Pokémon Academy: Ch 2a: Dragons [IC]

[Commander]

"Oh! It's time to remove the ice pack isn't it?" Good thing I learned how to understand all of that stuff from Zuko. Henry removed the ice pack from his rib. "It's funny seeing all these people being so caring even to people like me. That reminds me, does Raiza even know about my true nature? Sooner or later she's going to find out about me and the two of us will have to part ways." It was odd. That last part seemed to bother Henry. Maybe because she was the first person Henry could actually relate to.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

True nature? Unless Henry meant all that metamorphoses going on with his soul... Well, Lucifer was certain she didn't really know about that; this was, after all, the second time she'd ever gotten to talk to him prior to the first time the two met. But what about it was supposed to make them have to... part ways? That didn't make sense, they studied in the same school, after all. "Wick, wick?" A stubby arm pointed toward Raiza, who was working with the Sneasel and another girl. The Litwick looked as though he was about to go and get his Trainer. There was a strange... mushroom-like hint to Henry's soul, after all, and to Lucifer, it was something consistent with all the lonely, melancholic souls he'd ever nibbled.

[Chim]

Group Tyron (Surge, K_H, Azery)

Tyron studied the piece of cloth Mareek handed over to him. “So you know who we’re looking for,” he whispered so Mareek was the only one who could hear it. “Don’t tell the others just yet. The only reason I took students with me is because they might’ve taken Evan Reeves. If it comes down to a confrontation I need you all to take him back. Somehow I doubt these guys are pushovers so I’ll do the frontal assault and battle them.”

Lana was walking at the very edge of the group. She was close to where half the footprint was when suddenly a barrage of yellow and pink powder fell over her. Multiple wild grass types were spraying Sleep Powder or Stun Spore. Both Lana and her Rhyhorn were caught off guard and fell asleep.

Group Alastair (Jory, Turbo, Elf)

A ray of sunlight fell through a thicker part of the trees, not far from the bloodied stone. The light was being reflected by something in a small bush next to it. If someone decided to go and take a look they would find dark blue glasses that belonged to Evan. Surprisingly enough the glasses were still pretty much intact.

Meanwhile Alastair was a little ahead inspecting things. Every now and then he found a drop of blood or a footprint belonging to a Skarmory. “He went this way!” the breeder told the students. The trail went to the opposite direction of where the camp was.

Murdoc

“Punishment? Why would we punish you?” Devin said. “I, and I think Professor Redwood would agree, just wish you told us or mentioned it in your application form. You won’t be punished but now that we know the staff is going to take some measures to make it easier for you to follow classes. I think most people, including students you didn’t tell, are going to be quite shocked when they find out. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to help your friends taking care of those with injuries.” Devin was about to leave so if Kage had something else he wanted to talk about he had to be fast.

[Sutoratosu]

Mareek nodded at Tyron's directions "Very well then, sir," he said. "I'll try to keep the others from getting in your way during that" Just then however, something caught his periphery, as well as that of both Erce and Java... Lana was on the ground asleep, with a variety of Powder attacks being launched.

"Oh hell no..." Mareek growled protectively. "You don't know what you've just started...ERCE, JAVA!" He turned his sights on the two, ordering them forward and breaking into a bit of angry japanese. "Use lock on followed by Psybeams and Tri Attacks, and you don't stop attacking until they do first! Erce, you're with me and Nemo!" he was already rushing off to his friend's side as he gave the orders, the Scyther and Cubone right behind him while Java hovered in front, using lock on and then sending out blasts of Psybeam whenever he got a target, keeping up the assault ruthlessly. Meanwhile Erce was buzzing her wings in fury, doing her best to use the small wind generated to blow away the powders. Before long her efforts managed to clear the air around Lana and her Rhyhorn and her trainer could finally approach as Java pressed forward, not missing a beat with the frequency of his attacks and being sure to hover farther than the powders were being shot out as Erce joined him in an effort to keep the porygon from falling prey to the same status effect the girl had.

"Lana..." he said, rummaging through his bag for medicine. He had a good supply of status healers... but he didn't really know if they would work on humans. There was one thing he'd heard of to lift sleep to, he didn't know how truthful it was, but it was worth a shot...

"Nemo, buddy," he said quickly. "Go find us some chesto berries, but stay away from the grass types that Java's fighting, and be quick!" The cubone nodded, rushing off to rummage in nearby foliage while making sure to stay in the boy's sights...

((Erce isn't using Gust, but I figured since the whole speed factor that's attributed to her species, she'd still be able to buzz her wings fast enough to generate enough wind even without actually knowing the move.))

[TurboAura]

Hearing Alistair say that he found the path, Robert shot out of his own searching and something weirdly shining caught his eye. 'It IS right by where he would've fallen, so any clue works.' He went over to the bush and, without much trouble, found the shining to be a pair of glasses. They were intact, but the question was 'why wouldn't they be broken?' If everything else around here seemed to be damaged, was this just spared the damage? With that, Robert decided that the most obvious course of action was to take them to Alistair. "Uh, sir? I believe these belong to Evan. Do you think we could use them to find him, like following his scent aswell or something? Or should I just put them away until we find him?"

Edited December 7, 2014 by TurboAura

[DarkLight]

Rogue's nudge managed to snap Danielle out of her daze. The coordinator could see the Sneasel and Raiza's puzzled expression as they look to her for a response. "Oh, uh, no, I'm fine! Just observing the trees there~" she started to say, giving a forced smile. 'Who am I kidding? I'm never good at hiding my feelings.' With a heavy sigh, Danielle shook her head, her expression grew somber once more. "Actually... There is something wrong. You see, Evan fell off of the railing over there, right where I was staring at... Corona and I tried to reach him but... It didn't work out. I feel like it's my fault, even though Henry keeps telling me that it isn't..."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Now that she looked closer, there were telltale ruts in the ground and a bit of broken rope. A few moments passed with Raiza processing Danielle's words. That's a pretty shocking bit of news... But it's like those movies and games; the SOP tragic snapping of the rope and survivor's guilt. Sometimes the survivor lets it get him or her down to a dangerous level... not on my watch. On the other hand, Henry did say that? The corner of her lip tugged a bit, before she smiled faintly. See, I knew this guy wasn't as bad as people make him out to be. "Henry, huh? Well anyway, I'd agree with him on that-- it's not like you let Evan go on purpose, or like you tampered with the rope. I'd bet anything that you wouldn't have done any of that messed up stuff, and that you'd given it your all trying to help him." Looking the other girl in the eye, she continued, "You tried; we all would have done the same. If anybody else had been in your position, would they have managed to pull him up in time? Maybe... or maybe not." Raiza looked back down at the splint she was making. "It does suck that he ended up falling, but... if you hadn't acted, then he would've not had a chance at all. You tried. You did what you could, and that means a whole world of difference." She smiled, more warmly now, trying to reassure the other girl-- now was not the time to mope and feel sorry. They had to do what they could and keep working.

[Chim]

A few minutes before Dragonite arrived

“Who are you?” Evan asked, ignoring the pain. He tried to get up but quickly fell down again. Everything hurt and he didn’t have any strength left.

“We’re friends,” a second man said. This one had a small build his voice was a little higher.

Evan snorted. “I don’t have friends.” He tried to get a good look at their faces but without his glasses it was impossible. Everything was blurry except for the Skarmory who stood right next to him. The steel bird turned her head in curiosity.

“You do. You have someone who contacted you and gave you a water stone. Turns out that person is a friend we got in common.” This time the one with the heavy voice spoke up again. “Our friend told you we would make contact. And now the time has come that we need your help, Evan Reeves, we’re about to start our plans.”

So that’s what this was all about. To be honest Evan feared this day would come. He made that water stone decision when he wasn’t thinking straight. A few days later when he was calm he started to doubt everything. After all he knew nothing about the one who wrote that letter and now two suspicious looking guys approached him. “If you wanted to talk you could’ve wrote a letter or something instead of letting some Donphan throw me off the road,” he said sarcastically. He was trying to buy some time even though he had no idea why. He was pretty sure Professor Cadmus would come and search for him because he was on a school trip. But was that the right thing to do? A part of him was curious about these guys.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” the leader admitted. “We planned for the herd to strike earlier and cause confusion in the forest. We could’ve easily let Skarmory grab you and you could’ve said you got lost in the forest after trying to get away. So I apologize for what happened but you don’t seem to be seriously injured. I guess that shows why you were chosen. You’re tougher than you like, kid.”

Evan ignored the kid comment. “Not seriously injured? My limbs feel like they’re made out of pudding and I’ve no strength left. Not to mention there’s blood coming down from my eyebrows and my ribs hurt like hell,” he complained.

The tall man sighed. “We need to get out of here and can’t waste any more time. Help him out,” he ordered the other one.

After struggling for a few minutes Evan found little strength and with the help of the unknown man he started to stumble forward. The cut on his eyebrow was still bleeding and every now and then a drop fell on the ground. The Skarmory flew right behind them. She was low enough and had the habit of putting a leg on the ground when it didn’t go fast enough, leaving prints to follow. Devin’s Dragonite showed up a little too late.

[Chevaleresse]

"Oh, um, Professor Cadmus, there was something else I needed to talk to you about." He swallowed, suddenly nervous. "I know this sounds crazy or made up, but I met Celebi, and she showed me a vision of the future. Raiza wrote it down for me."

[Jory]

Jacob looked over to where the glasses were. Better start from there, he figured, not bothering to talk to Alastair about the glasses. They by themselves wouldn't be much help, but they would be a good trail-marker. Arete toddled behind her Trainer as the young man began to search around the glasses, his path making a large spiral pattern starting at the mark that indicated where the glasses had been sitting in the dirt. Eventually, Jacob came across something odd. There seemed to be a trail of dried brown liquid. When he lifted it up on a finger and sniffed it, all he smelled was the coppery tang of blood. So he was bleeding from his fall. That should help us out, he figured. "Arete, go get Alastair. Tell him we found something." The little egg Pokemon nodded and began to move toward Alastair as fast as her legs could take her.

When she reached him, she tugged at his pant leg. "Pi! Toge toge pi!" she cried out, pointing toward where Jacob was. She then toddled in Jacob's direction and then back to Alastair, pointing from the larger man to herself to indicate he should follow.

[DarkLight]

"Y-You do?" Danielle asked the medic, cheering up just a little. As Raiza patiently reassured the guilty teen, the usual glimmer that was lost in Danielle's eyes started getting brighter and brighter once again. By the end of the warm sentimentality, Danielle couldn't help but give Raiza a big hug, clearly thankful for her female companion. "Thank you, Raiza. I really needed that. The important thing is that I tried my best. And, if Arceus has a soul, then everything will work out in the end!" She finally released the quiet girl from her grip and took a look at the splint that Raiza was working on. "On that note, do you need any help with that? If not, I will be going to find others that need medical assistance~"

[Chim]

Group Tyron (Surge, K_H, Azery)

The small grass types fled as soon as Erce and Java released a barrier of attacks. “Wait a minute!” Tyron interfered with the battle. His eye caught a bunch of Tangela and if he recalled correctly Slade said there was a Tangrowth involved. “I think Team Rocket ordered these to attack any followers. There’s no other reason as to why they would do this. You scared them away so that should be enough. When your Cubone comes back with a Chesto Berry and wakes the girl up, we’re going to follow this path. We’re close…”

Group Alastair (Jory, Turbo, Elf)

“Keep the glasses with you, Robert. Evan will need it when we find him,” Alastair said. It was at that very same a Togepi tugged his leg. “What’s the matter?” he asked and followed the little egg Pokémon to her trainer.

It didn’t take long for Alastair to figure it out. He saw the bloodstain and a pointy stone nearby. “Well that explains a big part of what happened. After Evan tumbled down, and probably injured himself, he scraped that rock. Maybe he even hit it with his head and lost his glasses that way, but the most important part is that he got up. The same bloodstains can be found over there and they lead away from camp.” The breeder sighed. “Listen up you three, I’m about to tell you something important. Earlier today another student was approached by members of Team Rocket. They offered him to join them but he refused and they left. In the worst case scenario they were behind the Donphan stampede and are trying to recruit Evan as well. Professor Silva is checking the location between Evan and where the members were last seen.” He looked each of them directly in the eyes. “I’m going to follow that trail. We don’t know what we’ll find but there’s a big possibility it’s nothing good. If you want to go back do it now. If you want to come stay close to me and follow my orders. I won’t let anyone else be at risk.”

Murdoc, DarkLight and Zephyr

If Kage only could see Devin’s face right now; the Celebi news dropped like a bomb. He would never in a million years think about a legendary Pokémon approaching a student.. A part of him, well his entire logic side, told him that was insane and Kage probably experienced something else that was easier to explain. But this couldn’t be a coincidence after everything that happened. No matter how crazy it sounded he had to check it out. “Where is Raiza?” Devin asked looking for the girl. When he finally located her he walked over and interrupted her conversation with Danielle.

“Sorry for the intrusion but this is important. Raiza, do you have the paper containing Kages vision on you?”

[Jory]

Jacob nodded resolutely, scooping up his Togepi and looking Alastair in the eye. "I told you that I want to help, so that's what I'm going to do. My team and I will do whatever we can to get Evan home safely!" he exclaimed. Realizing he'd been a bit loud, his face turned quite red. "Sorry about that. But yeah, I'm going with you. If Team Rocket's involved then Evan'll need all the help he can get!"

[Sutoratosu]

Right as Tryon finished speaking, Nemo came running back from the bush with a Chesto Berry in his hand, hauling tail over to Mareek and holding it up to the where the young man knelt.

"Good job," He said, accepting the berry and looking over at his other two team members. "Erce, come here for a minute and hold out one of your scythes for me" The mantis did as requested, watching as her trainer took the berry and wedged it on the sharp edge. Clear, blue tinted juice flowed down a little as he retrieved it and pulled the skin apart the rest of the way, effectively dividing the thing into halves.

"Nemo," he said, giving one half to the Cubone, who stared at it curiously. "Go take this and hold it under Rhyhorn's nose." the orphan nodded and went to go do just that. Meanwhile the boy took the half he still had and held it under Lana's nose as she slept.

"I heard about this once when I was younger," he explained to Tyron. "An old trainer who was passing through Saffron told me a story about how he and his Blastoise and Nidoking had gotten into trouble against a few Hypno's in the Berry Forest in the Sevii Islands. He said that he got a chesto berry and cut it in half to hold under their noses in order to wake them up since they were too heavy for him to roll them over and put it in their mouths. He said it worked because they inhaled the scent from the oils in the berry flesh, and a lot faster than ingesting them at that, so I figured I'd test out how truthful he was being back then..."

[Felicity]

Claude was in two minds, unsure of what to do. He had offered to help search, there had been nothing about fighting bad guys. It took him a while to come to a conclusion, when Jory spoke his mind. Seeing the other boys determination, Claude was somewhat inspired. He nodded to himself and spoke up too. "Same goes for me, even if my specialities don't lie in battling or the like." He offered, finishing rather sheepishly.

[TurboAura]

After listening to Alistair's statement, Robert fully knew that he couldn't back down now. Having listened to Jacob and Claude's replies, his determination was just lit further. "I'm more than determined to continue. I accepted back at the camp, so there's no reason that I would give up now, knowing for sure that he's in danger." Putting Evan's glasses in an open pocket, he was ready to follow without hesitation.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Surprised from Danielle's reaction, Raiza froze when she was hugged. "O-Oh, don't worry, I've got this splint, just got to tie it up a bit tighter and-- Professor Cadmus?" The girl straightened up, her hands paused over the bandages. Then she remembered her agreement with Kage. "Ah, yes, I've got them. Rogue, honey, would you be a dear and get them out of my bag? I've just got to tighten this splint." Her Dark-Ice type assistant reached into the bag and pulled out a sketchpad, respectfully offering it to the teacher.

[Tacos]

Ryan had just finished up patching the female student when he saw Rogue handing off a drawing to Professor Cadmus. Ryan stood up and made his way over to Kage. He whispered softly to Kage. "Is this about what you wanted to tell me? Mind re-telling it for me?" Ryan's look was incredibly concerned. Sure, he'd been trying to act unconcerned and trying not to care, but inside he was incredibly nervous and wanted to know what it is that Kage was talking about.

[DarkLight]

"It's no problem, Professor~" 'Kage gets visions? I thought only Xatu could do that...' Danielle blinked in confusion. She looked on in silence as Rogue gave Raiza's sketchpad to Devin; she could see only a little of the drawing, but it looked like there was a body and two Pokemon. Her curiosity got the best of her and decided to ask Raiza about it. "Umm... Raiza, how was Kage able to get a vision? I thought only Psychic type Pokemon would be able to do that..."

[Chevaleresse]

Kage followed Devin as he walked over to Raiza. "I didn't get a vision, I was shown one. Although that would be kind of neat." He turned to Ryan. "Yeah, this is what I wanted to tell you about." He took a breath as he thought about what he would say next. "Do you want to hear it from me, or just read it? It's kind of a big deal, especially for you. . ."

[Tacos]

A shiver flew down Ryan's spine as Kage finished speaking. Why is it about me? Isn't it his vision? Is it bad? Should I be this worried? Ryan was frozen for about a minute. He regained his composure, however, and made his decision. Professor Cadmus currently has the drawing, so I guess I'd rather you tell me." Ryan started rubbing his right elbow with his left hand, incredibly nervous about what he could hear.

[DarkLight]

'So that was who the person in the sketch was...' Considering how serious Kage seemed to be as he approached them, Danielle figured it wasn't the time to joke around. So, she stayed where she was and patiently waited for Kage to describe his adventure.

[Chevaleresse]

Drawing? Huh? I thought she just wrote it down. Nevermind that. "Um. I'm not really sure how to say this. It's a lot easier when you're telling it to someone who isn't, you know." Kage shook himself as if dislodging the unpleasant emotions that were starting to well up. He began again with a voice that wavered a bit, but remained strong overall. "I was in a forest in the middle of winter. It looked like the place had been bombed or something, it was so torn up. I was pretty torn up too, and couldn't feel my legs. I could see something ahead of me, and then all of a sudden I was right next to that something. It was Feroces, Glacien, and you, except. . . you weren't moving, and you were laying in a pool of blood. Please don't make me say it straight out."

[Aurorix]

Meanwhile, when all this is happening, Slade was leaning against the guard rail looking out into the forest. Sasuke, on the other hand, was listening to the conversation between Danielle, Raiza, Kage, and Ryan from a nearby tree. As Slade was gazing out into the forest he couldn't help but think to himself, 'Is it true what they said? Do I really push my pokemon too hard?' He let out a big sigh, 'Why was I chosen by them, there are much better skilled trainers here than me. Worst of all they might come back again and harm more people.' Slade clenched his fist, 'Also, is it true I want power, is that all that I wanted? Is that really my only purpose, to get stronger, if so why? Tell me why dammit!' He slammed his fist on the rail subconsciously, 'Argh! Why the fuck does all this bad shit happen to me!'

[Tacos]

The sensation that went through Ryan's body was complete deja vu, a cold shiver running down his spine and a prolonged freeze. Except this time, he began shivering intensely. I... was.... dead? No no no no no no no. My life was going to be perfect. I was going to spend the rest of my life with this person right in front of me. I was going to conquer the Ymora Region. I was going to live life to the fullest. But why... this. The curse that had left Ryan frozen was lifted when he built up enough courage to speak. His words were raspy and quiet, a lump seeming to fill up his throat. "W-w-what m-makes you think th-that this v-v-vision is r-rel-liable? I mean, it was j-just a silly v-vision. No big deal..." A tear slipped down Ryan's cheek and he began shivering once again. He felt like he wanted to collapse right then and there. He held his hands up to his head and grabbed his hair, lightly pulling on it to relieve some sort of stress.