While I was still just beginning to get accustomed to the body of a Pokemon, it hit me. I remembered where I had heard about Bill.  <Hey everyone!>  I thought.  <I remember why the name Bill seemed so familiar to me.  He was in a history book I used at the academy.  I took it along with me just for the heck of it.  It should be somewhere in my backpack, but it fell off me when I transformed.  It should be around here somewhere.>

It was laying next to a crate, and I went to pick it up, but remembering that I had scythes for arms, decided against it.  <Could someone else get the book out?  Scythes aren't exactly the best reading tools!>

((Someone else should read the book and find out that Bill lives (or lived) near Cerulean City.  That way we know that's where we need to go next.))

"I got it." I went over to the bag and grabbed the book. It was a nice cover, reminded me of one of my older books. I flipped through the pages until I found the history on Pokemon research. "It seems that Bill has had many advancements in Pokemon technology. Says that he lives off of route 25. That's near Cerulean, I know how we can sneak around. Have some people that owe me a favor."

I thought for a moment, "We can travel in our Pokemon forms until we get close to the city. Travel through the woods, off the paths so we don't get seen. Seth can ride Vincent in human form, if he doesn't mind."

I looked around, "But we must leave now if we go. The night is almost over. What do you think Axel?"

I nodded. "The sooner we get out of the city, the better. The cops will be combing this place looking for us; to Cerulean would be best." I began my morph one more time. As I did, I sent out my thoughts. <If Bill can tell us anything about this device and our abilities, we stand a much better chance of survival. So, let's go. We'll keep to the woods, staying away from roads as much as possible. I'll meet you guys outside the city limits.> I finished morphing, then bounded away.

As I ran, the sun came up over the buildings. Anybody that saw me assumed I was just another cop's Pokemon, and stayed away. This gave me some time and space to think. What would we do with these newfound abilities? Hide from attention, for the rest of our lives? Aid those in need? All of the above, while trying to bring down Team Elemental?

Yeah... That last one sounded about right. This last night had brought out the part of me that my parents had raised; the part of me that wanted to do what was convenient, rather than what was logical. I set my mind to bringing down Team Elemental. Saving the world seemed much less daunting after what had happened. But it was more personal for me; this was for my parents, for what I and the others had lost.

I approached the gates. Team Elemental monitored pretty much all incoming and outbound traffic; but they wouldn't see me, if I had my way. I bounded up, up, up... and clear over the barbed wire. They didn't even see me. I spied some brush and forested area, then dashed for it. As soon as I was within the shade of the trees, I changed back to human morph, climbed up into a tree, and... slept.

((okay guys, we'll meet back up outside the city. somebody wake me up when you get there.))

((Ok, I thought I should change the riding on Vincent (Staraptor) idea because Staraptor is 3' 11". I think it'll be better to ride on Cat.))

In a matter of seconds after we learned some information on Bill, Axel was gone. I wondered if I would ever be able to change into more Pokemon. "Well, Steel, I like your idea of me riding on one of you, but I think it should be Cat. It's a little better than riding on a 4" Staraptor. Plus, we need to get to the City Limits, and we can provide some power and backup in a fight. Plus, it's the perfect time go, since it's still pretty dark. So, I say let's roll."

((Yeah all that went through my mind was a bird lol.))

I nodded at him. "Well I'm moving out." I shifted into Gallade and sprinted down the street. I moved quickly, darting through the shadows of the buildings. I got closer to the gates when I thought about how I was going to get pass the guards. I saw a guard house near the fence and a thought occurred.

I hope this works. I jumped high into the air, my nimble legs shooting me into the air. I landed silently on the roof and softly ran across to the fence top. The jump down wasn't as bad as I expected. I wandered a little into the forest, then I felt a presence.....in a tree oddly enough. I focused with my mind and discovered it was Axel.

<Axel wake up. The others will be here very soon.>

((I guess I should wait until LadyMiir posts or if rex09 tries to do a little bit of godmoding or something))

((Sorry it has taken a while to post. Busy day at the job.))

I looked around and heard the conversation about going to this person named Bill. I wonder who this Bill person is. Never really heard of him much. I saw that people had managed to revert back to their normal forms, and that one even managed to turn back into the Gallade form. How interesting. We can control these forms at will.

I wondered how, or what it would take me to get back into human form, and just as I thought it I began to shift. All it took was me thinking about my human form, everything about my body. Once I did that my wings became my arms again and in a second I was myself again. "Sorry guys I don't know much about this Bill, or much about the Kanto region." I paused and wondered how I should phrase this and just thought to Hell with it. "I grew up in some Hoenn slums, and was only sent here because of the Governor because of some crimes against him and trying to work with Team Elemental" I clenched my fists "then Team Elemental betrayed me and now I seek to get my revenge."

"Well I think I shall follow Axel, and meet up with him in the outside gate." I shifted back into my Staraptor form. I was beginning to like the process. <I'm going to fly over the gate. Don't want to have to deal with the guards.> I stretched out my wings. <Seth if you want a ride hop on, I am not going to wait to long. I want to get out of here asap.>

((I'll just post this one-liner to fill you in, I changed my mind and I'm waiting for LadyMiir to post again, I'll ride with her.))

"Like I said before, I think I'll hitch a ride with Cat, since you're considerably smaller than me."

((Sorry for the late reply, guys, but I'm all caught up now ))

I nodded as the others laid plans, then ducked behind a building, concentrating as I shifted into my Charizard form again. The change was easier this time, but the tail was the last part to grow, unlike before. When I opened my eyes, I was seeing through reptilian eyes-- I stretched my wings, then looked over at the kid called Vincent, before crouching down on the ground. I'd never flown before... but the Charizard mind knew what it was doing, so I decided to trust it.

<Climb onto my shoulders, your legs on either side of my neck. Don't squeeze, or you'll choke me. You can hold on to my shoulders with your hands if you're worried about falling.>

((np, Shina. Real life generally tends to be more important than RPs :p))

I about fell out of my tree when I heard a voice inside my head telling me to wake up. As it happens, I did slip; fortunately, my legs were wrapped around the branch, preventing me from doing much more than flailing around with my arms. When I finally got control of myself, I looked down to see a Gallade.

"Oh, what's up, Steel." I nimbly hopped down to the ground, then leaned up against the tree. I found myself reminiscing about the night my parents were killed..

The rain pours down, and thunder cracks in the distance. All I can do is blindly place one foot after another, trying my hardest to use my small lungs to catch up to the mysterious man. I could still see the silhouette of my mother, the man, and a hulking beast of a Pokemon receding over the nearest hillside.

"MOOOOOM!!!!" "AXXELLLL!!" Our shouts and desperate cries were for naught. The man and his Pokemon picked up the pace, and disappeared into a forest. I stumbled after them, trying to find my way. I continued shouting, but eventually, her cries faded, and I was left with only the sounds of the forest. A Noctowl chirps in the dark; the sound of Caterpies crawling up bark. There's nothing left for me here, and I fall to my knees, exhausted, lonely, and grief-stricken...

I snapped out of my reverie as I heard others coming.

I lowered my head, trying to suppress the sadness. I transformed into my human form so I could actually speak. "It seems that we really do become the real Pokemon. I saw your memory Axel.......I'm sorry for your lose."

I remember reading that the Ralts family can feel and experience any creatures thoughts and emotions. I hope I can get used to this form quickly. Don't know if I can take this all the time. I walked over to Axel and put my hand on his shoulder, "I could feel everything you did. I've never felt that in my entire life....."

((Pory, I'm going to take control of your character for a little bit just so we can get moving. I hope you don't mind.))

Seth climbed on as directed-- trying to hide my tail flame, I opened my wings to full stretch, then leaped up, beating my wings hard to try and gain altitude, curving my tail above my back to avoid it being seen from the ground.

It was all too easy to skim over the buildings and trees, dodging police detection-- I growled softly to myself, enjoying the new and unfamiliar sensations of flight, before the smell of a human and a Gallade hit my nostrils. I folded my wings, sideslipping into a gentle dive to land next to Axel, crouching down to let Seth slip off and curling my tail around my body so it would serve as a portable torch.

<North from here?>

I looked at Steel for a moment. "Yeah, that was six years ago... The past is the past, I guess. Just gotta keep moving forward." Cat came in for a landing, Seth on her back. <North from here?>

I nodded. "Yeah, as soon as the others get here, we'll all morph and get on the road to Cerulean. We just have to discuss whether or not to actually go through Cerulean, which seems to be asking for trouble. So, yeah..." I looked away, and started playing with the grass at my side.

Something was off about Axel, though I didn't know what it was. Glancing around, I stretched my wings again, careful not to hit anyone.

<That was amazing... flying, I mean. What a rush.>

I thought back to the books that I had read as a child and the stories my parents had told me, then swung my head to look at Axel. <The Pokemon along Route 25 are mostly Grass-types, and small ones at that. All of us except you are going to stand out like a sore thumb if we go in there shifted.>

I looked over at Cat. " I won't stick out that badly. My coloring helps some.", I laughed a little to myself.

I looked over at Axel, his memory still fresh in my mind. I shook my head and looked back at Cat, "Besides, by the time we get to Cerulean it should be getting dark."

I thought about it, putting my hand to my chin for a second. "Well, if it's dark by the time we get there, we'll be able to conceal ourselves better; but at the same time, I don't think it's a risk we should take. Once we get to Cerulean, we should probably morph back and walk as humans. I mean, we know that people live on Route 25; don't want anyone happening upon a group of Pokemon that shouldn't even be there. Since most of us are teenagers, it'll be easier to explain away humans." I stood up and brushed off my pants and hands.

"Well, we'll see if the others have any ideas to add, once they finally get here..."

I nodded as I slowly reverted to human form, my dark leather longcoat helping me blend with the shadows, now long and ominous as the last slivers of sun slipped beneath the horizon.

"Let's wait till dark, then start moving. I can fly at night, a book I read about Charizards said that their eyes switch over to infrared at night. It's a survival trait, since Charizards are big predators they need a lot of meat to sustain themselves... so they have to be able to hunt at all hours."

Suddenly, Seto Kaiba jumped down from a convieniently placed cliff and stood blocking the way of the group. Using his leet haxxor skills, he summoned three Blue Eyed White Dragons.

"Mwehehehe! You cannot stand up to me. Once I attack, your life points will drop to zero!"

But suddenly his Dragons roared. They froze in their tracks, flashed, and turned solid blue! "What is this?! My dragons have suffered a Blue Screen of Death! Impossible! It must be because I used Windows Vista! CURSE YOU VISTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Kaiba grabbed his dragons and turned to the group. "You haven't seen the last of me," he shouted, before ducking into his KaibaCave.

LERN2REED

Kaiba poked his head out of his KaibaCave. "Screw the rules, I have money!" he yelled, before the trapdoor fell on his head.

OOC: Okay guys, this is just a harmless joke by EP. I'll be straight up with you guys and admit that it's partially my fault, since me, redt, and EP were joking around on the chats. And I did think it was funny. Hopefully this doesn't upset any of you guys, and we're just going to ignore the posts. And any future ones that he may or may not make that aren't serious.

I flew in my Staraptor form just in time to catch the tail end of the conversation of Axel and Steel had. I reverted into my human form. "Must have been hard I guess Axel, bet you could have even survived the slums." I cracked a joke trying to lighten the mood. "I got the plan, sounds decent I guess. I just gotta avoid run ins with the law."

As everyone else started off towards the woods, I realized that I faced a dilemma.  It's not everyday that you see a prehistoric Pokemon run through the streets of Saffron.  I decided to just revert to human again.  I concentrated on my human appearance, and sure enough, I was back to my old self.  As I walked through the twilit alleys, I didn't face any problems.  I did have one close call when I nearly ran into a group of vagabonds, but I just ducked in the shadows and waited for them to pass.

As I neared the outer gates of Saffron, more trouble was in store for me.  The fence surrounding the city was enormous!  As the first rays of dawn appeared in the sky, I realized that the others must have all gotten out of the city long ago.  I decided to turn into a Kabutops again, to see if that could help me in any way.  I felt my features rapidly changing, and after no more than a few seconds, I was done.  I attempted jumping the fence, but I couldn't jump that high even as a Kabutops.  I got another idea.  I'd cut a hole in the fence, and slip underneath.  Please let it not be an electric fence, I thought.  I raised my scythe-arms, and swiftly used Slash.  The chain-link fell away, and I crawled through.

I dashed into the woods, and realized that I had no clue where the rest of the group was.  I walked around a bit, and eventually caught part of their conversation.  I went to join them, and found them discussing the plans for the next part of the journey.  I kept listening as I changed back to normal.  "Sorry I took so long guys.  I ran into some trouble by the name of fence."

((What's the matter guys?  You all just look like you've seen an evil penguin! XD ))

I turned as Jay appeared, joking about having run into a bit of trouble in the form of a fence, a smile tugging at my lips at the boy's irrepressible good humor. Hope he doesn't lose that when we actually take the hurt to Elemental...

"You know, you could have just called me or Steel." I joked, tugging my coat closer around myself. The night was chilly already, and I was feeling even colder without the warmth of my Charizard form. "He could have just torn it down, and I would've just melted it with my tail."

((Lol! EP comes in with crap about Dragons and Windows Vista. That was friggen hilarious.))

When Cat ordered me to, I got onto her, riding on her shoulders like a child would with his dad. You'd think it wouldn't be weird since this was a Pokemon, but the fact that the Charizard was a human made it a little awkward. Nonetheless, the ride was amazing.