Welcome to Gaia! ::

SteelHard, and Iron Island. This mission had been posted two years ago, and had probably since long been dealt with. Still, Rui would check it out. Such a desolate and unkown island was certain to harbor something. So, she'd head there, make a quick check-up of the island, and come back. If there wasn't a team there, she probably wouldn't even report it as a mission. Still, she feels she should at least check up on the place that nobody else would think to look at.

Plus, she's bored, and needs to contribute to the team. So.

She anchors the boat she rented to a rock, looking at said rock with a slight frown. Well, once Kipkip was evolved, she wouldn't have to worry about getting others to let her cross bodies of water. A flying-type would still be really useful, though...

Well, just from what she can see from the coast, there's nothing very interesting about the island. The inside is a thick rain forest, lush and green with life. She leaves the sandy shores to go inland and into the woods, looking around curiously. The atmosphere makes her feel oddly tense, and, subconsciously, she nervously raises a hand and rubs her opposing arm. Probably because she's out in the middle of nowhere, in a foreign and potentially dangerous place. If a pokémon she can't handle happens to appear...

Well.

She's not going to think about it, and instead press on through the foliage. Her heart skips a beat as she stumbles into--

--a path?

There's no mistake about it. There's a clean-cut path right through the jungle. A little too clean-cut for a wild pokémon to have done on its own, but maybe that was her just getting a little imaginative. Still, she follows the path, if for nothing but convenience. The ground beneath her is smooth and well beaten; obviously, the path had been used for awhile, and frequently. She blinks as she hears the trickling of water, and figures she must be headed for some sort of creek. She soon finds out she's right; a thin river cuts through the area, moving swiftly and peacefully.

"Hey!!"

Rui jumps and looks in alarm at a man in uniform. Two metal bands embrace his hands, and he wears a simple black t-shirt covered by a not-so-simple silvery, reflective, almost trench coat length jacket. He also wears black pants, black boots, and on his jacket, an intricate black insignia; SS.

"Whatd'ya think you're doing here?" He snaps. "I could ask you the same thing!" Rui retorts. "Hnf! The nerve of you! Go, Salamence!" He tosses a strange, white-topped, silver-bottomed pokéball that lets out a blue light instead of a red one, which, unsurprisingly, releases a Salamence. Rui freezes up in alarm. The Salamence lets out a loud, intimidating roar. "Impressive, eh? I guess you'll think twice about coming to this island again!" he says, the points at Rui. "Fire Blast!"

Rui yelps and jumps to the side, landing on the ground and throwing her hands over her head as the fire passes by where she just had been. The man roars with laughter. "Now, git, before I get serious!" She quickly gets to a stand, thinking, Holy crap, there really is a team here, and they've got pokémon like that and--

She stops and stares at the place where she had just been. The trees are completely unharmed. She looks back at the man and the Salamence, who lets out another roar. "What, not gone yet?" he taunts. "Alright, Salamence, gives another Fire Blast! And don't miss, this time!" The Salamence obeys, blasting another burst of fire. Rui freezes and shuts her eyes tightly--

--and the fire passes right through, leaving her unharmed. She cautiously opens her eyes. The man blinks, and tries to recover. "A-ah, dangit, you missed!" Disregarding the fact that the blast had been perfectly in-line with Rui. "Fire Blast again!" The Salamence simply roars instead. Rui slowly relaxes. The Salamence, nor the fire it spews, isn't real at all. She stiffens as it finally launches another Fire Blast at her, but again, the move simply passes through her like she's nothing.

"Oh crap," the trainer grunts. He "returns" the "Salamence" (which Rui has, at this point, figured out to be a projection, played on repeat) and lets out a Shellgon, via a Great Ball. "You won't get so lucky with this one!" Feeling that he probably hadn't released another hallucination, Rui lets out Kipkip. "Stubborn one, aren't you?" he growls. "Go, Shellgon, Headbutt!"

The Shellgon obeys, charging forward to attack Kipkip.

"Kipkip, dodge and use Mud-Slap!" Rui orders.

The Mudkip easily evades and sprays water into the ground while doing so, blasting the Shellgon with mud.

"Use- use Leer!" the trainer shouts. The Shellgon turns to Kipkip and narrows its eyes menacingly.

But Kipkip doesn't even bat an eye. Having seen and battled a battle-scarred Tauros and a giant Onix, a little pokémon hidden in its shell was pretty much the opposite of intimidating to her. She actually laughs, angering the pokémon, who tries to attack her.

"H-hey, I didn't say to attack!"

"Kipkip, use Bide!" Kipkip braces herself, taking the attacks of the Shellgon. Tackle, Bite, Slam... And the opposing trainer just shouts at the pokémon, as if making his voice louder would make it listen. Finally, Kipkip returns all the attack power back and double to the Shellgon, making it tumble backwards and faint. Rui blinks. That had been one of the easiest battles she'd had... and probably not just because her pokémon were experienced, but because his were inexperienced. Clearly, he hadn't had that Shellgon a long time from the way it ignored him.

"Oh dang..." He gulps, but then gives a grin. "You just wait! I'm gonna go an' get a friend of mine, and they're gonna kick your butt in!" The guy recalls his Shellgon, turns tail, and flees. Rui's pokémon looks up at her in confusion. "Muuud?" "I think I might have found our opposition, Kipkip," Rui says. "C'mon, let's follow him." Kipkip gives her a look, but goes ahead and follows the man along with Rui. Apparently far too focused on getting to his location, he never even considers the fact he might be followed, let alone notice the two trailing behind him.

Soon enough, they come to a large building. Not particularly tall, so that the treetops could brush over it and hide it from aerial view, but quite large in diameter. She watches from a safe distance as the man goes in via sliding doors. "Well..." she says softly, looking it over. "That must be it. Hiding here, all this time..." She looks down at Kipkip. "That guy's sure to be back with back-up soon. We'd better move." "Kip," Kipkip agrees quietly. Cautiously, the two walk around the building. Rui stops for a moment when she hears the soft whirr of the doors opening, and then some guy lecturing and getting fed up with another-- probably the one who'd failed to run her off. She keeps moving and finds a similar pair of sliding doors at the "back". She looks it over thoughtfully.

"Don't think we'll be able to get in with brute force... Espcially since we don't know how tough these guys really are... oh!" She exclaims as she gets an idea, grabbing a pokéball and letting out her Ditto. "Jello," Rui says, grabbing the goo and turning it so it faces the door. "You sneak in there, okay? Transform into an, um... Try transforming into an Oddish, or, whatever you have to so that the people in there don't see you. Go around and see if there are any pokémon in there... You might have to let out a couple of them if they're in their pokéballs, but try to be discreet about it. Then come back out here and transform into the pokémon you saw, okay?"

"Ditto!" Jello exclaims. Rui nods and sets Jello down on the ground, watching it transform into a Mudkip. "I'm sure you can do it. Just be careful," she softly advises. The water-type bounds across the area, then, when it gets to the doors, turns back to its original form and squeezes through the crack. Rui scans the outer walls. No cameras... but then, on an island, there's really not a need for them. Just the person with the Salamence hologram was probably enough to scare away the few people who accidentally stumbled upon this place.

Rui blinks and perks up when she hears noises where the pair of men had departed a few minutes ago. Were they seriously back already? With a start, she looks down. Footprints! "Oh boy," she says softly, heart suddenly pounding with panic. "Okay, um..." she gulps, then looks down at her pokémon. "Kipkip, we gotta move. Those people are following our footsteps. Can you use Mud-slap or something to cover it up?" "Kip!" she says confidently, though quietly. "Just be discreet about it!"

So the two move away while Kipkip covers up the trail with mud. To make it look more convincing, Rui takes some of the leaves about and tosses them over the cover. When they've gotten far enough, Rui signals Kipkip to halt. She didn't want them getting so far away so that Jello couldn't find them

--oh, crap, Jello. It had no idea that there were a pair of hostile strangers just outside, and the team couldn't afford to be seen. She looks to where the strangers had been. Their footsteps come to a stop as they come to the end of the trail. "Mmnh..." Rui hears. "Think they mighta used Teleport or--" "Shh!" hissed the other man. A silence falls over the area. Rui stares in the area the noises had been previously, trembling slightly, not daring to so much as make a soft sound of discomfort or nervousness. Very slowly, she pulls down a leaf to look at the entrance. Jello wasn't back, yet. She lets go of the leaf, making the slightest rustle that, to her, sounds like the effects of an incredible wind, which makes her hairs stand on end. However, no sound comes from that direction, and with a disgruntled sound, a man says, "Come," and leads the other back to the front. Rui lets out a shaky breath.

The back doors open. A triplet of grunts come out. Eyes dilating, Rui ducks low into the foliage. Once again, her heart races like a Rapidash racing, racing away from a Charizard or Arcanine for its life. Unconsciously, she moves her trembling hand to gently touch Kipkip's fin. "Kip.." she says softly. Breathing out only a whisper, now, Rui says, "They must have seen Jello... They must be onto us..." As the three walked off together calmly, they chat, Rui tensing at the way they commented how it was the first bit of excitement they've had in awhile. She squats there so stiffly that her muscles become sore, and yet she will not move, less she alarm the grunts. They move off and away, and still, Rui squats there, heart pounding in her ears.

A full 20 seconds after they've gone so far as to be out of audible range, Kipkip gently nudges Rui's leg, making her jump. "Kip!" Kipkip starts softly, a bit alarmed by Rui's sudden reaction. "Ah.. I'm.. I'm okay," she breathes out, then looks at the doors. Were there still people inside, waiting? Had they her pokémon, locked away in a glass cage? She gulped as realization hit her hard: it didn't matter what the hell her situation was. She had to get in there, and she had to mess that team up the most she could. A soft, terrified noise escapes her.

"I wasn't even beginning to expect this," she admitted to her pokémon, who looked at her in silence. Rui inhales deeply, then lowers a leaf to look at the area. As much as she could see, no one was in the area. The sliding doors were glass, and inside, it looked reasonably empty. She inhales deeply, braces herself, then steps out into the small clearing in front of the entrance. A dreadful silence... but also, a relieving silence. Silence meant no grunts, no pokémon around to catch her off-guard. She releases another sigh as Kipkip comes out, then butts her leg lightly again.

"Ah, yeah, yeah, I know, we gotta do this, just..." Rui sighs again. "This is my first time doing something so... I guess you could even say it's dangerous." She looks at the doors. "But... there's no going back now. Espcially with Jello in trouble." Chewing on her lip, she steps forward slowly. When she gets close enough, the doors slide open, and it seems that every muscle in her body tenses. Kipkip gets into ready position just in case, but no opposition comes to meet them.

"We're... in?" Rui says numbly, staring inside. "Kiiiip," Kipkip says, butting Rui's leg to usher her in. No reason on staying outside, where those grunts could see her sauntering in. Without a word, Rui obeys her pokémon's command and walks in. "I.. I guess we are," Rui muses uncertainly, not believing her own words. "Okay... well... ...where do we go from here...?" Rui wonders. She turns around and--

Skarmory. She just nearly lets out a scream, but the Skarmory dissolves into pink goo and latches itself to her face, cutting her off. Rui shakily tears Jello off her and gasps. "Oh, Arceus, Jello..." She breathes, then hugs it tightly. "You gave me a heart attack..." "Ditto!" She holds it out in front of her and stares. "They didn't see you, though, did they?" "Dit-dit," Jello says, shaking its face as a "no". "Then..." She looks up at the exit and stares, puzzled.

"Mud!" Kipkip says softly and urgently, glaring at the hallway. Rui perks up and looks. She doesn't see anything, but the sounds of someone approaching are clear. "Ack!" Rui exclaims softly, looking around, then choosing a random room to throw the door open and close it behind her, Kipkip at her heels and Jello in her arms. They fall silent in the darkened room as the people pass by. One sounds decidedly female, and dominant at that. Another is a guy with a strong gay accent.

"How about Lilycove?" he suggests. "Lilycove... hmm..." Her feet stop at the door and Rui sucks in her breath sharply. "It almost seems too small..." "Goldenrod, then? ...Ma'am, you seem a bit distracted." Rui clenches her hands into fists and gulps softly. "Hmm, just wondering. Goldenrod does seem like a good place to make a grand entrance." The two draw away and head into a different room. Rui waits for a moment, honestly a little terrified.

"O...okay... Where are we, then?" She says, reaching over to search the wall for a switch. She flicks it. By some stroke of luck, they're in the storage room-- or a storage room, at least. Specifically? The food room. Bread, cheese, fruit, vegetables, everything and any kind of food was here. More likely than not, stolen. Rui lets out a breath and smiles.

"This is definitely a good start. We should bring back as much food as possible." She looks around, then at Jello, who's in her hands. "Jello, think you could turn into a big bag for me?" "Ditto, ditto!" It says, stretching itself out into a big, elastic pink sheet.

Several minutes later, Rui carefully opens the door, looking around. The Jello-bag is sitting atop 'Nyta's back, and the rest of the stock is, well, pretty much ruined. Basically, Kipkip and 'Nyta had a field day messing it all up with flames and water and mud. Sure, it was a waste, but Rui wasn't going to dare another trip back. Slowly, the trio comes out. "Alright... looks like this is gonna go pretty smoothly," Rui says. They head outside, a bit more confident, now, and step through the sliding doors.

And there's that woman, sitting atop a Skarmory, long, black bangs paritally covering her face and the rest of her hair lying neatly against her back. Predictably, she has a very similar outfit to the grunts', but more like a dress, and clearly higher up in status. "You!" she snarls. "You think you have the nerve to steal from us, do you?" She hops off her Skarmory, a look of pure despise in her eyes. Rui feels a shiver go up her spine. "You are one, poor, unfortunate idiot... Skarmory!" "Skar!" says the steel bird. "Metal Sound!" The Skarmory shifts its steel wings and makes the blades rub against each other, creating a horrible, scratching, screaming metal sound that makes all of Rui's team cry in anguish and fall to their knees (save for Jello, who keeps its baggy form.) Rui winces and looks up to see the woman coming forward boldly, apparently completely unaffected by the sound the Skarmory continues to make. She looks down at Rui with disgust. "Pathetic." She raises a heeled boot and-- wham, right into Rui's cheek, sending her sprawling.

Kipkip, despite the horrible sound, reacts strongly to this, slamming into the woman with a Take Down to her stomach, which makes her cry out in surprise and pain. 'Nyta also acts, using Fire Spin at the Skarmory, who stops making the noise and squawks as it narrowly dodges the attack. A grunt comes into the area, and then another. One grabs Rui violently while another releases an Lairon to cut off Kipkip from coming. The woman gets to a stand and groans, then smirks. "It doesn't matter what you do... we have your trainer now! A tiny little Mudkip and Ponyta won't get in our way!"

"Lemme... go..." Rui groans. "Shut up!" the grunt growls, elbowing her in the side. 'Nyta neighs, using Fire Spin on the Lairon, while Kipkip goes for the man holding Rui, but is cut off by Skarmory, who uses Air Slash. 'Nyta snorts, looking at Rui, then at Kipkip. Kipkip looks at Rui, then 'Nyta. They then face down their opposition. A Lairon, and a Skarmory.

"Lairon, Mud-slap that tiny pony!" "Use Metal Sound again, Skarmory." The Lairon prepares a Mud-slap while the Skarmory moves its wing-blades again, creating a horrible screeching sound. 'Nyta and Kipkip both flinch as the attack murders their ears. Kipkip, however, bears through it and opens an eye, seeing the mud hurling towards 'Nyta. Inhaling, she lets out a blast of water that counters the attack, leaving 'Nyta unharmed. Kipkip then retaliates, using Mud-Slap on the Lairon. Unguarded, the Lairon wails out as it is hit, stumbling back from the effects of the super effective attack.

"Hm... Looks like I have to do everything myself," the woman says, glaring at her grunt. "Skarmory, Air Cutter!" Skarmory stops using Metal Sound and calls out as it flaps its wings, sending out razor winds that cut both Kipkip and 'Nyta. (And while they're occupied, the unoccupied grunt comes over to the Jello-bag and attempts to grab it. Jello promptly rejects this action by suddenly producing a large spike which makes him yelp in alarm and jump back, and even fall right on his butt.) Rui watches on, helpless, sore in her side and bleeding in her mouth.

"Don't just stand there!" the woman suddenly snaps at the one holding Rui captive. "Get her locked up!" With a start, the grunt begins to drag Rui away. Kipkip and 'Nyta obviously notice, and start to rush forward to get their trainer. Again, they are cut off. And this is the part where things get crazy.

'Nyta uses Fire Spin, which both pokémon evade. Kipkip rushes forward while they're distracted and tries to get to Rui. Lairon notices and charges at Kipkip. Then, suddenly, Kipkip turns around and blasts another Mud-Slap at the Lairon. From the back, 'Nyta lets loose a Fire Spin. Both attacks connect with the pokémon simultaneously, thoroughly weakening it. However, Skarmory swipes in from the side, snatching Kipkip in its claws. The Lairon charges again at 'Nyta, but 'Nyta jumps up and onto the Lairon, then upward with bounce. Skarmory squawks in alarm as she flies above him, then comes down. Skarmory quickly flies out of the way, but drops Kipkip in the process, who yells out, falling freely to the ground. 'Nyta narrows her eyes and tucks her body in, making her dive to the ground. Lightly and gracefully, she lands on the grass, then catches Kipkip on her back.

Rui's almost inside the building, now. Skarmory is still in the air, but Lairon blocks the way. Skarmory comes in from the back with a, of all things, Sky Attack. Kipkip and 'Nyta are both aware of this. "Mudkip!" Kipkip says to its partner, who snorts. They talk to each other hurriedly and ecstatically as the Skarmory rushes closer, and the Lairon, apparently healed by its trainer with some sort of potion, charges towards the pair. They nod in unison.

Kipkip lets out a Mud-Slap at Skarmory. Predictably, the Skarmory slices through most of the attack like its nothing, but with a quick back-up Fire Spin, it crusts around its head, blinding and suffocating it. With a screech, it flies wildly off course. Kipkip turns to face the advancing Lairon and uses Water Gun, which the Lairon, though hurt, barrels through it, then braces itself. 'Nyta, still facing backwards, leaps up into the air. Lairon, unconcerned, slams itself into Kipkip, who, surprisingly, holds her ground, grunting through exertion and pain. 'Nyta comes right down and slams her hooves into the Lairon with Bounce, the combined weight causing the Lairon to sink right into the mud created from the Water Gun. Mudkip then uses Bide, slamming into the Lairon hard as it unleashes all its power unto it and making it sink further into the mud. The Lairon grunts and groans, struggling wildly in an attempt to break free. It swings its head around and slams it into Kipkip, who is sent flying. However, she takes this in stride, and lands swiftly on the ground. 'Nyta neighs and uses another Fire Spin. The trapped Lairon cries out as the mud around it bakes, leaving it trapped in a torrent of fire. It struggles, it wails, and then, it collapses, knocked out.

And then, Kipkip and 'Nyta both glow a brilliant white as their forms change. Kipkip becomes slightly bigger, and bipedal. 'Nyta becomes much taller, much sleeker, and grows an elegant horn out her forehead. And then, the evolution ends, and a Marshstomp and Rapidash both stand proudly before the woman, who stares in a sort of horrified fascination. She shakes her head as Skarmory shakes its own, ridding its face of the mud. "An evolution at a time like this... you may have gotten lucky, but your dear trainer is already inside."

The two turn towards the sliding doors and run for them. Obviously, they're locked. However, 'Nyta inhales deeply, then lets out a Fire Blast that melts the doors like they're nothing. The one carrying Rui off stares, wide-eyed, at the two pokémon. Kipkip runs over and jumps to the side, using Mud Bomb to hit the guy in the side hard (that's what he gets for elbowing Rui) as 'Nyta runs up to her side and allows Rui to fall onto her. "Unngh... 'Nyta...?" She says softly. "Marsh!" Kipkip says, coming over and pushing Rui's legs up to get her onto 'Nyta. The two then head back outside, where they're met with the Skarmory, and a new foe: A Magneton. Marshstomp runs over and grabs Jello, using her momentum to throw the bag of food onto 'Nyta. The Magneton crackles with electricity as the woman shouts, "Thunderbolt!" but 'Nyta dodges easily and swiftly.

Skarmory flies towards 'Nyta, now, but Kipkip intercepts, using a powerful Muddy Water to get inbetween the Skarmory's blades and throw off its balance, making it again crash into the ground. The Magneton lets loose yet another Thunderbolt, this time on Kipkip, who covers herself with her arms and braces herself for the attack... but feels absolutely nothing. Not complaining, she rushes on all fours over to 'Nyta, and jumps up and taps her pokéball, recalling herself. With a neigh, 'Nyta turns and speeds off into the jungle, running a little haphazardly through the bunches of trees as she attempts to get to the shore safely. A branch catches her in the chest, but she snorts and plows through, stomping over foliage and brushing past ferns.

And then there was light. 'Nyta comes to a stop, breathing hard. Legs feeling weak, she falls to the sandy ground. Rui groans and sits up, rubbing her cheek. "What just..." Kipkip comes out of the ball and surveys the situation. "Marsh!" she says to Rui, who stares dumbly at the seemingly unfamiliar pokémon. The newly evolved Marshstomp shakes her head, then points at the boat. "Oh... right," Rui says numbly, fumbling for her pokéball. "Return..." she says to the Rapidash, recalling the exhausted pokémon. With a nod of approval, Marshstomp hustles Rui into the boat, then throws the Jello-bag in as well.

As she hops in, the sound of metal wings cutting the air can be heard. "You will not get away with this! Not if I have anything to say about it!" Cries the angered woman atop the Skarmory. Marshstomp narrows her eyes, then, with a deeep inhale, blasts a powerful Muddy Water at the sand, causing the boat to rocket away from the shores. The island is gone in what seems like an instant.

Kipkip stands there, looking to see if they would be pursuited, but after about 20 seconds, she sighs and falls backwards heavily into the boat, rocking it slightly. Rui, still a bit shellshocked, reaches forward and touches the pokémon's forehead. "Stomp..." she says softly. "Thanks.. Kipkip. And... thanks to 'Nyta, too. You.. you both got me out of a... what could've been... been a really bad situation." She sits there, stroking Kipkip. "But... we made it out. And with the food, too. It might not be too much, but... hopefully... we'll have kept them back for at least some time." She lets out a heavy sigh, then turns on the boat motor and steers them off for home.