Blast Off: a Pokemon Adventure (Agnores and Excalibur)

[mcstringer]

Some where on Mt. Silver, Marcus Geremy awoke from his cat nap on his recliner to scratches on the door to his Secret Base. He turned off the T.V. he was in front of with a program following his father's battles as a Gym Leader.

"Ninjask open the door."

The bug type obeyed his command using the move Secret Power to open the door. A shadow moved and a recently caught Starly moved to protect an egg in the corner.

When the door opened, a Skarmary carrier stepped through the door and grabbed a letter from its satchel pouch using its beak.

"Oh hey, Ruby how are you doing?"

Marcus quickly hopped up from place and walked toward it with a few Poffins in his hands. He tossed one behind him to the Starly which was picked off by the moving shadow which turned out to be a Sableye.
"Sable!" with a bit of joking irritation.
The Sableye called Sable grinned real big showing its jagged teeth and tossed the Poffin to the offended Startly to show it was joking. It circumvented the base with hops, skips, and bounds and calmly waited its turn as the other pokemon got theirs. Once the pokemong got their treats, he opened the letter that was in Ruby the Skarmary's mouth.

"Dear Mark, This is Prof. Oak. I am calling on you in a time of dire need. I have called Prof. Birch to borrow you for the task at hand. Come to Professor Elm's lab in Johto. We have much to discuss. The Blast-Off Group is more than we realize."

He tossed the not to be burned in Sable's Shadow Claw.

"Let me get a few things old friend and we will leave imediatily."

Mark rushed about the little base to grab his things, put his pokemon in their pokeballs and grab the egg.

"Ok, Ruby FLY!" The Skarmory jumped and almost simultaneously Mark landed on its back. In one hard beat they were lauched in the air and on their way to the lab.

[Agnores]

Aric stood, arms crossed, at the back of the lab. After finding him in Pallet Town, Oak had taken him in. He had been found by several different Blast-off members, and they had corned him. He learned quickly Fearow beaks were not to be trifled with.

Hurt and tired, Aric had stumbled straight onto the doorstep of Prof. Oak's lab. He had taken him, called a Joy, and together nursed him to health. They questioned him about his tattoo and necklace, and Aric simply told them everything. Those bastards had killed his sister. Of course he'd help take them down. They had him hide the tattoo under a bandage, so he wouldn't scare people.

Oak then called Elm. It was Aric's job to give the same story to Elm, where Blast-off was more prominent. He was told there might also be some more help there. Aric complied; what it took to bring them down, he would do it.

[mcstringer]

Mark felt the gale slow down as Ruby circled Elm's lab. When it finally landed, he slide off to be met by one of the most famous professor's of Mark's day, the creator of the 1st Pokedex, Prof. Oak himself.

"Wow, old man you age well."

In the next second, a rock found the top of his head with a smack.

"Hey, I was giving a complement."

He was a few steps to the door when he felt a sharp peck from a steel beak.

"Ow, why is my head a punching bag today? You think I'd forget. For shame.... we haven't been apart that long."

He turned to pet the offended pokemon and feed it a poffin.

"There, now can we get down to business?"

"Of course, right this way."

[Agnores]

Aric stood in the lab, arms crossed. He eyed the newcomer as he entered, and immediately didn't like him. He was too energetic. This could be a problem.

Sneasel growled lightly, but Aric silenced him. The newcomer was no enemy. He turned to Elm, and asked, "Who is this kid? Why is he here?"

Aric refused to believe this would be his help. This boy had no control over his Pokemon, apparently, and he would only cause more trouble. Blast-off would have no trouble dispatching of him, or drawing him over to their side. This was completely a waste of his time.

[mcstringer]

Malcom put a hand on Prof. Oak's shoulder before anything got out of hand. He also calmly passed his old Pokedex, Pokenav, egg, and the pokeball with the Starly inside.

"Can you upgrade those, and hold on to those pokemon for me. The Starly permanently is preferable. I wont need it once the egg hatches. It is a Dratini, yah know."

He turned to tall dark and brooding with the Sneasel in the corner with the frightened Prof. Elm at his side.

"Come outside with me"

He quite honestly did not give a whole lot of thought to see if he followed. He figured it would be another mark against him in his book, and he would feel it anyway.

"Sable, you mind doing a little demonstration, please? Apparently, Mr. Emo over there doesn't believe we are up to muster."

The Sableye in question materialized out of its pokeball and with a cheshire grin it disappeared to only reappear seconds later after a small ball of shadow had wrecked the ground for a good distance in every direction. The facing windows were broken and some bookcases were tappled over. Malcom walked back into the lab and began picking up the mess he made. Elm had let go of his vice grip of Prof. Oak to pick up his precious books. Oak happily returned to his business and Malcom's former Starly went back to sleep. The poor thing was used to the rough treatment up in the mountains during training so it didn't startle much.

[Agnores]

Aric laughed. "Someone this destructive to his supposed friends is supposed to be helpful? I'm sorry, Professors, but I'll take my leave. I've got me a person to kill. This whole topple the organization business is your problem."

Aric walked outside of the lab, and realized quite suddenly he knew nothing about Johto. At that realization, the destructive toddler became so much more useful. However, Aric thought there might be something about the kid he hadn't seen, so he stayed outside. He would battle the kid. If the kid won, he would agree to this whole business, up and to the point where Maglar died. After that, the kid was on his own. However, if Aric won, the kid was on his own anyway.

[mcstringer]

Not even bothering to look in Aric's direction. He continued to clean up the lab from his mess.

"You never came off as a friend in the first place. I quite frankly don't care, but if you insult the help given to you, after running like a little babe from where ever the great beyond you came from, then you wont recieve any. Go die like some dramatic warrior, like the idiot you so wish to be."

Oak slammed his fist on the computer desk in indignation. Elm jumped in suprise dropping more objects on Malcom's head. Sounds of hurt and falling books could be heard in the background aura created by Oak.

"Now, listen here. I don't care how you settle it, but you are going to work together. Do I have to chain you to each other like the children you are acting like."

"Fine, I have something to propose. A battle. a 1 vs 1 battle with 1 pokemon each. To make this challenge fun we will use freshly caught pokemon. The timelimit to find and capture one is dark or sunset to be more precise."

[Agnores]

"There is no need to waste our time with petty little battles. The kid thinks he knows everything there is to know about me, and I will let him. I am only agreeing to help because you helped me. And I am only helping until Maglar is gone."

He looked at the kid, then back at Oak. "Let's hurry this up, I have no time to waste on an old man's temper tantrums. What do we need to do?"

Aric hated every single bit of this. Forced to accept help from an uppity kid who thought he he knew everything about the world and the people around him. He'd be surprised by the brutality of the Blast-offs. He probably couldn't imagine the things Aric has done, or even Aric's Pokemon. It would be fun to watch the kids face as Aric's Electovire broke a Fearow's neck, then proceeded to use said Fearow as a bat.

Aric couldn't help it....he was a Blast-off at heart.

[mcstringer]

Mark let show that he had a minor headache on his face. He put his fingers to his temples like it would somehow ease the pain. He let it pass before speaking.

"I know you don't care, but I am going to say it anyway. My name is Mark. I am 26 years old. I-am-no-kid. I trained for 11 years in isolation on a stupid mountain on different ways to kill people and better connect with pokemon. I would like to also note that I can feel strong emotions like your desire to kill something a few seconds ago. It was the reason I had that headache."

He turned his back to the monstrosity called a man to go back inside for his stuff.

"Heh, I don't care about being pals, but if we can agree to disagree than we can hopefully get along until this debacle is finished. I was going to catch more pokemon on the way for research purposes; I still might, but I am going back inside to get my heavy hitters and my stuff. Be right back."

He lazily walked back inside to retrieve his stuff.

---------

Over the horizon 2 humaniod shapes burst out of the woodworks with menace on their breath and purpose in their steps. Apparently they were heading towards Prof. Elm's Lab.

((These two are NPCs with a Rhyperior and Magnezone. Have your way with them.))

[Agnores]

Aric watched Mark enter the building again. 26, eh? Sure doesn't act like it, Aric thought. He sighed and shook his head. The wisdom of the professors was famous, even to the Blast-offs, and he had no inclination of going against what they thought was best for him, especially if it meant avenging his sister. Still...

"Commander!"

Aric looked up in the direction of the sound, to see two familiar faces purposefully walking towards him. Aric turned to face them completely, the Sneasel on his shoulder crouching low and snarling at the pair. "Jehna. Leron." He nodded to each as he said their name. Jehna was a girl with long, blonde hair, hazel eyes, and a lithe body. The Dark Sun tattoo showed on her neck, giving her position away despite her normal clothes.

Leron was a built African-American. He was bald, with an open button-up shirt that showed off part of the Dark Sun tattoo on his chest, and stood, glaring at Aric. Jehna smiled, "It's so nice to see you got away, commander!" Leron growled. "Remember your orders, Jehna."

Aric's arms crossed, and he stood with his feet spread apart and his back straight. Sneasel growled louder. "New commander?" His former lieutenants helped him escape, unbeknownst to the Blast-offs, he knew they would not take orders against him lightly. However, it seemed Leron had moved on.

"Yes, commander," Jehna said. "We heard the Champion was coming here to visit Elm, and we were sent to recruit or ---"

"Jehna! He is our enemy!" Leron barked. It seemed that Leron had moved on, forgetting his old teacher and commander. "We were also ordered to kill you, for being a traitor."

Aric shrugged, and turned around, causing the Sneasel to scurry around to face the pair. "Did you train?" He had taught these two everything they knew about Pokemon, so they would need a lot of training to best him. In responce, he heard the sound of a Pokemon being released from its Pokeball, and a cry of, "Leron!"

Aric looked over the shoulder Sneasel did not occupy, and smiled. Leron's Magneton had become a Magnezone. How interesting. "You, Jehna?" he asked.

"Commander, I will not ---"

"He is NOT our commander, Jehna! If you refuse to kill him I will kill you too!" Leron was yelling by this point, seemingly angry beyond belief. Jehna seemed scared for a moment, then sighed. "Sorry, commander." She released her own Pokemon from its Pokeball. It was a Rhyperior. So her Rhydon had evolved too...

Aric turned around, and bowed, nearly throwing Sneasel off of his shoulder. "Good." He picked two Pokeballs off of his belt, and in a bright flash of red light, released both Magmortar and Swampert. "Kill," Aric said.

((I'm going to give you time to reply before posting the battle.))

[mcstringer]

Mark was finishing up gathering the needed information, and Oak handed him his upgraded equipment when he observed noises outside. The other guy is out there; he can take care of it. The sounds escalated after Mark went to the Linked PC in the lab to grab the pokemon he was talking about. "Meganium, Check, Ninetales, Check, and Cloyster, check. Let's see what all the habub is about."

Mark stood at the inside of the door to observe what was about to happen. It seemed to be an inner dispute amongst people the other guy knew. Mark thought it best that the other guy to care of it on his own. It still sorta bothered him that the other guy never introduced himself.

[Agnores]

Magmortar and Swampert jumped straight into action.

The day got bright and hot fast, all because of Magmortar's Sunny Day. Swampert shot out several purple globs, and his Toxic attack was barely felt by the enemy Rhyperior. Rhyperior knelt down, and you could see his body seem to shine. Aric smiled...it was using Rock Polish.

The Magnezone unleashed a Thunderbolt on Magmortar...he took the hit, flinching and staggering backwards. It was then that Aric nodded to Sneasel...who seemed to disappear with the speed he moved. He seemed to reappear behind Rhyperior, placing a sweeping claw attack across the back of Rhyperior's neck, causing him to fall over.

In a flash of red light, Machoke appeared above Magnezone, and brought him crashing to the ground. Picking him up, Machoke hurled him into the side of a nearby building. "You need to be prepared for everything," Aric said, "even cheating."

"It's over, guys." Aric recalled all of his Pokemon, with exception to Sneasel, who climbed back up onto his shoulder. "Leave, both of you. You know the skill level of the Champion. And I don't play fair."

Jehna gulped, afraid, but nodded. Leron simply growled. Both of them headed off in the opposite direction, looking backwards as they went. "Trail them," Aric whispered to his Sneasel. "If they turn back for any reason, kill them." The Sneasel nodded and flashed off. Aric turned to see the man he met earlier standing, watching.

"You the champ?" he called.

((Sorry it took so long, I check these in class and forget to come back and reply.))

[mcstringer]

"Since the last time I cracked the heads of my region's Elite Four, but that does not mean much. Batte Frontier's Brandon was still able to put my.........me out to pasture, which was 12 years ago. I have been doing research for the professors and training ever since."

Mark slugged his pack onto his shoulders, and put the Dratini egg in a sack for ease of locomotion.

"The PokeDex has an upgrade that tracks pokemon the user has seen. Proffessor Oak has gone even further with it to include the pokemon with trainers. If they get close we'll know long before they do."

Mark walked past the bigger Aric to begin their journey to destroy the Blast Off organization.

"You think you can put up with my optimism as we go?"

[Agnores]

"I don't think I have a choice."

Aric turned to follow him, knowing that Sneasel will catch up soon. He has never been able to leave that damnable Pokemon behind since his sis....Aric quelled the thought with another: he hadn't introduced himself.

"Aric," he said, stating his name to Mark. He figured he ought to be at least slightly polite to his companion, since it was his only help to destroying the Blast-offs. "Where are we heading?"

Depending on their first destination, Aric would decide his course of action from there. He was almost positive Mark had his own directive, and it probably would not coincide with his.

[mcstringer]

"To Violet Town"

Mark conversed without looking back.

"A Blast Off element has ingrained itself in Sprout Tower. The monks that are usually there have either been killed or incompasitated. The Gym Leader can't dislodge them. So we get to help them out, and, just maybe, we can get some information on the Executives. I vaguily know there is a trifecta, but I don't know who, nor do I know much of any money making shemes they have set up besides the ones I destroyed on my way here."

[Agnores]

Aric nodded. "I am from the Sinnoh branch, and even as an exec, I know nothing of the other branches operations. I can tell you however there are three main leaders, who each run a seperate sect of the Blast-offs. If this branch is like the one in Sinnoh, there is a 'business' exec, a 'customer relations' exec, and a 'distribution' exec. One runs the money-making side, both legal and illegal, one runs the higihly skilled Blast-off assassins, and the other runs the smuggling rings."

Aric had no clue why he was telling this guy this. It was useful information however, and assuming the Johto Blast-offs ran like the Sinnoh ones, it would be extremely useful. He hoped they didn't have to deal with the assassins, however.

[mcstringer]

They were almost to Cherrygrove City by this time."Well great we can get killed by hired guns, smuggled out and killed, or killed in our sleep by highly trained killers. Nice.....my life just decided to take a va-ca to River of Ouch. Boy, this going to suck."

Sometime during the trip Sable had gotten out of her pokeball as was her habit and started making mischief about their path. The pokemon was careful not to get to far from the group, but stayed far enough away; so, if any ambush was sprung, the Sableye could either rescue them or run away. A point not lost on her master. He felt the silence on the trip was a little awkward, so he decided to break the ice a little more.

"Aric, you said you were from the Sinnoh region? Where exactly? I am most recently from Mt. Silver, but my family lives in Petalburg City Heonn region."

He shrugged.

"You don't have to answer, if you don't wana. I was just curious."

Mark quitely walked further down the rode gazing into nothingness and mulling over a strategy that would keep some of the bad guys alive for questioning.

[Agnores]

"When my family was still around, we lived in Veilstone." Aric, at that time, had not been a real Pokemon trainer. He just had his Sneasel. It was his sister who was the the trainer, and after a bit of training, the Veilstone Gym Leader had no chance. It was hilarious watching his younger sister show him up.

He felt his blunt responce would cause more problems, so he asked a question of practicality: "You do have a trainer's card, right?" It was a card given to Pokemon Trainers that worked a lot like a liscence. Even though Aric owned six Pokemon, it wasn't technically legal, he wasn't technically a trainer.

Aric's mind seem to wander as he remembered the day his sister got her trainer card...

[mcstringer]

"Yah, it's a bit old. I was going to update it at the Center. Then a quick bit of shopping. I rushed to Elm's lab and did not think too much about the potions and full heals that I left back at my Secret Base."

Mark felt a little sheepish. For a trainer of his caliber to forget something like that was not common.

"Yah know what..... I think they sell Running Shoes here. When you press hard on them, you'll be able to travel faster like someone on skates. I'm buyin, but I don't blame you, if you don't want a pair."

[Agnores]

Aric nodded. "You're right. Running Shoes are not my thing."

Sneasel came bounding out of the surrounding trees, quickly jumping to Aric's shoulder. Aric didn't flinch, didn't even seem to notice the Sneasel's appearance. "Find anything?" he asked, and the Sneasel shook his head. Aric smiled slightly. That meant Jehna and Leron had left completely, and it would be a while before they would hear anything out of those two.

As they entered Cherrygrove, Aric suddenly realized the fact he had never been in Johto before, at least not in this part of it. It would probably be good to scout out the area, especially if Sprout Tower was near, and Blast-offs were actively scouting area. At the enterance to Cherrygrove, Aric nodded to Mark. "Go do your stuff. I will secure the area, and make sure no Blast-offs followed us. I also want to explore a tiny bit, get to know my surroundings before we head off."

[mcstringer]

"Sure, see you on the other side."

Mark trotted off into the town. Sable snuck into his shadow. Before too long he found one of the most iconic building in the town, the Pokemon Center. When he stepped in he shot for the corner, and he waited behind some other trainers that were refreshing themselves or their pokemon. He got into a bit of small talk about pokemon in general.

A lightbulb went off in his head, and he decided to stear the conversation to Violet City to get any news. What he got was a little vague. Besides what he already new the Officer Jenny and the police cordoned off the entire city. They were not letting anyone in or out as to not give aid to the Blast Offs in Sprout Tower. They were treating them like minor criminals, which was a bad idea in his opinion.

There was a rumor that a Ranger appeared on the scene to help. Mark silently cursed to himself as his conversation partner went on and on about the Rangers and how beautiful they are...etc. Mark hated Rangers most of them are hotheaded screwballs that believe they know everything because they have a stupid stilmus mechanism that alows them to control wild pokemon for a short time.

He finally got to Nurse Joy and with a quick convesation and a few button taps his Trainer Card was updated for the region. He was suprised it was not just a card anymore, but a small thin datapad. It also held all of his old information. As a bonus he recieved a box to put badges. Another quick stop later and Mark was waiting for Aric on the other side of the town with a full pack, a pair of Running Shoes, and a slightly warm egg.

[Agnores]

The city was small, which was good. It would be ignored by a lot of people if the Blast-offs wished to use this city as their base. Also, it was very close to where Mark had said they were operating, so either city could be used to distract unwanted attention away from a main base. Of course, that was assuming the Blast-offs in this region wanted to remain unnoticed, which, from the information he had gleaned from Mark, was unlikely.

He sent Sneasel sniffing out the surround woods, to make sure any Blast-offs were well away from the area. He himself set out into the woods, and let out his Machoke. The Pokemon stretched, and looked at Mark with a small smile. "You know the drill ---" Aric was cut off by a quick punch to the face. Machoke was ready.

The fight went on for hours. Neither was trying to hurt the other, but neither pulled punches. Machoke understood that Aric would not always be able to rely on him and his other Pokemon, so Aric sparred with him all the time to hone is own physical condition. A few hours into the match, Sneasel reappeared, showing that the area was clear. It was nearing dark when the two quit their match, both bruised, and both tired.

Sneasel took his place on Aric's shoulders, and Aric returned Machoke to his Pokeball. From there he returned to Cherrygrove, hunting the Pokemon Center. It didn't take long to find, and at this time of night, it was releatively empty. The Nurse smiled at him when he handed over Machoke's Pokeball.

"Got in a fight?" she asked. Aric nodded, adding, "You could say that. So, what's going on up at Violet Town?"

Aric hoped that this nurse could answer, and maybe give him information Mark hadn't got while he was sparring. "Well," she said, "The police say a small band of people are causing some trouble, so they are not letting people out of the city or back in. SOunds a little extreme, don't you think?"

Aric smiled as he got his Machoke back, before shaking his head at the nurse. "No, ma'am, it's not extreme enough."

Aric quickly left the center and hunted for Mark.

[mcstringer]

Mark had let his pokemon out as he waited for Aric at the road side marker towad the next route. He laid against it watching his pokemon either rough house or do some training. To any passing by, Mark was asleep against the road marker, but he was actually conducting a training excerise that he learned from Sabrina, the psychic Gym Leader of Kanto's psychic Saffron gym.

He focused and stretched his mind. He found it difficult to cover the town so he systematically searched in a grid pattern, the emotions waffing about like small flames. His pokemons' minds were recognized first. He lightly felt the motions of others in the town. He started to get tired because of the excersize so he closed himself to the outside world again. He spotted Aric a couple blocks over, he got up to leave, and he summoned his pokemon back into their pokeballs, except for Sable. Sable used Shadow Sneak to hide in his shadow. He cupped his hands to magnify his voice.

"Hey Aric, ready to go?"

[Agnores]

Aric headed in the direction of Mark's voice. "Yes, I guess so."

Aric had felt something funny back in the town, but he couldn't place it. He place it out of his mind, it probably didn't matter. "To Violet Town, or are we detouring?"

The one thing Aric hated was a detour.

((sorry this is so short, but I am suffering from a little bit of writer's block.))

[mcstringer]

"Staight to Violet Town, screw detours."

Mark showed frustration and urgency on his face. He started pacing about the road until Aric got nearer.

"I assume you know about Violet town being blocked off. Cake to get in, but that is besides the point. I talked with someone with family in Violet Town. She heard a rumor of the local leos calling for a Ranger. If one gets there, then it highly possible for us to not get any information. I can explain what Rangers are on the way, if you don't know."

[Agnores]

"I know the Rangers. Had a few run-ins with them."

Aric smiled. "I assume you have a plan, then? I'd hate to think the most you have come up with is fight our way in..."

Aric would much rather fight his way in then any intricate plan, especially since he didn't know how much it would take before he simply got left behind. He also didn't know how much he would stand before he simply left Mark behind. If the Rangers were there, the whole situation would become more difficult. The Rangers weren't dumb, even if they used wild Pokemon, and not specifically trained ones.

Fun times, fun times.

[mcstringer]

They had been walking for a few minutes, when Mark just let out and a soft outburst.

"I HATE Rangers."

(( Yaahh, I am fizzled as well))

[Agnores]

"They aren't too difficult to handle. Kill their Pokemon they happen to use, and then the other wild ones won't trust them. Makes the Ranger a very easy target. Not many Rangers have a good connection with the Pokemon they control, so their battle tactics are loose, if present at all."

Aric looked at Mark, wondering what he would think of killing Pokemon.

[mcstringer]

"Aric, I'd rather take out the trainer. Taking it out on a pokemon is just low.... To me that is. I'd propose that we hurry either way. I don't want to meet one if I can help it."

Mark shook his had in bewilderment wondering why Aric wanted to kill pokemon so badly. His spine shivered like someone had walked over his grave. Not from Aric's opinion, but from a certain Ranger he never wanted to met again. Especially since she had a personal vendetta against him.

[Agnores]

Aric smiled.

"Do we know what kind of Blast-offs we are dealing with? Smugglers, assassins, what? You might see why killing their Pokemon is so essential."

Aric noticed the route was empty, which was odd, Cherrygrove and Violet Town being so close together it was usually jam packed with new trainers testing out their Pokemon, getting a feel for battle. He was glad, if anyone had heard their conversation, they might have more then Rangers to worry about.

Sneasel shifted on Aric's shoulder, and Aric smiled. An assassin's Pokemon, tool...it was ready to strike, and strike for the kill.

[mcstringer]

"Not a clue. We can use our connection to the proffessors to let us in..... Does it feel a little funky to you?"

Mark grabbed a pokeball from his side, but probably a little to late.

[Agnores]

((I'm not sure what you are planning for this part, but I hope this will do.))

Sneasel sneezed, and Aric glanced over. Sneasel seemed to be getting tired, and fast. Why? Aric noticed that he himself was starting to feel a bit drowsy...

He looked up and noticed several things that alarmed him. There were four Butterfrees that were floating way above them, flapping their wings. He noticed a blue dust falling from each beat of their wings. Worse of all, above them were two Fearows, seemingly ready to strike.

"Mark, it's Sleep Pow...der..." Sneasel fell off of Aric's shoulder. Aric himself began to slump, but he fought as hard as he could. He reached for an empty Pokeball and returned Sneasel to it as he fell over.

Must...not...sleep...

[mcstringer]

((not sure what you wanted from your post before either))

"That's.....*yawn* not cool."

Mark tossed a pokeball into the weed and grass hoping it was hidden enough that would not be found. He rolled to protect his egg as he fell asleep.

[Agnores]

((Sorry lol))

Aric heard the sound of dripping water. How long had he been asleep? He opened his eyes, but everything was still blurry. He shook his head, and slowly, everything came too. The first thing he noticed was Mark, who seemed to still be asleep. The next thing he noticed was the fact they were both chained to the wall. The last thing he noticed was this place had to be the Sprout Tower.

That means they had been captured by the Blast-offs. Aric understood why he was captured, seeing how he used to be a Blast-off himself. But why was Mark still alive?

[mcstringer]

Marc rolled over to his stomach and was able to make it to his knees and elbows before opening his eyes.

"....able to keep....unconcious for several hours."

He should his head to get the last of the latent disorientation out of his head before moving into a sitting position. He turned his head to observe Aric was already up and alert.

[Agnores]

Aric noticed Mark moving in the corner.

"Hey, they've taken our Pokemon. We're defenseless."

Aric looked over to Mark. Could he fight without his Pokemon? Were his Pokemon even still alive?

[mcstringer]

Through his dizziness Mark could hear Aric talking.

"We aren't out of Pokemon. I threw one before we got captured. Course I have know cluew which one it was. And we aren't defenseless until we are 6 ft under."

Mark started to let worry into his throbbing head because they were alive and their pokemon were who knows were. They were who knows where. Things did not feel on the up and up to Mark.

((Sorry, busy.. You still in?))

[Agnores]

((Yep, was waiting on you.))

Aric wondered if they had caught Sneasel. IF they had, he was definately not still alive. They would have had to kill him before Sneasel would allow himself to be captured. Then again, they had been put to sleep. Stupid Butterfree.

"What's your plan?"

[mcstringer]

Marc stared off into the dark thinking it over.

"There are a couple of things we can do."

He held up his hand to count the off with his fingers. More for theatrics than any real point since he doubted that Aric could actually see his hand.

"One, we can escape now. Alone. and fight our way to our pokemon. Two, can sit here and wait until they come to us to figure out what they want. We are alive. They have to want something. Then enact plan one, or we could wait for my pokemon. Especially since that I now remember which one it was. It will come here after it finds the others. It will also break them out if it sees no risk in it."

[Agnores]

"I'll follow you on this one. However, I wouldn't suggest acting unless we know their numbers, we are dealing with Blast-offs. Some of them can kill you before you can even say 'Pokemon'."

Aric had seen it happen.

[mcstringer]

"I'd rather not be the lead in this. Considering I pretty much know zip, zilch, and nada abou the Blast-offs, until you. The only reasons I can think of that we are alive are they are used to delay help from arriving and do see us as a threat, they want informatin, or they are waiting to be told to kill us after passing on the news of who we are."

Marc began dusting himself off in the dark as he stood up, and began to stretch.

"Funny they didn't even shackle us, use an immobilizer, or destablizer. Means there are pokemon in here watching us."

"Very good.....I am suprised the Professors found someone as competent as you, but you are still an imbecile."

A door opened blinding the room with a narrow bit of light. Gastly and Haunter appeared around them.

"Hey Aric, who is the lampshade."