Topic: A HOENN NEW RPM POKEMON ADVENTURE!

[Quickman]

That was something that Runaway wanted to study closer, that gap of missing time.  But, as he watched, he felt his connection fade, slowly.  Within moments, Twoey was standing right in the same room as it faded around him.

"Hey, buddy, let's go," he extended his hand to the Alakazam.

Runaway took Twoey's hand and was yanked out of the psychic connection.  It took him a few minutes to be brought out of his trance as the Pokecenter room slowly faded in around him.  The Zoroark was directly in front of him, Twoey to one side of him, Susan standing guard on the other side, and he had collapsed into Trak's arms from sheer strain and the jolt of having to be forcibly taken out of the Zoroark's mind.

[Dr. Wily II]

Zoroark was jolted awake too, but immediately returned to his PokeBall. Joe sighed as he picked the PokeBall up, and rushed over to help with Runaway.

"Easy there Runaway... Welcome back."

[Quickman]

"Little guy was lost in there," Twoey explained. "Took me a bit to track him down, everything was spilling in like someone opened the floodgates.  I didn't see all of it, but that Zoroark... he went through hell."

Runaway didn't respond, still disoriented and trying to get his bearings.  Plus his own vast archive of memories--and a few of Twoey's--he had the Zoroark's trauma to sort through.

[Dr. Wily II]

"Kinda explains the hostility... Though I'm more worried why the more we want to reach out to him, the more anguish he feels... Plus Runaway isn't looking fine... He must have experienced the same hell... He looks like a Ghost-type now..."

[Quickman]

Trak nodded. "Yeah, he's going to need some time to recover before he can tell us what happened."  She rubbed the Alakazam's head and looked to her bag. "Get a Moomoo Milk out of my bag, would you, Twoey?"

Twoey nodded and fished out a bottle, opening it and getting Runaway to drink. "The thing about mind melds like that, it can really mess up your perception.  You experience their memories like they're your own reality.  I can't do them as well as Runaway can, mainly due to my hardware."

[Dr. Wily II]

"Mind melding..." Joe paused as he tried to process what Twoey just told him. "Could that reason be the cause of Zoroark's freakouts?"

[Quickman]

Twoey shrugged. "I didn't see all of it, I was too busy trying to find Runaway.  A mind meld itself wouldn't cause the freakouts, as that's just allowing one brain to connect to another.  From what I saw, though, that Zoroark's mind was messed with.  More like mind-control and a psychic barrier."

Runaway had regained enough of his senses to nod slowly. "Oui... Barrière..." Yes... A barrier...

"Shh," Trak soothed, "rest, don't stress yourself." With one hand, she wiped his bloody nose with a tissue.

[Dr. Wily II]

"Well, I'll just take Zoroark to see Nurse Joy... Should I get her to come an check up on Runaway as well?"

[Quickman]

Trak nodded. "Just to be on the safe side, yeah.  Considering he wasn't really firing on all cylinders to begin with."

"What a long, strange trip it's been," Twoey mused. 

Susan, meanwhile, yawned.

[Dr. Wily II]

(Yawning Susan~)

"Alright, you all stay put, and I'll get Nurse Joy to come here. Be back shortly!"

With that, Joe left the room, and headed for the reception counter.

[Quickman]

Trak stroked Runaway's head. "What did you see in there?"

The Alakazam didn't respond, still working on separating the Zoroark's memories from reality.  The psychic scan was too successful, as not only was he able to remove the barrier and unlock its memories, but experience everything from the Pokemon Village to the undisclosed lab.  The more the memories replayed, the more details he saw.  After a very long moment, he croaked out one word: "Flare."

[Dr. Wily II]

Joe reached the counter, and handed Zoroark's PokeBall to Nurse Joy. She grinned, took the PokeBall, and placed it into the healing machine. With a ping and a tune, Nurse Joy handed the PokeBall back to Joe.

"Your Pokemon is all healed up and ready to go!"

"Thank you... Also, could you come over to my room? There's an Alakazam that requires your attention..."

"Oh my... Show me the way!"

With that, both Joe and Nurse Joy arrived at the room, with Nurse Joy rushing over to take a look at Runaway.

[Quickman]

"He was doing a psychic scan and got lost," Trak explained quickly, neglecting the details as they weren't important.

Twoey nodded. "I had to go in and get him."

[Dr. Wily II]

"From what I can see... He had been overworking a lot lately. I'll prescribe some medicated food that will help ease his nerves, so that he can get a proper rest. He desperately needs it!"

In the background, Joe was smiling forcefully.

[Sakura Leic]

(After writing 2 parts for Wilypocalyse I'm getting a bit impatient here.  Should I just catch my Chespin off screen and come back here?)

[Quickman]

(Yeah, go for it.  Feel free to join the party.  Runaway's got some intriguing info... but that will need to wait.  Though, there's always story time with Twoey! )

[Sakura Leic]

Sakura suddenly came back into Trak's room with Xuangzang on one shoulder and a Chespin on the other.

"Hey guys what did I miss?" Sakura said hastily "Also this guy's name is Arthur."

"Chespin!" Arthur cried and smiled a big toothy grin.

[Quickman]

Trak had gotten a very exhausted Runaway back into bed. "Impromptu battle, followed by an Alakazam mind-meld that went awry."

"Though, we figured out what was wrong with that Zoroark," Twoey pointed out helpfully.  He scratched at the top of his head, pulled up a stool, and sat beside Runaway to try and get him to talk.

[Sakura Leic]

"You did a what?!" Sakura shouted.

"Chespin?" Arthur tilted his head in confusion.

"It's better not to ask." Xuangzang stated.

"Pin Chespin!" Arthur said cheerfully.

"Funny....Right." Xuangzang muttered.

[White-Jet]

Apprentice just stares at Chespin, having not seen one in the wild outside of the region Jeff picked him up from.  He decides not to question it and goes back to sniffing his stick-sturdy rose.

[Quickman]

"Hey, hey, hey, now, it was Runaway's idea," Twoey folded his arms.

Trak nodded. "He picked a fight with the Zoroark, and once that was over and done with, I had him make amends.  But, something happened, the Zoroark freaked out, and Runaway saw something in its mind and he wanted to chase it back to its source."

"I went in later to get him out, as he got lost," Twoey nodded, "but he did unlock the Zoroark's memories, and we figured out who was behind it."

[Sakura Leic]

"I see..." Sakura said clearly uncomfortable about the idea of Runaway going into the Zoroark's mind while Arthur jumped off of Sakura's shoulder and walked to Runaway "That sounds kind of dangerous....and wrong on so many levels.  Uhm why did Runaway pick a fight with the Zoroark?"

"Chespin?" Arthur said as he stared at Runaway in curiosity while Xuangzang watched him to make sure he didn't bother Runaway too much.

[Quickman]

Trak shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea.  We were asleep and he woke up to pick a fight."

"But, we found out who was behind it, even though you probably know already," Twoey looked at the Chespin for a moment, then to Runaway, who had thankfully fallen asleep.  "Can't get much out of him right now, but when I pulled him out, I saw some things.  Familiar things, now that I think about it..."

[Sakura Leic]

"I see...." Sakura sighed "I hope he doesn't have to do that again, I just don't like the idea of being able to see others minds.  Seems kind of too invasive to me."

Arthur noticed that Runaway was asleep and decided to let him be.  Then he focused his attention on Twoey and gave a cheerful smile.

"Chespin!" Arthur cried once again.

"I swear Arthur is much too friendly." Xuangzang muttered "Though I guess that's his charm."

[Quickman]

"Nothing wrong with that!" Twoey smiled, grabbed Trak's bag, fished out a Puff, and gave it to Arthur.  "But, yeah, there's a connection."

"Wily," Trak said simply.

"Team Flare, too," Twoey nodded. "Caught a brief glimpse of a baby me!"