;flooded; M E M O R I E S= [arley]

[~/Birdybot\~]

Dave smiled, seeming relieved. This boy would help after all. He touched a finger to the three Pokéballs at his belt. The boy had a Murkrow and Chikorita, did he now? How interesting. Murkrow... dark type birds, found humour in other's misfortune. Chikorita... well, other than being Grass type, they varied, as did Murkrow. He hoped they were good fighters. They might need all the skill they could get. "Murkrow and Chikorita, huh? Great, a trainer's always handy. I have Pokémon, too, but they're more trained to help me in work and emotionally. As well as the lovely Starmie here, I have a Porygon-Z and an Alakazam. Before they kidnapped me and took me here, I earned lots of money to buy the evolution items, and plenty of my friends were willing to trade and trade back to evolve my Pokémon" he smiled feebly. He missed his friends.

Well, back to business. He nodded respectfully to the Murkrow before his eyes widened as he took in the colour. "Woah... awesome... a shiny?! I know they're no better in battle or anything, but congrats on owning a shiny!" he grinned. He then nodded at Arley's final question.

"Yes, the generator's horrible. I adore Pikachu, always wanted one... well, as for the cages, they know I hate this, so they don't let me control them or anything. I know that the grunt has a briefcase which has all the controls in. You can use it from a distance, like connecting two Nintendo DS. However, he always sits on to of it." Dave explained, leading the way out the room. Flareon winked at Arley. He seemed to have quite some trust in the boy. Dave pushed on the door, but-

"I don't believe it. We're locked in."

Dave turned to Arley with a grim white face. From outside came a jangle of keys and a harsh laugh. "Looking for the keys in my hand, kiddo? Well, you can't have it!" the Grunt yelled mockingly. Right, now they needed to find a way to save the Pokémon and escape without any keys. However, there was bound to be a fault, right? Dave sighed. "It's hopeless. The only thing that's ever managed to escape it's cage has been a Magnemite." he moaned, before snapping his fingers, realising something. "Of course! Magnetism could effect the system! I'll work on Magnemite, while you go and help Flareon. He'll definately help. Remember, rapid heating and cooling might help you, too!" he said quietly, not wanting the Grunt to overhear.

[;AL P H A]

Murkow fluttered its wings happily, feeling very smug.
< See, Arley? Someone who actually recognises my amazingness and talent! > The bird grabbed one of Arley's ears, yanking it hard. < Why don't you do that, eh? Eh? >

Arley watched as the door opened - wait, no, it didn't. Uh-oh. This wasn't very good. But he thought he'd got the key in his pocket? Fishing in his trousers, Arley couldn't find anything. Hocrap. He must have dropped it. That had been stupid. He had a quick think.
Could I use the mesmerising gaze? ...no, that needs direct eye contact. I would have to get him to open the door, he'd have to be some sort of idiot to agree to that. Plus I'm not really very good at it...

Now, rapid heating and cooling, that sounds interesting. It would make metal much more brittle, so maybe if we tried it on the cages... oh, wait.

I don't have any Pokémon with ice or water-type moves. Absol can use Ice Beam, but I left him behind. Not good.

Hurrying over to Flareon anyway, Arley crouched down, though it was hardly necessary. < Okay. Bad news is, we're locked in. You probably heard. Um, good news is that the guy, Dave, thinks he knows a coupla ways to get you guys out of here. We're going to try to rapidly heat and cool the cages to make the metal brittle, but for that we need a Pokémon with a cooling move - water or ice-type, maybe. You're a Fire-type, and I can provide any extra firepower. Think you can help? >

[~/Birdybot\~]

Flareon chuckled softly to himself as Arley crouched down to speak to him. The Riolu 'morph needent have done so, but hey. If the 'morph felt like it, then why not? Flareon bend down a little at his knees, and lowered his head, making him level with the boy. He nodded. Fire power, eh? He could do that. He grinned. "I can easily provide the required flames. I trained myself hard, and learned Ember. Also, your little friend over there should be able to help."[/color] the fire fox ((lol)) nodded in the direction of Beavern, who was shivering, huddled in a corner. She looked up as Flareon spoke about her, padding over nervously.

~W-w-w-what?~[/color] she stammered in a small voice. Flareon smiled warmly at her. "Don't be scared, little one. It's all right, it'll be fine. I need you to use a Water type move while I'm not using Ember. Arley will hopefully help us, making the method even quicker."[/color] Flareon explained, glancing at the trainer. Bearvern gave a slow nod, then without warning sent a strong jet of water at the bars; Water Gun. Flareon then used Ember, and this continued. "Arley! When it's ready, use a sharp slicing attack to cut through the bars!"[/color] Flareon said on one of Beavern's turns.[/size]

[;AL P H A]

Arley nodded, pulling a Pokéball.
< Chikorita! When I give the word, I want you to use Razor Leaf on this Flareon's cage. You got that? >

The pink and red Chikorita was released onto the floor. Ralts peered out of Arley's pocket from where it had been hiding. < Ra rul? >
Arley patted its head. < It's okay. You go back in the pocket for now, alright? >
Chikorita seemed a little surprised at the Flareon inside the cage, but didn't show it other than a brief astonished expression. Tensing her body, she focussed on the bars, waiting for Arley's command.
< Wait for it... wait... now! >

In between turns, Chikorita sent a barrage of pink leaves flying at the bars. They made contact with a satisfying chik-chik-chik sound, but had it been enough to crack the metal?

[~/Birdybot\~]

Flareon leapt back as the Razor Leafs swiped forwards; he didn't want to be hit, after all! The Fire type waited, desperate hope in his eyes as the razor-sharp leaves swept through the air. He barely noticed Chikorita's brief astonished expression. His eyes squeezed shut as he hardly dared to look, and when he opened them again after the resonating sound of knocked metal...

The bars were still there. However, they appeared weak and cracked. The fox like Pokémon experimentally tapped the nearest one. It fell away easily in his paw. He grinned, poking out the other damaged ones until there was enough room for him to slip through. He sighed in relief, stretching his limbs and racing about. Well, he couldn't remember being able to run in this amount of space.

Dave had by now somehow managed to free the Magnemite a dozen other cages. He nodded to Arley. "Man, thanks! I'm nearly done here, could you free the poor Pikachu?" he asked. Flareon looked at Arley, padding over to the sturdy box. The Pikachu were weakly flopping about inside, the stronger ones staring longingly as more and more Pokémon were freed inside. Flareon smiled encouragingly to them, before turning back to Arley. "Dave isn't allowed to catch any Flying types or let his Pokémon know Flying type moves. Do you think this might be a reason?"[/color] he wondered. Maybe a Flying type Pokémon would be able to break open the glass?[/size]

[;AL P H A]

Arley's face was covered with a relieved expression as the Flareon broke out. Finally, they were making progress. Happy waves flickered at the edge of his vision. They were certainly a lot more pleasant than the other emotions he'd been sensing.

Listening to Dave, he nodded at the man's words. "Sure thing. Those poor Pikachu... it's just awful what's being done to them. I'll do all I can to help."
How, though, was an interesting problem. The box seemed sturdy enough, and it wasn't made of metal. Running partway through the walls, there was a hatch at either end to put Pikachu through (and, presumably, to remove dead ones) from outside and inside, but both were locked tight. However, it wasn't metal, so Arley reasoned it couldn't be that strong. Maybe a certain type of attack would do it in...

Ronan's words gave him hope, and he nodded.
< Knew he'd come in useful some day... Murkrow! Over here! >
A thought occured to him, and he drew out another Pokéball from his belt, returning Chikorita. It had been a little while since he'd been on route 1... surely the Pokémon he caught there would be feeling a little better by now?

Releasing the Taillow as Murkrow flew over, muttering darkly, he scooped up the bird, prodding it gently.
< Hey. That's not nice, you know. >
< Good, you can move. > Sweeping his arm around, he gave the swallow a full view of the horror around it. < I want you to help me with this rescue. We think that if you hit this here box with flying-type moves, the Pikachu will be set free. Capiché? >
Taillow nodded, looking vaguely sick. < Yes. Of course. Capiché. Anything to stop all this... I think I'm going to faint. >
< Please wait until after we've freed the Pikachu, kay? > Arley petted the bird gently, trying to ignore as Murkrow jabbed impatiently at his scalp. < Then you can rest back in your Pokéball. >

Setting the bird on the floor, where it staggered slightly, he then attempted to extricate Murkrow from his hair, a difficult task when it came down to it. The crow, although seeming more bothered than usual by the cages, was still being stubborn. Finally the two flying-types were sat on the floor, side by side. Arley pointed at the Pikachu-box.

"Right! Both of you, use Peck on that box!"

Taillow obeyed almost immediately. Fluttering upwards, its beak glowed white as it dove. Murkrow, however, did something rather unexpected.

< Screw Peck... I have something much more potent. >

Rising to the ceiling, Arley looked on in alarm as Murkrow began to glow. Eyes fixed on the box, Murkrow looked hard at it, as if he were searching for a weak spot. One wingbeat, two, and he dove down again, the light intensifying as he attacked. This was... Sky Attack? Arley vaguely recognised the move, but he hadn't realised that Murkrow could use it.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Tailow's Peck attack struck first, for the small bird had began her attack first. The Pikachu, the strongest one who had been staring desperately out, gasped in suspense. Was it possible that Tailow would rescue them? But, alas, no, it seemed; her Peck thudded against the glass. It did, however, make a cracking sound, although no visible cracks were present. Tailow had weakened the glass. Flareon sighed. "Oh, dear. It seems that a much more strong attack is neede- is that a Sky Attack?!"[/color] the fox' eyes widened.

It was true; Murkrow was, as Arley suspected, using a Sky Attack. This time, when the attack landed against the material of the box, it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. A mild electric current transfered from the confinement of the box to the outside world as the circuits were broken, the materials damaged and the Pikachu all free. Beavern was beaming. Dave came over, a huge grin on his face. All the Pokémon were now free, although the Doofkarp blinked stupidly on the floor next to the tanks containing water-bound Pokémon, which were now on a trolley, ready to be released back into Red River. The Pikachu all rushed out to join the other Pokémon, and the strongest one from earlier darted up to sit on Dave's shoulder. The man looked overjoyed; he'd said himself that he'd always wanted a Pikachu. It looked like now he had. Well, one Pikachu was still inside the generator. It was out cold, and clearly didn't have much time left. Arley would have to get it to a Pokémon Center.

Just at that moment, there was a hurried scraping and a click as the lock of the door was turned and it swung open. The Grunt was standing there, looking furious. At once, the Doofkarp began shouting at the top of their voices. It might have been funny had Arley and the others not been afraid of imprisonment or death. ~DOOF! DOOFKARPDOOFKARPDOOFKARP!~[/color] was all that could be heard until the Grunt made to kick one and they quietened down aside from the occasional yelling.

The Grunt snarled, his eyes narrowing. "What?! How dare you! You're a-" ~DOOFKARP~ "-little bunch of slimy piles of-" ~KARP!~ "- And I am gonna beat you up so bad! Fight me, moron trainer!" he spat at Arley, releasing an Ekans. It seemed the Mightyena growling at his heels was just for show.[/size]

[;AL P H A]

Arley gave a nasty grin. His mood had gone from Naustic to Happy to Maliciously Angry, and the thing about being Maliciously Angry was that you needed someone to be maliciously angry at.
"My pleasure." He pointed a finger-toe-thingy. "Murkrow! Use-"
< No. >
< Whut? >
< You heard me. I'm tired of being bossed around. > Murkrow flailed his wings around agitatedly. < It's do this, fight that. And before you ask, no. Sky Attack is my attack. I use it when I please, not on your command. >

Arley licked his lips. Chikorita? ...no, poison-type was super-effective against the grass-type. Chikorita would only end up getting hurt, and he needed to finish this quickly. That Pikachu didn't look like it had long left. Taillow, no, Shinx, no, Ralts, of course not... Absol's Pokéball was too far away to get, he didn't feel happy about asking the wild Beavern for assistance, and fighting it himself was out of the question. His attacks wouldn't be effective at all.

His eyes flickered to the Flareon by his side. If Ronan can use offensive attacks... I mean, he does sorta owe me one, so he can't refuse, and...
< Ronan! > Arley turned. < Sorry to impose this upon you, but any chance you could take this one? I'm all out of options. >

Turning to Murkrow, he sighed. < You do me one thing, and I'll reward you. >
The Murkrow looked suspicious. < First, what's the reward? >
In answer, Arley unhooked the pendant from around his neck, allowing it to catch the light in all its shiny, shiny glory. It used to have had two Pokéball insignias on it, but both Pokémon had been released a long time ago. Now, the design had twisted into something between an elaborate crucifix and a ropy wing. Murkrow's eyes glittered with desire, and Arley handed him the pendant. Murkrow slipped it around his neck, admiring it as it lay against his feathered chest.

< Now. I want you to go get Absol's Pokéball from where we dropped it off, okay? You know where that is. I don't have time to go back there myself. You do that, and you can keep the shiny, glittering pendant. Deal? >
For once, Murkrow's expression was approving. < I like the way you think, Arley. You might not be such a bad sort after all. >

In a flurry, the bird took off. Sadly, much of the interchange between human and Pokémon would have been completely insignificant to the poor grunt standing with his Ekans. In fact it would have been just a lot of 'bla bla bla bla', but Arley didn't care because, as he reminded himself, he was currently Maliciously Angry.


(( Is it okay to ask for Ronan to do this? =D ))

[~/Birdybot\~]

ooc// Erm... I guess so.

ic// The Grunt watched Murkrow flutter away, not understanding a word they'd said. The Mightyena at his side and the Ekans before him seemed to tremble in fear, however. Must've been something very, very bad. The Grunt's eyes flickered to the scientist. "You!" he spat, a vein standing out on his neck, his eyes bulging. "Come on, stupid scientist! You betrayed Team Vex! You let the Pokémon run free! How... how could you?! How dare you?! You... you... butt-brained buffoon! You're fired! You're more than fired!" he screeched, before rounding on Arley. "And you, helping him! I dunno what you just said, boy, but you'll be sorry! Ekans, ATTACK! Get the Flareon!" he screamed.

Ekans lunged forwards, hissing. Flareon whimpered in fear, the Fire type being cornered into a wall. He made a mad dash to escape, but in seconds Ekans had him in a tight Wrap attack, biting him with poisonous fangs without a hope of stopping. Flareon looked close to fainting when Ekans stopped, tightening his grip. The Grunt himself tackled Arley, pinning the boy to the ground. Mightyena snarled, defying all who came near. As for Dave, he was nowhere to be seen. Was it possible that he'd just deserted them? Whatever the case, Murkrow had better get back soon with Ronan, or it might just be the end.

[;AL P H A]

(( Well, that didn't work as expected. XD

Time for Arley to go Incredible Hulk. Seriously, grunt no like him when he angry. ))

Arley almost chuckled. Almost. He'd misinterpreted Ronan's strength (that, or this grunt was waaaaay tough), but the grunt, tackling him? Seriously, was this dude suicidal or something? Obviously, he hadn't realised how Maliciously Angry Arley was at this point in time.

Outline blurring, Arley morphed. It was faster than previous occasions, and the grunt would have been very surprised to find a Riolu looking up at him with a horrible smile. Gathering energy in his palm, Arley struck directly upwards with a Force Palm attack. Hopefully, that would be enough to get the grunt off him. What other moves could he utilise? Think, think, think...

Taillow watched agitatedly from the sidelines. She'd seen how strong Absol was, and if Murkrow was going to get the large quadruped then there'd be no problem, but... Murkrow was fast, but not that fast. Trying to make herself as small as possible, the swallow fixed her eyes on the door.
< Ra ral ruuuur? >

Where Arley's clothes lay in a pile, a tiny body crawled out. Moving surprisingly quickly, the Ralts tottered over to where Taillow was watching the action and slumped down. < Rarley? Rar rar ral Rarley? >
Sympathetically the Taillow moved her wing for the Ralts to crawl under, though unable to decifer the string of meaningless syllables the psychic-type had uttered. < Yes, Arley. >
< Dada. Rarley. >

[~/Birdybot\~]

The Grunt gasped as the boy became a Riolu. What the... how random! He now was facing a Pokémon. The Force Palm smacked him right in the hollow head, and he groaned, instinctively releasing the boy- erm, Pokémon- erm, wait? Was he even a boy? The grunt forgot about his throbbing head for a moment, bursting out laughing. Yes, there was no doubt about it; the Riolu had the shape of a female! "Oh, Arceus! You're a girl!" he howled. Mightyena howled too, although it was slightly more piercing. His tail was wagging.

The grunt shook himself, coming to his senses. "Right! I know boss said not to use his Mightyena, but this is kinda desperate... Mightyena, attack!" he screeched, the wolf lunging furiously at Arley. He looked like he'd been trained to do this sort of stuff, and would a lot harder than the grunt, still chuckling at the fact that Arley was a girl now. A form stood in the doorway... an Absol? A shiny Absol. Arley's shiny Absol, and his Murkrow.

[;AL P H A]

This time, it was Arley's turn to have a vein bulge in his temple.
< H-hey! So what if I'm a girl, huhn? What's it to you, huhn? What do you care, huhn? Huhn? Huhn?! Why, I oughta come over there and... >
The Mightyena lunged at him, and he had to apruptly cut off his sentence. Leaping to the side, the wolf's claws grazed his leg. Stumbling, Arley clasped one paw over it as a thin stream of blood trickled out.

A-ha. Murkrow had been quick. The crow glided over to him, depositing Absol's Pokéball in his lap. Absol still appeared slightly dazed, giving a huge yawn. The dark-type had obviously had a lazy few days in the daycare.
< Whazzis. Oh, what've you got yourself into this time, Arley? >
< It doesn't matter. > Arley pointed at the grunt and his Mightyena. < Attack them, with, with, with... uh... oh, I don't know! Just attack! Now! >
Absol seemed to remember something. < Tehee. Okay, mistress. Tehee. > Opening its mouth lazily, the Absol let loose a glowing beam of blue-white energy. It crackled as it lanced through the air, appearing to be a strange cross between a pillar of ice and a lightning bolt, and it practically emanated coldness. It was aimed vaguely at the grunt and vaguely at the ceiling. Arley recognised the move as Ice Beam. He hadn't practised it much with Absol in the past, but it looked like it would do the job.

(( Absol, to the rescue, nananana na nanana! ))

[~/Birdybot\~]

The Grunt was flung backwards with the force of the Ice Beam, and was flung into the wall of the room. He grabbed a Doofkarp, holding it in front of his face for some sort of protection. The Doofkarp didn't seem to notice, just blinked slowly, in a standing position. Oh, no... this couldn't be good, could it? The Grunt would fail, he'd loose Pokémon, he'd be stripped of all rank, he'd be not allowed to go on any more missions... all because of that dumb Absol. Without thinking, he gave a shout, throwing the Doofkarp at Absol. He quickly grabbed another, which mimiced the last perfectly as he used it for protection again.

The Mightyena and the Ekans gave no indication that they would move any time soon. Even when the Ice Beam struck the cieling, spraying outwards and making the Doofkarp run in frantic circles, they did not move. It seemed nothing would get them to budge.

Then a shape leapt into the midst of everything, a strange electrical energy radiating from it. It shone yellow, massively powerful electrical shock reaching out to the Grunt and the bad Pokémon. When the light faded, the Grunt had returned Ekans and was racing out the door, dragging Mightyena's fainted form along with him.

The form smiled at Arley. The mouse grinned as though greeting a long lost friend. It was a Raichu. Where had it come from? Dave walked through the door, also smiling. A Pokéball was in his hand, an empty Super Potion in the other. "I evolved the Pikachu. I healed him and evolved him, and he really was strong." he grinned. That reminded him... wasn't there that poor, fainted Pikachu still in the generator, ebbing away fast?

[;AL P H A]

Absol watched dully as the Doofkarp's trajectory carred it into its head.
< Oh. Look. A Magikarp. Wait, no, a Bidoof. Wait, no, a Magikarp. Wait, no, I have no idea in the slightest. > He yawned widely again. < I attacked just like you asked, Arley. Can I go back to sleep now? >
< Well, uh. Sure, I guess. > Watching, impressed, as Dave and his new pal Raichu burst into the room, Arley morphed back into his human form, pulling on his clothes. He didn't really want Dave to see him as a girl; the scientist seemed nice enough, but it just would not do to let him make fun of Arley's little problem. Besides, it was kinda nice being a girl, but it was far nicer being a boy. < Return. All of you. >

Three shapes went back into their Poké Balls, and Arley scooped up Ralts from its place on the floor. "Thanks, Dave. You and Raichu were just in the nick of time there."
Ralts sat quite comfortably in his pocket, and Arley cast around. "Right. Do you need my help releasing these guys back into the wild? I wouldn't ask, but... I don't know how much time I can spend helping. That Pikachu there looks like he doesn't have much time left... oh! That reminds me!"

He rushed over to where Ronan had been deposited. The fire-type had been in a bad way when he'd last seen him. "Ronan! Yo, Ronan. You okay, man?"

[~/Birdybot\~]

Ronan blinked, shaking his spiral patterned fur. "Yeah... think so..."[/color] he groaned. Having been touching Ekans when it was shocked, he'd got a nasty dose of electricity as well. His eyes refusing to open fully, he tried to get to his shaking feet- but fell back down again as they buckled underneath him. He growled, then stood powerfully up, the strong Pokémon studied the Riolu 'morph. "Thanks, Arley. Erm, I guess I'll help you release the other Pokémon into the wild."[/color] he said, smiling.

Dave nodded. "You might want to take the fainted Pikachu, too. You should take it to the Pokémon Center in Parchville, they'll take care of it there." he smiled. Raichu nodded too, rounding up all the Pokémon that were to be freed. Beavern lunged forward, too, wanting to be some help. Dave grabbed the trolley. That left Arley with the job of carrying the fainted Pikachu and keeping the other Pokémon in check. Ronan padded along beside him.[/size]