The NEW BARK Team

(I think I'll pass my turn for a few reasons. One Hades remains unconscious, two I am mentally and physically drained and three; lack of character interaction. I will have Hades awake next rotation.)

The Umbreon followed the Glaceon in silence. She really didn't have much to talk about. Besides, she was to worried about the Squirtle anyway. She lowered her head and keep her gaze on her moving paws. She was really worried about her son, but something else was bugging her, but she couldn't put her paw on it. She let out a sigh and continued to fallow Meghdad.

Meanwhile...

Taoide blinked at the Magby. Um, i'm not really by myself. Mommy and daddy are here somewhere. The Squirtle looked around, but saw nothing. He blinked and laughed nervously. Um, I know their here somewhere... The Squirtle scratched his bald head with one hand and fiddled with his Mystic Water with the other. He sighed.

(Sorry for the crappy post)

[OOC: Fuck okay skip I'm terrible with keeping up with this team. Pan-Pan = going inactive soon. orz]

Hiding behind a large bush just on the outskirts of what was left of the rotting town, Oliver wasn't sure whether to be afraid or not.

On one hand, the smell of breathing, living Pokémon meant that should he venture beyond the safety of his bush, he'd most likely run into the town's inhabitants. And others made the already jittery Chimchar sick with nervousness. What if this was their territory? What if they became angry if he should enter town?

On the other hand... they weren't undead. That alone was a huge relief. Folks who didn't want to eat him naturally ranked pretty high up on his "I like you" list. Especially these days, when they were so hard to come by.

He poked his head out of the bush and raised his overly sensitive nose to the air, inhaling and shuddering slightly. Yes, they were most definitely nearby. He'd have to make a choice soon. Stay, or go?

... Stay or go where? Where the heck was he, anyway?

As if the fates had decided to answer his question, he spotted a scratched up sign lying a few feet away.

"I... guess I could take a peek..."

In a streak of orange, cream, and dark blue he shot out from the bush and over to the sign, his frown growing more prominent as he looked it over.

Human language. Ugh. Besides also making him even more nervous, as his night vision was the pits, the dark wasn't making his task of deciphering the strange symbols any easier.

"All right, then... I think that's a "B." I know that's an "A." Pretty sure that's an "R." And that last one is... eh... "K?" Oliver scratched his head nervously. "So that says "Bark." But what does that mean?" He stared at the word for a moment, searching his brain for the answer.

It was dark, and a little human girl in her pajamas sat at her writing desk, reading by the light of her lamp. Spread out on the desk was a map. Hanging onto her shoulder with his hands, hind feet braced against her back, Oliver sleepily looked down at the mish-mosh of squares and rectangles, each differing in size and length and color.

The girl put her finger on a large red square, a grin lighting up her features. "See that, Ollie? That's Goldenrod! Daddy promised we'd go see it this year!" Her finger lifted up before suddenly flying over to a much smaller square near the lower right hand corner. "And that's New Bark! Gramma lived near there when she was my age and visited friends there every summer, kinda like how Daddy and I go to Johto every summer!"

Oliver yawned and tried to smile. His Annie was happy, and that was all that should matter... but boy, was bed calling his name LOUDLY at the moment.

Anne heard the yawn and lifted her hand to rub the side of his head with a sheepish smile. "You're right; it's late. We should be in bed." She giggled. "Oh, but I can't help it! I love these trips so much that whenever it gets near the time when we go, I get all excited and can't sleep!" Glancing sideways at her friend, she reached up and turned the lamp off. "But you need your sleep, so let's go to bed."

"New Bark." Oliver muttered aloud. "I must be in New Bark..."

He looked up from the sign. "New Bark. That's a hell of a long ways away from Route 32. I wandered further than I thought..."

The sound of grass rustling reached his ears about the same time the smell of rotting flesh assaulted his nose.

Without a sound he shot off into town. There was no other thought in his head other than "HIDE!"

(Ooc: Hi, everyone! Glad to meetcha all! ^^ I'm kinda long winded so I apologize for that if you guys don't like it. Looking forward to RPing with everyone! Oh, and whole scenes in bolded italics are memories/flashbacks while sentences in italics are thoughts.)

The sun rose over the small Johto town. Leaning against a cold chimney on the roof was a Scizor. Trenton was growing impatient about waiting for Noah. He wanted to leave, but there was a part of him that felt so ceonnected to this town that he was physically unable to. Grunting, he crossed his arms, watching the sun slowly rise.

Trenton took to the air and scanned the town. It was easy finding undead if you looked from above. He spotted some survivors, an Umbreon and a Glaceon. Trenton noticed an undead Raichu running towards them as well as several undead Pikachu and Pichu. The Scizor would refuse to stand back and watch innocent survivors get hurt for no good reason. He's already lived that type of life, and he wasn't going to let anyone else suffer a similar fate.

Growling slightly, he took off to the ground. He stood in front of the duo and yelled, "GET BACK!" while he charged at the Raichu with an X-Scissor attack. The noise attracted the Pikachu and soon they were surrounded. "You two! Take care of the rest. Leave the Raichu to me!" Trenton shouted to them. In a crimson flash, he tackled the Raichu to the ground and kept attacking it.

(OoC: 'Sup guys. Heard there was nothing going on, so I thought I'd bring in some undead. Glad to be here)

Taoide blinked when Permida had yet to say anything. He sighed then he heard a voice. "Hello?" He looked around, but the voice was gone he sniffled alittle and sneezed. He shook his head and walked over to the lab wall and tapped on it, Yo, anyone home? I heard ya calling.... He waited for a response from both Permida and the voice. He just hoped it wasn't an undead he was trying to talk to.

Luna's ears perked up at the new voice, but what it said worried her. The voice had come from a Scizor and he said to take care of the others. Luna nodded, Alright... The Umbreon's body lurched toward the group of electric types.Damn, I hate mice. She shot a few Shadow Balls toward the Pichu's then used Dark Pulse on the Pikachu's, but there was just to many for her. She hissed and swiped at the mice as they got closer. Then a Pikachu and Pichu duo came at her with a double Volt Tackle.

The attacks hit their mark and Luna was knocked back about 15 feet. She huffed from the sheer power of the undead mice. Then she felt something deep in her throat. She took a deep breath and let out a mighty Screech attack, lowering the defense of the mice and giving her a chance. The Umbreon rushed forward as her rings started to glow blue and she slammed into the Pikachu group with a Retaliate attack. It was as powerful as it could have been, sense everyone she cared about was still await and had not fainted. The she felt a splitting pain run up her spine as she was Slammed into a tree with one of the Pikachu's tails. She let out a yelp as her body went limp on her and the last thing she saw was the face of the undead Pikachu the face of death.

"Holy..."

Oliver was quite certain there hadn't been a word invented to describe the horror he felt watching the Umbreon be beaten into a tree.

Oh, no, not because she was hurt. It was because she'd be dead in about thirty seconds.

Unless someone stepped in.

Time seemed to slow down around him. Anne's voice rang out in his head, replaying a thought she had shared with him one lazy, rainy afternoon.

"Sometimes, Ollie, you gotta be the hero. Or else no one else will be."

There was no other thought; the Chimchar was reacting on sheer emotion now. He poked his head out from the protective cover of his bush and inhaled deeply, feeling the heat within himself rise dramatically. His tail burned hotter, brighter, the flames reaching higher as he finished his massive intake of air.

Then he exhaled, and a flamethrower attack roared to life, the flames shooting out as fast as he was capable of forcing them out. The brightly burning column slammed into the Pikachu creeping up on the unconscious Umbreon and immolated it, shoving it over onto its side.

When he reached the end of his exhale Oliver gasped for air, sagging with weariness. He had not used that attack in forever and his tolerance for using such a powerful move had diminished considerably.

Raising his head to look, the Pikachu wasn't dead. Well... dead-er. It was badly burned, and now thoroughly pissed.

But it was also distracted.

Oliver refused to give himself any time to think; if he did, he'd be running for the hills. Instead he threw himself at the Pikachu in a flame wheel attack, spinning into it with all the force he could muster.

That was the last thing the Pikachu had expected him to do and down it went, its undead body unable to hold itself together any longer. It collapsed in upon itself in a disgusting mess of goopy innards.

Now his conscious thought returned, and the Chimchar shrieked in horror and disgust, leaping away from the remains and shaking himself to try to get the blood and gore off.

... Completely forgetting in his freak out that the Pikachu had not been alone.

The Raichu was taken care of easily. A swift and well placed X-Scissor did the trick. Trenton looked back just in time to see the Umbreon get slammed into a tree. There was a Pikachu approaching her. He would've failed if a survivor was killed. He was ready to attack it. However, a Flamethrower attack beat him to it. He stayed far away from fire, seeing how weak he is to it. The Pikachu wasn't dead yet, as another fire attack finished it off.

When the fire faded, Trenton saw that it was a Chimchar who killed it. It jumped back and shook the blood and gore off of itself. There were more closing in on them. Trenton took to the air, calling out to the fire monkey, "There's no time to get the blood off ya, kid unless you wanna die." It wasn't exactly the nicest thing to say, but it was all he could say before getting close to the horde with Agility and then taking them out with Aerial Ace.

Trent was slammed by one of the infected. There was too many for him to point out which one. It knocked him into the side of a house. He couldn't get up. He was too exhausted to attack, but he wasn't ready to die yet. Growling, he looked to the Chimchar and yelled, "Kid! Back me up here damn it!" He tried to get up, but he fell over again from the pain.

The Squirtle scratched his head. The voice had yet to say anything interesting back, so he shrugged. Then he heard something. A yelp rang in his ears, as he jumped toward the sound. He got into the clearing just as Luna was thrown against the trees. Tao rusted forward, but was beated to the punch by some Chimchar. He scolded himself for leaving the Umbreon.

The Squirtle jumped in front of the Umbreon as the undead Pichu's started to advance on the knocked out dark type. He raised his arms in front of the Umbreon, Back off! Back off! He yelled as a sprout of water shot out of his mouth and at the undead in a Water Spout attack. The undead stumbled back as the force of the attack knocked them to the ground. Leave my mom alone!


The Umbreon's vision turned dark as the Flamethrower took out the undead Pikachu. She could hear voices, but her eyes had fallen. She felt so useless! Why was she always falling into the undead's trap. She cursed herself so many times. She was so tired of being the weak link for any group she was in. All she wanted was the ability to protect those she cared for, but she never got the chance to. She didn't want to be weak anymore.

Oliver was panicking. A Squirtle child--Oliver recognized the species from Anne's Great Big Book of Pokemon--had just run on scene, running to stand alongside him in front of the Umbreon. He didn't react to the gory mess in front of him, nor the ghastly appearance of the undead with the kind of reaction you'd expect of a child. Rather than going comatose from trauma, or at least bursting into tears, he started to attack, using his power over water for all he was worth.

But he was, regardless of his bravery, still a child. And a battlefield was no place for someone so young.

The group of undead advancing again, Oliver realized that a strange, red Pokémon that he did not recognize was now more or less in the same position of the Umbreon; while not unconscious, he was still unable to defend himself. And there were a couple undead advancing on him, too.

Another choice he had to make reared its ugly head: Help the fallen adult, or stay with the child? Leaving the kid meant the horde would overrun him in seconds. On top of being so young, he was also at a type disadvantage! But the adult was hurt, and two Pikachu closing in on him! as far as he could tell, the Umbreon was still out. The undead were moving slowly now, as if they weren't able to move quickly anymore, but soon enough, they'd make Oliver's decision for him if the monkey didn't act.

Oliver gasped softly for air as he began to hyperventilate. No matter what he did, someone would die!

As he began to space out, mind slowly shutting down from stress, something caught his eye.

A tree.

Quite large, with a thick trunk, it was clearly on its last legs. The trunk was rotting on one side.

The Chimchar could only describe what happened next as a lightbulb going off inside his brain.

"Please, please work..."

Taking another deep inhale, Oliver again spit out a flamethrower attack... not at the horde, but at the tree. The flames slammed into the trunk with such force that the tree shifted slightly on its base.

The fire finished the job by burning through the trunk in a matter of mere seconds. With a crash, it went down... cutting off the path of the undead heading Trent's way. They yowled in anger, shambling back towards the rest of the group to punish the one who had almost crushed them, the bug forgotten.

Oliver's prediction had been spot on. They were all easily distracted. One life saved.

Though panting, Oliver forced himself to attempt the move again, not wanting to get to close to the infected. A stream of fire spurted out into the group of eight or so undead left, knocking a few down and burning them. The move hadn't been as powerful as last time, and Oliver doubted he'd be able to use it again. Flame wheel might not work either; the fire within him needed time to regenerate itself.

His hand began to glow with dark purple and dark red as he readied himself to use shadow claw, staring fearfully at the advancing threat, waiting for the right moment to strike and willing himself not to freak out again.

Trenton was beginning to lose hope when suddenly, a tree fell right in front of his eyes. "What the-" Damn, when he expected the Chimchar to help, he didn't expect the kid to bring down a tree. However, it got the undead's attention. He also noticed a young Squirtle, standing protectively in front of the Umbreon. He was warning the undead to 'stay away from his mommy'. Trenton admired his determination and how protective he was of those around him. It made him wish he had a kid who would keep him safe when he was in trouble.

As the Scizor slowly got up, he walked over towards the Umbreon and Squirtle. Trent picked an Oran Berry out of a tree and placed it in front of the Umbreon's mouth. He sat down with his legs crossed in her line of vision, even though her eyes were closed. He looked at the Squirtle. "Do not worry, young one. I mean no harm." He then looked at the Umbreon and said, "Eat this berry, miss. It will make you feel better." He hoped the Umbreon could hear him.

The Squirtle stood next to the fire type. He continued to eye the undead as they wearily looked at the fallen tree. He glared at the Pikachu that hurt Luna. He opened his mouth and a beam of ice shot out and froze the undead that stood next to the tree. Steam come from the water types mouth as he smiled. I'll leave the last three to you, alright? He said to the Chimchar as he turned back to his mother. Mom, you alright? The turtle asked the feline.


The Umbreon moaned as the voices around her got louder. "Eat this berry, miss. It will make you feel better." Luna slowly opened her eye and found an oran berry laying in front of her mouth. She saw Taoide next to her. She let out a sigh of relief and slowly ate the berry. As the Squirtle helped her up she shook her head slightly. Thank you. She spoke in a hushed tone. She nodded her thanks to the Scizor and to her Squirtle son. Then she shot a Shadow Ball at one of the undead the Chimchar was facing.

Oliver almost shrieked with surprise when the shadow ball came shooting out from behind him, narrowly missing his head. Thankfully, the Umbreon seemed to have impeccible aim, as it hit her target; the undead Pikachu closest to him. As it went down from the hit the Chimchar leaped at one of the other two, slashing it upside the head with his shadow claw as he landed. Down the two went in a heap, Oliver beginning to scream from fear and pain as the Pikachu slashed into his face and proceeded to try to maul him. Pure instinct driving him, Oliver shoved his shadow claw as deep into the undead's stomach as he could, and it collapsed in on itself just as the other had. But with his arms shredded and himself exhausted, it was all he could do to stand, his trembling limbs screaming at him for rest.

"Piiiiiikaaaa..."

Oliver's head snapped up at the vengeful sounding cry that the last Pikachu made, gazes locking. There was murder in those eyes, and it was sparking with electricity.

"He's going to end that cry with "chu" but I won't be around to hear it, because I'll've been zap fried!" Oliver gasped for air, tears welling in his eyes as scrambling to try to move, but simply couldn't do it. Pain shot through his arms and legs and he collapsed, staring in mute terror at the Pikachu as the electricity surrounded the small form and the creature leaped at him in a volt tackle.

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut. If he were going to die, he didn't want to see it.

"I'm so sorry, Annie... so, so sorry... I never found you..."

Trenton nodded when the Umbreon thanked him for the berry. His stare at the undead remained unphased. He wanted to make sure that they weren't going to hurt anyone anytime soon. The Squirtle said he'd leave the last three undead to the Chimchar. The Umbreon narrowed it down to the last two undead for him. Though the Chimchar was quick on his feet, the Scizor wasn't sure if he had the mental and physical energy to finish them off. He was able to finish one off, but he got hurt in the process.

Trenton soon saw that the last one was readying a Volt Tackle. The Chimchar was paralyzed not by the Pikachu, but by fear. Trent wasn't pleased at all by fear. He felt no fear. Swiftly, he moved in between the Chimchar and the last undead Pikachu, letting the electric attack hit himself instead.

The attack sent him flying into a tree. He felt a sharp pain go all across his body as he hit the ground. He tried to get up, but he too weak to even move. He grunted as he tried moving, but it failed. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the undead Pikachu. Trenton mumbled to himself "You know we will always win in the end."

(OoC: Trenton isn't dead yet, he's just REALLY exhausted.)

Luna tried to get up, but the Squirtle forced her down, Let me help mom. The Squirtle smiled and stepped forward. He inhaled deeply as a spout of a water knocked the Pikachu to the ground with a Water Spout. Then he jumped in front of the Scizor and used Ice Beam and Tackle combo to make Ice Tackle.(LOL) Leave these pokemon alone! The Squirtle yelled at the now frozen Pikachu.


The Umbreon was surprised by her son's strength and determination. She struggled to her feet as she forced her body to move toward the Scizor. She placed her paw on the bug's arm as she huffed slight, Hey, come on. There's a place nearby where we can take shelter from the undead. The Umbreon motioned toward the lab as she looked at their surroundings.

Oliver was waiting for that final agonizing pain of being cooked alive by electricity, or of being slammed into something. Knowing his luck, he would feel both sensations.

But no. The Chimchar's ears detected that something had happened, and weakly cracking an eye open, he gasped with horror as the red bug he had saved just a few minutes ago was slammed into by the volt tackle into a tree.

He tried to rise, and failed. The strain he had put on his arms and legs, plus the pain from the wounds on his arms, front, and face from the Pikachu's attack would not let him stand.

"Hey, come on. There's a place nearby where we can take shelter from the undead."

Shelter... shelter meant safety... Oliver again attempted to stand and fell over. He was bleeding, he was exhausted, if he opened his mouth he would probably throw up... his weakness disgusted him.

Terror shot through him as he realized something; the Umbreon had walked over to the Scizor. Had laid her paw on the Scizor's arm. Had been looking at the Scizor while speaking. What if her offer of shelter was for him only?

What if they were going to just leave him here? Alone? While wounded? Lying here would just be begging for some undead to off you, but if they did not take him with them...

Oliver preferred to leave that thought unfinished.

Lifting his head from its spot in the dirt, he desperately attempted to lock gazes with either the Umbreon or the Scizor. He usually avoided meeting anyone's eyes like the plague, but it was the only way he could try to communicate nonverbally with the two older Pokémon.

"Please... help me... don't leave me here..."

Trent was in some sort of dream state. He was reliving the worst memory he's experienced.

Trenton was sitting in a labratory, hooked up to machines. He looks over to Noah, who's sitting beside him. "Don't worry," he told the Scizor, "everything's gonna be fine." Professor Oak then entered the room with a frown on his face. He had a folder with papers in it. "I have the results, and it does not look good at all Noah."

"What is it?" he asked the professor. "I am afraid that our Scizor was born with a genetic disability that leaves him unable to breed with any pokemon within his egg group. He is unable to have any kids, Noah..."

Mentally, Trenton was crying, but on the outside, he knew he needed to stay strong for everyone else. His eyes snapped open when he felt a paw on his shoulder. "Hey, come on. There's a place nearby where we can take shelter from the undead." It was the Umbreon. She motioned over to the place the Scizor recognized as the lab.

Trenton sighed from exhaustion. The day barely started and he was already tired. "Yeah, just give me a sec..." Using the tree for support, he slowly made his way back on his feet. When he stood up, he slowly let go of the tree and began to take a few small steps. The Scizor was acting like a toddler learning how to walk. He then saw the desperate eyes of the Chimchar. He looked back to the Umbreon and then back to the Chimchar. Trenton extended an arm to the Chimchar and said in a stern voice, "You'll be safer if you come with us."

Taoide walked over to the Chimchar and gave a thumbs up. Your not bad. My names Taoide, or you can call me Tao. Tao wasn't the best at making friends, but at least he tried. He nodded at the Scizor then followed his mom. Head 'em up, move 'em out! The Squirtle said as he placed his hands behind his head and laughed.


Luna helped the Scizor up, but looked at the Chimchar with a smile as the Scizor spoke, "You'll be safer if you come with us." The Moonlight pokemon nodded her head and stood in front of the Chimchar, Yes, it'd be better for all of us to be together and besides, the tunnels have medical supplies we can use. The Umbreon motioned for the fire type to get on her back.

The Chimchar was overwhelmed. Not only were they both assuring him that they wouldn't mind if he tagged along, but they were both willing to help him try to walk! It was a hard thing to process in such a short amount of time.

"I... no Pokemon has ever wanted to help me before... even Martin didn't like me much... only Annie and her father did..."

His face flushed slightly at the Umbreon's offer, partly because of her kindness and partly because he had never been this close to a female Pokemon before. Taking Trenton's arm hesitantly, as if afraid he was suddenly going to withdraw his offer, he managed to slowly get to his feet and then from there, clamber up onto Luna's back.

"I'm bleeding on her." He thought with a wince as a drop of blood rolled off his nose from a gash on his forehead and landed on the back of her neck. "Oh, I hope she doesn't get mad... Arceus, please don't let her get angry..."

Oliver cleared his throat and, keeping his head down slightly so as to avoid eye contact, spoke up in a small, meek voice. "Th-thank you... s-so much... I-I'm r-really g-grateful..."

"Especially since, y'know, most would have looked at me, been 'Aw, to hell with him' and then left." Oliver thought miserably to himself.

(Skip. I'm having a bad case of writer's block for Trenton today. Just say he asked for names.)

Tao stopped in his tracks as he remembered Permida. He walked over to his mother and tapped her on the shoulder, Hey mom, um, imma gonna stay outside for a bit. I ah, have someone i'm waiting for. The Squirtle laughed nervously as Luna eyed the water type. Luna looked at the Chimchar then at the Scizor, but nodded toward her son. Alright. Just be careful alright?

Taoide smiled and ran off to wait for his Magby friend. Luna sighed softly but turned to the Scizor again as he asked for names, My name is Luna and that Squirtle is my adopted son, Taoide. She point a paw toward the Squirtle as he ran alittle further off. She felt the blood on her back and she looked at the Chimchar worryingly. Don't worry. We'll be in the tunnels soon and i'll look at your wound. The Umbreon smiled at the Chimchar as her pace quicken.

Meghdad looked at the Chimchar with deep concern and new that he will have to be quick about getting the meds that is needed for the fire type. "Luna find a place to take shelter with these two and I'll go get the meds from the tunnels. Right now make sure he rests as well as you and the Scizor and I'll be back soon," Meghdad said as he turned to watch Taoide wait for his friend. The Glaceon then gently nuzzled the Umbreon before he took off at full speed towards the tunnels he could just see ahead.

Parmida had left Taoide long enough so she could bring back the berries that she had hidden in the spot where her father told her to stay. Soon she was at the spot and grabbed the berries, after placing them in her blue scarf, which she took off earlier, and place the berries inside it before she tied it up and began to carry it back to where she left Taoide. After a few moments she saw the Squirtle ahead of her and smiled. She then noticed a group of Pokemon not too far behind him as he waited for her. "Taoide I'm back and brought some berries for us. Who are those Pokemon behind you," she asked curiously when she was close enough for the turtle Pokemon to hear her.

"O-Oliver." The Chimchar whispered meekly when asked his name by the large insect whose species he was still questioning.

His attention was then quickly captured by Tao asking if he could wait for someone. Oliver was surprised when his mother gave the okay without even asking who he was waiting for, but kept his mouth shut. It was not his place to say anything, but he knew he'd kick himself later if anything happened to the kid.

He momentarily drew back as the Glaceon stepped into view, but his fears were quickly somewhat soothed by the way in which he treated Luna, nuzzling her affectionately before glancing over at where Tao had vanished. And then, of all things, expressing concern over their wellbeing, even Oliver's.

It was this and the fact that he no longer had the energy to get alarmed that relaxed the Chimchar and allowed him to think clearly.

"I'm exhausted and sore all over, and these cuts hurt so badly... but I'm alive. I'm alive and I'm with Pokemon who actually seem to care..." His throat constricted slightly and he swallowed. "I think... everything might be okay... maybe..."

That was when he heard it.

It was a cry, so faint it could barely be heard even with Oliver's oversensitive hearing. But it was definately a vocalization, he could tell that much, and he could detect a definate amount of fear and pain in the voice even if he couldn't make out any of the actual words.

"W-wait!" Oliver stammered out, standing up a bit and lifting his head to listen. "I-I th-think I h-hear s-something! S-someone's h-hurt!"