Ace brain was running through different possibility but then "Hello, I am David. This is Silver". half awaked guy answered. "Can I... uhh, help you." Thunder was still charging electricity. The way he hesitated and then that shocked looking face, he can't be a experienced trainer. Ace thought still maintaining his calm looking face. "Stop Thunder".Thunder had stopped charging electricity and started staring at Silver named absol. "Sorry, I think you're one of a grunt of terrorist organization of hoenn, they're on move these days". Ace told David coldly. I think I didn't have to be so cold around a person who looks kind of powerful trainer and if he was here for pokedex then he will be my soon-to-be-rival. Ace thought deeply that he forgot he wasn't paying attention to Thunder who just give him a thunder shock. "Ahhhh.....sorry sorry dammit! I'm going to pay attention next time". scarred Ace said to a furious Thunder. Then Thunder start looking at Ace with pleading look. Ace get it what Thunder was getting at."I'm Ace". He said to David while pointing his finger toward Thunder. "This is Thunder.""May I ask you what're you doing here?".

Briefcase:


Maurice had received his tea from the assistant and continued to wait in his chair for the professor. Just as he was starting to get impatient, two children, at least to him, came around a corner after each other. They both seemed in quite a hurry to get somewhere. "Kids these days are quite on the move anymore..." Maurice thought to himself. Soon the assistant came out to let him know the professor would see him now.

The time had finally come for Maurice. He only had one more step before he was to officially become a Pokemon Trainer. Standing before him was a man with a brown scraggly beard and hair wearing shorts, sandals and a lab coat. He seemed to be a bit disheveled.

"Professor Birch, I presume?" Maurice asked politely, "I'm Maurice Watson, Mr. Steiner's friend."

The professor's eyes gave a look of recognition at Maurice's words.

"Oh yes! Please, sit down!" He said as he gestured to a seat, "I heard you want to start a journey. A little old for that aren't we?"

Maurice smiled through his thick mustache, "Well yes I suppose but I was unfortunately unable to begin my journey at the typical age as I was working for Mr. Steiner. It was only until recently he let me out of my position so that I may fulfill my dream of challenging the Pokemon League."

Birch stroked his bear as he listened "That's an admirable goal especially since it took a backseat for so long. Joshua is a good man for realizing that this was important to you."

"Yes to both of those statements. It's all Cocoa and I want in our lives" He looked down and smiled at Buneary, who was busy exploring Birch's office.

"Well I suppose you'll be needing this then" He grabbed for a dark blue contraption and gave it to Maurice.

"Wow...my very own Pokedex...I'd seen pictures growing up but never thought..." A tear rolled down his face as he tried to control himself. "Thank you Professor Birch. You're a good man for giving this old butler a chance to live out his dream." Maurice leaned in and gave the professor a hug before stepping back, giving a bow and proceeded to walk out of the office, past all the waiting trainers that had accumulated and back into town. The time for his journey was now and he couldn't wait for what was in store for him and his precious Buneary.

Meanwhile, the professor smiled as he sat at his desk, thinking about the man that had just come in. He was a bit strange, especially the crying and the hug, but Birch liked it. It wasn't often that someone truly understood what it meant to become a trainer. Most people that came in were kids who just wanted their Pokemon and Pokedex and then ran back out to begin their journey. They were always in a hurry but never took the time to truly understand what they were taking on, to smell the roses as they say. Birch could sense Maurice was different though. Maurice appreciated his opportunity and wasn't about to waste it. The professor smiled knowing that no matter what, Maurice was going to reach his goal. Remembering that he had plenty of other trainers outside waiting on him, he told his assistant to let in the next trainer. Maybe there would be another Maurice among them.

Feeling slightly encouraged by Rose's comments, Zachry meekly walked on over to where everyone else was getting their Pokedex. Even if it ended up being that he felt no less awkward around people, Zachry did at least appreciate the fact that another trainer (one with another fire fox no less) had his back. In regards to Ellis' offer to go to Route 101, Zachry said nothing but mulled it over in his head. He was gonna take everything pretty subdued and not too gung-ho.

Following in the footsteps of everyone else, Zachry entered the lab and heard that the professor's assistant was calling on the next trainer to receive his or her Pokedex. Zachry turned to Charlotte (still perched to his shoulder) and said, "Guess this is it, huh, Charlotte?" Charlotte responded by nodding resolutely and decided to lick his trainer's face out of affection. Zachry smiled at this, but immediately blushed when he realized that a burly, bearded man was observing them. This man, who Zachry realized was Professor Birch, stood there, seemingly touched by this act. The two exchanged awkward (to Zachry anyways) small talk about Charlotte, about how exceptionally well she gets along with her trainer and how much he wants to accomplish. Zachry shrugged. He didn't know what he was capable of and was really doing this at the urging of his adoptive parents and one very curious fire fox.

After a couple of minutes of this, Zachry, having accepted the Pokedex with only the fanfare that an excited Fennekin provided, running in circles around Zachry, set out from the lab towards Route 101. For the first time in a long while, Zachry felt emboldened and less constrained by his situation. With this new mindset, Zachry walks alongside Charlotte with a content smile on his face.

Most of the people waiting outside had eventually gone in, not always through the front door. Seraph finally decided that he would go in right behind another person and wait for them to finish. "Okay Celest, its time for you to come back in here for a while." Seraph then got out Celest's pokeball and shot the red beam of energy at the Aipom, securing it back into its poeball. Careful to avoid tyese people for now, he slipped through the diminished crowd and followed one of the people into the building. He followed this person until he heard a voice ahead, probably the Professor. He then ducked behind a nearby plant. After what seemed like ages, the person finally left the area. Seraph then walked out of his hiding spot and inadvertently scared the professor. "Oh im sorry sir. I just came for a pokedex." Seraph said. "Oh, of course. I just did not expect to see you there. Come this way." The professor led Seraph to this open room, where he grabbed a pokedex and explained its functions. "Thank you professor!" Seraph said excitedly. He calmly walked out of the lab and once he was out, sprinted away from people. "Celest, come on out!" Seraph threw the pokeball and the little Aipom came out. Celest looked at Seraph expectantly. "We're headed to Route 101 Celest!" The two began their run towards Route 101.

Micaiah Nanami
Littleroot Town
Riolu / --- / --- / --- / --- / --- /


In the clear, and gentle air of the Hoenn region, a Taillow flew, gazing upon the small and quiet town of Littleroot. It soon flew nearby the start of Route 101, in search of food. Eventually it encountered it's prey - a small yet spry Wurmple, squirming through the grass trying to hide itself, yet unable to accept the fact that it's red body does not blend so well with the green grass. However, in it's heart, it always thought it was a Caterpie instead.

"Taillow!" (Aha!) the bird predator cried, swooping in to catch it's small prize, as the Wurmple twisted and turned, truing to escape, but with no avail. The Taillow wanted to sign on it's success, leading it to drop it's meal multiple times until it gave up.

***

"This is a Pokédex?" the young trainer, Micaiah Nanami meanwhile asked, upon receiving a small, red electronic device. She had only have heard of the name from small novels, but never seen a picture of one, let alone seen one up close before. "Huh, but you know, it's a lot smaller than I ever imagined."

"Small, but easy to use, and very powerful!" the energetic and adventurous, Professor Birch replied. Professor Birch was always filled with adventurous thoughts, clinging to the hope of finding new discoveries, and the inspiration of new Pokémon trainers. "As you know, this world is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokémon. We humans live alongside Pokémon, at times as friendly playmates, and at times as cooperative workmates. Sometimes, we band together and battle others like us. But despite our closeness, we don't know everything about Pokémon. In fact, there are many, many secrets surrounding Pokémon. To unravel Pokémon mysteries, I've been undertaking research! That's where the Pokédex comes in."

Micaiah nodded in understatement. She, herself was not that unfamiliar with the basics and questions that rose when talking about the Pokémon universe. She herself have always been interested in tackling the mysteries that surround the creatures that lived side by side with humans for many generations.

"The Pokédex is a high-tech tool that automatically makes a record of any Pokémon you meet or catch," The Professor continued. "Be sure to give it a try whenever you encounter a Pokémon you haven't seen, or even one that you're familiar with!" Micaiah once again nodded as her small, blue, puppy-like creature Riolu came waltzing by.

"Ri-Ri!" (But I'm WAY more interesting than some Poochyena!)

Of course, humans can't understand Pokémon directly, as the only way Micaiah can interact with her Riolu is with her aura - she could only tell if Riolu was sad, happy, or angry. Professor Birch smiled at the young puppy creature.

"Try it with her!" he suggested to Micaiah. "Even though it's not a native Pokémon to Hoenn, it's sure to have some info about a Riolu too!"

Micaiah decided to hold up her Pokédex toward her Riolu. Riolu felt a bit awkward - it was almost as if Micaiah wanted to take a picture of it, and it's been always a little bit camera shy. She was too spooked to jump out of the way, however, so, Micaiah just carried on. The Pokédex's screen then came on, showing a picture of Riolu. It then showed some text.

"It uses the shapes of auras, which change according to emotion, to communicate with others," Micaiah read from it out loud. "Blimey, that is true! Often times when it's sad or mad, I'd generally pick up on that! Wow, this thing is quite handy after all!"

"Ri..." (But for some reason, you never seem to notice my emotions when I'm eating your questionable cooking...)

"Aye, and it's my dream to one day have someone to fill up the pages of the Pokédex! That's why I allow so many people to carry one," Birch explained. "In fact, I remember just yesterday when I gave one to a very special kid..." Birch then turned and looked up at the ceiling, at a pause. Micaiah gave Birch a funny look.

"Uh... Professor?" Micaiah pondered, wondering about Birch's weird behavior.

"Ri-Ri!" (Quiet! He's having a flashback!)

The Professor turned to Micaiah again. "You see, what happened was..."

***

The blue moving van had just finished unloading. Brendan, a kid who just turned of age, just learned about the good Professor in this region of Hoenn. After setting the time on his clock, he rushed over to his living room, only to find out that he had just missed his dad on T.V.

"Aw man, 2nd time in a row," he said, flabbergasted. "But the first time wasn't my fault! I really hated those commercials."

"Really? I thought those were quite clever," his mother, who moved in with him replied with her trademark cheery smile. "I mean, what if we need a scope lens? That commercial with that Marowak turning into a ghost and all... that could happen in this household!"

Brendan raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure not breaking my legs for that to happen anytime soon..." the young man said. "But I will have a look around. Catch ya' later, mom!" The boy waved goodbye to his mother with his mother waving back.

He then stepped outside to catch the sent of the fresh air that was the Hoenn region. He strolled around the place, catching glimpses of the nearby homes, towards the nearby open woods. It was as every bit he imagined - the scent of everything that was... new to him. A lot of undiscovered places, and undiscovered Pokémon were waiting for him.

The cry for help was especially endearing---

"H-help me!" But it was an actual cry, Brendan soon figured, rushing over to the woods to find a man appearing to be in his middle age, high above a tree. it was indeed Professor Birch, being attacked by a small black, fox-like creature. A Poochyena.

"Chy! Poochy!" (How DARE you call me beautiful! I am handsome!) it barked loudly and repeatedly. It couldn't climb, however, so the most it could do is bark until somehow, the sound waves caused the human to fall on his behind.

"H-Hey!" Brendan called out. "Are you okay?! Wait, I recognize you from the Pokémon Weekly! Are you really..."

"Ah! Hello! Yes, I'm Professor Birch! You over there! Please! Help!" the Professor pleaded, with Brendan already getting the message that he needed some form of assistance. "There! Nearby! Pokéball! In bag! Hurry!"

Brendan understood the gist of it, and reached for the Professor's nearby brown bag. However, not much was in it. "All there is is just a sheet of paper saying I.O.U a starter Pokémon in it!"

"WHAT?!" The Professor replied in shock. "Who was it?! Track down whoever took them!"

"I-It was signed by you, Professor!" Brendan replied, holding up the sheet of paper, pointing the small print that read, love, Professor Birch. P.S, do not engage any dangerous affairs in Pokémon that results in you climbing up trees to escape.

***

"Then what happened?!" Micaiah asked, interrupting the story. "W-Were you eaten?"

"No, not quite," the Professor replied, clearly showing that he is alive and well, and not in the belly of the beast. "Brendan actually had a Pokémon of his own when he was living back at Johto. I suppose he just didn't get to mention it, haha! But yes, his Pokémon took care of the wild Poochyena no problem, and I gave him his Pokédex! Quite an adventure for someone who just moved in, eh?"

"That reminds me, I had another question for you," Micaiah asked, gazing to the professor with a questionable stare. "How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?"

The Professor blinked as the two exchanged quiet glances. Riolu gave a 'she got you there!' glance at the Professor. "Well! Have fun at your adventure!" the Professor suddenly then said with a cheerful smile.

"But..."

Luna Crescent was deathly afraid of water. So needless to say, the boat ride from Johto to Hoenn was one of the worst experiences she ever went through. Getting on the boat was hard enough, and as the time to get off drew ever closer, Luna felt herself get faint. She had remained in her cabin for most of the trip, only going out to eat in the cafeteria or explore the interior. Luna, holed up in her cabin with her Dratini slithering around, remembered a conversation she had with a couple that were returning from a vacation when she went out to eat lunch. They talked about how their son tried the Pokemon League, but fell short when they couldn't beat the gym in Sootopolis. Luna asked the couple for more information and they gladly told her more about it, giving her a map of Hoenn before they went off back to their cabin.
"Attention all passengers. We have now arrived at Slateport…" The P.A started to say, but Luna stopped paying attention to it. She got up, collected her things, and looked at Dratini, who was on the bed and looked back at Luna with a worried look. "I'll be fine." Luna told Dratini. The snake-like Pokemon only nodded, then proceeded to crawl up and coil loosely around Luna's neck, like a scarf. With Dratini to protect her, Luna took a deep breath and walked out of her room, and off the boat. She stopped when she saw the water, but continued when Dratini nuzzled her head. "Thanks Dratini." Luna whispered to her Pokemon. As soon as Luna stepped on solid ground, she ran for Littleroot Town, without looking back at the water she so feared.

A few hours later…

"Look Dratini, we're finally here!" Sure enough, Luna finally came upon the sign signaling she was in Littleroot Town. As she looked at the sign, a couple people passed by on their way to Route 101 behind her, seemingly focused on other things. Luna, determined to start her adventure walked forward into the small town and quickly found the lab, seeing as it was the only building with a crowd. She waited in line and finally entered the lab.
"Welcome, young lady! I'm Professor Birch." Said a man with brown hair and beard as Luna entered the back part of the lab. "Nice to meet you professor, I'm Luna. Luna Crescent." She bowed. "My, what a polite kid! Are you here for the same reason as the others?" Luna nodded, "Yes. I heard I could receive a Pokedex here. I want to take on the Pokemon League with my pal Dratini here." She pointed to her neck which was wrapped by her Dratini. Professor Birch laughed, "A Pokemon as a scarf?! What a crazy fashion statement! I like you, young lady. Here." He turned to the table behind him and picked up a red device that looked like a Gameboy Advance, and handed it to Luna. "This is the Pokedex you wanted! It's a high-tech encyclopedia that analyzes and records data for all Pokemon you will meet or catch!" Luna smiled as she took the Pokedex and held it in her hands. "Thanks professor!" Luna then ran out of the lab, excited to start her journey.
Birch stood there, surprised at how fast she ran. "I hope she figures out how to use that thing… Oh well. Time to get ready for the next person." He then went into a storage closet and pulled out another Pokedex...

"Ah… I probably should have asked how this thing works…" Luna said to herself as she walked towards Route 101, inspecting her new tool yet having no idea how it worked. "Well, Dratini, here we are." Luna said to her partner as she put the Pokedex in her purse. They had come upon the sign welcoming people into Littleroot Town. Luna looked at the path ahead, deeply inhaled and exhaled, smiled, and walked forward. Her journey was finally beginning.

Chan was sitting on a small wooden boat, a blue sea was surrounding him. The boat driver was his Uncle Lim who was the big brother of Chan's dad. His Pidgey was flying around the sky, seemingly happy and excited.

" So how long it would take to reach the post? " he asked,
" It would take a little while now. " said Uncle Lim.

Soon, they finally reached the port and there was a lot of ships over there. The port was so crowded with people and very busy. Chan quickly took his belongings while his Pidgey stayed beside his shoulder.

" Goodbye Chan, please do not forget to send me a post card! " said Uncle Lim with a big smile while waiving hands to them.

They walked through the Hoenn forest to reach Littleroot Town. The forest was quite peaceful and silent. The air was fresh and cool. While they were so enjoying walking in the forest, suddenly they heard a very loud noise from a distance.

" Quick Pidgey, let's take a look! " said Chan. They quickly ran towards the source of the noise and found a fainted Poochyena. He crouched beside it and took a closer look.

" Hey you boy, do not touch it! " said a young man with a small brown beard on his chin. " Excuse me boy but I have to save this pokemon. " Chan quickly stood aside and let him to do his job. The young man checked it carefully and made some few notes in his writing book.

" Too bad it's wound is too deep, we need to send it for treatment at my laboratory. Come quick, follow me! " said the young man. Chan quickly carried the Pokemon and followed him.

They quickly rushed out of the forest and reached his laboratory. Chan put down the wounded Poochyena on a bed while the young man quickly took a small medical kit. He cleaned the wound and apply a small bandage around it.
After a while, he finished bandaging the wound and Poochyena seemed to be awaked but yet still weak.

" It should be fine for now and it need some time to recover. Anyways, thank you for helping me. May I know your name? " the young man asked.
" Your welcome and nice to meet you! My name is Chan and I want to apply my Pokemon Trainer Card at Littleroot Town to challenge the gym leaders of this region and join the Hoenn League! " said Chan.

" Oh I see, well I guess that you have found the right person. My name is Professor Birch and I am the person in charge to help you for signing up the Pokemon Trainer Card. As you can see, lots of the trainers are signed up already and maybe they have gone for quite a while." he said. Chan felt a little uneasy and a little disappointed.

" Even though you are quite left behind, you are still able to catch up before the Hoenn League starts! So, now you can still register for it. " said Professor Birch.

Chan felt excited and leaped into air happily. " Pid! Pid! " said his Pidgey, as if it tried to say " Yes! Finally our hardwork have been paid off! ". Chan followed Professor Birch to his computer room and went through some important procedures.

Soon , Professor Birch came to him and gave him the Pokemon Trainer Card. " Well, here it is, Your Pokemon Trainer Card. Now you are eligible to challenge the gym leaders in this region and gain badges so you are qualified to join the Hoenn League. I hope you have a good luck on your adventure, Chan. " said Professor Birch.

" Before you go, I forget to bring you this device " he said and quickly gave a piece of advanced device to Chan. Chan inspected the device but he almost dropped it. Proffesor Birch had a sudden shock but stayed calm.

" This is a PokeDex. It records the Pokemon information when you see a new Pokemon. It helps you to understand the Pokemons at a better level. Besides, I can record all the information to my own Pokemon Encyclopedia for future researches." he said.

" I guess all the things are done... Oh, wait! Here, take these Pokeballs. They are capsules for capturing and storing Pokemons. It would be useful but there always a chance that the Pokemons would refused for being captured. Alright, I guess it's time for you to go. See ya! " said Professor Birch.

Chan put all the things into his back pack and ready to go!
" Are you ready for this, Pidgey? " said Chan.
"Pid!" said Pidgey as it agreed to go.

Soon, they went out from Professor Birch Laboratory and headed towards Route 101.

So, Chan and his Pokemon, Pidgey had finally began his adventure of Hoenn League. Who knows something unpredictable would happen to them?

(To be Continued)

Briefcase:


Maurice had reached Route 101 hours ago and been walking for what seemed forever. "Oh dear. I do hope we reach Oldale Town soon Cocoa" He said to his little partner hopping alongside him. This time alone had given him a lot of time to think about his life, which can be very scary. He thought back to when he first came into the Steiners' hands. He was only 5 years old and had been in a couple different foster homes having never known his parents. It seemed no one would take poor Maurice. Until one fateful day when Diane and Joshua Steiner walked into his foster home. It took but one look at Maurice for them to know this was the child they wanted. From that day forward, Maurice was like family to the Steiners and Maurice had felt the same way. One thing always irked him though...who were his real parents? Were they alive? Why did they give him up?

This was what he was thinking about as he brought his foot down in to a hole, straight onto some large ears. The creature was not thrilled by that, sending Maurice flying off him and into the dirt. "What the fu....dge!?" Maurice said as he rubbed his neck and and grimaced from the landing. Getting to his feet, he noticed how dirty his suit jacket and pants had become. "Why you little nuisance, show yourself! This is a $800 suit and its going to take hours to get this treated!" Maurice yelled at the hole. Quickly two ears appeared and soon grey body. "Bunnelby!" It yelled back at Maurice with an angry face, prepared to fight. Maurice could see this and looked at Cocoa, "What do you say my old friend, shall we teach this little rugrat a thing or two?" Cocoa nodded in agreement and stepped towards the Bunnelby. It was to be the first battle of Maurice's life in Hoenn.

With his previous knowledge in mind, Maurice quickly took the upperhand, using Bunnelby's anger to his advantage. The small rabbit-like Pokemon kept charging in blind with Tackles and Doubleslap, but that did not faze the duo. Using Baby-Doll Eyes on repeat, the attacks were getting weaker and weaker and Bunnelby was getting pregressively more angry at the lack of it's success but was clearly becoming slower. Maurice knew this and knew the ending was soon. In fact, the moment was now, as the Bunnelby stopped to catch its breath.

"Now Cocoa, Jump Kick!" Maurice commanded. Buneary sprang into action and leaped high into the air and coming down with force, one of its feet stretched out and on a collison course with Bunnelby's face. The attack flawlessly connected and sent the Bunnelby crashing into a large rock and falling to the ground, not moving. "Well done Cocoa. Superb attack" Maurice complimented his partner and prepared to move on until he noticed the motionless Bunnelby lying on the ground, "Oh dear...It seem the attack was a bit too good. It looks quite hurt and I can't just leave it here. Who knows what might happen otherwise...". Maurice then pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it at the poor Pokemon. It was so injured and Maurice just had to help plus it needed to learn some manners. The suit could wait. Bunnelby's health was first priority. The ball hit Bunnelby and sucked it in, wiggling for what seemed like an eternity.

"That's us!" Rose returned the friendly smile. It's hard not to be cheery around someone with such a bright smile, and someone that flashes that smile so easily.

"Vul!" Tanna's six tails wiggle in unison as the man kneels down to her level.

She stands and takes a small step towards the kneeling man, her head extends towards him and she gives him a tiny sniff. "Vulpix vul!" She smiles to smile as she taps her nose against the trainer's hand. He seems like a very nice man, and he has a fire Pokémon, which means he has excellent taste.

"Looks like someone made a friend." Rose speaks as she watches her cherished little fox give Barc the nose-tap of approval.

Tanna's tail continues to wiggle, and picks up speed when the Growlithe steps towards her. She too takes short steps towards the fire dog, filling the little gap between them. Good morning. She speaks in their secret Poke-language.

Rose suppresses the aww that threatens to come from her mouth at the sight of the two Pokémon interacting. Both fire Pokémon that evolve with a fire stone, and who tend to be found in the similar locations; with so much in common it wouldn't surprise Rose if they really hit it off. She takes her eyes off the two fluff-balls when Barc speaks up again.

"Sure did! Do you know if it has a way to show you what Pokémon are in the area?" On the boat ride to Hoenn, the female trainer did a lot of research on this region, including its native Pokémon, and its gym leaders. The gym leader closest to Little Root Town uses rock types, a while Rose took the time to teach Tanna energy ball for situations like this, she would rather the Vulpix be her last resort, as a well-timed rock throw would make quick work of her, super effective grass type move or no. Hopefully there's a water or grass type around here that can be her first choice when taking on this…what was her name again? Rose has never been great with names; she's far more likely to remember a person by what Pokemon they have, rather than their name.

Suddenly, Tanna's attention leaves Growlithe, her head quickly jolting order to stare at the tall grass about six feet away. Rose catches the sudden jolt out of the corner of her eye.

"Hm?" She blinks as she follows Tanna's turning head. "Did you hear something?"
A small segment of the tall grass begins to shutter. Rose glances to Barc and holds a single finger in the air in the one second gesture, and carefully inches towards the rustling grass. Whatever was making that rustling takes off, leaving a trail of rustling behind it.

Alright, whatever that was, Rose is thoroughly interested in it. She turns back towards Barc and salutes. "I'm going after it! We'll catch up with you later! C'mon, Tanna!" She didn't mean to cut him off like that, but whatever made that rustle is getting away, and fast! This is a pretty short and simple route, it will be easy for them to meet back up with Barc and Growlithe after they find out what that was.

Oh, dear. It seems we'll have to cut this short. Goodbye, for now. Tanna poke-speaks to Growlithe before wheeling around and taking off after her trainer, who has already shot into the tall grass, moving in the same pattern as the tall grass's rustling-- whatever it is, Rose is now bound and determined to see it.

The rustling stops as they near the shorter grass, which must mean the creature they're pursuing left the taller grass. Seconds after the rustling stops, it's replaced with an incredibly faint zapping sound, and as Rose pushes past the last strips of taller grass she sees why: Standing in front of her is a tiny black canine, electricity flickering from its mouth as it growls at her.

"Is that…a Poochyena?" Slowly, Rose reaches for her pocket, taking her Pokedex and investigating the small creature.

Poochyena (dark type)– The Bite Pokemon:
It savagely threatens foes with bared fangs. It chases after fleeing targets tenaciously. It turns tail and runs, however, if the foe strikes back.

"The bite Pokemon…and it knows thunder fang…I wonder…if it can learn the other fang moves." Thunder, ice, fire, and poison fang all in one Pokemon, it would have a lot of type coverage, and Rose loves nothing more than a Pokemon with good type coverage. Her brow furrows in determination as she glances to the fire fox by her side. "Okay, Tanna, are you ready?"

"Vul!" The fox yips before leaping in front of its trainer and crouching into a battle stance.

"Grr!" The little hyena snaps as it leaps forward, its mouth opening in order to clamp its electrically charged fangs onto the Vulpix.

"Get behind him, Tanna! And use will-o-wisp!"

Tanna makes a straight line dash under the Poochyena while it's in the air. Once out of the Pokemon's line of fire she whirls around, shooting the fiery blue orbs from her mouth towards her descending opponent.

The flames gather around Poochyena as it hits the ground from its failed jump-and-charge. It turns and snarls at Tanna for a brief second before wincing; the burn clearly doing its job.

"Good job! Now use hex!" A ghost type move, it wouldn't damage the dark type much, but she's hoping her not-incredibly effective attacks will keep the pup from running off, as the dex described.

"Vuuuuul!" The Vulpix's eyes begin to glow with an eerie energy as the darkness gathers in a sphere above her head. "Pix!" She squeaks as she tosses her head forward, releasing the ball of wicked energy.

The ball shoots quickly and hits its target; sending the Poocheyna flying backward; while not an effective move, Hex's power is boosted when a Pokemon has a status condition, thus this Hex has twice the power.

Poochyena lands in the grass with a thud. It takes a few seconds to get back to its feet, but once it does, it barrels towards Tanna with a stunning amount of speed, smashing into the red fox with an impressive take down, which forcefully shoves the little fox back. The recoil from the damage causes the hyena Pokémon to cringe and stumble, but it continues darting towards its escape.

Rose's eyes widen at the sudden boost in speed, it wasn't that fast before, and it didn't have time to use a speed boosting move!
"—We used a ghost type attack." She says to herself. It was hit with a ghost type attack and suddenly sped up…it's ability has to be rattled! "Tanna!" Rose calls out as her Pokémon gets back to its feet. "Don't let it get away! Use flamethrower!"

"Vul!" Tanna runs after the fleeing Poochyena as the flame in her mouth charges. Once it's ready she stops to take aim, and releases the steady stream of fire straight for the running hyena.
Fire engulfs the dark type for several seconds before the intense heat causes the escaping Pokémon to collapse.

"Nice job!" Rose cheers as she runs to Tanna's side. From her bag she produces a Friend Ball (which she stocked up on before leaving Johto), which she squeezes firmly for luck, before tossing it towards the captured Poochyena. The ball hits the ground and begins its infamous shake as Rose holds her breath…

[OOC]

Spoiler:

So...I was about 80% done with a post where Rose and Tanna got distracted from Barc due to the rustling grass when I saw your post, and I wanted to keep what I had written but I didn't want you to think Rose stole the Poochyena Barc was playing with earlier. XD This one's not nearly as friendly as that one.

"This is Route 101, Celest. The next step to meet Archer!" Seraph exclaimed to the little Aipom. Route 101 was very peaceful. All around Seraph, there were plush, green trees and the birds were chirping peacefully. On the ground many different pokemon were scurrying around. Seraph and Celest slowed to a walk.
"I'll keep you out here for a little bit, but when we get to the next town or city, you are going back in. Is tht alright?" Seraph asked.
"Aipom!" Celest said, nodding his head.
After walking for a couple of minutes, the number of pokemon on the route grew.
"It sure looks alot more crowded over here Celest." Seraph said.
All of a sudden, a small blur dashed in front of Seraph. Seraph tripped over it and fell on the ground.
"Hey! That was rude! This will not go unpunished! I need to learn to be like Archer!" Seraph exclaimed, getting off the ground with an angry look on his face. The culprit was a Rattata. "You ready Celest?"
"Ai Aipom!" Celest shouted with a determined look on his face.
"Celest, use Fury Swipes!" Immediately, and with pretty fast speed, Celest jumps towards the Rattata and starts clawing it. Surprised at the speed, the Rattata took a few swipes to the face before scurrying back. The Rattata then countered with a move of its own. It cloaked itself in a small white light before rushing towards Celest st blazing speed.
"Celest, counter that speed and dodge with Agility!" With the power of Agility, Celest dashed out of the Quick Attack with ease and the Rattata ran right past. However, the Rattata curved back around and charged back at Celest.
"Celest, jump into the air with your tail and aim a Swift right where the Rattata should be!" Celest jumped off the ground with his feet and landed on his tail, which he used like a trampoline to soar high into the sky. At his high point in the air, Celest released a barrage of stars at the ground where the Rattata planned on running to. The Rattata did run into the Swift and took a beating.
"Okay, finish it off with Fury Swipes!" Now back on the ground, Celest charged at the hurt Rattata. It had no chance to dodge the incoming attack due to the Agility boost, and got a full beating of swipes to the face. After the barrage of swipes ended, Seraph looked at the Rattata and notice that it fainted.

"It looks like Rattata will be able to heal naturally. Hopefully Archer would be proud of what I did. You did an amazing job Celest. I'm proud of you for listening to my commands so well!" Seraph proudly exclaimed.
"Aipom!" Celest shouted with glee. The two then continued on their way, and could see the slight outline of a building in the distance...

Whoever said that complaining doesn't get you anywhere must've been wrong, because someone finally went and got things moving again. Sure, sneaking in through the back might not have been necessary, but it worked. Now that the door was opened, Payton all but plowed through a couple of trainers as he hurried into the laboratory to receive his Pokedex. Once the few people in front of him walked away he snatched the device straight from the professor's hands, stuffing it into his coat without even taking the time to look at it. "About time," was all he grumbled, as Birch looked Payton over in clear disapproval. The assistant that kicked him out earlier stood to the side with his arms crossed and huffed. Payton huffed back. It was done. Pokedex in pocket, he left the way he came.

Route 101 was just like it was this morning, only with a new influx of trainers coming and going from Professor Birch's Laboratory. That, and it was an uphill ascent now, taking a lot longer to get back to Odale than it was getting down here. The Pokemon were more active now that everyone had woken them up and started walking through their homes, and even though it was the same forest that he had trekked through earlier it was definitely much more alive.

Reaching into his coat, Payton pulled out a basic red Pokeball and his newly acquired Pokedex. He pressed the button on the former and tossed it in front of him. A flash of light, then out came Skipper, the happy-go-lucky Mudkip currently under Payton's care. The two hadn't been together long, but they had established that Skipper was to help Payton fend off wild Pokemon and other pesky annoyances while he traveled across Hoenn looking for work. They also seemed to be complete opposites; while Payton was grumpy, unfriendly and just wanted to get things done, Skipper was optimistic, easygoing and wanted to make plenty of friends on their journey. While being raised by his breeder, Skipper had always looked forward to challenging the gyms with an awesome trainer and a team of Pokemon… oh, the world can be cruel.

Payton didn't waste time, and got to telling his Mudkip the plan as soon as Skipper was released. "See this thing?" he asked, waving his Pokedex in his hand. "This is the Pokedex we were here to get. It's going to help me with battles." While Payton wasn't planning on taking the Gym Circuit or catching Pokemon, a free high-tech device for trainers was worth the detour. "That means we're leaving. I want you to clear the path in front of me of any wild Pokemon, because we have places to be and there's a bunch of new trainers I'd like to leave far behind us." Skipper perked up at the mention of new trainers, and the thought of meeting fellow young starters and their trainers caught his interest. "Mud!" he exclaimed all too excitedly (I would too if I was stuck with someone as boring as Payton), but Payton was having none of it. "Well? Get going already. Just don't stray too far ahead," he instructed. The Mudkip sighed and complied, heading off into the undergrowth.

Payton wasn't about to sit back and enjoy his time alone, though. While most trainers were still back getting their Pokedex a few had managed to rush ahead. He set a brisk pace, ignoring most of what was going on and focusing on getting to Odale before the others. Things were going well, until he spotted Skipper eyeing a Pokemon battle taking place not too far ahead. A Vulpix was near dominating a wild Poochyena, and he noticed the one commanding the fox was the girl who had stepped in front of the 'cough up kid' back at the lab. What was her name again? Bah, it didn't matter anyhow. As she captured the pooch, Skipper looked up at Payton with a grin, pointing in the direction of the battle. "Mud, Mudkip!" he tried to point out, but Payton just looked between Skipper and the now concluded battle, having no idea what he was getting at. "We don't have time to watch people battle, Skipper. That trainer was giving me pretty nasty looks earlier, and I'd prefer to stay far away from her especially. I hope you do the same. Got that?" he asked, Skipper nodding in understanding. Of course Payton had already gone and made a bad impression in some way or another. "Good," he continued, looking back towards the other trainer, "now let's get out of here before she notices us standing around and gives me what for. I'd like to make it to town well before lunch, so we can be gone before the majority stops by."

As the duo made their way past the girl by going around through the bushes behind her and resumed their walk to Odale, Payton considered what he had gathered about the trainers he had left with. They weren't like all of the naive little kids bustling around central Hoenn with hopes to be the very best (like no one ever was) that he had grown accustomed to. They all had personality, and they seemed to have some degree of wits about them too. Maybe not the girl he had just seen battle, who had been using a ghost move against the Poochyena, but even she seemed more collected than the idiot kids who never make it past the first gym. "Pfft, Hex against a Poochyena. Who am I kidding? She's not gonna beat squat with tactics like that," Payton mused to himself. Skipper shook his head at that and flatly replied, "Mud."

"I uh, don't know what that means, Skipper, but whatever." He didn't seem to be in agreement, anyhow.

Shake…shake…shake…ding.

"Yes!" Rose cheered as her Friendball fell still. She immediately leapt upward, her arms shooting outward in a short lived cheer. When her feet landed back on the ground she held her arms out to Tanna, who quickly leaped into the affectionate embrace offered to her. "We did it." Rose beamed as she squeezed her little fox.

"Vul-Vul-pix!" Tanna's tails began to wiggle as she nuzzled her trainer's cheek.

Their celebratory hug was short lived; Rose turning her face away from her Vulpix's hair-tuft to look back at the direction they came from. "Did you hear someone talking?"

"Vul!" Tanna replies as she leaps out of Rose's arms. Not only could she hear it, she could smell it: It's that boy from the lab, the one that made her trainer so angry. Wanting to avoid unnecessary conflict, the fire fox trots over to the newly captured Poochyena's Friend Ball, which she pushes towards her trainer with her nose. Hopefully the gesture will remind her of the path ahead, before she heads backwards to locate the voice.

It works; Rose's focus is taken from the faint muttering and returns to her Pokémon. "I could have gotten it." She laughs as she picks up the retrieved ball. Tanna's surveillance makes her a good partner for someone as tunnel visioned as Rose—someone has to remind her that rarely is the task at hand the only task that needs to be done.

The desire to call forth her newly captured Pokémon is quickly short-circuited. Poochyena will need a Pokémon Center before its ready to walk along with them. She did tell Barc that she would meet up with him after tracking down the grass-rustler, but that would have to wait a little longer—then again, it's not like this route is incredibly long or at all complicated, and Oldale town isn't much bigger than Littleroot: Odds are they'll run into each other again without really trying, simply following the same path. "Let's get this one to the Pokémon Center." She smiles down at Tanna before turning on her heels and heading up the path.

"Vul!" Tanna cheers. She takes one step, then stops and listens. She can no longer hear the voice of the man or his Pokémon, so they must have found another way around. Satisfied, she trots along to catch up with Rose.

It didn't take the duo long to reach Oldale town at all, it seems that chasing Poochyena through the grass was a great way to speed up their travel pace. Rose is quick to locate the Pokémon center and have her tiny team healed.

"We hope to see you again!" Came the familiar goodbye of Nurse Joy as Rose collected her Pokeballs and headed back for the outside—no time to slow down now.

Once outside, Rose unhooks the two balls from her belt and holds them outward. "Come on out, you two!"

Tanna appears from her ball with a delighted squeak, whereas the tiny hyena looks highly confused. His ears pull back as he looks around, highly uncertain of these new and strange surroundings.

"Poochyena?" Rose offers a gentle smile as she kneels down to be on eye level with the pup. "Don't be afraid, okay?"

It's easy to see that the Friend Ball has already started working its magic, as Poochyena's tail begins to gently swish as he looks up to his new trainer.

"That's better." She reaches out to pick up the dark type. As she stands, she gently presses her forehead against Poochyena's. "Now…what should I call you?" She asks, holding the little one out to get a good look at him. Hmm...Poochyena is the bite Pokemon, and his Thunder Fang was the first attack she saw him use. Fang... "How about Kiba?"

The little hyena barks excitedly, his tail shuffling back and forth, which makes his new trainer chuckle at his enthusiasm.

"Then Kiba it is!"