Whining loudly as she was pushed at, her grip was finally pried off, leaving the woman pouting. seriously, just this one time he couldn't show her a tiny bit of- what the hell was that? a vase had whirled past them, nearly hitting mateo had he not ducked. but, the most 'impressive' thing by far was the appearance of the young girl. naive as could be, noelle, at first, took a step forward. it didn't click just yet that this was obviously not some poor little kid who needed help. seeing as bugs of all sorts wriggled and crawled from out her gaping mouth in a horrific manner.

oh.

oh.

she didn't protest at nearly being dragged about, instead following behind mateo and trying to resist the urge to look back and figure out what the actual hell was happening. finally though, they were free. panting slightly as they collapsed onto the ground, she opened her mouth, about to ask the man a million questions per second, all some form of 'what and why'. until he was snatched up with little effort, a clawed hand grasping firmly onto him, yanking and pulling him back into the pooling darkness.

"Mateo!" The girl let out a cry, reaching forward to grab his hands. She held onto him, trying to pull him back, with near tears in her eyes. "Don't let go, don't let go-" But, it was too late. The darkness had swallowed him up with a single, forceful yank, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

for a moment, noelle gaped, breath heavy and near the verge of panicking. what should she do? what should she do? call kyle? get bryony? plead for chancellor to help out his rival? no, there wasn't anytime for that...she balled her hands into fist, gritting her teeth together for a moment. forcing her body to stop trembling in a bout of terror and shock, she took a leap of faith into the darkness.

it felt...heavy. thick. hard to move in. suffocating. the walls were pitch black, it felt like the house was breathing. but, she didn't look back as she kept searching through the darkness. by her side, she had released dragonair, who kept a safeguard up, as well as offered a beam of light from her mystical blue orb.

"mateo? mateo!? mateo you dummy idiot, say something!" she bit her lip, trying not to start tearing up again, "you stupid dragon boy, say something!"

"Mmh, probably because he can tell how strong you are. So he wants to beat - possibly eat or maul - you to prove a point. Something like that. Maybe." She waved off the comment as though it were casual. Because, to her, it was. Dragons challenging one another was nothing unusual. Granted, Adam wasn't a dragon but...still, same thing! She had to wrestle with a few gabites and bagons back at home because they were all uppity about it.

even though they were little taps from the speedy pokemon, there was a twitch within the hydreigon eyes, like a canon ready to go off. that lust for fighting danced within his dark eyes, and the trainer felt that fiery passion like a burn wound itself. she uttered out words in such a soft voice, they were incredibly hard to hear and decipher. perhaps it wasn't even english, as it sounded more like a sound than anything. but, it was enough to make the hydreigon snap from out of his instincts, and continue to play along as he let himself take each blow, staggering backwards as though they'd each done critical damage.

raising her sword to block it but, make a show to stagger a bit and let out an over dramatic 'guh', she huffed slightly at the silvery haired man. "the others wouldn't play along," she whined, "he wouldn't either until i started to cry and beg him! but...hm...hm...you're right!" there was a shine in her eyes....a bad one. it meant she had an idea. which was never good. "come forth, my beasts of ruin!" ushered from out of their pokeballs by that single call, her 'army' appeared.

a garchomp, followed by her gyarados, and salamence, and dragonair. they looked a bit...grumpy to be called out, each letting out a mighty cry in unison. she jumped back and away from adam, venus, her gyarados, bending a head to allow the woman to stand atop of her, the massive serpent soon rising upwards to her full height. at the 'army' of dragons, the crowd gasped in sheer shock. "you cannot beat me, fair knight. i will not lose." she smirked, "let us end this ceaseless fighting! in fact...i have a proposition for you, sir knight!" 

"hey, hey - dummy, i helped!" swinging a leg back to kick him in the shin as they began their usual...whatever this was, noelle halted from doing so as the psychic pokemon began to emerge. they looked angry...but, they were out here, at least! she gave mateo a smug look. "you're welcome," she repeated once more, before turning to stare at the psychic kidnappers.

"hey, where's kyle?" briefly, she was worried that he might've gotten blown back and hurt from her dragon's attack. had she killed kyle? but, she doubted the man would die that easily. yea, he was fine. plus, they needed to focus on the task at hand; which meant not getting their brains melted by the infuriated psychic pokemon.

"cover my back, k? thanks!" she waved to mateo with a smile before turning her sights back onto the hypno. a couple attempted to use psychic on the menacing dragon, possibly to tear it from limb to limb with their overwhelming mental ability. unfortunately, it had no effect, as the outline of pink that coated the hydreigon disappeared with a shake and snort from the destructive beast.

"go ahead, use crunch on them - watch your flanks though, don't get overwhelmed!" the dragon rushed forward with a crunch, its main head taking one by the throat, whilst its hand mouths found their own targets, delivering lesser, but still super effective, attacks onto their target.

she decided to realize one more pokemon; her drapion. he appeared in a flash, invigorated by the look of the battlefield, she didn't need to give the poison/dark type courage to fight, as he rushed forward on his own in a pursuit attack. "There's one behind you - and to your side," she called out in alarm to him. But, the flexible pokemon merely turned his upper body 360 degrees to stare the hypno in the eye, shrugging off the psybeam and sending it flying with an iron tail to the face.

Noelle stayed put, taking out her phone to possibly shoot Chance a text and tell him to 'knock it off'. Except, the message wouldn't send, as though something were blocking the signal. "What..." She breathed out with a tilt of her head and scrunch of her brows. the moment the high-pitched shriek happened, she jumped, muscles tensing as she tried to pinpoint where it came from, but, it was impossible. Creepily enough though, it definitely came from inside the house. "It's inside," she stated with a frown and grimace. whatever 'it' was.

abruptly, in the hallway, there was the sound of something scraping against the floor, like nails on a chalk board, an ominous violet and green emerging, as though something lie just around the corner. it felt harder to breath, as though an intense pressure had taken control of the area. it was as though something were lying just around the corner.

the cringe worthy, ear-bleeding noise made her yelp, and jump in the air like a startled cat. with that, she clung onto mateo in a bear-tight hold, hiding her face in his chest. "Mateo, hold me! protect me!"

was she scared? a bit. but, this was honestly just an excuse to get close to him. a sort of 'take advantage of the opportunity' thing.

There's so much going on, that it's hard for the pinkette to stay on track. There were graves, someone had died, now they were trapped - someone was calling for help? did they have a plan? why wasn't anyone make a plan? could they open the gate? where they going to die?!

Head beginning to hurt and terror daring to slow her actions, she began to utilize an old technique her grandmother taught her, which meant blocking everything out. The terrified screams and angry shouts of the others were like a distant memory, as her breathing stilled and her fear seemingly melted away, despite the horde of faceless undead that strove towards them. The typically talkative woman all but silenced herself, as she quickly dispatched three of her pokmon.

"august, help the front lines with an inferno!" seeing the rush of fiery moves and the explosive display though, even from all the way back near the gate, she could feel the intense heat. and so, she had her blastoise stand by her side followed by her slowbro. "sheldon, use water pulse to keep those raging flames under control, don't let them spread back here towards us! argos, prepare a protect just...just in case."

she hoped it wouldn't have to come to that. she prayed it wouldn't. but, someone had just died. anything was possible. they could try and defend off the undead as much as they wanted to, but, their real hope remained on those tampering with the gate.  


- gets a bit stressed out from all that going on, but, stops herself from having a meltdown & being useless
- has her typhlosion use inferno on the zombies
- has her slowbro stand back with her near the gate to get rid of any stray flames with water pulse
- has blastoise prepare a protect, just in case

staring intently as mateo went to go check the window, noelle half expected something to leap out from it, and grab his face, and devour him. that possibly came from the scary moves she'd been watching with chancelor as of late, but...that could still happen! leaning closer as the window opened, the fact that nothing happened did make her feel a bit disappointed.

"you're probably right," she said with a little grumble as he made sense of the odd noise. rolling her eyes slightly at his challenge, she smirked. "and if i win, you have to promise to treat me to some!....or wait, wait no, a kiss! can i change my answer? i'm changing it!" she blushed as she gave an excited grin. just as she picked back up her controller to start the next round though, the tv abruptly shut off, followed by the lights flickering. with a 'bzt', everything simply...turned off. had they forgotten to pay the light bill or something?

now pitch black, there was a distinct, almost sinister feeling in the air, and she could've sworn she heard the sound of something...scratching the walls? a faint, rather ominous wind had settled in a gentle, cruel breeze within their now dark home, making he female shudder as she frowned.

her typically acute senses were going all out of whack, sensitive to the abrupt change in presence. it felt almost evil, she hated it. "mateo?" she called out for him, squinting in the darkness as a hand reached out for him. "this isn't some dumb prank, right? this...isn't funny."

there was a distinct hint of slight panic within her tone. 

"...What the heck, you cheated!" A loud whine erupted from the pinkette, who was sprawled out on the couch, controller in hand. The TV loudly blared the charismatic tune of 'Mario Kart'. The pillow she huddled to her chest was also promptly thrown at the head at her companion for the night, Mateo, in a small fit of childish rage.

"Using a blue shell right before I win isn't fair!" She continued to whine with a huff, glowering down at Mateo. How she had convinced him to play a game with her so late in the day was beyond her. It was rare he was even home, now that she thought about it - but, it was nice, being with him and all. Even if he was a cheater.

The house itself was eerily quiet, she wasn't quite sure where the other three were at, but, hey...an opportunity to spend some actual alone time with the 'man of her dreams' was always welcomed!

Grasping a handful of chips from the large bowl she'd prepared for them, she paused at the sound of something...banging against the window?...Huh? The woman blinked, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Hey, did you hear that?" 

Better off than the last time they met? The pinkette quirked a brow, tilting her head before giving a smile and laugh. "Sure!" She didn't...sound entirely convinced, but, seemed to be genuinely happy for him, for one reason or another. "Being better than me isn't a huge accomplishment, actually," she pondered aloud with a small 'heh'. "But, don't underestimate me either!" Just because she wasn't interested in battling didn't mean she was bad at it. Not when she had Adam beating the crap outta h-...er..'mentoring' her.

"Possibly," the woman spoke, "but in a place like this, that may not be the best idea. We're out of element and in its own territory. It's cramped, hard to see, and getting harder to breath the deeper we go...we need to be super careful." That stood true for any pokemon, not just dragons. Squinting in the darkness, she perked up at his suggestion, giving a few nods. "That might be the best option we have, yea! Just...be careful not to cause a rock fall. Speaking from experience," she sheepishly grinned, scratching the back of her head with a little giggle.

With a tap of a finger to the ball on her hip, her hydreigon appeared, the dark dragon letting out a low snarl as his gaze instantly rested on Derek. The aggressive creature gave the man a look of sheer death, until his head was abruptly cuddled against his trainer as she cooed, almost menacingly, at him, "don't you dare!" He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Give the word, and we'll attack when you do." Her vibrant green gaze flickered over to him once more, offering him a thumbs up, whilst Nero prepared a hyper voice.

always one who was ready to go, and always having a habit of dragging others around, slowing down wasn't something in her vocabulary. so, when she was abruptly stopped, her confused glance went back onto the darker haired man with a slight quirk of her brow. she...guessed she could do that, yea? but, wasn't rushing forward into the unknown so much funner? true, it almost got her killed, but, that was the fun of it all in the nutshell, right?

for a moment, it looked as though she might've started arguing, but, opted not too. slowly, her tugging grip on his hand relaxed, and as she took the time to walk instead o jogging or skipping forth, she began to notice...more? like, for instance, nearby, a seismitoad scratched its back against a wall, utterly ignoring the intruding trainers. a bronzong rhythmically clicked to itself every few moments, doing who knows what, but, it was an interesting sight.

"y'know, my dad always used to tell me that. you sorta remind me of him; grumpy. but, lovable." she gave him a playful grin, "seriously, i don't think i've seen you smile once since we've been down here!" granted, there wasn't much to smile about, but still!

"with that sorta thinking, we won't!" she ecstatically waved a hand, not thinking much of how much of a headache it'd be to get them all there. she made a face at the mention of him ditching them, her head tilting slightly. did he have a date or something? why couldn't she come? wasn't this supposed to be a 'girl trip' equivalent or something? she scoffed, but, nodded. "fine, fine."

waving him off, she smirked, offering a wink. "you got it!" she was definitely going to choose his favorite one too. that'd teach him a lesson of not bringing her out on 'super cool' adventures. 

It never really occurred to her that others with as bright hair would feel similar to her, and it was a rather comforting thought. Others believed she always tried to get attention with her hair, believing she dyed it such a way. some found the combination rather ugly, whilst others believed it to be an eyesore. however, the fact that her mother, a woman she seldom remembered, possessed such a bright color herself was something that always cheered the child up in the end. regardless - it was nice to see she wasn't just an overly sensitive kid or something.

growing a bit flustered as the girl went ahead and lightly patted the hydreigon on the head, she flailed her arms about in warning; many times before, the dark dragon had tried to take a chunk out of adam for simply looking in his direction. thankfully, nero merely scoffed, a bad tempered snarl rumbling in his throat before he returned to noelle's side, grumpily hovering over her with a pointed stare to the blue-haired trainer. a very clear, 'you stay over there'.

"yep, lost!" she affirmed, not sounding all too embarrassed. she'd long since learned that directions was not her 'thing'. if someone wasn't holding her hands and guiding her along, she could somehow manage to lose her way down a one way hall or something. "coming!" she was quick to follow on after the eccentric girl. the energy she gave off was...crazy. slightly disturbing, but, not...bad? it made noelle curious, if anything. she wanted to know more about her - or, perhaps that was just her naturally friendly demeanor getting the best of her.

hurriedly following on after her, and giving a clap of 'good luck' for the other's capture of the poisnous pokemon, she soon tilted her head. "hey, hey! so, what's your name? i can't go this whole way calling you uh...blue girl or something!" she giggled at her, dumb, little joke. "noelle, that's me!" 

Was it an age thing? That might've made sense, yea! Although, her grandmother was old, and the lady acted as though she had more energy than herself sometimes! "Overwhelmed, huh?" She muttered, mostly to herself, "maybe!" She decided not to question his age, the guy didn't look a day over thirty! Would it be rude to ask him how old he was? What if he said like...sixty or something?....Gross.

The pink haired woman perked up considerably at the mention of her home...or, more importantly, of the Dragon Den. There was a certain light of excitement and fondness in her eyes, as well as a feeling of yearning. As much as she loved being in Hoenn, she did miss her duties, regardless how stressful, that came to tending to the den and its inhabitants. 'I wonder if that means he met-' And there it was.

Just from those words alone, a picture of the eccentric, bright-eyed old woman came to mind, and a feeling of warmth and fondness filled her heart. Was she doing well? How was she faring without her assistance? Was she still remembering to take her medicines? A slight feeling of homesick soon found its way into her heart, but, it was quickly pushed aside. There was no need for regret now; she'd made her choice.

"Really?" She giggled, giving a rare, almost flustered smile. "That's because...ah, well, that's my grandmother. Ah! Sorry if she said anything...out of pocket to you. She thinks old age is an excuse not to watch her tongue." Which may have been where her own weird bluntness came from.

Noting the hawlucha and hoping for the best with its capture, there was an intense brightness in her eyes at the mention of Dragon Flakes. "They're..mmh, its hard to explain! Which is why I always bring a box of my own, homemade ones! Wanna try one? C'mon, I know you do!" The grin she took on was almost...devilish.