CLEOPATRA IS THE ONLY

There's pain. Sharp, immediate, intense pain. She feels the knife of Sandslash's claws slice her leg. It smooth, a glaring grin in her calf. It's bleeding, the blood pools at her foot. Her head grows light with pain and fear. She can no longer put weight on her leg, so she begins to crumble.

Before she falls, however, she catches herself, likey on the Pangoro who saved her. Her head is ringing, her eyes are full of leftover smoke from Natume's attack, and there are tears welling at the corners of her eyes. Oh fuck, it hurts.

There's a pounding in her chest, the adrenaline of the battle running high in her veins. The throb in her leg is overwhelming, the wound is hot to the touch. She glances down at it, her heart lurching in her chest.

It's only when Kyle calls out to her, panic welling in his voice that she looks up. It's then that tears begin to drop from her eyes. But she isn't sad. She's angry.

She breaths heavily as he approaches her with his Manectric's medic kit. The blood rush she's receiving causes her difficulty focusing on the smaller movements his hands are making. All she can feel is pressure being placed on her gash, and ice cold. The relief from the Ninetale's paw is immediate. Her leg seems to de-tense, and she lets out a sigh.

While he wraps her leg up, Kyle asks her what she prayed he wouldn't. His voice is deadpan, flat. His eyes are nearly emotionless, but she can see the worry in them. He doesn't want her here, does he?

Stormy's eyes seem to glow with a ferocity, heat rising in her cheeks.

"I won't back down from this fight. I can't."

He offers her a ride on Manectric, something that she accepts willingly. The beast approaches her, and she's beautiful. Stormy sighs in awe as she extends her hands towards her mane, sinking her fingers into the creature's fur. Some of the pain from her leg has been reduced, but there's absolutely no way the woman can walk properly for the duration of the mission.

Stormy then surveys the situation, one hand still holding onto her new friend's mane. There's blood, hers, Pokemon's, the grunts. The smell of burning flesh makes her stomach curl, and there's a sheen of horror in her eyes. Skarmory returns to her, her wing tips bloody. There's a wild look in the birds eyes, and Stormy returns her to her pokeball.

She turns to Kyle, offering her hand to him. Should he take it, she'll squeeze it tightly, a note of sadness in her voice.

"I didn't mean for this to happen like this, Kyle. I promise."

Thomas speaks up as he begins to approach her as well. At this point, Stormy is doing all she can to keep her injured leg off the ground. When he mentions heal pulse, a lightbulb goes off in her head.

She winces as she shuffles herself to reach for her backpack. Inside, she finds Chansey's pokeball. The plush pink Pokemon blinks sleepily, but quickly takes note of the situation and is wide awake and astonished.

"Chansey, tend to the wounded. Please."

The Pokemon then begins to offer anyone in need an egg. While a little disturbing to eat a freshly laid egg, she's doing her best to be helpful. There also seems to be a soft pulsing glow radiating from her. For the most part, Chansey has not left Stormy's side. The pink Pokemon is holding onto her uninjured leg, attempting to heal pulse some of the pain away.

Stormy looks up to see Natsume chastising her. For a moment, she believes what the fiery redhead is saying. Perhaps she shouldn't be here, and that she was a danger to herself and to everyone else on this mission. She wasn't as skilled or talented or strong as the rest and didn't have combat skills. But being shunned like a child did not sit well with her.

"You went too far. I didn't think League members committed blatant murder. Skarmory could have died because of your stupidity and recklessness. I don't think it's me we should all be worried about."

tldr:
> is in a lot of pain following getting her leg sliced
> accepts kyle's help
> tries to explain to kyle that she didn't mean for the rockets to die/things to do this tragically
> releases chansey to help heal everyone - including herself - with heal pulse
> disagrees with natsume, while internally agreeing she isn't useful here
> accuses natsume of being dangerous and reckless

deltra of gangnam style

[attr="class","sbody"]

Thomas couldn't help but roll his eyes at the constant bickering going on between the others. While they might've had a point about getting Stormy to safety after taking an injury to her leg, he wanted to see if she could get back in the game. He figured she knew the risks of going into Rocket territory, and like the others, for whatever reason, found undertaking such a dangerous task as being important. Besides, the fact that she brought a Chansey on her made her that much more valuable.

Thomas would then listen to what Lars had to say. And in all honesty, he had to agree with the sentiment. Coming into this mission alone, he figured it had to be a trap, that they wouldn't just house the Commissioner in some random warehouse. And the idea that they would only have two drunkards, no matter how strong their Pokemon were, guarding the place, was frankly insulting. The more they got into this, the worse Thomas felt about all of this.

"I have a couple of ideas.", Thomas chimed in after Natsu. "First off, we need to determine if there are any Rockets in hiding, waiting for us to come to the rescue of our Commissioner. I have a Galvantula that could, with a mounted camera, stealthily scope out the warehouse, see what's going on inside, and if Commissioner's actually there. What would make things even better is if someone had a Pokemon like a Lucario to scan the area for any signs of life. Might even be able to rule out whether any potential hostage in the warehouse is a decoy, or our Commissioner that way.", Thomas told them. "How good is your Gallade at scanning for life signs?", he'd ask Lao briefly, before turning back to the rest of the group.

"Of course, if it is a total slaughterhouse, packed with more Rocket pricks, it goes without saying that we need to be prepared to fight. If there's nobody in the warehouse, then it's likely rigged with bombs, which my scout can hopefully crawl around for and identify. If that's the case, Kyle, your Ninetales could freeze the bombs, and delay them. Anyone else who has a Pokemon that can freeze a bomb would be handy for such a task.", Thomas told them.

From there, he would listen to what else the group had to say. Once they had a game plan, he would set out with the others, accompanied closely by his Pangoro.

---

tags: Laurence Anderson Stormy Silph @natsu @kuru kyle lopez
notes: -Thomas contributes to brainstorming

CLEOPATRA IS THE ONLY

The effects of Chansey's egg are starting to relax her. Her tense grip on the Manectric's mane has lessened, as is the clenching of her jaw. Her outburst was out of fear, not spite. Fear that Natsume is right, that she's a liability, a danger to the group. Her own desire to prove herself and do something good is too great, however. She can't turn back now.

Stormy looks away from Natsume as Lao chastises them. His words sting, and she reprimands herself for acting out of hand, impulsive.

However, Natsume is oblivious and a fool if she truly believes that Stormy doesn't understand the direness of the situation. There's heat that rises in the young woman's cheeks, and she tenses, her hand reactively reaching for her injured leg as a spasm claims it. She hisses air through her teeth before she sits up in her position on the Manectric's back.

"Lars is right. We should focus on the task at hand, not devolve into bickering idiots. We're a team and we need to figure out what our next step is."

Stormy does not bring up what she wants to, that Natsume is wrong about her. She doesn't admit to her own fears, she doesn't bring up the fact that Team Rocket murdered her parents in Kanto and stormed Silph Co. Not only is it painful, but it could be seen as a sign of weakness for her. That the only reason she's here is out of anger and hatred, and that her fight out here isn't to save Dahlia but to get revenge for her family.

There it is again, that influx of fear. It feels like a trapped bird in her chest. The woman looks at Lars, her eyes widening in surprise. The man is suggesting that this is a trap, a ruse. That there is something unsettling about this entire scenario. Stormy feels a trickle of unease allow a cold shiver to travel down her spine. She can hear herself breathing hard.

Thomas speaks up, offering up his own ideas for stealth. The crack of thunder overhead startles her, and she feels the beginning of rain on her cheek. She looks up to the sky, sighing.

For the most part, Thomas' ideas seem sound. It's very likely a trap, they're walking into certain defeat if they go in blind.

"Can your Gallade see images in our enemy's thoughts? Maybe he should try to pry information from the grunt's fainted Pokemon. See if they have witnessed anything. I don't know how many of you have mounts, but Skarmory and my Rapidash can rescue people should we need to retreat immediately. Skarmory can also lay her own trap, she knows the move spikes. We can make sure that we're well protected this way, I think."

There's sweat beading on her forehead. Suddenly, she isn't sure how well-equipt she is to protect her friends. However, she is determined to do everything that she can.

"Kyle, do you want me to stay behind with Manectric? I don't want to put your Pokemon in danger."

tldr:
> holding her tongue
> agrees that this is a trap
> offers her own ideas, ie gallade trying to see any images or suggestions from the fainted pokemon on whats inside
> offers skarmory and rapidash as rescue team
> offers skarmory as a trap of sorts by using spikes
> asks kyle what he wants her to do, basically, because shes useless

deltra of gangnam style

Thomas listens as Lars speaks up. But before he could clarify something, Kyle offers up his camera to the Interpol Officer. "Thank you for the offer, but I've come prepared.", he said, before pulling a small camera with cloth straps on it from a pouch on his belt. "The camera is built to be mounted to many Pokemon, including Electric-types, and provides a secure video feed to a tablet.", Thomas would tell them, pointing to a tablet on a holster.

"I'd advise against splitting up. If Rockets are waiting in ambush, it'd make it easier for them to pick us off, especially since we've got an injured member. Besides, having her with us all would prove invaluable, given that she has a medic.", he'd tell Lars. As soon as Lars brought out a Lucario, Thomas gave off a slight grin, happy to see that someone came prepared with a Lucario. "Excellent!", the trainer said.

"And for an exit plan, I have a couple of means of escape; a Dragon, and a Teleporter.", he'd tell the group, when on the subject of escaping. "If possible, I'd like to be able to Teleport back to safety with as many of you as possible, including the Commissioner, if possible. If Lao's Gallade can last long enough, I'm hoping he'll split such a duty.", he'd continue.

As soon as Lao and Natsu started to go ahead, Thomas sighed. "If everyone else is ready, let's head out, before they stray too far off!", Thomas told the rest of the group, ready to start when they were, hoping they wouldn't be too long.

---

tags: Laurence Anderson Stormy Silph @natsu @kuru kyle lopez
notes: -Thomas clarifies he has a camera to be mounted to his Galvantula
-Thomas objects to splitting up
-Thomas lays out his means of escape to the group
-Thomas hopes to press on with the rest of the group, before Lao and Natsu stray too far ahead.