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

The day was beautiful. Abundant beams of sunlight reflected brightly off the ocean, causing the surface to glitter like Arceus' own collection of sapphires. Waves crashed in a symphony of dissonant noise, conducted by the perfect timing of the ever changing tides. The warm air blew in a breeze so extraordinarily gentle, it was almost as if mother nature herself took corporal form to gently caress your -

"Hey kid! Down in front!" A gruff voice shouted, shaking Justin out of his extremely pretentious (and subtly suggestive) inner monologue. The teen laughed and shook his head. There he stood, arms crossed, down on one knee in a very Napoleonic stance at the bow of the cramped two man shanty boat he had rented. His scizor flew alongside the boat across the surface of the water, somehow keeping up with the surprisingly agile vessel. Yes, he would surely make an interesting impression when he showed up to the island...

"Heh, sorry old man, didn't mean to get in the way..." he said, stepping back. The boat was small, dingy, and looked like it was held together by sheer hope. Definitely not the most accommodating travel plan Then again, if a certain someone hadn't disabled his alarm clock as a prank, he would have been on time for the boat that was supposed to take him to the academy, he thought giving his gastly a glare. The gaseous creature stuck its tongue out at Justin and returned to phasing in and out of the boat's hull. He sighed, and held his only occupied pokeball in his hand, staring at the labeling. He was lucky to have even hired this boat...The harbor was almost deserted when he'd arrived, so he hadn't had the luxury of choice. Plus, this guy didn't ask for much money, he thought with a smirk.

The ball held by Justin contained his magnemite. Unlike his other two pokemon, it couldn't fly fast enough to keep up with the boat, so he decided to keep it safe in its ball. It wasn't missing much. The view never changed, just azure water as far as the eye could see. Besides, he doubted the sentient magnet would enjoy the fresh air. Hell, it didn't seem to enjoy much of anything really. It just kind of floated around at random.

An abrupt change of scenery made Justin put off analyzing his machine's (probably nonexistent) psyche until later. Wow...it's even bigger than I could have imagined...he thought, marveling at the island that would be his home for the near future. He had heard that it was quite large, but it was easily the size of a small country. "Man, this is great! I'll bet there are plenty of awesome places to discover!" he happily exclaimed to gastly. The ghost stared at him blankly and promptly licked Justin's cheek and disappeared. Justin sighed.

-------

The small boat and it's crimson iron entourage landed and disembarked at the island's harbor (sure enough catching many students' attention in the process). Justin paid the pilot and looked at his schedule. Apparently, he was supposed to take a boat on some sort of field trip. He was almost late, but fortunately, being at the port already, he had plenty of time to make it before the boat left.

He saw all manner of students going about their business on the walk there. Preps, goths, jocks, nerds, the gang was all there. Calling gastly back into its pokeball, he stepped toward the crowd of people gathering around the departing boat. He considered sending scizor back as well, but decided against it. Scizor considered itself Justin's bodyguard; it didn't like being in its ball unable to protect him if something were to happen to him. The pair finally reached the dock and walked to the crowd, wondering what type of people he was about to meet.

Mark listened to Valorie's explenation of what happened... geez she really did go through alot. A whole gang of Suicune dorm students ganged up on her? Geez...

"Some people... geez I can't believe they would go off and do that to you Val. Did they seriously gang up on you?... heh. Well, you could think of it this way Val..." Mark paused for a moment and got a small smirk on his face.

"...heh. The fact that they had to gang up on you just to beat you shows just how scared they are. I bet you would have mopped the floor with all of the students if you went against them all one on one! Whata bunch of cheaters. Heck I'm sure that what they did goes against the Pokemon league rules in a way... If anybody doesn't belong in the Suicune dorm, its them." Mark said. He stood up and placed his hand on Val's shoulder.

"Heck if there was a higher dorm then the Suicune dorm I bet you'd get in there easily! Those other guys in the Suicune dorm sound like a buncha chumps. Your way better then them, I know that first hand Val!" Mark said happily. He reallyed hoped this would all cheer her up...

Val still seemed upset... well Mark could understand. She must have been extremely stressed after all of that madness going on. It would make anybody upset really. Though his words of encouragement seemed to help a bit.

"Though... they got alot of nerve disrespecting somebody like you. I mean... erm..." Mark stuttered a bit nervously. "Well... Don't let those kids get too you too much. I'm sure they're getting what they deserve as we speak! Karma can really come back and kick you in the ass sometimes ya know? They'll get whats coming." Mark said, smiling down at Valorie.

Mark sat down to sit with Valorie, looking at her, concerned.

"Hmm... I can see where your coming from Val... the feeling must be horrible... but comon your not worthless! You wouldn't have gotten this far if you were worthless... Your a determined trainer! Ya deserve alot of respect for that. I mean... I really admire you for your skills in battle really... heh... its silly I know." Mark said nervously.

Selene
Watching as Mackenzie darted after the girl who had beaten her, Selene instantly stiffened with her scowl deepening - what in the name of Arceus was she playing at? Even if Selene could guess any logical reason why Mackenzie would chase after the girl, Sel was well aware that she would probably have been way off the mark and therefore better to just not try to guess at all. With narrowed eyes widening, she watched as Mackenzie gave the girl a Full Restore and took a step back.

Of course - Brock had healed her, Selene's, Pokemon and now Mackenzie was helping that Suicune dorm snob to have a second go at humili-oh. No. That didn't seem right. Selene froze, once more confused to hell and back as Mackenzie and the girl began...battling? Not really knowing how to react, Selene realised fully that knowing this girl was a rollercoaster, she was so...weird. It was the only way to describe her really. Her behaviour seemed completely designed with one goal - to confound people and blast apart any expectations or pre-conceived ideas of how Mackenzie would or should act.

And right now, Selene wasn't sure if she respected or disliked the girl for it.

Ultimately, this whole attitude of Mackenzie's seemed to translate into her battle style - particularly when her Peinture used that Sacred Fire...some bird Pokemon would have been seriously startled by that, as was Selene herself. Her style was eccentric and eclectic to say the least, and she ultimately defeated not one but two Suicune dorm students, leaving Selene...even more humiliated than she had already been. What was this all about? The student who defeated Selene...beaten by Mackenzie? Then another? Knowing full well logic didn't apply in anything involving Mackenzie, Selene scowled to herself, kicking at the ground with the toe of her boot. She found this a more difficult pill to swallow than her original defeat...it seemed to show that everything she had been cultivating, her whole battle style was inferior to this...this near freakshow put on by Mackenzie!

Walking over to the girl, Selene watched her with a suspicious frown for a brief, silent moment. "I don't know what to make of you," she said finally, arms folded as she levelled it out with Mackenzie once and for all. "That stunt you pulled when we first met? I didn't like it. And I'm not too sure if I like you to be honest..." she paused, considering her next words carefully, "but...you battle well. Your style is..." not able to think of a complimentary word, Selene let that sentence drop and looked around, suddenly awkward. "We should get onto the boat," she said finally, the invitation to accompany her implied to Mackenzie, but not expressed outright as Selene began to make her way to board the ship.

Brogan
Standing on the deck, Brogan rested her arms on the railing of the side of the boat and looked out over the still waters shimmering in the sunlight. What a waste of her precious time...she could be in Saffron right now had her Father not been so damned-

"You're Brogan Houghton-Taylor," came a voice from next to her, breaking off her thoughts in an extraordinarily rude and inconvenient place mid-rant. "You're in Suicune dorm, are you not?" Brogan turned herself slowly to face a blue-jacketed boy who was looking her up and down in that oh-so-complimentary manner...not.

"And?" she responded brusquely, noting that the boy wasn't completely bad-looking. He was your typical jock-type...he'd be of her standard if he wasn't such a leery jerk.

"I'm in Suicune too, as you can see..." he broke off, a smirk sliding over his face. "I have a proposition for you. I hear that you know two girls, a Valorie Ryder and a Selene Evans?" Brogan frowned at him and nodded singularly, and when it became clear that she wasn't going to expand any further on the extent of her relationship with them the boy continued. "Let's just say that our dorm...is concerned as a collective over the association with one of our own with an Entei underling. We have ourselves passed this message on to the two girls in question, but we feel that someone of your...stature and talent would undoubtedly be able to suggest ways in which we can really drive the message home."

Brogan watched him impassively, even through all of the not-so-subtle flattery. Laughing slightly, she rolled her eyes and turned to walk away from him.

"Thanks, but I really don't see how that would be of enough interest to volunteer my time and effort. Good lu-"

"It would really boost your rep within the dorm," he said finally, delivering the killer blow to Brogan and making her stop dead in her tracks, head tilted slightly to the boy as he walked over, a few steps behind her. "You'd be untouchable, the undisputed leader...we both know that's where you should be."

Turning fully, Brogan opened her mouth to answer when she was interrupted by a loud 'DONG' over the tannoy on the boat:

"IT IS 10AM. PLEASE CAN ALL STUDENTS GATHER ON THE MAIN DECK TO THE FRONT OF THE SHIP."

Eyes never leaving the boy, Brogan smirked. "You have my interest...but we shall discuss this later..."

Brian

Bri lay in his chair. Bouncy leapt to the ground to join her new playmate.

"Buff! Igglybuff!" she said. she jumped at Pala and ended up bouncing over her head. Then the announcement was made, but Bri was already on the deck. He yawned and stretched out, waiting for the rest of the students to gether. He really didn't feel like getting up right now. He watched as Bouncy aimed a weak Faint Attack right at Pala and lauched it. He sighed and grabbed his crutches off the ground and sat up, preparing to actually get up and go. Duster shook her head at the two infant pokemon. They were just so adorable! She climbed up onto Bri's shoulder as he prepared to get out of the chair.

Thyme

Thyme walked out and down the hallway, not really noticing Mark exiting a moment later. She was exploring. She sniffed around for... Anything that smelled interesting. She wandered down the hall.

"Well, I know where we won't be going," she said to Snype as the announcement rang overhead. She only wanted to stay hidden from Brian until the boat was out to sea, at least. It would be better if she didn't see him at all until she got back to the island, but she could deal with his disappointment if she was found before then. But, if they weren't away from the academy, then he could get her sent back to the pokemon center. She looked at Snype, wondering just where to go.

Quincy

Quin was nonplussed when Ciel got afraid of something and left. He shrugged and walked out the door a moment later. Well, if he didn't want to accept it, then it wasn't Quin's problem. He knew where to go and what to do if anyone came after him. Zara agreed with him for once. That surprised Quin.

"What's with you?" Quin asked, causing a nearby Entei student to give him an odd look, which he ignored. Logana paced around at his side.

"I don't know. There's something about him. He's different from the rest of those idiots. He's closer to our level of crazy," Zara said forcefully. But then again, Zara was always forceful. Quin reached down and absently scratched Logana's head.He walked back to the deck as the announcement had instructed him to do. He waited by the door, keeping an eye on Bri and the boy that Zara had fought. It occured to him that he didn't know that boy's name. Zara seethed at the boy, wanting to get even, but Quin was in control, and he wanted nothing to do with either of them.

Mark

Mark looked at Valorie slightly concerned. Though there was an announcement on the intercom that interupted them. They were supposed to go on the main deck. Perhaps there they would figure out what the field trip was about.

"Yeah... hey I'll walk with you there. Let's talk a bit more after we hear what they gotta say. I really want to make up for missing our little adventure to the Volcano and would like to hang out with you for the trip. Are uh... you alright with that Val?" Mark asked, slightly nervous. He still saw Valorie as a love interest but the more he hung out with her, the more he just wanted to tell her that he liked her. Maybe later on the trip he would muster the courage to do so...

Snype

Snype looked around the boat. Not a whole lot to do as far as Snype could tell. He wanted to go out to the deck but he knew that Bri was out there. He was in the mood for some adventure... and mostly interested in spending time with Thyme. The was an anouncement on the intercom telling all of the students to come to the front dock. He grabbed onto Thyme and jumped up to a higher window so that they could get out of the way from the stampede of students walking to the deck.

Snype turned around to look out the window to see the bright ocean. At least he would have time to think of what to do while the students were moving outside. He slowly reached for Thyme's hand and held it while sitting down.

"Um... so uh... maybe its a bit early to ask... but... um... why exactly do you like me? I remember awhile ago you often couldn't stand me. Kehehe. You had quite a charming attitude Thyme, I gotta say. Your a real fighter." Snype said with a smile. "Geez, wonder how Mark is doing. Bet he found Valorie by now."

(moved Snype's post with Marks post)

Skye

Skye looked at the two Pokemon and chuckled. Rama and Ellie began to circle him as he stood up, moving to gather at the deck. He waited for Bri, picking up Pala, who squealed and buried her wet nose in his jacket. He looked around, hearing a piercing bird call. It was a Pidgeot, soaring up and above the unmoving boat. Skye gave a tintative whistle. He hoped this was the right one. The scar under the eye seemed to tell so. It lowered at once and landed on Skye's outstretched arm. It stuck out a talon, revealing a Pokeball tied to the leg. Skye untied it, stroking her feathers.

"Suh-horry Cah-Cam's paranoid," he mumbled softly and she chirped lightly, nipping at his har before taking off again, flying off in a swirl of feathers. Skye examined the Pokeball, confused until Ellie began to rapidly grab at his leg joyfully. Skye blinked and released the Pokemon inside, revealing a Jolteon. Skye smiled quietly and at the same time, shivered. He was, unfortunately, afraid of Electric types. But he knew he needed to get over it, which was probably why Jolt was here. Ellie was going to evolve soon.The feline went up to him and purred, rubbing at his leg. Skye managed another smile as he scratched under his chin. He gestured and the Pokemon followed to the area they needed to wait at. He could feel someone watching him. It was probably that boy from earlier. Oh well.

Ciel

"You didn't need to do that," Ciel said softly as they walked.

"Evidently I did, young master." Raphael stated. "You weren't able to ignore him, as you should ignore children like him."

"But-"

"No buts young master. Your mother told me to watch over you and as your angel I wll do so. Now come before I drag you." Ciel nodded miserably and followed. He let Raph lead him to the deck, where he saw Skye and went to go stand by. Then Raph disappeared, reappearing next to Quin.

"I know you can hear me," the redhead hissed in his earl This was a crazy human, not a stupid one. "I'll make this quick. I'd appreciate, human," Raph sneered at Quin, red hair spiking like always. "If you did not fill my young master's head with your foolish ideas. My time is meant to be spent guarding him, not preventing you from destroying his sense of humanity. If I see you near him again, playing your tricks, i will kill you, child or not." He left, taking the ring Ciel had held and crushing it under his foot.

(For the record, Raph is just a ghost, called an angel because he guards. A weird ghost from the tower with some knight issues. Like many NPCs he won't appear all that much.)

Quincy

"Oh, look. A spirit that doesn't know his place. Quin, looks like it's time to perform an excorcism," Zara said. Quin frowned. What was he talking about?

"What are you talking about Zara?" Quin asked. He was confused. He was supposed to be the crazy one. Not Zara. Zara was just murderous. This strange turn confused Quin.

"Just some uppity spirit that doesn't know his place. And for the record Mr. Dead-man, Quin may be crazy, but he's actually right about the Dicius. Take a little time to research Hoenn's history and you'll see. And he never said that Ciel was the Dicius, only that he might be. And the Knights of Valor are real too. Heh, that ring you can't even crush is proof enough. So I'd apprieciate it if you learned everything that was going on before you stuck your spectral nose into things that are none of your concern," Zara said, trying to keep himself from flying off the handle. Ghosts annoyed him. It was bad enough that they wouldn't go away when they died. But when they tried to influence the living, that was deplorable. Imagine that coming from Zara, calling something deplorable.

Brian

Bri watched the scene that played out while he was getting to his feet. So, Skye now had a Jolteon? Bouncy jumped over to Skye, displeased that her playmate had been taken away.

"Buff!" she scolded. Duster wasn't paying attention to any of them. She was looking curiously at the Jolteon that had arrived.

"Hey there Ciel. You ok?" Bri said when Ciel joined them. He looked at the boy concernly. He looked like something was bothering him.

Thyme

Thyme felt herself get lifted into the air and saw Snype holding her while he jumped up to the window. Well, that was unexpected. She felt him take her hand and she sat down as well, staring out at the sea. Then as she was beginning to feel calm he began asking her a tough question. She frowned and thought about it a bit.

"Well, it's not that I didn't like you. But, you were always so annoying. Heh, then again, I find most everyone annying. But, in the forest, I saw a different side of you. You were kind, concerned about me. You didn't have anything to gain from it. You were worried about me because... I don't know why. After me being so mean, you still cared about me and wanted me to be ok. The only one that's been truely like that for me has been Brian. And then when I put you under Attract yesterday, you only got more like that. It was a little overwhelming. So, I decided to see if that had simply been because of the Attract. So far, it just looks like that's who you are. And... I like that. It's not something I'm really used to," Thyme said. She looked at Snype while she spoke. She couldn't explain it any better than that. Still, that's how she felt. And it's true that she had been more than a little mean to him when they had first met. Now, she wondered why that was. She didn't say anything about Mark and Valorie. She had too much on her mind right now.

Selene
Hearing Mackenzie following her, Selene continued to walk until they were on the boat and she heard the announcement for all students to make their way to the deck at the front of the ship. Feeling no need to turn to Mackenzie to make sure she too had registered the announcement, Selene merely kept walking and was vaguely aware of what Mackenzie was saying to her.

"Kind of...yes, yes you did," Selene threw back over her shoulder simply to Mackenzie, her tone not too offhand but not exactly warm and welcoming either. Yeah, Mackenzie had apologised but for some reason Selene didn't see this as enough...Mackenzie's actions really annoyed her, but not for herself, more because of the hurt she caused Valorie and the newly awkward level she introduced into their previously happy friendship.

But mainly, she disliked the girl because...no matter what she told herself, mackenzie had injected some kind of self-doubt into her mind. What Mackenzie had said and done had made Selene reconsider some pretty serious things, and if there was one thing Sel didn't like it was doubting herself.

"It's just..?" said Selene in a somewhat questioning tone, reaching the deck and noticing Bri and Skye, but not really feeling in a sociable mood enough to go over and make conversation with them. It was bad enough that Mackenzie had somehow ended up accompanying her, and that she couldn't see Valorie and Mark anywhere...because obviously they were her two best friends and she would quite easily be able to excuse herself from Mackenzie to go and talk to them. As she rested against the railings of the boat, Selene watched Mackenzie with a raised eyebrow, waiting to hear what she had to say for herself. She ultimately didn't trust the girl as far as she could throw her, but she would listen to whatever lame-ass excuse she could whip out of thin air.

Mark

Mark accepted Valorie's hand happily and walked closely beside her. He was happy that he would be able to hang out with Valorie a bit more today... and so far this would be a good start. He just aimed to make her a bit more happy and to hopefully cheer up after everything she's been through today.

Snype

Snype listened to Thyme's reasoning to why she liked Snype. Made sense... but Snype really did care for her. He was a caring person in general, even though he has the urge to always get himself in trouble, he still cared for others well being. Thyme was no exception.

"Hehe, Well hey, I do care for ya. After the whole episode in the forest I grew really concerned about you. I guess I just grew protective of you and really got to know you for what you are." Snype said. He chuckled a little nervously soon after.

"Attract... yeah that really realeases the inner romantic in me... To the point where I get extremely clingy and to the point where I can go way to far sometimes... Kehehe. Would be afraid to see what the effect would be now... heh..." Snype said, leaning on Thyme a bit. He turned his head to thyme and gave off a small smile, scratching his head a bit. He was tempted to give her a small kiss... but decided to wait a little bit just to be a tease.

Raph snorted. "Oh look, a voice witwho doesn't know his betters, especially since you lost to a boy with a worm. Do you honestly think I care if your ideas are true? Do you think I worry about your history and possibilities? That sort or train of thought is long since needed. The young master has a destiny he is already pursuing. Don't you dare drag him into another, or his family either. You have no idea what you're dealing with." The redhead ghost hovered above them all, examining the other trainers. Hm... how pathetic.

Ciel

Ciel looked over at Bri and blinked. "I'm, um, I'm okay. I'm just thinking too hard." He pet Chika's head and she chirped in his ears, humming. "I'm just reminding myself that humans are strange and I should be careful." He said this, also matter of factly. He didn't know that was possibly offensive. He managed a smile at Bri. "Are you better now?"

Skye

Skye laughed gnetly at Bouncy and placed Pala on the ground. She puffed snow, eager to play. Skye chuckled again and pet Jolt. Jolt purred at once. He was happy to see his human's younger brother. The boy was always kind to him, even when he was scared of him, as, judging by the slight shake of his hand on his spikes, he was a bit frightened. Jolt was not bothered by this, knowing trauma lingered in all. SO he just kept purring, knowing it would calm him eventually.

Finally he spoke. "My name is Jolt. I am Cameron's Jolteon. I am here to train Ellie when she evolves. I like milk and torturing my human with carrots I find on the ground." Ellie laughed and Rama snorted.

(Okay ,Jolteon is not a member of Skye's team. He's just borrowing him to train on. Will not appear in battle, will not be a part of his team. He's Cam's.)

Quincy

"Fine. We won't talk to Ciel about being the Dicius. It's not like I care about your destiny. Destiny can kiss my ***! But, if you ever threaten me and Quin again, I'm breaking out the Holy Water and Purification Scrolls. Angel or not, ghost, you will be moving on. Do I make myself clear?" Zara said in his most deadly voice. Quin felt his arm reach up into his bag and grab a sanctified cross. Not that it could be used as a weapon, but it shileded him from supernatural attacks. Nothing this ghost threw at them could hurt, or even hit them. Quin realised that it wasn't him that was moving his arm, it was Zara!

"And give Ciel back that ring. Quin gave it to him as an offering of friendship. You have no right to take that away. And if you don't then you'll just keep having to drag us away from him. Because he needs a friend that doesn't freak him out as much as normal people do. I promise we will try not to pull him into another destiny, as you put it. So, do we understand each other?" Zara said, slightly less agrivated. Quin was a bit surprised to hear this from Zara. But, he was right. Quin made a mental note not to talk about any of what he was about to Ciel. He was going to back Zara up on this, as he was right. But still, why was Zara so friendly toward Ciel?

"Because he is curious. He's a very strange person. Almost as strange as you are. And you took an oath. As much as I hate when you do that, I stand by it," Zara said. As murderous as he was, Quin had to admit, Zara did have a sense of honor.

Brian

Bouncy squeeled happily and moved to play with Pala again. Bri turned his attention to Ciel first.

"Yeah, we can be a bit weird. But you don't have to be afraid of me and Skye. And I'm feeling a lot better now, thanks," Bri said with a smile. He then turned to Jolt.

"Nice to meet you Jolt! I'm Brian! This is Duster here!" Bri said without missing a beat. As always, it never occured to him that people might be shocked that he understaood what pokemon were saying. It didn't seem weird to him, so why would it be weird to anyone else? Duster, for once, didn't really know what to say, so she just smiled happily at Jolt. She had never heard of sending someone else a pokemon to train against.

Thyme

Thyme looked at Snype. He looked like he had something on the tip of his tongue.

"What? I've spilled my guts, now tell me what's bugging you!" she ordered. She gazed at him with a slight flicker of annoyance in her eyes. She was trying to decide whether to fill him in on everything that had happened to her. Maybe, but she didn't feel like just volunteering it. She doubted that even Brian knew the full story. She wasn't sure he even remembered finding her when he was three. Even though that day was the day she had decided to make him her trainer. Then, she had known what she had wanted and gone for it. Now, she probably should do the same. But, she was very nervous. Why? She wasn't quite sure. But she was.

Raphael snorted. "Strike me down and you strike down my master. I do believe the school will have something to say about that. Regardless, your terms will be accepted for now." And he turned away with a scoff. "It's your gift. Give it to the young master yourself." He disappeared, appearing next to Ciel, who didn't react too much other than a small smile.

Ciel nodded quietly. "I know. I know that. You will not be fully better for a while. But it will heal I think." He paused in petting Chika a moment, who whined a chirp.

Skye chuckled at Jolt, who didn't even look surprised. "A pleasure to meet you." He purred abruptly when Skye scratched a spot behind his ears. "I am well aware these are unusual circumstances," he said to Duster, reading her expression. Not her mind, Kyurem no. "However, being the family of a League winner, Skye is likely to be attacked and used for ransom. Therefore, he must be able to defend himself. And he has no experience training an electric type so I am here to help."