A Rocket Blackmails A Radio Star (Operation: Child's Play)

[Pixel]

Finally. A proper mission. This was the kind of break he had been hoping for since the Klang theft mission and the Mr. Dig robbery assignment. He had been doing humiliating grunt work since then, trying to make the admins happy enough to give him real duties. Stuff they didn't trust just anyone to do. Stuff they assigned to people they had their eyes on and were evaluating for greater things and higher ranks. 


TARGET: Alexandria Northingtton

MISSION: Kidnap the target as she is en-route to her evening violin lesson. Move the target to the Goldenrod Tunnel where you will call her father, the manager of the Radio Tower. Once he has abandoned his post, detain him, and inform the Admin on the mission of your success. Turn over any keys he has on his person to the same Lead.

NOTES: Use caution. Target will be accompanied by two bodyguards, and has pokemon trained to respond to her emotions and thoughts. Her pokemon can act alone without direction from a trainer.

DO NOT harm the girl.


Silas smirked as he re-read the mission one last time before burning the piece of paper he was given so nobody could trace it back to him or his organization. Accidents weren't allowed to happen during such a key quest. Clad in a deep purple suit more suited to moving about the dark like a businessman innocently walking home from the office—Silas spent a couple days observing the girl and her patterns. When and where and how she got to these violin lessons.

From what he could discern, she would leave school late (a club or program of some sort? Orchestra perhaps? Or tutoring?) and her bodyguards would escort her to a nondescript black car before driving her to a secondary location. It was here they would unload her and the violin and walk with her into the building. Their security measures were tight. One bodyguard appeared to drive the car while the other sat in the back with the girl. 

So how to best separate them? How to best not draw attention?

Silas noticed they followed the same route every evening. And during one stretch, the driver turned down a quiet one way road that seemed relatively private. It was a brief jaunt before entering a busier street, so Silas knew that he had a short time to intercept them. 

Thus the ambush was arranged.

He assembled some spike strips on the street and disguised them with some rumpled pages of newspaper. That way they would drive over them and blow a tire. Flats happened. It was unsafe to keep driving on one. Especially if you saw smoke billowing up from your wheel (thank you smoke balls, for more than helping you flee wild pokemon!). If all went to plan, the car would drive over the spikes and they would stop the car to investigate the sudden flat. It would be then that Silas could use a little teamwork between Syn and Parasect—spore plus a bit of gust would make an effective sleep bomb. Even if they didn't pass out, it hopefully would dull the senses enough that nobody would be fleeing the area.

Now all he had to do...was wait.

—

Word Count: 540 (+400) | OOC:

Houndoom holds Choice Scarf.
Honchkrow holds Muscle Feather.
Parasect holds Stirus Berry.
Flaaffy holds Genius Feather.
Heracross holds Amulet Coin.

Chimecho is NOT present.

I WILL be doing Hard Mode Whitney at the end of this quest line.

[Caramell 🍬]

The two bodyguards kept a predictable path for transparency and ease, ensuring that not only were they aware of their location at all times but that others following their trail were aware as well. Modern technology made tracking easy, including one on the aforementioned child that her father had instructed to keep on her person at all times. When that failed, he stitched it into her belongings, hidden and concealed on the very article she carried around everywhere – from the playground to the schoolgrounds – with ease.

Some remained apprehensive on the idea that one would Tile their children’s very location every second of the day. The conversation about whether this warranted an invasion of their privacy, and at what age it became more inappropriate do to so, circulated in many articles and newsfeeds. Mr. Northingtton, however? He remained firm that he needed to ensure he had access to her even beyond the bodyguards that consistently flanked either side day in and day out.

So it would be par for the course both Galliano and Blanchard walked, each holding young Alexandria’s hand in their own, to the sleek black car who had been replaced only a few months back after her father was reasonably positive the last was bugged. A failed mission by a poor excuse of a Grunt, no doubt, given the rumors that lingered inside Headquarters on the very matter. Had some even scoffed at Silas behind his back when he headed out of his newly procured mission? Surely, the ‘your funeral’ wasn’t missed by such a noteworthy villain.

“And I wanna ice cream, and a pony ride, and some cake….Oh! Can we get those big BOOM BOOM sticks?! And those funny ‘make everything go black’ cloths with the tailless Mudbray picture that you have to stick the ouchie needle in?!” Alexandria prattled one, lost in a world of dreams and make believes. A birthday neared the corner, envoking images in the young child’s mind of everything that would bring for her. “And I wanna tell daddy and mommy I want my very own Latias! Is that a ‘big ask’ as daddy puts it, Mr. Galliano?! I don’t wanna make daddy do something too big…he’s always gone and mommy says its cuz he’s working extra hard for us…but…Oh! A Pikachu would be good, too, don’t you think?!”

Galliano, whose facial expressions bore a perfect mixture of elation for the devotion and care he had towards the young girl, and pure exhaustion, only smiled down. “Well, Latias is a legendary Pokemon. They’re so rare we believe there’s usually only one or two of each in existence…” The young girl’s bright eyes watered like a dam about to overflow. Clearly, this was not the answer she expected nor wanted. Galliano backpedaled quickly, pulling out a soft plushie of a bright yellow fire fox and handed it over to the young girl. “Buuuut! I’m sure it’ll be no problem at all for his special girl!”

And in they went, tucked nicely for the long car ride. It was boring to say the least. Red lights interrupted the smooth flow as gentle tunes dispersed throughout the interior of the car. Young Alexandria delighted in the music, pleading with her driver to crank them up until wanderers on the busy sidewalks could hear the same melodies if they strained. “I want to be the very best, like no one ever was! To catch them is my test and train them is my pause!” She carried away, sometimes mixing up the words or missing them entirely.

A loud pop caused everyone in the car to jump, though the two bodyguards immediately went into protective mode, promising young Alexandria that all would be fine and that she need not worry her head too much. She wailed, tears springing from her live miniature rivers as she spoke in broken, nearly incoherent syllables, of how angry and upset daddy would be. “We’re on it, Miss Alexandria. Please trust us, we can handle this just fine.” Blanchard soothed, gently rubbing thew young girl’s back. She wiped away the remaining tears as Blanchard dialed her father to explain the situation. “Yeah sir!....No, no big issue. What?...Oh, it’s a flat, sir. Yes sir…. Yes, we understand…. we’re on it as we speak. Alexandria? Yeah…she’s ok. Want to say hi?” Alexandria snatched the phone and screamed into the receiver. “HI DADDY! I WANT A LATIAS FOR MY BIRTHDAY PLEASE AND A PIKACHU AND I WANNA PONYTA RIDE AND A BIG FERRIS WHEEL-“ Click. Oook…. that’s enough of that noise, daddy’s gotta get back to work.

Galliano, however, cursed underneath his breath as he checked out the scene and noticed some very odd-looking equipment disguised on the road. Were the local police trying to catch some wayward criminal committing grand theft auto on this stretch of road? “This is rather odd…” While Blanchard was still dealing with the child, Silas would find the perfect opportunity to attack the first Bodyguard if he so wished, though Galliano already had his trusted companion, Sparks the Luxio surveying the area with sight and scent as well, making it a little difficult to get away completely unscathed.

Bodyguard Galliano is repairing the busted tires!

He will use his trusted companion, Sparks, to battle! Lv 30. What will Silas do?

[Pixel]

Silas kept himself hidden for now, covering his face as he watched Syn Gust those sleepy-time spores into the alleyway and the opened door of the car. Hopefully it was enough to disorient the people in the vehicle a little (lower their guard). The next step was to take care of the bodyguards. That luxio looked wary and ready to attack anyone who came too close and Silas didn't feel like getting zapped today.

Thus the next player in this ruse was Mercenary the Houndoom. She needed to be a big enough distraction that Jessica the Flaafy could creep over to the car and fry anything electrical in it with some sparks of her own. With the fluffy pink sheep close at hand, waiting at his feet for a cue, he motioned for Mercenary to enter the alleyway. 

While houndour and houndoom weren't native to this area, there had been plenty of incidences of the species being released by inexperienced trainers given how high strung they could be. Even back in Cherrygrove, the ones with trainers were still able to cause trouble when unsupervised! So while odd, it wasn't out of the possibillity that some trainer's houndoom had been 'tearfully released into the wild' and left to terrorize the streets of Goldenrod. 

Mercenary played the part so beautifully too.

She stepped into the alleyway with a growl, tail lashing, smoke creeping from her jaws as if they had just disturbed the hound in her territory. After all, the tire popping made a loud noise in this typically pretty quiet side street. 

Then with a sinister howl, she leapt forth and launched a powerful column of fire at the luxio (and the front bumper of the car). Time to drive the luxio and its trainer away from the car so Jessica could get closer... 

—

Word Count: 303 | OOC:

Houndoom is holding a Choice Scarf and uses Flamethrower x2

[Caramell 🍬]

Native was a strange way to word it, when they inhabited some estates now and were known to frequent the Burned Tower unowned. Gilliano glanced at the strange Pokemon, eyes wondering over Mercenary’s form with a frown, before brushing off the dirt from his outfit and standing fully erect to spin on the tips of his nimble feet to face their opponent. Luxio was on it, hopping forward boldly with his sharp claws extended to dig at the gravel underneath them.

“You need to go!” The words were harsh, direct, and firm. Sparks chased many a mangled pup off the beaten path, helping to clear the way forward not only for Galliano but also for the small child he often played tagalong with. Alexandria attempted to poke her head out the window, twisting it in an awkward position, as she eyed the pretty hellhound facing off against his sparky feline. “Gall…ee…Gillee… Mr. Ano!” She choked, still trying to master his form name with a crunch of her nose and a loud huff. “How much longer?!”

“Hurry back inside and lock the doors. We have a rouge canine on our hands. Blanch, keep her content and don’t let anyone enter the vehicle!” Blanchard was on it, quickly yanking the child away with a careful, but deliberate intent on keeping her safe. The windows went up with a click, leaving a barrier between them and the ordeals that Galliano faced on the other side of the door. Galliano turned, hands extended in a gesture to try and calm the beast though he was careful not to foolishly approach the Houndoom.

“Easy girl…steady…SPARKS, QUICK! USE YOUR ROAR!” He commanded as soon as the flames appeared on the tip of her tongue. It was a strategy that required as little time as possible wasted, though always lacked the type of priority behind its punch it readily needed. Luxio nodded, then yelped loudly as flames shot out from Mercenary’s lips and consumed his flesh. “Aaahhh! YOU GET, NOW, SCRAM!” Luxio barked loudly, the roar carrying up over the nearby buildings, alerting a few wayward glances from nearby windows. Mercenary would turn tail in an instance and race off, only to be replaced by a large winged bird whose head-crest was eerily similar to that of a fedora pinned perfectly to its head.

Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Clear

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Sparks ♂ LV 30
HP 29% [25/85]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Syndicate ♂ LV 28
HP 100% [102/102]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Sparks [Rivalry]: Normal
Syndicate [Insomnia] : Normal

SP103 Mercenary uses Flamethrower!
SP50 Luxio used Roar! Mercenario was scared off!
mfXCXj1xp_1-4 SP53 Syndicate appears!

Sparks' Moves: Charge, Night Slash ^{EM (Gen VII)}, Thunder Fang ^TM, Roar


Notes: Mercenary [HP 100%] Participated. | Running Shoes not exhausted!

SPOILER: Click to show

Mercenary's Move: (95% acc) p_1-100 (crit) p_1-16 (strength) p_1-16 (10% burn) p_1-100

1-4·1-100·1-16·1-16·1-100

[Pixel]

That roar was unexpected. It stopped Mercenary from totally wiping out the luxio with a second round of flames as she was started and forced to turn tail. Fleeing wasn't something she did readily, and as she vanished around the corner, Syn realized that he had to do something. His teammate ran back to their trainer, which meant these humans would escape!

<Keep using Spore> he told the parasect at her side, feathers ruffled. With his insomnia ability, he had no fear of those sleep inducing spores getting into his lungs. His wings would beat effortlessly, even when their foes grew sluggish and weary. 

Sure, this was an electric type foe, but there was no reason for him to be leery. The feline was severely wounded by the earlier outpouring of flames and no doubt wouldn't think an avian would be much of a threat. 

"QUICK, USE YOUR ROAR! SCRAM!" cried Syndicate, mimicking human speech, plucking out words and throwing them back at his opponents to draw their attention. He was a great, looming creature on midnight wings, his plumage impressive and intimidating in spades. A houndoom wasn't an out of the possibillity sighting, but Honchkrow had to be rarer. Murkrow did sometimes migrate out of the darker depths of the nearby Ilex Forest, but usually stone evolutions like this would be the result of human intervention. 

Could this one truly be a wild pokemon from Ilex? Was it released? Or was there a trainer nearby? It was impossible to quite tell what it was doing here, moving closer when the Roar sent the houndoom fleeing. Syn perched on top of the car, head cocked with curiosity. He fluffed some more, the silver-blue pollen that the parasect was producing flaking off his glossy feathers.

"ROAR!" repeated the honchkrow, flaring out both wings, head raised. Then it suddenly lunged off the car to swoop down onto the battlefield, its wing poised to slam into the luxio's side should he not dodge out of the way. The move was quick and precise. A slash as keen and wicked as a blade in the dark. Upon finishing the blow, the honchkrow would swoop up to land again on the roof of the car, fluttering and fluffing to make himself look as big and intimidating as possible. "Lock the doors. ROAR!" He whistled a cue to Silas that he had entered the battle. Uninvited.

—

Word Count: 400 | OOC:

Syndicate uses night slash and is holding the muscle feather.
(should be consumed at the start of this turn)

[Caramell 🍬]

Luxio’s sharp eyes clamored towards the skies above and swallowed Syndicate’s form eagerly. He hissed, body lowering to the ground as though he were ready to pounce. Sparks folded his head against his back, arched his back, and lashed his tail about either side of his body, claws extended and ready to snatch the boss bird out of the air. “You’re just a bird! Meant to be a snack for true hunters like myself!” He hissed, bearing his long, sharp fangs angrily at Syndicate.

The spores were working their magic the moment they managed to slip in through the window. Most were cleared out of the way, thanks to the quick maneuver to shut the doors tight in as an aid to add a protective barrier between the young child and the wild beasts of the street. Still, Alexandria couldn’t help but feel a little woozy. She stumbled about on her feet, tiny hands clamoring for Blanchard as they wrapped snugly to his shirt. “Daddy’s…coming…isn’t…zzz” She snored, unable to fight the dreams that slipped in the place of her once lively and active mind.

Blanchard clung to the child, one hand pulling out a small bottle that promised to keep one’s mind alert for a set number of hours and downed it easily. It didn’t stop him from feeling tired, but it would help him stay up and alert through most of the slog that fought to slip more melatonin inside of his head. “I’ve got you. I promise. We’ll see your dad soon, ok sweetie?” He hummed, unsure of what might happen given their strange situation.

He couldn’t open the door, that would risk more of those strange spores. So, Galliano was stuck battling the rogue Pokemon by himself. Gilliano, however, stared incredulously at Syndicate and scratched the bottom of his chin as soon as Sparks fell to one blast of Syndicate’s sharp winds that slashed through him like the night turned hostile. “Hmm…looks like we’re not alone…” He nodded firmly, turning to his collection before pulling out another orb. With a toss, a large avian similar to a large swallow in stature and appearance appeared.

“Endeavor, it’s your turn to play. Take care of this other avian, please.” The order was sharp and direct, as Gilliano returned to his task at hand. The sooner they cleared the mess out of the way, the sooner he could hop in the car, and they could drive off. It wasn’t his problem to solve if someone was releasing rogue Pokemon. Something he’d report to the IPF later, for sure, though. His hand reached unsteadily towards his pocket, where his phone sat, in quiet contemplation of the next best move.


Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Clear

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Sparks ♂ LV 30
HP 0% [0/85]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Syndicate ♂ LV 28
HP 100% [102/102]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Sparks [Rivalry]: Normal
Syndicate [Insomnia] : Normal [+1 ATK]

SP53 Syndicate consumes his feather! Yummy!
SP53 Syndicate used Night Slash!
SP50 Luxio fainted!
aDHKrCf3p_1-4 SP53 Syndicate appears!

Sparks' Moves: Charge, Night Slash ^{EM (Gen VII)}, Thunder Fang ^TM, Roar


Notes: Mercenary [HP 100%] Participated. | Running Shoes not exhausted!

SPOILER: Click to show

Mercenary's Move: (crit) p_1-8 (strength) p_1-16

---

Syndicate gained +1500 EXP to [1500/2437 EXP]!
Syndicate gained +1 ❤️ to [+6 Happiness]!


Mercenary gained +500 EXP to [1494/2611 EXP]!
Mercenary gained +1 ❤️ to [+14 Happiness]!

Galliano isn't finished yet!

He sends out his Level 25 "Endeavor" the Swellow! Will Silas switch?

MOD NOTES! Per Pixel's request the moves and abilities of Swellow are LOCKED to the following:
Ability: Guts | Moves: Aerial Ace, Double Team, Thief ^TM, Supersonic ^EM

1-4·1-8·1-16

[Pixel]

Silas swore to himself. Syn was NOT supposed to be engaged in battle right now, but that roar threw a wrench in the plan. He couldn't exactly send Mercenary back out without exposing his hand too early. His houndoom bowed her head, tail flicking, clearly frustrated that she was 'spooked' by such a pitiful foe. She should not have been effected by that display of intimidation, but she was, and it was pathetic. She bared her teeth, anger bubbling to the surface. The hell hound seethed, same as her master. 

"We will address your lacking steadfastness later," Silas grit out. "There are bigger issues." Such as those two men being AWAKE still. Apparently the sleeping spores were too thinly spread in the air and weren't enough to knock out the grown men in the short time they breathed them in. No matter. He would count on their reaction times being sluggish and take care of matters a little more directly. "Jessica. Syndicate has them distracted. Sneak under the car and fry the electronics. And any electronic devices those two fools have on their person if you can manage."

There was a strong hint that doing the latter was not as optional as he phrased it to be.

Jessica, relying on her companion to be ruthlessly distracting, crept her way out of her hiding spot and beelined for under the front of the car. She squeezed underneath, using the tires to conceal her presence. She couldn't see the occupants inside of the car, but she could see the bodyguard standing outside of it. Hm... Well. Car first, right? She would fluff up and build a charge in her wool. Slow and subtle. If she just thunder shocked the whole car, she'd probably harm the child inside and that was a no-no. So slow and steady and...okay...she pressed her charged wool against the belly of the beast.

Hopefully this worked. If she could overload the electronics without going overboard...this should keep the car from going anywhere. 

Silas was a bit of a techy. He did some hacking now and then in his thieving. But he knew his target would be even more suspect once they lost the ability to make calls. A dead battery was less suspect than a suppressed signal or faulty connection, but he did have a clunky bit of tech in his suitcase that could make that happen... c'mon Jessica, don't make him pull out that brick right now.

As Jessica worked on frying the car and then moved onto trying do anything at all about the battery in the man's phone in his pocket, Syndicate swooped down again, still yelling loudly as he confronted the Swellow with a night slash.

—

Word Count: 452 | OOC:

Syndicate uses night slash

[Tiki]

"Endevaor, used Double Team!" Gallliano simply started with calling out a move, as he was trying to figure out who this mysterious well-dressed man was.

The Swellow cawed and flew around extremely fast, creating multiple shadow copies of itself to disguise its true self. Syndicate was undeterred by the multiple copies as his talon claws glowed a dark purple. Then, the extra furry avian swiped at one of the Swellow. The Hoenn bird cawed in pain as all the other shadow clones disappeared. The Swellow fell to the ground, and collapsed. Galliano thanked his Pokemon's help and returned it.

The appearance of a Honchkrow after the Houndoom wasn't something common around this part of town, and usually, Roar would just end the battle right away if it was a wild Pokemon. Neither Honchkrow nor Houndoom were Pokemon around this city, to be honest. They must have been trained by someone. Galliano cleared his throat before speaking, "You can come and show yourself now. If you're going to ambush us, at least use a Pokemon from around here." He then tossed a Pokeball to reveal a Hitmontop. It was swaying and alert for the big hairy bird in front of him.

"Hey, that is so last season." The Hitmontop called. "Shouldn't you be in a dark forest cawing at your star sign?"

---

On the other hand, Blanchard was fighting his alertness as the child fell into slumber. This wasn't the first time he had to fight sleepiness due to his work or personal reasons. He could have swear he felt something pressed against the car, but he wasn't sure what. He saw nothing out of the windows as the spores were still cloudy. Sending out Pokemon in a cramped car would be a risky thing to do, but he pressed a button and let out a Manectric. "Hey bud, bark if you feel another Pokemon around this car?"

The electric canine sniffed the air, and then closed its eyes to sensed the electricity around. Something definitely felt wrong, so it barked lightly, and then jumped to ram the car downward and then toward the hood. It wasn't sure what, but it sensed something. Blanchard didn't like what it was seeing. He, too, was thinking how to deal with this situation from the inside of the car.

Wild Encounter

---

Weather: Clear

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Endeavor LV 25
HP 0% [0/72]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Syndicate LV 28
HP 100% [102/102]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Endeavor [Guts]: Evasion +1
Syndicate [Insomnia]: Attack +1

SP75 Endeavor used Double Team!
SP53 Syndicate used Night Slash!


acc hrTOAVGDp_1-100 crit p_1-8 p_69-82

---

Syndicate +1250 for winning
1250/2437 to next level!
+1 happiness, now +6!


Galliano is not done yet and sent out (Level 28) Hitmontop!
Technician: Fake Out, Triple Kick, Gyro Ball, Triple Axel^TM

OOC:
next mod can name it
I don't know enough cars and electrical engineering to write out this post.
I literally just learned to change air filter in car myself last weekend with parent lol.1-100·1-8·69-82

[Pixel]

Ah, called out. Fun while it lasted. But that didn't mean he would show himself yet. Silas opened up his briefcase and startled to set up that signal blocker. Jessica better fry that car battery because having his cover blown AND having the target escape would put him in a very bad spot—both in mood and with the situation as a whole. He couldn't let the mission go astray. HE WOULD be victorious and impress his superiors in Team Rocket. Once the signal blocker was up and running, Silas would double check his disguise in a hand mirror. His wig was in place. Sunglasses to mask the color of his eyes. A dashing smile. And an unassuming business suit.

He really did look like a nobody.He was ready. He shut the briefcase just in time to hear Syndicate chirp, "Ambush! Ambush! At least use pokemon from around here!" He then eyed that latest threat. Rather unassuming, really. Hardly a threat at all from the honchkrow's point of view. What could a fighting type possibly do?

Spreading his wings wide to be bigger and appear more threatening, Syn glared down at the hitmontop with all his corvid audacity. 

<Star sign? Last season? You sound like you have too much time on your hands and don't spend enough time training to fight> Syn crowded, no longer mimicking human speech. He then swooped down to show this hitmontop what for with these wings! Check out these gains. That muscle feather was doing double time for Syn, as he had to sweep through this team all by himself, when that wasn't the original plan at all!

He glanced at Jessica as he made his first pass and noticed the human had let a manetric out the window to go investigate. SIGH. This was NOT the plan. Why wasn't that fool asleep yet?! He whistled a warning to Jessica who squeezed further under the car to avoid the manetric's notice, hoping the strong smell of the engine and possibly burning wires would mask her presence. She kept sparking. Fry the battery, fry the battery. Focus on that since their trainer had a signal jammer out and operational now...

Silas stayed hanging back. Waiting. He wouldn't reveal himself just yet. Not when staying hidden gave him an advantage should someone try to run off. He adjusted the lapels of his jacket. He was ready for show time.

—

Word Count: 402 | OOC:

Syndicate uses wing attack x2

Also the exp on my pokemon are wrong. I think it didn't get updated from the Luxio knock out.

My exp should look like this. I am letting the next mod check the past couple posts and confirm my math. NOT Self-Updating.

Luxio + Swellow KOs
Syndicate gained +1500 EXP to [1500/2437 EXP]! (Lux)
Syndicate gained +1250 EXP to [2750/2437 EXP]! (Swell)
Syndicate grew to LV 29!
313/2611 EXP

Mercenary gained +500 EXP to [1494/2611 EXP]! (Lux)

[Lamont]

Squinting out the tinted windows with a growing headache, Blanchard wracked his brain for what to do. It wasn't going well for Galliano, but he could guess it wasn't going to stay safe in here much longer either. The electric canine continued sniffing and shaking the vehicle in an attempt to discomfort whatever it was that was beneath them. But then, as could be predicted when two statically charged things connect, a loud SNAP cracked through the car. Manectric yipped then growled, backing off from the spot and taking a more passive observance of the following moments.

Blanchard's heart raced, "No... no no no..." He left the snoozing girl's side to lean over the driver's seat and inspect the dashboard. Dead. He tried the key, slapped some of the screens but nothing.



Galliano was too busy hyper focusing on the battle to keep himself, as he liked to imagine, sharp, to pay any attention to anything happening around the vehicle. Luckily Hitmontop was still spry with the spores yet to fully seep in and had a no-brainer plan for an opening move. The bodyguard's actual instructions would happen sometime afterward; not that the fighter would have an opportunity to enact them.

The spin-top pokemon flipped upside down with panache and found himself slapping the boss bird silly for a moment. Perhaps if the stunning display lasted for two moments it would have made a difference instead of only delaying the inevitable. Syndicate's dark wings were quick to follow and return the favor. Though, Hitmontop wasn't still standing afterward.

A curse was uttered from the silver-haired guard, "Coward!" he shouted groggily in some last-ditch effort to try and rile their assailant. The only thing he could suss out was it had to just be one or two people against them. Any serious force wouldn't need to take their time. But boy was it still effective.



Blanchard was out of time. He pat the passenger's side seat and called for his pokemon. The manectric obediently slipped into the seat as its owner fell back to Alexandria. He opened her purse and withdrew one of her pokemon. The smallest, and only one that would easily fit in the current confines.

"Kiir?" the dancer purred gently.
"Alexandria's in danger. I need to go out, so you guys need to protect her," he explained. The kirlia seemed surprised. As attuned as they may be to the girl's thoughts, asleep she was blissfully unaware of the danger surrounding her.

Blanchard then released another of his own pokemon. The pidgeotto formed with a disgruntled look sitting in the now rather cramped back seat area.
"See all that?" he paused to indicate the haze of spores surrounding them, "I need you to clear the way so we can get out clean." Or as clean as possible he followed up in his thoughts. Blanchard withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and turned it into a makeshift mask held by one hand. It wasn't perfect, but it was something.
"Ready?"

He would swing the door open, pidgeotto emitting as much gust to push away the immediate smog before the 3 would usher out of the vehicle like clowns from a car. The door would close behind them quickly.
"Gale, push those spores back as best you can while we handle the bird."

Galliano finally succumbed to the spores.


Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Yawn

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Hitmontop LV 28
HP 0% [0/74]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Syndicate LV 29
HP 76% [80/105]

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Hitmontop [Technician]: Fainted
Syndicate [Insomnia]: +1 ATK

SP52+ Hitmontop used Fake Out!
SP55 Syndicate flinched!

SP55 Syndicate used Wing Attack!

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VICTORY!

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Syndicate gained 1400 EXP and +1 Happiness! (1723/2611 | +8)

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Bodyguard Blanchard steps up after Galliano's defeat!
He sends Manectric (Lv 30) out as the main foe while Pidgeotto combats the area effect.
What will Silas do?

Static | Fire Fang, Volt Switch^TM, Light Screen^TM, Shock Wave
Pidgeotto named Gale

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Mod thought: could treat spores like Yawn. Affects all active participants as an area/weather effect. Those not immune to sleep/spore anyways :3


Confirmed updates from Luxio were not applied; will update ^^ Assuming Muscle Feather was removed from inventory when it was given to Syndicate at start.

[Pixel]

"Mercenary. Time to make our entrance now. They're not going anywhere." Silas said, glancing over at his trusty houndoom, whose tail still thrashed with ire at being chased from combat by a mere roar. "And you have to redeem yourself. I am certain you are eager to do so." She bared her teeth, looking very much like the devilish hellhounds that Caribes warned Silas they could become. It was unfortunate that he couldn't see the beauty in such wildness anymore—in such a primal, instinctive, burning drive to survive, even if it meant turning to ash everything else in your path.

He turned the corner with all the easy innocence of a mere casual bystander, someone who perhaps walked to work and was taking a shortcut. Silas even made a show of looking startled at what he saw, "Oh my! Are you quite alright? Did something happen here to your car? Should I call for the police?" Then he smirked a bright, salesman smile before covered his face with his own makeshift mask, "Or perhaps...I should help you clear the air. Look at all these spores! You wouldn't want to risk them lighting on...fire." As that last word dripped off his lips, Mercenary rounded the corner and charged forth, fleet of foot and quick to bear down on the manetric with a powerful flamethrower.

They were rather...reasonably well-matched, but Silas was confident his hound would come up on top. She wouldn't fail him by doing otherwise. She knew the weight of this mission. 

On the same cue as Mercenary's attack, Jessica crawled out from under the car and sparked at the Pidgeotto, not wanting to let it harm parasect. The mushroom pokemon wasn't really here to fight, but to keep their foe's disoriented and weak. They couldn't have them running off. However, she wasn't as resilient to the spores as Syn, who was immune. She had to keep a certain distance...but still. DANCE BIRDY DANCE.

Syndicate looped around, having defeated all of the last foe's pokemon, and turned his attention to the avian as well. The muscle feather had worn off, so it was foolishness to put himself in the middle of that fight with manetric. So instead, he dive-bombed Gale, working with Jessica to harass the bird and make it hard for him to clear the spores. However, in chasing the avian, Syn also wasn't spreading them either. Who was to say how dense the spores were now?

Parasect didn't expose himself. He just stayed hunkered down like a good little mushroom. Don't be seen. He was doing a real good job of that. Invisible was...hard...but he could, y'know...just not throw himself into the fray like everyone else. They didn't want him down there anyway.

"You could always make this easy on yourself and surrender," Silas said casually, adjusting his jacket. "I'm not a brute. Harming you would be a waste of my time. Clearly, you're out-matched. Just admit it. No shame in that." He chuckled, still as casual as ever, as if they were having a normal conversation.

—

Word Count: 510 | OOC:

Houndoom uses flamethrower!

Jessica and Syndicate use...antagonize bird!

[Caramell 🍬]

When Silas revealed himself, goose bumps crawled along Blanchard’s skin. He couldn’t connect the dots readily, though he was reasonably sure that there was no coincidence behind the well-dressed man and the menacing Pokemon wreaking havoc. “Our car is completely dead, so a phone to the local police would be appreciated.” Blanchard nodded, covering his face in his elbow temporarily to try and thwart off most of the spores. It was difficult, and the energy drink he recently downed felt as though it was slowly wearing off. “You sure showed up conveniently so.” Blanchard stated, not mincing his words.

Inside of his head, though, the man was PANICKING! Alexandria was left with her Kirlia for protection. Galliano was already worse for wear from losing the previous matches though he did his best to thwart their enemies. And now, Blanchard stood as a last remaining testament against whoever this strange man was. “I didn’t quite get your name.” Blanchard added, steeling his emotions inside of his chest to try and remain steadfast and focused through the worst of the weather.

The spores spiraled around in the air. Gale flapped her wings feverishly, striving to clear most of the terrain from Parasect’s nasty works. It was short lived, however. Jessica shocked the large bird of prey, who was rushed from her side from Syndicate with ease. She screeched, a loud caterwaul that reverberated through the air with a strange, angry hiss. In hot pursuit, Gale spun nimbly on the tips of her wings and clashed against Syndicate, striving to knock the other bird out of the air with powerful blasts of her wind.

If anything, it made the spores worse, causing them to sink into the lungs of the two combatants left to tussle against each other on the ground below. Mane-Event worked quickly, raising a strange spectacle of dazzling lights to create a nearly invisible shield. It worked, as Mercenary’s flames singed his fur with less fervor than they might have done just moments before such a successful setup. “I figured you were some wayward criminal.” Blanchard snapped upon Silas’ mention of surrendering. “There’s no way we’ll ever give in to the likes of you. I don’t care who you think you’re working for.” He huffed firmly.

Trainer Battle

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Weather: Yawn

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Mane-Event LV 30
HP 46% [42/91]

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Mercenary LV 29
HP 100% [91/91]

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Mane-Event [Static]: Normal | Light Screen: [0/5]
Mercenary [Flash Fire]: Normal

SP103 Mercenary used Flamethrower!
SP77 Mane-Event used Light Screen!
Mane-Event and Mercenary start feeling really drowsy!

[Pixel]

How annoying, a light screen. And with the spores in the air, this battle would be...quite annoying to work around. However, he didn't feel like switching houndoom out would accomplish anything. It was better to keep damaging the manetric while the hound was here as swapping would just open up his team to needless damage. Houndoom could tank at least one hit.

"My name? You don't need my name~ Though perhaps introductions are in order. Knock, knock...Team Rocket is here to collect its dues. A certain radio star won't be airing his evening show tonight if he knows what is good for him," Silas jeered. "Houndoom, keep up the pressure. Keep using flamethrower." If she fell asleep from the spores, it could be worked around in time. But for now they had to focus on damaging this hound as much as possible. Syn was weak to electricity. Parasect was...a parasect. Jessica was an electric type as well. And heracross, well, best to not switch in heracross until he knew more about this pokemon's moves.

"Are you certain you do not wish to surrender? No shame in it. It would make things much less...messy. And as I said, I'm not partial to violence. Not unless you get in my way."

Syn noticed that Jessica was slowing down and retreating from the spores to shake off the urge to sleep. He cawed and began to divebomb Gale with renewed effort.

<Just give up!> Maybe he could chase this pidgeotto away from the battle entirely. Give his trainer some space to battle without all this nonsense in the background.

—

Word Count: 000 | OOC:

Houndoom uses flamethrower!

[Lamont]

The disguised man's words repeated in the guard's mind. "Rocket..." he mumbled through the handkerchief as one would do to try and jump-start a memory just at the edge of remembrance. It sounded so familiar yet... he just couldn't quite place it. There were so many rowdy groups nowadays; in the big city especially.

Another flamethrower game billowing out to clash against the barrier now lightly protecting his side of the field. The heat was still intense even from back where he stood. Mane-event growled, hunkering down to try anything to keep the attack to a minimum. The electric type's mane felt well singed at this point.
"Hop to, Volt Switch!" he called quickly after ward, seeing his pokemon start to dance a little to avoid hot spots building up.

Blanchard's attention briefly went skyward as his attacker piped up with another offer. Gale screeched a reply to the honchcrow assailing it, "Would you?" whilst narrowly avoiding the business end of a wing. The smaller bird was thrown off balance.

"Get in your way to what?" called back the bodyguard, his attention shifting onto the vehicle nearby. There hadn't been any other disturbances around the car thankfully. The Kirlia was studiously watching from one of the windows. Blanchard had some guesses but was unable to connect any dots.

Mane-event completed the zapping tackle then blitzed into a sudden flash of electric light that returned to its pokeball on Blanchard's belt. The man was unphased as another of his pokemon was forced out by the transfer of energy encasing the remaining ball in his repertoire. The fighter stood tall and ready, hands on his hips, and watched as the spores won a brief victory over the fiery hound.

Trainer Battle

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Weather: Yawn

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Hulk ♂ LV 28
HP 100% [91/91]

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Mercenary LV 29
HP 59% [54/91]

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Blanchard's Light Screen [1/5]
Hulk [Guts]: Normal
Mercenary [Flash Fire]: Asleep (0/1)

SP103 Mercenary used Flamethrower!
SP77 Mane-Event used Volt Switch! Switched with Hulk!


Gale is successfully being deterred from clearing the spores!

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Mane-Event: 18/91HP | Static - Normal | Fire Fang, Volt Switch^TM, Light Screen^TM, Shock Wave
Gale: ? | ?
Hulk♂: Guts | Low Sweep, Knock Off, Scary Face, Vital Throw

[Pixel]

"Hm? Does the name Team Rocket not ring a bell? Pity. You might have saved yourself some trouble if you kept your ear to the ground like a proper bodyguard." Silas mocked. He opened the front of his jacket to show the inside lining and the red R stitched on the inside lining like a certain new friend of his did to his own suits. Couldn't knock a good idea—best to just steal it. "Or perhaps the lack of a tacky black-and-red uniform is what is causing your failure in recollection. I must say, they just don't suit me. I'm partial to finer materials."

He adjusted his lapels with a smirk.

"As for what I want...well, that would spoil the surprise. And I don't think you're up to negotiate with your hackles all raised like that." Silas cocked his head and watched as Mane-event Volt Switched out and his houndoom nodded off. She was fortunately only lightly dozing. "I am getting real...annoyed by this light screen. It ruins the pace of things."

The bodyguard sent out a machoke and in response, Silas sent out his heracross. "Hera, use brick break and get rid of that screen. It is nothing but a nuisance."

—

Word Count: 000 | OOC:

Swap to Heracross + Brick Break