Shoelaces, tie, belt... Rick goes over the list of rope-like resources he has on hand. "Zubat, great work! You saved our skins. Amazing. But we're not out of the woods yet. Your master needs proper medical attention so we're going to have to move him. Not thrilled at the idea of traveling through Viridian in the dark but there's no choice now. I'll need your eyes. Think you can get us across to the other side of town?"

Rick starts looking for large branches or logs to tie together to MacGyver a makeshift bed to drag the unconscious rocket guard through the woods; specifically, looking to make a bed big enough to carry the guard AND the suitcases...

ooc: I forget my bodyguard's name.

When it comes right down to it, what is a stretcher, really? It's just a surface to support the human form, give or take several kilograms in prototype equipment. And you can support the human form with so little -- all you need are braces at the centers of mass, plus a few bindings to keep the limbs from slipping.

It takes a good thirty minutes, but by the time the sun is down, you've safely managed to jury-rig a rope stretcher from branches and various nonessential pieces of clothing. Unripe Apricorn husks serve as wheels, pierced by Beedrill stingers and lashed to uneven axles. You roll Klaus onto the stretcher (so heavy!) and lash your suitcases to the sides (oof) -- as you collapse in a tired heap, you congratulate yourself on a job well done, and consider maybe exercising more often.

The Zubat takes a moment to cackle at your sorry state, then vanishes into the darkness between the trees up ahead. The disconcerting light of a Confuse Ray glimmers shortly afterwards, like a beacon drawing you towards it. Does the Zubat know the way back to the Rocket hideout?

You guess there's only one way to find out. Wiping the sweat from your brow, you take the makeshift stretcher and begin your journey into the long night.


Rick's story is concluded for the moment. Zinger, you can take a break to focus on your mafia game, or you can join the scene at the train crossing as a side character if you like.

Eddie puts his hands up in the air and nods, letting Hal know it was okay for him to do the same. If investigative reporting had taught him one thing, it was how to lie on the fly.

"Wh—whoever it is that you're looking for, we aren't them."

Eddie's tries his hardest to make it sound like he's a normal person who's just gotten mixed up in all this.

"I'm these kids' uncle. We were just done with breakfast when two Team Rocket members held us up at gunpoint. Said they'd shoot the boys if I didn't drive them to Minami-ku."

Eddie slowly wipes his forehead with one of his hands and exhales deeply.

"They panicked when you guys showed up. Told us there was a bomb in the car and that they'd blow it up unless we slowed you guys down, then ran off. I told the kids to get away from the car and make a run for it... I didn't expect them to try to fight you guys. I told them that I'd be okay..."

Eddie closes his eyes, false tears forming with a bit of effort on his part.

"I checked under the seat after the kids were away from the car. The "bomb" was just a tape recorder. I went full speed in reverse to stop the kids from throwing their lives away trying to save me from a nonexistent bomb."

Eddie sighs with relief, pretending as if describing what had happened to them had served as a sort of catharsis after such a terrible experience.

"If there's anything I can do to help you catch them, please let me know. The thought of those two getting away with threatening my family at gunpoint makes me sick to my stomach. Whatever you need, we'll gladly comply."

Eddie glances sideways at Hal, hoping he'll help corroborate the story. If worst came to worst, at least they'd still have Flo up their sleeve.

Between the imminent threat of being gunned down, Nap causing a localized thunder storm and Eddie very nearly running him and a whole bunch of bystanders down with that stupid maneuver it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that Hal was, for the first time in a long time, absolutely stunned.

He barely reacts to the chaos, still trying to piece together everything that happening and before he knows it he's watching Eddie step forward and start spinning some insane story about the Rockets and bombs and hostages. Dazed as he was even he didn't believe it - not that he had a better idea. He slowly raises his hands and nods along at key junctures in the story though that it little more then a cover as he slowly scans the crowd, looking for signs of Noel.

Can I spot Noel? Also how close is the crowd from me - preferably in number of steps.

The crowd scattered when Eddie ran his automotive into the middle of the street. They're still watching from the safety of alleyways and upper-storey windows. Hal, you scan the rows of crumbling public housing, but you don't see Noel anywhere. Unless... he dropped Nap from the roof of that bookstore!? What kind of ridiculous situation would that be?

Eddie, the soldier looks at you for a good long moment. His face contorts as he tries to piece together your insane story -- his finger shifts uneasily on the trigger guard of his machine gun. He eyes you... as well as the crowd of innocents that are watching events unfold.

He raises his black Apricorn Ball.

"Damn it," he growls. "Fafnir, come back!"

The Gyarados vanishes in a flash of electricity. He hooks the Apricorn Ball back into his belt with his off-hand, all while keeping his gun pointing squarely at you.

"Look, I don't know who you are, or or what these crazy goddamn kids think they're doing. This is a matter of national security. You almost got yourselves killed."

The door of the car opens and two more soldiers step out. One of them looks like the boss of the squad -- he's got more stripes on his sleeve, and he looks like he's about to blow up at the soldier who battled you with his Gyarados. "Hey! Hey! What's going on here?"

The first soldier's voice cracks. "They... they say they got pulled over at gunpoint by the Rockets, sir. They ain't who we're looking for. Just a bunch of stooges. The tangoes got away on foot."

"Damn it!" The sergeant slams his fist on the bonnet of the Indigo League car and scowls at the ruined asphalt. "So our informant lied to us. That scummy old woman. The brass aren't going to be happy about this..."

Saki...? Did that restaurant owner rat you out?

Eddie, as you play the part of the distraught civilian as best as you can, you keep an eye out for ways to extricate yourself from the situation. But it's no use. Even if you could stomach running with a machine gun trained on you, you couldn't bear to put Hal in danger. You're totally surrounded.

"...bring them back for questioning," the sergeant is saying. "Make sure they're taken care of. Run some background checks, get social services to make sure they're protected. Ortiz, go ahead with Kitakawa and see if you can head off the perps, maybe get a lead on where they were headed..."

Hal and Eddie, you're led peacefully but firmly into the back seat of the car, where you find yourself in close quarters with two more soldiers -- one in the rear, one in the driving wheel. The sergeant gets into the shotgun seat, and with a deep rumble, the Minami-ku crossing begins to slip away from you through the side window, vanish into the sea of dilapidated housing and unfinished industrial jetsam. You're going into the humming electrical heart of Viridian City... into the police precinct and the center of the Indigo League's control.

And Noel is all alone.


END OF SESSION 2. Please update your bonds with your Pokémon and with each other. Zinger, you'll want to write down your bonds with the rest of the group, and with the Zubat; for the rest of you, you'll want to write down your bond with Zinger. As always, I'd appreciate feedback on the way the game is going!

In the opening post under the players spoiler block it says Rick is being played by Garren_Windspear. Copy/paste fail?

Bonds
Toby: Unchanged
???: Kalus' Zubat might be a sassy, attitude-fuelled rugrat, but she is directly responsible for getting Rick out of a jam, and the two were able to work together quickly and efficiently under dire circumstances. Strong respect has been built.
Eddie: Not sure what I think about this guy yet. My only real encounter with him is one of failure. How were they caught so quickly? The Indigo League must have been looking specifically for Eddie's car, which makes me wonder if Eddie is trustworthy at all.
Hal: Reserving judgement on Hal until after Toby has been returned to me safe and sound. If Toby has been well-treated, respect will be gained. If Toby was not, respect will be lost.
Noel: A little kid. Not sure what this kid is doing getting involved in this mess, beyond the fact that his older brother is dragging him along through it all.
Klaus: Risked his life to protect me and my research. Much respect.
Team Rocket: A means to an end.
The Indigo League: Overbearing self-righteous pricks.

Let me know if I did this right.

Bond with Noel, Rockets the the Indigo League haven't really changed any.

Eddie: I'm almost certain now that Eddie refuses to think things through, just acting on impulse and trying to wing the results in his favor. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Rick: I have literally no opinion on this guy. He's just another job. Though he did give me a pokemon...


I didn't really have an exact age in mind but I was thinking like late teens at the very most.

Rick: Not sure how I feel about him. Whatever he's been working on, it's putting a lot of people in danger.
The Indigo League: Maybe their intentions are good, but there's something wrong with any organization that shoots first and asks questions later. If they figure out that my story's a complete lie, I'll probably let them know the truth and volunteer to help them infiltrate the organization in exchange for letting us off easy. Otherwise, I'd rather avoid getting put in a situation where I can't publish sensitive information—if they find out I'm a reporter, I doubt they'll want me to print anything about whatever was in that briefcase.