route_1065 | Sometimes, quiet is violent.

Entry tags:

Sometimes, quiet is violent.

Who: Solf J Kimblee (

explosivecombat; anyone in Olivine City who wants to engage him, really. OPEN LOG, do your thing, tag yourselves in
Where: Olivine City
When: Slightly backdated - morning of February 8, 2014
Summary: Somebody wanted a war. You're going to have an investigation.
Rating: PG-13? ...look, if things go badly this is pretty much Kimblee going Michael Bay on Olivine City, so.
Log:

His timing had, admittedly, been poor.

Namely, the three-day time period he'd thrown down was not accounting for the sudden snow; while he could hold the fort reasonably well in below-zero temperatures, that had never really been his idea of a good time. Fortunately, the most important of those bombs he'd photographed had been set prior to the announcement going out - it wouldn't do to be acting suspicious in public after a bomb threat, after all; those he hadn't set before then...well. He'd been more than capable of waiting until those who were going to move had actually moved before sending Alekhine and the non-human Archer out to go get those taken care of. They're rather skilled at...convincing people that they really, really want to be elsewhere all of a sudden, after all.

The Alakazam is nearby but out of sight, having been instructed to keep an eye on things for him (as he's fully aware that he's not going to be able to one things get underway); the Gardevoir is at his side, as he always is during these sorts of games. His usual white suit has been abandoned in favor of sharply-tailored black, with a black shirt buttoned clear up to his throat beneath it and a bloodred tie around his neck; his face is obscured by the usual hooded mask, long ponytail tucked up beneath the fabric.

It's a lovely day today.

He's got something in his hand that he's playing with once in a while; something that he can rather cheerfully buttonmash if he feels like it, apparently, as there are a good amount of buttons on it. He presses a few of them now, almost idly; he pauses for a moment before clicking the red one at the top of it.

Hopefully no one was partial to a few of those indie bars toward the outskirts of town; that explosion is going to be a large one.

Let's begin, shall we?

[OOC: Okay, apologies for the delay but RL punched me in the throat. AS IT STANDS, HOWEVER, the deal is currently this.

There are currently eight bombs planted throughout the city, including the one that just went off on the northern side of town, because Kimblee clearly hates hipsters this morning and has decided that they can't have nice bars. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to find either the bombs or the asshole detonating them. Or both, if you all can manage, let's not sell ourselves short. Don't worry, he's somewhere within the city.

You're welcome to search the city if you wish; I'll gladly guide you through that part with meta directions in brackets - letting you know what you find in certain locations, if anything. The NPCs in certain locations (the hotel, the Pokémon Center, those hardware stores Blake was checking out earlier, the guards at the lighthouse) will not remember any suspicious activity having occurred, but they will have really large conspicuous holes in their memories if pressed. And hey, I'll guide you through that as well, if you have something to say to them.

Basically, feel free to investigate at will; throw a location in your comment subject, wherever you want to search. Let's make a game of it.]

[OOC PART II: Here's your current counter, guys.

Bomb 1 - hipster bars, northern side of town: DETONATED
Bomb 2 - Olivine Inn: LOCATED / NEUTRALIZED
Bomb 3 - docks, southern side of town: NEUTRALIZED
Bomb 4 - cargo holds, western side of town: DETONATED
Bomb 5 - specialized shops, city center: STILL ACTIVE
Bomb 6 - restaurants, city center: NEUTRALIZED
Bomb 7 - location currently unknown: STILL ACTIVE
Bomb 8 - location currently unknown: STILL ACTIVE

You've got your work cut out for you, Hero Squad. Godspeed. :|b ]

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[Riku's been on edge ever since the threat went out. He still remembers when "Seth" set up an open invitation to battle. That ended disastrously, but now that he's the PGC's leader, he needs to tread even more cautiously than before. For that reason, he's changed his attire. A red scarf conceals the lower part of his face. Goggles mask his eyes. He's foregone his usual jacket in jeans in favor of this getup, sized up for a nineteen year old's build.

Gloves hide his hands, and he moves silently towards the beach atop his Hydreigon; Flare would be too obvious, and he needs to keep a solid cover, lest he risk exposing himself or the PGC.

He'll land by the shore, casting a glance towards the house once owned by Minnie, then Lightning... It's a house with a legacy, one that he aims to protect. For that reason, he's sending a Lucario and a Metagross out of their balls.

No words are spoken between them; the group simply wanders the area, the Lucario trying to sense anything strange with her aura abilities and the Meagross serving as a sort of bodyguard.]

[As far as the actual beach goes, there isn't much that's conspicuous there, especially given that it is early o'clock on a Saturday; granted, there are areas where people are more likely to gather - namely, the docks, which may still be operational despite the detonation that's happened across town, and the lighthouse, which seems to have had some rather agitated guards clustered outside some time earlier but they appear to be at least somewhat getting themselves sorted in the wake of the blast - they've already dealt with one attack on the place, and they're going to be sweeping the area to make sure they're not dealing with any others.

There's nothing too unusual around here aura-wise, at least; nothing immediately and obviously evil, anyway, nor is there any sort of psychic interference.

So. You have the docks, the lighthouse, or perhaps remaining nearby and seeing what's going on in the residential areas. Where would you like to check first?]

[Nothing unusual, huh? Well, while gut instinct tells Riku to scope out the lighthouse first, knowing that Rockets have attacked it before makes it far too obvious a target. He'll save it for later, instead sticking to the residential areas. After all, the people need to know about the situation, and maybe they've seen suspicious activity.

After all, a populated area's sure to yield big results in an explosion. He just hopes the locals hear him out.]

[All right then! Residential area it is.

There are still people around, despite the blast from earlier; after all, the explosion was clear across town, and the attack doesn't seem to be continuing at the moment. Most of the other Rocket attacks seem to have only had one specific target, after all - they've attacked one building, or in the case of some of the Goldenrod attacks, one area in particular. There's no reason to suspect that this time they'll do otherwise, but a few of them are outside talking about what should be done. Again, however, most of them seem under the opinion that the threat seems to have passed.

There's a young woman who seems to be rather invested in arguing her point, though; she's tall and willowy and talks with her hands a lot, once in a while sweeping errant locks of blonde hair out of her face. She has a Cinccino on her shoulder, and seems of the opinion that that bomb threat involved a lot of bombs, and it probably isn't safe to assume that there's just the one. Judging from the back-and-forth between the others and herself, her name is Jess, and she seems half on the verge of storming off and finding the other bombs herself.]

[Riku stands a few yards away, listening in on the conversation. Once he realizes that this Jess is of like mind, Riku, joined by his Pokémon, strolls over.]

You're absolutely right. That one explosion was just a teaser for what's to come.

[He digs into his pocket and pulls out his PokéGear. Coincidentally, he's got the still of the bombs all ready to go, and he raises the 'Gear so that the others can see.]

You can't let your guards down. For all we know, the next bomb could be right around the corner.

[And that's one risk he's not willing to take.]

[Oh, hey, you...oddly-dressed stranger, you. Jess seems a bit surprised to be suddenly receiving assistance, but she's not going to turn it down; she's going to shoot a bit of a "YOU SEE" look at the others before turning her attention to Riku over there.

"You want to stop it, too, then - what are you wanting to do?" She pauses for a moment. "I mean, I'm guessing you're planning on doing something."]

Oh, I've got a few plans.

[He slips the 'gear back into his pocket, casting a glance down towards the docks.]

First of all, I'm trying to scope the place out. See if I can find any traces of bombs. People who've seen suspicious activity... anything that'll provide clues, basically. After that...

[Sigh. That's where it gets tricky.]

Well, then it's a matter of disarming the bombs, assuming they're even in this area.

[She glances back at the others for a moment before looking back at Riku, nodding determinedly.

"We might want to check in populated areas first. That's where they usually hit, right? Places that'll affect people. I haven't seen anyone suspicious, but I know the area."]

Then lead the way. I'll do my best to keep up the pace, and I'm sure they won't be too far behind.

[He gestures at his team, who all nod in unison. His Lucario opens her mouth to speak, in fact, but shuts it a second later. They have a cover to keep, after all.

He'll just have to trust Jess' sense of direction. A local's sure to know the lay of the land better than he would.]

[She pulls a Pokéball from the bag slung over her shoulder, releasing one of her own; it's a...is that a Butterfree because that appears to be a Butterfree.

...okay, you know what, we're doing this with a Butterfree, why not. It swoops overhead in the way that only a truly determined purple butterfly can, and Jess sets off, glancing at Riku along the way.

"There are a few date spots around here - apparently this place is known for being romantic or something. I guess I can see it, but it's sort of a shallow thing to be known for, you know?"

She shrugs, though. "Are you just here to help us out of the goodness of your heart, or what?"]

Then again, people are pretty shallow sometimes. The fact that we're so close to Valentine's Day isn't helping.

[But eh, he's not complaining. With the looming threat of bombs, they've got bigger fish to fry, like protecting the city. So, when she changes the subject, he shakes his head.]

I've been here long enough to know that the cops aren't gonna fix everything. Team Rocket's already blown up gyms and Pokémon Centers before. I figure that if they're gonna try starting a "war," then it's better to step in instead of letting this place go up in smoke.

[She nods a bit at that. "Believe me, we know better than anyone what they've - "

...Well, she's not going to get to finish that before you guys are given another example; Kimblee's willing to make a game of it but he doesn't have infinite patience.

The cargo holds on the western side of town? Say goodbye to one of them.

You might want to step up your game here, kids.]

[Crap!

Grinding his teeth, Riku hops onto the back of his Hydreigon, glancing to the rest of his team.]

Guys, spread out! We can't afford to take it slow anymore.

[Here's hoping that Jess has more than her Butterfree to scour the area. With bombs going off, they need to step up their game, and fast.]

[She does, don't worry. ...granted, she has, like, a Furret, but it's better than nothing.

Well, she's taken you to one of the date spots that this place is known for; it's more or less a cul-de-sac, got a nice fountain in the center of it, ritzy-ass restaurants all around. Most of them are closed this early in the morning, but there's a lot of nice property here. What are we doing with the setup here, Riku, give some orders.]

Ace, you go scope out the restaurants.

[His Lucario nods, sprinting towards the nearest restaurant posthaste. Snagging another Pokéball, he sends out his Rotom, who responds with an eerie howl.]

Surge, you scope out the ones that are closed See if you can find anything.

[As for him, he'll lead his Hydreigon towards the Fountain, letting Crush hovering around it on the off chance there's something suspicious hidden. They can't leave any stones unturned.]

[There we go. Do the things, win the points, find the bombs.

Jess will be joining Ace in scoping the buildings out, because those seem the most relevant to her; if we're going to be attacking property, you're going to be...well, attacking property. At the same time, however, the fountain does seem a bit off; it's not functional this morning, most likely because the weather has been so cold - everything is still well below the freezing point, after all, even if it is above zero today.

However, there is something noticeable in that area; an odd scent of something chemical, emanating from one side of the fountain in question. There's a grate laid into the ground there; closer inspection will reveal something flashing just under it.

Isn't that something.]

[Crush grunts, picking up the scent with his sharp sense of smell. Once the flashing catches Riku's eye, he gasps and hops down from his Pokémon's back.]

Crush, lift up that grate! Axis, cover for me.

[His Metagross stomps over, stopping in front of his Trainer. With the two Pokémon in place, Crush snaps his jaws against the grate, tugging with all his might. Is it a success?]

[It is! As much as Kimblee is fond of welding things shut, anything he might have accomplished in that area likely wouldn't have held very well due to inclement weather over the last several days - and this was something he set Alekhine and not-human-Archer to do, and neither of them are exactly metalworkers here, let's be honest with ourselves.

That said, that certainly is a bomb down there, along the lines of the ones shown in that still image from the message that went out on Monday. The craftsmanship is a little on the questionable side - it's well-done ~~because somebody actually asked for specialized training when he returned to Johto like an intelligent person instead of eyerolling his way through it~~, but it's far from perfect; just the same, there aren't any exposed wires, it's entirely contained in black casing as far as can be determined from just spot-checking the thing, and there's also the fun chance that Kimblee will get bored and set the thing off at any given point.

So. You are now +1 explosive device; what are we doing with it?]

[This is why it's good to carry Psychic types. With the bomb now revealed, Axis the Metagross hovers closer and uses his psychic powers to lift the thing into the air. Crush then latches onto it with his two heads, flapping his way above the fountain and towards the sky. Axis floats after him, a cool mist swirling around his front leg.

And then BAM! He thrusts an icy fist against the bomb, with the intent to freeze it solid.]

[...riku did you just

you just ice punched a bomb

your metagross just

...ALL RIGHT, SURE

good lord everyone in this group has the most balls-to-the-wall bomb disposal techniques, it's kind of terrifying]

[Well, after a moment of silence for the bomb - which freezing does happen to work on so well done, you - what now?

You're more than welcome to go seek out the person behind it, should you so desire to do so; just work out a direction.]

[He'll start by moving towards the shops. After all, he has to check in on Ace and Jess, make sure they didn't stumble into trouble. The lack of explosions reassures him, of course, but he can't just rush after the perp just yet.

Luckily, Ace's aura sensing abilities aid her. Regardless of where she and Jess have wound up, she'll probably try nudging her back outside-- albeit after reminding herself not to say a word while doing so.]

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Sometimes, quiet is violent.

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