Hiatus?
Haven't had an awful lot of time for art recently and the eclipse changes are just so cognitively draining it's not fun to use the site anymore. Not really sure where i'll be uploading cause i also have the same issues with instagram, but places i'm at that i still use:
Abscond/Abduct
2632 words | 13 levels total
Pokedollars earned | 600
7 levels for Acroma
6 levels for Robo-chu
Achroma learned Confuse Ray
Robo-chu learned Thunder Wave
+1 friendship point for both
Laboratory
It had been a while since a senior member of Zephyr had issued a mission to the scientist and he had comfortably adjusted the routine weeks of laboratory work with no interruption. The team had acquired additional funds and that money had been budgeted towards a few of the genetic and shadow processing labs, his included; increasing the capacity, team and improving some of the outdated and damaged equipment. Gael had just finished the morning team minutes and dismissed everyone to continue their work, his robotic-Pichu sitting poised on his shoulder its larger eyes keeping watch of everyone in the room, his eyes then lowered to the clipboard in his master’s hands which he was promptly signing off. “Achroma.” He called, raising his voice just enough for the sound to travel into his office where a few of his pokémon were resting or preparing for work. Within seconds the large bat extended her wings and shot off from the railing she was perched on, flapping over to where she heard her trainer. The other scientists watched cautiously always concerned she would clip her wings against some of the equipment due to her blindness. “File this away please.” He asked the usual sternness in his voice softened. Achroma was one of the first pokemon he took on when moving to Issho and her oblivious and loyal nature had grown on him somewhat. Gael turned the clipboard on its side and held it up to the Golbat’s feet letting her grip around it before he let go, she emitted a short chirp before heading back in the direction she came.
Time for a coffee and then work on the regenerative gene tests. He mentally instructed as he head out of the lab and down the corridor. A few zephyr’s were floating around the coffee machine, exchanging basic chit-chat and gossip. Gael was never one to participate really unless in eavesdropping he heard something he had a particular opinion or education on, or if he was Coaxed along by Lehrer, Rye or another pest. He shifted past the others and placed his coffee mug under the machine before clicking Espresso. With few clanks and chugs, the machine began pouring, the bitter aroma of coffee filling the room. Robo-chu shifted his position on Gael’s shoulder his ear twitching as he picked up a weak signal. Picking up his coffee mug Gael took a moment to appreciate the smell before turning and heading back down the hall, his Pichu quickly turning with him and sticking his head forward as they got in range. An email had come in, marked important. “Chu! Chu! Chu!” The mechanical rodent chimed, it’s cheeks flashing rhythmically as it displayed this information to it’s trainer. While the pokemon couldn’t talk and didn’t have the same free sentience as his other artificial pokemon; it was able to learn and repeat the command, allowing anyone who knew the calls to understand what it was trying to converse.
“Hm..” He mused, thinking through the possible content of the email. Either a new project or some sort of safety announcement was the most likely. Back in his lab, he moved through to his office where Achroma and Vertex were situated around the computer desk. “Of interest or?” He trailed off as he moved over taking control of the mouse. The cyber duck just shifted back, knowing that he would not enjoy the content of the email. The bright screen flooded against his glasses as he scanned the message, followed with a very expected sigh and grumble. Outdoors mission, again. One of the older testing facilities had a breakout, and the staff there were too incompetent to retrieve it. Typical.
Gael grabbed his coat and pressed the return button for both Achroma and Robo-chu enveloping the room in a quick burst of red light. He then exit the room.
“Curie, I need to step out. I expect to be back by lunch.” The fox pokemon looked up from her experiment, nodded once then continued.
Oakheart City Outskirts
Gael stepped off the bus and headed in the opposite direction from Oakheart. Thankfully there had been no reports of the corrupted making it this far yet as far as he was aware. The last confirmed sighting before the team had to retreat was that it was warding a large rock between the plains and the city and terrorising both the scientists and local wildlife. Moving his hand to his belt he released Achroma, who flew out and looped round to face her trainer. “I need you to scout out a Noivern that’s absconded to here.” He paused, crossing his arms. “None of the local wildlife here are that large or capable of gliding so you should be able to pick them up with your echolocation.” The bat nodded. “Your echolocation is likely to aggravate or at least alert it so once you’ve got its attention take it closer so I can get Robo-chu to assist you in taking it down with.” The scientist finished up and snapped his finger sending the command to the Golbat to begin her scout.
The scientist walked in the same direction a considerable distance away as Achroma flew up higher and at a great speed, he could only barely make out her silhouette up ahead. Reaching to his belt he clicked the capsule button for Robo-chu’s container, the beam flashing out and composing the pokemon onto his shoulder; her go-to location. He contemplated relaying the mission to the mechanical rodent but decided against it; while it would fill the silence of their walk it would be a considerable waste of breath as they wouldn’t understand it. Instead, he spoke the simple command “Battle.” The Pichu’s ears and tail shifting in position as their eyes scanned the area picking up anything that it could lock-on and target in battle.
Further ahead Achroma continued to search, her echolocation bouncing off the tops of trees and large boulders to assist her navigation. She picked up a few moving creatures but they were far below and much smaller than she would anticipate the escaped beast. A few minutes pass of scanning before anything else strikes out to her.
Up ahead she was anticipating a large mass, one of the largest boulders in the fields that was considerably tall and wide, just getting thinner towards the tip. With each round of soundwaves, she picked up that a considerable part of that rock was moving ever-so-slightly, making the rock start to appear taller and taller. She slowed her flight and started to glide to the left as she continued to map the movements of the rock. It was then that the moving piece cut off from the static rock and seemed to be hurtling in her direction the soundwaves cutting around the figure making it apparent that this was the large Noivern.
The abomination of a wyvern made itself known, screeching a horrific pained yell as its adjusted its position to dive bomb towards the Golbat. While a normal Noivern would be around 5” this one easily reached around 7”. It’s scaled body looked thicker than a healthy pokemon, with deep crevasses between the plating showing a crimson skin beneath. The wing membranes of the pokemon once a bright teal were now a sickly pink with thick visible veins mapped across the surface. Any sharp protrusions; claws, tail spikes and it’s head crest were enhanced, sharper, longer and deadlier. Looking up towards its head it’s sclera were black and irises a blind white, it’s vision traded for the improvements to its sound based abilities.
Feeling a surge of adrenaline Achroma made a sharp turn retracing her flight path to head in the direction of Dr.Gaeleon. The corrupted pokemon made chase; slightly slower due to its hefty build but still quick on her tail. It breathed audibly, it’s nose flaring with anger and its mouth salivating intensely as it followed. As it began to notice it couldn’t outspeed the smaller pokemon it changed tactics, it’s inner ear markings glowing a soft purple hue as it powered up an attack. Once readied it fired off. To the naked eye, nothing happened, it’s ears simply lit up and returned to normal but audibly it released two explosive sound waves in a straight forward arc. The soundwaves scrambled Achroma’s echo-location and caused her sensitive ears to throb in pain, her body fell from her fight path but she managed to shake it off and regain her composure. In the distance, she could see her trainer, but she needed a little more time to make it back to him in one piece. She grit her teeth and considered her options... There was no point engaging the beast in combat yet it had a clear strength advantage. Her only choice was to find a way to stall it. Supersonic waves would have a chance to distract it but the move was so unreliable it could fail and cause the beast to close the gap. Achroma thought harder, thinking back on Gael talking to her about a different technique one that was more reliable than her own. Could she adapt her move in such a way to create that? Her thoughts were cut short by another feral screech from the Noivern. She could feel the heavy beats of its wings behind her. Time was of the essence.
Making a sharp mid-air turn she faced the behemoth bat face to face; her eyes emitting a purple glow as she focused intensely, sending out a mixed wave of supersonic and ghostly energy from her maw. The Confuse Ray smashed against the muzzle of the enemy, instantly having an effect on its mind as it lost the ability to remember how to keep airborne and started to plummet down to the plains. Achroma’s eyes settled and she picked up on the Noivern falling, she turned quickly and made a sharp flight path towards Gael. She could hear the beast didn’t hit the ground and was still pursuing her, but it seemed to be struggling and slowed by the confusion, giving her the time she needed.
Gaeleon picked up the pace, breaking into a light sprint as he saw his pokemon returning with the escaped subject not far behind. She flew lower to the ground and waited within earshot for the scientist’s plan. The Noivern shook its head violently as it was hit with confusion again and came crashing to the ground making a small crater in the dirt up ahead. “Achroma, go in with a Brave Bird and then heel.” He ordered as he continued to approach the landing site. Achroma obliged and shot into the air with great speed flying down and striking into the back of the prone corrupted with needle-like precision. The beast lifted its body only to have it smashed back down into the ground by Achroma’s attack, its claws dug into the soft soil as it let out a horrific screech.
Getting closer, Gael extended his arm out in the direction of the Noivern giving his Pichu extra distance to run up to make a jump towards them. “Thunder Wave. Target: Noivern.” He commanded and instantly the Pichu reacted running the length of the scientist’s sleeve before leaping into the air. It’s cheeks hummed as electrical energy collected inside of them, lighting up the surface with bright yellow light as static electricity cascaded off the surface. As the mechanical rodent reached the highest point of it’s jump trajectory it released the electrical energy. It appeared in a series of bursts, manifesting in rings of yellow electricity, static jumping wildly as it shot through the air towards the target. Robo-chu landed on the ground near the corrupted pokemon as the Thunder Waves connected with the pokemon’s face. As the move hit the electrical energy flood through the draconic bat’s body, sending the electric jolts through its wings, legs, body, and tail until it found a connection to the earth. Sparks of paralytic electricity jumped from the body of the corrupted beast slowing its movements and rendering key connections paralysed as the electricity continued to flare up sporadically. With the combination of being grounded, confused and paralyed the corrupted pokemon became a much easier subject to deal with.
Not interested in extending the time out here Gael slipped his hand into his pocket bringing out one of the collars regularly used in the lab, which had needles inbuilt to administer drugs or electric shocks via a remote. While the corrupted pokemon struggled, its wings paralyzed it tried to lash out with its teeth as the scientist came towards it from the left, only to have its head thrash around unable to find the correct direction. With a click Gael connected the collar at the base of the pokemon’s long neck, where the fluffy tufts of fur would normally cover, however in this case the skin was just bare and scarred, likely the result of the follicles being destroyed by a harsh chemical. Gael steadied his foot against the neck of the pokemon as retrieved one of the Lab balls from his coat, letting it expand to its full-size in his hand. He held it out at the Noivern aiming the button of the capsule at the collar as the light burst out abducting the pokemon into the confines of the ball. Gael felt his foot slip to the ground again as the beast transferred into its portable cell and glanced to the ball in its hand as it steadied and relaxed. He clipped it onto his holster and turned to his team. “Good work lets head back.” The short praise interrupted as the two pokemon were recalled to their own pokeballs as the scientist turned moving back towards the city. He glanced at his phone, checking the time. 12:15 lit up on the top of the display. If he ate lunch on the journey back and spent an hour or so writing up and adjusting the records of this test subject and finding it a hold in their facility, he might even have time to continue the work he actually had planned for today.
File Clearance
File Clearance
*Knock, Knock*
A zephyr grunt chapped their knuckle against the door and shifted their weight to the left to rest against the doorframe. Bundled between their forearms rest a neatly folded dark blue uniform sealed inside a clear plastic wrapping. They glanced to their wrist, giving the doctor a minute before slamming their fist to the door once more.
*Knock, Knock Knock*
“Sir. I know you are in there... It’s a work delivery.”
The grunt sighed audibly as they continued to wait. If they knew there wouldn’t be any consequences from their superior they would have ditched the delivery at the door and continued on with their day. A few more minutes passed before the faint sound of footsteps could be heard against the creaky apartment flooring and then the jingle of keys unlocking the mechanism.
Jolting up, the grunt looked to the doorway anticipating what this Admin would be like.
Their eyes met with the piercing stare of Gaeleon’s his tall and gaunt figure resting round the doorframe as he avoided opening it wider than necessary. The admin looked haggard, deep shadows under his eyes, his cheeks sunken against his bones, even the long slender fingers that were clasped reflected his poor state. “I’m waiting.” The scientist sneered looking down on the much younger zephyr.
The youth curled their lips and thrust the folded uniform outwards. “Right.. This is for you. I guess?” The grunt responded rolling their shoulders back. The uniform they handed over was for a police officer, and they couldn’t see the man before them playing that part particularly well.
“What is this for?” The scientist sighed, running his hand over the plastic bag to get a better look.
“Some commander told me to bring it to you, said he sent you a message.” The grunt responded before turning on their heels to leave. “Have fun old man~” The youth smirked and before Gael could react they bolted down the rickety staircase and out of the complex leaving the scientist to work out what exactly was expected of him this time.
He loosened his hold on the package and let it drop to the floor as he paced back into the apartment in search for his phone. He methodically stepped around the piles of papers, books and instant ramen cups to reach his desk and grabbed his phone to see multiple missed messages. This wasn’t unusual, if he had the choice he’d forgo a mobile at all.
Opening up the message thread he saw instructions from a number he didn’t recognise. “We need competent admins to infiltrate their local police stations and clear some of the records they have collected on fellow members. Take the outfit and do whatever you can, do well and it might work in your favor. Assigned Station: Dracmount City.”
“Fuck sake, I’m a scientist not a spy.” He groaned loudly, heavily placing the phone back on the desk as he starting thinking of how he could structure this mission to work for him. He returned to the package and ajar front door and picked it up, pulling out the police jacket running the sleeves through his fingers before giving it a shake, a metallic badge falling from inside the pockets. “Hm?” He mused and crouched down to investigate the object. Picking it up it was a replica of the Dracmount Force’s emblem with a fake police id on the reverse. At least that would give him some chance of not getting caught instantly. Begrudgingly he pulled on the jacket and adjusted the badge onto the fabric. Maybe with all the commotion in Union City the force would be too stretched over there to be paying attention at the Dracmount branch.
With some help from Curie, Gael eventually left his apartment and strode towards the station with a plan in mind. Attached to his belt was his Klefki and the ball for his Porygon-Z, Vertex. If all went to plan, he could get close enough to one of the computers in the station and get Vertex into the network and wipe the files they needed without causing any suspicion or noticeable damage.
After a brisk 15 minute walk he arrived at the station and pushed open the door heading straight to the front desk. He bent down slightly to speak through the glass panel. “Evening, I’ve been sent from HQ to apply new security software for all desktops in this department.” He took a pause and pulled at the badge as evidence. “Should only take around 10 minutes.”
The officer on the front desk waved him through the gate, seemingly more interested in watching something that was out of view. The precinct was, as he hoped, quiet. He stepped through the back to the few desks with computers and all the seats were empty.
He sat himself down and unhooked Klefki from his belt letting her float over towards the file cabinets and start slyly keying her way inside. Meanwhile he quietly clicked open Vertex’s pokeball and pointed to the monitor in front of him. The cyber duck obediently zipped inside the screen and waited on the desktop for instructions. Gael opened up a notepad file and typed in a some brief instructions, to which the Pokemon nodded and disappeared from sight.
While Vertex infiltrated the police database and found any zephyr files that needed to be wiped Gael shifted up out of the chair over to the filing cabinet. As he approached Klefki moved from the lock and nudged her head at him to open it. He cautiously opened the drawer and motioned his hand to the fairy Pokemon to keep watch. He skimmed the names on the tabs of the manilla folders for any he recognised before returning the drawer to its closed and locked state and moving back over to the computer for any sign of Vertex returning.
It took a few minutes longer but the Porygon-Z returned and transferred out of the computer and zipped himself into his pokeball. It was done. Gaeleon stepped to the door and waved Klefki to his side as he scouted the hall before making his way through the front of the station. As he walked he casually raised a hand, not turning to talk to the officer on the counter. “All done, have a good night”
House Call - Admin Quest 4
House-call
1406 words | 7 levels for Arsenic--
“DR, G.
THAT KID GOT INTO THE DRAGON ROOM THIS TIME.
LET THEM OUT, WE WRANGLED MOST OF THEM BACK.
CHXI MISSING.
--
MICROCHIP LOCATION:
BARCROFT TOWN,
55.8642° N, 4.2518° W
--
U KNOW WHAT TO DO."
--
The scientist slid his phone back into his lab coat pocket after re-reading the message, moving towards the doorway in a quick stride. His eyes glanced back at the whiteboard where he had left a message for his team. “Back in an hour. Keep working, Curie is your boss in the meantime.” Underneath that was his hastily scrawled signature. He would like to think not much could go wrong in such a short space of time but with the recent break-ins and new starts joining his lab he prefered to be there to maintain a sense of order and control.
Opening the front door of the lab, the cold night’s breeze sent a shiver through his lithe frame, making him tug the open sides of his coat closer to his chest. He watched as his breath escaped his lips creating a thin wisp visible against the night sky. With a sigh to himself, he continued his stride over to the bus stop, having planned his journey to waste as least time possible. It would be even quicker if he had a big enough flying Pokemon to zip him around the region but he had yet to find himself drawn towards any.
The shuttle bus arrived moments after Gaeleon reached the signpost, he paid the fare and moved towards the back of the bus not taking much notice of any other passengers. Once seated he brought out his phone to check the message one more time. Finding the location of the thief would be much easier had he a modern cell phone with internet and maps but much like most other possessions the scientist owned, his phone was dated and rarely used except for texting and time-checking. It would take around an hour and a half for the bus to pass through the plains and desert sands to reach the secluded Barcroft town.
--
The journey was as uneventful as expected, a few trainers got on board to fast track themselves to the town for somewhere safer to sleep. However, the bus was near empty as it drew to the last stop on the route north of Barcroft. Gael made his way to the front of the bus, giving the driver a brief nod as they parted ways. The streets of the dusty town were pretty empty as the time was now around 11:30pm. The house of the culprit was one right at the back edge of town in line with the large canyon walls. It took a few minutes to head up the track to the house but once it came into sight he could see a single light coming from the upper floor, most likely from a bedroom.
In preparation, he unhooked a Pokeball from his side holster and clicked the centrepiece, a shot of brief red light illuminating their surroundings revealing a Klefki. “Scout ahead and pick the lock of the front door. ``I'll be right along.” He spoke out to his Pokemon who nodded and drifted through the air towards the house its keys poised behind it, cautious to not make too much noise. Klefki reached the door and examined the frame and lock, it didn’t seem to be a particularly unique or new lock mechanism which made it all the more easy for the fairy. The Pokemon looked down on its collection and pushed up the lockpick to the keyhole placing it’s head against the metal of the lock to hear the clicks as it used its frame to push and shimmy the pick further into the lock to click the pins. *click, click click...click* The door was unlocked. Klefki floated up to it’s masters face and gave him a smile as it was returned to their Pokeball.
Gael placed a gloved hand out to the door handle and turned it opening the door as quietly as possible and slipping inside the quiet hallway. The only light was coming from the top of the stairs where he could hear a male voice talking and the occasional pokemon cry or rumbling of a steel cage against the wooden floorboards. He took a step forward placing his boot on the first level of the stairwell testing if it would creak from his weight. It proved sturdy enough to not make much noise so he slowly made his way to the top.
Now able to see the landing the light was coming from the furthest room to the left, while the cage-rattling from the right. This kid must think himself some sort of vigilante rescuing shadow Pokemon from labs and keeping them in a cage in his house. What a hero. Reaching into his lab coat Gael pulled out a syringe and readied it in his main hand as he pulled up by the doorframe. From the noise coming from the room he could place the kid near the doorway to the left and there was at least two Pokemon in the room with him. From his astute knowledge of Pokemon cries, he deduced one to be a Noctowl and the other sounded like the Deino he was here to take back. From what he could hear it sounded as it the boy was tending to the Deino’s wounds and receiving a tonne of rejection and aggression from the unsettled dragon.
The scientist waited until the trainer sounded pre-occupied enough by the dragon to swiftly turn the corner and grab the kid. He wrapped his free arm around his throat and quickly administered the paralytic agent into his deltoid. The kid gasped and dropped the Deino in shock trying to wrestle free with his legs as the muscles in the top half of his body began to lock up. Gaeleon kept his hold around their neck, somewhat using his body to subdue aggressive shadow Pokemon during test reactions. The boy’s closed heart Noctowl flapped its wings and screeched, conflicted on who to attack. Gaeleon used his now free hand to press open Arsenic’s pokeball. The large cobra shot out from the ball instantly heavily landing on its thick coils on the floor. Its sharp fangs plunged into the bird’s neck spraying the wall in a wash of red as the snake crunched easily through the muscle and bone of the neck.
The trainer watched in shock as one of the pokemon he had managed to steal from the labs died in front of him. He tried to scream out but the paralysis had spread to his throat and vocal cords making it impossible to speak and hard to breath. He stopped struggling against the scientist who promptly dropped him to the floor. He stepped into the room, paying no attention to the mess Arsenic was making with its ‘meal’. And scooted a gloved hand under the wardrobe the Deino had retreated under. He caught the scruff of the dragon’s fur neck and yanked him out from his hiding place holding him out as he aggressively tried to turn his neck enough to bite the familiar man. “I’ll be taking my subject back.” He spoke out to the boy slumped over on the floor trying to pace his breathing. “Take this as your last warning. If I find you’ve been breaking into my lab again I won’t hesitate to let Arsenic have his first human meal.” Gaeleon returned the Deino the lab’s snag ball and clipped it into his holster before stepping closer to the boy. He pushed the boy’s face with the tip of his shoe watching him struggle for breath. “You speak of this to no-one, got it?” He waited a moment gauging the response through their eyes as they spluttered and heaved ready to agree to anything as they feared for their life. “Good.” The scientist retrieved another syringe from the inside of his coat and injected it into them which started to slow their breathing down to a normal pace and let them drift out of consciousness. Gaeleon moved his foot letting the kid slump to the floor again and headed to the doorway. “Arsenic. Let's go.” He called the Snake turned to him his face and body covered in blood and feathers as the familiar red light drew him in once again.
Admin Promotion - A Virtual Hiest
Featuring Gaeleon & Vert.exe
A few months had passed since his promotion to Lieutenant and he had slipped into the role rather naturally. For the day to day work in the lab, he now instructed and lead the experiments with a small team of scientists which he was previously in the same role as. Having worked with them for a while they had become used to his quirks and knew exactly how best to take him to avoid getting an earful and in return, as he saw their efforts and diligence he accepted their competence and sought to continue to teach them the right way to execute tasks.
The scientist sat in his office, his boots resting against the metal supports of his computer desk as he lazily scrolled down his email client, tossing most messages into the recycle bin without opening it. He raised his coffee to his lips and took a sip as the computer sounded out that a new email arrived, a pop-up raising in the corner. His eyes followed the animation and skimmed the title and sender name and rolled his eyes. The title suggested some sort of challenge for the recipients to partake in, with the rewards being an even bigger promotion and pay packet.
It was unlikely he was to progress so quickly only working within the constraints of the lab, despite knowing his skills far exceeded his current role. He imagined there was some kind of catch to this lucrative challenge and the requirements wouldn’t necessarily be in his ballpark, however, his ego encouraged him to click and read more, confident this would be easy.
As he read through the content of the email his Porygon-Z, Vertex zipped through the network and appeared inside of the email window. His wide eyes blinked a few times curiously as he adjusted himself before looking upon the string of text above him. He glanced from the text to his trainer outside of the screen the content of the email felt awful bizarre to the pokemon. Gaeleon’s eyes slipped to the Porygon as he cracked a brief smile to it, he then leant forward resting his hand on his chin to see what he made of the message. It appeared to be sent out to a set of 10 Zephyr Lieutenants based within the company, none of the names he recognised and it appeared he was the only doctorate to make the cut. Typical, lopped in with a bunch of field workers or pencil pushers.
After skimming through a paragraph of formalities he came to the first outlined task, he let out an audible sigh as he read the text.
“We are in need of some funds to further one of our current projects. A reputable undercover source has leaked information to us on a recently conducted charity event in Aurora Village. The money has yet to be transferred outwith the Cafe. The Cafe itself isn’t heavily protected, however, members of the Aurora Village can be a strong and hardy community and are likely to notice suspicious non-locals so it's paramount you plan out your heist and do not cause a scene.
You are allowed to recruit one other zephyr to assist you on this task, if you are successful then merit will be put towards their name as well.
Good luck, don’t step on each other's toes too much, and if you blow this operation there won’t be another chance if you catch my drift. “
Really? A bloody heist? The sort of crime didn’t strike him in his twenties, let alone his late forties. No, he much preferred to keep behind closed doors low risk, ethically questionable crime, one of the great minds behind a heinous idea. Still.... a pay rise was at stake here. He pushed his glasses up and took a few moments to think. There was no chance he was travelling out to Aurora by himself, and even less of a chance he’d willingly recruit someone to help him.
After a few minutes of silence, his eyes fell to Vertex who was just bobbing idly inside the email client still. Gaeleon moved abruptly and grabbed the mouse opening up a browser and searching for local news stories reporting on a charity event in Aurora. The Porygon stumbled as the window he was resting in was minimised and retreated down onto the taskbar watching intently. The search results revealed multiple articles citing the location, he copied the name immediately and searched it through the popular social media site everyone seemed to use. He wasn’t a user himself, but Lehrer did make him an account in a comical attempt to get the scientist to make friends. Navigating the site he found the social page for the cafe and began browsing the photos looking for the one-shot that would be able to confirm if his plan would be feasibl. Scroll, scroll, scroll…. So many selfies and artistic shots of coffee mugs, he grumbled as his eyes honed in on the background of a photo of one of the baristas smiling at the camera holding a tray of fine pastries. The register system. He could see it in the corner of the shot, it was one of the new up to date POS systems where cash was beamed in, transferred and stored to a virtual bank much like the systems used for Pokemon. Now security to an online back was likely to be a bit heavier, but the combination of shadow Pokemon and some crafty, unstable overloading from Vertex could possibly compromise it long enough to transfer funds out to a burner account.
He shifts the browser over to Zephyr’s banking system and set up an anonymous user account to deposit the stolen cash into. Once that was complete he opened up the Box application to access his Pokemon. Vertex assumed something was about to happen online so floated up towards the corner of the box waiting to see who would join him on the desktop. Gaeleon skimmed the cursor over the pokeballs and selected Stemcell, Appliance, EMP and Iodine, clicking on their pokeballs and summoning their 3D forms into the desktop environment.
Now, how to relay this to them with the least hassle. Vertex looked to his trainer and pulled out a notepad application for him to type into. Gaeleon drafted up a step by step process for his Pokemon to follow with Vertex being the lead being his most trusted Pokémon and a master of traversing, and when required causing havoc inside the virtual realms. Stemcell was to follow Vert’s lead and assist in getting them in and if Vert needed more time to become a duplicate and confuse any cybersecurity pokemon. Appliance would go along to cause general chaos and destruction, EMP to split, scout and protect the operation and finally Iodine to grab the files and shoot slip away to the holding account where Gael himself would then transfer the funds over one of the main accounts, remove Iodine and then destroy the recipient account to leave no trace of where the money was sent to.
With their task outlined the pokemon shifted their gaze to Vertex for his lead. The Porygon-Z zipped down to the corner of the screen and opened up a gateway for them to travel through to get across the network to where he suspected the data would be held. As they piled through one by one Vertex kept the gateway open for them waiting till the end where he gazed out at his trainer and processed through a series of beeps. It was an estimate, 20 Minutes.
With complete trust in his pokemon he nodded and set a timer on his watch to return then to finish up.
Vertex then pushed himself through the virtual doorway and disappeared leaving the default desktop scene.