It was only about an hour before the red-head was nearing her destination of Goldenrod City, the signs signaling her arrival. "Almost there, Hozukimaru…" she murmured under her breath more than anything, tears still staining her cheeks, her eyes all puffy from said-tears. Hozukimaru nodded in response, letting out a small cry of acknowledgement of her comment. Chessebelle sighed and shook her head, her mind racing with the thoughts of Ikkaku and the rest of her bodyguards, their company being the only thing she wanted to ask for at the moment. The red-head looked down at her belt, pulling her blue tooth off of the attachment on her belt, adjusting the blue-tooth onto her ear and pressing the center button to turn it on. When static was the only thing that came through her ear, the tears began to well up in heresy once again. "I just hope you guys are alive…" She whispered into the headset, shaking her head softly as she choked down her sobs.

Hozukimaru let out a soft raspy coo to get the girl's attention, her dainty hands reaching up and wiping her tears away shakily, looking over the Pokémon's shoulder as he seemed to nod his head in the direction of smoke coming from their destination. "What's happening…" she whispered to herself, ushering Hozukimaru to go faster, the Pokémon obeying without another word. As the couple got closer and closer to the smoke, the smell of burning flesh wafted into their sinuses, making Chessebelle gag.

The smell only worsened when her eyes landed on the cobblestoned path of Goldenrod city, the bricks splattered with blood, bones, and carcasses of people and Pokémon alike. "They said they were going to the Goldenrod underground…" Chessebelle whispered under her breath as she remembered the broadcasts' directions, pointing around the Aerodactyl to the largest house in Goldenrod City, in the topmost corner of the city, where the flower shop used to be located. "Land down there, Hozukimaru, then do rounds. If anything is too dangerous, come get me." She instructed, the Aerodactyl giving another nod before landing in front of the large house, the 'Blair Manor: Home of the current Johto / Kanto Champion.' as the sign outside said.

The red-head patted the Aerodactyl's nose before she left him outside, the Pokémon flapping his wings and taking off to do rounds like she had asked of him, while she stood in front of the house. Despite the situation she was in, it was still nice to be home, even though it was surreal at the same time. The champion made her way up to her house, walking up the front steps slowly and carefully, so as not to attract attention from any of the lingering zombie Pokémon nearby, if any. The red-head reached out to turn the door handle to the house, but was surprised to see the door already slightly ajar. "Fuck…" She whispered under her breath, hoping her parents had simply left in a hurry and hadn't been able to lock the door behind them.

Chessebelle pushed the door open a bit more and slipped inside, leaving the door open a bit so she could get out easily if need be. The size of her house never really amazed her, but today was different. She finally realized how lucky she was to be blessed with such wealthy parents to lavish her with the gifts that she did. The red-head looked at the large staircase in front of her, leading straight ahead before splitting off to the left, leading upstairs to the hallway, where her room, along with guest rooms, was located. Her seafoam hues looked up at the chandelier she had been fascinated with growing up, some of the bulbs broken and smashed on the floor, the light flickering with the power it had left.

She felt lonely looking at the broken glassware on the floor from the chandelier, her eyes searching the room for any signs of life. The long table they had against the wall next to the door was broken nearly in half, family photos crushed with their frames scattered about them. The smiling faces of her mother, father, and brother making her frown, sad to see them so haphazardly on the floor. Chessebelle shook her head and pulled two pokeballs off her belt, holding the minimized pokeballs between the two fingers before throwing them to the floor, the balls expanding before releasing their contents with a bright flash of white and red.

Chessebelle watched the pokeballs bounce back up to her, resizing back to their smaller versions, before she put them back on her belt. "Nite?" The pig Pokémon that reached a little over her waist called with a determined snort, flexing his muscles as he awaited an order from the girl. She smiled, the Pignite being one of her newest additions to her team. She was trying to train him up before she gave him to Kenpachi as a gift. The man didn't even have a Pokémon! She even named the Pignite after him; he had to take him! If she ever found him…

"Zaraki, do me a favor and check out the house for any Pokémon. Don't try to be a hero and fight them off." Chessebelle started, looking over her shoulder at the Pignite as she crouched down in front of the pictures from earlier, picking some of them up and leaving the fragments of glass on the floor. "Do not get a scratch on you. Run to me as fast as you can, and I'll take care of it." The pig gave a snort of dismissal and turned to venture into the dining room to her right. "I'm serious, Zaraki." Chessebelle said in a stern voice, actually looking at the Pokémon now, the Pignite seemed to widen his eyes before rolling them and putting his hooves behind his head and walking nonchalantly into the dining room to look around.

"Krow?" Chessebelle didn't bother to turn around when she heard her companion coo next to her. The scuffing of his talons on the marble floor was enough for her to know he was beside her. "Don, I don't know what's happening… All I know is that I'm all on my own…" She whispered, the tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she stared down at the family photo in her hands from when she was around 10 years old. They had gone to the National Park for a family outing, and everyone was there: her father was still able-bodied, only leaning slightly to one side because of his leg, and her mother was hanging on to his body happily, her copper hair in big curls. Her brothers were on both sides of her, Maki looking more annoyed than anything, and Moki smiling brightly as he held out a pokeball, a new caterpie he had just caught from the park behind them. Chessebelle stood in the middle, her family dwarfing her in size.

"Honchkrow." The bird replied, his head shifting to one side as he tried not to watch his trainer cry, her body beginning to shake from trying to hold the tears inside. "I haven't been alone in so long, I don't know what to do. Ikkaku could be dead for all I know, Don…" She sobbed quietly, the Pokémon turning to look at her, unable to ignore what she had said. The Honchkrow hated Ikkaku, granted, but he would never imagine what she would have done, had the bald man died. 'Oh Chessebelle, my dear… I know how fond you were of that one…' He thought to himself, his eyes sympathetically looking at his crouched trainer. The Honchkrow hopped into his trainer's lap, the red-head having to readjust on the balls of her feet to keep from falling into the broken shards of glass. Chessebelle couldn't help it at this point as she hugged her Honchkrow close to her chest and began to bawl into the plumage on his back.

The Honchkrow seemed to give a fatherly sigh as he put his wings around his trainer and patted her awkwardly. "I'm sorry…" She whispered into the bird's feathers, looking up from his navy body and looking at the broken furniture and glass with forlorn eyes. Don leaned back and gave a sympathetic smile, or so she assumed, before he hopped out of her lap and jerked his head in the direction of the stairs.

Chessebelle nodded curtly and looked down at her picture once more before folding it neatly and putting it in the pocket of Ikkaku's shirt with a sigh of sadness. The red-head proceeded towards the stairs, her Honchkrow flapping his wings and landing up at the top of the stairs, perched on the gold railing and looking down the hallways cautiously. After a moment, the red-head joined her Pokémon, looking both ways down the hall before she made her way down the right side of the hallway, her room at the very end of the hallway. Don hovered after his trainer quietly, his ruby eyes glowing in the darkened hallway.

The red-head reached her door and took a breath before she reached for the handle, turning it and walking into her old room, the scent of blood making her cringe and back away from the door as it pushed itself open the rest of the way. "Oh my God…" She groaned into her hand, holding her nose shut as she looked into the room with panicked eyes. There were undead Yanma tearing through the sheets on her bed, the clothes in her closet, and the carcass of a snubbull they had brought into the room. Blood splattered her walls and floor, the buzzing of the Yanma growing louder as they noticed the door was open, there bug eyes reflecting the fear in her own hues.

Don quickly flapped in front of his trainer and glared at the Pokémon, who buzzed louder and suddenly rushed at the couple. "Don, move!" Chessebelle order, pushing the Honchkrow out of the way and grabbing the edge of her door, slamming it shut and backing away, Don moving ahead of her once more and protecting her from further harm. The loud thunk of the Yanma hitting their heads against the door reverberated through the hallway. The red-head backed away from the door, Don following his trainer's actions and retreating from the door, another thunk indicating the undead were planning on getting through the door and fed on their next meal.

"We have to go." Chessebelle declared as she turned around, trotting down the stairs quickly and turning to go towards the dining room, a squeal indicating where her Pignite was located. "Zaraki?!" She called, beginning to run into the kitchen from the dining room, her boots clacking on the wood floor as she made her way to the sound of her Pokémon's cry.

"Get this fucking pig out of here, Arsenic. Hydro pump." A raspy voice came from the kitchen, Chessebelle hearing the command given and gasped, rushing into the kitchen, Don suddenly flapping faster to get to where his trainer was, as well as the somewhat familiar voice.

The red-head slid into the kitchen and clumsily made her way over to her Pignite, the Pokémon looking angrily at the Poliwrath in front of it, the water type putting its fists up and blowing out its cheeks, obviously storing water for its attack. "Zaraki!" She shouted, the champion quickly throwing her inhibitions to the wind and running at her Pignite, grabbing him by the shoulders as he prepared to take the blow. The red-head had enough momentum that when she grabbed him by the shoulders, the two rolled to the side, Chessebelle landing to the side of the Pignite, standing up when she was reoriented and looked at the poliwrath, who had just unleashed his hydro pump into the wall of the kitchen, breaking the wall and the wall of the living room leading outside.

A thunk from upstairs signaled the Yanma still trying their best to get out of the room.

"What the hell?" The voice from earlier met Chessebelle's ears, the woman glaring at the Poliwrath as Don hovered into the room and landed next to the Pignite, who was looking at Chessebelle with admiring eyes. Don stayed with Zaraki, hopping in front of him to stare down the Poliwrath as Chessebelle brushed past it without a second glance, looking for its trainer. It didn't take much looking, as she rounded the corner of the kitchen and into the pantry, a large and lanky male standing there, with a familiar white eyepatch.

"What are you doing?!" She shouted, looking at the male on the Salamence from before. His grin grew upon his face as he stood up from his crouched position, having been looking at the foods that were still left in the pantry. Chessebelle seemed to lose a little bit of her self-confidence when she saw the man at full height; he didn't seem that tall when he was on that Salamence. Now that she was faced with the seven foot giant, she felt a little intimidated; especially since she was only eye-level with the middle of his chest.

"Hey baby, cool it. You know, Shinji was waiting for you to come back into his life again." The black-haired male cooed as he leaned down and reached his hand out, caressing her cheek and causing shivers to go down her spine from how creepy he was. A ball of fire whizzed past the two, both of their hair flying in the direction the ember was going. The male let go of Chessebelle's face and glared over her head at Zaraki, who was glaring at the man with disgust. "Arsenic, get rid of 'im" The giant growled before looking back down at Chessebelle with his one purple snake eyes showing, the grin on his face nearly paralyzing the girl before she registered what he had just told his Poliwrath to do.

"Don, use wing attack." The girl said quietly, glaring at the man, never once taking her eyes off of his snake face, Don nodding and pushing Zaraki behind him as he flapped his wings to get some air, the Poliwrath glaring right back at Don. The water-type began to fill his cheeks with water, but Don already flapped his wings as blades o silver energy flew towards the Poliwrath, the Pokémon too preoccupied with his attack to dodge, knocking the Poliwrath into the kitchen's island and breaking the entire structure.

"Get out of my house." She growled to the man as she turned to walk away, yet another thunk, louder this time, echoed through the kitchen. The red-head proceed to walk towards her Pokémon, managing to step on the Poliwrath's belly, the Pokémon letting a fountain of water out of its mouth as she did so.

"It's my first love! I've counted the seconds we were gone, and they've been the most excruciatingly painful seconds I've ever experienced! Those hips! That waist! Oh, and, God, do I love that face." Chessebelle stopped when she in front of Don and Zaraki, the two Pokémon looking around her body to see the speaker, their trainer doing the same, her eyes piercing daggers into the blonde.

The blonde grinned like his friend, although, a bit more charmingly, as he fixed his tie. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen to the living room, nonchalantly taking a few steps towards Chessebelle. "Don't come any closer to me." She growled as the taller, black-haired male walked around the blonde to get to his Poliwrath. He looked down at the Pokémon with a look of contempt, kicking its side with his black boot and spitting on it. "Get up, you piece of shit. I knew you weren't going to be anything the minute I caught you."

Chessebelle arched a brow at the black-haired male before her eyes drifted back to the blonde, who continued to smile as he walked closer to her, despite the warning. "Honey, I can't believe it's you! I would've sworn the woman who lived in this house looked just like you in all those pictures; and the plaque outside?! You're the champion, Chessebelle Blair, herself! It's such an honor to meet such a prestigious woman such as you." He gushed, getting on his knee in front of her and taking her dainty hand and kicking it lovingly, looking up at her with the same grin from earlier. Chessebelle was taken aback by this treatment, giving an almost invisible shake of her head, before glancing at Don, who was glaring at the blonde as if he was murdering his beloved trainer.

Chessebelle nodded mentally before smiling down at the blonde, taking her hand back before clenching it into a fist and throwing it back into the blonde's face, causing him to fall back on his bottom, the taller male looking over at Chessebelle in disbelief before laughing a raspy alligator laugh at his companion. "Ahaha, I like this bitch; she doesn't fall for your shitty pick-up lines, Hirako!" He commented as he tried to control his laughter, the blonde getting back up without a word, his hand reaching up to his nose as he leaned his head back to try and stop the bleeding. He turned to the side, looking at Chessebelle from the corner of his eyes and smirking. "You're cute, Chessebelle, but that was highly inappropriate. I like it rough, but damn." His comment made Chessebelle scoff in skepticism, looking at him incredulously as he turned to look at his companion, using his free hand to show him his middle finger. "Fuck you, Nnoitra. No girl even looks at you twice because you're so scary."

Chessebelle wasn't exactly sure how to feel about the situation but glanced down at Zaraki and Don, pulling Zaraki's pokeball off her belt and tapping his head with it softly, the Pignite giving a huff as he crossed his arms, being sucked back into his pokeball. 'I'll let you play later…' She thought to herself, reattaching the pokeball to her belt as the group froze, hearing one final thunk and a crash, indicating the Yanma had gotten out, a buzzing growing louder as they made their way downstairs. "Oh fuck." She muttered under her breath as she jerked her head towards the living room, Don nodding as he silently got into the air and flew past his trainer as she sneakily moved through the rubble of the kitchen. "Wher—" Nnoitra, the taller of the two, started before Shinji placed his blood covered hand over his mouth as he listened for the buzzing, watching Chessebelle slowly move through the kitchen and towards the living room, where he had been. 'Where's she going..' He thought to himself before he remembered seeing a sliding glass door.

Nnoitra growled and glared at the blonde, taking his hand off his mouth and wiping the blood away. "I could have gotten AIDS…" He hissed under his breath as he watched Shinji following the red-headed dame, giving an eyeroll before the buzzing grew closer, making him pause and look down at his Poliwrath, the poor water-type slowly getting up, making some noise that made the buzzing grow closer. "God dammit, Arsenic." He whispered under his breath as he threw his pokeball at him, recalling the struggling Pokémon into its pokeball. Nnoitra held the dive ball in his hand as he began to follow Shinji and Chessebelle, not caring much for the noise he was making until he turned around to see the Yanma in the dining room, their dangling eyes and rotting skin making him shudder and turn to look ahead of the group, looking over their heads to where Don was, the Honchkrow already having the door opened for them. "Hurry up, they're coming." He whispered harshly down at Shinji, Chessebelle turning to see Nnoitra and Shinji following her. "Get your own escape route!" She growled, speeding up her pace as she quickly jogged to the door and stepped out onto the wooden patio they had behind her house, Don following his trainer as she stuck her arms up. Don seemed to smirk as he noticed her action, reaching his talons out and grabbing his trainer's wrists as he flew into the air, Chessebelle hanging onto the Pokémon's legs as he gained altitude, taking her above the house. The red-head looked down at Shinji and Nnoitra as they walked out of the house and closed the door quickly, Shinji putting his bloody hand to his forehead, watching the champion flying in the air.

"Damn, what I would do to bang that bitch." Shinji said with a cheeky grin at his partner, Nnoitra rolling his one purple hue as he looked up to see her leave as well. "Well you're not getting in her pants. You saw that bald guy she was with. He doesn't look like he'd play nice with a guy like you, Hirako." Nnoitra replied, Shinji giving a quick retort. "You know what's funny about that? I don't see a bald guy anywhere near her. I just see a blonde." He grinned once more, Nnoitra smirking in response.

"Alright Don, let's go to the underground, before shit really starts to go down here… But, first, we have to get Hozukimaru." Chessebelle thought aloud to her Pokémon, the Honchkrow giving a nod as he looked down over the industrious city, the pair nearly as high as the radio tower. It was always nice to feel the wind billowing her hair behind her, her nostrils taking in the fresh scent of air, but today was different, like I mentioned before. Today, all she could smell was the smog over Goldenrod, the blood beneath her dangling body in the air, and death. Her sea foam hues scoured the perimeter of Goldenrod, Hozukimaru perching on top of the Department store, his back to his make-shift trainer. "Honchhh." Don called out to the Aerodactyl, the prehistoric Pokémon turning to look at Chessebelle and Don approaching, the Pokémon giving a screech of acknowledgement as he hopped down from the edge of the building and proceeded to move to the opposite edge, Don and Chessebelle landing in front of the Aerodactyl.

Chessebelle stepped on to the rather thick ledge and smiled half-heartedly at the Aerodactyl, petting the Pokémon's nose like she had been for the past while. "Anything to be worried about?" She questioned, the Pokémon giving a shake of its large head before Chessebelle returned the gesture with a nod of her own. "Alright… We're going to the underground now. I'm going to put you away for now, ok?" The Aerodactyl seemed to give her a look before its big black eyes turned to Don, the Honchkrow giving a nod and cawing in reassurance.

"I'll protect her. I've been doing it for nearly twenty years, now. I know what Ikkaku probably told you to do, but I promise." Don seemed to smile at Hozukimaru, the Aerodactyl nodding in response before nuzzling his nose closer to Chessebelle's hand. She smiled before reaching for the Pokémon's pokeball, tapping it to his nose as she recalled the Pokémon, who went into his home without a fight. Chessebelle attached the Pokéball to her belt and raising her arms, Don grabbing her backwards this time—she was facing the Department store roof from where she was just standing, while Don faced their destination, the Goldenrod Tunnel.

Chessebelle sighed, watching as the department store began to grow in height, Don descending to the southwest entrance to the Goldenrod Tunnel. A thought occurred to Chessebelle as they began to cross the large blood-stained main street of Goldenrod, a few stray zombie Pokémon gnawing on whatever carcasses of Pokémon that were still dead and humans that were trampled trying to escape Goldenrod, presumably. "Don, let's go to the Pokémon Center, maybe some people left bags and stuff when they were leaving for the underground. We can get supplies." She suggested, the red-head looking over her shoulder to try and see the Honchkrow who looked down at the scenery below, shaking his head softly. "It'll be ok, Don, I promise. You know I can support myself, and if it comes down to it, we'll leave."

Don shook his head once more but glanced down when they were over the red-orange roof of the Pokémon center, beginning to slow his flapping wings to lose altitude. When her boots hit the roof, a loud metallic creaking made them both stop and look over at the Pokémon in the street, a few looking up into the sky, oblivious to where the noise came from before going back to their 'food'. Chessebelle glanced at Don as he hovered by her face, nodding his head towards her belt. "Who do you want to go with you?" She questioned, her voice lower so to not attract attention to herself, Don pointing his wing at her left-most dusk ball. "Doku? Well… Ok…" She murmured reluctantly, unsure of how she felt about letting two of her most beloved Pokémon go into the fray like they were. The red-head pulled the dusk ball off her belt and raised it to her mouth as it expanded. "You be careful. Don't make much noise. Keep yourself hidden, and protect each other." She whispered, loud enough for Don to hear as well.

The champion released the Pokémon from the pokeball, the energy forming a Pokémon that was practically the same size as herself, the blue Pokémon crouching down in its signature pose as it looked at its surroundings. The Greninja rose back up into its standing position before glancing at Don, who flew to the edge of the Pokémon center, and then looked at his trainer. The red-head smiled at the Ninja Pokémon half-heartedly, who gave an almost invisible nod, walking towards the edge with no noise whatsoever. The red-head took the moment to look around the roof of the Pokémon center, finding a few holes here in there in the structure, glancing towards her Pokémon, that were now gone, inside the Pokémon center, presumably. Chessebelle slowly and cautiously made her way towards one of the holes of the center, crouching down on her knees and closing her eyes as she realized the creaking of the roof once more. "Dammit…" She whispered to herself before she decided the noise wasn't loud enough to attract any Pokémon.

The red-head looked down into the hole and watched her Pokémon as they entered the Pokémon center, the automatic doors opening without much noise. Upon entering the center, they were met with dirt and blood everywhere, the smell of dead flesh wafting into their noses yet again. Being in the city of death, they had gotten used to it, but in the Pokémon center it was mixed with the smell of chemicals in the center and made everything ten times worse, on top of the taste of iron entering their mouths on account of the blood. The Greninja was the first to move into the center, living up to its name of the ninja Pokémon as it crept through the messy center without a sound, its pink appendage waving behind it with its swift movements. Don went in second, the Honchkrow looking around the center for a bag, like his trainer had asked of him cautiously. Don gave a clicking noise, gesturing towards the seats and table by the PC, different colored bags that were overflowing with random things piled against the wall. It was obvious by the bodies on the ground that there was a group of survivors that had stopped by the center and were attacked when they were getting out of there. Don seemed to shake his head in sadness before Doku made his way over to the bags, picking up two before they moved towards the counter, Don flying over it and Doku hopping over swiftly, leaving the two bags next to the counter to not make too much noise.

Chessebelle meant to keep watching the pair but a loud hiss and a slicing noise made her lean up on the roof quickly, a creaking noise beginning to sound off, but she quickly rolled to the side and closed her eyes tightly, whispering under her breath for a miracle that the noise would stop. As if it was a gift from above, the creaking stopped, but another loud growl and a pop made her sit up on the roof, crawling towards the edge and lifting herself up, her fingers over the edge as she peeked her seafoam hues over along with her hands. "What in the Hell…" She thought as she noticed undead Pokémon, now actually dead, as three males were walking along the cobblestone street.

There was a red-head, a blonde, and a black-haired man. The red-head had a baseball bat in his hands, almost dragging along the ground, while the blonde and the black-haired males had katanas in hand. The former was carrying his very carefully, while the latter carried his over his shoulder nonchalantly. "Is that…" she mumbled to herself before an undead Bibarel gave a hissing noise from behind the Pokémon center as it charged at the group, unbeknownst to them. Chessebelle gave a grimace, unsure of how she was supposed to signal the incoming Pokémon without giving her own position away, but it seemed her Pokémon were going to take care of it for her.

Don came streaking out of the hole she had been looking through, giving the trainer a heart attack, taking a deep inhale of breath and scrambling around to look at the source of the noise. The red-head watched Don fly into the air before giving a caw to get the male's attention. Chessebelle looked over the edge of the roof, a little less cautiously now, and watched the males look up, giving another gasp as she realized who the group was, a big smile running across her face as she stood up and waved like an idiot. It was always nice to see people that you knew alive during an apocalypse. The red-headed member of the group nudged his friends in disbelief, pointing at Chessebelle, all three of the males adopting the look of disbelief after a moment, before they realized what the Honchkrow was pointing at.

"Oh shit, Kira!" The red-head exclaimed, pushing the blonde member forward, the long fringe to the left of his face concealing one eye while the pale blue hue widened at the sight of the infected Bibarel running at him, its nails long and unkempt and its fur in matted patches with blood in places and muscles showing in others. The blonde took a breath before raising his katana to the side and waiting for the water-normal type to get closer. However, it never came close enough.

Doku seemed to appear from nowhere, pushing in between the group of males and doing a few quick hand motions, before a root seemed to grow from the middle of main street, grabbing the Bibarel's foot and tripping it, the Pokémon's jaw making a loud snapping noise, indicating its jaw being broken. "Well shit." The black-haired member commented as the group watched the Greninja proceed to do more hand signals before vanishing with a cloud of pink smoke, appearing behind the Pokémon as it got up from the Grass Knot. Doku's fist was covered in a veil of white energy, bringing it down like white lightning on the Bibarel, crushing it's already weakened bone structure completely, leaving a bloody, bony mess where the Bibarel was.

Chessebelle began to dry-heave at the sight of the literally crushed Pokémon, specks of blood now in her hair and cheeks, making her turn her back before she really puked on the Pokémon center roof. Shuhei and Renji both turned their heads to the side, Kira looking at the Pokémon with a look of pity, but not much else for emotions, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, almost. The blonde sheathed his sword before glancing over at Renji and Shuhei, giving a whistle and jerking his head in the direction of the puking sound.

"Hey, Chessebelle… Maybe we should get you somewhere safe." Kira offered as his group moved to the side of the Pokémon Center, moving around the Greninja and the carcass, Don hovering down from his place in the air to join Doku on the ground. "The bags." Don gave a coo, Doku nodding and disappearing in a flash of smoke again, to retrieve the bags for his trainer. Chessebelle was still doubled over, one hand on her knee to keep herself up, while her other hand was holding her hair to the side to avoid getting any more substances in it. She had a feeling by the end of the day that she'd be unable to puke. The red-head heard Kira's voice and she spit out what was left of the bile in her mouth before wiping her mouth off with her arm, grimacing as she stood back up. The group below could see her back but that was it.

"I… I can't look at that again. I'll be down in a second." She offered with a nervous chuckle, looking over at the hole she had been looking through, and figured it was big enough for her to fit through. "We'll be waiting in front; we'll make our way through the back alleys to the underground." Renji instructed, a shuffling of feet indicating their movements. Chessebelle took another breath before she moved towards the hole in the roof, not even caring about the obnoxious creaking the roof made at this point. Don had flew back up to the roof to grab his trainer, but was alarmed to see her lowering her body down into the building, giving a squawk of protest, making the red-head look over at Don, losing her grip on the roof and slipping through the hole much faster than she had planned. The cut metal of the hole making her cut her outside forearm as she fell into the building, giving a yelp as she fell onto her front, immediately rolling over and gasping for air, grasping at her chest as she tried to get the air knocked from her lungs back into her.

Don squawked once more and flew down into the hole, to get his trainer, Doku turning to see his trainer on the ground as well and widening his normally half-lidded eyes, rushing to her side and putting the bags next to her, lifting her up slightly. Chessebelle continued to gasp for air like a fish out of water, gripping her necklace, a lone pokeball on it, as if it would help her gain oxygen. The red-head started to regain her breath, Don flapping around the entrance to get the male's attention, Doku fanning the red-head, thinking it might help.

The soft sound of whirring indicated the doors of the center opening, Renji, Kira, and Shuhei moving to Chessebelle's side and crouching down to look at her, the blonde looking at the giant gash on her forearm. It wasn't gushing blood, but it was deep enough that it was going to get infected quickly if nothing was done to it. "We need to get her to the underground quickly. Unohana needs to look at her." Renji noted, Kira nodding in agreement, as the Greninja picked the red-head up, still taking in big gulps of air, as if she was on rations.

Doku held Chessebelle bridal style, the blood from his body getting onto her clothes and making her cringe to herself mentally, too absorbed in breathing. They began to walk out of the center but Chessebelle began flailing, enough air in her lungs that she had regained speech and movement, pointing over Doku's shoulder to the two bags, Don grabbing one of them and lifting it with ease, despite his small stature. "Please get the other one." She managed to spit out, Renji moving back to get the bag before they were on their way.

Kira led the way, moving to the immediate right of the Pokémon center, through the alleys of buildings in Goldenrod, Don hovering above the group slightly. It was beginning to get dark already; they were going to have to move fast. Chessebelle hadn't been in the dark during this infectious period, and she didn't want to know what lurked in Goldenrod at night. Kira was a fast leader, at least, so they weaved their way through the alleys without any confrontation, having to stop and wait for Pokémon in the air to cross roofs and some rodent Pokémon scurry across alleys ahead of them before they began to move again. The red-head was surprised to see how organized her old friends were, but she was even more surprised to see them, in general.

Kira was the first she had met from the group, living in Ecruteak City, only a short bike ride away from the National Park. That's where they had met; Chessebelle had just beaten Whitney with Don and Luppi, the little Murkrow and Meowth getting along as good as a cat and bird would get along: not at all. The red-head had gotten into Ecruteak City and was at the Kimono Girls dance hall for one of their performances. Kira had sat next to her, and he kept commenting under his breath about how beautiful the performance was, and eventually Chessebelle told him what she thought about it and their conversation progressed from there, the blonde slowly, VERY slowly, opened up to her. They had been friends for at least five years, Chessebelle dropping by sometimes to see the blonde whenever she came back from her journey to see her family in Goldenrod.

Renji came next, Chessebelle meeting him after her visit to saffron City in Kanto. He was a member of the fighting dojo at the time, before it was run by Kenpachi and the others. Renji had been one of the instructors for the littler kids, and the leader of the dojo had asked her if she was related to the other red-head. Chessebelle simply dismissed it and had left the dojo, but Renji insisted on becoming friends, finding her at random hours of her day to talk. From there, their friendship blossomed, albeit sluggishly because Chessebelle hadn't been putting as much effort in as Renji. It was nice to have someone put in effort to meet her, before she was the champion, however. Maybe that's why she gave the red-head her Xtransceiver number, to keep in touch, after she left Saffron, having beaten Sabrina.

Finally, Shuhei came into the picture, but he's been in the picture for longer than the other two. Shuhei had been the son of one of her father's friends from the precinct; they met at a police ball, where Chessebelle and her whole family was invited for various achievements her father had been eligible for. The red-head was only about eight, but her father insisted she came, and so she did, getting to sit at a kid's table, where Shuhei was and only a handful of other kids sat. No one was very talkative, despite being happy children, so Shuhei decided to step up and make friends with Chessebelle. They grew up together, to an extent, always being with one another when it came to police events. She grew to understand his personality as being somewhat of a womanizer, and while she thought it was funny, sometimes it did get on her nerves.

After being with each other for so long, it was just a part of Shuhei she had to deal with, just like everyone having their flaws. Kira was a bit of a drag because of how depressed he always seemed; Renji was loud and obnoxious with other males, making it a bit annoying taking him out to a bar or party; Kenpachi was always intimidating, making men look at her like she was a 'look-but-don't-touch' artifact; Yachiru was so innocent and young-looking, she scared people away from Chessebelle, thinking the pink-haired girl was her daughter; Yumichika was so feminine, he often gave her female advice that she didn't even know about; and Ikkaku… Well, there wasn't anything wrong with him, as far as she was concerned.

Dating was always hard for her because of all of her guy friends. Most people assumed she was a whore and only had guy friends because she was having sex with them all. Now, Chessebelle was a little classier than that and took her time, but it was true; she did kind of have relations with a lot of them, but she had stopped her ways when she began dating Sevastian. When they broke up, she had her fair share of rebound sex, but when Ikkaku and the others came into her life, she found her sex drive diminishing slowly, but surely. Maybe it was their company making it hard to find dates, maybe it was because she subconsciously liked Ikkaku, but whatever the reason, she hadn't felt the touch of a man for a while. That kiss she had shared with Ikkaku had been special; whether it was because it was from him or because she hadn't kissed anyone in so long.

As Chessebelle dwelled in her mind on her dating life, friends, and Ikkaku especially, the group had made it to the alley across from the building to the Goldenrod Underground. They were going to have to cross the large patch of street to get into the tunnel; that lack of cover in the street was scary, at the very least, but it was necessary to get over to the building to the tunnel. Kira stopped at the end of the alley, Renji and Shuhei moving to stand behind him, while Doku and Chessebelle brought up the rear, Don hovering above them with the bag still in his claws.

"So who's going first?" Kira questioned, turning around to look at his group of survivors, Chessebelle's arm still bleeding profusely; she was beginning to look pale. Maybe that's why she had stopped talking; she looked dazed, like she was hallucinating. "I've got it covered." Renji offered, glancing back at Don, who nodded and hovered above Renji, Chessebelle's unfocused eyes following Don, as if she had an idea of what was going on and shaking her head slightly, opening her mouth to protest. She began to blubber a bit, her voice getting higher before Kira quickly moved over to her and put a hand over her mouth gently and looked at her with his one bright blue eye sympathetically, giving her a small reassuring smile. "It's ok, shhh. We're almost there, I promise. Unohana will fix you up." Kira whispered as he looked over his shoulder, Renji and Don looking both ways from the alley.

Don was the first to go, him being native to the species, flapping in conspicuously to the building and perching at the top of the building, setting the bag down on the roof first, before sitting on it and glancing around his surroundings. The Honchkrow noted a few rabid Pokémon—Bidoof, Pidgey, Pachirisu, and even a few bug Pokémon from Ilex Forest and the National Park—acknowledging his presence, but figured it'd be too hard to reach the roof, even for live prey like that. He also noticed a few live Pokémon still scuffling about, fending for themselves or trying to find safety for their mate and litter. It was a sad sight to see, and he was tempted to help them find a place, but he was more worried about Chessebelle's health, for the time being. The Big Boss Pokémon glanced over at the other red-head of the group, Renji holding his baseball bat up, just in case, and gave him a nod of approval.

Renji took a breath and glanced over his shoulder at the group one last time and gave a nod before he looked ahead to his survival or his demise. The red-head began to cross the battlefield; sprinting towards the door of the underground and immediately reaching for the door handle when he was close enough. The door opened willingly to his hand, and he spun inside, leaving the door open a crack with his hand, his deep brown eyes looking outside to see if any Pokémon were looking around. Renji had been quiet enough that only a few of the Pokémon even flicked their ears to listen for any more sounds. The red-head moved away from the door for a moment, putting his baseball bat down into the crack to leave it open for the remaining members of the group. His brows—and mostly all of the tribal tattoos that adorned his forehead—furrowed in concentration as he glanced down the stairs of the tunnel, lights turning on as they heard Renji's arrival. The sound of guns being loaded alarmed him, but when the people noted Renji's silhouette at the top of the staircase, the guns were lower and smiles replaced their serious expressions.

Renji proceeded to glance as the door before biting his lip and making his way downstairs, to alert the people of their presence, and to warn Unohana about their newest redhead's injury.

On the outside, however, Kira was the next of the group to go, Shuhei taking his place of holding Chessebelle's hand. They had now ripped a piece of clothing off of their shirts and were securing it in place of her wound, to try and stop the bleeding. It had taken some begging, but Shuhei had managed to get Kira to go next, insisting that if any of them was expendable, it was him, and that Kira had to go next.

The blonde glanced behind him at Shuhei and the two other members, now right behind Kira as they were going to have to go next. Shuhei gave a nod, Kira sighing in frustration as he glanced at his awkwardly-shaped katana—it was bent at the end into a u-shape. Kira gave one last sigh and look over his shoulder before he looked up at Don for confirmation to leave his spot of safety in the alley. The Honchkrow felt his heart go out for Kira and Shuhei, but looked around, doing his job for the group, and raised a wing, watching as a family of nidoran, nidorino, and nidorinas came charging down the main street, looking down the street of the underground tunnel before looking behin them and giving calls of distress, tramping down main street once more. The Rapid Pokémon of the side street looked up, their eyes falling out of their heads still as they watched the scene, a lot of them scampering off to follow the fresh prey, surprisingly fast for their decayed body parts.

Don wasn't about to waste this opportunity and waved his wings rapidly, signaling for the group to come all at once. Kira was confused but glanced at Shuhei, who nodded and they all began to jog out of the alley towards the underground tunnel's secret entrance. At this point, Shuhei left the side of Chessebelle, letting Doku and their newest member go into the middle while he pulled out his own weapon: a chain linked scythe-like weapon, with large blades on sticks on either end of the chain. Shuhei held one of the handles and held the chain with his other hand, swinging it like a mace as he jogged backwards, watching above them and to the sides as they made their way across the seemingly endless street. Kira was obviously the first to reach the building, opening the door once more, quietly despite the rush, and ushered Chessebelle and Doku in, the Greninja nodding in appreciation as he hopped inside, Renji just trotting up the stairs with Unohana in tow.

Unohana was a woman with natural beauty, a long braid of thick black hair framing her face and flowing down her chest, ending about her waist, and large blue eyes that were filled with kindness—however, they were filled with concern at the moment when she saw the pale-faced Chessebelle, a blood-soaked rag around her wrist. "Get her downstairs, immediately." Unohana ushered he Greninja, Doku nodding as he made his way down the stairs, Unohana moving to go with the group but a scream stopping her. Doku went to look over his shoulder, but a short boy with black hair tugged on his elbow and insisted he follow him to the medical wing.

Chessebelle had heard the scream, in her weakened state, but passed out shortly after hearing a few more screams and her own Honchkrow giving a caw of despair.

Chessebelle woke up, sitting straight up in her bed as she looked about, obviously panicked. Her eyes flitted about the hospital room—noting her outfit had been changed into a white robe with blue tailings, she had an IV stuck into her arm, Doku and Don were nowhere about, and there was a strange black-haired boy in the room with her, a chair next to her bed. He looked dopey, and she didn't mean that in a rude way, it was just kind of the vibe she got from the male. He didn't bother giving her a sheepish smile, he simply stood up and bowed to her before murmuring in a soft, almost nonexistent voice, "Good evening, Miss Chessebelle, your Honchkrow is alright, and so is Izuru Kira. They're all over in the other room, if you'd like to follow me." The champion knew she had heard Kira and Don, but what about Doku, Renji, and Shuhei?

"My name is Hanataro, and I'm your nurse while Miss Unohana is busy." He explained as Chessebelle stood up, grabbing the rod with her bag of blood and nutrients that her IV was connected to. The red-head looked at Hanataro skeptically as he didn't bother helping the girl, too caught up with looking at something outside of her curtain. The champion made her way over to Hanataro shakily, using the rod for support as it creakily wheeled with her out of the curtain, Hanataro leading her down a strip of flooring, blue curtains on either side with different sounds coming from them—ranging from coughs, gags, cries of pain, and many other noises you would normally hear in the emergency room. Chessebelle shuddered slightly as she tried to keep her eyes forward, avoiding any curtains that were opened. The red-head followed Hanataro as he stopped in front of two curtains on the left side, glancing at Chessebelle and nodding his head towards them. She wasn't sure what the weirdo wanted from her, but she opened the curtain closest to her and stumbled back as she saw Kira wearing an oxygen mask, his life support monitor beeping extremely slowly.

"What happened to him?!" She choked as she made her way hurriedly into his 'room', his chest bandaged up, blood soaking into some of the white strips, mostly on his right side. She moved her hands over his, up his arm, and to his face, touching his face softly. Her eyes were normally had an edge to them, but at the moment, they were soft and shiny, obviously about to cry.

"You were probably too incoherent to remember much. When your group was making their way here, you were their priority, so they brought you in and risked their own safety. Kira had made it in successfully, and then you, but Shuhei had brought up the rear and was attacked by a mutated Pinsir. It was nearly the size of the Radio tower. Miss Unohana saved Kira and she's working on Shuhei and Renji right now, but there's no way to tell if they're going to make it right now. They both sustained massive injuries, Shuhei especially," Chessebelle's eyes began to water as she heard the news; her old friends had risked their lives for her? She wasn't worth saving, if it cost three lives. Her thoughts move to the curtain beside Kira, staggering up and moving around his bed to the curtain, pulling it aside and putting one of her hands to her mouth to control a gasp as she looked at Don. The Big boss Pokémon was sitting in the bed like a bird would in his nest, his plumage raising up and down as he slept, a large bandage on one of his wings, a wire framing his wing, trying to fix the fractured bones in his wing, it looked like. Doku was standing at Don's bedside, looking up slowly at Chessebelle, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Oh, Doku, where was I when this happened…" Chessebelle whispered in remorse, moving over to him and standing by the taller Pokémon, the Greninja putting one of his webbed hands around her shoulder kindheartedly. She reached her free hand out to touch Don, but she noticed the bandages around her own arm, blood beginning to soak through them and drip onto his bed. The champion looked to Hanataro for help, and the nurse looked at her dumbly before he realized what her concern was. "Oh, right, right. It was about time to swap out your bandages, now that I think about it."

Chessebelle moved over to the chair next to the bed, Doku helping her to the chair and crouching down next to her to watch her as Hanataro left to grab bandages from the other room.

"We need all available emergency surgeons to rooms A140 and A 141, right now!" A voice sounded from the other side of the curtain, faint heart monitors jumping at the sudden sounds, before the tramping of feet as they made their way towards said rooms. Chessebelle's mind thought of the critical injuries Renji and Shuhei had sustained, her heart beginning to beat faster as she thought about where these emergency surgeons were needed, exactly. She began to stand up, to go follow the nurses, but Hanataro had come back into the room; the nurse quickly moved to Chessebelle's arm and began unwrapping the bandages.

The red-head remembered she had fallen from the Pokémon center roof, and had cut herself, but she hadn't really taken a look at her war wound, so she took the opportunity to look at the injury. The Champion watched Hanataro take off the last layer of the bandages, wincing at the sight of her forearm. The cut had gone from shallow-deep-shallow; the deepest part was disgusting to look at, but all around her arm, it was a dark, dark brownish red, like it was scraped and bruised at the same time. The shallow parts near the end of the cut were already scabbing up, but the middle parts were still bubbling up blood. The cut was roughly from about two inches below her wrist and stopped at just about her elbow—it was about a foot, if it was measured from beginning to end. It looked like the middle was infected, some pus pushing out of the wound along with the blood, making it turn a greenish red.

Hanataro noticed the red-head looking at her cut and gave another one of his dopey smile, wrapping another roll of bandages over her wound. "I know; it looks bad, but Unohana said that it would be ok, we just have to keep replacing these bandages periodically, and to drink water and get rest, you know, the usual." Chessebelle nodded softly as Hanataro finished wrapping the bandages up before the shuffling of feet outside the curtain caught the attention of the group. Hanataro moved to the curtain and moved it to the side, peeking his head out to check out what was wrong. The Champion could see the feet of another person stopping in front of the curtain to talk to Hanataro in hushed voices. Chessebelle tried to hear the words being exchanged but only got a few words out of context that didn't make much sense to her.

"Miss Chessebelle, I think you better come with me." Hanataro turned to glance at her as the other nurse left, his eyes droopier than usual. The red-head nodded, but her breath began to quicken in pace, giving herself anxiety by thinking about Renji and Shuhei, which is most likely what they had been talking about. The Champion stood up and began to walk towards the 'exit', taking a look over her shoulder at Doku, Don, and Kira, his chest still heaving slowly and the beeping of his heart monitor making her feel a little better. "Please watch them." She ordered Doku, the Greninja nodding and picking up the chair Chessebelle had been sitting in, moving to the middle of both rooms and setting the chair down, getting in it calmly. He proceeded to sit cross-legged and closed his eyes, in a meditative state, it seemed like. She nodded and gave a little smile before she turned to Hanataro, fixing her robe before following him out into the 'hallway' of curtains.

Hanataro made his way to the end of the hall, and they were met with a large open area, with cots and bags and people all over. It was almost like a flea market mixed with a survivalist shelter during a natural disaster; some people were standing at kiosks with food, clothes, blankets, Pokédolls, and lots of other necessities as well as things that people would just want. It was almost sad to see people taking advantage of people in a marketplace considering the urgency of the situation. Across from where they were standing—all the way across the market, about 30 feet—was another hallway, much shorter than the one they were in with actual walls framing it and not just curtains. Hanataro continued on, walking through the center of the market, Chessebelle following along slowly but surely, looking around the little survivalist center as they went. Once they were at the center of the market, she noticed two hallways on either side, both leading to staircases; both of the hallways were dark, only one light flickering on and off hazardously at the end of both the hallways. Her sea foam hues noted the stairs cases and thought about the Underground tunnel from when she was little; one entrance was next to the fortune teller and name raters house, while the other entrance was the one by the infamous game corner.

Chessebelle continued to follow Hanataro across the little refugee, some people murmuring as she stumbled along behind her nurse; she was regaining mobility but it was still hard to focus on things because of the blood still being transplanted inside of her and all the confusion and stress surrounding her thoughts. The red-head and her supervisor, if you will, made it to the other side of the hall and she noted the different doors with room numbers on them: A131, A133, A135, A137, A139… A141.

Hanataro stopped in front of A140, while she moved to his side and looked at A141. Unohana opened the door, slowly walking out of A140, a frown on her face as she stared at the doorknob. She turned, startled by Hanataro and Chessebelle, before she shook her head at the latter. "We did everything we could, really, for both of them." Chessebelle's hues flitted from Unohana, Hanataro, her bags with her vitals, and the two doors with no doubt her friends in them. The Champion shook her head and moved past Hanataro and Unohana, who side-stepped out of the way to get out of the distressed woman's way. Upon opening the door, she was met with a darkened room and a body in the bed, their face covered with their blankets. Her eyes began to well up with tears already as she noticed the heart monitor's beeping one solid tone, flat-lining.

Chessebelle inched towards the body and noticed their bloody hand at their side, her lower lip trembling as she stood to the right of his bed, her hand slowly grazing up to the man's bed and taking ahold of the limp hand softly. Her sea foam hues glanced to the chair on the left side of the bed, and gave a soft shudder as she began to sob; noticing Shuhei's signature square choker necklace and arm bands on the chair, along with the weapon his father had given him from when he was little.

"Oh Shuhei…" She whispered as she moved away from his body and moved back out to the hallway, Hanataro leaning against the hallway as he waited for Chessebelle to finish mourning. She was barely even holding onto her vitals anymore, swiftly moving into the other room and raising her free hand to her mouth once more. Renji's body hadn't been covered yet, his heart monitor flat-lining like Shuhei's. His normal ponytail now down, his red mane splayed out on his pillow and his tribal tattoos all over his face now his most predominant feature on his face, his eyes closed to the world. Renji's injuries were showing now, the bandages off of him, obviously having been worked on when the emergency surgeons were called on. Chessebelle made her way over to the side of Renji's bed now, standing next to him and giving another choked cry like she had done with Shuhei, falling to her knees and putting her arms on the edge of his bed, burying her face in his bloody bedding and her own bandaged arm.

The red-head was lost to the world for the time being, thinking about Renji and Shuhei and how they died trying to save her; she wasn't anything special, so why would they even do something like that. She was a survivor in the infected world, and if she learned anything from the movies, leaders would not sacrifice their own lives for survivors. In fact if it came down to regulars in a group or a new survivor, they'd sacrifice the ladder in a heartbeat. The champion continued to cry before a light hand touched her head comfortingly. She immediately whipped her head up, falsely thinking it was Renji, and was saddened to see Renji's hand still in the same place it was when she had put her head down. She looked up instead to see Hanataro standing behind her and jerking his head towards the door. "Miss Chessebelle, they need to take them away now."

Chessebelle looked at Hanataro in disbelief as her face contorted into one of hurt, anger, and frustration as she shook her head incredulously. "No, no… No! You can't take them!" The Champion began to protest, her voice cracking with anger as she stood up a little too fast, her vision blurring and causing her to see stars as her brain tried to catch up with her sudden movement. She staggered a little and held the edge of the bed and her vitals rod, breathing a little more panicked as her vision fixed itself and took in the sight of more nurses entering Renji's room, and entering Shuhei's room on the other side. "Don't! You can't do this!" She began to get hysterical, moving forward and pushing some of the nurses back. "They can't be dead! They can't be!" She screamed, the nurses beginning to grab Chessebelle and try to control her. Unohana arrived at the door and looked at Chessebelle with another one of her sympathetic looks. The woman mouthed the words "It's ok," before a large blonde man came into the room, wearing black sunglasses despite being indoors. The red-head was stuck with a syringe with something, the man proceeded to hold her bridal style, glancing at her and mouthing "sorry." It was that familiar blackness that greeted her, once more.