[WAR Season II RP] Arcane Pokéworld [RP Thread]

[XaiakuX]

Lance Harper
Team Awesome
Goldenrod Cemetery to Harper Industries HQ
Affected RPers: @Saraibre Ryu / Possibly @Lightning Dash and @Daixtey


"... This sucks."

I was the last man standing at the single headstone freshly placed over the burial of my parents. The service was both beautiful, and agonizing. The problem wasn't with the work, effort, or the attendance. The problem was with myself. I mean, my parents were recently murdered by sycophantic rioters, and my life had been forever changed because of it. The Night of Blood Fall started it all. A group of Mechari were held responsible, so the entire race was blamed. My parents disagreed with that. They believed that all Mechari couldn't be responsible for the acts of a few. I followed their belief because it seemed right. I still do, but look where it got them. I don't think anybody could blame me for drawing a blank whenever someone asked me how I was feeling. I'm 27 years old. I feel I've grown past the point of crying like a child. Yet I still felt the need as much as I had every right to do so.

Instead, I lowered my head, took a long breath, exhaled heavily, and gingerly sulked back to my Flight Capable Lamborghini Veneno. I was probably too depressed to drive, but this was one of the very few splurges that I actually went on. I'm not fond of spending money carelessly, but I couldn't pass up buying her. Then to top it off, I got her painted a Candy Apple Red, to match my Scizor. Scizor, the gift Pokémon my parents got me for my 16th birthday. Was he my first Pokémon? No, that was a Machop to help me with my physical training. He's a Machamp, now. But my Scizor is just glorious to look at. Just the same, he's a pretty tough cookie. So I painted my car to look just like him.

I started the car, and just rested, enjoying the rush of hearing the engine roar. This car was her own kind of monster, and it was wonderful. It almost made me smile. I flipped a few switches on the dashboard to put her into street mode, that way she wouldn't fly off the road and tear up the cemetery. After that, I was on my way. I drove through the streets of Goldenrod City. Riots still plagued the streets. Each one that I saw was nothing more to me than a painful reminder of what happened. I took a longer drive than normal to attempt to clear my head. I felt that I had to before returning to work.

I immediately started thinking about my recent business decision with the Angel, Remiel Barnabas. He told me he had created some device that would allow a person to walk about in their own subconscious. This was, at first, a laughable proposition. Then he showed me examples. He ran tests on some fellow called Davven Spelloyal, and I witnessed his work first hand. It was mind blowing. I immediately placed my investment into the project, and promised to help in any way that I could. I also thought about how very quiet this car ride was, the only sound being made was the roar of the engine and the tires rolling across the pavement.

As I pulled up to a large skyscraper surrounded by greenery and what could be identified as a park around the whole building, the sign at the entrance read "Harper Industries" and the slogan beneath it said "For the betterment and happiness of all!" ... 'Yeah, I bet.' Happiness is a lost idea, lately. Kudos to this Team Trainer for trying to make everything better. But, that's mission impossible if you ask me. I guess that's just me being pessimistic. But like I said, totally understandable, right? I pulled my car into my private parking garage, where all of my cars were parked behind bullet proof glass, but open to the public for viewing. Although I only had three cars, my dad was fond of older muscle cars, and it's because of him that I have such a passion for them.

I parked the Veneno in her glass pedestal, and made my way into the main building. As soon as I was in my new office, which doubled as an equivalent to a five star suite in the Kalos Region's Luimose City, I brought up my Mirror. The screen and device were the same colors as my car. I opened up my contact list, and decided to send out a mass message to relevant parties.

"Ahem.."

I paused briefly to gather my bearings. I knew it would be difficult to address people given my current state. But this was no time to be anything other than a leader, and more importantly, an employer. Because there was so much to get done, and constantly felt like there wasn't enough time to do it. I wished that, in this moment, I wasn't feeling so pessimistic. I made every attempt to cover up my emotions before speaking up.

"I'm aware that you all might think of this as a bad time for me to make any calls in regards to the project, but we need to meet so we can discuss it. The location will be in the usual private cottage in Kanto. Time, I feel, doesn't seem to be on our side. So be there within two days. I'll be there, waiting."

After the message sent, I sat at my desk and began to work on paperwork. I need to make certain that I could be caught up for missing two days of work. As soon as everything was in order for the company, I made my way to the roof. The first thing I noticed was that the sun was already setting. A sight which was beautiful to see, if you could get past the random clouds of smoke caused by looters burning buildings. There to greet me was the pilot of the company helicopter. My parents liked it old school. Good news was that it ran on synthesized Electrode energy. It was energy that replenished itself. A lot of companies worked with Harper Industries to obtain and use this product. It's pretty much what initially put Harper Industries on the map YEARS before I was even born.

I boarded the Helicopter and we took off towards the Kanto Region. I decided to take the Heli instead of the Veneno so that I could take in the scenery from 10,000 feet. Despite the carnage running through the streets, A lot of the world still looked quite breathtaking. So it was going to be nice to enjoy while the sun was still in the sky. However, I knew it was going to be an overnight flight. So I decided to get some shut eye on the way there.

... Hopefully my sleep would be relatively peaceful.



"Sir, I don't know how to tell you this, but I know you're not going to be happy."

I was awakened by a radio call from my pilot. As I lifted my head from my laying position, I looked out the window. We were preparing to land on the landing pad outside of my cottage. Normally this would be a wondrous sight. Because to land, we'd have to face the South, and you could usually see both Pewter City and Cerulean City before they disappeared behind Mt. Moon. Then a number of miles of plains and forestry before disappearing behind the tallest trees in the Kanto Region. Usually the cottage was cut off from the world. A perfect place to escape.

... However, this wasn't the scenario.

Instead, from the sky, I just saw a pillar of black smoke. As we went down, I looked down towards the cottage, and witnessed more horror. The getaway home was billowing flames from every window and doorway. I had already broken into a sweat from the heat being emitted from these flames. This wasn't the work of some oil and a burning rag. This was from a Pokémon. Not any Pokémon's fire, either. No, this was from a Charizard. I was taught that a Charizard's flames could melt solid rocks and boulders. It was a terrifying thought, and now I had witnessed it's work first hand.

I was willing to bet that it was the work of a Chua who happened to find out about my family's cottage. Chua's were always particularly talented with manipulating fire. This same Chua was probably one of those types who 'saw through the Harpers' 'Good Guy' ruse.' Which was, and still isn't any sort of ruse. Some people just couldn't accept that there were genuinely nice people in this world. Very few things make me sick, and hate is one of those things. I can't begin to understand hate. It has never made any sense to me.

The helicopter landed, and I stood with my hands placed on the back of my head. I watched my family home burn to the ground. Burn with the needless hate of some angry 'take that' troll of an individual. I couldn't bring myself to understand things from their perspective. All I could think about was how this world, at every turn, seemed to be pulling the rug out from under my feet, and laughed at me as I rolled over in pain. With all this, I couldn't bring myself to express these emotions properly.

All I could manage to say was, "Well, damn."