Topic: RPM POKEMON ADVENTURE THING

[White-Jet]

"I'd say I've been hit by worse, but I'm still getting used to being slugged on the shoulder...." Hierophant grunts before getting up and looking at the orb on his staff, seeing the Water Rune once again appearing within its blue interior, before pointing it into the air.

"Kindness Rain."

The skies darken slightly as a light, harmless rain pours down throughout the majority of the town, healing any Pokemon or person that had hurt themselves trying to fight off Carr's earlier psychic tantrum, as well as seal the nicks he suffered from Skarmory's Swift attack.  Synthis basks in the pure, fresh feeling of the Kindness rain while Genbu bounds through the door to get some fresh, magical water himself.

[Sakura Leic]

"We should get some rest, no point in going after him with a Skarmory that fast and with Gravity powers." Sakura recommended.

[White-Jet]

Though reluctant, Hierophant knew even the card on his back couldn't match the speed of a Skarmory, especially one still affected by Wheel of Fortune's speed-boosting spells.  He only hopes Chariot could do a better job if he caught sight of the fleeing Skarmory on his way back.

Synthis and Genbu walk over to him, nudging his sides until he looked down, smiles a bit and pats their heads.

"Let's head inside, then," he said, "There's no point standing out here and lamenting the situation."

[Sakura Leic]

"Why don't we head in the ship, I think a few of us can use a nap." Sakura recommended.

[Quickman]

Mewtwo panted a bit before straightening his back.  He looked to Quickie. "I said that I would not be captured."  He reached behind his head and scratched at his neck-tube for a moment, picked at the tape that was securing the IV catheter.  He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, then his throat, and finally reached behind him in an attempt to remove the card from his back.

Quickie walked up to him, smiling. "Well, now, we could all use some rest."  She looked around for Wily.  "Where did Wily go?"

Mewtwo nodded to the ship and headed for it. "We best get out of sight."

[White-Jet]

Hierophant and the other Pokemon nod as they head for the ship, Ryo, Posu and Nega leaving the Pokemon Center to follow them inside.

As for his card counterpart, he was easily pulled off Mewtwo's back after a couple brushes with the edge of his card.  Once removed, Merrick regains his original flatness and floats off after the others to contemplate whether to stay out of the bag or go back inside.

[Sakura Leic]

"Hmm I wonder if the ship has separate rooms or if some of us have to room together." Sakura ponders "And if that is the case who should I room with?"

[Quickman]

Quickie had taken the opportunity to retrieve her belongings and she caught up with Mewtwo inside the Grand Rhydon.  She found Mewtwo in a quiet corner, curled up.  He had already closed his eyes when Quickie sat down on the floor beside him.  She gently scratched behind his ears. "You sleep awhile.  You had a busy week."

Mewtwo sniffed, coughed, and rubbed his eyes in response.

Posted on: June 30, 2013, 06:35:42 AM

(... OK, officially lost myself to the plot as well. Let's see how to insert myself back...)

After explaining himself to the group about his actions, and the seeming acceptance from the group, let Dr. Wily II feel a bit more at ease. More so at seeing the heartwarming reunion between Mewtwo and Quickie. As Dr. Wily II turned back towards the Grand Rhydon, he thought about how to help the group leave Stone Town in one piece, and far away from Team Rocket. Perhaps he can find Julia and ask about the ship's blueprints...

(... Yea... Going into the background for me, and perhaps my WilyRP side. As for Joe...)

Finally out from under the debris, Joe jumped for joy... Until he found out the hard way that he had sprained his right ankle. In pain, Joe nodded at Domino's orders, after given some temporal medical attention, slowly limped his way towards the ready room. Wonder what's going to happen now...

Sweat causing her bangs to be stringy spiderlegs, Domino wiped her brow as she paced the conference room.   Joe was already there, his ankle braced.  Domino herself had recieved a rapid warm-up to stave off hypothermia, though it left her sweating.  The cooling system had broken down during the firefight and the room was stuffy.

His suit marred by dirt, Giovanni sat in one of the chairs.  He had relinquished his rifle to the quartermaster, and the majority of his troops were securing the perimeter.  Their security had been compromised and they would need to relocate.

Dr. Yeung had also managed to join them, after dealing with his own security breach.  The Alakazam was dead, having been completely unable to fight off the Toxic attack.  Yeung had quarantined the area to prevent the spread of contaminants, and sent the Pokemon's body to another lab for a necropsy and toxicology.  Amid the confusion, the data on Mewtwo's scans had been stolen.

The four occupied the room in a tense silence before Domino placed a receiver on the table. "The locator updated.  Guess where it's at?"

Giovanni merely groaned.  "It went right back to where we found it, didn't it?"

Domino nodded and resumed her pacing.  "There's reports of a disturbance in Stone Town, as well.  Marty was monitoring the police scanners and we picked up a serious battle going on, which included the involvement of some field agents."

Giovanni sat up. "Were any identified?"

"Just two," Domino nodded, "Jessie and James."

Giovanni groaned loudly.  Joe stared at him.  Yeung merely steepled his fingers.

"Should I summon them?" Domino fingered her comm unit.

"No!"  Giovanni practically stood.  "No.  No, send another team out to question them.  Bush and Cassidy, those two."  He sat down again.  "I don't need to be raising any suspicions.  Right now, our security is compromised, and the first thing we need to do is fall back and regroup at another base."

Domino nodded. "I'll send out Butch and Cassidy, then."

Giovanni looked to Yeung. "Was there anything in Mewtwo's system when it escaped?  Anything that could weaken it?"

Yeung shook his head.  "Aside from the mild sedative that we were feeding into its air supply, the only thing it was dosed with was a contrast dye for the CT scan."  He glanced at the table for a moment.  "The inhalant would be out of its system by now, but it will take a day or two to flush out the contrast dye."

"Well, I shot it," Giovanni folded his arms, "anything from that?"

Yeung shook his head again. "Depends on where you shot it."

"Back of the arm," Giovanni lifted his own arm and patted his triceps, "hereabouts."

"If you hit the brachial artery, it would bleed quite a lot.  And, it also depends if it was a through-and-through."  Yeung shrugged.  "If the round is still in its body, it could either lodge into the bone, or be carried through the artery and into its forearm.  Or elsewhere in the body, should it ricochet, or find its way into a vein..."

Giovanni shook his head. "I think I just grazed it."

Domino cut into the discussion. "Alright, I gave Butch and Cassidy their orders.  They should be off to find Jessie and James."  She picked up the receiver and resumed her pacing. "Until then, we should evacuate.  Don't worry about Mewtwo for now.  Like I said, I tagged it.  Wily doesn't know, and neither does Mewtwo.  So, it'll stay within our reach.  The battery is good for a year.  Plenty of time to follow it."

"Excellent," Giovanni steepled his fingers and smiled. "Let's withdraw our forces and secure a new base.  Assemble your team, Domino.  Anyone who worked with or around Mewtwo, or knows anything about it, contact them."  He looked to Joe.  "I trust you will keep quiet.  You are in too deep, now."

[Dr. Wily II]

Joe nervously nodded his head quickly. Just his first day, and he's already in too deep.

"Sir... Pardon my question... But just how deep?"

[Quickman]

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. "Mewtwo's existence was classified."  He let out a groan and rubbed his brow.  "But, it has a really bad habit of making itself known when it escapes."

"Also," Domino nodded, "Mewtwo's creation was a classified project, as we had plans to mass-produce the creature.  That, however fell through..."

"When it escaped the first time," Giovanni growled.  "Mewtwo manages to cause millions of dollars in damage each time, and it has a human body count in the hundreds."

"It's dangerous," Domino nodded. "And it can't be let free.  If we can't contain it, and if some idiot trainer tries to catch it..."  She trailed off to allow her words to sink in.

[White-Jet]

Excalibur wandered about the base with Chariot still on his back.  It seemed pointless now to go back to Stone Town; Chariot was certain they would have been smart enough to escape, knowing Team Rocket will most likely be on their tail.  The best they can do until Hierophant gives some kind of Tarot report is get a good look at the place and figure out what he needs to know before going back to finding the former Team Rocket member who stole Tarot Skitty and the only four cards that bothered to stay in its deck.

The area appears to be evacuating thanks to the fiasco earlier and the possibility of being spotted by more than a silver knight and a Shiny Arcanine.

"Keep that Odor Sleuth on high," Chariot mutters low enough for Excalibur to hear, "There's too many running about for me to keep watch with the Tarot Energy I was taught and we need to stay as hidden as possible.  For the most part, let's see if we can find that Alakazam Hierophant was talking about back at the Pokemon Center.  He seemed pretty bummed everytime he mentioned it, so they must have done something to it to make it less free than it should be."

Excalibur stayed in the less occupied areas of the base, keeping focused on the whereabouts of the Alakazam using his memory of how its species normally smelled.  They soon reach what appeared to be completely sealed off; Excalibur attempts to get a sniff, but quickly flinches and drops to his chest while batting his paws onto his snout to get the sensation out.

"That bad, huh?" Chariot mutters in concern more for Excalibur's well being than his disappointment in not being able to go any further into the room than necessary.  He then sighs reluctantly, "Well, I guess there's no point pushing this curiosity any further than it needs to be.  We should get out of here before the remaining Team Rocket grunts spot and pick a fight with us."

Excalibur nods as he staggers back to his proper stance and makes a run for the base exit, keeping a nose out for any grunts that might cross their path.

[Pyro]

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. "Mewtwo's existence was classified."  He let out a groan and rubbed his brow.  "But, it has a really bad habit of making itself known when it escapes."

"Also," Domino nodded, "Mewtwo's creation was a classified project, as we had plans to mass-produce the creature.  That, however fell through..."

"When it escaped the first time," Giovanni growled.  "Mewtwo manages to cause millions of dollars in damage each time, and it has a human body count in the hundreds."

"It's dangerous," Domino nodded. "And it can't be let free.  If we can't contain it, and if some idiot trainer tries to catch it..."  She trailed off to allow her words to sink in.

A young bespectacled man in a standard Rocket uniform with a pristine white lab coat abruptly flung open the door and entered the room. Panting heavily, as his rather gawky figure suggested that he engaged in little strenuous exercise, he bowed before Giovanni as he offered a rather thick file folder to Domino.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, Mr. Giovanni, Sir," he wheezed, "But we found some information on that intruder from last week and--well--you won't believe it, sir."

Inside the folder were photos of Pyro with some of them dating back at least a century. The most notable being a newspaper clipping of the inaugural Silver Conference from almost seven decades ago; on it was a photo of the immortal trainer holding up a trophy over his head with a Quilava perched on his shoulder.

[Quickman]

Giovanni stared at the photo and then threw his head back in disgust.  "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"  He pointed to the door. "That damn mess in the hangar bay and all this crap going on was from something that we were going to use to capture that brat!"

Domino nodded. "Indeed.  But right now, we can't do anything about it."

"Perhaps," Giovanni nodded, "perhaps we could still get to those two... Use that kid to get to Mewtwo, rather than vice versa."  He slapped the table with his palm. "We can't hang around here, though.  We need to evacuate."  He looked to the lanky scientist. "Welcome to the team, Dr. Zeigler."

[White-Jet]

The moment Chariot and Excalibur made it out of the base, they catch sight of a Skarmory zipping past them with a near unconscious Carr and a typically motionless Tarot Skitty clutched in its talons.

As Carr was beginning to lose consciousness, he gazes back at the base, barley noting its evacuation, but still sensing Giovanni somewhere inside.

"Gi...o...va...nni...." he seethed before shakily raising his hand towards the base, "You...will...pay...."

Chariot grits his teeth in hesitation.  He'd rather this base gets blown to smithereens, but now while he and Excalibur are in the midst of the explosion.

"Fire Blast!  I don't care if it hits or not, just redirect whatever he picked up during his chase with that Mewtwo!" Chariot yelps.

Excalibur inhales deeply before unleashing a giant flaming Kanji at the retreating Skarmory, causing it to react and leap out of the way, jarring enough sense out of Carr to completely knock him out.

"Hey you!"

The two flinch as they turn to see an unnamed grunt standing outside, almost out of breath, indicating he had only just made it outside.

"What the hell are you doing here!?  This is a restricted area!"

He then reaches one hand for the walkie-talkie to radio back up and another for one of his three Pokeballs.  Before either could think of a solution their suddenly pelted by a shower of stars from Skarmory's Swift attack.  Chariot caught the frames of the card hidden under Excalibur's tuft flashing and, realizing what was about to happen, turns his attention back to the grunt and grabbing the ridge on his helmet.

"No you don't!" he shouts before lobbing the ridge at the grunt, startling him into letting go of his belongings and stumbling out of the way.

"Hey!  What're you trying to pull!" the grunt exclaims, about to grab one of his Pokeballs when the ridge boomerangs back towards Chariot, whacking him in the back of the head along the way.

By the time the grunt hit the floor, face first, the card had glowed too brightly, forcing Excalibur to open his mouth and fire the Swift attack back at Skarmory, startling it enough to get hit by its own attack and fly several feet into the forest below.  Chariot catches the ridge and slaps it back onto his helmet before leaping off Excalibur, running over to the grunt and stabbing his spear into his walkie-talkie, startling the grunt back to consciousness from the ensuing sparks of the smashed electronic.

"You'd think in this day and age, they'd have something more advance and less clunky," he snickers, "Oh well, saves me the trouble of having the rest of the organization bearing down my neck!"

He then runs back to Excalibur and jumps onto his back, pointing towards the direction of Skarmory's downfall, "Hurry, before that Skarmory wakes up and takes flight!"

Excalibur howls before leaping off the mountain and into the forest below.

[Quickman]

"In any case," Domino cleared her throat and checked her GPS receiver, "we need to clear out.  Like I said, I have Mewtwo tagged.  It was observed around that kid, so they may be in cahoots, though, it may be simply that Mewtwo had gotten into his head, as it did with the other trainers it was observed with," she fixed Joe in her gaze, "and our own staff."

Giovanni nodded and looked to Joe. "Whatever you do, do not let Mewtwo get into your head!  Whatever it tells you, if you confront it, ignore it!"

"Mewtwo is capable of manipulating human minds with very little effort," Domino nodded, "and we're certain that's how it acquired its posse of trainers.  Particularly the trainer it is closest to."

Giovanni pulled an image from another file. "This one."  He placed it on the table, the image of a bespectacled young woman with short green hair.  "Lexi Shank, also known as 'Quickie'.  That beast has her wrapped around its finger."

"The mind-control is so strong that she'll do anything for it," Domino nodded. "We had to physically subdue her, she was that hostile.  The mind-control also heightens her endurance, as she required the full power of our stun batons--which were calibrated for Mewtwo."

"There's no way we can break the link, either," Giovanni sat back, "without possibly killing the woman.  And without her 'master,' it's likely that she would go insane."

"You suggesting we capture her, too?" Domino looked up from her tracking receiver.

Giovanni nodded.  "She may be useful, for not only getting to Mewtwo, but to that boy, Pyro.  They're obviously close."

Domino nodded slowly. "I suggest, sir, that before we start making definite plans, that we evacuate."

Giovanni nodded and stood. "Very well."  He took a moment to stretch. "Give out the new coordinates on a secure channel, and we'll regroup."  He nodded to Domino, then Joe, then to Yeung and Zeigler, and finally left the room.

Only he returned soon after. "We have another perimeter breach."  He walked in and gathered up his things. "Let's go."

Domino nodded and put the receiver away. "I'll radio your pilot and we'll take your helicopter."

Dr. Yeung also stood. "I'll tell my team to meet us at the new coordinates."  He left the room.

[Pyro]

"Y-Y-Yes sir," a nervous Miles Zeigler stammered and followed Giovanni and the rest of his entourage out of the room.


Elsewhere, Pyro sneezed out loud and then rubbed his wrist under his nostrils.

"I think somebody was talking about us."

[Ahrzayl]

Ahrzayl saw to it that everyone was situated in rooms so they'd be able to rest during the trip. She notified them of the kitchen and conference/lounge area as well. Making sure Quickie and Mewtwo were alright, she headed over to the bridge. The door slid open to show Julia talking with Wily about the ship's blueprints. On that, he'd see everything the ship was and had to offer: its massive drill, the turrets, the two retractable side cannon, the turbines and propellers, oxygen tanks and pressure glass, the buzzroller, the compartments for the land<->sea balloon, the treads, what looked like hidden cockpit, the escape pods, everything. Ahrzayl was looking over Julia's shoulder as they talked, she knew they could trust the group.

"Hey Jay, everybody's ready." Ahrzayl said as she flipped over into her chair.

Julia excused herself from Wily for a minute and leaned over her console. As she announced that the ship was lifting off, she typed and pulled levers, bringing the Grand Rhydon slowly into the sky.

Ahrzayl's eyes quickly widened. Something gigantic was lifting itself from a mountain top. It was night and the stars shined abnormally bright. From the center of the mountain, the enormous globe rose from it's cavity, multicolored blinking lights flashing at its bottom. Comparing to the size of a speck, a tiny figure ran on the rim of the mountaintop, stopping and running and trying to seemingly gauge distance. The small child noticed a close antenna pole that was longer than the other and ran for the cliff closest to it. The figure jumped off, stretching out to reach the pole but ultimately failed. It's fingers clipped the pole and the child fell and fell and fell. It turned around to see the globe blink it's final times then turn transparent. The sky got further and further away until all was darkness. The air left it's body with loud grunt as it hit a floor. Ahrzayl snapped back to consciousness just as Julia was asking her if she was ready.

"Uh...yeah, yeah. Umm...foward on." Ahrzayl said, almost out of it.

Was was that? Ahrzayl thought it was just another wild day dream but it had almost the same feeling as her vision back at the Team Rocket base. She decided to shrug it off for now and watched as they soared ovef the clouds, invisible to the world.

"Jay, since we're not part of Rocket anymore, we don't have to keep the original name of the ship..." Ahrzayl said, looking over her seat.

"Sure don't. What'd you have in mind?" Julia asked while talking to Wily and typing.

Ahrzzyl thought for a minute and huffed triumphantly, smiling.

"The Superia." Ahrzayl almost yelled.

She turned her gaze back to the front windows, caressing the newly arrived Froslynn that lay in her lap.

[White-Jet]

Dodging and weaving through the narrow forest, Chariot and Excalibur eventually reach where Skarmory had crashed, finding it flat on its back and struggling to right itself.

Its armor appears to be just as worse as Excalibur's ruffled fur and nicked skin; scratches and dents riddle the body, yet surprisingly the talons remain tightly clutched around Carr and Tarot Skitty.

The two look to each other before nodding and attempting to sneak towards Tarot Skitty only to have Skarmory stop its struggle and jerk its head towards them, firing off another spew of stars that threw them against a tree.

Excalibur tumbled to his side, having overtaxed himself from his earlier struggle with Carr's control over Wheel of Fortune, and running through the forest while fighting off the strain of being hit by a powerful Swift attack.  Chariot grit his teeth before looking back over to Skarmory, about to concoct someway of rectifying this when he heard panting and rustled grass heading towards them.  Looking to the source, he sees Jessie, James and Meowth nearing the downed Skarmory, begging the question of how they even got this far without the aide of a super fast Pokemon, and from such a distance from where Stone Town was located.

"We've got them now!" Jessie pants as they slowed to a stop, finally running out of steam.

"And it looks like that Skarmory isn't going to be getting up anytime soon!" James pants as well.

Unfortunately, the Skarmory was still conscious as it whipped its head towards them and spews more stars at them, forcing them to dance about in a fit of panic.

"But it ain't out!" Meowth yelps.

Chariot muffles a frustrated growl as he abandons Excalibur's side and stops between the trio and the downed Skarmory.

"Isn't there an electric rodent you should be chasing!?" he seethed, "Why don't you go back to chasing it instead of obsessing over a bunch of cards!"

Jessie pants a bit after Skarmory stopped spewing to catch its own breath before standing straight and slapping the back of her hand to her cheek, laughing maniacally, "Oh, you are hilarious to think we'd forget the power of these cards so quickly!"

"As a matter of fact," James snickers as he sneaks over to Excalibur, "I do believe I saw a card fly out of this Arcanine's mane.  And since its also down for the count, it shouldn't be much problem to-"

He attempts to reach into Excalibur's chest only to see burning fangs clam down on his wrist, igniting his dark gray glove.  Shrilling in panic and pain, he starts running around, trying to find something to put it out.

"Don't run around so much, you're going to make it worse!" Jessie exclaims while trying to run after James.  Chariot just watched before sighing and running his hand over his face, prompting the lion emblem on his helmet to almost mimic his expression, except with a lack of hand to run on its silvery snout.

[Quickman]

Not too far behind, Slade led a team of grunts through the forest.  He watched the battle from afar, then opened a communique with Domino. "They're out here fighting the intruder."

On the other end, he could hear Domino swear. "Just keep them away from the base.  We're taking off right now, and our ETA for the new base will be about an hour and a half flight time once we're underway."

"Gotcha," Slade acknowledged before looking in his binoculars and motioning for his troops to spread out and set up a perimeter around the battle.  "I'll relay more information on their position, should they move."

"Good.  We're taking off and I will be incommunicado until we reach our cruising altitude."  Domino closed the connection on her end.

Slade reattached the comm to his belt and watched the battle with interest.  The talk of cards and a "Tarot Skitty" intrigued him, as did the involvement of Jessie and James.  He knew full well of their obsession with some kid's Pikachu--the trio was the laughing stock of the organization--but to see them actually forget about it in favor of a deck of cards and a Skitty?  Truly there was something special about those cards...

[White-Jet]

Chariot gets the feeling they were being watched, but with so many Pokemon perched all over the place, observing the battles themselves, he coudn't fully tell if they were the same grunts from the base, or just curious eyes from the wild.

As James was beating his hand into the dirt to put out the fire, Jessie turns her attention to the recovering Arcanine, growling in frustration.

"I don't care what kind of card is in its fur, its our best chance of getting the rest of those cards away from Carr and his Skarmory!" She then pulls out her Pokeballs and tosses them towards Excalibur, "Wear that Pokemon down and dig through its fur until you get that card out!"

Once released, the Pokemon began ganging up on Excalibur; Seviper binding him in his coils while Frillish hits him in the face with Bubble Beam, the water effects weakening him drastically.

"Why, you!  Get your grummy attacks off him!" Chariot shouts as he rushes towards the group, about to swing his spear when several silver projectiles barely missed his being, but caused enough gusts to stop him in his tracks as he forcefully brings his arms up to protect from the flying dust and near choking wind, which suddenly become even more hazardous with the sudden mixture of stun spore unleashed by James' Amoongus.

"Now there's no way we can fail in getting back those cards!" James laughs as he and his two partners donned their breathing masks to escape the spreading effects of the Stun Spore.

Meowth then jumps onto Seviper's coiled body, snickering eagerly as he reaches into the Excalibur's fur, "Now then.  Let's see what new card is hidden under your mane."

Excalibur channeled all the pain he had been suffering into a massive Flamethrower he spews at Meowth, but the Pokemon quickly ducks, almost singing the tip of his charm, but setting a nearby tree on fire.  Growling in annoyance, he brings his claws out and smacks them across the agonizing Arcanine's face.

"HEEL!"

As Excalibur was trying to ride through the stinging pain, Meowth continues to dig through his fur until he feels the edge of the card and, with one mighty yank, rips it out of his chest, revealing a card version of the very same knight struggling to fight off his own paralyzed predicament.

"I got it!" he laughs victoriously before examining the aggravated knight helplessly wringing the base of his spear, "Even though I have a good idea of what this card can do, I wanna see for myself just how useful it is compared to the rest of the cards."

"Not so fast!" Jessie exclaims, snatching the card from Meowth's paws, "I should be the one to check this card out!  I am the one in charge, after all."

"You!?" James retorts while grabbing the card from Jessie's hand, "I was the one who got stuck with a card that does nothing but defy gravity!  Give me something else that can let me control more than that!"

The trio ganging up on the card, grabbing corners of the card and getting into a tug-o-war over who gets to use it first.

"I know I'm indestructible and all," the card exclaims while seeing sparks crawling around his screen, "But if you don't stop yanking me this second, you're going to shut me down, and then none of you are going to know how I work until I reboot, which could take all day!"

Chariot muffles a frustrated growl as he struggles to drag himself over to the fighting trio only to sense massive amounts of strain coming from the Skarmory.  Looking behind him, he realized that the lingering Stun Spore had begun driving it insane with paralysis and the pain it suffered when crashing into the ground.

Wild with confusion and agony, it began firing its Swift attack everywhere. scaring off several of the wild Pokemon that had been observing the fiasco for some time.  The trio panic at the sudden rampage and split from each other, inadvertently letting go of the card as he just floats in place, looking around for someplace to hide.  Chariot's grit teeth hardens as he picks up the pace and continues strenuously towards his card counterpart, reaching out to try get him back into his possession.

[Quickman]

Slade ordered his team to hit the deck, as he flattened himself on the ground, propped up by his elbows, still watching through his binoculars.  His audio amplifier picked up the conversation, which to his surprise included a talking tarot card!  He immediately attempted to contact Domino, but her comlink was off. 

"Well," Slade shrugged as he continued to watch, "I don't think that matter is as important...  No harm in taking it straight to the boss."  Perhaps then he would become Giovanni's most-trusted advisor.  Obviously Domino did some favors to get to where she's at.  Slade snorted and returned his focus to the battle.

[White-Jet]

As Chariot was nearing his card version, one of the stars from Skarmory's Swift attack hits him in the back, knocking him flat onto his chest while accidentally knocking it into a spin.

The card stumbled about, dizzily before shaking it off and quickly flying for Tarot Skitty, laying limp and unbothered by everything around it.  Skarmory sees him and drops Tarot Skitty with the intention of using Hanged Man's gravity powers to stop him, but suddenly finds it completely ineffective as the card shoves himself into its always grinning mow.

Its near closed eyes flash before sucking the card in, causing its small, stubby appearance to glow and expand to a near duplicate of Chariot, except with Skitty's head and ears in place of his own, and an even longer version of Skitty's tail sticking out his rear.

Jessie, James and Meowth's eyes widen in shock at what had just happened.

"Oh no!  We spend most of the day getting that Skitty to cough up the Fool card!" James exclaims.

"Then we'll just have to squeeze that Chariot card out of it again!" Jessie seethed before pointing towards the newly formed Tarot Skitty, "Bind it, Seviper!"

Seviper uncoils itself from Excalibur and springs for Tarot Skitty, fangs bared as a means of biting him if he tried to fight back.

"No you don't!" Tarot Skitty grins before pulling his hands behind him, forming a blue sphere between his palms, and fires it at the oncoming serpent Pokemon, sending it flying into the trio, which in turn sends them flying into a tree.

He then turns his attention to the Skarmory, who is still firing wildly, though its PP was starting to run low do to overuse.  He meanders over to the Armor Bird Pokemon and, using his spear as a jack, flips it onto its stomach to reveal the back end of the Hanged Man's card.

Tarot Skitty reaches over to pry it from Skarmory's back only to suddenly yank it out of the way to avoid its sharp beak pecking at him before bouncing itself into the air and flying away, though wobbly due to its still recovering state.  He stares at the fleeing Pokemon before looking back towards Chariot and Excalibur, deciding to deal with them first.

"You couldn't have jumped into Tarot Skitty sooner...?" Chariot grumbles strenuously as his transformed counterpart pulls him off the ground by his cape.

"And risk being grabbed by those dimwits," Tarot Skitty snorts as he lumps Chariot with Excalibur, "As much as it goes against my Tarot energy, I'm not about to suffer the same situation as Fool and Wheel of Fortune."

He starts to look around the area before noticing an abandoned Pokeball near where Skarmory had crashed.  It had a black band and a button on it, indicating it wasn't a Voltorb and goes over to pick it up, opening it to reveal a Hyper Potion locked inside.

"I still don't get why people feel the need to stick other objects in these things...." he mutters before heading over to Excalibur to apply the medicine to his battered and nicked body.

[Quickman]

Slade watched for a few moments longer before sending a signal to his troops. "Malachai, have your squad fall back.  Kolins, expand your perimeter and make sure no one else is headed our way.  Jeminez, take your squad ahead, cover about two klicks south, then retreat when the area is secured.  Hart, Ross, you stay here; Waid, Moore, you're with me."  He quietly stood and began to make his way through the forest, moving as stealthily as he could.

[White-Jet]

As Tarot Skitty was applying the Hyper Potion to Excalibur, his Tarot Energy starts to pick up movement making its way around the area.

"Have you sensed anything other than the wild Pokemon watching us...?" he mutters to Chariot.

"I had some idea, but I was too distracted with other fights to bring it to attention...." Chariot strains as he start to move his stiffen hand to see how much of the spore was left on his body.

Tarot Skitty puckers his lips slightly before helping a mildly healed Excalibur to his feet, "We should get out of here before those suspicious presences get the drop on us."

He pushes Chariot sideways onto Excalibur, making sure he was laying comfortably on his stomach, before climbing on himself and patting the Arcanine on the shoulder blade, prompting him to start heading for the clearing.

Jessie, James and Meowth, meanwhile, staggered to their feet and shook stars from their eyes before noticing the other trio making a break for the shadows of the forest.

"Don't let that Skitty get away!" Jessie demands, "Its the only thing that will draw those cards back!"

Tarot Skitty snapped his head around to see the white dressed Rocket trio giving chase.

"Those guys sure are tenacious...." he grumbles before looking back to Excalibur, "We could just blaze out of here with Flame Charge, but I don't think any of us want to start a forest fire."

"Ugh...fine time for me to leave Sting back in Hierophant's bag...." Chariot grumbles, "We could have totally used her Flamethrower to keep them back."

"Well, no point in kicking ourselves without falling off Excalibur," Tarot Skitty sighs, "Let's just focus on getting to the main road before worrying about our own health."

Chariot sighs before dropping his head, letting himself go limp a bit to try and starve off the paralysis of the Stun Spore.

[Quickman]

Slade saw Team Rocket making a break for it and called for one of the other teams to deal with them.  "Get those three into custody."  His other comlink emitted a burst of static and he answered it.  "Slade here.  Jessie, James, and their Meowth are on the scene, still.  I'm sending Hart's team after them.  Should we bring them in?"

"Negative," Domino answered, "Take them to Station 47 and hold them there.  I'll send Butch and Cassidy over to question them.  Their ETA won't be for another hour or so, but we can't bring Jessie and James onto base.  Put them in holding in Station 47."

"Affirmative," Slade switched channels, "Hart, apprehend agents Jessie and James, get their Meowth, and take them to Station 47.  Put them in holding and await further orders."

"Right," Hart's voice crackled over in reply.

Slade checked his binoculars again, noting that Chariot and Excalibur had briefly glanced in his direction.