@unraveller
Zac Ramsay

The party simply continued to grow. Granted, Novak was not officially invited, but he had heard that there was some cunning Pokemon here that was snatching up fish from a local Magikarp pond. Normally, this would mean jack shit. However, this one seemed intelligent, outwitting the gardener and dodging baited traps with ease, and that had caught Novak's attention, along with this man's frantic plea for as many rangers as he could bring in, so he figured there was no reason not to slide in himself.

As Novak approached the given location, he realized that there were already two others there, one of whom he could smell from probably a mile away, with the stench of cigarette smoke shrouding him. There was another man there, too, who made a lot more tolerable of a first impression, and another person who was presumably the gardener who had called in for help, judging by his distressed expression.

The smoker made some vague comment, and Novak bristled. He wasn't sure if it was directed at him or the other guy, but it rubbed him the wrong way regardless, and he took the opportunity to reply. "Novak Hadfield, at your service," he replied shortly, using his alias for now. He looked at the smoker's Machoke and, possessed of a sudden desire to one-up the abrasive man, selected Sequoia's Pokeball from his belt, releasing the Machamp with a flash of light.

He didn't smirk, but he really wanted to.

"What's the plan so far, then?"

@madeline

Madeline's Chansey and Togepi were not the only ones who sensed their trainer's morbid thoughts.

"Yarrow?"

Novak's Kirlia flinched, as if his concentration was broken.

"Is something wrong?" The Kirlia shook his head, but Novak saw his eyes flicker up towards something. He followed the Pokemon's gaze, and saw that he had been looking at a pretty lady who was about Novak's age, apprehension in his eyes.

"Was it her?" asked Novak, indicating Madeline, and Yarrow nodded.

Huh. What emotion could there be among someone who was here to help Hoenn rebuild after the chaos of war that would unnerve Yarrow so badly? Novak began to step towards her, but Yarrow grabbed his leg, shaking his head frantically.

"She won't hurt us, buddy," said Novak, but Yarrow wasn't willing to budge. He sighed. "Well, now I'm really curious," he said, "but you can stay in the ball if you want. How about that?"

Yarrow needed no urging, pressing the button of the Pokeball himself.

This was really weird. Just in case, he released Bamboo, the Pangoro materializing from his Pokeball. He could help clear the rubble, like he came here to do, and could protect him from the lady if he really needed it, for whatever reason.

When he walked up to her, though, he realized that he had no idea how he was going to start this discussion. What was he going to say? "My Pokemon that can sense people's emotions, and is generally rather collected, freaked the hell out about something you were thinking?"

"Hi," he said. He cleared his throat, heat rising to his face. "I'm Novak. Do you want to, um. Clear out that rubble?"

Of course she wanted to clear out the rubble. Damn. He probably sounded like the world's biggest dunce right now.

Pumpkin squealed angrily as the Fire Blast struck her side, the dragon's attack scorching her and leaving a lingering burn. The smell of smoke came from the battlefield.

Novak pursed his lips. "Heal up," he directed Pumpkin.

The Gourgeist resumed with a volley of Leech Seeds flung at the Dragapult once again, hoping to drain some of its health and restore her own. Hopefully it wouldn't try to avoid the attack with Shadow Force again, now that it knew she had Moonblast to deal with it.

jQ_lL6Me

The Claydol was not happy. It watched as the intruders cleared away rock and stone from its home left and right, and decided that it was time to avenge this.

It targeted one man, with a shock of blue hair, who stood apart from the rest, watching the Claydol with appraising eyes. Taking aim, it began to spin rapidly, whirring towards him and attempting to knock him off the mountain.

There was a ghostly laugh, and a Gourgeist materialized in front of the man. The Claydol felt a mild stinging in its side as a seed latched onto it.

It was confused. The seed was not an explosive projectile, as many grass-types tended to utilize. Nor was it draining its vitality and restoring the Gourgeist. What was this?

The question was answered when suddenly, the Worry Seed sucked away the Claydol's ability to Levitate. The ground-type dropped like a stone, plummeting down the mountain, and could only watch helplessly as the blue-haired man and his Gourgeist grounded more and more of its kind.

"Brilliant! Can you ask her to do it again?"

Novak nodded, and whispered to Rafflesia, "Good girl. One more time, please."

The little Paras seemed bored at best. She made a chuffing sound before releasing a cloud of sleep-inducing spores, but this time, instead of them targeting the dummy that the scientists used to collect samples, the cloud went straight towards the scientists.

Ah, well. "Help!" Novak called, catching one scientist as she slumped backwards. That was the danger of working with sleep moves, after all.

"Rafflesia, we're gonna have to talk about this..."