[FIN] When Paths Cross

[TawnyAngel]

Ah-ha! Easy target. Grinning to himself Tim crept up behind the lone young woman and flexed his fingers; try her belt first, then pockets. As she had a pokemon with her he released his own Heracross put a finger to his lips and pointed to the girl; the blue bug was really the only one of his pokemon he could rely on to listen to him rather than just flying off and attacking but that was the price you paid for the power of dark pokemon.

Once Heracross had nodded at him Tim turned his eyes back onto his target and, on a count down of three on his fingers, he launched himself at her and tried to grip her tightly from behind.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Neither Anya nor Sera noticed the approaching person, but Giselle did -- too late.

The brunette stiffened, but she scarcely had enough time to turn her head let alone do anything to prevent whatever was happening before someone tackled her and gripped her waist. Her first instinct was to scream - and she did so, with all of her might and volume she let out a long, ear-piercing screech as she tried to twist around to slam her elbow into whoever was grabbing her.

Anastasia jumped up and whipped around, a snarl bubbling up in her throat as she bared her fangs. A pokemon was moving to engage her - a Heracross - and she growled, ears slicking back against her head as she moved to one side to stay near Sera and keep away from the bug. Giselle, on the other hand, reappeared and glowered down at the pokemon, a purple ball of energy forming and expanding in front of her for a split second before the Confuse Ray shot towards the bug-type.

Somewhere deep in the woods, Isabella, Jacques and Agatha dropped their prizes and sprinted through the underbrush and around the trees towards the source of the scream.  

[TawnyAngel]

Gah! This was supposed to be easy! "Argh, give up you-!" Tim snarled, scrabbling at the woman as he tried to hold her still and search her at the same time. When the second pokemon appeared Tim swore, maybe this wasn't going to go as great as he'd hoped! Ugh well it was only two, they'd deal!

Heracross wavered when it was struck by Confuse Ray and, with its instructions muddled in its head, it struck at the ghost with Aerial Ace instead of attacking the dark type with a fighting move like it had been supposed to.
__________

The scream made both Taavi and Valour snap their heads around towards the source of the sound. Without needing to be prompted the Braviary wheeled around and dropped into a stoop.

Taavi leaned down flat against his friend's back and held on tightly, hoping that he was wrong about what they'd heard.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera's scream tapered off and she continued to try to twist around; she'd managed to a little and now she tried to push him away with her short arm while her hand sought his face - his eyes, his nose, his ears, anything - to try and injure him enough to make him let go. "What are you doing?! Get off me!" What was he doing - was he trying to steal her pokemon? Like hell she'd let that would happen again.

Tim's questing hands would indeed find her belt, but her hoodie was long enough to extend to her hips and covered the belt and its pokeballs completely.

Giselle cried out as the Aerial Ace struck her and she retreated a bit, but didn't back down just yet. While she wasn't as strong as Sera's main team, she had every intention of doing everything in her power to protect her trainer. With that thought in mind, the ghost-type aimed a Psybeam at the Heracross.

As she was much more agile than either Isabella or Jacques in navigating forests, Agatha swiftly darted from tree to tree, and then from that last tree she jumped straight towards the offending human with her claws fully extended and with an angry battle cry of, "Weaviiiile!"

Jacques' lithe form came next, and he burst through the underbrush with a growl that he wasn't sure where to aim just yet.  

[TawnyAngel]

The trio of pokemon might not be obedient but they knew better than to attack their master at least and began their assault.

The Sycther turned on Anya ready to strike while the Arcanine leapt at Giselle with a savage snarl, fangs bared for a Bite attack. The Metang turned its attention onto the Weavile that had been going after its trainer and after a moment of calculation it charged forward with Metal Head.

Heracross tried to charge at the new enemy shape of the Zoroark but the psybeam made it stagger and confused as it was it ended up ramming head first into a tree.

___________________

Valour broke through the canopy with a piercing shriek scattering leaves and twigs over the chaotic battlefield. When he was a couple of feet from the ground he felt Taavi jump off his back, now free to battle properly he wheeled around in the space space, landed heavily, and then sprang at the unfamiliar Arcanine with a Slash attack.

Taavi rolled as he landed and came up grabbing Swift's and Sky's pokeballs from his belt.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera let out a brief yelp of pain as the man's fingers tangled in her hair and swung her by it. Agatha's furious expression quickly gave way to startled surprise; she had enough time to withdraw her claws and try to swing herself onto her side before she landed on her trainer, and both of them collapsed in a heap on the ground. The Weavile quickly jumped up again but didn't have time to ascertain the brunette's state, so quickly did a new opponent bear down on them. Trusting that Sera could take care of herself for the moment, Agatha wheeled around and bared her teeth at the floating pokemon before jumping forward to meet it. Its Metal Head attack caught her off-guard, however, and sent her sprawling to the ground, but she quickly righted herself and jumped towards it with a Feint Attack.

Giselle didn't have time to ready another attack before an Arcanine bore down on her. She cried out briefly, floated away a bit in a rather halting manner, before her ethereal form fell to the ground, unconscious. Jacques grinned maliciously as he circled the confused Heracross, readying and unleashing Foul Play as he drew nearer to it.

Meanwhile, Seraphine pushed herself up onto unsteady feet and took stock of what was happening, her heart pounding in her chest and fear freezing her to the spot for a moment. Just a moment though, until it melted away in the face of the realization that she wasn't alone. Valour entered her peripheral vision and with him came Taavi. Agatha and Jacques were back, and Isabella wouldn't be far behind them. Giselle's unconscious form caught her attention, so Sera quickly pulled her pokeball from under her hoodie and recalled the ghost, though she hesitated to bring out Luna. The Rapidash wasn't as well trained in battle as her other pokemon, and if she were to faint then her method of fast transportation - which they'd need if they needed to make a quick escape away from this lunatic - would be gone.

Anya bared her fangs at the Arcanine and quickly backed away in a circle to stay near her trainer, hackles raised and her whole frame shaking with anger and fear, but she still didn't attack. She didn't need to though, as Isabella shot through the underbrush then and quickly darted towards the Scyther a second later, aiming a Night Slash at it both to attack it and to drive it away from Seraphine and Anastasia.  

[TawnyAngel]

The Metang reeled and wobbled in the air as Agatha's attack stuck it but it soon recovered enough to charge with another Metal Head.

With one enemy brought down the Arcanine howled in triumph and then launched itself towards the newly appeared blue Scyther with Fire Fang, ignoring the blood that Valour's attack had drawn from its flank.

Tim meanwhile was scrabbling for his Rocket Dex; he managed to get it open and hurriedly hit the button to call his mission leader. "Agent! Waaargh!" he ducked as his Arcanine sprang over his head; "Agent, sir! I need help! I've got two trainers on me!"

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Strikes the Sky tried to dodge the incoming attack but the Arcanine was too fast; hissing in pain she twisted in its grasp as much as she could and blurred her wings to strike it with a Wing Attack.

Valour continued his assault on the Arcanine, this time landing on its back and slashing at it with one set of talons while he gripped it firmly with the other.

Swift was less used to battle than his friends and it took him a moment to overcome his surprise and fear before he could move but once he had gathered his courage he turned on the trapped Heracross and unleashed a potent Heat Wave.

While his pokemon attacked Taavi sprinted over to Sera as she got to her feet and grabbed his radio from its pouch at his belt. Agent, the man had said Agent. "HQ this is Taavi; we have a Rocket on our hands at my location, request assistance!" Where there was one Rocket there were probably more, by the look of the odds they'd win this battle but if the backup the man had called for turned up they'd be in trouble.

_______________

Far away Aulus stared at his arm in disbelief, had that pillock actually just called him and referred to him as Agent while engaging a pair of trainers? Yes, yes he ******** had. //Retreat, NOW,// he tapped out in response as text-to-speech. A moment later he sent a normal text message to the rest of the grunts and the trainees. //Return to the car immediately, mission compromised.// Any trainer who heard the word 'Agent' would know what it meant and be on to the police or the KSO who would then be onto them like flies on s**t, the sooner they were out of here the better.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Agatha leapt for the Metang again but found herself flung back from its attack; her claws shot out and dug into the ground as she skidded backwards, trying to halt herself quicker. Jacques's malicious grin persisted as the Heracross cried out, not so much from his attack but from Swift's. The Scyther staggered back and hissed angrily at Isabella.

Agent, he'd said Agent, and Taavi voiced her thoughts before she could. "You're a Rocket." She spat the word as if it were poisonous. Fury and disgust contorted her features, and her hand clenched into a fist at her side. Of course. Of course he was one of them. "Agatha!" She shouted, taking a step forward, "get him! Jacques, the Metang!" With the Scyther out of their immediate vicinity, Anya pressed against Sera's leg, fangs still bared at their enemies.

Both pokemon barked in response before springing into action: Agatha sprinted across the grass towards the Rocket, her claws extended, while Jacques turned and jumped towards the Metang, raking his claws at it in a Night Slash. Isabella aimed her own Night Slash at the Scyther; the bug-type hissed again and leapt back to avoid it, retaliating with a Fury Cutter. The Heracross, meanwhile, regained its wits and groused as it yanked its horn free from the tree, then turned to aim an Aerial Ace at Swift.  

[TawnyAngel]

Tim yelped in terror and sprinted away from the attacking pokemon as his 'dex rang out the monotone reply.

"Retreat. NOW."

What? No he couldn't do that he hadn't even got a pokemon yet! And now, damn it all, one of the trainers was calling 'HQ' for backup; was he with the KSO? "Arrrrgh! Arcanine! Get the man, and get a pokeball!" As he spoke Tim made a leap for the possible relative safety of the top of Metang's head and slapped it hard. "Up! Go up! Get me outta here!"

The Metang, wavering after Jacques' attack, was only too glad to shoot upwards as its trainer ordered.

The Arcanine was not accustomed to doing as it was told but attacking things that screamed was fun. Turning its head it blasted fire at the Braviary on its back and then shook its off as its grip loosened in shock. Now freed it launched itself at the male human with Extreme Speed, slamming into him hard but grabbing him by the arm and shaking him hard before he could be thrown away.

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Freed from the Arcanine's grasp but weakened by its attack Strikes the Sky paused panting hard, struggling to decide on her next target.

Swift yelped as he was slashed by the deadly accurate Aerial Ace but he knew he couldn't give up in the middle of a battle. Resisting the urge to whine and flee and hide away from the pain he blasted the Heracross with another Heat Wave.

Thrown away from the Arcanine and with his feathers smouldering Valour flailed blindly for a moment before a scream tore his attention back to the battle. <> he shrieked, diving towards the Arcanine as it shook Taavi like a rag doll.

Taavi hadn't been aware of screaming, the only thing in the world for a few moments was pain and after the initial shock there was only survival. He might not be good at a lot but he was good at that. Teeth gritted into a snarl Taavi grabbed for the survival knife at his belt, yanked it from its holster, and stabbed upward.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The Heracross cried weakly before it collapsed in a smoldering heap.

Undeterred by his new height, Agatha jumped up into a tree to get a better vantage point before aiming an Ice Beam at the Rocket's head.

"What?! No, get off him!" Startled by the Arcanine's actions and finding herself immensely concerned with Taavi's well-being - which she would vehemently deny later - Seraphine and Anya ran to the large fire-type. "Let him go!" The brunette shouted as she did the only things she could think of: Grab and yank its fur with her hand, shove at it with her short arm, and also try to kick at it with one foot. She didn't know if any of it would work, and it also didn't occur to her that it could just as easily round on her instead, but she had to try. Anastasia tried to help too, darting towards the Arcanine in a Quick Attack.

Leaving the Metang and its rider to Agatha, Jacques turned and darted to help his trainer with the Arcanine assaulting Taavi; the dark-type aimed a Night Slash at its flank while keeping well away from his own trainer. It wouldn't do to accidentally injure her instead - plus he'd never hear the end of it if he did.

Isabella staggered back from the Scyther's attack with a snarl before launching herself at it, flinging another Night Slash at it as she did so. It cried out angrily at her attack but recovered quickly enough, spun in a sharp circle with its wings moving so fast they were but a blur and aiming a Wing Attack at her.  

[TawnyAngel]

The Arcanine yelped and let go under the combined assault, turning its head to snap half blindly this way and that as blood ran down its face. Enough was enough; it ripped a couple of the man's pokeballs from his belt and dashed away with Extreme Speed, using its momentum to take a huge leap into the air.

The Ice Beam hit would have been dead on target had the Metang not flashed up a shielding Protect in front of its trainer.

Tim laughed as the attack bounced off and returned his Arcanine as it sailed overhead, grabbing the pair of pokeballs it had had in its mouth as they fell towards him. Damnit all Heracross was down too? He returned the bug type with a muttered curse, this was getting way too much but he guessed they could leave now once he got the pokemon into the stolen pokeballs.

"Scyther!" he bellowed down at the mantis pokemon. "Scyther retreat!" The bugs couldn't fly well at all with their tiny wings but if it would just get clear of the battle a bit he could call it back.

________________

As the Arcanine let go of him Taavi collapsed in a heap and clutched his injured arm against his chest; he hadn't heard a crack above the noise of the battle but the sudden searing pain told him it was broken.

When the pokeballs were ripped away from Taavi's belt Valour gave another cry of fury. Under other circumstances he would have chased after the man to get them back but with Taavi collapsed on the ground his first instinct was to mantle his wings over his friend in case the Scyther or the Metang thought to launch and attack on him while he was down.

With one enemy down Swift turned his attention upwards and tried to blast the Metang with Heat Wave, if the Rocket got caught up in it too then it wasn't his problem.

A moment after the fiery blast had died away Strikes the Sky charged forward, sprang at a tree, launched herself from there again and tried to reach the hovering Metang with Vacuum Wave.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When the Arcanine started snapping its fangs at its assailants, Sera made a rather unbecoming squeaking noise as she recoiled and stumbled backward immediately to avoid it grabbing her next, and she succeeded in avoiding it - and also succeeded in falling flat on her back in the process. And then the fire-type was gone in a blur of movement, and Seraphine hastened to right herself and scramble over to Taavi's side. s**t did that look awful and gross, and while she desperately wanted to avoid blood - someone else's blood, even - there wasn't anyone else around to take care of it except her. The brunette quickly turned her head to take stock of what was happening still, just in time to see Isabella thrown back against the base of a tree. "Jacques, help Isabella," she said, although she didn't need to; the Zoroark had seen the same and had already darted away to help her.

"Agatha?" A tree branch a ways away shook before the Weavile dropped back down to the ground. "Agatha, come here, quick." As she spoke, Sera shrugged out of her white hoodie, leaving her just in a pale pink short-sleeved shirt, while the small dark-type sprinted over to join her. She then held it up as well as she could with one hand and presented it to the Weavile. "Here, cut this here - like this," she motioned at it with her short arm, "and cut these bits off." Agatha's small eyes widened at the instructions - she'd never known her trainer to willingly destroy any of her clothing before - but figured there was a reason behind it, so she did as she was bade and hastily sliced through the fabric. Once she had a long strip cut out, Sera scooted closer to Taavi's side. "Here, we can wrap your arm in this," she said as she held it close with every intention of beginning to do so. While the normally pristine hoodie's exterior had been smeared over with dirt and grass, the interior still looked quite clean.

Retreat? Pah! The Scyther hissed again, completely ignoring the Rocket in favor of darting forward to its downed target, its scythes raised menacingly.

Isabella grunted and tried to get back up, but found her horn stuck in the tree she'd been knocked into; her gold eyes widened as she tried to yank it free.  

[TawnyAngel]

"What part of retreat don't you get?" Tim cried in frustration. Dark pokemon! Ugh! Why had he ever liked them? Scyther were good though, so maybe he'd have the one coming towards him instead! "Hit it Metang hit it!"

The steel and psychic type whirred its distaste for its master but in this case it would have done as he said anyway; it met the blow of Vacuum Wave arm to claw, and though the fighting type move bit deep into it the force sent the Scyther plunging out of control towards the ground.

Grinning in triumph Tim pointed one of the stolen pokeballs at the falling shape but it had no effect, same with the second one. "Ugh!" Trust his luck! They had to belong to the Braviary and the Vulpix then. The first one was an easy target but the other he couldn't make out in the gloom, that made it an easy choice then.

_____________________

Taavi knew he was breathing too quickly and too shallowly, knowing it didn't make it easy to change though. "I've got," he paused, to breathe for a moment, eyes squeezed shut against dizziness. "Got some first aid stuff in the pouch on my left leg. Can use that to secure it." There were dressings in there but the hoody cloth Sera was offering was a more immediate option and so in this case, better.

Raising his head Taavi saw Sky dropping out of control towards them and gave a wordless cry of alarm, soon followed by; "Valour!"

The Braviary was already in the air, twisting in the air to grasp his friend in his talons before righting himself and swooping down to set her safely on the ground.

Sky; safe. What was happening with the others? "Swift go help!" Where was his radio? He must had dropped it, had they ever got a reply?

Swift barked acknowledgement and sprang away after Jacques, ready to lend aid it it was needed.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should continue with the torn hoodie or stop to rummage through his pocket he'd mentioned, but she shook her head and chose the former. Once more sure of what to do - she wasn't even remotely good with this sort of thing, especially in a chaotic and frightening situation - she started carefully wrapping the clean side of the fabric around Taavi's arm as well as she could with one hand, though Agatha moved forward to help with her claws retracted. Every few seconds Sera couldn't help but pause for just a moment to make sure her other pokemon were okay - so far they were - before she returned to the matter of Taavi's bleeding arm.

During another quick glance to ascertain her pokemon's well-being, time seemed to stand still as several things happened all in the space of a couple seconds:

The Scyther stood over Isabella and pressed one thick foot onto her flank to keep her down, despite her attempts to growl and kick at it. It raised its scythes high above her.

Jacques snarled, hastily crafting an illusion that immediately made Isabella vanish, as he leapt forward to tackle the Scyther away from her.

Sera made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, and Agatha's head jerked up to look too.

Undeterred by its opponent disappearing - perhaps because it could still feel her under its foot - the bug-type swung its scythes downward with all its might, foregoing battle moves in favor of ensuring its opponent never stirred again.

Jacques abruptly halted halfway over the prone, now visible and startled Absol and he coughed, blood dripping down his jaws; the bug-type's scythes had pierced his back, sunk halfway through his torso and now protruded from his chest, blood coursing down them that dripped onto Isabella's white fur, staining it red.

The Scyther frowned at the interfering Zoroark but wasn't too upset. It yanked out one scythe before it swung the other to dislodge the dark-type, who left a bloody patch on the tree he collided with before he fell into a heap on the grass.

"Jacques!" Sera wasn't aware of shouting, of throwing the remainder of the fabric she'd wrapped around half of Taavi's injured arm, of pushing herself to her feet so she could run towards her fallen dark-type, of Agatha's claws extending with an angry cry as she shot towards the Scyther to join Swift.

In one quick motion, Isabella yanked her horn free and twisted out from beneath the Scyther, then slammed her horn into its legs; the bug-type flopped over with a startled cry, and it swung a bloody scythe at her but the Absol was already gone. As soon as she'd knocked it over, Isabella raced over to Jacques and pressed herself to the ground in front of him, studying his face for signs of life. She found little; she huffed out a question, to which the weak Zoroark responded by turning his head to touch his nose to hers. His body fell still a moment later.  

[TawnyAngel]

Tim swore as his Scyther kept on ignoring his orders, at this rate he'd just leave the damn thing behind! He wasn't leaving empty handed though, no chance. With his jaw set in grim determination Tim lent over the edge of his Metang's head and pointed both stolen pokeballs at the Braviary that had just launched itself off the ground towards him with a horrible shriek, a shriek that was cut off half way through as it was sucked into one of the pokeballs.

While Tim was busy focusing on theft Metang retained its focus on the Scyther that had attacked it just now; the blue bug had righted itself and looked about to make another charge so it blasted the enemy's mind with Confusion, which sent it staggering off to one side.

____________________

For the time being Valour's sudden disappearance went unnoticed by Taavi, when Sera sprang to her feet to rush to Jacques' side his arm was jarred and he spent some moments hunched over, his breath taken away by the white hot pain. He hadn't just seen what he thought he had. He couldn't have. Clasping his arm tightly against his chest again he managed to force himself to sit up, just in time to see the Zoroark fall still.

It all happened so quickly that Swift stood frozen for a moment, hardly able to believe his eyes as the blade burst out of Jacques' chest. When it pulled them free again and Isabella slammed it aside it was as though time clicked back into place. Swift howled, eyes glowing red, and unleashed a white hot jet of fire that burst into a curving symbol form as it reached the Scyther.