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Thread: [M] Pokemon: Avarice Versus Justice! (Ashen and Headwrapper)

  1. #81
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    Clive took the paper Yulia handed to him, glancing over it casually as he thought. There was a good chance a sixteen year old would be stupid enough to trespass without needed the likes of Avarice to egg him on. Chances are he was the only one in a small group to take one for the team and got caught. The detective had his suspicions, but there was not a whole lot to work with, so he just left it at that.

    He looked over the outside of the warehouse as he and Yulia approached. The building was certainly old, and had not been painted for at least a decade or two, short of the fuzzy and worn graffiti that lined certain walls. Through the windows at the very top, Clive could see that the inside was probably pitch black. It was probably ill-advised to venture inside alone, but that never stopped Clive anyway. Besides, he had his Pokemon. For everything he and his team lacked in battling, they excelled in sleuthing and escaping.

    Clive raised a gentle hand to hush Yulia, as if his outstretched hand could slow down the questions as they came thundering towards him. His eyes scanned for the entrances and exits of the warehouse, in case he needed to make a quick exit once inside. Once his line of sight was no longer sufficient, he began circling around towards the other side of the building, scanning for any doors or windows. The main entrance seemed to face the street, with their being another exit on one side. There was most likely another door at the rear of the building.

    "Let's see what we can find then," he finally said, releasing his Umbreon from its Pokeball. "I think you're right, we should come back tonight. I'm sure we will find a good spot to hide in while we're searching, so keep an eye out." He glanced towards his Umbreon before nodding towards the entrance of the warehouse. "Let's meet here again in exactly one hour, if we don't see each other before then," he told Yulia. With that, Clive and Umbreon made their way into the warehouse.

    Upon entering, the pair were immediately greeted with the typical musty warehouse smell one would have expected. If Avarice was doing anything here, they certainly did not care to keep the place dry. As Clive's eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see that most of the warehouse was empty, but there were clearly certain items that have been moved around recently. The mystery there was who or what would have moved them.

    After making a slow crawl through the dark for a few minutes, Clive eventually decided that there was no sense thinking anyone was inside the warehouse in the pitch black. "All right, let's light it up," he finally said. Promptly, his Umbreon focused energy into its rings, illuminating the area with a Flash. "Much better," Clive said. He immediately spotted stairs in the far corner of the warehouse that lead down. There were also metal stairs that lead to a large mezzanine that sat above him.

    Clive quietly approached the stairs that seemed to lead into the basement. Without a sound, he leaned over to peer down the flight and saw that they lead to a closed metal door. Through the thick glass window that was centered near the top of it, he could see that whatever room laid passed it was lit. The man drew a quick breath, holding it as he listened closely for any sound that might be coming from below. The sound of his heart beating echoed in his ears, drumming louder and louder before he finally released his breath and killed the noise.

    "Sound empty to you?" he asked quietly. His Umbreon nodded solemnly, which prompted Clive to proceed down the steps. It was odd that this place would have more activity at night than during the day, and maybe the reason why would lie within this basement. He stopped at the bottom of the steps, and returned his Umbreon to its ball before sending out his young Zorua. "If there's any trouble, you will have to keep us hidden," he whispered, before reaching for the large metal handle of the door. He gave it a pull, and the thick metal did not budge. "Locked. With a pretty secure door too...."

  2. #82
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    After making a note of the time on her phone, Yulia started towards the building, listening as Clive made his way inside. She wondered how the man would manage in the dark on his own, but she figured his Umbreon would keep him safe, and if he needed anything, she was only a shout away. Assuring herself Clive would be fine, she busied herself with scouting the building and surrounding area, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

    Her Braviary had taken to the skies, examining the roof of the building and the trees nearby. He cawed to alert Yulia of a hole in the roof, but Yulia reasoned it was too small to fit any person and most Pokemon. Just a product of the building's age, she thought, and after a quick glance over the rest of the roof, she decided she wouldn't be finding any clues up there.

    The ground was more interesting, anyway. There were mostly-covered footprints in the back of the building, human ones. She jotted down a few notes about them in a notepad. They weren't defined enough to follow, but if nothing else, they proved that someone had been to this warehouse, and recently. She continued to search, finding dried grasses, abandoned twigs, a few burrows where wild Pokemon had made their homes. The building itself was ordinary; dark, graffitied, damp. There were all sorts of dents in the metal that made the walls, all things that hinted at a long history and nothing more. She took notes as she wandered, hoping Clive had better results.

    Valkyrie wandered independently of his master, another set of eyes on the things she had already looked over. He stopped and landed a distance behind he and started pecking at the ground. He made a sound to get Yulia's attention.

    "What is it?" she murmured, walking over to where her Braviary had noticed something. He was near an Oran bush, and Yulia parted its branches. There was just dirt underneath it, ordinary dirt. The bush was lopsided, its growth stunted on one side by the building. The wall of the warehouse there had a small hole, barely big enough for a Cutiefly to squeeze through. Yulia poked at it, then placed both hands against the metal. The plates shifted under her palms almost too easily. She stood back and examined the area again; the warehouse jutted out here, a pattern that was replicated on the other side. "Valkyrie," she called, and she patted the wall, waiting for her Pokemon to act.

    The powerful headbutt of a Braviary was enough to dislodge the wall, revealing an alcove behind it. The interior of the building didn't jut out at all; these areas were likely crawl spaces instead. Yulia squeezed under the now crumbled metal and dug around for a flashlight. There was little in the alcove; a few empty boxes, spiderwebs, discarded Poke Balls and gems. Yulia followed it to a set of stairs. She tried to walk down them but found herself feeling more and more claustrophobic, as if these stairs were made for a child and she was just a giant intruder. She ascended again and called her Skorupi to the alcove. "Alright Ivee," she cooed, "do you think you can get down there for me?" The scorpion Pokemon warily looked to the stairs, shifted uncomfortably, then bolted down.

    She wasn't gone long, and when Yulia saw her big eyes coming up she peered down the stairs to see what she'd brought. Clamped in her tail was a flyer of some sort. Yulia took it and made her way back outside to better see the paper. On it was the face of someone she almost recognized, a dark-haired and bright-eyed man adorned in a deep red uniform. "Member of the Month" was written atop the flyer in red paint, not nearly as old as the building. Something was down there, something active, but from only a flyer alone, Yulia couldn't tell what.

    She made her way back to the meeting place, already trying to think of possible explanations. If she could just get down there herself... Perhaps Clive had had better luck finding a way down.
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  3. #83
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    Clive pulled the door a second time, in vain. He remained completely still as he observed the door, glancing around the sides before focusing on the thick window at the top center. He inched closer and finally peered inside. From what he could see, the room was fairly empty. It was well lit, and he could see rows of empty wooden shelves aligned in parallel, an empty library of stories. The detective strained and twisted in an effort to get a better view, but he quickly realized there was not much else that would be visible with the limited size of the window, and the small space he had to move around.

    Just as Clive was beginning to decide it was time to give up, the lights behind the door flickered off. His eyes darted around the black canvas that lay before him, eager to find a quick explanation for what just occurred, his heart rate beginning to pick back up. A ghost Pokemon, perhaps? A simple power outage? Instinctively, Clive ducked below the window, hoping that if there was anything inside of the locked room that would not be able to see him while he was not able to see it. His Zorua nestled beside him, following its trainer's lead, and remained still. Clive slowed his breathing, watching his Pokemon carefully while listening through the door behind him. He was proud of his little Zorua for not showing any sign of panic. It would have quickly cast illusions to protect itself if it had been spooked.

    Eventually, Clive slowed his breathing, bringing back the complete and still quiet from before so he could better hear his surroundings. As far as he could see or hear, nothing was going on in the room behind him. "It's nothing," he whispered to Zorua.

    Then it hit him, a quick jolt through the door. Clive let out a loud grunt as he struggled to force his muscles to move through the electric shock. With much strain, he finally threw himself onto the steps in front of him, away from the electrified door. He pressed his arm against one of the steps as he turned himself to look back at the door, all the while breathing heavily as he tried to recover. The black slate behind the window remained, but in the center there floated one round, red eye, staring at Clive. Two loud bangs echoed off the the other side of the door, which stood unyielding.

    "We'll want back up. Zorua," Clive waved a hand to his Pokemon, and immediately their images vanished. Clive looked back as he slowly limped his way up the steps. The eye still seemed to stare straight at him, uninfluenced by Zorua's illusion.

    With the help of Umbreon's Flash, Clive and his Pokemon made their way back out of the building. With each step, Clive felt his movements start to become more normal as he recovered from the electrocution, but he undoubtedly must have looked a little pale. It did not take him long to find Yulia. "We saw... something," he grunted. Before he could explain any further, the sound of a vehicle rumbled at the front of the building. A long grinding sound, followed by a bang, suggested that the passengers were stepping out of a van.

    Clive held up his hand, requesting silence from his partner and the Pokemon present with them, and inched his way to one corner of the building. He caught a quick glance from around the corner before quickly retreating, not wanting to risk giving them away. "They aren't dressed like Avarice grunts. Whatever this operation is, it is a bit more secretive," he whispered to Yulia.

  4. #84
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    Yulia stood by the warehouse pondering, coming up with millions of unanswerable questions about the poster she held, the alcove, what lie beyond. She turned her attention back to the man on the piece of paper. Could she later send this in for testing? Check the age of the paper, the paint, anything to get the slightest clue? She was pulled from her thoughts at a soft caw from her bird Pokemon. Yulia looked up, eyebrow raised, and tried to meet her Braviary's gaze. He was cautiously glancing back towards the warehouse. "Have you heard something?" Yulia asked, approaching the bird and gently patting his neck. "Is it Clive?" Valkyrie shifted his weight and looked back to Yulia, a concern growing in his dark eyes. "Alright," she said softly, "let's go check on him. You go in here, alright?"

    Once Valkyrie was back in his ball, Yulia started towards the main entrance of the warehouse. Her thoughts were ablaze; was Clive alright? Had something happened? Should she call for help before investigating? Perhaps, she thought, she was only overreacting. She glanced at her watch. It hadn't quite been an hour yet, so it wasn't surprising her partner hadn't made it back yet. So why did she feel so uneasy?

    She saw him as soon as she reached the entrance, a flash rushing towards her. Yulia jumped instinctively, then calmed herself down to look over her partner. He was pale, slow; something was wrong. His words sent up countless red flags. "Are you alright?" was her first question. But before Clive could answer, they both heard someone pulling up nearby. Yulia silenced. Was the stakeout happening already? She looked over Clive, searching for any injuries, any blood. Finding none, she moved away from the entrance, not wanting to be seen by whomever was trespassing.

    Adrenaline pumped wildly through her veins. She wanted to know that Clive was okay, but she was also living off the danger. Hadn't this been what she'd trained so long for? Yulia motioned Clive inside the warehouse and out of sight, and they remained still, waiting. The flyer, whatever Clive had found, and now this. They would be finding clues, after all.

    But then a familiar pain snaked through her temples and spiraled in her forehead, blurring her vision and sending a nausea crawling through her stomach. Yulia held her breath, dread seizing her. Oh, please, she pleaded silently. She looked to Clive. She couldn't do this to him, not now, not like this. Shaking her head, she turned back to the entrance. Not until the danger goes away, she reasoned. Please, don't put him in danger​.
    Last edited by Ashen; 04-30-2020 at 02:53 AM.
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  5. #85
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    Clive was relieved to feel his movement gradually become more normal as time went on, finding himself easily able to return his Umbreon to its ball, follow Yulia into the warehouse, and hide behind one of the various nooks. He could feel a mild burn on the sides of his hands that were touching the door he was shocked through, but nothing he thought would be critical to address, especially during their current situation. He managed to take a quick glance at his Pokegear, only to find it had been completely wiped, the screen a black rectangle with a flashing white bar.

    Clive's Zorua followed the detectives closely, easily nudging itself into a dark space nearby, hidden from view. Its eyes carefully watched the movements of its trainer, trusting it would be commanded once the time is right.

    The detective remained completely still as he waited, his eyes calmer than the water in Ilex Forest. In his mind, he was taking stock of who was in the warehouse: at least three alleged trespassers up ahead, Yulia behind him, and his trusty Shadow nearby. The voices up ahead grew harder to hear, and as the room grew more silent he only then could hear the dull ring in his ears, most likely a side effect from being shocked. He strained to listen further ahead, and eventually made the move to inch deeper into the warehouse to reaffirm the location of the suspicious characters inside.

    He glanced back towards Yulia, and inhaled sharply when he saw her heading back out of the warehouse. Should he turn back as well? It might be safer to call for backup before proceeding further anyway, and Clive hardly felt like he should be swimming in enemy waters in his current state.

    There was a sudden pull against his pant leg, and Clive could barely make out his Zorua's concerned expression through the dark. The detective listened carefully, and ground his teeth. More trespassers were entering the warehouse from the entrance behind them. "Quickly, hide all three of us," he whispered. He picked up his Zorua, and their images once again vanished, invisible to all others. He cautiously and quietly followed Yulia, unwilling to make too loud of a sound to warn her and give away their position. The seed of panic began to sprout when he realized that his partner was still fully visible, and her only cover was the darkness of the warehouse. That was hardly a cover, as it was possible the trespassers could have access to the lights.

    What's wrong?, he thought, glancing down in his arms, Although he couldn't see it, he could feel his Zorua's deep breaths and strained muscles as he tried to control his illusions. It was trivial for even a young Zorua to mask itself in illusions, but to conceal others is a more daunting task. Clive's Shadow never had practice making two grown humans invisible before. The task proved to be difficult, especially when the Pokemon was fatigued and its targets were so far apart from each other.

    Suddenly, the lights flickered on, blinding as it shredded through the darkness. Clive could hear the newcomers, there was at least a pair of them, yelp at the unexpected flash. From the sound, they were close, and it would only be a couple seconds before they would see Yulia, who now had very limited options for cover in the light of the warehouse. Suddenly, Clive rushed towards his partner. In a less than graceful motion, he wrapped one arm around her and pulled her towards him, and then used his other arm to hold his Zorua against her, putting them all in one big Bewear hug. In doing so, they all suddenly vanished, invisible to human eyes. Minimizing the area the Zorua needed to manage helped ease the burden, allowing him to successfully guise them.

    "Did you hear that?" A man and a woman about Yulia's age, dressed in plain jeans and t-shirts with Pokeballs at the hip, walked by. "The lights probably just scared some Rattata or something."

  6. #86
    The Ashen One
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    Her heart was beating so hard she was afraid Clive would hear it. Yulia's headache quickly skipped to a migraine, and she could feel her throat constricting, her airways becoming narrow ducts for survival. This wasn't supposed to go this way; she had trained too long and too hard to give herself away during her first stakeout. Her thoughts were torrential; she was begging with her own body, her own consciousness, to let this pass, to do whatever they wanted when they were safer, away from Clive, but she knew they had never listened before. Worse, the people were coming, and though Clive might be safe--his Zorua was used to hiding him, after all--she was left in the open, vulnerable, ready to sabotage their entire mission.

    She flipped through alibis in her head. She was just lost, that was it, a poor lost woman who had wandered into this warehouse by accident, and Couldn't you kind strangers guide me home? Or she'd been looking for a Pokemon, a Happiny maybe, something uncommon enough that they would quickly dismiss her. It was too hard to think of anything believable with the pain that seized her. Perhaps it was time to give in, to use her little curse to her benefit. After all, who could hurt someone like her?

    But suddenly her body clamped up, and Yulia felt herself falling. She squinted through blurred vision to make sense of what was happening. Was she fainting? But this warmth, this touch--Clive? Her hands weakly felt the back of his coat, then his neck, the brush of his hair. He was holding her. Why? Had he caught on to her condition? "Clive," she tried to speak, but footsteps drummed through her eardrum. The trespassers were so close, but they couldn't see them. Had Shadow managed after all? She closed her mouth, her eyes, and wrapped her arms around Clive. Could he feel her heartbeat now? Could he feel the way she was shaking? What would he make of that?

    And just like that, it was over. Pain fell from her body, discarded, and Yulia opened her eyes. She adjusted her glasses and looked up, into the face of the man who was holding her. She smirked at that. Had the stoic detective fallen for her after all? She moved away from him, still caught in his embrace, and took inventory of her surroundings. She knew this place, those people, their voices. How... did she get here? Yulia bit her lip, trying to recount her steps. She'd been in the hotel, in the bathroom, had glanced in the mirror and--then what? Why couldn't she remember?

    She didn't want to be here. This man was making her feel trapped, suffocated, and she needed some fresh air. She wanted to talk to the people by the entrance. What were their names again? But they couldn't see her, and she knew, deep down, she had to keep it that way. She could at least do that.

    The strangers seemed to hold her gaze, but Yulia knew better. Shrugging off whatever they thought they'd heard, they continued into the warehouse, downstairs, out of view. After a few minutes, there was a crash, a swear, then footsteps up the stairs. They reemerged with a small box. It was a plain thing, though it had dark, colorful markings on its side and a port for some sort of plug in the back. Yulia knew this, for some reason, and knew what the box contained. They were stealing mega stones.

    Her hands started shaking. How could she let them walk away, knowing what these grunts would do to the Pokemon they decided to experiment on? Those stones were made for other reasons, were for research; they were not ready to be introduced into the world yet. But the hitch in Clive's breaths, the strain of Zorua's illusion; it would be smarter to stay put. She watched helplessly as the two left the warehouse, leaving her alone with Clive and his exhausted illusion Pokemon.

    Once they were safe, Yulia inched away from Clive. "They're going to get into trouble for that," she mentioned absently. Would Clive want to follow them? Or see if they left the door unlocked? She looked him over, his features blanketed by the darkness in the warehouse. "You look not so hot," she said, brow raised. "Did something happen?" Something told her she was talking too lazily, too freely. How did she usually talk to this man again...? She turned away from him, trying to make sense of her situation. She and Clive, at an Avarice base, in daylight; it had been a stakeout. At least, she guessed as much. It was almost as if something had caused all her memories from the past couple hours to just... vanish.

    There was no time to think on it. Yulia adjusted her glasses again, straightened her skirt. "We should go," she suggested, not caring if Clive followed her. The outside was too bright, and she squinted at the painful reflection in her glasses. She didn't know the way to the hotel, or if she even had a key. Had she brought a key? She must have. She wasn't that forgetful. She pulled a couple of cigarettes from her purse and juggled them both between her fingers. "Clive, sweetheart," she murmured, assuming he was somewhere within earshot, "would you be so... kind..." The cigarettes fell to the grass beneath her, unlit, and as her words trailed she winced. We're safe now. Her eyes closed, and she lost her balance, falling forward onto the grass. Her breathing took a few moments to stabilize, but her consciousness was gone. If anyone came back to the warehouse, the passed out woman lying in the grass would be the first thing they'd see.
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  7. #87
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    Clive watched in complete silence as the strangers walked by, unknowing of his and Yulia's presence. One hand idly scratched at Shadow's neck as he comforted the Pokemon as it strained to use its ability to keep the party safe. The detective watched patiently as he observed the trespassers' decent down the stairs, wondering about the mysterious red eye that had attacked him through the door earlier. Was it a Pokemon? Did it follow these people's commands, or did they have some way to subdue the thing or otherwise keep themselves safe?

    He wished he could venture closer, toe that line between recklessness and cunning that he normally would, but he could not risk compromising Yulia and Shadow's safety. The last thing he needed was a leg to go numb and him stumbling down the stairs. As they waited, he would occasionally draw a long breath, expanding his chest and abdomen as his lungs filled with air, before slowly breathing out. When he did so, he could feel a warmness push any tingling side effects from his earlier confrontation away, towards his fingertips and the tips of his toes.

    Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the trespassers emerged and left, as quickly as they came. Clive noticed the box they were holding and memorized it appearance, but was not sure what to make of the thing. They could then hear the van start up and drive off, vanishing into the sound of the city. At once, the entire group seemed to come back online, able to move freely. Clive set down his Zorua, giving him a once over glance before returning the Pokemon to its Pokeball. "Thanks, Shadow."

    "Yeah well you try looking hot after getting zapped," he mumbled, slowly feeling at the Pokeballs under his coat until he found the right one and held it in front of him. "You weren't looking so hot yourself not too long ago." He tossed out his Pokeball, bringing back his Houndour. If the trespasser left something behind, they would have a scent Houndour could use later. Until Clive could find something of the sort, he could at least let the Pokemon memorize whatever new smells were added to the warehouse in hopes they would come up later. He guided the Pokemon with some gestures, but did not allow it to descend the stairs with him. Despite his instincts pleading him not to, Clive forced himself to pull at the large metal door a second time, only to find it was still locked. He hurried back up the stairs without looking back, and lead his Houndour back up to the entrance of the warehouse.

    The detective halted soon after stepping out the front entrance, giving his Houndour a chance to smell the door frame and handles before stepping forward. He watched his partner carefully as she dug through her purse. Was he better off having her around or not, he wondered. His caution turned into bewilderment when Yulia spoke to him, raising an eyebrow quizzically as he waited for her to finish her sentence. That did not happen. Rather, the woman dropped to the ground, her blue hair a flourish of lightning behind her as she suddenly descended. "Yules? Yulia!"

    Clive stumbled forward, a grunt escaping his lips as his feet pounded on the grass beneath him and he reached Yulia's side. He carefully turned her over, calling to her periodically as he did. She was still breathing and had a pulse, which had both stabilized relatively quickly. "Well, better now then 15 minutes ago," he eventually muttered, reaching for his Pokegear, which was still just a blank screen. "Fuck." Since Yulia seemed stable, Clive decided to continue to monitor her until she either awoke or he felt she was unconscious for too long.

  8. #88
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    Her dreams swelled with cries of torment, of tortured Pokemon, of shattered stones. When Yulia finally did wake, she couldn't be sure she was away from her nightmare. She sat up suddenly, bringing her headache back in a flash. The world was too bright. It was still daylight, so she couldn't have been out long--right? The trees were swaying, and bird Pokemon were flying far in the distance. She was in front of the warehouse again, with Clive. As memories competed with hallucinations, Yulia could only pinch her eyes shut and grab for the only other human around. She pulled herself close to Clive, a terrified child against his chest, and willed it all to go away.

    She knew she was in trouble. Her memory was compromised, just like it always seemed to be after one of her spells. She remembered those people, the Avarice grunts? They were coming, and she and Clive were hiding, and--oh, he had grabbed her. Like she was grabbing him now. Completely out of line.

    Red flashed across her cheeks and Yulia jumped away from Clive. What had she been thinking? Passing out on him like this, and then grabbing him like they were friends, or worse--what was wrong with her? She turned away, keeping her gaze steadily on the grass. She located a pair of cigarettes, ones she must have dropped but didn't remember grabbing. If Clive was here with her, out in the open, it meant they were safe from whatever threat had come earlier, at least for now. It meant, whatever had happened, she hadn't ruined this after all.

    Yulia looked back to Clive. How would she begin to explain what had happened? She didn't even know if he'd want to hear it now. All the ways this could have gone wrong played in her mind, bloody scenes that would continue to haunt her. And that touch--would he hate her for grabbing him? He'd done it first, maybe, but that was out of necessity. That hug just a few minutes ago, she still wasn't sure why she'd done it. To remind herself of reality? How could she tell him that?

    Yulia cleared her throat, and the quiet sound was deafening in her ears. She tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness fell over her, and she thought it better to stay put for now. "How long was I out?" she asked, but then waved him off. She didn't want to know, or, rather, Clive couldn't accurately answer that. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, expecting her words to be ignored or, worse, thrown in her face. "I think... we should go back to the hotel for now." She tried to fight the dizziness, and soon she was on her feet, though unsteady as a newborn Spoink. She needed Clive's help, but she was afraid to ask for it, lest he think her even more incapable--if that were even possible. The beating in her head was alarming still. Had she taken something for that already? How much? The last thing she needed now was to overdose on painkillers.

    Between the headache and the dizziness, Yulia didn't know how to read Clive's expression. She couldn't comfort him, didn't know how to. How many more strikes until he refused her help on this case altogether? "I'm sorry," she said again. "I... I can explain. When we get back. Okay?"
    Last edited by Ashen; 05-20-2020 at 09:36 PM.
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    Finally, Yulia awoke. Clive felt like he was waiting for an eternity, but the logical part of his mind continued to remind him that only minutes had passed. As always, he was grateful for following logic over any compulsive emotion that might have caused him to panic. "Hey hey hey," he called gently when Yulia sprung up, almost as quickly as she had fallen. Clive hovered one arm behind his partner in case she would suddenly fall backwards.

    He watched in cautious silence as Yulia gained her bearings, clearly not recognizing his presence right away. Without any experience in this kind of thing, Clive could hardly venture a guess as to what kind of episode Yulia had just experienced. It was almost like the way she carried herself, spoke to him, basically did anything, changed for a while. Until, of course, she ate grass. It was just Clive's luck that his partner was a mystery all her own, waiting to be solved in parallel to his current case.

    The detective drew a sharp breath through his teeth when he was unexpectedly grabbed, and his partner dug herself into his chest. Without a doubt, Clive was caught off guard by the sudden embrace, and was not completely sure what to do. What did Yulia need? Was she still delirious? Trying to sort out her bearings? He slowed his breathing, as if to not disturb the delicate and mysterious person clinging on to him. Maybe the confusing and unexplained curiosities surrounding this woman was why he kept her around... A uniquely challenging case, or...?

    Clive was soon released, presumably when Yulia realized what she was doing, and the pair distanced themselves from each other. Rather, Yulia moved away as much as she could while being seated, and Clive rose to his feet. The man turned back towards the warehouse and took a few steps towards it, shielding his subtle scowl from view. How silly he just was, he thought. Handling Yulia like some kind of fragile dove, trying to wrap his head around what she might have needed during a moment of weakness, forgetting that she would never truly lean on him in that way- at least when she was in her right mind.

    He quickly shook off the notion. Just learn from the mistake and get back to business, he thought. Soon Yulia was back up on her feet, though her legs appeared shaky and not ready for a long journey. "There's no need to rush if you need some more time," Clive said as he approached. He eyed her carefully, eventually deciding he did not want to waste time taking her to a doctor. How was he supposed to get her back to the hotel without looking suspicious?

    It was not a far walk back to the hotel, but Clive was sure he did and Yulia both looked quite out of sorts, especially when he realized Yulia was still too shaky to walk. Even if he wanted to, which he very much did not, Clive would not be able to carry her all the way back while shaking off the last bit of the shock he took earlier.

    Regardless if Yulia protested or not, Clive insisted they wait a few more minutes before they finally started back to the hotel. When the time came, Clive offered a hand, arm, shoulder, whatever it was Yulia may have needed to help her make the trek. They used their key card to enter one of the side door. Luckily, it was the middle of a work day, so they did not run into any other hotel guests on their way up the elevator and into their room. Once he was sure Yulia was seated on her bed, Clive dropped down onto his. After a minute had passed he turned to one side and reached for his laptop, and began to tiredly punch in a few notes with one hand, though the progress was slow.

  10. #90
    The Ashen One
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    The minutes they spent waiting outside the warehouse were torturous. Yulia's thoughts were frenzied. She couldn't bare being this close to Clive and not saying anything. What was going through his mind? She felt she needed to say something, but what was there to say? How could she fix this? She clutched her head, wishing the world would eat her whole. No, she thought, she couldn't let this get together. Hadn't she made it through the Academy, blackouts and all? She had a case to solve, villains to stop, Pokemon to save. Now was not the time to give up.

    Somehow, the minutes passed, and though Yulia still wasn't quite ready, she needed to get away from this place. She fought through the nausea smiling, trying to convince Clive she was well enough to go, knowing he didn't believe her but not fighting her anymore. Together, they were able to get her back to the hotel, past the lobby and up to their room, then back onto her bed, room spinning. She spent several minutes trying to gather her bearings before glancing over to Clive. He busied himself with his computer, typing far too loudly--or was that the headache? He was typing slowly... Was that on purpose? Something had happened to him at the warehouse, but she was struggling to remember what. In everything that had happened to her, she'd completely forgotten about what Clive was going through himself.

    Guilt tinting her cheeks, she turned away. Couldn't she do anything without bringing so much attention to herself? "Do you... need anything?" she dared to ask, though she doubted her ability to fetch him anything. Absently, a hand snaked through her purse, to a smooth bottle. Yulia poured the painkillers into her hand and swallowed them without a drink. She then turned to face him. "Hey, Clive," she murmured, "I'm... I'm sorry for back there. I don't... really remember all of it, unfortunately, but I'm sorry for what I put you through. I'm sorry for making you watch over me. I'm sorry for not being there for you." She searched his expression, tried to read the room. Was it safe, now, to tell him more? Was it too dangerous to remain silent?

    She nudged her purse off the bed, and she shifted so the skirt of her dress covered her legs when she turned to face him fully. A part of her told her to stop before she had even begun, but she had to weigh how much danger she could put Clive in like this. Memories from that scene traveled back to her, the grunts, the strain of Clive's poor Zorua. If she had been smarter, hadn't been like this, how different could things have turned out? And what even happened after that? She shook her head, and her gaze fell to the floor. Quietly, calmly, she started speaking.

    "I had told you about the festival I went to as a kid, how I went with my parents, and got led away by a Drifloon, and found by a Hypno. However, I didn't... quite tell you all of it. I was under the Hypno's spell for what felt like years, and when a Ninetales crossed my path, I considered it a blessing. I mean, everyone knows the legend of Ninetales, right? If you pull one of its tails, you'll be cursed. I was just seven years old, I didn't know any better, and I thought... I hoped... That if I pulled one of its tails, my curse would be death."

    Had she ever uttered those words aloud? She swallowed, hard.

    "Well, obviously, it wasn't. Instead, the Ninetales gave me this... condition. It's why all of my doctors visits have come up ordinary. Medically, there's nothing wrong with me. You can't test for curses with a stethoscope. I just black out at random. Sometimes I can feel it coming. Sometimes I don't remember afterwards, when it happened or what I was doing. It's... been something I've dealt with for almost all my life now."

    A small voice in her mind called out to her, calling her an idiot. Would Clive not run away, now? She was a liability out in the field; what would he want her as a partner for?

    Yulia's gaze rose to his face, and the expression in her dark eyes was unreadable. "I don't tell people," she went on, "because I don't want them to see weakness when they look at me. I don't want to be the traumatized girl or the lady who passes out. I'm a private investigator. I made my way through the Academy with little support and a lot to hold me back, but I did it, because this--bringing down Avarice, and stopping the torture of Pokemon, of people, and making this world a better place to live in--that means everything to me."

    She was talking too much. Yulia turned away, going over what she'd just said. Was it all for nothing? Clive had every right to be angry at not disclosing this sooner, but would that affect their dynamic? This mission? She shook her head. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," she said quietly. "You're... the only person I've ever told, actually. This must be a lot. I'm sorry." Again, being with Clive was making her anxious. Had she just ruined it all? She needed a cigarette, or some fresh air, but she doubted her legs would carry her outside now. She just had to wait for Clive's reaction now, and deal with it, somehow.
    Last edited by Ashen; 05-30-2020 at 03:19 AM.
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