The PORT Team

The Shellder seemed now calm and cuddled close to Dahlia, one could barelly hear the Shellder pronounce the word "mommah" as he burried the face against the Lapras' skin. Could it be that the Shellder saw Dahlia as a mother like figure?

The small shell looked around than looked up at Dahlia, the big round innocent eyes looked deep into Dahlia's, he tilted his head and his childish voice was heard. Why tears are of different color?

Jaws let out a relieved sigh when Nerissa -albeit reluctantly- agreed to join him to go back to the cavern. "L-Let's go, then," she timidly replied as she slipped back into the water with him.

His larger body made him a little faster than her, so he slowed a bit to a casual speed of swimming. "So, where are you from?" he asked idly, since the cavern was a fair ways away. "Are you from Johto or did you swim here from somewhere else?"

Okay, so the big guy wasn't so bad. He even made the effort to go slower for her, as his massive bulk gave him a powerful swimming speed Nerissa just couldn't match. She wasn't sure how far away this 'cave' was, or whether or not the others in it were as friendly as Jaws made them seem, but it wasn't like she had a whole lot of other options. She just kept her eyes on him, making sure that he wasn't going to suddenly turn on her out here in the middle of the water. Though she wasn't to sure, if he did, that she would survive such an encounter.

"So, where are you from?" Well, that was unexpected. The questions was so benign, and his tone as though they were just making idle chit-chat. Nerissa had never had the social grace of idle chit-chat. In fact, she could barely force social pleasentries without stuttering and making a fool of herself. "Are you from Johto or did you swim here from somewhere else?" She wasn't sure what the correct response should be, but, she didn't want to be rude.

"J-Johto...sort-of...I'm fr-from further s-south," she stammered out, her natural shyness coming through full force. "Where th-the water is a-always f-frozen." She winced at the sound of her own stupidity. 'Good job Nerissa,' she thought to herself. 'Very graceful. I'm sure you'll be making friends in two flips.' Why? Why did she have to be so bloody awkward? Surely this guy was regretting ever running into her now.

Lilith had no idea how long she had been flying, perhaps half a day now? It was hard to tell when all she was focusing on was what was below her. She had found herself at an island, and in a place on the island with many different areas, though the one that caught her eye was the water. Real water, though it was sea water, and now a calming pond, it was still water. "Finally." She said as he slowly flapped down into the water, letting out a sigh as she sat in the water, feeling it soak into her feathers. It felt nice.

Wave's lapped at Lilith's feathers as she sat there, her webbed feet kicking under the water to keep her from drifting to far out. Her eyes closed as she was content with where she was, she had even dove into the water a couple of times to get the rest of her wet. How nice it felt to finally be in water again. I Lilith loved anything, it was swimming, she loved swimming more then she loved Rawst Berries, and she would die for those. She was very much craving on right now, but she didn't want to leave the comfort of the water. The area was clear of infected, and she felt she could just sleep right there, get some rest after her long flight.

Dahlias' head was spinning as her song began to falter, her notes becoming short and shorter. She slowly turned to the small Shellder, who had been gazing at her with wide, innocent eyes.
"Why tears are of different color?" He asked quietly, staring at her face.
Dahlia tilted her head, confused. She turned to the water, her neck craning to see her reflection. As she stared down into the reflected surface, she saw a gaunt mask, stained with dark red tears.
Great Kyogre...I look...dead...she thought as she recoiled from the horrifying reflection and quickly rubbing her face against her fin to clean her face.
"It's...nothing dear, don't fret." She said quickly, giving him an empty smile.
I don't want the poor thing to worry...he already has so much to deal with...she thought sadly as her eyes suddenly met with the Tirtougas. His expression was unreadable, but she thought she had seen a hint of pain in his gaze before he turned away.
I wonder what he's thinking...and what his past is...I'm so thankful that he took us in...and helped us with that monster...
She lowered her head again, tending to her wounded fin. She unraveled one end and pulled at it, tightening it as best she could with her teeth, and tucking it back in, so the wound was completely covered again.
At least the medicine is working...she thought with relief. A thin layer of slime had covered her bared flesh, just as she saw happen when her trainer had used it before.
That's to keep the bad bacteria from getting in. Bacteria are tiny animals that live everywhere. Some is good, and some is bad. When somethings' hurt, you don't want to let anything get in and hurt them, so we have to protect it with this.
The Lapras cringed as she recalled that short but beautiful memory with her trainer. All memories were special now, no matter how insignificant. She let the rest play out in her mind as she watched Maynard re-wrap the Horseas' torso in the slimy kelp, his hands gentle but strong. She remembered how much happiness she saw in his eyes when the seahorse swam away, thankful for the help.
Dahlia began to weep once more, her vision getting blurry and dark. She wrapped her neck around the young one again and silently fell into unconsciousness.

(hi winter~)

The Lapras guaranteed the Shellder that she was okay, he blinked knowing it's not so true...he could feel she was in some kind of pain, looking at her saddly but he sighed as he knew he couldn't do anything to help her.

The Lapras warped her neck around the Shellder, which he responded by cuddling close to her, Dahlia soon fell asleep or into unconsciousness. The Shellder couldn't tell the difference and stayed in the protection of the Lapras' neck cuddling closer and petting her skin with his tongue.

"J-Johto...sort-of...I'm fr-from further s-south, where th-the water is a-always f-frozen," the little seel stuttered, he face immediately showing her embarrassment. Jaws didn't really mind the stuttering; it was better than some of the other pokemon he had dealt with while on his trainer's team... like that togekiss...

"Yeah? Never been there myself," Jaws replied casually, his tail lazily propelling him forward. "Seems a neat place to be; always liked the cold, even though it slows me down a little. I was brought up in a Professor's lab, so the only parts of Johto I've seen are the ones I traveled with my trainer." He offered a small, toothless, kind smile as he swam, then kicked a little to gain speed. "Almost there."

Nerissa was still struggling a little to keep up with the much larger water type, but to his credit he was going really slow to try and help with that. She wasn't really expecting an answer to her dumb statement about home, but he surprised the little Seel once again. "Yeah? Never been there myself. Seems a neat place to be; always liked the cold, even though it slows me down a little. I was brought up in a Professor's lab, so the only parts of Johto I've seen are the ones I traveled with my trainer." She couldn't help but blush a little. Why was this guy being so...nice? No one was ever this kind to her back home.

She thought about what he said, and she was fascinated. Nerissa had always wanted to see the world. Her mother had often told her of Pokemon trainers and battling, all the things her colony had come across during their migrations. Several times, some of her colony had been fished up by trainers and captured. Those were times when they would usually congregate to rest, and the humans had figured out their pattern. Last time they migrated, they skipped one usual resting place all together so that none of the younger Seels would get caught this time. Perhaps, if she managed to make friends with this large beast, he could show her the rest of the world sometime?

"Almost there." Nerissa was pulled from her thoughts by Jaws's words, and his quickening movements. She pushed herself hard to keep up with him and soon, they were on a rocky embankment leading into a strange cave. So, this was where his friends where? "Seems a strange sort of place," she mused out loud, not really realizing she had actually spoken. Maybe then she would have noticed she didn't always stutter. She pulled herself up to the mouth of the cave and peered in, not going inside but instead waiting for Jaws to lead the way. Just to be safe.

(OoC- gonna have to skip, sorry. She's unconscious and Viggo is watching over them)

Lilith just felt all her worry melt into the water as she sat there, here eye's closed. She felt like drifting off into sleep, but she couldn't, not in the open like this where she was easily sighted with her white feathers. She wondered if all the other white pokemon out there where already dead, and she was the only one left. The Swanna shook her head, trying to get the thought from her head. She had to keep believing that she wasn't the last one out there, she would find others, she just had to keep looking.

Letting out a sigh she looked at the beach and the many areas this safari zone had before looking out at the huge water to her other side. As Lilith looked, she saw something swimming a little ways from where she was. She didn't know what it was, but it kinda made her think of Garadose if not for that small head. There was also something with it, small and, white! another white pokemon, and they both seemed to be alive since not many undead traveled together, well, not from what she had seen anyway.

They seemed to be going somewhere, but where were they going? Lilith thought about if she should follow them, but doing so may not leave a good impression, so she just started to swim toward them. She propelled herself using her webbed feet, that worked much like the back fins of a fish. "Hello!" She called out to them, hoping they would stop so that she could catch up. Though she was worry of pokemon she didn't know, she didn't feel like being alone and hoped they wouldn't just turn and attack her.

((You skipped me Ana ;A; ))

(Lol, I fail. Didn't even remember you had joined dear, I'm sorry)

(OCC: OTL Skip me too.)

"Seems a strange sort of place," the little seel mused as they progressively got closer. Jaws glanced back to her and saw her struggling a bit and felt a pang of guilt; she wasn't as strong a swimmer... He slowed for her to catch up and pushed aside his growing anxiety. "Yeah, but it's better than what I've come across so far..."

"Hello!" a voice called from a distance. The gator pulled his head up from the water to survey what exactly had called to them to spot a pure white bird on the waters with them. He had never seen anything like her before, and for a moment, he was struck dumbfounded as he tried to figure out what exactly she was.

"Uhm... hello," he called back, pausing in the waters as he watched her. She didn't seem dangerous, at least...

Nerissa blushed madly as she realized her speculation was actually said aloud, and Jaws replied to it. Her white fur was doing nothing to hide the rosy color underneath. How embarrassing! But she didn't get to dwell on it, because a voice calling from behind them snapped her out of her internal downward-spiral.

"Hello!"

It was a...bird? Yes, a bird. A funny looking bird she had never seen before. What an odd thing that it would just pop out of the blue like that, when Jaws was the first living Nerissa had seen in months. Where they all naturally attracted to this spot? A strange phenomenon, indeed. Jaws answered back to her, sounding just as confused as the little Seel herself felt. What was it? "Um...hello?" she called back shyly.

"Uhm... hello," they said as she swam closer, but still keeping her distance. She wanted to have a good chance to fly away if they attacked her. They didn't seem harmful, the feraligatr seemed scary, but it couldn't help if its kind was forced to look like that. She found it to look cool. There was also the seel, which she thought looked cute.

"My names Lilith," she said, introducing herself before she continued. "I hope I'm not being pushy after we just met and all, but may I ask where you are going? And, if you would allow me to come with you?" It had been so long since Lilith had come upon other pokemon, she hoped they would let her tag along, and if not then she wouldn't try to push them. That would just lead to an argument, then some kind of fight that would be sure to attract those undead.

Viggos' heart quickened as he watched the Lapras, blood streaking down her face once more as she embraced the small Shellder.
Poor lass must be exhausted...
Pulling himself closer to her, he examined her tattered fin, carefully tugging apart the kelp that was wrapped around it. He recoiled a bit at the sight and smell.
Great...legends! he thought, his stomach turning as he pulled back.
The bone was glaring through the rotting flesh around it, coated with a filmy paste. The smell of the wound was overwhelming- he turned his head, trying to steady himself.
I don't know how she's even using this fin...there's not enough muscle left to move it correctly...he thought, horrified, as he carefully pulled the makeshift bandage back onto the wound. What monster could have done this to her...

She may need some more...This ones' falling apart...and she can't be bleeding everywhere...it's...not any good for...any of us...
The Tirtouga sighed heavily as he shoved himself into the waters and to the entrance of the cave where wild seaweed grew.
"I'll be right back lad, you watch over her and keep her safe." He said to the little Shellder before he slipped beneath the waters' surface.

Barbus was always one to fin the easy way out, so naturally swimming across the large and open waters was a big no-no in his books. That was why when he found a small pod of wailmers he immediately latched on to one of them without getting caught and hitched a ride. He had no set destination, he liked to go where ever the current took him, so riding a wailmer was a perfect option. Though eventually they noticed him and made him get off….

But he didn’t dwell on it, the large pokemon left him near the shore, with plenty of rocks to hide between in case things got dangerous. And indeed they did, for Barbus always had the worst of luck, but then again he usually made himself have bad luck sometimes. The area he had been dropped off in was sharpedo territory, most were killed off by other sharpedos, or have moved on to other food sources, but one undead one managed to find Barbus rather quickly.

Naturally he hid, but those teeth would go through the rocks soon enough, so he did what he did best, cling on to the beast. As it pulled back to go ram at his location at full force, Barbus crawled up and over so that he may grab on to the back of the shark.

“Those teeth aren’t any good for reaching things I see.” Using the sharpedo’s natural physic against it as it could not reach behind itself. “Heh, think I’ve just found myself a new ride.” He may be at risk of being thrown off, or worse, getting pushed against a rock as it thrashed, but Barbus was going to enjoy the ride while it lasted.

((New to the team, and usually go after Winter, but was skipped, so I went now ^.^'))

"My names Lilith," the swan stated, swimming closer. "I hope I'm not being pushy after we just met and all, but may I ask where you are going? And, if you would allow me to come with you?" Jaws couldn't help but hesitate; he didn't even know what kind of pokemon she was, and he had just acquired another companion. Nerissa was a pokemon he knew he could trust right off the bat, but he wasn't sure about this bird. Maybe it was because she was older? Or maybe that togekiss had really screwed him up more than he had thought...

Still, the swan shouldn't suffer because he had issues. Discrimination wasn't cool. "Uh... sure. The more the merrier, right?" Jaws replied with a grin, and looked to the cavern. "I'm Jaws, and this is Nerissa," he continued as he looked to the little seel behind him. "It's good to see so many healthy pokemon after all this..." he said as he motioned to the beaches behind them.

The bird introduced herself as Lillith, and while Nerissa thought it was a perfectly decent name, she had no idea what Lillith was. Bird was the best she could do, and that was only because she had once seen a flock of Wingull during a migration. Otherwise, she wouldn't even know what a bird was. Lillith wanted to go with them, and fear gripped at Nerissa like icy water. She barely trusted Jaws, and that was just because he was being nice to her, but another stranger. She didn't think she could handle this. Too many Pokemon...

Nerissa was happy Jaws took control of the conversation, saving her from having to introduce herself. Right now the small Seel's nerves were fried, being around two much larger and stronger Pokemon. She was never good around others, though she could sometimes force her way through a conversation with just one other person. But two? More? Not a chance. And considering they were heading to some cave where Jaws said there were even more living creatures around, Nerissa wanted to save her freaking out for later. So she just stayed quiet, even when her worry doubled as Jaws said the bird could come.

"Uh... sure. The more the merrier, right? I'm Jaws, and this is Nerissa, It's good to see so many healthy pokemon after all this..." The one named Jaws said. Lilith could tell they where a little worry of her, but who wouldn't be after everything that has happened. They where giving her the same look some of the pokemon gave her when she first arrived in Johto, the kind that said what are you.

"Your giving me that same look other pokemon gave me when I first got to Johto." She said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "I'm a Swanna, my kind comes from a region called Unova. I hope that will somewhat help build the trust between us." She said, still saying the same distance she was before. Waiting for them to lead so that she could follow.

His new ride was getting to be more trouble than it was worth. Constantly thrashing and ramming its side against the ragged rocks as it tried to pull the unwanted rider off. It would take more than that to make Barbus let go, his suction cups made sure he would not get unwillingly thrown off, but the ramming was starting to hurt now and the sharpedo looked like it wasn’t going to get tired soon. So naturally Barbus did what he did best, abandon ship.

Using his natural defense, he unleashed his ink into the water and made it cloudy as he headed farther off where he could see seaweed growing. The sharpedo would still follow most likely, it would be smarter to go up to land but Barbus was slower on land.

The black inky substance spread out a bit covering the undead, but the thrashing of the beast could still be seen through the dark murkiness. He would not be going back that way for a while.

The seaweed seemed to dance the current of the water, and he was so tempted to just forget about the dangers and dance alongside the foliage. He would have too, but the sight of a semi-hidden cavern was so enticing, like it was inviting him into it. “By Kyogre’s will, an empty home free for the taking.”

The Shellder watched with wide eyes as Mama didn't say anything. His eyes held hurt as he continued gently ran his tounge over the smooth skin- it was the only way the young shellfish knew to try and help. "Mommah..." Shell whimpered saddly as he watched the different colored tears run down her cheek. Mama's pretty eyes were closed now, her head close to him, but she was not moving. Fear made the Shellder nose her with the top of his clamping shell, trying to revive her. "M-mommah?" Shellder asked again when he received no response. He was calm enough that losing control was not nessisarily a huge issue, but he was starting to tremble quite violently. Mama had been awake the entire time he had been with her. Mama had always responded to him. Why was Mama ignoring him now? Did he do something wrong? A whimper escaped from within the shell and the opening slammed nearly shut- what if she was just like the trainer? The human that had been so mean? This was enough to make him tremble worse, unknown power making his body begin to glow as another Explosion threatened to overtake the young child.

But then Mister Turtle was there. He was close enough that Shell could see him but he was not interested in the Shellder, instead expertly investigating Mama's hurt fin. However, just his presence calmed down the child, and the glow faded within a few heart-beats. Mister Turtle didn't look very happy as he gingerly placed the makeshift bandage back. Shellder hopped closer to him, pausing by Mama's fin. His shell opened a little more, allowing him to gently lick the bandage in an attempt to make her feel better. "M-mommah be okay, Mestur Turrtle?" Shellder asked quietly, turning his small body to stare at him with frightened eyes. But Mister Turtle didn't meet his eyes."I'll be right back lad, you watch over her and keep her safe." 

Shell watched with confusion as Mister Turtle moved swiftly into the water again. Shellder thought hard about his words and opened his shell as wide as it would go, proteuding his tounge proudly like a dog their chest. He would protect Mama! He would! Until Mister Turtle returned! Shellder hopped back to Mama and licked her cheek, still with hopes of waking her. He was not looking behind him at the water and the loud crashing sound of water cought the child kff gaurd. Shellder whipped around with a loud cry of terror.

((Ooc; Make the infected whatever you want.~
Also, I will just be calling him Shell sometimes to make it easier to type.~ Feel free to accept or ignore the nickname.))

It was nice to know that he wan't completely ignorant of the world outside his own travels; the swan said she had come from a completely different region, away from the waters of Johto. He vaguely wondered how and why she came here, but it wasn't really an appropriate question to his way of thinking. After all, everyone's past had some dark, sad story to it nowadays...

A huge splash of water erupted near the cavern, distracting him. From it arose a blastoise, its cannons dripping with foul water. His eyes widened as he thought of the pokemon within; the lapras, the turtle and the shellder. Racing forward, he used his power and momentum to hurdle himself out of the water in a spraying leap, using his Waterfall attack to its fullest, arcing up the blastoise's body and using it to fling himself higher into the air. He allowed himself to fall back into the waters with the blastoise in an incredible splash, and when he surfaced, he saw he had done a great deal of damage to the hard shell.

The blastoise roared, to which Jaws let loose his own Roar, bellowing with rage. He would not be brought down by some second-rate water starter.

A Swanna? What they heck was a Swanna? Or Unova for that matter? Nerissa just smiled at the bird and nodded, pretending to understand. It was a trick she picked up from her dad, who would use it whenever her mother was telling him something. If you just smiled and pretended to listen, you wouldn't be called out.

Jaws seemed to accept it and that made her a little less nervous, until a massive Blastoise dripping odd goo and blood rose up out of the water right where they were headed. The little Seel panicked, but Jaws took matters into hand right away and charged it, using a Waterfall to sweep the other off its feet and back into the water. His Roar scared the hell out of her, and Nerissa backed away quickly, as she watched another side of the blue beast emerge. He was a fighter, and a damned skilled one given his quick action and confidence. She looked down pitifully. She would never measure up to skill like that. And for some reason, that hurt, to think that Jaws would see her as inferior.

((OOC: Quick question! How did we go from 'Early Evening' to 'Noon'? Isn't that backwards in time? Did we discover time travel?! Because that would be cool! lol))

Barbus could not seem to catch a break today. He had hoped for some peace and quiet when looking for a new temporary home, but so far a sharpedo and now a blastoise wanted blood around him. Maybe it was his red appearance; maybe it made them want blood more.

He wanted nothing more than to avoid that conflict, and luckily an alligator type pokemon took all the attention away. It was almost as blood thirsty as the undead turtle, mauling it and using its fierce jaws to take away its greatest defense. That was one ferraligator he did not want to cross, that was for sure, but maybe by befriending it, Barbus could avoid future danger. A little underhanded he had to admit, but if it let him be safe and do less work, he was up for it.

But first thing’s first, he had to make sure the beast won, and not the undead one. He fired two quick ice beams at the thing, each aimed at one of its cannons on its shoulders. The ice enveloping the weapons and clogging them up. Maybe now with its shell damaged and the cannons impaired, the feralligator could easily finish it.

((Just realized Winter was in the safehouse >.<))

((Heh, Mortal Kombat, FINISH HIM!))