Sutoratosu

honestly, I think it may be better to just do the jump and try to pump some life back into things with a bit of action, considering the...long ass period of inactivity there was- kinda missed out on a lot of the time that could've been spent doing the whole establishment of normality thing (Like a literal two months... sorry to be blunt here, but it's true...) Though at the end of the day it would probably be wiser to just get the group consensus and proceed from there rather than just take the advice of a few people without waiting for the others to vote. so yeah, there's that... It really doesn't matter too much to me personally though. I'm fine with either one that's chosen

"So long as they meet the criteria and say yes to the offer." Shades said. "Even you, dear Lloyd. There is little that you may have done that the Captain of this very vessel himself did not commit at some point during his time as a service member, and yet... here he is." He put down the mug, now empty, and slid it off to the side of the table. There was something different about him... something off. perhaps it was the strange smile on his face, the fact that he seemed a bit...too happy about something... "And about the brotherhood... don't worry. We have our ways of dealing with them, many have tried to infiltrate, all have met aweful ends, like they deserve... in fact... here are some more now. Come children, if you're interested in the offer... why don't you give these opponents a proper end for me? M'kay, little ones?" The very minute he finished speaking, an explosion that would've registered on the ricktorscale rocked the whole boat, sending the room into shambles as the lights suddenly went pitch black, even those of the lock on the door. The air was cold... colder than it should've been, each of them felt it, as if something were walking past and creating a heat sink... and then it was gone, the temperature returned to normal. The lights flickered back into a dim life... And shades was nowhere to be found, the chair he once occupied sitting against the far wall of the room as if it had been there the whole time. The mug he had taken was back in it's place, still steaming with coffee. The entire event had been less than a few seconds. too little time for a human being to have sprung up and dashed to the heavy steel door, let alone undo the fail safe locking mechanism... But yet the door was hanging wide open. The smell of salt and smoke wafted it's way into the rooming as shouting voices and the unmistakable sound of battle droned in from the stair case down the hall...

"The man has his own issues, I'm afraid." Shades responded simply. "He was involved in the wars on terror a few years ago... had things and people taken from him bit by bit one could say...which it part of why he's such a bull headed arse now, as you all could plainly see. He thinks he can bring back his friends if he just does one thing right, as if one action will counteract the other and negate the consequences of fate... what a fool." He took another long sip of the mug, face still cold as stone, no sign that he even had any eyes under those black glasses. "That is not the point though... the reason he was denying you all the time of day out there is because technically speaking, his team was removed from Project Arcadia a few days ago, given a new assignment. So he wasn't lying when he told you he and his men couldn't take you, both for that reason, and the reasons I've stated previously. He has a phobia of sorts... he's a soldier, though a broken one, a soldier still. He wants someone to salute and orders to follow... religiously so. If he let you on, that would've been insubordination in his eyes, so I let you onboard myself so that Jack wouldn't have to. There needs to be a voice of reason in certain situations, you see... and I simply stepped in to fill that role."

"Right to the chase then... very well." Shades adjusted himself in his seat to face nikki and Yuzuki, noting how non chalant Steele was and filing it away later all the while. Nothing on his face gave even the slightest hint of emotion. Infact... he looked kinda fuzzy for some reason- like he was out of focus from the surrounding interiors... "We want the same thing from you that we have wanted from all those who sat where you have sat, from all those who pursued Arcadia's legend and found us awaiting them instead. There are individuals in this world... individuals seeking something that is a dream best left unrealized. Individuals who have been hiding and moving in the shade for over the past hundred and some years, individuals whom are responsible for the surge of technology since then, starting with the pokeball, and then gradually up-scaling from there. Individuals... whom both they and we refer to, as the Brotherhood. Ever since they were founded, they've been after only one thing- trying to make the world...better in their eyes. They claim they want the brightest possible future for humanity, for mankind to realize his full potential... But do tell an old ghost one thing, children: Do you appreciate having freedom of will? Freedom of choice? Do you enjoy being able to direct your own life whoever you so please, with the mandatory condition of consequences included, of course? Do you enjoy the ability to travel wherever you so please, make whatever friends and enemies you deem fit, build bridges and destroy them as needed? Well... in a world run by the Brotherhood, you would not enjoy such liberties and rights, for in their eyes, Liberty is the greatest vice of mankind, at least on such a massive and nondiscriminatory scale as it is in the world now. If the Brotherhood ruled the world at this moment, you would all lose everything and everyone you have ever cared about. What they seek is a Drone State, a world of puppets and puppet masters, cattle, and sheperds, in as literal a sense as the metaphor can get. They think the world has been corrupted, that crime and wrong doing have become too rampant in the world... and they seek to fix their perceived issue by removing what they feel is the cause of it all...I am sure you can guess what it is to them."

"You may deny it all you like, Felix." Shades said, not missing a beat, saying the man's name as if he had known the machinist his entire life... "But it does not change the facts of the matter. you, all of you, hold the hearts of warriors and kings- the hearts of Pyroars, even if you do not know it. That much is proven by the fact that you're seated here now."

So... the update is up. We're jumping right into the thick of things now. And I should probably start assembling my soundtrack for this... EDIT: I've also made some alterations to the history section regarding the development of pokeballs and the league. Just wanted them to be a bit better spaced out and explained.

"Aye, you're right." The man nodded simply before turning his eyes to the other three who had spoken up "As are you. I asked the question to make it easier to do what the...captain, Jack, was too Bull Headed to do. You're right in both regards- indeed, 10,000 years ago, the ice age began as the polar ice cap of the northern hemisphere began to expand for some reason modern science still hasn't determined, and it was around that time that certain officials in the field of genetics and paleontology believe theorize that the first genetic humanoids were born... the first humanoids who were completely separate from the pokemon race" He paused for a minute and pulled a chair to the table, sitting down and reaching out for one of the mugs, giving a little tug of his fingers into thin air. somehow, the cup came off it's place of it's own accord, sliding across the pearly white surface and into his palm, not even spilling a drop. "And I use the term 'Theorize' very loosely here... mostly because they're all wrong, of course; the evidence they might have found might seem as though it is a logical conclusion that Humans evolved prior to the ice age and formed hunter and gather societies, nearly went extinct when the big freeze began, and then once it was over repopulated thanks to the discovery of agriculture... but the truth is far different." He took a sip of the mug, seeming to relish the pure, unsweetened, unbridled strength of the beverage. "But... that's a bit too far ahead. On to why you're all here- Arcadia... I am afraid that it's a ruse, my good folks. A lie, a scheme. Everything that's been circulating about the frozen wasteland for the past two years has been mostly fabricated. In fact, the word "Arcadia" isn't even the proper name of a single place; it's more of a metaphor than anything- a word in a dead tongue used to describe a world that was filled with snow and ice, where the sky was either overcast or dark for eleven months of every year. The world used to describe an era of literal darkness over the earth, an era that lasted 1,000 years... So you see... we can't take you to Arcadia. We could never take anyone to arcadia at all, because most of it's lore was a complete exaggeration and misinformation to begin with; it was the name of a time, not a place. But that surely begs the question of why anyone would go to the trouble of making all this up and maintaining the lie for two whole years... well, the answer is relatively simple- the Arcadia Hype was created to draw out the strongest trainers from all corners of the globe. People like yourselves, people who are either bold, or crazy, enough to willingly go to a place where countless stories had been created of death and destruction and failure, wanting to try their own luck and their own skill in such an environment. Project Arcadia was meant to find those trainers who had not only power, but the courage to actively use and further develop that power to achieve a goal... to find warriors, to find the type of people that the world is need of right about now..." Shades took another draught of his mug, gazing at the group with eyes hidden by coal black lenses. He seemed as relaxed and at home as could be, as if he'd sat in that very spot and delivered the same speech hundreds of times over... A long silence was beginning to draw in the room... now was likely the time he was expecting questions to be flung left and right like rapid fire.

There we are. I've done my part now. EDIT: and in regards to the check up thing- I'd like to point out the fact that it's kinda unlikely that a typical school nurse would have experience and or training with dealing with nervous system checks in the proper manner and through proper procedure... ergo, it would kinda make sense that exuberance would just have to wing it based on common sense and whatever medical training she might actually have already. Nurses are...well, nurses, afterall, not full fledged doctors. Their assistants to the folks who are doing the serious procedures and such, not the ones doing them themselves. and even still, I mean, c'mon, really? even in a magical girls setting, would school age girls be struck with lightning/ suffer other injuries that can damage the nervous system freqeuntly enough that it would warrant a school nurse needing to have training in the treatment of such? it honestly sounds kinda like a stretch to me if so, but eh, that's just me... and we all know I'm the guy who's still deeply out of his element around here. XD EDIT2: Oh, and... even if I'm wrong and nurse training does go that far and covers that particular topic and procedure, this is lexi's world, so...yeah. there's really not much use to being pedantic in this setting. And I'm honestly surprised I'm actually sticking up for the setting at all...I must've gotten really attached to ol Arya

"Is that really all she's going to do?" Arya thought as she followed the rather... bare bones insturctions and flexed her digits. Her eyes followed exuberence's finger well enough, though she couldn't help the questioning look plastered in them as they did. "After someone just got hit by...by...by..." Again that one question that needed answering. "Whatever... I guess it's kinda understandable, she is only a nurse afterall..."

I'll have something up after I get back from the dentist

The Conference Cabin Among the rather... interesting bouts of confrontation between the travelers the sound of a door cracking broke the conversation, and with it the sound of heavy booted feet strolling across a hard wood floor. The slab of tempered, blast-proofed steel slammed shut of it's own accord the moment the Black Mutineer took his position at the head of the table. Something in the back of the room clicked several times as a numerous array of lights came to life on the panel next to the only exit, each one carrying a fearsome glow the color of fresh blood. "Well, I see we've all made ourselves relatively comfortable, more or less." He laid his hand out flat on the polished, white surface of the broad table while looking over each of the assembled trainers in turn, taking it away after a few moments as a green light formed a perfect replica of the limbs outline before fading moments later. Another click, much like the sounds the locks had made, and up from the center of the table arose a small circle of it's surface, a small frapicino machine rising out of the cavity with seven cups already set into position beneath dispensing snouts. Each of them were already steaming with the liquid inside, some black as night, some a deep, rich milky brown. "As promised," The man continued "Cofee and hot chocolate for any who desires it. Before I begin though... I would like to take a second to ask: Who here has studied the history of the world, as it was 10,000 years ago? Of course, they teach such things in the primary schools, but so much of the curriculum tends to either be distorted from the truth or just outright wrong entirely..." Shadow Force 1 The morning snowfall had seized as the sky overhead had yielded to the sun, gray blankets of dejected cloud matter tearing down it's very center to reveal the blazing ball of light and heat light-years away. The winds had gotten the message as well, it seemed, receding from their previous frenzy and now only barely above a whisper in the ears of the figures who stood on the docks, eyeing the vessel with the giant sitting on it's boarding plank. Each of them wore a cloak darker than a winter's stroke of midnight, hoods pulled up high. The ship was a large one, they had to give it that, capable of carrying at least 100 passengers, crew members included. It had no sails, had to be propeller driven; which meant it had to have a substantial power system given the heavy armoring of the hull. That was at least full foot thick steel plates, something that even vicious beasts like Sharpedos would have trouble with, even in a small pack... "I wasn't expecting them to take on visitors." One of them said; a woman, given the pitch. Her accent made it clear she was Hoenn born. "It doesn't matter." Another responded. "We still have work to be done. That hull could be an issue though- sinking the thing will likely be out of the question, even with the enhancement..." "You act as though we didn't prepare for this possible avenue, brother." A third chimed, another woman, this one with a voice sweeter than combee's honey. The man shuddered just hearing it. "Visitors or no, if we can't sink it, we simply conquer it." "Yes, yes... it as you say, sister Avelia... but what of the girl?" He said. "Girl? You dare call her a girl, with the power she wields?" "I am not one to... believe the hype, sister Avelia." Avelia only sighed as she drew back her hood, letting the ashen blond curls fall from the place in it's confines. "Exon, it isn't hype if she has a trail of bodies to her name. It's called fear, and rightly so." "Commander!" a voice crackled from Avelia's belt. She took up the comlink without hesitation, gazing back over her shoulder towards the city... "What is it, report your situation." "She-" The sound of crackling like Ice broke the sentence as static faded in. Avelia shouted into the mic, called for a response... but still nothing but static come through. She kept her eyes fixed on it, cursing beneath her breath. "What are we waiting for then?" Exon said, That had been enough for him to reconsider the child's power, now heading off towards the ship... and the giant. He reached down to his belt and tore the capsule from it's magnetic binding, the casing burning with the colors of the sun as his hand made contact. The giant seemed to have no inkling of the presence closing in... "We need to finish this before she arrives- otherwise their diversion will have been for nothing."