Blaguarro Town Terminal Two Holding Cells

[Cresselia92]

Silver was getting ready to sprint into the room, his curiosity fully piqued by whatever was inside. But before he could take a step forward, the Togetic flew in front of him, making him jump back in surprise.

“Ah! What d’you—?”

Grace's glowing gaze hardened on Silver, and she frowned at him. "You should not behave like the ones we are trying to save," she pointed out softly, reaching out for him with her radiant healing. "Breathe, Teammate, we will rescue them. Your anger is justified, but I cannot allow it to control you."

Silver frowned in response. “Huh?! I have my anger perfectly in check! I don’t need any—”

His protest halted instantly when the soothing water splashed against in arm. He winced, completely taken off-guard, but the soothing energy quelled whatever unrest he felt. Soon, his heartbeat slowed down and he began chuckling softly, now fully relaxed.

“…Heh. Okay, not gonna lie! That actually felt kinda nice, and…” Silver trailed off when he noticed Grace’s grimace. He stepped forward, his eyes wide in concern. “Whoa, hey! Are you okay? Your Radiance is...”

Everything he learned about Radiance in the abbey rushed back to him, especially the lesson about how an overwhelming amount of Radiance could turn someone into a magnificent burning star. His eyes widened further — he seriously doubted that was mere metaphorical imagery!

Acting quickly, he grabbed the Togetic by her arm and called upon his deepest protective instincts. The thick wall he always kept around his heart to protect his most fragile feelings... for once, he was going to wrap it around someone else; to keep her safe from her own glowing aura.

“Listen to your own advice and take a deep breath!” he exclaimed, a dark aura flaring around his body. “You aren’t gonna help others if you don’t first help yourself!”

Indigo droplets condensed around Silver’s hand, and clutching the Togetic’s arm tighter (but surprisingly gently), he let those droplets seep into her body, cloaking her in a violet hoarfrost to dim her blinding light. They felt cold, refreshing, like taking a bath by the sea during a hot summer day.

You're safe... You're safe... Please, stay safe...

Silver used Assist and linked with Grace! The Shadow filled his aura and called upon Shadow Life Dew!

“I’m okay, really. I’m way too used to my own anger,” Silver said as his darkness receded, and he let go of her arm. “So, please, heed your own words and take a breather.”

And without further ado, he slipped into the room.

 

[Hap]

Ridley wanted to take a look in that room.

It was almost certainly a bad idea, considering how much time he'd spent recently promising himself he'd take fewer risks. But was it really that much of a risk?

He was the smallest of the party and probably the most unobtrusive. Whatever was in there was almost certainly caged. And while his teammates were starting to suffer the effects of radiance - radiant energy seemed to work similarly to shadow energy, Ridley guessed, in a vicious spiral where using it put you in the mindset to use more of it - Ridley had used barely any so far. If he did get in trouble, he thought he'd have enough leeway to throw out a radiant move or two to get him out of it.

How much of that was an actual reason, and how much was ad-hoc justification for doing something just because he wanted to do it?

But Ridley wanted.

And besides, wasn't checking out stuff like this half the reason they were here? Someone would have to look into that room eventually, so it might as well be Ridley.

"I'm going to check it out," he whispered to his teammates, and slipped through the door.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Focusing on something more useful and lighthearted had worked extremely well for a good, hm, let's say thirty seconds, which was impressive considering they were in the worst hellhole ever to hellhole. But every step they took further into this place was just spiraling, just more pokémon who were worse and worse and worse. How many more were they going to find? How many more lives had Cipher ruined?

Leaf had almost walked right past the door, honestly, moving mostly on autopilot, only realizing it and stopping when she registered the others talking about it. Another prisoner in there, seemed like. (At least one more.) What'd they done to deserve getting locked away from everyone else who was already locked away? (Did it matter? Nothing anyone could say would justify it.)

They were still talking about whether or not they should go in. Maybe everyone shouldn't. There were still so many (worse, and worse, and worse), and still more they needed to know. But they needed to know what was in here, too. Silver and Ridley had the right idea. Go, see what was inside, figure out what to do instead of just guessing.

"Someone check how much longer this hallway is. Need to know for sure how many are in there," she said simply, and she made her way inside the room.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

After thanking Andre for the defensive boost and then giving a brief account of what Kimiko could see, some of the party agreed it was best to check it out. After he and Grace helped calm each other, Silver slipped into the room first, ready to pounce on anyone who might be waiting; as a sneasel, he'd have quicker reflexes than her.

Ridley went in next, and while Kimiko was about to object, something told her to wait. So far, he'd conducted himself well. This wasn't a careless act, very much unlike the reckless decision to swim in Powehi's eternal shadow. She let him go ahead of her.

Then Leaf passed her by and Kimiko realized she was hesitating, becoming lost in thought. There were more than enough of them remaining to check out the rest of the cares, and she could always come back if they needed her to sing again... and her curiosity got the best of her. She slipped into the room behind the others.

 

[Magyk]

“Listen to your own advice and take a deep breath!” he exclaimed, a dark aura flaring around his body. “You aren’t gonna help others if you don’t first help yourself!”

Grace gasped and gently landed on the floor, feeling the sudden shock of Shadows counter her Radiance.

Save them!

Save them!

Save...

Herself?

Huh. That was a new one.

She blinked, and her glowing eyes finally dimmed as she relaxed and took a few deep breaths to clear her mind. She'd been channelling Radiance and needed help herself, how'd she let that happen?

Grace wished there'd been time to train with that stuff. The whispers had faded, and her body felt... more stable, but she still had her goal in her heart. "Thank you," she whispered meekly, knowing that Silver was already in the other room. She'd have to thank him properly later, when there was time for it.

With a glance down that hall, Grace wanted to go join the others and provide backup, but someone had to stay here and wait for Mav and the keys and tend to the captives. These ones had more Shadows, after all. Surely she could trust everyone to not anger whatever Subject 341 was...?

 

[Jackie Cat]

She heard the fighting and arguing long before they approached the room. She paced from one side of the box to the other, ears pinned flat, chest heaving stale air, eyes wide and fixed on the crack in the door. Open, it was open, if she could just get out of the box.

Then they were right outside the room.

And then, they were coming in.

Her hackles went up. They could be here to let her free. Or they could be here to kill her. Or to put her in a different box. A worse box.

She pulled her lips back in a ragged, feral snarl.

"Stay back," she barked, the darkness in her throat thick enough to choke on. "Show yourself!"

Don't come closer.

Show me who you are.

Listen.

I'll fight if I have to.​

 

[Cresselia92]

The sudden bark from the prisoner made Silver stop before he could get closer. One of his clawed hands touched the ground, unconsciously aiming to appear smaller and less threatening. He held his head lower and tilted it, trying to make out in the darkness what creature was trapped inside that glassy cage.

“…Easy there. We mean no harm,” he said slowly and carefully, waving his free hand (with his claws fully retracted) to try to reassure her. “We’re here to help all people held hostages by those Cipher jerks.”

He stared at the documents and label shrouded in the darkness, wishing to take a peek at them and find out more about that ‘Subject 341.’ But she sounded way too agitated, if not downright terrified, and any reckless movement could have had serious consequences. As such, he stared meaningfully at the others and held out his free hand as a sign to stop and not walk further, deeming it best to take slow (not literal) steps with that prisoner.

“Who are you?” he asked, his ears pointed toward the prisoner. “I bet 341 isn’t your real name, am I right?”

 

[Jackie Cat]

As Silver stepped into the room, there was a dull thump as dim, red emergency lighting came up, triggered by his movement.

The pokémon in the containment cell was canine, or close enough – that much was obvious, at least. It was hard to tell too much about her in the poor lighting, and her appearance was distorted further by the curling Shadow energy around her jaws... but there was a definite mane, pale enough to make out when it caught the light.

"No," she said, her voice hoarse and thick. "I'm nobody. I don't belong here."

She stared back, her eyes glinting red in the gloom.

"Who are you," she growled. "...Not Cipher...?"

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"Stay back," she barked, the darkness in her throat thick enough to choke on. "Show yourself!"

It was a good thing Silver opted to go in first, Kimiko thought. She visibly flinched at the sudden bite of the shadow in the mysterious voice. Silver also had the right mind to talk the... whoever it was down. She paused as he held up a claw.

"I'm nobody. I don't belong here."

"Nobody belongs here," Kimiko noted, rooted to her spot but holding her tiny, leafy hands up. "I mean, he's being honest. Some of our allies are in the previous room, freeing 'mon from their cells as we speak. The rest of them are on the floors above, taking on the Cipher admins. We're very much not part of their group."

"We... might be able to get you out, too," she added, hesitantly. Whoever this was, they were still a prisoner, or they wouldn't be locked up in that clear box. "I'm Kimiko. I imagine you have a name, too?"

 

[Phoenixsong]

Talking was a good sign. Angry talking, yeah, but better than screaming and spitting and bashing themselves against the glass. Seemed clearer-headed than most of the ones outside this room, that was for sure.

Leaf paced around the walls of the room, looking for a switch or anything that might provide light. Let Silver see the documents. Let them all see this prisoner. Hell, let the prisoner see them, so they knew who they were dealing with, too—it was only fair. "Gonna try and find the lights for you, and see if we can figure out how to open that thing." Would the lights even work, if the place had jumped straight to the dim red backups? What kind of half-broken dumpster was Cipher keeping them in?

 

[Jackie Cat]

The pokémon in the box dipped her head low, and tracked Leaf's movement around the edge of the room with wide, red-shot eyes. There was a light switch, but it did nothing. There was no power.

"Name... yeah. Got a name. I'm..."

There was a pause. Not reluctance – difficulty. Of speech? ...of recall?

The Shadow pokémon put a paw over her face and whined. Definitely a dog. Or a wolf, perhaps.

"I have a goddamn name. My name... My fucking name..."

She lashed out at the glass wall, with a dull thunk. No fractures.

"So what do I call you? Girl like you must have a pretty cool name, right?"

"...I guess. Does it count if you picked it for yourself?"

"Of course! That's even cooler!"

"Yours first. Then I'll tell you."

"Oh, it's like that, is it? Well, fair's fair. Let's trade names. Mine's Rui."

"Cute name."

"Sure is! Let's hear your cool one, Miss Mysterious!"

"Heh. Alright, if it means you never call me that again. You can call me—"​

"—Leona. My name is Leona."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Leona…” Silver nodded and grinned, despite knowing that nobody would have been able to see his movements in the dim light. “Heh! That’s a cool name! Fancy meeting ya, name’s Silver!”

Feeling more audacious, the now-Sneasel began walking toward the cage, his gaze moving back and forth between Leona and Leaf. He paused the moment the Rapidash flipped the switch, then frowned in annoyance when the lights refused to work.

“Hmph! Looks like the lights’re busted…” he grumbled with a shake of his head, then walked toward the currently unreadable documents. Oh well! Guess that means we’ll have to check these docs out later. They look important!

And with a swift motion worthy of a thief, he swiped the documents and stored them into his belt bag. Whatever info they contained, hopefully the group could find out what those Cipher bastards did to all those people.

“Now, then,” Silver turned to the cage and glared at the mechanisms keeping it into place, “let’s break you outta this stinky prison, shall we? D’you know if this trap has a switch or something to open it?”

 

[Inkedust]

Anite looked at the door, then Tala and communicated a plan of action through a wordless huff that Tala replied to with a nod. Anite would take anyone who wanted to attend to the shadows in the hall all the way until its endpoint and get a headcount of how many were in the prison total.

Tala, on the other hand, kept a close eye on the Wayfarers who entered Leona's room, after hearing the presumed canine's words, she walked in, carrying Mav's lantern in hand. "Been here a while, huh?" she asked the mystery pokémon, bringing the lantern closer to try and make out what species she was. "Tala," she introduced, "local innkeeper. Now just what business did these 'Cipher' lowlifes have with you?" There was a tenderness to Tala's voice. It was only natural that the girl was on-edge given the state she found herself in.

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Silver... like the Johto champion?"

The wolf shook her head, and pawed at her face again.

"Doesn't matter. Open... I don't know how it opens. There's an electronic lock or something. Might not even work in this blackout."

Leona kept her hackles up and her teeth bared as the light came nearer. As the lantern illuminated the Shadow pokémon, it became clear that she was another Lycanroc – the species' midday form. Her fur was darkened from grime, dark stains, and Shadow corruption, but under all that, it was a pale colour – a kind of sandy blond.

"I'm not... I'm not who they were looking for—"

The low growl in Leona's throat rose up sharply as Tala drew close.

"Stay back," she barked, snapping her teeth.

Then, a pause, a subdued whimper.

"Sorry. Shadows. I can't..."

Another feral slam against the glass wall. Leona was having trouble keeping a hold of herself, that much was obvious.

 

[Magyk]

Leona... Silver... like the Johto Champion?

Grace was kind of listening as she stayed back with Anite and the others, knowing this time to better keep her Radiance in check. As she prepared to help the other prisoners. Perhaps there was time to investigate for files later.

She didn’t know what a 'Johto Champion' was, so she guessed it must have been a hughmon thingy with the way Leona seemed to recognise Silver's name.

...Maybe it was time to do some studying on hughmon world lore.

 

[Inkedust]

Tala remained in place but raised a placating talon, moving slowly to keep her scales from making too much noise. She had more than enough experience handling Blaguarro drunks and while Leona's situation wasn't exactly the same, perhaps she could draw on that experience to try and calm the lycanroc.

"Easy there," she said softly. "Dunno what you've been through but I can tell its been nothing good. We ain't gonna do anything like that to you. Just tell us what we can do to help. I promise you'll be alright once we get you outta there."

Tala Called out to Leona!

The kommo-o quickly glanced at the Wayfarers. "Figure out how to open it. Gotta be a way to pry it open if the power ain't working." Her gaze passed over the dim, emergency lighting. "The others must have been quite busy," she added. "Wonder which one of ya was responsible for that one."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"How can I be alright?" muttered the Lycanroc. "Ever again. I'm... They did something to me—"

Her eyes bulged as her lips pulled back further in a grotesque, feral snarl.

Calls: 1

 

[RJr3:2]

After waiting a few moments, Aige slipped into the room behind the others, listening quietly.

She began to walk along the wall, looking for buttons, switches, keys, whatever there might be. As the Lycanroc spoke, the Roggenrola felt a small twinge.

"You're alright because you can ask yourself if you are," she said, still staring at the walls. "Maybe you're not good, but if you can recognize that, then you can try to do something to change it."

 

[Cresselia92]

"Silver... like the Johto champion?"

A phantom pang squeezed his heart, making Silver wince. While he knew from Corey that other Silvers existed, he didn’t know what to think about a more successful version of himself. Should he be glad because another himself achieved his dream, or should he be upset because another himself achieved his dream?

He deemed it best to ignore his conflicting feelings. That wasn’t the right time to untangle multiversal headaches.

“…Ah. Well, I’m runner-up. The second best,” he admitted with a shrug. “But heh, whatever! That’s not relevant right now.”

Silver knelt down and began swiping at the base of the cage with his acidic claws, looking for some weak spot. If he managed to punch a hole somewhere, then maybe they’d have been able to insert a lever or something and force the cage open…

"How can I be alright?" muttered the Lycanroc. "Ever again. I'm... They did something to me—"

Her eyes bulged as her lips pulled back further in a grotesque, feral snarl.

Silver took a deep breath and glanced at Leona, a somber gleam wrapped in his red gaze. “…I guess nobody other than yourself knows what those scumbags did to you. What kinda hell you had to endure. But… you’ll get through it, okay?”

For a moment, Silver felt like he wasn’t talking only to Leona. As those words raced past his lips, the bitter memories of his younger self swam into his mind.

The way he stared at his own home or rather, his prison, partly hesitant and partly in disbelief. Not even he knew how he got out with no one noticing. But there was something else he knew for sure: he couldn’t stay. Not anymore. He had to leave. So he ran, far into the neighboring region, leaving behind his past, both the good and especially the bad…

Doubling his efforts to force his claws into whatever material he could pierce through, Silver shot a steely stare in Leona’s way. Spite and contempt swirled briefly in his eyes, aimed at the heartless bastards responsible for her situation and the entire shadowy business, until resoluteness and defiance burned as bright as ever.

“You’ve survived this far, and I see you’ve still got the fight in you! So, don’t give ‘em the satisfaction! You’re stronger than those damned psychos, and you’re gonna prove that — to yourself, and eventually to ‘em!”

Silver Called out to Leona!

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf tried the switch, and the power was just straight-up dead. Lovely. Gonna have to think of another way to get her out, then.

Since Aige was searching the room for controls, Leaf tried to inspect the cage itself, casting little flickers of light from her mane and horn to have half a chance to see what she was doing since Tala was busy with the lantern. She stuck to the sides as best she could instead of coming at the glass from the front—"I'm just looking for a way to open this," she said, hoping a little fair warning would help keep the lycanroc from freaking out further. (It had worked okay with Minerva, at least. Most of the time.) A button or a switch, or even just a seam someone could get their horn or claws into. She wouldn't try it just yet if she found anything, not until everyone was ready, until Leona was ready, but they had to know what their options were.

"When you're out of here," she said to Leona, "you'll be the one who gets to do things. You get to decide what 'all right' is. What you want it to be. It might take time—" like Minerva, like Nova "—but you'll have that time. We won't let them keep taking it away from you."

Leaf Called out to Leona!