LOCATIONS:

Pokemon HQ - Run by Professor Krane and his assistant Lily. This is where you will receive your equipment and start your journey. There is a Purification Chamber here, but it is currently broken. It has undergone many attacks from Cipher, but has managed to hold out so far.

Dr. Kaminko's Lab - Dr. Kaminko and his ever-loyal assistant Chobin live here. He is still busy inventing random things, only some of which are actually useful.

Gateon Port - Usually a thriving port city, it's business has gone down ever since Cipher's take over. News has spread of Ciphers return, and people are afraid of traveling to Orre now. The decrease in international travel means that the city is only about half as prosperous at it once was. The PokeMart and Machine Parts Shop have managed to remain in business, and Club Krabby is still a pretty popular place for workers and sailors to hang out and see a show. The lighthouse is still operational for the few ships that do decide to visit the region.

Agate Village - A beautiful foresty town where retired trainers live with their pokemon. It used to be a happy, peaceful place until Cipher invaded. The newly risen organization was at the peak of it’s new power; the elders of Agate were no match for them. Cipher now controls the Relic Forest/Cave/Stone. Eagun, the leader of Agate (yes, he’s still alive), is being held hostage in his own home. Cipher knows that if the citizens were to unite under Eagun’s influence, they would gain confidence and rebel.

Pyrite Town - A bit of a shady place, Pyrite Town used to be a mining town with a heavy criminal undertone. People used to distribute Shadow Pokemon before Wes and Rui stopped them. A bunch of thugs and scoundrels live here because the halt in mining made people lose their jobs. Roughneck trainers gather here to battle themselves and outsiders, forcing them to battle. Rumor has it that Cipher may have weedled (haha pokepun) their way back into the criminal underground and are distributing Shadow Pokemon again, but so far no evidence has been found.
(Places of Interest: Duel Square, Duking's House, Fateen's Fortune Telling, PokeMart, Pyrite Super Grand Hotel, ONBS, Pyrite Colosseum.)

Mt. Battle - A huge volcanic mountain that was renovated to be the ultimate trainer challenge. There are ten zones, each containing a professional pokemon trainer. Each zone is significantly harder than the last. The Lobby consists of a mini Pokemon Center, the Poke-Coupon Exchange, a Move Deleter, and the reception counter.

Realgam Tower - A gigantic tower that is used as a fancy hotel and a battling/gaming tower. You ride through the semi-buried tunnels to reach the tower. Inside, there are expensive decorations and paintings. On the main floor, there is a PC and a Mini Pokemon Center, a bar, a casino, and games. You can play Battle Sims: using a virtual party to practice your skills. At the very top is the Tower Colosseum where tournaments are held.

Phenac City - Built around an oasis in the southeast region of Orre, it is a beautiful sight to behold. The fountain in the center is constantly flowing like a waterfall. This city is well fortified from the wall that keeps the sand out, and it is full of aspiring trainers because of the influence of the Stadium and Gym. These reasons, plus having a ‘gym leader’ Justy, have kept Cipher from invading their city. It is currently the safest place in Orre.
(Places of Interest: Pokemon Centre, Phenac 'Gym', Phenac Stadium.)

Shadow Pokemon Laboratory - Abandoned for years in the middle of the desert, there are no signs of it starting up again. Ciper already lost it twice. Perhaps they found a new place to construct a lab?

S. S. Libra - The wreck of a large ship that remains in the middle of the desert. It was destroyed by Cipher and XD001 a few years ago.

Citadark Isle - ?????

NPC's:
Professor Krane
Lily

List of Players:
1. Linda (dracoon)
2. Akito (starberry)
3. Felix (KWChups)
4. Lulu (Shadowskyeevee)
5. Ruit van Zeven (Mijaafa)
6. Raine (Faithfully)
7. Victh (Rora)
8. Nellie Macias (Stardent)
9. Emily (Glaceon22)
10. Janet Anthony (peanut4th)

Lulu walked into the the room and saw the feathered trainer with his Absol. She sat down in a chair across form the boy and saw that he was brushing the Pokemon. Thank goodness plants don't have hair.

The disaster pokemon seemed unaffected by the tender care if the trainer. Is it focusing on me? She flash-backed to when miss Nova called her Little Miss Disaster. She leaned forward in her chair, trying to get a reaction from pokemon or trainer, she wanted to know how they acted, which could lead to her getting her way.

Her dark eyes scanned the area, looking around curiously. Poni sat on her, feeling happy to be the centre of attention of her Trainer. Her left arm, a mechanical arm twitched with the crackle of static electricity and she wondered what had happened. Her tinted glasses twinkled with the sunlight beating down on it as she crisscrossed her fingers, the metal making odd squeaky noises as they connected with her actual fingers. "I'm gonna say that they'll download this into my arm, right?" she thought to herself, after she had read that the Snag Machine looked deathly similar to the mechanical arm she donned.

Professor Krane, along with his right-hand woman, Lily, wandered into the lobby to check on the volunteers. Seeing only three children waiting in the seats, he sighed aloud. "I know this is some risky business, but I was hoping for at least a couple more..." he whispered to Lily. "Oh, no matter," said the Professor, reassuring himself. "These look like fine young people. I'm sure they'll do an excellent job." Standing in front of the reception desk, he decided that it was time for him to get the volunteer program underway. He cleared his throat. "Ahem... Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all very much for answering our distress call in this time of need. Your support is greatly appreciated. Now, I see that all of you have a Pokemon already, so I won't need to address that issue. Instead, I'll jump right into my explanation of Shadow Pokemon... Though it seems that one of you may know many of the details already," noted the Professor as he glanced over at the Shadow Absol and it's trainer.

"Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon that have been captured by Cipher and had their hearts closed by... well, rather cruel methods which I will not get into at the moment. Because of this horrible treatment, they have come to mistrust any and all humans they see. They are extremely hostile, having become what Cipher calls the 'perfect fighting machine'. They seem to have lost the ability to feel love and companionship with any trainer. It's a sad story, but true nonetheless.

"It is our job to help these poor Pokemon and to stop Cipher from mistreating any more of them. You see, Pokemon whose hearts are closed don't necessarily have to remain that way. If trainers like you capture these Shadow Pokemon and show them the love and kindness that they so rightly deserve, their hearts will open up again. They need to form a bond with a kind-hearted human being in order to remember that they can be kind-hearted as well.

"Once their hearts are almost healed, they will need an extra boost from our Purification Chamber. Unfortunately, uh..." Professor Krane blushed, rather embarrassed at what he had to say next. "Well, we accidentally broke the Purification chamber in HQ. But no worries! Our best scientists are fixing it now. In the meantime, any Shadow Pokemon you catch will have to be purified at the Purification Stone in ---"

Agate Village! A feeble little town that we're in control of!" The doors to Pokemon HQ burst open and three strangely dressed people walked in like they owned the place. The tallest one took off his white helmet and went right up to Professor Krane. "Are these your new recruits? How pathetic. Little children won't be enough to stop us this time. Cipher is better than ever before. With Victini on our side, we can't lose!" The Cipher lackeys smirked and laughed, confident in their abilities. Another one turned to look at the volunteer trainers. "Hey boss, why don't we see what these kids are made of? Who knows, maybe they'll last five minutes?" The boss nodded and put his hand near his pokeballs. "Sure, sounds like fun. Let's play, kiddies." The three baddies spread out and each walked towards one of the volunteers.

Linda smiled darkly, putting Poni onto the ground. The Poliwag also seem to smile with her ridiculously enormous eyes, as if they had expected the peons to appear. "What defines a man is his weapons. Strip away his weapons and what is left behind is but a child. I despise such people." she began, her half-rimmed glasses glinting in the sunlight. Poni seemed to glow in the sun as well, strengthened by her Trainer. "Poni, Hynosis." The Poliwag aimed her swirl at the Peon and began chanting a series of odd phrases, trying to put them to sleep. If that wouldn't work...then she would have to fight. There was reasons why Poni was still a Poliwag even though there had a choice and she knew.

"Salvador's spikes aren't just for show. Poison sting!"

Salvador charged forward, his spikes dripping purple ooze. He dug into the peons thigh.

"Leave so you can prevent permanent damage! Humans aren't compatible with poison, just so you know."

((I'm going to colour code the cipher peons' speech so everyone knows who is saying/doing what.))

@dracoon - "What defines a man is his weapons. Strip away his weapons and what is left behind is but a child. I despise such people. Poni, Hynosis."

"Ha! What are you talking about, girlie? I wouldn't even need my Pokemon to... to..." The Peon began to feel woozy from the effects of Hypnosis. He began shaking his head back and forth, trying to keep himself awake. "Don't think.. don't think you'll knock me down... so easily." He grasped around his belt until he found his pokeballs. Randomly choosing one, he tossed it in front of him and released the pokemon inside. "Grimer!" The pokemon cried out and sent many shadowy waves at the Poliwag.

@shadow - Not wasting any time, Lulu and Salvador attacked the second Peon right away. The Cacnea ran at the Peon, stabbing poisonous spikes into his leg. "AAH!" He clutched at his leg as pain seared through it. "You'll pay for that, you little brat!" He reached for a pokeball and tossed it right beside Salvador. A red and yellow weasel looking pokemon knocked the Cacnea away using a Force Palm attack. It stood for a moment and meditated, focusing its mind. Meanwhile, the poison continued to flow through the Peon's veins. He tore a piece of cloth off of his uniform and made a tourniquet on his leg so the poison wouldn't spread anymore. "Boss! Gonna need some help over here."

@KW - "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The Boss of the Cipher goons walked slowly up to Felix and Finian. "It seems you have a Shadow Pokemon of your own... How peculiar." He bent down and got as close to the Absol as he dared."How did you come to travel with this child, dark one? Why are you not with us, where you belong?" Finian growled at the Boss, so he stepped back and addressed Felix. "Why do you not fight me? That's what Shadow Pokemon are for, after all. Come on. Use the power that you have obtained from us." He picked the only pokeball he had off of his belt and tossed it in front of him. "Scyther, Scy!" A dark green Scyther with deep purple eyes appeared in front of Finian. "Now we can see who controls their power better."

"Boss! Gonna need some help over here." The subordinate called out to him. The Boss sighed internally. "Idiots."
"What do you expect me to do? You were the one who got yourself poisoned. Solve your own problems."

@starberry - From behind him, the Boss head someone sneaking around. He turned to see a little girl and her Piplup. "Who are you guys?" she asked. "Hah. Ignorant girl. You don't even know the organization who's running the country. All you need to know is that you should not interfere here. Leave us to our business." He turned his attention back to the fight between Scyther and Finian.

Over behind the reception desk, the woman in the pink uniform beckoned the new girl over. "Please, come this way. I need your help."

Poni had a much higher Speed stat, easily avoiding the Grimer's moves. "First off, that is just plain awful. Grimers are already bad enough, let alone ones that don't have control of their emotions," she continued, not even moving from the man's threat. "Secondly, you wouldn't want to wrestle me because I have fought a Gengar on multiple occasions. Regrettable, no? I think it'll be hiliarous to see you flying through the next wall but this place is dilapitated enough. Too bad." Poni flipped onto the ground, wobbling like a jelly from the hi-speed dodging. With that, she used Scald and regurgitated a blast of hot water at said Grimer, sure to inflict a Burn and making it easier to Snag.

Lulu stepped back, not wanting to seem too eager to battle. She wanted the peon to see her as a weak girl with a powerful Pokemon.

"Salvador, Faint attack the pokemon!" She looked the peon in the eye. "Leave now. Don't let your leg be permanently harmed because of your pride. Even if you stay, I will never let you take my Salvador!"

Lulu hoped this would enrage and intrigue the peon just enough to make Salvador a target. She hoped that when he was acting on revenge, he would make some foolish blunder. Keep your mind on the battle at hand. You can make enemies later.

"Why, isn't this a nice party to enjoy. Don't you think so, Lily?" The teenager that walked into the lab was a curious sight to say at least. The most notable thing about his appearance was without a doubt the black top hat that on his chocolate coloured hair, that made him look even taller than he already was with his 1.87 meters. It was graced with a feather, that was half black, half white, and a playing card, namely the seven of diamonds. His face showed quite peculiar features: the tan, almost arabian skin colour mismatched with the big green eyes that were surrounded by many long lashes and the right one of these eyes had a black square painted over the nearby skin; his mouth, that seemed to be a bit too big for his face, was carried by thin lips and his nose was a little bit turned up. The man's distinct cheekbones lead to ears that were pointier then they should be. Even though the face seemed to be almost perfectly symmetrical, the teenager's strange looks made him doubtfully unhandsome. His name was Ruit and a magician he was.

It was the little girl that clung to his arm that he had talked to, Lily she was called. Lily looked like she was about four years old, with her long, curly red hair tied up in a ponytail. She definitely didn’t look as if she enjoyed the ‘party’, as Ruit had called it and looked around with big, innocent eyes, which colors were nearly identical to the ones of the magician whose hand she gripped on even tighter. The little girl didn’t answer him.

The two of them stood a few meters away from the fight, not wanting to get involved. While Lily was obviously more interested in the fight, Ruit looked around to see the other people that had answered the request. Seeing that there were already quite a few people from around his age there, he assumed that he had been late. ‘Oh, well. Punctuality has never been my strongest point.’ Actually, it was, considering he was a magician. He just didn’t care much about it when it came to things not related to magic. Lily seemed to be intimidated by a dark Absol and Scyther that were fighting which each other. They made her feel uncomfortable.

@dracoon - Snapping out of his hypnosis-caused drowsiness, the Cipher Peon was shocked at the words coming out of that girl's mouth. Fight a Gengar? Surely she was joking... Though she certainly seemed pretty serious. "No, don't lose your nerve now!" he thought."She's just a girl. You can take her no problem." His attempts at reassuring himself didn't work very well. Her Poliwag had already started wailing on his Grimer without even being given a command. Those two must be very close. "Don't take that, Grimer! Use Shadow Down, and follow up with a Sludge attack!" The Grimer cringed at being hit by the scalding hot water, but he managed to escape the attack without being permanently burned. He retaliated by using Shadow Down, causing a sharp drop in the Poliwag's defense. He then spat a bunch of dark brown sludge at his opponent, hoping to cover it in toxic goo.

@shadow and @Faithfully - The Peon cringed both mentally and physically. Mentally because of his boss' harsh words and physically because there was still poison slowly cursing through his veins. He couldn't stay any longer; he had to leave and get treatment for his leg. I mean, his job was important and all, but he certainly wasn't committed enough to lose a leg over it. He watched as the Cacnea tried to Faint Attack his Meinfoo, who easily saw through the feint and dodged the real attack. It was foolish to try and trick Mienfoo like that. When her mind was focused, such tricks looked like child's play.

Just then, he got hit in the backside with what felt like a fireball. The Peon began to run around like a fool, trying to put it out. "Hothothothot!" he yelped. After finally managing to stop the flames, he made a beeline for the main entrance. "Screw this! I didn't come here to get beat up by some kids. Mienfoo, come on!" He tried to recall his pokemon, but for some reason it wasn't working. The Mienfoo remained in it's place in front of Salvador, refusing to flee from battle. It was an honourable pokemon, not coward like it's master. "Fine! I don't need you anyway. I can easily get a new pokemon even better than you." With that, he ran a little ways to their truck, got in, and fled the scene. Meanwhile, Mienfoo cloaked itself in a shadowy aura and lunged forward to tackle it's opponent. (Shadow Blitz)

@KW - The ball of electrical energy came crashing down towards the Scyther at an incredible speed. Fortunately, the bug/flying type was very nimble and managed to dodge out of the way of a direct hit. The Thunder attack grazed the side of its leg, creating a painful looking burn there. Scyther cringed at the pain and began to hover a couple inches above the ground, so as to not put pressure on the injury. "What an interesting move for an Absol... the Boss commented. "I certainly didn't expect an electric attack from you. Oh well, it's no matter. Scyther, use Shadow Mist, followed by X-Scissor." The Mantis Pokemon covered the foe in a dark mist, cutting its evasiveness. Once it reached Finian, it slashed its two arm blades outwards, aiming at the Absol.

@starberry - "Oh, good. I'm so glad you're here." The woman in pink smiled down at the girl. "I'm Lily, by the way. Listen, since you're not engaged in a battle with one of those Peons, I was wondering if you could help me out." Lily reached down and got out a large box that had been under the reception desk. Opening it, she revealed a bunch of strange-looking devices. "This here is a Snag Machine," Lily said, holding out a metal glove with a glowing blue light in the centre. "And this is an Aura Reader," she noted again, this time holding out a small little earpiece. Lily explained how to install the Snag Machine on one's left shoulder and hand, along with how to clip the Aura Reader around one's ear. "These will help the others finish their battles more quickly. If you could help me distribute them, that would be wonderful. I would have done this already, but I really need to find Professor Krane. He seems to have disappeared farther into the lab." Lily looked around, wondering where he might have gone off to.

By now she had noticed three more children had come into the building. (@Faithfully, @Mijaafa) A girl, a boy, and another girl who seemed the be the boy's little sister. Although something was a bit strange about the young one... Nevertheless, she beckoned them over. "Maybe these children can help you distribute the machines. Now, I really must go find the Professor. Good luck!"

((Edit: Finished posting))

Poni was left wide open and was struck, her Defense sharply reduced. She clenched her fists, the omnious crunching of the mechanical fingers digging into more metal parallel to her emotions now. "Poni," The Poliwag skidded across the slippery floor, her slime making her whiz in all directions and she did a barrel roll to dodge the Sludge attack. Though, her tail was slightly singed and the Poliwag lifted a foot up to examine the damages. She made an angry noise, her Sassy nature taking over and blasting a Ice Beam at the Grimer. Poni could tolerate the Grimer because Linda said the Grimer didn't have control of its emotions but burning her tail? No tolerance. The blue sphere formed in front of the Poliwag and sent beautiful sparks of icy bolts straight at the Grimer, hopefully being able to Freeze it.