The VICTORY team

The sunset dripped it's way across the sky like the rippling of many colors on gray clouds. Darkness was beginning to snake it's way across the sky and Yoru braced himself for the coming night. His eye sight was enhanced in the darkness and his red bands would provide light but he knew all too well what lurked in cave's regardless of the time of day. The smell of decay flickered through his line of scent as the wind blew towards him and he growled deep in his throat. It was a soft growl so if the creature was blind, it wouldn't hear him.

The fluttering of wings fell on Yoru's ears and a small Hoothoot fluttered like a dying butterfly from inside the cave. It's wings were in tatters to the point that it was a wonder the thing could fly at all and its left eye was sliced open and leaking a fowl smelling liquid. The usually fluffy chest of the Hoothoot was open and congealed blood was just seen on the surface of the wound. Yoru's eyes grew wide as he spotted the now gray heart through the wound on the creatures chest. It had stopped beating completely. The Hoothoot opened the place where its beak should be, which now was a mess of tissue fibers, and made the most horrific sound Yoru had ever heard as it began to launch itself at the black and red Umbreon.

A snarl rose from Yoru's muzzle as he stepped out of the way of the creature. He knew better than to touch it with any part of his body so he quickly aimed a swift followed by a shadow ball at the Hoothoot. Although the creature faltered in flight it was otherwise fine. It raised it's broken talons and prepared to dive bomb Yoru as he put up a wall of protect around himself. In the next instant he had fired such a powerful Shadow Ball that the Hoothoot's left wing was cut clean off.

The Hoothoot fell to the ground with another of its strange sounds and tried to crawl towards Yoru as he looked at it in disqust. His swift quickly finished the job and he jumped on a rock outside of the cave to watch the quickly ending sunset.

(OOC: Apologies for being a little late. I was at a funeral yesterday.)


Food ... his stomach screamed out for it every few seconds, but Oliver knew that he couldn't let his hunger distract him. Finally, after many long, tiring and nerve-racking weeks of travelling through New Johto, he had finally reached the legendary Mt.Silver. Just a little further ... all he had to do was to somehow cross the mountain and he'd be back home in Kanto, away from all the madness, danger and death. He just hoped that he could find his mother.

The growing darkness was starting to get to him; he decided to try and find out where he was before settling down for the night, so then he could quickly get moving in the morning. But was there anyone even around who he could ask...?

Oliver lowered his head and sniffed at the ground. He caught a faint scent and started to follow it towards the titanic mountain. The young Growlithe almost walked headlong into a rock. Looking up he noticed a strange Pokemon that he had never seen before sitting atop it. Its scent was not suspicious to him, but the red rings on its body told him to be extra cautious. If he was an ally, perhaps he could help him. If not, Oliver knew he had to get out of there as quickly as his legs could carry him.

Swallowing, he called up to the Pokemon: "Er, excuse me, mister? Could you please tell me where I am? And ... and do you know the quickest way to get to the other side of this mountain?"

The baby pokemon ran forward, pulling her prescious scarf along, Scarlet was scared she'd been scared since her hatching. Those demons where coming after her she knew it, they wanted to eat her. What happened to those voices that she had heard inside of the egg? she wondered. The kind voice that had said that Scarlet was her baby and would sing to her. From the world she had seen since her hatching (Only a day ago) no one was there to take care of her.

Scarlet suddenly heard a boom and turned to see bright colors seeming to try to get away from a 'tree'. At least thats what she thought they where. Scarlet watched for a few seconds until she saw a monster ramming into the escaping colors. Was it trying to keep the color's from escaping?! The ralts was able to think that before she ran away again.

Scarlet came nearer to a big pile, a 'mountain'. But when she got close enough she yawned. Slowing down to a crawl. She hid herself inside a bush and wrapped her scarf around her as well as using it as a pillow. Pushing her face into the scarf sater fell from her hidden eyes. "Mama...."

Scarlet didn't understand the meaning of the word she had just uttered but she wanted whatever that word meant. She heard something different then, voices.

The ralts picked up her head and looked around, other not demons where there. They where different from the monsters, they weren't just growling they where 'talking'.

Scarlet saw them then one was dark with glowing red stripes, another was black and white, and the last one was orange. Curious, she got closer to them but her sneaking skills where not the best since she was dragging around a brightly colored scarf and she kept breaking little twigs and leaves. Scarlet came up behind a small rock and looked at them.

(everyword that has 'these' around them are new words to her that pop into her mind.)

Sorry, got my acceptance message JUST NOW.

As the living gathered near the entrance to the great labyrinth within the mountain, the dead.. did just the opposite. With the sound of a great flapping of wings, the hordes of undead around the entrance to the mountain scattered, screeching in terror. ((This would be the part where the little empath Scarlet gets utterly terrified. :3))
Moments later, the earth began to rumble, and the metallic roar of a great beast filled the air.

Yoru's ears flicked softly at the sound of the Growlithe's approach and its tentative voice reached him almost as if it were floating on the air.

"Er, excuse me, mister? Could you please tell me where I am? And ... and do you know the quickest way to get to the other side of this mountain?"

Yoru turned his head and gracefully jumped down from his spot on a rock.

"The smartest way would be through the mountain but of course it's risky without others with you. Althout it's going to be risky out here in just a few minutes."

Yoru's crimson eyes flickered back to the sun which was now just behind some trees. Footfalls reached his ears again and he tensed as he sniffed the air. The smell of an Absol reached him and its scent seemed clean. It answered the question the Growlithe had spoken shortly after it appeared.

"Through it." replied Shadow, ""Through it."

Yoru tilted his head and spoke to the newcomer and the Growlithe at once.

"I am called Yoru," the red and black Umbreon said to them. "What are you two called?"

Yoru's gaze swept them like two knives for he had seen infected at the beginning of the virus and he knew that they could be very deceptive and still cling to words. The Absol had seemed to not say much and that was suspicious to Yoru.

Yoru's ears once again flicked from sound and he turned to see a small Ralts coming towards them. He tilted his head as he realized it was very yound and he padded forward slowly so he wouldn't scare it.

"Hello there my name is Yoru." He said with a smile to the little Pokemon.

Yoru's keen hearing and sight hadn't picked up on the Muk yet because all he could hear was the ground beginning to rumble softly a little ways away. As the metallic roar split the air all of Yoru's fur stood on end and he turned towards the Pokemon now noticing the Muk.

"I would love for us all to get acquainted but right now that probably isn't such a good idea. We need to move now." Yoru looked towards the ralts and smiled softly again to her. "It isn't safe for you here anymore. If you want you can climb onto my back and I'll carry you." he bent down in front of her so she could.

(OOC Long post is long sorry guys)

Oliver's tail began to wag slightly at the prospect of having older, more powerful friends. Maybe they could help him get home! He smiled at the Umbreon and said: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Yoru. My name is Oliver."

He then proceeded to introduce himself to the Absol and the Ralts, but was distracted by the ground beginning to shake violently. He whimpered, retreating backwards and bumping his rear onto a rock.

"I hope it's not those monsters again," he said, his ears drooping. "I'm don't like it when they chase me. I'm too hungry to run now."

Shadow's eyes widened as the earth shook. He spread his legs to keep balance. He was worried about the ryhorn he left ramming a tree and hoped it wasnt it. He knew that they would have to protect the young Ralts and could tell not everyone was ready for the infected. He wasnt sure if he was either. He thought it was proper to introduce himself since Yoru and Oliver did, and he wanted to make sure the little one, the Ralts, wasnt afraid of the wrong thing.
He decided to ignore his premonition of the attack and introduced himself. "My name is Shadow. We should probably-" he cut off as he smelled sewage and other fowl smells. Not quite like an infected but still pretty bad smelling. He turned to see a Muk. Shadow continued his sentence, "move on into the cave. as dangerous as it is inside, its even more so outside. Unfortunatly there is no way around to my knowledge. Just look at it this way. the faster we go through, the faster we get out."

The red and black one made it's way toward Scarlet, she shook with fear but stayed still out of curiousity.
"Hello there my name is Yoru." it said.
The baby ralts backed away a step, but something made her stop. He wasn't going to hurt her. Scarlet wasn't sure how she knew this but 'Yoru' wasn't a monster. He wouldn't kill her.

"sc...Sca...Scarlet..." she whisped out. Suddenly there was a blast of 'anger' and hunger. Before Scarlet could comprehend it all the ground began to shake. The baby ralts nearly screamed and bundled her scarf around herself trying to make it all go away.

"I would love for us all to get acquainted but right now that probably isn't such a good idea. We need to move now." Yoru looked towards her and 'smiled'. "It isn't safe for you here anymore."

"Safe?" she said through an opening in the bundle.

"If you want you can climb onto my back and I'll carry you." he bent down in front of her.

Scarlet blinked unsure of what to do. "You... You're not a demon...." she stated it aloud as if this simple fact needed to be spoken out. Another rumble and she climbed onto Yoru's back. Her scarf still protecting her.

Dank flowed closer to the other pokemon, his body jiggling from the rumbling like a rotting jello mold. "Since it's only polite, my name is Dank. Now, go on ahead of me, if you all would?" He gestured towards the cave mouth with one dripping hand. "As you can probably guess, I have the Stench ability, and it should help mask all of you from whatever is coming." Indeed, where he had passed over the ground, a thin layer of rubbery slime gave off the overpowering reek of fresh house paint and week-old kitchen garbage. Even if it didn't fully cover the fainter smells of fur and fear, it should at least prove a distraction.

Truth be told, he knew, vaguely, what was coming. Dank could feel the tang of the toxic gasses released by oxidizing metals seeping up from the earth, too faint to truly be smelled just yet, but growing stronger. Healthy metal types did not RUST any more than healthy flesh could ROT... It made his surface bubble uncomfortably; Foul things should not make him feel ill.

The earth-shaking did not let up even the slightest bit, and outside the cave mouth, the earth began to crack open. At roughly the same time, the cave mouth began to collapse from the quake, leaving the survivors three choices: Be crushed by falling rocks, fight whatever great beast awaited them outside, or take shelter in the mountain. Whatever caused this seemed to be attempting to drive the living into the mountain. ((Degree of success on this depends on you guys x.x))

The shaking beneath the Earth chilled Yoru to the bone. The little Ralts that clung to his back was so fragile and scared. He could feel her heart beat quicken at every rumble. Yoru's keen eyesight looked towards the Pokemon before him and he listened to what they said.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Yoru. My name is Oliver." I hope it's not those monsters again, I'm don't like it when they chase me. I'm too hungry to run now."

Yoru felt a pang of sympathy for the poor creature. "It's nice to meet you Oliver. We will get food once we are all safe." he promised.

"My name is Shadow. We should probably move on into the cave. as dangerous as it is inside, its even more so outside. Unfortunatly there is no way around to my knowledge. Just look at it this way. the faster we go through, the faster we get out."

Yoru turned to listen to the Absol and shook his head. "I have lived here by this cave for a very long time. Trust me when I say it is way more dangerous inside. You haven't seen some of the things that lurk inside of there like I have. Those kinds of things chill Pokemon to their bones."

"Since it's only polite, my name is Dank. Now, go on ahead of me, if you all would? As you can probably guess, I have the Stench ability, and it should help mask all of you from whatever is coming."

At just that moment the Earth shook violently and began cracking outside of the cave entrance. One small sized rock hit Yoru's tail and he cringed in slight pain. He quickly ran towards the cave mouth and looked back towards the others as he dodged rocks.

"Despite what I said we must go in now. Whatever is coming we can't all take care of it. That includes you Dank. If any of you know flash it would be greatly appreciated now and I would like you to lead the way." Yoru flicked his ears and looked towards them as he dodged another rock.

Yoru turned his head a bit to calm the little Ralts. "I swear I will protect you with my life Scarlet. No matter what it costs me you will be safe." He dodged another rock but he was being careful so Scarlet didn't get hurt.

"Whaaaat? Go inside?!" Oliver was hoping with all his heart that they wouldn't suggest that. "B-But there are lots of monsters in there! Shouldn't we just, er..."

But, taking a quick look at the situation, he had to admit that there was no other option. It was either that, or certain death. He immediately picked the former.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to help, but ... wait for me!" he cried, hurrying after them, afraid of being left behind.

(OCC: Skip this turn please and if you complain that if "I'm online" then why can't I just post something this isn't Shadow this is his gf who got on for him to say this because he can't get to a computer for another few days. Have patience please some people can't get on quickly because of personal reasons)

All the new meetings, the strange purple creature and the rumbling earth seemed to panic the baby pokemon shehid in her scarf shivering from a nonexistent cold. She didn't pay attention to anything but the soft scarf until they started running then she held on tightly but her fear was taking her over and she was using confusion in panic.
The rocks that came to near where thrown away in random directions. Scarlet didn't seem to have much of a clue of what she was doing hiding her face in Yoru's fur and her head under her scarf.
Yoru was left unharmed because of his type being resistant against psychic attacks.

Dank shuddered under the waves of psychic energy (or maybe that was the ground shaking?) but kept close to the group, the unfocused, low level attack barely noticeable. The slime left in his wake bubbled and broke down rapidly, giving off an even worse smell than the Muk himself. It was... indescribably disgusting, eye-watering-ly so, and would hopefully keep anything from following them.

Falling rocks were blasted with gunk shot, anything that Scarlet's attack didn't block, he slammed with high-speed blobs. But his eyes were bad in the dark, and it was only going to get darker... He would start missing soon, unless... "Anyone with a fire attack, light this up, please!" He sprayed the walls ahead with something that stank like gas but was thick like... tar. A heavy tar, glistening black and purple in the fading light. Oh the joys of being made of toxic waste... So much of it was flammable!

On the surface, the tremors stopped, as did the fall of rocks...
On the other hand, the cave mouth leading into Mount Silver was sealed quite well.
The great iron serpent Ferrox chuckled far below the mountain, now aware of his new prey. Now, at last, the hunt could begin.

Once inside, Yoru took in the cave that yawned behind him. Eerie sounds could be heard as if they were echoing along in the darkness. His nerves were high and his eyesight sharp as he picked up every detail of the dreary cave. He could feel the small Pokemon on his back trembling and used Protect, hoping to still her nerves as well as some of his. He couldn't help but think that going into this cave was his fault and if something happened to any one of the Pokemon with him, Yoru would forever hold his self accountable.

"Be as quiet as you possibly can. Who knows what lies in wait for us here." Yoru's voice was but a whisper lifted on the cold draft from the cave and sent to the ears around him. It was filled with grim thoughts and a feeling of failure because Yoru felt as if he had already failed the small group.

His red bands were a small beacon of light in the darkness as he stood contemplating their next move. All he could think of was that they needed to keep moving before whatever was outside caught up with them. He decided not to voice those thoughts. He figured the anxiety level of the group around him was high enough already without him giving them something else to be terrified about.

"My light can guide us. Even if someone knows flash I wouldn't risk using it. It would be too bright." Yoru began moving forwards slowly hoping the rest of them would follow. The sounds in the cave were becoming increasingly unbearable the longer they stayed put and Yoru didn't want to run into whatever was making them.

(OOC: I have been at choir retreat so that's why it took me so long. Practice yesterday was 12 hours long and I didn't have enough energy to get on at all)

Oliver kept as close as he could to his new friends, turning his head to the slightest sound and sniffing the air for signs of danger. The only scent that he caught was of damp, decaying rock. A few more unpleasant ones occasionally wafted towards him which he identified as rotting flesh, but what was dead could not hurt them ... right?

He felt better knowing that most of his new companions were older and stronger than him, with the exception of Scarlet, of course. The thought that perhaps he could help to protect the baby Ralts filled him with innocent pride. At least he was no longer the youngest, and he promised to himself that he'd try to be useful.

A soft smile touched his lips upon the realisation that this was the final challenge - as soon as he was out of here and on the other side, he'd be back home in Kanto where he belonged. He just hoped that his one remaining brother had made it back OK...

His rumbling stomach reminded him that he had to find food as quickly as he could. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a decent meal. He was sick of scavenging whatever an Infected had left behind.

"Mr Yoru, er, will we be able to find food soon?" he asked cautiously, looking around at the others as well.

The baby pokemon began to relax, she didn't understand why but the emotions of all the pokemon that where surronding her made her feel safe. Something she hadn't felt since leaving her egg.
Scarlet finally came out from under her scarf and her eyes went up to Yoru's 'glowing' 'rings'.
"Wahhh," she sounded happy and amazed "Pretty." she giggled like the child that she was.
"Mr Yoru, er, will we be able to find food soon?" The orange and black one who went by the name Oliver asked. Scarlet tilted her head in confusion.
"'Food'?" Suddenly her stomach made a noise that sounded a bit like the demons, Scarlet squealed hidding back under her red scarf. "Demons!"

Dank narrowed his eyes against the gloom, huffing a mirthless laugh. "You better feed the hatchlings before they decide to eat you." He oozed up to Yoru's side, patting him on the head with one massive hand. It left a nasty black sludge in his fur that dripped down his neck. It stank, and had the tingly burn of poison. "Yoru, right?"

The Muk smiled nastily at the group, sliding backwards by a few feet. "I don't think you understand just how badly you're messing up, Yoru." His slimy hand waved expansively at the many dark tunnels that branched off from the entrance cavern. "You think you can play savior for a few youngsters? You think you're a hero?" He laughed. A single bitter Ha. "You're dooming them to death!

"What are you going to do when the moon is gone? You're glowing now, but won't you fade when the sun comes up? Won't you be trapped, down here in the dark and endless tunnels, until the sun sets again? And what about when the moon is waning! Don't Umbreons only glow during a FULL moon? What then, hero?"

His voice was rising in volume and pitch, and it was obvious this Muk was not as calm and collected as he had first appeared. "You're all going to DIE down here, without seeing the light of day ever again!" He was stark raving mad, and smiling all the while.

"Well I'm not going to let that happen to me! I'm getting OUT of here!" Dank started laughing, high pitched and wild, then backed up another foot. The crack in the cave floor seemed to swallow him whole, despite being barely an inch wide. And just like that, the Muk was gone, laughter fading into silence.

His stench, however, lingered behind.

(OoC: Hate to do this, but I'm quitting. This place is just too slow-paced for me [ONE post a day? Seriously??], and frankly, the website itself takes too long to load with the connection I'm on. It's just not working out for me. So I'm quitting before things get too heavy. Sorry!

But hey, either scrape the Black Sludge [Yes, the held item] out of Yoru's fur and toss it, or keep it for whatever. Consider it a parting gift.

Again, sorry for bailing. Goodbye.)

((OOC: Skip meh turn. Ferrox has nothing more to do but wait, and I'm too lazy to do Infected Control yet.))

As the group progressed, the walls seemed to close around Yoru. Terror made his heart beat faster and his rings almost seem to dull a little at his growing dread. So far the group had not experienced another attack and Yoru prayed they wouldn't for a while. The death of the Muk disgusted Yoru but he held onto the item to show that he had, once again, let a friend die.

Oliver, the Growlithe's voice pricked Yoru's ears as he spoke up with a question, "Mr Yoru, er, will we be able to find food soon?"


Yoru thought for a second and his ears pricked as they rounded a corner to find a small pond like area. "Maybe we could get some food here. You guys go ahead, I'll keep watch." Yoru's ears seemed to catch every sound as he waited for something bad to happen. He smiled at Scarlet as she thought her stomach growling was demons. "That's only your stomach little one." he nuzzled her a bit with his nose. "We'll get food soon okay?" he tried to relax a bit as he joked with the young creature.

Shadow followed quietly behind the group, contemplating on how long he could last just running. He was lost in his own little world, so when Yoru asked someone about using flash, or any conversation for that matter. He soon pulled back into reality, realizing that if he wanted to survive, he'll have to pay attention to his companions. He zoned back in time to hear Oliver say something about food.
Shadow's stomach roared at him for ignoring it. He walked up to Yoru and used flash. "Sorry. I didn't realize how dark it was until now."
((OOC. sorry about taking so long. i've been really busy and i remembered about this.))