prospect of diplomacy // nox mission 02 [blue]

[moineau]

EMIL

the sun is shining out of my hands
it can burn, it can blind you

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The atmosphere in Heathrome City was highly unsettling. The once beautiful city – a centre for commerce, trainers and coordinators alike – at one point considered the most populated in all of Sinnoh, was now crumbling. Most buildings were decrepit, riddled with holes, chunks missing from the confrontation between Lux and Nox that had once taken place there. The city itself was scarred and ravaged, and so, seemingly were the people. They looked exhausted and most seemed to be living in borderline poverty. They scrambled around dressed in rags. Some lay on benches, having nowhere else to go. It was disgusting.

Standing slumped against a tree on the edge of the city, Emil wasn’t surprised to see people avoid him in the streets or avert their eyes whenever they passed him. Even the shady figures, peddling black market items and most likely Pokemon, seemed to stay out of his way. As always, Emil looked a bit like he hadn’t slept for days, his blue eyes ringed with dark circles, hair windswept and uncombed. Emil was aware that he looked very… conspicuous. His posture was always rigid, very military, face utterly emotionless. One of his hands rested near his hip – close at once to his Pokeballs and gun, just in case. Though his affiliation could be debated amongst the civilians who bustled past him, it was blaringly obvious that he definitely was not neutral in the conflict that was slowly tearing the region apart. Choosing not to get involved, they ducked their heads and continued on their way.

He hadn’t met his partner, he hadn’t even received a description of him or her either. Rather, he was just told to look out for a ‘notable trainer’. Emil scoffed at this lack of detail. There were plenty of notable trainers, and frankly how is any one different from the others? Parading around with their shiny badges and making money by participating in silly tournaments. Self-important pigs, most of them. Having grown up in the slums of Castelia City, stealing to provide bare essentials for himself and his mother, Emil found the whole concept of the Pokemon League and its system horribly classist and juvenile. And that system is quite likely why he was waiting under an overcast sky, on the edges of Hearthome City.

So… some silly children decided that it would be fun to play with Lux? Naïve, cutesy boys and girls who have always had the support of mommy and daddy. Who had never worked, never seen the war at its height. Emil was aware that his view on the group that they had been instructed to ‘take care of’ was highly biased, yes. Still, his lip curled in disgust. And so, in his mind, he was certain that there were only two ways to go about this mission – recruit them or kill them. He hoped that his partner was good with words. Being very trigger-happy, Emil would have preferred to take them out immediately, though that probably wasn’t the most pragmatic decision.

It looked like it might rain soon. Emil shivered. He was getting tired of waiting. Staying in one spot for too long made him tense. It filled him with a sense of paranoia which he struggled to shake off. What if this was a trap set up by Lux’s people? What if they were watching him now? He reached under his coat and clutched at the hilt of his gun, deciding to wait a few more minutes for his assigned partner before leaving to storm the group of Lux intruders on his lonesome. Emil was not one to wait, or stick to the plan.

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&FIN;

notes
first post on here! am i doing it right?

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[blue]

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I CAN TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY,

tags: emil ● words: 675 ● notes: you're doing just fine

[atrb=CellPadding,10,true][atrb=border,0,true] Blue had just about had it. At first, he was indignant that he was being sent off by Nox to scare off a bunch of lass and youngster trainers. They weren't even worth his time. He was a gym leader, and as much as he himself despised it, their place was in the gym. But Blue had been ousted from his Viridian City gym and had no choice but to flee from the area. How utterly embarrassing. Blue had never felt so small in his life. He liked to think that he was on top of the world and no one except Red was above him. For the longest time, his lifelong goal had been to knock Red off that pedestal. That was years and years ago, and quite frankly, Blue didn't give as much of a damn as he used to. He was pretty satisfied as gym leader even if it was a pretty dull life to lead, stuck in one area. However, with the war, life got more interesting. He'd been asked to head the training of Viridian City's trainers to make them all competent fighters. Though, it didn't take too long for them to figure out that he was supporting Nox. He'd figured that Lux would get around to discovering that out sooner or later. Either way, he had a higher-up that he had to listen to. Hearthome City would be his destination. It was a sad, sad sight. As a gym leader, Blue had been tethered down to the Kanto region. The League had frowned upon his frequent trips outside of Viridian City, but they decided a little bit of freedom would keep him satisfied and as long as he stayed close, it wouldn't be too big of an issue. It had been years since Blue had managed to plan for a trip to Sinnoh. Hearthome City had been one of the destinations he'd hit as a tourist. The excuse for leaving Kanto that he'd submitted to the League was to familiarize himself with the region's Pokémon, which he did, but it was also to just get away from all the ridiculous paperwork and whiny trainers he had to beat sense into. Back then, he'd visited Hearthome City and had even taken some time to visit Amity Square and the Contest Hall. Now, he saw that the building had been neglected, crude graffiti with even cruder sayings had been drawn onto its side and Amity Square, unlike what its name suggested, was not a peaceful place. Vulcan padded at Blue's side. The ex-gym leader clearly meant business. He would release Jupiter later. The Tyrannitar should be more than capable of scaring the children off. Surely none of them could be any older than high school students, with a few of them as middle schoolers. Blue was convinced that the minimum age to become a trainer had been raised, but not everyone necessarily obeyed that law. Even as a boy, Blue did his share of training Pokémon. His grandfather had always been nearby though and he'd helped out with his grandfather's work. He'd actually been training Neptune while he was under the 10-year age requirement but never 'officially' became his trainer until his birthday. Vulcan soon followed, along with the rest of his team. And now, the Arcanine was at his side, head held high and entirely composed. There weren't too many people out on the streets, and the lone figure leaning against a tree was slightly suspicious. Blue had a good feeling that this was probably his partner for the mission. He called it intuition. And he couldn't accurately call him 'boy', especially since Emil only appeared to be his junior by at least a year. Good thing Nox had taken the time to at least give him his partner's name. But if this was the wrong person, Blue didn't want to toss a name of one of their members at Lux. "Emil, is it?" he asked. And if this man didn't respond to the name, he would simply move on.

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[moineau]

EMIL

the sun is shining out of my hands
it can burn, it can blind you

████████████████

Emil was just thinking about leaving – somewhat excited to knock some sense into these teenagers – when he heard someone say his name. Surprised that he hadn’t noticed the approaching figure earlier, Emil glanced over at the man, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. So this stranger is, presumably, his partner... He looked awfully familiar, and that made Emil slightly nervous. He noted the spiky, brown hair, the shadow of an arrogant facial expression and suddenly – with a jolt of surprise – Emil remembered where he had seen this person before. It must be that trainer who, several years prior, had become a Champion for about ten minutes and then a gym leader. Dipping his head in acknowledgement, Emil stared at Blue with a blank expression for several seconds.

“A gym leader…” he said slowly, frowning slightly. So this is what they meant when they said to meet a notable trainer. And yet, Emil had been certain that most, if not all, gym leaders were sided with Lux. The realization that his partner for the mission was a gym leader made Emil slightly anxious, though he chose to refrain from saying anything potentially inflammatory. That wouldn't be very wise, and besides, there must be at least some gym leaders who see sense and pick the right side.

“Blue Oak from Viridian City, right?” Emil continued. He could vaguely recall hearing that there were some problems regarding Blue’s position in the city, the details of which he was not aware of. Still, he found it surprising that someone like Blue would bother to come all the way from Kanto for this mission. Maybe he wasn't as stuck up and arrogant as Emil had thought. At least, that's the impression that Emil had got after watching interviews with the trainer on television. Even if Blue turned out to be an asshole, Emil was determined to act tactfully. After all, this was a trainer which - though he hated to admit it - Emil had almost admired.

Shrugging off his suspicions, Emil nodded towards the edge of the city. That’s where the kids were supposedly hiding, probably armed with some baby Pokemon and daddy’s credit card. “Shall we go scare off some kiddies?” he said, a smile curling across his face. Emil had been almost pleased when he received this mission. It didn’t seem like it would take up too much energy, for which he was grateful, and the objective was pretty straightforward. Still, Emil was ultimately happy that his partner had arrived. Taking on five people at once, no matter how weak, wouldn’t have been much fun.

“I assume you have an idea of where we are supposed to be going", he gave a tight smile. "They often neglect to tell me important details".

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&FIN;

notes
ugh. crappy post, sorry!

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[blue]

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I CAN TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY,

tags: emil ● words: 520 ● notes: I'm failing at troll!Blue. xD

[atrb=CellPadding,10,true][atrb=border,0,true] Blue wasn't entirely sure if he could acknowledge Emil's greeting at a hundred percent. Though, he did still consider himself a gym leader, just no longer in title. Titles were nice, but he didn't care too much about them. Being a gym leader had sucked in its own way. He had loathed being tethered to Viridian City and hadn't cared for all the whiny trainers that threw a fit when he wasn't at his gym. He liked to think that he had the right to leave his gym when necessary. Did they not think he had bodily functions to attend to? Given, most of the times he wasn't waiting at the back of the gym, it wasn't because he had to run to the bathroom. He got bored sitting back there, waiting for people to solve his gym's puzzle. By the time most people arrived, they were swaying on their feet, dizzy from all the spinning around on the floors. "Blue Oak from Viridian City, yes, that would be me," he said in a blase tone. "Although, according to Lux, I'm just Blue Oak now." He shrugged slightly as he rubbed the thick fur at the side of Vulcan's neck. The Arcanine made a low, rumbling noise in his throat as he growled a greeting. "Not that it matters. I'll always be able to beat the crap out of most trainers. Gym leader or not, shouldn't matter, yeah?" Blue rubbed the back of his neck as he continued again. "Question is, who the hell are you? You're not from Sinnoh, are you? Otherwise Nox probably just tossed my name into a jar of other people and played draw-from-the-hat." Blue watched as the smile crept across Emil's face. Scaring off kiddies was pretty boring to him. A gym leader being assigned to scare off children? He was offended by the mission. "Yeah, let's get this done and over with," he said as Vulcan barked at the statement in agreement. "Right outside the contest hall. Should be easy enough." And with that, Blue took his first strides forward without waiting for Emil. The other man would catch up. Emil didn't look like a Youngster Joey trainer (goddammit that kid was annoying) but there wasn't exactly anything that caught Blue's eye. He knew a good trainer when he saw one. That wasn't to say that Emil was a bad trainer. He simply wasn't interested in him and only considered Emil here his mission partner. And from there, they'd go their separate ways. "Better walk faster if you're gonna catch up with me," he said, "or you'll get caught in my dust. Unless, you know, you like being in that kind of stuff." Blue continued forward with the Arcanine at his side as he headed right from the Pokémon Center. From there, it would just be straight north. He didn't even need to actually know the blueprints of Hearthome City. He saw the youths flocking in one direction and as he drew nearer, he could hear them all squealing and the the faint noise of snorting Pokémon. This should be a piece of cake.

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[moineau]

EMIL

the sun is shining out of my hands
it can burn, it can blind you

████████████████

“Yes indeed. You sound like a very talented trainer”, Emil said flatly, he had to bite his lip to stop himself from reminding Blue about his well-publicised loss at the Pokemon league several years ago to that other guy, Red. Now encountering Blue’s haughtiness in person, the very memory made Emil smirk. Blue never did strike Emil as a particularly modest person. Regardless, no matter how much Emil was almost tempted to ridicule his partner, he ultimately decided against it. This was meant to be a fun mission and he was not about to ruin it. Doing so might result in one challenging the other to a Pokemon battle, and Emil was hardly ever in the mood for such frivolities.

With a sigh, Emil crossed his arms across his chest and followed the gym leader, choosing to not bother dignifying the pseudo-insults flung his way with a response. Frankly, he was used to dealing with arrogant people like this, and they tended to be surprisingly insecure. Whether or not that was the case with Blue, thinking this way still gave Emil a small, quiet glow of superiority. Raising his eyebrow at Blue and his Arcanine, Emil placidly followed the pair, musing as to whether or not he should release one of his own Pokemon. After a moment of thought, Emil unclipped a Pokeball from his belt and threw it not far from him, releasing an Aggron in a shower of silver light. Gruidae raised his fierce head to the sky, the steel plates covering his body glimmering slightly in the gloom and gave a trumpeted bellow, his blue eyes flashing.

Suddenly, a girl – looking to be about 15 or so at the most – who had seemingly heard the Aggron announce the pair’s presence, appeared around the corner of the Contest Hall. Seeing the two approaching men and their equally imposing Pokemon, her eyes widened and she gave a high-pitched squeal and ducked back. No point to even attempt to use stealth tactics now. Emil glanced over at Blue and, with a shrug, followed the girl.

As initially reported by Nox, five young trainers were waiting there. Seriously? These kids were actually intending to get involved in the conflict? Emil stared at them blankly. They must surely be deluded to think that they could be of any use to Lux. The girl who had seen them approaching was frantically saying something to the small huddle of trainers, only to stop short and point when the two men appeared around the corner. One of the boys stepped forward, his Bidoof in tow. “You guys are from Nox, right?” he said boldly, crossing his arms across his chest, “you should leave unless you want to battle us”. Upon seeing his opponents, the Bidoof clearly looked like it wanted to return to the comfort of his Pokeball. Towering over the poor creature, Gruidae snapped his mighty jaws with a loud, metallic clang – a clear threat both to the Pokemon and its trainer. Emil fought the urge to snicker at the boy’s defiance and at his pathetic Pokemon. The girl who had screamed upon seeing the two men now stood beside the boy, pouting, and released her Pokemon – a Kricketot. Only then did Emil started to laugh.

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&FIN;

notes
sorry for the wait~ also, haha Youngster Joey!

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[blue]

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I CAN TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY,

tags: emil ● notes: no worries lol.

[atrb=CellPadding,10,true][atrb=border,0,true] "... the hell is this?" Blue muttered under his breath. His bright eyes narrowed at the sight of the Bidoof and Kricketot. For crying out loud, Emil and his Pokémon could have eaten the Pokémon they were facing off against. Gruidae would have probably been able to step on either the Bidoof and Kricketot, resulting in a one-hit-KO. Adding a little more pressure or weight to the foot would probably result in some Pokémon death. Blue wasn't too keen on getting his hands dirtier than they had to be. Even if it was war time, he saw no need to shed blood. But maybe if the streets turned red, these kids would actually learn their lessons. Blue raised a brow at one of the boys with their arms crossed. "Hm, think you're tough shit, huh?" He eyed the Bidoof that looked like it wanted to piss itself. He almost felt bad that Vulcan was about to roast the thing alive. Almost. He casually slipped a hand into his pocket as he stared the Bidoof down. The Pokémon was shivering in fear and flinched away from Blue's eyes. He hm'ed again before glancing back at the lass and the youngster. "If it wasn't our mission to clear you all out, neither of us would bother with battling you. It would be a waste of our time." The Youngster took a step forward as if to object to the insults being flung at him. Blue's smug smirk had yet to leave his face and he was quite enjoying himself as he taunted the younger, less experienced trainer. "We're not afraid of you!" the boy growled. His Bidoof was looking far from as belligerent as its trainer. Perhaps if Blue had a bit more heart, he'd almost feel bad for the Pokémon. But he was not a very sensitive or sympathetic person, so he had no problems with squashing the Bidoof. "Vulcan, all you probably need to do is step on the Bidoof to take care of it," Blue commented, raising a finger to his lip. "Wouldn't waste any of your fire on it." The Arcanine took a step forward and snarled at the Bidoof. The Pokémon let out a squeal before diving behind its trainer. The Youngster's face was full of dismay as he turned around to try and force the Pokémon to summon up its courage. "C'mon, Bidoof! I'm not scared of him and you shouldn't be scared either!" he piped up. There was only one real way to deal with kids like the ones that stood before Blue and Emil. Blue sighed to himself before nodding at the Arcanine. Vulcan padded forward and towered over the Youngster. Blue took a perverse sort of satisfaction at the Youngster's shaking knees. Vulcan bent his neck down and picked up the Bidoof in his jaws. The Pokémon squealed and squirmed about, its attempts to wriggle free soon becoming futile. Vulcan tossed his head to the left, sending the brown ball of fluff hurtling at the side of a building. The Bidoof let out a squeak as it thudded against the building, gravity pulling its limp body back down to the floor. "B-Bidoof!" the boy cried out, hastening to his Pokémon's side. He threw a glare over his shoulder at Blue. "Y-you didn't even let me attack first and now you've hurt my Pokémon! You're heartless!" Blue simply chuckled at the boy's distress. "Children should stay at home, don't you think?" he said with a slight jeer to his tone. "Come back to the battlefront in around ten years time, or at least when you've evolved your wimpy Bidoof."

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[moineau]

EMIL

the sun is shining out of my hands
it can burn, it can blind you

████████████████

Emil cocked his head to the side, carefully observing how Blue had decided to handle that kid and his Bidoof. Though Emil was initially inclined to use violence against the trainers themselves – there is no room for compromise with Lux supporters, even if they were children – perhaps killing wouldn’t end up being necessary. Emil absently wondered whether the Blue's Arcanine had actually killed the Bidoof. Not that it really mattered. Trainers have to accept responsibility for their actions. Gruidae watched his trainer closely, awaiting instructions. Frankly, he was quite curious to see what this Kricketot tasted like… The Aggron species usually dine on steel and various other metals, but today Gruidae was feeling unusually experimental… and hungry. The Pokemon glowered at his opponents, his eyes gleaming.

“U-use Struggle Bug on that ugly metallic thing”, the lass commanded to her Kricketot, obviously trying to keep her voice from shaking. The Cricket Pokemon turned to stare at his trainer, his antennae shivering. He struggled to believe that he was being pit against that. Emil stared at the girl too. Ugly metallic thing? Gruidae gave a threatening rumble and took a heavy step forward, making both the girl and her Kricketot cower. Emil couldn’t help but give a small. He never liked Bug-types. Even if they tended to be awfully weak, they had creepy eyes and generally had an unscrupulous air to them. It made Emil uncomfortable. But now, with his Aggron looming over a frightened Kricketot, Emil was close to pitying to poor guy. It’s a shame that his trainer was so stupid. “Seriously? You were actually going to attack us?” Emil gave an exasperated shake of his head. Some people honestly don’t understand when it’s time to give up. The most difficult thing about battling these people will clearly be not killing them or their Pokemon. Emil hesitated. He wasn’t used to holding back in battles and was uncertain of how to act now. “Gruidae, don’t bother attacking back because you’ll probably kill it if you try. Please just give it a tap on the head. Lightly”.

Looking thoroughly disappointed with the command, Gruidae took another lumbering step forward and knocked the unfortunate Pokemon, who looked too terrified to even attempt to run away, on the head with a heavy claw. The lass gave a horrified gasp, sounding genuinely surprised that her Pokemon was unable to handle the Aggron. Emil hesitantly took a step forward and knelt down to examine the Kricketot who had seemingly passed out, though his antennae still twitched pathetically. “That was really irresponsible of you, girl”, Emil said softly. He straightened himself to his full height and gave the other three kids, who had wisely chosen to not get involved yet, a fixed stare. One boy was already reaching for his Pokeball, however. “You are risking your Pokemon’s safety by fighting us”, Emil said with a tight smile. There, now if Vulcan or Gruidae kill one of their opponents Pokemon, Emil will hardly feel bad about it. He had warned them, after all…

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&FIN;

notes
ugh. I blame exams for my late/crappy response...

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[blue]

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I CAN TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY,

tags: emil ● notes: I think this is a pretty crappy response. xD

[atrb=CellPadding,10,true][atrb=border,0,true] Blue had a secret soft spot for Pokémon that very, very few people knew of. There was no real reason for him to go killing the Youngster's Bidoof though. Contrary to what most others believed, Blue was not a cold person. In fact, he was quite capable of being a decent person when desired. In his time of enlistment, never had he killed Pokémon or human. Then again, Blue hadn't been involved with the war for too long. The battling had only begun recently. Tension had been rising over the years, but no one had actually expected it to span into a full-scale war. But freedoms were not something people wanted to mess around with if they wanted to avoid social unrest. It had started out as a single law. Then Lux made one too many, and Nox came out of hiding. Riots broke out and from that point on, everyone was well aware that this was war. The boy gave a 'tch' noise, fingers resting upon the Pokéball. Blue raised a brow at him. "We'll... We'll call in the Lux higher-ups! We'll go to Red! He'll help us!" Blue snorted at the boy, stifling his laughter, but in the end, he failed miserably. He felt tears at the corners of his eyes from laughing, to which he quickly blinked back. It didn't matter if they were caused by laughing hard. He still wanted absolutely no one to see those. "You really think Red gives a shit about you?" Blue said as he settled down, now giving the boy a serious look. "He wouldn't save your sorry asses for anything. You all got yourselves into this mess. Now it's your job to get the hell out out of it." Red wouldn't save them. What gave those kids the idea that Red was some knight in shining armor that would swoop down from his cave on Mount Silver to squash the 'evil' Nox. Who on Kanto painted that picture in everyone's minds? Red probably didn't even care for those people, which was why he'd probably holed himself up on the peak in the first place. Vulcan lashed his tail from side to side, waiting for a verdict from his trainer. Blue was waiting to see whether or not the other children planned on releasing their Pokémon. Maybe these kids had a shred of intelligence though. It had just struck him that Nox had said to recruit the children to their cause. These kids were ignorant and probably as impressionable as play dough. "We don't have to fight," Blue stated, offering them a way out of the sticky situation. He glanced quickly at Emil, tacitly reassuring him that he had the situation mostly under control. "Lux probably doesn't give a crap about you all either. It's not like they were ever 'for' the people. Where the hell do people pick up these ideas from anyways?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he continued. "But Nox, now, the entire faction was created by people like you. Like me. Everyone falls under its umbrella. Forget Lux and its ideals. It's impossible to create utopia anyways. You kids don't know how many times people have tried and failed." Blue wanted to gag himself with a spoon. Pep talks were not his forte, but if he was able to influence the youths' young minds, they'd come along much quieter. If all failed, Emil and he would be quite capable of chasing them off. That would have certainly been more interesting than trying to recruit them to Nox's cause. But these children would grow older, stronger. Their Bidoof and Kricketot would evolve into Bibarel and Kricketune. Eventually. That day would come some day. So he waited for a response, watching the group of three for their next moves.

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[moineau]

EMIL

the sun is shining out of my hands
it can burn, it can blind you

████████████████

Nodding slowly as Blue spoke, Emil glanced over at the kids. Of course, Blue was right in not pursuing the violent approach with them. Emil had to remind himself that their opponents in this mission were merely children, not violent mercenaries or soldiers. Not greedy businessmen who exploit the weak and vulnerable. In dealing with Lux, somehow Emil always tended to get carried away with beating people down instead of even attempting to speak to them calmly. And he was beginning to suspect that neither he nor Blue were prepared to approach these kids with convincing arguments. They really should have sent someone else on this mission. Emil was used to making things explode and threatening people, not trying to recruit youngsters to a cause which is beyond their understanding.

Emil bit his lip, uncertain as to whether or not he should add anything to what Blue had said. He wasn't particularly good at advertising things - a sentiment which he was sure Blue shared. Glancing down at the Kricketot that lay twitching at his feet. It was actually quite pitiful. Feeling a rising wave of guilt in his chest, Emil withdrew a Pokeball that contained his Audino, Cours. Emerging in a burst of white light, the rather motherly Pokemon immediately turned her attention to the Kricketot. "Heal Pulse", Emil told her giving the Pokemon a slight nod. Perhaps showing the kids an act of compassion would make up for their earlier violent display. Putting her little hands in front of her, Cours swiftly gathered a swirling ball of pink energy which she promptly released towards the Kricketot. For several seconds the Pokemon remained still before suddenly leaping to its feet with a delighted exclamation and scuttling over into the arms of its beaming trainer. The lass, looking very grateful and relieved, even surprised that Emil truly hadn't commanded his Aggron to eat her Pokemon, flashed him a quick smile.

The boy who had been reaching for his Pokeball paused when Blue addressed the group, the pair beside him - another boy and girl - huddled next to him. All three seemed to be listening attentively, though still clearly suspicious of these two evil, Nox people. Which is reasonable. After all, most of the stories that they had heard about about the group described them as cruel, anarchistic degenerates out to destroy the peace and order that Lux were so desperately trying to maintain. Nobody said anything for several seconds, before the boy, fancying himself somewhat of the leader (he was the oldest and was also the proud owner of the only evolved Pokemon in the group, a fierce Staravia), pushed aside his fears and finally spoke. "So what if Red or Lux don't care about us? At least they want to make everything normal again. You guys are just making it harder", he said in an accusatory tone, frowning at Blue. As much as he didn't want to fight these guys anymore, he refused to simply agree with their ideas. "At least that's what my dad says..." chimed in the girl with the Kricktot, glancing up to look at Blue and Emil.

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&FIN;

notes
controlling npcs is hard!

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[blue]

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I CAN TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY,

tags: emil ● notes: asdfjk;l sorry this took so long and that it sucks.

[atrb=CellPadding,10,true][atrb=border,0,true] Right. They were kids, which also meant they had incredibly impressionable minds and that they were easily influenced by outside opinions. But again, they were children, and not to mention, teenagers. Surely they had at least an ounce of desire to rebel against their parents' thoughts and wishes? Blue couldn't be entirely sure, but he decided to play off of it anyways. "Hey kid, who planted that idea in your mind? The 'rents?" He folded his arms over his chest. "Why listen to what they have to say? You should make your own choices and decisions about us. It's what Nox is all about. We make our own choices for our lives," And with that, the ex-gym leader carefully studied the faces of each adolescent. His emerald eyes flickered in the direction of the Youngster whose Bidoof had been the unfortunate opponent of Vulcan. "By the way," he stated, "your Bidoof only fainted. If I wanted it dead, Vulcan would have made sure of it." Hopefully that constituted as a shred of kindness. At least, Blue thought it did. Kindness was a rare thing from him and it was handed out sparingly. With that, the Youngster suddenly broke off from the small cluster of children and scooped up his Bidoof in his arms. He cradled it gently before returning his cluster of "Lux" comrades. He glanced at Emil hesitantly, and then at Cours the Audino. "Could you...?" He bit his lip. It appeared this Youngster had difficulties with asking for help, especially from the "enemy". But he held his Bidoof out gently in his hands, waiting for a reply from Emil. Meanwhile, the other young teens gaped and gasped at their friend. At least, Blue thought they were all friends. Then again, they could have very well been a group of Lux sympathizers that happened to know each other through school connections and decided to take over Hearthome's Contest Hall. Blue's eyes narrowed at the "leader" of the ragtag group. "Normal. Normal? Am I hearing you correctly? Normal would be going back to before Lux starting snatching things that weren't theirs. That would be normal. That's what I'm fighting for. How about you? Are you willing to put your life on the line? Because if you're not, you shouldn't be on the war zone." If no one else knew better, they would have thought that Blue had snapped. He was growing irritated by these foolish children. They thought they were smart, did they? He took a deep breath through his nose. Calm down, Blue, he told himself before speaking once more. "We'll display our abilities as Nox members. I suggest you either fight me or run home because it's our job to either help you change your minds about our faction or get rid of all of you." And so, he'd leave it at that. Vulcan was busy eying the Staravia on the teen's shoulder. Was that the strongest Pokémon out of the entire group? Clearing the children from the area shouldn't be too difficult of a task at all. He suspected a Flamethrower might be all that he'd have to demonstrate, and surely Hermes would be more than happy to prove to the Staravia who was top bird.

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[moineau]

EMIL

the sun is shining out of my hands
it can burn, it can blind you

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With the Youngster approaching him, his wounded Bidoof in his arms, Emil felt a stir of sympathy for the young trainer. A person who clearly cared about their Pokemon, even if he is quite cocky and brands himself as ‘Lux’, is someone that Emil will have a begrudging respect for. “Of course we’ll heal him”, Emil said with a small smile, as he motioned to Cours who once again summoned a warm, pink pulse which upon touching the Bidoof’s brown fur seemingly rejuvenated him, as it had with the Kricketot just moments prior. The boy gave Emil a grateful smile, and clutched even tighter at his Pokemon, who still looked slightly dazed though his eyes were narrowed and regarded Vulcan suspiciously. The Youngster looked as though he frankly did not even care about opposing Blue and Emil, purely relieved that his Bidoof will be fine. After all, the Pokemon was his best friend. Beside Emil’s Audino, who had clasped her hands and watched the Youngster and his Pokemon with a faint, satisfied smile, Gruidae shifted his weight and made a low rumbling sound, clearly not impressed by the fact that the Audino’s healing skills had been employed more often in this mission rather than his own brute force. In fact, he was slightly offended and turned to stare at his trainer with somewhat of an anguished gaze.

The Lass with the Kricketot squirmed uncomfortably under Blue's gaze. It's true, of course she had doubts over the Lux movement! How could one honestly think that a group suppressing people's freedoms is flawless? In fact, when Blue mentioned the possibility of actually affiliated with Nox, she glanced up, maybe a bit too eagerly. Perhaps they weren't such bad people, after all, she pondered, glancing down at her Kricketot. The guy with the Arcanine wasn't all that violent or cruel, and the other one healed their Pokemon... The girl's change of attitude towards the two men did not go unnoticed by Emil, who quickly glanced at Blue with a flicker of a smile before turning his attention back to her. Maybe he should say something worthwhile? For a moment he struggled to think of anything before finally speaking. "You know... We're not actually 'bad' people, right? We weren't sent here to hurt you or your Pokemon, and this isn't a recruitment drive, either. As Blue said", here Emil indicated to his partner, "you have a choice. Nox is all about the individual. Do you want to become stronger, independent adults?" Finishing speaking, Emil grimaced slightly. Nope, persuasive speeches were definitely not his thing.

The 'leader' shifted his gaze from Blue to Emil and back, his mouth slightly ajar. He was having trouble thinking of a response to the pair, and so resorted to taking a careful step back and crossing his arms defensively. "Whatever, you guys are psychos", he finally concluded with a decisive nod of his head. The pair beside him stared at the boy, dumbstruck. Did he actually just insult these two powerful trainers? Isn't that a bit... dangerous? And Nox are said to be very unpredictable... The pair distanced themselves slightly from the older boy, clearly not wanting to really be associated with him and his loud opinions.

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&FIN;

notes
it's fine~ mine kinda sucks, too. I'm totally lacking my muse lately!

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[blue]

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I CAN TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY,

tags: emil ● notes: Didn't want to squish Staravia in case you did.

[atrb=CellPadding,10,true][atrb=border,0,true] That was the last straw. Blue certainly was not a psychopath. At least, he didn't think he was. Blue was very sane. "All right, that is it," Blue said, reaching for a Pokéball. "Doesn't look like we can change your minds so I guess we'll have to chase you guys out." Blue was observant and had noticed the lass and the youngster backing away from their 'leader'. Perhaps he'd spare the two of them. They seemed conscientious enough, or at least, smart enough for not picking a fight. "Hey kid, tell me," Blue said, taking a step towards the teen with a Staravia on his shoulder, but the boy stood firm. Blue, however, could see that he was shaking in his boots. "Do you want to be burned or squashed? Both I think are equally as bad, although being squashed would probably end the pain for you faster." Blue reached for his belt, releasing a single Pokémon from the confines of its Pokéball. The ray of light swelled to an enormous size forming the silhouette of a dinosaur-like Pokémon. The Tyrannitar let out a ferocious roar and stomped his feet. The Pokémon eyed the adolescent with his Staravia and grinned widely at his opponent, making sure to put on display his rows of pointed teeth. Vulcan stepped forward beside the rock type Pokémon and snarled at the boy. It wasn't quite the lady or the tiger, but it appeared that the boy would be forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. Or just one of them. Blue thought both were equally as terrifying to be forced against, especially when one's only Pokémon was a Staravia. And so, the boy had no choice but to face against Blue or lose face in front of his teammates. It was a lose-lose situation. The Staravia leaped from his trainer's shoulder and fluttered in front of him with a stern expression. Blue jeered at the bird and Jupiter the Tyrannitar glared back at it. "S-Staravia, Aerial Ace!" the boy called out. The Pokémon gave a high-pitched warble before flying higher into the air and then dropping its body down towards the Tyrannitar. The Staravia was in for a rude awakening. The bird Pokémon merely bounced off the Pokémon's rocky body. It appeared the Aerial Ace may have done more damage to the Staravia than it had to Jupiter. The Pokémon grinned widely, gnashing his teeth together. "Emil, would you like to do the honors or should I finish this chicken off?" Blue asked, gesturing in Emil's direction. The lass suddenly called out to her comrade. "R-Robert, I think we should go home!" she cried to him, biting her lower lip. It had been wrong of her to get involved with attempting a siege on the Contest Hall. "We can't do this!" "Shut up!" the teen snarled, to which the girl behind him whimpered as she hugged her Kricketot closer to her chest.

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[moineau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,120,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=vAlign, top][atrb=style, background-color: #eaeaea; margin-top: -20px; border-left: #cdcdcd solid 1px;][STYLE=width: 100px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-top: 15px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border-bottom: #c0c0c0 dotted 2px;] [/style][STYLE=background-color: #cdcdcd; width: 100px; height: 100px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;][/style][STYLE=width: 100px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border-top: #c0c0c0 dotted 2px;] [/style][STYLE=font-family: courier new; font-size: 8px; color: #333333; opacity: 0.6; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 2px; padding: 6px; text-align: justify; margin-top: -8px;]" EVERYONE IS WAITING FOR THE LIGHT BE AFRAID, DON'T BE AFRAID THE SUN IS SHINING OUT OF MY EYES IT WILL NOT SET TONIGHT"[/style] [STYLE=width: 50px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border-top: #c0c0c0 dotted 2px;] [/style][STYLE=repeat; width: 80px; height: 220px; padding: 6px; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 9px; color: #333333; text-align: justify; opacity: 0.6; overflow: auto;]WORDS: 492 NOTES: finally got a decent template! and sorry for the wait (again). and I'll let you do the honours :3[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0px,true][atrb=vAlign, top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i.imgur.com/SSIey.png);][STYLE= width: 300px; height: 55px; background-color: #f1f1f1; padding: 8px; text-align: right; font-family: courier new; font-size: 11px; color: #616161; line-spacing: -6px;] THE SUN IS SHINING OUT OF MY HANDS IT CAN BURN, IT CAN BLIND YOU ALL [/style][STYLE= width: 300px; height: 440px; opacity: 0.6; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; color: #4b4a4a; text-align: justify; padding: 8px; margin-top: 5px; overflow: auto;]Emil stared at the boy coldly. Ok, nope. Obviously they were wasting time in trying to speak with him like one would with an adult. In fact, all of Emil’s prior uncharacteristic shreds of understanding for that kid vanished as soon as he started to fling around insults. What a spoilt brat. Emil was tempted to disregard his Pokemon and go to personally punch the boy in his smug face. Instead he opted to cross his arms in a feeble attempt to control these violent urges. Both he and Blue – admittedly, mostly Blue – did not just waste their time trying to get these kids to see sense. In fact, seeing the Lass with the Kricketot and the Youngster with the Bidoof frowning up at their impromptu ‘leader’ made Emil determined to get at least one of them to join Nox. They could never have enough supporters, even kids like this could one day be useful. “Oh, Blue. Don’t be so rash”, Emil said with a tight smile. “Look at the poor kid. He’s terrified. I suggest you have Vulcan here singe his Staravia as a reminder to not be a moron anymore and leave him be”. Someone had to be the voice of reason here, no matter how hard it was. Turning his gaze to the boy himself, Emil struggled to keep his face straight and voice level when addressing him. “Robert, was it? I suggest that you leave now. Doing as I say is in your best interests”. Either way, he was going to end up looking like an idiot, and humiliation in front of his peers seemed like punishment enough to Emil. At least for now. If he grows up and continues to carry out these missions for Lux only then will there will be a problem. And they were ultimately kids and should therefore be treated as such. "Hey, whatever man", Robert said in response, his eyes narrowed in a glare. Despite his words, Emil was certain that the boy was about to flee. In fact, the girl who stood behind Robert and had yet to speak had grabbed the wrist of the boy that stood next to her, making it clear that she was not prepared to stick around any longer or suffer the consequences of meddling with the older trainers. They were told to simply storm the Concert Hall, not fight with these scary people and their equally scary Pokemon. She wanted to ask if they would be allowed to leave, but was clearly too terrified to bring any attention to herself. With a heavy sigh, Emil turned to Blue. "Well, he doesn't seem to be getting it, so go ahead", he said, indicating at Blue's two Pokemon. What an annoying kid. The others didn't even seem all that bad anymore. Or at least they paled in comparison to this idiot who is too proud to realize that the result of this encounter was clear from the very start. [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,439,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, margin-top: -10px;][STYLE=background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 6px; border-left: #cdcdcd solid 1px; border-bottom: #cdcdcd solid 1px] [/style][STYLE=font-family: tahoma; font-size: 9px; color: #545454; text-align: right; padding: 2px; margin-right: 10px;]— made by ayu of btn[/style]

[blue]

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I CAN TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY,

tags: emil ● notes: think we should wrap this up soon?

[atrb=CellPadding,10,true][atrb=border,0,true] Under normal circumstances, Blue would have resented being told what to do. However, this was a great exception. He'd been insulted and so had Emil, but Blue decided that Emil would reap vengeance in his own way. He nodded to Vulcan and the Arcanine padded forward with a feral expression. His eyes were alight with the fire that only a battle could ignite. "Roast it nice and toasty," Blue said, to which the Arcanine let out a low growl in the Staravia's direction. He thrashed his furry tail from side to side and bared his white fangs. The Arcanine leaped forward as the Staravia suddenly shot upward. It appeared the boy thought that his Pokémon could escape Vulcan by air. Foolish child. A smirk played across Blue's features. He was underestimating the Arcanine. "You realize my Pokémon can jump, yeah?" he stated, to which the boy across from him returned the comment with a flustered expression. It was quickly answered as Vulcan leaped into the air, flawlessly snatching the Staravia midway. The bird Pokémon let out a squawk at being snapped up and wriggled about in the canine Pokémon's jaws. Vulcan wrinkled his snout in irritation. He'd never been overly fond of the taste of feathers, which was why he avoided eating birds. They were incredibly dry and stuck to his tongue. So he was incredibly eager to spit the startled Staravia out onto the ground. The Pokémon didn't even try to fly again and probably couldn't anyways. Vulcan's saliva had probably gotten its wings wet, which would have made it impossible for the Staravia to take to the skies. Vulcan snarled at the frightened Staravia before letting loose a wicked Flamethrower. The Staravia let out a strangled screech as its feathers caught fire while it flapped its wings frantically in order to put the flames out. "Staravia, no!" the boy cried out as he ran to check on the bird. The Pokémon had fainted, probably from a combination of the attack and of fear. Blue had told the Pokémon to hold back. After all, these were children, and potentially, killing their Pokémon might turn them against Nox. Of course, these were simply excuses Blue had made to justify his own weaknesses. He was soft and he knew it. Or at least, he knew it well enough to make justifications for it. Vulcan returned to Blue's side, the regal Pokémon going back to swishing his tail from left to right. The Staravia trainer had scooped up his injured Pokémon and cradled it in his arms. "Why did you..." he began, his voice low and rasping. Suddenly, his expression turned livid as he held his Staravia tightly against his chest. "Nox did this! Nox is evil! My parents were right about you!" He raised a hand and pointed at both Blue and Emil. "I'll train harder and get stronger, and then I'll come back!" With that, he cleared the back of his throat of the phlegm and spat in Blue's direction, then took time to also spit neatly in Emil's direction. "We're leaving," the boy said with a clenched fist. Staravia cradled in one arm, he turned on his heel and marched away, potentially blinking back tears. And once he had left, the other youngsters and lasses followed their retreating leader. "Guess that's it," Blue stated to Emil, resting a hand on Vulcan's side. "Damn kids these days. I picked a hell of a lot of fights too but at least I won them."

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[moineau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,120,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=vAlign, top][atrb=style, background-color: #eaeaea; margin-top: -20px; border-left: #cdcdcd solid 1px;][STYLE=width: 100px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-top: 15px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border-bottom: #c0c0c0 dotted 2px;] [/style][STYLE=background-color: #cdcdcd; width: 100px; height: 100px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;][/style][STYLE=width: 100px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border-top: #c0c0c0 dotted 2px;] [/style][STYLE=font-family: courier new; font-size: 8px; color: #333333; opacity: 0.6; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 2px; padding: 6px; text-align: justify; margin-top: -8px;]" EVERYONE IS WAITING FOR THE LIGHT BE AFRAID, DON'T BE AFRAID THE SUN IS SHINING OUT OF MY EYES IT WILL NOT SET TONIGHT"[/style] [STYLE=width: 50px; padding: 6px; opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border-top: #c0c0c0 dotted 2px;] [/style][STYLE=repeat; width: 80px; height: 220px; padding: 6px; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 9px; color: #333333; text-align: justify; opacity: 0.6; overflow: auto;]WORDS: 424 NOTES: ok, I'm so sorry for the late reply again. :< i guess that's it, then? [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0px,true][atrb=vAlign, top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i.imgur.com/SSIey.png);][STYLE= width: 300px; height: 55px; background-color: #f1f1f1; padding: 8px; text-align: right; font-family: courier new; font-size: 11px; color: #616161; line-spacing: -6px;] THE SUN IS SHINING OUT OF MY HANDS IT CAN BURN, IT CAN BLIND YOU ALL [/style][STYLE= width: 300px; height: 440px; opacity: 0.6; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; color: #4b4a4a; text-align: justify; padding: 8px; margin-top: 5px; overflow: auto;]So, that’s it. It was over. After all this rhetoric and meaningless conversation, all they really needed to do to finally get rid of them was to use violence. Typical. Despite his cold gaze, Emil felt a bit nauseous watching the Staravia struggling against Blue’s Arcanine. However, all his sympathy for the boy and his Pokemon quickly dried up when the Youngster turned to spit first towards Blue and then at Emil himself. Momentarily, Emil was once again tempted to attack the boy himself, but miraculously managed to control himself and merely narrowed his at the boy. Even as Robert turned to leave, Gruidae gave a furious rumble at the boy and took an intimidating step towards the boy, shaking his heavy head, pointing his horns at the retreating group in a clear threat. As the group retreated around the Contest Hall’s corner, the lass and the youngster who had initially attacked Blue and Emil with their Kricketot and Bidoof, respectively, hesitated for several seconds before slowly following their ‘leader’. Even so, Emil saw the pair turn to glance back at the two men. They certainly did not look scared, rather, somehow conflicted. Emil gave them a somewhat absent smile, to which the girl responded by giving the pair a somewhat embarrassed wave before hurrying ahead to catch up with her comrades. Though they had not actually recruited anyone today, Emil had the strange feeling that they might have embedded those two with some sympathy for their cause. Who knows, maybe one day they will appear among their ranks fighting with them? Certainly, it was too early to say anything definite, but nothing was impossible. The mission hadn’t taken all that long, for which Emil was quietly pleased. Giving his Aggron a small pat on his smooth, steel side, Emil turned to face Blue. “Well, that was different from what I had expected”, he said with a small smile. For a second it looked as though he was going to say something more, but he hesitated before tentatively continuing. “It was nice to work with you. I always thought that you were a great gym leader”, Emil said finally. It was clear that it pained him to say it. Compliments were just as hard for Emil to communicate without sounding like a complete idiot as was speaking convincingly to arrogant kids. Without waiting for a reply, Emil gave Blue a wave of farewell, withdrew his two Pokemon and disappeared – as the group of kids had seconds earlier – around the edge of the Contest Hall. [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,439,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, margin-top: -10px;][STYLE=background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 6px; border-left: #cdcdcd solid 1px; border-bottom: #cdcdcd solid 1px] [/style][STYLE=font-family: tahoma; font-size: 9px; color: #545454; text-align: right; padding: 2px; margin-right: 10px;]— made by ayu of btn[/style]