I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Top! I love the way this is going St. Owl.

I'm so sorry for not updating earlier, guys! There's this evil thing called homework that threw itself into my path.

Part IX

It is time, finally, to take a look inside our mysterious stranger's head.

As our heroines will soon learn, his name (or what he claims as such) is Artemus. He is in his thirties. He does not wear the uniform of the Team Lunar grunts, but rather a darker suit, accompanied by a silver tie. At the moment, he is running towards his Gyrados, plowing through anything that may stand in his way.

The story will now proceed.

Artemus cleared the last piece of rubble and approached his Gyrados carefully. When nervous or feeling threatened, the Pokemon would sometimes grow agressive, and attack without thinking. But it merely glanced at its trainer, no trace of anger in its eyes, and bent down to nuzzle him. Artemus rubbed his Gyrados in its favorite spot, right between its fins, and told it: "The girls are in trouble. Will you help them clear out the grunts?"

It roared affirmation and started towards the pack of battlers, where, Artemus noticed, the Vaporeon was present.

That Vaporeon . . . well, they'd never met, but it certainly had his respect.

Gyrados plowed its way into the fray and swung its tail around, sweeping the grunts off their feet. With a few snapping jaws, it cleared the Pokemon. By that time, Artemus had caught up, and returned Gyrados to its Pokeball before returning to the children.

"Listen," he said, "there's no time for questions. I've just saved your life, and I need a favor. Get into my car and we'll talk it over."
The six looked at each other. Never, no matter what they've done for you, get into a stranger's car. Simple logic. Never.

"Okay, fair enough," Artemus continued. "Firstly, we'll need your friend in the ambulance. Secondly, I'll tell you why, quickly . . . you've been chosen, in a way, for a certain mission. This mission is of the utmost importance. The thing I'm going to tell you about could save the world."

It took a bit more weedling, but finally most of the girls were convinced, and the others succumbed to peer pressure. The six, plus Claire (who was brought on a stretcher and lain in the back of the car, in the fourth row of seats) got into his van under the conditions that all the doors were unlocked and the windows open. Artemus wasn't in a position to refuse: St.Owl's Vaporeon nagged at the back of his mind.

Once they were all comfortably inside, Artemus explained in more detail what they were planning to do.

"You," he said, "are going to break into a bank."

There was silence for a moment, then a uproar of protests. Mouse tried to open the door.

"I'm sorry," Artemus continued. "That was blunt. This bank is run by Team Solar and Team Lunar, and they're always at odds. However, both groups have noticed that there's a third party creeping their way through. Each of the triplets are up to no good-- you need to find a way to get into each one of their bases, destroy them, and expose the bank."

"That's complicated and vague," Claire pointed out from the back of the van, raising her head a bit.
"How do we know you're not just a con man?"

Artemus shrugged. "You don't," he replied. "All I can tell you is that I promise you will be protected at all costs. I only want the best for you."
"And who are you to decide?" Danie demanded.

Artemus raised his eyebrows. "I know your future."

_____ 

Oooooh! What a cliffhanger! Ehehehe.

I actually have cut this a bit shorter than I was planning. This was supposed to be a pretty long-winded solo write, but I decided that I'd never finish it if it was. The bank scenes were the only ones I had clear in my head besides the end, so that's what I'm going with.

Sorry for the short post, by the way! I wanted to write something to let you guys know I'm here with you, and to move the plot along. But tomorrow's Friday, and the next day's Saturday, which means endless time to write, write, write!

Part X!

An outbreak of questions had, of course, pummeled Artemus once he threw out his fateful statement, but he refused to answer any of them, even when Elena tried for a joke and asked if she would eat an enchilada soon. Instead, he allowed the car to become silent, and speech only started up again when the van pulled up in front of the bank.

At first, no one could believe their eyes. This place couldn't have possibly been a bank-- and surely it wasn't in New York City, of all places! It was too beautiful, too extravegant, too out of place. It was at least seven stories high, and wide, and probably made out of pure gold. There were pillars running up it and patterns carved into the metal; they weren't sure where it should have come from, but certainly not here.

Artemus paid no attention to the splendour. "Looks like a Team Solar base, doesn't it?" he asked. "I'm surprised the Lunars even came close. Then again, it's impossible to get into their thick heads sometimes."

The seven were awoken from their reverie and followed him inside the building as he unlocked the large double doors with a golden key.

The entrance hall was magnificent. A gigantic glass chandelier looked too heavy for the cieling, which was painted with a beautiful mural. On the left side of the chamber was a bunch of computers, ATMs and PCs mostly; on the other were people and Pokemon, waiting for someone to come up and ask them for help. There was an abundance of Sabeleye and Klefki, St.Owl noticed.

Artemus marched by with a purpose. He certainly wasn't drawing much attention, dressed smartly, looking as if he belonged; but Claire could barely hobble, many of the girls were injured in some way from their battles, and none were dressed properly for a place as formal as this. Therefore, the ragtag team attracted some eyes, but seeing that they were with Artemus stopped any confrontations. Evidently, he had power.

He pulled out another key once they reached the end of the hall and unlocked a much smaller door with it; he had to duck to get through, although, considering he towered over the seven, they were able to enter without much trouble. 

The room they entered was much different from the hall they'd just left. It was claustrophobic and dark, a tunnel of sorts.

"What are we doing down here?" Danie demanded.

"The bank is a strange sort of place," replied Artemus, starting to move downwards. "These tunnels are generally for the Sableye. The bank is famous for its top-notch security because the Pokemon are so protective of the accounts and the gold in them; but this tunnel isn't guarded, because no one but the Pokemon can fit. Or so they thought," he added, sticking his foot into midair. "Team Lunar and Team Solar-- separately, of course-- made the tunnels larger. Most of the guardian Sabeleye and the occasional Klefki have been secured, so there's pretty much a free reign in the actual vaults. Luckily, they're not taking the bank for the money."

"Why do I feel like there's something you're not telling us?" Elena called.

"Maybe because I wasn't finished speaking? Once we get out of this tunnel, you'll find floors and floors of different things. The bank isn't only a bank-- that's just a facade. In fact, it's known for surrendering its lower levels to any baddies that are strong enough to get down there. They're almost constantly a war zone, which is what they'll be like right now-- not only are Team Lunar and Team Solar battling for possession, but the unknown third party is, too. When you're down there, you'll find things you'd never expect to see in a bank. I've heard there's a volcano room somewhere, even, although I'm not sure; I left others to all the exploring."

Finally, he kicked the tunnel long enough so light illuminated it, and the eight climbed out.

"So here's the deal," Artemus said, brushing himself off and turning around. "We need to split up into three groups. One to go after Team Solar, one to go after Team Lunar, and one to go after the unknown party."

"Does Team Solar have certain types that they use, like Team Lunar?" asked Danie.

"Yes," replied Artemus. "Team Solar uses Grass and Fairy types."

"Hey, cool! Blaziken should trash them! I'm going with Team Solar."

"Unknown party," said St., doing quick comparisons in her head.

"Team Lunar," Jenny said instantly.

"Unknown party, I think," said Elena, grinning at St.Owl.

"Team Lunar," Claire decided.

"I guess I'll go with the unknown party," Abigail said hesitantly.

"That leaves me with Team Solar," said Hazel.

"Great," said Artemus. "Meanwhile, I need to do . . . something else. You'll find out eventually. It'll help, I promise.

"Okay. Unknown Party people, you're just going to have to wander. If you see anyone not in silver or gold, confront them. Team Lunar, you're going to have to go to the left. Their territory is past that door. Team Solar's to the right, the other door."

They all nodded, although some looked upset that Artemus was abandoning them. "Good luck, girls; see you on the other side."
They dispersed.

____

Ta-da!

Okay, so, unfortunately a lot of you won't be catching all the Pokemon you wanted, so I'm sorry about that. But you will get to be awesome superheroines!

I apologize for all the filler, but it was important filler, right? And it leads up to very exciting things in part XI.

New post up by . . . Wednesday!

top!!!!!

Part XI

Artemus strolled out of the bulding, acting as though he'd merely taken out a bit of cash from his account. He surely looked the part; even that battle with the unexpected Carbink hadn't left any dirt on his clothes.

"This better be worth it," he remarked, bending over into the open window of the limousine that had been waiting for him.

"Don't worry," said the figure inside. "Omny is with them."

Artemus grimaced. "That's what I was worried about."

He opened the door and stepped inside the limo. Silently, it drove away.

~~~

Abigail stared straight up.

"Looks like a dead end," remarked St.Owl unneccesarily, following Abi's eyes. As they met what the latter had been looking at, she breathed an "oh" and continued, "How are we going to get up there?"

The dead end, or so it seemed, had one of the Sabeleye tunnels at the very top right. Unfortunately, the wall was completely smooth, and impossible to climb.

"My Rowlet can't carry us all the way up there," Abigail groaned. "It couldn't even take us halfway."

"Espurr could use Psychic," St.Owl offered. "But it wouldn't be able to get entirely up there either."

Espurr fluffed up in indignation but, after a sharp tap on the nose, acknowledged it. 

"Then Rowlet can fly us as far as it can," said Elena, "and Espurr will take over once it can't."
They followed that strategy and eventually, after a lot of struggle, made it to the top, where they struggled through the cramped tunnel and into the open air.

"Are you serious?" St.Owl groaned.

A man in the middle of a gigantic pool sat on an island, arms and legs crossed. They couldn't see what he was wearing, but by the lack of scarf and bandana, they decided he was one of the unknown party.

"Well?" he said. "Come out here and get me."
~~~

Danie opened the right-hand door and peeked inside. She withdrew her head quickly as light struck her eyes almost painfully, and looked again, a little slower.

The room was wide and bright. A few Team Solar grunts milled around, the light reflecting off their gold uniforms, which didn't help matters. Obviously, they had settled in.

The two girls made their way inside, not bothering to hide-- the light made it impossible to do anything but stand out. Almost immediately, someone shouted "Hey!" and it soon became a chase, the girls throwing open doors and sprinting from room to room, more and more grunts accumulating on their heels. At that point they really had no idea what they were doing besides not getting murdered by the maniacs following them. Both knew they'd have to stand and fight at some point, and dreaded it.

Finally, the grunts overtook them, and the two were surrounded.

~~~

Jenny was worried about her teammate.

Claire was, of course, adamant: she was fine, she could battle, just hurry up and get me in there. But she definitely was not fine. An hour of rest did not cure a concussion; walking around on bruised bones did not help heal them. Claire was leaning very heavily on Jenny, and they were basically shuffling down the hall. If there was a long way to go before they hit the Team Lunar "boss," they were never going to get there. They would have to fight every grunt they met, because they couldn't run.

Claire had a solution.

"We knock out two grunts," she said. Once she was comfortable around Jenny (especially since without her, Claire would be dead meat), she spoke a lot more. "We have strong enough Pokemon. Once they're unconscious, we take their uniforms and blend in. That way, we won't have to do any battling, and I'm sure grunts get hurt all the time, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"What about our Pokemon?" None of them were a ghost or Dark type and would stand out like a sore thumb.

"Keep them in their Pokeballs."
They entered the room. It was dimly lit by silvery lights, giving the whole place an eerie glow. There were exactly two people in the room, conveniently, and the type advantages that Claire and Jenny had made short work of their Pokemon. A Vine Whip from Ivysaur knocked the grunts out, and soon Jenny and Claire were glimmering just as nicely as the room.

The two limped into the next room. They got a few looks, but mostly they were worried ones, and they went from room to room without trouble. 

Finally, they found a locked door, although it was strangely unguarded.

"This is the place," said Jenny firmly, and released Ivysaur to break the lock.

~~~

"I can handle this," said Elena calmly, pulling out a Pokeball. She tossed it into the water, and out came a beaver-ish creature, blue and a bit pudgy, who flipped in its environment a few times happily and chirped an "Osha!" to the girls on the shore.

"Okay, Oshy," said Elena, getting on her hands and knees. "See that man over there? Bring him over here."
The Oshawott saluted and swam off.

"Hold on a minute," said St. "Aren't Oshawott supposed to swim on their backs? This one's on its belly."

"I don't know," replied Elena. "I thought that, too, but then I caught Oshy. He's a recent addition to my team, so maybe that happens when they get trained . . . ?"

When Oshy was a few feet away from the island, the man there looking on amused, Elena shouted, "Use Ariel Ace!"
The man's expression turned from humored to surprised as the Ariel Ace was used on his back and he was thrust into the water. Oshy happily towed the man back to shore and deposited him in front of the girls.

"Well!" Elena grinned. "Not so cocky now, are we?"

~~~

"All right, Blaziken," Danie said, chucking the Pokeball onto the ground. Her Pokemon's name still sounded strange in her mouth, the absence of Combusken hammering on her tongue.

"Growlithe!" said Hazel, sending the Pokemon out.

The grunts suddenly started laughing, collectively.

" . . . What is it?" asked Danie.

"Did you really think we were going to fight you?" asked one. "That's ridiculous. You've got a Blaziken. Way too big of an advantage for us."
"What, so you're just . . . giving up?"
"Oh, no, not really," replied another. "I mean, if you want I'd battle you, but what's the point?"

"You're very different from the grunts we met at the Pokemon Center," remarked Mouse.

"Oh, them," sighed a third. "They're the elite. I'm surprised you met them. I didn't think you were that important."

"Well then," Danie demanded, "what happens now?"
They looked at each other and laughed again. "We escort you to the boss, of course!"
Suddenly the two, plus Pokemon, were being carried along by the masses and deposited in front of a locked door.

"Blaziken, Blaze Kick," ordered Danie.

The door swung open . . . 

____

Well, here I am telling myself everyone will get awesome battles with the grunts here, and look what happens. Don't worry, you'll get your battling in.

Riddler, would you like Oshy to evolve? It would be fitting. (by the way, I'm not implying that you nickname all your Pokemon. I'm thinking that Oshy pretty much forced you to give it a pet name.)

Next post by Saturday!

TOPTOPTOPTOPTOPTOPTOPTOPTOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!