Break The Walls Down! [event #1, Curtis]

[Cain Stanok]

As the small, wooden raft pulled onto the shores of Route 18, Cain turned to the moonlit seas one last time. It almost reminded him of the brilliant blue waters of Sunyshore, denied to him by locked gates and endless red tape. What else could he have done? Come crawling back to that frozen hellhole he refused to call home? No, he needed the first boat out, no matter how heavy the price he'd pay.

Did he know when he angrily shouted "yes" to that officer in hopes of shutting him up, he'd be signing his life away?

He sighed deeply, squeezing his eyes shut to force the vision out of his mind before turning and hopping off of the boat. He was soaked and freezing from making the journey in such a rickety craft, but any larger accommodations would have ruined the ambush. He cracked open two Pokeballs, shooting an Aggron and a Garbodor a glare to remind them to keep quiet upon release.

"Hush up, you two. Stay quiet until I say so." The Aggron nodded obediently, while the Garbodor lolled a tongue out of its mouth hungrily and began to look around aimlessly. "Hedorah, you can snack on all the crap you want after we're in!" the boy snapped in response, hoping promises of tasty food would keep the trash Pokemon focused for the time being.

However, seeing a small trail of gunk pooling beneath the trash behemoth's feet gave Cain an idea. He reached into the pile and took great handfuls, rubbing the metal beast down. At first it let out a grunt of protest, only to notice its tarnished arm was reflecting much less moonlight. Upon realizing Cain's tactic it decided to just grit its teeth and bear it, figuring the embarrassment would be worth not getting caught by Zemina's agents.

Once preparations were underway, Cain began to sneak off. The dull, muddy waste covering his two Pokemon left them more like hazy shapes in the darkness of the night, while Cain's low profile would make him much harder to see. He hoped even if they were spotted, they'd simply be mistaken for the many wild Pokemon that prowled Fuchsia City's outskirts. Not that they'd need to stay incognito for long, of course. As soon as Cain found an adequate weak point in Boure's defences, he was planning on smashing his way through.

And if anyone tried to stop him?

He'd think of that later. For now, the boy simply kept to the shadows, his Pokemon flanking him on both sides. They were his eyes and ears, his shield and sword, his tickets toward a better life. With this first step into the world taken he'd finally be free. No more torment at the hands of a bitter, controlling man. No more perilous navigation through caves and mountains. No more guilt for running away and leaving his beloved mother behind.

The walls to Fuchsia City weren't the only ones they'd be breaking down.

curtis fox

[curtis fox]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

Curtis wondered why he had been chosen. The envelope had slipped into his possession by mysterious means: anonymously shoved into one of his coat pockets during a routine escape from the paparazzi. Someone had bumped into him supposedly. The wrinkled paper told him that much.

But it was the bumps in the night that bothered him now. The stars twinkled in place of cameras and the only company he could afford were his Pokemon. His Noivern, with its dark wings hugged firmly against its torso, sniffed around with its flaring red nostrils. Curtis found himself leaning against the dragon more often than not in an effort to stave off the cold. 

The night wasn't alien to him, however. Veiled in the darkness of the witching hour, Curtis could cast away his names, cast away his identities and toil under the comfort of night's sheath. Yet, tonight was different. The work was different. And he was tired. His eyelids were weighted down by the fatigue of unfamiliarity, and like a Babylonian wall, his vision was constricted to the crack between them.

His Noivern flapped its wing, the leathery membrane smacking Curtis awake. 

"G-guh... sorry," Curtis rubbed his watery eyes.

He straightened his spine and rolled his shoulders back. Shifting his neck side to side until a satisfying crack rang from under his goosebump riddled skin, he continued forward. His Noivern followed beside him with a disgruntled snort; hot air cascaded from the Pokemon and warmed his chilled skin: a temporary relief. 

Curtis pulled out his flashlight. Nothing here. Nothing there. 

He commanded his Noivern to give the area a nice tailwind; perhaps, it would flush the area of any red herrings. Flurries of Rattata always rang the false alarm. The wind picked up—and with it, his flashlight. He hadn't counted on the Noivern's strength and as his torch drifted within the gust, it revolved and rotated like an astronaut-in-training, sending its beam of light in all sorts of directions. The flashlight illuminated the walls, the faces of startled rodents and the cold loneliness of the night. 

The flashlight eventually rolled to a rest, but the bump it had when it hit the ground had dislodged a battery within. Like a one-hit wonder, the light flared vibrantly before evanescing into a cold, cold death. As he walked towards the flashlight, his eyes caught the stars.

And he realized that they too were dead.

TAGGED Cain Stanok
NOTES 

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[Cain Stanok]

Creeping forward ever so slightly, Cain could only wish he had the time to sleep.

Located between two endless expanses of ocean, the Route 18 building was fairly small and easy to make defensible. Cain cursed his luck as he noticed the fortified structure, and wished he could've been attacking from the heavily forested Route 15 instead. At least there he'd have proper room to maneuver, instead of a narrow, unkempt path at the mouth of Cycling Road. Quickly the boy realized that when his superiors mentioned an ambush, they didn't mean infiltration.

He continued his slow yet steady advance, but soon found himself halted once he noticed the familiar glow of flashlights. What could he do now? His team was far too slow and large to dash between bits cover without being noticed, but they were essential for his protection. He couldn't strike from the oceans either, unlike some of his more fortunate comrades. It seemed all he could do was wait Arceus-knows-how-long for an opportunity or charge in and get himself killed. With how long and boring the wait was, he was starting to heavily consider the second option.

He didn't count on a miracle happening, but it seemed like fate was cashing in a favor for all the crap he had been through earlier.

Cain leapt back a little in surprise from the sudden flash as Curtis' flashlight dropped. He quickly tried to regain his low-to-the-ground position, in hopes of not being seen, but now he and his team were on high alert. "The heck!? Someone see us!?" the boy frantically whispered, but a shake of Kiryu's head indicated otherwise. Hedorah, meanwhile, had stopped paying attention to the others entirely. Instead its gaze, attuned to the dark due to the shady sewers it was accustomed to, fell on the flashlight as its bulb grew dim. A grin spread across its face as it decided to make some mischief.

Hedorah's eyes glowed a dull blue as it began exerting Psychic force on the flashlight. It twitched slightly and then resumed rolling, just fast enough to match Curtis' sleepy pace. Perhaps it'd be easy enough to dismiss as the winds continuing to intensify, even as the flashlight settled into a pile of messy, waist-high grass. At first Cain turned to demand what his Pokemon was doing, but when he noticed the hazy figure hopefully being lead out of sight he slowly grinned. "Now's our chance, guys. Don't screw this up."

If his group was the distraction squad, so be it. Cain always preferred the direct approach anyway.

"Why don't we knock on their doorstep?" Cain asked, giving Kiryu a pat on the back and pointing the Aggron toward the Route 18 blockade. Slowly the Aggron began to leave the ground, freeing itself from that troublesome friction with a Magnet Rise. Not like it could just lumber over to the building and start slapping it, after all. No, it'd take more momentum than that to make Boure open up.

For a second the Aggron paused. And then it began to accelerate.

Faster, faster now. Its heavy mass made it impossible to go too fast, but slowly it began to pick up speed as it careened toward its target. Garbage fell off of its steel coat as it moved: if the sudden odor of trash didn't tip anyone off to Kiryu's approach, the starlight reflecting off of its shining carapace surely would. To Cain that didn't matter, though. The time for stealth had come and passed, and he could only hope Hedorah's distraction had given them enough of an opening.

As the moment of impact approached Kiryu bucked its head down and thrust itself forward, putting all of its weight behind a massive Heavy Slam. Even at the relatively slow speeds Kiryu was travelling at, 360 kilos of stone and cold steel was a force to be reckoned with.

TL;DR - Hedorah tries to distract Curtis, while Kiryu simply bum rushes its way toward Fuchsia.

curtis fox

[curtis fox]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

Stupid little flashlight. He muttered grumpily as he lurched several times in an attempt to catch it, but no matter how hard he stretched, his fingers could barely scrape the flashlight's cylinder body. However, as it rolled further and into the grass, he noticed that the ground was level; his feet had shuffled without any shift in elevation and before he could utter a sound, the sour odor of aged trash flooded the air.

Then a glint of shining metal.

Inhaling an icy breath through clenched teeth, he whipped out two Pokeballs. His Noivern screeched, but Curtis didn't need him now. Out of the flashes of light came his Gallade and Bastiodon, poised like bodyguards. But this Curtis didn't need bodyguards, no.

"Avex, IRON DEFENSE!" Curtis cried before pointing to Gallade, "Yang, you know what to do!" 

Yang's tonfa-like arms pressed against the Bastiodon's hardening figure. As Avex's armor strengthened, Yang TELEPORTED himself and Avex before the charging Aggron. The Bastiodon moaned, its gravelly cry lost among the violent clamor of the Aggron's HEAVY SLAM. Weighing less than the Aggron, Curtis' Bastiodon felt the full power of the steel goliath's assault, but the sheer sturdiness of his species kept him upright. Avex's feet had been pushed into the ground and created craters. Cracked stones littered his position. Avex matched Kiryu's eyes.

The Gallade was already exhausted; teleporting was no easy feat and moving a Bastiodon from one place to the other was something else, entirely. 

"Who's out there!?" Curtis shouted as he ran towards the Bastiodon, "Sh-show yourself!" His Noivern followed suit, tailing behind him quickly, the effects of its TAILWIND carrying them with a sprite-like speed.

"Come out!"

His flashlight remained in the bushes.

TAGGED Cain Stanok
NOTES SORRY FOR THE RUSHED POST BB

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[Cain Stanok]

Kiryu was a Pokemon of near-monastic discipline, who always kept a cool head no matter how sudden a change to her situation was. But even she was surprised to see a Bastiodon suddenly appear right in front of her, cutting her off so temptingly close to the impact zone. While she still had the upper hand in this exchange, it was far from a clean sweep. Bastiodon were hard to move, and the awkwardness of the sudden tackle left Kiryu a bit dazed too.

Its eyes met the Bastiodon's gaze, nodding in response. If it was a challenge Avex wanted, a challenge it would get. There was no malice in the metal dragon's eyes, but simply a cold mixture of respect and purpose. Kiryu wanted this wall down, Avex wanted to protect it, soon one of the two would have to give.

It wouldn't be Kiryu.

The Aggron dipped back slightly before charging in for another Heavy Slam. It had thrust both arms out this time, slamming not just for power but for position. If it could force the Bastiodon down to its knees, hovering over it and making another beeline for the wall would be trivial.

Cain, meanwhile, realized the bad situation Kiryu was in. There were at least two enemy Pokemon there, and unless he wanted to enter the fray with Hedorah, Kiryu was on its lonesome. It didn't help that the guard had become much more active, and was now entering the fray with a third Pokemon in tow. He pulled out another Pokeball, turning to Hedorah and frantically whispering "Do something!"

The great gob of garbage looked uncomprehending for a bit, until Cain pointed to some nearby grass and once again whispered "That psychic thing, c'mon!" That's when Hedorah understood. Making more mischief? Why wouldn't it ever want to do that! Cain primed the Pokeball and handed it off to Hedorah, who began to carry it away with Psychic energy.

The boy hoped, in the chaos kicked up by Kiryu's charge, nobody would notice until the Pokeball was moved a good distance away from him.

Then came the second part of the Pokeball release, the hurl. Hedorah psychically punted the Pokeball right into the grass, kicking up a flash of light that would surely get the Pokemon inside noticed by now. Baragon emerged, the diminutive Nidoking letting out a sad, squeaking attempt at a roar of intimidation before looking around the battlefield.

What? No Cain? Briefly the Nidoking looked confused, whipping its head around as if trying to find its trainer. The boy tensed up, hoping his Pokemon wouldn't run back and end up leading his enemy right toward him, but thankfully something else caught Baragon's eye first. Kiryu was in trouble! The Nidoking pawed forward, dramatically leaping onto the scene and pressing its horn to the ground.

First silence. And then golden cracks began to spread beneath Kiryu, Yang, and Avex's feet. Baragon had just unleashed Earth Power, hoping to get everyone as far away from his bestest friend as possible. Or, as Cain would prefer, getting everyone as weak and unable to oppose him as possible.

How long could the boy hold this facade for, though? Eventually Hedorah's trickery would be noticed, and Cain was running out of distractions to hurl at Curtis to keep out of sight. Soon the boy and his blob would be noticed, and with nowhere left to run it would be time to dig his heels in and fight.

Was he ready for his first taste of actual war? It would be so much harder than directing from afar.

tl;dr: Cain and Hedorah continue trying to manipulate the battlefield from out of sight. Kiryu's trying to get Avex out of the way with another Heavy Slam and finish its mission rather than stand and fight. Baragon's making an explosive entrance by breaking out Earth Power right in the middle of the struggle.

Also don't be sad about rushed posts, I think you've been making 'em perfect so far!

curtis fox

[caedmon]

▶ success: Cain Stanok.

Sorry, curtis fox, you have been disqualified for lack of activity. Thank you for participating in our event, but only Cain will be proceeding.