"Come on, guys!" the Skarmory shouted back to the others, and all four of them disappeared over the treetops.

Sidney returned Abina to her ball, attaching it to her belt and moving her hand to reach for Lucifer's. She paused, her fingers touching the ball. Was she being afraid again? Afraid that her Pokemon might hurt someone? She couldn't forget about what happened last time she let the Tyranitar out.

She bit her lip, then removed the device. "I have him here," she told the ghost trainer. "Just...let me know when."

Cassius began to tie himself up, an act which was a little more difficult than it sounded. "You can let him out into the cage now, if you'd like" he said, trying to sound calm and dignified while Pandora was wrapping his legs in twelve feet of strong rope. I feel like an escape artist or something he thought to himself, settling down comfortably in the grass and closing his eyes, mentally preparing himself to leave.

Sidney nodded slowly, moving towards the cage. She slipped her hand between the bars, pressing the release button, before quickly stumbling back. Lucifer appeared with a flash of red light. Even with his back to them, it was easy to see he was gigantic, much larger than your average Tyranitar. When he turned his head scars could be seen, deep green gashes from an unknown origin, marring the dinosaur's face.

He became furious at the sight of the trainers and the ghost Pokemon, and he released a thunderous roar, exposing his long, needle-like teeth. He then began gnawing at the bars, trying to get at them. Thick, white globs of saliva dripped from his mouth to the ground, his powerful tail thrashing against the walls that confined him.

Cassius took a deep breath, then seemed to sigh. As he did so, the purple in his hair faded outwards, from the tips to the roots, and a wispy sort of purple cloud seemed to form in the air in front of him, as if being breathed out of the body. Pandora waited until the last tint of purple had vanished, leaving the hair a blondish-brown, then struck hard and fast, knocking the body to the flood.

As Cassius began to rematerialize, it was evident that the human body had taken on more of his characteristics than just the hair. His haunter features were sharp, distinctly moreso than Pandora, and the fingers on his disembodied hands were longer and more fingerlike than Pan's claws. His eyes shone red, another dissimilarity, and his whole spectral self radiated an unearthly sense of power that only pokemon tended to pick up on while he was possessing a human. His emotions were, of course, far more difficult for a human to read in his natural form, and most would have interpreted his smile to mean "I'm about to eat your soul, run if you value your life", whereas any ghost could see he was simply happy to be free, however fleeting said freedom might be.

He turned soon towards the tyranitar, sizing the creature up. He was big… really big, but also exceedingly angry. That made him weak, at least to possession, and was just the handhold he'd need if he wanted to get in there and see what made him tick.

"C-Cassius?" Sidney stared at the Haunter. Could this really be her friend, the ghost trainer? No, he was unconcious on the ground. But...the trainer wasn't Cassius either. He was a stranger--a currupt young man who became the host of the ghost now floating before her. But one thing was for certain. This...Pokemon...was much more familiar to Sidney than the human. "Cassius," she said again. "Be careful."

((Edit: Leaving early tonight.))

The vicious looking haunter nodded, an act which was roughly synonymous to a bow, given that he didn't have much of a body. He growled a little, then dove at the tyranitar, phasing himself through into the beast.

((Do I get to reclaim the short post award?))

((No, that glorious title blongs to me. ))

"Hmm.... no, no, nuh-uh, nah, nada.", Mike said as he pointed to various food stalls, trying to find the right one.

"Man, he's almost as picky as Lighthouse here.", Shockbox chuckled.

"Oh, just shut up. I already had that Absol tease me enough about my being a veggetarian, so I don't need any of you to tease me as well.", Lighthouse mused.

Walking through Fortree City, Cal anticipated the competition tommorow with delightful glee. Hopefully with his bug and steel pokemon he would win.

He walks over to an inn to spend the night when he hears his stomach growl. Obviously he hasn't eaten in days.

"I'd better get some food for myself. I guess my pokemon could use some food as well."

Walking away from the inn, and to a stall he looks and picks out one he likes. They only problem is, is that there seems to be an extremely picky trainer keeping up the line, with his electric partners.

"Hey can you hurry up?" Cal shouted down the line
"Some of use have mouths to feed here. You're holding everyone up!"

((Hope I didn't interuppt anything. Just hoping here to join that tournament.))

It was a situation similar to what Michael went through with Pandora. Lucifer was well aware of what was going on on the outside world...but he could sense that his mind and body had been violated. He knew Cassius was inside him...somewhere, and he withdrew into the deepest recesses of his mind, finding the ghost there. "Intruder!" Off went the mental alarm, the Tyranitar

((I'm not in line, there's many food stalls, kinda like a mall of sorts, so I'm not realling holding up any line.))

The subconcious representation of Cassius in Lucifer's mind just smirked. He could, of course, have tried to reason with the beast, but he felt more inclined to just find what he needed through force.

A thin purple hand stretched through the creature's brain, finding the motor controls for eyes, arms, feet, tail, jaws...Wait, no, this isn't what I need thought Cassius, pulling away a little. I need to know... what makes you this way? Tell me. Now.

((Quite understandable. And the absol scared me a little too- the body was awesome, but I think she wanted to eat my brains or suck my blood or something terrible.))

((<Ginger> -does zombie walk- Blooood! <Me> -swat- Stop that. <Ginger> Yes, ma'am. xX;; ))

Lucifer eyed the intruder warily, refusing to speak. Instead, the darkness around them faded, and the two Pokemon found themselves standing in the middle of an arid clearing surrounded by mountains. This was Lucifer

Cassius bowed his head a little, he was pretty sure he knew the rest of the story. A few images of his own history flashed in the subconscious theatre- a room full of mischievous ghost pokemon playing together, interrupted by the tower doors bursting open and a dozen trainers armed with the first generation of commercially available pokeballs stepping in from the thunderstorm. A golden misdreavus disappearing into an early capture device. Less than a dozen ghosts floating out in the rain, looking back at the tower below them, including a bitter young haunter with eyes that glowed red.

They aren't all bad though, you know, not really. He thought, mostly to himself.

Lucifer disregarded Cassius

So, what would you say if your new trainer took you back home, released you, and left you to live in peace? asked Cassius quietly, because she's offered to do so. Sidney's worried about you, and more than a little frightened. So are some of her pokemon, and I think even Pandora's a little worried you might break free.

"Impossible," the Tyranitar said, a low growl rumbling deep in his throat. "All humans are bad. All Pokemon are bad. My life has been nothing but anguish!" He straightened up, becoming taller than he already was. "Because of pets like you!" The Pokemon tried attacking Cassius again, and took control of his body, biting down hard on the bars and twisting them into a mangled mess.

"Cassius!" Sidney shouted, trying to get the ghost's attention. "What's happening?!"

"PET?!" yelled Cassius, snarling as he reached again to take control of motor functions. "I. Am. Trained. By. No. One." He paused, regaining some control over his own emotions. "And you, darkling, are taking your revenge on the wrong trainer."

The fact that Lucifer could no longer control his own actions only made him more infuriated. "Get out!" he snarled again. "Unless you want to see that trainer in pieces!" And he stood there, waiting for Cassius to react.

"Do you think this will work?" the ninja asked Pandora, running slender fingers through her dark hair. "Cassius has been in there for awhile. I'm really starting to worry."

"Your logic has more holes than Pandora's does on a bad day when he's trying to convince me to buy him something" replied Cassius. "But I think you may need some time to calm down. Think about what you've said, and why you're angry. It took me half a century to calm down, let's see if you can do any better."

With that, he quickly withdrew everything, leaving the tyranitar's body quickly. "He's still angry" he told Pandora, who took this as a hint to get in Sidney's field of vision, point to Lucifer's pokeball, point to the large angry dinosaur pokemon about to break through his cage, and indicate that one should meet the other as soon as possible.

((Edit: apologies for my absence there, I was painting a lightsabre handle.))

((It's cool. Going to the midnight showing? My history teacher is. He was going to take his lightsaber but they strictly banned them at the local theater. So he was going to go dressed as a jedi and his friend told him no.))

Sidney understood, and she returned the dinosaur to his ball just as he was breaking off one of the bars, trying to get at Cassius now that he was no longer possessing him. "I don't think Winona will want the cage back after what he did to it," she said, chewing on the inside of her mouth.

"So what did you...find..." Sidney stopped. "Nevermind. Just tell me whenever you're able to," she told Cassius, forgetting that she wouldn't be able to understand him in his present form.

((Unfortunately, no, but my school (which I affectionately refer to as Geekdom High) is having a Star Wars "house fun day" tomorrow, which means a costume contest.))

Cassius nodded, and headed back over to where the human body he had long inhabited was lying. He was about to repossess it, when he paused, turning to Pandora. "How much time do you think I have until he either wakes up or suffers permanent brain damage from head trauma?" asked the older ghost.

"Actually, I think I hit him just right this time" replied Pandora. "I think you've got a good half hour or so, if no one splashes him with water or anything."

Cassius turned back to Sidney, struggling to form a single human word with a vocal system that normally only supported the sounds necessary for one word. It wasn't pronounced very well, but one could tell by his fighting stance what he meant by it.

"Battle?"

"You want to fight?" She seemed uneasy about Cassius' request. "Here? Now? Against who?" The trainer's gaze shifted to the ball in her hand. "Against Lucifer...or someone else?" Please say someone else, she thought to herself. Or something of the sort. Sidney just released the Tyranitar. She didn't want to do so again.

"You" replied Cassius, still uneasy about the language, although monosyllabic words were far easier. Actually, I'd fight one of my ghosts if they were willing to try he thought to himself, pity they all learned a decade ago they can't take me even when I'm out of practice like this. He laughed aloud- as hard as it was to sound anything but sinister when he laughed as a human, it was ten times as difficult in his natural form, so he didn't even try.

((Disappeared again there, didn't I? Who'dve thought glazing a lightsabre could take so long...))

((Seems I'm the one that disappeared. ^^))

((I'm still a little confused. When Cassius said 'you', did he mean Sidney or her Pokemon?))

((PS Enjoy your geek fest at school. XP))

((He meant her pokemon, but with her as the trainer. A poison/fighting type human wouldn't stand much of a chance against a poison/ghost type, ne?

And I am, indeed, enjoying it- the 'saber turned out great, and I already had the evil cloak))