After Thomas earned the Quick Badge from Josh Devlin, Thomas decided to celebrate. Accompanied by Pulse the Audino, Thomas decided to explore the city with him. The Audino, with long, fluffy fur, looked around in wonderment at his surroundings. It was a far cry from Verdanturf, and Duvet Ranch.

As Thomas took a seat at a table, he would notice an Amaura rushing towards him. The fluffy Audino accompanying him also took notice to the Amaura, looking over at her.

"Hello there-", Thomas began to greet the Amaura, before he heard a familiar voice calling out a familiar name. Thomas took a closer look at the Amaura, taking note of the scar on her body.

Thomas would offer the Amaura an affectionate pet, smiling gently at her.

By the time she caught up to the Amaura, Thomas looked up at Katrina. Though Thomas had gained a few scars, and dyed his hair black, since the last time they met, those piercing green eyes were still the same.

"It's been a long time, Kat.", Thomas greeted the Unovan, in a voice that would be all too familiar. "How have you been?"

Pulse would approach the Amaura, greeting her sweetly.

---

tags: katrina murphy
notes: tl;dr

"No expense was spared in the creation of these tunnels. But then, nothing is too much for my friends.", he'd remark to Elliot, a gentle smile on his face.

Once they reached the chamber, a Glaceon would rush Thomas. The tall man crouched down to greet the Ice-type, who eagerly nuzzled Thomas. The Glaceon stood on his hindlegs, forepaws resting on Thomas thighs as the Kalosian nuzzled and petted him.

The Snom, invigorated by the cold environment, jumped off of the Blissey's head, diving into a pile of snow to eat.

A Cubchoo would walk up to Elliot, staring up at him with sweet little eyes. He would hold out his arms, as if asking to be picked up, and hugged.

---

tags: @elliot
notes: tl;dr

When the white Zoroark accepted his offer, Pulse practically jumped at the chance to hug the ghostly fox. As he hugged the Zoroark, he would take in the feeling of the creature's fur. It definitely felt fluffier than Kuma Lisa's fur. Though he could also feel the presence of lacerations on its body, which made the little guy worry.

He would hope a Heal Pulse would ease whatever pain this fox was in.

An Eevee would approach the group. Gene saw Pulse snuggling up to the strange Zoroark. Though he was tempted to join in on the fluff pile, he would instead spot the teenager. The Eevee immediately pounced, attempting to hop into Absalom's lap. The Eevee let out a soft, gentle cry, while waving his paw at the boy.

---

tags: absalom steel
notes: Mission - Summer Camp

Both the Pikachu and Eevee nuzzled into her hand, as she patted them. As they were offered treats, the two gladly took them. Bunni glanced back at Delilah, wanting to join the others in greeting her. A reassuring look from Thomas gave her the courage to greet the woman, letting out a soft little cry as she greeted her.

"Bunni's a little bit shy. But once she warms up to you, she's a total sweetheart.", he'd tell the idol.

When she brought up exploring the rifts, Thomas' expression turned serious. "Not gonna stop you, but all I can say is bring some good backup.", he'd tell her.

Delilah's concern was met with a chuckle, followed by the pained suction of air through clenched teeth.

"You could say that.", Thomas began. "Ended up joining in the effort to save Councilwoman Anderson from Rocket's clutches. Got the 'honor' of being the distraction. That entailed being handed over to them, in chains, getting beaten, and thrown in a cell. Of course, they couldn't hold me for very long, and after getting loose, I - went on a tear through the place. Even left those bastards an - appreciative message.", Thomas would explain to her.

It was clear he took pride in the damage he did.

---

tags: Delilah Silph
notes: tl;dr

As the Sharpedo arrived to aid the mothership, the group of sharks would be greeted by the attacker. Emerging from the waves, the Clawitzer would greet the Sharpedo with a volley of Aura Sphere. The Sharpedo desperately scrambled, some uselessly attempting to outrun the orbs spat out from the Mega Launcher, only to be taken out by the attack. Those that survived would attempt to retaliate with Night Slashes and Crunches of their own.

The pirates aboard the ship would chuckle as the Audino attempted to look fierce. The Shadow Ball from the dainty creature seemed to do little to deter them, as their Machoke attempted to move in, and take the royal healer hostage.

A Ceruledge sprung from the shadows. With Bitter Blades flared up, Mordred wasted no time in attempting to cut down the invading Machoke. The Mightyena would follow, attempting to surround the Ceruledge, and rip him apart with Crunches. These attempts would be interrupted, as a Lucario burst onto the scene with Extreme Speed, smashing into the Mightyena with vicious force.

"Ah fuck, it's a trap!", one of the pirates shouted.

---

tags: Elise Calcifet
notes: Clawitzer ambushes the Sharpedo with Aura Spheres
Cerluedge jumps in, cutting down Machoke with Bitter Blade
Lucario emerges, heading off the Mightyena with Extreme Speed

"Interesting. If you don't mind me asking, how difficult is it to find Pokmeon of suitable size for riding? Do you just find them in the wild, or do you have to have them bred from special parentage?", he'd inquire.

As far as he knew, finding Pokemon of the largest sizes possible was not an easy undertaking. Thomas only had a couple of Pokemon he could claim were of the largest possible size, those being Ripper the Scizor, and Bass the Audino.

"Even in that fancy Sygna Suit?", Thomas asked teasingly.

Thomas listened to what the rider had to say about Paradox Pokemon. "Training them is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. I suppose it helped that I earned their respect, in some manner. Whether it was through honorable combat, or saving them from a horrible fate.", he'd reply to her.

A fate that the Luxray that used to be in his care had to endure, instead. Though Thomas lamented bringing her out during his encounter with Cillian Quinn, the silver lining was that he got to meet, and befriend, Midir.

"Not nearly enough.", Thomas remarked. So the strange manuals they'd find in their travels would go on to form a manual for the creation of a Type: Null? Though the price of having to sacrifice the well being of his own Pokemon immediately turned him off from it.

"There was a time where Jules Cotillard had us complete tasks for him. Those who managed to complete every task were able to build a Type: Null of their own. Of course, he revealed himself to be a Megalopolan during the Three Day War, and turned those Type: Null against their trainers. Most were able to reign them in, and trigger their evolution through the bonds they formed with them. Some were unlucky, however.", he'd inform her.

Annie Mei, the poor girl who lost her boot during the Blacephalon attack, ended up losing her life to the Type: Null she constructed.

Suddenly, a massive Orthworm burst through the ground, greeting the two explorers, and their Pokemon. The Orthworm would slam its head down onto the ground, attempting to Bulldoze the entire group. Mordred would escape the attack with the use of Phantom Force. Artanis wasn't so lucky, being knocked down by the sweeping attack. Rufus would manage to deftly leap over the attack, with the aid of his Extreme Speed.

---

tags: Shalin Nariya
notes: tl;dr

The two hitmen could not react in time, as the hail of gunfire violently consumed them. By the time it was over, both of their bodies had been riddled with bullets. Though their vests caught some of the rounds, several burrowed into their heads. As their lifeless bodies dropped to the floor, blood pooling around the office floor, the Wraith disappeared as quickly as he popped up, crouching down, and hustling towards another part of the office.

As the Zoroark and Vikavolt process the losses of their masters, Kuma Lisa and Essex come to collect their prey. The Malamar strikes the Zoroark in the head with a Superpowered slam of his tendril. The illusory fox drops to the ground, rendered unconscious. The Zoroark belonging to the grim vigilante hoses down the Vikavolt with a point-blank Flamethrower, consuming the bug in a cone of fire. The Vikavolt drops to the ground, quickly rendered unconscious from the attack.

The Spidops owned by one of the two remaining hitmen attempts to take out the Alakazam with a Skitter Smack from behind. Reaver, spotting the approach of the insect, quickly dashes in, taking the attack for his ally. The Weavile retaliates with a brutal Counter strike, knocking the insect out. Freke, spotting the Heracross, subjects the bug to his Expanding Force. The wave of psychic energy overwhelms the beetle, knocking it out.

As Thomas attempts to move in on one of the remaining hitmen, gunfire catches his attention, followed by the sound of shattering. Wraith pops up to see the grisly sight of the hitman having shot the prince's Sinistea. With a quick draw, the Wraith pulls a .50 caliber revolver from his raincoat, opening fire on the hitman. The sound of the hand cannon reverberates through the floor, the powerful bullet cleaving through the man who killed the Sinistea.

In doing this, the final hitman, his intended target, spotted him. But before he could open fire on the grim avenger, a fiery blade would slice his arm off, followed by his head. The heated swords immediately cauterized the wounds, preventing blood from spilling on the floor.

Wraith rushed over to the prince, and his Sinistea.

---

tags: Remiel Calcifet
notes: Thomas mowed down two hitmen
Zoroark finishes Vikavolt with Flamethrower
Malamar finishes Zoroark with Superpower
Spidops attempted to attack Alakazam with Skitter Smack
Weavile took Skitter Smack, retaliated with Counter
Alakazam finishes Heracross with Expanding Force
Thomas hears the gunshot, and the teacup shattering
Thomas blasts the hitman responsible with his hand cannon
Final assassin attempts to gun down Thomas, gets cut down by Ceruledge
Thomas rushes to check on Remiel and his Sinistea

As Thomas traveled down the second path wit the others, he'd begin to side-eye the man who had the Gigaton Ball. The fact that he was a part of that little stunt from before didn't help matters in the slightest.

Otherwise, Thomas kept his eyes on the path before them. The Ceruledge remained vigilant, waiting for any sort of threat to crop up. Thomas was expecting a Grass Knot trap, or something to that effect. Maybe the machinations of a Celesteela?

But not a horde of Glimmora with strange markings turning the corridor into a practical meat grinder with Mortal Spin.

Thomas quickly swapped out Mordred for Artanis. "Artanis, Wide Guard! Cover us while we get through!", Thomas called out urgently.

The Iron Valiant would, once again, combine his two blades together into a single double-blade. He would then begin to guard the others, as they attempted to cross through the Mortal Spin trap.

In particular, Thomas tried his best to usher DESIREE BLOOMS and Vanilla Kingsley through the perilous hallway. He would also do his best to get the strange Ursaluna through, with as little harm to it as possible.

3Rd5|8z6

---

tags: howard slayte
notes: -Down path 2
-Eying @howard suspiciously
-Spots the Glimmora
-Switches Ceruledge for Iron Valiant
-Iron Valiant used Wide Guard
-Thomas tries to help as many people through as he can

The Eevee practically purred as he enjoyed the woman's hands running through his fur. His little legs would kick up and outward, before wrapping around her wrist, in an attempt to hug her hand.

"I see. Good to know Callan had your back.", Thomas remarked.

Thomas listened to what the woman had to say about Bernstein. A lot of it tracked with what he had heard about the man. A real piece of work. One who seemed to have left quite the impression on the normally cheerful Desiree.

"To be honest, a lot of what you said tracks with what I've heard about the guy. That he has a nasty habit of using his seat to railroad female artists into sexual favors, in exchange for the 'real' deals. Real fucked up shit.", he'd begin. "After that day at the Charity Mixer, did he ever try to contact you again? Try to find a way to keep you silent about what went down? Did he have anyone acting as muscle?", he'd inquire.

The Florges continued to shower the Arcanine in cuddles. At this point, she practically buried herself in his fluffy mane.

---

tags: DESIREE BLOOMS
notes: tl;dr

Much to the surprise of the former Elite Four, the Scizor successfully managed to snatch the Manectric in his pincer. From there, the armored insect finished off the electric hound with the Bug Bite stranglehold. Thomas could only hope that Ripper could contain his bloodlust enough to not do serious harm to the canine.

Though Ripper took great pleasure in the attack, once the Manectric stopped struggling, and passed out, he let the opponent down. The hulking Scizor let out a skyward pincer pump, celebrating his victory.

"Great work, Ripper.", Thomas complimented the Scizor, using his fist to bump one of his pincers gently.

As Thomas received the Quick Badge, he'd put it on a well-maintained badge case. He reflected on those who held the position in the past. One of those being his protégé, John Sullivan.

"Thank you, Josh Devlin. It was an honor to battle you. You fought very well.", he commended the Gym Leader.

"I'm glad to hear that Kyle's let you in like that. And though the chase has grown cold, don't give up on it. I feel your determination to see it through to the end will eventually win Raikou's favor.", he'd respond to the Gym Leader.

---

tags: Josh Devlin
notes: Thomas accepts the Quick Badge
FIN

Pulse stared up at the blonde with his innocent blue eyes. As she knelt down to give him a pat on the head, Pulse would cry out happily, hugging her with his stubby little arms. As she asked about Thomas, the Audino nodded, offering to lead the way.

Upon noticing the Zorua, who looked similar to the Zoroark he met while Thomas was hosting the summer camp, the Audino approached the fox. He offered to hug the fluffy creature, and carry them in his arms, while he lead them to his master.

Whether or not the Zorua accepted his offer, Pulse would escort them to Thomas.

When she would catch a glimpse of the man, it was clear a lot had changed. The brown hair she knew from her childhood had been dyed black. Despite this, the lack of cosmetic contact lenses left no mistake of the piercing green eyes he possessed. The once meek boy had grown to be a tall, rugged figure, with a vertical scar going down the left side of his face.

Though she hadn't seen him in years, Thomas had seen her news broadcasts.

"Sierra, that you?", Thomas asked her. Years spent outside of the Kalos Region had diluted his accent. Thomas would offer Pulse a hug, thanking him for escorting the blonde to him.

---

tags: Sierra Benoit
notes: tl;dr