HOENNWEEN: INTRO CHALLENGE LOG

[these_balls]

Who: Hoennween Plot Participants!
Where: Tohjo Falls!
When: Wednesday, October 29th
Summary: You've just received a call from a mysterious voice asking you to come help save the world. This is Day One of The Rest Of Your Life™ — the introductory skirmish that will determine your field position for tomorrow and the advantages you'll have going in to the fight against Archie and Maxie.
Rating: PG-13 in general; please mark threads that go higher accordingly!
Log:



YOU ARE HERE. YOU'RE FIGHTING THESE GUYS AND ALSO POSSIBLY THESE GUYS. THEY'RE NOT HAPPY TO SEE YOU.

ETA: AND THIS IS YOUR BACKGROUND MUSIC!
KEY:

• GRAY areas in the north are a range of mountains that form a natural barrier around part of the Tohjo plain where the Elite Four's resort is located. It is both difficult and dangerous to get up into the mountains proper, but this seems to be the direction from which most of the Team Magma Grunts are entering the area.

• GREEN areas in the southeast and southwest are densely-packed forested areas interspersed by lakes and rivers that seem to be feeding into the main waterway into the area. It is both difficult and dangerous to venture into the woodlands proper, but this seems to be the direction from which most of the Team Aqua Grunts are entering the area.

• The BLUE area in the south is the massive lake that feeds the eponymous falls that give Tohjo its name. You will also find Team Aqua Grunts here taking great care to hold control of the lake, if you're interested in engaging in a water battle.

• PINK diamonds in the east and west are the sites of massive formations of Mysterious Plot Crystals™ jutting up from beneath the surface; the Grunts on both teams appear somewhat wary of these growths, so they will be keeping a reasonable distance from them while still doing their best to protect them.

• The BROWN rectangle dead-center in the map is...the Elite Four's resort. Not exactly what you might call a fortunate place to be located, but it's easy to see why this might be considered prime real estate for both teams. You're likely to find members of both Team Aqua and Team Magma hanging around here, so be cautious!

A FEW OTHER SETTING NOTES:

• As per Arceus's summon, there will be Gen VI Pokemon joining the battle on their own! You may NPC these Pokemon, within reasonable limits; you may not capture them in Pokeballs, and they are still wild so they will not take commands from characters the way a captured Pokemon would from its trainer. However, they do recognize that the portaled-in humans are fighting on roughly the same side as they are, so they won't attack player characters and might occasionally come to their aid if need be — you're free to NPC them as you like for purposes such as this.

• The aforementioned Gen VI Pokemon can be any Pokemon that swarmed during September, plus any of their evolved forms. They've had several weeks in the wild to get buff and settle in; now you can see what they've got to show for it!

• You may NPC the Team Aqua and Team Magma Grunts as you see fit; either one can be found anywhere on the map, though Team Magma will be more highly-concentrated in the northern areas of the map, and Team Aqua will be keeping more to the south.

• There is no restriction on how many Aqua and Magma Grunts you may fight.

• You may fight members of both teams on this log if you so choose; you are not required to pick just one or the other to focus on for this particular log.

• You may forego Pokemon battling entirely and simply beat up the Grunts with physical violence yourself. If you KO a Grunt, they will white out and be warped to the nearest Pokemon Center back down in the regions proper, where they will be arrested by an officer of the Kangaskhan Police.

• FOR CHARACTERS INTENDING TO USE HONEDGES LIKE WEAPONS: due to the high volume of questions we have received on this topic (it's a popular inquiry!), we want to clarify for this Pokemon in particular —

If you choose to use a Honedge as though it were a traditional sword, the most that the Honedges will allow might be slapping the grunts with the flat side of the blade. They are still opposed to attacking/killing humans, opponents or not, and if you try to stab an opponent with them, you're going to get a really obstinate ghost sword going incorporeal and ineffectively going through them. There's also the fact that you're grabbing them by the head and swinging them around — they won't like that very much.

PLEASE NOTE: if you intend to use a Honedge in this manner anyway, we may ask that you experience light IC consequences for it later in the plot! We're not barring you from getting your sword skills on with your Honedges; we're simply pointing out that there may be natural outcomes that follow from those choices.

• UPDATE: if you would like to interrogate the grunts, check here for information you can learn from them!

~

☆ THE NUMBER TO MEET OR BEAT IS 50 PARTICIPANTS ☆.

REMEMBER: IF YOUR CHARACTER DOES NOT POST TO THE INTRO CHALLENGE LOG AT LEAST ONCE
(AS A TOP-LEVEL COMMENT OR IN RESPONSE TO SOMEONE ELSE'S TOP-LEVEL COMMENT)
BEFORE 9:00 PM EST on OCTOBER 28, THEY WILL NOT COUNT TOWARD THE 50-PARTICIPANT GOAL!

~

QUICK LINKS

EVENT LINKS MASTERPOST | THE INTRO CHALLENGE INFOPOST | QUESTIONS FOR MODS | INTRO CHALLENGE PARTICIPATION CHECK-IN THREAD

Comments

[explosivecombat]

[It's likely a bad sign when one of the first people to show up on the scene is this guy.

Kimblee isn't the sort to answer Heroic Callings; he's not exactly here to save the region, after all, and if that's what Johto has ultimately brought him here for, then he hates to tell everyone this, but it summoned the wrong person. This sort of work is better suited to Fullmetal or his brother, or...well, just about anyone but him, and he'll be the first to acknowledge that; that being said, what brought him here wasn't a call to save everyone.

It was a promise that he'd get to see a world-deciding battle.

He'd been in the middle of preparations when he'd heard it, and if he hadn't already been muttering to himself while he worked he would have assumed he'd hallucinated it; his focus had thoroughly been elsewhere, however, and the usual sounds and words from Ishval haven't crept into his head for quite some time, and it had been just urgent enough for him to pause, and to turn around, and that...that certainly was a portal, wasn't it.

...What on earth...

He'd eyed it warily for a while, just long enough to ascertain that it wasn't going away, and it had occurred to him that maybe it was another dream. That maybe he just doesn't remember this part of the leadup to the castle last year, and perhaps that was exactly how that entire mess started.

But on the other hand, that entire mess had involved a battle, and it had involved alchemy, and while there's an element of "fool me once, shame on you/fool me twice..." at work here...

...Let's say he's never really been one to turn down a chance to see the world ending, and that is exactly what this sounds like. So he'll be showing up with a full team of six, and for a while he'll just...watch curiously as the grunts do their thing and seem a bit oblivious to the new guy standing near the crystals over there (and they do seem to be keeping their distance from the crystals, so perhaps that's not a surprise), and after a while he just smiles, the look in his eyes coming rather alive when he realizes what he's standing next to.

Rejoice, Johto!

He's going to be very intent on messing with those crystals; he's laying his hands on them way too much to be comfortable, for one thing, and for another...well, he's got an Electrode out with him that he seems to be conversing with on a regular basis, quietly, just out of earshot.

Somebody might want to see what he's doing, because he has entirely too much first-hand experience with what these crystals do when they're blasted full of energy...]

[doitrockapella]

[This is the second year in a row now that Carmen's come down with a sense of deep foreboding during the week of Halloween while present at a battle at which she's spotted her friend Nietzsche, and all things considered that's an uncomfortably specific pattern of events and it's one she's not entirely sure she likes.

It hadn't taken much to get her through the portal, either — the logical conclusion that this could offer some explanation for the strange happenings that have been plaguing the region lately, and the urge to be present at...whatever it was that the voice seemed to think was coming, because when there's a party she wants to be present, and sometimes you act out your plan like a woman of thought but sometimes you do it like a woman of action, too.

She's riding comfortably along with a Kadabra when she teleports into view a short distance from the man and his Electrode, and admittedly the aforementioned Kadabra doesn't seem too thrilled about being so close to these giant masses, but he remains as faithful and silent as always at her side as they land near this fellow trainer he remembers so well.]

Enjoying yourself, Nietzsche?

[twinsanity]

[It's perhaps fortunate that the call to arms could come in the form of urging from a loved one; it's why Alfred hadn't even thought twice about answering it. He wasn't entirely sure where the urging had come from, granted – it was one of those weird disembodied things coming from nowhere and everywhere all at the same time – but the fact was that Alexia had told him to move and so he'd simply gathered his things and moved, lab work be damned today.

It'd taken a bit more convincing to deal with the portal, of course, because that was just ridiculous, but Alexia had insisted and when he'd finally complied there had been no Alexia, which was incredibly confusing but not entirely surprising if he were to consider it.

(Had Alexia wanted him to go, or had he really wanted to go himself? It's a valid question, if he thinks about it; fortunately, he doesn't really want to think about it for too long today, and what matters is that he's here.)

When he arrives, there are a few things to note; there are a lot of pirates, and there are...a lot of generally badly-dressed people in red, and there are a bunch of those Pokémon from throughout the month hassling both, and both sets of humans are hassling each other, and good lord those little black caterpillars are trying their best to swarm a pirate en masse and having no success whatsoever.

Fortunately, he's fairly near the building in the center of the roiling mass of stupid that he's surely been deposited into, and there's a girl sitting on the outdoor veranda – one of the poorly-dressed people in red – and she's got diagrams laid out in front of her and wow that looks like some terrible science on that diagram.

...He's just going to be over here battling this poor girl's Poochyena with his Gashunk Ant, if no one minds; in fairness, she set it on him because she didn't like his tone, but he's not about to stand there and let the goddamn idiot believe that dropping rocket fuel into a volcano is in any way a sound idea, thank you very much.]

[aufsassig]

[Hey Alfred hey Alfred hey Alfred

...

funny you should mention calls because uh

YOUR PHONE IS RINGING]

[cobraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

[On a scale of about 1-10 for anger, Cobra's sitting at about, uh...probably 30 right now. Walking through that stupid portal, only to find out Destro's not actually here and wasn't calling for his help? Didn't exactly do wonders for his mood. Add in that those crystals seem to be back and there's some sort of new team or two new teams or whatever encroaching on what will obviously one day belong to Cobra? Yeah, he's furious.]

A.S.P., Hyper Beam! Strato-Viper! Ssssteel Wing! Overkill! Venosssshock!

[Take that...random Grunt Pokemon. That'll teach Team Aqua and Magma to...actually, Cobra's not even sure why they're here or what's going on. He didn't ask, and he doesn't really care. All he cares about is that there's some other group of individuals that are clearly invading what should belong to him.]

Now then, the resssst of you! Ssstri-

[Okay, maybe he should've paid attention to the migrating Pokemon because he just got knocked over by a herd of Goomy. Or Bloobers. Whatever they are, they've managed to knock Cobra Commander down ruining what will probably be the only impressive victory he gets today, and now he's flailing and slipping in a pile of Goomy...goo.]

What is thissss? Is there no end to thisss idiocy?

[And on that previously referred to anger scale, he's at about a 50 right now.]

[tearsofademon]

[...Well. That'd almost be an amusing sight if they weren't technically on the same side for this fight.

After taking out a couple of grunts with some well-aimed chops to the back of the neck, Ryner goes over to Cobra - carefully, so as not to slip in the goop himself - and offers him a hand.]

Need some help?

[exeggutorhead]

[There aren't many people Envy would jump into a mysterious portal just on the off chance they were really there for. Even fewer people he'd do it because it sounded like they were demanding him to. Tulio is one of those few, and hearing his voice gets Envy into that portal without even thinking about whether there might be a spooky castle on the other end.

He's not very happy when he shows up on a battlefield full of crystals and pokemon fighting people who would be fashion disasters even in Amestris, and no Tulio in sight. Really not happy. And he's very willing to decide that this is somehow the fault of the poorly dressed brigade, and that it would help make up for it to take it out on them. But he calls out the team he brought with him for Mission: Find Heather's Pokemon...and one of them, instead of being the Vaporeon he was sure he had picked, comes out as a raring-to-go level 12 Tyrunt.

...well, he's sure Imp can bite some people's ankles while he uses the others to battle. Battle because after all, how is he going to get close enough to kick any of these people in the gut until he gets their Pokemon out of the way?

He'll be found mainly in the mountains at the beginning of the fight, and near the house later on. In the mountains though, he had a plan to heavily inconvenience the red spike-hooded ones. And that plan is to have his Tyranitar dig some good old fashioned pit traps. And he probably won't say no to anyone offering to help him with that. Careful though, those don't really discriminate in who they collapse under. Envy will be around at some point to see if he's caught any grunts to beat up, maybe he'll help anyone else who's fallen in then. Maybe.]

[ossifragant]

[Greed, you must help them.

If there's one voice, one single person, who could make him jump into action, it's that voice. Martel, his girl, a voice he hasn't heard in nearly seven months. It's not until he steps through the portal that he realizes he doesn't have a clue where he is, that he didn't even stop to consider what Martel had been asking him to do, or if it was even her at all. His girl is nowhere to be found.

But there's obviously things to be done here.

The people in matching outfits are probably the ones responsible for this, he's quick to decide, and he's going to be making their lives as miserable as he possibly can.

It's only fair after getting his hopes up.

He's in the mountains when he catches sight of Envy, looking far too amused at the Tyranitar digging holes in the ground. Fortunate he hasn't stepped into any of the traps himself, isn't it?]

Need some help?

[solas_ion]

[Lancer--]

[It was her voice. The voice that had once called the name of Culann's Hound across space and time, the voice which he'd answered then and would answer again now. He'd barely even given the portal or the voice's source a second thought before snatching up the bag with his Pokemon and usual equipment and all but diving through it, because if Bazett Fraga McRemitz called for help then Cu Chulainn would answer no questions asked.]

[What he found on the other end of the portal, however, was not Bazett by a long shot. In the time it had taken Lancer to blink, he was standing in the middle of a group of Team Magma grunts that seemed to have been mid-conversation. The knight in the blinding Hawaiian shirt blinked a few more times out of confusion as he tried to determine just what was going on. In several flashes of light from as many Pokeballs there was a circle of Poochyena and Numel prepared to attack, and that rather put Lancer's curiosity on the backburner.]

[So, whatever was going on, this was going to be a fight. Shrugging his left shoulder as though to test it out, Lancer found himself satisfied with how the most recent mortal injury had healed up--it wouldn't be a problem. One hand reached for a single Pokeball, the other...a collapsible fishing rod that he twirled almost like a baton.]

[A smile that was really more of a near-feral smirk came across Lancer's face, and he spoke one word:]

Aigéan.

[His Poliwhirl appeared in a flash of light and a blast of water, Lancer himself moving in a flash to strike the nearest grunts with his fishing rod like a makeshift lance.]

[...He still had no idea what was going on, but they'd started it.]

[occultigen]

[Whatever Meridiana was expecting when she'd gone through the portal, she'd had to admit it hadn't been...this. She'd heard a familiar voice, of course, and if there were any voice in the world that she would've listened to, it'd have been that one — one of the last she'd heard before she slipped away into death a second time, that voice of the boy who'd loved her and who she'd loved too much in return to let him sacrifice himself for her.

That boy wasn't here when she'd emerged on the other side, blinking in the harsh sunlight and baffled by the badly-dressed people all around, but the sounds of fighting had quickly drawn her attention and she'd...

Well, the truth was, she'd just sort of stood there awhile, disoriented and afraid, not really sure why she was here or what good she could do about any of it.

Even when she'd spotted Lancer (one of the few familiar faces here — and one of the few distinctive enough that he could hardly be missed), she hadn't leapt into action; she didn't know what action she was really supposed to leap toward, anyway, and it was all just unfolding so fast —

But at some point, as a new Grunt began to drift over to join his beleaguered compatriots and provide some fresh reinforcements, that uncertainty snapped, and she did the only thing she could think to do.

And that was why, at some point in the midst of Lancer's fight, one of his aforementioned Grunts (probably one hanging near the back waiting for an opening to engage) would pause mid-battle with a shout of pain and instinctively raise a hand to the back of his head, because she sure did just throw one of her Pokeballs at it and whoops, suddenly she's been spotted by the enemy now, hasn't she.]

[islandshore]

[Hearing Ven's voice made him hopeful. Made him think that maybe his friend was back, but by the time he made it here, it was quick to connect the dots. Ven wasn't really there, but that hardly mattered. Just a quick glance around is more than enough to tell him that it's time to take off the safety gloves and give these weirdos the fight of their life.

He's joined by a Charizard, a Nidoking, a Blastoise, a Lucario, a Greninja, and a Sceptile. Riku himself is wielding a giant, blunt weapon forged to somewhat resemble a Key.

As for what they're doing, well...]

A. Stop that crazy frog!

[Enigma believes he's a pirate. Team Aqua? Looks like a band of pirates. So, while his team members and master start the fight, Enigma has bigger plans, like Surfing over to the team Aqua grunts, flailing his arms in excitement, and letting out a series of joyous ribbits.

This turns out to be a very stupid idea, because it leaves him open to attacks from pesky zubats, bites from carvanhas, and bounces from Wailmers. When he spots them, Riku leaps off the back of his Charizard, grabs his ninja frog by the arm, and prepares to bash one of the grunts with his stupid key...

It just so happens that they're near one of the crystals, and a nearby Amaura has decided this is the perfect time to unleash its new Aurora Beam attack! As Riku lands his blow, he and the grunt tumble into the Amaura, offsetting its beam so it hits the crystal, and--

BANG!

Suddenly Riku, Enigma, and an Aqua grunt are flying through the air, quite possibly in your way. Better watch out!]

B. Surfin' USA

[Okay, so Riku learned a valuable lesson: be careful with Crystals. As such, he and his team have decided to head towards the edge of the forests and lakes. While Flare soars through the air, blasting Solar Beams and Flamethrowers, Riku rides on the back of his shades-toting Blastoise, using water from the lakes to kick up some huge title waves. He stands with his chin up, knees spread apart, and... is that a sandwich?

As they reach the peak of the wave, Riku takes a slow, dramatic bite of the sandwich, swallows, and waits for the wave to shoot towards the ground before he springs off the Blastoise's back and bashes one of the grunts in the cheek.

His Blastoise slams into two more and lets out a big GRRROOOARRRRR! of approval. This was her idea. Only Zen would want to worry about looking cool in the middle of a crisis.

The bad news is, these grunts aren't too happy about being physically attacked and have set out their Carvanhas and Wailmers to kick up some waves of their own. Riku will be preoccupied trying to bash these little fish in the noses to get at their trainers directly, while Zen proceeds to drop Rock Slides over the forest and bash her head against her opponents. Behold her super radical skills! Do not doubt the Zen! She's... kinda egotistical.

It's getting kinda chaotic over here, but at least there aren't any crystals!]

C. House Party

[The Elite Four's estate is awesome, so it's no wonder Team Magma and Aqua seem so desperate to get inside. But, despite the chaos, Riku needs a quick breather, so here he is, outside in the surrounding area, rifling through his pack while his Charizard Thunder Punches his way through two Poochyenas and his Lucario launches an Aura Sphere at a Magma Grunt's chest. Slacker the Nidoking is standing close, whimpering and shivering, but occasionally sending out Earth Power attacks to help his buddies. Enigma's tossing out Water Shurikens at the Magma Grunts, still wary of fighting pirates, and Swift the Sceptile...

Is trying to flirt with female grunts. Specifically, Magma grunts, and getting fireballs to the face.

In the midst of it all, Riku's looking for anyone who may be tired, injured, or hungry, calling out to them with waves, shouts, and whistles. He'll tr motioning to a relatively unoccupied area.]

Hey, got some supplies if anyone needs them!

[And sandwiches. Can't forget the snacks. They are outside the estate, and supplies are limited to what he could carry, but hopefully it'll help.]

D. Choose Your Own Adventure!

[In general, Riku and his team can be found all over the place. Sometimes he's riding on the back of Flare and soaring towards the mountains. Sometimes he's running around on the ground, trying to fight people himself. He'll be scoping out the area for familiar faces, particularly his fellow PGC members, and generally focusing on beating down these pesky grunts.]

[cawsforalarm]

[Well that was... a thing that just happened.]

[Henry was in the middle of commanding his Pokémon to faux-kill literally everything, including the grunts, when he noticed a huge flying thing in the air. Many years of training against wyvern-mounted riders had him on guard immediately, but fortunately, the thing didn't seem to have much control over where it was going.]

[And when it lands, Henry runs over, hoping to see the bloody carcasses of whatever human or Pokémon landed there.]

[Unfortunately, he doesn't find bloody carcasses, but he does find an Aqua Grunt. Henry decides to take the incentive. With a few words, his Murkrow has been sent over, jabbing viciously at the man's head. Riku and the Greninja, who aren't wearing a silly outfit, are completely ignored.]

[sadisticwarfare]

[Archer wasn't expecting to wake up today to find himself facing a portal. Admittedly, he probably should have expected something odd - those earthquakes and crystals had to be leading up to something, after all. Still, he wasn't expecting to be faced with the difficult decision of following Kimbley's voice through the portal or staying here. On the one hand, he could pursue the alchemist he'd been missing so badly for three years and throw himself in the the unknown, but that would mean leaving this behind. He isn't sure he'll be able to return here, and he shouldn't leave without at least saying goodbye to Kimblee and Cobra.

It doesn't take much encouraging from Kimbley's voice to get him to make up his mind though.

That's why he's here now, looking completely irritated. He should have known better than to trust just a voice. A Psychic-type Pokémon could have easily replicated Kimbley's voice if they went through his head and found that information. This was all a set up.

Archer isn't one to sit idly by, however. He's currently writing something in a notebook, communicating silently with the Alakazam he has out while the Crobat perched nearby looks on.]

Is this what it looks like?

[Archer turns the notebook to reveal a crudely-drawn map of the surrounding area. The Crobat shrieks once in response and the Alakazam nods.]

So there are two groups of enemies and they're focused on taking each other out... Do you know the location of the commanders?

[The Crobat's ears droop and he looks away. Archer doesn't need the Alakazam to translate that for him.]

It's alright. Keep flying over the battlefield and relay any information you have to Alekhine. I'll focus on the others to fight.

[The Alakazam looks momentarily worried, and in a rare display of emotion that isn't rage or being a smug asshole, Archer smiles.

...Well, okay, it's more of a smirk than anything, but he's trying.]

Don't worry. They can handle themselves. Besides, they've got me commanding them.

[The Alakazam rolls his eyes and the sentiment That's what I'm worried about is practically audible.]

We're going to take the building in the middle of the battlefield.

[You can find Archer battling Grunts of either organization as he attempts to make his way there. Most of the fighting is being done by a female Alakazam, while Alekhine, the male Alakazam, stays close to Archer.]

[cobraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

Archer?

[In the midst of all the Pokemon and the enemy Grunts, Cobra hasn't really noticed any familiar faces. So of course, when he spots one he doesn't hate, he's going to call out and try and get their attention. In the middle of a battlefield. Because that's a smart decision.]

Ssssslice, Night Slash!

[And while Scizor takes care of that Grunt, he'll continue trying to get the attention of one of his few Rocket friends.]

Archer, is that you? What are you doing here? And what's going on?

[berkthorn]

[Having already seen Carmen hop through a portal and given a promise to follow, Hiccup didn't really need the extra nudge from the voice in his head. The gruff edge encouraging him into battle manages to embolden his resolve as he rushes forward into the unknown.

He wasn't one for wars, but he was going to try to make his father proud.

The pokemon are all released before he's taken in the information, Adder stooping slightly to better her trainer's mount and jetting off into the sky once he's settled in. The tiny Noibat tucks herself in against Hiccup's neck, eyes narrowing at the situation down below. She watches Stormcutter herd Falkor, Leap, and Heather around the area, leading the battle against Team Aqua with sparks and chittering encouragement to the Espeon linking them through her headache. Hiccup, meanwhile, flies towards the mountains, using his advantage from the sky to strike where he feels most opportune, apparently more set on separating pokemon from trainer than causing harm to either of them. At least he's careful about not dropping his kidnappees on anyone else as he whooshes by...]

[doitrockapella]

[Carmen's been making some progress around the battlefield lately, mostly utilizing her go-to Pokemon (Tux the Empoleon and Ivy the Ivysaur, today) as a way of keeping the Grunts and their teams off her back as she moves around the clearing; there are plenty of people around to fight, and as far as she's concerned she'll gladly leave them to it, because there's something that's been bothering her and she'd like to get an answer for it as well.

What are all these Grunts doing here, anyway? She fully intends to find out.

She's just finished questioning a Team Magma Grunt when she spots the familiar blues and reds of Adder overhead, so she abandons the effort neatly in favor of raising an arm to flag the air force down — and evidently, signal her willingness for a pick-up.]

[armoredsoul]

[Really, this wasn't one of Al's brightest moves, he has to admit. He was already worried and panicking, what with Trisha and Marie having run off in the middle of the night, and Winry and Ed weren't doing much better. And then the massive quake, followed by the crystals coming out of the ground absolutely everywhere...the boys knew they had to do something, and resolved to go figure out what this all was. And so it's the next morning when Al is finishing packing that he hears a voice--one he hadn't heard since...]

Alphonse, please, help them!

[He'd barely even thought as he ran through the portal, and it was lucky he did grab up his Pokeballs before dashing though. The other side is chaos, with oddly-uniformed trainers battling against the swarms of new Pokemon. And with how protective the trainers are being of those crystals...something's going on here, and Al's gonna get to the bottom of it one way or another.]

[That 'one way or another' winds up with a Magma grunt screaming as he finds himself hanging upside down from an over-sized snare trap--it's amazing how resourceful one can be after living on a deserted island for a whole year. It doesn't take long to get the story out of him, and once the poor sap is left tied up behind some bushes Al sets out to get to work. These assholes aren't going to knock themselves out, after all.]

[Alphonse's Pokemon are on the prowl as well, keeping within earshot of their trainer as they also help to fight the invasion. Grunts may be finding their Pokeballs suddenly vanishing thanks to a mischevious Liepard, or a Quilava and Luxray pair jumping them from the bushes. And a Pidgeot sails the skies, occasionally divebombing into a battle to help those fighting the interlopers.]

[awesmazings]

[Jimmy has really been all over the place during the commotion, and once he finally manages to pull away from the lake he's off with his Houndoom at one side and Manectric at the other, searching for anyone who might need a hand. Somebody might want to make sure this kid doesn't run himself into the ground, because he's already gasping for air and doesn't seem too likely to stop any time soon.

Following at the rear is a Lopunny who happily punches anything that leaps her trainer's way, though she's caught offguard by Al's Pidgeot as it suddenly swoops down nearby.

But wait, Jimmy recognizes that trainer...]

Alphonse!

[glaciates]

[If you're up near the mountains and away from the fighting, you might notice a few Magma Grunts standing around. It looks like they're slacking off and if you're close enough to hear what they're saying, it sounds like they're talking shit about Team Aqua. Everything is beautifully peaceful for a few minutes.

...And then a Mamoswine lands right on them and starts charging toward the battlefield. Oh, and Isaac's riding on that thing like a fucking beastmaster, because clearly there's not going to be any sane fighting today.

The Team Magma Grunts who don't get mowed down by the rampaging mammoth seem completely confused by this, but finally they get their acts together and corner the mammoth and its completely insane rider. Isaac just smirks and calls out his other Pokémon. It doesn't take long for them to respond to the non-verbal cue Isaac gives them, and pretty soon they're all aiming ice attacks at the ground. The only exception is the Houndoom, who stands there looking a little lost.

The Grunts seem to realize that this was a mistake a little too late - both the Mamoswine and all the others are now charging at them, easily using the ice to their advantage. Even the Houndoom is doing pretty well on the ice, clearly this is something he's practiced a lot. The Mamoswine slams into the Grunts and knocks them aside like bowling pins, and once again Team Crazy is advancing on the crystals.]

[fatalissimo]

[...sir did you seriously just drop a mammoth on a bunch of unsuspecting grunts, because if you did that is the sort of strategy Nonon can definitely approve of

That said, you're going to be greeted by a ridiculously tiny girl that is riding on a ridiculously oversized Pidgeot by comparison; she's not using Fly properly, given that she doesn't have it, but she's managing to get her vantage point going regardless, and she'll just be gliding up alongside that mammoth you're riding on because holy shit.]

I hope you actually have a strategy to go with all that power, Beastmaster~!

[She's grinning like hell when she says it; she doesn't particularly care if you do or you don't, clearly. Let's just fuck some shit up.]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica had been in Goldenrod when she heard it, the voice that would spur her into action at a moments notice. Veronica was created to protect, and when she heard a cry for help from one of the people she'd been made to guard, and for the first time in several months, it had taken only a few seconds before she grabbed her things and dove into the strange portal without hesitation.]

Fran?!

[But as the young, cloaked woman landed on the other side, it quickly became apparent that her big sister was not here. It was pretty obvious when she looked around and found herself surrounded by grunts wearing different uniforms and already battling it out.

They all momentarily stopped and stared at her. She stared back, confused as to what was even going on.

Some sort of fight? She could see other people around her, obviously like her, and fighting with both the uniformed groups. If that was what she was supposed to do here, she might as well oblige? It'd be nice to work off the frustration she felt from the ruse that got her here in the first place.

She called out two of her Pokémon; Ako, now evolved into a large Honchkrow, and Baburu; her Froakie that had also evolved into... whatever it was supposed to be. Veronica herself charged forward, letting the first, unlucky grunt she saw have a knee to the gut.

This was the first fight she was getting into in months, hopefully she wasn't completely rusty.]

[cawsforalarm]

[The first sign that Henry had arrived was, as usual, fire.]

[A short distance away, some poor Grunt had just been incinerated completely by a cute fluffy widdle Vulpix. The owner of said Vulpix is standing next to him, laughing.]

[The flaming Grunt collapses at Veronica's feet, and then disappears. It's this that causes Henry to notice Veronica in the first place, and he strolls over, smiling as if nothing had happened.]

Whoa! Is that your Murkrow?

[fauxtographs]

[To her credit, Emmy had remembered to change out of her Rocket uniform and grab her Pokémon before leaping into the portal, although she'd had to force herself to pause. The sound of the highly familiar voice had shaken her rather badly; how could he possibly be here? He was supposed to be in custody of the police! This didn't...no! It couldn't be right! It had to be some sort of stupid trick! But her instincts and her new Pokémon's urging had compelled her, along with that voice, to head straight into that odd portal to wherever the voice wanted her to go.
 
...and what a place it is.
 
She's had some experience with Evil Teams, and all the oddly-dressed people fighting civilians can only mean one thing - villains!! So that means it's time for battle!
 
In a way, she's rather excited. Time to fight some mooks!
 
So if you happen to be in the main areas of the battlefield, you might be treated to the sight of a bunch of grown-ass men fleeing from a tiny woman and her even tinier dog, who are in hot pursuit and gaining ground rather quickly.
 
The Lillipup has a scrap of black fabric in her mouth that may or may not have come from someones pants.]
 
Come back here, you rogues! Tell me where you're keeping him! You won't get away from me!
 
[OOC: Emmy will stop using Pursuit if you address her - there are plenty of other Grunts to chase, after all!]

[captainash]

[...Funnily enough, what attracts Ash's attention is not the ridiculousness of fleeing grown-ass men, nor the angry shouting that follows them. No, what catches his eye is the little Lillipup, and the sight of such a fierce young Normal-type about to kick all sorts of ass is enough to earn his complete approval.

With a smirk on his face, he turns towards his Houndoom.]

Dark Hound, let's be nice and help the lady.

[Dark Hound must approve of that particular plan, because in a flash he's throwing himself right in front of the grunts. Okay, it's not so fun when one trips on him, but that's a small price to pay for the show that will undoubtedly follow.]

[enjoymyatelier]

[Honestly, Kayneth probably would have been there the moment he heard about legendary Pokemon, but apparently someone wanted him to be at his most disappointed when he walked out of a space portal right into a group of pirates who very decidedly did not look like Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri.

...it was, at least, a good motivator to get him to let out his Serperior, Ampharos, Nidoqueen, Reuniclus, Archeops, and Chandelure all at the same time, his expression completely flat in the way that only someone extremely angry can manage and give them a brief signal to hold still.

The various Aqua grunts look mildly confused for a moment, then... start kind of snickering because look at this fancy pants asshole, which is possibly the worst thing they could have done in this situation.]

Cezanne, use several rounds of Leaf Storm in front of us to clear a path. Gloria, stick with me. The rest of you... do whatever you like, just take them all down.

[Cezanne does seem at least a little bothered by how indiscriminate that order is, but he does comply... and given that he's now Contrary, after last year, well.

...needless to say, it is entirely possible to encounter the Chandelure, Archeops, Reuniclus, and Nidoqueen quartet doing their own thing through the ranks of grunts that are further inland or, if one gets to the shore, Kayneth himself. He's standing and radiating some cold fury with his Serperior... and his Ampharos, who is shocking the Aqua members on the lake indiscriminately and occasionally giving her trainer looks that are the definition of (unsure), because holy shit, dude, calm down]

[nostabbing]

[Perhaps fortunately for Kayneth (and his already-souring mood), Parker is actually nowhere near him at this point, given that she's fairly far inland and gradually working her way towards the house that appears to be the focal point of the siege. She is, however, very aware of her surroundings, and that happens to include a certain Shimmering Green Buddy™ who's made a couple passes overhead so far, and who she'd quite frankly recognize anywhere.]

Bernie!

[She jumps up and down once, waving to catch his attention even though he's a goodly distance from her up in the air.]

Bernie! Down here!

[wakeupslap]

[For Moses, who had arrived not too long ago, stepping through a portal to someone from home was sort of the best case scenario for him. He loved his new creature, but maybe he could take Princess home. When he found himself somewhere completely unfamiliar, and he saw even more of those creatures?! Well... now he was a bit excited. But even as he pulled out Cubchoo to rest on his shoulder, he knew that she couldn't help out their efforts yet.

But, hey, if no one was really paying much attention... who says he couldn't use the strongest part of his body right now to take care of the problem? He moves up to a group of the red grunts, slamming them all with his fist and body slamming them too, knocking out a few of them on the first few goes. He's not very sneaky about it either, making loud noises and drawing plenty of attention to himself. Plus, his Cubchoo likes to use Powder Snow all over the place, so there's a bit of a chill in the air.

But hey! No one can say Moses is completely useless, right?]

[styxiedust]

[Hey! Rude, there's a girl in the path of a flying Grunt just minding her own business, what are you--

Oh, never mind, she has a baseball bat and whacks him out of flight into the ground. To which he mercifully goes unconscious and warps away.]

My goodness.

[Her Gengar seems happy about this, he's clapping as though it's one big old show.]

[ajustcaws]

[did somebody say WORLD SAVING ADVENTURE because oh yeah

it is on like Darmanitan Kong and she is going to step out of that space portal a ways away from the mountain area...

and then she will go ahead and let all her Pokemon out, because why not, right.

...and then, she will go ahead and saddle up on Thunderhoof, who looks a bit... well, that is not an excited expression, but it is certainly a resigned expression...]

All right, everyone! I bet you're all rarin' to go, but listen up!

We're going into uncharted territory, so you'd all better have your sweetest moves prepared! I don't know if we go to defeat or glory... but aw, heck, it's going to be glory either way! Like, why is defeat something I even thought of? We're all the champions of champions, the heroes of heroes!

[she leans back a bit, hoping Thunderhoof will take the hint and dramatically rear up.

...given that Cynthia is riding bareback, Thunder thankfully displays some common sense and stays where she is.]

...eh, it was worth a shot. But now... we ride!

[...so what Team Magma and likely anyone fighting them is going to see coming is basically a Braviary, a goddamned floating Sharpedo, a Rapidash, a Houndoom, and a girl with a Murkrow on her shoulder riding a Zebstrika who is wondering what her life has become.

The girl is yelling. Very, very loudly.]

TO VICTORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

[awesmazings]

[...Thunderhoof, you are a god among Pokemon, basically.

Unfortunately, Jimmy doesn't quite have any Pokemon he can ride on himself on the ground (even his Houndoom is a no-go, since his legs LITERALLY drag the ground because he is an actual noodle child), so instead he's running on foot with his Houndoom on one side, Manectric on the other, and one very large, very hyped up Volcarona flying overhead. She's prepared to let Jimmy hop on her back for a quick getaway if need be, because Lord knows she's terrified that this boy is going to get himself killed a lot.

So when he sees Cynthia charging into battle quite literally over there he turns sharply to head that way, waving.]

Hey!! Cynthia!

[awesmazings]

[Well, if you thought Jimmy Two-Shoes was going to be missing out on all of this then you would be dead wrong. Plus, he's no stranger to leaping through strange portals (the abyss of nothingness notwithstanding), so when the mysterious voice he doesn't at all recognize calls out for his help? You better believe he's going to charge headfirst into the throng come Hell or high water.

There are quite a lot of grunts around making the place right miserable for everyone, and we can't let that happen, can we? Jimmy in particular has found himself backed into a corner near the edge of the lake, his Manectric to his left and bristling with electric energy, his Lopunny to his right bouncing on her heels, and his Floatzel in the water glaring daggers at the water Pokemon that the Aqua grunts are sending at him in waves.

So you- you might want to duck if you're anywhere near, unless you want to get a hydro pump to the face from either side. Mostly on Lucky's part, who has absolutely no inhibitions with just opening his jaws and letting the water fly wherever means necessary.

And Leader is there for obvious reasons, as is evident when a Sharpedo wheels around to try and jerk him down into the water, only to come back with a nasty electric shock for its efforts.]

Honey, use Suckerpunch!

[And down goes a tentacool that ventured just a bit too close to the bank when the Lopunny deals it a solid punch to the head.

Regardless, even with his strongest Pokemon fighting, he won't be able to stand against this many grunts alone forever.

> AID > FIGHT
> POPCORN.GIF > FLEE?]

[me_first]

[Did someone ask for help with water Pokemon? Because there's suddenly a Magneton hovering over the water, dive-bombing a Sharpedo and slamming it with an Electro Ball.]

[Royce himself has his hands in his pockets and looks rather bored, his Skarmory hovering above and slashing a Zubat in the air. He takes a few steps forward so that he moves between the grunts and Jimmy.]

Why don't you... hm... you should pick on someone closer to your own... size. Yes... yes you should.

[One of the grunts opens his mouth and Royce just tilts his head.]

If you don't... mm. I don't like engaging in physical violence. But I will if I have to, oh yes.

[unkinder]

[After his...experience back at the Rocket labs, Nagi hasn't really been doing much beyond training. Training hard, so hard that many of his Pokemon have evolved and are well up there in levels by now (of course not his Abra though, his Abra ain't got time for that). So, naturally, when he's startled out of his usual browsing of his 'Gear with a metaphorical slap in the face via The Voice Of Crawford, followed by a sudden portal opening up in front of him, it throws him off a bit. He's not going to dare ignore it, but nonetheless it is damn jarring and he's really not sure what to make of it.

And when he steps through into utter chaos, he's not sure what to make of that, either. So, the only logical response is to fight anything and everything that gets in his way, not going out of his way to fight anything, and using the constant shifting to observe and get an idea of what's happening.

Hovering behind either shoulder are an Abra and a Porygon, both with explicit instructions to warn him if something is coming his way. At either side on the ground, a Raichu and a Ninetails follow, the Raichu occasionally zapping the ground near the feet of any grunts who try to venture too close in the search of a fight. The Ninetails only has to bare her fangs and snarl loudly to get the message across. And finally, at the rear, an Umbreon and a Gardevoir keep watch behind.

When Nagi does find himself approached for a fight, he doesn't back down. He also doesn't hesitate to bring forward his Gardevoir- arguably the strongest Psychic at his disposal currently- to give them a nasty taste of what a real telekinetic can do.]

[lullabytes]

...Nagi-kun.

[ There's no way she's going to get close without being observed, since Nagi's not exactly bad at stealth or noticing people or anything, presumably. But Nanami made no attempt to be stealthy after she noticed him; it's not like he wasn't on the same side as her.

Whatever...nebulous side they had going on here. The "anti weird grunts" side??? Surely even Team Rocket is on that side, and Nanami's not aware Nagi is/was Team Rocket. ]

It's been a little while.

[ Nanami, now is not the time for pleasantries...but at least her own team is out and about, ranging around to protect their trainer? ]

[paladinlost]

[Some time into the fight, a few Magma grunts come running in a panic from the northeastern side of the battlefield. If they are somehow stopped and interrogated, all they can do is babble quickly about being good boys and girls, really, they swear, please let them go. And if whoever interrogates them decides to look for the source of their terror, they might find themselves having to dodge both more panicking grunts and projectiles.

Extremely colorful projectiles.

Extremely colorful exploding projectiles.

...Merry early Christmas, everyone!]

[pinnedbangs]

[He came rushing as fast as he could when he heard that cry for help, but seeing how those Guys in Uniform were actually being tormented by ...

... actually, he's not too sure what in the world he is looking at. He's willing to suspend all disbelief right now. But now he is conflicted. If he helps the Grunts, the colors will get him. If he leaves the Grunts, he'll have to live with abandoning people who might have just needed a second chance.

What do . . . ?]

[freshprints]

[Kirigiri is another of the contingent assembled here who remembers the events of Nightmare Castle almost one year ago; back then, the battle had followed a disorienting week after being kidnapped to a half-dreamlike world, and the battle that followed had been plagued with all the suspicion and over-cautiousness that tended to follow something like that.

This year, however, she's a little better prepared, and more importantly she's here with a very definite set of priorities. There's no telling how many of her classmates might've come through the portal, and a few minutes of observation had quickly confirmed that people were appearing all over the map when they first came through.

Priority one, therefore, was to take stock of who might be where, and get a headcount in whatever way she could. So, after sending out a mass-text to all the resident Dangans asking for confirmation of their location, she proceeded to send out her Noctowl to sight from the air while she herself mounted up her Arcanine, flanked on either side by her Lucario and her Empoleon.

Classmates first. Once that was settled...everything else after.]

[ardent]

[Kirigiri's text will be met by one of Ishimaru's own, prompt as usual because anything else is just unacceptable.]

There's a lake on one side of this area; it appears to feed the falls. I'm there; I have Kamina out and Aiko is keeping an eye on things, so I'm protected.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa knew something was about to happen. It was hard not to see the signs; the migrations of the pokemon that had been seen swarming all last month, the earthquakes, the bizarre crystals.... she was a little on-edge, needless to say. It was now of all times that she was missing her power; sure, they had their new pokemon friends to help them, but Elsa still felt like she'd be more comfortable in a time of possible danger if she had a way to more accurately control a way to protect herself and her sister.

Of course, for all her uneasiness, nothing could have prepared her for the voice. That familiar voice of a man three years gone.

The voice of the late King Agdar of Arendelle rang through her head as clearly as if he was standing right next to her, urging her to go, help them. In what was a stark contrast to his advice when she was a child, her dear father was urging her to use her power - the power of her newfound allies - to help, and not remain idle with it.

How could she deny such a request?

So with only a brief glance behind her to make sure Anna was following, Elsa ran through the portal that had appeared as soon as her father's voice faded from her mind--

--.... and ran right into the path of two Magma Grunts. Said grunts look startled by the sudden appearance, but quickly send out their pokemon: a pair of houndours.]

Watch out, Anna! [Gosh she hopes her sister can hear her through that portal.] We've got a fight on our hands!

[loveisanopendoor]

Right behind you, Elsa!

[Anna had heard it too; though it had almost been so long that she had forgotten what it had sounded like, it was unmistakably her mother's voice, imploring her to come help...and she was almost relieved when she realized Elsa had heard something similar. Rarely was there such a time when Anna saw Elsa leading the way into a potentially dangerous situation, but, something like this...well, she definitely can't blame her for being on edge.

Of course, she wasn't expecting to be greeted right out of the gate by some unfamiliar looking bad guys, but one thing's for sure; she wasn't about to let them go without a fight. And the first Pokemon she sends out, almost on instinct, is none other than Marlin, towering over the girls and the Pokemon standing before them...and he doesn't exactly look happy to see Elsa so frazzled, so those Houndour are cruising for a bruising...]

We'll take them on together, right? I mean, two against one is hardly fair...

[irenicly]

[This is, possibly, a really bad idea. Banjou has no idea what he's doing here other than the fact that he was told by a voice that sounded a lot like Kaneki that he needed to be here. So here he is.

Now that he's arrived, though, he doesn't have much of a plan: he can't take on the grunts, so instead Banjou is devoting his time to setting up traps within the forest. Kamu is certainly living up to his name (Bite, because Banjou hadn't thought of anything else to call a goofy looking beaver) by helping him comp bits of rope and wood to the right sizes in order to create tripwires that will hopefully prevent some of the Aqua grunts from entering the area, though it's very possible the traps may give people trying to go fight said grunts grass stains on their knees.

Sorry about that.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Yeah. Yeah actually that is a VERY bad idea.]

[Fortunately, what happens isn't as bad as it could have been. But that won't save Banjou from getting a serious earful.]

[A white streak darts past, nose to the earth-- well, at least until her lanky legs encounter one of the trip wires. With a sharp yelp, the Absol goes tumbling head over heel, horn catching on the wire and snapping it with a ringing TWANG.]

[Hot on the canid Pokemon's heels is a Rapidash and its rider, both of whom come skidding to a rough halt in time to avoid a similar fate-- luckily. Such a fall could be devastating to an equine, even one as hardy as Pokemon tend to be.]</sub>

Dude, what the HELL?!

[ortion]

[When Dist's working on a project, it's pretty difficult to pry him away from it. And that's what Dist was doing today, working deep in the bowels of the Goldenrod Rocket base's labs. But one thing makes him freeze completely: the sound of a voice that he hadn't heard in twenty-six years.

Professor Nebilim...

He had spent so much of his life trying to bring her back, and being in Johto took him away from that life goal. He pretty much would have to rely on the Pokemon World bringing her to him, but after spending more than two years here, he was beginning to attempt to accept that she may not ever appear and move on.

Naturally, the first thing he did when he received a plea of help from his beloved professor was jump right through that suspicious portal that appeared before him without reason, calling to Kato who was nearby, "She's here! She's actually here!" as he did so.

However, instead of finding Professor Nebilim on the other side of the portal, he finds himself in the middle of a war between dozens of uniformed Grunts (uniforms that are definitely not Team Rocket's) and wild Pokemon. His gaze frantically darting around the battlefield, he desperately tries to point out his professor. Surely this can't be some sort of trick--her voice was so real...

It doesn't take long for desperation to completely overtake him. By the time he realizes what he's doing, he's ordered his Scizor to pin down a random pirate grunt with her giant crab claw so he can do some interrogating. His Roserade and Purrloin flank them, glaring daggers and hissing at whoeever attempts to interrupt.]

What have you done with her?! Answer me this INSTANT!!

[The poor Aqua grunt has no idea what Dist is talking about of course, but the Teams have nothing to do with the psychic messages. At least Dist is helping...? Sort of...??

Someone might want to calm the man down though. He wasn't prepared to be punched in the feelings today.]

[option B]

[Once Dist has gotten a complete understanding of the situation, he's still not happy of course, but he's more concentrated at this point. Joining his Roserade, Purrloin and Scizor are his Jellicent, Reuniclus and Steelix. He'll gladly help fight the grunts because to be completely honest he's still pissed that he expected his dead professor and got them instead. He'll also seek out friends/TR comrades to see if they're around or need help.

He won't be alone most of the time, either. His partner Kato (katostrophic) will be present as well! So if you'd like to get both Dist and Kato together, just request it in your subject line!]

[katostrophic]

[Kato was in the middle of reading a report when Dist suddenly decided to leap through the suspicious portal, and it would be a lie to say it hadn't completely taken him by surprise.]
 
Dist?! What are you-?!
 
[It's not often that he loses his composure, but the sight of his partner disappearing through a mysterious portal is more than enough for it to go flying out the window; grabbing his Pokeballs and swearing under his breath, he darts over to the portal and, against his better judgement, similarly leaps through it.
 
The sight that appears before him is rather unexpected, and for a moment he freezes, looking around at all the battling going on. What the hell is this? His Lunatone quickly gets his attention away from the total scene, though, as he's managed to spot Dist releasing his Scizor and attacking one of the...the pirates.
 
...
 
...he's admittedly had better days.]
 
Dist.
 
[Quickly making his way over, Kato gently places a hand on Dist's shoulder.]
 
What is going on?

[dreamsofahero]

Perhaps needless to say, what with there being trouble and a mysterious call for help, there was no question what Sion would do. He had just enough time to quickly swap out for a (hopefully) better team than he'd had on him at the time when the portal appeared, and then, well, things have pretty much been sheer chaos.

For the most part, Sion has been moving back and forth across the battlefield with his team, taking advantage of his arcanine, Fio's speed to dash from one problem location to another as needed. Along with Fio, his absol Dusk and milotic Sea are virtually omnipresent wherever Sion's to be found, though his remaining three- a lucario, a gallade, and a garchomp- seem prone to zipping off to go knock out an opponent or two on their own initiative.... or lack of Sion's direct supervision, perhaps.

As for Sion himself, aside from giving his team orders or the occasional healing item as needed, he apparently acquired for himself a good-sized, straight branch apparently knocked from a tree in the heat of some battle or another, and promptly put it to good use as an improvised weapon. And to fairly good effect, at that: he wasn't a bad swordsman by any means, and was quite firmly of the opinion that all's fair when fighting villainous teams. Clearly bad guys have no rights.

In any case, however, whether fighting, giving commands to his team, or resting and regrouping, Sion's never wandered far from Ryner, creating a formidable fighting combination between the two of them and their apparent utter lack of regard for fighting like civilized people with just one on one pokémon battles at a time...

[tearsofademon]

Civilized battles? What are these civilized battles you speak of? Civilized battles get people killed. No, the best thing to do is fight dirty and fight to end it fast with minimum injury for maximum disabling. Groin shots are good. So are chops to the neck, in a pinch, though you have to hit that exactly right.

After doing just that to yet another grunt or two (seriously do they ever end?), Ryner lets Glen tie the one that's still moving, albeit in serious pain, up in web before letting out a deep sigh.

"This is seriously a pain, y'know Sion?"

Well, nobody ever said complaining was bad form.

[wing_attack]

[Tobias had already been trying to follow the migrating Pokemon. He'd been riding on Regal, pushing him as much as he dared, but the portal appearing had been a surprise.]

[Hearing Elfangor's voice in his mind had been even more of one. He'd flown Regal in, and the two of them had appeared above the scene, Tobias clinging to his Pokemon's back. A battle. A battle with people already engaged, and with people clearly causing chaos. He had Regal land, and pulled out two Pokeballs.]

Rachel, Volts! Let's go!

[The Ursaring and Zebstrika appeared in a flash. Tobias directed them towards the water where they'd have more of an advantage for Volts. The pair started to charge the nearest Team Aqua grunt's Pokemon, while Tobias climbed back on Regal to take to the air.]

[The pair rose, and started to dive bomb some of the grunts, trying to pick them up and toss them into the lake. Tobias kept an eye out for people having trouble with their battles. Nothing ended a battle faster than a grunt getting suddenly dragged ten feet off the ground, after all.]

[sincereheart]

[ Have a Mimi running straight through another portal, clinging tightly to her bag. Whoever's voice she heard calling her is obviously someone she wanted very much to see. ]

Sora-san! Sora-san, I'm here... Huh?

[ Okay. This is definitely the middle of a battlefield. Those are definitely some pretty pink crystals. And these people in the strange outfits, looking angrily at her, are definitely not Sora. ]

...Did I take a wrong turn?

[ Wait a second. That bear fighting them off looks familiar. Rachel? If that's Rachel, then she can't be far from - ]

Tobias-san!

[ She shields her eyes, gazing up at the Braviary flying overhead. She thinks that's Tobias, but it's kind of hard to tell from down here! Regardless, she calls to him: ]

I don't know what's going on, but those guys are causing trouble, aren't they!

[preybeforemeals]

[Needless to say, Tsukiyama is not entirely sure why he's here.

Oh, he knows the very technical 'why' – that being that he'd been keeping an eye from Banjou from a distance, as he does, when he'd been distracted for approximately five seconds; apparently those five seconds had been more than enough for something very stupid to happen, and he'd had his attention drawn back to the situation at hand just quickly enough for him to notice Banjou disappearing into...god only knows where.

It hadn't registered with him at first, what had gotten his attention; it had been someone calling him, a male voice calling him 'Tsukiyama-san' in a quiet way that he hasn't heard in a very long time, and it's only when it speaks to him again with a light, breathless laugh behind the words, understated and awkward - Shouldn't you, um, go after him or something? - and he's already moving to comply (because of course he would comply with that voice, he always complies with it nowadays) that he recognizes it as Kaneki's. Not as he'd last heard him, either, but as he'd sounded back before all of this started, when his hair was still black and the eyepatch was a medical one instead of -

Yeah, the "...now wait just a minute" takes a second to set in, and even after it's set in...well, it's a bit late to do anything about it because wow that is a battlefield.

And Tsukiyama is mildly annoyed, but you know what, there are worse things to wander into at the behest of your (friend? leader? target?) person. That said, he's generally only summoned to fights to do one thing; maybe two things, if he's fortunate. It seems that he's decided that today's his lucky day and he's rather determined to do both of those two things with gusto today; as such, he'll just be sauntering casually over to two of those lovely pirate-y individuals, smiling and bowing deeply from the waist when he's within comfortable speaking distance.

He doesn't introduce himself; the pirates seem a bit confused as to why they're being greeted this way by a man who's even more poorly-dressed than they are, but he's kind enough to not leave them in the dark for too long.

It's funny, really, that this world's reliance on magical creatures leaves people completely unprepared for simply being sucker-punched and dropped to the ground.

He laughs then, the sound high and ringing, and he runs his tongue lightly over his upper lip before he works on dropping the second; he fully plans to enjoy this.

...And apparently enjoy it he does, because he has the restraint to not knock both of them unconscious; one of them whites out and that's a little unfortunate, but the second...well, Tsukiyama can be found having a lovely chat with him while he's lying on the ground, Tsukiyama casually sitting astride his waist and leaning forward over him, hands braced against the ground while he interrogates the...understandably incredibly nervous-looking grunt.

After all, Kaneki relies on him for two things, and those two things are beating people's asses and gathering information; there's no sense in letting him down now.]

[doitrockapella]

That was quite the punch.

[Most probably, Carmen had been in the air on her Aerodactyl immediately prior to this; that was a guess reasonably supported by the fact that she's decided to make her appearance in a suitably dramatic fashion via just dropping right off of the damn thing mid-dive to land reasonably gracefully (about as well as anyone could, wearing heels in the grass) a few feet away from...

...whatever's going on between these two badly-dressed people over here.]

Given what happened to his friend, I take it that's one law of the universe still at play here.