After chasing the two twins around the entrance of the cave several times, Eli finally calmed them down. They were now sitting beside against the cave wall, now only whispering to eachother. He didn't mean to scare them, it just kind of happened. In his frustrated attempt to silence them, he had told them the bad men were chasing them, and if they made too much noise they would come and take their pokemon. That shut them up pretty quickly.

Eli was leaned agaisnt the wall, watching in all directions for anyone who might come by. Only The rest of the crew could be trusted.

Tekno barely got his footing when he stopped before Myra had grabbed his arm and drug him off again. He hadn't registered it at first, before realizing that had been Jazz's call for them. Upon that realization, he charged on along with Myra--keeping up with her almost effortlessly and helping to pull her along as well.

It was kind of odd, really.

Once all three of them were reunited, Tekno let go of Myra's arm...and had to perform everything in his power not to suddenly glomp her with a huge smile. Considering he had been the one to just foolishly charge headlong into danger, he figured that was likely a wise course of action.

He blinked, however, upon hearing of Eli.

"I...don't know where he is." The mechanist admitted. "Although, I'm sure he's somewhere nearby! He's gotta look after the twins, after all..."

Jazz blinked several times, still recovering from the fast movement from her "run". Then she realized that the other two, lost and confused, were looking to her for leadership. She blinked a bit more, then braced her body into a fighting stance. "He said he was heading to Union Cave. We should head that way. Now! It's not safe here any more." The tension in her voice was matched by her body's anger.

As they ran, Jazz revealed what had occured in a few words, explaining how "...he almost beat me in battle, but then Growlithe made a comeback and defeated both of his Pokemon." Then she hesitated. She wasn't sure if she should reveal the fact that Suicune had helped her. She decided against it. "So the guy shot Growlithe since he was angry. We have to hurry; it only hit his paw, but it'll bleed out soon." She didn't go into details about how she'd escaped or why he hadn't shot her. Hopefully the others wouldn't ask.

Finally, she saw the cave entrance looming ahead, foreboding and yet a safe haven. Stepping just through the entrance, she realized that she didn't know where Elie was. "Elie! It's us! We have to get out of here!"

all was quiet at the entrance of union cave, but it didn't last. Eli heard some voices coming, and decided to hide by the twins. He thought it would be better if he avoided confrontation at all cost. He reached for one of his poke-balls, but then realized the voice was friendly.

"Here I am." Eli stepped out of the shadows. "We've been waiting. I guess it didn't take long for you guys to take out whatever grunts were there.." He stopped, noticing that they looked out of breath. "Well next time I'm not going to play babysitter." The final comment was said jokingly, but he meant every word.

"We should get going. I haven't looked too far through the cave, and I can't say I've ever been through it before." He gazed inside, wondering what could be lurking in the shadows. Trainers, catchable pokemon? It almost put a smile on his face thinking about it. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" They began to walk, though not completely sure where they were going...

Tekno listened in to Jazz's words as he ran along with her and Myra. Biting his lip, he suddenly felt rather guilty--as if he were the cause of this latest little incident. However...

"The guy had a gun, you said?" He looked a little taken aback, but then remembered the last time Team Universe had them, they got held up at gunpoint themselves. He blinked, then blinked again, his mind wandering as they ran. "But, if he shot Growlithe, then why didn't he...?"

He trailed off, shaking his head. It wouldn't do to dwell on that possibility. As far as he cared, it didn't matter. "...you know what, never mind. Fact of the matter is, he didn't. And, well, I don't think I--we could have bared to have lost you, Jazz."

The slight pink on his face was Tekno's only other indication of his near verbal slip. Although, as he was not used to running, it was hard to tell if he was just embarrassed (which he was) or simply winded. He glanced off, as they arrived near the cave. Smiling over at Eli, relieved that he and the twins were safe, he began walking off with him and the rest of the group--although he kept a quickened pace.

"We can't afford to lollygag around here, Eli," Tekno stated, briefly moving up to his side. "I'm afraid Trainers and catching Pokemon might have to wait. We nearly got assassinated again, and that bomb..." He sighed. "We gotta move, lest Team Universe catches up with us again." That having been said, he dropped back to Jazz's side...with a rather guilty look on his face.

"Jazz...I want to apologize. I shouldn't have run off like that. I thought...I forgot Myra and the twins was with us, just a little behind, and I thought they might have been caught up in the blast. And if not them, then possibly some other innocent people. I just...acted completely without thinking.

If I hadn't have run off like that, then you wouldn't have needed to have run off like that, and get cornered and..." He paused. "Growlithe wouldn't have gotten injured, either." The young inventor turned his gaze away, unable to meet her gaze...

Eli watched as Tekno Apologized to Jazz. He wasn't quite sure what happened back there, but as the others' warnings suggested, they didn't have time to stand around and talk.

"Well guys," He said as he moved over to the two of them, "I hate to ruin the moment but if what you're saying is true, then we can do this later, Okay? Alright, let's get moving now!" He was almost pulling the two further into the cave. Knowing Myra would need no extra motivation to go, he let her trail without any force. With the twins clinging to the end of Eli's shirt, the group traveled into the corridors of the cave. It seemed that with every step it got darker...

---

After a long time of what seemed to be hopeless wandering, Eli finally decided to break the silence.

"Geeze guys, it seems like we've been walking for hours! I don't think I should be the one leading us through here, seeing as how I've never even been through it. Don't you have a GPS or something Tek? Maybe a watch to tell us what time it is?"

OOC: By the way, no more number system for catching Pokemon. It makes my head hurt too much. If you want to catch a Pokemon, just go for it and make sure that the Pokemon makes sense for the environment. Now, the number system will only be for major plot devices.

Jazz nodded at Tekno in response to his apology, regretting having said anything. "No, it's okay," she told him. "I don't know what's going on. It's like we're magnets for trouble now." She hoped that her Pokemon would be okay. Growlithe, Eevee, Piplup. She loved them all and wanted to save them.

With all the luggage that they were carrying, Jazz realized how ridiculous it was to cart around a guitar constantly. So, at one point, she found a small alcove in the cave and stowed it there. Then, without looking back, she walked away. She knew that she would greatly regret this... but she couldn't afford to waste her time with something that wasn't even a sufficient pastime. She needed substance.

She looked up, startled, when Elie spoke up once more. "That's a good question. Where exactly in the cave are we? I've heard that it's a labyrinth." She hoped they weren't lost.

---

Skyer found himself handcuffed and lowered down the mountain by his hands. The woman with red hair climbed down after him, holding in her hand his backpack and Pokemon. Everything. At the foot of the mountain, there was a van waiting to take him and the woman back to Team Universe headquarters.

He didn't know where the headquarters were. The location was kept very secret, unlike other Teams who simply let anyone walk into their base. He supposed that this was the reason that they had been so successful in Sinnoh; people preferred Team Galactic, but Team Universe was secretive and effective. They meant business. And only the best were allowed to join.

Which was probably the only reason that Skyler's old nemesis hadn't killed him from the start.

Of course, he would never join their ranks. Ever since he had left home years ago, he had been working against them. Joining was not an option. But there were no options anymore.

(uh where the ooc fourm i cant find it, if it not close i would like to join :P)

(Um, this is definitely closed. It's been closed since December.)

*(It lives? It lives! IT LIIIIIIIIVEEESSSSS!! Huahahahahahaha!!

...sorry, got a little excited there when I noticed this finally updated. x3 Also, huzzah to no-more-number catching system! This'll make building Tekno's team a little easier. Do I need to post a number anyway, though? If so, than...ah...17?)*


Tekno himself nodded--still feeling bad about how his actions had inadvertently gotten somebody hurt. Even if it was just Jazz's Growlithe, it could have easily been Jazz herself...and had she been the one to take the bullet, he wasn't sure if he would ever totally forgive himself.

Heck, had he been in her position, and if it had Vesuvius that had been hurt well...

...well, he probably would've wound up shot himself, now that he thought of it. He likely would have gone berserk and attacked the guy, gun be damned. Still, what happened had happened and there was no changing the past.

~Well, unless we happen to meet a Celebi or something.~ Tekno mused. ~...But I really shouldn't worry about it. Gotta focus on the here and now.~ He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't hear the question asked of him.

"Oh?" He glanced up...and couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, you know, as a matter of fact, I do!" Raising his left wrist, he showed forth his wrist device--a combination device he hashed that combined a Poketch, a PokeGear, and a PokeNav. Or rather, just the the Poketch and the the PokeGear, seeing as how the PokeNav was essentially just a handheld map device all on its own.

"Let's see here..." Tekno mused, flipping it on and scrolling through various programs. It wasn't fully all the way functional, as Tekno was trying to integrate a miniature PokeDex into the interface but was not completely successful. "According to this, it's around...1 in the afternoon, and ah...from the looks of things I'd say we were in the Union Cave, en route to Route 33."

Moving his way towards the front of the group, utilizing a compass function he also built in to act in accordance with the map alongside acting like a normal watch, Tekno confirmed that they were indeed facing at least towards the south. However, never having been in this general area, and explaining that the map function didn't fully detail everything up ahead even though it could ascertain topological and sea levels, he figured that the best action was to head south to Route 33 and down to Azalea.

Biting his lip, he nodded over to everyone. "That sound good? Hopefully, with any luck, we can regroup there. Besides, if we're going to be...ah...defending these Legendary Pokemon with these auras of theirs, I'd say our best chance would be the Shrine in the Ilex Forest, anyway."

*(It's been a while since I did this, lol. I hope this is acceptable--I can revise the post if need be. x3)*

"Figures, it tells us everything except what we really need to know! I'm suprised you didn't put some kind of sonar on it or something." Eli let out a long sigh. "For all we know, we have to go North to get out of this place. If we just go south we might hit a wall, and you don't expect us to just blow our way out do you? I guess the only thing we can do is keep walking and try to..."

"What just happened?"

Eli turned, almost suprised that Myra spoke up. Not fully knowing what happened himself, he turned to Jazz, giving her a glance that was asking her to explain. She knew better than most of them, it seemed. He kept walking though. He could see what seemed to be a small body of water up ahead, they were finally getting somewhere, perhaps.

OOC: Haha, I'm pretty sure that I forgot most of this stuff. By the way, I'll be gone on a trip next week.

Jazz turned, worried, to look at her friend. Myra was normally the quiet girl, but now she seemed frustrated and angry. And Elie seemed to be relying on her to give Myra the information that she needed. Great.

Digging through her memory, Jazz recalled, "Well, the guys that are after us are called Team Universe. Their goal is to take over the world. And from the sound of it, they found a way.

"Pokemon's souls are called 'aulas'. If Team Universe collects the aula from every single species of Pokemon in the world, then they control it. We can't protect every Pokemon. But legendary Pokemon... they keep their aulas outside of their bodies. If we can find a way to permanently protect an aula or two from legendary Pokemon, then we might have a shot. Of course, I'm not actually sure if that would work."

It occurred to Jazz that by now it was probably nighttime. That would make it even more difficult to detect the exit.

*(Really now? I'm going to be heading to the water park today, myself, provided it doesn't rain! LOL well, you have a fun trip!)*

Tekno seemed to be a little offended. "No sonar? Are you saying I didn't come prepared?" He snorted, crossing his arms and closing his eyes to turn his head off to one side. "Really now. I don't live my life entirely around machines. There are ways to get out of here other than a radar."

Standing for a moment, Tekno simply stuck a finger in his mouth, sucking on it slightly, before pulling it out and holding it up above his head. For a moment, he felt for a breeze while checking his wristwatch like machine's compass function.

"I feel a breeze heading off towards the north." Tekno stated, turning his head off in the direction it was coming from. "So there should be an exit somewhere. Besides, we want to head south, we just came from the North, where those Team Universe goons were trying to kill us. But if you want to go back the way we came...

I say we go this way." Tekno pointed off in the southern direction. "With any luck, we'll emerge on Route 33 and then we can make our way towards Azalea." Turning to face the others, he shrugged. "....but, it's your call."