[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

Aquacorde · Dec 22, 2020

AGE: 17 ⟡ PRONOUNS: she/her ⟡ HOME REGION: Johto ⟡ DEVICE: PokéGear
DATE: Monday, September 21 ⟡ TIME: evening
LOCATION: West Wilds

Chapter 2 #11 - Multiple Marshalls

A tumble through the Pokémon Center's dryer and some time in the sun does her sopping shoes some good, but it's late in the afternoon by the time she makes her way back out into the town. Too late to catch a cave tour and not late enough to catch a boat tour. She could watch a contest, but she really doesn't have much interest in them. Too showy, too whimsical. Too arbitrary.

There must be something else she can do in this town.

Oh, wait.

There's a whole reason she came here in the first place, and it wasn't to express disdain at the Dewford founders' choice in location.

The dojo is open but empty when she walks in, placing her shoes on the mat. "Hello? This is the gym, right?"

A door slides open and reveals two blue-haired children- certainly not the leader she's looking for, but a source of information at least. The girl looks her up and down critically and speaks before Marie can. "Dad went to get dinner. We're doing chores. Are you strong?"

"Um…" Not really, is the truth of it, but she doesn't want to admit that to random children.

"What Pokémon do you have?" the boy asks, far less accusatory in tone.

That's a question she will answer, at least. Marie pulls her PokéBalls out of her bag and clicks them each as she says their names. "Tuie, Stunnie, and Cutie!"

The children circle her Pokémon, chatting between themselves.

"Natu is good!"

"Yeah, but this one doesn't look very strong."

"It's about technique, Natu are more about skill than raw power."

"Is she skilled?"

Two sets of eyes pin Marie with an assessing stare. It's kind of unnerving.

"Probably not," the boy whispers. The girl stifles a giggle.

"I heard that," Marie complains, but the duo ignore her in favor of evaluating her Pokémon.

"Stunfisk might do okay."

"It's Electric and Ground, though."

"It looks like it wants to fight!" Stunnie gives the girl a zap, which seems to delight her even as she shakes out her leg. "Not like that sleepy Natu."

Tuie is indeed sleeping when Marie glances at her. "Tuie, you're supposed to be impressing people right now," Marie groans.

Tuie cracks one eye open to level an indifferent stare at her trainer. And closes it.

"Not skilled," the girl mutters. The boy stifles a giggle this time.

Marie's getting annoyed. "Anything to say about Cutie, then?"

"Yes, actually." The boy crouches in front of the clustered eggs, which dance around him curiously. "He's a baby, right?"

"Um… I guess? My friend and I found all six of his bodies in the Wilds and brought them together." Friend? She supposes Edison is her friend now. She has his phone number and everything. And she's enjoyed the time she's spent with him so far.

Friend he must be.

She's brought back to the moment by the children chattering excitedly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you pay attention to the rangers?"

"Which time?"

"Ever? No forget it- the point is-"

"The point is that we go out there and train, yeah, I get it-"

"No, the point is that we go out and train this specific one-"

Marie clears her throat. Twice. And a third time, before the children cease their bickering. "So," she says, "what exactly you two talking about?"

The girl grins suddenly, big and wide, the boy's eerily similar one not far behind. "We're gonna train you!"

Before she can protest, the boy scoops up four eggs and the girl two, her other hand occupied with dragging Stunnie along. Tuie flutters up to Marie's head as the children box her in and steer her to the door. "At least let me get my shoes-!"

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Marie regains some control eventually- she recalls her Pokémon and manages to properly introduce herself to the children. It turns out that their names are both Alex, and that they're twins, and that- most interestingly to her- they are Brawly's twins, and suddenly she remembers Paulo pointing them out on the beach yesterday. Girl-Alex is far more chatty and opinionated than her thoughtful brother, but they share the same smiles, the same hair color, the same quick reaction times. And for now, the same goal: a quick beeline directly west to train Cutie and Marie in the wilds.

There is, however, an obstacle in their way.

Alex and Alex give the area just a cursory glance before they climb over the high stone wall dividing the island, as if they've done it many times before. They probably have. But there are rules.

"This is illegal," she points out, as the twins make it to the top. Boy-Alex shrugs at the same time his sister does, which surprises Marie.

"We won't be in long," he says, "and the rangers know us."

"But do they know you're doing this?"

"No, but we don't take anything or bother anything."

"That doesn't matter- what if you get lost?"

Girl-Alex laughs, slightly condescending. "We don't get lost on Dewford!"

"What if- what if you get hurt? Or attacked? Do you even have Pokémon?"

Girl-Alex rolls her eyes. "Come on, scaredy-cat. Nothing's gonna happen."

Marie sulks. It's illegal! They can't just ignore the laws! There are reasons for them! "I'm gonna tell your dad."

This makes them freeze, but only for a moment. Girl-Alex's disdain morphs into a frigid glare, but Boy-Alex takes the reigns with a confident smile. "Nah. You won't."

And Marie admits defeat, even though they laugh at her when she struggles to get over the wall.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Either all the Pokémon in the Wilds are late risers, or Edison really had been scaring them all away.

The forest is alive with the calls of bird Pokémon. Undergrowth rustles as ground-dwellers race away from the trio of humans. Boy-Alex leads, searching the ground carefully. Marie's attempts to ask what their plan was have all been shushed by Girl-Alex in order to let her brother concentrate. But even she gets impatient eventually.

"I thought you said it could happen anywhere?"

"Sure, but it's easier if we find-"

Boy-Alex's mumblings are practically inaudible, but his sister nods along until she grabs his elbow roughly and pushes him into a clearing. "Ow ow ow what- oh."

"You should've told me what you were looking for," she sniffs.

"I did, you just chose not to listen, as usual!"

The Alexes bicker as Marie inspects the clearing, looking for any clues as to why the twins chose this place in particular. A cracked tree stump, as wide as she is tall, sits in the very center- this clearing must be new as well as created, as the stump is fairly even and the growth around it still short. The stump is marred by gouges and chips and Marie wonders why- what Pokémon train here? Were they the ones who felled this once-mighty tree? Or had something else happened? Lighting, perhaps, or disease.

She doesn't know. She's not an ecologist.

She's a trainer.

...Barely.

But she's a trainer who's been dragged out here to train, and when she glances back at her self-proclaimed coaches she finds them gleefully fishing PokéBalls from their pockets and releasing their Pokémon simultaneously.

So they did have Pokémon, after all.

A blue-and-white monkey-looking thing quietly hovers next to Boy-Alex and a chubby yellow humanoid strikes a pose in front of Girl-Alex, but all Marie can think to say is: "What license are you two on?"

Girl-Alex rolls her eyes. "Doesn't matter, we're not doing anything official!" Marie concedes that point. "Bring your Exeggcute out."

Cutie appears in a flash of light and immediately crowds around Marie's ankles, peering curiously at the Pokémon flanking the twins.

"Alright!" Girl-Alex cheers, and that's the only warning Marie gets before Boy-Alex's monkey Pokémon opens glowing eyes wide and a matching purple-pink energy scoops up the three eggs closest to it, the three others clamoring anxiously. Girl-Alex's chubby yellow Pokémon grins widely and whacks one of the floating eggs, sending it flying into the ferns. Cutie's other bodies cry.

"What- wait, what, why are we battling?!" Marie dashes to the crash site and frantically fishes through the ferns. She exhales a sigh of relief as she palms the flung egg, but turns back to the clearing with a gasp as Cutie's cries get more frantic. "Hey!"

"We said we were going to train you." Girl-Alex's Pokémon drops two squirming eggs at a wave of her hand. "Training is battling."

"Well, battling is training," her brother nods. His Pokémon surrounds all of Cutie's bodies with energy, drawing them together once more and setting him down in front of Marie. "Try using some moves."

"Um-" Marie fumbles for her PokéDex. "Leech Seed?"

Cutie's leading egg forms a seed that looks suspiciously similar to his own body and gobs it at the blue-and-white monkey, whose half-open eyes glow faintly. It spins away from the seed, but Boy-Alex still nods approvingly. "There you go!"

Cutie tries again, this time aiming at the yellow Pokémon. The seed explodes into thin roots that wrap around its feet, but all the chubby thing has to do is rub its ankles together to snap the plants apart.

Marie's PokéDex beeps as it completes its scan. Meditate is the species of Boy-Alex's Pokémon. It's a Psychic type- that much she had guessed- but also a Fighting type, like Girl-Alex's so-called Makuhita. Like the Clobbopus she'd been seeing around town, that she has fought earlier with Edison. That's all good information. Cutie's resistant to both types! But she's sure the twins have tricks up their sleeve, so that probably doesn't matter. What do these moves even do?

"Come on, Marie, do something else!" The Makuhita steps forward, gearing up for a strike.

"Reflect?"

Translucent barriers surround Cutie, and while he's still knocked back with each thrust of Makuhita's arm, it seems like none of the hits hurt at all.

Girl-Alex boos, but Boy-Alex grins and his Meditite's psychic energy pulls Cutie up and over his barrier for Makuhita to hit once more. Cutie squirms, but he and the Makuhita are now face-to-face and Hypnosis is inescapable. Makuhita slumps to the ground, but only for as long as it takes for Girl-Alex to dash into the forest and come out with a blue berry, cracking it open and forcing Makuhita's mouth open to rub the halved berry on its tongue.

Marie huffs. Leech Seed doesn't work, Reflect doesn't work, Hypnosis doesn't work. Absorb pricks Meditite and pulls the tiniest bit of its energy, and Mega Drain does more of the same. "What am I supposed to do?" she complains. She never has this problem with Tuie. All she has to do is charge up and release a crazy amount of power. And Stunnie is happy enough to do most of the work without commands. But Cutie's a baby, and doesn't have much for attacks.

"Just keep going!" Boy-Alex says cheerfully. "It's okay if you don't knock ours out. Think of this as a workout, not a battle."

A workout, huh?

"Okay! Cutie, start hopping!"

The twin glances of confusion don't matter to her, because Marie's just going to go for it. A workout. A way to get stronger, sure, but more than that. A celebration of what your body can do, a way to learn how your body moves, an opportunity to try new things. Cutie moves erratically, none of his bodies hitting the ground at the same time. And as he bounces, he seems to grow more confident- springing higher and higher, and on Marie's command, launching egg after egg in an unpredictable barrage at Meditite and Makuhita, hitting either on whatever whim Cutie has. Makuhita blocks the hits with its glove-like hands, letting Cutie's bodies bounce away harmlessly, while Meditite flings them back with Psychic energy. Marie wonders briefly if Brawly will be this tricky but re-focuses on her workout- Cutie keeps up the attack, but Marie adds a Reflect into the mix. the translucent barrier becomes a horizontal platform for Cutie's bodies to bounce atop and then higher again and that's really neat, so she lets him add another and another and another until a stack of six barriers with eggs bouncing gently atop each rises into where the canopy would have been. Cutie's psychic link is still active, she can tell- they must chain together rather than emanate from a single point. Marie says this out loud, and Boy-Alex affirms, but Girl-Alex's excited shout overrides whatever conversation they may have had.

"It's happening!"

Cutie's bodies begin to glow, starting from the lowest and working up to the highest, glow strengthening as it passes from body to body and those bodies begin to distort.

"Is he evolving?!" There's no way he should be, not without a Leaf Stone, but he definitely is. The barriers crack and fade as each egg expands to meet the others and two stumpy legs thump to the forest floor, shaking birds from the trees and knocking Girl-Alex over. The fading glow reveals a long, swinging tail, a stretched, craning neck, and bunches of leaves crowning three heads towering far, far above them.

"Why do you look like that?!"

⟡

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

⟡

marshall twins art by Groc ⟡

Spoiler: Team

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Contacts

Juno · Dec 22, 2020

3-3: Roughing It

🌳 Approaching Petalburg City 🕙 Sept. 21st, Evening

Catching up to the Wooloo, as it turns out, was the easy part. Getting the little beast under control was a different story.

Marcella learned the hard way that Poke Balls cannot contain a Pokémon already owned by someone else. Sure, it made sense, but boy, did it make her job a lot harder, especially since the Wooloo wanted to go everywhere except where Marcella wanted her to go. She would have just picked Woolly up and carried her the rest of the way to Petalburg, but the puddle she had been playing in was more mud than water, and she was not going to touch the filthy little creature until she'd had a bath. Even Bijou flinched when she bounded close.

Eventually, she decided to retrieve a narrow scarf from her suitcase and gingerly looped it through the collar Woolly's bell hung from. Sacrificing a scarf was better than letting her paw all over her entire outfit.

The Wooloo was stronger than her size would indicate, but after a bit of dragging and pulling, they finally made it to Petalburg. The last bit of sunlight was disappearing in the horizon, casting a pretty orange glow over the city.

🏥 Petalburg Pokémon Center 🕙 Sept. 21st, Night

"Hello! Over here, please!" As the glass doors closed behind her, Marcella beckoned for one of the Pokémon Center staff to leave their station and come fetch Woolly. Her face had almost disappeared into her wool as she continued to pull against the makeshift lead and resist being dragged indoors.

"Oh! Looks like someone got themselves in a bit of trouble, hm?" The chipper receptionist exclaimed as she scooped up the muddy Wooloo with no hesitation.

"She sure did," Marcella exhaled, shaking her head as she pulled out her wallet. "If you guys could get her cleaned up nicely, maybe polish up those little hooves a bit, that would be great. How much will that be?"

"Yup, yup! Just give me one moment here and I'll let ya know."

She watched as the girl disappeared behind a door with the Wooloo. They reappeared on the other side of it, and through a thick glass, she could see her set Woolly down in one of the rectangular, metal basins fitted with what looked like a small, detachable shower head, and a shelf of cleaning supplies. All Marcella could see of the Wooloo was the top of her head, as she scrambled around, trying to escape her new prison. On either sides of Woolly were other Pokémon in similar basins, being scrubbed down by the staff.

The receptionist spoke to one of the groomers briefly, and returned after several moments. "I'm so sorry! But it seems we're a bit understaffed here tonight, actually. When those guys are done at their stations, they are scheduled to help out with that, uh... Tauros that got in the sewers. It's gonna be a team effort."

"Oh... well, that won't do." It was getting late and Marcella had still not found a place to rest. Not only did she not want to continue walking around with the muddy beast, but no respectable establishment would allow her to bring Woolly indoors in her current state. Nor was she going to let her sleep in the same room as her like that. "How long do you think it will take if I wait for a staff member to be available?"

The girl peeked through the glass window behind her again, presumably at the Tauros, and grimaced. "It's real hard to say, Miss. Each station does have everything you'll need to give your Wooloo a bath yourself, though—she doesn't look too bad to me, so if you skipped the groomer's fee, you should be out of here in 15, 20 minutes tops, probably."

✿✿✿✿✿

Marcella had never bathed even Bijou before. The Purrloin did a pretty good job grooming herself and would never let her hygiene get in this state in the first place, but if she'd ever required more grooming than what she could do for herself, the Petite Paw back in Lilycove also had dedicated groomers that did a fine job taking care of all this for her.

So Marcella was having a bit of a tough time with the task at hand, especially with the Wooloo being so unruly.

"Hold still. Stop that!" She let out a small squeal as the Pokémon shook the muddy water out of her wool. "Great, I'm going to need a bath after this. Now, I know I'm not your Trainer, but you are going to listen to me. Neither of us are happy about this. So if you stop moving around, we'll be done quicker."

The Wooloo seemed to consider this, and for the first time, her butt met the metal basin as she finally sat down, looking up at Marcella with shiny, black eyes.

She smiled, squirting way too much shampoo over the Pokémon's head and massaging it all over her thick wool. "That's better. Next order of business is your name. Ginny called you Woolly, and while that's very cute, that is not going to cut it if you are to be travelling with me. You will answer to... to..." she rung out the washcloth overtop the Wooloo as she pondered. The water droplets clung to the clean, white parts of her wool with an almost opalescent glisten. "...Opal. Yes, you will answer to Opal until we find your Trainer."

The Wooloo bleated in response. She didn't look unhappy about this. And why would she be? Opal was a much prettier name than Woolly. Marcella took that as the Pokémon's acknowledgement and agreement to her terms.

✿✿✿✿✿

The receptionist smiled as Opal trotted along, clean and dry now. "Hey, look at you! Like a whole different Pokémon." She looked back up at Marcella. "Wasn't too bad, was it?"

"Not something I'm in a rush to do again, but no," She smiled back at the girl. "By the way, do you know where the nearest hotel is?

"Oh, you don't have to do that! Journeying Trainers get complementary rooms at all Pokémon Centers. Can get you set up in one right away, if you want."

"Yes, I do know that. But, um—" She didn't know how to put this graciously, but Marcella was raised with the notion that money buys quality, so along those same lines, free was usually not good. However, she did have to take something else into account now.

Wait, that's right, I'm poor now. Might as well rough it like the rest of these Trainers.

"You know what? Sure, dear." She sighed. "I'd love a complementary room."

Party

Purrloin ♀ // Bijou
Level 22

Scratch
Fake Out
Sand Attack
Play Rough

Art

Clamperl ♀ // Pearly
Level 13

Clamp
Water Gun
Whirlpool
Iron Defense

Art

Wooloo ♀ // Opal
Level 20

Tackle
Copycat
Double Kick

Dear Diary

CHAPTER 2: LIVE FOR FUN

2-1: M.I.A.
2-2: Footwear Filchers
2-3: Cut Off
2-4: Bijou Bootcamp
2-5: Beached
2-6: Pearly
2-7: Showtime - ft. Avril, June, Tsu, Robynn, Shuna
2-8: Natsuko vs. Marcella - ft. Tsu
2-9: The Three C's
2-10: In/Dependent
2-11: Connections - ft. Avril, Hikaru

CHAPTER 3: YOUR BRAIN GETS SMART

3-1: Fiancé
3-2: Promise
3-3: Roughing It

Inventory

₱31,000

Medium-sized leather suitcase of clothes
Rotom Phone (Sky Blue)
Fanclub Membership Card (Annual)
Luxury Balls x 4
Silk Scarf
Contest Pass

Trainer Info

Badges

budube · Dec 22, 2020

Jordie "Jo" Hughes

Sunday, September 20th

Chapter 1: Final - First Battle

7:00 am to 7:10 am - Slateport Gym

Today is the day. Jordie wanted to be the first one to challenge the gym on Monday, so they chose to battle the Gym Leader as soon as the gym opened!

Well, of course since it's too early, there aren't enough spectators. Jordie didn't consider that at first. In that sense, they already failed. What good is having their great debut if no one is there to see it and spread the word?

As soon as Jordie is called, a man of about 6 feet tall greets them in the most enthusiastic manner and with great volume on his voice.

"Good morning, Jordie! Welcome to Slateport's Gym!" he greets. "I'm the Leader of this Gym, you can call me Benjie!"

"Good morning! I'm ready to start whenever."

The Gym Leader nods. "Let me explain the rules first!" he says "This will be a double battle, and both of us are allowed to only use two Pokémon. I'll of course let you choose your pair once I've chosen mine. That said…" He takes two PokéBalls and tosses them to the battlefield. A Wormadam and a Seel come out. "These will be the Pokémon you'll challenge today."

Well, of course Jordie doesn't have more than one Pokémon. They toss both of their Dusk Balls to the battle field and Gabby and Neon appear behind a veil of green sparks.

Benji's Seel opens the battle by setting up the weather. A hailstorm quickly turns the warehouse into a completely different place, but there's more. As it starts to hail, the Wormadam starts dancing, fluently moving in the air.

Jordie keeps true to their strategy and without giving any command, Gabby sets up Trick Room. Neon on the other hand just looks at the hail falling from the ceiling with a frown on his face.

"Hey, Neon! What do you think you are doing?" Jordie asks. "Use Mud Sport, just as we planned the other day!"

Neon just looks at them, then looks back at the ceiling.

"Need to interrupt the match and have a word with your Pokémon?" the Gym Leader asks.

"Is that possible?" Jordie snaps.

"No." he answers "Seel?"

The Water type claps and unleashes a strong wind with great precision against Neon. The Stunfisk doesn't have time to react to it and is instantly covered by the hailstorm.

'Gotta leave it to Gabby' the trainer thinks as they give a frustrated sigh.

"Keep defending. Don't let them hit you too."

The Solosis covers herself in the Light Screen, effectively reducing the damage from Seel's Blizzard and blocking the Electrowebs coming from Wormadam's side.

She charges a Psybeam at Wormadam, but Seel takes the hit by sliding at fast speed in front of her, giving Wormadam time to shoot a Signal Beam at her.

The attack takes Gabby by surprise, and despite having the speed advantage, she isn't able to dodge it and is sent spinning back to Jordie's side.

Gabby is barely able to come back to her senses before she is hit once more by another of Seel's Blizzards. It's the most dangerous attack. It is a very strong move despite Gabby being used to tank big hits like that and having the Light Screen around her. It even was able to take out Neon pretty easily.

Did it?

Where even is Neon hiding? Jordie doesn't remember taking him back to his Dusk Ball, but he is nowhere to be seen. In fact, the referee never said Neon wasn't able to continue, and Jordie knows for a fact that's the main thing referees should do.

"This is a good time to unleash some energy if you took some from that Blizzard, you know?" Jordie asks at nothing. Neon isn't doing a thing, wherever he is.

Benji's Pokémon suddenly stop attacking as he takes some time to think, giving Gabby an opportunity to get some hits on Wormadam, until he finally shouts another command.

"Wormadam, use Flash Cannon against Solosis!" Wormadam starts shouting balls of blinding light at Gabby, but she avoids them with no problem. The attacks land on the hail-covered floor, opening holes on it until Wormadam's Flash Cannon finally hits something.

"There it is!" Benji yells "Wormadam, Electroweb!"

"What? Shit, so that's where he was! Gabby, you can take that hit for him!"

"Don't let her! Seel, Smart Strike!"

As if Neon had foreseen all these events while he was hiding, he gets to blast all of the accumulated energy at the right moment, just before Seel gets to use its attack just so it runs into it. The water-type is barely knocked back by the blast, though, contrary to the Wormadam who not only did get a lot of damage, but also seems to be shocked for having the power of her teammate's Blizzard doubled up on her.

The hail continues to fall, and Neon once again disappears. He won't be able to use Bide for the rest of the battle unless Benji somehow gets to hit him again.

"Neon, I know I told you to stay in one place, but that's because I didn't know I would be dealing with Hail." Jordie says. "I need you to dig your way around the gym, don't let his Wormadam hit you by staying on the same spot!"

"Wormadam, use Flash Cannon at the ground! Seel, use Aqua Ring to defend!"

With Gabby not being under the spotlight at the moment, she gets to heal herself as well with no problem, for Jordie to count on her to defend Neon.

"Gabby, take Neon's back! Don't let him get hit, use Psybeam!"

"Seel, protect Wormadam with Smart Strike!"

Seel slides all the way from its corner of the gym, to Gabby's. It uses a slope made out of the snow it pushed to get there to gain momentum and launch itself against the Psychic-type at full speed, breaking the rules inside Gabby's Trick Room.

"Gottcha." Jordie smirks "Neon, Thundershock at Gabby!"

The Stunfisk gladly launches his attack, but unlike he would've wanted it to go, it hits Benji's Seel and not Gabby.

With Neon's attack failing successfully, Gabby gets to hit Wormadam with her attack, sending her spinning backwards towards her trainer while still in the air and after failing to maintain her balance, she falls down unconscious.

"Wormadam can't keep fighting!" the referee yells. "Leader Benjamin has one Pokémon left!"

A paralyzed Seel slides back to its trainer's side to heal. While the Pokémon's fast asleep, it suddenly slides against the Stunfisk at full speed.

"Sleep Talk." Jordie immediately recognizes that strategy. It's a pain to deal with, when your Pokémon rely on status conditions.

The water type turns around and faces Gabby, connecting a second Smart Strike while Neon is stunned, and then a third Smart Strike to return to the Gym Leader.

Seel makes sure to keep the Hail falling with all the strength possible. Taking a more direct look at the Pokémon, it looks like it hasn't taken damage at all. Aqua Ring helps heal its wound, while the Pokémon also uses Hail to send strong winds with total precision against both Pokémon.

With Wormadam down, Seel has enough space to move around the entire field at will, and send blizzards from every direction. It is almost impossible to aim at, let alone hit it.

Jordie's Pokémon have to aim directly at their opponent when it gets ready to use Blizzard, but that also makes them an easy target for an already hard to avoid move. And when their Pokémon actually hit, Aqua Ring or Seel's natural ability to heal from hail help him recover; not to mention, it's still asleep.

Thankfully, Gabby can take strong hits like that with ease, and her Light Screen helps deflect and weaken Seel's attacks. Were it not for her already being a trained Pokémon, Jordie would've lost this battle already.

At this point, both Benji and Jordie are just stalling the battle by healing, attacking and defending. Benji is eager to take down Gabby first, which makes sense.

If the battle keeps going this way, Benji will most likely surrender, and while Jordie is winning either way, that's… not really how they would like their first gym battle to end. That means, Jordie has to finish the battle and fast.

"Neon." they call. "There's no other choice now. Do it."

The Stunfisk stares at his trainer for quite a bit, and then looks back at Benji's Pokémon. He makes a strange movement, which looks like a nod or something, then he buries his fins on the ground and gets ready.

"Gabby, move behind Neon! Set a single screen around both of you!" that will make the screen sturdier, and will let them take the hits more freely while Neon makes the last move.

The exclamation mark on Neon's back starts vibrating, sending shockwaves across the entire ground, stronger as he gains power. Gabby becomes scared and tries to go back to her trainer's side, but Jordie stops her. "Stay there, it's not finished yet."

But Gabby isn't the only one surprised by it. Even Benji becomes exalted by Neon's attack, and as for Seel… It succeeds sliding its way past the attack multiple times. However, with the move ultimately affecting a huge part of the field, and with Gabby constantly shooting Psybeams at the water type, it was only natural it would get hit eventually.

"Seel can't fight anymore! Gym Leader Benjamin has run out of usable Pokémon!" the referee announces. "Challenger Jordie Huges has won the battle!"

"That was a really good battle, and a fun defensive game!" Benji says with great enthusiasm, after handing Jordie their badge. "You seem to have what it takes to be a good trainer! I'm looking forward to hearing more about you!"

Jordie nods, trying to hide a smile and the blushing those final words caused. Albeit, they aren't really happy with the final outcome. Using moves like Fissure isn't a good way to win, it's just slightly better than stalling your way to victory.

It's still a good way to start the journey.

Jo, 20/9, 7:15 am:
hey girls!
it's probably too early to start writing here
but i just got my first gym badge!! yay!!
@Avril did you challenge the gym in the end?
how did it go?
anyways im going to dewford now. so see u there maybe?
ily both <3

Jordie got the Cloak Badge!

Gabby grew to level 23!

Neon grew to level 20!
Neon forgot Water Gun and learned Charge!

Jordie's Party:

Inventory:

Spoiler:

QueenNothing · Dec 22, 2020

Junko "June" Enomoto

Tuesday, September 21st, Afternoon

Kit has immensely disappointed me, but more importantly, he's inflicted such an emotion upon June. I find nothing more offensive and infuriating than upsetting my trainer.

I've been able to gather events that have occurred while I've rested in my Pokeball. From what I've detected, June entered a Pokémon Contest with Kit, in which they won. At some point, there was a bizarre twist of events when Kit was on the verge of evolving into Masquerain, but through some means, managed to reject the process.

I have discussed this with Kit before, and while I knew she was hesitant about evolving, I expected she'd come to accept the inevitable. I assumed such an outcome because I myself was hesitant about evolving as a Blipbug, and while there are indeed downsides to this form, ultimately I decided it was a sacrifice worth making for when I am able to consistently be at June's side. This isn't even to make mention of the immense euphoria she experiences at the different varieties of insect Pokémon, and changing form fulfills that.

How Kit was able to escape the natural process that we all experience truly puzzles me, but ultimately that is not an issue worthy of concern. I'm deeply enraged at Kit's selfish decision to even do so in the first place. Not only will she be weaker in battle, but to deny June the satisfaction of the sight of a Masquerain for self-centered reasons is repugnant.

When my trainer sends Kit and I out to roam this terrain I've been in before, I make sure to inform Kit of all my frustrations, making sure to not to leave out a single detail. I can see my words provoke her. Good. I hope this causes her to rethink her decision.

My expectations are shattered once again though when instead of realizing her errors she sprays water on the ground around her to create a puddle. She wants to settle this with a battle, I see. How foolish. Is she unaware that it was I who helped her improve?

It seems so- She speeds left and right on the body of water, at a speed unprecedented of her, and shoots bubbles my way. Her increase in speed is new to me, but Bubble Beam is not. Before they even drift close enough towards me to burst, I project Light Screen to decrease their damage. She may have destroyed my Light Screen once, but she is unaware that every time a barrier shatters the next one I create becomes slightly more durable than the last.

Kit continues to zoom across her pond while barraging my Light Screen with bubbles, and I've calculated that she's simply too fast to hit if I just concentrate my psychic energy into a beam. I've concocted a solution, but I cannot be sure how successful it may be. The estimated risk is minimal though, so I shall execute my plan.

I intensely focus my psychic energy on the speeding Surskit, and I notice she's surrounded by a pink aura. Perfect. Now that I have a grip on her, I lift her up into the air to alarm her, and then use this force to forcefully slam her into the ground below. I don't let her rest very long before using my psychic abilities to toss her up and smack her down again. This is followed with a third attempt. And then a fourth. And then a fifth…

I begin to feel drained, and I might be exhausting this power, but I continue to do so regardless. This way, Kit may know the price of refusing to evolve. A Pokémon that flies could evade attacks easier than one that does not, and being evolved would make her more durable. I expect her to give in, but all she does is float weak bubbles my way.

I halt my attack when I notice Sting flying overhead, closing in. This is the last thing I wanted, as Sting is a major nuisance. Knowing him, he was likely attracted by the battle we're in the middle of, and decided to invite himself. In order to ward him off, I release Kit from my psychic grip and shoot a Supersonic at him, but he gracefully dodges.

Sting's proboscis unfolds, and a poison dart is launched. It misses, and I fire back with another Supersonic, as not to hurt him, but once again he floats out of its trajectory. With his proboscis already straightened, another projectile is emitted, this time taking the form of an Electroweb that arches downward. If it were not for Kit, who tackles into me with a Quick Attack, pushing me out of its aim, I would be electrocuted by a web, but fortunately Kit's unintentional sacrifice has her consumed by the attack in my place, and hisses in pain as she's shocked by the electric-type attack that takes advantage of her water typing.

At this point our battle has evolved into more than teaching Kit a lesson. My main objective is to drive Sting away.

This is difficult- He starts flapping his wings forward to slash me with a sharp air current. The damage I take is super effective, so halfway through this onslaught I create a new Light Screen now that my previous one is too far back to actually protect myself with.

"Kit! Einstein! Sting! What are you all doing!?" That voice- June! I can see her running towards us all, and she's accompanied by Robynn, Rhodo, and an unrecognizable Pokémon who uses his flippers to drag himself across the grass. I'm normally very glad to see June, but the horrified expression she has on her face gives me deep pain.

"What's going on!?!?" I should have predicted this. Of course June is terrified to see her own Pokémon partaking in a grudge match, just a few days ago she was too afraid to even have me battle. I wish I could communicate that this started for her sake, and I also wish Sting would stop blowing Air Cutter in my direction when his trainer is visibly upset. I can feel my Light Screen weakening, so I try to shoot a Supersonic in his direction to defend myself, much to June's dislike.

"Both of you, please stop fighting!!!" June loudy pleads. I truly wish I could, but as long as Sting preys on me, I recognize that can't happen. I know my trainer won't have us retreat, as she'll wish for us to make up peacefully, so all I can do is try to hit Sting with a Supersonic.

"Don't worry, I can handle this!" Robynn announces with confidence. Rhodo hops off her shoulder and breathes a Fairy Wind in our direction, and as this happens, I notice the round white Pokémon starts cheerfully clapping his flippers together. To a human, this may seem mundane, but with my vision I can see many things invisible to the naked human eye, such as picking-up a strange aura exerting from this Pokémon's flippers as they hit each-other. The round Pokémon is no different, but interestingly enough, Rhodo's Fairy Wind greatly increases in strength, blowing Sting back and into the ground. Now that the pesky Beautifly has fallen, it seems everything is solved.

Of course, when I say everything, that is an exaggeration- June's face bears an expression of sorrow that agonizes me more than any strike of a Pokémon ever could. I'm fortunate to be returned to my Pokeball so I'm not exposed to her frown any longer. If I'm to be honest, I find it a deserved punishment.

It's ironic- I've harnessed intense rage towards Kit for upsetting June, yet in the end, it was I who inflicted the same damage I was so fixated on healing.

Einstein grew to level 25!
Kit grew to level 24!
Sting grew to level 22!
Sting forgot String Shot and learned Mega Drain!

🐞June's party🐞

32,492

Spoiler:

forg · Dec 23, 2020

Emilio Estéban Grácia
◇ Dewford
◇ Sept. 20

Spoiler:

The gymnasium stood before Emilio menacingly.

He stepped to the side, allowing trainers to pass by the man and continue forward towards the trial inside. He didn't need to enter to know he was not ready for the challenge; his one and only Pokémon was out of commission doing who knows what.

Sighing in disbelief and hands tugging at his hair, Emilio swiveled until his back faced the building prior to walking away. He needed to train. To battle someone. To win a match… any match and see if he still has what it takes.

But first…

Chapter 5

A burst of red light erupted and snaked its way out of Emilio's Pokéball, vanishing like lightning to leave the galarian ponyta as the result. Unlike Emilio's hesitant and vulnerable state, Ponyta's melancholy gave the horse a forced -albeit weak- smile.

Emilio sat behind the Pokémon Center, back on the building and rear end on the soft grass with elbows held on his knees. He coughed, his reaction to the awkward silence emanating from the galarian ponyta standing before him. She, too, felt uncomfortable and with a need for more space.

His hands rose and covered his mouth, his next words muffled. "...I'm… uh. I'm sorry," apologized Emilio, unable to meet ponyta's gaze out of shame. "I'm an asshole. I know that."

Refusing to glance ahead, Emilio gazed down to the dandelion to his right, swaying with the soft breeze. For several minutes his right hand inched closer to the plant, fingers walking to it. But the ponyta soon stepped forward, damned be the saltiness she had been holding on to.

Still recovering however, the mare tapped against Emilio's foot with her hoove, grabbing his attention. A cold wave engulfed Emilio, somewhat surprised by his companion's touch.

Emilio leaned forward, hands clasping together and eyes breaking and locking gazes with her every other minute.

Distressed, his hands shot up with fists covering eyes. "...I'm not my dad. I'm not. I'm not." Ponyta could abandon her mumbling trainer and return to her pokéball out of spite. Out of her frustration. Out of hurt. But seeing him at last open himself to her, the slightest of leaks from his bottled emotions, tugged at her heart. He's an emotional one, always has been, but never quite learned to control them. Never learned how not to respond with it.

She sat and patiently waited, waiting for Emilio to finish his moment of silence. Together they heard the passing of strangers, background chatter, and Pokémon skipping on by. But to Emilio it was background noise, nothing compared to his inner ramblings.

Upon lifting his gaze to discover his ponyta's waiting form, Emilio snickered.

"You know I still miss her? That she would freaking kill me if she found out how I treated you?"

"Onyyyy," concurred the ponyta with a weak giggle of her own.

"Heh. Do you remember when she would leave those voicemails where she would be stupid-like and sing the jingle bells?"

Emilio and Ponyta proceeded to spend the rest of their afternoon chit chatting about the most trivial of topics; christmas films, movie theaters, video games, ice cream, energy drinks, how not to drink whiskey, board games, and much much more.

And for the first time in a while, ponyta felt one step closer to reshaping the Emilio she had known to a better man; ponyta's previous owner saw potential in him, albeit his flaws certainly shadowed his strengths. Yet, this was good progress. Very good progress.

The training, Emilio thought, can certainly wait.

forg · Dec 24, 2020

Koko Puffs
◇ Dewford
◇ Sept. 20

Spoiler:

For it being just a short stay in Slateport, Koko found it to be quite exhilarating; she won free donuts for poking at stunfisk, encountered a wild pair of shellos, befriended Kendall in unique circumstances, gave the Pokémon fanclub a shot, acquainted with the platinum-locks-lady in said fanclub, painted for a cute old couple, and lastly acquainted Emilio and Elliot.

This was just as much fun as Koko had dreamed of, no, one of the coolest weeks she's experienced.

Now she embarks on to Dewford after a day of loafing around reading online manga, munching on her fifth candy bar of the hour while standing before the ferry's railings. The iridescent ocean waters entertained the easily-amused young trainer, who was now lost in thought staring into space.

Chapter 3.0

The warm rays of sunshine filtered through the snow-silk curtains of Koko's bedroom and blinded half the room; she happily lodged in Resort Cove located in the south shore of Dewford Island. But while the beauty and scent of honey cotton and lavender was hypnotizing, her lack of companionship prompted her to skip out of the room and down to the main floor.

"Good afternoon ma'am!" chirped out Koko on her way out the entrance doors, not giving the receptionists enough time to respond with their own, similar greeting.

Once outside she inhales a big gulp of salty ocean air before stretching her arms. Giggles escaped her lips as joy graced her face; she was in Dewford Island. She was on a beach in an exclusive resort. This was heaven.

She meanders over to the back of the building, carrying a bounce to every step as she retrieves onix's pokéball from her front hoodie pocket. "YAY! This is soooooo awesome!" she squeaks out, releasing her companion with the click of a button. Within the next minute her giant friend joined her by her side, eyes blinking in bewilderment at their new destination.

"Freaking cool, isn't it? And loooook. Looks beeaaautiful and the smell is to die for, ain't it? Isn't it?" she remarked, circling around her onix, Kiko, humming to the tune of jingle bells.

Together they frolicked over to the private beach, leaving a trail within the sand. Amidst their journey Koko had taken a misstep and faceplanted on the sand beneath. But despite the twinge of pain, Koko turned to face the sky and exhale her breath, comfortable as per usual. "Soooo so so nice. Oh maaaaaan… so nice," she mumbled under her breath, arms outstretched.

The afternoon was a precious blur. Kiko entertained himself amidst the waves that lapped the shore. Wet sand clung to his body as he occasionally peeked up from his horseplaying to check up on Koko, of which remained sitting feet from the seafoam. Joy graced her features, relaxed and taking in the calming scenery.

♤♡◇♧

A small, local fast-food chain specializing in ice cream and smoothies attracted the likes of Koko and Kiko, the latter of which became relieved upon discovering he could simply rest his head next to Koko to their outside tables. Here he curled as the snake he was, conversating with Koko in the form of grunts, facial expressions, and tail movements.

"...and like, f**k, that pizza was goooood. Remember that?"

"Hmmmph!" responded her companion in a grunt, nodding in agreement.

Not too far from their table a small, skittish creature ogled from beneath a discarded bucket of chicken drumsticks. Like a crab they crawled a few inches every other second, inching closer, yet jumping farther away upon the slightest glance their way.

It has been 45 minutes and the Pokémon had made no progress.

The creature watched as Koko took bite after bite -absurdly small ones at that- of her dessert while Onix was treated to his own large cup of such delicacy.

Determined to satisfy their sweet tooth, the chicken bucket took a different approach and pushed itself to its side, sloppily rolling until they reached Koko's table, where it collided against the center black pole holding it in place. Koko paid no mind, but Kiko lowered his head in curiosity, prompting Koko to follow suit.

"Eeeey what did you see Kiko kin kiiiiiin~?" sang Koko as she poked at the chicken bucket with her spoon, hair cascading down her shoulders. The Pokémon inside froze, its heartbeat deafening and body trembling from terror. Yet despite the chicken bucket's tremor, and slight jump when her spoon contacted the bucket, Koko lifted herself back on a sitting position and shrugged merrily. "You think it's just the wind, buddy bud bud?"

"Oooooon!" roared the

"Yeah, right oooon, I agree with yew!"

Alas, the creature could never muster the courage to emerge from the chicken bucket, instead remaining petrified for the entirety of Koko's stay at the table. Upon her and Kiko departing on to better destinations all the chicken bucket Pokémon did was whimper and roll away into nearby vegetation, hungry yet again.

Eleanor · Dec 26, 2020

Avril Reese

16 - ♀ - Laverre City

Message chat written with Cubism as Jordie Hughes

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $15 000

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Flabebe) -♀- lv. 28
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Fairy Wind, Grassy Terrain, Lucky Chant, Wish, Magical Leaf

🌼 Hydrangea (Shellos) -♀- lv. 26
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) -♂- lv. 20
Infiltrator
Swagger, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Venus (Mawile) -♀- lv. 22
Intimidate
Fairy Wind, Feint Attack, Sucker Punch, Fake Tears, Taunt, Baton Pass

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 Various clothes and commodities

AVRIL'S CONTACTS:
Jordie, Shuna, Natsuko, June, Marcella

AVRIL'S BADGES:
🥊

🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/94097[/SPAN]

Venus Ramblings

Tuesday, September 22^nd - about 11:45 a.m. - Dewford Town

I try to collect my thoughts once again as I wait for my Pokémon to get healed at the Pokémon center. Not having Poppy around is already making my mood worse, and I'm feeling dizzy from all I've been through. Oh, and the Holotch... instead of comforting me, it's having quite the opposite effect.

There's a bunch of new contacts on the list. Hikaru, Marcella, even June… no messages so far. In between them there are some missed messages from my brother and from Layla - who apparently just want to see more photos from Dewford, not a problem. Below them, one more conversation with Tsu and a few more hometown friends I didn't write to in quite a while.

And then there's this.

Jordie, 20/9, 7:15 am
hey girls!
it's probably too early to start writing here
but i just got my first gym badge!! yay!!
@Avril did you challenge the gym in the end?
how did it go?
anyways im going to dewford now. so see u there maybe?
ily both <3

Oh my, how did I miss this for so long? Sunday was fairly busy I guess, and Monday even more so, but this is still not justifiable. By the way… how did I not see Jordie in person, either? They're been here with me on this island for more than one day now.

I think it's just not a good idea to answer this late… let alone say how my gym battle went. The conversation is already buried beneath a couple new chats, old friends and family calls, just like my memories of Jo and Shuna from Slateport. As reassuring as it is to hear from Jordie again, part of me still can't help but ask "why them?"

That doesn't look like the kind of friend I'm in need of right now - in fact, I'm not even sure I want to stay near them again. I'm actually… feeling so guilty for not trying out the gym or not answering back on Sunday. I think I had my reasons, still, but I feel sorry regardless because it looks like they genuinely cared. Bad execution, but still good intentions, you know?

🏖️🏖️🏖️

As I walk towards the counter to get all my Pokémon back, I make up my mind. I need some proper rest, just me and my Pokémon. The wounds from yesterday still need to recover and I'm not at my best right now, and what good is it going to do if I just keep travelling? Sure, Marcella has already spent her first night in Petalburg by now, but do I really need to keep up her pace?

For the rest of the afternoon, I'll just hang around the Resort. Depending on how I feel, I'll just take a nap either in my room or on the beach - and that will be the moment when I can plan out what to do next.

Of course, that entails some nice lunch and, finally, dinner. Skipping dinner last night was not very pleasant, and I need to fix that! And finally, at the Resort I'll have the chance to organize my items once again. I have clothes to wash and I may as well do it today.

That settles it for today. No avoiding Jordie or Marie, no running after Marcella, no random fighting with strangers, no walking aimlessly around Dewford. Well…

Might as well poke Hikaru and ask them how they're doing.

🏖️🏖️🏖️

Speaking of Hikaru.

I'm not sure what to tell them, other than I did get the reward and I can split it with them when we'll meet again in person. When you take that into account, it really doesn't look like much though. Just $4 000, half of which I still owe them for Venus's Pokéball.

I'm left with a laughable amount of money for going through so much, essentially. But I still can't totally blame the bar guy because, well, our cave adventure wasn't part of the reward anyways. And all I got from that was… Venus herself! That is, if she doesn't just up and leave.

Thing is, by now I really don't want her to leave! I… I'm sure she can make friends with Poppy, and… and myself, too! I don't know how but I can think of something, I believe. Oh, and hope Hikaru gives her special stone back. It was a promise!

I'm reading their blog as I walk back to the Resort, hoping that I'll arrive in time for lunch. I just… hope that can help me learn more about them, and make me less anxious about messaging them and wanting the stone back. This is when I realize something more, though.

I don't really know how to explain it, but I think… I've always taken for granted the fact that I could make friends easily. Or… well, it's not even about friendships, I think it's just about acquaintances. People remember me, my face, even if we don't talk too much overtime. I always took it for granted, also because it made sense back at home, but Hikaru… and you know what, even Jordie… those two are making me reconsider.

There's just a few things that make a person stand out right from the first moment you meet them, but it doesn't happen with everyone automatically… I think. Hikaru has worked hard to achieve this, I seem to understand: they changed name, style, attitude even, and got where they wanted. And sure enough, they seem to like being in the spotlight!

I got all of that already and never realized, though - and it's not even subtle. I have this bright blonde hair, I wear colorful clothes or jewelry most of the time… and there's even more. I used to have light-up shoes as a kid, and now I traded those in for a Pokémon chirping on my head. In Laverre, this is rather normal… everyone there feels special and unique, I think.

Oh, there's one problem though! My attitude doesn't always match that. Sometimes it's just better to slip under the radar and avoid problems, something that I have not been that good at this past week. And yet, what I'm learning from Hikaru's experience is…

I'm actually not boring and that's a good thing. But now, I need to learn how to handle my, uhm… let's call it charm. Whatever it's for.

WizardOfOdd · Dec 26, 2020

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Slateport Beach, Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Friday, September 18th

Chapter 1 - 5
Uneventful Morning

After watching Muchorin fell, both I and Braveheart rushed to his aid.

"Hey, are you okay!? Darn, what is… Oh, I should've known this will happen." I sighed as I saw the sight before me.

A Stunfisk emerged from the pile of sand where Muchorin had stepped on earlier and it didn't look happy at all about us intruding its nap.

I wasn't really concerned about having to fight a Stunfisk, they're definitely not a hard Pokemon to beat. But it was kind of annoying when they had sand around them to use as camouflage. Realizing I had to deal with the angered flat fish whether I like it or not, I stepped back to a safe distance to coordinate Muchorin and Braveheart so the Stunfisk could be handled swiftly.

However, as soon as I was about to shout orders to both of my Pokemon, I could feel a heavy breeze pushing me forward. It was so strong that I couldn't keep my balance and fell hand first to the sand below.

I immediately raised my head to see what the hell it was, only to be rendered speechless by the view I saw.

A flying Stunfisk.

I blinked twice and yep, it was still the same view.

Well, it was more of a floating to be precise. But at that moment all I could see was the Stunfisk that flew really - really far. It took quite a bit until it fell into the sea, hopefully, it wouldn't come back and exact its revenge.

I looked around to help me understand what had actually happened and apparently, I didn't need a long time to do it. Braveheart had puffed his chest pridefully which indicated yep it was it who was responsible for the one of a kind sight. It's an amazing display of power, although I'm a bit worried that It didn't realize that my body would turn like a bag of crushed chips if Braveheart missed its trajectory just slightly.

I observed the sea carefully for any signs of the Stunfisk returning to the sand to unleash its anger, but it thankfully didn't come to fruition. Perhaps the idea of handling two Pokemon was just too troublesome for it. And so, I eventually raised my gaze towards the view upon me.

"It's beautiful…"

I turned my attention to the rising sun on the horizon. It was rendering me speechless in a different way the earlier spectacle did.

I took a deep breath as I was bathed with the warm light of the sun, the smell of the sea added much more comfort to me as I watched the sun rising on the horizon. It was an experience I never experienced before I started my Pokemon journey.

Just as I started to close my eyes and was about to sit down, I noticed that something was tugging strongly at my pants.

Thankfully it wasn't some sort of wild Pokemon I had feared about, it was my Darumaka. So I crouched and tried my best to understand what it was trying to do.

"What's wrong, Muchorin?"

Muchorin pouted and pointed at the area behind us. Apparently, it wasn't that hard to understand his intentions. Well, not when he was doing several jabs to imitate a boxer movement.

"Uh… The battle huh? Um… Let's not continue it. Shall we?" I said as I scratched my head.

Muchorin wasn't happy with my answer and started an attempt to drag me away from the seaside. Muchorin may look cute, but it's undeniable how strong he was. Thanks to that, I almost fell in the process of him attempting to convince me, which I'm so happy it was just an 'almost'.

I hardly brought any clothes I could use comfortably as my loungewear, and cleaning them from the combination of seawater and sand was not going to be enjoyable.

In the end, I managed to convince him to stop by promising that I'll let him out of his Pokeball longer. Which caused Braveheart to ask for the same treatment, obviously. So I made the compromise, it's much better than having the chance of 200 kg of steel to crash into the sand and causing a huge ruckus while everyone else is enjoying their morning tea. I didn't even understand why I thought this was a good idea in the first place.

I started to think that there was something wrong with me. After I lost the fight against Deidre, it felt like I'm losing my mojo. Questionable decisions one after another, and the worse part was that I don't know what went wrong. Why did I even think of doing the training match in a place where I knew Stunfisk was being a dangerous hazard? Speaking of Stunfisk, ugh…

I suddenly remembered what transpired during the dinner trip with Katrina last night. I must've gone crazy, that's the only logical explanation for what I did, because… That's just not me. No chance in hell. No way, no freaking way.

I slapped my face several times to forget what happened last night, which elicited concerns from both of my Pokemon. At that point, I decided to take a detour to a nearby convenience store for morning ice cream with all of my Pokemon outside their Pokeball. There's no one here who would be mad at me for buying ice cream this early, so why not. It's not like I'll bust my bank buying one or two of them.

So I happily walked to the store, ready to enjoy a cup of chocolate ice cream to help myself get back on my track. Or so I thought until I found out that the chocolate ice cream was out of stock.

"Really? Argh…" I mumbled while rummaging the display to see if there was any misplaced chocolate ice cream, sadly it is what it is. I settled for a strawberry one and walked back to the Pokemon Center.

Even during that leisure time, I couldn't help but think about the trip around the city I planned with Katrina. So I opened my notebook while walking on the sidewalk to refresh my head on the plan I carefully formulated last night. I even spent some time preparing several backup plans just in case we spent too much time at certain spots of the city, so I only hoped that all will work in the end.

When I arrived at the Pokemon Center I didn't waste any time and went straight to the Cafe, nothing was better to jumpstart a wonderful day with a plate of fresh breakfast. So I immediately ordered the menu with the best value and went off to find an empty seat, only to notice a familiar face was already sitting in one of the seats.

"H-Hi, how are you, today?"

It was the girl I promised to go on a tour of the city with.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evily · Dec 27, 2020

Shuna/Kira JP

Sunday, September 20th {???}
Epoch 2.?: Granite Cave

Kira slumped against a cave wall, her heart still racing a bit from their escape. After taking a short moment to catch her breath she reached into her back and pulled out her lantern. "Quickly running down a dark corridor in hopes not to get caught… Déjà vu huh Shuna?"

"Back in Kinyo, right?" Shuna huffed, sitting on her knees with her hands on the ground, resting her legs from the sudden run. "Nice memory…" Shuna slowly stood, taking in her surroundings. "How far did we run?"

"Yeah. At least this time we're in shoes though, my ankles still hurt at the thought of running in those heels…" Kira whined, pulling out the crank of her lantern to charge it as she waited. "I'm not sure. Couldn't have been running for more than a minute."

"Where are we going to go now?" Shuna questioned, looking around for any other tunnels besides going forward, but it looks like there wasn't any other direction they could go besides forward. "What do you think we'll find in the deeper levels?"

"I guess deeper in the cave… wherever that is." Kira said as she held up her lantern, lightly illuminating the cavern. "No clue what though. Honestly that part didn't matter to me that much."

"So we just keep walking until something happens?" Inquired Shuna, thinking of all kinds of possibilities that could happen in the tunnel.

"Um… Yeah, I guess. Gotta admit I didn't really think too much beyond just getting away from the group." Kira admitted with a shrug before looking down the passage from where they came. "Well, with one exception…"

As if on cue, the pitter patter of paws could be heard from down where they came, Nyx happily trotting up behind them with an expecting look.

"A zorua? Where did they come from?" Shuna uttered, confused at the appearance of the illusion pokemon.

"We had a bit of a run in back in Akurani. Ended up catching her to resolve a bit of trouble she caused me, been training her since." Kira explained as she knelt down before the fox, petting it behind the ears. "As for you, you didn't wait for my signal…"

Nyx merely rubbed her head against Kira's hand, demanding more attention.

"I guess you did impress me with your patience though, honestly thought you'd do something way sooner." Kira said with a sigh, picking up the small fox, holding her in one arm as she turned to Shuna. "By the way, I'm the youngest girl in my family."

"Family, huh?" Shuna uttered, remembering her grandparents, then her cousins. "You have siblings?"

"Yeah, four. All brothers, three older and one twin."Kira explained as she began to head further into the cave. "Just figured I'd mention that considering Nyx's disguise."

"I see…" Shuna trailed off, pulling Inka from her neck, only to flinch when she felt the tentacle suckers clinging into her skin. "Inka, can you let go please? Your tentacles are pinching my skin."

Inka squeaked before slowly retracting get arms, revealing barely noticeable red circles around Shuna's neck. The tentacle pokemon noticed the mark and whined, clinging into Shuna's upper arm instead, rubbing her head as if apologizing, earning a pat on the head.

"How long do you think we'll be down here?" Asked Shuna, petting Inka.

"I dunno, didn't really plan on spending too long down here. "Kira explained nonchalantly. "A few hours maybe? Enough to get a good look and get out in time for dinner?"

"Did you have something in mind?" queried Shuna, "We can't be here for too long… if we encounter a pokemon and are forced to battle, it could end ugly…"

"We'll be fine, I managed to beat Benji back in Slateport so I can't imagine any pokemon giving us problems down here." Kira bragged, showing off the badge on her jacket.

"It's not the pokemon that worries me though…" explained Shuna, looking around, "It's getting lost or being crushed by rocks…"

"I didn't really think of rock slides…" Kira said, pondering for a moment. "Eh, I figure we would have probably heard something if it was a real problem. As for getting lost we just go out the way we came. Sounds easy enough, right?" she finished with a smile.

"I guess…" Shuna hesitantly agreed, Easier said than done… She continued walking behind Kira, looking around as she waited for something to happen.

Kira paused her march forward, looking over at Shuna with a concerned expression. "Hey, if you don't want to do this; I'll follow you out." she tried to say reassuringly "I'll just go back in afterwards, it's no big deal, I promise."

Shuna stares at Kira for a while before blinking, lifting her arms and waving her hands. "Oh no! It's fine! Might as well continue while we're already here!" She assured, but it felt like she was assuring herself more. "Sorry if i sounded rude… I'm just worried about the encounters that could occur down here."

"Gotcha, glad to hear then!" Kira responded in a much more chipper tone of voice. "For whatever it's worth, I'd be a bit more worried if I were going in alone… Not worried enough not to do it anyway mind you, but more worried nonetheless."

"Yeah, at least we have each other if something happens." Shuna smiled, glad that she didn't come alone. She might have not come into the tunnel at all and ran if she was doing a one-man job in this situation. "I wonder if we'll find something like the evolution stones or more rare?"

"It's probably something like that, can't really imagine what would be inside of a cave besides more rocks." Kira said with a dismissive shrug. "I don't really need any of that stuff but maybe it's worth pawning off, Kinda blew what I had on the Lantern and Nyx's collar."

"The lanturn cost that much?" Shuna questioned, looking closely at the item in Kira's hand. "And if you require money, I don't mind lending you some?"

Kira's eyes widened for a moment before quickly shaking her head. "N-No, No, No, No. I really don't need to borrow money from you. My dad still owes me a graduation gift so I plan to cash that in when I need something." Kira explained quickly, having a hard time looking Shuna in the eye as she talked. "A-Anyway, looks like a bit of a cavern is coming up."

Shuna looked ahead and her eyes widened when she saw the cavern. The cave wasn't as big as she thought, but it was half the size of a football field and the ceiling was about two stories high. There were all kinds of rock formation: either coming up from the floor, from the walls, or from the ceiling. There looked to be enough space between the rocks to walk through, but it was also very delicate that a single battle could cause a lot of destruction, possibly a cave in.

"We should be careful walking through here…" Shuna whispered, then turned a bit to Inka. "Inka, I need you to not make a sound while we are here, alright?" Inka cocked her head to the side, but gave a low chirp, still clinging onto her arm. She then turned to Kira, "Are you ready?"

Kira nodded, patting Nyx on the head in an effort to keep her calm. "Yeah, I'll follow behind you." she whispered back, holding her lantern up a bit higher. "Does your Holotch have a light? You might use it if so, what we're looking for might be in here."

"I believe so…" Shuna grabbed her Holotch and clicked around until she found the flashlight function. Turning it on, she moved the device to face in front and began walking. I hope nothing bad happens doing here… "Once one of us finds something, grab it and let's go. I don't know how long we've been down here, but I have a feeling we shouldn't take too long…"

"Glad we're on the same page, wasn't really looking to stay down here all day" Kira agreed as she peered around one of the Stalagmites. "It looks like branches off several different ways, think this might be the main Cavern?"

"I believe so…" Shuna looked around and saw the same tunnels Kira mentioned, "Let's try to not separate or get lost…" She trailed off when she saw something shining a few feet away, reflecting from the light of the lantern. "Kira, what is that?"

"Looks like a few of them slope downward…" Kira remarked as she tried to get a view down one of the cavern's other passages. It seemed like a steady incline, shallow enough to where she could likely climb it if she needed to, however steep enough to where it would take some effort. It seemed to go rather far down as well, the light not shining far enough to see the bottom.

As she was called, Kira turned her attention back to Shuna "I dunno, maybe another evolution stone?" Kira wondered, taking a closer look. "Either way I'd grab it, It might be what we heard about."

"Want me to go with you?" Shuna questioned as she watched Kira walk closer to what was causing the reflection. For some reason, she had a bad feeling about this cavern, but she couldn't just tell Kira that they had to leave. There might be something down here that could benefit one of them. "Or do you want me to wait here?"

"Go with me? You're the one who found it in the first place." Kira remarked as she kneeled down to pick up the stone, letting it roll in her hand for just a moment. "Here, catch!" Kira called out, tossing the stone to Shuna.

"S-So sudden!" Shuna uttered, but managed to lift her hands to catch the stone. She brought it closer to her face and saw a familiar sign; the same one of the twin jewels of her bracelet. "Could it be…?" She looked back at Kira before nodding to herself, "I think you need this more than I do!" She then proceeded to throw it back.

Kira caught the stone, looking it over once again before shooting shuna a confused look. "But neither Azure or Nyx use a stone to evol…" She began to question before being interrupted by a faint thumping sound, the cave shaking slightly as it slowly grew louder. "The Hell…"

From one of the far caves a large, bipedal, bulky silhouette emerged from the darkness. The light from Kira's glinting off of it's metallic body. Reeling back, it let out a long, deep roar, its bright blue eyes glowering angrily at the two intruders.

"That's a…" Shuna trailed off as the figure stomped closer, causing the cavern to shake. "Aggron…" She knew they would see pokemon down in the caves, but an Aggron?! It was the worst possible scenario, they weren't ready to face this pokemon, especially in a cave! "Kira! Come back!"

"Nyx go! Feint attack!" Kira called out, Ignoring Shuna's plea. Brazenly, Nyx charged forward towards the Aggron with a faint dark glow. With a fierce roar, the Aggron wound back before striking at one of the cavern's stalagmites, shattering it into sharp stones many of which flew right towards the charging Zorua.

"Alright Nyx, Dodge and follow through!" Kira called out. With a leap to the left, Nyx disappeared in a cloud of black smoke just as it appeared one of the stones would hit her. As the Aggron looked around the cave confused, Nyx reappeared just before them and struck it in the stomach.

"Kira!" Shuna called before biting her lip, watching as Aggron brushed off Nyx's attack. The iron armor pokemon grabbed the Zorua and threw her away into a stalagmite nearby, causing Shuna to wince. She had to do something, Kira and Nyx wouldn't be able to defeat such a powerful pokemon on their own! "Inka! Psybeam!"

Inka gurgled before letting go of Shuna and moving to float right above, flipping herself upside down, and fired a streak of blue beam with pink circles inside from her mouth. The beam was about to hit Aggron, but the iron armor pokemon lifted an arm, causing the beam to hit its arm instead. After a few seconds, Inka flipped back over as the beam ended, watching as the black smoke covered Aggron. The smoke moved before it was instantly blown away with a swing of Aggron's arm, said pokemon letting out a roar in return.

"Barely any damage…" Shuna whispered as Aggron's roar ended, glaring in their direction. "We have to leave Kira! He's too strong!" She wanted to bring out the rest of her team, but she didn't want to risk having a fainted team while trapped in the cave depths. The best way about this is to run!

Kira watched wide eyed as the Aggron quickly recovered from their assault, terrified at how little it accomplished. Nyx, while worse for wear, managed to recover from the Aggron's attack, shaking the dust out of her coat as she turned towards Kira with an unsure look.

Kira returned the same unsure look back at Nyx, racking her brain at what to do. She knew that retreating would be the best if it wouldn't follow. However, if it did..."Nyx! Pursuit! Keep its focus split!" Kira called out, hoping to think of a plan as they fought. Nyx shot Kira a worried glance back at Kira before turning back at Aggron, charging it once again before striking it in the back.

Aggron swiftly recovered once again, the attack proving just about as effective as before. Reeling back, with a large step forward, Aggron turned around and struck at the cavern floor just in front of Nyx, sending her flying back in a rocky explosion of shrapnel. "Nyx!" Kira called out as the Zorua cried in pain.

"Kira! Nyx!" Shuna called once more before grabbing a pokeball and throwing it, releasing Finn. If Kira wasn't going to retreat, then she couldn't either! She had to help and make sure her partner and her pokemon were alright first, and if that meant getting Aggron's attention from them… "Finn! Use Water Pulse!" Finn creates a blue ball of water and energy before throwing it at an unsuspecting Aggron, hitting him on the side. If I'm right… Aggron is a Ground/Steel pokemon, so water moves right now should make more damage than normal moves.

Surprisingly, the iron armor pokemon grunted from the move, but the little smoke that appeared vanished just as quickly with Aggron's swipe. He roared before turning over to Finn. glaring at the mudfish pokemon who dared cause him damage, no matter how little it was. However, he had another pokemon to hunt first… Aggron growled at Finn before turning over to where Nyx was left.

"Finn! Keep him distracted!" Shuna called before looking at Inka, "Inka, can you get Nyx to Kira?" The small squid gurgled before floating over and grabbing the injured Nyx from the cavern floor before floating over to Kira. "Kira! Run! We can't beat Aggron! Go back into the tunnel while you can!" As Inka moved Nyx to safety, Finn did his best to keep Aggron distracted, unfortunately...

Before Finn or Aggron could continue, the cave shook a bit, the stalactites shook and a couple fell down, hitting some stalagmites.

"The cave's unstable… and the battle-" Shuna cursed before turning back to Kira, "We have to go!"

Kira stared at the Aggron in wide eyed panic, what could she do at this point? Nyx is all but out cold and Azure wouldn't fare much better at all. There was an exit out of the cavern by Nyx but with a slope that harsh...

The Aggron turned, glowering at the small fox as she was ferried towards Kira. With a large step back Aggron positioned itself behind one of the remaining stalagmites, aiming its shot.

"Nyx!" Kira called out in a panic. Without thinking she sprinted towards Nyx, quickly swiping her from Inca's grasp before diving down the sloped passage. A distant scream was all that could be heard as Kira disappeared, tumbling down the branching tunnel.

"Kira!" Shuna cried, about to run over and follow the other teen, but she stumbled when Finn was thrown in front of her, causing her to halt. Finn groaned before slowly standing, glaring at the Aggron who was slowly walking closer. Inka gurgled as she flew back, clinging onto Shuna's neck like a lifeline, scared of the stronger pokemon. I have to get to Kira! But how?! Kira would indoudably get injured from jumping down the tunnel and might need help! But she had to get past Aggron first!

"Finn-" Before she could say more, the cave shook once more causing the teen to fall. Her head hit the cave floor, causing the girl to black out instantly. The last thing she saw was Aggron getting closer before a flash of light illuminated her vision, then darkness.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Current Team:

Spoiler:

Inventory:

Spoiler:

QueenNothing · Dec 30, 2020

Junko "June" Enomoto

Tuesday, September 22nd, Evening

"Uncle, could you please explain what this Seel is doing here?"

Uncle glances behind himself as Robynn and I return to his home, with Seel following suit. "Oh, Seel? Err uhh, rangers told me he washed up on shore at the beach. He was somehow separated from his herd, and they told me to keep him here until they find a better place for him to stay, something like that."

"Separated from his herd?" I tap my lower lip with my index finger without actually realizing I'm doing so. "Why would such a thing happen?"

"Beats me." Uncle shrugs. "Might have gotten lost or something. Or maybe his herd just saw how small he is and thought he was dead weight, I dunno."

"I hope not… That's awful."

Noticing Robynn's silence, I look over to see her scratching Seel's back. Even though the water-type Pokémon appears to be joyful from the attention he receives, Robynn intently stares at Seel with grief so very present in her eyes. "The rangers wouldn't have a problem with a trainer catching him, would they?"

Uncle ponders the question, but I answer in his place. "It seems Seel aren't native to these parts of Hoenn, so I'd imagine not."

"Yeah, that." Uncle confirms.

"Well, I think I might just have to take this little guy with me." Robynn chuckles at Seel's clapping. "I think I wanna start over."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What I mean is I'm gonna transfer Rhodo and Moldavite back home and travel through Hoenn with Seel. Initially I came here on a family vacation, but I've grown to like the atmosphere here. And of course- Pokémon Contests are right up my alley!" I'm relieved to hear Robynn won't be leaving Hoenn anytime soon, although the possibility that I might have not seen her after Sunday makes me nervous.

"Oh. Yeah, err uhh, that sounds pretty nice."

"I'd certainly agree." I try to conceal my joy through a modest display, but I know Robynn can see right through it when she flashes her grin at me. "Oh, I know."

My face glows red, and Uncle and Robynn chuckle in unison. "Alright girls, I'm gonna close up soon. Do you wanna stay over for dinner, Robynn?"

"Why not?" She nods. I can feel my excitement building up within me.

"Well, go ahead and make yourself at home. I was just about to start dinner. Shouldn't take horribly long, I think." Uncle stretches as he gets out of his seat, and heads to the kitchen.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you'll be enjoying dinner with us."

"Hold on; First I'm catching this little guy!" A Pokeball is pulled from her pocket, and it's instantly tossed at the clapping Seel. There's only a single shake of the ball before it seals shut, and Robynn leans over to pick it up. "Everything will be better now," is what she says while looking at the Pokeball.

"I'm glad he's found a better home." I grin. "I suppose you're going to transfer your other two Pokémon back now, right?"

"I think I'll have them out for dinner first. Give them a feast before they go home, y'know?

"That sounds swell! I plan on doing the same, although… Well, after today, I'm not sure how to deal with my Pokemon…"

Almost immediately after Robynn and I finished our meal and she mentioned wanting to walk back to the Pokémon Center, Uncle was very insistent I walk with her along the way. It's obvious what he intended for, and the starry night sky with the loud Ninjask chirping sets the stage… but I can't say I have the courage to actually do it.

"Your uncle sure is a good cook!" Robynn states as she gestures towards the weary Snom still on her shoulder. We've just left Uncle's house, and we just started walking. "Rhodo ate a lot, even for his standards! I was afraid he'd eat you out of house and home!"

"Y-yes, Snom sure do possess a hefty appetite. Th-the nutrients the gain from it helps them evolve."

"Your knowledge on this subject never gets old." She chuckles. "Although speaking of which, I wonder when Rhodo will evolve. Supposedly they evolve in captivity if they have a strong bond with their trainer, and we're pretty close… Wonder if that's true."

"I'm very certain it's proven to be the case. In fact-"

"Woah!!! Talk about a coincidence!" I swing my head over to view Rhodo, and see her suddenly start glowing! She's consumed by a bright light- Evolution! Her body drastically changes as she's consumed by the light, and it fades away to reveal a beautiful Frosmoth! Robynn holds her hand out for her newly evolved Pokémon to stand on and gently stretch it's gorgeous wings out. "Cool, huh? It's a shame this is right before I'm sending her back to Unova, but I'm enjoying the moment. I'm sure you are as well, eh?"

"Yes, very much so!" I'm lost in my awe of the pretty ice and bug-type Pokémon, but slowly my focus drifts away from Rhodo and more towards her trainer… Fromosth may be beautiful, but right now the way Robynn looks under the light of the moon as she's admiring her Pokémon as well- albeit it to a lesser extent- is almost picturesque. By some coincidence, her natural hair and eye color, as well as the colors of her clothes, somehow perfectly compliment the graceful Frosmoth that roosts against the back of her hand. Despite being in the presence of such a gorgeous creature, she's able to stay calm and collected.

My heart beats at a rapid pace, and something comes over me- I don't know what that something exactly is, but I've experienced it before when I last spent time with Avril. Whatever it is, it drives me to place a hand on Robynn's shoulder to take her attention off Rhodo.

"O-oh, June? What's up?" I don't know why, but I'm unable to answer. All I can do is wrap my other arm around her shoulders and gaze deep into her blue eyes.

🐞June's party🐞

32,492

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WizardOfOdd · Dec 31, 2020

Katrina Purcell
Location: Slateport Town
Pokemon at hand :

Friday, September 18th

Chapter 1 - 9
Slateport Adventures

"So how is it? Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, thank you so much." I looked back from my wheelchair with a smile as I answered Jack's question.

After we met earlier in the morning, the first thing he did when he locked eyes with me was to repeatedly say sorry to me. He said that he forgot that he had invited me to a training session and that he'll treat me to breakfast as an apology.

I didn't really mind about him forgetting his promise with me, though. I'm already used to people not honoring a promise they made with me for various reasons that I knew is totally false, At least he wasn't lying like my 'friends' back then.

Because I didn't want to disturb him more than what I already asked, we eventually decided to have brunch together. It went really well, except for the fact that he was barely able to see me in the eyes, this, unfortunately, made me feel the same thing. If it wasn't for him, I would've easily forgotten what happened last night. But eventually, we managed to

It was almost midday and we were only done visiting a few places at this point.

"It's a bit too hot, huh?" Jack asked me with a worried face.

"No, no, it's not! I'm fine, definitely fine!" I tried my best to maintain my composure. I didn't expect him to read my mind at all.

It was obviously a lie. The climate here was much hotter than what I used to experience back in Galar, so traveling under this weather wasn't that comfortable for me, even when I already wore thinner clothes. But I couldn't possibly bother Jack more than this, not after what he had done for me so far.

"Take this." Jack reached to his backpack before putting a white parasol on my lap.

"No, I'll be fine. Thanks for the offer though." I tried my best to return the parasol, but he didn't budge at all.

"Just use it, Kat. It's a shame for me to bring it without it getting used at all."

I reluctantly accepted his offer and opened the parasol.

It was a small yet ornate parasol decorated with laces, definitely not something a boy would use. It didn't look like it was for use outside of aesthetic purposes either.

Yet what surprised me the most was the brand of the parasol. It was from a high-end brand reputable for making parasols for VIPs around the world. It's definitely not something I expected Jack to have in his possession for a journey around Hoenn.

Intrigued, I looked at it even closer and saw the name Sally embroidered on its canopy. Maybe this parasol originally belonged to Jack's mother? That could explain why this parasol had so many laces. I was curious, but I didn't have the guts to ask him about that. Not after seeing how he reacted yesterday when he talked about his mother.

At least it felt really great that I didn't have to struggle with the sun anymore. And since there was shade now, I decided to call out Aurora from her Pokeball.

Sadly, even when I already scolded her yesterday, she didn't stop glaring at Jack which was a bit worrisome for me. But, Jack didn't seem to mind too much, which is something I was really thankful for. I'm sure Aurora could behave well eventually, maybe she just needed more time to get used to other people outside the estate.

I rubbed her head to calm her down as we continued our journey down the road.

Jack continued to show me around the city with enthusiasm, or at least that's how I interpret his facial expression. Or maybe he's just being polite? I was not very sure. But, he didn't look like he was having any issues at all when answering my questions about the locations we visited, which made what I know about Hoenn in general felt like a joke in comparison.

The streets around the city were really crowded, but I had a lot of fun. Mostly because I didn't get strange looks from people around. It's hard to relax when you have a security detail surveilling your daily activities.

Hours flew by as we crossed out more places on our list of places to visit and by lunchtime, we only had a few places left to visit. Including a majestic building that was standing in front of us.

"So this is it, right?"

"Yeah, this should be the right place… This is one of a kind building around here anyway."

We stood in front of what we presumed to be the Pokemon Fan Club building. Although it was pretty clear that none of us was sure of that presumption since we ended up standing there for a bit.

Jack was twiddling with his old Pokegear, If I had to guess he was a bit worried that this wasn't the right place. And I wouldn't blame him at the slightest for that though, I never thought that the fan club would have such a majestic mansion as one of their branches.

I wasn't really helpful… No, scratch that. I wasn't helpful at all. Wait, this is my chance, I could finally—

"Well, there's no use to fret. Even the internet stated this is the place, so we should just go in and... Hey, Kat! Where are you going!?"

I moved the wheelchair on my own as I barreled down the road towards the mansion's front door. Jack was trying to understand what was wrong with me, but at that moment I didn't even realize that he was calling for me.

I was too focused on one thought that had been clouding my mind. I wasn't angry at him at all, but I was angry at myself for my inability to do anything for him in return for what he did to me. Because of that, I wasn't able to look him in the face. All I could think at this moment was that whatever my mother said was wrong... I was not a useless person, I was not a burden, I was not a good for nothing, I... I... I'll prove her wrong.

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forg · Dec 31, 2020

Koko Puffs
◇ Dewford
◇ Sept. 20 (Evening)

Spoiler:

From between Onix's jaws a yellow energy orb exploded into a linear beam of breath, slightly parting the surface of the sea.

"Hell yeah, nice one!" congratulated Koko, clapping before grabbing a baseball; the previous hour had been spent batting cheap baseballs into the distance, which in turn gave her onix a moving target to aim at.

Sadly the onix had a 50% of striking the target.

"Ready Kin kin? Batta batta swing!" announced Koko, sluggishly tossing the ball upwards before batting into the sunset. A yellow beam illuminated the vicinity, the iridescent waters beneath reflecting the baseball being incinerated.

Chapter 3.2

Birds chirped in harmony to the sound of idle chatter, distant lapping waves acting as background noise. Amongst the one-story buildings was a family-owned convenience store, its fluorescent lights leaking into a darkening world. During the stagnant hours the employee would partake in cleaning, stocking, calling, or in this case, look at the clock as it neared closing time.

Three minutes until he counts the money and closes the store. But unfortunately he lives in a time period where Koko graces the earth with her presence.

From the depths of the outside land beyond the store, Koko pulls open the door to the cute shop. The bell that would normally bring joy and the thought of money to the employee now brought with it distraught.

Onix was summoned back to his Pokéball before she proceeded further inside, the musty attic-y scent delightfully hitting her nostrils. There was a hint of cigarette in the smell, but if anything it added to its charm.

As the door closed steadily behind her, a curious critter made a mad dash into the inside, burying beneath the aisle shelves. Koko only caught a glimpse, but by the time the young trainer shifted her gait to follow it, the critter had long hidden beneath the store shelves; she didn't have the energy to pursue.

Annoyed and with a grimace to display, the employee heavily sighed and slumped on to his plastic chair. He observed as Koko meandered around the store, plucking two chocolate bars to compare. Not too far from the young girl was another customer, a young man himself who had entered ten minutes earlier.

While rummaging the snacks for anything to pop out and call to him, his eyes accidentally catched a glimpse of Koko. His memories stirred, gears grinding as he felt deja vu at the sighting. "Nah… ain't this some shit, it's donut girl." The ah-hah moment carried with it a desire to make a new friend, hoping he could be recognized and admired for his good looks.

He approached Koko, white tank top and beige shorts allowing his bloody red bandanna and flip flops to pop out. It's a method he enjoys to exploit; many do not realize they gaze from either article of clothing, allowing him to utter "stop checking me out. "

He clears his throat and stands next to her, muscles for arms stretching above him, hence the grunt at the start of his conversation. "Eeeeey, donut girl, remember me from Slateport? Gave you the donuts- also, thanks little lady, I really appreciated the help."

Koko did not register the words. Instead she heard a muffled voice break through her concentration, unable to decide whether she wants a peanut butter gooey chocolate or milky mint bar. "Ooooh… hey."

Disillusioned by the reaction, the young adult cleared his throat in hopes of starting over and succeeding a second time around.

Shifting between both feet and with hands deep into his front pockets, he takes a good look at the bars. "Hey, heyheyhey, we cool, right? You really helped me out back there at the beach. I had an… appointment and my boss didn't get me."

"Yeaaaah, we cool," Koko automatically replied, still deep in thought over her candy bars; peanut butter is sticky and gooey yet down to earth while mint would freshen her mouth and give her a small wake up call with the taste of winter blizzards.

"Aight." Koko hesitantly returns the peanut butter chocolate bar, having already forgotten about the conversation that had just transpired. The man has not, however.

"Want some donuts and-"

Koko's reaction was immediate, hand slapping her chosen candy bar back into its respective bin and head tilting to face him. "YES." As was the Pokémon that had sneaked beneath the store shelves, who poked their head out from under to catch a glimpse of the human duo with their stomach rumbling.

The man sucked breath through teeth, recalling her priorities from their last encounter. "Donuts. That's when you pay attention."

"Oh, you don't have any?"

"What…?" Caught off guard by her calm demeanor, he watched as she turned and retrieved the chocolate bar she had just set down. "Really."

"My bad. Thought you had donuts," she explained further, beginning to head over to the counter. The man, of whom his name has yet to be uttered, does not pursue the matter, flabbergasted Koko paid no attention to his "godly" physique.

Irritated, his gaze fell on the empty can of soda, where several drips of the liquid sparkled beneath the fluorescent lights. And with a jolt of energy he acted on his emotions, kicking the can down the isles and beneath the shelves. But with the can's sharp shrill a faint shriek accompanied it soon after.

A loud crash of items startled the three still inside the convenience store. Bemused yet curious, the young man heads over to where the critter crawled to. But on the contrary the employee was vexed in disbelief, having shoved the items on the counter before him to the side to leap over. He hollered to the pile of chips and sweets that was originally a triangle display, eyes scanning the vicinity for the culprit. "Oh HELL NO- STUPID- AAAA!" Frustrated at the thought of staying past his shift, the employee began to rearrange the rectangular containers of junk food.

Feeling the tendrils of apprehension crawl up her cold chest, Koko set her candy on the nearest shelf and made her way past the pile of fallen food with a quickened pace. She paid no attention to the two men huddled around the pile.

Upon reaching the door the small bug Pokémon made a mad dash towards it, but to its dismay and horror it was closed, causing it to crash and whimper by Koko's feet; it was a... discolored Wimpod.

They locked eyes, Koko's of which was a little surprised to see just who may have made the commotion.

Feet away the men had partaken in a delightful conversation of their own.

"YOU NEED TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS!"

"AaaaaAAAH HELL NO, IT WASN'T ME MAN!"

Somewhat sympathizing with the Pokémon's uneasiness and trepidations, Koko opened the door to the cold, outside world. And as she expected, the wimpod scurried out without a look back, heart beating out of its chest.

Finding the critter adorable, she leaves the store with a small smile and an employee who had begun to holler at her to return, yet due to having shut them out seconds ago Koko hadn't realized it was directed at her.

QueenNothing · Dec 31, 2020

Junko "June" Enomoto

Tuesday, September 21st, Evening

Latching my arms around someone I haven't known very long under a starry night sky with the sounds of nature setting the mood, my heart beating uncontrollably fast, yet both inside and out I'm feeling very relaxed as I experience a sudden confidence spike- I've been in a near identical situation before, but I won't let this end like my previous attempt.

Currently, my eyes are locked with Robynn's, and my arms caress around her shoulders. It's the beginning of the night, and not many people wander these streets at this time. I can't imagine there'll be any foreign interruptions, so I should be able to do this with relative ease.

Slowly, my head rears forward. As I lean in towards Robynn, I casually move my hair behind my ears, fixating on her widened eyes before mine shut the closer I get. She seems to be frozen solid, which I take as a sign that she's ready. My lips inch closer to hers, and soon enough they'll make contact.

...Or so they would, if Robynn didn't forcefully release herself from my grip and back away a few feet. I open my eyes to see her breathing heavily, looking uncharacteristically panicked. What's going on?? I didn't overstep my boundaries, did I??

"R-Robynn, is everything alright??"

"Y-yeah, it's all good, just…" Her sentence is cut short by her panting. "I'm fine, I swear!"

"I-is it something I did?? If so, I'm v-very so-"

She shakes her head in a frenzy. "No no no! No, not at all, it's not your fault, don't feel bad!" Even though she's incredibly insistent that I'm not at fault, it's difficult not to think I've taken things a step too far. "I'm just uh, tired, y'know? Y-yeah, that's it- I've had a long day today with contests and all that! I think I need to get some rest, so, uh, bye June! S-see you on Thursday!" She turns around and runs away before I can say goodbye back.

I'm not sure what just happened, and I'm especially not sure if it was my fault or not. I assumed from her flirtatious behavior that she was expecting such a thing- Apparently not. I mean, why would she if she isn't interested? This doesn't add up, and I'm left extremely puzzled.

I'd rather not think too hard on it right now though- I might not like the conclusion I'll come to. Plus, I'm thinking I might want to go to sleep fairly soon, I suppose it has indeed been a long day. Tomorrow, I'll be challenging the Petalburg gym, and I want to be focused on that once it rolls around.

🐞June's party🐞

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Spoiler:

WizardOfOdd · Jan 1, 2021

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Pokemon Fan Club Branch, Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Friday, September 18th

Chapter 1 - 6
Money Saving or Penny Pinching?

I've been sitting on this comfortable sofa for 15 minutes now. There's a cup of tea of extraordinary quality in front of me, and there was a wonderful lady who was really helpful in explaining whatever I needed to know about what I was signing up for.

Normally, I would feel very confident by now. Yet all I could feel in that moment was uneasiness and doubts creeping in my mind.

I had to admit that the fact that there was no Pokemon Fan Club branch in Kinyo made me oblivious to its existence. So obviously, it threw me off course even further when I obtained the information that the branch in this town was located at something that looked more like a millionaire's seasonal retreat.

Unfortunately, that thing was the least of my worry, all because of Katrina… She seemed to have a 180 degree turn on her mood out of the blue. Even I had to admit that she was 'a bit too aggressive' in her questions about the fan club, which I had to remind her of. Twice.

I couldn't understand what's wrong with her… Did I make her angry with something? But what? She was smiling all the way to the front door before finally going on her own without any warning.

Did this house remind her of home? Nah… Maybe I was going too far with my assumptions. So I decided at that point to focus solely on the matter of the fan club and then whatever about Katrina could be dealt with after we finished here.

"So, how is it? It's a great opportunity to help you grow as a trainer, don't you think?" Said the woman in front of me while smiling widely.

The helpful woman in question is the receptionist of the Pokemon Fan Club establishment. She had been patient enough to answer my questions regarding the benefits that membership status would grant me and Kat on our journey and so far, it sounded really good so far and there was no real caveat except the monthly membership fee. Yet I was unable to open my mouth and answer her clearly about my decision.

Katrina wasn't helping either, her face didn't look too happy about being here and after the last time I told her to ease up, she clammed up instead without saying anything. It's not great for the atmosphere here.

At this point, I was actually starting to feel bad with both the receptionist and Kat, especially since I was not so oblivious to the fact that I had asked a ton of questions to understand the benefits and risks of the fan club.

I imagined that Kat was already feeling mad by how indecisive I was. After all, if I were in her shoes, I would probably blow a gasket seeing how I couldn't come up with a decision after all of these questions.

But what could I do? I'm not like her who could afford the newest edition of Pokegear, not to mention the clothing that she wore. She probably didn't realize that one piece of her clothing would equal the monthly budget of an average person, let alone a traveling trainer. I'm pretty sure she would be able to afford this membership even if she wanted to sign up for her the rest of her life.

But for me, money wasn't a luxury I could spend willy-nilly without repercussions. The more bucks I shelled out, the more time would go to waste for doing requests and part-time jobs to obtain more. Trainer items didn't come cheap, you know?

The deliberation caused me to unconsciously grit my teeth while mulling over the proper course of action I'd have to take.

"Gee, you're making her job become much harder than it should be, young man." An old man sitting at the nearby sofa suddenly opened his mouth, he raised his cup to finish his drink before approaching us.

I was about to ask politely about who he was, but the receptionist had beaten me to the punch.

"Ah, Mr. Lacroix. There's no need to be worried about me, it is my job anyway."

"How could I leave you alone, when I knew you haven't had your lunch break yet? You should just man the reception desk and order some food to eat, I'll take care of the rest from here."

"But…"

The man smiled widely at the lady, which eventually made her give in to the old man's demand and excused herself.

It wasn't very visible to the others, but I was feeling much more pressure than before as the man sat in front of me with what looked like a soft smile plastered on his face.

Maybe it's because of how he dressed or due to some intangibles beyond my understanding, but his presence exuded the aura of a 60's movie villain who would make his subordinate sleep with the Carvanha with one wrong answer. The x-shaped scar on the left side of his cheek didn't help at all with my presumption of him.

Maybe I should've registered myself as soon as possible instead of asking many more questions, now I had to deal with the chance that I might try the notorious 'cement shoes' soon enough.

"I hope you don't mind that I replace her to help you with your decision." Said the old man whole smiled softly as he crossed his leg.

"O-oh no, no, I don't really mind…"

Of course, that was a lie. But I barely had any choice, it's not like I had the heart to deny the receptionist lady her lunch break either. I knew full well how it was to get your lunch break gone in a flash because someone didn't understand the concept of other people's free time.

In my case, that's one of the reasons why I always kept the always reliable 'faking sick' card to escape troublesome requests from teachers back at the academy. I had the medical history to back it up, so of course, it worked very well.

And so, our discussion continued. This time with a different person helping us or maybe it was more correct to say me, in my deliberation to sign up for the fan club membership.

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QueenNothing · Jan 1, 2021

Junko "June" Enomoto

Wednesday, September 23rd, Morning

The door of the gym slides open, and the interior is reminiscent of the Dewford Gym, being a dojo with a wood floor, but is larger and clearly managed better. Perhaps the biggest contrast is that an old man with black hair, probably in his fifties or sixties, stands directly in the center of the room, tightly crossing his arms and has his eyes closed. He has a bit of a delayed reaction to the door opening, and opens his eyes, sternly staring straight at me. The harsh frown on his face softens only a little when spotting me.

"Greetings, challenger!" The man stiffly bows with his hands clapped together. "My name is Norman, I am the official gym leader here! What might your name be?"

The formalities of this gym leader are a drastic contrast from Brawly. "Um, hello! My name is Junko Enomoto, but please call me June."

"Enomoto?" Norman seems familiar with the name. It's not surprising; Both my father and uncle have challenged this gym. Norman examines me before he smiles. "You must be Tetsuo's niece! He's brought you up in passing, but my I didn't think you'd take after him this much, especially his height! I've even battled your father years ago! He was one of the first trainers to challenge me, a chaotic soul he was- Or still is, I've heard."

"Somethings never change I guess." Hearing how my dad's behavior isn't too different from when he was a teenager is humorous but also kind of worrying. "I suppose I'll be following in his footsteps by challenging you."

"Maybe so, but there's a crucial difference between you and him- You won't be facing me."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"WALLY!" Ignoring my question, Norman's booming voice echoes throughout the gym. The eardrum-shattering shout causes me to instinctively cover my ears. "You have a new challenger!"

There's a moment of silence where nothing comes from Norman's yell, but after a few minutes I notice someone boyish looking enter from a sliding door to my right.

"Master, I'm sorry! I got too caught up in training!!" He hastily stumbles across the dojo floor, panting heavily. A few things about this figure stand out to me- His very pale skin, his messy green hair that he has tucked into a short ponytail, and he wears baggy green sweatpants below a thick white warm-up jacket. But most jarring of all this is his height- He's shorter than me by about a foot, and his soft round face gives me the impression he can't be much older than me! From all the sweat that rolls down his face, I'm under the impression he's very dedicated to his craft at least. Is he a child prodigy?

"Oh…" I'm unable to mask my shock at Wally's stature. "Why, um, hello there. I'm June, and I guess I'm going to be challenging you today."

Wally frustratedly sighs. "I know what you're thinking, but I'm not a kid!" His voice is a bit unfitting with his appearance. If not for that, I'd assume he's a pre-teen eager to distance himself from his child years, although it's still difficult to think otherwise.

"O-oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to offend you!"

"None taken." Norman states for his student without consoling him at all, entertained by the behavior of the boy (young man? I can't say I'm sure.) "This is my apprentice, Wally. I'm aging, and I'd like to make sure my gym goes to a trusty trainer before I retire, so he'll be battling in my place to learn first-hand what it's like to be a leader."

"I see. It makes sense to pass your gym onto a younger apprentice."

"HEY!!!" Wally suddenly shouts, causing me to jump. "I'm not that much younger than Master!!"

"Thirty-two is very young compared to me! Enjoy it while you're still ripe!" Norman hartily laughs.

"Th-thirty-two!?!?" I'm in deep disbelief to hear he's that old. Although, multiple people have thought I'm older than I look. I'm not sure if I'm someone who can judge this kind of thing.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Wally exhaustedly exhales. "I just want to battle already."

"Of course." Norman staunchly bobs his head twice before taking a few steps back. "I shall be the referee. And as for the format, I suggest double battles; It's something I've noticed Wally exells in. Does either party object?"

"Not really. I would be fine with whatever works."

"Sure, sounds good." Wally affirms, grinning with a modest confidence. "And of course before we begin, how many badges does my challenger have, and if only one, is it from Brawly?"

What an oddly specific question. "As a matter of fact, that's exactly the case." I admit. "He awarded me the Knuckle Badge, although I'm not sure if I deserved it…"

"Yep, that's Brawly." Wally. "But I'm not like him. I give my challengers everything I have!"

"...To a reasonable extent, so they still have a chance of victory." Norman butts in from against the back of the gym. "Remember, this isn't the Pokemon League! If your challenger only has the Knuckle Badge, that should give you an idea of how experienced they might be. Give them room for growth while not going soft."

"R-right, obviously." The green haired bo- err, man nervously laughs, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, we should probably just take our places already."

The two of us step back until we stand on opposing sides of the dojo floor. Facing Wally with the distance, I try mentally preparing myself for what I'm about to face. Maybe I shouldn't be too concerned- Wally might not be as brutal as I've heard Norman was in the past.

"The gym battle between the challenger, Junko Enomoto, and the gym leader, Wally Greene is about to begin in a two-on-two double battle!" Norman announces, lifting his arms up in place of flags referees use. "Both sides, send out your Pokémon!"

Wally grabs two Pokeballs from his pockets, tossing them both onto the ground. Two Pokémon I've never seen before are sent onto the field; One is green and seems to be a reptile, whereas the other is a stern sort of black and white creature, and its eyes glow pink, probably the cause of the battlefield appearing so… weird. It's hard to describe, but if I have to, the surrounding area looks sort of fuzzy and distorted, even if I can still see pretty clearly through it.

I use the Pokedex to scan everything, finding out these two Pokémon are Kecleon and Indeedee, and Indeedee's ability, Psychic Surge, is activated.

"These are who I'll be using- Leon and Indy!"

According to my PokeGear, Leon is just a simple normal-type, but Indy is both normal and psychic type. Their type disadvantages are listed, and luckily for me, Indy specifically is weak to bug-type attacks. Although, even if I exclusively carry bug Pokémon, they actually know few bug-type attacks. I meditate on it a bit, and after enough hesitation, send Einstein and Sting out.

"Begin!!"

"Einstein, use Light Screen! Sting, get close to Indy and use Bug Bite!"

Leon uses what the Pokedex says is Shadow Ball, which heads directly to Einstein. Fortunately, he sets Light Screen up just in time to minimize the damage taken.

Sting aggressively moves in towards Indy. His proboscis straightens, and he floats closer with every second, but the cylinder shaped ears of the Pokémon seem to jiggle and glow pink, and an unexpected stream of fire flows from his mouth. Sting tries dodging, but Indy's flame follows quickly, hitting Beautifly and nearly knocking him to the ground. He recovers back to his previous position at least, but I know another Mystical Fire will be too much for Sting.

Currently, I'm mainly focused on Sting, but I become alert when noticing Leon is nowhere to be seen. I frantically look around the room and stop at Einstein's shadow- There he is! Leon knows Shadow Sneak! Surrounded in dark energy, he tackles Einstein, which deals strong damage, but Einstein shoots a Confusion back at point-blank range in retaliation. As he recoils, the green on his body morphs to pink; The Pokedex says this is Color Change, and Leon is now a psychic type. As this happens, Indy shoots another Mystic Flame aimed at Sting.

While both Pokémon know moves that put my team at a disadvantage, I think it's clear that Indy is the bigger threat. At my command, Sting side-steps at the absolute last second and spits an Electroweb forward, arcing down over Indy.

"Great job Sting!"

"That was a good move!" Wally says, eyeing Norman while also looking directly at me. "But let me show you what a soon-to-be gym leader can do! Indy, use Ally Switch!"

In the blink of an eye, both Pokémon suddenly swap places! Now Leon suffers from the electric shock of the web- his skin now shifts to yellow- while Indy is free to use another Mystical Fire against Sting! It's no use having him get close, and Sting uses Gust to blow the fire away. As this happens, Leon uses Shadow Sneak to escape the Electroweb, reappearing behind Einstein, preparing to charge into him, but with my reflexes, I have him place a Reflect up to bounce Kecleon back.

"Ally Switch again!"

Once more, Indy and Leon switch places. With Indy being very close to Einstein, he unleashes a Mystical Fire that burns through Light Screen, and deals super effective damage! As this occurs, Leon fires off a Shadow Ball that Sting isn't able to dodge, knocking him back a few feet in the air, but nothing that makes him faint. Sting shoots another Electroweb forward, but Kecleon dodges with Shadow Sneak, reappearing in the shadow under Sting, and jumps upwards to smash his body weight and dark energy into Beautifly.

Before he can even recover, Indy uses yet another Ally Switch, appearing right below Sting. At such a close position, it becomes impossible to avoid another Mystical Fire. He hisses in pain as he's scorched before spiraling to the wooden floor complimented with a THUD sound.

"Sting, no!!!"

Looking back at Einstein, he doesn't look much better- He's laying on his back, dots and eyes a gray color. The implications of this are obvious.

"Challenger Junko Enomoto has lost the match! The winner is Wally Greene!"

I expected this. Both my Pokémon look pained lying on the floor, Indy's Mystical Fire too much for them. I wasn't prepared for this, although I'm not sure if anything could have- Brawly certainly didn't. Gym battles are an entire world I might be unfit for.

Unable to bear how hurt they are, I recall them to their Pokeballs, hiding my shame. Not wanting to seem rude, I put a weak smile on my face, and face towards both Wally and Norman. "Thank you for your time." I say, trying and failing to appear not completely defeated.

"You guys did so good!" Wally cheers, petting his Pokémon before glancing back to his mentor after he gives a very pointed "Ahem."

"Err, my bad. June, you did pretty alright too. I think you should work on your, uhh…" He scratches his chin while he struggles to come up with something worth saying. "Try getting better at battling." Norman groans with his face shallowly buried in his palm.

"Thank you. I'm sure I will." In reality, this advice is so vague it gives me little to work with. Wanting to heal my Pokémon as soon as possible, I thank Wally and Norman one more time before leaving the gym. I assure them that I'll return, but realistically I can't say I'll keep my promise- I never want to see my Pokémon so harmed ever again.

Einstein grew to level 26!
Sting grew to level 23!

🐞June's party🐞

32,492

Spoiler:

Evily · Jan 1, 2021

Shuna Kamado

Sunday, September 20 {???}
Epoch 2.3: Granite Cave
In the Depths! Escape and Aftermath!

With a groan, Shuna slowly opened her eyes, seeing a gray ceiling with stalactites clinging and some broken off. For a second, Shuna was confused and dizzy, but once Finn's face popped in her line of vision, the memories of what occurred beforehand came rushing back. Quickly sitting up, the girl held her head from the dizzy spell.

She heard a small squeak and something poking her side. Looking over, she saw Argo standing beside her, pushing his head into her side gently. She chuckled at the small pokemon's action, lifting her hand to pet the iron armor pokemon's head, gaining his attention.

Said pokemon looked up, and cried out when he saw his trainer awake and alive! Unshed tears gathered before he cried out, snuggling into her side; Shuna could feel the pokemon's tears soaking her skin- wait… skin?

She gently pushed Agro away, patting his head one last time before slowly standing, hissing when she felt one of her ankles flare up her pain receptors. Ignoring the pain, she looked down at herself, only to see her clothes were ripped. The bottom of the dress was ripped up until her shorts were visible, her jacket was open with the zipper broken as well, and there were small cuts all over her body. She wouldn't doubt that her hair was a mess and might have to check to see if it wasn't accidentally cut while she was passed out.

"Kip!" Turning around, she saw Finn running over to her with a different colored Aggron trailing behind, but they looked calm compared to the other Aggron, and there was a Mawile and an Aron on each side of them. What was going on?

"Finn…"Shuna uttered, kneeling down to hug her starter before letting go, looking over the mudfish for any wounds. "Are you ok? Where's Inka? What happened?" Finn chirped as Inka appeared from behind Finn, hugging Shuna around her neck with a squeal. "That answers one question…" Standing up, she saw Agro standing in front of the Aggron, squealing as he shook his head. The Aggron groaned before lifting a claw, one finger pointing towards a tunnel a few feet away.

"A tunnel…?" It looked different from the one Kira jumped into… did she fall to the next floor?! Looking up, she saw there was a hole big enough for her to fall through, but why were her injuries minimal? It didn't make sense with how high the fall must have been, unless… she took a glance at the Aggron, and noticed it had some scratches and dirt. Did the Aggron save her? But why, did it fight off the other Aggron? or did she fall through and just happen to fall in their arms?

Agro squealed before running over to Shuna, squealing once more before motioning his head to the tunnel. She knew he wanted them to leave, but she still had a question… "Why?" Facing the Aggron, she wanted to know why the Pokemon saved her and her Pokemon even though it barely knew them. "Why did you help me and my pokemon?"

The Aggron stared for a while before groaning, looking over at Agro and nodding his head.

She thought he was ignoring her, but when she saw the iron armor pokemon look her way before nodding at Agro again, it finally clicked. "Agro's one of your kin, isn't he…?" When she received a nod, she let out a shaky breath, bringing a hand to her hair. "So that's why your coloring is different... Argo is a shiny Pokemon and his parent's a shiny as well... Not what I expected." The Aggron growled before turning around, walking down towards the tunnel. The Mawile waved at Shuna and her pokemon before turning tail to follow Aggron, the Aron squealed before doing the same. So that was Agro's family… How did he get in that whole if his family is down here?

Shaking her head, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and walked over to the tunnel, following behind the Aggron and their two 'ducklings'. Once Shuna was close, Agro walked over to her side, and the walk to the surface began.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Along the way, they had encountered a lot of pokemon that she never thought would be seen. Luckily, Agro's family kept them at bay, even going as far as throwing one pokemon and almost causing another incident. About hours later, they finally found their way back to the surface…

"I don't see Kira anywhere…" Shuna mumbled as she looked around the familiar tunnel with Aggron, Mawile, and Aron behind her. She saw a light from one end of the tunnel, "Kira?" Before she could go investigate, the light moved before revealing the same ranger who was leading the tourist group she and Kira were a part of.

She could hear the ranger calling for her, but hearing steps, she turned to see Aggron and his two ducklings heading back into the darkness. "Thank you!" She could hear Aggron's roar before hearing Mawile and Aron's slightly lower roars as well, then silence. A hand grasped her shoulder, turning her around to face the ranger, who looked upset, but worried and relieved. Didn't expect that kind of adventure… but I got to meet Agro's family…

- - - - - - Hours Later - - - - - -

"Where is she?" Shuna looked away from the male, taking a drink of her hot cocoa. "Shuna, tell me. Where. Is. That. Girl."

"If I tell you, you're going to hunt her down, aren't you?" Shuna mused, refusing to make eye contact with the male. She never knew that Souei would be so pissed after hearing what happened, but she didn't expect the male to put the blame on Kira. "Don't blame her though, I went along and could have stopped us before it got dangerous."

"Shuna, you are worth more than you think-" Before Souei could finish, Shuna placed down her cup rather harshly, causing some to spill out. Shuna, however, didn't notice and glared at Souei.

"My life and health can't be worth more than another person's, that's not how I see it. We all have equal value, and I will risk my life if push comes to shove." At her words, Souei's eyes widened before closing, chuckling for a few seconds before opening his eyes with a smirk.

"I see…" Souei stared at Shuna for awhile, before whispering to himself, "You're getting more and more interesting Kamado…"

- - - - - - Timeskip: After the Contest (Monday, Sept. 21) - - - - - -

"...Did you know that I lied?"

Confused by his words, Shuna placed down the book she was reading, looking at Souei with narrowed eyes, "What do you mean…?" Currently, Shuna was sitting inside the PC, hoping for some peace and quiet right after the contest, but the moment Souei showed up, that hope was shattered.

Souei smirked, pointing at her hair, "The dye was never permanent, I only had the lady put in enough dye to last for a few days, but with how much you bath, I wouldn't be surprised if it starts coming off…" He blinked before the smirk widened, "Did you just take a bath and not look in the mirror?"

"...Yeah, why?"

"The pink is showing again."

"...WHAT?!" Instantly, Shuna ran to her room and into the bathroom, and in her reflection in the mirror, she saw some of her strands were pink with her two front bangs showing a bit of lily pink. She took off all her clothes and jumped into the bath, working on taking off the dye the second her brain caught up with what she saw.

- - - - - - Awhile Later- - - - - -

"How could you…" Shuna mumbled, glaring at Souei who sat across from her in the small table they occupied in the cafe area of the PC. "I thought I really lost my pink hair and you didn't tell me it was temporary…"

"It was funny to me, isn't that what they call a prank?" Souei inquired as he took a sip of his coffee. "Just told the lady to use… what do they call it… kool-aid and mildly hot water."

"Don't ever come near or my children." Was all Shuna said, refusing to look at Souei, not noticing the males small smirk.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Current Team:

Spoiler:

Inventory:

Spoiler:

WizardOfOdd · Jan 2, 2021

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Pokemon Fan Club Branch, Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Friday, September 18th

Chapter 1 - 7
Domino

"So, young man. First thing first, I would like to apologize that I eavesdropped on a conversation that had nothing to do with me."

"Oh no, no… It's okay."

"However, I do feel the need to intervene here because I do feel that there was no reason to refuse the offer. Of course, unless you have financial woes."

"Oh no, no it's nothing of that sort."

I explained to him why I hesitated to make a judgment this early, which made him snickering instead of being baffled which was the reaction I expected beforehand.

"You have a great mindset. Back in my youth, I wasted my whole allowance in the first week of my journey. I'm not going to lie, it was endearing in its own way, but it's not an experience I would like to rewind haha."

Our conversation about the fan club instead devolved to the story of Mr.Lacroix's youth. He told us several stories about how it was in the old days, he also sprinkled several reasons why signing with the fan club was a great idea which was already within my expectation. It really changed my view of him though. I guess the saying 'never judge a book by its cover' was never. Thanks to that I managed to calm my nerves in front of him, although his aura didn't seem to fade completely in front of my eyes.

The conversation made me feel easier about my decision to join the Fan Club. Who knew better about the fan club's benefits than those who had experienced the journey himself? Maybe I really should just give it a try.

So I decided to sign for a month, it couldn't be that bad right? So I filled my data, away from Katrina's eyes obviously. And not long after, I was able to take my membership card. As for how her registration went…

"Is this enough?" Katrina pulled a single bill from her wallet.

"This!? Miss, this is much more than enough! Uh, please wait…" The receptionist started to process Katrina's membership card. In a much more frantic way than mine did if I may be honest.

I knew the receptionist would act that way… I mean what do you expect when a person went ahead and pulled ₱100.000 bill out of nowhere. Well, at least Kat didn't show the inside of her wallet, a normal person would faint instantly if they knew how much she put there.

And so we quickly left the place and went straight for lunch. But something wasn't right, my senses were tingling… Like there was something I should've realized beforehand. But I couldn't grasp why exactly… God, maybe I was just lacking sleep. Yeah, that's probably it, or maybe it's the fact that I haven't had lunch yet.

So I decided to do the best thing and just ignore whatever it was, maybe I was just so hungry that I'm not thinking straight. So both of us left the mansion as soon as possible without looking back and went straight to whatever restaurant was recommended by an app on the ancient Pokegear. God, I miss using my Holotch outside without having to worry about someone recognizing my identity.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Back at Pokemon Fan Club)

"Is that true?"

"Yes, I'm 100% sure. Uh sir, please don't tell the management about this… This is already a breach of my—"

"Don't worry. I'll guarantee that they will not hear anything about this. I'm really sorry that I had to ask you to do me a favor."

"Oh no, please don't. You don't need to thank me, Sir."

As Lola went back to the usual day-to-day administration, I started to ponder about the two kids that came earlier. Apparently, my hunch was right, they were not ordinary trainers at all, or at least their background weren't.

Granted, it was the ₱100.000 bill that had tipped me off. But that was enough to intrigue me about who they were and the result sure didn't lie.

Well, it would be interesting to see how they would develop, especially that girl. However, knowing her mother's personality, that girl shouldn't be here at all. But that would also mean... I had to be quick about this.

Without wasting any time, I scrolled my contact list in a hurry, there was no way I could let her mother hinder her journey. I thought that some insurance would be necessary for her to do her journey in peace. But, hesitation soon took over and before long, I put down my Rotom Phone.

"Let fate take its course."

That sentence echoed in my head. Tch, no matter how long time had passed I couldn't seem to shake off his influence at all. How troublesome.

I always encouraged myself that I shouldn't dwell on the past, yet the fact that one little girl had shown up in front of me was enough to shake me up like this… I still couldn't believe that was enough to make me yearn for those days once more. How stupid. But, I guess if you were here, you would hit me in the head for thinking this way.

I poured whatever remained from the teapot into my cup.

And so, I raised my cup in a toast to honor an old friend. A great companion, a great friend, and an even greater person. An idiot who stopped at nothing to make his dream a reality, yet everyone who knew him couldn't deny the lasting impact he had even if his light had to be extinguished so soon.

"I miss you, Phil."

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WizardOfOdd · Jan 2, 2021

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Friday, September 18th

Chapter 1 - 8
Cheer Up, Sweet Princess

"Earth to Katrina, Katrina please respond."

It's been quite a bit since I and Kat sat down for a late lunch. Our orders had already arrived two minutes ago, yet all she did was staring blankly towards the wall.

It wasn't that pleasant to see her like this. She had been in the dumps for two days already, which was like 100% of the days she spent here. I thought I was the one carrying a lot of baggage in my journey, but nope… Looking at the signs, mine might be nothing compared to hers.

"Kat?"

I called her once more to no avail, well I guess I had no choice. I made a ring-shaped gesture with my thumb and middle finger before letting the latter loose and hitting her forehead, a gesture that was more identifiable under the name of 'a flick'.

"Ouch." She rubbed her head with her right arm. Maybe I hit her too hard? But, I just couldn't let her be.

"You okay?"

"I am fine, don't worry." She tried to put a huge smile on her face, what a bold attempt to lie.

"Li-ar." I said as I rolled my eyes.

"I said I'm FINE!" She slammed both her hands on the table, spilling a portion of her soup, and caused several other customers to look our way.

One of the waiters rushed to our aid to make sure everything was fine. I explained to him that everything was under control and after he cleaned up the mess on our table, he immediately went back to serve other customers.

I grabbed my fork and knife and started cutting the dish in front of me.

I took a bite of my meal and it was so delicious. Whoever the chef was, he applied a proper amount of spice without making the dish feel overpowering.

"Sorry."

Kat started to talk once more, this time while averting my gaze.

"Apology accepted."

"Thanks for today."

"Your welcome."

"...Are you mad? I'm sorry… Sorry, please don't yell at me."

I was barely able to keep at her response, and her expression right now pained me even more. Short responses that I gave didn't mean I was mad. What the hell was she facing back home? This is ridiculous.

"I am not… Geez. What made you think I was furious at you?"

"...Sorry."

"Come on, go eat your food. Perhaps you'll feel better after finishing your meal." I tried my best to put up a wide smile to cheer her up.

There was not much I could do here, unfortunately. I didn't know her enough to understand her situation and how to properly handle her outburst of emotion.

Maybe down the line? Well, we would have to see that first. Unfortunately, I was almost 100% sure that I wouldn't stay with her long enough for that to happen. I mean it's me, it wouldn't be long until she would realize that the negatives of her tagging with me far outweigh the benefits.

"One request."

"Hmm?"

"...You can ask any request you want. It's at least something I can do to repay what you've done for me."

Wow, that's… Heavy. I didn't have anything in mind to request. Hmm… Wait, I could use this to help her cheer up. Okay, I should go that route then.

"You know what I had in mind?"

"Can't you just tell me?"

"It wouldn't be fun that way, though."

"Fine… Is it trainer items?"

Predictably, she bit the bait without any hesitation.

"Nope."

"Money?"

"Bzzt, wrong." I made an x-shaped sign with both arms.

"Then what? I'm not a psychic, you know?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Kat nodded once more… I couldn't believe that she actually looked so earnest… Made me feel bad that I wasn't being serious at all. But I've gone this far so there was no turning back.

"Reeeallyyy~?" I asked in a playful tone to add more oomph to the incoming punchline.

"Yes, I do!"

"You." I smiled softly while moving my head close to hers, I made sure to look at her eyes too to add shock effect. This joke also gave me a recoil effect because it's damn embarrasing, but as long as she could cheer up then it's great enough. I mean it's the type of joke I was most proficient in thanks to Ali— Nevermind.

Her face literally turned red as red could be, as she moved her head away in panic. Cute.

Well, as much I liked to watch her in this state, at the same time I wasn't going to let her be in this state for much longer. It was fun, yes, but there was a part of me that believed that I would get myself decked if didn't stop.

"But, that's just a joke~"

I couldn't hold my laugh anymore when I saw her start to pout like an Emolga with its cheeks full of food. It was an expression far befitting of her instead of the sorrowful look she showed earlier.

"I'm leaving."

"Hey, hey, hey… I'm sorry."

I grabbed her arm as she tried to go out of the restaurant. Even if I knew it wasn't her real intentions, there was a little part of me who wanted to let her go away and then sulk for no reason to put her into a corner, but enough jokes for now.

"You're feeling better?"

"Thanks…"

"Don't sweat it."

We both finished our meal as fast as possible to finish the trip around the city before sunset.

Just as we finished our meal and started moving towards the Contest Hall, I remembered something. I was curious about how strong Kat really is… And I knew the exact thing that would answer that question easily.

"Hey, I know we don't have much time so we need to go to the Contest Hall right away but… Wanna blow off some steam after that?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know, stress-relieving, trainer style. A good old Pokemon battle."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Groc · Jan 3, 2021

Edison Kintobor
Tuesday, September 22nd, morning
Dewford Town

After separating from Marie yesterday, Edison had spent the remainder of his evening training Gremlin to use her new technique effectively. He'd of course tinkered with his Holotch one last time, but he had finally given up and accepted that it was beyond his ability to repair it.

Perhaps tomorrow will be better, he'd thought as he went to bed. I'll just keep moving forward, and who knows what will happen?

...

"Good morning, sleepy head!"

Ed is jolted from his sleep by a loud voice just overhead. To his immense confusion, he sees Sunny leaning over him and smiling.

"Wha- morning? Sunny? How did- what are you doing in my room?!"

"Looking for you, obviously." She heads over to lean against the small desk in the room. "I got worried when you didn't call yesterday, like you said you would. I figured you were cooped up in here all day, so I spent some time with Tsu. You remember Tsu, right? We met her just a couple days ago?"

"Yes, of course I remember... how did you get in here?"

"Oh, you forgot to lock your door last night. I just came right in. Anyway... I asked the nurse yesterday if she'd seen you, and she said you'd already come back. Guess the field test didn't go so well?"

Ed sighs, rubbing his hand across his face. "Something like that. I'm sorry I didn't call. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Water under the building, as they say." Sunny waves off his apology. "Now get up. I have a big day planned for us, and we have a schedule to keep!"

Ed nods as he stifles a yawn. Now that the shock and adrenaline are wearing off, he's waking up at a better pace. "Alright, alright. Could you... turn around? Or, preferably, leave the room while I get dressed?"

"Oh! Yeah. But no going back to sleep. I really do have plans." Sunny gets off the desk, heading out the door and closing it behind her.

Ed changes out of his sleepwear and into some proper clothes, leaving his sleeves unrolled as he foregoes his Holotch today. He considers Marie's advice about a new phone, wondering if he'll have time to stop at an electronics store during whatever crazy adventure Sunny has planned.

With everything packed up, he heads into the hall, where Sunny is waiting impatiently. "Took you long enough. Come on, no time to waste!"

"Is there at least time for breakfast? My Pokémon could use some food."

Sunny looks like she's about to veto the suggestion, but a growl from her own stomach stops her. "I guess a quick stop won't hurt. But after breakfast, we're headed to the Gym. I signed you up to battle Brawly this morning so we can make it to the docks before noon. Tsu and I already fought him yesterday, so once you finish, we can get on the ferry at noon, take the first ferry out of town and into Petalburg."

"Sounds fun." Ed agrees, falling into step beside her. "...wait, you did what?"

☆☆Later, at the... docks?☆☆

As it turned out, Brawly wasn't at the Gym. A helpful stranger pointed out that he'd last been seen headed to the docks to meet up with someone, so that's where the two trainers went.

Brawly wasn't hard to find, after a little looking. The pair find him leaning against a railing, looking out over the sea.

"Careful around this guy." Sunny mutters as they approach. "He may look simple and carefree, but he's deceptive. Hey, Brawly!"

Brawly glances back at them, giving a half-hearted wave when he recognizes Sunny. "Oh, hey little dudes. How's it hangin'?"

"Well, we expected to find you at your Gym," Sunny grumps, "Not out here looking at the water. I told you my friend wanted to battle you, and you said 'Alright! Bring him by, any time!' So what's the deal?"

Brawly shrugs, looking back out at the water. "Didn't expect you first thing in the morning, I guess. I'm waiting for a boat, gonna meet someone when it arrives. I'll stop by the Gym after, if you wanna wait there."

"Why should we have to wait? Do your job!" Sunny steps forward, but Ed puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, Sunny. We have all morning. The first ferry leaves at noon."

"It's the principle of the thing, Eddie! You're a challenger, he's a Gym Leader! He could fight you right here if he wanted!"

"Without a referee, it won't be official. We can just go to the Gym, and he'll be back later."

"But... his kid was the referee yesterday! He could just call someone!"

Brawly laughs as he watches them. "Still as gung-ho as ever, little firecracker. You know what? You're right. A battle will help pass the time, and if you two have places to be, it'd just be rude to hold you up. I got a guy, lives near here. Head to that flat area on the sand there, I'll grab him and meet you there."

Ed heads to the designated spot on the beach, while Sunny stays up on the pier where she can see the battle. Brawly jogs along the dock, ducking inside a small soda shop for a moment. When he returns, he takes a stand on the beach across from Ed, an older, bespectacled man in tow. "This is my guy."

"Jim Gai, at your service." The man bows to Ed politely. "I'm the official referee at Dewford Gym, whenever Leader Brawly needs me, and doesn't have my understudy fill the role."

Brawly grins and shrugs, either ignoring or not noticing the hint of bitterness in Jim's introduction. "He's a good kid, though! He knows what he's doing."

"Indeed." Jim turns to Ed. "How many Pokémon will you be using?"

"I have four, so I think I'll need them all, if Brawly is as skilled as I've heard."

"Awesome!" Brawly grabs two Balls from his belt. "You up for a Double Battle? Two on two, if one goes down, send in another!"

"Sounds fair to me." Ed grabs Neo and Addie's Poké Balls, thinking idly that this will be his second Gym Battle, and it's a Double Battle just like his first.

Jim clears his throat before announcing. "This official Dewford Gym battle is about to commence! Leader Brawly vs Challenger Edison! Four Pokémon each, two at a time! Ready? Begin!"

QueenNothing · Jan 3, 2021

Junko "June" Enomoto

Wednesday, September 23rd, Noon

"Your Pokémon are all healed up! We hope to see you again!"

The Pokémon Center attendant slides me a tray that holds the Pokeballs of everyone I've caught, and I thank the attendant before I place each ball in my purse and find a seat. I'm glad they're well-rested, but to see them experience such pain always makes my heart ache. At least they're all better now- I'm going to make sure they never go through this again.

I feel as if I should do something to take my mind off of this, but the question is what there even is to do. Uncle told me he won't need help today, he said he's taking care of everything so not as to distract me from today's plans. Aside from that, the next contest is tomorrow, and I'm not even sure where Robynn is nor do I have her phone number. Although to be honest I'm not sure if I can show myself around her after last night…

I really dislike thinking about the impression I probably gave Robynn. We were clearly on good terms, and I might have ruined what we had. She was insistent about me not being at fault, but I find that difficult to believe. It really upsets me, I've never met anyone who I thought might reciprocate my feelings, and me overstepping my boundaries likely put a dent in that. Well I guess that's not entirely true; Robynn isn't the only person who I suspected is affectionate towards me. There's Avril and-

Wait a second! I have Avril's phone number!

How could I forget! I feel so guilty, I didn't say a word to her at the Pokémon Contest in Dewford, and I've said nothing to her since Sunday! I'm so embarrassed, but fortunately I have her number to apologise for that. I could call her, but if I'm to be honest with myself, I'm not sure if I can mask how upset I am in a conversation with someone I know and feel so strongly for. Plus, I'd hate to call her and find out she's busy and that I've disrupted her- I'll text her instead.

This is definitely better suited for me at the moment. Over a phone call, I'd be stuttering with nervousness and be humiliating myself every other second, but through the abilities text messages grant me, I can make myself appear as cheery as I'd like to be around Avril. I'll inform her that I'm at Petalburg and what I've done here, and while I'm at it, I should let her know I won a ribbon yesterday. I'll take a picture of it first, attach the file, and press send.

I don't text people very often, so I hope I understand the proper etiquette of texting- I feel like after last night I can never be too careful.

June, 23/9, 12:00 pm
Hello Avril! ^^ I hope I'm not bothering you. I've been meaning to text you earlier, but it seems I've been busy. I didn't even say anything to you when I saw you in the Contest Hall, I'm very sorry about that ^^;

How have you been? Currently I'm in Petalburg, and I caught a Surskit and a Wurmple! Wurmple has even fully evolved into Beautifly! I call him Sting, and Surskit is named Kit. Yesterday I even won a Pokémon Contest with the help of Kit!

🐞June's party🐞

32,492

Spoiler:

texting ccs by Eleanor

[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

⟡ dig down, dig down ⟡

3-3: Roughing It

CHAPTER 2: LIVE FOR FUN

CHAPTER 3: YOUR BRAIN GETS SMART

Hi I'm Cube

ba-dum tssss. [icon]coffee-pot[/icon]

Chapter 5​

ba-dum tssss. [icon]coffee-pot[/icon]

Chapter 3.0

Princess Era 🎀

Kirbmeister

Always follow your Dreams ~

Shuna/Kira JP

Sunday, September 20th {???}​Epoch 2.?: Granite Cave​

Kirbmeister

ba-dum tssss. [icon]coffee-pot[/icon]

Chapter 3.2

Kirbmeister

Always follow your Dreams ~

Shuna Kamado

Sunday, September 20 {???}​Epoch 2.3: Granite Cave In the Depths! Escape and Aftermath!​

Kirbmeister

Kirbmeister

Chapter 5

Sunday, September 20th {???}
Epoch 2.?: Granite Cave

Sunday, September 20 {???}
Epoch 2.3: Granite Cave
In the Depths! Escape and Aftermath!