The UNDERGROUND Team

Deep below the ruins of the once-bustling city of Goldenrod lay the glory of the Underground. In absence of safety on the surface, survivors from Goldenrod had fled to the tunnels and barricaded themselves away from the Infection.

Among the many survivors was a young Larvesta, and he yearned for escape.

In the depth of what was, apparently, night (It was all the same to the dark-dwellers), the bug crawled free of the barricade, his torch-like horns hidden under dusty white fur.
In silence, he crept towards the stairs...

A flash of pink fur streaked across the city. It continued to run as if there was no tomorrow. Well, if she stopped, there wouldn't be.

"I can sense them," she muttered under her breath. She stopped for a second because the road she followed turned into an intersection. "Oh no. Where was it again?"

She raised her muzzle and sniffed the air. Apart from the cool scent of nighttime, she found what she was looking for, though dull and nearly invisible.

She began to run again, claws digging into the ground, and she swerved to the left, her tail swinging to the other side so that she would keep her balance. She had to find the tunnel leading to the Underground, or else it might be the end of her.

[1]

His rough inhales of air broke the silence of the night sky, as the charizard’s wings aggressively beat to keep the great creature in flight. He couldn’t remember how long he’d been flying, but his wings were reaching a stage where he felt as if they’d drop off at any moment. Rodolfo was exhausted. His eyelids drooped as he emitted a slightly strangled growl, his body gradually beginning to turn against him as his wing movement gradually slowed and he lost height. Allowing the wind to carry him towards what he now recognised as a particularly large city, Rodolfo frowned slightly as the scent of decay suddenly intruded his nostrils. It was exactly this sort of smell that made the charizard so determined to stay in the air.

Landing rather clumsily on a blood splattered pavement of Goldenrod City, Rodolfo suddenly felt extremely vulnerable. He’d never been to the city before and that meant in the case of meeting an infected, he would have no idea where he could escape to. Looking back to black sky, he flexed his aching wings slightly – considering travelling on despite the hideous pain, but realized it was out of the question. In time, fatigue would force him to land one way or another. Licking his lips and taking a nervous glance around him, he decided he’d investigate the city by foot before locating a suitable place to succumb to sleep.

He moved as silently as his footsteps would permit but the main problem had been the flame at the end of Rodolfo’s tail. It was almost as if he was teasing those monsters. Turning his slim head to what appeared to be a train track, now littered with rubble and decaying bodies, Rodolfo was genuinely unsure of where he should start in this place. The city was massive and many of the buildings could still be entered with ease - he didn’t want to think what could be lurking in any of them. Trying to push the thought of being savagely torn apart by those diseased creatures to the back of his mind, he kept himself aware of his surroundings, but also attempted to remain positive.

Nyx was sick of this tunnel. She had followed the panicking survivors into the Underground of Goldenrod. The once peaceful town used to be like home to the ghost when her old trainer would take her to this metropolis like city. But now, the infected Pokemon were taking over, and nobody was safe. She then saw a small, bug like Pokemon known as a Larvesta to her breaking out of the crowd. She smirked. Time to have some fun...
Nyx managed to break out of the crowd, and she floated towards the small bug. She floated above it, and then let herself float down in front of the Pokemon, trying to pull a scary face and letting out a screech.

((OOC: Had to led Misdreavus try to scare some people, I mean, IT'S MISDREAVUS.))

Shimo rested on the high branch of a dead tree, keeping an eye out for other aerial pokemon, undead or alive. A large, orange dragon caught his eye, and he identified it as a charizard, after seeing its characteristic flaming tail. He judged from its still bright coloration, and how...Not-dead it looked, that it was still alive, though it seemed to be tired out from its somewhat sluggish flying. He figured it would be wise to search out living pokemon that he could potentially team up with to survive to infection, so, he hopped off of his tree branch and glided towards where the dragon was headed.

The air around the once-great city reeked of destruction and death, of course, along with rotting corpses, because no apocalyptic area was complete without those. The dragon pokemon wasn't hard to locate and follow, seeing as it was on fire. Shimo froze in mid-flight, hearing something on one of the streets below him. Something other than the fire pokemon, who had just stopped where the pathway had a fork in it. A lithe, faded, blue body was moving slowly down the road. That thing must be undead Shimo thought, It's, like, bleeding forever!

The white pidgeot saw the charizard look back and forth, not noticing the undead lurking not too far from him, and turned to the street that the infected stood on. Come on, Shimo,He reassured himself.It's just one undead pokemon, not much you can't handle, besides, you might as well introduce yourself by helping the charizard. That will make a good impression, and he might accept to fight alongside me! Calming himself, the pigeon pokemon used an agility and dived in at full speed.

Cerberus wondered into the city that was once alive with life, a trail of blood following behind him from his chest wound that would never heal. His nose close to the ground as he sniffed out the living. The city reeked of the dead, but he didn’t care about that. All he cared about was the blood of the living. Blood, want, have, I must.

The infected Mightyena looked to the sky were it saw something like flouting fire start to land. Cerberus tilted his head wondering what that was. Then he noticed it was one of the living, a Charizard with a bright flame on its tail. He was about to sprint at it so he could finally have what he wanted most. When he stopped we’re he was. If he ran strait at it, it would just use a fire attack and set Cerberus on fire, but he still wanted to sink his fangs into the Charizard flesh and bath in its blood. He started to creep closer to the fire pokemon. Hiding behind anything to get closer. He managed to make it to an ally close to the fire pokemon. Cerberus made ready for when the pokemon got close enough for him to strike, his red eyes emanating a faint red glow in the faint moonlight. Nothing would stop him from devouring this huge morsel. Nothing.

Agni grew vaguely aware of something following him, and began inching along at a faster pace... And ran headlong into a screeching Misdreavus.

The bug screeched in return, rather startled, and its horns flared out, blasting fire into the walls. The roar of the flames echoed throughout the tunnels, and the light would've blinded them both.

"IDIOT! You're going to get both of us killed!"

Leo shifted to a stop suddenly as she heard a screech. Her heart stopped at first, thinking it was one of those infected pokémon, but after a few beats, she realized that it wasn't.

She closed her eyes and perked her ears. She heard something. A faint voice.

She instantly turned around, finally realizing she had been going the wrong way all that time. Just then, her stomach lurched as she smelled something wrong in the air.

Oh no, she hissed in her thoughts. There was an Undead nearby. And from what Leo has learned, they were almost always hungry.

She ran into an alleyway, planning to go around her previous straight path. If she had taken that way, she would've ran straight into the one she feared the most. It was better to take the long yet safe way rather than a short, dangerous one.

Remaining totally motionless, it had suddenly come to Rodolfo’s attention that he wasn’t alone. The heavy scent of decay had alerted him that he was being watched, and the smell’s intensity suggested that he was about to meet a life or death situation. Gulping and knowing full well the capabilities of those monsters, Rodolfo tried to convince himself he was safe, it was all in his head, but the aroma was too hard to ignore. Knowing that his wings wouldn’t carry him far and his tail would provide the creature an easy way of tracking him, Rodolfo decided he had no choice but to fight.

Spinning around on the spot, swinging his tail to create a temporary circle of light, Rodolfo soon caught glimpse of his stalker. A canine lurking in the shadows a dangerously short distance from him. He wasn’t entirely sure what species the creature was, but he was certain that it was both infected and powerful. Slightly unnerved, he disguised his fear and let out a low, throaty growl that would usually send a normal pokémon scampering away. Of course, he knew it wouldn’t phase the infected but it was worth a try. Spreading his wings in an attempt to appear more threatening, he readied a wing attack when his attention was suddenly diverted. A white pidgeot flew past him at a speed fast enough to mistake the creature for a ball of light. Rodolfo stumbled back; shocked at the creature performing an agility attack at what he presumed was the infected creature who’d been following him. Was the pidgeot helping him? Snapping himself out of his confusion, he aimed a wing attack at the infected mightyena.

Nyx giggled. The underground is safe, we'll be fine...relax. She sighed. Though I do miss the outside... It had been far too long since she had seen the sky, breahted the fresh air, seen the land. You...were going outside, weren't you? That's dangerous...
Who knows what might happen if she let this Larvesta go out, where an infected could rip it to shreds and eat the bug? Nyx didn't want to think about it, the infected Pokemon scared her enough already.
That faithful night her trainer released her, thinking she was an infected, came back to her mind. She pushed it away, and looked back at the Larvesta. It..really isn't safe if you go out there.. can I come with you? It'd be better if there were two Pokemon together. I promise I won't make loud noises anymore...

Shimo barreled towards the infected, using one of his best move combinations, and agility that transfers into a super fast wing attack that very few can even see coming. He aimed the attack as well as he could against the undead, and flew by, hoping that the wing attack made contact. After he got high enough to know he was safe from the infected, he spun around to look and see how his move did. He saw even the charizard staggering, but his speed usually did that to others. He knew that even if his move didn't connect, that the infected would at least be blown back.

He saw that the charizard was shaking the speed off, and was readying an attack. Judging by the position, maybe a wing attack of his own? Either way, he hoped that the dragon pokemon would hurry up, because the infected was recovering from Shimo's attack. He figured that he might as well stall the undead pokemon a bit more, so he used round, uttering a piercing tune that would usually cut down any pokemon. He wasn't so sure if it would even affect the infected, though. Nevertheless, he kept singing and hoped for the best, and possibly hold the infected off until the charizard attacked.

Cerberus dug his claws into the ground as a huge white blur flew past him, and before he could recover he was hit in the side and sent flying by the Charizards wing attack. He stood back on his paws and turned back to face his prey. “Escape, cant. Die, you, now!” Cerberus said before jumping the Charizard, but before he could do anything he heard this horrible screeching sound coming from above him. He looked up to see the white thing flying high out of his reach. He growled and let out a howl, before releasing a Shadow Ball at the bird pokemon.

It didn’t seem to have any effect on the bird pokemon, which was making him even angrier. So ignoring the Pidgeot he turned back to the Charizard. Cerberus started to run at the beast using his Take Down attack, but the fire pokemon used a smoke screen to cloud his vision. Now really irritated the infected Mightyena used its nose to locate it. It managed to pinpoint in to his right and so he charged with another Take Down, this time hitting the Charizard in the Chest, and having it stager backwards. But before Cerberus could finish it off the white Pidgeot hit him in the back with another Wing Attack. The impact sent Cerberus flying into one of the buildings. The force of the impact would have most likely killed him if he wasn’t already dead, the blood from his unhealing chest wound now all over the streets from being knocked about.

Cerberus stood up on his shaky legs and stared at the two pokemon. Blood started to drip from his mouth, and his eyes were filled with hate. If it wasn’t for it being two, instead of one, he knew he would be able to take them. He still wanted to sink his fangs into the Charizards flesh. Even the Pidgeots would be welcome. But he knew he couldn’t take them both on at the same time. He let out one more growl before turning away from them and running in the other direction out of the city.

Agni sighed impatiently as the ghost rambled.
The underground is safe, we'll be fine, relax.
She's got a point.. I haven't heard Infected down here in a while...
You were going outside, weren't you? That's dangerous...
"Indeed it is, but I'm tired of just trying to wait out the apocalypse. I'd like get moving, though. These people don't need to suffer for my impatience..."
...
It..really isn't safe if you go out there.. can I come with you? It'd be better if there were two Pokemon together. I promise I won't make loud noises anymore...


...
"Very well then. But, if we find any Infected down here, you're going to help me kill them. We can't have them running across the shelter, okay?"
The insect twitched and skittered on ahead, attempting to beckon for Misdreavus to follow.

Leo was about to exit the alley when she heard almost deafening sounds. A small hiss escaped her lips and she took a few steps back into the darkness.

It was a battle between a Charizard, a Pidgeot and an Infected Mightyena.

With interest, she saw the Mightyena turn away from the battle zone. Leo stepped deeper into the darkness, cautious that it might see her.

Leo then left quickly towards the two flying Pokémon. She looked up at them bravely, not caring whether they were larger or not. She spoke up, her voice strong and powerful, even though she was scared not long ago.

"Are you looking for the Underground Entrance or are you passing by?" She stared at the two, waiting for an answer.

Rodolfo was pleased he’d mustered the strength to knock the infected back with his wing attack and had prepared to launch a replicate, but the creature had other plans. Eyes widening as the creature charged towards him, he reacted instinctively with a smoke screen which seemed rather pointless due to the night’s darkness, but fortunately had an effect on the canine before him. Trying to take the opportunity to escape, he suddenly felt an extreme pain against his chest accompanied with the infected’s foul, diseased stench. The wind knocked out of him, and his aching body too tired to cope with the physical attacks, Rodolfo was launched backwards with a strangled growl. His body met the ground a few feet away and he lay on his side, wincing at the aching from not only his chest, but also the rest of his body – his muscles finally turning against him from days of continuous flying. He was doomed. Shutting his eyes, terrified that the mightyena would be tearing at his throat any moment, Rodolfo waited for death to consume him.

He hesitantly opened his eyes at the sound of crashing and saw that the bird pokémon had launched another attack to send the mightyena crashing into a building. Relief swept over him as he looked up the pidgeot, with a grateful smile. Forcing himself back to his feet, shakily and uneasily, he watched the mightyena turn to him and was relieved when it finally turned away and fled. However, the pure hatred reflected in the creature’s eyes accompanied with its bloodied face, left Rodolfo with a vivid image of what his last sight may have been. He shivered long after it had left, terrified of the encounter and eager to get back into the skies – he knew that was impossible though and some form of safety in Goldenrod would have to do. Slumping back breathless and wide-eyed, he looked to the white pidgeot and smiled helplessly.
“You... you saved my life,” He said breathlessly, his chest continuing to ache. “That thing would have killed me...” He was struggling to come to terms with it all and his voice was tinged with confusion. Looking at his chest, he noticed blood smeared over which he could only guess came from the mightyena. Rodolfo had no open wounds, just many old scars littered faintly across his head, neck, chest and arms. Looking away, disgusted his dark eyes found the pidgeot once more.
“Thank you.” He said softly, gradually overcoming the shock of the battle.

Rodolfo suddenly jumped at the sight of another creature, but sank back down into a sitting position when he saw the mightyena hadn’t returned. It was an espeon who spoke with such strength, that Rodolfo felt ashamed of the terror and unnerves constantly keeping hold of his mind. He frowned slightly at the mention of the underground and glanced to the pidgeot, wondering if the bird had any more knowledge than he.
“The-the underground?” He uttered hesitantly, inspecting the creature. He noticed the scar across her eye but presumed it came out of bravery – unlike his own scars. He was a coward amongst his kind, but perhaps with fellow survivors, he could start afresh. “Sorry, I’m not... from here,” He explained. “What is this, err, underground?”

((OOC: Skip my turn, just act as if Nyx followed Agni. I really can't think of anything else.))

Shimo watched confidently as the infected being ran away, glad that there was one less thing to deal with. That Charizard and I make a pretty good combination He thought. Hearing a voice, he turned to look at the dragon.

“You... you saved my life. That thing would have killed me..." Was the flaming pokemon thanking him? Either way, he nodded in response and glided down closer to see if the Charizard was hurt too bad. A pink form caught his eye as he landed on the pavement.

"Are you looking for the Underground Entrance or are you passing by?" The underground?Shimo had never been to this place before, hell, this was the first time he had been to this region.

“Sorry, I’m not... from here,” The Dragon responded to the pink thing. Upon closer inspection, Shimo realized that it was an Espeon, one of the many forms of eevee that he had seen along his travels.

Shimo snapped back into the conversation. "I don't even know where I am, sorry. I'm just as confused as this guy." He tilted his head towards the Charizard.

Agni hurriedly skittered out from the Underground, Nyx in tow. While his mad dash for the exit had been truly uneventful, and no Infected had appeared, the little bug took no chances until..
"... Sky.. I see the sky, Nyx, we're out. :3"
Agni stared into the starry night, his tiny blue eyes sparkling. "And they're all safe. :3"
His horns started to glow bright red as he crawled out into the city, ensuring that his new companion would be able to follow him... completely forgetting the possibility of the dead finding them.

"Travelers.." Leo nodded at them, her eyes bright. "The Goldenrod Underground is a complex underground network right beneath our feet. It's a safe haven as no Infected has ever gotten in. I'm headed there right now. You two should come."

Leo had an uneasy feeling. When the Charizard spoke, she thought she heard fear in its voice, but thinking it was impossible for such a powerful creature to be afraid of anything, she quickly shook it away.

She turned around and her heart quickened. She saw a bright red glow shining through the darkness. With a quick hiss, she lowered herself in an attack stance, ready to leap if ever it was an Infected.

Rodolfo listened to the espeon in silent relief. The only word that continued to resound in his head was ‘safe’. Safe meant a place to rest without the constant paranoia of being hunted, and maybe, survivors to look out for you. A small smile forming on his lips, the charizard couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such happiness. Just the mention of somewhere ‘safe’ had instantly classified the espeon as a friend. But what’s more, he had company. He hadn’t had the chance to fully appreciate the presence of another, living pokémon when there was also an infected trying to murder him, but now, Rodolfo was overcome with emotion.
“A-Are there others?” He asked, trying to mask his excitement. In a few short seconds, Rodolfo had switched from extreme fear to sounding almost like a child at Christmas. “I mean, other survivors?” He forced himself to his feet then; the pain in his chest had begun to numb yet one flex of his wings momentarily brought a flicker of pain over his features. He hoped that he would have the capability to fly pain-free by tomorrow, but he couldn’t be sure about anything nowadays.

He glanced to the pidgeot, wondering how the bird would respond to this proposal when he noticed the espeon’s stance had changed to defensive. Frowning slightly, and the happiness slowly draining away, he turned his head in the direction that Leo was focused on. He didn’t see the glowing red immediately, but when he did, he instinctively took a few steps back in alarm. He didn’t want to run, throw away the chance to befriend these creatures, but the urge to save his own skin was becoming overwhelming. Silently gulping, he dug his claws into the ground, eyes never leaving the glow.
“W-What is that?” Rodolfo whispered, the vision of the mightyena’s face leaping back into his mind. He abruptly shook away the image, reluctantly holding his ground as he awaited the next move.

The sky...it was beautiful. The fresh air felt wonderful as she breathed in. Nyx let out a dreamy sigh. It's so great to be outside after so long... The Larvesta beside her looked quite happy to be out, and she smiled. Her new companion's horns glew brightly, and he started to crawl through the city. Nyx followed him, looking around, making sure there were no infected Pokemon around. If there was...well, she was prepared to fight.

Shimo nodded at the Espeon. "I will come with to this underground, but only for as long as I need. We must continue to fend off this threatening infection, not hide from it." He ruffled his feathers as a breeze swooped by, and turned over to the Charizard. The dragon looked back at him, probably wondering why Shimo would even think of leaving a safe place to fight infected. Suddenly, the Espeon and the Charizard gasped, and went into defensive positions. Following their gaze, the white Pidgeot notice a red light. "You guys stay here," He ordered. "And I'll scout ahead to see if it is an infected."

Shimo took to the air and glided over towards the gleaming red light, hoping that it wasn't something that he had to kill. He noticed that the light came from a small, white pokemon. Certainly it can't be an infected. It's far too light colored... He stopped over the little form, and noticed that there was another pokemon with it. Shimo slowly descended, keeping in mind that these beings could be hostile. As soon as he got close enough to the ground for them to see him, he confronted them. "Who are you?" He demanded.

Night had fallen over the city of Goldenrod, and Riley glided for a short distance on his small and slightly wounded wings over to the remains of the PokeMart. He could identify it by its faded blue roof, and Riley wished he had the courage to go in and see if there was any medicine that could help him. Over the past two days, Riley had been extremely weak, his body was burning hot and he had no idea why. The little Gligar thought it could have something to do with that Houndoom-he glanced gingerly at the bad wounds on his back and wings-but Riley couldn't be lost in thought now. The strange Pokemon might come out and attack-they seemed to like the night much better than the day.

The Gligar flew a little bit away after catching his breath and found himself near an entrance to Goldenrod Underground. Riley couldn't stand being below ground level and didn't dare venture into the place, no matter what chance he had of founding safe places. Looking closer, Riley thought he saw movement...and two things came out of the tunnel, one glowing bright red as it came out. Even though it was illuminated, Riley couldn't tell what it was, and the other was a dark color, either black or dark blue. Afraid yet excited, Riley dived behind a lamppost but accidentally banged his head against it, causing an echoing ringing noise. What if they're weird ones too?

((OOC: This is me getting writer's block. Go on as if Agni just kept moving on through the city, I can't think of how to put that into a post of decent length.))

Leo narrowed her eyes and sniffed the air. Apart from the residual scent of the rotting Mightyena, it seemed fresh.

"They-- They're not Infected," she murmured. Glancing at the Charizard, who stood up tall, Leo nodded.

"They smell of the Underground. Perhaps they came from it. We should go ask. We are in no danger at all," Leo added. Knowing that a Charizard was a powerful ally, she felt safe in his presence, though there was something wrong with him. She just can't put her paw on it.

She made her way towards the glowing red lights confidently, though there was a hint of fear in her eyes. She stopped a few feet away, keeping her distance from the unknown Pokémon.

"Did you come from the Underground?" She asked.