Jom Gabbar [E.Nigma]

[Visca]

“It’s hot.” Considering the environment he was in, those words were a huge understatement. Sure he could take refuge in his comfy pokeball, but after his wonderful trainer ‘forgot’ to let him out one too many times, he decided that, after careful deliberation, he didn’t want to risk it. Glimmer looked ahead in hopes of finding some form of salvation, but only saw sand, lots and lots sand. He’d gone up and down so many sand dunes that he didn’t even know what level ground felt like anymore.

“Oh, boy, just what I wanted to do today! Slide down another mountain of burning sand!” He shouted, looking down from the dune he just finished climbing. “Did I mention that I just love being out here? The sand burning my toes, the occasional gale force winds, the endless sea of sand. No, no I didn’t. You know why? Because I hate this place! Whose idea was this, I know it wasn’t mine! I suggested that we use the cliffs, but noooooooo. Oh, Glimmer, the sandstorms are dangerous! Oh, Glimmer, they can tear the skin right off of our bodies! Well, guess what? I don’t care! I don’t have skin! I don’t have to worry about sandstorms! Why couldn’t I go? Why?” Glimmer looked at the other three members of what he called the desert suicide expedition, or the DSE for short, for answers.

Only one other member of the DSE was as miserable as the angry little Sableye, and that was Shemp himself. Not from the heat, no, it was the Sableye’s constant whining that tormented him. He couldn’t believe it, the sun should of been sapping Glimmer’s energy but he just talking, and talking, and talking. If the environment didn’t kill Shemp first, he’d probably off himself just to get a few moments of peace and quiet. Only a few moments because the Sableye would undoubtedly find his disembodied soul and nag him about how he left his Pokemon in the middle of the desert. “Glimmer, at this point in time it’s either me or you. Either you’re going to make me kill myself or I’m going to kill you, somehow. The more you speak, the more appealing the second option becomes. Not that it didn’t appeal to me before, just that you made it even more appealing. I just thought I’d let you know that.”

Glimmer only let out an obscure grumble that sounded like “I wish you were dead.” in response to Shemp’s threat. “What about you two?” He asked, pointing at the other two DSE members. “How do you feel about this… predicament?” Unfortunately for Glimmer, he forgot just who he was talking to. “Are you insane? This… this paradise is magnificent! It feels as if I walked into perfection!” Glimmer should of seen that response coming from a mile away. After all, a Cacturne without a desert to call home wasn’t a Cacturne at all. “Can’t you see the beauty, Glimmer? Look, look at it! There’s so much glamor, so much elegance! Can’t you see it?” Glimmer tried to see what Simmer wanted him to see, he really tried, but all he saw was sand. Sand wasn’t beautiful, it was sand. “…I think you’re crazy. It’s sand. That’s like dirt, only dirt doesn’t burn your feet.”

Simmer felt insulted. Just sand? Maybe to the unstylish it was just sand, but to those with even a little taste it was an ocean of radiance. “Hey. Don’t insult the desert. You…have…no…taste.” Now Simmer already looked a little frightening with his yellow eyes and the parted opening that he called a mouth, but his frown and glare just made him look terrifying. Despite that Glimmer didn’t let up. “I’ve eaten diamonds; I think I’m qualified to judge a sandbox. You on the other hand, are a Cacturne.” Glimmer tapped one the gems protruding from his body. “Do you have rubies or sapphires sticking out of your body? No, I think so. All you have are needles. That’s it. Humans find me valuable. I could be sold for millions! You, you’re small time.” Simmer stepped right up to Glimmer, and glared down at the two foot tall imp. “Let’s see how much you’ll sell for after I shove a pile of my needles up your-“

Now Shemp was even more miserable. Glimmer’s whining was infuriating but an argument between Simmer and Glimmer would send him into a rage induced seizure. Shemp glanced at Remmy, the last member of his band of suicidal adventurers, or the BSA for short. He and Glimmer still haven’t settled on the name. The Porygon-Z was unaffected by the argument, it was orbiting around Shemp’s head like it always did. “Hey, Remmy. See those two over there?” He asked, tilting his head towards the now brawling Sableye and Cacturne.

“They need help getting down this dune, help em out.” The rings of Remmy’s eyes spread out as it chose the best point to attack. “Environment destruction commencing. Drive safely.” Remmy compressed Psychic energy into a single point, right between the amazing fighting cactus and the gem studded imp, before releasing the energy in one big soundless explosions, sending part of the dune collapsing. Before Glimmer and Simmer knew what was going on, it was too late, both were buried under a large mound of sand. Shemp gave Remmy a satisfied nod. “This is why you’re the favorite, Remmy.”

[E.nigma]

The undulating sea of sand stretched for miles in all directions--a rhythmic rollercoaster of shifting soil, and tiny pebbles. A occasional gust of wind whipped across the dunes--charming grains of sand to lift into the air, and dance about before falling back to earth. In all truth there was little to distinguish one gradual slope of sand from the next--unless one checked for life, or spent meaningless time memorizing the patterns carved into each mounds sides by the wind.

Now , there is no need to pull out a pair of high-powered binoculars to see our character--although a pair of magnifying bifocals may be of assistant. If one looks up that dune there--no the taller one next to it--they will be able to find him.

---

A lone spire of white existed on the tope colored landscape--fabric being tossed too and fro by the periodic winds, as it pulled at the loose suit-coat wrapped around the odd creature's torso. A rather large snow-white top -hat perched upon his brow, cast shadows on his face. A matching pair of white pants--coating bent legs-- draped across the sand, as one moves up they happen to find a little device in a pair of gloved hands.

A simple LED screen is inlaid into a small rectangle of white plastic. A variety of buttons range across the devices bottom--as little lines peak back and forth across the screen. A pair of empty, large, golden eyes slowly blink--as the gloved fingers fly across the buttons, and with a quick 'BEEP', the machine's backlit screen fades into darkness. A electronic buzz emits as the same gloved hands reach to a headpiece--and quickly switch on a dial.
"Coordinates 86-70 -- No contamination to report. Moving on."
Raising to his feet, the child-like man casts his globe like eyes about the dunes, before letting out a single whistle. The deft little hands turn the dial back down--cutting off whoever had spoke to confirm the report.
"Janx, we are moving on."
The tone, was to say the least unnerving--and for the most part inhuman. It lacked any change in pitch, and instead rolled from the man's tongue in a smooth monotone. The face it came from was the smooth, rounded one of a child--but where smile lines should have creased the face, wrinkle-less skin prevailed.

The voice was toneless, yet at the same time--called to be listened to. The bored set of this odd fellow's mouth, seemed to be condescending at best; but somehow warned one not to be bored in turn.

But, enough useless observations.

--

White loafers easily parted through the thick sand, as the man began to move downward. Sweat ran down his face, but no move was mad to wipe it away--or no meaningless complaints uttered. Instead it merely dripped from the planes of his face--and evaporated into the air. A thin shimmering, barrier of psychic energy--kept the sweat from obscuring his vision. After taking about five steps, the childlike figure paused--turning to glance over his shoulder.
"Janx."
The voice called out, the slightest bit of sharpness at the end of the word indicating the beginnings of annoyance. Not bothering to turn around, to see if his companion had arrived--the man started forward again, raising a spirits flask to his pale lips and taking a quick sip. The flash was then replaced on the man’s white belt.

--

A moaning sigh echoed around the surrounding dunes, as a imp-like head poked from the other's former position, hovering above the sands like a specter. With jerky , puppet like movements, a bark colored Sableye extricated himself from the dunne:
"Yes. Yes. Of course master, I was coming--as fast as my woeful legs could carry me."
This ridiculous excuse was ignored, as the Pravus administrator gracefully slid to the valley between this dune, and the next, the Sableye floating dutifully behind.

The occasional moan was heard, and the wind carried the Sableye's theatrics about the entire desert:
"Oh--woe, woe, poor Janx, the poor Sableye will likely perish of dehydration in this intolerable heat."
Unlike Shemp, no attention was garnered from the much older (younger looking) trainer. The left hand, which was only comprised of three fingers, snaked up to the brim of the hat--and tilted it up, as the pair began their ascent up the mountain of sand.

Near the top of this dune, two figures stood--one tall and scarecrow like, with bright red eyes constantly scanning the horizon. The other a foot or so smaller then his childish trainer, resembled a long beaked bird in tribal wear. A long bandanna was wrapped about his eyes, obscuring them from view. Tilting his spherical head back, the Xatu acknowledged his trainer's presence, just as he came to a standing stop behind.
" No contaminants here, Niggy~ me and Thoist thought it would be a nice place to take a break--and watch that group--they were arguing, and then what I take to be a Rotom ended it with a attack.."
The man slowly shook his head, and turned his eyes horizon-ward, as a bright light erupted two dunes ahead; and the large hill of sand collapsed--the silhouettes of flailing figures, and the dying echoes of some kind of argument.

"Hmm. Slightly interesting."
Inserting his mangled hand into his left pocket, the Pravus administrator laid a hand on the Gallade's shoulder, who shimmered into nothingness--just as the Sableye dissolved into the sand, and the Xatu popped out of existence with a large grin.

--

Seconds later the group reassembled near Shemp--and party.

The Sableye-, became a dark puddle like spot on the sand, before erupting in front of Glimmer in a melodramatic bow.

The Xatu reappeared in a banding of psychic power, near Simmer.

Above them all, the little child-like man, and Gallade perched atop the dune--both their eyes scrutinizing the scene below.
"I trust none of you are hurt?"
No true concern, in fact --them being hurt would be a inconvenience. Hopefully, they understood that . . and answered . .correctly.

"What are you doing out here , boy?"
The tenor voice of the Gallade inquired, his voice hard-edged as his shifting crimson eyes fixed on Shemp. Obvious muscles bunched beneath his Christmas colored skin, threatening to leap into action at a unsatisfactory answer.

--

The Xatu merely spun about on one magenta foot--before waving at the party, a smile plastered on his face.

[Visca]

Glimmer clawed his way out of his sandy tomb, mentally cursing Remmy with ever fiber of his being. That Porygon-Z would get a long overdue beating one day, but he definitely wouldn’t be the one to deliver. No way, the Virtual Pokemon was a forced to be reckoned with. Glimmer spat out any traces of sand in his mouth, before trying to see if he could find any sign of Simmer. Well, he did see the Cacturne climbing out of the sand but that’s not what he was focused on at the moment. Something had just appeared in front of him, literally rising up from nothingness.

At first he thought it was a Pokemon he’d never seen before but it was a Sableye, and one with a rare pigment too. But what was it doing out here? It couldn’t have been wild, what self respecting Sableye in his right mind would come out to a desert? “Let me guess, crazy trainer forced you to come out here to?” Glimmer asked, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Sableye could be potential enemy.

Simmer on the other hand wasn’t so carefree. As soon as the Xatu appeared, he raised his arms defensively. It was a natural reaction of course. He was the equivalent to a scarecrow and Xatu just so happened to be a bird. He wasn’t going let his guard down. “Glimmy, you still alive? There’s a we-“ Now, Simmer was an understanding man eating cactus, but when he saw the Darkness Pokemon trying to casually start up a conversation with some strange Sableye, he felt like walking over there and brutally beating Glimmer to death with his spiked arms. He wasn’t going to risk taking his attention off of the Xatu though.

It looked menacing, not only was it a vile bird, it had some sort of band wrapped around its eyes. Probably to hold back its immense evil. In Simmer’s mind there was not such thing as a ‘good bird’, well there was Rhamphor but the Aerodactyl wasn’t really a bird in his opinion, so that didn’t count. Then came the voice, asking if they were hurt. Who said that? It couldn’t have been the Xatu. He didn’t see its beak moving, and he was immune to psychic influence. It definitely wasn’t the ‘enemy Sableye’, Glimmer would’ve replied with something. The Cacturne looked up to see two figures standing atop the dune. He could clearly see the Gallade but he couldn’t really make out the second figure, it was too small for him to properly pick out its features. Simmer kept one eye on the Gallade and the other on the Xatu, just who were these newcomers?

“Am I Okay? Well, you see I’ve had this problem for a while now.” Sableye also noticed the Gallade, but unlike Simmer he could see kid next to it, well, he was pretty sure it was a child. “It feels like I’ve been walking through an endless ocean of sand. Think it might be psychological?” With his eyes occupied, Simmer couldn’t even glare at Glimmer, it was a complex dilemma for the Cacturne.

Shemp mostly ignored the uninvited guests until the Gallade personally addressed him. He just half smirked at the Blade Pokemon. “You’re just going to ask a question without introducing yourself first? And here I thought that all Gallade were masters of courtesy. I guess you’ll still find feldspar even in a field of diamonds. You’re setting a bad example for the kid, man. You’ll disappoint his parents.” Shemp also mistook the older man for a kid, a stylishly dressed kid. Simmer might of even complemented him if he wasn’t busy at the moment. “As for the reason I’m out here… I’m not really out here. I might be but who knows. This desert might not actually exist, I might not actually exist. For all I know, I could be sleeping right now, waiting to wake up. Or this could all be your dream and you just don’t realize it yet. I hope that answers your question. Now tell me, what are you two doing out here?”

[E.nigma]

The Sableye's ears lay flat against his head, one trident-like hand, thrown across a shoulder, and both of his knees were tightly bent in a crouch. As Glimmer began to speak, the imp like creature's head tilted downward, and his cave of a mouth turned into a grimace.
"Yes, Yes, quite insane . . poor . . poor Janx. . woe is me."
The Sableye articulated, as he rose to a standing position His shoulders slumped forward ever so slightly. This gave him a hump-backed, pitiable appearance, and coupled with his frown made him look a very tortured soul indeed. The ghoul's claws clicked at his side--as the sun shone through his eyes, turning them into blazing suns of green and gold.

Leaning forward slightly, the drama queen of a Sableye, clutched at his chest before toppling over into the sand.
"So . .hot . . .crimson sun burning all my poor skin away . ."
"Janx , honey you don't have any skin--"
A sugar-coated tone, obviously that of the beak-clacking Xatu , gently scolded--waving his wing in the ghost's general direction. The Sableye then let out a wail--and grinned, his deceitful nature poking through, before he began to wail:
"To my very soul then--My very soul!"
With a chuckle, the Xatu turned back to Simmer, shrugging.

--

The bird could not see the needle-thick arms raised in defense, but did feel the change in atmosphere as Simmer noticed his presence. Instantly, the Xatu's banded wings dropped back to his side. The bird's oval head tilted to the right, as the beak stretched back in a sweet smile.
"There's a what . . ?"
The Xatu asked in a gentle tone, lifting the hand like tip of one wing--and rolling it in a gesture to continue. As the psychic type gesticulated, his psychic energies expanded--and he tried to subtly gain some knowledge about the creature in front of him.

The Xatu's energy rebounded, smashing into his tender-brain--and causing him to pause. Shaking his head side to side, the bird leaned forward, the muscles around the band seeming to lift in amusement.
A dark type it seems . .or a ghost . . .
Instead of making his disability any more obvious then it already was, and inquiring to the creature's nature; the Xatu introduced himself in a lyrical tone.
"My name is Innuendo--and you my friend?"
The obvious distaste , nervousness, and defensiveness of the Cacturne--was only reflected as slight discomfort in his aura.

Maybe he had been surprised?

---

Upon seeing Janx's ridiculous outburst Enigma's golden eyes narrowed. A quiet sigh escaped from the pursed lips of the morph, and in a quick telepathic message, he quickly scolded his own Sableye:
Enough, Janx.
Down below, the 'cowering' imp winced, but his continuing tirade of complaints groaned to a complete stop.

Upon the hill, the two observers quietly watched; preferring to play spectators instead of commentate. When their questions were answered, they each replied in their own manner.

As one can guess, the 'child' merely peered at Glimmer when he replied--what a horrid attempt at being comedic.

---

At the humorous response, the Gallade merely narrowed his eyes--not the slightest bit amused. Then again, he likely did not understand the joke.
"I can find any psychological anomalies."
What a stiff crowd, huh? Well . . for the most part.

On the warm sands below the fun-loving Xatu burst into friendly laughter.
"Ah--I must say . .nice , nice."
The bird murmured between giggles--before the laughter dissolved into nothing more then echos.

The Sableye let out a few polite giggles--before meeting his trainer's eyes, and becoming silent.
----

In a cool tone, the Gallade replied:
"I do not believe it matters--the question deserves a answer."
Was this a evasion? The Gallade, took a threatening step forward--not caring about the insult to him, but instead seeing the lack of answer as dangerous. Buying time for a attack perhaps?
"I doubt his parents would be disappointed as long as he is safe. "
No introduction seemed to be forthcoming from the sentinel-like creature. One of the thickly muscled arms dropped to his side, the blade began to grow with shadows.
"I asked you first."
Terse. Dangerous. Threatening. The Gallade was not one for useless, verbal-banter. It did not make him stupid . stupid was not in his nature. However Thoist's protective nature trumped any urge he had to make a sassy remark.

The Gallade's beady eyes seemed to darken, as the shadows began to leap up his arm.

At his side, a surprisingly sweet voice popped up; one that sounded little like his master's, but it was Enigma's voice.

---

Chipper on the surface--but the happiness was obviously forced if one listened. Clipped words, and a utter lack of a grin . . .like two wrong puzzle pieces this voice, and the words it conveyed did not match.
"We are exploring--this here is Thoist."
Enigma murmured--pointing a small finger in the direction of the Gallade, before letting it fall back to his side. It appeared there was more to this fellow then met the eye.

Why . . .

this conversation, it was almost . . .

Entertaining.

[Visca]

Glimmer had seen it many times before. Sableye abuse. Normally trainers would worship the ground that a Sableye walked on, after all, they were the best and to be in possession of one was an honor. But then there were other trainers, trainers who refused to respect their Sableyes. Glimmer could tell that Janx was one of those poor, abused Sableye. He was showing all the symptoms. Glimmer wasn’t sure what the symptoms were but he was sure that Janx had them. Glimmer placed a claw on Janx’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry, there’s help for Sableyes like you… somewhere. I know what abuse feel like, well, actually I don’t. My trainer is kind of a pushover.” Glimmer looked around real quick. “Don’t tell him I said that, he’ll kill me… again.”

“Are you a fool, Glimmer? It’s all an act! And stop conversing with the enemy!” Simmer noticed Janx’s grin. It was definitely an evil grin! Those Sableye were nothing but evil, he couldn’t bring himself trust any of them. Now, he didn’t discriminate against them, he was just justifiably prejudiced. Naturally mischievous, affinity for darkness, unreadable eyes, surely he wasn’t the only one who noticed that they were practically demons. But he’d worry about that later, he needed to deal with a certain Xatu first. His mouth thinned into a straight line as the psychic pokemon introduced itself. He was unaware that Innuendo was blind and figured that the bird was just fearless or incredibly powerful. “And I’m the ostentatiously fashionable Simmer! I don’t know what you’re planning, but I won’t hesitate to put you in the ground with my eloquent abilities!” Simmer flexed his arms for emphasis, still not realizing that the Xatu was blind. Then again, he wasn’t exactly the sharpest needle on the cactus.

“So your name is Thoist? Sounds like thirst, or maybe it's just the environment..” Shemp really didn’t have any reason to fear the Gallade, he figured that something would end up stopping him. And it just so happened that the strange kid was the something that stopped old knife arms from pulling off some samurai moves on his posterior. “But I don’t really your species that much. Never understood Kirlias.” Deciding that he was done with Thoist, Visca walked straight up to the so called explorer, patting Thoist on the shoulder as he walked passed. “Exploring, huh? That’s depressing. Of all the places to explore you choose this? I’d go explore the beach or something instead of the desert. Yeah, that’s what I’d do if I were you. But I’m not. So what are you really doing here? I haven’t seen any kid explorers with uptight Pokemon.” He stated, motioning to Thoist.

Remmy’s eyes were locked on to Thoist the entire time. The Porygon-Z was like most other Pokemon, it believed in self preservation. So naturally it would be wary of anything that looked threatening. Trying to kill Shemp was also another strike. “I wasn’t programmed to deal with physical types.” Remmy considered just burying everyone and everything on the dune with one attack, but abandoned the thought after careful consideration. Sorak, Rhamp, and Rota would probably be angry over Shemp’s possible death. Remmy decided that it would only consider strategies that had the possibility of killing Shemp if everyone else had the chance of dying with him.

“See that? That blade crazy, ax crazy, just plain crazy maniac nearly attacked our trainer!” Simmer pointed at the Gallade damningly. That was the last straw; his mistrust was multiplied to impossible levels.

Glimmer however, didn’t see it that way. “But that kid stopped him, so they can’t be that bad. Maybe he’s just having a bad day. I mean, look at him.” The Sableye turned his attention back to Janx as if the problem was just supposed to be solved with just that.

If Simmer’s jaw wasn’t connected to the rest of his face by thin strips of skin it would have been on the sand. “This is why I hate Sableye, the whole lot of them are morons. Glimmer, you may not realize this, but the fiend you’re chatting to is evil. Woah! Big surprise! They might be plotting to kill us!”

“Don’t worry about him, Janx-o, I think the heat is getting to him.” Glimmer decided that it was best to ignore Simmer. After all, he was claiming that upstanding Pokemon like his fellow Sableye were evil. That was practically heresy.

“I’m a Cacturne, you… you…” Simmer didn’t even know what to say anymore. Was he the only one who knew what was going on here? Not only was Glimmer oblivious, but Shemp was also conversing with the enemy. “This isn’t over, I’m on to you. I’m on to all to you.” He said, turning back to Innuendo. "I've got the advantage in this place in case you haven't noticed already! I won't just cut you up, I'll put you back together, and then I'll do it again!" He shouted, addressing Thoist this time.

"For a Pokemon that's known for stalking people before draining the life from them, he sure likes accusing others." Commented Glimmer.

[E.nigma]

The brighter-Sableye was in his glory. As Glimmer placed a sympathetic claw on his shoulder, and murmured some comforting words--Janx's shoulders began to shake. Crocodile tears began falling to the ground, glittering like gold dust before the shifting sand devoured them.
"It's so - so -- - oh my Darkrai . .so . . so . ."
the ghost's body began to shiver, as with a banshee like wail he wrapped his angular arms around his fellow ghost type. The Sableye's shoulders continued to gesticulate with his sobs, as his bright tears rolled down Glimmer's back.
" I . .I am so sorry about this . . .but . .don't tell anyone . .he'd . . .he'd . ."
Oh so many ways to finish that sentence--and so many ways to be horridly tortured for it.
"You should be thankful to have a nice . . .pushover for a trainer--your secret is safe with me."
With a comical sniff, the Sableye disentangled himself from Glimmer--casting a blinding grin at the desert. The mismatched eye seemed to show with glee, as he allowed his arm to drape back to his sides.
"nasty . .nasty trainers--always being mean to us ghosties because we can't 'die'. Inside I think I;ve died already! "
The hints of his little cry-fest still tainted his words, but so too did bitterness. At the end though, he found it hard to resist a little smirk.

It seemed he still had it! Hell--he'd show Enigma's little Xatu who was t he better actor!

Oh--damn that prissy little Cacturne, ruining his fun.
" An Act--a act--after all I have been through ! You think this is . .this is a . . "
The bawling began again, as little impish hands cupped over the Sableeye's gem like eyes, in a attempt to stem tears it would seem.
"act .. "
The last word was merely a whisper, a breath on the wind.
"I am not an enemy. . .I would never hurt a fellow ghost--"
Well ..unless he was ordered to . .or they annoyed him. But hey--he was not his honesty obsessed trainer!

--

At Janx's little tantrum, the Xatu remained turned toward Simmer, his eyes not following the Cacturne's trident like head as it shifted.
" Ah--a pleasure then Mister Simmer--! however, I would prefer not to get dirt in my beak if it's all the same to you--so sorry, but if you try to make me take a dirt nap . .I will be forced to fight you, and make your 'nap' all the longer."
A silly smile was still plastered on the Xatu's face, making his threat resemble a joke--much more then any serious issue. Of course--like Janx's outrageous acting, the Xatu's simple quirks also played a role. Fashionable? Was he wearing clothes ? No matter, if he wished to have a battle of banter, why he would only be too happy to oblige. Resembling a uncaring bastard, the Xatu seemed to ignore the Cacturne's movements--unless he was with a ghost or a dark type. . he would never do silly things like this!
--

"My name has nothing to do with thirst--and the environment does not change the pronunciation of my name."
The Gallade's eyes gazed at Shemp like shards of crimson flint, his brain still urging him to snap the boy's neck as he neared his master. Did orders overcome safety?
" Neither do I understand humans."
Thoist's voice seemed more then a bit offended--Kirlia's were the original fighters, the dancing wonders of death! Without Kirlia's there would be no one to protect his master.

the second Shemp's hand brushed his shoulder, the gallade's still shadowed blade, attempted to catch around his waist with the blunt end. At the same time, the free hand crossed over, and attempted to wrap around the young man's hand. Lean muscles bunched around his body--

All of these violent actions were his natural honed reflexes, and if it had been the Sableye who had been so brassy as to grip his shoulders he would have tried the same thing.
"Thoist--No! Don't Break him !He is rath--humorous."
Like a whiplash across his body, a psychic spike jammed itself into his mind, his master's orders repeated in a much more familiar , much less childish tone.

With a grunt, and simple apology, the Gallade resumed his former guard like position, his eyes narrowed to slits as he observed Shemp.

----

At the questions, Enigma felt a sour taste in his mouth. However, if he wished to hear the answers--he would.
" I don't want to go to the beach. . to much water. So. . .are you asking me the same question once again? I am exploring the desert--cause I've heard from ertain people that you can find all sorts of inter--neat things."
It was quite hard to resort to this childish vocabulary . .but it was good practice. What kind of interesting things? Destinae's tablet, ancient fossils, legendaries--and ruins. Not what you would think a child would dig in the desert for.

As to the mention of Thoist:
"Well...all kinds of nasty things are in the desert--I need a body guard, so I brought Thoist."
Hopefully, fellow would believe it was his father's pokemon or something similiar.

--

At Simmer's comment, the Gallade turned his paranoid gaze to the Cacturne:
"I do not like the way you talk--I suggest you stop being so disrespectful."
Once again his master's apathethic voice reverbrated around his skull.
Calm down Thoist, let him talk; just watch.
The Sableye's words confused him, but he obeyed his orders--and ignored the conversations below.

--

As Simmer began his psychotic ramblings--the Xatu took a step forward, and attmepted to lay a wing on the taller pokemon's shoulders--his wing brushing it before slipping off.
"We are doing no such thing ~! so relax, and go sit in the shade. . .you are probably tired from walking around this curst place all day!"
Stupid Cacturne was making himself look like a moron, even if he was right--he was going about explaining himself in a rather fun , incorrect way.

At the second accusation, the Xatu dropped a wing to his side:
" Look Look , Simmer sweetie--I do not mind if you feel uncomfortable--but do not go accusing folks of being monsters. That kinda stuff gets ya locked in a loony bin!"
The little loudmouth was actually adorable in his own little way . . .it was then that he turned to threatening Thoist.
" . .oh my . .my . .my . .dear. I suggest you apologize--darling Thoist may take that as a challenge to put you back together again."
Frankly, he was tempted to scare this fellow into shutting up--but hopefully he'd grow a brain to go with his brass.

--

The Sableye next to Glimmer, became aghast with horror:
"He does- what to people's souls!?"

[Visca]

Glimmer patted the other Sableye as it cried. It was almost unbearable, seeing one of his ‘brothers’ reduced to mass of despair. “Hey, it can’t be all that bad. I mean, you’re a shiny, you’re rare. You could get any trainer you want with out even lifting a finger. You might even get a trainer like mine.” For the first time in his life, he could actually appreciate being Shemp’s Pokemon. Life was easy with Shemp, the only problems Glimmer had were food and Remmy. “Yeah, our trainers don’t know how good they’ve got it, being able to have the privilege of owning a Sableye.”

It was at times like these that Simmer wished he wasn’t the last sane Pokemon in an insane world. He also wished that Glimmer would get caught up in some natural disaster, but hey, didn’t everyone? The Cacturne could only hope they did. “You’re not fooling me, you little devil! The day I trust a Sableye is the day I grow wings and start flying around this desert.” Simmer was ready to walk right over to Janx and really give him something to cry about when he heard Innuendo being speaking. He was really starting get sick of all four of the strangers. He was either going to end up dead or worse, he just knew it. “Did you just threaten me?” Simmer grinned, he felt that he was making a breakthrough. “Finally showing your true colors!” The Cacturne crossed his bulky arms, a little satisfied.

Remmy noticed Thoist’s reaction to Shemp. It wasn’t the type of Pokemon to rush in and provide assistance, it was built and programmed to kill things, so naturally it would want to see how a Gallede would deal with a human. “Inefficient. Killing them with poison is best.” Of course, Shemp heard Remmy, but it was an unspoken rule among him and his Pokemon to not bother the Porygon-Z. It was fine as a Porygon and Porygon2 but as soon as its third program was installed, it became a little odd. “Cloudy skies over Slateport. Should persist until morning. Chance of heavy showers.”

Shemp looked back at Thoist, no child could raise a Pokemon as serious as that. “Hm, I’m going to call you Thirst, anyway.” He wasn’t trying to taunt the Gallade, he just decided to say what was on his mind. Shemp thought up more names he could call the Gallade while half-listening to Enigma. He didn’t care about the answer to his question; he only wanted to see if he could influence it. “Huh, so that’s why you brought Thirst along. I see.” Shemp went dead silent for a good minute, just staring out into the desert, before speaking again. “You’re young, you should get over your fear of water and go enjoy the beach. There are worse things to be afraid of. Like living organisms, they can decide whether or not they want to hurt you. Water can’t, or can it? What if water was an entity, it could just decide to sink the world. Maybe it’s planning that. It might be, I never believed in Kyorge being the titan of the sea.” Shemp went silent again.

“What if all the 'legendaries' are just the pawns of an unforeseen force? They might be. What if nature or the planet itself was the real being in control of everything? It could be. That would be something to be afraid of. It wouldn’t be easy to fight a planet.” Shemp’s eyes widened, an idea had just struck him. “I’ve decided, I’m going to follow you around for a while since I need to find my other three Pokemon, and you don’t seem like a kid I’ll hate more than usual.” It wasn’t even a request, for the moment, he’d follow Enigma like a Fearow chasing a Rattata.

Disrespectful? Did that murderer just call him disrespectful? “Why don’t you say that to the business end of my arm? Your little knives aren’t gonna stop my Ultra Dynamic Rocket Punch! Get down here, I’ll make a mockery of you! Ha Ha!” Simmer was so focused on Thoist that when the Xatu’s wing brushed his shoulder he tensed up and launched a round of needles from his arms. Simmer swung his arms at Innuendo on just reflex but stopped short when he heard the Xatu tell him that the heat was getting to him. “Are you blind?” Simmer shouted, nearly spitting. “I am a Cacturne, the heat doesn’t get to me!” He whipped around and launched a few needles at Glimmer. “This is your fault!”

Glimmer ducked under Simmer’s assault like he’d done it many times before. “Yep, it’s definitely the heat. Don’t worry about him, he’s harmless, Innuendo. That was your name, right?” Glimmer ducked under Simmer’s second barrage, grinning as he did. “All you have to watch out for his Remmy up there.” He said, pointing up to the Porygon-Z. “It’s not sophisticated like the rest of us and unlike Simmer, it’s a health hazard.” Glimmer noticed the horror written all over Janx’s face. “Not souls. No way. Bodily fluids. Cacturne just wait until you’re tired then they drain the liquids from you. Barbaric if ask me. That’s why, in Hoenn, most Pokemon hide in the sand and people travel along the cliffs. Sure, they’re normal during the day, but at night.” Glimmer shuddered. “You don’t want to know what Simmer does to the Sandshrew he finds, trust me.”

Simmer just glared at Glimmer. “I… loathe you.”

[E.nigma]

As Glimmer tried to comfort him, the shiny Sableye's tears seemed to double.
"A--lll that ba-ad? It's horrible ! Horrible! Horrible! abuse . . pain pain. .and it's so very lonely!"
At the mention of his abnormal color, the Sableye sniffled.
" . . I can't get a trainer like yours--I already got one! Curse the day i was born this honey instead of our rightful bark!"
A small puddle of tears quickly evaporated at the other's clawed feet--and Janx was finding it hard to find any more tears. Standing hunched over beside his companion, frowning at the loudmouthed Cacturne, he replied t o the second statement:
"I wish . Janx really wishes some did."
The only reason he talked in third person, was because he liked to hear his own name. With a gnarled hand--the shiny Sableye gave Glimmer a dejected pat.
"Thank you for those kind words, brother."
It was nice to stretch out his acting legs--and his face bulged with air as he resisted the urge to laugh at Innuendo. Dumb little bird had been found out! Luckily, the net of fingers covering his oblong head--disguised his triumphant expression.

As Simmer continued on his rude little tirade, the Sableye started the tears afresh--
" Why . .why do you not like Janx? If I did something to offend you great Cacturne I am very--very sorry."
Grazing his face with his blunt little claws, the Sableye sunk to his knees. The glittering tears were now accompanied by patches of green--janx's form of bleeding. Tilting his head slightly, he allowed Glimmer to receive a good look at the shallow scratches, before falling into a bowing position on the sand.
" But--but-how . . how can you hate Janx. . but Glimmer is a Sableye--and why wouldn't you trust him?"
Maybe the mention of that fact would send his own little friend up a wall?

Franly--he'd love to stick a claw up that blabbering Cacturne's ass and turn him into a poetic puppet--but why do all the hardwork? Glimmer, his friend, would do it for him.

Frankly, the Sableye was amazed he had not been scolded yet--normally Enigma would have been scolding him for being so outrageous! No matter--he would milk it for all he had!
---

As Simmer spoke, the Xatu took a step closer--tilting his head. A friendly smile plastered on his beak.
"If it would make you trust Janx .. poor abused fellow . .I could fly you around the desert myself."
Such a amiable voice, and such a nice offer! At the Cacturne's 'triumph' the bird let out a depressed coo:
"Me threaten you ? No ! I was merely informing you that if you hurt me--I might have to defend myself."
At the next proclamation, the Xatu chirred.
"Why--I can tell you those--are you poor dears colorblind? I happen to be a bright lime green, with a overshadow of white--yellow--black and red !"
Such a silly statement.

--

As the Porgyon-Z reacted to the Gallade's attack, the fighting-type responded with:
" I was not attempting to apply lethal force--and they may be immune to your poison"
The Gallade did not like being told how to kill something by a creature smaller then his big toe--however thiss anger did not leak through. It was rather sad, the robotic Pokemon’s beeping had more inflection then the fighting type gruff voice. As the Porgygon-Z seemed to malfunction, the Gallade’s eyes glowed blue. Was that a code for attack? Or like most Pokemon of technology was he malfunctioning?
---

At Shemp’s refusal to acknowledge his true name--the Gallade stiffened.
Leavee it be Thoist--if he tries anything odd, feel free to rip his spine from his body.
At the promise of possible violence---the Gallade resumed his ‘guard stance’.

--

Enigma did not bother to reply to Shemp's confirmation, and instead followed his gaze out over the desert. As Shemp spoke, Enigma found it hard not to reply with a series of scientific reasoning--and instead dumbed his answer down.
"Fear is healthy--and water is as unruly as any creature."
This boy did not believe in Kyogre? What a odd fellow. Enigma could quote hundreds of articles revealing the titan's existence--but, a child would not exactly be reading scientific-journals from thirty years ago.

"If nature turned on us--we would harness it as we did . .Pokemon."
That was the first statement where he found himself slipping backward--frankly this fellow seemed to dense to know the difference between a child, and a young-looking man.
" Really--? My father always told me going off with strangers was dangerous . . so I have to refuse."
A child would not refuse an request from a proper adult, usually; but this stranger excuse was a nice one.
" You have other pokemon?"
Three more ? No matter---if this boy decided to be troublesome, he was easily squished.
--

The Gallade's eyes narrowed.
"I would--but unlike you, I have things to do other then run my mouth."
As the Cacturne swung to hit the Xatu, the Gallade cursed, leaping down the dune, and landing in a crouch in front of the Cacturne--blood dripping from a would beneath his eye.
"Do not swing at Innuendo."
The Xatu was as much his master as Enigma, without so much as a blink--the fighting type caught Simmer's arm, even as the Xatu let out a chuckle.

"My my .. poor Thoist did not have his nap today."
At the screeching--and explanation, the Xatu nodded sagely.
"Actually I am. Though--with all those bristles on your arm, I had it down to a Cacturne, or a Lopbunny with Acne."
The bird strolled up to Thoist, all business, and gestured back up the hill.
"Now that we have reached a understanding--you can stop dampening my conversation."
Hesitantly, the Gallade dropped his arm back to his side, and ran up the hill--resting in a kneel next to Enigma.

The Xatu turned to Glimmer, with a friendly smile.
" Ah--perfectly harmless, maybe in need of some anger management--and yes, that is my name Glimmer."
The noises of needles burying in the sand--caused the Xatu's head to jerk up.
"Is he trying to turn you into a pincushion . .or dancing?"
As Glimmer mentioned Remmy--the Xatu nodded.

--

At the miniature horror-fest, the Sableye found it hard not to vomit.
" How disgusting--frankly, I am glad we don't need nourishment . .no wonder he‘s bonkers"
The sadness still coated the words--but his genuine disgust overwhelmed the former anguish..



(This post..really...really..sucked. My apologies)

[Visca]

A few of Enigma’s words caused Shemp to raise an eyebrow. He couldn’t place his finger on it but something about the kid seemed off. But no matter how he looked at Enigma, all he saw was a strange boy. Shemp began to wonder if he got some of the phrases he used from his father. “I don’t believe in fear, it always seemed like an unnecessary nuisance to me. I can’t be bothered to feel something like that anymore. I’m a busy guy after all.” Busy would be the exact opposite of what he was. “We’re having a decent conversation. We’re practically family. Well, not really. Eh, you know what I mean.” Truthfully, Shemp himself probably didn’t even know what he meant. “But if you don’t want to travel with me, that’s fine. I actually just wanted make some use of Thirst.”

He was still planning on following Enigma. He really didn’t know where he was going and the child in front of him looked like he knew where he was going. Shemp wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to get out of the endless, sandy, hell that was the desert. “Of course I have other Pokemon, are you an idiot? I carry six around like most normal people, kid. And unlike Glimmer, Simmer, and Remmy they actually know how to make themselves useful.” Shemp thought for a moment. “Most of the time.” Shemp started unconsciously grinding his teeth; he was starting to get angry. Not because of Enigma, not because of the heat, no, those things would never get him angry. Simmer’s voice had just gotten louder, and that was enough to make him want to strangle the Cacturne. He wasn’t even paying attention to what Simmer was yelling about, though, he was sure it was something stupid. It was always something stupid. The word stupid defined Simmer in Shemp’s mind.

Glancing back to see if Remmy was still in safe mode, he noticed that Thoist wasn’t on the dune anymore. He didn’t even hear him leave. Shemp noticed that Remmy was gazing down at the base of the dune so naturally he walked over to the edge to see what was going on. “Oh, well, that’s nice.” Shemp didn’t know why Thoist was holding Simmer back from impaling Innuendo, and frankly, he didn’t want to know. “I think I’ll just let those two lovebirds hold hands for as long as they want.”

Remmy couldn’t understand what Shemp meant. Were the Thoist and Simmer in love? As a Porygon-Z he couldn’t really grasp the concept of love but it was plausible. Remmy decided to ask Simmer about it later.

“I’ll swing my beautiful arms at whatever I want!” Simmer would’ve redirected his attack towards the Gallede if he could move his arm. He felt like he was pushing his arm against a solid wall of steel. Just what in the world was the Gallade made of? Simmer relaxed his arms when the fighting type ceased his attack at the Xatu’s command. “That’s right, keep on walking! I think we know who’s superior here!” Sure his arm felt bruised but that wasn’t a loss, not for Simmer. “You…” He hissed, pointing his arm at Innuendo, watching out of the corner of his eye to see if the fighting Pokemon would run down again. “You’re lucky you’re blind, wretch, or I’d turn you into a fashionable pair of pants!” The Cacturne let his arm hang in the air for a while like he was expecting something. Really, his arm was so sore that he couldn’t lower it, he wouldn’t admit something like that though. In his mind, he was curing a certain fighting type with every fiber of his being.

Glimmer’s trademark grin disappeared as soon as he saw Janx’s green blood. “Hey, Simmer, look at what you’re doing to my buddy here? He’s falling apart because you won’t accept him. And what you mean you don’t trust me? After all we’ve been through? All the tough times we’ve had? The trials we’ve overcome?” Glimmer took a page out of Janx’s big book of drama and clutched his chest. “I’m hurt. I thought we had something special.”

Simmer suddenly felt surrounded. The two demons on one side and two murderous psychic pokemon on the other. “Glimmer, I hate you. I’ve always hated you. You know this already.” He said flatly.

“Yeah, but I was kind of hoping you forgot. But this isn’t about me! This is about a fellow Sableye.” Glimmer pointed at Janx. “Just look at him.” The Sableye wiped away his friend’s blood and tears. “Does this look like a face that can do wrong?”

Simmer’s expression remained unchanged and his arm remained suspended in air as he looked over Janx. “Yes. It looks exactly like your face. It’s practically sweating evil.”

Okay so he didn’t manage to convince the dark type of Janx’s innocence, that was okay, he was far from done. Glimmer slid over to Innuendo this time. “What about Innuendo? Don’t you feel sorry for him? He’s blind. What if you were blind, how would you feel?” He crossed his arms, hoping to magnify whatever guilt manifested in Simmer by looking serious.

Simmer was even less convinced. “For the last time, I am Cacturne! When is the last time that you’ve seen a blind Cacturne? Never! That’s because we don’t go blind, we’re plants!” It was true, Simmer’s injuries usually disappeared within a few days due to the fact that he could just drain something dry to restore himself.

Glimmer scratched the corner of his mouth, he was out of examples. Well, he had one left. “What about that Galle-“ Simmer quickly held his other arm up to silence him. “Are you seriously going to use that sadist as an example of innocence? If so, I’ll leave right now. I’d tolerate your little demon friend if he wasn’t a disgusting Sableye! I’d even tolerate the blind devil of devils if he wasn’t the prince of lies!” Cacturne turned to Inuuendo again. “Prince of lies!” Simmer felt the need to make that clear before continuing his rant. “But that… that beast, that overgrown Ralts, that bundle of carnage… I’ll never trust a Pokemon like that. Never!” Simmer finally managed to lower his arm. It must of been a sign that his rage was justified.

Glimmer looked back and forth between Janx and Innuendo. “I tried guys. Don’t worry, he just doesn’t see you two like I do. I’m a very good judge of character.”

“So, Thirst, it looks like you’re getting along with Simmer. I guess that’s natural since you two have so much in common.” There was no smile or smirk on Shemp’s face, just his usual look of aloofness. “Lovebirds.” Said Remmy, popping up behind his trainer. “Right…” Shemp decided not to ask what the Porygon-Z meant by that. “Nice group of Pokemon you have here, kid. I’m betting you have three more just like me, right?”

[E.nigma]

As Shemp explained his disbelief in fear, Enigma's mind bristled with annoyance, blue flashing in his golden eyes. No need for fear? Too busy for fear!? Not likely anything more then ego-driven hot air--and a obvious lie. Either that, or this fellow was a complete, and utter fool. The loud screams, yells, and general nonsense from below made him rather sure of the second. It seemed he could not even stop his own subordinates from playing the fool. Though many words raced through his mind, Enigma finally settled on:
"What exactly are you busy with?"
Then quickly added:
"If you are not afraid of nothing then you must be some kind of superhero . .huh?"
A couple of times in the last few months Enigma had felt that prickling in his gut known as fear--but he used it to his advantage, taking a step into the void to stir his curiousity. Hell--he could back-up his fear . .but this fool in front of him; well he knew nothing.

As Shemp continued, Enigma's eyes narrowed--this boy was a horrible liar. If he ever tried out for the spy division of Pravus, he would be skewered quicker then Enigma could give an order.
"What would you need . .Thoist. . for?"
Frankly, he had almost had enough of playing the child--listening to this moron's driveling was beginning to grate on his nerves. But, as said before--making him suspicious would lead to a lot of blood on Enigma's suit. It was difficult to remove all that red from this suit--which was worth a lot more then this idiot's life. As long as he remained oblivious to the true situation, Enigma would let him live--when he began to actually think . .it appeared there was a laundering bill to pay.

So, just a little longer--drop this fellow at the edge of the desert, and circle back round to resume searching.

--

At the insult to his intellect, Enigma gloved hands twitched in his pockets--little onyx claws straining against the white muslin.
"No . .don't call me that, it's rude!"
Such uncouth language--with nothing to back it up then a innocent inquiry.
" How was I supposed to know . . .? I've met some trainers with one .. or two . ."
As the boy commented on their usefulness, Enigma's eyes resumed their bored look--all annoyance gone. More useful then those three? Judging by them . .a paralyzed Caterpie would be of more help.

The increase in noise, made the administrator sigh, and he turned toward the group below. All of this useless yelling was going to give him a headache!

--

The lack of Thoist's presence was obvious to Enigma, and his eyes followed his descent. Walking to a spot behind Visca, he watched the hubbub below with disinterest. No gore--and no end to the noise.
" . . .lovebirds? . . they do not fight like that."
The muscles bulging underneath the Gallade's skeletal exterior, were obvious even from this height. The words drifted into his ears, drawing a small frown.

Why did his Gallade need to raise a hand to that fool plant? That fellow was a blowhard, who Innuendo could have beat senseless with a single wing feather! later he would relearn the problems of disobedience.

A headache now pounded in his temples, and the 'boy' raised his whole hand to massage the throbbing region.

--

The Gallade barely noticed the Cacturne pushing against him, and ignored his foolish words--his crimson eyes landing on his trainer. The Pravus member was staring at him with something akin to disapproval. Extending the wiry muscles in his arms, the creature shoved the Cacturne away--giving it a final withering glare before returning to his trainer's side.
As he trudged up the sand, you could almost make out the words:
"We all know who is superior."
--

The Xatu grinned once again, seemingly not perturbed by the hostility around him:
"A Pair of pants--golly those would be pretty hard to match anything with~"
Folding his wings over his chest, the bird seemed to stare at the Cacturne--in a attempt to rattle his nerves.

--

Above the Gallade resisted the urge to murder the disrespectful Cacturne--all for the sake of appearances.

--

As the Cacturne turned toward Sableye, Janx began howling in ‘grief‘.
" What a mean . .mean thing to say--what kind of companion are you? Kind to stab a fellow Sableye in the back you are! "
When Glimmer wiped away the signs of his acting--the Sableye clutched at his hand.
". . .I . . You're the one that looks like a demon! You have the personality to match as well--you..you.. cruel-hearted plant!"
Janx was growing bored of this little act, if this Cacturne was so unswayable . .what was the point in trying?

The Xatu ignored the mention of his condition, instead stalking up to the Cacturne, and slipping a wing about his shoulders.
" yes--if you ripped his eyes out .. they'd just grow right back! What a lucky gift--wasted on someone who cannot appreciate the beauty of others."
the tone as always was downright angelic, accompanied by a child's irrestible smile.

With the return of Simmer's attention, the Xatu clapped his hands together giddily:
"Me royalty? Oh my! That makes you my subject doesn't it ?~"
When he finally ended his little rant by proclaiming Thoist untrustable, the Xatu wrinkled his beak in distaste:
"You don't trust anyone do you?"
Reminded him of someone else he knew.
"Yes. Yes you are Glimmer~my friend!"
At least someone was appreciative, that he was still being a nice birdy.

--

The fighting type did not glance up at Shemp, and instead remained in his kneeling position--his eyes riveted on Simmer. As Remmy spoke, Thoist turned toward his trainer in confusion, Enigma merely shook his head.

"Well . . .I do. . you wanna see em?"
Enigma's mouth burned at the improper speech--what a childish way of speaking.

But . .

All to keep up appearences--and keep away that laundering tab.

(I think..Enigma and me are falling apart..oO)

---

[Visca]

What was he busy with? That was a good question. The type of question that Shemp had to make something up for. “That’s a complicated question, you know. I can’t know what I’m busy with until I know what I’m busy with. That’s why it’s complicated.” Remmy twitched as a few sparks discharged from his head. The malicious satellite made the mistake of trying to understand Shemp’s logic. “No, I’m not a superhero. Superheroes don’t exist, I don’t care what you believe. Fear is just a minor setback when you think about it. There are only two options in life. Fight or flight. Everything else is just a variation of those. At least that’s what I believe. I just pick one without all the hassle of fear and watch what happens.” Strangely, his ideals made him more dangerous to others than himself.

“Who knows what I’d need Thirst for. Well actually, I do. I’m willing to bet he could keep Rot from running off.” Shemp looked contemplative for a moment. “Hm, but that’s what I told Sorak to do but he ended up disappearing to. And then Ramph probably got lost while following those two.” Shemp shrugged, there was no use in worrying about it. Especially since he noticed Remmy looking up at the sky. That usually meant that Rhamphor was near by. The Porygon-Z and the Aerodactyl got along with each other surprisingly well. It was a friendship that not even Simmer questioned.

“I’ll call you what ever I want. I could of called you an insignificant fetus but I chose not to, because I didn’t think of it unti just now. Now that would be rude. But you see, I’d rather be rude than a fetus. I can live with being rude. I don’t think you’d be able to live with being a fetus however.” Shemp was starting to get a little angry. Naturally, he hated kids, they were too sensitive. Then again, he hated people for the same exact reason; actually, he hated everyone for a variety of reasons. “The people you see with less than six Pokemon are, most of the time, idiots. If they’re not, they’re probably looking for more. Now what do I classify as an idiot? A person who believes in all of that friendship crap, a person who’s scared of certain Pokemon, and a person who can’t even capture Pokemon.” He didn’t mention that because he had his Pokemon so long he probably thought of them as friends. Shemp shook his head. Nah, it was more of a mutual respect between him and his companions.

Every single one of the Cacturne’s barbs stood on end. The Xatu was certainly creepy, never mind the whole species being creepy, Innuendo brought creepy to a whole new level for Simmer. He opened his mouth to retort as he always did but was interrupted by Janx. “Are you suggesting that I’d stoop so low as to stab demons like you in the back?” Glimmer tilted his head to one side and scratched the back of his head. “That was a short joke, wasn’t it?” He asked. “A demon calling me a demon? I don’t have to stand here and take abuse from a villain like you!” Simmer crossed his bulky arms and turned his head away from Janx.

“Actually, he did stab me in the back a few times, and in the face. And the foot! I’ll never forgot the foot!” Innuendo’s tone raised thousands of red flags for Simmer but Glimmer just took it as just a harmless comment. “Exactly! I wish I had something like that. If I lose an eye, I have to eat a ton of gems to get it back! But, Simmer, all he has to do is stand out in the rain or eat somebody. He doesn’t know how good he’s got it.” Glimmer looked up just in time to deflect several flying barbs with his eyes. Courtesy of Simmer of course.

The Dark type flexed his arms, quickly replacing the barbs that he launched. “I just don’t trust scoundrels like you! You may have won over the simpleton over there but don’t think that I am so easily fooled!” Simmer stared down the Xatu again; he’d show that he wasn’t going to be intimidated by a Psychic type of all things.

Shemp wasn’t going to lie to himself, he was curious to see what else Enigma had in his roster. Naturally he was guessing that there would be at least one more Psychic type. “Go ahead and show them. Maybe you’ll get a chance to see mine. Maybe.” One would figure that Shemp didn’t believe in absolutes with all his ‘maybe’s. However, he did see his Aerodactyl’s shadow pass by a few times. Ramphor would probably land soon, which was a good thing because then he’d finally find out were the two other members of his team were.

[E.nigma]

Enigma pursed his lips, staring at Shemp with a unfathomable expression. If any of his subordinates answered like that . . .well they would be knocked halfway across the room. Blinking slowly, his lips popped back into their normal place, and in a cool voice he stated :
"That makes no sense, not very complicated.. "
No childish nonsense trying to figure it out, no giggling--just a simple statement of the truth. Taking a deep breath Enigma turned his eyes horizon-ward.
"You act nothing like a superhero."
The rest of it he pretended not to understand, but he did not wish to argue about logic. Frankly, it was true that constantly being fearful was a hassle--but having no fear at all? That was asking for suicide. Unless, you had the power to back up a life without fear . . .

This fool was too ingrained in his ways anyway--to understand. When this brat faced down Mewtwo without flinching( like he had) then they would speak about fear.

---

"Who are they?"
Enigma inquired, staring upward into Shemp's eyes, as the man explained his reasons for needing Thoist. This fellow had not even laid out a proper back-story, and this conversation was now falling into confusion.

This fellow's ideals while foolish--were slightly interesting . .but he was as lacking in true logic as everyone else.

As Shemp opened with an insult, Enigma stared coolly into Shemp's eyes:
"I could call you a fool--but I do not wish to be rude."
As the man continued mumbling on, he turned his eyes toward the sun, and murmured:
". . .a fetus is living--right?"
This fellow would make a perfect grunt, slightly amusing ideas--and nothing but words to back them up.

Enigma deflected his next thoughts to his Gallade, who spoke for his trainer, the sentiments were repeated calmly:
"He who has one great pokemon--can beat a plethora of lesser creatures."
Not exactly the words he would use, but close enough. At the words friendship, the little-admin turned to his Gallade, who murmured:
"he who is not allied with his Pokemon--should watch his back for knives."
Fine, command your pokemon--but such as Pravus refused to do. . .do not make unneeded enemies, where allies were easy to make.

Without another word, Enigma unhooked three more pokeballs from his belt--which ranged in color from the standard icon of red and white--to electric yellow and black. Tossing them into the air (using his whole hand), three beams of red light shot out. One humped outward, a shapeless lump, expanding and contorting--four spindly pillars emerging from its center. Even before the light receded, bright crimson eyes--and the glint of metal was obvious. That creature was a behemoth, standing easily ten feet tall. The sand beneath him shifted as his clawed feet hooked into the sand, a good bit of which rolled down the dune.

Silver-like metal covered the dark of his body, armor-overlapped in plated, wrapping around the joints around his legs--garbage-disposal like teeth glowed in the sun. The creature had been intimidating before its remodel--but with the new plating, he resembled a monster from the future. Deep throated laughter emerged from his body--echoing around the desert with the after sounds of metallic clanging.
"Well well . . .a midget, a moron, and a beach."

The next shape was up to Enigma's shoulders, topped by a sun-shaped head. Bright yellow petals ringed her eternal smile, a body of twisted vines holding it in place. In a distinctly southern voice, the obvious feminine voice spoke:
"Well howdy thar ! I am Rosalie Ophelia Isabelle Sarah Theodara--or Roist."
Crinkling its feet in the soil, the Sunflora wrinkled her face in distaste.
"Sand--sand? Where the hell is the beach!?"

The trio was finished out by a lumbering pile of skittering legs, and pincers. Purple, striped purple--and bright blue eyes gazed across the dunes in distaste. This creature however did not speak.

Enigma's eyes followed as the Aerodactyl's shadow passed over the sand, and the lumbering Metagross let out a chuckle--sinking into the sand.

--

Janx spoke in between sobbing-gasps, his voice steadily rising in pitch.
"You just threatened to .. to hurt poor Innuendo--and you've been attacking poor Glimmer! Without a motive--you're a demon! Demon!"
The creature's arm lifted, and a single gnarled claw jabbed in the Cacturne's direction.
"See--see you stabbed poor Gimmer!"
The melodramatic Sableye squealed, narrowing his eyes at the Cacturne.

Innuendo smiled, before walking over to Glimmer, and laying a gentle wing on his shoulder.
"You got it easy Simmer my friend--these poor fellows have to go on a treasure hunt to grow back body-parts!"
As the Cacturne stared him down, the Xatu's silly expression did not change; rather dumb way to intimidate the blind.
". . .why am I trying to fool you? I can't be nice?"
Frankly, he did not like dark types--but you didn't see him throwing barbs like some two year old!

The Xatu's head was thrown back, great drafts of air being sucked through his beak:
"Who's here?"

As the other three Pokemon emerged, the bird paused:
'Niggy--put Anonym away before he does something stupid!"

[Visca]

Shemp gave Enigma an exasperated look. “That doesn’t make any sense? No, you don’t make any sense. You’re a child in the middle of the desert, looking for ruins and other ancient crap.” Shemp looked like he was begging for an explanation.Any explanation. Just not one from Enigma. His expression lasted only for a brief moment, his mind kicked itself back into retort upon hearing the superhero comment. “Kid, don’t make me hurt you.” Shemp massaged his temples, Enigma caused him to lose his train of thought.

“You mean Rotmuka, Sorak, and Rhamphor?” At least the ‘child’s’ question saved him from having to remember what he was going to say. “Sorak’s a Medicham, about yey high.” He raised his hand up to the middle of his torso. “Short tempered. Likes rice. Beats up Simmer when ever he’s not busy. Rotmuka is, well, huge. And Rhamphor is… somewhere around here, probably deciding if anything down here is edible.” Shemp looked over Enigma a few times, trying to decide if Rhamphor would find him appetizing. “You don’t heppen to-Nah, never mind.” Luckily for Shemp, he didn’t pay attention to the man’s mumbling or murmuring.

Shemp frowned at the Gallade. He really didn’t want to argue with anything that possessed psychic powers. “If you can find the perfect Pokemon, with no flaws whatsoever, then maybe I’ll agree with you. Maybe.” Shemp decided not to comment on the fighting type’s second speech. Surely the Gallade saw that he was in no immediate danger. His Pokemon weren’t exactly the backstabbing type. If anything, he was more likely to get struck by lightning on a sunny day than be betrayed by his Pokemon.

Even Shemp had to admit that Enigma had a decent team of Pokemon. Especially the Metagross, he had only seen one once in his life and it wasn’t even a wild one. And then the Drapion, the Ogre Scorpion looked like it meant business. However he failed to notice the Sunflora until she spoke. He could only stare helplessly at the grass type as he thought of the reason she was even on the team. He couldn’t come up with a single one, he honestly tried, he gave it his best shot, but he just couldn’t come up with a single reason. “Alright, let me get this straight.” Shemp held up a single hand and started lowering his fingers one by one. “You’ve got a Xatu, a Sableye, a Gallade, a Drapion, a Metagross…” He couldn’t say it, he just couldn’t. The words in his throat forcebly replaced themselves with what he really wanted to say to Enigma. “Why is there a Sunflora on your team? A team with a Metagross and a Drapion on it. I thought you were going for the dark and mysterious theme. I guess I was wrong, but… but why a Sunflora? Explain that. Actually, you know what, don’t bother. It wouldn’t make any sense either way. I’m guessing your father gave you all these Pokemon. Why couldn’t you tell him to hold off on the Sunflora? You could of asked for another dark or psychic type.” Shemp placed his hand over his left eye in an attempt to block out the Sunflora from his field of vision. Obviously it didn’t work, but Shemp thought it was worth the attempt. “Like I said before, you don’t make any sense, kid.”

Remmy on the other hand set his sights on the Drapion. He didn’t roar, growl, or grunt which meant it was safe. Possibly. The Porygon-z floated towards the vicious looking poison type, but kept its distance to avoid provoking him. Remmy began to take in information about the Metagross, now that looked like a dangerous Pokemon. It mentioned a beach, a moron, and a midget. Since Remmy couldn’t see a beach or a moron, and couldn’t detect any genetic altering diseases in the only two humans around, it decided to mark the Metagross off as insane. Floating a little closer to the Drapion, Remmy took care to watch for any adverse reactions. It decided to take the time to ovserve the Sunflora this time. Remmy immediately marked her down as normal since the grass type gave a greeting and also failed to see the beach. But the Drapion, he was an enigma to the Porygon-Z.

Simmer was ready to exchange another round of insults with the more demonic of the two Sableye and the Xatu when he heard the sound of Pokemon being released. “What? There are more of these fie-“ Simmer froze, like he’d just been hit by slow moving Rhyhorn. All of his tension disappeared, his expression of anger faded. It was like he was overcome by a wave of pure calmness. Simmer had seen it, he had seen her. The Sunflora. And then he heard her voice. The Cacturne felt like he could die from the beautiful melody assaulting his ears. The dark type stretched out his arm and attempted to place it around the Xatu’s shoulders and drag him close. For a brief moment Simmer wondered who Anonym was but decided that there were more important things at the moment. “Who is that goddess up there? You must tell me!” He had heard the Sunflora speak but hadn’t heard her name. It was as if he had forgotten all of his previous hostility towards the flying type. “I must know the name of this princess of the sun! She must be royalty! No, he beauty transcends that! She isn’t just a goddess; she’s the goddess of the goddesses! Look at her petals and her leaves! So full of life and youth! How could such an angelic female exist in this reality!”

It was safe to say that Glimmer had known Simmer for years upon years, they were pretty much family whether they liked it or not. But the Sableye refuse dto accept that the abomination standing in front of him with his arm around a Pokemon he considered an enemy was in fact the same Simmer he’d known for so long. “I’m scared, Janx.” He said, without even looking at the other Sableye. “I’m not just scared, I’m terrified. I want to run away but my legs just won’t move. This is like the time I watched Rhamphor eat a whole platter of sandwiches. It was so horrifying that I wanted to hide under the nearest table but I just couldn’t look away. I was like a train wreck happening right beside another train wreck.”

It was then that a certain Aerodactyl decided to fall out of the sky like a led missile. Where would he land, only Remmy knew. Remmy decided to move a hover above the Drapion’s head, deeming that to be the safest spot. Luckily, the stone avian landed right where the Metagross was previously. The dune shook from the impact but was otherwise okay. Though, a cloud of sand was kicked up into the air. But a flap of Rhamphor’s wings was enough to clear the area.

“And look who it is, Rhamph.” Shemp saw his Aerodactyl, but not his Aggron or Medicham. Which was a problem because Rot was in charge of the food. The Aerodactly noticed his trainer looking at him. “Ya need something?” He casually asked, not caring that he nearly brought down to dune. “You’re here. Alone. By yourself. No Rot. No Sorak. You see where I’m going with this, right?” Rhamphor blinked a few times before yawning. “I’m tired and hungry, I’ll tell you what happened to them after I get something in my stomach.”

Shep wasn’t amused, when it came to food, he was never amused due to the fact that he was usually near the bottom of the food distribution pole. “You’re going tell me what happened after the three of you ran off or I’m going to make sure you die of starvation.” The Aerodactly let out an annoyed sigh, all he wanted was a little, well, a lot of sleep. Was that too much to ask? “Bah, fine then.” He slapped his head with his wings a few times to knock out the drowsiness so he could tell his story without falling asleep in the middle. “After a day of chasing that Steelix, Muka finally took the bastard down. But Sorak was feeling pretty ornery that that day, and as you know for Sorak, that’s a monumental accomplishment. He kept tellin’ me and Muka that ‘something feels off.’ Well he wasn’t kidding!”

“Muka was in the middle of eating the iron bastard when the filthy animals attacked.” Rhamphor noticed the confusion on Shemp’s face. “I’m talking about Rhydon, of course. Pay attention, will ya? All you could here were battle cries and tremors as they rushed us.” Rhamphor paused to give his best impression of a Rhydon battle cry for emphasis, but it sounded more like an ear splitting screech. In fact, it was an ear splitting screech. It had no effect on Remmy but it caused Shemp to pull his beanie down over his ears. “Me versus fifty Rhydon? I’m no fool, Viscadis. The patriarch always told me. ‘Never bite off more than you can chew.’ And I knew what that meant. It meant never try to swallow something whole or you’d choke to death but that was then, this is now.”

“Get on with the story, Rhamph. I don’t want anything to do with your patriarch or your food.” Shemp was visibly growing impatient. He was also probably still angry from the Aerodactyl’s screech.

Rhamphor simply waved a wing at Shemp. “Alright, alright. Anyhow, so I sorta slipped into the air. That didn’t sit too well with Sorak, seeing as how he was already extra cranky from chasing that Steelix around. Well, he started swinging those fists of him around and screaming like a made man at the Rhydon.” Rhamphor took another pause and Shemp quickly covered his ears, preparing for another screech. “Who are these, tasty morsels?” He asked, looking around at the tiny human and the variety of Pokemon. “Actually I take that back.” The Aerodactyl caught a whiff of Enigma. “The tiny one smells like it’s passed the expiration date.”

Shemp raised an eyebrow, he honestly didn’t know what the reanimated fossil was talking about. “Start making sense, Rhamph or I’m going to have to call Simmer up here and have him start singing.” Shemp was deadly serious.

“No need to get hasty, Viscadis! All I’m saying is that tiny over there is like you, way passed the deliciousness age for humans.” Shemp still wasn’t following what Rhamph was saying. “Whatever, just continue.” The Aerodactyl was seriously disappointed, the Gallade was muscular but the species wasn’t very tasty. Drapion were poisonous so that was off the menu, and he wasn’t in the mood for a sunflower salad. “So where was I? Oh, yeah, so the Rhydon rushed Sorak, and Sorak? Well he didn’t move an inch. He stood tall as they charged him, ten at a time. All I could see was the glow from his fists and a lot of blood. This went on for hours, maybe days, I don’t remember. Anyhow, finally it stopped.” Shemp shook his head. “So that’s how Sorak died...” He knew one day it would happen, Sorak was always rushing off into battle, never backing down from a challenge.

“Died? Are you cracked, Viscadis? You know Sorak wouldn’t have died from no fifty Rhydon. As sure as Lavaridge Spoink sausage is the tastiest food the world may never know, there he stood: He was covered in Rhydon chunks from head to toe, drenched in about eighteen layers of their blood, but he was definitely alive… and really, really angry. Hey, do you smell a Metagross?” He asked, sniffing the air again. “Because I do, and I’ll be the first to say that they’re a horrible food choice. First of all you can’t eat them unless you’re Muka and second, they taste like metal. Makes you wanna rip ya tongue out.” Rhamphor began to scrape his tongue against the roof of his mouth, just thinking about the taste was enough to disgust him.

Shemp covered his face with his palm, he was beginning to think that Rhamphor was suffering from ADD or something.

[E.nigma]

Enigma merely stared at Shemp as his frustration grew, blinking at the threat.
"Hurt me?"
Buried underneath the 'childish' voice, was a obvious hint of disbelief. Returning the empty balls (all but the Metagross') to his belt, he narrowed his eyes at the fellow, before opening them open in a horrible imitation of innocence.
" . .well . . .your busy with something you don' know your busy with. . .that doesn't make sense."
Deep, deep inside--he was testing Shemp's temper, wishing to see how much lean this fellow really had. Judging by his Pokemon, quite a bit.

Enigma truly wished to ask the origins of the name--they sounded foreign, or ancient, but instead he settled for:
"Rhampor---does not sound fun."
At the once-over, Enigma merely remained stationary, his posture almost military-like.
" . .aren't you going to finish that sentence. . it is impolite to drop off like that in the middle of speaking."
The medicham was no threat, judging by its temper is was not even a true psychic type--or too temperamental to be a threat. Rhampor--judgin g by the fleeting shadow, was a Aerodactyl. The third one however was a variable.
"What exactly is Rotmuka?"
The Pravus member inquired, managing to sound slightly interested.

Crimson-eyes quickly flickered to Shemp as the trainer spoke.
" So you are of the mind, that six caterpies can beat a much stronger Noctowl?"
The Gallade murmured, no longer being hand - fed words by his trainer, these words were his own. That was likely why they lacked the earlier eloquence found in his former words.
" A Pokemon does not need to be perfect--merely better then his opponent."
The lack of comment on the second portion of his speech, caused the Gallade to let out a single short laugh. No reasoning behind this laugh was given however.

--

As Shemp tried to elaborate his thoughts, Enigma turned his eyes to the sea-of-sand, it appeared this was going to take a while. Instead of answering the question, he posed another:
" . . .Why not surprise people?"
After that, Enigma sealed his mouth on the subject, no doubt this idiot thought the Sunflora was just a pretty face--but she was a force to be reckoned with. Each and every Pokemon was chosen for a reason, and frankly, this team was rather skewed for desert exploration--and minimal annoyance. To Enigma it made perfect sense, and anyway--why was he explaining himself to this moron? Or according to that guy . .explaining his dad's Pokemon.

The Drapion merely observed Remmy as he flitted about his head, finally managing to gruff out a:
"Hullo."
Frankly, it was hard to imagine, that only a year or so ago--this creature had frolicked around the room like a puppy, hugging, and licking all in sight. A slight smile curled his long maw, and a slight twtitching of the feelers drooping from his head were a sign of old habits dying.

The Metagross on the other hand stared at Remmy with devilish intent.
"Little fly buzzing around your head Quinny .. want me to squash it?"
The things voice was deep, and practically brimming with dark humor--and even with a face of metal, it was able to express more with just its tone of voice, then Enigma ever could.

The Drapion shook his head, and blinked at the Metagross, silently urging him to shush up. Enigma's eyebrows flickered down briefly as the Metagross spoke, annoying bastard would be returned to his Pokeball if he kept this up!

--

The Xatu allowed the spiny arm to be draped about his shoulders, and encouraged the Cacturne with a gentle pat on the back.
"That beauty up there is Roist---a pistol of a plant she is. "
Pausing as the praise continued, Innuendo slapped a tri-colored wing to his forehead.
" Just . .don't compliment her too much--she does have ears. . and it will go to her head."
As if she had been smacked with a ten-ton truck, the Sunflora swirled her head around, and fixed the Xatu with a steely glare, before softening at the sight of the Cacturne.

The leaves that served her has hands, splayed on her hips, as she slid down the hill--shaking her head as the dry sand rubbed over her veins.
"Why hello there big boy--this place is absolutely disgusting huh? No' a drop o' water in sight."
The Xatu had already slunk back over to the Sableyes.

--

The Sableye was utterly flabbergasted. Someone actually liked that green-stalky vegetable?
"Me too Glimmer."
If that was not enough, he had just been showed up by the Cacturne in terms of role-switching. How he wished he could change from angry to floored that fast! it was at this time, that he added a few half-hearted sobs, he had almost forgotten to cry at all! Even with horrors--someone liking prissy pants--the show had to go on!

--

The Metagross hopped back, milliseconds before the Aerodactyl landed--the bat-like beast received glances from all present. None commented however on the outlandish tale. A few scoffs were given at the threats from Shemp--and the piece about something eating a Steelix. The group however was a relatively good audience--besides the sound of blowing sand, the sounds of conversation below was the only other noise besides the Aerodactyl's rumbling voice. A metal screech erupted as the Aerodactyl continued, and the metal creature raised a leg to stomp the silly creature's head in:
"Stay on the damn topic--or I'll make sure ya remember nothing.'

Upon the appearance of the sniffing nose, Enigma turned toward Rhampor, lightning flashing across his eyes. It was obvious that the big jaw full of teeth did not intimidate him in the slightest, nor did any of the comments afterward. At the last one however, Enigma let off a frustrated sigh--folding his arms over his chest, and turning away from the Aerodactyl.

The Gallade, and Drapion however were not as silent:
"What do you mean expiration date? Enigma hasn't . . .spoiled."
The Drapion questioned--who would want to eat humans anyway? Things like that Aerodactyl held a lot more flavor. The cold voice of the Gallade muttered:
"Only dead things expire . ."

Enigma however, was firmly interested in how ridicoulous this story could become, and with a quick rotation of his wrist gestured for the Aerodactyl to continue.
"anonym would likely taste like . .gum wrappers . .yes. . but what did you do to the Rhydon?"
Wonder if the creature knew that most Rhydons lived in the Isabella plains?

Deep, deep inside--Enigma was beginning to feel slightly sympathetic for Shemp.

[Visca]

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m not above violence against children. I’m not above any violence.” Of course there was the matter of him being too lazy to resort to violence most of time. He most likely influenced the personalities of his Pokemon with his ‘I’ll get to it later’ attitude. “Does it really matter if things make sense or not? Nothing makes sense. You can either apply false logic or just go with the flow.” Shemp hoped that would keep Enigma from asking questions. It helped that he built up an amazing tolerance to situations like this by just having Simmer and Sorak in close proximity to each other.

“Rhamph is harmless as long as you don’t get him angry. He’s an Aerodactyl after all so he still has certain… tendencies that he can’t get rid of. Get what I’m saying?” Shemp placed his hand on his chin and took a contemplative stance, before replying to Enigma with a simple answer. “Nope. I don’t mind being impolite. Actually, I’ve always thought that the world could use more people like me.” His words weren’t the result of ego flaunting, no, he was being completely serious. Everything he said, he believed. “Like I said, Rot’s huge. He’s an Aggron. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen one but they’re about as big as an adult Tyranitar. Probably bigger.” He compared the sizes in his head to make sure his calculations weren’t off. “Yeah, just think bigger than a Tyranitar. You do know what a Tyranitar is, don’t you?” He asked, wondering just how much the ‘kid’ knew.

He already had an answer prepared for the Gallade. “That example works in my favor, Thirst, since I have seen six Caterpie take down a Noctowl. You’re probably smart. Probably. You should know that strategy is everything. Even outside of battles. But before you say something like ‘what if the Noctowl had the better strategy?” I’ll say that you can counter even the best strategy with numbers. It’s concept of balance, Thirst.” Shemp’s eyes narrowed even more than usual at the Thoist’s next statement. It felt like the desert heat was reaching its peak. He’d only be able to stay out here for a few more hours at most. But an argument was an argument and he wasn’t the type of person to just walk away. “Describe ‘better’, I bet it’s different from mine. See where I’m going with this?”

--

Shemp let out a long drawn out sigh. “You don’t surprise people with a Sunflora. It’s a Sunflora. Aaargh forget it, you’ll never understand. Maybe when you’re older… and taller. How old are you anyway?” It occurred to Shemp that he should have asked the question earlier, but better late than never. “You have to be over ten…” He trailed off as he used his hands to estimate Enigma’s height. “Wait a minute; you’re barely taller than Glimmer. You’re not really a midget like that Metagross said, right? If you are, that’s okay. I won’t judge you. Not to your face at least. I might actually.” Being brutally honest was another one of Shemp’s strong point, if you could call ti a strong point.

Remmy nodded at the Drapion, hearing the greeting. In Remmy’s eyes that meant the ogre scorpion was safe to be around. The Metagross however, was identified to be even more dangerous than the Porygon-z anticipated. Or was it? Remmy looked up at the sun and then at Anonym, and then at the sand. “You are not a threat. Hurricane warning for Pacifidlog Town.” Remmy floated around the Drapion one more time before settling in front of the creatures face. “Hello. What do you want to be when you blow up? Yeah, baby, you’re on a different plane of existence!” It was just the usual greeting from the malfunctioning Porygon-Z.

--

“Roist.” The Cacturne swooned as he said the Sunflora’s name. To him it was the most magnificent assortment of letters the world has ever heard. Simmer held himself back from impaling Innuendo. It would’ve made a bad impression if he did. “How can you say that? Just look at her, she deserves every bit of praise! She is a goddess incarnate!” He was so caught up in trying to think of way to win the Sunflora’s favor that he didn’t notice when the Xatu escaped from his grasp.

Simmer froze when he noticed the ‘Most Gorgeous of Stars’ sliding down the hill towards him. How could this be? He had no time for preparation! What if there were thorns out of place? The Cacturne steeled himself. He was Simmer, dammit, the handsome desert pepper! Defeat was not an option. He stood up tall, adjusted his barbs, and puffed out his ‘manly’ chest. It wasn’t like Cacturne’s had any muscles though. He did loosen up a bit when he heard Roist’s first words to him. “Ah, I wouldn’t call it disgusting since it only magnifies your unyielding beauty. And it seems it has blessed me with the chance to meet such a fine lady.” Glimmer could be heard trying to scratch his own gemstone eyes out.

Glimmer couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He just didn’t get it. Her appearance, her accent, the Sunflora just didn’t appeal to him. “Grass types must have bad taste. She doesn’t even have claws. Huh, Simmer doesn’t have claws either!” The Sableye realized he’d stumbled upon a discovery. Or so he thought. “Simmer likes her because she doesn’t have claws, or hands for that matter! It’s so simple!” Glimmer crossed his arms looked from Innuendo to Janx, expecting some sort of congratulations.

--

Now Rhamphor didn’t really appreciate being threatened by the Metagross so naturally he felt compeled to stop his tale and adress the metallic menace. “Don’t raise ya leg at me while I’m talking, ya slack jawed daffodil!” He roared, causing Shemp to cover his ears once again. “Back in the ol’ days we respected our elders! We didn’t raise our feet, fangs, or whatever up at them! Cause if ya did ya’d get flung off the nest or dropped in to a volcano! And trust me when I tells ya that you were lucky if ya were dropped in the volcano! The young bloods like you all have it easy these days! Back in my day we had to fly upwind through fire and brimstone if you wanted to get anywhere! Do ya know what brimstone feels like? No ya don’t! Your nest wasn’t on a volcano!” Technically the Aerodactly was the oldest and youngest Pokemon on Shemp’s team. The winged lizard’s rant ended with a hiccup.

“Hey, get on with the story! Wait a minute, are you drunk?” Shemp asked. It was a serious question, he knew Rhamph too well. “I don’t get drunk, Viscadis. I’m just a little sloppy.” Rhamphor hiccuped again. Somehow, he had to be drunk. Which would explain the story, but not where he found to alcohol. Rhamphor turned an ear to Thoist. “The little digestible is too old is what I mean. Humans are only good when they’re young, ya can smell the tastiness. Afta’ fifteen years they go stale. It’s all in the smell! Back in the ol’ days that’s how ya knew what was tasty and what was death. Ah, good times.” Rhamphor noticed that his audience was waiting and being the good host that he was, he decided to continue. “Anyhow, Sorak? I figure he’s somewhere in the depths. That’s under ground for you unedumacated peoples.”

“What? Why would he be underground?” Shemp felt like he was listening to a new tale all of a sudden. “Slow down! I was getting to that!” Rhamphor hiccupped once again. “So there he was, standing tall with all the blood and guts dripping off him when who shows up? The Claydols! Didn’t you hear a word I said? Well, the Claydols are a little craftier than those Rhydons. They came prepared. By prepared I mean there were about three hundred of them em.” Shemp had to call for a timeout. “Three hundred? Are you sure it wasn’t like, uh, two or four?” Rhamphor shook his large head. “Are you saying I can’t count, Visacidis? I’ll have ya know, mister, that I can count everything in a buffet in under twelve seconds. C’mon, try me.” Well, Shemp couldn’t argue against fact but that wasn’t the point. “Whatever, just tell me where Rot and Sorak are. I don’t care about the story anymore or any buffets.”

“Fine, fine. Sorak? I don’t know where he is. Now if we’re talkin’ ‘bout Muka, he’s right behind ya.” Oh no, Shemp wasn’t that stupid. No one was that stupid. “I’m not joking, Rhamph. Where are they?” Shemp was going to need to take a break after this whole ordeal. “Ya don’t believe me? But he’s right behind ya.” Alright, so it appeared that Rhamphor wasn’t going to let up on his little joke. Shemp figured that he might as well appease the drunk or he wouldn’t get anywhere. “Okay, look. I’m turning around and there’s noth-You have got to be kidding.” The Aggron was in fact standing behind him just like Rhamphor said. He didn’t even notice when Rotamuka arrived. If the sun wasn’t in the position it was he could have at least seen the Aggron’s shadow. The gigantic, metal, wrecking ball seemed to be naturally good at sneaking around. “What happened?” Shemp asked. Not even a hello or a howdy, just straight to business.

“I killed. I ate. I walked.” Rotamuka wasn’t the type to say more than was necessary. The Aggron took note up of all the unfamiliar faces but unlike Simmer and Glimmer, he didn’t feel that they warranted his attention. “You didn’t happen to eat a Steelix, did you?” Shemp wanted to know if there was any truth behind what Rhamph was saying and what better way to find out? Rotamuka’ only response was a nod of the head. “Alright, gotcha.” Shemp didn’t question how the Steelix was eaten; he was used to seeing Rot tear through metal, rock, and any other mineral. It was all he could eat. “What about fifty Rhydons? See anything like that?” This time Rotamuka shook his head. The Aggron had not seen any Rhydons which meant that the Aerodactyl was definitely drunk. But how? That was the question of the day for Shemp.