Mini-RP - Johto Badge Run (Sub)

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

As soon as Sub made it to land he got the idea to recall Pym, there was no point of keeping him out in such hostile waters and when he withdrew the ball and turned to draw him back he could see his gut instinct was correct as he caught a flash of light in his gaze. "Crap! Pym!" He shouted, attempting to recall the shark before any of that turned him into something they would eat back home.

Pym would also be recalled and the Dark One would take notice of the homeless man slumbering, ignoring the sea serpents for now as he imagine they would lose interest in him now that he was removed from their water pit of sex. "Yo, that happen often?" He asked the man, though he didn't expect an answer, in fact he was just trying to inject some humor into his dreadful experience here. For now he would just walked up as far as he could on this bit of land towards the waterfall as the sign suggested, looking over his shoulder every now and then to see if the angry water noodles desired to attack him again.

"...hrm?" The homeless man sits up, grumbling as he rubs his eyes to clear the sleep from them, his captains coat flapping slightly around his bare chest as he tosses aside the newspaper from on top of himself. Scooping up a battered captains cap from the ground, he places it jauntily on an angle on his head as he sees Sub move off towards the purported site of the Dragon shrine. "Oy there, belay that matey!" Drake shouts, having missed most of the action. "It be a dangerous breeding season for Dratini don'cha know. I'm here to stop ye tourists from gettin' hurt!"  

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

Sub would jump in his skin as the disheveled man came to life, his initial reaction being to turn around and face the water as he figured it was the Dratini and Dragonair again but in that split second of reacting he realized the sound was not the sea monsters but the 'homeless' man speaking, another second or two later he realized that was no normal vagrant. "Say, aren't you..." He said, snapping his fingers as he tried to think of his name. "Ah well, it'll come to me. Thanks for the warning though. I could have used that about five minutes ago." He said, ringing the water out of his shirt out for emphasis.

"Yar well..." Drake scratches his beard for a second before popping the cork on a gourd of some kind of liquor, taking a generous swig of the pungent-smelling stuff. "I been having a long night last night. I didn't think anyone would be actually bein'... unwise enough to come down in the cave most of the locals know better." He fixes Sub with a sideways glance, before taking a second fortifying swig. "Say... yer Darts' friend, right? Soob? Whatcha' down here for anyways?"  

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

"Sub, and yes, I am a friend of Darts'." He confirmed, his nose curling up a bit as he caught a whiff of whatever substance Drake was poisoning his body with. What was that smell? Houndoom urine and Gloom sap? "Oh you know, thought I would go for a leisurely stroll...wrestle with some Dragonair for fun. Or rather should I say I was forced down here by a certain self-important wannabe empress to pass some test before I'm even allowed to battle her highness."

"Clair." Drake harrumphs, looking back towards the entrance of the Dragon's Den. "Well me boy, I can't exactly color meself surprised what with the way she's been actin' lately. It seemin' to be like the seas be running red all parts of the month if'n ye catch me meaning. What's she having ye do down here, anyhow? Besides runnin' intentionally inteh the middle of a pasty stuffing competition."  

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

"I know exactly what you mean..." Sub said bitterly as he too looked towards the entrance, thinking about the gym leader in question. "She is having me take on and pass the elder's test, or something. I'm guess my destination is that." He said, pointing to the shrine in the distance. "What else of significance is in this musky cave? Beside the banging dragons."

"Well. About that..." Drake opines, leading the Snagem leader down the pass and around the corner to where the Dragon Clan's shrine should be standing. All that remains is a sign stating plainly: Moved for repair and cleaning as historic monument - to be returned at a later date. The entire building, boards, tacks, and whatever else is gone. All that remains is a square where the foundation used to be.  

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

Sub took a good long hard look at the place where the shrine was suppose to be. He had never seen it in person but had seen plenty of photos, paintings, and so forth of it to know where it should be and it clearly was not here, the sign confirming this for him. There was a good long silence as the Snagem leader stood there, contemplating what this meant. After forming an idea of what was going on he turned to Drake, just a shade of anger on his face.

"Claire knew. She had to, she's the gym leader after all. And yet, she led me down here on a wild Swanna chase! That good for..." He started to mutter various insults and names under his breath, all referring to Claire.

"Well then..." Drake says, taking a swig from a gourd of unidentifiable beverage, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his captains jacket before letting out a sigh of pleasure at the taste. "What say we... outfox that little lassie...? She's had a good bit of time to try and rectify her mistakes but she never learns." He takes a scroll out from the inside of his captain's jacket, and hands it over to Sub. "This is one of the wall scrolls from the inside of the Dragon's Den. I was put in charge of them while the renovations were going on, and I guarantee Clair doesn't know they are here. Bring this back to her and there's no way she can deny you that you made it to the Dragon's Den.... just don't be losin' it... bit of an antique I think." He presses the worn bamboo slat scroll into the Snagem leader's hand before taking another swig, ambling over to sit near the blank foundation. "Have youngling Darts bring me it back when'er you get around to it." The pirate captain was clearly unconcerned with the priceless relic he was handing over, seating himself on a bench and pushing his cap back over his eyes. "And if'n ya see a warm newspaper on the way out..."  

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

Sub smiled as he took the ancient scroll from Drake, gingerly placing it inside of a pocket on the inside of his vest, there it would be safe. "I like the way you think." He said to the man with a chuckle. With a nod to Drake he would turn to leave, releasing his seafaring Pokemon once again, though this time noting where the love making session was going on in the waters and being cautious to avoid it.

-----

Sometime later Sub would make it back to the Blackthorn City gym, stomping in through the front doors as they parted and loudly declaring his presence for anyone inside. "Claire! I'm back!" He proclaimed as he took the scroll out from inside his vest and held it into the air. "Here! Take a look at this! Let's end this game now and get on with the battle I deserve! I'm not leaving until then!" He demanded.

Clair emerged from one of the back rooms of her gym, a haughty look in her eyes as she appraised the Snagem leader. "You're back, huh? By now surely you've seen the futility of your..." She stops abruptly mid-sentence and the color drains from her face as she sees the bamboo tube waving about in Sub's hand. "What... where did you get that?"  

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

"You know exactly where I got it." Sub shot back as he now began to toss the scroll, catching it each time. "Now then, I've passed your little test. I think I've earned my right to battle you...not that I should have had to earn such a thing." He said, mumbling the last part. "Or will you continue to run from a fight you know you'll lose?" The man sneered, catching the scroll one last time before stuffing it back into his inner vest pocket.

"You forget yourself, challenger." Clair huffs, turning her nose towards the ceiling as she folds her arms across her chest defiantly. "I have been running from nothing. I am the essence of the Dragon Clan itself and we run from no one. I will grant you your pathetic challenge. And once we're done here, I want you to take a message back to Darts and the rest of your pathetic team when you run back with your tail tucked between your legs." She snaps a finger at the attendant behind the desk. "Prepare the battlefield."

The mousey-haired woman who had greeted Sub on his first visit jumps to her feet and scurries off at her master's behest, quick to avoid the gym leader's disapproval.

Clair turns back to Sub, a deadly serious look in her blue eyes as she stares him down. "The message is: if you come at the queen, you best not miss. And you," There's a deep rumble from within the bowels of the gym, coming from behind the mahogany door to Clair's right. "Are about to miss spectacularly."  

[Atlantis_Darts]

SubonicXP

"I forget myself? Funny coming from a gym leader who initially refuses a challenge." Sub scoffed, looking away from Clair, he was starting to get fed up with her but was doing his best to stomach her, he just needed one more badge after all. Once the girl scurried off and the rumbling went on shortly after he turned his gaze back to Clair, now clearly annoyed.

"Queen? Then I guess it's time for some good ole fashioned regicide." He said with a smile, having humored himself in more ways than one.

Ignoring Sub's pointed comments she throws the doors wide to the interior of the gym, another blaze of heat much more than mere inconvenience washing over them as she reveals their battlefield. The source of the rumbling was revealed to be massive obsidian chains hauling a massive imitation of the Rising Badge from the depths of a pool of pure lava that seemed to take up most of the cavernous room behind the double doors.

Rising to meet them, the faux dragon's head was carven from stone as black as night and as the two looked on, lava bubbled and coursed from the two eye sockets, falling back into the pool with muted splashes all the while giving the stately battlefield a menacing glare.

It clangs into place with a massive crash as supports emerge from the walls to hold the weight of the colossal structure, nestling evenly in each one as it balances perfectly to sit, smoking. What from above so clearly made up the face of the dragon now looked like a hostile wasteland of a fighting arena. The blackened, sharpened stones of the ground rising up wickedly into the air on all sides On the side closest to the pair, there was a clearly etched white box, painted neatly in four even lines. Keen eyed individuals would have been able to make out another box on the opposite side painted in equal dimensions. Two trainer's boxes for this, the battle for the final badge - a rocky platform suspended above a pool of molten lava and Sub's aspirations to the Pokemon League with it.

"Well?" Clair asks, quirking one eyebrow cockily at the Snagem leader, both of them observing their home for the next few hours.