<div class="floatleft">(http://api.ning.com/files/mdHZvw03i*CGtsDN0LtfmUcgwnGEzcn1TYwBd-dIje3UhHDsWx0iVsng64hRwI31SfNV4pQJqB1nofG6HkqXVYVMMEycorew/Drayolagain.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Cedric Oleaster<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Seastorm Ferry<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Katsuo<br/><br/><strong>Current Pokemon:</strong>Gloom (Priscilla), Turtwig<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Since neither of his pokemon had vines or any other means to grab the door, Cedric knew they couldn't take the easy way out, so he nodded and joined Katsuo by the door to find a way to open it. Quickly discovering it was sealed, he undid the lock and grabbed the circular handle, his face tightening with exertion as he put his strength behind twisting it open. Behind the door, from this close range, they could hear very muffled, desperate voices; someone had been trapped inside, or, more appropriately, had been sealed inside.<br/><br/>Then, just as Cedric gave the last twist of the handle and the door gave a loud groan as it was depressurized, a loud sound came like overcharged transformer and light flashed from behind the two trainers. Before they could turn an around, a massive explosion rocked the entire ship, the concussive force blasting them against the iron wall and door as shrapnel just barely missed their bodies and clattered against the wall and ceiling. The lights flickered heavily, plunging the room into blackness for a few seconds, but that was hardly the main concerns as water sprayed into the room from several breach points.<br/><br/>No more than a dozen or two meters away, at the origin of the explosion, a very wiped out and fainted Voltorb rolled around unconsciously, until the red beam from a pokeball shot in from the other side of the deck and captured it. With a flash, the man in the dark clothes was running back for the stairs, as water poured into the room and the completely wrecked engines ceased to function. The sealed door now opened, revealing the ship's engine crew, who now rushed to contain the devastation. "Catch that guy! He took us hostage so he could wreck the ship!" one of the crewmen shouted to the probably quite dazed Cedric and Katsuo, before rushing to try to seal one of the several breaches.<br/><br/>===<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo351/PikaPow3/Other%20Anime/Anime%20Guys/lkch349f.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>? ? ?<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Seastorm Ferry<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Elouise<br/><br/><strong>Current Pokemon:</strong>Chimchar, Tarift, ? ? ?<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Well, it wasn't exactly a victory, but it was a very good sign of one at least. The trainer grinned, knowing that a Koffing's strength in battle was its status effects and shrouds more than its ability to cause direct damage. If Chimchar could keep the ball of gas angry and focused on attacking head-on, there was a good chance he could cause some serious damage for the next part of the battle. Knowing that, he prepared his orders accordingly. "Chimchar, try one more Flame Wheel!" he called, hoping this would hit and cause the Gym Leader some major trouble.<br/><br/>Having rolled out of the Smog again, Chimchar lowered its stance and started to get the ring ready, but before it could throw it, the whole ship quaked, nearly making the monkey (and several onlookers) lose its balance. At the same time, the lights in the battle room flickered heavily before flicking to a low, emergency power setting. "What the hell was that?" the blond trainer wondered allowed, asking the same question as everyone else on the ship at that moment.<br/><br/>===<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Douglasberg Casino<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Elly, Draven<br/><br/><hr/><br/>"Miss Elly!" cried out an excited brunette as the two Gym Leaders walked up to the registration table, seeming pleased to see her boss' flesh-and-blood, despite Elly's reputation as being a bit of a spoiled brat, or at least overly pampered. Who knows, though, maybe she was actually a lot nicer to her subordinate than one might wager, and Lexi's shyness around her stemmed from somewhere else. One could only speculate, at least for the next for seconds. "You're signing up for the competition?! That's awesome! I know you'll show those hotshots from Kanto what a real trainer can do!" she explained, penciling Elly's name into the listings before she could even confirm that she was entering.<br/><br/>===<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Old Douglasberg, Second Layer (Walkways)<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Lexi<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Even for someone who had, up to this point, specialized their training in the dark, walking just a short distance above the ruins of the old city had to be disconcerting, especially with no one else around. It would be difficult to ever get used to be able to see very little, and hearing less. Even the faint sounds of pokemon moving about in the distance (and probably nearby) were drowned out by the sound of her and Zorua's footsteps on the metal walkway, occasionally interrupted to the rumbling and crashing in the distance. A distance that got much, much closer the faster they ran and the farther they got from their safe zone.<br/><br/>They could follow the noise all the way to their destination, taking them just above a large, very wide and sturdy bank building with a stairway leading down to the roof. Strangely, as they got in close the sounds died away completely, filling the surrounding dark with a eerie silence, worse than any she had heard so far. Her own breathing would drown out even her steps on the metal of the stairway and the stone of the roof, which were probably slow and cautious at this point. It was several moments before the void was filled with the crack and crash of stone breaking from the roof, making just enough room for a pokemon to jump out and join Lexi on the roof proper.<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">Wild Encounter</span></strong><br/><br/>(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/1/13/452Drapion.png)<br/><br/>The Poison/Dark type let out a shrill cry at Lexi, but, while it certainly looked to be a strong enough opponent, it probably wasn't the opponent she expected. It was even shorter than her, after all; how could it cause enough devastation to make noise like she heard before? Whatever the case, it was here now, and it was looking to battle, so what other assumptions could she make? It was better to get the first move in now, and save the questions for later.<br/><br/>===<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Old Douglasberg, Second Layer (Walkways<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Hibana<br/><br/><hr/><br/>It would take Hibana several minutes of searching, but she would eventually find that Lexi's decision to have them split up and go different directions (and toward different goals) was for the best. It would be from the walkway that she made this observation, too; not a clear view of the doctor himself, but the soft, blue light of a computer screen emanating from a lower down window was more than enough evidence that the Fighting girl had found her target. After all, who else other than a trapped and/or stubborn doctor would not only stay down here with this ruckus going on, but find time to do some work on the computer?<br/><br/>Now was no time to worry about the doctor's motivations, though. Descending into the doctor's building from a nearby structure with a stairway attached, Hibana would enter a dilapidated, moldy old office complex, probably the sort of thing used by whatever bureaucratic government agency was running the show when this city sank. Descending down the floors would find more and more rooms that were heavily flooded with murky, ages-stagnant swampwater. The worst came when one of these industrial ponds had two sets of yellow top fins poking out. It didn't take Doctor Pierce to know what happened next.<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">Wild Encounter</span></strong><br/><br/>(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/9/98/318Carvanha.png)<br/><br/>Two angry-(or hungry-)looking Carvahna popped up to the surface of the water and made their cries at Hibana, eyeing the tall girl and her pokemon friends like fresh meals. The more impatient of the pair didn't wait; he leapt from the water straight for the Gym Leader, jaws wide open to take in whatever meat he could get.