Magnitude 9

[bravenewmods]

[It is almost precisely 2AM when the first earthquake hits.

The ground vibrates dully at first, like the rumble of construction machinery or the shaking of a heavy Pokémon coming down the streets. In the throes of sleep, it seems unalarming, if a bit out of the ordinary. Worse than this has occurred in the past.

Then the walls shake. Paintings tilt and sway and objects teeter and fall off the shelves, one after another. The ground shifts underfoot and a cautious step out of bed only succeeds in sending the frightened sleeper reeling to the floor.

High up in the sky, the towers sway. An infinitesimal amount at first, but any amount of swaying is terrifying, unfathomable, an event so utterly wrong it is inconceivable that it could be happening. The tilting progresses, becomes noticeable, measurable, and it can only be hoped that it is a reflection of a panicked imagination rather than reality.

After an eternity, the rumbling dies down...

Just when it seems safe to investigate, about a half hour after the quake began, the Warp Band flares to life. A voice speaks - it can be heard, too, from outdoors, issuing from the emergency broadcast system. It is a woman's voice, speaking briskly, efficiently, holding no trace of fear or panic.]

Effective immediately, the Council has issued a state of emergency for Union. This is not a drill or an exercise. All citizens, please be prepared to follow standard residential tower emergency procedures; all relevant instructions are posted on every floor. For the majority of citizens, this means to stay in place and to take shelter until the quakes are confirmed to be over. Do not attempt to evacuate unless instructed to do so now or unless severe injury has been sustained.

This message is for Towers D and E of Sector 3 and the Cloud Towers in Sector 5. Again, this message is for Towers D and E of Sector 3 and the Cloud Towers of Sector 5. The gas lines have ruptured, and all residents should prepare for immediate evacuation. Swords and Guardsmen assigned to these sectors should proceed immediately to their stations to assist. Further instruction will be given by officers on site. Again, residents of all other towers should stay in place at this time.

Entrance 2 to the Old City has collapsed and Entrances 3 and 5 have been severely damaged. Again, the Industrial District entrance has collapsed and the Habitat and the Southern Wall entrances have been damaged. At this time, a large number of wild Pokémon are seeking entrance into Union from all other entrances. Rangers and remaining Guardsmen, please report to these areas to begin containment measures. Be prepared for potential aggression.

All medical personnel trained in Emergency Medicine, report to the Medical Center if and when possible. All Habitat employees with Level 2 clearance and above, report to the Habitat Tower to initiate emergency stabilization protocols.

All citizens, please stay alert for further information. Major aftershocks are predicted to continue for the next six hours, and damage assessments will be ongoing. Be ready for further quakes and be prepared to contact emergency services if an emergency situation is seen developing.

[She cuts off with alacrity. An uneasy echo hangs in the air after she concludes...]

((This post may be used as a mingle thread to address any of the issues raised within. You may also make your individual posts at this time. Responses may be addressed in regards to the initial emergency situation, or forward dated to address the assessment of damage after the first major quake. The wild Pokémon will not stop coming, and the aftershocks will continue for long after six hours.

Characters may follow instructions but may also feel free to move around at will and help however they can. Actions taken throughout this event will be noted and may affect the status of Union after the end of the event.))

Comments

[somnambulatory]

"You're hurt..."

Jinxie frowns at the burn on Elly's side. She's far from a healer herself, but she can tell it's causing her friend pain. Still, though, she knows Elly is a Ranger and has a job to do even if she's nursing an injury.

"I'll come with you. Dokuro and, um..."

The Grimer that's been following Jinxie smiles over at her, hoping for a cute name of its own. She's been too busy running around to really think of one, having scarcely noticed she'd accidentally bonded with it in the first place.

"...Goo. We can help you."

[reborn_love]

"A little," Elly admits, with a half-smile. She nods and looks up at the Grimer. He tries to not stare -- though it is sort of cute, in a slime-covered, poisonous sort of way -- and then she looks at Jinxie. She considers that for a few heartbeats, wondering if she should really put Jinxie in any danger at all. Except...

She is hurt, and Five-Iron can only do so much; Vierge is here somewhere, too, and her Fletchling is flying reconnaissance right now in tandem with some of the other flying Pokémon.

She nods. "All right," she says. "But be careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

[somnambulatory]

As they say, it takes all kinds of Pokemon to make the world go 'round. Even sentient toxic waste piles. At least this one has Sticky Hold instead of Stench, so the biggest problem is really getting into a hug you might not get back out of for a while. All the same, Goo seems pleased with her new name, sloshing back and forth happily as she smiles back at Jinxie and Elly.

"I'll be careful. I can call for the rest of my team if we get into trouble."

Hands clenched in front of her, Jinxie's looking very determined to help right now.

[reborn_love]

"Great," Elly says. She turns her head, glancing at her Seedot. She nods. "Come on, Five-Iron."

The Seedot rolls to catch up with Elly, while she walks; she starts moving ahead of Jinxie. Instinct puts her on point -- though, really, Five-Iron takes point. Vierge slithers out of a nearby building, the Dratini falling in with them. As Elly walks, she turns her head, looking over her shoulder and back at Jinxie. "I think they're scared, more than anything," she says. "If we could find a place to round a lot of them up into..."

A Pokémon corral.

[somnambulatory]

Jinxie's fine with Elly taking point - she's the actual combatant of this unlikely duo. She follows along close behind, keeping an eye out as Dokuro and Goo travel to either side of her.

"...Is there anywhere like that? Maybe the breeding center?"

[reborn_love]

"Jinxie!" Elly said. "That's a wonderful idea--they'd be equipped to handle it. Let's see what ones we can round up."

She glanced around. Finding them wouldn't be hard; the tough part would be getting them all moving in the same direction, which she did not quite know how they would manage. There was time to think of that, though, and simply leading the way might go a long distance, there. She nodded, then looked back at Jinxie.

"But not too many," she said. "We can't overload them. But even half of the ones around here would help make things manageable..."

[somnambulatory]

"Do you think it would be enough to take out our whole teams and try to herd them?"

Jinxie holds up her Warp Band, waiting for Elly's answer. She's a Ranger, so she'll defer to her judgement on the matter.

[reborn_love]

"Let's try it," Elly said. She held her own Warp Band up; her Fletchling appeared in a flash of light and a chirp, before landing on her shoulder. Vierge snuck up to her side, and her Seedot rolled until it was near here. She looked at Jinxie, then she nodded.

"We'll need to move quick, once we have them," she said. "That shouldn't be too hard. Just keep them together, until we get to the breeding center."

[somnambulatory]

Jinxie, deciding more is better in this case, summons the rest of her team. In short order, Dokuro and Goo are joined by Wooster the Foongus, Jingle the Klefki, Sable the Houndour, and Brownie the Mankey.

"Okay, everyone! Help us round up these Pokemon into a safe place."

[reborn_love]

Jinxie, Elly realized, had a lot of Pokémon. She stared at all of them in turn, before she turned her head, and then she nodded. She motioned forward with her collapsible rod, pointing it off in the distance. "Like she said! Come on, guys!"

She rushed and started going to it. It required Elly to be careful; where she excelled was in throwing lots of elemental attacks out, but that could be destructive and dangerous here. Instead, Elly went with yelling and waving -- while her Fletchling and Seedot acted as fast moving bait to lure some stragglers in. The Seedot rushed at the head of the pack, though, using Harden over and over.

It would be a tough nut to crack.

Elly watched the pack get bigger and bigger -- as they moved down the street. She stared a little, running alongside it. "This is a lot of wild Pokémon!"

[somnambulatory]

Jinxie's been a busy little Combee these past couple of weeks. She's had a good example in people like Elly, who are already very capable in their own right, so she's been doing her best to work her own abilities to her best advantage. Being a Kindred Soul, that means she's largely been focusing on bonding with a lot of Pokemon to build a versatile team that can help people in many different situations.

"They just keep coming...!"

Still, her team is doing its best - Sable barking and herding Pokemon in the right direction, Brownie intimidating some of the more easily cowed ones in the crowd, Dokuro floating around and blocking the crowd off, Goo tackling any Pokemon that stray from the group and dragging them back, Wooster joining Seedot and Fletchling to act as bait, and Jingle rattling around and making lots of noise to attract more Pokemon their way.

[reborn_love]

"It's okay!" Elly called back. "We can't get all of them, so focus on the ones we can!"

Her Fletchling dived down to pick up a smaller escaping Pokémon and deposit it back with the rest of the pack. The pack kept moving -- a quick pace, all told, and Elly had to run to keep up -- and it had a fairly coherent form, thanks to all of the Pokémons' work. Elly stared, then she looked ahead, where she saw the training center trying to rise up.

"There it is!"

[somnambulatory]

"Almost there!"

Jinxie's Pokemon are working like a well-oiled machine to continue herding the wild Pokemon toward the breeding center. Even Brownie and Jingle are more focused on the task than they are fighting each other like usual. Clearly her efforts have been paying off.

"We'll need to bring them around the back, right?"

[reborn_love]

"Right!" Elly called out.

She jogged ahead, and opened up the gate that led to the back. The only problem was this made a choke point -- they needed to make that herd fit through in short order. She grimaced, then she called out louder. "Try to tighten them up so they can all get through the gate!"

[somnambulatory]

"I-I'll try...!"

Thankfully, Jinxie's full complement of Pokemon is fairly impressive, so she directs half of them to each side of the herd in an attempt to push the stampeding Pokemon closer together.

[reborn_love]

The horde of Pokémon rushed through the opened gates, directed into the yard. Handlers started shouting; people began directing them to places, quickly helping bring them under control. Elly watched it unfold; the Breeding Center's staff looked to have it under control then, largely thanks to their work in getting them there in a controllable form. She watched it for a moment longer, before she turned and looked at Jinxie.

She smiled and wiped her head, mopping at her brow. Strands of red hair clung to her forehead thanks to the sweat.

"That was hard work," she said, "but I think everything worked out okay."

[somnambulatory]

As soon as the Pokémon make their way into the breeding center's yard, Jinxie lets out a loud sigh as she falls to her knees, breathing heavily. Her own Pokémon circle back around to make sure she's all right, and she manages a smile as she brings her hand up to pet each of them in turn.

"W-whew..."