The VICTORY team

"It is good to see a fellow Umbreon. My name is Yoru." the Umbreon spoke swiftly before dipping his head at Xavier. "I would love to sit and chat friend but I must save a young Pokemon friend of mine. Please help she is only newborn and I fear for her life in this cave."

So, this Umbreon was searching for some other, young Pokemon? Xavier hoped there wouldn't be too many around, he couldn't stand crowds, especially if they involved Infected ones. The red-ringed Umbreon raced off without even waiting to hear what Xavier would say, presumably going after his friend. When asking for help, you don't just run off... Xavier growled in his head, but followed after the larger Umbreon quickly. Then he heard the cries.

"Yoru!? Lola?!! Oliver!!! YORU!"

It was an unfamiliar voice, as most were to Xavier, but this one was obviously crying for help. In the depths of his darkened mind, Xavier could remember a voice like that, coming from his little sister. The one he had failed to save, and if the one calling was the other Umbreon's friend, would Xavier be the one to force him through that grief? Because he had not acted in time? His shining rings glowed brighter than ever before from the emotions Xavier had swirling in his head, illuminating the area all around him. Xavier was barely paying attention as his paws urged him forward, to ignore the others and simply follow the voice. His mind yelled at him not to go, not to risk his life for a stranger, while his heart told him to keep going.

His pawsteps resounded across the cave floor as he frantically searched for Scarlet. Her screams echoed in his mind but all he could hear was the pounding of his heart. Yoru's biggest fear was to lose another one dear to him and he wouldn't let it come true. His ears perked at the sound of gentle cries that were close by and he made his way to them to find Scarlet curled in a ball on the ground. Nearby an undead Hoothoot watched with menacing eyes.

Yoru let lose a strong shadow ball that destroyed that ghastly creature. He turned his sights back on Scarlet and gulped softly. His heart had tightened at the sight of Scarlet and he nuzzled her small shaking form. A tear pricked at the corner of Yoru's eye and fell to the cave floor. He was trying to be strong for her but the sight of her shaking brought great sadness to him.

"Shh, shh it's alright little one I am here now. No one will ever hurt you." Yoru laid down and wrapped his body around her to warm her up. He gently pulled the scarf tightly around her and used protect.

Scarlet's terrified little voice ringing across the vast cavern to his ears made Oliver shiver. He wanted nothing more than to run and hide with her, just so he could try to forget the gruesome images of Shadow's death that were still flashing through his mind. But he tried to cast those aside and concentrated on finding little Scarlet; that was the top priority for them at the moment. If another one of his new friends were to die, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to take it.

He sniffed the air, and aside from the usual stench of blood and death there was another, much softer one. Before he could recount his finding to the group, Yoru had found little Scarlet. With great relief, Oliver decided to give the baby Ralts a little more encouragement. Wasn't that his job, seeing as he was bigger than her?

"That big monster is gone now," he said, crouching down next to Yoru so that he was at her level. "It's OK, you can come out now. Me, Mr Yoru, Miss Lola and Mister..." he hesitated at the new Umbreon's name, having failed to hear him introduce himself, "...and the new Umbreon will take good care of you."

He glanced at the newcomer apologetically. "Sorry, mister, I didn't hear your name. I'm Oliver."

"Shh, shh it's alright little one I am here now. No one will ever hurt you."

Yoru's voice was like light in the middle of darkness for the scared little ralts. She let out a cry and clung to him burying her tear ridden face into the dark fur as she shivered, the red scarf covered most of her.

"Monsters... Monsters..." she whimpered into his fur as his own feeling dreched her giving an alternative to those of an undead.

"That big monster is gone now. It's OK, you can come out now. Me, Mr Yoru, Miss Lola and Mister..." There was another presense, Scarlet looked up at Oliver. Unaware of her tear streaked face as she looked to the older pokemon. Seeing them gave the baby a small amount of confidence. But it was very small. Scarlet looked at the newcomer her eyes widening at him, he looked so much like Yoru, she didn't know how.
Her confused face went back and forth between Yoru and the other Yoru with 'blue' rings before she gasped and his back into her scarf and next to the original Yoru.

Lola felt her heart leap for joy as they found the missing Ralts, and was both happy and surprised to see that the red umbreon had found her first. She had no clue how he caught up to her first, seeing as Lola and Oliver ran off first, but it didn’t matter, Scarlet was safe and sound, a little shaken up, but safe nonetheless. She could tell right away by how Yoru held Scarlet, that they had a stronger bond than just teammates. She didn’t know what they had gone through, but she would suspect that he was the closest thing she ever had to a father, and just maybe, he thought of the ralts in the same way. It touched her heart to be able to see such close connections during these darkest of times. Nowadays, everyone was usually looking out for themselves, so seeing this gave her hop for a brighter future in these black times.

As she saw the young growlithe comforting the younger ralts, she knew she was taking a liking to this group, made her sad that she would have to part with them soon, she couldn’t risk endangering the young’uns in her search for her miltanks. Even if the growlithe was showing less and less signs of being a young’un, showing his great courage to prioritize his responsibility for the youngest over his own feelings, it would be too dangerous for them all. She picked up where Oliver finished, “He’s right yah know, we will do everything we can to keep everyone safe.” He hated lying to young’uns, so telling her that everyone will be safe would go against her values, but telling her that she’d try anything to keep them safe was a promise that she meant to keep.

She turned her attention back towards the newcomer, another umbreon, but distinctively different than Yoru. She instinctively stepped forward a little bit, putting herself between the new umbreon and the growlithe. It wasn’t that she was expecting the newcomer to attack, but the slightest chance made Lola want to take precautions as she waited for its answer to Oliver’s question.

DELICIOUS!

The great iron serpent tracked his prey from far below the ground, now DRIVEN, having tasted the delicious flesh so recently.. the great beast wanted MORE, and NOW, the hunt be damned.

The earth trembled under his motion, seeming to part before him as he tunneled his way back to the surface, where he could hear them scream.. and hear them he did.. A small voice, seeming to call out from the darkness... Ferrow burrowed towards it, his spikes beginning to crack the surface..

"Sorry, mister, I didn't hear your name. I'm Oliver."

Xavier's attention snapped to the young Growlithe, but he held a non-threatening look. Really, Xavier would have to be a madman(wait, he already was one! Delightful!) to harm children, especially one named Oliver. It was a simply dashing name for a Growlithe, really. But now that the Miltank and the young Ralts had turned their attention to him (the Ralts very confused, and slightly frightened,) Xavier thought he had no choice but to tell them who he was, not that they would know him. But at least they wouldn't go around calling him "that guy we don't know the name of."
"My name is Xavier," he told the others, "but really, I have quite a lot of nicknames, if you want me to tell you about those." Xavier rings glowed slightly ever brighter with his amusement, but it immediately vanished when he looked at the Ralts again. Must've been who that red-ringed Umbreon was so worried about. Their bond reminded him of his sister so much, it hurt his heart.....oh , why had he let that Venemoth hurt her? Poison her?

"Now that all this is quite settled, I hope you share my thoughts about getting out of this damned cave," Xavier spoke, forgetting not to curse in front of the younger ones, but he forgot that a lot considering there were so very few children around lately. "Know any exits? Entrances? Secret entrances? There are no end to the possibilities, at all." Xavier flashed a sort of mischievous smile that exposed his sharpened fangs, the ones he was always very proud of. Well, at least mountains will provide some protection from the weaker Infected. I hope.

Yoru's ears flicked at the approach of the other Pokemon and the other Umbreon whose coloring was strange like his. His Crimson eyes drifted to Scarlet who was pressed against him and he nuzzled her softly before getting up, doing his best not to disturb her. His soft fur stay close to her as he eyed the newcomer. Something seemed off about him but Yoru's excitement in meeting another of his kind drew the fear away.

"Xander, you are welcome here with us in our fight to survive. You seem to have meet my group of friends here and I am sure they will think the same when I say, the more the merrier. In a situation like this, it is best to stick together and fight together than alone." His voice rang softly against the darkness around him and his faint red bands glowed brighter in the shadows. "I too share your thoughts of leaving this place but unfortunately I do not know the way out." Yoru's statement was cut short by the rattling of the ground. He could just make out Ferrow's spikes lifting out of the ground and his eyes widened. Quickly, he nudged Scarlet unto his back and stood up looking towards the others. His bands glowed with growing fright as he twitched his tail for them to follow him. "We must go now and quickly!" He waited for the others to follow before running down the mountain tunnel, fright leading him on...

"Oh no, not again..."

Oliver whimpered as the spikes of the giant Steelix that had killed Shadow began to impale the surface nearby. His first instinct was to run as fast as he could, away from the danger, so that he would not end up as the Infected Pokemon's next meal. He started forward as soon as Yoru began to move, and briefly stopped to make sure that the others were following.

"Come on, hurry! We have to get away from here!"

Away ... yes, they had to get away, but where was 'away' exactly? Wherever Oliver looked as he ran, the cave looked exactly the same. But there had to be a way out, there just had to be! They had to find out where 'away' was and go to it. But how?

"Mr Yoru," he panted, catching up to the Umbreon, "if we stay in here that big Steelix will eat us up too! We have to start looking for a way out. Maybe ... maybe we should try getting a little higher up the mountain?"

He was surprised by his own initiative. Not only that, but previously an encounter with an Infected terrified him so much that he had once hidden for three days straight, without food or water. Now he felt ... confident, somewhat. They would get out of there, and they would survive. Perhaps it was the fact that Oliver now had friends to protect; a novelty that he was not accustomed to.

The ralts to her credit didn't run away and scream when she saw the demon again. But maybe it would've been better if she had because she was turning a faint blue, apparently the sight of the beast had caused her to forget how to breath.
When Yoru picked her up she made no objection and instead worked on breathing again. She clung to Yoru's black fur despratley. She shivered in fear.
"Go away demon go away..." she cried. "Go Away!"

Lola was beginning to dislike this new comer. Something about him did not seat right with her, she had bases for this assumption, but she could not shake it off. She especially didn’t like how he so bluntly cursed in from of the young’uns, but the giant infection parting the ground impeded on her telling the shiny umbreon to watch his mouth around the younger ones. And just like that, they were all running away from the metal spike cutting through the earth, with Lola in the rear to make sure no one falls behind.

Lola agreed with Oliver’s idea, going to higher ground would allow them to find their way, which would remain impossible as long as they stayed inside this maze-like cave. “Maybe if we can even find the outer edge of tah cave, we can make our own exit.”

((Meh...i had no clue what to write))

((ERM, seeing as I got here before the HArbingers I assume it's still safe ;; skip me, I've been having writer's block))

Did he just call me Xander...? However, Xavier's annoyance with the crimson Umbreon getting his name totally wrong was cut short by the fact that metal spikes had cut through the earth, so easily able to kill any of them here, and that would really suck. As the others started to flee from the jagged spikes, Xavier raced after them, his paws slightly thudding against the cold, hard ground of the mountain. But when the younger Growlithe suggested they climb up higher into the mountain, Xavier was appalled by the suggestion.

"If we climb higher, the ground beneath us could easily collapse from the power of that Steelix, leaving us free to be crushed, eaten, or otherwise..." However, there really wasn't anything else they could do. Stay here, and all would be devoured, and Xavier had long forgotten the locations of the exits and entrances. "But we don't have a better plan, so full steam ahead, I say." The rings of the golden-eyed Umbreon grew brighter, casting more light for them to get through the paths of Mt. Silver.

Damn, we'll never get out of here alive. Xavier knew that they couldn't run forever, and that Steelix wasn't going to pull back anytime soon....yep, it seemed death was knocking on their doorstep.

Yoru, his red bands gleaming listened to the others padded feet as he fled through the cave. He could feel Scarlet's terrified form pressed against his back. The only thoughts running through his mind was that he had to get out. A group of rocks ahead, reminding him of stairs from when he lived with a trainer, loomed straight ahead and without thinking Yoru pelted towards them. The darkness ahead of him was lit up by the force his bands were producing as light and he thrust himself forward to jump up the rocks which led up.

In the room above, a dim light blanketed everything, hinting at a source of the light. Yoru's hopes heightened and his heart leaped as he ran forward towards the light, his paws pounding against the ground.

(umm is it my turn?)


Scarlet clung onto Yoru even on the bumpy ride her fear seemed to block out everything else. Out of fear her weak attack of confusion was blasting out of control making rocks fly away and sometimes making the cave teeth shake. She grew very still after awhile her heart still pounding

(OOC: Please excuse my lateness. I have been having computer problems. After this I will post at my usual turn again. Apologies.)


"Sorry, Mr Xavier," Oliver said uneasily as he ran between Lola and Yoru. "I just thought that ... well, we don't really have another choice. We can't turn back, and if we're higher up then the Steelix might take longer to get to us."

He felt a little discouraged that Xavier had not agreed with him; he had thought that his idea was bound to get them to safety, and he felt his new-found confidence begin to falter a little.

But when he saw the light that they were running towards, his spirits lifted a little. It was a small hole in the wall. Peeping through it, Oliver saw what appeared to be the edge of a steep cliff with a thin layer of powdery snow on the ground.

"Through here," he said, backing away from the hole to allow the others to look. "So ... Mr Yoru, what do we do now? Maybe if we all attacked it at once, we could break through!"

The rings on the shiny umbreon were bright enough to light up a decent amount of the cave as they ran through the maze like tunnel. It was nice to be able to see where they were going, but all of the sudden, the light disappeared, Lola looked around only to see that the umbreon with the blue rings had run off in a different direction, most likely to use his own tactics that he mentioned when he practically shot down little Oliver’s idea. If they were not on the run from a giant steel snake that could very well eat them all in a single bite, she would have sprayed his face with enough milk to fill up a bathtub.

Eventually they reached a light; it was a hole in the wall revealing the light of the moon outside. The others had stopped in front of the hole to contemplate how to make the hole bigger. But Lola already had the solution; she had taken up the rear so that no one fell behind, and since she ran a lot slower than she rolled. She still had a bit of distance till she reached the wall, so she curled up and started to roll in place a bit, kicking up dust behind her, until she built up enough velocity to go racing forward in a speedy rollout. Lola went as fast as she could and when close enough to the wall she jumped up and uncurled herself as she transitioned into a zen headbutt with the added speed of the rollout to power it up.

The result was the destruction of a good section of the wall, but she did not know of the steep cliff on the other side of wall. She started to slide down the cliff in a deep decent and would have gone all the way to the bottom if she had not reacted fast enough. As soon as she started sliding she immediately used another rollout to barely get up the small distance up the edge. She rubbed her head to soothe the pain, “Looks like this ol’ gal still has a few tricks up her sleeve huh? Though not sure how safe going down would be…”

((Not sure if we're going from one mountain to another mountain, or if we're going through the pokemon league entrance building))

Delicious..
His delicious meal still fresh in decayed mind, Ferrox plowed on through the earth, just below the surface of the tunnels, tracking his next meal. As one of them trailed behind a bit, Ferrox prepared himself for another rush to devour the new one... coiling rapidly.. before propelling himself up into the tunnels with a thunderous crash.
And yet.. he felt not soft, yielding flesh in his maw. Instead, he was met with blinding light from a hole in the side of the mountain. Screeching with rage, the serpent thrashed wildly. If their attention hadn't been had before, it certainly would now.

"Hah, I cornered you now, you dirty windbag!" Pyth sneered at the infected Drifblim with a satisfied snort. The blimp pokemon groaned and released a powerful gust in response. He noticed that the creatures' skin was punctured in several places, which kept it from taking flight, but not from taking victims. He had caught this one feeding off of a small pack of young Growlithe, leaving the unfortunate pups bloody and torn apart. Pyth had quickly put them down before they turned and ended their suffering.
"Now I can't allow you to go and tear apart families like that again." He muttered as he pawed at the ground with his hoof, readying an enraged horn attack.

Pyth sounded an attack that echoed throughout the narrow valley as he charged, horns down, hooves thundering on the hard, cold earth.
His sharp horns came into contact with the creature as a shriek escaped it, several odd smelling gases escaping its' wounds. Pyth rammed it as hard as he could into the stone walls repeatedly until it stopped moving and eventually faded.
With a satisfied bitterness, he began to make his way out of the narrow valley, aware of the dangerous situation he had put himself into.

Suddenly, an explosion came from high above him, as a rain of debris fell. Shaking the dust and pebbles off of his pelt, he looked up quickly, catching a glimpse of what looked like a bovine, using rollout back into the hole it appeared to have made in the cliff face.
"What do they think they're doing?!" Pyth shouted as he backed away, startled. A terrible screech tore through the air, followed by deep rumbling and violent tremors.
It sounds like a cave-in! Whoever that was, they'll be crushed if they stay in there...
"Ho, there! You okay?" He shouted, trying to get the attention of whoever was up there. Boulders began to fall as the rumbling grew louder.

Pyths' eyes fixed on the hole, anxiously waiting for an answer.
"I think it'd be smart to make your way down!"

(Apologies - I didn't know that Blitzstrike was away))


Oliver felt his heart hammer with the force of a rampaging Gyarados as he watched in horror as Lola disappeared over the side of the cliff. He whimpered loudly and shook his head. No! Not another friend!

"Miss Lola!" he cried, dashing out through the newly formed hole and skidding to a halt as the Miltank reappeared, unharmed. Oliver was so beside himself with relief that he jumped up, placing his front paws on Lola's belly, and licked her face. "Oh, Miss Lola, thank goodness! I thought you'd fallen down there! That was an awesome move," he added, dropping back down again and smiling at her in admiration. "I wish I could combine moves like that!"

From back within the cave he heard a voice calling to them. Running back inside and looking over the edge, Oliver spotted a Tauros looking back up at him expectantly. His fluffy tail began to wag - another new friend!

He didn't really know what to say to the newcomer, so he turned round and called to the group, "Hey, guys, there's someone down here! A Mr Tauros! I think he wants to help us!"

(skip me, Scarlet is still hanging on to Yoru)

Lola must have scared the rest more than she thought, as soon as she got on safe level footing; she was bombarded with licks of happiness from Oliver. She was glad that the growlithe was happy for her safety, and was in awe at her little combination, which she use to have to use on some of the more stubborn Tauros that visited her farm in search of some good times. “Don’t yah worry sugah, I’m sure in time you’ll be able tah pull off amazing combinations.” As she patted him on the head to further reassure him. The cave was rumbling more now, most likely because of the large gaping hole in the side of the mountain, the large steel one must be mad that they are so close to escaping, the only problem was getting down. But apparently Oliver heard something while she was paying attention to the rumbling.

She had a hard time believing it, but lo and behold a tauros was down the side of the cliff. The darkness of the night and her sudden skid down a part of the cliff made the side of the cliff more threatening than it actually is. It could still be extremely dangerous if not handled with care, but staying here with the cave shaking this much was much more dangerous. “I think it’s best tah slide our way down tah his level.” Lola looked back to the group, Scarlet would be okay if she held on tight to Yoru’s back, it was Oliver she was worried about. “I know this looks scary, but if handled with care, I’m sure we can all make it down safe. Just remember tah dig in yer claws if it gets too fast, m’kay? And I’ll go down first, to make sure yah all have a safe landing.”

Lola looked back to the group with a smile, it would do them all no good if she showed her own fear. And with a confident nod she slid down on all fours, using her hooves to maneuver herself and control her speed. She was able to make it almost all the way down with no problems, but the last segment a particularly hard rock made her stumble, making her land ungracefully near the tauros. She brushed herself off to salvage some of her dignity, before getting up and waving back to the group up above signaling them to come down. She braced herself at the bottom of the cliff, ready to catch anyone that happened to befall the same misfortune that she did. “I’m Lola by tah way, it’s nice tah see someone that isn't infected around these parts.” Addressing the bull.

They were getting away.
Ferrox was slowing down, and they were escaping.
NO.
They couldn't be getting away from him this easily.

The tremendous serpent tried to catch up, but they were too far, and already fled down the mountainside.

NO!

He thrashed about in rage, still steadily making his way towards the side of the mountain. Catch them? Probably not. He wasn't going to catch them. But he'd be damned if they made it out alive. As he reached the end of the tunnel and glared out into the night, he burrowed into the ceiling and smashed the floor with his tail as he thrashed wildly, loosing another earthsplitting roar.. literally, as he began to free looser rocks from the mountainside, which now began to rain down on the survivors below.

Watching the hole in the side of the cliff anxiously, he saw a small fluffy head pop out.
Well, would you look at that! A Growlithe. Seems there's others in there.
He could barely hear some voices over the deep rumbling in the caves. Pyth was growing impatient. He looked about quickly, trying to find suitable escape routes, but there was none but the one valley entrance.
Suddenly, a Miltank appeared from the hole and started sliding down on all fours to where he was.
Nicely done. He thought, watching her gracefully slide down without fear.
As she reached the bottom, she took a tumble and landed on the ground next to him with a thud.
Before he could move to try and help her up, she got up and brushed herself off and gave a signal to the other up there with a wave of her hoof.

“I’m Lola by tah way, it’s nice tah see someone that isn't infected around these parts.”
She said as she positioned herself at the bottom of the incline.
Nodding in respect, he introduced himself.
"Ma'm. I am Pyth of the Southern Plains." The introduction was cut short with an ear splitting shriek, followed by violent tremors. Uneasily stomping the ground, he waited near the Miltank as the others made their way down amongst a shower of rocks.

"The whole mountain is going to come down on us if we don't get out of here!" he yelled as he caught some tumbling boulders with his horns, keeping them from smashing into the small party.

"Um, OK ... I'll try!"

Oliver tiptoed to the edge, watching as Lola slid down without much difficulty and landed near to the Tauros. It didn't look too hard ... the little Growlithe tried to imagine it as a fun slide. Perhaps similar to the one that he and his brothers had once made out of the sand on the beach near to Olivine City...

Gulping, Oliver stepped over the edge and began sliding down with increasing speed. Halfway down his body turned 90 degrees; unable to see where he was going, he panicked and did what Lola told him: he dug his claws into the earth and eventually landed right next to the Tauros.

"Oh, sorry, mister, I nearly hit you," he said, getting up and shaking himself down. "Oh, your name is Pyth? I'm Oliver, nice to meet you!"

But before he could say another word, the earth started to rumble once again and huge rocks began to fall from the ceiling. He gasped in shock as one landed on Pyth's head, but the Tauros appeared to be relatively unharmed.

"Mr Pyth, be careful," he said, looking behind him to where the hole was. "C'mon, Miss Lola, Mr Pyth, let's get back up there." He started to scramble his way back up towards the hole.