A Journey (13+)

[JX Valentine]

It took Emma only a moment to reach the other room, but it felt like forever for her. The excitement overwhelmed her, and she found it difficult to maintain her usual composure. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath and steadied herself.

That's right, she thought. Don't act up. Just act like a perfect lady, and they'll give you what you want.

She straightened and held her head high as she entered. Her face wore nothing but a small smile as she approached both Professor Oak and Elm. Of course, she'd heard all about the both of them. She knew of their reputations, vague ideas of what they studied, the achievements they held… And why wouldn't she? She always valued knowledge as her key weapon. Though she couldn't claim to know everything, she always took pleasure in the advantage she held over the other children, in the dumbfounded looks she received when she could answer a teacher's questions while they sat silently.

But to see the people she'd read so much about standing right in front of her, that feeling of sheer pride tasted better than anything else she'd felt in the classroom. Who cared about some dumb kid who didn't know the nation's capital or what Oak did in 1987? She was meeting Oak himself – Elm too.

The children back home, she thought, would be insanely jealous.

So, with a curtsy, she said her hellos and introduced herself politely, just the way she imagined a lady would. Oak smiled, perhaps reminded of his own granddaughter or perhaps because Emma's act seemed all-too genuine. Elm, meanwhile, nodded and offered a soft smile of his own, one tinged with the weariness of the morning.

"Emma Finn," Elm repeated. "I admit neither of us were as familiar with you as we were with the children from our own hometowns. However, we've heard plenty from both your parents and your teachers."

He turned, rummaging through a set of Poké Balls on the shelf behind him. It would be a long while before it was going to be empty, Emma knew. As he sorted through each ball, he continued.

"You're ambitious, hard-working, unusually polite for a girl your age, a perfectionist…"

Oak nodded and sat back in his chair. "It took awhile for us to find a good match for you, but I think you'll see this one can't be any better."

"Oh, most definitely." Elm turned, a ball in his hand. "Take it, Emma. This is your partner."

Emma had been quiet as she waited patiently. She had meditated on her pride, on how accurate she thought Elm seemed to have her, for the past few minutes, but now that he turned to face her, all of those thoughts immediately vanished at the sight of the Poké Ball. Her Poké Ball. Her hand trembled as she reached towards it and took it. The plastic and metal felt cool to the touch, and it fit her hand perfectly. With a smile, she bowed.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," Elm replied. "Open it and see your new Pokémon."

Emma didn't need to be told twice. With a flick of her wrist, the ball flew straight up into the air and cracked open. White light poured out of it, descending to the floor. As Emma snatched the ball from the air, she watched carefully, waiting anxiously for her Pokémon to form. She couldn't guess what it was. It was small, but then again, many basic Pokémon were. For all she knew, it could be the Chikorita she'd hoped for or a common Rattata or a cute Poliwag…

Instead, it formed a cat with cream-colored fur and a coin on his head. The Meowth opened its mouth to meow once before he finally opened his eyes and stared directly at his owner. His cat grin widened, and he rose to all four paws. Emma sucked in a breath as she watched and felt him rub against her ankles, the rumbling of his purring resonating through her bones and ears.

For once, she didn't know what to say. She stooped down and picked up the cat, who seemed very nonchalant about being around humans, much less being picked up by one.

"It's beautiful," Emma gasped.

As if he was insulted by the idea of being called an "it," the Meowth grinned and dug his claws into Emma's arm. Immediately, she yelped and dropped the cat, who landed neatly on his feet and promptly sat down to lick his paws. She began tearing up as she rubbed her arm.

"It would be a he," Oak told her. "I'm sorry, Emma, but it seems that while this Pokémon doesn't mind humans, he seems to be very sensitive."

Or vain, Emma thought bitterly.

With a forced smile, she knelt. "It's all right, Professor Oak." Then, to the Pokémon, she added, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Let's start again. My name is Emma Finn, and I will be your partner. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The Meowth paused in grooming himself to give Emma a sidelong glance. Apparently, he wasn't very forgiving, either. With a sigh, Emma held up the ball and recalled the cat. She stood slowly and curtsied again.

"Thank you very much for the Pokémon, sir," she said. "I'll take very good care of him."

Elm and Oak could only smile at this claim. They knew they'd matched Pokémon with trainer well.

"Are you all right, Emma?" Elm asked. "Do you need a bandage for your arm before you go?"

Emma shook her head. "No thank you."

And with that, she turned to the door and walked out into the other room. No way she was about to show that she was weak.

 

[♥~*Abby*~♥]

OOC- Ooo... sorry about that. I'll make my posts longer, I promise. I'm just a tad lazy, is all. With that said...

IC- As Alyson kept walking down the route, she saw another Pokemon. This Pokemon was also a Ratatta. However, it looked stronger... a lot stronger. Alyson came to a conclusion. "Hmm... maybe this Ratatta is the mother of the one I just defeated. It's hard to say, but that could be, because it looks pretty mad. It looks pretty tough, too. I could never take on a Ratatta as tough as this one, right? I mean, Shell isn't exactly strong, and..." Before she even had time to think, the Ratatta charged at her. So Alyson's first instinct was to run.

Alyson was never the fastest runner, she was extremely skinny and scrawny, and definately not in shape. She was out of breath after a few feet, mainly because she was running at full sprint. So, she made a desicion. She would battle this Ratatta. After all, Viridian City was not too far away, so if she lost, she could always heal Shell once she was done. "Go, Shell!" "Squirtle!" With that, the battle begun.

The Ratatta started with a quick attack. "Use withdraw!" The Squirtle started to withdraw, but was way too slow; the Ratatta had already charged into Shell before he even started to withdraw. While the Ratatta was close, it used hyper fang. After two moves, Shell was already pretty tired. "C'mon Shell, hang in there, buddy!" "Use bubble!" Bubbles were flying out of the Squirtle's mouth, but they did nothing; the Ratatta popped them with it's teeth. Then, it used tackle attack, which knocked out Shell. Alyson was pretty angry, not at Shell, but at the Ratatta. The Ratatta ran off before she could do anything else. To avoid her Squirtle getting any further injuries, she returned Shell to his Pokeball, and ran as fast as she could towards Viridian City.

OOC- Any better?

 

[Dai-tan]

(Ahh...Tell me if this isn't to be acceptable, I'm not sure if you're still accepting....)

Name: Azure "Zuri" Souma
Age: Ten
Gender: Female
Personality: Zuri is quite intelligent but chooses to hide it and act dumb and/or stupid in a childish way sometimes unintentionally adding "Aha!" to a lot of her sentences. She can be quite naive, but lacks not in courage. Zuri tends to annoy others with her overly happy/bubbly moods, and is almost never sad, and when she is it's for petty things like losing candy or something of the sort. Zuri has a tendancy to be nit-picky about little things like organizing, which she does a lot. She is quite artistic, though doesn't recognize her own abilities and is quite afraid of Tentacruel and Tentacool. Oh...did I forget to mention she has the the manners of a delinquent boy? Well sorry her only outside source was her punky older brother.
History:
Azure, the second child of Jennifer and Kenta Souma, was born minutes before sunrise after Jennifer gave birth to the first Souma, Brian. The two children grew up as twins, doing everything together, no matter what it be; bathing, eating, playing, you name it. Because of Azure's smallness and helpless appearance, at the age of five she had been the victim of attempted kidnapping. After the alleged culprit was caught Azure was no longer allowed to leave her home without her mother or father. This caused a rift between Azure and Brian, Azure staying naive and pure, not getting much information from the outside, whilst Brian grew up like a normal boy.
Azure decided at the age of nine to sneak out of her house to get fresh air, she met other girls her age and was talked into dying her hair. Jennifer saw this and knew Azure needed to grow up, to live her life. Jennifer decided that Azure could manage her own and allowed Azure to ready to become a Pokemon trainer. Still paranoid Jennifer contacted the Professor and things were arranged...Azure's Pokemon journey was about to begin.
Appearance: Zuri is simply short for her age barely reaching the four foot mark, her hair is short in a boyish cut, her left eye covered by the long aqua-teal coloured bangs that connect to the rest of her her short blonde hair. She has caramell coloured eyes, so warm and inviting, that stand out against her pale skin. Her frame is thin, perfectly portioned to her height.
Zuri can usually be found wearing a bright blue miniskirt that has a white stripe a long the bottom, a loose black t-shirt, a large white jacket with light blue accents, loose socks, a pair of white with blue decor running shoes, and two hair clips she uses to pull the bangs away from her right eye. She has a thing for loose shirts due to some of her insecurities.
Hometown: Goldenrod City, Johto
Preferred Starter Pokemon: I Like surprises, so I Want you guys to pick.
Preferred Starter Region: Johto

 

[Percy Thrillington]

OOC: How this thread went twenty days without a post is beyond me. Let's fix that, people. Sign-ups are always open so feel free to post your character application whenever you want.

Daj-tan is accepted. I figure that the Pokémon who would fit your character would be a Treeko. Don't ask me why, it just feels right.

IC:

Marvalo watched the girl, Emma Finn, walk towards Professor Oak and the door. He thought about what Pokémon she might get. Surely nothing better than his Jigglypuff. Maybe a Dunsparce or a Slowpoke. Those two Pokémon would go hand in hand with the girl, Marvalo figured as he smirked to himself.

Marvalo turned around to see the girl, Amelia, standing in front of him. "Is that supposed to imply you didn't get quite what you were hoping for?" the girl asked slyly. "A Dunsparce, perhaps? An Igglybuff?"

Marvalo laughed when he heard the name Dunsparce but stopped abruptly as soon as Igglybuff was mentioned. That was too close to home. Maybe she had been spying on him! He wouldn't put it past her. He looked at her for a second, she definitely seemed a bit dodgy. He glanced at the door. Emma Finn seemed to have gone into the room with Oak which meant that the door was closed. There was a keyhole in it as well. Of course, Amelia must have decided to be sneaky and look through. What a freak.

No. This was the way a normal ten year old would think. Marvalo knew he was so much more than the average ten year old. He had to be the intellectual fair person he was and look at it from every prospective. Perhaps Amelia was just poking fun at him and meant it as a joke, maybe she wasn't trying to degrade his ego. The fact that she listed out Igglybuff as one of the possibly options for the Pokémon he might have was probably a coincidence. He took her way too seriously.

"I'll show you in a battle, after you take on the girl, Emma Finn." He said carelessly. He contemplated going home for a second but decided he wanted to watch the Pokémon battle between Amelia and Emma. It would be a failure, he could tell.

 

[Clark]

A battle? Amelia thought, now feeling an odd mixture of determination and fury building up inside her. Not a good combination of feelings for reasonable thinking. She, however, managed to realize this before doing anything stupid (the idea of laughing in Marvalo's face and declaring his complete inferiority had come to mind, for instance). To calm herself down, Amelia sighed aloud and closed her eyes for a second or two. She didn't want to seem like just another hot-headed kid convinced she was practically invincible. No. She had to seem smarter, be smarter, than that.

"Fine," she said in a simple tone. "I'll beat you in a battle any day. Don't be surprised if you're the one who loses."

Going back to her mental ponderings, she now thought of the two battles she would soon be participating in. First Emma. Then Marvalo. And the boy had challenged Emma as well... It seemed rather odd that before long all three of them will have faced one another in a Pokemon battle. They'd all just recieved their starters moments ago, at that.

Starters! Of course. This brought Amelia back to wondering what Pokemon Marvalo had, indeed, been given. Questioning him about it obviously led nowhere, so if she hoped to find out anything she'd need to make some sort of guess. He seemed to stop cold when I said "Igglybuff"... She smirked slightly. Perhaps she had randomly discovered his starter. Well... That would be too much of a coincidence. It could be a Cleffa, or a Happiny, for all she knew. Close enough, all the same.

She continued entertaining herself with thoughts like this when suddenly, she noticed an anticipating silence in the air. The children all perked up and glanced at the door as Emma emerged. Amelia found herself interested and curious as well. Whatever Pokemon Emma walked out of that room with would be the first Pokemon she'd challenge in a battle.

 

[JX Valentine]

As Emma strutted out of the other room, her chin was held up, and her shoulders were back, as if to proclaim that she was triumphant in her pairing. However, her scratched arm was held back, hidden slightly by her hip as she made her way through the crowds. She didn't even notice if someone was selected next or who it might have been. It didn't matter now. After all, she knew she had a battle to attend to, and as hostile as the cat might have been to her, she knew her first battle wouldn't be anything short of memorable.

A grin spread across her face as she approached Amelia. She didn't even look at Marvalo at this point, but she let him see her smile. Maybe that'll signal to him that she was proud of what she got. More than proud. Maybe that it might have been something so extraordinary, he wasn't even worthy to hear its name.

Or, at least, that's what she wanted him to think.

"Well," she said, "I'm back! Would you like to go outside now? It'd be better to show each other our Pokemon where there's not so many people so close."

 

[Percy Thrillington]

"Fine," Amelia said in a simple tone. "I'll beat you in a battle any day. Don't be surprised if you're the one who loses."

Marvalo refrained from grinning, as that would make her realise that he thought he was going to win the battle easily. From her reply, Marvalo figured that she was scared of losing. If she was scared of losing, she was bound to think more about the battle than she should and make some silly mistakes that he would take advantage of as soon as possible. He took a deep breath and made sure that he didn't look like a spoiled child because if he did, Amelia could end up figuring out what he was so happy about. He merely nodded and decided to strike up some more conversation. "What Pokémon did you get?"

If Amelia replied, Marvalo wasn't aware because his attention was suddenly diverted to the girl, Emma Finn. She was walking as fine as ever with a broad smile on her face, but she wasn't looking at him, more the crowd. Marvalo repressed the urge to shout out loud. She seemed to be happy with the Pokémon she received. Maybe it was better than his.

Nonsense. He was obviously given the best Pokémon there was. He was Marvalo Bond, after all. A name that would be known by everyone, eventually. He was sure of it.

Emma Finn walked up beside Amelia and Marvalo. "Well," she said, "I'm back! Would you like to go outside now? It'd be better to show each other our Pokemon where there's not so many people so close."

Marvalo nodded and waited for Amelia to second his opinion. Then he noticed Emma's discreet reference to The Lord of the Rings. Not only was she smart, she was well read.

Getting respect of this punk was going to be a hard feat to accomplish.

 

[Clark]

Amelia blinked as Marvalo asked her what starter she had obtained, thus interrupting her confident thoughts. She found herself slightly surprised. Did this kid really expect her to answer a question he himself had so blatantly avoided? No matter the answer to the question; a Caterpie of all things could probably beat whatever he had been given. Honestly, Amelia sighed mentally, Boys...

She opened her mouth to give a sharp reply when Emma approached. Thank the legendaries! At least now she wouldn't have to be alone dealing with this complete idiot.

"Yes," Amelia replied simply, "It'd probabaly be best if we went outside..." The mere thought of all these kids 'Oohing' and 'Aahing' at their Pokemon as they battled was... Ugh. Annoying enough as just a thought, rather than a reality.

 

[Parabolic]

Name: Artemis Fleetwright
Age: 13 (Eat my individuality!!!)
Gender: Male

Personality: Artemis has always been known by his classmates and friends to be the smart one in the room. Not smart as in "ee equalz em cee little too!" but smart as in the kind that preceeds an alec. Not a lot of people really know why he is this way. He seems to come off as a know-it-all to anyone he speaks to. The only people he has ever shown any kind of respect towards are his parents and his best friend, Drake.

In addition to the holier than thou routine, he's a pervert. Most older women set him off immediately and he attempts to hit on them. His age and appearance catches most of his victims off-guard and they end up melting all over him for how "cute" or "funny" he is. Meanwhile, he is attempting to look up their skirts or is hugging them a little too tightly, if you know what I mean. One woman in particular that gets him going is Drake's older sister Reena. Unfortunately, Drake was too naive to notice and kept inviting Artemis over to play.

Other than these two rather uncouth personality traits, he's a pretty upstanding citizen. He works hard, gets good grades, does his chores, and he is the best errand boy you will ever meet if you can get on his good side.

History: Artemis was born into a slightly well-off family. His parent's house is quite large and he really has been given most of what he wants when he wants it. He hasn't had a hard life... not even an uncomfortable one. His cushy way of life may contribute to his slight superiority complex towards middle-class kids. At the age of 7, he was forced to enter a public school. It was his parent's way of getting him to "chill out". Unfortunately... it didn't work. If anything, it fueled his behavior forward at a more rapid pace. Interacting with these other kids just made him want to show off by being more clever and more rude than he was before. Alas, he is like he is now mainly because of his parent's decision.

Artemis met Drake in school when he was 9 years old. The boy blabbed on about nothing but POKeMON this and POKeMON that. Artemis found these creatures to be fascinating by the way he described them (he led a pretty sheltered life...) and always would sit next to the boy so they could talk about them. This led to their inevitable friendship. They planned to go on a journey together after their respective 10th birthdays, but Artemis' parents forbade him from getting a POKeMON of his own until he turned 13. Something about it being too dangerous to go out on an epic journey at his age. Drake offered to wait with him, but Artemis pushed him away and told him to go without him.

"Don't worry... I'll catch up." he told him.

Now, he has finally turned 13 and his journey is about to start. Artemis vows on his birthday cake to find Drake again and the two of them can trek as they promised three years ago.

Appearance: Artemis is slightly short for his age at a mere 4'10'' and only weighs about 97 pounds. His red hair is ear-length and has a natural "feathered and teased" look to it. His blue eyes are framed by very classy-looking glasses. His face usually has a "baked-over" look to it as he finds a very small amount of things amusing. On his torso he wears a black t-shirt with a flat POKeBall design in green on the lower right corner of the front of the shirt. His pants are baggy and an olive green color with three clips on each leg for his POKeMON team. His shoes are a usual white and green tennis shoes look and on his wrist he wears a green POKetch (or wristwatch if you don't want POKetches...). Finally, over his shoulder is usually his black bag with the same flat POKeBall design in green on the right side of the flap.

Hometown: Olivine City
Preferred Starter Pokemon: Torchic or Ralts, but i'll let you pick if you wish to.

 

[JX Valentine]

Emma smiled. "Well, then. Follow me."

With that, she turned and walked towards the door. She only assumed Amelia was following her. Whether or not Marvalo did was none of her concern. If he did, then he'd see her Pokemon and quite possibly her victory. If not... his loss.

Pushing open the door, Emma walked first through the familiar waiting room and then to the outside world. The air felt crisp and new to her, possibly because everything felt new now. She was a new person -- not just Emma Finn but Emma Finn, Pokemon trainer. Emma Finn, future champion of this league and leagues far from home. Emma Finn, an icon of strength and beauty in one.

She walked to the road and looked to both sides. Seeing no one coming, she stepped out and positioned herself to make it clear she fully intended on using the road as a battle ground. Slipping Meowth's Poke Ball from her pocket, she stood waiting for Amelia. She wasn't about to show her Pokemon until her newfound friend (or the closest thing she could get to one) showed hers.

 

[Percy Thrillington]

OOC: Parabolic is accepted because I'm cool enough to accept people.

Interacting with these other kids just made him want to show off by being more clever and more rude than he was before.

Sounds like a Ralts to me.

IC:

"Yes," Amelia replied simply, "It'd probabaly be best if we went outside..."

Marvalo was going to interject his opinion but he was cut off by the girl; Emma Finn.

"Well, then. Follow me."

He watched her revolve on the spot and strut towards the door as if she was a queen, which she most certainly was not. At least, not in his eyes. He bit his lip. Why did he have such a fixation on the girl? He attempted to answer the question in his head as quickly as he could. Obviously, it was because she was the only person who really put up a fight against him and refuse to treat him with respect. Surely that was it. The Bond child loved a challenge and this was what she was placing in front of him. There were no more reasons.

Or were there?

He would have snorted, but refrained in case he looked odd in front of the commoners. There was no way he had a crush on her! Of course not. Besides, his quest was to do with Pokémon, not the opposite gender. He could get a girlfriend in good time.

He shook his head and attempted to block out that second possibility before realising he had wasted enough time. Marvalo followed Emma and wondered how the battle would go.

 

[Parabolic]

Leaves rustled in the threes with the brisk wind that blew lightly as Artemis strode down a forest path. This air was a great deal of difference to the salty and humid sea air he was used to in his home town of Olivine. Even though it wasn't quite as humid as his home, Artemis was sweating almost enough to put a stain on his shirt. He wasn't too used to walking great distances and his parents, as loving as they are, dropped him about ten miles from the laboratory where he was supposed to pick up his first POKeMON.

"You need to get used to walking everywhere, Arty. So just take a walk that way down the path." his parents pointed out a dirt road that led into the forest and then split into a road and a path, "Be sure to visit if you are ever in Olivine. We love you!" After a hug and a wave, his parents closed the car door and drove off back to their home. Slightly saddened, Artemis trudged into the woods.

A very tired, half-present look was now plastered on Artemis' face. He thought he had walked the ten miles already, but what did he know? He never really went for many walks. The only exercise he got was on a treadmill or other exercise equipment. This feeling of fatigue was quickly washed away by the sighting of a POKeMON in the distance. Drake had always talked about his favorites and shown him pictures of all the ones he knew of. From the looks of it, this creature was a Seedot.

Artemis was too excited to finally see one that he didn't realize he had already grabbed for a POKeBall in his bag. Pushing the button on the ball made it grow to full size and a smile grew on his face with it.

"Now... what do I say? Was it... Proceed POKeBall? Gotta Catch em' All? Um..." Artemis pondered as the Seedot began to waddle into the trees. Snapped out of his thought process, he noticed the small creature walking away, "Uh! Wait! Get back here!"

Artemis chased after it into the trees and finally cornered it. The small seed POKeMON looked frightened for it's life, almost. A seemingly evil sneer spread on his lips and he pulled his arm back.

"That's it! Go, POKeBall!" Chucking the red and white sphere, he had noticed that the Seedot had friends. Too late to take his action back Artemis began to turn the other way and run as a Shiftry knocked the ball back at him. Now running at full speed, he didn't care about the ball. He could always buy another one. It was more important to get away from the second stage POKeMON that was now chasing him for trying to catch what seemed like it's child.

"Crap! Now I remember that Drake told me I have to get a POKeMON weak with another POKeMON before I throw the ball! Such a wonderful time to remember!" he yelled to himself with tears flowing from his eyes down his cheeks. The Shiftry now grew in numbers with a couple Nuzleaf along for the ride. They leaped through the trees after him and Artemis continued to run as fast as his small legs could take him.

A couple minutes passed where he finally heard children's voices. He knew this had to be the place so he did all he could think of doing at the time. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he ran into the lab grounds.

"Helllllllllllllllllllllllllp!!!" eyes closed and tears flowing, he yelled as he ran straight into the side of the building. The sudden solidity of the surface he hit knocked him out of the panic he was in and he looked back to see nothing following him except some kids that ran over to see what kind of weirdo just ran into the wall. Wiping his eyes and cheeks and brushing his clothes off, Artemis took a deep breath and then stared coldly at the children.

"What?! You never seen a kid in turmoil before? Low-class urchins...." he grumbled to himself as he looked for what could pass as a door.

 

[Percy Thrillington]

OOC: The great Lucien Lachance has decided to grace this roleplay for real with her presence. Her character seemed to fit a Meowth, but I don't really want to let the Ryder child receive such a Pokémon seeing as Emma Finn has already claimed one. So, after much thought, I've decided that your character deserves nothing more than a Pichu. Small, angry and egotistic. Seems fitting.

 

[Shadowfaith]

She was late and it was all that menacing Horsea's fault keeping her up all night. She cursed her mother for living so close to the sea's edge on the island, due to the poor judgment on her mothers part she was kept up all night by a small sea Pokemon who found it amusing to splash her window every now and again in hopes that Ryder would get so wound up she would be forced to chase the menace out at sea. This particular sea dweller also took amusement in the fact that Ryder was ten times slower than him when it came to swimming.
The child growled as the ship sailed into to the docking bay and angrily threw her bag over her shoulder and stormed off down the run way, completely ignoring the warm goodbye she received form one of the ships crew, but who could blame her? The one opportunity in life that she had to find out all the mysteries of the legendary Pokemon and she was almost positive that all the Pokemon had been taken! Only 30 people got into the lab and after that…it was almost too painful to think about! All this time spent on a boat with annoying screaming babies and they're parents and it was all going to go to waste in under quarter of an hour.
"I swear I'm gonna kill that blasted sea horse when I get back home. Let's see how it puts up with a speedboat…" She growled. "Face it Ryder your not gonna get a pokemon and your just gonna end up going home with nothing to show but a gold star in the ships karaoke contest"

The road from the docks to the lab was almost laughable, it was literally a few pebbles away and she could see the last of the chosen Pokemon trainers walking up the path to they're first battle wit nature. Even the paparazzi had dispatched and left a clear path to the professor's lab. Ryder's hard demeanor faded and was replaced but complete hopelessness. She sighed and ran a shaky hand through her layered hair. "I'm here now, might as well go and try my luck and see if there's the slightest chance I can start my journey anyway. Maybe they can muster me up a Magikarp or something." With her back hunched and head hung low, she made her way towards the entrance to the lab and listened out to all the comments that were throw her way. "You know you're a little late, kid. They've all gone ya know?"
"Hey look at that kid; she ain't got a hope in hell!"
Normally she would have given them a piece of her mind, but this time she knew that they were right and there was no way there was going to be anything left over. What kid in they're right mind would have passed up an opportunity like this?

She laid her small fingers upon the doors handle and gave a long drawn out sigh. She closed her eyes and tried her very hardest to think positive, but who was she kidding? Her concentration was diminished and she pulled the door open and walked inside. She didn't pay attention to all the cool gadgets and gizmos that were placed around the lab, all she could concentrate on was the empty table ahead that surly enough held no Pokeballs. She slapped a hand to her face and groaned from both the pain and the humiliation. "Oh man, what am I gonna tell my mom now? Sorry mom, but a Horsea kept me up all night because it thought it would be fun to have me chase it out to sea?! She'd give ya points for originality Ryder, at least ya got that!" She turned on her heal to make her way back out the door when a slender hand fell upon her shoulder holding her in place.
She craned her head around to glance up at whoever it was and tell them to let her go but was surprised to find it was Professor Elm himself. She tilted her head in confusion and spoke. "Look Prof, I know I was late and there's nothin' left, so if you'll just let me go so I can go and throttle a certain sea horse I would be most appreciative." But she had no such luck, instead the professor only smiled at her. "Got up late, huh?" He asked with a tone of amusement in his voice.
Ryder spun around and took the chance to rant about the stupid Pokemon and her mother's ill choice of location. "You have no IDEA prof! There's this stupid Horsea see that keeps me up all night gushin' water at my window. My mom chose the stupidest place to put a house; right next to the sea where any Pokemon could completely trounce it if they wanted to. I mean what if this wasn't a Horsea and a Gyarados gone mad! I could'a been KILLED!" She emphasized the last word by punching her chest where the heart was located. "An' now I can't even go on this journey because of the lil' runt!" Her chest was heaving and there were tears of frustration welling up in the corners of her eyes. Surprisingly though the Professors smile never left his mouth and he crouched down to her level. "What's your name?"
Ryder whipped the tears from her eyes, not wanting to appear weak. "Robin Jay Ryder. But everyone just calls me Ryder."
"Well Ryder, can I ask you a question?"
She nodded.
"Are you a tough nut to crack, Ryder?"
The kid yet again tilted her head to the side in wonderment. What kind of question was that? "Umm, yeah, I mean I'm stubborn if that's what you're askin' and I don't take no crap from any one y'know."

That seemed to answer the Professors question and he straightened up, placing a hand in his deep pocket and rummaging around. After a few seconds he took a Pokeball from its confines and Ryder's heart gave a huge bounce. He smiled at her and held out the Pokeball. "I'm going to warn you Ryder, I only have this Pokemon because the kid I was going to give it to dropped out because he thought this Pokemon was unmanageable. But if you're telling me that you're a hard nut to crack, then I don't think you will be having any problems with him, okay?"
Ryder could only nod in bewilderment as she reached out to take the Pokeball from the professor's hand. Her eyes had started to well up again, but this time it was due to joy and not anguish. She stared at the red and white ball for a few moments, trying her hardest to imagine what type of Pokemon would come out of its depths. A smile spread itself across her face and she couldn't contain her excitement any longer. She held out the Pokeball and let loose the mystery that lay in wait. The white light was blinding and she was forced to close her eyes quickly, not use to doing this very often. When she opened them there was a blurry silhouette standing in front of her and her heart skipped a beat. It was a small Pikachu like thing that she had never seen before.
"What is it? She asked, crouching down to the Pokemon's level.
"That is a Pichu, the pre-evolved form of Pikachu. You wouldn't have seen it running around Kanto, it was discovered here in Johto."
Se grinned and reached out to give the Pokemon a little fuss but was surprised when the Pokemon took a step backwards and stuck its tongue out at her. She growled and made to grab for it but again it took another step back. "What's its problem!?" She asked Elm.
"I told you it was a little much." He repeated.
"Yeah but this is beyond a joke, I can't do anything with it!?" She stood up to her full length and held out the Pokeball. "RETURN!"
A small hop to the side was enough to that the stream of red light missed its target and allowed it another second longer to poke its tongue out again. But of course, it didn't take Ryder's temper long to reach its peek and she had dived at the unsuspecting Pokemon, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck and lifting it into the air. "Hah!" She yelled triumphantly. "Try escaping now, ya lil' pest!" She tucked it under her arm and smiled up at the Professor. "Ya don't know how much this means to me prof! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine with him. If its one thing I'm good at its showing others that I'm the boss an' I don't take no heap from anybody!"
"I'm glad to hear you say that. I have been trying to find a perfect match for this Pokemon for years. It still hasn't evolved because it hasn't found any happiness from anyone. I hope you can remedy that, Ryder."
The young girl bowed before him. "You've picked the right 'un for the job, Prof. I won't let ya down!" With that said she muffled the Pichu's yelling and made her way out of the door. Leaving an amused professor Elm standing there shaking his head.

 

[Clark]

Amelia exited the building behind Emma, trying with all her might not to rush out in an over-excited manner. After all, she was ten now. She had a Pokemon of her own. She had to be more mature, and prove herself worthy of this quest rather than act like just another energy-spouting little kid. How did my sister ever manage to be so calm...? she asked herself mentally.

Then shoving her thoughts away, she approached the other side of the road. Emma watched from across the pavement-covered battlefield, a Pokeball in her hand. Amelia's own Pokeball was slipped from her pocket in a quick fashion. She felt confident, despite the tense air that seemed to fill the silence. Smiling slightly, she lifted the orb and tossed it into the air, guessing that she would be the one to send her Pokemon out first. The Pokeball cracked open, and the red light that split from its open jaw poured out to materialize into her Pokemon. It then closed automatically and, like it was guided by some sort of magic, retreated back to Amelia's open hand. The new trainer, still fascinated by the way Pokeballs worked, was a bit in awe as she gazed down at the creature she would be commanding for her first battle.

Sandshrew blinked his dark eyes and lowered his head, as if adjusting to the bright sunlight. Amelia couldn't help but smile. Memories of seeing young Pokemon back at home, visiting the Day Care Center, came back to her for a moment... Not to mention, Sandshrew was sort of cute, she had to admit.

"Well?" she asked, looking up at Emma expectantly.

 

[JX Valentine]

"Sandshrew, eh?"

Emma smiled and tossed her own ball into the air. It split open, raining that pretty, white light from its core onto the road. With a click, the ball closed again and landed back in Emma's hand as she watched the light twist and turn. Eventually, it faded, and all that was left was a cat.

Meowth looked somewhat prouder in the sunlight. His golden charm glinted, and his cream-colored fur glistened. Feeling the warmth on his skin, he opened his mouth and meowed. Then, he lifted a paw and began to lick it as he waited patiently for something to happen.

For that brief moment, Emma stood there, admiring her Pokemon and waiting for her opponent's reaction. Eventually, when the moment faded, Emma knew exactly what to do first.

"Meowth, use Scratch on that Sandshrew!"

The cat's ears twitched, and he rose onto his four paws. Emma expected the Meowth to race towards his opponent, but instead, all he did was pad nonchalantly towards the shrew and circle it with a curious glance and a purr. At once, Emma blinked, waiting for the attack that never came until she grew red.

"Meowth!" she called. "Come on! Scratch!"

Instead, the cat simply stared at his opponent, as if to wait for the first move.

 

[Parabolic]

Rubbing his forehead, Artemis stepped towards the large doors to the laboratory. That collision had sure hurt his pride as well as his skull. He stared at the sign for a second, trying to come up with a reason for his tardiness, but he decided to just be honest. A policy he wasn't too used to, but he figured it would work. Reaching for the door handle, it turned without him touching it. Before he had a chance to realize what was going on, the door swung open and nearly gave him yet another head injury. Just barely dodging the motion, Artemis looked at the unfamiliar girl holding a small yellow rodent. He didn't get a god glance at it, but he knew it was either a Pichu or a Pikachu.

"Er... too small for a Pikachu. I guess it was the basic form, then..." he mumbled to himself. Meanwhile, the door swung on its hinges and he caught it on it's return trip. Stepping inside, the warm outside air quickly became cool from the air conditioned lab. Artemis figured it must take a fair sum of money to keep it cool in here with all the machines going. He looked around to see researchers going about their work and Professor Elm staring at him blankly. A worried look was plastered across Artemis' face and he hung his head.

"No POKeMON left?" he asked in a "but of course" tone. The professor shook his head, "Well... I guess I'll go and find a hotel or something. Try back next weekend. Not like I can walk back to Olivine or anything." he sighed and started to turn when Elm's voice called out.

"Now, now. There's no reason to be discouraged." he smiled and Artemis turned to look at the man, "I'm sure there is something I can do..." The young professor stepped away into a room in the lab and Artemis, not feeling very up to doing much right now, waited for him to return. The double doors he entered slid open again and Elm returned with a five POKeBalls and a POKeDex.

"Take these and..." the scientist produced a larger POKeBall, "This. This is one of my personal POKeMON, Furret."

"I thought the point was to get my own... I mean..." before Artemis had a chance to finish, Elm placed a finger on his mouth.

"This is for you to weaken and capture your own POKeMON outside. Now don't get me wrong... I want my Furret back. It's just a loaner." Artemis understood now and turned to leave, "Oh... young man? I never got your name."

"It's Artemis Fleetwright." he responded without turning his head. The sun was bright again once he left the lab and he was once again hit with the clean air. The air in the laboratory was closer to the sea air at Olivine and he felt better there. Now clutching the POKeBall with Furret inside, he walked past a couple trainers going about their first battles. The forest was even less inviting than it was three hours ago. However, he had to enter it to find a POKeMON to capture.

Trudging along for a few minutes, Artemis spotted a few candidates, but he didn't really like what he was seeing. A sentret here, a pidgey there... not really outstanding quality. Everything seemed to melt together after a while, too. Artemis found a large rock and decided to take a break and sit on it. The started to think that he should lower his standards a bit and just go after a sentret or something. There were plenty of those here. The rock started to rumble a bit and Artemis wondered if there was an earthquake or something. Those happened occasionally in Olivine and he wasn't really startled. Unfortunately, it wasn't any such thing. Out of the rock popped four arms and a face and Artemis jumped behind him to look at it. It rolled a bit and pulled itself up to see what was using it as a chair. Pulling out his POKeDex, he aimed it at the creature and pressed the button to tell info on it.

"Graveler; The Rock POKeMON. The evolved form of Geodude. These POKeMON make homes in sheer cliffs by gouging out numerous horizontal holes." the electronic voice of the machine responded. A smile spread on his face.

"Now that's a nice one!" Artemis threw the POKeBall with Furret in it and it was released in a flash or white light."Okay, Furret! Um... quick attack! Go!" the rodent-esque POKeMON wondered who was his person to give him such orders, but was quickly snapped out of it when it was hit full-force by a Rollout attack from the Graveler. It decided to fight and immediately sped up to collide with the rock POKeMON in a Quick Attack. Unfortunately, the Graveler had used Defense Curl just before impact and the Furret was sent back to where it came from. Artemis looked at the unscathed Graveler and the nearly beaten Furret and thought for a moment. Deciding that, in retrospect, this wasn't the best type match up, he returned the Furret and ran for it.

"Jeez... seems I'm running a lot today. Particularly from POKeMON that want to kill me!" he yelled to himself. The ground rumbled and he looked back to see a newly polished Graveler barreling after him with another Rollout. Just before he was about to b flattened, a multi-color barrier stopped the rock POKeMON in it's tracks. A soothing sound emitted form this sheet of light and Artemis looked to see the creator. Looking directly above him, he found a small white and green POKeMON floating with it's arms spread out wide. The Graveler got up, saw that he couldn't get to Artemis, and stommed back to it's nap.

The shield faded and the small creature lowered itself to the ground. Artemis promptly got out his POKeDex and scanned it.

"Ralts; The Feeling POKeMON. It uses the horns on it's head to sense human emotions."

"So you're a Ralts?" Artemis knelt to be eye level with the creature, "Did you use your horns to sense I was in danger?" the small POKeMON nodded.

"Ralt..."

"Well... thanks, I guess. You know what? I think I might just want to catch you." he pulled out Furret's POKeBall and let it out again. The Ralts looked frightened at the sight of the larger creature and tried running away.

"Oh no you don't! Furret! Quick Attack!" the long body POKeMON sighed and reluctantly obeyed. It sped up and barreled into the defenseless Ralts. The Ralts flew upward, "Okay... now... um... Fury Swipes?" Furret jumped up and furiously scratched at the small psychic POKeMON. Figuring that was enough, Artemis took out a small POKeBall from his bag and pushed to button to make it grow.

"Um... what was it? Oh yeah! Go! POKeBall!" Artemis tossed the ball at Ralts and it made contact. The small POKeMON was sucked into the contraption and it landed on the ground. Shaking for an unusually long amount of time, the red light on the button finally turned off and a sound chimed confirming the capture.

"Sweet!" Artemis exclaimed while scooping up the ball and returning Furret. About half an hour passed when he finally returned to the lab. Almost slamming the doors open, he gave the Furret back to Professor Elm.

"Well... at least you're trustworthy." Elm thought aloud as he placed the two POKeBalls on his recovery machine. A catchy jingle later, and Artemis' Ralts was returned to him.

"Ralts, eh? Rare find. You're lucky you found one in this region. Well I do hope you have fun, Artemis, was it?"

"Yeah. And thank you, sir. It was fun... I guess." Artemis stepped out from the lab into the outside world. All the trainers were gone, save for a few. He decided maybe he should just get going and took the first few steps of the rest of his new life.

 

[Clark]

Amelia watched the cat Pokemon emerge from its own Pokeball. A Meowth! Well, it seemed rather fitting for Emma... Pride seemed to glow around the feline as sunlight doused its fur. Then, on the command to use Scratch attack, Meowth simply padded over to Sandshrew in a rather curious manner. It showed no desire to attack, allowing perhaps for Amelia's own advantage. She opened her both to call out an attack command, but then closed it haltingly as she realized her lack of knowledge with Sandshrew's moves. This wasn't a Pokemon she was all that familiar with...

Hm... Sandshrew has those claws... Aha! Scratch! He can also use Scratch! And there's Defense Curl, but... Amelia's mind quickly worked out a simple, straightforward strategy. Meowth wasn't attacking, but it was so close it was practically begging to be hit. Offense was probably the best plan, and as such Amelia's first order to her Sandshrew would be the same as Emma's was to Meowth.

"Ehm... Scratch!" Amelia called with slight hesitation. A second later, she blinked. In all the time she'd spent thinking about her strategy, Sandshrew had curled himself into a tight ball, as if scared of the cat Pokemon standing in front of him. Once again, he resembled a golden orb of brick patterns, and he certainly didn't seem intent on moving.

"Not Defense Curl!! Scratch! Attack it while you have the chance!" his trainer cried in frustration, but it was clearly no use. Amelia sighed helplessly, feeling as if all her determination building up for this battle had been for nothing. She couldn't even control her own Pokemon!

 

[Percy Thrillington]

Marvalo held back a frown as the brown-haired girl, Amelia, cut in front of him. He took a deep breath in and calmed himself down. He was not going to attack a girl for walking in front of him. Besides, she was probably anxious and anticipating the battle more than him, seeing as she was the one taking part in it. Marvalo resisted the temptation to smile as he realised this was her debut battle. Whoever lost this would end up having their ego severely battered.

He watched Amelia exit the building and blatantly ignore Emma Finn before walking over to the other side of the road. Emma was on the other side, holding a red and white sphere. This was going to be interesting. Marvalo watched the girl who had skipped past him to get outside the door lob the Poké Ball into the air, and for a moment he was a real ten year old boy; marveling and mystified at how such a glorious thing could work. Her Pokémon burst out from a jet of red.

The child watched the rock which resembled a rat blink and waited for Emma Finn to present her new Pokémon.

"Well?" Amelia asked, looking up at Emma expectantly.

Marvalo had to admit, Amelia was pretty good when it came to saying what everyone else was thinking. It was then that he realised he wasn't the only person watching the battle. A few people had formed a circle, wanting to see some entertainment.

"Sandshrew, eh?" Emma smiled and tossed her own ball into the air. It split open, raining that pretty, white light from its core onto the road. With a click, the ball closed again and landed back in Emma's hand as she watched the light twist and turn. Eventually, it faded, and all that was left was a cat.

Marvalo squinted. Had the girl really been given a Meowth? Mischievous creatures, they were. At least, that's what he was told at the petting zoo after he had been bitten by one. Would this Pokémon bow to its trainer's will, or would it decide to play with its tale instead of obeying orders? Marvalo frowned for a moment. How could he have forgotten that the new trainers' Pokémon might not respect them enough to do their bidding? It was possible that it could happen.

"Meowth, use Scratch on that Sandshrew!"

So Emma was making the first move. Obviously, making that action was a mistake and would be remembered as something that damaged her self-confidence as all her Meowth did was circle the Sandshrew.

"Meowth!" she called. "Come on! Scratch!"

Instead, the cat simply stared at his opponent, as if to wait for the first move.

"Ehm... Scratch!" Amelia called with slight hesitation. "Not Defense Curl!! Scratch! Attack it while you have the chance!"

Marvalo didn't know whether to laugh or sigh, because Sandshrew didn't seem to be listening to its master's orders either, having curled up in a ball instead of attacking the opposition.

This was going to be a Pokémon battle that would be remembered for a very long time.

 

[JX Valentine]

Although the prospect of getting an opening would have appealed Emma, the fact that her Meowth hardly seemed inclined to want to take advantage of it drove any pleasure of the aforementioned opening right out of her mind. Instead, she glared at her Pokemon, then glanced at the other trainers as if to take into account how many people were watching her failure. Turning back to the Meowth, she took a deep breath to calm herself as much as possible.

"Meowth, I order you to use Scratch on that Sandshrew," she said.

The cat's ears twitched, and it gave her a playful look. Then, with a purr, he lifted a paw in the air, the claws jutting out from the milky tips of his toes.

However, what he did next wasn't quite what she had in mind, either. Rather than simply scrape the Sandshrew, Meowth swung his paw downward to smack the side of the curled Pokemon. With an amused meow, the cat rose on his hind paws and swung his fore paws forward with the intent of rolling his own opponent around the field, should he keep himself curled tightly in that ball.

Today, clearly, was not Emma's day.