Clyde's Request

As you sit quietly in your compartment, a voice comes in through the intercom, causing you to listen closely to the announcement being broadcasted throughout the entire ship. As the message plays out, you raise your eyebrows in surprise.


Another pause, and you can tell the Gym Leader is trying to choose his words carefully.


The intercom is switched off, leaving the halls quiet again.


Only characters who would have chosen the Light Path should be posting here. If you chose the Dark Path instead, you should be posting in the Dark Path section of the story arc, which is located in another thread.

Simply respond to this thread as if it were 11:45 at night, and you were making your way to the Gym to meet Clyde.

Rosie was awake and tugged on Bret's shoulder as they rested at their stop after meeting the professor. Tugging at his shirt with her vines, he woke up to hear the second half of the announcement. His eyes widened as he stretched and yawned, trying to collect his things before heading to the main terminal.

"Bloody hell... well, we wanted information on the Gym Leader, didn't we?"

Rosie cooed slightly, wrapping her vines around her uncle's arm as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and made his way to Clyde's Pokemon gym. Knowing he had to meet him around midnight, he kept jogging in order to make the deadline.

"Nice way to make a first impression, eh, Rosie? I hope he doesn't mind that we haven't battled before!"

Rosie pouted and flexed her little vines. She was ready for just about anything! The jogging left Bret a little tired and he had to take a brief break as he leaned against a wall. Taking a hanky from Bret's pocket, Rosie patted Bret's forehead so that the sweat wouldn't pour down his face.

"Bugger, this place is huge! ... that and I sat on my laurels for three years. My knees are still on fire from walkin' 'ere!"

(WC 208 *100 gained*)

Nanao was just laying down to go to sleep as the announcement came over the intercom. Her initial reaction was confusion. Who would want to take over the ship? Surely the gym leader was a kind man, or else he wouldn't have been made gym leader. Besides, the description of the leader sounded like the person who had tried to leave her behind on the ground. Hardening her jaw, she released both of he Pokemon, who had just finished resting in the Pokemon center less than a half hour ago.

"It looks like it's going to be a sleepless night." she told them grimly. "We have a siege to fight off." Arwan grinned; this was his opportunity to show his stuff. Arianna twiddled her thumbs in the corner, preferring not to fight, but accepting she might have to for Nanao. Pacing back and forth in her small cabin like an army general, the girl continued. "We're not too strong, so we may not be able to help too much. But I'm sure Clyde and the others will be grateful to any help, big or small."

Scooping the little Gothita into her arms, she asked, "So are you guys ready?" Not giving them a chance to answer, she darted out her cabin door, and made her way to the stairs, following the signs that led to Clyde's Gym. Arwan followed close behind, taking care not to be steeped on by the people hustling around. Arianna shuddered in Nanao's arms, dreading the oncoming battle.

(WC: 309)
Nanao skidded to a stop in front of the gym doors and surveyed the other people there. There weren't too many, but more were sure to turn up to help defend the ship... right? Where was Clyde, who had called them on the intercom? He wasn't outside of his gym, as he had said he would be....

Seeing the other two girls approach, Rosie waved her vine at the new trainers with a giggle, excited to be a part of a hero's quest! Flapping her vine, particularly as Rose introduced herself, Rosie looked surprised at her introduction and giggled again. Bret just chuckled at his dear Budew, acting all surprised for the young Pokemon.

"Well, would you look at tha'! Another Rosie! You're getting popular around 'ere!"

"Budewbudewww!"

"I'm Bret. Bret Sojourn! This little dear is Rosie... I... don't know if I'll be much help 'ere, but we'll give it all we got, right?"

"Budewdew!" Rosie chimed with a nod.

Seeing that he'd be working with a couple of girls, blushed slightly and ran his fingers through his shaggy blond hair. His glasses fell forward to the tip of his nose, Rosie adjusting them with a stray vine. Her beady eyes narrowed up at her trainer, a little jealous of him getting adorably flustered in the presence of other cute girls. Trying to stay in his little protege's good graces, he looked up to the gym door, trying to see if Clyde had shown himself.

"Well, he did say Midnight... what time you ladies got?"

(WC: 202 *100 gained*)

Nanao gave a small smile to her new companions, Bret, Shade, and Rosie. Wait... Did Shade have a tail!? Shrugging mentally, she decided that some people were entitled to their secrets. "I'm Nanao." she said softly, cursing herself for being so nervous. What did she have to prove to them, anyways? "This is Arianna." she pointed to the small Gothita that clung to her chest. "That's Arwan." She pointed a thumb behind her to the blue snakelike Pokemon, who slithered around in a small circle and grinned at Bret, glad to have been talked about. Nanao rolled her eyes at him, wishing he were a bit more discreet.

"Soo.. Do you suppose anybody else will show up? Surely there's got to me more than us... I'm actually a novice, so I don't know how useful I'll be in the oncoming battle..." She trailed off and scratched the back of her neck with her thumbnail nervously. "I don't suppose you guys are any better...?" She crossed her fingers, hoping her companions were more experienced than she. If not, their side of the conflict could be in deep.. danger.

She did find it odd that Bret's Pokemon was named Rosie, and the girl's name was Rose. Shade didn't seem to have any Pokeballs or supplies of his own.. Maybe he was just Rose's little brother, tagging along? In which case, he should probably go back to bed... But Nanao had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't a trainer... Or human..

(WC: 248)

Sullivan was laying in his bed as the Clyde's announcement rang through his room. Maximus slowly opened one of his eyes from the nest he'd formed in Sully's room to see how his trainer would take the announcement as Sullivan pulled himself up into a sitting position to process the news. He sat for a few seconds as he thought about what would should the ARYAA fall into the hands of anyone other than Clyde. He knew Clyde ran a pretty tight ship, a radical overthrow of the system would be far too much of a gamble. Sullivan quickly slid round and grabbed his scarf and Jacket. Maximus merely let out a long sigh as he realised what would be coming next.

"Come on, Max. This ship is our home too, we can't let it descend into Chaos. Besides, it would be nice to get some actual battling experience would it not?" Sullivan explained to his Murkrow who simply bobbed his head around as he thought about everything. After a few seconds thought, Max simply shrugged his wings and took to the air. After the shortest flight he could make, he perched himself on Sullivans shoulder as the two of them left Sullivan's room. Sullivan knew that his mother and father were working night shifts that night so there was no-one to wish farewell too as he left into corrider of the ARYAA. He was familar with the route to Clyde's gym. He'd been past it a few times but never dared to enter knowing that he wasn't close to being strong enough yet to face him.

It didn't take him long to navigate his way up to the area Clyde had asked them to be. As he approached the door he began to notice the others that had turned up to help defend the ship. Two females, one with two pokemon already on display, and two males although one looked far too young to be taking part in such serious matters. He approached cautiously and looked around the group that had gathered with a smile. "Hello," he started off with as he slowly wandered into closer to everyone, "Is this it? The whole ship is about to possibly descend into anarchy and only 5 people have bothered to show up and try and help stop it?" Sullivan let out a small sigh at how bad the situation was looking. He was expecting a lot more people, didn't people care about who was in charge? How could they let there home simply be comandeered by a mysterious force. He smiled at the forces that had amassed though and nodded at them as a form of greeting. "I'm Sullivan, and this is my partner Maximus." Maximus gave a small wave of one his wings, although he didn't seem to bothered by any of this. He just kind of wished he was back in his comfy nest, getting some sleep. How inconvient of these enemies to attempt a take over and such an ungodly hour.

((514, +400 Squid))

The time is now exactly midnight. The metal door to the gym slides open as a large figure emerges. Beside him is a rather fierce-looking Skarmory, who wears a constant scowl on his metal beak. He clamps his beak down when he notices someone staring, but his trainer manages to calm him down with a gentle stroke on his iron down. Clyde scans over the faces standing outside of his gym carefully, but with a smile on his face. He appears to be pleased with the cards he has been dealt, and seems proud that such young, up-and-coming trainers have stepped up to do their part.

"Welcome, young trainers. I am Clyde, builder of the ARYAA-701, and Gym Leader of Aryaa City. Since you're here, you're obviously aware of the situation: a young man and his Absol have stowawayed aboard my ship, and plan to take it from me. We are all here to make sure that doesn't happen." Clyde's confidence was evident in his voice, no doubt from his highly successful career as Gym Leader.

However, could it be possible that he was underestimated his enemy...?

"I'm sure I will get a chance to get to know all of you more personally later. However, right now, we must focus on the task at hand: stopping the takeover. He will no doubt attack three crucial places aboard the ship. One of these will be the Main Deck, where he'll try to intimidate and distract the populace. Next, he will send a scout to the Core, where there is a failsafe device that unlocks every lock on the ship. With that, he could get into the most vital part of the ship, the Cockpit, and that's where they'll try and commandeer the ship. With the auto-navigation on, they can fly anywhere they like with the press of a button."

Clyde scanned over the faces once more, seeking for signs of weakness in the ranks.

"Someone needs to go the Core to protect the failsafe, another will take my Skarmory and go to the Main Deck to restore order, and the last will come with me to the Cockpit to end this once and for all. Now..." Clyde took a step forward, his boots making a solid thudding sound against the steel floor.

"...who shall I send where? Would anyone like to volunteer to take a post?"

"Rosie's nice and small with a Stun Spore attack. She can at least stop the scout even though her attacks aren't that strong. She and I can probably get there fast if we hurry. If nothing else, she'll slow them down."

Bret wasn't really sure about this, but it'd be likely that he wouldn't send his most powerful to that position. Rosie had an attack or two up her sleeve. Another plan of his came to mind.

"Eh... this is a bit of a possible plan, but would using Water Sport on the console blow it and not let the scout use it? ... Or... would that not do what I think it would. Your boys could repair it later."

Clyde's eyes locked onto the young man who had volunteered to go to the Core, his heart warming with pride.

He couldn't be more impressed with the boy's bravery, especially considering the size of his partner. He had to commend his tenacity. Clyde grinned widely and smacked the boy perhaps a bit too hard on the shoulder with a hearty laugh. "Excellent, my boy! It's the Core for you!"

As he listened to the boy's plan to douse the failsafe, his eyebrows went up in surprise, and he frowned slightly. "I'm terribly sorry, boy, but the wiring on this contraption is brutally sensitive. Dousing it with water might freeze up the system and do a real number to the electricity, which costs more than you could possibly imagine. If the wrong section gets hit with water, we might find an entire deck of the ship without power, and we cannot take that chance."

Despite his disagreement with the boy's strategy, he loved the way he thought on his feet. It told that he was really trying to contribute, and do his part by using his brain instead of his brawn. And with a tiny pokemon like Budew at his side, he would really have to use his intelligence to outsmart his opponents instead of outfight them.

"There, you see? One has already come forth and volunteered. Who's next?"

Sullivan barely had time to have introductions from everyone before Clyde appeared with a Skarmory by his side. Sullivan cooed quietly at the sight of the Skarmory, one of the flying pokemon he'd always had an interest in. However, he didn't keep eye contact with it for long as it seemed to be annoyed at the very presence of everyone here. He simply returned his gaze to Clyde as he laid out in full what was going down. Sully began to stroke his chin as he began to think about all the available options to him. His eyes shone brightly as the prospect of setting foot in the cockpit crossed his mind. He'd always wanted to see it, to see the place where the magic happens. To see the instruments and devices that keep this amazing city afloat. Even the thought of being close enough to that pilots chair almost made him drool, but sadly he knew that this wasn't the time.

He tried to bury those thoughts in his head as he cleared his throat and questioned, "I don't mean to question your plan, Clyde, but is allowing him to distract the populace truly that big of a deal. I mean you broadcast that message to the majority of us I assume and this is who turned up. They've already made their choice in this battle. Also, if they can't access the cockpit without deactivating this failsafe that is located in the core, then why just get all of us to mount our defense there? If we he only sends a scout down, then with all of our forces combined then surely we can defeat him before however these people are realise that something is wrong. We can concentrate our forces on picking them out in the one area that they can't succeed without taking! A united force is a far greater for them to overcome than a divided one!"

Maximus was slightly taken aback as Sullivan spewed out his ideas for a revised plan. He hadn't realised that his trainer was such an underhanded and sneaky tactian. He liked it.

((355))

Bret liked the idea at first, but pondered who all the people were that had a shot here. None of them were anywhere near Gym Leaders... for all he expected, the one going to the core could have a full team. He just had a move or two that could slow them down.

"Eh... So are they, gove. We don't know what those people are packing, Pokemon-wise. I'd say leave most of the powerhouses in the cockpit. He's gotta get there to get control. I do agree, though. The core and the cockpit are the two most important places."

He made a mental note about the use of water... the rest of her powers should be all well and good, though.

Clyde raised his eyebrows in surprise at so many protests to his plan. Had there truly been so many flaws...? He had thought he was just doing what was best for his city... "Yes...yes, I see your point, boy. The cockpit and failsafe should be our top priorities, considering they are linked with one another, and without access to one, they cannot have access to another. I am merely trying to cover the bare essentials, and the populace should not be left out of this equation completely."

Clyde held out his arms, signifying the entirety of the ship.

"If the young man and his followers managed to get to the masses without any interference, even if we did manage to stop him from taking the ship, it would be as if we won the battle, but lost the war. He could scare information, resources, and even new followers from a frightened city. And without anyone to stop him, he could succeed quite easily. No...no, someone must go down to make sure this does not happen. True, this may not be a position for the strongest of us to defend, but it must be done all the same."

Not to mention the damage done by several pokemon battles in one place would be catastrophic. As he was sure it was going to happen, Clyde was already prepared to pay off the damages in several areas of the ship. However, it could take weeks, perhaps even months to have the airship running at 100% again, and with an entire city waiting impatiently in the wings, it could be a very long wait, no matter how long they had to actually wait.

"I have another question for you all...who among you is the strongest?"

(WC: 293)
(+100 Money)

Sullivan wasn't entirely convinced. Sure if whoever this mysterious man took the main deck and made the people of the city fear him a little, he might be able to get information from they or a recruit a few but when his entire plan to take over the ship falls through then the people will see he is nothing to be feared. Still Sullivan wasn't going to argue the plan that Clyde had devised anymore, it seemed that the gym leader was set in his ways and wouldn't be derailed from his plan even though it had the biggest chance of failure. Sullivan curiously thought over the question that Clyde then asked. He was here with a bunch of people he'd never met before, how were any of them to know who was truly strongest. It would take an arrogant person to raise their hand and say it was them right now.

"I've barely been introduced to the rest of the group, I have no idea which of us would be classed as strongest. I've never had any real battle experience though so I wouldn't imagine it would be me. We've been training a lot for the day when we'd finally have to stand up and battle however. According to the pokedex, Maximus is level nine if that helps," Sullivan explained looking around the rest of the group to see how they reacted. Maximus puffed his chest out proudly as if to proclaim that he was the strongest, even though he knew it probably wasn't true. It was all about acting the toughest to him though.

"Out of curiosity," Sullivan began turning his gaze back to Clyde, "How exactly does this failsafe work? I mean surely it's not as simple as they walk in and press a button to unlock all the doors on the ship. I mean surely something as big as a failsafe that allows access to all areas of the ship would be far more secure than that right?"

((341))

(What happened to Rose's posts? o.O)

Bret pondered a few moments, trying to assess the group. Pausing for a moment, he looked over to Clyde.

"Guv, that's all relative. If yer lookin' for pure man power, I'd say the miss with the two Pokemon. Rosie's no slouch, but she's got lots to learn... not to mention she's my only Pokemon. Maybe if we scanned one another, we'd be in better shape. Hope you all don't mind."

Taking out his Pokedex, he scanned Rosie and his eyes widened slightly. He knew he had been training that morning when he first entered the ship, but had no idea how it effected Rosie. He had noticed she was a little heavier when he was running to the door... maybe that was why he was tired!

"Well I'll be! ... Rosie yer ranked at level 10! All that training seemed to pay off! Still, don't want you to overdo yourself."

"Each of my Pokemon are at level seven." said Nanao with a small smile. "Not too terribly strong, but there's two of them." Nanao assessed the newcomer, Sullivan. He seemed quite steady on the airship, as if he had born to fly. And maybe he had.. It wasn't impossible in this region.

"I'm not too sure what my Pokemon can do technique-wise, at least in a practical manner. Confusion might be useful if there were enemy grunts, but Arianna's never tried it on humans before. I'm not too sure she's powerful enough yet." Arianna frowned, but knew her trainer was right.

"Arwan knows Thunderwave.. but I can't think of a useful purpose for it, not on our side of the fight." She paused for a moment, then continued. "I'm fine being assigned anywhere, but we probably ought to organize quickly..."

Arwan's ear twitched as a clanging came from the distance. He slithered up the back of her leg, up her torso, and onto her shoulder. “Dratini.” he said quietly. “Shh..” said Nanao. Arianna's hearing wasn't as good as Arwan's but she could feel the mental unrest all over the ship. They were going to have to fix things, and quick.

(WC: 202)

Clyde turned to the boy who seemed more outspoken than the rest. At first, he was hesitant to disclose personal information about the inner mechanics of the ship. After all, it was in a city-wide crisis with the threat of an overtaking. His trust would have to be well-placed if he was to tell anyone anything about any part of the ship. However, if he was to trust anyone, it were the youth that were standing in front of him at the present moment.

"The Failsafe requires a DNA sample from the captain of the ship, namely me. The recommended sample is a strand of my hair." Clyde said, pulling at his long, white locks. "But Genecyx is not a fool. He wouldn't have even considered taking such a massive vessel without doing his research first. No doubt Genecyx is already aware of this, and has acquired the DNA sample necessary. We just need to stop him from getting that far."

Skarmory screeched briefly, extending its sword-like wings. A flash of scarlet could be seen, and it was gone as soon as it had appeared. Clyde reached out once again and stroked the metal feathers of the magnificent bird, which seemed to put it at ease.

Clyde faced the girl who had spoken up soon after the boy. "Two pokemon, you say? You may have strength in numbers. And paralyzation may be a vital tool in our efforts of a counterattack. You may be needed to help protect the Failsafe."