Voltagia Coil's Story

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Mt. Silver - Outside the Pokemon Center
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Voltagia approached the area where the Pokemon Center normally stood. Seeing none, she turned to the six grunts with her.

"So the Pokemon Center was supposed to be here. Unfortunate. It was the starting base of operation. Very well then, let's get to work guys. We're scouting the area to find the Pokemon Center. I want you guys to travel in twos. I'll go solo. It's somewhere around here, probably under a pile of snow, given what the weather can do.

Remember guys, we do this as a Team. For SCIENCE!"

With a matched cry, the grunts split up and began the process, many sending out their Electrike and Mareep to help them clear out patches of snow. Voltagia herself grinned and turned to face one pile of snow. "Manetric, let's do this.", she stated as a Manetric emerged from her thrown Poke Ball.

"Go ahead and use Flamethrower on the snow mounds!"

With several repeated Flamethrowers, the entire piles of snow and ice she had it attack melted. Eventually, after what seemed like many grueling minutes she'd make clean the location of the Pokemon Center.

"Alright boys, we found it! Get over here!", she exclaimed as the other grunts regrouped and returned to her. Standing outside the revealed Pokemon Center, she smirked. "It takes an Elite Trainer to do fine work."

With that done, she stepped inside, the grunts following her.

Shirona was the first to step forward to welcome the group, leaving Titania to pull the runty Valorie out from under the giant snow boulder. Of course, it wasn't entirely the young one's fault that she was so frail. Garchomp roared as they got close, but even as a black blur sped past the group, Cynthia's words were clear.

"Garchomp! Stand down!"

The fearsome dragon whimpered a bit and backed up a few steps, allowing Voltagia and her troupe access. "What brings you guys all the way out here? Mount Silver is usually off-limits, especially with the recent disaster. At least you all seem to have a keen sense of fashion," she quipped, retrieving her coat from the bench and securing the teardrop-shaped clasp around her bust line. "Pardon the mess. While you were getting in, we were trying to dig ourselves out, and we kind of, sort of, got into a little snowball fight..."

Titania's Excadrill popped out from underground outside. "Fuck, Manny, watch where you're pointin' that thing," it chattered in angry Pokespeak at the Manectric. "Ain't it enough that I had to fight an electric mouse and a fire-breathing dragon way up on the peak?" Compared to what he could have said, this WAS him watching his tongue.

Titania, meanwhile, was brushing the snow off of Valorie, trying to dry her off. "Oh, hey guys. You friends of Cynthia's? C'mon in, it's cold out there. You too, Claw. Return."

Nathan sat quietly in the corner, not wanting to be hit by a snow ball. For a few seconds, he dozed off, but then was awakened by the sudden opening of the doors of the Pokemon center and the arrival of people he didn't recognize. He vanished from his resting spot and stood about three feet away from Valorie, his eyes on the new comers, trying to decide whether or not there were a threat to Valorie. He didn't say anything, he just stood there, his normally green eyes now yellow.

He then turned around and looked at Valorie, having realized that he was wearing his jacket still. "Would you like my jacket to keep you warm?" he asked his trainer in a calm, respectful tone.

Valorie thankfully accepted the help, moving to help Titania brush herself off. She didn't seem to have much to say about getting slushified during the snowball fight, much more eager to dry herself off perhaps. Slightly disorientated, she took in the uniform clad people just arriving. Seeing men in uniform reminded her of the war. How many different, cooky uniforms had she seen back then? She resisted the urge to immediately start preparing for trouble. This gang didn't wear a uniform she recognized as being someone who would want her dead. Dreams crushed, pokemon stolen, people killed. There were people with their reasons, but this didn't seem like one of them. Still, she had to be slightly suspicious. That was just instinct at this point.

A distraction pulled her away from her thoughts and she turned to Nathan. Smiling at the pokemon hidden in human forme she nodded and moved to accept the jacket. "If... you don't need it, anyway." she replied, quick to put it on in an effort to stop her shivering.

If Voltagia or any of the other newcomers met her eyes, brimming with miniature auroras almost completely blotting out her irises, they would feel a supernaturally calming and pleasant sensation. Such was inevitable, given how they glowed magically as if being full of auroras didn't draw enough attention. Perhaps they'd recognize that these eyes were hypnotic in nature and avert their gaze before the full effects washed over their minds.

"Who're you..?" she asked in an off-handedly casual manner, not much for smalltalk right now.

Myra was standing off to the side, stoic as ever. She was watching with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Hrm, I suppose introductions are in order, although most of you probably should know me.

I'm the illustrious and ever evolving Voltagia Coil, Master Electric-type Trainer and member of the Elite 4 at Indigo Plateau."

She was quite the sight, half her face gone to a mechanical replacement that had a single glowing keystone with a small symbol within it in place of an eye. Possibly a camera or sensor of some kind. Her hands were gloved, but didn't move naturally at all, and her wrists seemed much the same. Her left leg was entirely machine, although she wore boots that covered most of it (it wasn't hard to tell nonetheless). Her long hair looked a tad unkempt (but was mostly straight), and her other eye was unnaturally yellow.

On her shirt, a small logo was present, a stylized "S" and "B" somewhat intertwined to make a fancy logo while somehow resembling a gear. This same logo was on all the labcoats the grunts were wearing.

"I guess you can say I also dedicate time as a Scientist! These men here are part of the group I work with, studying alternate methods of power generation, and securing a vision of a brighter future that isn't marred by individual selfish consumption of limited resources. A noble goal I feel, and one we all believe in.

As far as us being here, we have a few things we're going to do on this mountainside, for SCIENCE! Primarily studying the local Pokemon, and how they manage to sustain themselves in such a limited ecosystem. For that, we needed a base of operations, and a Pokemon Center works nicely.

Unfortunately, once pleasantries are over, we'll need you all to stay out of our way as we perform our tests. They won't be long, trust me, but interference is just terrible."

Voltagia just returned her Manetric, as did all the grunts return their Pokemon. "I'd suggest that, to whomever of you owns the Excadril, please keep it under control. An interference by Pokemon is just as bad as interference by trainer."

While Valorie was an oddity, Voltagia thought nothing of her, and seemed entirely unfazed. She knew many who were stranger still. She also almost entirely disregarded the Gardevoir for now. Rather, she turned to one of the grunts with her, who adjusted his glasses. "Go and fetch the equipment. We need to start setting up."

The grunt nodded and turned to run out of the Pokemon Center.

Cynthia's eyes lit up at this declaration. "You're an Elite? That's awesome! It makes me want to battle you right here and now! We'll all get stronger, and we'll all get to know each other better!" Then Titania tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the peak. "But, sadly, I feel like it's not safe here. We'd better leave so you guys can do your science, but I'd watch out for the wild Pokemon around here if I were you. I'm sure you know about the recent avalanche that happened, and I wouldn't want your research team to fall victim to their misplaced aggression. Garchomp, return."

Titania agreed. "C'mon, Valorie. We gotta stick with Cynthia if we're going to make it back to the gate." She picked the youngster up in her strong arms like a football player and hustled after the black-clad blonde, leaving Voltagia and her team free to do as they pleased.

Nathan smiled and he handed Valorie his jacket. "I insist. Your safety is more important than being cold to me." he said with a serious, yet kind look on his face as he held open the jacket so Valorie could insert her arms into the sleeves and then wear the jacket which was a bit big on her. While big, it was comfortably warm from Nathan's residual body heat and the fact that it was a jacket.

Nathan then took a moment to reach out to Valorie's head, using his finger to brush off a small bit of frost in her hair before pulling his hand back with a small smile as he looked down at his trainer for a few more seconds before blinking and looking away, still staying close in case he was needed. He wouldn't speak unless either spoken to or if he thought it was necessary.

"I'm Valorie--Valorie Ryder. I'm not as little as I look. I'm a trainer looking for new ways to train." Valorie added enthusiastically, without a hint of irony regarding her age. She seemed proud even. As Cynthia and Titania began expressing their plans to leave she almost seemed to space out a little, gaze drifting between everyone present. Given that, it absolutely took her by surprise when she was abruptly scooped up by Titania. She just sort of failed to react for a moment, sluggish to process having been embarrassed like this in front of a member of the indigo elite four. She almost didn't believe what was happening! After a moment she began to pout, but it wouldn't last long.

Titania got as far as the door.

As she rushed to catch up with Cynthia she would come face to face with a familiar set of glowing blue eyes. DIN-01 stood directly on the other side of the door and would prove to be heavy enough to avoid being knocked over if titania ran into her. Synthetic eyes quickly took in everyone in view, stopping on Titania and then Valorie for a moment before finally coming back to rest on Titania again. She then... smiled; amusement was detectable on her expression but she said nothing, merely standing there as if waiting for something. Valorie's gaze shifted to the newcomer an her eyes widened a little. In but a moment she'd forgotten about her humiliation and was now focused entirely on the pseudo-human before her the exceedingly obvious question on the tip of her tongue.

Titania landed hard on her rump, keeping Valorie in her arms. "What on..." She stopped. The robot girl that she had met on top of the mountain was now staring her right in the face, daring her to finish what she started. For once, silence worked in the android's favor, as no words were needed. Titania had fled from a Trainer battle like a coward, and it was time for her to stand up and finish what had been started up on the peak. "Right. Valorie, everyone else, get back. Voltagia, you heard that I made it to the top of the mountain, right? Well, it looks like someone else was there, too, and it followed me here!" She dropped into a combat stance, a look of grim determination on her face. For good or ill, this would be the decisive moment!

...DIN-01 motioned for Titania to follow. She took several steps back out of the Pokemon Center. The doorway, you see, was entirely unideal. After putting some distance between themselves and the center she turned back around and produced a pokeball.

"Right. I know what you're here for." Indeed, the confines of a center were less than ideal. Plus, being outside would let her use the environment in ways previously unavailable. "Voltagia, make sure your grunts stay far back. This is gonna get ugly." Those eyes...those cold, mechanical eyes against her face twisted into a scowl. Just showing this much emotion meant that she was at a disadvantage. She wasn't thinking logically yet. If she didn't snap out of it and get her head in the game, Titania would be in for a swift defeat. The main question was, would Blue lead with Pikachu again? She selected Metagross this time, Charizard's speed having been a serious issue in their last encounter. DIN-01 narrowed her eyes slightly at the metagross as if squinting for a better view of it, analyzing it like the machine she was. She switched balls and in a burst of light a lapras came forth! It's cry pierced souls, instilling a feeling of awe. Without a word she pointed and the lapras seemed to understand.

"Deep Blue!" Titania cried to start the fight. "Use Agility!" Its four legs (arms?) seemed to move with more speed than usual as it relaxed its body, letting the quad-core processor get overclocked a little bit. Better do it now when it still had the HP to tank whatever Blue was planning. Probably a Hydro Pump? Already Titania felt her heart leap into her neck. She needed to play this opening perfectly to have a chance. Water began to froth in Lapras' mouth, but this was no hydro pump. As it sprayed it suddenly arced in an entirely unnatural manner, swirling around Metagross and trapping it in a powerful water twister that pulled and yanked at its body. Blue had a smirk on her face--This was exactly what she'd expected. What the--a Whirlpool? This was certainly a surprise, but now that she had had a turn to zone in, Titania was a bit more analytical now. No pun intended. Meteor Mash wasn't a sure thing, but it was the strongest she had because it totally had the bulk to take one grass knot. "Deep Blue! Use Meteor Mash!" One of its arms charged up with luminous energy before rocketing forward through the wall of water, aiming to smack Lapras right in the gabber, even sacrificing some of its own vitality to lend extra power to the blow thanks to the pulsing orb attached to its underside.

Lapras seemed to brace herself for the impact, not much bothering to try and dodge. Slugged, her slid through the air momentarily unable to control herself before regaining composure and... raised her head. A directed song emitted from her mouth, a grim tune--Perish Song. With the whirlpool obstructing Metagross' body, following it wherever it may go, it had nowhere to run. Valorie meanwhile sat in the snow nearby, watching. Judging by Lapras' appearance, she was not about to go down to a second meteor mash. Not only was Lapras ready to take another meteor mash to the face, but now Deep Blue was on a countdown. This madness had to stop fast. Plus, Titania could still feel those awful notes ringing in her ears. "That's enough out of you! Deep Blue, shut her up with Grass Knot!" The vegetation that hid wild Pokemon rose up to entangle the water-type beast and bring her down to the ground, using the massive size of the Transport Pokemon to its detriment.

Lapras emitted a shrill cry as she was slammed into the ground, body recoiling at the... disgusting greenery. For a moment it didn't appear she was going to get back up, laying there still as a rock...Whirlpool was not stopping. After a moment Titania would likely notice Lapras' wounds fading, her health rapidly regenerating. ...She was using rest. "Oh, fuck all kinds of Psyduck!" Titania cried. At most, she was only going to get off two more attacks before both Lapras and Metagross would succumb to the song, and Meteor Mash wasn't going to do it. It had to be two Grass Knots if she wanted the knockout, and it had to be right here and now as it rested and regained energy. The plant life continued its assaults with Grass Knot, battering Lapras upside the head and working underneath her shell as if to pry it off, while others still just used tree branches to beat whatever they could reach.

'Blue' watched with mild interest, seemingly unfazed. Lapras was smased into the ground, but the whirlpool remained. It seemed DIN-01 intended to force Metagross to accept its fate. The third grass knot came and Blue finally returned the fallen Lapras, but it was too late for Deep Blue. Perish Song drained him of every last ounce of energy. Titania groaned with disappointment. DIN-01 produced a new ball and threw it. This time a Venasaur emerged, planting it's feet into the snow with determination. Titania's choice was a Lucario and it was ready to brawl. "Huntress! Use Retaliate!" Filled with righteous wrath at the defeat of her comrade Metagross, the Lucario darted forward and put all of that anger into a tremendous blow before returning to a ready position.

Crack! A fist slammed into Venasaur's skull, the sound of which could be heard for nearly a mile. Ouch! ...Venasaur didn't so much as budge, no matter how much that looked like it hurt. Instead, it abruptly began shaking the large flower on it's back, emitting a cloud of spores that covered the immediate are. Choking the unfortunate Lucario that had charged foolhardely into Venasaur's face and knocking it out cold. Things were quickly going from bad to worse for the human trainer. Down one Pokemon already, and another one was effectively knocked out due to being put to sleep. "Huntress, return! Go, Bomber!" She switched to Skarmory, expecting an earthquake from the massive Venusaur which the metal bird could dodge easily. The plan here was to force a switch and get a turn to put down some spikes. If she was going to get out of this hole, she needed all the help she could get! This plan, of course, backfired horribly. Venasaur emitted a battle cry and the sun intensified. It then combo'd into a powerful hidden power ... fire. The blob of firey energy soared straight through skarmory, scorching the unfortunate bird.

"That's nothing! Bomber doesn't just go down in one hit like that!" Titania asserted more to keep herself calm. There was no way Blue could even process attempts at intimidation. "Go for the win with Drill Peck!" Skarmory let out a loud screech and shot up into the sky before diving down at the weakened Venusaur, leading with its beak and rotating its body in a drilling motion. She couldn't afford Whirlwind right now. Not only did this let Venusaur return later, but she also ran the risk of dragging out Charizard in the process. Venasaur cried out in pain this time as it was repeatedly struck with the needle-like beak of Skarmory. After all was said and done... she collapsed with a sigh. It seemed that Skarmory's drill peck and Lucario's retaliate had been too much for her. This, of course meant one thing--A ball flew and this time Charizard took the field. Her wings immediately began to glow with a fiery intensity, almost as if they were translucent. The powerful sunlight seemed to be being absorbed...

Charizard lunged forward, quickly closing the distance between the two pokemon and crashing into Skarmory in a powerful flare blitz.

Titania flinched as Bomber literally went down in flames. Down 4-5 and time for the girl from the repair shop to make a crucial decision as to who to switch in next. Huntress was effectively out of the fight, so that limited her options to three. Claw and Painkiller would just get smacked the same way, so the choice was clear. "You're in charge, Tesla! Clip his wings with a Thunderbolt!" A simple red balloon attached to the top of its antenna swayed in the breeze as it started charging up electricity for the attack.

'Blue' frowned, watching her winged beauty crash into the magnezone and... fail to stop it from electrocuting her. Charizard crashed into the snow nearby with a thud and a weak groan before being returned. DIN-01 was quick to move on however, tossing out another ball. This time a snorlax emerged. The gigantic pokemon immediately fell on it's butt, yawning. She was... bored? No. Snorlax was emitting a sort of battle cry, summoning her inner rage and bringing it out. It was... a curse attack!

This was the chance Titania needed! "Tesla, use Volt Switch! Get back here!" The Magnezone didn't so much ram into Snorlax as bounce off of its rolls of fat, but the recoil gave Titania a free switch. "You're up, Claw! Use Rock Slide!" With the power boost from Curse, one attack wouldn't do it even from Excadrill. She needed Snorlax to back down from all the boulders slamming into its face, made easier this time because now they could actually come down from above due to their location. She wanted to use Sandstorm, but an earthquake from Snorlax would wipe out her chances of victory. COME ON FLINCH HAX! Several boulders crased down on Snorlax's head, rolling down her back and--What was that? It didn't seem to have any effect. If it had actually hurt Snorlax, it definitely wasn't showing. Snorlax did flinch however, distracted by the sudden surprise headbump.

"Yee-haw! Take that, you overweight son of a Swalot!" Excadrill taunted its foe. "That's great, Claw! Now's our chance to turn this thing around! Use Earthquake!" Excadrill yelled again. "Mighty Groudon, I call on your strength! Help me win this fight for my master!" His claws slammed deep into the soft earth, causing the ground underneath Snorlax to shake violently. Snorlax was rocked and knocked into the air, ...for about half a second. She crashed down onto her back, nearly generating an earthquake of her own... and then got right back up. Not much worse for wear, it seemed Titania may have made a grave mistake. Snorlax began using curse again. It was only a matter of time until punishment came.

Time to think? Not likely. The more time Titania took, the stronger Snorlax became until it became capable of shrugging off everything she had left and KOing back. There was one thing she could try to whittle it down that much faster, though. "Claw! Now's the time! Use Sandstorm!" The sun was quickly blotted out and replaced with a raging wind, bringing with it loads and loads of particulate. If Snorlax was just going to boost up again like she thought, Claw was going to need the chip damage to have a chance.

Snorlax, of course, did exactly as expected. Completely disregarding the sand scraping against her body she continued to power up. And why did she have any reason to do otherwise, anyway? Blue knew she had this fight wrapped up, but Titania had one more trick she wanted to try. "All right, Claw! Now drill her with Iron Head!" The Excadrill leaped into the air, raising its metal claws to form a single drill with the crest on its head, and like Skarmory before him slammed into the massive foe, again trying to deny it the opportunity to set up further with the ferocity of the blow.

Snorlax stopped what it was doing as Excadrill tried to drill into her. This of course failed horribly and Excadrill practically bounced right off of Snorlax--Wait, what's that? Snorlax emitted a lazy cry and fell over bodily!...A moment passed, and she began to snore. It was rest! All progress had been lost.

Titania couldn't believe it. Blue was going to try to ride out the onslaught with a few boosts? Nice try, but Claw's Swords Dance would go a big way towards leveling the playing field and giving her a chance to get back in the fight. "Claw, get hype with Swords Dance," she coughed with a hand over her mouth to avoid breathing too much sand. "Then let her have it with more earthquakes."

As Excadrill began performing a swords dance... Snorlax got right back up. Wait, was she up? It was hard to tell--Snorlax was drooling and sniffing, looking around hungrily. She appeared to be... sleep walking--Or sleep talking as some might put it! Her gaze fixated on Excadrill and she lunged, grabbing the unfortunate excadrill right as he came off his swords dance and shoving him in her mouth, where she bit down -hard-. Crunch! Blue watched with a perpetual wide grin on her face. Valorie meanwhile appeared ever so slightly horrified by the spectacle of Snorlax attempting to eat Titania's pokemon.

"Get your paws offa me!" Claw screamed in Humanspeak as Snorlax bit down hard on its body, its sturdy steel armor being the only thing saving it from an ignominous defeat right then and there. "Since you liked the last one so much, here's another earthquake for ya!" it added, switching back to Pokespeak as it struck the ground for another seismic event. And possibly causing another avalanche given all the shaking going on in such an already volatile area.

The distant roar of an avelanche was heard, but it was not heading their way. Most of the loose snow had already been cleared from this area by the previous one. Snorlax took the earthquake with about as much grace as a spoiled child. She recoiled slightly in pain as if shocked that her supposed meal had resisted her. She clearly wasn't entirely in reality, given her being asleep. A grimace distorted her expression and she reached back, fist glowing with icy energy. She then pile drived Excadrill into the earth, utterly shattering any dream of winning the battle alongside several other more painful losses.

"Ow..." Claw grunted as it hit the deck, his valiant efforts all in vain. It was now a weakened Magnezone, a sleeping Lucario, and...wait! ONE MORE THING. "Painkiller, front and center!" A massive steel-plated dinosaur roared in defiance at those that would sully this beautiful mountain. Snorlax was about to wake up from its little nap...everything rode on this turn. If she guessed wrong, game over. "Painkiller, use Taunt!" This was to prevent Snorlax from just nodding off the damage from the last attack, after which the second part of her little stratagem would be made evident.

Snorlax opened her eyes, grinning in a goofy manner. She was as unfazed as her trainer, who seemed to have her arms folded no almost expectantly. Snorlax seemed to lick her lips, giving a hint at what was to come. She lunged forward and grabbed hold of Painkiller, not quite lifting the aggron above her head but simply leaning forward and chomping down on the steel pokemon with delight. It seemed that even when she was awake she was disgustingly voracious. Was there anything she wouldn't eat?! ...Valorie certainly seemed uncomfortable watching this anyway.

Painkiller's superior physical defense allowed it to cry in pain, but it was a gamble letting the beast stay in. Like two Hariyama in a sumo match, the super-heavy opponents pushed against each other for a while until Aggron had its horns lined up. "Now, Painkiller! The second part of our plan!" The Aggron's body glowed all over with energy, waiting for Snorlax to try to finish its snack. If the armor managed to hold, it was going to get a nasty surprise in the form of Metal Burst.

Snorlax nommed happily on Aggron, only to abruptly have a hyper-kinetic grenade go off against her stomach in the form of metal burst. The giant pokemon stepped back and wobbled before crashing to the ground. This time she did not snore, or lax. Blue seemed a tad disappointed, but it didn't last long. She tossed out one of her remaining pokemon and... Pikachu entered the battleground! The electric rodent immediately beelined for Painkiller and lunged into his belly, curling and lashing out with her tail to strike Painkiller with a devistating brick break that threatened to bust balls and anything else in it's way.

Painkiller grunted as Pikachu darted underneath and hit the dino in a way no man ever deserved to get hit. He fell to his knees as the rodent darted back to Blue's side, safely out of the radius of the crater left by his collapse. Magnezone couldn't do anything..."Huntress! You gotta wake up right now! Use Close Combat!" Naptime was over, and now Lucario was able to focus all of her energy not into getting revenge, but in a cold and calculated series of vicious blows designed to grasp victory. Unfortunately, the sandstorm had died down...

Pikachu however was having none of that. Speeding towards Lucario as if to meet her she suddenly changed courses, faking the newcomer out and lunging in for a cheap shot right on the snout the moment she got an opening. Huntress, for her part, didn't back down at all from the unexpected blow due to her focus and steadfast determination, and in came the flurry of furry ferrous fists. Pikachu was sent flying, battered and bruised, into DIN-01's arms. ...The rodent pokemon refused to go down, hanging on by the skin of her teeth. Stumbling out of DIN-01's arms she came right back at the lucario, a suicidal charge by all accounts but not without purpose. She suddenly dove and bounced off the ground to meet lucario at head height, intending to clash, brick break versus close combat. There could be no winners to this sort of vicious fight.

"Don't gimme that shit!" Titania screamed. "Huntress, use Extremespeed!" Instead of finishing with another punch to the face, the Lucario instead seemed to disappear from sight for a single crucial moment before sucker-punching the frail mouse in the back of the head as it went to do its cute little brick break trick. Pikachu was struck down in it's moment of glory, collapsing to the ground. Disappointment. The next pokemon to appear was Blastoise. The turtle pokemon flexed her arms, staring down Titania's lucario.

Gut check time. Its shell was tough enough to shrug off a close combat, but did she have the time to whip out a potion for Tesla? No, she didn't. For all its looks, it was actually faster than appearances let on. Faster than a Magneton. "Huntress, return!" she cried out. "Go, Tesla!" She felt horrible about throwing her friend under the bus like this, but Huntress needed to rest and Titania needed to learn more about what tricks this thing had in its cannons. For her trouble she got a scald attack, burning hot water spraying down the magnezone where it floated. Blastoise's cannons smoked with steam. Titania's ears would be shooting steam as well, if this were some sort of corny cartoon. For a job well done, Huntress was sent in to try to finish the fight where everyone else had faltered. "Huntress! Use Retaliate!" Yeah, Close Combat would have been stronger due to Lucario's affinity for the move, but she needed to be ready for the counter-attack.

Blue got this devilish grin on her face, probably the biggest of them all! For it was she who would have the last laugh. Retaliate struck home and Blastoise turned her cheek, sliding back several feet but refusing to be knocked over. Both cannons turned, and a vicious water spout attack tore into Huntress, pulverizing her with crushing force.

No. This would not be the end. Lucario was launched right into Titania's bosom and the two of them crashed into the ground, the trainer with the wind knocked out of her and the Pokemon hanging by a thread...partly because of the soft landing. "Huntress, please tell me you're all right," Titania coughed, and Lucario barked affirmatively. "This is it, robot! I won't lose to you! Huntress! Crack that Blastoise with your Close Combat!" Now what needed to happen was easy. Blastoise needed to fall, Lapras would come out, and Lucario needed one more knockout with Close Combat to win the match. Lucario howled in fury as she launched herself forward, striking hard and fast at the shelled Pokemon, needing it to go down before it could compose itself for one final attack.

Blastoise closed her eyes, shielding herself from the blows theat struck her shell. It was no use however, a foolhardy hope. Blastoise wasn't quite down, nor was she even hanging by a thread. Her cannons twisted and a scald attack spelled boiling doom for Huntress. Titania fell to her hands and knees, panting from the futile effort. Was all her training not enough? Despite having been an Elite? What was she missing...? "Huntress...r-return..." Tears fell to the ground, knowing that today her best just wasn't good enough. What would Jessica think..? The crunch of snow approached, and a cold hand reached down to grasp for Titania's attention. It was DIN-01, standing directly before her now and perhaps even invading her personal space a little. If Titania looked up, and goodness hope we aren't talking about 'Blue's skirt, she would find that a raging fire blazed in DIN-01's eyes alongside a thrilled grin. She nodded and gestured over at Valorie. She then gestured at Titania, and then at herself. It seemed she was suggesting something. Perhaps it was battle lust in her eyes, and she was suggesting Titania and Valorie team up against her? Valorie got to her feet, seeming to notice this. She was excited at the prospect. Cynthia, for her part, had been watching the entire spectacle from a safe distance, and she was quite frankly horrified. "Leave her alone, you've done enough," she yelled at the android before helping the defeated Trainer to her feet. "I...I had no idea you had such a savage beast in you. Almost like that Zoroark that was here earlier...come on, we need to get you back inside. You've had a long day." Titania nodded weakly, too exhausted and depressed to muster so much as a "yeah, okay."

"I'll battle her." Valorie exclaimed, a certain decisiveness to her tone. She seemed to be speaking to Cynthia, offering. DIN-01 nodded slowly, though her eyes held disappointment. Who was this short girl in the skirt? Probably a weakling... She disregarded the others for the moment and moved to go heal her pokemon in the pokemon center, like any normal trainer would--Only without words. "W-what? Really?!" Cynthia was incredulous, but nevertheless let the girl have her shot. After all, there were other things that needed attention right now. Like healing a broken spirit.

Valorie took Titania's place on the battlefield, pokeball in hand. She did not throw down however. She'd seen how DIN-01 had taken advantage of knowing what she was up against last battle. She waited until DIN-01 lost patience and threw out her own ball instead, which didn't take long. The battle lust was strong, waiting was hard. It was Venasaur. Valorie narrowed her eyes for a moment before she herself switched pokeballs and sent out her gliscor.

The scorpion pokemon hung in the air, tongue stuck out almost tauntingly. Blue narrowed her eyes, analyzing the pokemon present. "Alright Gliscor, get ready to fight! Use agility!" Valorie called out. DIN-01 seemed torn, but Venasaur shook off a storm of spores regardless, attempting to put the dangerous pokemon to sleep. It... had no effect. The spores hit, but Gliscor appeared to be immune to their effect. Taking initiative and with knowledge of what Venasaur was capable of Valorie only continued. "Swords Dance!" she exclaimed, eyeing Blue confrontationally.

With tenacity Valorie had stolen the advantage and was keeping Blue forced into very difficult choices. This was a very bad matchup, and switching her venasaur out wasn't much better. if she didn't predict right. Yet, she had very little choice. Venasaur was called back before she even got started and in her place Lapras joined the battle. A second agility followed, but Valorie was no fool. She saw the ice type attack coming. It was time to take action. "Now, baton pass!"

Gliscor's energy manifested itself as she was returned to her pokeball, staying behind for the next pokemon to come out. It was... Dragonite?! The massive, 12 foot tall dragonite appeared with a thud as she landed on the ground, only to be blasted with an ice beam immediate. Crying out, the now irritated giant pokemon turned on DIN-01's lapras, having failed to take her down. Dragonite glowed with a powerful blue aura, lunging out grasping Lapras. With one powerful heave she simply threw Lapras over her shoulder, slamming the pokemon into the ground and creaeting a small crater in the process. Ice beam didn't seem to have done a great deal, other than piss her off.

'Blue' was taken aback. She had no answer to this problem, nothing that could step in and take such powerful attacks, and she knew it. Pikachu came in and was merely shrugged off and stomped on. Blastoise came in and had her shell shattered. To call 'Blue' brutal would've made this looked like a war crime, with the understanding that Dragonite didn't seem to have to try very hard. Such was simply raw strength taking casualties left and right. Charizard was swatted out of mid-air with a swing of Dragonite's gigantic tail. All the while Dragnite seemed to be roosting when possible, resting off the damage against foes that could not hope to bring her down.

Finally Venasaur came and the clouds darkened. Thunder crackled in the distance and a powerful wind rocked the mountainside, both battlers' skirts swaying chaotically in this new storm. Suddenly a burst of directed wind slammed into Venasaur, ripping her off the ground and sending her flying into her own trainer. Trapped, DIN-01 was forced to return Venasaur to free herself, where it was revealed she'd suffered mild damage from being crushed. One of her arms appeared to be hurt, and Valorie frowned in disappointment. She would've apologized, but the wind was simply too strong. Finally, Snorlax. Valorie smirked, feeling the urge to show off hit her. "...Alright Dragonite--Combo! Hurricane and Twister!" she called out over the roaring winds.

A twister began to form, but then the winds of the hurricane fed into it and it's growth increased exponentially. Within moments a full blown tornado had erupted, it's winds directed at Snorlax.Though the battlers could hear the deafening roar of the wind, they only felt a tiny fraction of it. Snorlax however got the full brunt, and after a moment she was yanked into the air, twirled around several times and simply thrown right off Mt. Silver. A flying snorlax was seen that day. DIn-01 made a move to chase the flying pokemon but something akin to pain in her right side stopped her.

The battle was over, and Valorie had won a brutal victory, and yet... seeing DIN-01 struggle with the wound she'd recieved in the crossfire brought a frown to her face. The storm died away as quickly as it came as Dragonite seemed to relax. Valorie walked over to DIN-01, whom was now somewhat doubled over, and helped her to stand up straight. She then reached down and began to feel up DIN-01's side, searching for the wound where it seemed like se was hurting. However, non-human insides merely left her with confusing sensations and a rude push from 'Blue'. Rather than simply not wanting to be handled, Blue appeared to be applying medicine to her remaining pokeballs! A big grin was on her face, entirely out of place given the context. She then held out a pokeball, doing her best to stand up straight. She was challenging Valorie again, an almost insane battle-lust in her eyes. Valorie grapped DIN-01's wrist, only to notice that a bluish, fiery halo had begun to burn just above her head. She stared in wonder for a moment as DIN-01 stared back in shock at her aggressive grab before Valorie pulled DIN-01's arm around her shoulder and began to help her back to the pokemon center.

"You've gotta watch who you're hitting, Dragonite..! Can you imagine if their trainer wasn't metal?" she lectured half-heartedly as she helped a reluctant and now flustered DIN-01 inside. The halo had vanished. Cynthia only had one thing to say about the epic ass-kicking that had just taken place, but Titania beat her to the punch. "What the FUCK did I just watch?!" In response, Valorie offered the two of them her best smile and a slightly embarrassed blush.

Nathan tilted his head at the newcomer, but still said nothing as he followed Valorie and stood by his trainer as she sat in the snow nearby the battle. After a while he raised a brow as each of Titania's pokemon started to fall, then he lowered his brow when Titania's Excadrill, Claw, used earthquake whilst uttering the name of Groudon as he did so. In fact, Nathan almost seemed to let out a small, low growl at the name "Groudon" as if he didn't like the Pokemon of Legend at all.

After that had happened, Nathan stayed silent as he then crossed his arms and watched the rest of the pokemon battle unfold, his eye occasionally twitching when a particularly hard hit struck, almost as if he were flinching in pain for his fellow pokemon. Then, after the battle was over, it seemed that the 'trainer' had gestured towards Valorie as if to ask her to battle, and Valorie accepted the challenge eagerly. Nathan had reached down to help Valorie up, but by then she was already up, a small layer of snow on the shoulders of his jacket that currently was being worn by her.

Nathan followed his trainer and stood behind and to the left of her like an obedient pet, just in case she decided to use him in the battle. However, it seemed that he would not be needed, as Valorie's Dragonite was more than enough to handle the "Blue's" pokemon....all of them...

After the battle was over, Nathan walked up to Valorie's Dragonite and looked up and locked eyes with the behemoth, a look of respect and amusement within Nathan's eyes. "Remind me not to anger you." was all that Nathan would say to the Dragonite in pokespeak. before blinking and walking towards the Pokemon Center, following Valorie inside without a word. In fact, it was almost like the other humans either didn't know or had forgotten that he was here, which slightly amused him.

But, he felt that it wasn't his place to talk at the moment, so he didn't.

The area was almost deserted, most Trainers and Pokemon having retreated inside the stadium's lobby. The few still outside were either trying to seek shelter, gather their things, or find and retrieve Pokemon so they could all run to safety. The darkness had spread over the area, bringing a rain of stinging and burning flashing lights, an oppressive atmosphere, purple lighting threatening the skies, and thunder rumbling with every strike. Even James and his Pokemon outside their Poke Balls would be struck by the lights on occasion, the lights leaving small burns that would even tear at his clothes with repeated strikes, and leave small nicks on exposed skin.

Several crystals had arisen in the area, large crystalline structures colored black. The landscape around each was cracked and pulsating with purple and black energy, corrupting the plant life in the immediate surroundings, and threatening to do so to the surrounding area the longer it remained standing. Inside the stadium, which thankfully remained intact, people and Pokemon were holed up, with staff tending to those there with snacks, drinks, and other goods. All matches it seemed were to be postponed indefinitely.

A woman was outside, however, in her lab coat, and with an odd tablet device that seemed to be reading something off of a crystal that she was trying to scan with it. She had a large metallic umbrella that was deflecting the lights, keeping her safe as she did her readings. She seemed focused but was managing to smile nonetheless in the circumstances that were present.

"Tch, it's here already. Most of them seem to be gathering in the lobby. Asuka, take us down, but be careful."

The Staraptor silently swooped in and landed in front of the arena entrance to the lobby. Both James and Shirona got off and Asuka went back into her pokeball. James took Shirona's hand and went inside to talk to people about what they saw. He saw the damage himself with seeing Emiko distraught and out of it, as well as some of the environment in the arena. The spread of this darkness wasn't helping either. That aside, he still needed some eyewitnesses to confirm his theories, and he was hoping to find some people who were not scared witless to tell him.

"Who here saw the Diance and Emiko battle? I would like to speak with you if you're willing to give me some information on this new foe!"

James spotted the smiling researcher and told Shirona to keep an eye on her. Who could smile at a time like this?

James finished talking to some of the distressed locals and got some info but not much. He managed to get something out of the clearly thrashed guard. He decided to walk up to this smiling researcher and talk to her.

"Hey there! Name's James. Might I ask what it is you're doing? Is this destruction really so fascinating to bring a smile to your face?"

James thought to himself, "I hope she isn't like Allen... I do not need another power crazed idiot on my back." Shirona calmly and silently stood beside James as he got his thoughts together.

"Oh! Another Trainer about in this weather. How asinine. Well, if you've evolved to be fine without protection, then all the better for you. But enough about that. I am studying this Shadow Crystal. Several of these exist as of the recent environmental changes accompanying the Pokemon that created this whole event, but I've yet to determine their purpose or their source of energy. See, I study alternative methods of power generation, specifically to fund artificial evolutions of humans and Pokemon. I smile because these crystals could be the key I've yet to discover in my experiments! For SCIENCE!"

She thought deeply for a moment.

"Now, I suppose I should give you my name since you shared yours. I am the illustrious and ever-evolving Voltagia Coil, Master Electric-type Trainer, and independent researcher. Oh, and this umbrella. Do not worry about it. It is made of a material resistant to the flashing lights, so I am perfectly safe."

"R-Right.... I don't really know that name, do you Shirona?"

"Voltagia....It is familiar. I believe I read somewhere that she used to be part of a region's Elite Four, though I forget which region. She isn't joking about her being a Master Electric user with that background."

"Alright then. As for the rain, I'm not fine, it stings but it's not much of a bother all things considered. Now, there is a giant castle made of crystal in Castelia. A Diance made it. I came here hoping to get some manner of info, but you say you have none pertinent since you're researching alternative power... Also, couldn't the source be the rain itself? Best guess I got. If you have nothing else, I should head out. I'm sorry for such a brief interaction but I should head back to Castelia."

"You are not fighting it alone!"

"Emiko ran away after the defeat, we saw that. She was the strongest person and she lost. There isn't much hope I got against this Diance either but I'm not going to stand around and let it have its way! I'm heading back there and I'm going to do at least something to it!"

"There really is no changing your mind on this, is there? Fine. But promise me that you won't get yourself killed. You'll pull out if things go south. Promise me that, James!"

"Yeah, alright. I promise I'll run if it gets sour. Let's get going. Asuka, we're going back to Castelia. But don't leave yet, Voltagia, what are your plans from here? Likely researching more, right? Well if things don't go correctly in Castelia, would you mind if we sought you out again to see what you've learned? Your research into the power source could be of help."

Out pops a Staraptor, she seemed to ignore the rain entirely despite it harming her. James got on and helped Shirona up. James waited a few seconds for a response from Voltagia.

Just above the clouds haunting over the Unova Region, two Dragonites flew onward towards the general direction of the Ruulan Grand Stadium. The mission on their minds, they flew straight and true. Even though the view beneath them was shaded by the coverage, they had a keen sense of direction having flown across the planet on several occasions. And they had a general wherewithal on the places below them. For all intents and purposes, they could do this flight blindfolded.

But they were only the drop-off team. Strapped to each Dragonite's back was a large riding saddle intended to carry one or two big Pokemon...or several smaller Pokemon. Indeed, they had chosen the latter and both were carrying around seven or eight Pokemon each. None weighed too much thankfully, since this was a stealth mission and they didn't want to cause a ruckus. In fact, all of them were actually quite lightweight. Including the insightful and casual Chimchar that seemed to be sitting at the front...and leading the pack.

"We're almost there?" Crimson asked, in the middle of a conversation with Unix.

"Yes," the Dragonite replied, "I'll need a moment below the clouds to get my bearing, but we should be there in ten minutes time."

"Sweet. Thanks for your help, by the way."

"Hey...this is our fight too."

With a curt nod, Crimson turned around, clapping his hands to gather the attention of everyone on board, "Alright, folks! Let's go over what's gonna happen when we get there."

The other Pokemon on his ship gathered around as Crimson started explaining, "So we have almost no intel on whether or not humans have taken shelter in the stadium. With that in mind, I'm certain no one's gonna be out and about searching to capture a few random Pokemon in a time like this, but we can never be too careful. Try not to draw attention to yourself. Keep a close watch on what they do. And probably most important, do not fight unless you absolutely have to. We're just trying to get as much information as we can and get out. That good?"

Several of the faces nodded. Crimson continued, "Alright. So I think some of us should head into the stadium...local faces, preferably. Any of you all from these parts?"

No hands raised immediately, but a Galvantula raised one of it's eight legs to grab his attention.

"I'm not from the Unova Region, but I know many of my kind is," she offered helpfully.

"Nice," Crimson gave her a thumbs up, "Anyone else?"

"I think Soldova in the other group is from here, but not this part of the region," a Salandit chimed in.

"That'll work then," Crimson gave off a warm aura, "You two can head in there."

"Starting our descent!" Unix called from beneath them, "Hang on!"

"Thanks for the heads up!" Crimson said as he turned back to the group, his stomach lurching at the drop in altitude, "So it'll be you two then heading that up and any others that have a good chance of blending in. I'll let you two pick, since you both know the region way better than I do. You'll be asking the locals inside. Try conversing with a few caught Pokemon. Maybe some of them actually fought her. Who knows? It's worth a shot."

He began to notice a purple drizzle falling around them as he continued, "As for everyone else, we'll be heading around the surrounding area. Try to look for wild Pokemon to talk to. Get a bead on the locals. See if anyone knows anything about the fight. Catch a name drop, a hint on the power she's packing...the usual. Anything you all can think of that might be useful, ask it. I trust that-"

Crimson stopped as he noticed all of his teammates wincing in pain at the same time. The Chimchar stared, confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "What's happening?"

"We don't know," the Salandit answered, shaking her head, "Everything is just...hurting..."

"Can't you feel it?" a Lopunny asked, trying to cover her own face with her ears.

"No, I..." Crimson glanced around, staring at the shade of clouds, "I don't feel anything..."

Instinctively, he reached out to touch the clouds swirling around them, trying to feel the same sensation that everyone else was feeling. But all he felt was the wind against his face that blew stronger and stronger the closer they dived to the surface. There was no pain. Whatever they were suffering from, Crimson wasn't a part of it.

But why? he thought, staring down at his body, Is it my unique abilities? My type-shifting?

No, that didn't make sense. Every type he shifted to, he adopted the same traits, both type strengths and type vulnerabilities. Right now, he was still a Fire-Type, so he should be feeling everything everyone else was feeling if that was the case.

My human side?

Perhaps. He didn't know if the humans reacted to the atmosphere the same way the Pokemon did. It was the theory that resonated prominently in his mind, but there was still another theory waiting to be thought out.

My...special...ability...?

Equally as possible. Of all the things, it was the most powerful tool he had...and the one he knew the least about. After all, he'd only ever achieved it twice, despite constant meditating and exercises trying to unlock it as of late. Maybe there was something there that was waiting to be uncovered.

But those were just theories and as each one popped into his head, he decided to shove it aside and think about it later. They had finally descended below the clouds and could see the purple hued greenery below. Not too far in the distance stood the massiveness of the Ruulan Grand Stadium, it's shadow contrasting the dark clouds around it.

There was the destination.

But another thought loomed in his head as he turned around to see the Pokemon on board with this mission. They weren't immune to this, he knew. And he wasn't sure how much they would be hurt by this while they were down there. For all he knew, it could kill them. And that was easily the last thing he wanted.

But you made a promise to yourself...

That was the opposing side, the one telling him to push through and take them along. If they all went, they would clear the area quick and be back into the skies before an hour even passed. They would grow and learn how this reacted to them and would gain even more intel this way. They would learn to solve the problem themselves. That was what he wanted most.

"Oh, so the situation has to be dire enough for you to step in and lend your hand?" Gova's words echoed in his head, haunting him.

He sighed as he clenched his fist. He hated doing this. It went against everything he was set out to do as of recently. But so was risking the lives of several Pokemon for the sake of it.

"Where do we want to land?" Unix asked him, cutting into his head. Her own voice was strained, having to muscle through the strange purple rain as well as carry a decent load on her back.

"When I jump, you fly above the clouds," Crimson told her as he started undoing his harness that kept him inside.

"What?!" Unix asked incredulously. "What are you doing?"

"Take everyone and head back to the guild," he continued, ignoring her question, "I'll catch up with Tag in Castelia."

Now the others in the back turned with confused and bewildered looks.

"What, are you doing this by yourself?!" a Croagunk looked shocked.

"No way! We came all this way!" a Flaffy protested.

"We can take this!" a Pikipek chirped bravely, "This pain isn't that bad!"

"I can't risk it," Crimson told all of them, "I'm the only one who doesn't seem to be hurt by this. I'll have the best chance out here. This isn't my first adventure after all."

"Do you want me to at least land?" Unix suggested.

"Nah. The moment I leave, you beeline up until you see the sky. Get them out of here."

"So you're gonna free fall?" the Galvantula mustered through her own pain, "Or can you actually fly?"

"Nope. Can't fly. But I've got this."

Crimson gave her a passing wink before letting go of the harness and diving off the back of Unix. The Pokemon riding with him gasped as he started falling, seemingly without fear or panic.

"Be careful!" Unix called out before she shot upwards, trying to break the cloud's surface. The other Dragonite followed suit.

And now it was Crimson, falling through the air towards the forest below. He started angling his trajectory so that he would land closer to the stadium. But as the fall continued and the ground came closer and closer, he started to wonder exactly how he was going to land softly...and also started to have flashbacks on the last time he was falling from such a height. But he wasn't resolute to having Tag, Pert, Meryl, and Sarik saving him with a leaf trampoline this time.

But he did have more in his arsenal.

With quick thinking, he reached into the depths of his mind and searched for the calm, pulsating form of energy resting back there...the one that seemed to meld his mind and enhance his brain power. As if by second nature, the energy propelled forward and began to encompass his body. To a bystander, it would look like the Chimchar was being enveloped in a white light...almost as if he was evolving.

But when the moment passed and the white light dissipated, a Monferno Crimson wasn't. Instead, his body was a light shade of lavender with a pure white belly. The iconic flaming tail was now gone and the purple, focused gaze of the Psychic powered Chimchar was all that remained of Crimson as he continued to free fall.

The ground was approaching much faster now and he knew immediately what had to be done. Concentrating hard, he let loose his telekinetic ability and used it upon himself. The feeling of downward force subsided rather quickly as his own mental energy took over and he began to alter his course and slow his speed. Within a few moments, he was hovering between the treetops and preparing himself to land on the ground below.

When Crimson's feet touched the soil, he immediately took to morphing back into his standard Chimchar-like self again. Hopefully, no one was around to witness the odd transformation, he thought as he scanned the area. Anyone over at the Grand Stadium wouldn't have made out the form of a Chimchar landing, but they might've noticed a twinkle in the corner of their eye as the type shift occurred.

And there would be no local interaction either. Crimson was actually surprised to see that nothing else was even in the vicinity of where he was. No birds chirping...no locals scuttling about. The entire forest seemed to be empty and devoid of life...apart from the trees rustling in the wind. He remembered what had happened when they were within the effects of the storm and knew that this had to be the same force at work.

But on the bright side, Crimson thought as he started jogging through the jungle, It would narrow his search field.

As far as he was from the Grand Stadium, it only took a ten minute trek through the woods to reach the stadium entrance. He wasn't inhibited by the bulkiness of his Power Bat this time (though he was far more comfortable in this situation with it) and as a result, he covered ground surprisingly quickly. Along the way, he continued to search for any sign of life that could approach him, but it was as uninhabited as the place he landed. He also kept his eyes peeled for any overhang or cave system he could explore where he suspected Pokemon would be hiding out. Still, nothing popped out to him. He was alone for now.

When he was at the treeline surrounding the huge stadium walls, he started walking around it, searching for anything that could be deemed as interesting. He figured he would have to avoid the humans, as Chimchars he knew weren't exactly native to this region. But on the other hand, he was weighing the possibility of going in and talking to a few of the human-bonded Pokemon. Chances were, the humans would assume he was owned by a trainer from..wherever his kind came from in Ruula. He kept out of sight of the humans for the most part, ducking and weaving around trees and generally scoping out the place. The only life he spotted were two trainers, one on the back of a Staraptor and joined by a Gardevoir and the other carrying an umbrella above her head with a big, unsettling grin on her face. Not the folk he wanted to get involved with...for obvious reasons.

He was too far away to hear the conversation, so he moved on, continuing his survey of the area and waiting for them to go away so he could find a way inside undetected. At the same time, he finally started to take notice of the large, black crystals that hung in the air, varying in size, but each carrying it's own dark aura. What were they? Amplifiers? Conjurers? Or just after effects of the storm? he continued to think of possible rationales as to why these crystals would exist. He decided that it might be worth studying later, but first he wanted to talk to as many domesticated Pokemon as he could and see what they knew.

Shirona noticed the Chimchar and, with a tap, told the Staraptor to move a little to be under some shade, away from the rain. James thought nothing of it.

Shirona reached out to the Chimchar telepathically,"Hello there. It's a bit difficult to get by me without me noticing you. Especially not with the power shift I felt before your presence showed up. Even if that wasn't as a result of you, you still caught my eye so to speak. Might I ask why you're wandering about? Are you lost? If you require help, I may be of assistance."

Oblivious to the Chimchar, Voltagia responded to James. "Sure, sure! I'll offer whatever assistance you need if that case comes true. Have a safe trip now."

The scientist then moved on to the next crystal, further away from the stadium, and Crimson, leaving his path a bit more clear than before.

Crimson felt the telepathic voice enter his head. It was not the first time he had spoken to anyone through mind and so he took it in stride. He knew someone was reaching out to talk to him, but he didn't know who. His first inclination went to the Gardevoir he spotted standing by the human earlier, but he knew what they said about assuming...

Crimson closed his eyes and focused, letting his own words echo in his head, knowing the channel was still open and she was still listening, "Not lost. Just trying to get some information on what happened here. Do you happen to know anything about the Diancie that fought here? Or anything about the scientist with her Miss...whoever you are?"

The words weren't laced with confusion or puzzlement, but with calm accuracy and a sense of practice...as if he had been telekinetically called out to many times before. His words weren't filled with fear either, but again with a calm tone and a focused mind. This Pokemon, despite appearances, had much more experience than any Chimchar she would've come across before.

As they spoke through mind link, he kept walking, examining the area further. He did notice the umbrella-carrying lady was proceeding onward to the next area, studying one of the crystals. I'll have to watch out for her if I want to go examining those crystals... he thought mentally.