Shadow Sketches

Route 2 - Russet Ridge - "Onward to Striation City!" - Alecks and Alice The two twins followed their companions, running as fast as they could and trying not to fall behind. With each step Alecks began to recover slightly from his recent break down, now just trying to focus on moving forward. The two trainers sweating from the exertion but not allowing themselves to slow down for a second.

Nocturne, Inside the Walls The two friends walked back inside the safety of the large walls that surrounded what was their new homes. They hadn't been long in this place, but they had both come to find it wasn't too bad a home. Things weren't perfect but considering their only other option was being stranded outside by their lonesome, they didn't complain about their current situation. Nocturne and Lily both managed to get their own separate homes. They did their best to get homes nearby of each other, since when they arrived it was a foreign location with foreign pokemon. The only friends they had was each other at first, and that friendship was something both tried to hold on to. Nocturne's claws dug into the snow on the ground, leaving footprints on top of the many other prints of other pokemon to walk the same path. The cold beginning to chill his bones even through his thick fur. Most others seemed to have decided to stay inside rather than face the cold, the usual bustle of the Enclave was much duller. But even without the usual bustle, the two managed to piece together from passing pokemon that Lexington had returned with only some of the troops that he left with. It seemed the Shade had been merciless, taking much more than a chunk out of the main force that had left. The fox felt sadness sneak in along with the cold, such a shame that so many had been killed. But they have been at war for a long time, and casualties were expected. The two of them continued walking forward, silence filling the air in between them as they absorbed the news of the returning troopers. Finally, they managed to arrive at Lily's house. The two stopping at the wooden door and turning to face each other, Lily looking distraught over the deaths. "I'm going to have a bit of rest for now, but later I should go look over some of the wounded to see if there's anything I could do to help" The psychic type muttered sadly. Nocturne looked over at his friend, the one responsible for keeping him from being another fatal casualty in this war. Then he nodded somberly, and watched Lily go inside her home without another word. With a short sigh, he turned and began making his way towards his own home. Only a short walk away from where he was.

Route 2 - Russet Ridge - "Onward to Striation City!" - Alecks and Alice After he completed what he thought of as a death defying feat, Alecks just wanted to lay there on the ground and not get up. But Alice would not leave him behind after all that and pulled him up so they could follow the others. Her brother obliged as she pulled him after her, running after the rest of the group. Alice let out a loud gasp as the speeding Braviary flew straight towards them, pushing her own body back against the wall as much as she could while pressing an arm over her twin's body and pushing him roughly back against the wall. The twins both watched with frightened eyes as the bird flew past them, feeling the raw power of the attack that nearly smashed into them.

Route 2 - Russet Ridge - "Onward to Striation City!" - Alecks and Alice Alice watched the others jump over the gap, trying to prepare herself for the jump she would also have to make. Grabbing Raven's pokeball out, she recalled the small pokemon in order to free her hands up. Then without thinking about what a bad idea this was, she ran forward and jumped across the gap. Her body hit the edge roughly, her fingers clawing into the dirt as she did her best to pull herself up. Finally managing to pull her body up completely up the ledge. She panted loudly from the effort and stood up, looking back to look at Alecks. "Come on! You need to hurry!" Her brother looked like he had just seen a ghost, his gaze stuck on looking down at the deadly drop separating him from the others. "Fuck no.." Alecks looked sickly pale, his mind just running different scenarios of how he would fall down into that pit and suffer a gruesome death. "No,no,no,no,no,no.....NO!" He looked away from them, from the taunting gap. He knelt down, his hands holding his head as if he was suffering some massive headache. "I can't do it, there's no fucking way." Apollo watched with worry down as his trainer had a small panic attack, tugging on his shirt to try and encourage him. "No! I won't do it! I can't do it!" Alice cursed loudly, worry clear in her eyes as she tried to figure out how to coax him over the gap. "Alecks, you need to get over here! You don't have a choice, there's no other way. Just don't think about the fall, just jump. It's not as hard as it looks, you just have to jump. I'll pull you up, come on. I won't let you fall, I swear on my life that nothing's going to happen to you!" He didn't budge, her words just bounced off him. In his mind, nothing could stop him from falling down to his death. "Alecks! Don't be selfish, what about Apollo? Your not going to let him be stuck there with you are you? And what about me, are you just going to abandon me because of some small gap!? We're supposed to stay together, always!" The young trainer froze, his eyes wide open as the full impact of her words hit him. He turned his head slightly, looking towards the worried face of his partner tugging at his shoulder. Alecks gulped, knowing now he didn't have a choice. He pulled out Apollo's pokeball and recalled him, putting it back in his messenger bag before standing back up and turning around to face the gap. He didn't allow himself to think about it, or even to look down at the gap. He just ran forward at full sprint, not letting his eyes wander from looking at Alice. Pushing his legs off the ground with everything he had, he jumped across the gap. Eyes widening with fright as he flew across the gap, his body smacking the edge and knocking the wind out of him. Clawing at the earth with panic as he felt himself begin to fall back into the abyss, Alice grabbing onto his hands and pulling with all her might. Helping her brother over the edge, before falling back onto her butt. Sitting back, she watched with a relieved smile as Aleck's rolled onto his back and gasped loudly. She wasn't letting him die today.

Route 2 - Russet Ridge - "Onward to Striation City!" - Alecks and Alice Alecks looked down at the fallen eagle chick, feeling sad for it he had been walking back and had been about to bend down to pick it up when he was stopped dead in his tracks by the loud screeching. The sound made him want to bolt out of there immediately, long before he saw the cause of it. The twins both looked up to watch the Braviary speeding straight towards the ridge, a knot of dread forming in their stomachs. "Come on Alice!" Alecks bolted forward, grabbing his sister's hand and pulling her along behind him as he ran past her while he tried his best to get them the hell out of there. Apollo holding on tightly to his shoulders and looking worriedly at the new airborne threat.

Icarus,1st day of the Year of Rebirth. 3:30 PM The demon roamed around the dark sewers for a good while, he quickly regretted coming down to explore without some sort of map. He didn't think he was making any real progress in his travels, just going around confusing himself as he tried to navigate this maze. With every turn Icarus became much more annoyed, there was absolutely nothing down here of interest for him. If that wasn't enough, his damaged chains were beginning bother him. He didn't like walking around an unknown area with a damaged weapon, he needed to get it fixed as soon as he could. Finally after wandering around the sewers for who knew how long, he spotted what appeared to be a door. It didn't seem like anything special, his guess was that it went back into the castle. It wouldn't surprise him to know a place as large as the sewers had multiple entrances and exits. Lockpicking the locked door was no problem, he's done it enough in his lifetime to be proficient at it. Past the door it seemed to just be stone stairs that led upwards, probably to the castle as he expected. Once he saw the stairs, the demon immediately decided to leave the sewers behind for now. Who knew when he'd find another exit. Without a map and with a damaged weapon, he decided he didn't like wandering around with no knowledge of where he was heading. He closed the door behind him and made his way up the stairs, having to unlock another door at the top in order to gain entrance back into the castle. He found himself at a different part of the castle than he was used to, but luckily no one seemed to have spotted him. Everyone was probably busy with their parties, which was to his advantage since now he needed to return back to his room without any complications. He wasted no time in making his way towards his room, anticipating a warm bath to get the stink of the sewers off him.

Lee She had just barely managed to process what had just happened with Eden and Kallisto, when Lee realized that her and Eden were in another place entirely. Her eyes widened with surprise as she looked around her, wondering when the hell did they get in an empty field. For a second she would have believed someone if they told her she was in a dream, but the small headache she had gotten from "teleporting" here was all real. She felt slightly lightheaded for a couple moments but the feeling disappeared after a little while and she felt normal once again. Stretching her limbs slightly, Lee looked Eden up and down as she gathered her thoughts together. "I am wondering a lot actually, everything that just happened went by in a blur and trying to wrap my head around everything it's tough. For one, who exactly are you? Where are we and what is going on?"

Nocturne, Outskirts of the Wall Nocturne's blue eyes inspected his opponent carefully, watching Lily's movements for the slightest hint of what she would do next. The Gardevoir watching him right back, her red eyes meeting his in a silent dare. A dare which the aggressive dark type was glad to take. He rushed forward at an extreme speed, barely being able to be seen as anything more than a black and red blur as he closed the distance between them. Once he was mere feet away from his target, he jumped up with his left claw outstretched above him as if he reaching towards the sky to grasp the sun itself. His hand was shrouded in a black and purple aura as he brought it down swiftly, aiming to slash at Lily's body with his Shadow Claw. But the psychic type wouldn't allow herself to be hit so easily. Her body became outline in a light blue that shone brighter each passing moment and seconds later she disappeared, leaving only empty air in the spot she once was. Nocturne's attack hit nothing as he fell back down to the ground with a thud, turning around to look for his missing opponent. He spotted her quickly, she had teleported a moderate distance away to his left. The Gardevoir watching him with a teasing smile, she was trying to egg him on and he knew it. He wasted no time and ran towards her once again, his right hand slightly outstretched from his body as he got closer. A small sphere of black and purple circles began to grow in his claws, getting larger as he got closer. By the time he reached Lily, it had grown bigger then his hand. He then halted his advance just a few feet from her and brought his hands together, cradling the orb of dark energy in front of him before thrusting his hands forward and shooting a beam of black and purple circles from the orb towards the psychic type. But just as expected, she teleported away before the attack hit her. Unfortunately for her he was already prepared, twisting his body around immediately to look for where she could have gone. He spotted her standing behind him, a couple yards away. He turned his body completely to face her, immediately smashing his left hand down on the ground. A dark shadow quickly raced forward from across the ground, closing in on it's target before she even realized what was happening. Lily tried to get out of the way, barely beginning to glow a light blue but it was too little too late. The shadow claw rose from the ground and slashed down across her body, the force launching her backwards and tossing her onto the ground. The claw dissipated as Nocturned walked forward to check on his fallen opponent. "You may be slippery but you really can't take a hit. Your too delicate." He bent down slightly, offering her a hand to help her back up. "I am not delicate, that claw just hurts like a bitch." She muttered, grabbing his hand and letting him pull her up to her feet. She brushed the dirt off her body once she got up, then looked up at the sun to see how much time has passed. "We should head back, come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind her The dark type chuckled and followed along, "All right, guess I could use a break from chasing you around." He moved up to walk beside her, the two then began making their way back towards the gates at their own pace.

Route 2- Main Path- "Onward to Striation City!"- Alecks and Alice Alecks reached a hand over and placed it on Alice's shoulder "We can go first and lead the way, it shouldn't be too hard to navigate the straight path." He said, looking over at his twin to see what she thought. Alice was mindlessly rocking Raven like a baby, the psychic type busy fighting sleep, though after Alice thought about about it for a couple moments she finally nodded. "Yeah, we can go first. The path should be an easy enough journey as long as we're all careful." She replied, though she was slightly nervous of having to be one of the first ones on the path. Though it shouldn't be so bad...she hoped. "All right, now that we got that settled, should we get going?" Alecks made his way to the ridge and began walking forward at his own pace, trusting the others would follow. Alice looked back at Mocha with a little smile before she followed, "Sorry Mocha, but you should go into your pokeball. Don't want the path to get too crowded, you know?" The bunny nodded as Alice returned her to her pokeball. Alice stuffing the ball into her messenger bag as she followed right behind her brother.

Route 2 Forest - Troublesome Bunnies - Alecks and Alice The herd's journey the rest of the way went smoothly, not much happening except the Bunearys constant teasing of one another. Mocha stayed near Alice the whole way, though still managed to played with the rest of her siblings. Who knew if she would ever be able to see any of them again. Though it didn't seem to worry the herd too much, they seemed confident that they would see Mocha again someday. With Lopunny leading the way through forest shortcuts that she knew like the back of her hands, the herd managed to arrive at the foot of the ridge sooner than anticipated. When they arrived it didn't seem like there were any of the others there yet. "I guess we're ahead of schedule, we can just wait here for the others." Alecks said, walking over to Lopunny. "Thanks for helping us to the ridge, I hope we all get to see each other again someday." Lopunny nodded and smiled, before going over to Mocha where the rest of the herd was hugging her goodbye. The Buneary's made room for Lopunny, who patted Mocha's ears like an affectionate mother. Once everyone said their goodbye, the herd retreated back into the cover of the forest. Lopunny looking back once to give the twins a quick wink before she disappeared.

I thought you were joking when I first read this, then I watched the teaser AND IT TOTALLY DOES! Lmao xD

Route 2 Forest - Troublesome Bunnies - Alecks and Alice "Eh...Hey, we're not there yet but we're on our way so we shouldn't take too lon- Hey! Stop that!!!" One of the Buneary's had decided he wanted to take a closer look at the odd object Aleck's was talking to. Jumping up to grab Aleck's arm, hanging on to it while looking over at the strange watch. "Get off, I'm in the middle of something! Hey,wait!!!" Now came the rest of the Buneary's, suddenly very curious themselves over what all the fuss was about. The screen of the Xtransceiver was now shaking slightly, the screen being blocked by the brown and yellow fleeces of the Bunnys' as they all tried to get closer looks. Aleck's voice muffled by the sound of the large ruckus the Buneary's were making. Finally, after letting this go on for a couple moments, Lopunny finally stepped in and put her foot down. Stomping on the ground once to get all the herd's attention and glaring at them like a scolding mother. One by one the Buneary's disbanded from around Alecks and returned to walking forward, some with their heads down in embarrassment. When the screen finally focused back on Aleck's face, he had to take a moment to catch his breath. "Uh yeah...on our way.." He mumbled.

Route 2 Forest - Troublesome Bunnies - Alecks and Alice The two trainers and their pokemon made their way towards the herd as fast as they could. But it didn't take long before Beedrill's started to notice and fly at them. "Alecks, what are we supposed to do now!" Alice cried out as she watched with dread as groups of Beedrills turn their attention towards them, holding Raven tighter with nervousness. "We need to make them weaker somehow, make it easier for us to fight them off." The only move Alecks could think of was Apollo's Leer, though he wasn't sure how effective that would be against so many of them. "I got it!" Alice suddenly lifted Raven's tiny body into the air, putting her in plain view for the Beedrill's. "Raven, use Fake Tears." On command, tears began to well up in Raven's eyes. Her bottom lip quivering, catching the attention of the curious Beedrill's. Soon after her tears began dripping down her face, Raven let out a violent cry like a child having a tantrum. The intensity of the cry so great that it distorted the air around it, causing Apollo and the other Buneary's to have to cover their ears while the two twins cringed uncomfortably. The flying Beedrill's were fortunately caught of guard and their senses were quickly thrown off by the loud crying. Once Raven's crying slowly calmed down, Apollo and the rest of the herd uncovered their ears. Looking up to find the Beedrill's flying around in a daze. "Uh...that works." Alecks muttered, hoping his hearing wasn't damaged. "Anyway, now we have an advantage. Let's not waste it, Apollo use Ember!" The fire type readied itself then shot out flaming bolts towards the nearest Beedrill, hitting the dazed bug type directly and knocking it out of the sky. Once the Bunearys saw the Beedrill fall, they felt a surge of confidence flow through their bodies. The bunny's now ready to win this fight once and for all. The first Buneary to react was of course the mischievous one that threw berries at the twins. The bold pokemon jumping up and pounding a Beedrill with her strong feet and smashing it down to the floor. The other Buneary's followed soon after, taking out bees in a coordinated manner. The two twins helped all they could, having Apollo shoot flames at nearby Beedrills while Raven used her Confusion to smash the bug types into one another. Soon enough, the herd began spreading out from their circle and pushed the Beedrills back. Led by none other then the powerful Lopunny who's kicks cracked Beedrills exoskeletons with ease. The declining swarm of bug types losing ground quickly, before the hive mind as a whole decided the fight was no longer worth it. Many bee's turned stinger and flew away as fast they could, some carrying their injured and fainted with them as they went. Finally after a long fight, the last of the Beedrills retreated and the clearing was once again the herd's. The winning group that remained regrouped near the creek of water in the clearing. Although all were exhausted beyond belief, there was no serious injuries among them. Though all had some cuts and bruises to remind them of the fight. The herd sat down at the creek and began washing and checking up on each other, making sure everyone was okay. The two young trainers also checking on their pokemon's cuts like worried parents, though Apollo eyed the creek and refused to let any water near the flame on his backside. After the Lopunny checked on the entirety of her herd, she walked up to the two twins as they finished up their inspections of their pokemon. The Lopunny had plenty of cuts and bruises of her own, but she still managed to have a smile on her face. "You don't have to thank us for helping, we tried our best but you guys did a lot of the heavy lifting." Alecks chuckled slightly, kind of disappointed he hadn't been able to do more. The Lopunny just smiled and nodded, seeming to understand. Soon, the mischievous Buneary from earlier joined the twins and Lopunny. A proud smile on her face along with some cuts. "You did really well, you should be proud." Alice knelt down and pet the small bunny, the Buneary rolling her eyes slightly but secretly she enjoyed the attention. "Now that the fighting's over, we need to get going. We should try to meet up with our friends soon before we get left behind." Alecks talked to the Lopunny, watching as his sister interacted with the Buneary. "Hopefully the Beedrill's don't try to come back to start another fight, though I'm sure your more than capable of handling it if they do." "I'm kind of going to miss this place..." Alice said as she looked around at the peaceful clearing, it was like a mini sanctuary to them. "And I'm going to miss you guys also." She teased the Buneary, giggling slightly as a small blush went across the pokemon's face. As she went to stand up, the Buneary gently grabbed the bottom of her top like a child would do. Sheepishly looking down at the ground while she kept her grip. "Do you want to come with us?" Alice said in a low voice, the Buneary looking up at her and giving her a shy grin. "I'll take that as a yes." She looked over at the Lopunny and slightly raised her voice so she could hear her. "Hey uh, Lopunny, do you think we can take this one with us?" The Lopunny and Alecks looked over with moderate surprise, though the pokemon was inclined to refused she saw her tiny Buneary cling onto the the trainer's shirt and couldn't help but let out a small giggle. She thought about it for a long moment, obviously not wanting to lose one of her herd, but seeing that both her Buneary and the trainer wanted to stick together she decided it would probably be best if they stayed together. The Lopunny finally giving a small nod in acceptance. Alice grinned excitedly and quickly grabbed a pokeball from her messenger bag, throwing the pokeball gently so it lightly hit the Buneary's fluffy ear. The whole herd and two trainer's watched as she was absorbed into the pokeball and watched it fall to the floor. Their eyes glued to it as it shook once, then twice, and then finally......click. Alice yelped happily and grabbed the pokeball up before tossing it into the air and releasing her newly acquired pokemon. Catching the Buneary in a hug as she fell along with her ball. "Yay! Now we're on the same team, you're going to need a new name though. How about....Mocha!" The small pokemon smiled and gave an excited yelp, clearly happy with her new name. "Mocha it is then. Come on Raven, time to meet the newest member of our team." The curious psychic type waddling towards them alongside Apollo and Alecks. Alice has captured a new pokemon! -Mocha the Buneary has joined Alice's party! "Congrats sis, now you have your second pokemon!" Alecks then leaned in and whispered quietly into Alice's ear. "Hey, do you think they'll let me catch the Lopunny?" Alice raised an eyebrow at her brother, before looking over at the herd and Lopunny. Closing her eyes as she smiled and shook her head. "Don't even think about it, Alecks." Alice smirked at her brother's pouting face, though both knowing it was probably a bad idea to try. Afterwards, the group rested up a bit and then got ready to head out. The herd agreeing to lead the twins out of the forest in order to ensure they did not get lost. With Mocha walking alongside Alice, Raven cradled in her trainer's arms, and Apollo on Aleck's left shoulder, the twins found themselves once again being led by the herd. Alecks using his XTransceiver to call Jason and try to figure out their rendezvous point as they walked.

Hmm? Is there something you don't like about my sheet, Strats?