzagoon chuckled as he squiggled out of his little pack, giving a stretch and a yawn. "Yeah, makes it easier. I'm turning in for the day, BB. See you in the morning." Clyde curled up into a little ball. Bonnie gave a frown, CD spent more time sleeping than stealing nowadays, but it wasn't like she wasn't able to steal without him. She was Bonnie Backstab for crying outloud. She could rob a trainer blind before they had a chance to pull out a Poke'mon to defend themselves with! As Clyde fell asleep in the lower portion of the tree, Bonnie climbed higher, taking off her own little pack before she exited the tree from a hole high up, still clutching the new TM case under one arm. Upon coming out of the tree, she inhaled the fresh air with a smile. It was always nice, the feeling after a good steal.

Sitting herself down, her little feet swayed as she happily opened the case, oblivious to the Spearow also perched on the branch. Rifling through the case she hummed a little tune. Well, this trainer certainly had some good TM's, but the good were few and the rest were a bit bland. "Safeguard...lame. Protect...eh, okay. Theif...hah, like I need this!" She giggled as she handled each carefully and delicately. "Eh, what would I need this for?" Her face contorted as she looked at the CD-like object in her hand. Looking around, she was about to toss it over her shoulder before she finally noticed the Spearow on the branch. "Hey you, beak-face. Come here a sec'." She guestured for the Spearow to come towards her, TM still in hand and the case in her lap. "Wanna' learn a cool move?"

 

[Snapdragon]

Matsika seemed to be entirely oblivious to the presence of the Sentret at first. He remained perfectly still on the branch, eyes closed as if catching a nap. After a lengthy pause, the Spearow finally stirred -- to preen under one ruddy-colored wing. Once he was satisfied with that, he lifted his head at last, glancing over to the Sentret with a look of mild surprise. Spearows and Fearows alike were known for being savage, ill-tempered creatures, and Matsika was certainly no exception. Even if the Sentret was offering him some manner of shiny, presumably a peace offering, addressing him so disrespectfully had Matsika's feathers puffed up in an instant. Not that it was easy to tell just by looking at his face; the brown feathers splaying out from his face stuck out at crazy angles regardless of his mood.

"Oh, I'm sorry... were you speaking to me? When you said beak-face, I mistakenly assumed you were making an attempt at self-deprecating humour. Very silly of me, I realize; now that I take a good look at you, your face is quite squashed, not beak-like in the slightest." Matsika nodded to himself, talons clacking against the branch as he stalked over to the squirrel-rat... thing. His tone was light and vaguely comforting, but there was no hiding the warlike swagger in his steps, even on as narrow a perch as the branch. Matsika was aggressive by nature, but a seer had to have some dignity. It was a fairly common habit of his to adopt a ridiculously formal way of speaking when something had him provoked. It was more ridiculous than humbling, coming from such a scruffy bird, but nobody had the nerve to tell Matsika so to his face.

"If you had been making fun of yourself, you would have said something like pancake-snout, traffic-accident or trash-compactor. Beak-face wouldn't be appropriate at all." He flared his wings slightly in a passable imitation of a shrug, then neatly folded them once more. "Now then... I believe you wanted to show me a 'cool move,' as you so eloquently stated? May I inquire as to what role the shiny in your paws will be playing in that? It looks like a human creation, a field I'm less than knowledgeable in. You'll pardon my ignorance, I hope. Spearows are hunters, not scavengers, so we rarely come into contact with the discarded knickknacks of humanity."

 

[Sami]

If Bonnie had been a fire-type, one could have seen the smoke that wanted to arise from her ears. Thanks goodness for her dark brown fur, or one could've seen her cheeks turning red with annoyance. Her eyes flicked to the case while the bird spoke, looking at a yellow disc which reminded her of something. The feathered fluff was lucky she didn't just Thunderbolt him on the spot now that she thought of it. Not like she hadn't stolen and used TM's before. She had quite a few good moves herself thanks to her ways. Nevertheless, she kept a slightly interested look on her face rather than toasting the Spearow.

As the Spearow was just about finished, one could see that Bonnie was a bit frazzled on the outside. The fur on her tail, which was normally smooth was now slightly bristled and jagged. As the Spearow finished talking, the Sentret nodded. "Uh-huh, that's nice." A classic line to show that the listener did nothing of the sort. "Anywho, since you admit to be none too knowledgeable about the world outside of 'hunting' Rattata and crapping on buildings, I guess it won't be too much trouble to explain. Ignorance is bliss, after all." The Sentret stood up and with one arm, slide the TM case back inside the hole into her home, the one disc still in her paw. Turning to the Spearow, she rose herself up onto her tail, looking down at Matsika.

"This 'shiny' in my paws is what the humans call a 'TM', by breaking it over a Poke'mon or having the Poke'mon themself break it, it allows them to learn the move that is stored within the TM. This disc right here contains 'Steel Wing'. Since I obviously lack the required limbs for such a move, I figured you could probably put some use to it instead." As she told of the move, she had lowered herself back down, carefully adjusting the disc to where the Spearow could see the number and name on the discus - 'TM47 - Steel Wing'.

"So, all you would need to do is break the TM with your beak or I could crack it over your head, not literally of course - but you get my point." Bonnie moved the disc ever so slightly back and forth, causing the TM to glimmer in the sunlight. 'As tempting as it is...' Backstab thought in the corner of her mind. "Oh, by the way, my name is Bonnie. So you want the TM or not?"

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]The journey from the last city wasn't as quick, nor as pleasant as he had hoped- coming from Cerulean (instead of detouring through Saffron) had meant passing through Rock Tunnel, which had, since his last visit, been inhabited by far more than the usual Zubat or Geodude. The cavern was occupied by flocks and swarms of many different pokemon, from the brawling cubones and machops to the wicked haunters and ghastlies. The latter group had, naturally, taken the precaution of avoiding the dark pokemon (though his sheer size may have contributed), and the former were too puzzled by the Absol's presence to question his reasons for being in their cave. And why he was standing a good foot-and-a-half taller than anything of the same species that some of the trainers in the old pokemon tower may have used.
But in truth, the only thing that had really posed a threat was the thick-headed geodudes.
More of a nuisance than anything, they hovered close to his head and made a series of taunts and jeers intended to provoke him into a battle. Despite his rash nature, he avoided fighting when he could as his interest in the redundant tactics of the rock pokemon was quickly diminishing.
When they too had realised this, they usually floated away triumphantly, though why they left in such a mood he couldn't determine.

Though he had reasoned with himself that it was better this way- by passing through Rock Tunnel he had probably avoided a vast number of inexperienced trainers hurling pokeballs at his face, which, as one might imagine, was quite unpleasant.
And usually resulted in him laying waste to the capsule once he had broken it's hold, frightening said trainer enough for him to make an escape.
That too, had become a bit repetitive.

But by choosing this path, he had also managed to obtain valuable information concerning the town he was headed for- Having chosen to visit the tower to encounter ghost-type pokemon and train (he was determined to return to his trainer stronger than ever as reward for his temporary freedom) he soon learned that it had been demolished, hence the vast numbers now flooding the tunnel.
With this information came the rumours about vanishing pokemon, which had frightened anyone not familiar to the area enough to steer clear of it- the mystery of the Radio Tower and the promise of minute numbers of pokemon trainers was enough to send him on a direct route to the city.

Consequently, it brought him upon the scene where a.. A sentret (something he recognised as foreign to this region), it seemed, was trying to use a Technical Machine on a spearow.
Where the bristling pokemon had gotten the disk from was a mystery, but he himself had seen such things used numerous times on his comrades. More on the Bibarel that his girl had carried with them, though he couldn't understand why. The fluffy brown thing had been about as dull as a rock, though towards the end of their time in Sinnoh he began to suspect that there was a reason she had been using the near-unbreakable types of machines on him..

Disregarding the thought, he made an effort to discern what the conversation between them was as they grew larger while the city came nearer.
At first sight he might have assumed that they were comrades, and the sentret was treating the two of them to a new ability, but as their words became lucid, so did their tone. And it became increasingly apparent that this was not the case.
He felt the corners of his mouth curve into a half-smile, and the soft white fur along his back began to bristle. They were having a somewhat heated discussion, though the majority of it was built up of rather witty and admittedly amusing comments.[/size]

 

[Satoren]

"Now what could those two be up to?" whispered an old Growlithe. Although they were fairly distanced from the Pokemon arguing, Ace seemed to whisper out of second nature. It could be that his bark was out of practice these so many years, or that he simply felt he didn't have the right to call Pokemon out to a challenge. This, however, did not stop his young accomplice from wanting to do so.

The two had sat patiently behind the dumpster all day, waiting for the time when the alleged thieves, a Sentret and Zigzagoon, would make their move and dispose of the evidence in their little hideaway. "What do you think they could get from stealing all those things, Ace?" whispered Grould, although at a frequency much louder then Ace's own. Ace quickly pushed him back with a paw, as though hiding him from anyone who could hear or see, and seeing as how the suspects now had a keen Spearow with him, Grould's usual actions could very well give them away. Besides that, Ace analyzed that these Sentret were also pretty keen themselves, often being referred to by the humans as a "scout pokemon."

When he felt it was safe, Ace sighed. It'd be fine if he didn't have to do this sort of thing, and just go back to his cozy little crevice and lounge about, but he was much too worried that he'd be teaching this kid something wrong, and that another failure would be written onto his imaginary record.

Grould, on the other hand was becoming excited. He had all this energy built up all day, just waiting to pounce out. His mind began to wander, and he imagined himself just jumping in and letting loose a Roar so loud it could wake the Zubats. He would then say something dramatic and witty, just like all those heroes he and Ace had sneaked a peek of as they watched the Humans's Televisions form outside their windows. That would be so cool, and yet totally unprofessional. He knew Ace was just about ready to give up on him, so he couldn't mess this one up. Must resist...puppy...impulses, he thought to himself. He sat down, his back against the wall as he let out the smallest of sighs. He shook his face, focussed his eyes, and put on a mean face, then, he peeked out from behind the garbage can and at the suspects.

*ooc:lol effing BIG post. And nothing really happened xD hopefully someone caught ear or eye of them...cuz Grould's about to explode into a monologue...*

 

[Snapdragon]

What was wrong with hunting Rattata? Matsika imagined they were much tastier than eating garbage. He much preferred Pikachu, though, but they were quite the challenge to catch, and he had yet to see any roaming wild this far out. Perhaps squirrel-rat would be an acceptable substitute, even if it looked to be all poof and no substance. Well... he could think about lunch later. The Sentret was being nice enough to explain her shiny to him, after all, and that was rather thoughtful, all things considered. Matsika... was in a benevolent mood that day. He would forgive the Sentret her transgressions and simply pretend she had never uttered the words beak-face. Of course, a little bribery never hurt, either; it would be unwise to ignore the opportunity to learn a new attack.

Steel Wing... that struck a vaguely familiar note. Yes... his flock had been roosting near Viridian, and had taken wing northward to hunt. He recalled a strange building full of humans, and the arena below containing a Dewgong and a strange bird with swords for feathers. Whenever the human below had told it "Steel Wing," it had scythed through the Dewgong's ice with ease. In that case... it seemed fortune had smiled down on Matsika that day. Best not give the squirrel thing time to reconsider. His head shot forward suddenly, beak clamping down on the smooth disk and giving a hard yank, biting down as he did so. Immediately, a burst of silvery light shot out, settling on his feathers like embers before dissipating. It wasn't a painful experience, but all the same... Matsika didn't much care for it. He flexed a wing carefully, eying his feathers closely.

"Bonnie-squirrel... thank you for that shiny. Ice is what is the Spearow-Enemy. I need not fear the thunder. The Sky-Maker grants me his protection through my name." Matsika spread both wings and bowed low, tail feathers sticking into the air. It was a typical gesture amongst bird-types, especially quarrelsome ones like Spearows. By lowering oneself with spread wings, one allowed themselves a moment of vulnerability -- a classic way of showing he wasn't after a fight. "I am Matsika Stormsight." He concluded, chest plumage puffed up as if that name were something worth admiration. Which it would be, if you happened to be aware of Spearow creation myths. It was thankful, then, that the eyes that had earned Matsika his title were as sharp as ever. A movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention, sparing the Sentret a long lecture on the Sky-Maker. Instead, he began preening the exact same wing he'd been grooming mere moments before. He stole a subtle glance in the midst of the action. Something large, white, and strange was below them. This large thing, something grey -- maybe big, maybe small... maybe something else? He hadn't seen enough to tell, so he simply muttered to the Sentret. "Bonnie... we're being watched. Take the dog out in the open behind me. I'll take the other."

What better time to test out this new attack of his? Matsika had the warrior blood of Fearows running through his veins. Peck first, ask questions later! The Spearow pushed off of the branch, tiny wings churning furiously as he shot towards the glimpse of grey he'd caught earlier, screaming out a reckless challenge. "Eyes that can see the birth of storms can see skulking worms, too! Come face Matsika Stormsight, if you've got a spine to you!"

 

[Sami]

"Yeah, no problem." Bonnie flexed her little claws and looked at them, counting to make sure there were all still there. Sheesh, the Spearow could've been a little more decent about it, she could've lost a paw! She wasn't very interested in talking to him anymore even after his thank you. However, the mention of being watched caused the Sentret to shoot upwards onto it's tails, eyes scanning for immediate threats. The large, white canine that the Spearow spoke of was out in the open, if it wanted to attack, it would've done so already. Bonnie dismissed the Absol as a non-threat...for now. As the Spearow hopped off the branch and flew like an arrow, her face distorted to a look of disbelief.

"Oh heeeeell no." She ran to the edge of the branch as the Spearow took off, watching him charge. Darting back to the hole in the tree, she picked up her TM case and threw it down - onto Clyde's head. "CD! Wake up, we've got company!!!" She grabbed her pack with her paws as she hopped down, landing on the half-awake Doublecross's midriff, certainly waking him up. Now wide awake and rather sore, the Zigzagoon slipped into his own pack as he let Bonnie pull things out and put things into his bag. They were used to this routine, and this procedure too no more than a minute. After all, theives have to be fast, right? As Clyde peeked out from under the leaves that hid the bottom route into the tree, Bonnie was doing fast packing of her bag. Unlike Clyde, whose bag she had put things like stolen Potions and medicines into, Backstab was stuffing her bag with her personal TM case - which she had emptied and filled with TM's she liked or found useful and the Berry pouch they had made off with about a few months ago.

Clyde was a little surprised when Bonnie put her back atop of Clyde, fastening in place. "Head to the hideout under the Tower. Take the back route, anything bigger than me can't fit into that opening." BB instructed her partner in crime as the two left the tree. Bonnie looking at the Absol curiously before dismissing it, watching for the result of Matsika's foolish charge at whatever was near the dumpster. Shoot, knowing a Spearow, he could be attacking the dumpster for the hell of it. Spearow's were like that. Little brutish things. Her eyes were kept on Matsika as she allowed her ears to keep 'watch' on the Absol, just in case it tried anything funny.

As for Doublecross, he was making his zigzagged way around buildings and closer to the tower, doing his best to remain undetected by anything, even random humans. He did however, stop to devour a oran berry he found on the ground. His Pickup abilities often gave him more silly distractions than steathly blessings. He continued his way towards the Radio Tower, going around to the back of it and sniffing about. Now where was that back entrance? They hadn't used the second hideout in awhile, so their scents weren't all that easy to find. Plus they always hid the entrance so well here, his eyes were kinda useless in this scenario.

Bonnie was on the ground, muscles tense. What a stupid bird...wait, why was she even still here? Bonnie Backstab was support for no-one! Besides Clyde...but that was only because he was too stupid to be on his own. So why wasn't she moving? Ugh, maybe she spent to much time with that dumb Zigzagoon. Having a partner was making her go soft! The Sentret was on her tail, trying to get the best view with her eyes as possible. It was a little hard, splitting her attention between her eyes and ears while keeping her body at the ready; but a theif has gotta do what a theif has gotta do, right?

 

[Satoren]

Ace blinked at the scene before him. It seems the Spearow actually took the TM from the sentret and used it on himself! This was a strange sight indeed. When he was a young Growlithe, he had seen this being done to his fellow Pokemon, but he himself had never experienced it. He was offered the chance at one point, but refused it. He didn't need any special new attacks to become a dependable Police Growlithe, like his Father, he would rescue those in need, and fend off criminals without the need to learn strange new ways to battle.

In any case, Ace eyed the TM carefully, he could not make out what the TM was, but his knowledge of this so-called Pokemon typing he heard often from Travellers chatting allowed him to arrive at the conclusion that the TM in question contained a power only Pokemon like Spearow could use.

Grould on the other hand had been more attentive, in the hopes of pointing out vital info to nail the suspects for their crimes. The TM apparently taught the Spearow Steel Wing. "Ace," he whispered, "I don't think I've ever seen or heard about such a power. This could get dangerous if we don't know what we're up against."

Ace huffed and smiled at Grould. "Nice to know you were paying attention," he told him as he chuckled at Grould, who made a face at his sarcasm. Ace's ear bent slightly, as he heard the Spearow suddenly crow out. "Well, either way, it looks like we're gonna find out," he told him as his smile dropped to a frown. It looked like the Meowth was out of the bag for both of them now. The best they can do is negotiate and hope that the Spearow would fly away since he wasn't of any concern to their case. But Grould thought otherwise, and quickly leaped out of the trash can to retaliate.

"Who are you calling worms?!" He yelled out, indignant at the Spearow's last comments. Ace quickly dashed out and gave his protege a good tackle in the side. As Grould tumbled slightly, he quickly diverted his attention to his new buddies. "Stormsight, is it?" Ace asked. "Listen, this doesn't concern you. We're only here to return the loot these two thieves stole from the young humans. It's best you cooperate," he finished with a gruff bark.

Grould tried to make heads or tails of the scene before finally getting back on his feet. He looked over at Ace and saw a face so serious that he had only ever seen one when he was still a little pup. Ace quickly glanced at him and gave him the slightest of nods. Grould blinked at him and again went back to viewing the Spearow, and finally allowing his eyes to wander towards the stash neatly tucked away within the tree it was perched on. The stash was gone! He turned over to the suspects and found they were racing to pack up everything. With a slight grin, he began to back away slowly until he was completely out of sight from behind an old crate. Can't have that now can we? he thought, as one of the suspects, a somewhat large prickly Pokemon, made its away around the house they had hid behind and suddenly diappeared from sight. It was then that Ace noticed him fading away into the shadows of the Box, before he heard the slightest thud on the ground as Grould's paws passed behind him at an instant of an instant.

*OOC: FAINT ATTACK! ;D*

Grould dashed towards the building and peeked behind it to see of he had been noticed by the 1st suspect, the Sentret. When he found she was attentively watching Ace he quickly bent his nose to the ground and began to sniff around.

A peculiar scent caught his nose, it smelled like a whole bunch of objects mixed together, no real mystery there, as the town was usually full of the scents of strange new Pokemon and Human Travellers. But this one was strange, as it seems that the jumble of scents were moving at a very quick pace.

"Right," he mumbled to himself. "Time for a hot pursuit," He raised his paw excitedly, about to dash after the suspect, but then he looked over at Ace, who was still standing his ground and leering at the Spearow. There was a long pause, no one made a move, nor a sound, and it seemed that this facedown lasted for several minutes. Finally, he spoke to break the tension around himself. "Good luck, Ace" he whispered. And with a quick step and a smile he seemed to have literally gdisappeared in a flash.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]Producing little more than a toothy grin, the absol did his best to make it a pleasant one. Because of his facial structure however, it may have come off a bit more.. Malicious than he would have wanted.
To be perfectly honest, he really had no intention of harming anyone here, he was far more interested in hearing what they had to say about the going-ons in this town.
So when the zigzagoon began to weave it's way over to where the tower loomed, he assumed that singling one of them out would make it easier to extract information.
It may also have come off as a threat- having a much larger pokemon, particularly one with a sharpened scythe growing out of the side of his head, well..
It would have been a bit intimidating.
But he'd have to take that risk.

Keeping that in mind, he began to trot after the zigzagoon, the small silver bell on his hind leg twinkling happily at every other step.
With luck, the smaller, fuzzier pokemon would be able to hear it before he noted the absol following him to.. Wherever he was going, exactly.
His thoughts drifted to what the spearow had been shouting at what seemed like a dumpster a ways away- he must have seen something, but the fact that such a small pokemon could be so dominant in his composure was enough to make him give a snort of amusement and a genuine smile.
It may have done him a bit of good to try that earlier on, but it wasn't as though he could do much to change that now.

Something did catch his eye though- a poochyena had begun to make it's way toward the zigzagoon as well. He started to wonder what was really happening between the spearow and.. A growlithe that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Or from behind the dumpster, which would explain the spearow's suspicions.
[/size]

 

[Snapdragon]

Matsika... had the vague feeling that he'd been tricked. Which didn't exactly do wonders for his temper. Nor did his challenge going all but ignored as the grey thing he'd spotted earlier ran for it, leaving nothing more than a stripey old dog behind for him to deal with. Being told had nothing to do with him was just the icing on the cake. The anger cake. The anger cake of Matsika's imminent wrath. The tiny bird leered right back, every last feather on his body ruffled up in indignant fury, until he looked like a feathery pincushion. "You...! Who are you to tell me what is or isn't my business?! May I ask whom you think you are? Some kind of vigilante? A scruffy, parasite-riddled stray is not my superior -- nay, you're below me, you... urchin!" That dog was going to regret ever crossing paths with Matsika Stormsight, make no mistake!

Matsika flapped his wings wildly, gaining some altitude before he curved lazily... and swooped down at Ace. If his aim was true and the Growlithe wasn't too quick, then he'd score a new set of stripes into the dog's back with his tiny, needlelike talons. If not... well, he had no plans to stick around and wait for retribution. He simply pulled out of his swoop and kept on flying, pulling another loop as he circled back for another dive. Dogs couldn't fly; the biggest thing to concern himself with would be a Flamethrower or Ember or whatever they called the ouchy-burny fire that types like McGruff the Crime Dog liked to ralph up. So long as he stayed swift, it shouldn't be too difficult to beat the stupid beast down.

Matsika had never tasted firedog before. He doubted it would be as tasty as Pikachu, but... well, you never know until you try, right?


-----


Matsika wasn't the only one in the skies. Oh, how very problematic. Mariel had simply wanted to stretch her wings a little, soak up some sun before returning to the bustle of the radio tower. She did so adore the way the sun warmed the metal of the tower. But what was this...? Little creatures, all skittering around her precious tower. Ugh, and worst of all, there was a giant, hairy muskrat-rodent-beast sniffing around the back! What if he got his filthy hands on it! What if he chewed his way in and gnawed the foundation to smithereens? Well, it wasn't enough to have fame and an extremely rare yellow-green coloration on her side. Mariel was going to earn her keep at the radio tower! She paused for only a moment, to gear herself up with a Focus Energy, then rose from her resting place on the steel framework and dove, the shrill shriek of the wind around her harmonizing with the low hum of her wings. One good Twineedle and she'd run that ugly vermin right through! That'd show him for trying to get his filth all over her home!

 

[Sami]

Clyde found himself in quite the pickle. Ears pricking up at the jingling sound, he turned to see a...an Absol? Why was there an Absol in Kanto? Being from Hoenn himself, the Zigzagoon easily reconized the creature. Ears pivoted from the white beast as he looked up to the buzzing in the skies. "Aww man." He muttered. This was not his day. And now he a Beedrill coming from above. "This sucks." He stated bluntly as he realized no Bonnie coming to his rescue. Waddling a few steps forward and to the right, his foot sunk down in some soft dirt. "Oh, thank Arceus!" He breathe a sigh of relief as he quickly scrambled in down into the hole, having some issues wiggling in due to the second bag, but nevertheless making it inside. Once in, he shoved dirt back up into the hole.

It'd be a risk, but the Beedrill might've been able to fit through, and Clyde definately did not want to deal with stingers. Especially not three of them, man, why couldn't the mascot have been a Combee? At least it didn't have stingers. He turned and faced the barely blocked off opening, preparing an Ice Beam if nesseccary. Hey, Bonnie did hog all the TM's. Unfortunately, Bonnie was the one who had used Flamethrower, so this would have to do.

As for Backstab herself, well, hearing all this goody goody flow out of the Growlithe was annoying. Pfft. "Lame." Bonnie figured the Spearow could continue having his little grand ol' time with the mutt for all she cared. All the better for her. Leaving the two behind, she headed at full speed for the back of the Radio Tower. After all, she really could trust all that loot with Clyde, knowing him, he was probably still looking for the entrance.

However, she wasn't the only one back there, oh no no. Coming to a stop, she noted that she was now behind a Poochyena. Was he with that Growlithe? If so, then he was probably following Clyde. Hah, bet he didn't even notice her behind him! "Hey, Fido!" She jumped out behind him and called his name, inhaling deeply before opening her mouth and letting out a thin, but fast Flamethrower. Not as wide as if a true Fire Poke'mon were using it, but it'll have to do. See why she steals TM's? When you have crappy movesets by nature, go with the unatural.

Man, who would've thought that such a good day of stealing would turn into an actual fight? This just wasn't their lucky day.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]Turning to look up at the beedrill, just for a moment, he considered the very real risk that it presented.
Their species weren't powerhouses, but..
They certainly had a nasty sting.
In the moment he had taken to observe the danger, it would have taken half the time for the zigzagoon to wriggle into it's safehaven, the location of which Kodent had missed due to this distraction hovering above them.
Rather than racing over to the last spot he had seen the small creature standing, he took tentative steps and prowled around the back of the tower, sniffing at the ground to try and catch his scent.
Finding that the fresh dirt the little fuzz had dug up covered said smell remarkably well, he began to pace the area until the uneven surface became more apparent and he crouched down to better examine it.
Beginning to brush away some of the soil on the very top, the pokemon's scent began to ease it's way into his nose.
"There you are.."

Rather than forcibly dig his way into Doublecross' hideout, he sat outside it's entrance with a patient expression on his face.
"Zigzagoon, would you mind coming back? Just for a moment? I assure you, I mean no harm."
It was.. Moderately difficult for him to adapt a calmer tone, but he did manage it and the result was surprisingly genuine, even manging to give himself a shock.
He may have to try this tactic more often.[/size]

 

[Satoren]

Ace looked up as the Spearow began flapping its wings, no doubt waiting for an opportune moment to strike. He coughed a bit as he tried to get his pilot going. When your only prey are small berries conveniently growing around your home, you lose the sthrill of the chase, and the powerful flame that goes with it. No, even before he created a home for himself, his flame had already went out.

"You leave me no choice but to disable you," Ace said calmly as he began to groan and wheeze, smoke was starting to come out of his throat, and he feared it might come out of his ears as well. Damn it, he thought as he gritted his fangs, there's no way I'll be able to aim with an old flame like this, he began to choke. He had no choice, just as he noticed the sentret leave the tree, he suddenly let out a rather large fireball.

Whether it was a faint Flame wheel or a strong ember, it hit its mark, and caused the hideaway to fall to charred rubble. The explosion was loud and the smoke began to cover the air in an ugly shade of gray. "If anything," he muttered, "I can at least give myself cover," and with a swish of his tail he dashed forward into the smoke, whether or not the Spearow had him, he didn't know. He's felt too many pains to figure whether or not he was wounded.

-----

Despite moving at high speeds, Grould couldn't seem to keep up with his target. If he had been a little more knowledgeable of this Pokemon, one that often shared the same habitat with brethren of his own species, he would know not to fall for their zigzagging maneauvers and catch up to them in a beeline. But of course, Grould had never seen Hoenn. He had never seen the lush forests that his mother had once called home. But he sure didn't need to. Being raised by Ace, he felt he was more Growlithe than Poochyena, even to the point that he might have a flame hiding deep within him as well. A flame that shined so brightly that Ace was convinced to teach this little pup a long way from home, how to survive in this new place. And all that stuff Ace teached, he wouldn't give it to anyone for anything. He loved his life here, he most certainly needed it, and he was going to need it now.

Grould suddenly experienced a tingle from his tail. It was a strange sensation, the kind that he knew, despite never seeing any like him, he knew that no ordinary Poochyena had ever experienced such a strange tingle before. Yet he's experienced this sensation more than a few times before.

Instinctively, he turned around and saw that the 2nd suspect was coming at him with a fast flamethrower. If the Sentret was hoping to see him shocked, she's going to have to think of some other way to do so. With a grin, Grould began to glow white as the flames charged into him head on. He winced, as though to imagine the heat coming from the flames, yet he didn't feel anything. His white glow extinguished the flames as he looked over at his opponent.

"You need to work on your flame, even Ace could do a better one than that," he told her. "And you might also want to consider choosing a new attack, seeing as how Ace and I know the lot of them you've tried on yourself for the past few days." Whoops, that banter of mine might give her ideas, he thought as his confident grin turned to gritting teeth. Well, he was just going to have to make sure this would be the last time she'd ever do something so reckless.

Grould took a few steps, as though to slowly circle around her, before suddenly disappearing in a blink of an eye. At lightning speed, he quickly swerved around to her back. No doubt she can see me even at high speed, I'm gonna have to make this close he thought as he dashed toward her and gave her a solid tackle.

*ooc: Grould is using here Protect, a normal egg move
edit: fixed grould's input, sorry to pixelchu about that*

 

[Snapdragon]

That was certainly an awful lot of buildup for one fireball. Admittedly, Matsika had little experience with fire-types, aside from the sparky little Charmanders belonging to beginners near Viridian and observing the occasional high-power match in that strange arena-place north of it. He couldn't say for certain whether the product of all Ace's hacking and wheezing was powerful or pathetic -- it didn't look too impressive, but it had just blasted his former perch to smithereens. In fact, Ace had actually been pretty lucky with that one; a large chunk of flaming bark, thrown loose in the resulting explosion, smacked Matsika squarely in the back of the head. He let out a dismayed squawk and hastily brushed the embers away from his feathers, but... sadly, wings that are trying to prevent burnt plumage are wings that aren't keeping one in the air. The Spearow smacked into the ground moments later, reeking of burnt feathers and quivering with rage.

"Disable me?! I'll do worse than that to you, firedog! All that will be left of you when I'm finished is a couple of blunted, broken teeth!" Matsika screeched, then charged headlong into the thick smoke. This time, he remained on foot. There was no cunning plan behind that, no thoughts of smoke rising instead of sinking... just far too much temper to think of taking to the air again. All Matsika knew was that the enemy was trying to escape, and that was intolerable. As soon as his beak found the firedog, he'd show him the price of cowardice! Even Mankeys trembled in fear when his flock worked themselves into a frenzy, and this mutt would be no different. Never mind the fact that a single Mankey had every right to be nervous about an entire flock of irate flying-types, some of them already Fearows; never mind that Matsika was just a single bird with no type-advantage, and that he had barely taken three steps into the smoke before he started coughing. He was Matsika Stormsight!


----


Oh, how very vexing! She'd been noticed before she could even graze the rat. He'd already started burrowing under her beloved tower, no doubt so that he could find some important cables to gnaw through! Whatever was she going to do now? Oh... but wait, that white thing... as Mariel closed in, she was able to recognize it. Back before all the radio tower's troubles had began, trainers from all over flocked to Lavender Town. Mariel had seen many strange Pokemon that didn't live anywhere in Kanto, and an Absol had been one of them. She'd only been a Kakuna, but she'd been in awe of the gleaming pale fur and the proud, dark face beneath. This one had to belong to a trainer as well! Surely he would help exterminate that hideous rat! And then maybe his trainer would come tour the tower... it had been so long since anyone had stopped by!

It was a good thing Mariel had leaped to such a conclusion. Kodent's lack of shelter combined with her momentum would have made a super-effective Twineedle very, very unfortunate for him. Mariel pulled out of her dive, swooping a good distance to rid herself of momentum before hovering behind the Absol. "'Scuse me... I'm sure you've noticed that rodent trying to worm its way into the radio tower. Why else would you be hanging out near its hole, right?" She giggled nervously, one massive spear tapping her cheek in a move that would have been bashful were it not calling attention to her stinger-hands. "I was wondering if you could perhaps help me root it out? You see, I'm not very skilled at digging because I happen to lack paws. It will be ever so difficult for me to pry that pest away from the tower on my own before it can do any harm."

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]Peering up from his excavation of the soft soil at the radio tower's base, Kodent began to look the beedrill over and come to his own conclusions about the zigzagoon hidden away in the ground.
With the way the bug-type had spoken so protectively about the tower itself, he had to assume that she would be able to better fill him in, and possibly explain the distress that all the wild pokemon just outside the city had experienced.

"Pest?"
The word was uttered softly under his breath as he eyes the twin stingers warily.
"Yes, of course I'll help you. I'm assuming this is your tower then? And, I know you probably wouldn't be too happy with more holes beneath your tower, but I'm sure that this zigzagoon is much more clever than he'd leave to you believe- It might be good to burrow in from the side instead of following him directly. He certainly wouldn't leave himself unprotected."
Rising onto all four feet once more, he had instinctively raised one of his hind feet gingerly to keep the tinkling artifact from making contact with the grime and grass.
"If you don't mind, there's a few things I'd like to ask you about this town as well. You are a local aren't you?"[/size]

 

[Snapdragon]

Ah, what a helpful Absol! But then... Mariel should have expected much; trained Pokemon were far more civilized and agreeable than wild ones. Those brutes from the Rock Tunnel never listened to reason; even when she was merely a Weedle, she'd tried again and again to explain that the radio tower didn't belong to them, and wild Pokemon weren't allowed inside because they would make a terrible nuisance of themselves. It didn't matter in the slightest what had stood there before. Just because there used to be a very tall tree where the Pokemon Center was now didn't mean that a Pidgey could go, lay eggs in the rafters, and try to make a snack out of a trainer's injured Caterpie. It was plain and simple logic to her, but such things as reason were far beyond the ken of wild brutes. As such, from the day she'd emerged from her chrysalis and left behind that empty Kakuna shell, she'd been fighting for her tower against such pests as that brown rat.

"You're right, of course. It wouldn't do to approach this without thinking first. A very clever plan, if you don't mind my saying so. I'll do anything in my power to assist you, rest assured." Mariel nodded, her blue eyes lingering on the Absol's curious stance. How odd... he had a bell around his back leg. From his trainer, perhaps? "I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. It's the least I can do in return for your help. I suppose you could call me a local, yes. I wasn't born here, but I was raised in Lavender Town. I was a gift to celebrate the opening of the radio tower. My name is Mariel Edwards, unofficial mascot of and guardian to the Lavender radio tower and its employees."

Mariel extended one stinger, as if to shake hands, then thought better of it and withdrew. "Pardon me. Been spending too much time around humans, I suppose." She giggled nervously, then diverted her attention to the entrance to the Zigzagoon's makeshift burrow. Better to focus on the problem at hand than linger on her embarrassment. She was far too large to crawl inside; her wings would be crumpled something terrible. Least she could do was prevent the rat from heading out that way. She scattered several Poison Spikes along the tunnel entrance. That little pest wouldn't be getting off easily if he was threatening her home, no sir.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]She certainly did spend a great amount of time brandishing her stingers- In all honesty is was a little unnerving, but from the way the beedrill flushed he might have assumed that she was picking up human traits- they did like to move their hands.
It was something he had always noted when travelling with his trainer, and the more he observed the more he learned how very useful they were. It was such a shame he didn't have any.
But he smiled light-heartedly at her comments.
She was the first trained pokemon he had encountered and her mannerisms were better- not to mention she seemed to be one of the only ones able to sustain a conversation.

"Thank you, I appreciate your help as well. Ah.. Perhaps, while I'm digging, you could explain why Lavender Town has become such a ghost town?" As he spoke he had begun to dig at the intersection of wall and ground just a meter or so to the left of the zigzagoon's hole. As he finished, he paused and glanced back up with a sheepish look on his face.
"No pun intended, naturally."
[/size]

 

[Sami]

Clyde did not like this situation at all. He could hear the two outside the hole easily as he looked around in the darkness. Squiggling out of the two bags he carried, he used his claws to make a hole for the bags as he crammed them into the dirt. Patting down hard some dirt to cover them, he sniffed around at the back entrace. Ew, what smelt so foul up there? No matter, the loot had been nicely compacted down, so it was time for him to make his own escape. Now now, what had Bonnie always told him? Oh well, he never did have a good memory. Hopefully, he wouldn't forget where he buried them!

Going out the way he came would be just foolish, that much he could figure out without Bonnie's brains. So, either go out back to the front way out or tunnel a new way out. Or just camp out in here unless he really needs to cheeze it. Eh...second method requires less work, so second method it is. Keeping his ears strained for any clue how the situation outside the hole was going. It was a little hard, as he could hear human footsteps from the floor above.

As he noticed some dirt being shifted near the original entrance, he decided to try and talk his way out of this one. Calling out towards the hole, Clyde's voice was remarkable deep for such a little thing. "Any reason why an Absol and a Beedrill are picking on a poor lil' Zigzagoon like myself? I'm not doing anything wrong!" Clyde hoped that maybe they'd decide against beating the snot outta' him. If not, well, if there was one thing he knew how to do well it was Dig and flee. And flee fast. Plus, there was always Ice Beam, Beedrills didn't like Ice Beams. He probably couldn't outrun the Absol, but good luck catching something that zigzagged. Plus, he could always go underground. There, he had plenty of backups so he should be fine. See? He didn't always need Bonnie, though it sure would be nice to have her here right about now...

 

[Snapdragon]

Mariel giggled at the Absol's unintentional joke, drifting away from the tunnel entrance a bit. "I hope you're not terribly superstitious; there have been some strange things going on. It's my belief that there are kidnappers lurking in the town. Whenever somebody visits Lavender Town, you see, their Pokemon end up going missing. It's only supposed to happen if they stay the night here, but there have been a few reports of it happening in the Rock Tunnel, too. Of course, something like that ended up all over the news. Now everyone's terrified of losing their Pokemon, so they won't even pass through town anymore."

The Beedril heaved a sigh as she dropped closer to the ground, plunging her stinger into the ground near the tower's base. Maybe she'd get lucky and prod the Zigzagoon, maybe not. At least she'd be doing something, though. "Lavender has never been a very big town, but the radio tower did a lot to help that. Before, people never wanted to live in the shadow of a big, ghost-infested graveyard. Now, the only graves left are a few that belonged to locals, or people who were willing to pay to have theirs saved. The grave markers for those ones were moved to one of the houses, but most of them are gone now. Of course, that doesn't stop our reputation any. Everybody's blaming the disappearances on angry spirits out for revenge. It certainly doesn't help that we've had problems at the tower, too. We keep having technical difficulties that give us dead air, and things are always breaking, and one of our hosts had to take some time off because her Banette went berserk inside the tower and attacked her, and... oh, it's really been terrible for us."

It was about then that she heard Clyde's voice echoing up from underground, which earned him a tart reply. "Oh... don't play innocent when we've caught you tunneling around the foundations! You must have heard what's going on, you should know that the last thing we need is you skittering in the walls, chewing up cables and causing power outages. They'd probably call that poltergeists. It's already at the stage where some people won't listen to our shows in case their radio haunts them! We can't afford for anything else to go wrong. If it keeps up, the tower might be run out of business."

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]"Superstitious.. Well, I can't very well say that I'm not."
He hesitated again as he tried to think of a legitimate way to explain himself.
"I mean, if it isn't real then there isn't any harm in believing it is, other than being a bit more cautious. But if it was, and you didn't believe, well."
A smile, and he returned to his burrowing.

"You'd be in quite a spot of trouble in this town, or so I've heard."
He fell quiet for a moment just to listen to Mariel give a rough outline of the going-ons he had missed in the year he was away from Kanto.
He himself would never have assumed that the town would have agreed to destroy the grave sites of so many souls that had been at rest- of course, he had been influenced by many of the people he met on his travels with his old team, some of them sharing their 'extensive' knowledge of the spiritual realm during their time together. Based on this information alone he had made the assumption that humans cherished their pokemon even after their time together. His girl had certainly done things like that- the reason they had returned to Kanto in the first place was so that she could pay her respects at the memorial erected in memory of her deceased Charizard.
This trek had built the foundation of his trust in humans to mantain the memories of their pokemon.
But all this new information was digging away at it, much like the zigzagoon was doing to the structure before him.
"I'm curious to know why you haven't been harmed at all throughout this ordeal- it seems you'd be a prime target for anyone seeking a vengeance of sorts on the tower itself. Unless you believe they, and by 'they' I mean the kidnappers you believe to be inhabiting the town, have another motive."
He might have just finished his sentence when the zigzagoon's voice broke through the ground, giving him a bit of a start; he hadn't imagined such a small fuzzy creature to have such a resonating voice.
But he listened to his protests, and with a controlled tone put his face little more than a few inches away from where the opening to the hideout would have been.
"Zigzagoon, you must understand. I'm sure Mariel" he stole a glance at the beedrill to make sure he had pronounced her name correctly, "Would not be so determined to dig you out if you weren't doing anything wrong. And I wonder, if what you say is true then what reason have you to hide? It seems rather silly to run from someone if you're an innocent sort of fellow. Unless of course, your sentret friend is doing wrong and you're doing her a favor..?"
It was impossible to not have noticed the ruckus on the other side of the town's entrance- The flaming tree, the whithered growlithe, and.. Well, there had been a poochyena. He was sure of it, but the scruffy dog pokemon had disappeared. Or he may have been the grey blur running around the sentret, it was becoming nigh impossible to tell.[/size]

 

[Sami]

"I ain't gonna topple the tower by digging this lil' hole. Obviously it ain't that big if you can't get in here. What do you think I am anyway, a Pikachu? I don't go about chewing no powerlines, lady!" Clyde nearly barked back outta' the hole. A distorted frown was upon his face as he stood a bit away from the dirt that was still thinning out little by little with each swipe of the Absol's claws. Upon hearing the Absol speak as well, Doublecross put in his input.

"Pfft. What reason, asks the Absol? Uh, hello?! A Sentret and a Zigzagoon? We're basically at the bottom of the food chain. Jeez, I wasn't hatched yesterday, for all I know you just wanna make a nice snack outta' me." Clyde puffed as continued. When Clyde got mad, he had a tendancy to talk. Alot. "You try being this size and suddenly having an Absol trying to burrow you out with a Beedrill trying to sting your face off!"

One could hear his paws scurry as he suddenly popped outta' the dirt where the Absol's claws had been digging. "And you know what?! I ain't scared of you, lil' Miss Pampered. Unlike you, some of us actually have to work to make a living, you know? Not all of us have humans to depend on, not all of us have humans to give us whatever we want on a nice little plate." His tiny eyes were narrowed as he stared down the Beedrill, shaking off some dirt from his fur in a canine manner. "You know what? Try me, lady! I'll give you an Ice Beam so strong you'll be singing with Articuno!" Turning in his place by waddling his feet, he turned to the Absol, standing on high toes to try and seem taller. "Gotta' problem with 'dat?" His eyes went squinty as he stared at the Absol before fluffing his spiked fur out and turning back to the Beedrill. "Well?"

When it came to his voice, Clyde definately had it down, however, all the talk kinda lost its flare due to his size. See? This is why he needed Bonnie to keep him in check, or else he loses his temper. And does things he'll regret, usually stupid things.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]The pokemon's sudden appearance right in his face was enough of a shock to make Kodent jump- though not enough to really give him a scare. The little fuzz was right in that respect; the 'bottom of the food chain' indeed.
He must have inherited some of his girl's lust for balance, because as he listened to the smaller creature's rebuttals he found that he had actually started to smile, but in an amused sort of way..
Mostly because, even though he was sitting, the zigzagoon was a good bit shorter than himself.
But he certainly knew how to make himself look bigger.

At this point the absol had actually started to grin, and raised a clawed paw to the smaller pokemon's head.
It may have, at first, seemed like a threat. That he was going to, quite blatantly smoosh the little creature. But rather than pushing down, he traced his paw down the curve of the pokemon's head in what may have been depicted as a petting motion.

"Cute. Very cute."
It was certainly no help to the situation that he was so easily disregarding fuzzy's threats, but he couldn't really help it. He wasn't as compassionate as some of the other members of his team had been.
"I don't think you'll need to be concerned about me, cos I got a bit of a secret, see."
Removing his paw from the smaller pokemon's head, he used it instead to tug him a few inches closer and seemingly whisper in his ears.
"I haven't eaten meat in almost two years."
A wry look and he straightened back up, giving a slight sigh.
It was true after all. His trainer had been a vegetarian.

"What have you got buried in there anyway? That sentret didn't give you the technical machines I saw her with earlier, did she?"
He was guessing though, and had based this information on the fact that he had claimed to be able to use ice beam, something he thought was safe to assume he couldn't learn on his own.[/size]

 

[Sami]

Bonnie did what she always did when she was mad. Puffing out her cheeks, she rose herself up onto her tail, placing her little paws on the round body where hips might've been hiding. Her choice of movement wasn't exactly the best of ones. As the Poochyena did his partial circle, she had to lower a bit and raise up again to follow him with her eyes. However, when he dissappeared, one could've heard Bonnie cuss. 'I can barely keep up with him even with Keen Eye!' Backstab's turn was too slow, the Poochyena hitting her square in the tail...which she was currently standing on.

With her stand being kicked out from under her, Bonnie toppled over onto the ground...face-first. Round belly hitting the dirt, she curled a little lip as she turned to face the Poochyena. "Jerk! That's gonna' bruise!" She was rubbing her small button nose as her eyes were narrowed. "What did I ever do to you, anyways?!"

Rising again on her tail, this time the tail was bent, muscles ready. Little arms crossed she frowned at the canine. "I don't know what your problem is, but what I do isn't any of your business! I mean, sheesh, if you wanted a TM you could've asked or something, hell, we probably got something you canines could find useful! But I mean, come ON!" She turned on her tail and guestued to the smoldering tree with both arms extended.

"Your little pal just BLEW UP our home!!! I dunno where you live, but would you want something coming along one day and just blowing it up?!" BB swiveled on her tail again to face Grould. The ringed-tail was still bent, the pose looked normal for a Sentret, but she was ready. 'One wrong move, mutt, and you are SO toast.' Bonnie's thoughts were floating around in her head, right next to the thoughts of how Clyde was doing and that one idle thought if the loot was okay. One arm was hanging limp to her side as the other found itself rubbing the sore nose. Heck, it was even sore just to stand on her tail, that Pooch had tackled it real good.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Hali hovered above the small town of Lavender. He had unfortunately stumbled into the gloomy city by a sudden wind storm back home, but this place seemed perfect to roost in for the day. Plenty of food, lots of human visitors to dive upon... it even had its own entertainment center!

Oh, yes, this place was the best place for any Natu to be in, thanks to the surplus population of battling Pokemon and ghosts. Why, look at the left of him, a wonderful scene of a Growlithe and Spearow deep into battle. Then to the right, a Poochyena and a Sentret nicely engaged to war. Ah, yes, this was paradise for the small bird for its endless supply of shows and other sorts of entertainment.

But that wasn't all that was great about the place. Oh, no, Hali had found the absolute charming thing about the place. As Halito flew around, he noticed the large tower in the corner of the town (and a Zigzagoon below it, digging into its foundation). He paused and hovered over the tower. It didn't seem right to be there. The mood of the city didn't fit the tower's mood at all. The tower was all modern-ish, while the city seemed to be more somber and.. grave. It was hard to explain, but the tower just seemed out of place. It also made Halito feel less at home in this town, and he had felt very comfortable here before he first arrived.

Nevertheless, the Natu dismissed the building as a mere landmark to the town, and continued on his exploration of the place. After much circling about, Hali finally rested onto a tree at the edge of town and continued to watch in silence the ongoing battles of his fellow Pokemon. Maybe he should spice things up a bit by using his own bit of Confuse Ray into their fray. Yes, that's exactly what he would do!

Fluttering away from his branch, Hali flew up behind a Sentret and fired Confuse Ray at it, but sorely missed: it passed about three wingspans over its head. Darn, I really need to work on my aim, he thought as he hurriedly tried to flap away from the scene.

((OOC: Sorry for the sudden intrusion in your sort of.... ah, battle? Really, I just wanted to post something her for once. And I don't know how to RP aggressiveness (though I hang around five people that are aggressive every day), so forgive me if my character doesn't seem too aggressive right now. And because I have low self-esteem, I really think this post is plain awful, but.... yeah. End of chatter.))

 

[Satoren]

Ace's slow run began to dissolve into walking, as the old Pokemon managed to reach the source of all the smoke, as he managed to find a small, clear space to breathe in some air, he stood by the flaming remnants of the Spearow's perch. He checked the remains for any items that the suspects may have left behind, and amidst the dancing flames, he couldn't exactly make it out, but there didn't seem to be anything left.

A faint chill began to tingle Ace's tail, then it began to make its way onto his back, and finally, he felt as though he had been hit at point blank range with a powerful Ice Beam. He tried to turn around, but he couldn't, as the tingling sensation pulsed through his body, he began to feel cold, a cold he had never felt in years. Such a feeling only came to him when he was a young pup. When It happened.

Still, that didn't stop his ears from being able to listen about. As he twitched them back, he focused to drown out the sounds of the flames and the billowing smoke. It was fain, but he could hear footsteps and squawks that sounded quite vulgar. So he's going to hoof it, he thought, looks like this bird's recklessness is gonna get himself killed.

But before he could listen any further, a sudden gust of wind blew by. But was it wind? From where he was, Ace, could see that the clouds of smoke did not hinder from rising into the sky. This strange feeling made Ace confused and slightly dizzy. He couldn't feel it, but his forepaws were already lowering themselves to the ground.

As this strange feeling came so suddenly at Ace, he struggled to break free from it. He tried to move even the slightest inch of his body, until he finally broke free. He imagined his bones snap back into place as he suddenly gained movement again. "What the heck-" He told himself as he shook his paw to make sure he could move again.

He turned towards the flame. Something was moving there, more violently then it was a few minutes ago, the fire began to grow in size as well, and with it came the loud sound of blazing fury.

Ace squinted his eyes from the brightness and backed away slowly. He was just about to make a run for it, when he noticed something vaguely familiar dancing within the flame. It seemed to jump in and out of sight, there once and gone later, but as he struggled to make ends of it, he was mystified to see what was going on. He widened his eyes, and his jaw dropped slightly as a vague image of an Arcanine was arising from the flame. Whether or not this was an illusion whether he was seeing this for himself or not he could not tell. But one thing was certain about this illusion, it seemed incredibly familiar to him.

*Ooc: I'll leave you to decide whether this is all in Ace's head or if it is truly a ghost of the past.*

-----

Grould focused on his opponent with a cold stare. That hit had left her slightly vulnerable, but it looked like the battle was far from over. He watched as she angrily got up. "I don't know what your problem is, but what I do isn't any of your business! I mean, sheesh, if you wanted a TM you could've asked or something, hell, we probably got something you canines could find useful! But I mean, come ON!" She screamed at him. "Your little pal just BLEW UP our home!!! I dunno where you live, but would you want something coming along one day and just blowing it up?!"

At that moment, Grould had only realized what had happened to his partner. Peering behind the Sentret, he saw that the tree that they had once staked out had now been burned to the ground, and covered in so much smoke that he couldn't see his partner or the Spearow anywhere.

Grould watched as the smoke continued to rise into the air like some horrid mushroom growing, then his gaze met with Bonnie's once more. She may not have realized it, but she struck him like a scyther's blade. His own partner destroyed their home. So it wasn't a hideaway, but a place for them to stay safe, at least that was his definition of such.

He tried to show no weakness, but feeling somewhat guilty had unknowingly backed away ever so slightly. His cold stare became one of a worried little pup. Don't fall for it, a voice called to him. Whatever happens to them is their own fault, said the voice in his head. They're criminals, and they have to pay the price. But Grould wasn't too sure about such a decision. He figured he'd see what his opponent had to say.

"You..." he stuttered. "You got what you deserved. You shouldn't have taken all those things from the young humans." He yelled out. He was so confused he had no idea how loud his tone was. He looked at her again, this time with less guilt. She was pretty mad, and it showed in her eyes that she wanted to knock him out. As guilty as Grould was, the voice, the second voice at he back of his head, urged him to keep fighting. To defend himself should the need arise.

For what seemed like an eternity they stood there glaring at each other. I'll let you make the next move, He thought, confident in his defensive capabilities. Think of it as revenge for what my partner did. And as he awaited the next move, he noticed a new Pokemon fluttering behind his opponent. It fired a strange beam at the Sentret, but sorely missed. "Now what?" he growled under his breath. This new opponent was disrupting their battle. It had occured to him just now, that such a thing was most dishonorable. But besides that, his training had taught him that interfering with this arrest might provoke the suspect into harming the civilian.

Slightly frustrated, Grould stomped forward and roared out to the Natu. "Hey you! Get away from here, this is a dangerous area!!" He yelled out, as he could slightly see the sound waves of his warning traverse through the air and towards the flying Pokemon. Hopefully, it'll scare it away.

 

[Snapdragon]

Goodness, but this one was well-spoken for a wild Pokemon. He presented his case quite well, for a savage little rodent. It was almost refreshing to hear a wild one speaking so coherently, honestly; Mariel often ended up having to drive intruders off by force. If there was a possibility that she could get the little pest to go on his merry way without having to launch venomous stingers left and right, well, Mariel would actually be pleased as punch. The Ice Beam threat, admittedly, had her less than impressed, but no matter how articulate a wild Pokemon was, they were still wild; allowances had to be made. She would be more than willing to overlook a teensy bit of savagery, and an abundant lack of empathy. Why was it that the wild ones assumed Mariel's life was nothing but satin and lace? Beedrills were not renowned as combat machines, and a bug/poison Pokemon defending a tower against Gastlies and Haunters was fighting uphill all the way, so to speak. Admittedly, the ghost Pokemon had been revolting less and less as of late, resigning themselves to life in the Rock Tunnel, but that didn't mean Mariel was a stranger to hardship!

Still, how could a wild stranger know that? It seemed reasonable to let the Zigzagoon scurry off in peace... until mention of technical machines came up, that is. Well now, that was odd. Why on earth would a wild Pokemon have TMs? Only trained Pokemon could have those; it wasn't like a Pokemon could just stroll over to Celadon and purchase a handful of disks at the department store, was it? And Zigzagoons did not learn how to spit out ice through natural means. Come to think of it... Zigzagoons weren't native to the area, either. In spite of that, this one spoke as if he were well and truly wild. That struck Mariel as being downright confusing. "Hold on... technical machines? If you don't mind my asking. Zigzagoon... exactly why would you happen to have technical machines? You are wild, are you not?"


----


Discretion was not something Spearow hatchlings were taught, and Matsika was no exception. The natural agility and ease of movement the sky granted to him was nowhere to be found on land, which only furthered his frustration. The end result was a few hopskipping steps on the ground, then Matsika fluttering up a few feet to try and glimpse his prey. His endeavors only earned him a lungful of smoke each time, however; a few repetitions of this futile pattern soon had Matsika hacking up a lung, too busy trying to breathe to keep his wings beating. The Spearow lay prone on the ground, tiny back heaving as he struggled to cough up the thick smoke he'd inhaled. He should have known better than to follow a fire-type into a fire. It lanced into his lungs, tore up his throat, weighed down his wings, and stung his eyes fiercely. Those razor-keen eyes of his were red and watery with irritation, reducing his sight to a smear of smoke-dark and fire-haze.

Matsika oughtn't have been able to see a thing. And he couldn't, at first. His world had narrowed to his own gasping breaths, some far-off crackles and roars, and the strange almost-shapes of the flame. Then... a staticy sort of tension that gave him goosebumps, like the heaviness of the air before lightning strikes, and the world slid into clarity once more.

A swirl-tail-water-shell and a web-toes, blue and blue and followed by that ever-present foe with his little two-toned cages. The fire drew them, they sought to crush it. Threat. Trust not the cage-bearer regardless of intentions.

Flamedog and dogflame, which was one and which was the other? One was tugging on a too-short leash, but Matsika didn't know how he knew that because the leash didn't really exist. Threat, but not to Matsika. Mostly just to himself.

Spikesharp. Neon and garish and acidic, though the poison longed to be honey instead. Circling sharp arms around a hive, though it was hard to say whether it was out of desire to protect or to keep from being swept away by something. The sky burned a harsh red above her, a rude contrast to her bold colors. Fiery, smoke-thick... red... sunset! Nightfall brought calamity, brought the biggest of threats! The sharpness smeared into an indistinct haze once again, though this time Matsika beat his wings wildly against the charred ground, squawking up a storm in between hacking coughs. "Sky--! Look--it... leave! Night--foes...!"

 

[Satoren]

Ace felt obliged to peer into the flames. There was something there, something he needed to recognize, and as he stared into the brightly dancing flames he finally saw it. The form of a huge Arcanine was coming into focus. Ace's jaw continued to drop further as he began to back away from the fire. For it seemed that as soon as the huge paws began to take form, they stepped out of the fire and into solid ground.

"Ace," called a haunting voice, and as he turned around wildly in response, he could make see no one calling for him, definitely not his father, for whom he thought the voice belonged to. "This smoke is getting to me," he muttered. This is definitely something I don't need right now, he thought as he wildly searched for a way out of this putrid smoke. "Ace," it called again, and this time even louder. Dare he turn around? Dare he realize what he was trying to avoid? But behind that cry came another one, this one more hoarse and it seemed to be further away.

He focused around and found his old opponent, the Spearow, on the ground squawking in coherently, and choking to death! A reason to get away from this madness, he immediately thought, and he ran over to the small bird. There was no time to ask if it was alright, as he heaved the creature on his back. It's wild struggle scratching him with its talons and beak.

He focused around, and still could see no way out. This was getting to be too much, the intoxicating lack of air, the visions, and the injuries being brought about further by his now madly screaming opponent. Ace had half a mind to roar out all his frustration, but doing so would choke him.

Fortunately, someone else did it for him. As he finally turned around, he saw that the flaming Arcanine had literally roared up a wind tunnel. It blew past him, and he could feel the pride and power in this entity's voice. But he'd be amazed later. For that wind tunnel was his ticket out of here. He saw the hole it ripped through and could see clear light ahead. With a gruff, he dashed towards the light and hopefully out of the smokescreen.

 

[Sami]

Bonnie puffed out as she stared down the Poochyena. An ear gave a flick as the Confuse Ray blantly missed her. Bent tail straightening out in an instant, it sprang her foward like an extra leg. Pausing briefly as she passed the Poochyena, she turned around and spoke in a voice as cold as Regice. "They got what they deserved, those humans. It's simple really, dog. They took something precious away from me, so I'll keep taking from them til' this hole in my heart is filled. Doesn't that seem fair enough?" Bonnie tapped a paw over her heart as she referred to the 'hole' within it.

Standing on her own two feet, she was about to use her tail for a springboard again when the fur on her tail stood out on end. Turning towards the raging fire, one could see the pupils of her eyes adjusting to the bright flames and trying to focus in on what she saw. "Your friend probably needs you." Her voice was void of any emotion as her eyes were focused on the raging flames.

Ears flopped about as she shook herself back to her senses. 'So does mine.' Her mind reminded her as she dashed off from the gray and black canine, heading towards the radio tower. Bonnie ran a bit oddly compared to most Sentret, she'd use her own four feet like every other one for awhile as her tail curled up, then unlike others she'd use it as a spring to get a good amount of distance every now and then. It was hard to get a decent jump when you had nubs for feet, so why not use what you got? However, Bonnie wasn't half as fast as Clyde.

- - -

Turning to the Absol, Clyde had a stale face on. "Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. If you want something, we'd be happy to see if we can help, but I mean...asking never killed nobody." The Zigzagoon sat himself down, looking to Mariel, bristled fur slowly taming itself as he relaxed a bit. "Well, we've got these TM's mainly because it's getting harder and harder to protect oneself nowadays. I mean, me an' Bonnie have no problems with Ghosts for the most part, but the Machops in Rock Tunnel are brutal whenever we try to get through. The 'bats ain't too friendly either. Almost got myself eaten by a Golbat 'bout 2 days ago. If it wasn't for Bonnie learning Thunderbolt through one of those discs, I was gonna be Golbat chow!"

"Just because we're "wild" doesn't mean we're always like...angry crazy barbarics or whatever. I mean, sheesh, we ran acrossed some injured Pidgey the other day, apparently some kid showed up with a Pikachu and just kept picking them off. One of them said the kid claimed it was all 'training' for his lil' rat. Never liked those things, Pikachus. So we went through our stuff and whaddya' know? We had enough Potions and Berries to help those we found. So I mean, it's not like we're all bad."

Clyde puffed a sigh, fur now neatly back to it's orginal size, which was still quite spikey anyway. Blinking as though he suddenly remembered something, he looked to the two. "Oh yeah, I'm Clyde by the way, and the Sentret is Bonnie." He gave a smile, as though he had forgotten all about the earlier happenings of the Beedrill trying to poke his eyes out and the two canines that roasted their home. Yeah, not exactly the sharpest knife in the kitchen, Clyde.

- - -

Using a trashcan on the side of a building to climb up onto, she springboarded her tail to grab onto the ledge of a roof, sitting on a roof where she could clearly see the Absol, Clyde, and the Beedrill. She wouldn't rush in unless she needed too, for now, keen eyes watched the two intently - determining their status - friend or foe.

 

[Snapdragon]

It was hard to read what Mariel was thinking behind those large insect eyes. The majority of her warm disposition was expressed through her voice and her semi-conscious mimicry of human gestures. After Clyde had spoken, however, she simply hovered there, a subtle flick of one antenna serving as the only clue left to offer. Clyde had been awfully swift to leap down their throats with his preaching about life in the ghetto; Mariel had been polite enough to refrain from voicing her opinions to his face, merely ask why he happened to have TMs handy. It was hard to emphasize when Mariel hadn't spent a single second of her life free of human influence. In her sheltered, naive opinion, the plight of wild Pokemon was rather exaggerated. Why should humans have to lose the TMs they paid for, just because some wild Pokemon were being harassed by other wild Pokemon? Yes, it was very charitable of them to go around reviving fainted Pidgeys, but they were merely that; trainers never fought to the death. Anyway, having to fight was a part of life, Clyde had illustrated that with his little story about Machops and Golbats. If he was unhappy with that, the solution seemed obvious enough to Mariel: get a trainer.

The Beedrill extended one stinger and shook it in Clyde's face like a scolding schoolteacher. "Stealing is wrong, no matter why you're doing it or what you're using your loot for. The ends never justify the means. If there's one thing Mr. Edwards has taught me, it's that the only way to do something is to do it the right way. What's the point in clawing your way to the spotlight if you had to creep in the shadows the whole way there?" Mariel nodded to herself, quite pleased with her own morality. She was behaving just how a radio spokesperson ought to; Mr. Edwards would be proud. "I'd rather not resort to barbarism, so I'm more than willing to let you go if you promise not to sneak around the radio tower anymore. However... you have to take those TMs to the Pokemon Center, okay? They have a Lost and Found there, so you won't have to worry about the trainers you robbed trying to attack you, and they'll still get their stuff back if they check there." Considering the Pokemon Center was a trainer's first stop, that seemed like a good solution to Mariel.

She lifted her head skyward for a moment. "Oh... but we'll have to hurry, though. The sun's setting. I'm not allowed to stay out past dark; it's not safe." And that was especially true as of late, considering Lavender Town's vanishing visitors. Oh... but that made Clyde and Kodent more at-risk than she was, didn't it? "We've still got time, but you'd better find your trainer before she gets too worried, and... Clyde, your friend was Bonnie, right? You should stick with her, too. I hate to buy into all the hysteria, but we really can't take any chances with anyone who isn't a local."


---


Lavender wasn't exactly a huge town; something like an exploding tree was bound to be noticed by the townspeople. Even if a single tree catching fire wasn't too overwhelming a threat to the town, it was better to take care of it before it had the chance to spread. Anyway, trees blowing up out of nowhere... things like this had to be hushed up as quickly as possible, or the phrase "will-o-wisp" would be all over by tomorrow morning. It was a good thing that there were still experienced trainers willing to linger in Lavender Town, even if it was technically said trainer's hometown. And it was especially lucky that Tyrel Adams just happened to like water-types more than any other. "Wartortle, Golduck, go! We've gotta take care of that fire before it gets outta hand!" Even as he ran towards the offending flames, he tossed out a pair of poke-balls, revealing a pair of blue Pokemon who quickly followed at their trainer's heels. Their accuracy with their Water Guns was nothing to be sneezed at, but they still needed to close the distance before they'd be near enough to act.


---


Matsika's instincts had taken over. He thrashed and struggled as if the smoke were something that could be clawed into submission, his fighter side blindly convinced that so long as he was tearing into something, he was saving himself. In reality, of course, he was only hindering his savior and wasting what precious breath he could draw in between coughs. After an agonizing while, the frantic pace of his endeavors proved too exhausting and he finally went still. Even in submission, however, he had the tenacity of a Spearow; his talons were buried rudely into Ace's scraggly back as if he were prey. Had it occurred to him that he had been beating on the firedog he'd marked out as an enemy, he might have been pleased with himself. Had it occurred to him that said firedog was bailing him out, however... not so much. Maybe it was a small mercy that Matsika was still trying to shake off the haze. It was getting easier, at least. The smoke seemed to be getting less and less heavy; each breath was slowly but surely getting easier.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]The conversation between Clyde and Mariel reminded him of Belle's mother scolding her the first time he had witnessed it- almost a year ago. He certainly had fond memories of travelling with that particular troupe. The small zigzagoon was defiant despite his inferior size, and the beedrill certainly had the motherly aspect down-pat.
He himself felt like the quiet onlooker- usually played by his trainer's brother or father in such situations. The though of it made him chuckle quietly, his face more serene than before. It may have been the wrong time and place, but where he was- wherever that happened to be, he felt at home.
Somewhere he was finding that he was missing more and more as time went on.
Something that Clyde had said struck him particularly- Not anything about how he and Bonnie had done their good deed by healing a fainted pidgey, no, he wasn't particularly phased by that. His comment about a particular species of pokemon- pikachu.. Rats? Hardly.
He snorted at the pokemon's comment, rising onto all fours before the next word left his mouth. He didn't mention anything, just started pacing back and forth as if examining the area behind the tower.
He remained quiet while the other two began to settle down, and returned to his seat when the beedrill had started to talk about Lavender Town after dark.
"...you'd better find your trainer before she gets too worried, and...
It was really all he had managed to catch, and just hearing it was enough to make his face flush with hot embarassment. Or anxiety. Whatever the case, he felt his chest heave and his face contort into a frown.
"I'll probably find some sort of shelter in a pokemon center outside of town. My trainer, ah.. She won't be coming around here anytime soon."
Almost instinctively, Kodent felt the foot with the bell on it rubbing against the other. A sort of nervous reaction, but his face was as calm and collected as ever.
"Since I'll be heading out, Clyde can come with me to return the TM case. I doubt the trainer would come into the city to find it. Oh. And I'm Kodent. This beedrill who seems to have forgotten to introduce herself in favor of executing justice, is Mariel Edwards. Though I'm sure you knew that. You seem to know a lot about her already."
He couldn't suppress a grin, and looked the zigzagoon over more carefully. He was lacking in size but with the way his legs were positioned, the absol could tell that he certainly made up for it in speed.
"It was.. Nice meeting you both. Yes."
[/size]

 

[Satoren]

Whether or not the Natu got his message, Grould did not know, but it had been warned, and should it choose to proceed anyway, it will face the consequences of such. But for now, Grould returned his attention to Bonnie, who at the moment passed by him with a spring of her tail. As she turned around to inform him of her reasons for her crimes. "They got what they deserved, those humans. It's simple really, dog. They took something precious away from me, so I'll keep taking from them til' this hole in my heart is filled. Doesn't that seem fair enough?" She asked him with a cold stare.

Grould looked at her. She was a Sentret, and it never occured to him how heartless they could be. What was going on in her head, he wondered. At that moment he couldn't really respond to what she told him, not without nosing into her business anyway. He surely couldn't show her composure. She was a criminal, who did awful things to young humans and their Pokemon.

Suddenly, a sharp tingle surged through Grould's back, causing the fur to stick out sharp like a Qwilfish. Inexplicably, Grould turned over towards the fire, and noticed that the Sentret did the same. The smoke was thicker and the glow within seemed larger. "Ace?" He whispered. "Your friend probably needs you," Bonnie told him before dashing away, probably after her own.

Grould stood there for a moment, deciding on what he should do next. He turned to the Sentret, and to the fire. And with an angry growl he rushed to the burning tree. No sense in catching the crooks if his partner isn't around to help him.

-----

Everything around Ace was clearer than it was a few minutes ago. And having escaped the toxic clouds, Ace could now realize the terrible pain planted into his back. Despite the Spearow beginning to calm down, the pain still stayed there. It looked like he was wounded pretty badly. If his fur was thinner, you might have seen him shrug as he told himself "looks like I have more pains to worry about in the morning."

As the smoke began to disperse, Ace could now turn around and have a good look at what was going on behind him. He had expected to see the flaming Arcanine, and perhaps hear some comforting words. After all, that was no mere vision of an Arcanine. It had been a vision of his father. That Roar and the voices was all he needed to realize it. They say that a lot of strnage things happen around Lavender Town, things even stranger than the Ghost Pokemon that live in it. If perhaps he lived in another town, he would not instantly believe that what he saw could have been a manifestation of his deceased father. But he had heard stories for so long, that somewhere deep within him, he had hoped this day would come, the day he could see his Father again. Although Tragically seperated beyond worlds, but nevertheless, they would somehow be reunited.

But as he turned in hopes of catching a glimpse of his Father's Spirit, he saw that something was happening to the Vision. It was slowly disappearing, in the same manner all flames did, dying down in a manner that to Ace, made him fee massively diappointed.

In hopes of uplifting his Spirit, the voice returned, and gave him one last message just as the flames ceased. "We weill meet again, very soon," it told him. With that Ace looked longingly at the spot where he thought his Father may have reappeared, but it didn't seem he would return as soon as he hoped. If his Father was the Arcanine he remembered him to be, then he will definitely see him again. But as he thought of this, another came to mind, and he sighed, telling himself "Having High hopes after all this time?" He began to walk the rest of the way out of the smoke. "You've been hanging around Grould too long," he gruffly told himself.

-----

At last they had made it out. And as Ace lowered the Spearow off his back, he too fell beside it. He took in huge breaths of clean air and watched with his eyes half-closed, the trainer who had come to extinguish the fire with his Pokemon. It made him reminisce of his training days, and as he thought of those days, he began to fell tired, and was about to doze off.

"Ace!" cried his little partner as it rushed to his side. This feels more like it, he thought to himself as he ignored his wounds and got up. "Looks like my attack got out of hand there, but I'll be fine," he told him. Grould was relieved to hear this, and shifted his attention to the unconscious Spearow next to Ace. "It looks like he'll be fine. But I think we should get him to that building," his nose pointed towards a familiar red and white dome. It's large metal P symbolized its authenticity as a Pokemon Center. Grould nodded and leaned closely towards the Spearow, trying to make out a pulse if he could. Ace was just about ready for another mankey-back ride as he stretched his muscles and began tp sprint in place.

 

[Sami]

Clyde looked at the Beedrill with a flat face and a single, lifted brow. Did she really expect him to give back the stuff? Rather naive of her. As the Absol spoke of accompanying him to the Poke'center, Clyde tilted his head to the side. Were they for real? Opening his mouth to input his thoughts, he was cut off by a voice from the radio tower above their heads.

"Think again. Clyde ain't going nowhere." The Sentret had found her way craftily onto the Radio Tower, standing on a windowsill, looking down at the trio. How she stood on the window sill looked rather cat-like, being on all fours as she looked down with eyes sharp as a Kabutops' blade. Her eyes were focused on the Beedrill. Since she had been conviently watching the trio, she had heard most of the recent talk.

"We don't have to do anything, Beedrill. Besides, unlike you, some of us may not prefer the spotlight, Ms. Mascot." Her tone was glazed with ice as she spoke, each word intended to be one verbal Slash after another. "Why don't you mind your own, anyhow, Beedrill?" Clyde's eyes were closed as he had a small, content smile, nodding to himself after each line from Bonnie. Backstab easily hopped off the high up perch, landing on her tail much like an Aipom would. Ow, still a bit sore from that Poochyena, but she'll survive. Clyde had waddled his way back into the hole the Absol had started and he finished, his footsteps silent as most likely any and all eyes were on Bonnie and Mariel.

"As you said, it's getting dark. So why don't you crawl obediantly back into the Poke'ball you came out of?" The Sentret's voice was now like Poison, trying to seep into the Beedrill and rot it from the inside out. Still standing on her tail, the little raccoon's arms were crossed as her brow was dangerously narrowed. "I'm sure your humans are just ever so worried about their precious pet." Her eyes made up for the claws she did not have as she tore them into the Beedrill. Uncrossing her little arms, she bent her tail and went into a sudden courteous mock bow before the Beedrill, eyes still as sharp as ever as they looked up at the bug.

"Now if you excuse us, your Highness. I guess we and our 'barbaric' ways will take our leave. Wouldn't want to muck up your precious Radio Tower, Arceus forbid us 'savages' scare away the mass flood of visitors you seem to have." As the words came out in the form of pure, liquid sarcasim, she straightened out and lowered herself to her feet. By now, Clyde had already left the hole without a sound, both packs on his back as he was even past the Absol, his pace a slow waddle. On her own two feet, she walked towards the Absol as she gave a cute little bow to the regal creature. She had no beef with this canine, so she'd prefer to keep it that way. "Excuse us." Her voice was surprisingly polite as she passed the Absol with a confident stride. However, the moment she was on par with the Zigzagoon, both put on a good amount of speed as they headed towards Route 8. Surprisingly, Clyde was still faster than Bonnie, even with the extra luggage.

"Good-bye!" Clyde called back, his tone that of a happy little creature. One could see Bonnie was running slower than she could, eyes still on the pair as she kept herself at the ready. 'What an aweful day this turned out to be.', Backstab cussed in the back of her head.

 

[Snapdragon]

It took an awful lot of guts to insult a Beedrill, especially if you couldn't outrun one. Bonnie's sudden verbal attack was nothing short of an invitation to convert her squirrelly little body into a pincushion. If the stings didn't get to her, then the poison inevitably would. That sardonic bow of hers would have been the perfect time to just lance down on the back of her head; it certainly would have put an end to her words. Any other Beedrill would have gladly done it right then and there, but not Mariel. There was more separating her from her wild kin than her shiny coloration. Her hive was a massive steel tower, and her family warded off foes with tact, not stingers. She wasn't wired for wanton violence and spite, and when faced with such naked, raw hate, she simply didn't know what to do with herself.

Mariel's yellow-green face flushed bright red, her head dropping as her stingers fiddled self-consciously with the ribbon around her neck. "I... that is... I didn't mean you were..." Her humiliation had robbed her completely of speech. She... she didn't mean to insult Clyde or that friend of his. It wasn't that they were barbaric, it was that stinging things left and right was, and oh...! She didn't want to sound bossy or uppity or anything! Now she'd gone and offended them, and the trainers weren't going to get back their TMs and they were going to keep on breaking the law and Clyde had seemed awfully nice for a wild Pokemon, it wasn't right for him to resort to things like that!

And worse, they were leaving! Didn't they know the danger of Lavender at night? Mariel's conscious begged for her to say something, but she didn't dare open her mouth again after that assault that had been sprung onto her, lest she trigger another salvo of scathing words. The stingers lifted away from her ribbon, instead crisscrossing over her face as her eyes began to water. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't -- that was Weedle behavior, and she represented the radio tower! Nobody cried when things went wrong and there were whispers of downsizing or going out of business, and Mariel wouldn't cry either.

"Good-bye!" Clyde's genuinely cheerful farewell was what did it. Mariel's wings halted and she dropped to the ground with a soft plop. A choked little sob-squeak escaped, though it sounded more like a Jigglypuff getting steamrollered than a Beedrill feeling miserable.


---


The moment Wartortle and Golduck were in range, they let loose with twin blasts of water, filling the air with the sibilant hiss and the steam of a dying blaze. Their trainer arrived moments later, though by that point his focus had been diverted from the fire itself to the strange assortment of Pokemon near it. A Spearow that had seen better days -- probably prey to the Growlithe and Poochyena near it. Farther over, a Sentret and a Zigzagoon that looked to be carrying something, and a little Natu to boot. Most definitely not native to Lavender Town, and he could see no sign of a trainer anywhere. Strange... Tyrel didn't know whether to be suspicious, or thank his lucky stars that somebody had potentially given him the chance to catch some exotic Pokemon. Two more pokeballs dropped to the ground, this time revealing a Quagsire and a Pelipper. The two glanced over to Wartortle and Golduck, then to the dying fire, but Tyrel shook his head. Wartortle and Golduck wouldn't take long to douse the rest of the flames, then they could watch the Growlithe and Poochyena. Quagsire and Pelipper? They could watch the others. No sign of a trainer, then he'd consider them fair game.

---


As for Matsika... having finally been pried off of Ace's back, he was limp as a feather-duster. Simply trying to restore his breathing to normal was tiring enough that it demanded his full attention. Never again -- flying in a cloud of smoke was one of the dumbest things he had ever done. He... actually owed that firedog for that one, even if the whole thing was his fault to begin with; Matsika certainly wasn't the one who went around blowing up trees. Nevertheless, the fact he'd been saved was enough to keep him from lashing out at the Growlithe. Well... that, and the whole "wheeze machine" thing meant he was only half-sure the dog-reek-orange-blur was, in fact, the firedog.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]It was shocking, really.
The prejudice that had shown it's ugly face, that is.
Upon their first encounter, Mariel had wanted nothing more than to rid her town of the 'wild filth'.
As soon as they had started a conversation, Clyde had really given the beedrill a run for her money, engaging her in intelligent conversation and a hearty debate.
And then Bonnie- it had been Bonnie, right? That's how Clyde had introduced her.
She had arrived, and started cutting into the pokemon with words that were so cold and spiteful that he himself had started to feel their impact.

Mariel must have undergone a transformation somewhere.
Half an hour ago he would have expected her to drill her stingers so far into the sentret's head that the brown pokemon would have been able to see out of them.
It made him hurt to see this girl, as unfamiliar as they were, be slaughtered so fiercely.
The pent-up fury that the sentret was lashing at her with became a burden to bear, and speechless as he already was he found himself frozen when she displayed such incredible courtesy to him. And right in front of the beaten beedrill as well.
And without another word, they were off. Towards Route 8.
The last impressionable thing they left with the pair was a gracious farewell from the zigzagoon, whom they had previously gravely misjudged.
He hadn't moved throughout the entirety of the ordeal, and didn't now.
At least, not until Mariel had collapsed and began weeping strange, restrained little sobs.
He had never been good at comforting others, and now was no exception.
He had only ever witnessed anyone with such misery once before, and Rusty was the one to be the support system. Ah.. If only she were here.
Regardless, he made an effort to do as she did.. What had she done, now..?

Unnerved and a bit unorthodox, he put a paw around the sobbing pokemon's shoulders, tugging her closer as he watched the two leave, dumbfounded for the most part and finding that his toes had started trembling.

But, if it wasn't for the oddly out-of-place cries of a pokemon being released... He recognised the call they made- it was usually of relief at being outside and glee for being able to breathe the fresh air.
It was at an awkward angle, but he could just make out the figure of a... A quagsire, it seemed. And a pelipper. And..
Their trainer.
Mercy be, what were they doing? And- and what was that smell? And why did their trainer have such an enthused look in his eye? Albeit, he did know the look too.
Trainers had a certain composure when they were going to try and catch something.
But surely that couldn't be the case.
He must have been mistaken, that was smoke he was smelling and surely the boy was trying to douse a fire. Or something.
[/size]

 

[Satoren]

Ace's little exercise came to a halt as he noticed the two new Pokemon on the scene. He had no idea what sort of Pokemon they were, but he could guess that one of them, the Pelipper, could obviously fly. When he saw that the trainer showed no order to have them douse the fire, this confirmed his suspicions.

"Oh no," he said slowly as he approached Grould. Grould looked at his face, which looked slightly afraid at something, then following Ace's line of sight towards the two recently released Pokemon, he knew instinctively what was going on. As a wild Pokemon, Grould has had his fair share of humans who attempted to capture him, and were it not for Ace's lessons in lying low, he would certainly have made a new friend at the cost of his freedom. Freedom...Ace was once a trained Pokemon, and he had about as good an amount of freedom as wild Pokemon had. He had never really been against Grould's capture, it would have been an interesting experience for him, and he was certain he would learn much more than Ace himself ever did. And yet something kept the two together for so long. Grould, unsure at first, was convinced that Ace was the only one who would train him right. And Ace somehow felt guilty if Grould were to ever get caught without a good fight. Thus both resolved to stay by each other's side. And that eventually grew into a need for them to look after one another, much to Ace's dismay.

"He's not going to capture us, is he?" Grould asked him, in hopes of an assuring 'No' from his partner. But Ace just leered at the two Pokemon. It seems the Two new Pokemon weren't interested in battling them though, and focused their attention on several other things. It was then that the two had noticed the sheer number of Pokemon on the scene. "A feast of strange, new Pokemon just waiting to be caught, and you're one of them," He told Grould. "I need you to get yourself and this Spearow to the Pokemon Center, you'll be safe there, at least the Nurse isn't one to catch wild Pokemon," He told him urgently. "You're injured, too," Grould added "If anyone's gonna stay here and distract them, it should be me!" He puffed up his chest to show he was ready. Ace shook his head and spoke at a more serious tone, a feat Grould didn't think was possible. "Pokemon like you don't usually live here in Lavender, you'll be the first target if you hang around here." He pushed his young partner towards the direction of the Pokemon Center. "Go!" He said in a loud tone. Knowing how stubborn Ace was, Grould probably would'nt win this fight, not for another few years anyway. With a heavy heart, and a heavier load on his back, Grould began to walk quickly towards the Center, hoping to at least stick around long enough to make sure his partner wouldn't go down so easily. Ace began to back up trying to growl menacingly, as long as he didn't make the first move, perhaps he could somehow convince them he was a trained Pokemon. Despite the trouble they were in, in his head a calm voice was chuckling. What a day, he thought.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Hali flew away immediately from the Poochyena. He wasn't worthy enough to bother, and besides, he seemed serious to, what, defeat the Sentret or something? And the Sentret didn't even flinch! Those two were no fun at all, the Natu thought as he fluttered away.

After much circling about, trying to find better and some more fun Pokemon, Hali's eyes saw the raging fire, then the Poochyena and Sentret he had saw earlier, along with some new Pokemon: A Spearow, a Growlithe, and... whoa. Okay, that was something Hali wasn't prepared for.

Besides wild Pokemon, there were four water-type Pokemon: a Quagsire, a Pelipper, a Wartortle, and a Golduck, in the scene. Definitely not wild, since they had all evolved. Looking around, Hali saw a trainer holding the water Pokemons' Pokeballs. Well, that really made his day. Hali flew into the trees, hoping to block the Pokeballs that might be thrown at him, along with the attacks that'll be aimed at him. Lucky most of his feathers were green, helping camouflage him, but he had some red, too, so that'll be a big problem. Hopefully the branches were thick enough to hide his reds.

Hali was one of those unfortunate ones who had never been captured or tried to be captured before. He never knew how humans fought, but he was sure that he didn't want to be part of their team. The trained Pokemon were always so... mannerly and etiquette, which Hali could never be. He would never be able to fit in to those snobby Pokemon, for he was arrogant, quite opposite of the trained human-caught Pokemon. Maybe I should fire another Confuse Ray at these people so they'll be highly confused, he thought. But then he countered to himself, But then I'll give my position away, and you know how awful your aim is. Thinking hard, the Natu concluded that he'll just have to wait in the tree and hope that everything would turn out well.

 

[Sami]

Clyde had already made his way onto Route 8. Stopping to look back, he noticed Bonnie was significantly behind him. Waiting for her to catch, up he was surprised by her next orders. "You go on, remember that Ekans hole we found awhile back? Try to go stay there. If that Ekans is back, well, you know what he likes. I'm sure we've still got one or two of those berries." Ah, the art of bribery. Something Clyde and Bonnie had mastered, with wild or tamed Poke'mon. Sometimes even humans, as much as Bonnie hated associating with them. Before Clyde left, Bonnie rummaged through her bag atop of his. Pulling out a claw-like object with a small hole drilled into it, she placed it around her neck via the cord that was looped through the hole.

"Alright, you get going." She closed up his bag as Clyde took off like a drunken bullet. As the 'Scout Poke'mon', Bonnie always did just that. She would lurk behind and make sure noone followed Clyde, she would make sure that the coast was clear. Her mind was sharper than Clyde, and her movements more precise. She couldn't beeline like Clyde in a million years, but she could weave in and out of trees, buildings, rooftops like the best of them.

But there was something else tugging at her mind. A trainer, and several Poke'mon. Interesting. Hopefully, the Quick Claw around her neck would be enough for the boy to conclude she wasn't wild, for what untamed Sentret would possess such an item? And that would be what she was hoping for. Clyde by now as probably burrowing himself into that hole on Route 8. Hopefully, that Ekans wasn't so sick of them to the point where he would refuse bribs. Nevertheless, they always managed. Standing on her tail, Bonnie found a trashcan and used it to propel herself onto a rooftop.

Keeping silent, she would move closer and closer to the boy himself, using crates, trashcans, and gutters to keep herself amongst the roofs. Keen eyes observered her surroundings. Wartortle, Golduck, Quagsire, and a Pelipper. The only threat amongst them in these eyes was the Quagsire, and then after the Golduck. Wartortle and Pelipper could easily fall to a Thunderbolt should a battle arise. There was still the Absol and Beedrill, hah, and whaddya' know, she was crying like a little Igglybuff, fresh from the egg! A slight swell of satisfaction arose to Backstab's face as she peered over from the rooftop. That crazy Spearow knocked out on that even crazier Poochyena's back, both fleeing the scene. A grizzled up Growlithe and it seemed that Natu from before was nowhere to be found. Looked like the lil' bird had already high-tailed it outta' there.

As her eyes stared at the boy, they moved down to the bag upon his back. What if....what if she could get something outta' this kid? At dusk, infront of his own Poke'mon? Wouldn't that just be a giant, human middle finger to that kids face?! What a notion. But...she had never pulled a decent heist while they had as many as four out. That'd be a risk. Okay, new game plan. If that punk tries his hand at capturing her, which many a human has. She'd toast his water types, out-evade that Quagsire and make a grab for his bag. Human fail at design anyway. All she would need to do is stick her head and arms in the bag, and with it on his back like that, he wouldn't be able to grab her. By the time he would've taken it off, she'd be long gone with whatever she got. Of course, this entire plan was pure theory. As much as the risk would've thrilled her, she had no intention of getting caught this early in the game. For now, she would observe and make sure Clyde wasn't being followed.

 

[Snapdragon]

Mariel Edwards wasn't a very complex creature. She only really had two goals in life: first and foremost, to protect the radio tower and its employees, and live up to her duty as tower mascot. Second, she simply aimed to please. Harsh words didn't cripple her so severely on the battlefield, because guarding the tower was a far more important priority than making others happy. When the tower wasn't being actively threatened, however, so could focus on her second aim, and that was when a sharp tongue really stung. It was awfully sweet of Kodent to comfort her like that -- they had only just met, after all. Come to think of it... Kodent had said something about his trainer not coming, hadn't he? If that was the case, then there was no time for Mariel to feel sorry for herself. A radio tower mascot was supposed to make visitors feel welcome, after all, especially if they didn't have their trainer with them. That had to be lonelier and harder than enduring a few mean words.

Slowly, the stifled little sobs subsided and she lowered her stingers away from her face. Mariel cleared her throat and gently shrugged the Absol's comforting paw. The Beedrill rose onto her spindly legs, now looking much more composed. "Sorry about that... we should see about getting you a place to spend the night. Normally, I'd invite you to the radio tower, but I don't know if you'd want to stay there with everything that's been going on. The Pokemon Center is probably the best place for you to be." Mariel nodded to herself, though she could tell that Kodent's thoughts were elsewhere. She followed his gaze over to where a trainer was standing with a bunch of water-types... oh, that was the Adams boy, wasn't it? Nice kid... but what was he doing out here? There was lots of smoke in the air, and she could see a Growlithe, too. Was he having a battle? This close to sundown?


---


So many exotic Pokemon and so little time. Tyrel was used to making his captures one at a time, but hesitating meant one could get away. Already he'd lost track of both the Zigzagoon and the Natu, and he'd almost lost the Sentret, too. On the bright side, the fire seemed to be completely doused, so he could get Golduck and Wartortle on the job, too. "Alright guys, listen up. If any of these Pokemon had trainers, then we would have seen them by now. Nobody'd leave them unattended in Lavender with night about to come. I'm leaving it up to you, got it? Pick a target and bring them down, then I'll make the capture." There was a jumbled chorus of replies as each of the water-types nodded, then broke off in separate directions.

Golduck was one of the quicker members of Tyrel's team; he went after the Poochyena that was trotting off with a Spearow on its back. "Hey you, hold up," he quacked, breaking into a swift jog. "Where's your trainer?" Tyrel may have given the order to make a capture, but there was no harm in making certain these guys were, in fact, wild.

Wartortle didn't move too far at all; her chosen foe was the Growlithe. Should be a cake walk, she figured. Not only was he already injured, but he had a type disadvantage. That, and... really, the dog really looked to be out of his prime, so to speak. Not that you could really expect a wild Pokemon to be flawlessly groomed, but still. "Look, buddy, it'll be better if you don't make a fuss. Tyrel's a nice guy, he'll take good care of you."

As for the other two? Pelipper's Keen Eye came in handy. It didn't take the large bird long to locate not only a telltale flash of red amongst the trees, but the little brown Sentret up on a rooftop. She didn't pay much mind at all to the Absol; if he was with Mariel, he was untouchable. The other two, however... a nudge and a whispered word to Quagsire, and in a matter of moments, he was riding on her back as she took to the air. Her first stop was a low, easy swoop over the building Bonnie was on, so that Quagsire could flop off her back, and after that... she made a beeline for the Natu's hiding place, firing off a Water Gun to try and flush him out into the open.

Quagsire was all business as well. As soon as he'd thudded down onto the rooftop, he... sat there looking vaguely confused. His idleness wasn't to be misinterpreted, though; he was using Amnesia. Despite being a Johto species, Quagsire was hatched and raised in Kanto; all he knew about Sentrets and Furrets was that they could use Hyper Voice, so he figured he may as well prepare just in case this thing was going to start yelling at him.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]To say that he was distracted would have been a gross understatement- his mind was very much in and on different places and things, respectively.
With thousands of different thoughts and ideas formulating and wreaking havok before they had been exhausted, he'd hardly taken notice of his own paw slowly conforming to his sitting position and eventually touched down absently.

Mariel's words were much the same in that respect- he took little notice of them and only really tuned in again when he actually noticed she was talking.
Something about the Pokemon Center being a good place to stay.
He managed a blank, half-hearted smile and nodded, tossing the cropped white fringe at the side of his head to flit teasingly against his cheek.
"Thank you, Mariel. I appreciate all your help, but at the moment I just wanna see what's... goin on.."
His words had started to dissovle into a quiet utter after he had thanked her, and in a moment he was on his feet and making his way to the corner of the tower, where he could clearly examine just what was happening that had brought such a ruckus.

..
..
..
Had that tree always been like that?
..
No, he distincly remembered spotting the Sentret and Spearow in that tree before, and it had been very much upright and alive.
A bit of a shock, that was.
Was it possible that they had not heard the roar of the fire, the cracking of the tree, and the angry cries of the pokemon that had now scattered?
No, no it wasn't.
So who, or what, had the kind of power to block all their senses like that? Or contain them in the area behind the tower so the rest of the world was oblivion?
The concept of it all was a little more than unnerving, but on the bright side it could very well confirm his suspicions of supernatural activity in this town.
The very thought of it got his adrenaline pumping, and he could feel the muscles tightening in his legs and jaw.

ooc| Turning this into a supernatural occurane, because it's an easier explanation to swallow. As opposed to 'they were too dumb to hear the noise and smell the smoke and see the freaking fire so there.'
Unless you prefer the latter. In that case, I'll edit this :3[/size]