Battle Academy, Break Room

-Retek leans back in his chair. He'd finally finished sorting that messy paperwork the Mt. Battle office wanted - something about the legal boundaries and maintenance of the volcano or somesuch.-

Mary: Oh, hey Roland!

Maki: Hey there!

-The two teal-haired sisters waved to him as they passed.-

Retek: Gotta use the aliases for us while we're here, girls. You remember what Hok- er, Amkoh said.

Mary: Oh c'mon, boss. It's not like any of that blue freak's orchestra are gonna spontaneously appear just because we use your real name.

Retek: Look, I'm of the same opinion, but I've been lectured by the old man more than I'd like already.

Maki: If he has a problem with it for us, he can take it up with Tiph.

Mary: A real "hammer and anvil" situation, there.

-He couldn't deny the idea of Amkoh trying to enforce a rule that Therephit didn't agree with was the kind of encounter that he'd definitely watch... from a long distance.-

Maki: Oh, by the way, Miss Tiph sent us up to tell you something.

Mary: Hm? Oh, yeah! Hey, you remember Xavier, that one girl with the feisty attitude?

Retek: Like I could ever forget. She's got more energy than a barrel of Enkephalin.

Mary: Well, apparently she's aced Miss Geb's training course!

Maki: But distressingly close to flunking everything else.

Mary: So Miss Geb and Miss Tiph got together, and want you to talk to her about some way to help her, uh... what did Miss Tiph say?

-One of the red-uniformed training department employees walked in, their vibrantly deep blue hair almost appearing black in the slightly dimmed lights of the break room.-

Hao: "Better redistribute her academic priorities". Which Arubeg says means "Get her to learn stuff. I don't care how. But if her grades fall too far, I'm locking her out of the training modules."

-Retek sighed and covered his eyes with his hand. Great. They'd lumped the task onto him because it's a cross-department thing. And Retek wasn't great with kids.-

Retek: Alright, fine. I'll try and think of something. Man, I miss my team...

-The other employees look downcast for a moment.-

Mary: Miss Binah is still looking for what happened to the Keter team, right?

Maki: Yeah, but from what I hear from Robertus, it's like "trying to see the stars in daylight", or something like that.

Hao: That's a rather stark comparison.

Retek: Y'all are making me depressed even more now. Go. Shoo.

-The employees filter out of the room as Retek sighs.-

School safehouse, storage room

Micro: ~The Templar seems occupied right now. So, are we going to get moving now or sometime next week?~

Micro gestures down the corridor.

Sunyshore Cafe

-Maurice blinks, then gets a very doofy smile on his face-

"...Sure thing!"

Bubba Gump: <...Uh oh.>

Floraroma Town

Mog: "...That is weird. Plant's don't work like that, I should know. Wonder what causes i-"

-It is then a pink-haired woman dressed in green holding a Budew approaches them-

???: "Excuse me, you two?"

Budew: <Harrumph. Why are we wasting time?>

School Safehouse

-Justice inches down the corridor-

Ecruteak Town

Olivia: <Oh! That's you! We have everybody!>

-She gestures to an air trolley nearby-

<This goes up the nearby mountains towards the ribbon... We should follow it!>

Orre, In-Palace Safehouse

-Tanya thinks back.-

-Her counterpart, her purple eyes staring in disgust, as Tanya held her classmate in her hands.-

-The girl struggled against Tanya's grip, until the brain death set in.-

-But she didn't care about that.-

-She cared about the escapee's reaction.-

-At first she saw fear.-

-But then it changed.-

-It changed to something even more primal.-

-A deep, furious rage.-

-And Tanya hid it well.-

-But she was afraid, herself.-

-But, why? Why was she afraid of the person she had been hand-crafted to kill?-

-What behind her gaze, her presence, her reaction, caused her heart to spike, her instincts to scream, and her blood to boil?-

-And why did all of that turn to bitter disgust when looking at the new observer?-

-There's a knock at the door. Tanya shakes her head clear.-

Tanya: Eskimo.

Mio: Klondike.

Tanya: Alright, come in.

-The door opened and Mio came in, a backpack full of supplies with her.-

Mio: Why the hell do we have to wear full armor on supply runs when it's "real fucking hot" degrees Fahrenheit out there?

Tanya: Don't ask me, take it up with Nikolai. She's the one who decided to recommend that rule when the bosses were thinking of an SOP.

Mio: Goddammit, anyone but her...

Tanya: Oh just go take a shower and quit whining to me.

Sunnyshore Café, far past

Chiyo: -Clasping Maurice's hand she's already holding with her other hand, smiling back- Great!

Floaroma Town, past

Chiyo: A friend says it has probably has to do with Shay-

-To the pink-haired woman-

Yes?

Ecruteak, past

Ann: -Looking ahead- Let's get going then.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Feb 4th 2023 at 11:36:29 AM

Mitchell glances at the air trolley Olivia gestures to.

Mitchell: Ah, a scenic public services ride. Hope they take cards for the fare.

Kaisei: "Trolley, eh? Let's get going then."

-He goes to board the trolley with the others.-

Stormchaser, kitchen, past

Kamon: Hahaha right, I used to see them as goals until Ludovic's da said he didn't want me polluting their home with dirty islander blood. (rolls his eyes) And uh, dunno who She is but I'll smoke whenever and wherever I feel like it, love. Though I don't have any cigs on me today. Oh. OH. (suddenly excited) You should come to my J-Team movie premiere! Bring your friends and whatnot! You can laugh at it, I don't mind. No wait, I do, but I'll pretend I don't. Because that's my job. I'm amazing at that.

School Safehouse, Goldenrod

Templar: Are you kidding? There's no way you're a Templar!

-The guard impatiently tapped his foot, having stopped this little girl with her frilly dress from entering the inner security door.-

Angelica: But I am. The Principal said so.

-This was the line she'd been spinning the whole time, and the guard had just about enough of it.-

Templar: And I'm the son of Sabrina. Get lost!

-Angelica sighed. The Templar scowled in response.-

Templar: ...

-His eyes shoot open. Why couldn't he open his mouth?-

Angelica: Your privilege of opinion has been revoked.

-She walks up to the Templar and shoves him over. His legs remain locked as his opinion that standing is superior to falling, and that falling is bad, remain suppressed. He hits the ground like a stiff board.-

Angelica: Your probation will last for five minutes.

-She steps on top of and over the now prone Templar, who could not muster an opinion about such humiliation.-

Angelica: Oh, before I go...

-She turns back, bending down at the waste so she's looking down into the frozen Templar's face.-

Angelica: You will never forget the name and authority of Angelica the Tyrant. It is Law.

There was the distant din and hum of machinery, Gabriel marched with purpose along catwalks overlooking various labs. "How goes progress?" he asked a menial beside him.

"Very good sir, those Dark Troopers of yours are utterly obedient, we will have another lab sector cut out soon enough!"

Gabriel sneered a bit, while he was quite proud of his project, and the clone soldiers underneath him, they lacked something, a je ne sais quoi as the Kalosians would put it. He looked to the cloning tanks and inspiration struck him. A smile crept across his face, that was what they were missing.

"We'll need DNA samples, but I think it's time we begin work on properly outfitting teams of pokemon. Our troopers can only do so much."

The menial nodded and rushed off. Gabriel stood alert as he began to dream of all the custom works they could create, they may need individuals such as Victor... for now he was content.

Paldea - Templar Base

Gabriel would hear a noise on the catwalk behind him as Whitt enters the room. He moves along the walkway, making sure that he makes plenty of noise, and leans against the railing several feet away.

"So, this is what you've been up to. Maybe this will be the time when your toys actually do something useful."

Gabriel picked his head up and took a deep inhale, with a sharp turn on his heel he faced Whitt.

"Whitt, a pleasure as always. What brings you to my base of operations?" he asked, pointedly ignoring the comment about toys.

Paldea - Templar Base

Whitt shrugs. "Do I need a reason to come and visit a good friend? I'm surprised you didn't invite me to the house warming party, I suppose my invitation must have gotten lost. Then again, I don't tend to go too well with warming."

His faux smile drops away. "But in all seriousness, I did come here because I need to speak to you about something important. Gabriel, for all your faults you are at least a rather intelligent man, so I'd like to ask: do you think we can actually win this war against the J-Team?"

Gabriel had pondered that question numerous times, he had charts and calculations lining abandoned labs. "That all depends," he said. "What do we define "Defeat" as?"

"In a straight out war? No. There seem to be forces surrounding said team that bend fate around them, any direct assault is suicide," Gabriel admitted.

He had run the calculations again and again, the sleepless nights staring at the equations and notations. "That is why, we are looking to redefine defeat."

Paldea - Templar Base

Whitt, for as much as he doesn't want it to show, does react with some surprise at Gabriel's last statement. "What does that mean?" he asks. "How do you mean to defeat them as we are now?"

He looks over the catwalk at clone soldiers. "Is that what those are for?"

Stormchaser Kitchen, past

-It's then at Kamon's mention of "She" that the room briefly rumbles and even twists a bit before returning to its normal shape-

I'm sure someone will be interested.

Stormchaser, today

Louise: -Is currently doing target practice-

"You've heard tales of rogue experiments, the children and test subjects who have escaped. You've heard about one who regularly turns our fellows into sashimi correct?" Gabriel asked.

"She is affiliated with that team, it seemed almost like destiny brought her to them. And she is only but one threat we have to face," he continued.

He looked down as several troopers in bone white armor marched in unison along, the improvements from the earlier models evident in their behavior. "Those are for other threats we must contend with, we are beset on all sides by those who wish to see our work eliminated. Quantity is its own quality, and we are sorely lacking in that, as for the J-Team and redefining defeat."

He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I cannot say for certain how we will accomplish that, I am not the one looking into that front."

Several menials walked by, on a large cart was a obsidian tinted pyramid, odd writing on it that glowed in a faint cyan blue, another came up to Gabriel and said. "Subject 115 is in containment sir."

"Make sure the life support is in top shape," Gabriel responded, he turned back to Whitt. "It isn't often you ask questions like this, are you concerned?"

Edited by EchoingSilence on Feb 5th 2023 at 5:46:15 AM

Paldea - Templar Base

"I've heard of her," Whitt says, at the description of the rogue problem. "She's killed a lot of us. You're right, she and the others that leave do have me concerned."

He leans over the railing and looks down. "You probably remember that I was taken captive for a while. I'm sure you had a laugh at the news and got on with your day - I'd do the same if it happened to you. And probably shit in your bed, but that's not important."

"Thing is, I tried to turn them against one another while I was in there," he continues. "And you know what happened? Nothing. The J-Team trust one another too much to ever turn on each other. It's something that we just don't have."

Whitt sighs. "I am concerned, Gabriel. Now that she made her speech, more and more of our kin are deciding that they'd be better off with those guys. Soon all that we'll have left is those of us who truly believe in our work and ideals, like you and I, versus everyone we've pissed off along the way."

Gabriel smirked. "Yes, the power of friendship, trust your allies and all that feel good stuff," he chuckled.

"The plan there was never going to work anyways, even if you were to have dissent, it'd not be with their friends but over the ideal of what they stand for and what that group means. Trust is a powerful thing," Gabriel said.

He motioned for Whitt to follow him as he walked along, passing a few more sections below from the catwalk, the sights there including what looked to be several inanimate clones receiving new injections, Dark Troopers and Death Troopers marching in unison, and a lab filled with individuals in hazmat suits, a large tank labelled N6 standing in the center, the catwalk in this part was completely sealed off via thick plexiglass.

"I have plans for our own traitors in our ranks, I have plans to start work on various other projects. Subject 115 is an experiment in new commander types."

Gabriel entered a rather spartan office, and pulled out champagne glasses. On the table were several file folders with big titles printed.

• Project Dreamwalker
• Journeyman
• N6 Research

"The work of the team can be compared to gods Whitt, how do you get somebody to stop believing in a god?" Gabriel asked as he poured champagne into the glasses.

Paldea - Templar Base

Whitt takes on of the champagne glasses. As he does, ice creeps up the glass, cooling it to a perfect drinking temperature for the champagne. After a moment's hesitation he also does the same to Gabriel's glass.

"Is this a riddle, Gabriel? I was never all that good at those." He takes a sip, though he doesn't swallow just yet - he waits until Gabriel has some as well, just in case. "Go on then, tell me the answer."

Gabriel smiled and sipped his glass. "You make them bleed. A god is only impressive so long as they are invulnerable, look at the old tales of gods being laid low by the mortals around them. As soon as they are bested by a mortal, their fellows abandon them, while I doubt the J-Team will ever truly abandon one of their own, there is still the factor that they are only being followed now as a safe option."

He raised it high with a wicked smile. "Imagine if you will, all the renegades clambering for safety, going because they think the J-Team will keep them safe from us... what would happen should the J-Team suffer a black eye? What if we could prove that no matter how invincible they are, they can still suffer a setback, that we are not so easily stopped?"

He took another sip. "Why I imagine that they'd at the very least pause, and ponder if they truly are safe."

Paldea - Templar Base

Whitt smiles outwardly, though inwardly he sighs. Gabriel, unfortunately, is wrong. Antagonising the J-Team is how the School ended up in this position in the first place, and now he wants to go and cause more trouble with them? Whitt is tempted to leave and declare this trip a waste of time, but he has to at least try.

"Smart," he says. "You think we should go on the offensive and win a smaller battle. We win that and the J-Team will mark it off as nothing, but it will help us in the long run. I mean, they can attack all of the gene banks they want and it doesn't hurt us at all."

His expression turns thoughtful and he sips his glass again. "Still though, how do you make sure that they don't attack us back? From what I heard, we didn't come out well from their raid in Sinnoh - it's where she made that speech that's been causing all of the trouble. Heck, I heard even you were forced to run. If we give them a black eye, what's to stop them from turning around and giving us a broken arm?"

He sips the champagne, as though deep in thought.

Gabriel let out a sigh. "That is the unfortunate factor I am faced with, how to wound them without retaliation, we are stuck in a battle of escalation. While the N6 research goes well I am debating if using such an indiscriminate weapon is exactly safe, our own may not survive and while I have no issue sacrificing the clones, they do require direction and even then resources. To say nothing of my Dark Trooper project, though I can say the successes from that attack of theirs proved useful."

He tapped a finger against the glass in thought. "But the fact of the matter is still this, if we can achieve one solid hit, and escape unharmed ourselves, the renegades will be forced to evaluate their supposed sanctuary. Will it be worth it running, if even their great protectors can be harmed, is that safe haven so safe anymore?"

He set down the glass and tapped his finger to his chin. "Tell me Whitt, what would you do? Hypothetical entirely, what would be the course of action you would take to even accomplish this?"

Edited by EchoingSilence on Feb 5th 2023 at 6:34:33 AM

Paldea - Templar Base

Whitt stares into his glass. "You know me, Gabriel," he says. "I like to find the obvious source of the problem and get rid of it. In this case, if there was anything that we were going to hit, to show our kin that the J-Team that's been promised to them is a safe place? Well, the one who gave them that promise at all seems the most obvious, no? Not to mention that she's been killing dozens of our templars."

He drains the glass. "I never really enjoyed killing other School creations like us. It seems like a waste of something that could have been wonderful. But if you ask, I have to say. I think the answer would be to kill Iridium."

Gabriel found himself agreeing with that assessment. "Yes, or Chiyoh as she is known now, rather bothersome individual herself. Her continued survival is an anomaly we have to account for but no matter, I can see the benefit there."

Gabriel left it unsaid that her continued survival was pretty much insanity to deal with. "For me there was a certain man back in Orre, it may be petty but I'd like to wound him for his assistance in letting project Thorium escape. We may have had a very powerful telekinetic on hand but I'll never know now."

He finished his champagne and shrugged. "But, the details of said plan are still in motion. For now I work on preparing our forces for future battles. The new clones are rather impressive, improved personality templates allow them full autonomy and emergent behavior. Compared to earlier builds that required more direct Templar command such as mine, these soldiers can complete more complex tasks with little needed elaboration. Though ideally a templar would still be not too far off to direct them. I've found the range is still limited."

He clicked on a TV screen demonstrating several new clones, all bald headed males of ambiguous skin-tone running through an obstacle course and assisting one another. "That said I'd still rather have a proper pokemon on hand for true strength. The clones only strength lie in numbers after all, any decent charizard could still cook them to a crisp sadly."