I stared in confusion for a moment, grimacing now that I could smell it over what I was cooking. Tristen's eyes started to water as if he was caught in a room full of onions, and Freth had the look of being somewhat appalled. "...the hell is this? And what does it smell like that?"
"Something you haven't told me?" Freth asked.
"You know as much as I do. I am...scared to open that." I said, moving the meal off the hot eye of the stove and over to an adjacent one. I then made my way over and started to open the package.
Inside the small package Blizzard would find a newspaper, the Lumiose Gazette, the paper Alexia's job puts out. The paper was from last week but the headline had been circled with what appeared to be red lipstick. The headline read: 'Bomb Plot Uncovered'. The front page article would go into depth about how a spy inside Flare discovered the plot to blow up the Pokemon League tournament and blame it on the alleged 'government in exile', the Republic of Kalos.
Since then things have spiraled out of control which resulted in the king abdicating and the crown prince fleeing, now wanted by the International Police. There was some more details there but that was the gist, it also included a picture of the ruins of Lysandre Cafe.
The next item, or rather items, were three tickets for the rescheduled Pokemon League tournament enclosed in a brochure for a sea side hotel in Cyllage City, also with a slip detailing when a room was booked in Duke Blizzard's name for the same days as the tournament. The last item was the smallest, a business card for one Madam Lutine Arome, a lipstick print on the back of it where it had been kissed. There was no other item to explain things enclosed.
Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 4:56 pm
"I will definitely take note of that." She responded to Poe, curious about how spicy he meant. She always had loved spicy foods but knew to keep a limit on it. Veronica laughed at Poe as he was handled by Sub. "Good thing Im a hybrid." And not a pokemon. It was really entertaining to watch everyone. Though the interaction was limited it was plenty for her.
Keiko's attention was caught when Sub took the Sun Stone out of Poe's mouth and cast him aside without a thought. She didn't think Poe was necessarily cute, but she didn't like that his trainer treated him like that regardless.
"Here," Keiko said, fetching her Fairy Gem from her purse and handing it to Poe. "It's not a Sun Stone, but I hope you enjoy it, at least."
Meanwhile...
"Rise..."
For a second, I couldn't remember anything. How I got on the floor, how I got this massive headache, anything. Then I heard that voice. Somehow, I knew it was Rala's, even though it didn't sound like her at all.
"Rise, and do my bidding."
My headache spiked as I pushed my mind to the limit in an attempt to free myself from whatever Rala did to me. It wasn't enough, however, and slowly, weakly, I picked myself.
"Come with me. I would test your loyalty."
I knew what I was looking at wasn't the way Rala looked. Whatever she did to me, it was messing with my mind, making me see what she wanted me to see, and yet I couldn't tear my gaze. For a brief second, I could hear Samurai's voice, but when I managed to exercise just enough control of my body to look toward where I heard his voice, he was gone.
"Look at me. Yes. Heed my voice. You need not hear any other, nor see any other but me."
Once again, my gaze was drawn to the infected Rala, and my body, of its own volition, followed her out of the training room, toward what I assumed had to be the main lobby.
Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 5:39 pm
TerashiLeonGoken
Poe quickly perked up once Keiko approached and presented him with a Fairy Gem. The imp was more than happy to accept it and promptly tossed it into his mouth, proceeding to suck on it. "Thanks! You're not so bad, hehe." Poe said to Keiko with a mouthful.
DignityPower
Poe would turn to look at Veronica, deciding he enjoyed taunting her he stuck his tongue out with the gem resting on it for a few seconds before snatching it back into his mouth with a playful laugh.
Keiko smiled at Poe, who seemed to be enjoying her gift to him, when she sensed something off. When she turned to what she thought was the source, she saw Samurai running into the Main Lobby, screaming in Pokespeak. "What's wrong?" Keiko asked, able to understand the Water-type. After a little more shouting from Samurai, Keiko followed him upstairs.
Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 8:30 pm
SubonicXP
"Wrong? No, just the opposite. I wanted to thank you for helping out with those Shadow Pokemon and everything else you've done lately." Sub said with a smile as he made a 'one moment' gesture at Wren before walking over to Poe, snatching him off the back of the chair he sat on by the back of his neck.
"What's the big idea!?" The Sableye demanded as he flailed around. Sub didn't answer, instead he causally shoved his hand in the imp's mouth without any concern for the sharp teeth and then pulled out of it a Sun Stone covered in spit. With the stone removed he tossed Poe onto the couch without a concern and pulled a rag out of his back pocket, using it to wipe the slobber off before presenting it to Wren.
"Here. Meant to give you this awhile ago but someone tried to make it a snack." He said, thumbing at Poe.
"Oh?" Wren asked, curious what Sub was up to when he gestured to wait a moment. Watching him pluck a Sun Stone from his Sableye's gullet like he was a living handbag was certainly amusing but the slobber-covered stone was definitely going to be useful as he delicately received it, holding it between two fingers with a very clear "Gross" expression on his face. "Thanks! I know just who to use it on!" He replied, figuring he might do so once everything settled down a tiny bit more.
However, considering how current events were going, maybe it was wiser to do it now? It wouldn't be the firs time he'd had multiple Pokemon evolve at the same time. Setting Cassava down with one hand, he pulled another Nest Ball from his belt and released Altissima, his Petilil. "Guess what?" He said as he held up the Sun Stone for her to see.
"Peti pet pet lil!" The Bulb Pokemond exclaimed, spinning around happily in the air. Wren chuckled quietly as he touched one of the stone spires to the Grass-type then stepped back and watched. A bright white light consumed her as the energy of the evolution stone was transferred to her. Her size grew by magnitudes and as she grew, she sprouted legs and he head was crowned by a beautiful flower, which honestly was looking a bit drab.
"Lilligant!" She exclaimed as her evolution was completed, the light bursting off of her newly altered form as she spun around. Now the only Pokemon he had who hadn't evolved at least once was Caladium so training for him and his new Drampa, Hellebore, was his next focus, for different reasons.
"No problem." Sub said with a smile, watching as Wren presented the Sun Stone to his Petilil which promptly caused it to react to the stone's energy, triggering evolution. In place of the little flower was a much bigger and mature one, a Lilligant. Before Sub could say much about the Pokemon's sudden evolution a certain otter appeared.
TerashiLeonGoken
"Hm? What's going on?" Sub asked no one in particular as Samurai came into the room, left, and Keiko went along with him. Deciding to find out what was up for himself Sub followed after them.
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 10:57 am
Wren was a bit caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Dewott but by the time it had run off with Keiko in to, he was intrigued. Something was going on and it seemed like it was something interesting but it also sparked a sudden bout of anxiety along with it. Whatever this was about was probably not good.
Ulla and Leon were in there room, Leon was taking a nap. While Ulla was staring at her Mimikyu plush. "Hmm...""What's the matter master?" Lucario asked as he was sitting on the ground watching over her. "Nothing, I was thinking of dressing it up. But I'm not sure what." Lucario merely chuckled until he felt a certain aura spike. A disturbing one as well. An aura he knew all to well. That's when Ulla's Dusk Lycanroc popped out of his Pokeball and started growling outside the door. "What's wrong?""Come with us Master. We are going to need you." He said as he helped Ulla onto Lycanroc. Lucario opened the door for Lycanroc and Ulla as they sprinted off to the main lobby.
"Leon. Get up." Lucario said as he started shaking him. He groaned as he turned to face him. "What's going on?""You'll understand when you see it. Ulla already went ahead. We might need you to protect her." He said as Leon sighed as he got out of bed, not even bothering to fix his bed head. He grabbed his coat as he followed Lucario. Meanwhile Ulla was able to see Rala up and a slumped over Ter. Ulla was able to feel it, something was off. "PAPA!" She shouted as she got off of Lycanroc and reached out. She wrapped her arms around Ter's arm. "Papa, what's going on?"
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 2:56 pm
Veronica didn't mind the banter between Poe and her, but seeing the fairy gem made her extremely curious as to what it tasted like and it showed in her face. After Veronica saw Sub and Wren take off she thought twice about whether to join them, it was probably nothing. She followed regardless, hoping to find a bit drama and chaos in whatever was to come. The closer she got, the more clear it was that something felt... off.
Ulla was unfortunately the first to find us, though I didn't notice her right away. I was too focused on trying to break Rala's hold on me. My body was moving on its own, so I didn't need to worry about falling. When Rala saw Ulla, she looked disgustedly at her. "I sense a troublesome aura in her. Remove her from my presence." I heard Rala say. That was when I noticed Ulla holding my left arm. I felt my muscles tense, the fingers of my left arm clutching her clothes and pulling her up, and I feared for her. I tried to regain control of my body, but doing so only worsened my headache.
"TERASHI!"
Despite everything, I heard her shout clear as day. I had lifted Ulla up by then, but I felt my muscles relaxing. Was I getting through to my body? I thought so for a very short amount of time, but my confidence faded when I heard Rala speak again. "Ignore the child. This will be a far greater testament of your loyalty. Take your lover's life in your hands."
Keiko ran up to me, worry clear on her face, and I panicked. But before I could do anything, my hands were already around her throat. "Kei... ko..." I grunted, elated that I could at the very least force my mouth to obey my will. My body, however, was pushing her up against a wall. Keiko grabbed my wrists and pushed at them, panic obvious in her face. "Ru- ...n," I begged her, not wanting to hurt her but not able to control anything besides my voice.
"Let... go..." Keiko grunted, which only amused Rala. My heart sank at the look she was giving me. But in an instant, everything changed. I felt my head in the wall, scrambling my brain, and my body slump against it. It didn't take me long to feel the energy coming off of Keiko after that.
"LET GO OF HIM!"
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 3:28 pm
When Veronica heard the commotion, she rushed ahead. She felt something twisting in her stomach, the feeling came easily and she knew it was fear. It was the strange aura that helped her get into the state she needed. She tensed up as she watched Ter holding Keiko up. She was just about to take it out on Ter but hesitated in trying to keep from hurting a friend. It took a few moments for Veronica to understand what Keiko had meant, until she realized the energy was coming off of Rala. She breathed in and let out her Night Shade power, it probably wouldn't do much damage but at least she hoped to knock her off balance and get her attention. Come on, get at me. She glared at Rala. She placed her hand on her pokeball, ready to pull Cosmo out for a fight.
Sub arrived just in time to see the chaos unfold, his teammates attacking one another, though not without explanation. It was obvious to the Dark One that Rala, via her Shadow powers, had gained control of Terashi. Certainly a surprise but not a major one, he and Rala did have a Channeling bond after all and when something affects one of them it can affect them both. While he would normally more than happy to sit back and observe this situation and study it further he couldn't allow such discord to go on in their headquarters. Seeing that Veronica jumped into the fray though he hung back and closed his eyes, letting his mind wander while allowing his Dark energy to flow freely, an oppressive aura easily sensed by all here but especially the Psychics. It was a sort of makeshift Quash though mostly intended to intimidate or attract attention than anything else.
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 4:16 pm
"The hell is...?" I reached in, taking out the newspaper and gave it a read over.
"What is it?" Freth asked.
"Apparently about that whole threat that had been ousted by you, Tristen, Reno, and Aile." I said to her. "For that matter, goes into detail about the coup that got exposed in the process."
"We'll we're nothing if not thorough."
"We kind of got to."
"Did whoever send that to you have to spray a lot of perfume in it? I'm kinda getting sick." Tristen said.
"Uh, Blizzard, look at this." Freth said, reaching into the package herself and pulling out tickets. Still within the box though I took notice. The business card. I rolled my eyes. "I know who its from...geez, that woman. Seriously...I really don't know if she knows how to read the proverbial room."
"But what is this all for?" Freth asked.
"Part of me wonder if she is trying to emphasize that this whole thing isn't over."
"But why? How?" Freth said. "They'd have to be idiots if they were still going to try to pull that still, now, with everyone on high alert. Hell, I'm surprised the tournament is still going to happen with all of that going on. What'd be the point either way?"
"I don't know. And even so, it isn't like we, let alone anyone else, can pull away right now. We got Ein to contend with. Comparatively, this is pretty much low key considering the shape that Flare is in. We're going to need all hands to take on Ein to make sure he's not getting away and we may be moving soon as far as I know and last thing we need is to spread everyone thin. Not to mention, frankly, I really don't want to draw alarm over there. I'm too well known of a face no thanks to being this so-called Duke. Seriously, something I kind of curse myself over for going along with...I didn't want it to get out of control like that."
"Well, you did what you had to do." Freth said.
Tristen perked up and looked over towards the exit of the kitchen. "Uh...is something happening?"
"Don't know..." Freth and I started to make our way out of the kitchen with Tristen behind us to see what was going on.
When Ulla looked up at Rala as she can feel that whatever was going on, it was because of her. "Rala...what are you doing?" She said in shock as she felt Ter grabbed her from her clothes as she was lifted up. "Papa stop...I don't want to hurt you." Begging as she placed her little hands on his. She noticed with his other hand that she was about to punch her as she closed her eyes in fear. "TER!" Leon shouted as Ulla turned to see her brother in rage to see what he was witnessing. Leon was spinning around one of his needles around his fingers as he was getting ready to throw one at Ter. "Brother wait! This isn't Ter!" She whimpered in fear as she heard Keiko shout.
"Mama. Rala is-" Before she could get anymore out, that's when Ter dropped her and went for Keiko as he started choking her. "Papa! Let go of Mama!" She shouted as Keiko understood what was going on now as she let her Frustration take hold. The little girl then felt a tug on her dress as her Lycanroc and Lucario were leading her back as Leon stepped infront of her facing Rala. Both of the siblings noticed Sub and Veronica as Leon did the same thing as Sub was doing. He breathed in as he exhaled as he let his Poison energy flow around them. He made sure his energy wouldn't touch Ulla in caution of hurting her. Mainly to do the same as Sub; intimidate or attract. "Ulla. Stay back. Let the adults handle this. I don't want you getting hurt. No child should have to see their parents fight. Especially if one is not in control.
