The NEW BARK Team

Hades sighed, the fire on his back flaring up a bit. He was lost, and because of that he was stressed. "A hero shouldn't be lost." Hades scolded himself. Pushing aside some rotted boards he found himself no longer in the bushes but inside a house. Curious, and slightly confused, Hades took another step inside.

The floor was a bit rotted, that much Hades could tell in the dark. He noticed the building also stank mildly of the infected he was trying so hard to avoid. As Hades approached the front of the building he heard voices passing by. It was only for a moment but he heard the voices of the living. Deciding to take a chance, Hades let the fire on his back burn brighter before rolling into a giant blazing ball.

Wheeling himself forward, Hades burst through the wall with a heated Flame Wheel attack. When he stood back up on all fours, he saw a group of pokemon, none of them appearing infected. "Hello there." Hades called out to them. Just after he spoke, he walked towards them, hoping that they would acknowledge his presence.

The other's were being quiet but that didn't bother Luna much. At least, not until the wall of a near by house burst open. At first Luna thought a infected would come at them, but the she heard something through the dust. "Hello there." The new pokemon said as it got closer and Luna saw it was a Cyndaquil. She looked at the fire on the small pokemon's back. This Cyndaquil reminded her of her own Cyndaquil friend, Crimson.

Her eye's soften as she looked at the small fire pokemon. Hello little one. My name is Luna, it's a pleasure to meet you. Luna said as she bowed her head and smiled to the Cyndaquil.

Giaus laughed, as he realized the flaming spectre approaching them was a Cyndaquil. He had met their kind before, and had enjoyed the company of some in the past. Giaus introduced himself to the fire-type before turning back to Luna. "Again... Our time is limited. Where was this house you wanted us to get to?" The sun was well over the horizon by now, and, after the long night, burned his eyes with a new brightness. The town seemed less menacing during the day. However, it seemed, and was, just as empty. "I don't trust those two to stay away just because the sun is up." With a flick of his trunk, Giaus motioned for Luna to continue.

A Cyndaquil appeared and it introduced themself. Eternal blinked. ...Hello. The Ninetales spoke in a monotone voice. Again... Our time is limited. Where was this house you wanted us to get to? I don't trust those two to stay away just because the sun is up. Giaus urged Luna to continue. Eternal nodded, agreeing.We should hurry. He spoke again. They should definately hurry. Those other two could come back at any moment now.

((OOC: Short post is short. >.< Sorry!))

Mmmm... worried are they? Of what I wonder.

Nearby, one of the lengthening shadows shifted slightly as tendrils of darkness twisted into a vaguely solid form. Poltergeist hissed quietly to himself as he noted the rising sun, and he recoiled a bit deeper into the shadows. How he hated daylight. Of course, his arrival would be met by such repulsive light.

He sank back into the darkness, taking refuge in the cool shadows as his cold, gem-like eyes fixed themselves on the group before him. Strange group... yes... yes... perhaps they may be of use however. Quite curious... he continued to think to himself as he watched and listened. The donphan had mentioned a house... why was this house so important? Why did this group wish to seek it out?

How curious.

Yes, perhaps he would follow them for a while. Just a while. They may be of some use. Perhaps they had seen something he could use.

Poltergeist faded back into the shadow and then began to move a bit closer to the group. He appeared to be nothing more than a shadow shifting strangely from place to place as he lurked in the darkness cast by the buildings and trees.

He would not reveal himself yet. Not quite yet.

"Again... Our time is limited. Where was this house you wanted us to get to? I don't trust those two to stay away just because the sun is up." The Umbreon sighed and nodded. Yes, it's not far. Luna nodded at the fire type and started to walk toward her old home.

As they entered the house the inside was seemingly untouched. She sighed and smiled as the memories slowly came back to her.

The young Eevee ran through the house as a human girl chased after her laughing. The Eevee turned and tackled the girl.

I got you Kat! The Eevee laughed as she rolled off the humans stomach, laughing.

I guess you have Luna. The human laughed as she tickled the Eevee's belly. They both started to laugh. And the image started to fade.

The Umbreon opened her eyes and found that it was just a memory. She lowered her head and sighed. Oh how she missed those days. She just shook her head and turned to her friends, This is my old home. This is were I and my trainer lived before we left for our journey.

Giaus sighed as he followed Luna towards the other side of town. Fear still gripped him, but in the absence of an undead, it was a lesser pain. The team was moving slowly, and he reminisced about his childhood while walking. It didn't seem too bad, considering the horrors he had seen over the last couple days.

Giaus's eyes burned as he stared at the sun, lost in thought. After a moment, however, his eyes caught movement in the nearby woods. A small creature slowly glided out. Its body was all white, and reminded Gaius of a Slug. Its head was a green-half dome. He had seen one of these before. It was called Ralts. However, something was wrong with it. It's eyes poked out of its green hat-like head. They were glowing with a faint red light. One of the red spikes on its head was broken off completely, showing the bone underneath. Purple splotches dotted its body, and as Giaus watched, it raised its hand, pointing straight at the Donphan. Immediately, Giaus's body was surrounded in a blue light, trapping him in place. The Ralts moved slowly, slithering itself to where Giaus was trapped. However, Giaus fought against the Confusion attack, rolling himself as hard as he could. Before the Ralts advanced too far, he burst out of the Psychic's grip, rolling at uncontrollable speeds. He killed the Ralts on impact, but not before it had cast its last curse. A flashing light created a second sun in the middle of the town, and when it cleared, both pokemon were gone. The Ralts had used Teleport.

((It's been swell guys! Moving Giaus on over to Mount Moon, so please, do him a favor and stay alive, or in Panny's cause, Undead!))

Hades sighed, he had been side tracked while thinking. He briefly heard the others speak to him but he was too lost in thought to hear them. Turning back around after snapping out of his daydreams and fantasies, he noticed he was alone again.

With a weak shrug the young Cyndaquil headed towards where he had last seen the other pokemon but he couldn't seem to focus right on finding others. Instead he decided to explore the abandoned houses to look for useful things.

Pan-Pan hadn't obeyed Malo's words.

For when she stepped towards the east, his scent had faded and the puppet was nowhere in sight. The Aggron, although tempted to go to where the grass was greener, could not. She was not searching for Paradise, as Paradise was much too far from her reach, much to higher in worth for her to receive. She slowly crawled out of the shadow portal, the darkness making no attempt to keep her. Glowing blue eyes looked outside to the landscape. It was dawn.

She could see Luna heading over to a house with the others. Pan-Pan listened to the Umbreon's words. "This is my old home. This is were I and my trainer lived before we left for our journey." The Aggron wasn't too sure whether or not she should approach, she could see new additions to the Dark-Type's small team. They would inevitable attack her. Perhaps she should just wait, and wait she did- sitting atop the broken wooden floor.

[Er, I've noticed the team order is kinda messed up. Just to clarify, we post Eve-Me-Eternal[Away]-Sh@dow-Eventide-Aerosmith.]

(OOC-Im so sorry for not posting, due to many things but the majority of it was school work and volunteering at the hospital.)

Hades stumbled across a few empty potion containers and several old, half used antidotes. Hades figured they were used by humans on their infected pokemon, attempting to remove the infection from them after it had already taken hold. It mattered very little to Hades though, he knew he was an outcast, he had no one but himself.

Hades preferred his life of solitude though even though he wanted to so badly take revenge on the pokemon that made him who he was. His mother, father, and even his pampered siblings. All of them deserved a fate worse than death for abandoning him, yet no matter how hard Hades tried, he could not bring himself to look at their disgusting faces. As he searched the piles of ruble Hades continued to look back on his past, and wondered what the future would bring.

"Looking for something?"

A shadow began to twist into a skeletal, almost humanoid form before it settled into the familiar image of a sableye as Poltergeist materialized near Hades.

"Nothing but trash here. Useless remnants. Nothing worth the time," Geist nudged an empty potion bottle with one of his clawed toes before he suddenly bared a wide, toothy grin in the cyndaquil's direction. "But little cyndaquils should not wander alone. No no. Dangerous times these, yes. Why not stay with the group? Safer, yes. The monsters in the dark seem less threatening."

The sableye's gem-like eyes glinted, but he made no movement that would seem aggressive. He seemed to be reluctant to leave the safety of the shadows, especially with the sun slowly creeping higher in the sky.

(OOC:Please skip)

Hades fire flared up when startled by the Saybleye.His stomache churned at the word 'little'. It made him seem weak, Hades was not weak, nor was he little. The fire on his back flared up more as his anger grew, filling the room with heat."WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE!" Hades hissed in anger, his already intensely heated flames growing hotter and brighter.

The young, irritated Cyndaquil rolled into a ball and charged forwards with a Flame Wheel attack, hoping to hit the unknown creature that had just insulted him. Instead while charging forwards, his body hit a small glowing red rock lodged in the ground. Uncontrollably Hades was flung into the air and over the monsters head and into the wall, setting it on fire. On the ground dizzy he looked at the Sableye, and then at the object he hit.

Crawling over to it in a disoriented manner he lifted it out of the dirt. It was difficult to remove but the dizzy pokemon eventually dislodged it and pulled it free. It was a fire stone, Hades had no use for it but the stone itself was pretty, so he held onto it before turning to face the Sableye again, his face still full of rage.

Had Poltergeist known such an insignificant word as "little" would have sent the cyndaquil into a blind rage, he probably would have been a bit more careful about choosing his words. Shadows immediately leaped up around the sableye's form as he noticed the fire-type's rage, as if he was preparing to sink once more into the shadows and out of danger, but it seemed the defensive maneuver was not necessary.

However, the fire that was now eating away at the wall was still rather repelling. The flood of warm light caused him to recoil further into the shadows again, and his body blended with the darkness so that it seemed he was nothing more than two floating, gem-like eyes.

"Figure of speech. No intention to offend, no no. Though, I would recommend you control your temper, yes."

Geist's mouth curled into a toothy grin once more as he took notice of the firestone the cyndaquil now had clenched in his paws. "Ah, but seems you found a diamond in the rough, yes. Lucky, lucky you. Fascinating prospect. Useful should you have an ally that needs one, yes." His body solidified again as he drew a bit closer, his head tilted to the side.

"Perhaps we should start over, yes? My lovely mistress bestowed me the name Geist, yes. Poltergeist." He extended a clawed hand in greeting and fixed Hades with his blank, cold stare as he waited expectantly for some sort of response.

The young Squirtle smiled at Luna as she picked him up and put him on her back. Then the Umbreon's ears flinched as she heard something crack. The Squirtle yet out a small eep at the sound. Then something really made the Umbreon freaked. She sniffed the air and in the air hang a heavy scent of burning. Her eyes went huge as she looked to the young Squirtle. Hang on to me. This is going to get ruff. The water type looked at Luna with a tilt of his head. Squir?

The Squirtle was confused from the look on it's face, but Luna didn't have time to explain. Just as she turned her head, she saw the fire. It was spread and fast. The Squirtle flailed alittle at the sight of the fire, but Luna made sure that he did not fall off. Then she took in a deep breath and she used Protect to keep herself and her new friend safe from the fire. Then she ran head first into the flame.

The fire was intense as she and Taoide ran through the fire. Luna looked around at her old home. Everything was up in flames. She turned her head and ran through the flames. Her first mission was to keep Taoide safe at all cost. Then she saw it, the door was wide open. Just as she was about to run for the door, her Protect was starting to die on her. She started to breath deeply as Taoide looked worried.

Luna smiled at her friend. I'm....Alright....Tao. Taoide looked at her and Luna relised that he knew she was getting tired but what could alittle baby Squirtle do? Well, Taoide did. Cause he jumped off Luna's back and used Muddy Water. Luna looked at the young Squirtle in amazement. How could a baby know Muddy Water? Luna didn't have time to think about it cause the fire was doused just as her Protect wore off. Luna huffed as Taoide walked over and looked at her with worry, Mommy?

Hades looked down at the Ghost's hand and scoffed."Hades, just Hades."He said angrily before stomping out of the burning building. As he walked he twisted the cap off his necklace and put the firestone inside. It barely fit but it would do for now, but he needed a bag. Hades liked treasure, each one had its own uses even if not directly on him. Perhaps there was one here in one of the other two buildings.

One looked like a burnt out old laboratory, and the other a house like the other two. Hades decided to try exploring the first house. Walking faster on all fours Hades could see the sun rising. If it weren't for how horrid the world had become Hades would probably take a few moments to watch more but he desperately needed a bag.

Stepping inside the abandoned building his eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light of his flames illumination. Scanning the floor quickly he noticed it was littered heavily. Garbage, broken pokeballs and other used items had built up in a huge pile covering the floor. Hades also noticed a set of stairs leading upstairs. It would take a while to work his way over to them so he began to tunnel through the trash, trying to get to the stairs all the while he looked for anything decent to salvage.

Poltergeist frowned slightly at the obvious lack of sociability the cyndaquil seemed to have. "Sensitive little thing, yes," he muttered as he let his clawed hand drop to his side. He was fully aware he had used the word the cyndaquil hated, but the fire-type was out of hearing range by now. The sableye felt he deserved the opportunity for a little jibe.

The noises that were heard through the rest of the house, however, drew the ghost's attention. He watched as the flames that were springing up around him were doused with murky brown water, and if he had eyebrows one of them would have been raised in faint intrigue. Well, at least he no longer had to deal with that bothersome light.

Seeing he had already made his presence known to one individual (and got very little information out of him at that), he chose to keep himself visible as he crept toward the doorway and eased himself around the corner.

For a moment, a flash of recognition darted through his mind, but it subsided quickly. One of the pokemon he saw was an umbreon, yes, but it did not share the colour-scheme of the umbreon he knew. Cross had been a shiny. And a total cold-hearted--

Well, needless to say, Poltergeist was quite pleased that the umbreon wasn't the first of his old team-mates he encountered since they were separated.

"Were you responsible for dousing the flames, yes? Quite a pointless feat, yes, decrepit as this place is, but I am grateful. I do not like the light, no no. Quite bothersome it is, yes."

Luna looked at Taoide and smiled. Sure, you can call me mommy. Luna said as she nuzzled the small Squirtle. Taoide giggled as he hugged his "mother." "Were you responsible for dousing the flames, yes? Quite a pointless feat, yes, decrepit as this place is, but I am grateful. I do not like the light, no no. Quite bothersome it is, yes."

Taoide turned to see a sort of purple pretty, but Luna knew that this new pokemon was a Saybleye. The Umbreon got up and stud in front of the Squirtle. Who are you and what do you want? Luna growled as her body was cloaked in darkness, ready to fire a Dark Pulse if needed. Tao looked at Luna with a confused face, then turned to the purple pretty. Squirtle?

What was there to do?

Pan was bored out of her mind. From chasing the living and attempting to kill them to burrowing underground and having a feast of metal neither seemed all to appealing to her at the moment. Perhaps she would go and converse with the group? Oh but they would just shun her again, she was after all, undead. And that Umbreon had killed her. What was she supposed to do? Luna had seemed to adopt some kind of random Squirtle thing, and a shadowy Pokemon had joined them. A Sableye.

With a sigh, the Aggron dived into the ground, digging deep until the ground got too hard to bother digging through. It was quieter here, perhaps she would stay until they went away. She just wanted her life back, is all.

The Ninetales had been by Luna the whole time, he had spoken up, really, but he was there. Were you responsible for dousing the flames, yes? Quite a pointless feat, yes, decrepit as this place is, but I am grateful. I do not like the light, no no. Quite bothersome it is, yes. A purple newcomer(a Pokemon he didn't reconize either) said. Who are you and what do you want? Luna stood up. Eternal instantly stood up as well, glaring harshly at the newcomer.

I will not hesitate to attack you if you dare make a wrong move. He spoke icily. He put a Safeguard around Luna and Tao, just in case.

It had taken Hades a while but he had managed to make a small tunnel. The tunnel was not complete but it was getting there. Hades hadn't really found anything of interest to him yet but his treasure senses were tingling. Although Hades had been wrong about treasure before, he hated admitting the fact that he could be wrong. He thought about earlier during his encounter with the Saybleye, not something he wished to repeat. The ghost did have a point though, Hades would be safer working with someone else. 'But who? The ghost? No way. What about the other pokemon from earlier? But they had left him, so how reliable could they be.' thought Hades.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Hades continued to dig through what seemed like years of trash. It helped him focus, and think of things that might actually be useful. That was, until an infected made its way into the house. Hades only noticed when the smell of rot and decay grew stronger. "Oh fuck!"Hades whispered angrily to himself. Then the idea struck him, maybe he could use this battle as a chance to evolve. Then he spent a few more minutes planning a strategy while he remained safe within his tunnel.

Well, quite defensive individuals these were. Poltergeist glanced from the umbreon and the small squirtle to the ninetales that had suddenly appeared. Here he was, having just offered a simple question, and already the umbreon looked like she was about to attack and the ninetales had made a threat.

Well, perhaps the umbreon was a bit more like Cross than he had at first hoped. It must be a species thing. Or everyone in this location just happened to be a bit overly touchy.

"As I told the charming little-- er, I apologize, the charming average-sized cyndaquil earlier, my name is Geist, yes. Geist of the Polter variety," he offered the other pokemon a toothy grin. "It is a pleasure I'm sure, yes. No harm is meant, no no. But perhaps you can help, yes... I am looking for a human. Rather aloof mistress, yes. Has a thing for those of the otherworld like myself. No trouble meant, no no."

He seemed to remain fairly calm despite the obvious risk of getting attacked by two full-grown pokemon. Of course, he was a ghost. Evading harm tended to be his specialty, especially with so many shadows around that he could fade into.

I will not hesitate to attack you if you dare make a wrong move. The Umbreon heard Eternal say in a cold voice. She felt Taoide stir at her feet. She nodded her thanks at Eternal, then turned back to the ghost. "As I told the charming little-- er, I apologize, the charming average-sized cyndaquil earlier, my name is Geist, yes. Geist of the Polter variety," The ghost said as it gave them a toothy grin, then continued.

"It is a pleasure I'm sure, yes. No harm is meant, no no. But perhaps you can help, yes... I am looking for a human. Rather aloof mistress, yes. Has a thing for those of the otherworld like myself. No trouble meant, no no." The Umbreon tilted her head at the ghost. No I have not seen this human. Not many humans are still alive in Johto. Sense the epidemic started here. Luna said as she looked down.

Taoide looked at the purple pretty, then at his "mommy." He didn't want any fighting to start out among his "mother" and her friends. N....No f-fighting. Tao said as he looked at Luna then pointed at the purple pretty. Luna looked down at Taoide and smiled.

Don't worry Taoide. It's just a misunderstanding is all. The Umbreon said as she nuzzled the small Squirtle. She then turned to the ghost. Now, if you want you may join us or you may leave us. It's your choice, but remember this, you try anything funny and I will kill you. Even if you are a ghost. Luna threaten as she picked up Taoide and walked out of the house.

(OOC:Sorry if Luna's a bitch right know. Her motherly side is up sense she found and befriend Taoide)

After a while Pan-Pan got even more bored. She had believed she would find peace underground but it soon proved to her that it was just... With a sigh the Aggron came back to the surface, only to hear the Ninetales... Threaten the Sableye? "I will not hesitate to attack you if you dare make a wrong move." The Sableye introduced himself. "As I told the charming little-- er, I apologize, the charming average-sized cyndaquil earlier, my name is Geist, yes. Geist of the Polter variety,"

Geist? An unusual name- she'd never come across someone who was named that. "It is a pleasure I'm sure, yes. No harm is meant, no no. But perhaps you can help, yes... I am looking for a human. Rather aloof mistress, yes. Has a thing for those of the otherworld like myself. No trouble meant, no no." "All the humans are gone. Not a single soul I've met has seen a living human since the Epidemic started." the undead mused, having burrowed closer to the group while they had their chat. "Now, if you want you may join us or you may leave us. It's your choice, but remember this, you try anything funny and I will kill you. Even if you are a ghost."

"You seem to like killing. You've already killed me and now you're threatening to kill a newcomer?" Pan-Pan's giggle was distorted, her voice cracking. Her blue eyes looked over the little Squirtle. "Who's the kid?" It's been a while since she's tried to be friendly, but conversing with the living was much better than rotting in a pile of dirt.