Pokemon Aftermath #2a: Gardenia Stands Firm (Covert Ops)

[grasssnake485]

The crisp sound of a snap echoed out of the tunnel. Immediately, a cloud of sharp, glowing leaves rained down on the guards, getting bigger by the moment. Seconds ticked by like hours as Alina waited for the leaf storm to clear up.

[Notus]

Jon held fast behind the door as it got hit by the sucessive Leaf Storms. Judging by the screams the guards where getting the beating of their lifes from the Serperior. He saw a Pokéball rolling on the floor, presumably dropped by one of them. "Good, one less to worry about." Jon thought. Once the roar of the Storm ceased, he shut the door closed and released Kyte. "Now friend, let's get what is left of them."

[Chevaleresse]

Sarcus climbed back out of the hole, jumping into a low fighting stance. The guards were reeling from the Serperior's assault. "Stand down now, and no one has to get killed here," he called out to them, while gesturing at Absolution with his left hand. The Absol nodded from inside the hole. If anyone pulled anything, they'd be down and out from a Sucker Punch.

[DarkLight]

As the leaves crackle down, Miki nudged her frightened Jolteon with her face, careful to avoid his white spiky collar. "Hey Raito," she whispered. "Snap out of it, if those acolytes won't back down, you'll need to help Absolution and Kyte out. And besides, it's not so bad here. You're with us, right?"

Raito, still shivering, stole a glance upwards before burrowing his head into his trainer's body again. Claustrophobia in underground tunnels was always an issue with him; he is not getting over it anytime soon.

[grasssnake485]

Alina climbed out of the hole as the last bits of the leaf storm died down. Her hand was on her blade, ready to unsheathe it at moment's notice. Letting her serperior drop down on her shoulder, she said in a low voice, "Attack, and my serperior will blast you with Solarbeam. Its been charging for a while now, so don't expect it to be puny in this dark room." The room was beginning to light up again, so Alina gestured to Maple to snatch up the light, which glimmered in Maple's tail for a few moments before extinguishing.

[Notus]

The acolytes looked up to the group. One had begun to reach for hs pokéball, but stopped right away when the Covert Ops appeared. Two were already holding their hands high on the air, and one was laying face down on the ground battered an bleeding.

"O-ok, please don't kill us." A young girl among them said.

Jon looked at the others with a unusually blank stare. He always got that way when things got tense.

"They seem obedient enough for me. Maybe we could have them turn off the alarm now. And we could use some guides for the building. What do you think?"

[Flux]

"They seem obedient enough for me. Maybe we could have them turn off the alarm now. And we could use some guides for the building. What do you think?"

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Flux looked at the acolytes, his usual cheery expression gone, replaced with a more serious and stern look.

"I think it will take more than simply turning off an alarm to keep the rest of them from investigating. Especially if these acolytes don't return." He paused, a merciless look on his face. "However, we can't just send them back. The whole place would be alerted to our intrusion, and that would spell the end for us." He turned to the group, the same expressions still on his face. "We may have no choice but to kill them. Or at least to tie them up somewhere after we get whatever information we can." He said all of this without batting an eye, his expression unchanged. Slowly, his cheery expression returned, spreading across his face as he closed his eyes in a bright smile.

"Thoughts?"

[DarkLight]

"Come on, boy, you can go out. I'll toss you up," Miki spoke softly to her frightened Jolteon. In response, the yellow Eeveelution shifted himself into position and gave a nod to his trainer once he was ready. The Japanese lady tossed up her partner, allowing him to grab a hold of the edge of the hole and climbed himself out. Raito, the Jolteon, gave a sigh of relief and shook himself out as Miki got out of the dark tunnel.

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Miki took a look at the acolytes, making sure Raito didn't stray too far from her side. Many of them looked seriously frightened, especially the youngest looking acolyte. Miki, however, felt slightly uneasy at the sight of the acolyte closest to them - the one lying on the floor, bleeding. "Was this really necessary?" she thought. Unconsciously, Miki shifted closer to her Jolteon, as if she is attempting to hide herself from the world.

"We may have no choice but to kill them. Or at least to tie them up somewhere after we get whatever information we can. Thoughts?"

"N-No! We d-don't have to kill them! They are only kids like me! B-But, unfortunately, they were just brainwashed by the Church..." Miki exclaimed. "I think we should give them a chance to surrender. I-I mean, if we decided to kill them, it r-really wouldn't make us look better than the Church, right?"

Raito, in the meantime, was looking at the Pokeball that one acolyte was trying to reach. He was ready to pounce at the said object should that trainer decided to take advantage of this discussion to throw them off.

[Notus]

"I think we should give them a chance to surrender. I-I mean, if we decided to kill them, it r-really wouldn't make us look better than the Church, right?"

Jon looked at Miki, his expression returning to normal. "Oh, uhn yeah. I agree with Miki. Killing them cold-blooded would make us no better than the Church. I guess." He scratched the back of his head in a nervous motion. "Perhaps... We could get on their uniforms and take one of them with us. Hopefully we can trick some more guards this way."

Edited May 20, 2014 by Notus

[grasssnake485]

"We may have no choice but to kill them. Or at least to tie them up somewhere after we get whatever information we can. Thoughts?"

"Would frenzy plant work?" Alina offered. "I guess I could manipulate the vines to form a cage.. Gah, now I really wish I kept Vine Whip on Maple." She glanced at her serperior, who had been gasping and breathing heavily for a while. "I guess youre tired from holding that solarbeam in, arent you?" Maple responded only in a slight whimper. "Ohkay, release your solarbeam OUT THE WINDOW!!" The trainer's comment started in a sigh, but quickly turned into yelling as her serperior shot the solarbeam... straight up.

[Chevaleresse]

Sarcus flinched from the impact. "You have to be f. . ." he stopped mid sentence, after quickly regaining his composure. "Tie them up and move on; there's no way we're doing this quietly after that." He withdrew one of his knives, eliciting a squeak from one of the acolytes. He glared at her, then held it out towards the team. "Cut up one the uniforms to make something to tie them with." The Trainer grabbed one of the guards and proceeded to do so, ignoring the protests. "Oh, shut up, you know what I'm doing," he muttered under his breath.

[Notus]

"... Well, at least we have a free way to the second floor now." Jon said looking up to the massive hole Maple opened on the roof "Kyte, stay on guard in case anyone tries to attack from up there".

He than sighed and proceeded to help Sarcus tie the remaing acolites.

[Flux]

"Tie them up and move on; there's no way we're doing this quietly after that."

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Flux gave a nod.

"Whatever you all think is best."

He reached into his lab coat and retrieved Ogre's heavy ball. He let out the metal behemoth before turning back to the group.

"This is Ogre, my Aggron, for those who haven't met him yet. He's pretty cocky, but also very strong, so we can climb on him to reach the hole to the next floor." Ogre swiveled his head towards Flux upon hearing this, giving him a mocking look. Flux merely smiled in return before awaiting the rest of the group.

[DarkLight]

Miki looked up at the massive hole that is right above there heads, slightly amused. "So, another hole has been made. Well, it saves us from walking, I guess."

She then turned her attention to the complaining acolytes as Sarcus and Jon were tying them up. Miki felt a little sorry for them, but she, like her team members, couldn't risk them running off to tell the supervisor about their presence. "And their whining isn't helping either..." the trainer thought. "The others might hear them..."

"Raito, come with me." She told her partner as she walked over to the tied up acolytes. Miki coughed to get their attention which, luckily, worked. They immediately went quiet as their eyes went straight to her and her Electric Pokemon.

"L-Look here, girls. Stop c-complaining about being captured. First off, this is nothing compared to what we have been through outside. At least y-you aren't being tortured and starved to death. Second, we are just giving you a taste of your own medicine. You and your beloved church have captured many of us and put us in dungeons just because we looked at you funny. Have you ever thought about how stupid that sounded?" Miki hissed at the group.

"Considering the situation you are in, I would say that you have it lucky. So, instead of whining and moaning about, how about you do us all a favor and be quiet or..." Miki pointed to the computer, "One of you could help us disable that security system you have. If you all decide to cooperate, whether by being quiet or by helping us, we will let you go after we are done with this place. If not..." Miki then gave Raito a pat, "I can have my Jolteon here give you a Thunderbolt and send you all into a coma. So, which will it be?"

[Notus]

Jon was finishing to tie his acolytes when Miki started to talk. He was surprised by how strong she sounded, not at all like the shy girl he had seen so far. After that, the acolytes fell silent instantly. "Good, I'm finished here. We better hurry before the guys on second floor arrive." Jon said, going near to Flux and Ogre.

[DarkLight]

Miki was surprised that worked out. She didn't believe she would be that influential over an enemy. It made her feel pretty good that she could help out in a situation outside of fighting. She nodded towards Jon as he stepped towards Flux and Ogre, following their footsteps.

"Just make sure they stay silent until we all up there, R-- boy. You can quickly make your way up here right?" Miki questioned her Jolteon. Raito barked a confirmation and stood proudly in front of the acolytes. Miki decided not to release her Jolteon's name in front of the enemy. You never know when they can use that information against you, after all.

[Flux]

Flux gave a nod to the others.

"All right, let's get up there." He took the first step onto Ogre's back, who had hunched over into a position to better brace himself. Flux was able to look into the next level now.

"It's clear," he said, pulling himself up the rest of the way. "Everyone else, get up. Don't worry, Ogre won't bite." He met the Aggron's eye, giving it a meaningful look. "Right, Ogre?"

[Chevaleresse]

Sarcus started climbing the large Steel-type. On his way up, he patted Ogre's back and scratched a gap between two of the Aggron's armor plates. Would have trained one, in a different life. Absolution took the cue and followed his trainer.

[Notus]

Jon retrieved Kyte to his pokéball and climbed right after Murdoc. He was a little nervous about being on the back of a beast like Ogre, who could certainly crush him with no effort while he was up there. He needed to remember they were allies, and even than wasn't all at ease.

Reaching the second floor, he quickly stood up and held Kyte's pokéball in his hand, ready to release his partner whenever needed.

[DarkLight]

Miki followed Jon and made her way up to the second floor by climbing on Ogre's back. "Thanks Ogre," Miki whispered and gave a pat on his head as she made herself comfortable on the edge of the hole. She then waited for the others, including her Jolteon, to climb up before they all made their way to the third floor.

[grasssnake485]

A red glow emerged from the pokeball in Alina's hand, and took Maple back with it. The trainer eyed Ogre suspiciously, then gulped and started climbing. "S-sorry. Ive had a few personal issues in the past with an aggron" she muttered. Gripping the edge of the hole, she swung a glance around and climbed up.

[DarkLight]

As soon as Alina climbed up, Miki gave a nod to her Jolteon, signaling for him to come up. Raito gave one last look at the tied-up acolytes, then ran up Ogre's back to rejoin his trainer.

"I-I wouldn't want to call out i-if I were you!" Miki issued a warning as she saw a gutsy acolyte trying to scream. "We still have an A-Aggron here waiting to destroy some things. Believe me, he would not be as lenient as my J-Jolteon here. I-Isn't that right, my friend?" The Japanese trainer proceeded gave Ogre a pat on the head.

[Notus]

Jon turned to the others. Every fiber in his body was telling him to turn back and run now that they were discovered, but that would ruin his chances with Team Dusk and therefore his chances to find his father.

"Ok then, we're clear for now, but I think that since we're not hiding anymore we should speed up before they call reinforcements." he managed to tell the others.

[Flux]

Ogre stood calmly as Sarcus and Absolution climbed over him. He was fairly familiar with them ever since their battle. However, when Jon came closer, Ogre could see the man's nervousness. He knew he had the upper hand on the man, but decided against making the man fall thanks to the scrutinizing gaze of Flux. He gave a noise similar to a purr when Miki patted his head, though it sounded more like metal grating together. Finally, Alina approached, eyeing him suspiciously. He returned the gaze, squinting his eyes at her in return, an expression on his face that almost seemed like a mocking smile. Despite his urges, he decided to let her up safely as well.

"I-I wouldn't want to call out i-if I were you! We still have an A-Aggron here waiting to destroy some things. Believe me, he would not be as lenient as my J-Jolteon here. I-Isn't that right, my friend?"

She patted his head again. To prove her point, Ogre let out a threatening growl towards the acolytes, clanging his metals fists together at the same time. That seemed to shut the acolyte up.

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Flux sighed, smiling and shaking his head at Ogre's feistiness.

"Yes, I certainly wouldn't cross him if I were you," he called down to the acolytes. "Even I have trouble controlling his outbursts at times." There was more truth to that sentence than the others were probably aware of. He heard Jon begin to speak.

"Ok then, we're clear for now, but I think that since we're not hiding anymore we should speed up before they call reinforcements."

Flux nodded. "I'd have to agree with the boy on this. Ogre can't stay down there forever, and I'm sure they'll start calling once we're far enough away." He took the heavy ball out of his coat pocket, returning Ogre to it from the floor below.

"It'd be best to get moving quickly, I suppose."

[Notus]

Flux had just finished speaking when Jon noticed a buzz coming from the other side of the hole. Loooking in that direction he saw three metalic things that shoud be the drones they were warned about. They were coming fast at their direction.

"Look out!" he warned them, starting to move out of the drones aim.