[attr="class","nikita"]As chaos rages around them, Nikita’s eyes begin to roam the clearing. It is a sign of how much he trusts his own Pokemon. He is searching for broken branches and stray fabric. These Pokemon are likely under some Rocket’s command, and they would not be far. After all, if they intended interrogation, they would need to know the trap had sprung.

Unfortunately, he finds nothing before the Rock Slide turns the place into a hazard zone. Gently rebuffing Thomas’s grasp, Nikita is teleported out of the way by his beloved companion. With narrowed eyes, he turns to his faithful hound. “Find them.” With a rattle of bones, the dog disappears to do exactly that.

With a surprised squawk, the Toucannon crashes into the ground. Breathless and stunned, it stares up at the skies for a moment before turning to the Weavile. Temporarily robbed of its flight abilities, it spits out a nasty, globular chunk of poison at the dark type’s back. But this is not enough to prevent its ally from falling in a storm of red-stained feathers and icicle spears.

Behind Thomas, a strange tree springs to life. The Sudowoodo’s spots glow briefly as it looses a Power Gem at the bodyguard. “Move!” Nikita shouts as movement catches his eyes. His gun is useless against stone. A new Pokemon joins them—a glowing, shifting Nihelego.

Above them, Anne and the Galvantula are engaged in battle. Now on the ground, and hurting, the bug is turning desperate. The sparking of numerous electric attacks gave the lizard ample warning to evade. Drawing close enough to strike, the Intelleon fires off a Hydro Pump at point-blank range. It coincides with an electric burst from the spider. The combination of the two sends all the electricity back at it.

Steaming and twitching, the spider falls to the ground. Slowly, its limbs stiffen and curl inward. The Electro Web’s sparks die off with their creator, allowing the Zoroark free. Without a second glance at the corpse, Anne moved to return to the fray. But this plan ends as a Seismotoad lumbers into view. Its languid, almost perverse grin makes even the stalwart lizard shudder.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Thomas Benoit

[attr="class","nikita"]As the pair tumbled to the ground, the hound’s thick skull knocked into that of the Sneaseler. THONK! Stars flew across his eyes as he smacked into the rocky ground. The world spun for a moment as the hound forced himself to his feet. This gave him just enough time to stumble away from the Mythical Fire. As a powerful blast built in his mouth, the ground would begin to shake.

His attack knocked the Flutter Mane back, but the ghost soon rebounded. It took the Electivire with it. Well, that’s unfortunate. Winter thought as he backed closer to his trainer’s legs. A trumpet sounded in the distance—a klaxon for battle. “Stone.” Nikita nodded. “We need to leave.” He took a deep breath. “Winters will take you out.” As he said this, a stone fell from the sky, hitting the Houndstone at just the right spot to temporarily put his lights out.

Making sure Yuina was on her way out, Nikita would switch the dog for another. From a beam of light, a battered Glalie emerged. Its icy body was no longer spheroid, an Iron Jugulus having battered chunks of it away in an earlier battle. “Ignatius, would you be so kind as to—” The detective’s swooping gesture was apparently not needed. With a call of a thousand lost hikers, the Glalie summoned a powerful blizzard. The snow and frost whipped the smog into a kaleidoscopic maelstrom.

The ground stiffened into a sheet of ice, hidden by that same smoke. As an Iron Treads and Great Tusk stepped on it, the behemoths slipped, slamming into the walls with a shuddering impact. Now without his one-way spectral ticket out, Nikita raced forward. As other creatures fell on the ice, the vicious things began to quarrel around one another.

This bought them enough time to reemerge onto a thin escarpment on the isle’s other side. “Be careful getting to the top, Miss Yuina.” Nikita barked at the girl as he shifted his eyes back to his ice type. “Block the entrance.” Soon, a pile of icy stones reflected a cracked, fractal surface back at them.

With that done, Nikita would race to join Yuina up the hillside. This area would be—for sheer danger—marked off potential exploration routes.

TOTAL MP
50 MP Mission Start
60 MP Posts
10 MP Pokemon Assist
50 MP Pokemon KO
100 MP Mission Complete
300 MP Mission Loss
-------------------------
570 MP

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Yuina Higashi

[attr="class","nikita"]As he folded his way around a thin corner, Nikita wondered how his day had turned out this way. He did not know what possessed the League (or Arceus) to pair him—the blood-stained, revenant detective—with a retinue of children. Many of them he wished to throttle. Or, at the very least, return them home with a strongly worded letter to their parents. Fortunately, this particular young woman did not bark profanities or exude false, spiny bravado.

“They are both creatures who do not belong here with similar power levels, but that seems to be where the similarities end.” While both made Nikita’s hackles rise, the Ultra Beass felt more wrong. Their body plans were not something evolved upon this earth, Whatever rules they played on were not in this dimension’s rulebook. “I find the Paradox Pokemon easier to understand.” At the very least, they resembled creatures who hailed from this realm.

“Nikita. Sokolov.” There was a perceivable pause at the introduction. One punctuated by a heavy sigh. Many people were a fan of his work. Or, if not, familiar with his family’s long ties to the criminal underworld. “I am certain the pleasure is mine.” An empty necessity that felt as hollow as the wounded detective’s heart. Fortunately, there was no more time wasted on small talk. Their stalker showed itself in a flurry of laughter and ghost-type energy.

The hound at the detective’s feet disappears. Ghostly energy swirls where the ghoulish canine once stood. As the Electrivire launched forward with its Dire Claw, the dog reappeared behind it. With a snarl, it smashed into the ghost with a full-force Phantom Force. Or, at least, that was his original goal. Unfortunately, it was just as slippery as the hound targeting it. “KEKEKE!”

It vanished. This left the dog and the electric type on a collision course with one another. Not one to waste an opportunity, the ghost spit out a stream of blue-red, mythical flames at the two stooges.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Yuina Higashi

[attr="class","nikita"]“Perhaps war is too hyperbolic. This is not Kanto, after all.” It was difficult to deny the child’s insightfulness—this war was more a series of skirmishes laced together into some patchwork beast. Not something too dissimilar to a Silvally, in fact. Still, the detective scoffed. “It is not my decision, I assure you.” If it had been him in charge, he felt a lot of investigations would have been concluded before a god took some deranged nutcase beneath their wings.

The older man let his eyes trail across the open water before them. While those on this new land were well aware of what they faced—the ammunition setting the very dirt beneath their feet rumbling—the same could not be said for civilians and wild Pokemon. How many Pokemon corpses littered this beach, the victim of simple paranoia? Drily, Nikita responded: “I will inform the marketing department.” But he doubted either side was willing to put up barricades—civilians were easily chalked up as collateral.

Listening to the young woman’s rambling, Nikita turned his eyes back out to the water. “You can come on shore if you like.” In a show of good faith, he slid his legs a few yards back. “I am curious why you are so interested in distortions.” Then, the detective paused. An almost hawklike expression came over him. “Looking for a cure for your wrinkles?” He avoided these things because he despised life enough without accidentally extending it.

“Regardless of what drives your suicidal tendencies, I would advise against it.” A lazy hand gestured behind him. “Between the Paradox Pokemon and hungry war criminals, you would be safer with a history book.” If he felt bad about the earlier shock, he did not voice his concerns.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Lasciel Elis

[attr="class","nikita"]Watching the girl retch, Nikita cannot resist a burst of sympathy. He winced. From his pants pocket, he pulls a monogrammed handkerchief. This he offers to June as she approaches. While once his reaction had been the same—the first time he’d killed a man in self-defense—the effect now was barely negligible. A fact he’d long stopped wondering about its application. “You may take a moment to collect yourself.” While haste was advisable, he also did not want her throwing up in his lap.

“Oh?” The woman mentioned a sense of deja vu. This drew up one salt-and-pepper brow. A comment like that had a diverse range of implications. You could take it at face value or interpret it as an implication of good or ill will. “Should I be flattered?” The idea of his manner of speech being strange did not register. He merely spoke politely to those he met—even enemies. Wanting to throttle or shoot someone was no reason to act like a rabid animal.

Her apology received a shake of the head. Already his mind was graphing out a potential solution to the problem before them. “It should be enough.” Nikita’s blue-grey eyes shifted across the bird.

“Thank you.” The detective bowed to the Corviknight as it emerged. “Your assistance is appreciated.” Through its help, the supplies would hopefully reach their destination. After a brief moment, Nikita moved to lash the harness under the metal bird’s wings. “If you lift, the carriage will not drag. She should be able to take it from there.” The bull blinked back tears as it steeled its spine. Dark, doleful eyes tried not to stare at her mate as the wagon ground slowly forward.

With a nod, he gestured the odd couple forward. “It’s not far now.” With a grunt, the bull pushed its first hoof forward. Not wanting to increase the load, though it's not sure how much his revenant body would do so, Nikita walks behind the wagon. His hound, meanwhile, vanishes up the tunnel to keep an eye out for further threats.

MP TOTALS
50 - Thread Start
100 - MP Thread
250 - Tie
200 - Pokemon Death
10 - Assist Pokemon
-----------------------------
710 MP

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]june sleigh

[attr="class","nikita"]As the rest of his team rushes toward the god of the ice age, Nikita finds himself facing a violet-haired woman. "Hm."

While not a Rocket he is familiar with, he has no doubt her being left here was no coincidence. That is a sign this young lady likely possesses substantial firepower and strength her appearance does not relay.

A pity he’ll likely have to kill her. But it is not the first time blood has stained his hands. Nor did he doubt the vampire of revenge inside of him would let it be his last.

Trying his best to stand tall, the detective tries to ignore the pain in his injured arm and the raw ache of his stitched side wound. Fortunately, his hound is freshly rested and uninjured. Well, as uninjured as something undead can be. With a deep breath, Nikita lights a cigarette. Grey smoke drifts lazily toward the ceiling. 'Those things will kill you, you know?’ He hears his deceased’s wife voice, a small, ghostly smile threatening. If you only knew, Robin. Lung cancer would seem a welcome respite in comparison.

Tired blue-grey eyes look up at Victoria Beckett with a resigned expression. His Houndstone bounded up to his side, crimson eyes casting a wicked, hellish glow upon its face. “Ladies first.”

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Victoria Beckett

[attr="class","nikita"]The detective sighed. While the League certainly had its shortcomings, a lack of self-absorbed heroes was not one of them. Certainly, he acted on his own, but it was with proper research and stage setting. He did not pick a fight with everyone who supported the emblazoned R. “I hope that bravado is not broken today, Mister Toral.” Because it would mean that the boy would be broken as well—shattered on a stretcher by one of Rocket’s avatars or heavy hitters. “It was a calculated risk—an idea that your teenage angst does not seem to allow.”

The detective shook his head again, growing weary of the movement. Some part of him was tempted to just dart the child and tie him to a tree. Perhaps gang him with a strip of his shirt. “And if those people need support or backup arrives? I certainly would not wish to see our alleys blown into confetti. But your bloodlust likely does not care.” And, he was surprised to find that some part of his hollowed-out, husk of a heart did.

At that assertion, Nikita laughed. It is a terrible, unnerving sound. Akin to an alien trying to mimic it. Suddenly, a gun is out of its holster and pointed at the boy. The safety isn’t off, but a calloused finger rests upon it. “Pride cometh before the fall, Aaron. And it is not a fun journey.” It’d been part of what ended his family, had it not? A continual rushing into high-profile cases against those with power. An addiction fueled by the bottomless pit of curiosity and thrill inside his stomach. He thought he’d see it. Know what was coming before it did.

“I know a charging Rhydon can do a lot of damage,” Nikita murmured as he slipped the loaded gun back into its holder. “But it often hurts itself in the process.” But pain was the best teacher. A fact that his heart agreed to with a hiss of agreement. As he surveyed the area below, a smirk formed on Nikita’s face. A few calculations followed. “We should collapse the  arch.” He pointed toward it. "Two well-aimed strikes at its thinnest points should do the trick.”

Then, he heard it—the damnable buzzing of dragon wings. A Naganadel surged up into the sky ahead of the Metagross. Its jaw opened up with a screech as it attempted to drown all four riders with Venoshock.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Aaron Toral

[attr="class","nikita"]At the word baby, the detective’s nose visibly wrinkles. “Tch.” He does not recall anyone ever referring to him as such. Even his wife’s nicknames stopped at darling. The woman’s chatter earns a cold scoff. This girl was the definition of a few screws loose. An ironic judgment from a man who had never been neurotypical. Though death is near, the detective doesn’t “If this is where evolution leads us, I think we should crawl back into the water.”

The detective is grateful for the Alakazam’s interference. It confirms that entrusting his son—no, grandson—to a stranger for one night was worth the risk. If she had been left at home, he has no idea where he might have wound up. The gun is holstered at the madwoman’s side. And, a strange expression appears on Nikita’s face. It is a grin, but it is not happy. It speaks somehow of both feral desperation and a chess master’s observant eyes. The beast in him roars as it gnaws at the desperation of the situation. It lives for challenges like this. “You really must be more patient. A battle is not done until the last domino falls.”

It's what Winters would say. “And I would be remiss if I allowed such a mad dog to just wander about.”

The man’s hand comes back from his side blood red. Only adrenaline keeps him standing. That and sheer, stubborn hatred. If not for the more immediate threats, he’d have tackled the bitch to the ground. A chortle emerges as Barbara turns to face Xenon. “Zam.” She bows.

But the heat is not welcomed by the middle-aged psychic type. It is quite the opposite. Backing closer to her trainer, the Alakazam nods. The pair move to put some distance between them and the calamity to come. As the Camerupt takes center stage, Nikita also finally opens the Pokeball in his hand. An Intelleon emerges from its center. The eyes burn with an intense hatred for all things Rocket. They had taken her eggs and her voice. “Hydro Pump.”

With a silent call, the Intelleon did as was asked of her. A powerful blast of water rocketed toward the Camerupt. The steam leaking from its edges lent it the look of a blue flame. Eat this, you overgrown burger. The lizard thinks with a vicious grin. And if that ugly four-eyes drowned in the aftermath, the world would be a better place.

The dog’s head lolls to the right. A movement that catches Nikita’s grateful eye. One he is quick to disguise.

The Hyper Beam is mostly avoided. The shield cracks with a loud pop as he is left sitting between two heads. It takes him a moment to find his target—the beast resuming its desired blitzkrieg. Knowing that stopping it is impossible, the ice-type focuses on the bomb itself. As the Hydreigon circles back, he surges forward in pursuit of the payload. “GLALLLLLLIE!” His mournful cry echoes through the skies as he aims a Sheer Cold at the metal sphere.

Ice builds on its surface until it resembles an Ice Age fossil. When it touches down, at the center of camp, the trigger is frozen. He’d bought the people below time, but it wasn’t much. Not in a place like Hoenn.

MP TOTAL
50 - Thread Start
100 - Thread Complete
250 - Tie
80 - Posts
----------------------
480MP

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Xenon Antheil

[attr="class","nikita"]Unseen to the pair, a Flutter Mane swirls through the iridescent mist. Its presence raises Winters's figurative hackles, but even his ghoulish eyes perceive little in the mist.

"That was true." Nikita sighed. "Until we stepped into this place." Nikita turned behind him as a tendril brushed his neck. Though not a ghost, the creature seemed to feed off their nerves--an appetite he did not sate. "Paradox Pokemon are thought to come to life via human imagination." And, in a place like this, the human mind tended to do the strangest things.

At the talk of getting lost, the detective's nose wrinkled. The very idea that he would forget where he came from was ludicrous. Did he not have GPS and the occasional view of the outdoors to guide him? "I am certain that will not be a problem, Miss...?" He did not bother to memorize the names of his compatriots. It seemed useless when many would not exist on the morrow.

With a deep breath, he moved deeper into the mist. Unfortunately, he did not get far. Suddenly, irritated by her plaything's departure, the Flutter Mane burst into corporeality. With a noise between a cackle and a roar, she unleashed a trio of Shadow Balls upon them.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Yuina Higashi

[attr="class","nikita"]The young lady’s comment received nothing more than a simple nod. Nikita did not believe her, but he was not here to provide comfort. That would do nothing to solve their current predicament. Nor would platitudes take the place of a kevlar vest and proper preparation.

Again, the simian’s ferocity proved useful. Though he was not certain he’d call it sporting. With the Cradily’s collapse, the ghoulish hound’s bottom jaw dropped open in a morbid grin. Or, it would have if the vines did not compulsively tighten. As if in its demise, the plant planned its revenge. As monkey fangs pierced vines, he felt the occasional scratch upon his nose. Finally, he fell free—bony feet catching him in a clatter. “Stone.” As his trainer, the canine’s thanks are simple.

By the time Nikita tore his gaze from the dead Tauros, the young woman had halved the distance between herself and the grunt. “Miss Sleigh!” His normally quiet voice raises in volume. “Hold!” In the flickering of his hound’s dying Will-O-Wisp, he sees the glint of dark metal. His lips press into a thin line. For an instant, his hand drops to his gun. But the girl is in the way.

“Winters.” He stops after a few stumbling steps. His eyes snap to the now freed hound. The Rocket’s trigger finger began to push downward. His vicious face twisted in a sneer. “Go.” Vanishing into a ghostly portal, the hound rockets at the gun wielder from behind. Thick, bony fangs again lock onto the hand holding the gun. A vicious, snarl erupts as the dog pulls the man forward. Something snaps. The bullets ricochet harmlessly off the floor in a shower of sparks.

As the man falls, the Houndstone redoubles his attack. It seems being plant-handled had not been appreciated. The normally regal hound’s presence turns vicious. Something almost as feral as the berserk simian behind him. Dark shadows overtake the pair as a strange, mournful noise fills the cavern. “AHHHHHH!”

When the ghoulish light clears, the grunt’s head is wrong. It appears reinforcements will not be coming—at least from here.

The man knocks on the cart behind him. “It is time to go, Miss Sleigh. We will have to walk the rest of the way.” The remaining Tauros struggles to shoulder the cart on its own, but his attempts to reconfigure the harness had ended in mere frustration. "Unless you have a horse on hand."

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]june sleigh

[attr="class","nikita"]Children were more trouble than they were worth. Especially, teenagers. Nikita sometimes wondered what spell had allowed him to raise two of them without going mad. How he could look back on behavior like this and feel fondness? “You will find heroics rarely play out well in war.” The first person to peek above the foxhole didn’t receive applause. They often received bullets for their courage. The detective ignored the rest of the boy’s temperamental drivel. “It has been three minutes, Mister Toral.” The mines disarmed, Nikita turned to face the child. “I would not want these here when we come back down, would you?”

As he clambered upon the Metagross, Nikita offered a simple nod of thanks.

A noise of exasperation escaped pursed lips. The Houndstone at his ankles seemed similarly annoyed. “Or a brain in your case. One should avoid unnecessary risk.” An ironically hypocritical sentence coming from the HBIC vigilante and hunting dog. But he had nothing to live for but the two beasts inside of him. As the Metagross rose, the detective and Anne shared a look. He counted to three. When one of the men turned away, he nodded. “Anne.”

That vicious smile grew wider as the Intelleon’s hands swirled around a ball of glowing water. With a powerful burst of power, a Hydro Pump erupted from her gloved hands. This slammed into the back of three members of the blockade. One skidded to the ground as two more were sent teetering off the cliff’s edge. An Annihalape—a vicious, nasty thing—met a similar fate, Its ghostly body began to fade as it hit the rocky earth a few hundred feet below. Satisfied with that, he took a moment to light a new cigarette. He could practically hear the click as he unleashed the child next to him. Almost feel the grateful freedom as the hounds of war burst from their kennels.

“Do what you will.” A deep breath of nicotine banished any thoughts of the bodies crumpled at the cliff’s base.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Aaron Toral

[attr="class","nikita"]Nikita sighed. In his years of detective work, he had been accused of many things. Many of them rolled off of him like water off a Ducklett’s back—for who cared about the barbs of a criminal? But this particular accusation needled him. Perhaps because he had a daughter once. “I suppose they would.” He admitted in wan, tired tones.


Another nod follows. “A relatively safe course of action, I assure you.” Now still, it was easy to pick out the man’s own injuries. A bandage peeking out the collar of his button-up shirt. Blood stains add ruddy tones to his navy top. A sling around his neck that he’d abandoned. “But war rarely allows for mercy.” Notably, Howard had not left the water. The Lanturn remained cowering in an underwater crevasse, red eyes peering anxiously at the Hydreigon. Nikita’s suspicions were still present.


Again, this ‘girl’ seemed to have her wits on her—a good thing in this environment. The ID vanished into his jacket. At the stammering, Nikita was quick to supply the proper name. “Stole.” No doubt, in her retirement home, his mother purred in satisfaction. The English teacher in her pleased. At the digging, the man paused. A salt and pepper brow rose. “A few legendaries, but the rest are conspicuously absent.” Perhaps a sign that this particular conflict was one of their own making. A hand rose for pause. “I would not advise investigating.” At this distance, the conflict resembled the dull rumble of a thunderstorm. “Perhaps return when this place is not an active warzone?

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Lasciel Elis

[attr="class","nikita"]The elder man chuckled. A sound many found more terrifying than the rage that sometimes filled his expression. “It is, unfortunately, neither.” Even if the tomb held untold treasures, they would not turn the tides of this battle. A thrown idol could only distract one man. Selling or bartering one would not keep you safe. Still, it offered something that might later grease the wheels of commerce. “I will keep track of the grave’s location, however.”

Nikita’s reedy shoulders lifted in a shrug. “The past was likely as mad as the present. One can only guess.” While he was glad the region had not been destroyed, he sometimes wondered about the cost of that safety. While not a bleeding heart—by any stretch of the imagination—the destruction that likely resulted was difficult to ignore.

The walk here had been far too peaceful. A thing that stroked his inner cynic—as if quiet was something that must be balanced. Some part of him was almost relieved when the enemy appeared. The tension in his shoulders flowed into action and lightning-fast calculations. Like Thomas, he took shelter behind a rock. A handgun appeared in his hands, freshly loaded and ready to shoot.

“I am counting on it.” As the Galvantula fired, Nikita’s eyes narrowed at their enemy. “Anne.” Shaking off her camouflage, the Intelleon vanished in a burst of air. Her Acrobatics slammed into the bug shortly after the Zoroark’s attack, knocking the sparking bug from its perch.

Shadows appeared as a Toucannon and Bombirdier appeared above them. A rainbow beak began to glow as the Toucannon aimed a Beak Blast at the downed Zoroark. The second announced its presence with a Rock Slide aiming to bury its opponents in stone.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"]Thomas Benoit