Team Umbra

"To eradicate the light of day.

To keep the morning sun at bay.

To watch the hope leave sullen eyes.

To extend our reach across blackened skies.

Team Umbra, striking hard against all things bright.

Surrender now, and embrace the night."

Origins

Growing discontentment regarding the loose-organizational hierarchy within the Kasei Underground membership resulted in the formation of a splinter group of mid-level trainers and fusions united by the goal of covering the region, and perhaps the world under the shroud of unending darkness. Drawing resources and funding from the remnants of the Underground's now-defunct sister-group, Team Venom, Team Umbra became a haven for the ambitious, driven, morally-black individuals who have zero reservations about taking what they believe to be theirs.

Team Umbra had existed as a whisper on the lips of criminals around Kasei until the group's formal creation sometime shortly after the joint Underground/Team Stellar attack on Port Nuovo during Typhoon Carracosta. Frustrated with the Underground's mismanagement of power in the underworld during the following months, a mysterious figure known then as the Shadow Man sought to bring the various competing crime groups to heel by offering a more organized, central hierarchy to underworld and the ideal conditions to continue their nefarious deeds.

Goal

While keeping the criminal element in order is part of its role, Team Umbra's ultimate goal is to create the ideal world of darkness. While for most members, the idea of an "endless night" is more metaphorical, believing that destabilizing the governing Kasei League from the shadows will make it easier to perform greater criminal acts. For those higher up, the dream is more literal, with hopes of terminating the daylight being the driving force behind many of the group's schemes.

Publicly, the group presents itself as an organization with the singular goal of doing away with a flawed system and replacing it with a "pure and perfect" society that is free of corruption. Of course, this is couldn't be any further from the truth. Power, absolute power is Team Umbra's ultimate endgame.

The Umbra Saga

Chapter 1: Nightfall

Act I - The Metus Program: Null Shade Fog

Shortly after acquiring Team Venom's resources, Umbra altered the biological make-up of Darkrai's Dark Void fog and synthesized the Null Shade, a potent strain of Darkrai's signature attack that induces an instant state of forced hypnagogia, a nightmarish "waking sleep" in which the victim is clearly asleep but fully reactive to outside stimuli and suggestion. Other, less debilitating side-effects include hallucinations and a lack of emotional control, leaving its victim experiencing irrational terror, uninhibited rage, and depression, all at varying frequencies. While the effects of the Shade aren't overtly permanent, prolonged exposure can result in damage to one's mental state. Most recently, the leadership has found that despite its nature, using a less virulent strain of the Shade on the lowest-level, more expendable rank and file "Sleepers", has proven an effective means to assert control and ensure obedience.

(RPly, Dark Type Pokemon/Fusions have a natural immunity to the effects of the Null Shade. Additionally, non natural-born fusions have an increased resistance due to the fact that both the human-mind and the pokemon-mind have the chance to control the fusion, and fight off the effects individually. Outside of that, all regular type resistances/weaknesses apply when it comes to how strong the Null Shade's effect is on the individual.)

Act II - Shadow Pokemon Resurgence

Following a brazen attack on the Kasei Poison Control Center, based in Bayou Bay, Team Umbra managed to secure a highly-altered version of Amoongus's Rage Powder, and used it in conjunction with a concentrated, liquefied version of the Null Shade that was then introduced to test subjects. The subjects exhibited rage, a complete suppression of free-thought, and most noticeably, a purple, mist-like aura. Umbra Commander Ansel identified the pokemon as the same as those seen in the Orre Region and thus referred to them accordingly; "Shadow Pokemon." Unable to level up or evolve, these pokemon had the interesting side-effect of a complete lack of type weakness or resistance. Their attacks, shadow versions of regular moves, had the same neutral-typing effect. Many members of the team have since incorporated Shadow Pokemon in their schemes to their advantage.

Team Umbra has been developing Shadow Pokemon in 3 phases of increasing potency known as Primary Wave, Secondary Wave, and Tertiary Wave. Ansel has refined the shadowing process a bit more with each subsequent production wave, using higher evolutionary levels with each wave due to their increased endurance. As of late, rumor has circulated about Ansel perfecting the shadowfication process, creating a group of Perfect Shadows known as the "Trinity." During a semi-routine smash-and-grab operation at the Kaseian Waste-water Treatment Plant, the organization was dealt crushing blow. Despite the successful collection of data from the plant's computers, the operation ended in the apprehension of Commander Ansel, who is currently in the custody of Team Solar

(RPly, trainers who have obtained Shadow Pokemon through Umbra-based RPs will find that they are in inexplicably good moods more often than not when in contact with their Shadow Pokemon. Unlike their Orre-based counterparts, Umbra's Shadow Pokemon actually sponge up their trainer's negativity and leave him/her in a rather cheerful mood. Why this is the case, and what happens to that negativity has yet to be revealed in RP.)

After a considerable amount of anticipation and planning, Team Umbra finally unveiled their largest plan to date: The capture of Kasei's captial, Ensou City. In a brazen shock and awe offensive, the group stormed the city set their perceived endgame into motion. At the climax of action, the organization's leader, the elusive Shadow Man appeared, and revealed himself to be none other than Jet , the Darkrai-fusion responsible for Typhoon Carracosta almost exactly 2 years before. He went about reactivating the Tempest, a weather control device that was stolen from Team Lunar, and plunged Kasei into a seemingly endless night that saw Kasei enveloped in a region-wise storm of darkness using the harvested negative emotional energy collected by the Shadow Pokemon the organization released throughout the region. It was during this confrontation that Commander Scylla decided that she had had enough enough of Umbra's madness, and fled the organization. To make matters worse, Jet also awakened the Trinity, which was revealed to be shadowed versions of Unova's Tao Trio: Reshiram, Kyurem, and Zekrom. On top of that, rumor of something called the "Swarm" has be heard, passing the lips of certain high-level Umbra admins.

Act III - The Longest Night: Enter The Cloudpiercer

The endless night that was Team Umbra's storm blanketed Kasei for almost a month, pouring a seemingly ceaseless deluge of dark rain across the region that slowly sapped the strength of people and pokemon unfortunate to be caught out in it without adequate protection. The combined efforts of Team Terra and Team Lunar were instrumental in the sheltering of citizens and pokemon from the rain's onslaught as well as developing a means to combat the dispel the weather anomaly outright, with many attempting to get above the clouds to no avail. Following weeks of nonstop construction, Team Lunar completed the massive airship, aptly named Cloudpiercer. And after a joint briefing with members of all the League's teams, a select group was prepped ready to board the Cloudpiercer with the improved and repurposed Tempest in tow.

This group, under the banner of the newly-formed Team Pulsar, journeyed into the clouds only to run into the Swarm of rumor - a horde of Beta Darkrai numbering somewhere in the hundreds and drawn to Kasei by the storm and the instinctive compulsion to feed on it. The Cloudpiercer crew was immediately assaulted by the Darkrai, who rightly believed the ship was there to rob them of them of their food supply. To make matters worse, Jet himself returned, bringing with him both Shadow Zekrom and Reshiram as well as two of his top lieutenants. After a grueling and distressing battle, the Tempest was finally charged with water and moonlight and fired. The resultant reaction quickly dispelled the storm, sending the remaining Swarm to flee in defeat. This night served a one of Team Umbra's most crippling defeats, and sent the group back into the shadows for the time being.

Act IV - Operation DreamScar

Team Umbra remained eerily dormant for months following its rout at the hands of Team Pulsar in the skies above Kasei. However, shortly after the New Year, in a chilling address to the region, Jet announced Umbra's resurgence as well as his final vision for the world. He revealed that nearly the entire defeated Darkrai "Swarm" had been 'collected' by Team Umbra, and taken to the organization's key lair, Darkmoon Island , off the coast west of Bayou Bay. The Darkrai's energy was to be used to power Umbra's 'magnum opus,' The Deimos Trigger, a weapon capable of tearing open the 'Dreamscar' between the real world and the Dreamworld and corrupting reality itself.

Directly following his region-wide broadcast, Jet went about activating the Deimos Trigger, and slowly tearing reality apart. Having time to prepare, the League responded with a response team made up of members from Team Terra, Team Solar, and other unaligned trainers, and set out for Darkmoon. The group was immediately set upon by the remainder of Umbra's forces, who were also bolstered by Darkrai who had willfully defected to the group. To make matters worse, Jet summoned the Trinity once again to defend Umbra's super-weapon as the Dreamscar widened across the sky above the island. In a coordinated effort, the League's response team was successfully able to rout the bulk of Team Umbra's forces, free the captive Darkrai, take control of the Trigger, and subdue the Trinity completely, leaving Jet as the sole opposition.

Undeterred, the Umbra leader siphoned the Trigger's remaining energy into himself to assume a 'Final Form' which he used to launch one more personal assault against the League. After failing to thwart Kasei's heroes by pitting them against shadowy versions of themselves, Jet retreated into the Dreamscar to regroup for a final confrontation in the Dreamworld unaware that a trap laid waiting for him. Upon his arrival, he was immediately beset upon by the pursuing League members and forcibly split from the host he was controlling. Cornered and disoriented from unfusing, Jet was summarily defeated, and his essence began to be pulled into a capture crystal that had been prepared prior to the battle. Jet fought hard against the pull of his prison, however he eventually lost out, but not before delivering a parting shot, stating that he'd never be just a memory. With that chilling and cryptic threat, the leader of Team Umbra was sealed away in his crystalline confines to slumber until someone is brazened enough to set him loose on the world again.

Chapter 2: New Moon Rising

Act I - Project Deathless

Almost exactly 1 year after Jet's defeat at Darkmoon Island, a silent plan was put into motion by the transmission of a coded message recalling certain members of the organization back to the group's old base, in the basement of a nightclub in Dovetail Town . Upon their arrival, the pair of returning members were met by a peculiar, yet sharply-dressed stranger sitting in the imprisoned leader's chair. The man immediately went about explaining the nature of a secret directive that been set forth by Jet months before the activation of the Tempest in Ensou City.

The first goal of this two-pronged plan, named 'Project Deathless' saw many key members of the organization going to ground, to remain in shadows, undetected until sometime when they would be called upon by activation keyphrase. They would remain in the shadows, meerly biding their time until an instance when the organization could return from the shadows in full force yet again. The second goal regarded the nature of Jet's return to the world with a new host who was more aligned with his vision. To that end, Jet commissioned then Commander Ansel to handpick 3 candidates who could serve as his new host. These 3 candidates, code-named Rook, Bishop, and Knight, were conditioned and groomed by Jet himself; the conditioning finishing with him burying a small piece of his own essence in each one's subconscious to facilitate the union with whomever he decided would be the next host.

The stranger went on to explain that both Rook and Knight had been taken out of play in the weeks nearing the events of Darkmoon Island, rendering them useless in the grand scheme before introducing himself as Dane Nadyr, a.k.a. Bishop. He revealed that he had been positioned as CEO and President of a public company named NuvaLux, an Umbra-led development firm that operated outside of the region, taking on construction contracts in other areas while secretly using the profits to fund operations back in Kasei. Having returned to region to personally oversee the rebuilding of Team Umbra, Dane then explained his mental connection to the group's slumbering leader and the orders he received through his own dreams, the first being to name the two returning members as the Commanders of the Umbra Remnant. Following that, Dane set the newly-promoted Commanders to their assigned tasks; to continue the infiltration of Team Lunar and determine a means to summon something cryptically referred to as 'The Trickster' as well as activate a sleeper group of Umbra officers in Port Antico.

With these orders given, Dane tasked himself with rounding up the numerous Shadow Pokemon that still ran wild around Kasei, deeming their energy a necessity to complete his Reunion, where Umbra's true leader would be returned to the world. To the end, Dane announced himself and NuvaLux to the people of Kasei, offering numerous League-sponsored programs to better the region, the first of which being a recovery effort for the afflicted Shadow Pokemon, which saw many of the region's trainers volunteering to 'save' these Pokemon from the condition, unaware that they were becoming unwitting pawns to Dane's ulterior motive while they took large numbers of Shadow Pokemon into their care region-wide by employing a NuvaLux-made beacon which served to lure said Pokemon in.

Act II - Hunting the Trickster

Playing on the helpful nature of Kasei's trainers, NuvaLux ensured the Shadow Pokemon of the region stayed close to the group's intended targets while the next part of the plan began. Capitalizing on a lesser-known side effect of prolonged exposure to Shadow Pokemon, many of Kasei's best quickly found themselves subject to bouts of restless sleep and vivid, often violent dreams, a condition comparable to Malsomnia. To further ingratiate the organization with the Kasei League, NuvaLux, in conjunction with Lakeside's Psychology Department opened a sleep and dream therapy lab in the newly-opened Maglaer Tower, NuvaLux's HQ in Ensou City. The lab's goal was to treat those afflicted with the syndrome and provide valuable research data to Lakeside. Meanwhile, Dane briefly retreated from the public eye to focus on personal appearances with the League's commissioner in attempt to position himself as an adviser of sorts.

In order to expedite his hunt for the Trickster, which had been identified as a Hoopa, Dane ordered the activation of the first wave of 'treated' Malsomnia subjects. Using TV and social media to broadcast NuvaLux advertisements with a hidden message that activated subconscious hypnosis, these new Sleepers quickly filled out the rank and file. Ordered to track the Trickster while simultaneously vandalizing specific League-operated facilities in order to encite paranoia, this 'Neo Umbra' faction forced the League Commissioner to respond by posting guard trainers to specific locations to deter these acts - This Ivory Protocol being at the advisement of Dane, who had effectively positioned himself to manipulate both sides of the conflict.

Having tracked Hoopa to Ensou City and realizing that the Shadow Pokemon in existence wouldn't incite enough discord in Kasei to break the lock on Jet's prison, Dane opted to kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak. To this end, he ordered the creation of an ultimate Shadow Pokemon using data collected from Ansel's former Trinity Project - A Yveltal, codenamed 'Harbinger', with the ability regenerate its own health by draining the life energy of those around it. Dane then invited the citizens of Kasei to a charity ball at Maglaer Tower as a distraction while his tracking team successfully captured Hoopa in a small, tactical operation elsewhere in the city. When he secretly received word that the 'asset' was received, the ball was crashed by Neo Umbra, led by a mysterious figure named Noir. She abducted the NuvaLux CEO and absconded astride the very same Yveltal the company had secretly created. Later, at a secure, secondary facility, Dane approached Hoopa with an offer: Return Jet from the Dreamworld in exchange for its Prison Bottle, which was in the process of being recovered. Meanwhile, Yveltal took to the skies of Kasei, with a mission of causing despair and sorrow in order to prepare the region for Jet's eventual return.

Act III - Reunion

In order to procure Hoopa's Prison Bottle, Dane convinced the Commissioner to green-light a Team Stellar operation to steal it from a traveling crime-boss' exhibition under the contract of Alias Recovery Group, a front for NuvaLux itself. With the operation successful and his hands visibly clean of any wrong-doing despite his ongoing 'kidnapping,' Dane went conducting the final stage of his plan. Taking Hoopa, its Bottle, and a large contingent of Neo Umbra Grunts, Dane secretly moved on Darkmoon Island and the Kasei League. Once in position, he needed only wait for Harbinger to finish its task.

In the following days, Harbinger arrived in the forest west of Skygrove. However, thanks to a joint Solar-Lunar operation, the Yveltal was subdued without making it into the city. In a surprise turn of events, Hoopa, with its bottle in hand had made its way to Skygrove to watch Dane's game play out. Disgusted and saddened by the destruction, Hoopa opted to turn on Nadyr by summoning a Xerneas to the forest to counter Harbinger's 'deathfield' aura as well as naming Dane as the mastermind behind all of the previous events. Unfortunately, despite the supposed victory, enough negative energy was harvested to break the final seal on Jet's crystalline prison. A point Dane was quick to note to his doubting subordinates immediately after Harbinger's demise as he grinned, watching large shards of the crystal prison crash onto the Champion's room. With Jet finally reawakening and the heroes wise to Dane's ploy, the Reunion was close at hand.

With Team Umbra's poetic and equally daunting message sent to KNN, Kasei News Network, threatening Jet's inevitable return, Teams Solar and Lunar jumped into action, making for Darkmoon Island to thwart whatever threat loomed. Upon their arrival, they found the League HQ largely unscathed. Though, most of the staff and construction crew we found fast asleep. Sensing a peculiar sinister energy coming from the Champion's Room, Kasei's heroes ascended the tower to find Dane shackled to the throne. Nadyr proceeded to tease and taunt the group as the last of Jet's energy finished flowing into him, the fusion commencing. He enveloped himself in a shell of shadow energy and underwent the fusion while he pitted trainers against a shadowy doppelgangers of their party Pokemon.

As the battle escalated, and each clash and blow served to feed the nascent fusion's cocoon until it finally shattered, revealing the reborn fusion a combination of Dane and Darkrai. Jet reveled in his returned form and proceeded to test the extent of his form, manipulating perceptions of reality in the room while gleefully taunting his opponents and offering the very real threat of subjecting them to their deepest most primal fears. Satisfied in his display, Jet departed through a dream rift he created, but not before vowing to bring the full force of his revived vengeance upon Kasei.

Act IV - Memories in Black

Following his return to the Kasei, Jet immediately went about galvanizing the nascent New Umbra faction and proceeding full-steam with his newest plan. Resolving to act on locations where a memory shared among a great many people, Jet opened another dreamscar over Port Nuovo, trapping the whole city in a dream-like memory where Typhoon Carracosta, once again, was on the verge of landfall. To make matters worse, a corrupted 'negative' version of Elite Four member Xevryn Morgais appeared and brought a large contingent of Dreamverse Pokemon through the scar to challenge Teams Solar and Lunar for control of the besieged city. It was a tiring battle between Neo Umbra and the defenders, but the city eventually was saved.

During the siege, however, back in Ensou City, a second group of Umbra operatives led a small heist on Lakeside University's Ecology lab and made off with numerous test Pokemon. With the number of unconfirmed reports of strange tuneless melodies increasing around Kasei, a mysterious female fusion sporting a sleep-inducing chakram arrived to take the fight to Team Umbra on a personal level. Having drawn the Organization's attention, Jet sent Drake, his then head enforcer, to capture the unknown vigilante, who would come to be identified as Lua, Jet's sister and counterpart Cresselia, and bring her before him. Members of Teams Solar, Stellar, and Lunar came to Lua's aid, but they were set upon the 2nd Negative, one of Elite Four member Sashae Tucker, who had come to make sure the job got done. The short-lived battle resulted in the Negative's defeat at the hands of her real-world counterpart, but Drake convinced Lua to come with him to keep more Pokemon from being hurt.

Active Roster

--LEADERSHIP--

Jet - Umbra Leader - Patient, cunning, manipulative. The farsighted leader of Team Umbra who spends his time hatching plot after plot, while keeping his true motives hidden. Currently working through a proxy, Dane Nadyr.

--COMMANDERS--

Raven - Darkrai-fusion PC: Laid back, overly friendly.. quite personable; but secretly the direct executor of Jet's ruthless will.

Haken - Umbreon-fusion PC : Newly-promoted and in charge of the rank and file members of the organization.

--INACTIVE--

Scylla - Houndoom-fusionNPC: Playful, teasing, a bit absent-minded and equally short-tempered. A VERY sore loser.

Ansel - Sableye-fusion NPC: Techological genius behind all of Team Umbra's scientific advances. As brilliant as he is arrogant.

Cia - Krookodile-fusion NPC: Essentially in charge of Team Umbra in most cases. Cold and calculating. Very goal-oriented and easily annoyed by distraction and failure in her subordinates.

Membership

Members of Team Umbra often utilize, but aren't limited to Dark, Fire, Poison, and Ground types, employing them in the group's various schemes, with many members opting to carry one or more Shadow Pokemon as well. As with most nearly every villainous team to date, Team Umbra does incorporate a uniform for its field operatives in the form of a simple black glove outfit with deep-red trim. The organization's emblem, regarded as the Crimson Crescent is usually noticeable somewhere on the upper chest. Of course, this isn't the case for operatives working undercover as normal attired is generally encouraged for such roles.

(Players interested in joining Team Umbra should speak to Jet or members of plotstaff directly.)

Presently, the status of Team Umbra's membership is in limbo. Inquire with plotstaff.