Pokemon: Keys of Anima! [IC/Accepting via OOC/Started]

[Zextra]

Caden flinched upon hearing the door crash down. Quickly, he turned around, seeing 3 people standing inside. As one of the intruders unleashed a Bronzong, Caden stepped back slightly. Two more Pokeballs flew into the battlefield, revealing a Spiritomb and an Aggron. Caden rushed to the Pokeball Transfer Machine. He quickly pounded several buttons on it as Professor Rowan's face appeared on the screen. "Professor, it's an emergency; can you please send me anyone of my Pokemon?" Professor Rowan nodded as he stepped off the screen. A moment later, he returned holding two Pokeballs. A light glowed next to him and Caden grabbed the newly-appeared Pokeballs. "Thanks, Professor".

Caden rushed forward near a trainer with a Cyndaquil before hurling his two Pokeballs. Two flashes of light burst out of them - The first materialized into a yellow and black-colored Pokemon with two tails, while the second revealed a green and white-colored Pokemon with a blade on each of its arms. "Eleeec...." "llade!" the two called simultaneously.

[scooterulez]

Aaron noticed a few of the trainers agreeing with him, especially a kid with a Ninjask yelled back at him supporting him, then the two other sent out two more Pokemon. One, he has seen before, an Aggron and some tombstone Pokemon, then the next thing the trainer sent out their Pokemon. *Thank you big mouth* He thought, then it suddenly got a little cold. At the door way, was a girl with what it looks to a small pine tree with arms. *I guess that's our cue.* Aaron thought. Aaron picked up Munchlax and started speed walking towards the brutes through the dense crowd, passing people, and the Ninjask kid, who kept their eyes on him as he continued through the crowd, and still holding the stone in his hand. He got to the front then put Munchlax down. "There is no way I'm letting you get away with this. I've waited so long to go on this journey and no ski mask wearing weirdos are going to stop me from going!"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[color="#FF8C00"]"Accumula Town, step on it!"[/color] Victor commanded the pilot as he hopped inside the chopper. The pilot merely nodded in response, before lifting the copter out of the ground and sending it flying south-east.

Opting to remain silent, the pilot then double tapped on the note that was on Victor's side of the dashboard. Victor snatched it and took a gander at what it read. The note seemed to say that the Water Team might contact him at some stage.

[color="#FF8C00"]"So I'm to rendezvous with the Water Team, huh?"[/color] Victor said to himself.

[Two-Hundred And One]

The villians looked in the lead - the other members of Team Juggernaut had an 'Aggron' and an odd ghost-looking rock... thing (which he recognized, but couldn't remember what it was called.) Zach began to think this was a really bad idea...

And then the other trainers sent out their Pokemon.

Absol, Umbreon, Electivire, Gallade, Snover. Trainers began to stand up - [i]actual[/i] trainers, mind you - and send out their teammates. Hail started coming down, thanks to Snow Warning, and the lab's occupants looked ready to fight.

"Perhaps we should kick it off, Ninjask? Let's try... um... Screech!"

Ninjask flew up to the Aggron, Bronzong, and... ghost-thing, and scraped his claws together, creating a horrible grating noise. Zach had a feeling that this wasn't the best idea, but someone had to open fire, and Ninjask was probably the fastest thing here.

[Dementuo]

Kurow took a step back when the boy next to him sent out two powerful-looking Pokemon. "Huh... C'mon, boy. This ain't our fight." He said to his Cyndaquill, taking another step back. "Let's leave these thugs to this guy." He said, now backing up into the crowd of trainers.
Just then, someone walked through the door. He was a young teen, no older than 15 or 16. He was attired with brown and white, half-covered in dust and sand. He slipped past the three "juggernauts", and was standing next to Caden a second later. "It's been a while, my friend." The teen spoke, tossing a Pokeball in his hand. He launched it up into the air, and with a flash, a rather small Pokemon was released. It was yellow, save for brown stripes across its back, and red cheeks. Its ears were long and thin, and its tail stood up straight, in the shape of a lightning bolt. "Just like old times. Right, Caden?" The teen said to the boy next to him.

[Zextra]

Caden stared at the boy who had just "slipped" in. "uhh...hi?" he stammered, looking in disbelief. He blinked, then eased up. "What brings you here, Atrus?" he asked as he realized what had happened. "Never mind that - this can wait until later" he interrupted. "As of now, we have to deal with them..." he murmured, preparing for battle. "Gallade, Electivire, it's nice to see you two again as well, but we have something to do; Electivire, Gallade! Use Thunder Dragon!" Caden called as Electivire let loose a huge thunder stream. Gallade's eyes glowed blue, as did the Thunder attack, which took the shape of a blue-colored thunder dragon, which charged straight for the 3 opposing Pokemon.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[color="#800080"]"Well, I've got the Ghost guy covered,"[/color] Emma declared, ordering XmasTree to use Bullet Seed, via sign language, against the familiar-looking Ghost-type Pokemon that was hovering above a strange rock. XmasTree fired four seeds towards the Pokemon at lightning speed. Just by looking at how quickly the seeds were fired, one would assume that the attack would seriously hurt. But the Screech that was performed by Zach's Ninjask would only add to the potential damage.

[~Demyx~]

"[b]Mizu, you need to get out of the corner. This may not be a battle suited for us, but we should still-[/b]" he started to say, but Mizu shook her hed, obviously saying "NO". "[b]Please Mizu? For me?[/b]" Kyle said, kneeling down to Mizu. He was certainly surprised when the three thugs came in here, from Team Juggernaut, and there tough Pokemon came out. That's when Mizu flew to the corner, and Kyle had to coax her out of it. Mizu looked at him, but she was still afraid. "[b]I'll give you extra Pokemon food when we get out,[/b]" said Kyle, smiling at Mizu. That did it. Mizu jumped out of the corner, holding her shell. Then, she put it back on, and ran towards the Pokemon in battle. "[b]Mizu, use Water Gun![/b]" said Kyle. However, Mizu just looked at him. "[b]What is it? Can you use Water Gun?[/b]" he asked. Mizu shook her head again. He sighed. "[b]Can you try for me?[/b]" said Kyle, petting Mizu. Mizu looked at him, and he gave her a face that clearly said "I'm going to give you more food if you can pull this off,". Mizu seemed to understand it, and started to focus. After a minute, Mizu opened her mouth and let out a gush of water - right at him. Luckily, he wasn't really bothered. He was going to get wet anyway. "[b]Wow, you're so strong, Mizu! Now, do you think you can use Water Gun on them?[/b]" he asked. Mizu gave her victory pose, and opened her mouth once again. Then, a gush of water was suppose to come out, but nothing did. Mizu tried again and again, but it didn't work. "[b]Come on, Mizu, you can do it![/b]" he said encouraginly. Mizu looked at him once again, and her eyes narrowed. Mizu glared at the three Pokemon, and she jumped and let out her most powerful Water Gun. "[b]WOAH! Good job, Mizu! I guess all that time at the lab taught you how to use Water Gun!...Well, sorta, but it still works,[/b]" he said, and Mizu's Water Gun soared across the room right at the three Pokemon.

[scooterulez]

Aaron heard a screech attack above him, he looked up to find the Ninjask fighting. Soon afterwards, other people's Pokemon joined in the fray. "Come on Munchlax. Let's help that girl with that ghostish Pokemon." Looked at the Pokemon then pointed with a commanding saying, "Munchlax use Oder Sleuth" Munchlax sprinted forwards and stopped a few feet away from ghost. Munchlax sniffed then nodded saying that he understood what the Pokemon was. "Alright. Now, use Metronome!" Munchlax jumped back and raised both hands with one finger, on each hand, and started to sway his arms back and forth for about 4 seconds, then stopped. Aaron waited to see what was coming, and to his surprise, he saw a tiny sparks starting to flicker at Munchlax's finger tips. Then Munchlax did the weirdest thing Aaron has ever seen. Munchlax swirled around then pointed at the ghost and let out a Thunder Bolt aiming right towards the Pokemon.

OoC: From now on, when I use Metronome, I'll use one of my Pokemon White's Pokemon's Metronome and type in the first move it uses. Just to be fair.

[Yorukin]

Edmund let Zorua onto the ground. She shared the same feeling as him--you could tell from her slightly bristled fur. He observed the action currently going on--some Pokemon were aiming at all three of these people, while others were focusing on the swirly ghost-thing. "Let's see... The big blue one is getting ignored... Let's aim for that. Zorua, use--um... what can you use?" She looked at him with an expression that pretty much said 'are you serious?' He thought for a moment. "Can you use, uh... Faint Attack, I think it was called?" In response, his Pokemon looked over at the Bronzong, stepped forward, and faded out of view. "So you can use that. Huh. Um--yeah! Go for it!" He kept shouting encouragingly as the Bronzong was hit and Zorua reappeared next to him.

[evilfusion]

Midna eyed the doorway hopefully. Maybe, once the fighting got heated enough, she could slip outside? No, that wouldn't look. Whatever that strange boy had done to miraculously get inside without being noticed certainly wouldn't be so easy the other way around, as the thugs were facing in their direction. She could try to join the fight, if push came to shove, but she really didn't want to risk Ampere's safety against high-caliber opponents, not at this stage of her trainer career. Heck, Ampere had evolved recently, and Midna doubted the Eelektrik was even accustomed to her body change yet to battle effectively. The fact she discharged electricity whenever startled was proof enough that she needed some basic training before she could really fight.

Midna considered calling the eel Pokemon back inside a Pokeball, if only to hide her better, but decided against it. Surely there was a backdoor to the lab, somewhere that the trainers could flee out of...

She hated the way she felt right now. Frightened and helpless, too much of an amateur to feel confident or defiant enough to challenge the intruders. Even the other trainers here, some of them clearly as inexperienced as her, maybe even less, since she did technically train Ampere for her to evolve, were itching for a fight rather than surrender.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

All the way over at Accumula Town, Victor jumped out of the helicopter, whilst it slowly neared the ground before making a U-turn back to its base. Accumula Town was normally a quiet and peaceful town, the only real noise that occurred in a long time being from the helicopter that just came and went. But at the same time, nothing ever really happened out here... at least not since the downfall of Team Plasma. All Victor could do now is wait for Leona to arrive.

(OoC Note: This is the last post I'll be able to make for a while now. And by a while, I mean until either Gamesmaster or Hydra come online and make a post.)

[Hotaru987]

Ooc: Just so that it doesn't get bumped to the 2nd page...

Kain almost shook his head at the kids behind him. Even if all of them attacked at once, because of the low level of the pokmoen it probably wouldn't much against them. Unlike the eager trainers behind him, he did not mount an attack and simply waited to see how they would counter. The pokemon looked strong, and he was sure it would - if anything - a decent challenge. The trainers that got to the Elite 4 couldn't get pass Zexion, so Kain had been pretty inactive when it came to pokemon battles for a while. So he couldn't deny that he was a little excited, despite the situation that brought along the pokemon battle.

Meanwhile, in the back, Yoko was still watching Kain wondering if he was going to attack. Wouldn't it be smart to just attack, and combine your strength to the other pokemon? Though, truthfully she really just wanted to see how her brother fought in a battle.

[Hydra of Ages]

[i]OOC: Apologies. My work schedule screwed me over.[/i]

The beige-covered man in the middle frowned a little beneath his mask. He hadn't expected this sort of resistance- and not just the paltry attacks that peppered them. All three of their pokemon could laugh off any sort of damage the others might try -literally, in the case of Spiritomb, who cackled menacingly as it was hit with a variety of low-power techniques- but there appeared to be legitimate trainers there.

A bit too legitimate, in his opinion.

"Bronzong. More Light Screen, please," he responded in light of the flash of blue lightning that was arcing their way. The powerful technique slammed into an invisible barrier between the two groups of combatants, and though much of the destructive energy filtered though the erected barrier, none of the three looked particularly worse for wear. They were Team Juggernaut, after all- they couldn't be stopped.

Spiritomb and Bronzong brushed off the electrical damage without apparent effort or interest- they were, of course, designed for shrugging off such blows. Aggron, on the other hand, looked briefly the worse for wear, his heavy armor seemingly impeding his breathing for a few seconds. The massive member of their team gnashed his teeth and stamped his foot against the ground like an animal, howling.

That was bad, the beige-one considered. If he was angry, he'd be less rational. And if he was less rational, then that meant he wouldn't approach the problem with the subtly and restraint that it required-

"AGGRON! METAL BURST." the giant yelled in a gruff, demanding voice that didn't broke any deviancy.

Beige's eyes opened quickly, his mind doing the mental math. The power of that technique was substantial enough to highly damage Aggron even after being filtered through at least one Light Screen. Aggron was angry and highly versed in using Metal Burst. An attack of that magnitude would doubtlessly annihilate the building from its foundations.

Just as he hurried to tell Bronzong to do something -[i]anything[/i]- something happened so quickly it could barely be noticed.

[b]"DISABLE!"[/b]

Aggron froze, and after a second of standing in place, fell to the ground. A pinkish creature, its head covered by a ruby-embedded spiral shell, stepped to the ground only a second later. It looked up serenely at the three members of Juggernaut, who stared at it in shock.

Three blurs fell from the ventilation system like ninja, all three cloaked in black and green skintight uniforms.

"Stop!" the one at the head declared, a short, blond girl -an also the only one not wearing a headpiece that masked her face- who raised her hand to show a wallet that contained a badge. "Team Anima!"

"ANIMA." The massive one howled in rage, taking a few steps forward aggressively, lumbering forward with his great arms. The two members of Anima next to her leaped to simultaneous action, releasing two small blue beetle pokemon from balls kept at their wrists. The Karrablast darted forward quickly, crossing and slamming into both of the giant's shoulders with a massive tackle, knocking him back.

"Spiritomb! Dark Pulse!" the grey woman yelled, her ghostlike pokemon charging up a ball of darkness and firing it.

"Counter with Dragon Tail!" The blond responded, her Slowking moving with speed that bellied its species' name. It whipped through the air like a juggernaut, its tail almost doubling its size and glowing with violet flame, slamming into the ghost with enough force to reduce it to energy and return it to it's owner pokeball. The grey lady scowled.

"Retreat." she said quickly, the beige man nodding in response. Both of them supplied small black orbs from their waists and tossed them down, summoning up a room full of painful, choking smoke. The entire room was left disoriented for a few seconds until it dissipated, revealing the three and their pokemon had made a quick getaway.

"After them!" the blond haired girl yelled at her subordinates, who ran quickly alongside their Karrablast. As they left eyesight, she sighed to herself.

"Dangit. They got away again," she said crossly to herself, now the sole intruder in the room. She turned to the rest and smiled at them. "Sorry about the wait there, guys. We we're hoping to catch them in a spot they couldn't get away, but when they were about to blow up the entire room, I had to intercede early. They didn't get away with any of your pokemon, did they?"

She seemed to notice something quickly, and bowed. "Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Lumia, and I'm Lieutenant of an anti-criminal group called Team Anima- we've been chasing after Team Juggernaut for a while now."

[Dementuo]

Atrus nodded at the woman who had fended off the other grunts. "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate the help." He said, and he gave a slight bow. He turned to Caden next. "Well, I'll be off, then. It was good to see you again, Caden. Perhaps we'll meet again somewhere in this region." Atrus said. He headed out the door, his Pikachu following close behind.
-Meanwhile-
Kurow sighed, playing his flute again. "Why does everything have to be so fast-paced? Why can't everyone just relaxevery now and then?" He thought, experimenting with his flute. "Well, I still need my Pokedex before I leave here... Eh, I got time. I'll wait for some other people to clear out first." He thought. He stopped playing for a second. "...Yeah, that sounds good." He continued playing.

[scooterulez]

"Man! I wanted to keep going. Munchlax, come on. Back to get our Pokedex." Aaron turned around started back to the beginning of the group, Munchlax followed. Aaron was about half way when he realized that the stone was still clutched in his hand. He looked at his hand and loosened his hand. He found one little cut in the middle of his palm and a little bit of blood on the face of the stone. He wiped the blood away, pressed his thumb on the cut, and continued to the front. When he got to the front, he saw that Juniper was on the opposite side of the room talking to Team Anima. Aaron sat near where he fell down when the lights went off and waited. Munchlax sat by him and let out a big sigh of relief while rubbed Munchlax's head. "Man, now we have to wait. In other news, you did a good job out there. Especially that really cool Lighting Bolt attack from that Metronome." Munchlax went wide-eyed and looked at the stone in Aaron's hand. Munchlax pointed at the stone and made a licking motion then pretended to be shocked in a sense. "Munchlax, what are you do- Hey give that back." Munchlax grabbed the stone before Aaron could snatch it back. Munchlax pointed at Aaron, then made the licking motion, then to the stone. "What? You want me to lick the stone?" Munchlax nodded and handed back the stone. "Aaron looked at the stone then back to Munchlax. "I have no idea what you're trying to do, so stop it." Aaron took of his backpack and the stone away while Munchlax did a faceplam. "Hey, I don't know what this thing is. So why would I do something stupid, like licking it, when I have no idea what it might do to me?" Munchlax folded his arms and looked down. "Hey, but for doing a good job today, I get you some ice cream after this little thing is over." Munchlax sighed and nodded. "Good boy, and don't worry the stone right now." Aaron sat against the nearest wall to where he was and relaxed still keeping his eye on his backpack. *I wonder what Munchlax was trying to say?*

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[color="#800080"]"Aren't you a bit... young... to be chasing guys like that around?"[/color] Emma asked Lumia, unaware of her unfortunate growth syndrome and thus assuming she was only about 12 or 13. Now that the fight was over, she tried to relax her grip on the Glacier Cup, but she couldn't move it an inch away from her arms and chest. It was almost as if they were bound together by super-glue. Although it didn't help that Emma's arms and a part of her chest were bare.

[color="#800080"]"And why is this thing stuck to me all of a sudden?"[/color] she asked frantically.

[Hotaru987]

Kain stared at the new commer in slight suspission. For some reason her appearance just seem almost too perfect. Maybe they really were working together despite what had actually happened. He didn't remember hearing the sirens of the police, and he still didn't hear them even now. [i]Maybe I'm looking too far into this. But even so, I'll just be cautions around her.[/i] Kain thought while calling his two pokemon back. He slipped back towards Yoko, whom was reaching toward her head to make sure Mini was alright.

"I wish we could leave already." Yoko mumbled in slight aggervation as she lightly petted Mini's small head. She didn't even get her ID or Pokedex yet, but she still had to wait for these police people to get here so they can be interrogated about these items that appeared out of no where. Not to mention these people claiming to be an anti-criminal organization came out of no where, saving them from Team Juggernaut. It was all wearing her out, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

[Zextra]

"See you around, Atrus" Caden waved as he turned around, holding out two Pokeballs. "Electivire, Gallade, return" he spoke calmly. Electivire and Gallade burst into silhouettes of red light before disappearing into their respective Pokeballs. Caden walked over to the Pokeball Transfer Machine, placed the two Pokeballs into the slot, pressed a button, and they disappeared. A moment later, Professor Rowan's face reappeared on the screen. After a brief conversation, Caden gave a short "Thanks" before receiving his Pokedex from Professor Juniper.
Upon receiving his Pokedex, he gave a slight bow to Professor Juniper and headed out the door. "Well, I guess I'll just observe this time around...no Unova League for me this time" he muttered in a laid-back tone as he headed out towards Accumula Town.

[Two-Hundred And One]

"Who is Team Anima?" Zach asked nobody in particular. "Are they... like Team Galactic? No, they said they were an anti-criminal group..." He looked up at Ninjask, once again perched on his head. "I'm starting to think that we really need a Pokeball for you..." Ninjask said nothing - he was staring at the goblet with an... odd fascination. "Hm... I guess I better store this somewhere safe..." Zach opened up his backpack and shoved the rock goblet into it. "So... I guess we should go talk to Juniper?" He looked at the large group of trainers. "...Later, I guess. Let's get some breakfast, huh?" Ninjask chirped happily. "All right then, it's settled. Let's go get so-"

Zach tripped on something and fell to the ground. "Ow..." He looked up and saw that the thing he had tripped on was the Munchlax kid from earlier. "Oh! I'm... reallly sorry about that." He looked at the kid. "So, uh... good job out there. Getting us riled up. We probably could've won... Unless that Metal Burst went off... that could've blown the whole place sky high!"Zach realized he was going off track. "Oh, right, my name is Zach." He held out his hand.

Ninjask groaned. At this rate, he wouldn't get any breakfast at all.

[~Demyx~]

Team Anima? Who were they? Kyle didnt know, but he did know that they had really helped them this time. Mizu started to waddle around the lab floor, and Kyle realized that the main reason he was here was to get Mizu, his Trainer ID, and his Pokedex. But first, this rope. It was now bright red and pink. "[b]What do you think it is?[/b]" he asked Mizu, and Mizu shrugged. It must be something important, so he took off the rope necklace and put it in his backpack. Then, he saw a large group of Pokemon Trainers getting there ID's and Pokedex, as if nothing had happened. He wondered how Juniper was feeling now. Mizu ran up to the group, and Kyle followed, and managed to get a place in line. Soon, after a short conversation with Professor Juniper, he got it: his Trainer ID, Mizu's Pokeball, and his Pokedex. After thanking Juniper many times, Kyle ran towards the door and looked. He didn't want to be here for any interrogations. Definately not. Mizu waddled next to him, and he decided to let Mizu out for a bit more. After all, he had promised food to give her. Looking back at the trainers, he was sure he would see one of them at least once. Then, looking back to the wall, the door opened, and he walked through.

[scooterulez]

OoC: The bolded ones are someone's else's quote.

Aaron was looking around when the Ninjask kid tripped on Aaron's legs. [b]"Oh! I'm... reallly sorry about that."[/b] "That's ok." [b]"So, uh... good job out there. Getting us riled up. We probably could've won... Unless that Metal Burst went off... that could've blown the whole place sky high!"[/b] "You did a pretty good job out there yourself and I kinda didn't do it on pur-" Before Aaron finished his sentence, he was interrupted. [b]"Oh, right, my name is Zach."[/b] Zack said holding out his hand. "My name is Aaron, from Pallet Town." They shook hands. "So where are you from?" Before he could answer, Juniper announced that they could continue the distribution of IDs, Pokemon, and Pokedexs. "Well, we'll get acquainted afterwards." Aaron let go and, quickly, got back into to line, leaving Zach. When Aaron got to Juniper, he told her that he already got his ID before the lights went off. Juniper apologized for the delay then Aaron, after a grueling 18 year wait, finally got his Pokedex. "FINALLY!!!" Aaron yelled holding up his Pokedex, while Munchlax jumped for joy. "Thanks Prof. Juniper!" Aaron shook her hand, quickly picked up Munchlax, and ran out the door. "Come on Munchlax, let's go get that ice cream I promised you and some Pokeballs." After buying the ice cream and the balls, Aaron pulled out his map. "Ok, the nearest town is this way," pointing towards the road that went into a field. "Let's go!!!" Aaron yelled running towards the field.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Struggling to free the Glacier Cup from her own grasp, Emma looked up to see that some of the trainers, if not all of them, were already heading outside, presumably having already collected their Pokedexes and IDs.

[color="#800080"]"Hey, wait up!"[/color] Emma called out, rushing to collect her own Pokedex and ID before running out the door in an attempt to catch up with the leaving trainers. XmasTree waddled behind her, since she didn't have the time to return it to its Pokeball.

Meanwhile, up at Accumula Town, Victor paced up and down as he waited for Leona to arrive, wondering what was taking her so long. But suddenly, he came up with an idea that he thought would amuse him for the time being.

[color="#FF8C00"]"PhatBoy, GO!!"[/color] Victor hurled a Poke Ball that had a black and yellow top half across the ground, and out came an Hippowdon, a brown hippopotamus-esque Pokemon that could blast sand in all over the place.

[color="#FF8C00"]"PhatBoy, activate Sand Stream trait, let's go!"[/color] Victor commanded.

[color="#A0522D"]"POOOOWWWWWWW!!"[/color] Specks of sand soared in thousands of directions, causing the local populace to shriek and scatter themselves around. Victor however, merely put on a pair of sunglasses.

[color="#FF8C00"]"Looks like Accumula Town's gonna bite the dust..."[/color] Victor said in a cool-sounding tone.

(OoC Note: Cue CSI Miami Theme Music)

[Quiksilver]

Ian, having landed relatively close to Professor Juniper due to his pushing to get to the front of the line, was one of the first to get his Pokedex and I.D. However, unlike the others, he didn't leave; instead his focus was directed at the Team Anima group- their saviors. He wanted to thank them for saving him, as well as ask a couple of questions- but Professor Juniper, having finished passing out Pokedexes, beat him to the punch.

"Thank you so much, my dear!" She exclaimed, even going so far as to hug Lumia. "I don't know what we would have done without you. Most of my stronger Pokemon is locked up in my PC. I can't show how much I appreciate this." She gave a beaming smile to the Anima trio.

"Me too." Ian chipped in.

"Yes, but...Team Anima? Are you authorized by the International Police?" The question almost sounded like an accusation, but in truth Aurea was just being cautious. Since the Team Plasma crisis, the residents of Unova had been wary of so-called "vigilante groups". As a second result, the International Police, who had been invovled in the Plasma cleanup effort, had gotten a law passed that made it so law enforcement groups must be regulated by the International Police before they took action, which for the most part, satisfied the Unova citizens. Ian, being 14, didn't really care all that much about Plasma and their effects, but still, he was eagerly examining the trio, waiting for their response. Little did he know he was being eagerly examined as well.

"So that's what a Key looks like..." Selene breathed in Lumia's ear, through the transmitter. She was currently looking at the group through a buttonhole camera contained in Lumia's Team Anima suit, a precaution made by the Anima lieutenants so they could know what their members were doing at all times- like, if one was betraying them to the world. Selene, back at Anima HQ, was looking eagerly at Ian's left arm, where a glowing white glove had affixed itself.

"It makes me also want to tell you to grab it right now...but I'm being too impulsive. No, continue with the plan. Earn the group's trust, and have tracking beacons placed on those whom hold a Key. Once we have consolidated our forces, we will strike and grab all the Keys in one fell swoop!"

[Supreme Gamesmaster]

"Hello there," said Leona.

"So... You're looking to register a law enforcement group with us."

"Yes." [i]Omit needless words[/i] would be Leona's philosophy in dealing with the International Police.

"You have the necessary paperwork prepared?"

"It will be ready within the hour. I'm calling to set up a review appointment."

"I see. Ah... we have an available slot in five days, at nineteen hours. Is that acceptable?"

"Absolutely. We'll be there."

"Excellent. Good-bye."

Leona lay down the phone. Yes, if they were going to play this bluff, it would be best to commit.

She checked her comm log. She'd rigged a voice-to-text converter on her comm device almost as soon as she'd gotten it -- it would allow her to see what had already been said on a given comm line. What she saw here displeased her: Selene was acting far too hastily.

"No, tracking beacons is going too far," Leona said quietly. "We'll conference about this later. For the moment, we'll terminate communications. Good luck, Lumia."

<<>>

A sandstorm?

In Accumula?

Well. That was most certainly odd.

"Yeah, um, Felicia?"

"Yes, Nanette?"

"Why is there a sandstorm covering Accumula?"

"I... don't know. I can't imagine it's anything good." Felicia closed her eyes, utterly exasperated. Nothing had been going right today.

"You know what? Let's just go find the source of this sandstorm and terminate it."

Leona organized her forces in five parts that could confuse those unacquainted with the system. Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, and Metal didn't refer to the types of Pokémon used by each member; rather, each member used whatever Pokémon they'd had before joining Anima. Instead, each element had its own role to play. Fire was primarily responsible for battling, charging in and attacking. Wood was a more direct role, helping the mission along outside of battle. Often, a Fire team would serve as a vanguard and engage the enemy so the Wood team could sneak past and actually get the job done. Metal was responsible for setting up any devices the Fire and Wood teams might use -- and also comprised the medics; it was common for Metal members to go out into the field to heal the wounded Pokémon of the Fire team. The Earth team was responsible for defence: of the Wood and Metal teams, yes, but more directly...

...the Water team of which Felicia was a part. That was responsible for communications.

Leona placed extreme value on communication; it let the entire operation flow fluidly in spite of any obstacles, she said. This was most often true. Because of the presence of Water team members in every part of Leona's operations, her tactics could completely change in the blink of an eye.

That wasn't to say the Water team couldn't battle. No, Felicia would be perfectly ready to fight most opponents and win. The trouble was that they were supposed to be constantly monitoring their comm devices, ready to change their allies' plans at a moment's notice.

Thus, Felicia had a comm device perfectly ready to communicate to her squadron.

"Yeah, let's go stop this sandstorm," she said to her comm device. "One of you page back to Caroline about it. The Lieutenant might wanna know about this."

A chorus of "Yes, ma'am"s flew forth into the open air.

It was time to strike.

OoC: Felicia's app coming shortly.