Dashed Expectations

Vile complied, holding out Jenna's arm for Gloria, while restraining her other one. The Weavile kept looking over at Kiyoshi's room, then at the damage in the Center, not really knowing what happened.

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The Jenny's continued to be useless and block the way.

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Nancy was doing a great job, keeping low and not making any sound at all. She was a ghost, completely invisible to the two people she was stalking. This was incredibly important, because that girl looked like a mean !#%$, and Nancy wanted nothing to do with that. She considered doubling back and using one of her pokemon to trail the two because she thought Roger might have seen her, and Roger already knows who she is, but he seemed like a sucker, so he probably didn't see anyth-

And then her phone rang. The lyrics to Dancing Queen, Edwin's ringtone echoed over the mountain that was crumbling behind them, and Nancy froze in place, watching both people in front of her pause.

She slowly grabbed her phone, staring at the two. Through clenched teeth, she hissed, "I will call you right back," and then snapped her phone closed.

'!#%$.'

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Elby seemed slightly confused by the story. "Weird, I've never heard of the Kyurem before..." he mused aloud, "And Unova..."

Snapping himself out of it, Elby brought his attention back to the purple-haired duo. "Well, our best be would maybe be finding this Faucon guy, but I imagine even if he is still alive, he's probably not exactly out in the open, or else we'd hear more about him. Maybe we can find someone who does know about him, though?" he went on, offering up ideas.



As Hundin heard the excellent musical choice of a ringtone, she looked over her shoulder, reached a hand into her jacket, and starting back up ever-so-slowly, getting nearer and nearer to the general vicinity she heard the song coming from, not spouting a single word.

Kiyoshi awoke after a long rest. He was unaware of what happened to the center, since he stayed in the safety of his own room. He yawned and stretched his arms out. "Ah, I'm feeling better now. Let's hope today will be better than yesterday."

After brushing his teeth, he put his hoodie, shoes, and backpack back on and went outside to the main lobby.....

"...Yeah, this is gonna be a good day." Kiyoshi said sarcastically.

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Roger too heard the interesting ringtone, and though questioning it, he was more confused by the way Hundin acted. Not really questioning her at this point, he followed, his Gurdurr, Scizor and Growlithe in tow.

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"See, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. When the chips are down, these civilized people, they'll eat each other. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

"I heard... Whispers of Kyurem on my journey back in the time I'm from. I doubt he's a threat, I've never heard of him doing anything." Shades told Elby. "Though, I haven't heard this story either. I never had the time to go about asking these sort of things. As for Faucon, I guess you're right. Must be in hinding."

"Or he may not be alive. The old man who told me the story said it was a really long time ago." Raxy chimed in. "Anyway, how exactly do you propose we find out about him?"

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The call went by faster than Edwin could realize it had ended. He spent approximately five minutes just talking to nobody before he stopped and said, "Oh." The two dark horses then continued to walk out of town while Edwin waited for the call. Maybe they talked about things or something.

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Hundin tried her best to motion for Roger to stay silent and still, but otherwise just kept slowly backing up as she began to draw out whatever it was in her jacket with her other hand.

As she neared where she heard the ringtone, Hundin quickly pulled the item in question out--a military-looking knife--and readied it as she turned towards Nancy's general location, ready to grab on to whoever she found if need be.



"Hm... nothing comes to mind, and I don't recall ever seeing anything about it in Ruki's library. Maybe we could try Foretag. It's the capital, so I'd hope it's useful for something." Elby replied after a moment of thought.



Yep, Father Jazz talked about many things with Edwin, clearly! It sure was great and interesting, let me tell you. Well, actually, don't, because I'm not going to. Deal with it.

"Let's go~" Raxy cheered. And thus they went.

Left that damn town behind.

Never looking back.

No more libraries, months of training, crazy !#%$, or elderly story tellers for them.

They pass the border of the town. They're long gone. There is no turning back now.

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Not far down the road leading out Sunset off in a prickly bush away from sight, there sat Garn. He starred down the road leading into city, waiting, waiting, yawning, and then waiting some more. After almost nodding off, he was awoken by a shrill "CraAaw" as a small Murkrow perched on top of his head.

"So they're coming then, yah?" He asked the black bird. It let out a gesture that some people could interpret as nodding. "Excellentay." He recalled his Murkrow and crouched deeper into the bush, ignoring the feeling that something just crawled up his arm oh god. After trying his best to keep his mind off the small legs that have now moved onto his back, he finally caught sight of Elby and Pals. Aright, now is the time, the moment! I'll show the world how you join a Death Cult.

Garn leaped from his bush, covered in gnats and twigs and kneeled in the middle of road. He then pulled out a knife, a skinning knife to be exact, and held it to his wrist. He lowered his head, and waited.

The Spinarak that had been crawling around on his back moved to the top of his head and made itself comfortable.

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The group continued walking down the path only to see the strange man kneeling in the road. Shades whispered to everyone else, "Maybe if we ignore it and keep walking it won't bother us."

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Elby wanted to take Shades' advice, he did. On the other hand, though, he had a bad feeling about turning his back on a dude holding a knife. Far more pressing than that, though, was the Spinarak that rested atop the man's head. As Elby's eyes met the bug's, he couldn't look away; he could not even summon up the will to so much as move. He just felt so... unnerved.

And thus, Elby had a fierce staring contest with the Spinarak.

Nancy just sat there, looking up at Hundin. She brushed her hand away, frowning at her, while holding the phone up against her head.

"No mom, you scared the pidgey away. Yes, mom, of course I will," she said, completely ignoring Hundin while looking at a spot where a pretend pidgey could have been. "Yes mom, I promise. Look, I have to go, there happens to be a VERY angry trainer here looking at me. Yes, I will. Bye mom." With that, she hung up and looked up at Hundin.

"Can I help you? I'm trying to track Pidgeys over here!"

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Hundin raised an eyebrow, slowly putting the knife away as she stared at Nancy. "There was a rather violent cave-in nearby." she finally said, squinting her eyes a bit, "I imagine that will have scared off any birdies in the area."

Garn, sensing the presence of the group, raised his head to look at Elby. He was met with the Man's cold yet fiery stare. Garn's heart sank. The stare of death, he thought. I must act, before he steals my soul through my eyes!

"Oh Mighty Slender One!" Garn praised as he rose to he feet, knife still held against his wrist. "Devourer of the White Flame! I, lowly peasant, have travelled from across the seas to meet you!" The hand holding the knife began quivering a bit. "I wish to draw blood, my blood, your blood, your enemy's blood, in you name! Glorious...." Garn suddenly lost all sense of focus. His body loosened up as he scratched his chin with the hilt of the skinning knife.

"...What's yah name again?" he asked Elby. The Spinarak continued to sit there, twiddling it's mandibles together.

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Elby's eyes looked to the knife. Then the man. Then the Spinarak. Then the knife again. Spinarak. Knife. Man. Knife. Spinarak. The darting of his eyes might of been something to behold, if not for the fact that his eyes were black, pupilless voids, so it probably mostly just looked like he was blankly staring forward.

Wait. Did that guy mention drawing blood?

In an instant, a thousand thoughts raced through Elby's head, "Oh god, not the blood, and the knife, with the fangs, in the face..." being among them. After a few moments, his brain had apparently finally decided on an action, as his arm was suddenly slung over his head, as if to call down some sort of divine wrath, and then quickly and forcefully came down, directly on to Garn's head--or, more specifically, swatting the poor Spinarak.

Nancy shrugged, turning back to the spot. "Probably, but there was just one sitting here. Did you happen to see which way it went off?" She finished that sentence, putting as much hope as she could into that last line.

"I mean...look. I'm not that great of a trainer. I just want to catch a !#%$ pidgey. But every time, its always something. This time, it was my phone. I can't ever catch a break..."

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And in a instant the spinarak was banished to the nether reaches of the road, where it will forever wallow in it's untold sins. Or run back into the underbrush. Garn meanwhile, was full of excitement as he felt the air rush over his head. He's christening me! He sheathed his knife and bowed before The Flame Snufferouter.

"You honor me, Great and Powerful..." He pulled a piece of paper from his sleave. He had this great name he'd heard the other day to call this shmuck.

"Thunder Prophet!" brilliant.

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Abel shook his head. "I know not why you would call such a creature as this a prophet, but if you must know," He pointed at the strange middle of the road acolyte man. "his name is Emcee!"

Hundin frowned, seeming somehow unhappy with Nancy's response as she reached into her jacket once more. "Tell you what, take a little present from me then--and take it well, as you'll want to learn to be just like it, to be quick." she simply said, yanking her hand out of her jacket to throw a Quick Ball directly at Nancy's face.



Elby looked down to Garn, blinking idly in a confused state, being pretty unsure on what all just happened as his senses slowly came back. "Thunder Prophet...?" he mumbled to himself. "He couldn't know, could he...? Nah, that's ridiculous, must just be a fancy Elite Four thing he came up with." Elby mentally decided, instead choosing to stand proudly and accept the title. "Yeah, Thunder Prophet Emc-- Elby! I like it." he said confidently, although quickly shrunk back down, "But, um, yeah, did you want an autograph or something? We're kind of on our way to Foretag for some important nonsense."

MEANWHILE as Hundin approached Nancy and had a riveting conversation with her...

Roger recalled his Pokemon, and was approached by a slightly older man, who he raised an eyebrow to before recongizing him. "David? What are you doing here?" Roger asked.

"Your Dad told me you'd be here, since you needed these." David said, giving Roger a PDA and an HM. Roger looked at the items briefly before putting them in his bag. "The PDA's a move tutor so you can teach your Pokemon some non-TM moves. The HM is Fly, which is given to people who beat the Maripatchu Gym. Don't know why, but you didn't have it." He continued, before patting a confused Roger's shoulder. "You've grown since I last saw you! How long, six, seven ye-"

"...I didn't beat the leader there." Roger flatly said, looking toward the ground. "I got beaten. Pretty badly."

"What? You...lost?" Roger nodded before looking up. "Huh, Richie told me you beat the guy there. No idea how he misheard you. But, don't be so down. You can't win everything, and you can probably still beat the leader there." David said, in a more upbeat tone. "Also, don't think about giving the stuff back. You still have three badges so technically, you do deserve it."

"Wow you are a mind reader." Roger said, chuckling at this as David joined in. "It's nice to see you as well. Do you..." Roger briefly stopped, twiddling his fingers as he continued. "know anything about what's going on with Dad?" David shrugged, which surprised Roger.

"I have no idea honestly. He keeps us in the dark about this. I thought that ordeal before he left was why, but I've got nothing. I think he is almost done with...whatever is still going on with him." David said, calling out a Spearow. "I need to go, so I'll see you some other time." He got on the Spearow, crossing his arms as the tiny bird somehow flew in place with the full grown man standing on it. Also said tiny bird seemed to have no problem with carrying David in the slightest.

Roger just stared as this happened, before hastily speaking. "Wait, if you had to guess why Dad hasn't come back home yet, what would it be?"

"I really can't begin to guess. Probably something to do with Sarah, but that's because I know they haven't really spoken. I can safely say you're not the reason, so don't blame yourself." And with that, David flew off on his tiny Spearow that somehow showed no problem lifting him.

"Maybe I really should call Mom sometime. I need something to work with" Roger said, before looking again at David. "I still don't get how that works, but I guess I should check on Hundin." He made his way toward Hundin and Nancy.

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"See, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. When the chips are down, these civilized people, they'll eat each other. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

Nancy's hand instinctively went for the ball, and she caught it easily. Then she realized that was not the right thing to do. But it was too late. Then she heard Roger's footsteps, and knew she had to come up with something, fast.

That's when she had her most cunning plan yet. She put her head in her hands and faked crying. "Boo hoo. Booo hoo. You figured me out miss." She reached into her bag and grabbed a white wig, calmly putting it on before Roger saw her. She then put glasses on. "Recognize me now? I'm Yoikui Desu, famous pokemon Cosplayer!" She stood up, adjusting her wig and wiping her face. "I just got over a bout of illness, and I had to shave my hair. Don't tell anyone, but I have to wear this stupid wig until my hair grows back. I'm just getting back into contests, but I need new ideas for outfits. I thought of doing a series of common pokemon, but I can't seem to get a pidgey to hold still long enough to capture it." She sighed looking depressed. "I used to be a 5 star trainer, one of the best. But, after getting sick, my skills have dulled. I don't even have my pokemon with me anymore, I have to travel to Locanov to contact my personal trainer."

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"So you're basically a famous Pokemaniac then? Who is your personal trainer though?" said Roger. He scratched his chin as he looked at Nancy Yoikui; something about her intrigued Roger. (Maybe she is actually famous. I think I've seen her somewhere, maybe.) Then he pointed his thumb to Hundin before speaking again to. "Has Hundin been harassing you?"

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"See, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. When the chips are down, these civilized people, they'll eat each other. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

Yoikui made a face at Roger's use of the word Pokemaniac. "I am a pokemon connoisseur! I have reinvented the contest many times over! As for my trainer, that is none of your concern. He prefers to stay behind the spotlight." She looked at Hundin, and then back at Roger.

"Why are you two so interested in a trainer watching some birds, hm? Are you trying to steal my patented training methods? Or my costume ideas?" She crossed her arms, looking hurt suddenly. "I don't know what to think about this, other than being quite upset by it!"

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Roger slightly grinned and chuckled at Yoikui. "Whoa calm down. I didn't know what you were doing, I just saw Hundin heading here and followed her."

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"See, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. When the chips are down, these civilized people, they'll eat each other. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

As Hundin glared at Yoikui, she squinted one eye, and raised the eyebrow of the other, being unable to decide on one expression. "Those who aren't hostile on the battlefield are the most frightening." Hundin simply answered. Finally deciding to relent, though, she shrugged, letting out a small sigh as she turned away, albeit keeping Yoikui in her peripheral vision. "Well, whatever, this little tike has way too many distractions on this field trip as it is. You have fun... chasing birds." she calmly said, slowly beginning to walk away.

Yoikui waved at Hundin as she walked away, then watched the sky as another bird pokemon flew away from the crumbling mountain. "I suppose I should move to get away from the noise. Hm." She scanned the area, and then walked off the path into a deep brush, away from the two.

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