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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 22, 2014 16:24:35 GMT -5
Franz figured that the Blaziken wouldn't willingly give him her name. Which was a good indicator that she had something to hide, but not necessarily that she was a target of his. That, of course, didn't mean that he couldn't still attack her anyway. In fact, he was starting to think that there wouldn't be a downside to doing so. She couldn't be much tougher than Haru was, even without a type disadvantage, and having an extra point for insurance purposes wouldn't hurt. And it wasn't like he had better things to do; it'd kill some time he'd otherwise have to spend sitting around and waiting for the Lucario to wake up.
There was still the fact that he had to give some sort of explanation to the Blaziken. Was there anything he needed to hide? He supposed that it could potentially be a bad idea if he gave away the fact that he was specifically after participants from the old tournament, especially if the Blaziken turned out to be one of them. He decided to stay away from even lying about the agenda of the Dimensional Guard.
"Well, just because I'm in the Guard doesn't mean I don't have goals of my own," Franz answered. "I'm in this tournament to win, just like most everyone else. I recognized this Lucario from the old tournament, and he seems to be a magnet for all kinds of tough competitors. I figured if I hammered in the fact that he had no chance against me, he wouldn't even try to stop me from following him everywhere. He runs into the players that are actually a threat to me, and I take them out early before they can accumulate enough points to advance. I might even be able to force him to team up with me to do it. The only reason I haven't attacked you yet is, well..." He gave a confident, flirtatious smirk. "What can I say? I have a soft spot for beautiful, intelligent women."
Franz had to admit, he did admire the Blaziken's cleverness, but he had no intention of trying to win her over. He figured that this would be a perfectly valid excuse for an egotistical, powerful male such as himself. He didn't have much experience with females in general, but flattery couldn't be a bad way to keep them distracted, right?
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Willy
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Post by Willy on Jun 23, 2014 21:27:33 GMT -5
Deb quickly shrugged off the Floatzels comment. "Ha! Goals of your own. I don't buy it. You Dimensional Guard types have too much of a sense of duty to be worried about that. This whole tournament thing is the Creators doing and I KNOW you guys have a part to play in it. So the old tournament gets interrupted, and replaced with a new one by the creator. He clearly didn't like something that was going on there."
"So then I find you here beating up a Lucario, who as it turns out was a part of the old tournament. It seems a little convenient, doesn't it? The creator does away with the old tournament, and now you do away with an old tournament participant. Feels like the two incidents are connected, wouldn't you say?"
Deb continued to brace herself to move at a moments notice. She wasn't sure how this Floatzel would react, but she figured if she was even close to being right about what was going on here, she wasn't going to want to stick around too long.
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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 24, 2014 1:10:51 GMT -5
Franz's smirk faded as Deb spoke. Whether her findings were as a result of informed deduction, or simply putting two and two together, it was clear that she already had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and there was no way for Franz to hide it. Especially since he practically gave it away already, then tried to draw attention away from it with a half-baked flirting attempt. One which the Blaziken completely ignored. He felt a massive urge to facepalm at his own stupidity, but rather than make his embarrassment obvious, he settled with a longer-than-normal blink.
He stood up. "So what if that's true," he fired back, his tone shifting more towards a threatening one. "It's no skin off your back if the Guard eliminates the competition for you. Unless, of course, you ARE one of our targets." He started limbering his muscles again, in preparation for some more action. "Either way... you're just a little too nosy for your own good."
Franz was no longer in the mood to play games. Throwing both of his arms out, a potent liquid aura surrounded him. He kicked off of the ground, blasting off in a blindingly fast Aqua Jet attack headed straight for Deb. Whether this was the same Blaziken from the tournament or not, Franz had no problems with taking a point off of her.
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Willy
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Post by Willy on Jun 24, 2014 1:58:13 GMT -5
When she saw Franz preparing his Aqua Jet attack, an attack she knew well enough to watch out for, she reacted quickly. She leapt into the air, back up toward a ledge in the side of the cliff, narrowly escaping a hit that she probably wouldn't be able to recover from.
She couldn't leave Haru unconscious with that kind of power. Or even conscious. She had to get Haru out of there. Especially if the Dimensional Guard was hunting down participants in the old tournament. In that case, Haru might even be willing to cooperate with her if for no other reason than the fact that being together might make them a bigger target for the Guard.
"Woah there! Okay. You caught me. I'm Deb, the Blaziken from the tournament. But I promise you, if you attack me, I'm fast. Now that I have the high ground, I can leave, and you'll never see me again. And trust me, if that happens, you'll regret it."
Deb didn't have a choice. She was going to have to play this up, and good. She knew if Damon found out, he wouldn't be happy with what Deb was about to do, but screw him. Who knows where he is? Deb needed to turn the tides in her favor. Now.
"This guy, Haru? I understand he's been a thorn in the Guards side for a while now, but I've got a good amount of info on a MUCH bigger catch. I've been following him around for the last week, when he's been especially active. I'm an expert on him, and as far as I know, he's gotta be first on your list of people to take down. Taking Haru down is probably pretty big, but let's face it."
"He's no Vito Steele."
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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 24, 2014 2:45:58 GMT -5
Franz growled as he saw the Blaziken jump out from in front of his attack, leaving him to continue down the trail without a purpose. He flipped around and landed on his feet, sliding a few inches along the ground and ready to blast off again right away to keep his opponent on her toes, and also from getting away. He barely paid attention to what she was saying, other than to hear her finally reveal her name to be Deb, as well as flat out stating that she was in the tournament. As if Franz had any doubts. 'Well, good,' thought Franz. 'That's one less bogey I have to worry about...'
His thoughts came to a screeching halt as he heard another name. Vito Steele. This was a name he most certainly remembered. Out of all of the old contestants, this was the one that the Creator especially wanted dead. Again. Franz made sure to make a mental note of that name when he first heard it, so that he could prioritize him if he ever got wind of where he might be. And Deb was strongly hinting that she knew something about him. This could be Franz's ticket to the big leagues. If he could find and take down Vito, he would no doubt earn a special place in whatever served as the Creator's heart.
As much as the Blaziken annoyed him, he'd be more than willing to cooperate if it meant tracking the Dimension's Most Wanted.
Franz crossed his arms. "Okay, you've got me," he surrendered. "What do you know about Vito Steele, and what do I have to do to get that information from you?"
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Willy
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Post by Willy on Jun 25, 2014 0:02:53 GMT -5
"Oh, I'm not simply offering information. I'm offering my services as a tracker. It's simple. You see, I travel travel with you, offering up advice on how to find Vito, helping track him down, and in exchange you help Haru and I last in the tournament at least until the next round. It's a small price to pay, really. I'd usually charge you an arm and a leg for this kind of thing, but just for you? I can make an exception I think."
Deb knew she had Franz right where she wanted him. Damon wouldn't like it, but he sure wasn't close enough to do anything about it. Besides, as far as Deb knew, her contract only lasted through the Wish Festival. As far as Deb knew, this was a completely different Wish Festival. Which made her a free agent again.
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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 25, 2014 2:04:47 GMT -5
Franz's eyes widened with interest. The Blaziken was not offering information, but her services outright in helping him pursue the Weavile. The catch was that he would have to hold off on attacking either of them for the rest of the first round. This was a very interesting proposition. It did mean that he wouldn't get to eliminate either her or Haru right away, as he would have certainly enjoyed, but he could do that easily enough during the second round of the tournament. The sooner he could get Vito taken care of, the better.
"Just for me, eh?" Franz jokingly mocked. "Very well. Just know that if either of you so much as think about ditching me before we find him, I'll clobber you both into next week."
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Willy
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Post by Willy on Jun 25, 2014 2:32:53 GMT -5
Deb jumped down from her ledge, joining Franz on the ground. "Oh I don't think you have to worry about that." She looked down at Haru. She still couldn't believe she was doing this. She just hoped she could get Haru to cooperate long enough for this to work.
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Post by Digizel on Jun 25, 2014 3:08:28 GMT -5
"You WHAT!?" Haru exclaimed as loud as his voice would allow, almost scaring himself through his own sensitive hearing. If Haru had been expecting anything upon waking up after his vicious defeat at the paws of that Floatzel from before, it would have been him either being by himself in that canyon, being held captive in some kind of Dimensional Guard holding facility or in the Glitch Void itself. If there had been anything that Haru had NOT been expecting, it would be the Blaziken from the previous tournament, Deborah, having come down and volunteered him to start helping this Floatzel find the other competitors with her. And he wasn't even going to get anything out of it but a headache from being forced to travel with the Floatzel.
Haru glared furiously at Deborah. His fists were clenched as though he were ready to start another fight just like that. However, even he knew that he needed to hold himself back here; there would be no defeating Deb in his current condition anyway. "If you think for even a MOMENT that I'm helping one of the highest-ranked members of the Guard do ANYTHING, then you've got another thing coming!" He wasn't sure that he had ever felt this infuriated before. Who did this Blaziken think she was, promising one of his biggest enemies that he would accompany him and help them find other competitors!? "I'd rather get my tail beaten and kicked right out of this tournament before I did anything like that!"
Haru then shook his head, waving his arms horizontally or emphasis. "No way." he growled at the Blaziken before trying to shove his way past her and closer toward the way in which he'd originally come from. "You can forget it. Besides, I do NOT need help from the likes of him or you anyway!" He tried to press forward and take steps toward exiting the canyon...although he certainly didn't expect to get far without meeting some kind of resistance.
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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 25, 2014 3:34:51 GMT -5
Franz sighed. He had a feeling that Haru wouldn't take kindly to hearing about Franz's and Deb's agreement that they had made while he was unconscious. As soon as the Lucario started to walk away, Franz bolted after him on all fours with a Pursuit move. He wasn't aiming to do damage so much as stop him from walking away like he had any say in the matter, and he made sure of it by tackling him into the ground and keeping him pinned there.
"You know, Haru..." Franz began. "If you'd rather lose the tournament, that could be arranged. You should consider yourself lucky that Deb came along and offered us this little journey. I was originally planning on following your every move anyway, knowing that you couldn't do a thing to stop me from making your life a living hell. At least this way, you get the satisfaction of taking down some of your old rivals. But, if you'd REALLY rather go back to the old plan..."
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Willy
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Post by Willy on Jun 25, 2014 3:52:58 GMT -5
Deb walked over and looked down at Haru as he was pinned to the ground. "Yeah, I didn't think this guy would let you forget he can kind of kick your ass. I watched. It was embarrassing. Anyway, I think by now you might have figured out you aren't getting out of this one way or another. Basically, no matter what you were going to be helping this guy hunt people down. At least this way you get some perks, like specifically hunting down JUST Vito. JUST a guy you've probably wanted to have a good fight with since day one of the tournament. AND a free ticket to the next round. Considering your odds of that before I interfered were just about Zero, I'd say you owe me a thank you. No really, I'll wait."
The sooner Deb could get Haru on the same page, the sooner she could work on getting the two of them away from this Floatzel. In the meantime, at least they basically had a bodyguard in case things got tough. Plus Deb was pretty sure she had a good amount of control over the situation. It was a battle of wits and patience, and Haru didn't seem to want to help much with either of those from Deb's perspective.
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Post by Digizel on Jun 25, 2014 4:16:34 GMT -5
Just as he had expected, Haru felt a sudden, strong force slam into his back and throw him to the ground. But of all his rotten luck, it had to have been the Floatzel that got him down again. He felt very strong paws grab his arms and hold them to the ground while his face was pressed into the stone ground. He didn't even bother resisting at this point, though. He knew that there was no way he could possibly overpower this Floatzel. He simply laid there on the ground obediently, despite how much it killed him to not struggle his hardest. However, even he could not deny that the Floatzel had a very solid point. It would be pointless trying to complete the tournament on his own in his situation. The Floatzel would stick to him like glue and he could do nothing about it. The only way out of this would be to surrender completely and fall out of the tournament altogether. At first, the idea seemed appealing, but then he'd be right back to square one in his search for Odd Diamonds and he would be no better off. Plus, he'd lose the protection of the tournament rules if he stopped participating and the Floatzel could beat him and take him away all he wanted regardless.
But what really hurt Haru's pride was when Deb stepped over to his side, looking down at him and speaking in such a condescending manner. Or at least, that's how he perceived it. He couldn't help but flush slightly in embarrassment as she brought up his humiliating defeat at the Floatzel's paws. But his ears visibly twitched slightly when Deborah said one particular word. One word was all it took to get Haru to stop and seriously think about the proposition more carefully. "Vito" was clearly the magic word with Haru. Deb knew him all too well; Vito had been the one opponent out of the entire Wish Festival tournament that he had wanted to defeat the most.
All he could see from his position was the Blaziken's feet, but he tried to look up to the best of his abilities. "...Fine. I'll do it." he spat begrudgingly, completely ignoring Deb's last statement. "Just...get off me, you stupid rodent!" he added to Franz. He had spoken on instinct, however, and almost regretted his words immediately. Even he knew that it wasn't smart to simply flat-out insult somebody who virtually held your life in their hands. Regardless, he started struggling at last, trying to get the Floatzel to let him go at long last. Otherwise, he was still completely at the Floatzel's mercy.
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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 25, 2014 17:37:58 GMT -5
Upon hearing Haru's reluctant agreement, Franz was perfectly content with releasing him. He began to let up, but before he could get off of the Lucario completely... he had the nerve to insult the Pokemon that had so easily bested him not long before. Franz refused to let that one slide. He shoved his paw into the back of Haru's head, slamming his face into the ground. "Don't you dare talk to me like that!" he shouted. "Just because we're working together now doesn't mean I can't smack you around every now and then. As long as you make it to the next round, I can do anything I want to you. So if you value your sanity, you'll show your superiors some respect. Do I make myself clear?" He continued to hold the Lucario down in that most uncomfortable of positions, waiting for him to submit.
There was no such thing as excessive for Franz, considering in order to become as valued a member of the Guard as he was, he had to endure much the same thing as he was doing to Haru right now. He had heard rumors of some members being executed for so much as complaining about a higher-up under their breath. To finally be on top of a Lucario, giving him the same treatment he had been subjected to for month after grueling month... it was finally starting to pay off.
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Post by Digizel on Jun 25, 2014 18:32:41 GMT -5
Haru felt the Floatzel start to let up on him and he started to lift himself back up again...but that didn't last long as he felt Franz's paw slam down into the back of his head again, forcing his face into the stone once again. "NGHK!" he grunted, but said nothing more as the Floatzel started to speak. As expected, this was punishment for his impulsive insult. However, he certainly had not expected the Floatzel to take the insult so seriously. The shouting was definitely not something that he had expected. He listened to Franz's threat about "smacking him around" and soon realized that he was right. And as it had been established earlier, he couldn't even hold a candle to the kind of power that this Guard member had, so he would just have to more or less take it. "S-Superiors...!?" he growled up at Franz, not liking the sound of that one bit. He was tempted to say something more...but this time, he bit his lip and held it back. He was already helpless. The last thing he needed was to make the Floatzel think that he wasn't worth his time.
"...Fine." he grumbled back with clear hesitation. A thought popped into his head about potentially apologizing for his outburst to try to get himself out of this...but no. He may have to be somewhat submissive here, but he was not about to give this Floatzel the pleasure unless he made him do it. He wasn't some subservient dog. If the Floatzel wanted anything from him, he would have to be the one to bring it up; otherwise he was not going to do anything for anyone but himself.
He might have considered extending that to include the Blaziken as well since she had more than earned his respect during the tournament...but at the moment he was still frustrated with her for volunteering him for this.
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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 25, 2014 19:27:58 GMT -5
Franz didn't exactly expect an apology from him, but he was disappointed at the lack of one regardless. "Hmph," he voiced, making his disappointment clear, "That'll do for now. But don't expect to get off so easy in the future." He jumped off of Haru, casually brushing himself off as if nothing had ever happened. It'd be a long process, but if he could leave a lasting emotional scar on the Lucario... to inflict legitimate fear... to make him cower at Franz's mere gaze... then this tournament would be the last time the Creator would have to deal with Haru.
'WOW, Franz, just wow...' The voice of his former trainer echoed through his head as he became self-conscious of what he had just imagined. 'I trained you to be ruthless, but you're taking this WAY too seriously. In battle, anything goes, but there's no point in antagonizing anyone when the battle's over! Anyone who can give you a good battle is a good friend. You chose to be in the Guard, whatever you want, do what you gotta do, but don't lose track of your humanity... er, Pokemanity?'
Franz found himself growling slightly out loud. 'Shut up, Bob,' he fired back. 'You don't understand me. You never have. There are no friends in the wild. Only competition. All alliances are temporary. In the end, it's all about survival. And to survive, you have to show the competition who's boss. The battle... is NEVER over.'
Franz cleared his throat, eager to keep his mind away from his inner battles. "All right, now that that's settled..." he said, mainly to himself. "Are we going or what?"
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Willy
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Post by Willy on Jun 25, 2014 21:08:59 GMT -5
Deb nodded. She couldn't believe she had put herself in this position, but it was time to get busy.
"Right. Based on what I've seen of this area, I think we can agree it seems to be Flintan Canyon. Given our target, Vito, if we're going to find him, it'd be easiest if we could find witnesses. Anyone who has seen him. Our best bet would probably be to head to Jarikar City. If I know my geography, usually I'd be able to make that trip within 24 hours alone, but with other people it'll take longer. I'd bet we could do it in a day and a half if we take minimal breaks and keep up the pace as much as possible, but I don't think that's a good idea with this tournament going on if we're heading into such a well populated area.
"For all we know, Jarikar could be a warzone. It might be a bad idea altogether, but I think it'd be the most likely to get us leads. Anyone have any better ideas?" Deb looked at Franz, hoping he knew something she didn't. Then she realized that would be a bad thing given she was supposed to be the expert here. She then glanced at Haru. After that beating, she wouldn't be surprised if he actually decided to stay quiet for a while.
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Post by Digizel on Jun 25, 2014 21:27:35 GMT -5
Haru could easily hear Franz's disappointment in his grunt. However, all that did was cause him to smirk slightly and feel a little bit better about his situation. Such a tiny victory went a long way in his mind. He found a small amount of pleasure in the fact that the Floatzel wasn't getting exactly what he wanted. Franz's warning about him not getting it so easy next time echoed through him and chilled him slightly...but otherwise, he was somewhat satisfied. "I wouldn't want you taking it easy on me anyway." Haru muttered lowly as he slowly climbed back to his feet again. He was still sore from the beating Franz had given him, but otherwise he was fine.
Haru quickly crossed his arms as Deb went over her plan to find Vito. Good...this was the one thing he was going to get out of this little alliance: finding Vito so that he could beat that Weavile into the dirt at long last. At first, he had nothing to say. He didn't really want to say anything...especially not after being so thoroughly humiliated. But then he thought about it...and the more he helped, then the faster this whole thing could be over and done with.
"Hmph...if you think I'm going to be slowing you down, you've got another thing coming." Haru muttered, somewhat bitterly. "Don't underestimate me. I can get there just as quickly as you can, I'm sure." But then he actually shook his head, deciding to be more cooperative for once. "...All I know is that Vito likes to put himself on top. If there was a way he could get a lot of points quickly using those stupid clones of his, that would be what he would do I guess. Your idea is as good as anything I can think of."
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Post by Blahsadfeguie on Jun 25, 2014 23:19:06 GMT -5
Franz listened to Deb's overview of the plan, grumbling quietly to himself. He didn't need anyone else to tell him that Jarikar was a good place to start looking. He probably could have come up with that one on his own. But he had already agreed to help Deb and Haru, and although it wouldn't be entirely unexpected of him to back out on them, he knew that even he'd have a hard time bringing Vito down on his own. Franz nodded. "Yeah, Jarikar's our best bet for starters. Major cities were evacuated before the tournament began, but they're still full of contestants who don't know where else to go. Jarikar especially is a good place for someone like Vito to gain a bunch of points early on. It'd be a gauntlet, but I could see him going there at some point."
He gave the issue of the long travel time some thought. "We should be able to take as long of breaks as we need to on the way," he explained. "It's already against the rules to move the body of an unconscious Pokemon." While this was true, the rules didn't mention Pokemon who were intentionally sleeping; Franz, however, knew that the Creator and his judges would probably side in his favor when determining if something was illegal or not. "Not only that, but everyone knows the Creator organized this tournament, and nobody would dare risk ambushing a Lucario knowing that. At least, not unless they have something against the Dimensional Guard and are confident enough to take on three of us."
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