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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:01 am
The sun wore away at you just as badly as the sandstorm did. How long had Henrietta been out there? She didn't know. Sweat coated her skin, sand from the sandstorm sticking here and there like she'd been rolling around on the beach. Hair a wild mess, at the mercy of the wind.
Tired and sore, Henrietta observed her Pokemon. Her own routine hadn't been incredible, really. The basic stuff Eunmi had taught her consisted of punches and kicks, basic ones it seemed like. Then there was the exerting parts, like the couple of push ups. Only the kendo she was familiar with - that she'd learned years before she'd started her journey.
The burn of her muscles didn't stop her, though. Henrietta oversaw the training of her Pokemon. The steady and stable rising of Melty's flame, Boldore's growing precision, Darumi's dozen or so laps and the spark of Socant's electricity, reaching the point of actually being present despite the chaotic movement.
She had a change of mood. Henrietta, who was normally a timid girl, could get lost in a battle. Posture, expression and even wordplay changed. A sign that she was comfortable being a trainer. Her eyes settled on a sight in the distance - who knows how long he'd been training - Luka.
A perfect chance,she thought, to battle. "Darumi," she beckoned and the Pokemon ran over to her, and proceeded to run around her. Never moving, fiery eyebrows full of as much life as his movements. A species that never rested until they slept, they had a lot of stamina.
"Let's see if he's willing to battle," she said. It seemed that she'd forgotten the embarrassing moment the other day. Taking the string of web that attached Socant to her, she'd attach him to the back of Frate.
"Frate, you can fire off rocks pretty fast. Try finding something bigger. Boulders would be perfect, I think." The lifting and throwing would help out his strength and stamina.
With that taken care of Henrietta approached Luka. "Hey," she said. She wasn't approaching him as an acquaintance or a friend, though. The moment he acknowledged her, probably with eye contact of something - that she'd immediately divert her eyes from - she'd say, "wanna battle?" Clearly, if one observed, she was only bringing Darumi into this one.
One on one.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:41 am
Salieri was not kidding when she said Liuye Dao had the toughest training of all.
It had only taken him about fifteen minutes to figure out how to course the Thunder Wave through his body. That was not the difficult part. Sal had been right about his status as a natural conductor. When the jolt was in his body, he felt a tingling sensation and could see yellow sparks jump all around his armor. Not only did it look cool, but it made a static echo that also sounded really cool.
The difficult part came with coursing the Thunder Wave through the right nerves. Liuye had discovered that he had many nerves, most of which told him it was painful to be shocked with electricity. For every mistake he made, he either dropped to the ground in stinging pain, accidentally jerked a limb out in the wrong direction or caused some other bodily mishap.
When the Thunder Wave went the right way, he could feel a world of a difference. Everything seemed slower to him, almost like slow-motion. His reaction time was boosted to the point that he thought he could cut through bullets. Everytime he got to that point where it felt perfect, he tried to make the sensation last longer.
The successes were mitigated by the many failures. For every successful use of the Thunder Wave evolution, there were three backfires. He wasn’t even a full hour in and he had already finished off half the bag of leaves.
But he could not give up yet. The potency of the technique was too good to pass up. With this technique, he would never be too slow to save Salieri again. Despite it being one of the last things on Salieri’s mind, he still blamed himself for allowing her to take an attack during a battle against Team Plasma for the Dream Mist. Liuye told himself it was because he was too slow, not because he was preoccupied.
What happened in the Dreamyard when she got hit by a Thunderbolt would be ancient history to him. After mastering this, anything that intended to harm her would be cut down before she could even blink.
This was the promise he made to himself.
****
[C’mon…stupid rocket boots…]
A dull flame died down on the Monferno’s lifted leg. Wukong scratched his head. Blaze Kick’s initial activation was the point when the move had the most power and explosive force. So Wukong tried to maintain that explosive action, but it still died down quickly no matter what he did.
Maybe today’s not the day to make rocket boots. But that jumping idea. That could work.
Instead of trying to maintain the high level power, Wukong instead tried to boost the power of the initial start up. Once again, he lifted up his knee to his chest to try Blaze Kick.
This time, the fire ignited around his foot with enough force to throw his leg up into the air. Wukong was flipped upside down and landed on his back, cursing to himself while some passerbys looked on. Were they laughing at him? Still on his back, Wukong growled.
You promised me the world, Battle Girl. If this is how I have to get it, then that’s the way it goes. I’m not going to be at the base of this building forever! I WILL get to the top! He stood up and grabbed onto a bike stand embedded into the sidewalk with his hands. Blaze Kick’s new application was used once more.
The force of the move still flipped his body over, but with his grip on the bike stand being firm he simply did a handstand and spun back into being right side up. Wukong flicked his nose over his thumb and grinned up at the 22nd floor window of the Gamefreak Building.
[I bet that’ll work better with two feet. Okay. Time to try it again. I’ll jump all the way up there if I gotta.]
****
A walk through Narrow Street led Chen Zhen to an alleyway, leading to a close encounter with some crack dealers who led Chen Zhen to an abandoned subway line, which led Chen Zhen to the open expanse of a ruined lot of buildings.
It was very much like the Dreamyard, although a little smaller. Tall skyscrapers surrounded the lot, keeping the space enclosed from the rest of Castelia. The Pansage could see that there were a few trainers going through routines with their pokemon. It seemed that Salieri was not the only one to think of this place as a good training area.
So, what do I want to learn today?
He looked over at a Lass trying to teach her Pidove how to do aerial maneuvers. “Come on, do a barrel roll!”
Chen Zhen bit his bottom lip as he continued walking forward, jumping up to lazily swing back and forth on a metal bar sticking out of cement. No, that’s a bit too tough. Hmm, what are they doing? Above him at the top of the mountain of rubble, a Hiker was ordered his Darumaka to practice Rollout. The Fire type rolled down the ruins, smashing hard into a single pillar in an attempt to knock it down.
Chen Zhen ran to the top and somersaulted down. When he got to the bottom of the hill and uncurled himself, he struggled to stand up. Whoa, dizzy, he thought as he teetered back and forth.
The monkey quickly brought himself back to focus, and spotted a Dancer off in the corner of the lot with a Pansage of his own. The Pansage stood between two large vertical standing walls. “You got it, bro! Try Acrobatics one more time!”
The Pansage complied, jumping up onto the wall as high as he could. As soon as he touched it, he pushed off and jumped up again, getting more air as he bounded to the opposite wall. The process continued, his movements sped up by the technique and the fact that he held no item until he got to the top of the walls in a matter of seconds. “Pa-pan!” he yelped triumphantly, standing atop one of the walls.
Chen Zhen rubbed his chin. Now that looks like fun…
****
"I heard that there's a lot of good shopping to do in Castelia, so I want to set aside some time for that. Maybe just you and me. Girl bonding time, you know?"
"Veevee!" Salem cheered over the noise of the passing crowds while she and Salieri neared closer to the center of the city.
"I've been looking into the Eeveelutions, and I was thinking...how cool would it be if we could evolve you into a Jolteon!" Salieri almost swooned at the thought of such a powerful pokemon. She spun around excitedly. "No one would be able to keep up with the likes of you! You'd be the quickest thing on four legs! And stylish to boot."
Salem seemed infatuated with the idea as well. She hadn't considered evolution to be in her near future, but the Eevee species was known for it. "Eevee!"
"That's what I like to hear. If someone around here would sell me a Thunderstone, we'd be in business. Until then..."
The Battle Girl paused in front of the large ornate fountain. She hesitantly reached for the pokeball in her bag housing the Frillish. They weren't doing anything else. And they were surrounded by other people, so it wasn't like she'd be alone like last night. Maybe it was time to officially meet the pokemon...
She put her hand down. "Anyway, where do you think that old lady is? It's kind of hard to miss a Torkoal that big, unless she put him into a pokeball. Doesn't seem like that type of person, though." Salieri shrugged.
"Let's keep looking."
And surely enough, after going down another street an scanning over the population of Castelia, Salieri saw Chari across the street.
"Hey!" she shouted, waving over to Chari while navigating her way past the sea of commuters. "I've been looking for you! Still up for that battle we talked about last night?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:24 pm
Chari was growing more used to the city, as time passed; the people didn't look like the people she knew, but they acted like them... There was an unfaithful lover. There, a foolish man; there, someone with the heart of a child...it was like being back home, a little, just with taller buildings and ruder accents. Damn.
Still...one thing that was different from most places she'd been- strong trainers, virtually omnipresent. There was the chance- unreal for some time now- of a defeat, a humiliation. That wouldn't do at all.
Now, what was that idea.... "Phobos, Deimos." The two fell in militarily, albeit not without an ironic bob that could be interpreted as a salute. "You would agree that the lady and gentleman we met recently are strong, by their lights, and at least partly by mine?" Her gravel-toned voice quavered only a little, but enough to convey sincerity.
Two red lights moved up and down in a nod of acquiescence. "Good. Then you'll recognize the need to have a surprise for them, eh? So here's what you're going to do....Phobos, you are, first of all, going to demonstrate to Deimos how to fuse your energy with flame, to produce the will-o-wisp." Phobos sank slowly into the ground, chagrined at the difficulty of even this initial task. Chari rapped it on the head with her Banjo. "Pay attention. The essence of that technique is the fusion of the essence of a spirit with the flame; at its simplest level, this allows you to make use of the element of fire." Bending to the ground, she quickly scratched out a few symbols with a hairpin on the sidewalk; the first few spare lines formed the word for 'human', or 'living thing', the second set of scratches, the character for 'soul'. "This is what the phenomenon used to be called, because it was believed that the flames were separate entities, ghosts in their own right." She drew a circle around the two characters. "That is what I wish you to accomplish, when you both know the technique; grant it a greater portion of the essence of a spirit, so that it takes on the properties of one...the ability to phase through matter, and fade from sight- and the ability to operate independently. It is likely that you will find it necessary to grant the flame some of your life force, but it should, when it strikes a foe, redress that imbalance." Her eyes bored into the two Pokemon, who appeared somewhat nonplussed at their assignment. "Find somewhere dark, somewhere deep, and do it."
**** Later, Chari and Friar Sand made their slow way toward the park again- after innumerable detours. 'Getting to know the city', the Torkoal reflected, apparently involved a lot of getting repeatedly lost.
After one such unintentional sight-seeing excursion, a voice rang out, clear and carrying....the young woman from last night, the fighter. Chari repressed a mild grimace, and, with more difficulty, a mischievous grin. Turning, she gave her a quick glance..apparently she'd cut her roster down a bit- probably sent them off training. A glint of approval lit Chari's eyes at the thought, and she made a swift decision...
"Oh, certainly. Where would you like?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:56 pm
Salieri couldn't help but grin. The old lady was ready for a fight without missing a beat. "Excellent." But they still needed a battleground. She looked around, trying to see pass the bobbing heads of all the people around her to spot out a place to fight.
Clearly it was too crowded to fight here. Even Salem -the little Eevee who's street smarts came from living in a city- found herself having to zip around people's uncaring legs to avoid getting her tail stepped on. Eventually, she opted to lay down below the underside of Friar Sand's belly.
"You know what? There's a park a short walk from here that's got a lot of open space. It should be good for a big battle. Want to try that?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:05 pm
Chari nodded, briskly. Like hell was she going to admit she'd been looking for the park most of the day.
"Certainly, certainly. You're such a courteous young lady, and beautiful, too." She patted her arm, in as grandmotherly a way as possible. No sense giving the game away. "Do lead the way, there's a dear."
Friar Sand gave Salem a mild look and shrugged, a portentous operation for a Pokemon of his size and shape.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:19 pm
Sal didn't know how she felt about the old lady's leather skin patting her arm, but the compliments instantly went to her head and counteracted the previous feelings.
"Well that's...great. Thanks," Salieri replied, rubbing her head and looking away. She was very aware that she was blushing. It wasn't often people called her beautiful. "...I've been thinking of getting a haircut, actually..."
And so lead the way she did, until they finally got to the park. It wasn't very crowded, and most of the people there were trainer's looking to train. A good spot to fight.
Salieri stood in front of the ornate fountain, facing Chari a fair distance away. Salem stood in front of her trainer, crouched on all fours ready to pounce at any moment. Her cute smile and happy eyes contrasted her clear readiness to battle, but that was just the way the Eevee was.
"Before we begin, I should probably tell you who you are facing."
Salieri swept one arm out to the side and swung her hair back, confidently grinning over at Chari. "My name is Salieri Del Forrest!" she shouted to her opposition. "Heiress to the Saffron City Dojo and future eighth Gym Leader of Unova!"
She swept her arm back in front of her and pointed to the old lady. "So? Who are you?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:26 pm
Chari smiled guilelessly into Salieri's blushing face. "Oh, are you? That's nice..."
When they reached the park, she flicked her eyes across it. Soil composition fairly soft, but rock layer properly not that far beneath it; vegetation moderate. Large, open space....not much of a wind. Good.
Hearing the girl's introduction, Chari raised an eyebrow. My, my. It's not every day an heiress decides I'm worth a moment of her time. "Chari Durance, at your service, I'm sure. May I suggest one Pokemon per trainer, victory condition to be a full faint?"
Friar Sand stepped forward; his posture was no different, his eyes still lit with good humor and phlegmatic unconcern. Chari stepped back from her Pokemon, taking position on the opposite side of the field.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:39 pm
She was about to tell Chari that she had only brought along Salem when Salieri remembered that Frillish was in her bag. But she decided not to mention it. Perhaps after the battle, she might ask Chari for some advice when it comes to dealing with Ghost types. If she didn't decide to ask for a cross and holy water instead. It was time to start."My thoughts exactly. Okay Chari, don't expect me to go easy on you!" Salieri jumped back and pointed at Friar Sand. "Sic 'em, girl!" Salem disappeared under the power of Quick Attack. In one motion she rocketed at the Torkoal, faintly showing up in human vision as a blur thanks to her speed. Her Adaptability doubled the power of the move, sending her all across the field to Friar Sand in almost an instant. The Eevee tucked in her head, preparing to slam into the Torkoal's skull with her own. If he somehow bobbed his head out of the way in time to dodge, she would simply land on his shell, run across his back and then get behind him so Salieri could plan the next move.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:47 pm
Chari's face split into an alarming, vulpine grin as the tiny Pokemon shot across the field. Decent Speed. It won't be enough, though. Her arms moved in an interweaving pattern, first as if spreading out, like the branches of a tree, then touching her fingers to her throat, then her heart.
Friar Sand watched the approaching Pokemon without moving, other than to slightly brace his feet and lower his head, the bony crest on top of it presented to the obvious point of impact; if the Eevee followed through with its attack, it looked- more certainly by the second- as if he would take the hit full-on.
In the vents along his sides, meanwhile, curls of black smoke could be seen to gather, streaked through with a bilious green; his nostrils churned with the same baleful substance.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:09 pm
Luka heard Henrietta before he saw her. He had to do a double take to realise that it was indeed Henrietta. After getting over the initial shock of Henrietta's apparent new found confidence he nodded. "Erm... Sure. Why not? It's good to get some practice in against real trainers."
He spotted Darumi and tried to make some calculations as to what would be the best Pokémon to use. Squirt wouldn't really get any use out of the battle and Tayla wouldn't stand a chance. Kai however probably would. The Darumaka hadn't evolved yet so it couldn't have any Psychic type moves yet. That would be to their advantage.
"One on One? Just gimme a sec." He looked down the slope to Kai. "You okay for a battle buddy?"
Kai trumpeted and charged up the slope. He was clearly somewhat tired but he refused to give in. He would get stronger. He had to. This would be another chance to get stronger.
"Right. We're ready. Would you like the first move?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:17 pm
The collision created a wave of force that blew through the air as Salem's head collided with Friar Sand's. Direct hit. The Eevee squinted forward, sniffing at the thick smoke.
A counter?
"Keep it up, Salem! Don't stop moving!"
Salem grit her teeth. "Vee!"
She brought her legs forward so all of her paws touched on the Torkoal's head in order to push off. The Eevee backflipped through the air away from Friar Sand and formed an orb of murky black power in front of her.
With a flick of her head, Salem fired the Shadow Ball at a downward angle at Friar Sand's head. The sphere of shadow energy sped through the air like a bomb waiting to explode in noxious spiritual waves.
Unless she got interrupted, Salem would finish her flip and land on all fours a short distance away from the Torkoal. Salieri didn't give an order yet, waiting for the expected counter.
She's building up that smoke. Does she plan on firing it at us? Where is she planning on going with this?
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:24 pm
Friar Sand gave a brief grunt, apparently not terribly discomfited by the relatively simple attack. As the Eevee pushed off and fired off its shadow ball, Chari whirled, a half-pirouette.
The Torkoal, more slowly, but with greater economy of motion, stepped to the side, the projectile impacting with the ground. The Eevee still in the air, his vents suddenly flared into life.
A cloud of vapor issued forth, enveloping the field of battle almost completely; opaque, and- as it drew close to the trainers- palpably noxious. Unless the Eevee got above the cloud or somehow managed to disperse it very quickly, the hideous smog would likely prove poisonous.
As the cloud spread, Chari retrieved her banjo from her back, her hands resting on the strings.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:15 pm
"Sure," Henrietta said as her hand dropped to her bags. From there she produced a bottle of water and passed it to Luka. She then retrieved another and opened it as she created distance, Darumi following after.
After a refreshingly long gulp, she faced Luka and Kai. The first move was always difficult. Until Kai was further away from Luka a number of attacks were, frankly, off limits. A courtesy she intended to show - while rarely getting the same treatment between Plasma attacks and trainers that never really paid attention to position.
"Fire Punch," Henrietta commanded and Darumi, who was constantly in motion, simply set his direction toward the Pignite. Covering the space between them, his tiny fist igniting in fire, he made for an outward punch, the likely location of contact - should it hit - being Kai's gut.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:28 pm
When the smoke billowed forth from the Torkoal, Salieri reached into her bag and pulled out a red bandanna she usually saved for use as headgear. Now as she tried her best not to inhale, she tied it around her face to cover her nostrils and mouth.
It was a cloud? Feels poisonous, probably Smog. She looked up and saw that her Eevee was still midair above the cloud. Unfortunately, it meant she was about to fall into the smog. "Dive, Salem!"
Salem complied, corkscrew her body on the way down. Her spinning action made her like a drill that spiraled through the cloud, creating a hole through it during her descent. The cloud resealed the air gap behind her as she fell, but her spin warded the smoke away temporarily.
She used Dig as soon as her paws touched the earth, creating a hole and going through it like it was water. The Eevee barreled under the battlefield, temporarily safe from the noxious chemicals.
If she rises up under Friar Sand, she could score a super effective attack and probably zip out of that Smog with Quick Attack before poison kicks in. Does she think she can stop my assault with a simple cloud? "Attack, Salem! You can do it!"
Salem heard the order from underground, and burst from the earth when she was under Friar Sand's jaw. She tucked in her head for the attack portion of the Dig attack, which came across as a headbutt aiming to pound at the Torkoal's chin.
From there, if she wasn't stopped from escaping then she'd attempt to get to the outskirts of the cloud and back to Salieri's side of the field as soon as possible.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:32 pm
[The night before]
A projector flickered on in the dark hotel room, illuminating a square portion of the white wall opposite from it to form a screen. Portrayed was Henrietta talking to Takamaru, Hiba and AJ on the streets of Castelia.
Reid stood to the picture’s side, half of his body illuminated in splashes of light from the projector and the other half covered in the shadows of the room. He straightened his blue gakuran and cleared his throat, then pointed to Henrietta.
“Henrietta Avalite. On the battlefield she displayed enough sympathy to carry off our people to medical stations after defeating them in combat. Reportedly she’s very timid until she gets into a fight. Lord N has taken a personal interest in her as a candidate.”
He pointed past Henrietta to Takamaru.
“Takamaru Takashi. According to intel, he is responsible for the casualty at the Dreamyard. His threat level was yet to assessed, but it’s highly possible the murder was fluke. Nevertheless, as of now he’s not to be underestimated.”
A short, cocky chuckle came from the shadows behind the projector. “That guy’s just a kid,” came Jaiden’s typical Brooklyn accent. “You wanna tell me he took down one of our guys?”
“As I said before, it could have been a fluke.” Reid narrowed his eyes at Jaiden, as if he could see his eyes through the darkness. “You may be interested to know that you’re both the same age. Haven’t you taken out your fair share of people?”
“Tch. That don’t make him special.”
Reid took a deep breath. Moving on.
He switched to the next picture, this one of Luka arriving at the pokemon center.
“Luka McFly. He battled Albert and was the one to bring him to jail. This one has a strong notion of righteousness. If he was to fall onto any evidence, or given reason to be suspicious, he could try to take his case to an authority that might be able to do something. For that reason, his threat level is high.”
Reid’s eyes shifted over to the other side of the projector. “Crofton, see if you can keep him under tabs. Use your position to your advantage so you can hide in plain sight.”
Cigar smoke wafted over in front of the screen. “You know me, boss,” came a slightly gruff yet friendly voice. “He won’t even know that he doesn’t even know.”
Reid attempted to make sense of that statement, but came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth his time. The general feel of it was “I’ll get the job done” anyway. He switched the photo’s to reveal one of Robby exiting Castelia’s gate, and then another of Avan doing the same.
“Holy wow! Look at that thing,” Jaiden barked. “What kind of pokemon is that supposed to be?” muttered Crofton. “Is there supposed to be a man under all that flesh?” came a snarky, amused female voice.
“Robby Tobb and Avan Briendal,” Reid explained. “Avan doesn’t seem very interested in fighting, and Robby is primarily motivated by food. Two minor threats, but threats regardless. A similar case is Eunmi Sung, who has yet to arrive to Castelia City according to our knowledge. Her lack of interest keeps her a minor threat for now.”
The next picture was of Salieri and Wayne battling on the pier. “Wayne Lee and Salieri Del Forrest-“
“Is the boy the one who attempted to interrogate Baker?” the snarky female chimed in.
“Yes, Sachiko. Wayne has history with Team Plasma. We had apparently liberated his pokemon in the past, and now he’s seeking to regain them. He’s quite driven, he’s knowledgeable and is also a good battler. His threat level is high because of this. Sachiko, this one is yours.”
“Hehehe. He’s kind of cute too.”
A red parasol poked through the shadow, pointing at Salieri. “Yes, Yana? Is there something you’d like to add?” Reid asked. “You haven’t said a word.”
“Mmm, I’ve seen that girl before,” came a bored and sultry female voice from behind the shadowed parasol. “She wore a Plasma Grunt uniform and told me she was part of Gorm’s unit.”
The silence in the room was thick after that.
“So she convinced you to hand over the Dragon Skull?” “Oh? Everyone makes mistakes, Reid,” Yana told her captain with monotonous impatience. “Mine was giving away an object that turned out to have zero value to us. Call me careless, I suppose, but the same trick won’t work twice.”
Reid turned to the picture and narrowed his eyes at the bird’s eye view of Salieri. “Well that brings me to the next one. Salieri’s motives are hard to ascertain, but she seems to only be looking for a strong fight. She’s a loose cannon with battling and melee combat skills to back it up. Approach her with caution.”
“Yana, I was going to assign you to Salieri, but she knows you’re one of us. I’m shifting your mission to watching over Wayne. Sachiko, you take Takamaru.”
“The pre-teen? Yana, you skank, you always steal the good ones from me.” It was a joke, but there the slightest tinge of bitterness in Sachiko’s voice. “Hmph. Work harder,” came Yana’s terse response.
“That leaves Henrietta and Salieri. Henrietta seems to prefer isolation with her pokemon, and Salieri tends to attract attention. I'll take care of Salieri myself. I've heard that she has an aversion to Psychics. Jaiden, you can shadow Miss Avalite however you see fit.” Reid cleared his throat again.
“Now remember, the thing these trainers all have in common were that they were each partially responsible for disrupting Plasma operations. For that reason, they’re considered threats. But threats are not synonymous with obstacles. Here are your obstacles.
The last picture was from a newspaper. A younger Artemis stood on the shore of Sootopolis City’s outer wall in Hoenn. Beside her was a younger Jump, who, true to his name, looked like he was attempting to jump onto Zack’s back in some sort of happy celebration. A younger Zack looked like he was about to punch Jump in the face. It was taken after they had helped stop the fighting between Team Aqua and Team Magma.
“These three have not been in the public eye for years, so this was the only picture we had of them all together.” Reid started to point at all of them in succession.
“Zack Redgrave is a former government operative who’s destructive capabilities led the public to believe he was a terrorist. He’s also Wayne’s adoptive father. Jump Einatz is an Interpol Agent known for being a wildcard. Artemis Rose is also a government operative, isn’t very active. All three possess powerful pokemon as well as Aura capabilities and experience. Avoid them at all costs.”
The picture turned off, leaving a white square of light as the only thing illuminating the room.
“Our job is to make this operation go as smoothly as possible. We cannot afford bad publicity. Keep their attention off of Plasma’s affairs as well as you can. No one engages in combat unless attacked or I’ve given them permission. Understood?”
“Yes sir,” came the voices of the black ops team in unison.
“Excellent.” Reid walked over to the projector’s power switch. “Tomorrow morning we begin.”
He turned off the projector. The room was entirely shadows now.
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