Skipper lands on the surprised Clefairy, but only bounces off the round fairy. Farrah's assault is more efficient, hitting the Deerling multiple times before it can launch a Leech Seed at the bird.

At it's trainer's command, Clefairy starts a chant, drawing everyone's attention... including that of the soldier's Beedrill, who bowls the Clefairy over. No a painful hit, but a hit none the less. Skipper looks at the Clefairy, confused by it's chanting, and apparently forgets to attack it. Still, the bug scares the Clefairy into a Defense Curl. On the other side, the Deerling manages to dodge Farrah's attack, and replies with a powerful Jump Kick... into a tree, as the Farfetch'd ducks out of the way.

The Deerling looks ready to fall over, while the Clefairy is unharmed. The two soldiers direct their pokémons to attack the third Team Gaia member, on the edge of the clearing.

OCC: Pause to adjust your strategy, and decide what you'll do if Deerling falls over.

Jake scowls as his pokemon gets distracted mid-combat. The tackle from the sky was less effective than he had hoped. The clefairy seemed too chubby in general to be sufficiently injured by simple tackles. However, his Skipper was not a single-move pokemon. With a dramatic point to the Clefairy, Jake commanded,
"Alright Skipper, start firing your water gun and don't stop till it drops!"

"Farrah, keep pecking away at that Deerling until it can't give us any more trouble, then help Skipper out with the Clefairy!" The leech seed on his Farfetch'd worried Seymour a little, but Farrah seemed to be doing well this far. He was impressed by her talent.

---

Seymour is just going to have Farrah keep using peck on everything for right now.

The Clefairy manages to buy a bit of time for the Deerling by using another Follow Me, but it didn't last long. Another Peck takes down the grass pokémon, leaving Clefairy on it's own against two foes.

Despite Skipper's earlier hesitation, he follows Jake's order and showers the fairy with Water Gun attacks. Most of them bounce off the pink skin, but it's enough of a distraction for Farrah to swoop in and join the assault. When she finally finds an opening, the Clefairy is surprised enough that Skipper manages to get a solid hit in as well.

It's trainer seems about to give another order, only to find herself with a firearm pointed at her back. "That's enough of you, girl. Call your pokémon back."

While Compton has the three members of Team Gaia lined up at gun point, Wright (who's holding a confused Laconney) signals her Beedrill. "Take her look, and signal the guys coming to head in this direction" she says, pointing toward Bluweil. The Beedrill spins in the air, taking a light pink glow as it does, only to be replaced by a convincing copy of the Clefairy's trainer.

You all duck behind the bushes, while Wright keeps the Lacconey in sight. One of the other Team Gaia search team move closer, but on seeing the fake trainer, follow it's direction to the South-East.

Once she's sure they're out of earshot, the fake trainer spins again, this time turning into a Zorua. "Good job. And you too, kids" she adds as she turns to you. "Now for the sneaky part. We'll head away from them with the prisoners. That should get us out of their jammers' range. If that doesn't work... well, that's where you step in.

You'll need to head toward Bluweil, while pretending to be part of their search teams. As long as you keep your distance, and have your Lacconey out and glowing, they shouldn't notice the exchange. If they turn around, just hide your Laconney, keep going, and try to call this number with your Pokédex."

She pulls out her own Pokédex, and sends you a contact number. "Tell them what happened, and if they ask for a code, it's Raticate. Got it?"

Jake cheered his mudkip on as his mudkip finally got the memo and started to attack the clefairy again. He looked substantially more subdued as the battle ended at gunpoint. He would have wanted to finish the fight properly rather than having it end with human-on-human threats of violence. It wasn't very trainer-like. In any case, the fight was done and the Ditto slinked off into the night. Jake seemed chipper enough to answer the soldier's orders,
"It was high time those Team Gaia folks learned a lesson. This will teach them not to... do whatever they do! Maybe they got a jammer on them or something, maybe we can turn their jammer off so we can use the pokedex again"

Jake took a step towards one of the team Gaia, seemingly interested in searching them, but obviously would wait for permission from the folks with guns before actually interfering with the criminals.

"Doubt it." Compton points to the third Team Gaia member, the girl who didn't join your fight. "Lantern girl here says it's the search leader who has it. He holds the center of the line. Still, doesn't hurt to check."

He does a quick search of one of the woman, while Jake does the same for another. A small radio falls out of their pocket, but Compton dismisses it as nothing more than a walkie-talkie, and not a jammer.

Seymour wasn't sure the plan would work, but the soldiers seemed to know what they were doing thus far, so he was willing to give it a try. "Should we take the walkie-talkie in case they send instructions?" he suggested as he returned Farrah to her pokeball. He then picked his Laconney back up to use Locke as a sort of nightlight again.

Jake offers the walkie-talkie to Seymour, but is ready to switch to give it to the soldiers if they want it instead. It definitely made sense to hold onto it for some reason that Jake could not put his finger on. He then smiled as Seymour began using his Laconney as a flashlight (just like team gaia). Turns out, Jake was a bit slow in listening and didn't catch that part of the plan.

"Good point. I doubt they'll be able to, the jammer would affect them too. Still, better safe than sorry."

With a final "good luck, kids," you part ways. You thought not having Team Gaia chasing would lead to a more relaxed walk, but that was without counting with the fact that hostile trainers are just a stone throw away. Still, despite your worries, they keep their distance as you advance.

You take a short pause at the feet of an ancient tree, when you're suddenly blinded by a white light. "Sneazles! Flank them!" You look around in a panic, and can barely spot a pair of soldiers pointing flashlights at you.

Almost without thinking, Seymour lifted his hands up in surrender. Which caused him to lift Locke high over his head. "Code Raticate! Code Raticate!" he blurted. Nobody would accuse Seymour of being the bravest pokemon trainer out there...

"Hold!" One of the soldier comes closer, and takes a good look at you. "You're Seymour, Atticus, and Falkner? We've been told about you." The lights grow dimmer, though the big red spot in your vision takes a while to fade.

In the distance, you can hear the sound of pokémon battling. "Come on, we've got a jeep waiting. The Major will want to see you tomorrow." The two soldiers, and their Sneasel duo, lead you out of the forest. Eventually, seeing you were at least another hour from the forest's edge.

OOC: Feel free to ask any questions you have to the soldiers. Otherwise, you get to the jeep without issue, and quickly fall asleep as they drive you to town.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:57, Thu 12 Mar 2020.

Jake's surprise evaporated once he realized that these were the troops they were expected to run into. Once he blinks away the lights he nodded eagerly. Despite the 'fun' they had in the forest, he was glad that they where making their way out. Plus, it was likely that they were going to have free lodging on behalf of the soldiers. Hopefully it would be more comfy than camping in the woods. Jake drifted asleep in the jeep, dreaming of a soft bed.

You wake up in a small room, on a rather comfortable bed. A clock next to the bed says it's around four-thirty. Your gear is sitting on a chair, while any pokémon you had out is sleeping on a big cushion nearby. There's little else in the room, just an empty trash bin, and small desk with pen and paper. Looking out the window, you see a few bland buildings, as well as a forest beyond a tall mesh wall.

Your legs still feel a bit heavy from all the hiking you've done, but another part of you won't allow you to remain in bed: your rumbling stomach.

Atticus could not even make up the experiences that they had just been through. He slept heavily through the night and into the day to recover from the craziness they had endured. He didn't even remember all that well how they got to the room they were in, but he could see his Pokemon sleeping nearby. He smiled and was glad that they had an opportunity to recover from the wild encounters that they had endured. But then he felt his stomach rubbling and he knew he needed some food as soon as possible. But how to go about that? He looked around to see if the other guys were up and had any ideas about what to do.

Jake groaned as he got up. He rubbed his legs to get rid of some of the soreness. Even his high level of fitness had limits. He glanced around to the others confused, like he also could not believe what had all happened last night. He patted his stomach, then went to pat Skipper. They had all earned the rest they got. He finally opened his mouth after petting his pokemon,
"Oh man, I'm starving. Can we just leave whenever, or is this like a secure military thing?"

Seymour begrudgingly pushed himself into a sitting position and ran his fingers through his hair. His messy, unwashed, hair. Ugh. It took Seymour a while to realize Jakey had asked a question, but he didn't know the answer anyway, so he merely shrugged in response. The trainer tried to stand up, but his legs complained so badly that he decided to remain where he was for a while.

Looking up, he smiled when he noticed his Laconney resting peacefully on a pillow. Good. Locke deserved a good rest. Without waking him, Seymour returned Locke to his pokeball. "What a night," he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"I could definitely use some food too," he said, finally responding more meaningfully to Jakey. But rather than searching for someone to help them, Seymour made sure his pokedex was back to working properly. Or did the military base (if that's where they were) have a jammer of its own?

The Pokédex connects normally, though who to call is an open question. Looking outside your rooms, you see you're in some sort of barracks, though no one's in the corridor.

Jake's eyes perk up as he prepared to exit the room. He returned Skipper to its pokeball and he gingerly tried to open the door and creep out. He did not know if they were supposed to stay put; being voluntarily abducted by the military was not something that had happened to him before, but he found it a bit odd that there was not someone assigned to keep an eye on them.

Once he saw the others wake up and start to gather their Pokemon and things, Atticus did the same. He made sure Bubby and Shelby were well-rested before putting them back in their balls, patting their heads lightly. He then turned his attention to Jake and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm hungry too. But it doesn't look like there's anyone stopping us from leaving," he pointed out quietly as he grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulders. He still wasn't sure what had happened these last few days but he hoped their journey wasn't delayed for much longer. If recent events showed them anything, it was that they were still relatively weak compared to anyone else they came across.

Seymour sent a quick message to Portia letting her know they were alright. Hopefully she was too. It seemed likely, considering her ability to teleport.

As he was typing his message he followed Jakey and Atticus out of the room, but he was too distracted to notice Jakey was trying to be sneaky. "Maybe we should head outside and ask for some direction. I'm sure they will either tell us where to go, or tell us to stay put."

Crossing the corridor, you pass a series of plaques, commemorating trainers who have beaten the Night Challenge. As you step outside, you are greeted by a guard at the exit. "Good afternoon! I hope you slept well. If you're hungry, the mess hall is right there. The Major's assistant will look for you there."

The building he points to looks like a school gymnasium from the outside, but you see multiple soldiers heading inside at a relaxed pace.

As they walked through the corridor, Atticus looked up at the plaques and read the names on them. He couldn't wait until he was a celebrated trainer like that. His attention was drawn by the guard who addressed them and he nodded to the man uncertainly. He wasn't even sure who to trust anymore. He turned to look at the others as if asking them if they were going to follow him without words and then started to make his way towards the mess hall. His stomach was grumbling way too much; he needed to get this food problem situated first before they thought about doing anything else.

Seymour thanked the guard, then followed Atticus's lead and headed toward the mess hall. He was glad to see they were being treated more like guests than anything else. He was afraid they may have had to face tougher scrutiny since they were not natives of the region, but just now realized that their pokedexes probably gave the military more than enough information to prove they had no malicious intents. He breathed a lot easier now that that realization had come to fruition.

"I hope they have pancakes," Seymour commented as they reached the mess hall. "What do you think the Major's assistant is going to say? Think we will be able to find out if Cary is alright?"

Your arrival into the mess hall draws a few looks from the gathered soldiers, but no one stops you. Even though you just woke up, the hall only serves their dinner menu. That still gives you a good variety of food options, including a few vegetarian options (guaranteed to not include grass pokémons).

Once you've chosen your food, you notice a hand trying to get your attention. It's Wright, signaling you to join her table.

Jake did not hesitate to fill up his plate with a little bit of everything. This food and setting was more his speed than the fancy restaurant a few days ago. While navigating his way to an empty table, he spotted Wright getting their attention. Jake waved his friends over and took a seat at Wright's table.
"Hi!"

He did not have many words reserved for Wright as most of what his mouth was doing was wolfing down the food in front of him.