The First Wave Prelude

Mossdeep City B7

Stun spore was a move that often paralyzed whatever Pokemon had been in its path. This was common knowledge. But, what if some of those spores landed on a person? It was a rare occurance, but Elaine found out first hand exactly what had happened. The rain had diluted the spores, but they landed on both her and Ginga.

"Dammit!" She wiped out the smile as those spores permeated her breath. Paralysis was a neurological defect, so she had, in a sense done the equivalent of inhaling a neurotoxin or a chemical weapon. Her face twitched. Her arm twitched. Her legs twitched. She was neither frowning nor scowling. Instead she grit her teeth, bearing with the intense bursts of pain that came as her muscles twitched.

Moreover, as a gentle aroma wafted around her and Ginga, her vision faded for just a moment.

In her focus on adjusting to the pain of the periodic spastic paralysis and the Victreebel's attack, her judgement lapsed. Metagross had turned around, but she had found herself falling off to the side. Bringing her arms around herself, she rolled once until she got back up on her knees and saw what was going on.

What was going on here?

In the moment where everything had lapsed, she had heard Elijah's outcry at Nabi, but in the next moment, she heard his declaration to her and his response to her words.

The vine was reaching for Nabi, a threat that would potentially kill her. She had been acting in belief of his consideration for her, but he was clearly willing to use her as a hostage.

But something didn't sit right with her. She couldn't say she was the best judge of character. Many times, she never truly saw a person's character till she stripped it bare with the weight of evidence. But, she had believed in his concern for Nabi. That was there.

But had her initial assumption been wrong? Despite her initial belief that Nabi was a civilian caught in the middle, had she been wrong about that from the very beginning? The average Rocket didn't run around wearing a giant R on their clothes, after all. Many of them hid in plain sight.

No...

Had Elaine been tricked from the start by a pair of really good actors? Stun Spore was an attack that didn't affect Grass types. Had that attack been a failed attempt to bring Elaine low? Were the two of them conspiring from the start? The two of them had made themselves known to Elaine at roughly the same time.

The more she thought about it, the more her mind spiraled around the worst case scenario. The possibility that the two of them were merely a pair of fangs waiting to chomp down on her neck would eat away at her mind.

Was that it? Was she about to get crushed by the cogs of fate here? Was that the end of the curse that she had accepted?

To die as a victim to her own ideals?

No. TO HELL WITH THAT.

Elaine Highland was a detective. For her, there were few things more paramount than evidence. But the world would not always provide the right evidence. In that case, what was left for her? What could she hold steadfast to?

There was only one simple answer. The hypocrite would hold steadfast to her ideals.

After all, if she acted on the assumption that Nabi was Elijah's co-conspirator, she would take an action she would ultimately regret. If she was wrong, that would cost the civilian's life.

Even if this was an act she would regret, she would not command Metagross to attack. While on her knee, she raised her (twitchy) hands up.

"You'll truly let her leave safely if I hand it over? Is there any way I can believe that? What even is that information that it's that important to you people?"

Though she acted like she was submitting, there was still a fire in her eyes as she glared at Elijah.

---

TL;DR/MP Count:

• MP Total: 310 (Prior) + 10 (IC Post x1)+ 25 (KO'd Victreebel) + 50 (Casting doubt on Nabi, the conveniently placed)+ 50 (Injured by Stun Spore) + 50 (feeling intense fear) =495 MP
• Elaine does not order an attack and initiates standing down
  

Tags: nabi park , elijah gardner

The First Wave Prelude

Mossdeep City B7

Elaine picked herself back up. Whatever dissonance there was between Elijah and Nabi here didn't matter at the end of the day. No matter what, the end goal was the same. Elaine had to find a path to her and Nabi escaping safely.

Maybe there was some discord between the two of them that they could talk out. But now was not the time. Elijah was dangerous to her as long as the city was stuck as a battlefield. As such, she could not draw this out.

Her knees knocked as she attempted to straighted them out. The Metagross merely followed behind, floating in air, as she moved forward, one slow intentional, but shaky step at a time.

"Thanks for sticking through with this, Ginga."

Whatever rage and hatred she had been directing towards Elijah had simply vanished as she felt nothing sort of gratitude for the reliable partner who was staying by her side to catch her if she fell.

Whatever resolve she had, she would not completely be able to avoid the paralyzing effects of the spore.

Her body could lock at any moment and she was handing over what the enemy wanted, but she felt strangely at peace with all of this. After all Ginga was at her side and even smiling despite the danger. They had been through too much together to let this drag the both of them down.

She reached into a pocket inside her jacket with her right hand and grabbed something. As she took it out, she revealed the thin, fragile object within it. It was something Nabi would be able to recognize as the object she had displayed earlier. She would not only be able to confirm it was the same device but also the same pocket that Elaine had placed it in.

After displaying the object in her fingers, she showed the remainder of her right hand, palm and back before dropping it from between in her fingers on top of her palm. The situation was tenuous. So, she had to make sure she made something absolutely evident here for Nabi's safety. There was neither hint of deception or sleight of hand going on here.

The turn of phrase in certain Unovan movies was that they didn't "negotiate with terrorists." But there were ways to do so. At the very least, she was sure of that in her own experience. That was why she needed to lay her intent bare.

Holding out her palm between Nabi and Elijah, she kept her other hand up.

As she stopped, the Metagross's transformation ceased as it returned to its regular form and stood back upon the ground.

"This is it. You promise you won't hurt her and let her go safe?"

But Elaine was well aware. Even if he kept that promise, it did not extend to her. He had no obligation to keep her safe. That was why, no matter what, she did not let her guard down. The moment she lost her leverage was the moment the onslaught would resume.

---

TL;DR/MP Count:

• MP Total: 495 (Prior) + 10 (IC Post x1)+ 50 (Moment with her Pokemon)=555 MP
• Mega Metagross's transformation finishes
• Nabi would be able to recognize that the SD card she is showing is the same one and from the same pocket.
  

Tags: nabi park , elijah gardner

The First Wave Prelude

Mossdeep City B7

Elaine was truly grateful. Enemy though he was, he held some decency and had not reneged on his word in the slightest. As the Beautifly's flash seared into everything around them, Elaine had closed her eyes before starting to take heed of Nabi's advice.

She had thrown the microSD as far away as she could, but Elaine made no attempt to run towards that direction. Crossing past him would be more dangerous and made her more liable to get killed. However, that didn't matter. Nabi had gotten herself out safely, so now was her turn.

But, that had also been ground to a halt. The pitcher plant Pokemon lauched its final hurrah of an attack at Elaine as she and Ginga had begun to make their run for it. She was fully aware that the terms of the deal had not included her safety and she had long since made her peace with that aspect of the negotiation. That was why she had begun to run away.

But the remnants of the stun spore had taken ahold of her once again. Her leg spasmed as she tried to run, and her body locked up in tow. She was stuck as the attack came barreling towards Metagross and while she couldn't see, she knew she would not be able to take the aftereffects of the attack.

And yet, nothing hit her. Her trusty partner used all of its strength as it stood as a wall between the attack and her. Even if the attack was meant for it, there was no way it would let even a bit of it take her partner's life.

"GIN--"

The attack slammed into the Metagross.

And all faded to black.

---

"Thanks, Ginga."

She had not been out that long. It had only been mere moments. But, she still found herself laying next to Ginga, getting pelted by the unrelenting rain. After lifting herself to her feet, she patted off some the dirt on her clothes before gauging the surroundings. She had not been knocked far off from where the fighting had been.

But there was nobody left. Everyone involved had vacated.

"Get some rest. I'll take it over from here." She recalled the Metagross back to its ball before giving it a soft smile. That trusty partner had been with her for so long. For that she was so grateful. But for now, she could not rely on it.

She had been told by Yujin Ha to protect that microSD and make sure not to let it get into the enemy's hands. Though she had seemingly failed to uphold that task, that was something far from the truth.

She took out her phone and turned it around to look at its back for just a moment before sighing.

Slight of hand was something that was best active before one even meets the person they are trying to decieve. From the very start, she had taken a few microSDs and made some encrypted dummy messages before hiding the real one somewhere else--inside her phone.

It wasn't lodged into some slot, but hidden inside its back case, a place most wouldn't think to look.

She had drawn everyone's attention to one of the fakes she had hidden upon her person in case she had ended up being physically searched, but thankfully, that had yet to be necessary. Even having nabi park be aware of the position of the fake she showed had not been been fully necessary.

There were decoys upon decoys creating a long chain of deception before she ever locked eyes with another human being.

It was a near total victory for her. By the time elijah gardner figured out he had a fake, it would already be too late.

For someone like her who had seen through deception after deception, the fabrication of such was a piece of cake. The fact that she could consider it so was enough to be a source of great pride for her, a happiness that flowed out from a grand wellspring.

And yet, despite the victory she earned for herself, pangs of regret had clawed into her heart.

Despite his allegiances, the man had bared his heart out for a short moment. He had trusted that she would not pull any strange moves despite the fact that she had been manipulating his perception since the start.

She claimed to believe that there was some better way to all of this than fighting. She had even acted to let those two take a chance to talk things out among the chaos.

But she had decieved them from the start.

Hypocrite.

Sophist.

Words like those cycled through her brain as she waded through the overgrowth and finally made it to what looked like a nearby residential district--or at least the rubble that remained. The attack had been dreadful. Many people had to be evacuated, but many civilians never made it. The blood she could see through the shattered windows and the severed chunks of flesh in her periphery were proof enough of that.

For those two, Elaine had regretted the act of deceit she had done to them.

But the world refused to be simple enough to let her ideals be the end all, be all. The carnage left behind from the attack was proof of that.

So, regret as she may, she could not falter here. She would mire herself in muck. She would traipse through the world. At the end of it all, she would reach for the happiest possible ending.

That thought was the wish and the curse that drove her forward.

Even as the world fell apart. Even as a thundrous bang reverberated from a certain island city off in the distance.

No matter how much anyone would call her a sophist, she would not stop here.

---

TL;DR/MP Count:

• MP Total: 555 (Prior) + 10 (IC Post x1)+ 50 (Ginga faints)+50 (Showcasing character's strengths meaningfully)+ 50 (great pride) + 50 (a regrettable action)+ 200 ("winning" outcome)+100 (completion)= 1065 MP
• Elaine confirm's Nabi's escape before attempting herself
• Ginga is knocked out
• Elaine had the real microSD hidden away in her phone, her act was sleight of hand from the start
• Elaine mulls over the consequences of her actions
• The sophist walks forward

Tags: nabi park , elijah gardner CC: Yujin Ha