The OPELUCID Team

Opelucid City pokecenter| Midnight | (3)

The Dragonair swiftly flinches back at the accusation, pressing back against the now closed doors and wrapping his tail up around him securely.
His fins press down, close to the side of his head and the round glasses slip down the dragon-type's snout.
Swiftly they are pushed back up by the crooked tip of the broken blue tail.
Still he does not flee but instead pays attention to the other pokemon, the small psychic type that seems less likely to murder him for speaking.
'No..." He replies shakily, hoping the Espeon won't be offended by his answer. "My trainer wasn't much interested in gyms..."
That was entirely true and even if they could read his emotions or his heartbeat then there would be no indication he was harmful.
Shakily he continues.
"Please don't make me go outside. I knew when someone opened the door that there were other living in here and we all need to stick together right?" The fear in his voice is genuine, for all the admiration he had for his master the Hydreigon was fully capable of killing him by accident.
"There's a monster out there."
And that too is completely true.
Warily coiled back against the wall Kabuto tries to resist the urge to immediately smash the bug with a water-type attack. Sure it would take a few hits to smash open that thick shell but it would be worth it.
As if emphasizing his last point there comes a dry throated roar from outside, like the eruption of a geyser or the bellows or the gods followed by a solid sounding thump of something landing on the roof of the run down building.
The worn pokecenter roof sheds a light shower of plaster but thankfully holds and, for a moment, the city outside the grimy windows is illuminated as bright as day as a massive column of flame hits the street beyond.
The Dragonair wraps his broken tail up around himself to hold his jaws closed as indicators that complete silence would be their best chance of survival.

The Hydreigon soared swiftly through the darkened skies, six stubby wings beating sedately. With his arms pressed close to his scaly body and his short ragged toed feet folded in Orochimaru moves through the skies like a serpent, lurking in low-lying cloud as if it was the dense underbrush of some ungodly jungle.
He could still feel the burning of the disease as it ate away at his insides though, when he had first killed another Pokémon and eaten it’s flesh the burning had not returned for weeks. Now that pain was his constant companion and it urged him on to greater and greater heights of slaughter then laid him so low he felt he would die.
As a new scent prickles his nose Orochimaru slows his flight and scans the skies below him.
A shimmering Altaria (if his fading sight had not further betrayed him) had entered his territory, a dragon-type like him, although it’s slender neck and cloud-like wings were far more frail than his own scales.
A good meal too, once you tore off those cloying wings and the thought of biting into that golden skin and tearing free the soft, tender meat of a flying-type made all three of his mouths water.
Orochimaru dived, the merest flicker of a wing enough to steer his descent with a pin-point accuracy and landed on the dilapidated pokécentre, lighting up the night sky with a strident lance of a Flare Burst.
The flames scattered off in a five-pointed star of destruction, two gouging the ground in front of the building he rested on.

((OOC:Whoops, Sorry -10! The Team sheet was still saying you were away for me))

"Why do you doubt him?" Marvin had preferred to stay out of this situation, maybe even blend into the background until he faded from memory, but these two Pokemon were denying a Pokemon shelter when it very well could be dead if they didn't help it. An attack was coming on outside, fires blazing threateningly. The Dragonair was coiled up tightly - maybe in fear? Submissiveness? - looking sympathetically puny for such a grand Pokemon species. Walking out of the Pokemon Center, exhilaration spread throughout his entire body as he stared at the growing fire. In the night sky the stark red fumes were dangerously noticeable, and Marvin was right that a battle was occurring.

"I'll be going, then." The Stunky flicked his tail, and ran out of the Pokemon Center, blood boiling at the prospect of joining in the fight. This is what I became an adventurer for. It was liberating, not having any ties to anyone and anything; he could leave one place and never look back, keeping his eyes on the path forward. As he looked up upon the Pokemon Center's roof, his eyes lit up by the fire and the dragon atop, the skunk took in an excited breath. He'd find something to excite him after so long, a battle worth his existence! Marvin would have gone straight into the battle, abashedly confront the enemy, when he remembered the others. Tsk... A disapproving scowl appearing on his face, the poison type fervently wished he could just forget those Pokemon.

Marvin could easily forget about Rowan; the poor Scizor seemed to have his own pincer up his gluttonous maximus, and was very frank to a fault. Though the Stunky would freely admit he admired Rowan's willingness to help (he'd never tell that to Rowan if he could help it), the rash nature of the bug could only get you so far in life. He looked at the burning flame, his adrenaline dying down as he silently thought to himself. Then there was Espi - in all truth, he couldn't really make out what to think of the Espeon. He had helped out because it was the right thing to do, but then Espi just... brought him along? She sure had seemed happy to make them as one big and happy family.

"Hrf." Marvin should have guessed cutting off all ties would be more difficult. The Stunky crouched next to the Dragonair, staying completely still, looking up towards the Hydreigon. It's hunting something... but who? Marvin's eyes grazed everything in his peripheral vision, finding golden feathers soft as clouds. Here! The Skunk Pokemon called silently, flicking his tail to summon the shiny Pokemon.

Di watched as a Hydreigon managed to pull off a fire attack in the hard rain. It scattered into a five-pointed star, illuminating the city for just a second. Two of its points singed the ground in front of the building before slowly fizzling out in the rain. Ahh... I'm not turning into rotisserie chicken today, am I? She saw a Stunky had motioned for her into the Pokémon Center with a flick of its tail. She hurried inside. Thank you for letting me in. She huffed a little, remembering how easily that Hydreigon was able to make a fire attack last that long in heavy rain. My name's Diwali... You can call me Di...

Espi shuddered in fear at the Sudden roar before jumping back a little at the sudden burst of light and warmth from outside the buiding. Looking out the door's see through glass Espi saw that an Undead Hydreigon (Male by the looks of it) had launched a Flare Burst in hopes of Roasting a Shiny Altairia that had now escaped into the Pokemon center before introducing herself " My name's Diwali... You can call me Di..."

Espi nodded and put a paw to her lips indicating to be quiet. The pink psy cat then remembered the dead rattata Martain found. Espi had an idea pop into her head that made her flinch but thought to herself "Woman up Espi, A little blood never hurt anyone, plus this is the only option right now to get everyone out ALIVE!" With a few silent and shaky steps Espi Crept over to the doorway to the Operation room (She remembered once when Francies Got an Icical Crash from a wild Beartic and how it Impailed his left wing. He had to be taken to one of these rooms to have it removed.) Espi slipped through the Hole in the door after Levitating the body of the rattata in with her.

Looking around the room Espi gave a mental sigh of relif that the Blood storage and some of the operating tools were still intact.
Putting the rattata down she noticed that it's belly was cut open and that the belly was missing but the other organs were intact.
With a slight wrinkling of her nose Espi Psychiced open the blood bank door to see that there was one large bag left that was filled with Crimson blood.

Espi Put the Blood bag on the table next to the body before levitating some medical tape over. Stepping back to look at the supplies Espi reflected on the fact that she had only read a few books on medicine and operating (Mostly the baisics) and had only seen stuff like this when the Nurse operated on Frances's wing. With a mental prayer to Arceus Espi hoped that her little to none experiance would suffice to make her idea a success.

Espi first levitated the blood bag carfully into the gap where the Rattata's belly would be sliding it in while trying her best to not vomit on the floor from the gross noises the organs were making from being moved. When the Espeon was satisfied that the Organs and Bloodbag would stay in place. Espi Lifted up the medical tape and with a jerk of her eye levitated it across the opening to the rattata's insides sealing it shut. After cutting the tape roll off of the strip sealing the belly shut using one of the spikes on her collar, Espi started to with Psychic smooth the Rattatta's fur down over the strip of tape hiding it.

After Smoothing the rest of the fur down Espi marveled at how life like it looked and levitated it back to the rest of the group mouthing "It's a decoy, If we're Lucky the Hydreigon will go after it and we can escape. Also if anyone knows any moves that can poison, put sleep powder, or something onto this go right ahead."

[ooc: I posted not too long ago, so I'll take a skip here. B) Let's just say Marvin continued to stare at the Hydreigon but whispered a 'good thinking' towards Espi.]

Opelucid City pokecenter| Midnight | (4)

Oh there was something so incredible attractive about a gal that can handle a corpse like that...
The Dragonair makes a mental note to request his master to eat her last.
The decoy was a very clever idea and, more importantly, one that would work.
Orochimaru was much like a snake, anything that moved drew his attention. That was why he hated being in the caves so much, there was nothing to entertain him.
Kabuto supposes he must do his part...
For a brief while the orbs on his tails begin to glow with a rich golden light like that of a Flaafy or Ampharos.
Curling his tail around he taps the Ratatta corpse with the glowing orbs and sparks of static electricity play across the dirty purple fur as the long-dead pokemon's limbs twitch for a moment as they are filled with electricity.
"Thunder Wave..." He whispers softly.
Now he wouldn't be punished for holding back, even if his master would not take kindly to a spark-filled meal.
Delivering that Altaria would be an apology enough.
His master loved the meat of flying types and such a gorgeous flying type would sate his hunger for weeks.
No doubt that was why his master chose a flashy Fire Blast attack instead of his super-effective dragon one.
Herding his prey into one place.
There is another thump from the roof and a deep, guttural growl...

Orochimaru thumps the rooftop with his tail as all three of his heads scout the sky and his tongue curls in the rain-filled air.
His glowing red eyes have faded since the disease took hold of him and it actually takes the dragon a few minutes to confirm that the altaria was no longer there.
Hopefully it had fallen for the trap and been driven inside the pokecentre with his subordinate...
Trying to maintain his grip of the worn roof-tiles and peer into the grime encrusted windows at the same time one wing clips the rooftop and send several tiles tumbling down to shatter on the ground below.
He roars at the sky to drive them out and, more subtly, begins to draw together the puddles that the torrent has left behind.
Kabuto better hurry up if he wants to avoid a beating.
His master is starving.

((ooc: skip pls))

Opelucid City pokecenter| Midnight | (5)

With a psychic energy stirring the creature's limbs the rodent pokemon's corpse twitches to an unnatural semblance of life.
Its limbs twitch and the thing appears to get to its feet although there is still a fine layer of air below them from where the psychic is levitating it a fraction.
The thing doesn't even glow.
Kabuto is thoroughly impressed.
Like an actual startled ratata it bolts from the pokecentre doors and freezes when his master's eyes lock onto it and an interrogatory growl issues from all three heads.
As the purple-furred pokemon swiftly darts down a side-street as if seeking safety Kabuto keeps his eyes on the espeon puppeting it.
Surely by now she must be operating solely on memory, the ratata is fully out of sight and by the sounds of creaking timber his master has taken off after it.
The dragonair leans in close to make sure he does not miss a word of the half whispered plan.
A pokemon gym and not only that but one build for the taming of dragon-types. Hismaster would have a much harder time trying to break in there than into this dilapidated pokecentre.
As the espeon leaves the pokecentre Kabuto throws one last look at the motley crew of pokemon still inside and trusts his instincts.
Keeping a close eye on and around the pokecentre Kabuto slinks low to the ground and follows the Espeon swiftly, making sure his crooked tail is still visible to his master in case he tries an attack.
With concern he notes the flicker of the gem inlaid in the psychic types forehead and curls his broken tail around. If she fell behind she could use it to clamber onto his broad back.

The moment the pokecentre doors open the infected Hydreigon turns all but one of his heads to attention and deeply sniffs the air. The rain is still heavy and it fogs his already fading vision but the scent of damp fur is enticing enough.
Had Kabuto secured him a meal so soon?
A dribble of bloody saliva oozes from the corners of his mouth, his long curled tongue licks it up before it can fall.
The scent only confirms the impression of his eyes; a ratata.
The tiny rodent-like pokemon emerges from between the double doors as Orochimaru slowly creeps forwards down the rooftop, his tongue flickering out to taste the moist air.
The thing, turns, apparently catches sight of him and freezes as all three of Orocimaru's heads growl.
This wouldn't be fun without at least a bit of a chase.
As the thing darts off, zigzagging to avoid pursuit, the Hydreion takes wing.
His spy could handle the others for a bit longer.
Now lunch was a priority.
The ratata seemed to know its way through the maze of buildings fairly well, although at times it barely made turns without colliding with something.
That put Orochimaru on guard as he closed in until the dragon landed close behind it and, instead of simply biting into the thing, the hydreigon clumsily picked up a trash-can and hurled it at the ratata.
There was a satisfying crunch and the thing falls over, a flash of sparks exploding out from the conductive metal of the trash can to play across the surfaces of puddles.
In so far as the angular serpentine shape of the Hydreigon's head will allow he smirks and pins the still struggling decoy to the pavement with his foot.
As he closely looks the creature over he notices the stink of rotting meat and the unkempt tangles of its fur.
Long dead.
With a bellow of anger it bites the mouths of each hand into one end of the ratata and rips it apart.
The intact blood-bag flops to the pavement where the main head soon picks it up and breaks it in his jaws.
No sense in wasting the good blood.

((OOC: Hope its o.k. I took out the decoy, he was bound to do it eventually)))

"I'll be going, then."

'Like hell you are.'

Shouldering past the Dragonair, the Bug type trailed after Marvin, but not before he shot a smoldering glare towards their creepy visitor.

"Um, no. No you're not!" Rowan couldn't believe this guy! Sure they'd gone off on the wrong foot and some other stuff but that was didn't mean he could just waltz off and pretend he didn't know them.

Stomping ahead of the Stunky, the Scizor promptly planted his feet down and turned to face the Poison type, only to find that Marvin was stock-still...And looking at the roof of the Pokemon Center....The same Pokemon Center that they'd just come from.

"You've gotta be fucking me."

How? How in fuck's name did a Hydreigon manage to sneak up without him knowing...Wait a second...The creepy-ass newcomer! They probably came together!

'Aw shit. Now what the hell are we suppose-'

"What the hell? Where did she come from?" Watching as their newest and seemingly harmless companion hurried her way into the building, Rowan couldn't help but follow after.

"My name's Diwali... You can call me Di..."

"Well, how does it go Di-"
'So, we're playing the quiet game now aren't we?' Shuffling his feet by the doorway, the Scizor watched as Espi trotted, or well really, padded her way into the OR only to come back out with a-a dead...Ratatta?

"Oh my Go-"

A little Thunder wave here, aaaand-

"Thanks, that will help a lot!"

Now that he thought about it, Rowan was getting a little dizzy...And maybe a tad bit light headed too.

"Okay, here's the plan. I'll use psychic to make this Rattata run out of the center. The Hydrigon probably doesn't know how many of us are in here, but even if he did I doubt any infected or undead would turn down food. As you may or may not know the blood bag in here will be so when he bites into it the blood bag will burst so he won't suspect anything."

Rowan whistled in awe. Looks like the Psychic type knew her stuff.

"When the Hydrigon's out of sight, let's go to the gym, He'll have a tough time breaking down those walls! The gym Is a bit like a maze so that helps too, plus the gym was designed with possible rampages in mind so that undead might not be able to get through. I'll go first to show the way because I know my way around here, me, Mia, my Trainer, and m-m-my team defeated the last gym and were about to challenge the Elite 4 when this Epidemic broke out."

Noticing the slight stutter and choke towards the end of her speech, Rowan muttered a soft, "You okay?" To which was answered back with a simple, "I'm okay, let's get this show on the road!"

"Holy shit!" Startled, the Scizor jumped in surprise at the dead Normal type, scurrying its way across the building and out into the open. Chancing a short glace at the Espeon, the Bug noticed her wavering stance.

Walking up to her, Rowan asked, "Need a lift?" He thought she would.

The Rattata Plan had gone off - as in, literally, it got to its feet and scampered off as if it were the real thing. Marvin had always reveled at the mystical power of psychics, and as the dead (or undead?) mouse fled from the dragon, he gave a nod of approval towards Espi. With Rowan making a usual fool of himself, the Scizor had allowed the Espeon onto his back and together they began to make their way out of the Pokemon Center. Flicking his tail at how estranged this all seemed, the Stunky glanced towards the golden Altaria. "Let's not fall behind, huh?" Giving the fluffy Pokemon a choice to follow them or not, Marvin followed after the other two without another word. However, in the back of his mind, he really wouldn't have liked if the golden dragon had chosen to leave and never come back; too many friends he had connected to, only for them to turn away all at once as if he didn't matter. The sting of their departure still hurt, but he kept a straight face as they arrived at the Gym.

Espi had just proved herself a worthy companion and traveler as she easily took down the doors, ushering them all in. He found himself conceding without another thought, and as he passed by he gave her another word of thanks. "You're doing good." His ears pressed to his head awkwardly - Marvin really wasn't one for words - and he stepped through the doors. The gym's electricity had been shut down long ago, but the sturdy walls of the gym had held it up rather nicely, the interior looking just as it should be on any other normal day; though with the absence of light, but that was to be expected. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the skunk looked about warily, his nose sniffing for any sort of danger within. Hm... With a grunt of disapproval, the musty odor of the gym rendered his sense of smell useless. The poison type couldn't smell what was only a few feet ahead of him. That means anything can be in here and I won't be able to detect it. Marvin grimaced as he realized what a surprise ambush would do in the Gym's dragon bridges.

Just his luck that they'd find themselves within a maze-like area, almost baiting that dragon, whom was mostly likely not to be fooled by that Rattata for long, to pick them off one by one. His blood pumped up at the mention of a battle, though the Stunky held his urge back, wanting to be a protector before a fighter. "It's a little dark in here, but as far as I can tell the place doesn't seem too broken down. I think the dragon bridges worked separately from the initial electrical source, so they just might still work." He spoke softly and in a rushed voice, though he managed to keep it in a calm and simple manner, like he were laying out simple facts that everyone already knew. Marvin looked solely at Espi for confirmation, figuring that the Espeon had a better grasp of this gym than anyone else did. "You've been here before," he blinked at her in recognition, recalling her story that she had faced the gym leader before. "Lead the way."

(I have no idea what's going on, sorry. xD Di just goes with whatever you guys are doing.)

Opelucid City pokecenter| Midnight | (6)

Kabuto keeps his serpentine body pressed so close to the walls of the gym he can hear the tiny rasping sound his scales make as they rub against the stone.
The delicate wing like shapes of his ears are turned down, both to make him a more aerodynamic shape and to focus his attenttion like a lazer beam.
He needs to leave a sign for his master.
A dull metal trash can around the side of the building is an ever-present aid, even with its innards spilt out on the pavement.
The dragonite supresses the desire to wrinkle his still drataini-white muzzle in disgust as he clears away the filthy scraps inside with his tail (Oh it was so unhygenic) and flips the entire can upside-down with a nudge of his snout.
There; an act of pointless vandalism that could be a side effect of any pursuit or roaming undead, to the eyes of outsiders at least.
Orochimaru had drilled into him time and time again the variety of urban signs he could leave behind to be followed later.
The overturned can was pretty much just an arrow, it meant 'food in here' but he didn't have time to lay out a more detailed description for his master.
Flicking aside a few of the empty bottles Kabuto grabs an ether with a few dregs of healing liquid still inside to carry back to the espeon.
No doubt after expending so much of her psychic energy she would appreciate the guesture, regardless of how active the Ether's ingerdiants really were.
The others had already snuck back into the bandoned gym with its fine strong walls that will simply serve as a better cage to trap them when his master comes...

Ah midnight. How the darkened skies perfectly camoflagued his charcoal furred form and how the near silent whispering of his wings made him just another fleeting shadow in the already thick darkness.
He landed so silently, so perfectly, Kabuto didn't even notice he was behind him, watching the smug self-satisfied grin paint its way across the dargonite's face as he found the ether and meticulously set up the sign just as he had been taught.
He had dropped the ether as soon as he had turned and seen the faint luminousity of Orochimaru's eyes so close to his face and the translucent bottle had a hairline crack running along it as Kabuto picked it back up and bowed to his master.
It made the hydreigon want to laugh aloud but instead he merely impatiently guestured to the gym doors and watched his intimidated servant scurry inside.
Did the foolish dragonair really believe that he, Orochimaru the legendary sannin, would be caught up for more than a minute by a decoy?
He had pursued the thing for amusement in the end and to lend his prey a false sense of security.
This place was designed for dragons.
Orochimaru's obscenely long dripping tongue crawls along the edges of his serpentine snout in anticipation.
As silent as an adders kiss and seeming nothing more than a loathesome shadow Orochimaru crawls in behind Kabuto and slithers off the edge of the dragon-shaped platforms into the waiting abyss below.

((ooc: skip please. Having internet issues OTL Rowan's just following what Espi's telling him to do))

Espi stepped forward, taking a quick look at the gym, analyzing the problems. It didn't take long for the Espeon to formulate a plan with which she explained to all of them in hushed voices. The skunk stayed silent, agreeing that they should take out the Haxorus while they still had the element of surprise but... Something's off. Marvin couldn't suppress the feeling as if he were standing within range of a powerful creature, something that if he wasn't prepared for could easily knock him out. And being knocked out basically equated to a death sentence and a feast for the undead. He traced his paw along the floor as he followed after the psychic feline, twitching his whiskers in unease. There was something that he didn't know... and it was beginning to frighten him.

"Espi-" He began reluctantly, but she had already set the plan in motion, her Psychic enveloping the Haxorus. Marvin hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should hold back to keep guard, before cursing silently and charging forward. Di hadn't shown any signs of aggression, so he wasn't sure if she would attack this fiend out of free will. Rowan had shown that he was a blind fool, and would most likely fall into the Abyss himself; Marvin didn't know the extent of Kabuto's power, but knew well enough not to stand in the dragon's way. The Stunky raised his right fore paw, the entire limb becoming enveloped in a dark aura that resembled a claw, and he slashed downward at the glowing target with a Shadow Claw. He couldn't allow an error in the plan that was only made point blank. They were already at a risk willingly walking into a closed area, no less an area with an 'abyss' where any of them could fall to their deaths.

His Shadow Claw penetrated the rough skin of the dragon, yet Marvin raised his other paw and the umbra surrounded that leg also, and he executed the consecutive Shadow Claws without pause. Pity for those who don't deserve it can't happen. The Stunky's attacks on the Haxorus had left its back a bloody mess, its spinal cord a frightening protrusion amid the glistening red around it. The blood seemed to seep slowly, a sickly purple mixed into it that sent shivers down his back, and the poison type narrowed his eyes. Despite the painful injuries he had inflicted, despite what would have hurt if they had felt pain, despite all of this...

The thing wasn't dead.

The growl that the dragon emitted caused Marvin to tense, but he gave one long look at Espi. Her psychic hold was still firmly upon the Haxorus, but if it gave out at any moment, it would be the end of the Stunky. "Hm." Marvin gave a curt nod, once again letting out his Shadow Claws. He'd have to trust Espi- no, he'd have to trust the entire team, something that he wasn't prone to do often. He had to trust them with his entire will... and be willing to pay the consequences if he made the wrong choice in who to trust. The Skunk Pokemon's claws continued to hail down mercilessly, hoping to Arceus and to any unnamed gods that luck would be on their side.

Di silently walked with the group through the maze of the dragon statues to the generator, softly glistening in the near-darkness. The team of five soon came across the generator. There was a behemoth of a Haxorus sleeping in front of it, and, guess what? It was infected. The Espeon began to talk, but she couldn't hear a thing and couldn't read her lips in the dark. She was near-deaf, after all. She just nodded politely. She was about to speak up and say she couldn't understand what Espi had just said, but Espi had already put her plan in motion.

Di's eyes shrunk as Espi levitated the Haxorus into mid-air and it woke up. ... Kid, that's a freaking HAXORUS! What are you- She stopped when Marvin attacked it with a rather pretty-looking, yet dangerous Shadow Claw. ... I guess I'll start attacking, then. She performed a Dragon Dance attack to boost her stats, lighting up the room a little more than her feathers. It was where she got her name from, after all. She then blew a Dragonbreath attack in the Haxorus's face. Is it screaming in pain, or making any noises of pain for that matter? I can't hear anything...

Opelucid City pokecenter| Midnight | (7)

Finally something he could be himself with. Killing something. Time and time again his help had been enlisted in driving off his master's rivals and his was not the first time fate found it amusing to pit him against a Haxorus.
The Dragonair leaps straight up in the air and wraps his three foot long serpentine body around the enemy dragon and squeezes.
Tight cords of muscle ripple wave-like under the blue skin as they contact in a binding grip tighter than any rope.
He contracts around the creature's neck, hoping to snap off its spinal column and send the creature tumbling off the dragon-shaped platforms.
His normally soft grey eyes are completely obscured by the light reflecting off the round lenses of his glasses.
"I've got him!" He calls out to the Espeon as he tightens his coils in a powerful wrap attack. "Shove it off the edge!"
Kabuto was under no delusions about how one sided this fight was, even with so many pokemon pitching in. He can feel its muscles trying to move under his own. Without his solid form wrapped tight around its shoulders there was every chance the Haxorus might have broken free from the Psychic hold and end them all with one bloody rampage.
His Wrap and the Espeon's Psychic is restraining the thing but from how little even the gory devastation wreaked by the Stunky's Shadow Claw (the sight exposed spinal column made his heartbeat speed up a notch, the pokemon was a warrior) had not slowed the Haxorus down enough to defeat.
Still it could not fly, like he did on occasion or his master did whenever it suited him and even a very big dragon versus a hundred foot drop was no contest.
"I'll hold it to the end then jump free but get it off the platform!"

Orochimaru flicks the black fur of his tail tip irritably. He could here the commotion of the battle above and his tongue lashes across his bleeding lips. He wants to leap into the fray and sate his hunger for blood, break open their tasty heads and lick their brains from the floor.
Yet he holds himself in check, even as the cry of a Haxorus makes all three of his heads hunger to tear apart the insolent flesh of the undead who dare to hunt in his hunting grounds.
It had been far too long since he purged this place of the unworthy undead.
The Hydreigon flies off, keeping hidden directly beneath the platform and wings whisper silent.
There is another Haxorus sleeping on a different platform far away from the current battle.
Orochimaru leaps on it like a shark and slams all of his body into the larger dragon's scale armored plates. It's glowing red eyes open but the sinuous hydreigon tail lashes around its jaws and neck to strangle its cries then Orochimaru leaps off the platform again without much ceremony and drags the unfortunate pokemon off the edge, slams its scaly head into the platform then unwinds his tail to let the creature fall into the void.
A shuddering vibration from the blow runs down the pathways.

Di knew the Dragonair had said something, but it went in her ears much too fuzzily for her to understand. He had curled around the Haxorus with a mean-looking Wrap attack Di didn't want to be on the other end of, ever. Espi responded to Di's question, Di reading her lips with her hearing being so dull. "Kinda, It's mostly making angry roars though." Di nodded. The Haxorus's struggling died down a bit, and for once, she actually heard something. Espi had yelled and she understood it. "NOW KABUTO!!!!! I'M TOSSING IT OVER!" Espi tossed the Haxorus over the edge with her psychic powers. Di thought she heard a sickly gurgle before a loud, shattering CRACK! was heard. It had sounded as if he was thanking them just before his bones disintegrated into jelly onto the abyss below. Di's eyes narrowed. "...Ew."

Espi leaped onto the generator and had lie down to examine it. She jumped off after saying something too fast for Di to read her lips. A heavy vibration flew through the platform that put a shiver down Di's spine. Di looked in the direction of the shock wave, and she thought she saw luminescent red eyes for just a moment. "...Hey, guys... I don't think we're alone... I think I just saw something..." She turned to Espi. "Uhm, do you mind talking to me through telepathy and telling me what others have said? I normally can't hear anything unless you yell as loud as you just did."

Opelucid City Gym| Midnight | (8)

Keeping a close eye on the Espeon's movements and ignoring the Releasing the tight grip of his coils Kabuto unwraps his serpentine body from the Haxorus's shoulders. As he feels the blow strike the Dragon-type he releases his coils, draws them in close to form a sort of spring and pushes off the Haxorus's shoulders.
Already the Haxorus has started to fall and with every passing heartbeat the platform seems to get further and further away.
Kabuto leaps but he is smart enough to realise that at this current distance he can't make the jump.
A flicker of light plays around the jewelled orbs on his neck as the Dragonair uses one of his less marked skills as no-one had found a way to weaponize it yet.
For a few seconds Kabuto lets the full force of his Dargonair blood flow through him and flies.
His wing-like fins catch the air current and steer him as Kabuto soars through the air, twisting his tail as if he was swimming and lands on the edge of the platform. He rolls to the ground and pushes his glasses up his nose in an unmistakeable guesture of pride.
The generator he sneers at.
It is hardly the technological marvel he has been used to dealing with and it would be simple to restart.
His jewelled orbs glow golden again as he forms the electric-type attack in his tail and lightly taps it on the rusting and dented metal cover.
With a whirr cogs start to once again move inside the machine.
With that sorted Kabuto turns his atenttion back to the gym.
His master had entered the gym behind him, Kabuto remembered the cloying hot feel of the undead dragon's breath on the back of his neck as he entered through the double doors, but unlike him Orochimaru could fly whenever he felt like it.
A chill tingle runs down the Dragonair's spine.
He could be anywhere at all, watching them from the shadows and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"So where to now miss gym expert?" He asks Espi with a friendly grin, just in time to hear the golden Altaria his master was so looking forward to eating confess to hearing problems.
It takes an enormus effort for Kabuto to keep his joy from his face, this was a massive stroke of luck. Already his mind is buzzing with strategies for turning this fact into a meal for his everpresent master.

Orochimaru hovers lazily underneath the platforms, turning lazily back flips whenever boredom got the best of him and entertaining himself by playing with the shattered corpse of the undead Haxorus he had found.
He tears the axe-like tusks from the sides of its head and uses them to cut through the tough plates of yellow-green and purple speckled armor to the soft purple-grey flesh below.
Then he noses through the creature's insides, seperating out the lungs, liver and kidneys and mentally measuring their size against those of other Haxorus's he had split open in a similar matter.
Gripping the turtle-like beaks of his secondary heads against the creatures ribcage he tears open the rotting red webbed white bone struts and roots around in the pus colored insides, yanking out the creature's cold dead heart.
He yawns boredly.
If Kabuto didn't provide him a sacrifice soon he would have to let them know that there was nowhere safe while he could still move him rotting, undead body.
Dark drops of red blood speckle the dark Abyss floor as the Hydreigon's torn gums bleed out. He shakes his heads and takes to the wing once more, in search of more entertainment.

Espi spoke to Di telepathically. "Hellllooooo? Testing 1,2,3? Di can you hear me?" Di nodded. "Yes, that's just fine. I can read your lips sometimes, but I'm not good at it." Espi began talking, Di couldn't exactly decipher what she said, but then her stomach growled loudly. "... Oh... I'm hungry..." She looked to the group. "Let's get something to eat."

Opelucid City pokecenter| Midnight | (9)

"Food sounds good." Kabuto says gratefully, pushing up his glasses with the broken tip of his tail once again. They had really been designed for a pokemon with a bit more nose and the end result was that they were always slipping.
"But we're hardly going to find any Berry Trees in a Gym. Maybe there's some sort of storeroom we should be looking for?"
The Dragonair looks around the newly lit up gym. The twining dragon pathways are elegant but cold and there's is a stark air about the place, something sterile and lifeless, like it had been disinfected.
"Shelter too, a defensible position." He adds thoughtfully. "We will have to sleep sometime."
He offers up a quick prayer to Arceus that they do go to sleep then he can slink away and alert his master...
"Do you think there are many more undead in here?" Kabuto asks Espi, carefully looking around his surroundings.
While he can't see anything that looks out of place or suspicious there always seemed to be more undead around gyms than merely wandering free.
Orochimaru had called it something like "Flesh Memory", a recalled fragment of an instinct that there would be other pokemon, strong pokemon, inside a gym and that caused them to gather.
Keeping an eye on the rest of the gym out of the corner of his sight Kabuto then pays close attention to the 'conversation' between the golden Altaria and the Espeon. Not only was the Flying/dragon type hearing apparently very poor but it requested for communications via telepathy rather than words.
It was a poor sign, they could be plotting behind his back without him ever knowing.
Finally, the Altaria could read lips.
Even if it wasn't a highly developed skill it made the Dargonair flinch backward internally. He would have to be very careful when communicating with Orochimaru.

The bright flare of the gym lights coming on makes the Hydreigon wince and he swiftly soars out of the black void of the Abyss to the shaded shelter of the twisting body of one of the stone dragons.
He runs a questing tongue over the carved scale patterns and smirks.
It almost reminds him of Kabuto.
Yawning far more widely than should be natural the long pink tongue curled upwards as it tasted the gym air with a fierce intensity. It does not matter if he can't see the tiny band of assembled pokemon when the very air itself bought so much information to him.
The scents floated on top of lesser smells of Human Dwelling like a film of grease floating on top of water.
The Espeon, tough meat but sweet with the juices of Psychic typing and unmistakably female, tastes of a cool confidence. Not the tang of arrogance but a feeling that she could take whatever the gym could throw at her.
The Altaria, oh how that scent of rich succulent bird-flesh made the saliva and blood drip down his jaws all the more, she tasted a tinge nervous without the cool calm taste of the psychic type.
And then there was his servant.
Kabuto's scent was the same as it always was, cool and smooth as a mirror with no hint what-so-ever as to what he was feeling or what he was thinking.