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

"Wah!" Thyme yelled. Bri looked over and spotted a fireball flying through the air. He turned and cradled the terrified grass type, taking the fireball on his back.
"Ouch! That hurt! Why'd she do that Thyme?" Bri asked.
"What!? It's not my fault she's so touchy! God, I try to help her, and she throws a fireball at me! Sheesh!" Thyme said. She was shaking, and her voice held anger and fear.
"Thyme, you need to watch what you say. It will get you into real big trouble if you don't," Bri said kindly.
"Whatever," Thyme said. Bri shook his head. He turned to Valerie.
"I'm sorry. Thyme is very good at provoking other pokemon," he said.

"Well Vincent," smirked Selene as he responded to her, folding her arms and looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "I'm a big strong girl now. I'm sure I can take whatever you throw at me and then return it twice as hard and twice as fast. So I think I'll take my chances." she grinned and turned away, walking off to the rest of the group ready to leave for those smoothies FINALLY, expecting Vince to follow seeing as Bri had invited him too.

"Gosh...remind me not to take on more than one Seedot at once," she shuddered, thinking that must've been one powerful attack to cause so much damage. She wasn't sure if she was impressed or confused by Vince's selfless move to take the attack for his Charmeleon...sure, on one hand he didn't want to see his pokemon hurt and instinct is to jump in there yourself...but while the Charmeleon could've rested in his pokeball until he got taken to the Pokemon Centre and instantly healed, that cut on Vince's arm would take a while to heal up...so all in all she thought he probably acted a bit rashly and made a mental note of that for when she faced him in battle.

She turned to the rest of the group and took a hold of her bag strap, smiling at Valorie. "Good news about the food...I'm still famished...shall we get going? How far is this place exactly?" not that she was so hungry and distracted by her rumbling stomach that she was anxious to get there as quickly as possible...nah. Not at all.

"Well, I've got plenty of that!" said Sel chirpily as they walked along, the promise of food making her day that bit brighter - she loved food. It was lucky that she was always up and about, running here and there, constantly active or else she'd be the size of a house. Especially given her dangerously-dominant sweet tooth...even thinking about the bucket of jelly beans she had in her room was making her stomach rumble. "You should have more control over your body," she said to Vince as he explained why he had jumped in front of the Bide, "think Vince, think. Or else you'll never beat someone like me." She couldn't help throwing the dig out there with a smirk. She noticed Ryan leaning over her shoulder, peering down at her feet and following her gaze she noticed Vince's Drillbur trotting alongside her. "Oh hey!! this is my pokemon, Ryan!" she said happily, stroking Ryan's tail.

When Valorie confirmed that the food place wasn't an 'unbearably long' walk, Sel paused in her cheerful mood. Unbearably long...she jogged up to Valorie and linked her arm through hers, grinning widely at her friend. "When you say unbearably...I sense that you're the kind of person who would take a 3 hour hike through mountains and marshland as good healthy outdoorsy exercise Valorie! Not that that's a bad thing obviously," she clarified quickly. "I love a bit of a hike myself in appropriate footwear. But...you know...running on fumes and all...speaking of which," she changed tack as a thought popped into her head, "Where do you want to train later? I was thinking the beach...sand offers extra resistance and all...and I was thinking maybe we should start jogging in the mornings too. I used to at home and I found it helped my own stamina during battles...jogging on the beach is really good exercise!" she wittered happily - she tended to talk very much and very quickly about nothing particularly important when she was in a good mood.

Snype listened to Thyme talking to charmander. It was kind of the same thing he had said to her, except a bit more rude sounding... She then reacted toward Thyme and shot a small fireball at her. Snype tried to hold grab her arm and shoulder, to hold her back but was too late. She already fired the attack and hit Thyme. ["Charmeleon! Comon cool it!"] Snype begged. Eventually she cooled off a bit and stopped. Thankfully she didn't take it to a whole different level. Snype let go and let it all pass. He walked along with the group and put his hand on Charmeleon's shoulder.

["...You alright?] Snype asked concerned.

Mark got up and followed the group. He was concerned about Valorie's Charmeleon but Snype seemed to be doing his best to keep her emotions in check.

"Well lead the way Val!" Mark said cheerfully.

Bri followed the group, but found himself unable to keep up. He wasn't used to walking, and he was so much shorter than everyone else. He huffed and puffed and tried to keep up, but he just couldn't.
"How inconsiderate," Thyme muttered. Bri looked at her.
"They... Just... Want... Smoothies!" Bri said between gasps. He considered just going elsewhere. That would be rude. They had invited him, and he accepted. So he would have to suffer with it.

"I'm fine! I'm just really tired after everything that has happened today!" Bri said. He sped his steps up trying to keep up. He wasn't cut out for this kind of thing. Thyme snorted at the offer to carry him.
"Hah! As if!" she said to Luna.
"Um... he can't understand you," Bri reminded her. He was keeping up with the others now, but he was going to get that smootie as fast as he could. He could almost taste the Strawberry Kiwi!

"F-Forty...Forty five minutes?" spluttered Sel, so shocked that she stopped walking, her arm falling limply from Valorie's. Happy mood bubble......popped. "An hour...as in...SIXTY minutes?" her head fell down and her shoulders hunched. Those figured swimming round in her head. Forty five...sixty...that was a long time...the walking didn't bother her so much, she was just sooo hungry...she was stood stationary for such a time that even Trapinch and Bri overtook her.

Ryan prodded her hard in her head and Sel jumped, startled out of her daze and rubbing her temple with a grimace. "Owch...Ryan..." she glared out of the corners her eyes at the Pikachu on her shoulder. She noticed she was lagging behind and jogged up to the rest of the group, walking alongside Valorie again. She heard Vince and Valorie ask Bri if he was okay - Sel hadn't realised that the pace had picked up again after she'd slowed up to talk to Bri the first time. He seemed to be okay though, choosing to soldier on on his own feet. Sel gave him a thumbs up, "Good going Bri!!"

"So...forty five minutes hey!" she laughed brightly, looking to Valorie at her side, but her grin was obviously forced.

Mark caught up with the group ahead of him. Forty five minutes? Sheesh... He wasn't even sure if he could last such a long trip... but they were just walking. By the time they got there they would be able to drink two smoothies! At least... Mark would be able too. He smiled back at Valorie and looked over to Xack.

"Yeah! It was a pretty good battle... even though it ended up as a Draw... but hey, outcomes like that tend to be pretty exciting!" Mark said. "The school has been pretty good for me so far! Haven't found a class I hated yet that's for sure... that'll likely change somewhere along the lines... Heh. The school is full of suprises I gotta say!"

Snype looked at Charmeleon and smirked as he walked alongside her. Issac began to Jog ahead of the group staying close enough so he didn't get too far ahead. ["Well if its a training session ya want then lets see if you can keep up with me!"] Snype said, challenging her.

Startled by Valorie's response to her moaning, Sel laughed and waved her hands in front of her. "Val...you're so sweet! Thank you, but it's mainly just me moaning and being a whinge...I'm not THAT starving yet, I won't pass out! But I'll move faster. You're right - instead of moaning I should just go faster..." she paused throughtfully.

Jogging...that'd get her there faster but she didn't really have the energy...walking fast. That'd have to do. She couldn't believe that Valorie had offered to give her a piggyback! She laughed and linked her arm back through Val's, messing her bangs up playfully, "if you gave me a piggyback I'd wear your legs down to stumps hun!" she joked, patting her stomach as though to illustrate. "I'm bigger than Ryan or Dratini!!"

She watched as Snype and Charmeleon got all competitive over it..."maybe we should take a leaf from their books," she suggested, gesturing to the two pokemon, "last one there buys the first round! That is assuming Bri gets a lift obviously..."

Bri blanched at the thought. He wasn't a little kid anymore! He was determined to do this on his own!
"I said I'd keep up and I will!" Bri said. He pushed his way to the front of the group. Thyme sighed. He was acting like a child. She wanted those smoothies! The sooner the better!
"Oh for crying out loud! Stop being so stubborn!" Thyme said. Bri looked at her, and she regretted speaking. He didn't want to appear weak in front of his friends. She didn't have the heart to tell him that ship had sailed. They all could see his strengths and weaknesses, and they didn't seem to mind.

Eyebrows raised, Sel watched in surprise as Bri stubbornly pushed on to the front of the group. She hadn't seen this side of him before!! Not that she didn't understand...he probably just felt a bit embarrassed that he couldn't really keep up with the rest of them too well...but even so, they were only trying to help. They weren't patronising him or mocking him or anything...

"Hey Bri, chill out hun yeah?" she said, catching up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's cool - we were just suggesting the easiest way to do this. No-one thinks you're incapable." she explained, hoping to soothe his ego, that she assumed had taken a bit of a blow by his response.