The CELESTIC Team

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Celestic Town Gates | Noon || Shaka ~ 30 -- Tsukiko ~ 11

~*~ Shaka ~*~

Shaka steps slightly back from the doorway to provide Sade more space to open the door further. The wood gecko’s large claws grind the knob slightly as they awkwardly work their way around it. However, it does not disrupt the silence too badly. Sade then gradually pushed the door open. After craning his neck through the partially opened gap to check inside the main room. The absence of movement on the Sceptile’s part made Shaka ever more cautious. His heart was beginning to pace itself, as he expected a fight to ensue with the current occupant of the home.

Sade turned his lengthy neck towards him and Tsukiko, mouthing to them. “Be ready.” The raichu stood ready on all fours, his tail whipping behind him as he backed up a good foot further from the door. Sade stares back towards the doorway, prepares by extending the sharp blades on his arms. Then, with a powerful heave, he tosses the door inward, making it slam loudly as it turns the full way and crashes with the wall. Shaka can discern the frantic beating of wings as the golbat in the middle of the room falls off and screeches in surprise. Its eyes were brightly lit with a livid power, indicating its Infected condition. However, Shaka could only discern so much under the outside light. When it furled its wings inward and divebombed towards Sade, the lizard was quick to react. He backed up from the door and countered it, causing it to fall out into the sunlight in a dazed state.

As it recovered from the fall it began to wail under the brightness of the noontime sun, scratching at its tender eyes. As it did Shaka saw the strange markings emblazoned upon its skin--the same kind that marked that late golbat leader Ponamu. He had begun to charge up electricity in his cheek patches, but was set aback somewhat by the discovery. The feeling passed quickly, though, and was replaced by a sense of justice. This golbat needed to be killed, for the sake of Ponamu’s clan. With a new sense of motivation Shaka released a streaking Thunderbolt towards the golbat. It struck at its left leg, causing the bat to lose its focus on its blindness and convulse violently. As it did so its wings were forced out to the sides, allowing it to desperately flap itself into the air even as its limbs still twitched with from the electrical discharge.

It was then that it focused its attention upon a stray person viewing the battle. With a firm flex of its wings the golbat was able to free itself from its slight paralysis and fly down towards Tsukiko. Shaka attempted to intercept it with a Thunderbolt but the Golbat countered with a Confuse Ray. In order to keep the beam from disorienting him too badly he closed his eyes tightly. A slight stagger came to him as he held up against the swimming daze that was overcoming his sense of balance. As he competed for control over his senses, Shaka opened his eyes and stared dizzily towards the Golbat. It had been taken out of the air suddenly, a perfect opportunity for him to kill it. Too bad he was too confused at the moment. . . .

~*~ Tsukiko ~*~

Tsukiko had remembered to stay well away from the door when Sade advised them to be ready. Knowing herself all too well, she would only get in the way of the two experienced fighters during battle. And since this was a Golbat that they would have to contend with, she would be of even less help. A cold wind went by as the others stood silently, watching the house entrance like the experts that they were. She, however, was distracted by a heavy breath of intensely cold wind that made her shiver and cross her arms across herself closely. Damn, Sinnoh was such a cold place. Her eyes were idly watching Sade and Shaka, but her mind was brought back to reality when Sade threw the door inwards.

The Golbat is rammed by Sade into the upper section of the doorframe, and it falls out into the bright noontime sun. It scratches at its sensitive eyes and then is struck by a Thunderbolt from Shaka. It recovers, however, going up into the air and releasing its wings from its paralysis. When it recovers it notices Tsukiko standing off at the side. When its eyes focus upon her, she steps back fearfully. That livid stare unnerved her deeply, making her stare back. As it began to dive rationality seized her mind. When it began to near her, its jaws open and its wings folded close to help it accelerate, she dove to the side. She did it rather ineptly, skidding across the lightly snowed grass. Her ears could catch the Golbat rising again into the air. But as she pushed herself up and scrambled to her feet, she heard something break out of the forest outside of the town and a sound like tearing flesh. She looked behind her to see the Golbat tumbling out the air from the impact of a sharp leafy projectile upon one of its wings. With a screech it fell to the earth, attempting to recover once more from an attack that left it vulnerable.

Tsukiko stared back at the forest, startled by the sudden and surprise attack. Who did that? She focused on the undergrowth, and thought she could discern someone or something camouflaged by its thick green cover. Behind her she could hear the Golbat gurgling in frustration, but another she remained focused upon the forest. A voice was echoing from that direction, obvious in the relatively quiet air. It was muffled, but it was there and it certainly was not coming from the stranger in the bushes. After making sure with a quick glance over her shoulder that the Golbat was being taken care of by Shaka and Sade, she stepped a safe distance away from the carnage and continued to watch the forest. She even checked the skies to make sure there were no other Undead coming along to support their golbat companion. Both of her ears and her tail were perked up straight out of caution, as she continued to listen in on the strange and vague mutterings, finding them just too unnerving and out of place to be ignored.

((OOC -- I was not sure if you wanted the golbat to be killed off quickly, Kaze, so I put Shaka under a bit of Confusion to help :u))

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Celestic Town Gates | Noon || Shaka ~ 31 -- Tsukiko ~ 12

~*~ Shaka ~*~

Through the daze of his mind, Shaka hears Sade offer his help. “Need a hand? It’s not going to get far.”
The Raichu puts a paw to his head, sitting upright despite quivering from the persistent nausea of the Confuse Ray. Not wanting to show weakness, he refused Sade’s offer in a respectful voice. “I’m fine. Just give me a second.” Pushing himself onto all fours, he forced himself to stand upright. He still wavered, though, but kept himself straight. As he began to try and regain control over his senses, he saw Tsukiko stepping cautiously towards the forest outside of town. She must have gotten out of the way so she wouldn’t mess up anything, Shaka considered, offering slight remorse for her inability to defend herself. It was then that something stepped from the green boundary of the exit, with purple splotches adorning its tattered white skirt. His sharp eyesight discerned it as a Gardevoir, and he could tell it was infected if not undead.

He could feel the gardevoir’s telepathic powers grasping through the darkness of his mind, trying to clutch at any knowledge it may be able to use against him. Being already in a state of disarray from the Confuse Ray did not help, as he struggled to prevent any important memories from being located. He was all too thankful when the very cloak that he wore helped to safeguard his thoughts. The Undead finished its scrounging without much trouble, and then spoke out telepathically. ”Ivysaur, where is it?”

The way that it spoke those words started up Shaka’s caution. This was nothing more than an Undead, and it would probably lash out at an undesired answer. Although the Confuse Ray still held its sway over his balance, his thoughts were mostly undisturbed. Tsukiko had dashed back to him and Sade as soon as the gardevoir appeared, and upon seeing him struggle to maintain his upright posture came up and offered a hand. Muttering a small thanks, she helped control his imbalance as Shaka considered a response to the gardevoir. He gave a long sigh, thankful that he had closed his eyes so soon into the confuse ray. If it were not for that he would probably be a major target right now.

Shaka’s answer to the gardevoir was blunt, and he held just enough volume for the distant psychic to hear him. “An Ivysaur? I know of an Ivysaur, but he left the town a while ago. He’s probably deep into the forests by now.” Confident that he had pulled off his half-lie quite well, he continued to hold his calm gaze towards the gardevoir. He knew that those razor leaves just had to have come from Narron, but his mind was closed to any further probing by the gardevoir. Meanwhile his stare was firm and unwavering, warning the undead nonverbally not to threaten him and his allies.

~*~ Tsukiko ~*~

The Pikachu had taken a few more steps towards the forest, still curious as to why the stranger in the undergrowth was concealing themself. When she came closer, she thought she heard them rustle further away into the forest. She looked to a patch of greenery to her right, apprehensively drawing her ears back towards the supposed direction of the stranger. Whoever was in there certainly did not want to be bothered, as ironic as it did seem since it was most likely them who sent those Razor Leaves to help fight the Golbat. “H-hey,” she started, “there’s no reason to be hiding. It’s not like we’re going to hurt you.”

From behind herself, Tsukiko could hear the panicked hissing and tumbling of the golbat that Sade and Shaka were taking care of. It staggers by her, mindlessly cursing as it made its way into the forest. The appearance was unexpected, and she leapt back frightfully even though the undead was at a safe distance from her. As it fled she caught another voice, one that did not come from to her right but rather from the forest exit’s trail. She stepped back even more nervously. It was then that something revealed itself near the forest bounds--it was a tall figure, humanoid in posture. From its waist extended a long white gown which was tainted with various hues of purple, and its light green body was marred with various scars. She took in a cold breath when she saw that it was an undead gardevoir, with eyes that seemed to probe her very mind. As it tried to seek some hidden knowledge within she shook her head and averted her gaze, retreating back to the safety of her companions. “Ivysaur. Where is it?” It demanded telepathically. The voice motivated her to run even faster, and she came to an awkward skidding halt when she reached Sade and Shaka. She immediately took note of how Shaka seemed to be having a slight trouble staying upright, apparently dizzied by some confusion attack.

Tsukiko whispered to him quietly. “D-do you need some support?” She offered a hand to the Raichu, who despite his strength was still finding it hard to maintain his balance. “Yes,” he responded, “thank you.” She went to his side and sat quietly, allowing him to lean on her left shoulder for support. Shaka had already taken up his part in the tense situation with the gardevoir, stating that they had recently seen the ivysaur but had no real idea as to where he was. After crossing her nervous gaze to the gardevoir she looked up to Sade, shyly offering her gratitude for trying to help Shaka with a humble smile. It faded away, though, as she resumed her nervous stare towards the gardevoir standing by the woods.

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Celestic Town Gates | Noon || Shaka ~ 32 -- Tsukiko ~ 13

~*~ Shaka ~*~

Shaka had continued to stare cautiously at the gardevoir, his tail flicking with impatience along the ground behind him. However, he could not help but grin ever so slightly when the psychic began to declare that he was lying, and began to slam herself against the trees around her. She picked up a Rattata that had unfortunately come by and then tore it apart with a clean yank. Shaka was particularly undisturbed by the act, and maintained his attention upon her.

It was then that she teleported towards him, gripping him tightly on the shoulder and glared once more into his mind. Shaka attempted to resist the intrusion but she managed to get at his shallow thoughts, revealing the partial lie to his advice regarding Narron. “How dare you lie to me!” She threatened. “I saw him, I saw his leaf in your mind! I saw him attack from there!” His eyes traveled along where her hand was pointing, towards a random section of the forest border.

There was nothing he could really say, as Shaka stood there with that unique quiet expression and eerily calm attitude. While Narron stepped out of the bush, he planned what he could do to free himself and retaliate against the Gardevoir. His moment came when she threatened Narron to appear lest she kill the entire team, a feat of which Shaka doubted could be done despite her power. It was then that she declared she would use Future Sight on him if Narron did not come out. He kept that point in mind as he waited for the perfect opportunity to retaliate.

While she was distracted by Narron’s appearance, he started his attack.

He retaliated without mercy. Shaka’s body fills with a dense wave of voltage, producing such a noise that it audibly cracks and fizzles in the air. The shock leaps up the gardevoir’s arm, weakening the grip and freeing his arm. Once his limb was loose he immediately leviated behind the gardevoir. Fortifying his tail with the metallic strength of an Iron Tail, he draws it back and strikes the gardevoir in the side to put her off balance. There was no way he was going to let this Undead kill or injure Narron, not while he was alive!

~*~ Tsukiko ~*~

The gardevoir, not long after hearing Shaka’s reply to her question, began to react violently. Tsukiko stared with disgust as it slammed itself against the trees in a fit of rage. Even Shaka thought the action was strange, chuckling quietly at the rage of the psychic. When she snatched up a Rattata that had come from the woods and split it in half, however, she visibly flinched. That looked clearly like a living Pokémon, and the mere sight of seeing it become brutally decapitated horrified her. She whimpered slightly.

Then, the gardevoir teleported straight to her and Shaka. The action came completely unexpected, causing Tsukiko to gasp as Shaka was gripped by the left arm furiously. Shaka was forced off of her shoulder, being lifted somewhat by the taller being that gripped him. She kept her ground, however, keeping hold of Shaka’s other arm to try and make sure he could not be tossed. “How dare you lie to me!” The gardevoir raged. “I saw him, I saw his leaf in your mind! I saw him attack from there!” A lazy hand was raised, drawing straight towards the point where Tsukiko herself knew that Narron was hiding.

After coarsely threatening that she would use a Future Sight move upon Shaka (and no doubt Tsukiko herself, because of her proximity), Narron surrendered and came out of the forest border. He pleaded for the gardevoir not to hurt anyone, which left a horrible tremble to disturb Tsukiko. There was not enough time to think about it when Shaka had released a current of electricity through his body. She released her grip quickly when she felt the shocking bite, backing up as Shaka freed himself. When he began to hover around to the back of the gardevoir to strike her with an Iron Tail, Tsukiko was slightly surprised--Shaka could hover?

She pushed the thought aside, however, and instead stepped back a large distance while putting up a personal Light Screen to protect herself from stray attacks. She did not want to get too involved with this fight as long as she could help it; she was no fighter and she knew it. Let the others take care of the battle, for she would simply complicate things with her involvement and did not need to draw the attention of the gardevoir.

((OOC -- Had permission to shock and hit Piper.))

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Celestic Town | Noon || Shaka ~ 33 -- Tsukiko ~ 14

~*~ Shaka ~*~

As Shaka retaliated to the gardevoir, Sade had returned from an apparent stalking through the forest. He participated in the attack, assailing him with an energy absorption attack. Their strikes quickly enraged their enemy, who screamed out furiously. “BED TIME!!” Shaka levitated backwards and charged up another bolt of electricity, prepared for a counterattack. Narron had come out of his foliage cover from the forest, charging to them ready to help kill the psychic. Shaka smirked at seeing his friend’s appearance out of the corner of his preoccupied eyes, but was met with a vicious retaliation.

Turning her rage to the Ivysaur, the gardevoir lifted him up effortlessly. Before Shaka could interrupt her with a crippling Thunderbolt she was able to slam him against a tree and slice him up with the leaves that scarred her head. With a seething anger, Shaka flew towards the Gardevoir’s head, drawing his right arm back to charge a Dynamicpunch powerful enough to crush her skull. Before he could land his attack, the Gardevoir hurled Narron straight towards him. Narron shouted for Shaka to get out of the way, but it was too late. Shaka had just enough time to disperse his attack and brace himself for the impact. He held up his arms in front of his chest to absorb the impact.

When Narron hit his chest it drove the wind straight out of his lungs. He and Narron were catapulted backwards, falling into the deep ridge in the middle of the town. It was there that his experience in levitation saved them both. Decelerating the impact, Shaka managed to slow their velocity dramatically. When he hit the ground his hind legs slid across the damp ground, causing such a pain that he has to clench his teeth and clamp his eyes shut to keep from shouting out in agony. Narron falls away from Shaka from the loss of momentum, as Shaka continues to slide back. He stops a few feet after Narron, exhausted and winded from the impact. His legs scream with pain from their harsh use, and they falter after just a few seconds of standing upright. He braces the fall with his outstretched arms, sighing for breaths for his winded lungs. The impact will surely leave a bruise or two, but that was the least of his troubles. The pain in his legs was so great that he felt that their very muscles were being subjected to the hellish intensity of a stoked fire. For the moment, Shaka could do nothing but lie there, propped up on one arm with his crippled legs lying lamely behind his body. He snarled at the exposure of his weakness, his personally renewed hatred of Psychics and of Narron’s state. Begrugdingly, he knew, he would have to take a breather to allow his legs to stop hurting. As soon as he was able to get by that pain, he would go up and splatter that Gardevoir’s brains all over Celestic Town for what he did to Narron!

~*~ Tsukiko ~*~

The battle was going fairly well so far, with Sade and Shaka striking the Gardevoir without mercy. The Ivysaur from earlier had burst out of his forest hideaway to help combat the undead. He was lifted by the gardevoir, however, and sliced by the sharp leaf embedded in the gardevoir’s skull. Tsukiko flinched at every stroke of the leaf, at every injury that Narron had to sustain. She recoiled slightly out of sympathy for his pain, only to be horrified even further when he was hurled telekinetically straight into Shaka. The both of them fell down into the deeply lying field in the center of town.

Disregarding the Gardevoir, she dashed to the edge of the ridge, looking down to see the both of them in a state of injury. Shaka, though he had tried to maintain his upright stance, collapsed forward. He was propped onto one arm, trying to recover his breath. And it was for him that she was troubling the most.

Without another thought she skidded clumsily down the incline, nearly tripping multiple times as she dashed across the field. She stood down next to him, shivering with anxiety as she took in his state. There were no visible injuries, yet he seemed to be under severe pain. When she attempted to ask him what was causing it, Shaka denied her any answer. “See to Narron, Tsukiko.” He stubbornly directed. “Don’t worry about me; I’m fine.” The way that he rejected her questions left her even more worried. But she could not deny that Narron would need even more help, and so she hurried over to Narron to check his state. “N-Narron! Are you okay?” It was a stupid question, but if he could at least reply she could at least make sure he was still conscious.

((OOC -- There, Discord :3 I left Narron’s fall open to any injuries you would want him to sustain. Shaka managed to slow them down quite a lot before they landed, though, if that is fine.))

((OOC -- ;n; Sorry for bailing out on such an awesome RP moment, but I have absolutely zero time to make a full post tonight.

Shaka is still in pain, saving his breath to try and make a quick recovery. Despite not agreeing completely with him, Shaka accepted Narron’s plan to create a diversion. Tsukiko agreed with Narron’s demand to see to Shaka instead. She then returned to Shaka. She is watching Sade fight, hoping desperately that he will hold out as she helps Shaka.

If I have time this upcoming afternoon, I will attempt to edit this post.))