[RAID] Tricksters in the Dark

[Blood_Goddess]

"Ain't much to climb round on in this part." He said, glancing over at Rory, putting his two cents in.
But it was Aulus' words that drew his attention back to the other man. "Man, worth t'that brotha', after all that s**t we, get taken down in a ********' cave?" Jerome shook his head "Naw." She sounded very casual about it, "Told em we would tag em back, they best hope there ain't no ********' in here messin' with us. Pokemon, or G."
It might have been a little odd how calmly he said that last part though.  

[Rocket Agent Tambrey]

Well, it was reassuring and Tambrey smiled, even if she was pretty sure, in her own mind, that they could absolutely be defeated in a cave just like this. It wasn't something that she was going to voice out loud. Besides... They /had/ been through a lot and they had survived so much until now. Perhaps she could persuade herself to begin believing in it herself.
She had Rory here, she had friends who she'd been through so much with... These people were people she should have absolute confidence in.
Her smile grew on her face as the train of thought succeeded a little way.
"Couldn't have better company." She offered, genuinely.

Treestar had to trot a little faster, every so often, as his march wasn't quite quick enough to keep up effectively all the time.  

[TRHQ Harvard]

Moving along, the cave wasn't done with them yet. As they went, occasionally the sound of giggles would echo along the walls. Glimpses of shadows moving out of the corner of the eye became more frequent as they traveled farther under the mountain. At one point, something would even tap at Rory and Jerome's shoulders, but would vanish before sighted.

After what seemed to take far too long a walk, Stanford came back into sight. He had stopped at the exit to the tunnel and was standing on his hind legs along the wall, sniffing at the air of the cavern the tunnel opened into. It was large, though not quite as much so as the one they had sprinted through earlier. At the center was a shallow pool of water. On the opposite side was a stone shelf with slopes leading up either side. Rocks jutted up from the ground throughout the room, with no accompanying spires on the ceiling to watch for. Lights had been strung up along the ceiling, but whatever purpose the cavern had served seemed useless by now--

Stanford squealed and skittered back to the group in the tunnel as a Swift attack struck the wall near the entrance. Talk about an unfriendly welcome. Harvard holstered her gun and hovered a hand over her pokeballs as she judged the situation, switching into serious business mode. Above the stone shelf opposite them hovered the giggling target: a very amused trickster of a Mesprit.

"No exits sighted. Catch target alive if at all possible." Not that she was going to be the picky one, if it came down to it. "Any questions?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Even found itself a sodding lake," commented the ever couth Aulus with a growl. The creeping shadows, the long walk, everything about this had been making his already taught nerves twang like a plucked violin string.

"Can't see any major questions," he continued, "send in incapacitation skilled pokemon first? Anyone got a sleep or freeze are we going for paralysis? I've got a disable and a slow in Paul, paralyze in Discord. Any input from you lot?" It looked like this really might be simple, maybe dangerous but simple.... But what had happened to the Galactics that must have brought the mech here? Were they at the bottom of the pool?  

[LexThetaSigma]

The random feeling of something touching his shoulder was sending chills down Rory's spine and leaving him uncomfortable. He tried to spot whatever it was but it moved too fast; he even looked to see if anyone else was bothered by it. The only other person he had seen flinch was Jerome, but he had seen the other grunt favoring his shoulder and chalked it up to that.

The squeal from Harvard's pokemon as it was attacked brought him back to the present as he took in the sight of the cavern.

"Unless we want it on the crisp side, I don't have much of anything else." Rory offered as an answer to Aulus. Maybe he shouldn't have left Thor back at the base after all, even if it was safer for the mouse.  

[Rocket Agent Tambrey]

Mesprit's pranks had been a little bit harrowing on the walk, and it had tried to kill them when they'd entered.
Before the night began, Tambrey might have hesitated in her next course of action.
Gesturing for Treestar to come and ready in front of her, she took a pokéball from her belt and pressed the button, releasing a little bug type to stand alongside the Chikorita.

"No questions... These two have poison attacks; 's got to be helpful? And Neph ha-" Where had Neph gone? She'd gotten bored waiting for an attack order and was scurrying toward the pink thing, mouthing off. "Frell... Neph has string shot..."

<<HEY! MARSHMALLOW HAT!>> The yellow spider called <<Apparently my human thinks you're worthy of battling... Not seeing it but it's been a while and I want to play! >> She wasn't exactly attacking yet, which was something Tambrey noticed and considered an improvement, though she didn't think the chittering was helpful.

"Neph.. Wait for instruction..." She called, while Treestar looked confused. Neph was going toward the thing, was he supposed to? Were they battling now?  

[Natsuko-neko]

That giggling and shadows was beginning to get on his nerves. Xander would fiddle with his pokeballs from time to time, ready to send out any in his team if they were needed. When they got to the cavern he made sure to look up at the ceiling for more hazards.

Xander shook his head at Aulus' question. "None of mine have any disabling moves." He said. He had been meaning to work on balancing some of his team's move sets but had been busy lately. Something that will have to change when the mission is over.  

[TRHQ Harvard]

The Mesprit giggled even more at Neph's declaration. It started floating around over its shelf, bouncing with ease in the air.

"Try to not physically touch it. Disabling or otherwise impeding its movements would be beneficial. Good call." She nodded to Aulus in acknowledgement of his input, and listened as the others listed their options. "Supposedly, touching Mesprit will make you lose all emotions three days later." She selected her Pokeball of choice. She wasn't one for superstition, but, "Let's not test that theory." Releasing the Pokemon inside, a battle-ready Gallade appeared at her side, arms raised and crossed to display the extended elbow blades. "Yale. Provide cover."

Giving a sound of confirmation, Yale the Gallade leapt forward and used Protect to guard the tunnel and those inside.


((DAMAGE ROLLS!!!

Roll One d20:
13-20: No injuries!
8-12: Some bumps and bruises, superficial wounds.
3-7: Moderate wounds, broken arm, deep gashes, etc.
1-2: Your character is seriously injured.

Rank Modifiers:
Agent: +2, Elite: +3

And that concludes day 2 and sets us up for tomorrow! Damage can happen anytime leading up to the end of the mission.))  

[TRHQ Harvard]

((Evil cackle goes here. 8D ))  

[LexThetaSigma]

Rory nodded at Harvard's instructions and cast a glance over at Jerome. He had seen the man's ghost pokemon and remembered the tapping he had felt on his shoulder. He had slowly been getting used to how ghosts behaved with his new Shuppet and Shadow's pokemon; he hoped it was just the ghosts messing with them.

Rory hit the release buttons on the other two pokeballs at his belt, releasing Demeter and Koschei, as he called Jace to come back to his side. Koschei crouched low and used Leer against the pink, hovering thing while the Shuppet hovered over Rory's shoulder as Jace took a protective stance in front of his trainer to prepare for battle.  

[Rocket Agent Tambrey]

*((Roll of fate))*  

[Natsuko-neko]

The pokedex HAD said something about the touch problem Xander recalled and forced his self not to take a step back. He did not want to test out that information first hand. He grabbed one of his pokeballs and called out his Liepard. "Angel, help Yale if need be." The feline purred and moved to the male pokemon, ready to use protect as well.

The next pokemon he called was an Umbreon. "Eclipse, ready a helping hand. Conrad, keep a trump card ready to give a ranged move if the disabling moves don't work well enough."  

[TawnyAngel]

[Injury roll!]  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome was used to having things touch him when he visibly could not see them, it was part of what happened when you had a Ghost type for a best friend, and who was constantly around.
But, when something had touched his shoulder, while he wasn't startled by it, he did glance over his shoulder, expecting to see Bro... Realizing that it was not his ghost type when he didn't see anything.

Frowning, and glancing over at Rory who seemed to notice something too, Jerome arched an eyebrow, but continued on with the group.

It wasn't long before they found the pokemon they were looking for. and were preparing for a fight to take it down, and take it in.
"A'ight" Jerome mutter, glancing over to Boss, and Bro' who had appeared again.
Reaching down to his belt and releasing Hiss out next to her team mates.
The monstrous Feraligatr unfurled herself with a throaty rumble, looking to Jerome as they got ready for a battle.  

[TawnyAngel]

"That might be the best idea I've heard all day," Aulus muttered, a shiver running down his spine at the thought. What would it be like, living without feelings?... Alright he supposed. Everything would be just... alright. He didn't like that idea at all.

Time to prep then; he released Discord, Red and Char from their pokeballs and gestured to Mesprit. "Capture, not kill. Discord, lead off with a Glare. Paul, try to Disable a move once that's done. The rest of you, strike hard and don't get in your teammates' way. Ready?" All of his pokemon nodded, though Discord of course felt the need to do so over enthusiastically. "Alright then," Aulus growled, "let's go!"