DarkLight

I thought it was too late too... Oh well, safety in numbers.

Henry is going to be pissed~

After Chim's post, it was obvious that they needed to move. So, yeah, Avis will be the messenger of death.

Avis analyzed Henry's movements as he pointed to her master and something on the ground. The Murkrow looked down below her to find a sizeable hole in the ground and, as she was still trying to comprehend what he was suggesting, she saw Evan diving into the said hole. Avis quickly flew back to Danielle to report her findings, remaining silent all the while. "What's up, Avis?" Danielle asked her bird, who quickly covered her mouth to keep it down. The Murkrow then pointed to the huge dent in the ground nearby before flying over to it. Avis then waved the others with her wing furiously, suggesting that they should follow at once. Danielle was about to protest about the poor view that the hole will offer before a Dragon Pulse zoomed by her right side. 'Okay, nevermind. That's definitely a much better idea than getting myself blown into bits.' As silently as she could, she crawled towards the hole while notifying the others about it (by pointing to her Murkrow) on the way there. Once the guys are notified, Avis hopped into the ground patch and took her place besides Evan to enjoy the brawl.

Very true on the last point. I'm sure Chim will come up with something that will surprise us, regardless.

Danielle remained silent all the while as the group made their way to Salamence and Hydreigon. Since Jacob seems to be returning to his old self when she isn't speaking, she might as well enjoy it while it still lasts. Once they reached the battle ground, they found that the Salamence had pummeled the Hydreigon, sending up a cloud of dust that obscured their view. "Guys, hide behind something. I don't think it's safe to go any closer." she recommended her group. Danielle quickly found herself a nearby tree to lay low; it was close enough to observe the battle while keeping herself safe from any stray attacks (or so she thought). No thanks to the dust, however, she didn't notice that Evan and Henry were very close by. ----------------- Avis, on the other hand, was observing the scene from a nearby tree branch until she heard Danielle speak. The dust cloud was forming over the two boys and the Vulpix, obscuring them from the view of the dragons. Realizing the perfect opportunity for them to escape, she flew over to Henry, Zuko and Evan to get them to move over to where Danielle and the guys are.

I don't think Danielle ended up on Devin's "nice" list after what she pulled.

Flygon

Trapinch

Thank you Sarge! Much appreciated! I had fun writing it. EDIT: I didn't realize it was you until I posted, Stratos ><

Torkoal

Artemis feigned an expression of terror, putting her wings in front of her face as an added effect. "Oh no! Whatever shall we do?" She then turned to Mac, loosing her comical expression. "Actually, we do we have a choice. For one thing," Artemis pulled out her badge and showed it to Torrent. "If you could read correctly, it clearly says "Seacrest Exploration Castle." I don't believe it ever says "Rescue" in it anywhere. Do you? If you want us to go and help you find your friends, that would qualify as a rescue mission, which is out of our league. Second, those two fellow members are only a part of Seacrest, not a part of my future team in Seacrest. So, the responsibility should fall on you to help them, not us. You, Torrent, were with them last, after all. So, even if you do complain to Lady Mira about us not helping you, it doesn't give you an excuse to slack off and blame it on us. You have more resources than us to give you an advantage in the cave, while we really don't." She gestured to the bag that Mac had (thankfully) took off of her talons. "And talking about slacking off," Artemis then stood up to her full height, puffing out her cloud feathers, "I would also dread to have to tell Lady Mira that her aspiring rookie is being a lazy pain in the butt who is blackmailing her new recruits just to get what he wants. How do you think she will look at you then? After all, a lazy Pokemon means working as little as possible. And working as little as possible means little to no money, and you know as well as I do that she loves money, right?" The Swablu then went back to her natural size before pointing out the last flaw. "Finally, your disgusting attitude is what made me and my teammates here decline to help you. You didn't even thank me or my friends for giving you a Reviver Seed back there. Instead, you went prancing around screaming bloody murder because we refused to help a lazy Pokemon such as yourself. I would just go back to the castle and risk being scolded by Lady Mira then. Of course..." she turned to Otto, whom she noticed had a smirk on his face before, "If one of my teammates has other thoughts, I will be willing to listen," she gave a wink to Otto.

As the wind from the mighty Salamence's wings died down, Danielle could only hold her breath as it soared through the skies. It seemed to be going left, as if it already spotted the Hydreigon from a distance. She could hear Kenny and Jacob beckoning her and the others to follow as they sped off in the same direction. "Looks like that helped him, isn't that right Avis?" she whispered as she began to run after them too. Her Murkrow gave a cry of glee before the bird, herself, took off to follow the Salamence in the air. Danielle chuckled before quickening her pace; she eventually caught up to the guys. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Thanks for helping us find the dragon, Kenny! Now let's see what it has in store for us!" she said excitedly.

I decided to let Jory deliver the message, since Danielle only heard bits and pieces of the message. It's also her way of trying to get Jacob back to normal. EDIT: Right on cue, Jory! Let's go save Shiro, Henry and Evan!

After following Kenny and his team for several minutes, a huge silhouette began to appear in front of them. Upon closer inspection, the dark shape turned out to be a Salamence that is lying on the grass. It seemed to be very content; it wasn't even bothered by the neck-piece that it is wearing. As the group stepped closer to it, the huge dragon raised its head to face them; its curiosity was evident in the way it looked at each of them. Danielle smiled at the huge flying dragon before she went over to pet it; the dragon seemed pleased. "Hi there, Salamence. It's nice to meet you," Danielle greeted the gentle giant. "We need to give you a message from Professor Cadmus. It has to do with a Hydreigon... Jacob could tell you more about it. He was the one that Professor Cadmus entrusted the message to." With that, the Salamence was instantly on high alert. It turned to face Jacob, awaiting the message. Danielle also stepped aside, giving Jacob a full view of the majestic dragon. 'Hopefully, Salamence can help him recover, too.'

Chimchain, can the Haxorus group just go and deliver the message or does Salamence to have to respond to us approaching him first?

Because you love torturing us. Danielle made it to Kenny, so once K_H can make a post, we can speed off and get that mega Salamence to save Shiro.

'This is going to be awkward for a while.' Danielle thought as Jacob motioned for her to go forward. Without a word, she brushed past the bushes and leaves and followed her Murkrow. Danielle walked slowly towards them so that she wouldn't spook the Druddigon family. 'Hopefully they are not as territorial as a female Haxorus would be with her kids.' Once in the clearing, she also saw Robert and James observing the dragons nearby. She would love to stay and examine the Druddigon, too, but Devin's task comes first. "Hey guys! Has anybody seen a Salamence nearby? Professor Cadmus told Jacob and me to find it as soon as possible. We need to deliver a message about a Hydreigon or something."

Swalot

Danielle stopped beside Jacob and Teo quietly to see what is happening. Her eyes widen as she saw what appears to be a little family of Druddigon that seemed to be playing with a guy and his Pokemon. "Hey, isn't that Kenny and Zorro?" she asked to no one in particular. Avis crowed a confirmation and flew off to join them. "Avis, wait up!" Danielle called after her Murkrow. "I guess it's safe to go since Kenny is around... Jacob, let's go. Maybe he also knows where Salamence is." She waited for him to respond before she headed off on her own.

"J-Jacob?" Danielle began through her tears. When she looked into Jacob's eyes, however, she only saw... emptiness; the fire that she once knew was gone. She quickly lowered her eyes back into her hands to wipe her tears. The heartbreaker sighed heavily into her hands before she dared herself to look back at her best friend. "Y-Yes, l-let's go. Professor Cadmus is counting us to find S-Salamence as soon as possible," she finally answered. Without another word, she began walking silently; eventually she fell a few steps behind to consult her Murkrow. "Avis," Danielle asked hesitantly, "Was that the right thing to do? I'm afraid I broke him... And whatever we had..." Her black bird didn't respond at first as she stared into Jacob's back. Like Teo and Jacob, she was also surprised at his reaction to the rejection. Danielle's past admirers would either pretend to brush it off (and be sad and cry about it for a week or two), demand an explanation from her master or persuade her to give him a chance. Avis has not seen anybody retreating into his own world like Jacob is doing now. A stroke from Danielle's finger jolted Avis back from her thoughts. As she looked at her master's worried expression, it brought back memories of the hospital bed after falling for the elders' dirty trick. 10 year old Danielle had that same look of fear and concern whenever Avis tried to move around. Avis would always try to make Danielle laugh and smile so that she wouldn't worry so much. Since that worked before, Avis gave a soft "Murkrow" and gave brushed her face with her wing. She ended with a nudge with her head before trying to snuggle underneath her head. Seeing Avis' support made Danielle smile just a little. "You're right. Everyone has a different way of handling rejection; Jacob's happens to be locking up. We just have to give him some time and space to heal. And if I know Jacob, he will be okay, I know he will."

Danielle nodded and ran up so that she and Jacob were walking side by side. She could hear her heart racing from her nerves, just like how she refused other boys back at home, but this instance was worse. Danielle then felt a slight nudge from Avis' wing on the side of her face as encouragement; there is no turning back, the sooner this is explained, the better this will be for the both of them. The coordinator took a deep breath, steadying her thoughts and mind. "What I said back there still stands. I am truly, terribly sorry for the pain I must have put you through. You are my best friend, you helped me get over my fears, you helped me improve my battling skills, and so much more... But I still see you as a friend and nothing more. You are probably wondering "why him?", which is very reasonable. The problem is... I don't know. Like you... And probably everyone else that noticed, I have been asking myself that too. It totally makes no sense." Danielle sighed despondently. She was also playing around with those glove straps, as she unconsciously does whenever she is nervous. "I know you are much smarter than he will probably ever be, more hard-working than his happy-go-luck self, more perceptive and kind and everything, but I still feel... happier when I am with him. Everything seems okay when he's there... I felt like I was Avis flying in the sky (at that the Murkrow gave her a strange look)... Okay, maybe not Avis, but... I was on cloud nine, you know? Well, of course you do... That was probably how you felt when you're with me," Danielle paused, looking at Jacob straight into his eyes. She bit her lip, fighting back the tears as she delivered the final blow. "I'm really touched by your feelings towards me, but I always saw you as a friend... And we always will be, no matter what path we will choose in the future. I-I'm sorry, Jacob. Forgive m-me." She finally broke down and cried softly behind her hands.

You could do that... Hydreigon is blind, not death. Then again, knowing why we need to find Salamence, that plan wouldn't flyEDIT: Maybe it will distract it for a little bit?

That's why I am waiting for Jory~

She as straight as she could be already if you know what I mean. @Commander: I guess Hydreigon doesn't like berries? (Maybe Evan has some?)