Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tristen and Freth arrived by means of the Claydol, taking note to all who came this morning to the fight that was about to ensue. The two would look at each other than towards Sub, the both of them trying to get some sort of read of the situation; how the leader of Snagem was feeling about this in general. Nothing came of the sort. All they knew that this was a spearhead operation and the main spearhead was no where here, still trying to recover from the fight with Dialga. It was still going to be a couple of days before he’d get clear be do so again. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too late by then. Tristen and Freth followed the leader off from Violet City, on down the path into the Ruins of Alph, seeing the guard. Part of Tristen wondered if this man knew what was transpiring nearby. It was almost pitiable.

Freth, unfortunately, had other concerns than a mere ignorant guard. “I would have preferred it that you didn’t head off on this mission.”

“As long as you’re still in my head, you’re still going to be along for whatever ride I see fit to go on. You get no say. Besides, even so, didn’t you want to make sure that this world stayed safe when you finally was able to call it quits from the squad? Can’t do it with a Dialga under the control of a nihilistic psycho.”

“At this point, I’m ready to write off this reality. With Phyco stating how Crystal could just outright end it if she decided to jump, Darts could if he does a few rides into the distortion world himself, never mind what has been going now with aforementioned nihilist, never mind other factors like Volo and what he’s playing, this reality is probably beyond repair. Held together with a couple of prayers at best. Never mind that even if this reality is somehow saved and I end up back physically-”

“To say to take me over again.” Freth said agitated.

“I’m ready to cut my losses at this point and hoping that the squad realizes your whole deal sooner than later. Because it wouldn’t change the condition of this reality, that it’d take a few visits from Ultra Beasts to put this reality out of commission anyways. Never mind deal with the consequences of having your face effectively while SWIPE is deeming Snagem at large as fugitives. I am not exactly up for fighting, never mind killing, Kessandra.”

“Like you could take her.”

“Really? Yes, I could.” Eris said, matter-of-factly. “Unlike your performance against her as of recent, I actually have experience in psychic power. I actually have finesse with it unlike your performance which could be equated to trying to hit nails with blunt objects other than hammers. Simple, maybe could do the job, but overall, not effective. And worse, she had all the advantages to take Blizzard out for good even long before I got here and she didn’t do it when she had all the opportunities to, with all the advantages to boot. Really, there was almost no excuse as to why she had a hard time against…well, almost anyone here, actually.”

“Whatever. I got better things to worry about than you right now. Just shut up.”

As Freth argued with her inner resident, Tristen and Freth followed how they could over the body of water, Tristen carried by Dragonite, Freth merely hovering over with her telekinetic prowess. They would follow Sub into one of the cavern like chambers. It started to get overly dark for anyone’s liking and Tristen overheard Sub speak up, needing a light. “I got it, Sub.” Tristen said. His yellow mane then lit up, his Flash doing work to light up the way before him and anyone else for that matter. “Where do we go now?”

Monique took her first full breath of the air of eastern Johto and looked around at Violet, a quaint place all the same resplendent in the light, a warren of little traditional-style buildings between the trees. It could have come from the not-too-recent past... Though the modern Pokémon Center served as a reminder of what year it was.

There wasn't time to sight-see, alas. The Snagem caravan made its way to the outskirts and to the gate for visitors to the Ruins of Alph. A large signboard promised visitors "Explore the Wonder". The gate on the inside was charming and visitor center-like, replete with plush Unown propped up on shelves and wall files full of brochures. The lone guard, though, was a little less than friendly.

"Ha ha...wait a minute...you're Team Snagem!" The turn in his voice made Monique whip around, mane swaying from the sudden pivot.

"Yeah?" she replied. This was very clearly a threat needing exterminating. Sub had said "just put them to sleep or something". Within moments, Monique was joined by her Malamar. "Wait a minute, sir, you need a little more sleep." She gave the Overturning Pokémon an encouraging slap and pointed in the direction of the guard. The light spots on its belly suddenly began flashing in sequence. The guard tried to bolt back behind his desk and reached for a desk phone, but his initial burst of energy was countered by the Hypnosis taking hold. Suddenly, he slumped over, his head resting under the desk.

Not wanting to waste time, Monique recalled Malamar and ran off toward the other Snagems. She wondered for a moment what sort of dreams the guard was having, but that was a question for another time. She ran through the gate and into the ruins, where everyone else had already crossed the pond. For her, that was going to require a different Pokémon. She called on her Primarina, Aniani, to get her across.

"Ri ri naaaa!" Unfortunately, the prima donna decided it was her time to sing while ferrying Monique. "So much for stealth," she muttered. It didn't take *long* to get across, but it was a little bit embarrassing. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. "Aniani," Monique started, "I know you wanna show off, but this ain't the moment."

Once on the other side, Monique joined the group that was already starting to pry into the passageway Sub had found. I hope that aria isn't echoing off the walls down there...

Aile would follow behind her leader, relatively close, hands in the pocket of her bomber jacket. Her eyes narrowed at the guard, before Sol and Monique addressed him. Though, the next human they passed on the way wouldn’t be so lucky. As soon as he grabbed it and it would begin to lift off his neck, a tan throwing knife with an emerald blade would be thrown at it, her left hand extended, though the nails seemed to lose a bit of their luster. A Nincada would retrieve the weapon in his mouth once the PokéGear destruction was confirmed and return to his trainer, who took the blade and pocketed it. “Sorry, but I’d like to keep SWIPE off our tails for as long as possible.” With Poggle back on the woman’s shoulder, she’d continue on with the others, bringing out Tatooine to help her cross the large enough pool of water. Once on the other side, the sand dragon would be returned, wanting to keep her as rested as possible for the ordeal ahead. When she entered the chamber and Tristen used Flash to light it up, she’d take a look around herself, frowning and wondering where they needed to go next.


Crystal would bring up the tail of the group, finally convincing herself to join the others. Her reasoning being once Apolla and Demon Wing, especially Demon Wing, found out that she shied away from joining everyone and trying to help them, she would have lost any respect from them that they had for her. The Charizard especially probably would have stopped listening to her at all. And so, here she was. The hybrid kept herself quiet as she followed everyone, stopping at the pool of water. She looked ahead, then down at her feet, contemplating how to move forward. She wasn’t really worried about anything happening to her, she had worse encounters with water before. But it would slow her down if she just tried to trudge through it, possibly losing the others in the process. Her gaze would shift to her hands, thinging…. She could move her light platforms, but currently, she was having issues getting them to even form properly at the moment. Their components, though, Light Screen and Reflect…

The Solgaleo hybrid would put her hand down and focus, energy coalescing into the transparent wall of Reflect. She’d will it to extend all the way forward across the water, forming a bridge for herself to cross. Once that was there, she’d put one paw onto it to make sure it would support her, then quickly cross, knowing that this did not have nearly the same amount of time as her light platforms. Not long after she crossed, the bridge would dissipate, Crystal letting out a sigh before continuing on. When she entered the chamber with everyone, she too would look around, tilting her head. Where were they all going from here?

Lykas and Wren appeared not far from Sub shortly after he arrived. Odd had chosen to remain at Trainer Hill to continue resting and try to figure out how to reforge his channeling bonds and Clare had offered to assist with watching Libelle since they were still limited on their Pokemon for the moment.

Looking around to see they had arrived in Violet City, Lykas shrugged. He was vaguely familiar with where the Ruins of Alph were, never having bothered to visit them when he was traveling before he'd joined Snagem, but couldn't say he knew well enough where he was going to find them on his own.

Wren faltered momentarily upon seeing the lush greenery that grew all around the city. He couldn't ever recall seeing this city before this very moment and wondered why not. Deciding he would come back to study the flora at a later date, he quickly followed after Sub's lead.

It wouldn't take long for the pair to notice other Snagems either had already arrived and were converging or were arriving after them and catching up. As the group entered the gatehouse to route 32, Wren reached for a Nest Ball, hand resting at his waist just in case of trouble. These guards, while not the most intelligent people in his experience, knew when potential trouble was walking through and would call for backup at the drop of a hat. He was near-instantly vindicated in his concern when the guard recognized one or more of them as Snagem. Monique was even quicker on the draw than him, however, and had her Malamar put the man to sleep before he could release Cassava to hit the man with a Sleep Powder. Probably for the best anyway. Inside the building, the powder would leave a conspicuous residue that would make it clear someone had been involved. That Hypnosis would make it look like the man had simply fallen asleep on the job if he were found before he awoke.

Returning Cassava's ball to his belt, he continued following Sub's lead as the Snagem leader moved deeper into the ruins.Along the way, Wren took note of a few Pokemon milling about the site. A Natu here and there hopping about in search of seeds. A group of Hoppip drifting overhead on the breeze. He even saw a Zubat fluttering around inside one of the various buildings that had been excavated. None of them seemed concerned with him or the other Snagems at the moment, however. He assumed they must be used to seeing humans if this place offered guided tours as the sign he'd seen along the way indicated.

Lykas had chosen to liquefy himself via Acid Armor on the way into the gatehouse, slinking ahead of the others a bit without setting off the guard and, as a result, he was already standing outside on the other side of the building when the others came through. The moment he saw Sub come out, he began to give chase as the Dark One hurriedly moved through the ruins. Upon reaching the water that needed crossing, he looked to the others for a moment before tossing out Kamoana's Moon Ball and releasing the Wailord into the body of water. The result? A bridge of flesh that easily spanned the pool. "Anybody lacking a swimmer, take it while it's here." He announced. The Unfortunately, his attempt to help keep people dry did little good considering Kamoana's immense bulk had instantly displaced a large quantity of water and likely already soaked half of the Snagems from at least the knees down. He would jump onto the Wailord's back, petting the massive beast affectionately as he did. He had originally only caught her due to her injuries but after nursing her back to health with the intent of releasing her again, he'd grown fond of the BFF and decided he would keep her around.

Wren grimaced slightly as Lykas flooded the local flora with his Wailord's release. That couldn't be good for them. But it was far too late to stop the hybrid's choice by then and so, rather than being angry at him he shook his head in disdainful acceptance and took the offer of crossing via the whale flesh bridge.

Once everyone was on the other side and Lykas recalled Kamoana, he followed after from the back of the pack at this point, no one but this reality's Cyrus behind him as far as he could tell. The man was hard to read but this much was certain: Cyrus didn't belong in this ragtag group and he knew it. That said, however, the hybrid almost felt bad for the man. Was he like this by choice or was it the result of some kind of childhood trauma? He had been somewhat of a loner at first, as he recalled, as well. Perhaps if they made an effort to make him feel included, they could help him change for the better?

With that thought in his mind, he would hang back and wait for Cyrus to cross and traveled alongside him in amicable silence until they had both caught up to Sub and the others. Upon reaching them in the ruin Sub had lead them all to, LYkas took note of the shining Manectric hybrid toward the front of the group right away. Hard not to, after all. He remembered Tristen using Flash at some point before but couldn't recall the specifics at the moment. He was simply thankful the kid had learned such a move. His own offer of providing light would do little good, he was sure. Will-o-Wisp burned at a much lower luminosity, after all.

"So... If we're getting close, then what do we do from here?" Wren finally asked after Cyrus made his claim of their proximity. "I get the goal is a 'storm the castle' scenario here but how are we doing that? Do we take the ramrod approach and all storm their encampment at once or do we break into smaller battalions? Pretty sure there's no way of sneaking in from multiple angles here..."

"Thanks, Tristen." Sub said to the boy as the Flash from his mane lit up the chamber around them, allowing the Snagems to see all the hand carved images and symbols on the walls around them, most just carvings but a few here and there hid something more but for now this 'unknown' factor was unimportant. "I'd like to say I know where I'm going but that would only be partially true. I've been here once before but that was decades ago. While the place hasn't changed my memory isn't as set in stone. I know up ahead there is a puzzle you have to solve to open a secret door which opens up a larger maze but that's where my recollection ends." Sub responded to Tristen, admitting the limits of his knowledge of the way forward. "Also, I wouldn't say that, Brian, the walls have eyes around here." The Snagem leader said in response to overhearing Brian's comment to Amber.

"No, unfortunately sneaking in from multiple angles isn't possible, there is only one way in." Sub responded to Wren, the man walking to the wall at the far end of the chamber where a set of sixteen different tiles rest on the wall. In their current scrambled up state it was hard to see what sort of image these tiles were trying to make up, when Sub approached it he would demonstrate what must be done to see said image properly as he slide one of the tiles across the wall. "Don't ask me why or how this works, including how it scrambles itself later, it just does. You have to arrange these tiles to show an image of a prehistoric Pokemon and the hidden door will appear. This goes there and this here and...voila! A Lugia." As Sub slide the last tile into place he'd step back and to the side so everyone could see as the wall began to rumble slightly before slowly lowering into the ground to reveal a hidden passage.

"This is where you come in, Deo. If my memory is still holding true there should be a direct path to the fortress in the maze ahead. Use your x-ray vision and show us how to get there." The Snagem leader instructed Deo, gesturing for him to step up. "Oh and Crystal? Before anyone steps forward could you please conjure up a Reflect to hold the wall down? Again, I don't know how it works but once someone steps across the wall automatically goes back up. Your Reflect should last long enough for all of us to get inside."

Once Crystal had the wall held down Deo would be asked to step up to the front and guide them with his x-ray vision, the maze ahead completely revealed to him, the man capable of seeing every deadline and pitfall ahead.

The Snagems would be walking for just a few minutes before Deo would see a large open chamber ahead, the end of he maze. One by one the Snagems would step out from the uneventful maze (uneventful thanks to Deo's vision) and into a massive chamber that looked impossibly large, no chamber this big visible from the outside. The chamber was largely filled with rows and rows of columns, those columns decorated with images of Pokemon and Unown writing, each one different from the others. There was a single pathway big enough for three people to walk shoulder to shoulder through the columns right through the middle, the path ending at a massive set of stairs which led down to another chamber.

"Good job, Deo." Sub complimented the man as they entered the chamber, Sub looking around, just slightly awestruck. "I almost forgot about this place. See these columns? They are like stone books, each of them telling a different story or holding some kind of information. This place is a library. I deciphered a few when I was here. The information was nothing ground breaking, legends about Ho-oh and Lugia, information on moon phases, irrigation instructions, as well as chronicling natural disasters like earthquakes and floods but it's really neat to-"

"Hahaha!" A cackling voice echoed throughout the chamber, coming from the stairs leading deeper into the complex. The hystarical laughter would get louder and louder as its origin walked up the steps, a pair of glowing red eyes piercing the darkness engulfing the stairs. Upon summiting the last step the owner of the eyes and origin of the crazed laughter would reveal itself to be a certain Houndoom hybrid, last seen by a few Snagems hiding out in the gallery of the makeshift courtroom back in Viridian Gym. "Ha ha...ha. That's so funny!" The hybrid proclaimed, slapping his knee.

"Excuse me? What's so funny?" Sub called out to the hybrid far across the room, roughly two hundred feet separating them.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all!” the Houndoom hybrid chirped, bouncing on his heels. “I just remembered a joke while I was walking up the stairs. Or down them. Hard to tell, stairs are liars.” He sniffed, then wiped at his eye, missing it entirely and smearing soot across his cheek instead. “Ha! Gets me every time. Phew! Absolute killer of a joke. You wanna hear it before it finishes hearing me?”

"Where's Cruxias and Cyrus?" Sub interjected in a flat tone.

The Houndoom hybrid's grin would fade but didn't necessarily disappear, rather it disconnected entirely, as if he had forgotten what he was smiling about all together. He tilted his head, ears twitching, as if he was focusing on and listening to someone floating just above Sub's head. "Oh! Right, names. People have names!" He kind of giggled, for a second there appearing confused by Sub's words all together. "Since you asked so politely, and because the joke hates being ignored, I’ll tell you it anyway.” He leaned forward, voice dropping to an excited whisper, in spite of the large distance between them. “Okay, okay, here it comes. Ready?”

He smiled wider than his face should allow, lips distorting unnaturally. “The punchline is: I’m going to melt your faces off!” He shouted before unleashing from his mouth a huge Fire Blast, the Fire attack exploding out with a thunderous boom, the fire kanji made up of literal fire big enough to take up the entire width of the middle pathway of the chamber. The Fire Blast would threaten them all standing on the pathway as it moved with surprising speed, Sub's eyes growing wide as he quickly jumped out of the way and behind one of the columns. The Fire Blast would explode with tremendous power upon connecting with something, causing the entire room to quake as embers rained down. Several embers would strike the previously unlit sconces on the wall, igniting enough of them to illuminate the entire room.

"Won't someone rid us of this insane dog!?" Sub shouted out to his teammates.

Reno and Aria would be close behind the rest of the Snagems arriving at the Violet City Pokemon Center, both taking their chance to look over their likely path they needed to take. They both would already have Pokeballs open, an Alolan Raichu appearing next to Reno and a Noivern next to Aria. "Alright, lets see what exactly they have packed away inside their little secret base." Reno said, quietly popping into the air as he activated his levitation.

"I'm going to guess poor lighting, drafts, and too much nonsense." Aria would already be mounting up onto her Noivern to begin following alongside the others.

As they reached the actual ruins and saw the guard getting accosted by.....everyone, it seemed a little excessive to add onto the abuse. And same with the old man. Even reaching the ruins and slowing their approach to simply walking alongside everyone wasn't eventful as it seemed that every issue was being taken care of by other people in the group. Still keeping their Pokemon out as they continued their walk through the maze, Reno would feel something creeping in the back of his mind. It wasn't clear what it precisely was but the sensation was familiar. So when they reached the halfway point and he could see Aria reaching for a Pokeball to return her Noivern, Reno waved her off to keep the Pokemon out.

And as they entered the library, Reno's potential paranoia over an odd sensation would be rewarded with the satisfaction that Dark was here. For all the reward that a half-crazed alternate reality hybrid was. Letting Sub take the lead on talking with the nutball, Reno would motion for his Raichu. And just as he saw the hybrid leaning forward, memories of what exactly a Houndoom like he had could do would guide his hand. "Nalu, Surf!" Reno shouted, watching as the massive wave of water quickly formed and launched itself down the aisle through where Sub had previously been to slam into the massive fiery conflagration. While it would keep the brunt of the flames from pouring onto everyone, the embers would erupt into the ceiling of the chamber from the power of the quaking blast, still bringing fire and pain onto the less attentive Snagems.

However, Dark wouldn't be escaping so easily as the steam and smoke of the smoldering remains of the attack were pierced by a Boomburst that was aimed squarely for where the cackling dog had been last seen. "Learn some stagecraft! You need some actual setup for a joke to land! Maybe this will help you hear it!" Aria shouted, a few embers trying to burn her and her Noivern as they held position for any further attacks on the group.

"To say the least..." Sol remarked, looking around at the images and symbols. "With any luck, those eyes will largely watch and do little else, lest we end up in a trap of their making."

"What do you mean, eyes?" Amaranth asked, watching as Sub went about sliding the stone tiles. "Like something watching."

"In a sense," Sol said as he went on into the next chamber, thanks to Crystal's Reflect. "Unown have been known to reveal themselves in these ruins, looking much like some of the ancient writings scattered throughout. If you see one, there's a decent chance more may be around and that's when they're potentially dangerous. We'll do well not to agitate them if they are," he explained before the two followed Deo to safety and down the stairs.

Amaranth would be a little apprehensive after the explanation, but seeing nothing to suggest there was much to worry about yet, she'd keep walking as a hand clutched the totem artifact on her.

Looking around the new chamber and the columns, Sol would perk up at Sub's explanation. Much as the man said it was nothing special, he recalled a different story many years ago and being especially interested to learn more about Ho-oh's legends. His beak opened to start voicing that minor correction, but he'd be cut off by a cackling that echoed through the chamber, growing in volume as footsteps joined in the cacophony. He found himself suddenly tense, but his surprise at an encounter this soon was dulled by earlier observations. Their Cyrus were bound to be just as capable of being eyes for the other Cyrus, of course they'd be compromised whether it was willed or not.

"Who's that?" Amaranth asked, her other hand moving towards a ball as the Houndoom hybrid came into view, the crazed look already telling her this was no friend of theirs.

Something kept screaming at Sol's mind as he saw him again. This time, it wasn't the briefest of glimpses that made him question his mind or his eyes. Thet hybrid was there, plain as day, and his cackles and crazed remarks left the Ho-oh hybrid at the other end of the room with another feeling that there was something he should've remembered. "...Dark..." he eventually uttered as he went on. He wasn't sure why he was so certain about his name, but he would certainly line up with the insane Faller the Recon Squad talked about.

As soon as he saw the omnious smile, he rushed to the middle of the chamber and towards the oncoming Fire Blast. "Stay back!" He yelled out as he braced himself, arms crossed as Psychic energy wrapped around them and his wings furled around him.

"Kindle, help us out!" Amaranth called out, tossing a different ball than she'd originally planned as she jumped back. Her Flareon would come out to join Sol in the center, letting out a cry as he tried to absorb the flames and lessen their strength.

Both of them would get rocked by the impact of the attack, the explosion throwing them back and quickly overwhelming their defenses.

"Gah!"

"Flare!"

Sol also quickly found himself sliding and crashing into one of the colums with Kindle nearly ending up at the stairs everyone came in from, scorch marks present on the both of them.

"Kindle! Sol! Really wish I'd kept Spritz out now..." Amaranth remarked, already trying to grab that ball instead.