Team Mission 4 - Finale: Vacation's Where I Want to Z

[Isaac Hawking]

"I never realized how hard it would be to find something as simple as a sandwich shop in a town before," Isaac commented to himself as he exited the shop in question. There seemed to be a dozen or so places selling those "malsada"...things, whatever they were, but hardly anyone in the entire town seemed inclined towards non-pastry food. Taking a bite into the huger satiating sandwich, he stared up at the sky, marveling at the perfect weather of the tropical island. "You know," he mumbled to himself around a mouthful of sliced Farfetch'd, "Even if this mission goes south quickly, which it probably will, at least we picked a nice place for once. This beats any cave I can think of."

As his gaze swept across the nearly cloudless sky, a small blot against the sky caught his attention. Squinting in a vain attempt to make out any further details, it wouldn't be for several moments before Isaac realized that the blot had wings, had others joining it, and they all seemed to be getting closer. Puzzled, Isaac continued to observe this strange behavior of the Wingull, before a thought dawned on him as he raised his sandwich for another bite. "Oh not again," he muttered in horrified comprehension as he looked up at the swarming flock of bird Pokemon, now diving out of the sky towards him, or rather his sandwich. Spinning around, Isaac took off down the street as fast as he could, the flock of hungry Wingull hot on his heels as he sprinted for his lunch's life.

Eventually, distracted through his ineffective efforts to keep the flock of birds away from the Farfetch'd sandwich, Isaac felt his feet collide with something and he began to tumble across the ground. "....ow," he groaned as he slowly picked himself off the sidewalk where he tripped. Looking up, he spotted the offending flock of Wingull swarming over what used to be his lunch. "Okay, this farce has gone on for long enough," he ground out through gritted teeth as he hurled a Pokeball into the midst of the flock. As the emerging flash signaled the unveiling of his Magnemite, Isaac called out to Ferrus, "Discharge!"

The squawking hoard of seagull Pokemon was engulfed in a sparking and crackling aura of electricity, zapping most of the birds into unconsciousness.
As Isaac watched the few that hadn't been caught in the attack fly away as quickly as their flapping wings could take them, he walked over to where Ferrus was hovering over the mound of fainted Wingull. Nodding in the direction of the fleeing seagulls, "Thunderbolt." Moments later a surge of electric chi lanced out into the sky, striking the last few Wingull and causing them to drop out of the sky.

As the last of the chi dissipated from Ferrus, the Magnet Pokemon turned to Isaac and beeped at him reproachfully. "Yes, that was petty," Isaac sighed back, "But, I'm getting sick of having my lunch getting stolen all the time. Now come on," he continued, wrapping an arm around Ferrus, "Let's see if that sandwich shop sells something you might like as well."

Atlantis_Darts

"Right then." Kukui says, smiling again as he waves them into the cave. "Here in Alola we do not have a Gym System like other nations do, we operate on what is called a trial system. This is Captain Ilima's usual trial location, although he's not around right now, he was called away on business. So we should have the place to ourselves." As the entire group enters the mossy, overgrown maze that sprawls before them anyone who had any kind of indication of what energy was or could sense it, mostly hybrids and channelers, they would immediately be presented with the sensation of being watched on all sides, assaulted with their first taste of Totem energy. Though they couldn't see anything looking at them anywhere, it would be akin to the willies in public when you think something's watching you with no reason to believe it.

"Anyhow." Kukui says, clearly unaware of the sensation that would take over so many of them. "You asked me about the Tapus." He says, indicating Crystal with a nod of his head. "It's a tale old and a bit long in the telling here but suffice it to say that there are four per our main islands in the region: Tapu Koko for Melemele Island, Tapu Bulu for Ula'ula Island, Tapu Fini of Poni Island, and Tapu Lele of Akala Island. There's no rule saying they have to only appear on those islands, but the hard and fast rule is that these are their main domains. They have come together in times of great calamity but luckily for us that's been a rare event..." He moves his cap up his forehead to wipe the sweat off his brow, as the heat inside the cave was pushed up far more than outside hence the lush sprawling growth across the entire rock outcropping in front of them. "Basically they guide and protect our region, as they often are involved in decisions like anointing Island Kahunas and other things. People look at them as gods of sorts, but based on my research... not quite."

All of a sudden, quick as a flash as Reno steps in the wrong spot there was a squeal from above and a Yungoos flings itself directly on top of the unlucky Co-Leader's head, hissing and spitting as it comes. There's more rustling from above and more and more of the vermin fling themselves down on the group below themselves, apparently they had been relaxing in the dense ferns above the group. "I'd be careful around these parts." Kukui throws over his shoulder, either ignoring or choosing to not help the people being assaulted by furry divebombs from above. "Pokemon are very territorial in these caves. One wrong move and you could find yourself swarmed."

"Oh great," Isaac said as he walked up behind the shirtless professor, quickly stuffing the last few bites of his new Farfetch'd sandwich into his mouth. "Because being swarmed by Pokemon once on this island wasn't enough." Wiping the remaining crumbs off on his sleeve, Isaac fished around in the pockets of his own lab coat retrieving a couple of Pokeballs, just in case he became the target for yet another Pokemon dog pile.  

[Darksol88]

"I don't think I'm going to ever not see that," Cera remarked as she watched Zera talk to an Alolan Grimer as if it was a stray Lillipup. Or maybe some little kid. Either way, she considered the Grimer the lucky one since it was the one in a ball. Deciding to instead try and blank that image from her mind, she'd turn and listen to Kukui. "Not quite...? I'm not sure I follow. On any of this. This region seems like it should've been known of at least twenty years ago." It might be apparent that she was also trying to keep her mind from dwelling on the odd energy she was feeling. It didn't feel vile or anything like the Shadow Pokemon did, but it was still totally foreign.

By now, Amaranth would finally catch up, the Pikipek still on her shoulder, hearing little else but the last bit of what Kukui had said about the Tapu. "What, so they're just really rare Pokemon that you all worship or something? Not that I'm knocking any of it, it's just... not the sort of thing we're used to learning about. Someone says a Pokemon's revered as a god, it's usually got the power to back up the claim." It's official: Alola was kinda different.

That said, both of them stopped as soon as Reno was assaulted by the Yungoos.

"...yeah, noted." Amaranth and Cera said at the same time, making sure to be a lot more cautious as they slowly walked around Reno. They didn't want to be the next ones on the food chain.  

[Reno Vantas]

Reno would grow ponderous as Kukui began to speak about the Tapus and the Kahunas they elected. "Alright, so if they elect these Kahunas, that means they must be their choice of a protector for that island." Reno thought out loud, closing in on the cave entrance. "Yeah, must be strong too or else these Tapu thingies would do the defending themselves." Leslie added, finally having caught up after her laughing fit that had incapacitated her.

Reno would let out a hum as he began to get an idea for getting this island publicity, something outside of simply being a resort spot. As they walked in, Reno would ask Kukui, "You ever thought about maybe using these Trial Captains and Kahunas to try and break into the Pokemon League? Just from the few Pokemon I've found from the region, they would prove quite the powerful force to shaking up the leagues a bit."

His efforts to continue selling this idea, and an aim to get Snagem ingrained here with said League creation, would be cut short as a small thud sounded against his head. Casually picking up the hissing ball of fur with his left hand, Reno would watch it begin to bite and scratch at his metallic arm before throwing the Yungoos to intercept a falling one that was inbound for Crystal. This was quickly responded to by some aggressive growling from the indignant Yungoos before a swarm of the furry devils would stream at Reno and cover him as they began to claw and bite at him.

Leslie would stare at the now fur coated Reno before giving a few test swings with her head. "Ready? Gonna get you out." Leslie warned, the mass of Yungoos tried to turn to see what Leslie was up to. It's victim didn't get a chance to really see anything before a large metallic mass of teeth and metal punted the Pokemon and person clear across the cavern to slam into one of the walls. The Yungoos would begin to scatter, but it seemed Reno was a little dazed to say anything for the moment. Whoops.

---

Beau would watch as the chef disappeared upstairs before standing up from the rickety chair and beginning to spread a line of powder around the table with a good distance between them and the likely path the chef would take to return before trailing it back to his chair and sitting down. "I don't care if he's odd, he comes down with something besides food and I'm blowing this popsicle stand."  

[Atlantis_Darts]

Blizzard120

"You know what they are?" Tristen asked.

"We're...acquainted..." I said, taking out a Pokeball, getting ready for a fight if they were wanting one, Tristen following suit. They're not on a full on attack yet. Got to admit though...hilarious seeing Reno with an instant mullet.

Isaac Hawking

"Oh great," Isaac said as he walked up behind the shirtless professor, quickly stuffing the last few bites of his new Farfetch'd sandwich into his mouth. "Because being swarmed by Pokemon once on this island wasn't enough." Wiping the remaining crumbs off on his sleeve, Isaac fished around in the pockets of his own lab coat retrieving a couple of Pokeballs, just in case he became the target for yet another Pokemon dog pile.

Darksol88

"...yeah, noted." Amaranth and Cera said at the same time, making sure to be a lot more cautious as they slowly walked around Reno. They didn't want to be the next ones on the food chain.

Espeon_Commander

"So, there's four guardians, one for each island, who are not quite gods, but still powerful in their own rights, and they.... allow people to be Kahunas? Huh. Interesting." All of this would be written in shorthand in her notebook, which was floating right next to her. "I'll need to hear more of this when we're less pressed for time." She snapped shut the notebook and returned it to her bag with the pen, bringing out another Pokéball. Her fur bristled from a combination of the heat and the energy she felt, the hybrid wringing and shaking her hands. "There's one thing I took for granted as a human... Sweat glands everywhere. Never worried about it in Unova, the constant sandstorms that happened when I arrived at the Desert Resort took precedence..." The woman paused when the Yungoos landed on Reno's head, making for a lovely new hair piece while others came from various other areas in the cave. "Gee, you don't say...." She would hold the Pokéball tight as she followed the others, ready to send a Pokémon out if they came at her.

Reno Vantas

Reno would grow ponderous as Kukui began to speak about the Tapus and the Kahunas they elected. "Alright, so if they elect these Kahunas, that means they must be their choice of a protector for that island." Reno thought out loud, closing in on the cave entrance. "Yeah, must be strong too or else these Tapu thingies would do the defending themselves." Leslie added, finally having caught up after her laughing fit that had incapacitated her.

Reno would let out a hum as he began to get an idea for getting this island publicity, something outside of simply being a resort spot. As they walked in, Reno would ask Kukui, "You ever thought about maybe using these Trial Captains and Kahunas to try and break into the Pokemon League? Just from the few Pokemon I've found from the region, they would prove quite the powerful force to shaking up the leagues a bit."

His efforts to continue selling this idea, and an aim to get Snagem ingrained here with said League creation, would be cut short as a small thud sounded against his head. Casually picking up the hissing ball of fur with his left hand, Reno would watch it begin to bite and scratch at his metallic arm before throwing the Yungoos to intercept a falling one that was inbound for Crystal. This was quickly responded to by some aggressive growling from the indignant Yungoos before a swarm of the furry devils would stream at Reno and cover him as they began to claw and bite at him.

Leslie would stare at the now fur coated Reno before giving a few test swings with her head. "Ready? Gonna get you out." Leslie warned, the mass of Yungoos tried to turn to see what Leslie was up to. It's victim didn't get a chance to really see anything before a large metallic mass of teeth and metal punted the Pokemon and person clear across the cavern to slam into one of the walls. The Yungoos would begin to scatter, but it seemed Reno was a little dazed to say anything for the moment. Whoops.

Arkelos

Arkelos and his Canines jump out from the bushes all them with a MIGHTY roar aimed toward the swarm of Yungoos. "Round them up, however do not hurt them. Show them fear." Arkelos said in short follow. The group came running up and surround the pokemon. "Am i late to the party?" He asked.

Jezebel followed a short time later walking up the trail. "My apologies, i lost track of the time and everyone. I hope everything is okay, i heard screaming from up this way." Jezebel said with curiosity.

TerashiLeonGoken

"A region without gyms," I sighed as we caught up to the rest of the Snagems, who had gathered up into some sort of cavern. "Well, no region is perfect, I suppose."

I was about to say something else, when something weird filtered through my telepathic bond with Rala. The hell is that energy?

I don't know, Rala responded mentally. I've never sensed that kind of energy before.

"Um... is Reno okay?" Keiko spoke up, knocking me off my train of thought.

"I dunno. Where is he?" I asked, having not seen the wannabe rival in the cavern.

When Keiko pointed at the human-sized pile of fur, I facepalmed. "Of course," I huffed, though I couldn't help but smile a little. "Help him out, Rala," I said before letting the Gardevoir out of her ball.

"Jeez, there's a lot of them," Rala complained, pulling each Yungoos off of Reno one by one with Confusion.

The Snagems manage to free Reno from underneath the pile of Yungoos and although most of them go without doing more than hissing and scratching at him a bit one has taken up residence curled up on top of his head to give him a snazzy looking set of hair that wouldn't look out of place on carrot-skinned diplomats somewhere.

In the meantime, Kukui has led the group through the maze of branches and they come to what looks like a fairly average-sized clearing as they emerge out of the cave. The open sky gleams above them, and over on top of a crudely-hewn totem statue out in front of them would be a distinctive green blob easily identified as a Zygarde Cell.

"The problem with that is we really don't have a well-defined trainer to be our Champion, you know?" Kukui sighs at Reno, leaning back against a wall off to one side as he's clearly in favor of letting everyone else get a gander at this thing as he's already had his time to examine the cell in all the detail he wanted to. "We need a real go-getter who can band them together and get them all on the same page."

As their conversation about the political climate in Alola drifts off to the background, Zera and Kess move forward to look at the Zygarde Cell.

"This is what you guys are here for?" Zera asks incredulously, stopping just short of poking at it. Even Kess' face displays her incredulousness as they near the thing.

"It is a bit... underwhelming." The Zapdos hybrid admits, walking around all sides of the thing as she inspects the wriggling boneless blob currently sitting around on top of the statuette. All of a sudden, there's an otherworldly shriek as a pair of Pokemon spring forwards to accost the two Cipher members, a Gumshoos and a Raticate that seem to be the source of the mysterious energy everyone was able to sense flowing throughout the cavern. An almost palpable aura flowed across them as the Totem Form energy flowed across their skin.

"Rat!" Chitters the fat one, snapping its teeth violently.

"Shooooooos!" Hisses the second, its back and tail bristling in defiance of the two hybrids in front of it.

"Hey Kess..." Zera says, a smile playing across her features as she pulls an Ultra Ball from inside of her hoodie. "What is it Ein always tells us? That the world is our petri dish?"

"Zera what do you-" Kess stops herself as she realizes just what the bored Koffing hybrid has in mind. "Oh no. No no no-"

"I'm a little bored just playing this one nicey-nice Kessie girl, I got to admit." She says with a sinister grin as she hurls the ball into the air. "Come on out, Magmar!" The capsule flies from her hand and snaps open, dropping her Magmar out directly on top of the two Totem Pokemon. "Smog 'em!" It wouldn't seem to be that bad of a situation... unless you took note of the Magmar's own caustic purple corona flowing across the surface of its skin. Zera had just dropped a Shadow Pokemon on top of a Totem Pokemon just because, and judging by the way both of them were hacking up a lung from the cloud of toxic shadow-infected poison they had gotten more than a mouthful of the virus.

The Gumshoos and the Raticate stagger backward, as their Totem aura begins to waver and flicker like a candle light going out before surging back upwards again, the bright white Totem energy corrupted by strands of purple and black Shadow Virus coursing through their aura. An unholy shriek of inhuman proportions comes from them as they both go into a frenzy from the combination of two energies that no doubt were never intended to miss. It also must be some kind of call for help, because several Alolan Rattata and more Yungoos show up only to be savagely bitten by their leader, convulsing for a moment before flaring up with a certain shadowy aura of their own. Anyone who had Pokemon would be safe as the disease was clearly transmitting through proximity, but they had better be careful not to get bitten.

"Awwww...." Zera coos, waggling a finger at the closest one and almost losing it as the Ratatta snaps at her with a viciousness uncharacteristic of the species. "They are sooo bloodthirsty ain't they guys? They just precious-wecious... aren't they?" She asks the group, Kess and her backing towards one side of the area opposite the others.

"..." Kess doesn't say anything, taking several steps backward as the horde of Shadow rodents begins advancing on the group, teeth bared in a lust to spread their infection. Things had gone from under control to very wrong very quickly. Reno, who had been mid sentence in conversation to Kukui would also notice he had vanished quite without warning. That's not good.

All of a sudden, on top of everything else, the island itself seems to vibrate sending seismic shudders through the group. Behind them they could hear rocks crashing to the ground inside the Verdant Caverns in response to this sudden spike in vibrations. Indeterminate not good?

--

Reno Vantas

Beau would watch as the chef disappeared upstairs before standing up from the rickety chair and beginning to spread a line of powder around the table with a good distance between them and the likely path the chef would take to return before trailing it back to his chair and sitting down. "I don't care if he's odd, he comes down with something besides food and I'm blowing this popsicle stand."

Extremelictor

Clara would lean over at Darts and Beau pleading in the most hushed voice she could "I-I have no intention on feasting on humans! This place looks like the perfect place to get murdered, can we please leave. I'm really sc-" Clara would zip her lips quickly listening for footsteps up above. Small tears formed behind her large rim glasses, her lips quivered, and eye's darting between the two gentlemen.

Clara held tightly onto a few of her pokeballs from her bag. She knew she was somewhat safe with the snagems, however it wasn't enough to halt the chubby girls fear. Rubbing away a tear on her sleeve, she grabbed at the oldest pokeball she had. A trusted friend.

In an act of desperation the girl released her Nincada, Nallah, hiding on the underside of the table. The silver haired girl would pet the pokemons head to keep her quiet, just having Nallah around helped the her take a few breaths and stop the impeding panic attack. The Pokemon would let out half a chirp before being hushed by her trainer, "No Nallah shoooosh please"

A few minutes later the door from above would burst open, trailing the absolute worst smell any of the three of them had ever waved a nose towards in their entire life. Some kind of combination of burnt hobo piss-shoe and the inside of a two-week old cast mixed with the aroma of an entire fish market way past its prime.

Darts' red eyes are literally watering into his crest as he holds up one jacketed sleeve to try and ward off the smell to no avail. "Dear god it smells like Giratina's breath!" He curses, as the fishmonger comes down the stairs with what is definitely food but... food for humans? A smorgasbord of fish carcasses and some... things tentacles and eyes and pieces all mashed together in some kind of rancid green... maybe that was a sauce or bile, it was somewhat hard to tell.

"Fresh feeesh!" The monger announces joyfully, setting the pile in between the three of them. Darts still has his nose covered but the proximity isn't helping things. "Is good you eet!" He pronounces, handing each of them a fork. The gambler looks despairingly over at Beau and then turns to Clara, pleading with them with just a look oh please god how do we get out of this?

Then the island starts shuddering.  

[Darksol88]

"Wait, leave that thing alo-" Cera wouldn't get a chance to say much at all before crap had hit the fan so hard that not even Cipher could've orchestrated so deadly a combination or so swift an oncoming demise. After it was revealed as to just what had happened, she nearly went ballistic on Zera.

"ARE YOU TWO FREAKING STUPID!? I KNEW YOU WERE OUT TO KILL US! THAT'S IT, BOTH OF YOU DIE!" She screamed before trying to lift Zera and Kess telepathicaly, hoping to throw them both into the mess they created with the two Totem Shadow Pokemon. "Everyone, we leave. Let them deal with this, they'll get what they deserve!"

Despite this, the Mew would be shaking as she floated there. She was far, far too angry to think of anything aside from murdering these two, even if she got ripped apart by the other Pokemon afterward. Seems that maybe she still had a long way to go when it came to how she'd react.


Amaranth, on the other hand, froze and did little more than take out a Pokeball to suddenly catch the Pikipek on her shoulder. Normally, there'd be more of a struggle, but it was thankful for the sudden safety and didn't give much of a fight towards the idea. "One question while we're all still alive," she spoke up. "Zera, how much of a total idiot are you to let those out in a new region, around Pokemon that might be powerful enough to rend an island to shreds? Or is Cera right that you intend to kill us after all?" She was backing up as she spoke, ready to immediately flee after this. The sudden shaking of the island would prove to make any such effort easier said, however, as she wound up stumbling from the sudden loss of stable footing.  

[Reno Vantas]

Reno glanced over to Kukui as he attempted to ignore the new hair piece that had been left to nest on top of his head. "So you need someone to unite these people beneath? I'd be willing to try." Reno told the professor, completely ignorant of the two Ciphers at work until the sound of growling reached his ears. Turning around to face the Totem Pokemon that had been freshly shadowified, Reno could only sigh and begin to dig in his bag for a pair of Pokeballs before looking back to Kukui. "Okay. Best stand...where'd you go?" Reno questioned, now finding an empty space beside where the professor used to be. Oh brother.

While Reno was busy being ignorant of the imminent danger, Leslie had sprung into action with a quick release of a Pokemon. Feeling a set of vines wrapping their way around her waist before extending out to her arms, a small smirk crossed the Mawile hybrid's face before she directed the vines to grip onto two anchor points and gave an almighty pull. "Not so fast, coward!" Leslie shouted, slingshotting herself towards Zera as a metallic sheen crossed her skin in preparation for the imminent impact.

Aria would stand back with the other Snagems as Leslie did her usual brash course of action. Digging through her few pieces of clothing, she soon found herself with the only Pokemon she had thought to pack. "Alright, Carbuncle! Stealth Rock! Give us some room to operate in around here." Aria crowed, watching as the Carbink that emerged began to glow with a brown energy before small jagged points began to slowly rise from the earth below. While it wouldn't be the perfect deterrent against Shadow Pokemon, it would give them a bit of time for real setup and planning.

While Leslie wouldn't be able to gain a real sense of the seismic occurrences of the island, Reno and Aria both felt the deep rumble in the ground. Reno would look towards where the Cell was sitting to watch how it reacted while Aria began to huddle closer with the other Snagems for protection. She had an image and a brand to carry on, someone else could take a possible mortal wound.

----

Beau stared at the meal that had been brought before them. And somehow, despite the physical incapability for it to do so, Beau knew that this abomination from a forgotten corner of the Distortion World was staring back at all three of them. It was daring them to eat it, to tempt fate to such a high degree. But there was no way this was edible for a Steel Pokemon, let alone normal people. The things looked like they could poison a Metagross. All of this was thankfully passed by when Beau saw his strongest opportunity for escape as the strange earthquake hit the small house.

Waiting a moment for a big rumble, the Vivillon hybrid would grab and flip the table as rapidly as he could before diving for the stairs and simply flapping up to the top step and only using the rail as a guide. "Earthquake! Get out of the places that can collapse and kill you!" Beau shouted, desperately hoping this dumb-looking fishmonger would buy this stupid idea for the moment. Oh, what did he care? It looked like a little splashback had hit all the other occupants and he didn't want to deal with any of their reactions, so the Vivillon hybrid would take off out the main door and try to get down the street.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Atlantis_Darts

Lykas had gone on to meet up with Kukui and the rest of the Snagems after detaining his assailant earlier, arriving as Kukui began to explain a bit about the Tapu. "I'd kinda like to meet one of the-" He cut himself off there. Something in this cave was putting him on edge. He wasn't sure what at first but the first he tried to figure it out, the more he realized it was the cave itself. This entire place was positively oozing with a raw power unlike anything he had ever felt before. Sure he wasn't the greatest at sensing energy, not like someone like Blizz was, at least, but even he could feel the strangely divine energy permeating the very stone of the cave's walls. From there, he failed to bother responding any further. He wasn't typically the kind to let something make his skin crawl but it was all he could do to keep said skin in place in here.

"Benevolent God-like Pokemon that help rule an entire region...." Odd said to himself, scratching his chin. "I wonder if Father Clarence has ever been here?" It sounded similar to a story he'd been told once as a child, though that could be entirely coincidental. It was then that he took notice of the strange energy. It felt like a raw spiritual power, almost, but it wasn't. It was just very powerful and felt pure. More pure than most people and Pokemon he'd met since becoming a channeler, that was certain.

When the Yungoos fell down upon Reno, Lykas laughed as Odd helped pick them off with shadow-y ribbons created with Baroque's help. They weren't as solid as they'd be if he had actually let Baroque out of his ball but they got the job done. "You look like someone who's going to build a wall around Unova." The hybrid told him. "You're just missing a horrible spray tan and you'd look just like a politician." Once he was done laughing, he took note of what was going on around them. All of a sudden, they were beset upon by a pair of Pokemon; One Pokemon that looked like it was trying to compete with Reno for political power and an overfed Raticate. Both of which were literally dripping with the power that permeated this cave. He was going to say something to them about not being here to hurt anyone when Zera decided to prove where he loyalties were. The instant her Magmar appeared, he felt it. The pure evil radiating from the Fire-type. The madness masking it's true self. It was all laid bare as his eyes took on a black glow.

The earth began to shake as the Shadow Virus took hold on the pair of Totem Pokemon and they began infecting their brethren. In order to both remain stable and to advance, he dissolved into a puddle, crossing the distance between himself as the Koffing hybrid as quickly as a sentient puddle could, reforming with his tentacles already wrapping around her. "You imbecile!" He screamed at her, point blank as he released a Hex at her, looking eyes with the hybrid as he did. She was going to feel her mind being ripped apart as he showed her the truth about just what she was. The Eye of Truth opened between them and began filling her mind with the horrible truths of herself and her employer and Lykas planned on keeping her looking at him, looking into it until she broke.

Odd, on the other hand, was glad he had come prepared. He had A'Capella and Entr'Acte both on him today so at least he had Pokemon already infected that wouldn't be able to get infected anew if he had to fight these things. And they should. They absolutely should fight these things. Capture them. Prevent the virus from spreading to the rest of the region. Something. But all he could do right now was pull out an unspecified Pokeball and hold it at the ready. The combination of the two energies in those bigger Pokemon was both unsettling and overwhelming. How could the others not feel it?! It felt like nothing he'd ever encountered before, either living or dead. Not even the denizens of the Otherworld had a power that felt this way.  

[Arkelos]

Atlanta_Darts

The wild Yungoos flee into the cave, to what seemed like a relief. Arkelos than fell to the ground. "The energies, i can hear the crackling of something evil, sinister." Sniffing the air for a moment. "That --- smell; I know that smell." His eye widen as the ground below his feet began to quake. "Such power, WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! Growlithe, Poochyena, Houndour, Furfrou, Abra, Rockruff; Return to your pokeballs." With a quick flash they all return to their pokeballs. Arkelos watched in Horror as the massive spew of the dark Aura come flushing out of the cave. Mixed with the fiery heat of the Magmar, he rushes forward to see what is actually going on.

------------

Jezebel is standing what seems to be the farthest away from the cave. "What!? What is ---?" She was trying to ask when all the chaos started. "Quickly Cayenne, i know you don't like your pokeball; But please return for your own safety." Seeing the worry in her eyes, the Vulpix quick jumped into its pokeball. Running up to the cave to join the others, she stops short to see the two massive totem pokemon with a evil aura standing there with their newly corrupted allies. "What are THOSE!? They do not look like pokemon. What is going on here?" She asked with a fearful voice.  

[Isaac Hawking]

"I just want to take a moment to say 'I told you so,'" Isaac remarked in an offhand manner, as he used a Vivid scent to activate his Immunizer. Reaching into the pockets of his coat, he opened up two of his Pokeballs as he called out to the emerging Pokemon. "Angron, on the Raticate! Kardan, on the Gumshoos! Iron Head!" The emerging steel type duo wasted no time and charged headlong into their foes, metal craniums gleaming of steel chi as they careened into their designated targets. As Isaac began to look around and evaluate the situation, the rumbling and shaking environment shot to the top of his priority list. Grasping for a nearby rock, he steadied himself as he whipped his head around, desperately searching for the source of the disturbance.  

[Atlantis_Darts]

Isaac Hawking

"I just want to take a moment to say 'I told you so,'" Isaac remarked in an offhand manner, as he used a Vivid scent to activate his Immunizer. Reaching into the pockets of his coat, he opened up two of his Pokeballs as he called out to the emerging Pokemon. "Angron, on the Raticate! Kardan, on the Gumshoos! Iron Head!" The emerging steel type duo wasted no time and charged headlong into their foes, metal craniums gleaming of steel chi as they careened into their designated targets. As Isaac began to look around and evaluate the situation, the rumbling and shaking environment shot to the top of his priority list. Grasping for a nearby rock, he steadied himself as he whipped his head around, desperately searching for the source of the disturbance.

Arkelos

The wild Yungoos flee into the cave, to what seemed like a relief. Arkelos than fell to the ground. "The energies, i can hear the crackling of something evil, sinister." Sniffing the air for a moment. "That --- smell; I know that smell." His eye widen as the ground below his feet began to quake. "Such power, WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! Growlithe, Poochyena, Houndour, Furfrou, Abra, Rockruff; Return to your pokeballs." With a quick flash they all return to their pokeballs. Arkelos watched in Horror as the massive spew of the dark Aura come flushing out of the cave. Mixed with the fiery heat of the Magmar, he rushes forward to see what is actually going on.

------------

Jezebel is standing what seems to be the farthest away from the cave. "What!? What is ---?" She was trying to ask when all the chaos started. "Quickly Cayenne, i know you don't like your pokeball; But please return for your own safety." Seeing the worry in her eyes, the Vulpix quick jumped into its pokeball. Running up to the cave to join the others, she stops short to see the two massive totem pokemon with a evil aura standing there with their newly corrupted allies. "What are THOSE!? They do not look like pokemon. What is going on here?" She asked with a fearful voice.

Espeon_Commander

Crystal would flick her ears back once when the two Totem Pokémon showed up, flicking her tail back and forth nervously. Then Zera let out her Shadow Magmar. "Wait, what are- No! What the hell are you doing," Crystal shouted, eyes widening in momentary terror as the two Pokémon became infected, then summoned more to infect them. "Why you.... You b***h!" Her ears would lay flat against her head as her eyes began to glow blue, helping Cera to throw the Koffing hybrid into the mess she made. Immediately afterwards, she would bring out her SNAG and shove a Joy Scent into the Immunizer attached to it.

"Okay then, Now that this is out of the way... Apolla! Donne!" Crystal brought out her other two Psychic Pokémon currently not preoccupied looking for lost people. Before she could give out any commands, though, the shaking started. "Kuso!" The hybrid would spread her legs and arms apart, and even point her tail out its full length to keep her balance. "We are so up a creek.... Apolla, Donne, if you can, Shadow Ball the two major Pokémon!"

The Bronzor easily ignored the earthquake going on, spinning around before firing off its Shadow Ball. Apolla, on the other hand, would have to steady herself before doing it. Not nearly as much as Crystal, but enough to allow Donne to fire the first shot. 'Oi! Why did you send me out into this crap hole, Crystal,' she'd shoot to her trainer, the hybrid shaking her head.

"I have no idea what's going on now, Apolla, chill!"

Requiem of Whyspers

Odd, on the other hand, was glad he had come prepared. He had A'Capella and Entr'Acte both on him today so at least he had Pokemon already infected that wouldn't be able to get infected anew if he had to fight these things. And they should. They absolutely should fight these things. Capture them. Prevent the virus from spreading to the rest of the region. Something. But all he could do right now was pull out an unspecified Pokeball and hold it at the ready. The combination of the two energies in those bigger Pokemon was both unsettling and overwhelming. How could the others not feel it?! It felt like nothing he'd ever encountered before, either living or dead. Not even the denizens of the Otherworld had a power that felt this way.

Reno Vantas

While Reno was busy being ignorant of the imminent danger, Leslie had sprung into action with a quick release of a Pokemon. Feeling a set of vines wrapping their way around her waist before extending out to her arms, a small smirk crossed the Mawile hybrid's face before she directed the vines to grip onto two anchor points and gave an almighty pull. "Not so fast, coward!" Leslie shouted, slingshotting herself towards Zera as a metallic sheen crossed her skin in preparation for the imminent impact.

Aria would stand back with the other Snagems as Leslie did her usual brash course of action. Digging through her few pieces of clothing, she soon found herself with the only Pokemon she had thought to pack. "Alright, Carbuncle! Stealth Rock! Give us some room to operate in around here." Aria crowed, watching as the Carbink that emerged began to glow with a brown energy before small jagged points began to slowly rise from the earth below. While it wouldn't be the perfect deterrent against Shadow Pokemon, it would give them a bit of time for real setup and planning.

While Leslie wouldn't be able to gain a real sense of the seismic occurrences of the island, Reno and Aria both felt the deep rumble in the ground. Reno would look towards where the Cell was sitting to watch how it reacted while Aria began to huddle closer with the other Snagems for protection. She had an image and a brand to carry on, someone else could take a possible mortal wound.

Blizzard120

The ball bursts open and out from a flash of light comes the zebra Pokemon with a squeal and was ready for battle.

"Blitzle! Thunder Wave!" Tristen shouted, pointing towards that Magmar. If anything, with the chips stacked against him, he had to shift the balance somehow.

Darksol88

"Wait, leave that thing alo-" Cera wouldn't get a chance to say much at all before crap had hit the fan so hard that not even Cipher could've orchestrated so deadly a combination or so swift an oncoming demise. After it was revealed as to just what had happened, she nearly went ballistic on Zera.

"ARE YOU TWO FREAKING STUPID!? I KNEW YOU WERE OUT TO KILL US! THAT'S IT, BOTH OF YOU DIE!" She screamed before trying to lift Zera and Kess telepathicaly, hoping to throw them both into the mess they created with the two Totem Shadow Pokemon. "Everyone, we leave. Let them deal with this, they'll get what they deserve!"

Despite this, the Mew would be shaking as she floated there. She was far, far too angry to think of anything aside from murdering these two, even if she got ripped apart by the other Pokemon afterward. Seems that maybe she still had a long way to go when it came to how she'd react.


Amaranth, on the other hand, froze and did little more than take out a Pokeball to suddenly catch the Pikipek on her shoulder. Normally, there'd be more of a struggle, but it was thankful for the sudden safety and didn't give much of a fight towards the idea. "One question while we're all still alive," she spoke up. "Zera, how much of a total idiot are you to let those out in a new region, around Pokemon that might be powerful enough to rend an island to shreds? Or is Cera right that you intend to kill us after all?" She was backing up as she spoke, ready to immediately flee after this. The sudden shaking of the island would prove to make any such effort easier said, however, as she wound up stumbling from the sudden loss of stable footing.

Crystal and Cera's combined efforts would lift the poison-type hybrid bodily from the ground as they both focus a super-effective load of energy into lifting her bodily from the ground. Her mind fills with visions as Lykas begins projecting and she screams a little from the sensation but there's still a twisted smile on her face even as the pain crosses her body.

Despite the situation and having nothing to do with things getting so out of control, there's an ominous crackling sound in the clouds above them that should be familiar to anyone who was involved at the Meteor Falls incident. A pillar of solid lightning descends from the sky towards Crystal, Blizzard, and Lykas as Kess rips off a massive Thunder attack, her sword flaring to life in her fist as she conjures up the massive bolt of electricity to try and give her teammate some breathing room.

Cera was luckily outside the radius of this attack but pretty soon she's going to have her own situation on her hands, as the egg she has been carrying since the original Shadow Pokemon arc finally begins to crack and shudder, a pair of bright blue flippers poking out of the eggshell for just a second until in a flash of light a massive Lapras is seated atop the furious Mew, burying her in 400 pounds of fleshy blubber. "Lap!" It squeaks, not seeming to notice for the moment the viscous purple aura running through its body. Unlike most Pokemon, it had been born to this Shadow state. It squeaks again, releasing a Ice Beam off towards Isaac in a playful sort of manner.

Isaac's Beldum and Aron race Tristen's Blitzle's Thunder Wave towards its target and they actually manage to make contact first, both Iron Heads connecting with a solid clang of metal on... metal? The Totem Pokemon flinch back from the blow, but it really seems like their defenses have been enhanced by the powerful Totem Energy flowing through them so they don't seem quite as phased as they should be. The Gumshoos rears up on its back legs and powerfully screeches, jabbing and pointing in an effectively fear-mongering sort of way about immigrants to their valley and how Verdant Caverns needed to come first. Its Shadow Panic seems to work very effectively on the two Steel-types, infusing them with a xenophobic panic at being labeled outsiders while the Raticate puffs up its fat cheeks and slobbers the pair with a fine mist exhaled from its mouth, the Shadow Down eroding at their rock-solid armor in time for a pack of Yungoos and Rattata, Rattata on the Aron and Yungoos on the Beldum, swarm over them gnashing and biting their weakened armor. Thank god for the Immunizers around. The pair of Shadow Balls incoming from the Bronzong take the two ringleader Pokemon by surprise and send them smashing backwards with a squeal of pain, though it was doubtful that was enough to take care of them. Jezebel wasn't getting out of the melee so easily either, as a Shadow Rattata and a Shadow Yungoos both leap for her face hissing with Shadow energy frothing from their lips.

[Gumshoos Shadow Meter: 4/10]

[Raticate Shadow Meter: 4/10]

As for Tristen's Thunder Wave it strikes home no problem, paralyzing the malcontented Magmar and freezing it before it got to really get revving up as a firestarter of epic proportions.

Stealth Rocks fill the arena with pointed detonation mines just waiting for an opponent to enter the arena... and not to disappoint Aria, one emerged soon after she deployed her defensive array. The shaking rumbling the entirety of the island stops before the ground in between the Snagems and the Ciphers puckers like a festering blister and then erupts as a massive emerald green worm forces itself out of the ground and into daylight, roaring its emergence into the battle. "Zyyyyyyy!" The fifty percent behemoth shrieks, eyes roving back and forth as the Stealth Rocks it touched detonated against its skin. It seemed to be physically offended by the presence of the Shadow Pokemon, hissing at them defiantly. it also happened to now be directly in the way of Leslie, who bounces off of it like a pinball off of the side of a flipper and back the way she came, but the intrusion is noticed by the Legendary and it launches a spray of spines at Leslie, Tristen, Aria, and Odd, unleashing a mighty Thousand Arrows towards the part of the group it thought had slighted it. Not a good time to be bouncing off of a legendary and getting caught in midair, it might seem...

Espeon_Commander

"Return here however necessary. You've lived long enough. I expect you know how to fend for yourself without someone telling you what to do." Crystal nodded with a bit of respect to her Sigilyph, who bowed before taking off. With that matter out of the way, she'd return to Kukui and the others just in time to hear the explanation of the Tapus.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the island, a keen-eyed Sigilyph would spot an incoming group of people moving toward their location, and judging by the looks of them they were not very friendly... but there was definitely too many to even try and fend them off... maybe it should report back?

---

Reno Vantas

Waiting a moment for a big rumble, the Vivillon hybrid would grab and flip the table as rapidly as he could before diving for the stairs and simply flapping up to the top step and only using the rail as a guide. "Earthquake! Get out of the places that can collapse and kill you!" Beau shouted, desperately hoping this dumb-looking fishmonger would buy this stupid idea for the moment. Oh, what did he care? It looked like a little splashback had hit all the other occupants and he didn't want to deal with any of their reactions, so the Vivillon hybrid would take off out the main door and try to get down the street.

Darts gets some of the concoction in his mouth and immediately retches, stumbling for the door after Beau before he tosses his cookies inside, flipping the rest of the table up in the air and onto the floor to spare anyone else the disaster of having to eat anything like that. Outside, after panting his guts out into the bushes for a few minutes he notices a lightning storm floating over the tops of some mountains... maybe that suspicious looking area had something to do with the Earthquake? It's better than no clues, so he unfurls his wings into existence and takes off after Beau.

Inside the food dungeon, the fishmonger has been shouting and cursing the 'bug-boy' and 'golden idieet' as soon as they were out the door. He rounds on Clara, an expectant smile on his face. "You will be paying me for this freesh feesh, yeeesh?" He asks her, showing all of this teeth as he outstretches a hand for his payment from the last one abandoned inside his sweatshop food kitchen. "I can meek you another batch of this right up!"