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

  1. #121
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    The festival officially began, and the bustling crowds that went with it began to flow through the streets. The constant fanfare of drums and horns served as the city's heartbeat for the day, the energy seeming to burst through the yellow bricks that lined the streets. There was much to see, and plenty to do, but the pair of detectives had a specific mission that they were determine to succeed. Upon reaching their post, they passed the time, all the while scouting for the expected dangers. As time went on, Clive began to question if Sabrina's abilities really had any merit. It was too early to prove or disprove their effectiveness. After all, the Little Cup had not even started.

    Upon being motioned by his partner, Clive directed his attention to the suspicious man wearing gold and yellow, who was then accompanied by a woman dressed in a similar pattern. The distance made it difficult to be sure that the pair was the same duo at the warehouse and captured in the surveillance footage, but Clive was leaning towards the affirmative. He hummed in response to Yulia's statement, turning his head to try to get a better look at the pair. "Odd. Almost seems too obvious, the way their dressed. Don't think I would have even recognized them from this far away otherwise. It's not like an ugly wardrobe is a crime though, so just keep an eye on them for now."

    The Little Cup carried on while the detectives minded their mission. The suspicious duo also stayed nearby, not much further than a few strides from the battlefield outlined in white paint on the ground. It was not until the last few rounds of the Little Cup approached, leaving only the final four contestants, that the black and gold pair decided to wander away from the event. "So after sitting through all those boring little kid battles, they decide to step away when only the best trainers are left?" Clive wondered aloud, quietly enough to keep his thoughts between him and Yulia. As tempting as it was to split up and keep an eye on both the suspicious pair and the Little Cup, it was unwise to do so after the uncertainty left from the morning's events. Clive noted as much to his partner. "We can just radio the others to watch out for those two. We can't risk leaving our post unattended."

    The semi-finals of the Little Cup began, the match squaring off a young girl in a red dress and her Litleo against a boy and his Spearow. Although they made some tactical errors, both trainers made their commands with a confidence that surpassed what was offered by most of the young trainers until that point. Clive wondered if these kids were naturally talented, or if maybe they had parents that were strong trainers. He was suddenly hyperaware of the damaged Pokeball that nested inside of his coat, its weight pressing against his chest. Would he have had the same encouragement to battle, or even take on a Gym challenge, if his parents were there? There was no way to know for sure.

    The battle concluded when a well-timed Aerial Ace landed, knocking out Litleo. The small crowd applauded when the victorious trainer offered his opponent a handshake, praising her and her Pokemon for a fun battle. The female trained looked apprehensive at first, before smiling and shaking the boy's hand. "That leaves only two more battles," Clive said to Yulia, as he scanned the area. With a couple taps of his fingers, he summoned his Rotom from where it rested in his pocket. "This is Clive," he said, speaking into Rotom to transmit over the radio. "Two more battles of the Little Cup. Anyone see our black and gold friends in a while?"

    After a long moment of silence, Clive clenched his phone angrily. "Were you even transmitting? I knew I should have just taken the radio," he grumbled as he shook the device, the Rotom inside shouting in surprise. He stopped when a response came.

    "I thought I saw them both go inside the Mr. Mime Maze. Must have gotten lost in there. It's been a bit."

  2. #122
    The Ashen One
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    Yulia considered Clive’s observations about the pair they were watching. Their clothing was too obvious, as if they were trying to pull the attention of the people looking for them. A distraction? But from what? She scanned the arena, taking note of the Pokemon currently on the field. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary there. Her gaze swept the fairgrounds, and still she saw nothing unusual. Whatever their purpose was, the black-and-gold-clad trainers were definitely suspicious, and Yulia was beginning to think Avarice was definitely onto them after all. For an organization that had been so elusive for so many years, there was no way they would plant such an obvious trap.

    But as the battles carried on, Yulia still couldn’t figure out what they were trying to distract from. The young trainers carried out their battles, and the festival continued all around them, but other than that, nothing strange was going on. She shot a glance towards Clive, wondering if he had noticed anything, but from his expression she knew he too was waiting for something to happen. Though there was something else there, deep in his eyes, and as Yulia followed his gaze back to the trainers, she wondered if Clive saw himself in them. Or perhaps he saw the opposite, if he wished he’s grown up like they would, encouraged to battle, instead of in the shadow of an infamous detective. She tried to imagine what his upbringing would have been like, but her parents had been famous battlers, and she couldn’t imagine it any other way. “It’s never too late to try,” she mumbled, eyes trained on the battlefield, wondering if Clive had even heard her.

    After the first of the semifinal battles, Clive retrieved Rotom from his pocket. Yulia watched him get frustrated with it with a hidden smile. He spoke with their current partners, who told them of the pair they’d asked them to keep an eye on. If the two had gone off to enjoy the rest of the festival, maybe their worrying was for nothing. But Yulia couldn’t have faith in that at all. She looked back to the battlefield, at the two new trainers stepping up to their places. They were very similar, perhaps brothers, and though their skills were equally matched, the Aron was no match for the Buizel, and one of the boys walked away victorious. With only one battle remaining, Yulia was sure to pay special attention to the people gathered around. She didn’t notice anything unordinary, but she knew how quickly that could change.

    Then, the last battle was underway. Spearow faced off against Buizel, and both trainers looked like they were having the times of their lives. The crowd too was bubbling with excitement, and Yulia smiled at the scene. Everyone was cheering for the youngsters, and even she found herself rooting for one more than the other. Between watching the battle and watching for suspicious activity, Yulia commented to Clive about the kids out there, about their futures as trainers, about how she never would have had the confidence to do something like this. And just as the Buizel was ready to end the battle with a final Water Pulse, as the crowd got ready to cheer their excitement, a black fog filled the arena, thick and suffocating and the cue they’d been looking for.

    Yulia was alert in an instant. She was already on the move, squinting through the fog to see what was happening. A smokescreen? People at the front of the arena were choking on the fumes, and she could hear the young trainers crying. She hopped the partition between the arena and the stands, not willing to wait for the smoke to dissipate. Finally it was her time to shine.

    She trudged through the dark air, holding her breath and ignoring the sting of her eyes. Already her fingers flew to her purse, where she pulled a Poke Ball and threw it into the air. “Valkyrie!” she called to the Braviary that came from the ball. “Whirlwind!” The powerful bird didn’t hesitate; he flapped his powerful wings in an attempt to clear the smoke. In a corner of the battlefield, Yulia found one of the battlers in tears, and she learned from him that his Spearow was missing. She first led the child away from the smoke and left him in the care of one of the festival workers. Next, she returned to the battlefield, this time in search of clues from Avarice.

    It didn’t take long to find one. As the smoke cleared, she noticed a young man with a Buizel in his hands. He held the failing Pokemon upside down, as if about to lose his grip. Yulia called to him, startling him. She didn’t know where her partner was, but she wasn’t going to let this criminal out of her sight. She chased after him, running him into a corner between a few game stalls and a large souvenir shop, and there, she summoned her Beartic to stand behind her and ensure he had no way of escape. “You are going to give that Buizel back to the child you stole it from,” she snarled.

    The man swore, trapped. He released the Buizel, who scampered away in search of its trainer. But Yulia wasn’t going to let the man off that easily. She descended upon him, determined to get her answers. “You’re going to tell me just who is behind this,” she growled, and she couldn’t help but think the voice that came from her throat was not at all hers.

    A few minutes later, she had the man in handcuffs, and a local police officer stood beside her. According to him, they had already caught another man, too, and all the Pokemon stolen had been returned. Yulia sighed. The two men caught were not the people she and Clive had noticed before, but according to the one she’d caught up with, they were affiliated with Avarice. It almost seemed… too easy. Leaving the criminal in the police officer’s custody, Yulia went back to the arena in search of Clive.

    When she found him, she caught him up on what he didn’t know about what had happened. “It’s too easy,” she kept saying. “That was too easy.” And she couldn’t shake the feeling that something much, much worse was about to go down.
    Thanks to Craze for the beautiful Bravely set!

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  3. #123
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    The interruption of the final battle of the Little Cup was sudden, shocking most of the onlookers and the participants. Smoke quickly filled the area, blackening the view and causing those unlucky enough to be too close to struggle to breath, let alone see. Unlike his partner, who was quick to move and bolt into the fray, Clive lingered in his spot for a while longer. His eyes studied the perimeter, trusting that the active security and Yulia would take care of what was happening within the fog. He carefully reached towards his belt to grasp one of his Pokeballs while announcing the sudden disturbance over the radio. When Clive did finally approach the smoke and the crowd fleeing from it, assisting civilians as they tried to navigate their way out, Yulia had already been within the cloud for a nearly a minute.

    He could hear Yulia command her Braviary, and shielded his eyes as the smoke was pushed away from the area by a powerful Whirlwind. Now that things were clear, it was obvious that Sabrina's prediction was correct. One of the men dashed away from the arena, leaping over barriers and weaving his way through the coughing onlookers with a sac over his shoulder. Meanwhile, his partner struggled with a Buizel, and soon he was also on the run. "Shadow," he called, releasing the obedient Zorua from its ball. "Surround him." Noting that Yulia was already chasing after the man trying to kidnap the Buizel, Clive pointed in the direction of the other man, who seemed to have a bit of a head start.

    Even from a distance, Clive could see that man begin to shift his path. His sprint came to a sudden halt, and he began to dash a different direction, before stopping and starting to go another, before crashing straight into one of the vendor stalls. Spearow wrestled itself free from the sac and flew in circles, disoriented, before spotting its trainer and descending down, uninjured. In moments, officers that were on duty rushed to the criminal sprawled on the floor, and put him in cuffs. "That was impressive, Shadow. The range of your illusions is farther than ever." Clive flashed his Zorua a rare smile, and even went as far as to stoop down and scratch the Pokemon's head.

    Once both culprits were in police custody, Yulia returned, and the pair reconvened briefly. "It is too easy. Something isn't right." Clive looked over towards Rotom, who had been hovering nearby, a few feet above Shadow. "Hey, did we reestablish a visual on those two in the maze?" he called over the radio.

    "I'm going in to find out," replied a voice emanating from the Rotom-phone. "They have not come back out this whole time."

    Clive's eyes furrowed, concern evident in his expression. He glanced over to Yulia, before scratching his chin and looking a different direction. "Well, we're not out of the woods just yet, but there's plenty of security here in case something else happens. We need to get whatever information we can out of the two we bagged, in the meanwhile. C'mon, we'll be the first to speak with them once they're booked."

    They began to walk with the arresting officers that pulled the two Avarice members out of the fairgrounds. As they walked, some onlookers cheered or shouted some choice words at the criminals, who both ignored the crowd around them. They seemed to be well-prepared for the arrest, behaving in a way that was compliant where legally required but never saying anything that added to their crimes. Clive imagined that booking and interrogation would be no different. The observation was a little concerning, as most Avarice grunts that were arrested never seemed as calm and collected during their arrests. Naturally, they probably never planned to get caught. So why were these guys so different?

    As they neared the edge of the fairgrounds, the voice over the radio echoed out of Rotom once again. "We shut down the maze and looked all over. The other two are gone." Clive sighed heavily, whispering an obscenity under his breath as he glanced over to Yulia, before nodding and affirming that they should still continue as planned.

    A short while after they returned to the Saffron precinct, the detectives were standing near the interrogation rooms. "Damn it, why is it taking them so long to book two guys?" Clive wondered aloud, staring down the hall. He was still unsettled by the calmness of the pair that were arrested, and the two missing suspects. The sooner they could start interrogating, the sooner he might have some answers.

    "Detectives!" A shout came from around the corner, and an officer soon followed the sound. "Team Avarice members were spotted at the Magnet Train station! They're not letting anyone in or out and all trains are stopped!"

    "Shit." Clive stared right through the officer, his brows furrowing tightly as he focused his thoughts. He turned towards Yulia, opening his mouth to speak, and then paused as Rotom flew in front of him to make him aware of an incoming call. "We need to move, interrogation later," he said, grabbing the phone and rushing towards the exit of the precinct. He snatched Rotom out of the air, answering the call as he marched and placing the phone up to his ear. His determined, steady, march faltered. His feet dragged, until he finally slowed to a complete halt. His brows were no longer pinched together tightly, the furious look of determination gone from his face. Any tightness that was on his face was in his jaw, which was clenched like a vice. "Chief," he finally barked back into the phone. "They cut off the Magnet Train. We won't be back for a while. Yeah, I know." The phone suddenly hung up, and Clive stared at it in his hand as he urged his legs to move forward again.

    Once he caught back up to Yulia, nearly every wrinkle and vein in his forehead was visible. "They are attacking the Gym as well as looting the trucks going into the Department Store in Goldenrod. The Magnet Train station in Goldenrod is also being taken over, I'm guessing so that they can make their escape with everything they plan to steal."

  4. #124
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    It was just too easy. Yulia couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong, even as she and Clive left the fairgrounds to head to the police department. The criminals they’d apprehended were almost docile, and as they were taken away, she thought something odd about that, too. They were taking too long; she wanted to get the interrogations over and done with so she could be ready for the next attack. And there would be a next attack; it was almost too obvious. The criminals almost expecting their arrests, the missing maze-pair from earlier… There was too much suspicion surrounding this mission, and she longed to get to the bottom of it.

    But before they could start the interrogations, a new disturbance interrupted them. Yulia turned suddenly at the newcomer, and their words made her heart sink. If Avarice was holding up the trains, that meant they were trying to make sure no one could leave Saffron. They had something planned in the city, and Yulia and Clive needed to be there before things got too ugly.

    She started off after her partner, nodding her agreement that the interrogations could wait. Her mind was filling with her fears: The Little Cup event was just a red herring, and now the real danger was going to occur at the station. Was trusting Sabrina the right thing to do? She thought to her contact, the one who had told her to go to Saffron in the first place. They’d been right, but they hadn’t been referring to the Little Cup business. There was still a chance for her to be a hero today, she just needed to get to the station and stop whatever madness Avarice had planned next.

    Until Clive stopped walking. Yulia stopped suddenly to turn to him, unasked question lingering on her lips. He’d been on the phone, and when he brought her up to speed, her heart fell. The Little Cup fiasco had been a red herring, but it was a distraction from what was going on back home. Avarice wasn’t cutting off the railways to keep people in Saffron. It was to keep them out of Goldenrod.

    A heavy feeling swelled in the pit of her stomach. A light drumming echoed in the back of her mind, announcing the incoming headache. She’d been wrong. As much as she was trying to not jump to conclusions, she felt that she was wrong. Something serious was happening back home, and she wasn’t even there to deal with it. Yulia tried to shake her thoughts clear. Now wasn’t the time. She had to get to the station and do what she could.

    When the two arrived at the train station, they had to fight through a wall of reporters and officers standing around outside. The entrance was blockaded, and several children trapped inside the station were screaming. A woman in uniform was talking to a police officer, and Yulia overheard that Avarice had taken over by force, using their tortured Pokemon. Yulia turned to Clive, a hand already digging for a Poke Ball. “We’ve gotta get in there,” she announced. She summoned her Beartic, and she together they started for the entrance, ignoring the officers trying to stop her. The barricade couldn’t hold against the force of a Beartic’s headbutt, and the metal beams fell, crumbled, to the floor. As soon as Yulia was inside, she scanned the place, the many panicked faces of the innocent bystanders, and she locked eyes with three people in Avarice uniforms. They looked more bored than anything, and when they saw Yulia, one of them stepped forward, an amused smile on his face. “I’m not supposed to let anyone on,” he said. “You should run on before you get hurt.”

    Yulia snarled. She looked to the train, doors locked, dozens of people trapped inside. Avarice had taken control of the rails. Her first priority should have been freeing all these people, but her heart drummed to a different beat. She had to stop them. She had to do whatever it took to stop Avarice, and she didn’t care how long the people around her had to wait.

    The grunt summoned an Arcanine from a black Poke Ball. The poor thing appeared to be in severe pain; it was panting, snarling, and flames flew from its body wildly, uncontrolled. It wasn’t wise to fight here, Yulia knew, but if she could distract them, maybe Clive could do something. Though the other two grunts turned away, unamused with the impending battle, and she knew it would be rough to get past them. They were trapped.

    Thinking of a plan was near impossible with the headache getting worse. All her training for this moment was swimming in her head. She needed to handle this professionally, but… Before she had a chance to think, a blast of flames was heading straight towards her and her Beartic. She jumped out of the way, flames nearly brushing her skin. She recalled Zita, knowing it was the safer option. They couldn’t fight. She tucked her Poke Ball away and tried to soften her expression. “I’m not here to battle you,” she tried, her voice verging on angry. “I’d like to understand the situation so we can help each other.”

    But the grunt saw through her rehearsed words. “We don’t need your help.” He rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m not here to talk with a cop. All I gotta do is keep you from getting back home, so we can sit here all day. Try to negotiate all you want. It won’t work.”

    Yulia raised a brow. How did the grunt know she wasn’t from here? That she was trying to go back to Goldenrod? Avarice was directly targeting her and Clive, then, and all these people were endangered because of them. She tried to swallow the guilt. Yulia turned to Clive. There had to be another way to get back to Goldenrod. All the people at the police department, and the department store, Whitney and her trainers… What was going to happen to them? “Do we have word from the port?” she asked him. It was the only other way to get back to Johto, and if Avarice was so desperate to keep them away, that was exactly where they needed to be.
    Thanks to Craze for the beautiful Bravely set!

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  5. #125
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    Blood boiled as it traveled through Clive's veins, while he and Yulia made a mad dash for the Saffron Magnet Train station. Knowing that their colleagues and innocent civilians were in danger served as a source of pressure, hastening them forward as they scrambled through the city streets to get to their destination. Naturally, with their thoughts scrambled, they moved towards the closest source of their distress in hopes they could quell the closest problem that they could.

    Images of the recent events flashed in Clive's mind as he weaved his way through the streets. The warehouse, the red eyes behind the door, the van full of Avarice members... the charcoal feather, and the hooded artist who used teleportation to help deliver its message. What could it have meant? Why were these all connected, and when did Avarice decide to start toying with the pair of detectives that were on their trail? A rock sat at the bottom of his stomach and his heart writhed as he struggled to balance his thoughts with the red-hot emotions he harbored.

    The familiar weight of the broken Pokeball pressed against his chest, and for a moment the thoughts slowed down as the memory of his father gently took their place. Was this a time to avoid making the same mistakes his father had? To avoid being bold and to prevent passion from getting in the way of logical thought? If not, was it instead a time to take a page out of the old man's book? To stow away fear and doubt, and accomplish what needed to be done without regard to the costs?

    The answer came quickly, and Clive retook control of both his heart and mind. There was no time for doubts, and it was time to act. His steeled resolve became his armor for what was to come, both in the immediate future and once the dust settles. He and his partner neared the station, and he marched through the throng of onlookers and police. The barrage of questions, the flashing of cameras, and the thrusting of microphones all ricocheted off of Clive's hardened determination.

    He listened silently, the veins on his head still throbbing, as he and Yulia were briefed on the current situation. A small nod was all he offered in regards to approval of Yulia's plan to force through the barricade, though she hardly needed his opinion. "Just study them, Shadow," he said as he released his Zorua from its ball once again. "Stay hidden. And watch for my signals if we get into trouble." The Zorua nodded silently. Its eyes seemed to convey the same determined expression as Clive's. They slowly vanished into the thin air, as the Pokemon became invisible.

    Clive cleared his way through the damaged barricades, following the wake of Yulia and her Beartic's forced entry. Eagerly, his eyes took in the sights of what awaited them inside. They almost swept over the trio of Avarice members standing before them, immediately scanning the people beyond them. Most of them did not seem to be hurt, at least not severely, but their faces all pleaded for help. Hundred of pairs of eyes stared back at Clive and Yulia, and Clive could feel the calling to try to meet their wishes start to pull him closer. A noose roped around his neck, dragging him into the danger.

    He sighed loudly, snapping himself out of once more police followed in through the entrance that Yulia made, and easing the burden. His focus went back to the immediate danger ahead: the three abductors. "Yulia wait-..." he started, but before he knew it the situation was starting to get out of control, and his partner was soon in the beginnings of a battle with one of the Avarice hijackers.

    Despite being expected, the sight of the agonized Arcanine served to further infuriate Clive, but his steel cage prevented any of the emotion from coming out. It stayed as invisible as the Zorua hiding nearby. If his training served well, Shadow would be burning the image of the Arcanine in his mind, ready to be recalled again in a moment's notice. At the very least, that was one benefit to the senseless battle. If only Yulia had not approached so quickly, they could have tried to retake control of the situation.

    After the brief exchange that followed Yulia's refusal to battle, it was clear what the motivation of the hijackers was. It came to no surprise. There were little options for the detectives to consider though, without the means to overpower their adversaries. As it stood, any battles would greatly endanger innocent civilians, and it was unlikely they could win. Furthermore, each second lost was time that they could not be helping back home. "Shit," Clive sighed. At this rate, Avarice was likely to get away with stealing all of the battle supplies they could ask for in Goldenrod, and have free reign of the Magnet Train just long enough to make their getaway and redistribute the goods as they saw fit.

    "The fast ship? Is it running today?" Worst case, they could try to commandeer a boat if no one could offer up their service. Before Clive could even finish fabricating the thought, Rotom interjected himself, floating between the two detectives. "There are no reports of any obstructions at the port in Vermillion! The Fast Ship S.S. Aqua between Vermillion City and Olivine City will be running all day until nine PM tonight!"

    "We'll take care of this situation, you two get on home." Clive turned to identify the source of the voice behind them. It was their familiar Saffron counterpart, Zain. "There's no time to explain, but this whole thing is going to hit both of our cities very hard. You two get going and do what you need to do back home. I'm sorry to say we can't offer you much in terms of an escort, given the present circumstances." He tightened his blazer around himself as he stepped passed, and offered a small nod.

    "Let's go," Clive said. He waved two fingers towards exit, and upon leaving was greeted by Shadow, who he recalled. From there, he hurried southbound towards the gate that lead to Vermillion city.

    There was not much of a walk between Saffron and Vermillion. The city full of buildings with deep red roofs quickly came into view. The sudden change from the busy, loud, yellow festival of Saffron to the brilliant scarlet and relatively tame port-city was almost jarring, but the detectives hardly had time to notice as they continued their trek to the port. Not long after arriving, they tracked down a female police officer with blue hair that spread like sharp wings behind her shoulders. She quickly lead them to the ports, and was able to get them on a police-boat back to Goldenrod with little issue.

    Clive sat silently in the back of the boat, hunched over his hands as he rubber them together. The veins in his forehead had calmed, laying dormant beneath his skin as his blood cooled. For the most part, he was ghostly quiet as sat, silently wishing for the boat to move faster.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Natasha grimaced as the chief gave her and Jean their orders. With Clive and Yulia effectively stuck in Kanto, and with how unprepared the police department was for an attack on such a scale, they had no choice but to split up and help where they were needed. Splitting up with Jean made her nervous- her partner was too much of a macho man for his own good. Without someone that understood him to reel him in, he was likely to overextend his musclebound neck.

    "Don't worry about me, I'll keep those girls safe," the man beamed as they parted ways. She watched as he hurried away, towards the Goldenrod gym, and then hurried off with her small team to where the supply trucks were being hijacked.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    "Bust through, Rhyhorn!" Jean shouted as he neared the Goldenrod City gym. With a loud roar, his Rhyhorn charged ahead, plowing passed Avarice grunt after Avarice grunt before busting through the locked doors of the gym. Even then, the Pokemon did not stop, and continued to trample anything ahead of it until it reached the main stadium of the Gym. Soon after, Jean rushed in, panting loudly. His Machamp followed closely behind, stomping into the room with pounding steps.

    "What's going on in here!?" Jean demanded. "GRPD, no one move a muscle!" In the arena ahead of him, Whitney seemed to be locked in a battle with a girl decorated in Avarice colors. Behind Whitney, many of her Gym trainers sat on the ground, defeat painted across their shocked faces. In contrast, standing behind Whitney's opponent, Avarice grunts took stock of Pokeballs, money, and items they had nabbed.

    Whitney's opponent suddenly turned her head, shaking her straight, oil-black ponytail. She almost growled at the sight of Jean's badge. "How did you get in here?" She did not wait for a response, and waved a few of the other Avarice members over. "Take care of the cops, while I settle this." A smirk grew across her face as she turned back towards Whitney. "Wipe those tears out of your eyes! I'm going to end this, once and for all!"

    Jean grunted loudly as the four Avarice members approached him with their Pokeballs in hand. It was only a matter of time before the other members he rushed passed would follow him, leaving him surrounded. What was it that Natasha always made sure they did? "Secure the perimeter first, then you can let loose," he said, his booming voice calmly resounding from his chest. "Steelix, Tyrantrum, Rock Tomb!" In a flash, he released two more of his Pokemon. The entire Gym shook as the two Pokemon summoned large boulders, slamming them into the entrance that Rhyhorn had made. That should buy some time before Avarice reinforcements could make their way inside, Jean thought.

    He turned back towards the approaching Avarice grunts, chuckling as slapped his palms together and squeezed them. His large smile exposed his teeth, which were as blindingly white as the spiky hair atop his head. "Only the four of you? My Pokemon and me, we've been through much bigger battles than this. So come on!" With a final roar, the large man grew wild, tearing the buttons of his shirt apart and exposing the large collection of muscles underneath. Before the Avarice members could react, all six of Jean's Pokemon were let loose from their balls, standing intimidatingly around their leader as he continued to let out a loud roar. Steelix, Tyrantrum, Machamp, Rhyhorn, Hitmonlee, and Conkeldurr spanned, looming over the Avarice members as they readied the black Pokeballs in their hands.

  6. #126
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    Yulia couldn’t have been happier to hear the unwarranted voice of the Pokemon trapped in Clive’s phone. For once, the annoying thing had valuable information to offer, and as soon as they got to the port in Vermillion, they could board the S.S. Aqua back to Johto and stop the chaos going on back home. She nodded her acknowledgement to Clive, but before they left, she stopped and looked at all the people trapped on the train and at the station. Could they just leave them here? Yes, came the immediate reply, a hasty sentiment that darkened Yulia’s eyes. But before she could argue with herself, a voice from behind them gave them the permission to leave. Zain Hamsine. Though she didn’t want to leave him and his partners alone to deal with the situation, she knew she and Clive were needed elsewhere. With a gracious nod towards the local detective, Yulia started off in a run from the train station to the port in the next town.

    She barely noticed the change of scenery as they made their way from the city of gold to the city of crimson. The events at the Magnet Train station were replaying in her head. Her willingness to keep innocent people in danger without a second thought, to do whatever she needed to do in order to stop Avarice, scared her. Yulia thought back to all her peers at the Academy, the many people who had studied alongside her and had offered her support. They had all had dreams of saving the world, of protecting people, making a difference. She had repeated those same dreams to herself for years. She had studied to make a difference. She had become a detective to protect people. But the whole time, hadn’t she known that was a lie?

    They were able to get to Vermillion and board their ship without much issue, thanks to the help of a perky police officer. Once aboard, Yulia struggled to sit still. She opted instead to pace the back halls of the ship, lost in thought. Her head thundered incessantly, and she reached into her purse to fish the painkillers that would let her rest. Nightmares filled her mind, of what was happening back home, of what could happen if they didn’t get there soon enough. Wasn’t it all her fault? In her distracted pacing, she nearly collided with a man guiding a cart full of cleaning supplies towards the elevator. “Oh!” Yulia blurted in surprise. “I’m so sorry!” But the man just bowed with a forgiving smile and continued on his way, leaving Yulia suddenly aware of her surroundings. She noticed her partner, sitting still and silent, an unreadable expression in his eyes. So lost in her emotions, she hadn’t noticed how all this had been affecting him.

    She walked over to him and sat beside him. She had been trained in how to comfort people during crisis situations, but she knew none of those lessons would work on the cold detective. Instead, she placed a hand on his, a silent act of solidarity. Yulia didn’t know what he was thinking, or what he thought of her for leading them to Johto, but none of that was important when they had people to save.

    The detectives were off the ship as soon as it docked, taking off towards the Goldenrod Police Department. The often-crowded streets now were silent, eerie. Even from the port, she could see distant police vehicles and yellow tape stationed at the department store, the gym. Yulia dialed the police department on her cell, and she tried to get as many details as she could to save them from the trip to the police department. “The Department Store is mostly under control,” she repeated so that Clive could know, too. Natasha for the most part had taken control of the situation there. Yulia had faith the woman could handle herself, but something felt odd. “Natasha?” she repeated into the phone. “Where’s Jean?” They had been needed in different locations, and Jean had taken off alone to handle the situation at the gym. “Let’s go help him,” she told Clive after she had relayed the information to him. So, they changed course, heading now for the Goldenrod Gym, hoping they weren’t too late.

    They arrived at the gym to find several people in uniform securing the perimeter. Yulia learned from one of them that a few grunts had tried to enter the gym since they’d gotten there, but that they had handled it. Jean had blocked the entrance, trapping them outside to deal with reinforcements. Yulia thanked them for the information and summoned her Beartic, who, after a few moments and a variety of moves, was able to break through the boulder blocking the gym. Once inside, they immediately saw Jean. He was shirtless, with sweat dripping down his body and a crazed smile on his face. Across from him was an Avarice grunt, and behind her were four of her friends, already defeated. Whitney stood at the back of the gym, clutching an arm and panting, while her girls surrounded her, trying to make sure she was okay. She turned her attention to the ongoing battle, and that was when she saw the face of the last grunt. Sierra was back.

    “Jean!” Yulia called out, already summoning her Braviary as she ran towards him. From the looks of things, the battle had been going on for a while, and both side’s Pokemon looked exhausted. Sierra’s Nidoqueen looked beat, but normal, not in incredible pain, not like the Pokemon Avarice used. But the grunts behind her connected her to the organization, confirming their doubts from before. Yulia was sure her Valkyrie could finish things off, and then they could clean up the situation at the gym, at least. She commanded her Braviary to use Brave Bird in what she hoped would be the final attack of the battle.

    But Sierra crossed her arms over her chest. She looked to Yulia, then to Clive behind her, and pouted. “No fair,” she muttered. With a glance back towards Yulia, Sierra sighed. “Alright, now.”

    The gym shook with a new tremor, nearly knocking Yulia off her feet. Her eyes scanned the gym, but the quake was causing clouds of dust and sand to sting her eyes. She noticed Sierra starting away, but just as she was about to call out and stop her, she heard the ground shatter and Jean cry out in pain.

    All eyes turned to the man, who now lay bleeding on the floor. His legs were bent awkwardly, and his face scrunched up in pain. An Excadrill stood by him, eyes enraged and body shaking in incredible pain; an Avarice trap. The Pokemon looked over Jean again before burrowing back underground. Yulia ran to Jean, eyes wide, petrified. “Are you alright?” she asked, though the question was pointless. She turned, eyes scanning the gym for the one who’d done this. “Clive,” she said, voice harsh, strained, panicked. She pointed towards the exit, where she’d last seen Sierra. “Don’t let her get away.”

    Once Clive disappeared, Yulia turned her attention back to Jean. Guilt clouded her judgment, sent tears to her eyes. If she had gotten here sooner, would Jean have gotten hurt? If she had approached another way, would any of this had happened? Now wasn’t the time, she told herself. Hands shaking, she grabbed for her phone to call for rescue, hoping Clive would catch up to Sierra.
    Last edited by Ashen; 05-17-2021 at 03:19 PM.
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  7. #127
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    The news of Natasha and Jean splitting up to handle the overwhelming Avarice operations taking place rattled at Clive's mental cage, but it held fast. Logically, he knew that each of the detectives were formidable in their own rights and could handle themselves- but it was hard to ignore how much greater they were together than the sum of their parts. Still, if Natasha seemed to have control of the Department Store situation, it was clear that they would be most needed at the Gym. After urging their legs to carry them as fast as they can take them, the pair made their long overdue arrival. Clive readied his Pokeballs, sorting out his lineup, while watching Yulia's Beartic clear the entrance to the gym.

    Once inside, he took in the sights. Evidence of the multitude of battles that took place were everywhere. The defeated grunts standing behind their last-standing member, damaged walls, knocked over plants and decorations, and the Gym trainers and their leader huddled in the back of the gym. Clive looked towards the battle between Jean and the grunt as he cautiously began circling around them, in hopes of making his way to the terrified gym trainers. Priority number one was to extract the innocents safely. Jean may have been too preoccupied with the sheer number of Avarice trainers in the gym to execute such a task, but the fact that the building still had four walls surrounding it meant that he was holding back for the sake of the innocents trapped inside.

    Clive began to tread carefully, his senses keenly aware of his surroundings as he began the trek towards Whitney and her girls. He hardly managed to take a few steps before the earth began to rumble, kicking up dirt and sending various articles within the room flying. Clive saw the grunts hurry out of the gym through their newly created exit, before a loud shout came from Jean's direction. Through the dust, Clive saw the flash of blood and Jean crumple to the ground. Without hesitation, Clive leaped forward, stopping near Jean, but his eyes were transfixed elsewhere. He let out a loud sigh, before letting himself look down towards Jean.

    The large man was on his back, eyes squeezed shut and his teeth clenched, while he pressed his large hands on the wounds on his abdomen. Seeing Yulia join the man's side, Clive did not bother to kneel down.

    "They're safe, Jean," Clive said. "We'll get them out of here." The detective turned towards the exit that the Avarice grunts escaped through, the image of Jean's Conkeldurr blocking the falling debris from raining down on the Gym trainers burning in his mind. Would such a well-timed Wide Guard have protected Jean just as well?

    "Don't let her get away." Was Yulia giving orders now? Clive felt his cage rattle once again, and once again it held true. She was right anyway, with medical attention on the way for Jean and the officers outside coming in soon to escort the girls out of the gym, Clive's mission was clear, and without another word he sprinted out of the gym.

    After rushing out of the gym, Clive caught glimpse of the five Avarice members hopping over the fence on the edge of the city that lead into the woods. They were not taking the Magnet Train with the rest? He ran after them, taking hold of the top of the fence as he vaulted over it and continued the chase. As he ran, he released his Umbreon alongside him, who kept pace. The two weaved their way between the trees, laser focused on the group ahead of them as the slowly caught up. The moment they reached a small clearing, Sierra spun around, grimacing as the other grunts continued onward. Clive instantly understood something was not right with the picture, and the moment he saw Sierra's lips move to give a command he spun himself away, pressing firmly into his ankle.

    "I'm a bit smarter than that," he said, scowling as Excadrill erupted from the ground where he was just standing. "Keep him preoccupied, Umbreon," he commanded, and in an instant, the Umbreon charged into the Excadrill with a Take Down before Taunting it. Despite the visible pain and frustration the Excadrill endured, it turned its trembling body towards Umbreon, falling for the taunt.

    "What?" Sierra, gasped, exasperated by the failure. "Excadrill, what are you doing! Get him!" She began to shriek at the Pokemon as she gave her commands, her eyes widening as Excadrill ignored her and continued to swipe at Umbreon. The detective was approaching her quickly, his dark eyes furrowed in a furious scowl as marched through the grass. Panic began to take over as the girl scrambled backwards. "Stay back! Don't get closer! I know all of your tricks, Clive Oiler! No illusion will fool me, and you can't beat me in a battle. Just let me go o-or else it'll kill your Umbreon!"

    "Get on the ground," Clive commanded, ignoring Sierra's threats. "Hands where I can see them. I said get on the ground, now!"

    Sierra's teeth clenched, trembling as her eyes grew even wider. Something stopped her from fleeing and pressing onward. Something she was not supposed to bring attention to, something that scared her more than being captured. She spun to dart away, in a different direction than before, but Clive was already too close. He jumped forward, and was quickly able to get a hold of her arm. Expertly, he managed to twist the girls wrist tuck her arm beneath his own, and she let out a loud yelp. Clive quickly knelt on one knee, avoiding a swing of the girls free arm, and forcing her to drop to the ground next to him. He kept firm contact with her arm as he brought it behind her, and made the arrest.

    Suddenly, there was a flash of light behind them, where Umbreon and Excadrill had been battling. A hooded figure stood behind them. Clive thought it may have been the same "artist" that they saw in Saffron, but he could not tell for certain. The figure stood silently for a few seconds, before a girlish laugh came from beneath the hood.

    "Get me out of here!" Sierra called back towards the hooded girl. A gasp escaped her lips when the hooded figure's laughter grew louder.

    "Oh, Sierra. I'm not here for you. I'm just gathering what you borrowed from Phoenix." Slender, pale fingers reached out from underneath the cloak, and within them was a Pokeball. The figure recalled the Excadrill into the Pokeball before stowing the cloak away. "I can't help you, it seems. Your capture is all a part of my master's plan." They turned back and forth to survey the area, before glancing back towards Clive. "You know of the stories of the Duo Towers? How the one in the West burned while the other stood the day that Ho-oh fled? Phoenix likes that story, of course. This operation was not much different, right? Saffron stays largely intact, while havoc rained in Goldenrod."

    The figure remained silent, and suddenly disappeared, teleporting away as they had done before.

  8. #128
    The Ashen One
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    The whole world was moving in a frenzied blur. Yulia was only vaguely aware of the people swarming into the gym amid the smoke, officers coming to help with what they could and EMTs coming to treat the casualties. One walked by her to get to Whitney and her girls, and another walked right up to her and Jean. Yulia answered the questions they had, but as soon as the conversation was over, she couldn’t recall anything that had been said. Her mind was too busy whirling, thinking of all the ways this was her fault. If only she’d gotten here sooner. If only she’d handled Sierra when she’d had the chance. If only she hadn’t listened to her informant about Saffron to begin with. Sierra and her grunts were gone now, and Yulia could only hope Clive had been able to catch up to them. For now, she stayed with Jean, even as he lost consciousness, as the EMTs loaded him onto a stretcher, as they lifted him into an ambulance. Being here was the least she could do.

    Her head was pounding. She wanted to catch up with Clive, protect him in the event that something happened to him, too. She was only getting in the EMTs way, anyway, so once she was sure Jean was in good hands and there was nothing more she could do, she started after her partner. By the time she caught up with him, Clive was already handing Sierra over to the authorities. Again made useless, Yulia tried to swallow the helplessness welling up in her throat. They had done what they came here to do, and with the criminals apprehended, things could return to normal soon. She tried to remind herself of that, but she had little success.

    She needed to make herself useful. In the next moment, Yulia was on her phone, ready to check in with the other locations under attack and see what she could do to help. The Department Store had been taken care of, though not without casualties, and things were clearing out already there. The Magnet Trains were still being held up, but the grunts had started dispersing. Avarice’s mission was over, and Yulia dreaded finding out what they’d made off with this time. For the most part, however, things were taken care of, and there was little she or Clive could do now without getting in the way.

    Her phone call concluded, Yulia caught up with Clive. His Umbreon beside him showed signs of a battle, and Clive looked… off. Yulia cocked her head. “What’s going on?” she demanded. Her tone was too commanding, and she scolded herself for it. She wasn’t usually this high-strung, but the stress was clearly showing. She cleared her throat and started again. “Jean is en route to the hospital, along with Whitney and her trainers. Things are clearing up at the other locations and should be returning to normal soon.” Though her voice was level, the woman was clearly freaking out. She tried to take a breath and asked again about Sierra. “Did everything go okay on your end? Are you alright?”
    Last edited by Ashen; 06-02-2021 at 08:17 PM.
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  9. #129
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    The trip back felt long, grueling, as Clive dragged Sierra along. The arrested criminal had finally reserved herself to defeat, and trudged along slowly, pitifully, with her arms cuffed behind her back. Sleek, black hair sheltered the sides of her face as she stared downward, watching nothing more but the ground beneath her as it passed underneath her feet. She only uttered one word, each time Clive directed a question towards her. "Lawyer. Lawyer."

    Deciding that there was little sense in questioning the suspect before booking, Clive eventually grew silent and thought back to the events that transpired. Most puzzling of all was the sudden appearance of the teleporting psychic who had come to reclaim the tortured Excadrill. At first glance, it seemed that she knew a lot more about Avarice than what the grunts did. Enough so, that she was able to reveal that one of their leaders relished in the idea of sending the lead detectives hunting them down over to a different region before executing what was probably one of the largest heists in the history of Johto. Phoenix made a spectacle of them, even likening the entire scenario to one of the legends regarding the Pokemon he named himself after.

    Was that what the feather was meant to convey? Clive wondered. That they were in the eastern tower, which stood safe, while the west burned down?

    The sun's rays began to beat down harder once they exited the forest, trading in the shelter of trees and the carpet of grass for the tall walls and golden bricks of the city. Once he returned to the outside of the Goldenrod Gym, Clive guided Sierra into the back of a police car, and closed the door. He remained rather stoic, quiet, even when addressed by the officers around him. It was not long before Yulia joined him, briefly described the status at the various points of interest across Goldenrod City. Clive hardly glanced at her as she spoke, even though all of the words stayed imprinted in his brain for safekeeping. After his partner was done speaking, and even seemed to pause to wait for his answer regarding what happened, he finally glanced her way.

    "I uh, apprehended one of them. Sierra," he said. His voice was faint and gruff, rising out of his throat as if it was buried in gravel. His eyes lowered and followed Umbreon, who was slowly pacing at his feet. He knelt down to give the Pokemon a few pats with his gloved hand, before returning it to its Pokeball. As he rose back up, he suddenly hissed and let out an annoyed grunt. A sharp pain exploded in his right ankle, unexpectedly causing him to teeter slightly. In that moment, Rotom released itself from Clive's pocket, hovering near his foot for a moment before rising up to eye level. "Looks you like sprained your ankle! That usually happens when you twist your foot in an awkward direction, and tear the ligaments around your ankle bones. Must have happened riiiiight..." Rotom's face suddenly vanished from the screen, replaced with a video. It was a green clearing, surround by trees, the same one where Clive had faced off with Sierra. "Here!"

    When the video slowed and began to play frame-by-frame, Clive could clearly see when he put all of his weight on his foot and spun, narrowly avoiding the same trick that had taken down Jean. Clive felt his gut wrench as he watched how close he was to getting himself sliced open- was it really that close?

    "The best treatment is self-care. Don't forget the RICE method! That's rest, ice, compression, and- woah!" Rotom was quickly silenced when Clive snatched the phone out of the air, and tucked him back into his coat pocket. The man's face was twisted into an aggravated scowl. Jean was carved up in a hospital somewhere, who cares about a twisted ankle?

    "We're going to be needed soon," he said to Yulia, dismissing any more discussion. "With an attack like this, the Chief will surely have to make a statement to the city. He's going to need as much information as possible." His mental cage rattled, shaking inside his head harder than it had all day. Keep it together for a bit longer, he urged himself, even though he wanted nothing more than to burst, scream, and break something.

  10. #130
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    Yulia blamed herself for Clive’s unsettling tone. She had been the one to lead him astray, after all, the one to get in the way of their work and delay their progress. She was always so damn hasty; hadn’t she learned anything from then? And now, as the city burned around them, as ambulances blared through the air, as alarms sang of the damages dealt, as their mission shattered at their feet, she was left with only guilt. The people of Goldenrod and of Saffron were terrified, confused, and Team Avarice had gotten away with far too much today. Yulia’s hands balled at her sides, and though she tried to keep calm, at least outwardly, she felt that at any moment she was going to burst.

    Her attention was pulled by her partner’s cry. He had tried to pet his Pokemon, but getting up sent a cringe through his features that suggested another casualty. Immediately, Yulia reached to grab for him, to steady him, but she decided against it when she saw him standing on his own. He was in pain, and she longed to help, but she didn’t want to again get in the way, to frustrate him even more. Rotom chimed in with an explanation before she could ask, and even if a twisted ankle wasn’t the severe injury she had feared, she knew Clive would likely make it worse if he didn’t get a chance to rest soon. “Clive,” she said gently, and she hated how weak her voice sounded. But his reminder of their duties silenced her, and she nodded her agreement.

    She wasn’t going to let him walk back to the police department like that, though. “Would you…?” Yulia didn’t know how to ask her question, didn’t know if he would even want her help. She hesitated before taking a Poke Ball from her purse and throwing it into the air. Out came her Beartic, who roared when her feet reached the ground. “Lean on Zita,” Yulia told Clive, motioning towards the bear Pokemon. “She’s as sturdy as they come, and she’s not going to let you fall.” She paused, waiting to see if Clive would take the offered help, before shifting awkwardly. “We should get back to the station,” she mumbled.

    On the way, Yulia struggled to keep herself together. Her hands trembled, her skull drummed, and she could hear the distant whisps of a hallucination threatening to control her. She needed her medication, or a cigarette, or something, but there was no time for that. She had to think through what had happened, to report to her superiors, and to strategize new ways to go about catching Avarice. Her source, the one who had led her to Saffron in the first place, had he mislead her? No, Yulia thought, he had been misled. There had been no lie in his eyes when he’d spoken to her. That meant the higher ups of Avarice had compromised him to ensure he would tell Yulia exactly what they wanted her to believe. Who had orchestrated that? Phoenix came to mind, but Yulia wondered why he’d wanted her and Clive to be absent. Was it possible he was already suspecting—No, Yulia hurriedly dismissed the thought. Phoenix led them away so that the focus was elsewhere, so that no one would suspect this, so that they could get away with more goods, more Pokemon, and more casualties. That was all.

    So busy mentally working through her theories, Yulia didn’t realize them reach the police department. She looked over at Clive to check how he was doing after the short walk. He would be able to sit soon, at least, and Yulia made a note to fetch him some ice for his ankle. She glanced at her phone, eyeing the many notifications in search of any updates on Jean, even if it was too early to expect those. She shoved her phone back in her purse and, swallowing her guilt, she entered the building with her partner.

    Once Clive was in a chair with ice in a zipped plastic bag, Yulia was taken in for her account of what had transpired. She told her superiors everything she knew about the situation, starting from the source who had told her about Saffron. She couldn’t give his real identity as part of their agreement, but she had already assured them he was trustworthy before this, and so she did not waste time reestablishing that. She talked about the festival, the grunts there, the Magnet Train stations, getting back home, and the gym, giving enough detail for a length report that she would write later. When she talked about Sierra, Whitney, and Jean, she could tell from the faces of those around her that there was still no news about them. She bit her lip, trying to not let her worry cloud her judgment. Jean would be okay; he had to be.

    When she was finished with her questions, she made her way outside and lit two cigarettes between her fingers. They did little to calm her, but they would have to do for now. While she waited for Clive, Yulia swiped through various tabs on her phone, sent numerous emails, and made several phone calls, trying to get updates on the places and people she was too late to save. Even if she could do nothing for them now, she needed to know the damage she had caused. Once she’d gotten all the information she could, she went back inside. Later, she would be found at her desk, typing away at her computer, restlessly documenting everything she knew, everything she suspected. Her head howled, and she had to keep stopping from the pain, but she pressed on, eager to complete her penance.
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