[PKMN OPEN] The Pokémon Trainer Academy (T) [Best Veteran 4Q '11]

Maxwell Leggingsteele
Academy Grounds ---> Oak Town
------------------------------

Capture? This girl was going to capture Shinobi? Maxwell looked down to the Weedle, whose flames had subsided, was he up to something? He then looked into the girl's glass-protected eyes in hope of getting some sort of understanding to what had happened. But he couldn't figure anything out... One thing was certain however, Maxwell was the one who was going to catch Shinobi.

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling a bit awkward due to the girl's seemingly polite nature, "But I'm the one who's gonna' catch Shinobi, so I think that it's you who needs to step aside." Maxwell was hellbent on catching this Weedle and his stubbornness wasn't going to let some random girl steal this Pokémon away from him.

Shinobi backed away a bit when he heard the Larvesta's comment. Of course he knew what it meant to get caught in a Pokéball, but her description of it was just so creepy. Maybe she was one of those who seemed nice and happy at the first sight, but when you scraped off the surface their true, slightly psycho nature would be revealed?

Maxwell Leggingsteele
Academy Grounds ---> Oak Town
------------------------------

Once again, Maxwell was a bit put off by this girl's mannerisms and calm behaviour. Clearly she wasn't like most other students. In fact, she reminded him somewhat of Skye, and that battle they had yesterday was pretty fun. Maybe she would also be a good opponent? Maxwell looked down at Shinobi, briefly noticing a familiar Pokémon standing by the girl's legs. It was a Larvesta! Maxwell emitted a faint sound, he was simply trying to hold back a "fanboy-squeal". He hadn't been at the academy for too long, but had already seen two extremely rare Bug-Pokémon.

"Oh?" he said, "I'm sorry if I was coming off as a bit rude... The thing is, I actually battled and defeated this Weedle and it agreed on joining my team. Now he seemed to have some sort of business to do in Oak town. Clearly, he ran into you and initiated a battle for some reason..." Maxwell looked a bit suspiciously at Shinobi who just blushed a bit and started to squirm, showing clear signs of uncomfort.
"How about this," Maxwell began, "We can solve this the proper way, by having a battle over who should catch Shinobi. What do you say? That doesn't sound too shabby, now does it?"

Snype simply shrugged. "I dunno. She was giving me a strange smile. That Gligar was looking straight into my eyes. Weird ain't it? Something tells me she's gonna be an interesting character when she's out of her ball." Snype said. Len slowly got back up on his feet, still a bit fatigued but he could move at least.

"Phew... see! I'm good to go!" Len said, trooping through.

Mark got up as Len did and continued to follow Daniel. "I suppose I could. But I want to be a bit different then that. Why not something that keeps him healed, yet he can still keep battling at the same time? He'd be healthy and still give off a whole ton of hurt. I need to find a tutor or something that specializes in this kind of thing. I'm sure that'd help." Mark said.

"Oh, and don't worry I don't plan on ditching you up here. Our Pokemon are becoming pretty good friends as is so I don't want to separate them." He added.

"Hmh... maybe she just –really- liked you." Alexis replied, adding on a wry little snicker, glancing up at Len as he got up. At this point, Daniel began walking and Alexis followed along, the others coming with as well. "Just don't strain yourself too much, alright? If you need a break, just say so." She smiled faintly again, clearly still somewhat worried for Len, but not overly much. He had a good head on his… uh, legs. He'd know not to push himself too far.

"I didn't mean exactly the same move, but yeah, something along those lines." Daniel nodded a little, turning his head to look ahead, the tunnel starting to make twists and turns, left and right and only ever so slightly upwards. A light grin spread on his face, halfly out of embarrassment and halfly out of being relieved that Mark seemed to think of him as a friend, though he wasn't going to make any assumptions on that matter.

"Yeah, they have, haven't they? I'm surprised Alex' and Len' have gotten as good friends as they have, given their types… but really, if you've got stuff to do, you can go once we get out, but it's your call. Oh, and… I think it'd be a good idea if you wrote down your gear's number down for me somewhere, so I can code it in, in case I get a gear at town."
Continuing to walk, Daniel was starting to squint, his eyes hurting a little from staring out into the darkness, beyond what light Alexis could provide. After a few steps, he tripped over a rock with a yelp, almost faceplanting into the ground, but manages to keep his footing. "I'm okay! Just… a loose rock."

"Don't worry Alexis, I'm good at holding my own ground! Hehe... I got you two watching my back anyways. I doubt Mark is gonna let me battle for a little while anyways." Len said. Snype winced at hearing Alexis' comment.

"Kehehe, Well I shouldn't be surprised then. I am quite the ladies man after all." He said giving a wink to Alexis, mostly as a joke though. "Of course, I'm flattered if she feels that way but of course spoken for."

As Mark continued through the cave he was starting to notice a light forming up at the end of the title. He was extremely relieved that there wasn't a dead end or anything... at least they'd be able to make it out. The question was where they'd end up.

"Watch your step there Daniel, we could end up at the top of the mountain for all we know." Mark said.

"I know you are, but you could still get really hurt if the cave started to... cave in, or if we were suddenly attacked." She glanced over her shoulder as Snype replied, causing her to roll her eyes with a wry smile on her lips as she continued on, walking in front of the other two.
"Of course you are, Snype. Maybe she just wanted to ask you a question and she –really- wanted an answer."

"Heh, yeah, it wouldn't be all that good if I tripped at the end and then tumbled down the side of it, eh?" Daniel joked, snickering a little, his cheeks flushing a little, which just made him look ahead even more, a hand lifting to fiddle with a strand of hair which was dangling in front of his face, trying to set it back in place.

They neared the light, and Daniel motioned for Alexis to turn down the outage of her electricity, which she did, as they exited the cave, causing both Daniel and Alexis to squint a little as they got used to natural light again.
And there they were, standing on an outcropping about halfway up the mountain. From here on and up, the mountain side was almost too steep to be able to be climbed, but it looked relatively easy to go down from here, if you only minded your step, and didn't run. It almost looked like there was a faint bit of a path going in a zig-zag motion down along the mountain, where others had come by.

They were, as mentioned, standing on an outcrop, which held a couple of rocks, a few bushes, as there still were vegetation at this height, if only very sparse, and a single tree. They were facing the side of the island with the academy and Oak Town resting in front of them, the Power Plant off to the far left and nothing but sea and a forest to their right.

Daniel lifted his brow slightly, stepping over to the very edge of the small cliff they were standing on, looking down at the rather steep mountainside, at least at the tip of the outcropping. He took in a deep breath, turning around with a wide smile on his face.
"… Well, we got out, and we found… probably the best view on the entire island, without too much effort. I'd say that this has been a pretty good day, wouldn't you?"

Alexis rose up on her hind legs, head lifting to sniff in the air around her, her tail wriggling a little left and right in the air behind her. "Mmh.. I smell berries." She glanced back at the other two and smiled. "Come on!" She called out and moved onto all four again, going towards a couple of the bushes posed along the edge of the cliff, looking them over for berries to eat.

The path leaded toward an outcropping around the side of the mountain. They had a great view of the entire academy up here. They could see Oak Town, the ocean, an abandoned power plant that caught Mark's interest, and the rest of the forest. Well now he knew where to go if he needed to plan any more adventures...

"Yeah I'd say this has been a success!" Mark said as he sat down near the cliff, observing the view. "Good thing we made that turn. I say we got ourselves our own spot now!" He said.

Len and Snype followed Alexis over to the berry bush. Len of course couldn't eat them because he didn't even have a mouth to begin with, but he could at least help and see what kind of berries were in. Maybe Mark could plant a few of them...

"A lone berry bush up here? Maybe we'll find some rare berries. We could replant them and everything." Snype said. Len stuck his face into the berry bush looking for berries to bring back to Mark.

Daniel followed Mark over to the edge again, sitting himself up against the tree which was rather close to the cliff's edge, giving him both the view, the shade, and being able to see Mark while talking to him. He smiled, looking over the academy grounds, nodding his head a little.

"Awh, yeah! We could come hang out here every now and then, talk a little, let our Pokémon have fun, tell each other about our battles and lessons, and stuff." Daniel trailed off, smiling brightly to himself at the idea of having a real "Hanging out" place. He'd never had that before, and certainly not –with- anyone. He glanced up at Mark, clearing his throat a little, realizing that he might've gone off on a tangent.
"Uh… if you want to, of course."

Alexis giggled as Len just rammed himself inside of a bush, moving over to another as she rustled a bit with the leaves, sniffing at it and bending the branches here and there. "I'm sure we can find –something-… I haven't had much experience with berries. Which ones are rare and which ones aren't? Ooh! Oran!"
She stuck her head inside of the bush, and a moment later, she popped out again, carrying a little bunch of berries hanging from a stick in her mouth, strolling over to the over to, offering one to Snype, trying to speak with the branch in her mouth. "Hmmh yhh ghh fnnph!"

"Yeah I wouldn't mind coming up here every so often. It's peaceful enough despite that there's a Durant nest in the cave behind us, but of course that's been taken care of." Mark said as he observed the view of the island. He kind of wished he had a camera. He'd take a picture of the view in a heartbeat.

Snype gave off a large smile and chuckled as he plucked a berry from the branch. "Kehe, thanks. I may have a diet for minerals but berrys still hold a warm place in my heart." Snype said as he tossed a berry into his mouth. Meanwhile Len was looking around for various berries, picking through the branches and trying to see something that seemed different enough. While he was picking through, he accidentally pulled on the bush that Alexis had in her mouth. If she didn't let go, she'd find herself pulled right toward Len.

"Yeah, I guess so. It'd be awesome to just come up here, and... take a breather, relax… enjoy the view, and have a chat." He turned his head back to the view, looking thoughtful for a little while. After a few moments, he opened the satchel at his side and pulled out the blocks of paper and his writing tools, pulling up his legs in front of him to use it as a "Table" for his paper of sorts. He leaned back against the tree, lifting the pen for a moment, before beginning to scribble on the drawing he had been working on earlier.

"… A view like this really inspires me to keep drawing. I don't really like drawing scenery and stuff, but I do sometimes use it for a background for one of my drawings. Though I think this one, the one I started earlier, is good without one."

Alexis simply smiled at Snype in reply, just about to lower the branch down and pick off a berry herself, before something grabbed a hold of the other end of the branch and tugged it closer, causing her to squeak, and out of pure surprise, didn't let go of the branch.
She eventually ended up dangling from the branch, looking up at a very confused-looking Len, at which point she let go of the branch and landed on the ground, thankfully on her feet. She shook her head a little and smiled wryly up at him.

"You know, if you wanted some berries, you could've just asked, Len'. I'd be happy to share with you!" followed by a giggle.

Maxwell Leggingsteele
Academy Grounds ---> Oak Town
------------------------------

Shinobi squirmed around in discomfort, he began to sense that somethin bad was heading his way. He looked at Maxwell, then at Nika, then back to Maxwell again.

"Lava, qui, qui."[He's hungry for power.] Quillie said, trotting in on the scene. [He is determined to get stronger and thus he needs a strong trainer. He clearly sees something in both of you,] the Quilava looked at Nika and then at Maxwell, [But he probably can't determine who is the better of you two.]

[Wuh? H-How did you know?] Shinobi said to Quillie.

[Easy,] the Fire-type replied, [I'm exactly the same. I want to get stronger too, however, I have realized that Maxwell is the best choice for me and thus I am sticking with him.]

[Good, job Quillie. I didn't know that you had such an understanding for other's feelings!] Slackey said lazily as he slowly caught up to Maxwell and climbed back up on his head.

[I swear to the Legendaries that I will turn you into a fine pelt if you don't shut up.] The Quilava responded angrily.

"From what I can gather of Quillie's explanation, Shinobi can't decide which one of us is the better for him to train with in order to get stronger..." Maxwell said, "So why not have that battle so Shinobi can see which one he wants to go with? By the way, there is no need for apologies. I shouldn't have acted so jerkishly. If someone should apologize, it's me."

Skye

Rama chuckled as Sprinkles ran off. "Ah to be young and in love," he quipped. "Is he wooing you yet?" He asked Ellie, who sighed and ignored him.

She looked around aimlessly. "Oh look Maxwell's wandered off," she commented, nudging Skye. The boy frowned but didn't get to speak a word before Volca popped calmly from his Pokeball, scuttling to Skye's head and nudging it forward. Ellie frowned, having been thrown off her perch by the idiot bug. Was he actually... interested in something? This was certainly new.

Skye had noticed and knelt down to Ellie. "Cah-hatch up wih-hith Bruh-Bri." The other half of his statement wasn't lost on the Espeon, who simply nodded and hurried after the young shy boy. It wasn't like she could stop Volca in whatever it was he was planning anyway. Maybe Pala could... if she really tried. Rama trooped after Skye, grinning nastily. If something had excited this idiot then he really was curious. Skye paused behind where Maxwell stood, settling under the shade of a tree to let his Bug-type watch.

Ciel

Ciel jumped, feeling someone staring at him. It wasn't the normal kind of stare; it was like that teacher's stare, the blind woman's look. He disliked that immensely but kept it to himself. The guy-Rafael- couldn't know that. Most people weren't consciously aware that Aura bothered Psychics. He was relatively certain the one teacher who admitted having it didn't much care regardless but was content to not pry at people.

He smiled shyly at Rafael now that the battle was over, nervous beyond measure. "H-Hi... I'm... Ciel..." The Suicune boy looked away quickly as Brie yipped at Rafael. The Absol was bored. He wanted to explore now.

Ash and ???

Ash snorted, tossing her hair. "I'm offended. I'm much more attractive than these spooks and ghouls." She laughed a second later, amused by the prospect of such a thing. "And is that so?" she added, referring to Ciel. "When he saw you the other day he was really happy you know? Hope he doesn't think you abandoned him or something. When things are abandoned they eventually end up like this building... you can talk...but only remains answer..."

"That was really poetic for you," the girl remarked, tilting her head at Zara. "By the way... what's wrong with being crazy? I like it. People say fun things when they're crazy." She turned back and Rotom floated by her head. The child smiled. "Sparx!"

Obediently the Luxray padded out, purring at the sight of the ghost. She proceeded to glare coldly at Quin. The earlier attack had not been completely forgiven.

"Yeah I get ya. We should bring some friends up here sometime and just have a picnic or something one of these days. I bet it'd be quite the party." Mark said as he relaxed against the tree. "Wonder what's in that Power Plant... an Electric Pokemon could be handy..." He added.

Len went red a moment when he realized he had pulled Alexis right into the bush. Seemed she found the branch first. He simply laughed nervously. "Haha, sorry about that Alexis, Didn't know you were there." He said, To the side of his eye he noticed a Lum Berry was growing on the berry bush as well. He knew very well that Lum berrys were pretty handy in battle so he decided to take one but not eat it.

"Haha, well would ya look at that? We oughta plant this berry somewhere and get a few of them." Len said.

"Oh, that'd be amazing. If we had the proper Pokémon, we could even make a sort of base here." He lifted his gaze from the drawing, glancing past Mark, pointing towards the cave's entrance. "You know, carve it out a little bit, make it more of a cave and less of a tunnel… have a little hideout up here and everything. Wouldn't that be cool?"
He smiled widely at the idea, the whole situation seeming rather relaxed and daydreamy as he went back to drawing, bobbing his head a little while sketching out more of Snype.

Alexis lifted a paw, picking off a berry from the branch he had been holding, holding it with both of her paws as she shook her head, smiling. "It's fine, no harm done!" She took a little bite of it, chewing happily and making a content little noise as she did, clearly enjoying the taste.
Though, as Len pulled the other berry off of the branch, she tilted her head to the side, peering up at it. "Oh? What's so special about it? … And how quickly would it grow?" She continued holding the oran berry in her paws, but moved further up thanks to her rather long feet, taking a little sniff of the berry, running her tongue around in her mouth as if tasting it.

"… Smells pretty sour. Do you think we could plant it up here?"

Maxwell Leggingsteele
Academy Grounds ---> Oak Town
------------------------------

Maxwell looked at Nika as she closed her eyes. Was she feeling troubled by his suggestion? It sure seemed that way. Maxwell didn't want to trouble her, he had already been rude to the girl once and didn't want her to think that he was some kind of jerk. He was about to whip out the good old "If you don't want to then you don't have to" when she opened her eyes and accepted his challenge.

"W-Whuh?" he said at first, seeming a bit disoriented by her response. He had thought that she was bothered when she was just starting to focus on battling him? Sheesh, sometimes people didn't make much sense to him. Let alone the quiet and calm ones, especially Skye.
"That's awesome! Let's do this then!" he said with newfound enthusiasm in his voice. "Wilson!" he said, "Come here, we have a battle!"

Shortly after, something slowly made its way through a patch of bushes. The Swinub known as Wilson had entered the battlefield, his jaws were moving, indicating that he was currently eating something. He gulped down hard and looked at Maxwell,

"Swi, swi?"[A battle today as well?] he asked. Maxwell looked at the little piglet and nodded.
[Oh, that's cool.] he said and trotted up in front of the Larvesta, [Hello, my name is Wilson, how do you do?]

"Maybe we should introduce ourselves first to get past the formalities. My name's Maxwell, and my little buddy that you're gonna fight first is Wilson." he said cheerfully. Wilson promptly looked up at Nika and blew out a puff of air as if to greet her in a competitive, yet friendly way.