[RP] Journeymon: Blackout

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Perry Sterling
Rustboro City, Rustboro Trainer School
Affected RPers: Sieses
The girl’s response and demeanor were all business, and while such a demeanor would have undoubtedly led to stuttering and sweating a few years ago, Perry had grown accustomed to being addressed this way. After all, people were in the transition process from apocalyptic to post-apocalyptic, so manners were far less important than survival. The trainer planned his reaction carefully; the girl’s Houndoom did not look like it was in the mood to let him try for a good second impression. Dismissing several approaches in seconds, Perry settled for honesty, always at least the second best policy. “My Pokémon heard a noise,” he said, “and we decided to investigate in case its source posed a threat to us. In addition, we surmised that it could have been caused by a survivor or group of survivors that may be recruiting.”
The obese trainer laughed shortly, “You can probably tell, but the two of us aren’t the toughest of customers. Travelling in a group would provide far greater protection, and it would restore some semblance of law and order.” Chloe nodded on his shoulder, and chattered quietly.
Years of friendship had enabled Perry to somewhat translate the electric squirrel’s high-speed language, and he understood her warning. Chloe was nervous about the reception her trainer’s answer would receive and Perry agreed. While Perry’s goal was the reformation of a society based on the rule of law, he had not encountered too many survivors of the Blackout that had agreed with him. It shouldn’t have surprised the trainer, but the fact was that some of those who had made it this far could claim to be thriving under the new conditions.
It was tempting to ask questions of the other trainer, but judging from her fierce Pokémon and bearing, Perry was guessing that the girl he was trying to reason with might be one of them. Still, he had told her his intentions with perfect sincerity, and she would either let him live or try to attack him. And if the latter happened, well, Chloe was prepared for that eventuality.

[Grassy_Aggron]

Grassy_Aggron
Enja Niir/Jade
Devon Building.
ARPers: Velocity (Jade)

The handshake was brisk and brief. "It's good to meet you, although you don't have to change your companion's name on my account." Araceli frowned a little. "That reminds me..." The woman let out a high pitched whistle, and from the sky a figure swooped down low, landing on small feet. She recognized the blue and red spotted figure as a Togekiss, and hearing the name - Asteria - she couldn't help but grin.

"Oh, a Togekiss! They are said to share blessings with those that avoid needless strife. That's a good Pokemon to have - very good luck! She looks very well taken care of too, which I'm glad to see." Only now Araceli was walking into the building. Small talk wasn't her strong point, eh?

"You mentioned coworkers and people you could contact. Were you a Devon employee? I don't know much about the company itself, save that they made devices like the Pokenav." Enja let out a small laugh.

"No, not quite. I am the lead engineer for the Slateport City branch of Innoventions Inc. We did work with Devon on several occasions, as well as other larger companies." She still say "am" because, as far as she knew, the branch wasn't truly dead as long as the data was around. "Devon did invent the Pokenav, but they also made strides in Dream World technology and several variations of Pokeballs. They even started a way to talk with Pokemon, which our company then took over when they switched to developing yet another Pokeball." She felt some glass break under her boots, but ignored it as the safety-regulation grade soles shrugged it off. Even after six years, they still were nearly brand new. "I have reason to believe the main HQ of Innoventions Inc. is still operational, and if I can contact my big boss, maybe I can find out more. We always were prepared..."

After all, who had enough fuel to power a giant generator for several months? Her branch did, even when the rest of Slateport went dark. If they had been that prepared - on HQ's orders no less - there was no doubt the main base was even more prepared. But, if they had fallen in such an isolated city...No, no, no. There is always hope, and somewhere there is a city that is alive and well, orderly even! And if worst came to worst, she could always return to her homeland. Her parents were still alive, she knew that much.

[SpinelWolf]

Spinel
Slateport City
ARPers: Dragotech, The Operator

Spinel let out a deep sigh. She hadn't meant to come off as she had. She was just tired of people assuming something because she was a woman. But that was the least of her worries. As her partner had said, what mattered was that she knew how to take care of herself.

"It was rather stupid of me to corner myself as I had. Should have learned from the last time that failed. However at least this time it didn't break out into a fight," she said. "I seem to appear in an area where women are hardly seen, and with our population decreasing... I think you can put the rest of the pieces together."

She didn't go any further for the memories would surface again, which was the cause of her earlier fear. Being ganged up by older men left her somewhat fearful and distant towards other, even if they didn't deserve it. She felt more comfortable around other women, but she only truly relaxed around Pokémon. So even now she was on edge, but physically she was at least somewhat relaxed thanks to how close Rayner now walked beside her. She then heard the Absol's trainer, Jacob, said they had about an hour before they were to depart.

"Long enough to quickly search the Center. There might be hidden compartments we can find like at the Mart," Rayner suggested.

"Then I'll meet you in an hour, Jacob," she replied. "Rayner and I are going to see if there's anything salvageable in the Center," she said before turning on her heel, heading for the red roofed building. "If you wish to join me Kyle, I won't stop you."

[VeloJello]

Jade Araceli.
Devon Building.
ARPers: Grassy_Aggron (Enja).

(Sorry for the short posts. I'm hurried and I don't have much material.)

Apparently, Jade's first impression was right - Enja was a chatterbox. She was rather surprised to find that she didn't mind. She let Enja talk as she pushed open the door to the wrecked Devon lobby. It was pretty messed-up; the chairs had almost all be carried off, the wallpaper was peeling, and there was a suspicious red stain near the receptionist's desk. The sight of it made Asteria shudder, and Jade tapped her comfortingly on the shoulder.

Jade worked as she spoke, picking through the trash cans and closets. "That's a good thought," she said. "Maybe I could lend you a hand when you get back. I have quite a bit of medical knowledge myself. Was your company at all involved with cure development?"

[[Desolate Divine]]

Jacob
Slateport City North Gate
Affected RPers: None

Shruikan and I walked to the north gate, arriving after 10 minutes. I sat against the fence next to it, and waited.

"How do you feel about this?" I said to Shruikan, "We haven't travelled with anyone since Gavin and Slip."

Shruikan growled at the thought of our old friends.

"Let's hope for our sake, and theirs, they don't betray us like Gavin." I said, "More so for their sake. We don't go down easy."

I sat back, and remembered the events in Slateport, 1 year ago. At the time, I had become friends with someone a year younger than me, and his Gengar. Gavin and Slip. We stuck together, and watched each other's back. Though Gavin was stupid.

One night we snuck in to the main HQ of one of the stronger gangs. If you wanted food, the gangs supplied it. But there was a cost. And if you couldn't pay it, you were owned by the gang.

Gavin and I saw ourselves like Robin Hood and Little John. We snuck in to their warehouse, and took what we needed but were found. We fled in opposite directions, meeting up at the place we were staying at. I thought for sure that Gavin would have been found by the gang, and should have known something was up when he came back alive.

The moment I turned my back, I heard him mutter something to Slip.
"Hypnosis."

I turned to face him, and saw dark waves pulsating from the Gengar, as I became drowsy. Turns out he was found. But they realised that even if they caught him, I would be more a nuisance. They told him that they would let him join them, if he turned me in.

If Shruikan didn't get between Slip and I, I would have fallen asleep and probably been killed by the gang. The psychic attack didn't affect Shruikan, who then used Night Slash, knocking down the Gengar, who almost went unconscious. Knowing that the disease would kill Gavin if Shruikan attacked again, I had him stand down, and went to leave with the food. I turned my back, and went to walk off. However he had Slip attack me again. Toxic. The attack hit me, and Shruikan used Psycho cut, knocking out, and in turn killing Gavin and Slip.

For months after that, I was distraught, and sick. Gavin was my friend, and I was in shock that Shruikan and I killed him. It took me a while to accept that I did what I had to do. It took even longer to recover from the toxic attack. The potency of it weakened me, making me unable to move much for a few months. I had to rely on Shruikan for almost everything.

"I think these two are better." I said to Shruikan, "Gavin was an idiot. He didn't see that the gang would have killed the both of us."

Shruikan said nothing, but I saw the blade on his head glow for a second. Swords Dance. Shruikan was vigilant. I smiled to myself.

[Sieses]

Alexei Stratos
Rustboro City - Pokémon Trainer School
Affected RPers: Phantasm.Angel

Alex could tell that the other trainer took a few seconds to plan a response, which was good. She was honestly surprised with some of the stupid things that trainers blurted out in this apocalyptic world. In fact, she was surprised at some of the things that trainers blurted out in the pre-apocalyptic world, but talking wasn’t half as big of a deal back then, so she had let it slide.

“My Pokémon heard a noise,” the man said bluntly, “and we decided to investigate in case its source posed a threat to us. In addition, we surmised that it could have been caused by a survivor or group of survivors that may be recruiting.”

Alex was pleasantly surprised by this. The man wasn’t a leader - going as far as saying it openly, in that he wanted to join an existing group - which would make it much easier for the two to work together. Furthermore, he went to investigate a sound when it was a potential danger to himself, which demanded bravery. If he weren’t brave he may as well not exist, in this new world.

Alex was dragged from her thoughts by the man’s laugh.

“You can probably tell, but the two of us aren’t the toughest of customers,” the man confirmed. “Traveling in a group would provide far greater protection, and it would restore some semblance of law and order.”

He was still being blunt, Alex noted with an approving nod of the head, which could easily be mistaken for her saying that she understood what he was saying. There was only one things she didn’t agree with, and she was certainly going to comment on it.

“Unfortunately, this world is now lawless,” she said, adding a sigh in for good measure. “All the groups I’ve encountered have resembled Team Rocket, not the League. It’s possible that there’s one which follows the beliefs you hold, but they’re certainly not anywhere around here.”

The girl’s eyes swept over the two once more, and when her eyes landed on the Pachirisu an idea struck her.

“I happen to have a radio in my pocket,” she said, hitting her pocket lightly with her palm. “It’s out of power, unfortunately, but do you think it would be possible for your Pachirisu to power it? I’m afraid I’ve never raised an electric type, so I wouldn’t know.”

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Perry Sterling
Rustboro City, Rustboro Trainer School
Affected RPers: Sieses

Perry suppressed a grimace at the girl's comment about the world being lawless. Of course, he hadn't found any groups dedicated to the rebuilding of society either, or else he would have joined them. Instead most were living by the mantra of survival of the fittest and were willing to exploit and harm others for their own benefit or pleasure. But against the conclusion his experience had provided him, Perry had hoped that he had just had bad luck when it came to finding groups. Now that this girl corroborated the theory that there was no more order to go back to, he was afraid more than ever of what the future would hold.

But the trainer narrowed his eyes and focused on the present and the task at hand. "To be honest," Perry said, with a glance at his partner, "we've never tried it before." Gears began turning in his head and soon Perry was talking more to himself than anyone else, including Chloe, "But it makes sense, if we can match the intensity and make-up of the component spark provided by the intended power source, then the circuit should begin replicating itself almost instantly."

Snapping out of it, Perry sheepishly grinned at the other trainer, "So, in other words, I think we can do it." His focus then turned to his Pachirisu, "What do you think? You'd need to be a lot more focused than you usually are when you electrocute things."

Chloe chattering conveyed her confidence, but quickly had another idea. Climbing into Perry's backpack, she rustled through their provisions until she pulled out the PokéNav that she had found earlier. The Pokémon then eagerly pressed it into her trainer's hand, whose face began to light up with dawning realization.

"Of course," he exclaimed and quickly set the device gently onto the floor of the trainer school. Chloe leaped off of his shoulder and her white and blue fur began to bristle as she began to store the electricity that she would normally let dissipate into the atmosphere. "If you want to take out the radio," Perry said to the other trainer, "after all, it'd probably be for the best if you didn't get shocked."

[SpinelWolf]

Spinel
Slateport City - Pokémon Center
ARPers: none

Not waiting for a reply from Kyle the brunette walked the couple of minutes it'd take to reach the Center. She and her Typhlosion had to pry the doors open for the power died in the building long ago. The only light source was that of the sunlight coming in through windows or wholes in the walls. Even in the low light Spinel could already tell that there wasn't much left.

"Even if we can't find any medicine we should find some scrap metal at least. That always has good uses down the line," the trainer spoke. Whenever they could find scrap metal that was easily transported, normally stored in her bag, they'd take it. Especially since some of the gear that they always carried could easily be broken and the only way they could repair it on the road was if they had spare metal on them.

"I don't hear anyone or anything in the immediate area," Rayner spoke, standing on all fours and slowly moving his ears and head around, carefully listening.

"Then let us search quickly for anything we can use and take and get back to Jacob," the trainer responded, walking further into the building.

"You think he and his Absol can be trusted? I sensed before that they were ready for a fight."

"We're living in a tough time where only the strongest survive. All of us should be ready to defend our lives." Spin took a short pause before adding, "But that still doesn't mean we can't try to repair the damage done and learn to trust others once again."

The fire-type smiled. "Wise words, young one. Now let us see if there are any hidden gems here like there were at the Mart."

[Dragotech]

Kyle
Inside the Slateport Mart
Arpers: SpinelWolf, The Operator

Kyle sat against a building. He thought about a few words, "I think you can put the rest of the pieces together." She said that before wandering off to the Pokémon Center.

Kyle looked over to his Pokémon. "Do you think we should go and watch the building? Not sure if it was a terribly good idea letting her leave alone. It's obvious these two won't have a problem. His Pokémon looks ready to go even now." Gaia shrugged. "Wanna go for a little run then, girl?" The Rampardos nodded.

"Hey, Jacob, we are going to make sure Spinel doesn't have any... unexpected company... join us if you want, but we can catch up if you don't. A good sign we need a hand is if the ground starts to shake."

Kyle and Gaia ran off towards the Pokémon Center.

[Suicune's Fire]

Tya Pascol
Inside a house in Rustboro
ARPers: N/A

Realising there was likely nobody around after pressing on the door and allowing it to creak open, the girl crept inside. She threw a glance over her shoulder and held the door open for her pokemon, who cautiously crept through. His blue and yellow fur bristled as he inspected the first room, which was rather open and shrouded in the darkness caused by dirtied windows with layerings of cobwebs. What little light made it into the stale home was mingled with dust and seemed somehow unclean. Thankfully, Tya did not have to be picky about unclean light.

Removing her backpack over her shoulder, she unzipped the main compartment and fished out a circular contraption with a rubber handle. She held the contraption in her left hand as her right worked the bag onto her back again, and ensured the door was closed before turning to her electric pokemon. She needed not to say anything before the manectric grunted softly and loosed a bolt of lightning onto the contraption, the immediate light illuminating the area and powering the small generator in the girl's hand. Sparks hopped about and threatened to sting her skin, only to retreat at the touch of the rubber handle.

The room's contents were much more distinguishable and warranted an immediate inspection. Ordering her partner to creep into a hallway to the right and informing him that she would follow shortly after she fleshed out a room to her immediate left, she wandered into her targeted location and lifted the contraption. It spun wildly and caused quite a ruckus when it was on, but the light it generated from the constant flow of electricity was perfect for enabling her to see. She briefly wondered if it would perhaps attract some unwanted and curious people roaming about the city, as she knew it was populated, but hoped that she was wrong.

The room she had crept into was presumably the master bedroom of the house. Half the ceiling had collapsed in onto the large bed at the back of the room, a bathtub which had been on the top storey propped up by the fallen planks of wood which were still half arranged in a floor-like manner. The drawers of a dressing table along the right wall had been violently ripped out and rummaged through, and it was then that Tya knew that there was probably nothing for her in that house. It had likely been ransacked years ago, and no valuables would have been left behind.

Scowling, she turned to exit the room and thought again of her goal to seek out any form of communication. She knew that the government had collapsed, but there was bound to be someone still at the head of the region, and contacting them would put her in a powerful position, especially if she offered to work for them. She doubted that her fantasy was even close to accurate, but it was all she had to go off.

"Mack," she grunted softly, but audibly enough for her pokemon to hear, "anything useful over there?"

"No," came the curt response, but she could tell that he was still searching.

She came into view of the manectric, who was sniffing around the base of a wardrobe in another room. He eyed her from in front without particular emotion. "Well...if we can't find anything here, we should stay here for a bit to rest."

The pokemon lifted his nose and remained still before glancing coolly back to her and nodding once.

~SF.