Team One: Dobro and Domingo
âSorry, buddy. I havenât seen any of those on this island⊠"
Domingo nodded in understanding. It made sense, he thought. While Pounce could be...well arrogant and loud, he knew some degree of stealth. Gova on the other hand was the master of it. It was her prime skill, the one she took the most pride in. He had no doubt she would've seen the trap he'd walked into earlier and easily eavesdropped on the group without fail.
A cold blast of air escaped through the tunnel, giving Domingo a slight chill as he turned towards the sound of grinding ice. A few moments later, the human stepped out of the hole. Domingo tensed up instantly at the sight. The island of Mohka where he came from was entirely run by Pokemon. In fact, that was one of the big reasons why the Isle Defenders were created: to keep the humans away from their paradise. Even though Team Justice and TeaM PerSisTenCe had their fair share of human encounters since meeting, not including Crimson himself, it was still an unnatural sight to him whenever he met one.
The human was hurt. That was evident in the makeshift sling he wore as well as the dried blood on his face and the slight limp he carried, although very slight. But he had a smile plastered on his face as if he'd went on the greatest adventure of a lifetime. Domingo had to respect that. The human loved what he did. He loved his Pokemon around him. He'd die for them if it came from that. And they would do the same. It was the same feeling Domingo held towards Dobro and his former partner, who ended up doing the same for him.
âSup, Iâm Radegast,â the man extended his hand to shake. âThanks for helping my friends.â
Dobro stepped up first and shook his hand, the massive hand swallowing Radegast's within the black fur. "It's what we do, sir."
Domingo couldn't keep a smile off his face at Dobro's nobility. He was willing to risk everything to help out those who needed it. It was one of the reasons the two were such good friends as an Oshawott and Pancham. They had some of the straightest moral compasses around. Sure, sometimes Domingo would let his sense of duty to others get in the way of that on occasion. But Dobro kept him on the right path this time. And the feeling was much more gratifying.
Domingo inclined his head to Radegast, his way of saying you're welcome. He looked at Dobro, eyes gleaming. "We should probably continue to look for Pounce and Gova."
Dobro agreed. "Right," he said, looking back towards Elder. "I'd say he needs to get to a hospital. We could help you escort as far as the town, but it wouldn't be a great idea if we actually stepped in the city limits." He didn't know how many people knew about Domingo's episode, so he didn't know how they would react to their arrival in town. They didn't want to be seen as enemies, nor did they want to drag down Radegast's team with them.
SNAP!Before she knew it, Meryl felt herself free falling as the branch she was leaping off of was cut from the tree by one of the Sableye's attacks. She looked ahead, seeing that she was close enough to potentially do some damage to the ones attacking Pert. If I'm going down, she thought, I'm taking one or two more with me.
She hit the Sableye from behind, square in the back. In a sense, the Sableye broke her fall, landing hard on the ground while she rolled off the unconscious Pokemon.
Now everything hurt.
"Meryl!" Pert cried before using Thunder Wave, causing all the Sableye to freeze in place from paralysis. He ran over to the Minun, who was on the verge of passing out herself. "You okay?"
Struggling, Meryl grabbed his hand and pulled herself to her feet. She looked like she'd walked through hell and back and was barely able to stand. "Why...didn't you do that...earlier?" she groaned from pain.
"Didn't think about it," Pert told her. "And only now would it have made a difference, anyway." Glancing around at the frozen Sableye, he counted five remaining. "So how do we finish them off? Before they recover and start attacking us again?"
Meryl limped towards the remaining Sableye, using Pert as a crutch. "Y'know what..." she said irritably. "I'm just gonna do this..."
And she stepped forward and unleashed a Shockwave so powerful, it was enough to be felt by the entire island. The winds were powerful and full of electricity, swirling all around the swamp. It definitely finished off the rest of the Sableye, blasting them a mighty distance. Pert had to cover his eyes and cross his arms in front of him to avoid being carried away with them.
When the attack was done, the winds settling around them, Pert couldn't help but laugh. "Now why didn't you do that earlier?" he asked the Minun.
A second later, he got his answer when Meryl slumped to the ground, not moving.
"Meryl!" he cried, running over to her and practically sliding to see if she was alright. She was knocked out, that was for sure. Feeling for a pulse, he sighed in relief when he got a very faint one.
"Dangit, Meryl," Pert half spoke, half thought out loud as he picked her up in his arms. "Why'd you have to overdo it?"
He turned and made his way towards their base, taking one look back towards the battleground he'd left in their wake. They'd have to come back here at some point, he realized. Those Sableye wanted to take them down for a reason. Something was hidden in these swamps. And when he returned, he was going to find out what. For Meryl's sake.
He adjusted the grip he had on Meryl in his arms before making his way down the trail towards the mountains.
Team Three: Crimson, Tag, and Sarik
After a while searching around the school, Crimson, Tag, and Sarik came up with nothing but the broken Distance Communicator in their possession. And they searched thoroughly.
"Man," Tag sighed in exhaustion. "Not a footprint or nothin'."
Crimson looked at the other two before making a decision. "Okay, let's rest a bit before heading to Oak Town."
Without hesitation, the other two dropped to the ground and sighed at the welcoming feeling of relaxation.
Crimson laughed. "Come on, we've been on tougher walks than this. At least there isn't much terrain to climb over."
"Yeah, but we were hyped on adrenaline then," Sarik pointed out. "We were saving the world. Now we're looking for teammates."
Crimson shrugged and sat down in the grass, examining the place they'd decided to bunker down for a bit. It wasn't one of the most well kept parts of the school. The buildings here were quite small and cluttered. The grass stood a bit taller, the bricks a bit more worn. A tiny collection of dust was forming along the exterior windows. It wasn't kept in as much order as the other buildings. Crimson looked towards the other buildings, realizing the further the building was, the better shape it seemed to be...almost like a pecking order existed.
Weird.Crimson was about to look towards the schoolyard once more when he noticed a form showing up...with certain red hair. Crimson raised a brow as he recognized Seraphine immediately, heading off in another direction. She was trying to keep up a smile, but her eyes and body language betrayed her. What happened? Crimson wondered. Was it something we did yesterday?
Suddenly, he felt all kinds of guilt.
"Wait here, guys. I'm going to check something out." Crimson told Tag and Sarik before walking towards the direction Seraphine was going. Now his curiosity got the better of him. Was their team the source as to why she seemed so sad? He had to find out and, if at all possible, rectify the situation. Tag and Sarik didn't argue or try to stop him, just watched him go with their own curiosity looming behind him.
Now Crimson knew he had to stay relatively hidden from any people. He knew it was a rarity to see Pokemon like him without an owner accompanying. So he'd draw suspicions if he was spotted. To prevent this, Crimson casually morphed into his Ground-Type state so he could use Dig if necessary.
That, and his flaming rear was practically a beacon of it's own in his fire state.
The now brown Chimchar followed quietly behind Seraphine as she walked towards a building. Cursing his luck, he watched her go into the building, presumably to talk to someone. He'd rather not walk into the building and intrude, so he poked around the outside, trying to find an open window and listen to a potential conversation. If he was lucky, he wouldn't have to wait long.