Pantera

(Case looks sombre.)

Case: It'll be good to finally know what happened to him, I suppose...

Tapu Outskirts

Alli: An Ultra Wormhole?

Neon: Like that glass jellyfish came out of?

Haina Desert

-Frieden steps in, takes a deep breath, and walks in.-

Frieden: Just a goddamn scavenger hunt, how hard can it be?

-Cue the slight trembling in the sands.-

Lyra: "Oh..."

Mountain, Past

-Pent shrugs and follows the trail being set by Kitsune-

Huh, alright then... I'll just keep that plan on backup just incase...

Haina Desert

-Frieden didn't think it would be this hard. Frieden didn't think he would get lost. Frieden did not think this would become a living hell. Only 5 steps before getting ambushed by a group of sandiles, bitten and smacked. Thanks to all his Pokemon on patrol, he only has himself right now. He never even thought that a dugtrio could be this deadly. They were steel type for a reason. 10 more steps before he gets another bite from a sandile hiding in the sands.-

Mt. Lanakila, Past

Dune: To be honest, I'd be surprised if she WASN'T psychic, considering how Selene turned out.

Divine Intervention

Everyone sat in the briefing room, Drakos was talking with the technician hooking up the flight recorder.

"For years we've been trying to figure out why Alan died, we only just found out after the planet was taken by Alexander 10 years ago. This "gift" of his, he's mocking us, even as we retook the planet and now have access to his shipyards, his ships, and his designs," Drakos noted. "We're not gonna be mocked forever, with this, we'll get some closure, and prepare to take on Dross itself... No doubt Stellar Doom is preparing."

Silas nodded, "Our Delta-Wings are fantastic jacks of all trades, we just need reports and good laser blasters. We'll be fine."

Drakos smirked a bit, "Once we take Dross, I can rest easy knowing we've returned peace to this System. Troid, Zero, Shroom, they would've had trouble if he had overtaken us."

The holoscreen activated and displayed a wizened looking Houndoom piloting the ship, a second screen was there, displaying the face of Dexter. Silas felt a pit in his stomach. Drakos snarled, "I knew it."

The recording played.

Dexter laughed, it didn't sound malicious or anything, it sounded as if he had heard a good joke. Alan however looked frazzled as his camera shook, the sounds of shields fizzling were heard. "What the hell Dexter!?"

Dexter just smiled, "Oh Alan, I can't lie to you buddy... This is personal. It's entirely personal, so personal I'd probably need a restraining order."

The ship rocked again, a shield bar had appeared, it ticked down slowly, "Why do it this way? Why not just turn off your IFF and blast me full force?!" Alan shouted, demanding to know.

Dexter shrugged, "Because it's fun... Because I like watching you squirm, you can't escape, you can't turn around and fire back, not without your precious boosters."

Alan growled, "All this... personal... what could be so personal about this?"

Dexter laughed and then stopped, his face looked serious, "Ever the confident pilot, ever the good leader, I got tired of your shadow... How dare you be better than me... I'm the best pilot in this system!"

Alan looked confused for a moment, he only said "What?!"

Dexter nodded and crossed his arms, the shield sounds stopped, "Yeah. Got tired of it all, got this nice deal lining up, just can't get you involved. Shame about Missy as well."

Alan stopped breathing for a moment before his voice got low, "What did you do to Missy?"

Dexter shrugged again, "Nothing I wouldn't have done to anyone else really. I mean that accident she was in, 4 other victims. Oooch. Tough."

"Why?" "Because she kept getting in the way, kept asking too many questions, and was set to take my place... I know it. You don't replace me... I don't get replaced by anyone... But don't worry. I'll replace you just fine."

Alan screamed and his ship swerved, anger and tears in his eyes, laser blasters could be heard firing on full.

"Don't worry about Logan... I hear the boy is doing good, but under my wing he'll be better. Shame about his best friend though, and now you? Damn it'll be hard. But don't worry, Uncle Dexter is here."

A beep was heard, a small text appeared next to Alan's screen, "IFF: OFF".

More laser fire, the screen displayed static, and suddenly Alan was out, bleeding, and falling, the view around him became clear as he crashed. The camera went dark.

"Oh... Hope Dross forces can clean that up" was Dexter's last line.

The recording ended.

Silas sat there, he wasn't sure what he was feeling, but his only words were, "do we have any bigger or better blasters?"

Divine Intervention

Poochyena!Dave: ...What the everloving fuck. That pig is even more of a creep than I thought.

-Jean is resting the urge to punch the screen-

Haina Desert

-Something may be burrowing near Frieden-

Tapu Village

"I don't know anything about any jellyfish, but yeah, Ultra Wormhole sounds... Accurate."

EJ shrugged. "So, that Center?"

Haina Desert

-Frieden, now properly paranoid, sees the slight tremble in the ground and quickly backs off.-

Frieden: Hah! Nice try, but you can't fool me!

-Three sandiles and 2 Trapinches jump up from behind and bites Frieden. And as if it's a cruel joke from God, a Gabite with rough skin joins in to glomp on Frieden's head. Frieden quietly thinks to himself.-

edited 28th Aug '17 5:02:39 PM by Lawlight

Lyra: "That bastard! I'd enjoy turning him into bacon..."

-She clenches a fist.-

Divine Intervention, Briefing Room

Alyesha felt rather sickened, yet even more so than that she felt angry, oh she would make him pay for what he'd done, 10 times over.

Alyesha: "Are there any spare projectile weapons for my fighter? No laserproof shielding will keep me from making this scum pay."

Haina Desert

-A Gible with Rough Skin pops out of the sand and also hops on top of Frieden-

Gible!Archer: <Hi! you need help?> :3

Tapu Outskirts

-Alli points in the direction of the PMC-

Haina Desert

-Frieden is sandwiched by two sandpapers, and has a short memory flash of a song he heard.

After coming back to present sense, Frieden now stops caring about what is happening and simply starts walking, with sandiles and Trapinches stuck on his limbs, and the Gible and Gabite sandwiching his head. He notices a sparkle over a distance and walks over there.-

edited 28th Aug '17 5:29:11 PM by Lawlight

Briefing Room

(Case is silent. She doesn't need to speak - her ice-cold expression says everything for her.)

(Easton Cortez is not so reserved.)

Easton: Fucking bastard!

(A fist slams into the table with enough force to leave a visible dent in it. Abigail gasps and tries desperately to restrain her brother, who's almost frothing at the mouth with rage.)

Easton: Fucker! Absolute fucker! He kills his best friend, leaves one of my best buddies to go mad with grief, fucks up innocent people to keep his bloated ass on top - fucker! Motherfucker fuck!

Abigail: Bro, calm down, I know it's awful, please calm down-

(Todd looks downright shell-shocked, quivering in his seat with the face of a deer in the headlights of an [Australian] road train.)

Mount Lanakila

-Ren suddenly jerks backwards and presses himself against a rock.-

-The Man in White had stopped in front of a large rock and had turned and was looking around.-

Mt. Lanakila, Past

-Oh crap, the guy had turned around.-

-Darn it, Ren took the only good spot within reach.-

-Wait, there's cover on the ground.-

-... *Sigh*, fuck.-

-Dune drops to the ground and keeps his face down, and is barely visible over the snow even up close.-

-Dune mumbles quiet curses regarding snow and circumstances.-

Mt Lanakila, Past

-Pent steps back slowly, trying to obscure himself in the snowstorm and shadows-

-Elizabeth and Haku drop into the snow and try to stay hidden.-

Haina Desert

Gible!Archer: <Er, dude? I wouldn't go that way...>

Haina Desert

-Frieden hears Archer's voice but passes it off as simple heatstroke. He goes closer to the sparkle, but due to a sudden sandstorm, Frieden cannot see what it actually is. Frieden walks closer to it regardless.-

Haina Desert

Gible!Archer: <Dude? Duuude? Hey?>

Haina Desert

It's just the sand storm playing with you.... You did not hear that Gible speak.

-Frieden gets close enough to see that the sparkle was indeed a pink crystal in what seems to be a Metagross hand-shaped podium. Frieden grabs it and checks. Real Psychium Z. Frieden grins.-

<Absence of Z crystal detected. Commencing Trial>

Frieden: What?

-The hand rises to show the rest of what seemed to be a podium. A giant Metagross. Frieden looks at the Metagross, glares at it, before turning around and starting to run.-

Frieden: I ALREADY GOT THE Z CRYSTAL, I AIN'T DEALING WITH THIS SHIT!

edited 28th Aug '17 9:19:51 PM by Lawlight

-Blitz hastily applies his ninja training toward pretending to be a frozen corpse buried behind a snowbank in a blizzard as the man stops, then turns. Unfortunately, Blitz's position makes it rather hard to see when or if the man moves on-