*Joshua is accepted*
Pan grumbled. He did not like how this day was turning out. He had more important matters to attend to than fight rogue ninjas.

"You two follow my lead!" He pointed at Hiroki and Rambo. The incoming treebranch made its way to the group. The mighty Slaking (not known as a ditto) gave a great heave of its arms and began its devastating tree attack. Pan knew it could not be dodged in time and so ran in the opposite direction and grabbed a hold of the trunk. The fact that he ran in the same direction as the trunk was swinging softened the blow. The tree had started on fire for one reason or another. The fire was too far away to hurt Pan at the moment. Still Pan coughed when he gave the order.

"Growlithe! Roar!" Growlithe had also jumped onto the tree trunk as Pan had done and ran down the tree trunk and up the arm of the still swinging Slaking. Reaching the Slaking's shoulder he took a deep breathe and bellowed a mighty roar in the ear of the poor Slaking. Needless to say the Slaking ran terrified into the bushes, disappearing with its ninja master.

Pan rounded on Rambo and Hiroki. As much as he should have thanked them for probably saving his life, gratitude was not present in his voice.
He did seem calm at first. He barked his command.

"Attention! Fall in!" He scanned over the Imperials before him. "Congratulations to you all. You responded to a flare in the span of 13 minutes. That is 2 minutes faster than what is expected of eilte squad units. You should be proud of that achievement." That should be bait enough for his next words.

His voice went soft and he brought his face very close to Rambo's. "What I want to understand is why after making such good time getting here, is that you decided to jump into the clearing with me. Do you know why I say this?" He turned his back and walked away a few paces. Then turned back around and paused a moment scanning the faces of soldiers and Pokemon alike. Then the hammer fell.

"Because you fools DIDN"T FOLLOW PROTOCOL! Never and I mean never give away your positions unless it is absolutely necessary. There must be a reason for going into a clearing when a threat has made itself evident. Like setting a trap or launching a visible flare..." He turned to Rambo again. "A reason I will not except is joyriding on your Dragonite and showing all the world that there is a flying target overhead!" At this point Pan got real close to Rambo's ear and whispered so that noone but Rambo could make out a word, "If you get a clear shot of the enemy from a distance, then take the shot. The enemy will not hesitate so neither should you." He returned to his position again for more barking.

" And you soldier!" He rounded onto Joshua. Tell me why it would be smart to make an enemy's weapon deadlier. You turned his bat into a bat on fire! What was going trough your head? In addition to that you sent a Grass type head long into fire! Can you tell me why you did not learn type advantages and weaknesses at the academy? I never want to have to step in again." He returned in front of the group. "Never jump headlong into battle until you know what you are facing. Failing to assume the attack radius of a Slaking is one mistake I will allow. However, you only saw one ninja who had made himself visible in a clearing. That does not mean that there aren't more ninja that are lurking in the shadows and FOLLOWING PROTOCOL! Conceal yourselves and observe the situation! Then take action only if it is needed! I am done yelling at you now. Take a rest, you earned it. But bear in mind that an enemy of the Empire has infiltrated our border defenses, somehow gained knowledge of the meeting that was supposed to take place here, and has escaped with new knowledge of who the two people meeting look like and to some extent how they fight."

Growlithe finally got the courage to open his eyes. That was a tongue thrashing. "Oh yes, and Hiroki? We need to start the meeting. Please meet me at the river in 15 minutes. And you soldier," He motioned at Joshua." You have seen to much. I need to speak with you as well. In the meantime..." He looked at Rambo, "You do some reconnassance and make sure that ninja is out of our hearing range. I will expect you two shortly." And with that the ticked Imperial commander trudged toward the river to wash his new shoulder wound from that cursed Slaking.

Growlithe followed closely, yet made a point to turn its head slightly and make one eye contact while giving a mighty "Harrumph" at the Arcanine not but 10 paces away. That Arcanine better not get any ideas of being the new boss.

The two other Imperials finally realised they were left alone.

A Pidgeot landed on Tom's shoulder and transformed into Ditto. When he arrived at the Temple he yelled "Is anyone home?"

*Sorry bout the ditto comment...*

"D*** tree hit my ribcage." I muttered softly as I examined myself after the Slakoth ran away. Kinar looked at me, worried. "I'm fine" I told her.

I ignored the throbing in my head and ribs as I listened. How did I not see that tree coming? Darn it! At least no ribs are broken, but I'll have to be more careful next time

I took in what my 'commander' had been saying. Obviously, we were lucky that the ninja had disappeared, instead of using an attack on the commander. However, it seemed nessecary that I caused a distraction. I wonder what the other two were thinking, though... I sighed. I might as well start towards the river. It's good to get an early start. I need to rest anyway and take some pain killers. And besides, I would like to get a look at his shoulder wound...

I met the commander at the river. "You know, I'm part of the Healing Team. You should let me look at your shoulder wound. You can't let it get infected."
I said softly. Sometimes, I quickly learned, talking softly helped people trust you with their injuries. I hoped it would work on this guy. He seemed so hard-cored and untrusting...

"Ah yes, I would be grateful if you did." Pan had cooled off now. He had let all the steam out of his windpipe. "I suppose I should tell you about the reason you were called here, but first I need that report from the soldier I sent for scouting. Noone can hear this except the ears I choose personally."

But something troubled Pan deeper than the topic of the meeting. "I need to know, did that ninja know about our conversation we were to have today? And on another note, why were you late?" it was not an accusing tone of voice. He didn't know exactly but something in Hiroki's voice calmed him slightly.

I smiled. I was obviously wrong about him being untrusting...
I kneeled down by his shoulder. I took out an oitment to help ease the pain after checking for anything inside of it. "I came from the other side of our country. Besides, I thought I was early." I rubbed the ointment on carefully. I kept my voice soft to keep his attention on talking, not on the wound. A simple task. I bit my lip to ignore my pain. First him and the others, then me. " Your injury will heal nicely. It was just a gash. I could have been a lot worse. It could have hit you neck, or head, or internal organs... I shrugged away the thoughts.

"I'll tend to the others once they get here."
I stood up, put the ointment into one of Kinar's pockets, and got a few canteens out. I filled them with water. "Here." I said. "You must be thirsty from all that fire that was around here." I smiled, and drank a few gulps out of my canteen, then gave some to Kinar. I sat back down and Kinar laid next to me, worry loud and clear on her face.

I gave her a look saying, Don't worry!!
"So..."I continued, smiling, hoping he didn't see Kinar's face. However, I'm pretty sure the Growithe saw it though, since he had been watching Kinar the whole time "We are going to have a hard time perfecting the crew, aren't we?" I said jokingly. "Oh, and can you tell your Growlithe that Kinar is a female, and isn't interested in his 'territory', being us. She's just here to help." I was about to tell him my rank status, and how long I've been experienced, but I guessed he might have already known.

Pan stared at the canteen. "I still am wondering about that ninja. Anything suspiscious about that Slaking? Growlithe seems pretty confused about the matter. Something didn't sit right with it when we came in contact with it. Did your Arcanine notice anything strange?"

While all this was happening, Growlithe stared towards the Arcanine intensely. I bet Arcanine didn't even get a whiff of that odd Slaking. Probably too busy waiting for orders instead of taking it upon itself to make sense of the situation. Tell me this is an off day for those pokemon. The Dragonite was not in a ready position upon landing. At least the Treeko knew to flank off when my master took charge. Growlithe closed its eyes again and let his ears do their thing again. It was always ready. Magikarp, 5 paces away, bad eatings, no threat. Barboach, 12 paces away in river, delicious eatings, no threat...

"Kinar did notice something, I'm sure, but she knows how to hide what she's thinking. When I was hiding and even after that, she was trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I don't know what it is, but even the dumbest of dimwits can tell that it's not normal."

Kinar gave a non-caring glance to Growlithe that meant,"I'm not interested in taking over your role. I did notice things, and I do take control of my own actions, but I am known to be close for when she needs me. I am here to help, after all. Not to fight."

"The Slakoth was pretty fast and non-lazy for a Slakoth, though. Even I couldn't dodge it's second attack." Suddenly, I regretted saying that. I shouldn't have let him know. Stupid, stupid, stupid!I thought.
I smiled a normal smile, hoping he didn't catch on.

*I have to leave for a half hour, but feel free to post cause I WILL be back*

Pan still stared at the canteen. "Then maybe you should check for your wounds as well. I don't want to have to replce you due to a complicated injury." He lifted up his head to look at the river. "Besides, you can't help the sick and wounded if you're dead." He gave a smile without looking at her and drew out his sword and was about to polish it when he remembered he left his sharpening stone back in the clearing. Trying to not look foolish at drawing a sword without doing anything with it, he grabbed a nearby stone and began sharpening the sword with a pitiful excuse for a replacement.

Pan wasn't the only one playing the fool. Growlithe's ears perked up at the Arcanine's comment. "If you are there for when she needs you, that is all well and fine. But to not take in your surroundings can lead your master into dangerous territory. If you cannot see more than your master's can, then you are nothing more then a house-broken puppy." Thinks she knows how I think because I'm a Growlithe. Hope I never become a narrow-minded large pooche. It was back to work. Bidoof, 30 paces, minimal threat.

Pan finished sharpening his blade and decided that maybe waiting for the status report was taking a bit too long. He sheathed it and cleared his throat. He stood and faced Hiroki but glanced straight ahead, looking at nothing. Growlithe stood also and repeated Pan's facial expression. "I am here on official business of the Emperor. He has appointed Pan Tamaran as taskmaster in the recruitment for a 6 man team. The team consists of unique positions, each important to the mission before them. I ask that you, Hiroki, accompany as one of the 6 chosen for this mission. Upon acception, you will only be told information deemed necessary for the success of the mission and are expected to obey orders by only the leader of this mission, disreguarding any orders from those ranked higher. If you can obey this and choose to claim your place among the 6 man group, then say 'I accept'. If you cannot, then say 'I do not accept' and return to your previous position among the Imperial military."

Kinar looked angry at the Growlithe's misunderstanding statement, but ignored it and turned away.


He forgot his sharpening stone., I noted.
I blanked. Did he seem worried? No, it was my imagination. I'm pretty sure...
"I accept, of course." I smiled. "I was waiting to see if the others had injuries to take care of before myself, but I guess that that was an order. Thanks for the offer. I'm honored to be working with you.
I bowed, and retreated to a place where he couldn't see me, and checked my injuries.
About five minutes later, I walked back out.
"It's only a bruise. It'll heal on it's own time."

Kinar looked angrily at the Growlithe. I am here to help, but yes, I do take charge of things myself! How dare you judge me! Her anger was rising, and it was becoming noticeable too me. Yes, I noticed, and I am around your age, so don't call me a dimwit! You don't know me!!
She saw me frowning t her, took a deep breath, and continued. Spearow, 78 yards, no threat. Doesn't even notice any danger. Happy? I can do it too, you know. I'm more worried about my injured partner though!!
She turned angrily away, and I sighed. I turned back to my commander. "It's going to take a while for them to get along..."I added."Shall I get your sharpening stone?"

Meanwhile Tom, who concluded that no one was in the temple smiled. The two didn't relise he was up here, held by Ditto's Vine Whip (As a Victorebell.) This conversation.. held info. Except everyone was joining the Impeirials, so how could he win alone?

"Is it now?" Pan glanced at Growlithe and winked. Growlithe's fur ruffled slightly he knew that look. "Then how bout they work off some of that unnecessary negative energy in a battle. It appears neither took damage recently and Growlithe didn't even start up a thrist yet." His smile turned to a smirk, besides, we were going to be doing this anyway if you accepted." He turned and faced Hiroki, this time looking at her eyes and in a confident voice exclaimed, "I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

Growlithe suddenly took a good look on his possbile opponent. The Arcanine was twice his size. He turned around and showed his back to Kinar as if it was the Magikarp he detected earlier and said, "Arcanine, 3 paces behind me, no threat." and trotted toward his master and sat on his hind paws, giving a suggestive look at Kinar. Let's see how big this puppy's bite is.

Pan hoped she didn't notice he changed the subject about his sharpening stone.

Scratch the last post.

I caught on. "Oh, of course. Although, I should say, Kinar might not fight much, but she's a challenge."
Kinar bared her teeth in agreement.

Maybe I should get his sharpening stone later... I thought.

"You sure you wish to do this?" I asked in doubt.
Something's up. But what...what is he thinking?

Pan fell backwards at having her ignore his challenge. Growlithe fell over too. Embarrassment was too little a word for this feeling they had. To add to it, he looked like a fool sharpening his sword with that pebble, which actually seemed to have made the sword duller. Growlithe couldn't even bring himself to look at Kinar. The shame...

*some confusion at us posting simultaneously*

They regained their composure pretty quick and were on their feet again with a confident smirk. "Yes, i am quite serious. You may be a healer but what good would you be if your the only one left in my group and cannot fend for yourself? Now start however you see fit."

*I have to go be right back in 10 minutes to 15 minutes. I WILL be back.*

With no answer, I shrugged.

"I'll go get your sharpening stone. I'll be back. Stay." I told Kinar, who looked at me understandingly.

What does he notice?
I thought into deep thought as I walked towards the sharpening stone.

Pan let out a deep sigh and had his head hang downward once she was out of sight. "I didn't even need that sharpening stone..." He sat down and looked at Kinar while Growlithe had decided to get a drink from the river.

Pan studied the Pokemon with great intent.

Tom saw the possibility. She wants the sharpining stone, you see it in her eyes. She can get it without anyone caring, being an Impeirial and I can kidnap her, get the stone and hold her for ransom, but that would be MUCH to violent. So I'll just nab the sharpening stone. He smiled and followed her.

My Character:
Name: Aseren Sedge
Gender: Male
Specialist: Ranged Combat
Personality: Sarcastic and willful.
Black Dojo: Ninja: Bladesworn

His Pokemon:
Name: Ninjask
Gender: Male
Moves:
Fury Cutter
Double Team
Mind Reader
Slash
Personality: Hyper and almost dangerously agressive. Extremely protective of its master.

"Don't try it Tom." Aseren Sedge crouched on an overhead pillar above Tom's head. His Ninjask lay comfortably on his back. "You know to report this to the Dojo immediately. Your superiors won't take kindly to keeping this information secret."

so sorry! it was more like 45 minutes, but im back

*picks up sharpening stone*

"I should have accepted his offer to battle. Too late, though."
I sighed, frowning at the ground. Suddenly, my side hurt. I grasped it.
"What the..? It shouldn't be hurting. I'd better get back..."
I headed back, while Kinar, at the river, felt my side hurting. (she's weird like that.)

*Accepted*
(First post was here eh? Who's ur regular username?)

Pan stared intently at Kinar and wondered why on earth a healer would choose a Fire pokemon as a companion. Fire was never the best for wounds, though sterilizing needles seemed to fit, but why an Arcanine?

edit: *welcome back*

*thanks*

I stopped walking and looked at the trees, my arm still clutching my side. I thought I heard someone... "Who is that?" I said softly. Someone's here, I can feel it...I thought I heard whispering, too.
I froze, feeling dread. No! I can't move fast, and I'm in danger!

"Kinar!!" I yelled.

Down by the river, anyone could hear me yell. Kinar jumped up, ready to run.

"Who is there?!" I yelled, hoping for the commander and Kinar to show up soon.

Edit: So far,Mr. Chiss, only you and me are here, so we best continue.

Joshua was sitting there forever. What is taking them so long? What might they be talking about? He thought. He then noticed Speedy had a burn.

"Man, I was really stupid back there. I can't believe I did that. I actually missed! I meant to hit the Slowking, but I got the tree instead!" Said Joshua as he decided to take care of Speedy.

"I guess I am not that good against a moving target, am I? I was the best..well...second best...archer in the acadamy..." Said Joshua, who sighed....

Aseren continued. "I was sent here from the Black Dojo to recover you. We had a pressing engagement to get back to the Dojo for a battle. Then I heard this 'meeting' business." Ninjask gave a loud annoying buzz on his back.

"She knew you were still around, you could hear her from here. We must retreat with haste and bring reinforcements. We still have to get out of this Imperial territory alive you know. And that leader of theirs you encountered seems to know how to handle us and probably will send for a hunting party to track you down. And even if you did succeed in holding her hostage, don't forget the Dragon and the fool in the sky. They'll pick you off like a Purugly on an Azurill. Wouldn't be pretty." At that statement, Ninjask made an eerie buzzing that made it sound joyful at the thought of what would happen to the Azurill.

"Come, we have much ground to cover and little time."

More whispering... Kinar must not have heard me!!! I realized with paralyzing fear. I yelled again. "Who's there!" I have to make the best of it. Someone will notice that I'm gone, and come. I hope that the commander, Pan, and Kinar heard me...I have no choice but to do this. They know that I'm here.

"Someone!" I called "Come out!!" I added, to any one hopefully near me."I need reinforcements!!"
Not that that will really help...I might be doomed...

*Edit: Mind you, Joshua, I AM in fact a healing team member...I can heal Speedy later *

Growlithe finished drinking and trotted toward all the commotion. No need to hurry. I didn't hear or smell any new danger.

Pan on the other hand made haste to Hiroki. He called the other soldiers to come to the clearing. "Form ranks in the clearing maggots!"