Pokemon Umbral Charlotte's Sidequest, Act I

[Astral Harmony]

Armored Bishoujo Says: "The previous RP thread is where you should continue to do all that intermission stuff. I have a few things to post there, too. Anyways, on with the show!"

Charlotte's Sidequest Act I: Mind Over Murder

A general meeting was called for the Watchmen. One thing they had to note was that the location for these meetings was getting larger and larger with nearly every major mission. One couldn't possibly imagine why...

"Honestly, I was a little scared for our new friends Donovan and Hyacinth. They sort of joined during a particularly ridiculous scuffle, didn't they?" Irene observed to no one in particular, winking at the Watchmen in general. "Fortunately, this time we have a less chaotic mission that would better help ease them into the kind of work us brave and/or stupid volunteer heroes of Honmyr tend to find ourselves in, although they've proven themselves more than capable thus far."

Irene picked up a nearby remote from the podium and tapped a button, activating a Powerpoint presentation. Ugh. "Don't worry, I'll make this brief, but only because we haven't had any time to conduct our own investigations. Our destination is Nanny Village, or, to be more specific, the ruins of Nanny Village. The silly name comes from the fact that Nanny Village's unofficial mayor was named 'the Nanny.'"

The slide showed a small map on the local area and several pictures of the place. It was something of a small town on a grassland, the kind you'd find just about anywhere outside the cities. Only the place was totally FUBAR. Just what the hell happened to it?

"Was this 'Nanny' person a good mayor?" Harliette asked without permission. "Couldn't've been with the village now in ruins, could it?"
"Something happened to the village," Irene shrugged mindlessly.
"What happened?"
"Oh, a little something-something called the Second Successionary War."
"Woof," Harliette coughed.

Irene turned off the presentation. Wait, it was only one slide? Why'd she bother, then?

"Nanny Village was a shoddy ol' bed 'n' breakfast for travelers between Fainas and Hiroshiho. It was sort of starting to develop into an impressive little trading post between merchants of the two major cities, and then Sakuya decided to be a real douche-queen and, to officially kick off the war, hit Nanny Village and several other small towns with overwhelming and unnecessarily brutal force."
Sakuya's brow furrowed. "Are you trying to piss me off, Irene?"
Irene folded her arms. "Well, I figured that since my mere existence pisses you off all the time anyways, it couldn't hurt to call you out on all the times you were a complete, immoral monster."

Sakuya jumped out of her seat and opened her mouth.

Irene's eyes became hostile. "We all hate the Prideguard these days, Kazetsubaki-sama, but at least during the two wars, they didn't murder unarmed innocents in cold blood and burn villages to the ground just to put fear in the hearts of their enemies."
Sakuya's jaw was clenched and her knuckles were white. Still, she begrudgingly sat back down.
Irene visibly relaxed. "Anyways, we've gotten completely off track here. Today's mission involves a dead horse that you badasses have beaten to death but apparently still won't stop being a nuisance. I am, of course, referring to our good friends, the Harbingers of Ascension."

Jeanette raised her hand. Irene shook her head. "As for the possibility of your daughter being present, Jeanette, I'd keep my hopes high but my expectations low. We honestly have very little intel to move on. We don't even have numbers, though it can be assumed at least thirty people are involved. My guess is they're trying to find some way to get back on their feet after the epic ass beating they sustained in Millenium House. If I was one of them, I would've begged the Police Force to cuff me. Faynoc was killed, Ginnungagap's destroyed, Gransrax is in pieces, the Chroma Fragment was a piece of shit, and they were attacked by a three-pronged trident composed of us, the Prideguard, and Adonova. To add the final straw that broke the Camerupt's back, Millenium House is a smoldering ruin. You'd think they'd go find an honest line of work after that massacre."
"Maybe that's what they actually did?" Rachel suggested.
"You could be right, and I want to believe that, but there's too much suspicious stuff going on. They're way out in the middle of nowhere where few people would notice them and they're wearing their Harbinger raimants. I'm fairly certain it's not about a bake sale."
"When do we leave?" Discord leaned forward in her chair, eager to hurt some people.
"A few hours before dawn tomorrow," Irene said. "We don't really gain anything by making a night operation out of it. I highly doubt they're prepared to recieve any considerable assault so there shouldn't be any snipers or anything waiting for us."
"Sounds fairly straightforward." Discord approved. She loved a good ol' fashioned head to head assault.

Irene nodded. "Right, that's it for the brief. We go in, we hit 'em with decisive force, and we let the Police Force make the arrests and do the interrogations for us. Simple as that. Any questions out of you all before I dismiss ya for the rest of the day? Bitches? Moans? Complaints? Private requests for a striptease?"
"I told you I was kidding," Rio groaned.
"Oh, you were only kidding?" Irene chuckled. "I guess that means I shouldn't take you seriously. Too bad. I was really in the mood, too."
"You wound me, Irene. You wound me."

[Aldurin]

Donovan was using his cell phone to search for satellite images of Nanny Village, hoping to get a better idea of the terrain. "Given that the town is in ruins, it's likely they'll be working underground, right? Is there anything notable about the geology there?" He hoped to understand the environment they would be in, but really he was just cleaning up on minor details as Irene covered what was a rather simple mission. He had a moment where he thought of requesting a strip tease for both laughs and to see if Irene would really do it, but decided against it.

[Astral Harmony]

"Just grasslands with few trees," Kurika said, surprising a few people. "A hill or two that you could piss over."
"You're familiar with the place, Kurika?" Irene asked the kickboxer.
"Back when I was a teenager, I was very poor," Kurika said. "The village has an underground area. I fought in prize fights in an arena down there just to be able to eat and sleep at the inn."

Some people looked at Irene. "What?" Irene asked.
"This underground area wasn't in your briefing," Harliette pointed out.
Irene scratched her head in embarrassment. "C'mon, sometimes there's stuff even I don't know."
"So that's where the weapons went," Silk mused. "Before the Second Successionary War ended, the Hiroshiho Empire traded some of its national products with the rest of Honmyr, but certain products were never, ever made available. Like our fine swords and armor."
"True that," Mirror said. "Love the empire or hate it, but no country has ever produced a finer blade."
"After the First Successionary War, there were some...malcontents who came to place riches over loyalty to the empire," Silk continued. "A black market came to exist where you could buy Hiroshiho goods that the empire normally would never sell."

"Bastards," Sakuya hissed.
"Yeah, but a combat arena too?" Shannon asked Kurika.
"People were bored," Kurika shrugged. "You can get to the underground area through the inn. There's a secret entrance in the janitor's closet that you can use to get down there."
"Do you think the Harbingers would know about it?" Harliette asked Irene.
"Depends on the Harbingers," Irene said after a bit of thought. "Faynoc recruited his makeshift army out of the castoffs of the world. The homeless, the prostitutes, the petty criminals, the orphans created both in war and peacetime, the drug addicts, and just about anyone down on their luck and looking for a solution to their mountains of problems. I say there's a fairly good chance one of them might know about that place. But we'll have to wait until we secure the town itself before we go checking down there."

"Some of us aren't exactly familiar with securing stuff," Harliette admitted. "What do we do?"
"It's pretty simple," Irene explained. "Snipers take an escort or two and go find some high points. Building roofs 'n' such. The rest of us form it up into small teams and go check out each individual building for hostiles. The Police Force detachment will hold the perimeter to make sure nobody escapes once we start tightening our grip on them. If the hostile response is controllable, we control it. If not, we withdraw and let the Destroyer units control it. That's the gist of it."
"I thought we were going to arrest them?" Lola wondered aloud.
"We'll try, but lethal force is authorized whenever lethal force is being used by the enemy," Irene advised. "Settling problems in a peaceful fashion is always preferable, but I'd rather have all of my agents return home alive than risk losing one who was trying to make an arrest."

[Dracorion]

Pierce listened to the briefing and everyone's questions afterward, making a mental note to ask Irene for a striptease later. Kurika explained about the underground fighting ring, and Irene explained how to properly secure the area.

"That's all well and good." Pierce piped up. "But we should assemble a team to tackle the underground area, shouldn't we? That's probably where the real action's going to be."

[Menarker]

Renny's face was a bit red at the thought of Irene offering a private striptease, as he absentmindly looked around to see if anyone was actually considering it, although all that did was made him catch some glimpses of some of the other ladies in the room and made him daydream for a second of them offering the same.

As Donovan asked his question though, Renny nodded slightly in approval. It was a good question. This mission was so simplistic that it bugged him that there was so little questions that he felt could be asked to clarify it.

Renny didn't say anything though. He himself didn't have any questions to ask quite at the moment. However he glanced toward Catherine with a knowing smile, given that the two of them agreed ahead of time to be partners for the next mission that came up.

[Menarker]

Renny nodded as he verbally affirmed,

"I think so too Pierce. The fact that we have little info about the composition of our opponent's forces means that we should try to minimize our team's weakpoints and try to be diverse in the types of attacks or pokemon we bring with us. As such, we should probably bring slayers, with the trainers we do end up bringing being ones with mixed pokemon types. Additionally, since we're going to be applying force on cult members who are not in possession of a permanent headquarters with defenses, we should probably expect to be fighting humans, whether they are trainers, slayers or pokebrids"

That last comment might have been super obvious at first glance, but given that the last few missions involved ruin pokemon exclusively and the one before that was mostly robots and non-humanoids, the distinction seemed important for Renny to make.

Renny then thought for a moment... "If I could make a suggestion based on this, for the main attack force should comprise mainly of the Kimonos" and he looked at Discord eagerly bloodthirsty face for a moment, possibly worried about whether he was making the right call... "and the Vorpal Frenzy members, Lucian and Discord. The Kimonos are a team with plenty of experience and they don't have elemental weaknesses we'd need to worry about being hit. I hear Discord has a high success rate when dealing with humanoid enemies and she also has a diverse pokemon team typing. Lucian has prior experience working alongside her if I recall correctly and also has a diverse pokemon team of his own."

Renny then took a moment to catch his breath before continuing.

"That said, this is just my suggestion based on the little information that we have available and it'll be up to the other Watchmen to determine their own choice of support partners. "

He then looked around slightly, having said his piece, wondering if it was well received. He himself wasn't actually following his own suggestion, but he had his own reason for choosing his partner, and it was just as true that the others will probably have their own reasons for choosing as they will.

-----------------------------


As the briefing for the mission for the next early morning ended, Renny went toward the Blaziken pokebrid and tapped him very lightly on the arm.
"That was a good question you asked there Donovan. I hope you're feeling alright since that last mission?"
Donovan turned around to Renny,
"Yeah, I'll be fine this time. I'll keep myself in check."
"I'm glad to hear that. So, what do you think of the job and of Honmyr so far?"
"Well, it's one of the more advanced regions I've been to, though it does give that 'crap painted in rainbow colors' vibe. This place isn't that far from turning upside-down. As for the job, well that's the first time I've had to fight a giant . . . that wasn't a legendary, was it? Well between that and the crazy radiation that you guys embrace so lovingly, I guess I won't end up bored."
Renny chuckled a bit. Donovan was a "painter" with words.

"I guess that's all true. And ruin pokemon aren't really pokemon in a convential sense. Krunder, among several others, are known as Ruin Generals. A full explanation would take quite a while, but several hundred years ago, this guy named Malcom Elliot injected humans with this sort of Primal DNA that resulted into the transformation of ruin pokemon. They generally do not seem to have any intelligence or emotion aside from killing. Unfortunate really. The Ruin general however seem to have the capability to maintain their mental capacity, although judging from what I heard of Lathiron, this might not be true for all of them. We are actually in a truce with a few of them. You know Twiloch, but there are many more as well and some of them are rogue. Those ones are the ones we have to hunt if they don't cooperate."
Renny then took a quick moment to let that sink in.
"As for the rage thing, given the immense danger of everything we faced so far, I'm generally accepted its existence fairly easily. But maybe one day when Honmyr isn't as upside as it is now, that may change... So, I know you're still new here, but have you have any idea of who you might choose as your mission partner?"
"Well since I hardly know anyone and you've already taken the initiative to organize the squad, I'll leave the decision to you. All I care for is that my partner is able to contribute and hold their own."
Renny nodded.
"Well, as far as the squad goes, the only organization I actually do is with the pokemon that the trainers bring into combat. The rest is basically making suggesting who might have the upper hand in a given context. But yeah, you might be best off having one of the Kimonos as your partner. They spent many long years as a their own squad in the demon realm. I'm pretty sure they will be most helpful. Do you have any questions or concerns that I could possibly help you with?"

Donovan paused, taking in the bizarre information of the Kimonos, "Well sure, I'm just not gonna ask any further since I realize that I'll just open an avalanche of explanation. I'm gonna be over at the equipment room if you need anything."
"I actually do have a question to ask, just out of curiousity. I was wondering why you decided to join PATCA?"
"Well I've been on tour of each of the regions, doing mercenary work here and there. I don't know if I've been looking for a home or answers, and it's something I don't really think about. For PATCA, out of the far too numerous warring factions in Homnyr, you guys seemed like the best bet."
He took a moment to think. "And I guess it's working out since I'm already finding some answers."
"Answers? What for?"
"Oh, not important right now. It's just a pile of long stories within a long story, explaining it would just keep us from the mission at hand. Well, good luck with leading the charge."
"Thank you. Best of luck to you too."

[Astral Harmony]

"And he's off," Irene said, impressed once again at her own Sortie Coordinator. "Although I don't expect him to make any kinds of decisions right at this moment. Lack on intel, y'see, but I'm already taking steps. We'll be meeting with callsign Pendulum at Nanny Village. I say we'll be meeting because he's too damn punctual for his own good. Hopefully, he'll have some intel we can choose to prepare for this underground area. If that's all, then you've got the rest of the day off. Don't stay up too late. Granted the trip will take a couple hours but the Rig isn't a comfortable place to catch some Z's."

--------*and the next day, at Nanny Village...*---------

"Huh," said Irene, standing with the rest of the group when they stopped in Nanny Village.

Nanny Village or, judging from the half-assed sign placed near the entrance, Matron Village wasn't in ruins. Granted, it wasn't extravagant or anything like that, but the scars of war were mysteriously absent. And it was populated. By normal looking people.
"Ma'am, how old was that picture exactly?" Lola asked the chief.
"Apparently too old," Harliette shrugged, then looked at Irene. "Orders?"

Irene looked around. "There's Pendulum, over by the town hall. Destroyers, take your positions at the perimeter. Snipers, get high."
"I didn't bring any weed, though," Calisto admitted.
Irene turned around and was like :0, but then she LOL'd. "I hate you, Calisto. Anyways, you Snipers grab an escort or two and try not to make it very obvious that you're positioning yourself to kill people the moment you get line of sight."

With the Destroyers and Snipers gone, Irene had the Police Force squads and the Rig and other PATCA vehicles back up to the Destroyer perimeter, then lead the way towards Pendulum.
"Ma'am, how old was that picture exactly?" Pendulum asked Irene as the Watchmen approached in that scary synthesized voice of his.
"You weren't at the briefing, Pendulum...were you?"
"No, I was just reading the subtitles from your dialogue over there."
Irene facepalmed slowly. Suddenly, this mission didn't seem viable anymore. "What the hell is going on here, anyways?"

"Well, for starters, you can stop with the subterfuge, or lack thereof," Pendulum explained. "They know PATCA's here."
"Who knows PATCA's here?"
"According to the village's matron, Maven Levandrake, the Harbinger remnants are working with Team Rocket and some others who she doesn't recognize," Pendulum indicated the town hall. "There's an underground area beneath the village, in case you didn't know, but the targets have been expanding it ever since they came here, which must have been shortly after Millenium House went supernova. Matron Levandrake believes it's some kind of recruiting station. She suggested I speak to one of their members, a Misa Gunlong, to find out more."
"Misa...Gunlong?" Irene asked, then keyed up her Inquiry Visor. "Daphne, could you have Hector come over here, please?"
After recieving the affirmative, Irene focused her attention on Pendulum. "Who's this Misa Gunlong?"

"The Matron says she's a Team Rocket member who manages the Gauntlet, a series of tests for interested recruits in that underground area I mentioned earlier. I wanted to take action and get her for you, but I didn't want to begin until you got here."
"Let's go in and see this Matron Levandrake," Irene said. "Pendulum, when Hector comes here...umm, big, tall guy, lotta muscles, Umbreon on his shoulder, wealth of curly chest hair, could you send him in, too?"
"Understood," Pendulum said, then looked at Renny. "You are Renny Tresserhorn, the Watchman Sortie Coordinator, correct? If we are to fight in the Gauntlet, I have been tasked to assist you in battle. I am Pendulum, squad captain of the Black Page Society. I'm looking forward to making a clean sweep with you."

Before they headed inside, Irene imparted some rather unnecessary information about the Levandrake Family. The youth were trained in many different subjects, then forced out of the house with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and wouldn't actually be allowed to call themselves a Levandrake until they made a name for themselves with their own talents and ambition. If a Levandrake was all the way out here, then that meant this Maven character either wasn't accepted back into the family yet or wasn't trying to return to the family. It wasn't particularly uncommon for Levandrake's to branch out on their own, and that may have been the intention for the whole 'trial of adulthood' in the end.
Maven Levandrake's information confirmed everything Pendulum said, though the Matron had plenty of other information to offer. "At first I thought this whole operation was being lead by Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket. They hold the majority force here in my village. But I heard from a few of them that there's this other person in charge who apparently scares the piss out of them," Maven was saying.
"So you just let a bunch of criminals and malcontents run on in and take over?" Lola cried out.
"Pay attention, dumbass," Harliette chided her half-sister. "These people ain't got cops or nobody protecting them. If the Rockets or any other organized crime syndicate come out here, what can these people do to defend themselves? Most of them ain't even got Pokeballs."
"Our deal was that if we let them have free reign of the inn and the Gauntlet below it, they'd more or less leave us alone," Maven nodded. "So far, they've honored their part of the deal, so we didn't do anything to agitate them like call the police. 'Sides, I can't imagine the police coming out here to help us unemployed, free-livin' lowlives."

Tsubasa took time off from her usual time-passing activity of leaning against things and relaxing to step forward. "What do any criminal organizations gain from basing a recruitment center way out here?"
"Well, in the beginning, which happened two months ago, it was just me and a handful of others, doing whatever needed to be done to survive when you have no money," Maven explained. "We found this place ruined, weathered, and beaten. Slowly but surely, we managed to fix it up out of anything we could gather. We even went as far as the Weapons Graveyard to forage for stuff. I think we did pretty well for ourselves, and I don't know how people are finding out about this place, but we've been getting more people coming here over the past week or so."
"Yep. Too damn old," Irene said, still talking about the picture. "I think I get the gist of it now. The Harbingers are here to see if they can recruit from anybody who comes here to reside."
"It doesn't explain why Team Rocket is here, though," Maven pointed out.
"No, but maybe that guy can," Irene said, looking towards the double doors. Standing there was Hector, Pendulum behind him.

Irene provided a place for Hector to sit and got started. "Hector, do you know a Misa Gunlong?"
"Yeah," Hector nodded. "Is she here?"
"Yeah, and did you know she works for Team Rocket?"
Hector blinked. "Only Team Rocket? You would think she'd be an Adonova member by now. She's an excellent fighter."
Irene scratched her head. "How do you know her, exactly?" she got curious.
"Well, we are married," Hector said.

*cue a shot of the town hall from the sky as a very loud "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" erupted outward, shaking the camera.*

"I didn't know Hector got married!" Shannon shouted.
"It's not anything special," Hector tried to play it off.
"Oh, do you have a kid yet?" Lola asked excitedly.
"No, our marriage wasn't like that," Hector held up his hands as though trying to ward himself from the Eevee girls.
"It might be how Team Rocket came to contact us about that Pokemon egg that turned out to be a Ruin Pokemon," Moon suggested.
"I didn't think about it that way, but maybe you're right," Hector realized.

Irene clapped her hands. "That's all to be discussed at a later time, please. Hector, I want to know what options this marriage of yours to Misa might provide."
"Options?"
She looked thoughtful. "Tell me about this marriage of yours," she said finally, feeling a little stupid.
"It's really not a big deal," Hector said. "Okay, I'm a blacksmith who likes making old medievil weapons for collectors and shit like that. Misa's a Hiroshiho girl who wanted international citizenship. We met on a dating site, and she piqued my interested so I came to Honmyr and we hatched a deal right then and there. She acquired a scroll that has detailed plans for forging katanas, and I marry her so she gets that citizenship. The plan went off without a hitch."
"When did this take place?"
"Twelve years ago, I think," Hector said. "I have to admit I didn't really accomplish much using the scroll I received. Twelve fuckin' years and I only ever produced one katana. I knew they'd be difficult to make, but I still wasn't prepared to do that kind of work."
"So Misa's been a member of Team Rocket for twelve years?" Shannon wondered aloud. "That's quite a commitment to evil."
"She told me she wanted to join Adonova when we were making that deal," Hector said. "But I guess it just hasn't worked out for her. I don't think Misa's on good terms with Team Rocket after having spent all this time working for them and not receiving that kind of promotion."

"Adonova isn't a promotion from Team Rocket," Irene said. "They're an entirely different organization. Don't quote me on this, but I don't think any of the current Adonova members even have any Team Rocket experience. Bezelain handpicked those badasses herself. But it looks like we may be able to talk to this Misa person, right?"
"We can give it a shot," Hector said. "She might even more cooperative than you think."
"Then that's the plan, and I want to get started immediately. Matron Levandrake, where is this Misa Gunlong? The inn?"
Maven nodded. "Yeah. Shouldn't have to worry about being discreet or anything like that. Misa's a very open minded girl and has been sort of protecting us townsfolk from desperate Harbingers."

Irene nodded towards Hector and they walked to the door. "I'm sorry, but can I get you all to stay here? Hector and I will go find and speak with Misa alone. Don't worry, I think we'll be just fine. And if luck continues to remain on our side, we should have some intel for Renny when we return."
With the two of them gone, Lola sought comfort with Harliette. "Do you think they'll be okay, Sis?"
"Don't call me that, and yes, they'll be fine. If shit hits the fan, I'm sure Irene will give us a signal."
"What signal?"
"Irene will probably smash half this town with a purple mushroom stamp."
Lola's brow furrowed. "What's a purple mushroom stamp?"
Harliette grinned. "Ask Renny to show you one someday. I'm sure he'll love to when we can find the time."

-----------*At the Inn...*-----------

Misa Gunlong held up an index finger to hush Irene and Hector while she finished writing up a document.

Irene observed that Misa was quite a bit younger than Hector, though the age difference wasn't as great as Pierce and herself. Misa possessed the fine features of a pureblooded Hiroshiho woman, and she had a great body only somewhat concealed by her midriff exposing Team Rocket uniform. To make herself appear even younger and cuter, Misa took the liberty of doing her raven-dark hair into two poofy ponytails.

Misa raised her elegant face. "Okay, names and-ah cool, it's you two."
Irene and Hector exchanged glances. "You...know who we are?"
"Well, since I wasn't born yesterday off a turnip truck, of course I would know the legendary and super hot Irene Crosswald," Misa marveled. "And you have my estranged husband in tow, looking hairy enough to be mistaken for a Mamoswine."
"Chest hair is the status symbol of real men!" Hector declared with overdramatic masculinity.
"Also the status symbol of me not enjoying sex the way I'm supposed to because your chest hair keeps tickling me half to death," Misa taunted him. "Don't you think so, Irene?"
"I dunno, but I prefer my men to be as shaven in those areas as I am," Irene admitted.
"I ain't tryin' t'hear this," Hector groaned. "Misa-san, Irene needs to ask you a bunch of questions."

"What, about the Gauntlet?" Misa guessed.
"Lot more than that, I'm afraid," Irene confessed. "But I'm willing to pay handsomely for all the information you can provide."
"Well, I'm not a greedy woman," Misa countered. "But it's better to have a lotta money than not, right? Ask away and let's see where this meeting takes us. Oh, wait, we should probably have this conversation somewhere else, yeah? Follow me."

In one of the bedrooms still inside the inn, Misa took a seat at a nearby chair while Hector grabbed some wall to lean on and Irene collapsed on the bed. "So, what'm I talkin' about first?" Misa offered.
"I guess I'd better start with what's most important," Irene fumbled through her thoughts. "You already know that we're here and we intend to go through the Gauntlet if that's what it takes to find out who's behind all of this and why. Buuuuuuuuuuut...what can you tell us about any of this beforehand?"
[/"A lot. Hang on, lemme get my thoughts together," Misa said, then leaned on her knees. "Okay, the Gauntlet is a single battle trial under various conditions that the challengers either have to conquer or just withstand for a little while. Pass the Gauntlet and you meet the ringleader."
"Who's this ringleader?"
"I've never met the person myself but I hear she's scary as fuck. She doesn't work for the Harbingers or us in Team Rocket, so I assume she's from another organization. Maybe the Prideguard? Oh, I don't fuckin' know."
"What do you know about our opponents in the Guantlet?"
"Well, I used to be the one who tested the challengers," Misa said, gesturing to what had to be one of the largest and most menacing sledgehammers Irene had even seen. "But some weird girls randomly showed up looking for an easy way to make a buck. I guess they were given a chance and then they were hired to be the guardians of the Gauntlet. So far, nobody's beaten 'em, I hear."
Irene nodded, but was more absorbed with something else. "You're that strong, Misa?" Irene asked her, pointing at the sledgehammer.
"I call it the Megaton Maul. Mr. Chest Hair forged it for me as a wedding gift. I've gotten really good at it."
Irene spared a glance to Hector. "You forged a sledgehammer for a woman as a wedding gift?"
"She asked me for it," Hector explained. "Even had specifications in her request."
"Woof," Irene said.

"I know that the Harbingers of Ascension are using this town and the Gauntlet to try and recruit more members for their organization."
"That's what they said, yeah." Misa concurred.
"What is Team Rocket trying to accomplish here?"
"Well, grab onto the bedposts so that you don't roll out of that bed laughing your ass at this retardedness but," Misa paused for effect. "Giovanni is convinced Bezelain's on her deathbed."
Irene thought about it a moment. "Does he have a learning disability? Anyways, please continue."
"Giovanni wants to actually try and absorb Adonova into Team Rocket," Misa continued. "Team Rocket's whole reason for being involved in this plan or being involved in Honmyr at all is just so that Giovanni can try to proove himself to dear old mommy."
"Would that work?" Hector asked Irene.
"There's about as much chance of that happening as the maker of this RP getting laid," Irene said, blowing outward for no special reason. "Adonova never belonged to or was a part of Team Rocket to begin with. Their only relation to each other was that Bezelain created both, but she eventually passed the inferior Team Rocket onto her son and headed Adonova herself. It's most likely that if Bezelain was going to retire or, god forbid, die anytime soon, Edelweiss the second-in-command would inherit it no matter how much Giovanni did to impress his mother. He might've had a chance a long time ago, but ever since his constant loses to that one Pokemon trainer named Red, he and Team Rocket has been regarded by Bezelain as a joke, except the punchline isn't funny in the slightest."
"Put simply, the fucktard is wasting his time here in Honmyr," Misa concluded.
"I think this is about everything we need as far as information is concerned," Irene said, not getting off the bed yet. "Actually, Misa, I have some other questions, but I would prefer we be alone for this. Hector, could you return to the town hall and tell Renny what you learned about the Gauntlet?"
"You got it," Hector said, leaving the room and closing the door behind me.
Irene sat up. "You've earned quite a bit of money, Mrs Gunlong. How would you like to try the lightning round?"

-------------*The Lightning Round*---------------

"Over two years ago, at the Skycrown National Bank southern branch on Rose Plume Street..."
Misa became serious. "Ah, that Ruin Pokemon incident."
"So you know about it?"
"You're an intelligent woman, Irene. Intelligent enough to have become a Pokemon professor if you really wanted."
"Thanks, but I prefer the battlefield. According to the Evil Eevee Eight sans one, they were actually hired to acquire the 'Pokemon egg' at a five-finger discount by Team Rocket."
"What a happy coincidence. Yes, I was the one who hired them on behalf of Team Rocket. Me and two other lowlives named Jessie and James."
"A happy coincidence, indeed. Here's the deal. You tell me everything that you know, which should be alot, and maybe I can speak to certain Adonova members about an extremely talented fighter who would love to work with them."
Irene was suddenly tackled into the bed by a Misa so overjoyed that her cheeks were decorated with blush stickers. "Really, really, really?!"
"I can't promise a positive answer from them, but I'll certainly talk to them for you," Irene said.
"Still, it means a lot to me that you said you'd try!" Misa exclaimed, finally prying herself from her glomp victim and sitting on the side of the bed. "But I never knew you and Bezelain to be particularly chummy."
"I could tell you a story. A really amazing story," Irene explained. "But I'd really like to hear about the Skycrown incident first."

------------*The Skycrown National Bank Incident*-----------

"Where to begin? Oh, yeah," Misa wracked her brain. "Okay, Pokemon R&D has grown to such a height that anything new or mysterious related to Pokemon instantly becomes a really big deal until a Pokemon professor has had a good, long look at it. Giovanni and Team Rocket are both hurting big time from this Red asshole's antics. Thusly and therefore, Giovanni is always looking for an edge. He wants rare Pokemon for his personal collection, and he wants powerful Pokemon to strengthen the Team Rocket organization as a whole."
"So Team Rocket coveted the mysterious Pokemon egg," Irene observed. "So why involve the Evil Eevee Eight?"
"Aw, c'mon, I thought you were super smart," Misa teased playfully. "Okay, Team Rocket is staffed with morons but occasionally they realize they need to be careful instead of flashy. If it was known that Team Rocket jacked the egg, there'd be a huge backlash and Team Rocket would probably have been destroyed by Interpol. So we needed a way to anonymously acquire the egg. Hence our little negotiation with the Evil Eevee Eight. Or seven, I guess it is now. Now, I don't know about Adonova, but we genuinely thought it was just an egg, and when we found out what it really was, which wasn't until after the incident, we decided to conduct our own investigation. I assume you already know, but the one who submitted the 'egg'...well, we were never able to find out who the hell it was."
"PATCA never investigated it ourselves," Irene admitted. "Because the incident was so isolated and because we had seven of the Evil Eevee Eight on our side as Probationary Agents, Rayleen learned what she could about it that way and left the rest of the investigation to the Police Force. We had a lot of bigger fish to fry. Anyways, once I was back in action, I took it upon myself to have total control of the investigation and I called the whole thing off. To put it bluntly, I know who did it."
"You wouldn't be willing to share this information with me, would you?" Misa asked kindly.
"Sorry, but no can do. It's a problem that will actually take care of itself in due time."
"Well, then I at least get information on this egg?" Misa asked. "Once the incident concluded, I was left in the dark about what happened. I know a Ruin Pokemon was involved and that someone from the group was killed, but I really don't know anything about this Ruin Pokemon."

"My guess is that the Pokemon egg being put into the bank was a method of 'controlled release' to test the functions of the Pokemon by the one who owns the Progenitor," Irene said. "The Ruin Pokemon delivered to the bank vault was called a Gendom. Ruin Pokemon Progenitors are stationary monsters. They can't move from where they...come to exist. So they use a type of Pokemon they created themselves called the Gendom to deploy troops into the field at very great distances, which helps the Progenitor stay safe and hidden. Currently, most Ruin Pokemon are remnants from an ancient war and swear loyalty to the Ruin Generals, but I dunno where these Progenitors come or who they really swear loyalty to. They're probably not loyal to anyone."
"You sure know a lot about Ruin Pokemon," Misa pouted.
"Thanks to the certain tool, I had a lot of warnings about this and that," Irene said. "Okay, time to settle up. Your information was very helpful, Misa, and I'll make sure to honor my side of our deal."
"Well, actually," Misa faltered, looking at the ceiling. "I'm...curious about something."
"I'm not...that...into girls," Irene said.
Misa facepalmed. "No, not that, you ignoramous! Could I perhaps ask you about what happened at the Devouring Catacombs?"
"You're talking about Bezelain and I, yes?"
Misa nodded.
Irene focused her gaze on the ceiling. "Well, let's see. I guess I should start at the very beginning. It was five years ago-"

There was a sudden knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Misa inquired.
"This is Charlotte," came the voice. "Is Misa Gunlong in there? I need to talk to her."
Even though Misa was closer to the door, Irene hauled herself out of bed and answered the door. "Charlotte, what's up?"
"Nothing yet," Charlotte said. "But I need to talk to that girl. And I might need to talk to you later, Irene."
Irene turned an inquisitive glance to Misa. "The Gauntlet isn't running yet," Misa said. "I don't mind talking to her if it's important. I'll stop by to inform you when it's ready to recieve the next challengers."

[Astral Harmony]

---------*Into the Gauntlet!*------------

Charlotte and several other agents were mysteriously absent when Misa, still clad in Team Rocket attire, arrived at the town hall. "The Gauntlet is ready," she declared. "I know this may not sound genuine coming from a Team Rocket member, but I do wish you the best of luck."

A small trip across the only street in the whole damn village and they were funneled, one after another, into a giant dome-like cage. The large door securely closed behind them. "They wouldn't let any of the other agents into the crowd to cheer us on," Shizuka observed.
"That Misa girl said that six women took over as the Gauntlet guardians," Takano said as they heard the large metal door on the other side of the room open. "Reminds me of that one group of girls in the Hungry World."
"Those girls? Oh, those girls were so funny!" Chizuru said happily.
"Believe me, Chizuru, you're the only one who thinks of them that way," Rio shrugged. "The rest of us just thought of them as a fucking annoyance."
Shizuka facepalmed.
"Is something wrong, Mizuno-sama?" Kiyomi asked with concern. "It's not a headache, is it?"
"Oh, it's a headache alright," Shizuka said, nodding towards their opponents. "Four of them, in fact."

"We are the Dere Darlings!"

"Suddenly, I feel an urge to commit seppuku," Shizuka said, drawing her daikatana.
"I am the leader of the Dere Darlings, Tsundere Red," a redheaded girl wearing a combination of black medievil armor, a royal red catsuit and had her forearms and hands incased in two sleek metal gauntlets that left the fingers exposed. "But it's not like I became the leader because I wanted to be so don't get the wrong idea! We could've chosen any of us to lead, got it?!"
"Ugh, Christ..." Shizuka sighed, face still buried in her free hand and weeping from deep inside her soul.
"I am Yandere Black," said a woman with platinum blonde hair, a gothic style maid dress, and an axe with an extremely large, gothic blade. "I won't forgive you for loving anyone else but me. Nor will I forgive anyone for loving you when you have me."
"See? They're funny," Chizuru pointed out.
"Your definition of 'funny' must differ wildly from mine," Kiyomi sighed.
"I am Dorodere Blue," the next opponent identified herself. She had shiny black hair and wore a blue trenchcoat over a black tank top and jeans and carried what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle. She didn't say anything else, but there was something about the way she stared at her opponents that unnerved them a little.
"I am Deredere Pink," a lovely blonde woman kindly waited for introduce herself last. She wore the latest in adorable fashion trends and kind of looked like a pop idol who belonged on the stage, singing about how wonderful love and friendship was. She hefted a minigun that was painted in the same pink and white that its wielder wore, and showcased a big poofy red bow in case it didn't look girly enough. "Do you...umm..." she faltered, blushing furiously and averting her gaze. "I'm just...looking forward to the time we spend together."

"Renny, I'll tell you how to fight them best," Shizuka advised. "Fortunately, it doesn't seem like all six of them are actually here, so they can't use their Union Technique, Kaleidostorm."
"Kuudere Green and Dandere Purple didn't want to participate this time," Tsundere Red explained. "It can't really be helped, given how cool Kuudere behaves and how shy Dandere is...b-but it's not like I need them to defeat you! I-it just would've been easier with Kaleidostorm, okay?!"

Oh, bloody hell.

-----------*Shizuka discusses the Dere Darlings*-----------

"So our trial in the Gauntlet is to take on four of the six Dere Darlings. The Dere Darlings are Overhumans like Dinner, but on a much less devastating scale. We should be able to defeat them."

* Name: Tsundere Red (Boss)
- Organization: Hungry World
- Group: Dere Darlings
- Type / Attribute: Fire (Type) / Human (Attribute)
- Statistics: HP 570 / Att 21 / Def 11 / SAtt 17 / SDef 9 / Spd 11
- Moves
Tsunknuckle ~ 1 Target, 35 Phys/Fighting, 30% Burn
Tsunderstorm ~ Radius 1 (3 Targets), 20 Spec/Electric, 20% Paralyze
Tsunwave ~ 1 Target, 50 Spec/Dragon, 50% SDef -1
Tsun Up! ~ Self, Att/Spd +1, Dragon/Electric/Fighting Pwr +50%, Limit 1
- Ability: Tsundere's Temper ~ 100% Att +1 or Acc +1 or Eva +1 or Crit +1 per Upkeep Phase.
- Signature Technique: Tsunassault ~ 1 Target, 70 Phys/Dragon, 100% Bleed

* Name: Yandere Black (Boss)
- Organization: Hungry World
- Group: Dere Darlings
- Type / Attribute: Dark (Type) / Human (Attribute)
- Statistics: HP 610 / Att 24 / Def 10 / SAtt 13 / SDef 7 / Spd 9
- Moves
Yansector ~ 1 Target, 50 Phys/Dark, 20% Death
Yangrudge ~ 1 Target, 30 Spec/Ghost, 100% Deathclock T/2
Yancleaver ~ Radius 1 (3 Targets), 15 Phys/Ground, 50% Acc -10%
Yan Up! ~ Self, Att +1, Crt +25%, Dark/Ghost/Ground Pwr +50%, Limit 1
- Ability: Yandere's Devotion ~ 3 Turn Deathlock upon victory.
- Signature Technique: Yanvoid ~ 1 Target, 80 Phys/Ghost, Deathlock Tx3

* Name: Dorodere Blue (Boss)
- Organization: Hungry World
- Group: Dere Darlings
- Type / Attribute: Water (Type) / Human (Attribute)
- Statistics: HP 530 / Att 22 / Def 13 / SAtt 19 / SDef 12 / Spd 14
- Moves
Doroshot ~ 1 Target, 40 Phys/Water, Sure Hit
Dorocannon ~ Radius 1 (3 Targets), 20 Phys/Steel, Bleed 25%
Dorobash ~ 1 Target, 50 Phys/Rock, 100% Def -1
Doro Up! ~ Self, Def +1, Acc +1, Eva +1, Rock/Steel/Water Pwr +50%, Limit 1
- Ability: Dorodere's Mystery ~ Negates highest damaging attack targeting her per turn.
- Signature Technique: Dorodervish ~ 1 Target, 70 Spec/Water, LockdownTx1

* Name: Deredere Pink (Boss)
- Organization: Hungry World
- Group: Dere Darlings
- Type / Attribute: Normal (Type) / Human (Attribute)
- Statistics: HP 540 / Att 23 / Def 12 / SAtt 21 / SDef 16 / Spd 10
- Moves
Derespray ~ 1 Target, 7 - 10 hits, 8 Phys/Normal
Derebloom ~ Radius 1 (3 Targets), 20 Phys/Grass, 25% Leech Seed
Deremone ~ 1 Target, 50 Spec/Psychic, 25% Domination
Dere Up! ~ 25% Regeneration, Def +1, SDef +1, Grass/Normal/Psychic Pwr +50%, Limit 1
- Ability: Dere's Passion ~ 10% Regeneration to Formation. Doesn't stack with Dere Up!
- Signature Technique: Dererose ~ 1 Ally, 50% Heal, 25% Regeneration, NegStat & Debuff Immunity

"Their entire team is dere!" Rio shouted with a thick russian accent.
Just then, a door outside the caged arena burst open. "Looks like Charlotte's on the move now," Shizuka said. "Little earlier than I think she's supposed to be but I think we're set here."

A Team Rocket Pokemon trainer and a Harbinger Pokebrid acolyte turned sharply towards the door. Heidi and Kurika rushed in. The Rocket member prepared to deploy Pokemon while the Harbinger was left mercilessly to the wrath of two very big, very muscular women.
"Ready, Heidi?!" Kurika called out, seizing the Harbinger with his left arm.
"Ready, Kurika! Let's hurt 'em!" Heidi shouted as she grasped the Harbinger's right leg.
"Union Technique!"
"Vixen Vicegrip!"
The results of this new Union Technique was...well, it can't be very healthy to be sandwiched between that much muscle from both sides, despite how beautiful the tanned, white haired Kurika and overall clad, blonde Heidi could be. That guy was going to be pretty busy trying to pull his arm and leg bones out of his rib cage to be much help.
"What sick man sends babies to fight me?" Heidi taunted in a thick russian accent.
"I think her impression was better," Discord noted.

Charlotte and Impact were right behind the two muscle girls, Bretton and Kirie after, Milsha and Hector bringing up the rear.
"Fuck the arrests," Charlotte declared, taking the safety off of the shotgun. "These assholes die. Period."
Impact defeated both of the enemy Pokemon with an expertly lobbed grenade. "Yeah, I do believe I'm supposed to be the leader here, Beaufort."
"Aw, let her have her fun, sir," Heidi suggested. "She's never asked for much."
Impact puzzled over it for a few seconds, then sighed. "Fine. It would be refreshing to just leave the orders to someone else and just kill things once in a while."

"Slash, this is Daphne," Daphne spoke to Renny through the Inquiry Visor. "I'm detecting devices equipped on two of the Dere Darlings comparable to Pokeballs but not quite the same. I advise caution."
"Alright, if you say so," Tsundere Red said, bringing Renny's focus back into the fight.
"What did Mother Condor say?" Dorodere asked her fellow Dere Darling.
"She said just let the Gauntlet proceed as planned," Tsundere Red shrugged, then turned back to Renny's team. "The rules of the Gauntlet are simple, boy: if you survive, whether by living through our assault or, ha, defeating us, you pass and the Gauntlet is finished. We'll be fighting for five turns. Just know that we're not the only opponents you have in this Gauntlet. The environment is going to be just as dangerous as we can be, I guarantee. I recommend finding ways to defend yourself more than trying to defeat us. Although you won't look very cool if you can't hurt us. B-b-but don't think I'm just telling you this 'cause I like you or anything! I mean, you're just a little kid so it's only normally to worry about accidentally hurting you so that's why I'm giving you advise! Don't get the wrong idea, okay?!"

...and deep down, Renny was probably hoping this battle would end after the first turn.

Armored Bishoujo: "Basically, this is a tutorial battle for the new system. We may not need the full five turns to figure shit out, and if everything gets fixed or ironed out before then, so much the better."

- BGM: "Devils Never Cry" ~ by Devil May Cry 3 OST
Initial Order Phase
- Catherine (Renny): HP 160 / Atk 11 / Def 14 / SpAtk 6 / SpDef 9 / Spd 10
- Dorodere Blue (Boss): HP 530 / Att 22 / Def 13 / SAtt 19 / SDef 12 / Spd 14
- Discord (Shock Trooper): HP 160 / Atk 9 / Def 12 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 5 / Spd 13
- Takano (Sniper): HP 160 / Atk 13 / Def 7 / SpAtk 7 / SpDef 10 / Spd 13
- Pierce (Main): HP 100 / Atk 12 / Def 8 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 8 / Spd 12
- Donovan (Main): HP 144 / Atk 14 / Def 5 / SpAtk 13 / SpDef 5 / Spd 12
- Hyacinth (Main): HP 176 / Atk 12 / Def 10 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 11 / Spd 12
- Marionata (Destroyer): Atk 15 / SpAtk 45 / Spd 12
- Renny (Main): HP 128 / Atk 12 / Def 8 / SpAtk 8 / SpDef 10 / Spd 11
- Shizuka (Pierce): HP 160 / Atk 11 / Def 14 / SpAtk 7 / SpDef 7 / Spd 11
- Tsundere Red (Boss): HP 570 / Att 21 / Def 11 / SAtt 17 / SDef 9 / Spd 11
- Matthias (Main): HP 128 / Atk 8 / Def 8 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 9 / Spd 10
- Deredere Pink (Boss): HP 540 / Att 23 / Def 12 / SAtt 21 / SDef 16 / Spd 10
- Mika (Matthias): HP 160 / Atk 4 / Def 7 / SpAtk 15 / SpDef 15 / Spd 9
- Lucian (Hyacinth): HP 160 / Atk 13 / Def 11 / SpAtk 9 / SpDef 8 / Spd 9
- Rio (Donovan): HP 160 / Atk 14 / Def 15 / SpAtk 5 / SpDef 7 / Spd 9
- Yandere Black (Boss): HP 610 / Att 24 / Def 10 / SAtt 13 / SDef 7 / Spd 9
- Kiyomi (Engineer): HP 160 / Atk 11 / Def 14 / SpAtk 6 / SpDef 11 / Spd 8
- Chizuru (Medic): HP 160 / Atk 8 / Def 15 / SpAtk 5 / SpDef 15 / Spd 7

Enemy Formation: [Deredere Pink] [Yandere Black] [Tsundere Red] [Dorobere Blue]

[Menarker]

---Just Prior to battle, entering Nanny Village---

The trip toward the village was rather uneventful. Renny looked at his team-mates back and forth as he pondered his many thoughts, but nothing occurred that made him gain any headway or distracted him. However, upon arrival, he was pleasantly surprised to see the ruins resurrected into a quaint but livable locale with people. Everything that need to be said though, the others said it before he needed to. Soon enough, Irene led what remained of the squad she splitted into groups toward the figured she named Pendulum. As he spoke in the synthesized voice to Irene, Renny studied his appearance with a certain measure of astonishment as if his unusual appearance clearly indictated that he performed a significant role. His statuesque frame completely covered in some fashion of dark black or green protective covering, including a hazmat mask and oversized boots, Renny wondered if he hadn't blown their cover just by his very blatantly obvious presence!

"Well, for starters, you can stop with the subterfuge, or lack thereof," Pendulum explained. "They know PATCA's here."

Renny's tried desperately to hide his expression which hit disbelief and bordered heavily on the temptation to facepalm just like Irene moments ago, as he listened to Irene and Pendulum's dialogue. Although he didn't dare mention a thing, especially given how he felt somewhat dwarfed in comparison. There was a certain degree of respect to be afforded to someone as imposing as him, especially one of Irene's peers.
Once Irene gave the orders to visit Matron Levendrake, Renny started walking along with the group before he was stopped in his steps...

"You are Renny Tresserhorn, the Watchman Sortie Coordinator, correct?"

Renny flinched in his step from the unexpected address as the others passed him by, the Gallade brid turning cleanly to look face to face with Pendulum (after craning his head up a little), whose hazmat visage was still hard to come to terms with.
"Yes, I'm Renny."

"If we are to fight in the Gauntlet, I have been tasked to assist you in battle. I am Pendulum, squad captain of the Black Page Society. I'm looking forward to making a clean sweep with you."

"There is that 'Black Page Society' again." Renny noted to himself mentally, as he has been increasingly paying more attention to the connected agencies of PATCA.
"Thank you, Pendulum. I'll try to do my part with your support."

Renny then hastened back to his position, listening in on the details regarding the Levandrakes and Misa, and her mildly suprising relationship with Hector. As Shannon succiently put it, her eager tendency toward evilness left him with a mildly bitter taste in his mouth, even under Maven's assertion that she was open-minded and assisted the townsfolk in what would otherwise be a bad situation. But he remained silent, sticking by Catherine as he waited for Irene and Hector to come back from their meeting with Misa. Hector did come back eventually and shared some details about the Gauntlet.

"Thanks Hector." Renny then addressed several of the group members. "Ok, they pretty much know we're here, but there is little reason to give them the chance to lead us into a trap or otherwise take advantage of us. So it might be a good idea to split up the group who aren't going to be part of this Gauntlet challenge, so that we can observe how things are operating both inside and outside the Gauntlet and keep their attention divided. As for how to do this, I'll leave it the details to Impact and Charlotte, given that they apparently will be part of this group."

Soon after, Misa showed up and gave some mild encouragement while sending them to the gauntlet. Renny just looked at Catherine for a moment and then the rest of the group he was with just to make sure everyone was ready. Eventually they were sealed in a caged dome with shut doors, which was unpleasant but somewhat expected. Renny stood on guard feeling prepared for combat.

"We are the Dere Darlings!"

But not that. He definately wasn't expecting the absurd crew of opponents that the Kimonos were bemoaning. They were... quite the cast of characters. As if they were collectively pooling their absurd quirks and tried to based their entire group and combat style based on it. They'd each would seem more intimidating individually than as a sentai squad parody.

"Renny, I'll tell you how to fight them best," Shizuka advised. "Fortunately, it doesn't seem like all six of them are actually here, so they can't use their Union Technique, Kaleidostorm."

"Oh, err, right."

"So our trial in the Gauntlet is to take on four of the six Dere Darlings. The Dere Darlings are Overhumans like Dinner, but on a much less devastating scale. We should be able to defeat them."

While Renny appreciated the input, he really had no idea of Dinner's actual statistics aside from the rumors of being completely over the top, so Renny merely nodded and read through the scan-results, even as the other agents caused a commotion.

"Slash, this is Daphne," Daphne spoke to Renny through the Inquiry Visor. "I'm detecting devices equipped on two of the Dere Darlings comparable to Pokeballs but not quite the same. I advise caution."

"Much appreciated. Thanks for telling me." He then directed to the group. "We should try to do this Gauntlet without using our pokemon." He glanced at Mika for a brief moment, her prior warning about their stolen pokemon strongly heeded.

"Daphne, can you pinpoint which of the Dere Darlings are holding these pokeballs? We should definately confiscate them afterwards."

Then the self-professed leader of the Dere Darling addressed the group, or rather, himself specifically.
"The rules of the Gauntlet are simple, boy: if you survive, whether by living through our assault or, ha, defeating us, you pass and the Gauntlet is finished. We'll be fighting for five turns. Just know that we're not the only opponents you have in this Gauntlet. The environment is going to be just as dangerous as we can be, I guarantee. I recommend finding ways to defend yourself more than trying to defeat us. Although you won't look very cool if you can't hurt us. B-b-but don't think I'm just telling you this 'cause I like you or anything! I mean, you're just a little kid so it's only normally to worry about accidentally hurting you so that's why I'm giving you advise! Don't get the wrong idea, okay?!"

For all the 'concern" that Tsundere Red expressed about hurting him, Renny just didn't feel any gratitude. In fact, he felt a little hot under the collar.

"I'm starting to really hate being constantly looked down on. Everyone, focus on them in the order of Pink, Black, Red and Blue as well as your attacks can manage. I'm quite sure we can take them!"


---------------------------------------------
Hyacinth's Post *Relm asked me to post it on her behalf*
---------------------------------------------

This gauntlet challenge was certainly something else, from what she knew it would get rid of a bunch of the problems that were being minor nusiances for the team, and for her part she could actually have something resmbling a challenge to fight against. Hyacinth was certainly looking forward to the fight. But after coming to the battlefield these people were... not what she expected. Disappointing would be an understatement.
Tsundere had no self confidence at all. Yandere was talking about love, what did love have to do with this? Sure there was the thrills of battle but that wasn't what she was talking about. Deredere seemed to think that we were on a picnic or a mountain flight for some reason rather than an actual battle. Dorodere didn't say anything at all, but judging from the others she might be comedic too. Least she isn't fool enough to open her mouth and make it apparent.
Hyacinth spread her wings and tilted her head to the side with a long sigh.
"You girls aren't even taking this seriously. Not to mention that I haven't heard a dozen sentences between all of you and I can already tell this is going to be silly." The dragoness shook her head and sat down. "Fine."

Arms stretching out with an exaggerated yawn before she pulled them back and curled her wings around her chest. Despite this she still spoke in a loud voice.
"Let me know when you want to really fight me. I'll be right here." And with that she closed her eyes, and let out something of a snoring noise. Whether she was egging them on, or actually catching a quick Z, is undiscernable. But her skin indeed did begin to glow in crack-like formations.

---------------------------------------------

Altered Stats and Speed ListAltered stats and speed list

- Catherine (Renny): HP 160 / Atk 11 / Def 14 / SpAtk 6 / SpDef 9 / Spd 10 *PRIORITY*

- Takano (Sniper): HP 160 / Atk 19 / Def 13 / SpAtk 13 / SpDef 16 / Spd 19

- Shizuka (Pierce): HP 160 / Atk 17 / Def 20 / SpAtk 13 / SpDef 13 / Spd 17

- Rio (Donovan): HP 160 / Atk 20 / Def 21 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 13 / Spd 15
(She has Attack of 26 with her enforcer ability)

- Mika (Matthias): HP 160 / Atk 10 / Def 13 / SpAtk 27 / SpDef 21 / Spd 15

- Kiyomi (Engineer): HP 160 / Atk 17 / Def 20 / SpAtk 12 / SpDef 17 / Spd 14

- Dorodere Blue (Boss) Water/Human: HP 530 / Att 22 / Def 13 / SAtt 19 / SDef 12 / Spd 14

- Chizuru (Medic): HP 160 / Atk 14 / Def 21 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 21 / Spd 13

- Discord (Shock Trooper): HP 160 / Atk 9 / Def 12 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 5 / Spd 13

- Pierce (Main): HP 192 / Atk 12 / Def 8 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 8 / Spd 12

- Donovan (Main): HP 144 / Atk 14 / Def 5 / SpAtk 13 / SpDef 5 / Spd 12
*Has attack of 20 due to Rio's enforcer ability*

- Hyacinth (Main): HP 176 / Atk 12 / Def 10 / SpAtk 11 / SpDef 11 / Spd 12

- Marionata (Destroyer): Atk 15 / SpAtk 45 / Spd 12

- Renny (Main): HP 128 / Atk 12 / Def 8 / SpAtk 8 / SpDef 10 / Spd 11

- Tsundere Red (Boss) Fire/Human: HP 570 / Att 21 / Def 11 / SAtt 17 / SDef 9 / Spd 11

- Matthias (Main): HP 160 / Atk 11 / Def 9 / SpAtk 20 / SpDef 9 / Spd 11

- Deredere Pink (Boss) Normal/Human: HP 540 / Att 23 / Def 12 / SAtt 21 / SDef 16 / Spd 10

- Lucian (Hyacinth): HP 160 / Atk 13 / Def 11 / SpAtk 9 / SpDef 8 / Spd 9

- Yandere Black (Boss) Dark/Human: HP 610 / Att 24 / Def 10 / SAtt 13 / SDef 7 / Spd 9

Formation
[Discord] [Chizuru] [Pierce/Shizuka] [Renny/Catherine] [Donovan/Rio] [Hyacinth/Lucian] [Matthias / Mika] [Kiyomi]
Outside formation: Marionatta, Takano

-------------------------------------------

Battle Progression
Battle Progression

It should be noted in advance that due to Lucian's presence in the party, female characters have a 50% of Lucian taking the hits for them (with damage being negated).

Additionally, no one has pokemon out, not even the shock trooper, in news of the suspicious pokeballs.

Catherine: Divided Wicked Hook. 2.0x STAB and 2.0x Super Effective.*First attack only costs 4 AP* Attacks twice due to this.
11 + 18 = 29.
Pink (12 Def) 17 * 1.5 * 2 * 2 = 102
Black (10 Def) 19 * 1.5 * 2 * 2 = 114
Done twice for a total of 204 (Pink) and 228 (Black) damage. Catherine's AP and rage is down to 0.
Puts Speed Edge Up on herself to better enable her accuracy. (Catherine's Speed Edge +1)

Rio: Divided Bitchslap. 1.5x STAB and 2.0x Super Effective.
Has +4 stages to attack stat due to her enforcer ability and Shizuka's ability for an attack stat total of 26.
26 + 18 = 44
Pink (12 Def) 32 * 1.5 * 1.5 * 2 = 144
Black (10 Def) 34 * 1.5 * 1.5 * 2 = 153

Shizuka: Divided Strange Bite. 2.0x Super Effective. *Need to find out if she gets STAB.*
+2 stages to all stats due to ability.
17 + 18 = 35
Pink (12 Def) 23 * 1.5 * 2 = 69 (It is 103 or 138 if STAB is 1.5x or 2x respectively)
Black (10 Def) 25 * 1.5 * 2 = 75 (It is 112 or 150 if STAB is 1.5x or 2x respectively)

Mika: RDPA Firestorm Radius1/3E . 1.5x STAB and 2.0x Super Effectiveness on two of the targets. Neutral on third. 100% burn/enflamed on Pink and Black? 50% on Red?
Mika is boosted by RDPA, her enforcer ability and by Shizuka's ability.
RDPA stats: Hitpoints 240, Atk 20, Def 23, Sp.Atk 37, Sp.Def 31, Speed 25
37 + 10 = 47
Pink (16 Sp.Def) 31 * 1.5 * 1.5 * 2 = 139
Black (7 Sp.Def) 40 * 1.5 * 1.5 * 2 = 180
Red (9 Sp.Def) 38 * 1.5 * 1.5 = 85
*Need to confirm that RDPAs can use STAB*

By this point, Pink and Black should be knocked out theoritically. If not, all attacks should be directed in order of "Pink, Black, Red, Blue"

Takano: "You're Not Worthy" (3 attacks). All three being Absolute Arrow. No STAB or Super effectiveness. 50% chance each of them hitting an adjacent enemy and 50% chance of crit. Astral type and thus cannot miss or be block.
+2 stages due to Shizuka's ability
19 + 18 = 37.
37 - Enemy Defense. Multiply by 1.5x (There are three of these hits)
Focus fire on targets with priority being Pink, Black, Red, Blue.

Kiyomi: Gatling Stab. 1.5x STAB, 100% Bleed and -2 Def and Sp.Def debuff.
+2 stages due to Shizuka's ability
17 + 3 = 20
20 - Enemy Defense. Multiply that by 1.5 for STAB and then multiply that by a random number from 11 to 15 (the number of times Kiyomi stabs the foe).

Blue attacks at this point. If she manages to KO anyone or render someone unable to attack, this might change a bit of the battle plan below...

Chizuru: Divided Shadowy Damsel. 2.0x Super effective to any of the targets.
+2 stages due to Shizuka's ability
14 + 18 = 32.
32 - Enemy Defense. Multiply result by 3 (1.5x * 2.0)

Discord: Divided Snake Venom. 1.5x STAB, 2.0x Super Effective, 1.5x multiplier for being particularly homocidal (her ability).
11+ 18 = 29
29 - Enemy Sp.Defense. Multiply result by 4.5 (1.5 * 2 * 1.5) Done to two of the dere girls.

Pierce: Attack with Dragon Slave. 2.0x Super effective. (Note he starts with an extra rage point due to held accessory Exponential Fury) His slayer attacks is upgraded in power. (24 instead of default 18)
Pierce is currently wearing Dragon, Fighting and Steel armor.
Due to his ability "Defiance", whenever Pierce (or any of his pokemon) reaches 1/3 of their HP, that one's damage increases by 25%. This boost is negated when their HP rises above 1/3.
12 + 24 = 36
36 - Enemy Defense. Multiply the result by 2.

Donovan: Internal Pokebrid action Fighting Type (self, +1 crit) Rage Rockets, P-Shifts (Blaziken form), and activates Stamina Boost to attack twice, both with Divided Doubled Kick. 1.5x STAB. If it hit Pink or Black, 2.0x Super Effective.
15 rage - 4 for P-shift, minus 10 for two divided attacks. Stamina Boost accessory loses its charge. Donovan has 1 rage left.
Donovan has +2 stage boost to Attack due to his enforcer ability with Rio. Making it 20 attack before P-shift.
Donovan is wearing Water, Ground and Rock armor. Also wearing Expert Belt.
P-Shifted Stats: HP 144 / Atk 40 / Def 10 / SpAtk 26 / SpDef 10 / Spd 24
40 + 4 = 44.
44 - Enemy Defense. Multiply by 1.5 * 1.5. Also multiply by 3.6 (Super Effective and Expert Belt) if attacks hit pink or black. Do this damage twice per foe since it is a two hit attack. (Check for crits each time) Total of four hits, two for each of the two girls hit.

Hyacinth: Shell Smashes 3 times. Debuffs both defense stats by three stages and max out her speed and both her attack stats.
Due to her upgrade "Unparalleled Expertise", her AP costs for these is only 4 each, not 6.
"Unparalleled Expertise: Hyacinth can raise or lower the BP of a move by 4 by raising/lowering the AP cost of that move by 1, up to 2 times per attack (BP change only applies to the first attack of a multi-hit attack)."
Her armors are Water, Electric, Dragon, Ice, and Ghost.

Marionatta: Kinetic Lance *Four times!* 2.0x Super Effective. *DO NOT TARGET BLACK*
45 + 15 = 60
60 - Enemy Sp.Defense then multiply the result by 3 (1.5 * 2) Attacks four times. Focus fire on the same target until defeated and move onto the next one. (BUT NOT BLACK)

Renny: Saving up rage and AP on the off-chance something unexpected happens which prolongs the battle. Uses Internal Pokebrid Action Fighting Type to raise Crit by +1. (Crit value is now at 33% due to held items, 50% if he uses improved crit moves)

Red would attack by this point if she is still active. Fairly unlikely though.

Matthias: Porygon Z form. Divided Hyper Beam. 1.5x STAB.
Matthias gains +2 stages in Sp.Attack due to Mika's enforcer ability. Also gains 50% chance of special attack immunity and 100% status counter.
20 + 15 = 35
35 - Enemy Sp.Def. Multiply result by 1.5 for STAB. (Hits two adjacent foes)
Matthias has an extra 2 rage point per turn (Including this turn) due to his upgrade.
All his forms has the ability "Compound Eyes" for increased accuracy.

Pink would attack by this point if she is still active, which is extremely unlikely.

Lucian: Divided Blister Buckshot. 2.0x Super Effective
9 + 18 = 27
27 - Enemy Sp.Defense. Multiply result by 2. Hits two of the girls. If only one girl remains by this point, make it a plain Blister Buckshot, not divided.

Black would attack by this point if she is still active which is extremely unlikely.

[Aldurin]

Donovan found himself speechless for a moment, but then he finally managed to get find his thoughts again. "Hey Pierce."
"Yeah?" Pierce replied, as he tried to stifle chuckles at the absurdity of their opponents.
"Why haven't you guys burned this continent? Seriously?"
"It would defeat the point. Besides, these girls come from the Hungry World. What you want to burn is a whole different continent."
"Well let's just burn both to be sure after this is all over."
"I dunno, I'm not really into burning continents. It'd be a shame to kill so many women... and, you know, other people too." He said with a mischievous smile, knowing Shizuka could hear everything.
"Well we can put the women and . . . other people into a fireproof room when we get around to the burning. Little details we'll work out after we deal with . . . whatever the hell these chicks are."

(The following part happens on Donovan's move, assuming he's not KO'ed at that point.)

Donovan held the rage rocket in his hand, victim to a split second of hesitation.
So much pain and memories, ready to come back through the point of a syringe whenever I choose.
He glanced toward his comrades as they were fighting.
But Ricewood said such power was necessary for PATCA this whole time, and everyone else can stay in control under its influence.
A quick glance at the rage rocket again. He almost coveted the power it contained, power which could have prevented so many past regrets.
He pulled the protective cover off of the syringe.
I still need to understand . . .
The syringe went into his arm.
. . . what do I have that allowed me to use this power beyond the Rezonscape?
The fluid rapidly emptied from the rage rocket's chamber.
And I can't understand that until I can control this.
He withdrew the empty syringe, his vision gaining a slight red tint around the combatants, not as severe as on the beach.
Besides, I really don't want to tolerate these bimbos.
His inquiry visor had already priority-marked the most vulnerable Dere Darlings with recommended attack types based on his Blaziken form, and in an instant he rushed the top two on the list, instantly feeling stronger and faster from the paradigm shift he was barely aware of. The moment he got into range he sprung onto his hands and landed two passes of Double Kick on them that would make a Hitmontop jealous.