(ELITE) The SAFFRON Team

Saffron, once the bustling, busy heart of Kanto's industry and the biggest city in the region, had not been spared the horrors of the epidemic at all. Buildings which once stood tall and strong now lay in ruins, the decaying bodies of humans and Pokemon alike littering the streets. Murders of squawking Murkrow swooped in to pick at the carcasses while hordes of undead swarmed every street, preying on any unlucky travelers that happened to wander in. It was safe to say that the city was as dead as its past inhabitants, and easy to assume that Saffron City would never retain any of its former glory again.

There was one Pokemon, though, that had taken the city's derelict environment and turned it into an advantage. The headquarters of Silph Co, the leading experts on technology in the region, was one of the few buildings that was still standing. Eleven floors high, it towered over all else, and could even be seen from some of the surrounding areas. On the ground floor of Silph was an Alakazam called Neloth, and even if nobody else had any use for the building, he certainly did.

In the huge lobby of the headquarters there had once been a large fountain feature in the centre. Years later, it was nothing more than a pit in the floor, coated in layers of slime and mold. Even though it wasn't very deep, Pokemon of a small statue and low intelligence found it very difficult indeed to climb out. Neloth had been the first to discover this, and so found it a very efficient 'pen' for his new friends.

Five undead Pokemon staggered around in circles within the pen, snarling and groaning to themselves as they continued their unconscious, useless existences. All of them were below three feet tall, and as such couldn't quite climb out if they tried. Thankfully, undead fell into the 'not very intelligent' category for Neloth, so they didn't even have the brainpower to try.

Over on the left-hand side of the lobby near some tables were two metal cages, a bloodied saw and a set of DIY instruments. Neloth was glad that he had come across that old shed on the way here; they would certainly help with his experiments. Doing everything with his mind did get a little tiresome sometimes, even for a superior creature like himself. With a grin, the Psi Pokemon drifted over to the pen, his two spoons floating in the air behind him, and looked down at his captives.

"Now then, my pretties," he droned, his pompous, English accent very obvious over the shrieks and snarls of the undead, who had noticed him, and were beginning to clamber over to the side of the pen, reaching up to the Alakazam who stood triumphantly over them. "It's a bright, new morning. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and I have lots of new friends to play with. What shall we do on this fine day, hm?"

A particularly disgusting Raticate reached up with one bloodied paw towards him, baring its filthy teeth. Neloth simply inclined his head at the rodent, his whiskers twitching. "Suicune's mane! You are an ugly one, aren't you?" He stared thoughtfully down at the rat for a moment as it snarled viciously, the spoons dancing in circles above his head. He hadn't vivisected a rodent just yet, and this one did seem the most active of the bunch. Perhaps he'd discover something new today.

"You'll do. I can't stand the sight of you and ... quite frankly, you stink." His decision made, Neloth waved his hand over the Raticate. A vivid purple aura surrounded it as it was lifted into the air. Another flick of his hand tossed it into one of the metal cages, the barred door slamming shut with a loud clang. The Raticate shrieked and gnawed on the bars as Neloth calmly made his way over, examining the tools on the table. Picking up a pair of pliers, Neloth's excited grin only grew wider as he examined every inch of the rodent's body.

"Hmm ... Now what shall we start with? The teeth? Or maybe the tail...?"

Where?
Where was it?!

The sound of fabric shredding and the soft thud of something dense hitting a wooden floor echoed in the dark shadows of the small home. Hidden in the darkness a wiry silhouette danced across the wall, leaping to and fro before shaking its head violently as more fabric shredded in the silence. No luck. A pulsing red light, growing faster in intensity the more their bearer became annoyed, was the only available light besides the soft dawn filtering in through tattered curtains. The creature of shade passed under the soft rays and a light shimmer bounced off of a deep ebony pelt as the sun tried to reflect its brilliance, but the moment was fleeting. This creature was on a mission.

‘They have to be here, they have to,’ the shadow thought bitterly to itself. ‘I didn’t come all this way for nothing.’ Pausing in its search the Umbreon finally stood center in a small room, surveying the damage he had caused. He had been searching all night but had come up completely empty and it was pissing the male off to no end to think he had risked his life over a dozen times only to come out empty handed. ‘That batty old bastard had better not have taken all of them with him when he up and fled the epidemic.’ It wasn’t helping his anxiety that he had already trashed the whole house and found not even a trace of his prize, but Yoru was determined.

His red rings flashed angrily for a moment before he began systematically ripping everything out of a nearby bookcase, trying not to make too much racket since he didn’t want any company from outside. He was beginning to think this whole venture had been a waste of time until a soft, plastic rattle was heard as something dropped out of a book onto the floor. Yoru looked down and felt his heart stop for a moment as he eyed it warily, praying it wasn’t just some random disk, and made out a purple haze under a thin film of dust on the cover. Using his paw he wiped it carefully and embossed in silver were the scrawling’s of men indicating he had just found a TM. Hopefully it was the one he was looking for, but since Yoru didn’t know one thing about the written word he had to hope.

Placing his head delicately to the disk, as he had done when learning his key Shadow Ball move, he felt the disk react and begin to spin. Grinning triumphantly Yoru threw away his less than useful Protect and summoned forth his new technique, and a blast of uncontrolled Psychic ripped through the house. His victory was short lived, however, as his reckless use of the new move caught the attention of an unwanted visitor. Caught off guard the Umbreon found himself knocked across the room by a rather gnarly looking Hypno and Yoru had to thank his lucky stars this town had been a psychic-type town.  Grinning he took to his feet and easily slid under all of his enemy’s lunges, ending up behind the bumbling dream eater and unleashing a quick Shadow Ball. He did not wait to see if the attack was enough to finish the lug because Yoru preferred to get the hell out of there. Jumping through the same window he snuck in the vulpine quickly darted his way down the street, using the shadows as cover, until he was sure the freak couldn’t track him.

Now the only question was, where the hell did he go from here?

((OOC: Skip sorry, I'll come in on the next cycle))

Mara let out a great sigh, her emerald eyes partially hidden with heavy lids. She lay on her belly, her small arms hanging limp. She slid down on the dragons' back, a frustrated pout on her maw. The Charizards' heavy wings beat the air on either side of her, then were held rigidly as they coasted on the wind currents.

"Aaaaasssshhhhheeeeesssss!" the bright Charmander whined loudly over the wind, wiggling on his back. The Charizard beneath her only smirked. "Maaaaaarrrraaaaaa!" He mockingly whined back, bending his neck around to sneer at her. "Ugh! You're such a jerk!" The little lizard shouted, pushing herself up and smacking his shoulder blade. "I'm sooooo booooored! We've been up here for foreverrrrrr!" She griped, throwing her paws up in exasperation. Ashes couldn't help himself, a trolly expression emerging from his normally stoic face. "Hi So Bored, I'm Ashes." Maras' jaw dropped, her eyes growing wide before flashing into anger. A growl escaped her as her eyes flashed brightly. "You're so MEAN!" She snarled, punching his back. "Haha-ow!" The Charizard complained, before pondering his sisters' plight.
"You reeeally wanna land?"

"YES!" she shouted, growing increasingly annoyed with her big brother. The Charizard chuckled. "Oh, fine. I need a rest anyway."

"FINALLY! Thank Moltres!" She exclaimed, praising the sky. Ashes smiled to himself, his sisters' tenacity bringing a swell of pride to his chest. His gaze fell to the land far below, scanning for a good place to land without being noticed. Maneuvering lower, a large city came up beneath them. The Charizards' face grew grim as they slowly coasted over roads littered with long rotting corpses, debris and skeletons of vehicles, charred black. Throughout the buildings and streets could be heard the groans and shrieks of the undead, floating up to the skies like unanswered prayers. They flew in silence, with Mara peeking over the dragons' shoulder, her green eyes dark with melancholy. A quiet grunt distracted from her thoughts, her gaze going to her brothers' horned head. She quickly lay flat against his back, grasping his shoulders tightly, knowing full-well what that meant.
Not far ahead of them was a flock of black birds, roosting on the rooftops and picking at the dead scattered on the streets. With a quick but heavy flap of his wings, he flew through a narrow corridor between the buildings. His long wingspan made for tight clearance as they edges of them raked against the rough concrete. Turning onto his side, they broke out into openness, only to be greeted by a monster of a building. "Whoa..." Mara whispered as she beheld the mighty structure, still standing, even against the war that had been waged at its' feet. Ashes scanned the area, before his gaze went to the roof of the skyscraper. The pair darted upwards, climbing to the sky until they could see the strange cylinders that were scattered across its' top. With a few heavy beats of his wings, Ashes landed gently, allowing the Charmander to drop down before he padded to the edge that overlooked the face of the city.
"We should be safe up here."

Morning was the start of just another day for her, the sun her eternal enemy in the way that the Vaporeon was unable to fight it and go back to sleep. Eyes stinging from a mere few hours of sleep and mind groggy from exhaustion, Lapis Lazuli regarded the outside world with a less than enthusiastic expression. She had snuck into one of the buildings in the middle of the night, the howls of undead outside flared her paranoia enough that she took one for the team and jumped into one of the abandoned homes through a busted window devoid of glass. The furniture inside was untouched, no corpses in the home despite the copious amounts of blood in what used to be the kitchen and bedrooms, but Lapis did not know that. She stared half bitterly at the unknown objects and set up; being a wild pokemon, born and raised, the scaled cat had no idea that the weird lines on the one wall was a door, and she cursed the humans whom had made the only entrance she saw a stupid jump into the outside through the high hole in a wall.

Lapis had slept on the couch, but she had no name for it herself, and she stretched her long, lanky body without really caring about what it was actually called. Her stomach rumbled half pitifully, the sun shining from outside stubborn, so her nose crinkled in displeasure. Better greet the new day, she thought with about as much enthusiasm as she had for sliding off the couch and standing next to it for several seconds for shade from the sun's light. Surely there had been a time when she had been able to sleep in; she could not remember it herself, but Lapis silently demanded they go back to then. Walking on less than strong legs, the Vaporeon approached the window which she had bounced through the night before. The golden rays shining through illuminated her form in a way that made her deeply sapphire eyes squint unhappily. Her so-called wings drooped, the weak fins hanging lazily by her side while the sun's light caught the lapis lazuli embedded between them, in her lower back, and reflected in an actually beautiful way.

Sparkles danced briefly across the fins, flickering on the roof and walls of the room, but the moment was fleeting as Lapis herself had no time to waste goggling at pretty damn lights. She was born with the brilliant gem and saw nothing extraordinary about it other than it set her apart from everyone else, forever permanently tying her to a world, society, and way of life she wished to forget forever. Bunching her muscles beneath her for a mere moment, the long bodied cat sprung gracefully to the window sill, passing through effortlessly and landing silently on the concrete outside. She was in an alleyway; behind her lay more lines of buildings, the path between the house and the next leaving a dark and potentially dangerous shortcut to the next street, but before her lay the largest building she had ever seen. Humans were an absolute enigma to the youth, and she had stumbled into what was Saffron last night when it was too late to see the massive Silph Co. Lapis had none of these names in her own uneducated mind, and as she stared uneasily up at it, the Vaporeon hardly had any drive to investigate.

Slipping through the shadows, she took the chance of traveling by the street that held the eleven floor building, warily glancing up at it once as if a crowd of people would emerge and ambush her. Her gem caught light again, sparkling, but fortunately her 'wings' were not as useless as they appeared and threw shade over the crystal as she trotted forward. She ended up well down the street without much issue, but her nerves refused to be calmed and Lapis Lazuli glanced over her shoulders more than once. The echoing shriek of some god-awful undead ripped through the air nearby, but overall it was uneventful and she sure as hell enjoyed it that way.

This was going well so far. With a final yank, Neloth snapped off the top half of the Raticate's tail, dropping it onto a metal tray alongside a paw, one of its front teeth and an ear. The undead rodent was immobilised, an intense purple aura surrounding its body as the Alakazam's Psychic worked to keep it as still as possible. Neloth's eyes also gave off a faint glow as he worked.

He reached out a hand towards his prisoner's face, quickly clenched the fist and yanked it back. At the same time, one of the Raticate's eyes popped out of its skull with a gush of congealed, dark blood and floated over to the table where it dropped down onto the tray. Undead really were so very simple to work on, especially when they could be immobilised so easily. They didn't - or rather, couldn't - squirm or twist or fight back, and Neloth certainly was glad to know that they didn't make half as much noise as some of his previous 'volunteers' had; the screaming really had been unpleasant - it had made his ears ring! What an infernal racket!

"Yes, now, I believe that we are done ... with the first phase at least," Neloth grinned, placing his tools back onto the table. With a swing of his hand the cage door opened, and the snarling rodent was carried on the air towards another, smaller table nearby. This one was completely covered in blood, and Neloth reminded himself to give it a clean later; it really was starting to smell.

Placing the Raticate on its back and ensuring once more that it couldn't move, Neloth drifted over to it, picking up the saw from his little toolkit. An almost hungry look flashed within the Alakazam's eyes as he regarded the rodent's belly. Collecting the organs was very messy work, but as long as he avoided severing the spine or damaging the head in any way, the Raticate would 'live'. Watching a Pokemon lie there with half of its limbs cut off and all of its innards bleeding on the table next to it and yet still be moving and possessing all of its instincts ... Neloth never tired of seeing it. As disgusting as they were, the undead were truly fascinating.  

"...Hm?!" In the corner of Neloth's eye he noticed a sharp glint from the street outside, like the sun reflecting off of a jewel or other shiny surface. It was there for little more than a second before it was gone. The Alakazam's eyes narrowed. "Is someone there?"

Receiving no reply, Neloth shrugged and turned back to his work. Perhaps he'd imagined it. Once he'd finished up here he decided that he would finish off those berries he'd collected the other day; with the weather being as warm as it was lately, they'd be starting to go off soon.

He looked and felt ridiculous holding a saw; he knew that. A Pokemon with as much incredible, superior psychic power as he had no use for simple human contraptions like this. But doing literally everything with his mind had started to give him headaches. He hadn't experienced this before, but was starting to guess that he was because he wasn't eating or drinking half as much as he used to. Once he'd had the berries and found himself some clean water, he could throw the blasted thing in the store room and hopefully never use it again. As interesting as this apocalypse was, it wasn't all fun and games.

Neloth gripped the handle of the saw tightly, and held its jagged tips onto the Raticate's belly. He always left the heart for last ... maybe he'd take a different approach and dig it out first this time. Results could take unexpected turns if one mixed up their methods a little...

Yoru walked silently through the city streets, struggling to stay away from the soft rays of morning light. Every time one of the pale yellow rays struck him his fur would give off a glimmer and announce to the world a shiny Pokemon was nearby. It was hard enough forcing his rings to stop glowing, but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about the fur on his body short of shaving it all off, and that was not happening. Face twisting in a grimace he soon found himself within the shadow the tallest building in the city, Silph Co. Once upon a time he and Vicious dreamed of sneaking in a robbing the place, but it had only ever proven a dream.

The Umbreon shook his head free of the lingering old memory and began making his way towards the towering structure. While he didn't need to steal their goods anymore the old company might still have something in the way of food left. They used to make a lot of stuff for Pokemon so they needed testers, right? And they had to stay there, right? So it made sense the company would keep food stores for their own Pokemon and workers. As he reached the edge of the house he was pressed against Yoru paused, tail barely breaching the shadows to swish into the morning sunlight and glint into the dirty windows. Peering around cautiously the vulpine cursed his luck that the only way over to the tower was to cross a rather large open area with no cover. If he had only gone up one more block and gone left, he would have come up on the side of the building instead of across from it.

'Damn it...'

Taking one more look at his surroundings Yoru decided to go for it, suddenly bursting into full sprint across the large street and into the courtyard of Silph Co. when suddenly he felt a force knock him from the side. Coughing and sputtering from the blow he looked up to see his friend from the psychic's house, that shambling corpse of a Hypno, only this time his buddy was sporting a rather large hole in its back. And it seemed a bit pissed off about it. Swearing under his breath Yoru used his Assurance to slam into the Hypno and use him like a spring board to throw the bumbling clown off its balance while the Umbreon bolted for the door. Smirking as he reached his destination the victory was short lived as he felt the doors rattle uselessly under his weight. They were fucking locked. Who the hell had time to lock the doors before they left?!

Panicking Yoru scrambled to a nearby window and threw himself against it until he felt it crack, freezing when a rather large bench smashed into the wall very near his head. Splinters raining into his eyes he let out a quick cry of pain before scraping his paws viciously against his eyes to try and remove them. The Hypno wasted no time in raising another nearby bench with his Psychic and throwing it at the Moonlight Pokemon, who barely looked up in time to duck. His luck was turning, however, when he saw that the second bench had finished smashing out the window for him. Whooping in triumph he moved back before leaping gracefully into the open room, quickly shielding himself behind a nearby desk. Sadly his opponent followed, having no care for his larger form scraping and cutting against the smaller window and its jagged glass. Yoru's eyes went wide as he watched the shattered remains of his entry slice and filet the Hypno, the beast not even noticing when a rather large piece went right through its nose and stayed there like some demented body modification.

It quickly lifted and hurled Yoru's hiding spot away and the Umbreon darted away, running into a new corridor and finding the main lobby. With an Alakazam right there in it. "FUCK!" he cried as he realized his mistake, body curling as he heard the Hypno crash in behind him. The smell of blood and sick was assaulting his senses, the feeling of panic welling up and threatening to spill over. He could feel a white hot heat behind his eyes and without even trying Yoru let out an uncontrolled Psychic that ripped through the room and threw everything not nailed down against the far walls. He felt and heard a sickening pop and a sticky wetness coated the walls behind the Alakazam, running down like molasses. He could barely make out a Raticate tail on the floor, knocked away from the rest of the mess of its owner, and felt bile rise into his throat.

The blast, while not damaging in any way to the Hypno, did throw the creature off balance when it was hit with a table. Yoru used this to his advantage and threw two small Shadow Balls in quick succession, the pair hitting with enough force to smash in its head and leave it slumping to the ground. This left the Umbreon with only the Alakazam to deal with but his nose caught something even more terrifying through the scent of death and decay as he turned to face his second opponent. This one...

This one was alive.

Ashes leaned against the low wall of the roof, keeping watch with a keen but calm eye. His hind legs were splayed across the pleasantly warm black material that covered the floor, his tail for once, not moving. Taking a deep breath, a glimmer of sadness fell upon his face. The air was dry, biting and reeked of death. How he yearned for the smell of seafoam and lush vegetation. The smell of other dragons, to hear the crackle of their fiery tails, and to feel their scales against his. Living, beating dragon heartbeats...

"Hey! Look what I found! It's got stuff in it!" Mara giggled, as she sloshed the contents of the bottle around. Ashes turned his gaze towards her find, and smiled. He had seen these objects before, washed up on the beaches of their home. But even those were empty or filled with sea water, and Ashes was curious what the humans used them for. "Give it here." He motioned with his paw as Mara handed it over. He turned it over in his paws, looking quizzically at the bright label and the dark content that fizzed inside. Putting the narrow part to his jaws, he bit at the plastic, tearing off the top with ease. The liquid spilt on his paws, accompanied by odd sensations of tiny bubbles popping on his skin. Ashes sniffed the contents, narrowing his eyes.

"What is it?" Mara piped up. "Did I find something cool?" Ashes' gaze flashed at her before his tongue lapped it off his paw in caution. The sweetness on his tongue surprised him- he stuck his large nose into the small container, failing to get any. Wrinkling his nose, he let the contents spill on the floor, and proceeded to lap it up. "Hey! I want some too!"

__

Far below, a crash sounded, its' voice echoing up the Charizards' ears. Ashes rose to his feet, staring down the tall building to find its' source. There, a black creature with a long tail fled from a bipedal yellow creature. From so high up, he couldn't make out details, but he was certain the black one was probably not one of the dead. Mara popped up beside him, gazing at the scene unfolding. "Are we gonna help them?..." She said softly, her eyes large as she looked at her brother. "No." Ashes glanced at her, but as soon as he saw those giant orbs, he knew there wasn't any way out. Her eyes grew bigger as she clasped her paws together. Squinting hard, he let out a sigh. "You better stay close." Maras' face brightened as she ran ahead towards a dark blue door. "Look! I found this earlier! We should go down this way!"

Ashes frowned at the tiny entryway. "Nah, jump on my back." The bright Charmander leaped on with a determined smile on her face. Ashes dashed off the top of the building narrowing his wings as they fell swiftly downward. The dark pavement quickly came towards them, but as it grew dangerously close, the dragon opened up his wings, halting their movement and gently putting them on the ground. The Charizard looked about them before padding closer to the entrance of the building. His long pale claws clicked on the hard ground as he moved, his orange coat all too bright for his comfort in such a drab town.

His green eyes searched the area around the building, but there was nothing to be seen. "Maybe they kept running?" Mara whispered from his back, before a loud crash inside made the dragon bound for the large glass doors, throwing himself into them as they came crashing down in twisted metal bars and shattered glass. The darkness in the building made the dragon pause, his eyes frantically trying to adjust. A cry came from deeper within the building, just as a pulse of invisible energy ripped through the building. The Charizard cringed but easily shook it off. "You ok?"

"Yeah!" Mara nodded, grasping his shoulders tighter. Nodding, Ashes climbed over the debris, snaking his way through to the commotion. There he spotted some sort of black and red dog cowering before an Alakazam. The room was saturated with death, and that was all Ashes needed to know. Inhaling deeply, a deafening wall of flames engulfed where the Alakazam was standing.

(He's such a doof. I left it open on whether he hit Neloth or not. I figure he could throw up a shield or teleport if he really needed to. Up to you- and if you want me to change it, lemme know)

The Vaporeon continued on her way, slinking in between buildings as she moved with caution. A gurgled cry from ahead of her made the earlike fine on Lapis' head snap up, alert, as her sapphire eyes worked to detect the source. Better safe than dead. Without seeing the infected, she snaked her way into the shadows of another alleyway; her lithe body slunk into hiding just in time as a pair of infected Venonat hopped out of the window of the house before her. They snapped their mandibles hungrily, but, thankfully, did not out the Eeveelution. She watched with unblinking eyes as they vanished again into another building. This damn place is crawling, Lapis hissed silently, baring her teeth as the sounds of the infected did not fade. There would be no way to move through the city undetected. Apparently it was a miracle that the Vaporeon got into the city last night without a single run in. Stupid ass things. Sulking by that point, Lapis Lazuli stepped tentatively out of the shade, preparing to continue moving through the city when a sound reached her.

The very definitive sharp sound of a curse: "FUCK!" Her ears perked up again, the fins fanning out as her head snapped around. Lapis' chin smacked into her shoulder as she immediately flinched as something literally dropped from the sky. Oh SHIT what is that?! It was a large orange dragon, all four paws dawned with what seemed to be singe marks, with green wings and a sharp flame on the end of it's tail. The thing was much larger than her and the cat crouched, pinning the fins on both sides of her head back. Her fangs flashed in the dim light, eyes narrowed, but her hackles were raised in alarm. Despite the obvious signs that this thing was a fire type, the last thing Lapis wanted was a fight. Though the colouring of the dragon suggested it was not infected, especially since flames have all sped up the infection process that she had seen, this thing was not all of her problems-- it was not what had yelled only a moment before.

As if brought back with her mind thinking of it, from within the massive building, a sudden blast shot through the air, rolling over her scarred scales and causing the Vaporeon to flick her paws in only minor annoyance. Had she been closer, the attack could have blown her right off her feet, but thankfully the space -and building walls- had saved her the issue of being affected. Probably psychic nature, too, she growled, watching the fire dragon. The entire damn city was full of the fuckers, but it was plausible that the blast came from either the one who shouter or an undead-- Wait- Lapis' eyes widened as she heard the dragon speak. "You ok?" What? Without missing a beat, a smaller voice eagerly chirped back, "Yeah!" There were two of them? Lo and behold, the Vaporeon was able to finally spot the much smaller flame atop the winged one's back, but that one had no appendages allowing flight. Prevo? She considered before flicking her tail. Not like it mattered.

While lost in her thoughts, the Vaporeon had missed the movement of the pair. She came back to the present just in time to see the long, flamed tail vanish behind the building's debris. Lapis stood tall again, hesitant. Should she follow? Were this pair going to be good guys, working to help the one who yelled? Or were they bandits? She immediately snorted softly, rolling her eyes sarcastically. "What does it matter?" Everyone was a cutthroat back of dicks, had been even before the dead walked. Why should she care? But she made a mistake; in speaking out loud, that attracted the attention of the same pair from earlier. Drawn out by the booming crash, the pair of undead were in the street, however this time they noticed the Vaporeon. Lapis' eyes widened as they flung their small, fuzzy bodies at her. Damn! Thinking fast, she built an aqua tail technique behind her, the water building around the thick, powerful limb until it swirled angrily. Rushing forward, Lapis whipped around mid-stride, smacking right into both of the Venonat as they hit the cracked concrete with an ugly squish! The attack was enough to take out both targets, the idiotic things so close together, but now she had another problem. Being out in the open was not an option, and without any other bright ideas, she darted towards the doors of the giant building. Halting right outside, she poked her nose around just in time to see a jet stream of flames shoot through the air, causing the water type to narrow her eyes against the light.

Things weren't going quite as expected.

Neloth had just barely sliced into the Raticate's soft underbelly when he heard an almighty series of bangs and crashes coming from outside. "What is going on out there?" he'd mumbled to himself, whiskers twitching in irritation. All he wanted was one day where he could work undisturbed by any nuisances. Hopefully whatever was out there would simply pass him by. With that hope in mind, Neloth turned back to his work.

Barely seconds later, he'd heard what could only be a window smashing in one of the offices in the adjacent corridor. Snarling, Neloth slammed his saw back down on the table and faced the noise, fingers crackling with electricity as he prepared to fire a Charge Beam at the first thing to show its face. Surely enough, a black shape hurtled its way round the corner towards him, skidding to a stop as it saw the angry Alakazam. Neloth grinned, an orb of yellow energy forming in his hands, and was about to let the attack loose when the creature cursed loudly. "FUCK!"

Neloth blinked, letting the Charge Beam dispel and getting a decent look at the Pokemon. An Umbreon, by the looks of it, covered in red glowing rings. Sinister as he looked, he was definitely healthy. But undead or not, Neloth didn't want him around to disrupt his work. "Who the blazes are you?! Did I say that you could come in here? Now get out! Go on now, shoo, before I-- oh, what now?!"

Another cacophony of noise assaulted his ears as a very dead Hypno lumbered around the corner and into the room. Neloth immediately drifted backwards away from the beast, holding out one hand to shield himself with a Reflect. At least perhaps he could gather himself another test subject, and send the annoying Umbreon packing while he was at it. Second hand aloft, he prepared a Psychic.

But the black Eeveelution had his own ideas. Neloth cried out in shock and anger as the Umbreon let out a Psychic of his own, sending shockwaves of energy blasting through the room. To Neloth, it was simply like being hit with a gust of wind, and he was knocked off balance. The rest of the room, though, didn't fare so well. His equipment was sent clattering across the floor, his tables were blasted against the wall and, worst of all, his Raticate friend was now nothing more than red, lumpy sludge splattered all over the far wall.

Neloth practically shook with rage as he stared at the remains of his lab, turning to the Umbreon with a murderous glint in his eyes as he finished off the Hypno with a couple of Shadow Balls. The little fool ... he was going to pay. "You." Apparently  Neloth was not allowed a spare second today, as out of seemingly nowhere a Charizard had appeared, a blaze of orange flames spiraling out of its mouth towards him.

He'd had enough. First these newcomers had the audacity to destroy his lab and puree his test subject, and now they were trying to kill him?! No. Standing calmly as the flames surged towards him, Neloth teleported to the opposite side of the room just as he felt the tinge of the heat on his fur. Standing on the collapsed bookcase, he prepared a Psychic of his own, his entire body glowing. "THAT IS ENOUGH!" Everyone in the room was blasted backwards as Neloth sent a shockwave of energy towards them.

Heaving in enraged breaths, Neloth glowered at them all as they staggered to their feet. "What on earth is this?! How dare you destroy my laboratory! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to perfection?! Now just look at it!" he almost screeched, gesturing to the complete mayhem around him.

Rising up a foot or so off the ground, Neloth's eyes blazed with rage as he glared at everyone. "EXPLAIN YOURSELVES," he raged, pointing over to the mess of what used to be his Raticate, "or so help me, you will all end up like him!"

"You."

Oh shit. His day just went from bad to worse. Not only had he gotten himself tracked but now he had stumbled into some kind of demented fucking horror house with a crazy Alakazam as its master. And it was singling him out because of a stupid mistake that seemed to have obliterated the Raticate. Which, by the way, why was that even there?! Oh and not to mention the Charizard that came bursting through the doors he tried to open earlier, leaving everyone exposed to the outside world and probably attracting other undead with the sound, but also said fire lizard unleashing fire literally everywhere. Yoru had to make several quick sidesteps to avoid the encroaching flames but sadly they put him right before the psychic fox he was trying to avoid. Great.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" The blast following the loud exclamation made Yoru duck down, curling in on himself as the shockwave of psychic energy rolled over his body and pushed him several feet backwards. When he felt the tingling energy dissipate he dared to open his eyes and glance up at the livid creature, head still ducked down as though trying to decide whether or not he should just bolt for it. "What on earth is this?! How dare you destroy my laboratory! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to perfection?! Now just look at it!" Yoru looked around and let a small smirk slip, fighting not to chuckle at the question. 'Not that it looked like much before I got here...' he teased in his mind, but quickly took a hold of his humorous thought as laughing at the Alakazam probably wasn't a good idea when he was trapped between him and the only way out by a large orange pyromaniac.

"EXPLAIN YOURSELVES, or so help me, you will all end up like him!"

Explain? Well it was pretty damn well obvious what happened here. He got chased, he ran, shit happens. But Yoru doubted very seriously this guy was going to take that response very well. "Well..." he attempted, slowly bringing himself up to his full height to sit nervously in the center of everyone. "You see..." As his mind drifted over the events he couldn't help but think that holding back a few details might help him. Who knew what this guy wanted or why he had a dead (oh please let it have been dead) Raticate when Yoru burst in. Safety first, of course. "I just got into town last night, spent the night in this beat up old house. And in the morning a freaky Hypno, you met him already, found me and I blasted the hell out of him. Then ran. I saw the tower and thought the company that used to be here might have something left to rummage through but Freaky followed me and so I climbed in through a window to get away. He climbed in after me and I ran in here and well...." Yoru had been talking in a rapid, single breath nearly the entire speech but as he came to the end he paused. Chuckling nervously he looked around at the destruction then at the Alakazam before he finished.

"I guess you know what happened after that. Sorry." The apology was weak at best, the Umbreon knowing that this kind of personality wouldn't care for the sentiment in the least. His level of psychotic was only going to decide whether or not he felt like killing Yoru in recompense. Despite how shitty his luck had been all day this was a gamble he needed to take. The meager apology would at least put the idea that he didn't do it intentionally in the Alakazam's mind, though wouldn't persuade him fully. Right now Yoru knew his entire fate rested with his luck turning.

When the flames cleared, nothing was there but charred furniture and marble. The Charizards' scowl grew into a snarl as he snapped his head around to see the creature, standing atop a bookcase. His throat glowed and bubbled with the threat of another blast of fire. But before he could release it on the sneaky bastard, it started glowing, right before a blast of psychic energy threw the dragon back with a powerful force. "THAT IS ENOUGH!" Ashes panicked, knowing Mara was on his back. In a desperate attempt to turn, the dragon flipped milliseconds before colliding with the stone walls of the building with a loud thud.  The dragon scrambled to his feet, dumbfounded as he searched for the small lizard. His large eyes flickered to a patch of orange on the side of a pillar, and stalked towards it.

"Hey," she said with a dizzy smile on her face. "That was new." Ashes nodded to a corner of the room, and urged her on. Maras' eyes grew wide before the lizard turned on her heel and dashed away.  A scowl grew on his face as he padded to the Alakazam, who was vibrating with rage. But to Ashes' surprise, this one was neither infected or dead. With an renewed caution, he stood as the psychic screeched. "What on earth is this?! How dare you destroy my laboratory! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to perfection?! Now just look at it! EXPLAIN YOURSELVES!"

Confusion surfaced in the dragons' mind as he glanced at the black and red fox, then back at the screeching howler. The fox took the initiative, explaining his predicament. Ashes nodded slightly, putting the pieces together. After a long silence, he realized the Alakazam was glaring at him.
"Oh- I uh..." He muttered, looking uneasily at both of them before speaking. "We were just..." Ashes gestured with his paw. "Thought you were the one that uh-followed him in." The Charizard gazed at the Umbreon. "Thought he needed help."

He glanced at the Alakazam, and the 'lab' that he claimed they had broken. Dismissively, the dragon nodded towards the mess. "...Sorry."


(i'm so sorry guys, i have a lot of things i gotta do, and i feel really bad to top it, so apologies for the wait and no text colors. ;;)

It was a show alright. Lapis almost wished she had a heap of oran to chew on while watching everything unfold. The Alakazam reacted in an incredibly pissy way, one the Vaporeon herself could hardly blame him for, but the way he glowed amused her on an almost childlike level. The searing flames from the stained Charizard suddenly warped around empty air and the psychic type was on the other side of the room, towering over the others by perching on a fallen bookcase. Really? Lapis Lazuli snorts to herself, pulling back further so only one eye watched the scene unfold. "THAT IS ENOUGH!" Without any warning at all, the room exploded in a powerful wave coming from the Alakazam, throwing Pokemon and items alike at the walls. The Vaporeon flinches, pulling back in time to watch a gust of what seemed like wind blow through the busted door, leaving her unscathed. Rude as hell, she growled but recovered rapidly, continuing her peeping Tom routine in time to see the dragon approaching her direction.

Alarmed, Lapis recoils again, but fortunately for her the orange reptile had a destination that was not the former Gem. The much smaller fire lizard had been blown to the corner of the room, her sapphire eyes flickering to the child as the Charizard checked her over for what Lapis could assume were injuries. "That was new." The child shook themself, but once it became clear they were unhurt, the dragon turned back to the commotion, as well as away from Lapis herself; a quiet sigh of relief escaped her as she remained undetected, but the party was only just beginning.
"What on earth is this?!" Looked like the Alakazam was still having a fit; he sounded more like a two year old kit than a scary adult to her. "How dare you destroy my laboratory! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to perfection?! Now just look at it!" Yep, definitely a two year old. Lapis could not even have told a soul why she stayed there really, watching the misery of these two Pokemon and the anger of the psychic type-- it was not necessarily amusement, but more like the most interesting thing that had happened in weeks. Stay 'til things get boring, I suppose. Then she would move on. Plain and simple. "EXPLAIN YOURSELVES! Or so help me, you will all end up like him!" Lapis Lazuli did not envy the Umbreon, that was for sure, and he clearly was not doing well under the circumstances either. Poor bastard.

Pulling himself up, the water cat raised an eyebrow, awaiting his glorious explanation. It was becoming obvious to her the events that must have unfolded beforehand, the Alakazam was doing voodoo work when the Umbreon screwed something up. The Charizard came later, since she had witnessed him busting the door down, but maybe the vulpine had caused some sort of blast as well? The one she had felt earlier could have been what initially ruined the place. Though, glancing at the gore and filth splattered walls, it was probably not a great place to begin with. In her musing, Lapis missed the beginning of the rushed explaination; "--and I blasted the hell out of him. Then ran. I saw the tower and thought the company that used to be here might have something left to rummage through but Freaky followed me and so I climbed in through a window to get away. He climbed in after me and I ran in here and well...." The guy seemed to of not taken in a single gulp of air while speaking, causing Lapis to raise an eyebrow from her own personal view spot. Impressive, she commented to no one. "I guess you know what happened after that. Sorry." ...That was it? Lapis' expression grew sour. That was a weak apology, at best. Bitch slap 'em, Angry. Do something interesting!

With the Alakazam's sharp gaze biting into him next, the dragon stammered for words. "Oh- I uh... We were just..." Lapis silently egged him on, waiting for the clearly brilliant response. "Thought you were the one that uh-followed him in. Thought he needed help. ...Sorry." The Vaporeon had to admit, least they tried. She stepped back, shaking her head. The show had been fun while it lasted, she supposed. Her single-man seat that took her from reality again, if only for a minute. A sigh escaped her, sapphire eyes flickering to the pair of smashed Venonat on the street. Maybe it's just worth it to go back inside and see if those dorks are better company than nothing. But the thought was not a strong one at all; after all, Lapis was a solitary creature. Why would that change now?

[ ooc: I assume Mara is closest to the door, so feel free to have her notice Lapis, Fox bby, otherwise I'll BS a reason for her to barge in next round hehe ]

In the middle of the night, Faux somehow miraculously had slunk into the upper floors of the only spire of a building in the ruins of this ghost town. The Smeargle disguised theirself as a Treeko to inconspicuously climb up the walls of the building in the dark of night. It had been quiet and thank god they were grey and blue because that sure helped their camouflage in the moonlight. When they climbed up enough to grab onto the window ledge, they slipped into the first window that had been broken open in a panic. It had only been a day since Ashes disappeared - and Faux couldn't feel any more helpless and utterly alone. After finding a small, hidden away space in a bookshelf, they transformed into a Joltik and finally tried to sleep.

They woke to dead silence, a thick blanket of it covering the entire second floor. Nothing was heard except undead Murkrow squawking and scrabbling on the streets.  Faux opened their sleep-heavy eyes and the room around them was illuminated by the light reflecting off the trees behind the building and through the window. Blue light casts on the towering stacks of boxes and ripped up tiling, and the entire scene felt oddly homey despite where they were. They laze on their perch, their bug legs sprawling out on the roomy shelf. ... It was eerily similar to how Jenny's room looked when she had been moving out just two days before. Faux shuddered restlessly and leaped off the shelf before their brain could think any further. The room suddenly didn't seem so peaceful and more like a death trap. They shape shifted back into their true self, plopping down behind a makeshift box fort to block out the scenery. It would be way too dangerous to venture out from the room, who knew what would be waiting outside for her. Despite the risk of getting gutted by zombies, the possibility of Ashes coming back and finding them was getting slimmer with every passing minute. The thought of Ashes being dead... and Giratina forbid, being slaughtered by those things... The dread tied their stomach in knots and wringed tears from the depths. Jenny.... Ashes... oh, Ashes.... They cried soundlessly.

Faux was not even remotely aware of the Alakazam on the lower floor, or of any of the surrounding Pokemon. They stared at the floor until it their vision tunneled to one spot and it seemed almost impossible to move them. Even the faint buzzing of the saw didn't cut through enough to make the Smeargle notice. They continued to sit with half-lidded eyes and ruffled up fur until that Umbreon's outburst caught her attention. "FUCK!"
My legendaries, what could be going on down there? It sounded like a living Pokemon in trouble, they were pretty sure undead were pretty much incapable with intelligent speech. Faux twisted their torso from their sitting position towards the door to hear better, only hearing more slamming. Whatever was happening, it would weigh their conscience if they let a living Pokemon get slaughtered. The bipedal beagle tiptoed to open the door and then slunk outside, turning into a blob to morph into a Charmeleon.

They slipped along the wall, checking over their shoulders and almost tiptoeing to be absolutely quiet. They could still hear the squabbling of the Pokemon downstairs. The poor faux-Charmeleon's heart seized when they hear a growl of an undead down one of the halls and immediately froze as if on ice. It barrels through the hall at the T intersection, not noticing Faux there. The ground under their feet suddenly became much more apparent after the initial shock. Before their mind could even gather what was happening they lunged down the hall they were about to turn, away from the undead they couldn't pick out because of the dim light. Their claws scraped and their flame tail shone along the hall lights. It was dark as all hell but maybe a lightsource that couldn't be put out wasn't exactly good foresight. Eventually there was a hole in the floor, just above... a lobby? It must be the ground floor.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" The floor boomed with the power of psychic force and the physical ripple tripped the lizard up. Dust permeated the air now and they stared at the puddle of light with wide eyes. Well, whatever Pokemon was in trouble seemed to have some help. Curiously, the dragon leaned down to stick their face into the hole. ARCEUS the smell was horrible. Faux's eyes watered and they resisted covering up their nostrils with their paw.
"What on earth is this?! How dare you destroy my laboratory! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to perfection?! Now just look at it!"
This was a lab? They could barely get anything of a view beyond the Umbreon a bit away from them, and the Alakazam on the bookshelf - oh boy it was livid. That was probably the Pokemon that made the floor shake with psychic energy. The amount of gore on the floor was definitely noticeable but it only could make their chest pang with fear before the Umbreon piped up, somewhat nerve wracked.
"Well... You see... I just got into town last night, spent the night in this beat up old house. And in the morning a freaky Hypno, you met him already, found me and I blasted the hell out of him. Then ran. I saw the tower and thought the company that used to be here might have something left to rummage through but Freaky followed me and so I climbed in through a window to get away. He climbed in after me and I ran in here and well.... I guess you know what happened after that. Sorry."
The Alakazam looked to the back of the room, and Faux cowered back to ensure they weren't seen just yet. And while they were at it, took a cautious glance over their shoulder.

"Oh- I uh... We were just.... Thought you were the one that uh-followed him in. Thought he needed help. ...Sorry."
They couldn't see what Pokemon said that, but it intrigued them enough to try to turn around and press against the wall to try to see. There was a piece of floorboard that stuck up and of course, Faux didn't see it and caught their foot on it. A noise of disgruntled panic came from them, but it was too late to help them. They slipped head first off the ledge and through the roof and right into the middle of the group of Pokemon. The Charmeleon fell right on their back with a loud 'oof!' - and thankfully not onto anyone. Immediately they scrambled up onto their rear end and hands, glancing around in more fear than they would have liked to show. They swiveled and saw the Charizard standing near the broken doors, and the Alakazam and Umbreon. The sudden silence made them curl their limbs into theirself just slightly. Good thing they didn't like, fall and get injured, they guessed.
"Oh.... Hi...." they offered, their glances shifting between everyone.

[OoC: They look like this in Charmeleon form, in case you need description. Since Transform isn't completely foolproof, Faux maintained their color.]

Neloth was so angry he wouldn't be surprised to discover steam coming out of his ears. Months, literally months of careful preparation, planning and scavenging for tools gone completely to waste by a bunch of low-life, blundering idiots. Idiots. The seeds for his genius had been ruined by IDIOTS.

He barely listened to the Umbreon as he rambled out excuses, silently seething at the Dark-type and at one point considering just tossing him into his pit of undead just to shut him up. His pets, being a few feet below the floor's level, had avoided the Psychic blasts, but the commotion had aggravated them, and they clawed and snarled at the edges of the pit, trying pitifully to reach the prey they knew was there. The rancid stench of blood was no doubt exciting them too.

"I guess you know what happened after that. Sorry." Neloth scoffed at the fox, his eyes narrowing dangerously. His venomous gaze snapped to the Charizard as he too attempted some form of apology. "Oh- I uh... We were just...Thought you were the one that uh-followed him in. Thought he needed help. ...Sorry."

"...Sorry." Neloth threw his arms up incredulously into the air, a sarcastic laugh cackling from his throat. "You're sorry. Well, that makes everything all right then, doesn't it?! Never mind that you've just destroyed months of work and preparation in a less than a minute - you've said sorry so none of that matters anymore! Is that it?!" His spoons spun in rapid circles above his head, his body ominously starting to glow. "The nerve of it! You blithering bunch of buffoons! I have every right to just--"

Any ideas he had about blasting these fools straight through the wall were distracted by something relatively small and grey falling through one of the holes in the ceiling. The grey Charmeleon sat up, looking at them all anxiously. "Oh.... Hi...."

"Well, isn't this just spiffing," Neloth said spitefully, pointing at all three members of the Fire-type evolutionary line. "We've got Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest! Oh, my day just keeps getting better and better." He huffed out a sigh, feeling more irritated than outright livid now. His mind clear again, Neloth's angry snarl twisted upwards into a grin as he had an idea.

"...Now then," he began more calmly after a moment of silent brooding, "Seeing as you've caused a considerable amount of irreversible damage, I'd say a little compensation is in order, don't you?" He could've burst into fits of laughter; this was just too perfect. Maybe he'd find some use for these morons after all.

"Oh, don't worry," he said snidely, "I won't be offering anything too difficult. I really quite doubt your little minds could manage anything like that. No, what I need are a few extra pairs of hands for an ... errand I must perform." 'Errand' ... yes, that sounded about right. "If you are willing to assist me for a while," he went on, the spoons now dancing lightly up and down beside his head, "then I will forget all about this little incident. You can all walk away by the end of the day, not a single mark on any of you, I promise..."

"So ... what say you?"

Shit. Yoru knew the apology wasn't going to go over well, this guy obviously not much of a people person, but this was really not going well. He was listing everything that had gone wrong since Yoru dropped in and from the sound of it he was obviously the catalyst for this chain reaction's epic fail. Great. The Umbreon sighed heavily and lowered his head, knowing he was going to get the brunt of this wrath. Which apparently required a lot of long winded nonsense. Was he supposed to be listening?

"So ... what say you?"

Definitely should have been listening. Whups. He tried to quickly piece together the small fragments of babbling his mind had picked up on and was a little worried he hadn't paid more attention. Jet had always said he needed to listen more. The guy said something about errands, right? Maybe he wanted some payback? Looking back at the group the had piled in behind the Moonlight Pokemon he gave them a half hearted smile before realizing two of them were kids. Damn.

"Look, uh," Yoru replied to the angry glowing fox. "...whatever your name is. I can do whatever it is you need doing. You don't have to drag kids into the mess." Shifting nervously he stood up and tried to calm his frayed nerves. "Kind of all my fault anyway, right?" Yoru prayed to whatever would listen that the guy would see reason.

"You're sorry. Well, that makes everything all right then, doesn't it?! Never mind that you've just destroyed months of work and preparation in a less than a minute - you've said sorry so none of that matters anymore! Is that it?!"

Ashes' passively apologetic face turned very quickly to just under a snarl as the smug thing continued howling in his ear. Yes, it should- a 'sorry' in this new world is extremely generous when every one of your days consists of avoiding getting your head bitten off by the locals. The Charizards' black and green gaze shot around to the alleged 'lab,' whatever the fuck that was, as his brows' furrowed and lips tightened. The disgusting smell of the dead was unusually strong in here, and after the commotion had ceased, it was very clear they were not alone. As the screeching monkey threw his tantrums, Ashes padded to the source of the scratching and hissing, rising from a large hole in the floor. Gazing in, the stench grew infinitely stronger, earning a cough and recoil from him.
Not wishing to make any quick movements, the dragon slowly retreated from the hole, his eyes flicking to all the dashed blood and sharp instruments that screamed of danger. If this was what a lab was, it's best if he get himself and Mara far from it. But a crash of wood and tile from the ceiling interrupted the relentless ravings, bringing with it a cloud of dust and strangely, a kind of Charmeleon he had never seen in his life.

"Oh.... Hi...."

Not only did it have a strange colored flame like himself, but its' whole body was shades of gray and blue. Upon a quick inspection, it seemed to be uninjured. In utter fascination, Ashes padded towards them, lowering his head to inspect further. Not only had he not seen any uninfected of his kind for what felt like years, but his family carried the dark flames he did now, or so his father said. The old dragon thought it to be a mark of strength among dragons. So what then, was this? A child of some kind of special descent?

"Well, isn't this just spiffing," The monkey interrupted, pointing at the fire types. "We've got Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest! Oh, my day just keeps getting better and better." Ashes' grimaced and snorted, licks of fire flaring between his bared teeth as his head rose to meet Neloths' gaze. His wings flared in a show of clear aggravation, but before he could say anything, the ridiculous ape continued his endless word vomit. Ashes began drowning the clearly insane douchebag out, only hearing spats of words like 'compensation,' 'little minds,' and his personal favorite, 'errands.' He really just wanted to grab his dangly moustache, drag him to a really high elevation, and listen to his screams as he fell.

"So ... what say you?"

Ashes merely snorted, which gave way to laughing as his tail whacked against a pillar in his amusement. "As fun as indentured slavery sounds, I have to decline." He sneered with a chuckle. "I mean, all the yes sir, no sir, shall I wash your feet sir...it just gets boring after awhile." He padded to the pit, taking a good long look around before he did. "Now don't get me wrong, this place definitely needs a little elbow grease, but uh..." He paused, his head tilting. "Have you...been outside? I think the whole world needs a little of that first. Besides..." He growled, "You have plenty of grimy friends down there to help you out with that and...." Ashes trailed off, glaring at the fox in disgust. "...Whatever else you like doing in here...with them..."

Swinging around, he casually padded to the Alakazam with his tail swinging. Not forgetting the things' thinly veiled threat, his gaze got hard. "So it looks like you have a lot of washing up to do...We'll leave you to it. Good luck, friend." Turning his back on the fox and motioning for the Charmeleon and black vulpine to follow, he padded towards Mara.

"Look, uh...whatever your name is. I can do whatever it is you need doing. You don't have to drag kids into the mess." The vulpine uneasily said behind him. "Kind of all my fault anyway, right?" Ashes' vivid eyes grew wide, making the dragon pause and turn his head to look back at him with incredulity. It was rare enough to find living in these times, but living that weren't insane, out to kill or enslave you AND seek to protect children was like encountering a legend among the heaping mess of rotting meat the world now was.

_______

"WOW! Hi! You're not dead!" Mara whispered excitedly as the others talked inside. She quietly dashed over to a retreating blue fox. Stopping at their side, her bright emerald gaze marveled at their scales. "Your scales are so pretty and blue! What type of dragon are..." Her enthusiasm choked up in her throat as her gaze fell on the obvious fish tail she had not seen before. "O-oh..." She stuttered, slowly backing up.

(ogod im so sorry for the crap quality of colors and shit. I found some very bad news out just now and i just...i cant)

"WOW! Hi! You're not dead!" The sudden cry made the Vaporeon jump, Lapis Lazuli whipping around to face what was approaching her. The small face was not hostile, at least, and large green eyes stared up at her like that one douchebag's gem, Emerald. She watched wearily, the small reptile's flame throwing her off slightly. The fire was natural, but still. Stuff would probably hurt if it hit her scales.

"Your scales are so pretty and blue!" Lapis only stares in response, her dark sapphire eyes perplexed but far from hostile. She had weird shades of scales when compared to other Vaporeon, but this kid almost seemed like he had never seen one of her own kind period. "What type of dragon are..." Lapis took a step back, her thin legs seemingly too weak to hold up the gauntly frame.

The water type did not miss the obvious drop in octaves from the child's tone and suddenly her heart was pounding. Did this little guy know the Gems? Lapis wished not for the first time that she could control the stupid fins on her back and hide the dumb rock that marked her forever. "O-oh..." The child stuttered as Lapis turned, her tail sweeping nervously over the ground.

Her wide eyes continued to stare at the Charmander. Did he know the Gems? Or not? It seemed not to matter, the awkward one sided exchange might be ending before it even started and the Vaporeon could have clawed herself for being so spooked by a mere child. Lapis turned, facing the fire type while taking a step backwards. "Um... thanks," she replied bluntly to the earlier compliment with another step backwards. "I'm not a dragon-- I'm a Vaporeon." Another step back.

"I heard the commotion, came by to see if something was going down." The honest truth came out, blurted before she could even fight it. Why was she suddenly so spooked?! This child wasn't going to hurt her. Surely. Lapis' ears snapped back, the tall fins falling. God damn I must really be lonely.

Faux recoils from the sudden loudness of the Alakazam. Sure didn't sound so booming when they were up on the second floor.
"Well, isn't this just spiffing. We've got Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest! Oh, my day just keeps getting better and better."
They could practically feel their ears pinning back and down. They didn't mind this guy's ranting before, but when it wasn't directed at them. They curled up, hot shame washing over their entire body. All the eyes that were on them before had looked away already, but it felt as if the entire city was staring at them now. Gee.... Being a klutz is seriously going to get me killed someday.

"S-Sorry...." They didn't look anybody in the eye when the Alakazam continued on.
"...Now then." Faux sat and listened to his droning... until their ear holes wanted to close in on themselves from the dripping snideness in his voice. Gee, what was so special about this place that he needed to preserve? It was... more or less, a dump. What would this crotchety old man want to be doing with all this stuff. But... looking around -- eugh, forbid they look at what he was doing to these Pokemon.... Despite being living dead, it wasn't any less... twisted. They turned around further to search in intrigued disgust and found the... odd looking Charizard staring at them - a little too intensely for their liking. They shrugged their shoulder further, not sure what sense of emotion they were conveying with their fake face.
"So ... what say you?"

There was a long pause between all of the Pokemon. Well... hell, they had no right to speak at all. What were a kid's words in a room of adults and elders? The voice of the Charizard behind them rang out first.
"As fun as indentured slavery sounds, I have to decline. I mean, all the yes sir, no sir, shall I wash your feet sir...it just gets boring after awhile."
They swivel back, seeing him looking around at the filthy room. The urge to get up on their feet started to become more apparent to them.

"Now don't get me wrong, this place definitely needs a little elbow grease, but uh.... Have you...been outside? I think the whole world needs a little of that first. Besides.... You have plenty of grimy friends down there to help you out with that and... Whatever else you like doing in here...with them... " The Charizard stepped awkwardly close to her as he passed, probably on accident from not seeing them. Or maybe it was just to them, because it was honestly a foot or two away. They scrambled up after his tail fire passed by - it was black? This is an... actual Charizard. He couldn't possibly be fake, but what was up with that color? Or, lack of color. ... Interesting....
"So it looks like you have a lot of washing up to do...We'll leave you to it. Good luck, friend."

The hulking dragon turned now, striding from the yellow psychic fox thing. They simply stood and watched with their face loose, not knowing what to do or say. Arceus, if they would have known that this Charizard would be here, they would have at least been more prepared to be a Charmeleon. It was like pretending to speak a different language and then having someone speak back to you in it. Just leaves you feeling stupid, y'know?

"Look, uh...whatever your name is. I can do whatever it is you need doing. You don't have to drag kids into the mess.... Kind of all my fault anyway, right?" The shiny Umbreon looked at them and... wait, kids? As in plural? They looked around, seeing no other prevolution other than, well. They weren't a prevolution or evolution. So... another kid. Their heart kind of throbbed at the idea. They looked around, animated now, but too focused on their searching to really give the Alakazam an answer. Not like they really would anyway.

The responses were ... mixed, to say the least. This didn't surprise Neloth too much, but it still irked him. Did Pokemon these days have no sense of respect? Or duty? They'd come in here and completely obliterated the place and thought they could walk away without repaying what they'd done? Oh no. Neloth would make them comply one way or another; there were plenty of ways to bend the will of others without using force.

"Look, uh." The Umbreon was first, clearly about to spew out more excuses. "...whatever your name is. I can do whatever it is you need doing. You don't have to drag kids into the mess." Neloth couldn't help but blink in mild surprise; he'd actually agreed to help. Good, that was one to take with him at least. "Kind of all my fault anyway, right?"

"Oh yes," Neloth droned, thoughtfully tugging at one of his whiskers. "Very much so. But don't worry - you'll have repaid all of your dues in full by the time we've finished here." If things went well, Neloth wouldn't need any of these fools at all, but just in case...

The Charizard, however, wasn't so obedient. "As fun as indentured slavery sounds, I have to decline. I mean, all the yes sir, no sir, shall I wash your feet sir...it just gets boring after awhile." What a cheek! Neloth had the right mind to chuck a book at this dragon's face. All he'd done was ask them for a favour ... and Neloth thought, under the circumstances, that he'd asked them very nicely.

"Now don't get me wrong, this place definitely needs a little elbow grease, but uh.... Have you...been outside? I think the whole world needs a little of that first. Besides.... You have plenty of grimy friends down there to help you out with that and... Whatever else you like doing in here...with them... "

Despite the dragon's attitude, Neloth felt himself beginning to grin. He twiddled his whisker around his finger, his spoons clacking against one another above his head. "Oh, I'm not asking any of you to clean up this mess," he said. "Certainly not! That would take far too long. I merely need some help in ... fetching a few things from the upper floors, that's all."

But the Charizard was already turning to leave, and Neloth noticed for the first time the little Charmander that was with him. She seemed to be making her way over to behind one of the overturned tables. With a wave of his hand, Neloth tumbled it out of the way to reveal yet another new face, this time a Vaporeon. Hmph. I thought I'd finished clearing out all the riff-raff the other day. Just where did all these fools come from?!

"All right," he said loudly, uncrossing his legs and dropping down onto the wooden surface of the bookcase. "Let me start once more. I am Master Neloth," he smugly announced, "perhaps the greatest intellectual mind you will ever encounter. I have been conducting a series of research on the undead, trying to learn more of their anatomies and behaviour, as well as attempting to analyse their blood and body tissues for any indication of a possible cure." He paused a moment, reaching out and closing his fingers around his spoons, retrieving them from the air. "My experiments have proven unsuccessful up until now, but I have recalled a number of apparatuses on the upper levels of this building that will help me move on to the next phase of my research. But alas, I have been so very busy that I have been unable to travel up there. Now..." He extended a long finger, moving it across the room at everyone. "This is all I am asking of you - help me to get up there and retrieve the equipment, and the destruction of my lab will no longer matter. Not only that, but you will all be aiding in the next big breakthrough in my research. If things go to plan, well ... we might be able to find a way to ... reverse the infection."

Yes ... that would do. He figured it wasn't the best idea to say anything about the countless undead, the unstable floor and the fact that he'd take off for the next town and leave them when he had what he wanted ... not to mention they'd more than likely end up bait for the hordes at some point. All in the interest of the world's recovery, of course.

Yoru couldn't help but smirk at the Charizard's response to servitude, the fire lizard's take on the whole world going to shit quite similar to his own. Nodding to himself he waited for the psycho-fox to reply but the casual way he brushed of the sarcasm of the Charizard made the Umbreon's muscles stiffen. The grin certainly wasn't helping.

"Oh, I'm not asking any of you to clean up this mess," he began, twirling his mustache like some villain off of a Saturday morning kid show. "Certainly not! That would take far too long. I merely need some help in ... fetching a few things from the upper floors, that's all." Errands. He was going to run errands? Well shiiiit, this was going to be too easy. But when the other male turned to leave the Alakazam seemed to become a little less jovial.

But then he started with the rambling again. Around 'Master Neloth' Yoru already felt his attention waning. But while he struggled to actually pay attention this time, in case something important like living came up again, he couldn't bring himself to give the blowhard any brain power. By the time the fox's finger glossed over him, in an over-grand display of undeserved superiority, Yoru's eyes were completely glazed over with boredom. Didn't this guy ever get tired of hearing himself talk?

"... we might be able to find a way to ... reverse the infection."

Damn it! Should've paid attention! Mentally scolding himself once again for zoning out Yoru decided to just go for it. Anything was better than getting fed to whatever was making that stench. "Look bub, I don't know anything about infections or cures or whatnot. What I do know is how to be sneaky and how to steal. So just tell me what needs to get got and I will handle it. Deal?" Please let this guy just end this horrible day already. All he wanted was to get out of town as quickly as possible now that he had his Psychic.

Ashes glared at the distracting clinking spoons hovering over the foxes' head as he spoke, readdressing the congregation. He noted the water lizard thing next to Mara, who didn't seem to be aggressive. Still, he shot them a warning glance and pulled Mara closer with his tail. The Charmander looked up to him in confusion but obeyed in a trusting silence. Mara turned her head towards the Vaporeon, small white teeth flashing as she gave them a smile.

The Charizard leaned his head to the side, convinced that this self-proclaimed genius and 'master' was a complete lunatic, deadset on getting them all killed with his 'errands.' Blinking, he turned his ear towards the ceiling. A dragons' hearing wasn't anything special, but the unmistakable thuds of something moving above them was ever present. Smirking, his gaze returned to the Alakazam just as he finished with an unexpected claim.

"If things go to plan, well ... we might be able to find a way to ... reverse the infection."

Reverse it? How fucking ridiculous. Even the humans, with all their technology and brain power weren't able to do such a thing. If they hadn't seen any 'cure' for this yet, there will never be one. The dragon had accepted this long ago, along with the disastrous state their lands were in.

"Look bub, I don't know anything about infections or cures or whatnot. What I do know is how to be sneaky and how to steal. So just tell me what needs to get got and I will handle it. Deal?"

Ashes set his jaw and sighed, his black and green eyes flickering with disapproval at the red ringed Umbreon.
Well fuck. This ones' determined to get his head lobbed off.
His attention turned to the sooty Charmeleon beside him, concern tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"...Alright." Ashes said quietly, his gaze turning back to the Alakazam. "But we keep the children safe...and if you don't keep that end of the bargain..." the giant lizard said smoothly, "I'll have the pleasure of crushing your skull in my jaws."

"Oh, I'm not asking any of you to clean up this mess, certainly not! That would take far too long. I merely need some help in ... fetching a few things from the upper floors, that's all."

Faux looked to the Alakazam, floating proudly on the shelves, up on his little throne of wood and paper. His pompous attitude was finally rubbing against their own humility like sandpaper. Ok, this guy at first seemed just snotty out of anger, but now it was becoming apparent that was his regular attitude. You know, like he was the Burger King. Burger Nidoking? Whatever, he was stroking his ego and it personally turned the disguised Smeargle down to a low flame. They looked back at the ground.

"All right, let me start once more. I am Master Neloth, perhaps the greatest intellectual mind you will ever encounter."

He almost completely lost them with such a... imperious statement, but it immediately peaked back when the topic went to biology. In some deep recess of their mind that they barely accessed or had no real need to, they had intrigue over biology and physiology, and such like that. Trying to find a... cure? They were no rocket scientist, and sure this guy was smart, but... if he was turning up with no results, at least none more progressive than a human's results, there probably weren't any to discover.

"This is all I am asking of you - help me to get up there and retrieve the equipment, and the destruction of my lab will no longer matter. Not only that, but you will all be aiding in the next big breakthrough in my research. If things go to plan, well ... we might be able to find a way to ... reverse the infection."

... Did this guy really...? ...Well, it was a hopeful proposal. If this guy was insane enough to think so. Personally.... They didn't want to say they were cynical - sad to think they were, since they never thought of themselves as one before the downfall of the world - but it was probably impossible. The sentiment of hope was nice. They look at the ground, again allowing the adults to congregate and decide, almost seemingly deciding their fate it felt. As if they weren't enough independent to just leave... but they knew they couldn't. They wouldn't survive long.

"Look bub, I don't know anything about infections or cures or whatnot. What I do know is how to be sneaky and how to steal. So just tell me what needs to get got and I will handle it. Deal?"

Well. They guessed his mouth probably wouldn't be moving after long, considering the snob's temper.

"...Alright. But we keep the children safe...and if you don't keep that end of the bargain... I'll have the pleasure of crushing your skull in my jaws."

They barely looked up at the legs towering Charizard next to them, his ashen scales at his feet glimmering in their tail's light. Their gaze finally went up to his and could sense the flicker of his eyes dashing from possibly focusing on them. Boy, were they glad this guy was immediately on their side. ... At least... for now. They may just not turn back into a Smeargle until by some fate they become separated. ... In some sense, they could feel it would possibly dishearten him. It was just a hunch.

(OoC: So, SO sorry that this was so late. I've been supremely busy, and tonight has been hell for me, but I'm so happy to be posting. I guarantee, nothing will slip by me like this again.)

Neloth was just filing through his list of many things that this group really didn't have to know about his little plan when, to his surprise, he finally got some compliance from them.

"Look bub," said the Umbreon, "I don't know anything about infections or cures or whatnot. What I do know is how to be sneaky and how to steal. So just tell me what needs to get got and I will handle it. Deal?"

"Steal? Have you not been listening, boy?" Neloth bristled with irritation. "It is only stealing if whatever you are taking does not belong to you. Quite frankly, these days, nobody owns anything. Besides," he added importantly, "back in my youth I helped to create some of the very contraptions you will see here in this building today. I am simply taking back what is rightfully mine. No humans are going to show up here anytime soon, are they?"

He turned his gaze to the Charizard, wondering if the Dark-type's compliance would change his mind. Thankfully, it did, but not without petty threats. "...Alright. But we keep the children safe...and if you don't keep that end of the bargain... I'll have the pleasure of crushing your skull in my jaws."

"I would enjoy watching you try," Neloth smirked, content to move from his makeshift podium. He drifted down to the bloodstained floor and began to move across the lobby. "We're all very impressed by your eagerness to brutally murder a fellow survivor, but if you're quite finished, we can make a start on our journey."

He reached the elevator at the back of the room, its metal doors dented inwards and raked from top to bottom by sharp claws. On the wall next to it was a small box, with several multicoloured wires snaking out here and there.

"I've attempted several times to get the elevator working again, but I haven't had any success. So, it would seem, the only way up is by taking the stairs." He gestured to his right towards the gloom of the stairwell, covered in shards of glass and bits of rubble. "If I remember correctly - which I do, obviously - what we need is located on the seventh floor. Quite a climb; I do hope you are all ready for this and that you will not slow me down!"

He stole a glance back at the Vaporeon he'd discovered, quite frankly not giving a hoot if she came with them or not. He was similarly indifferent to the grey Charmeleon; it was the Dark-type fox and the dragon who had done him wrong, and he would make sure they were sorry for what they had done by the time he'd finished dragging them up all those floors. Neloth's foes never got away with it.

"Well then, let's get to it. If you'd all like to follow me..."

This guy never stopped talking, did he? Yoru bristled at the condescending tone the supposed 'genius' kept speaking with, feeling his eye twitch at the sheer arrogance that somehow everything in the building already belonged to him ex post facto. But when he mentioned humans so offhandedly an image of Jet flashed into the Umbreon's mind and he couldn't help but bare his teeth at the Alakazam's back. Thankfully the Charizard's own threats were distracting him or else the action may have gotten Yoru in trouble.

"We're all very impressed by your eagerness to brutally murder a fellow survivor, but if you're quite finished, we can make a start on our journey." Yoru scoffed. Survivor? The odds of this guy doing anything but holing himself up here in this building were slim to none, and his collection of beasts were among the easiest to dispatch. This guy had never faced any true monsters of this epidemic and it was obvious. He made his way to the back of the lobby where grotesquely damaged elevator doors stood and pointed out, to no one's surprise, that it didn't work. "I've attempted several times to get the elevator working again, but I haven't had any success. So, it would seem, the only way up is by taking the stairs." The Umbreon couldn't stop himself from vocalizing his sarcasm, but kept it to a low mutter. "So then what was the point of taking us to this busted up shitbox?"

Neloth continued to flap his jaws about his superior intelligence, completely oblivious to the fact that he just announced he wasn't as smart as he thought he was by not being able to get the elevator to work. But the guy was powerful, and even though Yoru stood some of the best chance against his typing there were the kids to think about. Dammit. Why was it always kids? Yoru looked to the Charizard and gave a friendly tilt of his head, silently asking the larger male to travel at his side so that he wouldn't be stuck walking with the egotistical loudmouth. "Well then, let's get to it. If you'd all like to follow me..." Speak of the devil... "Yeah yeah. Lead on 'Oh Superior One'. The sooner we get this done the sooner I can leave." Ten more minutes of this guy's mouth was going to send Yoru into convulsions from boredom, so at this point walking into danger sounded like a party in comparison. At least he had the Char for company.