Re: Pioneers

[Felix Leonis]

While she put her terrified stunky away and made Gael appear, it was evident that even the shellos seemed to feel uncomfortable. It was as if Gael could sense the same thing that Sakina had sensed. There was more to that fire in the distance than any of them could imagine. In the meantime Laura did what Alice asked, making sure that her shellder was ready to help Gael in any way possible to douse the flames when they'd reach the spot.

When they were finally at the place where the fire was burning, there was oddly not a single person around. Despite that though, Laura quickly made her shellder try and douse the flames with its watergun, but even with the help of Gael it would take quite some time before the fires would actually be subdued.

"Hey isn't that a chalet over there," Laura exclaimed loudly, trying to make sure Alice could hear her over the crackling sound of the fire. She pointed at a vague image that was visible through the flames, the probable place from which the fire had originated. Still, Laura found it strange that not a single person was here. Perhaps they were the first ones to arrive, but how did a fire like that start without people around? "Alice, do you see anyone?"

[Alice Hope]

Alice stayed well back out of her own fear, looking ready to flee at a moment's notice if things got beyond their control. She was doubting her choices at this point, wishing that everything was a dream of madness and wondering why she recklessly chose to endanger herself. She was a radio hostess, a small-time celebrity, not a firefighting Pokemon master. Gael was huffing and puffing by the time their combined efforts bore fruit, the strength of mud and water pulse barely enough to calm the flames. Alice was afraid that everything would whip up again.

"I don't see anyone, no!" She called back over the madness before them. It seemed like all Pokemon had fled, too, which was unsurprising but unhelpful. If they had been able to prompt the wild creatures to help save their homes, it might have been a lot easier. "You're doing great, Gael, keep it up!" Alice said as the duo finished off their work, reducing the towers of force to crackles of ember here and there and layers of ashes. Alice cautiously began forward towards the chalet, the wood it was made from now charred, parts of it falling away. "Hello? Is anyone around?!"

[Felix Leonis]

It took quite some effort from the pokémon and time as well before the flames were doused to such an extend that there were only a few smoldering patches of charcoal were left in a place which used to be a rather extensive forest. It seemed that there was indeed no soul around and nothing to see anywhere, but when Alice entered the smoldering ruins of what used to be a cosy little wooden chalet close to the beauty of nature, the silence was almost unbearable.

Gael seemed to tense ever so slightly when passing through the hole which probably used to be the entrance of the small building. The interior of the building was not better off compared to the outside, in fact it was more or less obvious that the fire had originated from inside the building and had probably spread because of the surrounding trees' lowhanging branches.

Scattered across the chalet's floor were the remains of the roof, crumbled bookshelves, something which had probably been a sofa at some point and a whole lot of unidentifiable stuff. Alice could hear Laura gasping when the other girl and her shellder entered the place as well.

"It doesn't seem like someone was in here when it burned," She sighed somewhat relieved that the two of them did not have to stumble upon something their stomachs probably could not handle not so long after just having hitched a boatride. "I wonder how or why this place was at the center of that fire...it seems so...coincidental don't you think?"

In the meantime, Gael and shellder were exploring the place a bit, sniffing around and making faces that did not betray their disgust for the smokey smell that was so thick in the air, making it rather hard to breathe. Until suddenly both pokémon let out a cry in surprise. While dredging through some stuff, it seemed that Gael had found a half-burned briefcase which seemed to be rather costly. It seemed rather familiar...though remembering where any of them would have seen it was nearly impossible.

"Look Alice, check this out," Laura exclaimed while investigating the pokemons' cry, noticing the briefcase they had found. She tried to pry it open, but to no avail. "Looks kinda expensive...what would it be doing here?"

[Alice Hope]

The stench from the aftermath was indeed heavy, and it made Alice cough into her arm here and there. She should have bought an airy accessory scarf, if only to wrap it around her mouth and nose after the fire was found. All of this made her feel sad, but although there was nothing worth salvaging, Alice could at least take pride in saving someone's home.

She jumped when Laura and the others prompted her, whirring around to go and look. "I have no idea, doesn't seem like something the Golden people would have if I'm right about them..." Alice murmured. She, too, tried to pry the suitcase open, but if Laura had no hope then she wouldn't. "Can any of you Pokemon manage it? ... Maybe it belonged to a visitor to the island or something? Like a tourist or aid supplier or trainer or something? Should we take it or leave it?" Alice felt a sense of deja vu, but had no idea what had prompted it.

[Felix Leonis]

Seemed neither of the girls could manage to pry it open and though Alice's question if any of the pokemon could open it was not a bad one, Laura's shellder wasn't exactly a pokemon keen on breaking open something which is "clamped" shut. Luckily Alice's Gael seemed to be far more compliant, as it had found a piece of wood which could easily act as a wedge, that combined with laura's usual physical fitness would not have disappointed any of them.

"Alright, let's open this thing and hopefully it could give us any clues to who it belonged," Laura smiled, puffing up her chest and swinging her arm around like she was a circus' strongman, before nudging the wedge into the casing and smashing it on the floor. "Ooooh!!"

Just as she smashed the briefcase on the floor, a metallic sound made it obvious that the wedge had managed to do its job and break the lock open. Alas there didn't seem to be anything of value in the briefcase, except a lot of papers neatly put into various maps.

if you decide to check the maps:

[Alice Hope]

Alice clapped and cheered as the combined powers of Gael and Laura managed to unlock the briefcase. She gave her water-type a careful cuddle, and then with squinted eyes, did her best to read what was on the papers. "I can't decipher maps for shit, by the way." She warned, "Although this one has Golden on it." Alice handed that one off to Laura. She couldn't really understand what the references were, although they all reminded her of something, "Oak... Professor Oak? Silph Corporation is in Saffron... H.G-- in my world, those were game initials. Heartgold? I'm just guessing, though. Those are what these words mean to me. I don't know anything else."

[Felix Leonis]

"You know...sometimes you sort of amaze me," Laura laughed, when Alice was starting to mention all of the stuff she managed to get from the names on the maps. "Though on other times, I suppose you could use some schooling."

The girl looked at the maps as well, most of them were clear indeed. It seemed they all contained information on people, businesses or places. The fact that one of them had the name Golden on it made Laura curious though. It was a bit too coincidental that something would happen on the island and they'd find a map with "Golden" written on it.

She carefully opened it and started reading in silence, her eyes darting from one end of the papers to the other end as she was sifting through them. Sometimes Laura would mutter a few things while reading, just loud enough for Alice to pick it up. "Meeting Titus at 8:30...discovery Oak...deal with Silph...Thanos at Golden...H.G. must not know..."

With a puzzled look, Laura stopped reading and placed the map on the ground. "I don't have a clue what this entire thing's about. Seems someone had some discovery and they were having a deal here. So this chalet's probably owned by the same person who owned this briefcase...should we go look for that person?"

[Alice Hope]

"Thanos? We definitely need to assemble the Guardians of the Galaxy." Alice was unable to help herself, even if the reference would likely fall on dumbfounded minds. "I don't know. It all sounds shifty as fuck, to be honest. I mean, someone dropped or ditched a locked expensive briefcase in a burning chalet and noone's around." The trainer pointed out, but stood up regardless. She stretched, Gael still in one arm. He was going to dry out in this humidity if they weren't too careful. "Not that Silph or Oak are bad names to be associated with, and we've got nothing better to do... So we may as well, right?"

[Felix Leonis]

"Yay...time for detective work," Laura giggled with excitement, grabbing the briedcase and keeping it to her side. She looked down at shellder and noticed it was showing a rather jealous attitude towards the case she was holding. So she grabbed the small clamp pokémon and carried it with her other arm, in the end actually looking rather ridiculous with the pokémon in one and the briefcase in the other arm.

For a second she seemed to stop though, looking at Alice and giving a smile. "You know...we should go to the village...I can honestly say you'll be surprised by what you'll see."

Keeping quiet afterwards, though letting out the occasional giggle and chuckle, Laura made sure to guide Alice from the burned chalet's location to the single village which Golden Island boasted to have: the village of the meowth worshipping people. It was because of how these people dressed themselves that Laura was trying to refrain from laughing the entire way to it, though she was still carefully looking their surroundings, as the island was home to some pretty amazing pokémon, some of which she doubted the both of them could even handle.

[Alice Hope]

"I'd say that we could outdo the Officer Jennys, but I'm not sure that's particularly impressive." Alice said teasingly, strolling alongside Laura. Gael seemed to be engaged in conversation with Shellder most of the way, although it wasn't too far, and Alice was in awe of the little village when they got there. She used her Pokegear to snap a few pictures for memory's sake, before deciding to announce their presence, "Hello? Is anyone here? We put out the fire back at the big house with our water Pokemon! We found something there that we think someone left!"

[Felix Leonis]

A few of the villagers peeped out of their homes, obviously hoping that there would be a meowth, but sadly there was not. Obviously almost all of the villagers that were still at the village and not at the stadium were very old people wearing the traditional light colored robes and cat ears.

"Fire? Was there a fire?" An old man wearing a light blue robe slowly walked to the two girls, with a worrisome expression on his face. "Blasted, I'll tell the village head that this has happened, so he can punish those responsible for guarding the shores for not noticing such a thing. You have my gratitude girls."

Laura only gave a short nod and a grin, holding up the briefcase as proof of what Alice had said earlier. "Could this be of someone around here?"

The villager looked at the briefcase and motioned the two to follow him. "We're having some guests over from Kanto at the moment, they're at the stadium with the rest of the village. It's an important day for us after all: the anniversary of the village head's beloved meowth."

[Alice Hope]

Alice beamed, although she couldn't help feeling astonished that these people hadn't noticed the fire. It had been huge and dangerous. It could have killed them all! "It's no problem, we're glad that we could help." She assured them, before ooh'ing at the mention of the anniversary. Of course, it was the middle of the night, so it was some damn dedication for them to be celebrating now. She supposed cats did prefer night to day, though. "If you don't mind, could we go and take a look? Even if only to take the case back. We don't wanna overstep boundaries or anything."

[Felix Leonis]

"Well, I don't think there's any harm in going to the stadium," The old man noted, though he suddenly raised his hand to prevent them from speaking and rushed back inside his house to come out with two pairs of cat's ears. "these are mandatory if you want to get anywhere near the stadium and our shrine though."

Laura seemed quite comfortable putting the ears on, making a kittypaw sign with the arm which was carrying the briefcase, after which she nearly made it fall to the ground. "I don't think I look bad with these on, do I?"

Giving a nod and a smile, the old man lead them towards the stadium when both of them got their ears on. The stadium was not far from the massive golden meowth statue which was regarded as some sort of deity by the villagers of the island, the stadium itself though was less wealthy in its build, made entirely of wood and sticks...which explained the sign with a notice saying: "NO FIRE POKEMON ALLOWED" next to the entrance. "That...kinda makes sense."

Inside though, there was the sound of cheering and jeering, as a man wearing shorts and a shirt was using a skitty to battle a local wearing a gray robe using a meowth.

[Alice Hope]

Alice grinned, "Aww, yes, dude! I'm totally up for this!" She replied, taking the ears with thanks and popping them on. Indeed, she thought she looked adorable and that they suited her. To think, she had spent the ride here worrying about what they would be faced with, but the fire was dealt with and now they had free Meowth ears! Sweet! "You look gorgeous. A-plus." She told her friend, and off they went towards the stadium. It was easy to hear the crowd before arriving there.

Alice laughed when Laura mentioned the sign, and in they went. "Oh, wow! Skitties and Meowths are so cute in real life!" She cooed. It was Gael's turn to be jealous, and she kissed him on the forehead to abate this (or try). "I wonder if they'll do the whole pay day thing?" Alice turned to their guide, "Do you know where the Kanto people are?"

[Felix Leonis]

The old villager seemed to agree with the fact that the two girls looked lovely with the mandatory cat ears on. however, when asked who the Kanto people were, he simply pointed at a young man and a woman seated next to the head villager's wife near the center of the stadium and at the man battling with a skitty. "That man's the leader of their group, if I remember correctly."

After that he pointed at the other competitor, the local man who was using a meowth. "That's the head Villager, just look how glad he and his meowth are. They've been together for so long, there aren't many trainers that actually manage to beat the head villager's meowth."

[Alice Hope]

Alice peered over at the distant guests. It was cool that they owned the Skitty, too, and she hoped that she might be able to play with it somewhen. "They do look like a really cool team!" When he mentioned that not many could beat the duo, she was intrigued, "I'm a really new trainer, so we probably wouldn't stand a chance... But it would be cool to have a go, or show off an appeal in their honour or something."

[Felix Leonis]

The very moment that Alice mentioned something about a cool duo, the Village head seemed to smile, looking at her directly, as if he had heard her words through the noise of all the jeering and cheering spectators. Suddenly, the meowth jumped in the air and in a single moment golden sparkles seemed to fill the arena, instantly a loud crackle could be heard and a jolt of electricity hit the opposing trainer's skitty and knocked it out in a single hit. The entire crowd started roaring in joy, clapping their hands and stomping their feet to applaud for another of meowth's beautiful victories.

"So...erm," The old man stuttered, while trying to guide the two through the crowd towards the guests hailing from Kanto. "Do you guys want to challenge the village head? I bet he would not deny you such a request."

[Alice Hope]

Alice laughed nervously. Even Gael was cringing after the sight of the mindblowing electrical attack. He was undoubtedly her strongest and most battle ready Pokemon, so the other two would not stand a chance. "Like I said, I'm a really new trainer, so I wouldn't stand a chance." She replied awkwardly. When they got to the other side of the crowd towards the guests, she greeted them politely, "Um, excuse me! My name is Alice and this is Laura. We stopped a fire in a chateau in the middle of the island, and found this suitcase, and we wondered if it belonged to any of you?"

[Felix Leonis]

The old villager cracked a smile when Alice mentioned about her being a relatively new trainer, though his eyes wondered towards Laura for a moment, as that girl seemed to be in some sort of ecxstatic trance after witnessing the meowth's finishing move. "Girl, that was but a fraction of that meowth's true power. I tell you, I've seen it battle opponents that would easily defeat a gym leader."

The Woman and the man from kanto sitting next to the village head's wife looked up when Alice greeted them, yet when she mentioned a fire in the forest, the two turned pale and looked at the man who was coming up from the field towards them: the older man wearing the shorts and unbuttoned shirt.

The man's name was Jiro and he was a pokémon trainer who did much of the fieldwork for a diverse group of pokemon scientists. When he heard about the fire, he as well turned pale, though seemed somewhat elated when hearing that at least his briefcase had been secured relatively unharmed. "You have my gratitude girls...that man truly is frightning when he doesn't get what he wants."

Laura had finally arrived at the spot as well, greeting the men and woman from kanto with a smile and pointing at the cat ears to somewhat relief their stress. "By the way...who did you mean by this man?"

Jiro looked towards Laura with a puzzled look in his eyes, though gratefully accepting the briefcase. "I only know him by his initials...H.G. He usually has his flunkies do the dirty work, I'm guessing there were a few of them on this island if they've burned down our chalet...luckily you managed to procure my briefcase."

"A man called H.G.?" The village head, who just managed to arrive as well seemed to scratch his head for a moment. "That man was here one year ago, he soundly beat my poor meowth...first time in more than five years that I had lost a battle."

[Alice Hope]

"Flunkies? Is he some kind of gangster or something?" Alice asked. So, perhaps his initials didn't stand for Heartgold, unless that turned out to be a codename. She wondered just how deep into trouble she and Laura might be. If this guy could crush the head's Meowth effortlessly, then perhaps his thugs would wipe the floor with them, too. "But why would they be here? What's his problem?"

[Felix Leonis]

"I wouldn't exactly call him a gangster," Jiro replied calmly, though his expression did say that he didn't really try to differentiate between the man called H.G. and people actually known or seen as criminals. "There's been a rumor that he once used to be affiliated with some underground organization...not that many can work with that though, given he has always managed to elude the radar of the police. One thing is for certain, when it comes to rare and extraordinary things, no amount of money is to great for this man to get his hands on it, legal or not."

The head villager nodded calmly. "I can tell you exactly how he looked though."

This seemed to make Laura excited and it surprised the people from Kanto. The woman already grabbed a notebook and a pencil, while the younger man was intently listening. Jiro though looked at the head villager and nodded, sighing deeply. "trust me, I don't doubt your words...but the man who calls himself H.G. wouldn't be so foolish to show you his face and call himself by that name."

[Alice Hope]

Alice decided to take a seat and listen, Gael sat in her lap, being softly pet and tickled. He enjoyed the fuss. "People who have that much money always have a lot of connections and get away with the worst of things. It's a shame." She commented, "But even if it wasn't the real H.G, I'd like to know what he looked like or what his flunkies might. Sounds like it's worth looking out for them." She wondered, too, what needed to be hidden from this man. As it was, it was probably best they didn't know.

[Felix Leonis]

Jiro and the other two people from Kanto agreed with Alice, if there was a chance to actually know who this man was, it might not only help them, but the police as well. Laura seemed as excited as ever as well, taking a seat next to the head villager's wife while the man started telling whatever he remembered. "Oh, this is going to be good...the unmasking of a criminal."

"He was of average height, almost small even," The head villager started explaining whatever he recalled from the man who had bested him. "he was chubby, had blonde, short hair and wore a white three piece suit with a white cloak. Though his most defining feature were his golden eyes...I'll never forget those."

Jiro, the two people AND Laura seemed to gasp instantly. Alice's companion seemed to get all excited and apparently tried to say something. "Oh oh...I think I saw him...I swear I saw him somewhere..."

"...doesn't that description sound like someone we know?" Jiro exclaimed, wrecking his brain for a short moment. "That explains it H.G. is Heinrich Glassner, the owner of the goldenrod casino and the celadon city casino...that explains the ties with Team rocket."

"I don't care about that..." Laura almost yelled, doing her best to find what she was looking for, the moment where she had seen the person fitting the village head's description. "Where was it, where was it that I had seen this person..."

Jiro turned his head toward Laura, same for the two others from Kanto, the villager's head and his wife. All looked at Laura who was really doing her best to figure out where it was she had seen that person. "It was, it was...on our way here... the boat!!"

A sudden gust of wind blew out each and every torch in the stadium, shrouding the entire place in darkness. People screamed and the pokémon all seemed to feel rather uncomfortable...

[Alice Hope]

This was the kind of moment where, if Alice had google, she would be googling him. As it was, she did not. She also was stunned to learn that such a villain could have been so close to them. Alice had been battling on the trip to Valencia Island and training and napping for much of the trip from there to Golden, so it was only natural that she hadn't taken notice. When the torches all went out, the fear reverberating through the crowd sunk its claws into Alice and Gael as well, and she began trying to look around. "Guys, I think we've got really bad company... But maybe that's just me..."

[Felix Leonis]

While Alice was trying to finish her sentence, the village head suddenly jumped towards her, knocking her aside when all of a sudden a massive flame burst through the entrance of the stadium, causing an even greater panic among the people, who now were in a rush, trying to flee the place as fast as they could.

From the smoldering remains of the entrance, a loud roar erupted which was so loud and menacing that every pokémon and human in the arena could feel it penetrate down to their very core.

open for added effect:

A larger than usual, black Haxorus emerged from the darkness, followed by his master, a rather small man with short blond hair and golden eyes, wearing a white suit. When he finally revealed himself, Jiro wanted to stand up and yell something, but was cut short when Heinrich Glassner or H.G. as the man was usually known, gave the older man from kanto a bloodcurdling, cold glare.

Behind Heinrich Glassner, two men dressed in black, with a red "R" emblem on the side of their chest appeared, each with an Arbok slithering next to them. They seemed to be rather unaffected by the screams and cries around them, simply following the man as he walked to the middle of the field and turned towards the village head and his guests.

"Gutentag ladies und gentlemen," The man greeted them all with a slight bow and glanced over each and every one of them, though his eyes remained slightly longer on Alice compared to the rest of them, even grinning when he laid eyes upon her. "I belive you have something which rightfully belongs to me...would you be so kind to hand it over to me?"

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