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Closed Dreams of the Past

Rei hadn't been paying much attention to the rest of the conversation of the other Pokemon. She was still concerned with what they had said about history. A hundred years... Pokemon training... it was all overwhelming to her. On the other hand, she did catch the name of the cat-like Pokemon, Liepard: Sadrapel. And she had a daughter named Chora. As Rei glanced over to them, she did see that Chora did look like a miniature Sadrapel, somewhat. It brought a smile to Rei's face, but she heard some movement toward the humans, and immediately looked over.

Half of her was glad that she had looked over to see what was going on, and the other half wished that she had never looked over. This time, fear really did pulse through her. The human was pointing his weapon at the ceiling of the cave, where Rei could see many loose rocks, even in the darkness. If he utilized the weapon, whatever it was, the walls and ceiling of this area would come tumbling down on top of all of them. The Sneasel was particularly afraid of a rock slide, being an Ice-type, and shied away. She did hold her claw up in front of her face in case she needed to attack. But for once in her life, the normally aggressive Sneasel hoped that a fight wouldn't start.

Unfortunately, a fight did appear to start. The single-eyed Ghost-type appeared ready for battle, and the cold white levitating Pokemon with crystals on its head began to blur, until Rei could just barely see many clones of it flickering in the air. She cringed, taking another step back and hoping the human didn't make a move. If he did, they could all be killed, right then and there. If the group needed to fight the human, Rei would help, but she was not going to get stuck in a rock slide.
 
The moment the telepathic message finished, Caith froze. Had he really been in here for...a hundred years? In other words, he was stuck in a world completely different than the one with which he was familiar, and there was no hope of finding his old trainer again. So what now? Could he bond with another Trainer and resume his journey from where he left off? Then again, the message continued to state that Pokémon weren't friends anymore - they were enemies. So what reason did they have to exist? Was there going to be a war? Caith couldn't think of anything to do, other than living the rest of his life doing nothing. If it was true that he didn't age while he was sleeping, he'd probably live for another twenty years. If he did age, though... then he was probably dead. But that was unlikely, since he felt very much alive.

The sight of the mother Liepard with her Purrloin kit cheered him up a little, but the Throh couldn't make such family with his own species since it was exclusively male.

The humans definitely appeared hostile, and that was a good thing to focus on, since one of them appeared to be waving a weapon. He heard the message from the steel bird soon enough, and then the others (particularly the Ghost-types, for some reason) started getting riled up and looked as if they'd launch their own attacks at the humans. Such a fight wasn't a warm-up for Caith, and he didn't want to get involved in it since it seemed particularly dangerous. Fighting now was sort of pointless anyway, since there were no humans to utilize the pent-up powers of the Pokémon. What was the use of breeding for a perfect species if there was no use for the perfection?

Caith hesitated to leave the cave. If he tried to get out, he'd probably be hurt by the weapon the male human was holding, but if he stayed in here he'd be caught in the crossfire. The latter had a lower chance of occurring, though, especially if he stayed in a corner, so he reversed his recent actions and took a few steps back rather than forward. This wasn't the best situation to get caught in right when he had finished a century-long nap.
 
Once again, Sinar wanted to heave a sigh.

You collapse the cave, Sinar told the armed human, The ghost will phase through the mountain and get back to his objective. The rocks will land on all of us, including yourself.

After that, Sinar assessed the situation. There was no doubt the Pokemon would overwhelm the humans. However, the armed one was apparently willing to blast the tunnel. Would escape be possible? Not likely, Sinar was not exactly quick and had not the strength the hold back the rocks. There was a way out, though. If the tunnel collapsed, then the only guaranteed survivor would be the Dusclops. If Sinar began floating out now, it might just escape to a safe passage. The human might not even shoot. Unfortunately, if he did collapse the tunnel, the Pokemon and humans here would probably perish, but that couldn't be helped. Perhaps the sleepers should not have been awakened after all, if they were going to cause this much trouble.

Perhaps I will see you on the outside., Sinar told the one-eyed ghost.

Sinar then turned to face the humans and sped out past the two humans and towards the closest natural cavern as quickly as possible for a Solrock.
 
A hundred years? Interesting. Considering the solrock's words carefully, Diamond pondered what this meant. Her trainer was dead, that was for sure. It was normally very rare for a human to live a hundred years, and her trainer had been at least twenty when he adopted her. A young entrepreneur full of ambition, looking to expand his already large fortune by investing in a sableye. He was smart, all right. His fortune has surpassed him by decades. The creature was not positive on how to take this. She... did not like her trainer at times, but his death was still slightly upsetting. Who would she talk with, and who would procure the gems she needed? Her current pile would have to last forever.

Food was not the point of this, though. What was the point was that her owner was dead. It seemed that she would not be getting a new one, either. I guess I'm free? Dia had been in captivity all her life. She was bred so that her owner could have a fresh start. It was very difficult to change what a sableye grew late in their life, you see, and getting this sort of pokemon had to be a very well thought out decision. If you bought one after their gems had started growing they were very expensive.

She put those thoughts aside. Her trainer had abandoned her anyway, in a stupid attempt to get more money. If he had really cared (and therefore was worth caring for) he would have kept her and never even considered selling her or her gems. Besides, there were more important things to consider. Like the dusknoir, who seemed to have taken recent events quite well. "Well" meaning with absolutely no composure.

He was flaring up, scowling and creating dark energy from nowhere as if he was about to attack. That would be wonderful, especially if he happened to get injured in the battle. Perhaps if there was enough chaos Diamond could shoot a night shade at him as well. She might not be noticed! And even if she was, well... she would wait until he was weak enough for it not to matter. She would have the perfect timing, and she would survive. Diamonds were forever, and she would be the victor of this battle eventually. Sableye had no weaknesses, after all!

And at the rate it was going, it might actually escalate into a battle. The actions of the boy (when he got there Diamond didn't notice, but at the moment her paranoia had dimmed down enough for her not to care) were enough to cause the ghost to phase and the froslass to make a double team. This might've been worrying- and at some rate of consciousness it was- but the sableye was so hyped up at the idea of getting revenge she didn't care. The avalanche doesn't matter, because my gems will protect me! Even if it does collapse, it'll be the perfect chance to attack.

The floating rock had decided it was time to run. That was fine, very fine. She could survive the rocks falling. Diamonds, Diamond. Remember you're a sableye. Her natural habitat was a cave, and cave-ins were fine. Still, she couldn't help but imitate the red one and take a few steps back. Defense. Defense before offense, and then you can make your revenge!
 
Zrantox saw the Solrock shoot off into the cave's opening, clearly not desiring to get involved in what would likely explode into a violent conflict at any given second. A coward, Zrantox thought without a shard of contempt, but sometimes the cowards are the sensible ones. Such as this human.

Zrantox interpreted the fact that the human hadn't yet fired his weapon at the ceiling meant that Zrantox's threat had scared him - for the time being. The longer this standoff dragged out, the better a chance there was of the human activating that weapon and dooming several pokemon in this cavern. Most likely every except him, the Frosslass, and maybe that Skarmory. As interesting as that would be, and as satisfying as it would be to find an excuse to kill the human if he survived, Zrantox couldn't remain intangible forever.

It was time to leave this cavern.

keeping his Darkness-enriched hand trained on the human, Zrantox slowly floated up the cavern path, almost daring the human to do something stupid and suicidal. He doubted that the human would, but the Dusknoir wanted to be ready, just in case.

"I hope to never see you again in this world, human... for your own sake." It didn't really matter whether or not the human understood that threat; it had been made, and that's all that mattered to the Dusknoir. So he continued to float up through the cavern, and it wasn't until he'd rounded a bend and the human had passed out of site then did he cut off the Dark Pulse. He would save such energy for a later time. For now, freedom beckoned.

Are you ready, brothers? Your spirits will be satiated soon enough.
 
"ok let's go," Crystal said beginning to leave, but then saw the Liepard," Come with me, I will be a teammate to you, I want non of our problems to hurt your kit."
 
((Remember me, guys? The admin who doesn't post? Trying to fix that, eurgh...))

The Dusknoir, predictably, had been the first to protest, and for once his points were somewhat reasonable. The fact was that the human was armed, and they all were fairly rusty and disoriented. If humans truly did wish to kill them... yes, there was no point in staying here. However, despite the machinations going on, she found the threat of the human ultimately worth little. If the rocks fell... she would not die. Be injured, perhaps, or trapped, her wings dented, but alive.

Besides, there was no purpose, nothing she could move towards. No one to guide her or whose orders she could obey. Her life had been structured, before. Now there was nothing, just emptiness and the chaos the Dusknoir threatened to unleash, the violence she had no part in or against. At least with rules and orders and a trainer, she had had a shell, something that made sense. The Froslass prepared to evade, and she noticed the Liepard nearby swearing allegiance to them, a somewhat risky action. However, the warning motions of a fight cut out, the Solrock leaving, followed by the Dusknoir. The instigator had gone, which was well enough - but his actions would reflect on all of them. Humans and Pokemon both seemed to judge entire groups by the actions of one individual, something rash and not anything she approved of - but true. Their lives would all be in as much danger as soon as they emerged, if they even got that far.

She shifted, talons scraping on the floor. "I have no enmity with any of you, or with humans. But the Dusknoir seems to be devoured by his need for revenge on humans. Even if this human does not kill us, we will be endangered constantly by his actions. It is clear to me that if we do not choose a course of action, we will be hunted mercilessly. Even if we may kills tens of them, even if we are stronger, there will be no peace." There was a secondary reason, that perhaps she could recreate her purpose if she allied herself with the humans. And if that failed - well, there was a world she had never flown in except in battle.

Perhaps that would be enough.

--​

The corridors, upon turning, sloped sharply upward, a steep climb if one had to walk up it, and often uneven or completely destroyed stairways ensured there was a detour. Closer to the surface, there were more rubble, marks of humans caving in walls and boring through stone to open the tunnels. The light that filtered through was dim, but definitely there.

The uneven and meandering path opened out onto a plateau at the base of the mountain, more rubble nearby and some tents visible in the distance. Going by the light, it was late in the afternoon, the sky completely clouded and grey.
 
Analyzing the situation carefully; Prospero stood poised to take action. Watching the way the Pokemon reacted to his threat to taking away what meager freedom they had fought to seize by escaping their confinement. Immediately the Dusknoir and Frosslass stuck out from the rest, exhibiting prompt signs of aggressive behavior. How convenient. So the two hostile ones he'd been warned of weren't even going to make an attempt to conceal their true natures. Really, provoking them had been rather easier than he'd expected. But then he had to remember; Pokemon were instinctive and ignorant creatures. A lot like humans, really. Lowering his weapon, slowly, Prospero aimed the pistol down at the floor, but throughout the motion he remained smiling. A pleasant sort of grin that somehow didn't seem so comforting.

Before he could reach for his belt however, the Dusknoir was gone through the ceiling. Bothersome. He'd been too slow to eliminate it preemptively. It seemed to have left behind the Froslass however, clearly caring nothing for the creature's fate, having made no measure to support it in any way or announce his intent to depart. Raising his weapon, he pointed it towards the ice ghost so that the creature did not get any stupid ideas while he snaked a hand into his pockets, drawing out a shining disk that any Pokemon that had once been trained by humans would recognize very well.

Pressing the hand holding the disk against his chest plate, there was a glow from the circle as it shone, illuminating the Galactic logo printed on the polished acrylic surface. The TM disk sinking into his chest as he pushed it into the illuminated core of his armor. The apparatus glowing violet as it accepted the data stored inside and processed it.

"These Pokemon have yet to wake up fully in more ways than one."

He commented to nobody in particular, reaching into another pocket and taking out another device. This time a silver ear-piece likewise decorated with the trademark golden letter G, as was the case with the rest of his equipment. Tapping it twice with his finger, there was a whirring noise like gears spinning as the technology became active, causing Prospero to wince as a metal rod lacerated his right ear drum, linking itself directly with his aural senses. Gritting his teeth together for a moment while he overcame the pain, at last his ear became numb as the secondary effects of the device kicked in. His smile returning as he caught the tailwind of another Pokemon's conversation.

" ...we will be hunted mercilessly. Even if we may kills tens of them, even if we are stronger, there will be no peace."

That made him chuckle. A Pokemon with realistic expectations, what a novelty! The translator was working then, at least. His little test just then having confirmed that he could comprehend their means of communication and adapt accordingly now. And vice-versa, he would have the means to speak to them directly through thought alone. The device additionally stimulating the dormant areas of the human brain that allowed for weak telepathic relations.

"I'm afraid that you're exactly right. As long as you remain a danger to human society - I'm just one of thousands of people who will come to stop you."

Smirking as he waited for them to figure out that it was his voice they were hearing being projected into their minds, the voice of a human, he opened up the fist of his right arm and pointed it at the Skarmory. A glowing circle of psychic light appearing underneath him. A similar circle appearing underneath the Armor Bird Pokemon, the circles flashed once, then disappeared. The human's body suddenly becoming more tough, more Sturdy as he used the move Role Play to copy her ability. Feeling strong enough to endure anything and survive - even if the cavern were to collapse on top of all of them like he had originally planned, he fixed his sights on the Froslass and aligned her with the aim on his handgun.

"I know that you're a danger. Aren't you? You'd kill me if I gave you the chance to."

Squeezing the handle of the gun hard instead of pulling a trigger, Prospero's arm began to convulse wildly as it jumped from the recoil, his weapon firing out a rapid series of cluster shots in neat bursts, akin to a submachine weapon. A painful screeching sound filling the tunnel as he fired, bullets of compressed air erupting continuously from the barrel of the gun towards the Froslass, making a sound like screaming as they exploded outwards on contact with anything. Several of them passing through the she-ghost's clones and striking the walls, sending out miniature shockwaves as they impacted. Accuracy was sacrificed for speed of firing. After all, it didn't matter how many times he missed; with air as his ammunition, he wouldn't be running out of firepower any time soon.
 
Ohh... That did it. Titress wasn't the least worried about the Dusknoir... She would just have to wait until later. What she was worried about was the human in front of her that was actually trying to damage her, that was all that she could take. So, she changed up her battle plans a little. She tested the area around her and smiled. Then, she let her ghostly energies build up. Some purplish wind started spinning around her body, letting her feel the air. It felt refreshing. Then, before a blast of energy came at her, she unleashed her Ominous Wind. The purple wind blew down the cavern hall, blowing the shots out of the way and hopefully damaging the human in the process.

Then, as fast as she could, Titress shot off down the hallway, disguised in the purple wind. She curled through the caverns and found herself in front of some human tents. She felt some pain around her chest area, but it was nothing. It turned out that one of the shots had managed to hit her. No matter, she had caused much worse pain.

Her eyes then darted towards the familiar Dusknoir that she managed to catch up with.

"You had me worried for a second..." She chuckled slyly. "I was afraid you had left me behind..."
 
((I think I will give some Foreshadowing of my own here for level five, hmm?))

Not even five minutes had passed since Zrantox had left the entryway when he heard the sound of... something exploding. The sound of a rapid attack followed by explosions. So the human had made good on his threat after all. Surprising, Zrantox considered, that there are humans that can actually back up their posturing with violence such as this. If I did not hate your species more than anything else in the worlds, I would commend you for such bravery.

On the other hand, actions like these prove exactly why you are a vile and sickening lot that must be wiped from this world, one by one. To think that you were the one that made the first hostile move... well, it certainly isn't surprising of your kind. Furthermore, you waited until you were sure I was gone before firing. If anything, that shows you fear my power.

That was good. If this human, this supposedly suicidally bold human feared the Dusknoir, then the countless humans in the world above, ones that were likely more idiotic than this one and very likely weaker than this one, yet at the same time braver than this one. All of them were, at the end of everything, mere lambs for Zrantox's utter slaughter. It would be a-

It was then that Zrantox realized that during his movement to freedom, the Frosslass had managed to catch up with him. All the better.

"You needn't have feared such things," he rumbled, "though I was all too confident in both your ability to escape this wretched cave, along with the belief that this human wouldn't fire until he was sure that the biggest threats to his and that female's life were out of his way. It is of my own miscalculating that the human actually was less talk than he was action."

Good, she survived, he thought, this all would be much more difficult if it were only myself handling such a task. With someone such as this Frosslass on my side, my job just got a little easier.

"I do hope that the world that awaits us will have more allies, allies that we can recruit due to their own persecution," he added, "but tell me... just what exactly were those noises I heard? And what happened the moment I left that chamber?"
----
Two of them...

That was what he was thinking as he watched. Ever silent, he watched from the shadows, his colors allowing him to blend in with his surroundings. For ensuring that he wouldn't be spotted, his eyes were shut and his palms were pressed against the wall.

There are two of those decreeing themselves enemies of humanity... from what that first one is saying, he wants to find more. Well, in this fractured of a world, if he can find a few pokemon, that job shouldn't be too hard...

Were it capable of such emotions it would have grinned. These two would make half of his job much too easy. The other half - those that wanted peace and coexistence - they would be more difficult, but certainly not impossible. For him, impossible was barely a concept, let alone a notion. These two would be the first... and where there are two pawns, there would be more to be found.

But that was far off. He would have to retreat for now before his comrade got impatient again. It was frustrating having to reduce himself to that one's level of intelligence, but his personality was perfect for this one's goals.

With that, he blinked, and then vanished into a small point of light, which faded as if it wasn't there at all. Such as it was with teleportation - the smallest point of concern was that it could alert either of the two to the fact that someone else was there in the first place.

Not that it mattered in the long run. It all would begin, very soon.
 
Titress chuckled a little as the Dusknoir began talking. It was obvious that he would want to know what happened. She also liked his idea of gaining more followers. Then she could eliminate the human scourge that stood in her way of ruling the world she called home. So, she quickly replied to her partner.

"Oh, not much happened. That pathetic human took out its device and, after becoming more sturdy due to some strange trick, he began shooting blasts of energy at yours truly. One stray blast managed to hit me, but otherwise, I'm fine."

Her attention went to the area around her. She was kind of disappointed at the lack of sun. Contrary to what some people believed, Titress despised the darkness. After being kept there the majority of her life, she would do anything to escape the darkness forever. But, she was quick to get back to her story.

"It was then that I summoned an Ominous Wind for... I assume the first time in a century and blew away most of the attack spheres and used it to shield me as I took off towards this place..."

Her eyes looked over to her ghostly partner and, with a sly smile, got to something that she hadn't discovered yet.

"By the by, I don't believe I've caught your name yet..." She chuckled.
 
"He became some kind of sturdy? Interesting... perhaps they have developed more advancements than I originally would give them credit for. We will have to be more careful when it comes to our inevitable slaughter of the human race. If they can enhance the abilities their own bodies... they might actually be something to worry for, especially if they are as suicidal as that human. Time will have to tell. Though it was very commendable of you for so quickly reacting to a threat the likes of that. I do believe I will enjoy the crusade that we will make."

He had fallen slightly behind the Frosslass on this trek through the caverns, so he only now emerged into the open field as he was saying this. He looked around for a few moments, and was not surprised at all to see that the world had barely changed its external appearance in the time that he'd been gone. The world still at least looked like it was only teetering on being impurified by the human race. That was good, for it would make the destruction of the human settlements easier once the species was wiped from the face of the world.

Then the Frosslas spoke up again, wondering just what Zrantox's name was. The Dusknoir could have waved the question off, but he felt that the Frosslass deserved to know at least the name of who would be allied with her during this crusade. Still, he was certain that he didn't trust her enough to tell her just who he was. That could be for another day.

"Ah, I must have forgotten what common courtesy I should have," he gave a dry laugh, "my name is Zrantox, as it has been for forty-five hundred years. But what about you, Frosslass? Might you be so courteous as to tell me what your name is?"
 
Rei watched warily as the events continued before her unsure eyes. The telepathic came once more, and then one of the previously sleeping Pokemon, a round orange rock-type thing with many long yellow spikes coming out of its circumference, levitated down the opposite tunnel, and the telepathy stopped. Perhaps that was the thing that was sending the mental messages. But more movement also caught the Sneasel's eye; first the one-eyed ghost with the jagged line around its middle began to rise and went straight through the ceiling. That's interesting, Rei thought to herself, blinking in silence. She had never seen a Ghost-type do that before, but then again, she had never explored much around the tunnels of Mount Silver.

She was knocked out of her state of bewilderment by some sort of loud -- painfully loud, she might add -- screeching noise that was coming from something closer to her. Her claws flew up to her small but sensitive ears, and she narrowed her eyes and gritted her sharp teeth with a growl. She glanced toward the source of the noise, and her bright red eyes caught on the human, who was holding up some sort of weapon and creating the noises. But Rei couldn't see anything come out of it. Was it just a device to create a distracting noise? Apparently not, because a moment later, a dark and chilling wind blew through the tunnels, which puzzled Rei. How could a wind blow this deep underground? But the screeching noises had stopped, and the Sneasel uncovered her ears and looked around. The cold white ghost that remained had its arm-like appendages apart; perhaps it was causing the wind. This move called "Ominous Wind" made the invisible bullets dissipate, but a fight only escalated from there. Sure, the ghost had escaped -- was literally gone with the wind -- but the fight had escalated.

Despite her usual overconfidence, something about this human made Rei stop. She had never fought a human before. The toughest thing she had fought was probably that herd of Donphan so long ago, or a Weavile who had once tried to take her territory. She was already irritated by the noises that had seemed to pierce the tunnel walls, though, and bound to attack. This anger at the human and the screeches that he had created with his strange weapon overcame her logic, and Rei immediately began her response. Almost without thinking, she pounced incredibly fast with her claws forward, attempting to tear into the human's right shoulder.
 
The screech was incredibly distracting to Caith. He didn't have any outer ears, so he had no way of blocking it, and it echoed through his his head until his inner ears rang like a thousand telephones and he thought he'd never hear anything again. But the noise stopped after what felt like hours, and a cool wind blew through the area instead. The attack wasn't aimed at Caith, but it made him shiver anyway. This breeze was so creepy... how did it get down here when the Pokémon were so far underground? He looked around; the white ghost thing appeared to have caused it, but the ghost quickly disappeared somehow. The cause of the fight was gone, but attacks could still be exchanged.

The Throh did not want to fight. His movements were still a bit rusty, and he was a bit tired. Would it be a good idea to launch himself into battle? It would be in self-defense if anything; the humans had attacked in the first place, and things wouldn't end well for Caith if he didn't try to protect himself. Earthquake would be a destructive move to use, but it would hurt his allies and probably bring the whole place down on all of the Sleepers as well as the exploring Pokémon that had entered this place out of curiosity. He'd target that one dangerous-looking human with the device that allowed him to use Pokémon attacks. But he'd let the human move first, and as soon as the human did move, Caith would return with a Vital Throw.

The red humanoid stepped closer towards the door, calmly, trying to look like he was ignoring the humans. But it was hard to look like he had no idea they were there when he was keeping his eyes on the male the whole time. He kept his arms poised, not held out but ready to move at any minute. He was still a little stiff from the sleep, but this was a life or death situation, so he'd have to protect himself or he'd get seriously hurt.
 
"Forty-five thousand years, you say? That's a rather long time..." Titress joked mockingly. She was well aware that some Ghost Pokemon decided to stick around the world for some time, so she couldn't say that she was that surprised.

"As for me, I am Titress, only twenty one years... Well, before sleep that is..." She added. Her view then went to the world they could see. All she could say was that it looked almost... The same. The only difference was that humans could actually fight back now. If her plan had started when she wanted it to, she could've taken it over by now. But she did have Zrantox at her side now. Normally, she was against teaming up with others, but she knew how desperate the situation was, so it was time to make exceptions.

"Now... Where would one go to gain more allies..." She thought aloud. "Perhaps someplace where other Ghosts abide..."

That would be their next action... Getting enough pawns to make their takeover easy. She knew that, despite her power, taking over an entire race would take more than just two ghosts...
 
"Hundred," the Dusknoir corrected on instinct. Then upon hearing the remark about gaining more allies, he hesitated while thinking of an answer for that question. Where would they find allies, and who would they be? Certainly, ghosts would probably be among the ghost-types, since Zrantox would be more than capable of convincing the ghosts to join up with him. But others? Who among other pokemon would be good to be rallied to the cause?

"The ideal scenario would simply to find pokemon that have had their lives ruined by humans, be they ghosts or not. I am certain that once we gather a few followers, more and more will be enticed by our cause. But if we were to start with any particular place, it would have to be one where there was once heavy pokemon activity, which will give way to two possibilities: either the pokemon will still be there, using that place as a refuge from the humans and thus making it easier for us to rally them, or the humans will have overran it, scattering the pokemon to the wind, and making it a guarantee for us to recruit them. The places in Johto or Kanto with the most pokemon activity are the best places for us to succeed in."

Yes, places of high pokemon activity would be ideal, but the problem was of course getting to them. As in, getting through human hives to find those places, wherever they might be. As enticing as going into a human hive might have at first been the Dusknoir couldn't help but worry about the resistance that they would certainly face when it came to that.

No, I cannot let myself think too far ahead, he thought, that is a bridge I will have to burn when I reach it. For now, I will simply have to play the smaller scale, and worry about the grand picture of extermination when I have sufficient forces to do so.
 
Sinar found it's way out of the cavern with relatively little difficulty. Besides blasts and a howling wind that indicated some sort of struggle, there weren't any cave-ins, the tunnels didn't collapse, nothing of the sort. It was a relatively unexciting journey to the outside, except that the Froslass from the chambers seemed to pass by it on the way up.

Eventually, Sinar reached the outside world, and the weather was simply terrible. The sky was overcast with grey clouds, and Sinar had spent more time inside than it would have liked. Recharging would take quite a while in these conditions.

That, however, provided plenty of time to notice the two ghosts. They were plotting something. From what Sinar could gather, it was some sort of massive attack on humans. Unfortunately, that would probably mean human reprisals on unsuspecting wild Pokemon. And really, the world seemed so much more pleasant when humans and Pokemon worked together. However, Sinar was in no position to try and stop them. Perhaps the sleepers might help, but their first contact with humans in one hundred years most likely did not leave a good impression.
 
The human had not understood them before, a fact that had been proven by his ignorance of anything but body language and attacks. And yet now, he responded to her in particular, before doing... something. she had never been privy to human technology other than the obvious, the things used in Pokemon training - she had no idea what he did, but she noted the circle of light, and he... changed somehow. Perhaps not obviously, but his stance seemed to be firmer, his body suddenly seeming less fragile, though she couldn't pin down why. Not that it mattered, because he wisely declared the Froslass to be a threat and then attacked her. The Froslass retaliated rather well, proving to be a skilled battler despite the time they had slept, and then fled as well, no doubt to follow the Dusknoir.

The most dangerous members of the group - if it could even be called one - had been culled out within a short span of time. That was good, but the ones that were left were the quiet ones who either had no motivation or hadn't said anything about it. What they chose to do was a mystery given they had been overshadowed by the constant threats and spite from the ghosts.

She turned back to watch the human. Those... whatever he had shot. They had felt like air, though the recoil had been loud. One of the wild Pokemon suddenly lunged at the human, and she reacted reflexively, flapping her wings and causing a Whirlwind meant to blow her off course. It was constrained by the tunnels and her own weakened wings, but it was still a quick blast, enough to satisfy her. That accomplished, she had to divert her attention to the other sleeping Pokemon. "Two of our number have already left. Does anyone wish to join them?" she asked, voice the usual monotone. "I do not consider myself a danger to humans, nor do I wish to inflict pain upon them. Would you be willing to negotiate, human? Whatever you used on the Froslass will not have much effect on me." It was risky, given he seemed to think them all dangerous weapons, but there was really no other choice.

She ignored the Sneasel unless the Pokemon made another move to attack - it was probably much weaker than any of the others here, and thus easily blocked from causing too much trouble.
 
As predicted, the Froslass launched a counterattack to his own. Demonstrating for a second time how easy it was to provoke her. Lowering his weapon, Prospero reached down to his belt and drew a red piece of card out from its holster, holding it out in front of him as he was engulfed by the impulsive ghost's stinging breeze. Gritting his teeth; the human was thrown backwards, brought to the very brink of death by the powerful attack, yet managed to hang on thanks to his stolen ability, Sturdy. Enduring the otherwise fatal blow, the card in his hand started to glow. Oh yes. It had tasted the Froslass' power. It was locked onto her now.

Before he had time to use his literal trump card however, the ghost was gone. It had fled the battle, likely to pursue the other one. How very obnoxious. That was the second missed opportunity he'd had to eliminate an obvious threat to human development, and despite the pain he was currently in, he was livid. Lying down with his back to the floor, left hand gripping the handle of his gun and his right still clutching the card, he sat up slowly, careful not to strain his injuries.

Tucking away the card for use the next time he encountered the fleeting ice queen, it was a shame she'd had the foresight to depart, for had she attempted to continue their engagement, she might have noticed the bigger picture. His shots hadn't been aimed at her. He'd been aiming for the section of wall behind, with the intention of bringing it down on her after he used the card's power to pin the frigid spirit against it. Chained to the wall by the mysterious force, and lacking the Dusknoir's ability to separate her molecules, she would have been surely crushed.

"I guess you didn't want to take any chances either, devious little minx."

Bitterly disappointed that his plan to place her into a new tomb had failed, his head turned rapidly, but not quick enough. A Sneasel that had managed to blend into the darkness leaping out behind him in a sneak attack. Seriously wounded, one hit now would seal his fate. His hand moving down to his belt, he pulled out a TM disk, but there wasn't much time in which to act. And a Dark type was an even worse match than a Ghost for his abilities. Aiming his gun up towards the ceiling in his last moments - or what he thought would be his last moments - the attack never made contact. A powerful surge of wind drove back his assailant, and he lowered his weapon. Regarding his unexpected savior with appreciation for the ironic meaning.

So, he'd been assisted by a Pokemon? Absurd. Fate was playing jokes on him without a doubt, to engineer his rescue at the hands of something he hated in this manner. The creature was speaking to him now, taking rather astute advantage of his current situation. Indeed, sacrifice would be a futile gesture now. The most dangerous members of the band had already made their escape. And the steel raptor would be saved from death by her ability no matter what he did to resist her. In light of the circumstances, there was little choice. Placing his weapon down on the floor, he folded his arms and smiled, keeping his hands within reach of his belt in case he needed to use a TM.

"Even just by coming back into this world, you Pokemon have made yourselves more of a threat than you obviously realize. However, since you seem willing to show such restraint, I will listen to you. Perhaps you would like to know the reason your existence has become such a perilous thing?"

The symbol on his chest flashing, there was the same ringing as before as his superiors once again tried to contact him. Tapping it twice quickly, he opened up a line of communication to the outside world so that they could listen in. But of course, to the untrained eye, it looked the same as if he'd canceled it.
 
Rei could feel her claws inches, mere inches, if that, from the human and his flesh that she wanted to cut up now that the bloodlust was upon her, but another wind, more powerful and purposeful this time, burst through the cavern. It was so strong that it blew her, a relatively light Pokemon, off course, and she would have smacked into a stone wall had she not flipped her long tail feathers just enough to bring her down to the ground. The feathers weren't specialized for flight, like those on the end of a bird Pokemon's wing, but they did help her work with the air, and this time even the slightest thing like that could save her.

But that didn't change the fact that she was still even more irritated. Now the human was between her and the shiny metal bird. Rei pushed herself to her feet with her powerful white claws, and then twisted around toward the steel bird. "What was that for?" she snarled, her fangs -- even though they were small in comparison to her formidable claws -- bared. She was in the middle of an annoyed growl when the human began to speak. Rei couldn't really understand him, but his tone was purposeful and matter-of-fact, as if he was about to say something interesting. And with her inquisitive nature, the Sneasel couldn't resist listening, even though she didn't really know human words. Her ears strained forward, and though they were tiny, the movement was accented by her vividly colored left ear feather. Her eyes were wide now, and she fell completely silent.
 
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