[Battle Mission] Lights Out For You

[Chiaki]

Usually Chiaki tried to stay as much out of the actual combat of the war as she could, but she just hadn't been able to pass up the idea of legal sabotage. Aside from the fact that her Pokemon were perfectly suited for messing with anything electrical, she enjoyed letting them do it. However, breaking other people's stuff was usually frowned on. Thus, she had made the journey from Blackthorn to the Whirl Islands on Cloud, the Altaria circling the area a bit for her train to observe the area. Of course, the shocking girl had found an online map before even setting out, but that was hardly comparable to an aerial view of the actual location, especially when looking for things that had no need of being marked on a map.

It was a puzzle, like writing a program. What was the best way to cut off communication to both sides as quickly as possible? She considered starting from one city and simply following the lines across the sea to the other, but that seemed too likely to get the attention of the very cities she was trying to keep in the dark... figuratively speaking. So she was starting in the middle instead, having Cloud avoid any active combat and land in an empty area conveniently near a telephone line. She supposed she could've had the Altaria try to take out targets from the air with Dragon Pulse or Draco Meteor, but she didn't want to leave herself as an obvious target where she only had a couple Pokemon that could fight from up there.

"Zoom, Bit," Chiaki said softly to herself, releasing the two electric types from their Pokeballs one after the other. The Joltik wasn't all that useful without having some time to piggyback on another electric type, but they had plenty to take down and there would be time for her to leech off of the Jolteon. "Climb that pole with Magnet Rise and cut the lines with an Iron Tail," she instructed, hoping no one would notice the glowing streak of yellow nearly flying up to where the wires crossed the sky. She supposed Cloud could've managed it easier, but an electric type was less likely to be hurt by electricity when slicing past the insulation to the wire, and both Pokemon she'd sent up there were pretty adept at absorbing electricity for their own use, anyway.

Mitch Higgins

[Mitch Higgins]

Where the carrion festers, so shall the maggots follow.

He may have been branded as a Nox criminal, but Mitch didn't give a damn about any side. The only one he was on the lookout for was himself, and for that reason he latched onto battles like a leech on flesh. While the world went to hell around him, he was able to build a life for himself on the corpses of those he didn't know or care about. Brutal work, but tough shit. The world was brutal, and if Mitch didn't salvage from battlefields someone else inevitably would. No rest for the wicked, and no mercy for the weak.

He sat on the back of his Ariados, peering beneath his glasses as he tried to get a better feel for his environment. Unova and Sinnoh were definitely more relevant to his tastes, but when he heard war had broken out in Johto he couldn't help himself. His mount kept lookout. A Pokemon natively found in Johto, it knew the area much better than its owner. Its compounded eyes gave it much better vision, too, making it an invaluable scout for Mitch. Of course, said eyes could also be a huge drawback when compared to the Ariados' skittish temperament. It reared back in shock as it saw a streak of gold crash through the sky, nearly causing Mitch to slide off of his back. The boy kept control, however, focusing his gaze on the area.

". . . Go'n' take a look, B.B. Might find someth'n worth checking out." He spurred the Ariados with his heel, sending the massive spider scuttling across the sands with surprising speed.

Soon it found the source, a woman attacking power lines. She looked pretty content for somebody in the middle of a battlefield, completely absorbed in her duty and unsuspecting . . . yes, she'd make a great target. He'd been running low on food for a while now, and maybe she'd have enough pocket change to be worth his time.

He cracked open two Pokeballs as he watched her from a distance, a Murkrow and a Sableye appearing by his side. "Trips. HBK. Let's go people tippin'." He grinned maliciously, the Murkrow squawking in delight and his Sableye mirroring his expression perfectly.

The Murkrow flapped its wings repeatedly, creating a steady Tailwind in the direction of the woman. Maybe it'd tip the group off to Mitch's presence, but he didn't care. The Sableye went charging in the direction of the wind, propelling himself forward on its breezes as he leaped forward and aimed a Zen Headbutt. Maybe he'd connect, maybe he'd miss, but today intimidation was the name of the game.

[Chiaki]

Cloud noticed someone approaching first. She had better hearing than her trainer and was not distracted by a job like Zoom and Bit. The Altaria turned to look, warning the distracted human with a squawked, "Taria!" as she took to the sky, wary of the Sableye's attack. She had not been specifically told to watch for intruders, but she didn't need to be -- she was always sure to make Chiaki aware of changes in their surroundings just in case. One couldn't be too careful.

The shocking girl whirled around at the sound just as the wind started to reach her. Though she didn't know the exact move combination in use, it was obvious enough they were being attacked. Chiaki dove out of the ghost's path, grateful for her Altaria's warning. "Sing," she commanded, scrambling back to her feet and trying to catch her breath. Cloud's song started immediately, the Altaria dropping back towards the ground to help her lullaby be heard.

As much as Chiaki would have liked to simply devastate the attackers with a Draco Meteor, she knew that her, Zoom, and Bit would all get caught up in it as well if she didn't buy some time first to calm down and put some distance between herself and the stranger, not noticing yet that he was riding an Ariados as the Sableye still held her attention. The power line was severed, meaning her Jolteon and Joltik would be back in a moment. Hopefully the electric fox's little passenger would provide as much of a surprise for her attacker as the Sableye had for her.

[Mitch Higgins]

HBK let out a cackle as he sailed past Chiaki, snapping his head around and flashing a wicked grin at her. His teeth clattered with anticipation as he took a few steps forward, letting out the hoots and cheers of a wild beast about to corner its prey.

Then he stopped in his tracks, head spinning as he fell flat on his face. Altaria's lullaby seemed to do the trick. since HBK was out like a light. Far in the distance, Triple H had pulled his hat down to block out the horrid noise, Mitch using his grubby little fingers to block his own ears. "Damnit, Trips, get'im up already!" he ordered, the Murkrow nodding and flying off. Once he reached the shadowy gremlin he began kicking at him with taloned feet, trying to wakw him up. While the Sableye slowly began to rise, the two were groggy and distracted. It'd take a bit before their heads were back in the game.

Mitch himself, meanwhile, spurred his Ariados onwards with another sharp kick. It let out a gasp and lurched forward, spindly legs striding across the sand. It closed its eyes and tried to focus the pain Mitch had just inflicted on him, focusing on the Altaria and twitching its mandibles. Soon it tried initiating a mental shoving match with the bird, hoping to force it to its knees with sheer Psychic force. Maybe that would buy time for the dark-type duo to get back into battling shape.

[Chiaki]

Chiaki was a bit unnerved by the noises the Sableye was making, but thankfully it quickly fell victim to Cloud's song. One down. Zoom returned right as she noticed the Murkrow headed their way. He just wouldn't give up, would he? "Electroweb." Strings of electrified spider web shot towards the Murkrow and Sableye, intended to give them a bit of a shock, but mostly to tangle them up and keep them out of the way. Thanks to Bit's position, it looked as though the web were coming from the Jolteon's forehead, as the Joltik was securely nestled in its perch's fur.

The shocking girl had difficulty focusing on multiple enemies at once, and it wasn't until Cloud's song faltered that she realized the dragon was under attack. She leaped back in surprise when her tunnel vision broke and she finally spotted the giant spider that had come closer while she'd been distracted. A bug! Oh, how she hated them! Joltik was an exception, being cute and fuzzy and hardly bug-like at all. Ariados, however, was pretty much everything she hated in the Pokemon type. A big creepy-crawly, and venomous to boot.

"You can do it!" she cheered on her Altaria, refraining from distracting Cloud with commands to use move she couldn't focus on, anyway, while fighting what had to be a mental attack given the lack of obvious signs of any other sort of move being used. The bird's song had stopped, but she managed to weather the psychic attack even if she came out looking a bit worse for wear. The objective wasn't to fight other trainers, though, so Chiaki's mind was already racing, trying to come up with a way to slow down both the stranger and his Pokemon while Cloud could still get her to the next target. This would all be pointless if someone found a still-functional method of communication while she was stuck fighting.

[Mitch Higgins]

The Murkrow and Sableye's eyes widened in shock as the electric net hurtled toward them. This time HBK was quicker on the draw, dashing away from the net and causing his avian companion to stumble a little. This led to a perfectly intact Sableye pointing and laughing at a very cross, tangled up Murkrow. Tripel H began squawking angrily at his friend, impotently flailing his wings between electrical jolts. HBK merely picked the bird up, turned to Mitch, and grinned even more widely.

Then he hurled Triple H right at the Altaria in the sky, the Murkrow letting out an alarmed squawk as he found himself sailing through the air. Maybe that big wad of sparking web would become a problem for both fighters if it hit hard enough to stick onto Altaria. The bird's frantic, flailing Wing Attack surely wouldn't be too pleasant to experience either.

Content with his plan, the Sableye turned to his electrical opponent once more. He hunched over on all fours, looking ready to pounce, but instead of moving stood as still as a statue. The only motion was in the gremlin's face, which occasionally twitched as it let out discordant chuckles. Its giggle only intensified as its shadow began extending out from its feet, stretching until it was right in front of the Jolteon. Once it reached a shadowy doppelganger popped from the ground, claws drawn back for a fearsome double strike.

Of course, the Jolteon would also have to keep an eye on its surroundings. Otherwise, the equally-shadowy Ariados behind it would be able to hit with its own razor-sharp forelegs. The twin Shadow Sneak was one of Mitch's favorite gambits, with all the fun of an ambush without the risk of actual harm.

[Chiaki]

This guy just wouldn't let up! Bit had managed to ensnare the Murkrow, but not the Sableye, and the latter proved creative enough to use its own teammate as a projectile weapon. Chiaki winced as the Wing Attack hit Cloud, but at least the Electroweb had a finite amount of electricity to it and did not shock the Altaria too badly. "Dragon Pulse," she commanded, hoping a close-range blast of energy would take out both the web and the pesky bird together.

That left the matter of the other two, though they seemed focused on Zoom. That, at least, was a blessing, given that the Jolteon's main advantage over other Pokemon was speed. He reacted on instinct to the ominous lengthening shadow in front of him and jumped backwards... right into another Shadow Sneak. Hissing at the pain, he darted away and spun around for a Thunder aimed at the Ariados that had struck him.

"Bug Buzz, on the ghost!" Chiaki called to the Joltik, hoping the sound waves would incapacitate the pesky Sableye long enough for her to come up with a plan. She really hated fights like this. Risking a Draco Meteor was getting more tempting by the second. Maybe it would even take out a power line or two while it was at it...

[Mitch Higgins]

Triple H let out an alarmed squawk as he saw the Dragon Pulse charging up, wriggling harder and harder to escape the restraints of the Electroweb. While he was able to untangled, there was no chance in hell of him escaping a point-blank Dragon Pulse in full. He juked to the right, but the left half of his body was hit veryhard by the big blue sphere. He tumbled to the ground in freefall, flapping his wings in panic before landing right on HBK's head. The duo faceplanted into the sand, each shoving each other as they scrambled to be the first to their feet.

Mitch's Ariados steed scrambled back in a panic as the Thunder approached, ignoring Mitch's constant shouts to jump or dodge in favor of making a full retreat. The boy sighed irritably, holding out a Pokeball as the Thunder approached. "Useless hunk'a j-"

A blast of light and sand as the thunder made its impact. As the dust began to settle, however, it was clear neither Mitch nor his cowering spider were very harmed. Instead the beast hovering before them took most of the pain, an orange lawnmower with a terrifyingly wide grin. It barely looked touched, only a slight burn mark on its forehead any indication of it tanking the Jolteon's blast. "Now tha's good, Mankind. Better'n Useless over here. Now go'n blast'em!" The Ariados' head lowered slightly in shame as Mankind let out the hybrid of an eerie giggle and a motor revving. Leaves began to spew from the gaps in its teeth, forming a cloud around the lawnmower's head before launching at the strange woman in great numbers. Boy, mower, and spider alike began advancing as the storm went on, hoping to get into a decent enough clobbering range.

HBK and Triple H, meanwhile, had finally scrambled to their feet. As they turned to face their opponent, they were greeted by a solid blast of insectoid noise. Triple H pulled his hat down to block the noise as HBK jammed his claws into his ears, each keeping their distance to avoid the Bug Buzz at its worst amplitude. They turned to each other, shaking their heads at each other as if trying to decide who would be the first to attack.

Eventually HBK decided he was fed up, eyes glittering as a small orb of energy danced toward the Jolteon. Maybe this Confuse Ray, directed at the (apparent) source of the attack, would shut that irritating buzzing up.

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[Chiaki]

Zoom saw the Confuse Ray coming, but the still fresh injury from the Shadow Sneak slowed him just enough that he failed to dodge it. He turned to charge the Sableye, only to stumble over his own feet in the process, nearly dislodging his passenger as well. The movement caught Chiaki's attention, and she quickly realized that the Jolteon would become a threat to himself and the rest of her team if he kept trying to fight in that state. "Come back, Bit," she instructed, watching for the little yellow spider to jump out of her Jolteon's fur. The moment Zoom was no longer carrying his teammate, the shocking girl returned him to his Pokeball. Bit was scurrying her way, though not as quickly as the enemy Ariados and Rotom. Why did it have to be an Ariados?

Then there was the other question that had been plaguing her since the start of the battle. Was it worth it? She was running out of choices. She had wasted a lot of time already, and she would be incredibly lucky if no one had noticed the power line she'd already downed yet. She needed to get on with the mission, and she could not afford to send out Byte or Vapor, anyway, as she had brought them for transportation more than combat. That left only Proxy still able to jump into the fight if need be. Not good odds when she had no idea what the opponent was still hiding. Well, the great thing about Joltiks being small targets was that they were as hard to hit with friendly fire as they were to hit intentionally.

"Draco Meteor!" she called to her Altaria. There was a little time lag as Cloud focused and shot an orange beam into the sky before it exploded into meteors that came crashing down towards the remaining gap between her team and the enemy, but the intention was more to scare the guy into a retreat than to actually hit anything. Maybe they could all be out of there before the meteors even hit the ground. She was already moving back towards the dragon type, partly because proximity to Cloud would lessen her chances of getting hit by her own Pokemon's attack, and partly because she intended to hop on and get moving to another electric pole the moment the other team started to retreat. Oh, how she hoped they would just retreat. Aside from the risk of losing, she really wanted that spider out of her sight. It was not cute and cuddly like her own Bit, just creepy.