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

[Megaman765]

"Um... maybe I could just..." Snype reached for one of the seeds stuck on him and tried to pull it off. Unfortunately he had little success and it ended up just hurting him even more and the face his energy was being transferred to Thyme wasn't helping. He tried to pull it off again but failed once more.

"Geez... these really stick to you! Though I need to get these off of my somehow. Your sucking the life out of me! Hehe..." Snype said. He wasn't too worried. Leech seed was only taking little increments of his strength away. Either way, it was still a real pain to deal with.

Mark

Mark noticed Snype wasn't doing too well and noticed that the effects were from Leech Seed. It was a pretty common move so he knew how to deal with it outside of battle. Mark walked over to Snype and returned him to his ball. Afterwards, letting him back out. The seeds seemed to be gone. Snype questioned how on earth that worked but shrugged it off. Mark focused on Commodores situation again...

(The stuff about Commodore will be in a joint post. You'll see when it happens :D)

 

[Darkgoalie]

Jason

"And, here we are!" shouted Profesor Oak, he stood in front of the main building of the academy, the Building radiated its prestine looks in all directions.
Jason stood in front of it, and a small but noticable grin appeared on his face.
"So this is the entrance to the illustrious academy of Pokémon, nice" he said softly.
"And now lets actually enter the academy, i'm pretty sure that you must be hungry, because i most certainly am"
"I think my Pokémon will be more hungry than i am, well one of them at least" replied Jason.
Professor Oak led Jason through the front doors, and turned to the receptionist.
"Good Afternoon Proffesor" she greeted.
"Good Afternoon to you Ms. Scarlett, this is our new student Jason".
"Good day, mam" greeted Jason.
"We're just gonna go grab something to eat Ms. Scarlett, but will return to complete Jason's registration" said Proffesor Oak.
Proffesor Oak had to escort Jason throughout the buildings to reach the caféteria.
"And here is my favorite, and many others, favorite part of the Academy Area" the caféteria looked like the most sanitary of all the bulidings they had passed. A smell was in the air, a nice array of a carrot's, cheese and pasta sheets drifited its way up Jason's and the Proffesor's nose.
Proffesor Oak gestured Jason to the counter, as a sign to show he should go first.
Jason didn't hesitate at all and gladly walked towards the counter.
A male chef appeared in front of him and looked down at him curiously, before glancing behind at Professor Oak.
"Good day, young man i am guessing you must be the new student, ummm Mason is it?" asked the chef.
"No it is Jason, but you are forgiven, and your name?"
"I am Chef Marlon, and before you ask, it is Vegtable Lasagna, with an option of a drizzle of Tamato Berry sauce on the top"
"Ohh yes please i'll take the drizzle of Tamato Berry with it please, oh and also could of i have two more servings for my Pokémon"
"Your Pokémon? Oh no, we have a specialist Pokémon chef for thier meals. Chef Froman we have some Pokémon to feed!"
From behind the door popped out a similar Chef with a slightly smaller hat, he had a smile on his face as well.
"Good day, Jason, i hear you are in need of some five star Pokémon meals"
Proffesor Oak came up from behind and grabbed Jason by the shoulder.
"How about you show Chef Froman your Pokémon than Jason?" asked Proffesor Oak.
Jason looked at him and nodded, he than looked inside his pockets, two miniture Poké Balls came out inside hand, he pressed the middle button on both of them and they enlarged.
"Okay Ralts, Elecktrike its Lunch time" called out Jason.
Two beams of light came bursting out of the balls.
And there appeared a Ralts and an Elektrike.
"Oh man i'm starving, what we having? I haven't eaten all day?" cried out Elektrike.
Ralts just stood there looking around, "Oh great a new place".
"Oh really?" Electrike looked around the caféteria.
"Great, now what are we having?" asked Elecktrike excitedly.
"What healthy looking Pokémon they are, so what types are they?" asked Chef Froman
"That white coloured one is a Ralts, a Psychic Type, whilst the green one is an Electrike, an Electric Type Pokémon" answered Proffesor Oak.
"Yeah, what he said" replied Jason.
"Ahh okay, i'l be two minutes i just need to get some extra ingredients from the kitchen" replied Chef Froman.
"What? Two minutes you gotta be freaking kidding me i have eaten in over 2 weeks" Electrike ranted.
"It's been 20 hours" replied Ralts.
"Thats like two weeks right?"
Ralts sighted and slapped his (own) forehead and turned around.
Jason stood there with a weak smile on his face, he knew that Ralts never got along with Electrike, but Electrike never made it easy for him.
"And your meals, sirs" said Chef Marlon holding two steaming plates of Vegetable Lasagna, one with the drizzle and one without.
"And i'm guessing you don't like the spice?" asked Jason.
"It's not particuly the spice i do not like, but the dryness, that hurts my throat" replied Proffesor Oak. The Proffesor than looked at his watch attached to his wrist and his eyes instantly opened up.
"Oh no, we better hurry and eat this lasagna quickly Jason"
"Um why is that Proffesor?"
"We need to leave if so i can go greet Mr Harmonia, a new intern, at the HoTa building in Saffron City" replied Profesor Oak.
Jason looked at him with a confused face.
"What? Who? Where?" asked Jason.

 

[Nideous]

Thyme

Thyme was relieved when Mark came over and returned Snype and then sent him back out. Turns out that is a way of removing the Leech Seeds. Good to know.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to suck the life out of you. Hm... That would be very helpful in a battle. Smack them with it as soon as they come out, and all I have to do is wait them out. Sounds pretty good to me," Thyme said. She walked over to him and smiled at him.

"Well, what next?" she asked. She was wondering other training Snype had in store for her. Whatever it was, she hoped it would help. She could use all the strength she could get. Hm... Still, she wasn't too fond of training. It was hard work. But, Snype seemed to be happy training her. And Bri would be very happy at how much stronger she was. And, if she hadn't been training, she would very likely be complaining how bored she was.

 

[Megaman765]

Snype leaned forward toward Thyme and gave off a large smile. "Hehehe, I see your pretty anxious to keep on going aren't ya? Good to hear! Hmm..." Snype pondered for a moment and came up with an idea for a training exercise. This one would be related to defense. While this would probably be better if they had a bigger Pokemon on their side... hmm... if only Len were evolved. He would be able to help out again.

"Alrighty... how about we try practicing a bit of defensive tactics? Let's say your opponent catches you and holds you in a grip. There's some Pokemon that are really good at doing that... we're gonna try to break out of these kinds of things... Here. Try holding me down with whatever means and I'll try to break out." Snype said as he stepped back to allow Thyme to do what she could.

Snype usually would never got caught by anyone. He did remember when Thyme was being hurt by Calnith... this kind of training would hopefully help her get out of situations like that if it happened again.

 

[Aura Rift]

Xavier

Xavier smiled as his pokemons faces lit up with relief, he had been lucky enoughto bump into a travelling pokemon doctor on his way around the hall and he had happily healed his pokemon for him.

"Thank you." He said to the man.

The man simply smiled at him and said.

"Theres no need to be so humble, I once acompanied a young trainer like yourself, whos I assume is still on his journey even now. However I found myself having the urge to leave when I realised my skills as a doctor could be needed." The man smiled reminiscently.

"In the beginning I was actually a gym leader if you can believe that." The man said.

"Oh wow. I'm actually close friends with a gym leader from Unova... what gym did you battle at?" Xavier asked.

"The Pewter city gym just North-West of here, I used rock type pokemon... my names Brock by the way." Brock grinned and held his hand out.

Xavier took it happily and shook it.

"Nice to meet you Brock! My names Xavier." Xavier exclaimed.

"So Xavier... have you ever battled a gym leader before?" Brock asked.

"Only my friend, Burgh of Castelia city. Why do you ask?" Xavier said, confused.

Brock withdrew a pokeball from his pocket.

"Well you see...." He took a dimmmed and slightly rusted metal badge from his pocket, it was shaped like a boulder.

"I still have one final badge to give out."

Xavier was slightly taken aback, he had just been challenged by a man who used to be a gym leader... this would be tough.

"Well then I suppose I'll go for it then." Xavier said.

"Excelent, I have just the battlefield picked out, this way."

Brock led Xavier to a large arena with a rocky and rough surface, many large and jagged boulders protruded from the ground. It reminded Xavier of one of the battlefields from the academy, however he couldn't remember the exact number at the time. The trainer and former gym leader stood at either side and expanded their pokeballs.

"Lets make this fun Ok!" Brock cried as the two battlers threw their pokeballs.

Xavier and Blaze

Blaze protruded from his pokeball to be met by a large onix, he stared open mouthedly at it as it swung an iron tail at him.

"Blaze move!" Xavier cried.

Blaze leapt just in time as the tail swept under him. He landed and ran towards the onix.

"Now flame wheel!" Xavier cried.

Blaze launched hmself and drove into the onix with a wheel or roaring flames.

However he simply bounced off, in all the excitement Xavier hadn't taken type matchups into account.

A quick dodge of the onixs large tackle and it was Xaviers turn again. He returned Blaze and sent out Riley.

Xavier and Riley

Riley charged forward as soon as he was released.

"Force Palm!" Xavier cried.

The small pokemon drove his outstretched palm into the massive rock snakes head causing him to fall backwards.

"Rock tomb!" Brock cried.

"Dodge it Riley!" Xavier reacted as quick as he could.

Riley ran forward a barage of rocks falling behind him, getting closer and closer each time.

"Now Riley low kick!" Xavier cried.

Riley put all his force into a single kick and caused the Onix to fall and the rocks to hit it instead as Riley took cover under its long tangled body.

It was going well, but in battle anything can happen.

 

[Gold19]

Dante

Rufflet gave a look at his trainer showing him that he is ready to battle the Geodude. Rufflet finally got on both of it's legs and got little shock paralysis but shacked it off. Dante was getting a bit worried that his Rufflet wouldn't be alright, but reluctantly decided to continue the fight.

"Rufflet, use Wing Attack on the Geodude", commanded Dante. But, when Rufflet started to attack, it went into full paralysis and fell to the ground.

"Geodude, use Rollout", say the trainer, seeing his chance. The Geodude began to spin and started to roll on the ground at Rufflet. Rufflet, not being able to dodge the attack, got hit by the rollout attack and fainted due.

Dante, however, run onto the battlefield inorder to pick up his Rufflet. He then took out Rufflet's pokeball and pointed it at and recalled it back.

"You did a good job, Rufflet, take a good long rest", said Dante, as he putted the pokeball back onto his belt. He then took out another pokeball and smiled at it. Dante then ran back to his spot at the battlefield.

"Go Combusken", said Dante, throwing the pokeball into the field. As Combusken came out of its pokeball, it started to kick the air. "Combusken, use Double Kick."

"Oh no", said the trainer. "Geodude, Defense Curl now."

Combusken started off really quickly, running at the Geodude, and it threw one kick at it. The next kick followed after the first kick and hit the Geodude knocking it out, before the Geodude could put up it's defense.

"Gahh, Geodude return", said the trainer, after seeing his Geodude faint. He then pulled out his pokeball and called back the fainted pokemon.

"Go, Hippopotas", said the trainer, throwing the pokeball.

Dante looked at the hippo pokemon and smiled. This will be an easy fight.

 

[Nideous]

Thyme

What? He wanted her to grab him now? Hm... Well, that was fine with her. Though, he probably meant it as a part of the training. She shook her head and tried to focus. She had to try and grab him. Her mind blinked back to her being suspended in midair by that boy from before. What was his name? She didn't know it, still. She shivered a bit and tried to focus again. She sent out her vines and wrapped them tightly around Snype's ankles. After that, she hoisted him into the air, flipping him so that he was upside down.

"I've got you," Thyme said as she walked over to him. She looked up at him with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Now... What to do with you," Thyme murmered to herself. She lowered him down so that his head was level with hers, even though he was upside down. She was tired of looking up at him.

 

[Megaman765]

Snype's ankles were gripped onto by Thyme's vines as he was flipped upside down completely helpless... though maybe not. Part of the training was to get out of this situation. When he was lowered down to her so that they were face to face, Snype couldn't help but smirk at the position he ended up in. Now how to get out of this little predicament...

"Hehe, Bet you could get a couple free hits if you did this to your opponents." Snype said with a chuckle. He had an idea on how to get out of this... but he figured he may as well mess with Thyme a little first. It was his battle style after all and he had something different for each of his opponents.

"Well... first off..." Snype lightly held onto Thyme's cheeks and pulled himself in to kiss her. "Now..." Snype moved his hands down a bit and grabbed onto her arms and reached up to grab the vines that were grabbing his Ankles and attempted to pull on them to hopefully make Thyme lose balance. Those vines were stronger then they looked though...

 

[Nideous]

Thyme

Thyme chuckled to herself at Snype's predicament. It was kind of funny to see him hanging there like that.

"I could... I could also drop you on your head, or hit you with Attract, or maybe even get a few Growths in. Heheheh," Thyme said in response to his comment about her getting a few hits in. She chuckled again and pondered what to do with her captive. Granted, he could probably escape at any time, but for the moment he was humoring her. She was moderately surprised when he pulled her in for a kiss. She stood there as he pulled her arms up, and stared at him as he tugged on her vines. While it didn't make her lose her balance, it was pretty painful when his hand brushed against one of the tender bruises on the vines from where she had smacked the ground too hard trying to catch Len earlier.

"Ouch!" Thyme said, reactively letting go of Snype. She pulled her vines back and rubbed the sore spot again. And she had been trying not to get those spots touched. Well, she had messed that one up. Hm...

"... Ok, you're free. Now what?" Thyme asked. She gave Snype a hollow look and retracted her vines fully.

 

[Megaman765]

Snype landed upside down on his head and rolled over. He was fairly amused at how Thyme explained what she could do. How mischievous... he liked that in her. Now what was he going to do... he didn't have much clever tricks when it came to trapping his opponents... though...

"Well, Nice job there! I'm just lucky to have long enough arms to reach my legs. Bet a couple others wouldn't be so lucky. Now then..." Snype swiftly moved behind Thyme and grabbed her from beneath her arms and held onto her in what looked like a really tight hug. Snype lifted her off the ground a bit and snickered as he breathed on her neck.

"...What to do with you? Kehehehe..." Snype teased, Mimicking what Thyme had said earlier. He was mostly curious as to how she would get out of this... he expected her to use Vine Whip somehow... though maybe she would be a bit more clever then that...

 

[Nideous]

Thyme

Thyme snickered. She didn't think it was all that impressive. In fact, the only reason she had let go was because she didn't like pain. Still, it was nice to be complimented. It made her feel all warm and fuzy inside... Or something like that. Then Snype grabbed her in a hug from behind and lifted her off her feet. She gave him a funny look.

"Really? Heh, this is all you've got for me? Heh, anything to get the chance to hold me, right?" Thyme said with a rather uncharacteristic kind of giggle. Three solutions popped into her mind. She could use Vine Whip and pick him off of her, but that seemed too easy. She could try and use Leaf Tornado, and maybe send him whirling away. Or she could use Attract and get him to let go of her that way. Or, and this thought she dismissed as soon as she thought it, she could try Secret Power and when it backfired, he would take it too. No, she would either go with option two or option three. Or... How about both?

"Snype, you know what close contact does for me, right?" Thyme asked serenely. She didn't waut for an answer and used Attract. She focused her feelings toward Snype into the move, and she began glowing pink. Then little hearts appeared around her and flew at Snype, who had no way of escaping the move.

"Now, I could simply ask that you let go of me, but I won't. After all, what would happen if I were fighting another girl and we ended up like this? So, I'm just going to do this instead!" Thyme said with a smirk. She wiggled her tail and found she could move it enough. She thrashed and squirmed, beginning to loosen his grip until she started to spin, forming Leaf Tornado. If she had done it right, Snype would soon be flying away from her now, so she released the Attract she had placed him under. That had been just to prove she could anyway.

(OOC: Sorry for the slight godmodding. But I really didn't see any way Snype could dodge Attract without letting go.)

 

[Megaman765]

Snype was hit by attract... immediately he was thinking of nothing else but Thyme... Snype lightened his grip a bit as he was completely entranced by love. He rubbed leaned his head over Thyme's shoulder and looked at her with a smile.

"Do what you must my dear... we're all training here after all aren't we?" Snype said in his state of attract. Thyme eventually wiggled out of his grip and used Leaf Tornado on him, sending him flying against a wall. He slid down and sat against the wall.

"Hehe... nice going Thyme! Phew... Ya know I'm starting to like being under attract... hehehe... Can't say I'm getting used to it though. Always works like a charm on me." Snype teased, satisfied with the training.

 

[Nideous]

Thyme

"Hm... Well, at least I released it before you did anything emberrassing. Not like last time," Thyme said. She sat down on the ground with a huff. She wondered what to do next. She pondered what Snype had said. Surprisingly, she was the opposite. While he was under Attract, he became more... Romantic. But, she never did know how much of it was him and how much was the power of her Attract. So she didn't want to put him under Attract unless she really had to. How very confusing. The irony of it was lost on her.

"Well, I can't always rely on Attract. I might end up fighting a girl pokemon some day. Then I'll have to come up with a different solution. Hm... Well, Leaf Tornado works. And so would Vine Whip," Thyme said, deliberately ignoring Snype when he said he was starting to like being under Attract. She had already decided that she would try to not use it on him again. She looked over at him from where she was sitting.

"So... Anything else?" she asked, rather boredly.

 

[Megaman765]

"Heh... still wanna keep going eh?" Snype said, glad she was so determined. "Comon... relax for a bit. If we keep training like this we'll eventually pass out." Snype relaxed against the wall and looked around at the rest of the crowd nearby. He noticed Commodore was looking at MacKenzie for some reason... odd. Though it probably wasn't any of his business.

"Your getting alot better Thyme. Heh, your becoming a real natural at this kind of thing! I hope the Expo has more then just battling though... I say this calls for a bit of exploration." Snype said.

 

[Nideous]

Thyme

"No, to tell you the truth... I'm not exactly thrilled by training. But you seem to be enjoying it," Thyme said as she sat down next to him. She let out a small yawn and looked at him. She hoped there was something else to do here but battle. She didn't enjoy it at all. But, if she was going to keep Bri safe, she'd have to get used to it. Snype seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. She stared at him with a startled look.

"What? You do know what would happen if you get caught! Right? Honestly! You want to get Mark in trouble?" Thyme said as she shook her head. She'd be in trouble already just for leaving the pokemon center. Ans if she was caught where she wasn't supposed to be in this building, Bri would get expelled, or worse.

 

[Megaman765]

Snype laughed. "Hehehe, You worry too much Thyme! You need to sit back and relax a bit you know? I mean go off exploring... with Mark. Somewhere we're actually aloud to go to. It's a field trip so we might be getting a tour or something... Mark can't keep training with Able over there all day you know!" Snype said as he put his arm around Thyme.

"Chill for a bit eh? We won't be getting ourselves in trouble anytime soon. I know my limits! Worst case scenario is trouble finding us." Snype said, nuzzling Thyme a bit.

 

[Gold19]

Dante

Combusken was ready to get back into the battle as it start off to engage the Hippoptas without it's master's orders knowing well how the fight will end. The Hippoptas quickly got into it's defensive stance, expecting to be hit hard.

"Combusken, use Double Kick", told Dante to Combusken, after seeing his pokemon starting to attack on it's on.

"Use Dig, now Hippoptas", said the trainer.

Just then, the Hippoptas jumped and started to dig underground. At this point, Combusken was in the middle of preforming the Double Kick move and moved when the hippo pokemon went underground.

"Combusken, you alright", Dante asked his pokemon to see if it is alright. Combusken was barely injured by crashing to the ground got up and gave a thumb's up to Dante showing his trainer that he was alright. "Okay Combusken, Focus Energy."

Combusken started to focus it's energy where it started to show on its feather on the top of it's head. But, Hippoptas came out from underground under Combusken's feet, knocking down. Dante noticed that Combusken wouldn't be a match for the Ground-type pokemon, as he took out it's pokeball and recalled it back.

"Combusken, return", said Dante, returning Combusken. "Take a good rest, pal."

"Okay, time for my finally pokemon", Dante said to the trainer. He took out his last pokeball and threw into the battlefield. "Go Elekid."

"Wait, why an Electric-type?", asked the trainer.

"I don't know", said Dante with a shrug. "It's my last pokemon, so I'm using him to battle."

As Elekid came out of it's pokeball, it started to spin it's arm and generate electricity. With Elekid doing that, Elekid showed it's trainer it was to battle.

"Elekid, use Ice Punch", said Dante.

"Wait, Ice Punch", exclaimed the trainer. "Hippoptas, dodge it and use Bite."

Elekid started off it's turn of the battle by running at the Hippoptas getting ready to punch it when it's fist turned to a blueish color. As Elekid got close to the hippo pokemon, Hippoptas dodged the Ice Punch and got back close to bite Elekid.

"Elekid, use Ice Punch again, but let it bite you", said Dante.

Hippoptas continued to bite Elekid, but the Ice Punch started to freeze the Hippoptas.

"No Hippoptas", said the trainer. "You win Dante."

"Awesome", Dante said, very happily. "Come on Elekid, lets go get healed up."

"Ele, Elekid", cried Elekid.

Dante walked off the battlefield and headed to the healing station.

That was a great battle.

 

[Dawn]

Joint post between Valorie, Ciel, and Skye​

Ciel/Skye

Skye had been sitting next to Ciel when that occured. Rama gave a little growl in Valorie's direction, indicating displeasure. Read the mood, he seemed to say. Skye shushed him softly, glancing at Ciel. The boy shook a little at being spoken to, but he decided it was okay.

"Hi..." he greeted softly back, wondering what she wanted with him. CHika fluttered anxiously next to him, cooing warily.


Valorie

Valorie seemed visibly uncomfortable the moment she noticed Rama growling at her. Ramadan was not humanoid, let alone human enough that she would be able to understand any body language or tones he was giving off. To her, growling meant he was thinking about.attacking her. That's sadly all she could ever get from that. Regardless, the pokemon was hushed relatively quickly and she said nothing of it.

She vaguely recognized Skye, though she couldn't remember his name off the top of her head. The boy she had been looking to challenge seemed a bit shy. She kind of wondered if maybe she should pick on someone with a little more self confidence, though after a moment she scrapped the idea.

"My name's Valorie... I was wondering if you'd like to battle!"

Her demeanor was soft. Why was she being soft towards him? Not even she was aware. Perhaps it was because he didn't seem like much of a threat to her pride or honor or any of that jazz.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel blinked. Battle? Did he look strong? Or was she just desperate? Regardless... he probably should give it a shot... "I'm Ciel," he mumbled. "Sure... I don't mind." He stood and stepped away from her. Inwardly he was still in panic mode, but he outwardly had calmed down immensely. The battle could help his nerves, maybe.

"Yuh-hou can duh-do it," Skye said lightly, patting Rama's head. His Pokemon was being abit overprotective. However, Skye could not blame him this time around. Ciel looked like he was about to break over half the time.

Ciel relaxed more at this. He did not quite know how Skye always did that. There was a difference between being calm and emotionally changing other people. It simply wasn't normal. It was more like... oh what was that device called? Oh well, he'd remember later. Chika floated in front of him and cooed. Ciel was worried. He was not that strong. His Pokemon were diverse in ability, not strong.

The Togetic let out a challenging shree towards Valorie. It was the most she could sound competitive.


Valorie

Valorie watched as Ciel stood up moved away from her. Why did she get the impression that he wasn't telling the truth about not minding? She had no idea. She caught on that he certainly didn't seem like he didn't mind but that was about it. Thus, she said nothing. Skye spoke and she briefly glanced at him. That was a curious way to talk. Regardless, Ciel sent out a togetic, drawing Valorie's attention back to him. She considered her options for a few moments, thinking about which pokemon she should send out. She could send out one of her stronger pokemon, but perhaps she shouldn't. After all, her weaker pokemon needed training more. Taking out a pokeball, she spoke as she dropped it to the floor in front of her.

"...Alright. It's time to battle, Swinub."

Swinub burst out of his pokeball, cheerfully squealing and gazing up at the nearby togetic. Nearby students would back off, making way for the two battlers so that they'd have room to fight. Valorie examined Chika for a few moments, observing the fact that Chika had wings. It seemed to suggest to her that she could fly...

"Now, Icy Wind!"

Swinub proceeded to take a deep breath before exhaling gust of icy, snowy wind.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel winced before letting out a huff of breath. Chika soared up and dodged elegantly, the Togetic not hindered by the lack of wing movement. "Puh-rii!" She sang out, imitating a deeper version of her Togepi days.

"Brick Break," Ciel ordered suddenly, while Togetic was in mid-loop actually. She chirped an agreement then swan-dived down, She flipped forward and her "foot" glowed white, headed for Swinub.


Valorie

Swinub squealed in a not so cheerful manner as he was struck with a brick break attack, and yet... togeic weren't a physically strong species of pokemon, nor was brick break anything more than an average strength attack at best.

Swinub retaliated with anger, and of course a snort, lashing out without Valorie's command. A silvery ball of energy formed near the tip of his nose, which was promptly fired up at Chika. It was ancient power. Valorie had never seen the attack before and found it rather impressive to look at.


Ciel/Skye

Chika was blown backwards in the sky and yet... she remained airborne, coughing. Chika was pretty good at taking hits. It was just how she worked. She wasn't that good though. Quickly the Togetic recovered, still soaring over Swinub. She seemed to be mocking the pig.

"Energy Ball," Ciel mumbled. Chika concentrated a large green orb and threw it mentally at Swinub.

"Trii!"


Valorie

Swinub sniffed at the air, but he was having a hard time locating Chika. Thus, he lifted his head off the ground, opening his eyes for the first time in goodness knows how long and squinting up at Chika with black beady eyes. Swinub observed what she was doing and found himself becoming flustered by being mocked by a female, a flying pokemon no less.

Valorie saw this and just sort of waited for Swinub to do something. She had figured he was so worked up he wouldn't be waiting for orders, and yet Swinub did nothing as the energy ball approached, triggering alarm from Valorie.

"Swinub, dodge!"

And yet it was a hopeless endeavor. She didn't know why she had told him to dodge. It was common knowledge that trying to dodge tended to not work most of the time, making it rather unreliable. There were better ways she could've handled the situation, but she had been taken off guard. She and Swinub were not used to eachother. Swinub was hit by the energy ball and sent flying backwards. Yet... after a few moments he squirmed back onto his paws, looking rather beat up. Yet, he seemed still willing to fight.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel looked worried. Was that girl not used to her Pokemon? He was told that was the second thing you did when you caught a new Pokemon, right after healing it of course. You didn't just go straight into battle with it... right? You tried to get to know them first... normally. Oh well.

Meanwhile Chika winked at the Swinub. It seemed so embarassed. Did he think she was flirting? Hahah, how sweet! Oh well. Her eyes twinkled with a Psychic power before she dove again, using Energy Ball for a second time.


Valorie

"Swinub, use ice shard on that attack!"

Valorie called out on cue, this time ready to assume Swinub wasn't going to do anything on his own. Swinub meanwhile saw the wink and became nervous. Despite this, he fired off a small storm of icy shards that traveled at a terrifying speed. Due to a type advantage of an ice attack over a grass attack, the shards managed to destroy the energy ball, though not much more. Seeing this, Valorie became aware that Swinub as at a disadvantage because while Chika could freely go to the ground, Swinub could not take to the air. She also became intimately aware of the fact that Swinub couldn't stand on his hind legs, making it impossible for him to aim directly above him. She got this sinking feeling she wasn't going to win this round.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel reacted quickly, realizing dimly how one-sided this was. He needed to end it quickly, for Valorie's sake. Chika chirped with joy, having way too much fun. She wasn't much of a battler normally so she really wanted to win. "Shadow Ball!" A wispy black-violet ball went soaring toward the Swinub.


Valorie

"Swinub, use mud bomb on that shadow ball!"

Mud bomb was probably Swinub's most powerful attack. She hoped perhaps it could manage to neutralize the shadow ball... and yet Swinub did no such thing. Valorie watched as Swinub just sort of stood there and took the attack. She couldn't see the look on his face, nor could she have read it easily, that look which which spoke perhaps of attraction, even in the fact of being blasted with a shadow ball. Huh. Valorie just sort of became confused. Swinub knew very well how to obey orders. It didn't make sense to her.

"...Huh?"

Swinub wasn't getting back up, rather he was just laying on his side twitching a bit as he was obviously finished.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel had watched this with confusion. Did Chika flirting... actually work? Uh... okay then. He was confused and elated at the same time. "You did it..." he said softly, smiling a little bit. Chika dropped from the air with a happy croonl She nuzzled him, panting softly. Ciel returned her. She needed rest.

"Thah-hat was guh-hood," Skye told Valorie quietly. She hadn't done bad for someone clearly unused to her Pokemon.

Ciel paused a moment, clutching one of his Pokeballs. "Um..." he uttered, not willing to celebrate mid-battle. "Your turn..."


Valorie

Valorie returned Swinub, seeming to mumble something inaudible as she did so. She then proceeded to stuff the pokeball back in her pack and take another one out in it's place.

"...Alright, it's your turn Frillish!"

As she said this, she a lightly tossed the pokeball out, releasing a female Frillish. This of course meant it was pink and its tentacles ironically literally frilly as opposed to the male. It also meant that Frillish had a perpetual false smile on her otherwise simple expression.


Ciel/Skye

Kinko shivered visibly, looking unsettled. She was in pain, but... there was no way she was letting that freaky thingy get her. She leapt away with Quick Attack and then charged a black-violet orb. She released a Dark Pulse from the distance, stil running around like a crazy to avoid the tentacles of Absorb.


Valorie

Frillish was hit with the aura based dark pulse attack and writhed a bit in the air before seeming to abruptly regain her focus. Her smile had never once faltered. Valorie noted that Frillish was no less unnerving than any other ghost pokemon. Frillish took aim, her mouth frothing a bit before she shot off a torrent of salty water at Kinko, still chasing in an attempt to catch and do goodness knows what to the fox pokemon.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel was not intimidated by the Ghost Pokemon at all. He actually looked just a bit determined. Kinko yelped as the water hit her rapidly and she fell backward. Kinko quickly caught herself with a yowl. Her fur was wet! Ugh. Oh well, she'd worry later! Winning mattered more! She launched herself into the air and fired a small green ball of energy then a Dark Pulse, not checking if either hit before taking off again to avoid the Frillish.


Valorie

"Frillish, Night Shade!"

Normally, a ghost type attack would have difficulty competing with a dark type attack, but night shade was rather special in that it didn't have to. The dark pulse suddenly disippated as a subtle beam shot through it, piercing it. The Energy Ball however hit its mark, causing Frillish to writh again, yet... Abruptly, Kinko would find an exceedingly demonic looking female Jellicent in front of her, mere seconds away from attacking her, it's tentacles reaching out and around her as if to surround her. It had come from nowhere! She would also simultaneously feel an extremely painful headache. The thing was, the Jellicent wasn't actually there, and would only be there for a brief time. Such was the power of night shade to cause lucid hallucinations and invoke powerful headaches in its target.

Meanwhile, Frillish would be coming up from behind Kinko, trying to take advantage of any confusion or fear caused by the attack to attempt to latch onto the smaller pokemon. Valorie was pleased. Even a rather thick pokemon like Frillish could learn battle strategies.


Ciel/Skye

Kinko spun around in brief confusion. Her head hurt. Really hurt. She could see funny things everywhere. What should she do? Ciel didn't panic, as he knew what was about to happen. This wouldn't be pretty. Kinko began to yowl irritably and painfully. Reflexively, an invisible wave began to emanate from her body, the move being Extrasensory. Whenever Kinko got agitated, she would accidently use the Psychic move, tearing through the Night Shade attack. It was similar to how Ciel made things float when he got overwhelmed. That likely wouldn't stop Frillish though, but the attack was hard to miss when she used it in this form. Kinko was panting though. She wasn't very strong yet.


Valorie

(That's totally ironic. |D I suppose if not Touko/White then I don't really have many ideas right now. Bianca perhaps, but she's not exactly the most brilliant person around in any subject. >3<)

The night shade attack had had an advantage, but it really lacked any force after it hit its target. Therefore, yeah just about any attack would pass through the illusion like a knife through butter. Frillish took the extrasensory attack but kept moving. Pain didn't really register with her very easily, partially because she was just that thick in the head.

Kinko would feel ghostly appendages wrap around her being. Within a moment stinging sensations would occur. It was a toxic attack. It didn't end there though. She began to use absorb, sucking at the life energy from Kinko's very soul, and she wouldn't let go! Given, that attack was still pretty dang weak against a vulpix, but still.

Valorie became aware that both combatants looked pretty weary. She was waiting tensely, knowing that she'd need to call Frillish off lest the pokemon do the unthinkable without knowing any better.


Ciel/Skye

Kinko let out a feral, wild yowl at the feeling before twisting her body wildly to escape. Managing to move with the invisible appendage, she leapt onto Frillish desperately, firing a Dark Pulse at close range. She was well aware it might knock her out, but the Vulpix did not care. This thing was freaking her out! And Ciel was looking worried. She was not gonna die to some dense blubberhead!


Valorie

Frillish held on, her grip far too tight without regard for Kinko's comfort, though it was pretty easy to drag the almost weightless pokemon around as Kinko moved. Valorie just sort of watched this with an awkward look on her expression, wincing when Kinko yowled. Though, it turned to concern when she realized that Frillish was basically a sitting duck for any attacks thrown. Meanwhile, Frillish was busy continuously using absorb on Kinko, regardless of the fact it wasn't doing too much. All of a sudden Kinko turned around and leapt at Frillish, assumedly at Frillish's head. Frillish didn't even seem to notice, at least until a dark pulse hit her. She still gripped on, but over the course of a few moments even as she tried to use absorb again her grip just sort of loosened as she fainted from the attacks. Oddly enough, she simply floated there limply rather than falling to the ground, somewhat hunched over involuntarily. One could tell she was fainted because she looked less like she was floating on her own and more like she was just bodily floating in space.


Ciel/Skye

Kinko felt as though she was suffocated. SHe barely noticed Frillish's grip loosen when the Dark Pulse engulfed her too. When it loosened completely, the Vulpix hit the ground, curled up in a faint. Ciel let out a soft cry and walked up on the battlefield to pick up his fox. She was unconscious a few moments. Then she weakly opened her eyes and licked his face. Ciel smiled a bit.

"Good work," he told her softly, returning her. He went back to his position and held out his last Pokeball. "Let's get them Triac." The Flaffy would have roared if he was that kind of Pokemon. Instead, he simply bowed politely to Valorie, unperturbed.

Skye observed this tie with a small tilt of the head. Ciel was doing well, considering these were Valorie's weaker Pokemon. Ciel didn't seem fully aware of that but the look in his eyes said he had an idea.


Valorie

Valorie returned Frillish and gazed at the pokeball for a moment. Frillish really creeped her out. Regardless. She stuffed it back in her bag and pulled out another ball to take it's place. This time she was faced with a flaffy. She could've sent out Charizard, or even Fraxure for training. Yet, she was now intent not to lose.

Tossing the pokeball out she released Flygon. Flygon let out a shrill cry as she took to the air almost immediately, hovering there with the powerful shaking of her wings.

"Alright, Flygon, Faint Attack!"

Flygon abruptly vanished into thin air. After a moment Triac would feel a dark type ram from the side just before Flygon re-appeared in mid-attack.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel flinched suddenly, feeling the determination rising from Valorie. This would be painful. But...he had to try anyway. Triac winced in pain and promptly threw up a Light Screen. He then spun himself, tail glowing with a metallic energy. He had nothing to defend from this. THat meant hold nothing back anyway. Triac spun faster, tail still glowing.


Valorie

Valorie watched this for a brief moment, wondering what exactly the sheep pokemon was up to. She saw a metallic glow, recognizing it from when she'd seen iron tail in the past, but she had nothing to fear from a steel type attack in particular.

"Flygon, Dragonbreath!"

Flygon promptly opened her mouth and spewed purple flames over the general area Triac was running. The dragon type attack even ran a risk of paralyzing unlucky foes.


Ciel/Skye

The attack was weakened by the Light Screen but it still hurt. Triac winced before leaping into the air and firing a Thunderbolt. It was a useless attack but it was meant to blind. Triac hurried behind Flygon and released a heart-shaped attack, a Return.


Valorie

The thunderbolt just sort of arc'd across Flygon, failing to so much as phase her. She was beyond immune to electric attacks. One could not even strike at her eyes, for they were shielded by the large, red, transparent goggle-like formations over them. Flygon turned to follow Triac after a brief moment, letting out a growl as she did so. Yet, Triac would manage to use return on her. Yet, even this didn't seem to have a whole lot of effect, though it was certainly better than the thunderbolt. There was just too severe a difference in training here. By now Valorie had realized that a barrier had protected Triac from dragonbreath. She supposed a different kind of attack was in order.

"Alright Flygon, Dragon Claw!"

Flygon turned on Triac within moments of the sheep striking her, abruptly speeding down at the sheep pokemon and attempting to slash at him with a glowing purple claw. Without warning or orders, she then proceeded to open her mouth and try and use a crunch attack on him. Assuming the first attack hit, she'd even try to pull him towards her for the second attack. She wasn't out of control, so to speak. She was just very eager to please Valorie by doing well. Hence the fury with which she fought even weaker opponents.


Ciel/Skye

Triac winced and let the purple claw hit. He wasn't going to last long. He knew it, Ciel knew it. This was just training. But... this was way too much of a disadvantage, even for them. Ciel knew that too. The boy wasn't upset though. Of course, this thing didn't matter to him, not like her. These kinds of humans were the strangest. As the crunch attack came closer, Triac whipped around with an Iron Tail towards Flygon's teeth. Neutral typing or not, level advantage or not, this would definitely hurt.


Valorie

Flygon reached out, intent on biting the poor flaffy. Yet, as she got close she received an iron tail to the mouth which seemed to knock her slightly off course briefly. Flygon seemed to be taken by surprise. What crazy person would stick a tail in her mouth in any way shape or form? Clearly a pokemon that was not afraid of losing it's tail. Given, iron tail was... well... y'know... Flygon felt a sharp pain in her jaw as the iron tail struck. In return, Triac recieved... er... drool. It seemed to cause her a good deal of pain. Yet... Flygon clenched down her teeth on the tail. Not hard, mind you. She was not foolish enough to bite a steel hard tail. She was more gripping it with her teeth to keep Triac from fleeing. Her jaw felt sore, but she did not allow it to interfere with the battle. Rather, she would wait for the tail to soften back to it's normal softness. It was during this time that she realized that Triac couldn't fly, and the ball on the end of his tail would prevent any hope of escape. This lead to her realizing how one-sided this battle was. Suddenly she seemed to relax a bit in posture, though she wouldn't let go of Triac. She no longer felt the need to impress Valorie with her strength. She didn't think her trainer would be all that impressed by excessive viciousness anyway. Instead she developed this pleased look on her face and spoke, her speech somewhat slurred due to holding Triac's tail still.

Flygon: "Hun, I think this is the part where I'm supposed to eat you or something. Perhaps we could call it a day?"

Perhaps ironically, she seemed to be /deliberately/ flirting, if just a bit judging by the pet name and the bit of teasing. Though, a vague threat of harm was definitely there. Meanwhile, Valorie looked a bit confused, watching Flygon seem to mumble something she obviously couldn't understand rather than continue fighting.


Ciel/Skye

Triac sighed. He supposed that was so. He glanced at Ciel, who nodded solemnly. The boy pulled out his Pokeball and returned the Flaffy. "Your win," he told Valorie quietly, almost smiling. Almost. He didn't know this girl very well yet. Skye clapped a bit from where he sat, Rama barking excitedly. He liked battles.


Valorie

Flygon turned to look at Valorie after Triac had been returned as if expecting something. Valorie hesitated a moment, taking in what had just happened. She then moved over to Flygon and glanced up at her, patting her on the side appreciatively. Flygon seemed to appreciated the gesture, though she then proceeded to open and close her mouth testily and mechanically. Something felt wrong in there, but perhaps it would feel better after some rest.

Valorie just sort of took in how others were acting and stepped forward, moving a bit closer to Ciel. She got the slight impression they were done, though she hadn't been expecting Ciel to only have three pokemon. Oh well. Things happened, she supposed.

"Oh... are we done?"


Ciel/Skye

Ciel nodded shyly. "I'm not used to the school yet... I haven't gone to catch more Pokemon..." He seemed unbothered by this however and quietly pulled out the Brick Break TM he had kept for Triac. "It was afun battle?" he offered placatingly. "But Triac... he might have really hurt your Flygon. I'm sorry.


Valorie

Valorie glanced at Flygon who seemed to be preoccupied with showing off to a group of more inexperienced trainers. She loved the attention, and seemed to be perfectly capable of ignoring her sore jaw. Valorie watched for a moment before speaking up. She knew that most dragons were quick to irritate when hurt. If Flygon was in anything more than mild pain, she'd know.

"Naah... she's fine."

Valorie reached into her satchel and pulled out a super potion. She then proceeded to reach back into her satchel, digging around it a bit. She then spoke up as she searched.

"Yeah! Um... If you want I can heal your pokemon."

She then pulled out two pokeballs, releasing Frillish and Swinub. Swinub made a groaning noise and Frillish was still kind of limp in the air. She gave them both a brief spray before stepping back to watch. Swinub got up after a few moments and shook himself off. Frillish took a bit longer before she finally seemed to regain conciousness. Valorie just sort of gave her a nervous look before returning her. It was no offense to Frillish. It's just that ghosts unnerved her.

Swinub shook himself off and took a deep breath, snorting in the process. Valorie smiled at this, finding it amusing. Regardless, she was still holding that super potion.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel smiled shyly in thanks and released his three.Kinko was laying on the ground lazily. Chika chirped merrily and Triac nodded politely at Valorie. Ciel smiled to himself, moving to sit down again. He was stil nervous and uncomfortable, but this had helped a little. As long as he didn't see that man from earlier. That CEO was scary...

Chika chirped at Valorie merrily, winking at Swinub


Valorie

Valorie crouched down and applied the super potion to all three of Fuyu's pokemon one by one. Given, she ran out when it came time to spray Triac. This was no big deal though, as she had packed several days worth of medicine meant for a place with no nurse to handle her pokemon in anticipation of her and Selene's training together in the icy plains. Selene... Her expression became somewhat sad briefly. She wasn't very good at hiding her emotions at times. Regardless. She went on to dig out a second super potion and spray Triac with it. Afterwards she would pet him briefly on the head. She found his seemingly humble nature cute.

"There we go! Looking better already."

Valorie then stood back up and glanced at Skye briefly.

Meanwhile, Swinub made a brief squeal at the sight of Chika. He was suddenly nervous around the larger, female pokemon, partially because he was subconsciously convinced she was flirting. Was she though?

Swinub: "U-Uh..!"


Ciel/Skye

Ciel followed her gaze curiously. Skye was watching her quietly, having seen the flicker of sadness.Triac let out a happy sort of squeak. He liked this girl. Skye tilted his head solemnly. "Suh-homething the matter?" he inquired lightly, Rama making an odd content growl in his arms. Skye heard a squeal and laughed as Pala poked her head out of the bag and climbed onto his head.

"Thank you," Ciel uttered.

Chika meanwhile, glanced at Swinub and smiled. She wasn't flirting, anything but really, but it was cute to watch him get flustered like that. "Hiya there," she greeted.


Valorie

Valorie became somewhat frustrated. She didn't understand why people could read her face like that. It really didn't occur to her how much she expressed herself with body language at time.

"Nnno... I just... had a fight with one of my friends recently."

It was excessively vague, and fight probably wasn't the right word, but oh well. It gave them the idea. For whatever reason, she just hadn't felt like lying. Neither of the boys really came off as the kind of people she needed to have her guard up around.

Swinub meanwhile just sort of made a grunting noise and moved over near Chika's feet. Sometimes, he felt really, really small.

Swinub: "Hhhey! I'm Swinub! What's your name?"

He was all nervous sounding and everything! Flygon couldn't help but turn her gaze and watch silently, amused.


Ciel/Skye

Skye nodded casually. "Yuh-hou duh-hon't hah-have to tuh-talk abuh-about it righ-hight now," he told her quietly. Skye could glean enough from that bit she had said. "I-hi'll lih-lih-listen wheh-when you'hou're reh-ready to teh-hell eh-heverything."

Ciel nodded a bit, figuring this was the right thing to say. "Me too," he said softly. "Though I may not understand it," he admitted. "Human things are new."

Chika looked at the Swinub innocently. "I am Chika," she told him happily. "Nice to meet you!"


Valorie

Valorie had some difficulty listening to Skye's train of thought, but shef igured he probably couldn't help it, judging by the sound of things. On the other hand, she understood Ciel just fine. Especially the part where he implied he wasn't always human. Valorie just sort of gawked momentarily before speaking up.

"Human things are... new?"

She wasn't sure what to make of what she knew so far. All she knew is she was curious as /heck/.

Meanwhile, Swinub just sort of made an attempt at conversation.

"It's nice to meet you too..! You're pretty strong, for a girl..."

Swinub sort of mumbled the last part a bit, embarrassed. And just like that, his foot was in his mouth. Metaphorically speaking, anyway.


Ciel/Skye

Skye smiled a bit and let Pala squeal delightedly. Ciel nodded silently. He realized he had to elaborate. "Um... I spent most of my time in a Pokemon habitat when I was really little. And then I want to a private school that was almost the same. It... I was around a lot of different kids, but they were like me. I've... I've mostly been with Pokemon..."

Chika smiled. "Really? Thanks," she said happily. "You're strong too."


Valorie

Valorie paused for a moment before relaxing. Phew! For a bit she had thought Ciel meant something completely different. She then beamed at him a bit.

"That's actually... really cool!"

She cupped her hands behind her, just sort of deciding to stay and make small talk with him. After all, what else did she have to be doing, besides angsting?

Meanwhile, Swinub seemed to have dodged a bullet somehow. He was still nervous, though.

Swinub: "S-So... tell me about yourself..?"


Ciel/Skye

Ciel blushed a bit, easily embarassed. "Th-Thank you..." He and Skye scooted over, making room for her to sit. He shook his head a little. 'You're strong," he mumbled. "You really earned your jacket." He made this comment very casually, as though strength were nothing special. Though to Ciel, the power he was referring to wasn't, he preferred to believe in the strength of someone's heart. But it was a start to be physically strong.

Skye didn't talk really, wanting to get to understand these two a bit more. Sometimes it was best to listen rather than speak in most cases. Pala however, was very curious, padding over to stare at Valorie. "Hi," she squeaked. "Girl? Girl has an apple for Pala?" Rama snorted. How adorable.

Chika flew in the air. "I'm just a little birdie who likes to make people happy," she chirped. "I like spreading my Joy Dust and playing games. But flying's the best! What about you?"


Valorie

Ironically in Ciel's sense of strength, Valorie was rather weak. She was very easy to manipulate if one pulled her strings and was extremely prone to emotional angst and the like. Given, she was a kid. What was she supposed to do, be all hardened and ready for everything the world threw at her? Heck no.

Regardless, she seemed immensely pleased by the compliment, her mood visibly going up. Her goal had been met, respect. Respect was what she always wanted. Her battling prowess was more a mean to that end than anything. Valorie proceeded to take a seat next to the two, crossing her legs casually. Why did she always make friends with the "lowerclassmen"? She had no idea, really. Might have something to do with prior bad experiences with her fellow suicune dorm students. Given, Valorie's jacket had been stolen by bullies before she'd left on the trip. It had been their way of saying she didn't belong.

Valorie watched Pala, though she couldn't understand the pokemon. She lightly reached out and briefly pet her on the head though after a few moments.

"Thanks... I appreciate that."

Her response was from her heart. It really helped her to meet someone knew who showed some respect. She didn't ask people to worship the ground beneath her. All she ever really wanted was some basic respect as a fellow trainer. Unfortunately, in such a competitive hobby, that wasn't always given.

Meanwhile, Swinub found himself baffled. Little? She was big to him. Regardless. He spoke up once again, sounding especially nervous as he went on.

Swinub: "I'm a little oinker!... At least, that's what my parents told me... I-I really like to eat. And you're pretty...

That last part was flat out mumbled. He was afraid of rejection, quite frankly.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel did not have a strong heart himself yet. But he wanted to grow and that was more important than battles. Kinko leapt into his lap. Skye was suddenly aware the girl was missing her jacket. He wondered where it was but then decided it wasn't his business. His own jacket itched. He tilted his head. SHe didn't seem comfortable around her fellow blue-jacketed classmates. However, Ciel didn't seem to count. He was too shy. Ciel managed a tiny smile. "You're welcome..." Pala was squealing with delight and love. She liked attention.

"Eating is fun," she agreed. "And thanks. You're not so bad looking yourself!" She flew up again and swooped down.


Valorie

Valorie glanced away briefly before giving the two her attention back.

"So what do you guys think of this place so far?"

She was just trying to stir idle conversation, really.

Meanwhile, Swinub attempted to watch as Chika swooped up and down again. It was starting to occur to him that she didn't really seem to get where he was going with this. He made a sort of pig grunting noise and mumbled something inaudible, trying to think of what to say, trying to summon the courage to say it.


Ciel/Skye

Skye scowled a bit at the question but still remained quiet. He did not want to talk about this at all. He had a lot of respect for HoTa's CEO... he earned every bit of this. But... this sort of thing irked him in a way little could. Ciel, however, was not used to these fancy buildings or parties... probably like most people here. THe fanciest building he had seen was crumbling and old... but to him most certainly very beautiful. "Um..." he began hesitantly, throwing the words out there. "It...It's really pretty?"

Rama barked something at Skye, who chuckled a bit. Chika floated down now to Swinub. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Do you wanna tell me something?"


Valorie

Valorie noticed that Skye wasn't answering her and Ciel didn't seem to want to answer. Valorie couldn't help but wonder what she had done wrong. Regardless. She decided to pick things up again.

"It feels kind of hard to breath with all these people crowded around, don't you think?"

Or at least, it felt that way to her. Perhaps the oxygen in the room was a bit thinner than usual? What would she know. Perhaps it was all in her head.

Swinub froze up when Chika floated down to him. It was like watching a deer caught in the headlights of a car. He didn't know how to answer that. Then of course it occurred to him to give her a simple answer. It took him a bit to get himself talking despite this.

Swinub: "...A-Ah...yes!"


Ciel/Skye

Ciel nodded. "Way... way too many," he said abruptly. "Too many people..." Ciel felt slightly out of breath as he spoke. Skye tapped his shoulder and smiled a bit, shaking his head. Ciel nodded and gulped a few shaky breaths.

Finally Skye spoke again. "Ih-hit's a bih-bit luh-houd too. Eh-Eh-Expos can buh-he lih-like that." Naturally he didn't know from experience but he knew from crowds. he gave Valorie a small smile. "Ih-hit's ah-ah-also ruh-rather oh-hoverdone."

Chika frowned and tilted her head sideways. "Well... you can tell me." She was confused, being a young Pokemon even by Pokestandards. Love, or anything aside from her natural adoration for Ciel.


Valorie

Valorie nodded silently. It was too crowded, but she honestly didn't mind except for the part where she felt kinda out of breath. She still didn't know if that was only in her head or whether she was actually out of breath. She took a deep breath, yet still found herself feeling kind of odd. Perhaps it was nothing to worry about though.

Meanwhile, Swinub hesitated again. How did he even go about saying something like this? He honestly had no idea, which was a recipe for disaster. After a few moments he spoke up again, immediately resulting in another foot-in-mouth moment as he tried to be more blunt about his feelings.

Swinub: "Are you... taken?"


Ciel/Skye

Skye looked at her with a small smile on her face. "Muh-haybe you nuh-need a bruh-bruh-break," he said gently.

"From everything," Ciel commented, kind of catching on. "Maybe what you need right now is to be alone, to give your mind a break or a chance to, um..." Hecouldn't think of it. It was weird.

"Seh-Settle her thuh-thoughts?" Skye mumbled and Ciel nodded.

"You seem all..." Ciel thought again. "Muddled and confused. Maybe you need to take a step back. Like, um...when you get back, take some time alone? I dunno..." Ciel fidgeted.

"Suh-horry," Skye apologized. "AH-Our advuh-vice muh-hust beh-he useless." He wasn't quite sure what was completely wrong so he wasn't sure how to help. Skye could tell there was something deeper than what she had told them but... his own thoughtful shyness would not let him ask. And Ciel was just way too confused.

CHika suddenly blinked. "Oh." SHe frowned. "Well, um... I've never felt that before... but you are cute." She nodded at this.


Valorie

Valorie looked away a moment.

"Well, actually... I was thinking the same thing."

She then looked back to the two briefly before diverting her attention again.

"I guess the real question is... where to go so I can get away from things for a while?"

She then started thinking. The time when she'd be able to get away was still a way's away. If she tried that while she was here she'd almost certainly get in huge trouble. She had to be a bit less impatient than that.

Meanwhile, Swinub hesitated a moment. He supposed the reaction was positive, or maybe it was just neutral. "Never..?"


Ciel/Skye

Ciel looked around. "Maybe there's a staff person who knows a small, quiet room..." He trailed off after this, looking uncomfortable. Honestly, he wanted to do the same but it would inevitably get him lost. That was the only reason he was still here.

Chika frowned. "Well... yeah. I haven't been around Pokemon that I wasn't friends with and all...I usually don't think about that stuff... what about you?"


Valorie

Valorie paused a moment, giving Ciel a brief skeptical look. After that moment she crossed her arms behind her head casually. Perhaps if she acted as if she was relaxed her mind would follow suit.

"Well... I don't think I want to hide away in some room..."

She couldn't bring herself to mention that it was because of her ego.

Meanwhile, Swinub went blank. Had he made a mistake? He decided not to worry about it until things became more clear.

"...Well, I could think of someone~"

The reference was about as cheesy as it got.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel frowned. He didn't see the deal with taking a break from something but whatever. It really wasn't his business. "Okay... if that's what you want..." He fidgeted awkwardly. This was really difficult to understand. What was stopping her?

Rama barked at Valorie, a leering grin on his face. What a prideful pup. Skye gently whapped his head, causing the fox to whine.

Chika tilted her white head. "Me? Why me?"


Valorie

Valorie nodded and looked away. She didn't really know what to say now. She did catch that Flygon appeared to be watching Swinub with interest, silently wondering what that might be about. Regardless, she lacked any ability to understand it. Her pokemon couldn't speak English, and she most certainly couldn't understand pokemon. Neither could she read their facial expressions, which often didn't translate very far beyond their eyes, which were one of the few places that often seemed to give her an idea on how they felt. Rama barked at her, startling her and causing her to glance at him briefly. Though she calmed when she noticed that he was not about to bite her or something. Or at least, it didn't look like it. He seemed kind of protective of his trainer to her.

Meanwhile, Swinub paused. How did he answer that question? Was she annoyed at him? He couldn't tell.

Swinub: "W-Well... I don't know! I guess I just... do!"

Of course, he was admitting to not understanding his own feelings completely.


Ciel/Skye

Skye saw where she was looking and sighed. "Heh-he's muh-mocking yuh-hou. Suh-sorry, heh-he does thah-hat." Rama whined again and nuzzled his human's hands. Skye sighed and pet him some more. Surprisingly, Ciel let out a little shy laugh. He had no clue what was going on but it was funny.

Chika paused then brightened. "THat's okay! Maybe we'll figure it out together!" She smiled.


Valorie

Valorie just sort of adopted this facial expression all like 'Wait, that's not right...'. She didn't much appreciate being mocked, but it was a bit hard to care coming from a pokemon she didn't know. Heck, she didn't know anything about Rama's species. Was he one of the rare, super intelligent species like the dratini line, or was he lower on the scale? Who was she to say? She didn't know him. She turned her gaze to Skye and gave him this skeptically teasing look.

"How can you tell..?"


Ciel/Skye

"Erm..." Ciel offered. "Zorua are pranksters?" his voice was curious and a little childishly quizzical. He had only seen Zorua in books until recently. They were adorable but he could never train one. They had too much energy. Kink was enough for him.

Meanwhile, Skye was very confused. How did he know...? He just did really. He had been with Rama for a while. Though he hadn't had Pala or Rei for all that time, he still understood them fairly well. He was not like Brian; Skye had no idea what they were actually saying. But what he did know was what they felt and he could guess how they would talk if they were physically capable of human. He didn't think Pokemon were any less intelligent than humans, they just couldn't speak. So he relied on knowing hearts instead.

"Erm..." the auburn-haired boy began. "I-hi hah-have a struh-strong boh-bond wih-hith my puh-puh-Pokemon I Thuh-think. Muh-maybe that's whuh-why."

"You think?" Rama snorted. "I won't work with some regular dinky human.


Valorie

Valorie glanced at Ciel briefly. She didn't know what he meant by prankster, but it gave her ideas. She didn't know what Skye meant by bonds. She supposed she wouldn't. She wasn't him. Valorie looked up at Flygon, something occurring to her. She then beckoned Flygon with her hands.

"Flygon, cmere..!"

Flygon stopped what she was doing, turning her head to acknowledge Valorie before quickly hovering over to her. Flygon lowered her head, seemingly expecting to be pet. She in turn received said petting as Valorie opened and reached into her satchel with her free hand. After a few moments of digging around she pulled out what appeared to be a small stack of multi-colored discs and took her hand off Flygon. Browsing through the stack for a brief moment she pulled out a particular disc and held it up to Flygon. Flygon had her attention, though it promptly moved to the disc, which began to glow faintly as it worked. Valorie would do this with a couple of other discs before she was finished. Meanwhile, she spoke up again.

"I guess we're still waiting for people to finish battling. I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm ready to move on."


Ciel/Skye

Skye nodded silently in agreement. He could tell she didn't understand what bonds were. He didn't really, not in the conscious sort of way. But oh well. He knew it had to do with trust and that was about all. Rama barked and yipped happily at him, showing his odd displays of affection again.

CIel nodded. "Battling's not that much fun..."


Valorie

Valorie just sort of turned her head and gave Ciel a rather surprised look. He didn't like battles? That went flying over her head. After all. Battles were what training pokemon was all about, right? Didn't everyone do it because it was fun to an extent? She knew that she certainly did. Battles were very fun...er...most of the time.

"Not fun..? You're kidding, right?"


Ciel/Skye

Ciel frowned a bit. He shied away a little, looking uncomfortable. "Um... Not really... I... it doesn't... People take it too seriously. It isn't very fun anymore. All everyone wants to do is win... They never , no one ever wants to just have fun anymore... Like you." he covered his mouth after saying this, suddenly realizing he had been rude. Skye winced. Oops. Poor Ciel


Valorie

Valorie seemed to go deep into thought when suddenly out of the blue she was insulted. It honestly took her several moments to completely grasp what Ciel had said as it pulled her out of her thoughts. Her expression turned mildly frustrated as she focused back on Ciel's face. She then looked away, having fallen silent abruptly, her expression no longer visible as she grimaced.

His words had spoken a lot more than he had intended them to. Valorie resented them, a lot. How dare he look down on her for being competitive? She silently assured herself that she enjoyed the competition, that he was wrong about her. And yet... the opinions of others kind of mattered a whole lot to Valorie. The remark stung. Yeah... The thing was, winning only mattered to her if it earned or helped her earn respect. In retrospect, seeing how Ciel thought of her, her 'win' seemed more like a loss.

After a moment she took a deep breath and stood up, moving over to Swinub and releasing her breath in the form of a sigh, though none of these relaxation techniques were powerful enough to combat her inner angst. Swinub looked up at her as she approached. Valorie kneeled down and proceeded to silently go about teaching Swinub some new moves as well with some TMs. Her expression was one of mild sadness at that moment, though it would still be invisible to the two boys, as her back was to them.


Ciel/Skye

Ciel whimpered. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that..." He shook, looking immensely guilty. ""It-It's just... that battle... it felt like the win was the only important thing, that you proving yourself was more important than your Pokemon or having a fun battle to get to know someone. IT... that sort of thing hurts..."

"Heh-he's trying tuh-ho suh-say." Skye began, holding back a snicker. Seriously, when did the stuttering freak get to be the translator. "THe-he world tah-takes bah-hattling suh-so seriously. Luh-hike thih-this skuh-school, beh-built to tuh-teach people how-how to train theh-their Poh-hokemon. Ih-hisn't thah-that the puh-point of a juh-journey? Fih-Figuring it out?"

Ciel nodded. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "It just all feels so serious, so important. There's more to the world than battling but... it seems like all those important things are being forgotten in place of getting physically stronger." And trainers don't do much anyway now. He kept that part quiet.


Valorie

Valorie didn't respond to what Ciel said. Her eyes narrowed a bit. Was he accusing her of something? What did he know about her anyway? They'd just met! And yet... it still stung. It felt almost as if he were calling her a bad person or something. She tried very hard not to care, but it wasn't any use. She finished up with Swinub and sent a brief glance in Skye's direction, revealing her frustrated expression when he spoke. She then proceeded to return Swinub and Flygon rather abruptly. After doing this she stood up and turned to Skye and Ciel, an expression that conveyed obvious upset on her face. She had listened to what he had to say, but she would not stay silent any longer. She could only watch as someone metaphorically smacked her across the face for the values she held dear for so long. She proceeded to speak up, her voice somewhat quiet. However, the wrath in her tone offset the quietness. Ironically, her gaze drifted downwards as she spoke.

"...Maybe it's you that just doesn't take battling serious /enough/."

Who 'you' was was left unsaid and unimplied. Perhaps she had meant the both of them, seeing as they agreed. As soon as she finished speaking she turned tail and proceeded to try and make her way away from the two, in a bit of a rush.


Ciel/Skye

Skye watched her a moment as she left. "Yuh-hou're right. I duh-don't. Theh-here's nothing wruh-wrong with either wah-hay."

Rama sneered. "She says that and walks away. Weak."

"Rah-hama," Skye scolded, actually sounding upset with him. "Eh-henough! Soh-homeone's disah-hagreeing wih-hith her vah-halues. Ih-it's okay tuh-to be upset."

"It ain't okay to beat down on the kid when he don't get what's going on," the fox growled, looking at the visibly guilty Ciel. "How is he supposed to know what's going on? He was just trying to tell her what he was thinking. That is all."

"Peh-heople aren't u-husually so forthright about thah-hat sort of thing," SKye mumbled. Rama huffed and fell silent as Ciel shook guiltily. THe teen wanted to call Valorie back and apologize but... he felt it wouldn't make a difference. He didn't quite understand humans and their overreactive behavior.

 

[Bassiroth]

N traveled through the crowds looking all around him at the action going on. Hearing the voices of the different pokemon in their conflict. Which pokemon were truly cared for by their trainers and which weren't. While not the best event to have with a huge gathering of pokemon, it was still nonetheless a way for pokemon and trainers to get to know one another better.

And in the man's awe of the moment, he failed to notice some teen rushing through and had bumped into her by accident, granted his taller height and build managed to make him regain his ballance but he still looked at the person who bumped into her. IE-a student named Valorie.

"Oh dear, are you alright? I hope you and your pokemon are unharmed."

Of course he would ask about the pokemon, even if they are inside pokeballs. To him they can still be hurt both outside and inside a pokeball, and pokeballs themselves are not indestructable.

If Valorie had fallen he would reach out his hand to offer her help to get back up.

 

[Dawn]

Valorie's Post​

Valorie was moving along through the gathering of people when a man old enough to be a teacher came into her vision. At first she didn't think anything of him, but he seemed to be heading into her path. She was a bit upset, so she tried to hurry on past. Yet, she found that she had made a mistake in judging the distance between the two. Before she knew it, the two had accidentally collided. Valorie was short even for her age, so she was promptly knocked over, failing to recover her balance as she fell.

A boy nearly stepped on her hand which had so abruptly gotten in his way, but quickly adjusted his course to walk around her as she began to pick herself up. Her satchel was still with her, so she simply picked herself up into a sitting position and checked herself over briefly before noticing a hand being offered to her.

Valorie looked up to take in N's appearance. Despite being from Unova and having been alive during Team Plasma's shenanigans, she had never actually gotten to see N. As such, she didn't really think much of it, though she did silently remark to herself that his hair was pretty messy.

Valorie reached up to take N's hand and pulled herself up. She really needed to stop meeting people that way. Regardless, she seemed to be relatively fine. What did he mean about her pokemon? As far as she knew, pokemon were only in danger if something physically damaged their pokeballs. It was worth mentioning that Valorie wasn't wearing her suicune dorm jacket as it had been stolen not long before the field trip.

"Oh, I'm fine..."

Valorie brushed herself off once she had gotten back to her feet, moving some of her hair out of her eyes, as she wasn't wearing her beanie to restrain it currently. It was also worth noting that she wasn't wearing her suicune dorm jacket, as it had been stolen earlier. She seemed slightly gloomy. Valorie's pokemon on the other hand... Dragonair had a deep and love filled bond with Valorie. It was no secret that they looked at each other almost as mother and daughter. Charizard seemed to want more attention from her trainer, feeling somewhat neglected compared to Dragonair. Flygon seemed to admire her trainer, though why wasn't exactly clear. Frillish's head was strikingly empty in that the pokemon wasn't very bright. Though, from what one could gather, Frillish seemed to be fine captive, though she longed to hunt. Fraxure seemed to love her trainer, though as it turns out, she was very averse to battling and was afraid of when Valorie might ask her to next. This was because a fraxure's tusks no longer grew back if they were broken in battle or otherwise, and Fraxure, having just evolved, was now obsessed with making sure they did not break. Lastly, Swinub was enjoying Valorie's company, though he hadn't been with her for long.

Meanwhile, Valorie seemed to be observing N curiously, as if expecting him to introduce himself or having found something curious about him.