She didn’t know how many times she’d have to frustratingly repeat herself to Rocket: she worked alone. And still, they sent a man in white to accompany her on a stealth mission. She may as well just throw all her plans out the window and waltz in there like it was her fucking apartment at this rate. @eclis would find a pair of piercing amber eyes glaring at him every so often from beneath the hood that shadowed the thief’s face. She had no intention of getting caught, and no intention of letting the league learn her identity. She already had enough people after her. This guy though, didn’t seem to care a bit, “A white jacket? Really?” a single eyebrow raised in judgement.

If he followed her plan it would go off without a hitch and they would both be handsomely rewarded for their efforts. If he failed to comply, they would have to improvise.

Lex leapt from the outcropping of rock, landing with only a soft brush against the rocky terrain. Her steps were quick and light, only whispers against the ground as she advanced towards the cave’s mouth, “Wait,” she whispered, holding up a hand to prevent him from immediately entering the lit cave. As her watch struck the top of the hour, the light of the cave flickered before fizzling away. It wasn’t uncommon for rural projects to experience technical difficulty with their generators. The security lights would be the only thing illuminating the cavern sparingly, giving them plenty of shadows to sneak through. Her Gengar, Smoke, made sure the generators gave out and the perfect moment.

She’d seen it during her stake out. She knew they would send one guard out to fix the problem. She estimated 10 minutes after that until the other two got suspicious. With one guard careful incapacitated, it would leave only two to deal with. Lex liked those odds better.

The beam of a distant flashlight could be seem coming down the cave’s corridor accompanied by the shuffle of annoyed feet. Would Eclipse’s pokemon take out the guard quietly? Or would Lex’s Gengar have to step in?

notes: Lex has a meticulously curated plan. @eclis can either follow it or choose not to. Each path will have its own consequences. Choose your adventure Lex-style xD

Lex crouched down beside the cave’s mouth as the shuffle of feet grew closer and closer. The glowing red eyes of a Gengar appeared in her shadow. The dark figure remained phased between planes behind her simply watching and waiting for his next order. Lex’s amber eyes watched the Murkrow follow the trainer’s order, rushing into the cave to flush out the guards. There was no manner of stealth about it. It was all screaming and dramatic and it made Lex’s blood boil. If the other guard didn’t know there was an issue, he definitely knew now.

Men were always so . . . dramatic. They seemed to have a flair for presentation and a severe lack of discipline when it came to patience. She had yet to meet one she would consider bringing in as a partner. Well, except for Killian, he was perfect. But he also didn’t get in her way. The thief bit her tongue beneath clenched teeth. There was no need to criticize the white-haired stranger. After all, the result was the same: they could enter (somewhat) undetected.

But Lex never left anything to chance. It was the reason she had never been caught. As she followed @eclis into the cave she turned to her Gengar, giving him the signal to incapacitate the two that had come running out of the cave. Smoke grinned in delight, sinking into the rocky terrain to chase after the guards.

Was he really trying to make small talk? Eclis could see her brows furrow in annoyance as she cast a sideways glance at him, “Lex,” she simply replied, a small growl hidden in the word. She expected him to not use it in the presence of the League guards, “Finances?” she echoed, with a hint of curiosity. That explained a lot now. This wasn’t his wheelhouse which infuriated her more. Why the hell would they send a pencil pusher?

Regardless, it was too late. They were in it.

As the two progressed deeper into the cave, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed against the walls. It was the third guard who had heard the screaming coming to investigate. He had already released his two pokemon, Manectric and Fennekin, who ran by his side.

“Well fuck,” she growled, clenching her fists and freezing in place. And like a shadow, she disappeared, silently slipping into the shadows leaving Eclis by himself in the tunnel.

---

Meanwhile outside, Smoke had caught up with the two guards. The terrified duo watched a large, menacing Gengar rise from the earth in their path. A mysterious translucent wave of energy emitted from between his palms. A powerfully suggestive energy that engulfed the fragile humans, sitting on them heavily like a weight. It was hard for them to fight the will to sleep (HYPNOSIS). Slowly, their lids fell, along with their limp bodies to the ground. Smoke’s long tongue washed over his lips hungrily. Placing a palm on each guard’s head he drew from their nightmares, ravenously consuming their dreams and distorting their memories (DREAM EATER).

notes: I’m so sorry Lex is so terrible Dx She gets grumpy on the job. She’s nice outside of missions I promise lol

The third guard is on to them and is ready to battle whatever he finds! His pokemon: Manectric and Fennekin. Lex disappears into the shadows, 'ditching' Eclis... sorry lol

Smoke closed his eyes, shuddering at the rush of pure energy from the Dream Eater. His mouth watered, hungry for more but he knew how to control himself. He withdrew early, leaving the feeble humans with their sanity intact, just not the memories of what had transpired here tonight.

Duty called. Lex would need him eventually. The Gengar sank back into the earth, his haunting shadow racing across the terrain to reunite with his trainer.

---

Lex was careful, not jumpy. A difference she could explain to Elcis at a later time. In the moment, she was too focused on the task at hand to bother mustering a response to his comment. Lex moved as one with the shadows, blending in seamlessly to the uneven, rock terrain behind her. She watched with wide eyes as @eclis underwent his transformation into a merciless, violent battler. And in that moment, she was thankful, for this first time, for his presence on the mission. As someone who would rather use stealth than muscle, she was happy to have a suitable distraction to make her job easier.

Properly distracted in the heat of battle, the two pokemon and the guard were unaware of Lex’s presence as she silently slipped by. Confident there were no other guards deeper in the cave, she focused on speed, running at a full sprint towards the locked gate, behind which the mined fragments of meteorites were kept.

Get in, get out, don’t get caught.

Lex pulled the copied key card from her pocket, there was a 50/50 chance this was going to work. If the card didn’t, her Rotom could handle the lock it would just take longer than she would have liked and Eclis would have to keep the guard busy longer. With a small prayer to whatever deity was listening, she scanned the keycard against the locking mechanism.

Roll for fun (1-50 it fails, 51-100 it succeeds)
8CRxA4jT

---

The League guard grit his teeth, clenching frustrated fists as the man’s taunting, “I just gotta keep you busy long enough for back up to get here!” he sneered, his tone was hard to read. Was he bluffing?

The Fennekin was knocked aside with the Fake Out, but the fox was quick to recover. Its glare locked on the Sableye as it’s mouth opened and it let loose a stream of burning fire (FLAMETHROWER). The Manectric fell victim to the Taunt, growling furiously before lunging towards the Zororak. It’s mouth opened wide and electricity sparked from it teeth in an attempted THUNDER FANG.

notes: Lex sneaks past the battle to continue on to the fragments, assuming Eclis will keep them occupied as a distraction.

Lex held her breath as she slid the magnetic strip through the access point. The breath fell I a heavy sigh as the red light flashed to green, accompanied by the soft chime of the accept card, “Thank fuck that worked,” she grumbled to herself as she pushed the gate open. It wasn’t that she had any doubt in her Rotom’s ability there were just so many variables in technology now-a-days that made it difficult to plan for. The easy way was always the preferred way for the thief.

Sliding the empty backpack off her back, she started working on loading it up with the fragments of meteorites that were scattered throughout the area. She took a few of each, really as much as she could fit into the backpack. They were heavier and a bit larger than she expected. Rocket didn’t request all of them. Just enough sample for the scientists to do whatever it was that needed to be done with them.

The backpack was heavy, much heavier than she hoped. Aubie was gonna be pissed when he had to fly them out of here. Maybe she’d pawn some of them off on @eclis to take with him. Splitting it up wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

The battle was raging on, the fierce cacophony of the attacks echoed down the corridor. Lex was able to sneak back up behind the battle. It seemed Eclis had done quite well keeping the man distracted. Regardless if back up was coming or not, Lex’s speed in collecting the samples would get them out of there before anyone else showed up.

Now . . . about this guard.

The ominous presence of the Gengar was a familiar one to Lex. His shadow raced across the cavern floor, up the wall and around the main battle. His ruby eyes peered out towards the redhead who motioned vaguely to the human. His turn again.

Smoke materialized behind the guard, emitting the same powerful, suggestive energy (HYPNOSIS) he had done dozens of times before. The trainer wavered unsteadily, touching his head lightly in confusion.

“Time to wrap this up,” she spoke, stepping back into view from the shadows with a large, heavy back pack strapped to her back.

notes: Lex successfully made it through the lock and steals as many meteorite shards as she can. Feel free to RP Eclis and his pokemon wrapping up the battle in whatever way you see fit for you character.

Smoke pressed his HYPNOSIS onto the guard with a relentless force. Slowly he fell to his knees, the man fought hard, but ultimate did succumb to the pokemon’s will. He fell onto his side with a thunk just as @eclis’s pokemon took care of the others. Smoke leapt onto him like a hungry lion, devouring his dreams with the same ravenous enthusiasm as earlier.

Lex watched in horror as the Crawdaunt sliced through the Fennekin and Manectic in one bloody sweep. Scarlet droplets of blood spattered across the cavern, including a few all the way to Lex, dotting her ebon outfit, “Disgusting,” she growled from behind her mask as she stalked forward with the heavy back pack.

“Yes, I have what we came for,” she clarified, her eyes turning towards the direction from which they came. Best to get out as quickly as possible incase he wasn’t bluffing about back up. She started to walk but his last words gave her pause. Her amber eyes slowly turned towards him, a brow peaked in interest. Did Lex stumble upon a secret? She grinned beneath her mask, Lex knew someone who loved secrets. Though his voice was calm, the words seemed like a warning. Accompanied by the hysteria in his eyes, Lex made an assumption, “Is that a threat?” she questioned, her own eyes narrowed, unabashedly locking with his mad gaze. There was an iciness to her glare, a challenge that would equally meet his if this was indeed a threat.

notes: @eclis

This guy was batshit crazy, rash and unpredictable. Lex didn’t like unpredictable. It didn’t scare her, but it certainly made her feel uneasy. Regardless, her glare didn’t waiver through his hiss. Those four little words were a clear threat. She didn’t understand the dual personalities, if she did maybe she wouldn’t be as rash in her judgment. A Rocket should know better than anyone to hold their tongue against their fellow team members. Lex had come to learn she didn’t like to be threatened so she’d squash that bug before it even saw daylight.

A gloved finger raised to point at him, “Tread carefully, @eclis. And pull yourself together before you go threatening the wrong Rocket,” It wasn’t a secret Lex was one of the softer pawns in Rocket’s chess game. That didn’t mean she couldn’t take out a king, she just preferred not to.

“Words with no value?” she laughed as she walked towards the cavern’s entrance, “There’s no such thing,” words were very powerful. Each chosen syllable could be analyzed and broken down to tell the story of what made someone tick. Tonight, Lex had learned a lot about Eclis.

A sharp whistle from the thief’s lips brought the Braviary down from the night sky. She tossed the heavy bag for the pokemon to grab with his talons while she perched herself on the harness wrapped around the raptor’s core, “’Till next time, Eclis,” she said plainly before the Braviary rose from the ground with a few powerful beats of his wings. Like shadows they slipped back into the night sky to deliver the fragments to the Rocket.

notes: @eclis