[attr="class","gunstest1text"]



Giselle Sigebrand took one last look in the bathroom mirror before making one final adjustment to her disguise: basically, a long black wig that looked like her normal hair, just a different color. Zelle frowned a little at her reflection, but scoffed after a second. Surely if Interpol headquarters wanted her to have a better disguise, they would have sent her colored contacts or something else. But she guessed it was better than nothing, especially with her distinctive magenta-pink hair color. She scratched under the wig one last time, then adjusted it once more.
[break][break]
Zelle exited the bathroom of the community center, beelining for the stations she had been assigned to loiter nearby, pretending to be a volunteer. There was a bake sale to raise money for displaced families, and a clothing drop-off for not only adults, but children of varying ages. It was kind of the charity organizations to think of the kids, too. Her mouth twisted downward as her anger flared up, to know that Team Rocket was planning on disrupting their efforts. Her eyes scanned the crowd for suspicious clientele, but while her attention was caught, she failed to notice that her path rolled up right in front of one Gunner Graves.
[break][break]
One Gunner Graves with a fake pair of glasses.
[break][break]
"Fuck," she said, at a loss for words. At the same time, he said, "Have you been well since we last met?"
[break][break]
It figured that he'd be here out of all people. Flashbacks of falling headfirst into a mud pit ran through her mind's eye. "Yes," she said shortly. "I guess you got the same starter package as me as far as 'disguises' go."
[break][break]
She heard some giggling nearby. A quick glance over revealed the presence of a few teenaged volunteers stealing glances at the man, then turning to each other and whispering. She glanced to the side in disgusted exasperation. "Don't stand near me, Graves, you'll blow our covers," she hissed, stepping around him to stand by the clothing donation kiosk. She awkwardly tried to fold some clothing into sorted piles while keeping an eye on the milling crowd, but got shooed away by one of the other matronly volunteers who started folding them in quick succession with two lightning-fast twists of the wrist. Disgruntled, Zelle found herself next to Gunner again.
[break][break]
She tamped down her initial impulse to ask if he'd seen any suspects yet, and instead refocused her attention fully on the people present, trying to pinpoint anyone out of place. That flatbed truck could be a perfect hiding spot for unsavory criminals. Or the cop on a segway could be a Rocket, hiding in plain sight. Or maybe the queue of grey-clothed civilians lining up in front of the community center and blocking the sliding glass doors--
[break][break]
"Fuck," she said succinctly.

[break]

[attr="class","gunstest1ooc"][break]

NOTES

+ Mission: Quell[break]
+ Dawn of a New Day (Attack)

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","gunnertext"]



Though Gunner recognized the woman's joke for what it was, he did not laugh or even smile. He had always been a serious even as a boy, much to everyone's dismay and amusement, and had grown into an equally serious man. So he merely adjusted the false glasses on his nose again and sighed as Giselle reprimanded him, then stalked off.[break][break]

Neither did he laugh nor smile when she reappeared at his side mere minutes later, having been shooed off from the clothing kiosk. Her aggravation was entirely unnecessary, though perhaps not entirely unwarranted.[break][break]

"According to intel, suspicious persons may try to incite conflict inside the building through arguments and aggression," Gunner murmured to Giselle as they stood together watching the crowd. His golden gaze swept over the throng of haggard citizens, suspicious and discerning. "Keep an eye out for anyone in a state of agitation."

[attr="class","gunnerooc"][break]

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","gunstest1text"]



"It sounds like you need actual prescription glasses, Graves," Zelle snapped smugly, pointing at the bloc of Rockets collecting in a uniform line across the Oldale Community Center entrance. She'd have lingered longer to rub her clearly superior perceptiveness in his face, but there wasn't any time to waste. Especially if she wanted to kick their asses first.
[break][break]
Without waiting for him to react, she was off weaving through the milling crowd, drawing her Pokeball out but without calling her Talonflame forth just yet. Her eyes roved the unit for their leader, though none of the grey-clothed Rockets seemed to be distinctly leaderly compared to the rest.
[break][break]
Then, someone started elevating a fork lift's pallet of water bottles upwards, a lone individual atop the pyramid. "Friends," a woman said into a megaphone with a silky voice. "Listen carefully and follow these instructions, and you won't be hurt. Hand over all of your Pokeballs in the name of Rocket, and you will be spared. Otherwise, you will answer to my Garchomp and his friends."
[break][break]
She released a giant Garchomp to flap heavily in the air, soon followed after by several Pokemon from the other Rocket Grunts. The crowd began to scream and panic, trying to find alternate exits to escape.
[break][break]
Unwilling to wait another second, Zelle leapt onto a display table, knocking over some soup cans in the process, though the panicking crowd hardly noticed or cared. She tossed a Pokeball in the air, yelling, "Just try and take mine! Cinder!"
[break][break]
Her Talonflame burst forth, crying out shrilly, reflecting the rage of her master.
[break][break]
"Don't mind if we do," the Rocket leader said with a smirk.

[break]

[attr="class","gunstest1ooc"][break]

NOTES

+ Mission: Quell[break]
+ Dawn of a New Day (Attack)

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","gunnertext"]



Gunner had expected a disturbance from Team Rocket to include protests, instigating anti-League sentiment among the populace, riotous behavior, or other subtly insidious behavior. Taking a community center hostage in order to collect civilians' Pokémon seemed more of a tactic from their early days.[break][break]

But he wasn't going to dwell on it. There was no time. Giselle was already jumping onto a table and engaging the Rockets' leader in a Pokémon battle.[break][break]

Time for Gunner to get to work.[break][break]

Seeing the criminals release other Pokémon, he selected a Poké Ball from his belt and released its inhabitant. His Glaceon leaped into the fray in a flash of light.[break][break]

Gunner stepped forward so that he stood alongside Giselle, though he remained off the table. His golden eyes flashed with a long simmering fury. When he spoke, his voice was as hard and biting as sharpened steel. "Galahad, HAIL."[break][break]

Civilians screamed as a hailstorm burst into existence within the Oldale Community Center. Large, rock-hard hail blew in all directions, battering the opposing Pokémon and even Giselle's Talonflame. But Gunner was not finished.[break][break]

"BLIZZARD."[break][break]

The Glaceon's warning hiss paled in comparison to the howl of ice and snow that surged forth from nowhere and nothing, biting into the terrorists and their Pokémon alike. Gunner watched the Garchomp carefully, knowing its double weakness to Ice-type moves. Did it have something that could protect it from the attack?[break][break]

[attr="class","gunnerooc"][break]

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","gunstest1text"]



“What the–” Zelle blurted, gazing upon Glaceon’s hailstorm with indignation as her Talonflame’s wings were battered by the hail. Usually ice would melt on contact, but the hailstones were so large that they still made a considerable impact as they hit her Pokemon.
[break][break]
“Graves, what do you think you’re doing? Do you actually need real glasses?” she shot at him, directing her Talonflame to swerve and avoid the brunt of the hailstorm. As the Talonflame swooped with AERIAL ACE, she picked off several of the other Pokemon, already weakened by and shivering from the hailstones and blizzard.
[break][break]
Talonflame cried out, still enraged, catching Zelle's eye. Zelle nodded and shouted, “Good job, Cinder! Now, target the Garchomp! BRAVE BIRD.”
[break][break]
It was a gamble, and a painful one at that, but they had to get rid of the leader now. They were going to slice off and cauterize this head of the Rocket hydra.
[break][break]


[break]

[attr="class","gunstest1ooc"][break]

NOTES

+ Mission: Quell[break]
+ Dawn of a New Day (Attack)

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","gunnertext"]



"Your Pokémon is fine," Gunner replied with such seriousness and conviction that it seemed he truly believed the Talonflame would survive friendly fire. In reality, securing the Rockets was a higher priority than ensuring allies' Pokémon were not caught in the crossfire. Such was the price of victory. "Look, see?"[break][break]

And indeed, Giselle's bird swerved and swooped through the ice storm to land a critical hit on the opposing Garchomp. Severely weakened by the ice, it stood no chance against the devastating aerial attack. It collapsed, unconscious, much to its owner's vehement outrage.[break][break]

"Well done," Gunner said to Giselle in praise, meaning it.[break][break]

But their work was not over. Though the Rockets' Pokémon had been subdued, the Rockets themselves were still unapprehended, though their mouths were hung open in a shock that had temporarily disabled them. To address that issue, Gunner swapped his Pokémon, recalling Galahad. The hail instantly began to abate. In the Glaceon's place, he released his Bellsprout.[break][break]

"Morgause, incapacitate the criminals over there, please."[break][break]

She nodded and spewed forth a wave of STUN SPORE over the Rockets and their Pokémon. As the spores settled into skin, they released a paralyzing agent, locking muscles and preventing escape.

[attr="class","gunnerooc"][break]

BY GUNSMILE