The PYRE Team

Well well well. A Nidorino, then, and one that seemed somewhat friendly. Poor fellow seemed lonely, but that wasn't really her problem. What mattered is that he could be easily manipulated. That could be useful-

Wait. What was that?

Thorn heard a scrabbling from up above and tensed as the area grew darker and she heard a shrieking cackle. Well, this was annoying. With only a little tensing and a shudder, she was able to successfully release a Signal Beam into the darkness. Hopefully it had hit! The shadows were brightly illuminated and she saw a...Sableye?

Stupid Arceus-damned native Pokemon, the Jolteon thought as she managed to pull herself to her feet. "Couldn't help but eavesdrop, could you?" Thorn snarled angrily.

[OOC: Sorry about the delay! For some reason I haven't been getting email alerts. :|]

Xadian's eyes flashed white and he flipped to the ground, landing among the headstones, as a blast of bright light struck the ceiling.

"Couldn't help but eavesdrop, could you?" the beast snarled.

The goblin snickered a bit as he brushed dust off his gemstone eyes. "I weren't droppin' no eaves, sir! Just listenin' and watchin' ye." He slipped into the shadows behind the graves, creeping about the floor, manifesting only as a cheshire grin on the floor.

"Why so accusing? I don't mean any harm.. I think.."

Such a strange creature, he thought. Shoot first? Who would shoot at him? He was just a harmless little imp.

(Short post is short. Sorry. :<)

"...I'm looking for a friend. I've... been looking for a long time, but... I saw this and decided that it'd be as good as any place to search. He's a pidgeot, and enjoys high perches. You... haven't seen any, I imagine?"

Anubis felt for the fire bird, knowing only too well how it felt to be separated from your truest friend. But, alas, he had to shake his head. "No, I'm sorry Suzaku. I have not left this tomb for nearly a month now, and before that we had not run into any Pidgeot. Just a lot of infected smaller birds." He was sure that a negative answer wasn't going to comfort the male so he held up one paw to stay the bird before he went over to a small niche in the wall. Reaching around for a moment he gave a triumphant 'hmf' as he pulled out a handful of berries. Walking back over he handed them to Suzaku, offering a small, shy smile. "If these can help you in your journey you are welcome to them."

He was on alert as he felt the walls rumble, closing his eyes and immediately searching around for auras. One of the feistier auras near the entrance was still there, and it looked like the Sableye had joined it. Perhaps they were fighting? Regardless of the reason such reckless behavior in a place of rest was unacceptable. He put on a stern look and took a glance back at Fenix's tomb. "I'm sorry, Suzaku, but I must step out for a moment, the are children by the door who are fighting and they might cause a cave-in. Come or stay but I can't risk anyone out there hurting mother." With that he slipped outside the small tomb and headed out to the entrance to the mountain to see what the ruckus was all about.

The Sableye's appearance startled Pierce, but he was used to shocks for the moment. He didn't trust the Sableye's story, but when the "I think" was added, all semblance of belief vanished. Pierce let out a low rumbling from his throat, which grew into a fierce, but quiet, growl. A Blue-ish glow began to surround him, as the growl focused all of his annoyance and hatred at this situation. By the time he was finished glowing, his Focus Energy had him completely pumped. "I don't trust you, and I don't want you around." He growled to the Sableye. "Before I get really pissed and decide you shouldn't be... anywhere."

It was perhaps out of character, a tad, for the small Nidorino, but he was sick of being pushed around before. Now he was just straight out fed up with it.

A small worry worked itself into the farthest corner of his brain, however. It's a ghost type. You only have one move that will work on it. Hopefully it has something that will make it get close.. Poisoning it wouldn't hurt.


((OOC: Wasn't completely sure how to work in a self-affecting move... so... Hopefully that's alright. :X))

Movement. The was movement within the Mountain, as Drowned rested underwater. He gave a sly smile, as he flexed his hands. Swiftly, he propels himself up, leaping out from the black waters and landing right in front of the entrance. He waits. Drowned could feel something pass by him, probably a ghost, as he entered Hoenn's burial ground.

He could hear voices, voices of many. there were living here, no doubt, and he let a snarl rip his throat. He began to stalk closer to the voices, hiding behind the cold, gray stones that marked the final resting place for the dead. He remembered that his sister told him about this place once, because this was where their father was buried. Buried, deep, deep into the ground where no one can ever reach him again.

A wail-like cry escaped his mouth, and he flinched. Hastily shaking his head, he came closer to the group, eyes glowing.

Anubis, sadly, shook his head and told Suzaku that he had been in the tomb for a month and had not seen any pidgeot, infected or no. A small hope fled; though, he really shouldn't have thought that Anubis would have seen anything....

As a sort of apology, Anubis held out his paw filled with berries and offered it to the blaziken. Suzaku gladly took them, unsure of when he had actually last eaten. He didn't remember being hungry recently... Still, he ate them and watched, curious as Anubis made his way to the archway. "I'm sorry, Suzaku, but I must step out for a moment, there are children by the door who are fighting and they might cause a cave-in. Come or stay but I can't risk anyone out there hurting mother."

Suzaku nodded. He figured Anubis as a sort of companion now, and didn't want to throw away a friend when he'd been so alone... "I'll come with you. It'd be awkward here without you. I don't talk to parents well." He gave a small smile and moved to follow.

That little creature was pissing her off! Her anger converted itself to voltage as she began to glow with a yellow light. Next to her, Thorn saw her...companion glow with a corresponding blue one. Little Nidorino wasn't so timid after all, then.

It would be hard to hit the Sableye, but she could probably do some da-

The Jolteon heard an eerie wailing noise resonating from the doorway of the tomb. The electricity flickering off of Thorn's fur illuminated a shape in the entrance...something big.

Thorn muttered a foul curse word under her breath and whirled around to the Nidorino. "We have to go," she hissed. "We don't have any time to worry about that little snot. Something's at the entrance. Something big. We have to go deeper into the tomb!"

"GYAAAH!"

Xadian screeched a bit at the sound of wailing. The hell was that? Scanning the area, he caught sight of an ENORMOUS native.
Well, that wouldn't do.

The goblin thought for a moment, then sank into the ceiling and scuttled around behind the great beast unseen (hopefully),and (assuming he gets there) launched a swift orb of shadow into its back from his shadow in the ground.

"I'll come with you. It'd be awkward here without you. I don't talk to parents well."

Anubis gave a small return smile to Suzaku. He was glad for the company, and doubly glad the other fighter didn't question him about mother, because he probably would just think him odd when he mentioned that mother was a human. This creature reminded him a lot of her, at least in the way he presented himself. Though mother was quite abrasive to anyone who got on her bad side, her personality more akin with her fire types than any one human should be, she still had the tendency to be very awkward in social situations. She always handled pokemon better than people.

Almost in an instant Anubis froze, he was about half way to the entrance when he felt a powerful Aura enter the sacred mountain. Something immensely strong...and wicked. It had the same strange Aura signature as many of the undead he had come across, but he had seen nothing this powerful. He was almost too afraid to keep going even though he knew the others were right in its path. While he wanted to help he wasn't sure if he should, he needed to protect mother. No, he couldn't run, Suzaku was right here with him and it wouldn't be right to abandon a new...well, he guessed he was a friend.

"Suzaku, there is something very wrong up ahead. Something...something with a great power has arrived, and it isn't friendly. The others seem to be fleeing from it but they will lead it right to us. Be prepared." He hoped that whatever it was they could hold against it to get back to mother's tomb. It was the safest place to hide from this creature as he could seal off the entrance from inside. They would just have to collect the others, because Anubis could never abandon those in need even if he was ridiculously shy.

In his rage and adreneline, Pierce completely missed the initial roar of the beast. He did, however, notice the echoing sound it made through the area. He paused, and caught a glimpse of the creature that had made the sound, it's sillhouette flickering with the Jolteon's electricity. This thing was big. Very big. In an instant he lost all thie courage he had built up preparing to fight something closer to his size. He knew he had no chance against something like that. He squeezed his eyes shut and prepared to die.

We have to go deeper into the tomb!"

The Jolteon's voice brought him out of despair long enough for him to shake himself free. "You're right." He said, if a little too strongly. He could see the Sableye was gone, and had a good idea where it would be going. "That little imp is going to cause more trouble than we can handle if we stay here." His voice was brisk now, and hurried. He began to run farther into the tomb, cursing himself that his legs were so short. "Take the lead, please. I don't want to hold you back." He slowed so the Jolteon could get ahead of him.


((OOC: I'm really liking where this is going, tbh. If we keep it up like this, we're gonna have one really amazing battle up in here. ;]))

He heard voices. The sound of footsteps. The living knew of his presence and was already running. The Swampert snarled in frustration, clearly disliking the fact that his prey had already begun to run from him. Drowned was about to give chase, but instead felt something collide with his back. He whipped his head back in rage, staring at the ceiling then the floor. There was no one there...? He was about to turn back around, before a shadow on the floor caught his eye. 'A ghost.' he thought. He would not attack a ghost, with their superior abilities to phase through him, it would be a waste of time and energy.

The Mud Fish Pokemon began to sprint on all fours, stumbling amongst the multitudes of graves. He smashed his arm onto the ground, creating a rumbling Earthquake. Although his intention was to throw his opponents off, at the back of his mind he had hoped that he had not disturbed his late father's grave. 'Talise would be angry with me.' he mused in his mind. Drowned didn't like the fact that he was disturbing any graves at all. To imagine, several hundred angry ghosts chasing him. He regretted his decision for using such an attack but what's done was done.

As Suzaku and Anubis went toward the archway that opened up to the rest of the tomb, Anubis stopped in his tracks, fur on end. "Suzaku, there is something very wrong up ahead," the foreign canine began, "Something... something with a great power has arrived, and it isn't friendly. The others seem to be fleeing from it but they will lead it right to us. Be prepared."

The blaziken's gaze narrowed and, once the beast bellowed, Suzaku moved Anubis out of the way so he could get his own look. A bloodied, horrific swampert stood at the entrance of the mountain, its large gory limbs pounding the ground and destroying anything in their paths. There were three pokemon below, one the little imp from before, another a strange yellow pokemon and the last a lumbering quadrupedal purple thing.

Suzaku watched in horror as the swampert gave chase, the three pokemon its prey. The forearm slammed down, the force splitting the fine marble and stone beneath. The earth gave way and the mountain itself shook, the Earthquake attack executed full force. Suzaku held onto a railing, keeping himself standing as he saw chunks of ceiling begin to fall.

"If this keeps up, the whole thing will fall down on us! We have to get moving!" he shouted at Anubis over the noise of the crumbling tomb. He looked down and analyzed the situation; there were three pokemon against the behemoth, but none of them looked like they had the courage nor power to take it on. He didn't know these pokemon, nor should he care, but something in him knew that he couldn't simply abandon them... Leave them to fend for themselves...

Like he had been...

He gripped the railing and jumped over it, flinging himself at the giant swampert. He skidded in between the lumbering dead and the others, and turned to the living. "GO! NOW! Out the other way, there's a way onto the mountain near here!" He turned back to the swampert and screeched, his fire erupting on his wrists and ankles. He ran toward it and performed an Acrobatics attack, hoping to hit it in its giant, ugly mug.

The Nidorino shouted something and began to run, looking back at Thorn worriedly. She couldn't hear him over the beast's bellows and was going to say so when an Earthquake hit the ground near the Jolteon and she collapsed. Being an Electric type, Thorn was especially susceptible to Ground attacks...she hoped that fact would never actually come into play, but it seemed like Arceus was playing some sort of foul trick on her.

She saw a red blur over her head as a Blaziken soared towards the foe. "No time to take a nap," the Jolteon muttered bitterly as she just about managed to heave herself to her paws. They were shaking, but maybe that was just an afteraffect of the quake. It had better be, because no way she was stopping for an injury.

In a burst of crackling speed, she'd caught up to the Nidorino and blazed ahead of him. Her nose could smell fresh air! Making a couple quick turns, Thorn sped towards the outside of the mountain. Despite herself, she worried about the other Pokemon inside...but they weren't her concern. She'd worry about them if they got out, but only then.

[OOC: GOTTA GO FAST]

Let's see.
Mean people attack me and threaten me. Nice people don't, even when I play tricks on them!
That makes sense.
So this big one, the dead-looking one, must be a nice person! And he was chasing the mean people.. and now they were attacking him! That's not very nice!
Such were the thoughts of a goblin as he leapt from the ground below a large red.. Chicken! A chicken. .. and launched a volley of little orbs of shadow.
"Hey! Leave him alone, mean people! He's a nice person!"

By the Aura...that thing was HUGE! When he and Suzaku finally got close enough he saw the massive Swampert blocking the door. No wonder he felt such a power coming from it...There were two small Pokemon down there with it, and the little trickster from before, and while they looked ready for a fight they still took the smarter route and ran like hell. And was the yellow one ever fast...But the Swampert was smart. Even as he gave chase he began an Earthquakes that felt like it shook the whole mountain. "If this keeps up, the whole thing will fall down on us! We have to get moving!" Suzaku hollered at him over the sound of the walls collapsing. He knew that his new friend was right, but, what about mother? He couldn't just leave her...

Suzaku took it upon himself to throw himself right in front of the beast, blocking his path to the smaller ones. "GO! NOW! Out the other way, there's a way onto the mountain near here!" There was another way out? Anubis had spent so long with mother he never bothered to check the rest of the mountain. His friend began to attack the great beast but, strangely, the trickster Sableye began to attack Suzaku. "Hey! Leave him alone, mean people! He's a nice person!" Nice? NICE? That thing was going to try to kill them? How was that nice? Anubis couldn't take the sight of two on one and, mother forgive him, jumped down with a Blaze Kick aimed right at the Sableye to fight by Suzaku's side.

"If you are goign to side with an infected, imp, then let's make this a fair fight!" He began to charge a Force Palm, wishing desperately he knew Aura Sphere, and hoped that it would help his new friend. Whoever made he next move would get the full force of it, and he figured it would be the Swampert. After all, the fire bird was at somewhat of a disadvantage here, and Anubis could certainly help him with that monster.

Flashes of red, blue and yellow, Pierce no longer regestered through sight. He felt pain in his horn when he rolled over himself, after the Earthquake, but he kept on running. He was running solely on fear and his own sense of direction. Finally, he found himself affronted by a blast of cold air. He was outside. He called out to the Jolteon, his voice regaining it's usual tone. "Hold on!" His emotions were torrents at the moment. Fear clung to him like a wet blanket, and guilt at leaving the two who had run passed to their probably deaths. I saw flashes of color... Blue and red... I can almost remember their body shapes... What were they? He felt some things for certain though. Whatever those pokemon were, they had been much stronger than he was. And much faster. And they had gone back to protect him and the Jolteon. He wanted to go back, but he knew he would be no help on his own. He looked to the Jolteon nearby. I can't ask her to go back. That thing was a Swampert, she's at a complete type disadvantage. Then again, I'm worthless against the Sableye... He knew he'd kill himself if he didn't try though.

I'm going back, he said stiffly. I won't let those pokemon die trying to defend us without helping them. I can at least do something, shoot Venoshocks from the air, something... He swallowed sadly. In case I don't come back, I'd like to at least know the name of the one I've been through so much with. He gave a sarcastic grin.

The smaller Pokemon darted away as a giant chicken ran up towards him. Before he could give a reaction, he found his face being pummeled by kicks and fists, an Acrobatics attack. He gave an angry screech, attempting to swat away his foe. He wasn't in the mood to be defeated by a living. And definitely not in the mood to be beaten by an gargantuan rooster.

Suddenly, the ghost from before had shown itself. A Sableye. It spoke. "Hey! Leave him alone, mean people! He's a nice person!" 'Nice.... Person?' Drowned froze for a moment. Did the little imp just call him a nice person? Was he hearing right? He never thought one would call him nice or any synonymous adjective in his life, especially as an undead. The Swampert was even astounded to find that the Sableye was helping him.

Then he saw another now attacking them. A Lucario. It's Blaze Kick whizzed past his head towards Xadian, which he quietly hoped that the little ghost would be alright. He was about to Hammer Arm the Aura Pokemon when he was met with a face-full of a charged Force Palm. He sputtered, screeching in anger as he stumbled back, snarling.

Drowned roared, screaming. "LeTs hAvE DRRRRRRRROWNINGGGGGG lEsSoNs!" He jumped, about average height into the air before his mouth gushed with water and erupted a Hydro Canon from his mouth at the Blaziken and Lucario. He was glad he had a type advantage here, he could water down the Blaziken and use an Earthquake or Hammer Arm to finish off the Lucario.

Suzaku grunted as the little imp shot an attack at him, hitting his knee and knocking him off balance. The hesitation in his movements left him open for the hydro pump to follow, gushing and nearly drowning him in bloody water. He hit the far wall with his back and slumped against it, the water attack taking its toll on the fire bird.

He coughed, but then stood as the swampert readied another attack, this time aiming straight for Anubis. While the sableye angered him, he wanted to make sure that Anubis wouldn't get hit... they were both at a severe disadvantage. "What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted at the imp as he ran back toward the battle. "You'll get us all killed!" He then tried another Acrobatics, trying to disrupt the swampert's attack and give time for Anubis to retreat or even get out of the way of the wrath of the swampert.

Oh Arceus. She just had to get stuck with the idiot who was determined to be some sort of stupid martyr.

"Are you a moron?" Thorn hissed in disgust. "One minor Earthquake from that thing and you're dead in the water. You're just as weak to it as I am, and a Venoshock would barely tickle it. Let the big boys do their job - if they get killed, it's their own damn fault. I'm not running back in their to get sacrificed, and if you do you are a bigger idiot than you look."

With a sigh, the Jolteon turned around and continued walking towards the entrance. She wasn't tired, persay, but she didn't want to make it to that point. Ol' Swampy back there might have some...friends.

"I'm Thorn, by the way," she tossed back over her shoulder. "And we're almost outside. You can follow and live, or head back there and die. Your choice, whatever your name is."

While the canid and its kick passed right through his ghostly body, Xadian screeched in pain as white-hot flames shot through his small form. Taking the moment his attacker was recovering from the flying kick, he dove into his new friend's shadow, hiding behind the wall of water and flesh and watching the battle.

The blue one launched a strange energy attack at the nice person, who then jumped into the air, taking water into his mouth. He tried to blast the mean people with water, but was attacked by the red one and a flurry of kicks..
... Right!

A smiling shadow sprang from the ground below Drowned, attempting to cut down Suzaku before he could stop the Infected's attack.

"LeTs hAvE DRRRRRRRROWNINGGGGGG lEsSoNs!"

Oh that wasn't good...bloody water surged from the beast, sending Suzaku flying back. Anubis tried to reach out and grab him but the water rushed by too fast. He looked back to the beast and felt his anger grow as the Sableye tried to get in a cheap shot to the Blaziken, who was already returning with a new assault. How dare the little ghost, after they had already let him off for his pranks, turn around and try to kill them to help a DEMON? Well, he wasn't going to let the fact that he was a fighting type get in the way of stopping the ghost from interfering.

He closed his eyes, and felt out their opponents auras. The ghost lit up like a ball of light in his aura sense, and he could tell where the little imp was moving. With his eyes still closed he stepped in the way before he could get to Suzaku, taking the attack for the fire bird. Turning his sense to the infected he charged a Focus Blast and sent it flying at the ceiling above the beast, causing a cave in. "Run, Suzaku...run now," he stated in a dead calm.

As the cave entrance started to come down Anubis finally opened his eyes and he took off down the tunnels. But rather then heading towards the exit he was going back to the tomb. He would not let these creatures get to mother, he would die first. In his one track thought, however, he failed to notice that the rest of the cave was weakening from the collapse and it was heading straight for the tomb as well.

He sighed. "I told you already. My name is Pierce."

The Jolte- Thorn, was right. Pierce could neither go in alone, nor leave her by herself. He wouldn't be able to do much, but the two could still do more together than alone. He took another glance as she walked farther up the mountain. She's stronger than I am. He thought to himself. That was the first thought he had that he knew was fact in a long time.

Ever since separation from his trainer, he'd not been himself. He couldn't think straight, and his emotions swirled back and forth. Slowly, however, with the interaction of others, his mind slowly cleared. He could tell now that his thinking was straight, and he understood what Thorn was saying. Something did occur to him though. She was walking rather than running, despite her obvious fear of the Swampert. The earthquake. He thought. She must have taken an injury then. Silently, he padded along behind her. He hadn't gone far, however, when another smaller shaking came from below them. "What the hell are they doing down there?

Drowned snarled mid-air, breathing heavily as he recovered energy from the attack only to find another Acrobatics attack coming straight for him. This time however, the Sableye had intervened and Drowned flung himself backwards to make sure he won't be kicked in the face. The large Swampert landed with a thud, furiously stamping his feet as the red veins that entangled his front arms whipped the ground beneath him.

His eyes caught the sight of the Lucario. He was standing so calmly, eyes closed. What was he up to now? Suddenly, a ball of energy was shot up to the ceiling and Drowned immediately Hammer Armed the boulder that fell first. However, more rocks fell onto him. His body, unable to hold the weight, collapsed along with the roof of where he had stood.

Drowned wheezed under the rubble, clearly frustrated about how his prey had gotten away. 'Not fair, not fair... NOT. FAIR.' he thought, as he silently laid on the ground, too weak to break the rocks at the moment.

"Run, Suzaku... Run now."

It was the only thing Anubis said as he shot a ball of energy up at the ceiling, causing it to collapse. He cursed as portions of the rock and dry wall came tumbling down; thankfully, he was agile enough to avoid the larger ones. Anubis then took off, but not toward the exit. Suzaku cursed and followed, catching up to the blue canid quickly.

"You can't be serious!" he yelled as he ran beside Anubis. "You'll get yourself kill going back to that tomb; the whole BUILDING is collapsing! And I'm not about to let someone who helped me DIE when I can help it!" He grabbed the canid's arm -since the paw had a large spike- and pulled him back toward the exit.

Once out, he turned back to see the structure collapse and topple, dust and dirt making a cloud over it. He hated that they had truthfully destroyed a sacred place of rest, but... at least they had probably trapped the swampert. He noticed a pink creature and a yellow dog and figured that they were the others in the tomb. "You two ok?"

"What are they doing down there?" the Nidorino next to her gasped as Thorn felt a tremble beneath her paws. She wobbled a little bit from even that slight tremor, still having trouble staying on her feet. At least she was almost outside. She could figure out what to do the-

Wow. That was a big rumble. She had to agree with Pounce - what were they doing down there? Hopefully those dumbass martyrs down there weren't...being martyrs. Arceus, Thorn thought to herself, This whole thing has really messed with my head. I...I guess I"ll have to find somewhere else to go. This is no place to be. Her feet itched a little bit through the pain. It was definitely time to move on, whatever her intentions had been when she'd gotten there. No way was she staying with these Pokemon. Even if she liked others' company (which she didn't), they were so unpredicatable!

Aaand speaking of unpredictable, right on cue there came a pounding of feet as a Blaziken ran up to Thorn and Pierce. He seemed to be...dragging a Lucario? Thorn snickered to herself at the sight a little bit.

"You two okay?" asked the Blaziken. He seemed to be worried.

Thorn shrugged with a grimace. She wasn't okay by a long shot, but no way was she admitting that to a Pokemon who still didn't smell quite right.